highlight. the book tv newsletter set weekly is a look at the upcoming authors and book festival. american history tv newsletter explores our nation's past. sign up today. >> we discussed mike pompeo in the senate confirmation process is 30 minutes. >> kenneth joinsid joining us. >> a little bit about the hudson institute, what does it specialize in? >> were dedicated to promoting u.s. international leadership

for free and prosperous center. we do work on international affairs on u.s. national security and economics as well. >> when it comes to mike pompeo you had not been called him possibly the most significant candidate in years past. >> he has a chance to be a transformative secretary of state. he has complete confidence of the president this is a man that if you know him is a strategic thinker, he has an impressive background and graduated first in his class was a successful businessman and served three terms in congress and the house of representatives he served on

the intelligence committee has a great grasp of has strong convictions but knows the president is the one calling the shots. they've developed a terrific relationship the cia director. they spent time together in the briefings and the president entrusted him with a secret trip to pyongyang. having watched him closely i have a sense he has a three-dimensional sense of management. he knows how to work and has great relations in the house, someone who thinks not just about military issues as a west

point graduate but also someone who thinks about strategy in a broader sense and what the united states needs to do and what the possible areas are. >> so they translate to the soft power skills you have to have. >> cia director he has built close working relations with our european allies and our allies in the sunni muslim world. very close ties to him in his word can be trusted. he has a sense of what america needs to do and how to do it. his young relatively, is dynamic and will be a transformative secretary of state.

obviously things need to be taken seriously. >> at the end of the day are muslim allies can assure you that mike pompeo is not an islam a foe. he's worked closely with our golf allies. so the man who spoke out after 9/11 and said he wish more muslim leaders had spoken monetary issues. that would've been helpful. on gay rights issues he's a devout presbyterian. he does not believe in gay marriage but he has respected gay marriage as an institution at the cia. were numerous case passes cia employees working there.

he treated them as any other. >> to know him personally? >> yes. >> and has he shared with you about the possibility of coming to this position. >> i have not spoken with him since he's been nominated. were fortunate that he's taken part in numerous workshops we've held. what i find remarkable is his ability to balance the strategic focus and knowledge in detail which is rare in a policy leader. he has an immense grasp of global affairs and a detailed understanding of foreign leaders and how they think. one of the most impressive things we had a meeting in

july 2015, the presenters were -- the president of the are being parliament. and congressman pompeo one -- it was long before his considered for the cia. as the workshop came to the end he said he had to leave early. they're going to the iaea to talk about the iran to. and they found out they had uncovered the existence of the iran deal between the government of iran that didn't need to be submitted. he's a skeptic in some ways of

these agreements but it's if you have a possibility to get these he's the guy to do it. this is the guy who knows the tough questions to ask on the standards to set. >> if you want to ask questions it's 2,028,000. and independence -- you can make your thoughts and questions. i wanted to play some reaction that took place this is from senator bob menendez expressing concerns. >> during the hearing strategiee

to the president and to the country to deal with >> he advocated. >> he advocated and a failed to exhibit the depth of knowledge a thoughtfulness about it. clearly any nominee would know they needed to be addressed. truthfulness and the willingness are important. even in a classified setting he would had that opportunity. both critical issues. they peppered him with questions d

to be cia director than secretary of state because he wanted to be clandestine i'm at the end of the day. i don't expect the cabinet secretary to publicly disagree with the president. >> i don't expect the cabinet secretary to agree. it is his or her duty. i remain skeptical of the kind of diplomat he would be. whether he would be willing to say no or just be a yes man. >> what you think about that last? >> i have to respectfully disagree. sions that the administration has worked on. increasing troop presence in afghanistan where the advice went against the presence instincts. director pompeo is someone who has got a personal relationship with the president

where he can go to him and say, with all due respect, mr. president, this is the direction we need to go. with russia he has proven to be tough and has had it must -- a much tougher policy than the , who administration did was so obsessed with getting in iran deal that we ended up not enforcing the red line with syria and allowing russians to go into crimea and not arming the ukrainian opposition, which were ukrainians fighting russians on the ground. this is something that's very important. diplomats of expelled from the united states is remarkable in this administration. i think director pompeo is someone who will work closely with the president. i think he is someone who can be trusted. the issue of the north korea trip, that was a highly classified trip. i suspect the reason

that was not disclosed is fears that it would leak to the press and might create both expectations and problems with the negotiating process that is really quite sensitive. host: our first call for you comes from chicago, illinois. rudolph, you're on with our guest. caller: good morning to you and your guest. if anyone takes a real good look at the adults or the backgrounds of the candidate for secretary of state, they will find he is very conservative, almost a neoconservative. what has happened and how they refer to the previous diplomacy,ion on relating to people with dignified fashion, as opposed to getting in these unfunded wars and these unfunded obligations that existed. this administration has gotten to power from innuendo, personal attacks, racial attacks. this individual is in line with

the president and the rhetoric that catapulted him to the presidency of the united states. i'm very cautious because this articulate point in time, you have to re evaluate a relationship with nato because we have been with europe almost 50 years to stabilize the european countries. i. >> when we get into the notion of what's happened of the arab world a nuclear weapons an international relationship with china that's what's balanced. >> this is a very challenging time. the balance from china, the situation in the middle east and i would submit that the president has worked in a multilateral fashion with our allies in france and the u.k.

to take action which we have destroyed. this is a multilateral action. it was multilateral i think this is the kind of action that needs to be done. his were carefully on the north korea dossier with the south korean allies. in terms of the president's rhetoric the president has been saying hought that a bit now. has been tough on our nato allies, saying man they need to step up and spent 2% of gdp on national security. the kind of person mike pompeo is someone who understands the president agenda and knows how

to work well with partners around the world. he will come in and help smooth some of the changes that really do need to take place in global affairs and to move things forward in a positive direction. host: virginia on the democrats line, james, good morning. caller: i think pompeo has his nose so far up trumps the you know what that mike pence is going to have to move over. that is what trump needs -- another yes-man. that is why comey got fired in the first place. he was not a yes man. at least obama had michelle to answer to. elania, but she knows nothing about politics or anything. host: the idea that pompeo would not push back on trump over issues? guest: i'm offended by the

analogy that you used about the vice president, as someone who has an excellent relationship with the president. he gives advice and does so quietly behind the scenes. as director >> as director pompeo has done the same. he doesn't only want yes-men around. his someone who listens to his advisors. president obama has refused evidence that action needed to be taken after the military action after the searing chemical weapons attack.

including the possibility of inspections of other military facilities in iran that were left off the original deal where weapons could be developed, i think we are going to be in a situation where the president may give the europeans another few months to say show me some changes before we fully exit. think that is probably the right policy. they have now got the message with the nomination of mike pompeo as secretary of state, who is skeptical of the deal. john bolton will continue the skepticism of the iran deal. europeans need to step forward and do something. the iranian regime is a regime facing major protests at home, wildly unpopular.

there's an economic crisis going on. asre is a klepto theocracy bret stephens of "the new york times" has called it. this is a regime that has taken money from people to fund overseas excursions in syria and lebanon and yemen. it's a very unpopular regime. it's a regime that there are protests every day. we see protests throughout the country and protests that come from the base of the regime. the lower middle class and more religious people. my sense is we should increase pressure on the iranians. we ought to do more to get the word out about the assets that the regime holds in both the supreme leader and mr. rouhani hold and get the information out there. also put pressure on the europeans and let them know that things will not continue as normal.

if you want the deal to remain in place, there's got to be changes. host: we will go to jim. caller: good morning and thanks for taking my call. pompeo'sall, i think boss is not a good president, but the alternatives were i think worse. he hadction is because such poor choices from the parties. think he is really a smart guy obviously, but the thing that personally i find troublesome -- and i heard this on cnn or maybe one of the other news channels -- i think it is sending a bad message to our that are former head spy at the cia is going to be our secretary of state. i think that sends a bad message to our allies.

host: jim, thanks. guest: i think it's a fair point. i think our allies and governments around the world no mike pompeo and they trust him implicitly. they may disagree with him on issues, but they know he is a man of honor and strategic de pth of real understanding. certainly the fact that he was cia director could be used against the united states in terms of public diplomacy, but this is a man who served with great honor at the cia. he is clearly well-liked and agency and brought a number of critical transformations in in a short time there. george h.w. bush was also cia director and went on to be elected president. as we have seen by the incredible outpouring of support for him not just after the death of the first lady this past week but over the past few years, what a beloved figure he is. the fact that someone is cia

director, that can be used for propaganda purposes, but that does not imply anything necessarily about how they will be viewed by governments or people around the world. when >> test. test. test. test. test. test. >> test. test. >> test. test. >> test. test.

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like you said we stand behind japan and allowed him to talk about the reaction and talk about what was going to come next. he's built an incredible partnership with macron who was a dynamic leader. when you look at he's very different then president trump. his a populist someone without government experience. he said france had taken over and it push the major political parties aside. france needs to reform and get the economy going again.

he needs to assume it's a rightful place around the world. this conventional wisdom which he has shared with president trump. he's willing to listen to leaders talks regularly to leaders around the world. his relationship with chancellor merkel is different. they speak regularly and have yet to develop a close relationship the president has with the japanese prime minister or the french president. the president has also developed close relations with the president of china. he does listen skeptically but is willing to take the advice.

the syrian use of chemical weapons misguided by president macron. i think chancellor merkel will come in and there's a big state dinner tonight, a welcoming ceremony the big event. i think the mark of his it will be more low-key. >> gary, go ahead. >> thank you. i wanted your opinion on mike pompeo's ability to deal with trump and how sometimes the flip-flop on policy so how would you deal with the situation that nikki haley was involved in, rex tillerson was involved in an a few policy problems there. trump may had tweeted had

something different. >> i think they understand that donald trump is president of the united states and mike pompeo was in. he does have a close relationship where he can be frank with the president is not the person who is going to get caught off guard by these decisions. were waiting on the russian sanctions now. let's just hold on. he knows clearly how to deal with the president well and what motivates the president. if anyone can handle tactical moves may seem like partisan policy really isn't.

>> can who is the president ceo of the hudson institute, thank you. >> tomorrow we discuss the case in "washington journal". >> joshua served as a senior director of the national security council under the obama administration. currently constitutional efficacy where he serves as executive director. >> the supreme court does the travel ban, what will be debated and that state? >> it's a complicated history. the third attempt by the president to deliver on this. the first time it's reaching the supreme