>> osgood: i'm bob schieffer today on "face the nation," the middle east on fire. and whose side we're on depends on which battle you're talking about. plus the key question following that european plane crash that took 150 lives, could it happen here. we'll get latest on that from the hero of the miracle on the hudson, captain sully sullenberger. on the middle east we'll turn to richard burr the chairman of the senate intelligence committee. adam schiff top democrat on the house intelligence committee and saudi arabian ambassador adel al-jubeir as we try to untangle the increasingly dangerous situation there. then we'll have new cbs news poll oncoming presidential race. we'll talk to former arkansas governor mike huckabee who is

one of the early leaders. plus a preview of the new edward kennedy institute. and a talk with some of his former colleagues from both sides of the aisle. this is "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs good morning, rescue efforts continue at the plane crash site in the french alps we know now that the copilot who apparently crashed the plane on purpose into the mountain was being treated for some kind of illness that should have prevented him from being in the cockpit that day. to talk about this story we're joined by former u.s. air captain and cbs news aviation and safety expert sully sullenberger who join us from san francisco. captain, all news is local i think the question most on the minds of most -- many americans this morning is simply this. could this have happened here on a u.s. carrier? >> well, bob, we must do everything we can to prevent it

from happening here. but there is one reason that this particular pilot could not have been an airline pilot in u.s. currently that is that rules now require that airline pilots have at least 1500 hours and airline transport pilot license, about two and a half times total flying experience. >> schieffer: are there safeguards in place? this is a rare thing for someone to commit suicide in the cockpit of an airplane as happened but it has happened before. are there safeguards in place and what are they exactly? >> well, we here in the u.s. have had two wonderful advantages for many decades. first, after world war ii until recently about 75% of all airline passengers have been military trained aviators. that means that they have been through a rigorous, very structured and disciplined screening process to become military pilots. then they have been screened a second time to be hired as

airline pilots. it's an important selection process, anybody who is doing this job is yell suited by training and by temperature meant. those who were not military pilots, training and hiring standards have been high enough that most civilian have hat multiple professional flying jobs, been screened by multiple employers. >> well, could a pilot conceal that he was suffering from compression if he chose to? do they have to volunteer that information or do they undergo examinations or what happens? >> pilots do undergo examinations, in fact professional pilots are the most scrutinized professional groups that exist in the united states. pilots have to undergo an fcc medical examination every year if they're under 40 every six months older than 40. we have to disclose every medical condition that might affect our -- not to do so makes subject to severe penalties.

also required to list every single doctor visit who we saw for what purpose at the time of every medical examination. there may somebody hiding going on but it's made somewhat betterrer by more enlightened approach that the faa took in terms of mental health in 2010 by allowing pilots to be recertified to fly while still taking certain kinds of medication to improve their mood. >> schieffer: captain what are the safest air explains are you better off flying u.s. carriers and -- than you are flying some of these other carriers operating around the world? >> there is variation in the safety rates of airlines around the world. safest have been north america australia, new zealand, parts of europe, middle eastern carriers have been very safe. unfortunately while we do have agreed upon international standards they have become recommendations because in order for them to be implemented each

country must mandate that its airlines and those that use air space adhere to these standards. there is variation as we've seen this week. it was primarily u.s. carriers that haddock put rule. many other carriers did not. >> schieffer: captain, thank you very much for being so candid with us this morning. we appreciate that. thank you. turning now to the other big story as the "washington post" has put it not since the 1960s has so many states in the middle east been engaged in so many wars. here is how complicated it's become. we are trying to negotiate a deal with iran to curb their nuclear program. in iraq we are aligned with iranian backed militia fighting isis. in yemen aligned with saudi arabia against iranian-backed rebels who are trying to topple the government there. and we're joined now in the studio by saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states

adel al-jubeir. mr. ambassador, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> schieffer: this has become so complicated it's like the old, you don't know the players without the scorecard here. it is extremely complicated. now, your king is saying that the saudi airstrikes which began in yemen last week are going to continue until saudi arabia reaches its goals. what are the goals? >> the objective is to protect the people of yes, ma'amen from a radical organization that is allied with iran and hezbollah that is virtually taken over the country. to defend legitimate government of yemen and to open up the way for political talks so that yemen can move -- complete transition period move towards a better place. >> schieffer: is this what this street mr. ambassador, a proxy war? saudi arabia on one side and the iranians on the other? because they are backing these rebel groups in yemen right now. >> that's correct.

but i would describe as proxy. i would describe as war of necessity. we have no choice. we tried every possible way to avoid it, yemenese tried. agreements were made, every single agreement that was made with 67 of them to be precise were reneged on. they continued to take over the country and when they were virtually about to take over the city with its president we have to step in in order to -- in response by government to do so under article 51. >> schieffer: how much did iran have to do with this if. >> a lot. ideologically with iran, they provided them with weapons. iranians provided them with advisors and provided them with money. >> schieffer: are you the arab league now said they're going to come together form coalition here. what is this, some sort of rapid response force that you're talking about and would you

expect ground troops in yemen? >> i think those for separate issues. the use of force in yes, ma'am tone defend religious government and protect the people of yemen. we have coalition of over ten countries that are participating in those operations. we are determined to continue operations until objective is achieved. this is one part. the arab league agreed to creation of a force that would be similar to rapid deployment force. the purpose of this force would be to go after extremists go after terrorists, to support countries that may not have ability to do the job on their own. this is an idea that has been discussed for some time now and arab leaders at the summit agreed to begin to establish such a force. >> schieffer: do you see such a force going into yemen? >> i don't know that anyone wants to go into yemen in terms of forces, but don't want anything out. we have sufficient forces in the current coalition if need be to go into yemen.

but right now objective is being achieved through an air campaign. >> schieffer: all this playing out while the negotiations to try to pushy pan's nuclear program are underway. the saudi arabia want a deal? >> i believe everybody wants a deal. but everybody wants good deal. we have been assured by the united states by secretary kerry when he met that the deal that they intend to negotiate would prevent iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. close all paths leading to atomic bomb. will limit iran's ability to do research and enrich. it will impose intrusive and continuous on iran. we hope this will be the case. but we really will not know until we see the details. i don't believe details have been worked out yet. we expect that they will be a framework agreement with the details to be negotiated over next two or three months.

so the key will be, what will be in those details. >> schieffer: mr. ambassador, thank you so much for giving us your perspective this morning. >> thank you. >> schieffer: we turn to the senate intelligence committee chair. richard burr joins us from greensboro, north carolina. senator let me just start with the ambassador left off. he said, everybody wants a deal but what they want is a good deal. from what you are able to tell about those negotiations so far is this a good deal shaping up? >> well, bob, we just got bits and pieces have come from administration or through other sources that are familiar with negotiations. it doesn't seem to be headed in the right direction. clearly deadline of tuesday i'm concerned with what we might give away. iranians don't seem to want to conclude this, but i think more importantly right now when we see isil and 12 different countries around the world iran playing about nine countries

financially or physically. i think now is the time to push back from the table and ask ourselves, is it really time to trust the people that we're negotiating with, the iranians. i would encourage the administration, let's take more time. let's not highways tone a deal. i near secretary kerry believes that he's got to get a deal by tuesday. >> schieffer: what you're saying is, you would be one of those who would favor postponing the deadline here and keep working? >> i think that's better than a bad deal. i've got really bad feeling about what they might come with. but i think bob i suggest you look at the realities around the world. you just explained it really well in one place we're partnering, another place we're actually partnering with the people that are fighting against iranian-backed folks. last week we saw iraqis call on u.s. for airstrikes and the shia militia boycott the fact that

america was involved even some conversation about taking the opportunity either to down aircraft or kill americans. these are the same people we're sitting at a table with saying we're going to trust them not to have nuclear proliferation. and in fact this is one of the most chaotic times in the history of the world i think. not only in the middle east but in north africa. west africa, central asia. it seems like iran their stake in the fire. >> i know you've been briefed as the head of the senate intelligence committee. what is your sense of what is happening in yemen right now? >> well, clearly we're on the verge of a civil war. i think that we have seen, as the ambassador just said, who has been a tremendous representative from saudi. i had long conversation with ambassador last week. ten countries have come together. primarily because they can't allow iran to take a foothold in

yemen. this is iran. they financed them, they have consulted them they have sent weapons and fact is, that the gulf states, this coalition will not stand by and see that presence seeded there. how we can really consult with the iranians and iraq especially the way they treat u.s. forces there. >> schieffer: should we have done something that we didn't do could we have maybe made this situation better than it's turned out to be or not? >> bob it would have started a long time ago by not removing every u.s. boot from the ground in iraq making sure that we could have a stable security force there. it's estimated that there are 30,000 either iraqi or shia militia on the assault for kick crete. only 400isil members right now.

required u.s. airstrikes to soften them up some. i think reality is that in our absence terrorism has flourished throughout the region between syria and iraq and has spread now to countries in north africa and central asia. >> schieffer: senator, thank you so much for joining us this morning bringing us that perspective. we're going to turn to congressman adam schiff he's in the studio with us the top democrat on the house intelligence committee. you've just heard all the speakers who have come before you here. congressman, who is your take on where we are right now? >> we're in a very dangerous place, certainly in yemen. i think there is a real prospect of civil war here. it is probably unlikely that these airstrikes alone are going to be sufficient to repel the hoothies best hope goes back to negotiating table. if they start launching scud missiles intoed rain then you

are going to see ground war there's no telling where that ends up. >> congressman let me ask you. let's say somebody sitting out there watching this broadcast this morning saying, yeah, this is all bad. but how does that impact on the united states of america. what do you tell them when they ask that question? >> couple of things. in yemen we ought to be concerned what happens there. in the chaos that is going on right now al qaeda and the peninsula aqap the most lethal franchise of al qaeda has chance to grow. that is a real threat to us. we were talking about aircraft earlier on the program, they have been building these bombs that can get past our metal detectors have made repeated attempts to blow up our aircraft. giving them any opportunity to grow is very important to stop which means we have very acute interest in yemen. also see in places like tikrit they are coming together, we have couple competing objectives

in iraq, we want to make sure that we defeat isis because they pose to our homeland. we don't want if see iranian increase by making iraq some kind of a vast state of tehran. those goals are somewhat in conflict. complementary in part because we're trying to defeat isis at the same time, this heavy reliance on these iranian backed shia militia is concern. >> how does this trying to get some kind of deal to curb their nuclear weapons? you heard the reservations that senator burr just expressed. >> i'm for a good deal f. we can get one. think it's still unclear what that final deal is going to look like. and i would be very good because alternative is we pass new sanctions which i would support. we hope to keep europeans together if we're lucky. and we wait for that additional economic pressure to bring iran back to the table get a better

deal. the problem is, that may take years. they may get to israel's line before that time comes. alternative is also dangerous. but i'm trying to keep my -- >> schieffer: should we extend the deadline? senator burr would be willing to go along with that. >> i was interested he said that. there's been a lot of g.o.p. pressure on finding out what we have by the end of this month or applying new sanctions as the pointed out clinging to this deadline puts us at disadvantage we need to reach a deal by then more than iranians do. i'd be in favor of taking the time. by the end of june. one other point you asked about relation between these issues, i think it's vitally important that we have the saudis back in what they're doing in yemen right now because that may give saudis some comfort that even if we do reach an agreement with iran on the nuclear program that doesn't mean that we're not going to be willing to confront

iran as it tries to expand it nefarious influence. >> schieffer: thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> schieffer: we'll be back to talk a little politics in one minute.

jack's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today, his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before your begin an aspirin regimen. >> schieffer: now politics. the new cbs news poll on the 2016 presidential race is out. it suggests republican race is wide open, no surprise on this one. hillary clinton is the favorite of most democrats. what is surprising, 66% would like her to face strong competition in the primaries. who that would be is unclear. on the republican side who would you consider voting for jeb bush topped leaderboard at 51%. but mike huckabee is next followed by rand paul marco rubio, ted cruz, scott walker and rick perry. finish can out the field, rick

santorum. and lindsey graham. and governor huckabee joins us now from destin, florida. let me ask the ox question. are you going to run? >> well, bob decision hasn't been made. i've been saying it's going to be this spring. it's still snowing in boston. give me a few more weeks. but i'll make an announcement relatively soon. >> schieffer: it's clear that ted cruz is going after what you consider your base, that is conservative christians. tell me why you can represent them better than he can. >> well, my base is beyond just evangelical. a lot of people perceive that. certainly important part of the base that i enjoy back in 2008 but i think that untold secret that a lot of supportive, i anticipate that i will have is the working class blue collar

people who grew up a lot like i did. not blue blood built blue collar. there's a real sense in the republican party that there's no one speaking not only to them but speaking for them. if someone can capture both blue collar working class republicans, the conservatives, many of them even union members. as well as evangelicals there's real pathway to the nomination. >> schieffer: what do you see as the main challenge for the next person who becomes president? >> i think restore hope in america again. bring this country back where we believe we're going to be able to be at our best. people are discouraged, i meet people every day whose economy is not recovering, they're not feeling the sense of recovery that people in washington are boasting about. their economy is not recovering. folks out there working hard. and i believe if we don't give

people a sense of hope and optimism, first about their own economic situation then about the world that is on fire, it's going to be hard to get america back on track. and i believe most americans in the polls reflect this. believe that we're on the wrong track right now. >> schieffer: you got good reviews when you were governor of arkansas for the most part. but do you consider yourself qualified to handle foreign policy? you've just heard what we've been talking abut this morning. i can't remember when the world was more tangled up than it is right now. what can you bring to that? what will you tell people when they ask you that question? >> well, a lot of people don't know my first trip to the middle east was in 1973. 42 years ago when i was all of 17. i've been to the middle east several dozen times. just got back from israel last month, was there three times just last year. i've been to virtually every country that we talk about

whether it's egypt, jordan israel iraq afghanistan, the saudi, saudi arabia, emirates kuwait. turkey pakistan india. this is a part of the world with which i am familiar firsthand and as a governor i also met with many world leaders as well as ceos of multi-national corporations. frankly most governors do. i think it's sometimes perceived that governors don't hatch much of a world view. i would tend to take issue that that is not always the case. >> schieffer: do you think this is going to be a contest to determine who is the most conservative republican candidate or who is the most electable republican candidate? >> i know that there is going to be a big brouhaha over who is the most conservative. but if you look at all the republicans who are thinking about regioning, there really isn't an out right liberal in the whole bunch. there may be degrees of more

conservative on one policy or another. but i think that compared to the current administration all of us are conservative. but i'm convinced, bob that the average american voter at least ones that are going to decide the election they don't think horizontally it's not through them left, right liberal conservative democrat recommend play can i'm convinced that a lot of persons are asking the question about the vertical perspective. who is going to take us up and who is going to take us down. and they are heck of lot more concerned about somebody getting this country this economy, our world in upward direction than just to say that horizontally further to the right or moved further to the left. >> schieffer: governor we're going to stop right there. hope to see you grin. hope you'll call us tell us you're ready to announce we'll put you right here on "face the nation." >> i'll let you know, bob thanks. >> schieffer: reel be right back.

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>> schieffer: we'll be right back. 40% of the streetlights in detroit, at one point, did not work. you had some blocks and you had major thoroughfares and corridors that were just totally pitch black. those things had to change. we wanted to restore our lighting system in the city. you can have the greatest dreams in the world, but unless you can finance those dreams,

it doesn't happen. at the time that the bankruptcy filing was done, the public lighting authority had a hard time of finding a bank. citi did not run away from the table like some other bankers did. citi had the strength to help us go to the credit markets and raise the money. it's a brighter day in detroit. people can see better when they're out doing their tasks, young people are moving back in town the kids are feeling safer while they walk to school. and folks are making investments and the community is moving forward. 40% of the lights were out, but they're not out for long.they're coming back.

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