tonight a conversation with joe lieberman. the former democratic and then independent senator from connecticut. also al gore's running mate in 2000. he was an early supporter of intervention in iraq. iran may turn out to be our ally in this conflict. then we will turn to a conversation with toni braxton. entitledt tome is "unbreak my heart." we are glad you joined us.

those conversations are coming up right now. ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> a senator from a democrat --

a senator first a democrat and then an independent. at the american enterprise institute that has it as their mandate to rebuild american leadership around the globe. he joins us from new york. thisto have you on program. >> good to be back with you. tavis: let me start with what that means. to refill the american leadership around the globe. what do you think that means. >> the first egg senator john kyle and i, the cochair of the broadlythat is bipartisan -- all committed to american international leadership. we have decided our first task is to remake the arguments to the american people about why it matters to us to be involved

with the rest of the world. people were unhappy with a rack and afghanistan. we are trying to fashion some ourments to say not only security but our values depend on us being involved in the world and being leaders in the world. buton't want to do it all, if the u.s. is not their america is going to suffer. there are some who think that what got us here was eight years of a bush administration that gave the impression that we didn't care about the world and that we could go at it alone. how much of the mess has to do with what happened before barack obama arrived? there is no question mistakes were made in a rack. -- in iraq.

itsamerican military proved capabilities, but then the question of how to stabilize the country's was not so easy to achieve. it's true that a lot of the world did see president george w bush as a go alone president. president obama who has actually reached out greatly to try to engage with the rest of the world and not be seen as just reaching out to american military power. the u.s. seems to have as many skeptics around the world as we during the bush time. maybe that is part of being the most powerful country in the world. just the thatnot

we are the greatest superpower, theit may be how we is power that we have. the issue of drones. barack obama's administration -- they are drones on steroids. it's not just this notion that we are the most powerful country in the world. maybe it's the way we use our power. >> i have been critical of some of the things president obama has done, but i have been supportive of others. the drug situation is something i have been supportive of. . think he also concluded

technology gave us the ability to hit at our enemies. i know he has taken this power he has very seriously. the best of my knowledge insident obama is involved just about everyone of those drone strikes, which is the responsible thing to do. i continue to feel we are driven by ideals. toetimes our ideal is protect freedom. empire builder.

we have got to discipline ourselves sometimes and realize there are some places where we are not going to be able to make the change. i continue to feel we try to be true to what our founders say was the mission. truth we aredent all created equal. the good lord didn't just give those rights to americans but to everyone in the world. we have seen that as our mission. sometimes too much. tavis: >> let me just go back to this white about the -- processe assess

president obama uses. body you were part of was lucifer is that they have been shut out. to give the president a pat on the back to say he is involved. known -- do not know the truth and the details. >> it's true. this is a classic controversy in american history. i thought one of the things i am doing at columbia law school, congress always wants more information than the american people do. the president has a lot of authority.

you can certainly describe the broad outlines to your approach. you probably ought to plug congress in, but you cannot announce them to the world. you wouldn't be able to successfully carry out those strikes. they have a new president, but this area of great sensitivity. at awas in prague conference held to celebrate the anniversary of the collapse of the communist regime throughout eastern and central europe. the focus became ukraine and the russia grabbed's crimea. i got to tell you i was struck by the extent to which our

allies in europe are agitated i what who didn't did but not eager to do much about it. as i said, values are supposed to be don'te are about. values protect themselves. powerve to have political and willpower to do that. i think we ought to be much tougher on sanctions we applied against russia and putin. there is only so much we can do. businesshave that much with the russians. enormouseans have an economic exchange back-and-forth. has to bely germany part of these sanctions. right now i would like to dream let crimea go back to ukraine.

oforry about the presence preparing for war. given all the commentary still forthcoming about what the youat of eric cantor means, were a democrat, you turned independent. we all know the story. you survive. then you went on to retire. what do you make of what is happening to the republican party and whether or not we will ever get back to a place where moderates or independence really have an opportunity to share power in washington. party is inlican one of those moments where there are different factions. they are going to go through a

process like the primaries of 2016 where they are going to try to figure out whether they have a platform that can be supported by a majority of republicans, not just an inter-constituency and when the election. as you lookhing is at the numbers of registered voters, the fastest-growing party and america is no party. it is unaffiliated voters who keep growing because the failure of major parties to get anything done, yet in the nominating process it is always the conservatives in the republican party and the more liberal in the democratic party at win the nominations. that holds them apart when they get into office. the one ray of hope comes from the west coast. california, nonpartisan commissions to draw the lines

every 10 years on the district. thing of all,tant nonpartisan primaries. you don't have a republican or a democratic primary. you have to run in the same primary. the top two vote getters run it off. that will force them to the middle. when they get to office they will be more likely to cooperate with people in the other party. when theyis redistricting eric cantor seat they made it more republican to make it easier. it's those republicans on the right who knocked him out of office. ironically if it was a nonpartisan primary the odds are eric cantor would have one. >> joe lieberman. always glad to have you on the program. thanks for sharing your insights again.

on herup, toni braxton recent and candid memoir. stay with us. ♪ with six grammy awards, seven american music nine billboard awards, toni braxton established herself as one of the finest singers. along with the success she has battled a series of arsenal setbacks she chronicled in a new and candid memoir entitled "unbreak my heart." thanks for being on this program. >> thanks for having me. tavis: i was taken aback because you are so candid and so transparent. that's a lot of her business to put out there. >> you are right. tavis: the second thing is if you are going to write a book like this you might as well tell the truth. i see so many where you can tell

they are not really being transparent. i applaud the fact that you wrote a book are you told the truth. the question is why be so transparent at this point in your life? >> i thought about that. i was contemplating retirement. i was talking to my therapist. yes, i am one of those african-americans who goes to a therapist. she said, and maybe time to write your story. maybe i will learn something about you, too. i think you are hiding a lot of things. my childhood was very much the covered wagon. tavis: what do you mean by that? >> no one else should see what is going on. i got a tv show. age nothing covered anymore. you are going way back when when

the wagon was covered. >> i feel little bit uncomfortable telling my story because you have to tell other people's story. challenging.can be i thought it was important to understand my childhood history to understand where i am today. tavis: i wrote a memoir couple years ago. >> it was good. tavis: thanks. i remember trying to figure out how i was going to talk about my own family. i knew the story had to be told. i was trying to find the right way. how did you figure that out? >> i didn't figure it out. i said, i am just going to write what i feel. is parental situation for me. the way i was raised, a preacher's kid, and

the guilt you associate with religion. it's tough to find your own way because you are bogged down. it's hard to differentiate what is real. >> i had that experience. i was raised in a pentecostal church. i am glad you went there. i was going to come right behind you with that. if there is anything that stands out for me, one of them is you have navigated a life where you have felt a lot of guilt. guilt about what was right and what was wrong, what you could do and couldn't do based on the way you were raised, guilt about going solo, guilt about your child born with autism and how that might have happened, whether you were responsible. justave you navigated through the guilt you have felt in your life? >> guilt is a powerful emotion. tavis: i think so.

it has been hard. that's what i wanted to write about it. one of my sisters said, own it. career and about my how i got here, that's the most difficult part for me to talk the devil is raging. the family.ng down it's hard for me to be an guilty i would feel about winning because my family wasn't included, or if i was being an artist, my mom said, don't forget about your sister. i cannot really show happiness. i was the perfect artist because you have to suppress a lot of feelings. you can't say everything you think. as long as i have listened to you and no new over the years, it didn't really hit me until i got into this text, that you had people -- i am not

condemning your family, but there were people making you feel guilty about singing secular music. -- iyou were singing about could name other people singing other stuff. what you were singing about more than anything else was love. it hit me last night. why do you make someone feel guilty for singing a secular song about love. we're are not talking about gangster rap. that just hit me last night. why make somebody feel guilty about being about love if god is love and you are singing about love? he ordains these relationships. how can you not sing about love? ask i think tradition, you're not supposed to do that. that is not what true christians do. more so the people in the congregation have problems with it. at a time i got a little older, we were united methodist.

that was helpful. as opposed to the pentecostal church you could do a lot more. you are candid about a lot of things, including the bankruptcy. -- how don about that au navigate privately bankruptcy? when a lot of that is public? there are people who file bankruptcy and don't get to have a front-page story. how do you navigate through that when everybody knows toni braxton has all these records? felt like i was a walking cliché. there she is. another artist who had all that success and now she is they cropped. i think when you read the book you understand it wasn't her who

spent all her money. there was no money to spend. i had to pretend. that's the toughest inc. attending i had billions of dollars, when i don't. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- how grateful are you about the business of show business. this won't happen again? >> it won't happen again. that was held. i have learned a lot. had to do it again the same thing would have happened, but i have learned it's ok to have all that stuff happened to you. have thisn i wouldn't wonderful world of music. >> your first and groups he was about a business deal. you are not the first person in the business to file bankruptcy. the second was for health reasons. anybody paying attention knows the number one reason most americans file for bankruptcy is health. >> i didn't know that.

it's a fact. health care costs have been for years the number one reason trying to stayt alive, and they can't afford to do it. in that regard you are not that different from most other people. embarrassed. oh, she filed for bankruptcy again. don't give her a nickel. i never really cared about being in the click. moments like that made me care. tavis: how have you managed to deal with people's opinions of you? >> that's why i wrote the book. maybe now they will judge me differently. tavis: it doesn't matter to you. >> it does, but sometimes you have to paint your own picture.

there isn't really a lot about toni braxton. i don't really drink. i don't do drugs. i don't have a scandalous life. what do you say about me? all you have is money problems. i thought it was important i put my own colors on the canvas. tavis: your health challenges. the lupus. your son is doing pretty well. lucky. early diagnosis changed everything. he is in his first year. i'm really excited. tavis: that must make you hopeful. everybody would agree you could it be ugly if you wanted to. great makeup artist. make you are what you ain't. i was curious as to why you went with this photo. you look good either way.

i think if you asked your fans to pick out a toni braxton have a short haircut. why did you go with long? >> we were torn between both. the publisher thought this would be broader audience. i don't get that. >> i like them both. tavis: i was just curious. >> you like it better short? >> i didn't say that. i just asked. short or long? >> short. short. tavis: everybody says short. who published this book? >> harpercollins. tavis: y'all were wrong. don't judge a book by its cover. book. if you are a

toni braxton fan, "unbreak my heart" still the number two most sold single by a woman ever. >> i am lucky. tavis: it's a great song. the new memoir is entitled "unbreak my heart." whether you like the long hair or the shorthair it still reads the same. that's it for our show. thanks for watching. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with sebastian young and then karol leifer. that's next time. we will see you then.

♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> be more. rviewpeople who inspire us. ♪ >> be more.

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