offers from regal cinemas, norwegian cruise line and walgreens. hotel savings at hilton, hyatt and best western. and everyday discounts from denny's and kellogg's. they're great! [ male announcer ] all chosen just for aarp members. papa john's! [ male announcer ] with new offers every week. find deals on electronics and technology. and save on tickets to exciting concerts and shows. [ taxi whistle ] c'mon, guys, the millers just got their cards, too! [ male announcer ] check out the possibilities. aarpdiscounts.com. where the deals are.

[ male announcer ] why do more emergency workers everywhere trust duracell...?? duralock power preserve. locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. now...guaranteed. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly! [ male announcer ] bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. right now on a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports live from doha, qatar, in the persian gulf. as secretary of state john kerry wraps up his first trip, this trip dominated by one topic, the civil war in syria. why is the united states not joining other countries around the world in arming the rebels? >> well, andrea, the president

has put in place a policy that is extremely forward leaning with other countries. other countries, as you know, are arming the syrians. >> kerry also talks to me today about israel's warning to iran after joe biden's tough talk about tehran's controversial nuclear program. >> big nations can't bluff, and presidents of the united states cannot and do not bluff, and president barack obama is not bluffing. he is not bluffing. >> in washington republicans head off a government shutdown and give the pentagon more room to maneuver. >> in the house our goal is to cut spend, not shut down the government. we would hope that we would take this bill up and move it quickly. the president on friday agreed

that there's no reason to get into some debate about shutting down the government. >> wall street is paying no mind to washington's sequester stalemate as the dow hits new highs. plus, we ask john kerry about that other newly minted diplomat, ambassador rodman, but, first, here's the daily show's take. >> how about rodman, dennis rodman, end up in north korea? >> apparently he was a big, big basketball fan of the bulls in the 1980s. >> that's why he wanted -- i thought maybe he was just a huge fan of, i don't know, double-team with jean claude van dam. how far down the bulls roster do you work to get down to the worm, you know what i'm saying? we know m.j. and pipin aren't going to go, so those calls, you're telling me, though, he couldn't get luke longly or kern, horace grant, benny the

bull wouldn't go? >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in doha in the persian gulf. this is the final leg of john kerry's 11-day maiden voyage as secretary of state. today john kerry sat down with me to answer questions about the civil war in syria, iran, and a number of other topics. the civil war, though, which led to one million refugees and 70,000 people killed and a new ultimate mate imfrom israel against iran. >> you have just come on this long trip. you've met with the syrian rebels. the saudi foreign minister standing next to you said that the assad regime is a vicious killing machine. why is the united states not joining other nations around the world in arming the rebels? >> well, andrea, we are -- the president has put in place a policy that is extremely forward-leaning, with other countries. other countries, as you know, are arming the syrians. the president has put in place

sanctions. the president has led an effort to try to pull together the syrian opposition, identify it, clarify it, get it unified to speak with one voice. now the president has raised the american engagement to the level of giving directly to the syrian opposition and the syrian military. >> non -- >> and others are providing lethal aid, and i think what we achieved in rome was to raise the focus and the energy of all of these countries that came together, each of whom are contributing in different ways. we are committed together with that community, and hopefully the rest of the world, ending the violation. the president prefers, as i do and everybody does to try to have a depp low mattic resolution of this and that's why he instructed me to meet with foreign minister lavrov, and we are working to try to achieve that. >> yet, at the same time more

than 70,000 people are dead. now one million refugees, which is a huge burden on our allies in the region. what would it take for you to be persuaded that the opposition leaders could keep any aid or weapons away from the islamic extremists? you've said you have some confidence that they know where the aid is going, so if they can persuade you, would you reconsider? >> that's not the issue. i think -- look, the president has committed the united states of america on behalf of the good values of all americans to be the largest humanitarian support of any country to this question of refugees, and i think america can be very proud of that. we are helping turkey. we are helping in jordan. the president is also, i think, determined to make sure that the united states does its part going forward to help to find a diplomatic resolution.

we don't want this. president assad could quickly decide to come to the table and negotiate. >> but he is not, sir, with all due respect. >> i agree. >> there's no sign that he is going to, and russia and iran, as you pointed out, continue to arm assad, so is this stalemate going to continue? it's already been two years. >> obviously, andrea, we hope not, and the president is the person who initiated this meeting in rome through me. we the meeting in rome. it came about because of the president's leadership and insist ens on trying to unify and send a stronger message. i think now there is a much more coordinated effort for those who are arming. that's taking place. i think over the next weeks, we have agreed to stay in very close contact. all of these foreign ministers, all of these countries, and when i get back, i'll report to the president precisely what i heard and, you know, i'm convinced

that we will continue to press the diplomatic resolution. that's the best resolution here. >> on iran prime minister netanyahu has said that diplomacy has not worked, that iran is trying to run the clock on negotiations and is approaching the red line. your reaction to that? >> iran will not run any clock on this. i think i said yesterday very clearly in riyadh that there is no negotiation for the sake of it, and there will not be a negotiation that turns into an eternal delay. the clock is ticking, and the president has made that clear. the president's policy is that iran will not get a nuclear weapon. it was reiterated i think just a night or so ago by the vice president, and that is the policy of the united states, and we are working closer with israel and other allies than has ever taken place in terms of that intelligence and military cooperation. >> but the head of the u.n. inspections, the head of the iaea has said that he cannot say with any certainty what iran is

doing secretly. there's no longer any window on to what iran might be doing. >> well, that's not entirely -- it's not that there's no longer any window, but certainly it makes things more complicated, and that's why everybody has made it clear there cannot be negotiations for the sake of it. this is not an infinite process. it's fine it. our preference, president obama's preference, clearly stated is to ask the iranians to come to the table in good faith, in mutual respect and do what they say they're doing. >> can we trust them? >> no, this is not a matter of trust, andrea. you remember gorbachev and trust, but verify. this is a matter of creating an agreement, if it's possible, where it is verifiable as to what they are doing so that everybody, the international community, the united nations, israel, our friends, our allies

all can come together. if that can't happen, then obviously there are other choices available to the president and he has taken nothing off the table. >> mushlt military choices. he has taken nothing off the table. >> and we'll have more of the john kerry interview later in the program, but joining me first ambassador necklace burns, former ambassador to nato and greece. thanks so much for being with us from harvard today. let's talk about secretary kerry's first trip. obviously syria was a dominant issue. also iran. here you've got prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying yesterday that diplomacy has not worked. coming on the heels of the first talks that are going to lead to more talks. what signal is netanyahu sending, and what signal is joe biden sending as well? >> well, i think the signal that vice president biden was trying to send is that the united states is going to maintain pressure on iran. the sanctions will be kept in place, and the threat of force

to which the vice president alluded yesterday at apac, that's going to be kept on the table as well, and, frankly, andrea, when you are negotiating, it's always positive. it's always important to have that kind of leverage behind you. i think the iranians will negotiate more readily if they believe that the united states does have the option to use force and if the sanctions are still hurting the iranian economy. i think that's why the iranians showed up in kazakhstan last week and spoke so positively in the first round of talks. they clearly are being hurt by these sanctions, so the vice president is right. the administration, i think, not to lessen the pressure on the iranian government. i would say this, andrea. not helpful in my judgment for prime minister netanyahu to be saying that diplomacy hasn't worked. we, the united states, have not had a sustained negotiation with the iranians ever on the nuclear issue wherebying it's in our interest to have that. i think what the vice president said yesterday and secretary kerry have been staying every saying. negotiations that will have time and space that we take the time

to try to achieve a diplomatic solution if possible. that is sensible, and it does point to this need for the united states and israel to speak with one voice, close the gap between them and the president will have an opportunity to do that in israel in two weeks time. >> and certainly israel and prime minister netanyahu is trying to set the table for those talks with the president when he gets to israel. setting some very hard bargaining positions for the u.s. and israel visa vi iran. >> right. i understand, you know, prime minister netanyahu has a big problem. he has an iranian government heading towards a nuclear weapon, and that's obviously running across all of israel's interests. it's one thing -- one thing the israelis can expect is that the president is going to have to be very toughly behind them publicly. remember last year the president said that he has israel's back. he will defend israel's security. i expect we'll hear more of that

from the president in two week's time. i do think it's important that the gap between the president and benjamin netanyahu will be narroweded, and the trip is an opportunity to do that. in that respect i would hope that the israeli government would support this negotiating effort by the united states because diplomacy can't be conducted in two weeks. if it doesn't succeed, it shubt be branded a failure. i think it was a mistake for prime minister netanyahu to say that yesterday. it puts too much pressure unrealistically on the american administration. >> speak of diplomacy today secretary kerry said that he hopes that north korea is open to diplomacy but that is certainly not what we're hearing from north korea. north korea is threatening to cancel the 60 year truce, the armistice, with the south if the u.s. and south korea continue scheduled military exercises. this is what ambassador susan rice had to say at the u.n. today as she and the chinese are moving closer to sanction nokt

for thinks latest nuclear test. >> north korea will be subject to some of the toughest sanctions imposed by the united nations. the breadth and scope of these sanctions is exceptional and demonstrates the strength of the international community's commitment to denuclearization and the demand that north korea comply with its international obligations. >> what we're hearing from north korea -- as they race for these sanctions? >> as you well know, north koreans have always been unreasonable in what they've said about their country and about the nuclear issue, but i think they've hit a new low now with these absolutely unacceptable statements about the united states in the last couple of weeks and now this threat to somehow end the armistice of 1953. they won't do that. i think what's going to -- the most important thing that can happen now is what ambassador

rice just talked about. a u.n. security council chapter 7 resolution that would sanction the north koreans further. the chinese have influence with north korea far more than the united states does, and the chinese need to speak in a very tough way, and by signing on to this u.n. resolution, they will do that. i think that's the most important thing to do right now. >> here we are. i'm in doha, and kerry was just yesterday in riyadh. we have saudi arabia and qatar both arming the opposition, and the u.s. resisting. now, secretary kerry said that there is increasing confidence that the aid we do give the opposition is getting into the hands of so-called moderates and not to islamic radicals, but general mattis of cent com has said the opposite. we can't arm the rebels because we don't know where those weapons are going to turn up. which is it? >> well, i think that secretary kerry made a very good first effort last week to now extend

direct aid to the syrian rebels. that was positive. my guess is, andrea, that the administration is going to be really challenged over the next couple of months. there's a risk of a widening of this war into lebanon and possibly into iraq and jordan. we don't want to see that. we're also involved in a proxy war of sorts between the u.s., turkey, the arabs, the europeans on one side. iran and hezbollah in a way russia on the other. we should want to see a result that weakens iran. so i think that will lead the united states over time to increase its assistance to the rebels, and i would think serious consideration at some point has got to be given to arming moderate rebel groups whom we trust and perhaps even engaging in other measures to weaken the assad regime. i think that's on the american interest. it may take some time for the united states to get there, but i do think this trip was a departure. you saw stronger and much more energetic leadership by secretary kerry in the united states than we've seen in the

past many, many months, and i think that's to be encouraged. >> nicolas burns, ambassador, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> coming up next, our daily fix. is your sequester hurting yet? congress has a plan to ease that pain. still ahead, part two of my interview with secretary kerry. what does he think of that bromance in north korea? this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. remember when you said men are superior drivers? yeah. yeah. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? what is that? so weird, right? my agent, tom, said... loenz for every six months you're accident-free... ...but i'm a woman. maybe it's a misprint. does it look like a misprint? ok. what i was trying... [ voice of dennis ] silence. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the safe driving bonus check. are you in good hands? as well as they could

because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. i worked a patrol unit for 17 years in the city of baltimore. when i first started experiencing the pain, it's hard to describe because you have a numbness but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point, i knew i had to do something. when i went back to my health care professional, that's when she suggested the lyrica. once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters,

changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. to hear more of terry's story, visit lyrica.com.

and welcome back from doha. joining me now from washington with the latest on all of that sequester talk and the cia director's suspected confirmation and other news. the washington post chris, our daily fix, and ruth marcus and the washington post. thank you very much. chris, first to you.

let's talk about the cr, the continuum resolution that will be passeded, an extension. john boehner, the house republicans, and they're going to ease the burden somewhat on the military side from the sequester. how is that going to end with house democrats, and is this basically a way of avoiding a shutdown of the government until september 30th? >> well, it's certainly a possibility, andrea. we know that both sides and when i say both sides, i mean congressional republicans and president obama have voiced their desire to avoid the government shutdown. i think no one sort of wants that scenario to happen. particularly after the sequester when no one wanted that to happen. house republicans will take a vote. one thing i think to watch, andrea, is there -- we've seen this in past votes that we assumed would go through. is there any revolt among the most fiscally conservative wing of the republican party about simply passing this through? you know, john boehner is a speaker of the house, but he has struggled in the past. particularly around the fiscal cliff, to deliver the votes he needs for the proposals he wants

to get done. i think it will be a process devoid of drama later this week, but you never know when everybody gets together and votes. >> and it's not like -- it's not like the old days, ruth marcus, where speakers and leaders, minority and majority leaders, could just dictate the terms. >> exactly. and, you know, i think there's something else in addition to what chris mentioned to keep an eye on, which is the question of how much flexibility is built into that continuing resolution, so the republicans want to give -- everybody has agreed that the sequester is idiotic because it is so broad-based, and it affects everything equally and that if you were going to cut this much, you could to it in a much more sensible and flexible way. so the house and the cr wants to give particularly more flexibility to the pentagon to allocate the cuts fairly, but i think it's worth keeping an eye on the willingness or lack of willingness of the white house

and also of senate democrats to build that flexibility into the sequester because i think that's where the fight is going to come. there is going to be some pressure on the white house and senate democrats if these cuts are going to happen to make them hurt less, but they are going to have an interest in keeping the cuts hurting so that they can get the kind of balanced deal that they say is inevitable, so look to that question and look at whether there is any daylight between senate democrats and the white house. >> and on to john brennan. let's talk about the committee vote. senate intelligence chair dianne feinstein announced today that the office of legal counsel is forwarding new memos to answer some of the questions that lindsey graham and others have asked as to the rules of engagement as to targeted killings of americans. it was some of the others on the opposite end of it. we were asking for that. they still have questions about benghazi. it's going to sail through committee we expect. what about the floor vote? are we going to have a director

of central intelligence by the end of the week? chris. >> well, andrea, you know, i always hesitate to predict. i'm going to go back to my first answer on when they vote. you never really know. i think we probably will. i think what senator feinstein announced this morning is there is more information given on drones and more information on the promise of more information on what happened in benghazi. that that would be enough. now, again, john mccain, republican from arizona, lindsey graham, republican from south carolina, have both said over the weekend on the sunday talk shows that they are holding out the possibility of still holding up the john brennan confirmation vote. my guess is at the end of the day they don't particularly after you see some of these concessions from the white house, so my guess is brennan does go through later in the week, and at that point, andrea, you now have all of the major no, ma'am nags that the president made in terms of his cabinet level offices. they all went through. they didn't go through probably

exactly as he planned. chuck hagel may be more contentious, although my guess is they knew it was going to be contentious, but john kerry, chuck hagel, jack lew, and now likely john brennan, so the president is getting the cabinet that he wanted, though, you know, the path toward it was a little bit of a roller coaster. >> owe think quite a bit of a roller coaster, i would say, about chuck hagel, and he still has to prove that he hasn't been damaged internally at the pentagon as a result of that. one question, ruth marcus, you have just been through the college tour experience. i made from talking to you about it in the last year. now, here we have a hoax from the daily princetonian. apparently the editors or the writers wanted to see how fast a rumor could go on campus through social media, so what did they do? they perpetrated a hoax trying to show that malea obama was on campus, which was not the case, and they managed to start the rumor that the president's

daughter, the first daughter, was actually looking at princeton. what does that tell us about social media, and what does it tell us about college journalists? >> well, having been a college journalist once myself, you know, you hope that you have learned more as a grown-up journalist than perhaps you knew as a college journalist. it is a fascinating experiment in social media. i am surprised i didn't hear about it from my children at breakfast this morning because viral is too slow a word to describe how quickly these things spread and how instantaneous and widespread the knowledge is, so i'm not very surprised that everybody bought it and everybody knew it right away. i would like to say having just gone through this trevail of applying to college, very happily, i wish both the obama

girls extreme good luck in their college search, and i think princeton will be a lovely place for her to end up when she does eventually visit it. >> indeed. where her mother went. where her uncle greg robinson went. the picture of the fake doesn't even do justice to the real malea. thanks both to you, ruth and chris. see you later. thanks again. >> thank you. you have a great trip. >> is the dow on a sugar high? thank you. we'll talk about wall street ahead and how does john kerry view his transition from senator to statesman? more of the interview in a moment. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" live from doha only on msnbc. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 seems like etfs are everywhere these days.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 but there is one source with a wealth of etf knowledge tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 all in one place. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 introducing schwab etf onesource™. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's one source with the most commission-free etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 one source with etfs from leading providers tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and extensive coverage of major asset classes... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 all brought to you by one firm tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with comprehensive education, tools and personal guidance tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to help you find etfs that may be right for you. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etf onesource-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 for the most tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free etfs, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you only need one source and one place. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 start trading commission-free with schwab etf onesource. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should carefully consider

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 information contained in the prospectus, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 including investment objectives, risks, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 charges, and expenses. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can request a prospectus by calling schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at 800-435-4000. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 please read the prospectus carefully before investing. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost.. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. back home. a huge winter storm is now heading for the east coast. the weather channel's mike seidel is in chicago. mike, what do we expect, and am i going to be able to land tomorrow night with secretary

kerry? >> well, here in chicago, andrea, we've already seen over 1,100 flights canceled at midway and o'hare. we'll see five to eight inches of snow. we have three on the ground. look at the stevenson expressway. still running in pretty good shape because march sun does a number on the roadways. we have the insulation through the clouds. plus, the temperature is about 32. it's not extremely cold, but this is about a one inch per hour snowfall rate. after it leaves chicago and heads into d.c. later tonight and tomorrow, right now in d.c. we're looking at five to eight inches of snow. it may start out as rain in the district. then go over to wet snowfall. west of d.c. out around dulles and then out towards the shenandoah winchester and those areas and front royal. we could see a foot or more of snow. philadelphia west of town, five to eight inches. then as the storm goes out to sea, it will clip the coast. we're looking at coastal issues. same places we got hit by sandy from new england from the massachusetts coast all the way down to the maryland delaware beaches, minor maybe moderate

coastal flooding at high tide tomorrow and thursday morning, and boston will likely get a significant snowfall. andrea, to answer your question, getting into d.c. tomorrow night will be dicey. the snowfall will probably last until at least midnight tomorrow night. good luck getting back, and enjoy the weather there while you can. >> thanks a lot, mike. maybe i'll stay right here in the persian gulf. thank you very much. meanwhile, we're watching the markets right now. after the dow reaches a new record high, c nrns's brian sullivan, here with the latest from wall street. brooen. >> yeah, andrea. thanks. also, a rare shout-out for my hometown of winchester, virginia, by mike seidel. certainly things are hot other the markets than they are on the ground in virginia and chicago. the dow hitting a new all-time high today. i know it's hard to believe because we think about the pain of the 2008 financial collapse. we think about the still weak housing market nationally. well, guess what, stocks have more than doubled from their lows in march 2009.

really market watchers pointing to two things, andrea. number one, good old-fashioned profits. companies have been in large part making record profit margins. you also have the federal reserve, which is keeping interest rates low, which means that borrowing costs for companies as well as individuals, if you can get the credit, of course, are still down as well, providing also $85 billion a month in buying power for mortgage backed securities and that money has got to go somewhere, and a lot of it has gone to the stock market. an all-time high for the dow jones industrial average. we'll see where we can go from here, but for now all eyes are certainly on the market. hope it's a little warmer where you are there, andrea. get home safe. >> it certainly is. thanks so much. let the good times roll until they don't. next up, john kerry on north korea and that novice diplomat dennis rodman? send me your thoughts on facebook and twitter at mitchellreports. this is "andrea mitchell reports" live in doha, only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] it balances you...

it fills you with energy... and it gives you what you are looking for to live a more natural life. in a convenient two bar pack. this is nature valley. nature at its most delicious. this is nature valley. looking for a litter with natural ingredients that helps neutralize odors. discover tidy cats pure nature. uniquely formulated with cedar, pine, and corn. ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review.

north korea today threatened to cancer its 60 year truce with south korea unless the u.s. and south korea dropped plans for upcoming scheduled joint military exercises. this as secretary kerry said today he hopes north korea will finally engage in real negotiations. here's more of my interview with the secretary of state. >> north korea, speaking of military. there seems to be some movement towards agreement with china on sanctions, u.n. sanctions, against the north for the nuclear test. is it helpful when someone as high profile as dennis rodman goes to pyongyang and calls kim jong un a great friend, his best friend, a nice guy? doesn't that undercut pressure from the west? >> you know what, dennis rodman was a great basketball player, and as a diplomat, he was a

great basketball player. that's where we'll leave it. >> as a diplomat, you have been a senator for decades. you have been your own boss. what's it like to coordinate and as some have suggested in the past regarding secretary clinton, take instructions on foreign policy from people in the white house who, frankly, don't have as much experience as you. this was a problem with your predecessor. >> i think -- there's lots of experience in the white house. please don't diminish that, number one. number two, i'm delight to work for this president, with the president and his advisors. it's a great team. the president has a terrific vision. that's what i came over here to try to reinforce is to really cement a community of action around common values, common economic interests, common security interests, and in europe, we did that, and in rome we made it clear how we would

join together with respect to syria. in egypt we worked hard to try to help a new democracy in the tloez of post rel use, find its economic footing. here in the middle east i have found an extraordinarily strong set of relationships and a renewed interest in peace in the middle east and in other security issues. this has been, i think, working with the president is an honor. i'm privileged that he asked me to do this job. there was nothing as challenging or frankly as rewarding as getting up every day and being able to represent your nation to other countries. our values, the opportunities that we bring to so many places really for such a small investment is exciting to work for, so i'm feeling very excited. >> thank you.

>> thank you. >> and joining me now is the washington post david ignacious and jeffrey goldberg. to you, dennis rodman, given everything that's happening in north korea? >> well, i mean, i actually was thinking dennis rodman might be useful in the middle east peace process. his sense of the absurd might come in handy. that's just my idea. >> indeed. >> that's just my idea. >> if not the tattoos. >> that would be fun. >> not a bad idea at that. well, speaking of the middle east, earlier on the program nick burns said that he thought that what prime minister netanyahu did in his remarks to apac yesterday were not helpful because he was laying too tough a line and being too negative about the diplomacy that is just become engaged. what is your take on that? >> obviously he is setting up for his meeting, which is a very crucial meeting with the president in a couple of weeks many jerusalem. you know, the -- they're going to have quite a bit of time

together. obama obviously wants to talk about iran, but he also wants to talk about the palestinians. the prime minister of israel would rather only talk about iran, and he is sort of pushing publicly now to get president obama to say the toughest possible thing he would be able to say when he goes to jerusalem. i think obviously the nick burns is right more or less right that sanctions are having some impact, and i think netanyahu at different points has acknowledged that fact. i think there is more about previsit posturing. >> now, david, let's talk about syria for a second because what the secretary said today is that they have confidence that the u.s. aid, the nonlethal aid, is getting into the right hands, getting into the hands of legitimate moderate opposition leaders. at the same time testifying today general mattis from cent com said there is a reason not

to arm the opposition because the weapons could get into the wrong hands. what about our posture in refusing the weapons that the occupation leaders pleaded with secretary kerry for when they met him in rome just last week? >> well, the opposition is disappointed that it's not getting everything that it would like for the u.s., but as kerry stressed, this is a kind of joint effort, and things may not be coming directly from the u.s., but the u.s. is aware of them, coordinating the process. i think the reason why it is important to work more closely with the opposition military leadership, kerry has been talking more about the political leadership, but there are efforts to reach out to the presyrian army now for real is that unless they have a stronger, more coherent command and control structure, that country is going to be a mess for the foreseeable future, whether assad falls or not, and so i think the idea of the u.s. getting in, working with people,

getting to know them, those are all positive things. i didn't find it particularly surprising when kerry said, look, we're working as a coalition. some will take care of the arms. we'll take care of the other pieces, and the i think the opposition basically gets it. >> and, in fact, kerry has managed move the needle. this is the first direct aid. jeff goldberg, one of the things that i asked him you heard at the tail end of that interview was about his role. he was a senator. he was his own boss. now he has to answer to the national security counsel, and this is a white house that has been very controlling of its secretaries of state. even hillary clinton had to put up with a lot. how is he going to navigate this, and how is he doing so far? >> it makes it easier when you get your own plane, for one thing. i mean, he was in the senate, and he was his own independent power center, but there are some wonderful perks of this job, and i'm not making light of the role. look, i think, you know, you do

have a centralized bureaucracy making foreign policy, national security policy in the white house. i think -- my initial sense is that those people in the white house have a great deal of respect for senator kerry, for secretary kerry, and there's none of the lingering bad taste, ill will that we remember from the 2008 democratic primary. that had a bigger -- i think we're going to find out over the months and years ahead that that had a much bigger impact -- we think think at the moment. i don't anticipate this being a very rough ride. that said, secretary kerry, for instance, wants to really push hard on middle east peace, and if the president comes out of the middle east in a couple of weeks thinking, eh, this is not going to work, you know, he is not going to give the secretary that much running room.

>> and briefly, david, there is news out of car auk yas where -- they're describing that he is back home in venezuela, and now they've expelled a defense atache which they've accused of u.s. defense attache who they accused of spying on them. it seems we'll have a lot of turmoil coming up in venezuela, one way or the other. >> absolutely. the door is opening now with chavez in his final days. certainly of exercising power. the door is opening for venezuela. it's something they take very seriously. it will be interesting to see in this post-chavez era how brazil falls, whether brazil alines itself as a pro-american force in the region or sort of hit its anti-americanism behind chavez. he won't be able. just to add one thing. i was really struck in your interview with john kerry, he is on the team. i mean, you know, he rate is

happy to be president of the united states. he mentioned kerry more times than he mentioned helms. he wants to be seen as a team player. he didn't mention the d-word, destanding for tom done lan national security advisor, but tom donnell is a strong national security advisor who likes everybody to be in the same direction. for the most everybody is. i thought that was really the theme of your interview. >> indeed. the deputy -- the former deputy national security advisor dennis mcdonough is now the chief of staff. he certainly has to follow the leads from the white house, but he seemed to be very happy doing it. we'll be heading back tomorrow. thank you both very much, and meanwhile, we are following breaking news out of new york city. former secretary of state henry kissinger was admitted to the hospital today to new york presbyterian for observation after a fall. the 89-year-old is expected to be discharged, we are told, from the hospital later today. he will be 90 in may. >> and up next here maryland

congressman elijah cummings joining me for a house plan for a government shutdown at the end of this month. this is a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" live from doha in the persian gulf. only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] feel like you're growing older... waiting to look younger? get younger looking skin fast. with new olay regenerist micro-sculpting cream. with 2 new anti-aging ingredients. visible wrinkle reduction starts day 1. see younger looking skin before you finish one jar. new from olay.

a hairline fracture to the mandible and contusions to the metacarpus. what do you see? um, i see a duck. be more specific. i see the aflac duck. i see the aflac duck out of work and not making any money. i see him moving in with his parents and selling bootleg dvds out of the back of a van. dude, that's your life. remember, aflac will give him cash to help cover his rent, car payments and keep everything as normal as possible. i see lunch. [ monitor beeping ] let's move on. [ male announcer ] find out what a hospital stay could really cost you at aflac.com.

plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+.

john boehner is scheduled a vote on thursday to avert a government shutdown by extending the continuing resolution to keep the government going until september, and also to help the pentagon avoid the worst of the sequester. what about nonmilitary programs, though? joining me now is congressman elijah cummings, ranking member of the house oversight and government reform committee. congressman, thanks for being with us today. what is the -- >> good to be with you. >> what is your posture on the continuing resolution, the boehner approach right now? is this going to pass? >> well, we just got the continuing resolution, andrea, but from what we can see, it

basically puts in cement the sequester cuts, and certainly it does reduces the pay -- freezes the pay for federal employees and does a number of other things that i'm very concerned about. i just came from a hearing where the deputy of the department of education talked about how sequester will definitely affect children who are beneficiaries of title one funding. we also heard from the deputy secretary of transportation who made it clear that we would begin to see very soon all types of flight delays and certainly a loss of job -- loss of days through furloughs of many faa employees. we're going to -- i mean, people are saying that it's not going to be felt, but i promise you, based on what we've heard, that's going to -- we'll be feeling it very soon. >> does that mean you would vote against the cr? that would mean shutting down

the government. that would mean shutting down the government? >> i think the republicans probably have enough votes. they're pretty happy from what i can see to do it without the democrats. again, keep in mind, i'm representing a lot of federal employees and they have taken a big hit with all of these efforts concerning the federal budget. >> indeed. >> and i also have to look at what sequestration is doing to my community. i come from a district where we have a large number of federal contracts and a large number of federal employees. as a matter of fact, the social security administration is smack dab in the middle of my district. i have to look at all of that. >> elijah cummings, congressman, thank you for the update from capitol hill. >> thank you. what political story will make headlines in 24 hours? that's right ahead live from doha, qatar, only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance in sync?

try align. it's the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align. ♪ need help keeping your digestive balance in sync? try align. it's a probiotic that fortifies your digestive system with healthy bacteria 24/7. because your insides set the tone. stay in the groove with align. this is what it's like... paying full price for a hotel room. and this is what it's like getting a high-end hotel room for 45% off published prices... ... with travelocity's top secret hotels. ooo, tingly.

you know you could just use bengay zero degrees. medicated pain relief you store in the freezer. brrr...see ya boys. [ male announcer ] bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. [ bop ] [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8.

chris cillizza is back with us now. look at the next 24. let's talk about the fact that lindsay graham says that the president has calleded him and wants to do a big budget deal. the president's now reaching out to republicans. does that tell you that maybe there's going to be some break in the log jam? >> well, i mean, i think we can all be hopeful, andrea, that a break is possible and a deal is possible. i would say if you look at gallup poll over the weekend and a poll and president obama's approval numbers drop a little bit. republicans still getting more of the blame for the sequester than the president and evening out a little bit more and maybe that brings all sides to the table here. what's interesting, we have seen some movement on immigration in congress on a bipartisan way. on guns to a certain exat the present time. but to a certain extent.

at least they're talking. what we haven't seen is debt and spending and budget and been no negotiations to break off. there have been no negotiations at all. maybe this is the sort of first step toward that which i think would be a good thing no matter where you come from on the political spectrum. >> and chris cillizza, always there. thanks so much, buddy. you will be sitting in tomorrow while i'm flying home. so thank you for that, as well. and that does it for us for this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" tonight. today rather. today in doha. "news nation" is next with tamron hall. is it when you've when left work behind,ise? and only the waves remain? is it when stress is replaced by serenity? there's no one answer. but when the moment arrives... ...everything will be perfectly clear.

behold...the islands of the bahamas.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 playing this and trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so i'm always looking to take 'em up a notch or two tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and schwab really helps me step up my trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 now i can use their most powerful platform, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 streetsmart edge, on the web. tdd#: 1-800-345-255 so i get their most advanced tools on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i've also got a dedicated team of schwab trading specialists. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 all this with no trade minimums. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and only $8.95 a trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after all, i'm in this to win, right? tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 open a schwab account and you can earn up to $600 cash tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and 150 commission-free online trades. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-888-484-3932. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions