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leads to what is our ultimate goal, which is a comprehensive agreement, that will make the world safer. >> so is the world more dangerous or safer? and what exactly is the deal? we have reports from switzerland, israel, washington, and london. back in the states, a deadly storm. freezing rain, snow, and winds through the southwest, heading east in time for the holiday. details in a live report. hello, everyone. welcome. it's high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." new reaction from john rkerry ad others reached a deal with iran over its nuclear program. it comes after tense negotiations in geneva, switzerland.

>> when you're dealing with nuclear weapons, it's not an issue of trust. as the old saying goes, trust but verify. verification is the key. and president obama and i have said since the beginning we're not just going to verify or trust and verify, we're going to verify and verify and verify. we have to know to a certainty so that israel, gulf states, ourselves, nobody can be deceived by what is taking place. >> president obama reacted from the white house last night. >> while today's announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal. for the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the iranian nuclear program and key parts of the program will be rolled back. >> the white house says the six-month deal will see iran halt uranium enrichment above 5% and neutralize its stockpile.

they'll also halt progress on its enrichment capacity and provide access to nuclear inspectors. in exchange, the u.s. and its allies will offer iran some modest relief from economic sanctions and no new sanctions will be imposed. if this interim deal holds, the parties will negotiate final stage agreements to ensure iran does not build nuclear weapons. in response, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said his nation is not bound by this interim deal, calling it, quote, a historic mistake. >> israel has many friends and allies, but when they're mistaken, it's my obligation to speak up clearly and openly and say something. it's my solemn responsibility to protect and defend the one and only jewish state. >> let's get to geneva where this historic deal happened.

>> reporter: in the very early hours of this morning, iran and western powers took a very important first step in trying to resolve this nuclear issue that's been going on for over a decade right now. iran made some major concessions on its nuclear program, has said they would stop building up the reactor, would not enrich past 5%, and they would dilute their stockpiles of 20% enriched uranium. in return, they're getting some minor sanctions relief. they're going to be able to trade in gold and other precious metals. they're going to be able to get auto parts and plane parts, which they've been unable to get. this is certainly going to boost the iranian economy. already today the real is making a huge come back after being on the down for quite a long time right now. i've been speaking to people in iran. there is a sense of euphoria in iran. they feel that they're coming out of the cold now, that the economy in iran may be revived, and iran may be on the road to return. this is much to the chagrin of

the israelis and the saudis, but there's still a long time to go on this deal. this was, as secretary kerry said, a first step over a six-month period. now there's going to be more intense negotiations over the next six months to see what they're going to hammer out. is iran going to be willing to give up some of their centrifug centrifuges? as it stands right now, they're pretty much holding on to their nuclear structure, but they've given up some of the sensitive parts that could be aimed towards making a bomb. as secretary kerry said, this is going to be a very, very long second step to this stage, but in iran they seem to be happy and in the west they seem to be happy. so we have to see what happens over the course of the next six months. ali arouzi, nbc news, geneva. >> all right, ali. thanks so much. now to the white house with luke russert. what's the reaction like? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, alex. last night obviously president obama went before the nation and

talked about the importance of this deal. but just this morning, republicans are already speaking out against it. let's take a listen. >> diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure. a future in which we can verify that iran's nuclear program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. >> my greatest concern throughout this whole situation is the north korean issue. that is you begin relieving sanctions, you end up basically with no deal. so my greatest concern is seeing follow through here. >> reporter: alex, it was not unexpected that the president would come under fire from republicans on this deal as well as some more conservative, hawkish democrats who are closely aligned with israeli security initiatives in congress. even before this agreement came about, there was intense pressure on harry reid to allow a tougher sanctions bill up for

a vote. hence, such a big deal john kerry got this done. but republicans ar, the way thee gone after president obama on this, some have been quite loud. john corn, a republican from texas, saying president obama is doing this to distract from the problems with obama care. what's going to be interesting to see moving forward, though, is to what degree will there be a new sanctions bill possibly in the house representatives and could that go through the senate with democratic support. this could actually lead to president obama having to have his first veto in office, possibly on some time of new sanctions bill if capitol hill does not trust this deal. i'll leave you with this. eric cantor, the only jewish republican in congress, a supporter of israel, last night he offered a sort of measured response to the president's speech. this morning he came out with more forceful language saying

that this agreement was dangerous because of the levels that iran would be able to enrich uranium. it kind of shows you an interesting progression of how republican reaction has been to this deal moving forward, alex. >> yeah, i'm curious. do you think that really something could be done in terms of trying to put the prospect of sanctions back on the table within this six-month time frame? because let's keep in mind what has been negotiated in geneva has a six-month window here. you think they're not willing to let this ride for six months? >> reporter: it's an interesting question because you're going to have a divide in congress where some republicans are going to say this deal is terrible, it's going to put israel at risk, it's going to put our own national security at risk. we have to up these sanctions. that's what's been working. and by the way, suddenly it scores political points on the president by trying to go to the right of him on this. then you'll have democrats say, no, hold the line. i personally think you could see something come out of the house, perhaps, and harry reid will do

his best to try something similar to this tougher sanctions bill, defer it, and let this deal play out. >> okay. luke russert at the white house with that analysis. thanks so much. here's our other big story. a powerful storm slammed some western states is continuing to head east. it's threatening holiday travel plans for millions. at least eight people have been killed in this violent weather. northern arizona has seen snow and sleet. some areas getting more than 15 inches of snow. temperatures just plummeted in the midwest. the snow is falling as the ohio state buckeyes remained unbeaten after rolling over indiana. then at notre dame stadium, it was the coldest game in almost 22 years, but lots of fans still out there bundling up in that 26-degree weather to watch the fighting irish beat byu. the roads were so bad in texas, a tour bus carrying band members of willie nelson crashed. nelson was not on board. the country music singer is now postponing his tour. there were three injuries, though none life threatening. we have nbc meteorologist dylan

dreier tracking the weather for us. we're going to start with janelle klein in fwort, texas. what's it like where you are? >> reporter: pretty good still, in dallas, ft. worth. but this storm is moving from the west. we're already seeing a lot of crashes in west texas and new mexico and of course you mentioned that crash of willie nelson's tour bus. we're seeing road conditions getting worse as we watch here in dallas-ft. worth. we do expect that this storm will get worse before it gets better. it's already hit much of the west and it is not over yet. heavy snow and near white-out conditions brought traffic to a standstill in new mexico saturday. not to mention the high winds. >> it's hard to keep control of your car, especially like if you go under the bridges and stuff. it whips you. the semis, we almost saw a semi jackknife in front of us. >> reporter: in philadelphia, as temperatures begin to drop, workers load up the last few deliveries of firewood before it gets really cold. >> people call us last minute.

ho, oh, no, it's cold and we have to get some wood. >> reporter: officials are calling for a code blue. in the texas panhandle, three people were killed after icy roads triggered a collision between two tractor trailers. it started a chain reaction that sent 20 people to it the hospital. >> this is a weird storm. nobody's really been able to get a handle on it. >> reporter: snow fell hard this week in arizona's north country. flagstaff got more than a half a foot of snow, just in time for the opening of the ski resorts. >> driving up through alpine and you see the snow, i'm like, yes, there's snow on the ground, here we go. >> reporter: in las vegas, little luck at the international airport. rain and low cloud cover causing 90-minute delays at the country's eighth busiest airport for a third day in a row. and at college football stadiums across the midwest, fans tried to stay warm but didn't let a little snow get in the way of the game. so as you can see, the storm

hitting much of the west and not done yet. we will see it now move through the south and toward the east coast. of course, alex, the timing could not be worse with this holiday weekend. we expect a lot of travel problems as this storm gets worse. >> i know, right? you hit the nail on the head right there. thank you so much, janelle. let's go right now to nbc meteorologist dylan dreier, here in the studio. travelers should be expecting what this week? >> they're going to be expecting rain, despite the fact it's so cold out there right now. as this storm moves east, it is going to warm up to the point where we're looking at a very wind-swept rain. so that's going to be the biggest issue for travelers, which of course any rain in the forecast makes a mess of the roadways. right now, though, it is bitter cold. we've got temperatures in most areas in the 20s with the wind whipping around. it feels like we're in the teens in the northeast. feels like 8 degrees in minneapolis. you can see where the snow is falling. it's mostly in the highest elevations still across arizona and also back into new mexico and northern texas. dallas is going to start to see that sleet and freezing rain

shortly, though. a closer look doesn't look like much right now, but as we go into tonight, this whole upper-level low is going to strengthen and create more messy weather. the timing is poor for dallas because as it ramps up overnight, we are looking at the possibility of perhaps a quarter of an inch of ice. any coating of ice on the trees, the power lines, the roadways does make a mess. now, here's a look at a particular computer model. as we go into tomorrow morning, we should be seeing ice in the dallas area, but then it converts into more of a rain event down across the southeast and into parts of atlanta and makes its way up the east coast as we go into tuesday night and wednesday. the winds, especially for high-profile vehicles, will be a huge issue. of course, the torrential downpours with everyone traveling. expect delays at the airports and it's going to be a slow go on the roadways too. >> okay. heads up for that. extra time sounds like. thank you. did u.s. officials hold secret meetings with iran well before a deal was struck with the world? one report says yes. i will talk to one reporter who broke that story. ♪ ♪

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my greatest concern is seeing follow through here. again, this administration is big on announcements, very short on substance. we see that time and time again. the american people are saying that right now all across our country. so my effort, the effort we've put forth in our office is to hold their feet to the fire, to make sure they actually do the things that are part of the u.n. security council agreements. >> that was republican senator bob corker, ranking member on the foreign relations committee, in a new interview today. so will iran follow through on this morning's nuclear deal? and just how much is at stake for president obama? joining me now, democratic congressman adam schiff. thank you for being here. >> you bet. >> your reaction to the deal, first up.

what's it like? >> i think it's a positive step. look, none of this is going to be unmitigated. we certainly don't trust the iranians. we ought to go into this skeptically. it's going to be very hard to reach a deal six months from now. but i think we had to test the iranians to see whether rouhani is sincere, or even if he is, whether he can bring about the kind of change the ayatollah may oppose. so we have to test iran, but we should go into it with our eyes wide open. these inspections are going to have to be vigorous, but i think slowing down, stopping, and rolling back the iranian program as this does in the next six months is better than letting that program proceed at pace while we see if we can get to an agreement. >> i'd like to share with you some reaction from your colleagues, republican one, specifically on capitol hill. house majority leader eric cantor says, quote, i remain concerned this deal does not halt iran's enrichment ca capabilitie

capabilities. it's crucial that distrust butter habut veri verify. finally, here's an interesting tweet. this one comes from senator john cornyn's office. amazing what white house will do to distract from obama care. political fallout for the white house here at home? do you think there's going to be any on this? >> well, you know, some of those quotes, i think, you know, are very policy driven. some are very political. the reality is you can't compare this interim agreement to an ideal agreement. you're never going to get an ideal agreement. of course, i would like to see iran agree just for the relaxation of some of this frozen assets to eviscerate their entire program, but that simply wasn't plausible. so we have to measure this agreement by reality, by what we could obtain and by the alternative, which is that iran

marches forward over the next six months and enriches. it's always easier, alex, to say, no. it's always politically safer to say no. here, i think the responsibility thing to do is to see whether diplomacy can work. not to have trust, but to fully inspect and not to fall in love with this agreement if, in fact, it doesn't produce. but i think we have to try to find out. >> but the scenario you present there, sir, where you see an iran that continues to move forward and continues enriching, what kind of a blow would that be for president obama were that to happen, given this deal last mig night? >> i think more than a blow to the president, i think it would be a blow to the efforts to resolve this diplomatically and peacefully. if we get down the road and iran cheats on this agreement or we can't reach a final agreement and they decide that they're going to continue with a nuclear weapons program, then they're going to make the military option the only option left on the table. that's not going to be a good outcome for anyone. so this is more important, i

think, than the political impact on the president. you know, this is an issue of whether we can give diplomacy a chance a final chance, perhaps, to succeed. but time will tell. and again, it's going to be very tough to get to a meaningful agreement six months from now. i think we have to be realistic about that. >> two of america's most powerful allies in the middle east, israel and saudi arabia, clearly this deal has rang ld them. do you think any permanent damage has been done? >> i am concerned. i think whenever we're at disagreement with our very close allies in such a public fashion, it's not good for either party. but look, these relationships are vital. the u.s.-israel relationship is still solid. there is very strong support for israel's security needs in the congress and in the administration, but we are going to have disagreements like this. it may be advantageous at some level to, you know, have israel play as tough a card as it is,

both to force, you know, the voracity of this inspection program, keep iran's feet to the fire, but look, we're not going to be in perfect agreement all the time. good allies never are, even the best of allies. but we need to find a way to work through this. >> okay. representative adam schiff. as always, a pleasure. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> let's get more perspective. i'm joined on skype by the dean of the school of the advanced international studies at johns hopkins. professor, i'm glad you're here. you just heard the congressman say this was an important step. how big a step is this for the iranian regime that is viewed for years america as the enemy? >> i think it's historic in that regard. the iranian government has clearly done things it never considered doing before in terms of accepting limits on its nuclear program. it had never signed on to that. also, it had never agreed to publicly sign a deal with the

united states, which he had characterized as the great satan. so it has taken steps it has never done before t. to that extent, it is historic. it may not be the deal we want, but it's an important milestone. it's a steppingstone to something much bigger. >> you were born in tehran. you certainly have a sense of life there now and before the sanctions. how much did sanctions impact daily life and exactly in what ways? >> well, it impacted daily lives in a very serious way. it raised inflation. it created scarcity of everything from food to products that are need ee eed for manufacturing. it created unemployment. it pushed businessmen out of the marketplace. it created a great deal of anxiety among the population. it became very clear that iran would not be able to maintain its economic standing or to address its development needs of the future if it remained

outside of the global economy and it was under severe sanctions. >> i'm curious, who or what forced this deal in iran? was it the awareness that there would be future unrest if something was not done about this economy under the sanctions, or was it the election of president rouhani? >> well, the election of president rouhani had to do with that realization. and it is not only a matter of political unrest in iran, because his election actually reduced the chances of unrest, but rather it was that iran realized that it's not going to be able to continue to grow as a country to address its own domestic needs, to build its development needs. it cannot become what it needs to be and address the aspirations of its people if it's suffering under sanctions, if it's dealing with 45% inflation rate with 35% unemployment rate, if its factories are being shut down, if its businessmen can't do business. the realization was that you can tolerate that situation for some

time, but you cannot tolerate it forever without really degrading the foundations of your country. so i think that's the realization there, that they need to get back in to the global economy and the only way to do that is through a deal with the united states and its allies on the nuclear program. >> okay. speaking of those allies, though, israel, as you are well aware, has said they're not going to recognize this deal, that it still has the right to take any action it would care to against iran. do you think that prospect, though, is now significantly diminished with this deal? >> i think a deal is a positive step. i think the difference between the united states and israel's position is that israel wants a final deal now, whereas the united states realized that it cannot get to a final deal without having a current deal. it cannot be all or nothing. because these two countries have had no relationships among them, have never made a deal between them, and it's a tall order to think that they could do into a meeting in three days and for

iran to give up everything all at once and the united states be able to come away with saying we've got the job done. this is going to be a slow process. it's a step-by-step process. and i think israelis worry that now iran -- the pressure on iran may soften. but this is the element of diplomacy. if we want to get to a deal with iran f we don't want to go to war with iran, we have to try this and try to make it a success. it's not a given this will succeed in these six months. there's a lot to do by both sides to make sure that six months from now we have a way forward. >> exactly. all right. well, professor, thank you very much for your time. we look forward to talking with you again. >> thank you. the least influential celebrity of the year. it is on today's list of number ones, and it's next. it's donut friday at the office. and i'm low man on the totem pole. so every friday morning they send me out to get the goods. but what they don't know is that i'm using my citi thankyou card at the coffee shop, so i get 2 times the points. and those points add up fast.

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i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." just past the half hour. afghanistan's president says he won't immediately sign a security deal with the u.s. hamid karzai spoke after the jurga recommended to ago ahead with the agreement. the death toll stands at 52 after a massive explosion in eastern china. an oil pipeline ruptured, caught fire, and blew up friday. that blast was so powerful it flipped cars. a scare for shoppers in new jersey after a jitney bus crashed into a store in atlantic city. investigators say an suv ran a red light and broadsided that bus. three people were sent to the hospital. after 35 years of stalemate and at times outright

aggression, the u.s. and its allies have reached an interim nuclear deal with iran. so how did it happen after just a few rounds of negotiations? well, a new article out this morning from the associated press details covert meetings between american and iranian officials that took place over this last year without the allies' knowledge. joining me now, one of the co-writers of that article, matthew lee, state department correspondent for the associated press. this is a bomb shell of a story, matthew. thank you for coming on to talk with us. how did these meetings start, and who reached out to whom? >> well, these meetings started back about eight months ago in oman. it was the united states, it was president obama trying to figure out if, in fact, there was a channel through which he, through which the u.s. could communicate with the iranians. and those initial talk -- or the initial meeting in march then took on an added emphasis in

august after the inauguration of the new president, rouhani, who the administration saw as being more flexible and more moderate and willing to engage. there were four meetings after rouhani's inauguration. this was done in complete secrecy. no one knew about them. no one in congress. none of the allies, including israel, until immediately after the u.n. general assembly when prime minister netanyahu came to washington and the president told him about what was going on. subsequent to that, there were two more meetings at which this deal that we saw come together early this morning or last night really came together. >> okay. before asking more details about these meetings, i just want to ask, diplomacy like this, which is done behind closed doors, not announced, that can be perceived as being routine. i mean, that happens. but these players doing it, how unusual is that?

>> well, that is one thing that's very striking. there's several other things very striking about this. one of them is the risk that the president was taking in doing this. the second one is the total secrecy in which it was happening. the third is the fact these were not just one-off discussions. they were sustained, and they went on over a period of time. in terms of the risk, this is a very high-risk, high-reward scenario, if it succeeds. if it fails, you know, we could be looking at something close to a catastrophe. in terms of the who is doing it, yes, that is incredibly unusual as well. you had the deputy secretary of state bill burns and vice president biden's national security adviser jake sullivan taking these clandestine flights to oman and elsewhere to have these meetings to which no one was supposed to know about. and no one did know about. >> although you and your

colleagues have been investigating these meetings since last spring. so what did you know at the time, and did you think it was leading up to a deal like the one we got in geneva last night or early this morning? >> certainly not back in march when we first heard about it. shortly after this first meeting, which was kind of a test to see whether this channel would work, whether oman was a good place to have it and whether the iranians who were then under president ahmadinejad, very hard line, very antagonistic toward the west, to test whether the iranians were willing to have such a channel of communication. at that point, no, we did not know that it was going to eventually lead to a deal. because at that point, the nuclear talks were really kind of going nowhere. the iranians had not shown much of a willingness under president ahmadinejad to engage. so when rouhani came in and they used this channel, which they had tested in march, i think that was kind of -- they were pleasantly surprised to see that the iranians at least were

willing, had the appearance of willing to engage. >> matthew, did you not report this at the time when you first got wind of it because of the nature of this, the delicate nature of what was going on, or were you asked not to report it? >> no, what happened was that we -- when we went to the administration with our -- with what we knew about this initial meeting, they disputed elements of it. we really couldn't confirm it to our standard. and it wasn't until the fall, until, in fact, august, september, october, and then of course november when the deal came together, that it became clear that there was, in fact, a sustained, secret, high-level discussion going on. remember back between march and august, there was really nothing. the administration was waiting for the iranian election to see who became the new president. i think they were pleasantly surprised when rouhani won and was willing to continue the

talks through this secret channel. >> all right. from the ap, matthew lee. matthew, thanks so much. great story. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> now let's get reaction from israel. to do that, our reporter from tel aviv joins us. what's the reaction there? >> reporter: well, israel's political leadership are deeply worried by this deal. there is a straightforward reason for that, and it is that israel and israelis feel threatened by iran in a way that the countries and the people who live in the countries that negotiated the agreement do not. tel aviv is a lot closer to tehran than london or new york, and this was the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's reaction to the announcement to the deal this morning. >> iran is taking only cosmetic steps, which it could reverse easily within a few weeks. and in return, sanctions that took years to put in place are going to be eased. iran is going to receive

billions of dollars worth of sanctions relief. >> reporter: now, the united states and israel like to present a united front diplomatically when it comes to dealing with the iran. the reality is there's a difference. the united states wants to stop iran from getting a nuclear bomb. israel wants to stop iran from being capable of building a bomb. it is that difference that explains why america has made this deal with the iranians in the face of israeli objections. >> the president says this is the first step to reaching a more comprehensive agreement with iran. what would israel like to see added to it? >> reporter: well, what israel wants i don't think it's going to get. it wants all the centrifuges destroyed and all of the -- and a ban in iran on enriching uranium. you can't get bogged down in uranium enriched to whatever percentage and how many

centrifuges there are. the really important commodity in all of this is time. let's say iran is around a year, maybe a little bit more, from getting a nuclear weapon. what this deal has done is make sure it stays like that for another six months. so over the course of the next six months, israel will keep up the rhetoric so that it maintains the military pressure on iran and influences as much as it can that final grand bargain the united states and the world powers are trying to make with iran. >> okay. garaint vincent, thank you very much from tel aviv. nasty weather is on the move. what could it mean for your thanksgiving travel plans? we'll tell you. [ laughter ]

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leads to what is our ultimate goal, which is a comprehensive agreement, that will make the world safer. >> two views of the historic nuclear agreement between the u.s., its allies and iran. for more on the reaction from capitol hill, i'm joined by democratic congressman john delaney. welcome to you, representative. i want to get your reaction to the deal. what is it? >> well, you know, it's my view that it is an important first step, but i also think we have to be very cautious. many details still need to emerge about how the deal will be implemented across the next six months. obviously, there's the final accord that has to be reached, which is the most important step in this process. and i think i, like many people, are particularly focused on what will the methods of verification and enforcement, if you will, that will exist to make sure that the representations that are made in the deal are actually enforced. but i do think it's an important first step, and i think the

secretary of state should be congratulated on achieving that step. >> we just heard from the associated press' matthew lee. he talked about the white house having been in these clandestine talks for a year now. did you, sir, have any inkling of that? >> i didn't have any inkling of the specific discussions that were going on. i mean, i was aware of the larger process that was going on, of course. but specific conversations that were had between different nations or countries represented in this accord i wasn't aware of any specific conversations that were going on. >> do you see any economic implications for the u.s. if relations with iran are fully thawed? >> well, if relations with iran are fully thawed and iran agrees to a future that's consistent with a way we see the future for the region and if they agree to permanently and with complete scrutiny and complete verification only engage in a

nuclear program for peaceful reasons, if we were to get to that standard and we were to know that standard were enforced and that were to lead to continued thawing of economic sanctions, that's ultimately virtuous for all the economies of the world. the more that economies are integrated with the world economy, the better for everyone. but we're a long way from where we are today to that point. >> all right. let's switch topics with you, sir. we're going to talk a bit about the budget deadline. they have until december 13th to reach a deal. where do you put the chances of it happening? >> listen, i remain optimistic that we can get something. the reason i feel that way is because i think the facts are so compelling that we need to do something. i mean, the facts before the budget committee are pretty clear. a lot of americans are out of work, which is a problem. the standard of living of the average american is under pressure. our long-term fiscal trajectory is not sustainable. i think the country's given the budget conference a clear

message, that they're incredibly disappointed with the way washington has conducted itself over the last several months. you would think in that context the message would be received by members of the committee that they should do something. so i think i remain somewhat optimistic based on the facts that are before them. i think it would be a great disappointment if nothing were to come out of the conference committee. >> i want to take a revisit here to the op-ed you wrote in "the washington post" about all this this week. you noted the loudest voices in the conference room right now are the most partisan. is there anything that's going to change that? >> well, you know, i think what will change that is -- since we're talking about the conference in particular, i think the members of that conference committee really do need to check their partisanship at the door. they really need to look at what's going on in this country and realize what has to be done. and i think they should be held very, very accountable as individuals if nothing comes out of this conference because i don't think we can tolerate a culture of no accountability any longer where people go to these committees and do nothing and

blame the other side. at some point, they have to shoulder some of the responsibility themselves. so you know, i think the loudest voices are the most partisan right now, but i think the american people need to continue to deliver a clear message that we need solutions. in my op-ed in the papers this week, i talked about how there's a natural point of agreement, i believe, that could be reached in this conference about how we could make some tax policy reforms and use some of the -- that framework to make investments that everyone agrees we need, like in infrastructure, which is the piece of legislation i've been pushing, which involves tax policy changes and provides flexibility for us to invest in our infrastructure. that's a very bipartisan idea. we have 25 democrats and 25 republicans on the bill. and at a minimum, things like that should be coming out of this conference. and i think for the members of the conference committee, it's a great opportunity for them to do something positive, you know, at the end of this year that the american people can acknowledge is a step forward. >> all right. representative john delaney,

many thanks for your time. >> thank you. a potential nightmare lies ahead for thanksgiving travelers this week. many are expected to encounter delays as a bitter cold front moves from the west to the east. ron blome is in oklahoma city, where the roads have been slick. and there have been a few crashes to report. ron? >> reporter: alex, when they said it was going to be a wintry mix, they meant it in many ways. we've a mix of everything over five hours today. it started with little pebbly sleet and got to chunky sleet like a snow machine kicking it out, then we went to heavy snowflakes, back to sleet, back to snowflakes. right now it's letting up. it will kind of continue to slacken off here in oklahoma city. that doesn't mean it's not a big problem in oklahoma. it's now moving northeast towards tulsa. it's moving east along i-40 and down near dallas. they've got freezing rain moving in. all of this, though, this five hours has left the streets out here just covered with about three-quarters of an inch of this solid, packed down material. it's about 27 degrees here, so this is freezing off, especially

on the side roads. the main roads are getting a little bit of melting. but that's going to be a problem. as this eases up this afternoon, people may say, oh, a little e relief. not so. over new mexico right now, another system of this form is forming up and will come in early tomorrow morning. the bottom line is transportation is not happening well on the ground in oklahoma all the way down to texas. they've got 30 salt trucks out here working, but there's only so much they can do. it's best to take advantage of sunday afternoon and stay indoors. that's the story from oklahoma city. alex? >> okay, my friend ron blome. please get out of the street. they're slick streets. i want you up on the side quickly. thank you very much. how is the world reacting to the historic new deal with iran? we have a report from london. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.

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the world is reacting to this deal with iran. nbc's ayman mohyeldin is joining me from london. what's the reaction been so far from the international community?

>> reporter: well, for the most part the countries that signed the agreement have been welcoming this news, some expressing a little bit more cautious optimism than others. really, those closest to iran, those that have had some very major political differences in the region, particularly in the persian gulf and middle east, have expressed serious reservations about this deal, particularly israel. israel, which has been at odds with the regime in tehran for some time, has come out and said this is not a historic agreement and has woarned about this deal. more importantly, in the persian gulf countries that, including saudi arabia and others, the united arab emirates came out and officially welcomed the news, saying this was a good step forward. but other sources indicate that there are many differences in the persian gulf, particularly saudi arabia, which is very concerned about this deal at this point. >> do you think the world is ready to accept an iran that is not going to pursue nuclear development for a nuclear arms

race? >> reporter: well, it's important to keep in mind that's the narrative that is put forth by many in the west, particularly. that they believe that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. however, the iranian government and others say it does have a right to nuclear technology as other countries do it. it's not so much a matter about whether the west or international community is willing to accept iran, but whether or not that narrative can be proven to be true, which is that iran is indeed only pursuing nuclear technology. there are many other reasons why there are so many doubts about whether or not the region can be nuclear free as we probably have reported in the past. many countries have accused israel of having nuclear weapons. other countries have also said if iran does pursue nuclear weapons technology, they, too, can develop their own nuclear weapons. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin in london. thanks. is the criticism of this historic deal fair?

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is the best part of the holidays and cheerios is happy to be part of the family. you just ate dallas! a nuclear deal with iran. does it make the u.s. and the world a safer place? not everyone is sold, but why? plus, it's a deadly blast of wintry weather. where is it now, and how will it affect your holiday travel plans? >> a new study on the plight of those living in poverty. the findings might make you look at people differently. hello, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." just past 1:00 p.m. in the east. world leaders are certainly reacting to the interim deal reached between western powers and iran over the islamic republic's nuclear program. here's secretary of state john kerry today in geneva after days of lengthy negotiations.

>> we have kept the basic architecture of the sanctions of staying in place. there's very little relief, and we are convinced that over the next few months, we will really be able to put to the test what iran's intentions are. >> under the six-month agreement, the white house says iran will halt uranium enrichment above 5% and neutralize its stockpile of the near 20% enriched uranium. the country will halt progress on its enrichment can -- capacity. if this interim deal holds, the parties will negotiate final stage agreements to ensure iran does not build nuclear weapons. here's reaction from president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> because of this agreement, iran cannot use negotiations as cover to advance its program. on our side, the united states

and our friends and allies have agreed to provide iran with modest relief while continues to apply our toughest sanctions. >> like the agreement with north korea in 2005, this agreement has made the world a much more dangerous place. i know that many share the concern of israel. >> let's get more reaction from the white house. nbc's luke russert is there for us. so luke, what are you hearing lately? >> reporter: well, the obama administration is quite pleased they were able to pull off this deal. they view it as historic, alex. something that hasn't happened in over 34 years, dating back to the iranian hostage crisis. this type of back-and-forth dialogue. however, republicans are striking a different tune. take a listen. >> because of this agreement, iran cannot use negotiations as cover to advance its program. on our side, the united states and our friends and allies have agreed to provide iran with

modest relief while continues to apply our toughest sanctions. >> you have to be able to hold their feet to the fire on these negotiations because once before we had an agreement with iran, they walked away from it and the iaea had an agreement with iran and iran went ahead and built an enriched facility building and lied to the iaea about that. >> reporter: alex, these criticisms from republicans are not unexpected. mainly because a lot of them have always viewed president obama to be weak when it comes to the topic of israel's security. however, he's also going to take some fire from some democrats. chuck schumer, a very close ally of the white house, released a statement this morning saying he was disappointed in this deal because iran would be allowed to continue their uranium enrichment and the sanctions would be dialed back. a lot of folks on capitol hill, both republicans and democrats, feel that the sanctions are the

reason as to why they've actually been brought to the bargaining table and that the sanctions should be upped in order to extract better concessions from them in the future. interestingly enough, chuck schumer also pointed out in a statement that he would not be surprised if democrats and republicans joined together in december to put forward tougher sanctions in the form of a bill. i've spoke to aides on the house side -- republican, rather. they say that's definitely a possibility. it will be interesting to see what happens there. you could see even while this deal is being negotiated, a longer term one within the confines of this six-month temporary deal, new sanctions come from capitol hill. that could put the president in a very difficult position, especially if they're bipartisan sanctions. but nevertheless, here at the white house they view this as a historic day, a historic agreement. if you look back at the context of it, alex, in terms of where iran was just ten years ago in terms of the axis of evil comment that president bushes made, they say substantial progress has been made and their idea to negotiate with these bad

actors have been vindicated. >> you make a good point about the democrats not all entirely being on the same page. you have senator diane feinstein who says she's totally in support of what was just happening. interestingly, senator bill nelson says, it's a choice between a pause or an imminent war. i choose a verifiable pause. interesting perspective there. okay. luke, thank you very much from the white house. let's get reaction from capitol hill. i'm joined by independent senator angus king. welcome, senator. i'm glad you're here. i want to ask you about your reaction to the deal. >> sure, alex. thank you. >> so what do you think -- >> well, my reaction is guardedly optimistic. look, there are only two ways to deal with this. one is a war and one is negotiations. negotiations have to start somewhere. this strikes me as a promising start. you've got essentially a six-month pause freezing of the enrichment program and modest dialing back of the sanctions. this is a delicate moment.

i'm frankly concerned about the idea of putting on more sanctions in december because from what i understand, there's considerable dispute within iran about this. the hardliners are suspicious. they don't believe that the west is really going to pull back on the sanctions. you know, this is not a no-cost decision. if we put on additional sanctions and the iranians walk, we may have set this process back. we're then on some kind of course toward them developing a nuclear weapon. so i think this is a case of trust a little and verify a lot. and clearly we've got to look at the details, and we've got to see what's being proposed in the congress. i believe diane feinstein and bill nelson had it right. we've got to give this process a chance, be sure they're not using the time to gain nuclear capability, but in the meantime

this could be the breakthrough that we've been looking for, for 25 years. >> as you know, sir, the president faced a pretty strong criticism from this from a large group in congress, from israel, from america's sunni allies in the east. do you think they're all wrong? >> no, i don't think they're all wrong. i think they're all raising red flags quite properly and this is an important step. i'm not sure what the alternative is. the sanctions that we have now are brutal. they're having an effect. that's why these people are at the negotiating table. i don't think there's much doubt of that. the new leadership wants to do something about the economic effect of these sanctions. the question is, how do we proceed? and it strikes me that the negotiators have reached a -- it's important. this is not the deal. this is a first step in a deal that attempts to freeze the development, freeze the enrichment process in exchange for a partial relief of the

sanctions, and if it doesn't work, if they cheat, if they're caught cheating, if they lie, the sanctions can always be ratcheted up virtually on a moment's notice. the other piece that isn't getting much discussion is people are talking about this is obama and the iranians. in fact, this is a negotiated deal with the entire security council plus germany. this is an international negotiation that's going on here. it's not just us. and as i say, i think we have to be really careful that we not do something that will undermine the process of negotiations to the point where we're back to literally armed camps not talking to each other. as i said at the beginning, there are only two ways to solve this. one is war, which isn't an appealing alternative. the other is negotiations. >> as you're well aware, there's a lot of disagreement over the

iranians' real ambitions. israel thinking they want to bomb. iran saying, no, this is not what we're doing, this is one of the greatest jokes of history. that may be an extreme statement, but what is the intelligence that you are hearing? >> we have not had a briefing at the intelligence committee in the last several days on this issue. we had a briefing on afghanistan last week. i'm sure we will be being briefed on this. i don't think there's any question iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. it's some kind of international badge of respectability. i also know the sanctions are really hurting. i think the iranian people are saying, is it worth it? that's exactly what we want them to say. so i think they have been on this course. the question s how do we divert them from it?

we have to be careful. there was a supposed deal with north korea ten years or so. it didn't work. and they are went ahead. i think -- i know many members of congress remember that experience. that's why i said, you know, trust a little and verify a lot. this has to be carefully monitored, very small steps, but i think they're steps in the right direction. in my sense, this recent election in iran did represent a change of direction at least partially, and this new president is trying to do something about the economy, but there are hardliners. that's why it's problematic to say, well, we're going to put on new sanctions in the middle of this process before we see whether it's even going to work. on the one hand, you say, that'll increase the pressure. on the other hand, it may give the hardliners the right-of-way to say, yeah, see, these guys can't be trusted. we're going to walk away and go

on our own pace toward this nuclear weapon. that's why this is a delicate moment, in my view. >> senator, do you see a day in the near future where relations between the u.s. and iran are fully normalized, or is it always going to be more of a detente? >> well, you know, fully normalized, that's going to take a long time. although, you know, we're now negotiating a free trade agreement with vietnam. i think if you'd have told people in the '60s we were going to be doing free trade agreements with the republic of vietnam, they would have said, oh, that'll never happen. so, you know, history has a way of changing perspectives. but listen, the priority now is the prospect of a nuclear armed iran, which is not in anybody's interest. not in israel's, not in the middle east, not in america. the question is, how do we do something about it? the answer is through step-by-step, carefully verified negotiations.

and it is, as they say, a difficult and delicate process. there are no clear answers. if it were, we wouldn't be discussing it here. it would be easy. but there may be a time when we have more normalized relationships with iran, but i'm not predicting that. i'll settle for getting rid of the nuclear weapon capability. >> senator angus king, many thanks for your time. i appreciate it. >> yes, alex. thank you very much. and here's a quick note. news of the nuclear deal immediately increased the value of iran's currency. it rose more than 3% against the dollar on the news. as one trader put it, we're feeling the positive sentiment in iran. let's go now to the other big developing story. that's the weather. a nasty storm system out there killed eight in the west. it's headed east, promising to stir up trouble for the millions traveling for thanksgiving. residents in new mexico are bracing for another hit. >> it's hard to keep control of your car, especially like if you go under the bridges and stuff.

it whips you. the semis -- we almost see a semi jackknife in front of us. >> well, dylan dreier is here with more. >> hey, alex. as this storm continues to move eastward, we are going to see it turn into more of a rain and wind event. despite the fact that it's 20 degrees in chicago, 22 in kansas city, it's only 34 in dallas. that's why dallas has been right on that borderline between rain and freezing rain. windchills are well down into the single digits and teens across most of the country. the snow is still coming down through new mexico and into northern texas and into oklahoma as well where we have already picked up over a foot of snow in some areas. now, in dallas itself, a major airline hub, we are looking at the freezing rain to take hold, even though it's not that bad right now. as we go into tonight and this storm ramps up a little bit, we are looking at some of that freezing rain to continue to coat trees and power lines. power outages will be an issue and the roads will be very slick with as much as a quarter of an

inch of ice accumulating in the dallas area, also across west-central texas. watch what happens as we go into tomorrow morning. over the course of the day on monday, we are going to see this run into some warmer air. it is going to be very windy and rainy and stormy across the southeast, but it comes in the form of rain. and that's basically what it's going to do as it makes its way up the eastern seaboard. wednesday w up and down that 95 corridor, it looks like mostly rain but a very heavy rain and very windy too. we will still see delays at airports, even though it's not snow, and the roads will be slow going because of the heavy rain. alex? >> thanks for that heads up. appreciate it. there was a key vote in afghanistan today about the new security agreement with the u.s. what does it mean for u.s. troops? that's next. . know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours.

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more now on the major developing news of this iran

nuclear deal. the leaders in geneva were all smiles this morning, but will it work? israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu doesn't think so, and he made his position clear this morning. >> israel is not bound by this agreement. we cannot and will not allow a regime that calls for the destruction of israel to obtain the means to achieve this goal. we will not allow iran to have a nuclear weapons capability. >> joining me now is a former cia military analyst and research fellow at the new american foundation, and a visiting professor at georgetown who served on the senior staff of the national security council under president reagan. so with a welcome to the both of you, we'll go ladies first here. what's your reaction to this deal? >> my reaction is we saw what happened yesterday, last night, through the night. this is exactly what's supposed to happen. you're supposed to put in strong, punitive sanctions over a long period of time, and you're supposed to engage in secret talks and public talks to

reach a diplomatic outcome. this is the first step in what's going to be a long and comprehensive road map that's going to need to occur not just in the next six months but beyond that. i think what we saw last night is we saw how diplomacy and sanctions work together to reach an interim agreement, which is not perfect. it's not expected to be perfect. after 34 years of not talking to the iranians, you're not going to get a perfect deal at the end of the day. i think this is a step in the right direction. it remains to be seen. we can't just blindly trust them. we need to verify. i think secretary kerry made the case that's what we're looking to do over the next six months. >> raymond, your reaction? >> well, sanctions are not like a spigot where you can turn them on or off. sanctions, once they begin to unravel, will create a momentum of their own. for example, companies will lobby their countries to say, let's cut a deal for souse we can do better with respect to the rial. alex, you mentioned yourself the rial has appreciated 3% in value. this says the regime is stronger

than ever, and it signals to it the iranian people they have no hope of peacefully turning over this unelected regime. the national council in iran based in paris has extensive influence in iran and will be disheartened by this. so will the saudis. >> tara, we've been listening to benjamin netanyahu. is this saber rattling on his part, or do you anticipate israel taking major action or some sort of sabotage campaign? >> i don't think it's saber rattling, but i'm not sure what there is for israel to do at this point. i think they're going to need to watch just like the rest of the international community. historical historically, you can turn sanctions on and off. that's what sanctions are designed to do. there's different kinds of sanctions. in this case, we've provided limited relief through, you know, president obama's provided limited relief in the name of $6 billion to $7 billion with a lot of sanctions still in place. so, you know, treasury

department is still going to be monitoring sanctions that are currently in place. iran is still going to be suffering costs from those sanctions and they're not going to see those removed unless we see progress over the next six months. >> but tara, can you see, though, to israel their concerns? we're asking them -- this deal is asking them to have more patience. we're talking about something that has been 34, 35 years in the works. there's a lot -- that can blow up on a dime in a year or so if intelligence reports are correct. >> i absolutely agree. i think that's why we should not be trusting the iranians at face value. that's why it's very important that it's part of this deal there are unprecedented levels of access and inspections at the facilities we've been concerned about. so we've seen an extensive inspections regime put into the agreement. that's really the key part here. if you look back historically at sanctions, my research looked at over 100 sanctions. you never get states to change their behavior. you never get them to do what the united states wants them to do unless you engage with them

diplomatically. this helps even for israel. israel should want diplomatic engagement. it gets us better intelligence. it gets us more knowledge about the sites. if they do cheat, now they'll be exposed and we'll have a lot more information down the line about how to punish them if we need to. >> the key to this interim deal is working together. the ability to verify that iran is actually following through on their end. look, we have seen inspectors not being allowed in. where do you put the chances this time? >> well, as far as i'm concerned, it's only because of an iranian opposition group that we knew that iran was cheating. it was cheating all over the place. the sanctions regime was placed in effect as a result of this opposition group's intelligence. it wasn't because of the intelligence from israel or the united states or germany and france. it was because of an opposition group, and what we have to do is make sure we turn to -- don't

forget about the iranian people in this equation and not just focus on the regime. the whole sanctions business about the spigot and so forth, once the spigot is turned off slightly, there will be a rush of companies trying to get their countries to do more in terms of sanctions relief so they can make money on iran. >> all right. well, raymond and tara, thank you for the discussion. i appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> thank you. next up, we have an eye-opening new study about what poverty does to your brain. i have low testosterone. there, i said it. see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. that's when i talked with my doctor. he gave me some blood tests... showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% testosterone gel. the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor

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get out and shop small. a new examination on the effects of poverty exposes some of the devastating effects being poor can have on a person's psyche. senior editor of "the atlantic" derek thompson wrote an interesting piece about the study titled "your brain on poverty." derek joins me now. glad to have you here.

interesting article. according to recent census data, one in six americans lives in poverty. that's close to 43 million people. does the science study show that it's being poor that leads to bad decision making and not the other way around? >> exactly. some of us are familiar with this idea of decision fatigue. you have to make a lot of decisions sequentially. your brain gets tired. it imposes a psychological tax. some of us might feel this on black friday. this study suggests there might be something else we could call poverty fatigue. simply not having money enacts its own psychological tax and makes it more difficult to make decisions about finances, about school, about life itself. >> so what does this study underscore about the importance of food stamps and all those other safety net programs designed to help the poorest americans, especially now that these programs have suffered spending cuts by congress? >> there are a lot of policies in the u.s. where we tie cash

rewards to certain sort of behavior. we say, if you work, you are eligible for these kind of tax credits. a lot of welfare itself runs through the tax code, which means it's predicated in a certain way on working. but in fact, what this study suggests is that if not having money makes people worse decision makers, perhaps we should have a policy that gives them money simply for existing. there's a name for this policy. it's a minimum basic income. switzerland is experimenting with it right now. there are a lot of liberal researchers who think it's worth experimenting with the idea here in the u.s. the idea simply that you give people money simply for existing, hoping that them having money will help them make better decisions for their life and their kids. >> and the author of this study is quoted in your piece saying, all the data shows it isn't about poor people, it's about people who happen to be in poverty. all the data suggests it's knno the person, it's the context they're inhabiting. so just explain that right

there. >> sure, it's easy when you have, you know, researchers who are in ivy towers or think tanks looking at poor people make bad decisions with finances or bad decisions with having children or getting married. they're thinking, you know, why are poor people making what appear to be obviously bad decisions? what this study is suggesting is that it's not the poor people, it's the concept of being poor, not having money imposes its own tax. they found out -- they said at one point that it's the equivalent of having 13 fewer iq points. so if we're interested in figuring out the origins of bad decision making within poverty, we shouldn't be looking at the people, we should be looking at the circumstances, at the poverty itself. >> did you get an idea that this study could change policy? >> you know, i am not extremely optimistic about policymaking in the united states these days, but i certainly hope that if more people start writing about this, that it could poplarize ideas like a minimum basic

income, which is a totally humane and fair way to think about equality today. >> all right, derek thompson. thanks so much. >> thank you. if you remember this scene from decades ago, you might be wondering, how did we get here today? we're going to ask three people with unique perspective. zach has his dad's skin. we're both delicate little flowers. and since he's walking, he's become a little stain magnet too. but tide free & gentle cleans better in one wash than that other free detergent. wait what happened? where did those stains come from? [ kelly ] that's my tide, what's yours? [ baby giggles ]

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." a deadly blast of arctic weather is promising to create lots of trouble for millions of travelers hitting the road for the thanksgiving holiday. the storm has already killed eight people in the west. nbc's ron blome in is in oklahoma city. how is it looking this hour? looks like it's getting slushier than it was last. >> reporter: yeah, it is. in fact, we're down to kind of just a light freezing rain, and it's a little brighter. we're getting solar energy melting the road ofs off here. oklahoma's fame to claim of extreme weather conditions.

in western oklahoma, the snow was very deep, 10 to 15 inches. here in oklahoma city, we had five hours of mixed sleet, heavy snowflakes, back to sleet, now this freezing rain. the good news, though, as we said, is that we're getting a little bit of this solar melting so the roads are getting better. that doesn't mean it's going to be safe to get out and drive. it just means you can drive, just slow down and be careful. all this changes overnight. the other half of this system over new mexico is forming up. it's going to push through. there's going to be another round of sleet or snow. by commuter time tomorrow morning, it's going to be even worse. there's also been issues today of people trying to go down south towards dallas because of the freezing conditions there. so this winter storm is not done with oklahoma or this part of the country. in fact, what we got this morning is now drifting to the east and the northeast towards tulsa and ft. smith, arkansas. that's the old weather story from oklahoma, alex.

>> we're glad for the heads up. it is going to create a mess with travel plans. thank you, ron. thank you for getting out of the street and making yourself safe. we're going to get more now on the deal reached between iran and six world powers. here are different takes, one from john kerry and one from benjamin netanyahu. >> this negotiation is not the art of fantasy or the art of the ideal. it's the art of the possible, which is verifiable and clear in its capacity to be able to make israel and the region safer. the fact is that iran's ability to break out, george, will expand under this program. therefore, israel will be safer, the region will be safer. iran's 20% uranium will be destroyed. therefore, they are safer. >> iran is taking only cosmetic steps which it could reverse easily within a few weeks.

and in return, sanctions that took years to put in place are going to be eased. iran is going to receive billions of dollars worth of sanctions relief. >> one thing that nearly everyone can agree on is that the iran deal is a major moment in international affairs. joining me now to put this all in perspective is christopher dicky, nbc news special correspondent martin fletcher, who spent over 30 years covering the middle east, and retired colonel jack jacobs. thanks to all of you for being here. christopher, i'll reach out to you first. it is an interesting week when you have israel siding with saudi arabia and you have the u.s. and iran shaking hands. can you put all this in perspective for where the middle east is right now? >> well, if this deal continues to develop the way the administration seems to want it to develop, we're going to see a change in all sorts of strategic

relationships in the middle east. iran is potentially one of the richest countries in the world. it's got 80 million people. it wants to be a regional power. if it comes back into the community of nations and to the world trade organization, for instance, it's going to wind up being an economic and political superpower in the region that is threatening to israel, even if relations were friendly. it's certainly threatening to south dakota ya r saudi arabia. so for all those reasons, there's a lot of nervousness. in addition, you have the concrete question of iran's nuclear program, which israel portrays as an existential threat, but it portrays it as an existential threat around the assumption that the iranians are just insane, that they're going to launch a war against israel and risk massive retaliation, which is certainly what would happen. and that isn't going to happen. so i think that kerry is exactly right when he said this is the art of the possible. this is not going to take us

back ten years. this is going to freeze the situation that exists now and prevent iran from going further toward a position where it could break out and obtain the potential to have nuclear weapons very quickly. >> i want to ask you, martin. you don't just cover the middle east as you have for the last 30 years. you live in israel. so talk about this being a real moment for people there. what do you think the reaction is of the israeli people? >> very, very concerned. i think for once the israeli leadership is speaking with a united voice. prime minister netanyahu calls this not a historic agreement, but a historic mistake. a rather liberal member of the government today said it was a choice between plague and cholera. there's no good news really for israel from this. either the international community engages in iran in a way that stops the potential of a nuclear bomb or israel is faced with a choice of will we

attack or not, can we do it alone. i think the bottom line is israel cannot do it alone. at the same time, they can't trust the international community to stop the long-term possibility of iran getting a nuclear bomb. because this agreement is a temporary agreement. they're going to come back in six months and they're going to continue talking. of course, you know what it's like. sanctions get reduced. businessmen go in there, investments are haed. it's harder to continue to resume sanctions. israel is very concerned. >> as christopher has written, iran is not going to get any substantial relief from these sanctions. it's going to be incremental. but jack, what about this deal and its reflection of where america stands right now in the middle east? >> well, it might seem that america's back now, superficially, after more than a decade of making big mistakes in the region, expending resources and getting absolutely nowhere and actually weakening ourselves to the way in which we've been involved in the region. it seems like we're back again,

we're influential. that's all superficial. we have to remember that a large vector of this deal is domestic politics, both in the united states and in iran. and if we think that we are going to project this much past six months from now when the real test will be, whether or not it's actually going to work, i think we're sadly mistaken without a great deal of work. we don't influence israel, saudi arabia, turkey, syria, anyone in the region as a result of this deal than without it. >> christopher, was there is a certain a canmy, if you will, for all the chips falling into place. an american president who won't have to run again, a more moderate iranian president, modernizing youth in iran. did that all have to come together to make this happen? >> well, that all had to come together to make it happen, but there's one thing i don't think people pay enough attention to. that's essentially what happened in the oil business. ten years ago when we were

trying to cut some kind of deal, essentially europe and even the united states were afraid of the impact if you took all that iranian oil off the market that's been taken off by sanctions. now the united states is producing more hydrocarbon natural gas and oil than any other country in the world. it's a total change in the global energy dynamic. what that means is iran doesn't have the oil shield that it used to have. we've taken more than a million barrels of oil off the market through these sanctions on iran, and iran can't say anything about it. it hasn't driven up prices. so as a result, we just have a whole different sort of world in that whole alchemy you're talking about. that's one of the most important elements. >> martin, the taking of the u.s. embassy more than 30 years ago, when that happened, could you have imagined we would be here? i mean, what had to transpire? >> well, the future of the

american road in the middle east and israel's relationship with the united states is a critical component of how we go forward. does israel trust the united states as a result of the -- in terms of its new role. the taking of the american embassy, i was there, by the way. >> i know. >> for quite a long time. as journal jacobs said, america's role in the middle east is not what it was and going forward it will not be what it was either. israel desperately needs a strong united states, a strong ally in that region. all eyes will now be on how the agreement is implemented, will the conditions that the international community is imposing on iran be fulfilled or not, and israel will be standing by, waving its rather weak threat that if it doesn't get what it needs, all military options are on the table. there were very strong calls

today by israel saying we must make that threat real rhysic. it's not realistic anymore. >> i'm told to wrap it very quickly to you, jack. does what's happened mean there's little to no appetite at any level for american military involvement? >> oh, no. there's no -- you're absolutely right. even before this there was no american appetite for military involvement in iran in particular. what martin says about the ability of the israelis to actually strike themselves without american assistance is very, very important and very telling. they can't do it without us. and i don't think they will do it without us. >> okay. colonel jack jacobs, martin fletcher, christopher dicky. great conversation. they're videotaped attacks on unsuspecting victims raising alarm across america. will new law stop these vicious assaults? the big three is next. [ male announcer ] when mr. clean realized the way to handle

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reads. so here comes the big three panel. msnbc contributor goldy taylor, whose new column is featured on the grio every monday. msnbc contributor and former bush-cheney senior adviser. and professor of political science, jason johnson. and with a welcome to all three of you veterans. jason, to you first. as we've seen critics of the iran deal here at home, including republican senator john cornyn, who sent out this tweet. quote, amazing what white house will do to distract attention from obama care. now, come on. how do you account for that? >> you know, it's ridiculous. not surprising. oh, my gosh. the republicans hate something else that barack obama did. if you look at this president's foreign policy record over the last six months, ask the people in syria, ask the people in iran. most people are happy that we have a president who seems to believe that things can be accomplished without using weapons. and plus, i think it's another example of where america's power has been enhanced by diplomacy. all obama has to do now is reach into his coat pocket and everybody jumps. getting this deal with iran is

an amazing accomplishment and something people should be happy with, not criticizing. >> goldy, talk of this deal being a diversionary tactic. >> i could not agree with jason more on this. the idea of us pursuing peace in that region with a group like iran, that that is some kind of distraction is a misnomer. the very notion that we are trying to put together a constructed deal that's both verifiable, short-term, six months in its duration, the idea we're trying to put something like that together to distract people from domestic issues, you know, i think is fool's gold. >> okay. i'm going to go to the republican now, robert. your reaction to this tweet. >> well, i think we have to verify. we have to verify. we have to verify. remember, this is a regime that said the holocaust did not exist. this is a regime that said israel should be nuked off the face of the earth. so with all due respect, i think we need to take a look at what has been said and look at their previous actions to make sure we move forward in a very, very

suspicious way. look, i'll quote secretary kerry here and president obama that we have every right to be suspicious here, that we have every right to race our eyebrow and every right to verify this to make sure this, in fact, is a real deal eye brow and we need to step back and praise this moment here for a few moments, but verify this because this is a regime that has continued to play cat and mouse over the last 30 to 40 years. >> jason, on to our next topic which is knockout. take a listen to part of this will report. >> knockout is a violent game, a trend, whatever you want to call it, happening across the country. here's how it works. young people approach an unsuspecting victim and sucker punches them. >> what is up with this? people and police are investigating this, people just getting punched out across this country. >> yeah, this is part of the

oversharing that always happens on the internet. people want to commit a crime and put it online so they can be caught. but the bigger issue, this is the same thing as polar bear hunting where black teens attacked white people or rainbow parties which were these team aged orgies. i'm not convinced that these things are large cryiminal especially dwpidemics just yet. >> in new jersey, two teens were charged with killing a man engaging in this vicious crime. why is this happening? >> two in new jersey, two in new york, but that does that make an especially he democratic make. i think a couple rival videos have proceed liceeliferated the and i think a couple police agencies are overreacting. random violence has always happened. they need to be prosecuted and

those kids had better hope that they don't run p on the wrong up suspecting person who might have a conceal carry permit. but i think this is an overreaction to put out additional patrols because i don't think it is happening as often as people are portraying. >> what about the lawmakers looking to especially enact harsher penalties.spicabledespi. this is a hate crime.specially harsher penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime.cially ena penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime.ly enact h penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime.y enact ha penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime. enact har penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime.enact hars penalties. >> this is despicable. this is a hate crime. these are thugs literally beating up individuals. so my outrage should be felt all around this country and so for you to sit here and say is this an isolated incident, that's a pun bunch of poppycock. >> i think to divert these kinds

of additional police resources on something that is isolated like this is something that is patently wrong and we need to focus on crimes that are more -- >> that may be, but i'm just appalled. it's terrible. okay. the big three, catching cops in the act. in the act of what? humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

we're back with the big three. i got 50 seconds, craig melvin is breathing down my neck. >> mine is when "the miami herald" documented the stop and frisk methods of the police. one man arrested, 258 times. in a store where he worked and charged with trespassing. >> wow. robert. >> politico magazine has a great read about the civil war going on with liz chaeney.

>> i want people to take a look at baldwin oats talking about a mix tape of hall and oats classic music with modern hip hop artists. you have kanye west on kiss is on my list. music brings us together. >> that is a fun one. thank you very much. that is worth the extra fich seconds i took from craig melvin. thanks. have a happy thanksgiving to all of you. up next, you heard it, craig melvin. say hello to the new jodge family. the new jodge durango. the jodge dart and the jodge charger. [ director ] cut! ok, it's pronounced dodge! i don't wanna tell you how to do your job, pal but i'm pretty sure it's a soft d. [ director ] let's just try dodge. alright -- hello america. say hello to the new dodge family. the new dodge durango. the dodge...oh god this thing is going downhill fast. it's definitely jodge. ♪

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