ahmadinejad has said you can give us all the deadlines you want, but we do not care about deadlines. what is this administration talking about when it comes to tougher sanctions? guest: that is a good question peter yet i can tell you what the congress is doing. the administration does not like that. i can tell you what other outside groups are doing. this administration does not seem to like that either.

ahmadinejad benefited from that.idely administration did not move faster is a story i cannot tell you. host: about the student protesters that we were just showing the video of, does this weekend the president and the supreme leader? what is the status of both of them? guest: in tehran without any doubt whatsoever, we are seeing the most massive, organized, intense protest movements since the iranian resolutiorevolution. this is not localized in tehran. it is not one segment of the population. it is not just students for young people. it is all across the country. it is in key cities. the leadership of the islamic republic feels the pressure. they're trying to put on a tough face. what you have, which is an interesting development, a former intelligence officers who now live in germany and other places to identify some of these people guilty of shooting into the crowds, or they have been photographed knifing people. they have identified these people and put their home phone numbers on the internet. this has had a rea

. >> president ahmadinejad of iran is in brazil. that of course has caused some consternation on the part of the united states. what do you think about the president of brazil entertaining ahmadinejad? >> i wish the president of brazil would put his foot down and tell ahmadinejad what we want to tell him. that it is unacceptable this madman regime to threaten israel, to wipe it off the face of the earth and to spew his hatred of america. i would hope that the president of brazil would forge even better relationships with france, with britain with america and start looking at joining us in the sanctions that we should be applying to iran. instead of just talking about the sanctions all these great ideas we have to not allow them to capitalize on favorable er to deals or continued imports of petroleum, refined products, but sanctioning this country until they start changing their behavior. i would like brazil to join in that >> how do you describe the president obama foreign policy direction, philosophy with president bush, what is th

. >> president ahmadinejad of iran is in brazil. that of course has caused some consternation on the part of the united states. what do you think about the president of brazil entertaining ahmadinejad? >> i wish the president of brazil would put his foot down and tell ahmadinejad what we want to tell him. that it is unacceptable this madman regime to threaten israel, to wipe it off the face of the earth and to spew his hatred of america. i would hope that the president of brazil would forge even better relationships with france, with britain with america and start looking at joining us in the sanctions that we should be applying to iran. instead of just talking about the sanctions all these great ideas we have to not allow them to capitalize on favorable er to deals or continued imports of petroleum, refined products, but sanctioning this country until they start changing their behavior. i would like brazil to join in that >> how do you describe the president obama foreign policy direction, philosophy with president bush, what is th

for example, iran is not just mahmoud ahmadinejad. it's a very complex society. and i won't define the rules of the mullahs in iran. as an inhuman regime. i don't believe that's true. i think it's -- i mean, it's too trivial to say that i'm against it. but i don't -- that's in my vocabulary. i think now is the real turning point. what to do with iran, what to do with them? this calls for lots of full discussions and what are the options? what i tried to devise is a vocabulary and moral vocabulary to deal with the moral aspects of those. that's basically what i took on myself into account. and maybe you're wrong in many historical judgments, factually wrong. the point is whether i provide the right vocabulary and not whether i give the right historical analysis. i may be wrong about what formed the union and what was the nature of the compromise there. what were the options there? but the point is the test for me is whether i provided the right vocabulary, the moral vocabulary, to deal with those questions, even if i'm wrong empirically, namely that i just got the

i think ahmadinejad is playing a very canny game.this is somebody who thrills in his defiance of the outside world. @@k@ @ @ @ @ e t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; >> i think they have used the demonstrations to play out the clock. remember, president obama came into office saying he would open negotiations without preconditions. immediate stretched from january 20 to october 1. and so, ahmadinejad was able to benefit from that. why the administration did not move faster is a story i cannot tell you. host: we were just showing our audience a video from youtube of the most recent protests. does this weekend the president and the supreme leader? what is the status of both of them? guest: in tehran without any doubt whatsoever, we are seeing the most massive, organized, intense protest movements since the iranian resolutiorevolution. this is not localized in tehran. it is not one segment of the population. it is not just students for young people. it is all across the country. it is in key cities. the leadership of the islamic republic feels the press

is mahmoud ahmadinejad's regime near the breaking point. >>> inside "the situation room," not ours but his. a rare look at the place where the president makes some of his most difficult decisions. wolf blitzer is off. i'm suzanne malveaux. and you're in "the situation room." >>> the blue ribbon panel which investigated the 9/11 attacks found a number of failures in america's defenses against terrorism. they were shortcomings when it came to watch lists and overseeing visas and above all there was the failure of government agencies to pull and share intelligence. listen to a 9/11 commission member richard ben hav veniste 2005. >> when we issued our final report, one of the central tenets of what we found was that there was a failure of communication that we had accumulated a great deal of information, but that it was not wisely used, information wasn't shared, it wasn't effectively utilized. >> he joins us here in "the situation room." that was four years ago when you said that. you put a lot of work into this report. we all remember it very clearly. are you stunned to hear now that the

before we go and talk a little bit, do you think ahmadinejad will be taken out of power if you believe's a puppet, he's between khomeini and mir hossein mousavi, in the middle but really has no power? >> from the beginning he has not been a player, particularly over the last three months. he's no longer a figure. your concentration, the world attention on this issue is absolutely extraordinary and necessary. because the very unique phenomenon, don, is a nonviolent civil rights movement in the context of a very violent context and the implication of this, given the demographic aspect of this movement, 80% of the population is under the age of 40. 50% of it is under the age of 25. the reason that it has this global resonance is precisely that you have a nonviolent civil rights uprising, mostly charged by young people. >> young educated people with the tools to go online. >> the class -- the social strata that underlies it is really widespread, not tehran based, not upper class, none of that. it is really spreading all over the country. >> and kareem, i understand that most -- most irania

take a look behind you, you see the picture, ahmadinejad wearing the hard hat. he visited a tunnel, not necessarily the tunnel where they're having nuclear facilities, but it would be deep underground. does israel have the capability to destroy iranian nuclear facilities in these deep underground tunnels? >> wolf, we're nowhere near that point now. we're focused now on sanctions. not on destroying tunnels. we're focused on getting these sanctions up and running, and to assessing their impact. >> you really believe these sanctions can change the government of iran? >> we believe that the sanctions can be effective. we are interested in seeing the degree to which the other important factors and actors in the international community will cooperate. i think there is a growing awareness on the part of all international actors, the russians, the chinese, that iran poses a threat, not just to israel and the middle east but to world peace the. the working assumption is if the russians come aboard, the chinese will not want to remain ashore and we're hopeful that the san

news stories rumbled in 2009 from the saber rattling of kim jong-il to the fist shaking of mahmoud ahmadinejadn protesters ran beneath a banner of a young woman. the pan a.m. terrorist walked free. iraq and afghanistan heard plans for american troop buildups and pullouts. even as a military community dealt with tragedy close to home and concern for the growing number of veterans kept growing, too. >> i think we owe it to them, absolutely owe it to them to take care of them when they come back. >> yet for many americans the biggest worry was a tiny bug. worst virus, the h1n1/swine flu had everyone on the run. it was less deadly than fear. >> i don't want to come off as pro-pandemic, but i feel like i have been cheated. like, when's it coming? >> the vaccine was also much harder to find than federal officials predicted. >> if you see swine flu -- what the government would do if it was really a serious virus, would be a picture of the government unable to cope. >> it's one of those things where you say, i don't want to come in today and your bosses are like, why? you can easily say, i have swine

when you're upset about president ahmadinejad in ira d you're shooting protes, you know, you can lo at that imagery and you can say, "ok there are 5 pele there. i'm not really sure that waseal." but if y see 3,000 people, you know, getting shott, there's a kindf honesty in this. so you rt of have to vet that. i's a very difficult dilem we're in. ihink that's a very go question. >> i think it's great question because i share some of ur reservions about blogging. and i think--ann, you id, "i hate that word." i ink those ofs who've worked for our careers tryi to get it right as journalists,hen you ar a citizen saying, "i can just wing it," yoknow, our backs go up. and i tnk they should becausi--i have always thought of our blgers, oucorrespondents who are bloggingwe call it a reporter's notebook. it's one of the great traditis of jonalism when you worked at a newspaper, y'd come back from a journey somewher-to iran or afghanistan or to wherever- and you got to what wacalled a porter's notebook. you st unloadhat you saw. that is grt and valuable, and that's blogging, but we call it rerter'

there's a democracy if ahmadinejad is taken out of power.o you think he will be taken out of power? you think he's a puppet, he's between the khomeini and mir hossein mousavi, but really has no par. >> from the beginning, he has not been a player, and particularly over the last three months, he's no longer a figure. and your concentration, the word attention to this issue is absolutely extra ordinary and necessary. it's a nonviolent context in the midst of a violent context. given the demographic aspect of this movement, 50% of the population is under the age of 25. the reason it has this global resonance -- >> because they are -- >> is precisely that you have a nonviolent civil rights uprising, mostly charged by young people. >> and young educated people with the tools to go online. >> the class -- the socialist structure is really widespread, is not tehran based, is not upper middle class, is none of that. is really spreading all over the country. >> if you need to get away, get some sunshine, warmth, day at the beach? not as pleasant as i

>> i did a small debate today we have one monday she will meet with president ahmadinejad one-on-oneut won't meet with me one-on-one. the people are fed up with the way things are going they can go to brown for the senate.com and stop the business as usual not only in massachusetts but more importantly nationally and give me a chance to bring common sense back to washington solve problems be an independent voice and vote for the things not only affecting our state but the country. >> sean: there's a huge controversy surrounding her and i wanted to know if you were going to get involved. boston globe criticized cokely for her lacked treatment the 2005 case involving a police officer and a 23-month-old niece of his, who had been raped with a hot object, most likely of all things a curling iron and her handling of that case. are you critical of her for that? >> this race is about differences between us. we are both public figures we both have records i've scene over 6,000 votes as being an assessor, 30 year in the military still serving, we both have things people can praise and critici

and then in terms of foreign policy we may find ourselves with a major problem with iran p ahmadinejadping uranium, ignoring sarkozy, brown, obama. it em seems they'll have a major problem in iran, continue to have major problems in afghanistan, with iraq. the republicans, sadly may gain significant ground in the midterms next november. >> holy cow. we may not want to ring in the new year. >> i know, i know. >> let's me move on to something that karl rove said recently -- >> wait a second, candy, you're not mentioning jobs. you're not mentioning the big issue. we've got an enormous number of unemployed americans and enormous number of americans losing houses. this is the economy is the big one, that's the big kahuna. if something isn't done about that it's a disaster politically for the party in power and a disaster for many decent, hard-working americans. that's the big story. >> it is indeed particularly to those who at this point don't have a job and haven't had one for some time, the long-term unemployed. a big, big issue and certainly will be in the campaign. so, let me ask you, w

>> this is one of the most important stories of our time, and if there is a democracy, mahmoud ahmadinejad is taken out of power, but before we go on, do you believe he is going to be taken out of power? you believe he is a puppet between khomeini and mousavi but has no power. >> well, over the last three months, he is no longer a figure. the concentration, and the world attention on this issue is absolutely extraordinary and necessary, because it is a unique phenomenon, don, is a nonviolent civil rights movement in the context of a very violent context, and the implication of this give ten demographic aspect of the movement, 80% of the iranian population is under the age of 40 and 50% of it under the age of 25 and the reason it has a global resonance and social networking, et cetera is precisely that you have a nonviolent civil rights uprising and mostly charged by young people -- >> young educated people with the tools to go online. >> and the class and the social strata that underlies it is not teheran based or upper middle-class or none of that, but it is spreading all over the country

towards fraud, and it was never proven that there was fraud, but in certain regions, you know, ahmadinejad got more votes than there was votes to be gotten. so you know, the joke that i've been saying is i said, you know, i don't know how you do that, but i know i'm never going bowling with the guy because he's going to say look, i bold a 400 again and, you know, i'd be like, i thought, you know, the maximum is 300, how do you do that? and he says, well, i'm that good. but basically, i think it's lampooning the leadership in a way. but what we're seeing on the ground is tragedy and there's no comedy in that. >> all right. thanks to all of you. hey, listen, stick around. we're going to continue our discussion in just a little bit and go a little bit deeper inside iran and also what it's like to be an iranian-american. we're back in a moment. >>> hey. want to update you on our top stories right now. breaking news tonight out of newark liberty international airport, where a security breach has forced a lockdown of terminal c. no flights are being allowed to leave as authorities search for a m

and to allow ahmadinejad to have nuclear weapons is not a nuclear option. the tiny tyrant, ahmadinejad uses murder and brutality to try to silence protests in his own country of iran. imagine what he'll do if the -- to the world if he has nuclear weapons. the best great hope for the world is that the people of iran change their regime, and we should encourage and support the students, academics, and others not to give in to their oppressive dictator. israel has been fighting radical jihadists for decades and they have been on the frontlines. terrorist attack after terrorist attack they have endured. we all remember the massacre of the israeli olympic athletes in munich in 1972. and then there was the slaughter of israeli teenagers in a pizza parlor in jerusalem in 2002. radical islam kills people they hate. they kill them in the name of religion. people of different religion like jews, christians, and even moderate muslims. the modern state of israel was founded in the wake of the holocaust. after six million jewish people were murdered by the nazis. and th

time to reach out with an unclemped fist to ahmadinejad, thrp dictator in iran who is trying to develop a nuclear weapon and reaching out with an open hand. it is time to push the reset button with kim jung il in north korea. well, mr. speaker, i suggest this time it's time to push the reset button with the american people and give them a fair shake and be honest and tell them what is in this bill, this 2,500 pages they don't understand. c-span is trying to give them the opportunity, shine the light of day on this process. that's what it's all about. that's what the madam speaker promised and the president promised and i yield a few more minutes to whatever time is remaining to dr. phil roe. mr. roe: i think what the american people want is to trust transparency. the people have to trust us for us to govern and can't trust us if they don't know what's going on. i know, mr. speaker, i went home to the holidays and they said what's going on. and i told them, you know as much as i do, because we're in the dark just as you are and that's not the way it ought to be. and i yield back. mr. gin

administration and it goes beyond mahmoud ahmadinejad. i think if you can do a real poll which is impossible in that situation you would find that support for the islamic republic of iran is way below, way below half we ought to be able to make something of that we should have started years ago putting ourselves in a position to make something since it has been clear for a very long time that this was a very unpopular regime. it's now undeniable. i think the key to stopping and iranian nuclear weapon is a change in that regime and i think the most likely way to achieve it is when the people of iran decide to throw off -- >> if something has to be put in the context does that imply a case for pressure on the regime -- to exacerbate -- >> let me give a concrete example. there's talk about and even legislation making its way through congress talk about trying to limit the importation of refined petroleum product into i -- your on. roughly half the gasoline that goes into iran and cars and trucks and tanks for that matter every day is importe

have been leading the world in terms of expressingÑi our concerns and our repulsion at president ahmadinejad's. we have led through several years condemning the human rights records. i don't think anyone is under any illusions of were the government of canada stands. they have threats to others and the desire to get nuclear weapons. >> we will be continuing with one final block for our audience and we will have some important questions coming to you in just a moment. >> ♪ happy birthday to you >> how does a guy like you keep in shape? >> my question for you is, do you plan to write another hockey book? >> what kind of resolutions will be making for this coming year? >> how do you stay in shape? >> my doctor would tell you i do not. since i became prime minister, i tried to be a little better. i have lost a little bit of weight. i have been playing a little bit of tennis and ping-pong. the problem i have and the way i've tried to keep in shape physically is doing sports with my son. as he gets bigger and stronger, it is getting to be less and less of a contest. >> you have trouble beating him o

there is massive discontent with the mahmoud ahmadinejad administration, and it is beyond him -- and it goes beyond him. i think if he could do a real poll, which of course is not possible, you would find support for the islamic republic of iran is way below half. now, we ought to be able to make something of that. we should have started years ago putting ourselves in the position to make something of it, since it has been clear for a very long time this was a very unpopular regime. it is now undeniable. so i think the key to stopping an iranian it nuclear weapon is a change in the regime, and i think most likely way to achieve it is when the people of iran decide to throw off -- >> everything has to be put in the context of the tumult. does that imply a pushover regime? >> let me give a concrete example. there is a lot of talk about and even some legislation making its way through congress, talk about trying to limit the importation of refined petroleum product into iran. roughly half of the gasoline that goes in iranian cars and trucks and tanks every day is imported. there are onl

have been leading the world in terms of expressing our concerns and our propulsion at present ahmadinejad's statements. we have led through several years condemning the human rights records. i don't think anyone is under any illusions of were the government of canada stands. they have threats to others and the desire to get nuclear weapons. >> we will be continuing with one final block for our audience and we will have some important questions coming to you in just a moment. >> ♪ happy birthday to you >> how does a guy like you keep in shape? >> my question for you is, do you plan to write another hockey book? >> what kind of resolutions will be making for this coming year? >> how do you stay in shape? >> my doctor would tell you i do not. since i became prime minister, i tried to be a little better. i have lost a little bit of weight. i have been playing a little bit of tennis and ping-pong. the problem i have and the way i've tried to keep in shape physically is doing >> i have trouble beating him anything. >> what about the hockey book? >> i actually have made good progress. we do have a

we made it through the cuban missile crisis, but khrushchev was considerably saner than ahmadinejad. we made it through one missile crisis. i am not looking to do several, or to do one or two every year. it is important that we tremendously increase the sanctions on iran. i've been calling on that for 12 or 13 years now. so far what we've done is pitifully small, under three administrations, compared to what we could do. host: we are talking to congressman brad sherman, reacting to the president's message is in last night's state the union address. chicago is next. henry. caller: independent, not democrat. brad, you are doing a good job explaining the questions they ask you this morning. but you all have such a hard time explaining the difference between a terrorist and a combatant. this is what everybody is talking about where we tried them at. al qaeda is an organization that uses terrorism to inflicted their views on the world. these are not soldiers. these are enemy combatants and allocated is using religious and economic -- al qaeda is using religious and economic elites to recr

there is massive discontent with the ahmadinejad administration, and it goes beyond. think if you could do a real puloll, you would find that support for the islamic republic of iran is way below half. . >> does that imply a case for pressure on the regime? >> i concrete example. there is some legislation making its way through congress, talk about trying to limit the importation of refined petroleum product into a ran. roughly half of the gasoline it goes into iranian cars and trucks every day is imported, and there are only four refineries in iran. a disastrous accident at one of those refineries and a cut in sales could bring iran essentially to a whole. and when you get very unhappy citizens lining up for hours to get 10 leaders rationed into their tanks -- tan lee tours -- 10 liters crash into their tanks. bubblers the think that aids popular resistance or revolt against the iran and republic? or would only reinforce the revolutionary guard nader -- narrative of siege and conspiracy that they used to justify their grip on power? >> this is one of those wonderful

the is the language used by president ahmadinejad to be homicidal? -- to be genocidal? >> i do not feel equipped to make a legal judgment. it is obvious that it is absolutely hateful and intolerable. whenever you suggest or call for the elimination of a stake are people, -- a state or people, that is the worst kind of hate speech, and that is one of the many reasons why our concern about iran's acquiring nuclear weapons capability that are not manifestly for peaceful purposes is so strong. it is violent, vicious hatred. >> what can the women of darfur expect to see the reinstatement of gender based services following the reinstatement of humanitarian groups? >> i cannot answer that with specificity. the humanitarian groups played a crucial role. its police and rule of law components are trying to step up protection to women in camps, to provide training for local protection forces within the camps and to address the issues on a real-time basis. we are working to increase the capacity in the camps to protect women from rape and violence and give them the ability to tackl