we're back with the white house deputy national security adviser ben rhodes. ben, what is the u.s.' role right now in the saudi military initiative to deal with these houthi rebels in yemen? >> well wolf since the beginning of this saudi-led military effort we have provided support to the saudi-led effort including intelligence and other means that we can bring assets to bear to facilitate and support their air strikes inside of yemen. and this is an ongoing dialogue we've had with the saudis for years about yemen. how we can support political stability. that means supporting the effectiveness of their air campaign. number two that means underscoring as the saudis have that ultimately we want to get back to a political dialogue with the country. i would note that the president has invited the leader fz all six gcc countries to washington and to camp david for a summit this spring to address regional issues in the context of both the ongoing effort in yemen as well as the iran nuclear deal. >> i want to get to the iran nuclear deal in a moment. but as far as intelligence sharing, the

ben rhodes thanks for joining us. >> thanks. >> ben rhodes deputy national security advisor to the president who landed his gyrocopter at the u.s. capitol now charged with violating national defense airspace. stand by for new video of this shocking stunt. >>> also shocking new developments in the investigation of a reserve deputy who mistakenly shot a man with his gun instead of his taser. if you suffer from a dry mouth then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath? well, there is biotene specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants... biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of ame

and we start with ben rhodes he is the professional assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for communications. first of all charlie we do not believe there was any deal that could have been agreed to in which iran got rid of its erin much capacity. days mantelled its enrichment capability and no other country would have supported us taking that position. what we tried to do though charlie is assign practical needs to iran's nuclear program. so for instance the centrifuges that they're operating, some of those will be converted to the purpose of medical research. so they are essentially producing medical isotopes for research. so we have tried to again draw a line between what what their capacity is and what peaceful purpose that nuclear capacity feeds into. and then of cose close off through the inspections and the limitations on the program, any ability to transfer that capacity towards a weapons program. >> rose: we continue looking at the iranian deal with ray takeyh and gary sick. >> in this case you know iran has put it under-- itself under the most intense scr

charlie: ben rhodes from the national security council. back in a moment. stay with us. ♪ charlie: we continue with our coverage on the iranian nuclear negotiations. joining me from washington is ray takeyh, a senior fellow at the council of foreign relations. with me is gary sick, a research scholar at columbia university. i'm pleased to have both of them on this program. ray, let me begin with you. what is your assessment of what you know so far? ray: it is an arms control agreement. it is more substantial than i thought we anticipated. it conforms to the parameters of the interim agreement. iran will have a sizable enrichment capacity. the agreement will be sunset clause clause in the sense that will expire in 10 years. a greater enhanced verification regime. there are some positive aspects, but some troubling concerns that will linger. charlie: what are they? ray: the sizable enrichment capacity. the sunset clause on the expiration in which iran can have industrial-sized nuclear capacity. the facility that the president has insisted has to close remains

ben rhodes briefed reporters earlier today in panama city and he once again provided the rationale why president obama wants to go forward with normalization. >> we are in new territory here. the reason we are here is because the president strongly believes that an approach that was focused entirely on isolation, focused entirely on seeking to cut off the cuban people from the united states of america had failed. and that a policy of engagement won't just lead to the ability to be work with the cuban government in some areas. it will lead to much greater engagement with the cuban people. >> reporter: and antonio this evening in panama we understand that president obama and president raul castro has been very close to each other literally rubbing elbows, at this summit. the two spoke by phone on wednesday before president obama left washington and it is expected on saturday the two will sit down together and discuss formal issues, fully normalizing relations and something more long term. lifting the trade embargo, that is something only the congress can do and the administration is work

there's highly classified systems that ben rhodes pointed out that are secure and concerns the u.s. military. there's much we rely on as an economy and society that is highly vulnerable to attacks. >> one of the lessons, from classified systems can we not apply them to all systems. >> people focus on the technology and the equipment. we can upgrade those things. the problem is human discipline. i know from dealing with officials in the u.s., they have secure systems, but they have to use them, and use them properly. that's the problem and affects us in so many aspects of not only government, but the private sector, that people are busy, focused on the threat, want to get business done and often don't take advantage of the protections that are built in to those systems. >> what about the art that the united states served well in terms of protection of computer systems and data, and if it doesn't want to invest time and money putting up similar protections that is their loss and if they are hacked so be it. >> that's true. i used to be involved in the security industry, and the privat

ben rhodes thank you so much. i think this is the first time you have been on since you had your baby girl. congratulations. >> thank you. >>> in other world news consider it payback. new air strikes on suspected terrorist targets just days after nearly 150 people mostly students were savagely murdered. this as an intense manhunt is under way for the mastermind behind the attack. do police have any new leads after a massive reward has been offered? people ship all kinds of things. but what if that thing is a few hundred thousand doses of flu vaccine. that need to be kept at 41 degrees. while being shipped to a country where it's 90 degrees. in the shade. sound hard? yeah. does that mean people in laos shouldn't get their vaccine? we didn't think so. from figuring it out to getting it done, we're here to help. the pursuit of healthier. it begins from the second we're born. after all, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned... every day... using wellness to keep away illness... and believing th

i'm joined by ben rhodes. ben, thanks very much for joining us.has to be done einternally sin the eye cola cola. >> we have a framework that we agreed to not just between the united states and iran but we've laid out the details. clearly the iranians for their own purposes are emphasizing different elements of that framework agreement. look there's very tough issues that still need to be nailed down as it relates to the implementation details that would put this framework into place. what the president has said if that deal doesn't match the framework that we agreed to in this is the framework to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. >> how un -- did not nail down adequately is what to do about iran's past suspicious activity on warheads and missiles. >> first of all, we raised our concerns with the russian government. it is of concern anytime we see this type of transfer to the iranians. however, we think that the negotiation we continue to have good cooperation with russia in terms of pursuing the framework agreement and nailing that down

there are highly classified system as ben rhodes just pointed out. that particularly concerns the u.s. military but there's so much that we rely on as an economy as a society that really is highly vulnerable to attacks from overseas or virtually anywhere. >> what are the lessons we can take to apply them to the systems that are as you point out not? >> brings into focus on the technology and the equipment and obviously that we can upgrade those sorts of things.but the problem really has to do with human discipline. i know from dealing with a great many officials in the u.s. federal government they have very secure systems but they have to use them and they have to use them properly. and i think this is a problem which really infects us in so many different aspects not only in government but the private sector people are busy, they are not focused on the threat and they want to get business done and they often don't take advantage of the protections that are built into those systems and supposed to be serving them. >> what about the argument of protec

one of the president's top national security advisors, deputy national security advisor, ben rhodes, briefed journalists, and why the president wants to go forward with normalizing relations with cuba. here's rhodes. >> we're in new territory here and the reason we're here though is because the president strongly believes that an approach that was focused entirely on isolation entirely on seeking to cut off the cuban people from the united states of america had failed and that a policy of inclusion won't just lead to a possibility of working with the cuban government but much wider engagement with the you cuban people. >> powrm is atpresident obama is at that summit they are due to meet face to face, the white house doesn't want to describe it as a full formal bilateral meeting. they are saying they will be pulling aside on the margins. no question about it there will be the two have spoken by phone wednesday while the president was still in washington, barbara. >> mike viqueria in washington, mike thank you. >> as the high level talks are taking place in panama, in havana it seems l

in a world of alternatives that is the best alternative. >> ben rhodes pleasure to have you on. >> thanksareed. >>> next on "gps" former secretary of state and treasury and white house chief of staff james baker on iran syria, russia and the center of conflict washington, d.c. hey, girl. is it crazy that your soccer trophy is talking to you right now? it kinda is. it's as crazy as you not rolling over your old 401k. cue the horns... just harness the confidence it took you to win me and call td ameritrade's rollover consultants. they'll help with the hassle by guiding you through the whole process step by step. and they'll even call your old provider. it's easy. even she could do it. whatever, janet. for all the confidence you need td ameritrade. you got this. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. the pursuit of healthier. it begins from the second we're born. after all, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned... every day... usi

unity we need for the sanctions regime and potentially leave us with that greater risk of war. >> ben rhodesasure to have you on. >> thanks fareed. >>> next on "gps," former secretary of state, and treasury and white house chief of staff, james baker on iran syria, russia and that other center of conflict -- washington, d.c. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. what do you think? when i first sit in the seat it makes me think of a bmw. i feel like i'm in a lexus. you would think that this was a brand new audi. it's like a luxury car. feels kind of like an infinity. very similar to a range rover. this is pretty high tech. yeah it

>> deputy national security advisor to the president ben rhodes is our guest. i'll ask about this.ng. his issues were political, raise enormous money in politics but no one knew that at the time. important lessons to be learned. also lindsey graham republican senator from south carolina joining us as well. thinking of running for president of the united states as well. >> might do well in south carolina where he's from. wolf blitzer, we'll watch in seven minutes. thanks. >>> you'll have to wait eight months to watch the latest film in the "star wars" franchise. a sneak peek at the much-anticipated flick is finally here. stick around you will. to see what secrets are revealed in the new trailer for "the force awakens." my constipation and belly pain feel like a raging storm. i've tried laxatives but my symptoms keep returning. my constipation feels like a heavy weight that keeps coming back. vo: linzess can help. once-daily linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess is thought to help calm pain-sensing nerves and accelerate bowel movements. lin

it's -- i know that ben rhodes one of the two people involved in the secret negotiations with cuba lastyear before went on the record yesterday to pointedly say the white house does not consider venezuela to be a threat to american national security. the fact that the deputy national security adviser made that point is a clear signal along with tom shannon's visit and other moves that this was a very significant miscalculation and one that the white house is trying to walk back. moreover the sanctions regime that the united states retains against cuba is still largely in place. i don't think that this decision, the white house decision on venezuela was made to give havana a stark choice between a future with the united states or a past and present with venezuela, that's certainly how it played and i'm hopeful or i hope that that can change because it was a very significant mistake to president obama's own strategy, cuba and latin america as a whole as you've been discussing. >> thanks so much julia sweig. take me out to the ball game. how soon will cuba be at bat there and america's fav

. >> you can watch the full interview with deputy national security adviser ben rhodes on "fareed zakarias" at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in new york on sunday. >>> as tensions rise in north korea with the firing the shore-range missiles, it appears the country's leader is bringing back a tradition. the north is recruiting women to be part of the group that entertains kim jong-un. hear with our report now. >> reporter: with tensions already hi as the u.s. and south korea conduct military drills, more sabre rattling toward the west. north korea testfiring four short-range missiles traveling 84 miles before plunging into the sea. an official saying, "we urge north korea to refrain from provocative actions and focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments." meanwhile, the north korean leader is setting his sights on his personal indulgence. kim jong-un is reabsoluting so-called pleasure -- reinstituting so-called pleasure squads. according to a pro-north korean paper, young female companions are based on good looks and measurements to be at their disposal, by their side for

ben rhodes had said that a nuclear deal with iran is equivalent to obamacare on the domestic front. here is what i think president obama is thinking. i want a deal with the iranians and that will be legacy and he will be disappointed if they walk ai wait a minute at the end of the day president obama is negotiating against himself the goal of dismantle ling their program has given away to try to contain them within a year. here is what president obama is about to do. he is about to lock in a nuclear program in the hands of the ayatollahs that will make the arabs go get their own bomb and put israel in a bind so they may have to use military force. in trying to neuter the nuclear ambitions of the iranians, he has about set in motion a nuclear arms race in the middle east. >> senator, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >>> this is a fox news alert. united states senator robert menendez from new jersey will temporarily step aside as ranking member or top democrat on the senate foreign relations committee. earlier today senator menendez was indicted on corruption charges. he is accused of us

just a few hours ago deputy national security adviser ben rhodes alluded to the most significant developmenteen the two leaders themselves. according to rhodes we certainly anticipate that they will have a discussion tomorrow. joining me is senior political writer for politico mark caputo. thanks for joining me. you're in florida. how is this playing out among residents of the state? >> depends on where you live. that sound you hear is a lot of older cuban-americans heads exploding. the idea -- >> i don't hear that sound but i'm far away from florida. go ahead. >> i'm in tallahassee right now and don't hear that but my hometown of miami that's happening. now that having been said polling generally indicates the support for the embargo is limited largely to elder cuban-americans and/or hardline conservatives, generally people who are older and came to the country, cuban-americans, before 1980. there's a generational divide even among cuban-americans. >> go ahead. >> go ahead. >> i was going to say, those older americans, generational divide is what we see in politics as well and i wonder how

charlie: joining me now is ben rhodes, the deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speech writing and assistant to the president. he has been very close to the president on these issues and more. i'm pleased to have him on the program. ben, we know the outlines of this. we know this is a preliminary agreement. we know this is surprisingly specific in some cases. we know there are details to be resolved. i want to hear from you a couple of things -- how did the breakthrough come? give us the sense of what finally happened to start the united states and iran and other countries on this historic journey. ben: well, charlie, the real breakthrough took place after president rouhani was elected in iran and he negotiated seriously and gave some indication he wanted to resolve it. what has taken place over the last several months has not been one moment where there has been a breakthrough on a single issue, but rather a lot of very hard work with our technical people sitting down with the iranian technical people figuring out how we can block their pathway to a nuclear

but deputy national security adviser ben rhodes told cnn's wolf blitzer last night on the "situation room," that even a breach of unclassified email is serious. >> i think we would view any information that is government email, that is even unclassified as sensitive. and again, what we've seen in the past is that there have been efforts to break into that system and at times we've had that system compromised. what we do then is take immediate precautions, to better secure that system and try to stay one step ahead of hackers. >> and u.s. investigators believe the hack remembers working for the russian government. according to officials, they pulled off one of the most serious cyberbreaches against the u.s. government. the breach is one reason alisyn that u.s. intelligence fivls recently increased warnings about the cyberthreat from russia. >> just incredible to see it all play out. thanks so much for that evan. >>> well the crisis in yemen growing and now the u.s. stepping up its efforts. the state department says the u.s. will partner in the air campaign ramping up its military and

. >> reporter: deputy national security adviser ben rhodes said tehran must work to get sanctions releasede fact of the matter is we have a framework and the president has said if the details don't bear out the agreement that was reached we're not going to get a final deal. >> reporter: illinois republican congressman peter rosscom complained the administration has kemt my colleagues and i entirely in the dark throughout these negotiations while stonewalling bipartisan calls for congressional oversight on a final nuclear agreement. a state department spokesman rejected that complaint. >> we've had unprecedented level of cooperation, consultation and briefing with congress. >> reporter: a bipartisan group of former moderate senators is running a $650,000 ad campaign pressing current members who have not pledged support for the corker bill, suggesting the threat of a nuclear blast here one day. >> tell senators no iran nuclear deal without congressional approval before it's too late. >> reporter: the group has also started running ads in places like virginia thanking democrat tim kanel tim k

. >> deputy national security adviser ben rhodes would not get into specifics about reports that the russians were behind the hacks of the white house's unclassified system last year. that system contains unclassified but nonpublic information including the president's unpublished schedule. the reported hack happened during a tense time between the white house and the kremlin when president obama and russian president putin were at odds over moscow's involvement in ukraine. cbs news senior national security analyst juan zarate. >> it is a demonstration that the russians are willing to up the ante in the cyber games against the united states and they're willing to demonstrate their capabilities against the white house itself the center of american power. >> reporter: last october officials confirms that suspicious cyber activity was detected on the white house computer network and that was around the same time the state department system was compromised. accordinging to reports that's how hackers slipped into the white house system. >> the reality is russia china, and other competitiv

so sort of setting the stage for whatever form this meeting may take and when we asked ben rhodes what that would be about, where we are, where we see the potential for progress and where there are going to be differences because there have been as you know alex some protests here from folks who don't think that raul castro should be given what we consider the legitimacy of a normal relations with the united states. >> chris jansing with the president. thanks for the update on that. we're continuing to follow developing news as hillary clinton is expected to officially announce for the presidency this weekend. sources tell nbc news to expect the announcement via social media sometime this sunday. afterwards she'll start campaigning in places like iowa. sources familiar with the planning tell nbc to expect a slow ramp up. this is quote not shock and awe, they say. we know you've been weighing on the bing question of our day all hour long. so far on whether hillary clinton has a better chance in 2016 than 2008. meantime chuck todd moderator of "meet the press" is joining me. great to see

there are some press folks who -- in fact, i'll give you an example in the white house ben rhodes, his official title is strategic something communications director for the nsc. well, that belies the fact he's probably the closest foreign policy adviser and longest standing foreign policy adviser that the president has. and if there is something to be known, he probably knows it. >> i don't mean to disparage the press people, got ones are great. they are knowledgeable and in the meetings. >> but i -- >> my point was they shouldn't shield us from others as well. >> no, not at all. and that's what i mean. increasingly i think there is a sense that they're just there to block people from talking to us as opposed to them having information to talk to us and then being facilitateors to -- a lot of times you'll call a senior official not in the press staff and get a call back from the press staff, which is always, like you know, and that's -- that's a designed system and i'm sure there are stars handed out to whatever senior folks do that. >> the agencies too. >> yeah, the agencies in genera

the deputy national security advisor ben rhodes tweeting the president's rationale for the decision saying remove cuba from the list because cuba is not a state sponsor of terrorism. republicans were quick to condemn the move. house speaker john boehner saying the move is "a blow to all who long for liberty and dignity," and bob menendez saying it sends "the wrong message to cuba and other state sponsors of terrorism." the last country to be removed from the list was north korea in 2008. the president is required to submit a report to congress proving cuba has not provided any support for terrorism and it promises not to do so in the future. in an exclusive interview, cuba's foreign minister telling us the listing was purely political. >> it wasn't fair, it wasn't justifiable. i'm confident that president obama will make the right and just decision. >> reporter: congress could file a joint resolution to block cuba's removal from that list. but it would have to be veto proof and it's highly unlikely they would have those votes. t.j., reena. >> thank you so much. president obama appears read

. >> much more of that interview with ben rhodes tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. eastern. prime minister benjamin netanyahu joins cnn to talk about why he's so opposed to this deal. that's here on cnn tomorrow morning. >>> coming up next for the families of the victims from the germanwings crash, the past weeks have been unbearable. details leaking out that have been heartbreaking. how are they holding up? a live report from europe, next. >>> police investigators wrapped up their work at the crash site of germanwings flight 9525. a security firm will protect the area for now. this as investigators sift through new information that they have received from the flight data recorder that was found on thursday. the biggest revelation so far is the co-pilot increased the speed, accelerated the speed several times after set ingting the plane on a crash course. joining me is karl who has been following this story from the beginning. we talk so much about why could this have happened what motivated andreas lubitz, but the most important thing is the victims and the families and how

i think for everybody they are saying and what we heard from ben roads p -- rhode in that interview.he united states has the capability and capacity to take these guys any time. the point is to build up the iraqi force so they dock the job for themselves. martha: you can pull the string in iraq and keep going first and first and talk about maliki and how he gut the support he had in a democratic election. this is a sunni area, an area that would roll over more easily than other areas. maybe there are successes in tikrit. juan and mary katharine thank you so much. gregg: a pennsylvania pastor raising tea wishness of christians being -- raising awareness of christians being persecuted by isis. martha: a man risks everything the rescue a man damaging in an suv on a cliff. martha: the national football league is reinstating adrian peter on. he pled no contest to misdemeanor charges. he must undergo a counseling and treatment program. gregg: there is a growing movement in churches all across america to ray awareness of christians being executed by isis. 20 coptic christian egyptians are b

the deputy national security council, ben rhodes, on an interview on cnn said -- quote -- "if we seea site that we need to inspect on a military facility we can get access to that site and inspect it." an iranian brigadier general hussein degan on april 9 said, "visiting military centers are among the red lines and no visits to these centers will be allowed." how about the scope of the sanctions relief? the state department fact sheet says -- and i quote -- "the united states and the european union nuclear related sanctions will be suspended. all past u.n. security council resolutions on the iran nuclear issues will be lifted simultaneously with the completion by iran of nuclear related actions addressing all concerns." but iran says according to their reach solutions "after the implementation of the comprehensive plan of joint action, all the u.n. resolutions will be revoked and all the multilateral economic and financial sanctions by the e.u. and the unilateral ones by the u.s. will be annulled." so are the sanctions limited or total? we say they're limited. iran says they're total

ben: i go to school in lincoln rhode island. i know it will sound cliche, but the most two important mentor is in my life are my parents, undoubtedly. brian: what would they know about having that kind of influence? ben: my parents have strong views, and they like to express their views, and they taught us from a very young age that it is important to express your views, but one of the most important things they taught me is it is ok that you disagree as long as you make your point and do so in a respectful way. in my house, we can have a discussion on almost any topic and as long as i tell them what i think in respectful ways, they will listen. they will argue back, and it has allowed me to develop my views in such a way that i am no longer afraid to express what i think about an issue, but i am also much more open to listening to what other people have to say about different issues, it is helping me to grow a lot as a person, especially in regards to an event like this, where i'm coming into contact with people who have their d