. >> sreenivasan: i'm looking at an op-ed that john bolten wrote back in 2015 in the "new york times" "to stop iran's bomb, bomb iran." how concerned should we be about the idea that the way to deal with iran might be through force, because that's the advice lye president gets? >> ironicone of the more moderating influences within the current administration is the president himself, who deeply averse to any further american entanglements i military conts in the middle east, to the point that he's actually moved tora wit american forces from syria, as well as most likely afghanistan, two conflicts in which the iranians are both deeply enmeshed. in that sense, i think it's highly unlikely the president himself would authorize a war with iran unfortunately, though, one can't necessarily coal the inadvertent consequences of the apoach that he has endorsed of applying pressure to iran. when the iranians reach a breaking pot,t's entirely possible that we will find ourselves pulled into a confl nt thther side in fact desired. >> sreenivasan: has it been worth it to walk away from he deal? is

to the democrats and been embraced by american democrats as as a moral vision for the future and bolten and the others cling to old american thinking the so heated color schmidt which is our watch your cape is and it's very clear it was very clear and said look this isn't about morality or about values that's for the theology or we keep paul and any state that is once toother vive has to destroy any rivals that appear in its way so that is really the sort of more the bolton view is not a grand vision grand sort of structure it's about using power in a way to make sure america is focused america but i want to say if i have a second what i think is most striking at the moment has because europe is so obsessed by proving that difference from trump the they have actually no more bracing that other form of servitors and with the democrats along with the democrats so you get these amazing things where europe supports. regime change. after all they should have learnt from libya they still think that you know this is a good idea you see europeans say oh well i mean you know. punished for rule t

i think they hope to change trump's mind, but the reason john bolten didn't like it in the gipping isthey don't like these restraints. you don't want to limit american flexibility that we should defend america on the basis of our military might, not pieces of paper. they think this frees their hands. some want new nuclear weapons in europe, others want new weapons in china. it is the fear of this arms race that is unnerving people in the congress and in our allies. if you missed the nuclear arms race in the 1980s, this is what it looked like. >> i worry that a lot of people did miss it and don't remember what it felt like to have nuclear drills and going into shelters and things like that. thank you very much. now the trump administration blames russia for their decision to withdraw, but could china have also played a role? joining me now is victor chaw. he is a current affairs analyst, it is good to have you here, victor. to the extend that russia was saying we don't want to be bound by this treaty entirely because china is developing these things, the treaty bans some of the work yo

he asked bolten does he trust him. he then replied that if trump does then he does.are also learning more details between the two leaders as those conversations unfolded, some kind of peculiar compliments that trump offered to kim jong-un. he said that trump knows people who come from power and from money. sometimes they turn up a little bit messed up. they aren't very successful in their lives. he described kim jong-un to not be one of those folks, clearly offering more praise on the leader at a moment when he could have questioned his integrity or his commitment to de-nuclearization. he is not doing that. he has used that last summit to sure up praise and the relationship between the two leaders. we expect that he will be much of the same here in hanoi. >> saying he didn't end up messed up even though he has been accused of killing his own family members is like a fascinating thing to be thinking about right now. great reporting. thank you so much. i really appreciate it. joining me now cnn global affairs analyst for north koreaen policy under president obama and p

just jack slap that mustache off john bolten's face and see what happens. it's a snap-on.cus -- >> stephen: you don't try. you do. i watch. you actually stay composed and focused. you are a legitimate news person. >> thank you. >> stephen: trying get information out of people. >> that is what we hope to do every sunday. but do i have rage sometimes when you can't get off the talking point? yes. i think it does a disservice to the viewers. that's why we try to push when we can without having a food the interview of the year. everybody wants to get this one. it's the sit-down interview with the president right before the super bowl. this is like the 100 million people watching here. >> no pressure. >> stephen: there you are with the president of the united states right there, one on one. did you have-- did you have previous interactions -- did you have a history with the president? >> i was a white house correspondent before i became monitor of "face the nation." >> stephen: that would do it. that would do it. one of the best places to get that interaction. >> from day one o

>> when you put john bolten and elliott abrams in the administration, these are two people who care veryeeply about eradicating socialism from latin america, and they have on four decades your point is taken. they are absolutely -- this is also about -- >> he this call them nazis who called them -- >> maduro. >> or was that every -- was that the entire primetime line-up of cnn that called them nazis kidding. kidding. i apologize. i apologize. >> it's okay because you ales positived. >> i apologized right away >> that never happens. >> right >> watch saturday, guys. this is -- let's see what happens. >> just quickly, trade talks with china come up in the united states this week, is that going to be a pressure point at all to pressure china into backing away from their support of maduro >> so the reports are that china is already speaking with members of the opposition in washington d.c. to try to protect their interests? remember, they have spent a lot of money i call them red elephants. they have more than 700 projects going -- projects -- supposedly going in venezuela bullet trains, et