early this month, ehud barak himself suggested the decision to carry out any type of strike is still very far away. >> for more on this story, i spoke a short time ago to a former special assistant to president clinton and currently the middle is program director at the international crisis group. thank you very much for coming in. the temperature on iran seemed to have risen in washington. how reliable are these reports that israel might be planning an attack as early as this spring? >> the picture is as confusing as it has ever been. israel has said that we have to do something. now, you have in the space of a few weeks, we have israel saying that they have to take action. we know that the military leadership in israel is against action but what the defense minister and the foreign ministers seem to be for it. meanwhile, the u.s. is also shifting its view. one day, saying that all options on the table, the other day they are concerned about military action. >> why would israel broadcast this kind of warning of an attack when presumably they could just do it, right? >> right. this w

new warning from ehud barak.nted from becoming nuclear and no option should be taken off the table. >> barbara starr is at the pentagon and ezra is the iran. this is not the first time we've heard the supreme leader in iran saber rattle. what's different this time? >> well, i think what's important right now, the best way to serve our viewers is to separate rhetoric and speculation from facts and verified information. there's a lot of wild speculationing going on, a lot of statements that are scary and vague and murg i can that are making a lot of headlines. obviously the statement made by defense secretary leon panetta and it bears looking at this statement very closely. he said the likelihood of an attack by israel on iran is probably growing. if you look at the statement closely it brilliantly vague. who knows what the likelihood was and is. only b the israeli government knows and what does it mean when the defense secretary says the likelihood is probably growing? one thing our viewers need to remember is the

. >> defense minister and who brought -- ehud barak -- " whoever says 'later' may find out later it is too late." >> i understand that. i just wonder if the united states is an independent actor, finds it produce a to israel -- it prudent to say to israel no or not. quite frankly, we are in a presidential year where governor romney and it certainly speaker gingrich have been, if anything, 110% in favor of an aggressive israeli policy and critical of the administration. >> romney and gingrich are not in office. the israeli thinking -- the israelis could suffer thousands of casualties if lebanon or hezbollah attacks. israelis know all the rest and how short term the advantage would be. the reason they are thinking about this is that for israelis, but the weeks before the 1967 war, israel was abandoned by the whole world. israel had to do preemptive attack. it feels as isolated as back then and will take the same risk. >> politics of birth control and breast cancer. >> this is a violation of the basic rights of conscience. >> this mandate violates our constitution. >> that is house speake

earlier this month, ehud barak suggested that the decision to carry out any strike was very far away. >> for more on this story, i'm joined by the former assistant to president clinton and currently the middle east program director at the international crisis group. thank you very much for coming in. the temperature on iran seems to have risen in washington. how accurate are these reports that israel might be planning an attack? >> the picture is as confusing as it has ever been. for years, israel has said we have to do something. now in the space of a few weeks, we have israel saying that they have to take action. we know that the military leadership in israel is against action but the defense minister and the prime minister seemed to be for it. they are taking action such as scientists being assassinated. the u.s. is shifting its view. one day, they say all options are on the table, then they say considering military action. >> why would they broadcast a warning of an attack when presumably they could just do it, right? >> right. this would signal perhaps that they are trying to put

sprinkling his hebrew with english ehud barak said. >> as long as as november, barak said there were only six to nine month left before iran buried its nuclear facilities so deeply to make it too deep to attack. when joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey tried to convince israeli leaders it's too soon for military force, he came away admitting he had not changed any minds. israel recently canceled a missile defense exercise scheduled with the u.s. for the spring, a move some defense officials interpret as evidence israel is focusing all its efforts on preparing for an attack. as panetta explained in an interview with "60 minutes," an israeli strike would almost certainly have consequences for the u.s. >> the united states could be targeted as a result of that. we would get blamed, whether they like it or not. we would get blamed. >> reporter: nobody, including the israelies, thinks a strike with all its unforeseen consequences is a good option, but if sanctions don't work and work soon, the israelis could decide it's the only option. >> pelley: and secretary panetta told us iran could

. >> reporter: today on the ground national security adviser will be meeting with ehud barak, the latest u.s. official to conduct high-level meetings with israelis on the iran issue. evidence that this growing tension is affecting the global economy the price of oil today shot up to a nine-month high. stephanie gosk, nbc news. >>> compelling video out of iran shows a dramatic rescue by a tv crew that happened to be in the right place at the right time about you can see men jumping from a ship that has caught fire. literally swimming for their lives. this is off the coast in iran. they're swimming toward an iranian film crew that happened to be nearby shooting a documentary when they found the ship on fire. it took almost two hours to put out flames. no word on injuries or deaths. >>> american stock markets closed today, though scott mcgrew says not exactly because it's presidents' day. >> well good morning. on wall street they don't recognize presidents' day but they do recognize washington's birthday. they're traditionalists on the new york stock exchange. the market's closed this morni

yesterday, israeli defense minister ehud barak issued his strongest warning yet that time is running out. at a security conference in israel, he said: "dealing with a nuclear iran will be more complicated, more dangerous, and more costly in lives and money than stopping it. whoever says "later" may find that "later" is too late." and israel's vice premier moshe ya'alon underscored his government's view that even iran's underground nuclear sites are vulnerable. >> ( translated ): there was a debate in the united states about whether bombs can or cannot penetrate an iranian underground installation. from my own military experience, any facility that is guarded by a human being can be targeted. >> suarez: at almost the same time, a "washington post" column by david ignatius raised eyebrows. ignatius wrote that u.s. defense secretary leon panetta: "believes there is a strong likelihood that israel will strike iran in april, may or june, before iran enters what israelis described as a zone of immunity to commence building a nuclear bomb." in brussels yesterday, at a nato meeting, panetta

benjamin netanyahu said that sanctions although good clearly are not working and his defense minister ehud barak said this was all a stunt on iran's behalf to try to convince the world they had passed the point of no return with their nuclear program. >> i think the sanctions should be ratcheted up and made even more urgent. i think for the first time we see certain signs of dissension but they may not suffice. >> reporter: in iran they claim they have developed a new generation of centrifuge to enrich uraniuim. now that country can produce its own fuel rods. in an interesting twist, today iran says it is now ready to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear program after halting the talks over a year ago. stephanie gosk, nbc news, tel aviv. >>> a frontier airlines pilot was grounded in omaha today. law enforcement officials say he may have been drunk. the pilot never made it on to the plane. airline officials say police were called when the pilot aroused suspicions before even making it through security. flight 1894 to milwaukee was supposed to leave at 6:00 this morning but passengers

ambassador john boulton saying that ehud barak's moderate tone should not be mistaken for a lack of resolve. >> well, i think that barak is obviously trying it play it safe. i don't think he wants to tip israel's hand and he is the defense minister, so, ingle' talk more like a foreign minister than a defense minister for the forseeable future so as not to give any tactical warning whatsoever. >> the u.s. and britain have been urging israel not to attack iran's nuclear program instead give the sanctions time to work and this development in our coverage, iran's foreign minister announced a new round of talks offer the country's nuclear program. a team of united nations experts has boarded a flight to tehran and we've learned they're hoping iranian officials will agree whether they're agreeing to talk about it. and back to the oil shipments, how big a customer the european union is to iran. britain and france buy large quantities of oil from iran and the four other big customers include spain, italy, germany and the netherlands and overall, the eu accounts for 18% of iran's global crude export

united states, of course, israel is saying that the time for sanctions in a sense is over, although ehud barakpeaking in tokyo said that only crippling sanctions could now bring tehran to the negotiating table. so it really is as far as israel is concerned really a question of timing. we don't know if any decision has been taken as such formally for otherwise to launch a strike against iran but it is certainly the topic on anyone's minds here. >> that was fionnuala sweeney reporting from jerusalem. >>> they aren't backing down in the north rebels are slowly coming together learning the discipline they'll need to win their country. as our ivan watson learned many feel they don't have any other choice. >> reporter: the commander is a former syrian army general who defected six months ago. like many of his fighters, he covers his face for safety. he calls syria's 11-month-old uprising the orphan revolution because unlike the revolts in egypt, libya, tunisia and yemen, he says, the syrian rebels haven't received any foreign support. with no outside help the men of this community turn to a higher p

the idea often explained by ehud barak, israel's defense minister, is soon iran will have enough nuclear capacity that israel would not be able to inflict a crippling blow to its program. israeli officials explained that we americans cannot understand their fears that iron is a exosential danger to them. but, in fact, we can understand because we went through a very similar experience ourselves. after world war ii as the soviet union approached a nuclear capability, the united states was seized by a panic that lasted for years. everything that israel says about iran now, we said then about the soviet union. we saw it as a radical, godless, revolutionary regime opposed to every value we held dear, determined to overthrow the governments of the western world in order to establish global communism. we saw moscow as irrational, aggressive, and utterly unconcerned with human life. after all, stalin had just sacrificed a mind boggling 26 million soviet lives in his country's struggle against nazi germany. just as israel is openly considering pre-emptive strikes against iran, many in the west u

israel's defense minister ehud barak said yesterday the time to act is now english in his speech laters judith miller who was at the speech whether a decision to strike iran has already been taken. >> i meal based on everything i heard that a decision has not been made and that had a decision been made, no one would be speaking as freely as they have been to me this past week. >> a game of high stakes poker indeed, shep. but one that could have unintended consequences. >> jennifer griffin pentagon tonight our national security correspondent. thanks. egypt now, concerns over a spike in violence and the treatment of american citizens are threatening a major amount of united states aid. the united states gives the egyptian military more than a billion tax dollars each year. but the vermont senator patrick leahy along with 41 members of congress say they want egypt to prove that it's working toward democracy before it gets any more money. lawmakers also calling for a resolution to the situation involving the son of the transportation secretary ray la hood and several other americans. they

israel, i should add you need to keep one eye on tel aviv at all time now that the defense minister ehud barakas talked about attacking iran's nuclear facilities. i know barak. he does not speak idly. and he will not be constrained by american pressure. friday morning we hear from arch coal. the coal bear market continues unabated courtesy of the staggering decline in natural gas prices that's giving coal a run for its money at all of america's utilities that can switch back and forth. plus, if obama wins the election, king coal's going pawn on us because the epa will run roughshod over coal. i say stay away. last from the east we get nyse results from euronext on friday. they need to us what their plan is now that the merger with deutsche bourse has been nixed. is there a plan b? i hope so. because i got sold on the idea of the merger and now i'm thinking this one could be real dead money here because they couldn't get it done. and there's one ipo coming next week that's worth focusing on. caesars entertainment. welcome back to the chute, caesars. they are offering so little stock this time a

later is too late is what ehud barak said. >> what happens next? what happens to the price of oil? is there retaliation against israel? there could be an taken to united states. >> that is what is really worrying the americans. an attack on the homeland. i have never heard the intelligence chief say anything like that. there might be sleepers here willing to attack if israel attacks iran. >> the u.s. officials think that the sanctions against iran could work. in the end, they know they can't stop israel if israel wants to attack. >> israel says, we want to attack, we will. >> thank you, martha raddatz. >>> to the big shakeup in the republican race. donald trump's surprise endorsement of mitt romney. it's "your voice, your vote." david muir is there in las vegas to size up the odds. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, robin. happy friday to you. 24 hours way from the nevada caucuses here. the big headline, that endorsement from donald trump. but will help from this high roller make a difference? >> governor mitt romney. >> reporter: mitt romney campaigning into the night

remarks, we're talking about the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, of israel, the defense minister ehud barak saying these do not service reel's interests, serve iran's interests and are being very vocal of their dissatisfaction. >> it's a new level of disagreement between the two sides. the obama side is saying patience, calling for patience on dealing with iran. the israelis are saying we're worried iran's going to enter the zone of immunity where they'll have enough fissile material that a military strike will prove ineffective. this is very troubling that these allies are not getting along. we have issues with iran, but we also have bigger issues, megyn, in the middle east; syria, egypt, iraq. there's a lot going on here, and this relationship is troubled. megyn: how unusual is it for top administration officials within the united states to come out so publicly against a strategy by our close ally, israel, as we have been doing over the past days and weeks and then to have israel publicly express its dissatisfaction with america in this way? >> well, it's clear that both sides are unhappy

>> the example most in the minds of the israeli defense minister, ehud barak, crucial to such a decision is his decision in 2007 or '6, a few years ago to destroy syria's nuclear reactor and send sent in a combination of aircraft and i believe ground troops, destroyed the reactor. what they have been telling the outside world, journalists, the united states, syria didn't respond. we shouldn't assume iran would respond. they are different cases. iran is a country that showed how brutal and difficult it can be when it cracked down on its own people, killing hundreds of people and suppressing thousands. i don't think this will be a cake walk, anything like iraq or syria. i think this is a major step if it happens, and could be a major confrontation. >> l jamjamie rubin, thank you much. >>> the republicans running for president bring it up as well, especially the discussing of the president's nuclear handling of the tension. bring in mark preston from washington. we have heard from the republican wannabe candidates here, rick santorum. he was on piers morgan last night. hear what he has to s

defense minister ehud barak talks openly about a possible military strike. >> if israel does a unilateraleal problem for the national security interest of the united states. >> reporter: and inside the administration been more mixed signals, defense secretary leon panetta let it be known he believes israel could strike this spring. but in an nbc interview, the president seems to be disagree. >> i don't think that israel has made a decision on what they need to do. >> reporter: but as iran begins another round of military exerci exercises, some u.s. officials say the back and forth between israel and the u.s. is a pressure tactic against iran. the u.s. intelligence community has its own warning. >> iran's technical advances, particularly in the uranium enrichment strengthen our assessment that iran is more than capable of producing enough highly-enriched uranium. >> reporter: the cia is tracking several highly-class tied indicators of where iran's nuclear program stands. >> what we think would be evident, if there is a decision to enrich beyond the 20% that they are currently enriching to

. >> eric: we heard ehud barak talk about that, saying the time is shortening. how do you take his remarks. >> if i were the defense minister of israel i'd talk about sanctions and diplomacy and negotiation, anything other than defense. iran, obviously, has strategic warning of a possible attack and, unfortunately, our defense secretary, leon panetta gave the iranians tactical warning. >> eric: do you think there could be an attack, the guardian says, the u.s. officials believe sanctions will fail and there is potential talk about the possibility of an israeli strike, maybe in the fall. >> i think that is the most honest assessment and the israelis waited too long already and the risk of the military window closing, is very real. and i'm not sure they've gotten... i don't know what israel will do, but i don't think they want to miss the possibility of stopping this iranian effort, before iran actually gets nuclear weapons. because, if they miss, and iran does have the nuclear bomb the retaliation will be nuclear and devastating. >> eric: you talk about retaliati

today israeli defense minister ehud barak is in washington for two days after talks about iran's nuclears meeting with top-level leaders of the administration just days before the arrival of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the u.s. has been working with the israelis to present a unified front against iran. washington wants leaders in jerusalem to give sanctions more time to work, but behind the scenes israel fears it will have to act on its own to try to keep iran from developing a nuclear weapon. we'll have more on all of this later in the hour when we speak with ambassador john bolton. >> once this was brought to my attention, i stopped it. i stopped it. in spite of what other attorneys general might have done with briefings that they got, when this attorney general heard about these practices, i said to the men and women of the united states department of justice, to the field, to people at main justice this ain't going to be the way we conduct business. stop it. jenna: well, that was attorney general eric holder in a strong defense of his actions in the fast and furious gu

israeli defense minister ehud barak said this, quoek, iran must be prevent fred becoming nuclear ando option should be taken off the table. let's get right to barbara starr this morning at the pentagon. good morning, barbara. >> good morning, soledad. a lot of chatter around here about what panetta said about all of this. it was first reported in the "washington post" by the very respected journalist david ignatius and confirmed to us by a pentagon official. panetta now believes there is a growing likelihood israel will strike iran sometime this spring. that israel believes iran has moved ahead. made the decision to go for a nuclear weapon is increasingly capable of making that happen. and that they have to stop it. but is this rhetoric? is this panetta ratcheting up the rhetoric against iran? possibly putting israel at risk? is this a revelation of key intelligence? that's what we don't know. what's what the dilemma is right now and there are a lot of people who are concerned that all of this rhetoric on all three sides painting a lot of dangerous -- a lot of danger here that a lot

ehud barak gave a tough speech at a tel aviv conference. he said, he gave a speech in hebrew. he talked about sometimes it makes sense to wait on taking actions but sometimes waiting can find you in a position where you're too late. when he said that, he flipped to english, clearly speaking to an american audience. that was only part of the speech in english. bill: very interesting. >> americans are saying to israel we're working on it. we're putting in place these sanctions. let us have time. bill: rasmussen reports, among americans, should the israel help iran or do nothing? 48% say help israel. what is the scenario there as it plays out in your mind? >> i think, if israel were to take military action against iran there would be a lot of international pressure against the united states government to show some distance from israel, perhaps to criticize it. u.s. government in '81, when israel bombed the nuclear reactor in iraq, u.s. government criticized israel. the senate passed a resolution condemning israel. there will be pressure internationally, particularly in europe, pa