council under president bush, and gordon chang, author of "nuclear showdown: north korea takes on the world." victor, how much is a threat is kim jong-un? we saw those pictures of him with his new wife. a week ago, he's seen hanging out with dennis rodman. he's often pictured doing comical and weird things, like riding amusement park rides in pyongyang. and now we're supposed to take him seriously when he says he's going to attack the u.s.? >> erin, what these things have shown recently is unpredictable is the new normal when it comes to north korea. i think we had some sense of how kim jong-il, the former leader, operated, but there's a lot that we don't know about the current leader, and his actions, as you noted earlier, have really been ranging, far beyond what we've seen in the past with north korea. i think in the end, he does want all of these western accoutrements of life, whether it's basketball or amusement parks, but he also wants his nuclear weapons and his ballistic missiles.

here's a north korean expert, gordon chang. >> right now we can see most trends are moving in the wrongection. we see the north koreans increasing the range of their ballistic missiles. they're developing nuclear warhead, and the regime is becoming unstable. you put that together and we have to be concerned. >> the fear is that kim jong-un will eventually have to do something just to prove that his threats are not empty. >> shepard: that has to be of some concern to south korea. >> yeah, has to be. the pentagon, they're not really concerned about a long-range rocket hitting the united states but they're very concerned about the korean peninsula being destabilized, and any attack on south korea, even a small one, would likely bring a joint response from south korea and the united states. the level of that response is very unclear, but both the pentagon and the white house are now calling on north korea to cool the rhetoric. here's jay carney. >> as we said consistently, the pcrk will achieve nothing by the threats of prove asia, which will only further isolate north korea and undermine e

gordon chang will call this trip jack lew's trip his first big mistake. nds like a movie, doesn't it. time for check stocks on the floor of the he is change. nicole, both your parents were born in cyprus? >> both my parents were born in cyprus. my mom in the north which is beautiful though i have never been and my father in another part. so it is a beautiful island. it is great. but obviously the people in cyprus are up in arms about the idea they may put a tax on bank deposits, a place where you think your money is safe and you're finding maybe not so safe. the decision is tomorrow. the banks are closed until thursday. meantime we've seen a very strong dollar. a euro that is certainly has pulled back to four-month lows. we're watching the market coming under pressure. we'll look at some of the banks here on the heels of what we're hearing over in cyprus. you can see the banking index has been to the downside all day. the banks abroad also been lower. national bank of greece at a 52-week low. citigroup down 3.2%. bring it home here, morgan stanley also dow

and gordon chang. he was an attorney in hong kong for twenty years. now, an author and contributor to forbes.com. let me start with you ken lieberthal. what do we need to know about xi jinping? >> the most important thing we know is he's going to govern china for the next decade and that will be enormously important for china, asia and globally. he's worked his way up to every level of the chinese political system so he's a very experienced politician and administrator. he's coming on a program saying he's trying to clean up corruption, revitalize the communist party and keep in the power and use these capabilities to reform the chinese economic system while maintaining or building military strength. >> woodruff: is there something about his background we should know? >> his father is a comrade of mow say dung, which makes him a princeling. he's the first communist party to be born after the communist leadership came to power. xi jinping is in a system and a politburo at least for maybe five of those seven member bodies are conservatives, the hard lin

gordon chang. thank you so much for joining us. >> still to come.you any to the dentist you expect the teeth to be cleaned properly. but patients in oklahoma may have ended up with a lot more and it is causing major health concerns. details after the break. the kyocera torque lets you hear and be heard even in stupid loud places. to prove it, we set up our call center right here... [ chirp ] all good? [ chirp ] getty up. call me! seriously, this is really happening! [ cellphone rings ] hello? it's a giant helicopter ma'am. [ male announcer ] get it done [ chirp ] with the ultra-rugged kyocera rque, only from sprint direct connect. buy one get four fre for your busines only from sprint direct connect. the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf., and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere els

he can't back down unfortunately. >> gordon chang, author of "nuclear showdown." >> this year, final four, in atlanta. but march madness taking place all over america right now. rachel nickels has been in the thick of things following it on the cnn express bus. rachel nickels, i saw you last night, trying to catch some of the games myself. you're there, in d.c. i love that we have sort of, you know, pimped our ride, so to speak. how has it been so far? >> sports will eventually take over the world. this is first step. i have a small bus as my first step. but i'm coming for the rest of the block, i want to point that out. it has been fun. it has been a great time. the tournament is a time of uncertainty in the ncaa tournament this year, probably more uncertain than ever. number one seed went down here, washington, d.c., last night, when indiana lost to syracuse. and two elite programs, two giant programs, long history, and the syracuse zone got another team and we'll have to see when they play tomorrow in the elite eight what they do to marquette. that's a team that

gordon chang, the author of "nuclear showdown," he said last week that china has been selling north koreaaunchers for a missile. i wonder if you think china is saying the right thing but behind closed doors building up north korea against the u.s. as a back doorway to avoid having to confront the u.s. itself. >> well, look, the first thing to relate to the fact of china criticizing -- for increasing our defense, our missile defense, everything has to be on the table when it comes to protecting american lives or having another country threaten to attack the united states of america. we will do whatever we have to do that is legal and pursuant to all the international issues to protect our citizens. so china can -- has a lot of rhetoric. china is doing a lot of things we're concerned about now. there are cyber attacks, issues like that. but the good news is that china, for the first time, stood up against north korea. china is the only country right now that can really tone down the rhetoric and tell the new leader of north korea that enough's enough and that we're not going to tolerate the

joining us now, columnist and author gordon chang.ood to see you, alex. >> dennis rodman of all people the first american to meet with jong-un since he took over for his father. what do you make of the whole thing? >> i think it's sort of a employ. i think the united states should have a diplomatic compound in north korea and we should be talking to the north koreans. but we've got to remember that president obama sent two white house envoys, two separate trips, to north korea twice last year. the north koreans just blew them off. you know, maybe there's a change in attitude in pyongyang right now. it's pretty unlikely. got to also remember right now the united states is trying to round up votes in the security council for new sanctions. because north korea's nuclear test last month. i think this is more sort of trying to defer that, undermine the american push for sanctions. i don't think it's a real outreach. >> do you think the united states should rethink its approach to dealing with him? maybe he's a guy that appreciates doing so

with me now on the set, gordon chang, author of "nuclear sh showdo showdown, north korea takes on the by the united states. what do you expect the reaction to be from north korea? >> i think north korea certainly is going to continue doing what it's doing, improving its long-range ballistic missiles, putting its missiles on mobile launchers, and detonating more nuclear devices. this is what north korea does. they want these weapons. they want to sell them to iran, and so i don't think we're going to see very much of a change. >> here is what is a little disturbing. we have a couple years before all of these 14 extra -- the missile defense would be put into place. how close are we to actually having -- or having north korea with the capability of reaching our shores? >> well, they can reach our shores now, alaska, hawaii, maybe the upper reaches of the west coast. i don't think so but some people say. with a warhead that's conventional only. but within five years and probably three, the north koreans will be able to airmail a nuke to almost any port in the united states. >> is north ko

gordon chang who has written books about north korea believes there is some internal turmoil.at's the real problem for us. this is not just a single threat where the regime makes it and then goes quiet. what we have now is one problem after another. and that really means something was wrong in the regime and when something is wrong in the regime we are going to see who horrific incident somewhere down the road. he adds while north carolina doesn't have great long range weapons. they have short high alert. >> south korea says right now there are no aggressive signs along the border. but any attack on south korea, even a small one, would be considered to be destabilizing that korean peninsula and that would likely lead to a response from both south korea and the united states. now, the level of that response is very unclear. but today both the pentagon and the white house are calling on north korea to back off. here is jay carney. >> as we say consistently the achieve nothing by these threats or provocations which will only further isolate north korea and undermine international

gordon chang joins us on the phone. this is your story, gordon. you broke this one.ia campaign against apple. on friday, the news agency, the official news outlet had a story how students were taking out loans to buy apple products and followed the march 15th attack on china central television in the annual consumer day show. what they did was they went after apple's warranty practices, but what was worse, they organized celebrities to post on china's twitter-like service, the scathing apple comments. stuart: gordon, what did apple do to deserve this? >> i think what apple did was tim cook in january gave an ill-advised interview and said china would be apple's largest market and he was trying to flatt flatter how they were. but they heard that they were going to try to take over the phone and computer markets. and went on the attack. stuart: you brock thke this sto apple has gone back to about $466 per share. remember, it sold off from 700 down to about 420. bouncing back to 466 this morning. war with china or not. seven early movers, monday morning, here is what we

gordon chang is author nuclear showdown, north korea takes on the world.rea being so belicose. >> there is so much news going on that something is wrong in the capitol. kim jong un has baseball been there for 15 months. he's been purging his father's officials which is standard operating procedure in the north korean regime, that's why they are expand being the north korean prison camps right now. when a regime is in disarray the hardest lines always set the tone. jon: there was speculation when he took office that he would need to prove to his military leaders that he was a tough guy, that he had backbone, is this his way of doing that? >> that's part of it. the other thing is that north korea always commits provocations within months of the inauguration of a south korean president to test the revolve of a new leader. hark yo u.n. g hai took office last week. jon: let's take a look at the sanctions the u.n. voted in on south korea. restricting financial and trade transactions, i would have thought that would already have been done. required mandatory insp

joining me is gordon chang, it's great to have you here.and forth, is this something more serious? >> it is bluster but we have to be concerned about these harsh words because they are coming at a time of disarray in the regime itself. remember kim jong-un has only been in power 15 or 16 months, in no time since 1949 has a north korean leader had a smaller base of support than kim jong-un. trying to change the nature of the regime. that's why we need to be concerned because things could get out of control. >> have we ever been this close to a conflict with the north before, especially given the fact that the south korean leader is new and might be testing her? >> there have been a number of pretty bad incidents since the end of the korean war. this one is different though because we have someone who really is not steeped in the traditions of the kim regime. his father and grandfather were very good at provoking the international community and reach out and kill people but they knew where to draw the line. kim jong-un is inexperienced and ha

gordon chang had this to say. >> we had an agreement between washington and seoul that the united statesally brings us in. we have a defense treaty with south korea that obligates us to protect south korean territory. we'll retaliate in the north koreans do something horrible which many people think they will. so this is a dangerous situation now. it's not going to get better. >> today's comments were the latest in a string of increasingly belligerent threats from pyongyang. >>> 17 t.s.a. workers facing termination for not following screening procedures will be suspended instead. the agency says many workers didn't violate the rules intentionally. the tsa sought to punish 44 workers. four were with fired. >>> here is a look at what's trending online. a former south african president, nelson mandela, is resting comfortably in the hospital this afternoon. the 94-year-old was admitted this week suffering from pneumonia. doctors say the treatment is going well. >>> and "american idol" seems to be falling in the ratings this season. the singing competition had just over 7 million viewers on t

noon between kilmeade and friends, the radio app and wherever you have our stations, bret baier, gordon changy amongst the many guests. >>steve: let's tell you a little bit about this. if you work in a place and every season you know you get a new crop of young people into the office -- interns and what not -- and you think they don't work like i used to when i first got signed on to this job, you're kind of right. because there's a york college in pennsylvania did research where they talked to 400 people in human resources. what they found out is essentially millennials, the young people who just graduated from high school and college, they are a little immature. they are not very professional at work. >>ainsley: i don't like this study. it says that generation needs a new attitude. i feel like they say this with every college graduating class that you're not as good as we were. i'd like to look at the positives. there are a lot of interns here that are awesome and do a great job. >>brian: a lot of people here, according to this study in this generation are not coming to the table with a lot

north korea takes on the world, gordon chang is here to talk with us. >> thank you. >> clayton: whenaying out specifics there in the speech last week, did it ring true or hollow to you? >> it certainly didn't ring true, dialog isn't going to work. president obama, then secretary panetta talks to them for years about the cyber hacking and the numbers spiked dramatically in the middle of last year and donilon talks about it and senator feinstein talks about it. the china loves to sign treaties, but don't honor any of them. remember the ripping off of dvd's and china was selling them on the streets. they said we're going to clamp down on copy right. and the name hackers, it bothers me, i think of somebody trying to get a bank account or information like that or trying to drive up traffic on a website, but they're trying to get state secrets. that doesn't sound to me like hackers. >> not only are they spies, but they're saboteurs going after critical infrastructure. the great 2003 blackout in the northeast, probably caused by a chinese hacker causing a cascade and a loss of power. and am

change. i don't know what's happening. what is this? (gordong? let's take a look at a few examples of trends in the food business. let me show you what i mean. in the 1950s, housewives all across america were serving these crazy colorful dishes. [laughter] is that you shaking, or was it the jell-o? oh, the jell-o's supposed to shake. the jell-o's shaking. amazing. i don't know what the [bleep]'s happening. you know, this beautiful girl walks out in this sleek, nice dress, and she's carrying a jell-o mold, and things are wiggling, and believe me it wasn't just the jell-o. you got a hot chick or a jell-o mold. you got problems if you're looking at the jell-o mold. (gordon) also in the '50s the tv dinner. clearly ideal for watching in front of the telly, but let's be honest-- it tasted of crap, right? (dana) maybe we're gonna have to, like, recreate a tv dinner and make it fine dining? i'm just so confused. time for our next model. there was a type of food that became highly fashionable in the 1970s-- the fondue. we're gonna be reinterpreting fond

change of actions. they are acting as though the sky is still falling. >> reporter: kevin gordon on on says prop 30 preventeder cuts to schools but doesn't give them any more money. it's still unclear how hard the federal government sequestration cuts will hurt districts or even if the governor's plan to shake up school financing will win approval. >> districts don't have a choice. in law there is statutory requirement that on march 15th you have to do the layoffs. if you don't do them you won't have the opportunity later in the school year. >> reporter: since most layoff notices are rescinded weeks later when the state budget picture is clearer, one senator wants to save everyone heartache and move the deadline to june 1st in an effort to keep good teachers from leaving. >> they'll go off and find other jobs or leave the district if they can find something else. >> california federation of teachers is calling on districts with large budget reserves to stop the layoffs. >> katie: a former san francisco supervisor wants larry ellison to make up a multimillion dollar shortfall not projected for the races this

no change is not an option, but under the health secretary's plan, he has made sure that they will retain medical and emergency cover. >> gordon. spent great man. great men. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today, it is just under 6500. in 2008 it was just under 3500. does my right honorable friend agree with me that the real investors in this economy agree with the governors economic policy -- [inaudible] deliver by the party opposite? >> my honorable friend makes a good point. it is a very difficult and hard road we are traveling to turn this economy around after the huge mess that was made by the party opposite. but when you look at the facts, just this morning we can see an extra 131,000 people in work. we are seeing the changes necessary to start the rebuilding of our economy. >> mr. ed mella van. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, last week in the foreign secretary said it was a strong case of amending the arms embargo of syria in the months ahead. given that no decision was taken in the eu council, does it remain the primary's intention to seek a relaxation of the eu arms embargo? >> first of all let a us look at what we've achieved

change in aks however they're acting the sky is still falling. >> there is a lot of uncertainty still out there. >> kevin gordon says it doesn't give them any moreey. plus, it's still unclear how hard the federal government sequestration cuts will hurt districts or if governor brown's plan will win legislate yaif proveal. >> districts don't have a choice. in law there is a requirement march 15th you've got to do the layoffs. if you don't you're not going to have the opportunity. >> since most layoff notices are rescinded weeks later, you one senator wants to save everyone heartache and move the layoff to june 1. >> they'll go off and find another job or leave the district if they can find something else. >> california federation of teachers is calling on school districts to use the money to prevent layoff autos bay area school districts tell us a pink slip situation isn't as extreme. the san jose unified school district did not hand outlayoff notices today. and officials don't expect that to change. san francisco unified handed out 142 pink slips. that is fewer than half of what the district distributed last year. it's the first time that number

change in their actions. however, they are acting as though the sky is still falling. >> there's a lot of uncertainty still out there. >> capital advisers president kevin gordon said prop0 only prevented further cuts to schools. it doesn't give them any more money. it is still how clear how hard the government's sequestration cuts will hurt districts. ortiz even if governor brown's plan to shake up school financing will get legislative approval. >> districts don't have a choice. >> in law there's a statutory requirement on march 15th to do the layoffs and if you don't do them you won't have that opportunity later in the school year. >> since most layoff notices are rescinded weeks later when the state's budget picture is clearer, one state senator wants to save everybody the heartache and move the deadline to june 1st in an effort to keep good teachers from leaving. >> they will go off and find another job or they go out and leave the district if they can find something else. >> the california federation of teachers is calling on all school districts with large budget reserves to use the money to stop layoffs. abc7 news. >>> new this morning president obama is promotin

change in their actions. however, they are acting as though the sky is still falling. >> there's a lot of uncertainty still out there. >> capital advisers president kevin gordon said proply prevented further cuts to school. it doesn't give them any more money. it is still how clear how hard the government's sequestration cuts will hurt districts. or even if the plan to shake up school financing will get legislative approval. >> in law there's a statutory requirement on march sag you have to do the layoffs and if you don't do them you won't have that opportunity later in the school year. >> since most layoff notices are rescinded later when the state's budget picture is clearer, one state senator wants to save everybody the heartache and move the deadline to june 1st in an effort to keep good teachers from leaving. >> they will go off and find another job or they go out and leave the district if they can find something else. >> the california federation of teachers is calling on all school districts in large budget reserves to use the money to stop layoffs. abc7 news. >>> new this morning president obama is promoting a plan to find alternative fuel. in his weekly addres

no change is not an option, but under the health secretary's plan, he has made sure that they will retain medical and emergency cover. >> gordon. spent great man. great men. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today, it is just under 6500. in 2008 it was just under 3500. does my right honorable friend agree with me that the real investors in this economy agree with the governors economic policy -- [inaudible] deliver by the party opposite? >> my honorable friend makes a good point. it is a very difficult and hard road we are traveling to turn this economy around after the huge mess that was made by the party opposite. but when you look at the facts, just this morning we can see an extra 131,000 people in work. we are seeing the changes necessary to start the rebuilding of our economy. >> mr. ed mella van. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, last week in the foreign secretary said it was a strong case of amending the arms embargo of syria in the months ahead. given that no decision was taken in the eu council, does it remain the primary's intention to seek a relaxation of the eu arms embargo? >> first of all let a us look at what we've achieved

chang and elon berman. author ever teheran rising, iran's challenge to the united states. welcome to you both. gordonthis particular incident being these arms that we found off the coast of yemen. how big is this business between iran and china, and arms smuggling? >> well china and iran have had a very durable partnership and it's not just small arms, not just these man-pads or man portable air defense systems, but it's also nuclear weapons technology and also through third parties like north korea and pakistan we've seen a lot of nuclear technology go to the iranians from china this has been a partnership that's gone on for more than a decade and it's a very dangerous trade. >> elon what is the affect on iran's attempt to build a nuclear weapon? >> no, i think the attempt has been pronounced. if you talk to knowledgeable proliferation experts in the u.s. government they'll tell you that the type of corruption that china is providing to iran has a tremendous affect on iran's nuclear progress. if that cooperation was stopped you would at least have a temporary, significant slow down in iran's march t

change their vote? hearing none, the yeas are 91, the nays are zero. the nomination is confirmed. the presiding officer: under the previous question -- orb, under the previous order, the question is on the gordon nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume legislative session. the senator from california. mrs. boxer: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the proceed to a -- the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes, and i ask unanimous consent that i have up to 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: mr. president, the senate is not nompletd. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. boxer: thank you so much, mr. president. i am very pleased to see that we have confirmed a couple of judges. we have judges all over this country -- nominees waiting to be confirmed and judicial emergencies all o