well i had a comment about iran.aybe we could like stop funding them for yemen also, all the muslim countries and their oil and dig on our coastline and maybe that can slow down the terrorism and stop funding the countries trying produce it and maybe we can like slow the war down and slow down these people with that. thank you, sir. host: thank you, david. guest: frankly i don't think there's enough oil in the united states even including the outer continental shelf. i don't think there's enough oil to make-up all of the oil that the united states has to import. every day. even if the united states by itself could achieve some version of energy independence, we have very, very vital allies in asia, europe who will remain dependent on imported hydrocarbon. i think as, you know a major economy in the global economic quarter, the united states has an on-going interest for as far as eye can see in a free flow of crude oil, hydrocarbon from the persian gulf to international energy markets and i don't think that will chang

i always say i left iran but iran never left me. in that sense that absence, when i lived in iran, i left in 1997. when i lived in iran, i was too much part of what was going on to at times realize what was really happening. but now here you constantly have to imagine and you have to imagine those whom you love, those with whom you protested in other years during the past now again in the streets, some of them in jail, some of them under torture. >> and as we say, there are horror stories that would have you coming out of there, and you see all this. so maz, where do you find levity in this? where is the comedy? i would imagine you need it in some way to escape what you're seeing. >> oh, there's always -- >> i'm talking to maz. i wanted to get maz in. >> sorry. >> that's okay. >> or azar. maybe she's got something. i don't know. >> no, no, no. go ahead. >> that's fine. it's hard, don, to actually -- based on what we're seeing, there's no comedy there specifically. i think that the comedy comes in lampooning some of the things that y

well i had a comment about iran. maybe we could like stop funding them for yemen also, all the muslim countries and their oil and dig on our coastline and maybe that can slow down the terrorism and stop funding the countries trying produce it and maybe we can like slow the war down and slow down these people with that. thank you, sir. host: thank you, david. guest: frankly i don't think there's enough oil in the united states even including the outer continental shelf. i don't think there's enough oil to make-up all of the oil that the united states has to import. every day. even if the united states by itself could achieve some version of energy independence, we have very, very vital allies in asia, europe who will remain dependent on imported hydrocarbon. i think as, you know a major economy in the global economic quarter, the united states has an on-going interest for as far as eye can see in a free flow of crude oil, hydrocarbon from the persian gulf to international energy markets and i don't think that will cha

and they are close to iran. so i can imagine iran feels threatened.lso pakistan has nuclear weapons. if we don't want iran to have nuclear weapons. it sort of makes sense. swayback in the 1950 -- way back in the 1950's, i heard the cia helped us overthrow the existing leader in iran. ever since then they have been a little bit paranoid about us. we are in essentially taking over the middle east, which is what is happening, and it looks like you are one of the people who wants to do that or something. what is your recipe for iran, what do you intend that we should do? guest: the good news about iran but is there is a broad based freedom movement. no one needs to take over iran. the recipe is to help of the iranian people take over their own country, regain control of their own country. many of my iranian friends talk about the occupation of iran by islam. iran is not an islamic country to begin with pared -- to begin with. they believe the downfall of persian culture was really by the influence of islam. that is one of you. an iranian view, not my pers

in iran that can be exploited.traditional clerics actually hit the regime and reject the receipt -- regime. they believe it is un-is lahman. one fractured line. people inside the revolutionary guard who don't like the with the regime is going. they are also willing at a certain point, i believe, to take action should the violence become such -- host: what kind of action? guest: at it obviously remains to be seen. but there has been a lot of talk in iran and the last couple of months, especially the revolutionary guards, closed- door meetings that i have heard about from people who were personally present, a real crisis of conscience. people saying, this is not why we made the revolution, to turn the guns on the people. we are killing the sons and daughters of the revolution. ahmadinejad is making it happen, how many -- khameni is making it happen. that is really the good news of the country. i believe ultimately that will win out. host: explain how the iranian government works. the difference between the president,

i am hopeful about the prospects for change iran, more democratic tolerant iran.do fear the regime's penchant for more brutality in the months ahead. >> thank you. final words on this, if you can take us into the future a little bit, just a few seconds left here. >> this is a matter of thought. this is not going to be finish by a pulling down of a wall or anything. whether they get it or not is hard to know. >> what does this mean for america? what does it mean for the world? we know what it means to the people in iran. >> what it means for americans is the rise of a civil rights movement, very similar to american civil rights movement, with which we can identify immediately. number one -- >> that's the reason why i -- >> number two is the change of the language, of violence in the region from suicide or homicidal violence into a civil rights movement which is constitutionally nonviolent. as a result, for martin luther king to gandhi has now become very relevant to this civil rights movement. and this is the reason that americans should pay attention. >> thank you

and something like iraq would be -- iran, iran would be that. it's not clear to me that the white house has the will to take on two or three big things. you know, the world being what it is, there is inevitably going to be something else other than afghanistan to hit the white house. >> paul: on that point, dorothy, it sounds to me as if everything you hear from the afghanistan they want afghanistan be a nice discrete political problem that the military handles, robert gates, the defense secretary handles and the president doesn't mess his own hands up while he is trying to do great domestic reforms. can he pull it off this year? >> i don't think he can and i don't know what he will do when he sees this is a model that will take much longer than possible. >> paul: his own political capital to succeed. >> indeed. this is true. back to iran as well, you know, there is a real possibility that the government could fall in iran. there is a real possibility. not just a quiet resolution. and i -- >> paul: that would be fabulous. >> yes, it would. but i

there are only four refineries and iran. a combination of a disastrous accident at one or two of those refineries and real restraint in the sale of refined product could bring iran essentially to a halt. when you get very unhappy citizens lining up for hours to get 10 leaders rationed in their tank, -- 10 liters rationed in their tank, who knows what that would do. there are various things we could do to help change the regime. >> do you except that narrative that -- you accept that narrative that it would help lead a revolt, but does it only reinforced the revolutionary guards narrative of siege and conspiracy that they used to justify their grip on power? >> this is a wonderful question that when you are president you have to give an answer to, even if you don't know the answer. i think the reality is barack obama will have to decide between these courses, with a lot of smart people telling him that each one is a disaster for each one of them will work. this is one of the reasons president's age quickly in office. i would

the demand came two days after iran defied a deadline.s been trying to get iran to swap its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. now the concern is iran may use its uranium to make nuclear weapons. iran says it needs the fuel research. >>> rick warren got more than double what he asked for in a plea for donations. his church in southern california took in $2.4 million in just three days. on wednesday, he made an urgent plea for $900,000 to fill a deficit. warren said the recession and a huge drop in offerings over the holiday cause that had shortfall. he's the author of the best seller the purpose driven life. he also gave the invocation at president obama's inauguration. >>> that brings us to our your views question of the day. are you confident that your house of faith is spending your donations responsibly and are you satisfied with the way religious organizations support your community? if you want to comment, just head to my facebook page. we'd love to hear from you. >>> forecasters say there is more rain coming in an area where storms

nuclear program, as far as iran and israel is concerned? >> i'm sure iran under a different government would have a different relationship with israel. they had a close relationship with israel. for the first two decades of israel's existence, iran was israel's major oil supplier. >> let's talk about airline security. as you know since christmas day, there has been a huge amount of concern here as far as security at u.s. airports for good reason. israel is well known for having very tight security at ben gurian airport, el al, what is the sing the most important piece of advice you would give the u.s. as far as airline security is concerned. >> i think we learn from one another. we're closely investigating the circumstances surrounding the attempted destruction of this plane bound for detroit on christmas. but there is -- israel does present a different model for airport and airline security. israel is less concerned for what people are wearing or the way they're dressed and what they're carrying. rather we're more concerned with the way th

>> developing in iran and around -- >> oh, in iran. okay. >> the domestic policy. >> well, first of all, before i answer your question since you're from georgia, i do want to acknowledge the batallion that's being trained now. when that battalion arrives in afghanistan in march, it will bring to 950, the number of georgian troops in the country, which on a per capita basis, will make georgia the largest single troop contributor of afghanistan. until the u.s. reaches its peak of 100,000 and then georgia and the u.s. will be the top two, and i should acknowledge that, and i should acknowledge the president of georgia's personal role in that and all the georgian people and look forward to going there to visit the troops before they leave, but we should all recognize this, because georgia's own history, particularly in the last year and a half, has been so extraordinary and they've made this commitment. without any request for anything in return, there's no quid pro quos here, they wanted to help, they saw the regional connections. secondl

iran. do you agree? >> i think international terrorism driven by islamic extremism remains a threat worldwide and in many particular countries. the rtc from iran and north -- the threats you see from iran and north korea are real. i have a great concern about the government of iran about its nuclear ambition combined with its malignant ideologies, anti- western, this is a very real danger in the world. when we are at summits and work closely with our fellow international partners we try to coordinate efforts we can to deal with these situations. these are things that you can, as a leader, loosely about. >> how worried about you are as -- how worried are you about him an israeli attack? >> i think this is something we should all be profoundly concerned about. i have expressed my concerns in the strongest possible language to our international partners. >> what are we sang directly to iran? what our are people saying to them -- what are our people saying? >> we have been leading the world in

what are the women facing there in iran now? are they -- they're playing a bigger role in the protests on the street? what has changed? >> definitely. what happened with the iranian women, first of all, they had such a glorious past before the revolution. we had women senators, women ministers, women active in all walks of life. so when the revolution happened, women were among the first group who came out into the streets shouting, i was in iran at the time, they were shouting freedom is neither eastern nor western. freedom is global and throwing as ni acid into their faces, putting them into jail. this has continued on to the young women of iran. i keep telling people this struggle is not just political, it is existential. if you're a young woman like neda in iran, not just your political beliefs but the way you look, the way you talk, listening to music, wanting to become a philosophy major, all of this becomes a statement against the state. you pay a penalty for it. >> what do the iranian people want? we see the demonstratio

they are smuggled through iran. this is the front line in iran's war against the drug traff traffickers. its fron tears with pakistan and afghanistan, along maybe 2,000 kilometers of borderline, iran has built concrete walls, dams, canals and earthen barriers. >> that was my report on drug smuggling 11 years ago. so what has changed today? joining me now, gretchen peters, an award-winning journalist who reported from afghanistan and pakistan for more than a decade. she interviewed hundreds of villagers, smugglers and the taliban for her book "seeds of terror." and here again with me in the studio, is the u.n.'s antonio a maria costa. welcome back. that figure 11 years ago, now we're hearing that 90% of the world's opium and heroin comes from afghanistan but only 2% is seized there. most of it going out of the country. what is to be done? >> well, i think there needs to be a lot more focus on interdiction. i do think there needs to and lot more focus on stopping drug convoys, raiding and dismantling drug labs. that's

. >>> iran has issued an ultimatum over its nuclear program. it's threatening to enrich nuclear fuel on its own. if the west is not renegotiate a u.n.-backed deal by the end of january. this demand came two days after iran defied a deadline by the u.s. and other security council members. the west has been trying to get iran to swap its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. the concern is iran may use its uranium to make nuclear weapons. iran says it needs the fuel for research. >>> there's no relief in sight for parts of brazil where heavy rains and mudslides are blamed for dozens of deaths. officials say at least 60 people have been killed since rain started pounding southern brazil on wednesday. mudslides buried entire homes and shut down a major highway. rescuers are looking for survivors. sometimes digging with their bare hands. and it is heart breaking work. but rescuers celebrated when they dug out a toddler whose entire family was killed at home. but the little girl later died in the hospital. >>> i'm meteorologist reynolds wolf for hln. we

it was not true on iran where i thought the admiral's remarks on iran were remarkably void of content does not want to tip his hand. rob's question did draw from him a fairly candid description, but at the end of the day is still the not match what he had to say on the other troublespots. i think that does reflect a lack of a clear policy within the administration on iran on what to do other than play for time. there is awareness of the danger of playing for time. that was the main thing i did not hear discussed. let me conclude my turn to be a little more clear in than going to questions and answers. my concern about the costs on strategic communications that frequently seemed to me not to deal with elements of the actual policy formations. let we try to be more clear. this administration's top priority was to change the u.s. image to the world all to the good. it was needed.. they done something of a good job for it. in pulse terms if you ask what remains from the cairo speech, how does it translate -- in policy terms -- how does it relate to detecting a nigerian training in yemen t

. >>> political tensions are reaching a boiling point in iran. the government threatens to take an even harder line against protesters. we have a live report for you. >>> congress gets become to work this week. the focus, health care. we will take a look at what's next in the battle for reform. host: did the waltons take way too long to say goodnight? mom: g'night john boy. g'night mary ellen. mary ellen: g'night mama. g'night erin. elizabeth: g'night john boy. jim bob: g'night grandpa. elizabeth: g'night ben. m bob:'night. elizabeth: g'night jim bob. jim bob: g'night everybody, grandpa: g'night everybody. @y jim bob: g'night daddy. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. >>> boarding a flight bound for the u.s.? get ready for changes at the security check point. the tsa says starting at midnight, everyone getting on an international flight heading into the u.s. could be subjected to stricter random searches. and if you are flying from countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism, enhanced security measures are a must for every s

. >>> what to do about iran? president obama set this new year's deadline for making progress on the nuclear problem, but iran doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously. in fact, that is putting the president in a pretty tough spot, could you say. our cnn foreign affairs correspondent jill dort hey more on that. >> reporter: even as iran's political upheaval continues, president obama says the clock has run out on its nuclear ambitions. his new year's deadline for iran to prove to the world it's not racing forward to develop a nuclear weapon. >> we are now running out of time. >> reporter: iran's president scoffs at that deadline. the white house says, it's no joke. >> that is a very real deadline for the international community. >> reporter: but will the international community, especially russia and china, support much tougher economic sanctions on iran? that's still unclear. >> with each passing day, the situation becomes more urgent. >> reporter: and mr. obama is under pressure himself from congress, which

and when i come back it iran, we will not have had a relationship with iran since 1979.so, building that kind of a relationship, and what is that mean? and i speak to the difficulty of the other relationships and look at what 30 years potentially can do. so there is a awful lot of both concern and potential. and i think focus that will need to be sustained with respect to iran and that part of the world. we have great friends in that part of the world. allies that have supported us. who are anxious to continue to support us and to see stability there particularly in the gulf area and not see it -- not see it break out into any kind of conflict. um, briefly, i talk about the -- what i call the best military i have served with since 1968. our young men and women that serve right now. extraordinary. people who sat and paid the ultimate sacrifice, have been wounded. and whose lives have changed forever. who have families. that have been there. unbelievable in terms of support. whout whom we won be close to where we are and in either of the two fights. and two to whom i belie

cnn's iran desk is on the job. in the tiny nation of yemen, a top secret meeting an anti-terror meeting between that country's president and president obama's top military man stationed there. we will tell you what went on. cnn knows. hello, everyone. i'm don lemon and we want to start with the story that is making news right now, bitter cold an plunging temperatures. not one, but two systems are making a messy start for the beginning of the year. look at the windchills in the radar that you see right there. now, an arctic blast sent the mercury plummeting in minnesota, and 34 below zero in some parts of the state which is close to a record n. south minnesota, about 3,500 people were without electricity for a time this morning in that bitter cold. >>> in astoria, maine, where the storm is packing a punch, and the sunshine state is not immune to the brutal system. parts of florida are under a freeze warning and citrus growers are keeping an eye on the crops, and it is a gusty eye right here in new york city where i

people are dying in the streets of iran as we speak. the amendment that i had proposed, that i had hoped and maybe we can have the conferees included, would have required the president to draw up a list of persons in iran who have committed human rights abusebusr acts of violence against iranian civilians engaging in peaceful political activity, and we would require in the amendment that i would have proposed that the list be made public so the enemies and oppressors of the iranian people can't hide from their crimes. the world would know their names. and then we could impose visa bans, asset freezes, financial and banking sanctions, et cetera. in the streets of iran today, the iranian students are chanting "obama, obama, are you with us? are you with them?" i appreciate the president's recent statements in support of democracy in iran. i am pleased to see that. i'm pleased to see articles such as one in "newsweek" magazine, "enough is enough." and other support for serious action against iran, who some months ago did not support such a

according to iran's state-run media, seven people were killed during the protests.rity vehicles, but iranian officials deny that security officers were responsible for the deaths. they say many of the deaths were either staged or accidents. among those killed, the nephew of the opposition leader who was shot and killed. his website said on saturday key opposition figures visited him and his sister to pay respects for his nephew's passing. this comes after he released his first statement after the sunday protest. in that statement, he said he is ready to die for the movement. meantime, more threats from the hard-liners. this time from ayatollah. enemies of god and the gentleman regime suggested they be executed. over the last few weeks, the supporters have been arrested and iran's state-run media says many will be put on trial in the coming days. reza from the iran desk in atlanta. >>> many people are heading home from the holiday, but there's a lot of ice and snow to report. >> it looks like it is across the country. let's go to reynolds wolf with the latest. >> we

iran is test case of that has been humiliated. it has a tremendous sense of nationalism and identy, a it is a countryhat is no recogniz -- >> does that mean we should stanby and let it get a nuclear weapon? i want to know howou think it wilnot get a nuclear weapon. >> that is a very good response. >>he answer will be some successful intelligee efft, to putting people th are not such dogmatic nationalists, who are not crazy people, as the people who seem to b that are running the country now. >> i spent a lot of my life working on nuclear proliferation issues. ere are two point one is the point by dad ignatiusand he said it has not had much response. the gas whichou put into the centrifuges to get in richmond -- tget enrichmen, at 10,000 revolutions per secd, is in pure. there arether gases ent it, and the possibilitis that if we are trying to go above 3%, 4%, 5%, which is what we do at powerlants, which makes it as a nuclear weapon --hese huge centfuges will disintegrate. that isery interesti. the otherhing, i thinkhe way you stop

who is in charge of the strategic plan-- on iran? >> the short answer is i don't really know what is being done. and of course i assume any planning that is being done would presumably be done by centcom and consultations with the joint staff osd end state, but i think this is one of, secretary of state's comment and the reason why we haven't heard anything more about it was recognized as premature and potentially having a harmful impact on perceptions of allies in the region who are looking at iran's. and the nuclear rina and reconsidering their own options and the challenge we face in dealing with this eventuality is on the one hand we can't afford to do things which send the signal to our allies that perhaps we are acquiescing into eventuality of a nuclear iran. on the other hand there things we need to be doing now to lay the groundwork in case that is where we end up and how you kind of strike the right balance is you know, it is doable but it is a challenge. but the bottom line is there is an architecture in place that was buil

. >>> as we go on the air tonight, tension at a tipping point in the iran. at any moment we could see another uprising on the streets. what's behind this latest round. we're on the job. in the tiny middle eastern nation of yemen, a secret anti-terror meeting between that country's president and president obama's top military man station there'd. >>> we want to start with a developing story right now. not one, but two weather systems are making a messy start to 2010 for much of our country. look at those windchills in the radar that you see right there. an arctic blast sent the mercury plummeting in minnesota. close to a record, imagine this, in south minnesota about 3500 people were without electricity for a time this morning in that bitter cold. and the story is snow in maine, where the yearess first big storm is packing a real punch. and the sunshine state is it not immune to this brutal system either. parts of florida are under a hard freeze warning, and citrus growers are on edge tonight keeping an eye on their crops. it's a gusty night right here in new

except you know any different time period and with lessons on iran. now just waiting those middle-classes from taking the same risks that the iranian middle-class took in the 1970s. >> this is a follow up on exactly what you just have right now. you say the secular nature of this movement doesn't matter. but what about women's rights? >> women's rights is a very important issue. alternately, without incorporating large numbers of -- incorporating the size of the portion of the population to the economy, the middle east economies cannot grow beyond the point. but the key in my opinion is that interacting with a capitalist economy will force all kinds of changes on society that the society at the beginning may not count and may not be prepared to do, but ultimately will. so i think that, you, we should in my opinion to begin by saying that liberal values somehow like seeds that happen to fall on the ground and grow will grow in the middle east. democracy will grow on its own. it will not happen that way. the transformation will have to come from the mar

cnn is manning the iran desk at our world headquarters in atlanta.told you have new video to show us at this hour. >> yeah, don. very interesting and rare taped telephone conversation we're going to play you in a few seconds. we've heard a lot of analysts weigh in on what's happening in iran, post-election turmoil and where things are headed. rarely have we spoken to the supporters of the opposition movement. two reasons, one because of the strict media restrictions and two, many of the people are afraid. they're convinced iran security officials are listening in on their phone conversations. a few hours ago we managed to tape record a conversation with a supporter of the opposition movement. he's a 28-year-old university researcher who participated in many of these demonstrations including the one last sunday when he said he was attacked by security forces. remember, people have died in these protests. people have been detained without charge. certainly they have been hurt, so we asked, are you afraid for your safety and why do you keep going out th

you saw what happened in iran. they're in the streets. they're not happy with the way the economy has been run in iran. the fact that they're spending all the money on atomic weapons -- and isn't this is the same thing that said to the soviet union? the best thing they could do is not feed their people or house their people or prevent them from drinking. but it was building atomic weapons. even in the old days. so in a way it has a purpose. it may be diabolical. it may be cynical. let them in a way i'm reaching this conclusion. let them -- oh, maybe we should distract them so they can build more. >> i disagree with your conclusion because i think you're giving them too much credit for cleverness. in the case of north korea it's even worse. talk about starving people because they're spending so much money -- i mean, on the military generally and -- but including nuclear weapons. it's not clear, of course, that iran is even going to try to get nuclear weapons. they said they definitely do not want to get them if they're bombed by israel or

time, this, that there was a proliferation threat that was potentially growing, because we had in iran, we have libya, we had iraq obviously. but with a lot of emphasis on a.q. khan activities. my fear was and i would say i hoped this will be stronger today than i did back then as a result of what iran particularly today is doing. my fear is that states that are highly repressive or failed, the danger of a wmd link is that they become porous, they construct all sorts of different alliances with people and yet it's true we did not have evidence that saddam was, for example, behind the september 11th attacks and part of the difference between ourselves and the americans was the always said we don't accept that. it is interesting and this is referred to in the butler report however. that actually zarqawi did go into iraq, in fact prior to the invasion. now when i look at because i spent a lot of time obviously out of the region today. when i look at the way iran today links up with terror groups and this is a different topic for a different day, but i would say that a large part of duty s

>> you focus on iran in this book. how diverse are the social classes in iran?hink about iran we don't realize that i'm on has a very vibrant middle-class. there's a privatization in iran in the 1980s and 1990s that it produced a middle-class in the private sector. even though most of iran's economy is dominated by the government, still there is a large part of middle-class that depends on private sector activity. it is that private sector and middle class in iran is responsible for iranian cinema, for cultural activity and four demand for palooka freedom and reforms. when we see iranians take to the streets dementing better results for elections or demanding political freedom, these are people who also want integration into the world economy, better relations with the west. we want economic advancement, and so even the backbone of political change in iran is the middle-class. >> how large is this middle-class? >> in some countries they are larger and some are smaller, but in countries like turkey there are maybe 20 to 30 percent of the population. in pakistan,

and when i come back it iran, we will not have had a relationship with iran since 1979. so, building that kind of a relationship, and what is that mean? and i speak to the difficulty of the other relationships and look at what 30 years potentially can do. so there is a awful lot of both concern and potential. and i think focus that will need to be sustained with respect to iran and that part of the world. we have great friends in that part of the world. allies that have supported us. who are anxious to continue to support us and to see stability there particularly in the gulf area and not see it -- not see it break out into any kind of conflict. um, briefly, i talk about the -- what i call the best military i have served with since 1968. our young men and women that serve right now. extraordinary. people who sat and paid the ultimate sacrifice, have been wounded. and whose lives have changed forever. who have families. that have been there. unbelievable in terms of support. whout whom we won be close to where we are and in either of the two fights. and two to whom i beli

in fact i worry about the sanctions policy because it is likely to dissuade iran from moving down. it becomes an emotional and political holding place for the fears and ambitions, not something that will necessarily be efficacious in moving the direction. >> that's good. richard what do you think is achievable, and also if you recall professor krasner referred to a series of ratcheting course of steps leading toward a blockade but stopping short of a military attack that he thought would achieve something worth paying the cost for. what is your view of what is achievable and the means to get their? >> i think everything now must be put in the context of turbulence following the election there is discontent with the mahmoud ahmadinejad 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 i

you saw what happens in iran. people are in the streets. they are not happy with the way that the economy has been running. the fact that the spending all of the their money on atomic weapons. these are the same things that have happened to the soviet union. the best thing they could do is not feed the people or house their people or prevent them from drinking, but it was building atomic weapons. even in your days. so in a way, it has a purpose. it may be diabolical. it may be cynical. you know, destroy income regime. let them in a way i'm reaching the same conclusion. let them or maybe we should abstract them to build more. so they are self-destructing. >> yeah, well, let me. i disagree with your conclusion. i think you are giving him too much credit for cleverness. the effort has been trying to get them to not build. in the case of north korea, it's worst. they are spending so much money on the military generally, including nuclear weapons. it's not clear, of course, if iran is even going to try to get nuclear weapons. they said they defi

contemplated at a time when the government appears to be distracted in iran. >> right. the question should be, and it's a tough question, i don't know the answer, some say you are in impose tough sanctions, that rallies, others say they can't get gas they rebel. to my mind the obama administration has not been tough enou especially on a moral level in supporting the people in the region. >> what's interesting, report is that the administration wants to impose the sanction against the revolutionary guard. and that's a very interesting strategy because it send as message to the people of iran we're not against you, we are against the guy who is are cracking your heads, the guys putting the opposition in jail. and that could send both a political signal to the iranians, and also have the effect of undermining the folks who are oppressing the people of iran. >> it shows that the engagement of the administration has made with china and russia may be paying off, that they are more willing to think about sanctions now than they would have been. >> tom, the president does not h

in fact, did they end up in iran?and second a more broader question which is during the 1990's of this program was under the tall. and in my own state department dealing with the russian leadership was pretty clear that this was a state within a state and that even they themselves had no idea and lost control of what was going on. this was the 1990's, not 1980's. so what extent does your research indicate that part of the problem was a structural one of a state within a state of nuclear energy matters that in some respects even conducted its own foreign-policy? >> on the first question, we know the iranians were on the hunt for fiscal material. an project sapphire carried out in 1995 and kazakhstan to bring mediterranean back they found a large supply of brilliant which is an agreement in the weapons and a great address to tehran. we also know and a report that there were repeated efforts to scrub the entire military-industrial complex were technology for biological technology and for missile technology. now i don't b

we meant it when we thought that iran should attend. they have said before that they want to play a positive role in promoting stability in afghanistan. the failure to attend means many countries will draw their own conclusions about the dissonance between the words and deeds. i hope in the future, the government realizes that they are not to the victims of other conspiracies, there are the author of their own misfortune. >> i prefer to respond to your question in german because in london, i have to speak with my half english these are two different gatherings. we will have level of the foreign minister and security. the peace gathering and that is a domestic issue that is in the afghan dialogue occasion which will be done by president karzai and a few weeks could tell this will invade this from the different parts of the country. the representatives of civil society as afghanistan to come together and discuss the issue of how we can make peace with each other because this is our issue, the issue of afghans. some have been leaving after

and talked to me about the damage and danger of drugs coming from afghanistan to iran. that's one reason among a number why we thought it was right to invite iran to participate in this conference, just lick any other country. we think it is deeply regrettable as well as inexplicable that they failed to attend, even that the ambassador to iran, to london, who was invited to attend conference if the doctor was unable to attend also found it impossible to attend the conference. i think it is very important to n international relations that countries say what they mean and mean what they say. we meant it when we said iran should attend and play a positive role in this conference. they have said before they want to play a positive role in promoting stability in afghanistan. i think their failure to attend the conference means that many countries in the region will draw their own conclusions about the dissonance between the words and the deeds. i hope in the future iranian government realizes they are not the victims of conspiracy but of their own misfortune. >> i prefer to

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 facts wrong. >> do you see a distinction between a compromise and an agreement specifically with respect to the issue of agreements underlying requirement at least as i understand it of trust? and trust being an element either in terms of the -- of morality of the bargaining power or the comple

you could say it similarly with iran. obama hoped that if he adopted a less confrontational stance towards the regime in tehran, they would be more willing to enter into a negotiation process that would lead to their abandoning their nuclear enrichment program. they did not happen. host: butler, tenn., floyd on the republican line. caller: i'm a republican. you have a couple of callers in before saying the republicans were calling in and saying we are republicans and i cannot

cooperation with iran? nothing.xplicit statements that they will oppose any sanctions on iran in the security council. what have we gotten for our pressure on israel? the complete breakdown in negotiations. for 16 years the palestinians had negotiated with israel without a settlement freeze. until obama arrived to reinvent the world. the arabs now refuse any negotiation because they prefer logically to sit back and let the united states extract unilateral concessions from israel. this is only the beginning. in his first year, we have only begun to see the fruits of obama's internationalism. but the signs are unmistakable. should this policy continued for the next three years, let alone for the next seven, it will have profound consequences throughout the world. it would constitute a gradual american retreat. again, with the possible exception of afghanistan, although obama has pointedly insisted that within 18 months, the retreat from their begins as well, and it will have inexorable consequences easily and succinct

you could say it similarly with iran. obama hoped that if he adopted a less confrontational stance towards the regime in tehran, they would be more willing to enter into a negotiation process that would lead to their abandoning their nuclear enrichment program. they did not happen. host: butler, tenn., floyd on the republican line. caller: i'm a republican. you have a couple of callers in before saying the republicans were calling in and saying we are republicans and i cannot truthfully say -- i am a card-

today it was iran and the iran sanctions committee report, and the report of the peace building function in burundi. they give you a sense of how varied the agenda is on a given day. i might often meet with other programs or to dissipate in meetings or negotiating sessions of the general assembly on various issues. we are not in the latter stages of working through the annual budget. on a typical day i might participate in a senior level interagency meeting by video teleconference. we will hovel at the end of the day again, the senior team, and wrap up the sharing of information. more often than not, i might be of to our reception or dinner or the work of the united nations that continues in these more social settings until 9:00 or 10:00 or later. that is more or less a typical day. >> there are many questions i could have asked, but you have entered a lot of them -- answered a lot of them. i like to thank you for a very interesting conversation and those in the audience for being here. one of the things we do donewseum is encouraged you to participate. those watching from home and make

cooperation with iran? nothing. and from china? from china, we received explicit statements that they would oppose any sanctions on iran in the security council. what have we gotten for our pressure on israel? the complete breakdown of negotiations. for 16 years, the palestinians have negotiated with israel without a settlement freeze. until obama arrived to re-invent the world. the arabs now refuse any negotiation as they prefer logicically to sit back and let the united states extract unilateral concessions from israel. this is only the beginning. in his first year, we have only begun to see the fruits of obama's internationalism, but the signs are unmistakeable. should this policy continue for the next three years yet alone for the next seven, it will have profound consequences throughout the world. it would consfute a growl american restreet -- constitute a grad you'll american restreet. obama insisted that the restreet begins there as well and will have consequences easily stated. when allies see the american umbrella beginnin

host: secretary of state hillary clinton said they will move forward on sanctions if iran does not respond. 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.

>> it will be -- >> iran focus meeting?>> i would be certain that iran is among the issues that will be discussed but there'll be several months. >> i would not call it and iran meeting. >> is that the primary issue? >> there are a number of important issues. >> and wine, typically discussions of iran who by the political director a per -- occur in plus wine and so clearly the russians and the chinese are not going to be here because he's only been with the european political directors and why not? why not include the partners from russia and china? >> without announcing something from here on the meetings will be announced by the un. the e.u. special representative, i wouldn't say these are exclusive and there may well be a plus five meeting coming up in the near future as well. >> mr.? >> to be part of this trip. >> the subject would, indeed, be iran? >> yes, one so we will continue dialogue. it is a disadvantage. there will be -- what i am not calling the meeting in i randy and iran meeting. you call the image in meeting