diplomat in libya john graham joins us live from the u.s. . now you are a former u.s. diplomat in libya your experience with the regime how do you think colonel gadhafi fate will play out at this point well i've said from the beginning the one thing that you can predict about colonel gadhafi is that he's unpredictable i do think that the guy really does have a messiah complex and it's quite likely that he will go down fighting he's always said he would and you know apparently get holed up in barracks and. he could very well do that i would be surprised if he ended up say in colombia as in bob worry as a refugee it could happen he's unpredictable but i doubt it now we are hearing that the road to tunisia is blocked by rebels at this point why are these routes a block and is this to capture the loyalists or to prevent people from escaping the country what are your thoughts on this. well i i'm not at the border your reporters there at the border but i would say they're probably making sure that some of the key players in the regime don't go yet off they rather they'd rath

diplomat in libya john graham says even if the rebels take over there are barely be hints of democracy in libya. there is so little civil society in libya there are so few and so democratic institutions are so weak they have nothing to build on and egypt in tunisia there was at least something to build on once the top filter was was was cut no way we're in libya that's not the case these people have to start from scratch and there are all kinds of reasons why it could fail what is the whole nature of the transitional council is the it's it's a mess and so these people are some of them are exiles some of their marmar have fled from there you could argue regime a few of them are islamicists some are intellectuals and college professors some are business people so just hanging together is going to be an enormously difficult task for them the other thing is that they've got to reprisals they've got they can't they can't they can't care for prices of their enemies that will just create the kind of civil strife that everyone was to award france planes to hold high level meeting next week to

john graham former diplomat of the us embassy in libya many thanks indeed sir my pleasure. their decision to count america's debt rating sparked chaos on the world markets with panic leading to trillions worth of sell offs but the move led to a drop in the shares of standard and poor's itself while investors flocked to buy freshly downgraded u.s. treasury bonds leaving many to ask what grade the rating agencies deserve themselves lauren mr reports. breaking news the united states has just lost its top notch triple a credit rating from it was the downgrade heard around the world in a strong reaction to the rating downgrade gold and u.s. well it's dead standard and poor's took the u.s. from straight aaa student to one notch below for the first time ever bad marks were handed down for the nation's debt and politicians inability to agree on reigning it in a tea party downgrade in a lot of it has to do with the failure of the president and i to stage i think this is a tea party problem the greater in chief says the u.s. is becoming a bit more unpredictable in terms of the conduc

to negotiate his weapons away i think lindsey graham and and you know the weapons the lindsey graham and john mccain going over to get through those talking actually all we've got you imagine u m d's there's no question about it he negotiated in the way this is this is well known and and what and where did they go and what they gave about the international inspectors as a result of the iraq war he told the view telling prime minister he was scared what happened to saddam i didn't want to happen to him that was moved to how to deal and become part of the league of nations and become legitimate is by the way start selling his oil to us and get a lot of money from the be another reason but what he told the italian prime minister is that he was scared what he saw in iraq and you believe berlusconi i do i do believe that he was was that it was anything but a little bit what it was he was going at the time but i think i think you're sort of missing a larger point i think a lot of republicans have learned a lesson that they don't want to start waving banners and say mission accomplished because miss

state department cables by wiki leaks we saw the first hand written account of senators john mccain and lindsey graham visit to libya back in two thousand and nine that was when gadhafi was suddenly in the good graces of the u.s. again and even discussions of weapons sales that taken place so here's an excerpt of that account says libya has acted as a critical ally in u.s. counterterrorism efforts and libya is considered one of our primary partners in combating the flow of our foreign fighters our strategic partnership in this field has been highly productive and beneficial to both nations we have begun some successful training programs to assist libya in improving its security capabilities under the rubrics of anti-terrorism assistance and border security and libya has stated its number one priority in return for relinquishing weapons of mass destruction is a secure security guaranteed by the us against foreign aggression to that end libya has expressed an interest in purchasing lethal weapons from u.s. firms so here we are two years later and what exactly happened to that whole guarantee against for

i have to say that statement from john mccain and lindsey graham was frankly pretty shocking to me. this statement about americans can be proud of the defeat but regretting that the success was so long in coming due to our failure. what are we to make of a statement like that from the out party, from the republican party. >> well, it shows that they were wrong, because they assume that unless we put, you know, troops on the ground or unless we did all of the bombing that, you know, we couldn't succeed. this did succeed because we were patient, and they don't want to admit that they were wrong. you know, they should have looked at benghazi today. there were banners that said thank you obama as well as prime minister cameron and president sarkozy. it's incredible these are the people that got us into iraq under false pretenses, and look what happened there. we overthrew the regime in three weeks, but nearly a decade later we're still having americans dying there. >> it seems to me that part of politics here has to do with where the president actually has control. there's a lot to crit

leaks cables give an in-depth account of senators john mccain lindsey graham and joe lieberman meeting with the gulf you son to discuss a long term bilateral relationship between the two countries and a promise that the u.s. would provide arms and military gear to the country and take seriously its requests to be treated with more respect fast forward to today as we know these are the same three lawmakers who have said the u.s. should have provided more weapons more support to the rebels to help take down gadhafi and this is interesting too it's not just the lawmakers. who can't take who can't make up their minds about moammar gadhafi the libyan dictator it's also the lobbyist here in washington they are in the same boat according to the national journal. it says influence peddlers who once worked for the libyan leader moammar gadhafi regime are scrambling to publicly sever ties with the strongman of their competitors are helping his country's rebels gain a valuable foothold in washington the same article also shows that there's two lobbying firms here patton boggs and the harbor group

>>> john mccain and lindsey graham have been quick to criticize president obama's strategy on gettingr gadhafi. they met with the libyan dictator just two years ago, pledging their support. what happened? >>> wes witness's recall summer is just the start for progressives. will the white house take notice of what's happening? john nichols of the nation late he in the show. ♪ [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid lon

>>> john mccain and lindsey graham have been quick to criticize president obama's strategy on getting of moammar gadhafi. they met with the libyan dictator just two years ago, pledging their support. what happened? >>> wisconsin's recall summer is just the start for progressives. will the white house take notice of what's happening? john nichols of the nation late he in the show. [ grandma ] relationships are life... if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that's why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m. because when you're on the right humana medicare plan and taking good care of yourself, then you can be there for the people who matter most. [ grandma ] my family is my joy, my hope... they are my heart. it's the reason we get out of bed in the morning... [ grandpa ]

today i guess you could say they are the john mccains or the lindsey graham's of the world and some of the pundits the john bolton's as well there but do you think that there is another option if you're going to call american empire is there another way to do it other than militarily i mean as we were seeing that history could you just be a wonderful diplomatic loving empire or you're the you could argue that the british went through a similar transformation in the nineteenth forty's and fifty's where they simply lost that it was for a very very exhausted because of the sources that they need to maintain their own empire we may be inflection point right now it's interesting that the suddenly difference burning is on the table now the question is what are they going to cut and till they start talking seriously about withdrawing some of these enormous for deployment of the u.s. house in asia and europe over to when it's in the middle east. you know the u.s. taxpayer is still going to be on the hook we're talking about some of the bases here right i mean at the end of the day there's not

facts called out once in a while even if it is on fox so-called news and bad senators john mccain and lindsey graham the two republicans released this statement in response to the apparent victory of the rebels in libya graduating all those forces that made it happen. except the united states the strange statement from these two united states senators read we. british french and other allies as well as our arab partners especially to our in the u.a.e. for their leadership in this conflict but we regret that the success was so long in coming due to the failure of the united states to employ the full weight of our air power. i almost forgot the republican president obama cannot receive any credit under any circumstances if a republican were in the white house on the other hand and mccain and graham would be hosed you know there is a parade for him or her and the very very ugly the donald. trump is david letterman likes to columns on fox so called news this morning to give his advice on what our military should do now that libya is under control of the rebels. so what do we get out of it why don't we t

you like republicans like dick lugar, john mccain, lindsey graham, colin powell, not a fan of micheleover norquist. some of that sounds ideological. you like the moderate republicans. the center of gravity in the party has shifted. >> in my next life, i want to come back as the member of the baerks whether the settlers in israel or the republican party. at some point someone has to talk straight to these people. when you have a party where it is an act of courage, the ultimate act of courage to say climate change may actually be real. that's nuts. that's so outside where the science is. and that's a dangerous place i think for the republicans to take. the country can't be serious if our biggest opposition party isn't serious about these issues. >> if the republican party has been highjacked by what you call the extremist tea party, has the mainstream press reflected that? >> i think certainly the commentary, when i see the columns, yes. >> in the straight reporting is there a little too much he-said/she-said and not reflecting what some would say is a historical shift? >> you would be

and yet, very quickly afterward, john mccain, lindsay graham, who leading voices on foreign policy, i want to read what they have to say. we regret this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the united states to employ the full weight of our air power. not exactly throwing laurels at the feet of this president. >> no. >> is this a victory for president obama? >> sure it is. the white house, as we said, needs some good news. it's not really surprising that mccain, graham, lieberman take this shot. they were to the right of president obama, to the right of congress in wanting intervention much sooner. but this, one big issue here for the president is the fact that the economy remains such a big problem. domestically, we know that just thigh months ago, bin laden was killed. that bounce didn't last very long. >> amazing. >> three months ago. >> right. >> people were proclaiming he was a shoe in for re-election. >> and now people are saying there's no chance he's going to be re-elected, right? so the truth is probably always somewhere in the middle. but the thing is, and loo

of moammar gadhafi and how he once was the pariah that then our politicians including john mccain and lindsey graham and jill lieberman who were just there in two thousand and nine decided to be friend it wanted to see you know give weapons to as long as he gave up his weapons of mass destruction well that obviously didn't last very long how quickly they turned on him and what kind of message do you think of that sense to other people out there to awkward in asia or to bashar al assad where they want to now step down with a every want to make a deal with the united states or trust them if they flip on gadhafi so quickly corsica i mean if you're assad i'd let's let's talk syria right now but what's more you're rods that need to go. but if you look you were serious right now what you're dealing with you know what he's thinking about he's thinking about bar he's thinking about gadhafi were over so the americans were talking about just how we were this need was as an ally i don't think you've got egypt and then of course what we saw just recently with it off you know all of a sudden we're the devil is h

at the same time, republican senators john mccain and lindse graham are monday morning quarterbacking the way that president obama handled the revolution. the senators, they got together and released this statement today. "americans can be proud of the role our country has played in helping to defeat gadhafi. but we regret this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the united states to employ the full weight of our airpower." mccain and graham basically are upset we didn't risk more of our bravest pilots and spend billions more of american dollars to get gadhafi. these senators supported failed strategies that cost us trillions of dollars in afghanistan and iraq. in six short months, president obama's strategy has united -- has the united states and nato basically on the brink of a big foreign policy success with no loss of life. and, yet, it doesn't satisfy these two senators for their quest for unlimited war? rick perry, he got into it today. he pumped out a statement, crumbling of gadhafi's reign of violent, repressive dictatorship with the history of terrorism is cau

of the republicans who were more inclined to support doing something, intervenes like john mccain and lindsay graham thought it was handled poorly. >> lehrer: mccain and graham did want some boots on the ground. >> they wanted to be more aggressive. so they had some quibbles with how it was done. and so as usual with obama he was stuck there in the middle, without anybody. but i do think you know t was not only him being right and calling for something pretty aggressive. it was not only him being right and calling for regime change, i think secretary clinton has to get a lot of credit for what was done at the u.n., the way the nato alliance was handled. you know, i do, you know, i'm not convinced they've done everything right in regards to the arab spring but this is a clear moment when the u.s. played a very constructive role. and they deserve the credit. nobody will give it to them now but in a couple of years people will acknowledge this was a good thing. >> lehrer: do you think, going back to something that david said earlier, mark, do you think that this will be cited as a model for further, wh

hawks in the republican party, the ron pauls and those folks and the security hawks, the lindsey grahams and john mccain. we have a real war ahead. >> inside the republican party. >> exactly. >> you'll have defense contractors and the president of the united states saying those cuts to national security, the national security cuts is just too much. i don't think there's anyone in the world to tell you which is more likely, the automatic cuts or the deal. both are impossible the imagine. >> except we do have, mika, a blueprint or at least a framework for getting a deal done and that is joe biden and mitch mcconnell. this is the biggest crisis this white house has really been through economically, and when push came to shove, they figured out a way to make it happen, and representing the white house, joe biden representing congress, mitch mcconnell. >> isn't it up to a super committee now? >> they will have a super committee at the end of the day, though, there will be realities. you'll have joe biden talking to three democrats. he'll say here's what the white house can accept. you'll have mitch mc

john conley, phil graham had tons of money and again, you still have to run. >> very true.nything is possible. let's look at the positives. the challenges of the other candidates. he gets 50%. empty voters being big and hispanic voters being big. >> you run first. >> this weekend i will number south carolina, new hampshire and iowa. >> we will learn our lesson and -- >> no one. >> when you say president obama and she did one nomination. >> we are far from anointing anyone on the right. >> what do you think of the gang of 12 that some are calling it a gang of 12. you can see the pictures right behind us. six members of the house. you think by thanksgiving they will be able to come up with a deal that would pass? >> it's noticeable with the gang of 12. there is none of the gang of six. i think that's what people are talking about. how can we expect a lot of skepticism. this can bring "people" together and there is a lot of skepticism and it would be nice to see more leadership and someone who can negotiate. >> first of all, you don't need boehner or kantor or pelosi on this p

senator john mccain and senator lindsey graham. they've issued a lengthy statement.oth of them have gone to libya to meet with the opposition in recent months. the two senators saying the end of the gadhafi regime and libya, it is a victory for the libyan people and the broader cause of freedom in the middle east and throughout the world. they go on to say americans can be proud of the role our country has played in helping to defeat gadhafi but we regret that the success was so long in coming due to the failure of the united states to employ the full weight of our air power and in the end, the two senators conclude by saying ultimately our intervention in libya will be judged a success or failure based not on the collapse of the gadhafi regime but on the political order that emerges and its place. today marks a big step forward for the libyan people towards freedom and democracy as they continue on this journey. america must continue to stand with them. that statement in from senators mccain and lindsey graham. nic robertson, who spent a lot of time in libya with ga

john mccain, joe lieberman, and lindsay graham.ent from connecticut. they thoroughly bonded over the years, and they bemoan the sorry state of this place. tell me why and what we've seen today and what we've seen in this debate over the debt ceiling this city, this institution isn't flat busted broken? anybody want to make that case? >> well, it is, but here's what happens. you get here, you got to raise money, sign pledges. if you're not independently wealthy, you wind up signing your discretion away, and when cc1: you get here and reach across that aisle, you'll come back with a nub. >> reporter: with only six day togs go before the deadline, these three mostly watch from the sidelines. but on the day of our visit, cc1: mccain decide he has had enough with the tea party members in his own party and he heads to the senate floor to say so. >> to hold out and say we won't agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the institution. it's unfair. it's bizarro. >> reporter: back with the democrats, thei

and if you saw the statements suzanne, that lindsey graham and john mccain jointly released last nightomed what was going on in libya right now, and they said it could have been handled better and done more quickly if the u.s. had not delayed in unleashing air power over gadhafi's tellments there. nato did play a robust role in this. if it had not been for nato, the rebels would not have been able to overthrow gadhafi's regime and get rid of gadhafi, which they are on the verge of doing right now. >> wolf, good to see you. >> thank you. >>> today's "talk back," was u.s. involvement in libya worth it? carol costello is up next with your responses. . with flat rate envelopes, i ship anywhere in the country international too, for a low flat rate. now, we'd like to pass on this offer to you. call or go online to order your free flat rate shipping kit. you get free boxes, envelopes and our helpful shipping guide. i'll even deliver them to your door for free. it's an offer too good to pass up. call or go online now to order your free priority mail flat rate shipping kit, only from the postal

senators john mccain and lindsey graham, two republican senators, they released a statement applauding people and international community for reaching this point, adding that gadhafi's fall should now send a message to other nations and other embattled leaders, namely in their tame, bashar al assad of syria saying we're confident his regime will soon join gadhafi's on the ash heap of history, but also listen to senator mccain. he was on cbs "face the nation." >> it's going to be a big challenge forming a new government, uniting a country that's never known democracy. we've seen the difficulty with other countries that have made this transition, but we'll be rid of a guide who has american blood on his hands, he's practiced the worst kind of brutality, and it will be up to us and the europeans. >> mccain is also criticizing the obama administration for not doing more to end this conflict sooner, mccain saying the u.s. has led from behind here, something that we have heard a criticism from republican members in the past. i should say, of course, that senators mccain and senator graham ha

. >> republican senators john mccain as you mentioned and lindsay graham issued a statement on libyaast night that said in part americans can be proud of the role our country has played in helping to defeat gadhafi but we regret that this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the united states to employ the full weight of our airpower. yes, they're still at it. robin it sha-- >> excuse me. go ahead. >> i just wanted to ask robin, what now, robin? do we get out? do we get out quickly? or do we linger there? do we leave our ships off, off the shores of tripoli so that we can sort of monitor what happens next? >> the united states' role will probably be to work again through the international community, try to work through releasing frozen assets. the united states has between 3 $33 billion and $36 billion of gadhafi's money in u.s. banks. we can use that to help reconstruct. libya is actually one of the few places in the arab world that actually has a prospect of improving sometime in the near future. it has a very small population. 6.5 million people. it has enormous oil

. >> republican senators john mccain as you mentioned, howard, and lindsay graham issued a statement last night that said americans can be proud of the role we played in helping defeat gadhafi. yes, they are still at it. >> rob -- >> excuse me. >> no, go ahead. what now, rob win, do we get out and get out quickly or do we linger there? do we leave our ships off the shores of tripoli? so that we can sort of monitor what happens next? >> the united states role will pron probably be to work through the international community. try to work through rae re leasing frozen assets. the united states has between 33 and $36 billion of gadhafi's money in u.s. banks. we can use that to help reconstruct. libya is one of the few places in the arab world that actually has a prospect of improving sometime in the near future. it has a very small population. 6.5 million people. it has enormous oil wealth. in trying to address the economic and political needs of the people, it can deliver. it also had this unique experience of five months with a transitional national government that's been in place. tha

since leaving the senate senator bob graham has served as a senior fellow at the john f. kennedy school of government at harvard university and was appointed by president obama to chair -- cochaired the bipartisan national commission on the bp oil spill ensure that financial crisis commission. senator graham will discuss his book and then we will take questions for about half an hour or whatever time we need and then he will sign copies of the book which is available outside if you haven't already purchased it. all the sales here at the national press club in all of our book drafts benefit the library of the national press club and that is why we restrict the books to those sold here at the book club. please join me in giving a warm national press club welcome to former governor and former senator and now author, bob graham. [applause] >> thank you very much. i particularly want to tank a larry for all the confidence he has demonstrated in my political career. i have been following larry around or a long time. when i arrived in tallahassee as governor, larry was the presid