this story was ominous for menendez for two reasons.olitical roots in hudson county, a legendary bastion of old democratic machinery and political corruption in new jersey. hudson county is the collection of tightly packed cities just across the river from manhattan. hoboken, union city, that's hudson county. its represeutation for politica malfeasance is the you stuff of legend. former governor, bren tan byrne, lakes to joe when he dies he wants to be buried in hudson county, quote, so i can remain politically active. that's the political world that bob menendez grew up in, that he mastered, that he climbed to the top of. it was the machine that he controlled. and when he was appointed to the senate, republicans honed in on all the negative associations that suburban new jerseyans have with the hudson machine. they decided they would make those associations stick to bob men menendez, every voter saw him as the product of the dirty, crooked world of hudson county machine politics. this was how they were going to beat him in 2006. so whe

thank you. >> secretary cohen. >> chairman menendez, ranking member corker, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the implementation of the joint plan of action. in my testimony this morning, i are address the administration's steps to deliver the limited, temporary and reversible relief in the joint plan as well as our critically important, ongoing efforts to implement and enforce the vast majority of the sanctions that remain in place. the pressure on iran from sanctions, sanctions built through the collaborative efforts of congress and the administration along with many of our partners in the international community was instrumental in bringing about the joint plan of action. we are committed to insuring that we maintain this same pressure on iran throughout the six month term of the joint plan as our negotiators explore the possibility of a long-term, comprehensive solution that verifiably insures that iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. the joint plan went into effect on january 20th. on that day we issued g

senator robert menendez. >> this year will come to order. let me begin by welcoming our panelists. we have two panelists. political affairs. undersecretary sherman has joined this morning by david cohen, the undersecretary of treasury. let me say at the outset that my support the administration's diplomatic efforts. analysts supported a two track policy of diplomacy and sanctions. at the same time i am convinced that we should only relieve pressure in exchange for a verifiable concession that will fundamentally dismantle the iranian nuclear program it be done in such a way that alarm bells will sound from vienna to washington. in the deal the administration reaches will be verifiable, effective, and prevents a run for ever developing. in my view based on the parameters describing an iranian comments in the days that followed, i am very concerned about their willingness to reach such an agreement. this is not an nothing ventured nothing gained enterprise. we have placed our incredibly effective international sanctions regime on the line without clearly define the parameters of what

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you holding this hearing. when these issues broke in december, senator schumer, myself and yourself signed a letter to the gym of the full committee asking for hearings, and i'm glad your subcommittee is leading on this and understand the chairman is going to broaden some of his call for hearings and include this topic. so this is extraordinarily important. ms. rich, i have two particular lines that i want to pursue. i think senator warren opened the door to something i think is incredibly important, which is what role should the ftc and the federal government create with standards? it seems to me that whatever high standard exists in the marketplace readily available for technology is one that we would want to have companies follow in order to ensure the security of millions of americans private information. critical information to themselves, to their credit histories, to retailers, the banking institutions. and so if a company, if we set a standard that basically says, look what's of able in the marketplace

menendez: mr. president, i want to commend my colleague from new jersey for an eloquent and soaring speech that speaks to the collective aspirations that we should have in this body on behalf of the collective nation that we represent. and i am not at all surprised at senator booker's ability to relate to this body the lives of people from new jersey and across the country who depend upon us to respond to them in their times of need and to remind us of the greater nature of what we should stand for as an institution and on behalf of this country. and he did it, i think, with such aplomb and with such compassion and sincerity that i think it is an excellent beginning to what will be a very long series of remarks in the senate on critical issues that will both inform us and at the same time remind us of the high calling for which we are all brought to the senate. i just want to take one moment to add on to what senator booker said specifically on the topic for which he ultimately drove, and that is t

. >> joining me now to talk about the zero option is chairman robert menendez. thank you so much for joining us. our jim sciutto reports that a senior government official in pakistan said that a complete withdrawal will lead to a, quote, holocaust. i know you've had your issues with karzai in the past. are you comfortable with a zero presence, no u.s. troops in afghanistan? >> well, look, i think even the administration is not comfortable with the context of the zero option but one thing that i support the administration on is for us to continue to have troops in afghanistan, even at a diminished amount of troops, we need a bilateral security agreement. it's under u.s. authority and without that, it's very difficult for us to leave troops in any country without such a bilateral security agreement. at the end of the day, we've made it very clear that we are willing to keep a presence in afghanistan and that we want to continue to help the afghan forces and work in counterterrorism but cannot do that without bilateral security agreement. >> it's a very tense time

that is why the kirk-menendez sanctions, those banking sanctions have been so effective. but they work over time. they work over time. and when you lift them, the relief is immediate. the relief is immediate because now iran can sell that oil. they can get payment for that oil. they can get payment for other things. they can purchase what they need not only to continue to build a bomb but to keep their country going, to keep the regime in power. so it's very important when we're talking about sanctions, when we're talking about negotiating an agreement to get them to stop building a bomb and getting a process that is open, transparent and verifiable that they in fact have stopped building a bomb, dismantling their nuclear weapons enterprise, it is very important to understand that sanctions work over time. but when lifted, the relief is immediate. and that's why we cannot lift sanctions while we negotiate the agreement and get iran to stop. we have to get them to stop first and give us a process to verify that in fact they have stopped before we can lift those sanctions.

menendez: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: . the presiding officer: has every senator voted? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 98. the nays are zero. and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form prior to a vote on the smith nomination. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you, madam president. i'll be very brief. i rise to support the nomination of ambassador daniel bennett smith to be assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. feinstein: ambassador smith was reported

menendez: mr. president, i come to the floor to speak about one of our greatest national security challenges which is a nuclear armed iran. and i have long thought of this as a bipartisan national security issue, not a partisan political issue. and at the end of the day, it is a national security issue that we must approach in a spirit of bipartisanship and unity which has been the spirit for which we have worked together on this matter. and i hope that we will not find ourselves in a partisan process trying to force a vote on a national security matter before its appropriate time. now, let me say at the outset, i support the administration's diplomatic efforts. i have always supported a true tack policy of si diplomacy and sanctions. at the same time, i'm convinced that we should only relieve pressure on iran in exchange for verifiable concessions that will dismantle iran's nuclear program. and our success should be measured in years, not months. and that it be done in such a way that alarm bells

rubioion bill with marco and john mccain working with senator mccain and senator andin and senator menendez senator hatch and i contributed to that bill or whether it was battery -- patty murray and barbara mikulski to get that budget done or the work on the farm bill that senator stevan abinow has done recently. still find it within themselves, this courage to stand next to someone they do not always agree with for the anderment of this country, that is what keeps me inspired and keeps me going. >> there is a picture of senator humphrey and muriel humphrey who had this seat. she served for about a year. did you meet them? >> yes, when i was very young. hubert humphrey. i was able to meet him and i met muriel later. family and their son skip and others i have gotten to know. one thing apple did not realize about hubert humphrey -- people did not realize about hubert humphrey. i was -- there is a movie out on him, we chose how much he did -- he did work across the aisle. he transcended party lines and in that way he is a big role model for me. >> do you enjoy being in the senate? >> i do. i

. >> thank you chairman menendez and members of the committee for inviting me to testify. it's an honor to testify alongside david albright. you've heard the argument the official said very clearly iran is not open for business meanwhile to be the head of the nuclear program sending the opposite message including at davos most recently. the sanctions architecture that you put in place is not going to a road and president obama claimed it isn't going to be hard to turn the dial back or strengthen the sanctions even further. while regrettably i think the administration made the miscalculating we are already seeing the early stages of the shift in the market sentiment. this is something that is unintentional but predictably triggered. it's estimated by the administration that $7 billion that may not sound like a lot come of it prior to the agreement it's important to understand that iran had a fully accessible cash reserve of $20 million that an infusion therefore represents a 35% of the reserve. moreover, $7 billion number does not account for the psychological impact of the

menendez: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, i know we're shortly going to be voting on other issues, the nomination of max baucus to be united states ambassador to china. and i would expect that he would have a unanimous -- if not near unanimous vote -- of the senate. as i said in the foreign relations committee this week, clearly one of the biggest challenges and the biggest opportunities before u.s. foreign policy today is getting the relationship between the united states and china in the context of our rebalance to the asia-pacific right. and i can think of few more able or more qualified at this important moment in history than our friend and colleague, the senator from montana, to help provide advice and guidance to the president and to congress about how to get that relationship right. he's an expert on trade issues. he understands what we face in the come years as china's economy continues to grow. he's fully aware of the facts that we have had u.s. exports to china that have increased by almo

. >> >> michael menendez was killed yesterday at the powell street station. officials say he was a homeless man who apparently kept his backpack under the muni platform and might have fallen as he tried to retrieve it. the station shut down for about four hours yesterday, just before the start of the chinese new year parade when the area was packed with parade spectators. >> another protest planned for tomorrow over the shooting death of a bay area teen by a sonoma county sheriff. it is being requested that the district attorney and the police department release the findings. he was shot while carrying an authentic looking toy gun that a deputy mistook for a real ak47. >> >> a burned body was found at the anatrast of a popular park. police tell us they received reports of a body on fire at 10:30, now, we are hearing from someone that said he saw it all unfold. >> you came by -- a man we talked to came by, clearly shaken, told us he had a new dashboard camera that he thought may have recorded what happened here last night. he didn't know at the time what he wa

rubioion bill with marco and john mccain working with senator mccain and senator andin and senator menendez senator hatch and i contributed to that bill or whether it was battery -- patty murray and barbara mikulski to get that budget done or the work on the farm bill that senator stevan abinow has done recently. still find it within themselves, this courage to stand next to someone they do not always agree with for the anderment of this country, that is what keeps me inspired and keeps me going. >> there is a picture of senator humphrey and muriel humphrey who had this seat. she served for about a year. did you meet them? >> yes, when i was very young. hubert humphrey. i was able to meet him and i met muriel later. family and their son skip and others i have gotten to know. one thing apple did not realize about hubert humphrey -- people did not realize about hubert humphrey. i was -- there is a movie out on him, we chose how much he did -- he did work across the aisle. he transcended party lines and in that way he is a big role model for me. >> do you enjoy being in the senate? >> i do. i

more or less what was proposed by senators menendez and kirk in the last couple of months. their contention was that it had 59 cosponsors, and they thought that it was time that a got a vote on the floor. it did not. >> you talked about chairman sanders. you attended his press conference. you tweeted he rejects the idea that the veterans bill was a political issue. says it could have been a political winner for both parties. any chance it will be revived? >> that is unclear at this point. the budget point of order against the bill was a pretty strong blow to the legislation. under the rules now, because the point of order, it heads back to the committee. they have to now make corrections to the bill to comply with the budget law. senator sanders said he will go back at it. and, we will have to see from there. this sent it back to committee. >> connor o'brien is a defense reporter for cq roll call. you can read his reporting it cqrollcall.com. follow that as well on twitter. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> president obama told president karzai there will be no u.s

. >> chairman menendez, ranking member bob corker, distinguished members of the committee. they given the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the implementation of a joint plan of action. in this includes a limited relief of the joint plan. and this includes the vast majority of the sanctions that are in place. and this includes many of our partners in the international community and we are committed to ensuring that we maintain the same pressure throughout the six-month term including a long-term comprehensive solution that ensures that iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. and the joint plan went into effect on january 20. we issued guidance that suspended sanctions temporarily on transactions related to petrochemical products from iran and the positions of goods and services to other automotive sectors and in this guidance we make clear the transactions of the seated with this relief must be initiated and completed and that is to avoid sanctions and it ends no later than july 20. and we have also caused the efforts to reduce further exports of crude oil to

leon menendez spent the day with the french president. >> reporter: during his short stay in san franciscosident francois hollande was awarded the key to the city. >> i would like to thank you warmly for the honor you bestow upon me and for this spare copy of the key. i hope it works as well as the first copy. >> reporter: the president's visit is all about establishing stronger ties between france and the bay area's tech industry. dozens of french business leaders and entrepreneurs followed mr. hollande to san francisco, hoping to tap into the booming tech sector and find volunteers. >> what we hope, actually, is to be able to present our services to american companies. >> reporter: some of these french start-ups are looking to expand to the bay area. >> we are here to begin the process and launch a new company and to increase sales. >> president hollande met with some big names like eric schmidt from google. it's not clear if hollande and other leaders talked about the french tax the president wants to impose on all tech companies doing business in france. >> he is right in saying that c

problem is the skepticism on capitol hill not just from republicans but some democrats like bob menendez who want to ready new sanctions because they're not sure the administration is ready to come down on iran like a ton of bricks. >> so much going on. ed henry, great to see you as always. if you live in the deep south, you know what, i hate to tell you you're about to get slammed with more extreme winter weather. millions from north carolina to louisiana now in the path of a storm bringing snow, freezing rain, and the dreaded ice. so remember the storm that left thou pz sass of motorists stranded along highways in tlaebts a few weeks ago. time to bring in jonathan live from where, atlanta, to see if this one could rival that. are they more prepared this time around, jonathan? >> they are more prepared this time around, gretchen. this is one of several staging areas that d.o.t., georgia d.o.t. is using to ready its equipment, sending it out to trouble spots and pretreating some of the elevated roads and bridges, areas likely to ice over first. we've only been experiencing rain on and of

una cosa fabulosa y quisiera felicitar a mario dÍaz-balart, a luis gutiÉrrez, a marco rubio, bob menÉndeznic caucus que tambiÉn estÁ en favor asÍ que vamos a ver cÓmo podemos avanzar. >> en cuestiÓn polÍtica, usted sabe que los republicanos tienen un problema, en las Últimas elecciones consiguieron solo els haciendo esto porque es lo justo, porque es lo correcto, porque la verdad es que nuestros miembros en el congreso, muy pocos dependen en el voto hispano para su reelecciÓn, muy pocos, esto va a ayudar si uno habla en tÉrminos de polÍtica solamente, va a ayudar a los candidatos presidenciales, ninguno de los cuales estÁ en la cÁmara ni en el senado, asÍ que los republicanos estÁn actuando por el bienestar del paÍs, no por la reelecciÓn de ningÚn congresista que esto le puede hacer un problema, va a provocar una primaria a muchos candidatos. >> ahora y termino con esto, ¿cÓmo le podemos decir a la gente que este no es otro cuento de nosotros y de los polÍticos? o sea, que >> puede ser otro cuento, yo no voy a hacer la promesa que esto se va a realizar, lo que le digo que es un avance fen

jonathan karl, and alicia menendez, and katrina vanden heuvel, and peggy noonan. katrina, let me begin with you. and what happened in the house this week. john boehner allowing a clean debt limit to go through. exactly what the president wanted. but probably shrewd for boehner too. clears the decks in a year where he thinks they can pick up a lot of seats in november. >> the failure of the shutdown concentrated the mind, and the hostage takers left the scene. we have seen manufactured crisis by a party which has eroded business confidence, hurt the economy, hurt families, and i think as 2014 approaches, the republican party decided they needed to pull up their bootstraps and get in place to pose any real challenge. with ted cruz, you have to -- he is an anti-establishment figure. but when we talk anti-establishment, that the tea party is a corporate-hugging, well-funded lobby. and you saw in ted cruz the possibility for our country moving forward, is that the delusional is no longer marginal when you look at cruz. for the moment he's marginalized. we need to refoc

one of the highlights of my time was working with menendez and others to craft something to pass on a vote out of the senate. then we went down the path. so i would say and unless you are serious about solving problems. unless you are serious about stretching your base, which i would say this president is afraid to stretch is based, appealing to the base right now has been a problem. that is why we have not had the problem to solve the major problems of the day. he is afraid of is based, not willing to take his basin to stretch it into a place where he actually reaches an accommodation with the aside. i would say, please don't do that again. unless you are in earnest wanted to sell a problem, don't do that again. you're better off not acting like you want to solve a problem when you really not. that breaks it down. >> senator, another question. i was wondering if you know if you influence the way -- you gave them a lot to think about. nothing wrong with that. >> i think the biggest impact on the election -- first of all, and has been widely reported that when i made those comments abo

senator menendez has been one of the leading voices in the entire congress. he deserves a lot of credit. he is my friend. we have a new round of sanctions that are bipartisan. we have 17 democratic cosponsors, all but two republicans, 59 cosponsors that would allow tankses to be available and in place if we do not reach a final deal in this round of negotiations in the b-5-plus one. why is it important that the congress reimpose sanctions through new legislation if there is failure? number one, the sanctions are designed to get the end game right, and our belief that the only successful outcome through negotiations would be to dismantle the plutonium producing reactor. the iranians do not need a plutonium producing reactor for the nuclear power program. to comply with the provision that requires the removal of all highly enriched uranium, a lot of highly enriched uranium is now in the hands of the iranian government, and the u.n., of all bodies, has asked for it to be removed and turned over to the international community. i worry that if you leave this highl

place and will come down like a ton of bricks but the fact is there are not just republicans but bob menendezing they're very skeptical of this agreement with iran and they think there needs to be new sanctions ready to go. another kind of a lighter moment was the fact that a french reporter asked the president whether he prefers france or britain in terms of a key ally. he said i have two daughters, they're beautiful. i don't choose among them. same for the countries. >> you've heard about the menu, right? >> reporter: i don't think there's any doritos on the menu. >> have you had them yet? >> reporter: i haven't had them yet but based on your description it doesn't sound healthy and for the state dinner menu, there's a republican congressman, rodney davis, he's saying that the healthy school lunches that are being pushed right now, that they should apply to the state dinner menus and they shouldn't be having the ice cream and the fancy wines. >> i thought that was about trying to keep our children healthy. >> reporter: it is. i think he's trying to make a political point, don't you think? i

reid today, the official declaring apac strongly supports the sanctions bill pushed by democrat bob menendez. the president's fellow democrats want that vote soon. >> i don't trust the iranians, and i just think we have to hold their feet to the fire. >> top state department official wende sherman was on capitol hill pushing back with private briefings on iran, and house democratic leader nancy pelosi backed her up by warning against new sanctions that she said could throw sand in the face of negotiators. >> i think it is really important for us to give diplomacy a chance, especially since we're such a long road to get to this place. >> reporter: the tension came as the president's aides signaled he's ready to take a more hands-on role in trying to forge israeli-palestinian peace, revealing palestinian president mahmoud abbas will be at the white house march 17, two weeks after netanyahu's upcoming visit. the president has spoken twice at apac's annual conference but not next week. we's sending treasury secretary john lew and on monday it will be secretary of state john kerry who will be the

democrat robert menendez and chuck schumer criticized president obama with the deed over iran and you have harry reid with plans to pass two sweeping trade deals and now getting it on both sides of the issue from mary landrieu and widen as well. how much of what we're hearing is rooted in general policy differences and how much is it about drawing a contrast in an election year with an unpopular president? >> i think a little bit of both. a lot of names are not mul verable democrats by any stretch of the imagination. if they have differences with this president, it's not because they need to survive in november. it's because they don't agree with him and more crucially, because they don't feel like they owe it to him to stay in line or keep the criticisms muted. it may a consequence of the type of relations that have been commented upon between obama and congressional democrats over the years. of course, there's a lot of other democrats, mary landrieu comes to mine and ones in red states that are vulnerable. i think there's -- they may indeed have honest differences with the president

. >> even though the sanctions, if bob menendez, chairman or chuck schumer had their way, they wouldegislation now. but not implement it for six months. assuming that the deal collapses, they would have that ready to go. >> kerry said it's absolutely not productive to what they're trying to achieve. >> and there was good exchange you had on some of the recent exchange of words that he had with the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, on the peace process. >> you want me to do the whole interview right now? >> what's the headline? >> well, the headline, i had said something about the if the peace process does not continue, if the status quo remains and no peace between the israelis and palestinians, then those who are pushing for punishment towards israel, including those who are pushing for the boycott movement, will likely succeed. words to that effect. >> but isn't that a fact? >> i think that is correct. he says he was not backing the boycott, and, in fact, he's against all boycotts, especially this -- the boycott against israel. but many politicians in israel, especially

senator menendez was leading the effort. you were reported as being supportive of this initiative.ining momentum. the white house very strongly said this is unhelpful, this will break up these historic talks we have with iran. are you convinced by them? it seems like members of the democratic caucus have taken their foot off the gas on that legislation. where are you now on that? >> well, i think having sanction is very important. the only reason why iran is the table today is because we had very tough sanctions and we were able to create an international coalition -- >> can i stop you there for one second, though? >> yeah. >> when you say that, we were talking about these kids in section 8 housing. there are kids in iran who are going to bed hungry because of those sanctions. blameless kids. it seems to me sometimes we get a little blithe about the effect of the sanctions. >> sanctions is better than war. when you have a previous leader in ahmadinejad who says israel doesn't deserve to exist and we should use efforts and might to wipe it off the face of the earth, that's a huge pr

of course has been some talk from the same menendez about putting up additional sanctions on iraq not today sanctions are proposed to take effect after six months if the soup sense of the investment. but for the mobile beginning from the us is the message also the head of the ten pounds contains eleven center who wrote an open letter with the new times asking for senators to postpone any sanctions on this post that hillary clinton came out herself she's a rather hard line anti we knew and she also suggested that sentence should not be ready to run the state and to give diplomacy a chance. as obama himself threatened to veto same sentence meant by the way this story is not about to meeting anyone you want iran to go on its knees we want peace and desperate to come back to the region and this can come only through dialogue and songs and that's what people are doing and a french family to the point of view we have embarked on a legal context with their counterparts and nothing could be said again this image and if katie said that this is the drunks that i can use it on what has appeared

from illinois, senator kirk, has been part of the effort on enhanced sanctions along with senator menendez, i want to join in the chorus that you have joined in, ms. sherman. of i don't question for a moment the motives of anyone engaged in this. we all have the same goal, stop a nuclear iran, keep israel safe, stabilize and bring peace to the the middle east. >> and that hearing earlier today. we'll go live now the u.s. senate as lawmakers continue work on the farm bill this afternoon. a vote on final passage coming up just after 2:30. if no time is yielded, time thereby equally charged to both sides. ms. stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. we have heard a lot from colleagues over the last two days about just how important this farm bill is, and that's because there is so much more in this bill than what we would call a farm bill. really, 12 different pieces of legislation from farm to research to fruits and vegetables to energy across the board all put together in something we call the farm bill. this is m

miscalculated how many departments will join the republicans in pushing forward the mark kirk, bob menendez bill. once apac pushed for that bill and not enough democrats joined the republicans and the bill was not rescinded, but put on hold, by then aipac alienated many republican senators and in thus doing got into some kind of an unpleasant exchange with both parties, but i wouldn't call that a failure on aipac's side. it's just one of those things that happens when you do a political math on the hill and you get it wrong. >> was it a matter of math on capitol hill or was it a matter of underestimating the war weariness of the american public when it comes to any type of sanctions, action in syria. the american public send ago clear signal it does not want anymore engagement overseas and is this a danger for aipac? >> >> it's a very important question, because i think there is as miscalculation on many people's side in terms of understanding and interpreting american public opinion moods that they are adverse to further entanglements in the middle east, which is why they were adverse to a

south bay looks like a desperate san jose menendez de la with some light rain looks like lifting heavier rain. of course with the 10 in. of new snow above 7,000 ft.. definitely good news for our skiers and borders. your 7 day around the bay forecast shows system #two will approach by friday night continued into saturday and sunday. this is a fairly strong system. in fact we could see up to 7 in. of rain for the north bay hills. the san francisco bay area in general will see between two and 4 in. of rain. we will see dry conditions as and haven't to next tuesday and probably wednesday. as for traffic around the bay area track and a couple of up solos and out. if you're heading to the bay bridge toll plaza, you may encounter some pounding and the roadway. various look out here at the san mateo bridge. fortunately, no end to its to reports here and as detective live look at the richmond san rafael bridge for the most part, seen a lot of space between cars. over on our traffic maps an accident 580 westbound on for more ave. the live >>: moderate rain is falling in some areas this morning, co

senator menendez has been absolutely terrific along with senator kirk in making sure that sanctions work, and the obama administration deserves a lot of credit for keeping the sanctions regime together to keep the iranians at the table, but the interim agreement that has been entered into between the p-5-plus-1 and the iranians quite frankly is well short of what we need. my goal and i think the body's goal -- at least i hope -- would be to dismantle the plume-producing reactor that the iranians are building, not just stop its construction but dismantle, take the highly enriched uranium that exists in iran today and remove it out of the country so it can't be used for a dirty bomb or any other purposes. this is what the u.n. resolutions have called for -- removing the highly enriched uranium exists in great number from iran to the international community so it can be controlled, and last but most importantly i think is to dismantle their enrichment capability. if the iranians truly want a peaceful nuclear power program, i am all for that. i don't care if the russians are jointly with us

bill: one important thing in that, senator menendez is a democrat. only democrat pushing back on the white house on this. what republicans and the house do, if anything? >> obviously democrats controlled the senate, republicans control the house. there's no reason the house couldn't take up something like the bill and passed it. question is with that then increase pressure on the senate and on the president to do something about it? this bill is to impose new sanctions if iran violates this agreement and goes past the deadline. they would be new momentum behind that if republican house takes it. bill: now, kt, on the money. if they go through this process and if the administration or the united nation, the ie ae approves what they're doing in iran, they will get $4.2 billion at the end of the six months. what then? >> that is not even the whole issue. they will get tens of billions of dollars. what is going to happen and why do we care in america, it is the middle east, we care because i rail be the dominant power in the region. they will have their

statement issued that now is not the time to pursue any additional sanctions on iran and chairman menendez issued a statement shortly before that that it was coordinated and it would not surprise me. it is the dynamic of change and he will have to be very much more carefully and that's all good, as an american. as an american who believes that this is the best possible outcome, i think that is all the good as well. two quick things, one on security. i spent a lot of time dealing with security not only when i was at defense when israel was and then the him a-egypt he's keeping lot about defense and what they could do in the context of two- state solutions. but i understand general allen and secretary kerry came up with is a working solution that would come up with the required security to i enter into an agreement for the jordan valley. three years, egypt and israel. they talked about five. has not been talked about much in the press and that is the nature of the peacekeeping operation. this would not be one that would be responsible only for monitoring and verification but would need a ver

there others who are calling for sanctions immediately including senator and senator robert menendez> you will have much more on this. jake tapper and the lead starts in a half hour from now. thank you for that. when you look at the global victim, the crisis in the ukraine and a crisis in venezuela, just a mess. total disarray and you have iran all falling in the lap of this man. we played sound and secretary of state john kerry. kerry has come in for criticism lately, but none stronger than this. look at this from newt gingrich who swetweeted this. they must demand his resignation. a dilutional secretary of state is dangerous to our safety. that came after kerry said this. >> the climate change can be considered another weapon of mass destruction and perhaps the more fiercesome weapon. >> newt gingrich went on to tweet this. does kerry think global warming is more dangerous than korean nukes and chinese nukes. really? here he is. newt gingrich with van jones, two of my colleagues on crossfire. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> good to be with you. newt gingrich is how i goat

amendment, the majority leader is using in his blame game, is a bipartisan amendment offered by senator menendez and kirk, a republican and democrat, with 59 senate cosponsors, an amendment that seemingly there's overwhelming amount of senate support for this amendment. so why can't we get the issue of iran and nuclear capability to the senate floor? why does the senate majority leader continue to obstruct the senate process rather than return to regular order and allow the senate to operate the way it was intended? the dysfunction of the senate ultimately hurts the american people and the majority leader has the ability to change that. my hope is that we move beyond this time in the senate's history, we move beyond the same-ol', same-ol' and we have an opportunity to restore the senate to function as it should. i have no interest in serving in a united states senate that doesn't do its work. neither the majority leader or any other member of this body has the ability to represent individual americans' interests at any given moment. we each represent people from our respective states who have di

and chairman menendez issued a statement shortly before that and said there were some indications they were coordinated, which wouldn't surprise me. but in any event, the dynamic has changed and he will have to be very much more careful than he has in the past and i think that's all to the good. as an american i think that's all to the good. as an american who believes that this is a two-state solution is the best outcome, best possible outcome, i think that's all the good as well. .. in his interview but one thing has not been talked about much in the press and that is the nature of the peacekeeping operation that would be needed. this would not be one that would be responsible only for monitoring and verification but would need a very robust mandate and rules of engagement that would allow them to interdict, arrest, suppress. really tough mandate but i think that the united states and nato forces could accept that kind of a mandate and do the job. the other thing very quickly, i was also involved in what has been known as the canadian initiative that produced a very deeply-considered

the chair is bob menendez. this is one half hour. >> we will ask members of the audience who are leaving to be quite so we can begin the next panel. we would ask you to summarize your statements. let's start. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am honored to be here before you as president obama's nominee to be next general rector of the -- director at the department of state. i appreciate that confidence that secretary kerry and the president have given me. i am pleased to have the opportunity to advanced to policy. advancedvanced > -- diplomacy. improving the to civil service, the foreign service, and locally employed staff. i would like to take a moment to introduce my wife, who is also a member of the foreign service. i am pleased that my daughter sarah, brother michael, and brother-in-law michael could be here as well. my wife and i have had the privilege of serving together with our three children throughout latin america and europe as well as a number of positions in new york and washington dc. promotingeply a

provision that had another round of iran sanctions which is more or less what was proposed by senators menendez and kirk in the last couple of months. i can their contention was it had 59 co-sponsors and they thought that it was time that i got a vote on the floor and it did not. >> you talked about chairman sanders and you attended his press conference afterwards and you tweeted that he rejects the idea that the veterans bill was a political issue. says it could have been a political winner for both hardy so any chance it will be revived in the senate anytime soon? >> that is unclear at this point. the budget point of order against the bill was a pretty strong blow to the legislation. under the rules now because that point of order goes back to the committee and the idea is that they have to now make corrections to the bill to comply with the budget law. so senators sanders said he will go back at it and we will have to see from there because it was the fairly low blow. >> is connor o'brien it is a reporter for cq roll call and you can rub reid is reporting a cq roll call.com and follow that o

an earlier point that you made, senator menendez, where companies could have put a good housekeeping seal that may or may not be valid troubles me. we will move to the second panel. thank you both. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> in a few minutes we will be taking out to be woods in virginia, about 150 years to the civil war and the confederate soldiers. civil war reenactors are out there, bringing to life the winter of 1864. we'll also hear from the director of archaeology at james madison montpelier. we will be looking for your call and tweets. you can join the conversation at twitter ata -- #cspanhistory. tonight the washington press club foundation 70 annual congressional dinner with the lighter side of capitol hill. tomorrow kentucky senator rand paul is our guest on "newsmakers." he talks about his potential run .or president we'll take a look at some of the interview here. >> he said be careful. you could win. that is what he said about my senate race. itave been looking at thursd

sort of like the menendez brothers.d for somebody who fired that many shots and killed a human being that that is what's going to do him in at the end. if he hadn't fled the scene, act inappropriately and have the girlfriend bury him as well a lot of things will go against him. >> mark, dunn said davis got out of the car and this is going down and this is when dunn went to his glove box, removed his weapon and started firing. does that sound logical? >> not necessarily. remember what the real standard is and it's getting lost in this case. in effect, in order for dunn to get acquitted he has to put reason doubt in the jury's mind as to whether or not he was acting in self-defense. sort of that reverse standard. he doesn't have to convince them beyond a reasonable doubt he's innocent. he has to be able to say to that jury, do you have a doubt that dunn acted in what he felt was reasonable to save his life. let's not forget the alternative is mr. dunn for whatever reason for the first time in his life decided to become a

. >> senator menendez. >> madam chair man, let me ask youcut the number of long-term unemployed americans has continued to go down but it's still exceptionally high by historical standards over 3.6 million. as you know, long-term unemployment could have serious consequences for individuals and their families and can permanently impair the growth prospects for our economy if workers are stuck on the sidelines for too long and networks become out of date. do you feel that the policies have been successful in helping to reduce the number of long-term unemployed americans? is there anything more that the fed can do for is their congressional action that you might leave is necessary in order to meet that challenge and is boosting the demand the best way to reduce long-term unemployment right now based on the current economic conditions. >> senator we are very focused on and concerned about the high level of long-term unemployment. it's really unprecedented to see something like 37% of unemployed in the long spells. we can try to foster a stronger labor market. generally we don't have the tools

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, chairman. let me ask you the number of long term unemployed americans has continued to go down but it's still st exceptionally high by historical standards. as you know long-term unemployment can permanently impair the growth prospects for our economy if the workers are stuck on the the sidelines for too long and their skills become out of date doch. do you feel that the fed's policies have been successful in helping to reduce the number of long-term unemployed americans? is there anything more that the fed can do, or is there congressional action you feel is necessary in order to meet that challenge? and is boosting demand the best way to reduce long-term unemployment right now bags based on our current economic conditions. >> well, we are very focused on and concerned about the high term level of unemployment. it's really unprecedented the to see something like 37% of unemployed in long spells. what can we do? we can stri to foster a stronger labor market generally. we don't have tools target

senator menendez of new jersey is leading this particular effort, and it is a bipartisan effort. but now we're being asked to stand down. we're not even given a chance to exercise our vote on this, which we're attempting to add to the pending legislation here. and again delay, delay, delay is putting us in a position of essentially conceding to the iranians for what they want to have and to give them the opportunity to continue to pursue their quest for nuclear weapon capability. obviously for them, that's just fine. if they can turn the protracted uncertainty and gradual sanctions relief into a series of lesser agreements. but for us, more interim agreements will mean that our allies will become accustomed to these gradual changes and the increasing commerce of iranian oil. they will become less inclined to again reverse course, almost regardless of iranian actions. and following that prolonged process, then when we confront a far healthier iran but with a weaker coalition opposed to iranian nuclear ambitions. iranian ambitions and capabilities will grow. our efforts will halt t

an earlier point that you made, senator menendez, where companies could have put a good housekeeping seal that may or may not be valid troubles me. we will move to the second panel. thank you both. >> thank you. >> if the panel does not mind, i'm going to go ahead and start introducing you, even as you are getting in the process of getting seated. . will start introducing you gentlemen, thank you. focused onanel was our governmental witnesses. now we will focus more on industry and consumers. mr. james reuter. executive vice president of first bank located in colorado, where he's been since 1987. he is also the president of first data corp., which provides all i.t. and operational support services for 110 locations. duncan is executive vice president vice president and general counsel of the national retail federation where courtresponsible for mating territory initiatives involving data privacy, bankruptcy, fair credit reporting, truth in lending. he previously worked for jcpenney and for the ftc. see.et'sleach admin or zeus came -- mr. is a recognized -- at on a wide-ranging wide r