prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a much lesser temporary halt in settlements. but that has hardly been enough to get the process of negotiations on the block. that is a failure. i do not know if there is an obvious better answer, but it was a failure. 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

prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a much lesser temporary halt in settlements. but that has hardly been enough to get the process of negotiations on the block. that is a failure. i do not know if there is an obvious better answer, but it was a failure. 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-

this is why netanyahu went to moscow secretly in september. it was quite a controversial story. that appears to have changed mr. putin's thinking somewhat. he will go along with sanctions to a certain degree. he will not go along with helping any outside effort to topple the regime. 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.

but netanyahu and willingness to budge and secretary clinton and mixed signals about whether there may be concessions made to prime minister fed yahoo! yahoo! -- nine yahoo! without a total settlement had cost the administration a great event mount of credibility. it is clear obama is an unwilling to force the government to adopt the settlement but at this point* the alternatives are not very good either this stalemate after continuing to change realities on the ground with a viable palestinian state with expansion and building the separation barrier or else obama reverse his position to try and draw it netanyahu to the process affecting eight u-turn that would engage not only his credibility but also among any palestinian partner who might try to engage. after the heightened expectation the dashed hopes really risk provoking a crisis and on this issue issue, time is running out. but it is not just palestine people are disenchanted they're very concerned that under president obama and united states will give less support and here, if i sound unduly critical there were many democracy re

i have raised with prime minister netanyahu aid and assistance in gaza and we are pressing to get more aid in and i will look at exactly the points she has made and see what more we can do in this new year. in the end, this will require a political settlement between israel and the palestinian state which gives israel security and palestine a viable economic state that it can manage but in the meantime we must avoid unnecessary suffering. >> i would also like to add my own expressions of profound sympathy and condolence to the family and friends to the great british citizens who lost their lives serving in afghanistan since the house last sat. and also i'd like to pay my own taylor a david taylor. i was once of the meps in his area and he had a reputation and always had as an outstanding constituency as someone who always always spoke his own mind. my heart goes out to his wife pam and his four daughters. mr. speaker, last weekend the prime minister said he was all in favor of aspiration. could he explain to us exactly what his aspiration about a tax system which he has created where t

i have raised with prime minister netanyahu the speed at which aid and humanitarian assistance can getinto gaza, and we are pressing the israeli government to do more to get more aid in. i will look at exactly the points that my honorable friend has made and see what more we can do in this new year. in the end, this will require a political settlement between israel and the palestinian state that gives israel security and palestine a viable economic state that it can manage. in the meantime, we must avoid unnecessary suffering. >> mr. nick clegg. >> i also add my own expressions of profound sympathy and condolence to the family and friends of the brave british soldiers who have lost their lives serving in afghanistan since the house last sat -- corporal simon hornby, lance corporal michael pritchard, lance corporal christopher roney, lance corporal tommy brown, rifleman aidan howell, sapper david watson and private robert hayes. i would also like to pay my own tribute to david taylor, who sadly died during the christmas recess. i was once one of the mep's for his area, and he had a rep

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel would respond to every rocket fired by gaza militantsspite the violence, advanced talks are continuing over the release of kidnapped israeli soldier who has been in hamas custody since 2006. hamas officials are expected to give their reply to the deal any day now. the german mediator returns to the region tomorrow. >> julie: thank you. election delays will not keep the troops to leave by the end of august according to ray odierno. the top u.s. general says he expects 100,000 troops will be in iraq in the march 7 elections. two months later, he will assess the country's stability and move troops out. they were supposed to hold the election this month but a political dispute pushed up the date to march. all u.s. troops are slated to leave iraq by september. leaders are welcoming the new year. a stop as we go around the world in 80 seconds. >> china. explosion at a fireworks factory leaving nine dead and at least eight others injured. the police searching for the factory owner who according to the state run media fled the scene. manufacture

in fact, the concessions he has gotten from netanyahu are actually fairly substantial. had he set this up in the beginning, this could have maybe looked more like de win than a loss, but he has created a difficult situation for himself. i don't think there is an immediate way out, but in the middle east, one event is always followed by another. i think there are some opportunities going forward. hopefully, this has been a lesson for him and some folks have told him this was the way to go, maybe he will not listen to them with such trust next time around. >> i am looking for some gender balance here, come on. all right, i will go to this gentleman, not because of gender. [laughter] >> talk about self created problems. >> compared to a president like harry truman or church -- george herbert walker bush, president obama seems narcissistic. is narcissism a political and vulnerability or strength? how does a president who appears narcissistic harness that to augment and increase the public good? >> yes, steve? >> there is a very interesting book that many journalists reviled

. -- prime netanyahu. >> his portfolio is the middle east peace process. [inaudible] do you expect him to stick to that general issue with the syrians, or do you think he might approach other subjects like perhaps terrorism, perhaps iraq? >> well, i think it -- we obviously have as a goal comprehensive peace in the middle east and syria is -- will be vital to achieving that objective. at the same time whenever you have a high level u.s. official in demascus, it will be the opportunity to reflect on the current state of the u.s.-syrian relationship. it is primarily, you know, to continue our discussions on how we might make progress in the other tracks of the peace process in addition to the u.s.-palestinian track, but i believe there will be other subjects. >> can you give us the numbers on the number of dead and missing americans so far? >> missing americans is much more difficult. but in terms of the current number, we still have roughly 27 confirmed u.s. may -- fatalities. there is 27. we have some that we have additional number that our -- are presumed

well, since the operation we all remember -- i don't know netanyahu and the coalition that was swept into office post operation, they certainly are there now. it is clear that israel's diplomatic position has slid backwards. they used to have a working relationship with turkey, that has been damaged. morocco, they've had relationships and has been damaged and i think diplomatically since the goldstone report has been released clearly there has been diplomatic demonstrations -- damage to israel. the practice that i think the final analysis has been catastrophic for everybody. and so we passed i think -- the credibility of the united states congress has been harmed since the operation. >> sorry to interrupt -- we will come back. >> you put me on a roll. >> it's hard to stop talking especially the numbers are in the quite shocking. just to illustrate -- >> before i go can make a quick announcement? were give me. next week the doctor who lost three of his children and a niece who will be on capitol hill on january 20th, you're all invited, and he is alive in teaching at university of tor

benjamin netanyahu has said every single rocket fired by militants will be met by force.race: live in jerusalem. thank you. that homicide bomber that killed seven cia agents in afghanistan was from jordan. now hillary clinton is meeting with jordan's foreign minister. let's get molly henneberg live at the state department. >> both countries say they are committed to fighting terror wherever it is and helping the afghan people combat terror in the country. new information just out about the christmas dave thwarted bomb attempt. it turns out his name was misspelled in the initial state department report to try to find that if he had a visa. it's still not clear that anybody went back and checked to see this guy that was just coming on their radar screen, whether or not he had a visa. the department said it did not assess the risk assessments. they're looking into how this could have happened in the weeks leading up to that christmas day plot. trace: live at the state department. that is brand-new information at the bottom of the hour. >> while passion and politics can obscu

although, in june prime minister netanyahu made an announcement that was certainly a surprise to me,that he would accept a two-state solution of palestinians and israelis subject to a couple of conditions. one was that the -- there would be limited military capacity on the part of the palestinians. and that the issue of immigration would be taken off the table in terms of the right of return to israel or palestinians. and there was a third element which was to be the unity of jerusalem in which at least there was an opening for a discussion in terms of the holy places and in terms of potentially of some sort of division. but the two key positions were the ones that he took. so we're now in a situation where very sadly we have from that dream a situation which is unfortunate with a division between the palestinian people, with anxiety about gaza, between israel and the palestinians. strobe was telling me before with some violence in the last days, which i missed, and we are now where we are with the sort of offer from -- or willingness on the part of prime minister netanyahu to negoti

ben jap minimum netanyahu has reiterated israel's commitment to peace. he placed a 10-month moratorium on the construction of new homes to jump-start the peace talks. it is my hope that israel's willingness to make peace is resip pro indicated. if attacks continue, israelis must be able to defend their homes and we must assist in their effort and support their basic right to do so. i yield back the balance. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> isaacs a move once said if my -- isaac asimov once said if my doctor told me i had seconds to live, i wouldn't complain, i'd type faster. that's true for an author, who last year was diagnosed a year ago with cancer he lost his life last week hisms courageous fight showed his strength as a person and a journalist committed to the ideals of a more responsive and transparent government. there have been numerous tributes to him, from the president of the united states who he graciously

i think prime minister netanyahu was making efforts to try to move a little bit further than his coalitionther hand president abbas of the palestinian authority a white thing genuinely wants peace has to deal with hamas, an organization that does not recognize israel and has not disallowed violence, and so we are working to try to strengthen the ability of both parties to sit down across the table and to begin serious negotiations and i think it is important when we are talking about this issue to make sure that we don't just use language that is inflammatory or in some fashion discourages negotiation. both the palestinian people and israelis have legitimate aspirations and they can be best served at the united states is helping them understand each other as opposed to demonizing each other. alright? okay. it is a gentleman's turn. it is a gentleman's turn. this gentleman here. i'm going to go on the other side of the room. the gentleman with the yellow tie. >> bill segall, orange county commissioner. welcome mr. president. what is the decision matrix going to look like for high-speed rail

prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a much lesser temporary halt in settlements.ut that has hardly been enough to get the process of negotiations on the block. that is a failure. i do not know if there is an obvious better answer, but it was a failure. 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- carrying republican all my life, 68 years old. and since 1994 i am disgusted with republican greed. i have watched this country go downhill since '73. education has fallen 48%. no jobs, you cannot tell me that wal-mart -- i have lived long enough to see wal-mart, the largest institution and employer in this countr

prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a much lesser temporary halt in settlements. enough to get the process of negotiations on the block. that is a failure. i do not know if there is an obvious better answer, but it was a failure. 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- carrying republican all my life 68 years old. and since 1994 i am disgusted with republican greed. i have watched this country go downhill since '73. education has fallen 48%. no jobs, you cannot tell me that wal-mart -- i have lived long enough to see wal-mart the largest institution and employer in this country. the we are a joke. them

over the weekend he met with prime minister netanyahu and president abbas and also met with king abdallahof jordan, and last night with the foreign minister and intelligence chief and cairo. but he is on its way back to the united states as we speak >> on lebanon, can you be more specific about what the u.s. role will be in this? who is going, if anyone? >> i think normally we would provide assistance to the ntsb. most of our focus right now is what ever we can do. >> what have they asked for? >> i will take the question. the uss rampage has been redeployed to assist in the search and recovery. it has been in the mediterranean at the time. i think we will be involved to the ntsb in helping to investigate the loss of this particular flight. >> did the particular case come up? >> it did not. >> 6 press the willingness to bring it up with senator campbell. cantwell,. >> it is a matter of ongoing legislation. the state department has been contact with the senator. i do not know whether it was the secretary directly, but in the immediate days after the verdict, she was in touch with center for

this is why netanyahu went to moscow secretly in september. it was quite a controversial story.that appears to have changed mr. putin's thinking somewhat. he will go along with sanctions to a certain degree. he will not go along with helping any outside effort to topple the regime. 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. host: what are congress and outside groups doing? guest: congress has passed two bills over the past six months, which i think are very positive. you have one that was championed by senator mccain and senator lieberman. it was signed into law by the president. it includes money to help victims

three days ago, i sat down with benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem. the first thing he said to me was congressman, i know you are here with a heavy heart. please note that our planes are in the air. the next morning, his foreign minister took me to see their situation room, and i expect that the same thing is happening in turkey and other areas where there is extraordinary expertise that is moving in the direction of helping the people. thank you very much, madame chair, and all my colleagues for the efforts that you and your staff have put forward on behalf of the people of haiti. >> we have been joined now by our whip, mr. cliburn, who is our leader on haiti from the leadership team, and he will now come forward. thank you again for your leadership. >> let me thank my colleagues. i know you have gone over the legislation that we are moving with, and there will be other legislative initiatives. i just want to say that speaker pelosi has asked me to coordinate the activities so that we can funnel everything from the various elements within our caucus

in fact the concessions he has got from netanyahu are fairly substantial, and had he set this up in the beginning this could have looked more like a win than loss but he has created a difficult situation for himself. i don't think there is an immediate way out but fortunately in the middle east one event is always followed by another and i think there are some opportunities going forward. hopefully this has been a lesson and some folks who told him confidently this was the way to go maybe he won't listen to them with quite such a trust next time around. >> i'm looking for gender balance. come on. i will go to this gentleman -- [inaudible] [laughter] >> talk about self created problems here. >> exactly. >> [inaudible] -- distinction. i am mike, contemporary review. compared to president, like, harry truman or george walker bush, president obama seems evidently narcissistic. his narcissism a political vulnerability or political strength and how does a president who seems, appears evidently to harness that to augment to increase the public good? >> yes, steve. >> there's a very interesting

ivies rutka minister netanyahu the aid and humanitarian resistance can get into gaza.we are pressing the government to do more that they can to get more aid and i will get exactly the points that she has made and see what more we can do in this new year. in the and this will require a political settlement between israel and the palestinian state which gives israel security and palestine a viable economic state that can manage but in the meantime we must avoid unnecessary suffering. >> i would also like to add my own expressions of profound sympathy and condolences to the family and friends of the brave british soldiers who lost their lives serving in afghanistan since the house. captain simon lance corporal michael pritchard, lance corporal kristopher rooney, lance corporal tommy brown, aid and how will, david watson and private robert hayes and also to my own tribute to david tayler who sadly died during the christmas recess. on was once one of the ndp is and he had a reputation them and always has as an outstanding constituency and as someone who always, always spoke

since the operation we all will remember i don't remember if maybe netanyahu and the conservative coalitionwept in would be there or not but they certainly are there now. it's clear israel's to plot a position has slid backwards. they used to have a working relationship with turkey that has been damaged. larocco, they've had relationships that have been damaged and i think diplomatically and since the ecclestone report was released clearly there has been diplomatic damage to israel and the fact is i think in the final analysis it has been catastrophic for everybody and so we passed the credibility of the united states congress has been hard -- >> sorry to interrupt you. i know it's hard to stop talking especially that the numbers are indeed quite shocking. just to illustrate -- too can i make a quick announcement? forgive me. next week the doctor who lost three of his children and a niece will be on capitol hill on january 20th and you are all invited, and he is alive and teaching in the university of toronto but is teaching casualties and we also are preparing a resolution filled with quot

i think prime minister netanyahu is making some effort to try to move a little bit further than his coalition wants him to go. on the other hand, president abbas of the palestinian authority, who i think genuinely wants peace has to deal with hamas, an organization that has not recognized israel and has not disavowed violence, so we are working to strengthen the ability of both parties to sit down across the table and to begin serious negotiations. and i think it's important when we're talking about this issue to make sure that we don't just knee-jerk, use language that is inflammatory or in some fashion discourages the possibility of negotiation. we've got to recognize that both the palestinian people and israelis have legitimate aspirations and they can be best served if the united states is helping them understand each other as opposed to demonizing each other. . >> let me make a general statement about high-speed rail. number one is that making an investment in infrastructure is a twofer because it creates jobs immediately and it lays the foundation for a vibrant economy in the future. it

prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a much lesser temporary halt in settlements.ut that has hardly been enough to get the process of negotiations on the block. that is a failure. i do not know if there is an obvious better answer, but it was a failure. 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- carrying republican all my life, 68 years old. and since 1994 i am disgusted with republican greed. i have watched this country go downhill since '73. education has fallen 48%. no jobs, you cannot tell me that wal-mart -- i have lived long enough to see wal-mart, the largest institution and employer in this countr

i've raised with ryan minister netanyahu to speed up which agent who marries a can get into gaza.e are pressing the government to do more date can and i will look at exactly the point and see what's more we can do in this new year. in the end, this will require the political settlement between israel and the palestinian state which gives israel security and palestine a viable economic statement it can manage. but in the meantime they must avoid unnecessary suffering. >> mr. nick knight. >> i would select that man into the internals of the family and friends of the brave british soldiers who lost their lives serving afghanistan since the house who lost captain lance corporal michael pritchard, lance corporal christopher rony, lance corporal tommy brown, rifleman aidan, david watson, and private robert hayes. and also i would like to david taylor who sadly died during the christmas weeks. i was once one of the nep service area aiming area and he had a reputation that nos has an outstanding constituency as someone who always spoke his own vine. my heart goes out to his wife, pam, and