p.j. crowley. the key thing is what america does, clearly. if we assume that israel is serious, benjamin netanyahu is absolutely deadly serious that he is ready to launch some kind of preemptive strike against iran, imagine that happens, what does the obama administration do if it's still in power come november and the election? what do you do? >> well, i mean, that's the dilemma in terms of turning to military action that may well be necessary at some point. israel probably has -- certainly has the capability to in some ways delay, you know, the advance towards that nuclear line, but perhaps does not have the ability to destroy the entire program. and that's the conundrum when you get to military action is in many respects, if you start this fight, one of two things has to happen. you have to continue to regime change as we did in iraq. that's a legitimate policy option but obviously a very expensive one. but the other is should it not destroy iran's nuclear program, you probably make that iranian

p.j. crowley and foreign policy editor in chief, susan glasser. great to have you both on the program. nt to start with you. what did it signal to you that romney was completely silent on afghanistan in one of the most sort of significant speeches he's given to date? >> i mean, it certainly was a surprise but one of the reasons he didn't mention it is because ultimately, he's going to follow the same exit ramp that obama has constructed if he's elected president. he's been very critical of the president, saying on the one hand i wouldn't announce in advance when i'm leaving, but then again, he's not going to overturn the president's afghan policy. i think to your point about the differences of leadership, i think both candidates have talked about american exceptionalism. the difference i think is that obama has brought the united states foreign policy within the available means given the global economic crisis. a lot of people will point to the bin laden raid as being the example of an obama doctrine. i would point to libya and the contrast between overthrowing a dictator in iraq at the

p.j. crowley, thank you very much. more now on this story. we want to go straight to the ground.joe mana on the phone. we're now hearing that the consulate may have been deliberately targeted. what are you hearing about what set off this violence? >> reporter: that's what we're hearing here, don. some eyewitnesss do seem to say that this might have been what happened yesterday. they are saying it wasn't really any news about this video that sparked this protest and there were no calls for these protests to end. and this might have been a preplanned attack. we do know that in the eastern city of ben gaz say, around the city of benghazi, a growing movement of radical islamist groups. they are operating in that area. we have seen them carry out attacks against these interests in the past. the same u.s. consulate was targeted previously. no casualties in that attack. also in june we saw the convoy of the british ambassador targeted in benghazi. we're hearing today from libyan officials, top government officials that this coincided with the september 11th anniversary and they do belie

p.j. crowley former assistant secretary of state.then we're only a little over a week before the first presidential debate so tonight in "the war room," we're going to do some debate prep with republican strategist mark mckinnon and democratic campaign veteran fowler. it will be a great hour for the political junkies out there right here in "the war room." you gotta tune in. >> eliot: we'll be watching. more "viewpoint" coming right up. online forum with a direct line to eliot spitzer. >>join the debate now. v

p.j. crowley. more ahead on the antiwestern protests in the muslim world. secretary of defense says he expects more unrest in the coming days. we will see how the pentagon is responding coming up. plus, the do not call list. remember that in it seemed like a good idea, i don't want you calling my phone. lots of us signed up for it and most of the calls stopped. for a while. next, why complaints about the so-called robo calls are skyrocketing. what we can all do about them. i'm freaking out man. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a killer investing dashboard. everything is on one page. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the e-trade 360 investing dashboard. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. wthe future of our medicare andr electiosocial security. for... man 1: i w

p.j. crowley. it's always great to have you, as well.ow concerned are you for the security in that region? how volatile do you think it is right now? >> obviously we've seen the spread of the protests over the video to yemen, so we're right in the middle of this challenge. if we're going to see it extend probably to other parts of the region before it finally dies down. >> nick kristof made the point the government in libya seems to be responding well, but what does the u.s. action need to be in terms of the entire region? >> i actually think you put that in the right order, you know, what's critical here is less the response of the united states and more the response of these leaders. how do they respond to this latest episode, but more importantly, are they going to build societies that are more tolerant, more inclusive. you know, we've seen the understandable reaction from this relatively obscure video. we've gone through these cycles before. but the answer within the islamic world can't always be, you know, violent protests. because

p.j. crowley, a former secretary of state and retired air force colonel.go, i wrote a piece, the mommy and daddy party. the democratic party is good on health issues and education and republican ss b about law and order and defense and keeping a gun under the bed. tough daddy and regular mommy. but today, the democrats have done a little border crossing. they are the guys that got bin laden and braggi inging about i. >> i thought they did a clever job especially on the last day of their convention in rebranding the democratic party as the party of patriotism and of strength. as we just saw, the republican party is a party of naivety, one that doesn't know how to deal with foreign policy. but what's more as biden said, they're doom criers. they don't trust america. they sell america short. >> why are they running two guys with no military backing, but with no real interest in foreign policy. neither has any interest about the world! because this was. >> because this was supposed to be about jobs, jobs, jobs! one thing the neo cons, who i dearly d lly despis

p.j. crowley professor at george washington university, thanks for your insights. we going to clean up our energy act? congressman he had markie joins me next. this is "viewpoint." there's joy and now there's joy on current tv. >>i feel like i don't even know you. >>just stay on your side of the screen, okay? >>brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote. i just want to give her everything. [ whistles ] three words dad, e-trade financial consultants. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. wa-- wa-- wait a minute; bobby? bobby! what are you doing man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. >> eliot: a leading voice in the fight to i'm jennifer granholm, let me tell you a story. in colorado the auto rescue saved more than 9,000 jobs. in the great state of michigan, 211,000 good paying, american jobs! in romney's world, cars get the elevator, and the workers get the shaft! (vo) want more granholm? get her every night. if you have an opinion, you better

p.j. crowley and foreign policy's susan glasser evaluate the president's foreign policy resume four years "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have sy

p.j. crowley professor at george washington university, thanks for your insights. are we going to clean up our energy act? congressman he had markie joins me next. this is "viewpoint." (vo) this program is presented by american express. welcome to the possibilities of membership. welcome in. american express. >> eliot: a leading voice in the fight to protect the environment environment. ed markey joins me next. this is "viewpoint." 9,000 jobs. in the great state of michigan, 211,000 good paying, american jobs! in romney's world, cars get the elevator, and the workers get the shaft! (vo) want more granholm? get her every night. if you have an opinion, you better back it up. >>eliot spitzer takes on politics. >>science and republicans do not mix. >>now it's your turn at the only online forum with a direct line to eliot spitzer. >>join the debate now. >> eliot: the divergence between democrats and republicans on energy policy could not be greater. the republican platform reads like a manual of carbon based industry, coal, oil, gas. the democrats focus on renew renewal

p.j. crowley, great to talk with you.>> pleasure, alex. >>> meanwhile the fallout from that anti-muslim film continues. we've been asking all of you today, do you blame the filmmaker for the global outbreaks of vile intelligence we'll hear some of your tweets. here are a few. garrett mow says "i despite the content of the film but we cannot consider ourselves a free nation if we promote censored expression." bafpet says "yes, it was the kindle that exploded the anti-american feelings in the muslim world." ronald g newton "the film is partly to blame. people's intolerance of moss lems and islam have emboldened extremists. atin 0007 "it was irresponsible and reckless, and free speech -- >>> in today's strategy talk, crisis communications. the u.s. embassy protests and president obama and mitt romney's responses to them have turned the crisis into a hotly debated election issue. joining me now tony fratto, deputy white house press secretary to president bush and -- >> tony, i'll begin with you. it's mitt romney who made some

p.j. crowley noted we are still very early in the investigation. >> we don't know all that we need to knowhat happened yesterday. but certainly this would be consistent with the struggle that we have been dealing with since 9/11. a struggle against al qaeda, either its formal affiliates or sympathetic supporters. >> the u.s. is set to give libya as much as $20 million in aid this year. tonight, some lawmakers are calling for the u.s. to cut that off. and now the u.s. embassies in egypt and six other nations warn that the violence in libya could spark more anti-american protests and more attacks. wendell goler at the state department for us tonight. we can't know yet, despite the statements that have been made today, but if this is an act of war, who is the enemy? >> well, shep folks here feel it's too early to tell. libya is really controlled by a number of militias that banded together to take down muammar qaddafi and now jealously control little bits of territory. the government is not strong enough to disarm them and that's a problem because security at diplomatic installations is mainl

p.j. crowley former assistant secretary of state.we're only a little over a week before the first presidential debate so tonight in "the war room," we're going to do some debate prep with republican strategist mark mckinnon and democratic campaign veteran fowler. it will be a great hour for the political junkies out there right here in "the war room." you gotta tune in. >> eliot: we'll beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee our conversation is with you the viewer because we're independent. >>here's how you can connect with "viewpoint with eliot spitzer." >>questions, of course, need to be answered. >>we will not settle for the easy answers. >> eliot: when the only apparent consistency is the does not, well documented well representation of facts, you have a problem which is why mittt romney is shrinking. over the course of this campaign, he's dproan smaller. he and those around him should have realized by now that one is not elected president either as an empty vessel devoid of substance or by merely using a pea shooter to fling petty insul