-saudi, so geopolitical issues. and when i retired from the journal in 2006, the one thing i was really interested in doing with my newfound time was trying to understand saudi society. how did saudis look at each other, what was the society like, how do they look at the rulers. how do they look at us? and as i speak about saudi arabia, everyone constantly asks me, why did you do that? why did you spend five years month after month going there? dressed in my long black -- my editor asked me that actually when i turned in the manuscript. she said, you know, why did you do this? and i said, because it's interesting that and she said, harris is interesting. interesting. [laughter] so why did you do this? you know, make me understand. that was her only editing going on the book. so i will try to make you understand why i found it both fascinating and important. saudi arabia is probably the strangest country you will never see. it is so different from our own. a woman and there never reaches the age of maturity. she is a

but loyal funds the jobs of the saudis and most out -- all saudis worked for the government. 90% of those in the private sector are foreigners. there are 19 million saudis and 9 million foreigners in the kingdom. because energy is subsidized and has now become a subject in the saudi press what will happen if we continue to use more and we have less to export and their exports that fund the lifestyle, it is possible the government will find a way we will cut the subsidies but in the post tear of spring environment they're not inclined to take things from people and the country has $500 billion of foreign reserves so it is hard they broke. but institutions estimate the government spending will exceed revenue by 2014. after the air of spring when abdallah came home from back surgery he passed out $130 billion to society on top of $180 billion annual budget more money for student stipends to the religious establishment establishment, more money to everyone to create a minimum wage for the first time for saturday's the foreigners and lastly the royal family itself the third pillar of stability

saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six meter tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia is pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really but part of having freedom of choice means being ab

arabia quiet and the things that supposedly load from the 9/11 people that bases in saudi arabia. i'm not sure that is one of the things. >> that is one of the reasons that osama bin laden gave in his attack. >> if we withdrew every american from saudi arabia at some time do you think that al-qaeda would stop targeting us? >> i don't know, but i think to keep something like that secret in the press, a base -- we're not talking about one operation -- is wrong. >> jon: next on news watch, new tactic in america's gun debate. >> the president takes the show on the road. a crusade for gun control. are his personal appearances persuading the people? is he persuading the press? that is next. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook. ♪ many hot dogs are within you. try pepto-bismol to-go, it's the power of pepto, but it fits in your pocket. now tell the world daniel... of pepto-bismol to-go. otherworldly things. but there are some t

troops leave saudi arabia. and then right at the beginning of the iraq war in 2003, the bush administration announced in fact that we would be pulling our troops out of saudi arabia. it was a huge deal that we decided to do that. i've always been surprised that it's not a bigger part of what we remember as the legacy of george w. bush's presidency. no more bases in saudi arabia. now, though, that has sort of been reversed. at least a little. today "the new york times" reports that some time after 2009, so some time during the presidency of barack obama, the cia built a new base in saudi arabia, a base for u.s. drones. the "times" reporting that we use that base to launch drone strikes in yemen. the paper has known about the secret cia drone base in saudi arabia for years, but they kept it a secret until today's paper. "the washington post" apparently also knew it existed. these news organizations kept this base a secret for years at the request of u.s. government officials. but the times did make it public now.

but for the saudis they need that help, too. they have al qaeda in north africa, who are worrying them. they have iran, who are worrying them. they have an uncertain iraq, they have what is going on in yemen, it works for them to have a cooperation agreement as well. >> we notice the pentagon being tight lipped about the location of where this might exist. would that be potentially another problem for them? >> it is. because you have a conservative base there that still is opposed to u.s. troops being anywhere near saudi sale. this is home of the two holiest sites in islam. to have foreigners in the country based there permanently is not a good thing. this is going to create a bit of embarrassment for the saudis, and those religious groups are not going to be very happy about this. so the saudis, it's kind of one of those things, they need that assistance from the u.s. the military assistance. we need the footprint in the reege sglin it was one of those regions bin laden got so much support, because there was so much outrage, th

saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six meter tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia is pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really but part of having freedom of choice means being ab

had it had one such base in saudi arabia for two years where in saudi arabia the exact location is still a mystery but chances are you had no idea it existed at all that's because it's been somewhat of a secret apparently many media outlets knew all about the base but didn't report it it's now coming to light that the american media did not report on it because of an agreement with the obama administration this according to the washington post and the new york times who are now coming forward with what they've known all this time for more it was joined earlier by russ baker editor in chief of who what why dot com and i first asked him if the broken secret comes as a surprise. not really it's very common practice among american mainstream news organizations to receive requests from the u.s. government to withhold information and they seem to make decisions on a case by case basis what's very disturbing about this is that you see these deals being cut basically between a few of these organizations typically the washington post new york times perhaps the associated press and not the rest of

saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six meter tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia is pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really but part of having freedom of choice means being ab

members of the saudi royal family attended monday's opening ceremony. >> fashion is a very good way of expressing the differences and the similarities in the cultures as well. so we're -- we are very happy to be hosting this and to start this relationship. >> saudi arabia strictly interprets islam and is said to be the most conservative muslim country. woman must carry themselves with head scarves and long coats when they go out. but visitors to the fair showed a keen interest in japanese fashion. >> we all love japanese fashion. >> everything about japan, we have background about it and we love it. >> about 100 women tried various items on the first day. a jetro official says japanese businesses still don't know much about the saudi arabian market but since saudi women have strong purchasing power he hopes japanese companies will explore the business opportunities in the middle eastern country. >>> i will have more headlines for you next hour. the nikkei down .9%. let's take a look at regional markets. ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> the u.s. senate has confirmed chuck hagel as secretary of defense. a bloc

it's not what you trade in it's what you do with the proceeds that was the deal with the saudis the saudis said yes we will price in dollars and we'll use the dollars to actually buy bonds or whatever it is but you know if you try to do it credit facilities that go along with lending all this money to do development and to trade oil and gas and the energy industry makes j.p. morgan goldman sachs and wall street fabulously wealthy and that is the credit side of the business not extorting wishing their bills of receipt is what makes these guys hoping that they're backed by the pentagon nor backed by jets and by the come in your country and blow them up i'm not all of you without max i'm just saying that you know you can price in euros and in a millisecond you've got dollars or you can price in dollars and in a millisecond you've got your rights what matz izzy's not what you price in but where the proceeds go that's my point you know well we i disagree because i would say what matters is your ability to float a lot of credit and make and make a rent seeking play on the global economy that's w

it's not what you trade in it's what you do with the proceeds that was the deal with the saudis the saudi said yes we will price in dollars and we'll use the dollars to actually buy bombs or whatever it is but you know if you try to do it credit facilities that go along with lending all this money to do development and to trade oil and gas and the energy industry makes j.p. morgan goldman sachs and wall street fabulously wealthy and that the credit side of the business not extorting wishing their bills of receipt is what makes these guys hoping that they're backed by the pentagon nor backed by jets and by the come in your country and blow you up i'm not all of you without max i'm just saying that you know you can price in euros and in a millisecond you got dollars or you can price in dollars and in the millisecond you've got your rights what matz izzy's not what you price in but where the proceeds go that's my point ok well we i disagree because i would say what matters is your ability to float a lot of credit and make it make a rent seeking play on the global economy that's what the amer

there is well you know the saudis have been shipping oil to the us for instance but in my view that has to do with the the if you like prepay contracts that they were involved with there's no reason other than . predetermined contracts why this alyosha going to the u.s. it would be better off going east venezuela well i mean they had a big refinery which they shut down have answer in the in the virgin islands i mean i don't want to get into all the refinery mechanics but the essentially cheap oil really cheap oil in canada and in the bakken all the shallow that's been produced that is really cheap can't be shipped out of the middle of the u.s. the refiners inland. making money like it's going to our fashion because we've got cheap oil but the petrol is being priced desire it's coming from brant you know they're making out like bandits on that but the what happens is that the venezuelans haven't been able to sell as much to the u.s. as they used to hence the events are refined a shirt so they're made they get into bed with the chinese big time but the chinese don't pay well so one of the

saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six meter tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia is pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really but part of having freedom of choice means being ab

we buy your dollar say the saudis ok so the back to going from a dollar stand up to gas diplomacy in iran so we move from dollar to gas or not talk about how this cast of policy right where they see where this comes from is the thought that basically energy is neutral. if you go back to the cold war. the russians were reliably supplying gas into western europe right through the cold war and the west were paying for it no matter that they were proxy wars going on all over the world that was the deal also you had the woods time when khomeini was in power for nine hundred seventy nine nineteen ninety three what were the iranians doing they were selling oil to israel via marc rich i'm saying that energy actually transcends all idiology that has been the case and i think in the future there is a solution to be found to the current problems by let's call it energy cooperation people even the lions in the gazelles when they go down to the waterhole you know they don't kill each other at that point to me energy of the modern water i'll get when you talk about gas diplomacy and we're talking

it's not what you trade in it's what you do with the proceeds that was the deal with the saudis the saudis said yes we will price in dollars and we'll use the dollars to actually buy bombs or whatever it is but you know if you try to do it credit facilities that go along with lending all this money to do development and to trade oil and gas and the energy industry makes j.p. morgan goldman sachs and wall street fabulously wealthy and that the credit side of the business not extorting wishing their bills of receipt is what makes these guys one thing that they're backed by the pentagon nor backed by jets and by the come in your country and blow you up i'm not all of you without max i'm just saying that you know you can price in euros and in a millisecond you got dollars or you can price in dollars and in the millisecond you've got your rights what matz izzy's not what you price in but where the proceeds go that's my point you know well we i disagree because i would say what matters is your ability to float a lot of credit and make it make a rent seeking play on the global economy that's what

there is well you know the saudis have been shipping oil to the u.s. for instance but in my view that has to do with the the if you like prepay contracts that they were involved with there's no reason other than. predetermined contracts why this alyosha going to the u.s. it would be better off going east venezuela well i mean they had a big refinery which they shut down have answer in the in the virgin islands i mean i don't want to get into all the refinery mechanics but the essentially cheap oil really cheap oil in canada and in the bakken all the shallow that's been produced that is really cheap can't be shipped out of the middle of the u.s. the refiners inland. making money like it's going to fashion because they've got cheap oil but the petrol is being priced desire it's coming from brant you know they're making out like bandits on that but the what happens is that the venezuelans haven't been able to sell as much to the u.s. as they used to hence the events are refined assured so they get into bed with the chinese big time but the chinese don't p

they don't want to test the saudis, they are not sure how much the saudis will tolerate people challengesaoepl over the decision to work with the cia. things are quiet now. i would expect within the next week or so we will see people begin to chime n. it will be very interesting to see whether a movement mounts. jenna: very sur just. you're the one out of the two of us that speaks and reads ara pweurbgs i'll leave that to you to let you know what you see overt next couple of days. a quick couple of questions because we have to look at the region as a whole. the drone base was first discovered in saudi arabia around 2011. thaltsee whethat's when the construction was complete. we've seen the arab spring and partnerships happen and recently a historic event in egypt just yesterday the iranian president is there hang -pg out with the new egyptian president. how are you seeing these partnerships? again we are looking at the drone campaign and how we are trying to win the war on terror. what about the new partnerships that are emerging as well? >> this advice it by ahmadinejad for the organizat

now the target is members of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, which saudi arabia has long been working with the u.s. to fight. the pace of drone strikes has been growing rapidly in recent years. american officials said the first time the cia used the base was to kill this man, and wore out milwaukee kill thuis -- to kil this man. \ supporters say strikes like this have seriously damaged out kind of costs -- damaged al qaeda possibility to plan a tax, but others say they alienate local populations. brennan will have to answer questions in his confirmation hearing as cia director. the legality of drone strikes is likely to be high on the agenda, especially after a memo was leaked. white house 3 did the white house defended the policy. >> we have a knowledge there are sometimes we use remotely piloted aircraft against terrorists and to prevent attacks on the united states and to save american lives. we conduct the strikes because they are necessary to prevent threats, to stop future attacks, and save american lives. these attacks are ethical and wires. >> the fact there is a secret base m

saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six metre tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia's pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really a part of having freedom of choice means being able