we're also going to bring in shane harris a senior staff writer at foreign policy and a fellow at thenew american foundation who's been with us before. good day to you. >> hi, how are you doing? >> doing well. as we think about this entire sequence of events, the dialed up pressure here on russia, new sanctions coming out of europe as we await the president's remarks, talk to us a little bit about what it takes for europe to act collectively on economic or military fronts. you think about nato, where ukraine may not be a member but is certainly a part of the archetype of a collective response. you think about the idea of isolating russia here. what else can europe do as these sanctions kick in to try to draw a line in the sand so we don't end up having a true military confrontation or war with russia into ukraine? >> well, i'm not sure much more what they can do or what they're really prepared to do at this point. you've seen how difficult it's been for the europeans to come to some consensus on increasing the sanctions. even before the downing of mh-17, there wasn't a lot of movement

joining us nous is shane harris, senior staff writer for foreign policy and fellow at the new americanoundation. shane, welcome. >> hi. >> so secretary kerry is now in the region. he met today with both netanyahu and abbas. does his physical presence there change the game at all? >> i'm not sure it changes it that much. you already hear state department officials kind of tamping down expectations about what he's doing to be able to achieve in the way of an immediate cease-fire or a truce. secretary kerry has invested a lot of personal time and energy over the past year into negotiating an end to it the israeli-palestinian conflict. this is a much different and in some cases much more difficult set of circumstances now with hamas. so he is obviously there trying his best and meeting with leaders, but i don't think we should expect or have very high expectations in the near term. >> and shane, prime minister netanyahu has said that the most important step for the international community to insist on is the demilitarization of gaza. is that realistic? is that possible to achieve through m

host: we will have more with shane harris on the situation in afghanistan.lso the latest calming raids by hamas and israel and the israeli army indicating it is prepared to send boots on the ground as early as today or tomorrow. let's been with another headline this morning from the mes," theon ti president unloading on house republicans and they plan to sue him for executive overreach, calling the move a political stunt and waste of time and money. his weekly address, the president tried to paint republicans as detached from reality, attending to pick americans from gop leaders such as detour john boehner. the speaker unveiled his plans to file that lawsuit against the president. here is speaker boehner on wednesday. [video clip] wife let me make this clear -- this is not about me suing the president. it is not about republicans versus democrats. this is about the legislative that is being disadvantaged by the executive branch. not about executive actions. every president does executive orders. most of them, though, do them within the law. what we are talki

shane harris is following the story for "foreign policy" magazine. he is joining us on the phone.hank you for being with us. guest: hi, steve. host: more questions than answers this morning. what have you found? guest: what is interesting to me is u.s. intelligence officials are now confirming that this was a missile strike. our intelligence indicates that clearly andl they're focusing on a particular type of surface to air missile that the russians are believed to have provided to separatists in the region, and dismissal would've had the range to shoot airliner, and the separatists have been boasting in recent days of shooting down ukrainian aircraft, including cargo aircraft and fighter jets. the white house is very carefully avoiding pinning the blame directly on the separatists, but they issued a statement last night saying the incident highlights the urgency with which we continue russia to de-escalate the situation, and while we do not have the facts, we know this incident occurred in the context of the crisis in ukraine's fuel by russian support for separatists, including t

this morning, foreign policy magazine staff writer shane harris discusses hotspots in the middle east. and continued violence in iraq and syria. then, the president of rock the vote talks about the group's relaunch and the goal in registering voters for the midterm election. on a presidential historian, the 50th anniversary of the 1964 republican national convention, the presidential nomination of barry goldwater, and the risk to the gop. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. ♪washington journal" is host: good morning. congress is back this week. he senate expected to vote on the democratic-sponsored bill that would try to overcome the supreme court's 5-4 ruling on the hobby lobby case that essentially would exempt the affordable care act from the freedom restoration act. meanwhile, the nation's governors continue their summer meeting in nashville today. the president begins his week at the white house, but he is back on the road thursday raising money in nor your city. it is sunday morning, july 13, and the president using his weekly addre

shane" stands as one of the most sober and painful westerns from that era. >> george stevens, one of the five directors featured in the new book out by mark harris titled "fiveom new york city, here on "american history tv," thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you. >>> each week, "american history tv"'s reel america brings us films that tell the story of the 20th century. in the third of a five-part look at hollywood director who is made films for the u.s. government during world war ii, we feature director john ford. in the 18-minute documentary he made for the u.s. navy about the june 1942 battle of mid-way. the film presented a victory in vivid color to an american public eager for good news in the year following pearl harbor. but first, we speak with author mark harris about john ford. >> in his book, author mark harris focusing on hollywood and the second world war and five leading directors at the time including john ford, who serve ed in the u.s. navy during world war ii. mark harris, thanks very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> what can you tell us about the work of john ford? >> ford was one of the most respected director

shane" stands as one of the most sober and painful westerns from that era. >> george stevens, one of the five directors featured in the new book out by mark harris titled "fives from new york city, here on "american history tv," thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you. >>> each week, "american history tv"'s reel america brings us films that tell the story of the 20th century. in the third of a five-part look at hollywood director who is made films for the u.s. government during world war ii, we feature director john ford. in the 18-minute documentary he made for the u.s. navy about the june 1942 battle of mid-way. the film presented a victory in vivid color to an american public eager for good news in the year following pearl harbor. but first, we speak with author mark harris about john ford. >> in his book, author mark harris focusing on hollywood and the second world war and five leading directors at the time including john ford, who serve ed in the u.s. navy during world war ii. mark harris, thanks very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> what can you tell us about the work of john ford? >> ford was one of the most respected dire