the president kicked the decision to the state department, the state commissioned a report and assessing the project from all of the angels and decision time the growing closer. most americans don't know that the oil is coming from canada. thanks to new technologies, canada churned out oil in amounts previously unimaginable and for this the u.s. is seeking a new way to get the oil to this market. thus the keystone pipeline plan and bringing the oil and jobs to the u.s. in large quantities. because the project is crossing international borders the state department was assigned to produce an environmental impact report that came last week. in that long awaited report the state department opened the door to building the pipeline and the statement concluded with out or without the pipeline extension canada's oil is going to find a way to get by market, if not by the pipelines railways. this is leaving the president with a difficult decision. >> we welcome the state department's report and encouraged that it concluded that keystone wouldn't have a significant environmental impact. >> the pipe

let's talk about her accomplishments at the state department. go-ahead, amie barnes. >> guest: one of her biggest things is she did support the president. she was a big advocate for him on issues like libya, the afghan surge, the race for osama bin laden, the reset button is also a big moment for her. and other moments that john can talk about. >> guest: generally speaking the united states was seen better around the world after the first term of the obama administration and she was chief advocate for the united states abroad so relationships with european partners improved. you saw said relationships in the arab world improved. not everything got better in the way we were perceived but that was an important thing when she contributed and she also elevated development and diplomacy as part of american foreign policy for so long. elevated development and diplomacy as part of american foreign policy for so long in the post-9/11 world. american foreign-policy was all combat. it was all military. that elevation of diplomacy as part of the foreign-po

the state department on interveners like jerry cowan was that condi rice attache and now he is googleideas. what they were doing was staring out how to use technology to affect political movements abroad. we go into that in the look that you can retrain revolutionaries in another country to upload video of the atrocities going on in the country. you can use gps and mobile text services to warn people of troop movements abroad. you can raise money for the haitian earthquake victims very quickly. all of these things you can do to affect political and social activity abroad can be turned back into a political campaign in 2016. >> host: she even looks at the heads of these giant tech companies like google and she says use me as an app. >> guest: isn't that interesting? >> guest: she may not be able to write code and certainly, say she understands technology. i think there is a sort of joke that she is the person who is detached from the actual mechanisms involved it very well aware of how people communicate and fund-raiser and political organized. what she says to these folks and in this

the president kicked the decision to the state department. state commissioned a new report. decision time is getting closer. >> most americans don't know the united states gets most of its imported oil from canada. thanks to new technologies canada churned out oil in amounts unimaginable and for this the u.s. is seeking a new way to get that oil to this market. thus, the keystone xl pipeline plan, a project bringing oil and jobs to the u.s. in significant quantities. because the project crosses an international border the state department was required to produce an environmental impact report that came last week. in the long-awaited report it opened the door for building the pipeline. with or without the pipeline extension, canada's oil will find a way to get to market - if not by pipeline, by railway. either way the carbon footprint is significant, and that has environmentalists in revolt. it leaves the president with a difficult decision. we welcome the u.s. state department report and encourage that it concludes that keystone xl would not have a significant environmental

where you pointed out despite the auspices and the resistance of the state department, all the state department's, opposition to holocaust rescue collapsed after the publication of the memo by the three treasury department officials. that's how i remember it, and at that point the u.s. policy, the were refugee board and started operations. in your opinion, about how many jews were saved by that period? we've seen figures as low as 20,000, figures as high as 250,000. i'd like your the storable opinion on that. >> let's hope this is all. i feel the need to move around a little for questions. are you hearing in back okay? all right. you ask -- this is a request for precision, and i have to explain first the complications before giving you a number. first of all, the war refugee board did a lot of things that involved encouraging of others to try to rescue, broadcast the occupied countries in europe, warnings to nazi satellite countries, request neutral countries to engage with nazi officials in budapest and elsewhere. so that's one problem. if you're talking about direct numbers, you're

the state department finally just he bumped the job smith -- debunked the jobs myth. ith a country that employs over 150 million people, the jobs miniscule benefit to the united states. i would like to get back -- when it comes to export energy security, there is nothing that says that the tar sands oil is going to stay in the united states and in fact, we should be keeping this oil on the ground and using other types of transportation alternatives to begin transferring our fleet to something that is greater. what will happen is the transcanada will make tremendous profits out of shipping this oil. this is about billions of dollars that transcanada is going to benefit from a basically sticking a pipeline through the heartland of america for export. >> >> explain with this particular tar sands is. >> this is the dirtiest of the oil. it is worse than tar. it is this really abrasive sludge that requires special handling, requires heat and needs to be mixed with other chemicals. in oil that was billed kalamazoo, michigan -- i am from the midwest and the kalamazoo area. thi

the state department deplored the killing of civilians in conflict zones like syria, oppressive abuse on demonstrators like iciviliansli. we look at four of our jailed colleagues by the egyptian government. >> secretary of state john kerry introduced his department's annual human rights report with an urgent message globally 2013 was a ban for human. >> all right this report, we think s especially timely. it comes on the holy spirit of one of the most momentous year years--it comes on the heels of one of the most momentous years. >> assembly and press. >> this could not be more relevant to what we're seeing trantranspired across the globe, some of the greatest security challenges in the world today are also places where their governments deny basic human. >> right the syrian government's use of chemical weapons on its own people. >> in syria hundreds were murdered in the dead of night when a disaster occurred at the hands of a dictator who decided to infect the air of damascus. >> kerry also pointed to new details on the extent of north korea's abuses towards its citizens. >> reports

i think technical level the state department is probably not empowered to do inside reporting because it is like a min industry of foreign affairs. but there are significant questions at home in the united states, and some of the big headlines have to do with surveillance, for example the nsa, the crack down on edward snowden is another example, when it comes to freedom at home, and the birth of whistle blowers. and then there are broader questions. police brutality, solitary confinement, the use of the death penalty. so certainly there are a lot of important issues at home that deserving a spotlight as well. >> and if some other country took it upon itself to write a report, would bit heard? would bit hear in fog by bottom at the state department. >> that's an interest c. penny question too. i would say the more countries that are speaking out in the international context about human rights the healthier it is, and it would force whatever country is asking those questions to also face a similar spotlight. amnesty international wants to see a bigger and bigger culture of global accoun

the message came to washington where state department officials reacted much the same way. they didn't believe it, and if they didn't think there was anything that the united states could do even if it turned out to be true. so they decided not to pass it on to the rabbi stephen weiss in new york the head of the american jewish congress. but he had taken the precautions of asking silverman and london to notify him in new york, and so with considerable delay because it have to go through private mail and wartime, he got the message. he rushed down to washington to speak to a man named sumner welles the undersecretary of state, the number two man in the state department. he was not only in some ways more powerful than the secretary of state, he was roosevelt's man in the state department which is important in this case and in general for the buck because the papers are quite good, and they were donated and made available only in the 1990s. when we don't have direct information about franklin roosevelt, it's an attitude we can use sumner welles as a kind of proxy. wells said to

let's talk about her competence at the state department. of the biggest things is that she did support the president and was a big advocate for him on libya, the afghan laden,the rate for bin but i think the reset button is also a big moment for her. there are other moments i think john can also talk about. generally speaking, the united states was seen around the world after the first term of obama administration and she was a chief advocate abroad. relationships with european partners, some relationships in the arab world approved. that everything got better, but i think that was an important thing she contributed to. elevated development and diplomacy as part of american foreign policy for so long in the post-9/11 world. american foreign-policy was all combat. it was all military. that elevation of diplomacy as part of the foreign-policy mix was an important accomplishment and it would've been harder for some folks with less influence to do it as fast in the american government. >> what about weighing in on the controversial issues that

this is a state department process and the state department will be the officials to evaluate what impactongoing litigation may have on their process. african-american civil rights leaders, did they talk about [indiscernible] at all, the georgia judicial nominee? met withesident leaders a couple days ago, i believe it was on tuesday. i have not seen -- there is a blog based about the con verstaion the president had with those leaders. he talked about the affordable care act and the importance of communicating to the public, particularly to individuals in the african-american music, about the potential benefits available to them and the protections available to consumers. we have had a number of conversations about some of the ideas related to criminal justice reform. in terms of specifics, i cannot go beyond that in terms of whether or not a specific nominee came up. >> there is no more than two dozen progressive groups including the human rights campaign that are all calling on obama to pull down the nomination because they are on gaybout his position rights and civil rights. they want h

the public comment period ends next week, march 7th. >> the state department has gone through its review comment period. >> i'm hoping president obama does a better job of listening to americans than some of our state officials have listened to nebraska nebras nebraskans and realized that this is just going to turn the united states into an alleyway. for foreign product going from one foreign country to the open market. >> mr. president, you know, this has been reviewed by the state department for years. everybody's had a fair amount of time to discuss the issue. both sides have given their points of view. and ice time to approve this pipeline. >> president obama tells us to be the change, that this is the year of action, and secretary kerry just gave a world speech about climb change and how that is a weapon of mass destruction. >> if the president was standing here now, what would you tell him? >> i'd say that i as a si zen of nebraska am in favor of the pipeline. >> it boil downs to one man, president obama. >> i would ask him if he would willingly sleep 275 feet away from a 36-inch p

the number two man in the state department. wells was not only in some ways more powerful than the secretary of state, cordle hull, he was ralph's man in the state department, which is important in this case and -- he was roosevelt's man in the state department which is important in this case for the book because the wells papers are quite good. and they were donated and made available only in the 1990s. when we don't have direct information about franklin roosevelt's comments and attitudes, we can use sumner wells as a kind of proxy. wells said to weiss that he didn't believe this telegram because the nazi regime was short of labor. and why in the world would the nazis be executing millions of jews if they needed slave labor. weiss said, can we be reassured? in other words, do you really have solid information? and wells responded, who can tell when you're dealing with that mad man. meaning hitler. so, wells asked for time. he said he wanted to launch an investigation. he undoubtedly did not know that his own subordinates. some

i'm andrea mitchell live from the state department here in washington. secretary of state john kerry joins me here in the treaty room. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> a lot of cry says to cover, but first is ukraine. vladimir putin issued a drill to mobilize troops in western russia. how worried should we be about the military action into ukraine? >> well, andrea, first of all, let me just say that what has happened in ukraine is quite remarkable. it's a demonstration of the reper repeatidy shouthat should send message to russia. and mr. putin should listen to the ukrainians that want desire for change. that's number one. number two, the president, president putin in a telephone conversation with president obama just the other day committed to respect the territorial integrity of ukraine. and i think that's up credibly important. it would be very difficult for me to understand how russia would reconcile its position on libya, its position on syria, its warnings against interveng in another country and then not respect the sovereignty

then he called the state department for help.fficials there said there was nothing they could do. >> you've seen no photos. >> nothing. state department won't get any because they said that the family won't allow it, it's intrusive. i've asked for welfare and wellness checks, and the embassy writes letters to the family, and the family simply refuses them. >> the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! >> reporter: there may have been another reason for the state department's lack of interest. in late 2001 and early 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11, the united states was leaning heavily on egypt and its president, hosni mubarak, for support in the war on terror. >> we've got a good friend, americans have a good friend. >> reporter: it would have been a bad time to bring up a minor issue like the kidnapping of michael shannon's two boys by the family with ties to egypt's president. suddenly, michael shannon felt very alone. and in the letter from nermeen khalifa's sister michael shannon was told, give up. "

movements groups dissenters within the united states but having a law enforcement arm of the state department explicitly put out a directive to other law enforcement agents that a person should be seized and stopped and questioned just because of their political activity is very very disturbing and so we filed a lawsuit to try and get an injunction against the state department over this right i mean the resources time energy spent. of all people i mean the most gentle guy you could ever meet yeah so what are you hoping to have with the outcome of the lawsuit that you're now filing where we found a lawsuit to challenge both the illegal unlawful arrest and the brutal force that he was subjected to and so there are first and fourth amendment claims in the lawsuit but it also seeks injunctive relief what we want is the state department to in essence rescind this to change their records to eliminate these files to not have ray mcgovern on this target list you know i guess this begs the question given the fact that all he did was literally stand there put his back to hillary clinton and turn around

a state department report that outlines the environmental impact of the keystone x.l. pipeline is fueling anger among activists the report backs up the findings that this this pipeline fails says climate test it will have a huge climate impact some scientists are referred to it as game over on climate change the pipeline would funnel oil over a thousand miles from canada's tar sands through the american heartland to the gulf coast there is the long awaited state department report that assesses how the pipeline would impact the environment it states quote climate changes are anticipated to occur regardless of any potential effects from the proposed project it finds that the pipeline would not have a significant impact on greenhouse emissions because the oil would be transported anyway by rail according to the report moving oil by train is just as harmful to the environment but environmentalist are now questioning the motives of the study while we look at the report we have to kind of look at it with this kind of you know has the oil industry so influenced this report th

pipeline was finally published by the state department the results small apartment deemed that there would be minimal environmental impact resulting from the construction. the massive oil pipeline last june obama announced that approval of the plan would depend on certain factors. allowing the keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding the doing so would be in our nation's interest. and our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. it seems the state department's report is just the kind of push obama needs for his final decision to move forward with the project considering how the southern leg of keystone has already been built on the oil flowing the pressure from oil and gas companies to get the ball rolling on the northern side is mounting however if obama does indeed approve the project it could leave a lasting environmental scar on his legacy so they break down the real impacts of this plan and join my nation reporters that we carpenter and legislative director of the national wildlife federation

it seems the state department's report is just the kind of push obama. for his final decision to move forward with the project considering how the southern leg of keystone has already been built on the oil flowing the pressure from oil and gas companies to get the ball rolling on the northern side is mounting however if obama does indeed approve the project it could leave a lasting environmental scar on his legacy so i break down the real impacts of this plan and drive my nation reporters only carpenter and legislative director of the national wildlife federation josh sachs thanks so much for coming on both of you thank you so start with you bass obama statement and also the latest report at the state department do you think that the likelihood what what likely or do you think the pen will be approved sorry you know i think it's really hard to say at this point there is so much wiggle room that this report left open for the president to maneuver. we've heard contradictory statements you know he still keeps repeating this message of all of the above energ

state department they all have very similar rules of engagement. and ours were defensive you'd have to go through a whole use of force continuum kinds of things you have to do before lethal force would be would be used but i guess what i'm what i'm asking is that if a mercenary commits a crime in combat who holds them responsible because in an army for example there was a hierarchy always someone above you looking over your shoulder and if you do something that you know. who who was doing that inside blackwater thing the hierarchy think well you know the rules of engagement again come from the government that you're working for technically you know the work we're doing for the state department which we got a lot of unwelcome attention for they were not mercenaries i mean they were american guys. former u.s. servicemen themselves that had served honorably in the u.s. military that went back to work volunteered to go back and serve in a anybody guard or security capacity if there was wrongdoing it can be investigated by sort of by the military or cer

my plane gets a green light the us state department says the pipeline would not have a significant effect on climate change for the environment but is that really the case will dig further into this tight battle. and cloaked in secrecy in san francisco group of mysterious barn still has people asking questions. while city officials are pushing for its removal from the day more on that later shout. a fan. it's tuesday that the report by the washington scene during the bidding or watching rt america. we begin today with breaking news german media outlets are reporting that us intelligence began spying on german meters long before chancellor angela merkel took profits. the report says that the us began spying on chancellor merkel's predecessor gary hart schroeder in two thousand to you because of his opposition to the us led invasion of iraq. this comes of course this months after an essay the syndicated merkel's cell phone had been part of it paul spoke with obama by phone just last july about allegations that the us was conducting surveillance on its european allies and in that call she ma

honestly leadership and state department. given the fact that the defense department had significant resources and the state department get the money in congress what would you say to the state department's role in the war fair. and how you use it to compliment your program military programs in this kind of war fair? >> we need the capacity that civilians could bring to the counter insurgency campaign. force of vietnam as a result of the program. i don't see that happening. there's no really political energy to give the state department more resources in that regard. because, again, most people don't think we're going to fight the war like this again. maybe in our lifetime we will. it certainly would be nice to create the capability or at least have it in germ nation and be able to ramp it up when needed. but anyway you're right. i would say, though, that civilian capacity that the state department got were absolutely critical. our point introduction with the new currency in iraq which couldn't have happened without the treasu

a new state department report says that the keystone x.l. pipeline would have little impact on global climate change or can we really trust a report written by contractors affiliated with oil giant trans canada the company responsible for the pipeline more on that system also the death of forty six year old academy award winning actor philip seymour hoffman is truly a tragedy but the most tragic part of it all is that his death could easily have been prevented tell you how into night still to take and islam was the fastest growing religion in the country last decade but many american muslims still feel like second class citizens but was ever a change last minnesota congressman keith ellison the person muslim ever elected to congress in tonight's special monday edition of conversations with great minds. you need to know this on friday the state department released its final and by. a metal review on the keystone x.l. pipeline project something that both supporters and opponents of the project have been eagerly awaiting review had been on ever

let's talk about her competence at the state department.e biggest things is that she did support the president and was a big advocate for him on libya, the afghan laden,the rate for bin but i think the reset button is also a big moment for her. there are other moments i think john can also talk about. generally speaking, the united states was seen around the world after the first term of obama administration and she was a chief advocate abroad. relationships with european partners, some relationships in the arab world approved. that everything got better, but i think that was an important thing she contributed to. elevated development and diplomacy as part of american foreign policy for so long in the post-9/11 world. american foreign-policy was all combat. it was all military. that elevation of diplomacy as part of the foreign-policy mix was an important accomplishment and it would've been harder for some folks with less influence to do it as fast in the american government. >> what about weighing in on the controversial issues that the se

>> the state department again says the oil is comparable to the oil it's displacing in venezuela. the department of energy report, ironically, the highest greenhouse gas emission oil in north america is actually thermal oil from california. of course, we don't mean to say that we can and must continue improve the stewardship of that oil. we used to use ten barrels of water for one bar.of oil. now we are 1:1. continue to have land reclamation, it ton reduce greenhouse gases through innovation and we will do that and we are doing that. >> okay. why not refine it in canada? >> some of the oil is retyped in canada, but it's displacing the purpose of this pipeline is to displace venezuelan oil to make the united states less reliable or less reliant, rather, on middle eastern oil. so, that was the purpose of the pipeline to begin with and when you look at those goal posts, they've been -- the ball's gop through those goal posts, then the issue of the sand hill portion in nebraska. that pipeline has now been rerouted to deal with that concern that has been raised in the state of nebraska

what exactly was the state department looking at in this report? what was its key finding? >> they were looking the a whole range of impacts including whether rejecting the pipeline would make a different in global greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. they also looked at things like what would happen if there was a spill. and what about endangered species along the route, things like that. their overall conclusion was that no one single infrastructure project makes a huge difference, a significant difference in terms of development in the oil region in canada. so the overall climate change impact they're saying is not significant from this decision. that's their broad conclusion. >> so this is, of course, highly contentious with environmentalists feeling that they have evidence of just the opposite. so just remind us of what the main concerns have been. >> absolutely. so environmentalists have been arguing for years at this point that by allowing this pipeline to travel from the united states to gulf coast-- from canada to gulf coast refineries in the u.s., yo

right now there isn't the public trust within the state department. obbied with the western energy alliance, the american fuels petroleum manufacturer, the louisiana midcontinent, western state petroleum association, american petroleum institute. these are all groups that have advocated for the keystone xl pipeline. to me demonstrated clear conflict of interest. that's not even counting the fact they've been in contracts with transcanada in the last three years. they failed to disclose. and so if they've lied on the form, how do we know they're not lying on -- >> i'm out of time. eric, i appreciate your time. jane, i appreciate your time. we'll stay on story. we're going to get a hold of the inspector general and find out if that is going on and we'll continue our conversation on "the ed show." >>> tomorrow night, former montana governor brian schweitzer will join us. >>> coming up, 12,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in minnesota and nobody's cleaning it up. congressman keith ellison joins me. anncr: you're working hard. all day. every day. and it sho

even the state department, the state department says no bigger environmental impact. how do you respond? >> first of all, has to be in the national interest with the national interest we have energy security but the president's promise to delay this five yea and not taking action to make sure it did not hurt t environment and increased carbon dioxide. this report clearly states the impact to the environment is minimal and in fact, does not increase carbon dioxide and could lower its so there is no more excuses. i with the president to take his phone to call the prime minister of canada to say we are donee i will approve this. gerri: i have to tell you we have other hurdles before she will think about that. first of all, eight agencies have to report there is 1 million little steps the government will go through. is this the way it should happen? and john kerry is anti- keystone pipeline person. >> there are complications and secretary of state is one of them profound opponent of the pipeline but the reality is he has to reply of the state department finalization of th

was giving their work product, as they call it, to the state department. then we started to understand as the danes said, the danes were hosting the meeting. and on behalf of the eu they put forward at the last minute a rescue plan for this conference designed to bring people together around in agreement. and the danes said, it was as if the americans knew beforehand what we were going to propose and just sat back and did nothing. >> so how would they have used it? to create a blueprint for the u.s.'s own agenda there? for how it would react to these proposals -- >> sure, we didn't want to have any kind of binding agreements there. the obama administration had decided that it was going to work on healthcare, not on climate change. and it was downplaying international action. there's a long history of the u.s. stalling the international efforts. i mean, we never signed the kyoto treaty, you know, time and time again. and this was one more of them. and the fact that we went ahead and bugged everybody there, i mean, it's pretty much a demonstration that these

you don't have to have the state department permit. you can literally go from the canadian border to the industry along the gulf coast so a lot of that is being done. we just have to have stayed department approval to go across to canada. it's been frustrating because the five refineries and up until recently i represent all of them. they handled heavier crude from venezuela and to me it's easy. it's heavier canadian crude than what we got from venezuela so i'm hoping the administration will move quickly now. >> this goes to secretary kerry and ultimately president obama. a lot of treasure for them to reject this. congressman barton do you think ultimately when this decision is made it will be against putting the pipeline? >> oh no. it's going to be approved sometime this year. >> you think so? >> look at what diane said. the president and the secretary always base decisions on science so based on what she said this thing is in the bag. >> we have 100, 200,000 pipelines all over the country. i can can't build a fencepost in my backyard

tell us about this new alert. >> reporter: yes, yesterday by the state department, clearly as a result of more recent concerns they perhaps have. what it originally states is if you come to russia as an american tourist you're within russian jurisdiction and the russian law gives them the right to look at your e-mail, internet traffic or communications and your cellphone traffic as well. so you have to be cautious of that if you're passing information as well. hacking in russia is nothing new. if you remember when the internet first came around, a lot of cyber crime, a lot of hacking originated from russia. things have changed now and the state department is warning more about the issue of government surveillan surveillance. of course, critics of the u.s. would say, the nsa is their own. but talking about here is perhaps being more mindful of what they pass across the internet traffic, sensitive information if they're coming to the games. i've experienced hacking myself. i was here during the boston bombing aftermath and on a macintosh computer, on a browser. suddenly in front of me in