where's the evidence of the united states involvement in syria i mean obviously the united states would love to see assad fall but we're not entirely happy about what the consequences of that might be and that is a continuing conversation that is taking place in our state department at the moment the idea that the united states knows what it wants to achieve in syria is ridiculous while her they want to see her in all fairness we sure. are here in all fairness the secretary of state that says assad must go so the united states does have an interest in the fate of syria one way or another ok and what is the united that is another city in the middle of it wasn't really something everybody wanted to ease please every time the united states says somebody has to go you know what they do eventually john in boston you want to jump in. yes yes i want to go back to a couple things first of all i want to go back to something herb said he said that the idea of isolationism is nothing new in american politics well it's true i said recently it's new it hasn't made its appearance here in about

in the united states if you have two parties whether it is a sports figure negotiating with the franchise owner and they go to arbitration all tultimately because they can't come to an agreement or united states senate where we had a supercommittee where we couldn't get an agreement so we're going to have a sequester. you need a structure to be able to agree. >> it hasn't worked. >> it hasn't worked with respect to south china sea but the question is would the presence of the united states at the table in conjunction with those other nations be a precursor and lay predicate to other options if you had to come to them? the answer is most persons would say absolutely. if you're going to go to war, you want to go to war with china over the south china sea, lay the predicate that you have exhausted every opportunity peacefully before you ask the american people to do that. >> i would hope the united states doesn't give any consideration in going to war with china over the south china sea. this document was supposed to long ago have resolved this amongst the players in the south china sea and

the united states makes sacrifices every day on behalf of human rights. and our state department devotes enormous time and energy to producing country reports on human rights and religious freedom that are studied around the world. i would assert that as a moral nation founded on moral principles we diminish ourselves and our national reputation if we turn our backs on the obvious plight of hundreds of millions of people who are living on less than $1 a day and facing severe risk from hunger and disease. this is not to say that every human being or every country in a desperate circumstances is our responsibility. but the united states must be a leader in forging the global partnerships and developing the most effective practices to achieve development goals. beyond our own programs, the efforts of other nations and many nongovernmental groups depend on the united states for direction, support, and even validation. as we move forward, and as critical for each of us to make these arguments, we should not be hesitant even in this budgetary environment in the

even in the worst of times the united states remains a wealthy nation with interests in every corner of the globe. foreign assistance is a key component of the united states national security strategy. especially since the tragic events of september 11th, 2001, it'se it's evident that poorly governed states with impoverished nations can pose grave threats to our national security. wars and extended military operations are enormously expensive in lives and in dollars. we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years fighting wars and preparing for military scenarios in underdeveloped regions of the world. if properly targeted, foreign assistance programs can mitigate national security risks and improve the united states connections to peoples and governments. they may well save huge military expenditures down the road. this is one of the reasons why the defense department has been a strong advocate of a robust foreign affairs budget in the united states. beyond the national security imperative, i strongly believe that no global superpower that claims to possess the moral h

states but it does i think impact the environment that the united states wants to and needs to act in other aspects of its foreign policy and i think this represents a change in the purpose of foreign policy really and how we should understand soft power jonathan what do you think about soft power in the twenty first century in light of what would create just said there i mean it's interesting that this all happened under george w. bush i mean i can't imagine how any other country's foreign foreign policy and image could be as disastrous desired so it was the bush administration was thinking about these things. yeah well the irony is a lot of the soft power instruments of the u.s. at the disposal of the us were cuts under clinton and then so straight away us is capacity to. engage get out of message was was hindered under bush and then obviously the iraq war wasn't terribly popular and so yeah the u.s. image took a beating under the bush administration but i think a lot of the damage was done simply through perceptions when obama was elected it had

it is fear of wiki leaks web expose the old secrets these documents belong the united states government being attacked by the powerful united states strongly condemn the black people all illegally should. be tamed without charge but that doesn't stop. the day. that can change the world tomorrow. during the last few years. today i speak to two giants of the intellectual if noam chomsky read noun linguist rebel think tara kelley street fighting novelist the military historian i want to find out what these two act towards think where is the world going. to go. terry. two thousand and eleven two thousand focus being storage here for liberation movements in many places across the world did you see it coming i didn't see it coming i don't think most people saw it coming but what's interesting is that you have these arab uprisings in a part of the world which commentators was saying people aren't interested in democracy the muslims are genetically all started to go crazy and you have these ups ages and then they spread because it's the occupation of buried square in cairo that inspired activis

the united states did in the case of yugoslavia it was an inevitable that you would break apart it was picked apart by foreign powers that had their own agenda in the case of syria the united states britain and france are in the are in the quest that we colonizing of a different kind of colonization but of colonization nonetheless of the entire or oil rich geo strategically important region the period the people of syria are are sort of pawns in somebody else's geo strategic chess board and that's why this civil war is happening ok josh is this. a colonial project i mean to echo what we just heard. well if we want to look at the geostrategic dimension at the end of the second world war the united states. understood that it had defeated hitler by denying him oil and his panzers and his air force came to a stop and that oil was going to come out of the persian gulf for the united states in preparing for the third world war wanted to make sure that it had sewed up the persian gulf now iran is trying to push america out of the first gulf syria is iran's ally russia china have import

i would like to see the united states lead. first of all, first and foremost, i would like to see the president of the united states stand up for the people of syria, say this massacre is terrible. it's abominable. all of us should condemn it. the other day the president of the united states spoke and he didn't say a word. he said talk about the annan plan, my god, the annan plan? so one of the reasons why historians will judge ronald reagan, one of the greatest presidents in history is because even in the face of criticism he stood up for the people who are behind the iron curtain. he gave them courage. he gave them the belief that we were with them. can't the president of the united states stand up and speak for the people of syria? can't he say the massacre is unacceptable and must stop? so that's the first thing i would do is speak up for them. speak up for them, and you know how much that matters to people that are struggling? it really matters. nathan was mentioned in a speech by ronald reagan back during the cold war and

it would have been very helpful if the united states as well as u.s. companies, including verizon had been able to use the convention deter future violations. finally, the convention will help the united states government and affected companies respond when countries attempt unlawfully to acquire licenses or permits before submarine cables can be laid or repaired. for example, verizon is a co-owner of the cable system which passes over the continental shelf co-owned by malta. even though the current agreement allows for transit, malta's resources threaten legal action if a license is not paid and the fees add additional costs and raise the spector of coastal nations imposing similar requirements for the soul purpose of raising revenue at the expense of the operators and owners. by signing onto the convention, they will be able to enforce the treaty's freedom to lay and maintain submarine cables without fees lev vieed by coast states. companies can work with the appropriate u.s. agencies to enforce the freedoms to lay and repair cables saving millions of

wealth created but it's gone into very few pockets the extreme inequality in the united states is weighted very heavily by a literally a tenth of a percent of the population mostly the hedge fund managers c.e.o.'s of major corporations and so on but talking about the united states but the phenomena are basically worldwide takes a egypt one of the most exciting places you know the the movement that that started off the top or square demonstrations a year ago it's called the april sixth movement and there's a reason. april sixth two thousand and eight was the day of a large scale a labor protests at the major industrial installations in egypt supporting demonstrations and so on the there was a small group of my tech savvy professionals who tried to who wanted to participate and help help them out with social media and so on. the it was crushed by the dictatorship but that group of professionals is the april sixth movement they skip the name that's one indication of how deeply rooted these protests are yes the. there were people ready a lot of people for many it was just a moment of. an openi

months ago everyone is talking about the democratic forces of syria what happened to that well the united states wants to use this sunni revolt and the arab spring in order to change the regime in syria because it will help the united states it will bring in theory it could rain syria out all right now don't rush we're going to go to a short break and after the show i want to continue our discussion on syria stay. anything. you want to. there hasn't been anything yet on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political fact. the full source material is what helps keep journalism honest when. we want to present. something. comfort is the least you have. money is the last you need if you travel this way. language is common ok. emotions are intense. i do experience crisis. you know sometimes you see a story and it's so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else hundreds of thousands they just bombed led me into smithereens there in germany and the whole idea that they states care about the lives of arabs is just nonsense or about democracy they support starting this audience. on saudi

what's the worry that catholics have in the united states? go ahead. >> they'll only listen to the pope. >> that they'll only listen to the pope, that they're loyal to the pope before and instead of being loyal to the united states, and you can't be a good citizen, particularly if you're overly obedient to the pope and the clergy you can't be independent citizen required in the american public so this is a way of saying, hey, we're being good citizens and participating in the war effort even as we are still overtly practicing our catholicism. more of these kinds of expressions of dual identities. fast forward after the civil war a little bit. this is a famous st. patrick's day parade, again in new york city, in 1871. where else have we seen a picture of st. patrick's day before? anyone remember? >> the nast cartoon. >> the day we celebrate. a lot different, right? that was a picture of a drunken riot. this is the opposite. it is orderly, calm, peaceful. and that's not a coincidence. the irish are very conscious in the public displays as anyone

many questions about what the united states role will be. gerri willis is with us again. union has suggested that most of these problems are the united states' fault or at least began with the united states. angela merkel, the chancellor in germany is sort of the one leading the show here. hers with the largest economy and the fewest problems relatively speaking. >> right. >> shepard: will there be a request for the united states to send money over there? and if so what might the united states response be? >> people in this country reject that out of hand, right? it's entirely possible that if things get worse, if if pain gets in real trouble its solid next. you could see a real request for some kind of assistance out of washington. now, whether or not that would happen is anybody's guess. but i have got to tell you the federal reserve meeting today, meeting tomorrow they will be discussing the severity of these problems and thinking about what to do. one of the things they could do is increase the treasuries they buy. they could take some action but i have got to tell yo

this is a thumb in the eye to the united states. russians plan planting their flag saying syria is our property, our client, our state and we are o going to do as we wish and the united states has a president who not only says anything to oppose that or to critique is but says we are working with them because i'm confident they don't condone the massacres wilmington what is the second thing you picked up. >> the subtlety of the gibbe gibberish he offered on europe which is the only thing he can do because the fact that he didn't have anything to say or to offer is the perfect reflex oreflection of the decline of american influence everywhere in the past few years. a bigger decline in all area of the world. in the middle east. in syria. in europe. economically and every other way than any three and a half years since the end of the is second world war. this is a president who speaks for the united states so weakly that nobody cares what he says. the europeans care what merkel says. they don't give a damn what the united states says b

the asian pacific region basically confirmed all these worries with producing statements like the united states must be vigilant in the face of. china's growing military power but beijing is also growing very impatient and very irritated with the actions of the united states which in particular this visit often they're saying that the growing military presence in the region may destabilize the whole situation we certainly are waiting to see whether there will be any reaction coming from washington on these statements coming from beijing but definitely the fact that russia and china are growing their military ties certainly adds a very interesting spin to global geopolitics. u.s. secretary of defense is wrapping up his asian charm offensive with the last stop in india brian becker from the antiwar answer coalition says america's military focus on the region could have dangerous implications it's because the united states wants to exercise had gemini in the asia pacific when it says it's pivoting towards asia which president obama announced in australia in january that should be considered a dang

the commander in chief, the joint chiefs of staff, the united states navy, the united states coast guard, and individual combatant commanders are asking the senate to give the advice and consent to the law of the sea convention. our uniformed commanders are telling us unanimously that u.s. exception to this treaty would help them do their job at a time of considerable international threat. we have charged the united states navy with maintaining sea lanes and defending our nation's interests on the high seas. they do this every day. and even in peacetime, these operations carry considerable risk. the navy is telling us that u.s. membership in the law of the sea convention is a tool they need to maximize their ability to protect the united states' national security, with the least risk to the men and women charged with that task. this request is not the results of a recent reassessment. by naval authorities or the enthusiasm of a few naval leaders. the support of the military and the navy for this treaty has been consistent, sustained, and unequal. all the members of the joint chiefs suppo

we'll hear from the president of the united states. we'll also hear from mitt romney at some point today. we'll get his reaction. we'll get the president's reaction. the bottom line, though, in all of this, is that the president's health care reform law will in fact remain the law of the land. we'll take a quick break. much more of our coverage coming up right after this. ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. assure my patients get evthe very best care.ake but look at our health care system. everyone agreed we needed reforms -- but this new health care law -- it just isn't fixing things. president obama promised my patients that they could keep me -- but what if because of this new health care law -- i can't keep them? i've looked at this law. i know the consequences: delayed care and worse yet -- denied care. studies show the president's health care law is projected to add hundreds o

i would like to see the united states lead. first and foremost, i would like to see the president of the united states stand up for the people of syria. say this massacre is terrible. it all of us should condemn it. the other day the president spoke and didn't say a word. so the greatness -- one of the reasons why historians will judge ronald reagan as one of the greatest presidents in history, because even in the face of criticism, he stood up for the people behind the iron curtain. he gave them courage. he gave them the belief that we were with them. can't wen stand up and speak? can't the president of the united states stand up and speak for the people of syria? can't he say this massacre is unacceptable and must stop? so that's the first thing i would do is speak up for him. that really matters to people struggling. -- was mentioned by a speech by ronald reagan. said, oh, you schon have said anything. after he came out he said it was the greatest thing that ever happened. so let's speak up for them. let's help them. let's ge

is virtually nil so it doesn't have to be that way but it does tend to be that way where the united states is different is in two ways our level of income inequality is greater by most measures. and in addition the rate of. income inequality is increasing is faster in the united states than it is in these other countries so in my book i don't address so much the global questions because i think those are big factors that you know it's kind of hard to hard to reverse problems that exist on a global scale but to the extent that things are different and worse in the united states i did try and address that so the education situation is certainly worse in the united states than in europe it used to be that europe did not educate. the majority of its population. they thought we were sentimental saps. having everybody go to high school then about the middle of the century they realize they had called that wrong and by the end of the century they were beating us at our own game another college completion rates are greater similarly labor's taken on the chin around the world but you don't have any

it was emigrating to the united states? what was popular about the united states. they were always concerned about overpopulation. this is an island nation and it's got a pretty bounded land christmas they were worried of having too many people and that's part of what starts the colonial project in the first place. in the era of 1812 there's a very famous population theorist by the name of thomas malfis and they thought overpopulation was facing england and the war in general and that overpopulation was the cause of human suffering and the cause of starvation and the cause of want. he not only thought britain needed to be careful about overpopulation, but thomas thought the united states' growing population which was such a source of pride was a huge problem because he understood in very direct terms that the growing european-descended population of the united states was encroaching on the land claims of indians and he critiqued american population growth. he said it had to be questioned, quote, in a moral view because he said it would lead to the extermination of

i want to thank the united states navy, secretary ray mabus. we could not be more proud of our men and women of the united states navy and marine core. the demonstration that you have made here with your personal involvement and commitment, has been outstanding. there are many moments i will remember spending time at this place. congressmen who are with us, i think we share a love for this place. one of the memories i will always cherish is looking over those ramparts and seeing that star spangled banner and see the blue navy roaring over. what an outstanding moment. >> [applause] >> in that crowd i've never seen superintendent so many people here at the fort. moms and dads, black and white, grandparents, little kids. it was outstanding. i'd like to make just two points. so much has been said and said so great by the ambassadors and by our secretary. from a maryland and baltimore perspective there are a couple of lessons we clearly see having emerged from this experience, from this sacrifice, from this conflict. most important one is that freedo

why is it important for the united states to join the convention now? to begin, the united states would gain legal protection for sovereignty. sovereign rights and jurisdiction in offshore zones. the freedom of maneuvering action for military forces and protection for economic and marine research interests at sea. u.s. firms would be able to obtain essential internationally recognized and exclusive rights to explore and exploit deposits of minerals on the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction and secure recognized title to the recovered resources. the convention as revised by the 1994 agreement on implementation provides the commercial regime needed for private sdprea it fully satisfies the criteria articulated in 1982 by president reagan. allow me to site a few specific practical reasons of how remaining outside the convention damages the united states's national interest. these are not ak emic or philosophical points, but examples of how we are under cutting our national interest by failing to join. first, the convention is now open for amendment an

he's bound as an officer of the united states court, the highest law enforcement officer in the unitedates government, he says he can't give out certain information. and there are other reasons. there is the executive privilege that's been cited by the white house over these very documents. so those are his reasons. on the other hand, the congress has a right of inquiry and right of investigate that's been upheld again and again and again by the courts. there are these two ideas that will clash in civil court. and it could take a long time to resolve if the sides don't get together and negotiate something out, wolf. >> certainly will. all right, joe, thanks very, very much. joe johns reporting from capitol hill. the other big story we're following, the united states supreme court decision. the supreme court decision upholding what's called obama care, the health care reform law. romney promising to repeal it on the first day of his presidency if he's elected. what would he really be able to do to make that happen? much more on that coming up. also dramatic photo of house consumed by fi

the asian pacific region basically confirmed all these worries with producing statements like the united states must be vigilant in the face of. china's growing military power but beijing is also growing very impatient and very irritated with the actions of the united states which in particular this visit often that the saying that a growing military presence in the region may destabilize the whole situation we certainly are waiting to see whether there will be any reaction coming from washington on these statements coming from beijing but definitely the fact that russia and china are growing their military ties certainly adds a very interesting spin to global geopolitics. and if you follow that story i'll be interested to know later this hour we look at how the u.s. might be eyeing out a counter the strengthening russia china part america's courting new delhi now to boost military cooperation we explore whether it's to help cement its age or pacific present border square up to. the attention of wiki leaks supporters is no shifted to an american military court where u.s. army private bradley ma

well of course the united states is really seeking to build in the in. us an axis that would be able to allow the united states to maintain its position in afghanistan long after the twenty fourteen time for a purported withdrawal of u.s. combat troops the united states ones that keep military bases in afghanistan it needs a partner obviously pakistan is hostile to that pakistan indian and miti which has been a creation of british colonialism but has endured for five decades that puts pakistan in a precarious position as well. as swing through asia is just the latest in a string of u.s. taps as it builds up or tries to build up its military presence in china's backyard why is the u.s. so openly challenging china which of course is the biggest holder of its debt. the real reason is that because the u.s. fears china which is the sort of montreux that we hear in the media it's because the united states wants to exercise had gemini in the asia pacific when it says it's pivoting towards asia which president obama announced in australia in january that should b

for example is smaller than that of the united states. but if you measure it in terms of power it's as big as the united states second china is the world's largest trade. tree china is a big creditor it finances the u.s. and the u.s. is a debtor so it's this combination of the size of the economy the facts a big trader and the fact that it's a creditor confers a lot of power today and over the next ten fifteen years all these numbers are going to be in china's favor so the china is going to become an even bigger economy than the u.s. and even bigger treated in the u.s. and continue to be you know financing the u.s. . that combination is what is making china very dominant let me give you one example one example so take the fact that china finances the u.s. right or to so much cash three point three trillion dollars worth of cash if europe gets into trouble well it happen which country in the world has the ability to be allowed to your the united states china because this three trillion dollars and when it has the power or that ability it ca

well the united states wants to you this sunday revolts and the arab spring in order to change their shame in syria because it will help the united states it will bring inferior could bring syria out all right near i mean rush we're going to go to a short break and after a show or a quick continue our discussion on syrian state. t.v. . there hasn't been anything on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact. the material is one hopes he journalism on us we. want to present. something else. comfort is the least you have. money is the last you need if you travel this way. language is common. the. emotions are intense. and experience priceless. sigrid laboratory kirby was able to build a most sophisticated. fortunately doesn't sound anything mission to teach creation why it should care about humans. this is why you should. only. welcome back across town clearly both remind you we're talking about the civil war in syria. and you can. still see. ok brian you want to jump in right before the break here i was kind of echoing something that you know i think is kind of interesting and it

in thrall to what the united states i don't know the answer to that let's hope they would because he is someone who will then have political asylum and they should so that is a problem and the example that comes to mind of course a bad example is cardinal macian ski or whatever people thought of him took took refuge in the budapest embassy during the cold war and hungry stayed there not for one but for fourteen or fifteen years before he got a safe passage out so i would hope that doesn't happen i would hope join us on and get the asylum get the safe passage and get to ecuador where he as he's always wanted to to continue his work of transparency and making this world a place that is less secret more public and more democratic and if joe and his son successfully. or let's say is unsuccessful you suggest we continue that conversation this week. snatches him or he gets caught in the u.k. or so and somehow he gets here to the united states what would he expect in a bradley manning seems like the template for this is you know. he you know you took the words out and i'm out of time i was

the united states is saying the russians are lying. someone must be lying. secretary of state, hillary clinton wasted in time unequivocally denying the russian allegation that the united states has sent arms it syria. listen. >> i would emphasize that the united states has provided no military support to the syrian opposition. nothing. all of our support has been medical. and humanitarian. to help relieve the suffering of the syrian people. >>jonathan: secretary clinton again repeated the accusation that russia is sending military equipment including those attack helicopters you see there, to the syrian government. >>shepard: there is a love of labeling out here, and as i mention a lot of officials say this is absolutely a civil war. one part of the country is fighting against another part. but we don't like that label, right in >>jonathan: apparently not. the white house spokesman was repeatedly pressed on this question at a briefing today, at the white house, is this, or is this not a civil war? he said, it simply is not helpful to get involved in a debate

oil production in the united states is at an 80-year high. the oil production of the united states from domestic energy sources at an allyear high. some people who like to live in the fairy tale world of energy politics will say that that's all for private lands. it's not the kwcase. we have supported what's going on in private land in our policies but in public plans themselves, the total oil production, oil production from from lands and waters has increased 13% during the first three years of this administration, compared to the last three years of the previous administration. so anyone who is out there's saying that we are somehow stopping oil and gas production, they're simply wrong, living in a world of fairy tale, not in the world of reality. now, america's dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year since president has become president of the united states. for all of us who worked and america's national security as an imperative to the security of this nation for the long term know how important that is. and so for us, t

the united states had some native allies. in many ways this is a continuation of that struggle. >> professor eustace, is it fair to look at the war of 1812 as round two of the revolutionary war? >> i think in some important respects it was and in other respects it wasn't but it was sort of spun that way. one of the first primary sources that i came across that got me really interested in looking at patriotism during the war, which is the focus of my research, was this fascinating book, the multipart title. the title was "the champions of freedom." it makes you think it's a war about freedom. next part of the title was "or the mysterious chief." the mysterious chief turns out to be an indian ghost and final part of the title is ""romance f the 19th century based on events of the war between united states and great britain that terminated in march of 1815." this title collects a lot of different ideas. it collects the idea it was a rematch and this was about a struggle for liberty between the united states and great britain whic

the united states is blessed with hundreds of thousands of square miles of extend eed continental shelf. we can literally add -- we can double the size of the united states in effect from what is under sea and available to us for exclusively jurisdiction and that will be critical to our energy security for years to come. the only way to maximize the legal certainty and establish clear title over the extended shelf is through recognition by the continental shelf commission. as a nonparty to the treaty, we're shut out from this process. we're shutting ourselves out. this makes a critical difference to our energy companies as we'll hear. they want and need certainty to invest billions of dollars required to develop energy in extended shelf especially in the arctic where chinese and russians are already laying claims. instead of doing what we can do to encourage environmental sound energy exploration in those areas, our failure to join the law of the sea is deterring it. we're pleased to have jack here today to speak on behalf of the american petroleum institute and explain exactly why what

god bless america. >> the president of the united states speaking from the east room. obviously, very, very pleased that the united states supreme court has upheld the affordable care act. his health care reform legislation which is the law of the land and will remain the law of the land thanks to a 5-4 decision by the united states supreme court today. a decision written by the chief jus tis of the united states john roberts. candy, as we watched the president, our very robust defense of the health care law, we haven't seen a lot of that over the past several months during this campaign and the president, himself, acknowledged that it may not be popular politically, but it is the right thing, he says for the american people. >> and he may feel a little wind at the back and nothing like a supreme court decision that says, of course, it is constitutional, after two years of this, that gives him a boost up. i think that, i want to bring in our jessica yellin to join us in the conversation, jessica. and the first thing he said, i know we all look at this through the prism

in the united states senate. a bill that had the agreement between senator boxer from california, correctly i think described as a liberal democrat from the state of california, and jim inhofe correctly described, i believe, as a conservative republican from oklahoma. they came together, they reached agreement. i think the gentleman from pennsylvania is probably absolutely correct. it's not a perfect bill. i don't know that i have ever voted for a perfect bill on the floor of this house, at least one i thought was perfect. . we come together and we compromise and everybody doesn't get what they want. because maybe their region or their people or their businesses or their consumers don't see it the same way mine do. we compromise. but the senate bill, while it may not be perfect, enjoyed broad bipartisan compromise and support. therefore i think it is our best opportunity, because we've shown in this house that we have for the last six months been unable to come to an agreement and the republican majority in this h

he said we should not in any way restrict the ability of the united states navy to serve its primary purpose, protecting the constitution of the united states of america against all enemies, foreign and domestic. ratifying the u.n. convention on the law of the sea will expose the united states navy to unnecessary counterproductive and extra constitutional bureaucratic and regulatory oversight. do you tend to sympathize with that statement? >> well, i have to confess i can't look around all those corners, but we have seen an explosion of litigation in the world. i don't know how many lawsuits have been filed, but every time anyone in the united states government turns around, they get lawyered up. there's something like 10,000 lawyers in the department of defense today, and i don't doubt for a minute that -- that that could happen. it seems to me that the -- i watched some of the military panel this morning, and they were -- they are wonderful people and they are talented, and as they said things i did not hear a lot of instances as to why we believe that with this the chinese or the i

it used to be the united states leads from behind. now the united states does not lead at all. >> my in-laws were there. and my son's wife's parents -- sorry. i didn't mean -- >> you mentioned briefly, the kurdish situation in turkey which has been going on in its current form for over 30 years. could you go into further detail about what you think turkey should do to further a solution to the kurdish problem? >> the first thing that's happened and i think it's worthwhile mentioning. if you go to erbil, you will see a modern, thriving, dynamic economy. you will see shopping centers, multiplexes. it's incredible what has happened to the kurdish economy over the last 25 years since they were once living in the mountains. it's beenen credible and it's been the turkish influence economically that has been the driver. all of these places that you're talking about are turkish investment and partnership with the kurds. so with that economic success they have dramatically influenced the pkk in kurdic stan. so they've become more and more isola