with we begin with a look at the russian-american conflict over crimea talking to tom friedman and davi david sanger of the "nw york times." >> i think obama's response is measured to our interests. it's quite reelingist. i don't buy the criticism that he's manifested weakness. ronald reaken at his most angriest would not be going to war to reverse putin's intervention in ukraine, let's be honest about that. and george w. bush didn't go to war to reverse putin's intervention in georgia. >> charlie: we conclude with hattie morahan and dominic rowan starring in "a doll's house" by ibsen at the brooklyn academy of music. >> it talks about how to be honest to long-time partners, you know, how to be -- the big questions. you know, how to be true to yourself but also kind. you know, those are the difficult things about how to be a good person, but i don't think one can ignore the context in which the play was first put on and what it seems to have meant to people. >> charlie: tom friedman, david sanger, hattie morahan and dominic rowan when we continue. captioning sponsored by rose communicat

columnist tom friedman said president vladimir putin has turned his country into a mafi mafia-run petrol state. putin has made his country steadily relianc reliant on natl resources than human ones. why is that important to you? russian has decided to pick a fight with ukraine and supporters around the world, and how those supporters express their displeasure may effect russian economy with risks to its neighbors. >> reporter: global powers to the east and west discuss ways to prevent escalation after the weekend takeover. pro russian troops have taken over and russia said it's not their military. in paris u.s. secretary of state john kerry met with russian foreign ministers sergei lavrov in a session that was intended to be about lebanon. >> the suspending u.s.-russia engagement, and suspending g-8 summit. russia made a choice. we believe it is a wrong choice, the choice to move troops into crimea. >> reporter: on wednesday the european union offered ukraine $15 billion in aid. the same amount russia offered the country before former ukrainian president viktor yanukovych ouster. the e.u

david remini, leon -- [inaudible] tom friedman and jeff ofly goldberg -- jeffrey goldberg. so he he was referring to these kind of powerful journalists who had played such a great role in celebrating him. and it was a frank description of the degree to which people who are, have a very positive view of zionism and of israel and in jeffrey goldberg's case are really right-wing zionists, the degree to which they play a central role still in our media. the other piece in hadassah magazine was one in which they interviewed jodi r everything dorn of the new york times, and she talked about her jewish background. and she said she had gone to israel first with united synagogue youth as a girl and that she has come to this issue with great knowledge of the american jewish experience and the israel, the jewish israeli side of the conflict. which is really, i mean, it's a tragic kind of admission from my standpoint because -- especially as it's borne out by her coverage. because this is not someone who has extended herself to the other narrative. she knows this narrative, she's sayin

tom friedman wrote this.wl-star wrestling the fact that putin seized crimea russian speaking zone of ukraine once part of russia where many citizens prefer to be part of russia where russia has a naval base, is not like take poland. and doug bondo, senior fellow at cato institute to talk a little more about this nice to have you both. michael, we'll start with you much you wrote an editorial in forbes.com what you say is a toxic mix that is causing the west to look weak. you pointed to budget cuts in the military as one of those things. what else is involved in what you call this toxic mix that is weakening us? >> jenna, it is not just the budget cuts which are very important because we have commitments all around the world. it is the lack of will and indecision. look, there is track record they look at. they look at syria. they look at iran. they look at north korea. they look at the east china sea. that influences perceptions. i'm glad tom friedman can blythely dismiss the freedom of people in ukraine and c

. >> joining me now, tom friedman also from "the new york times" david sanger. they look at some of the criticism angles at president obama's leadership. david, let me begin with you. you say the obama policy is being put to a test in ukraine and in crimea. what is the policy and what is the test? >> charlie, if you think about the first term in the obama administration he deliberately moved to a light footprint strategy. we've talked about it before on this show. the theory was that the era of sending 100,000 troops or 150,000 troops to a country for six of seven years to do nationbuilding had to end. the light footprint was about using drones which he has used far more than president bush, using cyber in cases like iran, using special forces to do a quick in and out. then he uses the treasury department as his favorite non-combatant command and that was very successful in bringing iranians to the table. we don't know whether or not that's going to work. the light footprint, as one of president obama's advisor said to me, has run out of gas. dealing with proble

i think we have to think medium term, there is a good oped from tom friedman to match the space race.the last time we were in a cold war paradigm with russia, in a smart way to develop all of our energy resources including renewables and energy and have a strategy to export to europe and keep us independent and if we do those things, that could truly scare russia and the goal now is to push back against a bully. this guy is a bully with a view of russia. calling him names is not helpful. cornering him in a way that can be effective would be helpful. >> a diplomatic off-ramp. is crimea part of russia? >> that has to be yes. that was predicted by folks and bob gates said it was gone. i think the things, one thing i didn't mention and beefing up nato resources around the borders of russia to support our allies, they could invoke article five. we would have to come to their defense. the other thing is to help ukraine had bad governments since its basic revolution. even the savior there is an olegark and her government is not given high marks. standing up something different and helping th

tom friedman's comments. putin has made himself richer. as drew will not be kind to him. we know that commodities are a cyclical downturn for a decade. what is the link between russia's economy and this move into crimea? >> the great tragedy of russia since the end of the cold war is that they have not launched market reforms. they have not dealt with their corruption. they have not tried to develop the human resources which are substantial in a modern, knowledge-based economy. they rely on an old carbon-based economy. that is very dangerous economically for the russian federation. i don't think there is much economic advantage for putin in ukraine. there is a plug little bennett. he is a 20 century person the cold war mindset. the states that are not members and nato -- this is a desperate attempt by russia to stay relevant and stay dominant in its own region. wii will be speaking with the president of bold though but in the next hour. we will be asking him these questions. -- boldova. what could putin do? >> what the russians do -- this forhat they've been doing 20 year

tom friedman in the new york times has this, the three faces of president obama.e writes about american foreign-policy with these words -- on our twitter page -- kathleen is joining us from athens, ohio. caller: good morning. i agree with the tweeter. we walk the talk and the whole world has to be laughing in regard to john kerry, who voted for the 2002 iraq war resolution. we are lecturing about not invading another country when we have this very horrific scene we have left in iraq with unaccounted debt. the newest reports at 600,000 in 2006. there has been a lot of meyer around that. obama should be playing hardball with israel. if israel wants peace they got to get back to that order. they got to take down illegal settlements. they are heading towards the one person one vote. we need to talk the talk. if you have to lecture russia you have to lecture israel and a big way and stand our ground. the iraq invasion really undermines our position in the world and national security. i hope obama starts playing hardball with israel. >> when the world looks at america,

tom friedman, roger cohen, and andrew sullivan write openly, and at times, critically about israeli policy, about american support for that policy, and the lobby's role in promoting it. there's pieces that sound like us, although i doubt he'd admit it. articles about america's middle east policy in general mention a-pack's influence, it's just no longer a big secret or stuck in the background of the peace. john stuart, you watch comedy central, he's done a number of segments that is making fun of a-pack as well. looks like peter binehart's crisis of zionism, transforming the israel lobby, the recent genesis followed in our footsteps documented the role of the lobby in u.s. policy. other people like mj rosenberg emerged as articulate critics, and max bloomenthal published,s of israel *eu9s. websites now provide alternative per perspectives, and groups like jewish for peace and peace now and many others have become more visible and effective in presenting a view to the traditional lobby organization. now, note, these groups are not homogeneous, they do in the all agree on every single issue.