tony blair was in a very difficult position. for many reasons one is. he believed just as bill clinton did and we have to make it very clear he believed that saddam had weapons of mass destruction and there is the real issue in that piece to take a moment aside is ok if he has them what do you do and you know the idea well let's launch a war against a guy with weapons of mass destruction you know maybe that's not the smartest approach but blair believed that the weapons were there and saddam would use them and so when you start from that it's well what's your next step blair was very troubled by the bush administration he thought that they were planning for the war was terrible he thought that their international approach was terrible that they didn't you know reach out to the international community enough to create the kind of. global response that would actually be more fruitful than simply a war that they weren't planning for after the war and it really came down to a question he asked his advisors which is if we stay in this you know i will have in

so what tony blair has come under a lot of. righteous indignation is probably way too weak a term to describe it but in the u.k. i mean tony blair's has been trashed up one side and down the other calls for for even the him to be in the document a i mean from some fairly real politicians as opposed to just you know people on the left or whatever how do you get him into this. tony blair was in a very difficult position. for many reasons one is. he believed just as bill clinton did and we have to make it very clear he believed that saddam had weapons of mass destruction and there is the real issue in that piece to take a moment aside is ok if he has them what do you do right and you know the idea well let's launch a war against a guy with weapons of mass destruction you know maybe that's not the smartest approach but blair believed that the weapons were there and saddam would use them and so when you start from that it's well what's your next step blair was very troubled by the bush administration he thought that they were planni

there are four change makers, britain's former prime minister tony blair as he puts it, is much too young to consider retirement. he's traveling the world as a global politician and problem solver. then a young woman who survived disaster. she was a swimsuit model when she was caught in the 2004 tsunami. and carolyn miles the ceo to save the children. she's no stranger to educating and feeding kids around the world. but you might be surprised to hear what she's doing to help poor children right here at home. and that brings us to charles best. he has come up with a brilliant way for people who want to donate money for specific projects and public schools. first tony blair why it's so important to continue working and keep an open mind. >> i think the big big battle of the world is between the open mind and the closed mind. the open mind looks at the problem and sees potential and culture and say that's interesting. then there are those who say this is a threat. i want to close it down, cordon off my community my own life, and i don't like this world. the battle between the open and closed

tony blair, former prime minister of great britain. we conclude this evening with the president of iran, mahmoud ahmadinejad. the conversation with my colleague at cbs norah o'donnell took place at his hotel. there are many things we have to talk about. but i would like to blin with a place in which there-- begin with a place in which there is killing, a place in which you have an interest, and a place in which you can play a positive role, that's syria. what are you prepared to do to end the fighting and work out some kind of dialogue with a number of parties? >> in the name of god, its almighty, the merciful, the beneficient, first of all i would like your permission to say hello to everyone watching this program. and i would like to ask the almighty god for health and success for everyone. i am very happy to be talking with you again. and also with the lady. you brought up a good topic. syria right now has a very complicated situation. and there are many factors, in that there are many factors in conflict in syria. some people sell

>> yes, i have two questions for first, can you give any insight into tony blair's comments with georgebush, microphone? why did they have such a favorable impression. they seem to really like him. >> i don't recall that one. i recall -- are you referring to the g-8 summit meeting in 2006? when president bush leaned over to tony blident bush leaned over to tony blair3 when president bush leaned over to tony blair and i can't remember what we used to call him. [laughter] if we can get the syrians to stop this, and he put a four letter word in a great double, situation. what is interesting about that comment, and bush is not like this. i asked him about that comment and i said, when you think about the comment by president bush? and i was half expecting him to say, oh, this is typical that the typical that. he said, i love it. because that means that they are thinking about me. they are worried about me. which that is part of syrian foreign policy. it's having some sort of leverage. it is a fairly weak country militarily. the leverage they have is the support of hezbollah, iran, hamas, th

in britain come from afghanistan tony blair told the house ninety percent twelve years later ninety percentof the drugs still come from afghanistan it is a different there is more of the cheaper of the street so more people corrupted in two thousand and one afghanistan was the second worst place in the world for a woman to live no it's the second worst place in the wall of we're going to live but the object of the war was a hopeless were utopian and we've we've wasted lives and make huge sums of money and we end up in two or three years' time with the situation just as bad as the one. before we invaded and let's talk a bit about the logistics and message that pulling out now would send what about the soldiers who are serving in afghanistan at the moment those who have already served and the families of the soldiers who've died when pulling out now send a message that everything they've done has been essentially for nothing it's certainly a tragedy that those families must go through this trauma of realized that this was a war in which nothing has been achieved but sadly that they have to fa

. >> you tell tony blair we're going alone. tell tony blair we're going alone. we're going alone. >> i love this clip. i'm going to tell you what i like about it. the rule of thumb with our gestures, our gestures should be within the frame of our body. when we get bigger, we can do that when we're talking to a bigger audience. when we see george bush, he takes his hand out, he's saying this is a big issue right here, i need to address what just happened. he puts that hand out and then he continues to walk as if he's pulling us along with him. now, body language, a lot of it has to do with your perception. there's not scientific -- every time you do this doesn't mean you're powerful, but it can be perceived as powerful, can be perceived as also arrogant. >> the other thing about a town hall that's difficult, you have to relate to the person who is asking the question but at the same time, you need to pivot and attack the other candidate. >> all right. now, this is a big problem i've seen with past debates. as soon as you ask me the question, people will turn and

allowed him i guess, the sort of -- ability to sort of move beyond the iraq war prison by which tony blair and gordon brown were judged in the country. you know but i think people are moving on now and for us, i'm sure it is the same in the states. it is the global economy that's the issue and that is the number one issue that is going to determine politics in the u.k. over years to come. i'm sure that will be the same in the states. >> eliot: absolutely. the foreign policy debate here really veered very quickly back to economics and the prism of foreign policy as you say was viewed as it related to economics. let's talk about the economics of the globe right now. to a certain extent, some of us have been arguing in europe you have tried the largest macroeconomic experiment ever with this notion of austerity and at least from my perspective, it doesn't seem to be working that well. are we wrong about that? is the austerity paying off in ways that we're just not seeing it? it seems to me it has driven unemployment up and growth way down. >> that's exactly what it's done in the u.k. it has d

police and the british army all responsible to the british government, the british prime minister, tony blairthe good friday peace agreement promised his family an inquiry. late last year, when his wife went to visit david cameron, the current prime minister, the message changed. there would be no inquiry, no effort to find new evidence, no deeper look at how the british government may have been involved in his death. >> if they don't give an inquiry into my husband's murder, which was promised, it will just increase the suspicions. there are many disrepublicans saying nothing changed, we need to fight against the british government. it's giving ammunition to people to turn to violence. >> reporter: british officials say they are doing enough to investigate what happened to finucane. the prime minister has interest in ts case. we concluded that the best route was to let loose and internationally renowned lawyer on a huge archive of government and police material. that is exactly what we have done. >> reporter: ed maloney says it's not nearly enough. even as the british government and northern

police and the british army all responsible to the british government, the british prime minister tony blairt over saw the good friday peace agreement promised hel the famin inquiry. but the message changes. there would be no inquiry and no efforts to find new evidence, and no look of how the british government may have been involved in his death. >> it will just increase the suspicions suspicionses, and there are many republicans who are seeing, old brits, nothing has changed and we still need to fight against the british government. and it's giving ammunition to people to return to violence. >> reporter: british officials say they are doing enough to investigate what happened to him. >> we spent sometime looking at every possible option, and the prime minister who gave passed interest in case, and we concluded actually the best root was to let loose an internationally renowned lawyer on a huge archive of government and police material, and that is exactly what we have done. >> but ed maloney says it's not nearly enough. even as the british government and northern ireland's police are fight

tony blair promised finucane's family an inquiry.t year, when his wife went to vivid david cameron, britain's current prime minister, the british government's message had changed. there would be no inquiry, no effort to find new evidence, no deeper look at how the british government may have been involved in finucane's death. >> if they don't give an inquiry into my husband's murder, which was promised, it will just increase the suspicions. and there are many dissident republicans who are saying, same old brits, nothing has changed, we still need to fight against the british government. and it is giving ammunition to people to return to violence. >> british officials say they're doing enough to investigate what happened to finucane. >> we spent some time looking at every possible option, and the prime minister took personal interest in this case. and we concluded that actually the best route was to let loose an internationally renowned lawyer on a huge archive of government and police material. and that is exactly what we've done. >>

what's he say to tony blair? what's he say to alexander kwasniewski of poland? you can't expect to build an alliance when you denigrate the contributions of those who are serving side by side with american troops in iraq. plus, he says the cornerstone of his plan to succeed in iraq is to call upon nations to serve. so what's the message going to be, "please join us in iraq. for a grand diversion. join us for a war that is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time?" i know how these people think. i deal with them all the time. i sit down with the world leaders frequently and talk to them on the phone frequently. they're not going to follow somebody who says, "this is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time." they're not going to follow somebody who says this is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time. they're not going to follow somebody whose core convictions keep changing because of politics in america. and finally, he says we ought to have a summit. well, there are summits being held. japan is going to have a summit for the donor

one, can you give any insight into tony blair's comments with george bush when they are caught on themicrophone saying -- is like honey. what were they talking about and why did they have such a favorable impression of him and why do they like him? >> i don't recall that one. i recall the expletive. are you referring to the g8 meeting g8 meeting in 2006 when during the israel hezbollah war and president bush leaned over to blair and he said blair's ear or whatever used to call him, if we can get the syrians to stop this four letter expletives, then that will colmes a situation and what was interesting about that comment and bush did not like it particularly after 2003 in and 2004. i asked assad buffett commented i said what did you think of the comments i've president lush? again half expecting him to say oh typical this, he said i love it. i loved it because that means they are thinking about me. they are worried about me, which that is part of syrian foreign policies is having some sort of -- is a fairly weak countries militarily. the leverage they have is the support of hezbollah a

can you give any insight into tony blair's comments with george bush with their work on the microphone? oh, assad is like having? with a talking about? why did they have such a favorable impression of him? this seemed to really like him. >> i don't recall that one. i recall the expletive. you're referring to the g8 meeting in to does a six? wind during the israel has the law, and president bush lean over to blair. whenever he used to :. he said, you know, if we can get this serious you can put a four-letter expletive, then that will calm the situation. and what was interesting about that comment and bush did not like after 2003 and for. is to about that comment. i said, what to you think of that comment by president bush caught on tape? and, again, have expected him to say typical this, typical. he said to my love it. i love it. because that means there thinking about me. they're worried about me. and ways that is part of syrian foreign policy is having some sort of leverage. it's a fairly weak kutcher militarily. the levers they have is to the support of has the look, a run, thomas, t

tell tony blair we'rean alliance to say we're going alone, to decrease the sacrifices. >> i don't know how we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. >>> the final face-off of the presidential campaign, mitt romney and president obama debating foreign policy tonight. >> with the race tied and election two weeks from tomorrow, the stakes for both men tonight are extremely high. good evening, everyone. i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." we're now less than three hours from the third and final debate of this presidential campaign. this one at lin university in boca raton, florida. as we learned, these contests can have a huge impact on the race for the white house. >> they certainly have so far. mitt romney's strong showing the first debate helped him catch up to the president in the polls and president obama's aggressive debate in the second debate left us with a race that's a dead heat tonight. let's get a preview of tonight's battle and mitt romney's ga

tell tony blair we're going alone. say we're going alone, to discount their sacrifices. you cannot leave. >> i don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. >> announcer: this is cnn. >>> countdown to the second presidential debate. president obama and mitt romney facing off at a critical moment in this race for the white house. >> the stakes tonight, higher than ever. mitt romney has the moment and the pressure is on the president. i'm anderson cooper. >> and i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> it's debate night in america. potentially pivotal skirmish in an election battle turned upsidedown over the last dozen days or so. >> it's been a remarkable dozen days. the last time they met, president obama held a slight advantage in the polls, but his lead evaporated in the days after that first face-off. and now the race is all tied up with mitt romney making critical gains nationally and also in crucial battleground states. >> cnn's candy crowley moderates tonight's