united nations. is that a fair comparison? >> reporter: it is definite legal comparison. i stood yesterday in the back of the general assembly, which is where the palestinians will sit, continue to sit, one of the last rows, they sit right next to the vatican. they are now of equal status this nonmember u.n. observer state. however, the vatican -- well, i don't think the vatican is saying it's occupied. and the vatican hasn't been receiving any rockets or missiles or anything. vatican plays a little more low key here. everyone will be watching to see what the palestinians do with their newfound status. but there are limits inside the general assembly, they can't even vote. they're always going to be on the minds of the u.n., middle east and some african issues predominate united nations history in terms of involvement despite everyone's effort to come to some sort of peace agreement. >> richard, don't go too far away. i want to stay with the breaking news right now. palestine recognized as a nonmembe

change anything on the ground the palestinian bid to upgrade its international legal status at the united nations was passed by the general assembly with a huge majority but in this vote actually moved the palestinians toward the goal of a complete sovereign state of their own and create the conditions for a lasting peace with israel. you can. start. to cross out the u.n. vote i'm joined by running guess an intel of the he is a former adviser to prime minister ariel sharon and strategic consultant on media and government relations in gaza we have rami khouri he is a correspondent for the electronic intifada and in new york or boston norman finkelstein he is a political analyst and an author all right gentlemen cross talk rolls in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want norman let me go to you first that the resolution passed numbers were expected wasn't a big deal last week now it's a very big deal why. well the reason it's a big deal is because originally when the resolution was contemplated there were serious doubts about whether the europeans would support it but in the last few day

for the palestinian leadership is set to receive huge support for united nations recognition of a palestiniantate today, despite strong u.s. and israeli opposition. >> in europe is also divided on the move. a majority of the 27-nation european union including france and spain, is expected to back the palestinians. germany, on the other hand, said it would abstain, and britain is expected to do so as well. >> hundreds of palestinian flags flying in support of statehood. people await the outcome of the united nations vote with bated breath. many have been waiting for this for a long time. recognition of a palestinian state by the united nations. >> today is a very important day for the palestinian people. we are excited. we are happy. we think the international community will not be disappointed at this time. i hope. >> palestinians are pushing to have their united nations status of credit to that of a so- called non member observer state, which does not include voting rights but brings with it the symbolic recognition of statehood. it would also mean the possibility of access to the internatio

nine hundred sixty seven now i have read the text of the new resolution that was passed in the united nations and the turks or the correct things it says are in the international law it's inadmissible to acquire territory by war and it serves the borders of the powers the new state are the june one thousand nine hundred sixty seven border if israel had accepted that those are incentives are on the run for the conflict would be over already mr gibson we'd like to reply to that. now yeah yeah i think i think again to east sorry norm it sensibly corrected this the nine hundred sixty seven lines were not borders they were a cease fire line armistice line final borders would have to be decided to negotiated and another thing resolution two forty two the whole mark the basis of the negotiation talks about secure and recognized borders for israel which will be decided in negotiations right the sixty seven borders lot secure what not recognize suddenly the palestinian side well that's the borders this is an arbitrary decision it has to be decided within the framework of negotiation i refer you to two

abstained, 41. >> the floor goes to the secretary-general of the united nations. >> mr. president, excellencies, ladies and gentleman, an important vote has taken place today in the general assembly. the decision [indiscernible] i stand ready to fulfill my role and report to this assembly, as requested in the resolution. my question has been consistent. the palestinians have a right to their own independent state. israel has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbors. there is no substitute for negotiations. today's vote underscores the urgency of meaningful negotiations. we must give due impetus to ensure an independent democratic state of palestine lives with a secure state of israel. i urge the parties to renew their commitment for negotiating peace. i count on all of you to act responsibly, preserve your treatment in state-building under the leadership of president abbas and the prime minister. thank you. [applause] >> i thank the secretary- general of the united nations for a statement. >> we are now proceeding to the explanations of the vote. i woul

unless they attack us first without getting the approval of the united nations of course this is true of every other nation in the un as well the un was created to promote world peace an idea that doesn't sit well with the neo cons and chicken hawks for example here's what george w. bush's u.n. ambassador john bolton had to say about. secretary building in new york it's thirty eight stories if you lost ten stories today it would make a difference the u.n. has provided right wing fear mongers like mccarthy the koch's and bolton a lot of grandstanding opportunities over the years but has never lived up to their warnings that it's common to destroy america but there's another group that they don't want you and i talking about that is actively as we speak destroying america or at least the american middle class and as the world trade organization and the trans national corporations that make it up since those transnationals also own most of our media this is not a topic you'll hear about on network or cable news but so-called international free trade by the deputies

>> the united nations has been working on this issue for a long time. ade a contribution globally, but here in the united states we're getting answers from the national economy of society and nasa, the guys who put the man on the moon, that's where we're getting our information and where we're getting our policy guidance and the solutions to move forward. let's discuss it, the united states, if we have a carbon tax in the united states of some sort, we tax emissions so we have fewer emissions and you think that makes a really, rail big difference to the temperature of the planet? >> a huge difference because we've got to go after the industrial carbon pollution that's warming the planet and paying a heavy price. this pushed the price tag on the problem and we know where the pollution is, let's go get it. >> one last question, i'm sure you're familiar with the study by the britain's meteorologist office. no increase in the global temperature in a 16 year period. i think it was from mid 1990's until 2010, 2011. and that's what the british office said flat-

>>guest: they will have special status in the united nations like the vatican has. but it has, there is no question --. >>shepard: the vatican and the palestinians? >>guest: it shows the international community pushing for a seven -- a sovereign state. what the united states wants is that to be a negotiating chit with recognition of a sovereign state if the following circumstances prevail. they don't want to lose that bargaining chip. >>shepard: the come is any minute. but it is done. i wondered about great britain which has indicated they could vote for this. that would be a change in course for politics there. >>guest: there has been an an -- affinity for some time in great britain. the french, too, have signaled they are likely to support that. it and a change. but it is a decremental change and the international community coalesced behind this. >>shepard: we will watch it. now the fight over the fiscal cliff at home. potential economic disaster that has come down to who blinks first, really. leaders in both policemen parties today accuse the other of not taking t

and in the middle east, joy and flag waving because of an impending decision at the united nations. i'll ask israel's ambassador to the united states why he thinks -- why his country thinks the u.n.'s possibly interaction is a bad idea. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with today's hard words in the negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. that steep across the board spending cut and tax increase scheduled to hit in just 33 days. in a scathing assessment today, the speaker of the house john boehner says there's been no substantive progress on a deal. need to realize there can be no deal without tax rates going up for top earners. let's go live to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. she's got more on the latest developments. tough talk from both sides, jessica. >> reporter: tough talk and some bright lines, wolf. on the same day that treasury secretary tim geithner went to capitol hill to meet with both democrats and republicans to talk about these negotiations, there is tense body language and tough words on both sides of pennsyl

say you hope it will go will you push for recognition if the united nations approved this nonmember state. well after our application for a full membership is still standing it has not been cancelled it has not been rejected and there are many other cases in previous years and decades where full fledged states that are not under occupation as palestine as it took them several months and several attempts to acquire full membership that doesn't really bother us but we are optimistic about is that an overwhelming majority of the international community now stands ready to support our just our peaceful step towards recognition a step that will advance the peace agenda that palestine has committed to itself to for over twenty years and a step that will create the necessary positive momentum to in shrine the two state formula the two state solution that israeli actions on the ground are endangering but is this the right time to seek recognition for the bit with palestine's literally divided between hamas and fatah isn't it better to just reconcile those sides first. well there isn't a bet

. >> the floor is to the secretary general of the united nations. >> mr. president, excellencies, ladies and gentleman, an important vote has taken place today in the general assembly. the decision [indiscernible] i stand ready to fulfill my role and report to this assembly, as requested in the resolution. my question has been consistent. the palestinians have a right to their own independent state. israel has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbors. there is no substitute for negotiations. today's vote underscores the urgency of meaningful negotiations. we must give a do impetus to ensure an independent democratic state of palestine lives with a secure state of israel. i urge the parties to renew their commitment for negotiating peace. i count on all to act responsibly, preserve your treatment in state building under the leadership of president abbas and the prime minister. thank you. [applause] >> i think the secretary-general of the united nations for a statement. >> we will break away from the united nations where they have approved

well when the israeli ambassador to the united nations one poser put forward his address to the united nations general assembly he was essentially with those entering what has been and continues to be the israeli point of view he said that the palestinian leadership made a mistake in making this but in the first place he said that the resolution was one sided and then it did not in any way address the security concerns that the state of israel has he also said that it would push the peace process forward further backwards rather than move it forward and this is a view that we've heard repeatedly from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu he says that the only way forward for a two state solution is direct negotiations at the negotiating table between israelis and palestinians and cannot in any decoration of the state are first having these negotiations going toward a long lasting peace now we have heard already cold calls for sanctions we certainly have heard earlier this week from the israeli foreign minister avigdor lieberman who says that he needs to be an extreme reaction t

he is in new york this week to report to the united nations and security council on that mission and on the situation in syria. i'm pleased to have him back at this table, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> rose: you must be exhausted. >> i'm all right. >> rose: what will you say to the united nations. >> you know what, i'm going to tell them what i have been saying all along about the situation in syria is extremely bad. and dangerous. and getting worse. until now nobody has found a way of bringing it under control. we know that this is part of the arab spring. we know that change is coming. but as i think you know very well, this arab spring has been surprising all the time, when moving from sun surprise to the other. and of course it doesn't work in the same manner from one country to the other. and in syria it looks to be more difficult than anywhere else. so until now nobody has found the process, like what was found in tunesia, was found more or less in egypt, in syria we don't have a process yet. >> rose: why not? >> because you know, the government is entrenched in a kind of

the united nations general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the u.s. embargo against cuba for the 21st year in a row. the final vote was 188 to 3, with only israel and the pacific island state of palau joining the united states. u.s. envoy abroad -- robert goddard urged fellow general assembly delegates to reject the measure. >> this resolution also serves to distract the real problems facing the cuban people, therefore, my delegation will oppose it. we encourage this body to support the desires of the cuban people to determine their own future freely. by doing so, it would truly advanced the principles of the united nations charter and the purposes for which the united nations was created. >> speaking for the cuban government, the cuban foreign minister called on president obama to break from decades of u.s. isolation of cuba. >> president obama has an opportunity to start a new policy toward cuba, different from the one implemented by his 10 predecessors for more than half a century. it will surely be a difficult task, and maybe he would face serious

susan rice the american ambassador to the united nations after slamming the vote again reiterated the american position that it will not change anything on the ground today grand pronouncements. and the palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed today's vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for u.n. membership it does not this resolution does not establish that palestine is a state and yet talking to the average israeli on the street largely the response here is muted most israelis i've been talking to are actually biologic norine of this fundamental and historic occasion which is a far cry from the kind of reaction we witnessing on the streets in palestine. where european countries are among the most undecided in their attitude towards the palestinian drive for greater independence but there isn't evident shift in the continent's overall attitude to the bid compared to last year and palestinians who are seeking membership in the un's cultural agency unesco five countries switched from state to yes including

an overwhelming margin according to reports more than one hundred thirty member states of the united nations will vote in favor of recognizing palestine as a nonmember observer state now palestine only needs two thirds of the majority of the one hundred ninety three nations of the general assembly to win this big now the u.s. has been campaigning feverish lead to the rail two days contentious vote on wednesday u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton said that washington has made it very clear to the palestinian leadership that the u.s. opposes palestinian efforts to upgrade their status at the u.n. outside of the framework of direct negotiations now france on the other hand is among the many members of the one that is expected to vote in favor of the palestinians and the u.s. has expressed regret over what it calls a clash between allies last year palestine did submit an application for full membership to the un but that was blocked by the us at the security council didn't even come to a vote but the us did threaten to veto that application if it if it did come to a vote at the security coun

united states. it's the mythology, methodology is much better. this is a nationalere's no sense of urgency. there's no sense of setting goals. there's no sense of getting milestones, time lines, and not a lot of passion. all those things i'm used to in my previous life. i have to get those resurrected for this. >> bob, you've talked about what you can do in the private sector and you have been enormously generous and creative in raising this money. what does the government need to do? what kind of threshold do you want to see from the federal government? >> well, as i said, the name of the investigation yesterday should have been called who's in charge here, because that's exactly the way it went. we need to fund basic science, keep it going, doing it in a smart way. we have to connect the cdc, nih, health and human services, the fda, all those organizations have to be better connected. we have to bring services and research together. we need diagnosis should be achieved at 18 months now and we have five years in many places and minorities are diagnosed later than

. >>> a united nations report says the u.n. was responsible for a great failure to protect civilians in the final stage of sri lanka's civil war. it said that senior staff did not see it as their responsibility to prevent killings. the u.n. estimated at least 40,000 were killed in the final months of the conflict. >> it had been one of the world's longest running and bloodiest civil wars. in may 2009, a quarter-century of battle ended on the shores of this indian ocean island. government forces crushed the last of the tamil tigers. they had fort -- and had fought for a state in the north. now, all rebel leaders were dead. so where tens of thousands of civilians. in the years since then, the united nations and others have found that abuse by both sides and possible war crimes and now i have investigated itself for its own conduct during the last approval months of war. we have been given a copy of their internal report in its final stages. it found the united nations did not stand up to the very people that it should have -- sta

battles with the united nations. this is sort of what's happened over the years. this was a vote that was actually delayed almost a year -- the united states successfully delayed this vote for a long time. what's going to happen today? >> reporter: well, the united states tried to delay this vote, too, very strongly and also israel. what's going to happen today is they're going to lose. it's going to be a bit of a slap in the face for the united states after having tried to persuade the palestinian leader not to take this vote. the palestinians it seems will have an overwhelming support in the general assembly. this vote will be carried and the palestinians will find therapy place as a nonobserver state, that status in the unit nations general assembly. what that means is they then are well on the way toward an ultimate acceptance as a state outside the process of the so-called peace process. that's been the main american objective, the israeli objection, that the progress towards the state should take place but within the framework of peace negotiations, face to f

israel responded by doing the only thing a responsible nation could do, it defended itself. now the united states needs to show there are consequences for attacking this sovereign nation, consequences for hamas and iran as well. we should have stricter enforcement of sanctions against iran. iran and hamas both need to be held accountable for these attacks. israel are the moral right and legal duty to defend itself from the barbarians, hamas. there is a cease-fire but only until hamas obtains more iranian missiles. hamas is the puppet and iran is the police departmentetteeer. the iranian regime need to go. the iranian people need to do away with the little guy in the desert, ahmadinejad. and that's the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the house will be in order. further requests for nute speeches? are there further requests for one-minute speeches? the gentleman from minnesota. the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the more than 65 million family caregivers across the nation who work tirelessly and selflessl

ambassador, our ambassador to the united nations is a member of the cabinet also. this has been lost a lot of folks. she is a cabinet member and would be taking instructions directly from the white house and probably not the secretary of state. lou: president obama and acknowledging exactly that. the white house request. petraeus testimony creates a number of troubling questions. one, he knew immediately that he was a terrorist attack. just a few days later on the 14th of september before the intelligence committee. frankly, at least the statements and most members ofthat committee to examine with the white house line on an internet video, which the president himself has pointed to, disavowing that very message, that very talking point from he first 24 hours. >> clearly hehas amended his statement. the first statement, you know, said that he purportedly, written and sent from cia out al qaeda was suspected. the words wre changed to extremists suspected or indications of extremists. lou: he amended his statement. who is the heat? >> patraeus appears to -- the sevent

the united nations says member states have promised some 270 million euros in aid for victims of the serious conflict, but less than half of that has actually been paid into the emergency fund. the un estimates that up to 1.5 million people could be in need of aid because of the crisis. well, the race for the white house is entering the final stretch. both president obama and his challenger mitt romney will be spending the final days of their campaigns in swing states like wisconsin, ohio, and virginia. >> one big issue in the election has been struggling u.s. economy, but latest jobs numbers released today show some slight improvement in the number of people out of work in october. >> the pace of recovery is slow, but it is sure to be news that both campaigns will be spending in their bid for the white house. >> ohio is the latest stop on the campaign trail. it is a key swing state with a history of voting for the overall winner. that is why barack obama was in the state capital columbus on friday. he's hoping the latest labor market numbers will give him a boost. employment rose sl

reality of the state of palestine. >> reporter: now, we are not talking about full status as united nations member nation. that would require the approval of the security council, and the united states has already promised to veto that. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton, scott, is calling today's vote counter-productive and unfortunate and places further obstacles in the path to peace. >> pelley: jim, thank you. our alan pizzey was in the west bank when word of the vote came through. ( cheering ) >> reporter: the celebration said everything about how much the vote meant to palestinians. observer status is still a long way from full member at the u.n. but scenes from ramaula's yasser arafat square, it's a huge step porward. according to longtime peace negotiator hannan ashrawi, today was all about recognition. >> getting state status is what empowers the palestinians, what defines our territory as occupied, what defines our relationship regionally and with the rest of the world, and what gives us access to international organizations and agencies. >> reporter: the israelis fear that th

. >> germany will not support the latest palestinian bid to become an observer state in the united nations. a government spokesman said berlin was talking to other european states to find a common position. the palestinian authority president is in the united states where he met the u.s. assistant secretary of state. the u.s. says it will vote against upgrading the palestinians from an observer entity to an observer state in the united nations. >> in syria, 34 people have been reported killed in a double car bombing in. reports indicate a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle shortly after a bomb went off. the attacks targeted a town loyal to president assad's government. meanwhile, an unconfirmed report says rebels in aleppo in the north shot down a fighter jet and captured its pilot. egypt pose a political crisis is deepening. clashes erupted in cairo between police and protesters who have been occupying central tahrir square. >> they about to stay put until president morsi withdraws from power. >> he insists that his decree is necessary for national security and is only temporary. >> polic

israel's ambassador to the united nations joins us live on a rare occurrence. just after this break. and a lot of hard questions after a train carrying wounded veterans, poor people are dead, investigators are on the scene. new theories on how it happened ahead. >> apparently, as we know it right now, one trailer made it over the railroad tracks. a second one, for whatever reason, we don't know, it was apparently struck by an eastbound train. new pink lemonade 5-hour energy? 5-hour energy supports the avon foundation for women breast cancer crusade. so i can get the energized feeling i need and support a great cause? i'm sold. pink lemonade 5-hour energy? yeah and a portion of every sale goes to the avon foundation for women breast cancer crusade. i'm sold. new pink lemonade 5-hour energy. get the alert, energized feeling you need and support breast cancer research and access to care. megyn: back now to breaking news from israel. reports that thousands of troops may be getting ready for a ground invasion of gaza. after three days of unrelenting rocket attacks f

>>shepard: this is being headed up at the united nations? really? really?st: you could have knocked me over with a feather. i am shock they want to control stuff. look at iran, russia, china, all the places that are saying, they want to do it under the guise of wanting but if you do it for one thing can you do it for another and you can suppress free thought, ideas, the free flow of information and social media and twitter and facebook are the new form of intelligence chatter. we monitor things happening in syria and iran based on our access. this has far reaching ramifications not jut business or taxing but legal, technical, intelligence, military, a host of things that will happen here. >>shepard: thank you. this is a very big thing going on so tonight on fox report we will go in depth on what they are doing and trying to do and how it will affect our access to the internet for a very long time to come. we are tracking a line of bad storms that are battering the west coast of the country with heavy rain, snow, potential if wind gusts over 70 miles per hou

the fox report's chief correspondent jonathan hunt live on duty at the united nations. world leaders coming together. what can they do? >> they've been making an intense round of phone calls over the past 24 hours. those calls involving president obama, the french president, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and palestinian leader abbas. frankly from the west, most of the pressure being applied on hamas right now to cease the rocket attacks and the u.s. in particular, staying away from any criticism of israeli military action. ben rhodes, the deputy national security advisor, said in a conference call with reporters today, quote, ultimately it is up to the israeli government to make determinations about how they're going to carry out their military objective. the middle east peace envoy, tony blair, also put the ball firmly in hamas' court. listen. >> all of it is deescalated back down. that means the rockets stop. because if the rockets carry on, the israeli air strikes will carry on and what happens as we've seen is that in that, there will be innocent israel

mahmoud abbas is seen as even weaker the palestinian national representative and hamas will be further strengthened to the dismay of israel and the united states. we want to find out more about the vote you know check out our website there we've got perspective from all sides as well as plenty of analysis on the story too. egypt's national assembly is expected to vote on a new constitution later thursday hoping to appease tens of thousands of protesters across the country has been mounting for a week now after president morsi granted himself on challenge powers although promising to abandon them once a new constitution and parliament are in place gentle spell truce got the latest from cairo. when this constitution is drafted and goes through referendum president morsi wrote in his controversial constitution that gratian his extra powers he's assumed will and to this is after the referendum however the real issue the heart of this debate is the constitution itself and the way that it's being drafted the opposition forces really see the constituent assembly as an interesting body because at least a quarter of its members have staged a wal

. >> palestinians have been celebrating their recognition by the united nations general assembly. an overwhelming majority made palestine a non-member state. that is the same as the vatican. >> only a handful of countries voted against the move, including the u.s. and israel. both threaten to sanction palestinian request. israel today announced the construction of 3000 more settler homes in response. >> many hope it will be for step toward independence and true statehood. >> life remains the same in the palestinian territories, but many say the united nations vote has given them a new outlook. >> it is a beautiful feeling. there's hope that our children will grow up in an independent nation with its own voice, and that is a feeling that is hard to describe it. >> the decision came after a powerful appeal by the palestinian authority president in new york. >> the general assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of palestine. >> 138 generally assembly -- general assembly members voted in favor of upgrading palestine to the status of nonm

relationship to the african union and its possible participation and the third of course is the united nation and somewhere among those three different layers there is the possibility of military action there is the possibility of negotiation and there is the possibility at least of some sort of solution that gets resolved out of that but we're still fortunately or fortunately we're still in early days on this we don't really have a plan of action by ecowas little loan a plan of action from the african union or more than just the encouragement from the united nations oh if i go back to you in london it seems to me that everyone and mali is waiting for western intervention here ok and the reason i say it is that because the other actors that have been mentioned this program are not effective enough ok but this same time there's a long history of failure of intervention here which will work this time. well one thing you don't want on the background is the french the past doesn't come doesn't help but the problem with the current interim civilian unity government that's in place currently is tha

though hopefully somebody will tell cruz perhaps by removing his tin foil hat that the united nations has no interest whatsoever in turning augusta national into a sustainable biodome likewise hopefully somebody will tell mr field seriously that the un has no interest in forcibly removing americans from the countryside either here's what agenda twenty one actually really is it stands for agenda twenty first century it's a completely non-binding un agreement non-binding it's not a law that addresses climate change and any quality by laying out ways the local and federal governments non-governmental organizations and businesses can create more sustainable environments in their respective nations that's it some suggestions but as you'd expect about a plan to reduce poverty and use resources and land in more eco friendly ways the wealthy oil barons in the banks toure's are opposed to it when people governments organizations talk about things like sustainable energy corporate responsibility educating the world's children billionaires like the koch brothers get a little nervous so right win

actions will still not make palestine a nation. >> the united nations general assembly is here to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of palestine. >> reporter: for palestinians watching the vote on the giant screen, it was a huge victory. in ramallah, nbc's martin fletcher. >> reporter: this is a great personal triumph, but what the people here most want is real change on the ground, and that won't happen without direct face to face negotiations with israel. >> reporter: israel, having just gone through eight days of conflict with gaza, strongly objected, arguing that palestinians must first recognize their right to exist. before gaining new rights at the u.n. >> the world awaits for president abbas to speak the truth about peace, that can only be achieved through negotiations, by recognizing israel as a jewish state >> reporter: palestinians hope today's vote will strengthen their hands in future peace talks. but the u.s. argued that it could set them back. >> today's unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path to peace. >> repor

the criticism comes from an expert panel appointed by the united nations itself. sri lanka's government had fought for independence for two decades and the u.n. was guilty of a grave failure because it failed to protect civilians. at least 70,000 people are believed to have died in the course of the civil war that ended in 2009. one year earlier, government forces launched a fierce campaign to retake areas still held by tamil insurgents. many civilians were killed, but the u.n. withdrew its foreign staff from the combat zone. the report released on wednesday says the u.n. withdrawal came after a warning from the sri lankan government that it would not guarantee their safety. the report cite cit sizes the u.n. council for not investigating the civilian casualties in sri lanka has part of its official agenda. secretary-general ban ki-moon has said the u.n. will learn from the report's findings to better serve civilians caught in conflict. >>> here in thailand, u.s. defense secretary leon panetta has arrived and held talks with his thai counterpart. the u.s. is seeki

the fox report's jonathan hunt is live at the united nations with more. what is the argument? >>jonathan: the main united states concern and those others who opposed this bid by the palestinians is the palestinians could try to take advantage of u.n. recognition to use other international institutions to criticize israel publicly. most notably, the international criminal court. palestinians previously have indicated they will press war crime charges against israel using the court over the sort of violence we have seen recently and in year's past in gaza. u.s. officials believe that kind of move and this bid if unilateral statehood will lessen rather than improve the chance for peace. israeli officials agree. >> they can get paper from the u.n. but they will not move peace forward or make palestinian stood hood more real. the only change to change reality and to build future is through peace talks. >>jonathan: but in the absence of the pest talks palestinians are determined to ignore united states and israeli objections and press ahead with the vote tomorrow. >>shepard: the unit

she's led admirably, represented us at the united nations during a difficult period when she has workedsly and effectively to assemble an international coalition to impose new sanctions against iran, to lead the referendum process that created a new nation in south sudan. shoo she's been an effectived acrow vindicate advocate. she deserves a full and fair hearing. i don't think the fact she went on sunday morning talk shows and repeated talking points given to her by the intelligence community should stand in the way of her confirmation in the u.s. senate. >> is the real issue security for our missions overseas? >> if there were the real issue the fact there's an ongoing investigation looking at security of our missions overseas would be the principal focus rather than individual character assassination, i think, baseless attacks on susan rice and her conduct as best i can tell from everything i have seen and heard, she was simply pre preet repeating talking points prepared for her by the intelligence community. there are things we should be looking at making sure we have the resource,