in their country. >> saudi arabia is actually helping them. they sent troops, weapons. they're helping them, and we want to stop this. we don't want anybody helping them, because this is wrong. >> brown: others said the u.s. needed to live up to its own ideals on a consistent basis. >> we cannot pick and choose which peaceful revolution to support. we need to support the values that we stand on, which is human rights, justice, democracy, and that's exactly what the people of bahrain are asking for. >> brown: the marchers then headed to the white house to deliver that message in person. >> lehrer: coming up: more on the middle east and u.s. policy in the region; plus, shields and brooks; the environmental costs of the gulf oil spill; and a look ahead to robert macneil's series on autism. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: president obama promised today the initial drawdown of u.s. troops from afghanistan will be more than symbolic. the pullout is slated to begin this summer. the president talked about

almost all the detainees from saudi arabia were returned to saudi arabia. clearly those decisions were based on commitments that the united states made to thosese governments or commitments it i wanted to keep with t those governments. >> brown: charlie savage, you were telling us about these cases of detainees providing information about other prisoners, but i gather that too raised all kinds of questions about reliability. r can you give us an example or e two. >> certainly. well, i mean one of the things that's interesting about this whole process is because of the habeas corpus cases that some detainees have been bringing in court, we've had a a series of judicial rulings by article 3 judges and in some cases military judges who have looked at the government'st evidence and ruled that it's not good and the detainees needed to be let go. in some cases there were veiled references to certain witnesses against prisoners having been unliable.bl it was so censored you had no idea what they were talkingy about. with these files you can see ag small number of

and a lot of those questions presumably will come from king abdullah of saudi arabia. i was told on the way in here that the saudis are so unhappy with the obama administration for the way it pushed out president mubarak of egypt that it sent high-level emissaries to china and russia to tell those two countries that saudi arabia now is prepared to do more business with them. back here in iraq, the political and the economic situation remains fragile, so fragile that the u.n. secretary-general is worried that this country could now see massive protests in the streets once again. one sign of good news, however, brian, on the way in from the airport today we went through several security checkpoints. they were all manned entirely by iraqis. no americans in sight. brian? >> that is a big change. tom brokaw back in a familiar spot for a lot of us tonight in baghdad, iraq. tom, thanks. >>> turning now to japan, where this was another day of thousands of gallons of radioactive water openly flowing into the ocean near that damaged nuke plant. engineers still haven't been able

just saudi arabia many say iran's would be a tough card and no matter how much washington would want the regime there too far for now it's seen as a mission impossible i'm sure that there are some in the u.s. who would love to attack iran and there are others who would like to take over the iranian opposition i think they know that the iranian opposition is not so fond of the united states they have a long memory in iran people remember the role of the united states in overthrowing the precursor to the shah of iran overthrowing the democratically elected government of mossad there back in one thousand fifty three so i don't think the u.s. would be welcomed and i think many in washington know that with libya being torn apart by the war and the anti-government protests in momentum in syria the question on everyone's mind is who might be next i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. . and coming up on the program searching for solutions the best financial lines gathered to discuss the future global economy but will of merging markets be the driver of economic recovery we tr

arabia all of that seems to be discarded as the u.s. is trying to prop up the opposition in libya as some analysts say in an attempt to forge a relationship with them that would be favorable for the united states in the future but experts say as of now the opposition in libya hardly has a defined face or power these people. will not be able to take control over the situation as soon as the current regime. goes off and that means that somebody else will be. tempted to take over the country and you know the villain there will organize. the world force in the region not in the country but in the region is unfortunately some say arming the rebels could backfire we've been in a situation in afghanistan one day we help people and the next day they shoot at us if we are cautious about military intervention so blowback charm was john johnson wrote famously about is sure to happen in libya in afghanistan back in the eighty's the u.s. had a narrow goal to help the mujahideen fight soviet troops subsequently the same militants turned their weapons

arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the regard in syria are fun come with mentions of you ran syria is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses there there are bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're hit hezbollah in force and so of course hezbollah would suffer if the syrian regime was to fall and that would be stabilizing iran and weaken its power in the region which would be an obvious benefit to be in calling american forces some experts even believe that this stabilize ation is part of a strategy the west perceives in the region you're seeing reflected a strategy which includes amongst other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states of a sovereign. in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran even with very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will then leave iran pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out america's involvement in syria for now

if the ricoh there already has saudi arabia to a much lesser extent and if you look at that you don't see any reports of there's. been a protest inside the streets so he's a very very crucial and it will do to. a degree. in what he believes saying the word of the u.s. media you hear nothing but the brutality in growing well you certainly hear about all we actually been for years doing a talk about it. but how stable lebanon those could have been a program how your thoughts from chicago tonight thank you. military service isn't an easy task but here in russia young recruits often face a writhing bullying when they join the army human rights organizations have been lobbying in an attempt to help eradicate the problem is taking grease reports in some cases they simply too late must warn you in this report there is some footage of graphic violence it's a disturbing sign it's one that's on the rise in the russian. it's called hazing valentino is all too familiar with its consequences you can hear that in the reports about thought is suffering physically and mentally are coming in every day

arabia voluntarily or intimated that they could not sell there was a financial times last week it will be just today president barack obama implored the saudis to increase oil production i think we put a price ownership world there's no there are no refineries in the united states that don't have oil we've got our strategic reserves are tapped out in fact people are saying that he should drain them to try to drive the prices down but it's you know frankly i don't think it's going to make any difference what accounted for the oil spight two and a half years ago three years is the same thing it was goldman sachs campbell in a one whale i mean i don't believe that was the case i think it was more the forces of supply and demand with respect to tuna a few years ago that was before the economic crash before the the late zero eight occurred so it was suddenly so much at economic activity to double the price of oil in six months if you were close to the prices across the board i mean metals be a food commodities be it liquid be a great man so he did. great exposé on how goldman sachs was jus

arabia all of that seems to be discarded as the u.s. is trying to prop up the opposition in libya as some analysts say in an attempt to forge a relationship with them that would be favorable for the united states in the future but experts say as of now the opposition in libya hardly has a defined face or power these people. will not be able to take control over the situation as soon as the current regime. goes off and that means that somebody else will be. tempted to take over the country and you know the villain will organize. world force in the region not in the country but in the region is unfortunately some say arming the rebels could backfire we've been in a situation in afghanistan one day we help people and the next day they shoot at us if we aren't cautious about military intervention so blow back her charm was johnson and johnson wrote famously about is sure to happen in libya in afghanistan back in the eighty's the u.s. had in their own goal to help the mujahideen fight soviet troops subsequently the same militants turned thei

be you know shoot and there have been no invasions of saudi arabia or there are a worse empowers. people is part of the turmoil that is being spread even on purpose i would say. but some say the policy of double standards may play in the hands of criminals by leaders around the world to rally against. and so the past few sometimes in this kind of additional crimes they commit. an israeli businessman who invested millions and ends up in jail saying his case was corrupted by the government to avoid payday. almost a million views on you tube in less than a week the fairy tale of the three little pigs is enjoying a comeback turned into a cartoon by a russian illustrator generation satirizes young rest of course in north africa. which built a house of stone. a cartoon parody starring pigs. birds and r t possibly the best and shortest explanation summarizing the uprisings in tunisia egypt and libya. three big pigs was created by russian illustrator igor's goot a twenty six year old motivated by technology and politics wanted to do. i wanted to do. i just looked. forward. to try for to.

arabia actually cut back their production not the raise prices because they said that they couldn't sell it and yet well prices are going through. the you know it's a fairly. reasonable conclusion on the part of a lot of people including this administration including some republicans i believe rockwell so this is good but what we're seeing is speculation are seen as manipulation of the market we basically have a giant we have an oligarchy got a handful jack properties controlling markets. what is that a good thing that a good thing will certainly do that would not be good but i will note you commented that saudi arabia voluntarily or intimated that they could not sell their way to financial times last week but will be just today president barack obama implored the saudis to increase oil production. when the price only orders of oil there's no there are no refineries in the united states that don't have oil we've got her teacher reserves are topped out and five people are saying that he should drain them to try to drive the prices down but it's you know frankly i don't think it's goi

or where there is one of the good guys as we are seeing in saudi arabia which invaded another good suppose a good go back reign where the united states keeps we you know should flee and have been no invasions of saudi arabia or a rain cloud on the western powers definitely i think that is part of the turf war that is being spread even on purpose i would even say in some parts of president obama has just admitted that there are cia a and m i six operatives in libya helping the rebels and i definitely believe you know britain are playing with fire because they're not selling us what other needs are super powers you might be thinking of doing in the near future but later it is not just out of the for the u.s. there's not enough money enough manpower to get involved in or else in the region right now well the united states for decades every time they need money they just print it as we have just seen with the banking bailout so those the secret of the super power united states of america the fact that they can print money whilst every other country has to earn it that being said i am very very

we will be back live from the 2011 s annapolis boat festival shortly. >> i have used saudi arabia and to a lesser degree arab peninsula tyrannies as the nation state that is the most dangerous to the united states and to the west generally. russia and china are threats to the united states but they are threats washington openly acknowledges, close watches and assesses and is capable of defending america against. saudi arabia is a serious threat one more dangerous than iran for which our governing elite in both parties turns a blind eye. tower in the pretense that riyadh is a close and reliable ally. it keeps america's energy security depended on its enemies by relying on the saudis to play pro u.s. role in the world oil market and endangers our economy by allowing the saudis to buy a larger share of our ever more out of control federal debt. addition the saudis have built a highly effective lobby in the united states which is as pernicious and corrupting as anyone else but more quiet and subtle. it employs former u.s. ambassadors, generals and senior intelligence officers to argue its

arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the revolver in syria affan khan was mentions of you ran syria is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses there are there are bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're hit hezbollah in force and so of course hezbollah and suffer if the syrian regime was to fall and that would be stabilizing iran and weaken its power in the region which would be an obvious benefit and being called american forces some experts even believe that destabilize ation is part of the strategy the west perceives in the region we're seeing reflect a strategy which includes amongst other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states of the sovereign genes in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran. with very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will then leave iran pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out america's involvement in syria for now

arabia that's an ally that's one an enemy i mean we talk about the days of islamic fundamentalism well let's start there ok i like to leave it there for now let it go your storm adeptly speaker of the belgian pilot thank you for joining us live here alone thank you very much. well the man behind wiki leaks says his website's revelations are just the tip of the iceberg the publication of confidential cables pretty deeply embarrassing to the u.s. and other countries julian assange has been speaking to r.t. and says it's only a matter of time before more damaging information becomes known if we look at our work over the last. twelve months think about that so all the stories that have come out actually happened in the world before two thousand and ten people didn't know about it so what is it that we don't know about now. there's an enormous hidden world out there that we don't know about until much much later on but it exists right now you know the release of diplomatic cables we only released . secret classified confidential material we didn't have any top secret cables the really embar

you have iraq between syria and saudi arabia. they do not want to complicate things, but they might follow the lead. i am sure another regime would benefit saudi arabia. the rest of the gulf states are in the same position. lebanon is in a very vulnerable position. no one can say or do anything. >> if turkey took a vigorous role, it might actually be able to do something. >> i believe so. >> qatar's position is more like neutrality at this stage. you can feel, in the coverage, a sense of aloofness. when you look at the egyptian situation, they were part of the revolution. here they are trying to be "objective." of talking about how th jazeera threw them out of syria -- -- talking about how al jazeera threw them out of at must have they come from the top. >> the situation with al jazeera is related to [unintelligible] as a result, assad demanded an apology from the emir. it was insulting in the way he handled it, even though the government was willing to sell mi-apologize. he tells us what to do. i think the [unintelligible] yeste

arabia and venezuela combined so when something happens in the middle east the speculators go crazy in the in the price skyrockets well that's one theory now i want to ask it back to the subject of regulation are you surprised that congress hasn't passed major reform in response to the largest environmental accident and u.s. history. well after doing so much research for the film nothing really surprises me coming out of washington d.c. from either side of the aisle it's you know a lot of people talk about alternative fuels and they talk about new ways and if you look at our film we go back all the way to president nixon in soundbites from presidents who say we need a comprehensive energy policy we need to be energy independent and it's a matter of national security and no one republican or democrat has really done anything about it i think it comes down to money i think will companies. like i said really don't care about the consumer it's business as usual they're making billions and billions of dollars they throw some money towards the alternative fuel industry and doing research

arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the remark in syria after income was mentions of you ran period is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses there and there are bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're hit has fallen forces so of course hezbollah would suffer if the syrian regime was to fall and that would be stabilizing iran and weaken its power in the region which would be an obvious benefit to be in call american forces some expert even believe that this stabilize ation is part of a threat to the west perceived in the region we are seeing reflects a strategy which includes our mom's other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states of the sovereign genes in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran. with very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will then leave iraq pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out and erika's involvement in syria for

to saudi arabia many say you ran down would be a tough call and no matter how much washington would want the regime there to fall for now it's seen as a mission impossible i'm sure that there are some in the u.s. who would love to attack iran and there are others who would like to take over the iranian opposition i think they know that the iranian opposition is not so fond of the united states they have a long memory in iran people remember the role of the united states in overthrowing the the precursor to the shah of iran overthrowing the democratically elected government of mosul there back in one hundred fifty three so i don't think the u.s. would be welcomed and i think many in washington know that with libya being torn apart by war and anti-government protests gaining momentum in syria the question on everyone's mind is who might be next i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. tripoli has been condemning the international intervention describing the coalition forces as modern day crusaders three weeks into the intervention the league and government has launched a diplo

or there is one of the good guys as we are seeing in saudi arabia which had made a lot of good suppose a good go back rain where the united states consists of fifty indian ocean fleet and there have been no invasions of saudi arabia or of a raincloud on the western powers. because it is part of the turf war that is being spread even on purpose i would say those cia operatives that we hear of oh well we know that way back in one nine hundred fifty three it was a cia that housed the most are they from iran because of oil so the story seems to repeat and just for the record i could i was speaking from argentina where the cia had backed military with oratory in coups in chile and in argentina and the consequences have been horrendous so every time i hear about the cia being pulled on the rebels i become very concerned for those people's livelihood. well as the military campaign in libya rages on questions remain over how far the coalition might decide to go on the ground and next hour in cross talk on r.t. people of l's going to share their views about the issue. the reality is that obama

arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the remark in syria after income was mentions of you ran syria is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses there and there are bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're hit hezbollah in forces so of course hezbollah would suffer if the syrian regime was to fall and that would be stabilizing iran and weaken its power in the region which would be an obvious benefit to being called american forces some experts even believe that this stabilize ation is part of the strategy the west perceived in the region you're seeing reflects a strategy which includes our moms other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states of the sovereign genes in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran. with very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will then leave iran pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out america's involvement in syria fo

defense secretary robert gates was holding talks in saudi arabia meeting with king abdullah on the upcoming on the upheaval in the region the influence of iran a sixty billion dollars arms package but we're asking what's really behind the meeting and what we see in the aftermath i want to remind you of what happened recently you may recall gates was in the region just earlier in march visiting another persian gulf ally that was back on march eleventh and was meeting with the king and just days after he left saudi trained and a thousand troops rolled into the country that was to help the monarchy suppress anti-government protesters the bahraini government declared martial law images like what you see right there a violent crackdowns hit the internet protesters being shot point blank it appeared now the u.s. stood by it as protesters died there the u.s. urge for humanitarian help in libya now analysts point of the reality to situation now take a listen. looking at american old. gun ships you know which are going to improve your street and look at the rim that is where the distance trains i'm

iraq that the health effects of the radium are there and we see it throughout iraq are saudi arabia kuwait afghanistan somalia the balkans and again now we're seeing the movement into libya dr dog rocky was a leading specialist in the cleanup after the gulf war says there is no way of actually decontaminating affected areas but i was given a written memoranda law about the health and environmental protection re-emission he himself was exposed to depleted uranium almost all of the members of his team are now dead some theory that the suffering of those bombed in areas where there will be no western troops will go unnoticed and i think happens in remote villages in libya i suspect just because it is going to find a path and the people they're not going to start saying hey look everybody is dying here they go over fences and there's a gentleman with nations and so forth i don't think anyone will listen to him pleaded you raney and has a hard life of four and a house billion years hence it's description by some as the silent killer that will never stop killing. our t. washington d.c. . japan h

flames are living in saudi arabia and the economy is about to lapse. [laughter] so i leave you to the next section which is about the collapse of civil rights in america. [laughter] and thank you all for being here today, and to what to our panel. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> the house is in recess. representative -- members return a 6:30 p.m. eastern to talk about a bill that would cut 10% from the pentagon's printing budget. this week, the house considers a bill to considering the sec's net neutrality rules. and another prohibiting bpa. work continues off the floor on an agreement to keep the federal government funded past friday. live coverage of the house always here on c-span. coming up live today on c-span3, charles murray, author of a "the bell curve," is addressing an audience about disparities in white america in the areas of economics and a class distinctions. that is live starting in about 20 minutes from now at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> tonight on

defense secretary robert gates was holding talks today in saudi arabia meeting with the king he told reporters they talked about developments in the region and of course iran but we're asking what's really behind the meeting and what we see in the aftermath because we want to take a look back you may recall gates was in the region recently visiting another persian gulf ally bahrain that was back on march eleventh he had a meeting with the king there and just days later look what happened thirty troops tanks they rolled in thousands of troops a thousand troops excuse me rolled into the country to help the monarchy suppress anti-government protesters the bahraini government declared martial law images of violent crackdowns like what you just saw there hit the internet people being shot apparently point blank the u.s. did by and its protesters died in bahrain the u.s. urged humanitarian help in libya analysts pointed out the reality looking at american old. i'm sure you know richer protesters in the room that is where the united states stands on the issue. analysts such as rose off drew

arabia because they said we were over supplied and then the next day we hear the crude tops out over one hundred nine dollars per barrel because we're under supplied so who really has the answer well as far as no research you did in your documentary did you get any answers is there any role that the oil industry plays you point out that you know after the b.p. oil spill we didn't see gas prices go that high and now we are. and president obama is correct it definitely has a lot to do with speculators you know a lot of people don't even realize that we get a majority of our oil from canada we get as much from canada as we do from saudi arabia and venezuela combined so when something happens in the middle east the speculators go crazy in the in the price skyrockets well that's one theory now i want to ask back to the subject of regulation are you surprised that congress had that path major reform in response to the largest environmental accident and you i think three. well after doing so much research for the film nothing really surprises me coming out of washington d.c. from either sid

is approaching libya versus saudi arabia orbach rainer syria or yemen is actually a consistent u.s. policy of supporting ruthless and brutal dictators as long as they are doing the bidding of the united states and so while we see this military action that actually is a war against libya unfolding what we're seeing just a few hundred miles away across the red sea in yemen is that ali abdullah saleh is allowed to snipe or shoot his protesters in the head and is allowed to use u.s. weapons and training to fight his domestic political opponents aid and training that's been given to him sensibly to fight al qaeda forces in that country and you see the defense secretary robert gates saying that it's not the business of the united states to intervene in the internal affairs of yemen the fact is that the united states has been waging a covert war inside yemen for the past ten years and it has been ratcheted up dramatically by the obama administration in december of two thousand and nine president obama authorized two very deadly airstrikes against yemen involving tomahawk cruise missiles wi

arabia and venezuela combined so when something happens in the middle east the speculators go crazy in the in the price skyrockets and all that's one kerry now i want to ask it back to the subject of regulation are you surprised that congress hasn't passed major reform in response to the largest environmental accident and u.s. history. well after doing so much research for the film nothing really surprises me coming out of washington d.c. from from either side of the aisle it's you know a lot of people talk about alternative fuels and they talk about new ways and if you look at our film we go back all the way to president nixon and soundbites from presidents who say we need a comprehensive energy policy we need to be energy independent and it's a matter of national security and no one republican or democrat has really done anything about it why do you think that is just like a thirty years of lip service paid. i think it's a lot of money that goes into washington d.c. from the oil and gas industry that's what i really think and you mentioned the lip service paid to alternative energ

benefits something country like saudi arabia major geo strategic interest for the united states to counter iran and for other reasons so if there isn't a vested interest for the us does this work does that need to be there you know i think vested interest is an interesting term because there are so many different strategic interests for the united states in editorial getting its oil as economics oil boil but then we look at a country like this which is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere after haiti has no oil to speak of but you know it has quite a large military base called palmyra let's sort of that has been operating there since the one nine hundred eighty s. which was used for the contra war in nicaragua and to train rebels in el salvador the cheap source of labor for the united states for making things like closing. banana plantation so openly talking about when we think of strategic interest sometimes we think libya has to be something that's so big that has so many resources the united states is willing to intervene and the liveliest are willing to sort of push the

saudi arabia and kuwait with the technology to effectively block websites when the us government purports to be spreading democracy it's simply a sham it's a pretense it's a lie the goal of u.s. foreign policy is to put its people in public office in foreign countries the u.s. military has recently launched an online management program which enables it to generate multiple fake identities on social networks the false personas are designed to contribute to the flow of conversations on facebook twitter and other websites people are using social media for cyber warfare i mean that's what we're going to see more more and more of i think from from whether it's governments or non-state actors they're going to try to find ways to use the internet and social media to gain an advantage in their own battle the recent turmoil in libya it's just orchestration of twitter with fake users only around five percent of libyans have access to the internet and the number of twitter users there is so small that analysts couldn't even calculate it yet in february this year a surge of libyan twitter accounts ap

question about whether saudi arabia might shift or might ship weapons to benghazi i don't know where that ever happened i'm not sure it didn't happen. but there might have been a bit of hint there that either the regional powers or the united kingdom or a friend. had this. the other option would be to hire some sort of private military for him and i know that a lot of it we're talking about some sort of military provider for him that would do some of the training so. that well let's say that they do in fact decide to hire some type of private military private contractors mercenaries whatever you want to call them and that's a decision that congress would have to sign off on right the obama administration can't just get away with rolling this one over on their own. well not necessarily are really the admin that actually has wide latitude in her and very contractors not even if it goes out of the administration rather than some other actor i mean we can very easily indicate to the french or the british that they can hire a contractor to help them pick out a contractor so we can certain

is approaching libya versus saudi arabia or syria or yemen is actually a consistent u.s. policy of supporting ruthless and brutal dictators as long as they are doing the bidding of the united states and so while we see this military action that actually is a war against libya unfolding what we're seeing just a few hundred miles away across the red sea in yemen is that ali abdullah saleh is allowed to snipe or shoot his protesters in the head and is allowed to use u.s. weapons and training to fight his domestic political opponents in training that's been given to him offensively to fight al qaeda forces in that country and you see the defense secretary robert gates saying that it's not the business of the united states to intervene in the internal affairs of yemen the fact is that the united states has been waging a covert war inside of yemen for the past ten years and it has been ratcheted up dramatically by the obama administration in december of two thousand and nine president obama authorized two very deadly airstrikes against yemen valving tomahawk cruise missiles wit

is approaching libya versus saudi arabia orbach rain or syria or yemen is actually a consistent u.s. policy of supporting ruthless and brutal dictators as long as they are doing the bidding of the united states and so while we see this military action that actually is a war against libya unfolding what we're seeing just a few hundred miles away across the red sea in yemen is that ali abdullah saleh is allowed to sniper shoot his protesters in the head and is allowed to use u.s. weapons and training to fight his domestic political opponents aid and training that's been given to him sensibly to fight al qaeda forces in that country and you see the defense secretary robert gates saying that it's not the business of the united states to intervene in the internal affairs of yemen the fact is that the united states has been waging a covert war inside yemen for the past ten years and it has been ratcheted up dramatically by the obama administration in december of two thousand and nine president obama has two very deadly air strikes against yemen valving tomahawk cruise missiles with cluster

my colleague tom brokaw sat down with the saudi foreign minister today in saudi arabia, and among the topics was the future of libya, the future of moammar gadhafi. watch this exchange. >> should gadhafi leave? >> well, i don't know what his choices are, but anybody who has to fight to stay in tune with the people must think twice about it. >> one of the dilemmas for the united states and the west is they don't have a place for gadhafi to go. would he be welcome in saudi arabia, if he were to decide to leave power in libya? >> i think the united states must value saudi arabia, a place for him somewhere. >> not here? >> helene, asylum in the united states seems unlikely. >> wow. >> this is the end game on gadhafi. it just shows you the deep dislike in the arab world for him. >> it really does, but it also raises an interesting question. i think if moammar gadhafi is still in place come the 2012 campaign, barack obama should be very, very worried about his own presidential re-election. i think clearly what's going on in the middle east i think will play a big -- how it's shaped up will

first iran and then saudi arabia. >> one think you see shot through everything the president is doing, a quiet level is overriding concern about iran and any possibility that this will use all this unrest and uncertainty to extend its influence particularly in the persian gulf. that is why the u.s. looks the other way in bahrain and let them crack down and one of the reasons he has been willing to err on the side of aggression in libya which is to say watch what we can still do here even though we have two other wars going on. we can still do this. >> saudi arabia. >> you will see hillary clinton make overtureses to the opposition groupses, the student groups in iran next week on. in the percent festival. but the other thing about saudi arabia is it's not all about oil but a lot of it is about oil and economic interests. there was that phrase that the president used about the economic driving forces. >> also about ohio. >> yeah. but the saudi importance, that relationship has made us look the other way. >> andrea mitchell of nbc news and michael duffy of "time" magazine, thank you so

the president says conversations over the issue are taking place with countries such as saudi arabia. he warns that a lack of relief would harm the global economy. >>> a man suspected of leaving a bomb at a colorado mall has been arrested in boulder. officials say earl albert moore left a pipe bomb at a plaza on the anniversary of the columbine massacre. authorities say there is no tie to the anniversary. they have a motive, but refuse to reveal it. >>> starting today, residents in altoona, pennsylvania, will have a mouthful when they tell others where they're from. the city is changing its name to palm wonderful presents the greatest movie ever sold. the new name comes from a title of a film by documentarian morgan spurlock. he saved the city $25,000 to change for 60 days. looks like the experiment is working. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,595 after gaining 115 points yesterday. the s&p rose 11 points. the nasdaq added 21. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 133 points. but in hon

my fourth point relates to saudi arabia. in a way the saudis have adopted in the course of this series of events an entirely new policy, at least for them, as a sort of serial interventionist. they are now suddenly intervening everywhere. they intervened in yemen and now they've sent troops over to bahrain and they may go back into yemen again. and they're being very much -- their elbows are much sharper than they used to be and we're not accustomed to see the saudis behave that way and they have taken the gulf cooperation council into a kind of monarchial protection shoat it reminds me very much of the brezhnev doctrine for those of you who are old enough to remember. basically any country -- any country that adopted socialism was not prepared to go backwards. once you got there, you couldn't return to a different shape or form. in a way, the dcc is doing the same thing. or saudi arabia is trying to enforce the same thing that any monarch -- any sunni monarch that exists in the gulf is not permitted to revert to any other f

drivers are not getting help from saudi arabia and opec. they claim there is an oversupply. unless trouble in the libya and middle east disrupt oil shipments, that is essentially true . according to the berkeley cool of business. >> saudies are using that to produce less oil which is not surprising, when they have a good excuse to produce less oil they take advantage of it. >> station owners need to anticipate possibly disruptions in the middle east. >> they have enough money to the bank to pay for determine or next week's delivery of fuel. they are often pricing their products in a way that is forward looking. >> that's right. oil dropped two dollars down to 107 a barrel and experts say oil prices will drop. but not as quickly as they go up. three bay area legislators are accusing the rail authority of failing to have a system that meets the needs. today state senator and assembly man proposed the blended system. it integrate it in existing tracks. they are proposing an elevated track. that idea had met a lot of opposition on the peninsula. federal dollars are being cut and

in no way, the representatives out of saudi arabia are they done fighting for another deaf nation resolution. >> organization of islamic conference, they pushed the old resolution for years. briefly, what can you tell us about this group and its aims in the united nations as you see the countries named? >> only 2nd to the united nations. the voting block inside the u.n. is the most influential, 57-member state who is can vote. although the muslim world can be divided, when it comings to rights and freedoms and how to protect themselves, they all unite together. that is the threat of the organization, the islamic conference. it is a dangerous group. its impact is second only to the u.n. itself. >> wow, terrific. always a pleasure to have you. jordan secular, doing incredible work on behalf of persecuted christians, sir as always, thank you for your insights >>> libya's rebels is considering giving arms to their forces. now some question if they are big enough and strong enough to beat gadhafi. others claim al-qaeda and he is he hezbollah are in their lank ranks. tino just returned from bengha

president obama called for major oil producers like saudi arabia to increase phrice hoping that that will bring the prices down. the average price was gallon of unleaded is up. it is up $1.20 from the past year. that reprieve may only be temporary. >> we are on a track going into the summer driving season where historically prices go up. >> the president advocates cutting four billion in federal tax subsidies to companies. they are scheduled to announce the first quarter profits this week. many drivers are eyeing electric vehicles as a way to get around. coming up after this news. abc's lisa starks had the results of the ever test for the cars. >> the line for the east bay hire evens stretched out of the door in the emoriville hilton. abc and job journal were co-sponsors. insurance agencis and retailers and law firms had 300 vacancies to fill . proof there are jobs out there. one prospective employer got his job from a similar job fare and now he is doing the one doing the hiring. >> we'll train the right people. we are looking for people who are willing to work and have the desire t

saudi arabia is going to cut oil production. crude pulled back a bit today. we are below 109 bucks a barrel. gold is at a record high. we get a bunch of data out on housing and unemployment. the earnings parade marching on. a dozen dow opponents. we heard from citigroup at the top of the hour. to recap, the dow rose 56 points friday, the nasdaq inched up four to 2764. also making headlines this morning, toyota resumed production on all 11 japanese plants. this is the first time since the earthquake. the factories are only going to run at half capacity due to parts shortages. they are sourcing 150 types of parts. subway is cutting salt out of its diet. the largest franchise chain has 34,000 locations around the world. they are reducing the sodium on the menu at u.s. stores. this is the fresh fit sandwich line. the overall menu will have 15% less salt. they are the first national chain to announce a cut. >> i'm not a big salt person. i'm a sugar pheen. >> makes mom happy. >> exactly. thanks so much. >> plus card board sandwiches taste great. >>> investors wante

saudi arabia is considered the head of the opec. >>> in the southeast, an epic storm system has killed more than 40 people across six states and caused a tremendous amount of damage. our reporter is live from north carolina's bertie county and i know it's one of the hardest- hit areas. katherine, good morning. what's going on there today? >> reporter: good morning to you. yes. 11 confirmed fatalities in this small county. bertie county north carolina that accounts for more than the fatalities in the entire state. yeah, power outages, schools are city close. but residents are trying to pick up the pieces today their broken lives. >> reporter: there are -- there are now more than 40 people reported dead. the storms destroyed trees, uprooted trees, tossed cars and trucks and killed people across six different states fromom to -- from oklahoma to virginia. north carolina was particularly hard hit, at least 22 people were killed there. yesterday, the governor toured the damaged counties. >> i've seen a lot of damage over the years. but this is the most catastrophic i've seen. the destructio

[applause] ♪ these three pieces are from the gulf region of the arab world, which is saudi arabia, yemen, and oman. kate is wearing a heavier velvet dress with embroidery on the top and kind of going down through the arms. sama this is more toward the saudi, yemen region of the gulf. susan is wearing a traditional yemeni dress from a mountain region. this is a traditional form of a tire -- attire. ♪ ♪ >> this is the last part of our show. this is the part of the show that features lebanon, jordan. she is wearing traditional garb from damascus. i do not know if you can tell but there is a lot of handstitched detail at the top. lena is wearing a traditional jordanian start out with handstitched work. these stars represent different countries. this dress is more of a jordanian style. this is a palestinian dress with hand importers from the top to bottom. -- embroidery from the top to bottom. this is all handstitched. could the other models join the girls on the floor?