is israel planning a spring attacks against iran? new reports show increased tensions over the nuclear program. teargas, rocks, of violence in egypt as protesters take to the streets as anger over the football deaths rages. a bitter freeze covers europe and this cold is dangerous. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. iran's supreme leader has warned that any attempt to attack his country's nuclear program will meet a full-scale response. his comments come a day after israel's defense minister told a security meeting that time was running out to hold iran's nuclear ambitions. american officials, including the defense secretary leon panetta, have expressed concern that israel might be this is in itself for an early attack on the islamic republic. -- might be positioning itself for an early attack on the islamic republic. >> the ayatollah has a large audience for his words and now his warnings. he suggested that iran has threats of its own that it can impose against the threats. he told supporters that new amer

and you have hamas and islamic jihad in gaza could fire missiles into israel if israel does decide to hit. the problem we are looking at here is israel says at some point iran will reach the point of no return, that could be as soon as 6 months and israel says no matter what it will not allow iran to get the nuclear bomb, leaving open the option for a military strike before reaching that point of no return. experts say somewhere between march and june is when that window is optimal. megyn: leland, thank you. in some respects israel versus iran would be like the battle of david and goliath. though in this case david has some sear fire power -- david has some serious fire power. israel has 176,000 active duty soldiers. when it comes to air sphere yoart, israel has 433 combat aircraft. iran has half that number. on the high says, israel has 5 subject marines, iran is thought to have 23. ambassador john bolton joins us live to explain the likelihood of this happening, an attack on iran's nuclear state and what that would mean for the united states of america. brand-new numbers out on amer

warns israel not to attack, but what if israel doesn't listen? >>> avalanche. tragedy on a mountain near a popular resort. several skiers are dead. one survived. tonight she's telling the story about what she says saved her life. >>> and rocket man. the american hero who, 50 years ago today made the nation stop and look up. we have been looking up to him ever since. we have been looking up to him ever since. "nbc nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. it's become part of this election cycle. we have all watched as multiple candidates have risen to that front-runner status in the gop race. that always means bigger crowds, more money, more media attention and more scrutiny. for rick santorum who right now is receiving all of that coming off victories in three of the last four contests this was a weekend of wide-ranging remarks followed by some damage control and clarification. after a series of controversial comments on the president, on public schools and on prenatal testing it was a weekend that left some wonde

israel says it won't warn the u.s. if it decides to launch a strike on iranian nuclear facilities israel which believes tehran is a threat has been ramping up belligerent rhetoric in recent weeks the spy warnings from washington by authorities reading a list of reports other more immediate threats may be dangerously overlooked. love their neighbors as the biblical saying goes but in the case of israel there is not much love lost between the jewish state and the countries closest do it while authorities in jerusalem in fierce and feyerick is ations at iran some wonder if in their empty tehran frenzy they may have overlooked other troubles brewing much closer to home to gary the roots of my euphoria in israel are the result hostile activity there is no terrorist activity. other than. the gaza strip. in fact the post conflict has long been a source of problems for the israeli government but recently seems the issue has all but been forgotten and some believe this blinkered approach may end up having dire and explosive con

has puzzled over israel's intentions so what if israel does decide to strike iran and this is a u.s. official says it's hard to know what's a bluster and what's not with israelis well i think a lot of this is baloney and nonsense the israelis are the recipient the benefactor of three billion dollars a year in u.s. military aid if they do something that's completely contrary to what washington wants they will be on the very short end of the stick the israelis are not dominating in dictating u.s. policy in this geo strategically and they are not they have a big influence in washington they have a strong lobby but when it comes to iran or when it comes to iraq the israelis do not tell the united states what to do it's vice versa if israel strikes no if the conflict is presented that way between the islamic republic and israel the people of the middle east will really to the side of iran the assassination of the iranian scientist which rick santorum called half a measure. or john bolton of. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations the sanctions the tightening of the sanctions the

then iran loses its only regional ally and it further isolates you are allowing the united states and israel to put more pressure on it to stop its nuclear weapons program suspected nuclear weapons program so there is a clear strategic interests go ahead jump in i just want to jump in i do think there are any and they're greatly concerned here i think one of the problems at the top of their concern is if the syrian regime falls that in a sense the arab spring will blow back into iran again in they'll see an uptick in their in the opposition or own country so i think they're not just for the strategic reasons that they want syria to stay because it's their pipeline and lawson has once important regional ally but i think it also has domestic implications for them that they're really concerned about what you think about that james i mean what how does the rand play into all of this here because again i look at western mainstream media and they're just doing this typical colored revolution element here which we we all have to be honest with ourselves we don't really know what's much of what's go

how do you think it's revision could affect the fragile opposition of israel in the region. i think that if the peace treaty proves to be something that does not survive the rise of the islamists of power in egypt this will make israelis think twice and three times and four times before opening up negotiations with other arab countries in the future this is one of the pitfalls of reaching peace agreements with countries whose regimes are ultimately unstable and could fall one day in the future so this will have an effect on the entire region and it's certainly not putting most israelis in a mood to take further risks for peace at this stage another possibility of u.s. aid to egypt being scrapped to lead to threats from the muslim brotherhood but at the same time most of the egyptians oppose the aid calling it a humiliation how far do you think that public anger could go. so i once more i'm going to have to ask you to repeat the question that's ok the possibility of u.s. aid being scrapped by egypt led to threats from the muslim muslim brotherhood but the same time most egypt

has puzzled over israel's intentions so what if israel does decide to strike iran and this is a u.s. official says it's hard to know what's a bluster and what's not with israelis well i think a lot of this is baloney and nonsense the israelis are the recipient the benefactor of three billion dollars a year in u.s. military aid if they do something that's completely contrary to what washington wants they will be on the very short end of the stick the israelis are not dominating and dictating u.s. policy in this geo strategically say or not they have a big influence in washington they have a strong lobby but when it comes to iran or when it comes to iraq the israelis do not tell the united states what to do it's vice versa if israel strikes no if the conflict is presented that way between the islamic republic and israel the people of the middle east will really to the side of iran the assassination of the iranian scientist which rick santorum called half and that's where. john bolton of. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations the sanctions that tightening up the sanctions the

to do great damage to israel in the event of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has a pattern and a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of a racks nuclear facility in one thousand nine hundred one even though that was permitted by international law and subject to spec sions in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came and bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want there right now even though they are happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would then present the crisis death struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side and the israeli's ionise regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to

has puzzled over israel's intentions so what if israel does decide to try. iran and this is a u.s. official says it's hard to know what's a bluster and what's not with israelis well i think a lot of this is baloney and nonsense the israelis are the recipient the benefactor of three billion dollars a year in u.s. military aid if they do something that's completely contrary to what washington wants they will be on the very short end of the stick the israelis are not dominating and dictating u.s. policy in this geostrategic we are not they are not they have a big influence in washington they have a strong lobby but when it comes to iran or when it comes to iraq the israelis do not tell the united states what to do it's vice versa if israel strikes know if the conflict is presented that way between the islamic republic and israel the people of the middle east will really to the side of iran the assassination of the iranian scientist which rick santorum called half a measure. or john bolton of. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations the sanctions the tightening of the sanction

israel accused iran and it lebanese ally hezbollah of being responsible. the united states has implied that iran may also be connected to the incident in bangkok. >> these events do come on the heels of other disrupted attacks targeted at israel and western interests including an iranian sponsored attack in baku, azerbaijan and a hezbollah-linked attack in bangkok, thailand. >> reporter: iran denied involvement calling it an israeli plot to damage iran's relationship with thailand. security in bangkok has been tightened since last month when a man was arrested for possession of explosives. the man was expected to having links to hezbollah, but a thai government spokesperson told nhk world that the latest event was unrelated. the bomb blasts in thailand happened as confrontation between iran and israel intensifies over iran's nuclear development. all eyes are now focused on investigations being conducted by thai authorities in their bid to find out more about those believed to be responsible. reporting for nhk world, bangkok. >> investors are worried that w

do great damage to israel in the event of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has an a pattern and a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of iraq's nuclear facility in one nine hundred eighty one even though that was a permitted by international law and subject to spec sions in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came and bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want that right now even though they are happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would then present the crazes death struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side in the israeli's regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to mobilize ma

and iran and israel and that is says that israel may strike iran within months but why are they going to make those kinds of statements what would be the u.s. position and is is any of what we're hearing about iran's nuclear program even true chosen sione is going to join us to hash it all out the jobs numbers came out for the month of january and the news was pretty good official unemployment went down to eight point three percent real unemployment down to fifteen point one percent so do we see any trends of forming here richard s. going to help us break down all those figures and florida's republicans are looking to privatizing prisons in the state so we can speak to an experience of the young turks about why this is a no good horrible idea we're not all that morphy tonight including it as of happy hour but first take a look what the mainstream media has decided to me it's. all right so once again we hear this horrible drumming sound it's getting louder and louder especially after report reported statement by secretary of defense leon panetta that he believes there is a very strong

israel strikes iran, iran launched missiles into israel -- not great, but ok. the reason the united states opposes this is they fear the fallout. or pass away of unintended consequences -- war has a way of unintended consequences, all wars. they just testified last week that iran is thinking of operating inside the united states. >> the iranian oil is already being cut off. europeans are not importing it. the saudis are determined to see the iranian nuclear program wiped out. they are very upset about this. the saudi pledge is to replace any iranian oil. the question is if they close the strait of hormuz, which, as evan indicated, is suicidal. the other question is if the they attack the united states base in bahrain, which is also so set up, because he would bring the americans and europe into the war. the iranian response would be to attack israel and nobody else. >> we also have to note that even if they succeeds, the estimates of the slowing down the iranians are between one and, at long as, three years. it has to be part of the calculus. that is one of the

at once do you think your man could attack israel i don't think you could israel attack iran i don't know but common sense. is critically dependent on international legitimacy. respond responsive dry on iran would be legitimate. and i think. any course. a preemptive strike on iraq and. thank you very much for joining us here are not seen. as. just so. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcomes a big picture. from los angeles to chicago to birmingham twenty trauma centers have closed since two thousand severe problem is not enough inpatient beds not enough earth emergency department beds and not enough nurses to man goes there to take care of all the people who are here the only real health care system that we have in the city of los angeles is the los angeles fire department in fact when i started my venture is a firefighter i didn't want to turn it around so i started out i want to just do fi

israel's leaders are actively drumming up the military rhetoric. iran is the biggest terror exporter in the world the israeli government and its security forces will continue to act forcefully systematically and calmly against international terrorism eating from iran. a potential israeli rocket clash looks more likely than never there is speculation a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear sites could happen as early as spring or summer although that's not causing undue concern in israel i think possibly people you know they make their plans for a vacation you know pass or a vacation summer vacation possibly people are beginning to wonder well is there going to be a war is something going to mess it up or i think they're probably going ahead with it with sort of a thought we're back tomorrow it would be nice if we could get a flight that we could cancel you know you know is that sort of thing israel has previous experience when it comes to putting an end to you kim fissions which pose a potential threat in one thousand nine hundred one is jets wi

is looking for allies i think israel is looking for. partners. of convenience. one is jordan. who's survivability in the way in the form we know it is a house in my kingdom. so we entertain. a lot of common interests egypt is. consumed by its own revolution and as long as it doesn't pose a threat to us i think israel is taking a very careful distance and turkey. to cut a straw figure foreign policy towards one of the emerging powers in the middle three new that's why syria goes what is the best outcome for israel and why does the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wants everything to change in syria if that would mean also i could mean another islamic state on the border i don't think israel came there. have an impact on the outcome of any regime change that is underway anyway. so to ignore the fact that there is a regime change in the making in syria would be. unacceptable but at the same time we need to be very careful not to expedite it is there any way that it all could support and i would break military invasion of crimea qa

israel says it won't warn the u.s. of a decides to launch a strike in iranian nuclear facilities israel which believes iran is a threat has been ramping up belligerent rhetoric in recent weeks to spy warnings from washington but artillery now reports other more immediate threats may be dangerously overlooked. love their neighbors as the biblical saying goes but in the case of israel there is not much love lost between the jewish state and the countries closest do it while authorities in jerusalem in fierce and feyerick is ations at iran some wonder if in their empty tehran frenzy they may have overlooked other troubles brewing much closer to home to gary the reason why euphoria in israel called the result hostile activity so there is no terrorist activity. other than. the gaza strip. in fact the post conflict has long been a source of problems for the israeli government but recently seems the issue has all but been forgotten some believe this blinkered approach may end up having dire and explosive consequences for isra

iraq israel and turkey we have very good relations with three of those countries turkey iraq and israel they have very vested interests in a solution that doesn't make that part of the world worse i think primarily what u.s. policy be doing is working with those three countries working on getting them on a common agenda and doing what is best possible for the region and for the people of syria but i think this discussion about a direct military intervention by a coalition of the willing is is premature and and again very likely to lead to a really really difficult situation that make things look like somalia and other countries are just bad and i just remind people you know the closest we've had to this is bosnia and if you remember about the one thing about the european intervention in bosnia the europeans went in basically after the killing stop. i mean after the worst genocide was over after the sides had had split off and after everybody was exhausted then they went to go again on the front is a very difficult and very different scenario very interesting james if i go to you in los

israel has said that we have to do something. now, you have in the space of a few weeks, we have israel saying that they have to take action. we know that the military leadership in israel is against action but what the defense minister and the foreign ministers seem to be for it. meanwhile, the u.s. is also shifting its view. one day, saying that all options on the table, the other day they are concerned about military action. >> why would israel broadcast this kind of warning of an attack when presumably they could just do it, right? >> right. this would signal perhaps there try to put pressure both on iran and the west to put sanctions on iran. u.s. officials seem to be genuinely concerned and genuinely in the dark about israel's intention. >> the down side presumably of any potential attack remains the same, the risk of retaliation. has anything changed that might make an attack more imminent now? >> the risks have not lessened but if there is a window of opportunity. the elections here are having a very political impact. thi

aiming something as israel is just practice for their big target, you. that's my view, and i welcome you. you can contact me at mikehuckabee.com and when you do click on the link on the home page. e-mail me. you can also contact me on facebook or sign up to follow me on twitter. by the way, my new york city times best selling book "a simple government, something congress needs a little more of" it's out in paper book. you can carry it wherever you go now. this week israeli prime minister called iran the most irresponsible force in the world. saying that a nuclear iran should concern the united states and every other country. the prime minister's former chief of staff, natali bennett, joins us from jerusalem. it's great to have you with us today. thanks for joining me. >> thank you. it's nice to be here. >> let's start by talking about the very real threat that is being posed by the iranians. they have made lots of comments. the saber rattling is real. just this weekend we have now learned they are moving ships through the suez canal in direct sort of fla

could israel go out on its own and take action against iran. unfortunately the u.s. the possibility does exist that israel could go ahead and launch an attack against iran however i think that is a slim possibility the reason being is well runs the risk not only of iranian retaliation and how iran's allies could come to help likewise by law for example here in lebanon and that's not the only risk the other risk is that there is an increasing argument in america itself that israel is turning into a strategic liability for the u.s. not into a strategic strategic asset now if israel goes ahead and those bomb iran and if and that will lead to very negative repercussions including the economic repercussions when it comes to oil that argument about israel being a strategic liability for doris's of america will increase more and more and that will lead to huge public opinion outpost inside america itself against israel don't forget that we are witnessing protests in america over the economic situation the occupy wall street movement which has even touched upon foreign aid a

has no right to exist israel should disappear israel is not a natural entity in the middle east and then you have these same irradiance coming the saying we believe that israel has nuclear capability israel should sign the n.p.t. their own proof ration treaty just as we have and should reveal what it has. called into the role of nations only nations and countries can be members of the n.p.t. so you cannot on the one hand demand that israel should sign the n.p.t. on the other hand deny israel's right to exist and i've said to them that i believe that this is something which is unacceptable a second point has been israel has insisted on its be recognized as a jewish state. and they have said to me look we don't say that france in its title doesn't say the christian state or france or the christian state of britain or the catholic state of germany and so forth and i've said to them that why do you say the islamic republic of iran if you raise the word islamic we will raise the word jewish and they say no that's different why is it different this is the kind of. discussion we have had t

in this process israel makes a lot of profit because the aid actually passes through israel and they're using israeli currency to pay for the goods they buy a lot of the food from israeli companies and actually israel is profiting they collect taxes from the aid organizations and then at the end of that process israel takes the liberty to bomb whatever project they don't approve of the israeli government decides well we don't want to say mean so have their own airport we don't want to put a since they have their own seaport so we're just going to bomb them and when they do and cause hundreds of millions of euros worth of damage to these projects the donor countries do nothing about it if we talk about the example you gave of the airport in gaza or supporting gaza these examples donor countries france the netherlands in other countries simply never asked for compensation never asked for their money back they just keep spending money on the next project and the next these are really companies continue to make a profit from this and the palestinians actually get no projects because the pro

that israel's leaders are actively drumming up their military rhetoric. iran is the biggest terror exporter in the world the israeli government and its security forces will continue to act forcefully systematically and calmly against international terrorism eating from iran. a potential israeli rocket clash looks more likely than ever there is speculation a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear sites could happen as early as spring or summer although that's not causing undue concern in israel i think possibly people you know they make their plans for a vacation you know pass or vacation summer vacation possibly people are beginning to have wondered well is there going to be a war is something going to mess it up or i think they're probably going ahead with it with sort of a thought we're back home or it would be nice if we could get a flight that we could cancel you know you know it's that sort of thing israel has previous experience when it comes to putting an end to nuclear ambitions which pose a potential threat in one thousand nine hundred one is j

i don't think should israel attacking iran i don't know but common sense say that israel is critically critically dependent on international legitimacy. respond the response of strike on iran will be illegitimate a preemptive strike will not and i think is a voided any. was it a preemptive strike on iraq ambassador a man by one thank you very much for joining us here on our to. use. it is. from los angeles to chicago to birmingham twenty trauma centers have closed since two thousand supermom is not enough inpatient beds not on the third emergency department beds and not enough nurses. to take care of all the people. the only real health care system that we have in the city of los angeles is the los angeles fire department in fact when i started my venture as a firefighter i didn't want to and i started out going to just do fire fighting it's about eighty two percent of what we do the florida problem this medical. got a risk you know waited four hours for i've waited sometimes three hours i was it's a same francis in lynnwood for four hours and fifty minutes standing against a wall with

is looking for allies i think israel is looking for. partners. of convenience. one is jordan. who's survivability in the way in the form we know it today how she made kingdom. so we entertain. a lot of common interests egypt is consumed by its own revolution and as long as it doesn't pose a threat to us. i think israel is taking a very careful distance and turkey. to cut a straw figure foreign policy towards one of the emerging powers in the middle three new as far as korea goes what is the best outcome for israel and why does the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wants everything to change in syria if that would mean also i could mean another islamic state on the border i don't think israel came there. to have an impact on the outcome of any regime change that is underway anyway. so to ignore the fact that there is a regime change in the making in syria would be. unacceptable but it's the same time we need to be very careful not to expedite it is there any way that it will cut the cord and i would make a military invasion of cr

and iran and israel and that is says that israel may strike iran within months but why would they want to make those kinds of statements what would be the u.s. position and is it is any of what we're hearing about iran's nuclear program even true prince he only is going to join us to hash it all out the jobs numbers came out for the month of january and the news was pretty good official unemployment went down to eight point three percent real unemployment down to fifteen point one percent so do we see any trends of forming here richard s. going to help us break down all those figures and florida's republicans are looking to privatizing prisons in the state so we can speak to is fair enough the young turks about why this is a no good horrible idea we're not all that morphy tonight including a dose of happy hour but first take a look what the mainstream media has decided to me it's. all right so once again we hear this horrible drumming sound is getting louder and louder especially after reports reported statement by secretary of defense leon panetta that he believes there is a very stro

the group is hostile to israel. israel cannot afford to overlook situations that threaten the poilt balance in the middle southeast. he suggested israel might take some sort of military action to safeguard its security. >>> now, after a warm evening, tokyo commuters are once again bracing against the chill. which way is the mercury headed? rachel ferguson joins us with the world weather forecast. >> well, as you guessed already, catherine, it is going to be plummeting today across much of the country. cold air is taking a grip of much of northern parts of eastern asia and while the continent is quite quiet and clear up towards the north, in fact, these showers here in the southeast of china will be moving out as well, we will see temperatures descending as the cold air also descends down in towards parts of southern china, even hong kong going down to 15, 14 degrees in the next couple of days. while things dry in the southeast of china, we are going to see shower s blossoming in england, getting heavier into friday.

there has been a lot of discussion in israel, a debate in israel about whether israel should move forward, defense minister barak allude to do this. in the meantime, the united states asked israel not attack iran because they believe the sanctions are now beginning to work. incidentally, you notice that the european community, someone came in the last few weeks, all part of this campaign to keep israel from doing the bombing and so the question really is, isn't that imminent and secondly, should they strike with or without the united states? >> eric? >> i think it is imminent. i think they will. they've shown a willingness to take out the high level professors. but what we really need to understand is everyone looks at ahmadinejab as the leader of iran of the he's not. the ayatollah khomeini, who is the leader of the mullah, they're the real rulers in iran and they hate everything about israel. they hate everything about america. so with that kind of hatred, israel probably has no choice but to eventually take out the structure, the nuclear facilities. how they do it, you know, if they ha

warns israel not to attack, but what if israel doesn't listen? >>> avalanche. tragedy on a mountain near a popular resort. several skiers are dead. one survived. tonight she's telling the story about what she said saved her life. >>> and rocket man. the american hero who, 50 years ago today made the nation stop and look up. we have been looking up to him ever since. we have been looking up to him ever since. "nbc nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. it's become part of this election cycle. we have all watched as candidates have risen to the front-runner status in the gop race. that means more money, bigger crowds and more scrutiny. for rick santorum who right now is receiving all of that coming off victories in three of the last four contests this was a weekend of wide-ranging remarks followed by some damage control and clarification. after a series of controversial comments on the president, on public schools and on prenatal testing it was a weekend that left some wondering what was senator santorum trying t

in this process israel makes a lot of profit because the aid actually pass through israel and they're using israeli currency to pay for the goods they buy a lot of the food from israeli companies and actually israel is profiting they collect taxes from the aid organizations and then at the end of that process israel takes the liberty to bomb whatever project there they don't approve of the israeli government decides well we don't want has any and so have their own airport we don't want that but it seems they have their own seaport so we're just going to bomb them and when they do and cause in hundreds of millions of euros worth of damage to these projects the donor countries do nothing about it if we talk about the example you gave of the airport in gaza or fourteen thousand these examples donor countries france the netherlands in other countries simply never asked for compensation never asked for their money back they just keep spending money on the next project and the next israeli companies continue to make a profit from this and the palestinians actually get no projects because th

do great damage to israel in the event of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has a pattern and a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of iraq's nuclear facility in one thousand nine hundred one even though that was permitted by international law and subject to spec sions in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came and bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want there right now even though they are happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would then present the crisis struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side in the israeli's regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to mobilize mass suppo

and iran and israel and that is says that israel may strike iran within months but why would they want to make those kinds of statements what would be the u.s. position and is iran and is any of what we're hearing about iran's nuclear program even true prince the only is going to join us to hash it all out the jobs numbers came out for the month of january and the news was pretty good official unemployment went down to eight point three percent real unemployment down to fifteen point one percent so do we see any trends forming here richard esko is going to help us break down all those figures and florida's republicans are looking to privatizing prisons in the state so we're going to speak to an experience of the young turks about why this is a no good horrible idea we're not all that morphy tonight including it as of happy hour but first take a look what the mainstream media has decided to me. all right so once again we hear this horrible drumming sound is getting louder and louder especially after report a reported statement by secretary of defense leon panetta that he believes there

to say to israel no or not. quite frankly, we are in a presidential year where governor romney and it certainly speaker gingrich have been, if anything, 110% in favor of an aggressive israeli policy and critical of the administration. >> romney and gingrich are not in office. the israeli thinking -- the israelis could suffer thousands of casualties if lebanon or hezbollah attacks. israelis know all the rest and how short term the advantage would be. the reason they are thinking about this is that for israelis, but the weeks before the 1967 war, israel was abandoned by the whole world. israel had to do preemptive attack. it feels as isolated as back then and will take the same risk. >> politics of birth control and breast cancer. >> this is a violation of the basic rights of conscience. >> this mandate violates our constitution. >> that is house speaker boehner and a cardinal of washington. the obama administration policy requires all employees, including catholic employees, to pay for contraceptive is regardless

to do great damage to israel in the event of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has a pattern and a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of a racks a nuclear facility in one thousand nine hundred one even though that was permitted by international law and subject to spec sions in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came and bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want there right now even though they are happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would then present the crisis struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side and the israelis ionise regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to mobil

in this process israel makes a lot of profit because the aid actually passes through israel and they're using israeli currency and to pay for the goods they buy a lot of the food from israeli companies and actually israel is profiting they collect taxes from the aid organizations and then at the end of that process israel takes the liberty to bomb whatever project there they don't approve of the israeli government decides well we don't want posing in so have their own airport we don't want to but it seems to have their own seaport so we're just going to bomb them and when they do and cause hundreds of millions of euros worth of damage to these projects the donor countries do nothing about it if we talk about the example you gave of the airport in gaza or supporting doesn't these examples the donor countries france the netherlands in other countries simply never asked for compensation never asked for their money back they just keep spending money on the next project and the next israeli companies continue to make a profit from this and the palestinians actually get no projects because th

tom don lynn is in israel and met with netanyahu, trying to persuade israel that iran does not yet have the technical capacity to build a bomb, hasn't decided to build a bomb and that sanctions can still work. >> andrea mitchell in our washington newsroom. thanks, and rea. >>> there was more bloodshed in syria today. activists say dozens of people were killed during the continued crackdown by government forces. meanwhile syrian state tv is reporting on the assassinations of a state prosecutor and a judge killed during an ambush near the border with turkey. >>> to presidential politics now and the continued rise of the culture wars on the campaign trail. tonight the obama campaign is lashing out at rick santorum over comments about the president that santorum says were misinterpreted. nbc's ron mott has the details on the trail for us tonight in ohio. >> it's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. >> reporter: after saying the president's energy philosophy was based on a phony theology saturday -- >> i wasn't suggesting the president is not a christian. >> reporter: rick santorum h

israel has built hundreds of thousands of homes here in the west bank more than half a million people now live in settlements television onstott was issuing tenders for thousands more homes to be built across the green line evoking anger and condemnation from the international community. as many as a million twenty eight israelis living outside the country in the last five years the number of people who choose to leave the holy land has outpaced those wanting to come and live in israel and although the ads are no longer on the air the reasons that they provoke such a backlash in the first place are far from resolved policy r r t television shortly cross-talk asks its panel of experts what should be done to bring stability to syria that's after the business something that's next. thanks bill hello you're watching a business r.t. live from moscow and source said to be the most hyped i.p.o. in years facebook is expected to file the paperwork for its public listing in new york as soon as today wednesday the social network will reportedly sell it and percent stake to raise up to ten billio

israel says it will, but not forever. and israel says it can destroy even iran's most defended nuclear sites. >> i believe that the weight of the nuclear project in iran with all the protections and all the defensive measures, which has been made by human beings can be penetrated by human beings. >> reporter: but why the rush? israel estimates iran could have a nuclear weapon within a year. israel believes with each month iran's nuclear program gets more advanced, more entrenched and could achieve irreversible momentum, a point where even an israeli air strike wouldn't slow it down. israel says it cannot wait for that to happen, but the cost of an attack would likely be iranian missiles falling here in tel aviv. ron baruto showed us his family's bomb shelter. he's making sure it's ready. >> we'll probably have to put this room into use. >> reporter: every israeli apartment built in the last 20 years must have a bomb shelter. these are gas masks? every israeli is issued a gas mask. being prepared doesn't mean all israelis

i'm not sure israel has all of the capability to do it themselves wholesticly. they can do segregated targeting. i don't know the answer, but this is just my assessment. they could hurt iran badly. i like to just make one other comment if you don't mind. that is about the missiles that iran has. when we went into iraq, desert storm, to hunt scuds that were falling into israel, you had to understand the mentality of the israelis because of that -- those actions. it didn't have to destroy a lot. it was the psychological impact. if they believed that iran has the ranges, and they do. missiles and that, to be fired in israel, you have to look at the israeli perspective on preempting that to happen. they're very concerned about this. if you're in israel, which you have been, anderson, you understand they have no strategic depth, and they feel they're up against a wall. so this is a likely occurrence if the intelligence or other threat shows they may, iran may take action, i think they may strike. >> if they can't hit as wide a number of targets if they would like, is

the administration does not want israel to attack iran. they would prefer to use sanctions, let the oil embargo take place. theirs currency is collapsed. they feel they're underpressure. five scientists have been murdered. they see them as on the ropes. when general dempsey came out and pretty much explained the situation as it's existential to them. not to us. that didn't make the israelis feel very good. and sort of feeling like, yeah, we're going to get wiped off the map. i think right now we don't know whether they'll attack or not. they're posturing in the hopes that iran will be afraid they're going to attack, 'cause obviously they don't want to attack if they can avoid it. >> bret: iran's president watched the launch of a satellite. there is reports that they're working on a missile designed to reach the united states. this back and forth continues to be increasing, it seems, at a different pace than perhaps it was. >> there is no question about it. i think if you take the words of the supreme leader seriously, we have no choice to.

israel should sign the n.p.t. the nonproliferation treaty just as we have i should reveal what it has. called into the role of nations only nations and countries can be members of the n.p.t. so you cannot on the one hand demand that israel should sign the n.p.t. on the other hand deny israel's right to exist and i've said to them that i believe that this is something which is unacceptable a second point has been israel has insisted on its be recognized as a jewish state. and they have said to me look we don't say that france in its title doesn't say the christian state or france or the christian state of britain or the catholic state of germany and so forth and i've said to them that why do you say the islamic republic of iran if you raise the word islamic we will raise the word jewish and they say no that's different why is it different this is the kind of. discussion we have had to put it that way sometimes very very. heated discussion in your opinion would it be good or bad for israel if assad regime force. let

and israel from their course. there has really really been a kind of a drumbeat over the past month or so not simply on iran creating a nuclear weapon but the senate now has a bill before it which would urge the obama administration to consider military action against iran if iran created the capacity to build a nuclear weapon know a lot of countries have the capacity to build a nuclear weapon argentina brazil south africa taiwan japan under a lot of countries that have that capacity and that would move the goal posts a lot closer to military intervention and you also have the u.s. election coming up and the republican candidates are saying that the moment ministration is weak on iran that it should take military action against iran that it should draw red lights in the same and it should follow up on them except i think there's a very hawkish kind of a viewpoint out there it's unclear exactly what the israelis will do to try and pressure the environment ministration or whether they're keeping better lection in mo

and you while israel is threatening military action however u.s. intelligence has reportedly now said there's no evidence to support accusations that to ron is pursuing nuclear weapons reza marashi from the national iranian american council and also former u.s. state department officer spoke to me and said a new approach is needed i think. the american intelligence agencies and for that matter the israeli intelligence agencies and many other foreign governments intelligence agencies are saying that iran is not made the political decision to proceed to weaponize stations and that leaves time for diplomacy to be pursued to find a peaceful solution that's beneficial to all parties and blocks the primary sticking point the primary truck problem that we see is that nobody trusts one another people in the us one don't trust each other iran doesn't trust anybody in the peace five plus one so in an effort to try and move things forward and shift that paradigm from the negative to the positive you know we need to get. international leaders need to find ways

iran is more -- >> israel will destroy iran? >> they have 200 to 300 nuclear weapons p if the iranians develop and build a bomb, i don't think they're going, to but if they do, israel will put those 200 weapons on a hair trigger. i don't believe the iranians are as nuts as everybody else says. they haven't fought anybody since when, john? >> go ahead. >> and if the israelis do attack, it doesn't end the threat. >> no. >> it postpones it. and in the meantime, you have iran retail eighting with all kinds of terrorist attacks, the set-up you showed. that's what the hint of what they can do. and that can rapidly get out of hand and certainly affect us in this country as well. >> even if there was a nuclear response by israel, or nuclear attack, iran will continue to have a mass of conventional army that -- and they will have the public fervor for some kind of action hostile action against israel that will be immense. there's that consequence too. and they will have a conventional military, a big one. >> yes. but let's face it, you j