Guests:
Sen.
John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen.
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Sen.
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Bob
Woodward
Andrea
Mitchell
Jeffrey
Goldberg
Richard
Wolffe
Robin
Wright
Kathleen
Parker
Ana
Navarro
Barney
Frank
Maria
Bartiromo
Hank Paulson
Gregory:
wow we may have a
deal
on Syria – tell me why it's bad
Mitchell:
Russia has ruled out
bombing
its friend Syria
Gregory:
is Syria backs out the
U.S.
could still bomb
Mitchell:
the UN is going to issue
a
report and its going to make
Assad
look really bad
Gregory:
that's helpful
Mitchell:
the U.S. And Russia are still
trying
to destroy our own chemical weapons
Gregory:
Assad has agreed to destroy
their
chemical weapons – you have
called this weakness
McCain:
yes this is weakness because
someday
it might not work and then
Obama
would be weak
Gregory:
how would a little bombing be helpful?
McCain:
it would if it were a lot of bombing
Gregory:
I see
McCain:
also a different agreement
where
Assad agreed to become a
Republican
would be better
Gregory:
I guess so
McCain:
if this fails it will be an epic failure
Gregory:
true
McCain:
whatever happened to the
President's
red line promising bombing?
I
was promised bombs!
Gregory:
but he's agreed to give up
his
chemical weapons – how is that not progress?
McCain:
because it might not work!
Gregory:
so what would President McCain do?
McCain:
give the wonderful Free
Syrian
Army guns and rockets
Gregory:
ok
McCain:
until recently they had
not
received a single gun
Gregory:
what should the U.S. sacrifice
to help the little rebels in Syria?
Mitchell:
give the rebels anti-tank weapons
Gregory:
do you trust the Free Syria Army?
Mitchell:
yes – but we should have
gotten
involved a year ago
Gregory:
is this deal a winner or loser?
McCain:
it's a loser because it
makes
Russia look good
Gregory:
you want to punish Assad
Menendez:
yes but this may be better –
get
a hold of all of Assad's stash of
chemical
weapons and take them out of circulation
Gregory:
not too bad
Menendez:
but we must keep the threat of force up
Gregory:
Roy you opposed military force in Syria
Blunt:
yes but I was for establishing
a
safe zone in Syria
Gregory:
I see
Blunt:
but then I found out it wasn't popular
Gregory:
that makes sense
Blunt:
so I opposed force because
not
using force would leave Assad
weaker
and support not threatening
force
which has left him stronger
Gregory: did Obama win?
Blunt: a small attack
wouldn't have worked
Gregory: oh
Blunt: Assad is stronger
now than
he was two weeks ago
Gregory: Obama wanted
Syria to get rid of
its chemical weapons and
not get
involved in a civil war
Menendez: and he got it
all – plus he sent
a message to Iran that
he's a tough guy
Gregory: but it seems so
limited
Menendez: Obama also said
Assad
must go – so stay tuned
Gregory: President McCain
wants one
more big war before he
dies
Menendez: I agree would
should arm the rebels
Blunt: It will take years
to recover
from the disaster of the
last two weeks –
our allies will no longer
trust us when we
say promise a war no one
wants
Gregory: good point
Blunt: I hope this
administration take a
very different approach to
Iran and starts
an unpopular war without
authorization
Gregory: right
Blunt: Assad caving to
Obama and Putin
pleading with American not
to bomb has
left American weak and
helpless and we
will probably be invaded
by Monaco
[ break ]
Gregory: Tom Friedman –
should
America police the world?
Friedman: I have to admit
this is a great deal
– we avoid war, get
chemical weapons and
laying the groundwork for
peace in Syria
Gregory: wow
Friedman: the American
people like bombing
other people but would
like to know there
are little junior
christian Americans in the
middle east not a bunch of
islamists
Gregory: is this a victory
for Assad?
Goldberg: yes but it's a
victory for us too –
we're partnering with
Assad to get chemical weapons
Gregory: amazing
Goldberg: the problem is
not chemical weapons
– it's a dictators with
weird mustaches
Wright: we need a grand
design to remake
the middle east to write
their Constitutions
Gregory: you think that's
a good idea?
Wright: we need something
big to deal
with Egypt and Syria and
the Middle East
Mitchell: we have
empowered Vlad Putin!
Gregory: oh noe!
Mitchell: Putin has all
the cards!
Wright: does the world
view us as weak??
Goldberg: all the American
allies in the
region are all confused
about whether
Obama has their back
Gregory: I see
Goldberg: Obama has got
reassure the
dictatorship in Saudi
Arabia!
Friedman: why is it the
job of the U.S. to
remake the middle east and
probably
only help a bunch of
jihadists?
Wright: there is no
valuable players there anywhere
Mitchell: Kerry is trying
to reassure
the Saudis right now
Gregory: oh good
Mitchell: the world is
looking to America for leadership!
Gregory: what's next for
U.S. missteps
in the middle east?
Goldberg: everyone is
terrified that because
Obama didn't declare war
on Syria
Iran will build a nuclear
bomb
Wright: Putin is going to
Iran soon to
maybe strike a deal with
them too
Mitchell: see what I mean
–
peace and diplomacy is
breaking out all over
Goldberg: what a disaster
Gregory: this is not going
to be good for ratings
[ break ]
Gregory: Let's ignore
substance and
talk about “pure
politics”
Parker: our terrible
Presidents are either
aggressive idiots or an
“over thinker”
Gregory: so true
Parker: it's painful to
watch Obama think out loud
– we're paying the price
for that now
Gregory: but it's working
Parker: well we may have
to
re-think our criticism
Wolffe: there has been a
pattern with
this President –
remember he ran terrible
campaign while being
elected President twice
Gregory: McCain says he's
weak
Woodward: Karl Rove says
look at outcomes
Gregory: I love him
Woodward: Obama used judo
and got a good result by accident
Navarro: Obama was a
Commander in Confusion!
Gregory: I love it
Navarro: we've seen Obama
vacillating – it's terrible
Gregory: right-minded
Navarro: Obama's friends
tell me Obama
is a bunch of Keystone
Cops with no strategy
or vision or competence
Gregory: well how you
would you
geniuses solve this
problem?
Parker: if I were
President of the United States
I would attack Obama
Gregory: right
Parker: also Obama
elevated Assad –
Assad is making demands on
us
Navarro: we should have
armed
the rebels for two years
Woodward: Obama never does
strategic thinking
Gregory: I love it!
Woodward: but to be to say
Assad
is making demands on us is
ridiculous
Navarro: but Obama said
force is off the table
Woodward: that's a lie
Gregory: yeah I'd love it
but that's not true
Wolffe: saying arming the
rebels is
very easy but we tried
that in Afghanistan
and it was a disaster
Navarro: Obama said any
further
use of force requires UN
approval
Woodward: that's another
lie you've told
Gregory: let's talk about
the financial crisis
Woodward: we almost had a
Great Depression
– it was a big deal
Gregory: true
Woodward: now Republicans
want to
shut down the government
Navarro: Democrats want to
shut
down the government too
Wood: that's yet another
lie
Navarro: I aim to please
Gregory: thanks for coming
[ break ]
Gregory: talk debt ceiling
to me
Todd: the majority of
people want
us to default on U.S.
debts
Gregory: what about Larry
Summers at the Fed?
Todd: Obama would like
Geithner
but he refused the job
Gregory: Benghazi!!
Todd: there will be three
more hearings
on Benghazi next week
Gregory: I love it
Gregory: is the economy
better off
than it was in 2008?
Paulson: of course it is
you dimwit
Gregory: really
Paulson: we were
hemorraging jobs
and now we're growing
Paulson: could it happen
again?
Frank: the same thing
isn't going to happen again
Paulson: what about too
big too fail?
Frank: we have big
institutions but the
federal government is not
going to bail you out again
Gregory: Wall Street
complains they
are not being allowed to
lend enough
Bartiromo: we need to get
beyond
on how evil Wall Street is
Gregory: we all know they
are
Bartiromo: exactly – now
we have to convince
them to lend out the
trillions they are sitting on
Paulson: that's right
Gregory: why is growth so
slow
Paulson: we need to cut
taxes
Frank: we're doing better
than Europe
Gregory: that's good to
know
Frank: if the banks are in
such big trouble
they can't lend out any
money then why
are they paying themselves
so much money
Bartiromo: [ laughs ]
Paulson: we bailed out
Wall Street as a
big favor to the average
American
Gregory: the ingratitude
is shocking
Paulson: there will be
more crises in the future
- we don't know where it
will come from
Gregory: that's good to
know
Frank: we made money
bailing out Wall Street banks
Gregory: problem solved –
and that's
another episode of Meet
The Press
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