George Mitche Mitchell News Today

To the key people, get their advice before you decide to do it. >> neil: do you, when you see washington today and the environment today, is this just the way its always going to be? and that whoever is best and working in that system he work that system and maybe it is trumps approach to fight fire with fire? >> well, i think thats a lousy way to govern. i dont think it has to be that way. i think the reality is that the president can exercise the leadership necessary to try to get both sides t...

Obstacles to getting the palestinians back to the bargaining table. >> right. senator mitchell, you heard what john said there. how crucial is this going to be, this part of the debate? >> yeah. its a very important part of it. lets be clear. every american president since israel was created has opposed israeli settlement construction. democrat and republican alike. no president has ever supported continued expansion of settlements. at the same time, we in israel are close friends and allies. we...

And one of the -- part of the assistance he will get, excuse me, is from the israeli military. im in jerusalem tonight, piers. the united states is 6,000 miles from syria. im 135 miles from damascus. so the israelis have a history of having better intelligence, if you will, of that neighborhood. >> stay with me. im going to bring in george mitche mitchell, former u.s. special envoy to the middle east. mr. mitchell, when you see whats going on here, what is your overview of the region in totality...

Talking about a lasting peace is one thing. making it happen with the palestinians is another. can the president do what others have not. we have allen dush wits, attorney and author and president of the arab american institute and author of "arab voices." start with you, allen der shallwits. will israel and arab nations ever live in peace? yes, 32%. no, 66%. very depressing. what is a way through this? are you remotely optimistic? >> i am very optimistic. it depends what you mean by peace. will...

>> senator mitchell and john king, thank you both very much indeed. >> thank you. coming next, talking about the presidents trip to israel. whether there is any chance for a peace settlement. then i read an artie about study that oked at the long term health benefits of taking multivitamins. hey used centr silver f t study... so i guess my wife was right. male anner ] centrum. ways your mostomplet

States is in the region to stay, and were not pulling out any time soon. >> john king, the one thing we didnt hear about today was settlements. why is that, and is that going to be discussed over the next couple of days? >> reporter: well, it will be discussed in the morning. you can be syrian, piers, when president obama goes to see mahmud abbas, his top complaint, im not coming back to the bargaining table until israel stops building settlements in the west bank. and im interested in senator m...