think if the president wants to hut her as secretary of state it's his prerogative. it will be a knock down, dragout fight but at the end of the day i think he will win it and we will move forward. >> let's move to the overwhelming vote at u.n. this week, 148 to 9 to recognize palestine as a, quote, nonmember observer state. mara, what does that do for the palestinians, what does it mean in terms of the israeli-palestinian peace process? >> a big boost for the palestinians. they were thrilled and this is something the united states didn't want to happen. they were unable to stop it as is many things in the middle east not under our control. i think at least in the aftermath it looks like it makes a settlement between the israelis and the palestinians harder to reach because the israelis immediately went ahead and announced blueprints for more settlements that would make it harder to have a palestinian state if there ever was one.