street. but it is trying to negotiate some compromise so that it doesn't come to that. that's tough enough. and now add in this in your face political chal friend the republican presidential front-runner. texas governor rick perry who came to new york city to accuse president obama of fumbling middle east diplomacy and undermining israel in the process. >> we are equally indignant of the obama administration and their middle east policy of appeasement that's encouraged such an ominous act of bad faith. simply put, we would not be here today at this very precipice of such a dangerous move. the if the obama policy in the middle east wasn't naive and arrogant, misguided, and dangerous. >> and the governor didn't stop there. he called the obama foreign policy naive and said that it left iran's radical remember emboldened. >> to date we have fumble our greatest opportunity for regime change. average iranian citizens were marching on tehran in the green revolution in 2009. america was wasting precious time on a naive policy of outreach to iranian and syrian governments. >> let's discuss the president's diplomatic challenge and governor perry's political gambit. let's start first with the policy challenge. the president was not scheduled to meet with the palestinian leader abbas but they will have that meeting wednesday. david gergen, how critical is it for the president to try to convince president abbas and what might there be as a compromise? >> it is enormously -- important to the united states, john. and to much of western europe. that's why tony blair is trying to head this off. we are in this situation. president obama said he supports statehood for the palestinians. if the palestinians now look for a vote on that in the security council we promise we would veto it. the president who supported statehood is going to now veto statehood and that, as you saw, will risk a backlash not only in the arab states but palestinians and could put the united states -- the statehood issue itself could lead to more violence. certainly will lead to an end to prospects for negotiations any time soon with the israelis. >> gloria, the president, we know he is frustrated with the netanyahu government of israel. he patientes there was more progress but at the same time he has a, the united states and israel allies. b, domestic political consideration. listen here. listen here to former president bill clinton talking to wolf blitzer earlier today. it seems president clinton also thinks mr. netanyahu has been too intransigent. >> sooner or later everybody has to come clean. if they have no intention of having a reasonable settlement on the west bank and they should say that so the palestinians can get on with their lives and should live with the consequences. but meanwhile, the united states will veto this because we have to keep open the possibility of a negotiated peace. and the people in the arab world that understand that, it will be fine with it. we need to contain the fallout, make something good happen. >> and -- for a former president there who thought he was once close to an israeli/palestinian agreement, that's a very small, if you will, goal, contain the fallout. >> and he is -- you know, he's really making a charge about netanyahu saying, you know, there is talk that he really doesn't want this two-state agreement and ought to come out and say it. i mean, it is very clear to me and, of course, don't forget bill clinton is married to the secretary of state of the united states, that he was -- you know, he was making a charge that there's not some sort of straight talk going on and it is clear that he feels for barack obama in all of this. >> yet, they have to be so careful, david and glor yeah, because it is no question they are frustrated with the israeli government. also no question we are heading into a re-election campaign where being openly frustrated with their government could cost you key political support in the united states. it used to be said politics stopped at the water's edge. if the president was overseas then his political rivals did not criticize him. the president is in the united states. but he is at major international meeting. the texas governor rick perry comes into new york city directs assault on the president's foreign policy, direct assault on his relationship with israel. >> our muddle of a foreign policy created greater uncertainty in the midst of this arab spring and our policy of isolating and undermining israel has only encouraged our adversaries and their aggressiveness. >> now, that's certainly in your face. on camera in the same city where the president is trying to manage diplomacy. another leading republican candidate, former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, issued this statement today. when we are watching unfold at the united nations is an unmitigated diplomatic disaster. it is the culmination of president obama's repeated efforts over three years to throw its ream under the bus and that policy must stop now. david gergen, is this new line in our politics, when the president is at such an important moment, does it surprise thank you republican candidates are so in his face? >> it does, john. i actually -- did not think we would soon see someone to the right of george w. bush on israel. yet, here we are with rick perry. rick perry sounded like he was channeling netanyahu. he took almost every position netanyahu has taken and was very hard-line about it and i say this about rick perry. he at least has been there and is not speaking entirely from ignorance. but it is such a hard-lined position that it will -- as you well know, there was just this -- congressional election in new york in which a lot of jewish voters vote for the republican out of frustration with the president. there is an unhappiness with president obama behind the jewish community and this country and think he pushed netanyahu way too hard in the beginning of the settlements and botched the negotiations. got a long litany of things. having said that, however, no one has gone as far as rick perry who is in a major position of authority. the front-runner for the republican nomination who essentially has said everything is okay with israel and it is all the palestinian's fault. >> i think, john, in the context of a republican primary, what rick perry did today, may play pretty well. he was -- his press conference with hard lined conservatives. i think that it may play well and that -- part of brooklyn where the democrat lost 2-1 because of the conservative jewish vote. but i think that in a general election, there is still some suspicion about rick perry with some jewish voters. for example, he led the august 6 day of prayer. and there's some -- you know, jewish voters that are sort of confused about that. so i think that, you know, he's walking a fine line here. aligning himself with netanyahu on the one hand but there is still questions about him in the jewish community and there's some -- moderate you ares who may not be aligned with netanyahu who may be independent voters. so i think that there are two sides to it politically for him. >> i'm shifting gears here. i had an extended conversation with dick cheney today. one of the issues we talked about was with his new book, he restirs up some of the old debates, weapons of mass destruction and reasons the bush administration went into iraq and stirs up tensions between secretary of state powell, former general colin powell, and the vice president of the united states. listen to this piece of the interview. >> general powell, secretary of state powell, has said -- doesn't like a few things you said about him in here, you were someone that saw snippets or suggestions or possible evidence but unproven unsubstantiated things and to you they became facts. >> well, that's interesting coming from general powell. he is the one that went to the united nations after he worked for days going over the intelligence and made the presentation to the united nations that turned out to be all flawed intelligence. somebody -- sandbagged, i think it was general powell. >> interesting language there, david gergen. he does concede it was all flawed intelligence, all flawed intelligence and says that general powell one time he was considered a dick cheney friend. not so much now, got sandbagged. >> general powell did get sandbagged by people in the cia who misled him on some aspects of that and to this day -- i think probably the most humiliating day of his public life. what's surprising is that dick cheney had been pounding on general powell so hard. they were friends at one point. you always like to see friends renew themselves after it is over. thomas jefferson, john adams tradition, if you like when you leave office to try to compose your differences. but i do think on general powell's party, there's no question that when he went to the u.n. that was -- i think and most humiliating day of his public life. >> you know, i -- >> gloria borger, go ahead, quickly. >> you know, i think that -- dick cheney is trying to say that, you know, colin powell himself got sandbagged as if he had any choice but to believe the intelligence that he was presented with. it was sort of an interesting way of describing it. >> gloria and david, thank you. more of that conversation to come. one-on-one conversation with dick cheney at the reagan presidential library. >> i think the democrats ought to have as much fun on their side as we are on ours. >> blockbuster allegations of indecision, turmoil and sexism at the obama white house. one of the aide who says he has seen it all. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. as luxury s.u.v.s, it helps to have the quality and craftsmanship of your leather interior test better than the lexus rx 350. it's also helpful to set your "select terrain" dial to "sand." ♪ accept it. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. you give them all your money, and they put you on hold. just accept it. what are you going to do, bury your money in the backyard ? accept it. just stay with the herd, son. accept it. it's only money. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it, friend. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. smile and accept it. it's been this way since pants. accept it... just accept it. accept it. i'm a doctor. just accept it. accept it... accept it. just accept it ! if we miss this movie, you're dead. if you're stuck accepting banking nonsense, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] the author of a new book about the obama white house is defending his unflattering portrait of the president and top adviser. ron cu the boy's club atmosphere made her feel like a piece of meat. it also describes the president as often uncertain, second-guessing himself. the treasury secretary tim geithner, major figure in the book, says those and other descriptions don't match the reality he lived. on nbc's "today" show this morning, suskind defended what he wrote. >> everything in this book is solid as a brick. this book, like all the books i have written, is densely sourced and the analysis is picture perfect. when the curtain is pulled back they often respond vigorously. that's testimony to the fact that this is really -- really who they are. >> with us is a veteran of the obama white house, economic team. austan goolsbee. he's an economics professor at the university of chicago. mr. goolsbee, wane to play more of mr. suskind. so many of your former colleagues have said it is simply not true. here's a question here put to ron suskind as to whether larry summers, the president's top economic adviser at the white house at the beginning of the administration, thought the president of the united states was in over his head. >> seems he did. it seems from the comments of orszag and others, certainly the start of the first year in 2009 into early 2010, these sorts of things were part of the prevailing conversation in the white house. when i asked larry summers he was one of the source force the book about that quote, i said look, what did you mean when he said that? he offers a comment which is more seasoned and less political than that and says we were overwhelmed. we had five times as many problems and didn't have five times as many people. >> incredibly damning mr. goolsbee, especially when you know the economy is such major challenge facing the administration. i want to read one more example from the book. larry summers to omb director peter orszag is described in the book -- peter, we are really home alone. there's no adult in charge. clinton would never have made these mistakes. is this a fair characterization of what happened at the top levels of the white house at such a critical time? >> i mean, that doesn't at all describe what i saw. the episode you are describing there is ron suskind hearing what peter orszag says he heard larry say about a fourth person and so i wasn't -- i wasn't at that dinner. i saw the book. i would characterize it as the -- you would want to read the book if you are the kind of person who would like to hear from the a ten-person meeting what the one person who was upset and happened to be the one who talked to ron suskind thought. i thought that the overall characterization that somehow the president wasn't decisive or wasn't really in charge was, frankly, ridiculous. we were in the middle of a terrible economic crisis, the worst in all of our lifetimes. and i can give you many examples where the president would hear the evidence on both sides, of course there are were disagreements. if you go find somebody upset they are going to say oh, i disagree and i was contradicted. >> one of the questions -- >> the president -- >> forgive me -- >> he decided and then would do it. >> forgive me for interrupting but one of the questions here, some of your former colleagues are saying under their breath, is larry summers so arrogant he is trying to protect himself and in the process criticizing the president? there is more in the book about you, more on the chrysler bailout. obama realizes goolsbee is the architect of the chrysler strategy and asks -- where's austin? summers had froze him out of the meeting and go and get him. goolsbee presents his case. were you frozen out meetings by larry summers? is that how things worked? >> look, the -- i was on -- involved in these auto discussions. i don't think that it is appropriate for people who were advising the president in private meetings to come back and then try to relitigate their battles through some -- body's book. i will say that i absolutely got my position heard and everybody on that got their position heard and that's a perfect example of where the president hears all the evidence and he decides in very short order what we are going to do and we proceed to do it and everybody gets onboard right away and says the president's decided, he heard the evidence and let's proceed. there's nothing -- administrations where everybody just says good idea, boss, and all agree with each other have not done very well through history. there were people who disagreed on policy is not unhealthy and that's perfectly healthy. what i think was, to me, the most unrepresented thing about the books the thing i think the book is flat-out wrong, is -- the author trying to portray that the president was indecisive, wasn't making decisions, wasn't getting things done. it is ridiculous the president was absolutely making the decisions and when he would make the decisions, people would get behind those decisions. austan goolsbee, we appreciate your insight tonight. we will continue to follow this one. japan braces for yet another natural disaster. also, what former vice president dick cheney thinks of governor rick perry's in-your face criticism of the president. ♪ do you believe in magic? [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. welcome back. here's the latest news you need to know. an 11th person died today from injuries suffered in friday's air crash. there is new video of the crash. disturbing. the pilot of the world war ii vintage plane lost control just before it plummeted into a crowd of spectators. several memory parts have been found at the site and may have come from data recorders on the plane. in an attack that raises questions about the competence of afghanistan's security forces, a man with a bomb hidden in his turban killed a former afghan president who was leading the peace talks with the fwanl. a million people have been ordered to evacuate from western and central japan because of a typhoon expected to hit wednesday. that storm may pass by the fukushima nuclear plant. one-on-one with the former vice president dick cheney. why he keeps encouraging hillary clinton to run on the democratic side. this is considered state of the art? >> oh, yeah. ♪ [ horn honks ] ♪ oh, those were the best of days ♪ ♪ i still feel the summer rays ♪ that graced our backs as we went down the lane ♪ [ horn honks ] [ male announcer ] when your car is more than just a car to you, the right insurance matters. are you getting the coverage options you need and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage or visit travelers.com. a network of possibilities... ♪ in here, pets never get lost. ♪ in here, every continent fits in one room. it was fun, we played football outside. why are you sitting in the dark? ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, you're never away from home. it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. live pictures there of the los angeles skyline. we are here in california tonight because the former president dick cheney is here for a book party at the ronald reagan presidential library. "in my time." the former vice president stirs up a fair amount of controversy. between spent about an hour together today discussing issues ranging from his days in the ford white house to disdisagreement was president obama over taxes and waterboarding. not to mention his debate now over whether to seek a heart transplant and some political issues front and center today. on this day, the president of the united states set the united nations general assembly and palestinians want to file for statehood. their case is george w. bush supported statehood. barack obama supported statehood. we don't have statehood. we are going to try this way. why are they wrong? >> palestinians state, recognized and it looks like they are trying try to short-circuit the process. i worry this is not going to advance the process and make it more likely that they can reach an agreement. it is likely to retard it, diminish it, and so i -- i don't think it is helpful. >> it is an important diplomatic challenge for the president of the united states who happens to be