i want to go back. >> piers morgan tonight from london. good evening and welcome to london where the olympic gameses are set to start in two days time. behind me is where the olympics stadium lurks in the east of london. over there is one of the centers of the security operation, making sure the games run smoothly. the games, security, world affairs and tony blair, the british prime minister when the bid was first launched to bring the games to london. tony blair, let's start with the london olympics. you were instrumental in bringing this back to london after so long. why is it important for a country to get it? talk about the economics of it. talk about the impact positively if you lapped b the olympics. >> well, you are the center of attention. and so for london and for britain, this is an opportunity to be there in front of the whole world to say this is what we're about, say look at the great show we're putting on. you bring in a lot of investments. we have cited the olympic park in one of the worst parts of the east end of london this ch has now been completely regenerated. we bring world-class facilities. still in beijing, more people are visiting the olympic site than go to the forbidden city. if you do it right, it can give you a boost and some of these things can't be quantified. the reason it's so hotly competed over today is because people realize it's a great thing for the country to have. >> be honest, when you saw that you won the bid and you saw the beijing opening ceremony, did you think what the hell are we going to do to beat that? >> i did. that's exactly what i thought. it was spectacular. i actually think we've done it the right way. i remember having a conversation with people straight after the beijing olympics saying look, guys, there's no way in terms of the spectacular of that type, you know, we're not going to compete with that. but let's do it in our own way. i haven't seen it myself, but people who have seen it say it is a magnificent opening ceremony. so -- >> we're celebrating the olympics in london, but at the same time, it's the 40th anniversary of the munich games. and we all remember those harrowing scenes. the slaughter of so many israeli athletes and officials. when you look at what's happening in the middle east right now, are we any nearer peace between particularly israel and palestine? but also just generally that ree sglon. >> well, it's a very good question and a difficult one to answer. i think, because i'm there a lot now. i just come back from, i think, my 85th visit now since leaving office. i think we're further along what is now i believe an inevitable process of sort of change and modernization in that region. so i think where you're getting rid of these very repressive regimes and them being replaced by democracies, i think the transition is going to be very difficult in some circumstances. i think we've got a very difficult short and medium term, but i think long term this process of change is taking place. and i think provided we can get economic growth back in the region and provided that we can help explain to people in the middle east that democracy is a way of thinking, in other words, it doesn't -- there's a narrow minded attitude for people that are different, particularly in the sphere of religion. i'm optimistic long term. but in the shor term, especially in egypt, it's going to be tough. >> everyone remembers tahrir square. it was exhilarating, people were excited. infused by the great new fuamala-ma'afala chur. the muslim brotherhood are now getting a grip on egypt. how concerned should people be about the spread of the influence of the muslim brotherhood? >> well, i think first of all, we have to understand what's going on in the region. because the comparison with eastern europe is in one sense justified and in another sense not. in the sense in which it's not is when the berlin wall fell, in eastern europe, it was very easy to see what people looked over the walls and saw western europe and say that's what we want. and there's a unified sense in the country, that's what we want. in the middle east you've got three elements, regimes that have been in power a long time but can't now really retain their grip on power. you' got a large number of people that are civil minded. badly organized. then the islamists who are numerous and very well organized. if you have the best organization, as you know in politics, you can go a long way. now, we have got to engage with the muslim brotherhood. there's no point in pretending they're not coming to power. they have a broad spectrum of opinions. but we have to be prepared to challenge. we have to stand up for what we believe in for our convictions and principles and we've got to engage with them and help them knowing there are a lot of liberal-minded, open-minded people out in the middle east who need our support and need us to be firm about where we stand. >> the most vulnerable clearly from their rhetoric are the israelis. they feel the most vulnerable at the moment. netanyahu, the prime minister said recently, can you imagine hezbollah, people conducting with iran all these terror attacks around the world, his claim. can you imagine they would have chemical weapons like al qaeda. i then interviewed the deputy prime minister ehud barak who said this. >> it's a challenge to everyone around the world, not just israel. i think we have to do something to block it. there is a need to stop enriching uranium 20% or even to 5% to take all the enrichment out of the country. >> clearly, the growing concern in israel is iran. they believe they are enriching this uranium for one purpose, to have a nuclear capability and if they do, it could be an armageddon moment for israel. how much do you agree with israel's fear and concern about the nature of iran's threat? >> essentially, i mean, i agree that a nuclear armed iran is a devastating thing for the region. and not just for israel, by the way. i think there are two things that have got to be said here. and by the way, i can tell you my critique of israeli policy and where i think the government of israel has to do far more particularly in relation to the palestinian peace process and so on. but israel is a genuine democracy. and i think the security of israel is a concern for us all for reasons that go beyond israel. so and quite apart from that, if you ended up with iran with a nuclear weapon, it would change the balance of power within the region dramatically. and the fact is, the problem with the iranian regime is not just their acquisition of nuclear weapons capability or their desire to do so. it's the destabilizing effect that they have in supporting terrorism and supporting proxy groups and engaging in terrorism around the region. so, you know, i think we are approaching this the right way. it's absolutely right to give a negotiated solution a chance to work. the economic sanctions, particularly the american administration are taking it tough. they're biting, having an impact. but the red lines have been laid down and they're clear. >> if israel decides to act unilaterally, which they have threatened to do, where would that leave everybody in the middle east? the. >> the first thing to understand is israel will protect its own interest. the israeli government i know very well now, i mean, their first consideration like the consideration for any leadership is their own country. i think let's hope we do not get to this point. but we're less likely to get to it if it's absolutely clear as it's certainly been made by the american administration that this is a red light for us. in one sense you say look, if iran acquires nuclear capability, you have other countries with this capability, is it really going to ma earth? i think it matters profoundly in two ways. first of all, if iran acquires that capability, it's inconceivable that other powers in the region won't acquire the same capabilities. so you have a big issue with proliferation there. and then secondly, the fact is we've seen from the way iran has behaved, for example, in iraq, they are prepared to destabilize and use terrorism to destabilize other countries. do you want that technology fully developed in the hands of a regime that's prepared to do that? i think the answer has got to be no. so, you know, don't misunderstand me, by the way. any military action against iran would be highly unpredictable and uncertain in its consequences. that's why we should do everything we can to avoid it. this is a situation where ultimately all the choices are ugly. we've got to give this process a chance to work and see where we are. >> talking about ugly choices, syria gets worse by the day. the international community is still set by differences of opinion. russia and china, not yet signing up to any kind of enforced sanctions and so on. what do we do about this? what is the way to break through the impasse in syria? because there's a general acceptance that assad has got to go, but how is he going to go? >> i think it's very difficult. from the international community's point of view, i think we have to make it clear by ramping up the pressure all the time that this is an inevitable process of his going. in other words, it's not that we are suddenly going to lose interest or lose the appetite. that's why i think it's right to discuss things like corridors of safety that enables the opposition to operate. in order to make absolutely sure that assad and those around him realize it's a matter of time. it's when, not if. the second thing, though, because the aftermath is very uncertain. what is it we really learn, whether from afghanistan or iraq or anywhere else. when you lift the lid off these highly reimpressive regime, out comes all this pouring of tension and religious and tribal and ethnic difficulty. so if we can manage a process of change, that allows us to manage the aftermath sensibly, that's in everyone's interest. it's easy to say hard to do, but i think that should be the rub rick of our approach. make it clear it is inevitable, he is going to go, but really focus on manage that aftermath. >> from a humanitarian point of view, if you look at what happened in rwanda and bosnia and so on, the longer this is left before people get in there, more people are going to die. >> absutely. >> at one point is the moral compunction of the international community so overwhelming they' got to do something? >> well, what is the issue. you're right, these decisions are very, very difficult to take, as i well know. i mean, the fact is, there are 20,000 people who have died in this. what we've got to watch is not merely what happens when he goes, but what happens then after that there's this huge question going on. what is the place of religion in these societies and how do woe you make sure you create a new politics in which you have ook, religion-friendly democracy, but also democracy-friendly religion. >> let's take a break and come back and talk about american politics. and also about gun violence. you were instrumental in britain in bringing new gun control laws. i want to talk to you about what you think about what's happening in america. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash. 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[ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet? throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. i met tony blair almost exactly eight years ago. he was in his second term as prime minister and i was just starting out. after our first meeting, the reporter asked if we found anything in common and i jokingly replied that we both used colgate toothpaste. the truth is, i did feel a close connection to tony blair, as i said after the first meeting, i knew that when either of us gets in a bind, there will be a friend on the other end of the phone. >> my special guest, tony blair. let's talk about american politics. nobody has a better view of this from outside of america than you. how is the special relationship in reality do you think between america and britain these days? >> i think it's still strong. it's strong because of tied history and shared values and shared purpose actually still. it's a very strong and good relationship. it always should be. people said to me, you get on with bill clinton and george bush. well, i like them both very much in different ways, but it's partly the job of the british prime minister to have that job with the american president. >> we had an election in november. a lot of people assume this will be a very close run race and could get very brutal and bloody in process. you've been used to a few of those in your time. how are you reading the political ruins at the moment in washington. >> we don't decide your elebs and you don't decide ours. frankly, it's important for the british to work with whoever comes oit of presidential process and also i've worked actually closely with president obama in the last few years on the middle east stuff. and i have graed admiration and work well with him. >> i wonder what you thought has been his biggest challenge as president. >> that's easy. he inherited a global economy in meltdown. and i think one of the things that people really don't understand about the situation today is that this is -- this economic crisis is completely different than anything our generation of politicians has experienced before. we are used to a periodic economic crisis with a bit of tweaking and help and this and that resolves themselves. this is different. you're talking about a situation in which you've got to go back, i think, not saying exactly the same, but back as a parallel in respect to its seriousness to the 1930s. so that's been the big challenge. >> you said today, quite interesting interview, you said how does it help to have 20 bankers hagging in the street was the phrase you used. and i knew where you were coming from there. having said that, there's a sense that the people who got the world into this financial mess have not been held properly accountable. not one of them have gone to jail. >> i would say the moment you have two strains of politics going on. politics of the anger and politics of the angst. people are angry with very good reason. by all mean, go after people who have done something wrong. by all means, we've got to make changes in the way we regulate the system and sprv it, but understand that out of it, if you want the economy to move, in other words, if you're interested in the answer rather than the anger, a good strong financial sector is a major part of it. so for me this issue is a policy chlenge. you know, it's not just a question of sympathizing or empathizing with how people feel. >> they used to say if america sneezed, the rest of the world would catch a cold. now it seems to be the opposite. how perilous is the situation when you look at europe in their totality? >> deeply perilous. i think this is the biggest crisis europe has faced since the european community was created. and it requires in my view now very dig decisions. we need kind of a grand plan in which it's clear they stand behind a single currency. >> should it be saved? >> yes. you can argue that it should have been constructed differently, but now having been constructed in this way, yes. >> if you were still the british prime minister, would you be having pretty firm words with the germans saying come on, it's time to step up. >> i think everyone is having that dialogue. but i also understand the angle angela merkel had. she's a great and formidable politician. >> is it a bit of an exaggeration of saying in her hands, the future certainly in the short term, middle term of the whole european economy could rest on what germany does. >> i think it does rest on what germany does, yes. i understand, by the way, the dilemma. and this is what i mean by -- the problem for political leaders today is you keep coming to these forks in the road on all these issues that are absolutely buyre, and the choices are both ugly. if you're the german chancellor, do you commit the german economy, that's a strong economy, that has done well, do you commit it fully behind economies you believe have not done well and are not performing well? that's one dilemma. the other choice, though, is do you let the single currency go, in which case you face pretty much a financial meltdown in europe. and then many years to recover that situation. so this is very tough. but i think it's urgent. you said it, you know, is it perilous? yes, it is. because i think we -- the danger i foresee at the moment is that we're just always two months behind the curve with these decisions. and we can't, i think, afford to carry on, having europeans where we don't absolutely crunch this issue down and decide it. >> let's turn to guns. there was an appalling atrocity in america last friday in colorado. the worst single mass shooting that america has ever seen. more than 70 people were wounded or killed. huge debate raging in america since then as there always is after these massacres about grun control. when you first became british prime minister, you had to do with the aftermath of an atrocity. handguns were banned. high-powered rifles were also put into a place where you couldn't easily access them. really quite a stringent gun control was taken and was deemed to be successful. what do you think about america's relationship with guns? it's a different one to britain. the right to bear arms is engrained in their constitution. but there is a feeling that something has to happen. some b that took action aftone these massacres. what do you think? >> well, i don't -- you know -- look, i don't want to enter into a controversy that must be difficult for people in america right now. a terrible, horrible tragedy. and, you know, the sight of all the parents and relatives and friends of those who lost their lives and were injured, it's shocking. but on the other hand, you know, we -- our culture was different. and in america, the right to bear arms goes back a very long way. so i don't -- i -- >> do you think that high-powered assault weapons and magazine drums capable of unloading hundreds of bullets a minute, is it right they should still be legally acceptable. >> especially at this moment when it's so highly sensitive and -- we don't have the same tradition, we don't have the same history. we don't have the same culture on this issue. >> let's take a final break. i want to come back and talk sport with you. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great. i get a bunch of kids waving at me... giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪ i absolutely love my chevy volt. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? 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