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I mean, listen, the europeans are trying to be the bigger party to this dispute. they are trying to do the right thing and hold together the trans-atlantic alliance. all they're trying to do i think is just survive donald trump so that 2 1/2 years from now maybe nato still exists. so of course they're going to try to say that the alliance is still strong. but the fact of the matter is europe is just making other plans right now. right now the europeans are creating a parallel defense structure inside europe to start making alternate plans because they're not sure they can rely on the united st...

>> i don't think that the chancellor came out of the meeting today with the american president feeling belittled. >> so let me just be precise, madam ambassador. despite these angry words by the president of the united states, the outcome of the meeting with chancellor merkel today was positive? >> they had a very good meeting, and i believe the nato summit was a very good summit. >> change your read? >> no. i mean, listen, the europeans are trying to be the bigger party to this dispute. they are trying to do the right thing and hold together the trans-atlantic alliance. all they're trying to ...

End goal and looking into syria. the syrian outpost, the iranian l posed by international law, they are not supposed to be there. creating a crescent that would reach all the way to the mediterranean, they are doing with hezbollah in lebanon. i think the focus on iran needs to be very crystal-clear. to say france has not been naive, i beg to differ. i think they have been naive about iran, which led to the jcp '08, with hundreds of billions of dollars. most of which has gone to empowering their defense structure. they sent ballistic missiles tests after the iranian deal.

And that ice a significant increase to the defense structure. built on as much as a 30% cut to the state department budget is that a fair trade-off in your view? >> well, again, you and i have not seen the details, jim, i know they're not out there because i asked for those last night so i could make an informed desoigs an that. i can tell you i see the value in the state department and a number of the issues there but i also understand where the issues are with the state department and not providing a return. et's critically important before we make a pass or fail, that we do that. it's impor...

In "the arizona." those are the emotional moments that you have to combine with policy-making decisions. and when president-elect trump is talking about dealing with other countries, he has to understand why japan is in the condition they are in today with their defense structure, why the u.s. supports that defense structure, what strategic advantage it gives us to have bases in japan and to deal with other japanese -- not only the japanese nation but other pacific nations. so all of these things are critically important to understand the world we see ourselves in today, and it's based a lot o...