Page 48 - Senator Mitchell News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> thank you. so how concerned should the united states be with what's going on in russia? i'm joined by longtime diplomat george mitchell. now chairman emeritus of an international law firm. senator mitchell, thanks for 0 joining us. mysterious deaths, acid attacks at the ballet. amnesty international offices raided. are we seeing a democratic regression in russia, or have we just started now paying attention? >> well, i think that the path to democracy and genuine democratic institutions historically has taken quite a while. and while russia has achieved the forms of democracy, clearly does ...

Think, is trying to assure or reach three audiences, the people of israel, wherefore uncommitted to israel's security, absolutely committed. the palestinians, we want a palestinian state, a two-state solution. and others in the region, friend and foe alike, that the united states is in the region to stay, and we're not pulling out any time soon. >> john king, the one thing we didn't 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 certain, piers, when president obama...

Faux of foe of iran. >> congressman, your thoughts on that very point? >> senator mitchell, i saw the great work he did in northern ireland. and he's right. more than just israel and palestinians involved. the middle east, syria, iran, have y you have the presence of al qaeda, libya. the whole region is really many, many crises that have to be addressed and there can be shifting alliances here. the arab gulf state opposed to iran getting a nuclear weapon, and we have to find a way to coordinate our efforts together and again, if the president can move forward, the israelis and palestinians tha...

You can't go out and buy a bomb. and so the reality is, if you bought that argument, you would say, open it all up. let them -- let's have any weapon being purchased. that can't be the case. i mean, you have to make a rational decision based on the circumstances which exist at that time. will a measure help or hurt? that's the judgment. there are good people on both sides of the issue. i think, though, it won't pass. that's pretty clear. >> senator mitchell and john king, thank you both very much indeed. >> thank you. coming next, alan desk wit joins me talking about the president's trip to ...

Will there ever be a loving peace like between the united states and canada, unlikely. but will there be an end of war the way there is with egypt and the way there is with jordan and perhaps realistically with some other surrounding countries, yes. the key is to start the negotiations now. i agree completely with senator george mitchell. what president abbas and the palestinian authority is saying is i'm not going to come to the bargaining table unless you do "a," "b" and "c." he's not in a position to make those kinds of demands. he wants land, he wants estate. he has to sit down to negotiat...