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President on foreign policy. i would say this issue, particularly of egypt, and you look at the snowden thing, you know, it's been a rough six months for the president on foreign policy. >> it's been a rough six months for the country in many ways. the president didn't bring on the snowden issue. i mean, you know, look when you take a look at the arab spring, take a look at what's going on in egypt, it's very easy to be critical of this administration. but in my judgment, that criticism is often unwarranted. you try to work through these things as best you can. you know, the egyptian situation...

Difficult challenges to overcome? absolutely. we have to get past the snowden issue. president putin has to reverse his decision on this. we can move forward. they have been good allies in many ways. you mentioned afghanistan. they stood by us against iran. with the u.n. resolution against north korea. there are opportunities and they are a good partner in the fight against terrorism. they are just as concerned about radical islam as we are. they are a good potash partner there. it's necessary. also by 2020 most likely they will be in the top three largest economies in the world. they trade no...

Defensive crouch. >> what do you say to those cynics who say this is an overreaction to benghazi? how do you respond? >> one thing i've tried to do as president is not overreact. you know, but make sure that as much as possible the american people understand that there are genuine risks out there. >> another issue for the president, explaining the diplomatic shutdown to the public told repeatedly that al qaeda is losing strength. at camp pendleton, he tried to draw distinction between core al qaeda and its affiliates. >> because of you, obama is no more. because of you, al qaeda's top ranks ha...

Address them. he does not want to be a distraction because his priority is to fix the problem and make sure our vets are getting the care they need. that was rick's judgment on behalf of his fellow veterans and i agree. >> joining me now is derrick bennett, msnbc analyst jack jacobs joining me by phone. first to you, is this the first step or right move? >> we certainly applaud the president for making an aggressive step in replacing general shinseki and applaud shinseki's five deck atds of service to this country. this is not about a single individual or one leader. it's a systemic problem ac...

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