discussion of safe zones and unsafe zones. the logistics of that is pretty significant. but i think we have to leave options on the table. there has to be a credible threat of the use of force in these circumstances in order to get people to the table. so that is a member of republican leadership saying that the policy has to be that assad has to go. that is different from what we re hearing from the white house. is that the right move by the white house? i think we re going to find out in a few hours of whether or not the white house is going to follow the lead of the p republicans on the hill who have been clear that assad has to go but lacking the specifics. there s no good options. but at if you re urnging further action you have to do something. you have to give us a tangible option in terms of military force. we do know that the president has asked the pentagon to work up some options for him as far as battling the islamic state in iraq and syria. we ve heard little optio
your of north korea. this is a very unstable leader with tremendous capacity of nuclear power. we have to address this national security and address it in a very sirius way. again there needs to be a thoughtful discussion of what is the right strategy, how do we eliminate the danger, contain this very unstable leader in a very important region of the world. thank you very much for joining us on what has been a busy day of foreign policy devepments. appreciate it. i want to bring in my pan to talk about all of this, national political reporter for politico, tim alberto. gies with, guys a lot to discuss here. i want to start with what senator bethune had to say a few moments ago. policy has to be assad has to go. that s the only way to bring stability to that region. secondly there s a lot of
sometimes politicians say this one they run for office but once they get in there, they find, you know, pictures of children slaughtered by chemical attacks to be riveting and the responsibility of the leader of the biggest superpower in the world, the only real superpower in the world feels daunting. sometimes it prompts them into taking action they might not have wanted to take as a candidate when they didn t feel the responsibility. so far, president trump resisted the urge. he does, in fact, raise the issue of political prisoners in egypt, for instance, when he met with president sisi this week. we ll see him with president xi of china later this week. i doubt we re hear talk about religious freedom or human rights in china. could there be talk behind closed doors? that s the indication from the white house. the president wants to deal with human rights concerns privately rather than publicly. in fairness, that s right. they say human rights is integral to american human policy
public having wild disputes with him over policy or rhetoric or anything of the like. i do think that vice president pence is flattered that the american people thinks he holds more influence over the president than his daughter. he s known the president for less than a year. he s known ivanka trump for her entire life. but there s no question that jared kushner and ivanka trump has more sway inside this administration than anyone else, the possible exception would be steve bannon. she was asked about her husband s influence. listen to that. jared is incredibly smart, very talented. has enormous capacity. he is humble in the recognition of what he doesn t know. and is tremendously secure in
but the question is now given that is your policy, that is your world doctrine, what is your response. tim? i think as a candidate for the presidency, donald trump was the only republican in recent memory that both served some red meat to the neoconservative crowd and also the libertarian crowd. he criticized the war in iraq, the war in libya, also talked about george w. bush being responsible for 9/11. but at the same time talking about bombing the expletive out of isis, taking their oil, bringing back torture. nobody quite knows, i think, at this point how donald trump views the world, what the trump doctrine is. and i think that we re probably going to find out pretty in sort order now. this is time. he is being tested if not in syria, in north korea. how does he respond to these things. i think the public doesn t have a firm understanding, that s why the disapproval ratings are so