>>> and mitt romney are expected to speak with prime minister benjamin netanyahu , following the leader's impassioned plea for action against iran . netanyahu tried to make as clear as possible why he believes iran's nuclear program must be stopped sooner rather than later.
>> a red line should be drawn right here. before, before iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment necessary to make a bomb.
>> with me now, msnbc special correspondent , tom brokaw . you have seen a lot of u.n. speeches.
>> jon stewart teed it up saying it looks like a wiley coyote cartoon. this is a serious issue. seems the way the prime minister presented it before the united nations .
>> had an american president did something like this, what would the reaction be? i am sort of shell shocked.
>> take the two candidates, think about what they would have said if president obama had done something like that.
>> george w. bush .
>> from the right or george w. bush , or if mitt romney made a speech and held up that kind of a bomb and drew the line. it boggles the mind. these are serious issues. they are complex. the country and the world deserves to know exactly where we are in the process and where we're going to get to.
>> i know that particularly netanyahu always savvy about the american media . this was clearly designed so that more of us would cover this. it was an and t -- antic.
>> i think probably benjamin netanyahu 's standing with important leaders is pretty well fixed, i don't think it moves it one way or another. he is a hard liner. he doesn't like this administration plainly. they have some real differences. he is quite close to mitt romney . he knew him before --
>> how about the fact, i was going to say, how about the fact today he will speak by phone to both. a world leader doing that --
>> that's a danger for him, i have known him a long time. he is always moving forward. the danger is that he can involve himself too demonstrably in the american election this time with the kinds of statements he has been making, positions he has been taking. he is imposing himself on what the american people need to decide for themselves.
>> take it in the reverse, how often, you could say in not so friendly democracies, america over the years may have gotten involved in leadership elections, but in some of the most friendly allies, how often do american presidents do that?
>> they generally stand back, let the american people make a decision. in fact, at this time which is a volatile time in that part of the world, what is also striking to me is that this gives president obama cover to some degree, not just on the iran issue.
>> take the libyan situation.
>> the libyan situation especially. when mitt romney made his i am temper at remarks and got his hand slapped, roughed up by the right wing conservative press, "the wall street journal ," that gave president obama more than he deserved. i remember when arab spring -- a number of people i have a high regard for in this area, nonpartisan said it is time for complete review of policies in the middle east deciding where we're going to get there in a macro sense, we are going to work our way through that. suddenly we have this kind of thing going on in libya with an unprotected consulate.
>> what's the toughest question both candidates would duck on this question, what would you do about an arab -- about democracy uprising in a place like saudi arabia ?
>> that's a tough question. i think what i would do is hypothetical. we will deal with it when it comes. saudi arabian leadership, i know because i am still in touch with them, that's a great concern of theirs.
>> and the next u.s. president has to deal with it, like mubarak all over.
>> they're trapped between the mu has been ee movement, and the generation without jobs, saying wait a minute. other countries, people have more voice in government. always a pleasure.
>>> preview of wall street in a minute. and big man
>> a red line should be drawn right here. before, before iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment necessary to make a bomb.
>> with me now, msnbc special correspondent , tom brokaw . you have seen a lot of u.n. speeches.
>> jon stewart teed it up saying it looks like a wiley coyote cartoon. this is a serious issue. seems the way the prime minister presented it before the united nations .
>> had an american president did something like this, what would the reaction be? i am sort of shell shocked.
>> take the two candidates, think about what they would have said if president obama had done something like that.
>> george w. bush .
>> from the right or george w. bush , or if mitt romney made a speech and held up that kind of a bomb and drew the line. it boggles the mind. these are serious issues. they are complex. the country and the world deserves to know exactly where we are in the process and where we're going to get to.
>> i know that particularly netanyahu always savvy about the american media . this was clearly designed so that more of us would cover this. it was an and t -- antic.
>> i think probably benjamin netanyahu 's standing with important leaders is pretty well fixed, i don't think it moves it one way or another. he is a hard liner. he doesn't like this administration plainly. they have some real differences. he is quite close to mitt romney . he knew him before --
>> how about the fact, i was going to say, how about the fact today he will speak by phone to both. a world leader doing that --
>> that's a danger for him, i have known him a long time. he is always moving forward. the danger is that he can involve himself too demonstrably in the american election this time with the kinds of statements he has been making, positions he has been taking. he is imposing himself on what the american people need to decide for themselves.
>> take it in the reverse, how often, you could say in not so friendly democracies, america over the years may have gotten involved in leadership elections, but in some of the most friendly allies, how often do american presidents do that?
>> they generally stand back, let the american people make a decision. in fact, at this time which is a volatile time in that part of the world, what is also striking to me is that this gives president obama cover to some degree, not just on the iran issue.
>> take the libyan situation.
>> the libyan situation especially. when mitt romney made his i am temper at remarks and got his hand slapped, roughed up by the right wing conservative press, "the wall street journal ," that gave president obama more than he deserved. i remember when arab spring -- a number of people i have a high regard for in this area, nonpartisan said it is time for complete review of policies in the middle east deciding where we're going to get there in a macro sense, we are going to work our way through that. suddenly we have this kind of thing going on in libya with an unprotected consulate.
>> what's the toughest question both candidates would duck on this question, what would you do about an arab -- about democracy uprising in a place like saudi arabia ?
>> that's a tough question. i think what i would do is hypothetical. we will deal with it when it comes. saudi arabian leadership, i know because i am still in touch with them, that's a great concern of theirs.
>> and the next u.s. president has to deal with it, like mubarak all over.
>> they're trapped between the mu has been ee movement, and the generation without jobs, saying wait a minute. other countries, people have more voice in government. always a pleasure.
>>> preview of wall street in a minute. and big man