State of the Union Crib Sheet for Sunday September 16, 2012

On today’s “State of the Union” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Candy from Jerusalem. He talked about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the need for a “red line” to dissuade Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice gave her assessment of this week’s violence in the Middle East. She also affirmed the closeness of American and Israeli cooperation on Iran.

House Minority Leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi sat down with Candy to talk about the presidential election, President Obama’s leadership style and the chances of bipartisan cooperation after November.

Finally, former New York mayor and Romney supporter Rudy Giuliani took the Obama administration to task over their handling of Iran and the Middle East.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister on giving Iran a nuclear “red line”

“I think it's important to place a red line before Iran, and I think that actually reduces the chance of a military conflict because, if they know there's a point, a stage in the enrichment or other nuclear activities that they cannot cross because they're face consequences, I think they'll actually not cross it.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister on Iran and the US election

“This is not an electoral issue. It is not based on any electoral consideration. I think that there's a common interest of all Americans, of all political persuasions, to stop Iran. This is a regime that is giving vent to the worst impulses that you see right now in the Middle East. They deny the rights of women, deny democracy, brutalize their own people, don't give freedom of religion, all the things that you see now in these mobs storming the American embassies, what you'll see with a regime that would have atomic bombs, you can't have such people have atomic bombs.”

Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations on US-Israeli cooperation on Iran

“President Obama has been absolutely clear, and on this there's absolutely no daylight between the United States and Israel that we will do what it takes to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. We are not at that stage yet. They do not have a nuclear weapon. Our shared intelligence assessments is that there is still a considerable time and space before they will have a nuclear weapon should they make the decision to go for that. But we've been very clear. The United States is not interested and is not pursuing a policy of containment. President Obama has been very plain. We will keep all options on the table, including the military option, as necessary, to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations on keeping American diplomats secure

“We are doing our utmost to secure our facilities and our personnel and in various vulnerable places. We have demanded and we are receiving the cooperation of host governments. Host governments have also put out very strong messages in Libya, in Egypt, in Yemen and Tunisia condemning violence, saying that it's a completely unacceptable response to such a video. And we feel that we are now in a position doing the maximum that we can to protect our people.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader on the Romney-Ryan ticket

“For one year-and-a-half, since the Republicans passed their budget, which - the Romney-Ryan now Republican budget, which severs the Medicare guarantee. We have been saying there are three important issues in this campaign. And in alphabetical order, they are Medicare, Medicare, Medicare. On August 11th, when Governor Romney chose Ryan, that was the pivotal day. That is the day things really changed. We were on a path. I would have said to you then we were dead even. Well, the momentum is very much with us, the Medicare issue in this campaign.”

Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City

“The president is fiddling while Iran is just moving ahead. I mean, he had to be forced - he had to be forced to use these crippling sanctions, which he has used late, and I don't know how crippling they are since he has exempted 20 countries from them… Even the U.N. is saying his sanctions aren't working. They are not working. The president doesn't want to deal with it.”

Links to SOTU Interviews

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

http://wp.me/p1zIBN-1af

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice

http://wp.me/p1zIBN-1ai

Rep. Nancy Pelosi

http://wp.me/p1zIBN-1aq

Rep. Pelosi on the protests in the Middle East:

http://wp.me/p1zIBN-1ar

Former NYC Mayor & Romney supporter Rudy Giuliani

http://wp.me/p1zIBN-1ak

End Piece: Remembering five American heroes