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New York Times
Pentagon correspondent for the New York Times
PROFILE
Helene Cooper
Guest
FROM Helene Cooper
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, from young mother to first female president of an African country Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first and only female president of an African country. She’s also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, mother of four sons, and the subject of Helene Cooper’s book “Madame President.”
To the Point
The "Summit" that Won’t Be a Summit after All President Obama called the first ever summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council for this week at Camp David. Last Friday, the White House said the new King of Saudi Arabia would be there, but it turns out, he won't — and other leaders have also declined the invitation. Does the new King of Saudi Arabia really have better things to do than meet the President of the US at Camp David or is Barack Obama being snubbed? That's just one of the questions about this week's meeting with Arab Gulf-state leaders, who want guaranteed US protections against Iran, their Middle-East rival. It's not just the nuclear deal they're worried about, but also the lifting of sanctions restraining Iran's economic power. In the meantime, there's a "feeding frenzy" for conventional weapons — made in the USA.
To the Point
President Hu Meets with Congressional Leaders After the toasts and tributes at the Obama White House, China's President Hu Jintao got a mixture of international diplomacy and domestic politics on Capitol Hill as he met with leaders of both the House and the Senate. That's according to Helene Cooper, diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times .
To the Point
Condeleezza Rice Goes to Jerusalem with Saudi Backing Recently, US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said that Saudi Arabia--a Sunni country--was not doing all that it could to help stabilize the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq. Today, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said he was "astonished" by such criticism. After a rare meeting in Jeddah with Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates, the Foreign Minister, spoke of opening an embassy in Baghdad and talking with Israel for the first time in 15 years. Helene Cooper is traveling with Condoleezza Rice for the New York Times .
Which Way, L.A.?
Iran and Nuclear Brinksmanship Yesterday, time ran out for Iran to meet the UN Security Council's deadline to stop enriching uranium. President Ahmadinejad says that will never happen. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that enrichment did, indeed, begin again in the past few days. President Bush says, "There must be consequences." But what will they be? So what does the United Nations do now? What’s the evidence that Iran is using enrichment technology to build a nuclear bomb? Is the case any better than the one against Saddam Hussein? What would economic sanctions look like, and what if diplomacy doesn’t work? (An expanded version of this discussion was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.)
To the Point
Iran and Nuclear Brinksmanship Yesterday, time ran out for Iran to meet the UN Security Council 's deadline to stop enriching uranium. President Ahmadinejad says that will never happen. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that enrichment did, indeed, begin again in the past few days. President Bush says, "There must be consequences." But what will they be? So what does the United Nations do now? What's the evidence that Iran is using enrichment technology to build a nuclear bomb? Is the case any better than the one against Saddam Hussein? What would economic sanctions look like, and what if diplomacy doesn't work?
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To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?