currently speaking in russia pour up. we're keeping our eyes on that, what he has to say out of that. and as far as stocks are concerned, that's a big focus for investors. unilever one of the biggest losers this morning, is warning of challenging times ahead. you can see the stock down 3%. only beaten at the moment on that downward slide by as tra zen ka. julie has been out speaking to the ceo. what does he have to say for himself? >> he was quick to point out the slight drop that we saw in operating margins is significantly better than we've seen from a number of their competitors. he reiterated the growth just under 55% of the business. of course he did warn on the consumer outlook. and that's where the headlines are focused today. you can see the stock priced down 3% but you should put that in perspective after double digit outperformance versus the ftse over the last 12 months. now i did ask him about the consumer obviously and started by saying just what impact is the debt crisis going to have in europe and will they focus their attention on the emerging markets? >> we have

guest now to help us what's going on in the energy markets in russia and worldwide. we are joined by the chief economist of the international energy agency. thanks for taking the time to speak to us. there's been a lot of talk here about diversification. still very much an economy based on hydro carbons. do you see evidence of that happening? >> first of all, it is true the economy is very much dependent on the oil and gas revenues. perhaps i should say too much relying on oil and gas ref gnaws and when i look at the russian government's policies i don't see any signs this would be weakened even though diversification must happen because if oil or gas prices go down, this is a major implication for the russian economy so that is a must. >> reporter: there's still a great deal of oil and gas in this country. i know you believe there's a lot of inefficiency in domestic use of oil and gas. what impact is that having on the economy? >> for russia, as we said, the oil and gas revenues are important. the russian government every year puts about $300 billion in the pocket which is very good. bu

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million people in europe. the only part of europe that seems a little strong to me is russia, calling it out as a strong market. >> 3m, cut to hold over valuation? >> you know what? i have seen a dramatic number increase in this year of valuation downgrades that makes very little sense to me. >> remember, another theme park, remarkable increase in dividends and yet sells -- 10% yield, cedar fair is the play when it comes to the great american scream machine kind of activity. >> we heard from phil lebeau earlier this morning on ford. erie took looking at auto sales and what it might do. >> i think auto sales, the subtle movement here is 14 million, going to 14.5 million, maybe as high as 16, volkswagen saying watch union pacific, it's the one that's most levered to the automotives. everyone's worried about the transports not confirming the dow, carl, that's because coal is so much a railroad is coal, union pacific the winner, csx, not, norfolk southern not. >> i don't know if they're on the other side of the floor yet or not. >> we're keeping conversation when it comes to greece. the k

& p, germany up 15, russia up 20 there are no knowns in this market. what will happen next, inflation will slow growth, if it does shall. >> where is this there inflation? >> let's agree to disagree, guys, we can go on all night probably. >> we should. >> no, actually, we shouldn't. until 6, then jim cramer comes on. moving to our next trade, one stock hire, microsoft surging to a four-year high. morgan stanley saying rebalancing of the s & p 500 could lead to another catalyst for microsoft to move higher. very interesting call here. >> it is an interesting call. i think it is a little bit late, frankly, since -- i will go back and say, we have talked about microsoft since it was a $24 stock saying rick spoke to you, spoke to jim cramer, carl on that morning as well, stayed is probably the cheapest stock out there we piggybacked that, said it is worthy of a look, nothing else, here we are at 31 1/2. what does that mean? stock traded 100 million shares, up 4%. 4% in microsoft, given the move you have seen the last four moments is huge, market cap quarter of a billion dollars f you are

active program in china right now, also in russia, in india. and just last week, the u.s. approved its first nuclear reactors built by the southern company in georgia. probably going to take three to four years to get those complete. i think if nothing else, those two reactors won't consume a tremendous amount of uranium, but it could improve the sentiment around the nuclear story here in north america. >> how do i buy uranium? if richard fisher's got a quarter million dollars in uranium related assets, what's the best way to do that right now, if i want to follow suit? >> one of the best ways is camico in saskatchewan, canada, the largest producer of uranium on a gloeblg basis. i think that's the easiest, safest way to play it. we've already seen one transaction occur in the last two or three months. given the low prices and the attractive valuations, you could see further m & a in the uranium base. >> raymond, how would you play it right now? >> there are several arguments you could make against equities. they often have problems starting up, and operating uranium mines, simply becau

satisfaction after two days of talks with that country. russia is now warning, of course, catastrophic consequences if there is a military attack on its middle eastern ally. increasing tensions have an impact on global financial markets. cnbc reporters are in place all over the world to help you understand what exactly the iranian crisis means for your money. well, we've got jane wells in los angeles, with the potential effects on defense companies. sharon epperson has the latest on the oil prices. and we start with michelle caruso-cabrera in jerusalem with what iran may be capable in terms of an attack on the shipping complex. >> israel is about 950 miles from iran. and iran is believed to have solid fueled rockets, that means they can be hidden in silos and fired very quickly. they also have missiles by all accounts, that can hit all american troops in the middle east, all over israel and parts of europe. some of the most dangerous missiles are long-range, which can be used to attack shipping in the persian gulf and straits of hormuz. the range, 125 miles. iran has small ships that p

, this is a boom for them. outside of russia and the mideast, this is a major problem. to the extent that people wanted markets to be the growth end, how sensitive in a place like korea and south korea and turkey, these are major oil importers and do you think they are starting to have an effect on their central policy and monetary policy? >> i think it's going to hurt their growth and we are calculating so it's a noisy number and you are right to highlight that the middle east and russia will highlight. china and more developing economies have a 1-1 relationship. they need oil to generate the economic growth. the u.s. economy is growing with falling oil demand that told you we are not being driven by oil-intense economic output. with china and other markets, you need that growth. you said about a .25 effect and for every 10% move in oil, about a .35 effect for developing economies and a multiplier between the two. they begin to slow and the other begins to slow. i calculated that we go to about 130 or 140 and you are going to begin to crush those economies enough that demand begins

zoo in central russia and his keepers say he's a real kung fu master. the bear likes to play with a martial arts staff rocking it from side to side and around his neck. got to love this, right? joe, do you know how to do this? >> i haven't seen any real impressive moves. i thought it was on a loop. have you seep this before? >> i have not seen this before although i saw an image of it yesterday. >> the kung fu panda. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen >>> welcome back, everybody. take a look at the u.s. equity futures. right now the dow is looking sharply higher on the open. it looks like we'll open up 48, 49 points. the s&p is indicated higher by six points. in our headlines on this tuesday morning, yahoo! is demanding lie sen licensing fees including technical mechanisms in facebook's ads, privacy controls, news feed and messaging service. r

united states to russia and other areas that cisco is active in terms of doing business, and how do you agree cisco around the world? >> well, one of the things that i think you see in governments around the world, it's moved from a government philosophy where politics determines your economy. to the economy would determine your politics. maria, there's nothing more evident than that in what you heard from prime minister cameron at the world economic forum, and from chancellor merkel the same way. they are very pro-business. how do we work together, how do we create jobs. you heard the same thing from the canadian prime minister, and you hear the same thing from the asian leaders. so i think you're seeing business and government come together around the world, with the appropriate caveats in saying, how do we put this world back to work. i'd like to see us do that a little better in the united states. >> the stock has done very well in the most recent past. up 40% or so since early august. investors are watching. and they want to know what's most important to you. give us your prioritie

and india roughly 25% in local currency. you have russia up 20% in local currency. china up 7%. within asia you've had outperformance in taiwan up 14% to 16%. i think that's natural. when you look at europe, people are expecting a slowdown based on bank deleveraging and fiscal austerity. in the u.s. we're going to have strong but really sub trend growth, something in the 2.5% or 3% range. enough to buoy the global economy and to be a good destination to earn capital from the emerging markets. but the emerging markets are the growth space. the size of those markets, can you deploy capital effectively in the emerging markets. guys have had a great success doing that so far. >> the large global macro plays i think the biggest trade on january 1 was short the euro. >> right. >> have you read through the quarterly letters, year end letters, everybody wanted to be short the euro. do you get a sense that's the big sort of global one-off trade? >> it's easy off and performance of ect index which includes macro players suffered relative to other strategies in january because of the tra

saudi arabia, surpassing russia, and the reason for that is the shale boom in the united states, allowing the industry to get access, allowing the industry to move forward under appropriate regulation. not burdensome regulation. as we grow production -- >> larry and bruce, what's the cost of that? how many -- what's the risk to our climate? what's the risk to our water shed for doing that? >> i can't go down that road tonight. i want to establish -- we almost had common ground on mr. obama marching towards republican energy policy. we're almost good on there. thank you, gentlemen. the next question on this whole theme is whether high oil and gasoline prices are going to sink the economy because, as we just learned, it's iran, and it's the traders iffing long on the supply shortages from the gulf -- from the strait of hormuz. there's nothing we can do about this in the short run. i actually agree with president obama on that. let's talk to cnbc contributor joel of deutsche bank and michael pento president of pento portfolio strategies. is this going to sink the economy? we're $10

iran would not let them visit key sites. russia is starting to weigh in, warning this country should not in any way attack iran. and when you add all of those situations up, you're starting to see growing tension within the oil market. it's very supportive and bullish for the price right now. there's hope that sanctions are going to work in some form or fashion. but in the meantime, other people are worried about the worst possibly coming, bill. >> you know, the critical point is what iran would do in the strait of hormuz, whether they would try to block that critical area of transportation for oil. but there are those who feel not only with u.s. armed forces being able to stop that, but it wouldn't have that big an impact on the supply of oil. so you wonder how much the premium in oil is, merely just pure speculation, and not a true reflection of the fear of supply cut off in that area. >> you outlined the whole dilemma, to what degree do you discount in the worst, cutting off the strait of hormuz or something far worse, if there were some kind of attack, what would that mean

russia is indicating they may participate in some of the funding, and there's a lot of currency reserves in these countries. i think through the imf would be the most likely scenario. if you do get a very strong safety net there, there's no reason these countries couldn't invest directly as well. >> all right, patrick. good to have you on. plenty to get through. let's bring up global markets. christine? >>> well, here in asia, mostly low lower. once again oil prices going to a certain level. starting to weigh on concerns. people are wondering whether that will choke global growth. off 0.1%. but the down side was capped by strength in the exporters which got a lift are and the topix is up. over in shanghai 0.3%. now this market is interesting because the carmakers apparently led the way higher after china came out with a list of vaex approved for purchase by state agencies and it ex claweded foreign banks so it's giving local carmakers a lift this this particular market. hang seng profit taking going on. still holding on to the key 21,000 level, watching hsbc, of course, a little bit of n

company in terms of focus, disciplines and expansion outside of europe into emerging markets, russia, south america. just about to open a new plant in north africa. i think it's a stock where if you start from a negative value, that's a pretty good place to start in terms of my book. and i'm starting to see a very strong move in that stock. and i think it can go further from here. >> mr. peak, great to meet you. thank you for joining us on "power lunch." stephen peak there from london. do you know reno? >> i do not in terms of financials, but i certainly know the company. >> oh, i see. okay. >> you were doing so well. >> i know. our week of power players continues tomorrow. we'll have an exclusive conversation with chief investment officer of global ax is portfolios at jpmorgan private bank. >> all right. coming up next, the man in line to become china's next leader is coming to the u.s. tomorrow. but is china still a smart investment play? so far this year shanghai's up 6%, but if you look one year over, we're down 16%. we'll talk about that when we come back. this new at&t 4g lte i

afghanistan. should the united states get out faster? and then is putt tin's power crumbling in russia? they're demonstrating. they're trying to assassinate him. and he is holding a phony election next week. distinguished four-star general barry mccaffrey will guide us through the flash points. and finally, transcanada will build a major part of the keystone. transcan joins us for a first ever interview on cnbc. >>> first up, it's a standoff in michigan. the latest numbers from rasmussen are right in the margin. romney, 38. santorum, 36. it looks like rick santorum's culture war versus mitt romney's tax and economic program. so who is going to walk away with the win in this very critical republican primary? here now for all the latest in the gop race, we bring in cnbc contributor robert costa of the national review. bob costa, is santorum overstepping on his culture war, religious war in the final, literally, 48 hours of this primary? >> santorum had a great economic op-ed in today's "wall street journal." but you're not hearing a lot about it on the campaign trail. instead you hear th

including russia and others, there is a way out of debt and there is a way back including back to foreign private financing. big, big decisions, i think, for the next greek government to take. i suspect that's the way it's going to go in the end. >> all right, george, we'll leave it there for now. you'll continue to stay on with us as our guest host. george magnus. let's take a look at the bourses, mostly higher ahead of the liquid. a little bit of optimism coming into the market today. the nikkei 225 is up 0.92%. triggered negative sentiment but investor fought back after they felt maybe some of the stocks were oversold. the topic clawing back. shanghai composite up, marginal gains. the banks led the way higher on a report that china has softened its line on local government financing allowing banks to issue loans to government projects more than 60% complete. so that seems to be a softening when it comes to local government debt and dealing with local government issues. the hang seng is up 1.7%. the property counters really led the way higher. the kosmalss kospi higher. a sign t

? russia? >> how do you keep a 747 secret? hide it in your backyard? >> i know someone who would take a helicopter to his 747 if he was family. it's likely it was the state of -- how do you say that? >> qatar. qatar. >> you say qatar for 50 years. after 50 years it goes from qatar to qatar. whatever. gadhafi, is it "k"? is it "q"? is there a "u"? that's one of the few words, though, without a "u." "q"s without "u." >> qantas, but that stands for something. >> you're right. >> you know that. the 747 is the rj last commercial airliner. there was a development delay of more than a year. >> and we now have an unbelievable cnbc exclusive this morning. it was very exciting for those of you who watched the social network, facebook. eduardo saverin has just spoken with us. it happened at the ypo global leadership conference in singapore. the they just launched an exclusive partnership. ypo is made up of 19,000 business executives on the front lines of the economy from 190 countries. the company generated $6 trillion. that's with a "t." brian williams is live in singapore. brian. >> reporter: it

persuade beijing and others financial institutions to invest in germany and the wider eurozone. >>> russia has post posted a pr drop, roche down 1.4% after missing fourth quarter outlook. the swiss with drugmaker is banking on new drugs releasing this year. they're plannin to acquire u.s. company lumina which will strengthen their position in the market. >>> and a former boss of the royal bank of scotland has been stripped of his nighthood. fred goodwin can no longer be called sir because of his role of the collapse in the bank of 2008 which led to a taxpayer bailout. he joins a motley crew who have lost their honors in the past. that includes rocketer mugabe, the zimbabwe president, and a british double agent an thopny wlunt. >>> around half of what we thought they were going to get for facebook, no final share price will be set for a while. that's left the door open for facebook to invest more money if they see investor demand. the company has chosen five underwriters, morgan stanley will take the lead with goldman, bank of america, jpmorgan, the others. morgan stanley has led several hi

markets like brazil, russia, india, china and indonesia, don't know how much snow they get there. right now honda is the market leader in these areas and polaris beat the manufacturing plant in 2010, and last year the company began building out its distribution network and something that started paying off in the not too distant future and because it's coming off a very low base, it's extremely valuable and polaris doesn't have to deal with tough comparisons. the company does have some exposure to europe which makes up 10% of its offroad vehicle sales and it set off most of the volume weakness with price increases and they didn't lose market share and another snow mobile and all-terrain vehicle maker has also been on a tear lately, soaring 32% and polaris is the superior player in terms of its scale and the offerings and the excellence of management's execution. the dealer network for these power sports vehicles makes more money from polaris' products in part because polaris lets its dealers adjust orders twice per month and arctic cat does every three or four months. do not be a

both china and russia followed reports that syrian forces had bombarded the city of homs killing more than 200 people. chinese state media said distrust laid behind the veto. >>> we'll it take a short break. still to come on the program, all the nonsporting winners and losers from the super bowl. which were the best and worst ads and what's the verdict on madonna's perfeormance? that after the new york giants walked away with the prize. spark card from capital one. the. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. >>> welcome back. you're watching wo"worldwide exchange." it's about 5:15 a.m. here in the u.s. be a time for your global markets re

increasingly see buyers from russia, the middle east, parts of asia, parts of south america. >> china? >> china of course. >> you see them in the auction? >> absolutely. and we see a market right now that's extremely smart. even the newer buyers are very quick to learn, very quick to get good advice. we see a smart market. and also an absolutely robust even intrepid market. >> contemporary art, post war and contemporary, was very, very hot last year. asian art was very hot last year. do you see those trends continuing? you first then you. >> absolutely. they'll definitely continue. >> i agree 100%. but you use the word investing. people who look at art just as an investment lose. art is something you have to not only -- it's like investing in the stock market. there are many stocks. you have to know which ones -- you have to have a passion for it. and one of the things i've seen over and over again these people say it's easy, just put money in, the piece goes up. >> that's like a lot of things. i think if you try too hard to make money, that's probably not the reason to do it. you don

, russia looks pretty attractive. >> you say the story of the year in fixed income is going to be the compression of the spread, right? did i get you right on that? >> yeah, you did. >> is that because government yields are going to go up? or high yields are going to come down? >> well, i'm hoping that government yields stay where they are and credit spreads drift in. >> drift in. >> and all the liquidity that's being supplied by the central banks encourages investors to come in off the sidelines. and that's what we've been seeing over the last couple of months. >> could you get stuck out far out on that yield curve if you go into some of the riskier assets and rates end up going up and other uncertainty that comes into the market? >> well, you could. and it depends on where you're investing. certainly if you go into government bonds or high grade investment grade corporates and things do reflat at a very rapid rate, yields will go up a lot more than credit spreads come in. but if you're looking at in the investment grade side, the bank sector looks attractive. high yield looks attrac

markets outside like india, other asia, russia and africa. so those are growing as a percentage of the base. certainly they're going to be higher in a few years. i think we've done the perform analysis in a few years, that 60%, 65% can become three-quarters emerging markets. this is by far the most emerging market oriented name in my coverage, one of the top among its megacap peers. one of the things that's really good about this company, they don't have the exposure to europe. >> that's where i was going to go next. >> on top of that, they're actually selling down that exposure by licensing out the uk pizza hut business this year. a major positive. >> you're optimistic about the fact many of the emerging markets have had a pretty good start to the year as well, up double digits in some of the key emerging markets as well, right? >> right. even among emerging markets i think folks can see there's less of a slowdown in asia emerging markets, particularly china, versus maybe certain latin american emerging markets. once again geography is working their way. >> david palmer at ubs. cortez

, you're going to see possibly 4% inflation in russia this year, which is record levels. brazil will go 1.25 probably on inflation, which allows the central bank to continue to cut rates. ultimately this is a retail trade. ultimately this is an opportunity for people to get into emerging markets and ride this trade. what i would say is currencies have rallied 8% to 10% already this year, you may want to watch for a pullback, technically i think things look a little rich. >> so in terms of a specific retailer, can you point us in any directionisms the biggest retailer is ticker cdb, largest food and electronics player. in mexico, mexico has seen a major resurgence in the home building market. we've seen better numbers out of the states, but the mexican peso has been rallying off the charts. home ex, hmx, is another way to play that, and gives you the opportunity -- as much as i like em banks, the consumers will do better in this falling inflation, at the banks will suffer. banks are good, retailers are better. >> tim, good to see you. >> going to see you at the parade? >> yeah. are you t

sends the message as we're doing that we have to pursue the sanctions, let them ride out, i think russia and china have hurt themselves enormously by their veto on syria, so i think our influence in the region is expanding. >> governor, to don's point, this idea of a secret attack, isn't that what's already been happening with some of the nuclear scientists there or the supposition that's been happening in. >> there's no question that israel has, and any country has to act in their legitimate self-defense but an attack on iran's nuclear facilities would be i think explosive, would be -- >> if you were israel and you're sitting there and you've got all these forces working against you and not a whole lot of support coming from anywhere, what would you do? >> i would let diplomacy work. i would work with the united states. i would continue to allow the sanctions to bite iran, which they're doing significantly, especially now that they're moving into the oil area. this move on the central bank affects oil revenues. i think that iran is going to be seeing its leverage diminish. the saudis ha

late. that's the aussie dollar. russia just recently said it may be adding the aussie dollar to its portfolio reserves as of early february. i just want to give you some background. the snb holds roughly 55% in the euro, 25% in the u.s. dollar, and 3% in other currencies. now, ross, as for the size of the actual investment into korean treasuries, i don't think that would be very big. here is the main reason. the latest data shows that 83% of the forex reserves are invested in bonds with a aaa rating. now korean bonds only have a single-a rating by s&p is. that would be the main reason but still interesting nonetheless. >> carolin, thanks for that. mikio, very briefly, do you think we'll see more central banks diversifying into bonds in asia? >> yes, absolutely. that's the brief version of the answer. >> what's the implications for treasury holdings? u.s. dollar treasuries. >> i think your colleague out of switzerland has already outlined it. the total amount will be very small compared to the size of the main reserves which are still, you know, globally u.s. dollar and the second be

. >> that's why it would be messy. >> they would have to default. people default -- russia defaulted. they come back. that's the way, but they can't because of the eu. >> it's a five to ten year project. >> but they can't. they're unable to. >> in this case. >> do you have any other unbelievably compelling script things is this. >> nothing in the script but i do have a comment on china because i saw a chart yesterday which surprised me. trivia question for the table. what percentage of our debt, u.s. debt, is owned by china? we always talk about how china owns us. >> between 25% and 30%. >> is it less? >> less. less than 15%. >> really? >> there's two different numbers and one of them was under 10%. but 9%, and i thought that was fascinating. >> that's been a change because of the fed getting so involved over the last few years. i think it use d to be closer t 25%. >> 50% of the debt is still hours. >> that's because we've been printing money. >> we talk about how china owns us and when you look at the charts -- >> are they number two and then japan? >> they are number two. in terms

growth away from this country. bric, brazil, russia, india, china, and worst of all, we believed the banking system was when it was quick sand. we thought it was solid despite the peak in housing because we had no idea how widespread the fraud and recklessness were in that industry. $14 trillion worth of mortgages in question. yeah, those are the real numbers. we've been brainwashed into believing that houses never decreased in value, particularly over the long-term. didn't we all think that? man oh man were we wrong. you want to know just how wrong the market was in 2008? how about a pair of 44s to paint the picture? yeah. consider it. just when housing was beginning, bank of america should become the largest private owner of houses in this country traded at, are you ready? $44. at the same time, alcoa, the ultimate bric in construction play also stood at $44. you could buy a lot of rentals for that. can you imagine? now bank of america can't seem to go beyond much of $8, right? people are thrilled to see alcoa north of $10. talk about a difference what four years make. plenty of st

russia. what is the strategy? what does this company offer future shareholders? >> it's trying to move more and more through. they're planning to increase their operations, planning to sort of try and find more. they know that at the end of the day you have to get the stuff out of the ground. you have to find the stuff, find the reserves. think back to how bg has performed, finding those reserves in brazil. that's what they want to do. he is obviously getting rid of the refining, some of the refineries, the low margin stuff, concentrating more on the high octane end of the market and that's, i think, what the market wants to see as well from bp. >> bp or shell, which one if you were choosing? >> on a relative basis i think i prefer bp. >> would you own either of them -- would you want to own either or prefer services? >> i still have no major. we hold funds but at the end of the day i think they both offer value still. bp is still the best opportunity. those numbers today weren't particularly brilliant underneath it all but they weren't a disaster either and as a relative play against

the relationship we had with the exchange there, making some inroads in russia. south america is not just a brazil story. asia is not just a china story. i think the u.s. economy is doing better than we all think it s i'm an optimist about the global economy, as i said, i'm impressed what is going nonplaces like italy. i agree with what secretary geithner said earlier today but across europe it is tough right now. >> you had prime minister mario monti. >> impressive. great experiment, when you think about it, a group you have install forward specific amount of time saying do what you think has to be done, he is happy going back doing the right thing for the country, letting the politicians take it back after his time is up. i don't think mario has any interest in running for office. it is a great experiment. >> he doesn't care about politics, which is great. >> which is why he is willing to make the tough decisions. >> what do you see in terms of sentiment, investors there, are they risk averse? i know you are not a market timer you got a good feel for these things. what does the mar

tough battle. >> and let's move to syria now. we are russia and china blocking a resolution the arab league wanted to have the u.n. security council call on president assad to step down. very tough language from secretary clinton and ambassador rice at the united nations about china and russia. sounded very much like the george w. bush administration before the war saying this is proof the security council doesn't work in today's world. the president and his team, do them have any good options here? >> the opposites are tough as well, john. the actions of the russians and chinese hit a new low of cynicism. they are allowing the assad government to go to battle with its own people. the resolution that was going to be voted upon in new york was a very moderate resolution. the united states can no longer depend on the security council because russia and china will block any reasonable resolution. we've got to do what the administration is doing, turn our attention to work with turkey, with saudi arabia and with the arab league. we have a good collection of partners there, all three of t

russia and china. >> i think the arab leaders are probably our best option in this particular case. they understand what's happening in syria. they started to increase their pressure. i think that has to be our option, and i think it's the best option for the united states right now. u.n. resolution is nott going to get there with russia and china standing in the way. >> it is not. thank you so much for joining us. mike rogers, chairman of the house intelligence committee. >> thanks for having me. >> appreciate it. >>> up next, top stories and football and politics have more in common than you might think. . over twenty delicious varieties have sixty . calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed.

resolution for syria. russia opposing a call for regime change in syria. drafters of the proposal have made revisions and hope to put it to a vote as soon as possible. >>> the u.s. senate overwhelmingly approved an insider trading bill. it bans congress members and their staff from financially profiting from nonpublic information. >>> attorney general eric holder says firings and charges are underway for people who ran the fast and furious program. he's in the hot seat yesterday in congress. congressman darryl issa demanding he release documents on the gun running operation or face content of court. >> this committee has lost its patience to wait longer. we will not wait until next ground hog day to get answers for the american people. >>> the department of justice stands ready to work with you. not only to correct the mistakes of the past, but also to strengthen our law enforcement capacity in the future. >> fast and furious, as you know, put guns in the hands of mexican drug cartels. >> the fbi's no fly list has more than doubled in the past year. counter terror officials say there a

"outfront 5." russia's role. asaad is off the reservation. he is being armed and supported by russia. drunk as a defense. >> the prosecution says this was a premeditated intentional murder. >> all this "outfront" in our second half. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. yoyou u wawalklk i intna coconvnvenentitiononalal ms ststorore,e, i it't's s ry nonot t ababouout t yoy. ththeyey s sayay, , "w"weleu wawantnt a a f firirm m bebn lilie e onon o onene o of ff yoyou u wawantnt a a s sofou cacan n lilie e onon o onene o " wewe p prorovividede t thet inindidivividudualalizizatat yoyourur b bodody y nene

than the entire european union, russia, and south africa put together. in this hemisphere brazil was emerging from decades of dictatorship and was racked by inflation rates that reached 3,000%. today brazil is a stable democracy steadily growing with foreign exchange reserves of $350 billion. i could go on. barack obama has succeeded in preserving and even enhancing u.s. influence in this world precisely because he has recognized these new forces at work. he has traveled to the emerging nations and spoken admiringly of their rise. he replaced the old western club and made the group of 20, the central decision making forum for global economic affairs. by emphasizing multi-lateral organizations, alliance structures and international legitimacy, he got results. it was chinese and russian corporation that produced tougher sanctions against iran. it was the arab league's formal request last year that made western intervention in libya uncontroversial. mitt, by and large you have ridiculed this approach to foreign policy, arguing that you would, instead, expand the military, act unilateral

, saturday, russia and china condemned a resolution condemning syria. and they called it a license to kill by one diplomat. that's exactly what it was, a green light to continue the killing, upwards of 74 dead today alone, the majority in homs. they deny what you're seeing is happening or blaming others for the slaughter. this is bashar assad praying to mark the birth of the prophet, mohammed. he and others keep blaming others. outside agitators, israeli agents, 65 roaming criminals, radicals. the common thread is denial. here's what his u.n. ambassador said to us in august. >> do you deny your president and his government imprisoned and tortured and killed thousands of citizens in the past few months alone? >> i deny categorically all these references to bloodshed and killings taking place in my country the way they are described by the media. >> we have seen countless videos of broken body and people in detention and being shot at as they try to get people on the street and we have seen protests after protests and live ammunition fired into crowds. are all of these lies? >> i have countl

expected to resume talks on a draft resolution calling for syria's president to step down. russia warns that that could lead to a civil war in syria. opposition activists report 70 people now killed in syria yesterday. >>> attorney general eric holder appearing at a capitol hill hearing on operation "fast and furious." the botched gun probe allowed hundreds of high powered weapons to get into the hands of mexican drug cartels. >>> okay. it's will cain and roland martin time. we have two topics they are going to love, mitt romney on the poor and donald trump on the presidential race. >> bring it. >> excuse me, roland? >> bring it. >> all right, will. yeah, exactly. will shakes his head. >> there you go. >> all right, guys. let's go ahead and start with romney's comment yesterday on cnn that he's, quote, not concerned about the very poor. everyone's been talking about that this morning, including you two. there's probably already a bumper sticker out there somewhere. soledad o'brien did challenge romney when he said that. of course, john stewart weighed in a little later. take a listen. >

from the you nated nations, britain, france and india all say they are furious at china and russia today because those two countries vetoed a draft resolution that would have strongly condemned the government of syria, and insisted countries' presidents step aside. richard roth is at the you nated nations. >> reporter: the u.n. ambassadors and others are deeply disappointed. i asked susan rice where the diplomacy broke down. >> at the 11th hour, russia tried to introduce amendments that would have gutted the text that were unacceptable to the other members of the council. the one silver lining in this is that 13 members of this council supported the resolution, made strong statements in its favor. countries that had originally not supported the resolution last time changed their position and voted in favor. >> reporter: take us into the back rooms, if you can. do you feel russia was stalling all along? they were presented a conciliatory front, sleeves rolled up. do you feel they intended to abstain or vote yet? >> i can't speak for russia. our ambassador was negotiating in good fai

reservation. he is being armed and supported by russia, perhaps others. the armed opposition as opposed to the civilian operation is increasingly also resulting to violence and self-defense. that is not a dynamic that is in the interest of the people of syria or the wider region. so before we start talking about military options, we very much want to ensure that we have exhausted all the political, economic and diplomatic means at our disposal. >> joining me now from washington, brigadier general mark hemmet, state of affairs. he also served as deputy secretary for middle east affairs. kenneth, nice to see you. i also want to begin with this just in case scenario. what options do you think are on the table right now for president obama on just how to proceed regarding syria? >> there are still plenty of options on the table, both diplomatic. some measure of military qualification, of course, with the pre s-syrian army. then you need to tra, r you would unilaterally -- some people have problems. >> the general there are a lot of voices. why not do the same for syria they did for

step down but russia and china want dialogue. >>> a nato report indicating that pakistan is helping the taliban. pakistani intelligence forces are keeping track of taliban commanders. the paper says the taliban don't believe they need help and are confident they will win the war in afghanistan. nato is downplaying the importance of this report and pakistan firmly denies helping the taliban. >>> an amtrack train in michigan went off the rails this morning after hitting a car at a highway crossing. the engine tipped over on its side and two passenger cars jumped the tracks. thankfully no life-threatening injuries were reported. >>> sad news now to report from california. music icon don cornelius, the creator of "soul train." he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. he started "soul train" with $400 of his own money and went on the air and top r and b performers in the last hour i spoke with gladys knight about the life and legacy of don cornelius. >> every step of the way, don was always there. he was that same character, that same person that you saw on that tv. he was just very la

around the world and tonight, russia. a plot to assassinate putin has been foiled according to russian media, which says that agents in ukraine arrested a group of suspects claiming a hit on the leader. it was uncovered after an explosion killed one of the plotters and injured another. this comes at a crucial time in russian politics. voters are going to the polls this week to vote in an election that putin is expected to win easily. phil black is in moscow and i asked him what we know about this plot. >> according to the state controlled network, the men confessed their plan was to travel to moscow to attack economic targets but with the ultimate goal of attempting to assassinate vladimir putin and apparently confessed they were going to do this to use a military mind to attack his motorcade. >> it was potentially a suicide attack, at least according to the state television, right? >> well, they -- the people asked about boat. would they be prepared to do so. the one suspect interviewed in this particular network show says no, he didn't want to do it and they weren't planning

. until this point last week, china and russia vetoed that resolution. >> why did russia and why are they still holding support for syria? >> russia -- syria is russia's biggest ally in the middle east. they are home to the last remaining naval base in the mediterranean. they are a big training partner with russia. they have a $500 billion deal for airplane parts. they are an important strategic and economic ally and russia doesn't want to give that up, the foothold in the middle east. it's a strategic play for russia. they have elections coming up next month. putin doesn't want to seem weak with the west. >> at some point, with all this video coming out and the world watching this, doesn't it put russia in a precarious condition, yeah, they want to help out their buddy and partner, but to what end? >> certainly, it becomes more and more embarrassing. it's the strategy you see with the u.s. and the west. you bring up resolution after resolution forcing russia to say look, this is getting bad. it's a humanitarian crisis. do you want to support this guy, assad? the last time they broug

ground where the crops are at a pretty steady range there. that's what we've been seeing there in russia, belarus, western ukraine. that hasn't happened in southern ukraine. there we have had not as much snow. we've had the exposure to the very frigid temperatures. the other problem i'm going to foresee heading into the next couple of months as we get into spring, as i believe you with an unbelievable picture in romania, this is snow. this is the way we're getting around in romania, we're tunnelling through. that snow has to go somewhere. it is going to eventually melt and what we want is a gradual warmup into spring. if we get a significant bump in the temperatures, we'll see the crops impacted not by the freeze but then by what is going to unfreeze here in that we could have significant flooding. we'll watch that very closely over the next couple of months. nina? >> okay, ivan cabrera, many thanks at the cnn weather center. >>> coming up next on "world business today," after reuniting with old friends in iowa, chinese vice president hits the road again. we're talking, of course, about

russia recently vetoed a u.n. resolution calling on the president to step aside. >>> the discovery of human remains on long island, new york, has reignited fears of a possible serial killer on the loose. the remains find friday were about 40 miles from where ten other sets of remains were found last year. police said they aren't sure yet if the new discovery is linked to the other cases. >>> yesterday's funeral for whitney houston was a celebration of her life, of her gift, and of her legacy. ♪ ♪ hate's going around and it's running ♪ >> family and friends like stevie wonder were at the new hope baptist church in newark, new jersey, to say good-bye. there were songs and stories about the little girl that everyone called nippy and about a woman who did not consider herself a superstar. >> it's a tree we could all hang from, the inexplainable burden that comes with fame, call it doubt, call it fear. i've had mine, and i know the famous in the room have had theirs. i asked her to trust me, and she said she would. a half hour later she went back in to do her screen test, and the stu

difficult to muster for the opposition. they have russia, china in the security council, iran next door. and so when that gentleman says, if you don't get involved there will be oceans of blood, unfortunately the tragedy is that if we would get involved there would perhaps be even more blood. because there would be activism on all sides. already syria is turning into a kind of cockpit where there is a cold war between iran on the one side supporting the syrian government, saudi arabia on the other side supporting increasingly these militants who are either in syria or coming into syria. so when we talk about bloodshed, there will be a lot more bloodshed. that's not a reason not to support the opposition. because at the end of the day we want to do the right thing both politically and morally. but let's face it. getting more involved in iraq or getting more involved in afghanistan did not produce less bloodshed. it produced more. it wide, the war. >> it certainly would. i want you to listen here. i asked the republican candidates for president last night what they would do differently from th

example, decides to attack iran, russia is not going to stand by and let it happen. they have voiced their opinion, they do not want to see a war. this is their border. it destabilizes this region. iraq was blown up the way syria is right now. you are going to radicalize the sunni and shiites more. you are going to recreate it now. it's going to create more terrorism across the world. this is world war iii we are looking at. >> but the argument, of course, if you are in israel rgs they could be facing potentially world war iii from somebody they see as untable for the reasons i stated with these statements he made on the record, particularly in relation to israel. they worry if he's in possession of a nuclear weapon, he would carry out the threats he made. >> you are defending the preventive war doctrine that goes back to bush. >> i don't, actually. to clarify, i would agree about the futility of the iraq war, for example. in this case, it seems to me unlike with saddam hussein, you have ahmadinejad threatening to exterminate israel. he's developing ever faster nuclear capacity. it's a mat

it. you'll recall that russia and china recently vetoed a u.n. security council resolution denouncing the assad regime. >>> much of the incredible reporting on holmes has come from a brave young syrian who was known recently only as danny. >> bombs and shells, everyone -- it blows in the air or comes up to the buildings. look at the bodies. look at the bodies. these are rockets. these -- they are firing rockets on us. we've got more than 40 people dead. hundreds of injuries. look at this -- look. look! all dead bodies. we're not animals, we're human beings, we're asking for help. >> courage us on reporting like this -- courageous reporting like this earned danny the moniker of the voice of home. it placed him in the crosshairs of the syrian military. danny decided to flee the country. his family is anxiously awaiting any news of his whereabouts. >> we're not expecting danny to arrive in lebanon until late tonight. he says there are activists with him now. >> calm down. >> okay. >> enough, calm down. >> who could be calm in a situation like that? danny's mother says her greatest fear i

away. >> we know a resolution did not pass because russia and china both objected. how do they feel about this? >> once again they denounced western countries for fomenting the violence. china and russia, get in the "no" column, and china right now is speaking and explaining its votes. both those nations worry one day the u.n. may come after them for violations. they think any resolution may open the door for potential intervention in libya. ambassador rise and others scoffed at that. this doesn't call for military use. it does condemn syria and says it should adopt this peace plan and let the outside world in. stop attacking your own citizens, which is the world message inseed the general assembly hall. if you're guess noesnoes, is th anything else the general assembly could try to do to pressure the syrian government? >> they are talking about an envoy, that may not accomplish. sometimes the country will vote no on an issue, but vote yes on something to help the people, a humanitarian gesture, to help establish corridors or to reach people suffering in this crisis, that may be som

diplomacy for the last two months? >> a crime against humanitarian. this is all russia's fault. they have syrian blood on their hands. the last time the u.n. did nothing they gave the green light and okay to kill more. it was the first time that he used rocket launches after the u.n. he felt safe. they gave him the okay. >> why do you think they want to intervene? what's stopping them? >> they think our blood is like water. they want to trade our blood with something. >> still ahead, fighter jets intercept a plane flying in restricted air space. it was carrying drugs. details on that. >> and dramatic demonstration shows what could have happened on christmas day of 2009. so-called underwear bomber wasn't caught. peel tell we'll tell you how long he'll be away for. he was sentenced today. lling da. [ telephone rings ] [ sighs ] i need a new i.t. guy. [ male announcer ] in a small business, technology is all you. staples easy tech experts are here to help. you must be... ...dave. [ male announcer ] with everything from new computers, to set-ups, to tune-ups. stapes. that was easy. sure.