Monday's views on Sunday's news: Durbin, Kyl debate START, congressional agenda

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Durbin, Kyl debate START, congressional agenda

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Durbin, Gregory, Kyl

David Gregory writes: We continue to turn our attention to the world stage as President Obama is faced with difficult foreign policy choices - the biggest of which right now is how to respond to North Korea's surprise attack Tuesday on its neighbor to the south. On Sunday, I spoke with the assistant leaders in the Senate from both parties: Republican Jon Kyl (AZ) and Democrat Dick Durbin (IL) about this, and a myriad of other issues facing the country right now.

The U.S. and South Korea began naval exercises in the Yellow Sea. However, North Korea has sent warnings to the U.S. not to engage in the drills, saying they will push the peninsula closer "to the brink of war."

When I asked Senator Durbin about what he thinks needs to be done, he told me, "At this point in time, we need to make certain we stand as one nation, strong in our alliance with South Korea, determined to stop this effort by North Korea to provoke aggression." Senator Kyl seemed to agree, saying, "What we ought to do is what we're doing right now. And that is not backing down in terms of having very legitimate exercises with the South Korean government, which we gave plenty of advance notice of."

Another hot-button foreign policy issue has been President Obama's START treaty with Russia. My guest, Sen. Jon Kyl, has been outspoken on the issue and believes there needs to be further review of the treaty before allowing it to come to a vote in the Senate. When I asked Senator Kyl about the treaty, he told me that he still believes there is no chance START will get finished in the lame duck session of Congress. Watch my entire exchange with Senator Kyl on the issue.

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MTP Monday Trivia

This week's trivia question: Which Chair of Sen Finance Cmte said this on Meet the Press: "Not much ever happens in a lame duck session that's constructive."

Executive Producer Betsy Fischer (@BetsyMTP) reveals the answer this week via Twitter.

Last week's question: Speaker-elect John Boehner has appeared 8 times on Meet the Press. His first was for a debate on what topic?

Answer: Newt Gingrich's ethics problems was the topic debated on Speaker-elect Boehner's first appearance, on January 5, 1997.

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David's Blog: The View From Here
A view from where David stands at work and in life. - Durbin, Kyl debate START and congressional agenda - This Sunday: Durbin and Kyl Read More David's recent media appearances: - Video: How will Obama approach Korean tension? - Video: Todd, Gregory on goals of NATO summit