'Meet the Press' transcript for April 26, 2009

MR. GREGORY:  Do you think Iran fears an attack from Israel, fears an attack from the United States?

KING ABDULLAH II:  I think all of us consider that, that--no, I think not from the United States.  But the, the rogue question would be what Israel would do. And therefore, I think it is an imperative over the next month or two to start negotiations, because I think any military strike against Iraq--Iran would be extremely counterproductive and I, I don't see the outcome of that.  OK, you hit Iran.  What happens then?  And it's the, the not knowing I think creates a lot of fears with all of us around the world.

MR. GREGORY:  Let me turn to the very important issue of Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.  Your father, King Hussein, was on this program 40 years ago talking about his concern that time was slipping away to solve this issue.  This is what he said.

(Videotape, April 13, 1969)

KING HUSSEIN I:  The ability of all to move towards peace are being impaired. If conditions remain the way they are I believe there is very, very grave danger of an explosion in the area or at least the loss of this chance, which we feel is the first and maybe the last one, of establishing a just and thus durable peace in the area.

(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY:  Forty years later you are preparing your own memoir, and the working title at this point is "The Last Best Chance." A similar message to your father 40 years ago.

KING ABDULLAH II:  That's right.

MR. GREGORY:  What do you mean by that?

KING ABDULLAH II:  Well, what, what I'm trying to do with this book is to explain the dynamics have changed in the Middle East, and really this is our last best chance.  What my late father was saying is that then there was a major opportunity slipping past.  And I think 40 years later how many wars, how much death and destruction, how many Israelis, Arabs and Muslims have lost their lives.  Are we prepared to go another decade?  And believe you me, if we do not solve the problem today of the Israelis and Palestinians, it's only going to be a matter of time of another conflict.

MR. GREGORY:  Mm-hmm.

KING ABDULLAH II:  And I had come here to the United States to predict the war in Lebanon several months before, I came to predict that...(unintelligible)...was going to happen, although it took me by surprise by being two months earlier.  I thought it was going to happen by the time Obama came into office.  And in the next 18 months, if we don't move the process forward and bring people to the negotiation table, there will be another conflict between Israel and another protagonist.  And how many people have to continue to lose their lives?  And so the message of the book is basically say this is our last chance, because geographically the future of a Palestinian state is under fire.  And we're now arriving at the crossroads that if we do not have a negotiator separate from Israelis and Palestinians, then there may never be a chance.  So Israel has to decide, does it want to make a relationship with 57 nations or does it want to stay Fortress Israel?  And how does that hurt all of us?

MR. GREGORY:  And was your message to President Obama, "We need a complete paradigm shift here.  It is time for the United States to impose a solution, time for the United States to start making some demands"?  Is that your view?

KING ABDULLAH II:  The only way that we're going to be able to solve this problem--you--if it, if it's left to the players, the Israelis and Palestinians by themselves, we're not going to get anywhere.  It can only happen if there is an American umbrella with a determined American president that is going to get the Israelis and Palestinians to sit on the table, because both sides historically have always come an excuse why not to go the last mile.  And I believe that Obama understands how much this resonates.  For the first time, I think Americans can clearly say that a two-state solution is in the vital national interests of the United States.

MR. GREGORY:  I don't want to have you go without asking you about the fragile situation in Pakistan.  The United States, this administration has said Pakistan is not doing enough to stand up to the Taliban in that northwest frontier.  How concerned are you?

KING ABDULLAH II:  I think Pakistan should be of tremendous concern to, to, to all of us, and these are one of a multitude of, of, of discussions that we had with the president.  And again, I think that as you move towards Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation I hope in the next month or two, Arab and Muslim countries will be doing more to assist coalition forces, assist the Pakistanis in being able to deal with that threat.  But people are looking for a signal of the United States.  And I know that President Obama is waiting until Prime Minister Netanyahu comes here and listens to what he has to say. But if right after that visit there's not a clear understanding of how America is going to weigh in on these problems, then I think the goodwill of the United States will disappear and I think that people will start cutting their own deals.

MR. GREGORY:  And finally, a lot of attention on gift-giving right now as the president travels overseas.  He gave DVDs and he also gave an iPod to the queen of England.  You came here bearing a gift that was very interesting. You gave the president a royal weaponry set complete with four different types of daggers and an ax.  Are you preparing the president for battle here, Your Majesty?

KING ABDULLAH II:  I think the president is prepared for battle, and basically he knows that he has somebody standing next to him on his right and helping him through this.

MR. GREGORY:  All right, Your Majesty, good luck.

KING ABDULLAH II:  Thank you very much, sir.

MR. GREGORY:  Thank you very much for being here.

KING ABDULLAH II:  Thank you.

MR. GREGORY:  Coming next, insights and analysis on President Obama's first 100 days in office.  Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meachman after this brief station break.

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MR. GREGORY:  If you like politics, you'll love the new MEET THE PRESS politics quiz on Facebook.  It's exclusively at whatsyouricue.com and features hundreds of questions and NBC News videos.  Test yourself, challenge your friends.  What's your politics IQ?

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MR. GREGORY:  We're back, joined by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and the editor of Newsweek magazine, Jon Meacham.

Welcome to both of you.  So, 100 days.  Ruth Marcus in The Washington Post has an interesting a column today in which he says that the first 100 days are like the opening chapter of an unfinished novel.  Doris, what have we learned about this president after 100 days?

MS. DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN:  I think we've learned a lot about his leadership. We've learned that he's a man who is enjoying the job of being president, which is really important.  You know, somebody said to FDR in the middle of all those challenges, "How can you bear all of this?" And he said, "Wouldn't anybody want to be president?"

MR. GREGORY:  Right.

MS. GOODWIN:  It's the best job in the world.  If you frees your psychic energy by loving the job, that's one thing.  We've learned that he loves to speak to the American people, that he's willing to risk the overexposure in order to establish that connection with the American people.  We've learned that he somehow shapes his own day.  I mean, I think it's great that he gets up in the morning, has breakfast with the kids before going to the Oval Office.  Ronald Reagan did the same thing.  He said--not with the kids, but he got to the Oval Office later.  Somebody said, "There'll be a national security adviser there at 7:15.  You've got to be there, Mr. President." He said, "That guy's going to be waiting a long time.  I'm going when I want to."

MR. GREGORY:  Right.

MS. GOODWIN:  If you can find ways to sustain your spirit and maintain a sense of normalcy, the fact that he goes out and he has dinner in the White House--I mean, in the, in the Washington, D.C., area, that he goes on ESPN, all of that frees up, I think, your energies to replenish yourself and allow you to become a good president.

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