China is a major power in the Pacific and I think we are dealing with some common threats in that region: the whole issue of Korea and the stability of Korea, the whole issue of nuclear proliferation, the whole issue of providing free access to our ships that are operating in that area.

The president is out there today trying to talk about health care, and the reality is nobody cares about what he's saying on health care because this news is consuming everything. No president could tolerate that or should tolerate it.

Iran is isolating itself from the rest of the world.

The United States has to be a leader in the world, because the problem is: If we are not leading, nobody else will.

Obama really does recognize the threats that are out there; I think he understands the world. He understands the role of America in that troubled world.

I don't think there's any question that America is safer as a result of the bin Laden operation.

Winning in Afghanistan is having a country that is stable enough to ensure that there is no safe haven for Al Qaida or for a militant Taliban that welcomes Al Qaida. That's really the measure of success for the United States.