Mark Shields on Obama: ‘The President Is at the Top of His Game’

WOODRUFF: “Next: to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Welcome to you, gentlemen. A lot to talk about this Friday. Let’s start with Iran. Mark, we just heard the secretary of state, John Kerry, what he had to say about this nuclear deal. What do you make of it?”

SHIELDS: “I think the president summarized it very well. He said don’t let the unattainable perfect be the enemy of the obtainable good. And I think this is obtainable good, the object being a nuclear — a non-nuclear Iran. And I think this guarantees at least for 10 years that there will be a non-nuclear Iran. It doesn’t change Iran’s — as the secretary pointed out, its conduct and what it does. And we hope that that does change. But this is about dealing with nuclear arms in a very troubled area. And I think, in this sense, it’s a step, very — a positive step, and one that I think the president is at the top of his game, quite frankly, from Charleston to the press conference this week. I thought he was compelling in both cases.”