Decrying a partisan atmosphere in Washington, DC, that he has "never seen so poisonous," Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert said the next president must transcend political rivalries to cope with life-and-death problems in an increasingly dangerous world.

Russert spoke before 355 people at the UJA MetroWest Major Gifts Dinner at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston Sept. 26. The dinner raised $3,144,779 for the UJA campaign.

He urged politicians to put aside their differences to deal with such issues as the war in Iraq, the potential nuclear threat from Iran, and the need to reinvent Social Security and Medicare to protect future generations.

Russert noted that in the days after 9/11, people the world over expressed great sympathy for Americans, and "politicians of both parties joined together to sing ‘God Bless America' on the steps of the Capitol.

"It is remarkable what we do when we come together as a country," he said.

The Bush administration's claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction proved to be "a colossal intelligence failure," said Russert. "The next president has to find out what happened and get it right. I don't think there is a Republican solution or a Democratic solution, but it is one we have to confront."

The veteran NBC anchor, NBC News senior vice president, and Washington bureau chief served as a close adviser to two New York Democrats, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and former Gov. Mario Cuomo, before becoming a television journalist.

Russert called it his "obligation to draw out our leaders and find out what they are thinking on these kinds of subjects."

He said the next president will confront not only the war in Iraq but "perhaps an even bigger challenge is this country called Iran. I believe we are going to confront Iran in the very near future," he said. "What happens if the Israelis conclude that it is essential that [Iran's] nuclear program be stopped? What does the United States do? Does it encourage, support, turn a blind eye? That is an unanswered question that has to be answered."

Referring to reports of a recent Israeli attack on Syria, Russert said, "No one knows what happened. But I hear nothing from Saudi Arabia. Nothing from Syria. Nothing from Iran. Interesting. It is because something extremely significant happened."

Russert seemed to accept speculation that the Israeli raid was an attack on some type of nuclear facility provided by North Korea and was linked to a freighter flying the North Korean flag that had docked in the Syrian port city of Tartus only three days earlier.

"When the North Korean freighter was seen going to Syria and unloading something, was North Korea sending some nuclear materials? Pretty good guess. The Israelis decided the notion of Syria even contemplating a nuclear program was unspeakable, and the Arab world in that region agreed. They were silent but they agreed, and they understood what it meant," he said.

The Middle East has other nuclear jitters, said Russert.

"We know Pakistan has a nuclear capability," Russert added. "Gen. (Pervez) Musharraf has the Taliban in high levels of his government. He has people inside his government who want him gone, and if the Taliban ever seized control of Pakistan they would have control over a nuclear bomb. India next door also has a nuclear capability, and I don't think the United States would tolerate that. It's a dangerous world, and these are the kinds of issues that have to be talked about in the presidential campaign."

He said that candidates must also address the changing nature of Medicare and Social Security to serve a base of recipients that "in the next 40 years is going to double. We all know it. You are going to have to either cut the benefits in half or double taxes — both of which cannot possibly be done. So those of us 65 or older will be grandmothered or grandfathered in. The current system is not going to exist. Tell people now. Give them a chance to plan."

Russert said it was in America's power to end its dependence on foreign oil.

"We are the United States. We can do anything we want to do. Look at the Manhattan Project," he said, referring to the secret World War II effort to build the atomic bomb. "Look at the highway system. Look at cholesterol. Who ever heard of cholesterol 10 years ago? Now we've got good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. The amount of people smoking declined dramatically. We changed the drinking age to 21. We put seatbelts around our kids and cut deaths in half. It is remarkable what we do when we come together as a country. These are the kinds of challenges we can handle if we are willing to come together and start talking to each other. But I don't see any indication that the parties are willing to do that. They are in an arms race right now to raise the money to buy the negative ads to get the power to seize control. For what? What good is it if you don't govern and make things better for the people in this country and make them safer against an increasingly dangerous world?"

Russert urged his audience to "have your political differences. Win your elections. But in the end, never forget what is the essence. We are all citizens in the greatest experiment of democracy in the history of mankind. We have huge challenges that can only be resolved if we come together as one."