Organization. President obama said he didnt have a strategy to defeat isis. Now he does. The plan involves three stages. First, the air Strike Campaign thats already under way against isis targets in iraq. Then would come a ground offensive focusing on training and arming iraqi and kurdish forces, perhaps even sunni militias. The third phase is more of a tricky one going after isis, the isis Network Inside syria we got details from president obama on meet the press. What i want people to understand, though, is that over the course of months we are going to be able to not just blunlt the momentum of isil, we are going systematically degrade their capabilities, were going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately were going to defeat them. Listen to those words. Blunt, systematically. Interesting. Joining us from washington, douglas ole havent is joining us. Obviously we have two guests with us. I have both of you on either side here. Let me make sure i introduce you properly. William mccanns joins us, a fellow at the center for middle east policy and director of brookings policy on u. S. Relations the islamic world. Good to have you both with us with me, i suppose. So lets start with you, douglas. We know the president has ruled out boots on the ground. Some are going to wonder, is that feasible and it is a Winning Strategy . Well, its certainly feasible and, more importantly, politically necessary. Both, obviously, in the United States, but also in iraq. Theres just no political appetite even now for u. S. Boots on the ground. So this is the right strategy. Well see the United States providing its strength, air power, planning, intelligence, reconning, synchronization from the back office, so to speak from baghdad at their mod in embassy baghdad. He says no political appetite. William, we know the president is set to speak wednesday night, happens to be the day before the anniversary of the 9 11 attacks. It will be fresh in many peoples minds. What are you hoping to hear from him . Well, i would like to hear a strategy that goes beyond iraq. Iraq, even though its going to be quite complicated, believe it or not, is the easy part of this operation. The difficult part is going to be the game plan in syria. The u. S. Administration has been working for years to try and corral its allies in the region to prosecute a war in syria. The president has been disinterested at times, engaged at times and now has to come up with a real strategy for empowering sunni rebels on the ground and their fight against isis and he has to determine if he wants to empower them you have no overthrow the assad regime. Talk about that, doug, a little bit because we know there has been reluctance on the part of some potential supporters internationally. A part of a coalition of international players. Theres reluctance on their part to embark on some sort of ground offensive or any sort of air strike attack in syria. It sounds as though its the most difficult task. How dangerous would bit for the u. S. To launch a Bombing Campaign inside syria. Well, i think a Bombing Campaign is both necessary and can be done carefully. But will is absolutely right. The politics inside syria are so much more complex. The force we would really hope we would use to engage isis, that of the syrian regime, is simply politically impossible for us to use and our preferred partner, the free syrian army, doesnt have the military capacity to take the fight to isis. It can defend itself and thats not nothing. They are a partner in defending their enclaves against isis but in terms of pushing against isis in a real way and taking the offen offense, thats not going to happen. We talk about the arab players and nations and the need for them to come to this fight andom the aid here. What is your assessment, will, of why theres been such reluctance on the part of various arab nations to step in and join . Well, theyve been engaged for a long time, theyve been waiting for United States to get involved but a lot of arab countries and turkey are not on the same page in terms of strategy. Turkey has been allowing islamist militants to go to syria. Saudi arabia has been working to fund more nationalist oriented groups, its worried about blowback. Qatar had been funding Muslim Brotherhood groups or Groups Associated with the ultraconservative ideology. None of them have been on the same page and the real trick Going Forward from the Obama Administration is to get them on the same page because you wont have an effective fighting force against the Islamic State unless you do. Thats a good point. Not to oversimplify it, doug, but its not as though you just the good guys versus bad guys. Its not that simple. Not at all. We have lots of flavors of bad here and what will was pointing out is that its not clear that our allies still at this point think that isis is a greater threat or a more real danger than the assad regime. And if forced to choose between empowering a force that attacks the assad regime and empower ago force that attacks isis, its not entirely clear isis is their first priority. Pretend off crystal ball. What do you see happening . Where do you sense well be six months to a year from now on this . I think United States will still be engaged in its fight against the Islamic State. This is not an sbi theys going to die easily. It will die because it has made enemies on all side but ultimatedly United States and its allies have to decide what they want the outcome to be in syria and that will shape a lot of their policy. Do they want to arm the sunni rebels just you have no defeat the Islamic State or do they want them to defeat the assad regime . Those are two different things. William mccants, douglas ollivant, thank you so much for joining me. Ahead at this hour, the president acting on isis but waiting on immigration. Big issue in our country. What happened to those strong words about executive action to deal with that border crisis . Well have that conversation next. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you cant breathe through your nose. Suddenly youre a mouth breather. A mouth breather how do you sleep like that . You dry up, your cold feels even worse. Well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. Cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip, and pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do. Sleep. Add breathe right to your cold medicine. Shut your mouth and sleep right. Breathe right. [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. And now telcos using hp Big Data Solutions are feeling the love, too. 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Care for the passenger in them. The subaru legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. Used daily, it exfoliates, smoothes, softens. 90 saw smoother, softer skin in one week. Gold bond. Ultimate lotion. Ultimate skin. Ive learned one thing about this president and that is hes very cautious. Maybe in this instance too cautious. I want to congratulate the president. He is now on the offense. This is the toughest talk that weve heard from the presiden president. A busy week is shaping up for the president and congress. You have to president preparing to unveil his strategy against isis. Republican leaders expect to meet with white house officials to discuss obviously this important and pressing issue. There is also likely to be some backandforth this week about immigration. The president announcing over the weekend that he wont take any executive action on the issue until after the midterm elections. Weve got a team here to discuss it all. Our political commentator sally cohn is next to me, also, former House Majority leader eric cantors deputy chief of staff. Happy monday. Nice to see you both. Lets start with the isis plan. Doug, ill start with you. I want to know in your estimation what you think the president needs to say wednesday. We know hes been criticized from both sides, not doing enough, not doing nuenough soon. What does he need to say . He needs to be clear and consistent and specific. What is the plan of action in syria . What is the plan of action in iraq . If were going to rule out ground troops, which is something that it seems the president is going to do, what are the next steps to ensure that that then doesnt happen . And also one of the things David Cameron has done very well is address what happens if youre fighting for isis and youre from britain. The president needs to say the same thing about isis fighters. And thats where youll see bipartisan support. Congress wants to work with the president on this issue agreed or not . I cant imagine you agree. And i want to ask you a separate question. Look, a lot of the critics who are hearing what the president has done wont be happy until there are boots on the ground and we are in another fullfledged war and lets be clear. He has taken action, he is working to fix the broken iraqi government, hes built a cotlags has imposed sanctions and other pressure causing putin now to reluctantly but forcing them to back down. So to say the president hadnt done anything is just to ignore the facts on the ground and if we dont think hes serious about terrorism, go ask bin laden how that worked out. Byty t way, i dont think anybody has said that about the president. You ran on the bottom of the screen earlier mike rodgers said he would support the president. Devon nunez, says he doesnt think the president needs authorization to kill terrorists. Those are two republicans supportive of the president. Im not talking about the authorization piece. Im talking about the general characterization of the president not taking action or being weak or the president failing to lead. Im saying that ignores the fact that he is doing things, he is taking action, he is getting results. Look at we have a we have promising potential to do something about Irans Nuclear program because of the president s leadership. Again, i think the critics are just surprisingly going to criticize anything. But two of those critics are California DemocratsDianne Feinstein and jane harmon. Who love themselves some war. I dont think anybody loves war, sally, come john . Well, they are hawks, by any account of that definition. And the reality is that the American People have seen what happens when we rush into military conflict. We have seen it doesnt work, right . Weve been there and done that under republican leadership. It made terrorism worse, its cost american lives. It didnt make iraq any safer either. We want to see Something Different and i think what were seeing is the white house following the lead of the American People who are really questioning what role the United States should play in these global conflicts if it doesnt mean always rushing to war. Lets stop on this topic and move on to immigration because obvious they is something that is certainly making news. The president saying no executive action on immigration until after the midterms. Take a listen to what he had to say on meet the press. What im saying is that im going to act because its the right thing for the country but its going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what weve done on unaccompanied children and why its necessary. And the truth of the matter is is that the politics did shift midsummer because of that problem. So, doug, the president just a few months ago had said he would take executive action because of the amount of children, the surge of children in central america, overwhelming border facilities. But yet now, waiting rather until after midterm elections were back to nothing new here. Essentially status quo. No . I spent two and a half years in the house of representatives as a staffer. Listening to republican republicans being accused of delaying all Immigration Reform. Who what we see is the president has a real pattern for delaying things. I read a great politico probe in one of the real things that staffers and members look at for resources that said a brief history of obamacare delays. What weve seen from this president is a that voters dont like it, the president s going to punt it until after the election and if youre a vulnerable democrat like kay hagan or mary landrieu, this is a cynical Election Year gift for you. So wait, if the president wait, you just criticized the president for delaying doing something that republicans dont want him to do . This is like a perfect encapsulation of the farce of republican politics right now. Lets be clear about one thing. We would have Immigration Reform right now in america, Immigration Reform that the vast majority of americans including republicans support if House Speaker republican john boehner had simply allowed a vote. There was enough votes, including among republicans, to pass it. Also, by the way, sourced by politi politico. So we wouldnt even be having this discussion if republicans had shown leader zblip but the fact is we are, so now its being delayed until after the midterm election. Hes not going to take executive orders so hes suggesting what . Hes going to work with congress . Thats the a lesson in futility, is it not . This reflects the larger trend on the part of democrats who are often sort of cowed into this timidity to not just take bold action on the things that are popular with the American People. And, look, on some level im simp thet wick the white house. Everything they do, even when its popular with the American People, they are rooted to fail by this incredibly unprecedented vitriolic Republican Party that has never wanted to give this president a break. At the same time, look, we need to do something about this. The president is fully within his rights. He should be taking leadership and the democrats have to stand for something for once for crying out loud. I will leave it at that. I dont think youll disagree that. Sally kohn, doug heye appreciate you joining me at this hour. Ahead, for the second time this year, can you believe this is happening . 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White as a ghost, blue lips. He just passed out. Had his eyes rolled back in his head and i had to call 911. Reporter the cull interpret, enterovirus, d68. So far, the centers for Disease Control has been asked for help. One hospital in denver reported treating 900 children for severe respiratory illness. 86 have been hospitalized. At this hospital in kansas city, missouri, more than 400 children have been admitted with signs of the virus. Of t