Because of external, smallminded people. Couldnt be a better message that lupita and elmo gave. If you embrace yourself young, youll grow up and be what you need to be in life. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. War plan, attack left and right. Lets play hardball. Good evening, im chris matthews. In washington a slew of big stories tonight. Loud calls against the war, president obama championing against the terrorist group isis. The heavy lift, including 3,000 u. S. Troops hes asking us to perform, against ebola in africa. The minnesota governors call for a key nfl player, star running back, Adrian Peterson, to be sidelined for child abuse. And the number of u. S. Congressmen under a legal or ethical cloud right now who are likely to get reelected this november. We start with the loud and angry debate over this new war against the terror group isis. It exploded big time in washington today. The first attack came from the left as code pink showed up to protest a Senate Hearing with defense secretary chuck hagel and general Martin Dempsey of the joint chiefs. Would you please not take advantage of the freedom of this place . Will you please remove this lady from the room. This disruption is not helping [ gavel banging constant ] we need to get out of iraq, out of syria, stop the bombing im glad we can hear her. Then came a more damaging assault from the hawkish right as john mccain struck hard at president obamas strategy of having the Free Syrian Army carry the ground attack against isis. If we were to take assad off
the table, wed have a much more difficult time forming a coalition. But i think what youre hearing us express is an isil first strategy. I dont think well find ourselves in that situation, given what we intend to do with you dont think that the Free Syrian Army is going to fight against bashar assad, who has been decimating them . As we train them and develop a military chain of command linked to a political structure, that we can establish objectives that defer that challenge into the future, we do not have to deal with it now. Thats a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept and motivation of the Free Syrian Army. And for us to say that we are going to go in and help and train and equip these people and only to fight against isil, youre not going to get many recruits to do that, general. I guarantee you that. I think mccain is right on this one. These attacks followed rand pauls attack yesterday, calling the Free Syrian Armyuntrustworthy. Its a mistake to arm them. Most of the arms weve given to the socalled moderate rebels have wound up in the hands of isis, because isis takes it from them or is given them, or we mistakenly give it to some of the radicals. And that led to this stwip from senator mccain last night. Has rand paul ever been to syria . Has he ever met with syria, with any of these people. Im not trying to fight. Were going to have a fight. Because this is false. This is the same rand paul who said we didnt want to have anything to do with anything in the middle east. I dont want to get in a fight with him at all, but its not true. I know these people, im in contact with them all the time. Let me ask you this so now the president s strategy against isis is under assault. Senator, thank you for joining us. Is there going to be a vote in
the United States senate on whether we support an air strike, a series of air strikes, against isis . Will there be a vote on that particular issue . Chris, there will. Last week, i was worried we werent going to have a vote, and ive been advocating theres not Statutory Authority to allow this without congressional involvement. Im generally supportive of the proposal, but last week, the chair of the Foreign Relations committee indicated after listening to the president s speech that it was openended enough that it needed a separate congressional authorization. So hes committed to that Going Forward and that makes me feel good. I wish it was going to be sooner than it will likely be, but i am glad that we will have the kind of debate that were supposed to have. Before the election or after the election . Right now, i think the odds are that it would be after what kind of vote is that where you vote on Something Like war and peace after the people
have had a choice of senators . You dont even get to decide whether you keep or dump a senator based on their vote . Well, chris, im not arguing with you on that. Although im sure everybody running now is going to get asked what their take on this is and they should. This is something that Congress Needs to bless. The article 2 power gives the president ability to defend, but not wage offensive war, but we are going to take it up in Foreign Relations and i think we need to. Part of the president s strategy relies on a brood coalition that includes arab countries in the middle east. Thank you the wall street journal reported today, quote, a day after the u. S. Said arab states were willing to participate in airstrikes, arab countries attending the paris meeting gave no sign they were ready to join the military campaign. The hesitancy of many of the middle easts major sunni leaders, including saudi arabia, jordan, and the united arab
emratss, the three so wheres this alliance . Whos going to join us in the air over syria, or on the ground in iraq or syria . Are we once again going to be the lonesome hawks in there, the only ones in there fighting . We shouldnt be the lonesome hawks. Well have a hearing tomorrow with secretary kerry and thats the question im going to ask. We cant police a region that wont police itself. We can be an ally if theres sincere interest in regional policing. But reports have been conflicting. Were going to have partners, but some of them want to do it quietly. If arab nations arent willing to be Public Partners and be out front in the leadership of this effort, it wont be successful. And that will, i think, change a lot of viewpoints about whether the u. S. Should act unilaterally. They need to be on board. Who is going to fight isis . Well bomb them from the air, but somebody has to take the
smithereens and create a government there. The Free Syrian Army is primarily existing because its against assad, the government in damascus. Theyre not focused on going after isis. Whos going to fight isis, if we just pound them from the air with no allies . The answer to that question is much easier on the iraq side of the border than on the syrian side. In iraq, you have the iraqi military, with a reformed government and training and assistance, has sufficient numbers and equipment if theyre led right, they can fight, in addition the peshmerga in kurdistan are a strong fighting force. I agree with you, its much more complicated on the syrian side of the line. But thats where they are. Thats where their headquarters are. Theyre in both places. How do you fight germany without going to germany . How do you fight the enemy if the enemy is somewhere youre not willing to go . You dont have to fight every front at the same time. You fight in the places where
you can make the most difference. I think weve shown we can make a difference in iraq the most easily and there are more allies on the ground who are willing to do that fight. The training of the opposition is syria is a dicey proposition, but if we want to take it seriously, we have to provide assistance there as well. Are you confident we can win this war with the purported help of the Free Syrian Army and the purported help of our arab friends on the sunni side of the fence . Do you think this makes sense, this war . If we have Meaningful Partnership from arab nations in the region, then yes, i do. If we dont, i think its very, very difficult. Well said, thank you very much. General dempsey said without the backing of arab countries, the goal of destroying isis is almost impossible, what senator kaine just said. So our national defense, in terms of stopping isil from killing thousands or millions of americans if they get the capability, really comes down to whether or not we can convince the arab world to go in there and defeat these guys. It really comes down to building a coalition so that what the arab muslim world sees is them rejecting isis. Senator, i have never seen an american war we go into thinking were going to lose. Thats what the polling is showing. 2 3 of the people polled by the wall street journal say they dont think we can win with this strategy, but they support it. How do you explain that . I think people want to see something happen because of the demonic activity of isis. At the same time, i thought the question to my good friend were
outstanding. Theyre the questions ill ask tomorrow of secretary kerry. Its evident, the administration came out with this public announcement because they felt they needed to because of whats happening in the mid terms. They really dont have a plan yet. I agree with senator kaine, we should vote on this authorization now. If thats what theyre asking for, we should vote on the full authorization by teasing out the details of the plan. And as youve asked, ask how its going to work, especially in syria. I think its ludicrous to think that isis is located in syria, based in syria, its where their strength is, that training up a few thousand moderate folks that are there by the way because of assad, is going to make any difference, or much difference at all on the ground there. So again, i think this was something that was thrown out. I think the president was looking at polling. I want us to be successful, but i think the only way to be successful, chris, is to really
think this true. Typically, when you talk about a coalition, you put it together first, and then you announce the coaliti coalition. To say youre putting one together, speaks to the fact that theyre dreaming this up on the fly. I hope before we commit men and women in harms way, well really think through, not get hysterical, but think through the long haul how well deal with this and be effective. Lets talk about our history. We became a country because the british tried to beat us with the germans. They lost us because we really cared. Now we cant even find hesians. Which jordanian soldier is going to put his foot into iraq or syria . None. Which Saudi ArabianFighter Pilot will fight them from the air . None. Who from the arab emirates is
going to go in there . None. So were talking about the hesian army to fighting this for themselves and theres no evidence that anyone else wants to fight a war that weve declared. How can you declare a war without the use of an army . So, again, chris, all of the types of questions that youre asking now are the types, im sure, that will be asked tomorrow. This is why, as tim just mentioned, i mean, having a real authorization authorize this is important, but thats after the administration comes and seeks that and teases out all of these details, none of which have been forth coming. I think you only have to look to libya. We talked about the coalition there, but who really footed the bill there . It was the United States. And i think as you look at whats happening or going to happen in iraq and syria, its really going to be the United States. I hope we can gather some Coalition Members that are
providing something, other than being coat holders. But thats what we need to push for. I dont think we can be successful unless we can cobble together the things that are meaningful and will be sustainable. Thats what we need to do on behalf of the american people. General dempsey suggested that if the current strategy fails, he might recommend that we send Ground Forces in iraq. Heres the general. Id like your reaction to that. In terms of utilizing the on the ground, the forces that are syrian and iraqi, rather than western forces, is that part of the thinking at this time as well, to avoid a western ground force in an arab or Muslim Country . My view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. I believe that will prove true. But if it fails to be true, and if there are threats to the United States, then i, of course, would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of u. S. Military Ground Forces. Senator, the white house put out a statement, they always do after statements like that are made, said it was hypothetical. But it has the look of a slippery slope. Yeah, look, its my understanding that recommendations were made on the front end, that we would have special ops on the ground in both iraq and syria, and the president pushed back on that. But i think that is what our military leaders have been pushing for, and over time, its my sense that some need for that will exist. I mean, we already have people on the ground in iraq. Obviously theyre not in combat roles. Theyre in enabling roles. Obviously some isr roles, but at the end of the day, especially with all the right questions that youve asked earlier, you
do have to ask, well, who is then and obviously again, our armies, our military people are the besttrained in the world. Thats a question that i think is going to persist, but again, i think, chris, those are all the things we need to be addressing on the front end. And i think what would be a tragedy here would be for this to become something no one ever envisioned in the first place. And by the way, for people to lose the will halfway through and it be another one of those confrontations where men and women lose their life and limbs and we lose treasure. And the outcome that were trying to achieve and never achieved. So i think all of these are good questions. We need to continue to be diligent and hopefully get to a place that we all feel comfortable will be successful, back to your initial question on the program. Thanks so much, senator. My own skepticism about this strategy grows and grows. Coming up, from isis to
ebola. President obama announced today a major effort to fight the sdreez in west africa, with 3,000 american troops headed to west africa. Another front. And once again, its up to us, the United States to meet and beat a monumental challenge. Plus, more problems for the nfl. The governor of minnesota said the vikings should suspend star running back Adrian Peterson until accusations of child abuse are resolved. So far the teams owners are letting him play this sunday. The question is, should they . And theyre being called the bad boys of congress. With legal and ethical issues or both, and theyre all poised to win reelection this november. Why are voters so soft, willing to give these guys a pass . Finally, let me finish with the nfl thing about child beating. This is hardball, a place for politics. Want to change the world . Create things that help people. Design safer cars. Faster computers. Smarter grids and smarter phones. Think up new ways to produce energy. Be an engineer. Solve problems the world needs solved. What are you waiting for . Changing the world is part of the job description. Join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring americas future engineers. Energy lives here. That race in kansas could be one that decides which Party Controls the u. S. Senate this
november. Democrat chad taylor is suing to have his name removed from the ballot. The Supreme Court is hearing that case and must decide friday. Taylor tropped out of the race in a move that could help greg orman beat pat roberts. A new poll shows whats at stake. Even with taylor on the ballot, orman leads roberts by 7 . Its fascinating. 6 say theyd still vote for taylor the democrat. Orman hasnt said which party hell caucus with which he win. Well be right back after this. [meow mix jingle slowly and quietly plucks] right on cue. [cat meows] meow, meow, meow, meow. Its more than just a meal, its meow mix mealtime. With great taste and 100 complete nutrition,
its the only one cats ask for by name. Nineteen years ago, we thought, wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad . So we gave people the power of the review. And now angies list is revolutionizing local service again. You can easily buy and Schedule Services from toprated providers. Conveniently stay up to date on progress. And effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. Visit angieslist. Com today. Welcome back to hardball. A dramatic escalation today in the u. S. Response to the ebola crisis in west africa. The white house has announced a major militaryled campaign involving 3,000 service people, troops, to support relief efforts over there. The epidemic continues to rage
out of control in west africa. Health officials are aware 5,000 cases in seven countries. But are worried many more cases are unreported. One senior official told reporters that if we dont arrest the growth now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of cases. And its lethal, that disease. Late today, president obama addressed the outbreak and the largescale u. S. Response from cdc headquarters in atlanta. Were prepared to take leadership on this, to provide the kinds of capabilities that only america has, and to mobilize the world in ways that only america can do. The scenes that were witnessing in west africa today are absolutely gutwrenching. In one account over the weekend, we read about a family in liberia, the disease had already killed the father. The mother was cradling a sick and listless 5yearold son. Her other son 10 years old, was dying too. They finally reached a treatment center, but they couldnt get in and said, were just sitting. These men and women and children are just sitting, waiting to die. Right now. And it doesnt have to be this way. Well, from fighting isis in the mid east to combatting these awful scenes of ebola in west africa, once again americas role in the world is in focus. Quite simply, this is what the world counts on us to do, to respond. Howard dean, the d. C. Chair, also a physician. And republican and chairman of the House Sub Committee on africa and