Really dont value the lives of americans. Great president s, real patriots, put priority on the lives and security of americans, over the image of themselves. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. Allies. Lets play hardball. Good evening, im Chris Matthews in war time washington. Were at war right now. The United States is hitting syria with bombers, fighter planes and tomahawk missiles with two air strikes today. Five arab countries are joining in the war against isis. The al qaeda faction threatens to put bombs on u. S. Or european
airliners. Tonight we hit the isis battle from all angles, starting with the creation of the alliance with the United States, jordan, saudi arabia, United Arab Emirates and qatar. Who did this job of pulling these countries together, and how did they keep it secret . Its the best kept plan since our killing of Osama Bin Laden. My question tonight, will this alliance sell in the arab world . Will it convince arabs, that its them, not just the United States going after isis, the terrorists . Will this new alliance sell with the antiwar forces in america . Are people like me going to buy it . Well get to these questions and some others like the danger isis and this Al Qaeda Group khorasan pose to us here in the u. S. Also why its so easy for someone dangerous to go, as you see now, charging into the white house itself. Were going to have a great hardball round table for the second half of the show. Jonathan capehart, Michelle Bernard all joining us. The pentagon said today last
nights air strikes were very successful. Among the targets, isis training camps, Head Quarters and command and control facilities. The u. S. Military released some remarkable video showing several strikes against isis, like this strike on a vehicle staging area. Another video shows a strike by a u. S. Aircraft to a Storage Facility used by isis. And yet another one shows a u. S. Air strike on the isis compound near the groups headquarters in northern syria. The scope of the strikes caught some by surprise, referring to the initial strikes of the iraq war. One u. S. Official said about last nights campaign, it is shock without the awe. Today president obama praised the militarys effort, but cautioned this fight wont be short or easy. Last night on my orders, American Forces began strikes against isil targets in syria. The effort will take time, there
will be challenges ahead, but well do whats necessary to take this fight to the terrorist group. For the security of the country, the region, and the entire world. A spokesman gave a positive assessment of the air strikes last night. We think we were very effective last night. Were still assessing the results of the strike, but every indication is that we hit and our partners hit exactly what we were aiming at and that we have severely damaged their ability to sustain themselves and to command and control their own forces. Chuck todds, moderator of meet the press. Andrea mitchell joins us, also host of the Andrea Mitchell reports. And Michael Leiter is the former director of the National Counterterrorism center. First, i want to start with chuck. The white house role, this is like Osama Bin Laden getting killed, we didnt think it was coming, then a big splash. Not only that, doing it when they did it, the day before the president s going to new york, the United Nations. This is to start essentially dropping a bomb on the seventh different nation that this president has bombed or ordered an air strike on at some point. 24 hours before the start of the u. N. General assembly. Its not something that people would have pictured a barack obama doing seven or eight years ago. I think this was a way for the president to send a message to the arab allies, that he has resolve on this. Anybody questioning his resolve, and thats happened politically in this country, but its been happening overseas, i think in many ways, the timing of this, whether it feels as if this was meant to say, not only, lets go, the allies are there, but not a bad way to start the u. N. Meeting, which i think some people would have thought even a week ago thats not something this president would have done. Starting a war is hardly the stuff of a nobel prize winner,
but theres diplomacy at the heart of this thing. What do you think about john kerrys ability to round up people to fight the fight against isis . There have been a lot of skeptics about john kerrys trips around the world and back and the miles that hes logged. But he has very methodically in advance of the president s speech, gone from one country to the next and had a very unusual meeting with the saudis and with a group of nations. Thats how he put the pieces together. King abdullah of saudi arabia was critical to this effort and frankly the king and the kingdom have not been at all supportive of barack obama. Not since a year ago when they feel he blinked and didnt go after assad on chemical weapons, when he announced a red line and didnt follow through. So they had to be per stwaded that the president was serious. And kerry was the man to do it because they knew him for years, from the senate frern relations
committee and for all that kerry sometimes suffers from the white house very closeknit inner circle of the National Security council staff. He does have these relationships oneonone. And he built it piece by piece, block by block, very quietly and very effectively, and without broadcasting it to the public. Well done. Youre sitting on the ground, youre baghdadi, and youre watching all kinds of bombs coming down. Fighter planes attacking you, tomahawk missiles. And you hear on the radio, or voice of america, you realize they have arab allies, is that scaring you or not . Not yet. Because hes saying, we went through this before, in iraq in 2006 whether it was al qaeda in iraq. They dont have the staying power. So to start, youre not scared. Youre taking some hits, but the question is, does the United States have the staying power . Hes telling his guys, this is okay. Right now, were going to get more recruits. People are going to come to our aid. Were going to mobilize people overseas who werent even with
us. So thats the key for him. Hes saying the United States doesnt have staying power. Now the test will be, as this gets harder for us, because it will become harder to find them and kill them, how does it go . Well, im asking you. Is the United States stuck in this war now . We cant walk away in three months, saying we tried to get rid of isis, we cant, right . Hes gone through the door. Hes in it. Hes in it. Syria is a pandoras box. So the people of isil are wrong theyre wrong. Once youre in, i dont know how you extract yourself. Even if you wanted to, i dont think how you would. You train the moderate Free Syrian Army. If they fail, do you walk away . No, i dont think at this point you walk away. Andrea, youre an expert at this. Its interesting or sad that all
of our allies are not democratic. King abdullah of jordan, and then you go around, and theyre all trying to hold on to their thrones. This is not the arab spring. These are the arab militaries and theres qatar who helped fund the qatarys, the radical groups that were the precursor to isis. Thats why the United Arab Emirates and others and the saudis are so unhappy with qatar right now. But we embrace qatar because they have a brace. They do things for us. We need them more than they need us. Are they speaking, as the old cowboy movies would say, are they helping us with this, but also arming isis or funding them . Ask Michael Leiter, the
counter terrorism guy. She threw it to you. The two most important parties that came on board, the saudis, so much power and so much money. And the qatarys, the reason the qatarys getting on board is so critical, because its a sign they were not going to play both sides. If they were passive, they would say, yeah, we support you, the money might still be flowing. Theyre active participants what changed them . Why are they with us now . I think what changed them, isis was out of control and thats a threat to all of them. Certainly the geography, if everybody around them is in this coalition, bahrain, saudi arabia, they cant be the lone i want all three of you to weigh in here. Everybody tries to figure out the other side, like any contest, especially if war. What are they up to . When they started beheading our people, didnt they know they
were urging us into that war, that we had to fight that war out of pride . And if so, do they wear us down or do they want to bring us in . What former colleagues will tell you, the beheadings were an attempt to recruit. Exactly. They were an attempt to flex their muscle and say were the new guys in town. Dont go with al qaeda, were the ones putting this together. Look, i think they were questioning u. S. Resolve for quite a bit of time. Were they pulling us in, or push us out . They were flying the flag, saying we are the true jihadis. Were they aiming those beheadings at us to drag us into war or to recruit fellow islamists . I think both. I think its exactly right, this was a great recruiting tool for them and their battlefield successes in iraq, when the iraqi army folded and they took city after city. Mosul, fallujah and so hard fought for and losing those gains. But let me suggest there are some real problems with this military plan and the generals would be the first to tell you. They had recommended boots on the ground. We dont have enough spotters. We dont have people on the ground in syria. Thats one of the reasons why we didnt go in. General dempsey testified it would take up to a year to train 5,000 untested syrian fighters. So when the generals come back, sin com comes back and says, we need boots on thea ground. And he says theyll be regional boots, who will they be . [ all speak at once ] as you pointed out today, who was it . You were on earlier today, you made a really good point. You said that you had to have reports or you dont know who you hit. That was really smart. Putting all our chips with the Free Syrian Army, how did that iraqi army that we spent
years, over a decade training and funding and the first sign, the first time they had to do a fight without the United States, we saw what happened. And we think this Free Syrian Army is going to somehow in a year or two years . This is the part of the military plan we got to put it together. The ground and the air at the same time. Air power is great when you have fixed targets and theyre not quite ready. As they get away from that, as they go into the city, it gets harder and harder. I think when you get to block by block fighting, you cant bomb everybody or youll have nothing but enemies. Great show today on your part today. Thank you. Coming up, were hitting the war from every corner. Next the politics of selling it at home. President obama didnt expect to be a war president. In fact, he is now. Needs support from left, right and center, especially left. And getting by the left may be his biggest challenge. Plus Richard Engel on the arab response and where the arab street supports the arab
leaders, all of them monarchies who have also joined in the u. S. Air strikes against isis. Then were back with the hardball round table, whats the threat to americans at home . And how safe is the president s own home, the white house, following that stunning Security Breach on friday . This is hardball, the place for politics. Some come here to build something smarter. Some come here to build something stronger. Others come to build something faster. Something safer. Something greener. Something the whole world can share. People come to boeing to do many different things. But its always about the very thing we do best. British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron spoke to nbc news about the air strikes on isis in syria, saying this say group which poses serious threat to every country in the world. Theres no doubt in my mind, it has already undertaken and is planning further plots in europe and elsewhere, specifically in belgium, brussels. It was an isis plot that went into a Jewish Museum and killed entirely innocent people. And there are other plots they have been attempting including in my own country, in order to kill and maim innocent people, and the same applies to theUnited States of america. So this is a fight you cannot opt out of. These people want to kill us. They have got us in their sights. Well be right back. I lost m; damaged my left eye. So many of these men and women have, have sacrificed so much. Through soldiers to summits, wells fargo supports our veterans by working together to climb mount whitney, these heroes begin their journey of healing. The wounds that you cant see, being with a team helps. You know if they can do it you can do it. Step by step, little by little, we can do a lot. Because small is huge. Live in the same communities that we serve. People here know that our operations have an impact locally. Were using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. The trucks are reliable, thats good for business. But they also reduce emissions, and thats good for everyone. It makes me feel very good about the future of our company. Our initial indication is that these strikes were very successful. Second, while its not our policy to discuss future operations, i can tell you that last nights strikes were only the beginning. Only the beginning. Welcome back to hardball. That was the Pentagon Press secretary. And more now on todays big story and our commander in chief who finds himself leading a war thats only just begun. President obama is now a wartime president , a remarkable change from the dove we elected, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. President roosevelt welcomed the transition from peacetime to war time, telling the press he was
going to change to what he had to be. The big question, will this president embrace his wartime role . And will the country rally behind him . Michael steels the former rnc and the former dnc chair and former governor of pennsylvania. One of my most famous quotes, to rooseve roosevelt, hes lying on the ground in hong kong, barely hearing the words of rose velt declare the war, and he said, i knew wed win the war because i heard roosevelt talking. Is obama capable of that . I dont know. And thats the question a lot of americans have on their mind, particularly after watching americans being beheaded on television, they appreciate the president s wednesday night talk where he came to us and laid out the next steps. But now the question is, are you ready to really lead us on this adventure . Such as it is. And the fact that hes taking stuff off the table. Hes still leaving stuff off the table, boots on the ground, gives people pause. You dont get to dictate the terms here. Isis, our partners in the middle east, there are a lot of players the table. You cant afford to leave things off if you take seriously the obligation to be the commander in chief. Can he be a leader thats convincing as a wartime leader, kill the enemy, take them down and be triumphant . Well, chris, i think he did a wonderful job deflecting any significant criticism from the Democratic Left by building that stealth coalition. I think people are shaking their heads and saying great job, mr. President. We actually have arab nations dropping bombs on arab terrorists. Thats a significant victory which i think ameal yorates a lot of criticism on the left. I think hes already set the table for good leadership. I think he and secretary kerry deserve a tremendous amount of
credit for putting this coalition together. Not just a coalition thats cheering for us. A coalition that actually dropped some bombs. I think it was very impressive and i think hes off to a great start. Governor, do you think this coalition is more incredible than the one w. Had . W. Would always talk about coalition forces, the polish or the portuguese. It was a strange team he threw together, a motley crue, you might say. But do you think its critical arabs are on our side now . Its enormously important. Theyre not just arabs willing to finance the war that never happened in desert storm despite we were promised. But these are arabs willing to do combat missions. I expect youll see a significant rallying around the president in the United Nations because he was able to build this arab coalition. I think hes done a great job. I think so too. But a war of choice, a war of necessity. How do you argue this isnt a war of necessity . How could we let them go behead our people . Thats the point, you cant argue isnt that a case for people following him into war because he had to . He had no choice. He was thrust into this fight. And now the question, i appreciate where the governors coming from, but, yeah, arabs dropping bombs is not the same as boots on the ground. Will arab boots be on the ground . Youre talking about, you have our Defense Department telling us its going to take a year to train 5,000 syrian fighters to deal with the fight in syria. Well, do we have that long . What happens in the interim . So there are a whole lot of pieces that need to get filled in. I applaud the president s determination to move in agenda forward and bring together the appropriate coalition. But i still have a problem with the idea that youre absolutely taking americans boots off the table and thats something we need to know, honestly, will there at some point be required . And the president has refused to answer that. Its interesting, some of the president s usual critics are in line with him now, including the hawks in the republican party. Theyre rallying behind him. U. S. Congressman peter king from new york tweeted all americans must stand with president obama in our war against isis, particularly toni