bucci. ♪ ♪ >> good morning. tuesday, september 9, 20 13. president obama makes the case for expanding military action against islamic state militants operating in iraq and syria. the president will address the nation tomorrow evening will stop on today's "washington journal," what those operations could include and how congress is responding. 56 days until the 20 14 midterm elections. today is the last primary election day of the cycle, the polls open in four different

states. as the nation focuses on the sprint tuesday, november 4 general election, we hear what your top issue is for the midterm election. tell us what is driving you to the polls. is if you do not think there a dominant issue, our phone lines are open. democrats, (202) 585-3880. republicans, (202) 585-3881. independents, (202) 585-3882. if you are outside the u.s., (202) 585-5883. us onn also catch up with all your favorite social media pages. on twitter, facebook, or e-mail us at journal@c-span.org. good tuesday morning to you. congressionalon approval ratings. 56 days before the midterm elections. the gallup poll report notes that with less than two months ago before the congressional elections, 14% of americans approve of how congress is handling its job. one of the lowest gallup has

measured in the fall before a midterm election since 1974. you can see the chart going back to 1974 they are from gallup. lowanalysis shows that congressional approval is associated with higher seat turner and congress. that also suggests that when the president's party and the majority in congress are different, as they are now, voter frustration with congress is more likely to be taken out on the party of the president. from the polling report out from gallup. beast," theily midterm elections. asking what the biggest midterm election issue might be. the living room. voters agree with democrats on nearly every issue and the gop is offering nothing, it is all about the president. that is from "the daily beast." a 42%ent obama has approval rating, lower than in 2010 when democrats were pulverized in the midterm election.

we're asking you what is striving you to the polls. our phones are open. your top issue for the midterm election. is there one? asks, will foreign policy rear its head as a campaign issue? on the day that the president begins selling his expanded operation against islamic state to congress. the real clear politics story notes that jobs and the economy have been a dynamic duo of congressional campaign for the past couple of election. they invariably ranked as the polling and are thus the integral focal point for lawmakers and candidates on the campaign trail. there could be competition this year with conflicts having erupted seemingly throughout the world, from israel-gaza to russia-ukraine, to a rack-syria and possibly beyond if terrorists make good on their threat. the public interest and concern about foreign policy is on the rise.

are open. democrats can call to talk about your top issue for the midterm election. 56 days away. democrats, [indiscernible] .- democrats, (202) 585-3880 republicans, (202) 585-3881. independents, (202) 585-3882. a few weeks after a story from the washington post noted there is no dominant issue leading the 2014 midterm elections. showingver the summer the changes in different issues and public opinion on this issues. the biggest gain in that chart from january of this year through the summer being immigration issues, which thiste an interest summer. improving economy and immigration crisis at the u.s.-mexico border. dissatisfaction with the government and global instability are among the top issues. nothing seems to pull the public as a dominant theme. hadious elections usually

one big issue, talking about previous elections. the story noting what that issue was in past midterm elections. in2010, the economy. in 2006, the war in iraq. 2002, the economy. 1998, government ethics. education, economy, crime. crime was the leading issue in 1994. top issue ist the for you. some of the latest polling, cnn-orc report from the fifth through seventh of september has the economy as americans' most important issue, 30 percent. followed by terrorism at 14%. careration at 12%, health at 11%, education at 11% and the federal budget deficit at 8%. the latest numbers from the latest cnn-orc poll.

in today's paper about several headlines about immigration. obama delay on immigration likely to reduce the hispanic vote, from of core the washington times." the lead editorial in "usa today," dark money. noting the mr of money spent by groups who do not disclose their donors. marsha blackburn in "the washington times," talking about obamacare. is drivingknow what you to the polls. colleen from long beach, california, on our line for democrats. good morning. it is the unfair advantage of rich people that can make the are pittingt regular people in the middle class against each other to fight for the crumbs bakery lattice -- the crumbs they

throw at us. they need to be more transparent. a lot of the right-wing, fox news type situations where they can just send people into a frenzy over lies on the has got to stop. i know there is some of that on the left, too, but it's more on the right. host: it is an economic equality issue that you think is going to be the key issue? do you think it is a dominant theme or are there so many issues? caller: if it is not, it should be. it is behind all the other things that are happening in the world. it is very skewed. the 1% are holding so much of the money. they are making everybody else fight for scraps. a lot of the reasons that we have to send for wars and all that, people do not have enough to eat. we have gone into different

countries and disruptive than because of the 1% who want their money in oil or whatever. we have to come up with people who are going to hold them accountable and hold the news people accountable. the people that do know the -- theand love them people who do know the truth, a lot of them, it is hard to get through the noise of the lies. host: mark is next from philadelphia, pennsylvania. democrats line. caller: good morning. my main issue is infrastructure. i will give you a little background here. i live in philadelphia, i travel every day to suburban philadelphia hospital for some life-saving medical treatment. home.five miles from my but, because of the disrepair of take 15s, what should or 20 minutes by car takes 30 minutes to 40 minutes.

we are not even getting the potholes fixed anymore. state isis broken, the broken, the site will not pass a transportation bill. other than national security, what else is there except six potholes? then i come home from working at night, i am exhausted. i turn on the tv and they say isis this and ukraine that, we have got to buy weapons for the abandoned after they millions of dollars worth of taxpayer weapons. now we have got to rearm ukraine. to pointo from point a b in my neighborhood because the roads are so bad. host: do you think you're a member of congress in philadelphia is focused on the issue? caller: sure, my rep is congressman fitzpatrick of the congressional district. i e-mail him and call him. theain answer on

transportation bill, republicans do not want to raise the gas tax. the usual nothing-ness. nothing is getting done at the most basic level. government, wef have political dysfunction. all they want from us is our tax dollars. once they get them, they want us to go away. our linenn in texas on for republicans. what is the most important issue heading into the midterm election this fall? caller: the democrats, i mean the republicans, i want them to win the senate. -- what issues do you think that republicans should be running on to make sure that they when the senate? caller: they just need to keep doing what they're doing. do not tell him about the immigration bill. want to protect the borders and the mexico border. and go from there.

>> do you think this is more about a reflection on the president's policy, the referendum on the job he has done? >> a bunch of it is. all the democrats want to do is give away stuff. when you give away more than you make, you get beat. know you might be happy to on what you are hoping for in the outcome of this election, stu rothenberg's report come his latest piece on who might control the senate. in of the race handicappers washington, d.c. looking at the house and senate races. am expecting a"i substantial republican senate wave with a net gain of at least seven seats. i would not be shocked by a larger gain." that would move control of the senate from democrats to republicans. "after looking at recent

survey data, i am expecting a sizable republican senate wave. the combination of an unpopular president and a midterm election. disastrous results for the president's party." "as long as his approval sits in the 40% range, the signs are ominous for democrats." stu rothenberg in "roll call." our republican line, mark in california. good morning. caller: good morning. host: h, mark. -- hi, mark. caller: we need to spend more time working on the medicare reform -- reforming medicare. time,ust, they spent more it would be more beneficial to everyone at large. host: do you think congress has

lost focus with some of the health care issues in recent months and over the course of the summer as we have seen the issue of the border crisis and now what is happening with isis in iraq and syria? caller: yes. i think they are losing focus. people are homesick and they need to be taken care of. there are other problems around the world, i'm not saying we should forget about them. we really need to focus on our own. if we fixed medicare and we spend a few hundred million dollars fixing it and reforming the reimbursement rates, we will actually be able to help up the small communities that are dying off. overall, it will help all our communities. host: mark in san bernardino, california on some of the health care questions and topics. marsha blackburn, a congressman

from tennessee, has a piece in "the washington times." talking about the healthcare.gov website. report from, a new the department of health and human services inspector general found that between january 2 thousand nine and january 2014, the demonstration issued 60 contracts to build healthcare.gov. as of february 2014, the demonstration has paid $500 million for those contracts. that is marsha blackburn's piece in "the washington times." maryland.kridge, our line for independents. caller: the real issues will not

be talked about because the elections are choreographed. the phony issues that are talked about in the controlled media are scripted. the candidates themselves are hand-picked and selected and the results are electronically rigged. i will tie you what is on my mind -- on my mind is the now overwhelming evidence of how corrupt, ron, and criminal the u.s. is. has been transformed into a police state. the effort to obscure that evidence, they are basically financing jihadis, they have built up groups like isis or whatever other front they have created to beat us over the head like a club so we have to live under a martial law state. you can see how rotten it is by the speeches you play by the black caucus -- host: you do not trust the media, what sites he you go to to get information? caller: great sites on the internet. the i say i do not trust

media, i am referring to mainstream media. there is a lot of great alternative media out there. places like information clearinghouse or op-ed news. sites that exposed the sandy hook folks. host: i think we got your point. we will go onto sandy calling in from indian on our line for democrats. good morning. morning, thank you for c-span. there is so much wrong within our government today. i do not know where to start. quit spending so much money on foreign lands and take care of our people. we have children starving. children who cannot afford schoolbooks. in indiana, you pay for schoolbooks, they are not free. get rid of harry reid. he keeps all these bills on his desk. it is absolutely ridiculous. he is just a major blockade for our country.

he obama needs to go before sends our country so far down the tube that we will never recover. thank you. host: you might be interested in this story in "the washington times," harry reid and some of the campaigns around the country. keeping him from being senate majority leader again. the headline -- "gop: read is the senate's king of gridlock." the story notes that the republicans are angling to make in the focus of the 2014 campaign, arguing a vote for any senate democrat is a vote to keep harry reid and power. that is and say's "washington times." is headline from "the new york times" is also played out around the country. obama makes his case, congress divided on the campaign against militants. talking about the president's actions against isis in iraq and syria. efforts to talk to congress and

the american people about expanding the u.s. military operations there. we will turn now to daniel newhauser, staff correspondent with the national journal. he joins us on the phone. , talking about the president making his case. what is the briefing schedule for congress and how is this process working with trying to inform congress about what the president intends to do? guest: thanks. the president is going to meet with the top four congressional leaders today in the oval office. harry reid, mitch mcconnell, john boehner, nancy pelosi. outlinesically going to , they hope he is going to outline, a comprehensive strategy for how to deal with isis in iraq and syria. they have been away for about a month or more from washington, d.c., the congressional leaders. they've been hearing a lot from constituents. they want to hear a plan.

obama toumbent on outline this to leaders. and then congressional leaders will decide what the next steps are for them. host: dan newhauser of national journal, what is the ask here, what do we know about what the president will be telling down and telling the american people tomorrow? guest: over the last couple weeks, listening to -- [indiscernible] a comprehensive strategy for the region. iraq had the elections for its ruling body the other day. it looks like a coalition government has started to form. they will try to prop that automatically. it strikes in iraq -- air strikes in iraq and perhaps expanding to syria, which the demonstration has been arrested ando -- air strikes in iraq perhaps expanding to syria, which the administration has

been reticent to do. there may be special forces. with the role of congress is is more convoluted. it is not clear that they will ask for military authorization. it is looking a lot more like he is not going to ask for congress to vote on anything. in congress, members are basically split on whether or not they even showed vote on anything. host: dan newhauser, you talked to a lot of memories of congress. does it seem like numbers are able to be moved on this? is this an issue where members are entrenched in their opinions and have no interest in being moved one way or the other? guest: i don't think there is even be much need to move anybody? ago whencouple months obama asked for military ,peration to strike syria members of congress view isis

much differently. we saw that their constituents do as well. the most recent "washington post"-abc news poll shows support for striking isis with .ir strikes in iraq and syria almost everything except for boots on the ground. i think we will see everything short of boots on the ground. that does not mean -- this is why the philosophical role. executive needs to ask for congressional authorization under article two of the constitution. is a rolelieve there for congress in checking the power of the executive in at least some kind of measure. saying that he can go on with these airstrikes for a long while. others believe that he has the power to do this without congress, formally. host: we will get more into those issues later. dan newhauser, i want to ask

you, how is the 2014 election and the 56 days until the election, how is that hanging over congress' actions on this specific issue and what the president is asking? guest: we have about two weeks for the house to the in. they are scheduled for another week later in september and early october. it is looking more and more like they're going to cancel that in the interest of staying in their districts. the election is looming large and members want to stay as far away from d.c. as they can so they can have a better shot at winning their elections. particularly republicans, to win the senate. any toughts to take votes. this could be considered a tough vote. it might not be completely politically motivated that they are going to stay away from this issue as far as voting on the house floor, but certainly that

lays into it. with theiel newhauser national journal, always appreciate your time. guest: thank you. host: asking viewers, 56 days away from the midterm election, what your top issue is for the fall election when you head to the polls. johnny in woodbridge, virginia on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: hello. i was wondering, when are the american people going to go to and vote for someone that will help them instead of voting for someone that wants to keep another person down and another race or whatever. they are being used, the poor white people, they don't know any different. and a lot of blacks do. they are being used. those people do not care anything about you. check their records, they have not done anything for you. and they will not do anything. at least the democrats will try. host: who do you think cares

about the issues that you care about? who are you going to be voting for? caller: of course the democrats. they have always tried to help people. they could stand a little chastising, too. in fact, quite a lot. they did try to help. people just look at the record and think -- the republicans never wanted to give poor people anything. not a slice of bread. they are talking about libya. people tragically died in libya. gang, theyh, that have hundreds of thousands of people injured and killed, nobody talks about it. trillions of dollars spent on the war. nobody talks about it. in minneapolis, minnesota, on our land for republicans. what is your top issue for the

midterm election? caller: just a note on your programming for a minute. it seems like -- some of us still have the older televisions and you narrow down the screen and the lettering is smaller and we cannot read it. we keep the older televisions because they are more reliable than the flat screens. on the subject, i want congress and america to know that we are in a trade war with china and a couple other countries in asia. we are not even participating in the trade war. i think we should be more restrictive on the goods coming in to the u.s. even our icon, ronald reagan, put limits on japanese cars when everyone was wringing their hands about all the japanese cars coming in to the u.s.

one candidate has a book out about how china is doing is wrong. mitt romney understood this. i heard him talk about it in his campaign. i think you would have won if paul ryan had not scared everyone on his social security issue. another thing i want congress to do is close down the border. here are outicans of work. are taking jobs away and even some of the illegal immigrants are taking the jobs away. we do not need this high immigration when jobs are scarce. those are my issues. host: one note on some of your concerns about the screen size, it might be part of our effort moreansition to hd. information is available on our website.

i appreciate your response. william in arkansas on our line for independents. caller: good morning. issues, i have not heard a lot of people talk about it, i am wondering why people justot up in arms and marching in the streets about this congress that we have. i sat down and figured it out. my december 31 of this year, the congress will have been in session for just over three months. and they are getting paid almost $200,000 a year to do nothing. they sit up there, is a club. i am so sick of it. in the shape that this country

is in, they should be there every single day. t, this year, they will be there just over three months. i think we deserve better than that. host: a piece in one of today's papers about congressional gridlock you might be interested in. in "the washington times," hr talking about some of the excesses congress has had this year in comparison to last year -- past years. congress has enacted 70 laws in the first seven months of this year, placing it near the middle of the pack of the "futility index." check out their website. along with the 70 laws, the story notes there have been several key conference reports, including a long fought agricultural bill. a water projects bill. a major legislation to revamp the veterans affairs department. some of the 70 pieces of

legislation that had been passed. the veterans affairs bill included substantial compromise on each side. for democrats and republicans. the story also noting that on september 1, the senate has confirmed 61 judges this year and a more can be confirmed over the next couple weeks. striking theaper work congress does. let's go to douglas in saint peters, missouri, on online for democrats. were asking about the biggest topics. is --k the against one everything else is the economy. we had ansident bush, economy that was in a freefall. during his entire eight-year presidency he lost one million jobs. we have been under reaganomics since 1980, with supply-side, which people like bruce barlett have come out and said was not a

working model and would bankrupt the country. which is what it is doing. if you think mitt romney is doing better, look at his track record as a business owner. i am not saying that obama is much better, he is ruled as a neoliberal. he ran as a progressive. he turned around and went the clinton way, we are going to get the same thing with hillary clinton. it is going to end up with people on social security, not getting pay raises. wages,k at the amount of the way they have been stagnated for the last 30 years. you look at student debt and household income and the fact that everything else is going up. health care, car insurance. we are beginning to see trickles of this in the economy through reports from businesses like walmart, whose earnings have

fallen flat. host: can you talk about how you have been impacted personally? what do you do? caller: i work for the post office. we have the postmaster general, who has embraced the chicago school of economics, which has never worked. it will not work. it is ridiculous on the concept of it. we have gone to an austerity program when we did not need to. we could have people employed. i have been to student art, germany, recently. their unemployment rate is 3.2% -- full employment. ours is not even correctly adjusted for people who have given up looking for work or who have fallen out of the labor force. jobsntinue to send overseas. the one gentleman was right when he said we hold onto foreign workers, it is happening in canada. arenational workers

training before workers to come in and then they are letting the american citizens get out. host: on your issue of the economy, and when christian on twitter. he would agree. that. in d.c. cares about a few other tweets. to need a republican senate balance the power of obama.: replace issue is to boehner." one more, "what is keeping me from the polls is the democrats postulate of support for the working class." today,"from "u.s.a.

fallmoney flows into the campaigns. moneyampaign season, dark has been flowing in record amounts, more than $53 million $16 million in 2010. spent by groups that do not disclose donors. much of the money is flooding into nine senate races that will determine whether republicans control of that chamber from democrats. the groups have innocuous sounding names that provide little or no information about their agendas. it ends by saying, as a result, paid for by secret donors, ads the airwaves. until voters demand a change. of theeid on the floor

senate yesterday talking about campaign finance. [video clip] did believe that we should be a society where one vote equals one person. corporations should not have a vote, dollar bills should not have a vote. but, where are we now. choice, keepwith a the status quo or change it. what senators udall and bennett from colorado, they want to change the system. the constitutional amendment is about restoring freedom of speech for everyone in america, are a billionaire, a millionaire, upper-middle-class, middle class, lower middle class, poor, or homeless. that is what we are fighting for, mr. president.

grant congress the authority to regulate and limit the recent and spending of money for federal campaigns. bennett'sdall and amendment will reign in super grown which have exponentially since the supreme court's misguided decision, citizens united. state campaign authorities will have an authority at the state level. common sense. host: several members of the senate sending out comments in relation to that issue of campaign-finance. mark warner of virginia, "i vot ed to overturn citizens united." are asking what your top issues are for the midterm election. about 10 minutes left in this segment of the "washington journal." william on our line for

democrats in north carolina. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good. caller: we need to face the facts and live up to what we are talking about. congress, congress, congress -- is not congress. it is the republican party. please do not cut me off. barackey have decided, obama was elected president, mitch mcconnell said his main ab was to make sure he was one-time president. you remember him making that statement? think about it. from then on, the republican made it their top priority to go against this man, no matter what he says to do. if he says he is going left, they say they are going right. the republican party has done everything they can do against the american poor people. they do not want to vote for no minimum wage, no food stamps, no nothing -- no health care. then you have got people who as long as they

can go to the polls and vote for them. host: let me ask you how you think senator kay hagan is going to do in her race for reelection against the state house speaker thom tillis. make of that campaign and how president obama has played into it? caller: thom tillis. north carolina has gone backwards. i don't think they will get back in there no more. the republicans party are taking from poor people. think about a chicken, a fat chicken. host: william and elizabeth city, north carolina. jay in middletown, connecticut our line for independents. caller: morning. ir the midterm elections, would have to say, focusing on

the country would be the primary concern of mine. of war.en through a lot we have a lot of troops coming home. there is a lot of foreign issues. i feel, you know, the recovery of this country is what is most important. our people. not only that, but securing our borders. so, you know, threats of any sort can't get through. i think that should be, you know, the number one priority. and concerning the political 6, you know, 201 it's not easy these days to

pick a president. yournow, you have to do homework. know, you never know what they will do when they get in office. you know what? there's good people in this world that want that position. know,ow, hopefully, you whoever the candidates are, you know, we will all make the right decision to vote for that person. host: you bring up some of the foreign-policy issues. what is happening in iraq and u.s. efforts against isis hanging over a lot of the news .his week also in iraq, the headline from equipping wall street journal."

yesterday, john kerry announced a rockette formed a new government and made some comment s on it. here's what he had to say. [video clip] istonight we mark what unquestionably a major milestone for iraq. and what president obama has made clear will be a cornerstone of our efforts against iso. overcoming sectarian divides, the iraqi parliament approved a new and inclusive government. one that has the potential to unite all of iraq's diverse communities for a strong iraq. a united iraq. to give this communities the chance to build the future that all iraqis desire and deserve. now is the time for iraq's leaders to government there nation with the same vision and sense of purpose that helped to bring this new government together in the first place. in that effort, they should know

-- the u.s. will stand shoulder s ashoulder with the iraqi they implement a national plan to overcome the long-standing political and economic grievances that have for too long divided their country. tonight, iraq has a unity government. tomorrow, i will travel to the middle east to continue to build -- host: secretary of state john kerry yesterday. a few minutes left on "washington journal" to get your thoughts on the top issue for the midterm election. if you do not get in on this segment, we will revisit it in the last 45 minutes as we also focus on the primaries in four states today --massachusetts, new hampshire, rhode island, delaware. primaries of the 2014 cycle are happening today. sherry in hampstead, north carolina, on our line for independents.

caller: good morning. numberpriorities -- one is the poverty pay republicans say they are not going to allow. i'm so tired of the poverty pay -- walmart, mcdonald's. they are paying these people when the ceos are making trillions of dollars. it is a crying shame. the only reason republicans will not do anything is because obama wants to do something. i am sick and tired of the republicans going against everything he wants to do. he wanted to go into syria, they said no. now they are all over him because he is not going fast enough. the problem is, he is not going to jump in a war like bush did. when clinton left office, we had a surplus in the budget. republicans don't in -- republicans jumped in a war,

they thought nothing about the budget. the only reason they do not want to go to syria, obama was trying for a safety reason. do anything.y will they are not even there for half the year. host: on some of your thoughts about the president's response to isis. you might be interested in the piece in "usa today," obama wise ontake deliberate steps isis. a few minutes left. has hill, west virginia, on our line for republicans. good morning. you know, the media has fallen right in line -- dark money, secret money.

they are espousing the democrats' talking points. the last election, when they would find out who was donating money to the republican party or the tea party, they would send the irs out to do an audit on them. that is the democrats for you. they got the government and a half the irs, they have the fbi. they have all these people who can bring pressure on people who want to donate money to the republican party. and they are using every time. host: gary in memphis, tennessee, on our line for independents. what's your top issue? caller: v.a. reform that's currently in the news, it needs to be the top priority. if you look at what has happened over the last few months, there

are three points that i would really point out. fromr one, we are going the goal of getting the patients in who are veterans in 14 days up to 30 days, an increase of over 100%. to ther happened lipservice that veterans should be first in line for health care for putting their lives on the line and their help on the line for our country? number two, the actual improvement of the v.a.. . the funds that have been appropriated recently, the majority of those are to privatize the v.a. not really to strengthen and improve it. this is actually contrary to what the veterans have been saying to congress. theactually, more than veterans, a lot of the voters also, to strengthen and improve the v.a. if you look at that like a scorecard, if you say that 10 points is the top score, the

veterans are scoring only about 2 points. the lobbyists, who have quite an influence in congress, are scoring about 8. host: you might be interested in a piece in several papers today, "new v.a. secretary robert mcdonald revealed plans to overhaul the v.a." in "the wall street journal>" streamlining bureaucracy and hiring thousands of staff are among the changes he will make. the new v.a. secretary robert mcdonald. one other piece, john dingell has been admitted to a hospital. the longest-serving member of the house of representatives admitted to a detroit hospital, according to his office. the announcement yesterday. the michigan democrat was admitted to the henry ford hospital in detroit with

abdominal pain but expects to return to work in d.c. next week. a statement, "dingell is doing well and receiving treatment." doctors expect him to be released in a few days. john dingell will update you on any changes on his health. we'll let you know when he is released. up next on the "washington journal." a look at potential u.s. military options to defeat isis with former pentagon official steve bucci, who served under donald rumsfeld. he's now a foreign and national security policy expert at the heritage foundation. later, brad sherman, california democrat and ranking member of affairse foreign terrorism subcommittee. we will talk about president obama's speech tomorrow and the u.s. strategy for if eating ices. first, a bit of former andidents george w. bush

bill clinton yesterday launching the presidential leadership scholars program. [video clip] , therst, i wanted to do it great test for any democracy at any time is how to have vigorous ,ebate, serious disagreement knockdown, drag out fights -- and somehow come to ultimately a resolution that enables the country to keep moving forward. the founders set our job was to create a more perfect union. they never said our job was to agree on everything. , if you read the constitution, it ought to be subtitled "let's make a deal." [laughter] was studiously designed to avoid dictatorship. therefore, leadership styles, they are all different. in the end, we have to let our

differences flourish and come to some sort of understanding about how to deal with our challenges and how to go forward. these libraries and foundations represent, to republicans and democrats, three of us are still around. weree of my age profoundly affected by president johnson's civil rights act and the whole set of things that happened in the 60's. i think we're in a great struggle in america and around the world to define the terms of our interdependence. this is the most interdependent age in human history. we were laughing about going to restaurants and having to spend our time taking selfies with people. [laughter] >> at least they are still asking, you know? [laughter] >> that's right.

people want to shake your hand, now they want to have a record of it. >> "washington journal" continues. served for bucci three decades as an army special forces officer and top official at the pentagon. he works as the director of the heritage foundation's center for foreign policy studies. he joins us to discuss the threat posed by the islamic state and options in iraq and syria you recently wrote about the ways in which the danger posed isis is more dangerous than that posed by al qaeda. talk about that. guest: al qaeda, as we remember, was a relatively small organization. it was off in afghanistan. not a lot of infrastructure there to work from. they were still able to axles or air people around the world and into the u.s. -- they were still

able to axles rate -- they were still able to exfiltrate their people around the world and into the u.s. an independent funding stream, based on money they have stolen from banks or selling oily lately on the black market from areas they have captured. they have a leader who has proclaimed himself a caliph and established a caliphate in that area of eastern syria and western iraq. all of these things make them more dangerous than al qaeda was. host: do you mean specifically against u.s. homeland oregon several community? guest: both. they are a danger in iraq and syria, in the wider middle eastern region, to regimes that are friendly to wesley jordan, israel, iraq, saudi arabia,

turkey. they have made threats to the u.s. and executed two of our citizens on the internet. they promised they would come here and conduct acts of terror against the american people. that makes them a viable threat. we cannot discount the struts. host: we have seen over 140 strikes conducted against islamic state. can you talk about the legal landscape for the president conducting those strikes and what the congressional role is or may be this week as he is talking to congress. guest: the president of the u.s., always, as commander-in-chief, has the responsibility to take action to protect the u.s. and to protect our interests. there is lots of legal debates, i am not a lawyer so i will not get into this aspects. we feel that it is wise, whenever the president can have the time to consult with congress, to inform congress, to help build support from congress

and from the american people for military actions, it is wise to do that. that necessarily restrains the president or restricts his actions . but it's not a good thing to go along when you can get the american people along. executions of the american journalists, the american people are ready to support action. our legislators. i think the president should consult with them, not ask permission, but console and get as many of them on board as possible. host: white house press secretary josh earnest was asked several questions yesterday about what the white house is looking for from congress. here's a bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> i would say that the level of consultation that this administration has demonstrated a commitment to indicates our genuine interest in a dialogue with members of congress about our policy in iraq and syria.

and our policy, more broadly, for confronting isil. ist is, i think that evidenced by the fact that we are having continuous conversations. some of the conversations have occurred before the president has made important decisions. there has been a regular consultation from the department of defense and the department of state. other senior members of the president's team at the white house. there's been intense of consultation. that is evidence of our genuine congressin members of partnering with this administration as we develop a policy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. and to protect american citizens in iraq. host: you spend a long time at the pentagon. if you are part of the effort to develop a policy, as josh earnest said, to degrade and a destroy to degrade and isil, what would your recommendations be? guest: i've stated those.

i do not think our options at the ends of the spectrum -- to do nothing is a nonstarter. it is a big enough threat that leaving alone is not useful. at the other end, i don't think it is useful to contemplate a major invasion, or revision of iraq. i don't think that is useful, nor would it be supported by the american people. in the middle, there's a lot of room. boots on the ground to address a threat like this. they do not have to be american goods. to make local militaries, the iraqi military, the peshmerga, perhaps the jordanians, the turks, or the saudis, for them to reach their maximum effectiveness, we need to deploy special operations, and bed them -- embed those with their forces. american special

forces with the northern alliance in afghanistan fighting the taliban. having them advise, train, and god local forces and then to control american airpower. we can maximize the effectiveness and really take isis down. host: the commitment you are talking about, how long of a commitment would that be? years? guest: i'm not sure it would take years. it is not going to be over in a week. the president's articulation of a three-year period, i think he was giving us the outside limit. some people would say he did that for political limits so it his term ofside office. i think that is a really long estimate. i think it could be less than that. it is not going to be a week or a month. is going to take some time to take down the number of military forces that isis has. host: thoughts as to where

members of congress are on this. two members have introduced bills authorizing the use of military force against isis, democratic senator bill nelson of florida and republican congressman frank wolf of virginia. nelson's bill would give obama congressional authority to order airstrikes against isis in iraq and syria, limiting the authority to three years. it would not allow the president to the playground trips as part of the effort. frank wolf's bill would allow the president to use all appropriate force against terrorists including isis, it does not forbid ground troops and includes no time e lement. , national security policy director at the heritage foundation center for foreign and national security policy. here to answer questions and take comments on the "washington journal." we will start with phoebe from

pennsylvania on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. what i think is that we have to out for those people, those terrorists, and the heritage foundation. who's going to protect us from you guys and your war-mongering? that's basically my comment. do you want to, talk about your work and your background? guest: i do. career soldier who fought and let special operations forces in combat, i am not particularly a fan of war. i am not lightly recommending that we use military forces. to be honest, we have been very reticent to do that. big enough threat to the homeland and to america that we need to take action. i'd like to see it be as circumscribed as possible. ampion'am, i do not ch

war. unless it is absolutely necessary. unfortunately, in the case of isis, i think it is necessary. who isan you talk about going to be necessary in terms of building international support for the defeat of isis? a clip with secretary kerry heading to the middle east to try to bring in regional players. who are the key nations that need to be convinced to join the effort? guest: we need donations right around the area that isis now controls. the jordanians, the turks, obviously the iraqi government, the new one, more broadly based than the al-maliki government. some support from the gulf states, saudi arabia and the emirates. who, in the past, have supported some of the more radical elements in the syrian

instance that gave rise to isis as it stands right now. e need help from some of the western countries that have more of a technological capability. french, some of our other allies that have lready said yeah, already, we'll come and help. the administration is working to build that coalition. it's small. nine countries or so. but hopefully the secretary of tate will get more countries onboard. we don't need every country in the world, though. as would think that as evil isis proved itself that every civilized count are i in the at d would be willing to least give us a vote of confidence and affirmation in dealing with them. host: as the administration works to build the national coalition efforts under way at convince the american public of the threat that isis presents. today out fromll "the washington post." noting that more than