facebook.com/thelastword. what we did to iraq. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. it appears from our reports that iraq is on the edge of an all-out civil war with personnel in the american embassy packing their bags and leaving baghdad for safer areas. we are seeing horrible pictures of massacres. what the united nations is calling a systematic series of executions. iraq, the country where the united states has lost over 4,000 lives, where we have spent millions of dollars, a country considered a regional pest is

between two traditions of islam with isis, calling themselves an ep enemy of the united states. again, this is a civil war based on religion. sunni is the religion of isis whiches fighting its way to baghdad. former members of saddam hussein's army and sunnis generally. the government is run by and for shia. it is backed by the other governments in the region -- the iran and syria. this war has been going on for a thousand years. it is reaching a head, a crisis point now in iraq where the battle lines are along religious lines. can this situation get worse? is there a way to make it better? is it only a question of what price we pay for getting involved once again? let's not forget who created this hell on earth? dick cheney and his vessel george bush who broke apart iraq and the unity of the country who disbanded the iraqi army and

left the sunnis angry without jobs, without a government, without hope who are finding their future in the war on malaki. here's how richard engel paints the scene. >> reporter: it doesn't feel like a city that could fall easily. it feels like a city that's taken its gun out, locked and loadeded it and is holding it in its hands should something happen. people expect there won't be any kind of invasion, that those days may have passed because the communities here have woke up and are now in a strong defensive position. what they do expect is car bombings, assassinations, militants slipping in perhaps from a neighborhood or who are already here trying to destabilize the government through terrorist attacks. >> a senior fellow for the senior for american progress. i want to start with you, brian.

in my worst nightmares as a critic of the war from day one when they first started talking about it, when wolfowitz started talking about it. i never thought it would be this bad. a religious war in which we are somehow the bad guys in a country we could have avoided almost sbeerly as a regional pest, iraq. >> we took a strategy of containing iraq and iran. in 2003 we ended that. what that unleashed in terms of extremism, sectarianism and the violent jihadists we see now controlling the territory -- >> there was no isis in iraq. >> no. it's grown and morphed and is presenting a threat to the region. >> howard, again, you and i have been talking about this. perhaps a much more journalist person. i have a strong passion about this. i have to tell you i thought it was bad news are from the beginning. we took apart the iraqi army. we took apart the culture of the

country, got rid of hussein, his army, his government. we throw people into the streets and they are joining up with this crowd. >> in terms of domestic american politics you have a situation now where a lot of people who got us in from the beginning are now trying to re-establish their credibility somehow by attacking the way the war in the aftermath was managed by this administration. >> right. >> meanwhile, what i sense from talking to administration officials -- >> we'll do a segment on that next. >> what the administration officials are ironically trying to do is find a way to get iran to help us to cooperate without making it too visible so that the moderate sunnis who are left reasoned aren't turned off. i don't know how they will do it. >> 2001, we had adversary governments in iran and iraq.

we had a sunni-led government in iraq that was a pain in the butt but it was there. it was a good buffer for israel and our friends against iran. it was a good thing to have there. a pain in the butt but good to have. we now find ourselves in a weird situation of having to choose between backing the government in baghdad we helped put there with the alliance of iran behind it. the alliance of assad in syria. we are joining the shia coalition against the sunnis which in countries like jordan, egypt and north africa are more modern, prowestern. we find ourselves on the biggest problem of the world. we are on their side so we don't have to confront the isis group we created which is now saying in a blood curdling way they want to get us. >> this is why it's important. what president obama said is we could offer support to malaki,

the prime minister of the iraqi government but he has to have a national -- >> they're not going to do that. we have 140,000 troops and he wouldn't. >> we're not likely to act and pick side this is the sectarian civil war. we'll are try to contain the threat. >> i don't think you can turn a dog into a cat. he is what he is. >> yeah. a shia nationalist. we'll turn him into mr. kumbaya? >> john kerry in an interview indicated he wouldn't mind if malaki would go. a not too subtle message is we'll leave toyota the iraqis decide when he was invited to defend malaki, kerry didn't do so. according to my understanding what we can possibly work out with iran that isn't too obvious to anger and upset the moderate sunnis. that's the situation. >> how do we work with iran

without becoming their friends? we have a nuclear threat from them. an interview with yahoo! news. secretary of state john kerry was asked about the possibility of the united states, our government getting involved with air strikes against the insurgent group. here is what he said. let's watch. >> they may well be one of the options that are important to stem the tide and stop the movement of people moving around in open convoys, trucks and terrorizing people. when you have people murderering, assassinating in mass massacres, you have to stop that. >> i hear when you have a bunch of people that are partisans, not organized, not moving in columns you can't go in with droeps and start killing people. >> you need good intelligence from the partners on the ground or opera are tifs. i don't think we have the

presence we did before. i think you will see a careful stance on the part of this administration. we're going to try to safe guard the threat. >> do we want to kill arabs again on international television? i am a dove, not a pacifist. why is it in our interest? i go back to what we have been doing for 12 years, killing islamists and arab people on television. do we want to kill isis people? >> if they are trying to kill us. one of the things president bush and president obama did was the drone strikes which are controversial. but they have stopped attacks on the united states. >> they are against individuals, not armies. >> exactly. action here will be very targeted, if at all. >> by the way, if you're tying to cooperate with malaki government, for them to tell you whom to hit, those aren't the people whose word we want to believe at this point. >> they can tell us the to kill

sunnis. >> exactly. it's a hopeless situation. >> let's take a look. >> they prosper propaganda-wise from our attacks. >> we have a religious war with the sunnis on one side. they don't like us. the government in baghdad is supported by the iranians and president assad in syria. our enemies agree on the guy we are supporting. according to secretary kerry, again, our administration is willing to talk with iran about the security situation in iraq. we'll start talking to these guys. in an interview with yahoo! he was asked if the united states would cooperate with iran to quell violence in iraq. let's watch the secretary. >> we need to go step by step and see what might be a reality. i wouldn't rule out anything that would be constructive to providing real stability, a respect for the constitution, a respect for the election process, and a respect for the ability of the iraqi people to form a government that represents all of the interests of iraq, not one sectarian group over another. it has to be inclusive. that's been one of the great problems of the last few years.

>> you focus on the region more than i do. i have to ask why he seems surprised. >> well -- >> why is kerry caught wrong-footed on this. we never heard of isis. there was no talk of a moving column that would threaten baghdad, take as much of the country as it's done already. this is dramatic and surprising to people in washington. i haven't heard the usual suspects like john mccain or lindsay -- >> we didn't hear alarm bells. >> they weren't yelling. now we have what looks to be a civil war. >> we stuck our oh head this is the sand after we got bin laden. this has morphed in different ways. people who follow the region, people who travel there a lot have been talking about it. america is disengaged. >> why did we let malaki turn it into a sectarian government to fuel the fire. >> that was a mistake. >> why did we do it? >> in part because we wanted out of iraq. the quickest solution was there.

it was a mistake by the bush and obama administrations not to use leverage in terms of our money and resources. we are still spending money there. >> could we have stayed another 10,000 guy there is? >> i don't think that's the issue. >> could we have? that's what people on the right are saying. we should have kept 10,000 there. >> if george bush couldn't negotiate with malaki, he insisted on a date certain for the u.s. to leave. president obama wanted to renegotiate and the terms weren't acceptable to us and our military commander. >> i wonder if malaki is happy. he has iran helping, syria helping, us worried. all the cards on his table. he's involved in maybe saving two-thirds of the country. it will all be his. a lot of oil. >> probably a little bit too late for john kerry's studied silence about the future of malaki.

the only way he survives now -- >> the secretary of state who i like a lot was awaiting orders. >> yeah. >> from the president. >> i agree. >> he wasn't calling the shots. thank you for your expertise. howard, as always. coming up, the same people whooping up iraq war fever in 2003 are back at it again. the usual suspects are talking about u.s. military engagement in iraq. they were dead wrong and they are wrong again. why does nen listen to the neo-con chorus. how bad is it for the republican party when they are openly drafting mitt romney? who are you going to call? chris christie, jeb or mitt? and with hillary, people want the impression of candor from her and politically correct answers. isn't that what politics is -- getting them both right? finally the break-up of iraq. isn't this what we did to the place? this is "hardball," the place for politics.

another low for congress. a new gallup poll finds 16% of americans approve of the job congress is doing. that's the lowest number for a midterm election year since gallup began asking the question 40 years ago. it's in line with a poll from last month showing just 1 in 5 americans say most members of congress should be re-elected, the lowest number ever. we'll be right back.

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to generate cleaner electricity, that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and why with our partner in brazil, we are producing a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane to fuel cars. let's broaden the world's energy mix, let's go. welcome back. they're back. the force in force. the people sold us the are virtues of invading iraq have come back to push american intervention anew. this morning paul bremer himself who was a u.s. presidential envoy to iraq from 2003 to 2004. of course the entire kagan family was in the "new york times" with the headline super powers don't get to retire.

what our tired country still owes the world. i love it. it's wise to remember what the neo-cons told us before the invasion like paul wolfowitz on how the war will pay for itself. >> the oil revenue could are bring --. they could finance its own reconstruction soon. >> why did we do it for a trillion dollars? or bill crystal's testimony before the senate foreign relations committee in 2002 when he said, american and alliance forces will be welcomed in baghdad as liberators. who could forget this line? i believe demolishing hussein is's military power and liberating iraq would be a cakewalk. today on "morning joe" bremer defended the bush administration actions in iraq. >> iraqis lusted to choose their own government.

don't get into this we are trying to shove democracy down somebody's throat. >> we did take out hussein, right? >> right. >> america, not the iraqi people. >> right. therefore, what? >> therefore we then tried to impose democracy in that country. >> we did not impose democracy. get away from that. it's not true. the facts are in the other direction on that subject. anyway, it's not the point right now. we are where we are. >> we are where we are thanks to you. joing us now from mother jones magazine is gene cornan. this is the guy. he dressed well. i like him with the boots and nice suit. he disbanded the iraqi government so nothing was left for a third of the country except any group that would overthrow the government. >> he created a vacuum. he's responsible, if you will bring in one guy who's responsible for a lot of the mess that happened in iraq you

have to point at bremer. it was a terrible decision. >> i think -- >> you're being too hard on him. it was clear to us the h ubris before they went in, they had nothing to do after. bush, cheney, they never asked what comes next. bremer was sent there and basically figure it out yourself. he made bad decisions -- >> we go in, over throw the government. you take over the government by force. that's how we did it. then we said, you know what, we'll get intonation building. we'll get rid of the structure of sunnis governing for 300 years and put the other side in charge. by the way, we'll debaathisize like we did in germany. their idea of liberation was shia call the shots. 300 years of revenge.

we call that democracy. >> it's been an awe authoritarian government, incompetent, inseptember. we have this situation today when people in sunni areas are tolerating isis almost. they are going up against the shias which they hate -- >> look at -- the captive nations of the soviet nation between world war ii. when the nazis came in they realized they were dealing with the s.s. >> the sunni tribal leaders in areas isis has taken over have made the strategic decision that we are better off. let's go with the crazy islamic for a while -- >> the enemy of my enemy is my friend. >> now we are in the predicament of having this hobson's choice. we can't support the insurgency.

they hate us. the sunnis. maybe they've got a beef. we can't support the government. they have iranians, assad's on their side. the works we have been fighting since they took over the embassy. the shiites, right? >> right. >> where are we? >> the enemy of our enemy is now our enemy and our friend. we have to be on the same side as iran to stop isis. but we can't be on the same side as iran. >> the neo-cons and hawks like john mccain are coming out and they are confused. they don't know what to do. >> lindsey graham looks wacky now. >> usually he and john mccain are twins. now they disagree. one wants to work with iran. lindsey graham says we have to work with iran we will. john mccain says what are you smoking. >> did he say -- >> no. he said, you're crazy.

last week john mccain got on the senate floor and gave a speech about how everyone on the national security team of the president should be fired immediately. what was the big idea? we should call david pe tray us and ask what to do. >> lindsey graham on a sunday show, the one that's on oh earliest before "meet the press," he said we have to go in an and bomb isis. then go to syria and get involved militarily there. are we going to shoot everybody? >> yes. >> start with bomb isis. sounds great. bomb the crazy people. they happen to be in the middle of civilian populations. there is no neat way the to bomb them and not civilians and turn the -- >> there is no frenchen man on the ground saying over here, over there. no targeter. >> how can we engage with a partner like the malaki government we can't trust.

they can't even hold onto their own uniforms. >> what brought the neo-cons back? i thought this was an old show. he was there. we see a big spread and the whole family. robert, fred, the whole gang all pro war. then you have bremer back. >> when "true blood" goes off the air hbo could have a new value pyre series with the guys. >> they hide for years. >> no matter how wrong they were and they were all wrong, kristol, kraukrauthammer. people still go to them, put a microphone on them and say, tell us what you think. they shouldn't do that. >> this is what american people want to know from all journalists and commentators. if the argument was we went into

iraq and got involved in this impossible country because we were concerned about a nuclear weapon -- that's what they told people -- a nuclear weapon. once we found out they didn't have any nuclear weapons, which took a couple of days, and they had no process of building one, why didn't we just come home? that was the reason. we didn't go to nation build. >> that wasn't the reason. >> then why did we go in? >> that's the stated reason. >> that wasn't the reason. >> as you well know. >> i'm just talking their language. the american people want to know why we lost 4,000 lives. if they told us the truth, we should have left quick. >> they didn't. >> thank you. we are up against this conundrum we'll face for years. up next the former congressman who called himself carlos danger is back. maybe it's time to take a break from twitter. talk about the sublime to the ridiculous. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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♪ s if computers have become sent yent, what better way to convince people they hadn't than by coopting the voice of the most intelligent man on the planet. >> you're an idiot. >> who's saying that? you or the machine? >> both of us. >> okay. all right. >> welcome back to "hardball." time for the side show. that was john oliver of hbo's "last week tonight" with stephen hawking. president obama became the fourth sitting president to visit a native american reservation. here's what oliver said. >> during the visit the u.s. department of housing and urban development announced they would make 2k4r7z 0 million available to improve tribal housing conditions including money for mold removal to which the native americans said, oh, finally, we are officially square.

it was touch and go for a few centuries. at the end of the day all we wanted was our mold removed. >> next, raul labrador launched his campaign for house jorlt leader on friday. the idaho republican is vying for the spot of eric cantor who lost his primary race last week. the tea party candidate has a problem when it comes to lobbying for support. he doesn't have any of his colleagues' phone numbers. aides said his staff has been calling offices for direct contact information for house republicans such as cell phone numbers. labrador's main competition is kevin mccarthy, a red state republican told the examiner this was a great juxtaposition to kevin mccarthy who already had such close relationships that he was texting or calling most members immediately. the battle for majority leader will be thursday. finally anthony weiner is making headlines again for his

twitter activity. he favorited a tweet labeling the dating app tinder as the ultimate sext machine. he resigned in 2011 after admitting to sending inappropriate pictures to women. as to why he would favorite a dating site tweet he said i'm not sure how they get marked. i assume i hit the little star thing accidentally as i scrolled through stuff. he sent out a tweet reading, quote, okay to recap my day i accidentally hit the star thingie on a vox.com story about tinder. sorry. you may want to stay away from twitter all together. don't you think? up next, is the republican party so desperate that it's drafting mitt romney or thinking about it for 2016? that's ahead. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. when you run a business, you can't settle for slow.

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welcome back to "hardball." a bush, tea party red hots, and a governor facing two criminal investigations. that's the republican field for

2016. there is no clear front runner. it's with the backdrop of disarray and desperation some republicans are starting a draft romney movement. it began this weekend in utah. the event was organized by mitt romney. as the washington post reports, it was intended to be a passing of the torch to the republican party's would be saviors. instead it quickly became a romney revival. here is more from the washington post. joe scarborough urged them to begin a draft romney movement. harold hamm, a billion anywhere fundraiser said everyone would encourage him to consider it again. george p. schultz said i wish we could call him mr. president. nbc's casey hunt reports that romney's former finance chairman spencer zwick said i think if you asked this group who can beat hillary clinton, they eyde say mitt romney could beat hillary clinton. when asked about the comments romney said the unavailable is always the most aattractive, right.

that goes in dating as well. well said there. he later addressed the romney movement with david gregory. >> david, i'm not running for president. i have said that many times. i want to find the best candidate for us to take our message to the american people that we can bring better jobs, higher incomes and more security globally. we can do it. i'm convinced the field of republican candidates i'm seeing is better positionsed to do it than i am. i'm not run aring. talk of a draft is silly. >> anybody who does shots on camera with little cowboy fences is running for president. joy reed is the host of the reed report weekdays on msnbc. i didn't hear any shermanesque response yesterday, joy, if nominated i will not run. if elected i will not serve. that's the way to do it. if you want to run, you say i'm not running and keep saying it until you are running. i heard nothing this week that didn't convince me that the man

who won the first debate, the man who won 226 congressional districts who looked like he might have won at one point last time is dying to get back in the race. dying. gene mccarthy said it's easier to run for president than to stop. your thoughts? >> i agree. you know better than i. for these guys running for president, once you have done it, first of all to get to the point where you believe you should be president, clear areally you believe you are the man, the person to lead the country better than anyone else. i think it is an addiction. i don't think romney would say absolutely not. the establishment wing of the party, a in an era where chamber of congress republican is an epithet. the establishment wing needs a guy. chris christie no longer looks like the guy. jeb bush has issues in terms of brand. you have romney sitting there as

the last candidate for president sh supposed to be the titular head of the party. the party is leadership. >> you, young lady, used the term -- i thought i was the last one to use it. adelaide stevenson, the titular head of the party. there are two big brackets like in the nba last night. a west and east coast. you basically have the west coast fight between rand paul who may be losing a little bit now that we are in a war situation against ted cruz, that situation. we know where that's headed. the eastern bracket, the centrist, moderate, main stream establishment bracket doesn't have anybody who looks like a winner in it. your thoughts? >> one of the under told stories of the retreat was chris christie trying to make a comeback. he was wooing donors, talking with romney's financial network to find a way back. thinking jeb bush may not run. chris christie think it is the donors are his path to the nomination.

romney is coy on the sidelines, chuckling, waiting and watching the scene. if jeb doesn't run and chris christie doesn't run, romney gets encouragement to do so. >> let's talk money and reality here. romney has all the money he'll need to run for president. he has the mormon coalition, the network. he has the assessment banker crowd. he knows the equity people. he can raise all the money he needs. he can run a long campaign once he gets in it. he can win late, have little guys challenge him. he can be gulliver and they can be little pugss. in the long run he can outspend them. isn't it in his interest to let it play out for six months? joy, let it play out until it's desperate, until jeb doesn't run, chris christie doesn't get out of the p.r. problems and legal messes. the party will beg him to come or the elements with the money will. >> first of all, he'll be disappointed. everything i hear is that jeb is likely or gearing up to run.

say for whatever reason jeb decides not to. the establishment wing will want a guy. remember, they overruled the base before. the establishment got george bush when the base wanted mccain. they got mccain when the base wanted anybody but mccain. they got romney. they have a great track record of getting what they want. romney could make the case he's the guy that could put michigan in play. they could go back thomas mass. somebody who could get the party out of the south and midwest. it's not a crazy idea for him to run again. there has to be an establishment guy. >> what happened to romney in the campaign? he came out like a bulldozer in the first debate. he was arrogant, maybe obnoxious. he was strong, self-confident. he talked down to the president of the united states.

did he crumble when candy crowly said he did say terrorism? did that break his back? one line by a reporter in a debate? >> maybe. if you listen to what romney said in utah, if he did run are it would be on foreign policy. this is a person now who feels confident if he was poised to run against hillary clinton that he could beat her. he was critical on the record about the record at that time state department. i'm listening to romney's foreign policy confidence. >> here he is yesterday on "meet the press" talking about his game plan to beat hillary clinton. he's talking about how to beat her in the general in 2016. >> if you were running for president again and she were the democratic nominee, what's the play book to beat her? >> well, i believe it's to look at her record. i think you have to consider what's happened around the world

during the years she was secretary of state. you have to say it's been a monumental bust. her most recent comments as she was rolling it out, she was asked whether the bergdahl trade was one that presented a threat to the united states. she came back with a clueless answer. she was clueless. she said, look, these commandos don't represent a threat to the united states. of course they do. >> over the weekend romney delivered a campaign-style speech focused ehly on foreign policy. according to prepared remarks he attacked president obama and hillary clinton saying the obama-biden-hillary clinton foreign policy is a bust. he laid out his vision saying, we must be actively engaged in global affairs. we will promote our values, place a high hurdle on committing it to a kinetic military invasion and strengthen america's hand. he left the crowd with this. i lost the election, but i will

continue to fight. robert, back to you. it seems to me that everything about the set-up this weekend was aimed at possibly getting an invitation to a program for the sunday show. something like "meet the press." the first time i have noticed the guy's timing is right. in the middle of an international crisis with iraq. we see christie trying to make a comeback on his knees. and jeb are really out there -- you say he wants to run. when you want to run, you don't sit around and play hamlet. if you want to run, you run, damn it. don't make it look like you are deciding to be president or not. nobody will elect a president who doesn't want to be president. your thoughts? >> actions speak in politics. if romney wanted to be reare tired now he'd be at his beach front home in california enjoying the sun, enjoying the waves. he was in park city, utah, meeting again with the financial network. this is someone who may not be gearing up for a run, but actions speak louder than words.

i see romney there pushing toward a campaign, thinking about it, moving closer to it in spite of what he says to david gregory. >> the only man with a car elevator in his house that i know. that would be fun. joy, we'll get in a car and ride up and down in his house. >> i'm ready. let's go. up next, hillary's book run is supposed to be a practice run for a presidential campaign. we'll see. a few kinks showed last week. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

who is the most admired president of the past 25 years? according to our nbc news/wall street journal poll it's bill clinton. four in ten americans say big bill is the president they like the most. barack obama is second, but 24 points behind clinton. george w. bush in third and his father, the only one-term president during the time period, finished fourth. we'll be right back.

we're back. it turns out hillary clinton may not be as ready for the 2016 rupp as her supporters would

like her to be. her long awaited book tour seen as many as a dry run for a presidential bid hit speed bumps last week. it started with her interview with abc when clinton said she and bill were dead broke when they left the white house in 2000. >> we came out of the white house not only dead broke, but in debt. we had no money when we got there. and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, houses, chelsea's education. you know, it was not easy. >> the response from hillary clinton generated criticism given that she and the former president are now multimillionaires. the rollout got rockier later in the week. during her npr interview with terry gross when the talk turned to her evolving position on same sex marriage. the former secretary of state's patience ran out and it showed in the interview. >> i think you are being very persistent, but you are playing

with my words and playing with what is such an important issue. >> i'm trying to clarify -- >> no, i don't think you are. i think you're trying to say i used to be opposed and now i'm in favor and i did it for political reasons and that's flat wrong. let me state what i think you are implying and repudiate it. i have a strong record. i have a great commitment to this issue. and i am proud of what i've done and the progress we're making. >> in her book "hard choices" hillary clinton writes i no longer had much patience for walking on eggshells. her responses to two tough questions last week threw her off her game and could cause trouble for a second white house run. "washington post," "she the people" blog.

melinda, i want to start with you. you can't generalize it. the press likes to do its job and be difficult. i don't think there's animosity there and certainly not from terri gross. i listened to that over again today and said, why are they arguing? terri, who i really think is great, was trying to get the former secretary of state to say, i think she was trying to get her to say, i changed my mind. i went from being where everybody was, the great mass of america was on same-sex, not being against it, they did think about it, having thought about it and understood the issue and sympathize with the people who are seeking same-sex marriage and saying, okay. she wouldn't do it quite that way. it might be a mountain out of a mole hill. what do you think? >> i thought it was a great interview for both terri gross and hillary clinton. you have to get a little friction going. a spark or two is always appreciated. >> what was terri trying to get? >> she was trying to clarify. i think she wanted hillary clinton to be much more explicit in connecting the dots and saying, yes, she evolved like the rest of america and there was this very familiar pushback from hillary clinton, not wanting to do that.

on the other hand, can you ever really go wrong in pushing back against the press? i think voters like that. so i -- >> here's my question. >> it was not hurtful for her at all. >> i'll defend hillary for the following. everybody wants her to be loosey-goosey, be herself. she's different in private when chatting off the record. how do you do both unless you're as gifted as one of the rare people on the planet, bill clinton, who can always know exactly, almost exactly what to say? >> that's her problem. she's not her husband. >> who is? nobody is. >> that's the problem she has to solve before she runs again. what does she do with bill? you know, last time she listened to him. so she ran -- >> can he teach bill? can bill teach bill? >> why would bill change? bill's doing great. >> can he teach her the nuances to say, enough, to seem candid but not give away the store? >> can't be a frankenstein and create a different person. she's not him. she's who she is, and who she is

is not a person -- she wants to be president. she doesn't want to run for president. she doesn't want to -- >> that's the problem. >> -- deal with all the crap. >> she shouldn't come across as it's okay to come across as pushing back. it's not okay to come across as how dare you ask me that question. because somebody running has to take all the questions. i was surprised that she didn't learn from her husband not to say we're dead broke. he knows what dead broke is. and i thought that out of everything that happened in the last week, that was the most potentially damaging for her to say. she knows how people are hurting. and what that really means. >> it's technically true. they were in debt. >> they also had a million dollars in assets. i mean, i heard from somebody today who said, you know, i really thought i could support her next time, but i'm dead broke. >> okay. tomorrow night, she's doing a couple other networks. she's doing a town hall with one of the networks. she's doing fox. you know roger ailes is sitting there putting the murder board together. she's going to have some fascinating questions from --

they're going to be toughies. >> yeah. you know, but this is a healthy sign. last time she ran, don't forget she announced on videotape. she didn't have a rally in springfield, you know, she had a perfect format where they could change every frame, the background, anything they wanted. now she's got to go out and face the press in long interviews. none of this two, three minute stuff. >> oh, it's coming tomorrow night. i tell you, this is great to watch because i think, you know, it's -- politics is a craft. it's an art. and you've got to learn how to give the answer that seems candid as hell and you've thought about it. churchill used to say, i've been spending most of my life rehearsing my impromptu remarks. thank you, guys. we'll be back with the same topic. roger simon, melinda henneberger. two fair-minded people. we'll be back right after this. know if you're getting a good deal or not. that's what led up to us looking at truecar.com.

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let me finish tonight with this. a war of choice. well, that was a nice way of putting george w. bush's decision to attack, invade, and take over the country of iraq. it was the deliberate act of war, of course, iraq had not attacked us. we attacked them. we went into their country and shot anyone who got in our way. we declared ourselves the conquerers of iraq and acted

accordingly. the talk of iraq having nuclear whens was an argument to bring the europeans along, oh, yes, and the more skeptical americans. but if nuclear weapons were the issue, why didn't we leave when we discovered they didn't have themes weren't making them at all? again, what was the reason we went into iraq and what was the reason we broke up its army and left so many former soldiers to fend for themselves? what was the reason we leveled the iraqi government to the ground? one reason, we heard, was to shake up the entire middle east by knocking off saddam hussein and turning iraq into a governing moderate democracy that would set a new course for the region. a new model. but if that was the goal, why

did we left the government of iraq become sectarian, a government hostile to the sunnis, the main islamic tradition? why did we allow this situation to emerge in iraq that created the basis for today's civil war? and how could american policy be so destructive that it used all those lies of our soldiers, all those billions of our dollars to take a country that had been a problem limited to the region and turn it into a horror that could well escape it? that's "hardball." that's "hardball" for you. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. president barack obama has notified congress pursuant to the war powers act of the deployment of 275 u.s. troops to iraq. officials say 170 soldiers and marines will deploy to provide additional security to the u.s. embassy and facilities in baghdad. another 100 security personnel will provide airfield management security and logistics support. approximately 160 of these 275 troops are already in iraq. this after a weekend in which a u.s. aircraft carrier and other warships arrived in the persian gulf and just this morning yet another city in iraq falling to the radical sunni insurgent group isis.