in 2001, president george w. bush vowed to go after the terrorist who's attacked us on 9/11. only the president obama will lay out his vision to the country for defeating isis. the nation will be watching. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. i will see you back here starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern for msnbc's special coverage of the president's speech. first, "hardball" starts right now. fight night. this is "hardball." good evening, i'll chris matthews in washington overlooking the u.s. capitol. only the the president must make an impossible argument. that we can protect ourselves in this country at home or entanglement abroad and still

defeat our new enemy, isis, isil, the islamic state. we're still having a hard time agreeing on what to call it but a much harder time agreeing how to confront it. my first guest is bill mahr. he joins us on this big night when the president addresses the american people and because of the beheading of two american journalists, it is a time when people have a focus on this group that has taken over much of iraq and syria. people want to go after them in air power but not on the ground with troops. when has a war like that ever been 1? how is it possible if we refuse to go all out and destroy it? and what kind of a war is it that we focus most of our debate on the ways we refuse to fight it. as i am, i just spoke with bill mahr. >> the president of the united states is speaking to the american people tonight. what should he say? what do they want to hear him say? >> i think they want to hear him

say what ted cruz said the other day. i'm going to take them out. they don't think things through, the american public. they just feel scared right now. i'm not sure why. i'm not scared of isis. i know they're a bad group but i don't think they'll come and behead me. they saw two grisly videos and i guess they think that will happen to them next. that kind of tough talk seem to be what the american people want. they don't want to think it through, what actions should we take to back up the talk? i heard chris christie talking about vladimir putin. and he seemed befuddled by the question, what was going on there in ukraine but he said something like, if i was president, he wonderful have tried that with me. why? because you're fat? what does that mean? he wonderful have tried it with you? are you saying you would have threatened him with nuclear war? obama has made this point himself often. that the republicans seem to want more out of him but when he says what? should we send boots on the ground? no, not xagtly that.

i'm doing it. talk more like john wayne is what they want. more like arnold schwarzenegger. talk more like reagan. we win, they lose. >> yeah. but the problem is, the american people were looking at the polling, and it shows as you said, the peel want to get rid of isis. no casualties at home. no homeland casualties. they don't want any casualties in the field. any troops in the field but they want to beat them. >> it reminlds me very much of the same view they have of economics. they want to solve the budget deficit but not by either raising taxes or cutting spending or any of the programs they like. they want magic them want to elect someone who can perform magic. and unfortunately, that person is not on the ballot. >> the president speaks at 9:00. will he build up the heat toward the enemy or bring it down? if he brings up the heat and says these are real bad guys. they beheaded our people. we have to get them. he has to follow up. do you know he will lower the temperature and say there's a

bad group. they're in another part of the world. they're not that dangerous. they're not an existential threat. do you think he will do that? >> absolutely. as a number of other issues like gay marriage, joe biden has forced him to up the anty. >> already. >> very. >> i didn't know you were bilingual but yes. we'll follow them to the gates of hell. really? do we really need to make a bogey man out of everybody? i get it that isis is bad but they're not that different than other villains. i read in the new york time, they said there were thousands of these groms in the world. you can put hamas perhaps in that category. this is a problem we'll be dealing with the rest our lives, and everybody's lives and the lives of their children. it is so easy to bait americans. it is horrible that they killed

two journalists. when you think about, it is the fact that most americans, something like 94% of americans are aware of that. they saw that or heard about it. >> the biggest news event in five years. >> so it seemed to be, we just lurch from one emotional response to the next. that is not a way to conduct foreign policy. whatever obama says tonight, what makes me feel assured is that he is a calm guy. he doesn't do things rashly. he may throw them a little red meat but i don't think he will do anything that a president should not do in this situation. >> let's talk about what he's probably going to do based on the leaks already. he will do something on air power. something in terms of air strikes, drone strikes, i suppose, against isis in syria as well as iraq. when it come to defeating isis, the iraqis don't want anybody else in the country but them.

they don't want our ground troops back in. syria doesn't want us in there. you can't count on the jordanians to bring an army in. is saudis will spend some money on this. who will defeat isis? >> that's what we should do. make them defeat isis. we should do the same thing with ukraine. make the europeans get involved. make people take care of their own neighborhoods. >> the only way is to stand back and let them do it. >> exactly. take the training wheels off. >> that's an alternative. stand back and let them deal with it regionally. >> exactly. we should be the last resort. not the first resort. we're like helicopter, hovering over everybody. let them work it out for. they. >> do you think they'll stop beheading our people if we do that? they said they're beheading our people because we attack them by air. isis said that. that's what they say. >> does it matter why they do it?

>> if they continue to do it, can a president of the united states stand back and let it happen? >> yes. absolutely a president can stand back and let it happen. just the way reagan, who they are all pining for, where is he now, when the marine barracks were blown up in beirut, george bush stood in the rubble and said we will not be bugged by terrorists. then we bugged out. so thanks a lot. >> but politically they were will to say let's go back. in i was on the other side working for the opposition and we never said go back. in we thought it was crazy to go in in the first place. >> we can't organize our foreign policy based on what they say and do. that's something they are pretty good on. >> let's talk about ted cruz. we've been tough on him on our show. he is on the hard right. he reminds me of joe mccarthy. he has the hot hand republican party. if they like a guy like him, what does that tell that you b the politics of this country?

bomb them into the stone age. that kind of talk. >> we know what the politics of the country is. especially in the republican party and the people had a are most ferry vanity and do the most voting. we have an election coming out. who comes out the most? it is those people. ted is the worst. he is not stupid. i don't think he believes half of what he says. there stupid enough? is this really stupid enough? i want to get this -- i'm thinking about the guy had a goes to yale hoyle. >> pat robertson once in a while says something smart like we should legalize pot. i've never heard ted cruz say anything smart. >> what do you think of him? he is an anti-war republican. >> not so much in the last couple days. he really bothered me. i was at him.

like as somebody who i actually might consider to vote for as a republican. >> isn't he anti-war in his heart? >> the other day, hillary clinton said something i thought was very smart. that global warming, we got more bad news as we do every week but this was really shocking about carbon in the atmosphere. she said this is the biggest shia that we should be afraid of. i agree, i am much more afraid of ice as in melting than i am about isis. and rand paul said exactly what dick cheney said. why is the president talking about climate change when we have this terrorist group. that's just a terrible reordered of priorities. hillary clinton was rate about that. she won me back. >> that's why i don't like people like glenn beck because they laugh at it. they think it is a joke. we'll be right back. i want to talk about what's going to happen a little further down road to ray rice case and some other matters.

we're going to have chuck todd joining us and richard engel. he is over there in iraq and you know other 18 robinson. an oven heats up a community la cocina, a small kitchen that kick-starts the careers of 41 entrepreneurs. they bring the talent. we help fund the tools. it's a small way we help that's been huge for the community. little by little we can do a lot. because... small is huge. visit www.wellsfargo.com to see how big small can be. i am so noh my gosh...now, it's not even funny. driver 1 you ready? yeah! go! [sfx] roaring altima engine woah! ahhhha! we told people they were riding nissan's most advanced

altima race car. we lied... about the race car part. altima, with 270 horsepower and active understeer control. how did you?...what! i don't even, i'm speechless. innovation that excites. at the top of this hour, stick with msnbc. rachel maddow and i are joined by chris hayes and andrea mitchell as we all gear up for president obama's speech at 9:00 eastern. what would happen... if energy could come from anything? or if power could go anywhere? or if light could seek out the dark? what would happen if that happens? anything.

thlook what i got.p. oh my froot loops! [sniffs] let's do this? get up! get up! get up! get up! loop me! bring back the awesome... yeah! yeah! yeah! with the great taste of kellogg's froot loops. follow your nose! everyone is looking for ways while to cut expenses.s unique, and that's where pg&e's online business energy checkup tool can really help. you can use it to track your actual energy use. find rebates that make equipment upgrades more affordable. even develop a customized energy plan for your company. think of it as a way to take more control over your operating costs. and yet another energy saving opportunity from pg&e.

find new ways to save energy and money with pg&e's business energy check-up. so often president obama responds to crises by announcing all things that he will not do and here again we can only hope that pattern ends tonight. our president must understand, we are at war. and that we must do what it

takes for as long it is a takes to win. >> that was dick cheney today doing the same thing he does time and time again. his dr. strangelove number. cheney was giving the same advice he always does. escalate. no matter what the crisis is, his answer is escalating. we're back with bill maher. cheney keeps acting like he is the new kid on the block. he is the guy that put our troops on the streets of mecca. he is the guy that debaathicized. he took us into iraq. now he acts like this whole messing up of the middle east, all this fragmentation and craziness he had nothing to do with. >> it reminds me of what he said about benghazi. it was on the anniversary of 9/11 and he said obama let that ham. we were always on our guard on the anniversary of 9/11. there wouldn't have been an anniversary if you hadn't -- >> if obama had been president, would the american people lost

3,000 lives in new york city, would he have been blamed by the right? >> of course. constantly. they would never stop talking about it. >> he would have lost new york. right? >> right. that would be the catch phrase. he lost new york. >> why is politics so asymmetric? why is it the right is so much tougher that the left these days? not the. the left wasn't tough before. >> it is in their dna, i think. look at polling. democrats are afraid of polls. republicans aren't afraid of polls. republicans make polls. democrats run from polls. if something is polling at 43% approval rating, democrats go, oh, better not touch that. republicans go 43%? you mean we only to have fool another 8% of the people? piece of cake. we'll meet in our evil lair. we'll get our evil to english dictionary. we'll all spread out on the talk shows with every exact same talking point and we'll have it done in two weeks.

no problem. the public option was polling at something like 70% approval before they got ahold of it. 70%? piece of cake. we'll get it to below 50 by the fall and they did. >> what do you think about the idea of cheney college back and all these people coming back? that we're behind the war in iraq which is enormously unpop lampl this is where the polling is a little off beat. if you have people that say iraq was a mistake. this whole neo con thing. we'll bring down iraq and afghanistan and libya. actually lost -- just a minute also went down. and somehow that will create democracy. and it will be better for israel and better for us. it never was. and how come they come back now as the experts? >> because they have the advantage of working in a country where the people are not very well informed. they certainly don't know history. they are not interested in foreign affairs very much unless it comes right to their doorstep. they all think about, we learn

history through war as we learn geography. crimea, did they know what that place was in they thought it was an artificial sweetener until three months ago. i read in the paper today, a republican congressman. i can't remember who it was, he said about iraq. well, obama in office six years now. we can't blame bush and klann for that anymore. this goes back to the seventh century. >> one is this debate over ray rice. the running back for the baltimore ravens. and it looks like they didn't quite get to this thing in time. the nfl looks like they're now waking up to the video which we're told in the associated press report late today, somebody claim that they gave that to an executive at the nfl back in april. and they didn't want to look at it. they averted their glance from it. they looked at it and said we're not bringing that into evidence. >> that could be extra.

i don't know if we'll find out. i don't know if it is the most important part of this. it reminds me of the ferguson situation, the police brutality of sometimes things happen in this country that shed a light on a problem that has been going on for years, decades, centuries, and suddenly he shall is all over it. the bright side is good. we're finally looking at i. and i guess we're looking at this now. >> pictures. if you didn't have the picture. >> the picture. right. that mental everything. the same thing with the cop situation programs. for some reason choking that guy, seeing that, something clicked in people about something that has been going on for a very long time. i think a point that needs to be made is that he did not go to jail and he should have. it's a private business, i guess, the national football league. >> suppose he had slugged a guy in an elevator like that. isn't that assault and battery? sth absolutely. you should go to jail and then when you get out, you've paid

your time. if he was in the industry industry and he slugged his wife and he went to jail. we don't usually send people to jail. why? because they're full of nonviolent drug offenders so full they have no place for a guy like ray rice but they should. he should go to jail. and when he gets out, he should have a clean slate. this idea that everybody has to pay in perpetuity. some crime, yes, obviously murder you go to jail forever. or give you the chair. but it is a horrible thing did he and he should pay a horrible price clg going to jail for a couple years. when he gets out, new life. >> that's very christian of you. >> exactly. >> it really is. we're through. this you paid your debt to society. it is great having you on. >> you converted me back. >> if i could. great to see you. some very good values within your heathen soul. thank you very much. bill maher returns this friday with back to back live shows from here in washington at 9:00

eastern. real-time premiers and then a live stand-up special from the warner theater here in d.c. up next, president obama's speech on the war with isis. just over 90 minutes from now. we'll be joined on this program by nbc's richard engel, on the ground in iraq. plus chuck todd. the moderator of "meet the press" on the president's big opportunity to get thing organized. and also, the "washington post." eugene robinson who met with the president. tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*?

has a new easy-to-swallow coating... so the nutrients for your eyes, heart and brain go down easier. for a limited time, get your four-dollar coupon at centrum.com.

dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money. kid: do you pay him? dad: of course. kid: how much? dad: i don't know exactly. kid: what if you're not happy? does he have to pay you back? dad: nope. kid: why not? dad: it doesn't work that way. kid: why not? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab ed a lift? covergirl and olay invented facelift effect firming makeup. luxurious coverage plus the firming power of a night cream to plump skin with moisture. new facelift effect makeup from olay and easy, breezy, beautiful, covergirl.

welcome back to "hardball." white house officials say they're building a u.s. coalition to destroy isis in iraq and syria. secretary of state john kerry is in the region to firm up those commitments. meeting with members of the new iraqi government before traveling to jordan for sum we are the king where he spoke with king abdullah.

he spoke with the king of saudi arabia before meeting with his national security team to work on the address. he'll deliver over 90 minutes from now. while the administration's diplomatic effort is well underway, the exact role our middle eastern allies will play in the president's new strategy needs additional clarity. in his press conference in baghdad, secretary kerry again began to express that neither american forces nor those of regional allies will be directly combatting isis in iraq, that is, he said unless something dramatic hams. >> let me emphasize, iraq has not asked for american forces on the ground. nor other forces, and iraq doesn't want those other forces here. we understand that. in addition, the president of the united states and other leaders of other countries have eliminated the notion of their forces being engaged in direct

combat unless obviously something very, very dramatic changed. that's the way it is today and that's the way it is going to be. >> joining me now from the city of erbil, chief kornl for nbc news. despite the talk, we'll hear about a broad coalition of that fight. we're the only soldiers in that battle and we're doing it by air. >> reporter: there is a big difference between a coalition that offers finances, that offers media support, moral support. i think we're going to get that. and we're already starting to see that. when you turn on arabic television over just the last couple weeks, there are more programs denouncing isis, some islamic leaders are coming out describing them as barbarians who have nothing to do with islam, and that helps to dry up the pool of recruits, to draw up the extremist and could not

front isis's message. but in the actual battle, the u.s. doesn't have any real partners except for where i am right now. i'm in kurdistan. in kurdistan there are kurdish fighters. they are old u.s. allies. the best allies that american troops had during the last war in iraq. and the u.s. works very closely with them. we saw them, we saw that in person. american air strikes will come. they will destroy isis targets. they'll kill isis militants and over that debris and over the bodies, kurdish forces will move in. the problem is the iraqi army which is supposed to be doing the same kind of thing collapsed and needs to be rebuilt. and now is very closely tied to iran and shiite groups. and in syria, there are absolutely no groups. the president talks about these partnered forces on the ground that will be doing the fighting, taking the fight to isis while the u.s. drops bombs from the

sky. those moderate rebels, those ground forces in syria simply don't exist right now. >> so when we do bomb an area in syria, where we believe isis is deployed. perhaps we can stop them from doing certain things. who would come in and exploit that situation and grab control of the territory, perhaps capture or kill the isis people that have been damaged by the air attack. by our air attack. >> well, the most likely group that would come in and take over those territories would be the army of bashar al assad. they want to regain control of the entire country and it has been making advances and then its advances were stopped by isis. so if isis is degraded, we could see very likely the counter offensive being launched to take advantage of that vacuum being created by the united states, by

bashar al assad. so we bomb assad's enemy, isis. and by the way, very much helped to create. and then assad could end up walking away with the trophy and walking away with his country back. >> what a strange war. jordan doesn't cross its border into syria. iraq doesn't really go out into the sunni areas and take down isis. we don't go in on the ground. but the head of the hated government of syria does move in. what a strange development this will be for a war front. thank you very much for your great information and reporting there. richard engel who is in erbil, iraq. when we return, president obama's challenge is to explain how he will confront isis. a war without ground troops. what kind of war is that? we'll be joined by the moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd.

he is coming here in a minute plus eugene robinson. there was no question she was the one. she reminds you every day. but your erectile dysfunction-that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away

for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial. watch this. sam always gives you the good news in person, bad news in email. good news -- fedex has flat rate shipping. it's called fedex one rate. and it's affordable. sounds great. [ cell phone typing ] [ typing continues ] [ whoosh ] [ cell phones buzz, chirp ] and we have to work the weekend. great. more good news -- it's friday! woo! [ male announcer ] ship a pak via fedex express saver® for as low as $7.50.

here's what's happening. there have been new arrests in ferguson, missouri, as protesters gather near interstate 70. it was the scene of regular protests following the shooting of the unarmed teen in august. another air strike on an isis position in iraq. it destroyed an armed vehicle. and the cling where joan rivers was treated prior to her death is defending its safety record, saying it far exceeds the national average. now we take you back to "hardball."

>> welcome back to "hardball." the you had a yenls from the president's prime time speech carried live on all the broadcast networks and cable news channels may represent as in, the biggest you had a yenls president obama will address between now and the edge of his presidency. those are certainly high stakes. with his job approval rating down at 40%, an all time low for him, and his job rating on foreign policy just 32%, president obama has a lot on the line tonight. joining me now is chuck todd. moderator of "meet the press," and eugene robinson from the "washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. it seems the american people want something almost impossible to imagine. they want a war against isis that destroys it. of course, they don't want any casualties at home, nor do they want any troops involve over there fighting them. this is going -- can he continue to allow the american people to believe they can have a cost-free victory?

>> he is going to try to do that tonight. that's what he is going to try to do. to essentially, he wants to give the public what they're asking for. this is an odd moment. usually a president has to rally the country to sort of convince them that a military campaign is necessary in a moment like this. instead, the public is already there, as we've seen in some of this polling. the questions that i have about all of these operations that they're planning, i don't think he is going to address. which is, how do you know when it is over? when it is over, then what happens to syria? how exactly does this training operation work? that's going to take place, perhaps in saudi arabia. not even as you pointed out, not even in this, these sort of, what might become ungoverned parts of syria. and how do we not repeat this cycle? which is the al qaeda example is what he is going to hold up as a success story.

okay. they've degraded al qaeda. now we have a new threat. how do you know when you degrade isis, when that vacuum appears, that there won't be another group that shows up. he think he has a public that isn't demanding those answers. he has a public that is absolutely fearing what happened to those american journalists and saw those beheadings and things. okay, we have to do something. >> i agree completely with chuck on the quandary. we went into saudi arabia planting tens of thousands for a decade leading up to 9/11 to get saddam hussein but we created something over there that became al qaeda. then we went into iraq the second time and got rid of the sunnis will we debaathicized them. then we find ourselves with isis. we bomb isis, we end up with beheadings. there will always know a reaction to what we say. how does the president edge the series of actions and reaction

if he can? how does he do it? >> good question. you know, i was at an off-the-record briefing at the white house today, since it was off the record, i can't say who it was. specifically what was said. i did come away with a much better understanding of how the president and the white house see this situation. and i think he does something to accomplish in this speech tonight. letting the american people know the white house sees this as a commitment. and it is not. this isn't wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. this isn't just shock and awe. it is a commitment to eventually destroy isil or isis to not have what some commentators call a jihadistan in the middle of the middle east. which the white house sees as intolerable and something that

has to be moved against. this is fraught with fraught, as an old editor of mine used to say. the possibilities of how this can go wrong are already endless. and frankly the white house can't see around all the corners. >> let me go to the most immediate way to judge the situation. if we continue our air strikes, in fact, escalate them over syria and iraq, can't we expect more beheadings, chuck? >> well, that's possible. of course that's going to be, there's some fear of retribution. you have some people fearing that right now, the administration says, you know, isil aspires to potential the west but here's to say you don't have a lone wolf. we know there are westerners in there. be it in europe or the united states. i think that fear always sits there. but look. two of our closest allies, jordan and saudi arabia do see

this as an existential threat to them. and obviously, if those two, if this seeps into those two countries, it is understandable the national security decision the president is making. you cannot allow this to happen and see jordan threaten, you know, it is chaotic enough there. if this seeps over the border into jordan, it puts israel in danger, a lot of things in danger. but again, how do you get out of this? how do you stop? that's what i don't quite understand. he is not going to apparently put an end date tonight. so how do you know when it is over? how do you get out of syria? if we bomb the heck out of that country, are we responsible for helping to rebuild it? and who have whose country is it? >> the question you raised there, the question is jordan and saudi arabia. from what we're hearing about this speech, they won't get involved in the fighting against

syria. they're offering to protect their border in the case of jordan and to send some money in this campaign from saudi. which is typical, paying for their problems. again, it is an american war. we'll be the ones flying the sorties over syria and iraq for weeks and perhaps months. programs years. and all that killing which will end up killing innocent people, hospitals will get hit, schools will get hit, kids will get hit. and eventually, we're the bad guys again. we the united states, looks like the aggressor killing arabs on international television again and we're right back where we were in iraq in terms of the look. thing. the reality, not just the look. >> i think that's absolutely right. and i think this is seen at the white house as yes, it will look this way to a lot of people. and yes, this is not a situation that anybody wanted to be in. i think my understanding is that specific roles of some of the

allies, frankly, i think there's a lot less of the coalition that meets the i'm specific roles may come out later. it is my understanding. i think chuck asked one of the really central questions which is syria. once you get involved in the syrian conflict, how on earth do you get out? how do you avoid any u.s. action in syria essentially handing the country back to assad, is it deemed necessary to basically do that even for a short term, for the greater good or not? it is a mess. and it's going to get messier. >> chuck, richard engel was just in from er bimpb $l over there. he said the likely outcome of blowing up, perhaps deployments of isis forces there. the people who will pick up the

pieces in h estimation will be the government of assad. it won't be the free syrian army of it will be assad that goes in and grabs that land that we've just blown apart. >> that's the most likely. i understand yes says that. assad has an army. they would be a i believe to get troop there's to secure territory, for instance, that he has lost to isis. part of the plan that the president will lay out will involve trying to train this moderate syrian opposition. but is it going to be big enough? if the united states is taking on this cause of training, that has slippery slope written all over it. then we are for trying to prop syria back up. and it becomes, how does it not become a similar situation. >> you broke it, you bought i.

thanks so much. that was colin powell's view. up next, should president obama call congress's bluff and ask for a war resolution against isis? say within a week, when it would matter. will there be a vote in congress over this new war? we'll get reaction when we come back. this is "hardball." place for politics. protecting m. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. let's look at a couple of nooft senate polls out today.

let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. first in michigan where u.s. congressman gary peters, the democrat in the race, has opened up a 10-point lead over republican terry lynn landham. their the new voters. peters, 47, edging toward 50. land, down to 37. next to iowa. a college poll has congressman bruce leading republican by four unlikely voters. good news in the blue states. michigan and eye wax two more blue states where democratic voters are coming home to the party. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] rock a 3d white smile. with crest 3d white luxe toothpaste.

only crest 3d white has whitelock technology. it removes stains within the microfine lines of your teeth... and locks out future stains. crest 3d white luxe toothpaste. life opens up with a whiter smile. crest 3d white luxe toothpaste. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems,

such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. revolutionary by every standard. and that became our passion. to always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. that redefine comfort and connect the world like never before. after all, you can't turn dreams into airplanes unless your passion for innovation is nonstop. ♪

the american people will be paying close attention to the president's words and his prime time address. so will the representatives in congress right behind me. as the president prepares to explain his strategy to the american people, he'll be looking for buy-in. that's the new phrase. he wants congress to be part of this. in this case, what does buy-in from congress actually mean? will they hold a vote to authorize the president's actions against isis? will they foot the bill for a prolonged american intervention? nbc news learn today that white house is that you aring hard for the house to authorize at least the training and earl of syrian rebels as part of the upcoming vote to fund the government. any way as part of the ongoing continuing resolution. and today kevin mccarthy on the house side announced they will delay the vote for the continuing resolution which was schedule for tomorrow so the republicans can consider the president's request to pay for

it. franklin roosevelt asked for a declaration for japan the day after pearl harbor was snake the congress held a vote within minutes of his famous speech. what will congress do after the president's speech tonight? first to you. buy-in. why doesn't the congress just belly up. go up there and vote for a war. explain that? why doesn't the president want them to? >> at this point, buy-in is basically anything short of complete rejection and public condemnation. i was talking to sources on the hill who essentially said this vote is extremely up likely. the only people asking for it are people not up for re-election is. >> mitch mcconnell is. >> he is but that's because he knows that it puts senate democrats in a really tough position. if you think of how this mid material is shaping up, it is shaping up as a base election. how excited voters on the left and voters on the right are.

even if the president needs to reassure voters, they don't want to be on the record of saying i voted to go to war again. >> they're afraid the left won't show up. >> you know this guy, you cover him. i think he likes this. nobody likes war but this makes him look like a heavy weather. this gives a chance to sell his gravitas, his experience, even his i know annal will. >> all politics is local. all politics is kentucky. no matter what's going on in the middle east he will has an ad up in kentucky showing all of the chaos in the world, leading off with isis chaos. basically saying, i'm mitch mcconnell, have the gravitas, have the experience. this young woman i'm running against doesn't. i think mitch mcconnell is inviting the democrats and the senator, harry reid in particular. during which time every other republican will spend all their

time saying what president obama did not do last year. did not do six months ago. they will stir the waters as much as they can for their own meadow elections. >> let's talk about the center-left, the progressives. where are they? if they had a vote with people on the progressive left, with mcdermott, would bernie sanders vote for war resolution or would they say no? >> they're in a tough position because a lot want to be seen as supporting the president. but on the other hand, if you listen to the way they're framing this, they're framing it as something to be concerned about because it could end up being a much longer, deeper commitment than we expected it to be. that's sort of the flag they're waving. you're hearing administration officials when they talk about it be very careful to emphasize that point. they say, yes, we're going to potentially bomb syria, yes, we're going to potentially make this ta new front in the war, but it is not 100,000 combat troops. >> let me get back to crazy part of this whole night. the american people, according

to our polls at nbc and "the wall street journal," we've all read them. we want to do something against isis. we want to make war. we don't want to have casualties, we don't want the homeland hurt, a war without casualties, without troops but it has to win. what kind of a war is that? >> first of all, i think in reality, virtually everybody up there on the hill -- not everybody but the preponderance of people on the hill and in the country agree on what should be done. we should have iraq be a real country. we should have a coalition with nato people and arab countries and muslim countries. we should carefully pinpoint bomb in iraq and syria and no troops on the ground. all of this arguing up here is a dumb show in that everybody really agrees -- >> they agree would that win a war? >> no. that's the problem. what everybody agrees on is short of what we're really facing if we look at the past. i went and reread the president's anti-war speech from

2002. i reread his other speeches. if he stood for anything, it's been to be cautious about the unintended consequences of war. and now that's what got him elected. >> yeah. >> in 2008. now he's standing on the precipice of another situation like that. i think what he wants to say is let's be really careful. let's be cautious. >> yeah, but he's saying more bombing. >> but the american people right now and everybody in washington and the chatter is, you know, you better be strong, mr. president, you only have a 32% approval rating. >> we're not talking four years from now. we're talking the next couple weeks case. just imagine the horror. he does announce more bombing, more sorties more casualties. the head of isis, baghdady, we'll find somebody else to behead. americans are watching this sequence of events. we do one thing, they do another. it all began when we put our troops in the holy land over there and all of a sudden there's an al qaeda group. we knock all the sunnis out of

the iraqy government, guess what? they join isis. we bomb isis, they behead our people. a series of reactions and actions that will just continue tonight. it won't end tonight. >> i think also you're starting to see this sort of element of an "i told you so" from the hawkish wing of the republican party, not necessarily the political mitch mcconnells of the world. >> what about i told you so to how we got into this situation? >> the president's caution has gotten us to this position where isis is this big of a threat. if the president had acted more strongly, maybe if congress had stood up a little taller a year ago. >> what's the latest poll number on whether we should have gone into the iraq war? it's in the 70s against that. the american people, if they were reminded of the problem, we had a lot of difficult, you can call them s.o.b. governments, to be crude about it. saddam hussein, gadhafi. we'd be better with those bums than what we have right now, but we took step after step to bring them down.

>> if you're going to judge barack obama, president obama by his own standards, that's the speech he should give tonight. >> what i just said. >> yes. he should say here's what we're going to do, but you have to understand the context here. that's his whole being. that's the way he would normally operate, but he's being jammed into -- >> who's pushing him, dempsey? the chairman of the joint chiefs? >> i think the numbers are pushing him there. having a 32% approval rating on foreign policy. having a 40% approval rate overall. knowing that your senate and house candidates and maybe gubernatorial candidates are being dragged down by your unpopularity. he's responding to the immediate polls, not to history. he's going to make history of a kind that he's not sure he wanted to make. >> you are so smart and subtle, and that's the sad, tragic reality, i think. thank you so much. casey hunt and howard fineman. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired.

i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. it's time to bring it out in the open. it's time to drop your pants for underwareness, a cause to support the over 65 million people who may need depend underwear. show them they're not alone and show off a pair of depend. because wearing a different kind of underwear, is no big deal. join us. support the cause and get a free sample of depend at underwareness.com if energy could come from anything?. or if power could go anywhere?

or if light could seek out the dark? what would happen if that happens? anything. smoking with chantix. for 33 years i chose to keep smoking... ...because it was easier to smoke than it was to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some could be life threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or

blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i did not know what it was like to be a non-smoker. but i do now. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

let me finish tonight with this key fact. what the president says to the american people tonight will have a short life. what the enemy hears from him tonight will have a far longer one. they will react. they always do. every time our country makes a move in that region, those on the other side have made a more fateful one. when kick cheney as secretary of defense put our troops into saudi arabia back in 1990, we knew that we were desecrating the holy land of islam. so did the people of al qaeda who struck back on 9/11. when george w. bush overruled the sunni government of iraq and

threw hem out of the iraqi army they created the seabed for isis. when president obama hit isis with air strikes isis reacted by beheading the two american journalists. the question we have to ask tonight, what will be the reaction to the other side of what the president orders tonight. i know there are americans angry at the beheadings of our citizen. i share it. but the president of the united states needs to take this understanding of the back and forth, this eye for an eye to another level. he needs to know where it is heading. one thing we've learned the past 14 years and that is how to escalate the american fighting in the islamic world. we know how to kill arabs on international television. what we haven't figured out is how to bring this fight from a boil down to a simmer, to take the rage of the islamist, islamism down to the reasonable set of resentments we've been living with for a very long time. the most important goal from the president is to tell us what to expect. there's a lot of fear out there, anger which always comes from fear. what we need is a leader to help

americans find our way through this, knowing its costs, recognizing its dangers, sensing in our gut that our best ally is our ability to see this thing for what it is. and see with that our limited but effective ways to deal with it. that's hardball for now. stay with us, i'll be joining rachel maddow for msnbc's live coverage of the president's address to the country starting right now. the death of osama b sasam n laden, the end of the war in iraq, the shutdown of the federal government. in the obama presidency there have been only a few occasions that have risen to the level of a prime time presidential address. but tonight the white house has decided to set that biggest of all stages for a presidential address to the nation about isis. or isil. or the islamic state. it's the group that used to be called al qaeda in iraq. and that g