as for kerry, he's now in turkey trying to gain their support. more on that coming up with waz gerges. the president still has to sell his plan at home. that comes with training and arming syrian rebels is the best way to fight syria outside of iraq. >> impact the equation, if not change it completely as they'll have the backing of the united states military a long with military air strikes working alongside them as they attempt to take the fight to isil on the ground in their own country. >> the president first proposed the training plan at west point graduation speech but took little action until wednesday night when he called on congress to approve the funds he needs to fund the training plan already in place. the big holdup for congress is how the u.s. is vetting these rebels and how to assure they won't turn the weapons and knowledge back on us. >> there's no easy answers there. this is not a monolithic -- the

syrian opposition is not a monolithic group. it's not a recognized military force. there is no single recognized leader of the opposition. certainly not from a military perspective. and so there's a recruiting and vetting process that we still need to work out. we're working hard on that. nobody is underestimating the challenge of having that done and done well. >> the president wanted the funds tied to the upcoming spending bill to stop a government shutdown but now votes on that have been delayed because of concerns about the fine print in the president's plan. >> there are still questions and concerns that remain. for example, i support the president's plan to train and equip iraqi security forces and the syrian opposition. but i remain concerned that those measures could take years to fully implement at a time when isil's momentum and territorial gains must be halted and reversed immediately.

>> former cia and nsa director general michael hayden says, quote, the reliance on air power is all the attraction of what casual sex. with that, let's awkwardly turn to "the washington post's" dana milbank. let's keep moving forward here. >> awkward. >> this congress' purpose has been purpose obstructionists for years. it seems a bit rich to me to now expect the president in a moment of need to go to them and try to work with them when they have refused to work with him and with each other on anything. >> right. do they think he's charlie brown and the football here? i mean, we -- we -- it's not only that it's a theoretical possibility. look what happened on syria. he said, all right, congress, i'm going to put this in your court and let's see what you're going to authorize. and, you know, they couldn't authorize a ham sandwich.

they couldn't do anything. so, i think what the president did in his remark was saying, look, congress, i don't need you, but i'd like you. i'd like you to come along and be part of this evert. things change from minute to minute on the hill. it looks right now that he will get the vote to authorize the funds for the training. probably separate from the overall funding resolution. but at least at this moment it looks like he's played it right. >> dana, it's not only the congress that seems to back this against isis. also the american people, vast majority of them seem to be in favor of it. given that the last time we went into iraq, obviously, under president bush, you remember there were blunders, casualties, a number of political statements that seemed to be false or overly optimistic. in light of all that, are you surprised the american people are not a bit more skeptical about this particular mission? >> it is surprising in light of the fact that america is feeling more isolation now than at any

point really basically going back to world war ii. that's people of all political persuasions. i think the crucial difference here is you have not only the general advocating but republicans and conservatives saying, yes, we need to do this. we need to do this more forcefully than the president is saying. americans can be rallied behind a cause when those on both sides are validating it. we've been seeing gruesome beheadings and whatnot helped drive the point home. as we've seen with virtually all wars, public support can be rallied. it's a matter of, can it be sustained? >> dana, the white house is saying that we are at war with isis like we are at war with al qaeda. that's part of their justification for being able to go in and do these military strikes without congressional authorization. and that approach is starting to get a lot of push back, actually, on the left. "the new york times" out with an editorial today saying that mr. obama, who has spent much of

his presidency seeking to wean the united states off perpetual state of war is now putting forward unjustifiable interpretations of the executive branch's authority to use military force without explicit approval from congress. are we going to continue to hear this as a real bone of contention and a source of discomfort coming from the left? >> i think you will. the president, this is the second time in a couple of weeks the president's really alienated his base. first with immigration and now with this. you're going to continue to hear the complaints, but i think what's interesting is the president's following basically what all other presidents of either political party have been doing for the last couple of decades, saying they really don't buy into this whole war powers act thing. >> he was supposed to be different. that was the whole idea. >> exactly. that's why you have a lot of angry liberals. there was even a hoax circulating saying the noble committee has reconsidered giving obama the peace price. >> absolutely. it seems the president is going

forward on this regardless of what congress does. you were saying he doesn't need them at the end of the day. yesterday we had senator joe manchin and congressman crowley. they both praised the president but some serious answers they want before they can support the issue. who do we rely on in syria to help fight isis? if congress doesn't end up supporting more resources, is there another route the president can take? does he have a plan in place to get those resources from? >> i suspect not because it is virtually -- it is highly unlikely, let's say, even this congress is not going to get on board on this with a serious military action. now, the president will commence military action. what we've seen, time and again, is that they eventually knuckle under here. i think you're seeing a lot of

angry liberal democrats right now. not necessarily the two you just cited. you're seeing some push back from libertarians on the republican side. but you've got a pretty broad mill, so while it may -- there may be some hiccups as they actually try to get congress to do anything right now, there seems to be the basis for a way forward here. >> dana, we have 1600 military folks is there, as we just showed on the screen. and i think how the president will be judged out of all this, if he's able to stick to his position and not put a large number of ground troops there. i think that he has learned the lesson that -- repeatedly, that intervention has not led to good, long-term results in iraq. but then be of course, the do something crowd in america is saying, no, you have to send boots to the ground. do you think he's going to be able to stick to his position there? >> well, i think so, because, you know, when you talk about the other side of this. i was at the vice president -- vice president cheney's speech this week. not only he's a boots on the

ground guy, and he's like, and we have to stay in afghanistan and be prepared to go to war with iran. i think people are going to say, look, if that's the alternative, we're going to stick with this guy because he at least sounds a little bit more sane. >> dana, i don't understand why we as a nation are still listening to dick cheney on what to do in iraq and afghanistan -- >> i don't think we are. >> it's all that casual sex -- >> oh, dana, always as smooth as snoopy. thank you very much. up next, can kerry convince a key ally in the region to step up its role in the fight. later, what would franklin roosevelt do? ken burns turns his lens on one of america's most fascinating political families and one of our greatest presidents and he's giving us an early look. "the cycle" is rolling on, friday, september 12th. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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secretary of state john kerry is in turkey today, hoping to bring this reluctant but crucial ally on board in our fight against isis. thousands of fighters cross its borders to fight in syria and iraq. turkey is hesitant to commit. isis is holding dozens of turkish citizens hostage. our next guest says no coalition of the white house can permanently dislodge isis. chairman of contemporary middle eastern study at london school of economics and joining us live from paris. we'll get to your overall

critique of this strategy. but first, why is turkey so hesitant to get on board here? >> well, turkey has one of the largest borders with syria. most of the fighters, both arab fighters and foreign fighters, have entered syria from turkey. turkey has made opposition to the assad regime one of its highest priorities. i mean, it has opened its borders to the various syrian factions. of course, both the islamic state and the official arm of al qaeda have benefitted a great deal. so, you have to shut down the flow of fighters to syria. you have to starve both islamic state in terms of arms n terms of money, in terms of new recruits. turkey is very anxious about -- it has about 45 diplomats who are captured by the islamic state or isis or isil in mosul,

when the islamic state took over mosul a few weeks ago. so, it's anxious about the safety of its citizens. but without the cooperation of turkey inpreventing shutting down its border, starving the particular militant groups in syria, i think this campaign is not going to go too far. >> some people say part of the challenge of gaining allies in this mission for the united states is that a lot of leaders in the region think their greatest threat is not from isis. it's from iran. are you hearing that? and is it possible they're right? >> well, you know, i mean, let me make it very clear. you cannot understand the rise, the resurgence of isis and -- remember, we're not talking about the official arm of al

qaeda, the parent organization. it's basically because of the regional war by proxies. have you on the one hand, saudi arabia and turkey and qatar. on the other side you have sa i saudi -- you have iraq. this inflames sectarian tensions. isis has been basically able to portray itself as the defender, as the spearhead of the sunni community. it has visceral hatred of the shias. in fact, it has built its rank and file based on this anti-shiite sensibility. at the end of the day without ending this regional war by proxy, without talking seriously, engaging iran, regards of what you think of its policy, i don't think we'll go too far with this policy. my fear is american strategy toward isis is based on very questioning premises.

the first premise is that basically this is counterterrorism similar to the counterterrorism against al qaeda and afghanistan and pakistan. it's not similar. al qaeda and pakistan and afghanistan never measured more than 1,000 fighters. isil fighters is between 20,000 and 35,000 fighters. it controls major cities. mosul, raqqa, fallujah, tikrit, it has a state as big as britain. so, again, applying the same tools and methodology in pakistan, afghanistan, obviously is not going to work in iraq and syria. it's also based on the premise that basically the new iraqi government is it. it's a national unity government. i think the sunni arab community in iraq is very skeptical. there's no trust between the sunni arab community and the shia-dominated government. there is no -- i mean, have you to rebuild the bridges of trust. also it's based on the premise that the syrian opposition,

modern syrian opposition, will be able to create a coalition on the ground against isis. this will take years because the biggest basically spearhead in the fight against isis in syria -- is, i mean, the syrian army. the united states has made it clear they will not engage assad. so, all these premise says, obviously, do not address the major challenges. first, you have to end the war by proxy, regional war by proxies. have you to find a diplomatic solution for the syrian crisis that takes into account the interests of the syrian opposition and the syrian government. you have to deepen and restructure the political system in iraq and to bring in, to create a national unity, a genuine national unity government. most important of all, to basically defeat isis, is not a top-down approach. it has to be a bottom hype-up approach. you have to dislodge it from within the sunni arab communities with which it blended. this is the real challenge facing not just united states,

but regional powers. >> fawaz, you recently wrote something i want to read right here. and i quote, a few months ago in response to chatter by his followers, al baghdadi said he was not equipped to attack americans at home. he said he wished americans would deploy boots on the ground so they could engage americans and kill them. do you believe a protracted u.s. involvement in this mission could potentially pose more threat to u.s. lives than just the status quo? >> quickly, i know we don't have the time. the key goal, the key target of isis is not the united states. is not europe. is not the enemy like al qaeda. it's the near enemy. basically, they are very much obsessed with sectarian based regimes in syria and the region. they have, as i said, visceral hatred of the shiite. at the heart of the fight in gaza a few weeks ago, many militants criticized isis for

not basically trying to help the palestinians. basically, isis said, well, first we have to get rid of the shiites and minorities that the liberation told them is a priority over attacking even israel and the israelis. that the united states has not been on the screen of isis. this is a different beast than al qaeda in iraq. now, the war has been joined. i have no doubt in my mind that isis will use all kind of assets that it has. it has already beheaded two american journalists. it most likely will behead any western journalist it has. it will most likely attack the soft bellies of american and western diplomatic targets in the middle east and, of course, if i were isis, what would i do? i would try to plot a big operation against the united states even though everything that we know, it does not have the capacity. it does not have the ability to carry out attacks on spectacular levels based on 9/11 attacks. but, of course, now we don't

know what the isis leaders are planning since they have thousands of fighters and they have a force about 2,000, 2,500 western fighters. this is basically a very wild card that it does have. >> you made it clear that we are doing this all wrong. that this is a deep-seated problem. in the region which i agree with you. i think a number of people agree with you on that point. and that you have people flocking to isis because they are disenfranchised with the government. what do we do, though, if we are getting it all wrong? do we have to start all over again? we've been through this before where we try to take over governments, put in our own democracy there. that clearly has not worked in the past. what do you recommend we do now? >> you know, first of all, i don't say we got it all wrong. it's a very difficult, very complex problem. we have to have humility. when we say we're going to degrade and basically destroy

isis. my fear is mobilizing the u.s. government, the entire u.s. government, the united states of america against isis, basically will most likely play into isis's hands. you're already giving isis much more credibility, much more legitimacy, much more promise unanimous than it deserves. point "a." this is a bot bottom up problem. isis will not have done as well as it has without the support of certain communities, sunni communities, because of the civil wars, because of the sectarian fires that are raging in the region. not just in syria and iraq. you have yemen, libya, other places as well. so, what i'm trying to say is that american, potent as it is, will not defeat isis. have you to have a bottom-up approach and top-down approach. have you to invest major capital, ideological, political, financial capital in trying to convince sunni local communities

that isis is not their friend. you have to dislodge isis from within the local sunni communities. this is a different strategy, a complex strategy. you have to find diplomatic solution to rebuild the states in the region. i mean, to say where does isis come from? isis is a manifestation of the failure of the state system. isis is a manifestation of the sectarianism that's poisoning the veins of islam and arab policies. applying military tools to this particular problem is more likely -- is not going to resolve this complex and difficult problems. in the midterm or even long term. >> there are no quick fixes. thanks much. up next, legendary documentary ken burns talks to us about the roosevelts.

quick, foreign policy spelling courtesy of stephen colbert. >> why can't you get their name right. >> isil. >> isil. >> now, i agree they're acting like a bunch of isils, but, sir, technically, technically it's isis. if you just slam an "l" on the end of words willie nilly whenever you want, you're going to make mistakes. you'll think you're bombing syria and instead end up bombing cereal. which -- which i support, by the way. sonny cuckoo is a mad man who must be brot brought to justice. from food alone. jim, here's $2 off one a day multivitamins to get key nutrients you may need. go to oneaday.com for savings. research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin

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not long ago my sister asked my dad, who was his favorite president. i was surprised he said fdr. he was a kid in harlem and he

said roosevelt changed life for the poor in a way that permanently won over his heart. fdr is wildly hailed as one of the greatest presidents of all time. the man who passed the new deal and defeated hitler. he's just one part of one of the most impactful families, which included his cousin teddy who gave us national parks and his wife eleanor who changed the role of women in america. so, it makes perfect sense that ken burns, master documentarian had to bring the ken burns touch to qult the root vel-- "the roo seven days on pbs. >> they occupy the white house first 45 years of the 20th century. years of which much of the modern world and the modern state was created. they shared a sense of stewardship of the american land. and unfeigned love for people

and politics. and a firm belief that the united states had an important role to play in the wider world. >> in the guest spot today we're honored to have ken burns back on the show once again. ken, please help the younger folks like blake understand what made fdr such a great person. >> well, he's the greatest president of the 20th century, without a doubt. i don't think you'd get an argument even from conservatives. he was the hero of ronald reagan, even though ronald reagan sort of diverged from that. he's the author of how we are now. if you like cashing a social security check, if you think it's appropriate that after you serve in the military you get to go to college on the g.i. bill, if you like the national parks, which he expanded, if you want to turn on a light switch in the tennessee valley or the northwest or the southwest f you want to ride the elevator in chicago or go through the lincoln tunnel or fly out of laguardia airport -- >> or speak english and not german. >> or speak english and not germany, which is hugely important, you've got him to

think. he doesn't exist without his distant fifth cousin theodore roosevelt in whose steps he was desperately trying to follow as a young kind of too ambitious, too charming young man. it was only ironically when he couldn't take another step, struck paralysis at age 39, that he got the allowed him to be the best president of the 20th century and i think as a lincoln man, that he comes up to lincoln. you have to put george washington first always. without him, there's no country. had once you again to rate things like that, he's always up there. he's always been number two, but i think that he really came up. i've been working on this film for seven years and understanding the complexity. all three of these people -- by the way, they've never been done before united as one. i think we assume in kind of a shallow, superficiality that because t.r. is a republican and franklin is a democrat that you're not going to put them together. where, they were both progressives and both following

the same sort of sense that we all do well when we all do well. very simple phenomenon. they both deal with times when there's great disparity of incomes. the added bonus is you get the most consequential woman, eleanor roosevelt, a monument, the tribute, the miracle to the human spirit and able to survive. all of these people are deeply talented, deeply flawed, deeply wounded individuals. overcoming specific problems of their childhood -- >> which is so amazing to me to think about all they accomplished, all that fdr accomplished while keeping essentially his personal and physical challenges a secret. i mean, most americans did not even know he was in a wheelchair and journalists played along with that as well. >> it's not the sort of simplistic time. those journalists knew him better than we know our president. that is to say, he had 998 press conferences. they know the pain it took for

him to unlock his braces, stand up with help of ours. they knew what it was like to unlock them again to go back down to a sitting position. they understood that. the public knew he was strik within polio. it was just thought, as it would be, that if you watch that arduousness, we would all vie today to see the sweat and the pain and the strain and look at the president. here it would make gerald ford tripping seem like a walk in the park. but he knew, franklin roosevelt knew, the reporters knew that pity was political poison. that that would end it. so, i would suggest that he, the greatest president of the 20th century, arguably the greatest president, couldn't get out of iowa caucuses today and neither could theodore, who's too hot for the cool medium of television today. he would have ten howard sterns a day. >> which i miss. i wish we had more of that. >> a diplomat said you must understand about theodore roosevelt that the president is 6. he's a child.

he's a boy. he's destable, he's got madness sort of -- sort of about to enwrap him, always in perpetual motion, always going forward trying to outrun his demons. >> talk about the timing of this film coming out now. as you alluded to both t.r. and fdr, progressives, operating in a time of massive inequality. sounds a little like what we're going through today. >> so, i don't pick the topics that way, but i finished this film more than a year ago and had the opportunity, i suppose, to put it out last fall. it would have rushed the roll-out. but i thought, my goodness, we'll be in a bi-election. these are the issues of the roosevelts, theodore in the first decade of 21st century and fra franklin and eleanor. the same questions we talk about right now, that you're talking about today. what is the role of government? what can a citizen expect from his or her government?

what is the nature of leadership? what is the tension between idealism and pragmatism? how does character form leadership or contribute to leadership? what does adversity lead to character which forms that leadership? this is what we're debating today. the outward contours are different but they are the same. >> i'm looking toward to seeing "the roosevelts" and your next film about jackie robinson. will you come back for that? >> absolutely. >> that's a promise. still ahead, my thoughts on why what happens to roger goodell really doesn't matter. as more men and women who head to iraq, a real look at the women fighters.

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we're at war with isil the same way we are although war with al qaeda and its affiliates. >> the united states is at war with the isil the same way we're at war with al qaeda. >> as the white house admits, we are now at war with isis and president obama sends another 475 troops back to iraq. we are reminded of the sacrifices our servicemen and women have made over the past decade, that america has been at war with al qaeda. separation from friends and family, broken relationships, battlefield losses and the harsh day-to-day reality of living in a battle zone. a new book looks at this all from a distinctly female perspective, tackling the battles all soldiers face and the ones only women confront. it's called "soldier girls" and follows the lives of three women over 12 years through two wars in iraq and afghanistan. and their struggles adjusting to life back home. joining us now is the book's author, helen thorpe. thank you so much for being with us. you write about how some of the

struggles women face are the same as men, including readjusting when they return home. but what are some of the challenges women specifically face on the front lines? >> so, the three women that i was writing about in my book are separated -- there's 30 years difference in age from youngest to oldest. and you see different challenges based on where they are in their life circumstances. so, the youngest, michelle, she had to leave a solid relationship at home and go overseas. and that relationship, she couldn't sustain it over the course of a deployment in afghanistan. that relationship ended. her very close friend desma brooks, a single woman with three books, they shared a tent. desma was struggling to find other people to parent her children while she was gone for a full year. she had a second deployment and struggled with that again. meanwhile, michelle worked on an armament team with debbie helton, who was 30 years older than michelle was. debbie became a grandmother

while overseas. missed the birth of her first grandchild. and i think debbie even faced some maybe age discrimination. she really argued to get onto the deployment. she really wanted to go. she was afraid she might be left behind as an older woman. >> those are striking stories, helen. you talk a lot in the book about the battles women soldiers face in terms of trying to get the respect of their colleagues. i want to ask you about the challenges that women in the military face in terms of getting promoted to leadership positions. and then if they do get those promotions, serving in those position. >> sure. you know, the book i wrote is about three enlisted women, but i do think your question is really pertinent because the more often we see women in leadership positions, i think, the easier it is for enlisted women. so, the more often that can happen, i think the greater respect and dignity that will be shown to enlisted women as well. these women faced real issues, i think, of harassment.

just constant attention from male colleagues that they were really outnumbered. in their support battalion, ratio of men to women was about two to one but they were working alongside and liing along side all male recruits. the ratio was skewed. especially the youngest, michelle, she got constant attention from the moment she left her tent in the morning to the time she went back in the evening from men who wanted to have a relationship with her of any kind whatsoever -- >> and you do talk about an atmosphere, of course, sexual assault and the scourge of that has been of national attention recently. you talk about a culture that made sexual assault almost inevitab inevitable. tell us what you mean by that. >> i think you saw this very skewed gender ratios. men hitting on women all the time. and women being viewed as kind of a scarce commodity. in that environment, in a war zone, where people are frightened and lonely and they're surrounded by violence,

there's a propensity for sexual assault to happen at levels even higher than here at home. and in the book you see desma, the single mother with three children, in her second deployment told she should carry a knife whenever she goes to the bathroom or takes a shower to protect herself from her own colleagues. >> wow. >> really, really powerful stories there, helen. so important you're bringing them to the surface. thank you so much for joining us. up next, celebrating 60 years of incredible impressive and downright strange feats of humanity. guinness greatest world records throughout history. i cannot wait.

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a source tells nbc's peter alexander that ray rice told nfl commissioner roger goodell months ago that he hit his wife that night in the elevator. goodell has denied any knowledge prior to this week. a former fbi chief has now been brought into investigate. we'll have more on the real issues behind this story in a few minutes. blake? >> for 60 years one name has been synonymous with the biggest, the tallest, the fastest. no, it's not toure. it's guinness. from the world's largest electric guitar to the most facebook likes, fastest mile to human feats of endurance. guinness world records have chronicled record-breaking achievements from around the globe since 1955. now the diamond edition out this week looks back at records throughout history and adds some new ones like the world's

longest usable golf club that's four times as long as a normal driver. the largest yo-yo, which you'd need a crane to use at 12 feet across. and the world's longest tongue, which apparently doesn't belong to kiss guitarist gene simmons. who knew. joining us at the table is stewart claxton, spokesperson for guinness world records 2015. there are some very interesting achievements in here from the longest tongues to most apples crushed with a bicep, to the hairiest teenager. where do you find these people? do you say to yourself, we're looking for the hairiest teenager? >> where is he? >> or do they come to you? >> how does this work? >> it's a great question. yeah, we're enormously thrilled with this year's edition, 60th anniversary edition of guinness world record packed with over 200 categories. guinness records is run like any other organization with its various departments. but what we have a records management team.

and these are present in all our offices all over the world. and these are the men and women that process the approximately 50,000 inquiries we receive every year. and this could be anything from any part of the world. from arts and entertainment to science and technology. but it's all focused and condensed into the annual book that you can read about all sorts of things. >> i have to point out, you have a great guinness world record jacket. can we get a shot of that? very cool. i guess people only part of the organization can get that jacket. >> yes. >> i mean, i used to love this book as a kid. my son now loves it. krystal's daughter loves it. one thing i love is just learning about little parts of the world you never knew anything about. the world's tallest man is one of the stories that just sort of fascinates me. robert wadlow, 8'11". back in 1940. some of these things aren't new. it's amazing that someone who passed away in 1940 remains the

tallest man all these years. >> the world's tallest man is one of the entries in this year's edition, which was in the very first edition of the book that came out on august 27, 1955. yes, robert pershingwadlow was 8 8'11". side by side we have the world's tallest teenager, brock brown from michigan, who's 7'1". just to give you a sense of what that means. he carries a shoe which is size 24. >> is he still growing? >> that's bigger than shaquille o'neal's. and he's still growing. >> you can't buy those shoes anywhere. >> no. >> that's a custom job right there. >> my daughter is 6. she's in the why and how and what phase. she's constantly asking me, like, who's the biggest? whu who's the tallest? we always go online and look.

she's obsessed with who is the best farmer in the world. i don't know how you can figure that out. it does describing me had wh she asks me these questions, it's not like a kid and i would have to go to the book. we go online and we look at frequently what you have to say on the issue. how is the internet and google changed the nature of what you do at guinness? >> well, i mean, i think there's probably a 9 or so-year-old child inside all of us because those questions still fascinate me. >> absolutely. >> that's part of the appeal of the book, that it appeals to young and old, whatever your interests may be. but the starting point for us is that a record should be verifiable, measurable and, by definition, breakable. we look at each one on a case by case basis. as you suggest, there's a range of information out there. we seem to have too much information these days. but what's -- the great strengths of the book is we consolidate and gather all this information just around one subject in the guinness world records book, which is 100%

reliable due to all our researchers and consultants, while perhaps on the internet you're not quite sure where sources may come from. all the come from. >> the things on the internet you can't always believe? is that true? >> i've heard that. >> but you can believe -- >> on the internet. >> but you can believe this book, though. i always wonder who these incredible people are. here is the most melons chopped on the stomach on bed of nails. and the other one that is craze, most apples held in own mouth and cut by chain saw. >> is the record there one? >> that's the question. is there a line that you draw and say is this too much for us and too weird or crazy? >> the first thing we always tell everybody is they have to contact guinness world record

first before attempting any world record and follow the proper guidelines. >> i would say do it. >> i mean, the person you cite there is johnny strange. the records that he broke there, most melons chopped on someone's midriff is at ten. most apples cut through with a chain saw is eight. he is a trained professional and he did them earlier this year. with most of the extreme records you find that people carry them out are not so much off the wall. they are incredibly trained professionals that really measure everything down to the last second. >> are there off the wall people who say i'm not in the book. i should be in the book i do this crazy thing. put me in the book? >> yes. well, certainly. i mean, we receive all sorts of things like someone submitted a record for the largest wall of

sausages or this is my dog -- >> did that get in? >> no. >> what were you thinking? that is awesome. >> how could we reject that? exactly. but, no, we always try and make sure it does capture the guinness spirit. we want to make sure that record breaking is aspirational and inspirational but fun. exploring the boundaries of our ability should be fun and that is what we celebrate. >> what a great job you have. >> i get a kick out of the long nails. they just wrap around in curling. and the woman who won the record a few years ago was from salt lake city. where i'm from. >> do you know her? >> i don't. >> stuart claxton, thank you for being with us. you get the record for most

debonair accent at the table. up next we want to chat with the folks still wearing ray rice 's jersey. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. grandpa! that's the way i look at life. looking for something better. especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem.

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it was hard to pay attention to the ravens-steelers game last night. that game last night had the stench of the ray rice saga hanging all over it and that just changed everything. i kept thinking about ben roethlisberger seeming to escape after an alleged rape. and terrell suggs whose wife has

taken out protective orders against him the in the last ten years. the game announcers pointed out rules protecting the players. but is the nfl doing things to protect people defenseless against its players. and i thought about the fans wearing ray rice jersey. >> i don't believe in abuse but she struck him first and any woman who can hit a man, can be hit back. >> i can't with her. but now it's roger goodell and what he knew and when he knew it. i will not be joining the lynch mob chasing goodell. he is not the issue. gender violence is the issue. his fires will be about lying or credibility not dealing with gender violence in a serious way or the 56 instances of gender violence leading to suspensions from 13 game and ten players

being released. the issue is not goodell, it's gender violence. it's not about why do these women stay? there are many reasons why the women stay. her staying does not absolve the abuser and a focus on the women's behavior completely misses the point. the core question is why do so many men abuse women and butterfly do so many men feel the need to dominate woman in violence. and why so many other men stand by and say nothing when men talk about women as lesser beings. anti-sexist educator jackson cass said this in a ted talk. >> if we can get to a place where men will lose status who act out in sexist ways, they

will lose stat us as a result of it, we'll see a radical dim in addition noougs of the abuse. the perpetrator is not sick and twisted, he's a normal guy in every other way. >> when we are silent we continue the gender abuse. it's not women who need to change their behavior it's men who need to rethink what it means to be a man. that does it for "the cycle." "now" starts right now. here's a friday afternoon news drop. the u.s. is now at war. it's friday september 12th and this is "now." >> we know we are at war with isil.

>> the administration hasn't wanted to call this a war on isis. >> i don't know if it is a war -- >> is it not a war? >> that's a good question. >> i believe what we are engaged in is not a full-fledged war like we were before. it's a heightened level of counterterrorism operation. >> i don't know why everybody is shy about saying war. >> the united states is at war with isil that "n" the same way as we are with al qaeda. >> and i don't know why we don't think of air strikes as combat. >> it will be waged through a steady relentless effort to take out isil. >> this is not the iraq war of 2002. but we know we are at war with isil. >> you see it right there this afternoon, top u.s. officials have now said what the president avoided saying in his primetime address, we are at war. >> this is not the iraq war of 2002.