the bold nissan rogue, with intuitive all-wheel drive. because winter needs a hero. now get 0% financing or up to $1,000 back on the 2015 nissan rogue. nissan. innovation that excites. welcome to "taking the hill." i'm patrick murphy. will the vote the next hour on national security and veterans policy. and one of the most important topics we'll get to today is the fact that almost 200,000 americans who serve our country in the coast guard, secret service, and border patrol will not be getting paid next week because congress is playing politics with their national security. but, the most important issue we're going to tackle today is congress' most sacred duty. whether or not to send our young

men and women to war against isis in the middle east. we'll cover these topics and more coming up. but first, some developing stories today. a terror group is issuing a new call for terror attacks on western malls. the somali-based al shabaab delivered the message in a new video released overnight. they're urging westgate style attacks on shopping centers across the world including the mall of america in minnesota. authorities in london and canada are examining the video. al shabaab is the same group that claimed responsibility for the attack on a mall in nairobi, kenya, in 2013. meanwhile, here in the united states, the mall of america says they are taking the threat seriously and will have enhanced security security. in canada, the west edmonton mall is taking similar steps. jeh johnson is urging people to be vigilant. >> i would say that anyone is planning to go to the mall of america today, they've got to be

particularly careful. and as the statement you read indicates, there will be enhanced security there, that will be apparent to people -- >> federal security as well? >> there will be enhanced security there. but public vigilance, public awareness, and public caution in situations like this is particularly important. >> all right. we're going to go live to nbc's kristenwell welker, who is live at the white house as we speak. kristen, what are precautions are the white house taking because of this threat? >> reporter: they're investigating, they're in touch with law enforcement officials. according to top u.s. officials, al shabaab released this video overnight, which you mentioned, which essentially shows that attack, or calls, rather i should say, for attacks against western malls, including here in the united states. it also calls for attacks against malls in the uk and canada. so obviously, a lot of concern today about that. but officials here are stressing

the fact that there is no known specific threat. now, i want to read you a statement that i got from the national security council overnight, which says quote, protecting public safety and national security is our highest priority. we're aware of the reported call from al shabaab for westgate style attacks against shopping centers around the world to include in the united states. in recent months the fbi and dhs have worked closely with our state and local public safety counterparts and members of the private sector to include mall owners and operators, to prevent and mitigate these types of threats. so officials here are stressing that their security posture hasn't changed in the wake of this video, because they're already on heightened alert when it comes to mall security and also protecting other places that draw large crowd. meanwhile, the mall of america is also releasing a statement today, brick, i can read you some of that. it says, quote, we will continue to monitor events with the help of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. we will continue to follow this situation, along with law enforcement, and will remain vigilant, as we always do in

similar situations. a little bit of background on al shabaab. it is a somalia-based terror group that has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, including a suicide attack against a hotel in mogadishu on friday that left 25 people dead. now, the terrorist group has recruited heavily in minneapolis. that city has the largest somali population in the united states. law enforcement officials do not believe, again, that there is a specific credible threat against the united states. still, they are investigating and taking this video very seriously. patrick? >> kristen, thank you so much. obviously, disturbing news coming from there, but we appreciate you being on top of it. >> reporter: thanks. while the u.s. face another threat, the war on isis continues without congressional authorization. president obama has proposed a new aumf for this new enemy, but congress has not begun the debate. joining me now is republican congressman, chris gibson a member of the armed services committee and retired colonel who spent 24 years in the u.s. army, and he was the commander of my old unit with the 82nd

airborne division. congressman, thanks for joining us and taking the hill. >> patrick, good to be with you and thank you for your service. >> and thanks for yours too, sir. congressman, the success of isis are very personal to you and to everyone who fought in iraq. and you have an additional connection here. you commanded battalions in both mosul and afar. flash forward to this summer and both those cities have fallen to isis. what does that mean to you personally and to those troops that you've lost? >> well it's very disturbing disappointing. not surprising given the leadership at the time of the iraqi prime minister maliki. who really had politicized the military, he had replaced the competent commanders with his cronies, and basically not funded the military for training, and you know when we saw the islamic state start to make their move towards mosul, you know, the state of the force there, they weren't willing to

risk their lives for that prime minister. now, he's been shown the door. there's new leadership in iraq. there's a collaboration between the iraqi armed forces and the kurds. and i would say that now our role is to help them to defeat the islamic state in iraq. i think we've taken some actions here in recent months to better prepare ourselves for that and i look forward to seeing that be successful. >> congressman, you're one of the real leaders, the thinkers down in washington. you've taught national security policy at both west point and stanford. you've written a book about that. last year, you voted no on arming the syrian rebels and this past week, you wrote an op-ed, i read it it was a great piece, what you said, that you will not vote in favor of the president aumf. can you explain to us why that's the case? >> well look unfortunately, for some of my colleagues, great folks, both sides of the aisle, there's a feeling that they have

to do something, when in fact what we need to do is do something effective. see, that's the key point here. and, you know, i gave it a fair hearing with regard to the so-called free syrian army. spent multiple days going -- listening to hearings, reading through briefing papers. it's my determination that first of all there is no free syrian army. that's a name we ascribe on these rebel forces that they're militarily incompetent. and they're politically untrustworthy. and if we think we're going to arm and train them and somehow they're going to attack the islamic state, their sworn enemy is assad. so i think we need to have both eyes wide open here. i think the best way forward for us is to help the iraqi armed forces and the kurds and now the jordanians and the egyptians, since they're engaged in this fight. we want to take it to the islamic state, in iraq while we're working diplomatically to get a political foundation in syria. you know, i think we should be doing more to bring pressure to

bear to the syrian government to sit down with some of these rebels, to get some kind of peace agreement, because that would form the political foundation from which we could support to be successful. and you know, if you think about what the big idea was last fall the administration said, you know we need a competent land force or the air strikes won't work. you know, as a military guy, i get that. i don't even disagree. but, you know, first of all, this force, as i mentioned, is militarily incompetent, politically untrustworthy, but the second point is within ten days of that vote we started bombing in syria, when they knew that it was going to take up to a year for the training of this so-called moderate rebel force. so we undermined the big idea with the course of action and now these months later, you're seeing open source reporting that we think that the effort there in syria is not working. well, again, what we should be doing is focusing on defeating the islamic state in iraq setting the conditions for any further action in syria, by working diplomatically and

politically. and, you know, one final thing on this patrick, is you know, this enemy, this islamic state, you know this enemy, i mean they've rebranded themselves but we fought this enemy when we were in iraq that they were al qaeda in iraq then. al baghdadi, one of their leaders, and now that they've reemerged with a re-branded name we know what this enemy -- how evil this enemy is. they'll execute civilians at point-blank range with pistols and through other means, really as a means to terror and to bring complicity and with the local populous, for folks who are doing nothing more than helping their country come together and advance. this is an enemy that can't be deterred, they have tor be defeated. but the question is how? what's the smart way to do this? and this enemy is falsely trying to portray themselves as advancing the muslim cause. this is islamic extremism. so when we support muslim nations and people that are standing up to this including

sunni muslims that are standing up to this this is a way to not only defeat the islamic state militarily but really lessen their ability to recruit and fundraise globally. that's the key point, when you talk about defeating this force over the long term, you have to not only neutralize their military capability but deflate their ability to recruit and fundraise. >> it's the hearts and minds. they have killed more muslims than they have british, et cetera. >> that's the key thing, right. >> and listen and the diplomatic approach here. the fact that we have new leadership in iraq, the new prime minister, hopefully he'll reach out to the sunnis. really it's the battle of the arab with the 15 million sunnis across from damascus down to baghdad. let me ask you, congressman, though when you look at this strategic lessons learned from vietnam, you know, we took out that war what's called a colin powell doctrine. where we have a clear mission, used overwhelming force to accomplish that mission and a

clear exit strategy. should we follow that doctrine against isis and does it have to be spelled out in an aumf? >> look you mentioned some of my writings. clear supporter of that approach. you know, it's even deeper and broader than that. i think when we lead with our strengths, which is our ideas, as substantiated in our founding documents and when we advance that through diplomacy, commerce and trade, always backed up by the world's strongest military as a deterrent to those who would do us harm i think that this is really what shows the world our possibilities and on our best day, other countries want to be like us. so just as a framework for this i would tell you that you know, that's really the key approach. and the way we need to think and act differently in the world. and then as we look to the islamic state, i think empowering muslim nations and muslim people who are standing up to islamic extremism is really the right approach now, even though i certainly

acknowledge that it's an american tendency when we see a problem, we want to take a hammer to it. i understand that. i'm just saying that at a key moment like this we need to take a step back and say, what's the smartest way to deal with this threat? >> that's why i thought it was interesting when you talk about, the jordanians egyptians, and other countries really taking a lead and being a force in this. i have time for one other quick question, congressman. on thursday the pentagon detailed its plan to retake mosul in late april, early may. they're estimating about 20,000 to 25,000 iraqi and kurdish troops. you know that i the.city. you've served there and led men and women there. you know the capabilities of the iraqi army. do you think that plan is even possible? >> well, let me just say, i'm surprised that we're projecting that at this point. i'm sure you probably join me in that. i'm is not sure what that is about. maybe that's some kind of element of psychological operations, but, you know, i'll tell you this that i do believe

that with our support, that the iraqi armed forces and the kurds, and keep in mind that particularly in that part of the country, some of the iraqi forces are actually kurdish forces. the second and third infantry divisions up there in northern iraq are largely kurds themselves there, integrated into the iraqi armed forces. i think that with our material support, this force is going to succeed. they're going to defeat this islamic state. it's tough in there. you're talking in some cases street-to-street fighting. this is a city before the war had over 2 million. it went back and forth between the second and the third largest city in iraq a country of about 25 million people. so you know, i don't want to underestimate the challenge here but i do believe that the iraqi armed forces and the kurds ultimately will be successful. >> yeah. congressman, thanks for joining us here today, thanks for your service, in both the military

and now if congress. when it's a time with the least amount of veterans in congress even though you're a republican and i'm the other party, gives us great comfort that you're being there. thank you so much for joining us. >> appreciate the kind words and good to be with you and best wishes to you, patrick. >> thanks sir. after the break, one woman's journey from homelessness to law school and what she is now doing to help the veterans homeless population. and make sure you join us using the hashtag, taking the hill. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars.

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in our house, we do just about everything online. and our old internet just wasn't cutting it. so i switched us from u-verse to xfinity. they have the fastest, most reliable internet. which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works. welcome back to "taking the hill." veterans are civic assets often leaders in the community and in the workplace. but there are too many veterans who are falling through the

cracks. according to the latest statistics, 219,000 post-9/11 veterans are unemployed. 49,000 are homeless on any given night. and tens of thousands are waiting for their v.a. benefits to be adjudicated. joining us today are three national leaders who are stepping up into the breach to help our veterans. joining me now, professor stacy ray simcox my former colleague in the army jag corps, she's an associate professor and director of their veterans advocacy clinic. alan aldridge chancellor of the philadelphia bar association, and a decorated marine who served in the vietnam war. and nikki johnson, who was once homeless herself and is now a national leader and role model in solving homelessness across america. she also serves ton board of project home a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness in philadelphia. thanks so much for all three of you joining me here today. professor simcox tell us what your advocacy clinic does and what are the challenges that you're hearing from veterans that you're working with?

>> well pat, first, thanks for having me on. a decade ago, when my husband and i got off active duties we filed for his benefits and we messed it up entirely. and he hates us when we tell that story, because he says it makes it sounds like we're really bad lawyers, but in fact we're not. so the reason i tell that story is to let people know how difficult it is to do this. if two jag attorneys can't figure oit out, how is a veteran with posttraumatic stress or brain injury going to do that? so we decided to figure oit out. and today i run the clinic at stetson university's clinic of law, where law students represent veterans in the process. and they do that with the help of medical students from the university of south florida's moresani school of medicine. >> why isn't there more? >> well you know, it's a difficult area of law to practice in. i think the story i just told demonstrates that.

and a university really has to show commitment. because it's all pro bono right? it's at no cost to the veterans. so universities have to really feel passionate about this and stetson is one of those universities that does and so is university of south florida. but we encourage all law schools to do it. and this is a great model for them to be able to get involved. because it's good for veterans it's good for the students to learn together, and it helps the v.a. make the right decision the first time. >> yeah. now let me turn to you. al, thanks for your service in vietnam and in the marine corps. >> thank you. >> and now your service as chancellor of the philadelphia bar. you have made, in your leadership role now, you've made helping veteran yours top priority. you know, we have an ethic in the military as you know leave no one behind. is that why you've made that your top priority as new chancellor? >> that's one of the reasons. we called the program, not only are we trying to serve the veterans community, but as you know we're trying to serve the community at large in philadelphia, but especially the veterans' community. i'm a veteran and a marine and one of the things we do in the

marine corps is we leave nobody behind. and that's important to us. and so it's important to those who have served and come home. so a couple of the things that i have as part of our initiative for bar wide and for all of the attorneys in philadelphia is to help veterans. and one, we have what's called a military assistance project. and so we're working with the veterans community, especially in financial problems that they may have. and we're doing a little bit of that. as you know, we also are working with the v.a. appeals, with the american college of trial lawyers and with the american legion, we're trying to as best we can to help whittle down that backlog of claims for, you know veterans to have disability claims. and we're also working in other areas. we're going to be meeting with a local law school in a couple of weeks, university of pennsylvania, at their public interest center, to sit down and talk about, as what the professor just said, how can we help from that perspective, bringing in law students and others, to help with the serious problems that veterans have?

i, like you, are just heartbroken to see veterans sleeping is under highway underpasses and cardboard boxes. it's just heartbreaking. we'll try to do it as best we can to help alleviate those problems. >> yeah. nikki, let me go to you. your story is remarkable. at one point in your life you were homeless. you went and worked your way and became a lawyer. you're now a national spokesman and working with project home. you look at the obama administration, they have made reducing veterans' homelessness a priority and they have actually cut it about 33%, so now it's only -- well it's still too many but now it's 49,000 on any given night that are homeless. what more can be done to really solve this problem, no end it? >> well i think that we know what works. what works is housing first. which is different than what was previously tried. what was previously tried, you had to get mental health treatment, you had to kick your addiction before you would get housing. but i think what people have found out is that if you get housing, it's cheaper, once

you're in a stable environment, then you can focus on your other problems. so it's going to take time commitment, and resources. and thank you for giving us a platform to discuss this issue. >> yeah. how about, al are you -- it's really a comprehensive approach. and is the bar association -- i mean, again, as nikki said it's not just -- it's housing, but other resources, financial and otherwise. >> we're looking at so many different ways to help financially and otherwise. we've got financial initiatives, as i said appeals initiatives, initiatives from a probono perspective. but our boots on the ground is how are we going to get out in the community and roll up our sleeves to help. we're helping, pets with helping to bring in students to take a look at this thing. anything we can try to do is what we try to do. it's very important. we have sections and various committees of the bar association involved in taking on projects we're taking on projects for the community at

whole, but taking on specific projects to help the veterans. what are we going to do to help the veterans. as nikki said from helplessness, to housing, to medical care. anything we can do to step into the breach to try to help is what we're going to be focusing on. >> stacy ray, let me go to you down in sunny florida. we're all jealous you're down there right now. what are the issues you're dealing with in your clinic and what are the traditional issues that your law students and you have to tackle? >> right, well in our clinic we decided, specifically, to help those veterans who get lost at the bottom of the process. the very first stages. because most veterans fall out right away after they get a bad decision from the v.a. and sob what's usually missing is that the person that looks at that really complicated medical or legal claim is not a doctor the person at the v.a. is not a lawyer. so they have problems synthesizing this really difficult information. and the vsos, the veteran service organizations do a really good job at helping veterans. but they don't have the hundreds of hours to pour into these claims, which can range from

post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma to traumatic brain injury. they also don't have a lot of the medical expertise. the model that we have of marrying the law students with the medical students really helps keeping those veterans from falling through the crack at the beginning, so they can get their benefits a lot faster and hopefully prevent homelessness, which is another big issue. >> nikki, you talked about the comprehensive approach as well. so, you know, with project home obviously, housing first is critical, and you saw with the va, they're partnering with hud, with secretary donovan, but they've partnered together there in the federal government. how about in philadelphia? how are we cross-pollinating between housing first and other organizations, whether it's mental health or other needs? >> i think that philadelphia is a leader project home is recognized as a national leader in terms of looking at providing wraparound services. we also have a very robust tech community that is creating opportunities. i've worked on a smartphone app myself, that will allow people

to get information. one of the things that we need to really additionally address that it isn't just that people are veterans become homeless it's also because a lot of people go into the military in the first place, are generationally poor, and they use the military as way of being able to move up in life. and so part of what you're seeing is some of the aftereffects from poverty. so it has to be a comprehensive impact, not just dealing with people at the homelessness level or once they become veterans but earlier on in their life. and i think that's what a lot of organizations like project home are looking at. >> yeah. well, nikki, alan stacy ray, thank you so much for joining us here today and for being a part of this great panel and we look forward to having you back on to discuss this further. >> thank you. when we come back one company that is putting its money where its mouth is in more ways than one when it comes to hiring our veterans. you're watching "taking the hill" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "taking the hill." american's veterans are civic assets, and we're going to discuss how the private sector opportunities of veterans need to be met. with the current national employment rate at 5.7% and for post-9/11 veterans at almost 8% it's great to see how industry leaders are stepping up to be part of the solution. one of america's top technology companies, first data recently partnered with the syracuse institute for veterans and military families to hire more veterans. they went from 2% veterans to 10% hiring veterans and military spouses. their support and their partnership with syracuse university is our part of we salute you, because of their fantastic partnership, which is helping veterans now every single day. we salute first data and syracuse university's veterans and military families institute for championing veterans and

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announcer ] it takes two hands to eat a manwich. leaving zero hands to save the universe. hold on. it's manwich. welcome back to "taking the hill" on msnbc. i'm patrick murphy. we're covering this developing story. a new offensive to retake iraq city of mosul is moving through the planning stages. u.s. military officials, in an extraordinary briefing to reporters, say that up to 25,000 iraqi and kurdish troops will muster an offensive on the stronghold of isis in iraq in early april. nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, is monitoring developments from istanbul. richard, why are we hearing so much about this offensive in

advance and are we tipping our hand? >> reporter: patrick, i think it's pretty clear by now that there is an organized leak campaign in washington to try to broadcast this offensive, saying that at the very least, the white house is studying the possibility of an offensive against mosul, that would involve 20,000 to 25,000 iraqi and kurdish fighters and perhaps even some ground forces and that this offensive could take place april, may, perhaps even earlier than that. and some military officials i've spoken to are concerned that this campaign to broadcast the offensive is underway but they say there could be a logic to it that the strategy could be to try to draw isis into mosul, so that the fighters mass in the city where they can be more easily targeted more easily found. it, unfortunately, is probably going to be a lot more complicated than that. military officials also worry that if there were to be an assault on mosul, that isis could stay in the city they

could use the people of mosul as human shields, they could booby trap the city. there are great doubts about the readiness of the iraqi army. the iraqi army which basically collapsed in cowardice, when isis first started to advance nearly a year ago. there are questions about how willing the kurds are to actually fight, hand in glove, with the iraqi army. there was an enormous dispute between the regional government of kurdistan, which wants to break away and declare an independent country from the government of baghdad, which obviously doesn't want northern iraq to break away and form a country. so there are -- there is a lot of talk about mosul. maybe this offensive, patrick, could happen. questions about why the u.s. is broadcasting it a possible answer if they want isis to mass in the city. but, still, many other questions about the broader strategy and critics say there frankly isn't one, patrick? >> nbc's richard engel, thank you so much.

the most sacred duty of congress is whether to send our young men and women or not to war. the war against isis began six months ago but it is a war without authorization from congress. president obama recent aumf proposal drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, with democrats calling ate blank check and republicans saying it's too restrictive. on friday i sat down with democratic congressman from pennsylvania, robert brady, a ranking member on the house administration. we talked about the war on isis the looming homeland security shutdown and the major events coming to philadelphia. >> we don't know when it will come in front of us. it's up to the republican, they're in control of that. how i vote on that i have to see it. i mean i know what it sets but there'll be some amendments there, the three-year sunset. and i have a personal gain that steven satlof lived three doors

from me. >> and he was beheaded? >> right, the second one to be beheaded. then they moved to florida. it's ridiculous what they're doing. but my fear putting troops on the ground is god forbid god forbid, god forbid that they catch one of them and they behead one of them there goes three years and here we go all-out. i don't know right now. i'll have to see what the bill looks like. but it's an absolute disgrace what they're doing. i'm sure that -- and i know you, patrick, i know you're doing well, but i know you and me would love to have that english-speaking fellow for a couple of minutes in the back room and just -- i mean it's a disgrace. it's such such a disgrace. but it's a little thought process and you've really got to think it through. >> only because obama had an idea and put to an executive order about a pathway to

citizenship. they don't like it the only way they can stop it they had to pass the budget but they want to try to stop the money, as you say, to homeland security which is again paying people that are in harm's way. i mean these people can put their lives on the line anytime. the coast guard, there's border people, border patrols, and we're stopping their pay? that's totally ridiculous. mcconnell said right away they were going to shut down the government, but he's going to shut down this part of the government? it's totally, totally ridiculous again, because of an executive order, that all predecessors before barack obama did many more than he ever did. but they want to see children lose their mothers and fathers and not give the away to give back. also, by the way, that executive order brings the economy back into our nation you know? it makes them honest people in a way to become a citizen. oh it's a major boost, you know, the pope's major boost.

all the ruins will be picking up for one day. the national convention is for a whole week. the people i talk to anywhere from 200 to 300 plus million comes into our town. and our city becomes an absolute showcase for the whole world. not just a country, the whole world. and as you said i've been doing this for three years. i had to put a group of people together to convince those that have the power to do this you know, i had to put a couple of people together, a meeting of 25, they gave me the go ahead to do it. and that 25 it went to 70. and then i needed comcast, how do you get comcast and david cohen, which are major players. where you get a guy with him, ed rendell, former mayor and governor of the dnc chairman and i ask him to be the chairman of the host committee, and he agreed. and from there on in we'll have convention, we'll have a pope here, the convention a great time, we're showcasing the town. i'm sure you'll be there. and we'll be able to put a great show. and the city itself sold itself. the wells fargo center sold

itself for security reasons. logistical reasons. it's already gated off. you don't have to put gates up don't have to put the bike racks pup up. it's already gated off. great for security. all the parking lots from the other venues. lincoln financial, plenty of room for the press, plenty of room for tailgating plenty of room for tents for parties. and again, it's completely controlled logistically. broad street be closed down we've got a subway that takes us right through center city all the way down to the event. we have the shuttle bus, the hotel space, and we've got great restaurants and we've got the historical sites. so the city kind of sold itself. they need a little bit to put those people to get them over the top, and you know, patrick, from time to time, i can get some people over the top. >> and no one gets things done better than congressman bob brady. that is the most sacred duty of congress. listen up, up next we have a

sign that congress can still get things done for american's veterans. you're watching "taking the hill" on msnbc. ideas come into this world ugly and messy. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. ♪ ♪ ♪ "here i am. rock you like a hurricane." ♪ fiber one now makes cookies. find them in the cookie aisle. let me talk to you about retirement. a 401(k) is the most sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. sure. you seem knowledgeable professional.

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grown in america. picked and packed at the peak of ripeness. with no artificial ingredients. del monte. bursting with life. it's estimated that every day, 22 veterans commit suicide. in 2011 one of those veterans was clay hunt. he was a marine corps sniper who served in iraq and afghanistan. when he returned home from war, he continued to serve on humanitarian missions with his brother marines. but inside he was suffering from devastating ptsd. president obama recently signed into law the clay hunt suicide prevention for americans veterans act. it was a rare bipartisan success in congress something president obama didn't forget. take a listen. >> i want to thank the members of congress, republican and democrat, who worked to get this done.

i want to give a special acknowledgement to somebody who knows a little bit about service, senator john mccain. >> unfortunately, there is no shortage of need for mental health services provided in this act. i attended the signing of the bill, and afterwards i spoke to some of clay's friends and veteran advocates who were inspired by his fight. >> it was surreal for a lot of us to be there today. because it was not far from here where we went with clay on the first storm of the hill. this was a total team effort. you don't have 99 to 0 votes in the u.s. senate. it doesn't happen unless you're naming a post office. i mean it's really extraordinary. so this has become more than just a veterans story, it's become a political story. we've shown that you can get things done. we as a community can get things done. it's what we did overseas and it's what we're doing back home. >> but clay hunt was courageous he was awesome, he was

inspiring. whether it was answering the nation's call in iraq or afghanistan or answering humanity's call in haiti or in chile, or working to alleviate other veterans' suffering. and i think that this day, today, this act, goes a long way to fulfilling what i'm sure was his purpose, which is making a difference in the lives of others. this act will do that. and we at the v.a. are 1,000% committed to making that happen. >> today was an extraordinary day. to see the president sign into law an act that will save lives, that will make a difference that will truly give veterans a fighting chance. you know clay hunt came back from serving his country and had posttraumatic stress and didn't have the advantages that this bill will provide to thousands of others. and it's going to make a difference. >> i think most importantly, what it does is it tells the community that we need you.

and as a president mentioned at the end of his remarks, we need all of our veterans. the clay hunt save act louse more behavioral health care providers for our country. it allows us to recruit and retain more behavior health care providers that provider services to veterans by providing financial support. and i think most importantly, it eases the transition from service member to veteran status. but as you know from our time in iraq, combat changes people. and i think there's no doubt that any serviceman or woman that served overseas in combat operations comes back with different challenges. this is the most deployed force in our nation's history. those challenges have a tendency to build up over time and the ability to recover from those challenges while overseas also tends to build up over time. so it doesn't get easier with multiple deployments, i'll tell you that much. >> in death and in life clay hunt served his country. he fought for his fellow marines in iraq and afghanistan.

when his military service ended, his humanitarian service began. from haiti to the hall of congress, he gave voice to those who were suffering. his message and inspiration will now serve countless veterans to come. >> you knew clay personally you served with clay overseas. tell us a little bit about him. >> clay was a great guy. clay and i, when i first got to the infantry platoon i was serving, clay and i gravitated towards each other, we were a little bit older than most of the other enlisted guys. he was very humble and a huge humanitarian. he just wanted to believe that people in this world were good and he lived his life trying to kind of bring that out in people. whether it was, you know, deploying on a humanitarian mission with team rubicon or, you know advocating on the hill for veterans, clay just wanted the world to be a better place. that's where he put his effort. in afghanistan, we had a very tough tour in the helmand valley and we were losing a lot of

guys. and clay started to really just question like what's the grander scheme? what's the end state that we're looking for? and i said well clay why you here? are you here? and he said i'm here for you, and that's who he was. you don't fight for policy you fight for the manor woman on your left or right, and clay really embodied that. >> it's kind of a mr. smith goes to washington story, but he came in to represent his former vet veterans veterans. he went to the white house, he pushed the white house to do more. he was even in a public service announcement for us promoting promoting -- this is what he's all about and his gin ration is all about. if he had one thing to say to my

fellow veterans continue to serve. no matter how great or small your service is, it is needed and desired by -- volunteer to mow your elderly neighbor's lain for them. spend the day at a soup kitchen helping to feed the homeless many of them have veterans themselves. it doesn't matter what it is, it only matters that you are continuing to put others before yourself just like you did when you were in the military. actions like that are the only sure ways to bring about the positive social change that our country and our world need so badly these days. i don't think anyone can say it better than that and i just wish that play had gotten the help he needed in time. >> the clay hunt act is a major improvement for the men and

women who served our country. it's a sign though maybe a shawl one, that when things are really critical, airour congress can put principle before politics. our final thought, this is taking the hill on msnbc. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less.

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. the most sacred diet of congress, whether or not to send america's ying men and women to war. congress's war powers are clearly spelled out in the constitution. why then when president obama asked congress for a new aumf against isis there's been no action. let's be clear, we have spent

thousands of americans back to iraq congress first said well we're going to take it up when we get back from summer recess. then it was we'll take it up after the elections, then again in the new year. we're almost to march. we have almost lost the war on isis. what message does it send to our troops in harm's way and their families when congress won't even debate whether or not they should be there. thank you for joining us on "taking the hill," i'm patrick murphy, up next, meet the press. ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself

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this sunday, war of words. controversy over how president obama talks about isis. >> the president e evokes in me that he loves this country. >> he loves this country. >> but ask yourself, does this -- >> we're not at war with islam. we are at war with people who have perverted islam. >> -- sound much different from this? >> this is by no means a war against islam. >> plus, after another week of unspeakable atrocities committed by isis, the threat abroad and the threat at home. i'll be joined by homeland security secretary jeh johnson. and as kevin spacey from "house of cards" moves into the white house -- >> there is but one rule. hunt or be hunted. >> -- we'll have a look at some of our favorite fictional presidents. i'm chuck to