♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. "open house." this week we are catching up with "millon dollar listing -- new york's" ryan serhant.

>> were going to take you into one of the coolest town houses in all of manhattan. >> and we tour a house with aquariums for walls. plus, we visit the home of interior designer michael richmond. first, an exquisite estate in beverly hills, which showcases a lifestyle from a bygone era. [captioning made possible by nbc universal] welcome to "open house." today, i'm coming to you from an apartment atop the w new york hotel, located in manhattan's financial district. this home offers pleasing and opened use of the manhattan skyline, world trade center, hudson river, and the harbor. bedrooms,s spacious oversized windows, and has beautiful finishes, including dark, plank, hardwood floors and

white lacquered kitchen cabinets. we stopped by the legendary rothschild estate, originally built by elmer grey. this landmark home has been continuously remodeled to perfection. it features state-of-the-art amenities, a guesthouse, waterfall, and even an aviary. take a look. >> hello. i am the executive director of previews international for coldwell banker. i'm thrilled to welcome you today to this historic estate in beautiful beverly hills. one of my favorite rooms is this exquisite living room. the paneling gives it a special european intimacy and a feeling that harkens back to another era. adjoining the panel living room is this great indoor outdoor loggia. this room gives you a sense of the california outdoor

lifestyle. study, within the an extraordinary antique fireplace, light filtering in from the leaded windows. i don't know that you can buy this motorcycle along with the house, what i do know that elmer grey, the renowned architect of this property, would have loved to have done his drawings in this study. he also designed the beverly hills hotel. this very elegant dining room must have had some of the most important guests in the world visiting beverly hills. the house was originally built in 1922 by the harvey mudd family and was subsequently owned by the rothschild's. martin landau and barbara being raised their family here. i wish these walls could talk.

you are on top of the world in this exceptional master suite. the wonderful light floods in and you overlook the hills of beverly and watch the romantic sunset. one of the glorious parts of this suite is the brand-new master bath. you can walk right in from the stone motor court and be charmed by this fabulous, lower level entertaining area, with a pool room, dining room, wine cellar, and a tv/media room. acre ofocated on an extensive ground just four minutes from the center of rodeo drive. you feel as if you are the english countryside here. we have seven bedrooms, which includes a separate guest house, and marvelous fountains that dot the landscape.

thanks for coming along today and joining me on this tour of a one-of-a-kind country estate in beverly hills. >> let us know what you think of this beverly hills home on twitter with #openhousetv. stay tuned, up next, we are teaming up with ryan sir hand to check out -- ryan serhant

>> welcome back to "open house." we are heading to new york' soho neighborhood -- new york's trendy soho neighborhood. the home features a spacious floorplan and a landscaped outdoor terrace. ryan serhant from bravo's

"millon dollar listing -- new york" takes us on a tour. serhant.an you might recognize me from "millon dollar listing =-- new york." i'm going to take you into what i think is one of the coolest town houses in all of manhattan. the house was built in 1930. throughout the years, all of the original details have been kept in pretty much great condition. what i love about this house is that all of the living space is on the same floor, just steps off the street. you're kicking back with friends , admiring the beam ceilings, the exposed brick, having a great dinner in the dining room, then kicking back in the kitchen , all on the same floor. the kitchen is in the back of the house, on the first floor,

in what was originally outdoor space. the house and did right here. this used to be a huge brick wall, but it was broken through so that the kitchen could be part of the main living space and they could put a skylight above that let light down into the area where you eat and cook, where the feng shui is actually great. the bar was said to have been owned by al capone. this is handmade mirrored glass and stained glass doors. it works as a great place for keeping wineglasses, which, when you live in new york in a house like this, you are going to be entertaining and drinking wine. you are going to have a big wine cellar. the wine cellar can hold over 1500 bottles of wine. if you're someone who can make decisions quickly, i will show you just where you can enjoy it. the area of the houses on

second floor. it was originally used as a billiards room. you can hang out here, watch a movie, play some pool, then go out to my favorite spot, the zen garden. garden, nearly 300 where feet of outdoor space quietly tucked away on the second floor of this beautiful house in the back. because you have all of these exposures, you get light all day long. look at the greenery. you could be anywhere in the world. you're in the middle of soho, standing on the skylight, overlooking your beautiful kitchen, hanging out with your friends. i might buy this before you do. before i show you the master bedroom, i need to show you the master bathroom. how amazing is this? look at all these windows and skylights. where else are you going to find

this much light? this is incredible to me. you can sit in your jacuzzi tub. it can fit five people, if that's what you do. i think this is my favorite master bathroom that i've ever seen. exit the master bathroom and you will get to one of the most pristine master bedrooms i've ever seen. look at these huge vaulted ceilings. look at the detail used in the venetian plaster. look at this beautiful balcony with cast-iron railings. check this out. you could sleep with your door open and wake up to the sounds of chirping birds. that's what i call living. so, there you have it. a single-family townhouse with four exposures in the middle of this bustling city. i hope you enjoyed the tour as ch as i enjoy giving it. i've got to go. i've got some selling to do.

>> still ahead, this is not your standard goldfish bowl. we will take you inside a home that has aquariums for walls. and we are checking out the home of entire dash of interior designer michael richmond.

>> you are "open hous e."

michael richmond interiors is known for its elegance am a sophistication, and timeless style, and for developing solutions that reflect the hope, aspiration, and is iris of each individual client. take a look how -- and desires of each individual client. take a look at how he incorporated those things into his own space. >> i'm michael richmond with michael richmond interiors. i would love to show you my chicago home. come on in. this is our den. since we spend a lot of time in this room, we wanted the space to be warm and comfortable, yet still feel sophisticated like the rest of the space. we started the layout of this room with the 10-foot sofa. it pushed the limits of the room, which is something i like to do. it is covered in a durable fabric. lessack is a little bit durable, but a great complement to the rest of the upholstery. all of the elements make it a really warm and comfortable room that we enjoy sitting and relaxing in.

when we first saw the home, the living room was a great space, but what we ended up doing was opening it up to the den and the kitchen, creating a wonderful, modern space that people can really enjoy and use. as a designer, i'm known for my mix of styles, periods, and textures, starting with this beautiful day bed in front of the fireplace, made of a taupe velvet with a ribbed texture to it. i design a lot of furniture for the products -- projects i work on. my home was no exception. this sofa is one of the pieces i designed. my favorite thing about it is the iron claw foot legs, a bit of a recall to victorian times and a more modern setting -- victorian times in a more modern setting. this is the dining room. what we love about this space is the beautiful fixture that really captures the light and, given the views all the way around, it is quite spectacular. the chairs are a little experiment of mine. i've been blowtorch and wood surfaces.

i thought it might be interesting to try that on a very traditional style chair. we tried it on the chippendale chair. the seats are covered in vinyl. color.yl gradients in we finish it off and nickel nail head trim -- off in nickel nailhead trim. it's a great place to enjoy the view and the sculptures behind it. the master bedroom is a continuation of the sophistication found throughout the apartment. one thing we wanted to do here was create more of a hotel-like/suite atmosphere. the bedroom has a mix of high and low. the bed is a vintage piece and the nightstand is from my own line of furniture. those are covered in straw with a glass top. the sitting area, which is a luxury in any master bedroom, contains a variety of pieces with various finishes, textures, and feels. this coffee table is made of -- and comes from indonesia.

what i love about the table is that it is a nice complement to all of the soft, soothing like in the room. -- soothing likght in the room . it's a wonderful sanctuary and a great way to end a long day. thank you for joining me on the tour of my apartment here in chicago. it has been a pleasure to show you my work and see what a little bit of luxury and sophistication can do in high-rise living. youoming up, we will take inside a mediterranean villa with floor-to-ceiling fish tanks. plus, advice on how to use glass and mirrors to brighten up your space. coming up next. estatewell banker real

>> welcome back. now we are taking you inside a one-of-a-kind home in long island. this mediterranean villa has oversized rooms, unnamed or pool, and floor-to-ceiling aquariums -- an indoor pool, and floor-to-ceiling aquariums. >> i am the ceo of sean elliott luxury homes in the states. we are at this amazing french château. this house is the best of the best. come inside and i will show you what it is all about. into this 14,000 square foot house, you're greeted by this incredible entry foyer. it has 20 foot ceilings with incredible attention to detail. this is a grand entryway. we are only getting started. follow me.

in this family room, you can escape the entire world. it is a combination of french renaissance and italian villa. i love the attention to detail. we have 20 foot ceilings, palatial windows, this beautiful tray escoes, the floors of verse i 00 iof -- the floors of versailles. this master bedroom will blow your mind. in this elegant master bedroom, it is like fit for a king and queen. you have the stone fireplace, trey ceilings with silver -- ings with silver lighting. the drapery, which can be closed at the push of a button. it has two oversized walk-in closets. and finally, the view of the grotto. here we are in this multimillion dollar lower-level. this is but he a marble -- is

bahia marble, very expensive. you have a state-of-the-art movie theater, and just when you think you've seen everything, there is more. wait until you see what's behind these curtains. welcome to wear old westbury meets atlantis -- oto where old westbury mts atlantis. it's like having your own personal sea world, tens of thousands of gallons of water. the fish can swim from this tank into the second tank. all of this leads to one of the most amazing indoor pools i've ever seen. this indoor pool -- come on. italian tiles, a beautiful mosaic. 5'.is 15x23 a jacuzzi for eight of your best friends. it is just outstanding.

thank you so much for taking this tour of this elegant and opulent mediterranean villa. this house can be yours. i might even throw in this million dollar cano, which was played on -- million-dollar pn iano, which was played on by elton john and billy joel. >> coming up, a designer shows us how she used reclaimed materials to create a vintage look in her apartment.

>> welcome back to "open house." we are now meeting up with an interior designer known for blending classic and modern styles to create one-of-a-kind spaces. she takes us on a tour of her manhattan apartment, which has a vintage but romantic vibe. >> i am an interior designer. welcome to my home on the upper west side of manhattan. this apartment is laid out so the minute you walk in the door, you see the kitchen. i knew it really had to have the wow factor.l i designed the kitchen in an l configuration to give it that

open feeling and to maximize the dining and walking space around it. a lot of times, the appliances are front and center in the kitchen, but i wanted mine to be more subdued, so mine are integrated with the cabinetry. i mirrored the kitchen cabinets to hide the clutter, and you can see the trees behind you when you are in the kitchen. it is really beautiful. one of the things i like to do when designing open cabinets is to put mirror in the back. that way the mirror reflects the beautiful objects on the inside. by far the biggest challenge in this kitchen was this window behind me. originally, it was a small, off centered rectangle. i wasn't quite sure what to do with it. i consider covering it up. i decided instead to do something different and make it a focal point. i like to call this thinking inside the box. what started out as the worst part of this kitchen is now the best.

this living room is all about this beautiful window. i wanted to do something to set it off. the rest of this apartment is pretty muted, so when i chose the fabric for the curtains, i wanted something bold and large-scale. it absolutely highlights the window in the way that it should. it is beautiful. i never get tired of looking at it. i love vintage furniture. i collect it piece by piece. in a small space, you have to be very selective. i try to choose pieces that have interesting lines. most of the furniture in this room -- the sofa has a kidney bean shaped, the chairs are curved, the wing chair curves in and out. it makes for an interesting contrast to the rank -- to the rectangular shape of the room itself. my bedroom is all about a wallpaper. i found this paper and it was absolutely love at first sight.

i knew it had to go up in this room. i love the colors, the soft grays and blues and greens. one of my favorite things to do when renovating is create views. in this bedroom, there was one small and trends. it was kind of a little bit dark. what i did was add a second one by the window. when i'm sitting in bed, i can now see down the street, sky, trees. it is much more light filled and beautiful. create your own views whenever you have the opportunity. i really enjoyed taking you through my apartment today and i hope i've inspired you to stay -- think creatively. remember, no matter what your space, the design possibilities are endless. that's all for now. tell us which home you love the most on twitter with #openh ousetv. if you missed something on today pop show, head to openhousetv.

com. follow us on facebook and twitter. we will be back next week with more beautiful homes and design tips. i'm sara gore. thanks for stopping in. i will see you next a go

this sunday on "meet the press," president obama makes it clear this country is in for the

long haul. >> we will degrade and ultimately destroy isis. >> but suggests this isn't a war the u.s. can win alone. >> a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. >> james baker, the man who built the alliance that forced hussein out of kuwait will tell me if he thinks president obama's plan will work. hillary clinton visits iowa today. many see it as day one of her campaign. >> i am looking for someone a little bit more liberal. >> is she really as much of a sure thing as some people think? the nfl in crisis. growing calls for roger goodell to resign over his handling of the ray rice case. how big a problem is domestic violence in this country? what everyone in washington knows but is afraid to say. i'm chuck todd. joining me to provide insight and analysis are mike murphy, helene cooper, nia-malika henders

henderson and jim vandehei. welcome to "meet the press." good sunday morning. isis response to president obama was savage and depressingly predictable. yesterday they released a video showing the killing of british aid worker david haines. earlier this week the president used a prime time address to reassure a fearful american public that he is taking this threat posed by isis as seriously as they are. he has promised not to commit american troops to fight in syria or iraq. he is calling for air strikes and providing weaponry and training to forces on the ground who are fighting isis. by the way, it's striking that president obama sounded a lot like george w. bush despite their differences on iraq. when it comes to taking on terrorist, their rhetoric and policy is strikingly similar. >> trained and battle hardened,

they could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks. >> they are sent to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction. >> the united states of america will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. >> we will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect americans. >> isil is not islamic. >> these acts of violence against innocence violate the fundamental tenants of the islamic fate. >> it will take time to eradicate isis. >> americans should not expect one battle but a lengthy campaign. >> if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> we continue to pursue the terrorists in cities and camps and caves across the earth. >> fact is, they are pursuing similar policies now. secretary of state john kerry has been putting the hard sell tore help in the middle east over the last few days. it's not clear how many countries will help and how much they will contribute. check this out. we have poll numbers out this

morning that show that the american people support president obama's plan to attack isis and at the same time are deeply skeptical that the plan will actually work. for all this i'm joined by richard engel who is inner bill and bill neely who is in damasc damascus. richard, let me start with you. i want to get to this killing of the british aid worker here. the message that isis is trying to send, i saw your report last night. you believe they're trying to send a message to another country, not britain, not the united states. who is it? >> reporter: it's a message to the world. it's a propaganda message. but it's very special to turkey. isis is holding more than 40 turkish diplomats hostage. turkey has been sensitive about this issue. it's illegal in turkey to talk about the subject. turkey has been reluctant to join the coalition with the united states. turkey would be essential. it's right on the border if the

u.s. wants to organize an effective campaign to build the free syrian army, it probably has to be done through turkey. this is one way for isis to say, if turkey joins, its diplomats are at risk. >> they have the best military in the region. let's talk about where you are in iraq. the iraqi military, president obwbama is relying on the iraqi military to step up to avoid sending american combat troops. what are you seeing? >> reporter: we are seeing the iraqi military not stepping up. this is an enormous military trained by the united states to the tune of $25 billion. i remember so many times speaking to american generals hosaying, the iraqi army is ready. the iraqi army was not ready. they have not been able to push out isis. it hasn't been able to take back one province in this country. many people are questioning the loyalty of the iraqi army. they say it's deeply influenced

by iran. so now the americans are flying overhead dropping bombs, doing american air strikes. you have the iraqi army in effective and guided by iran. >> richard engel inn erbil. >> bill, is asaud happy with the president's plan. does he see it as an opportunity to win the civil war? >> his men welcome u.s. air strikes but they say they want the strikes coordinated with them so that u.s. warplanes aren't shot out of the sky by syrian warplanes. the syrian warplanes have been in action on the edge of damascus this morning attacking not isis positions but another rebel group allied to al qaeda. we have had the rhetoric from president obama. now comes the reality of those

difficult choices, the killing of a hostage is designed to put pressure on president obama. and he does face some hard choices now. when does he take action here in syria? and where does he strike isis? who are the moderate rebels who might retake the ground after u.s. air strikes? pressure on president obama now to deliver on intentions here in syria. >> bill neely in damascus for us. thanks very much. stay safe as you travel in that country. you heard live reports in iraq and syria. earlier i spoke to denis mcdonough. welcome back. >> thanks for having me. >> let me start with this issue of terminology. i asked the president last week about whether he was preparing the country for war. he pushed back, said this is not a war. he has not used the terminology war. and yet there seem to be this

debate about semantics between the pentagon, josh earnest. why are you calling a war on isis and why has the president been hesitant to call it a war. >> you asked if he was preparing the country for war. he was preparing for this against isil. that's what we are doing. there was no debate between the white house and pentagon. you heard kerry, the pentagon and josh on friday under score that inasmuch as we have been at war with al qaeda, we are at war are isis. >> the democrats in general, you don't like to refer to these -- to this attack on al qaeda as a war. you didn't like the phrase war on terror. is that what this is about? >> well, no, chuck. you're confusing our position with a againization. this effort against isil we will

undertake with a broad coalition. it's not like the war in iraq. but rather this is something that is targeted and it's a war we have to win. >> we have polling that we're just releasing this more than. 62% of the country supports what the president wants to do. 68% don't believe it will work. why do you think that the public is supportive but skeptical that this will work? >> this is obviously a complicated effort. that's why the president is going about this in a very painstaking and very prudent fashion. that's why the secretary of state is now just continuing his efforts to travel throughout the region to get others to join us in this effort. and that's what we're going to do. we're going to lead an international effort. this is not going to be easy. >> what does success look like? >> success looks like an isil that no longer threatenso s our frie

friends, can't accumulate followers and threaten muslims in syria, iraq or otherwise. and that's exactly what success looks like. >> he held up yemen and say that's a good example. >> he held up yemen and somalia as how we carry this out. we will do this using our prese airborne capabilities, supporting non-u.s., that is to say syrian opposition or iraqi soldiers on the ground taking the fight to isil. he is holding them up as examples of how we will do this. >> is there a single country that has pledged combat troops on the ground in syria? >> you will hear from kerry on this over the coming days. what he has said is others have suggested they are will doing that. we are looking for -- >> wait a minute. why the no. >> we are trying to put together specifics of what we will get. that's what the president will talk to john allen about on

tuesday. as we begin to put this coalition together in very concrete fashion. >> there's not a single military adviser that has come to you and said you can defeat isis in syria without combat troops? that's a fact. >> that's a fact. that's the president's view. that's what we need congress to do. we're seeing very good progress on this is to put together support for what the president calls a title 10 program to train and equip the syrian opposition on the ground fighting isil. >> you bring that up. the president very skeptical of this opposition a month ago in an interview. now, suddenly, this is the great hope? >> i think you overstate that. i don't think anybody called it the great hope. we all recognize we need a ground force of syrians, of a sunni force fighting isil in syria, the same way we will have iraqi forces on the ground in iraq. this is backed up by u.s. air power. >> i'm going to ask this another

way. if you know you need combat troops on the ground. you don't have any countries that have pledged to do it yet. i understand you are saying some will come in. >> i didn't say that. i said -- >> there are countries that have pledged? >> you will hear from secretary kerry that countries are saying that they're ready to do that and they're ready to fly with us. we're going to get to that in due time. >> can you pledge for sure that there will never be american combat troops on the ground in syria? >> you heard what the president said, including his address to the country. this is an effort that like in yemen and somalia, we will take to the fight to the enemy without putting ground troops into the effort. we need ground troops. that's why we want to program to train the opposition. that's currently pending in congress. >> let's talk about the vote in congress. the president has said about his plan for isis, he wouldn't mind if congress weighs in but that he has the authority. >> he didn't say he wouldn't mind. he said he would welcome it. >> fair enough.

different way of phrasing, i think the same way. but a year ago, he needed -- he said he needed congress behind him before he took any action in syria. this time he just simply welcomes it. but if they don't do it, he's going to it anyway. why the change ? >> i came on the show to warn about the threat of syrian chemical weapons. earlier this summer, we succeeded in destroying the declared syrian chemical weapons stockpile which had been one the world's biggest of the that's one point. point two, when i came on the show a year ago, we did not have any statutory authorization that would under score our effort to take the fight to syria because of the chemical weapons. that's why we -- and by the way, would have brought us into the middle of a is civil war in syria. we decided we needed congress to n we have a situation with the 2001 authorization, we have sta

statutory authorization. >> you want to change the authorization. are you still going to pursue rescinding it and having a new one? >> this has always -- this is something we were talking to congress about. we will continue to talk to them about it. that's something -- >> this is in the back seat in you're -- >> this is something we have been working with congress. we will continue to work with congress on. >> you have spoken with the congress? have you talked about the ray rice situation in the nfl? >> we have talked generally about the situation in the nfl. the president was shocked by what he saw. let's put it that way. >> how does he think the nfl has handled this? >> i don't want to get into characterization of that. we all know that ray rice, being suspended indefinitely, seems to be exactly the right thing. >> denis mcdonough, thanks for coming on "meet the press." >> thanks for having me. >> let's get reaction from our panel. helene, let me start with you. you said something interesting when i told you about the poll numbers.

basically, 62% in favor and 68% skeptical. you said something else had the same feeling. >> president obama, i think, is -- this interview with denis was interesting. he seems like he's trying to thread this needle so finally. i think when we saw president obama come out last week talking about the coalition and talking about this plan to somehow train these syrian moderates here in opposition on the ground, i think he believes in the core coalition and believes in what he's doing. i'm not -- i think there's skepticism. there's some believe that some -- >> some traded americans to isis. >> so the idea that suddenly the free syrian army is going to turn into the kurdish pashmarga

is far fetched. >> they wish if it wasn't for iraq, we would have a more robust military plan. we wouldn't be rolling out combat troops. there would be no support in congress for it. no support in the public for it. they don't know how to do it without it. >> i'm going to call vegas and get the line on the moderate war fighting. >> the president said they're dentists. they are trying. >> i think his problem is that the premise of his campaign in 2008 where he took on hillary clinton had naive assumptions. caution is a good thing but too much turns into paralysis. there was an opportunity to act earlier. now he is lurching in the right direction. it could take a generation to fix. defining victory with this with limited american arms is very

difficult. >> it is sort of collective washington seems to be in the same place as the public. supportive, they want to do something but nobody thinks this plan is the best plan. >> no wonder the president is conflicted. if you look at the poll, that's what the president thinks. the tooruth is, he can't say wh he thinks. even if you play it out 5and thy purnl t purge the islamic state. you are left with assad who videotaped rolling over heads of victims and you have created a state where it's an untenable refugee camp. that's why you see this con fli there are boots on the ground.

what do you think the military advisers are, sanitation specialists? no. they are the elite forces, the hardest to find, to keep alive, the hardest to train. they are there. i think that's where you get frustration. >> that's the issue here is that we just don't know, even if we win here, there's going to be something else that fills this back in which the public is being so skeptical about. after isis it will be something else. >> that's what we have seen. the iraq war, there are promises about what the outcome would be over that. and guess what, there's a new al qaeda, it's bigger, badder, more well funded and it's isis. you see this public that has watched over these last 13 years in the wake of 9/11 see people on television making promises that just haven't come to pass. no wonder they're skeptical. >> rational for me for the public to react that way. all of us have that feeling. you don't know how this ends. you will stick with me. more to come. more from you later. coming up, the president's

plan to defeat isi can it work? i'm joined by the architect of the u.s.-led coalition that liberate liberated iraq, none other than jim baker. [ male announcer ] whether it takes 200,000 parts, ♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. at boeing, one thing never changes. our passion to make it real. ♪ [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too. by offering things like on-the-spot data upgrades --

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welcome back. joining me now to discuss president obama's strategy to combat isis is james baker. baker was secretary of state under president george h.w. bush during the first gulf war in the early 1990s and played a key role putting together the coalition to take on iraq's saddam hussein and liberate kuwait. he has one of the deepest government resumes ever. he served as white house chief of staff under ronald reagan going on to serve as reaganan's second term, and after serving as secretary of state for bush 41, he finished up that term becoming his chief of staff. and this is james baker's 28th appearance on the program, and remarkably, i'm apparently the 11th "meet the press" moderator to interview you. secretary baker, thank you for coming on this morning. >> pleasure to be with you, chuck. >> the president's plan, is it the right plan? >> well, it's the president's plan, so it better be the right plan. it's got -- it's got some problems with it, and your panel

was just talking about some of those. the biggest, of course, is who are our "partners on the ground" that the president referred to in his speech. i don't know where they come from. when we did this in 1991, that is built the coalition to accomplish something in the middle east, we -- >> 200,000 troops. >> 500,000. we had 500,000 u.s. troops. >> and an additional -- >> in desert storm, and we had an additional 1,000 troops from other countries. there wasn't any question about our resolve on the part of those people we were trying to bring into the coalition, but everybody tells me and i'm not -- i wasn't marine corps, but i'm not a military man, a military expert. you got to have some people on the ground. you can't do this just with airpower, and so we've got to have special ops forces or we've goteome people who can advise this ground force if it's the iraqi army who can collect intelligence, who can guide air strikes, and if they're not going to be americans, who are

they going to be? we're going to have to have some people on the ground, but we're also going to have to have some people to take territory after the air strike. >> that's the whole hope. the president himself was skeptical of this moderate syrian opposition, so the other idea is you hope that sunni countries -- other sunni countries will provide the boots, the combat troops. where is saudi arabia? obviously it's not coming. obviously the jordanians, turks. all of those military forces, all of those who built their militaries with u.s. money, by the way, where are they? >> well, they're not here sxshs they may not be here because we're not on the ground now. >> do you think that's the issue? >> well, i'm not suggesting that we need to get into another ground war in the middle east, but i'm just saying we cannot do this without having some forces on the ground that can help our air campaign. you have to have that. i'm afraid to say what i think it's going to be. it's going to be u.s. special ops forces and people like that

on the ground because we don't have any other forces being offered. >> you know, when you built your coalition, i guess one of the things i read was talking about the controversy surrounding you wanted to bring syria into your coalition or some that were skeptical of bringing in syria. today that country that there is a debate about, do you bring in a coalition, is iran? >> that's right. >> if you were secretary of state right now because you were adamant saying, you know what, they're with us on this, we need you in the coalition. would you be feeling the same way with iran? >> they not only joined the coalition, they sent troops. some of those troops fought. i would not do that today with respect to iran for one purpose -- for one reason. we've got to -- we've got to prove that we're not jumping in on the side of the shia in this fight between the shia and the sunni. we need to have sunni support. if we bring iran in at this

point, we will lose that sunni support. >> so the coalition focus should be all sunni? >> for this purpose. for this purpose. in the long-term -- in the long-term, the middle east is mired in turmoil everywhere you look, and in the long-term somebody is going to have to organize a negotiation or a congress or something to deal with these conflicts because these conflicts foment terrorism, and everybody in the region, every country in the region or in the world for that matter would like to see us take out isis. after that is over, there's going to be more coming if we don't do this. we need to pull all the countries in the region together. we need to add the e.u., russia, china, and, of course, ourselves, and have a discussion and a conference and negotiation over how we empower the moderate forces in the region, how we limit the extremists in the region, and how we do all of this without further inflaming

the shia-sunni conflict. >> the cloud of the iraq war seems to color everything. it's the reason why the president isn't committing any combat troops into this right now. i know you've been asked this before. you chose -- bush 41 administration chose not to take out saddam hussein. do you believe if you had that basically the 1990s would look like what we're seeing today? >> well, we were afraid of that. that's where for two years after we left office why didn't you guys take care of saddam when you had the chance? every time i would go out and give a speech or something, i would get the question. well now people see why we didn't because we were worried about this very thing happening. that there would be ethnic divisions and that the country would split apart. >> that's exactly what happened. i take it you don't agree with vice president cheney who said this week again if he had to do it over again, he would do the iraq war again. >> i don't agree with this. i don't agree that because they did the iraq war is why we're where we are. i think you can make the same

argument about obama's decision to arm the syrian opposition. you can argue all those things about the past. the problem is we have a huge issue here. what do we do about it going forward? there's no country in the world that could pull together the kind of conference or negotiation i'm talking about except the united states of america. we need to do that. whether we can still do that or not, i don't know. when we put our coalition together, we had 500,000 u.s. troops on the ground, we had a specific goal within a limit time frame -- kick iraq out of kuwait -- and america was respective of its allies and feared by its enemies. we're not there anymore. >> by the way, you got the war paid for. >> we have other ways to pay for the war. that's correct. >> thank you for coming on. >> thanks, chuck.

coming up, hillary clinton is making a big splash today in iowa. our own nbc news's andrea mitchell, though, finds she may not be the sure thing again that her supporters are imaging. >> meet the press is brought to her supporters are imaging. >> meet the press is brought to you by the when folks think about what they get from alaska, her supporters are imaging. >> meet the press is brought to ythey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. american employers and their workers to go backwards. they want to go back in time and retroactively rewrite the tax laws. so they can impose taxes that weren't owed in the first place on american businesses.

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