after that, it appears al franken decided he could never, ever tell a joke again in public. least as long as he wanted to be in politics. earlier this week, franken told the l.a. times i'm in a different job, my old job was being funny basically, this is not my new job. franken has repeatedly said he wants to be a work horse, not a show horse. in the senate he secured funding for mental health screenings in school, passed foo and drug safety bills and tougher regulation for the credit rating agencies, they type of victories don't come every day, when you're part of the least productive congress in modern history. it seems like a steep price for a true comedic tall nlt for al franken to pay to give up a huge chunk of his public identity to be one of 100 senator who is don't get a chance to enact that many laws any more. so it's a trade-off that's satisfying for someone as talented as al franken. should we give our public servants more leeway to be who they really are? with me is a long-time friend of al franken's, norm morenstein. we have an interview with george w. bush your

joining me now, al franken, a co-sponsor of that.votes in the senate on anything? this is huge. >> i don't want to disillusion you. i now your staff director and the finance committee under chairman moynahan. but sometimes procedural votes are taken for cynical reasons. and every time we've tried to reverse citizens united, the republicans have stopped us. and i think this was, this vote was taken to really slow down action in the senate on other things, on minimum wage, on equal pay on student loans, so i, every time we've tried to reverse this horrible decision made on a 5-4 basis to put in undisclosed and unlimited amounts of money into campaigns, we've been stopped by the republicans. and i don't think we're, i would love to think that we're going to pass this, but we're not. >> well, ted olsen wrote yesterday about this. he said when politicians seek to restrict fry speech, it is invariably protect their own interests. >> a vast majority know that this is wrong, we've seen, between 2008 and 2012, those two elections, we saw outs

when al franken is criticizing you for being soft on terrorism, you've got an issue. i hope that the attorney general is going to prioritize this. we've seen what he does when he gets involved in something. we've seen how he personally went to ferguson. he focused his attention on it. and i'm not going out on too far a limb here to say i think isis poses a greater threat to the united states national security than the ferguson police department does. i trust the justice department will recognize that. and i trust that they will deploy sufficient resources to find out why minneapolis and st. paul have become a hot bed for isis and a recruiting ground for jihadists. >> right chl the two guys that just got killed fighting for isis are both from minneapolis, they went to high school together. they were friends wind up fighting for this terror group. and prior to that there was another guy that went to somalia. and this was his message for those who might consider joining him in the jihad. listen. >> if you guys only knew how much fun we have over here. this is the real di

republicans believe if there is a wave they can take al franken's seat.ts to show distance with the president because lisa marie democrats are hearing this back home from constituents wanting to know what's happening. don't take that to mean they want to vote to authorize action in iraq. democrats would like to avoid the issue and hope they can avoid any sort of vote, anything until after they return from the november elections. >> is this what we're in for state by state, race by race for 58 days, a debate about foreign policy, isis may be about immigration, not obama care and jobs at the top the list? >> foreign policy is rising. look at who the republican nominee is in alaska, iowa, new hampshire, it's military veterans on the republican side running in purple states, swing voters are wary of republican positions on economics and social issues. they're moving to the right on foreign policy, running as hawks, making democrats like franken feel uneasy, why they're spending like hawks as well. >> the president shifted and changed his position or timetable

al franken sent a terse letter to the white house.lling for military action, and they weren't alone. but there were more important developments yesterday, maybe not driven by political polls, but the united arab emirates condemned a spread of the islamic state. that's important. it's also important they said they'll support america in efforts against isis. so did the iraqi parliament, who would have loved to criticize america if we had taken action earlier without getting their go-ahead first. and while it's one thing to have kay hagan calling for a strong use of force. america actually asking questions first and shooting missiles later may actually lead to our country not having to go it alone again. and carry other countries' water. so the question is, where is egypt? tony blanken said they're going to be supportive. where is saudi arabia? i think they're going to be supportive, too. where is jordan? certainly you would think jordan would be supportive. and where are the other countries whose very existence depends on american fire

you have a guy like al franken in minnesota with a 99% chance of re-election.ber one, doesn't know what he is doing. number two is the highest ranking following president obama's failed policies of anybody in the senate. yet, he has a 99% chance of re-election? i don't understand what's going on here that's why i distrust these models with false sense. >> 99% chance that al franken gets reelected. he is the favorite. rarely are their things- >> -- is minnesota so crazy that they don't understand that president obama is has not done a very good job in six years and this is his primary ache light. are the voters in minnesota that dim, that dense? no, look. first of all he has done a good job of keeping a low profile this cantankerous obnoxious guy. >> most ardent of the obama senators. >> downayed that and a all of these people are particularly the last couple years the closer they get to the election the more they try to down play their attachment. >> i got it franken says he wants to do something to the isis people but it's a joke. now, in louisiana, i'm going

senator al franken have been calling on the vikings to suspend peterson. the embattled running back still getting support from fellow players. >> i got what we called whoopings. with a belt and stuff like that. for me, growing up, it was normal. i most definitely discipline my daughter. i have a 1-year-old daughter i definitely will try to obviously not leave bruises, but i will definitely discipline her harsh depending on what the situation is. >> peterson has lost one of his deal castro motor oil. i'm surprised to hear that, so many of the brain science and child development experts like all of them say harsh punishment of a 2-year-old reinforces negative behavior and does not enforce positive discipline. >> watching that, having a 1-year-old. what do you discipline a 1-year-old for? being 1? >> he said harshly discipline. >> no-no longer has a team but ray rice has the nfl players association on his side. the league formally enforced rice's suspension claiming he was suspended twice for the same infraction. the union said the nflpa appeal was based on s

ahora, los senadores demcratas bill nelson, de florida, al franken, de minesota y angus king de mainente que retrase cualquier accin sobre inmigracin. temen su posible impacto politico sobre el control del senado. (nat- obama "i want to be very clear.) quiero ser muy claro, aseguro obama al finalizar la cumbre de la otan, mi intension es que a falta de accion del congreso voy a hacer lo que pueda dentro de mis limites legales, porque es lo correcto para el pais. pero muchas organizaciones pro-inmigrantes dicen estar hartas de promesas rotas. s/ janet murguía, consejo nacional de la raza, nclr "ya estamos cansados de esperar. ahora es el momento de actuar y nosotros queremos que el presidente haga lo que dijo que iba a hacer" en marzo el presidente prometio emitir una orden para fines del verano. s/ liliana henao, washington, dc "entonces, para muchos la falta de accion presidencial implicaria una situacion cada vez menos esperanzadora para millones de indocumentados, incluyendo a miles de niÑos que han cruzado la frontera solos, creando una crisis humanitaria. segn las ultimas cifras

martha: he's hearing this from joe biden, elizabeth warren, al franken. you know, some people on observe what the president's posture is on this and say it's all part of the plan, that now you've got the uae offering help, military help coming in from germany, that he's working this entire situation behind the scenes and keeping a lower profile because he doesn't want to go it alone, he wallet withs everybody in. -- he wants everybody in. do you think that's what's happening? >> no. i do think he doesn't want to go it alone. i think he's terrified of taking action. this man, who we elected twice, seems incapable of making difficult decisions. as though it's some sort of deep psychological problem. but as far as coalition building goes, we need to get past the politics. remember, the left just excoriated bush, the younger, for not having a coalition, not having the world behind him. he had 48 nations onboard when we went into iraq in 2003. five out of every six contributed troops. his father built a tremendous coalition in desert storm. and obama is not go

senator al franken, dianne feinstein said president obama is being too cautious in iraq. all of those are democrats, all losing patience with the community organizer president. and hollywood has had enough too. ron perlman, lori laughlin, mia farrow and others are fed up with our president but there's one group who still has his back side. the liberal mainstream media, still apologetic, still a lap dog, still looking up longing for approval, tongues dripping, tails wagging, check out this from brian williams. >> the answer today from both the president and vice president appeared to be clear and unambiguous. >> really? clear and unambiguous? what flavor brownies did they serve in the nbc commissary these days, brian? way to hold the commander in chief accountable. you're short changing your low info viewers. so folks, the media, the ones who should be demanding more from the president are giving him a pass and that is dangerous. but the media and president obama have had a long, ongoing love affair, a perfect couple. reminds me of another perfect match. the other question

even al franken of minnesota said he was troubled by the administration's lack of strategy for hitting isis in syria, which make this two-day nato meeting so crucial. on the sidelines of the nato summit in wales, president obama is meeting with european allies in part to help build an international coalition to address the growing threat of isis in iraq and syria. the president co-authored an op-ed with british prime minister david cameron in today's "times of london" newspaper, accusing the group of brutal and poisonous extremism and vowed to strengthen their resolve against the terror group. vice president joe biden hammered the message home. >> we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. >> reporter: amid ongoing air strikes against targets in iraq, isis has kept up its brutality, beheading a second american, journalist steven sotloff this week. his father was at a loss for words yesterday. a spokesman deliver add message on behalf of the family. >> he was no hero. like all of us, he was a mere man who tried to find good concealed in a world of darkne

you also have senator al franken weigh in and say the same thing. >> legally speaking, jeffrey, whereoes this play out? >> under texas law, a charge of child abuse, there is a defense if the conduct is reasonable by the standards of the community. so the question will be, if these reports are true -- as far as we know, they are -- that peterson used this switch and injured his 4-year-old son, if this case goes to trial, and it probably will not. it will probably end in some sort of plea bargain. if it were to go to trial, the jury would have to decide, is that sort of treatment of a 4-year-old reasonable according to the standards of the community. clearly, spanking would not be a crime. but this use of a switch, at least the prosecutors and the grand jury thought this was a crime. >> switch. >> and that was the issue. >> being a branch or something like that? >> yeah. >> don, how do you think this is all playing out? >> well, i have to say that when i was a kid, i would have to go and get the switch off the tree. and if i brought back a switch that wasn't big enough, then my grandmot

that in and of itself maybe one of the reasons jeanne shaheen and al franken are trying to be a hawk. it's amazing you can go from the far right to the far left and everyone is telling the president to get tough. >> i said what are you going to do with the women vote? the democrats said similar to 2012, war on women, going at republicans on social issues. now they're looking internal polling, security moms, mothers concerned about the beheadings, they're wary of this situation, they're more hawkish than they were months ago. this matters to democrats. as they start to turn toward republicans it's a threat. >> will they just give the president changes in legislation that allows him to arm the syrian rebels and give them some money which he needs congressional authorization to do or will they give him a broad war authorization? >> i don't think you'll see a broad war authorization. harry reid doesn't want to have that debate and i don't think house republicans. you'll see a vote for authorization to arm the rebels, little else and steny hoyer on friday said we'll have a full war debate

minnesota's governor mark dayton and senator al franken also weighed in today, criticizing the team's decision to allow peterson to play this weekend. today, nike removed all of its peterson related merchandise from its stores in the twin cities area. >>> the company that owns t.j. maxx and marshall's agreed to pay nearly $3 million for illegally dumping hazardous waste in california. investigators found batteries cans and lamps in the company's dumpsters throughout the state including in the bay area. t.j. companies incorporated says it has adopted new policies and procedures to eliminate hazardous waste. >>> san francisco supervisor david campos wants an hiv prevention drug accessible to all residents free of charge. the drug has shown a 99% success rate preventing the spread of hiv. he says fewer than 1,000 city residents have access to it. he will introduce the plan at tonight's council meeting. >>> those who do not reinforce their properties against earthquakes may get a public shaming. next week the city will begin posting these signs on buildings whose owners have not complied

al franken said the president has been too soft. you know you are in big trouble. there is a reason for this. the president is sending mixed messages within the administration because no one knows where the president stands. the state department doesn't even say we are in. the president is not sending troops on the ground but is sending advisors. alall of a sudden they were jb w they are cancer. people will start to get on the same page, that is why there is no messaging. >> my dad would always say we have conditions. so if you don't have a strategy it not only tells your own people you don't have a strategy, you tell the enemy. bret baier e-mailed all of us this morning saying i'm getting these notes from guys over there in iraq, they are telling him chase them to the gates of hell? how are we going to do that when we cannot even leave the front gate of the base. they are getting mixed messages, our own soldiers. >> there waiting for the commander in chief to show some leadership, to show some interest in this country, we have the finest troops in this world, stan

. >> even al franken is putting out tougher language than the president has.ant to play from the campaign president obama talking about relations with> russia a trying to gig mitt romney about it. >> a now months ago, what is the biggest geo political threat facing america you said russia and not al-qaeda. neap 80s are calling to ask for the foreign policy back. the cold war was over 20 years. >> well, it was a great line and may have helped him win election, but looking at it these days, it% seems like romy was closer to the truth than his competitor? >> i don't know if you know this, you gave me a perfect opportunity to promo fox news sunday which i am grateful. we'll have mitt romney as our exclusive guest on sunday and one of the things we want to it talk about. we have a picture and ready for this. there was a lot of issues and obama care and threat from russia and romney can say i told you so now. and it is two years too late for the lekdz and we'll talk to him about. that and 2016 because romney, a few months ago said not a candidate and now, well, ci

but when you have durbin and other blue state democrats like al franken worried about their race that is a problem for democrats. republicans will pick up senate seats. is it a tsunami. if al frankin and dick durbin are sweating on election night, it is it a tsunami. >> we'll talk to rob port man about this. good to talk to you. >> it is now day eight in the hunt for a guy who ambushed troopers in pennsylvania. the governor said he is confident that the man will be found. the governor expressing gratitude and concern for all of the officers out there scouring the wooded terrain to find a man they say has a grudge against the police. rick leaventhal. tell us where the manhunt is now. >> reporter: we are seeing a lot of activity a couple of miles. just up the hill is a mobile police command post and we see swat teams coming in and out of there and seeing helicopters overhead. and two state police and one fbi and that reads heat signatures on the ground and could isolate his position. they have contained him in a half mile long and eighth mile wide and there are thousands of local and st

al franken is up for re-election. he's mostly shied away from the national media in office and the political style is dead serious and occasionally the timing at the dead span sense of high mor emerges. >> now the election is 68 days away, and i know many of you have jobs and many of you have families, ignore them. >> clever. that is the power politics. >> thank you, david. >> coming up, a warning about ebola, it is spreading fast and the window to contain it is closing rapidly. if the vaccine testing will impact. >> and costing $2 billion and the revel casino is closing their doors in atlantic city. real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america >> return oging to the breaking news, a vid

senator al franken from the great state of minnesota, he's about as far left as you can get, he said i was troubled by the president's recent suggestion that the administration has not developed a comprehensive strategy to address the growing threat of isil's activities in syria. and he's not alone. >> right. out of massachusetts, elizabeth warren was asked by katie couric about it and she said this. >> isis is growing in strength and it has money, it has organization, it has the capacity to inflict real damage. so when we think about a response, we have to think about how to destroy that. we need to be working now full speed ahead with other countries to destroy isis. that should be our number one priority. >> senator warren sounds like someone who was sleeping in the other room and told to whisper. i understand her point. she's way to the left. ja nin shah neen who wants to win an election with the former senator brown says, quote, do not believe isil is manageable. agree that terrorists must be chased to the gates of hell the quote from joe biden. >> chasing is one thing. he said

and in minnesota senator al franken is hammering mike mcfadden for using offshore tax loopholes. >> that's right. he uses a special tax loophole to list his headquarters offshore and avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes in america. mike mcfadden, he's definitely not for you. >> and two political races, football, yes, football is now the big story this week. in virginia incumbent senator mark warner is taking credit for the virginia tech hokeys for joining. >> tech, i live by three simple words. vote mark warner. no one did more to get virginia tech in the acc than him. he said it was the best thing ever to happen in tech athletic the. >>> in the illinois governor's race involving former chicago bears coach mike ditka taking shots at mike quinn. so ronner appeared in an ad with ditka for encouragement. >> you know what i like about you, bruce? you're tough. you tackle special interests. bam, hit 'em right in the mouth. >> but rauner is behind by double kingdoms. >>> there is a report that the use of torture may get pushed back beyond the election. memories of the senate intelligence co

al franken, a former comedian, gave marching orders to his volunteers this past weekend. >> now, the election is 68 days away. now, i know many of you have jobs. many of you have families. ignore that. >> clever. and that's the wrap for today. john. >> david schuster, thank you. and detroit's plan to emerge from bankruptcy in the hands of a federal judge. whether to waste away the debt. the plans, tens of thousands of retirees, >> reporter: with the start of this trial, the city's restructuring plan is up for intense scrutely. much of it has been worked out in remediations and deals, including the so-called grand -- the deal that included spinoffs for the detroit institute of arts in exchange for private funds, but not everyone thinks that the deal is so grand. outside the federal courthouse, protests for retirees. many could still lose 5% or more from monthly pension checks. >> the retirees should never have been included in this. the michigan substitution guarantees our pensions. >> there are a number of things that i could have recommended or a lot of other people could have recom

al franken sounded hawkish this week by way of illustration of me not seeing a voice within the democratic party that is pursuing the non interventionist's path. >> i covered senator elizabeth warren's campaign. when i talked to those progressive voters, the liberals are uncomfortable with secretary clinton and the liberals. they are looking for someone in the republican party step up. they don't see martin o'malley doing that. we will see who will challenge clinton. can they challenge her ideologically on foreign policy? >> i know you are paying attention to the toss up senate races across the country. do you think we are about to see a change in the cycle where it is not the economy and not health care and it is actually foreign policy? >> we have seen health care and economics. these are issues on the fringe, but nothing has galvanized. i think foreign policy could be it. congress is coming back next week to try to fund the government and come up with a strategy for isis. we will see the key senate races in arkansas, iowa and new hampshire become the issue. >> robert, great to see you.

people concerned and not only did the groups weigh in, but the governor of minnesota and senator al frankena said we think the vikings should bench adrian peterson and they would like to hear from the league. >> and $1.2 billion in advertising. when you have a company like that speak out, then the nfl has to listen. they may not care about the stuff going on on tv, but they care about anheuser-busch. we are not satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors. we have shared our concerns and expectations with the league. what do you think the expectations are? >> well i think there is a veiled threat there that i think roger goodell is in his last days. and heiser busch, and now more and more sponsors will speak up and now and heiser busch will not stop sponsoring the nfl. there is too much money there. but they will say, we want to make money, you want to make money, roger goodell, you have to get rid of him. >> i don't think we will see the end of roger goodell. we've seen statement after statement for him from nfl owners just in the past few days. and and heiser busch may be $1.5 millio

and you saw mark warner, al franken, these are democrats -- who are attacking obama, it's like we're in 2000 -- >> they feel like he's not popular, they can get his number up by talking to him. every republican went out of their way to say how much they don't like george bush. obama is feeling well now. >> if the vice president is going to go after the former secretary of state in this race, doesn't the he have to announce before she makes the announcement. if he waits until she makes the announcement, he's jumping into a race that's already got a shape to it. he's shaping the field, she has to jump into that race. it doesn't make any sense to me why he would wait, unless he's secretly not intending to run against hillary clinton. in that case, he'll wait until after she's announced. if he's thinking about it, he would have to run ahead of her. >> hillary may not announce foy a while. if biden wants to run, he should probably announce sooner and get out there. he's been traveling around the country as if he is. >> why not run? >> i agree, i think he should run. biden is going to see

al franken sounded hawkish this week by way of illustration of me not seeing a voice within the democraticarty that is pursuing the non interventionist's path. >> i covered senator elizabeth warren's campaign. the liberals are uncomfortable with clinton and the liberals. they are looking for someone in the republican party step up. they don't see martin o'malley doing that. we will see who will challenge clinton. can they challenge her ideologically on foreign policy? >> i know you are paying attention to the toss up senate races across the country. do you think we are about to see a change in the cycle where it is not the economy and not health care and it is actually foreign policy? >> we have even health care and economics. these are issues on the fringe, but nothing has galvanized. i think foreign policy could be it. congress is coming back next week to try to fund the government and come up with a strategy for isis. we will see the key senate races in arkansas, iowa and new hampshire become the issue. >> robert, great to see you. thank you for coming to the program. you remember the h

governor david and senator al franken have been calling for vikings to suspend peterson.is still getting support from fellow players. >> a whooping with a belt and stuff like that. for me growing up, it was normal. i will definitely discipline my daughter, i have a 1-year-old daughter. i will definitely, obviously not leave bruises or anything like that, i definitely will discipline her harshly, depending on, you know, depending on what the situation is. >> christine and i have been talking about this whether reggie bush from the lions meant that he does discipline his 1-year-old already. >> he said i discipline my 1-year-old. then he goes on to say i will. there's questions about whether he's now, now harshly disciplining, just basically a baby. >>> meanwhile, adrian peterson has lost one of his biggest endorsement deals, castrol motor oil. and peterson's other sponsor, nike, standing by him. >> ray rice may not have the team but he has the nflle players association. appealing the punishment claiming he was punished twice for the same infraction. a union in a statement s

and even democratic senator al franken says i was troubled by the president's recent suggestion that the administration is not yet developed a strategy to address the growing threat of isil's activities in syria. now the mum bow jumbo of the last two weeks out of the white house is proof that our commander-in-chief doesn't know what to do. reduce isis sphere of influence, contain them, roll them back. degrade them? dismantle them? make them a manageable problem. mr. president, what's manageable? five or maybe ten beheadings of americans? you want to manage them? you running a hotel? they want to kill us and you want to manage them. and then then gem. you say and i promise you things are much less dangerous now than they were 20 years ago, 25 years ago or 30 years ago. mr. president, either you're not reading your indell briefings or you're not living on the same planet as the rest of us. while they hold a knife to our jugular you are wishing and hoping that they fail. >> people like this ultimately fail. they fail because the future is won by those who build and not destroy. >> now c

. >> al franken?an >> i know. bernie sanders was the worst. he was withdrawing cash from an atm.aid i would like it to talk to you senator, i'm from the o'reilly factor. he grabbed his cash and ran away. like i was going to stick him up. >> i thought he was on the barter thing. trades maple syrup for soup. that's what you do in socialist land. so, i think everybody is having a good laugh about this on capitol hill, right? >> i think the general consensus is she is not going to do the interview. especially after tonight. not going to do the interview. >> after tonight. all right. but i want you to keep trying. >> i will do my best. i'm going to send sour doughurdo bread from san francisco makes the best. willfully -- willie mays. try to bribe her. >> that's right. i think she suspect for bribes. >> jesse watters, everybody. ed said that. not me. >> jesse watters, giving the folks a chance to grade president obama. upcoming. eachwon't have a claim.wners that's why allstate claim free rewards gives you money back for every year you don't have one. and why if you're part of the other

when al franken tells the president he has to toughen up, what is his problem? >> he has to engage in the process. he is not engaged. >> what do you mean "not engaged." >> for instance on tuesday he will have the congressional leaders down to the white house. is it going to be one of these paint but number meeting where everyone states their point of view and the meeting lasts an hour, maybe two hours? he needs to have some head to head discussions with people. michigan -- mcconnell put out a statement saying he welcomed the meeting and it was very conciliatory, he will listen, but you cannot do it in an sure or two hours. >> why do you think the president seems reluctant to do that in he is above that? >> i think he thinks he has the right track and we learn in our business that when we get something right, it is because we listen. the president needs to learn to listen. these people have points of view and there are ways to work. he will not do a deal on a lot of things. this is something, this is a serious isis, isis is a serious national threat. talk to the

in minnesota democratic incumbent al franken is and businessman for using offshore tax loopholes.e is the ad. that's right, using a special tax loop hope to list it's headquarters offshore, and avoiding pays millions of dollars in tax. he is definitely not for you. >> and two political races, football has now a big story this week. in virginia incumbent democratic senator mark warner is taking credit for the virginia tech hokies joining the atlantic coast conference. and warner's ad featuring a former nfl star bruce smith. at tech i live by three simple words, now i have three words for you, vote mark warner, no one did more to get virginia into the tech than him. >> meanwhile, in the illinois governor's race, the football appeal involved former chicago bears coach, mike ditka. republicans bruce roner has been taking a lot of shots at pat quinn, so roner on the left, appeared in an ad with ditka to get some encouragement. >> you no what elike about you, you are tough. you attack the special interest, bam, right in the mouth. >> he is behind by double digits. bam. back to national

minnesota's governor mark dayton and senator al franken also weighed in on this today, criticizing thecision to allow peterson to play this weekend. today, nike removed all of its peterson related merchandise from stores in the twin cities. >>> one of the unions for workers at the golden gate bridge staged a one-day strike today over health benefits and labor practices. >> they tried not to disrupt anyone's day but they hoped to send a very clear message. >> abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield has more from larkspur. >> reporter: the picturesque golden gate bridge was the backdrop but instead of working in the machine shop, they are protesting the way they are treated in it. the union rep is handling the public speaking for the workers while they picket. he calls what they are doing a huge sacrifice. >> this is something no one wants to do. this is always a last resort. but again, these issues have been ongoing and it kind of got to the point when the machinists union said enough is enough, we are going to go on strike. >> reporter: commuters say they had heard about the strike but were

senate democrats like bill nelson and al franken tell the president he should not act this summer despitevious statements in june he would do so. what about the statement? dreamers saying our community is done with broken promises. it brings us to our next guest who sent shock waves through the u.s. the president and ceo of national council of the largest national civil rights and advocacy organization is with me this morning. >> nice to see you, jose. >> your comment had a huge impact on the president. before that, you know, immigration was a wait and see approach just on the house of representatives. made the promise at the end of the summer he would do something on immigration. what do you expect? >> well, we as a community, expect him to fulfill his promises. and i have to tell you that it was over a year ago that the senate passed their comprehensive immigration bill. and speaker boehner told our community, wait, the republicans will put a bill together and we'll get it through. and then nothing happened. the president in march when we asked him to take administrative action asked us

we see senator al franken walking out of that meeting. senator cory booker.ere inviting to a briefing coming just hours after the house received a similar briefing. i want to go right to nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. how is this push from the white house going? >> reporter: the meeting is under way rate now and those images of members walking to a bunker within the capital up. a secure site where private information can be given to them without rick of eavesdropping, national security, department of defense and counterterrorism are meeting with all 100 senators and that type of an earn vent does not happen that frequently and this is certainly a highly arc tended and great deal of pressure on everyone to get their hands around what the administration knows at this point about the threat of isis. so that's under way right now. the backdrop, of course, is the president's request and what will congress do both on the house and senate side to respond to the president's request that the congress give the authority to arm and train vetted syr

even senator al franken, the democrat from minnesota, sent a letter to eric holder at the departmentustice to say he was troubled by the president suggesting that he should just manage isis. so i agree with van that yes, there is bipartisan pressure on this president to come up with a strategy that he lays out clearly, that he articulates in detail in the particulars, what is his goal to the american people. and then we'll see if congress votes on it. >> i want to talk about the criticism that the president got for being totally tone deaf after he came out and announced that hideous beheading of james foley and then he went golfing. let me show you both how the president explained that on sunday. >> i should have anticipated the optics. you know, that's part of the job. but part of this job is also the theater of it. part of it is, you know, how are you -- >> you -- >> well, it's not something that always comes naturally to me, but it matters. and i'm mindful of that. >> so van, theatrics and optics don't come naturally to this president? this is the president who used stagecraft at

here's al franken's statement saying "i was absolutely -- it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear abouthat happened to this child. i'm a die hard vikings fan and watching the games on sunday is one of my favorite things to do as a kid and i think this is just wrong and the vikings made a wrong decision. this is in the hands of le aw enforcement but i don't believe adrian peterson should be allowed to play until that happens." jonathan, with the vikings having lost the game with adrian peterson on the bench, that is within the world of our crazy american politics a politically risky thing for a senator running for re-election in minnesota to say. >> well, keep something in mind, though. the governor of minnesota and senator franken, governor dayton and senator franken they're held accountable by the people of -- all the people of minnesota whereas the minnesota vikings and their leadership are held accountable by advertisers and fans and when you're a politician and you're faced with the choice of supporting a football team and supporting a beaten 4-year-old child in this case, i'm not s

at the same time, you're beginning to hear calls from, you know, minnesota, from al franken, from others in the senate in both parties also that we need to step up. it's not just john mccain and lindsey graham anymore. these are really tough choices. >> and congress is on their way back. >> you think it's about time? >> it would be nice to hear from them. >> it would be nice to have a debate on this as we did before going into iraq both times. >> and let's see if they do it. >> before their next break. >> indeed. andrea mitchell, such an honor being here. >> it's such a privilege. i love being here. >> you must watch at andrea mitchell reports" every day here at 12:00 on msnbc news. >>> in about 20 minutes, eric holder will announce a civil rights investigation into the killing of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. >>> first, fast food workers protest for higher wages and the right to unionize. will they ultimately succeed? [cat meows] [laughs] ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... ♪meow, meow, meow, meow... it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with 100% complete and balanced nutri

think about the letters that al franken has sent. this is not exactly -- i think it's across the board as far as democratic leadership is concerned and key democratic senators. i think it's more remarkable that in a country that clearly has war fatigue and has been tired of doing this for the last -- here we are, about to be at the 13th anniversary of 9/11, that you still had nearly half of republicans willing to send -- willing to send combat troops into this situation in syria. and you had one-fourth democrats. i look at those numbers and say, wow, that just shows you the power of these attacks on these two american journalists. >> you know, chuck, one thing you've been talking about over the course of this day, as you sort of examine these poll numbers, is how far the president's approval has fallen when it comes to foreign policy. he thought it was a strength when he went up against mitt romney of course after taking out osama bin laden. the numbers show that has changed dramatically. >> it has. all of his erosion is from democra

al franken writing a letter, sounding more like joe mccain than al franken.ously, we now see the backlash. i don't think my party's had that advantage in any poll. a long time. >> this is the party of bush's foreign policy which is still unpopular. it really is a reactive thing right now. >> these new polls point to a growing concern over national security. 40% of americans say we are less safe today -- >> 47 -- >> than we were before the attacks on september 11th. we'll be hearing from the president tonight. it's the highest number since 2002. when it comes to the terror group isis, more than 60% say it's in our country's interest. >> look at these numbers. we haven't seen those numbers since the days after 9/11. >> you can't underestimate the role social media has played in those numbers. the viral impact of the beheadings of james foley and steven sotloff, it was epidemic. fear is an easily communicable disease in this country. a lot of that 61% is the fear of isis, even though it's probably not as critical as many people think in terms of us here. you rea

bill: you can put al franken in that group as well. ed henry was reporting it won't be a prime time address. it will happen sometime in the afternoon from washington, d.c. former member of the obama cabinet said they knew all about the isis threat. really? then why haven't we put together a plan. martha: a new study to show why workers will keep struggling and america's wealth gap will continue to grow. bill: what mitt romney is now saying about a possible run in 2016. >> there is in question in my mind that i think i would have been a better president than obama has been. no question in my mind about that. óqoqúúÑ@ bill: that's the former presidents bill clinton and george w. bush announce can the launch of the presidential leadership scholars program. it will be a group who will study presidential leadership. school stuff. -- cool stuff. martha: -- >> when an american is murder on television for the purpose of terrorizing americans. there should be a response that you would not analyze in terms after normal response to provocation.

norm macdonald, al franken, is a have a silverman or tim meadows?ave time for one more. where are you from? >> from texas. >> okay. hans and franz were going to pump you up? remember that? were they teens with their own cable access show, weight lifters, the blues brothers or wild and crazy bachelors? >> two wild and crazy bachelors. >> even after i gave you the i'm gonna pump you up? i guess -- >> i think they're two wild and crazy teens living in their mom's basement and weight lifters. >> those guys are back. >> in a commercial. >> they're pumping people up. >> you're taking the show out on the plaza? >> yep. >> getting ready to rock. >> okay, they'll do their show outside. tomorrow, "snl's" keenan thompson has a sneak peek at the season debut. what you see is brilliant, luminous haircolor. what you get is so much more. garnier olia. the first permanent haircolor powered by oil. brilliant color, visibly improved hair color after color. olia propels color deep inside your hair. amazing! my hair feels healthier... looks shinier. olia after olia. an