surprise winning associate editor of the washington post bob woodward.for being with us. the president of the united states has said he was going to destroy, he was going to degrade and he was going to defeat isis if that is what his presidency is being scored on today, what kind of grades are you giving? >> there are some good things coming on in war and bad things t. really big question is why are we worried about isis? why is this different than some of the other problems in the middle east? and the answer is isis is a recruiting machine. they have 9,000 to 15,000 fighters on a daily basis and they are recruiting hundreds of people a month and what they do they go to somebody young who doesn't have a job or is looking for a life and they say, look we will give you three things a gun, a little bit of money and we will promise you a wife and to somebody who has no mooreings, no place to really live no focus in their lives, that's very very appealing. so you are going to get growth of this movement rather than shrink annual. >> it's growing very quickly.

it's time now for our sunday group, gop strategist, karl rove, bob woodward, laura ingraham, and juanliams. >> bob, you wrote a book about obama's war. how do you explain this week his talking in his national security strategy about strategic patience and calling -- comparing what we're doing to the crusades a thousand years ago. what do you make of those kind of comments at a time when we are -- the war against isis seems to have if anything, only become more urgent? >> if you talk to people in the white house and the military, i think there's agreement and john mccain is right and general flynn is right, there is no strategy. they have not sat down and said this is where we want to go and this is how we want to do it, and the measure of that, when you get in the weeds here people from the white house are micromanaging the tactical situation on a daily and weekly basis. that's not their job. they have to kind of do strategic planning and say what do we want to accomplish in the next year. >> wait a minute, are you saying that -- forgive me, susan rice, is telling the generals what to

yesterday we of course had "washington post" legend bob woodward on and bob woodward said his reportingntagon suggested that generals and admirals were concerned because there was no war strategy. that debate will continue. but you are hearing from capitol hill that the president's foreign policy the president's approach as he goes into this war that he says is such a critical war, just isn't focused enough. there are a lot of people that want to take the colin powell approach who famously said when you go to war you don't want to fair fight. you throw everything at your enemy. you kill your enemy. you achieve your objectives, then you bring the troops home. >> president obama says the authorization would cover military operations for three years. but once again stated it would not involve 2r507troops on the ground. the request prohibits, quote, enduring offensive ground combat operations and there are also no geographical limitations. the vagueness is leading to questions on both sides of the aisle. >> i believe that if we're going to authorize the use of military force the president s

but i guess the point the chairman was getting at is given that bob woodward wrote about it and he says it was the brain child of jack lew in the white house. was the president not smart in offering that proposal ? >> i think the history was it was something that was thought to be so bad that it would neverd neve go into effect. so i don't think anybody at the time thought it was a smart strategy for reducing our budget. >> i'll let you take that up with bob woodward. anyway, a couple quick thoughts. one is you with my colleague from south carolina justple a moment ago said you guys were m quote, extending the life of trust funds. i just pulled up the social security socnumbers. i see nothing in here that that extends the life of social security trust fund. urity >> what i was saying is that taking steps to pass imprenls impressive immigration reform would benefit social security and extend the life of the trust funds 37woy . >> maybe maybe not. >> cbo last week -- >> we could argue it. >> -- and the social security actuary this week -- >> but mathematically, why don'twhy do we take in

i would bet if you asked bob woodward he would say that it is vice versa.o his whole motto falls apart and what that has to do with my book i am still trying to figure that out. what he said about the book is that i don't rely enough on the private marketplace. then he mentioned a book by someone who's a turkic guy and wrote a thoughtful book in which he espouses the private marketplace and the jacket is from his friend malcolm gladwell i just disagreed with it and i think you did, too mac. this is the substantive part of healthcare is a consumer product in the marketplace. you don't wake up one morning and say i'm going to wander down to the emergency room to see what they have on sale and check it out and if i don't like it i will go across the street. in some ways buying a smartphone you can go to the consumer reports and figure out which one is the best one. you can also decide i think i will stick with the one i have i don't want to buy a smartphone. the fundamental thing about healthcare come and i knew this intellectually when you are sick with thous

as we learned from bob woodward who was on with chris wallace as well -- he's got a great book -- theeople calling the military shots at the white house have in many cases zero military experience. you know people like susan rice, what's her military background? she's calling the shots. listen to this. >> people from the white house are micro managing the tactical situation on the daily and weekly basis. that's not their job. they have to kind of do strategic planning and say what do we want to accomplish in the next year. you talk to people in the military who were there and they say we are being micro managed and we're not given a real plan to say what are we going to do here. it's not the way to run a war or try to win a war. >> this morning you have now lieutenant general michael flynn coming out. add him to the list of critics who have now left the administration, people who served in the military who left under president obama -- you have panetta, gates, you have lieutenant flynn, you have other generals who have come out now and talked about -- >> expressing frustration here, a

bob woodward level levelled this statement. >> people from the white house are micro managing the tacticalon on a daily and weekly basis. >> forgive me you're saying that susan rice is telling the generals what to do? >> and they've got all these people in the white house. you talk to people in the military who were there and they say, we are being micro managed and we're not given a real plan to say what are we going to do here and it's not the way to run a war or try to win a war. >> let's discuss this now with the new hampshire governor live with us now. welcome back here >> how are snu >> i'm fine. thank you. we've heard the complaint about a lack of strategy from a lot of people. this whole idea about micro managing the war from the west wing if woodward is right, what's the effect of that? >> well first of all, it's demoralizing on the military to have somebody trying to manipulate their operations on a daily basis, on a particular tactical basis but the military knows this administration has no strategy and the polling data, their lack of confidence in the white house, i think it wa

we're going to tell what you bob woodward says. >> who could forget this commercial? >> mr. of a tootsie pop? >> one two three. >> apparently we've done the research and the owl is wrong. >> what? >> i'm not kidding. ♪ ♪ are you still getting heartburn flare-ups? time for a new routine. try nexium® 24hr. the latest choice for frequent heartburn- and get nexium level protection. ♪ captain obvious: i probably wouldn't stay here tonight. man: thanks, captain obvious. captain obvious: i'd get a deal for tonight with deals for tonight from hotels.com. and you might want to get that pipe fixed. >>> one of the most well connected reporters in washington, d.c. making this stunning accusation about our fight against isis. >> people from the white house are micromanaging the tactical situation on a daily and weekly basis. that's not their job. you talk to people in the military who are there and they say we are being micromanaged and we're not given a real plan to say what are we going to do here? >> many believe it's national security advisor susan rice who is calling the shots. coul

the wanted since i can think of it is bob woodward was talking about something that recently happen. don't remember what it was about. all i remember was that he said, this is madness. then, about one week after, he retract or he said. the reason i noticed him is because he is very well known. but, i heard it many other times in the news where a reporter would say one thing, or pundit would say one thing, and about one week later they would retract it. there was even the incident, in one of the southern states, -- while i can't remember. it's i won't talk about it. all i know is that i think the media is void about what to do. some of them are threatened that they will l to lose their job and others are threatened that the whole paper will shut down. this is happen in recent news. people who watch news a lot will remember it. i think that ought to be considered. if not just the journalists. look at rosen, james rosen. what happened to him. i think it was all slept under the rug, i don't hear the about anymore. the administration goes after the journalists. they don't want them to say

. >> you just described bob woodward was on with chris wallace on fox news sunday talking about how the advisors were telling the pentagon what to do. you're talking about politics once again going into our national security. that's not good. >> we don't know where this is going to end up. congress declares war president wages war. once the congress unleashes the president, congress is out of the picture. they cannot tell him how to wage war. they cannot tell him no boots on the ground. they cannot tell him how many boots on the ground. those decisions under the constitution are exclusively his and he in my view already has that power. >> if you were president of the united states, you wouldn't be going to congress with something like this, which is a blueprint to putting handcuffs essentially on the commander in chief. >> unless i wanted to trump, embarrass or put all the blame on the opposition party which controlled the congress. >> aren't you cynical. do you think that's really what's happening? >> i'm sure that is the motivating factor behind the political folks here in the white h

the late congressman joe moakley and his then-staff aide who is now congressman jim mcgovern and bob woodward and salvadoran investigators lee yonl gomez who i -- lionel gomez who i also came to know and respect. the plot was uncovered the killers identified. during this time i talked often with bob and i learned even more about those who were involved, and after talking with him i went to el salvador. i was asked by the salvadorans to come down. they said we'll show you what's going on. we're really trying to investigate this. they knew i had been a prosecutor and prosecuted murder cases. and so they arranged for me to meet with the country's chief investigator. as he described their so-called investigation. he just confirmed ambassador white's suspicions, and i told the salvadoran investigators and i told the press when they were there they were conducting an obvious cover-up. anybody who saw what they were calling an investigation would realize it was nothing more than a cover-up. as i left he will value, it was so obvious that rather than shamelessly removing ambassador white from his pos

but leaving that aside, he does this dichotomy if you remember between michael and bob and he says this. he says if woodward and burn stein wrote the story of how the institution of the whitehouse corrupted richard nixon. and i would bet you if you asked bob he would say it is vice versa that nixon corrupted the whitehouse. his whole model falls apart there. and by the way what that has to do with my book i am trying to figure that out. he said i don't rely enough on the private marketplace. and then mentions a book by a guy gold hill who is a terrific guy and wrote a book where he praises the marketplace and the lead blurb on the jacket of the book is from malcolm when i found out after i read the review because it wasn't in the review. i just disagree with that. and i think you do too. and this is the substance and the point i disagree that hilary clinton clinton -- health care -- is a consumer product equivalent to other products. you don't wake up and say you will wander down to the emergency room and if you don't like it you will check out another one. it is isn't like buying a cellphone and going to a

i think what the chairman is getting at given what bob woodward wrote about, the brainchild of jack lew in the white house, was the president not smart in offering that proposal? >> i think the history was it was something thought to be so bad that it would never go into effect. i don't think anybody at the time that it was a smart strategy for reducing our budget. >> i'll let you take that up with woodward. anyway, a couple of quick thoughts. one, you with my colleague from south carolina just a moment ago said you guys were quote, extending the life of trust funds. i just pulled up the social security numbers. i see nothing in here that extends the life of social security trust fund? >> what i was saying is that taking steps to pass comprehensive immigration reform would benefit social security and extend the life of the trust funds. >> maybe maybe not. >> cbo last week. >> we could argue it. >> social security actuary this week. >> mathematically why don't we take in the entire rest of the world and we'd extend the life of the trust fund. it's a long theoretical argument. bring in a