but i do agree with senator inhofe. if it's a close question, i've talked to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. i had lunch with the virginia delegation today, which is very bipartisan. i'm talking to constituents. they see isil as a threat. they think a narrow and tailored mission, straightly a mission of air strikes is something they would strongly support. when you see that support in the public and you start to see it across the aisle, i think that presents a good opportunity for the president to eliminate all doubt and make sure everybody is behind this mission. >> ifill: senator inhofe, the aums, authorization the use military force, do you know whether the leaders in the senate or the house who are meeting with the president today, even want a vote on this? >> well, you know, i don't know that because this meeting that they're having right now with the president was one that was unexpected and not known very far in advance. i made a presentation to our conference about this today, and we're going to do ano

general dempsey -- thank you, chairman and ranking member inhofe. members of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel described in detail the elements of our strategy against isil. the role the united states military is taking is in my judgment, appropriate. this is an iraq first strategy but not an iraq only one. job one is empowering the iraqi ground forces to go on the offensive, which they're already beginning to demonstrate. this requires a partnership with a credible iraqi government, which is also showing positive signs of becoming inclusive of all of the population. within the partnership, our advisers are intended to help the iraqis develop a mind set for the offensive and to take actions consistent with offensive. our military advisers will help the iraqis conduct campaign planning, arrange for enabler, and logistic support, and coordinate our coalition activities. if we reach the point where i believe our advisers should accompany iraq troops on attack against specific isil targets, i'

senator inhofe. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would ask that you turn the maps over.his is just for reference. we put this together with the help of the military, with the help of some think tanks and, the colors represented there, the orange would be what is under isil control right now. the, the gray would be the kurdish control and then the brown would be the ambitions of isil. do you, look at that map and find any problem with it, either one of you? >> actually, senator, in terms of their mission i think that is probably understating the mission. >> yeah. >> i think if left unaddressed they would aspire to restore the ancient kingdom which includes the current state of israel and runs all the way down to kuwait. >> we're trying to be conservative on this, to let people know. this is a big area and it is a major, secretary hagel, you have a problem with this? >> no. i think general dempsey stated it exactly right. >> right. okay, the according to some of the reports that the u.s. intelligence agencies believe that isil does not represent the immediate threat to the

. >> thank you very much, senator inhofe. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i ask you turn the mouse over. this is just for reference. we put this together with the help of the military, the colors represented their come of orange is what is under isil control right now. the gray would he the kurdish controlled and that brown would be the ambitions of isil. do you look at that map and find any problem? >> actually senator, in terms of their ambition, i think that is probably understating. if left unaddressed, they would aspire to restore the agent kingdom of the schaub, which includes the current state of israel and runs all the way down to kuwait. >> we are trying to be conservative on this. it does people know this is a big area in secretary hagel, do you have a problem with this? >> know, general dempsey stated it exactly right. >> okay, according to the reports from u.s. intelligence agencies believe they isil does not represent the immediate threat to the united states. daniel benjamin was the top counterterrorism adviser during his first or third number

joined now by the ranking member of the armed services committee, oklahoma republican senator jim inhofe. senator, thank you for being with us. >> nice to be with you. >> you said you believe the current plan is likely to fail. yet dempsey and hagel believe it can work. are they being disingenuous? >> i didn't say it was going to fail, i said that, you know, the president made a speech, he talked about america's safer. we know that isn't the case. i thought yesterday in the hearing the secretary of defense and dempsey did a very good job. they talked about the fact, yeah, there are boots on the ground. all this talk about -- the president's trying to say there's not boots on the ground. the policy of arming the conservatives out there is you don't really know who they are and yet i'm concerned that they have to have a coalition with them. voting on that is not the -- that decision should be made by the military, not a bunch of people worried about what people think at home. >> what you also said the president should admit we already have boots on the ground, that you think sending troops

the issue. >> senator, one of the points that i made a couple of minutes ago in answering senator inhofe's question was the point about training them as units so they can operate as units. which is, as you know with your military experience, critically important as you build an effective opposition force. not just a hit-and-run group of rebels but an effective force. command and control tactics, strategy so, yes, that's the fundamental training principle of how we begin. the length of time here depends on a number of things but we're probably talking about eight weeks per psych that will might move on within a week or two. but that's the intent of how they would train up. the centcom leaders are already focused on that, are already structured to do that, are preparing. and one of the things the president will get tomorrow as he spends the day with general austin and the centcom planners and commanders in pham is taking him through that entire structure. >> thank you. general dempsey in your remarks you suggested the immediate operation would probably be most likely in iraq we're already pa

chairman. >> thank you, senator inhofe. mr.. >> we appreciate -- >> we are asking you again to sit down and if not, we are going to ask you the leave. no, thank you for -- would you please now leave? would you please now leave? i am asking you the now leave. you are acting very war-like yourse yourself. >> no more war. no military boots into this. no more war. no military solution. >> thank you. mr. secretary. >> mr. chairman, as i was saying, chairman dempsey and i very much appreciate the opportunity this morning to discuss the president's strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat isil. as you know, you all know today that president obama is in atlanta meeting with cdc officials regard iing the ebola crisis, and then will travel tonight to tampa to receive a briefing from the commander of u.s. central command general austin on operational plans to implement his isil strategy. i will join the president tomorrow in tampa for that briefing. the defense department civilian and military leaders are in complete agreement that the u

joining me now ranking member on the senate arms service committee james inhofe. thank you for being with me. you introduced a legislation thorszing the president to use force against the islamic group. why? >> an aumf does authorize the president to use force. i'll tell you why. half the members you talk to are going to say he doesn't have the authority. half the members say he does have it. he says he has it but wouldn't object to any info from congress. let's do it. i'm sick and tired of everyone pointing fingers at each other. the president of the united states has got to come up with a strategy. we're at war right now. we need to eliminate this question as to whether or not he has the authority. so i've got it right now in my hand. we've introduced it. we need get it passed. there's no doubt about that. it also forces the president to come out with some -- you might remember, jose, back in july on your station i announced there's a threat to american's homeland from isis. and everyone thought it was outrageous. now according to yesterday's poll, that's abc po

chairman, senator inhofe, thank you for your continued support and partnership.thank you. >> thank you very much, secretary hagel. thank you, would you please leave the room now? we're asking you nicely. we're asking you nicely to please leave the room. look, we're asking you nicely. would you please leave the room. thank you. we'll ask you for the last time. thank you very much. thank you for leaving. as soon as the noise is removed from the room, wild ae would as of you to avoid these kind of outbursts. they are are's not doing anybody any good including hearing the system and they're not doing you and whatever your cause is very good either. thank you very much. would you please -- i'm asking you nicely to please leave the room. we're asking you again please remove this gentleman. thank you very much. good-bye. thank you. general dempsey. general dempsey. >> chathank you chairman. members of the committee, i do appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel has described in detail the elements of our strategy against isil, the ro

under the capable leadership of chairman levin and ranking member inhofe, the armed services committee approved a bill more than three months ago. so has

then there is the powerful republican james inhofe of the senate committee on the environment and publicorks, who said, "god's still up there, and the arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what he is doing in the climate is, to me, outrageous." so it is that while more americans believe global warming is real and caused by human beings, some two-thirds of white evangelical christians are not convinced. and they wield a lot of political clout. these are people who believe that to be saved by god you muso be born again, your heart and mind transformed by a cathartic spiritual experience. but as the climate crisis worsens every day, it's clear these good folk need a different kind of conversiof6?ád opens them to the reality overtaking us. only someone they trust, one of their own, is likely to help them see the light. which brings us to katharine hayhoe. you may have of showtime's award-winning documentary series, "years of living dangerously." >> when i look at the information we get from the planet, i look at it as god's creation speaking to us. and i

inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i believe under the regular order that i'll be recognized for up to 30 minutes. and if not, i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, with all the things that are going on right now, and i'm particularly interested in the hearing that we had yesterday on isis, it was a big deal. and i applaud general dempsey for his honesty in talking about how serious this war is that we're embarking on right now, the fact that we have just imagine the isis has grown, has tripled in the last three months, up to now well over 30,000 troops, with tanks, with heavy artillery. i mean, this is not -- i know the president has tried to use, make people believe this is just another rag tag terrorist operation over there, like al qaeda or taliban. it's not. this is war. this is a real serious thing that we're in the middle of, and i do applaud general

chairman, senator inhofe, thank you for your continued support and partnership.thank you. >> thank you very much, secretary hagel. thank you, would you please leave the room now? we're asking you nicely. we're asking you nicely to please leave the room. look, we're asking you nicely. would you please leave the room. thank you. we'll ask you for the last time. thank you very much. thank you for leaving. as soon as the noise is removed from the room, wild ae would as of you to avoid these kind of outbursts. they are are's not doing anybody any good including hearing the system and they're not doing you and whatever your cause is very good either. thank you very much. would you please -- i'm asking you nicely to please leave the room. we're asking you again please remove this gentleman. thank you very much. good-bye. thank you. general dempsey. general dempsey. >> chathank you chairman. members of the committee, i do appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel has described in detail the elements of our strategy against isil, the ro

inhofe: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: madam president, i wasn't scheduled to come in here, but something's going on today i want to share with everyone that i think is pretty exciting. there is a new group that has been formed. it's called the i.d.c., in defense of christian summit. i just came from addressing this group, and it's pretty amazing. there are over a thousand down there in the visitor's center, the big auditorium, stampeding room only, the largest crowd that has ever been down there. it's been quickly formed because of the persecution that has taken place throughout the world and primarily in the isis area. a lot of people -- unfortunately, i don't have charts that are big enough to really project well, but at least the president there can see them. this is the area where isis is working. it's not just syria, it's not just iraq. we're talking about in jordan and other areas, it's a very large area. they are not confined to any particular area. but one of t

chairman, senator inhofe, thank you for your continued support and partnership.thank you. >> thank you very much, secretary hagel. thank you, would you please leave the room now? we're asking you nicely. we're asking you nicely to please leave the room. look, we're asking you nicely. would you please leave the room. thank you. we'll ask you for the last time. thank you very much. thank you for leaving. as soon as the noise is removed from the room, wild ae would as of you to avoid these kind of outbursts. they are are's not doing anybody any good including hearing the system and they're not doing you and whatever your cause is very good either. thank you very much. would you please -- i'm asking you nicely to please leave the room. we're asking you again please remove this gentleman. thank you very much. good-bye. thank you. general dempsey. general dempsey. >> chathank you chairman. members of the committee, i do appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel has described in detail the elements of our strategy against isil, the ro

inhofe: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in process be vitiated. officer sphe without objection. the presiding officer: without objection,. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, department of state. john r. bass of new york to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of turkey. eric t.schultz of virginia to be ambassador to the republic of zambia. thomas frederick daughton of arizona to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of nam namibia. david pressman of new york to be although representative for special political affairs in the united nations with the rank of ambassador. david pressman of new york to be an alternate representative to the sessions of the general assembly of the united nations. department of defense, deborah ss. wada of hawaii to be assistant secretary of the army. federal housing finance agency, laura s. wertheimer of the district of

james inhofe has drawn up legislation to authorize military action to fight isis anywhere in the worldthe thing is, the president has not asked for such legislation and most likely won't. some food for thought now. according too new cnn/orc poll, americans believe isis is as serious as a threat as al qaeda in 2003 and they believe isis may already be here walking among us. more than seven in ten americans believe isis has terrorists inside the united states, 71% think that. let's talk about that. will cane is a cnn political commentator and a columnist in for the blaze. robert zimmerman zimmerman is ac strategist. good morning to you both. i was shocked by that poll. there's no evidence that isis walks among us from any expert so why do they think that, will? >> i don't think why they think that. of course we don't know if isis is walking amongst us. what we know and what would i guess be leading people, that 71%, towards that conclusion is we hear congressman from peter king to dianne feinstein talking about this being an imminent threat to our country. we have isis itself saying "we'

latest just yesterday from the top republican on the senate armed services committee, senator inhofe.enator wolf of virginia introduced a similar measure. even though senator nelson has cite sided the president in the past for not consulting congress on military action, he's pushing a resolution to give president obama the go-ahead. like the others, nelson's bill would authorize the president to use appropriate military force to protect the u.s. that includes green lighting commando raids and military air surveillance missions. would prohibit rotational ground forces. and the president's authorization would expire three years after the resolution is enacted. no better person to discuss this with than the senator himself, senator nelson, i appreciate your time. i want to get a sense from you right out of the gates as we anticipate hearing from the president this evening. are you going to get a vote? it seems the president doesn't think he needs one. you do. >> well, eventually, we will. i believe that the president has the authority to strike. it's the constitutional authority as comma

i worked with republican senator jim inhofe from oklahoma. within two weeks, we had in a moment on the senate floor. they passed and passed the house and was signed into law by the president. oncen two weeks, it shows again that i am the most moderate senator that i can work across the aisle and get things done, get results for the people of north carolina. the most amazing thing, i landed that we can, coming home from washington back to north carolina, and i had more mothers and more wives who came up to me at the airport, sought me out and said, senator hagan, we were so worried about -- one woman said, senator hagan, i'm so worried about how my son was going to finish his college degree. thank you. do you know, folks, over 50,000 men and women have gotten a college degree under this program? i know how important it is because i know how important education is. voters, i asked for your support so i can continue representing you, putting the middle class first and making the economy work for everyone. thank you. >> speaker tillis? >> i want

. >> thank you, senator inhofe. >> secretary levin, chairman dempsey and i very much appreciate the opportunitywe're asking you to again please sit down, and if not, we're asking you to leave. thank you for -- would you please now leave? would you please now leave? you're acting war like yourself. >> no more war. the american public does not want war. does not want war. no more war. no more war! no more war! no military solution. >> thank you. >> secretary. >> mr. chairman, as i was saying. chairman dempsey and i very much appreciate the opportunity this morning to discuss the president's strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat isil. as you know, you all know, today president obama is in atlanta meeting with cdc officials regarding the ebola crisis, and then will travel tonight to tampa to receive a briefing from the commander of u.s. central command, general austin on operational plans to implement his isil strategy. i'll join the president tomorrow in tampa for that briefing. the defense department, civilian and military leaders are in complete agreement that the united states, our allies a

i worked with republican senator jim inhofe from oklahoma. within two weeks, we had in a moment on the senate floor. it passed and passed the house and was signed into law by the president. within two weeks, it shows once again that i am the most moderate senator that i can work across the aisle and get things done, get results for the people of north carolina. the most amazing thing, i landed that we can, coming home from washington back to north carolina, and i had more mothers and more wives who came up to me at the airport, sought me out and said, senator hagan, we were so worried about -- one woman said, senator hagan, i'm so worried about how my son was going to finish his college degree. thank you. do you know, folks, over 50,000 men and women have gotten a college degree under this program? i know how important it is because i know how important education is. voters, i asked for your support so i can continue representing you, putting the middle class first and making the economy work for everyone. thank you. >> speaker tillis? >> i w

senator inhofe, thank you very much. bill: looking for a ride?asa strikes a multi-billion dollar deal with boeing and spacex for an american-made space taxi. it includes 6 missions expected to run for the next six years. no more reliance on russia. and it will pave the way for sending tourists into space as well. i'm not sure every day tourists. i mean really rich tourists will spend upwards of $50 million for a ride. martha: we are waiting for answers more than two years after the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. the benghazi select committee. this has been a long wait for this moment. it gets underway in 20 minutes. we'll take you there live. bill: the white house scrambling to explain the president's poll numbers. the white house saying it's got nothing to do with the president's policies. >> if the situation improves his rating will improve. but that's not that joke triat the moment. bill: poll numbers show the president's handling of foreign policy at an all-time low. senior political analyst brit hume -- >> i think that's dubio

>> senator, one of points that i made a couple minutes ago in answering senator inhofe's question was the point about training them as units so they can operate as units, which is as you know, with your military experience, is critically mportant as you build an effective opposition force, not just a hit-and-run group of rebels, but an effective force command control, tactics strategy. so, yes, that is the fundamental training principle of how we begin. the length of time here depebbed penneds on a number -- depends on a number of things buzz we're probably talking about eight weeks per cycle. it might move on within a week or two, but that's the intent of how they would train up. the centcom leaders are already focused on that and are preparing and one of the things the president will get tomorrow as he spends the day with the centcom planners and commanders in tampa is taking him through that entire structure. >> thank you. general dempsey, i think in your remarks or the secretary's remarks you suggested that the immediate operation was probably most likely be in iraq simply because

senator inhofe's a great producer of energy. george is a great consumer of energy. we don't have a lot of oil or natural gas or coal. but i'm here because i have a lot of experience in my lifetime, a lot of it with national security issues and with economic issues, and our ability -- or our failure to approve the keystone pipeline and fracking very simply is professional malpractice. i want to refresh everybody's memory. this is the sixth anniversary of a letter to the president of the united states. you know what it's the 35th anniversary of? the arab oil embargo. i was a real estate salesman in the 1970's. when something called the misery index was developed. do you know what the misery index was? we had double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, and double-digit interest rates. why? because the arab oil embargo in the middle 1970's brought america to its knees. this real estate salesman used to have to wait for two hours in a line at an exxonmobil station with a $10 bill to get my ration of gasoline in the 1970's. why? because we depended on the middle ea

senator jim inhofe from oklahoma introduced the senate bill. and, again, they have co-sponsors in both chambers. i think, john, the important piece about this legislation is that it really tries to frame the issue about how do we make good decisions about public education and engage all the parties including local school boards in that process. what we've seen i think over the last number of years -- and, by the way, this isn't just directed at the current administration -- we've seen over a number of administrations over a number of years a growing federal role that's dictating more and more about what's happening in our local schools. and i think, again, as we saw in the gallup poll results, the public is getting kind of tired of that. and i think we have to figure out a better way to have that conversation than we've had recently. >> host: and if you want to join in on this conversation with the national school boards association, you can give us a call. our phone lines are open now. parents can call in at 202-585-3880. teachers can call in

shouting] >> general -- general dempsey -- [shouting] spent thank you, chairman and ranking member inhofe, members of the committee. i do appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel as described in detail the element of our strategy against isil, the role of the united states military is in my judgment appropriate. this is iraq's first strategy but not an iraq only. job one is empowering the iraqi ground forces to go on the offensive which they are already beginning to demonstrate. this requires a partnership with a credible iraqi government which is also showing positive signs of becoming inclusive of all of its population. within his partnership our advisors are intended to help the iraqis develop a mindset for the the offensive and to take actions consistent with offenses. our military adviser to help the iraqis conduct campaign planning, range for a neighbor and logistic support and coordinate our coalition activities. if we reach a point where i believe our advisors should accompany iraqi troops on attacks against specific isil targets, i wil would r

lock up inhofe. >> would it be a fine? jail time? >> it would have to be jail.to stop skeptics in their tracks is to jail them. >> one of the first people he would have to jail would be the cofounder of greenpeace. that is an environmental group. he says there is no scientific proof that%humans cae change. the first one bobby kennedy jr. would have to lock up would be the cofounder of greenpeace. we've got a busy, busy wednesday morning. heather childers has the headlines for us, and she starts with a well-known film maker. >> a couple of headlines for you. the most well known conservative film maker in hollywood will not go to prison over illegal campaign contributions. a judge sentenced desouza to five years probation. >> my faith in an independent judiciary is confirmed. my own country tried to put me away and the court said no. >> d' souza will have to spend eight months in a halfway house and his community service, teaching english to immigrants. >>> want to buy a new car but don't want to pay for it? steal it. that is what these thieves did. they made off

and the press office of senator inhofe, republican of oklahoma, who chairs the armed services committee saying the president's claim of no boots on the ground is an insult of the men and women in iraq today who are serving in harm's way. and then another republican from michigan, when syrian rebels receive arms, who do you think they'll target? we'll keep getting your thoughts for about five more minutes about this idea of the possibility of ground troops being used, combat rolls for the united states. "the washington post" this morning in other news has this headline about the nfl. the marketplace section of the wall street gorp all this morning, the sponsors of the nfl with commercials and other corporate buys is now -- budweiser is pressuring the nfl amid the scandal. it says that mr. kelly declined to share financial details of the nfl sponsorship, but six year dealmaking bud light the official beer is worth about $1.2 billion. back to your calls on this issue of combating isis and the possibility of using combat troops. richard in maryland, independent caller, what do you think? ca

inhofe introduced it in the senate.tries to frame the issue about how do we make good decisions about public education and engage all of the parties, including local school boards in the process. what we have seen over the last number of years -- this is not just directed at the current administration -- we have seen a number of administration over a number of years, the growing federal role that dictates what happens in local schools. as we saw in the gallup poll results, the public is tired of that. we have to figure out a better way to have that conversation that we have had recently. host: if you want to join in on the conversation, you can give us a call. the phone lines are open. parents can call in at (202) 585-3880. teachers can call in at (202) 585-3881. a special line for school board members, (202) 585-3882. we would like to hear from you in this segment as we talk with the executive director of the national school board association. if you are) 585-3882 a member of a local school board. all others can call i

inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to be heard as if in morning business for 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i'm speaking for two almost unrelated reasons right now on two different subjects but it's very important, i think first of all, when you look at what is happening with isis, we've gone through all kinds of terrorist activities, we all know that we're in a crisis right now and i'm inclined to agree and i don't always agree with secretary hagel but the other day when he said that the isis is an imminent threat to every interest we have whether it's in iraq or anywhere else. this is a big deal, mr. president. you know, as america sat back and looked and observed and saw the beheading of some americans, you know, that's -- a lot of us would say that's an act of war. this is something this that is really big. i just found out recently that as of yesterday and it will be announced in the next two days, that there's a poll that has bee

under the capable leadership of chairman levin and ranking member inhofe, the armed services committee approved a bill more than three months ago. so has the full house house. it's passed its authorization act. i hope that even at this late date, majority leader reid will allow our country's major defense policy bill to come to the senate floor for consideration soon. an annual blueprint of the military priorities is vital to making sure that our troops have what they need to protect our national security interests at home and abroad. this year's bill, for example, includes a provision to stave off drastic cuts to the u.s. army, which would put troop strength at levels not seen before world war ii. well-trained units like the 155th heavy brigade combat team in my home state of mississippi should not be jeopardized by shortsighted and ill-considered proposals by the obama administration. instead, under the committee bill, an independent commission would have the opportunity to make recommendations on force structure and size before the national guard personnel could be cut or the apache