he was -- he said they were the j.v. team at one point. he's had a very measured assessment of isis and that has been controversial. gwen: the obvious backdrop continues to be the fractious presidential campaign. the republicans are fighting and everyone else hoping for a piece of the action. trump: i am totally committed to the republican party. i feel very honored to be the frontrunner. >> for marco to suggest our record is same, it's like suggesting the fireman and the arsonist as the same record because they're both at the scene of the fire. gwen: and tonight, the democrats got in the action as the d.n.c. and the clinton capable accused bernie sanders of political dirty tricks. >> the leadership of the d.n.c. has used this incident to shut down our ability to access our own information, information which is the lifeblood of this campaign. gwen: what a way to go through the holiday season. that is not holiday spirits. explain what that fueled was about. >> i'll try to explain it as simply as i can but it's complicated. the democratic na

response to criticize the decision in my own personal view is anybody who refers to isis as the j.v. team is not in the position to lecture anybody of the topic of iraq. but your sense of what you did and why you did it and people may not be fully aware. >> there were questions of we should go to baghdad but what happened there is an item called the 11. if they saw the world trade towers in flight 93 was taken in we have reporting in the aftermath remember 19 guys are rarely armed with airliners. and if you look at the history of the world we were concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons. killed back to 1981. the baghdad in saddam hussein had their reactor and the israelis took it out. and we took it out in desert storm. fast-forward 2003 related judgment that said saddam hussein was back in the nuclear business. but the threat that ended immediately in iraq was to examples already because what happened he had uranium feedstock when we took down it was five days after he came out of his whole. a year and he did. they and that did a couple of things think of what happened if he

this is the j.v. team, they are contained contradicted by the joint chiefs and dianne feinstein and they do not represent an existential threat to america. wrong on all fronts. how can the president of the united states be at this level of denial which is now bordering on a pathological illness of some kind. >> i think it's a combination of two things. i think it's the naked king, naked emperor. nobody in his bubble wants to tell him what the truth is. it is clear he's isolated from america and from the threat. second, it's an incredible combination of arrogance and ignorance. we have people in the white house, deputy national security advisors whose qualifications are a maste erers degree in fi n fictional writings and fine arts. since when does that qualify you to protect america and understand the threat? we have incompetence mixed with arrogance and combined with isolation, that's how we are in this alice and wonderland fantasy today where the commander in chief thinks global warming or climate change

let's be honest, isis was never j.v. team and won't be resolved to fighting climate change but it was a good farative to quell the fear of the american public. this farative stands in stark contrast with the real farative being told by military officials, the one being ignored. we have from the center of immigration studies, an analysis of the visa waiver program improvement act of 2015, this out december 14. and it reviews the house bill drafted to tighten up the visa waiver program and been reported that this may be included in the omnibus. we'll find out. 2016 spending bill, as a kind of political replacement for the bill passed in november to tighten up the refugee screening . this article goes on from the center for immigration studies hat one key provision makes it oubds for people who have visited or who are natives of syria or iraq or state sponsors of terror to use the visa waiver program. another major provision tightens up requirements and certifications by countries to live by the conditions of participation inclu

afteruary 2014, only days isis invaded fallujah, the assident dismissed the group a j.v. teamterror. that same month, his own of homeland security, a man who i deeply respect, the jihadiste that threat.ming more the president touted his draw down of american forces overseas declared the shadow of passed.as later the director theunced that it was deadliest in the history of global terror. the president's words came only shocking charlie attacks in paris. i assure you they did not think passed.ow of cries had claimedth the president that isis was too taint. the president said isis.a was safe from i've had enough. threatot be blind to the before us. isis is not contained. at a great cost to the free world. november, the group managed to conduct three major terrorist on three separate continents in just three weeks. ons is not a terrorist group the run. it is a terrorist group on the march. and their ability to conduct operations is growing. linked more than westernr plots against targets. it has established presence in countries. ives fromcruited operate nations. isis is now more

vince you remember earlier in the year he called isis the j.v. team.said isis was contained in the geographic area in syria and iraq. he has said we are safe and the borders are being protected. and yet we have this horrendous attack that's just like right off the grid. man, oh, man, is it off the radar. these two young terrorists coming in, shooting up their friends, at least in sayed's case, his co-workers. and americans are worried and we're scared. can't president reassure us tonight? >> right. well, that's his mission. and the president of the united states in the wake of a terror attack needs to come out and comfort the nation. of course now tonight we're going to be looking for a couple of things in addition to the comfort. we also want to know that the president has adapted his strategy. because his own top officials have regularly said in public that isis indeed is not contained. despite the president looking to downplay the terror threat that's existed from isis throughout its existence. so now tonight after we see a terror attack on american

we're not going to call isis the j.v. team unless we're serious about taking them out. no more grand owes reset buttons and never following it up while allowing putin to go guard while we pull back. terror and nation states that no longer think the united states is willing to expend the capital necessary to be a serious leader and whether it's libya, where hillary clinton literally said -- this is the aversion of smart power at its finest and then we saw the tragedy of benghazi take place and now we have three or four different militias, including an i sighs related terrorist group that is trying to destabilize tunisia. across the spectrum of the middle east, because we have pulled back, we're now at a far worse place. three months ago i went to the reagan library to lay out a plan to destroy isis, not to contain. that's exactly what we need to do and only american leadership will make that happen. what i said then is what i believe today, that we need a no-fly zone. for those worried about what russia will think, russia should be a little more worried about what we do.

the word defeat isis. 15 months later, we have not contain ed them, and found out they are not the j.v. team, and that is the bottom line, we have to defeat isis, and that the finest among us, and they are involved to be with the military and defeat the enemies, but president obama has not agreed to take the action required to take. i don't know what the sacrifice is going to be, but that is what the finest among us have signed up to do which is to keep the nation staf, and defend our freedoms. >> he says that right now, apparently, we might hear it directly from the president in the news conference, the threat from isis, and yes, it is significant, but it is not enough to justify what would be the cost of human lives and the cost in money if the u.s. were to go forward with this kind of deployment, and does he make a good case from your perspective? >> is he backing a wway from th stated goal of defeating isis, because if he wants to defeet isis, it is going to be taking ground troops, but we need american leadership to assemble the coalition of the willing like george h.w. bush did in the

and president obama called isis the j.v. teamck in paris and san bernardino, the president was forced to revise the threat. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> and the real story of 2015, the donald. >> i'm at number one for a lot. >> and he is disrupting politics and reredefining what it mean s to be a presidential candidate. >> when mexico sends the people, they are not sending the best. >> and his blunt and some say bigoted behavior is met with outrage and unstoppable rise in the republican primary poll numbers. >> and frankly, i am the most solid person up here. >> reporter: will he win the white house next year or will america say, "you're fired." >> and the question is who and what will top the list next year. jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> jake, thank you so much, and there is no way of predicting that if this year is any example. if you heading out for the holidays today, safe travels. thank you for joining us this hour. hour. "legal view" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac

isis is not the j.v. team. they control large swaths of land. they have to be defeated with boots on the ground and don't have to include a large combat force of the united states. but we are going to have -- without american leadership, it will not happen. we have to rally the saudis, the egyptians to join a kind of well led and supported by air power american effort to defeat isil and until that happens, the problem will persist. you need to have safe zones inside syria so people don't feel like they have to run for their lives. >> as my friend points out, they are not boots, they are people. senator mcconnell: they don't have to be all of ours. america needs to stand up and says here's the plan. i need this many troops from you, france, for example or britain, for example. this many troops from you egyptians, saudis, jordanians. it requires american leadership or it will not happen. until that leadership is provided by this president or the next one, the problem will continue. >> we have a number of interns watching us. you were an intern for

picture and eight won't be one of an organization in terms of the islamic state that setback or j.v. team. i think the national counter-terrorism center has been very, very consistent to the threat we are facing from al qaeda, the islamic state and radical islamists. martha: why would the president be surprised by anything he hears? >> he should not be surprised. unless he's not paying attention. even what he sees, but also what he should be seeing every day from his intelligence community leaders in something called the presidential daily read book. i have been privileged to be able to read that particular document, and for the last few years, i'll tell you there is not a lot of good news in that. i think the president is finally coming to the realization this problem is not just isolated in a place called raqqa, syria, it's happening right here at home. not just what happened the tragedy of san bernardino, martha, but you have seen the recent hoaxes in los angeles, i think there is one going on today in multiple cities certainly down in texas. so, i mean, this is a problem. and it's not

he referred to i have the as a j.v. team before isil stormed across syria and iraq taking territory much of which they still hold to this point. the day before the attacks in paris less than a month ago, the president told an interviewer that isil had largely been contained within iraq and syria. there are the perpetual charges against this president that he is a lot of, i think the san bernardino attacks and the allegation that it is connected to terrorism or as the president said, these two individuals, this man and wife were radicalized by the message they're hearing from isil and other groups kicked it up a notch to where the president felt and we are told he decided friday to deliver this rare oval office speech, labor in the timing, that it's a sunday, that it's in the oval office unusual in many respects. he decided to have the speech to the nation in this style on sunday from the oval office. the white house has gone on a relative p.r., portraying the fight against isil as having been won. another thing was the chang

isis is not the j.v. team. they control large swaths of land in syria and iraq. they have to be defeated with boots on the ground and don't necessarily have to include a large combat force of the united states. but we are going to have -- without american leadership, it will not happen. we have to rally the saudis, the egyptians to join a kind of well led and supported by air power american effort to defeat isil , and until that happens, the problem will persist. you need to have safe zones inside syria so people don't feel like they have to run for their lives. >> we are going to need more troops, and as my friend points out, they are not boots, they are people. yes,ity leader mcconnell: you will need more boots they , don't have to be all of ours. america needs to stand up and says here's the plan. here is what we need to do. i need this many troops from you, france, for example or britain, for example. this many troops from you egyptians, saudis, jordanians. it requires american leadership or it will not happen. until that leadership is provided by this presid

. >> well, certainly stronger language than the president has used in the j.v. team stuff.d a more robust strategy. even in her speech, there was not a huge amount in terms of actual policy that was very different from what the white house has done. i think there's a direct line between president obama, donald trump and hillary clinton, the weaker president obama looks, the stronger trump becomes and that makes the hillary campaign happy. they buy into this argument he's not going to be the nominee. if he is the nominee, they see themselves walking into the white house. i think, the best argument we hear donald trump is not going to win the nomination is he wins iowa seasoned new hampshire and the voters wake up to him being the nominee and electable. that seems to be the best argument that trump's not the nominee. it doesn't reflect the polls but there's pause blt in it. >> it could happen. also, cruz could win iowa and establishment figure could win new hampshire and the momentum could be so broken up that wouldn't happen. the problem is if trump puts iowa in new hampshir

in january 2014, only days after isis invaded fallujah, the president dismissed the group as a j.v. teamf terror. that same month, his own secretary of homeland security, a man who i deeply respect, agreed with me that the jihadist in syria was becoming more threat. year, in the state of union address the president , touted his draw down of american forces overseas and declared the shadow of crisis has passed. only a month later the director of national intelligence announced that it was the deadliest in the history of global terror. indeed the president's words , came only weeks after the shocking charlie hebdo attacks in paris. when i recently met with french counterterrorism officials i , assure you they did not think the shadow of cries had passed. last month the president claimed that isis was too taint. -- isis was contained. last week the president said america was safe from isis. safe from an isis attack. the same morning the san bernardino terrace conducted their massacre. i've had enough. we cannot be blind to the threat before us. isis is not contained. it is expanding at a gr

he called the isis, isis the j.v. team.hey defied american air strikes, expanded their cali fat, killing everyone in their way. he declared isis was contained hours before 134 people were slaughtered in the city of lights. he said there was no immediate credible threat to the homeland. days later, 14 people died in san bernardino at the hands of isis sympathizers. mr. speaker, congress needs to approve an authorization to use military force. specifically against isis. isis is at war with the united states. it's time for the united states to be at war with isis. and the commander in chief should lead us to absolute victory. that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from tennessee seek recognition? mrs. blackburn: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. my colleagues have c