well, none other than than democratic congressman jim mcdermott. i sat down with representative mcdermott in his washington office. >> congressman, thank you so much for talking to me today. >> nice to see you. >> stephen: tell me about the fighting 7th. >> the 7th district is a interesting place. seattle is a wonderful place it has drawn people from all over the country. >> stephen: sir mixalot is also from seattle, congressman, do you like big butts? >> i'm sorry. >> stephen: you cannot lie, sir. >> tell me what-- . >> stephen: when a girl walks if in with a itty-bitty waste and-- in your face do you get strung. >> i'm not sure what you are driving at. >> stephen: i will ascertain in the clearest way possible whether you like big butts. >> the answer is no. >> stephen: no, okay. on a different subject, you famously refused to say the words under god in the pledge of allegiance in on the floor of the house. what dow have against god. >> one of the problems you have with under god is which god are you talking about. are you talking about the muslim

. >> reporter: jim mcdermott stood before a packed church, people eagle for share their opinions, to have their thoughts about a strike in syria considered. >> we go into iraq, then we make a mess in iraq. then we go into libya. we make a mess in libya. now we want to go in syria. >> syria is sick and bashar al-assad is cancer. he needs to be stopped at all costs. >> this is a very complicated situation. i think we would be better to think more about it and not be so certain. [applause] >> mcdermott said he will likely vote against an airstrike. >> sending people to war to die or to kill other people is probably the most difficult thing--it is the most difficult thing i do. >> although thinks constituents are clear on his past record of voting on war, his crowd urged him to weigh all of the factors. >> i want him to really think it through because i think it's so very, very complex. there is n no good way to go forward. >> several iraqis and several service men and women lost their lives. we're done. >> he said he will take all these opinions back with him to washington. al jazeera,

i want to start with jim mcdermott.as stunned when i got this late last night after the committee voted. not only does it declares our policy to be support a changing momentum in the battlefield, but it says the provisional all forms of assistance of the syrian political opposition. this is like a gulf of tonkin thing thrown in here. we're taking sides as an act of belligerence in that civil war over there. i was struck by it. congressman? >> so were we. when i read that last night, i thought wow. this has gone much further than i had thought the senate resolution would go. which was trying to define a narrow mission. and suddenly we had section 5 put in, which seemed very reminiscent to me of the resolution we worked on in 2002 going into the war on terror. i was very -- i was made very uncomfortable by seeing that, because i don't know what it means. there are some vague terms in this about deter and, you know, sort of de-emphasize some of their power. i couldn't -- i don't know what they're after. and there is going

representative jim mcdermott, thank you very much for joining us from california.ghts. >> you're welcome. >>> a footnote worth mentioning that federal agencies have to use up time, energy all resources to man for a shutdown. so for every day the government is shutdown, it's going to cost the american taxpayers still $100 million. >>> in today's office politics, today show co-host hold da kotb talks about her friendship with kathie lee gifford. how it got started. first i asked her what it was like growing up in oklahoma and west virginia with her most unique name. >> i was a frizzy-haired -- i had stop sign glasses. i was the nerd. i had the weird name. i was the weirdo. mainly through -- they used to always say to me, use your playground voice because i was always quiet and sort of just timid. and it seems weird now to think that's who i was. hello. but i was really -- i didn't want to be singled out. when you have a funny name, you hate roll call. you're sweating it. they're like mark kaufman, chris kennedy, oh, ho, okay. you're like. like you're like please just

the focus of congress is on syria, with me is congressman jim mcdermott. it's good to see you and thank you for being with us. >> it's good to be here. >> so what was your reaction today to the vote in the senate? >> well, it said one thing that i think people have wondered. this is not going to be a party line vote. this is the toughest vote that any member of the congress that are in the house or the senate has to make. that is acceptin sending people. it is not something that you decide on party or who the president is or anything is or anything else. you think about the 750,000 people you represent, and try to represent what you think is the best thing for them. and you got a split vote in the senate. i think that's what is going to happen in the house. a very split vote. >> i know you've been opposed to war at times in the past. how do you stand on this? >> well, i'm leaning no, i don't think going in--but i'm one who--i'm a physician, and i believe you continue to gather as much information as you can so that you can make the best decision on behalf

. >> congressman jim mcdermott and joan walsh, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks for having me. >>> coming up, the epic republican misstatements about obama care. we'll investigate the toxic group of right wing extremism and big money coming together to distort the truth. >>> plus here comes sarah palin. she's hammering john mccain and talking about cannibal elephants. huh? we'll have to explain that one. >>> and an american crisis president obama is fighting to fix. the justice system targeting minorities. our special series, criminal injustice, begins tonight. >>> also friend or foe, i want to know. e-mail me. reply al is ahead. [ man ] this isn't my first career. but it might just be my favorite. [ female announcer ] welcome to the new aarp. we're ready to help you rediscover purpose and passion with programs like life reimagined to inspire you and connect you, resources to help turn your goals and dreams into real possibilities. aarp, an ally for real possibilities. find new tools and ideas for work, money, health and fun at aarp.org/possibilities. all your important leg

joining me now are congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington state. and michelle cottle. thank you both for being here. >> good to be here. >> congressman, today even the conservative wall street journal is warning republicans against shutting down the government. i mean, what are you hearing? is speaker boehner listening to the journal? or to the tea party at this point? >> at this point i think speaker boehner has lost all touch with reality. he is really cottoning over to the tea bag folks and they are just running over the cliff. and they cannot stop themselves and it's hard to find anybody on that side making any sense. they have promised us inflation, promised a collapse of the economy. all of these things have not happened despite their best efforts to destroy the president' plan for recovery. >> what is the reason for this congressman? i mean, is this good politics? what is the incentive for them doing this? something so dangerous in terms how it will impact the american population and american public. >> it's all politics, al. they don't want the president to suc

joining me now, democratic congressman of washington state, jim mcdermott.sman, thanks so much for joining me. >> good to be here. >> congressman, you know, i guess we're headed for a shutdown. your thoughts on the events of last night, the emotions? there were a lot of high tensions last night. your thoughts? >> well, i two weeks ago would have said we were not going to have a shutdown. but it's pretty clear that we are now going to have one. there's one last chance. it sits in the hands of john boehner. when the bill comes back from the senate clean, the speaker could at that point say, i'm going to put it on the desk and we're going to vote on it. and then nancy pelosi would deliver 200 votes for a clean resolution. and a few reasonable republicans will make it pass. if john boehner takes it back into the caucus, we are certainly going to go over the midnight hour and we will have the shutdown. now, i lived through the one in 1995. and i know what it's like. i'm among a very few in the place that saw what happened. and it is going to be ugly. >> yeah. it

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joining us now on the telephone line is congressman jim mcdermott a democrat from wash state, he hasur program before. i want to ask you what your reaction was today to the president's decision here. >> well, first of all i was very pleased that the president had decided to hold back until he had allowed congress to come in to session and to debate this issue you and make its vice heard. i think to have gonna loan without the support of the congress would have been a mistake. for that a plowed him. >> but you still think that that he inning vend to move forward? >> -- >> i am sorry. >> but i still think he intends whether there is congressional support to move forward? >> that's unclear, somebody asked at the end of the president conference whether he would move forward with or without or approval? he didn't ask that questioner. i don't know where that stands. and i think that will be part what have we decide or talk about during the week when we get back to washington, d.c. i think the thing that is really troublesome here has always been what is the end goal here? is it just simply

congressman jim mcdermott earlier spoke about responsibility. he talked about how we in congress and we as a nation must take responsibility for these broken lives. i accept responsibility for what i have done. i accept responsibility for taking whole men and women and sending them to war. i take responsibility for those two soldiers who committed suicide under my command, under my watch. it's not an easy thing to do. but that's what you have to do as a soldier, because you're always ready and you're always there. illinois is very -- was very lucky in my command, we went several years without a single suicide while other states were losing soldiers and airmen. and we were very proud of that. we thought we were doing a great job. and of course, oh, it was -- because we were doing such a great job, we drove it down to the lowest levels, it was ok to be stressed and ok to get help and those were good things and they were the right things to do but it wasn't all that we did. because i know those figures were a lie. i know those zero suicides were a