We start tonight at the political warfront, capitol hill, where the president charges like the light brigade with cannons on the right and on the left of him. Senator angus king is an independent from maine. Senator, can you support the president s call for an authorization of military force to fight isis . Can you support it . Yes, i want to see the final language, chris, there are a lot of issue that is havent gone before the Foreign Relations committee, but i think its entirely appropriate that the president has come to us for this authorizations. You put your finger on it in the introduction. Its a fascinating flipping of the parties, where the republicans are pushing for more openended authority for the president to act unilaterally form the democrats are calling for more controls. I think the white house has tried to define it down the middle with this phrase enduring offensive Ground Combat operations. Theyre trying to try to find that middle ground, but its a fascinating debate. Can it also be that politicians and both sides dont like to be tied to what could turn out to be a bloody war . Isnt it a safer position to vote against no matter what the war is . Let me ask you about this no, youre right. Youre right about that. Do you really think that left, the dovish left, they really think that obama is a secret hawk, that hes going to take this authority and run with it and start a major land war . Do they really believe that barack obama is a secret hawk . I dont buy that. I dont believe they think that. Within an hour yesterday, i heard both sides of that debate. I heard democrats saying the authority he was asking for was too broad, and a half hour later republicans saying it was too narrow. It was like going down the rabbit hole. Maybe youre right, chris, on one point, and that is i think that congress is much more adept at criticizing and secondguessing than its for taking responsibility. Thats why guys like tim kaine and i have been pushing since last august, this is a constitutional responsibility. Were supposed to take this responsibility, the framers of the constitution did not want president s that unilaterally have the power to take us into war. What word do you want changed . Enduring . Combat . That seems to be where its at, that phrase. What dont you like about the word enduring . Is it enduring for a week . Two weeks or six months . Im not necessarily uncomfortable with the phrase, but it needs to be defined. Usually when terms are used . Statutory language theres a history of covert cases or prior statutes. I think this is a brandnew phrase and has to be defined. The last 250i78 the president was in a situation he wanted or troops out of afghanistan by a date certain and he was beat to hell for saying a date. Youre telling the enemy what date were leaving. Now the congress is saying when are we going in and going out . We want a date. Yeah, no, and i agree with you. Isnt that an irony . It is an irony. I dont think he should have put the date at the end of afghanistan. But in this case theyve got a day that says three years, but it says unless extended by congress. So its not really a final date in that sense. If it were, were going to do this in three years and its over, i wouldnt buy that for a minute, but the fact is its a renewable authorization, if you will, so congress has to play its constitutional responsible role of making these decisions. Brandnew nbc poll injures out, maris poll shows that 54 of americans Want Congress to back his authorization. What do you think of the polls in this case on wars . Do they endure . I wonder, do they endure . They change. There was a 60 , 70 against any involvement, and then we had the beheadings last summer, and it jumped up. I think they varies according to whats going on in the field. But i think fundamentally the issue here is, a, do we want to take these guys on . I think most people agree that we should, we have to, theyre a danger to us, to the entire world. Should the president get some congressional authorization to do so . The answer is yes, in packet because at the makes the whole intersurprise stronger. If its not just the president acting unilaterally. Well, the democratic critics are saying they are concerned, as you are, about the restrictions, they arent strong enough. Here was senator joe manchin here yesterday on hardball. The bottom line is im not going to vote for the interpretation, we can have combat Ground Forces on the front line fighting someone elses war. Just to showcase this, on the right theyre worried the language will limit it too much. Lets listen to orrin hatch. Here we have the president well, i dont know about the language i dont know how senators call president stupid. Im sorry, senator hatch. I have no problem with you personally, but you have to stop talking about a president like that. Hes stupid . Your thoughts, senator. How do you get the language together, the duty of the senate is to deliberate. How does the effort to the greatest deliberative body achieve a coalescing. There is too much language restricting. Well, i think what you will see is a fascinating hearing and fascinating debate. You have people like bob menendez, corker, tim kaine, very thoughtful people. I disagree with a bit. Manchin is right, but maybe for different reasons. 9 reality is Ground Troops from america arent going to win this war. Its gob to be arabs and muslims taking on arabs and muslims. If we go in there, thats exactly what isis wants. In other words, it wont be effective, but, you know ive got to say, dont you find it ironic, chris, youve been watching this for a long time, to see republicans arguing that this president should take broader, unlimited authority. That isnt what ive been hearing around here the last two years. I think congress has to take this responsibility. Its exactly what the framers intended for us to do, and i think we can work out some language that will meet everybodys requirements. I certainly hope so. Thank you senator king from maine for coming on. Lets bring on senator isaacson, senator, thank you for joining us. This is like a mathematical explosive model, where one size says weft more restrictions in the weeks ahead. 9 other says we want less. I think angus is right. We definitely need to fill in some of the los angeles and i think the Foreign Relations committee will do that, but rest assured a lot of us want to make sure we get it right, because getting it wrong will not be good for america and american interests. Do you think its fair to say this would be for the nestr next president , sometimes in the late part of next year, you could write a whole new resolution for the next president. This wouldnt be gonching the next president , would it . Well, it would end at the beginning of the next president s term, but heres the way i see it. The president has demonstrated less than the necessary appetite in my opinion to go after isil. I think this resolution will protract whats gone on in that part of the world. American people are tired of sees young folks like ms. Mueller, and the jordanian pilot being killed. Youve got to kill them in return, and we need a commitment to do exactly what the president has said he wants to do, and that is destroy isil. The only way you do that is with military action. Do you think the language of this authorization can make the president more aagreesive . I think it needs to make the president s more specific. We need to know what were getting into. If the goal is to degrade and then destroy, we need to give him the ability to destroy. If he does not want to use that ability or limits it by rules of engagement or time, then we have a problem on our hands. Have you thought about how we, using the tools we have, airpower, special forces, the kurds who are great fighters, what else, certainly now the Jordanian Air force, which is gung ho now. We dont have a decent, even a reasonably decent uncorrupt iraqi government, or army. Whos going to do this fighting when it comes down to taking territory and holding it . Who is going to do that . If it were my choice alone, first of all i would put a nofly zone over syria to protect the people we trained in syria. Number two, i would give the Ground Forces the opportunity to do what they have to do. We already have 5200 on the ground in iraq supporting the air war. It may take a few more. We ought to do that. We need to degrade and destroy isil, and eventually it will take a coordinated effort between the air, the ground and between all military units and the arab country that is surround us. But who take the land . Who takes back that part of iraq and syria from the bad guys and turns it over to whom . Who gets the new land were taking back from the bad guys . That part of that, that critical part doesnt seem clear to me in the strategy. Thats very perceptive, if you replace assad, who do you replace him with . First were trying to train a syrian army to fight the old syrian army and run assad out. That of course will pique the interest of the iranians, which is a whole other issue, but doing nothing, not going after them, not deciding we are going to destroy isil is not a good policy for america. I agree. I agree. One thing i agree on with the senator it may not be important what i think, but i dont see a strategy for victory against isis yet anywhere. Thank you for joining us. Senator isaacson of georgia. Coming up, the democrats have picked their convention city. What better place for the democrats to lay claim to every it stands for, liberty, equality, of course, all men are created equal, the pursuit of happy sinuses, about gay cup 8s theres so much they can say from the declaration of independence from independence hall, from the liberty hall. What happens to republicans when they go to london . What is wrong with the air over there . Chris christie botcheded the question of vaccines. Were going to ask londons mayor boris johnson, whats in the air over there thats making republicans so confused . Their brains get foggy in foggy london. Reince priebus vows the party will make gains, but lets compare his words with the bigtime efforts to suppress the black vote across america. Finally a switch by the party of Abraham Lincoln, and under Reince Priebus to massive resistance. This is hardball, the place for politics. Sensitive bladder . Try new always discreet up to 40 thinner, for superior comfort. Absorbs 2x more than you may need. No wonder more women already prefer new always discreet pads over poise. Visit alwaysdiscreet. Com for coupons and to learn more. Our name your price tool helps oh, jamie you got a Little Something on the back of your shoe there. A price tag danger price tag alert oh. Hey, guys. Price tag alert is this normal . Well, progressive is a price tag free zone. We let you tell us what you want to pay and we help you find options to fit your budget. Where are they taking him . I dont know. This seems excessive decontamination in progress. I dont want to tell you guys your job, but. Policies without the price tags. Now, thats progressive. Another republican is testing the waters. John kasich is heading to South Carolina next week. Its his first trip to one of the early primary states, and its raising eyebrows. He won reelection last year by a big margin. If he doesnt run for president , likely to be on the short list for vp next year. I like the guy. Well be right back. Female announcer through president s day, get 36 months interestfree financing, and save up to 300 on beautyrest and posturepedic. Even get three years interestfree financing on tempurpedic. Plus, free delivery, set up and removal of your old set. And sleep trains 100day money back guarantee. Keep more president s in your wallet. This special financing offer ends president s day at sleep train. Guaranteed sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep gonna fly now it means a lot in my home city. Today the Democratic National committee announced the city of my hometown of philadelphia has been selected to host the 2016 convention. They beat out brook listen and columbus, they last convened there in 1948, and they will highlight the values of the independence and the role philadelphia has played in the nations founding. The dnc released this video on facebook earlier today soon after the decision was made. Here it is. Its philadelphia. Anyway, joining me, very dramatic, debra. You like that . Bringing the convention to fp. The chair, florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultz, ed ren democrat, michael nutter, and pennsylvanias senior u. S. Senator, bob casey. Dont take all the time, because i want everybody to talk here. Congresswoman, the choice many philadelphia, how much was it about the symbolic history of the city . Well, the main three reasons that we focused on for any of the cities when we decided on philadelphia, was resources, logistics and security. But philadelphia is the cradle of democracy, chris, as you have said many times during this review. The opportunity to nominate the next president of the United States in philadelphia with the backdrop of the birth of our nation, and to showcase the democratic partys values of inclusion and empowerment and creating more opportunities for people to succeed, thats what its all about. Were thrilled to be coming to philadelphia. I was so excited to call mayor nut are, governor rendell and senator casey this morning. Im so happy for you, mr. Mayor. Congratulations. What a great way to end your tour, your terms as mayor of philadelphia. Clean as a whist 8, which is a big deal in philadelphia, to be completely clean. We love that. But youre productive. You brought the pope, and youre not even catholic anymore. [ laughter ] even though you went to st. Joes, and youre going to make it even more important. Tell us why it happened. What did you do right . Well, chris, thank you very much. What we did right is we made sure that everyone had a role to play, played their role properly, as the chairwoman wagser man shultz pointed on you we focused on the resource, logistics and security. Governor rendell with his previous experience as mayor and party chair, philly having hosted the 2000 republican convention, a convention nonetheless and all the things that go with that, having senator casey, and the work he has contributed, his relationship, of course, not only with the party, about you with the white house, congressman bob brady, the leader of our party here, and the person who has been pushing this idea for some time. We didnt think we were ready, i didnt think we were ready for 12, but i nigh we would be ready go 2016. Security is our big thing here in philadelphia. The enthusiasm about this, chris, you know philly, is off the charts. People are really excited in the streets of philadelphia. Again, i want to say thank you to the chair for picking philly. Governor rendell, you gave us a great boost of morale, whats this going to mean in terms of recognition, finally philly will be the center of our country for at least a couple weeks. Well, we have a tremendous boost from the republican convention. People saw philadelphia and couldnt believe the changes that had occurred. As mayor nutter pointed out today, all the good things that were in place in 2000, those things have just progressed under mayor street and mayor nutter. Its a hotbed for millennials, count to bon apetit its a great restaurant city. Conde nast called it the best cultural city. And the good news is the team that ran it at the wells fargo center, the police team, the transportation team, that team is all intact, ready to go, and to do as flawless a job in 2016, as we did in 2000, but i think in the end and debbie is right about the three criteria they applied, but in the end, the ability to do this and to nominate maybe the first woman whos nominated for the presidency in the history of the country, to do that with a backdrop of independence hall, liberty bell, constitution center, i think that was compelling. Has secretary clinton got a room at the ritz carlton yet . Are you all said . Because my wife can help im just kidding. Senator casey, this is a big deal for pennsylvania. Secretary clinton whose family comes out scranton, a Vice President comes from scranton, and youre from scranton, as your dad was. This is a big week for scranton, troo, though they do root for the yankees, and were not very happy about that. Not all of them. Senator, go ahead. I would say its a great day for philadelphia for sure, and for the region, southeastern pennsylvania. Its also a great day for the commonwealth. Weve got great support, as governor rendell and mayor nutter know from all across the state. The state united behind philadelphias bid. So it was a great effort to accentuate the city thats the birthplay of america, and i think well chart a course for the future. One footnote here, though, were grate 68 for the chairwomans work, she did great work, but you do not want to be on a witness stand when shes crossexamining you like she did the three of us. Would eflgt to thank the chairman of the city committee, too, of course. Absolutely. Congresswoman debbie waserman shoots, in more simp language, thank you, debbie. Youre welcome. Were thrilled. Thank you all, gentlemen, thank you, congresswoman. Up next, why do candidates keep getting tripped in the obligatory trips to london, first chris christie, now johnson. All the way across the pond, this is hardball, the place for politics. Boy once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. One day, it started to rain. The house tried to keep out all the water, but water got inside and ruined everybodys everythings. The house thought she let the family down. They just didnt think it could happen. They told the house they would take better care of her. Always. Announcer protect what matters. Get flood insurance. Welcome back to hardball. Weve seen an odd trend lately of candidates embarrassing themselves while in london. Chris christie ignited a fire democrat storm when he suggested parents should have more choice about whether to vaccinate their children. Refused to answer any questions. Do believe in it do you accept it . To me im going to punt that as well. No. Really . Thats a question a politician shouldnt be involved in one way or the other. Any british politician, right or left wing, would laugh and say yes, of course, evolution is true. To me its just one of those im here to talk about trade, not to pontificate on other issues. I love the evolution of trade in wisconsin, it is going well, and would like to see an even bigger elf. Louisiana governor bobby jindal suggested to cnn that there are socalled nogo zones in london that are unsafe for nonmuslims. There are people in london that will tell you there are neighborhoods where the women dont feel safe walking through the neighborhoods without veils. There are neighborhoods where the police are less like