[Camerota:] As U.S. world leaders as world leaders, I should say, work to build a coalition to fight ISIS, two prominent Republican lawmakers are calling for the U.S. to deploy more ground troops to the region. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham join us from Iraq this morning. Senator Graham is also a Republican presidential candidate. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY all the way from Irbil, Iraq. It's great to see you. Senator Graham, let me start with you. Tell us what we know that neither of you are fans of the current Obama administration strategy to fight ISIS. Senator Graham, what have you seen on the ground in your past few days and what are you specifically calling for now?
[Sen. Lindsey Graham , Presidential Candidate:] OK. Some progress. I think Ramadi, which is in Anbar province, can be taken back from ISIL. And I want to congratulate General McFarland and the Iraqi security forces. But otherwise, Mosul, which is a very large city in Iraq is still in ISIL hands. There's no strategy regarding Syria. We had a major city in Libya, a city in Libya, the home of Khadafy fall into ISIS hands. It's all about Syria. There is no credible regional strategy. There's no ground component to destroy ISIL in Syria. If you don't destroy them in Syria where the caliphate is headquartered, you never fix Libya or Iraq. So just a lack of strategy. American leadership and foreign policy is in freefall.
[Camerota:] Senator McCain, I know that you agree with your colleague and friend, Senator Graham. So President Obama would say that the strategy in Syria, the airstrikes, they say the airstrikes are working. But you both are calling for more ground troops. Am I right about the number 20,000 that you think would do the job of getting rid of ISIS in Syria and Iraq?
[Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] Well, the first thing we need is what's agreed by Hillary Clinton is a no-fly zone in Syria so we can protect the people from barrel bombing, have a place where the refugees could go and stop the slaughter that is driving so many millions of people into refugee status. The second thing we need to do is probably have some kind of coalition of largely Arab countries to go to Syria and take out ISIS. Look, it's this simple. We're going to fight them there or we're going to fight them in Washington, D.C., or Phoenix, Arizona. And they are metastasizing. Lindsey just mentioned Libya. They're metastasizing all over the Middle East. And we do not have a regional strategy. We think some number of troops, along with this coalition, would be the way to take out ISIS. And to also make sure that Bashar al-Assad leaves power, as well, since he is the butcher that has killed 250,000 of his own people.
[Camerota:] Senator Graham, I've read that you are proposing a 100,000- strong force, provided by Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This weekend, former secretary of defense, Robert Gates, said that will not work. Let me play for you what he said.
[Robert Gates, Former Secretary Of Defense:] You hear people talk about sending combat formations from Arab nations into Iraq to fight ISIS. That's just not going to happen. First, they are not going to send their troops, not willing to send their troops.
[Unidentified Male:] Right.
[Gates:] But second, the Iraqis probably wouldn't allow them to come anyway.
[Camerota:] So Secretary Graham, what makes you think that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia want to send 100,000 troops?
[Graham:] Clearly, you're not listening to what I'm saying. I've never suggested we send an Arab army into Iraq. I'm suggesting we need 10,000 American troops to help the Iraqis destroy ISIL in Iraq.
[Camerota:] OK.
[Graham:] We have 3,500. At this pace, they'll still be ISIL will still be in Iraq. I'm suggesting that we create a regional army to go into Syria, because there's nobody left in Syria to destroy ISIL. If we don't destroy ISIL in Syria they're going to hit the American homeland. And the Arabs feel threatened by ISIL as much as we do. And they don't want Assad in power, because he's a puppet of Iran, their mortal enemy. For two years, I've been saying that what we're doing is not working. You've got radical Islam running wild. The theocracy in Iran, which are religious Nazis the ayatollah's a religious Nazi is controlling four Arab capitals. At what point do we realize that this is not working? You better do something quick or we're going to get hit at home. That's my takeaway.
[Camerota:] OK, but Senator Graham, let me just stick with you for a second because do you have some suggestion that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia would be willing to send a force like that into Syria?
[Graham:] With American leadership, yes. We were talking to the now king of Saudi Arabia before he became king, and he told John McCain, who he admires greatly, "You can have our army. You've just got to deal with Assad." The emir of Qatar said, "I'll pay for the operation." But they're not going to just fight ISIL and let Damascus fall into the hands of the Iranians. Assad has to go. I mean, all I can tell the American people is we have two goals similar to the Arabs in Turkey: to destroy ISIL, which is a threat in common to all of us, and to weaken Iran, which is a grave threat to the region and, I think, the world. And this coalition could be formed with American leadership. Our foreign policy is in free fall. Nobody is going to follow us until we change our strategy.
[Camerota:] OK. So Senator McCain, Secretary Gates is wrong, in other words? You have gotten an indication that those nations would be willing to send their troops?
[Mccain:] Wait, wait, wait.
[Graham:] Iraq.
[Mccain:] Secretary Gates obviously misunderstood, because he said he said Iraq. Secretary Gates has been one of the strongest critics of a lack of any coherent strategy anywhere in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria. If America leads, others follow. Right now you see Saudi troops on the ground in Yemen because of the threat of the Iranian-backed people that have taken Yemen. The Paris attacks should have awakened all of us. If our answer is not the correct one, then fine. We'd be glad to debate it with anybody. But to say that business as usual is working is deceptive and dangerous to the security of the United States of America.
[Camerota:] OK. Senators McCain and Graham, always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us. Let's get back out now to Chris in Paris.
[Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn. We just heard President Obama speaking, addressing the COP-21 here, the Conference of Parties. This is the 21st annual U.N.-sanctioned discuss about the climate. He says, even though it's COP-21, this is really the last best chance to make the changes that are necessary. Now, we didn't get you to play you his whole speech. You can watch it online. But we are going to give more time to this discussion. Because it won't just be governments. It has to be private and public. And a big part of the private investment here is going to come from a man named Bill Gates. We all know him, and now you'll get to see him on your screen. He's ready to do an interview with Christiane Amanpour and me. We're going to be talking to him about what can it be achieved at a COP-21? What the real chances are for progress and what needs to happen to make climate change that some generation of Americans will look at in the rearview mirror. So stay with us. We're going to talk to him, coming up on "NEW DAY."