and that's what might happen here if iraq does indeed collapse. >> jonathan from itn reporting. that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. for our international viewers amanpour is next. newsroom with pamela brown starts right now. i'm pamela brown in for brooke baldwin on this friday. nice to have you with us. this is special coverage of a horrifying scenario. a deadly battle for baghdad getting more likely by the hour. radical islamists are pushing toward the capitol after capturing one city after another in just a matter of days. the question no longer seems to be whether the u.s. will jump back into the fight but when and how involved will they be? that is the big question. we have just learned the u.s. is sending in a heavily harmed aircraft carrier keeping the door open for possible air

strikes. speaking a short time ago, president obama says he doesn't know the course of action he'll take if any at all but he's sure of one thing, no boots on the ground. >> we will not be sending u.s. troops back into combat in iraq but i have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support iraq security forces and i'll be reviewing those options in the days ahead. the united states will do our part, but understand that ultimately it's up to the iraqi's as a sovereign nation to solve their problems. we have doubled our everies to help build more capable counter terrorism forces so that groups like isil ka establish safe haven and we'll continue that effort through the modern operation in syria and iraq security forces and partnerships across the region. >> for the people of northern iraq and baghdad, a city now in

the cross hairs of these radical extremists, time is running out. the u.n. now saying in just a few short days as isis fighters stormed onward and cities fell, hundreds of iraqi civilians may have been killed and u.s. traini training iraqi troops fled. you're actually in a city now that is fast becoming a refugee haven. some refugees actually prefer the invaders to their own government, why? >> reporter: well, that is because underlying all of this is very much the sectarian tensions that exists in the area that isis has managed to take over are predominantly suni. the suni population as felt that

the shiite led government is targeting them. it has been consolidating power. they don't support the ideology or the concept but because they do believe this is a battle between suni and shiite and the most powerful suni force is isis. but their rapid advance down toward the iraqi capitol has been through mostly suni lands and it's not just fighting on its own even though it's in the spotlight right now. there's a number of very prominent insurgent groups quite active during the u.s. occupation of iraq that have also joined in the fight against the government. along side that as well we have been seeing numerous calls by various leaders. call being made for them to go join the iraqi security forces. sources telling us that iran sentenced some units of its

elite republican guard forces to try to prevent the various others fighting along side them from approaching the iraqi capitol baghdad to try to resolve this. that's not going to be an undertaking that's going to be accomplished by military might alone. it's going to take a certain level of political maturity that at this stage key iraqi politicians, most importantly the prime minister himself have failed to show. >> yeah. thank you so much. we'll discuss more about this. well, president obama said no u.s. ground troops to iraq. obama wants his national security team to come up with other military options to counter radical insurgents threatening baghdad and seizing territory in northern iraq. let's go straight to white house correspondent michelle kosinski for this. what are being floated around right now. what are the realistic options? >> reporter: well, that looks like about the extent of it. they're not giving away any

details officially but when you talk to the analysts and you look at what the options really are that would be effective, it would be exactly what you mentioned, strikes from the air. but also an increased military support on the ground without u.s. boots on the ground that would include military equipment, fighter jets, tanks, humvees, you name it. that's what the u.s. has been doing, though, for an entire year as the white house portrays it staeadily ramping up the u.s support for iraq. obviously that hasn't worked in the face of what's going on right now. so it's hard to imagine that the u.s. would do more of the same. i seems like the only effective option at this point would be some strikes from the air. the u.s. obviously is making it publicly known that it's not shying away from that, but it's not rushing into that either. it's taking some time. it will take at least several days the president said. he also made it clear that it

would require for the u.s. to intervene this way, it would require a serious concerted effort on the part of the iraqi government. a commitment to inclusive politics there. would that change the situation on the ground as it stands right now? probably not. but the u.s. is clearly putting it on the iraqis to do something along those lines before the u.s. acts. president obama said clearly that if the government doesn't do that, if it doesn't make an effort to have other voices in the government to promote stability, then frankly, any u.s. action, like this, would simply not work, pam. >> yeah, and michelle, as we heard president obama say that this decision, it may take several days and we're hearing that isis insurgents may be battling 60 miles from baghdad right now. what do you think. how much time does obama really have to decide here? >> reporter: if the u.s. deems

this to be a national security threat or something so urgent that we need to act immediately, then the u.s. surely, you would consider, will do that. but look at the urgency of the situation as it relates to u.s. intervention. it's not even such that the president would cancel or change his trip to california. remember, he is going to spend the entire weekend there. it's hard to imagine some major change taking place before that. obviously, events on the ground could change this situation. but we do know a little bit more about what the president says and the administration says he's going to be doing. he will be consulting with foreign leaders. consulting with leaders in congress. weighing the options. so there's obviously some more decision making that needs to be -- that needs to be done before action is taken. >> yeah, he is certainly taking his time. certainly a calculated decision. being strategic. michelle kosinski, thank you for following this story for us. now i want to bring in national

security analyst and former cia operative, bob bauer. do you see isis as a direct threat to the united states? >> i think most definitely. it's a very militant organization. it excludes, for instance, the shia. there's a lot of foreign fighters fighting with isis that could easily be trained in the battlefield and come back to the united states. if we were to intervene either by air or boots on the ground, i think that there's a good risk that they would strike within this country and probably could. >> and we heard president obama say that the action taken, if any, it would need to be precise, targeted and effective against isis but bob do you believe there's enough credible intelligence about where isis fighters are located to be able to accomplish that? >> no, we don't have a clue.

it's a guerrilla force, they're spread out. even the command structure is opaec to us. i would like to add the iran. there's iranian forces in baghdad and if baghdad truly came under threat you would see an intervention by iran and that would put the conflict on a whole new level. >> we could see cooperation between the u.s. and iran. do you believe we could see that. >> it would be amazing but i can see it now. we're on the same side whether we like it or not. >> yeah. and let's talk about the options on the table. we heard from michelle kosinski that options are being floated around like drone strikes and air strikes but can they be effective? will that really be able to change the ultimate calculus of fighting on the ground there? >> no. not in the days to come. it would take months to set this up. aircraft carriers could hit

obvious targets on roads but they quickly disperse and they could carry on the fightme. the military does take time to gear up for a conflict like this. our intelligence is not current. the embassy is in lock down now. can't get outside the green zone for obvious reasons. difficult to collect intelligence, especially where isis is. it's fairly been cutoff from the west for the last six months. >> what we know doesn't work is the training and the amount of money we have spent on the iraqi troops there. $15 billion and we're hearing word that they are just dropping their arms and fleeing. so we'll keep an eye on this situation. so much to talk about. so bob, stick around. and just ahead on newsroom, baghdad is home to the largest u.s. embassy in the world with thousands of employees. are they safe as militants march toward baghdad? can the embassy be protected? we'll answer that up next.

plus, we'll speak live with one that says both president obama and george w. bush are to blame for this fast moving crisis. and another big story,bergdahl right now in america but still hasn't spoken to his parents. why is that? stay right here. this is cnn special coverage. hey. i'm ted and this is rudy.

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personnel. let's discuss this. i want to bring back in cnn security analyst and former operative bob baer. and lisa. i want to start with you. we've been talking about this. if you would, put this in perspective. how many americans are there right now in iraq. >> well, pam, the u.s. has about 5300 personnel in iraq. now the 2,000 or so americans and we're talking about diplomats, contractors, security personnel and officials from various agencies from the u.s. department of agriculture to the agency of international development, the fbi. it's a whole government approach and most of them are in the u.s. embassy in baghdad but the u.s. also has conciliates with a small amount of personnel in the south but more urgently in the north where they're gaining a lot of ground in that area. >> and bob, this of course begs the question about security. what is the security situation there particularly at the

embassy. >> well, first of all, i hope they're going into a burn out now and that's taking all paper documents and physically burning or shredding. i have been in these evacuations before. making sure there's no hard drives out. it would be a catastrophe if they had to leave and a sis got the material in that embassy and i hope what they're doing now is doing a draw down and that's not essential personnel. if there were an extraction of the embassy you need a couple of helicopters to send in there. you have to plan for these days in advance. >> you have personally been through an evacuation similar to this before. tell us what that was like. set the scene for us of what could be happening there in baghdad at the u.s. embassy. >> well, it was the same sort of situation in central asia when islamic fundamentalists were

attempting to run over the capitol and fortunately at the time we had russian armor on the ground and i was actually given two apc's to go collect the americans. it's not just the embassy. it's all americans in baghdad and you have to get them out. you can't get them on the ground there. you have to convince them to leave and help them out. this is a huge undertaking and it may seem a panic, but it really does have to be done in advance. >> and they're not just at the embassy. they're spread out and elise, if you would, tell us how diplomacy would work when dealing with isis. >> the state department is not evacuating citizens. they might hunker down and see how bad it gets, pam. but on the diplomacy side there's other countries not just in the region but the saudis and the uae and gulf states that have concern about what's happening on their beard but you also have countries that the

u.s. worked closely with during the war on iraq. secretary of state john kerry is in london today meeting with the foreign minister there. so certainly right now the u.s. is not just talking about what it can do but it's talking to countries in the region. how they can help support anything that the u.s. would do because they'll need overflight rights. they'll need air space, that type of stuff and they'll also need cooperation from some of the allies that the u.s. is going to focus on some of the air defensive type of things. maybe the british can help with counter terrorism things. training, stuff like that. logistics. it's not going to be the u.s. that's going to be able to do this alone. they're going to need a lot of help and that's what the u.s. is doing now. consulting with allies to talk about how everyone can work together. >> yeah, a lot of planning and coordination. thank you so much for laying it out for us. we appreciate it. and coming up next right here on

newsroom, bergdahl back in the united states. but what will it take to rehabilitate someone back into american society that was held as a prisoner for five years? we'll discuss up next. >> as concerns grow over the situation in iraq, the blame game is heating up. who is responsible for the current state of affairs in iraq. we'll talk to someone calling it a quote assisted suicide. stay with us. the eyes may be the windows to the soul. but in the case of the lexus ls... ...which eyes? eyes that pivot with the road... ...that can see what light misses... ...eyes designed to warn when yours wander... or ones that can automatically bring the ls to a complete stop. all help make the unseen... ...seen. and make the ls perhaps the most visionary vehicle on the road. this is the pursuit of perfection. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are24/7branches? i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things?

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sergeant bergdahl is back on american soil trying to regain control of his life after nearly

five years in taliban activity. he arrived on this plane right here and to the military medical center. there he will undergo the final phase of post cab activity reintegration. he has not spoken to his family since his release. for nearly two weeks he was in a german hospital without access to the tv or internet. shielded from the harsh backlash of the prisoner swap that set him free along with five high profile taliban detainees. i want to bring in terry lyles. let's talk about the reuniting between bergdahl and his parents. some say that may be one of the most difficult hurdles for bergdahl. why hasn't he spoken to his parents yet? what's behind that? >> well, i'm not sure that he has been advised not to speak to them or he's choosing not to but it's not uncommon in my opinion

because that reintegration process is challenging. if anybody can relate to a holiday time with family and friends there's always chaos that goes on. so you can imagine that after five years in captivity, not knowing what to expect. not knowing what to say. there's a lot there that i'm sure he's still going to need to be briefed on before he even meets his parents even for a few moments. >> that's interesting because from my perspective i would think one way would be once you come back you would want to be reunited with your parents. you would want to be with the people that you knew before. i would think that would be comforting. no? >> well, that sounds logical but i think the relationship with his parents weren't exactly the way we might think it was. i have read where he was sleeping on couches in family friends homes for a period of time and went to the coast guard and washed out and i'm not sure how estranged that was before he

left so there could be issues there but on the other side of that he's been locked away in a foreign place in exile. so his past life is over. his new life is just now beginning and i'm sure he's not sure even what that will be and i'm sure he's a little even afraid to even open that back up and go back and explore even though it looks like it would be comfortable to us. >> let's talk about that new life. how does bergdahl relearn how to make decisions for himself? something as simple as ordering food in a restaurant given the fact that his captors decided everything for him for years. >> yeah, he's going to need good people around him and good coaching around him. it's going to be a very slow integration. i used the example of someone that has physical trauma. if they lost a limb and came back they would be noticeably disabled and noticeably need help around them. wheelchair, crutches. someone to assist them. he's that way psychologically. so he's going to need a lot of special needs care to help him reintegrate plus he has been cutoff from the world.

the internet, just news media. can you imagine all that's happened in the past five years. that's alarming when you think about coming back into that and trying to catch up on things. it's going to be quite overwhelming and very stressful. >> yeah, i have covered other situations where people have been kidnapped for years and it's always overwhelming for them on how to learn to use smartphones, just simple things that we use day-to-day. >> yes. >> and also of course a big question is how will he deal with the controversy surrounding his release because up until this point we learned that he has been shielded from it. so how will that play a role in all of this. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> just ahead right here on newsroom, it's like the wild west right now in iraq. violent militants taking over cities and marching toward baghdad right now. my next guest calls it suicide and says george w. bush and barrack obama are partly to blame for iraq killing itself. that's next on our special live coverage, iraq under attack.

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president obama made a decision on iraq. that decision is do nothing at least for now. he's holding off on any actions to help them fight extremist forces. obama says he'll be considering his options over the next few days but one thing is certain, no boots on the ground. now we have just learned hilary clinton agrees with president obama that this may not be a

role for the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says isis is a threat to the world and they must be stopped. >> it is a fundamental basic terrorist structure that seeks to do everything outside of any rule of law and structure in order to dominate any territory or location where it is. it's frankly the enemy of civility. the enemy of rule of law. the enemy of pluralism and decency and we need to make crystal clear that the united states uses it to our interest as well as interest of our friends and allies in the region. >> joining me to discuss, michael weiss, i was reading your article and in that article you wrote, you called the

situation in iraq an assisted suicide. explain if you would what you mean by that and do you think the do nothing approach is the best one for the u.s.? >> well, actually i think it's important to distinguish. it's not just about iraq anymore and it has not been for i would say three years or more. the border between syria and iraq has all but vanished. in fact, there's photographs of isis dismantling the demarcation between these two countries. this is a conflict that spans about 750 miles. so when i say it's an assisted suicide. i mine that u.s. policy going into iraq in 2003 and the way the war was conducted and the way we existed in 2011 is partly to blame but also u.s. policy with respect to syria is a catalyst for what we're seeing now. isis, it's military headquaters, it's the place where it's established it's training camps. where it gained real strength has been in syria, particularly the eastern part of syria. what is now connected to

northern and western iraq. so if you look at what's happened over the last three years, the moderate syrian opposition receiving little to no support from the united states. these guys are the ones that have now the most experience fighting isis in it's most modern incarnation. we were sort of out to lunch. we were not doing anything to address a humanitarian and geo political crisis in syria and this is regional spill over. boy has it happened. isis is in control of most of northern and central iraq with the exception of one. a former general in the iraqi army that very bravely fought along side u.s. troops in a town near the syria and iraqi border, he is now living in the united states and he said to me, this is a man that risked his life and family's lives trying to bring cohesion back to this country, he said i see iraq

splitting into three countries now. and everything i have seen in the last 72 hours indicates that he is correct. >> and when you look at syria, you brought it up, some are saying we told you so two years ago when the violence was erupting if we didn't do anything and left it unchecked that this would happen. but on the flip side of that, some would argue this is an example of no matter what you do, i mean, the u.s. poured more than a trillion dollars into the war in iraq. 8 year war there. billions of dollars training the troops there in iraq and look where we are. do you think the flip side that it's a snake pit. that no matter what you do, this is what you're going to end up with. >> it's definitely a valid argument however i was talking to a source in the military that told me if you look at the metrics in 2008, so this is the tail end of the u.s. war, the number of security incidents throughout the entire country of iraq were down to about 10 per day. now that's down from hundreds per day during the height of the

civil war around the 2006 period. so actually the u.s. was making progress and, you know, despite address coming from the former chairman of the joints chief of staff, the former u.s. secretary of defense that we have to keep some in this country. we have to keep it not only to stall or deter the jihadi forces but one of the best journalists to cover the iraq war stated in the new yorker this week, the real key for keeping a u.s. presence was to put down the thuggish sectarianism. i can't describe how he is seen not only by kurds. i remember meeting with them years ago what were desperate to get the united states not to sell him fighter jets. their argument is he is the next saddam hussein. if you do this, he will use it against us. the kurds have taken the city of

kirkuk. they're not giving back the city. they're not going to relinquish it to control of either a new constituted baghdadi government or to isis. this is the capitol of what will emerge eventually as an independent state. this country is breaking apart. >> thank you for offering your perspective. we appreciate it. >> sure. just ahead on newsroom, does this brutal terror group pose a direct threat to u.s.? we'll ask someone that knows these terrorists better than anyone. plus he is being called the new bin laden. no one knows where he is but the head of this militant group managed to build a terrifying network, 12,000 fighters deep in four years. hear about his rise, up next. awesome, amazing, als and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is. good is setting a personal best before going for a world record. good is swinging to get on base

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a fast rising terror group is wreaking havoc rolling through northern iraq and taking the city of mosul with astonishing speed. isis controls a number of cities in both countries around is heading toward baghdad as we speak. but just too is isis and what is its ultimate goal? >> reporter: no one seems to know exactly where he is but in just four years, he has created a strike force of militants. fix sat creating a state governed by strict law. >> this area they want to control is not only iraq and syria but also jordan, lebanon, israel and kuwait. >> reporter: richard is formerly with british intelligence. >> what changes are being seen when it comes to children, women, the courts? >> they're looking back to the

koran of course and all of this to try and understand what is the fundamental law of islam. well, that may be applicable at the time of the profit. >> reporter: he is in his early 40s claims to be a direct descendent of the profit mohammed. >> that resinates hugely in the muslim world. >> reporter: born near baghdad he attended university there and got a ph.d. in islamic studies before fighting with the ruthless terrorist known to behead his victims. he was captured and spent four years in a u.s. prison camp in iraq where he met and recruited fellow insurgents. he was released in 2009. it is believed he could have as many as 12,000 core fighters with several thousand from other countries. >> u.s., canada, france, britain, germany. >> reporter: the threat to those countries, a great concern to security experts.

the terrorists that recently opened fire on belgium's museum is thought to have spent time fighting under him. >> it's a significant period in which to get radicalized but quite proficient in terrorism. >> reporter: making him for lethal, his group, the islamic state in iraq and syria not only challenged al qaeda's authority but could even replace it's current leader. >> is it fair to say bin laden's number two person that now number one in al qaeda is irrelevant. >> he won't see it that way. he'll still see this as a battle for the heart and minds of the extremists. >> now i want to bring in nick robinson and aman jordan. earlier today we heard secretary of state john kerry call isis a threat to the entire world. i have been speaking to folks in the counter terrorism community and a lot of people are surprised by how quickly this group is growing and how quickly

it's able to acquire territory. this doesn't seem like a rag tag group of extremists. >> reporter: they're not just a rag tag group of extremists. they were essentially the most professional and strategic thinking group of rebels in syria. why were they so? because they had experience fighting u.s. forces and the iraqi government in iraq before they moved to syria. their strategic vision allowed them to do things like take control of certain areas. exploit the chaos in the country to open up training kamps. they have atracked foreign fighters from around the world. thousands from europe. some from the united states as well. so they do pose a threat to the rest of the world because as we have seen, whether it's in yemen or whether it's in pakistan and afghanistan, they will export the terror. there are recruiters that will then export those fighters back

to do terror attacks in the united states. that's according to a french prosecutor that the gun ago tack and killing of people in a jewish museum in belgium three weeks ago was the result of a man this had come and joined the fighters in syria and gone back again. but there's a bigger perspective to what's going on here. the rebels, these fighters, isis couldn't have moved so fast in iraq if they hadn't of had support of the tribes. they had that. i talked to saudi intelligence sources that say that isis did have the support. they're fighting on different agendas. isis wants an islamic. they don't like the prime minister with a dominated government. they feel there's a real escalation in sectarian conflict but at the moment they're

bedfellows with isis and they have a strategic vision and exploit it to their own advantage whenever these suni tribal leaders and fighters are doing in iraq at the moment. isis exploits it and they will turn it around ultimately and take it back to the citizens of europe and potentially the united states. >> thank you for that report. and back to our special coverage in just a moment. but first, a recent spike in unaccompanied children crossing the border from mexico into the u.s. sparking a lot of controversy and debate on the topic of immigration. we're going to look at both sides of the story. we have reporters standing by in texas and honduras. up next. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. what if it were more than something to share?

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so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. u.s. immigration officials are struggling to handle the on slot of people fleeing central american countries to the united states. most of the immigrants that make it across the border are minors and many holding facilities are overwhelmed by them but the u.s. is not the only country grappling with this crisis. our correspondents are covering the story for us in texas and honduras. so let's start with you. you are near mission texas by the banks of the rio grand. what's the strategy for volunteers there now and we're hearing reports of an outbreak of chickenpox. what are you learning about that? >> yeah, we do know immigration officials right now are really trying to work with that.

specifically, they're trying to make sure that they can take the spread of that. we do know that according to local officials here on the ground that there were several people that were actually found to have that knowledge. so obviously officials here on the ground and also law enforcement that patrol on a daily basis are aware of that. meanwhile there's volunteers that continue working out there to try to find a place for these people after they're released by border patrol. they're opening several other locations. there was one large one there, a bus station. it was a center where people could go to and get water and supplies as they continue their trek north after being released by border patrol because of the overcrowding. that need there so great. two more centers are now open. and pam, anywhere you go, you see it. i can tell you just a few moments ago, it happened before too, it happened earlier. there was a gentleman from guatemala that claimed to have

cross the river and he's waiting for border patrol to pick him up. no agents are in sight. many are at the local headquaters having to process thousands of people crossing that river on a daily basis. >> you're hear sing so many stories. thank you for that report. now to rosa flores. you're on the other end of this plight. children are flooding processing centers there. you're expecting a bus full of children to arrive any moment now; is that right? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. let me tell you something, there is what appears to be a pipeline of children from central america going toward the united states. now some of those children never even make it to the united states. they only make it as far as mexico. and those are the children that we have expecting today. they're going to be coming in buses. the buses are going to line-up here along the streets and then they're going to be moving in to this center that you see behind me. now here they are processed and

then they are also sometimes housed here the dormitory that you see behind me has bunk beds for some of these children because let's remember, some of these kids are unaccompanied. they don't have parents with them in their trek toward the united states. so they have to wait here to be claimed, pam. >> and are you hearing any explanation as to why there's this surge? why the children are going to the u.s. in the first place? >> that is the key question and one of the things on the grown. i'll move so i can show you is the streets. the answer is street violence for a lot of the kids and adults that live in honduras and other central american countries, this particular city that we're in has been dubbed the murder capitol of the world for three years in a row. the story that we keep on hearing is that dad has been killed. son is being targeted. so son treks to the united

states to try to find family member which is is key number two. some of these kids want to reunite with their family members in the united states and then the third thing is economics. just think about this. 50% of the people in this country are in poverty so a lot of them feel they don't have anything to lose. >> rosa flores, thank you so much for giving us that story and bringing it to us there. we appreciate it. and just ahead, right here on newsroom, back to our special coverage of the fast moving situation in iraq. which military option will president obama choose as militants get closer to baghdad? plus it has only taken months for this terror group to wipe out any gains the u.s. made over years. so how does a veteran who fought in iraq feel about this disturbing development? i'll speak with one live up next. hi, credit report site andour i have a problem. i need to speak with your fraud resolution department.

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the veterans who survived the war in iraq has perhaps the most legitimate take on this rapidly deteriorating situation there now. [ gunfire ] >> for the thousands of u.s. combat veterans, many that lost limbs or friends in the nearly decade long war, these imagines must be so discouraging and even infuriating and to think of their service and sacrifice dissolving into civil war and chaos must hurt. we're joined now from iowa. thank you so much for being here with us and sharing your perspective. first off when you see these imagines and learn what's going on there. what goes through your mind? you see these militants marching on baghdad and the iraqi army throwing down their weapons and running, what do you think? what do you feel?

>> you know, i would say when you look at those imagines you feel a lot of negative emotion. you think about the time that you spent there. you think about those highways that you spent hours upon clearing for road side bombs and in the cities and trying to make a safe environment for the citizens of iraq to live in. so when you see the forces that we spent so much time and money training basically just lay down their arms and fall down to 1,000 militants, it's very disheartening. >> and mitch, i know you lost friends in the war. we have a mutual friend that we lost, chase conley. when you think about all the sacrifice. their sacrifice, your sacrifice, three tours in iraq, was it worth it? >> i mean, that's a tough question, right? so we have been talking about this a lot today i think at home and at work and i would say the general consensus is yes.

when you think back to what we initially went there for and what we actually achieved, those were huge strides. you know, liberating children and women and building schools and providing safer environments for people to live in. on the flip side, do i struggle with the fact that was it worth it? yeah. do i have to look at my friends families and see an empty seat, you know, that's very tough. i think the main course -- the main course of it is to stay the way. and it's worth it. we can't let 1,000 radical al qaeda affiliates ruin what we did and whether that's we step back in and try to curve the situation again, that's up for the powers above us to decide. >> and that brings me to my next question. what, if anything, would you

like to see the uf.s. do in ira. >> yeah, that's equally as tough of a question. we have one war going on in afghanistan right now that we're looking at doing a draw down on. my personal opinion, i would say, you know, we can't tolerate this. we can't allow for a breeding ground of terrorism because, you know, will it spread to syria? will it spread to neighboring countries to allow additional training and then you have people that can cross boarders and eventually come here on our homeland. so as we have always said from the beginning, it's better to fight abroad than it is to here. >> staff sergeant, thank you for coming on and thank you for all the sacrifices you made serving three tours in iraq and one in afghanistan as well and to all the other service members out there, thank you. that does it for our special coverage. it continues right now with don lemon.

>> appreciate that. it's the top of the hour. in for brooke today, the iraqi's must solve their own problems. that's a message directly from president obama that the world was probably not expecting. while he hasn't decided if and how to stop the terrorist take over in iraq, the president says one thing is for certain. no u.s. boots on the ground. >> we will not be spending u.s. troops back into combat in iraq but i have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support iraq security forces and i'll be reviewing those options in the days ahead. the united states will do our part but understand that ultimately it's up to the iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their problems. across the region we have redoubled our efforts to help build more capable counter terrorism forces so that groups like isil can't establish safe

haven and we'll continue that effort through our support of the moderate opposition in syria and iraq security forces and partnership with other countries across the region. >> he mentioned support a lot. that may include air support but we just learned that the u.s. is sending in a heavily armed aircraft carrier keeping the door open for possible air strikes and for the people in northern iraq and baghdad, a city now in the cross hairs of these radical extremists, time is running out quickly. the un now saying in just a few short days as isis fighters stormed onward and cities fell, hundreds of iraqi civilians may have been killed. joining me now to update us on all that's going on is our senior national correspondent live from inside iraq. so the president is keeping options open including the do nothing option. can iraq really stabilize the situation militarily or politically on its own?

>> reporter: it's going to be very difficult, don, either way and there cannot be a military solution without a political one along side it. that is a point that the president did bring up saying that perhaps what is transpiring right now is a wake up call to the iraqi government. much of what we are seeing is largely due to the prime minister's polarizing politics. for years he has been alienating and angering iraq's suni population which is why an organization like isis was able to gain so much territory. it's in the spotlight right now but it's not necessarily fighting on its own. as it moves through these various suni areas and if you follow it's path from mosul to kirkuk down through the capitol of baghdad it also has the support of various suni groups that were very active during the u.s. occupation of iraq. not fighting along side isis

because they believe in it per se but because they do believe in the need to fight the government. for their part, we have been hearing various calls for people to volunteer to fight along side iraqi forces. video of people volunteering and doing just that. iran also according to a source has sentenced several units of its elite special republican guards to help support the iraqi security forces but at the end of the day, this is not going to bring about any sort of resolution other than more bloodshed unless there is a certain level of political maturity that is exhibited by the iraqi leadership and one must say that's a political maturity that up until now iraq's key leaders including the prime minister failed to exhibit, don. >> very complicated story here. lots of moving parts. thank you. president obama wants a list of military options on iraq other than putting boots on the ground. but the list may be short and it's limited.

tools for fighting a group like isis may not be plentiful. a u.s. official is saying the pentagon is planning to move george h.w. bush into the persian gulf. that move gives obama options for possible air strikes. tom, what kind of strikes are we talking about here. >> complicated ones, don. when you start talking about air strikes, you're talking about big tools that want big targets. cruise missiles and f-18s and b-1s. what do you hit with those things? airfields, command and control structures, you hit supply lines. you hit large conglomerations of troops and there's no indication that isis has any of that. they're still a terrorist group spread out over a large area. very hard to target those thing with these big tools and especially when you don't have good intelligence on the grown as to where your targets are and all indications are, don, we do

not have that. >> helicopter gun ships, air to grown missiles can still be effected. >> you can still target things, go and pick very specific targets. when groups like this, groups of insurgents and terrorists do what they have been doing for decades there. inserting themselves into the civilian population operating out of sensitive targets like mosques and hospitals and schools. places where it's hard to hit after hitting someone else. if you hit someone else, all that does is help make the case from isis say you can't trust baghdad or their allies. they're out to get you. >> so there is no central government building for isis. there's no camp on the ground for isis, a specific headquarters for staging and supply areas. so it's that much tougher to target them specifically. >> yeah. it's the same problem we had for

a long time don as you covered as well. we're using a conventional method of military which we have adjusted endlessly and the military has done a wonderful job adjusting to these nonconventional methods but it's still an odd match up. there's some indication that if isis has anything like a central location, it's over near the iraq syria border. well, here's the problem. if isis is on the syria side and u.s. force as tack them over there, you're dealing with now a new government but you're also now attacking forces that bashar al assad wants to attack over there as well. so the u.s. doesn't want to help while trying to help the one in baghdad that they do want to help. it's incredibly complicated, don. and unless the boots on the ground there, meaning the iraqi forces show themselves truly ready to take advantage of this air cover, it could be a difficult thing to get any real results out of it. >> mr. tom foreman in washington. thank you, tom. we layed out some of the options

for you. so will they work? here to discuss this, former military investigator robert mcfadden. you have an elusive force that operates outside of syria. vietnam and all of the other forces, cambodia, as a sanctuary that they can possibly run to, correct? >> well, quite possibly but in this case and as you heard, the operative word of the day is complicated. more than likely, though, they're in for the fight locally and regionally. so that's what we would expect for the near term to longer term. >> you heard what tom foreman had to say and we listed some of the options that the president is considering and that our government is considering. but what do you think the options could be? what options could be used to take out isis and how could they be executed? >> one thing the president mentioned was working with the groups that are nonextremists. that has been an exceptionally difficult thing to do. not impossible but really quite

challenging. so that caught my attention. it certainly makes sense. that's what the administration said about the syria administration. we'd have to see if that would be the case here. but there's other factors though that really are in place locally and regionally. >> go ahead. >> what's going to happen within the local populous within the suni homeland. the suni tribes are not aligned be the extremists. >> we have been hearing about, even jay carney mentioned how much supplies and money we have given to help support at least iraqi security forces. billions and billions of dollars. how much more do they need? because we're hearing in some instances they're laying down their weapons and actually just abandoning the job. how much more do they need in order to help fight against

isis? >> that was a colossal failure. we have seen the regulars in upwards of 3 divisions of regular military and police forces layed down their weapons and left the area. in this point, though, going about what the president said, you would expect in a crisis, spent much time in the gulf in that part of the world, when a crisis happens like this you would expect other carriers to come in for first thing's first such as an evacuation operation. >> thank you. we appreciate you joining us and your expertise on cnn. americans fought and died to bring peace and democracy to iraq. that seems to be slipping away after nearly a decade of a brutal, bloody war. how do veterans feel about seeing iraqi soldiers cut and run in the face of a vicious enemy. and then baghdad is a home to the largest u.s. embassy in the world with thousands of employees. are they safe? as militants march toward baghdad can the embassy be

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welcome back, everyone to our special live coverage. i'm don lemon in for brooke today. president obama says no u.s. boots on the ground in iraq. the crisis has to be stopped by iraqis and the u.s. can't do it for them. >> we're not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we're there we're keeping a lid on things and after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we're not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country. >> want to bring in henry hiller

now. he's a sergeant with the u.s. marine corps. served in iraq in 2007. how do you feel about what's happening in iraq right now. was the work of the u.s. troops all for naught you think? >> no. you know, we laid down an infrastructure for them. we have water and supplies in places they never had electricity and so on and so forth. we were trained well to do our job and we did our job. we gave these people all the training that they have. we gave them all the supplies they need to, you know, to be a free country and the toughest pill to swallow is that you see this go down in a matter of weeks. so it's tough. and you heard like they took it in a day. that was a very hard fought bloody battle for the marines and for the whole military and you see it go away in one day. that's the toughest pill to

swallow i guess. >> so because of the withdrawal and because of the situation on the ground in iraq or in that region, was this militant uprising inevitable in your estimation? >> absolutely. just being over there and being with stuff like that, even the iraqi army and police that we trained if a car came by they wanted food off of they would just take the food. that's part of it. that's just how they live, i guess. and their ideals are very, very different from us. we wouldn't do that. and i think it was inevitable. you had a guest on earlier that was talking about it's going to just break up into three different states. this militant group, the sunis aren't going to take baghdad. it's not going to happen but the o o outliers are people that don't care. it's not their home. you try to attack my hometown in huntsville, we're going to see you coming and we're going to

fight back. it's just not their home it feels like. the issue that we have, though, with no boots on the ground. i agree and disagree. we don't need a big movement but we need teams to go in and get the weapons and supplies we have on the ground because they're taking them over and shipping them all over to syria and it's not the right move. >> what about air strikes? >> i think with all the drones -- i think we need to do drone air strikes. we don't need bombers going in there and bombing anything or anything like that. i think it's kind of funny that they're sending in the george w. bush carrier in there. >> why do you think that? why do you say in a? >> what do you mean? >> why do you think it's funny that they're sending in the george h.w. bush. >> how many times are we going to send bush into iraq. i just think that's kind of funny. >> i get it. i get it now. okay. thank you henry hiller. we appreciate you.

have a great weekend. >> absolutely. >> just ahead on cnn, barrack obama ordered the u.s. out of iraq. is he ready to throw us back into a war that cost us so many lives or will iraq have to go it alone? plus bergdahl back on american soil but he has a long road back to american society. while the former taliban captain faces a long stay at the hospital, doctors face their own challenge. how do you help a man rejoin life when all he has known for years is life under terrorists? that is next. awesome, amazing, that's epic, bro. whatever happened to good? good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it. good is maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop

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sergeant bergdahl back on american soil now trying to

regain control of his own life after nearly five years in taliban captivity. our affiliate woai believes bergdahl arrived on this plane and headed to san antonio's military medical center. there he will undergo the final phase of what the military caused post-captivity reintegration. bergdahl's family is not in san antonio yet. he has not spoken to his parents since his release and for nearly two weeks bergdahl was in a german hospital without access to tv or the internet shielded from the harsh backlash of the prisoner swap that set him free along with five high profile taliban detainees. i want to bring in the psychologist and combat stress coach named terry lyles. this is fast nating to me because some experts are saying that reuniting with his parents may be one of the most difficult hurdles for bergdahl and sources are also telling us that he hasn't spoken to his parents

since his release. why? >> well, i think there's several reasons. he may have been advised not to. that's going to be another level of stress he hasn't encountered in five years because there's nothing like going back to something that is no longer there. it's very different now. the whole world has changed in five years and this reintegration stress he's going to encounter willing overwhelming. you can set it up in this very piece that he hasn't seen tv. he hasn't been on the internet. he's going from ptsd to pap r paparazzi effect. they're going to give him baby steps to help him reintegrate helpfully. >> conventional wisdom would be this but that's not from people that are psychologists or used to dealing with this reintegration is that being surrounded by people you love could be some of the best medicine. >> no. >> you say no. >> no, i say that's true but

don, i think in this case, because of what was going on beforehand that we only have snip p snipets of he was at odd with his parents before he left. he was sleeping on friend's couches. maybe there's issues there that we don't know a lot about and the whole sheer fact of what he is feeling, we have no idea what's going through his mind. solitary confinement is a very lonely and crazy place in our own minds. i don't know what he's going to have to face in himself. when he sees his parents and sees his family it's going to change a lot of things for him in a positive way but it's that anticipation and uncertainly that's probably the beginning issue. >> that's very interesting. one wonders if he will ever be the same again. if he had issues before if those can be corrected as well. it's such a complicated matter when it comes to him and what's going on with him. physically and mentally and emotionally. >> it's very layered.

>> go ahead. continue your thought. >> we have to remember that grief is a process. and it's past reality to a new reality. he's in the grey area of transition. he has to create a new life. it's never going to be the same. it can be as good or better as it was. he needs a good support system, love, acceptance, care, training around him. you don't ever get over something like he has gone through. you learn to live with it and make it a part of your new reality. >> it's going to be a big reality check for him especially when he starts to go back in public and realizes how much press and how much attention is going to be on him. it's going to be interesting to watch. i don't envy him or his family. thank you. straight ahead, back to our special coverage of the crisis in iraq. the former secretary of state hilary clinton revealing whether she agrees with president obama on waiting to make a decision. plus baghdad is home to the largest u.s. embassy in the world with thousands of

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isis the militant islamic state in iraq and syria captured one city after another in just a matter of days. the u.s. response to their attempted take over could, and i stress could include air strikes but one person that would be against that move is former secretary of state hilary clinton. she told the bbc that the u.s. should not provide military assistance, particularly air strikes to the iraqi government. not at this time she says. i want to go to michelle kosinski joining frus the white house. the president says he is considering other options. what's on the table here? >> reporter: they're not telling us exactly but based on questions and the responses they have given, we know that air strikes is the number one thing that could be effective and that they are considering. they have spelled that out. something else, though, when you just look at the capability and what's ahappening on the ground it would be drone strikes and using drones to gather better intelligence.

it could be supplying the iraqis with more military equipment and even heavier equipment like fighter jets, tanks and humvees but when you consider the u.s. has been doing that over the past year as the administration says ramping up steadily and then look what happens now. you would think that would not be effective and that would not be a real option so the urgency of this situation, the surprise that it seemed to take indicates that the u.s. wants to do something that would be effective. what was really interesting from what the president said today because really nothing has changed over the past two days in terms of the administration weighing carefully these options, these sort of options without a lot of detail is that the u.s. said today there is a requirement for the iraqi government to step up. so before the u.s. would do anything more significant, the president and secretary kerry called it a wake up call to the iraqis saying that they need to show a sincere real commitment

to doing more politically. and also the president pretty much slammed the situation there on the ground, how much money, training, time, you name it the u.s. has poured into these fighters. the government fighters and now they're not willing to stand and defend their post. the president said that is a huge problem. so they want to see something from the iraqis before the u.s. acts. of course the big question there that we seem to all be talking around is what is the u.s. going to do and what would be best? that's what we don know at this point. however, going along with what you said in the words of hilary clinton and others now that have been talking to cnn, especially on the department of defense side that when you look at doing possible air strikes, well, look at what any force would be up against. you have these fighters that are dispersed. they don't have really fixed targets or at least that anyone really knows about on the ground. we know they don't have things like military basis or air defense stations.

anything that would be an easily identified target. so how do you do this? >> and that's what most experts say. we're trying to fight an unconventional war by conventional methods and it won't work in that region. michelle kosinski, i appreciate you reporting at the white house. thank you very much. radical islamists are pushing toward the capitol after capturing one city after another and killing hundreds in their path in a matter of days. we have been calling this a civil war but, you know, it's not just iraq. it's syria too involved and i don't know if it's right after i read your piece today which i think was fascinating, i'm not sure if it's right to even call it a civil war. you said it is a what? >> a suni revolt. if you look from libya through pakistan, what you say it seems the old order was structure of dictatorships. all of these dictatorships most of them have been unsettled or overturned by these radical suni

movements jumping in to fill the void. we have to ask ourselves how much can we do in the midst of this huge sectarian warfare where the suni groups are trying to assert power and take over thousands of cities of cities and whole countries and do we want to be in every case battling them? so the crucial question in iraq is, do we want to be the prime minister of iraq's air force? because that guy is a nasty sectarian thug who has systematically excluded the sunis and caused this insurgeon insurgentcy. so we want to be the air force to iran's guard. >> this also has a lot to do with during the start of the war, right, how the government of iraq was picked, by president bush. >> what happens is we go into iraq. we go in with a light force. rumsfeld wanted to do it that way.

we needed allies fast and we decided we were going to pick an ally and our allies became the shia in the majority in iraq. they're in a minority in the middle east so it attracted all of these suni groups from all over the middle east. funded by the saudis and by turks and all kinds of other characters because they're about 85% sunis in the middle east. so they all came in all determined to undermine this new iraqi government. >> because the sunis were in power, right? >> yeah. >> so they felt alienated after the start of the war and president bush decides that he wants someone who is a shia. >> the key we go in and think we're going to do good. we picked a side and what's happened is the consequences of picking a side in a very complicated three cornered struggle is that there's been the blow back. >> so it's not as simple as should we put boots on the

ground or do air strikes, it's more complicated than that because even if we do all of those things it hasn't solved the problem about who is going to run the country and if suni and shia are involved together. >> this is my moment of leverage with the government of iraq. you get your act doth and you create an inclusive government and then we'll support you. i don't want to be the air force to one side of this society. >> the chances of that. >> well, you know, if things get really bleak, that's what happen in '06, '07. this is the same thing. same guy. >> but he did it. >> he was on the ground and had cash and troops. but what he did was bribed the suni tribes and said you come on board with us. so we are out of that business right now. >> yeah. >> but he could do that. the prime minister of iraq could do that. >> the reason we're out of that business right now is because

you said he's doing iran's business, right? because iran propped him up for years and iran does not want any u.s. troops on the ground? that's why we're out of that business. >> my sense is that he never wanted american troops there. he refused to provide the protections that every other country provides to american troops. president obama said in his statement today, we offered assistance months ago and the iraqis resisted. they have only now come around because they're in crisis. so i think he has always wanted to keep his distance from america, build his relations with iran. he was in exile for 24 years. most of that time he spent in iran. his party was funded by iran for 24 years. are we so surprised that iran has influence over him. >> he feels that he owes iran. it's fascinating. i think everyone should read this and you said after all of this happening now the question has to surface, who lost iraq? and this is from the washington post that you wrote this for. fascinating.

i'll be watching you on sunday. thank you very much. the host here on cnn, it airs at 10:00 a.m. on sunday morning. make sure you tune in. up next, we're just getting in news about the speed at which these militants are overtaking cities in iraq. find out whether this is catching the president and his administration by surprise. plus, chickenpox. scabies. those are being reported as undocumented children flock across the beard. it's a fast moving crisis. we'll take you live to where they're coming from, coming up. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are no branches?

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make it matter.

well, as violent militants march toward baghdad, what happens in the next few days in

iraq? even hours will be critical. so what happened? how did this go so bad to fast. kira we were working to the atime and you did tours of duty reporting in iraq and reporting duty and you -- what are your sources telling you today about what's going on? how did this happen so quickly. >> yeah, remember, i spent four tours in iraq and it's some of the most crucial times when the u.s. forces were training iraqi security forces and i remember sitting down with these guys in all different levels and all different parts of iraq. i believe we have video here and they told me if u.s. troops left that country, they would be in trouble. they felt they weren't ready. they felt they could not defend their people or their country. they were telling me this in 2008 and they had a long way to go before they were going to be ready. so i reached out to one of my sources last night, don, definitely at one of the highest levels of this crisis right now.

even this source told me they were so taken back at how quickly this offensive happened. here's what he told me when i said how did this offensive become so d dire so quickly, he said we have been watching the intelligence continually and the fractures in iraq that have grown because of lack of inclusive governance is anything was surprising. it's only the speed at which the situation continued to deteriorate the past few days and the apparent ease at which the iraqi security forces abandoned their units and positions. i did ask him about. u.s. troops as americans and families of our treeroops, they concerned could my daughter or son be going back to fight in this war. they said absolutely not direct combat forces. a range of options are being considered and air strikes are a very strong consideration here.

i did ask him also, you know don, senator mccain said bring back the general that had success while in country there and you know i spent a lot of time with him as well and saw how he directly worked with these troops and i saw how certain areas did become safer and i was able to talk to so many people on the ground and not have to have the huge entourage and he said please allow me not to comment on senator mccain's statements. i thought that was interesting. >> i don't know if you saw the segment before. echoing what you were hearing from your sources and talking about general petraius added safety and stability to iraq but that's faded away. appreciate your reporting. thank you very much. we'll get you back on. reporting from atlanta today. and in just a few minutes, we'll hear about sergeant bergdahl's first day back in the u.s. after five years in taliban captivity.

he is being treated at san antonio military medical center. he will undergo the final phase of what the military calls post-captivity reintegration. bergdahl's team planning to hold a news conference at the top of the hour in about 15 minutes. jake tapper will be covering that. he's our chief washington correspondent and the host of the lead. how long can his team keep his shielded from the harsh backlash and press and prisoner swap and all of that? >> i think how long possible. by all accounts bergdahl is still in a fragile state. he has not yet met with his parents. i'm not sure if he has even spoken with them yet. so the idea of all of this backlash and all the controversy that he has generated i think would be probably fairly damaging to him based on what we heard about his condition. >> yeah. we may not hear from bergdahl

himself for quite sometime now. they're emerging from conversations with soldiers. >> i spoke with one a few days agatha told me this before he left, the night before he left, he was sitting around the truck where he and three other soldiers were stationed and they were having a funny and odd conversation but in extra spekt they came to see under different light where bergdahl was talking about walking to india or to pakistan over the mountain. becoming some sort of -- joining a gang and becoming a hit man. working his way up to the russian mob. i don't think anybody thinks he was actually serious but they do think, well, why would he be saying that and then he disappeared. also some of the questions he asked that night were what would happen if your m-9, your baretta disappeared. would you get in trouble?

and the soldier said i would. so he came to think maybe he was thinking about steal anything gun but didn't do it ultimately because he didn't want to get me in trouble. this odd concern that he had, especially in light of what a lot of his foal low troops now think is desertion. so it's strange. >> very complicated. the lead starts in just a few minutes here and jake will be covering that and as well as that news conference that will be happening on bergdahl. border security handles a stream of illegal immigrants crossing the beard every single year. what happens when that stream comes a flood. 50,000 children have come across the border alone since january. u.s. officials say they are overwhelmed and there's no end in sight. make sure you stick with us. you told us your number one olive garden dishes.

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pauses collecting his spots. this video is one of eight interrogations obtained by syrian opposition activists and he got caught with distinct iraq key activists and northeast of aleppo. from the questions, it's clear that the interrogators are not with the regime of president bashar al assad but rather with isis, the islamic state of iraq and syria. this video we show you later may be a clue. isis emerged as a major opposition and controlled areas of northern syria. since then, the extremist group has imposed strict islamic laws

and has battled other opposition groups in fighting that has left well over 2,000 dead. even al qaeda's leader has demanded that isis leave syria. there is no mention whatsoever of the assad regime. the only concern is the challenge posed by other opposition factions. i swear i don't know, as god as my witness, responds this man who identifies himself as mohammed. another interrogation. what were they saying about the islamic state, he's asked? say the truth. save yourself. i'll speak the truth, even if i lose my head, respondses this man, who says he's called mustafa. this was found in the residence of this man known as the iraq

activists describe him as an isis emir a whand commander and intelligence officer. so what happened to the interrogated man? it's not clear from the videos but one of the last recordings documents in detail ruthle ruthless isis execution by flash flight. 14 men, some apparently quite young, are shot one after the other. the scenes are too graphic for us to show. some fall into the mass grave already dug. the new boss in this part of syria not unlike the old boss. ben wedeman, turkey. soriasis. and now you get hit again.

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thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. a lot of people told nicole lewis her life was over after she got pregnant at the age of 18. she proved them wrong, though, and it makes her a cnn hero. >> i was 17 when i was pregnant with my daughter and 19 with my son. >> are you ready to get up? ready to go to school? >> when being labeled a teen mom, there are certain stigmas that you're lazy, you're going to end up living on welfare and working the system. everybody has their own opinion on what's going to be the most beneficial for you. often it can feel like a

downgrade from what you want to do. >> when a young person discovers a pregnancy, people stop talking to them about college. we saw that we could be that voice saying, yes, you can go to college. this doesn't have to be the end of your life. i knew from my own experience that college had transformed my life as a teen mom so i wanted that same success for other young parents. >> we're going to get the other room set up for the kids. >> it becomes imperative for parenting students to have their band of cheerleaders behind them. >> i got my gpa up to 3.8. >> we offer training on various topics. >> we're going to talk about balancing school and balancing your role as a parent. >> the most important part of our program is the intense one-on-one mentoring from a caring individual from the community. >> i won the college of science dean's award. >> i knew you could do it. >> generation hope has really helped me believe in myself. they prepare us to have the

skills for the future and we can pass those skills on to our kids. and i want people to achieve success. >> very nice. happy friday. time for "the lead" with jake tapper. the big question right now looming. will the u.s. strike militants overrunning iraq. i'm jake tapper. this is the "the lead." people should not anticipate that this is something that is going to happen overnight. >> the world lead. president obama announcing he's holding off on any decision about helping iraq security forces beat back islamic militants but his mind is made up of one thing. >> we will not be sending u.s. troops back into combat in iraq. >> you know who is sending in troops? iran, reportedly. so good news,