not obama threatening iraq's government but potentially he says even the united states. in a+++7vwolf, here at the pent there certainly is anxiety.

>> could this be arook one more time with less than perfect intelligence? even as the militants continue advancing towards baghdad, president obama is still looking at all military options except for sending ground troops. >> i have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support iraq security forces. >> but the pentagon repeatedly not willing to endorse iraq security forces. >> i'm going to ask, does the military think the iraqi military can hold this? does secretary hagel think the iraqi forces can hold baghdad? >> i didn't give up any opportunity not to answer. i take up every opportunity i cannot to answer your questions. >> the joking and not hiding military reality after spending $730 billion on the war with

nearly 4500 u.s. troops killed and 32,000 wounded. >> yes, we were surprised and disappointed by the poor performance of some iraqi security force units. they are up in the north. >> air strikes pose significant problems. there are no u.s. ground troops with up to the minute intelligence to guide air strikes. the militants don't have military bases, commanding control centers, or missile batteries to attack and, therefore, degrade their capability. fighters are dispersed in trucks, moving in cities, civilian casualties could occur. one bright spot, this week the pentagon began drone reconnaissance flight over northern and western iraq to give the maliki government intelligence on where militants are located. but there are still so many holds. the pentagon says it doesn't know if iranian fighters have entered iraq.

>> if the pentagon can't even confirm that there are iranian fighters on the ground, what is the quality of the intelligence? how can you give the president realistic options if there's so many holes in the intelligence? >> intelligence is never perfect. it's not a perfect science. it never will be. it's an important capability. >> and certainly the intelligence about iraq is all americans know has never been perfect. far from it over the years. right now, what the pentagon wants, what the white house appears to want is the government of nouri al maliki to stand up for itself, get its forces back in the fight but right now that is going to be very problematic. >> it certainly will be, barbara. thanks very much. don't go too far away. let's go to our white house correspondent michelle kosinski. michelle, ultimately the president has to figure out what he's going to authorize. he has already said that u.s.

troops will not re-engage on the ground. >> reporter: that's right. the president has been accused of napping while the situation in iraq degraded. today he obviously wanted to show that he is focused on this difficult problem. both he and his administration emphasizing that any u.s. military action would require political action on the part of the iraqi government. >> we can't do it for them and in the absence of this time of political effort, short-term military action, including any assistance we might provide won't succeed. so this should be a wake-up call. iraq's leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises on behalf of the iraqi people in order to bring the country together. >> reporter: so what does this administration want to see from the iraqis? political engagement and an agenda, that is inclusive. that is something that they've been looking for for a long time

but has not been happening. okay. so what happens now? today the president emphasized that making a decision is going to take several days. not something that is going to happen overnight. plus, they need to gather as much intelligence as possible. barbara starr laid out some of those difficulties in conducting something like air strikes over iraq. we do know and it's important to emphasize the you are general s urgency is not something that the president would keep his weekend plans but he's going to stay in contact with his national security team. there was a high-level meeting last night, another one this morning. we also know that he and his administration are going to be reaching out to world leaders to see what kind of international support there would be for possible military action. and that started today with a call to canada's prime minister. the president could also be reaching out to key congressional leadership before a decision is made and at this point doesn't look like that's going to happen before the start of next week, wolf. >> yeah. he said a few times in the next

few days at one point and then he said several days. we'll see how long it takes for some final decisions to be made. michelle, thanks very much. joining us now to break all of this down, he was the top u.s. diplomat on the ground as u.s. troops were leaving iraq. the former u.s. ambassador to iraq, james jeffrey. also, jim sciutto is with us as well as our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. jim, you've been talking, first of all, to your sources. you're getting new information. what are you picking up? >> i talked to a u.s. counterterrorism official that tells me that the u.s. intelligence committee warned in the spring of this year that isis was targeting baghdad and mosul and isis conducted probing attacks near mosul indicating their intepntions of attacking there. they issued multiple assessments, particularly over the last year, detailing isis' growing strength to take territory inside eye beiiraq.

there's been a lot of talk about whether this was a surprise and clearly there were intelligence warnings out there for a number of months and about specific targets, baghdad and mosul. the one thing that i'm told that has been surprising was how quickly the iraqi military melted away. that is one thing that was is surprise. >> this is the u.s. intelligence community. >> yes. >> suggesting they knew weeks and weeks ago that isis was planning on moving in, not only to mosul but to baghdad itself? >> that they issued multiple reports about the territory inside iraq and recently in the last couple of months, in the spring, they made a specific assessment that talked about specific targets being baghdad and mosul. as we know, mosul fell in the last week and they are moving closer to the capital. >> ambassador jeffrey, you were the top u.s. ambassador, top u.s. diplomat. what do you make of this?

they were warned weeks ago that this was happening and it seems like a surprise to so many top officials. >> certainly a surprise that a very large group of iraqi forces would drop their weapons and flee from northern iraq. this is something that we hadn't seen during six months of fighting between the isis people and iraqi army in falluja and ramadi. >> why is that? these are tens and thousands of highly trained -- u.s.-trained, u.s. armed iraqi soldiers and they take off their uniforms, they put their guns down and they start running away in the face of what may be a few thousand isis terrorist who is are moving in. >> bad leadership at the level of generals and i blame that on the prime minister maliki himself has basically seen these troops, these occupies as to the largely sunni population.

i saw them up there. therefore, this is -- these were troops not motivated to fight for territory they didn't feel was theirs. >> jim, show us where the isis forces are now in control. these are very significant areas. they've already got a big chunk of syria. >> no question. they've moved down here. they were further down south and this has a major oil refinery there and it's strategically important. they targeted tikrit and it's now under contention because they pushed them back and they've been able to reclaim that. >> other forces have taken over those areas. >> the kurdish forces took the south of mosul over here and also falluja. there's been an ongoing battle over falluja. what i'm told by counterterrorism officials is that isis needed to have help to

make this very quick progress south in the last couple of days, help from sunni tribes, from sunni nationalist groups and i'm told that as long as they have that help, they are going to be able to maintain this territory in baiji and tikrit a tikrit. >> the president said that he's worried about these isis sunni is slam mist terrorists could go over a shia shrine. listen to what the president said. >> i think there are dangers of fierce sectarian fighting, for example, if they try to overrun sacred shia sites which could cause conflicts that would be hard to stamp out. >> i think he's talking about karbala. do you want to show our viewers

where those areas are? >> there's two problems. he needs a long-term solution to that red area as he cannot have a permanent presence of al qaeda in that area. that requires political engagement as much as military. he stressed that. he's absolutely right. right now he's got an immediate problem involving dates. they are moving to surround baghdad, hit the holy sites. if they do that, they will be sie siege the forces, cut off supplies and the iranians could come in a big way. that's the dramatic situation facing the president right now. >> there are reports that revolutionary guard troops have already come into iraq. >> these are probably small numbers. i'm not as troubled by that. when they come in large numbers, they will come in to relief a siege.

>> you don't want iran to get involved, the south separated by the sunnis in the north many supporting isis. on the other hand, they actually overlap here. neither the u.s. or iran wants iraq to collapse. they want to empower the shias. >> let me get barbara's quick reaction. barbara, do you get the sense over there that the u.s. military was surprised by the collapse of the iraqi in the north around mosul and what is going on around baghdad? >> yeah. i think that the pentagon, like the rest of the intelligence committee, surprised about the speed. not surprised that it happened. the warnings were out there. this is not a classic intelligence failure. they knew that these fighters were out there. how fast they moved this week alone, a big surprise, the intelligence problem now is what do you do about it and how do

you target a bunch of fighters, thousands of people out there perhaps in very dispersed locations. >> barbara is at the pentagon, ambassador jeffrey, thank you. jim sciutto will be back later. into when we come back, one of president obama's toughest critics blaming him largely for this crisis. senator john mccain. he's standing by live. plus, one of the most famous planes on earth soon to be traded in for an extraordinary new model. we're taking you behind the scenes of the new air force one. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. grandpa! are the largest targets in the world,

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president obama certainly under a lot of pressure right now to provide at least some military support to iraq, particularly from critics blaming him for much of this crisis. let's bring in one of the those

critics, john mccain. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> the president is largely blaming nouri al maliki, the prime minister of iraq, for not doing the right thing, forging a comprehensive coalition, including shia, sunni, kurds and as a result of the situation has created a vacuum and is exploding. do you have confidence that nouri al maliki will do the right thing? >> i'm very concerned about maliki getting in bed with iranians because us not really doing anything and waiting days to figure out what we might do, that the iranians come in and i'm hearing rumors that some people say, well, that might be good in our interests. that would be a fousty bargain, my friends. they are our enemies and it

would be a horrific mistake. i predicted that this would happen when they decided not to have a residual force and anybody tells you they couldn't, isn't telling you the truth. i was in baghdad at the time with lindsey graham and joe lieberman and we could have done it if we wanted to and that's why i've predicted that these events would take place. >> let me interrupt because the secretary of state, marie harf, says you're dead wrong on this issue. i'll play for you what she said today at the state department. >> and how would a few thousand americans saying don't do that have stopped this? i would press senator mccain to say specifically how it would have prevented what is happening and what he thinks we should do now because he's also said he's not supportive of military option. you're so concerned that you think it's a threat to the united states, what would you do? you don't get to just attack us and call on all of us to resign. you get to come up with your own

ideas. >> senator, you heard what she said. >> first of all, i'm not in the business to responding to that kind of trivia but, first of all, we left troops behind in korea, in germany, japan, even in bosnia. they are stabilizing force. that's what the influence would have been. maliki got progressively worse. there was no influence over him. there are things we could have provided, such as intel and many others. it's the same reason we remained behind in all of those countries after the wars. >> so what should the president be doing? >> we should be doing air strikes now. look, the crisis of maliki's leadership, it's a political problem. the eminent crisis is the military movement of isis that can even threaten baghdad and by the way, you can take out targets in the middle of the desert. it's not that difficult. they will tell that you it would. >> but i've spoken to pentagon

officials. they say it's not that simple because these isis terrorists moving in, they are so intertwined with civilians, families in populated areas that they can send air strikes in but they don't know where to go. >> first of all, we could have some people on the ground, a select few identifying them. second of all, they have to go over to open spaces in order to move from one place to another. look, the pentagon will always, under this leadership, find reasons why you can't do anything. that's what's been so horrifying. and by the way, you've been showing the map. syria is part of this problem where the president refused to help the free syrian army, the 5,000 hezbollah came in, bashar al assad is winning with 160,000 people dead and you cannot separate iraq from syria and isis because they are moving back and forth into both of those countries in various ways and they are posing a direct threat to the security of the united states of america.

>> senator -- >> the president's announcement was, we'll wait a few days and see what happens. they are an existensial threat. what does that mean? >> it means that what general clapper has said is what is happening in the iraq syria where where isis and al qaeda are located, that they will be planning attacks on the united states of america, whether it's the existence of the united states of america or another 9/11, i don't know. >> name names. you said that the president should fire his national security team. who specifically should the president fire, from your perspective? >> the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, number one, national security adviser, number two. they should probably spend time with their families on sunday. i would certainly have all of

her deputies, national security advisers gone as well. kerry and hagel were not there when some of these most crucial decisions were taken but i don't have a lot of confidence in their performance either. >> so you would fire hagel and kerry? >> no, i probably wouldn't because they were not there when these decisions were made. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has done nothing but find ways for us to not be engaged or involved or stay. and by the way, since we're pulling out of afghanistan, lee predict to you that you will see the same chaos ensue in afghanistan for -- when we don't leave a residual force behind there. >> all right. so let's be specific now. you would launch air strikes against various isis targets in iraq. what else would you do, assuming that nouri al maliki stays the same and doesn't change his own attitude, he wants to be the shiite dictator in iraq. >> i would dispatch general

petraeus on the next plane to baghdad. maybe ryan crocker along with him. sit down with maliki and say, maliki, prime minister, you're going to have to transition out of your job. we've got to have national reconciliation. otherwise, your country is going to be torn apart. that is the next step. and -- but the immediate crisis is the military one and the most immediate along with it is the iranians pouring into iraq no matter whose side they are on. then you have iran, syria, iraq. all in a line and iranians are realizing many of their ambitions. >> let me ask you one political question because hillary clinton raises it in her book. she expresses regret on her vote back in the end of 2002 in favor of going to war against saddam hussein. she writes this. i thought i had acted in good faith and made the best decision i could with the information i had and i wasn't alone in

getting it wrong but i still got it wrong, plain and simple. you voted to go to war against saddam hussein. did you get it wrong then, too? >> obviously. but when the secretary of state against the united states of america goes before the united nations security council and gives compelling evidence that there are weapons of mass destruction that are held by saddam hussein, it's hard for people to not take that into the most serious consideration. the secretary then senator clinton also said when the surge was being considered and some of us said we had to have it and i said the secretary of defense then had to be fired, secretary rumsfeld, she said she had to have a willing suspension of disbelief in order to think that the surge would work. she was wrong. >> all right. and one other thing. i understand you want to fire a lot of the political appointees but general martin dempsey, who has a distinguished military career, why would you fire him

and who would you replace him with? >> there's many, many people you can replace him with. in 2006 i had a spirited argument with general dempsey who was training iraqis at the time. i said we were failing in iraq and it was an utter failure and i came back and said that was the case. he didn't -- he believed we were succeeding then and on the issue of syria, the letter that he wrote to me and senator levin is what we needed to shift the momentum in syria was incredible. i'd be glad to share it with any of our viewers. if we weighed in two years ago, iraq would now be -- bashar al assad would be gone now and we'd not be facing the challenges that we are facing today. remember, most of this really started in syria. >> but you can't -- the president of the united states made that decision not to go ahead and launch air strikes in syria. that was not general dempsey. >> the president of the united states was advised, i'm told, by many of the his advisers.

all i know is i have seen general dempsey testify -- look, i'm not really interested in parsing general dempsey. i have watched him and observed him for years and i do not believe that he's doing a job that should be done for the american people but the point is, it's not going to happen. so we ought to bring in people like general petraeus, the architect of the surge, ambassador crocker, bring in additional people. he's not going to fire them, bring in additional people and listen to them and they can tell you how we can prevail in this debacle that is a direct result of a failed foreign policy. >> you think isis is going to take and move on baghdad and take over that country? >> i think it's a genuine threat right now. i am not exactly sure what they will do. but look at the stunning success that they have enjoyed in the last few days and the president has said, well, he wants to wait a few more days. i don't think there's a time for

waiting. >> a lot of people go back and hillary clinton says she made a mistake. you acknowledge that your vote was a mistake. there was a lot of optimism, the u.s. was going to get rid of hussein, iraq could become a democracy. things would be great. it's gone on and on. look at the disaster that it is. we went back to 2002, play a little clip. this is what your optimism showed at least then. >> the sooner is he removed from power, the threat to the united states of america is literally disappears and then i think we can build a free, open democratic society in iraq with a much better economy than the one that has been declining ever since 1991. >> let me respond very quickly. >> please. >> and then when i saw things going wrong in iraq, beginning in 2005, and then into 2006 and i said we have to change the

strategy, we're losing, we need to fire the secretary of defense, we brought in general petraeus and the architects of it and we won, wolf. we won. we had it won. and there's no doubt about it. and instead the president decided to withdraw all of the troops rather than leave a residual force behind and now in the words of general keen, we won the war and lost the peace. >> john mccain, the u.s. senator from arizona, member of the senate armed services committee, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. when we come back, we'll get reaction to what we just heard. our panel of experts standing by. or hotel and if you find it for less, we'll match it and give you 50 dollars off your next trip expedia, find yours

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someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. let's breakdown what we just heard from my interview with senator john mccain. joining us is cnn's fareed zakaria and associated editor and columnist david ignatius. he has a book out there right now called "the director." fareed, your comments about

senator mccain and what he had to say? >> what he wants the united states to do is to be the air force for nouri al maliki and his government. nouri al maliki is a shiite thug who has followed and supporting his cause the united states would alienate the sunnis of iraq and the sunnis of the region. it would fuel the sectarian fires and i think it would be highly unlikely that in that scenario, once the washington did that and let's say some of the violence stopped and the government was consolidated, that maliki would then say, oh, i'd now like to do powersharing of the kind that i haven't done for eight years. let's remember, the united states has never been able to get him to genuinely share power. the reason he started to do a little bit of it in 2007 and

2008 was not the united states' pressure. it was that his country descended into an all-out civil war and to stop that, maliki temporarily agreed to do what petraeus asked him to. the minute petraeus left, well before u.s. troops pulled out, maliki stopped doing it. the united states would be supporting him and becoming his air force. i think this is something that washington should think very carefully about before it does and the president is quite right, to put the pressure on maliki to use the leverage he has now and say, your country will explode if you don't agree to do genuine power share. >> what do you think of what we heard from senator john mccain? >> i agree with what fareed said. i did hear him say that he would send petraeus and ambassador crocker to tell maliki that it's

time to go. i'd like to hear that from the white house. i think it's important that the united states recognize that maliki is the architect of this sectarian disaster. the sunnis will not accept him. the idea of urging him to be more responsive, urging him to reach out, it's not going to work. >> do u.s. air strikes, as senator mccain is asking for, make a difference? >> i'm sorry that the president has decided to wait a few days. the issue in the short run is stops isis, the al qaeda offshoot, from taking baghdad. if the united states does not provide assistance properly in the way of air power, i think iran is going to intervene. >> why has the iraqi military crumbled the way it has? >> because it's poorly led. because they have purged them of the best generals, he put in his own political leaders. he's done so the iraqi army what stall lynn did to the red army

before world war ii. so this has been coming. people understood that the army was weak. for president obama to have said that this was a shock, i've been hearing about this, as i'm sure fareed has, for some months. this has been coming. the question is what to do about it now and they do have to be stopped before we get to baghdad. >> we heard jim sciutto report earlier this hour, the u.s. intelligence committee was warning weeks, maybe months ago that isis was heading towards baghdad. it shouldn't have come as such a shock. what did you make about senator mccain's call to fire his whole national security team, including general martin dempsey? >> i think dempsey is a somewhat more cautious in terms of the spectrum of intervention and senator mccain is fairly strongly pro interventionist and what you were seeing was really a policy debate that was being

personalized. i think dempsey is a fine man. it's just that he and mccain disagree on american intervention. i think to underscore the point that david was making, this is not really a military problem in the sense that the iraqi government is 700, 8,000 men. isis, to the best we can tell, is 2 or 3,000 people. the problem is that because of the sectarian nature of the army, the sunnis there seem to be fleeing and refuse to fight. all of those people laying down their arms and taking off their uniforms are probably sunnis who didn't want to fight fellow sunnis and actually felt a greater bound between them and the insurge jepts than they did with their often shiite officers. we think of these things in the united states -- armies as nonpolitical, bureaucratic. but this is deeply political. and what happened was, a purger of the army so the army is no longer functioning.

if you can fix some of that, the iraqi state has massive capacity. they don't need american airpower. they need to get their act together. >> fareed, david, thanks to you. fareed will have much more on this crisis in sunday on "fareed zakaria gps" at 10:00 and 1:00 p.m. on sunday. a special report on the crisis in iraq and cnn has reported inside the country. we'll go there live. up next, though, donald sterling takes off the gloves. the the embattled co-owner hires private investigators. his target, the nwa.

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donald sterling is launching a no hold's barred strategy. sterling has hired an army of pr private investigators to find anything that he can use against the other owners and the league. brian, what is going on? >> a person familiar with donald sterling's legal team said that regardless of who escalated this, what's clear is that this brawl is getting uglier. he's ready to unleash an even nastier fight. a person familiar with donald sterling's legal strategy tells cnn sterling has hired multiple private investigators to dig up dirt on other nba owners and the league itself. they will look into several cases of race and gender discrimination brought against

the nba dating back many years. >> make no mistake about it, donald sterling has threatened mutually assured destruction. he's essentially said, if i'm going down, everybody else is going down with me. >> reporter: our source says donald sterling will give each private investigation firm $50,000 and a month to do its work. sterling's team already knows of cases where pregnant employees were allegedly discriminated against by the league. they have called the nba a bunch of hypocrites. >> why are they beyond reproach. why can't the nba come clear and tell us about their indiscretions. >> reporter: donald sterling was hesitant to investigate other owners but lakers' star kobe bryant was caught on tv calling anti-gay slur. they will highlight the phoenix suns that would not hire women

to do trampoline dunks. it all causes a bitter fight between sterling and the league but analysts say sterling could be building a legal case to show inconsistencies in the way that the league treats different owners. >> if he wants to shake them up, he would follow the investigation and basically say, okay, behind closed doors, i have this evidence. are you now going to remove the 2.5 million or do we have to make this public? >> other information that could be made public, our source says the private investigators are going to look into the nba finances and the compensation that was paid to top league executives. a source with knowledge of the nba's position responds to all of this by saying this is a strategy of intimidation that obscures the real issue, donald sterling's conduct. this only demonstrates that donald sterling is unfit to own a team. wolf? >> brian todd, thanks for the

update. when we come back, one of the most famous planes on earth soon to be traded in for an extraordinary new model. we're taking you behind the scenes of the new air force one. and right at the top of the hour, a situation room special report on the crisis in eye bei rack. cnn has reporters in the country. it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter.

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perhaps the most famous airplane on earth is now being traded in for a new model. air force one will turn 30 in 2017. that means the u.s. government is shopping for a replacement right now. cnn's tom foreman reports. >> reporter: part white house, part war-room, part political

icon, the new air force one will fill many roles. >> cleared for takeoff. >> reporter: on the surface the requirements are simple. it must be a wide body, four engine commercial aircraft, but then things get complicated. >> i think the biggest misconception about air force one is the idea that it's some sort of a plush comfortable luxury jet that only is used for executive travel, when in fact, it has a military mission. it is a flying headquarters for the commander in chief. >> reporter: will it have an escape pod like in the movie "air force one"? no. that is fiction. but it does have defensive capabilities. shields against the e llect to magnetic pulse. the plane must be able to travel anywhere in the world landing at big and small airports and, of course, there are many secrets at the reagan library, an earlier model, a modified boeing 707 is a major draw. >> we all want to know what's on

this plane. there's such a mystique. it is america. it's our presidency. and i remember the first time i walked through it. you just get chills. >> reporter: air force one has been in the middle of many extraordinary moments when john kennedy was assassinated, lyndon johnson became the next president on board. ronald reagan took it to meet the russians and practiced his putting in flight, too. george w. bush used today's version, a modified boeing 747 to fly back to washington on 9/11. unable to do a tv address to the nation until he landed. that was later fixed and the new jet is expected to have full inflight broadcast capabilities along with sleeping quarters, shower, airborne oval office and emergency room. delivery, in seven years. but -- >> trust me when i tell you that the pentagon's military acquisition system can't achieve

anything in that short of period a time. >> reporter: so like the rest of us sometimes, even the president may have to wait for his plane. the sticker price is currently unknown. perhaps that will get clearer when the final contract is arranged. for the record, it's almost certainly going to mean money that will go to an american plane manufacturer for an american plane. after all, as an expert told us, you don't see the president riding around in an -- >> it's not going to be an airbus. presumably boeing. >> probably boeing. we'll see. >> good report. thanks very much. coming upup, right at the t of the hour, a "situation room" special report. we're live on the ground as that country spirals deeper and deeper into crisis. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location.

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room" special report. "racing toward baghdad." a brutal terror group moves into town after town spreading bloodshed and panic. we're learning there were intelligence warnings about this months ago. fighting back. as iraqi forces try to make a stand, president obama says they need help. but he won't put u.s. boots on the ground. what happens to thousands of americans if terrorists reach the iraqi capital? and reign of terror. we're going to show you shocking new images of the group that is so brutal even al qaeda has disowned them. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." and we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. iraq now under attack from within. a brutal terror group speeding toward the capital sending civilians and troops fleeing. we have new information that u.s. intelligence saw this coming. as the islamists vow to raise

their flag over baghdad, shiite clerics are now calling for volunteers to defend their holy sites and the capital. iraq's military is trying to regroup, claiming to have killed dozens of terrorists in air strikes on a captured base. president obama says he's weighing u.s. military options but won't send any u.s. troops. no such hesitation from iran, which officials say has already dispatched hundreds of so-called revolutionary guards to the fight. from the pentagon, to iraq, our correspondents and analysts are standing by to bring you the kind of coverage that only cnn can deliver. let's begin with our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. he's got the very latest. >> a counterterrorism official tells us the u.s. intelligence committee warned this spring that isis was targeting the capital, baghdad. multiple assessments particularly over the last year

detailing isis' growing strength and its ambitions to take territory across iraq. those ambitions now a surprise, what was a surprise was how the iraqi military melted away and failed to defend vital territory. their victory laps have become daily events. isis militants parading through iraqi cities they have overrun, driving american-supplied humvees and trucks they have stolen. with the u.s. trained iraqi military being overpowered, president obama said he's now including options including military action. his first step planning to deploy the aircraft carrier u.s.s. george h.w. bush to the persian gulf. a potential platform for air strikes. >> iraqi security forces have proven unable to defend a number of cities which has allowed the terrorists to overrun a part of

iraq's territory. and this poses a danger to iraq and its people, and given the nature of these terrorists, they could pose a threat eventually to american interests as well. >> reporter: ultimately, president obama and aides insist any long-term solution depends on iraq's shiite prime minister nuri al maliki finally welcoming sunnis and kurds into his government. just seven months ago when maliki visited washington, the president praised him for doing just that. >> we were encouraged by the work that prime minister maliki has done in the past to ensure that all people inside of iraq, sunni, shia, and kurd, feel that they have a voice in their government. >> reporter: today's reality on the ground is very different. many iraqi sunnis have joined isis. iraqi kurds seized oil-rich karkuk. and now iraqi shiite clerics are

calling on their followers to join the fight. a civil war in the making. now a president whose foreign policy has been defined by withdrawing from iraq and soon by afghanistan may be forced back in. >> the way the administration has handled past crises like these, in particular the way it's handled syria, is not going to be good enough for iraq. arguably it hasn't been good enough for syria, either. and providing marginal amounts of military assistance, maybe some rhetorical support isn't going to change a thing in iraq. >> a counterterrorism official tells me it is clear that isis with only a few thousand fighters could not have moved as fast as it has without the support of sunni tribes and sunni nationalist groups inside iraq. as long as isis maintains the support, the intelligence committee it's likely to hold the territory it's gained short, wolf, of a major counteroffensive by the iraqi military and questions remain of whether they're capable of carrying that out.

>> hold on. stand by. while president obama is ruling out u.s. boots on the ground in iraq, he has asked his top national security team for a list of options and the united states will send an aircraft carrier, as we just heard, to the persian gulf. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, does the u.s. think the iraqi military can hold? >> well, that was a question the pentagon was not willing to answer today. the chief spokesman here was asked that twice by reporters and side stepped it. can they -- can the military hold? can the rebel -- this insurgent force make it to baghdad? can the iraqi government defend against these guys taking baghdad? there's a lot of concern, wolf. the forces that are on the move, very difficult to strike. these are very dispersed forces. they've been moving very fast. what to do about it? already the u.s. has increased surveillance flights at the request to the iraqis. they are considering, they're very close to making that

decision to send the aircraft carrier. that would at least give them ability to give the president the option for air strikes if he was to choose it, wolf. >> what are the u.s. military challenges as far as intervention is concerned? i guess one of the key questions, does the u.s. really believe it has a full intelligence picture of what's going on? >> i think that everyone agrees they do not yet. that's one of the reasons they're running these surveillance and reconnaissance flights, but it's very tough. again, you look at the video and it just tellins you who the peoe are. widely dispersed. move in vehicles. basically fundamentally small arms. if you're going to strike them from the air, you need very specific granular intelligence. time, date, and place. who is moving in that vehicle? and when they move through iraqi towns and cities, you can't bomb them because you're going to wind up destroying civilian infrastructure and have a great risk of striking iraqi civilians in cities, towns, and even on

the roads right now. so this is a very tough proposition. very tough to target it with u.s. air power, wolf. >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thanks very much. let's take a closer look now at these terrorists that are so brutal even al qaeda has disa avowed some of their actions which they record on video for everyone to see. meanwhile, we won't show you the worst of their videos. what you're about to see is still very disturbing. cnn's mohammed jamjoom is here, has more on this part of the story. mo >> two wars, the physical war on the ground in iraq, shocking to the rest of the world, but there's also the propaganda war that they continue to wage. by the looks of it, it shows no signs of abating any time soon. a chilling sight. residents of mosul, iraq, cheering on the takeover of their city by isis.

a terrorist organization so brutal even al qaeda has disowned them. but it's not just portions of the population this group has won over. far more worrying, they now control an arsenal of weapons left behind when iraq's army fled the scene. here, you see a terrifying display. isis proudly showing off missiles they promise to move on their march toward baghdad. scary scenes like this are nothing new when it comes to isis. the group has perfected propaganda techniques that showcase their strength and brutality. like this recent video over an hour long highlighting horrific killing sprees in iraq, deliberately recorded on video. bombings. executions. kidnappings. and worse. this production displays glossy camerawork and high-level production techniques. as though isis were taking cues

from films like "the hurt locker with "to maximize the terror. it shows how effective a threat isis is becoming. >> there's money behind it. it's not just idiots. these idiots have somebody controlling them and providing them with equipment that is very expensive. you can't just get in a cave. >> reporter: one frightening sequence shows isis fighters disguised as iraqi soldiers setting up fake checkpoints. in another scene, a man is hunted down. after being shot, he pleads for his life. "i'm just a driver" he says, "just a driver." what appears to be the man in an iraqi uniform is shown. then sheer brutality. a hail of bullets shot into his beck. and that's not the worst of it. this man was accused of working with the u.s. he and his two sons forced to dig their own graves. >> what happened to these people to lose their humanity? their propaganda is the tool, the only tool that can defeat

them. >> reporter: to judge by this video the reign of terror shows no signs of abating which is exactly what isis wants even at the risk of their tactic backfiring. wolf, every day isis and their supporters, they are tweeting. they're posting pictures. they are posting videos trying to terrorize their opponents. analysts say it's very worrying. they believe that this group may be using social media more effectively as a recruitment tool than any other terrorist organization has done so before them. wolf? >> brutal, brutal situation. thanks very much. let's get more now. joining us, former bush speechwriter david frumm. he's now the senior editor of "the atlantic." also joining us, iraq's ambassador to the united states. and chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is with us as well. mr. ambassador, you heard the president of the united states today. he effectively was lecturing

nuri al maliki, your mime minister saying you have to bring everyone in iraq together. this can't just be a shiite-led government. you've got to bring the sunnis, the kurds, you got to have some real democracy there. is nuri al maliki going to do that? >> we already have a coalition government. my own foreign minister, the defense minister. we already have that. what is taking place is not an internal iraqi dispute, more to do with what your report, an invasion -- >> why are so many iraqi sunnis in the military and elsewhere aligning themselves with the isis group. >> this is a national, transnational group. effective in syria and now trying to explo-worport that to. we as iraqis will not accept that. >> what will nuri al maliki doing in the face of the recommendation from the president? the u.s. is considering military options but not going to do anything unless they get reassurances from your prime

minister that he will take the necessary steps. >> we thank united states for all they have done. we thank them for all the going efforts and thank them for ongoing support. in that sense, it's not the issue of the prime minister only, we have threat to the whole nation, to the country and cannot co-exist. in that case, the president does understand the seriousness of the situation and the impact on the geopolitics. >> has your prime minister invited iranian revolutionary guard troops into iraq right now? >> no, we have not invited iranian. what we are saying is we have a strategic framework agreement with the united states. our partner of choice. we have an agreement in place. we need to work further and we need to intensify in-depth and with that relationship. >> mr. ambassador, i want to bring in david and jim into this conversation. let me play a clip. this is the president of the united states on the south lawn of the white house today. listen to this. >> 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. >> he's referring to the prime minister of iraq. >> and the question is what? >> and the question is, if the u.s. goes in a little bit then leaves, are you going to go back to what you're doing right now? >> the issue we have is not an internal issue. the issue we have is an impact of syria, a threat to the region. we have asked for some time that we need to be supported. the u.s. has supported us. what we need now is a -- >> david, what do you think about what's going on? >> the iraqi government, this iraqi government made it clear two years ago they did not want american force in iraq. they chose iran over the united states as their provider of

security. that was prime minister maliki's decision. today now he's in trouble, american air power looks very welcome to him. but at this point, for the united states to go in, it would be rescuing an iranian client. and the question i think americans need to ask is, okay, maybe, what do we get in return? and not just from iraq, but also from iran. >> because you know the president of the united states said before u.s. troops completely withdrew, he would keep a few thousand there if they had immunity from iraqi prosecution if there was a status of forces agreement that allowed that to happen but your prime minister said no. >> a couple of months ago we had an election. 60% of the people voted in. united states and u.n., everybody else said it was a fair election. so we have a democratic process. changing the prime minister is not the issue here. the threat is immediate to the whole country. the political process will be ongoing with the u.s. welfare. we hope that will continue with support, and we also know this

threat, let me repeat that, the threat is immediate to the region, not just to iraq. it's not just a purely internal iraqi politics. >> go ahead and weigh in. >> he's exactly right. there's no question this is a regional threat now and isis, frankly the threat goes beyond the region because isis is the number one magnet for foreign jihadis. u.s. intelligence community warning repeatedly about the jihadis returning home to europe. 50, 60 americans have joined the fight as well. this is an example where as americans, whatever the polls show, americans would like to not be involved in this part of the world but the fact is we are involved because the threat emanating from there has a direct impact on the u.s. homeland. >> do you believe these insurgents, these isis terrorists are going to go after shiite shrines, whether in carbula, najaf, elsewhere to try to simply explode the entire country? >> yesterday they made their first degree crre decree saying

already made that public. they've already done it in certain places today. the issue we have now is not the issue of internal politics. of iraq. it's more to do with the threat. our friend here talked about american being there. we know there are european jihadists there. when they want to go back to the united states, france, elsewhere, what are they going to do? >> what is your government asking president obama for? >> we have never asked for american troops on the ground, asked for cobat forces. what we have said is that we need support and strategically in relation to counterterrorism, in relation to -- >> specifically, what do you want? >> in relation to helping us to have some air supremacy. because we need that. >> do you want u.s. fighter jets to come in and bomb positions of these isis forces in iraq? >> as an ambassador, i'm not in a position to highlight the specifics. this is for the military and counterterrorism specialists to deal with. what i'm saying is support we have from the united states will make the difference.

we have united states our strategic partner of choice. we don't have that with iran. the vacuum is created. >> what do you think, jim, do you think the u.s. is going to do what the ambassador wants the u.s. to do? >> i think the -- the president made a reference to this, that help should be and is dependent on iraq making political concessions. i would ask the ambassador, he says the government is a multiethnic government and i know there are some officials, sunni and kurds in senior positions, but the fact is that sunnis and kurds do not view the government as inclusive. so my question would be, would maliki make the government more inclusive in exchange, in effect, for american help now to fight off this isis threat? >> we just had an election. the votes have just been ratified now. our supreme courts. the very few weeks, within the few weeks, the formation of the government. all these lessons have been learned. situations are grave. what has to be looked at is what

are the immediate threat to iraq, to the region, to the geopolitics? let me give you one side of that. iraq is a major oil producer. if that production is stopped, or if that fund from that goes to isis and others, imagine how much that destruction would make to the global economy. that's where the issues are. >> jim, i want to put on the screen, i want to show the map of where the various forces are aligned right now inside iraq and neighboring syria. go ahead and explain. >> it's important to show our viewers this. i think people are aware that iraq is multiethnic, but you get a sense, physically, how they're divided up. shiites largely in the south. in the southwest, you have a shiite/sunni mix. as you head toward anbar province. northwest, largely sunni. the kurds, of course, up in the northeast. and this, we talk about a sunni corridor here. this has been one reason why isis has been able to advance so quickly down toward the capital because they're coming from syria up in the north of the

screen, the top part of the screen, through those sunni areas, through mosul, down to baiji and over to where fallujah is. help from local tribes, local nationalist groups. the map in effect helping isis' accomplishments. >> you heard john mccain, the senator, he told us that he's lost confidence in nuri al maliki, the prime minister of iraq. he's a great supporter, a great friend of iraq. >> i think that is the wrong focus from an american point of view. what the united states should be asking for are not internal concessions within iraq to different power holders. what the united states needs are external concessions from iraq's main patron which is unfortunately iran. it is not tenable that american fighter jets will be delivering ordinanre to support iran's security interests. >> you heard john mccain make that exact point. he doesn't want u.s. involvement if it's only going to help iran. >> if iran wants -- when maliki speaks, it is iran that is talking. if iran wants this help, it has to ask and has to pay. >> mr. ambassador? >> prime minister maliki in the latest election had 700,000

votes. he has over 100 seats within a 300 parliaments. so he is representing the democracy of iraq. the formation of the government may take time. we have an immediate situation. senator mccain has been strong supporter of iraq. we want that support to stay. we appreciate the support we're getting. but let me repeat what we have now. we have a grave situation now. we cannot wait until all the politics is discussed. the threat is an immediate threat. >> how vulnerable is baghdad? >> i will doubt -- i'm somewhat confident about that. i'm not worried about that specifically. i'm more worried about the shia shrine being destroyed which leads to a geopolitical situation. let me give you one example. any small impact on iraq will have an immediate situation in pakistan, in afghanistan immediately. so that said, the grave nks of this -- >> it's a horrible situation right now. mr. ambassador, we hope you come back next week and help us

understand what's going on. jim sciutto, thank you to you as well. a terrorist group heading toward the iraqi capital. and we'll take a closer look at how those battle-handened extremists have managed to capture city after city on their march to the iraqi capital. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are no branches? 24/7 i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

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islamist extremists battle hardened in syria they've been pushing south in iraq vowing to march on baghdad.

hundreds of thousands have thread their advance and there are now reports of beheadings and mass executions along the way. let's get a closer look. cnn's tom foreman is joining us together with retired brigadier general. explain what's going on, tom. >> hi, wolf, let's break it down in terms of the best case scenario and worst case scenario. let's start with the worst. we've been talking about this area out here being held by these insurgents. islamic state in iraq. and we talk about this area and this quick march through a series of town to about 50 miles outside of baghdad here. worst case scenario, what's happening? >> worst case scenario is they continue the march but they also pick up significant amount of sunni support and attack into baghdad, topple the government. >> that is a huge force multiplier because we're talking about maybe 800 insurgents but you add sunni fights and what happens? >> 15 million sunnis inside the country. imagine the size of the force they could put together. >> let's talk about now the best case scenario. we keep talking about this as if this is a continuous area out

there. you've argued their force is so small, in fact, it's more like they're holding a bunch of little pockets out here, not all this territory. and that makes a big difference. >> it really does. they're clearing, they're not holding. so what the iraqi security forces are doing is they're setting up defensive positions about 20 miles north of baghdad. up around taji. and 20 miles west of baghdad. that's where they're going to defend with their loyal forces against this continued offensive that's going on. >> so if they're able to do that, then, you believe also that these insurgent forces are really badly extended? >> they are. and then fighting with the iraqi security forces hopefully they'll be stopped and the iraqi security forces can go on the counteroffensive. >> a little bit too far away from the supply lines, little bit too far away from any kind of command, new weapons, things like this. all this considered, best case, worst case, what's the most likely case in your mind? >> i think the iraqi security forces will hold outside the gates of baghdad then as they have done so many times in the past, the terrorists will then

start a terrorism campaign inside. get away from the conventional tactics, get into using ieds inside of baghdad and start running a reign of terror as so many times in past. >> that, wolf, could turn into a long, slow grind. >> certainly could. tom foreman. general. guys, thanks very much. as the ruthless isis group moves relentlessly toward the iraqi capital and massive american embassy there, what about the fate of thousands of american diplomats, thousands of other american civilians on the scene? our foreign affairs reporter elise labbot is taking a closer book into this part of the story. what you finding out? >> the u.s. embassy in baghdad is currently open for business but the state department is evaluating minute by minute whether it's time to pull out. with an islamist insurgent force moving swiftly toward baghdad, officials say the state department is preparing fresh plans for evacuating its staff

in the event of total collapse. >> our top priority will remain being vigilant against any threats to our personnel serving overseas. >> reporter: the u.s. has some 5,300 personnel in iraq. about 2,000 of them americans. at its embassy in baghdad, and consulates in basra in the south and urbeal in the north. moving so many people in a war zone will be an extremely difficult task. unlike the evacuation of u.s. embassy in saigon in 1975 where america negotiated safe passage for 1ted safe passage for 11 for 1,200 americans, here they must be able to secure airfields with u.s. military no longer on the ground and iraqis fleeing as extremists advance. the militants are seizing airfields and have missiles which could threaten pilots during an evacuation. the largest of its kind. ten times larger than any other in the world. the american embassy in baghdad costs u.s. taxpayers nearly $1

billion to build. the fortress was designed for a massive long-term u.s. presence. >> the embassy is very, very heavily fortified. we have extremely good security personnel and a lot of them. the embassy is set up to be self-sufficient and the embassy can take a lot and it has. >> reporter: the 104-acre compound is bigger than the vatican, with 22 buildings, apartments, and even an olympic-sized swimming pool. less than 100 marines along with diplomatic security agents and contractors guard the complex, but that's a far cry from the thousands of troops that once patrolled the secure green zone. officials say for now the americans will stay put but acknowledge security could deteriorate quickly. >> you do have to consider what would happen if not that the city were overwhelmed by 800, 1,200, 1,500 isil, but rather

what if they're able to cut all of the roads, lines of communication, lines of supply into the city and essentially besiege it? >> and, wolf, senior state department officials tell me the embassy has plenty of food and water for employees to hunker down and ride this crisis out, but if the situation starts to deteriorate, the state department would start with an initial drawdown of nonessential staff on commercial airlines while the airports are still open, and then would only move to a full evacuation if the situation gets really out of hand. >> yeah. i know as you've reported there, that full-scale contingency planning under way right now for that worst case scenario. elise labott at the state department. thank you. just ahead, as fighting rages, arwa damon is on the ground in iraq. there she is. we'll go there live. president obama says he won't send u.s. troops back to iraq, but how deeply could the u.s. get involved militarily? and our panel of experts.

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fearing of mass executions there, hundreds of thousands of people have fled the area. our senior international correspondent arwa damon who spent years covering the war in iraq way back in 2003, she's back there now. she's in the northern iraqi city of urbeal. tell our viewers what you're seeing, arwa, what you're hearing. >> reporter: well, wolf, the latest information we have is that isis has managed to capture three towns, while the iraqi air force has bombed according to iraqi state television isis positions in the city of tikrit. they're claiming to have killed 70 isis militants but this fighting force most certainly has a lot of experience and now thanks to the iraqi security forcing abandoning their positions, plenty of heavy weaponry. captured by isis in mosul as iraqi army abandoned its position, row upon row of

american-made military hardware. this and much more heavy weaponry and ammunition is at isis' disposal as they advance southward. the province of diala just to north of the iraqi capital. video purr poer porting to show stomping on the uniforms of iraqis that fled. maliki, your ranks are at our feet, one says. also, this. an isis military parade. two trucks filled with missiles. potentially just an hour away from baghdad. as iraqi security forces melted away with the isis advance, a security source tells cnn iran sent in reinforcements. several units of its elite republican guard to support iraqi government forces. but as this isis fighter boasts, they may have grander plans. "god willing we will raise our

flag in tehran" he says. hundreds of shia volunteers allegedly heeding calls to join the iraqi army. shia militias reactivated under different names. grand ayatollah's spokesman also issuing a call to iraqis to join the fight against isis. but this is much more than a battle between a terrorist organizations and a government. isis' advance was through predominantly sunni lands marching through the north and moving down toward baghdad, lands where most of the sunni population despise shia prime minister nuri al maliki's polarizing policies which further alienated the sunni population. iraqis called for u.s. assistance, something president obama says he is reviewing. >> we can't do it for them, and in the absence of this type of political effort, short-term military action including any assistance we might provide, won't succeed.

so this should be a wake-up call. >> reporter: but it's also a wake-up call for the americans. they supported maliki for a second term when he pledged to form an inclusive government, but upon acquiring the position, simply consolidated power around himself further angering the sunnis. and, wolf, isis may be in the spotlight right now, but fighting alongside it are other sunni insurgent groups that were very prominent during the u.s. occupation of iraq as well as sunni tribes. fighting alongside isis not because they have a desire to, but because they do belief this is an existential battle between sunni and shia for control over iraq, wolf? >> arwa damon, be careful over there in iraq. arwa damon. excellent, powerful report. as terrorists push relentlessly toward baghdad, president obama says he won't send american troops back into iraq, but how deeply could the united states get involved? joining us now, sebastian

junger. also joining us, tara maller of the new american foundation. and a contributing editor at the "national review." sebastian, what should the u.s. be doing right now, if anything, in iraq? >> well, that's a complicated question. i've never covered iraq, but i think a unit like the 173rd airborne, the guys i was with in afghanistan, are pretty well suited to dropping in there and at least carving out a safe area around embassy. but, you know, that's -- i think it really depends on what the iraqi security forces do. >> tara, you've studied iraq for a long time. what is nuri al maliki going to do? because the president basically lectured him today, you've got to take steps before the u.s. gets involved militarily. >> well, i was listening a little bit earlier and based on what the ambassador was from iraq was saying it doesn't look like maliki is jumping into

action based on president obama's' marks. we're going to need to watch over a couple of days. the administration is going to have to watch the displacement that's happening, desertions that are happening. this is deja vu. saw this in 2004, 2005, 2006 and it's quite disheartening it's what we're seeing again now. unless maliki starts moving, i don't know that he's going to move as quickly as obama would like for the u.s. to lend in some help. >> what do you think maliki is going to do? certainly the president put all the pressure on him to do the right thing. >> well, the trouble is, you know, what is the right thing? i think the fundamentally right thing for him to do is to embrace power sharing. when you see the conflict in iraq, it's been a communal conflict. not unlike the conflict we saw in bosnia in the mid 1990s in which everyone fears minor rty status. they fear the minority status is essentially a death sentence and that's why you have the sunni population was somewhat restrained when they saw that american power was restraining maliki's hand.

and then when you had a diminished and ultimately no u.s. military presence, there was no force to restrain maliki so there was this deep anxiety arwa mentioned in her report that you have plenty of sunnis who are not embracing the ideology of isis and yet it's that fear of being a vulnerable minority that is fueling the desertions and larger chaos. that's ultimately what maliki needs to do. move toward power sharing and genuine authentic inclusive settlement and that's hard for someone who has very little reputation as an inclusive figure. >> i want everyone to stand by. we're just starting this conversation. we'll take a quick break. in a moment, what's the best way out of this crisis? we'll take a look at the various possibilities.

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we're back with the journalist and filmmaker sebastian junger, also tara

maller and cnn political commentator, contributing editor at the "national review." when you think of the history, sebastian, shiite tensions with sunnis and with kurds, what's been going on in iraq for hundreds of years, you think there's going to be any solution to this any time soon? >> well, it seems like iraq is sort of a, in some ways a false concept historically. it really was three different areas. maybe what we're seeing is an expansion of the shia-sunni conflict in syria. it spilled across the border. basically al qaeda fighting hezbollah in syria, and i think, you know, some people feel we're headed toward a sort of regional shia-sunni conflict that ultimatelyudi arabia against iran. >> many people think what's going to happen is a partition. >> yeah, that's one scenario that could play out. if things worsens, nothing

happens, could see self-segregation into areas that are self-segregated as the country is right now. we saw this in the 2004-2006 period, the population started displacing themselves, segregating themselves internally within cities. we could see this again in the country or see military action, strikes that sort of target terror strong holds in perhaps western iraq and anbar province or perhaps the areas where the insurgents, isis took hold in mosul and tikrit. would it have a long sustainable political shift in iraq? probably not. set the group back a little bit? possibly. >> do you have any optimism this is going to work out peacefully? >> i do not. i do think that one thing to pay attention to is what's happening in iraqi kurdistan. there are, of course, many iraqi kurds who wanted to separate themselves from iraq for a very long time and i think this certainly strengthens their hand and think they're going to consolidate their power in the region and create complications for neighboring stays with

kurdish minorities including turkey, including iran. that's something to pay attention to as well. >> looks like it's going to be an ugly, ugly situation. the next few days will be we'll watch it together with all of you. thanks to all three of you, sebastian junger, tara mahler. we're going to texas where and sergeant bowe bergdahl's condition. but first, this impact your world. >> during his eight seasons as host of discovery channel's "dirty jobs", mike rowe learned all about the hardworking men and women who are keeping american running. but he found there was a disconnect between unemployment and available jobs. >> but everywhere i was going, i saw help wanted signs. everybody i talked to said how hard it was to find people who were willing to retool, retrain, learn a truly useful skill, and apply it. microworks evolved to shine a light on a lot of jobs that for

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during the night, sergeant bowe bergdahl arrived at a u.s. military hospital in san antonio, texas, to continue his recovery from five years as a prisoner of the taliban. u.s. army officials finished a briefing on his condition a little while ago. let's go to cnn's martin savidge. he is on the scene with us. how did it go, martin? >> reporter: hello, wolf. u.s. officials say sergeant bowe bergdahl spent his first day in the united states pretty much just acclimating to his new environment. they say given what he has been through mentally and physically, he is doing as good as expected. but there was one big omission. where was the family that worked so hard for his freedom? in the middle of the night,

28-year-old army sergeant bowe bergdahl finally returned to the united states. but in many ways he is still a long way from home. the prisoner swap for his freedom continues to draw criticism as do allegations he deserted his post in afghanistan. and there is his personal recovery from the mental and physical duress of five years in taliban hands. among those watching bergdahl's first moments on american soil was an army general. >> he appeared just like any sergeant would when they see a two-star general. a little bit nervous, but he looked good, and he again saluted and had good deport: >> reporter: the brooke army medical center specializes in carefully guiding former p.o.w.s on the difficult journey back to freedom. and in a news conference, one of bergdahl's doctors described his medical condition as stable. >> overall we're pleased with his physical state. he was able to ambulate and walk into the hospital, and seemed to do so in a functional manner. >> reporter: but doctors gave little insight into bergdahl's

mental state. nor could they explain a big question mark hanging over his return, why he has not had any contact with his parents, who worked tirelessly for his release. bob and jenni bergdahl were not in san antonio friday as many expected. >> overall it was his choice to make that when, who where they want to engage socially. the family understands that at this point in time. >> reporter: the family said, quote, they ask for continued privacy as they concentrate on their son's reintergags. he'll come here to fort sam houston, only a couple of minutes down the road. but it's a big change. more back to normal life. small steps adjusting to the world he once knew. at the medical center, one of his caregivers told me all the controversy and criticism surrounding sergeant bergdahl stops at the front gate, saying it's not our job to judge. but our duty to help a soldier heal.

now another question that was asked at this press conference is bowe bergdahl aware of all of the controversy surrounding his release and surrounding about whether or not he may have left his post. and the answer was no, he is not. they haven't told him. they will make those news reports available to him at some point. but they didn't say when, wolf. >> and they're not saying how long he might stay there at that military hospital in san antonio? >> right, correct. there is no timeline. they say every prisoner of war when they come back is unique, as were their circumstances. no way to really say you get the indication it could be a while. >> but it's your understanding, martin, that if he wanted to see his parents, they would -- the military would allow that to occur? >> they would. and, you know, one thing is clear is that the family has been clued in on this the whole time. it's not like this has come as a surprise. and they said at the very beginning, they gave their son as much time as he needed.

they're willing to wait. they've waited a long time already. at least they know he is back here in the united states. they'll wait a little longer. >> martin savidge, thanks very much. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." for our north american viewer, "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. next, iraq under attack. terrorists taking over major cities. was the united states caught completely offguard? plus, sergeant bergdahl back on american soil. why hasn't he asked to see his family? tonight an exclusive update from the man in charge of treating bergdahl. he'll be our exclusive guest. and chris christie tries to move past bridgegate. let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett