putin has become the pariah of the western world. and president obama foreign affairs record is under fire, but americans don't necessarily disagree with them. i'm michael smerconish. we begin with breaking news. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we begin with major breaking news. the united states has evacuated its embassy in the libyan capital of tripoli. the removal of staff to tunisia with fighting in the area. 150 personnel, including 80 marines, were driven out of the area and across the border to tunisia. that threatened the option of

getting americans out on commercial flights. officials today said driving them out under the cover the two f-16s and several v-22 aircraft end with a destroyer in the mediterranean was the best approach available. with me now is cnn military analyst lieutenant mark hertling and cnn correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: good morning, michael. it was about a five or six hour mission to drive the americans out of tripoli, libya and across the border into tunisia. the state department this morning making the case that the u.s. embassy in libya is not shutdown. their mission will continue from other locations, but make no mistake, the embassy complex is shuttered now. at least temporarily until and if the security situation in that country improves. what happened over the last several days is the shelling by

rival militias in that area, which is close to the airport, had intensified. it had become the new frontline. the airport shutdown due to shelling, virtually destroyed and shelling happened all over the neighborhood where the embassy located with no airport to get the americans out, as you say, and no other way. it had become the only option to drive them out. they did that overnight our time. we watched and monitored the events as they unfolded. two f-16s overhead and drone following the convoy to the border. a war ship if needed and marines flying overhead if the convoy had come under attack. they would have landed and gotten the americans out of there. thankfully for now, it went peacefully. michael. >> general hertling, think of libya and many think of

benghazi. i suspect this evacuation was among a heightened level of concern because of benghazi. your thoughts, sir? >> yes, michael. first of all, hello. it is always a tenuous situation when are you dealing with an evacuation of an embassy. i had to plan a couple of these in my career. only executed one. it was a partial. there is a laundry list of things that the commander watches for with the state department. the diplomats always want to stay longer. they want to take it to the last minute. as you provide the security of people working in the embassy and other american citizens in the country or city that you are evacua evacuati evacuating, you want to make sure you get them all out safely and without impetus. there is the issue with the state and dod of we need to go now and state saying we need to stay longer. the evacuation of the tripoli

embassy was probably a sporty event. they wanted to stay as long as possible. this is an indication of what is going on all over the world that require coordination with state and dod. >> general, to we lay people, we learn of the news and i'll speak for myself. how much more can there be on the world plate at one time? during the course of your long and distinguished career, do you rather an era where there were so many hot spots all coalescing at once? >> i don't, michael. this is a tough time for the united states and the world. what i would say right now, the only people busier and looking in multiple directions than cnn are the folks in the pentagon. as barbara knows, there are certain desks that look at certain areas of the world. they are all watching and seeking ways to tamp down violence and help other countries and partner with other

nations. it certainly is a tough time. this thing with libya, that is just arising, i suggest that the desk officer for that part of the world and north africa has been watching this for a long time monitoring trigger points and say it is tougher over here or more dangerous. these things are happening. this is all part of planning and analysis. there are a lot of things going on underneath the waves that people don't see. >> barbara, same question to you. is it palpable at the pentagon that they are responsible? >> i don't want to inject humor in that, but i will tell you, i can stop a military official in the hallway and start asking questions. that person will say which country are you asking me about because there are so many. i think most national security

officials in the administration would agree with you, michael. i think what they see is rising nationalism in so many places combined with failed states. places not governed by strong central governments where you see crime and corruptions in central and south america and move into rising nationalism. ukraine and eastern europe. to the rise of al qaeda and terrorist-affiliate groups in places. militias in places like libya, syria, iraq, yemen. you have these broad trends that are emerging, very much post-9/11 and post-osama bin laden bin. his whole era fundamentally gone. what you have now is much more diffused and diversified threats emerging in each location for

various reasons. the u.s. having to deal with it all. >> lieutenant general mark hertling and barbara starr, please stay with me. barbara was one of the few reporters invited to the briefing on mh-17. and what are the russians saying about the crash? wait until you see the details spun by the russian-state run media. so ours can be o's network for $175 dollars a month? yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business. we've always been on the forefront of innovation. when the world called for speed...

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we work with leading employers to learn what you need to learn so classes impact your career. while helping ensure credits you've already earned pay off. and we have career planning tools to keep you on track every step of the way. plus the freshman fifteen, isn't really a thing here. and graduation, it's just the beginning. because we build education around where you want to go. so, you know, you can get the job you want. ready, let's get to work. i want to bring you a headline from cbs news. probe at a crawl a week after the flight 17 crashed. more than a week after the downing of flight 17, there are issues of rebels blocking people from the scene. it is unclear how many remain. the dutch prime minister vowing to bring the remains home.

>> we will again rebuild our capacity in the field at the crash site to recover the remaining remains and as much as possible their personal belongings. >> and despite all evidence pointing to pro-russian separatists as the trigger men, more evidence that russia sent more tanks to separatists and could send more rocket launchers as we speak. the sanctions by the president, the issue is tepid at best. i want to bring back lieutenant general mark hertling and cnn correspondent barbara starr. it seems putin is becoming more aggressive vis-a-vis ukraine. >> well, that is right, michael. it is hard to figure out what is going on. most of my sources will tell you that is job number one trying to

determine what vladimir putin is up to and there are no clearancclearanc clearanclearanc clear answers. he is very tough and very much in control of his military forces. we are seeing two trends over the last couple of days. the u.s. says the russians are firing into ukraine from their side of the border and continuing to send heavy weapons across, including much more sophisticated multiple-launch rocket systems. why is russia doing this? they are trying to open up more space, if you will, more area, on the ukraine side for the pro-russian separatists to operate. they have taken back territory. the separatists feeling the pressure. russia trying to come to the aid and stay on the border to claim they are not doing anything. clearly, working behind the scenes and firing from their

side and sending weapons across trying to give the pro-russian separatists another leg up. it is likely to intensify the ground war and we will see many caught in the middle. >> general hertling, what is the united states military obligation to ukraine, if any? >> michael, we partnered with them for several years. it has been about eight years now. they were part of our force in iraq in the early days. they sent forces to iraq and afghanistan as part of non-partnered coalition. also worked under isaf. they are not a nato member. by treaty, we have no obligation to them. that is part of the reason russia is expanding into their territory. they see the encroachment of nato in former soviet union territories and they want to stop that. so from a standpoint of can we just say to the ukrainian government we will help you and put our troops in.

can the eu do that? no. can nato do that? no. can the united states do that? we could, but it will intensify the danger with russia. russia knows that. the next several days and weeks will be interesting to see how far mr. putin pushes his luck in expanding in ukrainian terrain and what the european union and european forces will do about it. ukraine has conducted exercises with nato and non-nato partners. i have been at those. they are establishing a professional force. russia doesn't like that. they are leaning more to the west than the east. that is something that mr. putin doesn't like. >> barbara, early they are week, you were invited behind closed doors by u.s. officials to receive a special briefing on the causation issue. what is it we can say or cannot rule out about direct russian involvement with regard to the

downing of mh-17? >> several reporters from major news organizations around washington attended that briefing because the intelligence community wanted to put out what it knew. a lot of this is caveat. this is our assessment. those are the words you get. they are pretty darn sure, but, you know, nothing is ever certain until you have the video with someone with the finger on the launch button, so to speak. what they are saying, u.s. intelligence and satellites how a surface-to-air missile with the beginning of the launch sequence. they saw it turn on. they were able to track that surface-to-air missile. they saw the infrared signature of the heat explosion in the sky. all of that within a ten-second period. they were able to calculate the trajectory analysis back to the eastern ukraine.

the mh-17, the flight overhead at the time. it all adds up. they say there is no chance they know of it was a ukrainian weapon that fired. ukraine had no weapons in the area. this all came out of pro-russian separatists, rebel-controlled areas in eastern ukraine. they were the only ones there with the weapons to carry this out. >> general mark hertling and barbara starr, thank you so much. you remember the headline. probe at a crawl a week after the crash. i would have written it, getting away with murder. just how dirty are president putin's hands in the crash of mh-17? >> these people exist thanks to putin. he is supplying it. he is funding it. without him, it will fall apart. they will do anything he asks them to do. >> we want more intelligence from committee member adam

schiff. and before the cease-fire took effect, does the u.s. stand by and watch or is more action needed? because we're streaming the movie that you love. well, how do i win? because we ordered that weird thing that you love from the pizza place. how do you win, dad? because i used the citi thankyou card and got two times the points on alllllll of this. well, and spending time with you guys of course. that was a better answer. the citi thankyou preferred card. earn two times the thankyou points on entertainment and dining out all with no annual fee. to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards. knows her way can run in high heels. must be a supermodel, right? you don't know "aarp". because aarp is making finding the career you love, no matter what your age, a real possibility. go to aarp.org/possibilities to check out life reimagined for tools, support, and connections. if you don't think "i've still got it" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp".

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take a look at this picture. these are armed pro-russian rebels laughing and smiling in front of the crash site of

mh-17. u.s. officials say pro-russian rebels are responsible for the downing of the downing of mh-17. they likely don't know it is a passenger jet. those who say ukraine is to blame, u.s. officials knowledge there is no evidence of a direct link to russia. is it possible as russia's ambassador to the u.n. says this was an act of confusion and not terrorism. here is the house member adam schiff. congress member, i would be derelict in my duty if i did not talk about the embassy in tripoli. did the news take you by surprise given your role in the committee or were you within the loop? >> i was not taken by surprise. we have a fierce battle with several militias. some affiliated with the muslim

brotherhood. some affiliated with the government. so not. the airport is a particular battle zone. if we were required on short notice to get people out, it was problematic. doing what they did by land discreetly and safely, made sense. i'm glad our personnel are away from the harm. it was a sensible move. >> take a look at the situation in iraq and then the situation in libya now gadhafi is gone. sometimes you wonder if there is more stability under a dictator and you have to wait to see what you wish for. >> this can turn into a cinder box anytime. they unleashed the forces built up over decades. this is something we tried to bring about and it would have been a gradual reformation of the governments encouraging them to support democracy and build civil institutions. we tried that in egypt,

unsuccessful unsuccessfully. you are absolutely right. one indictment, michael, was we were trading our security for their liberty because we were making a deal with the authoritarian regimes. you can see in the aftermath what risks are posed to us. at the end of day, we only have so much control over the destiny of that region and arab spring unleashed the powerful forces. >> congress member, you have sanctions by russia. and poroshenko asks for the same. my question to have you sanctions ever worked with regard to putin? >> this is the first concerted effort to have the broad based sanctions against putin. the reality is we don't have many other tools. we are not prepared to go to war with russia. the effective thing we can do is

bring the russian economy to its knees. the u.s. and the european community can do that. the white house used culpability is the right one. we know the russians have been fueling the fight. they bear responsibility here. if the downing of the plane and now russian shelling from russia into ukraine and supplying of additional heavy weaponry, if that doesn't get europe motivated, i don't know what will. this is their back yard. i hope europe will act. the u.s. will have to step up sanctions as well. probably nothing less than the sector-based sanctions are nothing but to deter putin. >> nora, i would like the congress member to see what poroshenko said. he said it is necessary for the

u.s. to take the lead in the regard. the west should begin with the lang langua larger response. am i reading that sufficiently? you know the critics of the presidency say he leads from behind. would you address that issue? >> i think this is certainly a situation where the president has been very forward leaning and leading. if you look at each round of sanctions, the united states imposing and followed by europe. the united states adding new people on the sanctions list. the united states pushing europe to go further. we have clearly led in this area. now, it is also true, michael, that the sanctions have a deeper adverse impact on the european economy than they do on ours. europe can say it is easy for you, america. it will not hurt you the way it hurts us. that's true. at the same time, it is their defense, it is their region that is far greater risk as with the downing of the plane.

mostly europeans killed. >> congress member adam schiff, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> almost 1,000 people have been killed in the conflict tearing apart the middle east. the united states response to the israeli-hamas conflict. what now for the war-weary u.s.? as long as i've lived in iowa, there's always been wind. (strauss' blue danube playing)

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the world is aflame. that is how the security aide to president obama describes the crisis with the israelis and hamas. despite reports of a set back. joining me now is elliot engel of new york. congress member, in a perverse way, has hamas' hand been strengthened by the optics of war? >> no, i don't think it has been strengthened at all. israel had no choice in the matter. not worrying if they were strengthened or not. they wanted to degrade hamas lobbying rockets for years.

israel is trying to protect its citizens. >> let me show you the polling data. earlier in the week, cnn released the results of a sa survey. do you think israel was justified or unjustified of taking action of hamas in the area known as gaza. 57% of americans said justified. 34% said unjustified. just days ago, gallop released a similarly worded question. the justified number was 42%. that would suggest as the week progressed and images were shown to americans of the destruction and death in gaza, that the support for israel dissipated. would you react to those polls? >> i would react to it to say the media has been absolutely unfair to israel. not only in the united states, but around the world. people are seeing horrific images of civilians killed. it is a terrible thing. any death is terrible. civilian deaths are worse.

when you analyze it, you have to say who is responsible for the deaths. hamas uses its people as huge and shields. they build missile factories in heavily populated areas daring them to take them out. when you have a terrorist group and hamas is a terrorist group. this is a fight between israel and terrorist group hamas that will not recognize israel's right to exist. israel has been having its population bombarded for the past several years. they left gaza in 2008. instead they got a rerign of terror. we talk about the casualties in gaza which are horrific. there are more and more casualties. more than gaza. israel gets picked on all the

time. if we saw in our country that missiles were coming over the border over the canadian border and lobbed on new york or mexican border and lobbed on texas. won't we go after the terrorists and those putting our citizens at risk? sure. israel has the right to protect its citizens. hamas, it is too bad they are controlling the situation in gaza. people like me, we believe in a two-state solution. that is ultimately what happens. if a terrorist group denies your right to exist and the media shows the horrific killings happening every day, it will change public opinion. public opinion will be changed by that. you know, again, some of the media have not been very even handed or responsible. >> congress member eliot engel.

thank you very much. you are about to see the issues of the crash of mh-17. it is a lot different from what we see here. plus this. russia and president putin in particular, has direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate with the investigation. that is the least they can do. >> can obama compel putin to control the separatists and to that end, can anyone control putin? ganncr: we took care of your back pain. you make him the mvp. tylenol is clinically proven to provide strong, fast pain relief. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol to pitch in for an industrial-sized smoker. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time. and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. all with no hoops to jump through. norm used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card

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we have a bit of a twist on headlines for this segment. we are looking at headlines from russian newspapers to give you a glimpse. ukrainian special forces ban journalists from sight of crash. kiev doesn't want to ensure safety of international experts or my favorite, absence of evidence doesn't prevent the u.s. from blaming russia in the boeing crash. that last article highlights what some see as president putin's unapologetic approach to international law. recently, his response to the missile attack against mh-17. >> i want to emphasize this tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on that land and in any case, if the military activities had not resumed in the southeast of ukraine. of course, the state over which

territory it happened is responsible for this terrible tragedy. >> joining me now from london is oliver bolo. he is the author of "the last man in russia." you were in ukraine last week. you lived and written about russia. here is my question, oliver. if i were in russia and paying attention to the russian media and that was my sole source of information, what would i think had occurred with regard to mh-17? >> well, it is funny you asked me that. yesterday, a russian historian asked me to go out for a cup of coffee with her. i did and she sat me down and told me about the atrocities committed by the ukrainian army. she is a person who takes everything with a pinch of salt. the situation is when the propaganda has been turned up to 11, even people who don't trust, the propaganda is turned up to

two. even she was insane to the standards of the western media. the russian media has been telling a totally different story. a story at times internally contradictory and something from a parallel universe. this is a reality we have to recognize when dealing with russia, the population there has been worked up to such a pitch by the months of state propaganda that the politically this makes the situation difficult to deal with indeed. >> how is the west combating the misinformation and which level of success? >> essentially, there is a closed media space in russia because television remains the most important outlet there. there really aren't any foreign companies that broadcast in the russian language in any meaningful sense. there are online bbc and online radio free europe as a radio station.

they are doing decent work. essentially when it comes to tv, no one is combating what the russians are saying and they are putting straight forward a package of mistruths, i would call it. if your viewers want to catch a sense of it, rt or russia today, has been joining in by broadcasting to make sure people abroad realize what is actually happening. it is interesting. the editor in chief, margarette is tweeting out the lies, i suppose they are calling them. which would seem to go in the opposite direction. it is a strange situation. >> oliver, quick question if i might. in "the wall street journal," you argued for more action from the west now.

should that go toward putin's individual assets? >> i think it should. not just that, i think every single russian official or regime insider with money, has that money dishonestly. it is not possible to accumulate vast wealth on their salary. they have to justify that money. >> oliver bullough, thank you for being here. one headline, absence of evidence doesn't prevent the u.s. from blaming russia in the boeing crash. what i would have written, follow the putin money. the president's approval ratings are in the tank, but is that because he is doing just what the american people asked for? okay, movie night.everyone wins. how do i win? because we're streaming the movie that you love. well, how do i win? because we ordered that weird thing that you love from the pizza place. how do you win, dad? because i used the citi thankyou card

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president obama is back in washington after a west coast fund raising swing that has drawn sharp criticism over the downing of flight mh-17 and the israel conflict. joining me now is tom rogan, colu columnist from the daily

telegraph. how the extreme right hijacked the gop. ellis, should he be fund raising? >> that is unrealistic. one task is politics and one is fund raising. you have to be. if you are in that job, you have to do a bunch of things at once. >> tom, i agree with that, do you agree or disagree? >> i believe the president needs to be the president and pursue political activities at home. with the president the fund-raiser in chief, the issue is he is disengaged. >> what does engagement look like if this is disengagement. i hear that levelled at the president without specificity as to what he should be doing. what should he be doing? >> that is a good question. he should be doing a number of things. in the aftermath of mh-17, he should have gone to europe.

he should have been there actively pressuring europe and financial sanctions and energy sector sanctions. if you think about what was happening in libya today, the president should be involved with the national security team. this has been going on for a few days at least. across the world, look at syria today. the isis movement. the united states should be providing more support to elements of the fsa, free syrian army to provide a counter balance to isis. there are active things he should be doing. >> ellis, i sense monday when i start answering phones again in my day job, i will hear again from people who say the whole world is on fire. stay out of it. it is a civil war. in libya, it is a civil war. tom wants the president more engaged. how do you see the level of

involvement? >> this is gritty and tough. gathering allies. doing the tough diplomacy. it is likely to provide better results in the long run. they make us feel good at first, but they are the crack of foreign policy. they are addictive and they mess you up in the long run. this is a better long term bet. >> are we spread too thin with regard to the current military obligations to take on additional responsible? >> i think there is a clear political understanding on the spectrum. you look at rand paul for example, americans are sick of the measure of foreign involvement over the past decade. that said, isolating ourselves at home, i don't think serves our objectives. you look at what is happening in iraq and syria and libya. again and now in iran with the

nuclear negotiations by a president that seems to look disengaged. in international affairs, it is perception. you talk to american allies from the monarchies to the eu and they don't have faith in the president. as a conservative, i want were t can the three of us agree defending itself against hamas rockets. >> yes, making a mess more by the day. >> i want to get to that. you agree, the three of us or onboard. speak to the issue you just raised. >> it matters. israel needs all's us. every day it goes on it get bloodier, messier undermines their peace and longtime security. >> the concern i have, tom, if benefits hamas and congressman engel made rerference to this.

ultimately hamas is emboldened in the arab world, portray themselves, wrong as it might be, a as victim. speak to that, if you would. >> two things in the arab world. populist perception on the street and the opinion behind the scene where is hamas is actually alienated a lot of different states in the region and the more important thing is from the israeli perspective, having given the cease-fires a chance and given hamas absurdity manned on strings attached to the a agreement of the cease-fire, israelis decided to push on. netanyahu many government has conservative elements. nowhere netanyahu to agree to the hamas demands -- >> understood. tom roggin, wish we had more time. tom ellis, good to see you both. and ceia, iran, gaza, how's the president doing? >> it scares me that he believes the world is in such good shape.

>> wait a minute. the american people spoke, and he listened. so are his ratings truly as dismal as some would have you believe? the average person will probably eat something or drink something that is acidic on a daily basis. those acids made over time wear the enamel. a lot of patients will not realize what's happening to the enamel. once it's gone, it's gone away for good. i recommend pronamel. it's designed specifically to

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one last thing. a passenger plane presumably shot down by russian separatists as part of the crisis in the eastern ukraine kills 298 civilians. israel moves into gaza in an effort to stop rocket launch, result more than 900 palestinianance and more than 30 areies dead. for starters. civil war rages in iraq. another in syria estimated to have taken 170 lives. meanwhile, iran proceeds with its nuclear program. libya still smolders and closer to home 60,000 unaccompanied minors arrived in the united states from central american

countries. enough to make your head spin. so how is president obama doing on the subject of foreign policy? not so well, according to the latest polls. in a recent survey by the "new york times" and cbs news, 58% of respondents disapprove of the way that obama is handling foreign affairs. the highest number of his presidency. only 36% said they approve. and the times cbs appraisal is no outlier. a similar survey last month in nbc and the "wall street journal" had the same result. no wonder critics like senator lindsey graham are getting great mileage out of hammering president obama on foreign policy. last week senator graham said this -- >> it scares me that he believes the world is in such good shape. america is the glue that holds the free world together leading from behind is not working. the world is adrift, and president obama's become the king of indecision.

his policies are failing across the globe, and it will come here soon. >> delve into the numbers. a more complicated picture emerges. one where americans are dissatisfied with the president, but approving of his individual decisions. consider this from the times cbs poll. when asked if they support of president's recent decision to send 300 military advisers to iraq, 51% said, yes. asked whether they support of use of drones in iraq, 56% said, yes. and a little more than half of voters were in favor of working with iran in a limited capacity to try to resolve the situation in iraq. each of those three foreign policy views is in line with what the administration is considering or actually doing. here's a similar finding. when politico surveyed voters in 2014 battleground areas recently, they found more than three quarters in support of the president's plans to withdraw all troops from afghanistan by the end of 2016. and 44% of likely voters favor

less involvement in iraq civil war, versus 19% who favor more involvement. that's something else he's doing. although taken just prior to the downing of mh flight 17, the politico poll evidenced agreement with his handling of the united states efforts to counter russian aggression in ukraine. what does it all mean? probably that americans are understandably concerned about the confluence of so many trouble spots around the globe and view the buck as stopping with president obama. even though they concur with his reluctance to get us directly involvaled in any more foreign entanglements and maybe approval/disapproval is a misleading wage to gauge public sentiment. approval maying 40% but maybe 60% want him to be less aggressive. all a reflection of the facts it's easier to be against

something then articulate an alternate approach especially in these times. that's it for me. see you back here next saturday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everyone. so grateful to have your company. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 on the west. here in the "cnn newsroom." breaking news. the united states evacuated its embassy in the libyan capital of tripoli amid heavy militia fighting. >> 150 staff and 80 marines left libya, driven to a neighboring tunisia to the west. >> for weeks the pentagon pressed to evacuate the embassy after the tripoli airport came under repeated attack. that threatened the ability to get americans, you can imagine,

out on commercial flights. correspondent barbara starr joining us now. what do you know this hour? >> reporter: good morning, again, christi and victor, by all accounts it went smoothly in that con voip across into tunisia. a five or six-hour drive for the americans, but we also know now here at cnn, there was plenty of american military fire power standing by just out of sight ready to move in in that convoy had gotten into trouble, if attacked. there were two f 16s overhead, a drone following the convoy the whole way. a destroyer out in the med trainer. a u.s. navy warship, of course and heavily armed marines flying overhead in v-22 aircraft ready to land in the convoy had come under attack and take the americans out very quickly, very quickly out of that area, but it all went smoothly. this is really a reflection of the growing violence in libya, especially in tripoli,