\s you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm jim sciutto in washington. we are watching developments in

two troubled parts of the world right now. one of them, iraq, where iraqi police officials tell cnn that special forces loyal to prime minister nouri al malaki are being deployed to strategic areas on the streets of baghdad. hours ago, maliki gave a defiant speech, accusing iraq's president of violating the constitution. also today, in northern iraq, more u.s. air strikes. they targeted positions held by the terrorist group isis. and also right now, the middle east, israel and hamas both agree to stop shooting at each other, at least for 72 hours. it is a temporary peace deal brokered again by egypt to allow negotiators on both sides to come to the table again. the agreement came after two days of rocket fire from gaza and air strikes from israel. i guess they got that house. >> that was cnn's martin savidge

hitting the floor just a short time ago in gaza city and watch, it's about to happen again. showing just how slim the margin of error is there. under fire, martin and his crew, thankfully, were not hurt. yet now is will this latest cease-fire that just began hold, even for 72 hours? the last time the two sides agreed to stop fighting, it didn't last. back to our main story now, i brant want to bring in cnn's brian todd now. he is watching developments in iraq. brian, we have heard something from the state department reacting now to this apparent muscle flexing by the prime minister of iraq, nouri al malaki. what are we hearing from us officials now? >> jim, things moving fast in washington as well. we have this just in. brett mcgurk, the state department's pointman on iraq, deputy secretary of state for near eastern affairs, sent this tweet a short time ago. "fully support president

of #iraq as guarantor of the constitution and a prime minister nominee who can build a national consensus." jim, a strong indication that the administration is very frustrated with prime minister nou nouri al malaki and actively trying to build support for another alternative candidate. this comes as two iraqi police officials tell cnn that significantly more iraqi troops and security forces are being deployed in and around the green zone, major brings, which link east to west, baghdad have been closed. so, nouri al mall lack kirk as you mentioned a short time ago, flexing his muscle there is in baghdad and the u.s. state department now clearly actively supporting candidate against him, the kurdish candidate for prime minister. >> they have been pretty circumspect, that a very public withdrawal of support for the iraqi prime minister.

i want to bring in a democrat representing hawaii's second district, also an iraq war veteran. i wonder, representative gabb t gabbert, thanks for being on the show. >> thanks for having me. aloha. >> we have breaking news developments there, in addition to the military fight in the north with u.s. air strikes against isis, you have this political battle under way, troops being deployed in baghdad, clearly prime minister maliki not going quietly what is the significance of this in terms of finding women's stability in iraq? >> this action by maliki is really, for me, further evidence of why iraq's governance, why their political problems that they are facing now are absolutely none of our concern. and why we should not further give ma'am lackey's government anymore legit mass cism his

government is a joke and to say any further action we will take against isis or other extremist terrorists in iraq based on whatever mall lack koirt iraqi government does is honestly, it's ridiculous. we have got to say very focused about what's in our best interest and let the iraqi people figure out the kind of future they want for their country, whether it's staying as one country or breaking up into three territories or whatever that is, the iraqi governance is not our concern. >> the administration the president has placed capital importance on political developments in iraq, saying iraq needs a stable government, inclusive prime minister, et cetera, et cetera. do you think they are too focused on political developments there, too hopeful that iraq can come one an inclusive government while off war under way with isis? >> i absolutely think the administration is not focused where we should be focused as a country. by continuing to focus on iraq's

governance and so-called political stability we are continuing the same mistake we have made since 9/11. if we look back to the day after nfl. we had our nation's leaders declaring war against these islamic extremists who attacked us, who declared war on us, that we would go after them, anywhere in the world and take them out. since then, we saw over the years, really a distraction and we ended up nation building. we ended up occupying iraq. we ended up occupying afghanistan. and spending a lot of our nation's treasure and precious lives doing some this has clearly been a mistake because now we are seeing the result of that distraction through groups like isis and other islamic extremists who have grown in their strength, their capabilities, their discipline and now, we are having to deal with the consequence of that, both with what's happening in kurdistan and other places. >> i want to remind our viewers, you are not an iraq veteran, you are not someone sniping from the

sidelines. you have seen things on the ground there and seen the cost of the iraq warrer. i want to ask you this -- >> and jim, let me just comment on that real quick, if you don't mind. it's because myself and others so many people who joined the military after 9/11, we joined the military with the motivation of saying we want to go after the people who attacked our american citizens, took american lives it is disheartening to see the distracts that our country's leaders have led us down over the last several years but even with the obama administration, a couple of days ago, a white house official said a quote that was very disturbing to me, and i quote, he said that the obama air strike was not an authorization of a broad-based counterterrorism campaign against isis. end of. we could and for someone like myself to have that blatant statement that there is no broad counterterrorism strategy against people who are continuing to became war on us against american citizens is

very, very disturbing. >> you want to see more than u.s. air strikes, the administration defined this mission very limited, as going -- saving the people who have been surround but also protecting u.s. personnel in baghdad. do you think this should be a broader mission that ages to push back and destroy isis? >> i like to be clear what we should not be doing is nation building. what we should not be doing is getting involved with building governments or taking down nation's leaders. what we should not be doing is occupying other countries. what we should be in a very targeted, tactical military sway focusing on taking out these islamic extremists, such as isis or al qaeda or whatever you call them. these are people who continue to wage war on us and conduct tactical strikes on them wherever they are. and with the kurds, now we see good example how we can do. this we have got kurds on the ground who are fighting, very courageously, against isis. we should be supplying them with

heavy weaponry so they can actually wage a fair fight against isis and provide the air strikes and the cover that will help finish this battle once and for all for them. >> representative gabbard, please don't go anywhere. we will keep you till after the break, we have a a lot of other stories we are monitoring, including two others overseas, humanitarian crisis glowing eastern ukraine and fragile cease-fire between israel and hamas. we want to your take on both those stories. please stay with us, right after this. fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. friskies grillers.

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i'm jim sciutto in washington. talking developments in the middle east.i want to bring back tulsi gabbard, a democrat representing hawaii's second district. she is also an iraq veteran herself. talking about the administration response, earlier in this broadcast, i had on several former generals who fought in iraq and commanded in iraq, including general petraeus' aide, who said whatever the administration says about a limited mission here, that they see the u.s. mission expanding in terms of fighting eyes circumstance including the possibility of ground forces, not a fighting forces, at least forward-deployed military advisers. do you agree that that's necessary, likely, that would help win the fight against isis? >> i disagree with what they are talking about. the problem they are seeing it, hear to a lot of different

commentators on this, everyone is talking about this as if it is about iraq and our u.s. involvement in iraq, are we going back to war with iraq? that's not the question here. this is really not about iraq. our u.s. military should remain very laser focused on seeing how we can take out these islamic extremists, such as isis, al qaeda, whatever name you call them by in a way that is precise, tactical and effective. what we are seeing now, for example, in kurdistan, there is no need for us to hav these ground forces there because you have the kurds, the peshmerga, who are fighting very effectivetive effectively. they would be more effective if they could fight against the tanks attacking them. it would be a different situation if you look at islamic extremists in another part of the world. we can't just say we are going to go in with ground forces and think that this is about iraq. this is not at all about iraq and so i think we have got to look at that time in a totally different context. >> well, listen, as well as the

kurds are performing, the iraqi national forces did not perform well. can limited air strikes in support of the kurds in the north truly do the job against isis in iraq? >> well, we've got to top to monitor the situation and look at what will be the most effective tactical military strategy going forward. you're right, the iraqi military, they gave up their weapons, they gave up their vehicles and they would not be good people for us to partner with in this fight against isis for many different reasons and that's why previously, i had opposed getting involved because it would have inserted us into this sectarian war, pitting us, making us choose between shias or sunnis, not at all what the united states should be doing, a very different situation than what is occurring right now with the kurds who are fighting against isis. >> let me, if i can, ask you

about another >> interpreter:er national crisis, seems to be so many now, in eastern ukraine, the administration's response so far has been firm talk, bus must a gradual ratcheting up of economic sanctions against russia, europeans on board now, fairly painful sanctions, but there's great concern among intelligence officials i talked to, russia may do more, might send forces across the border. is that a concern, in your view, and do you believe that the obama administration policy is working, that it is effectively deterring president vladimir putin? >> i think as the sanks continue to be ratcheted up, both by the united states and the european partners, i think that that is going to continue to cause more pain for russia, but will it be enough to stop them from going over the boreder? i don't think so. i think russia knows that any time they want to roll their tanks across the bored near ukraine, ukraine does not have the capability to fight back.

no way ukraine can fight tank-to-tank. the united states should not mobilize our forces to fight that war for them. so, again, i think we've got look at this in a very different perspective to say how can the people of ukraine, the people of the baltic state, people of poland and other country house are feeling this threat from russia, how can they respond in a way that will make an impact? fight back through unconventional means, tactics and unconventional weapons, basically guerilla warfare and conduct an insurgency to cause pain to russia and let them know that this will not -- this incursion in their country will not be acceptable and we can accept that in these countries by providing them with some of these insurgent-type weapons and training that will make it possible for them to fight author their own countries. >> one of the challenges overseas now seem endless. it's great to have your point of view. thanks very much, representative tulsi gabbard, joining us from hawaii.

>> thanks, jim. isis is moving swiftly through iraq, taking control of crucial cities and landmarks as they go. could they turn their sights next on american targets? in the nation, the safest feature in your car is you. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. we put members first, join the nation. nationwide is on your side.

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welcome back. i'm jim sciutto in washington. we continue to follow breaking and ominous news out of iraq, it is now overnight in baghdad. officials there tell cnn a significant number of security forces loyal to iraqi's prime minister have been deployed in and around the green zone and just breaking now, we are hearing from iraqi police sources of iraqi tanks taking positions in several baghdad neighborhoods, particularly around baghdad's green zone, where many official government buildings are including the u.s. embassy, which now houses several hundred diplomats and u.s. military advisers. this just the breaking news we are following. this all coming hours after prime minister nouri al malaki gave a defiant speech accusing iraq's president of violating the constitution. joining me now, cnn military analyst, lieutenant colonel rick francona. now, colonel, as you're watching

this happening now, you have tanks deployed on the streets. this was supposed to be a peaceful political transition and negotiation. we are now seeing troops and tanks on the streets of baghdad. what do you think is happening and how significant is this? >> i think your word was exactly right, jim, ominous, nouri al malaki refusing to step down, now mobilized, not just security troops loyal to him but mobilized army units to put tanks in the streets, some of the bridges have been closed. looks like he is trying to lock down the city in some sort of confrontation with the president. so, this does not portend well. and as you said, we have got all of our diplomats right there in that green zone. >> we have seen the u.s. very publicly withdraw their support from nouri al malaki. the deputy assistant secretary for near-eastern affairs, brett mcgurk, tweeting this, wait it's done these days, but saying expressing american support for the iraqi president, not for the iraqi prime minister there. the u.s. has placed a lot of capital in the political

process. the president said this is really the key to stabilizing the country, in light of what we are seeing now, do you think they placed too much faith in the political process and what should the u.s. do now? >> i think we probably misjudged maliki, most people thought there would be this peaceful transition to the next government and he served for two terms. now he is refusing to step down. he's done this. this looks very bad, like he is going to refuse to go. it likes like our assessment of mall lack ski incorrect, now we have taken the other side. what have we done? told maliki we are not going to support him, now we are the bad guys. if there is a confrontation there, we have got worry about our own people there and then we have got to figure out what we are going to do up in the north. are we going to continue our operations in support of the kurds and part of this humanitarian effort? so this puts us kind of in a really bad situation. what do we do next, if maliki

wants to challenge the authority of the dually elected iraqi government? >> this was a president who withdrew from iraq, withdrew troops, wanted to be -- wanted the u.s. out of there and now finds itself in the middle of both a military battle against isis, but also a political battle now inside the iraqi government. is the u.s. sort of indelibly back into iraq? >> i think you are right. i think whether we want to or not. i take the congresswoman that you just had on, her words very carefully. she knows that we need to be focused on what our interests are and now being dragged back into internal rng politics. are we going to stand up and put more troop there is to defend the elected iraqi government? get involved the all? is this gonna turn into a civil war? this is coming apart in front of our eyes, i don't think we are really prepared for. this >> coming apart in front of our nice iraq. thanks very much, lieutenant colonel rick francona. stay with us. we will have a lot more right after this break. hey pal? you ready?

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a few other stories we are keeping our eyes on, a brand new cease-fire between israel and hamas, the middle of the night in jerusalem and gaza. exactly two and a half hours into the latest of a number of agreements meant to allow peace negotiations to proceed in egypt. cease-fires don't have a great history of success in this latest conflict. one of them a few days ago lasted less than two hours. seeing a live picture there from gaza city.

moving on now to chaos in ukraine. secretary of state john kerry is sending a strong warning to his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov, do not invade under the guise of peacekeeping. in the heated donetsk district, the self-proclaimed leader of pro-russian force there is says they would consider a humanitarian cease-fire to bring aid to civilians but they are not ready to surrender territory. and here at home, nascar star tony stewart pulled out of a ries today after he struck and killed a fellow driver during a race last night. investigators are looking into the incident. the driver, identified as 20-year-old kevin ward, jr., had gotten out of his car to confront stewart following contact between their cars. moments later, he was struck and killed while walking on the track. stay with cnn and cnn.com for the latest on the increasingly ominous situation in iraq. for now, i'm jim sciutto in washington. cnn's spotlight, charles manson is right after this. ♪ sweet, sweet st. thomas nice

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