wheelchair accessible. >> some of the things i'm doing is actually making a difference. that's what keeps me going. that's how we can stay positive. >> dr. sanny gupta, cnn, reporting. >> hey, thanks for watching, everybody, nice to have you with us. "wolf" starts right now. right now, an emotional thank you from freed american hostage peter theo curtis. standing on the steps of his mother's home in massachusetts, curtis says he will tell more of his story soon. also right now, islamic militants now control the border crossing between syria and the golan heights. it's the closest the militant fighters have come to israel. the question now, how will israel respond. and, right now, all eyes on president obama. we're watching to see whether the u.s. will get involved in the fight against isis in syria. we'll talk about what's at stake for the president, both here in the united states, as well as around the world.

hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. he was held by militants in syria for almost two years. but today, the american journalist peter theo curtis is back in the united states. curtis spoke briefly with the reporters outside his mother's home in massachusetts. he says he's overwhelmed by emotion and grateful to be free. curtis was captured in to 12 by al nusri, an al qaeda affiliate. he says he's thankful for all efforts that went to securing his release. >> first, i want to thank you for coming out here on this beautiful wednesday morning. there have been literally hundreds of people brave, determined and big hearted people, working all over the world for my release. they've been working for two years on this. i had no idea when i was in prison, i had no idea so much

effort was being expended on my behalf. now having found out, i have just overwhelmed with emotion. now total strangers are coming up to me and saying, hey, we're just glad you're home. welcome home. glad you're back. glad you're safe. great to see you. i suddenly remember how good the american people are. and what kindness they have in their hearts. and to all those people, i say a huge thank you from my heart. from the bottom of my heart. and now look i'm so grateful that you are expressing all this interest in me. at the same time, i have to bond with my mother and my family now and i can't give you an interview and i can't give you -- talk back and forth -- >> can you tell us what it feels -- >> that's all i can say to you. in the future, i promise i will respond to your e-mails and i

will be present and i will help you guys do your job. i'm one of you and i know what you guys are goingguys. i will be there and i will respond but i can't do it now. >> cnn's miguel marquez was there in cambridge, massachusetts, when curtis went before the cameras. he was more now on what's next for curtis. >> it was an intensely emotional moment as mr. curtis walked up to the cameras. he was dressed very simply in a t-shirt and jeans and sandals. he was clean and comfortable. he did look tired. he did not want to take questions, as you heard, but clearly had a lot to get off his chest. the next thing for him i think is just to stay with his family. his mother says she is a very good cook. i think specifically the next for him would be a very good meal. perhaps two, three or five or ten. he likes to bike ride as well. he'll probably get maybe a mellow bike ride in. maybe some time alone on the

road. just to think about everything that has happened. wolf. >> miguel, thanks very much. we're also learning more details about the journey to freedom for curtis. cnn's anderson cooper spoke by phone with curtis' mother last night. >> nancy, first of all, congratulations, i'm so happy for you. can you take me back to that moment when you first learned that your son had been freed? >> i got a call from the fbi agent who's been working with us the whole time. she flew -- she flew to the middle east. she called me and said, i'm standing on the golan heights with your son by my side. and he wants to talk to you, but he needs some time to compose himself. that was all she needed to say. i knew that he was healthy and safe. and it was a huge relief. >> let's bring in our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes,

former fbi assistant director. tom, a lot going on behind the scenes. you heard the mother say she got the word from an fbi agent who was there on the scene who had been working this issue. you're a former fbi agent. take us behind the scenes. what was going on? >> i helped run that program. it's called the personnel recovery program. it involved the training of the employees and family members who are being deployed throughout the world. and if a capture happens of someone, whether it's an employee of the fbi or another government agency or a civilian, whether it's a student or a journalist, if they're captured, then the fbi begins working with all the other agencies, intelligence, military, through diplomatic channels, to try to learn as much as possible. but as you heard the mother say, a big part of this is working with the family and keeping the family informed in any and all progress that might be made toward getting their family member either rescued or released. >> i assume the fbi, other u.s.

agencies, will want to debrief peter theo curtis now in these coming days. they probably started that process. but as much as they can to learn what he can share with them. >> that's true. the program has built in that when the person is recovered or released, they do the debriefings, try to find out as much as they can about who had them in captivity, where they were, anything they talked about, any clues that might help in other cases. so that goes on. also, a big part of the program is to make sure that person is receiving the medical care, the mental health care, all that they're going to need to assist in being reunited with the family and the program, the people here back in the u.s. work with the families. if it means, for instance, he had to be transported to ramstein in germany or another european hospital for care, it involves uniting the family with that person, getting the family assistance to be with their loved one. so it's a very interesting program. it's a great program. >> yeah, he quickly went from

syria. he was held by al nusri over the golan heights through a u.n. checkpoint, if you will, into israel, to tel aviv, spent a couple days there, and is now back in massachusetts. there's another american not held by al nusri but held by isis, steven sotloff, whose mother appeared on al arabiya television network to make a personal appeal to the leadership of isis. i want to play a little clip from her appeal. >> i've learned that islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others. steven has no control over the actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. i've always learned that you, the caliph, can grant honesty. i ask you to please release my child. as a mother, i ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. i ask you to use your authority

to spare his life and to follow the example set by the prophet muhammad who protected people of the book. i want what every mother wants, to live to see her children's children. i plead with you to grant me this. >> sotloff family had been quiet until that video that was released the other day showing the beheading of another american journalist by isis. but now they're going public like this. take us a little bit behind the scenes. it's not an easy decision to go public like this, is it? >> it's not easy at all. i think the shame in this one is she's trying to appeal to their religious beliefs on religious grounds as to why they shouldn't be doing it according to the laws of islam. the problem is, you're dealing with some people who have shown they're also psychopaths. so you're not going to be able to convince them. i think another imam probably would not be able to convince them. because their belief is anybody that's more moderate, even if

they're sunni or shia muslim, if they're more moderate than they are, they're infidels too and they deserve to die. we've seen them killing muslims and everybody else in syria and iraq. >> if you're a mother, you do whatever you think has to be done. >> it's heart wrenching to see what she's trying to do. we hope steven sotloff is released soon. thanks very much for that. tom fuentes, the former fbi assistant director, our cnn analyst. two americans killed in syria fighting for the brutal terror group isis. did the u.s. government know they were there? we're about to take a closer look. also, should president obama get congressional authorization if he decides to strike isis targets inside syria? we'll speak with the congressman scott rizle who served on the house services committee. he has some very, very strong views. say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited

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now to a major new development in the war in syria. we're getting reports that is m islamic militants have seized control a keyboarder crossing between syria and golan heights. you'll see some smoke rising amid intense fighting between the syrian army and islamic rebels including an al qaeda affiliated group. our own ben wedeman is joining us live from the golan heights. ben, tell viewers what's going on. >> well, what i can tell you right now, wolf, is that we're not far from the demarcation line between syria and israeli forces. now, right behind me is an israeli police car. blocking the road. because this area has been declared a closed military area. as a result of these errant shells as they're describes by

the israeli army, coming over into israeli-controlled territory from the fighting in syria. now what we understand from the israeli army, as well as sources within syria itself, is that the syrian side of the crossing between the israeli occupied golan heights and syria has been taken over by rebels led by members of the nusra front. that's a radical militant organization affiliated with al qaeda that have -- we've seen their influence grow steadily in the last year and a half within syria. now, what this means essentially, wolf, is that now there's only about 200 yards separating al nusra front, this al qaeda-affiliated group, from israeli forces on the golan heights. now, as a result of these -- this fighting on the syrian side, a number of shells have landed within israeli-controlled territory. this morning, an israeli officer

with the army was wounded by one of those errant shells. this afternoon, another civilian was wounded by shell also as well. that's why this area's been declared closed military area. we know over the last few years there have been occasional flare-ups of fighting on the syrian side. the fighting is sort of the shells have spilled over the demarcation line. the israelis today did respond to the sources of fire within syria itself. but certainly this is the -- probably one of the most severe flare-ups in the golan heights since the outbreak of the syrian uprising in march of 2011. wolf. >> what's the israeli government reaction to this al nusra front, these islamic militants taking over this keyboarder crossing from the syrian military, the syrian regime of president bashar al assad? >> there's a lot of concern about this. the israelis obviously have been

keeping a very close watch on what's going on, on the other side of the demarcation line, very concerned about what's happening. but by and large, they have tried to stay out of the fighting, tried to just keep it contained on the other side of the line. but israeli officials have made it clear that any attempt to approach israeli forces on that line will be met with force, decisive force, because they aren't going to allow the kind of fighting that's going on in syria with the kind of elements that are involved in the fighting in syria to spill over into their territory. >> we're told, ben, i know you're up on the golan heights, you're not in tel aviv or jerusalem, that the prime minister benjamin netanyahu, in about half an hour or so, is going to make a statement, joined by his defense minister and his army chief of staff. is it going to be -- do you know if it's going to be a statement about what's going on as far as israel and syria in the golan heights is concerned or will it

be about the cease-fire that now seems to be holding, that went into effect yesterday? >> we understand the focus will be largely on the cease-fire, which was of course a controversial decision taken by the prime minister without consulting, matter of fact -- or without putting that decision to a vote within his cabinet, within which there are ministers who were strongly opposed to any sort of cease-fire. but obviously, the developments on the golan heights are going to figure into his statements that we expect to be delivered within about 15 minutes. wolf. >> all right, thanks very much. we'll of course monitor what the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, has to say. ben wedeman, up on the golan heights, be careful, thank you very much. government officials believe there are more than 100 american citizens fighting in syria with terror groups like isis.

we've also learned two americans were killed while fighting with isis. the two were killed in a battle near aleppo. we had heard the name of one before. that would be this man, douglas macarthur mccain, originally fr minnesota, although spent some time in california. our justice correspondent is with us now. did the u.s. government know about mccain going into all of this? he was on some sort of watch list? i assume that's what we've been told. but there's another american also who had served -- who's serving with isis who was killed by syrian forces, anti-government syrian forces shall we say? >> well, yes. they believe there are upwards of a dozen americans are now fighting with isis. it's a little bit of fogginess there, wolf, because as you know, some of these groups, you know, they change loyalties, you know, within several months of each other. so we know upwards of a dose reason -- z >> and they know they're working

with other terror groups, al nusri? >> up jwards of 100, working wi different groups such as al nusri, some more moderate and so on. mccain was on the radar of the officials for the last few months. they've been watching him. they've been watching social media, for instance, to try to figure out where he was going to go. obviously, the concern is not only what he's doing there, but what he might do if he tries to come back. >> on social media, he was pretty blunt in expressing his support for isis. >> he was very much a fan of what they were doing there. which is what the family is very shocked about. they knew he had converted some ten years ago to islam. they didn't know he had radicalized to this point. >> the other american mentioned by this anti-bashar al acssad regime, this group, the other american that was killed, do we know the identity? >> the u.s. government is not confirming whether or not that's true. there's a lot of problems with

them having visibility down there. we know, for instance there are some americans who also have other -- other nationality, other citizenship, that they are fighting. >> dual citizenship. >> that is correct. >> we don't know the name of the other american, but if another american was killed fighting with isis, we'll probably get that name sooner rather than later. >> sure, absolutely. >> when they announced the name, he showed his picture and his u.s. passport. maybe we'll get some more information like that. we'll watch it closely. very disturbing development, obviously. up next, much more on what is drawing young westerners to syria. why they're joining the ranks of terrorists. i'll speak with a former cia analyst. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan.

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douglas macarthur mccain was just one of thousands of westerners who have gone to syria in the past few years. they've joined various terror groups. they've also joined some other opposition, more moderate groups to battle the bashar al assad regime. this is a former cia analyst on iraq. she's now with the new america foundation here in washington. tara, thanks very much for joining us. let's talk a little bit about what draws these young americans and british subjects, other europeans, to give up so much and go to turkey and then sneak in to syria, eventually wind up, some of them working for isis or al nusra, maybe some of them have gone with isis into iraq now. what draws these people to do th that? >> surprisingly, in many cases,

it's not strong religious ideology. many of these people like the one killed yesterday mccain, they had typical normal average everyday childhoods. something goes wrong, something goes astray. in the same way we see people, you know, individual school shooters or what not, something goes wrong, and then they are recruited by this organization or they find something appealing about the organization. i don't think they intend to end up necessarily beheading an individual or becoming part of the group doing the activity its doing. something goes astray and that's why we need good intelligence to find these people. >> some of these groups like isis, they're very active, effective on social media on recruiting these individuals. >> social media, through twitter, through online forums. these are things agencies track on a regular basis. >> someone like mccain, this douglas macarthur mccain if he's tweeting nice things about eisi,

people are watching that, and that's why presumably he would be put on a watch list? >> absolutely. there are a lot of forms of intelligence being monitored like open source intelligence like social media. the problem is there's also a lot of noise. there might be a lot of individuals like member cane tweeting similar sympathetic messages who aren't ending up being a part of the small portion of individuals fighting in syria or end up being in the very radical heart of these organizations. part of the did i cutfficulty i separating mccain from the outer fringes of these groups. >> we know they're going to consider expanding air strikes against isis targets that have been going on. you need really good intelligence about where to strike in syria. you used to work at the cia. does the u.s. have that kind of intelligence? >> absolutely. you need really good intelligence. you need not just the imagery of the sites you want to actually hit, you need good signal intelligence to know if you're

targeting individuals, they are where you think they are. things can go wrong. i think the quote he said was intelligence is never packaged neatly with a bow. there's always going to be gaps. there's always going to be holing. in a place like syria, these gaps are salient, because we don't have a strong presence on the ground. we saw one the gaps with the recent special forces raid. intelligence isn't perfect. people can move locations. sites can be changed. weapons can be moved around. i think what you're going to see in syria is right now you've seen the spy planes go in. they're probably collecting imagery to see if there are sites where we think we can make an impact. at the end of the day, you know, it's going to be a harder case than iraq. iraq, we've had thousands of troops on the ground for the past decade so i'd imagine intelligence there was a lot better for the strikes we saw which were effective in the recent weeks than we're going to see if we strike in syria. i think it's something we need to be prudent about. i think that's what the administration's probably looking at to see how we can be most effective if and when we strike syria which it looks like we might move towards. >> one of the things to really

worry about is civilian casualties, collateral damage, as they used to call it in the military, if the u.s. is going to launch air strikes there, potentially a lot of civilians could be killed in the process. that's a big problem for the u.s. the president has to consider. tara, thank you for joining us. tara muller with the new america foundation here in washington. coming up, president is weighing his military options. but at what point should he seek congressional authorization under the war powers act? we're going to discuss that with republican congressman scott ridgel of the house armed services committee. he's got some very strong views. by taking our y eyes off the road... and focusing on drivers. real people. real distractions. without real consequences. the result: our gold standard of safety.

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welcome back. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. the pentagon has provided president obama with a list of military options for going after isis fighters, including isis strongholds inside syria. for now, content with air strikes inside iraq, while iraqi soldiers, kurdish fighters, try to retake territory on the ground. republican congressman scott rigell of virginia is on the house armed services committee. he's joining now from virginia beach. thanks very much for joining us lots to discuss. let's get to this ens sensitive issue of authorization. the president has authorized surveillance flights over syria. do you expect the u.s. will end

up striking isis positions not only in iraq but in syria as well? >> wolf, thank you. there's every reason to believe that the president will escalate his initiative there and the use of military force. i have this high privilege to represent the district that has the highest concentration men and women in the country in active duty and retired. meeting my fiduciary responsibility to them and their families, it's clear to me our president, president obama, must, and really should, adhere to the war powers resolution, and his track record in this area is not good. we go back to libya in 2011. i actually led an amendment that would have defunded the operation odyssey don. the military action we took in libya. because he should have received specific authorization as is required. it's not the king's army. but he did not do so. last year, as he began to indicate that he was going to launch military operations

against syria, barbara lee and i led an effort to really, you know, slow that down. >> so let me interrupt, congressman. you want a formal resolution to come up for a vote in the house and the senate authorizing the president to launch air strikes against isis targets in syria before he undertakes such mission? is that what you're saying? >> absolutely, wolf. this is not only by view, but at least 105 members of congress have signed on to a letter that was initiated by congresswoman barbara lee and me that says essentially what you just said there. this is not personal to the president. this is bipartisan. the important benefit we would gain from adherence to the war power resolution, which is the law of the land, is that the american people's representatives, senators and those of us who serve in the house, would engage in this critical debate. time is available to us to walk through that debate.

now, if the president had to take action overnight to stop an attack or to respond to one that had occurred, the war powers resolution provides for that, and i would support and, indeed, applaud the decision by the president to take action but that's not the case. >> what about isis beheading an american citizen, does that justify the u.s. responding? >> wolf, this is a level of horror that we, with a western mind, our mind-set here as americans, we really can't wrap around that level of immorality. i would caution us, though, against pivoting foreign policy, off any event, however horrific it might be like this. now, it must be factored into the equation. our deepest sympathy goes to the family. the justice needs to be brought to the individual who did that. but that said, we cannot allow our foreign policy to pivot around one incident.

as horrible as it is. now, in the overall equation, we will factor it in. >> let me interrupt one more time. i apologize for interrupting. if the u.s. were to launch drone strikes with hellfire missiles to target and kill isis leaders who were responsible for killing that american, would that require congressional authorization, a roll call vote in the house? >> well, i appreciate the specificity of your question. i believe if we have specific information on the individual and the leaders who planned that, and that information was absolutely certain, then in this hypothetical that you've given me, which i don't like to wonder in too much, but in that hype thought ka, i'd say that that would be supported. but the overall point of continuous engagement in this region, again, it is not the king's army. the nation would benefit. i think, wolf, it would be a

sign of strength and not of weakness for the president to bring his case before the american people as is really required under our constitution and legislation, and to work through this, both in the house and the senate. >> a lot of people, though, are concerned, i know, in the administration, that if they were to go to the house and senate for such a vote, the president might not get the majority vote he would be seeking. do you think he would? >> well, is this not, then, the will of the people? that's the point. do we really believe in we, the people? look, i'm not an isolationist. nor am i a passivist. i'm not saying under no circumstances will we apply american force here. i do believe we've got to wrestle with these deep underlying issues. i no, look, if we roll back the tape to operation odyssey dawn in libya.

what do we have now? it trapains me to say. it's a cauldron of confusion. it can't be reported properly in the press. but libya itself is dysfunctional now. >> yes. >> and yet we launched over, well, 221 tomahawk missiles into this country. and the president didn't receive authorization for that. >> yes, i remember -- >> that's not the -- >> i remember those tomahawk cruise missiles, the other military actions wound up costing the american taxpayer more than $1 billion that the libyan government never reimbursed the u.s. for any of those funds. you see the chaos that's unfolding in libya today. it's a disaster. as bad as my mar gadhafi may have been, there are a lot of experts who are saying what's going on in libya right now is as bad or worse. scott rigell, thanks very much.

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the breaking news involving the ebola crisis in west africa. the cdc, the centers for disease control and prevention in atlanta, says one of its staff members working in that region may have been exposed to ebola. let's bring in our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. >> what i'm hearing is this employee was working in sierra leone and ended up -- they were working next to, within three feet of an international health worker who was sick, had symptoms, and later it turned out that person had ebola. the cdc employee is completely

fine, has no symptoms at all, but it was time for this person to company home. they put the cdc employee and a private chartered flight from sierra leone to atlanta. this employee landed this morning. this employee has to take their temperature twice a day just to make sure they don't get sick. it's interesting, while they're here in atlanta, there's no restrictions. this employee can go to work, can go out, can do whatever they want. >> is that -- shouldn't they air on the side of caution maybe? because sometimes it takes a while for symptoms to develop, right? >> wolf, i think that's a question a lot of people will be asking. here's the reasoning behind it. you're not contagious with ebola until you're actively sick. this person is not sick and had what is considered to be a very low risk exposure. they were just working near the person. they weren't taking care of them or anything like that. so if this person starts to get sick, if this person spike, a temperature, then, yes, i'm sure, immediately, this person will be kwaquarantined.

they'll be vigilant about that. certainly, this person isn't contagious because they're not sick. >> let's hope this person is just fine and you'll update us of course as we go along. elizabeth, thanks very much. up next, a very different story we're following. persshmerga fighters in norther iraq gets u.s. help in retaking a strategic dam in isis. who are the peshmerga? can they get the job done on the ground? a spokesman for peshmerga is standing by. [announcer] who could resist the call... ...of america's number-one puppy food brand... ...with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother's milk. purina puppy chow.

u.s. air strikes in iraq against isis are credited with helping iraqi and kurdish forces to retake some strategic locations including the dam in mosul. those kurdish fighters are known as the peshmerga. they are aligned with the semiautonomous region known as kurdistan. they have historically been great warriors, very courageous, but are they large enough to stop isis? a senior british media observer doesn't think so, telling the daily beast they're doing their best but they're not the element they were. with the bulk veterans from guerrilla warfare from 20 to 30 years ago. this bringigadier general is th spokesman for persshmerga in

erbil. are you losing ground or gaining ground against the isis forces in kurdistan and northern iraq? >> initially we lose ground but now we are gaining ground after we received an air strike, help and support from our friends, the u.s., and support, with ammunition. it's very little, but it helped us a lot. so now, day by day, we are gaining ground, and we have a plan to recontrol and defeat our enemy, our common enemy, the international enemy, isis, and all the area, to save the area from isis. you know they are threatening the civilian people. they killed many peoples in sinjar, in sin yajar mountain. they kill christian, yazidi,

kurd, arab. there is no difference. so we have a plan with help and support with our friend, the u.s., and some countries. >> so what do you need from the united states right now? i know the united states has launched some air strikes. have you received weapons, tanked, armored personnel carriers, other sophisticated weapons from the united states? >> yes. we received some weapons from the united states. but, you know, it's not enough, very little. unfortunately, iraqi government to solve the problems instead to help us to defeat our enemy, to fight our enemy. they are creating a problem. you know, they said, you know, airspace, we have to control airspace. every shipment has to go -- we have to check, you know, to see. they are, you know, losing time. you know, about that, we need

help and su port from u.s. and other countries to tell baghdad you have to help and support kurdish forces and to be able to defeat the enemy. for a week, we did not receive anything from u.s. or from other countries. the problem, baghdad. so we need u.s. and other countries to tell baghdad, you have to solve some bad policies you're created in the past. it is a good chance to solve the problems now. >> basically, what you're saying is you don't want the u.s. government to go through the government in iraq, in baghdad, through the iraqi military, to go through them and then provide weapons to the peshmerga, the kurdish fighters? you want the u.s. to do it directly? it doesn't look like they're ready to make that decision. yet you say you've received only a little bit of weapons from the united states, is that right, brigadier general? >> yes, we receive -- it was

good, you know, it helped us a lot to stop isis and to recontrol the area, but believe me, it's not enough, because we have a very long border wr isis. we have 1,050 kilometer border with isis. we're fighting terrorist country. not terrorist organization or small group. so we need to have weapons, ammunition, equipment, everything is army. we are part of iraqi defense system, but unfortunately, they did nothing for us, with budget, with training, with weapons, with ammunition, with everything. so even for eight years, they did not pay the peshmerga forces even $1. >> even the iraqi military, it was trained and financed and equipped by the united states, as soon as they got some threats from isis, the iraqi military in northern iraq simply abandoned

their positions and handed over, in effect, a lot of u.s. military equipment to isis in mosul and elsewhere. brigadier general ismail, thanks so much for joining us. we're going to continue to watch what's going on with the peshmerga, the kurdish forces in the north. other news we're following, some very hard choices. once again, the president faces a national security crisis, while worrying about political support up on capitol hill. ron brownstein standing by to discuss. never bitter taste of gevalia. we do it all for this very experience. that's good. i know right? gevalia.

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president obama's weighing several options on how to take on the terror group isis. a u.s. official says he's already authorized reconnaissance flights over syria. the question now, will he go further, give the okay to conduct actual air strikes inside syria to target isis fighters on the ground? senior analyst ron brownstein. the president has a tough decision. does he seek formal congressional authorization for launching u.s. air strikes in syria or does he just notify congress that he's doing it? >> it is a tough call. the controlling force and attitudes about american intervention in the middle east in the last few years has clearly been the public disillusionme disillusionment. that seeded a reluctance for

further intervention. this could be different, however. the idea of striking isis across the syrian border could be different for several reasons. one, we have the precedent. i think the public gets the precedent from afghanistan of allowing terror groups to consolidate their hold on territory. and obviously the murder of foley crystalizes the danger this kind of organization could pose to the heartland. in that way, i think the politics could be different, but it would still be a crap shoot going to congress. >> he might get the votes in the senate but in the house, he might not. there probably would be a bunch of democrats remembering their vote in favor of the invasion of iraq in 2003 who might be reluctant to vote in favor of another war resolution. >> you have this edge of each party coming together in effect against the center potential.

it's an uncertain decision to go there. on the other hand, this is different than i think the last year when we were looking at air strikes in syria aimed at the, you know, supporting the rebels there. this is more about domestic u.s. security. it may be tougher for members to take a vote against striking back against the forces that executed in this horrible fashion an american. >> is there any -- what's your sense, if he asks for such a vote? he would need to do a major address to the american public, maybe go up to capitol hill. would he get a yes or no? >> you can't predict anything but i think in the senate he would get a yes and in the house it would be close. in the end, i think it would be tough to vote no for striking back against isis. again, not guaranteed, but stronger position than he was a year ago on syria. >> we know he's weighing this option right now, even as we speak. we'll see when he makes up his mind what the decision will be.

ron brownstein, thanks very much for joining us. that's it for me this hour. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." another two-hour addition. in the meantime, thanks very much for watching. "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for joining me today. let's begin with this freed american, just absolutely overwhelmed with emotion, fighting back tears at some points when he spoke out publicly, first morning back home. here he is. this is peter theo curtis, reuniting with his family after being held hostage for nearly two years by militants in syria. the journalist offering a heart felt thank you to the hundreds of people who worked for his release. the relief you can see in his eyes and joy in his heart were a stark contrast to these grim images from his time in captivity, a nightmare that