importantly they've shown they care deeply about their state. i am cautiously optimistic about the colleagues running in red states this year. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper and i turn you over to wolf blitzer next door in "the situation room". >> jake, thanks very much. happening now -- >> we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice! >> gates of hell, the vice president talking tougher than the exandriner in chief who first says he wants to destroy the terror group and then says he wants to make it a manageable problem. he taunts and i'm quoting him now, i'm back, obama. you'll see how investigators are now trying to identify the isis executioner through images, words and actions. and 9/11 worries. even as u.s. leaders vow to go after isis does america also need to be on the defensive a

week before the 9/11 anniversary? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com president obama, an urgent consultations with america's allies as the united states puts troops into two war zones. u.s. troops will be going into ukraine not to on fight, but to join nato exercise isses as president obama accuses russia of an all-out assault on a sovereign nation. and following the latest saf rajry from isis, the second beheading of an american, another 350 u.s. troops are now heading for a security role in iraq. the president vowing to seek justice as it destroys isis and there also seems to be a bit of a mixed message going on. our cresses and guests are standing by with full conk and let's begin with our senior white house correspondent jim acosta and he's traveling with the president, the nato summit in wales. what's the latest, jim? >> wolf, president obama has arrived in wales after

reassuring nato countries in the baltics earlier today that the u.s. would have their backs against any acts of russian aggression. the president sharpened his tone against isis. had he now wants to take them out. >> reporter: responding to calls to get tough on isis, president obama all, but vowed vengeance for the killing of steven sotloff. >> our reach is long and justice will be served. >> reporter: a message echo by the vice president joe biden. >> we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. because hell is where they will reside! >> reporter: attempting to clarify his policy for dealing with isis, the president declared at a news conference in estonia that he wants to wipe out the terrorist group. >> our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy isil so it is no longer a threat not just to iraq, but also the region and to the united states. >> reporter: then just a few breathses later the president

appeared to soften that goal. >> we can continue to shrink isil's spear of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem. >> reporter: aides quickly told reporters that comment was only an acknowledgement that remnants of a defeated isis could still pose a future threat. it was another white house attempt to clean out the president's remarks. >> we don't have a strategy yet. >> after mr. obama admitted he didn't have a military plan for isis in syria, a remark the president explained further. >> it is very important, from my perspective that when we send our pilots in to do a job that we know that this is a mission that's going to work. >> pivoting to the crisis in ukraine, the president tried to

reassure the smaller nato states of estonia, latvia and lithuania that acts of russian aggression won't move to the baltics y s y. >> the president made it all too clear he's not buying moscow's denials. >> the actions of the separatists of ukraine and russia have evoked be tactics from years past that ought to be consigned to a distant history. >> reporter: to hammer that point the president met with u.s. forces who will be stepping up their exercises in the region. >> thanks to all of you for stepping forward, for putting on a uniform, for serving in this mission which is so vital to the security of our nations. >> reporter: as for isis, the president down blade aplayed fo quick action, pressed twice for a timetable during the fuse conference, the president declined, but wolf, that is one

of the big questions hanging over this nato summit in wales just how soon the u.s. and its coalition if it put one together just might act. wolf? >> we'll soon find out. jim acosta traveling with the president. while the president left question marks over how to defend against isis, chuck hagel was quick to clarify with tough talk of his own. he spoke exclusively with our chief correspondent jim sciutto from new port, rhode island. he was pretty blunt, the secretary of defense. >> reporter: no question, wolf. and if the president left doubt earlier in the day first saying that the endgame for a u.s. mission against isis would be to degrade or destroy and later talking about a manageable threat, somehow managing or containing the threat, defense secretary hagel not leaving that doubt. when i asked that question, here's how he answered. >> the mission is very clear and we're providing the president with those options to degrade and destroy isil's capability.

>> that's the endgame. degrade and destroy, not contain. >> it's exactly what the president said. degrade and destroy. >> the secretary also being clear saying repeatedly, in fact, that the defense department has already provided the white house, the president, with military options including military options that extend into syria to fight isis. you'll remember that some days ago the white house hinting that those options weren't ready yet and the president was waiting for those options and also among the options, i asked as well, would it purely be from the air? is it possible they would consider boots on the ground? here's how the secretary answered that. >> do you think it's a mistake for the president to have ruled out boots on the the ground, to contribute to this action. you talked to generals former and present who would say air power is limited in what it can accomplish. >> the president has been very clear about we're not going to go back into iraq the same way

we came out of iraq a few years ago. that means, combat action, so-called boots on the ground combat action for american troops. we're not going to do that. i support that decision. i think it's the right decision. now to your bigger point of just air strikes. no, just air strikes alone won't fulfill, accomplish what the mission is. >> reporter: on a personal note, you'll remember that secretary hagel is a veteran himself. he fought in the vietnam war and he commanded a squad, he saw his squadmates die, and i asked him what his personal reaction was to seeing those videos of americans, these journalists killed so brutally and he said in very no uncertain terms that in his wors it made him sick to his stomach. i think reflecting, wolf, some of the same emotion that we heard from vice president biden earlier in the day talking about

chasing isis to the gates of hell and that's something to this point, we haven't heard from senior administration officials, that definitive, that emotional and somewhat aggressive response to the violence that isis is presenting here, and i asked him, as well, would he vow that the u.s. would destroy isis and he said he wouldn't make a promise, but he said the u.s. would coeverything it can to defeat this threat and keep america safe. >> jim, if the mission is to degrade and destroy isis, the terror group, and the defense secretary says we just heard 2 and i wrote it it down, just air strikes alone won't fulfill, accomplish what the mission is. so how do you destroy isis if you're not going to send troops in on the ground because air power alone, apparently, even the defense secretary acknowledges can't get the mission accomplished. >> it's an open question, wolf. the way the secretary answered that question today was to say that first of all, it it has to be international.

that the president is building an international, a regional coalition so it is not just the u.s. leading this charge. he did not say specifically that any of these countries, the u.s. might be talking to now, whether turkey, saudi arabia or others would put boots on the ground. that's the real question. if someone is willing to take that risk and put boots on the ground to do what everybody seems to acknowledge is necessary to take background from isis and degrade it. that's an open question. one thing he did say was that this battle is won. they're in for the long haul. months and years and not days and weeks. >> it will be a long, long fight and jim sciutto, we'll get back to you. thanks very much, and joining us is congressman of maryland and the ranking democrat of the house intelligence committee, and thanks very much for coming in. i'll ask you the same question. i can understand air power can degrade isis and no doubt about that that air power can hurt and

if the mission is to destroy isis and they now control half of syria, half of iraq. how do you destroy isis if you can't do it by air power alone? >> there are a lot of ways to do it. the first thing is you bring a coalition in. you bring all of the other countries that are surrounding that area that are impacted. we have unique resources in the united states that no one else has and have the ability to use those resources to stop isis. one of the most important issues, if you're anything to stop isis, you have to take out their leadership. you want to kill a snake? you cut its head off and this is what we have to do because their leadership is strong, they're smart. they've been able to get honey and they've been able to manipulate and recruit people including americans all over the world. our first priority is get the intelligence and information that's necessary and we start moving ahead on what we have to do, but you can't -- you can't allow the media to dictate where

you're going to go. we can't warn our enemy that we're coming after them and telling them how or why we're coming after them. so again, intelligence, the best defense against terrorism and then we work as a coalition and we use the resources that we have in this country which are better than any other resources in the world. >> let's say the u.s. does put together a coalition including some of the nato allies and whether britain and some of the nato allies and including some of the moderate arab states and saudi arabia, and the uae put out a strong statement today and their ambassador in washington. say you put together a group like that, you still need forces on the ground, an army to go ahead and defeat this army, right? >> well, first thing the country that you mentioned, you're a part of the coalition and the military and the secretary of state, and the intelligence community has been working hard on this issue for many, many days and months, but you're going have to have boots on the ground and intelligence on the ground to find out where people

are. the talk about going in with air power in syria, you just don't go in and bomb people. we don't kill innocent people and we want to make sure that we go after them and hit the target. that takes intelligence and information and then you have to decide when you'll make the first attack in syria, what is the endgame? how is that going to stop them? how are we going to stop the recruiting? these are issues that we're working on, believe me. you heard from secretary hagel today. the defense department and the military and the intelligence community have been working day and night and they've already given plans and recommend taati to the president and he's stronger because he needs to reassure the american people and needs to reassure the world that we're the most powerful country in the world and we're not going to tolerate our citizens having their heads cut off and let people know that that will be tolerated and we'll come after you and bring you to justice and

i was glad that the vice president was strong and the president was strong when he said degrade and destroy and it's unfortunate that he talked about managing and what he should have said instead of the word managed and we have a strategy that will work to take them out. >> very quickly, i want to continue this conversation. very quickly, when you say it will require boots, boots on the the ground, u.s.' boots and other allies' boots and other boots on the ground to destroy isis? >> i didn't say you have to put boots on the ground in syria, but if it takes that, then we have coalitions of people. we in the. united states, the american people, we want to take out isis and we want to protect our homeland and protect americans throughout the world and that doesn't mean we can can be the sheriff for the whole world and we'll go back into like an iraq and afghanistan that we had before. we're war weary, but we're not going to stop protecting us wherever we go. the biggest threat to americans now that are in other parts of the world that can be kidnapped and can be hurt and we really have to focus on those

americans, too. we have a lot to discuss, congressman. i'm going to take a quick break. stay with us. i want to get into 9/11, the anniversary coming up next week. what is going? is the u.s. taking special precautions? stand by, much more of our conversation. much more after this. so what we're looking for is a way to "plus" our accounting firm's mobile plan. and "minus" our expenses. perfect timing. we're offering our best-ever pricing on mobile plans for business. run the numbers on that. well, unlimited talk and text, and ten gigs of data for the five of you would be... one-seventy-five a month. good calculating kyle. good job kyle. you just made partner. our best-ever pricing on mobile share value plans for business. now with a $100 bill credit for every business line you add. losing your chex mix too easily? deploy the boring potato chip decoy bag. with a variety of tastes and textures,

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second american. we are top with congressman of maryland. congressman, we know the british government and the prime minister raised their threat level because of concerns of terrorism in britain. yesterday i interviewed mick mccall, the chairman of the house homeland security committee and i asked him if the u.s. should do the same thing especially in advance of next week's anniversary of 9/11. listen to what the congressman said. >> al qaeda likes to pick anniversaries and they like to pick large sporting events, for instance, like the boston marathon. they look at economic damage they can inflict and political damage and so, i think coming up on the heels of this video and now with 9/11 just a couple of days away or a couple of weeks, i think we have to be be on a high state of alert. >> the anniversary, as you know is a week from tomorrow. is there information that suggests the u.s. should go to a higher state of alert now?

>> well, first thing, i think mike raises some good issues that al qaeda does like to use anniversaries and they like to make a point, but we have to have the information. mike is a good man and works in homeland security and he is on top of the issues. we have to have information. i can say as a member of the gang offaity with chairman rogers and senator feinstein that we don't have any direct information today, but that being change tomorrow about whether or not we have an imminent terrorist attack or need to deal with the issue of nerve. this allows me to raise an issue, we have a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we have the federal, state and local police officers all of the time dealing with terrorist threats and we are talking about isis and they're out there right now, but we have al qaeda and other groups that are just as dangerous. so we're always vigilant and we also need to say to the american public, if. you see anything out of the

unusual, make sure you get that information to the federal, state or local so we can deal with it and protect ourselves. >> which of these groups whether it's isis or core al qaeda that still of exists or al qaeda and the magrshg ev or for that matter, home grown, lone wolf terrorists and who represents the biggest potential terror threat to the u.s. homeland? >> i think they all do. i think you have to worry about a lone wolf unless they're not trained as well, but even look at the boston bombers who didn't have a lot of training and they used primitive equipment, but they kill and maimed our people. the thing that worries me the most from a homeland security point of view are the americans who have been radicalized and they've gone to syria and they've been trained and they have the ability because they have passports to come back to our country and sometimes we might miss them. we've had a situation when we had an american that went to syria and was radicalized and trained to be a suicide bomber

and came back to visit his parents and went back and killed people. that's what concerns me more than anything. the brits, the americans and canadians. these individuals who are radicalized and have american passports and that's what my biggest concern is and we have to be vigilant and we are. >> there's a confusion about how many american citizens are working with isis, for example, in syria and iraq right now. do you have a number? >> well, let's just say it's over a hundred, but i do want to say this, that isis is recruiting people every day throughout the world. they're doing the the same thing that al qaeda did with a magazine called "the inspire" where they would recruit people, americans to become part of jihad and we can't stop that because of first amendment issues. we do have a lot of canadians that are right next door, you know? the brits. that's of a big concern and it's going to be a real challenge for us after these people in syria which is the most dangerous place in the world are radicalized and they want to

bomb america because we are the number one target right now. >> congressman, thanks very much. >> thank you. okay. coming up, tracking an isis killer. you will see how intelligence agencies are trying to identify the executioner of two americans through images, words and actions. and the bloody rise of isis is fueling fresh concerns about a possible threat tied to the 9/11 anniversary. you just heard what the ranking democrat of the committee had to say. peter king serves on the intelligence committee. he's sanding by. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." [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.

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we're following breaking news. you're looking at live pictures from miami. minutes from now we'll get the statement, the first on-camera

statement from the family of steven sotloff who was murdered by isis. we'll be hearing from a family spokesman momentarily in miami. we will go there live as soon as the spokesman for the family emerges. we'll have live coverage coming up within the the next few moments. meanwhile, the hunt is on from the isis killer who beheaded two americans. intelligence agencies in the united states are going all out to identify the killer. brian todd is here to show us how they're going about their mission. what are you learning, brian some. >> a british official, the home secretary calls isis a group of murderous psychopath, but there is one of them who intelligence officials are zeroing in on tonight. that's the militant who authorities now say appears to be the same person in the pollee and steven sotloff execution videos. u.s. intelligence is doing a forensic -- they're looking at the man who may be the executioner. his mannerisms, voice, facial

features. a british official says it appears to be the same man in both videos. in the sotloff video, notice the accent when he utters this phrase. you, obama, yet again. >> any attempt by you, obama. >> a week half after saying they were close to identifying him, british officials had no comment today when we asked if that's imminent. how can they narrow down who they're looking for? the the eyes are key. >> the eyes are absolutely key. they'll be looking at the shape, the supposed droop in all these frames both on august 19th and september 2nd. >> they -- the tilt of the militant's head is distinct. the way he holds his knife in his left hand and they noticed something else. >> he laces up his boots in a very strange manner. he doesn't lace them up all of the way in both secretary secretary 2nd and august 19th. he laces them up half way which

is a very strange tick for an individual to do. >> but is this the man who executed foaly and sotloff? he doesn't think so. in both videos, the moment of death is not shown, so it's not clear who is killing either man. if you look at the videos at the very end where they're holding up the necks of the hostage, his hand is clean and his tunic is clean suggesting he didn't do it. as horrific as these videos are, analysts say they're a recruiting tool for isis. >> people with this extreme ideology have an almost pornographic attraction to these brutal acts. it inspires them. it energizes them. they feel that ices isis is str it can stand up to the super power, it can stand up to the united states and a force to be reckoned with. >> new information from u.s. officials. they say the u.s. intelligence community has determined the

sotloff i haved yofs shot separately from the foley video, so they were not roberted in the same session. wolf? >> any indication why there is a delay in naming this murderer? because only a week and a few days ago the british ambassador in washington said the the british government was close to naming this person. >> it's been a big question since then. the the former cia agent said british and american officials are probably determining what the value is in naming this man publicly and if there is value in doing it. he says witness they put together what he calls, a target package on him, determining who he is then they want to be careful. they might want to keep quiet then he might go to ground and be much are harder to find and they're probably weighing that right now. >> those are difficult considerations. >> absolutely. >> to have to balance, brian, thanks very much. >> joining us now, republican representative peter king is a member of the homeland security and -- congressman, if i interrupt you you will certainly understand we are awaiting a

statement from the family of steven sotloff momentarily down in miami. we'll have live coverage of that. so if i interrupt you, you will certainly understand. >> sure. >> do you think the british government which has very close intelligence cooperation with the u.s. government knows the name of this murderer? >> i would think that they have it narrowed down and are relatively sure who it is. i'm not privy to it, but i would think, knowing their expertise that they are know definitely or very close to knowing who it is. >> based on what you know and we just heard in brian todd's report, maybe this individual was doing all of the talking and making all of the threats, but he wasn't the person who actually slit the throat of these two americans. what have you heard about that? >> again, i've heard that's being looked into and certainly the evidence that was given there that when you come to the second person to be executed or the person that will be executed

next and there is no blood on the hands of the person who should have been the killer. so in any event, i would say all of that is being analyzed forensically and they have experts who are going through every split second of that and looking up every possible characteristic, physical, voice, everything else. >> i know that your district, your congressional district lost several hundred people in 9/11. we all remember that. what are you hearing about the upcoming anniversary a week from tomorrow? how concerned is the u.s. intelligence community, the homeland security community about potentially some sort of anniversary attack? >> wolf, they always have to be concerned. any time there's a high-level event and nothing is more high level than 9/11, really, everyone's operating at full speed and not just the federal government and obviously homeland security and the fbi, cia, the entire intelligence community and also at the local

level, the nypd, suffolk county police, new york state police all of them are operating at a much higher level on september 11th because of the opportunity that this pressen ents for terrorists. two years ago, a last-minute threat came in and even as far as i know and i've been in pretty constant contact, was there no particular threat right now. we always have to assume there is a threat, but i wouldn't be surprised that somewhere between now and 9/11 something may come in which may and may not be accura accurate. sometimes it's a false lead, but again, you will see everyone operating at opportunity mump between now and 9/11. whether or not the terror threat level is actually raised, to me, it's not really that significant because everyone will be working at the highest possible level anyway. >> you remember, like all of us, that a terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that killed four americans including the u.s. ambassador to libya.

that occurred on the anniversary of 9/11. >> right. >> have you definitively concluded that it was done precisely on that day? >> my understanding is it was, wolf, yes. it was either begun, finished or occurred during 9/11, but it's my understanding, i don't think that was an issue that did it occur on 9/11? yes. >> it wasn't just a coincidence. they wanted to kill those americans on the anniversary of 9/11, right? >> i think zwe have to conclude that, yeah. that would be too utsch in of a coincidence to carry out that attack on the anniversary of 9/11. coincidences like that don't happen. that was, to me, no doubt in my mind at all that 9/11 was the intended date. >> who is a bigger potential terror threat to the u.s. homeland? would it be isis right now? we just heard the ranking democrat of the house

intelligence committee say there were about a hundred americaning working, serving with the isis terror group. who is the bigger threat? isis or core al qaeda. >> overall, isis is a greater threat because they have thousands at their disposal, not just the americans but also the thousands of of europeans wo have european passports that can enter into this country without a visa. overall, i would say isis. having said that, i am very concerned about core al qaeda because they've been pushed out of the headlines and they're off the front pages and to get back in the game they may feel they have to carry out an attack and they're still capable. in arc digz to that, you have al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which have attempted several times to attack the united states including the christmas day bombing back in 2009, but overall, i would say isis and then i'd say al qaeda could even be more of an immediate threat because they may want to carry out an attack, but i think isis is more capable and al qaeda may

do it and they may jump the gun, if you will, because they want to get back in the headlines. >> congressman peter king of new york thanks very much for joining us. >> wolf, thank you. you were looking at live pictures and we show you the live pictures out of miami. we are standing by as a spokesman for the family of steven sotloff, the american murdered by isis terrorists about to walk out and make a statement on behalf of the family. you will see it and hear it live on "the situation room" momentarily. there is more we're following on isis. a new exclusive cnn poll reve revealing the powerful leader of the senate is locked in a tight race on keep his seat. mitch mcconnell of kentucky leads alison lundergan grimes 50% by 46%. stay with us. we'll have much more on this surprisingly tight race. that's coming up in our next hour here in "the situation room." we're also standing by for much

more news including once again, that statement from the family of the executed american steven sotloff. we'll have live coverage of that when we come back.

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time again we are sucked into the worldee crises and are often perplexed about which approximately see to pursue ask criticized for what we choose. steve was equally torn between two poles. he wanted to live in a society governed by john's ideals and could not turn his back on the

suffering pervading the world. he could enjoy mime doll pins on sunday and a banal office job on monday that would provide him a comfortable existence. the arab world pulled him. he was no war junkie. he did not want to be a modern-day lawrence of arabia. he merely wanted to give voice to those who had none. from the libyan doctrine who struggled with psychological services to children ravaged by war to the syrian plumber who risked his life by crossing regime lives to purchase medicines, their story was steve's story. he alultimately sacrificed his life to bring their story to the world. steve was no hero. like all of us, he was a mere man who tried to find good concealed in a world of darkness and if it did not exist he tried to create it. he was taught to help those less

privileged then hem, offering to new commerce in the region. he was just as serious about finding a 3:00 a.m. story. he had a fondness for junk food he could not overcome and despite his busy schedule, he always found time to skype his father to talk about his latest golf game. steve often said his job was to hold people's hands, to build rapport before delving into the story. he never rushed or was pressured. he was appreciated by all who met his sincerity and kinds. steve had a gentle soul that this world will be without, but his spirit -- but his spirit will endure in our hearts. today we grieve. this week, we mourn, but we will emerge from this ordeal. our village is strong. we will not allow our enemies to hold us hostage with the sole weapons they possess, fear. our prayers go out to the family

of jim foley. like steve, he suffered, but his jailers never broke him. he was an inspiration for others in that dark prison far from this country's freedom and for me, personally, i failed you, boy scout. i left you in the field to suffer your fate. i will carry this burden until i meet you, but i will never forget your kindness. watch over me. we ask the media to respect our pri privacy to mourn steve's passing. [ speaking in arabic ]

[ speaking in arabic ] thank you very much. >> could you just speak about how the parents are doing really quick? >> barack barfi, a spokesman for the family, speak not only if english, but in arabic, expressing the family's grief and they're in a period of mourning. right now they're asking for privacy, a horrific, horrific event. the second american now killed by these isis terrorists. tom foreman is the former assistant director of the fbi. he's one of our cnn -- tom fuentes is our law enforcement

analyst. tom, it's going to take a while for the u.s. law enforcement community, the united states, to find the killers of steven sotloff. >> that's right, wolf. it's going to be very difficult because, you know, to be able on go with these killers are, whatever camp location they have in syria, where they're protected and they've established enough of well own soldiers around them to protect them. it will be difficult to on penetrate that to even identify who exactly did it, gather the evidence and determine well location and figure out how they can be arrested later if that's at all possible. >> just give me your reaction to what you just heard from this spokesman for the family? >> i just think it is so sad, and you know, the families are showing their sons that have gone over to report the stories are humane, caring, compassionate people who want the world to know what's going

on, who's being oppressed whether it's the bashar al assad, whoever it might be that's doing harm to other people, they want to carry that story. they go on their own. they don't have security with them. they don't have the benefit of being embedded with soldiers or other people that can protect them. so they're taking the greatest risk to even go and then this is what can can happen and has happened now for several people, in particular the foleys and the sotloffs to have to deal with this. >> are you among those who think it would be wise, given the strength of isis, for example, right now the fact that they've stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in gold in iraq, especially in mosul. they've taken over some of those banks over there. the fact that they have so much u.s. military equipment that they stole from the iraqi military, would it be wise right now for the u.s. to go on a higher terror threat level alert here in the united states? >> i don't think so and the

reason is that so many times in the past when the threat level's been raised and there was no information of an imminent attack, it just gets the public wound up for nothing. it it ends up being the story of crying wolf so when we actually have a situation, nobody pays attention, and i think also going back ten years ago or so when we had the color-coded system, most of the public thought it was ridiculous and silly. the authorities, the security forces, the fbi, the cia, the police departments, everybody is already on the highest alert. they're already treating this and don't need a color code to tell them how hard they have to work to protect this country. so to raise it for the public it just causes greater cynicism, i guess, later when nothing happens because they don't know that something's going to happen. they need to save those higher alert levels for when they do know. >> tom fuentes, thanks, very, very much. we will get back to this story momentarily, and there are other

stories we're following, the ukraine crisis. u.s. troops will be heading into ukraine and they'll be joining other nato forces this month for military exercises in response to russian president vladimir putin. he unveiled a seven-point peace plan. let's get more from elise abbott. what's been the well that plan because it had no mention of russian troops inside ukraine has been dismissed by both kiev and the united states as a ploy to divert nato's attention and for russia to avoid new sanctions. on the ground despite the talk of peace, it's looking more and more like an escalating war. >> reporter: fresh plumes of smoke in ukraine. buildings reduced to rubble as tanks came from russia continue to advance through rebel

strongholds. signs the russian/ukrainian cease-fire was unraveling before it began. president obama said it's time to ratchet up pressure. >> it's a brazen assaults on the territorial territory of ukraine. an independent european nation. it challenges that most basic of principles of our international system. that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun. >> reporter: last month president obama's ambassador to the united nations laid out a trigger for further action against putin. >> any further intervention by russia into ukrainian territory including humanitarian aid would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming. >> reporter: today the president said that redline has been crossed. >> the russians forces are not on a humanitarian mission. they are russian combat forces with russian weapons in russian

tanks. >> reporter: on the eve of the nato summit in wales, the u.s. says it is now sending troops inside ukraine as part of a nato military drill this month. vladimir putin responded by flexing his nuclear muscle ordering up russia's nuclear forces to hold exercises of its own at the same time. president obama pledged to boost ukraine's military and in a further dig at putin invoked one of russia's greatest fears. >> for countries that make meaningful contributions to allied security, the door to nato membership will remain open. >> reporter: a former ambassador to ukraine said putin may take notice of obama's tough talk but only backed by action. >> it's time to move to new economic sanctions and begin to provide similar assistance to the ukrainian military. >> the decision by france to delay the first of two warships to russia is the clearest sign that the west is prepared to

take further and tougher action against russia. that's supposed to be followed by a new round of sanctions to be announced by the european union this week. >> major development, the french delaying that delivery of the warships to russia. thank you. let's go in depth. joining us, an expert on russia. what's behind putin's latest suggestion that there could be a cease-fi cease-fire? >> i wouldn't really put much stock in it. it seems like yet another red herring. we saw this a lot with the crisis with syria last summer. putin threw out plan after plan after plan after plan and it was a great way to delay, to stall, to get people talking about talking and talking about how we're going to talk about talking. really they didn't come to anything at all. >> whatever he is doing in ukraine, maybe taking over other parts, it's pretty popular in russia. he has a lot of support back

home. >> that's right, he does. and it's not magic or any other -- it's not magic how he does it. a poll showed that 94% of russians get their information on events in ukraine from the television. most of television in russia is either owned outright by the kremlin or owned by friendly company who is control the programming. 17% of russians get their news from the internet. >> economic sanctions are painful. the economy is in bad shape. aren't people going to start compla complaining? >> they might start complaining. the question is will anybody in the kremlin care to listen or care period. and does that outweigh -- does that economic hurt outweigh the potential geopolitical benefits. when russia seized ukraine, the deputy prime minister said we might start colonizing the moon and that's okay because the

russian people historically are used to dealing with hardship. >> julia, thank you for coming in. it looks like the crisis is going to continue. coming up, more from jim sciutto interview with the defense secretary of the united states chuck hagel. he's warning isis has to be destroyed now or it will get destroyed now or it will get worse and wider and deeper. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com eenie. meenie. miney. go. more adventures await in the seven-passenger lexus gx. see your lexus dealer. you know it can't last forever. but that's okay. because a fresh start awaits. with exciting worlds to explore,

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happening now, -- >> our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy isil. >> president obama takes a tough new stance on isis, but also talks about making it manageable. is he contradicting himself? i'll ask his security adviser who is standing by live. the defense secretary chuck haake l talks about the isis threat. he's angry and outraged. and isis brutality revealed, we'll have a chilling look at the bar bash tactics that make this is the most feared terror group in the world right now. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. weeks of mixed messages in the face of a growing terror

threat, now the beheadings of two american journalists have the obama administration forcefully, more consistently about its intent to degrade and destroy isis. the president, the vice president and defense secretary all voicing anger and outrage today, but the question remains how will that translate into action? we're covering all angles of the story. our guests around the world. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto begins our coverage. he spoke exclusively with chuck hagel. jim, tell our viewers what he told you. >> you saw the defense secretary hagel speaking today very frankly and directly on hard questions that have hounded the administration so far. one, the end game to make it a more manageable threat or destroy it. he says to destroy it. is isis a threat to the u.s. homeland somewhere down the line

or today? he says it's a threat today. in those words and warnings, you're hearing from the defense secretary preparing the american public for what's going to be a long, difficult fight against isis. >> reporter: with the brutality of isis playing out on television screens across the world, defense secretary chuck hagel says there's only one u.s. end game. >> we're providing the president with those options to degrade their capability. >> that's the end game? >> no, it's not contain. it's exactly what the president said. degrade and destroy. >> there have been mixed signals as to how severe that threat is. two weeks ago you sadiid isis i an eminent threat. the administration seemed to pull back somewhat. you had the chairman of the skbroint chiefs of staff describe it as a regional threat. . is it an eminent threat to the

u.s. homeland or to the region? >> first of all, i didn't say homeland. i said to u.s. interests. >> you said to every interest we have. >> i didn't say homeland. i said to all of our interests. look what just happened 24 hours ago on the latest video of another citizen as to what isil did. it is a threat. isil is a threat to this country, to our interests. >> reporter: but is there a plan for military action beyond the current mission in iraq? >> is part of the strategy military strikes inside syria? >> well, that's an option. >> have you prepared those options for the president? >> the. >> the president has asked for options. >> syria air strikes are among them? >> all these things are option to the president that he wants to see. we have been working with the white house not just starting with the white house. we have been working with the white house for weeks. the president talks to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, so this it isn't something that just popped up

the last week or two. we have been working this for the last few weeks. >> reporter: a former soldier now leading the nation's armed forces, he said the video showing the executions of jim foley and steven sotloff affected him deeply. >> how did you personally react? >> it makes you sick to your stomach, but it again reminds us of the kind of brutality that is afoot in some of these areas of the world. it is our responsibility, the president, the vice president, mine, all of us, to do everything we can to stop this now because it won't just recede into the gray recesses of h history until we stop it. >> another open question, will the president seek further authority from congress before expanding military action against isis including perhaps inside syria.

i asked secretary hagel. he said that's something still being considered by the administration, but the president wants to work with congress, consult with congress before it takes further steps. >> what about ukraine? i know you spoke to him about u.s. military options, other options in it dealing with the russian threat ukraine. what did he say? >> i asked him, was there any regret to taking that off the table? he said one thing is clear. boots on the ground not in ukraine. military options not on the table for ukraine. so when i asked does he feel l economic costs that have been imposed have solved anything as russia has continued to escalate, he said it's a long process. it's continued to escalate but over time the hope is as the costs rise, russia will be deterred. that's something we haven't seen yet. >> jim sciutto, thanks very much.

secretary hagel is echoing president obama who is taking a sharp new stance against isis days after serious controversy by saying the united states doesn't have a strategy yet to defeat the terror group in syria. our white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president at the nato summit in wales. the president arrived just a little while ago. what's the latest? what's the president specifically saying when it comes to dealing with isis? >> reporter: well, wolf, you heard the president both escalate and moderate his tone when it comes to dealing with isis and what his goal is in terms of dealing with the terrorist group. take a listen to a sample of what the president had to say at a news conference earlier today in astonia. >> our objective is clear. that is to degrade and destroy isil so that it's no longer a threat not just to iraq, but also the region and to the united states. we can continue to shrink isil east influence, its

effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem. >> reporter: so those two different goals making isis manageable and also degrading and destroying isis, those two terms seem to be in conflict with one another. a senior administration official earlier today was going to reporters and saying, look, the president was not walking back his comments, not walking back his objective. only acknowledging the reality that even if you destroy isis, there may be remnants of the group that may pose threats to american interests, but contrast all of that with vice president joe biden at an event in new hampshire. his message on isis was clear and it was bold. he's what he had to say. >> people harm americans we don't retreat.

we don't forget. we take care of those who are grieving and when that's finished, they should e know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. >> reporter: now putting all the messaging aside, the president has a mission on his hands when it comes to deal welcome isis. in addition to dealing with the threat posed by russia in ukraine, the president wants to put together a coalition of partners inside and ousds of nato to deal with the isis threat. britain will obviously be first among those nations, but wolf, the big question hanging over the summit is what the president will walk away with. will he have some sort of agreement or coalition he can leave and go back to washington with. and perhaps start taking the fight toist nis syria. it's an open question at this point, wolf. he's coming under growing pressure to do something more. even the senator from minnesota

sent out a letter to the attorney general eric holder today say iing he too is troubl by the president's comments recently that he doesn't have a strategy for dealing withist nis syria. it's a big problem for the president. >> jim acosta traveling with the president, thanks very much. let's get more on all of this. joining us is the president's dep ta national security adviser tony lincoln. thank you for joining us. let me get to what the vice president joe biden said. we heard what he said. the united states will never forget, will follow isis, these terroristst to the gates of hell. does that include syria? >> wolf, i couldn't say it any better than the vice president said it. he was, as he always is, forcefully clear about what we're doing. just as the president was earlier today in astonia. we are putting together an effort, a comprehensive strategy to disrupt isil, to degrade it and defeat it. but that is something that takes

tremendous effort and takes time. we're putting the pieces in place. we're trying to get an iraqi partner with the formation of a new government that brings all the communities in that can act as an effective partner on the ground in iraq. we're building out a regional coalition so the countries who have the most immediately at stake are in this effort. but this is something that will take time to get to the aim of defeating isil, but in the meanwhile, we'll begin to take steps to start to put them in a box to get them off their toes. >> does that mean that the u.s. is ready to go into syria to destroy isis? >> what it means at this point, there is, as you know, virtually no border between iraq and syria. the group is moving back and forth. we have to look at this problem wholistically including what partners are able to do. and also in syria.

we have been very foekted on building an opposition that not only can deep with the assad reger regime, but also can deal with isil. the key thing is this. we have seen a good example in iraq recently. we took action to deal with a threat to our personnel in irbil. isil is moving on to irbil. they were on the ground and they were able to take the space that had been freed up. it's important to have partners on the ground. that's what we're building out. >> i know you're working on a new strategy and the secretary of defense and secretary of state will leave the nato summit, go to the region, go to the middle east to try to put that coalition of partners together. what's the timeline that you have for finalizing a strategy to try not only to dismantle or diminish, degrade, but actually to destroy isis? >> wolf, this is going to come together in the coming weeks. as we speak, the president is deeply engaged with our partners in wales at the nato summit.

in the days ahead, secretary kerry will be going out to the region. secretary hagel will be following suit. our counterterrorism adviser will be heading out in an effort to put together a coalition of countries, each of whom have a lot at stake if isil is allowed to consolidate and grow from where it is. >> what do you make of the criticism the president is getting when it would be to degray and destroy but then a few minutes later to get isis to the point of becoming a manageable problem, his words, manageable problem. it sounded to some as if the president was walking back from the original statement to degrade and destroy. >> no, absolutely not, wolf. the president was entirely consistent. what he said very colliely is this. this is going to be a long-term effort. in the near term, what we can do is disrupt isil. we have started to do that in iraq with the strikes we have taken. second, we get to the point of

disrupting them. getting them off their toes. that's the same thing as making the problem manageable. then over time with the coalition, we get them to the point of defeat. the president was clear and wanted to be clear with folks around the world that's something that's going to take time. what he said was entirely consistent. there's a continuum that goes from disrupting them to degrading them or managing them and defeating it them. >> the secretary of defense chuck hagel told jim sciutto that isis controls half of syria, half of iraq. they are very, very powerful. can isis be destroyed simply by air power? >> no, it takes a comprehensive strategy which is why we're being deliberate about it. it requires elements of military force, dealing with foreign fighters flowing in and out of the region, it requires dealing with financing they are getting, it requires empowering local

actors. the iraqis to be able to deal with them. it requires taking away their local base of support by taking, for example, sunnis who were alienated and getting them to line up with the new government. that's what the strategy is all about and takes time to put together. >> senator rand paul today said if i were president i would call a joint session of congress, lay out the reason why they are a threat and seek congressional authorization to destroy isis militarily. is that a good recommendation? >> we have been in close consultations with congress throughout this process. congress has been out. they are just coming back in next week. i would anticipate those consultations would intensify. as the president has said, it is going to be a sustained effort and it will take time and go beyond even this administration to get to the point of defeat. in order to have that effort, we need sustain itted support. we will need congress's support.

we will be closely consulting with congress to build that suppo support. >> does isis have the capability to attack the u.s. homeland? >> right now, isis is focused on the region. it poses a clear and present danger to people in iraq, people in syria and indeed as we have seen tragically, to americans in the region. it has aspirations to threaten the homeland. we don't think it's there yet, but left unchecked, it could get there. >> the anniversary of 9/11. is a week from tomorrow. do you anticipate the u.s. taking some new dramatic measures just out of an abundance of caution to make sure there isn't some sort of anniversary attack? >> wolf, weeks ago the president gathered all his national security advisers in anticipation of the anniversary of 9/11, as we do every year. that can be a time of heightened concern, to make sure we were doing everything possible

against all lines of effort to be vigilant and prevent any threats. i'm very confident we have done just that. >> is there a credible threat out there right now? >> right now what we're seeing is an intense threat in the region in iraq, in syria, to the neighboring countries, but we're constantly vigilant about threats to the home. land. right now they are focused on the region, not the homeland. but left unchecked, it could become a threat to the homeland. >> what about any other groups? any e credible threat from them? >> all i can report to you is we are constantly vigilant about that and we remain so right now. >> with good reason, tony lincoln, thanks very much for joining us. up next, legislation to give president obama clear authority to order airstrikes againstist nis syria. i'll talk to the senator who was crafting that legislation. my interview with senator bill nelson of florida, that's coming up. plus we'll get reaction from what we heard from the former

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tough talk from the president of the united states on the isis threat. e we heard from his deputy national security adviser tony lincoln. let's get reaction from the former chairman of the joint

chiefs of staff. we're in the cnn situation room. we're showing you what's going on. you spent a lot of time in the white house situation room. i'm going to ask you some questions. that maybe the president would ask you if you were chairman of the joint chiefs. give me your best answer. the president said today the u.s. objective is to dismantle and destroy isis. chairman, how do you do that? >> i think it has to be as tony lincoln said it has to be a wholistic approach. it has to be diplomacy working for you, economic instrument of power, information instrument of power, it has to be a wholistic approach. >> so economic, diplomatic, political, military. but air power alone, military, you can't destroy isis with simply air power. >> you can't. this is a movement. this is a hijacking of the

ground. this is a belief as much as it is fighters on the ground. so to get to the point where people don't want to join jihad, you need a lot more wholistic approach to the problem than just military. >> is it wise to tell isis there won't be any u.s. boots on the ground? >> i would never telegraph all your moves. we are at war with isis. i think the president has used that term. when you're at war, you don't telegraph all your moves. >> even if you're going to launch airstrikes, don't you need special forces on the ground to give you intelligence so you don't wind up bombing various targets? >> i think that's a great point. using air power, you can use that to do a lot of amazing things. i think it needs to be coordinated very well with those on the ground with the special forces or other forces trained to do that.

but you bring up the real problem. the problem is if you don't do that, you're at the risk of hurting innocent men, women and children. you can't do that. >> especially if the terrorists surround themselves in these communities and there are men, women and children who have nothing to do with this. >> they would love to trick our forces into doing something that would make a big splash on the international scene in terms of killing innocents. it's an issue that has to be worked. >> will the arab partners of the united states to get militarily involved not only in iraq because the u.s. is launching airstrikes, more than 100 already, but saudi arabia, some of the other friendly countries, all of which have pretty good air forces, u.s. war planes and other equipment, will they get involved as well? >> that's the part of the diplomatic effort that has to go on to get them involved in this. isis is just as much a threat to

them as it is to iraq as it is to the people in syria as it is to their grand design. it has to be approached internationally. you'd hope our arab friends would participate in a meaningful way. this is a serious threat. i don't think it's a new one. it it came out of the '90s. the first generation was al qaeda. now it's isis. it's the same desire. we better take it seriously. we have had several times we could take it seriously and we have taken it seriously for awhile and forget about it and it pops back up. if it pops back up now in a form that's unimaginable. >> the past 24 hours the white house announced the administration announced another 350 american troops will be heading over to baghdad. now more than a thousand u.s. active duty military personnel serving in iraq right now. i suspect that number is going to go up. >> i don't really know.

probably it will go up. but i think you can really help iraq without having u.s. troops on the front lines. that's the iraqis role. they have been well trained. >> they have been mia so far. >> some have, some haven't. it depends on where they are. with the hope of a new government that will be more towards all the various people in iraq, there's hope that through leadership that iraqi army will stand tall. >> you were here in mosul, the second largest city in iraq in 2004. this is the city of nearly 2 million people. it's now controlled by isis. the u.s., as you know, military personnel they invested a lot to try to liberate iraq from saddam hussein. what do you say to the military personnel who gave so much? they are now back home who may have come home without arms or legs. what do you say about this

current mess? >> if it wasn't for them, they wouldn't have given iraqis a chance for freedom and for the sorts of things that all humans really want. so on the one hand, a very altruistic move over the last many years to give freedom a chance in iraq. at this point, we all have to be very disappointed we spent so much effort and it's been frittered away. i would say politically, not militarily. in the sense of maliki and his ineptness in bringing iraq together to take on their internal and external security. >> let's hope the new prime minister can unite those various groups. >> we have to work on that. >>. he doesn't, it's over. >> it's going to set things back. >> just ahead as the pentagon prepares military options for president obama, critics are say ing not so fast. doesn't he have the authority to strike targets in syria.

i'll ask senator bill nelson. we'll discuss, live. plus mass murder, beheadings, abduction, ethic cleansing all on camera. we have a special report on the brutality of isis. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality

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as u.s. airstrikes rain down in iraq, there's growing pressure on the obama administration to hit isis targets in syria as well. president obama promised justice will be served. as the pentagon prepares various options for the president, some are questioning if e he has all

the legal authority to go ahead and start bombing targets inside syria. that would be the democratic senator from florida, bill nelson. senator, thank you for joining us. you want a resolution, an authorizing legislation to be passed in the senate to formally give the president authority to bomb targets in syria. is that it right? >> in a word, yes. now i believe that the president has the constitutional authority for the protection of the interests of the united states to go ahead. however, there's some dispute and some of the legal scholars as well as some of our fellow senators like tim kain of virginia feel very strongly about this, and so we need to put those doubts to rest and let's just give the legal authority in syria, the president has the authority in iraq, let's give it in syria because the head of the snake is

in syria and that's where you have to go after to kill the snake. >> as you know, a lot of your fellow senators will ask this legitimate question. why vote for something like that before there's an actual strategy in place including an exit strategy for dealing with isis in syria? >> well, the president has a strategy. he started on august 25th doing the surveillance flights over syria. he also has the strategy and has been very successful in northern iraq and kurdistan of having used air power to help the kurdistan peshmerga troops as well as the iraqi army. that has been deployed successfully. now if we team up with a coalition and he's talking to them right now in the nato summit and others such as the

free syria army, which by the way is not only fighting the assad regime, they are fighting isis as well. you team up with a coalition that can do the work on the ground plus special operations troops whenever you need to employ them, then you have a successful strategy. >> because the president the other day himself said when it comes to isis targets, isis operations in syria, he hasn't finished that strategy yet. they are working on that kind of strategy. here's the question though. do you believe your fellow senators want to raise their hands, vote yes or no on such a resolution? a lot of them are suggesting they want to run away from a formal vote. >> well, it's our responsibility. it's part of the constitution. if you declare war, it has to go through the congress. on the other hand, the president

clearly has the chance to strike if he's protecting the country. so this isn't going to be a one or two-day strike. this is going to go on for awhile. it's going to be absolutely essential because if we don't deal with it now, we're going to have to deal with isis in the future. i mean, wolf, the head of isis has said he wants the black flag of isis flying over the white house. >> and you're take iing him ver seriously obviously with those words. senator bill nelson, thank you for joining us. >> thank, wolf. just ahead, chilling tactics and brutality. we're taking a closer look at why the world's fear of isis is now growing.

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isis brutality is so extreme it's often not seen on television. after the beheadings of two american journalists, cnn believes it's important to show you the extent of it. what we're about to show you is not appropriate for children. this report runs about three minutes. when it's over we'll discuss our reporting but not show anymore of the graphic images. here's cnn senior international correspondent nick robertson. >> reporter: the more isis grows, the more it fights like a regular army. infantry backed up by artillery. tactics that have landed them heavy weapons but don't be fooled. these fighters are bar baric in a way no force has been before. cataloging and posting in near realtime their war crimes. last week pictures emerged from human rights groups showing more than 100 captured syrian soldiers paraded in their

underwear. then images of those same men dead. but isis wanted to make sure the world knew it was responsible wasting little time posting this video. showing commanders giving the order to fire. then the nauseating hail of bullets, confirmation of how those soldiers were brutally executed. you want to turn away, but when we do, we give in. we are terror rised and their goal is achieved. almost a decade ago al qaeda in iraq which ultimately morphed into isis was led by this violent jihadist. he sprung to fame beheading american businessman nicholas berg. bin laden's deputy wrote him criticizing his tactics.

the beheadings stopped. but when isis murders journalist james foley in the same way, the same al qaeda core leader has no response. at least not yet. as a result, extreme violence for propaganda seems to have no bounds. isis's slaughter of both syrian and iraqi army troops is institutionalized now. even women, even young children are given seven heads to hold. isis leader is marginalizing al qaeda's core, which means when his protege's target the west, it could be even more despicable than the terror we have seen in the past. these are fighters who have so debased and degraded themselves they have lost moral compass.

as any commander will tell you, that puts them almost beyond control and ultimately a danger to their own organization. but unless they implode, despite a regular army, there will likely be more horrors like these. >> let's get some perspective from someone who has worked for years to combat threats like isis. joining us our counterterrorism analyst, a veteran of the cia and fbi. when it comes to terror brutality, is this a new level we're seeing right now? >> wolf, i'm not sure it's a new level. i will get to that in a moment. what's new is the scope of this. if you look at the geography they control and the number of people they are affecting across villages in syria and iraq, i can't remember my 30 years of watching this stuff a group that owned that scope of territory

and administered this kind of justice. what's similar is the psychology. we had folks when i was at the cia who managed our detainees at what we call black site secret prisons. when they would talk about the commitment of this adversary to commit acts of what we would call murder, the commitment was remarkable from a western perspective. we have seen it in the taliban in afghanistan. we have seen it in the tribal areas of pakistan. so i think the psychology is in some ways similar to what i have seen in the past, but the scope of this is just stunning from a counterterrorism professional's perspective. >> how should the u.s. deal with this threat? >> we have had nearly 15 years of dealing with these kinds of problems. again, there are a couple things we have to consider. first, something we learned during the surge with the u.s. military a few years ago. we can't own this problem.

not just from a political perspective, but from a counterterrorism perspective. helping sunni tribesmen who will quickly tire of these guys when they start killing iraqis is number one. getting the iraqis to do their own work. number two, something we have seen successfully in somalia is there an international component? we have african forces in somalia. do we have other middle eastern for forces in iraq? and finally the u.s. perspective. we're concerned in terms of threat about a sliver of this organization that's targeted to putting bombs in places like london and new york. do we have the intelligence to put drones on individual targets to take out those kinds of point threats? i think u.s. intelligence and drones will be critical for years to come to take out the threats of foreign fighters in syria and iraq. >> that means airstrikes trying to kill these guys. thanks very much for joining us. i think you're right. just ahead, we're monitoring the critical races as the country gears up for midterm

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to learn about our whole range of life event discounts. newlywed discount. new college graduate and retiree discounts. you could even get a discount when you add a car. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. we're following some important political news here in "the situation room." we're only 62 days away from the all-important midterm elections as republicans fight to take control of the senate. it could hamper president obama's final two years in office. we're getting polling that show how tight the races are.

a new poll shows senate minority leader mitch mcconnell only 4 points ahead of his challenger allison grimes. our chief congressional correspondent dane ta bash was on the ground in kentucky. she's back here in washington. she's joining us with more. this is a critically important race, dana. >> reporter: that's an understatement. it will have endless effects on the president's last two years in office. but what's striking in going to kentucky a z did i, voter who will determine that have such different candidates to choose from. this year's marquee political race is a study in contrasts, a 35-year-old democrat, a washington novice, running to be kentucky's first female senator. >> mitch mcconnell's washington, well, it's not working for kentucky. >> reporter: the top senate republican in the fight of his life. >> there is nobody barack obama

wants to beat worse than mitch mcconnell. >> reporter: he's the ultimate political tactician and old school bring home the bacon senator. but he's not a warm and fuzzy campaigner. at all. allison grimes is a natural at pressing the flesh with voters, but in interviews she often sounds scripted. >> give me some kentucky candor. is the president a drag on you here? >> i think that kentuckians are seeing this race for what it is, a chance to actually move kentucky forward in the right direction. >> reporter: grimes is giving mcconnell his toughest challenge in years, raking in campaign cash, getting help from bill clinton. >> senator, why did you vote two times against the violence against women act and against enforcing equal pay for women? >> reporter: his goal, tie her to president obama who in 2012 won only four of kentucky's 120

counties and is even more unpopular now. >> she's the new face for the status quo. a new face to vote for barack obama. >> reporter: she paints him as the personification of washington dysfunction. >> he has nothing left to give to the people of this state, no new ideas, actually promising further gridlock. >> reporter: you have to hear mcconnell's retort to believe it. the 30-year senate veteran is running as an agent of change. >> the only thing they can do in 2014 is begin to change the direction of the country is to change the makeup of the senate. >> reporter: and put him in charge. you know the joke that most senators look in the mirror and they see a future president. >> i never had that problem. i didn't have that affliction. >> reporter: but you've always wanted to be the majority leader of the senate. is that fair to say? >> i would like to have a chance to be the majority leader of the senate, yes. >> reporter: with the stakes so high the candidates stumbles are amplified.

a secret audio of him talking to koch brothers scandal are national fodder and so are allegations that dprims got a sweetheart deal for her campaign bus. this is not only getting ugly with you expensive. the most expensive senate riace in history, north of $100 million. >> in kentucky? that's a huge, huge amount of money. underscores how important this race could be. the race in kentucky just one of several key elections we're following here at cnn as republicans and democrats battle for control of the senate. so what's the forecast for the november elections? our chief national correspondent john king is over at the magic wall with more. what are you seeing? >> that kentucky race part of a fascinating game of chess as we enter the final two months of the race for senate. democrats have 5. republicans have 45. you can do the math at home. republicans need a net gain of

six to take control of the senate. there are 36 senate races but most party strategists will tell you they're looking at about 14 races that are very competitive. most of them -- this is why the republicans are confident they'll get these six. you see the states in blue highlighted, those are democrat-held seats. there are a dozen that republicans are targeting. only two, that kentucky race and the georgia race and i'll add a third in a minute that republicans are worried about. democrats are on defense. how do republicans get the six? they start with montana, south dakota and west virginia. so if the republicans get those three, then they're three away from the majority. where would they get them? their top targets -- let me turn this on. arkansas, louisiana, alaska, all red states. none of them carried by president obama. north carolina, the president carried it just once. and republicans see surprising opportunity for those races in new hampshire. the president carried that state twice. iowa was the birthplace of

barack obama in 2008 and colorado. republicans think we get those three, then we need three more from those seven and we get the majority. some think they could get a bit more. these races are so close. that's why the stakes are so high. mitch mcconnell would like to be the majority leader, yet republicans are on defense in kentucky of all places. a little bit nefbous about georgia of all places. let me add a third. pat roberts, he could be in trouble there. republicans need a net gain of six. if they lose one or two of these they need to gain more democratic seats. holding what they have is so important. consider the irony if they got that net gain of six, took control of the senate and mitch mcconnell lost and didn't get his dream of being majority leader. that's why it will be so expensive. we'll watch till the end. >> where does the president fit in the schedule over the next two months?

>> how about almost nowhere. that is one of the calculations. the blue states highlighted in gold, we've seen the president go to michigan. will he be invited to new hampshire? he hasn't been yet. joe biden was there today. he went the arkansas after a tornado. hasn't been invited back yet. the white house says they don't expect the president to get invitations to most of these states. his main job is raise money and then do targeted ads to generate turnout. african-american turnout could be the difference if the president can get them to vote without causing more harm than good. >> and republicans clearly want the affordable care act, obama care, to be a key issue in these races? >> they do. although that's one of the fascinating question. you have to go state by state by state. in some states the democrats say the president's health care plan is not as big of a liability as they thought it would be. because the president is

spending so many time on foreign affairs, this isis confrontation, the beheadings, an issue in some of these other races. the foreign policy crises are having an impact on the president's approval rating. >> normally in year six of a two-term presidency, the party and power in the white house does not necessarily do well in the midterm election. >> history tells you the six-year itch is usually a bad one for the incumbent. democrats won 30 seats in the house in 2006. in 2010 we saw the tea party in this cycle. no one expects a big wave like that. what people are expecting now is again state by state battle here and somebody getting 51 or 52 senate seats. will it be the republicans with a surge, will it be the democrats with a successful defense?

can't answer that. republicans gaining somewhere between five or six to maybe as many if things the break late for them. >> we'll be spending a lot of time with you, our political team watching these important contests between now and november. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >> "outfront" next, the breaking news, the family of the second american executed by isis speaks out as the white house strategy for combating the terrorists gets muddier. the videos we have tonight are hard to watch but important to see. the high price of pot. a man sentenced to life without parole for possession of marijuana. does the punishment fit that crime in let's go "outfront." good evening, evyo