fred pleitgen, cnn, germany. >> such a good day for geeks of the world unite. thanks for watching, everybody. wolf starts right now. rethinking the strategy to defeat isis. top american military leaders facing some tough questions on president bashar al assad. iran and the strength of the iraqi military. russia announcing plans to send long range bombers to the u.s. doorstep. does russia need patrols over the gulf of mexico. a controversial pardon by the governor of arkansas for his own son. whether any special treatment is involved. hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington, 6:00 p.m. in london, 8:00 p.m. in damascus, 9:00 p.m. in moscow.

thanks very much for joining us. we start with the fight against isis. moments ago, the house armed services committee here in washington wrapped up a hearing with the defense secretary chuck hagel and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey. they termed it a long fight and cautioned about expanding the u.s. role. >> we've established a modest footprint, one that is focused on the development of the security forces, assisting them with planning, integration of fires, and advising and assisting them from higher headquarters. any expansion of that, i would think would be equally modest. i just don't foresee a circumstance when it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contingent. >> the obama administration, though, may be rethinking the strategy for syria. president obama has asked his national security team to review the plans right now including the issue of the syrian president bashar al assad.

>> you can change assad today and that's not going to change all the dynamics quickly, certainly in syria, but who are you going to replace assad with and what kind of an army would take on isil, so yes, assad is part of it, yes, it is the longer term part of this, defined a stable, government, leaders in syria, to be able to bring some stability to that country is part of it, but isil is right now. >> joining us to talk about all this, the hearing, the fight against isis, our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. our correspondent arwa damon in southern turkey. in new york, fareed za car ra host of "fareed zakaria gps." this is the north carolina congressman walter jones. listen to this. >> what is the end state of what we're trying to accomplish?

the american people, over 50% of the american people, do not want our personnel in syria or in iraq. i will be honest with you, i don't know how we can convince the american people a nation financially broke, you sat here general dempsey and you're right, sequestration and all the budget problems coming your way and yet you're asking for 5 or $6 billion to drop more armor in iraq and syria? where is it coming from? please explain to the american people and to this congress how this war is going to end some day? whether we are advisors or fighting? >> a fair question. barbara, you've monitored what was going on. was that question answered? what is the end game? >> well, i mean there's no clear answer to that. the president's policy is to defeat, degrade isis in iraq and in syria. but, the pentagon will tell you, and starting with general dempsey, he's been very clear

from the beginning. you are not going to kill your way to victory with this. this is an ideology. they continue to recruit people, continue to bring fighters into syria and iraq. bombs are not going to solve it. air strikes are not going to solve it. what hagel and dempsey is looking for the other side of the house, the political side, the state department, diplomats, to do something to get some accommodation, get the iraqi government moving to defend itself and get the syrian rebels able it to do something potentially about assad, get the region to get assad out if you can have functioning government ps in both countries, maybe you can begin to have a structure to get at the isis problem. but u.s. air strikes are not going to bes the way. >> they made it clear this is not a short term operation. this is not weeks or months. >> years. >> not only years, there have been some suggestions, 10 or 20 years this new phase of the war could go on. >> because i think most people, most military commanders, will

tell you, it is time for everybody to understand that victory, an end game, is not anything what it's looked like literally for centuries. this is going to be very uncertain, very unclear, it will ebb and flow and there will probably not be a clear, clean victory. >> is the american public, fareed, based on everything you know what's going on, ready for what is certainly, if the u.s. pursues this policy, going to be many, many years of war in that part of the world? >> wolf, i think if it's a very limited kind of assistance, then perhaps they would, but otherwise, i don't think so because really what you have is this whole region, iraq and syria, have been unsettled by a sunni revolt. a revolt of the sunnis who do not want to be ruled by what they see as too apostic regimes. the shiite regime in baghdad and

the aloite in damascus. somebody has to hold the territory of the ground and build a political order that includes both the sunnis and the nonsunnis. that's a very complicated act. on the one hand being able to create and hold political order, but also then build a real nation where everyone feels invested. the united states, especially with military -- limited military intervention is not going to be able to do that. it has a strategy in iraq where it has a partner, the iraqi government, impressing it to be more inclusive, an iraqi army to hold territory, that piece very complicated and tough. the iraqi government has not been particularly inclusive. when you turn over to syria, really we're operating in the blind. we do not have those forces that we can work with and so i would suspect limited military intervention, with an iraq first

strategy has some possibility of maintaining of doing some good. it is going to be a long-term process, almost remaking these two nations. >> arwa, you've been in iraq so long, since 2003 when the u.s. went in, got rid of saddam hussein, you've been there so many times ever since, is this new iraqi government that the u.s. is pinning so much of its hopes on, really capable of bringing iraqi's sunnis, shias and kurds together or is that wishful thinking on the part of the obama administration and others here in washington? >> well, wolf, if we look at what the new prime minister abadi has done over the last 24 hours, it would at the very least seem on paper that his intentions are in the right place. he sacked 26 of the country's top generals, another 10 are retiring and when i say top generals i mean people as senior as his chief of staff.

a lot of these generals had been in power for years. they were viewed as being former prime minister nuri al maliki's lackeys. of course his policies have been divisive. some of these generals viewed quite simply as being corrupt or ineffective. he most certainly is trying on that front at the least to try to shake things up and really put the iraqi security forces back into order, at least as best he can at this stage. he has begun the process of arming the sunni tribes in al anbar province. this is going to be critical if iraq is to have any hope at trying to defeat isis, convincing those sunnis that they can rely on the shia led government in baghdad. and the iraqis did manage to retake the critical city of baji but they did not do that on their own. they had coalition air power helping them out and they had the help of iranian backed mi militias and iranian advisers. on the one hand there are these slight indications that perhaps

positive steps are being taken but let's not forget iraq's history and how quickly the situation there can change for the worst, wolf? >> quickly, barbara, i want to play a clip, the defense secretary of the united states, chuck hagel, testifying today, talking about iran and its role inside iraq. listen to this. >> we are not coordinating with the government of iran. we're not working with the government of iran. is the government of iran involved in any of the military activities in iraq? >> they're not involved in anything that the united states or the coalition is involved in. >> that's not my question. are they involved in any military activities in iraq? >> as far as i know, the i rain yan army is not engaged in iraq. there may be other components, shia militia, those kinds of groups that have been there that have over the years we've dealt

with over the years, but as far as an official iranian government military presence in iraq, i'm not aware. >> is he parsing words? there are a lot of reports that iranian revolutionary guard -- these are the elite forces there -- they are deeply involved in what's going on in iraq right now. >> yeah. i think the secretary is being very delicate in choosing his words to say the least. all indications are that members of the revolutionary guard have moved in and out of iraq over the months and have been helping as arwa said, they are backing the shia militias in so many places in their many indications that top commanders have moved in and out of iraq trying to help the iraqi army. and giving them some pretty direct assistance. the u.s. wants to stay as officially as far away as they can from the iranian presence inside iraq, but it's something that is being watched very carefully. >> the iranians are deeply involved with that new government, not only the old government, the new government

including the new prime minister, the first trip he made was to tehran. it was not -- >> i think that's a safe bet. >> thanks very much, barbara. go back to the pentagon. arwa damon, thanks to you. always good to have you with us. fareed, stick around. we have more to discuss. after the break we will talk about russia. is it reverting back to cold war tactics? later, a retireds u.s. general's frank assessment of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he explains in a new book entitled "why we lost." what are the lessons the u.s. and others should learn right now? with terrible chest congestion. better take something. theraflu severe cold doesn't treat chest congestion. really? new alka-seltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. oh, what a relief it is. here we go!

do you have the coverage? you need? open enrollment ends december 7th. don't put it off 'til later. now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and extra benefits... all in one complete plan... for a low monthly premium, or in some areas no plan premium at all. unitedhealthcare doesn't stop there. you'll have $0 copays for preventive services... like an annual physical and most immunizations. other benefits could include routine vision

and hearing coverage -- and the pharmacy saver program gives you access to prescriptions as low as $1.50... at thousands of pharmacies across the country, in retail locations like these. just a few ways we connect you with the people and programs... to help give you a better healthcare experience. call to enroll today and enjoy these benefits and more, like smart ways to save and tools to help you stay healthy. most plans also include part d prescription drug coverage. your healthcare needs are unique. that's why, with over 30 years of medicare experience, we'll help make things easy to understand and guide you every step of the way. open enrollment ends december 7th. so don't wait another day. if you're medicare eligible, call now... and talk to unitedhealthcare about our plans, like aarp medicarecomplete. let's get you on the right path. call unitedhealthcare today.

the russian prime minister medvedev says the u.s. must stop resorting to sanctions against russia and return to normal calm and productive talks. the comment came today after a brief encounter with president obama at the asean summit after new accusations that russia has violated a cease-fire agreement with neighboring ukraine. nato says it has evidence russia is sending tanks, artillery and troops across the border. russia today denied any troops had crossed into ukraine. the rising tensions over ukraine prompting russia to return to some of its cold war tactics in the battle days of the cold war the soviet union for the first time, in fact, since the collapse of the soviet union the russian defense minister announced plans to send long range bombers to patrol get this the gulf of mexico and the caribbean. these flights would be very

close to the territorial waters of the united states. let's discuss all of these late-breaking developments bringing in our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto and fa fareed zakaria is still with us. how worried should the u.s. be worried the russian bombers will not be far from north america? >> i think that doesn't worry me as much. of course one can't know what to make of it. the move into ukraine is troubling because it does appear, it apercent to be an attempt to perhaps consolidate the pro-russian, ukrainian towns, into a kind of defensible or fortified zone that would allow them to assert their autonomy more strongly at some level putin has what he wants, which is these towns are now essentially autonomous. the ukrainian government doesn't have that much control over them. so it does make one wonder what exactly is he looking for now. >> what is he looking for? you spent a lot of time over there in ukraine.

you were there a few months ago. you've been checking with your sources in ukraine, jim. what's going on over there right now. despite the sanctions, despite the pressure, the drop in the price of oil, putin is stepping it up. he's doubling down? >> no question. even the administration admits while the sanctions have raised the costs for russia those costs have not changed russian behavior on the ground. he's looking to permanently destabilize ukraine. he's taking back crimea, now effectively part of russian territory and eastern ukraine he may not have the same intention but having that constant presence there, you, therefore, prevent -- you make it more uncomfortable for western companies to invest in ukraine. it's seen as a risk. that is one of the goals. you also make it impossible for ukraine to join international organizations, to talk about association agreements with the eu, et cetera. that's their goal and frankly their tactics so far have been working. >> all of the indications we're getting, fareed, is that putin is still very, very popular inside russia right now.

in fact, if anything, what he's been doing along the border of ukraine is elevating his stature, is that right? >> oh, absolutely. putin has created a kind of almost a new ideology of power that combines a certain kind of social conservatism, the anti-gay stuff, certain amount of hyper nationalism, the crimea and stuff with eastern ukraine, and blatant anti-americanism and anti-westernism which has been a strain in russia. he is using this very effectively. his approval ratings remember were down in the 60%. that doesn't sound low but a few years ago after elections, he was not doing so well. then now up into the 80% range as far as we can tell and the important thing to remember, what jim was getting at, there's a fundamental asimtry here which it doesn't cost putin a lot to dedestabilize ukraine but costs the west an awful lot to stabilize it. he can spend a few probably

million or tens of millions of dollars and ferment this kind of instability where for the west to stabilize ukraine, the bill is probably $15 billion this year. >> that's a lot of money and there's no doubt that potentially it could escalate. speaking to u.s. officials here in washington, they have a new strategy, they have a new plan, because so far it doesn't seem to be working. crimea part of russia, from the russian perspective and looks like that other area could go pretty quickly as well. >> no question. if they have a new plan they haven't articulated it. the cease-fire agreement agreed to in september that is clearly broken now, was the plan an there was a lot of diplomatic effort and capital invested in that. i spoke to the ucrape yan foreign ministry official and asked him have you seen fighting there, has the fighting started again in the eastern areas of ukraine, he said the fighting never stopped. two months into a cease-fire lauded as a step in the positive direction, the off ramp that u.s. officials have been talking

about for russia for some time. clearly the policy is not working. the question as fareed says, the costs are so high for the u.s. to do what's necessary to change the situation, they don't seem to be costs that the u.s. is willing to bear economically but certainly in terms of military intervention. >> thanks very much. fareed, thanks to you as well. don't forget fareed zakaria gps airs here on cnn sunday morning 10:00 a.m. eastern. fareed, we watch it every sunday. thanks very much to you as well. meanwhile a retired u.s. general explains why he thinks the united states and its partners lost the wars in iraq and afghanistan. i'm going to ask him what he learned from those wars he fought in both of those places and what might the lessons be for the current war against isis. the general joins us when we come back. do you have the coverage? you need? open enrollment ends december 7th.

don't put it off 'til later. now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and extra benefits... all in one complete plan... for a low monthly premium, or in some areas no plan premium at all. unitedhealthcare doesn't stop there. you'll have $0 copays for preventive services... like an annual physical and most immunizations. other benefits could include routine vision and hearing coverage -- and the pharmacy saver program gives you access to prescriptions as low as $1.50... at thousands of pharmacies across the country, in retail locations like these.

just a few ways we connect you with the people and programs... to help give you a better healthcare experience. call to enroll today and enjoy these benefits and more, like smart ways to save and tools to help you stay healthy. most plans also include part d prescription drug coverage. your healthcare needs are unique. that's why, with over 30 years of medicare experience, we'll help make things easy to understand and guide you every step of the way. open enrollment ends december 7th. so don't wait another day. if you're medicare eligible, call now... and talk to unitedhealthcare about our plans, like aarp medicarecomplete. let's get you on the right path. call unitedhealthcare today.

the ultimate arena for business. hour after hour of diving deep, touching base, and putting ducks in rows. the only problem with conference calls: eventually they have to end. unless you have the comcast business voiceedge mobile app. it lets you switch seamlessly from your desk phone to your mobile with no interruptions. i've never felt so alive.

get the future of phone and the phones are free. comcast business. built for business. it's a trank and startling admission from a top member of the top u.s. military brass. i'll quote that admission right now. i am a united states army general and i lost the global war on terrorism. those are the opening words of the new book "why we lost" a general's inside account of the iraq and afghanistan wars. the author, retired lieutenant daniel bulger is joining us from fork right now. thanks very much -- from new york right now. thanks for joining us. you say the u.s. lost the wars in iraq and afghanistan. what happened? >> wolf, in the simplest sense your file footage we've been looking at here just before this tells the story. americans went in and tried to do a counterinsurgency, tried to

defeat insurgents in two countries and that's really the task of the local people. just what we've been talking about today as we look at isis, in isis the iraqis have to take the lead. americans can't do that for them. in a way we were kind of victims of our own success. the dramatic opening rounds in 2001 and afghanistan 2003 in iraq and we backed into the count erinsurgencies in the villages with americans trying to go house to house to pick out who's the terrorist and the farmer. >> let me ask you the blunt question, the thousands at least 4,000 in iraq and another thousand almost two 2,000 in afghanistan u.s. troops who were killed in those two wars, the tens of thousands who game home without limbs or badly suffering, continuing to suffer, was all of that in vain? >> wolf, it was not in vain and we should never miss an opportunity to salute the brave and resourceful and smart tough young men and women who sacrificed there as well as

their families and who even to this day are carrying out operations around the world. the best way to honor their memory is to get a full accounting of what happened there, why it happened, and what we can do to fix it as we look ahead towards many of the dangerous things we've been talking about today. >> so many have suggested the current u.s. effort to destroy isis in iraq and syria, with now 3,000 u.s. troops, committed that -- this is mission impossible if you will given what's going on on the ground right now and others like andrew sullivan pointed out that the u.s. had 150,000 troops and couldn't get the job done, why should anyone believe with 3,000 troops, the u.s. now will be able to get the job done? >> it's kind of counterintuitive but gets to what i mentioned at the outset. the iraqis have to get the job done. they still have toic ta the lead. we had over 100,000 there and over 100,000 in afghanistan it

was easy for the local forces to say, hey, why don't you americans take the lead, the best military in the world, you do the job we'll help you. they've got to take control of their own country and they're the ones that have to defeat isis. we will help. to the credit of president obama and the administration they're making that shift now, and it's painful and it's hard and it doesn't give immediate gratification but the president warned everybody, this war would not be over quickly, wouldn't be over by christmas, wouldn't be over next summer. this is an effort of years that will probably outlast his administration. >> you served in iraq. you know what's going on over there. the tensions, the hatred if you will, between iraqi sunnis and iraqi shias and add in the kurds that's been going on hundred of years. what makes anyone believe the current situation is going to be any better? >> you know, wolf, i don't think the current situation will be better but we need to keep our focus on where the threat lies. the threat is isis. what we want to ensure is that isis is sufficiently engaged over there we keep their head

downs, kill as many of them as we can, we keep them busy over there, so they don't have time to form sanctuary, build camps and launch something on the scale of a 9/11 attack over here. that's what our focus is. certainly the iraqi government wants to defeat isis as well. we have to partner over there. they're not all it ta capable yet but we're working towards something over time they will develop some more capability. >> as soon as the isis guys started coming in from syria into iraq, that iraqi military that you, when i say you, i mean top u.s. military commanders, the united states, trained, armed, protected, financed, they did all of that over more than a decade, you know what happened in the second largest city in iraq, mosul, a city of more than 2 million people, the iraqi army simply collapsed, ran away, left all of that u.s. military hardware to be picked up by isis. why should anyone have confidence in the iraqi military? >> well, i have confidence if we take the time do the long-term

effort to build them. you know, what you got now is an iraqi military that was trained to work alongside american forces. when the bulk of our combat forces began to draw down and pulled out in 2011 that military really was an infant in terms of its capabilities and still had too many of the tendencies of the old iraqi military we've beaten soundly in '91 and 2003. building a military takes time, takes decades. the south korean military that fled and ran in the korean war in 1950 is a pretty good military today but the result of decades of work with the americans and their work to train the leaders, sergeants to lead the army. that's why the president is saying the training effort will take time. it's not going to be an overnight solution. >> i'm less optimistic about that iraqi military because the u.s. did leave behind, as you well know and you served there, an iraqi military of several hundred thousand troops, military personnel, security

personnel, and the u.s. left behind a lot of sophisticated tanks, armored personnel carriers, mortars and it simply evapora evaporated. they ran away, not in the face of a formal army but in the face of isis which is not necessarily a formal army, although they have some of saddam hussein's commanders who are part of that isis, they simply ran away after all of that blood, sweat and tears that the united states provided them. so i'm not very encouraged based on what i see right now, but you have a different assessment, right? >> well, i'm looking at the fact that you can't build an army overnight. >> the u.s. has been -- the u.s. was building that army for ten years and spending billions and billions of dollars to try to establish a credible iraqi military that in the face of isis moving in from syria, that iraqi army just ran away. >> it takes more than equipment, wolf, and it takes more than ten years. you can quickly train a person to fire a rifle, how to march or fix their truck. to train a senior sergeant to train the equivalent of a marine

corps gunnery sergeant or major or lieutenant colonel that takes decades and change in leadership and mindset that will take a while to impose. the example of the u.s. trainers and advisors is critical to that and that's why i think it's wise of the current administration to put in those key trainers and begin that long-term process to build that leadership cad dre that will be effective the next time they fight. that's what went wrong. >> one final question, general, before i let you go. who trained these isis soldiers? why are they so good right now? why are they eating up so much of syria and iraq? why are they so motivated to get the job done? they haven't had a lot of training. they do what they want to do. >> you hit the key word. they're motivated but not well trained. every time we came into contact with their predecessors, these are the same people that we fought, al baghdadi was their leader when we were there, one of their leaders, they're mot that good as far as soldiers, but they're motivated. and what the iraqis need to do is find their national will and

spirit and we're basically counting on them to lead the way in this phase. >> let's see if they step up to the plate. i have my doubts based on what we've seen so far. it would be good if the iraqi military could take charge do what the u.s. military wanted them to do, trained them to do, financed them to do, but have not shown inclination to do what they need to do for their country. the book is "why we lost." it's an excellent read. recommend it to all of our viewers out there here in the united states and around the world. you don't often hear a u.s. military commander acknowledge that united states lost in iraq and afghanistan. general, thanks very much. because if we don't learn the lessons from the pasts we're bound to repeat those lessons down the road. we don't want to repeat those mistakes down the road. thanks very much. >> thank you. up next, you're going to meet a teenager fighting for isis, and hear how and why this teenager joined the terror group.

ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less.

we'll even buy you out of your contract.alaxy note 4 for zero down. so you can get the samsung galaxy note 4 for zero down today. what you're doing now, janice.

blogging. your blog is just pictures of you in the mirror. it's called a fashion blog, todd. well, i've been helping people save money with progressive's discounts. flo, can you get janice a job? [ laughs ] you should've stuck to softball! i was so much better at softball than janice, dad. where's your wife, todd? vacation. discounts like homeowners', multi-policy -- i got a discount on this ham. i've got the meat sweats. this is good ham, diane. paperless discounts -- give it a rest, flo. all: yeah, flo, give it a rest.

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer rrpg from washington. the u.s. secretary of defense chuck hagel and martin democrps have been on capitol hill trying to define battle plans to fight isis if iraq and syria. new information about a possible shift in strategy against the terror network. senior u.s. officials and diplomats telling cnn president

obama's national security team is reviewing the overall strategy of policy to determine if more focus should be placed on the ouster of the syrian president bashar al assad. today the secretary of defense chuck hagel told the house armed services committee the emphasis is on taking out isis. >> it's a comprehensive strategy. it has to be. many of the questions here this morning have gotten into that, one being the funding, cutting off their funding. coalition partners. all the partners of the region involved, strengthening the iraqi security forces, doing everything we can to support a new iraqi unity government that reaches out to everybody, the sunfy, the shia, the kurdss, all the minorities, giving everyone some participatory power in their government which elicits confidence and trust in their government, so that's our strategy. >> just moments ago here in washington, the u.s. attorney general eric holder announced

that the justice department is sending lawyers to 14 countries in north africa and the middle east. the goal is to try to help improve those countries' capabilities to prosecute fighters who return after being involved in terrorism in the middle east. it's unknown exactly how many fighters isis has in syria and iraq. what is known, is that isis is using children in the battle, some of them as young as 12. arwa damon spoke to one teenager recruit to find out what led him to join the terror group. >> translator: fertilizer, explosives and it tnt and has a detonator cord on the side. >> those are not the words of an adult. underneath the scarf worn to conceal his identity is a 15-year-old. an isis child soldier. on a daily basis, yassid, not his real name, was strapped in an explosive belt, issued a

pistol and ak. he joined willingly. he and his father were with the nusra front and when isis took over their area they swore allegiance fop for a month he said he and another 100 child recruits were isolate prds their families, forbidden from seeing or speaking to them. they underwent intense religious indoctrination embedding their young impressionable minds with the isis radical and violent interpretation of islam and rigorous terrifying military training. >> translator: we crawled under webbing. there was fire above us. and we would be firing our weapons. then we jumped through large metal rings as the trainers fired at our feet telling us if you stop you will be shot. >> reporter: with his training complete he was assigned guard duty. his mother begged him to leave.

i would tell her this is jihad and all of us must do it. >> reporter: two weeks ago his father decided to defect and tricked his son coming with him bringing him to turkey. >> translator: i was asking him, why are you doings this? what happened? my father turned to me and said that they are not on the right religious track. >> reporter: he admits he was afraid the explosive belt he wore would accidentally detonate. the first time he witnessed a beheading he did not eat for two days. he appears to have a gentle demeanor and seems lost in a twisted mental maze. initially saying he wants to go back to isis. >> translator: my friends and buddies are all there and they would pay me $150 a month. my father $1,000. >> reporter: later he tells us, he regrets having joined them. he has a chance to go back to the arabic and math loving schoolboy he was. that might not be the case for

others trapped in the grip of isis terror. arwa damon, cnn, turkey. >> just ahead, the new congress here in washington getting ready to take office in january, but republicans and president obama are already over at serious odds at major issues. what happened to the talk about cooperation and compromise? gloria borger standing by to assess what's going on. a governor plans to issue a pardon for his son. why he says it's personal, not political.

we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles. tylenol® cold helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol® but parallel parking isn't one you do a lof them.ings great. you're either too far from the curb. or too close to other cars... it's just a matter of time until you rip some guy's bumper off. so, here are your choices: is or get liberty mutual insurance. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. call liberty mutual insurance.

thank you. ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. and often even more. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. reliably fast internet starts at $89.95 a month. comcast business. built for business. . congress has returned to capitol hill in washington with the republicans still riding high from the midterm election victories and those victories were impressive. the stage is set for serious clashes with the white house and president obama.

republicans oppose the president's plan to issue an executive order on immigration reform. some are blasting his proposals for tighter internet regulations, so-called net neutrality. top republican leaders are already criticizing the new agreement with china to combat climate change. they're threatening to kill any nuclear deal with iran if it were to emerge. other issues involving the keystone pipeline. let's bring in gloria borger. whatever happened to that bipartisan and all that goodwill, the honeymoon if you will. >> there wasn't any honeymoon or bipartisan. there was a pew poll released that said that 6% of the people who voted and identified themselves as republicans, said that they want the republicans to stand up to president obama, even if that means no compromise and things don't get done. there's no hell to pay for this and the president for his part, is effectively saying, okay, guys, i've got 26 months left,

i'm going to do what i want to do. he's sticking his thumb directly in the republican eye and he's saying i'm going to do what i was elected to do and you can fight it any way you want. and he feels he clearly owes something to the hispanic community op immigration and he wants to deliver. so they're living in alternate universes. >> he says, the president, he has said bluntly, unless congress passes legislation on immigration reform between now and the end of this year. >> which they won't. >> not a lot of time between now and the end of the year. unless they do so he will sign an executive order that will change the status if you will of millions of immigrants here in the united states who are undocumented. >> that's right. and look, we know that the senate passed an immigration bill and it went over to the house and it sat there and the white house knows full well that the house is not going to pass any kind of immigration legislation. now what they could do if the

president issues his executive order and mitch mcconnell, the new senate majority leader has made it very clear he's going to use the power of the purse to fight these things, so if the president declaring executive orders on any range of issues, they can say, we're not going to fund it. and they can get away with that because it's on the budget and it requires majority vote, no filibuster allowed. so there is going to be this tug of war and i think what the president is doing, is saying, i've substantial power, these are my legacy items, fight me on it if you will, but i'm going to leave this as legacy to the 2016 candidate. >> if the house and the senate bipartisan votes pass legislation authorizing the establishment of the keystone pipeline will the president sign that into law? >> that -- >> or will he veto that legislation? >> wolf, that is the sort of million dollar question as my kids would say. senator portman has proposed a

compromise which would be approve the keystone pipeline and do something on carbon emissions which as we know the president wants to do anyway and maybe there could be a deal on that front, but i don't know whether a lot of his republican colleagues are willing to do that at this point. i think each side is retreating into its own corner and it's business as usual. in fact, it might even be worse than business as usual. the question that i have, wolf, you have all these issues, we know they disagree on, can they put those aside, compartmentalize and say maybe we agree on corporate tax reform, maybe we agree on trade legislation, let's actually try to get that done, while we're stuck on all these other items. >> the president will be coming back from australia, in myanmar, china, going to have his hands full over the next few weeks before christmas and new year's. thanks very much. >> thanks. >> still ahead, a controversial

pardon by the governor of arkansas for his son. was it favoritism? just forgiveness? what happened? we'll update you on that and more when we come back. ugh... ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast

and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

it's not unusual for a governor of a state in the united states to issue a pardon but in this case it involves a member of his own family. the governor of arkansas plans to pardon his son from a drug charge. >> reporter: in his final months as governor, he plans to pardon his son from a felony drug charge. >> he was embarrassed. he's still embarrassed and frankly i was embarrassed and

his mother was embarrassed. all of the families go through that. it's tough on the family. the kids -- hopefully the kids learn. >> reporter: his son now 34 says he learned from his criminal past. in his pardon plea, kyle beebe wrote a letter to his father asking for a pardon. i'm asking for a second chance at life. i'm asking for a second chance to be the man i know i can be also writing i'm asking for a chance to be a better son to my parents and prove to them i'm the person they raised me to be. >> he's grown up a lot. you know, kids when they're young do stupid stuff. he was no different. >> reporter: according to reports, in 2003, kyle beebe was charged in white county with felony possession of marijuana and intent to sell. then attorney general beebe said "he needs to be treated like everybody else. no better. no worse." that's exactly what beebe says

he's doing with the pardon. >> if they have straightened up to get their life back on track and have a second chance and so this is no different. it's just different because it's my son. >> our report from our affiliate katv. governor beebe has issued more than 700 pardons in his time in office most often for nonviolent offenders. is it show favoritism for his son? let me know what you think. tweet me @wolfblitzer. unease in a suburb of paris. there's actually a lockdown. residents are being asked to stay indoors as a search ensues for a tiger. yes. a tiger in paris. what's going on? we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles. tylenol® cold helps relieve your worst

cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol® come from all walks of life. if you have high blood sugar, ask your doctor about farxiga. it's a different kind of medicine that works by removing some sugar from your body. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. with one pill a day, farxiga helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug, farxiga may help you lose weight and may even lower blood pressure when used with certain diabetes medicines. do not take if allergic to

farxiga or its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling or difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you have any of these symptoms, stop taking farxiga and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, low blood sugar,kidney problems, and increased bad cholesterol. common side effects include urinary tract infections, changes in urination, and runny nose. ♪do the walk of life ♪yeah, you do the walk of life need to lower your blood sugar? ask your doctor about farxiga and visit our website to learn how you may be able to get every month free.

locals are being asked to stay indoors as police and firefighters conduct a frantic search in the suburbs of paris. they're looking for a tiger. a tiger that was spotted near disneyland, paris. a tiger is on the loose. >> reporter: this all began around 8:30 this morning in a suburb to the east of paris when a supermarket manager and his wife arrived for work.

his wife spotted an animal in a grassy animal near the supermarket. she thought it might be a linx but later determined it was a tiger. animal control officers are armed with rifles to put the animal asleep if they came across it. the man described what happened when he arrived for work. >> translator: we were a little scared at the beginning. in particular as we were crossing the parking. we are not used to seeing a tyi tiger in the morning when we go to work. we estimate it was five or six meters away from her hwhen she got out of the car. >> reporter: residents are urged to stay inside and avoid any kind of contact with the animal. they believe it's in a grassy area.

they haven't yet caught the tiger by the tail. >> that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for our international viewers, christiane amanpour is next. for viewers in the u.s., "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. >> wolf blitzer, thank you so much. great to be with you on this thursday. i'm brooke baldwin. major developments to get to this afternoon in the shooting death of the unarmed missouri teenager michael brown. a grand jury will soon reveal to the nation and a tense community in ferguson whether that police officer, whether darren wilson will be indicted for shooting and killing brown in august. today it just heard testimony from nationally known pathologist dr. michael baden. baden was hired by brown's family to do an autopsy on the