11th just before 6:00 in the east. the enemy is growing, that's what u.s. intelligence officials are saying. that isis is gaining foreign fighters. traveling to syria and iraq in unprecedented numbers, despite months of bombardment. there are more than 20,000 allegedly ready to go to battle for isis. that number is coming under scrutiny. >> a house homeland security meeting today, officials will testify that as many as 150 americans have tried to join the fight. this as president obama plans to formally ask congress to authorize the use of military force against isis. and the u.s. mourns the latest american hostage killed at the hands of the terror group. let's begin our team coverage with michelle kosinski live at the white house for us. >> this is testimony we expect to hear from the house of homeland committee from the director of the counterterrorism center and others. talking about foreign fighters

continuing to head to the battlefield in iraq and syria to fight alongside isis and other groups. the number in total thought to be at least 20,000. with 3400 of them westerners 150 americans who traveled there or tried to. and about a dozen thought to still be fighting there. the chairman of the committee called this the largest convergence of islamic terrorists in world history. and foreign fighters of particular concern to the u.s. for fear they would come back here and launch attacks. also today we expect to hear as early as this morning, from the white house presenting legislative language to congress asking for authorizations specifically tailored to the fight against isis. it's expected to limit the possibility of ground troops in combat but not to limit location. chris? >> all right, michelle that's getting a little more complicated. tougher to track, it's good to have you on the ground in d.c.

to tell us about that. this morning really the biggest headline is still the life that was lost kayla mueller. the family of the killed american worker still battling her murderers. only now the cause is to get her remains and to bid her a final farewell. we're learning more about her time in captivity and there is much the public did not know. will ripley joins us in new york with that part of the story. will the more we learn about her, the more there's pain about what's been done. >> everything from the fact that she was teaching her captors how to do arts and crafts to all of the repeated failed rescue attempts made not only by the u.s. government which may have come between 24-48 hours away from rescuing kayla and the others too. the attempts by arizona lawmakers to secure her release. one man, according to the arizona republic quoting congressman paul gosar, a man who went to the terrorist camp claiming to be mueller's husband, but he was turned away because she wasn't in on the

ruse all of this kept secret until now, confirmation of the worst. >> she has done more in her incredible 26 years than many people can ever imagine doing in their lifetime. >> this morning, kayla mueller's family and friends devastated heartbroken over photos sent privately by the brutal militant group isis over the weekend. according to a u.s. official the 26-year-old was shown in muslim garb another revealing her wrapped in a burial shroud how she died still unclear. >> kayla has touched the heart of the world. the world grieves with us the world mourns with us. >> the humanitarian aid worker held hostage by isis since august of 2013. captured while leaving a doctors without border hospital in aleppo syria. her captors demanding millions in ransom.

communication cut off after the ransom deadline passed. and early this month, isis mueller was killed in this building. >> they're responsible for her safety and her well-being they're responsible for her death. >> president obama calling mueller's family to offer condolences. >> she was an outstanding young woman and a great spirit. and i think that spirit will live on. >> mule nert trenches with refugees since 2009. working with humanitarian groups in northern india, israel and the palestinian territories. >> the world wants to be more like kayla. and if that is her legacy and the footprint that she leaves on the world, then that is a wonderful thing. >> the activist family strengthened by her spirit. >> and kayla's letter to marsha and kyle she wrote -- >> reading allowed a heartfelt letter sent by isis written by mueller while in captivity.

words in stark contrast to the bash rouse militants who held her. >> i have seen there's good in every situation and right now that's what we're trying to do. >> for such a young woman to write to her family even though she was going through the most difficult in her life that her only suffering was their suffering. it shows that this was a woman who was truly remarkable an inspiration and all the good that she brought to the world, did not deserve the evil that isis is. >> every time we hear about the murderers taking somebody our heart goes out to the family in respect what was lost. but the more we learn, this was a really special young person who won't get to fulfill her destiny now. thank you for the reporting and stay with us on that. we have a rare interview for you, with someone who really knows who made this young woman special in ways you haven't heard yet there is something to

be learned here that goes beyond just the habits of terrorists we have that coming up for you. alisyn? >> let's get context, we want to bring in lieutenant colonel james reese, a cnn global affairs loirt andalyst and akita malik from the quilliam foundation. >> kayla mueller colonel reese, it's fascinating to hear about the rescue attempts that were made to free her, including this one where a man showed up at this syrian terrorist camp claiming to be her husband and demanding her release, but she didn't know this was going to be happening. is this a typical type of ruse that the u.s. is using in trying to get hostages released? >> good morning, alisyn. here's one thing i can tell you about our hostage rescue forces. they're the number one out of the box thinkers in the world. and they will try to figure out every single way to close with

and find a gap in folks that are holding our hostages and holding western hostages to be able to find a way to get in there and rescue them any time. >> nikita will we ever know how kayla was killed? >> well that's a difficult question. because at the moment the evidence that we've received is still being examined by the united states government. so really we don't know. what we must keep in mind is the islamic state is a propaganda machine. so if they had more access it would be out there. the fact that it's not there in the media is a reflection that they know very little about the circumstances of her death as well. >> this morning the house homeland security committee will be hearing testimony from the director of the national counterterrorism center. and the headline seems to be the amount of foreign fighters who have joined isis or al qaeda in syria and iraq. let me put up a full screen for

our viewers to show what the director will say. they believe that 20,000 foreign fighters have joined total, 3400 of them westerners 150 of them colonel reese, americans, they believe. do you believe these outrageous numbers? >> alisyn i'm a bit skeptical. the 150 for u.s. i can buy. i start looking at the economics of this piece and how they do it. what i really look at is i see three recruiting pools for isis. i see an internal recruiting pool for the sunnis within syria that have been displaced and unhappy with the assad regime. easy to recruit. the second piece i see, which could be a major recruiting tool is what i call the recruits in the seams. and those are the in refugee camps, on the jordan/syrian border and up in turkey. there's your second role. the third is the external

recruits that are coming in but think about it. if you do 20,000 externally from 90 countries, that's 222 different people. i know i'm never supposed to do math in public but i don't, it just doesn't match up. >> in fact the numbers are all over the map, nikita, because the c.i.a. estimates there are only between 20,000 and 30,000 isis fighters as a whole. how can 20,000 of them be from foreign lands? what do you make of the numbers? >> the numbers are just a reflection it depends how you count them. are we looking at foreign fighters who are returning home? how are we how are we manning these porous borders? really i mean where are the numbers coming from. how are they matching up? we're not entirely sure. but we must keep in mind that this is a network of fighters. and many of them aren't going to be situated within iraq and syria. they're going to be situated in their homelands returning and

coming back. >> even if the numbers are inflated the trend is troubling. and here's what we understand the director of the counterterrorism center will say in prepared remarks today. the trend lines are clear and concerning. the rate of foreign fighter travel to syria is unprecedented. it ex-seats the rate of travelers who went to afghanistan and pakistan iraq yemen or somalia at any point in the last 20 years. colonel reese, how can this be true? i mean everyone world wide the revulsion after isis burned that jordanian pilot alive in a cage -- everyone rejected their tactics. who are they recruiting? >> well alisyn that's a great point and one of my concerns is that the emotions that everyone is involved with right now, there has become some sensationalism. especially as the president gets ready to go in front of congress to get authorization for the use of military force. and really is the politics

driving these numbers? i know a the although of these analysts and i've seen it in my career where the analysts really start surgically trying to get down the numbers to give the commanders on the ground a good idea of what they're fighting with. but sometimes the politics like a business they want to inflate them 20%, 30%, to cover their backside. >> in terms of the politics nikita what he's talking about i believe is that the war authorization request is coming up. do you think it's possible that as colonel reese is saying the numbers are being ginned up because they want to get the authorization toe fight isis? >> i'm not entirely sure i agree with that. i think the numbers are definitely a concern. and as you mentioned before a lot of people have been appalled by this violence. but there are a lot of people who see the i.s.s a very strong unit and a piece of propaganda like they released of the burning incentivizes some violent radicals to join this movement. so while some people might find

it a turn-off some people are actually you know wanting to go and join the numbers more because of what we've seen this horrific violence. >> nikita malik, colonel james reese, over to chris. today we'll get a good idea of whether ukraine can be saved. european leaders are meeting with russian and ukrainian presidents. we have senior international correspondent nic robertson following those talks for us he's in minsk, belarus, for the neutral ground for the talks. what's the hope for a result this time? >> you have the russians pushing heavily at this moment. president put isn't only leader who has come out and said hard and firm he will be here later this afternoon for the talks. the french president francois

hollande the german chancellor angela merkel both had a conversation to see if they will come we think they will come but it's still not a done deal. the ukrainian president says there are still some issues. the russians continue to say that they're ready, that a deal is being made. the ukrainians are saying hold on we're not so happy about that. there seem to be issues over monitoring of the border between ukraine and russia that's one of the sticking points. and the nature of any sort of political dialogue between ukraine and the separatists following on from a cease-fire. so there's a lot in the air right now. the russians apparently trying to spin it that they're all for it and that a deal can be had. but everyone else is a whole lot more cautious right now. michaela? >> a lot at stake. nic, thank you. the united states and the uk evacuating their embassies in yemen amid crumbling security in that troubled nation.

france just announcing its embassy is closing its doors as well. the latest let's get to jomana karashi in jordan. >> the united states united kingdom and france announcing they've pulled out their diplomatic staff in sanaa and evacuating their staff. this comes as the country's political and security crisis demons there are fears that the country is on the brink of a civil war. the state department in its warning cites a deteriorating security situation, terrorist activities and civil unrest as the reason behind these decisions, now over the past few weeks, as we have seen the political instability in that country increase in the capital, sanaa, with the rebel group, the houthis tightening their grip. ousting the u.s. allies a

government there that's been an ally of the united states in fighting terrorism. there have been fears of what this means. for terrorism there and the presence of one of the strongest al qaeda franchises in the world, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap. back to you, alisyn. two suspects facing charges after allegedly plotting a terror attack in sydney australia. police arresting them after raiding a home near the city. police seizing a number of items, including an isis flag and a machete. you're going to say i knew it! but here's what the scientists are telling us you should not worry about eating too much cholesterol after all this is not according to me. it is a draft report that scraps some 40 years of government warnings. it says saturated fats in fatty meats, whole milk butter not the real danger. not foods that are high in cholesterol like eggs that's what you have to worry about. the fatty foods, eggs not so

much. you still have to watch out for high levels of bad cholesterol. >> can you repeat that so my father hears you? >> it's one of those things news. and your obvious big fatty foods, the fat steak, the heavy creams are still bad because it's loaded with bad cholesterol. however, the egg, the much-maligned egg is probably getting some false stink on it. >> i knew it. don't worry about the egg so much. that's what the new study says. but cholesterol still matters, got to get it checked especially the bad level. meanwhile, in journalism brian williams suspended by nbc for six months without pay. and at the same time jon stewart announces he's leaving "the daily show." >> coincidence? two big stories, two big questions. brian williams out, jon stewart about to be out. major shake-ups here what's

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major news in the world of both real and fake news. nbc announcing that brian

williams will be suspended for six months without pay and jon stewart stepping down from "the daily show" later this year. can comedy central and "the daily show" survive without him? let's bring in two minds to ask. host of reliable sources, brian stelter and david fulkenflick. let's start with williams two big stories here six-month suspension do you think it's appropriate, do you think it's too har snsh. >> six months means at least $5 million. this is as severe as suspension you could have without just terminating him altogether and i think nbc is buying themselves more time. they're continuing their investigation, so they may find more exaggerations, they mentioned legal counsel in their statement last night. i thought that was a clue where this might be headed. >> six months isn't that overkill? why not one month suspension?

>> i think they need enough time to let this sort out. this feels more like a human resources or a personnel decision than a journalistic decision. they haven't promised to be completely transparent about what happened what went wrong, what you know safety procedures fell short inside the network. i think that's something they need to do. this is more of a personnel accounting kind of corporate decision to say we can't have a badly damaged in terms of credibility, anchor fronting the news until we know what the outcome is. >> we may look back and say this was a plan to have him never return. we may look back and said that sarborough said that on "morning joe" openly. >> these words from the ceo, the ceo of nbc news brian has jeopardized the trust of millions of americans and nbc news his actions are inexcusable and the suspension

is severe and appropriate. then he talks about the fact that he deserve as second chance. this is before the investigation is even completed. >> i think that nbc is saying two things one they're saying we have decided, this is the first time you're hearing from the senior nbc network brass, they're finally saying after ten days this is a serious enough transgression of the news itself that brian did this in other venues, but he did it on january 30th in the newscast he talked about being in much greater peril than he actually was. secondly they're saying we have to deal with this. we have to have some sort of strategy and they don't, they only have some tactics. this does buy them time. they're not saying it's punishment before the crime. but we -- >> he admitted it. they had to us to suspend him. >> lester holt will be in the

chair. people don't think he has the star power, but maybe that's what "nightly news" needs right now. someone who can steady the ship. >> one thing to say is nbc is doing a split-screen decision here they're thinking what are the journalistic transgressions and at the same time. how are those ratings go to do under lester holt? if they tank they're going to bring more pressure from comcast to bring brian williams back. if those ratings stay relatively steady they're able to hold off abc's world news i think they're going to say we don't need bring the star back to be the network we once were. >> another announcement was made let's take a listen to what jon stewart had to tell his audience last night. >> it's been an absolute privilege. it's been the honor of my professional life. and i thank you for watching it for hate-watching it.

whatever reason you were tuning in for, it you get in this business with the idea that maybe you have a point of view and something to express. and to receive feedback from that is the greatest feeling you can ask for and i thank you. >> choosing to go out on top, brian. you get a sense that this was coming at all? are you surprised he's making this announcement? >> he's been getting restless for a while. he admitted that last night. he dropped hints about wanting to do something different. >> do you think he timed it to help his friend? >> i went there in my mind as well. you have to wonder if jon stewart wants a little more serious job. maybe brian williams wants a more comedic job. >> they're switching? >> i want to half-say it. i think crazier things have happened in television and i think brian williams has a remarkable comedic streak. i personally would love to see him in that job some day.

i would watch that. >> i would watch "the daily show" with brine williams wouldn't you? >> under neath what brian is say saying as half-joke is there's something serious there. which is brian williams got in trouble which is the out of the newscast persona he had, his love of doing "30 rock," "the daily show." >> that's not what got him in trouble. >> absolutely. it's not what triggered the outcry from the january 30th broadcast. but he had said some serious things indicating there was a pattern to this. on letterman, on alec baldwin's radio show here in new york. >> and he made himself a target by building his own celebrity. jon stewart over time he was a comic, when he took over 15 years ago of the daily show jon stewart has taken on a more serious role. he's a comedian left of center. but what i think he's done an unpacking of both political rhetoric and lazy at times journalism that forces more accountability and in some ways

i've seen influenced how journalists and media critics approach their own jobs so he's trended a more serious role even as williams has embraced a popular cultural role for himself. >> there's a lot to unpack we appreciate you both coming. we'll talk about it each hour this morning on "new day." brian, we'll have you back. a delight to have you with us david. tweet us and facebook us. >> as we do our progostication you talk about abc, that's my former home. so i love them. but cbs, scott pelle, don't forget him if the move here is we need credibility, few people line up with pelle, i've seen him out there doing the job, he's no joke. when we come back the strained relationship between president obama and benjamin netenyahu is about to get a lot worse. controversial speech before congress democrats boycotting pressure on all sides. and netenyahu promising to go ahead with it anyway.

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foreign fighters streaming into iraq and syria to join up with isis this according to u.s. intelligence officials, they say there are 20,000 people from countries around the world joining the terrorists. the number includes 3400 from western nations. today president obama expected to send congress a formal request for the use of military force to fight isis. to the ukraine peace talks, european leaders meeting with ukrainian president, petro poroshenko and russian president vladimir putin, trying to broker an enforceable cease-fire. now all of this happening as violence intensifies in ukraine. at least 19 ukrainian shoulders have bell ben killed in the last 24 hours. four people were killed when shells hit a bus station in donetsk. a 46-year-old man arrested for killing three young muslim students reportedly execution

style. police say craig hicks shot a family inside their condo in chapel hill north carolina we're told two victims in their 20s, the others just 19. it's not clear what led up to the shooting. the powerball jackpot now sits at nearly half a billion dollars. $485 million to be exact. they cheat awe little bit. that's just the cash value of under $330 million. >> it's okay. >> come on. you get the prize would be the third largest in the history of the game and the fifth largest lottery jackpot in u.s. history. lottery officials point out that the chance of winning a powerball jackpot is one in 175 million. >> where's the guy that bought our tickets? >> isn't that peculiar phil who bought tickets for everybody for a week has vanished. he has absconded with our money and tickets. >> curious, or is it? >> where is he? >> one out of 175 million, that's still saying i got a

chance. speaking of a guy who may get another chance a-rod is sorry to everyone he never apologized to the yankees front office but that changed, too. andy scholes is here with this morning's "bleacher report," what can you tell us about a-rod, is he back? >> he wants everything to go back to the old days of spring training. he requested a closed-door meeting with the yankees owner to try to clear the air in the meeting a-rod reportedly apologized for his use of performance-enhancing drugs and not hostile nature in which he attempted to defend himself. a-rod and the yankees released a joint statement about the meeting saying there was an honest and frank discussion on all of the issues as far as the yankees are concerned, the next step is to play baseball in spring training. now according to espn the yankees told a-rod they want him to clear the air with the media before spring training gets going and said they plan on disputing all of the home run bonuses that are in a-rod's

contract. the kentucky wildcats' unbeaten season was in jeopardy in baton rouge. lsu went on a a 21-2 run in the second half. but the wildcats like they've done all year coming through in the clutch. carl anthony pounds the jump hook. that gives kentucky the lead they hold on to beat lsu, 71-69, they're a perfect 24-0 on the season. super bowl hero malcolm butler has a brand new ride thanks to tom brady. brady won a truck for earning mvp honors in the super bowl. but said he was giving it to butler for saving the game with that miraculous interception. >> words can't explain how, how my life has changed and how good things been happening to me. so i'm very overwhelmed. >> are you a truck guy? >> yeah, i think i am now. >> so new truck, trip to disneyland and he was a presenter at the grammys. not a bad time to be malcolm butler.

>> well deserved mr. butler. that and more. we wish him all the success. the white house and democrats are not happy about it but it's really prime minister benjamin netenyahu going ahead with his planned speech before congress next month? we take a look at the potential for fall-out. ♪ ♪ [ radio chatter ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] andrew. rita. sandy. ♪ ♪ meet chris jackie joe. minor damage or major disaster, when you need us most, we're there. state farm. we're a force of nature, too. ♪ ♪ when salesman alan ames books his room at laquinta.com, he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. so he knows exactly when he can check in and power up before

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all right, israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu is coming to congress. what will he say? who will be there? democrats are promising to boycott that speech. will it mean something to israeli/u.s. relations? to negotiations with iran? to nothing. let's bring in cnn political commentator, republican consultant and sirius xm host margaret hoover and cnn chen commentator, editor in chief of

the "daily beast," john avlon. >> the moment that benjamin netenyahu alight in front of congress and gives his speech what's the fallout? >> the bebe backlash. support for israel has been the core of bipartisan american foreign policy for decades, especially in congress. support for israel is untouchable. when john boehner has netenyahu come over that polarizes the situation further. the white house has cover based on diplomatic standards, we don't have foreign leaders to the united states right before an election. if enough democrats sit it out, not only does it hurt that relationship it could have impact at home as well. >> and democrats are threatening to boycott the speech. >> there are some democrats who aren't going to go. so i'm first of all, the support for israel in the congress is not diminished. there is still incredibly strong

allegiance and respect and quite frankly, mutual -- strategic interests. between israel so that's not diminished. this is personality. president obama and benjamin netenyahu, don't like each other. the well is poisoned. the same with boehner. there has been fallout, there has been backlash. as a result for boehner frankly and for republicans. because we were about to see a sanctions bill move pushed by senator menendez and pushed by and supported by democrats. a bipartisan bill for sanctions that's completely eroded mostly because of this what appears to be a stunt. not that there isn't a real argument. not that there isn't a serious threat facing israel or the united states and that benjamin netenyahu isn't the right person to make that. he frankly is, but the way he went about doing that has put democrats and republicans in a difficult position and has tainted the way, this entire

speech tainted this entire thing. come around to the fact that the way this was done was probably negative. >> bebe's guys say there was some deception in terms of the invitation. they thought both sides wanted him. they thought everybody was on board. >> now they're pointing fingers. >> as margaret points out, sometimes the stunt ends up eroding the substance. >> why is there so much bad blood between these two? >> i sort of understood it when it happened. anybody who has tried to negotiate with the president over the last six years, not many people have come away with feeling decently satisfied. i can understand why the well is a bit poisoned. at the same time we're leaders of the free world, we just need to be grown-ups. >> there wasn't a lot of love between bubba and bebe back in the 19990s, either. it's important to contrast whatever the personal relationship is with the unprecedented funding that's gone to israel during the obama

administration as well. in alabama there's about gay marriage there are a host of county officials at dozens in dozens of counties there who are defying a federal court order to begin issuing marriage licenses. >> they're marrying people in three of the four counties in alabama. they're wap waiting for one county mobile county there are some judges in mobile county who are not marrying people. what's interesting about this is -- this is going to be decided by the supreme court. you have a rift in the gay rights community. some of them saying taking the order from the supreme court who weighed in. supremacy clause federal court rules. saying you know essentially this is going to be settled, everybody is going to be able to get married. if you're in the 13 states that can't get married, start planning your weddings now. there's another side of the gay rights community that's worried, that being presumptive about what the supreme court is a dangerous play. >> where's the indication -- >> you never want to -- you just never want to assume and presume

what the justices are going to do. >> they've laid out in decisions that they see this under equal protection. >> they've split the question raised to the court in three different ways which some people think means that they may parse their decision and not arrive at final resolution on the question of the constitutionality of marriage. >> does anybody think we're going to see a brown v. board style decision? i don't think that's in the cards. you're beginning to see red state executives have a desperate last pushback. and kansas sam brownback undid an executive order put in by kathleen sebelius. and this really fascinating conflict in alabama. which both roy moore against the governor against the federal court. >> people say this smacks of 1963 and it harkens back to george wallace at the school house locked doors? is that going overboard?

>> as president obama even said and as the first african-american president, he's the right person to say it's not a perfect parallel. you know, we don't have a legacy of slavery with the gay community in this country. it's not a perfect parallel. what's interesting about this is the justices need to see that the country is ready for this before they legislate sweeping change in marriage and if they're seeing judges holding out in the south. if they're seeing governors repealing gay rights in kansas they're going to they may -- fear the country is not ready. >> i don't know why you would shade it that way, there's nothing that the court has done to support that. this is not about where the american people are. this is about equal protection. >> i hope you're right. i work on the republican side of the aisle on gay rights but i don't want to be presumptive about what's going to happen. there's republican backlash in the form of freedom restoration act. which you just pointed out. american snipe certificate a huge box office hit.

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the man who killed "american sniper" "american sniper" centerpiece chris kyle and a man named chad littlefield goes on trial in just about three hours from now. marine veteran eddie ray routh. is that man. now his lawyers are planning to mount an insanity defense based on his pts. ed lavendera is live in stevenville, texas with the latest. what do we know? >> well good morning chris, opening statements scheduled to begin this morning. it will be chris kyle's wife tai kyle who will be one of the first witnesses to testify. this morning, a jury of ten women and two men will begin hearing testimony in the murder trial of eddie ray routh, accused of killing "american sniper" "american sniper" chris kyle and his friend chad littlefield. the killings happened two years ago inside this countryside gun range. kyle and littlefield met with routh to help the former marine

battle issues of ptsd. journalist laura beil documented routh's mental health strubls in a book. she said routh's mother was the one who reached out to kyle desperate to get him help. >> she talked about her efforts to get him care and at the end of the conversation he said i'm going to do everything i can to help your son. >> routh admitted killing kyle and littlefield to his sister shortly after the murders. >> said he killed two guys they went to a shooting range, he's all crazy. he's [ bleep ] psychotic. >> routh recounted the killings to police in a videotaped confession. routh's lawyers are expected to build an insanity defense of the accused killer of the beloved texan, "american sniper" "american sniper," chris kyle. routh spent time in and out of the va for mental hale health issues the details of that treatment will be a key part of his defense.

treatment that included a variety of prescription drugs. after routh left the military he performed part-time work like mowing lawns for a man who remembers routh as quirky and weird. >> he was much more of a forrest gump type of character than a serial killer. at the end before this happened, he was a lot more jumpy. >> and tai kyle has questioned whether or not ptsd is at the heart of why routh killed her husband and chad littlefield and prosecutors will be poking holes in that defense as well. in court documents, prosecutors are saying that eddie ray routh had a history of abusing drugs and alcohol. even on the day of the murders and that's more to blame than the ptsd. >> as we know at trial, you only know what can you show. that's why we're going to try to figure out both sides, let's bring in ms. mel robbins and mr.

joey jackson. for the purposes of this discussion. lady and gentleman, let's split it. mel, you take why it is not an insanity situation. and joey you take why it is. and i'm going to let you go first, mel. what are the biggest reasons why pts will not make it here as a defense in this situation? >> well the biggest reasons, chris, and good morning chris and joey are the actions of the defendant himself. right after the shooting what did he do? he didn't stand there and continue to rage with ibrahim hassan al asiri serious mental illness, he jumped in kyle's car, chris kyle's car. and he fled the scene and he immediately went and confessed. and not only to his sister but later on he admitted he knew what he did was wrong. that's a critical piece. because in the state of texas,

you not only have to show serious mental illness, but you also have to show that the person that committed the murder didn't know what they were doing was wrong. and this defendant said that he did. >> just so people at home get it nonlawyers get it. because you hear that and you said how could you not think that shooting somebody is wrong? when people are of severe mental defect. they often think they were liberating somebody's soul or this is the way of getting somebody into heaven. they have totally backward idea of what the act means. what would be the main line of defense here as to why this man was not someone who could appreciate the nature and consequence of his actions? >> good morning, chris, good morning, mel and mel states it out very well for the prosecution. but the defense i think is going to invert this. you're dealing with someone, mr. routh, who had serious psychiatric issues and those issues were brought about through his service to this country. they were not self-inflicted. this is a person who committed to his country very much and his

dream and aspiration was to join the military. to be part of the process, to be part of the solution. unfortunately in serving in iraq and doing the job he did on behalf of mankind. he unfortunately got this post traumatic stress disorder. this is real i don't purport to know what a person who is on the front lines goes through in seeing their friends who were wounded, in seeing their -- people they come to love and bond with who are seriously injured, who are missing limbs and going on a humanitarian mission in haiti. what did this do to him? apparently we know based upon his psychiatric history that it affected him in a very critical and significant way. his family pleaded with the hospital don't let him out. he has problems. >> and they're saying the va didn't take him in. >> exactly. he is in there, in the hospital for quite some time and he was released days before this happened. he didn't know right from wrong so will say the defense. >> mel? >> it's a very heart-tugging

story that joey just told. but the bottom line is is that it doesn't necessarily matter what he saw, what happened to him before. what matters is what happened at that gun range. and what happened immediately following. because he may have post traumatic stress and he may have been hospitalized twice, which he was. but that doesn't prove that his mental illness was so severe when they went to the gun range that he didn't know right from wrong. >> and also -- >> it's pretty clear after the tragedy. >> now, pts isn't a recognized defense. because so many people who struggle with it are not violent and not insane. >> mel's right. the critical issue is what happened at that time. but we all, chris, are a product of a story. we didn't wake up today and become the person we are. it's critical if you want to know who i am. to know where i came from. very much at issue will be who he is and the treatment he received and what he needed.

what was going on through his mind. and the things that he said the paranoia that his own family talked about. to the extent ptsd in and of itself is not recognized. it's recognized as much as how it affects your brain. how it affects your life. how it affects your actions. how it affects your the what you do. and do you appreciate the nature of what you do. and that's what will be at issue. >> we're going to leave it there, mel. >> i got to leave it there, mel. >> there's also alcohol and drugs in his system chris, that's also going to diminish the ability to plead insanity. >> insanity is very rare. i think going into it we have to believe that the best bet is that this will go to sentencing not to whether or not they get a guilty verdict on this man. >> mitigation. >> let's let the trial happen. thank you for helping us set the table on it robbins, joey jackson, this is a big story. there are many of them this morning, let's get to them. peace is not something you wish for, it's something you make. >> the world wants to be more

like kayla. >> she was an outstanding young woman. and a great spirit and i think that spirit will live on. let's not forget in whose hands this woman died. are you kidding me? brian williams just got suspended for six months? >> what did he say that might not have been accurate on his new show when he's working as a journalist? >> he's revolutionized the news or satire or whatever it is in an unbelievable way. >> jon stewart is a more relevant news figure on the cultural landscape than brian williams. >> i thank you for watching it for hate-watching it whatever reason you were tuning in for. >> announcer: this is "new day," with chris cuomo, alisyn camerota and michaela pereira. >> good morning, everyone welcome back to new day, we have breaking details emerging about the desperate attempts to rescuesrestcue american aid worker kayla mueller. u.s. officials attempting a

series of unsuccessful employs to rescue her. >> who she was and her amazing dedication to the oppressed, as well as the thoughts while in captivity. we have will ripley joining us with the latest developments there's so much that we did not know. >> so much. and you can talk about, i guess what really struck me the most even before we talk about the rescue attempts. this letter for somebody who was sitting in a small cramped cell scribbling on a notepad, writing a message to her family not knowing when they would receive it see it right there. to say things like even in prison one can be free. i'm praying for my family. my only suffer something the fact that i have caused you suffering. keep in mind this is a young woman in her mid 20s writing things like this. that letter will now go all over the world, to millions of people and those words will really resonate. and i think that's the most important thing we need to remember about kayla mueller. was that she is a true example

of the best of america and the best of what this country has to offer. she was in a dangerous place, trying to help people. trying to help people who were suffering. >> like so many other humanitarians in that part of the world and she risked everything and she lost everything, but she also gained so much and she gave her family a gift by telling them things like she wasn't she wasn't being treated inhumanely. she was well fed, that she gained weight. whether or not it was completely true. or whether she was trying to paint a better picture to give her parents comfort. >> there's a counternarrative they may have married her off to somebody and wound up losing her life to them they killed her. there's that aspect to it as well. but when we know about who she is. it makes the pain more real. she went there this was something that she believed was her passion to do. just to help the world. and that there was more going on to help her than we knew. what do we now know about rescue?

>> all of this kept secret because of the fact her sensitivity. we didn't even know her name until a short time ago. but there were a lot of attempts president obama talked about an attempt last summer where the u.s. government may have come between 24-48 hours from being able to rescue her. they had some shoddy intelligence which of course as we know in that part of the world is very common. but then the arizona republic. talking to arizona lawmakers, they detailed their efforts, including this attempt to try to make it look like kayla was married. sending a man claiming to be her husband, saying i'm here to recover my wife. she had no idea what was happening, she didn't lie, she said i'm not married. she may have come just that close. and there were other attempts as well. the heartbreak for her family the frustration of knowing all these attempts were happening. keeping quiet. not being able to talk about it until now. she is someone very much worth talking about. >> absolutely right, will. we don't want to just be fixated on how she lost her life, we

want to talk about the life she lived and the legacy she will leave. that will make sense when you hear from kayla mueller's friend and former professor, what she tells you about this young woman will stay with you. i promise you that it's coming up. another thing happening this morning, house committee on homeland security will hear that more than 20,000 people have flocked to iraq and syria to fight with isis. this is according to senior u.s. intelligence official who is added some 3,000 of those have come from western nations, including the u.s. cnn's michelle kosinski is live at the white house with more. >> there seems to be a level of alarm among u.s. counterterrorism officials over the rate at which foreign fighters continue to stream into iraq and syria to fight alongside isis and other groups. they're calling it unprecedented. and in testimony we'll hear today before the house homeland security committee, we expect to hear numbers bigger than we've heard before. an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters from 90 countries,

about 3400 of them westerners. 150 americans. who have either travelled there or tried to. with about a dozen thought to still be there. the chairman of the committee calls this the largest convergence of islamic terrorists in world history. and foreign fighters have been a top priority for the u.s. out of fears that they have course would return home. and launch attacks here. also as early as today we could hear from the white house presenting legislative language to congress asking for an authorization for the use of military force. specifically tailored to isis. it's expected to limit the possibility of ground troops in combat. which some republicans aren't so happy with but is not expected to limit geography. location where the u.s. could target isis. chris? >> all right. so michelle we have the aumf the authorization plan coming at the same time that all the numbers seem to be higher than

ever before of what the enemy represents. is that a coincidence? let's talk more about this with senator tim caine, a democrat from virginia, the former virginia governor as well. senator, thank you for joining us. the skepticism in my tone is not an accident. these numbers, 20,000 90 countries, all of these different things how does the united states know? you have nobody on the ground in the places where these guys are fighting right now. that was a conscious decision. where are these big numbers come from all of a sudden do you trust them? >> i trust the range, chris, i think we all have to acknowledge that when we departed from iraq in 2011 we lost some intelligence capacity. and the situation in syria is also very very murky. so these are estimates. but isis wouldn't be able to move and take so much territory if they didn't have significant personnel. and as i've travelled to capitals in the region especially in north africa and the middle east they've talked about this foreign fighter issue. they're seeing young people flee to go join the fight and isis

often crossing the turkish border. so the numbers are significant. that's why the u.s. needs to take action. we got to do it the right way. and that means a congressional debate and vote on this military mission. >> right, but you know we got to be careful. because you have intelligence on the ground and you just have general intelligence about how you go about this. and you know a big reason that the american people are war-weary is because the last time you went running into a situation based on information, it wound up being bad information. now you have this authorization for the use of force and you're saying there's 20,000 but there may be six. what do you think happens when the plan gets put to congress? do you think they'll stamp it right away and say go ahead? >> i don't think congress is in danger of stamping it right away. i'm on the foreign relations committee. this will get referred to the foreign relations committees in both houses we'll have some vigorous debate about this there are pieces of this proposed authorization that much very closely a proposal that i introduced in september.

a sunset of three years to require periodic review of the success of the mission. some limitations on for example a repeal of the earlier iraq authorization from '02, which is important. one of the things that i'm really going to dig into is the ground troop language. the president has been pretty clear that we're going to have no ground troops. this language in the proposed authorization looks to be a little bit more open than that. >> what don't you like about it senator? >> we don't have the final language yet. but there's a suggestion that there's sort of a vague phrase that no combat troops for offensive enduring offensive ground operations. and that term is likely not defined. clearly, we need to give that some definition and clarification and that's what the foreign relations committee process will be about. you'll see a debate about a lot of things another issue, chris, that's going to be important is how meaningful is the coalition? are the other nations, especially nations in the region

are, they really stepping up to battle the terrorist threat that is their own threat? or are they relying on us to do it all? that's going to be a significant point of discussion. >> i think that's a huge point. everybody who knows anything about this situation says the reason they're able to recruit is not what's happening on the battlefield or annexation of land. it's the idea and that idea is born in countries largely outside the united states bay region of the world that's been very slow to deal with the social and economic conditions that give birth to this. now, what we just saw with jordan what about that effort senator,or going to that region and saying this is on you, ladies and gentlemen, these are your people. >> well, chris, i'm glad you brought up jordan. king abdullah was here last week and sadly was here on the very day when the video came out about the burning of the jordanian pilot. he said to american senators this is not your fight, it's our fight. because it's terrorism in our region and even though these

people are anti-islam they're claiming the mantle of our religion and it's up to us to stand up against it. if we do we would love your help and we need your help. but you can't take this fight to this terrorist ideology that was birthed in our region your own. you have to demand of nations in the region that we carry this burden. jordan is doing the job, but other nations in the region while they say they're anti-isil. their actions haven't matched their words and that's something we need to get into. >> that may have to become a bigger part of the strategy some would argue. if you look at these numbers, such as they are you got 300 million people in the u.s. you got 150 foreign fighters. jordan a good actor now, six and a half million people maybe 2,000 foreign fighters. this is not a united states-bred problem, that's clear. senator tim kaine, we know it's early in the situation, we'll follow the debate and look forward to hearing what you have to say about it. now the urgent push for

peace in eastern ukraine. european leaders meeting with ukrainian president petro pore shempg poroe poroshenko and russian president vladimir putin. >> we've heard from the french president that he's on his way,ing an la merkel the german chancellor on her way, also. president obama is going to come and we've heard from the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko who has given the strongest indication of just how high the stakes are here going to be. that is if there isn't a political deal. he says he will declare martial law across the whole of ukraine. the implication is therefore the fighting would only intensify and get stronger not sure if he can get the ukrainian army's writ across the whole of the country. certainly the separatists gaining ground in some parts of the southeast of the country

right now. the russians continuing to push the narrative that there is a deal that's doable, the french and the germans, sound a lot more cautious concern about who would monitor the border between russia and ukraine. that area where the separatists have control. that seems to be a sticking point on the deals. and of course how much autonomy the separatist was get in their area so all of this still very much something that has to be hammered out. talks slated to go late into the night here. >> much to get to. thanks for the update we'll be watching with you. israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu is going ahead with a planned speech to congress despite criticism from the white house. netenyahu admitting he has a profound disagreement with president obama over efforts to resolve iran's nuclear iraq. senior foreign affairs correspondent elise labott with

more. >> benjamin netenyahu says the nuclear deal with iran shaping up threatening israel's survival and congress he thinks will play an important role in that and he has an obligation to protect israel in talking to them. he said it wasn't personal with a disagreement with president obama. he appreciates what president obama has done for israel. and he did leave himself some wiggle room we do have reason to believe in the end he may not do something exactly a joint session of congress. maybe something short of that a lot of creative options i understand are being discussed. maybe he meets with them in closed session. in any event, prime minister netenyahu running for re-election next month and the iran nuclear issue a very important part of his campaign. so keeping that issue front and center really helps him with his supporters. alisyn alisyn? yemen has falling from the top headlines, but the situation has gotten worse, the proof? american british and french embassies are pulling their

people out. this is a big deal because remember officials are not just warning now to take out the embassy officials, they're telling citizens to leave the nation and they had insisted that yemen is a key u.s. ally and needed our support or the ground. now it seems to be an imminent civil war with rebel who seize the capital, let's change the strategy. ebola update. nearly all u.s. troops dispatched to africa to help fight the virus are coming home. pentagon officials say all but 100 will be back on u.s. soil in april. 2800 personnel were sent to the hot zone. president obama will meet with members of the ebola response team at the white house today. a rookie new york police officer has been indicted in the shooting of an unarmed man. officer peter liang faces several charges. he was patrolling housing project when he fired and struck todd gurlie.

police commissioner bill bratton called it an unfortunate accident. >> interesting that he was indicted. i think he shot down a staircase in the dark. but yet he was indicted after so many others that weren't. >> and the commissioner's words that it was an accident early in the investigation. and you got to make sure there's accountability. have to. well nbc suspends brian williams without pay over his "nightly news" scandal. is that punishment enough? is it too much? and if he returns, is his reputation beyond repair? we'll debate all of that. and maybe the whole story gets trumped by this. the make-believe news world rocked by real news. jon stewart is saying good-bye to the daily show. yes, why now? what's next? we'll tell you. what does an apron have to do with car insurance?

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in a telling decision nbc news announcing that brian williams will be suspended for six months without pay. this as jon stewart announces he's leaving "the daily show" sometime at the end of the year. let's bring in cnn senior media correspondent, host of "reliable sources" brian stelter and we have director of media affairs at george washington university frank sesno and david zurick the tv critic for the "baltimore sun." >> we know a big meeting held at

nbc yesterday. the ceo was there. and part of the conversation was had with williams he was said to be in good spirits, he was likely part of this conversation. was it voluntary, the six-month suspension? what do you know? >> he was part of the conversation but he was told to do this. he was described as shattered at the end of the long day. because he is in the middle of the media whirlwind. it's hard to imagine what it's like. and the exaggerations are serious, the scrutiny he's under is very serious. having him suspended for six months it gives nbc some breathing room. it lets everybody step back a bit. and allows it to be figured out if he's too damaged to return. lot of people at nbc think he won't be able to return to the chair. >> frank you say this punishment and suspension sends a confuseing pleng to the american people. why do you say that? >> i think it's a very confusing

message. the way i think of it is if you're a major league ball player and do you some egregious thing, you get thrown off the field and get fined and come back and play the game. it doesn't affect the game. what the fine is all about is what the game is all about, is trust and credibility and truthfulness and all of that. people i talk to at nbc, who claim to know some of the iner thinking say that people are lived. the corporate parent is hanging out the news division to dry. that the six months is a time when everybody will twist in the wind and one person said flatly nobody in the inner circle thinks that brian williams is going to return. >> david i'll ask you. this puts us all in an interesting position. all of us here are talking about this. it's obviously a conversation in news rooms across the nation. the position of journalists having to cover the story of a journalist. it puts us in an interesting place, does it not? >> not for media critic really.

this is our job, this is what we're paid to do. so i don't feel as if i'm in an uncomfortable position writing about this. you know i think there is a sense of this gives nbc some time as brian said i think that was really important here and my take on this is it's fine if they want to bring him back as anchor and i think it's very much up in the air whether he's going to be so damaged that they can't get back the audience they lose or if he has credibility. but i really am troubled by bringing him back as managing editor. he lied he acknowledged he lied and to let that person be the leader of your news operation of the largest, daily news operation in television that is really a troubling message to me. i don't know how you restore your credibility if that's the person in charge of your news room. even if it's only entitled. >> you say getting back to

basics for him would be key, without the managing editor title? >> i'm fine if they want to bring him back as the zi gooi in the suit who reads the news at night, the guy in the suit who reads the news. nobody wants to see a career ended that way. don't bring him back as managing editor and issue statements about trust and credibility to the audience. there's a mixed message. >> there is a mixed message. and as you say, it makes it very clear. brian in the meantime. we have lester holt who will be filling in in the position for the six months. obviously they're going to be watching very carefully to see how lester holt does. he's been with the network for a long time. he's trusted, steady respected. >> he's in some ways the obvious replacement. he's been on the bench for a long time. he's been brian williams' fill-in for a long time. matt lauer and savannah guthrie are also names being tossed around. and this whole situation is complicated.

nobody at nbc was planning a succession for brian williams, they renewed his contract two months ago. >> hard time for an anchor to be out of the public spotlight off the air for six months. >> hard to restore your credibility when you're not on air. >> let's pin it now, shall we to other news that came out, frank this news came out -- >> slightly happier, funnier news if are you a daily show fanatic this rocked your world, learning that jon stewart is going to be leaving "the daily show" sometime this year he hasn't put an exact date on that. obviously this show has been culturally significant, it's been part of our discourse here and among every other network, i think, it will be felt for some time his leaving. >> i think so i mean jon stewart redefined the way we look at news. jon stewart managed to make political scandal and war and all these other things oddly funny. and in doing so he drew in a new audience and actually it was an audience that brian williams wanted because he showed up on

the daily show along with the president of the united states this is a demographic everybody wanted. jon stewart is brilliant. his writers are brilliant. they put a new footprint on television news and in television. it was a few years ago that jon stewart surpassed the traditional newspaper among young people for where they reportedly got their political news. >> and david, it's interesting to see, too, as we talk about williams first in a very low point arguably of his career probably the lowest in his career. and yet we see stewart going out at the height of his career going out on top. >> and that's refreshing in this business. do see someone of that stature go out on top. i couldn't agree more. i went to bed last night thinking is he as important as johnny carson? and i woke up thinking he's more important than johnny carson. for some of the reasons that frank listed. i really think he is. and but i'll tell you one thing about him. we tend to do this. we tend to almost make it into a

eulogy and say he was a perfect guy, he was wonderful, he's wonderful, he's brilliant. but jon stewart played favorites and i remember with anthony wiener in 2011 who was a friend of his, when jon stewart attacked cnn's excellent reporting at the time. on the sexting scandal. he didn't attack his friend. he attacked cnn, he was dead wrong. i remember going after him. so let's remember some of that too. but he changed the culture. he taught us to think about politics in a different way. he made it part of primetime entertainment. i don't know if it's goods or bad, some might say it's part of entertaining ourselves to death and it dumbs us down. i don't think anybody thinks anything jon stewart did dumbs us down. >> there's a whole class of people falling in his footsteps, john oliver and so many others what jon stewart started, so many others will continue. >> everybody is wondering, who will be next. who is going to replace jon stewart? can anybody replace him? give us your names, give us your thoughts tweet us at "new day."

go to facebook. david, brian, frank, great conversation thanks. we're hearing from counterterrorism experts that tens of thousands of people have travelled to syria and iraq to join isis. how many from here? how many are coming back to their countries? those are the questions. and someone who went overseas for a very different reasons and lost her life. we learn more about kayla mueller. she was more than just an isis hostage. her friend and her professor tells us all about her, ahead.

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4g lte. plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more. pivotal ukraine peace talks, european leaders plan to meet with ukrainian president, petro poroshenko and russian president vladimir putin trying to broker a cease-fire. president obama calling putin ahead of the talks, urging him to accept a peaceful resolution. this as violence intensifies in ukraine. 19 ukrainian soldiers killed in the last 24 hours and four people killed when shells hit a bus station in donetsk. 300 migrants from libya are

presumed dead after trying to cross the mediterranean sea. officials are continuing to search for a fourth boat however rough sea conditions are said to be hampering their efforts. italian coast guard tells cnn they have rescued 84 people many victims died from hypothermia. following a weather delay, testimony resumes today at the massachusetts murder trial of former nfl star aaron hernandez. the judge has granted his fiancee immunity. she'll be able to testify without implicating herself. prosecutors believe the fiancee followed instructions from hernandez to dispose of the gun allegedly used in the shooting death of odin lloyd in 2013. police confirm that a criminal investigation is under way in the near-drowning incident involving bobbi kristina. officials are still trying to determine how the late daughter of whitney houston became unresponsible in a bath tub full of water. they questioned her boyfriend

about bruises found on her chest. bobbi kristina remains in a medically-induced coma. whitney houston died three years ago, today. she, too, was found dead in a bathtub. well startling testimony expected today from the head of the national counterterrorism center about just how many foreign fighters have joined isis. let's bring in general mart hertling the former commanding general of europe and the seventh army and counterterrorism expert and senior fellow at the foundation of defense of droiss daveed gartenstein-ross. let's talk about the numbers that congress will see. because they are somewhat outrageous here are the numbers, we'll put them up on the screen for viewers. the head of the counterterrorism center believes that there are 20,000 total foreign fighters from 90 different countries. who have gone to iraq and syria to join isis. 3400 of those are westerners approximately 150 of them are

americans, daveed i know you take issue with some of these numbers. what's the problem, do you think? >> well i don't really take issue with the numbers, i was talking, prior to the segment with the producer about certain jumps in numbers. the point i made simply was if the numbers increased by 1,000 over the course of a month, it isn't necessarily because you have 1,000 foreign fighters going that month. but rather it can be because of new national estimate for example came out from one of the relevant countries. but i think that the numbers are about as accurate as you'll get. there are some gaps in information because these guys are covert. but they're good numbers. >> that's good to know. general it seems as though the numbers are a bit all over the map. for instance the c.i.a. at the end of 2014 said they believe that isis was only 20,000 to 30,000 strong. so fact that they would have that many foreign fighters does seem possibly inflated. where are you on the numbers, general? >> i don't really care about the numbers, alisyn truthfully. i think it's concerning that they seem to be increasing. and i think it's a direct

reflection of the recruiting effort of jihadists and it's a very different approach that isis has taken than what we've seen from al qaeda in the past. when i was fighting in northern iraq the call to jihad was come fight the occupiers, come fight the americans. now there's a change in tone. and the recruiting efforts, which is come join our state, it's a bucolic scene. things are wonderful here you have good pay, sex is plentiful. we're fighting for a cause. it seems to appeal to the millennial generation of arab who is want to be part of something bigger than themselves. that's what's troubling to me. >> you make a great point, general, but i want to stick with you for one second. don't we need to know an exact number of fighters for the coalition to effectively fight them? >> well again, this gets back to the body count discussion we had last week alisyn about you know how many are there? how many have we killed? it doesn't really matter. if these are disorganized people

if they are coming to jihad for the first time. what's not considered in those numbers of 20,000 now being there, coming from different places is how many have been defeated or killed within the last week at the same time. so there may be more coming in. but they've also gone into a cauldron of very intense combat. so yes, it's concerning the numbers are important to get a feel for your the analysis of your enemy, but there's more important things that just straight-up numbers and we can do that all day long. >> daveed i want to ask you, since the video was put out by isis the hideous video of the jordanian pilot being burned to death in a cage has recruitment dropped off? >> it's impossible to say. because you know as i was talking about with the numbers before these are people who are trying to disguise their travel route in and usually the trends in numbers are only evident over time. i don't see evidence that it's dropped off. but at some point i do believe

that the numbers will drop off. i think the atrocityies being inflicted by isis are not as relevant as how isis is doing on the battlefield. if you look at isis' predecessor, cladal qaeda in iraq it got upended by the atrocities it was committing. it experienced losses on the battlefield. other movements ended up destroying al qaeda and likewise when isis starts to experience losses on the ground on the basis of the atrocities it's carrying out that will be very weakening to that organization. >> general, which one do you think is more important, their pr image or what happens on the battlefield? >> a little bit of both. i think certainly when you talk about a campaign alisyn you're talking about information operations. they had, isis had the upper hand early on. because they were successful in recruiting.

now that's startsing to turn on them. and there are counter information operations campaign that shows, as i mentioned earlier, it is not such a bucolic scene. there is horrible fighting there are horrible deeds being committed. there are dastardly astscts, the sex is forced. at the same time they're suffering tremendously in terms of just actions on the battlefield. strategically, operationally and tactically. so i think daveed is right, they're going to implode a little bit just like al qaeda did. but at the same time there is going to be a requirement to continue to push that implosion, with combat operations. >> okay general mark hertling daveed gartenstein-ross thanks so much for all the information. kayla mueller. she was barely 26 but she had done more than most to make this world a better place, we're now learning what she was doing and saying during her captivity.

and it is amazing. we have an interview with someone who knows so much about a woman who should be remembered for the way she lived, not how she died.

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kayla has touched the heart of the world. the world grieves with us. the world mourns with us. the world wants to be more like kayla. and if that is her legacy and the footprint that she leaves on the world, then that is a wonderful thing. >> it's difficult to imagine a family going through something that is harder than this. that was kayla mueller's aunt lori lyon remembering her niece. on tuesday we got the news that nobody wanted to hear isis sent the family photos proving that kayla had been killed. president obama calling the 26-year-old aid worker an outstanding young woman and a great spirit. what can we learn if her life and her example and just who she was as a person? let's bring in carol thompson

kayla mueller's friend and former professor, they worked together as well on humanitarian causes. professor, thank you very much for joining us i'm sorry to have to meet with you this heavy news. >> thank you very much. we're giving voice to kayla. >> we've talked for so long about the worst part of her life being captive of such a horrible organization. and it's now time to take a look at her life so we can remember her the right way. you come across a lot of kids doing what you do. what made kayla special to you? >> kayla was brilliant and inquisitive and very willing to explore very serious problems at multiple levels and in their complexity. and at the same time she was highly compassionate. as she learned about the different perspectives and the major differences across cultures and religions and

politics she also was compassionate about the differences. >> and that that makes her distinctive from many other americans. young or old. >> i understand that point very well. it's not unusual to find a supersmart kid these days but one whose heart is advanced as their head is rare. one of the things that came across in one of the letters to her family is this -- and i want to read it for the audience and for your take on it as the young woman that you knew. you've been shown in darkness light and have learned that even in prison one can be free. i am grateful i have come to see that there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it. now that is the kind of sentiment you might expect from a much older mature person about one of the vagaries we all face in life. but not from a kid who wasn't even 24 25 when this was happening. but in the worst circumstances

anyone could imagine. what do you make of these words as a window into who she was? >> well my field is southern africa. and i've been privileged to meet nelson mandala and i worked in the anti apartheid movement for almost 30 years and i would like to say kayla is in the class of nelson mandala. as expressed that letter from prison. mandala learned afrikans to speak with his jailers and kayla was learning their language and kayla was learning how to fold the origami peace cranes. it's that kind ever reaching out, the understanding, even of the people who are incarcerating you, and depriving you of

freedom. that allah was and that's in the class of nelson mandala and we need many more americans like kayla. >> when you hear the rumors at this point about what isis was doing and that unlike with men, she may have been gifted to somebody and she may have had to be dealing with that. although it didn't come across in her letter. what sense do you make of a situation like that. >> i think that we could imagine the worst brutalities. prisoners are not treated well by any group. the u.s. has tortured prisoners. so yes, she faced unspeakable brutality. and i am sure stayed very strong. and as you saw from the letter very true to who she is. >> when you think about this you have a beautiful quote, you say, i started as her professor, but our relationship evolved to where she was mine. how? >> well i first met her when

she took a class with me on southern africa. and she very much engaged in again the complexities. then we did work together in peace activities. one quick example is that we worked very closely in helping to prepare the flight staff community and -- flagstaff community and the university knowing the reintegration would be very difficult. we are peace-makers and welcoming veterans back. and working with like 20 organizations. i don't mean that it was just two people. then the third step was when she became interested in palestine, in syria, in the complexities of the middle east. about which i know nothing. i read the newspaper, i listen to cnn. she became my professor. and she very much engaged me in understanding like the various

resistance groups in syria. and the interactions among them. so yes, she became my professor. this is over a period of about five years when we were working together and interacting. so i also kept in contact with her as she went overseas and came back. >> what is the hardest part for you emotionally in dealing with the loss of such a special young woman? >> that's the hardest part. we i'm hoping just like the outpouring in paris where they were referring to the charl"charlie hebdo" killings, "je suis charlie," i'm hoping americans will rise up and respond, "je "je suis kayla, peter, steven all of those executed by isis. and i very much would like to

say to kayla, which she asked, where is the world? the world is here kayla. and we are going to work for justice with peace. >> that's so beautiful. we'll hear more from kayla mueller's friend and professor in the next hour. particularly about how her family was able to keep her captivity a secret all this time. stick around. really... i guess i did take some risks. anncr: bode, bode miller!!! trained a little bit differently. a little too honest sometimes. the media is useless. you were out of control. but not always. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil.

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. welcome back to your "new day." cnn money now. we've got business correspondent christina aleci here. it goes up and down and up and down. why? >> this morning we have to start in greece. investors are watching a standoff between greece and its creditors. this morning eu chiefs will discuss greece's bailout in an emergency meeting at 11:30. investors are clearly hoping they'll come to some sort of a deal to avoid a default or even worse an exit from the eurozone that could have ripple effects

across the world. let's move on to oil prices. they're still falling and that means more job cuts. halliburton is slashing up to 6400 jobs. that's a massive number. about 8% of its work force. this is just the latest in a string of layoffs and spending cuts clearly the energy sector is a loser. apple this morning is the winner. it became the first american company worth $700 billion. huge number. more evidence that apple is truly in a league of its own. the stock has been climbing on record profits and iphone sales. guys remember last quarter not only did it report its biggest profit ever but the biggest profit in corporate american history. that is huge. i'm not hearing too much out of the apple naysayers this morning, i can tell you that. >> yes. seems like they can do no wrong at this moment. >> at this moment tim cook is having his day in the sun. >> cristina thank you so much. this morning the president is going to ask congress to use

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the world grieves with us. the world mourns with us. >> i don't think it's accurate for them to say that the united states government hasn't done

everything that we could. >> we're hearing from sources that the white house will unveil this new authorization on isis. >> let's not forget in whose hands this woman died. >> are you kidding me? brian williams just got suspended for six months? >> jon stewart is a more relevant news figure on the cultural landscape than brian williams. >> i thank you for watching it for hate watching it whatever reason you are tuning in for. >> accused of killing american sniper chris kyle and his friend chad littlefield. >> this is not your usual murder trial. you're dealing with someone who had serious psychiatric issues. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, alisyn camerota and michaela per rare ra. good morning. welcome to your "new day." wednesday, february 11th. just before 8:00 in the east. more than 20,000 would-be killers are headed to iraq and syria ready to do battle with isis. 150 of them american. that is the word from u.s.

intelligence officials. the news here is not just the bigger number but including thousands of westerners and that it is growing at an unprecedented pace. >> so today president obama plans to formally ask congress to authorize the use of military force against isis. this as the u.s. mourns kayla mueller, the american killed after being held hostage by the ruthless terror group. our team coverage begins with michelle couldkosinski. she is live at the white house. >> reporter: right. we're hearing from top u.s. counter intelligence officials. it's unprecedented. the number of foreign fighters that even today continues to stream into iraq and syria to fight alongside isis and other groups. so we expect to hear this testimony today before the house homeland security committee hearing bigger numbers than we've seen before. some 20,000 foreign fighters from 90 countries. 3400 westerners. about 150 americans who have

even -- either traveled there or tried to and about a dozen of those thought to still be there. the chairman of this committee called this the largest convergence of islamic terrorists in world history. of course foreign fighters have been a top priority because of the concern that they could come back home and launch attacks here. also today we do expect to hear from the white house putting out its formal proposal to congress asking for authorization for military force specifically tailored to isis. it's expected to limit the possibility of using ground troops in combat which not all republicans are too happy with but expected to not set limits on location for where the u.s. can go after isis. chris? >> all right, michelle. thank you very much. that war is going to continue. we have to see what that debate yields. we'll follow it very closely here. we're also learning about drastic measures to try and save hostage kayla mueller. u.s. officials reportedly tried

to pull off a series of rescues. this is coming to light as her parents are still battling her captors. now the battle is to get her body back to america and bid their daughter a final farewell. we have will ripley joining us with the latest. will. >> reporter: chris, all of this of course is playing out behind the scenes. we didn't even know kayla mueller's name until recently but there were so many attempts so much frustration and desperation as her family and the u.s. government tried to secure her release, everything from a u.s. military operation that may have missed her by 24 to 48 hours to an attempt detailed by arizona lawmakers where a man tried to pose as her husband and actually made it to the terrorist camp where she was being held trying to see if he could recover her, but that fell apart as well. of course all of this kept secret until her family got the devastating news. >> she has done more in her incredible 26 years than many people can ever imagine doing in their lifetime. >> reporter: this morning kayla mueller's family and friends

devastated heart broken over photos sent privately by the brutal militant group isis over the weekend. according to a u.s. official the 26-year-old was shown in muslim garb another revealing her raft in a burial shroud. how she died still unclear. >> kayla has touched the heart of the world. the world grieves with us. the world mourns with us. >> reporter: the humanitarian aide worker held hostage by isis since august 2013 captured while leaving a doctor's without borders hospital in aleppo syria. isis sending proof of life nine months after her capture demanding millions in ransom. communication cut off a year later after the ransom deadline passed. then early this month isis claimed mueller was killed in this building by a jordanian airstrike. u.s. officials aren't buying it. >> isil is responsible for that death. >> reporter: they are responsible for her safety and well-being and they are therefore responsible for her death.

>> reporter: president obama calling mueller's family to offer condolences. >> she was an outstanding young woman and a great spirit and i think that spirit will live on. >> reporter: mueller in the trenches with refugees since 2009 working with humanitarian groups in northern india, israel and the palestinian territories. >> the world wants to be more like kayla, and if that is her legacy and the footprint that she leaves on the world, then that is a wonderful thing. >> reporter: the activist family strengthened by her spirit. >> in kayla's letter to marsha and carl she wrote. >> reporter: reading aloud a letter. >> sometimes we have to look for it. >> that letter revealing more about kayla's time in captivity where she taught her captors

about how to create origami peace cranes. she thought about the family camping trips and she prayed telling her parents that faith in god is what kept her going throughout all of this. she also said she had a lot of fight in her, alisyn. up until the very end she fought in her own way and she really has inspired so many people with her optimism with herself- her selflessness. >> what a remarkable young woman. thanks for giving us that background. to another top story, the leaders of germany, france russia ukraine meet today trying to strike a peace plan trying to end the violence in ukraine. let's talk about that with general wesley clark. former nato supreme allied commander and author of "don't wait for the next war." general clark thanks so much for being on "new day." >> thank you. >> what do you think will happen with vladimir putin and these peace talks today? >> it's hard to predict. obviously we'd like the cease-fire agreement to take place. we'd like the -- all of the

provisions to be implemented and we'd like the fighting to stop the question is whether putin has met his objectives and wants a temporary pause in the fight or not. he's fine as long as he's driving the action. it's his war. it's his initiative and it's his forces in there leading the fighting. >> you said if he's met his objectives he might agree to it. what are his objectives? >> as best as we can determine, based on the russian foreign ministry communication, in the big picture he wants to keep crimea. he wants to make it impossible for ukraine to be affiliated with the european union ornate tow by keeping the conflict boiling, the government unstable the economy weak and ineffective. in the near term he may be satisfied with taking a breathing spell because he's had a lot of losses on his side as well. this fighting very significant. >> is that breathing spell enough for france and germany and the peace talks or are they asking for him to cede some of

the things that he's been gobbling up? >> ukraine has asked that the separatists move back to the line that was agreed in september, but that's one of the issues that's in dispute right now as to whether they will in fact move out. normally the way these operations work is what you take on the ground creates facts that then become ratified in the peace agreement. so they're unlikely to want to move back and ukraine doesn't right now seem to have the military power to force them to move back. >> okay. so what inducement gets putin's attention more sanctions or weapons? >> well he's under sanctions right now, but the sanctions, they may hurt but they're not decisive. as long as there's a military option open a lot of us believe that he's able to use the military to push and push and push and the sanctions, they simply don't work in time. four five years maybe the russian economy could be crippled if you tightened the sanctions much more if the price

of oil stayed down if if if. in the near term you've got to do something about ukraine. i think it's going to probably take the united states and other western nations to provide assistance to ukraine so ukraine can fight its own battle and defend its own cease-fire line. >> so you don't think that today there will be an agreement. you think that the u.s. and president obama will have to send the weapons that ukraine is asking for. >> i hope there will be an agreement, but there's no way of knowing from here whether there will be or not. it's really a function of vladimir putin and what he believes is in his best immediate interest. >> you were just in ukraine in november and tell us what you saw on the ground. it sounds as though the fighting is worse than many of us have come to believe. >> well there's no interest in publicizing this fighting. russia denies its people are there. the europeans don't want to admit the russians are there because then they'd have to do something, and the united states is focused on the middle east and isis. and so no one's looking at this. this is -- this is high intensity combat major rockets,

tanks, artillery, in some cases fighter bombers. these are soldiers who are fighting in the conditions of the most modern warfare. ukranians asked me what do we do with the russians when the drones fly over and they spot us and they fire these rockets on us? we're not fighting against drones anywhere else. we use the drones but we don't even have the systems to shoot down the russian drones. so this is the most modern high intensity conflict anywhere in the world. it will be challenging for our own military and the russians are using it as a training ground and a proving ground. they're rotating the russian artillery commanders through ukraine so they can practice firing the artillery. the ukrainians can listen on the radio and hear them getting directions from the russian headquarters inside russia. >> sure while putin says it's not happening. you were nato supreme allied commander. if the peace process today doesn't work or falls apart, what should nato do about

ukraine? >> well nato is probably not going to do that much as nato. nato is a defensive alliance. nato is in eastern europe because they're afraid of russia. we don't need nato montpelier move -- to move into ukraine. we need them to deter actions against nato members. this is more of a matter for individual nations and it's really a matter of ukraine. so what happens in ukraine affects the sense of security and the ability of these individual nato members, like bulgaria or the baltic states to attract investments because what happens in ukraine if it falls apart there, russian forces will then put pressure through the media, through the mafia, through covert operations in these other countries in an effort to disrupt nato. so nato's first line of defense is actually ukraine even though it doesn't involve nato

directly. it's up to the individual nations. the united states. poland and other countries probably will end up having to give military assistance to ukraine. >> world leaders watching what happens in minsk. thank you so much for being on "new day." >> thank you. thank you so much, al list sin -- alisyn. united states and u.s. embassies evacuated yemen. in fact the french embassy also we're getting word that it is shutting its doors, perhaps temporarily, we don't know. for the latest let's get to jamana in yemen. >> reporter: the united states united kingdom and france all announcing that they have pulled out their diplomatic stop from the yemeni capital. they have shut down their embassies and they're asking all of their citizens to immediately leave the country, this as the political and security situation there has worsened over recent

weeks. there are lots of concerns about the country being on the brink of civil war. now the united states state department in its warning really noting here the reasons behind this decision deteriorating security situation, terrorist activities and civil unrest. they also mentioned concerns about demonstrations that we have seen taking place across the country, concerns that these demonstrations could turn very violent very fast. now, over recent weeks the real concern there has been with that -- the ouster of the u.s. ally that government that was in place helping the united states in its war on terror there and what this political instability and political vacuum means for the presence of one of the most powerful al qaeda franchises in the world, aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, that has a foothold in yemen. its base is there, and there are concerns that it could really use this political instability

to grow and become further -- a bigger threat -- a further threat. back to you, chris. >> to be sure now we have major allies that will not be able to keep as close an eye on the situation. thank you for the recording. let's go to sydney australia, where two suspects are facing charges after allegedly plotting a terror attack. police seizing a number of items including an isis flag and a machete. you remember sydney was the site of that cafe hostage situation back in december. the suspect in that attack demanding an isis flag. a 46-year-old man arrested for allegedly killing three young muslim students reportedly execution style. police say craig steven hicks shot the victims inside their condo in chapel hill north carolina. we're told two of the victims were in their 20s, the other just 19. at this point it is not clear what led up to this shooting. breaking overnight from san diego, a suspect has surrendered now in the shooting of a tv sports anchor in san diego. police surrounded the home of

54-year-old mike montana. he is suspected of shooting kyle kraska tuesday as he pulled out of his driveway in the upscale neighborhood of scripps ranch. he peppered the vehicle with gunfire before speeding off. kraska is expected to survive. brian williams suspended from nbc. jon stewart leaving his show. do both moves mark the end of a particular era in television? and we have new information about attempts to free an extraordinary young woman from isis murderers. the lengths that the government the media, and kayla mueller's family went to keep her alive and ultimately to rescue her. the details ahead.

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two big decisions in television that will have last being impact. nbc announcing the suspension of brian williams unpaid suspension for six months. jon stewart stepping down from the daley show. let's bring in host of reliable sources brian stelter. it's tv. it's live people. we have cnn presidential historian and author of "cronkite." douglas brinkley always good to have you with us. douglas, i want to talk about this great article that you wrote on cnn.com. you make a point at that williams should really have

heeded cronkite's golden rule for war reporters. never self aggrandize when it comes to being in the battle zone. being solemn is better. do you think he fell prey to that celebrity culture? >> reporter: yes. you know look brian williams goes on talk shows and he's been very funny, but when you start exaggerating your war record and you start acting like you're an ernie pyle figure you doom yourself. journalists aren't that respected anymore. when cronkite was in you had a 70% approval rating for journalists. today it's 50%. our country loves the armed forces. that started the snowball effect and other exaggerations and mistakes williams has made. >> do we know if they've come up with other exaggerations and mistakes?

>> there are questions about his hurricane katrina reporting. there are others they're investigating. there's questions about his reporting about the israeli hezbollah war. >> i guess what i'm asking if this is just one infraction a six-month suspension without pay for one infraction is that over the top or are there other things that maybe we don't know about? >> surely williams fans are saying that. they're saying this is far too severe and they want him back in the chair. the question is how many of those people are there out there? you know imagine for a moment being brian williams. this is what he's waking up to this morning. the cover of new york post saying brian shot down. the press is going to be pretty unsparing, pretty unforgiving in a situation like this. it's very sad on a human level. it's very disappointing. brian williams one of the single most popular news reporters in the united states brought down by this of his own news reporting. >> and it adds to it. you talk about the financial impact. if he's paid $10 million a year, that amounts to a $5 million

penalty. >> we can talk about the journalism you want. this is a business decision and business calculation by nbc. it's owned by comcast which is in the midst of a very complicated merger with time warner cable. the last thing they want is distractions. the ceo is thinking i don't want nbc news to embarrass me. right now it's embarrassing him. >> mr. brinkley let me bring you back in here. everybody is using the word accountability. it seems to be an awkward fit here right now. what is the chance that nobody knew that brian williams was doing this that other people were there, other people were there with him on location other people were available to check this story and make sure it didn't get repeated. what about those people? >> that's a very good question. look brian williams is i think a fine anchorman, excellent journalist. i still believe that. he was also a show man. everybody liked talking to brian. he's the water cooler guy. he could go into a starbucks and tell a little story and you'd be

riveted. he added all of this colored detail but at some point his embellishment, he started believing his own bs if you'd like. people went along with the ride because he was brian williams. he was the managing editor running nbc. he's a powerful person over there. it became a quirk. that's just brian's story telling. but it caught up with him when he again, took that on the armed forces and made up a story about being under fire. >> you know it was interesting. i was thinking about we've been through the apology tour with politicians, actors musicians, it's a little different proposition when you think of what he has to do to redeem himself. it's not the same kind of proposition of getting that trust back. what do you think he has to do? >> it's harder than people like paula deen. >> it's not based on credibility, it's based on cooking. >> exact limit or comedy.

a lot of people tell tall tales on letterman show. they're not journalists and not held to the higher standard. because brian williams is so successful so well known and so important, that's why he's held to the highest bar we have. >> some have suggested taking away the managing editor. >> i don't get that. i heard that early on. >> you don't think that's interesting -- >> i don't understand. you're in the chair or you're not in the chair. i don't know managing editor is a distinction the audience gets. >> you're making all the decisions. >> i understand what the job is. >> the other title is anchor and he needs to be the anchor. whoever is in charge of that show needs to be the leader. there hasn't been a lot of leadership in the past week. we haven't seen nbc's investigation. we're not sure if they're ever going to make it public. maybe brian williams could have interviewed the soldiers and figured out what happened. we haven't seen that leadership and that's one of the things he's been criticized for. >> should we turn? >> i have one more question. i think the idea of what comes next for nbc is important and then we're going to talk about

stewart because i know you're dying to hear about this too, because i want to get inside both of your minds. going forward it's not only going to have an impact on how nbc does business but also i'm wondering what kind of trickle down effect it will have on the other networks. >> this is the worst crisis since the early 1990s. >> you think this is as bad as the "dateline" van? >> i think it was the staged explosion. this is as bad as those succession of crises in the 1990s. what the outcome is i don't know. but it's a bad day for journalism whenever an a-lister like williams falls into trouble or puts himself in trouble. it's bad for the whole industry. there might be some winners out of this and some losers it's bad for the whole industry. >> now to the most trusted news name for a younger demographic. it's important to talk about that douglas. the fact that jon stewart's resignation or his retirement it seems so crazy because he's such a young man, this is going

to have an impact on a lot of young people. you think of the fact that a lot of young people the twitter generation they look to him for analysis and perhaps even conversation about news. they got their news from him for better or for worse. >> absolutely. and, you know jon stewart is really a historic figure. he's a sustainable comic hero. in many ways he's like lenny bruce or dick gregory or something. he matters. he's a satirist of our age. people are going to deeply miss him, particularly young people who got so sick of other kinds of news formats and believed in him. but he's also going to hurt, i think, democrats. he went after everybody but by and large jon stewart was a master of securing fox news and going after conservatives. i don't know who's going to fill in that role. he is -- was and he is a giant of comedy. >> brian, where is he going? why is he leaving? >> he hasn't said. >> he says he has no specific plans. he has gotten tired over the years. he admitted to being a little

bit restless last night on the job. he's been doing it for 16 years. that's a long time to do anything especially a job like that. he may make more films. maybe he'll look for a more serious role. you can imagine him doing essays at the end of "60 minutes." that hasn't been filled after the death of andy rooney. you can imagine him doing that. >> two names as possible contenders. >> as replacements? >> yes. >> go ahead. >> i love amy poehler. i'd love tina fey. >> no no the other guy. who have you been saying your half prognostication? >> i'd watch the daily show with brian williams. >> brian williams you think would take that job. >> i'd watch it. he's very good as a guest. >> wow. >> the real news man in trouble for faking a news story and fake news man lauded by real news journalists. >> kind of like raucous water, right? >> sturtdewart's legacy as a comedian is solid, but douglas,

let me come to you for this last shot on this. what's the dilemma? the dilemma is that people went to him for a serious take on situations that actually matter and that's not really what he was giving them. what do you think his legacy will be from the value of social -- you know society? what do you think it is? >> well look i've interviewed brian williams when i did micron kite book -- my cronkite book. he wanted to be walter cronkite. look how far he came. he blew that. he has to get back in the game reclaim his anchor spot hope that the american public is going to give him a second chance and stay off the comedy shows for a while. be what he really is so good at and that's anchoring a news broadcast and be a serious journalist and not the comedian. walter cronkite went on "the mary tyler moore show" once and it got a lot of buzz.

you've got him going on a lot of comedy shows and it didn't work in the end. >> stewart and williams williams had a much harder job. stewart gets to make fun of the news. he can't exist without the cnn's of the world. i'm glad he's there. williams on the other hand had a serious news job that's now in jeopardy. that's a much more significant job at the end of the day. >> gentlemen leave it there, brian stelter, douglas brinkley. we are about second chances here. tweet us or go to facebook.com/new day and sound off as well. the so-called american sniper murder trial is getting underway in texas, eddie ray ralph. two men wanted to help him and he killed them. the question is why. we're going to get some insight. stay with us.

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all right. here we go with the five things you need to know for your "new day." president obama expected to ask congress to authorize military force against isis while intelligence officials say more than 20,000 foreign fighters have joined the extremist ranks in iraq and in syria. european leaders meeting with ukrainian president petro

poroshenko and russian president vladimir putin today. meanwhile, on the front lines violence has not stopped. the united states u.k. and france all pulling embassy staffers out of yemen, suspending all operations amid concerns the security in that troubled region continues to spiral. opening statements today in the american sniper murder trial. suspect eddie ray rouse lawyers say they plan to bring up an insanity defense. nbc has suspended brian williams for six months without pay for embellishing events that occurred while he was covering the iraq war in 2003. also big news "daily show" host jon stewart announcing he's going to leave "the daily show" at the end of this year. having a child born with a fatal genetic disease is just

heartbreaking. imagine finding out that the disease was preventible. a georgia couple is sharing their story to save other families. dr. sanjay gupta has that in this week's "human factor." >> which paper do you want? >> reporter: the golds may look like a typical family but look closer. >> look at me. look at this paper. >> reporter: 6-year-old eden can't walk talk or do most anything a girl her age should be doing. she has a progressive neurological disorder called neucolipodosis 4. eden's development stopped at 18 months. doctors say she'll be blind by age 12 and will probably not live beyond early adulthood. >> every dream we had for a daughter was ended with one phone call. >> reporter: the golds thought they were genetically screened

before they were married. >> my doctor tested me for eight diseases and randy's doctor tested him for a total of two diseases. neither one tested us for ml 4. >> the couple didn't want other families to suffer the same fate. they started an online education screening program for genetic diseases common a among jews. at-home screening kits are mailed out and a genetic counselor delivers the results over the phone. >> j screen's mission is to make sure that parents know they should be screened for genetic diseases before they get pregnant. we can provide them information on having healthy children of their own. >> reporter: just like the gold's who added another daughter to their family. >> eden is here for a purpose. she saves lives every day. >> oh, my goodness. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> what a great story. well back to one of our top stories now. remembering kayla mueller. why did her captivity grab so few headlines? her friend and former professor

on why her life depended on secrecy.

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kayla mueller's death at the hands of isis is having a profound impact. this selfless 26-year-old risking her life and then ultimately losing it just trying to help others suffering in syria. now earlier we spoke with carol thompson. she was kayla mueller's friend. she was a former professor, and she worked with her on humanitarian causes. we spoke about how kayla's family and friends were able to keep her captivity a secret for so long and why they had to. >> i was part of that. in other words, there were various teams organized to quietly network from religious leaders to human rights groups to politicians, and it was an absolute demand from the hostage takers. the minute her name hits the

media in any way, and that includes the social media, that includes twitter, she's executed. so every time one of the hostages was executed we all held our breaths because we were afraid that kayla's name would come out in those, again, horrific circumstances. so yes, it was a demand by isis and the parents honored that demand and so did hundreds of people who have been working for kayla for 18 months honor that. and i would also congratulate the media. they took her name and they did not use it. >> it was easy to accommodate the wishes of the family obviously, but do you think that it's also a little bit of an insight into just how craven how cowardly this terrorist organization is? they knew that word of a kid like this being held captive would be bad for them even with their low level of ethics they say they care about women, that it would have been bad. do you think that they were trying to cover themselves with this type of request for

secrecy? >> i don't begin to understand isis and all kayla would say to us is that it's our job to work to understand them. and i'll leave it at that. >> tough job to be sure. needs the head and heart of someone like kayla to even begin a task like that. were you aware of all the different attempts that were made supposedly we're being told by the government to rescue her, including someone there to pose as her husband? >> yes. i'm aware of most of the steps taken, and obviously always after the fact but, yes, i'm aware of most of those steps in the 18 months. >> and you believe that the government did what it could? >> again, i'm not privy to the, let's say, confidential story, certainly not as the family is.

i would respond by saying it is my understanding that the family was accepting all of the efforts the u.s. government was making and it wasn't just the u.s. government it was several governments, many human rights organizations, many specialists who work with hostage takers -- i mean work for the hostages. so it's hundreds of people. and the muellers were totally generous and appreciative of all of that help. >> professor, again, thank you very much. good luck to you. i know you're on sabbatical right now. thank you for joining us and helping us see kayla in a different way than just what we've learned from her captors. >> and thank you very much for giving her voice. it's very important. thank you. >> wow. what a remarkable young woman. i mean truly special. >> i get -- i keep getting a lump in my throat when i see the picture of her in front of the quantus sign.

there are snapshots of her and the work they do around the world. a great group that a lot of communities have. she could be the girl that i went to high school with went to college with. in college you remember you're suddenly aware of the world around you. you want to go out and save it. she actually followed up on just the passion. she went. >> yeah. it is comforting to know how many people tried to rescue her. because we were in the dark -- >> you don't know. >> -- and the family insisted for security reasons on secrecy. just as we learned about her she was killed but there were lots of efforts and that makes -- >> it's comforting isn't it? >> kayla and her family were among those who believe that things happen for a reason. it's hard to accept in certain situations but maybe when you look at the contrast of who this young woman was and who the people are who took her captive, the contrast in terms of what motivated their actions and what they were about, maybe it sends the strongest message we have about which idea should prevail in the ongoing war. it is such a price for her family to pay here. it really is.

>> absolutely. great to hear from that professor and friend. all right. meanwhile, he is accused of killing american sniper chris kyle and his friend but who is eddie ray ralph? we'll take a look at the suspected killer and his downward spiral. d i see that it includes my fico® credit score. yup, you have our discover it card so you get your fico® credit score on your monthly statements and online...for free. that's pretty cool of you guys. well we just want to help you stay on top of your credit and avoid surprises. good. i hate surprises. ahhhh ahhhh are you ok? nope. we treat you like you'd treat you. we've already given more than 175 million free fico® credit scores to our cardmembers. apply today at discover.com ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪

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the man suspected of killing real life american sniper chris kyle and chad littlefield goes

on trial in one hour. eddie ray ralph plans to mount an insanity defense. not everyone believes that is true. laura beal documented eddie ralph's mental decline in a book called "the enemy within." laura, great to have you on "new day." >> thank you. >> you are, as i understand it the only journalist to have spoken to eddie ray ralph's family because since then a judge has put a gag order on the family speaking about eddie ray ralph during the course of this trial, and what you profile in this men's health magazine is fascinating. you talk about how originally eddie ray ralph was a teenager he was a little sort of wayward. he was a mediocre student. he was a partier but then he decided to join the marines and that gave him needed structure and discipline and it went well for a while -- >> yes. >> -- and then what happened? >> i can't speak about his war time activities because i talked to his family and my article was

concerned about the events that happened after he came home but i can tell you that his family and friends that i talked to they did notice a different person after he got home from the war than before he left. >> some people say he didn't see actual combat in iraq but it sounds as though he was deeply affected based on your reporting from earthquake relief in haiti, that he changed after going there. >> that's what his family said. i didn't get any indication from his family that he had experienced direct combat but, yeah when i talked to them and they are relaying their conversations that they had had with eddie routh and the thing that they talked about most that appeared to affect him was haiti. he had also given his dad some indication that he had shot a child. again, this is -- these are conversations that he had had with his parents and so you

know who's to say exactly what affected him most but it was the impression of his family that something about his experience in haiti really affected him deeply. >> you write throughout that first year home after he left the marines the rouths were growing increasingly concerned with his behavior. some days he was the same good hearted eddie who offered his time to anyone in need. at the same time his family noticed he often had a hair trigger temper and he was always hitting the booze and pot. his exaggeration seemed over amped as well. what does that mean? >> you know he had been a partier before he left but his mom said after he got home the drinking and, you know smoking marijuana, it got to be worse. she said sometimes he would -- especially when he was unemployed and depressed, he would get up in the morning and he would drink a beer. his drinking had become a lot heavier and i think throughout the two years before the murders

that he was home they were very concerned about the level of drinking that he had done. and he also had a temper. you didn't know if something would set him off. this was unusual for him. it seemed out of the level of anger that he would show from time to time seemed out of character with what they had known. >> does his family believe that he had ptsd? >> he was -- oh, yes. and i saw in his medical record that he was -- his diagnosis of ptsd. this was one part. i talked to his mother and after she had gotten his medical record i said you know people are questioning whether he really did have ptsd. i need to see that. i need to know that he did. and so she took a picture of the medical record that had the -- that discussed his ptsd diagnosis and sent it to me. i haven't seen the entire medical record but i did see that part and i can tell you

that it did discuss a diagnosis of ptsd. whether he had other issues i don't know but i did see a ptsd diagnosis. >> that is good to know that it was an official diagnosis. >> yes. >> his mom tried to take him several times to the va for for help. >> yes. >> what went wrong? >> his family never felt like he was seen as an individual there, he was just kind of one of the masses and he -- they never felt like he was given the kind of individual attention that he really needed. he would go in. he would be part of the crowd. he would be given prescriptions and he would be sent home. he was hospitalized on more than one occasion but they never -- they never felt like anyone was paying close attention to him and, sadly, the first person who lifted his mother and said i'm going to do everything i can to help your son, was chris kyle. >> that part is so tragic. and the mom sought chris kyle

out. she worked at the school where chris kyle's kids went because she thought that here was finally a savior who could help her son who she didn't feel was getting the receipt -- right treatment elsewhere. you want to make it clear that the family is not using this as an excuse? >> right. they were very reluctant to talk to me. they weren't talking to the journalists. there were a number of reasons, one, they were completely devastated as you can imagine. they were very committed to not seeming to make excuses for murder. they were sensitive to being respectful to the kyle and littlefield families. they didn't want talking about eddie and concern about him and talking about his mental health issues to seem like they were saying it was somehow okay what had occurred. >> well the article and profile of him is a fascinating read. people can see it for themselves in men's health magazine. laura beil thanks for sharing it with us. >> thank you.

>> let's go to chris. >> alisyn there are so many out there doing good. we need more good. guess what, we have it. up next meet the kid going on a job interview that went to target for a tie and, boy, he got so much more. that's why it's the good stuff. [ male announcer ] we know they're out there. you can't always see them. but it's our job to find them. the answers. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better. something more amazing. a safer, cleaner brighter future.

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>> the somg is not the best example of well dressed men. he was about to go on a job interview so he needed a tie. turns out the target in raleigh, north carolina doesn't sell clip-ones. -- clip-ons. a worker brought him to the tie rack taught him how to tie the tie and bought him the tie and gave him interview advice. >> i like this. >> make sure you look them in the eye. i'm saying make sure you give him a stern handshake. she showed him. he tucked his shirt in tied his shoes. >> he was saying yes, ma'am. he just soaking it all in. >> a fellow shopper saw what was

going on and decided to share it with the world. >> yeah. >> guess what young yasir moore got past the first round. he's so excited. he and his mom went back to target to thank the people who helped him. >> that's so great. >> i love the head fake in this too. >> not what people taught him over there. >> people are so ready for the negative. a lot of news out there. let's get you the "newsroom" and ms. carol costello. >> good morning. thanks so much. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. we begin this morning with the changing face of terrorism and washington's desperate scramble to change it. president obama formally asked congress to grant him sweeping military powers to fight isis and its growing threat