two heavily armed gunmen stormed a free-speech event in copenhagen today firing as many as 30 or 40 shots. a 40-year-old man was killed three police officers wounded. the possible target of the attack was cartoonist lars bilks. he's faced death threats before for his portrayals of the prophet muhammad. i'll be back at about 7:00 with the latest on both stories and the major northeast blizzard which they're dealing with right now. first, smerconish begins right now. welcome to the program. i'm michael smerconish. isis forces making stunning advances in iraq seizing large chunks of territory, now hundreds of u.s. marines are in harm's way just a few miles away from the town of ago baghdadi which is now held by isis. the propaganda machine continues, the terror group releasing a chill nug video

reportedly showing them parading captured peshmerga kurdish fighters through the streets of iraq in capables. phil black was in isis territory, the most dangerous place in the world for a reporter. he is on the move now and filed this dispatch moments ago from dohack. >> reporter: the concern now is that if isis maintains this foothold in al baghdadi it has a position from which it can launch further attacks against the air base. this in a province where isis is still expanding its control. it maintained some control of some 70% of anbar province. that control is still growing. the pentagon concedes it is likely that this air facility will come under further attacks in the future. >> we have someone who has been on that military base al asad many times. cnn military analyst retired lieutenant general mark hurtling. at the top of the list for everyone's questions, how

vulnerable are our troops at that base? >> i don't believe they're vulnerable at all, michael. they've got great defensive measures in the base. as you said, it is a sprawling complex pimt's a huge air base. and the attack yesterday was against one of the gates. you could almost liken it to jfk airport. you say if we're going to attack one gate after you even get through that gate, if you do you have kilometers to go before you reach the living area. i'm not sure we have as much danger as what is being concerned right now. >> general, the fact that mismatched isis troops would even endover attack such a sprawling inging base it says something about their will to fight. for me as a layperson, a civilian it reminds me of a famous movie scene. i want to show you a clip from "godfather ii." roll it. >> interesting thing happened today. a rebel was being arrested by the military police and rather

than be taken alive he exploded the grenade he had hidden in his jacket. he killed himself and he took a captain of the command with him. right, johnny? >> those rebels they're lunatics. >> maybe so. but it occurred to me the soldiers are paid to fight. the rebels aren't. >> what does that tell you? >> they can win. >> general hertling michael corleone notes the soldiers are paid to fight, the rebels aren't. what's the meaning? that they could win. any relevance? >> well first of all, michael, i love that movie and thank you for playing it. secondly it's one we play often in the military. >> really. >> it has to do with the will to fight. you know what is the thing that gives soldiers the desire to take up arms and perhaps die for their country? what we're talking act now is not a group of cuban castro supporters going against bautista in the '50s, which was a corrupt government and a huge disparity between the rich and the poor there. what we're talking sacramento

fanaticism that not only are they fighting for a cause but they're fighting to kill other people as many other people as possible. the attack yesterday, yes, was typically a tactical approach that we've seen terrorists use in the past where they were attempting to breach a gate using people wearing suicide vests, then push some additional soldiers through. i think what's interesting is as admiral kirby said yesterday, the iraqi soldiers fought back. they're beginning to have a better trust in their government and a better trust in their leader something they lost over several years between 2011 and 2014 michael. >> right. that's the intangible because that fanaticism that you reference gives isis and gives al qaeda splinter groups great patience. and so the real intangible here is when the united states is finally gone what will be the will to fight of the iraqis who are left behind and you're saying there are positive signs in that regard. >> i think there are.

you go back to an old dead german theorist. you need three things to be successful in any conflict -- a very good army, the will of the people to support it and a solid government. over the last several years, iraq has not had three of the three. they're beginning to raise up each one of those in different approaches but i think that is what is needed in any territory where insurgents and terrorists are attempting to take over. we see that throughout the arab world right now where there's poor government and bad armies. >> one more question with regard to the attack on als a asad. does this make an argument far strong battle turning loose the u.s. marines who are there instead of relying only on air airpower airpower? >> i don't think so michael. i spent three years of my life in iraq. what's interesting is the iraqis have to want it more than we do. for the several years i and others fought there we always

found ousts in the lead of wanting and desiring reform more than the iraqis who were watching us do it. it's now time for them to step up and that's the important thing that if you're going to fight for your country, you need to fight for your country, not let other people do it for you. >> final question general hertling. this week the president sought war authorization from the congress to combat isis. some say he was too restrictive in his request, some say too expansive. what did you make of it? >> i made of it that the president is tossing it to congress because he is doing something right now and he's being sniped from both sides. as that sniping is going on over things like silly phrases like mission creep or boots on the ground, he's allowed congress, which makes the laws, to decide what the law should be in this case. and what they will support and at the same time he's taken executive action. so i believe it was a very smart move to word the document to give as much flexibility as it

did to the forces while he's allowing congress to make the decisions on what they will support. it goes back to that theorist thing, you have to have a strong government in support of war whenever you go to war. >> general hertling thank you as always for your analysis. >> thank you, michael. >> much more to come with terrific guests. after a short break, it sure looks like mike huckabee is running for president again. he has spoken in a very unplugged fashion lately. i'll speak to him next. also was kayla mueller's death preventable? i'll tuque a journalist who met her before she entered syria. she found mueller to have a heart of gold. but also to be naive and inexperienced about the dangers in syria. and the fbi director's blunt remarks about police and race relations, one retired new york city detective calls the comments both arrogant and insulting. he joins me ahead. and joe kleine will be here in defense of brian williams. uncer ] if you don't think "i've still got it" when you think aarp then you don't know "aarp." life

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welcome back. republican mike huckabee hasn't officially announced but it seems pretty clear he intends to run for president. he's made some stunning comments recently that have certainly raised eyebrows. he's tangled with singer beyonce, made controversial remarks about same-sex marriage and even titled a chapter in his new book "bend over and take it like a prisoner." it's not the conventional type of discourse of a potential presidential candidate, but huckabee has never shied away from controversy. joining me now is former

governor mike huckabee. governor thanks for being here. >> delighted to be here michael. thank you. >> you're off to israel. >> yes. >> will you see prime minister bibi netanyahu? >> that's the intention. i normally do when i go. i was there three times last year and saw him all three times. i've known him a long time. we're friends and i've known him both in and out of government. he's a remarkable person. i think of him as sort of a churchill among chamberlains to be honest with you. he's a great leader and very thoughtful insightful leader. >> to the extent he'll say governor i know there's this debate playing out in the united states advise me should i keep my date with congress you would say what? >> i would say go ahead and do it because congress has every right to invite whoever they wish and they've invited him to come and speak. i think his message is an important message. he will give an update on where things stand with iran. i don't think there's anybody who is closer to that than he is. i understand that it's a little awkward because of the white house's resistance to his coming to congress. but i think the white house has

acted with petulance in this and i believe what they should have done is said this is wonderful, we're so glad he's coming let us also make accommodation accommodation. this is what statesmanship ought to look like. >> doesn't it countermand the role of the commander in chief? i find that those who've extended the invitations are the very one who is talk about what it means to be a great american and thump their chests with patriotism but in this case it seems like they're casting their lot not with the president of the united states but with the prime minister of israel. >> even if that were the case, and i don't know that it is i would think they truly want to know the situation with iran because we've take an very tack one that demicheliss are uncomfortable with. and i think that's very noteworthy. this is not something that is monolithic among the demicheliss certainly in the congress. some of the most outspoken critics of our policy in iran have been demichelis. >> i feel too many evaluate the dynamics here with regard to whether they're for or against obama. if he's for it i'm against it. if he's against it i'm for it.

instead what i've said is people need to evaluate the principle of it. i remember when congressman eric cantor reportedly met with prime minister netanyahu and assured him we the republicans in congress, we've got your back. i was unsettled by that, because to me that was saying we've got your back to the detriment of our own commander in chief. >> i would say that to have israel's back is to have the u.s.' back in this regard -- everyone who targets israel targets the u.s. there is no enemy of israel who is not an enemy of the united states. there is no friend of israel who's not a friend of the united states. it is the klosest thing we have of a mirror image. that's why i've always said we're not just organizationally related. we are organically related. >> are you telling him to keep the date. one other question on israel because you're known as a man of such deep faith. does your religionous conviction dictate your foreign policy view? there are some in the evangelical community believe they have to be supportive of israel because the second coming occurs only to the extent the

jews are in the holy land. are you in that camp? >> we're supportive of israel not because of theology but because it is a strategic and tactical alliance that we can't afford to do without, especially in light of the rapidity with which iran is developing the capacity for nuclear arms. i hope we're not so nigh dwrooef think if iran gets nuclear devices they're using it solely for defensive purposes and that if thoerp use it offensively against israel they would stop there and say, that's it, we're done, we don't want anything else. >> domestic politics. an interesting week in alabama. as you know a federal judge on thursday said that those probate courts need to be issuing same-sex couples licenses. are we in the 11th hour of this fight? >> it's like asking methe 11th hour of the discussion over sanctity of life? in 1973 the supreme court -- and that was the supreme court, not a simple one federal judge in a district somewhere, the supreme

court supposedly settled the issue of sanctity of life and abortion. here we are 42 years later. we're still debating it. >> lightning round. george bush too moderate to win the nomination? >> no. jeb bush is a good man, good friend and, you know, i hope he steps aside, let's me become the nominee, but i doubt it. >> mike huckabee insufficiently funded to win the nomination? >> we'll find out pretty soon but i think it will surprise some people. >> is part of the reason you're going to israel to court sheldon adelson and his role as a contributor? >> no because he'll be in las vegas. if i court him, i'll be going the wrong direction. >> i won't ask you to do this but were you to produce your iphone and i were to look at your song selection, am i finding any beyonce? >> you are, yeah. >> what's your beef with her? >> it's not everything she does. i've said in my book i admire her talent but some of the lyrics she's portrayed, particularly those that went on television, were not exactly appropriate and suitable to say this is a great role model for

young girls. so, look i'm not the prude some people perhaps might think i am. >> on that score, bend over and take it like a prisoner. >> yeah. >> come on. a sexual connotation. >> not at all. if you read the chapter -- >> tsa, flying screening. >> it has to do with the intake. as governor i went to every prisoner we've had. i've been there when prisoners are brought to the system and go through the initial intake. what i'm dn an airplane as a excellently innocent person with no probable cause, no criminal background whatsoever is akin to the intake of an inmate into a prison system. and therefore it had nothing to do with a sexual connotation. i think if people read that chapter they won't come away with that. >> one other aspect. you right a great deal in "god guns grits, and gravy." tailor made for a bumper sticker. about the cultural divide in the country. i looked at data from the 538 blog where i get my material from, and they anl eylesed those

counties in america that have had a whole foods and those counties in america that have had a cracker barrel. by the way, i'm partial to both although i can ill afford whole food. listen to this. bill clinton won 61% of whole foods counties in '92 and only 40% of cracker barrel a differentiation of 21 points. obama in 2012 77% of whole foods, 29% of cracker barrel. the 21% differentiation had grown to 48%. i see great significance in that because i think it eds the divide in the country. my question to mike huckabee is how do we bring it together? >> we've got to focus on the solutions to make america great. we have spent so much time on the polarization the cultural, the political polarization the racial polarization. what we ought to be talking about is how do we do something that gets the 90% of americans whose income has been stagnant for 40 years, where they can start realizing the american dream, something they haven't done? that unifies the country.

>> how about minimum wage? >> why don't we talk about maximum wage? >> how about community college for free? >> why free? why should it be free? why shouldn't we have an investment? because if we have some -- it ought to be affordable accessible but if it's free people don't take it seriously. >> i was surprised to learn recently scott walker lacks a college degree. he went to marquette, afarntly for three or so of the four years. should an individual who lacks a college degree nevertheless be seriously considered for president of the united states? >> well he's certainly seriously considered and i think that's something voters decide. but there's nothing in the constitution that says in order to be a candidate for president you have to have a college degree degree. you have to be 35 years old, natural citizen of the united states. never says what level of education one must attain. >> safe travels to israel. >> thank you. still ahead, kayla mueller's family says she was called to help suffering people but did she underestimate the dangers

she faced in syria? isle talk to a journalist who met mueller before she was captured by isis. up next fbi director james cone conely made candid comments about police departments and race relations in this country. a retired nypd detective find the comments insulting but racist. ♪♪ there's confidence. then there's trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence. our expertise, technology, and high quality parts mean your peace of mind. now you can get the works, a multi-point inspection with a synthetic blend oil change tire rotation, brake inspection and more.

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a kand candid admission from the director of the fbi on all of things race. in an address at georgetown university this week james comey says it's clear racial bias exists in law enforcement. he even referenced a song from "avenue q" called "everyone's a little bit racist." the remarks were his first since the deaths of michael brown and eric garner. >> police officers on patrol in our nation's cities often work in environments have a hugely disproportionate amount of street crime is committed by men in color. something happens to people of goodwill working in that environment. after years of police work officers can't but help be influenced by the cynicism they feel. a mental shortcut becomes almost irresistible and maybe even rational by some lights. but two young black men on one side of the street look like so

many others that officer has looked up. two white men on the other side of the street even in the same clothes, do not. >> comey's address sparked a debate about race relations in america. mark lamont hill and harry houk. interesting to me is neither of you liked what you heard from the fbi director. harry, first you. you don't accept that the behavior he described takes place. >> right. exactly. of course maybe a couple officers, you know think that but i worked in an entirely -- up in harlem for several years on patrol when it was really really bad up there. and i never looked at all black people as, you know, that i'm a racist or they were all criminals. i mean how he makes a blanket statement like this i have no clue where this came from. you know here's a guy who's never probably worked a day on the street in his life been an attorney his whole life has a great career as a u.s. attorney

and, you know, his statement that everybody's a little bit racist he's got to be calling himself a racist then. if he is, why is he running the fbi? >> what i think i heard him say is there are disproportionate figures that pertain to the minority figure when it comes to crime and law enforcement is taking that into account as they approach different scenarios. so they're looking to one side of the street more than the other side of the street. you believe does occur but think it's preventable and he should have addressed that. >> first of all, he said everyone has biases right, and you need to deal with those biases saying they're unavoidable unavoidable, but allowing them to inform your policing is something that we can repair. i never been a police officer. but there is large-scale data that shows across the country and the world there are race-based differences in how people police. there's a study out of stanford this year that says that white officers tend to see black suspects as older and more guilty than they are. so that's why a 14-year-old gets caught as a 21-year-old man.

i think that needs to be fixed. >> can it be fixed? >> i think so. i think there are a few things we can do. we can do better training and professional development for police officers. we can have better diagnostics when we decide who will become a police officer and we need more community-based policing. >> and i believe that, you know police officers just come into a scene and they leave and that's a big problem. people don't get to know the police officer. you know, we need to go back to the street cop, the cop who walks the beat and gets to know the people. i did it as a cop in irvington, new jersey for two years, a an entirely black neighborhood. i got to know everybody. and when they would call 911 they would ask for me. that's what we need to do because when you have officers just coming in making an arrest and leaving, there's no relationship at all between the police officers and the community. and i think we need to -- >> i don't think it changes until we get at the factors that are driving it. >> yes. >> the underlying crime. >> yes. >> on that we agree as well. >> we agree there are underlying factors but maybe not what they

are. >> what do you think they are? you talked about promise keepers. >> that's the problem, right. you talk about obama's initiatives and said if we can produce kids that are violent resistant and drug resistant, somehow we can fix this thing. the problem is that puts the burden on the victims, one, and two, it suggests you can behave your way out of racist policing. and you can't. well-behaved black people still get arrested. i've been pulled over mistreated by police and i'm pretty well behaved. >> motion detector. >> one of the problems we have especially in the ferguson and garner case is that we have people like al sharpton who come into a neighborhood and turn something into a racial issue that's not. i mean both -- >> they weren't race issues? >> it was not. that officer acted properly all right. there will be no civil rights action against that police officer. come on. >> garner? was race a factor in the garner case? >> no, it wasn't.

mr. fwarper decided that he was no longer going to be arrested by the police. for committing crimes. and what he did was he got himself into the point where he had to resist arrest and he died as a result of that. >> harry doesn't believe that director comey should have referenced the garner case, the mike brown case in the same breath as the slaying of the two new york police officers recently. >> i think you have to. they're all part of the same equation part of the same moment part of why there was so much tension in the air. it was as a response to what happened in ferguson and what happened with eric garner. all their lives and bodies matter but the reason the black lives matter notion has been articulated so strongly in the last few months is because of what we've seen with law enforcement. >> we've seen law enforcement acting properly. >> if you're using the premise -- >> don't the facts matter? >> of course they do. >> if the facts really matter

and the facts mattered in these two cases here where the officers acted completely properly -- >> that remains to be seen. first of all, the fact you had a grand jury which functioned much more like a trial if we talk about ferguson than it did a normal grand jury you agree that's not a traditional grand jury proceeding right? >> i don't know how they do things in ferguson. i'm a retired new york city cop. the laws are different in every state. >> nearly no state does a police officer come and defend himself and jump on the witness stand in a grand jury. >> but he can do that. >> i'm not saying he can't, but -- >> that is one of his rights though. you're saying should that aufls ber denied that right? >> what we're saying is there might be a different set of circumstances there that occurs normally. just like when mike brown's body is laying on the ground for 4 1/2 hours, that's an unusual circumstance. even the police chief apologized for that. >> it happens in new york all the time. evidence scenes and homicides. the body stays there for hours. >> without medical attention,

body covering people standing around? >> of course the body is covered and the person is pronounced dead yes, by ems. >> unusual circumstances in these cases. >> they weren't really. to you maybe, yeah but to the normal police officer who works in the streets of some big city br you've got so much crime going on you can't get crime scene to respond for like eight hours, can't get, you know, the ems will respond right away declare somebody dead you know, if a police officer is involved in a shooting and the guy's dead they still handcuff him. that's procedures. cover the body. that body might be out there for hours. >> gentlemen, i feel like michael buffer. you get the final word. unfortunately, i'm going to have to call time. go ahead. >> i think this conversation is exactly the problem. if we come in from the attitude that we're right and the people who disagree are wrong or the community is wrong, we'll continue to have these types of antagonisms. we need different conversations but we can't use code words like bias and mental shortcomings. >> racism. >> i credit comey for beginning

this conversation. i'd rather have the dialogue on national television than barrooms across america because i think it's healthy. >> dialogue is always good. >> so are barrooms. >> mark lamont hill and harry howe thank you both. coming up kayla mueller's death is a sobering reminder of the dangers many humanitarian aid workers face overseas. isle talk to a woman who met kayla before she entered syria. she'll tell us about her impressions and why she thinks she may have been too inexperienced for job. ♪ music ♪ ...the getaway vehicle! for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this.

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we're learning more about the exhaustive and daring efforts to rescue american aid worker kayla mueller from isis. president obama said enormous resources were used to try and rescue the 26-year-old, efforts that ultimately failed. someone who met kayla mueller on the turkish syrian border before she entered syria is janine degiovanni a middle east editor for "newsweek" and joins me from paris. as you noted, kayla ha a heart of gold, a wonderful humanitarian spirit. but as the outcome tells us you can't just get on a plane and go render assistance. >> reporter: absolutely. i'm speaking from someone that's worked in war zones for more than 20 years, and while i think everything she did but well meaning and her heart was huge and what she was doing was extremely admirable, you can't just turn up in a war zone without having certain qualifications without having

some experience under your belt without having -- in my case i strongly believe young journalists and humanitarian workers should have war insurance, the proper equipment, kevlar flak jacket helmets, some emergency first aid training. she was very young, very innocent very well intentioned, but syria is not the place for young journalists and young freelance humanitarian workers, which is what she was, to go and to try to cut their teeth. it's simply too brutal a war. and i've gone through many wars. it's one of the worst. >> what is it about your exchange with her in 2013 on the syrian border before she entered syria that caused such concern in your mind for her? what specifically was the exchange or what was the experience that took place? >> reporter: i was working on a very long project on rape inside syria on both sides of the

conflict, from both the outside regime side and from the opposition side. so i'd been working on this project for quite some time with a photographer and we had spent a lot of time on the ground there. the syrian conflict is extremely complex. the political situation, the various factions fighting. at that time we were seeing the emergence of armed opposition groups. it was very very dangerous. our friends were getting kidnapped, were getting held hostage. she arrived at a place where i was interviewing women, victims who had been sexually abued in more or less a kind of safe house, and she was brought along with a mutual friend a syrian activist a well-respected syrian activist and i thought that she was incredibly spirited and bright and well meaning but that she didn't really know or understand what syria was, what

the war was, the background of it putting it into context with the rest of the middle east which is of course extremely important, putting it into context with past conflicts in the region weather the iraq war, with the borders, the fluid borders, with the rise of the armed factions. so i have to say, and i'm being very honest here i walked away from that concerned, very concerned. and i was shocked and horrified and saddened when i learned that she had been taken after that but i have to say it wasn't -- it wasn't -- it just seemed as though she was someone that maybe shouldn't have been there. and i say that with all great diplomacy and all respect to her parents and her family because i just can't imagine the pain that they're suffering. but i think that what i am trying to avoid with other journalists is trying to set

standards of safety practices so that there's not a rush to the border of people who want to be humanitarian workers, who want to save the world, without actually knowing the dangers involved. >> we have just 30 seconds left but i want to ask you, do you worry that other young humanitarian workers following the story and despite its outcome will seek to follow in her steps without the requisite street smarts and experience? >> absolutely. that's why i'm talking to you. i think that when humanitarian workers work for the u.n. or doctors without borders or norwegian refugee council or any other organization they get proper training. they're not sent there theet completely in the dark. i'm very afraid of young journalists seeing this and thinking it's glamorous or young people who want to be humanitarian workers, and it's just not the war to start in. >> janine di giovanni thank you so much. coming up the brian

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nowhere near done those ominous words from nbc on the network's sbeshl investigation into anchor brian williams' statements on range of issues and now there are still more red flags regarding stories williams told about the iraq war.

perhaps most controversial right now, williams claims about his purportedly tight relationship with the highly secretive men of s.e.a.l. team six. in an interview on "the late show" with david letterman in 2014 williams talked about receiving a gift from one of the s.e.a.l.s after the raid on osama bin laden's compound. >> about six weeks after the bin laden raid i got a white envelope and in it was a thank-you note unsigned and attached to it was a piece of the fuselage, the fuselage from the blown-up black hawk in that courtyard. and i don't know how many pieces survived. >> wow. september to you by one of the -- >> yeah one of my friend. >> but his friendship is being questioned by members of the special operations community and could be one of the things an internal nbc investigation is focusing on. williams certainly has his fair share of critic but some are thinking the longtime newsman deserves a break.

join meganow is "time" magazine columnist and author of one of my favorite books ever "primary color," joe kleine. thanks for being here. >> thanks. >> when the williams story first broke you wrote for "time" the following word "in the end i find the phenomenon of the schadenfreude circus that has erupted to be overwrought and unnecessarily brutal." do you still feel that way? there have been additional revelations since you wrote those words. >> i've been writing about this for about 30 35 years now. we have become very adept at which hunts. and driving people out of politics and now driving people out of journalism. and i think that, you know in brian's case there may be a pattern here which would make it impossible for him to continue as an anchor but there's a bloodlust that happens anytime one of these things comes up weather a politician or with a journalist. >> so what now determines his

fate? is it an assessment of credibility? is it to see what happens to the ratings in the ensuing weeks and months? or do you think his fate has already been determined and we just don't know it? >> well it may already have been determined. it's going to be tougher for him to come back i suspect the only way to get through it is to put your head down and work. and they have essentially deprived brian williams of the possibility of doing that for the next six months. >> joe, here's something else i don't get. you also wrote for "time" and the judgments, you refer to the judgments about whether williams should be fired coming from pundits who have never seen the inside of a chinook helicopter. you said that self-righteous and gagging. brian williams has seen the inside of a chinook helicopter multiple times, and what i don't understand was the need for embellishment where the underlying story had merit. >> first of all, he reported the real story when it happened. it's only afterward in his own mind that he began to exaggerate it. you know i know from my own

experiences and war zones that there are weird things that happen and you tend to embellish them over the years. but it's a natural tendency especially among ego-deprived people like brian williams and me and anybody else who sticks their face on the camera. you know there's a tendency to self-aggrandize. and he made a bad mistake. >> jon stewart announced this week as you know he'll be leaving his current role. i was wondering as i saw the juxtaposition of those two stories, i was wondering if brian williams' pursuit of acceptance by entertainment journalists like jon stewart, like david letterman kind of set him up for the fall insofar as to go on those shows with regularity you've got to be prepared to bring it to have a good story, to be entertaining. do you see it that way? >> nope. i really don't, michael. what i see is that brian williams -- you know, i've known

the guy for like 20, 25 years, youed to be on local tv with him here in new york, and he is a naturally funny dude. he's a very funny guy. and i think that that's why he drifted in that direction. you know i also think that -- and it's really interesting that jon stewart is a very serious guy who is doing humor on tv. >> with regard to brian williams is there any culpability on the part of nbc? and i ask that joe, because as stories come out, it seems like there was knowledge of different embellishments in the past. shouldn't someone have been tallying them and reining him in from the employer standpoint? >> well, if those stories existed. i'm just not sure that they are. there are all kinds of allegations, but certainly none of us not even brian williams is bigger than the job that he holds. he has bosses or should have

bosses and should have editors. thank god i have editors. and you know that's their job. but there's just too much fun involved in these things and they're tragedies. there are an awful lot of people who love to take the potshots who love to condemn people for lying or this or that or the other thing. and i think that in the course of that we have to be careful not to lose some of our most important journalistic and political assets because no one's perfect, and, in fact i would prefer to vote for someone who had been caught messing around, you know who had a drinking problem, who maybe lied a lot. i think that we really have to celebrate our flaws as well as our strengths and recognize them. >> two reactions to that, if i may. one, social media makes easier the bad behavior that you've

just referenced because now you can just sit back say something nasty, and touch the send key. on the bright side we do have that characteristic of hoping to see someone fall and it's terrible but we also like to see them get back up. that's the american way. so maybe there's a tomorrow for him. >> i certainly hope so because, you know he spent a lifetime doing i believe really excellent journalism and taking risks with his life taking risks with his life. and that's why i don't like the people who just sit back and stroke their chins and say, well, you know we have a moral problem here when they've never been out there risking it all for the story. >> joe klein, thank you as always. >> my best. the clock is ticking in eastern ukraine on a cease-fire between prorussian separatis and ukrainian government forces. it marks a major turnaround for russian president vladimir putin who's always denied my

involvement in the conflict and he's certainly never one to back down. what's behind the change?

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breaking news. one of the world's bloodiest wars could end today. i refer of course to the declaration of a cease-fire in ukraine where russian separatists have been fighting to grab back part of ukraine and return it to mother russia. for months vladimir putin has

ignored the world's pleas to leave ukraine alone. but this week he agreed it should stop. but there has been fighting in the final hours leading up to the deadline. in the last 24 hours seven ukrainian soldiers have been killed and dozens more wounded. senior international correspondent nick paton walsh joins us from eastern ukraine with the latest. nick did vladimir putin capitulate, and if so why? >> reporter: we're not seeing any real sign of either side capitulating at this stage. we have as you pointed out, two sides of separatists who are trying to hack off part of ukraine and return it to mother russia and create their own self-declared public here. as the hours edge toward midnight when the guns should fall silent things are precarious. the separatist say they will cease-fire at that time under the agreement. there are two confusing elements here, a report statement from the russian foreign ministry in which they say they believe some of the western signatories to the deal are already beginning

to change the ground upon which it is written upon so suggestions there it may be falling apart. and of course to the northeast of where i'm standing that is still got hundreds if not thousands of ukrainian troops in it that separatists say are surround. it's clear in the eyes of some separatists that it's their territory and those ukrainians should give up and surrender to them. i think that's where many are concerned the fighting could escalate. another issue, the civilian shelling that's been landing in the city behind me and on the ukrainian government-controlled side as well for the past months that has caused people to be so full of loathing for the other side that the idea of in the eyes of many separatists suddenly putting their arms down and giving up the fight is a long stretch. it could be a very messy night, michael. >> why so much fighting in the buildup to the cease-fire? is it driven by the hatred you've referenced or is it a geographical play for more turf?

>> reporter: as often happens historically in these conflicts, when you have negotiations going on both sides try to improve their position as the talks happen then when a cease-fire is signed particularly of this nature which some say remarkably allowed a good 48 hours left of fighting with heavy weapons before the guns were supposed to fall silent the people would use that period of time in order to grab the land they want and set boundaries they may have to live with for months if not years that they would find most preferable nap's the fear, though that particular technicality in the agreement knocking the cease-fire back 48 hours before the deal was signed that has led to the escalation here and potentially a level of violence which may be hard to suddenly switch off when the clock turns midnight michael. >> from eastern ukraine, thank you, nick paton walsh.

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thanks for joining me. don't forget you can follow me on twitter if you can spell smerconish. see you next week. good evening. you are in the "cnn newsroom." i'm jim acosta in washington in for poppy harlow tonight. we're learning new information about a deadly terrorist attack in denmark. authorities now believe there was only one gunman in that rampage. witnesses say they heard 30 to 40 bullets fired during a free-speech event in copenhagen. a 40-year-old man was struck and killed three police officers wounded. the possible target of today's attack cartoonist lars bilks. he's faced death threats before for his portrayals of the prophet muhammad. this is the man police are looking for, and this is the car they believe was used in hi getaway.