me. that's all for today. until next time, i hope you're learning to be more of a healthy you. this is a fox news alert. president obama speaking out today about efforts to free thousands of religious refugees trapped in northern iraq. hello. i'm arthel neville. welcome to america's news headquarters. the president calling u.s. air strikes there a success but telling reporters that ultimately, this is not a problem the american military can solve. we have live team coverage of today's events. doug mcelway is in washington. we'll begin with foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler traveling with the president on martha's vineyard. so wendell, the president seemed to prepare the american people for the mission. tell us a little bit more about that. >> well, for a long time, he

said it won't be done in a matter of weeks which probably left a bad taste in his mouth because he didn't want the mission at all. before leaving for his two-week vacation here, mr. obama called the leaders of the uk, germany and france about joining the humantarian effort and in a brief a session on the south lawn he, they said he should have left troops in iraq. he said it would have undermined nel residual force he might have left. >> if they had done all those things and we had had troops there, the country wouldn't be holding together either. the only difference would be we'd have a bunch of troops on the ground that would be vulnerable. and however many troops we had, we would have to now be reinforcing, i'd have to be protecting them and we'd have a much bigger job. >> the president said his focus now is protecting the u.s. consulate in erbil and creating a corridor to get the refugees

off sinjar mountain. >> wendell, i understand, yet there are republican critics saying that the president bears some responsibility for this current crisis. is that so? >> yes, and not just for not leaving u.s. troops in iraq but for not seeing the threat posed by the islamic state in iraq and syria. they say he could have provided arms to some of the rebels in syria and dealt with isis there, though administration officials say the syrian rebel included some pretty bad actors including sifs and there was no government for the u.s. to work with in syria. general bob scales however says we lost an opportunity. >> they've gone from disparate groups of isolated terrorists sort of individuals fighting on their own into a' -- into a cohesive coordinated well led, well equipped well funded and well trained organization. >> general scales calls the two limited attacks the u.s. has

conducted so far on isis pin pricks. >> wendell, thank you very much. we'll turn now to air strikes and new rounds of humanitarian aid from the u.s. in attempts to help the thousands of helpless refugees trying to escape from the extremist offensive there in iraq. now we have more from d.c. with more on this escalating crisis. doug? >> the president finds himself in a crisis he did not want, a military return to iraq, a crisis with short and long-term implications. in the short-term, there is the need to resupply the religious minority trapped on mountain sinjar. those dropses are continued today. the president said the more complicated issue is finding them safe passage through the mountains. air strikes also continued today carried out by predator drones and super hornets launched from the carrier george h.w. bush targeting convoys, isis forces, artillery and mortar positions. holding isis at bay in iraq is a

short-term concern. they already have acquired strategic components of the iraqi infrastructure like iraq's largest dam. >> okay. not only have they acquired this dam and there's another one that they may also be acquiring, is they've announced remember the flood with noaa? we can do that. we can flood the entire region and drown everybody in sight. so not only is there a sort of military threat that they could kill a lot of civilians and people, but it's also, if you control water in that part of the world, you control life. >> they have very effective professional sophisticated planners and strategists. they know how to move money. they know how to get money. they have the resources in that regard. >> for example, isis controls oil fields. in fact, it supplies the syrian government with much of its oil requirements at great profit. and perhaps of most concern, among isis fighters are hundreds of american and european citizens, passport holders who can move freely between iraq and the west. perfect agents to carry out

attacks on the west that intelligence analysts know isis to be planning. back to you. >> doug, thank you very much. meanwhile, israeli air strikes pounding targets across gaza, one of themmal killing at least two hamas members at i an mosque. the two sides resumed attacks yesterday shortly after a three-day cease fire ended. palestinian officials say the air strikes hit houses, mosques, and hamas warehouses and training sites. meanwhile, tens of thousands of people taking to the streets of london protesting against israel's air strikes. this comes as britain's disaster emergency committee says a donation campaign for palestinians in gaza has raised nearly $8 million in less than 24 hours. ukraine army troops surrounding the largest rebel-held city in the country. and a top separate leader now says his forces are willing to accept a cease-fire in donetsk.

to avoid "humanitarian catastrophe." at least one person was killed and 1 others hurt today in the fighting. locals say the situation is getting worse by the hour. so far, no response from the ukrainian government. and back at home, two americans infected with the ebola sirs showing signs of progress. dr. kent brantly says he is getting stronger every day. and the husband of nancy writebol says her condition seems to be improving. the two were working at a missionary clinic in the african nation of liberia. the u.n. health agency says the deadly virus has killed more than 950 people in west africa since march. leah gabriel is live in our new york city newsroom with the latest. >> well, we've just learned another person has died from ebola. this time a nun from the congo working in liberia. as for the two americans, dr. kent brantly says he's getting the best care possible at emory university hospital. he's now sharing how he

responded with faith when he found out he had the disease. yesterday he sent a statement from his isolation room saying "when the result was positive, i remember a deep sense of peace that was beyond all understanding." god was reminding me of what he had taught me years ago, that he will give me everything i need to be faithful to him. nancy writebol is also being treated in isolation at the same hospital. her husband who is still in liberia waiting to make sure he's not infected told reporters he's happy and relieved his wife is getting the care she needs. his sons were able to see her and reported her memory seems to be intact. city describes first learning when she was sick. >> that's a hard bit of news for anybody to receive. and you know, you just cannot prepare yourself as to how you're reacting. you know, i knew that ebola was a very serious illness and that those who were afflicted with that and infected, that they

will were facing a death sentence and there were very few that would survive. >> the cdc's director went on the record to talk about stopping the disease. >> find the patients. respond to the patients by finding their contacts. track the contacts for 21 days. make sure they're isolated if they're sick, improve infection control in hospitals and burial practices for patient who's die from ebola. when we do that, we can stop the outbreak. >> according to the cdc, this case of ebola kills 55 to 60% of people it infects. >> lea, thank you very much for that report. big problems for gm as a judge hands down a new ruling that could cost the automaker big-time involving the tragic case that helped set in motion the recall of more than 2 million cars. plus, what the senate failed to do that's now leaving american border states and law

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time for a quick check of headlines. today a georgia judge rejected a decision to dismiss a lawsuit between general motors and the family of brook melton killed in 2010 after losing control of her chevy cobalt when the car's ignition switch failed. the judge set a trail date for april, 2016. a sigh of eroo leaf for hawaii as hurricane julio is now expected to pass about 160 miles northeast of the islands. this after tropical storm issel hit the aloha state yesterday,

knocking down power lines and trees but the storm did not cause any major damage or injuries. and a s.w.a.t. team in eastern texas rescuing a kidnapped toler from an armed man. the suspect was sitting in a car holding the 2-year-old girl he spoke with hostage negotiators. the child was unharmed and the man taken into custody. well, the senate this week blocking a pair of house border security bills before going on vacation. leaving border patrol and states without any additional help to deal with the growing number of minors pouring across our southern border. joining me now to talk about this is the chief congressional correspondent for the washington examiner. good to see you. >> hi, arthel. >> first i want you to talk about what was in those house bills and what they were designed to do and then tell us if you think that they didn't pass because of policy or

politics. >> well, a little bit of both. the house bill written by republicans less than $1 billion, it put in place additional border security. it included some humanitarian aid but it also included $35 million to allow governors to spend their own money to send national guard to the border. so there are some controversial elements to it. it also changed the 2008 deportation law that would allow the u.s. to speed up deportations of some of these minors who are crossing the border. that was the house. senate had their own bill, they didn't pass anything. it was $2.7 billion. it did not make the change to the 2008 law. it did not include money to allow governors to accepted the national guard to the border. two very different bills. senate bill included an awful lat for humanitarian, aid $.2 billion. there are a lot of republicans who thought that's too much money to give to hhs for this

purpose. we should be focusing on border security and things that will stop people from coming over the border. the house had a second bill, and that bill would take away funding for the president to expand a program that now currently allows young people who came here as children to avoid deportation for a couple years and to acquire work permits. so there were two things going with the house. the senate had one bill. they didn't take it up at all whereas the house passed both measures. >> i'm going to get back to the work permits in a moment. i want to talking about and ask you, do you think there's going to come a time when ultimately, the inaction of both sides of the aisle by congress for varying reasons towards the illegal immigration crisis that's bubbling on our borders, do you think it's going to hit the political parties where it hurts and that is at the voting booth? >> well, it well could because people may see this as a crisis that's not being handled by anybody that the president has done nothing to stop these

migrants from surging at the border, that the house and senate haven't been able to agree on a plan to fix it. you already look at congressional approval ratings whoever near single digits. i think something liking this could clearly hurt it. if it looks like an out of control situation. however, if congress passes something and americans perceive it as hurting the situation or making the situation worse, or spending too much money for a problem they feel like americans shouldn't be paying for, that could backfire also. i will point out poll numbers show people are not paying attention to this border issue, even among hispanic voters only about a third of voters are really looking at this as an important issue. so congress could get away with doing nothing by the election and have it not become a big issue for them. >> as you know, president obama said he planned to act unilaterally to deal with the border crisis because of the inaction of congress. is it imminent getting back to the idea the president might

sign an exective order that would give permits to millions of illegal oo immigrants. >> right. everybody is focused what action the president will take this summer. there's been talk of something by the end of this month that would potentially expand the current deportation situation where people come here as children but are under a certain age, they came illegally and allowed to stay a couple years and obtained work permits. the president may expand that including family members and others who's wouldn't normally fit under the first category he signed into law in 2012. there's also talk by immigration rights groups to expand this to include all the people who may have been affected had congress passed the immigration reform law that the senate passed. now, that would have affected millions more people and given them a path to citizenship. there's some talk the president may do something to affect even a wider group of people but nobody really knows.

i think the president is calculating this as a potential political risk for him if he goes too far and if he doesn't go far enough. so he's in a tough spot. >> you know what? i understand everything you're saying. and then again i don't because it's kind of confusings, quite frankly. susan, i do appreciate your time. i have to run though. thanks. i'll see you again. well, humanitarian crisis is worsening in northern iraq. tens of thousands of christians now trying desperately to escape from the militant group isis. >> grotesque targeted acts of violence show all the warning signs of genocide. for anyone who needed a wake-up call, this is it. factors like n negatively impact good bacteria?

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isis militants committing atrocities against tens of thousands of christians against northern iraq. now, religious leaders say the persecution has become a genocide. the u.s. military is conducting air strikes and air drops of food and water. many saying, now it's not enough to deal with the mounting crisis. joining me now, ambassador dennis ross. he's a counselor at the washington institute. good to see you em bass dor. >> thank you. >> we'll start with the humanitarian air drop. is it enough? >> the numbers of people stranded is huge. what we are doing is important. the british said they will do something as well. i don't think the u.s. by itself can do enough. i hope the british join us soon. the effort is important.

>> and france, joining as well. i understand they reportedly started their humanitarian air drops earlier today. let me talk on the global and broader picture here. are we witnessing a worldwide attack on christians? >> well, we are certainly witnessing an attack on christians and i would say other minorities throughout the middle east. that's what isis represents. they basically declared war on christians, but they have declared war on all minorities. the ya si di-'s on mount sinjar, they are basically at the mercy, they fled with all they had, the clothes on their back. it's all minorities in the middle east that isis rejects. basically, they reject us. they want to fight the united states and what we represent. >> why does it seem so prevalent

now, or has it been going on at this level and we haven't been paying attention? >> i think they weren't so prominent. isis wasn't so prominent. they seem to be riding a wave of success. they are a movement that depends upon creating an aura of inevidentibility. the more they look like they are succeeding, the more they gain additional recruits. it's important they suffer setbacks. they have an ideology that depends on conveying they are succeeding. the more we demonstrate they are losing, the more it attracts followers at all. >> what can be done to stop this? who should be leading the crew said? >> well, i think we probably don't want to refer to it as a

crusade. if you look at what al qaeda represents, they say it's a war on islam. it's not a war on islam. what we are seeing now in isis, an offshoot of al qaeda, they represent the war on islam. we should be mobilizing the world to deal with this threat and all threats for any religious minority or intolerance. what we don't need to see is more and more religious intolerance we are seeing, not only in the middle east, but elsewhere. >> everything you are talking about, ambassador, you are saying we don't want to give the isis militants more progression and able to recruit more fanatics. how does the u.s. move forward from this point? >> the most important thing is, we need to insure the kurds are able to fight isis. the kurds created the one place

in iraq that works. it's tolerance from a political standpoint. it is representative in terms of who is governing. they are prepared to fight on their own. they don't need to be encouraged to fight, but they need the means to fight. they were outgunned. the fact we carried out air strikes against the heavy weapons that isis was firing on erbil was important. the other important thing is to provide the means and arms for the kurds to fight for themselves. we have a government that doesn't work. maybe if we get a new prime minister, things will change. >> thank you very much. that does it for me. i'm back in an hour at the top of the hoyer. john is up next. gap will close when healthcare changes. when frustration and paperwork decrease. when healthcare becomes simpler. so let's do it.

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what does what does it take to police america? >> we heard banging and screaming on the door. >> he was there with an assault rifle. >> some americans are mad and pushing back. >> what are you places me under arrest for? >> some are upset the government spies on them. >> what you do on your cell phone is none of their damn business. >> after all, today everyone can spy on anyone. >> that was cool until it started taking pictures of my wife over there. >> i could do it if i control the drone. >> the police. >> you are lo