and there's actually somebody here whose name has been called, behind the scenes, jen roche is going to do it. are you going to do it, jen? >> of course she'll do it. >> i have the confirmation, we're out of time. martha: the obama administration proad siding weapons to kurdish forces in the north. good morning. i'm martha maccallum. >> reporter: according to senior officials the 1-2 punch of airstrikes and weapons could help gain ground against those terrorists. martha: some believe president obama is still underestimating the longer-term threat to the united states. >> you have never spoken to the american people from the threat

we face from being attacked from syria and now iraq. what is your strategy to stop these people from attacking the homeland that express a desire to do so. no political conciliation in baghdad is going to protect the homeland. that has to be a commander-in-chief with a strategy and a vision. eric: we protected the kurds before, now we are providing weapons? >> reporter: the administration has begun providing weapons to the kurds. it's not clear what agency is doing that. the pentagon says it is not. historically the cia has done such transfers. there are reports that the administration is already providing arms to the kurd.

but dissen to what the acting representative of the kurdistan government told bret baier on friday night's special report. >> to this point we have not received any up s. military equipment, any. and this is where the isis has been able to advance. the peshmerga force and equipment are from the days we fought a zam hussein and it's obsolete. today isis has the american-made equipment in their hand, very statistical and accurate. eric: until not you isis islamic terrorists has had victory off victory. >> reporter: whether this is

attributable to the weapons reaching the kurd we don't know. but a senior official says his forces are retaken two towns from the sunni militants. it marks the first time the kurdish fighters known as peshmerga have had u.s. weapons. martha: will these weapons and airstrikes be enough to stop isis. george stephanopoulos over the weekend wassed told eventually there will need to be boots on ought ground. >> it will be difficult without ground forces and others -- they may be willing to participate, but it centers around -- the president is right. there has got to be a responsible government in baghdad to which a future iraqi

army can be loyal. martha: general jack keane is the chief -- the former chief of the army. do you awe agree with carter ham? do there need to be boots on the ground to maintain any gains we are making right now? >> the air strikes are meant to protect irbil and mount sinjar where the refugees are. isis are conducting six attacks in iraq as we speak. three north of baghdad and one south. it demonstrates their initiative and freedom of movement. to take that away from them the president has to order the military to conduct offensive air strikes to stop isis in you will pell locations.

to defeat them and push them back from current locations and push them into syria we would need to $support ground forces. though would be peshmerga, remnants of the iraqi yairm that still has the will to fight and some of the sunni tribes turning against isis. but also an air campaign must be launched where the logistical infrastructure of isis is. martha: that's where the rubber meets the road. whether the goal is to have success against this isis group. and protecting a way of escape from the mountain in northern iraq. so those are the two stated goals. once you achieve those goals you need time to maintain the security in those two areas and ultimately you said for a very long time you need to support the right group in syria.

you still believe that. >> the free syrian armory recommended to the obama admin surprised robustly arm and train them. he rejected that. that's the only force that's are fought isis in syria. that was a huge mistake on the part of the president. the mistake he's making here, the focus should be on isis. secondary focus is on the political reconciliation in iraq. this is a major security crisis we are facing. we should focus on that. martha: just a moment ago wail we were talking this news crossing the wires from the associated press. iraq's president named a deputy government speaker affirming thattal ma'am ski has no

intentions of leaving. he's coming out of maliki's party. so maliki's political party that won the election but not enough to seat a government is rejecting him. ali al-sistani is supporting a new government. even more interesting is the iranians have come out in supporting ali al-sistani. so maliki has no support whatever. how, he moved into the green zone as a show of support. he's defiant. if he chooses to day in power, the on way he can day is by using violence, and that will put iraq into considerably more chaos than it is right now. martha: thank you very much. we'll see you next time.

>> reporter: police are investigating that horrible tragedy on the racetrack in new york. the horrifying incidents was caught on tape. sadly the 20-year-old ward was struck and killed seconds later. right now investigators say stuart is cooperating and they say there is no sign of criminal intent on his part. for the latest, let's go to laura engel. reporter: race fans are til in shock or what took place this weekend. the holt thing captured on amateur video. you can see kevin ward, jr.'s

car being bumped into a wall. then he defiantly walks on to the track waiting for tony the stuart to come around the track to confront him. seconds later he's hit. we freezed that for you so you don't have to see the whole thing. >> with the increase of speed and i look to the point where kevin was walking and tony stuart's vehicle oner sect, basically what i saw was tony stuart's vehicle go by and kevin wasn't there anymore. he was gone. >> reporter: stuart was questioned saturday night then an begun day. stuart was have iably shaken after the crash and is said to be cooperating. eric: what charge could he face?

roorpt * stewart could potentially face criminal negligent homicide. a contributing factor would be if stewart was reckless or neglect glenlt his conduct. stuart released this statement. there aren't word to express the sadness i feel over the keith of kevin ward, jr. the younger race car driver and the veteran champion had a significant rivalry. other drivers say they but thed head in previous races. the ward family says it appreciates all the prayers. it's still ongoing. eric: it's so sad and so horrible. martha: legal questions and questions for the sport as well. we'll talk to jim gray a little while from now. the shooting of a black teenager

sparking protests that have turned violent. that was the beginning and then it turned into this. take a look at these scenes as looting began. the latest in the riots in a suburb of st. louis. eric: the republican general saying the president dropped the ball and did not do enough about isis. earlier in the year he called them the jv. is it fair to criticize the commandecommander-in-chief. martha: hundreds of people stuck high in the air for five hours. >> we are strapping the individual one car at a time. then we are going to manually

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some in prison for rape and murder. one-third of those who escaped, 34 of the up mates have since been captured. he has no strategy, he has no vision. this is a situation where he knows better than everybody else. he was told you should get engaged in syria three years ago. he said no. his military commander said you should leave troops in iraq as an understand policy and he said no. martha: lindsey graham slamming the president on his policy on iraq. the president admitting he underestimate these militants. we have the former director of the republican party and the former director for jon corzine.

he says the president has no strategy and no vision. >> i think criticism of a president for foreign policy is fair. it happens for every president, particularly the right wing for this president. but what's unfair is only criticizing without any real answers. let's not forget the president's actions this weekend at the home seem to be working. the kurds have pushed back isis in two cities in iraq. and, you know, the horrible situation on mount season gentleman we have been able to bring in relief supplies and open up an escape route. there is going to be criticism on the left and the right. what republicans can't do is just criticize over and overagain. martha: this situation has been

going on for three years. and to say you are surprised by it or the intelligence you were given gave you an unclear picture of it some people feel is disingenuous. but laura ingrahm who has not been a huge cheerleader for this president to say the least, said this over the weekend. >> i think it's hard. i don't think how he did right now. we are almost in an impossible situation. the american people have no appetite for america to reengage. they didn't want us to go into syria. obama wanted to go into syria. the american people said no, the british people said no. after iraq and afghanistan our own country, the middle class struggling. what are we going to do? what are we going accomplish? >> it's a danger when you start citing your public opinion for your reason on foreign policy. you mentioned obama's foreign

policy and the challenges. and he doesn't seam to really have one. we can blame it iraqis or president bush. barack obama at some point has to take responsibility for pulling us out of iraq, leaving us in a situation that left the iraqis vulnerable and has created a cauldron that is blowing up on us and is forcing us to reengage. i think to cite public opinion on that is the wrong direction to go. >> there is a point at which you say, i have to be guide solely by public opinion. and the president was elected in large part because he said he would get us out of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. but at some point the president has to say here is where i'm leading in the us because ... and has to make the case to the american people and say this is the situation on the ground because ultimately what matters

is the outcome. so if isis is quelled, if they are pushed back, if they are december mated by the actions that we take, ultimately won't the american people say that that was a good:move and they are glad the president took them in that direction? >> i think so. the notion that laura ingrahm cited the polls. what he said over and over again is we should have limited action where there are direct u.s. interests. the action they took friday was in relation to the consulate in the kurdish region. in the end if things go well in this thanks the public opinion will follow. but this president has never said he's guided by public opinion or the polls. he made promises based on what he thought was right in political campaigns and in two presidential campaigns the american people agreed with him. martha: what happens when you

leave and there is no status of forces agreement. and afghanistan could turn into the same situation. if you are isis and looking what we have done in afghanistan, they are saying now we have taken a huge bite out of iraq and syria, afghanistan is looking good to us as well. >> that's the bigger issue here. public opinion shifts based on presidential leadership. this president doesn't want to engage in foreign tea fairs. he wants to be a domestic president. and as you said he campaigned on getting us out of iraq. that's clearly the wrong decision. now we have other parts of the world that are a similar situation they are having. to blame the intelligence community. our failure in the intelligence community comes from pulling everybody out of iraq. martha: we are up against a hard break. >> the notion that he doesn't

want to engage in foreign affairs is absurd. >> he proved it time and again. eric: coming up, some bizarre weather interrupting a day of fun at the park. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. honey, you did it! baby laughs! chances are we're already there. or what you want to do,

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martha: a wild ride turned into a wild rescue scene. people were stranded for five hours. the ride takes passengers from 0-60 in 3 seconds, but then it takes you five hours to get off. several cars suddenly stopped 75 feet off the ground. firefighters delivered food and water and umbrellas for sun protection. then they were lifted to safety one by one.

eric: a prayer vigil to protest the killing of an unarmed black teenager by police. rioting erupted in st. louis. protesters took to the streets looting and smashing windows. mike, you wouldn't think this was a place whereration techs would spill into d whereration tensiowhere racial tensions would turn into violence. >> reporter: . the demonstration spilled out into the street. demonstrators vandalized cars, blocked traffic and taunted police officers. >> youal got his blood on your hand. >> reporter: another demonstration is planned in two

hours. benjamin crump says he's been hired to represent the family of michael brown. and the fbi has gotten involved. it's standard protocol for federal involvement when there is the allegation civil rights have been violated. eric: what is the police department saying about this? >> reporter: the ferguson police department is pretty small so they let the county police take the lead on this. but they haven't said why the youngs plan men were stopped. -- where the young black men were stopped. but the officer was pushed back into his car. >> he was pushed back into the car where he physically assaulted the police officer. it's our understanding within the police car there was a

struggle or the officer's weapon. there was at least one shot fired within the car. >> reporter: he said brown was initially shot and then shot a couple more times. the entire shooting scene was contained to 35 feet and the ethnicity of the officer involved in the shooting has not been released. martha: the racing world is reeling from a tragedy involving a top star. a young driver killed after storming on to the tracks to confront a pro who has a reputation for being a hothead. eric: the isis militants. its leader vows to hit america next. can they? how isis compared to al qaeda

and the terror threat some fear we face at home. >> we see this coming. for the president to say we are doing airstrikes and not anything else. we are not going to use american combat troops. we are not going to do this, we are not going to do that. what kind of leadership is that.

martha: there is a new three-day ceasefire between israel and hamas. it's clearing the way for talks for a long-term truce. but this one took effect both sides let off a barrage of bombs and rockets. conor powell is live on the border. will this ceasefire have a chance of sticking? >> reporter: both sides are involved in this ceasefire. the first ceasefires failed in

the first few minutes or few hours. we are days into this ceasefire. so far it's holding. the u.n. said 500,000 people are homeless in gaza with a quarter million people living in shelters. with this three-day truce much-needed aid is pouring into gaza. water and power remaining, there is sewage draining into the mediterranean. this ceasefire has allowed negotiators to begin talking in cairo. the hope is a more permanent ceasefire can be had. marthahad.both side are trying to find a way to climb victory during this month-long conflict. there is a lot of damage done not on to property and loss of

life but also to the economies of gaza and israel. both sides need to be able to claim victory. israel is demanding hamas rockets are silenced permanently. there seems to be some type of rough agreement the blockade could be lifted. gaza has international monitors to make sure gaza doesn't regroup or rearm. israel doesn't trust hamas. hamas doesn't trust egypt. but both sides are saying this conflict just simply can't continue. this is the third time in five years we have seen war here and neither side is winning. there is a will the of hope this is the chance, this is the opportunity for a permanent and concrete agreement to be reached. martha: connor, thank you very

much. eric: the isis islamist terrorist group killing christian minorities as it tries to turn it into an islamic state. the up s. stepping up airstrikes to try and stop them. but critics say it's not enough. many worry the group is as powerful as died was before 9/11 and they fear isis could hit us right here on american soil. among those with that blunt and stark warning is republican congressman peter king. >> of day that goes by isis build up this caliphate and it becomes a direct threat to the united states of america. they are more powerful than al qaeda was on 9/11. eric: can isis strike us in it's

chilling to hear peter king say isis is more powerful than al qaeda. >> i think he's right. who have we fought. taliban, al qaeda and now isis in iraq. at the most they wanted to run afghanistan, maybe pakistan in their own 14th seasontureleyy kind of way. al qaeda we fought them but what are they trying to do? terrorist acts. but they are not looking to have a bigger run the world agenda. isis does. it's the on one of these territories that we fought that wants to control territory. they want to be a nation state. they are calling themselves the caliphate, the nation state. they have controlled large parts of syria and iraq. they want to spread through the entire region.

they have said jordan and lebanon are next. they want all the resources of a wealthy nation state, oil, military and they want to take over the world and they will kill anyone in their way. they will behead christian priests and mongs. christians, jews and their own fellow muslims. eric: there are reports of beheading young children and putting their heads on sticks in parks. what's also chilling the leader of the group, we had him in custody in 2004. he's in custody and what does he say to us reportedly? "i'll see if you new york." that a direct threat from the head of isis. do you think they can carry that out? >> they robbed a bang to the tune of half a billion with a "b."

they control the major water sources in iraq. they could flood the entire region. they have taken over oil field. who is going to top them? the kurds are willing to fight, the peshmerga if we would arm them and give them the military equipment to do that. we are do strategic bombing. but if we are smart we don't need a third iraq war. we need to give those countries in the region who have a lot more to fear from isis than we do, give them the tools to fight isis themselves. >> we have isis i am a thesers, is limb i can jihad radicals who they say are european and a u.s. passports who could come here. you think that is a fear. the new york daily news this morning reports that they have arrested at jfk international airport an alleged aim a theser from north carolina from isis. >> there are several hundred

u.s. passport holders. that means they can come to the united states at wilt. and they are experienced street fighters. they know how to do truck bombs. now they are getting the resources necessary to carry out that step. we need to secure the border and get serious about homeland defense and ... eric: do you think it's just a matter of time? >> matter of time and matter of lethality. dirty bomb. martha: the president's foreign policy has come under fire from an unlikely source. this former secretary of state. what hillary clinton is saying about the president's handling of foreign affairs. eric: police say tony stuart is not facing charges in that horrible collision. the investigation is ongoing in

that deadly crash. but it's sending shock waves around the world. >> these are athletes in competitive situations and they are looking to win or do as well as they can. when they feel as if they have been denied that opportunity their emotions can get the best of them. honey bunches of oats!

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eric: a mother who was jogging, her body was found in a park. they accuse her husband. he has been charged with her murder. police say 48-year-old christopher murray was given a lie detector test. they say he failed that test and confessed to killing his wife. she was 46 years old. they had two children. police say his original story didn't add up. martha: investigators are asking for photos or witnesses from the

deadly car crash that killed ken have i ward in upstate new york. we have this video cut in such a way that it doesn't show you the impact. that's the final moment we can show as he walked out into the dirt track and went toward tony stuart's car. police say at the moment it looks like an accident and they have no reason to bring criminal charges but they can't rule out everything at this point. >> reporter: at this very moment there are no facts in hand that would substantiate or support criminal charge or indicate criminal intent on the part of any individual. there are no foregone conclusions made at this point. we are look for any information, any relevant evidence that will help us to come to a final determination as to why this happened. martha: jim gray joins me now, good morning to you. this is quite an event over the

weekend. what do you make of it? >> it's a horrible tragedy. it's very sad. tony stuart to be involved in this. this metropolitan has had a laundry list of incident, fighting other drivers. throwing a helmet at a moving car. accosting a promoter in australia. these cars going at this speed, it's a weapon. they bump each other into the infield and off the wall. it's beyond regrettable and tragic. i'm not sure why ward got out of the car. to confront people when they are driving at these speed is insane. martha: it's my understanding people do this. they get out of cars. part of it is the drama of the sport that these guys confront each other and there is a lot of emotion built into it.

but you have to be careful with this as i know you would be because there is a difference between being a hothead and trying to kill somebody with your car. tony stuart -- let many put up his statement. he said he is grieving. that this is a tragedy. he says there are not word to describe the sadness i feel about the accident that killed kevin ward, jr. but they are going to go over these ... my thoughts and prayers are with his family, friend and everyone affected by this tragedy. you have to be careful to keep those two things separate at this point in this investigation. >> this looks like a horrible tragedy and accident. but you have the to take into account stuart's history. y where is nascar in all this. why has tony stuart never been suspended except for one week over all this bad behavior off the years.

if this was david stern or roger goodell this man would have been out for quite some time. matt kenseth, he threw a helmet at his car and said he will run over him every chance i get. now he runs over a man. i'm sure they will have an investigation. it's a tragedy. it doesn't look like there is any kind of intent here. but a guy who makes these statements put himself under this microscope. martha: we showed the picture of the helmet throwing incident. they have asked for any videos that exist from the fans out there who may have pictures of this because they will have to look at every single angle. as we all know, these guy drive with precision and they know what they are doing out there. and they say it was a fish tail

impact to the back of the car that swept him off the course. but this investigation will go on and on once they get more and more evidence. >> nascar has to take a look at this. why imies are getting out and confronting. why do they let this go on. what is the point? these are pea weapons. you have guys fighting other guys. some of these speeds are incredible that they attain and they push each other into the wall and bump each other. then they get mad. it's road rage at 150 and 200-mile-an-hour. it's total insanity. these guys are making millions after dollars and it seems to be part of the game until something like this happens. that's not part of the game and i'm sure the public will be outraged by this. it's so tragic forward and his family but nascar has to get a

hold on this. we go from a tragic story to a happy one for roy mcilroy. he's 25 years old. he's the first to do that. are we look at the new king of the sport of golf? and is he replacing tiger in that role? >> he's wearing the crown right now. the king is not dead. tiger woods struggled. he had surgery. rory mcilroy joins jack nicklaus and tiger woods. mcilroy has four at age 5. mcilroy himself is tamping down expectations. he says i have got a long, long way to go before i'm either one of those guys.

he has won three tournaments in a row. he's so much fun to watch. he fought back yesterday and had an eagle that put him back in the lead. the great thing for golf yesterday is we saw a compelling, dramatic wonderful finish with rory mcilroy. and phil mickelson finished in second place. it can be dramatic without tiger woods. that's a great thing for golf. martha: it's become really fun to watch the sport and those three guys put in an amazing performance. thanks. great to see you as always. eric: passengers forced to evacuate their airline before they take off. martha: witnesses get out their

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eric: high wind kicking up the dust big time. witnesses took a cell phone. it's called a dust devil. the funnel cloud swirling for about a minute before it fell apart. maria molina in the weather center. we have tornado, hurricanes and tropical storms. now this. >> we had sunshine in new york city and temperatures in the as it. this this brooklyn, new york. it happened over the weekend and

it's called a dust devil. you would think this is a tornado. but a tornado is connected to a cloud. but this is actually associated with fair weather. on sunny days you can get sunshine hitting the ground and that would heat up the ground and cause the heat to rise. there is some rotation. you can see the dust being picked up by the whirlwind of air and the official definition by noaa defines it as a small rotating wind with dirt and dust and debright picks up. it was on the ground for about a minute. and doesn't seem to have caused significant damage. i read someone ran into this thing. a dust devil out of brooklyn, new york.

eric: looks like fun. martha: if it doesn't hurt, fine. eric: would you run into that? martha: yes. here is what we have coming up for you. more u.s. airstrikes in iraq hitting islamic terrorists. the latest news that we are now getting from the pentagon. eric: it was an emotional and heartbreaking video. the children of this american pastor jailed in iran, they are pleading for tehran to free their father. >> i miss him so much. >> i want my daddy to bring plea to disneyland for my birthday. >> i don't want to miss another birthday without him. woman: jimmy, all of these travel sites seem the same.

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northern and western iraq. the obama administration providing heavy weapons to the kurd. this is a huge development. in the meantime baghdad is going through political changes as well as we reported to you. welcome to another hour of "america's newsroom." eric: i'm eric shawn in for bill hemmer today. isis kills christians, and goes after the kurds and other religious minorities. iraq's leaders are struggling to build a new government while fighting off the terrorists at the same time. lindsey graham telling fox news this is no time for president obama to take half measures. >> his responsibility is to defend this nation. if he does not go on the

offensive against isis. isil, whatever you want to call them, they are coming here. if we get attacked because he has no strategy to protect us then he will have committed a blunder for the ages. martha: what do we know about the arms the obama administration provided to the kurds? >> we are told the kurdish peshmerga are getting flurry of sources confirm the obama administration is providing heavy weapons. typically the cia is the agency that facilitates such deliveries. the pentagon says they are not providing weapons to the kurds. though fighter jets struck overnight. three towns in the northern iraq have been retaken by the kurdish

peshmerga since the u.s. air strikes. 4,000 meals have been dropped to yazidis trapped in the mountains and 150,000 gallons of water. a serious showdown looks like it's about to go down. the shiite coalition has chosen a candidate for prime minister and it's not nouri al-maliki. he's refusing to step aside and appears as though he's repairing to use force to defend himself. he deployed tanks and other military personnel to guard his office in the green zone and made the following late-night pronouncement. >> today i will file a legal complaint against the president of the republic for commit tag clear constitutional violation

for the sake of political goals and preferring narrow interest over the interests of the iraqi people. >> a bit of iany because maliki is accused of starting this sky is by pursuing sectarian goals. and his own bloc is frying replace him as prime minister. will he go quietly? eric: who are the kurds? they are mainly sunniss. kurdistan consists of three provinces including irbil. they make up 15% to 20% of iraq's population. the u.s. has a history of protecting the kurds with the no-fly zones. they opposed saddam hussein. nato is going to take call steps possible to defend turkey.

the head of nato saying that nato is have much concerned about the activities of isis. calling isis a bunch of terrorists, saying it is the utmost importance to stop the isis advance. >> where are we now with all of this. president obama describing renews u.s. action in iraq including airstrikes as a quote long-term project and asking for patients from the american people. but critics are saying the impact of his original pullout from the iraq war ... steve, when you look at this situation, the presentation of it from the white house is that they were a bit caught off guard. the intel they got didn't give them the magnitude of what was going on with isis but when you look back there are markers and knowledgeable people talked about this for a long long time. three years, in fact. >> i think that's true to a certain extent. the white house is correct in

saying the intelligence community didn't predict the speed sat with it isis would take land and amass territory. people have been saying to the white house as part of the public debate that the problem that we are seeing was going to be something that the united states is going to have to confront. i think what we saw for the most part including in the months and years before the 2012 reelection of president obama was a president who wanted to see -- who portrayed the world as he wanted to see it, not the world as it is. we had the intelligence communities saying, mr. president, al qaeda and its affiliates are a growing problem. and the american people said al qaeda is on the run. >> the president wanted to satisfy and fulfill his promise of getting us out of iraq and afghanistan now he find himself back in. it raises a question about whether that was the right move.

>> it does. the president is very confused about what happened or is trying to confuse us, trying to confuse the american people. over the weekend when he announced the airstrikes and spoke to the airstrikes before he got on the helicopter to go up to martha's vineyard the president made it sounds like this wasn't his decision. he said this wasn't my decision. in effect this what is the iraqis wanted. i didn't have a hand in this decision. but if you go back in particular at the exchanges that he had with mitt romney during the presidential debates the president took credit for pulling the last troops out of iraq. but mitt romney said you wanted an agreement that would have allowed u.s. forces to remain. president obama said that is not true. so the president is trying to have it both ways. i think peddling some statement right now are just not believable. martha: you can imagine a debate if it happened today there are

questions about the decisions on syria. all these things connect to each other. when the syrian rebels -- when people were being gassed by assad the president said that was a red line. but he does constantly fall back on well the american people won't support it. basically i tried but there is nothing i can do. my hand are tied. >> at some point you need presidential leadership and you can turn around the support of the american people. but president obama hasn't been interested in doing that. again interestingly over the weekend the president has been incoherent on this question of support to the moderate in syria. he said over the weekend it was a fantasy to believe supporting moderate and sending arms to moderates in syria would have affects the outcome or made much of a difference. but this is the same president who went to congress and requested $500 million worth of support to the moderate in

syria. martha: what happened with that? have we done that? >> it depend on how talk to. there was some small level support funneled through the cia that made its way to what they call the vetted moderate opposition. but much, much that support we gave came too late when the united states was at that point already in a position where you had these moderate in the free syrian army and there were moderate in the free syrian army who had gun to team up with jihadists because that was their way too survive against the brutality of the regime. president obama doesn't have this story straight on any of this. martha: steve, thank you very much. what do you think? did the united states actions as we pulled out of iraq and did not have a status of forces agreement or leave troops on the ground to stabilize the region, did it lead to this current

crisis? check in on facebook. let us know what you think about that. a lot of the debate on whether different moves made in this situation much earlier on might have led us to a different outcome. >> it should be interesting. it's not just republicans who are criticizing president obama's foreign policy. now he's under fire from the woman on the left. his own former secretary of state. the failure hillary clinton says led to the uprising to the terrorists in iraq. martha: days of heavy rain and deadly flash floods taking a toll on the east coast. the damage these storms left behind. >> reporter: could tony stewart face potential criminal charges? we'll have the latest fallout from that racetrack crash that left his fellow driver dead. >> this is an on-track crash investigation that we'll continue.

we have -- not to make any inferences that one way or another -- but the different attorney's office has been notified. it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week.

eric: it was a rough weekend for the carolinas. they were slammed with heavy rains. two prime minister were hurt when they tried to drive off a

small bridge that it turned out was washed out. the national weather service says storms in the carolinas dropped 10 inches of rain in just a few hours. martha: former secretary of state hillary clinton criticizing presiden president s foreign policy doctrines suggesting he's too cautious in taking action. she said great nations need organizing principles and don't do stupid stuff is not an organizing principle. it might be a necessary break on the actions you take to promote a vision. captain chuck nash joins us, a former u.s. navy captain. don't do stupid stuff, it was a different word than stuff. but that's the phrase attributed

to the foreign policy doctrine of the obama white house. keep your head down. and the president himself said we are trying to hit a few singles now and then in terms of foreign policy. she is clearly saying she thinks that has been a mistake. >> i think part of the -- part of what's going on is the secretary of state advises the president but she implements his policies and clearly the pendulum swung from the bush policy of, you know, putting lots of troops on the ground. obama wanted to get us out. promised that to the american people and did it. this is more about positioning for 016 than anything else. again, in her own right, making sure people know how she advised the president differently on this and she disagreed with him as did colin powell with rumsfeld. you find these things out after the cabinet member leaves. the difference is colin powell

wasn't running for president, hillary clinton well may be. martha: the advice she gave the president on foreign policy will be under great scrutiny. does she do herself good politically in terms of how she is delineating her own perspective? >> at the end of the day she is -- has to show strength, has to show consistency in her policy. there has been nothing but inconsistency in the foreign policy of this administration. don't lead from behind and don't do stupid stuff is not a policy. we are engaged in two wars. the president didn't stop them but he finished them and sent out messages we are not going to continue to fight. we eliminated captains and majors from the military. he gave a speech at west point saying the future of the military is diplomats not

soldiers. he's projecting nothing but weakness. there is no reason for the terrorists which is what this group is to be afraid of us. march where hillary clinton says when you are down on yourself and hungering down and pulling back, you are not going to make any better decisions than when you are aggressively putting yourself forward. she says we don't even tell our own story these day. she is talking about the withdrawal from the world stage and whether or not she thinks that was a good idea, is she not? >> the military response to the orders of civilian masters. the president is the commander-in-chief. he's the one principally charged with defense and national security policy and the military is a tool to be used in those goals. if the order is not giftedden, the military is not going to move out on its own. we have pulled back. there is an old roman saying that says let them hate so long

as they also fear. in the united states there used to be some trepidation in the world if you crossed us. now nobody is worried about anything because you can look at system we are buying and they are big expensive things at the expense of manpower reductions in the the army and marine corps and that's what these guys are afraid of. they are afraid of a rifle being snuck their face. they are not afraid of drones and long-distance missiles. martha: the ultimate goal was to keep us safer at home. to prevent havens for al qaeda. we are out of iraq * and afghanistan, you provided this swath area that isis has taken over and by a lot of people's assessment they are causing a threat to us here at home with hundreds of isis fighters according to reports who have european and u.s. passports. you have to think about the big goal. >> this an anti-western,

antievening we and for group of people. these are terrorists. this is creating a place where they can function. they hate us, they hate israel. but at end of the day they have money, they have unlimited resources. they have thousands and thousands and more joining every single day and they are having great success and we are having great failures. the captain said you cannot basically fight from the air when people are on the ground. you can do damage and kick them back a little bit. but at at end of the day our great military has been our troops on the ground and we started this thing and we should have finishinged this thing and we didn't. martha: the saying there is no public will for any action on the ground in this area. joe just a quick thought from you on that. if it leads to making us less safe at home as a president do you need to articulate that to

the american people? >> it's always been a mistake to go to war and go into battle without the full support of the american people. but what i think is going on here quickly is bush wanted to go in of where in terms of how people look at it. obama wanted to withdraw. hillary clinton is saying use drones and other equipment. i think hillary clinton is saying you should do both. it's not an either-or situation. if the republicans end up saying obama should have listens to hillary clinton. how do you run against that? martha: you can't say bush wanted to go in of where. you have to remember 9/11. but we may be in a situation where we are opening ourselves up to that kind of threat according to a lot of people who watch this very closely. thank you, much more to talk. no doubt. eric: a new ceasefire between israel and hamas is holding in

gaza'. allowing palestinians to turn to their homes as negotiation for a long-term truce. coming up here on america's newsroom we'll hear from an israeli government officials on whether the latest clash with hamas is really off. martha: back to this story we brought over the course of the month. heartbreaking plea from the children of the jailed christian pastor in iran. the children asking president obama to quote bring daddy home. >> bring him back home but he's still not back home. without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection. because the best moments in life aren't experienced from the sidelines. now there's nothing holding you back. this is nexium level protection™.

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15,000 vessels since 2001 or so, 3000 or so missiles believed to have been destroyed, that leaves

hamas with 7000 or so missiles that still can be launched. are you satisfied and confident they can handle this problem and you have destroyed the terrorist tunnels hamas has been using? >> we have all the tunnels we know about. it is possible we left one or two, but the extensive tunnels to allow them to mass casualty attacks, dozens of squads to enter our country at the same time, i think that possibility has now been destroyed. that is a good thing. the estimate they started the conflict with about 9000 they have shot about 3000, 3.5000. we have taken out about 4000. it is definitely much lower than it was. >> it can certainly inflict damage. what do you want them to do and what is your reaction to the

protest in israel? is that anti-semitism or do you think those who find israel at fault in this are misguided? >> they are definitely misguided and some anti-semitism. israel is not perfect. we are acting to protect our people. hamas is a terrorist group, very radical, very cutthroat and nothing like isis. in the same family of extreme movement. a democracy is fighting a terrorist group, is there a logical choice on which side you should be? those devastating in favor of hamas, you have to ask what their purpose is. >> hope in the will continue for a permanent end. >> to the other big conflict, president obama taking political melodreality now with heavy weas

we are sending to the kurdish forces fighting the islamic militants, but what happens next? >> growing fallout from the deadly race track incident tony stewart's car hit and killed a fellow driver. >> if it is his fault, it is his fault, if not, it is not. pretty much the way i see it is it is racing. you come out to the track, you expect the worst, hope for the best.

>> we are back with this fox news alert. the obama administration is sending missiles the kurdish forces trying to make gains against the islamic militants have taken over large areas of northern iraq and parts of syr syria. taking two towns from isis yesterday. iraq's government embattled prime minister resisting calls to step down and accuses the new

president of violating iraq's constitution while president obama continues to vacation right now. what is the reaction now to this news? >> wanted to sue him for not naming him as prime minister undermines the iraq's blade to fight the rebels. naming another shiite muslim to lead the country. the u.s. military won't prop up the iraqi leader to continue to alienate sunni muslims and kurdish which is what the u.s. feels is driving rebellion making it easier for those

fighters like saddam hussein old officers. >> long-term campaign of change in that environment, those who live in this area feel connected well served by national government. that is a long-term process and that is something the united states cannot do. only the iraqi people themselves can do. >> president obama brought members of the security team to martha's vineyard to keep tabs on the situation. martha: what his response from the critics in all of this? >> mostly they want more aggressive attack on isis. lindsey graham says u.s. should go after isis in syria as well as iraq.

that is, located not be able to coordinate the fight with the rebels or the syrian government but retired general says the current battle plan doesn't threaten the group. >> that would mean offense of campaign designed to destroy commanded control it just takes of moving in its in the operation would change in terms of scale, to begin to attack isis in multiple locations at the same time. >> u.s. officials say the kurds are making progress, the iraqi government is being resupplied by the u.s. they are working together never before. martha: thank you very much. >> so far no criminal charges

for tony stewart but they have not ruled it completely out. they crash that sadly killed another driver bi. it happened saturday night when stuart and kevin ward junior bumped cars in new york. ward on video stopped his car, got out of it on the live racetrack trying to confront tony stewart when the car struck and killed him. so far there is no sign of criminal intent. >> he has again fully cooperated with those investigating. he was visibly shaken by this incident and has promise palaces continuing investigation. >> defense attorneys and former prosecutors. is it enough for him to say i didn't see him? it is tragic, i am so sorry, i did not see him?

>> it is a sort of the reverse. they cannot prove without a reasonable doubt he tended to kill him, three-poin so the poin these circumstances walked out, i am not editorializing him him up by the way, they can never showed intended to kill him. some sort of recklessness and extreme negligence however given the fact the victim was self negligent goes upon itself. >> we have the one video we can see. would it show the car going fast, swerving, not attempting to evade? >> the critical piece of evidence in this case comes as no surprise to anyone is going to be that video. i agree with everything you

however as any prosecutor knows you can infer intent by someone's actions, so if the prosecutors in conjunction with experts take apart the tape frame by frame and determine tony stewart made the fish tale move perhaps not with the intention of killing her toward, but getting so close to scare him, and then you have a situation we could be looking at criminal charges with criminal negligence, reckless endangerment, a lot of sections of the new york state penal code that would deal with this. >> as he is a study at frame by frame? >> sure, they're going to micromanage this, find as tom suggests some intentional move. i understand all that. there is another part that there

is a back story of instances that rage between the drivers. >> another thing that prosecutors have looked very closely at is the track record of tony stewart. >> is that fair? or is this? look at this, another driver, he says he was a friend saying i know tony could see him, when tony got close to him he hit the throttle. the car goes sideways, the right rear tire hit kevin, sucked underneath and it threw him about 50 yards so another driv driver, could see out of that easily. >> that is the difference between ordinary conversation and out of a courtroom. you can see in general, did he see him in this instance?

>> what do you think is going to happen? >> there will be a civil lawsuit, but they have comparative negligence not to be a broken record, the victim was highly not negligent as well. >> if you watch the tape it does appear there is a sudden fishtail movement. hard to believe an experienced driver like tony stewart wouldn't know the car would react that way and see him on the racetrack. interesting to see where this goes. >> our hearts go out to them. martha. martha: a desperate plea now from the children of a christian pastor who has been in jail for years. >> i don't want him to miss another birthday or christmas or father's day. please help bring him home.

>> why does our daddy have to be in prison? martha: joining us live for the latest on her fight to bring her family back together.

>> the children of the american pastor jailed iranian prison have made their own heartbreaking plea to president obama. in prison two years ago because of his christian beliefs he would not give up. now his children are asking the president to be of more help bringing their father home. >> if they cry, missed dad a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot,

a lot, a thousand lots, and doesn't stop crying and is crying right now. >> how do you know? >> i can feel it. >> your heart is crying? >> yeah. >> he still is not back. >> the fight to free her husband over the course of these two years. welcome back to the program. we have been following the story for years. this must have been a difficult decision for you to make this video of your children public, why did you decide to do it?

>> they haven't been in the public eye for the last few years. as the years go by being gone from the family it is getting more painful for the kids. my daughter's eighth birthday is coming up in september, this is her third birthday without him. they are saying mom, what can we do? i am shown the world a glimpse into the torture they are going through every day missing their dad. i hope president obama and others see this, how can we get them home sill so the kids don'o through another day of missing their dad and going through this torture? >> any response from the white house? where does this stand as far as they are concerned? >> president obama did ask to release him. not much has happened since that request has come in. martha, there is a unique situation with the trouble in iraq and syria with isis, with

the united states concerned about christians in iraq, with the iranians sending forces in to go after the isis terrorists and united states in these ongoing dialogue. we are having these multilateral discussions on a whole host of issues including the persecution of christians in iraq, the iranians saying this group is terrorists, they could do something very wise, that would be released in american held captive. held captive because of his faith which is exactly what isis is doing in iraq. the president has directly asked for police now demanded. the longer ask, demand the release of the pastor. >> we have covered it since the

beginning, emblematic of a problem christians are having, now more and more people around the world are becoming more aware of persecution of christians. one example for you and your children obviously. do you have any communication, do you know how he is doing now, do you have confirmation of where he is at this point? >> he is in one of the worst prisons in the world because of his christian faith. we are at the best place we have been with yemeni government sitting across the government table and discuss different issues. this is an important issue. i only hear once a week with his parents give me updates on how he is doing about 20 minutes. he is the worst prisons, all

because of the christian faith. the kids are suffering. we should be more than just asking the government, bringing home now, he should be home now sitting in the prison for now years are gone by because of his christian faith. martha: we hope you get some strong response from our government and from the government in iran as well. thank you very much and the best to you and your children and the whole country now has seen what they are going through. thank you as always being here as well. >> thank you for covering this. >> an important struggle. what is coming up next on "happening now." jenna: big stories now. help in the kurds take key cities back as the power struggle in iraq, why reports and in-depth analysis did will the terrorist attacks stop? taktaking a look toward eastern

europe, the new titan in ukrai ukraine. what is russia's next move, what is ours? and hillary clinton speaks on the obama doctrine. >> see you in 10 minutes from now. did you see it last night? you may want to turn your eyes three heavens once again. the full moon appeared brighter than usual. coming up, the skinny on the super moon.

did you know a ten-second test could help your business avoid hours of delay caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. go to comcastbusiness.com/ checkyourspeed if we can't offer faster speeds - or save you money - we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. >> they have put on a spectacular show.

a super moon and a meteor shower at the same time lighting up the night sky. super moon appear 30% brighter than normal, occurring when the moon passes closer to the earth and a meteor shower happens when the earth passes through the comet debris tale be at a former nasa astronaut and at the university. you could reach out and touch it last night. how close is it to us to have this effect? >> they are not perfectly circular, they are elliptical. at one point it is closer to earth, the other point will be further away. that is our lesson for the day.

you have a full moon closer to the earth about 50,000 closer, it appears bigger and brighter. >> how far is it last night and tonight? >> nice round numbers, with a 250 miles away is the moon. but closer to the 190,000 the boat where it was. it is actually 240,000, 70,000 miles closest. that is all the math we're going to do. >> it is spectacular. it is they are, bunch of american flags a lot of equipment. the moon doesn't change.

>> what is it like when you see the moon closer? >> you're so used to seeing things from earth, the biggest difference i it looks three-dimensional. you can see it directly, and it looks like a planet. the coolest thing you can see in the sky. this might 25th wedding anniversary. thank you for putting up with me. thank you. martha: coming back, back to the serious stuff with u.s. airstrikes in northern iraq giving much-needed assistance. will it be enough? i make a lot of purchases for my business.

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martha: have a great time. >> thank you for watching. martha: "happening now" starts right now. we will see you tomorrow. jenna: america spending the military role in iraq as a learner u.s. is now actively arming kurdish forces fighting isis terrorists in the north. >> thank you for spending your monday with us. this is the first time the united states is sending weapons a rookie to the kurds in northern iraq with allies of the united states. kurdish fighters are making strategic gains against terrorists retaking small villages over the weekend. jenna: coming after u.s. help in the sky skid targeting friday, a pentagon says most of the forces hit for threatening u.s. persne