pulls him over. now 22-year-old ryan mullens facing criminal charge in north carolina. police say the safe usually contains controlled substances was probably his target. have a great day. here's shep. >> in iraq, word of progress on the mountain, a place where thousands of refugees waited, frankly to die. now we're hearing american airstrikes along with our partners and humanitarian aid have made a difference. i will speak to rear admiral kirby and we'll look at the presidents comments today and what he said about this. not the middle east. this is a city in the hearland of america where racial tension is boiling over after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager and, there a great questions about the amount of force police have used. witnesses report cops used tear gas and stun grenades and rubber

bullets on american streets while protester, it's alleged, threw molotov cocktail and rocks. journalist arrested as they try to report on the chaos. let's get to it. good thursday afternoon to you and yours. no rescue needed and no more air drops likely. that is the word from president obama on the humanitarian crisis in iraq. the siege on mount sinjar siege has been ended. >> the situation on the mount has greatly improved, and americans should be very proud skill and professionalism of our military and the generosity of our people, we broke the isil siege of mount sinjar. we helped vulnerable people reach safety and we helped save men innocent lives. >> a drastic turn around from

yesterday when pentagon officials were considering a rescue mission to save ya sid diz. the president said american troops inspected the scene and most of the scene will be leaving iraq soon. still, the president said the overall threat from the islamic state fighters across iraq is dire, his words. you can see on our wall the areas the militants now control, with a brutal hand. president obama said the united states will help people suffering as the terror group advances, but only in ways that do not put our u.s. troops into combat. joining us know is the pentagon press secretary, rear admiral john kirby. great to see you. >> thanks, shep. >> does not put our troops in a combat position. we now established a base from which we are launching activities. that's been announced by the pentagon. there was an open ended without

a number of troops operations notification sent to the congress two days ago and we know 130 people went. and we know we have ospreys that fly like a plane and land like a helicopter. if one of those went down, are we then in come about position? >> we have not set up an air base in northern iraq. the very small number of troops that were put into northern iraq as the president said, many of them are going to be leaving and they're leaving on the ospreys. they were largely marines. so i don't think there will be any persistent necessary air element in the north. that said we have helicopters down at the baghdad airport that remain there to provide security assistance to the embassy but this is a very limited, achievable, dissecrete set of military objections in northern iraq and in and around baghdad. one to protect american personnel and facilities, which

half of the airstrikes we conducted have been in regard. and to continue to monitor the humanitarian efforts and advice and assist the iraqi security forces that's tack the case to isil. >> we had a few personnel on station in our embassy in baghdad. 60 days ago the president sent a notification to the congress he would be sending in more. there have been two further authorizations are we now have about 950 u.s.1prj military personnel in country. how do we know when this operation is over? >> the president has been very clear that while this is not a open-ended commitment, that we're not going to be putting a specific timetable on it. we have very discreet limited military objectives. we work at those every day. that's our focus, not necessarily putting an artificial deadline is.

this has to be the iraqis and what is needed is a political process responsive to all iraqis. >> in the absence of that and a date deadline, hat leaves us with a situation deadline. so, what i'm curious about is when does this open-ended, limited operation, see an end? in other words, what are the markers that tell us, all right, this is now over. mission creep isn't going to happen, it's over. >> there's no mission cream objectives are clear. we're working at those objective every day. i can't give you a date certain. what i can tell you, we're going to continually assess and monitor the progress of the iraqi security forces against isil, the situation from a humanitarian perspective, it's daily task for us at the pentagon and our troops in iraq to couldn'tly assess the situation and offer recommendations and options up to the chain of command.

we'll never take our eye off that situation, and again, without putting a date certain on it, can tell you the focus is clear, achievable and limited in scope. >> the messenger made it clear -- pentagon made it clear the reason the isis or isil or islamic state fighters -- the reason they had the weapons to defeat the peshmerga or push forces dropped the weapons and all of the munitions the united states hat given them and abandoned their posts top what degree do you have concern that as we arm the kurds on the ground there might come a time when theseú9o same terrorists t take our weapons as well. >> that's always a concern when you supply ammunition and arms to a third party. but i tell you a couple of things. the peshmerg meg good are -- peshmerga are not the iraqi

forces but it's part of one iraq nation. >> it is not part of one iraq government. >> one part of iraq nation. i got that. but the peshmerga are good fighters, and i can tell you we have already helped the iraqi government in baghdad resupply and give them provisions. we are heaping heaping in that s and looking at other options. clearly there's always the risk of things falling into the wrong hands. the peshmerga are fighting very hard, and thanks our our strikes and assistance and helping them get supplies, their morale has capability and proficiency has increased and they're keeping isil at bay in and around irbil. doesn't mean irbil is safe from the complete but they're taking it to them and we're helping put a hurting on isil in and around irbil. >> we're hearing that there are flags waving, horns honking,

thanks to the americans and others for the help. i want to show you an area where this is happening. this is the area that isis now controls, and as you'll see there, isis doesn't recognize that border between syria and iraq. that is not a part of their islamic state as they'd like to cull it and yet on the line to the right, we're supporting those against isis, but on the line to the left we're not giving any sort of weapons. do you have concern that we're fighting on one side of a line they don't recognize and not on the other side of the line they don't recognize and can you explain why that is happening? >> we're concerned about the regional threat isil poses. they just don't exist in iraq. they gain -- the focus is on the situation inside iraq, from the humanitarian efforts, and also

to u.s. citizens. >> many forces move across the line and they're very well aware they can go across that line into syria and won't have any problems of the kind you just mentioned. is it your sense there may come a time when we me a -- may need to be on both sides of the line. >> i won't speculate about situations that may not happen. we have limited objectives inside iraq, and we believe -- our assessment team on mount sinjar confirmed, we're having a positive effect with respect to each of those three missionaries. >> let's hope the tide has turned. regarding russia, and ukraine, the russian troops, it's understand, have moved back. can you give us an idea where we are with vladimir putin and the east of ukraine today? >> the situation remains tense, shep. they still have thousands of troops amassed along the southeast border withian, and

we're seeing some indications that some of their units are moving away from the border. that's a welcome sign but doesn' fact they still have thousands of very capable units along the border that continue to make it more sense than it needs to be. they also continued to support the separatist inside eastern ukraine. that has not stopped. that does need to stepbecause that's the core of the violence haye happening inside eastern ukraine. time for russia to question violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the ukrainian people and do the right thing, and that's to stop supporting the separatists-move all those troops away from the border. >> the world agrees. they haven't done that. now the pentagon game-plans just about everything on earth. thankfully. there is a game plan for what we do what our american military does in the event vladimir putin does what he did in crimea, and that is quietly come in and take land? what does the united states military do if he crosses the line? >> i won't get into happy the

cals but -- hypotheticals but we reap main steadfast in our commitment to the ukrainian people, providing nonlethal assistance to the forces. we're sharing information with them as best we can about what we believe the russians are up to, and just as critically we're steadfast in support of our nato alliance and commitment. we continue to reassure our allies and partners through the reason through exercises, operations in the black sea and on the continent, and nothing changes with our commitment to '5. >> the president spoke of the situation in ferguson,écg

>> aa very important program that allows law enforcement agencies to take advantage of surplus equipment and gear, arms and ammunitions that we were going to discard or not use anyway. so this stuff is valuable equipment. how and when and where these law enforcement agencies use this equipment is for them to speak to and for them to decide. >> looks like others are stepping in now. you saw the visuals. what did you think of that? >> well, obviously, we share the concern over the violence. certainly understand that how these passion can be inflammed, but we join everybody in calling for calm here and a reasoned discussion about this. we understand the passion but it's important for all americans to treat each other with dignity and this isn't a time to add to unstable or violence. >> if we were to speak a year from now, think we'll be out of iraq or still in there? >> i'm not going to speculate, shep. we have targeted -- limited

objectives inside iraq, and i don't -- nobody seize this as an extraordinarily -- nobody sees this as an extraordinarily long commitment but we're going to say -- in the pentagon we're going to stay as committed as long as we need to be and follow the direction and orders of the commander in chief. >> it's more than the commander in chief here. he congress is supposed to be involved. i mentioned at the beginning 60 days ago the president sent his first recommendation, under the war powers act. the president can act in limited way on his own accord for 60 days. of 60 days the congress must act. of course there is no congress at the moment because they're on their august recess. under the constitution, the congress is supposed to say, you can stay there longer. if the congress doesn't act, they don't get to stay there longer. what does that say about our current situation? >> we have kept congress and secretary hagel has kept congress informed --

>> but it says the congress must act, not be informed. informed forks 60 days and after 60 days they must act. >> i'm not going to speak to larger political issues. that's not my lane here at the pentagon. our pentagon -- >> i just wonder evidence if you were concerned about it. >> we're keeping the congress informed as we can be about everything we doing, and i won't turn this into a political debate. >> understood. admiral, very nice to see you. thank you for being here. >> thanks, shep. >> if you're interested in that issue, it's worth a lookup, going united states constitution, article 1, section 8, where it's very specific. not political really. it's constitutional. with great respect to the admiral who is a spokesperson and doesn't need to be in that realm. says the president can, for limited reasons, send our troops to go carry out missions without the consent of the congress. you just have to notify the congress. according to that article 1, section 8, after 60 days the

congress must act or the troops must come home. that's what it says. next to ferguson, missouri. after nights of violent protests over the killing of the unarmed black teenager, what now and what next? honey, look i got one to land. uh-huh (announcer) there's good more... honey, look at all these smart rewards points verizon just gave me. ooh, you got a buddy. i'm like a statue. i just signed up and, boom, all these points. ...and there's not-so-good more. you're a big guy... huh. oh no. get the good more with verizon smart rewards and rack up points to use towards the things you really want. now get 50% off all new smartphones.

this is bill. his doubleheader day at the park starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers!

>> cops in missouri should not be handcuffing journalist for doing their jobs.

that's what the president of the united states said today. it's reached that level. regarding the protests and arrest at a st. louis suburb after police officers shot and killed an unarmed black teenager on saturday. >> there is never an excuse for this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting. there's also no excuse for police to use excessive most against peaceful protests or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their first amendment rights. >> we didn't play it there. but he talk about journalists who were trying to do their job. one from the "washington post," one from "huffington post" in mcdonald's and all of a sudden they're under arrest for being in mcdonald's. first the back story. it's been five days now since a still-unnamed police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old

guy named michael brown. he was supposed to start college earlier this week. we still do not know the officer's name. they will not release the officer's name. unusual, you bet. been doing this 25 years. never heard of anything quite like this. not for five days. they have open records laws and have to within a reasonable opt of time release it but they say there have been threats against the officer so they're not releasing it. police have not confirmed the race but he was a white man by all accounts. racial tensions are still building there amid violent fights. i mentioned the journalist. the cops detained them as they were reporting on the protests. >> stop videotaping. >> stop videotaping. he is not required to do that. grab your stuff and go that video is not from inside police lines. it's not from an area where police have said, citizens cannot be here because you are in danger in this area. not an area that cops said you

can't come here because we're working on operations to protect in the citizens or arrest someone. it's not in some cordoned off area. no citizens no reporters. this is in a mcdonald's. an open mcdonald's restaurant, out in the open, where you can drive through and get a number 3, but then they were clearing it out and they wanted it cleared right then. so, the reporter is picking up his bag and starts videotaping. arrested. a reporter for the "washington post." what was wear in arrest for? a good question. he says soon after the took the video police slammed him against a stowed da machine, handcuffed him along with another reporter. police say they arrested more than ten people last night total, including a st. louis politician who had been chronicling the protest on social media. a politician. that brings us to the slide show today. here some pictures. i was talking with the spokesperson of the pentagon

about the military vehicles in use. see this? see this man on top here? that's a police officer. see in his hand there? see this person with their hand up in this is what they have been doing. the allegation is that the person who got shot had his hands in the air and said, don't shoot and that's when he got shot. that's the allegation. police tell a different story. at any rate this guy clearly aiming the weapon at the pastel protesters. at night it's worth. a man walks through a cloud of smoke. another, police walking through more of the smoke, possibly from hand grenade, and then one of the witnesses, four-year-old. more on this story coming right up. when it comes to good nutrition...i'm no expert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me.

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a lot of very high-placed politicians and leaders have gotten in the mix. the president of the united states even brought up the journalists who were arrested at the mcdonald's. the governor of monday is man named jay nixon. he said tonight wyw:,zñ see an operational shift in the tone and said if reporters from newspapers and such want to take pictures and cover things they should be able to do so. quote, they ought to do it. it's a free country, and then senator claire mccaskill from massachusetts, saying -- from missouri, saying the police response has been part of the problem, and she said, it's my understanding the county police, st. louis county police, will be taken off the investigation. but she did not elaborate. so, will tonight be much different from previous nights? will tonight we not see authorities in riot gear atop military vehicles, shooting tear

gas into the area? now, make no mistake, there's been a lot of violence here. buildings have burned to the ground. police officers have been injured. but what -- the opinion is, according to the governor there -- irshould say the senator -- the police response has been part of the problem. that they've overdone it. mike tobin is live in ferguson, outside the police department. apparently walking along with demonstrators. what you got, mike? >> this is a demonstration that spilled out on to the road, and the demonstrations have evolved. there's much now about the police tactics and dealing with the crowd as they are the original death of michael brunch you can see this ad hoc crowd home, from the church, members of the new blank panther party. you have members of the nation of islam. theirs mr. qali who says he is

necessary to act. the nation of islam. mothers against senseless killing. they're walking down to the mayor's office and serve him with a letter, their list of grievances. what we have season throughout the process, the demonstrations throughout the day are ad hoc, they spring up. but during the day they have largely remained peaceful. at night is when well see the clashes with police. you saw it in dramatic fashion last night, with the flash bang, smoke grenade, tear gas, bean-bag bullets. one officer was hit bay bottle, a broken an kell. -- ankle. the police chief says he is glad there have not been more

injuries. >> we would like the protesters to stop the violence. we don't want to have any violence on our part. we want this to be peaceful. this is going to be a long process. we need to have everybody tone it down. >> so now you have heard it from senators, from the president, from the u.s. attorney gen the e that the local police are using. concern over the display of the force, the way it all looks. the other flash point, the other aggravating factor is the fact that police are still withholding the identity of the police officer who was involved in the original shooting. you hear that chant now, hands up, don't shoot. identity of that officer. an aggravating opinion. the aclu is filing suit to get the incident report, information about the officer's identity and what happened on the fateful day should be contained in the report. the aclu says they intend to make it public.

>> mike, as you know, the group, anonymous, released a name of someone that said it what's officer involved. the authorities say that's the wrong officer. i know missouri has open records laws and i'm somewhat prized that five days into this -- you can provide police officers protection just as you can anyone else. i'm surprised they have not come up with his name? >> it is surprising, too, given the amount of people on the police force who would know the anyway. certainly when the original incident happened. usually what you see in a situation like this, now backed by social media, we get a lot of bad information, week he did today. speak to see a few rounds of that before ultimately something happens. the only way we can find it through official challenges according to the county prosecutor is when charges are filed. >> they have 50-some police officers in this town who are white and three of them who are black in a town that is majority

black. when you look at the specifics it's easy to understand how that happened. after all most of the residents are transient. this an area where apartments were built in the day0s segregation. are they working on this in balance, in representation in racial lines in an area that has seen a lot of racial tension? >> of course, this just comes to the surface when you have an incident like this. you hear people say it's important to have a police force that reflects the makeup of the community. we have seen that as a list of demands but what we hear from police are just what they feel is necessary to release in this time of crisis, pardon the strength of the question and my answer there. >> we heard from claire mccaskill, the senator from missouri -- i'm not sure exactly what she meant. what she said was that the

county police will be taken off the investigation. does that mean feds are coming in to take this over or what did she mean? she didn't elaborate. >> well, they there certainly has been discussion the straight troopers will come in and take over. the governor's office has not confirmed that. all we got from the governor's information is that we'll learn more about that in just about half hour's time. >> mike tobin, walking with the demonstrators on a clear afternoon in st. louis, county, northern part of the glock the city of ferguson. the question is what will happen at dark. the for says we'll see a different tone. many questions last night about who was first. the protesters say that the police fired off tear gas first. the police say that a protester lit a molotov cocktail and that's the reason for the tear gas. they'll sort it out. we'll find out who pulled the trigger and find out if the pulling of the trigger was justified as an 18-year-old man

died in the streets just before he was to go off to college. ahead, we'll go to gaza where at this hour, against the odd, the five-day cease fire is still intact even as rockets fired into the sky yesterday. news ahead. did you say identity distribution? no. protection. identity theft protection. you have selected identity distribution. your identity will now be shared with everyone. thank you. no, no, no -- [ click, dial tone ] [ female announcer ] not all credit report sites are equal. [ male voice ] we're good in here, howie. yeah, have a good night, brother. experian.com members get personalized help plus identity theft protection. join now at experian.com. with enrollment in experian credit tracker.

a fox report now and more madelines from the fox news deck. the noone recall for the highest ranking military officer to die in combat since the vietnam war is set to get underway. a gunman believed to be an afghan soldier shot and killed major general harold green last week. the number of americans filing jobless claims jumped by 41,000 last yankee. but earlier this week the feds said job openings were higher. a man was landing a passenger jet when his artificial arm fell off. it happened in february.

investigators say the pilot quickly grabbed the control with his other hand and the jet bounced on the runway but iowa landed safely. >> the conflict in gaza, still to come-

23 minutes before the how much an extension to the latest cease fire in gaza appears to be holding. the temporary truce, set to and i yesterday afternoon, but the palestinians or hamasv3 7÷ saidh sides agreed to extent it for five days. israeli officials say militants in gaza launched eight rockets into israel eight minutes before the truce took effect. the israelisj%# military report responded with airstrikes against launchy sites in gaza. ham mass -- hamas video shows the production of weapons. this is technically the longest cease fire since the start of this deadly month-long war.

still negotiations in egypt have not produced a long-term deal, and israeli tanks remain stationed right along the gaza border. but a top palestinian representative says he is, quote, confident the two sides can reach an agreement. rick leventhal is live for us. rick? >> it was a rocky end to one cease fire and a rough start to the next, but the rockets and airstrikes that shook our night seem to be over for now, and the focus shifts back to cairo. although there seem to be thousands of people in israel who aren't happy about any progress. 10,000 or more turned another in a protest in tell -- tel aviv, say they're tired of living with the fear of incoming rockets and don't want to see security sacrificed at the negotiating t- negotiations. there is word tonight that palestinian negotiators are

saying there could be a deal by the monday deadline and that would be extended to include air and seaports if peace holds for a month. meanwhile, we're also hearing about tension and drama between the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and president barack obama. according "the wall street journal" which reports the u.s.-israeli relations are at its lowest point since obama took office and saying the goods a conflict convinced the without that netanyahu and his team are wreckless wreckless and untrust worth and the israels see the obama administration as weak and naive, and netanyahu is dealing directly with congress and the pentagon to avoid dealing directly with the president, but both sides say they're now working to repair the relationship. >> at least four died in fighting in fallujah. one of the cities in the islamic state now controlled. that is cording to the reporting of the "associated press."

the united nations says it's a level three emergency. the highest level there is, but president obama says u.s. airstrikes have ended the siege on mount sinjar and the united states probably will not have to do more relief drops for the refugees there. that's bring ambassador stuart holliday now, the former u.s. ambassador force special political affairs at the united nations, the current ceo ofmer raidan international center. this time yesterday we were afraid that this thing on mount sinjar might go on for weeks and longer and now it's over. talk about something that appears to have worked well. >> i agree. but again, it's a symptom of a problem. we have refugees, we managed to repel the isis fighters, but they can recede back into syria, and unless until we look at the situation with the border as pourous as it is, just an imaginary line, we'll be faced with more of these kind of

things -- >> what can we do about the border? put people on it? >> no, i don't think -- the two things are the new al-abadi government, if everything goes as planned and al-maliki steps down, will have to exert sovereignty. but we have to be prepared frankly to do hot pursuit into eastern syria if necessary. i know that's a dramatic statement but this border is going to be used as a staging ground for months to come. >> why not look at pakistan and the problems we had with pakistan for the better part of a decade. we somehow, through these rose-colored glasses with blinders on, are saying that syria is one thing and iraq is another. they're the same thing to this islamic world. >> absolutely. >> they don't even exist anymore. >> you have lebanon. so it's a regional problem.

15,000 fighters. they declared it a country for crying out loud. this issue deserves a strategy and a regional strategy of containment and then slowly squeezing isis until the no longer represent a threat. >> part or our start is to support the kurds, the peshmerga in the north, very good fighters and very good friends of the united states for a long time. that said, we armed the iraqi troops. they dropped our weapons, and now they're in control of the people who are talking town the peshmerga. what if they break down the peshmerga and take the weapons and use them on us. >> i don't think they. >> ithink they would take down an iraqi army we spent a trillion dollars in ten years and thousands of treasured lives trying to train, about they did in about that long. >> unfortunately, the peshmerga are fighting for their homeland, kurd stan, and the iraqi army is fighting for something they're not quite sure about.

hopefully they'll get more certainty that what they're fighting for is the security of their country, and again, it's a tragedy that our weapons are falling falling into he hands of those terrorists. >> level of concern that more of our weapons will do the same if we give them to the peshmerga, that the kurds will move into turkey or somewhere else where anato nation where they'll need our help? this spreading is a scary thing. >> less of a chance in the north. the major issues to protect kirkuk, already seen mosul under siege. the kurd will stand up and i think this most recent episode indicates we can push them back but that's not a long-term strategy. >> ambassador holliday, thank you. >> attorneys say it's the first lawsuit of its kind ever. victims of terror attacks accusing a bank of transferring

money to the banks of the suicide bombers. where? right near new york. we'll have a live update next.

a bank is facing a lawsuit that accuses that bank of helping to fund a sort of life insurance system for hamas. opening arguments wrapped up a little while ago here in new york. here's the deal. hundreds of bombing victims and relatives are accusing arab bank of transferring money to the families of hamas fighters who died in the attacks in israel. they're martyrs think get money. the bank in new york, the accusation is, funded it. representatives of the bank say they check the names and transactions against the terror watch list. the u.s. has designatedded hamas as a terror group. lawyers for the group say this is the first terrorism finance in the united states. been looking into this one a

little bit. we know that hamas fighters get dough, if they die, their families do. but now the accusation is the money is been funneled from a bank here in new york. >> also coming from the government. they're saying the saudi arabian government is aware of this and they're working hand in hand with arab back. it's our eye question equivalent of bank of america. >> with a branch in new york. >> and they're saying the terrorists -- the way they lure people in to kill themselves, listen, your family will be taken care of. >> you'll get the virgin and your family gifts the dough. >> correct and the bank new sure have known. it's a legal spin on it. they didn't really play by the rules here, the arab bank. and the judge -- this case has been on for almost a decade --

helping terrorists. >> arthur, thank you. >> thank you. >> there is breaking news now on fox news channel and if this is true, it is that for which we have been opening for. the word has come from an arab television and sunni lawmakers inside iraq that the prime minister there, nouri al-maliki,

is set to resign a short time from now why is this important? nouri al-maliki is accused of bringing all the sectarian sides together under one government. a government that is seen to work, if i may, of, by, and for all the people. that was the goal. nouri al-maliki clearly did not do that. the minorities in his population, who used to control the government under saddam hussein, the minorities were persecuted. since them some of them joined isis. nouri al-maliki had said, i'm not going anywhere. he said the constitution says i have to stay, and when the president appointed another prime minister in waiting, a prime minister edition -- des --

designate. nouri al-maliki said i'm putting up a challenge. i'm the prime minister of iraq and deserve another term. had that happened there we be trouble. what were the possibilities? one was he was being guarded by government soldiers right there in the prime minister's palace. and the fear was that nouri al-maliki would say, no, i'm not stepping down. those soldiers who protect him, tugly work for the government, would have to take him down, take him down with force if necessary. end his life if necessary. think of the unraveling that would happen. so those are the things we feared. now in the last five minutes we have definitive word, we believe, that iraqi television or an arab television station and sunni lawmakers inside iraq are both saying that nouri al-maliki is about to step down, step down without incident and allow the government to make a peaceful transition from that of nouri al-maliki, two terms in,

to this new prime minister, prime minister designate, abadi. the united states, make no mistake, the united states is very much in favor of this particular politician. they don't talk about it openly, sources i'm comfortable recording, that the united states has been working behind the scenes for weeks on end to try to push them toward this particular man. this man who has shown a propensity to work with all the different -- outside the sectarian divides, if the sunnis, kurds, shia, all the rest of the religious minority, the christians, the yazidis. to try to bring a government together that represents the people. it couldn't matter more to us here in the united states. because here is what has been happening. these minorities have been going off to fight with these isis militants. these terrorists who have vowed to kill everybody who doesn't come to their way of thinking

but they didn't do it because they believed in isis. they did it because the didn't have anywhere else to go. they weren't being representedded by the national government, and they needed some sort of representation so they went there. in theory, if they get representation of, by and for all of them they'll leave the isis militants and not fight with them. instead come to the central government for hope for the future of iraq could this new prime minister do it? it's possible but certainly not if nouri al-maliki put up a fight, which brings me back to the headline again. nouri al-maliki is being told by multiple sources is about to step down. it's our understanding he'll hold a news conference in a moment. we'll have a translation of the news conference. if he steps up and says, what want, is a calm and peaceful and opportunity for prosperous iraq, where iraqis of all stripes strd all sects can live and work

together, where we can build a national unity, where we can move forward with something like democracy, if he does that, and last 48 hours. think of it.ulu2ñ when we were reporting here from this set just yesterday, there wases a crisis on top of mount sinjar in the worth of iraq that threatened to leave tens of thousands of people dead. united states airdrops and money and, believe it or not, whether they want to admit it or not, number of boots on the ground, because they were. identified the problem, fixed the problem, allowed a way out for those people who were up there, and solved that part. now, if the pressure on nouri al-maliki has become so great he steps down? we may have a whole new world. that looks much brighter. ambassador stuart holliday is back with us again. former ambassador for special plate wall affairs at the uniteses nations. if this is true, mr. ambassador, your take on it. >> it's a very positive

development. this has been a long time coming. this is good for three reasons. one, as you mentioned, it prevents the kind of crisis of a coup or appearance of a coup in iraq that would create more bloodshed and strife. allows al-abadi to create a more unified iraq, an opportunity for us to push back on isis, and iraq that infrastructure needs, energy needs, functioning economy, and really nouri al-maliki, for many years, has just been governing from a very, very narrow sectarian space. >> and now the breaking news we have been hoping for. we just got word from iraqi state television, the prime minister, nouri al-maliki, has just given up his post. the peaceful transition will now happen. it's official. nouri al-maliki just stepped down as prime minister of iraq. i can't believe so many good things have happened in so few

short hours. this feels good. absolutely. this is a good day, long march, but the humanitarian crisis averted, the great work of our military in deterring that. now this is an opportunity to turn the page and give sunnies and the kurds, but a reason to fight for a unified iraq to fight and defend this country and push back this terrorist group. >> ambassador holliday, your mouth to god's ears. thank you. two major developments on the iraq front today. the crisis on mount sinjar is apparently over, and now the political crisis in baghdad is apparently over as well. some final thoughts next. with nfl mobile on verizon. yes! get in there! go, go, go, go, yes! let's go, drew. the "not-so-good more" would be them always watching you. go for it, paul! get open! come on, paul! let's go! hustle!

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updating the top news of the day, nouri al-maliki just said he is leaving his post as iraqi prime minister and has made a speech at a location where there are no live cameras. we are expecting tape of that.

if true this is a major development. want also more good news? the dow is up again today, up 60-points on wall street. i'm shepard smith in new york. "your world" starts now. >> thank you, shepard. we are looking at a lot of concurrent developments then, call for calm in ferguson, missouri, as officials operation for what could be another night of rioting. the governor is expected to speak any minute now. it is now five days since the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in a st. louis suburb. since zips -- since then we have been seeinguíó ñ looting and ri. president obama appealed for peace and calm. moment from hear from the governor,