i don't buy it either. that brings us to the question of the day, what you think indicates a happy marriage? the secret is to agree to disagree. i love that. and the fact that 99.9% of the time, your wife is always right. that's what it said? right? let me know what you think. it's time for harris. gretchen, thank you. eric holder said he personally understands the mistrust of law enforcement. just hours after seeing the unrest in ferguson, missouri, we heard those words from him. should the nation's top cop be getting personal while the investigation is essentially just beginning? and an american doctor who survived the highly deadly ebola virus for the very first time speaking publicly about the ordeal. >> as a medical missionary, i never imagined myself in this position. >> ahead, dr. kent brantly's emotional that.

i'm harris faulkner in today for shepard smith and from the fox news deck american journalist james foley, murdered at the hands of islamic terrorists. they cut off his head. then put it on youtube for all the world to see. and now attorney general eric holder has revealed the justice department is launching a criminal investigation and we are expecting to hear soon from chuck hagel and the chairman of the joint staff. and one of the questions i would wonder they will touch on is the criticism at the attempt at one point to try to free foley. we are learning more about that. the attempt to try to bring him home. an intelligent source says investigators are analyzing the voice on youtube to help determine his identity. the militant seemed to have a british accent on that tape. and u.k. prime minister david cameron said the terrorist is likely british.

according to the guardian newspaper, a former prisoner of isis says the militant appears to be one of several british terrorists who guarded hostages inside syria. the former prisoner says hostages had nicknamed the group the beatle. the officials say the u.s. sent special operations forces into syria this summer to try to rescue foley and other americans. but that they could not find the hostages. officials also say isis militants demanded a ransom for foley's release. more than $123 million. jennifer griffin has more. so we have our officials about to talk about this. have you heard any more about what we'll learn? >> reporter: well, harris, we have learned that it took place over the july 4th time frame. u.s. military sources tell me the special operations team that attempted the rescue were on the ground longer than they expected. when they got to first compound

the hostages weren't there. there was evidence they had been there just days before i'm told. they extracted information at the first compound and decided to go to a second location where they got into a firefight. one u.s. aviator was injured. the intelligence leads for the operation came from interviews with the european hostages released this spring. they described where the american hostages were being held in eastern syria in the town of rocca. they said the executioner in the video speaks with a south london accent. here's iraq's ambassador to the united states. >> we know for a fact that in syria and in iraq, more europeans are on the ground. we capture, we see, we see the videos and everything else. so we know for a fact that there are european passport holders who are jihadists. as i said before, this is a -- this is a tourist destination. we need to fight that. >> reporter: there are at least three more americans being held by isis right now, harris.

>> well, you know, that numb $132 million in ransom for foley, why that number? >> well, the head of global post news where foley worked said the isis captors were demanding more than $100 million. $132 million in exchange for foley. he said they hired private firms to locate him and executives paid millions to bring him home. >> we had all of the appropriate communication you would imagine. but we hope that they would listen. but obviously, the situation changed when the bombing began. >> reporter: foley's employer said there's evidence the european government paid substantial sums of money to gain the release of about six european hostages this spring. the u.s. did not negotiate with the terrorists and by law is barred from paying ransom. but in terms of why it was $132 million and not $100 million, harris, we don't know. >> did you just say -- because i

misheard you, did you say that the u.s. does not negotiate with terrorists? >> reporter: that is -- that is an old maxim here in washington, that the u.s. does not negotiate with terrorists and does not pay ransom. >> all right. i'm just thinking of a situation with five taliban commanders who were released recently for the freedom of one american. okay. jennifer -- >> well, technically, harris, that was -- technically that was done through the qataris. we used a middleman. so the pentagon would argue that they did not negotiate with the taliban. >> we should report that. thank you very much. the senior national security correspondent for the daily beast is going to join us now. as this news is coming to fruition because we're waiting to hear from pentagon officials on more information as jennifer just reported about the attempt to free james foley. eli, thank you for joining us today. i want to speak with you first and foremost about something that may come one the news conference and that's this

criticism that the u.s. government could have said no comment or they could have said the raid -- or the attempt happened but why so much detail? >> well, i think that we're beginning to see some push back against that. earlier this afternoon, the chairman of the house armed services committee, buff mckean, said that he would like to find out whoever is responsible for the initial leak to news organizations before the white house made a decision to kind of come forward with a lot of this information. and there were a number of people i think in social media that sort of speculated that this -- the statements from the white house as well as the stories that came out appeared to have maybe a political motive. to make the president seem like he was doing something, but that said, as a journalist who covers national security information i'm always wary of yet another leak investigation. and i do think that, you know, you can argue with both -- argue it both ways. but after the fact and in an operation like this, there is also an important right of the

public to know the efforts of what its government is doing, particularly when it's a classified action like this against a very serious threat. that the white house only until recently has been speaking abo >> not only recently, on the day of that we are hearing from the family members of james foley. >> yeah. >> on the day of that we are hearing from president obama on james foley. >> well, you know, as i said, i don't have all the information at this point to find out exactly, you know, what happened before. allegedly there were news organizations that had the information and at least according to the white house the decision was made to come forward with the information, you know, publicly as opposed to having it kind of come out and then having them being no comment as you said. >> i have seen on twitter and other places on social media, people are curious to know which media outlet are putting out pressure to have this

information released. but i have a different question for you. it has to do with maybe peeling back the veil a little bit for our viewers. you know, as journalists, eli, we can sometimes talk with authorities and they can say to us, look, hold off on releasing that. because there's more to come. if we can maybe make a second mission to try to release, get free the other americans being held right now, we'll give you some video. we'll make a trade with you. can you hold back on this story? let us work, let us do our jobs. we do that with police departments across the country. what do you think about that? >> listen, i do it myself and my colleagues at the daily beast. sometimes it's not a matter of trade. if you write this information, then you could be endangering the life of an american and you could be endangering the life of people who are on a sensitive mission. and in my view, you know, usually i would err on the side of caution in a situation like that. however, there are of course times when you're dealing with a vast and secret sort of national

security state that there are -- there sometimes are efforts to try to use that in order to cover up embarrassing details or things that really the public should know. i think that one of the problems is that when you're dealing with so much of the war on terror being done on the secret side, and being done in a way that isn't shared with the public, then it does create i think a disconnect between the warriors and people who fight that war, people like us who cover it very closely and the general public who i think, you know, sort of woke up this summer to learn how -- you know, how shocked if you will that a group called isis existed, said they established a caliphate and all the violence. >> i understand from your reporting at the daily beast this could be linked to the jihad did group in britain. talk to me about that. >> well, there was an important arrest that began with british

citizens in syria. eventually, that case did fall apart, and, you know, it was seen at the time as a kind of call to arms for many of these foreign fighters, particularly british foreign fighters in syria to kind of conduct more of these kinds of abductions. and just sort of back to this original topic, there was some information that we did not publish in this particular piece, you know, out of respect for various government agencies. so in that respect, but i would say that i think that they're very, very connected. it raises an important point. anyone who saw the gruesome video noticed that the man who was talking to the camera was -- had a british accent. and britain apparently has between 500 and 600 u.k. citizens that have joined to fight the jihad in syria. that's a very troubling number and that's just one country. there are lots of other western countries and this has been a real cause of serious concern i

think for the national security community for over a year. >> good information for us to know. eli lake, we appreciate your time. thank you very much. and breaking news right now. congressional investigators are saying that the pentagon broke the law. this is just coming in. when it swapped five leaders for bowe bergdahl. he was a prisoner in afghanistan for five years and the nonpartisan accountability office that the pentagon did not notify the relevant committees far enough in advance and that breaks the law. it also reports the way that the pentagon financed the transfer breaks the anti-deficiency act. which is meant to keep agencies from spending more money than congress has allowed. after the swap, defense secretary chuck hagel said we made the right decision and did it for the right reasons, end quote. we'll stay on this story as it's coming up and he's due to speak in the next 16 minutes or so. so i don't know if reporters

might ask about him. i would if i were in the press corps there. the missouri governor jay nixon has ordered national guard troops to start leaving ferguson, missouri. this is after the protests there seemed to dwindle down and police made fewer arrests last night. does this mean the worst of this unrest is finally over? we are live on the ground in ferguson. stay close. and asked for less. there's a reason it's called an "all you can eat" buffet... and not a "have just a little" buffet. because what we all really want is more. that's why verizon is giving you even more. now, for a limited time, get more data! 1 gb of bonus data every month with every new smartphone or upgrade. our best ever pricing with the more everything plan and 50% off all new smartphones. like the htc one m8 for windows or android. built to inspire envy. come get your more with verizon.

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missouri's governor has ordered national guard units to begin to pull out of ferguson. a systematic withdrawal. the guard arrived on monday and since then they have seen the nightly unrest first pop. and then begin to subside. last night, the highway patrol captain said, quote, it was a very good night for ferguson. much smaller crowds of people on the streets and police say they only made six arrest, that's done from dozens in the past couple of nights. the turning point came the same day eric holder travelled to ferguson, missouri. part of his justice department's own investigation into the shooting that sparked the protest. you'll recall it's been 12 days now. a police officer shot an unarmed teenager, michael brown. eyewitness accounts differ widely on what led to that shooting. but today, the attorney general, back in d.c. said, quote, he personally understands why so many people are angry.

>> the national outcry we have seen speaks to a sense of mistrust and mutual suspicion that can take hold in the relationship between law enforcement and certain communities. i wanted the people of ferguson to know i personally understood that mistrust. i wanted them to know that while so much else may be uncertain, this attorney general and this department of justice stands with the people of ferguson. >> the attorney general has vowed the feds investigation will be both independence and thorough. let's go to mike tobin who has been there since the beginning, live in ferguson. mike, so the governor is now pulling out the national guard. >> reporter: yeah, it's interesting. you never saw guardsmen down here at the demonstrations. their duties were restricted to a security at the command center which is a little more than half a mile up the road. but the very fact that they were here in ferguson was an aggravating point. it was an indicator of this state of emergency. for those who wanted to claim

militarized state, it was a point that went in their ammo belt. so the fact that they're leaving can relieve some the pressure and it can also be viewed as an indicator that this really has hit a turning point. >> and i understand there's a lot of controversy now about the prosecutor who is set to handle this case. >> reporter: right. that is bob mccolic and there was a press conference today, who announced they had generated 75,000 signatures to get him removed as the county prosecutor or have him recuse himself and this is because he has a background with his family in law enforcement. his father, a state trooper. he was killed by a black man in 1964 and therefore they say he can't handle this case objectively. and he said there's no legal precedent for him to remove himself from this case and he will continue he says to fulfill the duties entrusted to him by

this community. harris? >> mike tobin, thank you. let's bring in now criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor diana iseman. thank you for joining us today. >> thanks for having me. >> is it fair to say that this prosecutor's background could lead to bias? >> definitely. this seems to be a perfect storm of injustice here. people often misconstrue the role of prosecutors and defense attorneys in the criminal justice system. prosecutors are not only out for conviction, but their job is to present the facts to the jury and allow the jury to decide whether or not the evidence rises to the level of beyond a reasonable doubt. in this particular situation, the prosecutor has a significant amount of underlying history that could cause him to perhaps not prosecute the police officer here if that's something being called for. because he can identify with that particular police officer. or it might present a bias. from another perspective though,

it's entirely possible that this has nothing to do with his ability to be fair and impartial in determining whether or not to bring charges forward. >> well, in fact, there's nothing in his history that would lead anybody to believe his job has ever been on the line for any specific point of view. so it speaks to the issue of what you're talking about. clearly he'll be able to do his job and go forward. the governor has not said he'll remove him under any regard. he wants to keep him there. so i guess i'm scratching my head as to why people would wonder he can't do so. what about the reports that the officer suffered an orbital eye socket and if that's true, how does it bear to the case? >> it might have affected his judgment and whether or not he was within his rights to shoot the victim in this case. i think that, you know, it's really important to make sure that you have all of the facts. every single detail is important

when you're determining whether or not a police shooting is justified. >> real quickly, have you ever heard of the highest law enforcement officer in the land taking sides in the case? i'm talking about eric holder and his comments making this case personal. >> i'm very surprised. it's surprising to hear the attorney general of the united states come out in support of the people which can be implied that he's against the law enforcement perspective in this case and has pretty much said this was an unjustified shooting in so many words. i think that it's a little inappropriate for him to come out and make comments like that. but he's the attorney general of the united states. >> wow. okay. thank you very much. a senior hamas official is now taking credit for the kidnappings of three israeli teenagers. remember that is the very incident that tipped off or at least helped to up the off this latest -- to tip off this latest conflict between the israelis and the hamas terror groups. stay with us.

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for first time, hamas saying it was behind the kidnappings and murders of three israeli teenagers in the west bank. it happened in june. it really because what ultimately led to the current war between israel and hamas. it's what helped tip it off. hamas issued in in a statement according to the associated press now. a senior hamas leader is claiming the goal of the kidnappings was to spark a new palestinian uprising. this all comes amid what could be a huge blow to hamas. the group says three of the senior leaders died in an israeli airstrike. israel says the three played a role in expanding hamas' military capabilities in recent year, including digging the tunnels, which led into israel. training fighters and smuggling

weapons into gaza. a hamas spokesperson said, quote, israel will not succeed in breaking the will of our people or weaken the resistance. he continued saying israel will pay the price. rick leventhal with the news now life in gaza city. what more do we know about hamas and the three teenagers taken? >> reporter: well, hamas had kidnapings, but never admitted having anything to do until yesterday in a conference in turkey. the kidnappings were carried out by the al qassam brigade, grabbing them and killing the teens with the goal of sparking a new palestinian uprising. whether the group achieved the goal isn't clear, but the hostilities are continuing some two months later. more than 160 airstrikes today by israeli defense forces since

the cease-fire was broken on tuesday, is roughly 52 hours ago, those airstrikes included an attack on the hamas leadership. six or seven hit a house, absolutely leveling it. killing three senior members of the militant group and at least three others. 25 people in all killed today alone. more than0 since tuesday. so funerals have become a daily occurrence here. the blame israel says is on hamas. more than 310 rockets launched by militants since the latest truce was violently cut short on tuesday afternoon. the israelis still targeting rocket launch sites but now also clearly targeting hamas leadership and we're told this is not a shift in policy, but a sign that hamas leadership may be getting sloppy. you can bet that they will be taking cover from this point forward. >> rick leventhal, thank you very much. appreciate it. attorney general eric holder has now launched a criminal investigation into the execution of american journalist james foley.

details on how that investigation might play out. also, we are awaiting that briefing at the pentagon. hoping to learn more about the decisions perhaps to release details into the public about a recent attempt to get to and to free james foley before terrorists killed him. defense secretary chuck hagels, officials at the pentagon set to go in about three minutes. we'll take a quick break and when we come back we'll have it live. wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 877-218-2500 now. zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renter's insurance. protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renter's insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 877-218-2500 now.

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u.p.s. reports that the computer virus may have exposed debit and credit card numbers over seven months. a spokes woman says that it affected the u.p.s. stores in the states you so here. she says they fixed the problem last month. 39 people are dead and dozens still missing after a landslide destroyed homes

outside hiroshima. it happened so fast, city officials could not issue an evacuation notice until an hour after the first landslide. family dollar has rejected a takeover bid from dollar general. family dollar had already agreed to american with a different chain, dollar tree. but analysts say all of the stores have struggled against bigger rivals like walmart since the 2008 recession. much more from the fox news desk with harris faulkner right after this. óqoqúúñ@

more now on the investigation into the murder of american journalist james foley. first though let's take a live look at the pentagon. we're awaiting a briefing now from defense secretary chuck hagel and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, martin dempsey. earlier today, eric holder announced a criminal investigation into foley's murder. >> those who would perpetrate such acts need to understand something. this justice department, this department of defense, this

nation, we have long memories and our reach is very wide. >> as reported earlier the militant who beheaded foley in an isis video appears to have a british accent. linguists report he could be from the london area. and catherine herridge is live in washington. if they walk up to the podium we'll cut away, but for now how is the investigation going to work? >> reporter: well, harris, the attorney general seemed to also hint today that the use of lethal force included targeted drone strikes is in play. >> we will not forget what happened and people will be held accountable. one way or the other. >> reporter: also speaking in denver, fbi director james comey confirming he's spoken with foley's family, calling the killers savages and that every tool military intelligence and law enforcement will be used to gather evidence.

as for the state department had assurances that the fbi team would be allowed into syria to collect evidence and even question witnesses. a spokeswoman had no specifics. >> obviously, there will be a criminal investigation as there always is when there's an american citizen death overseas as the fbi and doj to speak to. there's an on going intelligence community focused on this to determine who is responsible. >> reporter: the one official emphasized to fox news that you don't necessarily need investigators on the ground to build a criminal case against foley's killers. harris? >> and obviously, a lot of questions today coming from people who are critical about the fact that, well, wouldn't this be an act of war and would you handle it like a criminal investigation? what are we learning about foley's treatment before the militants killed him? >> reporter: well, the french journalist who was held with foley told french tv today that the reporter was singled out for beatings because he was an american citizen. whose brother was in the u.s.

military. and according to dda all were subjected to mock executions and in one harrowing episode a mock crucifixion. they were warned by the captors, quote, if you make public the fact they're being held or that you were together reprisals will follow against them. their exact words were, they'll be punished. that's why the french journalist has said very little about the executioner who he believes he has -- he had personal experience with. >> catherine herridge, thank you. let's bring in amber barno, a former chief warrant officer with the army and she served in iraq and afghanistan as a helicopter pilot. she's now a military adviser at the organization concerned veterans for america. thank you for being with us today. first of all, no doubt you're hearing kind of a growing drum beat of criticism about how many details were released about this mission. you have done reconnaissance.

tell me your first thoughts. >> i was shocked to hear the leaks. while i'm thankful that there was a rescue attempt for james foley and the other americans being held by isil, it never ever should have been leaked. revealing the types of techniques and procedures that went into this operation have serious consequences for not only future operations, but for american hostages and for the operators involved in the missions. the enemy is watching and listening to our every move and we essentially just handed them the manual for how we carry out these tasks. >> all right. so you bring up an excellent point because if you have watched the video and i have, and parts of it i wish i could unseen but it's part of what we do as journalists, we need to know before speaking. so i watched that video. the beheading of james foley, and you see while he is down, they march out the second

journalist, steve sotloff. so what we've got there is potentially the next round of this. and the threat from the terrorists that they will kill him if we don't stop our airstrikes. does this jeopardize then anything we might do to set him free or potentially any other americans taken? >> yeah, if i was in the special operations community or the family members of the hostages who are being held, i would be absolutely furious right now. i can only imagine in the communities that they possibly feel yesterday when the information was leaked, similar to the way they felt the day after the osama bin laden raid details came out. this is their lives. they make sacrifices each and every day that are extremely dangerous, and they're quite professionals. they do it without acknowledgment or recognition because their lives depend on it. so when the dod comes forward with this type of information, sort of to just cover what they thought some news agencies were going to come out and reveal the information, the fact that they

came out with the details that they did is the -- the damage is irreversible. >> you served in iraq. what's the morale like? can you estimate or have you talked maybe to friends and colleagues who were still serving at this point, knowing that after all of the blood and treasure we spent in iraq, the president pulled out combat troops and now we're rolling back in the motion as they're beed whatting americans and rolling across iraq? >> well, i know from my own experience as lot of iraqi veterans i have spoken with, a lot of them feel as though we left before the mission was complete. now we're dealing with the consequences. the rise of isil, the use of military force again in iraq is a result of a too soon withdrawal. and now -- not only the iraqis but we're seeing americans involved in this conflict and it's a disappointment that sometimes politics play into

these wars instead of just going in. there's no diplomatic solution to isil. you have to remember that. we are dealing with savages. we do not negotiate with these types of people. they need to be absolutely crushed. that's what we need to make sure is our priority is in iraq. >> talk to me about how we're handling it tactically. talk to me about what's happening right now that's being effective and what more we need to do. >> right. so president obama said that there's no place for a group like isil the 21st century and i completely agree. we need leadership and resolve to make sure that happens. we have seen the u.s. airstrikes and -- against isil and really they have been efficient temporarily in pushing isil's advancements. but that is not a long term

strategy. we need to ensure that we continue with the airstrikes and with special forces on the ground. especially with later designation of targets and improve the airstrikes as well as limits collateral damage. so we really need to ensure there's a long term military strategy there. >> chief barno, we have seen defense secretary chuck hagel come out. let's watch. >> good afternoon, everybody. as the u.s. central command continues to provide regular updates about our military support to iraq and kurdish forces, this afternoon i want to say a few words about what this assistance has accomplished over the last two weeks. and what based on the president's guidance we can expect going forward. chairman dempsey will give you a brief summary including some numbers on the u.s. military actions to date. but first let me offer my deepest condolences and sympathy

to the family of jim foley. the american journalist who as you all know was savagely murdered by the isil. as the department of defense confirmed yesterday, earlier this summer the united states attempted a rescue of a number of american hostages held in syria. including jim foley. we all regret that mission did not succeed. but i'm very proud, very proud of the u.s. forces that participated in it. and the united states will not relent our efforts to bring our citizens home and their captors to justice. jim foley's murder was another tragic demonstration of the ruthless, barbaric ideology of isil. isil militants continue to massacre and enslave innocent people and persecute iraq's sunni, shiia and kurdish

populations. given the nature of this threat, at president obama's direction and the request of the iraqi government, the u.s. military has provided assistance to iraqi security forces in order to protect u.s. personnel and facilities. and support iraq's efforts to counter isil in addition to providing humanitarian assistance. american airstrikes and american arms and assistance helped iraqi and kurdish forces blunt isil's advance around erbil where american diplomats and troops are working and helped the iraqis retake and hold mosul dam. a breach of the dam would have threatened the lives of thousands of iraqis as well as americans at our facilities in baghdad. and prevented the iraqi government from providing critical services to its citizens. the united states led an international effort to address the humanitarian crisis that

unfolded at mt. sinjar. as there continues to be an acute humanitarian need elsewhere in iraq. the u.s. appreciates the partnership of the united kingdom, canada, france, italy and australia and the united nations in helping provide relief. i expect more nations to step forward with more assistance in the weeks ahead. overall, these operations have stalled isil's momentum and enabled the iraqi and kurdishers fors to retake the initiative. as iraqi and kurdish forces continue to take the initiative, the united states will continue to support them.t addressing th by isil to the future of iraq requires political reform in iraq. the country's peaceful transition of power last week was important. and the united states will continue urging iraq's new prime minister to establish an

inclusive government that is responsive to the needs of all iraq's citizens. the united iraq will be a more secure and prosperous iraq. political reform will make it harder for isil to exploit sectarian divisions. the united states and the international community will increase support for iraq in tandem with political progress. the president, the chairman and i are all very clear eyed about the challenges ahead. we are pursuing long term strategy against isil because isil clearly poses a long term threat. we should expect isil to regroup and stage new offenses and the u.s. military's involvement is not over. president obama has been very clear on this point. our objectives remain clear and limited. to protect american citizens and facilities, to provide assistance to iraqi forces as they confront isil. and to join with international partners to address the humanitarian crisis.

with that i'll ask chairman dempsey for his comments and then we'll take questions. thank you. >> thank you, mr. secretary. as most of you know, i just returned on sunday from a trip to vietnam. and today, i have my counterpart from singapore visiting. on vietnam, it was quite remarkable to be in vietnam 40 years after our departure from vietnam to discuss opportunities for a new relationship. building on our historical investment and the incredible sacrifices of those who served there. my engagements in the region reinforced that we have our shoulder behind the rebalance to the asia-pacific, even as our military confronts challenges in other parts of the world. in fact, on sunday i'll depart for afghanistan. which brings me to iraq under the command of austin, our efforts in iraq have included to date seven humanitarian air drop

missions delivering 636 bundles of food, water and medical supplies. more than 60 intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance sorties daily, each day. and to date, 89 targeted airstrikes conducted by the united states air force and the united states navy aircraft. these airstrikes have protected u.s. persons and facilities and helped prevent humanitarian crisis. as iraq's political future takes shape, i'd emphasize that enduring stability will depend on achieving a credible partner in the iraqi government that must commit to being much more inclusive with all of its population than it has been thus far. and with that, i'd be happy to take your questions. >> mr. secretary, in your comments you mentioned that isil's momentum has been stalled recently. and you said that nonetheless, you expect them to regroup. my question is is -- why not go after isil where they started

which is in syria? i know you described a strategy of enabling the iraqis, both politically and militarily in iraq, but they have the sanctuary in eastern syria. what is the strategy if it's not to go root them out from syria? why not that go that route? >> well, first, going back to your point about my statement on what our objectives are which i just restated in my statement. i would also say in addition to that that -- i think the president has been very clear on this, that we continue to explore all options. regarding isil. and how best we can assist partners in that area. the middle east and particularly in iraq. against isil. you all know that in the

president's request for a $5 billion anti-terrorism fund there was $500 million in there to assist moderate opposition. so that's what we are looking at, that's what we're doing and we will continue to stay focused as i said on what we're doing now and exploring all options as we go forward. >> -- the options include airstrikes across the border? >> like i said, we're look at all options. >> i wanted to ask you both specifically on the rescue mission. you have talked extensively about protecting classified information. even if you had information -- were told that the news media was going to publish an article which is what the state department said you revealed it because you thought the media would publish something.

why did -- both of you answer, why did you think it was a good idea to acknowledge in detail the classified mission about a hostage rescue when there are still american hostages there? are you worried that this risks other hostages' lives, we have a leak investigation and what's the intelligence failure of this mission? why did you think it was a good idea to do this? nobody has seen you do this before. >> why did we think it was a good idea -- >> to publicly acknowledge the classified mission for a hostage rescue. the statements came out about it last night. >> well, to start with, there were a number of news outlets that were aware of the action. of the raid. and it was the decision made by the administration which we concurred with to address the

mission. recognizing everything that you said, there's always risk. there continues to be risk. alw risk, there continues to be risk in every action or inaction we take. also, the administration had informed the families of the hostages of this effort. so it was the decision and it was unanimous that we should, in fact, acknowledge this effort without going into any specifics of it, which we, as you know, will not. as to your question on was this a failure of intelligence? no. the fact is, as you all know, intelligence doesn't come wrapped in a package with a bow. it is a mosaic of many pictures,

of many factors. the enemy always has a say in everything. the fact is that you always have to work that reality in to any decision you make, but the underlining objective was to do everything we can as the president said to rescue these hostages knowing that their lives were in danger, clearly in danger, as the responsibility of our government and our leaders to do all we can to take action when we believe there might be a good possibility, a good chance to make a rescue effort successful. this operation, by the way, was a flawless operation, but the hostages were not there. so we'll do everything that we need to do, that the american

people would expect from their leaders to continue, to do everything we can to get our hostages back. >> reporter: do you think that you would have spared the hostage lives at risk or was it a good enough reason for the news to write an article about this or do you feel this was a military failure? >> i provide the military advice that was rendered in response to your question was, as long as sources and methods are not revealed, that it would be a policy decision on whether to release the information of the raid. as to whether it was an intelligence failure, i agree completely with the secretary of defense. the mission was executed flawlessly after a significant amount of planning and rehearsal. it turned out that the hostages were no longer at that location.

>> reporter: do you believe they were there at one point? >> i do. >> reporter: i want you both to address this. talk a little bit about the long-term strategy against isis. secretary of state john kerry said they will be crushed. the president calls them a cancer. if that's the case, why are u.s. strikes so narrowly focused and so limited? and why have you delayed providing heavy weapons to the area? >> well, first of all, we are providing a tremendous amount of military assistance to the iraqi security forces. it is one country. and there's no question that we have accelerated. as a matter of fact, all year long we have been accelerated -- all the requests made by the iraqi government or legal assistants and equipment. and we continue to do that.

as to the comments made by secretary kerry and the president that we all share the same evaluation, as the president said, i said, the chairman said, secretary kerry has said, the defeat of isil is not only going to come at the hands of air strikes. one of the things i noted in my comments here at the beginning of this press conference was an inclusive government in iraq is essential. as to how iraq and the united states and all our international partners are going to also have to deal with isil, military kinetic air strikes are a part of that, but it's bigger than just a military operation. and our efforts as we have

executed the president's strategy on this, are specifically targeted just as the president has said for the reasons he said, but we are working with international partners. we are working closely with the isf. we are doing everything we can within the confines of our influence to assist and recognize, as we said, to deal with isl there in the middle east and also recognizing that it is a threat just as we have soul said. but it isn't going to just come as a result of air strikes. strategically there are limits with how much you can accomplish with air strikes. tactically you can accomplish a significant amount, i think we have seen that as i mentioned in my comments here, so it's the broad scope of activity and action that we are seeing. >> reporter: they are saying they have still not created the weapons they consider asking for and you created task force?

>> yes, the secretary has a task force that oversees that. and they have begun to see supplies. not just from us or regional partners but from the government of iraq, which is not to be discounted with a significant moment with the possibility that there will be a single state in iraq in the future. and we are providing, those that were conducting assessments and the joint operation centers have continued to evolve. so this isn't just about air strikes. >> margaret? >> reporter: general, do you believe that isis can be defeated or destroyed without addressing the cross-border threat from syria? and is it possible to contain them? >> let me start from where you ended and end up where you started. it is possible to contain them. and i think we've seen that their momentum was disrupted. and that's not to be discounted, by the way. it was the momentum itself that had allowed them to find a way

to encourage the sunni population of western iraq ato accept their brutal act titacti the presence among them. so you asked, can it be contained, not if perpetuity, but this will eventually have to be defeated. to your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in syria? the answer is no. that will have to be addressed as a non-existent border. and that will come when we have a coalition in the region that takes on the task of defeating isis over time. isis will only truly be defeated when it is rejected by the 20

million disenfranchised sunni that reside between damascus and baghdad. and that requires a variety of instruments. only one small part of which is air strikes. i am not predicting those will occur in syria, at least not by the united states of america. but it requires the applications of all the tools of the national power, diplomatic, power, military. >> talking about isis in syria, my question is for both of you. do you have any information that is relaying the regime and isis? the regime has been striking isis for the last few months. do you see yourself on the same page with the isf regime? and do you still believe isis is part of the problem or will

become part of the broader solution in the region? >> well, assad is a central part of the problem. and i think it is well documented as to why. when you have the brutal dictatorship of assad and what he has done to his own country, which perpetuated much of what's happening and has been happening in syria, so he's part of the problem, as to -- as part of it or the central core of it. as to your question regarding iso and assad, yes, they are fighting each other as well as other terrorist groups, very sophisticated terrorist groups in syria. >> he is absolutely part of the

problem. kevin? >> sir, can you address the charges of the mission creep of iraq, going beyond proteblgtict americans and going directly after isl. i talked to the general counsel, what are you doing now or do you need different type of authority going forward for what you would like? >> well, to start with, the president has been very clear on mission creek. and he's made it very clear that he will not allow that. this is why he's very clear on what our mission is. we can find where the war power is at and let congress know how many people we have. and of course we consult with our counsel all