love that one. many lessons learned all leading up to the first day of school where homework and going to bed early will once again be part of the norm for my kids and for me as well. hope you had a great one. now it's on to the fall, right? thanks for being part of the real story. i'm gretchen. here's shep. taking on the islamic state terrorists. one day after those terrorists put out a video showing the slaughter of another american journalist. the united states is now looking at possible plans for going after those responsible. plus, there's new word of how steven sotloff hid his jewish faith from his captors. of course, that terror group is far from the only crisis that the white house is now confronting. the president now in wales at a nato summit. and there the president is going to ask leaders to look at ways to reverse russia's aggression toward ukraine. there's a lot of news. let's get to it. now "shepard smith reporting" live. >> first from the fox news deck this wednesday afternoon,

president obama arrived a short time ago in wales for a major nato meeting. as intense global challenges dramatically shake up the president's agenda. he stopped in estonia as a show of support for our nato allies against any russian threat. but now the president finds himself trying to reassure americans about the threat from islamic state terrorists. he reacted to the newly released video showing an islamic state fighter cutting off the head of the american journalist steven sotloff. he's the second american journalist the group has murdered in two weeks. the president pledged the u.s. will not forget and said there will be justice. >> so the bottom line is this. our objective is clear. and that is to degrade and destroy isil so it's no longer a threat not just to iraq but also the region and to the united states. >> degrade and destroy. but then a few minutes later, the president returned to his initial comments and seemed to some to soften his stance.

>> we know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink isil's sphere of influence, its effectivene effectiveness, its financing, its -- its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem. >> manageable problem in that you destroy it, or is there a difference there? the different statements are fueling his critics who say the president has not taken a tough enough stand here. meantime, we're seeing how the islamic state's brutality extends beyond innocent americans. human rights watch now reports the terrorists killed as many as 770 iraqi men back in june. many times more than initially reported. graphic pictures that we have blurred for television show the pile of corpses. the killers forced victims to lie down face down in a shallow ditch. their arms tied behind their

backs. the camera captured the massacre. all of this, of course, complicates the president's initial focus during his overseas trip, which is russia's power grab in ukraine. frankly, technically russia's invasion of ukraine because that's what happened. the russian president vladimir putin today proposed a peace deal, calling for russian-backed rebels to stop their advance. which is comical, if not so horrible. it also calls on ukraine to pull its troops from the region. in other words, russia is telling ukrainian leaders to pull their own troops from their own land. it's ridiculous. rebel leaders rejected any plan without a ukrainian pullback, and russian officials say they can't force the peace deal because they still claim against all of the evidence, against all of the facts in a baghdad bob sort of way that russia is not a part of this fight. that is the boldface lie of the day. wendell goler is live at the

white house. what does the president say about destroying the islamic state versus it's a manageable problem, wendell? >> reporter: well, shepard, the president says as we've seen with al qaeda, there are always going to be remnants of terrorist groups that can cause isolated problems. what he says he wants to do is eliminate isis's ability to hold territory and destabilize the region. but as you can probably imagine, that is not enough for his critics who want all-out war on the group. >> i think that's the about ig question. are we going to contain isis, or are we going to crush isis? and the president has not answered that. he needs to stand in front with that kind of clarity and say, look, nobody wants to get us into another military action. but unfortunately we can't choose the world we live in, and this is the world that we live in right now. >> reporter: the president says it will take an international effort to deal with isis. they have to shrink its influence, its financing and its military capabilities, shepard. >> they'll also talk about russia's invasion of ukraine which is the focus of this thing. where are we there?

>> reporter: well, the president's scheduled to stop in estonia after announcing his plans to go to the nato summit. he did so to assure the baltic states that their membership in nato means they won't have to endure what the people of ukraine are going through. all have memories of decades of suffering under the soviet union. that's why they were so anxious to join nato in the first place where mr. obama promised them under article 5 an attack against one of them is an attack against all. >> we'll be here for estonia. we will be here for latvia. we will be here for lithuania. you lost your independence once before. with that nato you will never lt again. >> reporter: u.s. and european officials say they have no plans to offer nato membership to y ukrai ukraine, though they'll discuss tougher sanctions on moscow and plans to create a rapid reaction force to station in nato countries on the russian border. back to isis now. there's word islamic state

militants are setting their sights on russia's president putin. according to israel national news, a video from the terror group threatens putin because of his ties to the syrian ruler bashar al assad. an his almic state fighter in the video says of putin, and i quote, your throne is being threatened by us. and the fighter tells assad, and i quote, brace yourself for what's coming, you pig. russia has backed the assad regime even as he slaughtered his own citizens. and president putin provided assad with weapons and supplies. let's bring in tony cordesman from the centers for strategic and international studies. he served as director of intelligence assessment at the office of secretary of defense. also spent a lot of time in iraq and afghanistan, advising commanders and embassies on those wars in those countries. and he was a member of the group that assisted general stanley mcchrystal in the assessing of the situation in afghanistan. so he's been busy and has a right to talk on this matter. sir, what do we do? >> first we've got to be a lot

more decisive about using air power. we need to be able to attack targets in syria. we need to be able to attack the entire structure of isis inside iraq. that means more air power, the ability to strike in both countries and the kind of massive intelligence and targeting effort that worked previously in iraq and has worked in afghanistan. >> of course, we don't have that intelligence right now, especially on the ground. not at all in syria, at least for public consumption, and not much in iraq, do we? >> well, be careful about that phrase, "public." you're perfectly accurate there, but we've put a lot of assets in wi in. we need a lot more. but we do have people moving forward. we can put special forces, agency people in. and they can be critical. because we can't win if we have large civilian casualties or collateral damage. the other key problem is we're inheriting two civil wars.

and one of the most serious problems is that maliki virtually destroyed the iraqi forces and created so much hatred and anger among the sunnis, they invited the islamic state in. we have a new government, but it means rebuilding with u.s. aid and assistance. many elements of the iraqi forces from the ground up. >> and it's not just rebuilding the forces, as you've said, and written in the past. it's also creating an environment where those who are working with the isis forces would find something that was tolerable for them. something that would mean that they could get away from isis towards something they favored. that doesn't exist at the moment, does it? >> no, you're absolutely right. we need to see economic reforms. we need to see some form of federalism. it's not simply sunni on shiite. the kurds deserve protection. they deserve a share of the rev gnaws. revenues. and people need to see something other than one of the most

corrupt governments in the world. that's all things that have to come from within iraq. we also need an ideological element. we aren't a muslim country. we are the united states. and that means we need a lot of help from the saudis, the uae, from other arab and islamic countries to counter the message that the islamic state has given that somehow this is a legitimate form of islam, and the people who are sunni should follow them. >> of course, for the moment -- i don't need to mention to you that we don't have the cooperation from those nations. we don't have a government that's established. there is no alternative for these people. there is no authorization for any sort of use of force in syria. and yet they continue to chop off the heads of american sit does hes. citizens. so for the moment what we have is none of the things that are necessary and none of the strategies which might help. that's today. >> i think we need more decisions. but in fairness, we've had a lot

of support from the saudis. we've had support from the uae. we've had support from jordan. we could use a lot more support from turkey. but a lot of the problem, quite frankly, is us. you can't do this in bits and pieces. you can't promise to be in and out in 30 days. if you're going to do anything, particularly while sending in ground troops, you've got to be decisive. you have to show our allies we're committed and we'll act. >> tony cordesman, very good of you to be here. thank you so much. >> a pleasure. >> and if you're going to do any of those things, long term as he suggested, long term, you have to have congress. and prior to midterm elections, is it possible to get congress? and what about the legality of all of this? judge andrew napolitano joins in just a moment. but just afirst first, more on the execution of stephen sotloff including how investigators are examining the video in an attempt to uncover the killers' identity.

that's ahead on "shepard smith reporting." [ siri ] i feel pretty. oh so pretty. oh, hi, cortana. you look...nice. [ cortana ] thanks. this is the new htc one m8 for windows. sleek. but, i'm more than just a pretty face. me, too. i can check your calendar,

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the size of the united kingdom. the counterterror official also says the islamic state brings about a million dollars a day through illegal oil sales and kidnapping ransom. our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge live in washington with more. >> reporter: shepard, as the nation's top counterterrorism official matt olsen is seen by a straight shooter by democrats and republicans alike. his assessment has weight. with more than 10,000 fighters, social media fuels its recruitment. the execution videos of american journalist james foley and now steven sotloff show the group is more adept at spreading these graphic images at lightning speed. and while a 23-year-old florida man traveled back and forth from the united states to syria before making a martyrdom video and becoming a suicide bomber in may, olsen said -- >> no indication at this point of foreign fighters operating in the united states.

isil threatens to outpace al qaeda, to outpace al qaeda, the dominant voice of influence in the global extremist movement. >> olsen offered specifics about the rise of isis since 2011, significantly how the number of suicide bombings quadrupled between 2012 and last year, and this is further evidence that the intelligence community was not blindsided by this threat, shep. >> catherine, what are we learning about the release of this new islamic state video? >> well, a counterterrorism source who does a lot of collection of social media for federal government sources told fox that there is significant evidence that the video released was accidental based on isis social media postings after it went public. and within 90 minutes of the video going up online, there were instructions that were also posted to senior isis followers on the web about how to post videos and change the format to avoid being tracked. and particular attention is

being paid to the executioner's voice which appears to have been altered in the tape. the bottom line is what counterterrorism officials have seen in the last two weeks, is that isis has learned from its mistakes, and it's now moving off english language social media to foreign language accounts such as russian. >> very interesting. catherine herridge, thank you. >> you're welcome. somalia's government has offered amnesty to al shabaab. that organization reportedly has thousands of fighters of its own. this comes as pentagon officials say they're working to confirm whether a u.s. air strike killed the leader earlier this week. they say the air strike that happened on monday targeted the terror chief near a village south of somalia's capital city. last year in neighboring kenya, the terror leader claimed responsibility for an attack on an upscale mall. investigators say al shabaab fighters opened fire on shoppers and tossed grenades and killed at least 67 people.

the war powers resolution. it lets the president send our military forces outside the united states. but there are strict limits on how long they can be there without approval from congress. but that's all before we consider the question of whether it's even constitutional in the first place. so what of this plan, as it is, to get back at isis and stop its progression? judge andrew napolitano talks to us about the legality of it all after this. we come into the world hungry. and never quite get over it. seven billion hungry people. well, we grow a lot of food. we also waste about a third of what we grow. so, we put our scientists to work. and they found ways to keep the food we grow fresher, longer. using innovative packaging.

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irget thousands of mourners gathered to honor a lebanese soldier. it happened when the militant groups including the islamic

state took over a lebanese town near syria's border last month. and they captured some troops. some heartbreaking pictures really to show you this afternoon in our slide show. and here you can see mourners raising up their heads and weapons as they carry the coffin of the beheaded soldier through the crowd. this is a relative here. this image shows the soldier's brother draping himself across the coffin. some mourners accuse their government of abandoning the troops. the soldier's uncle chanted "he was betrayed by all the politicians. he was sold for a cheap price." here mourners carry back the coffin which is tradition. lebanese tradition that acknowledges the youth of the person. and this is the soldier's widow. you can see her trying to comfort their 10-month-old daughter as they march through the crowds. a little more of a slice of reality in isis world. and as the white house tries to build a strategy to fight the his lamic state in syria,

analysts say obama could have a tough time explaining whether potential air strikes are even legal, especially if the white house takes action without approval from congress. last week obama said he will give lawmakers a say in it that strategy. you may remember last year the president held off on a military strike against the syrian government so that he could ask congress first. congress, by the way, said no. let's take this to the judge. fox news senior judicial analyst judge andrew napolitano is with us on the fox news deck. we have midterm elections coming up in november. >> right. >> and if you are one who looks at the polls and realizes the people are not for this, which they aren't, according to the polls -- >> right. >> -- why would you take a vote if you don't have to? and then can the president act if they don't? >> this is where it gets very political. first, the law. which you pretty much explained in your introduction. under the war powers resolution in 1973 era, 1973 statute, enacted by congress over president nixon's veto. the president of the united states can dispatch american troops anywhere on the planet

outside the u.s. for military hostilities without permission from congress for 90 days. he just has to give them notice. if he wants to renew it another 90 days, he's got to give another notice with a couple more requirements in there. but basically he can do it for 180 days on his own without the consent of congress. but then if something goes wrong, the president takes the heat. which is why a lot of presidents have preferred, presidents since this law came into effect, that congress authorize the military hostilities. so if something goes wrong, the heat is on them. >> but in theory, that puts the people on board because the congress elected by the people to represent the people. >> absolutely. it also complies with the constitution. >> yeah. >> which basically says -- which not basically says, literally says congress shall declare war. congress decides when troops go in. the president decides when and how many and what kind of a battle they wage. so the question then is not a legal one. the president could decimate

isis tomorrow. military personnel have testified -- i've stated here on fox it could be done in 90 days and certainly in 180 days. the question is -- >> well, they said that about the war in iraq, too. >> correct. >> so let's continue. >> does he have the political will to do it, or does he prefer that the political heat be taken by congress? question one. question two, which you raised, can this be done in an election year before election day? >> yeah. both sides playing politics on this. if you want to make this politics, i really didn't. jack goldsmith, i'm sure you know of. >> yes, i do. >> harvard law professor, served under president bush, has suggested that if you write this thing properly, that it could work very much in the president's favor, draft it narrowly with specificity about locations, make an end point of this, a time-specific end point and limit it to iraq and syria. that's a lot to ask. but that could happen. >> i agree with professor goldsmith. that would not only be lawful, but congress can say you can

dispatch troops, but you can only dispatch them here and here and can only dispatch them between this window and that window. i agree with professor goldsmith. that would work lawfully, and it would probably also work politically. and it might work morally because it would probably put a stop to these awful barbaric acts that we keep seeing on television. >> yeah. and there's nobody who thinks that shouldn't be stopped, that should be stopped and must do whatever you can to stop it. but you have to watch the unintended consequences. for one, we end up in the middle of two sylph wars. for another, we're fighting with a man who already says he has to be -- has to go because he's gassed his own people, and yet there we are beside him, and we've inherited a region's problems which we have proved over the past ten years and well before that we can only screw up. >> correct. that we can't manage. >> no, we can only screw up. all we did was screw up. >> we also have a president who prefers stealth wars. he prefers wars by drone run by the cia or the military.

>> that's clear. >> and not acknowledging it as opposed to the type of invasion that would probably be necessary to take these creeps on. >> and some of these creeps, as you put it, have said if all you're going to do is fly your drones overhead, we're just going to keep beheading your people. can't you see a world where this continues they'll start kidnapping them, cutting their heads off. >> bottom line, this is up to the personal will and currently of the most unmilitarylike president in the modern era. the president we have now. he has the authority and he has the power to make his own mind up on this. can he do it alone legally? yes. can he go to congress first? yes. >> it's not as if this is a black-and-white thing, though. >> no. >> you have to be careful as we learned when we went into iraq. you have to be careful of the bucket that get s overturned because what has spilled is a vacuum that allowed this thing to happen in the first place. that goes to the war in iraq, period. >> you could very well argue that the reason isis came to the fore and gathered its strength

and is so vicious is because of the way we botched the war in iraq. because of our presence there in the first place. >> and now we have this, and we have to clean it up. you know, there are plenty of people who say let's go now. and plenty of people who say don't go at all. but we're in that middle place where you've got to figure out what's going to work. not for today or tomorrow but for a generation or more. >> i think the president should lead. he shouldn't be acting like he's afraid to be president. >> you know, no one should be acting like they're afraid to be president. but until this strategy, who knows what they're doing behind the scenes in the first place. i certainly don't. >> i don't think any of us knows what it is. but there's a public appetite for something. >> there is. it's complicated and very frightening. thank you, judge. >> it's always a pleasure, shep. ahead, more on what we just learned about the additional u.s. forces headed to iraq. you may have heard 350 more and what they're supposed to be doing. and when they'll arrive. that's ahead as we approach the bottom of the hour and the top of the news from the fox news deck.

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the fox report now. more of the headlines. the man who shot and killed an unarmed woman on his porch near detroit will spend at least 17 years in prison for murder. a judge handed down the sentence today after a jury rejected the man's claim that he feared for his life. prosecutors say the 19-year-old victim had crashed her car outside his home in november, and they believe intended to ask the man for help. a car slammed into a school bus outside green bay, killed one person in the car and hurt more than a dozen high school volleyball players. that's according to officials there. and two men who spent decades on death row in north carolina for a crime they did not commit are walking out of prison today. a court had convicted them of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl back in 1983. but a judge overturned the conviction after new dna evidence pointed to a different suspect.

they spent decades on death row. but they did not do it.

defense officials now say don't call it mission creep. but, of course, it is mission creep. they're sending another 350 u.s. marines to iraq. that it is mission creep is not a pejorative. it is by definition mission creep because they've crept beyond what they said their mission was. that's mission creep. full stop. and they say their specific goal is to bolster security at the u.s. embassy and other facilities in baghdad. according to the pentagon, this will put more than 1,000 u.s. troops in iraq for the first time since the year 2011, the end of the drawdown there. for some context, at least as 165,000 troops were stationed in iraq during the surge, if you will, in 2007. jennifer griffin is at the pentagon this afternoon for us. jennifer, why is the pentagon doing this now? >> reporter: well, shepard, in fact, the request came from the state department three weeks ago and emanated from concern about the u.s. embassy in baghdad, the

largest u.s. embassy in the world. secretary of state john kerry requested the additional security at the embassy and at the airport in baghdad. it's not clear why it took defense secretary hagel three weeks to fulfill the state department's request. when the new contingent of troops arrives in the coming days, the total number of u.s. troops in iraq will be 1,213. as you mentioned, it's the first time that number has crept beyond 1,000 since the end of the war. shep. >> jennifer, the defense secretary just minutes ago outlined the threat of the islamic state. and the rhetorical flourishes are growing. >> reporter: they are. in fact, you're hearing from u.s. officials today what's sounding like a bit of hyperbole. he joined other u.s. counterterrorism officials in painting a very bleak picture of who isis is and why u.s. officials are now saying they are worse than al qaeda. >> we know what they are, as i've said and others have said, something that we've never seen before.

they are better organized. they're better funded. they have more capability. they're better structured. there's a dangerous, dangerous ideology of brutality, of barbaric nature that we have not seen before. >> now, human rights watch issued a new report accusing isis of carrying out war crimes back in june when it overtook this military air base once used by u.s. troops and known as camp speicher near tikrit. the report confirms they captured and executed more than 560 iraqi soldiers at the base in june. in wales president obama will be joined by secretaries kerry and hagel at the summit where we'll try to build what the pentagon is again referring to as a coalition of the willing in iraq. >> are they at war with us, admiral? >> they are certainly at war with everything we stand for. they are at war with our interests in the region and quite frankly, they pose a threat through the use of foreign fighters to other western targets. >> reporter: so far that coalition seems to only to be

the brits, french and australians whose assistance to date has been limited to humanitarian aid drops over iraq like the ones we saw this weekend. shepard. >> jen, thank you. the president is vowing to defend our nato allies against any potential threat from russia. take a look at the wall now. the president spoke during a visit to estonia, a former soviet republic, which like yew yan, also borders russia. earlier ukraine's released a statement. he indicated his country and putin reached a cease-fire agreement. a top rebel leader quickly denied there was any truce. and a spokesman for president putin said -- listen to this -- moscow is not in a position to agree to a cease-fire because it is not a party to the conflict. in other words, russia is still denying that it has anything to do with it. again, the reemergence of the twin of baghdad bob. the united states and nato -- a report that russian troops have

been in ukraine for months. and fox news can confirm. president putin has issued his own peace plan, though. and as i reported at the top of this newscast, he's calling for the rebels to stop advancing and for ukraine's army to withdraw from the east. in other words, he's telling ukrainian leaders to withdraw their troops from their own country. meantime, ukraine has threatened to cut power to crimea which russian officials claim they annexed back in march. of course, what they really did was invade it and take it. officials in kiev say the conflict has created an electricity shortage. and france's president says his government has suspended plans to deliver a large warship to russia because of this crisis. stuart holliday, former u.s. ambassador with united nations is with us now. mr. ambassador, it's this to see you again. thank you. >> good afternoon. >> it's confounding to me that the american media -- and i don't talk about other media a

lot, but including this one -- the american media and others have adopted the russian parlance on what's happened here. we're not a party to, we haven't done this. these people invaded crimea and took it, and now they've invaded the east of ukraine, and they're trying to take it and from moscow, they're telling ukraine what to do with ukraine's military. it is preposterous. and in any other environment, it would be tantamount to a bigger war than we're talking about now. >> absolutely. it's really a throwback to the propaganda rhetoric that you saw decades ago during the cold war. and i think what was surprising in this case is that the leader of ukraine, mr. poroshenko, went along with this cease-fire. in other words, he engaged mr. putin in this discussion. and putin can't have it both ways. he can't both say he's not a party to this conflict but then say he's proposing this cease-fire that involves a withdrawal of troops that really only freezes his position on the

ground in the ukraine. >> you know, i'm guessing that there are probably americans from sea to shining sea right now who are going i don't really care about crimea and eastern ukraine. but isn't the larger problem that this sets a precedent or that it could and that in the near -- maybe the near days or in the near weeks or months or years, we might be forced into some sort of action because what happens when this is a nato member? >> absolutely. and you're talking about a country where an extensive nuclear arsenal. only a decade or two removed from agreement that repositioned those weapons away from targeting the united states. this is a matter of grave concern. again, not just because of crimea but what it represents for nato, what it represents for the united states. and the perception of american leadership in the world. >> when last friday president putin spoke of his nuclear arsenal, if i may in a sort of offensive as opposed to defensive way, he treaded into new territory which didn't seem

to resonate across the country, but i've never heard it said like that by anyone. >> yeah, and this is part of his narrative of restoring russian pride. and of course their nuclear arsenal, their u.n. security council seat, they're still one of five nations that can wield a veto in the u.n. security council. all of these things, the economy is entirely dependent on oil, a country that isn't innovating and doesn't have patents that are coming out for the kinds of new technologies that are going to fuel the future economy of the world. so he has to hang on to what russia has that makes it great. one of them is tapping into this idea of national pride and a great russia, a larger russia. >> so what do we do now? do we give ukraine arms? do we just give it political support? what's the right thing? >> well, i think mr. poroshenko has somewhat limited the latitude of what we can do because if he's willing to enter into this de facto concession that would lead this eastern

ukraine, this region to basically fall into what we would call no man's land, if he's willing to do that, it's very hard for the united states to step up and say no, we're going to arm, you know, and equip the ukrainian military to prosecute that conflict if they're saying look, we're willing to recognize that this is sort of a compromise. now, i think what happens is if this goes forward, if there's a continued, you know, military activity by russia, yeah, you've got to support our allies. in this case, ukraine is not a nato ally, but it's a country that's important to us. >> ambassador stuart holliday, thank you, sir. >> thank you. the third american to contract the deadly ebola virus is a doctor from the boston area. he was in liberia reportedly delivering babies in 100-degree heat when somehow he was exposed to ebola. the patient's name is dr. rick sacruff. he went back to africa just a month ago after he heard another american doctor became ill. that's according to the

president of the new patient missionary group. he says he does not know whether the doctor will return to the united states for treatment. meantime, the american missionary worker who recently recovered from ebola spoke out for the first time today. and what a sight it was. she thanked doctors at emory university hospital in atlanta for saving her life. according to our researchers, the ebola outbreak has killed nearly 2,000 people in west africa, more than all previous ebola outbreaks combined. it was an unusual morning at laguardia airport here in new york. three planes struck by birds within a couple of hours of each other. there were no injuries reported. well, no human injuries. the birds were not so lucky. far from so lucky. sara's over here with some details. what happened? >> yeah, this happened at laguardia airport, and it was three separate passenger planes. they all landed on the same runway. but as you can see, laguardia is surrounded on three sides by water.

so it makes sense there's a lot of birds in the area. the first happened a little after 7:20 this afternoon. it was an express jet. it was taking a turn to land and a bird got stuck in its nose gear. about 90 minutes later, another express jet got struck after it landed while it was taxiing in. and that third strike happened a couple hours after that. it was an air canada flight. and it was about 12 miles from the airport. and you know, collided with the birds but continued on safely and landed at laguardia. the faa is still looking into the incidents. but laguardia is really no stranger to birds colliding with planes. you remember the miracle on the hudson back in 2009 when geese flew into the engine and sully sullenberger really became a hero for keeping all 155 people on board safe. >> he certainly did. thankfully no such heroics necessary today. >> thank goodness. much more ahead on the fight against the islamic state. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations says this must be an international effort. the united states cannot act

alone. so who joins and in what way? that's coming up.

. . .

the u.s. ambassador to the united nations says america cannot fight the islamic state alone, adding it has to be a global effort. ambassador power also announcing that president obama will head a security council meeting on the threat of foreign terrorists including the islamic state fighters. that's set to begin about three weeks from now. leah gabriel is live in our newsroom here in new york city with the rest of the details on this. leah? >> well, shep, speaking to a group of reporters today, ambassador power called the islamic state a phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters. she said that any campaign against the group will have to go beyond military action, and she called for help from others around the world. >> it will not suffice if it is

the united states and just the few partners who have stepped up at this point dealing with this threat. we need all hands on deck. >> now, when asked about islamic state militants in syria, ambassador power said the issue is being considered at the very highest levels and in a, quote, very urgent manner. she said they've enjoyed safe haven in syria that allowed them to use resources and weapons in iraq. here's what she said when asked about syria. >> there's no question that dealing with isil over time in the way that president obama has spoken to is going to require dealing with isil across the region wherever it exists. >> and as for the security council summit that president obama will lead in three weeks, ambassador power said that the president will seek consensus on the severity of the islamic state threat and the need for cooperation.

his team will be looking to secure a u.n. resolution that addresses how militants are being financed, how countries share intelligence, the flow of fighters into war zones and, of course, how those fighters are being tracked. shep? >> lea gabrielle, thanks very much. the israeli government confirmed how steven sotloff managed to hide the fact that he was jewish from his kidnappers. that's coming up from the fox news deck. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica.

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users. though some people in our group here are on, some people can't get on. it's different all over the world. ebay tweeted it is aware that users are having problems signing into ebay, they're working to resolve the problem and post updates on the system's board. so what's happened with facebook? frankly, we don't know. we checked facebook. it didn't know. and if facebook doesn't know, well, it's clearly not knowable. maybe wikipedia, not a source. vice president biden had some strong words for islamic state militants one day after we saw hid voe of them -- video of them beheading stephen sotloff. >> has a nation, we're united, and when people harm americans, we don't retreat. we don't forgive, we take care of those who are grieving, and when that's finished, they should know we will follow them to the gates of hell new mexico

they are brought to justice. because hell is where they will reside. hell is where they will reside. >> well, now we're getting word, stephen sotloff as i mentioned was an israeli citizen, that's according to a spokesman who tweeted, stephen sotloff is an israeli citizen. sotloff grew up in the miami area and reportedly moved to israel back in 2005. according to one israeli newspaper, sotloff was able to hide the fact that he was jewish and would pretend to be sick so that he could fast for the holiday. trace gallagher has more on this, trace, he was praying in secret, huh? >> yeah, that's right, stephen sotloff would -- steven sotloff would watch and see which they they were facing and turn and adjust himself so that he was praying toward israel. that comes to us from an unidentified colleague who was actually held captive with sotloff. not only did sotloff keep his

religion private, but his family also scrubbinged the internet to get rid of any reference to jude yichl and israel. and when his mother pleaded with his captors for mercy, she even cited the qur'an. in fact the israeli media hid his secrets because they also wanted to protect him. shep. >> he graduated from college in israel, right? >> yeah, he did, grew up in miami and went to a jewish david school, prep school in new hampshire, then went to the university of central florida, but dromed out, and he finished college at a university outside of tel aviv after graduatesing, scott love stayed in israel, freelanced for american and israeli publications where he covered the arab spring. he was in libya and egypt and yemen. he disappeared in syria last august, shep. his funeral arrangements are set for this friday. shep. >> trace gallagher, thank you. pope francis sis it is

legitimate to use force to stop the isis militants. world leaders need to decide how to do. the pope sending messages to christians on the run in iraq, calling them the heart of the catholic church. islamic state militants forced thousands from their homes in iraq and syria telling them they must convert to islam, pay a tax, or die. the news continues in a moment. we'll take a check at the dow and move on to the top of the hour and the top of the news right after this.

on this day in 1936, new york city threw a ticker tape parade for jesse owens. he won four gold medals in berlin. some reporters say hitler stormed out and refused to shake his hand. others say hitler refused to shake hands with new nongerman athletes. either way, jegs se owens shattered the na zi claim on

hitler's own turn. slow ride through the canyon of heroes. and it happened 78 years ago today. couple of quick notes before we go, joan river's daughter says she's out of intensive care and in a private room for at least us here, facebook is back. all right. i want you to listen to something because i'm confused. listen to this. >> our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy isil so it's no long aerothreat, not just -- longer a threat to iraq, and to the united states. >> okay. all well and good. then later in the same speech, this -- >> we can continue to shrink isil's spirit of influence, its effectiveness, its financing. its military capabilities, to the point where it is a manageable problem. >> destr