jenna: we'll see you back here in an hour. jon: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> this ace fox news alert. the tragic outcome so many hoped would never happen. the parents of kayla mueller, the american woman held hostage by isis, confirming their daughter died while in the hands of the terror group. this is "outnumbered." i'm andrea tantaros. here with us today. jon: harris faulkner, host of a brand new show on fox business at 10:00 p.m. on our sister network, the one and only kennedy also from fbn liz macdonald. today's #oneluckyguy if he is in trouble he can call himself because he a lawyer, legal analyst for the network. arthur aidala is back. he is outnumbered.

big news day. >> horrible news day. >> horrible news day. we want to get your thoughts. we have legal issues in the run down. kayla muraller was taken by isis in 2013. she was dedicated aid worker to helping those in need. mueller, selflessly went to the middle east to help the syrian people brutalized by civil war. the white house is saying over the weekend mueller's family received a private message from her captors confirming her death. the information in that message authenticated by the u.s. intelligence community. president obama in a statement says mueller, quote epitomized all that is good in our world. she is now the fourth american to die while in the hands of these terrorists. we're awaiting more reaction from the white house at "the daily news" briefing minutes from now. meantime president obama is expected to ask congress for new

war powers to fight isis any day now. as his strategy is under fire from his critics especially on the issue of his resistance to use ground troops. senator john mccape warns that putting american boots on the ground in syria or iraq is a lot better than isis coming here to america. >> i would make sure we had sufficient american troops on the ground to train -- >> that scares americans when they hear that. >> it may scare americans. but it will scare them a heck of a lot more or should when the director of british intelligence gives a speech there is direct threat to the united states of america as well as the british. >> with another american hostage did the debate how we handle isis is ram up here here at home. before the president goes to congress for more war powers or i should say reauthorization can you tell news on this tragedy. >> here is what just happened.

you mings ad press briefing coming up in about 30 americans we're expected to here. it is daily briefing, we anticipate atop that will come more words outside from the white house statement on the death of kayla mueller who you see a picture of now. the president doesn't have any public events on his schedule. we're not anticipating hering from him directly ahead of this. i can also tell you that he has spoken with the parents of kayla. and that is per bernadette meehan, national security council spokesperson. to give you a touch of that. he offered his condolences and prayers. commended to kayla and others helping those in need. he will relentlessly pursue the terrorists responsible for her captivity and death. stands ready to help the family in the difficult months ahead. third item for to you know. fox news in contact in jordan just confirmed, this is the difference, okay? this is the game-changer perhaps that people have pointed to as this is tipping point of a death

of that jordanian air force pilot who was burned right? jordanian troops on the ground at border of iraq per our contact. that's a difference. we're watching for that. we do know from the air they have been putting bombs, inscribing in arabic these words, the jordanian fighters, dedicated from the flight officers to the dogs of daesh. that is what they call isis in that part of the world. so it is interesting what jordan is doing in their fight today. those are the nuggets i will continue to gather. >> before we get into the boots on the ground debate, that is very helpful information. jordan just minutes ago putting jordanian boots on the ground but first, arthur, the president going to congress. this is something the president hasn't done too often. he usually circumvents congress. what is your theory behind why the president will ask for war powers from a congress he often circumvented? >> well let's start off at one point he was a constitutional law professor. since the attacks on pearl harbor the war powers act even

though it did give the president enormous amount of power, congress is supposed to be the vital part in the decision-making process. that goes back to the founding of the country and federalist papers. i don't care who the president is i'm very happy he or she is involving congress because that is what is supposed to be done. do i think he would love to use this to get a little bit of popular opinion behind him? look andrea in a courthouse. not exactly a bastion of conservatism. if you hear the way attorneys and judges and court officers are talking about what took place, obviously no one knew the young woman died but about the burning of the jordanian man, i'm hearing words like, nuclear attack, from america, from on that region of the world. they're like enough. enough. these are not -- you would call liberal people are like enough. if you're burning human beings alive you do not deserve to be on this planet earth any longer

some i think public sentiment is -- >> for action. >> 100%. >> you believe this is a good thing. i would agree with you arthur, he does need to go to congress. i think he should seek their approval even though some argue he legally can do it without going to con press. emac, want to get your thoughts on this. we've seen the president go around congress. my sense he want as fall guy. arthur says more support from congress. but i think on things he doesn't necessarily want to do fight isis very aggressively. congress gets behind me if this goes badly i can blame you. on other stuff, climate change and immigration i don't need congress. >> rely on bureaucrats because you can't vote them out of power. had is this about buying time. to not put, not break his vow to not put or increase combat troops on the ground. if you're not going to that you have resolve of fdr or reagan to cajole saudi arabia, egypt,

turkey united arab emirates to join jordan with ground troops. we know from military airstrikes alone will not do it. we know from the military, they need 80,000 troops on the ground to stop isis. we have what about 3,000, 4,000. the president wants to double that up to 3,000, 4,000 u.s. you have to get 77,000 from elsewhere. does the president have the wherewithal to do that? >> kennedy, what do you think? you heard john mccain say boots on the ground. i know you have the libertarian side. i know a lost neocons say no more american boots on the ground. harris reported jordanians putting boots on the ground moments ago. what do we do at this point? >> i would say, i agree with liz. i don't think they should allow jordan to be the "charlie hebdo" of the middle east. other muslim countries need to stand forward ander rad cat radical islam from within. it is critically important. i do not think the president has

standing popularity or backbone. i absolutely agree with that. i don't think the choice that john mccain presents, i don't think toes are mutually exclusive. i don't think boots on the ground doesn't mean we'll see an attack here. problem, no one wants to see american soldiers to die for the cause that could be exacerbated. >> one hair gets hurt by one person on american soil, the sentiment is going to swing widely in the other direction. >> can i ask about that sentiment? we have a poll taken before paris. let's take a look here. before the paris and jordanian pilots burning. troops on the ground 559% oppose. that was back in november of course before this latest tragedy. i want to talk about public sentiment. what do people feel here at home? arthur, you get the sense that number may have changed. that people want the president to do something. i think white house would argue differently to say this nation does not have the appetite for more american death. >> the white house is so out of

touch with everyday people, right? there is nobody in the white house who is going to criminal court way i do. no ebb in the white house on 45th street and fifth avenue talking to tourists, talking to people. i'm a big mouth. i speak to everybody. >> no. >> maybe joe biden. we don't know what he has been doing. >> i think i think what john mccain said is accurate. i wear my best friend's name on the my wrist, joe, who died on september 11th bombings. i remember what we were like as americans. those weeks and months, we were, you remember what we were like. we were ready to go. >> galvanized. we've got to be ready. >> being ready and having the intestinal fortitude to do the next thing are not necessarily the same thing. >> that's right. >> so we weren't ready but we were ready to take action when it called for it. the question are we ready now to do that next thing? i think it depends how you ask the question. i think if you ask the question

today with in mind a family had to look at proof of death documents or photos or whatever kayla's family saw we still don't know exactly how she died. let me finish. >> it is not a solution to the a muslim solution. >> on heels of this burning we don't know what is next with jordan on the ground on the border of iraq. with all that happening if you take all that information and then ask the american public what would you do? a, we're not in it alone and some things have changed the game now. >> france is there, japan is there, jordan is there. i hope other countries don't reach the tipping point. there are plenty of allies in there and we should be ones doing the brunt of the work. >> that is my point. not just a u.s. solution. >> i would agree with you there. you're looking live at the white house press room where we're awaiting white house reaction to the death of the american hostage kayla mueller. we'll take you there live when it begins. plus the president is raising all sorts of controversy in a new interview.

here is a tiny snippet. >> what is the famous saying about local newscast, right? if it bleeds it leads. >> he was talking about the media's coverage of terrorism saying essentially it is overblown. really? especially after the news today. right after the show, you know "legally blonde" has bend and snap. we have our own deal at "outnumbered." slash and click. harris is doing it right to my side. she invented it so she can do it "outnumbered overtime." don't send questions and comments f we don't get enough questions out into the sphere. we'll do later. we just need you to request it. ♪

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which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works. ♪ >> well, there is new fallout over an interview president obama did with the website vox which he suggests media are to blame for hyping up fears about terrorism. watch. >> do you think the media, sometimes, overstates the sort of level of alarm people should have about terrorism? >> absolutely and, you know i don't blame the media for that. what's the famous saying about local newscast, right if it

bleeds it leads. you show crime stories and you show fires. that's what folks watch. it is all about ratings. and, the problems of terrorism and dysfunction and chaos alongwith plane crashes and a few other things, that is the equivalent, when it comes to covering international affairs. >> all right so that is still hanging in the air like a dialogue bubble. andrea as you sauls say there is video. same topic why we should be concerned. watch. >> it is entirely legitimate for the american people to be deeply concerned whether you've bottom a bunch of violent vicious zealots who behead people or, randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a, in a dellly in paris. it is, right and appropriate for

us to be vigilant and aggressive in trying to deal with. that the same way that big city mayor has got to cut the crime rate down if he wants that city to thrive. >> arthur talk to me like i'm six. first the president blames media for hype as he calls it in our coverage, fears over terrorism but previous to that he told us exactly why we should be scared. >> let's some of the things he said are correct. if you watch the evening newscast it is about crime and about fires and it draws eyeballs n i put terrorism right up there. i don't think we're overhyping it. i am actually more afraid of terrorism than i am of a fire. i'm more afraid of terrorism than the abouting robbed on the subway. subways are pretty safe now. so i think he is wrong when they're saying it is overly behind. i think that is an issue. it is refreshing to hear them say the bad adjectives about these people. i don't remember him using vicious, vial zealots. >> yeah.

>> okay, he said he wants to go down andrea, the jails dean of presidents. so cool. let me tell you about this. i'm the most interesting man in the world. >> but that is a a problem though. >> how about a teeny little bit of passion and anger? i know he is on vox. >> he had anger and passion when it came to hobby lobby remember how angry he was against the u.s. company? we've seen him fired up before on the campaign trail talking about republicans or things he doesn't like republicans are doing. >> or wall street. >> or wall street. he has it in him. i do agree with you arthur, too cool on issue like terrorism is not working. another thing, pick up new york city paper. old ladies are getting beheaded right and left on the way to grocery stores on upper side of manhattan. what is he talking about? >> he compares his role of fighting terrorism to that the of a big city mayor fighting crime. i saw you shaking your head so hard.

>> benghazi was an attack done by film critics. so when i listened to him be so meta teachers faculty lounge outlook, i have to say can you please stop? don't do this anymore. don't talk like this anymore. it ain't playing. it isn't going over well. we need a leader who inspires. this is riveting joking, uninspiring stuff. >> why blame the media kennedy? >> because he can't blame himself. he is obviously has got problems. he has problems. he doesn't have backbone. he doesn't have vision. he doesn't know how to work with congress. he is angry at people who disagree with him. he is resentful at country because his approval ratings are low and naturally will blame someone else which is very childish. >> what is interesting. look at media components the enemy are putting out there. beheadings on camera. >> yeah. >> setting people on fire on camera. >> burying people alive after crucifying them? >> that's right. media images out there how could he possibly blame us? all --

>> you can't get media into syria. you can't get people in there because they kill journalist. >> that is really interesting point, harris. traditionally you rely on maybe the evening newscasts or just media to give you the news. to your point with social media isis is delivering it right in the hands of the news consumer here at home, whether we bring it to them or not. think about what he is saying. it is our fault so we shouldn't cover it. if we didn't cover it, he wouldn't have to deal with it. talk about fantasy land. >> said it. let's roll with it and move on. most important strategic ally in the middle east but more and more democratic lawmakers are planning to snub benjamin netanyahu when he cops to the united states next month. the israeli prime minister is scheduled to speak to congress about dangers after nuclear armed iran. some critics say this whole controversy is just petty partisan politics. do you agree? plus one florida dad is furious. says his son was learning a little bit too much about the

islamic religion. so what were they teaching him? we'll hear from the dad and the school. again we're awaiting white house reaction to the death of the fourth american hostage held by isis. aid worker kayla mueller. we'll go live to the white house briefing as it happens. stay close

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♪ >> welcome back. more than a dozen congressional democrats now saying they will skip israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's iran-focused speech to congress next month. this is all a reaction to claims that house speaker john boehner extended the invitation to mr. netanyahu without checking with the white house first. just today senator pat leahy became the second senator to say he will miss the speech too. among those who say they will skip the speech are three top leaders in the congressional black caucus with whom president obama is meeting today, vice president joe biden already announced he will not attend the speech because of a scheduling conflict.

meantime, israeli officials are now reportedly considering amending the format of mr. net yahoo!'s address to calm some -- netanyahu's address, to speak to closed-door session of congress, rather than a prime-time tv address. here's the deal harris. israeli elections are coming up, this is a split from the democrats. they have to choose whether they're loyal to the party or loyal to israel as an ally. >> i don't know that it is necessarily such a split because you have a growing list of democrats joining the group that are going to boycott this. i think it get as lot easier. power in numbers type thing but i think the other thing i'm sort of seeing it with the congressional black caucus getting involved, saying comments yesterday or this week, we don't like the fact they have turned this into partisan, blah, blah blah. aren't they doing exact same thing? so the president will meet with members. that is supposed to abbey partisan group today. mia love of utah will be there.

she is freshman in congress. so that will, at least broaden it out there. i would love to be a fly on the wall. is race going to come up? >> that is interesting. >> how does this fall along lines? >> what is chuck schumer going to do, right? he represents the largest jewish constituency i would hazard to guess in the united states of america but he is very loyal to the president of the united states? he will be there. i would be very surprised if he is not there to support israel. >> here is the deal. netanyahu says any deal with iran they will cheat on and will not work. democrats say woe could get a deal where iran stands down on its nuclear program but that is such a moon shot. >> president obama is worried democrats will vote with republicans on the sanctions deal before he gets his way and override a presidential deal.

deal is coming down on democrats, do not go to the netanyahu meeting. media should cover every member that doesn't go. jewish people in the united states of america need to pay attention. think about it. our greatest ally in the middle east being shunned by members of the congress. the white house will meet with david cameron with joint press conference when he has elections coming up. they have meetings next week to talk about islamophobia but they will not have the a jewish leader. what is that saying? >> iran's nuclear program really launched after gassing the kurds and iranian people. so that is really the backdrop to this. >> i think the whole thing is a political cluster kuss. american voters watch to congress guys, get it together. if it is highly politicized climate in israel. if so will it damage your relationship with benjamin netanyahu in this country and

back home? seems like this is so important he could say it after the elections. just seems like, such a nonstarter. there is so much drama for the sake of having drama. i don't like it in my personal life. certainly don't like it in politics. it is annoying and it is exhausting. >> quickly what is joe biden's scheduling conflict. do we know? >> that is great question. >> is he doing a ribbon cutting? >> that is a great question. >> hand-to-hand conflict with the taliban. >> quick reminder. i'm keeping eye on this, white house press briefing, following the death of kayla mueller today. we're watching for that. they are supposed to stop at bottom of the hour. if we get two-minute warning we'll stop at any point. ii want to bring that to your attention, we're getting closer to 12:30 eastern. parents are upset had in a history book being used across schools in florida after one dad said a recent lesson on islam went a bit far. part of the quote reads there is no god but god.

muhammad is the messenger of god, one of five pillars of islam. one dade says they were told to recite the prayer. others say they were not. the school board said they only taught about religion in historical context but that dad at least has his doubt. >> we are requiring our kids in our public schools to learn islamic prayers what would be equivalent of jewish, and 10 commandments, something called the five pillars of islam. >> the school says it was following curriculum teaching history not trying to influence or convert anybody. the school official says, christianity and judaism are taught in earlier grades while islam is not. >> the introduction because students have been introduced to it before. and as i said before christianity and judaism are taught extensively in prior grade levels. so there is no reason to repeat them. not any benchmark for the

10th grade curriculum to -- cure lick lump to teach about the religion itself. >> you have information arthur, coming in and you want kids to learn about everything. what are your thoughts. >> this is 10th grade, right? we're not talking about little, little kids. >> does that make a difference? >> yeah, i definitely think it makes a difference. i don't think a seven or eight-year-old in first or second grade trying to learn rudimentary things like math and reading should corn themselves with the five pillars of islam. when you're in 10th grade and supposed to learn about world war ii and vietnam war and other things, i don't think on its face anything wrong with saying look, these are all the different types of religion. buddhism is very, very high up on people who practice it. in terms of teaching a very fundamental basis of, these are the top five religions in the world, and these are kind of what they stand for, on its face i don't see anything horribly wrong with it. as long as there is a equal and

balanced presentation of it. kennedy, the school district's argument is that the kids learn things earlier but what if they aren't in the school? should they be taught side by side so you know -- is there a review, if you will before you get into islam? is that necessary? >> yes. i think if you're going to teach the tenants of religion, you should have proper context and teach others as well. i think it's interesting to have that perspective and i think tenth graders, if you're 16 17 years old, it's okay to look at the outside world and also this is such a hot button issue that it's better to understand something from the inside for the first time so you can question it. i found my philosophy of religion classes where we question every single major faith to be something that actually boosted my faith in the end. >> but andrea there are parents like that one dad who are not in

favor of this. >> the biggest question is why are these kids working off a defective textbook? not only are they just learning about islam. 100 pages discussing judaism and christianity are missing from the textbook. it's defective. it's a bum textbook. get rid of them and start over. if i was a parent that's what i would be saying. that's what i would jump out about. where are they getting them? but i would agree. i don't think we know enough about islam. there are a lot of people in the country now that could stand to learn. who are we fighting other ever over there? what do they believe? i don't think it's a bad idea as long as they get the 100 parents on christianity and judaism as well. >> bum textbooks. that's what i learned in this hour. >> talk about the historical impact about religion but when you hear students recite the

prayers or get deep into the faith that i don't think the parents had im -- input on that's interesting. >> maybe we shouldn't have public schools. >> wow. >> she's driving the mike on that. one thing the producer is pointing out is that the dad learned it from a text message. >> that's what i was trying to say. >> it takes parent participation and do you as a parent wait until you're asked or do you step in and look at the curriculum ahead of time? >> you don't want to surprise parents about that. >> you feel strongly about that. >> i think learning is power. i really do. >> learning is power. i agree. a major test for the nfl and the new domestic violence policy perhaps. panthers player greg hardy convicted of a judge by assaulting his then girlfriend but now off scott-free after an apparent civil settlement stops

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angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. >> the nfl may be facing the first big test since the league revamped the domestic violence policy after the star player sees his domestic violence case thrown out. the carolina panthers greg hardy was found guilty by a judge last summer of viciously beating his ex-girlfriend and was not allowed to play for most of the season but he's a free man today after his accuser was a no show in court for his appeal. prosecutors believe hardy paid her off so she wouldn't appear. she had recently told the d.a. office she didn't want to go through retelling the horrifying story of what she says hardy did to her. the details are so disturbing. she testified in the previous trial that he threw her in the

bathroom and laid her on to a futon filled with guns and he placed his hands on her throat and threatened to kill her. he's denied all of this. so arthur it seems like riech people's justice. it's not fair when you can pay off the person who can really have an impact on your life. >> you're right. it's not fair and technically it's what we just reported was actually true and provable that's a. you're tampering with a witness. you're not allowed to tamper with a witness. you're not allowed to tamper with a jury. obviously you can't pay a juror to do what you want them to do. so -- but there is a lot of discussion in this whole field regarding the domestic violence of where does the victim of the domestic violence where does his or her feelings desires, do they take precedence over the prosecutor? so the prosecutor wants to send the message, wants to send a deterrent message like if you

strike another person in a domestic violence situation, this is what is going to happen. you're going to go to jail. the actual victim may not want that. in the ray rice situation, the wife didn't want that. here there is a way legally to draw up civil documents that say, in lieu of a criminal prosecution, this domestic violence victim is accepting this money not to not be available. she's still going to tell the prosecutors and the judge, i can testify. i don't want to. this is going to do more harm to me than good. the money he's giving me will get me the treatment i need the help that i need and put me in a position to make my life better. >> if that happened would that be kept quiet? what it looks like is that she didn't just show up from what's being reported. maybe that happened and we don't have the whole story. >> correct. as i said it cannot be. what it can't be is that he gave her money to go away. that's illegal. but there are ways in the legal

technicality world to finesse. >> what should the nfl do? >> this is complicated for them because now you're asking them to go around the law once again which we know that they've had to do because when they didn't throw the book at ray rice over the -- you know, the assault on his girlfriend remember that video where she was laying unconscious with the elevator door, blah, blah blah but when you kind of double down and then they had to walk back on that lifetime ban and then it's tricky. if you have to walk outside the boundaries of the law, what will happen? now we get to see if the policy can do that. will it walk outside the boundaries of the law? >> walking outside the boundaries of the law -- >> the courts don't see it as guilty. >> his conviction was thrown out. >> now you're asking the nfl to adjudicate its own case. there are 50 cases of domestic violence. >> they have the authority to do it. >> sure they do.

>> the same way in fox. if you did something that wasn't a crime but they thought it was a bad act, almost all the contracts here they have the right to get rid of you. >> nfl has suspended people. >> in this case, there's sworn testimony by her about what he did. >> why can't they get stuff over turned like that? if the nfl is within bounds to do what it needs to do even if the court doesn't agree -- >> because the person in the ray rice case happened to be the same judge that tried the taylor case with me. she found that the punishment was excessive compared to the crime. >> i think the nfl has to step in though. >> i think they will. >> i think we have to talk about boston. it is the law. boston is buried in snow with more than two feet of snow falling in the latest storm, nearly six feet in the past few weeks and even more on the way this week. bean town is literally closed.

commuter train subways, even schools all shut down. that was the worst boston accent ever. i a polepologize to my in-laws. michelle obama's lunch program has critics. now she's saying that what folks are feeding their children isn't even food. stay here. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like shopping hungry equals overshopping. can this decadent, fruit topped pastry... ...with indulgent streusel crumble, be from... fiber one. fiber one streusel.

>> fox news alert. what we've been watching for, the white house briefing. watch. >> they conducted a review and analysis and after that analysis was completed, they concluded that kayla has, in fact died and the information that they reviewed did not allow them to arrive at a conclusion about her precise cause of death. but it did allow them to conclude that she had, in fact died. >> was there any information they were able to gleam about when she died? >> that's a good question. i don't believe they were able to arrive at any conclusion about the timing the precise timing of her death.

>> do you know if they were able to rule out whether she was killed in a jordanian attack friday with the i see almost i can state? >> i've seen those claims. again, intelligence community did not have a specific assessment about the cause of death. there are some things that i can share with you about this air strike that i know that isil has referenced and this is go that military officials have indicated as well. the air strike that was carried out by the royal jordanian air force to february 6 was against an isil weapons compound that that group maintained near syria. this was a facility that was struck on previous occasions and it's not unusual for targets like this to be hit more than once. in previous strikes, this facility had been damaged but like i said, it's not unusual for strikes like this to be carried out once again. the information that we have is that -- and again, we have this

information because the air strike was coordinated with the united states military and the information we have is that there's no evidence of civilians in the target area prior to the coalition strike taking place. and that certainly would call into question the claims made by isil. what's not possible to call into question is that isil is responsible for it. this, after all, is the organization that was holding her against her will. that means they're responsible for her safety and well-being and they are, therefore, responsible for her death. >> the president has told us the counterterrorism campaign in yemen and is a model for what they're trying to do and the embassy is closing there now. [inaudible] >> julie at this point i don't

have an update on the status of the embassy. we have indicated for a number of weeks now that we have been closely monitoring the security situation on the ground throughout yemen with an eye toward taking the necessary steps to protect the safety and security of american personnel who are in yemen. in recent weeks there have been some personnel that have been drawn down from the facility because of concerns about their safety and security. but for a status update about the facility itself i would refer to the state department. if there's a chance in their status status, it will come from the state department. the president has indicated the counterterrorism strategy we have successfully pursued in yemen is consistent with the kind of strategy that we are pursuing against isil and the reason for that is that it's consistent with our broader national security interests. what we've done in yemen is

sought to work with officials in yemen. we've sought to support ground forces in yemen who can take the fight to extremists in their own country and we have backed up the ground forces with intelligence and with air strike capabilities that have succeeded in applying significant pressure to extremists that are operating in that country and curtailed their ability to strike american targets. this is a threat that we remain very vigilant about. this is a dangerous organization that is operating in yemen and we continue to be very focused on taking the steps that are necessary to mitigate that threat. but the point the president has made on previous occasions and one you've heard me talk about that is consistent with the type of strategy we're imploring against isil. this administration is working closely to work with the iraqi government to take the fight on the ground to is i l.

they're being backed by coalition military air power and with intelligence capabilities and even some training capability to maximize their effectiveness and they have succeeded in blunting the advance of isil and even rolling back some of the progress they've made. there is an analogous strategy in place in syria. there's no central government that we're coordinating with so we have to draw in different resources to coordinate with ground forces in the area so you've seen this administration try to work with the moderate syrian opposition and some of our partners in the region to train and equip those fighters so they can take the fight on the ground against isil in their own country and they will be backed by coalition aircraft as well and the example of kobani a border town that had previously been seized by isil that local fighters in this case kurdish fighters have succeeded with the backing of coalition air strikes in driving

isil out of that town. that is one isolated example. but as an indication that the strategy of the president's pursuit has worked. >> can you give us an update on the president's plan for authorization of force against isil with congress? >> i don't have a timing update for you, jeff. as you'll recall, even a day after the midterm elections in november, the president convened a news conference in which somebody in this room asked the president about an authorization to use military force and at that point he indicated very clearly that he would like congress to act in bipartisan fashion to pass an authorization to use military force. the president at that time has been and has been clear ever since that he wanted congress to take that action not because he believes it's legally necessary. the president and his lawyers have concluded that he already has the authority that he needs to order military action against isil but he does believe it would be a powerful symbol for

the congress to send to the american people, to our allies and even to our enemies that the united states of america is united behind the strategy that the president has laid out to degrade and destroy isil and we're hopeful that congress will act on authorization to use military force relatively soon. i should say that in the intervening period since the president first discussed this back in november and even before the president made the announcement back in november administration officials have been engaged in conversations with democrats and republicans in both the house and the senate to try to arrive at language that could be supported by democrats and republicans in the house and the senate. the president does believe that this message is even more powerful if it has bipartisan support so certainly in recent days we've stepped up our engagement to -- with democrats and republicans on the hill to try to finalize language that could be submitted by the administration to congress and we're hopeful that we can provide that information relatively soon that language

relatively soon and hopefully there will not be a significant delay in congress acting on that legislative language. >> some said it would arrive by wednesday. is that no longer the case? >> relatively soon would include any days remaining in this week. >> it could be the following week or the week thereafter. can you just give us sort of a time window for when we should expect this to happen? has it been delayed or not? >> i'm not aware of any delay. this is something that's been part of continuous effort here on the part of the administration. there have been senior national security officials involved members of the council's office involved in the discussions and other senior members of the national security team who participated in the discussions, officials at the department of defense and the department of state and other places so this is a broad effort. there are a number of conversations that have taken place and i think the fact that some of these details have been

leaked by congressional sources, i think, is an indication of the large number of conversations that are ongoing between administration officials and officials in congress. but i don't have more detailed timing estimate to offer you other than relatively soon and acknowledge that that could include any of the days remaining in this week. >> "newsweek" magazine twitter account has been hacked and the hacker has issued a threat against the president and his family. how concerned are you about that hacking and how serious are you taking that threat? >> well i don't have any response made -- or i don't have any response to the claims made by the hackers. i can tell you that we've seen a number of high profile incidents in recent months where media organizations and other important institutions have been compromised in some way or at least computer systems have been compromised in some way. this is -- this particular intrusion is one that is already

being investigated by the f.b.i. so i would refer to them for specific questions on that matter but i can tell you as a general matter, it is a go ahead reminder of how important says for congress to act on the cyber security legislation that the president put forward last month. >> we're going to pull away from the daily briefing with josh at the white house. three things he hit on. kayla mueller's hitting, stopping of operations at the embassy in yemen and the authorization for military force further against isis. your thoughts? >> first thing that jumped at me we don't know how or when she died. this is not like the jordanian pilot. we don't have a video. we dconfirmation. why is isis doing this now? also he said that we're not coordinating with the syrians on the ground. there's no acting government. my question is why not? >> he mentioned asad and you said -- >> we should. he's fighting isis. use his boots. he commenced kobani. that's a town in syria that was claiming that the white house

did not help them for months. why not? a lot of whys? >> your thoughts? >> i'm just happy he made it very clear that isis is responsible for death. it doesn't matter if the jordanians did something and hopefully that's going to focus and concentrate on the aggression we need to show back at these people. >> and by jordanians we were coordinating with their military when the air strikes were made. that's how we cannot verify if she was actually hit in that but what you're saying, it doesn't matter. they're still responsible. >> that's right. >> that was his language i thought when he said yes they are responsible. the move to get more military troops or personnel, getting congressional cover is key for the president right now. >> i'll be curious to see what's in the aumf curious to see what's yemen and he said to say that was isis responsibility. i'm sure they knew what they had in her. >> i wonder if the president is going to blame us for reporting

this. fox news.com/outnumbered, click the ot tab. more discussion from us here live. we'll see you tomorrow back here live. "happening now" starts right now. a fox news alert in "happening now". jordan deploys troops to the border with iraq. >> fox news confirming the show of first against isis after they burned alive the jordan pilot. >> "happening now". >> historic snow hitting new england and closing schools and snarling traffic. >> pretty soon i can see the winnow. >> plus, is more on the way? >> plus new fighting in ukraine. the stakes are rising ahead of the peace talk. >> and a while chase all captured on video.