good monday morning. we are live on a busy monday morning. let's get into the breaking developments in iraq. we learned that islamic militants captured the most senior ranking iraqi military official in tal for a. as well as other dozens of military police and personnel. cities in iraq continue to fall. tal affair is the latest to fall to the latest islam state of iraq and syria. they have taken the largest city

moe sul. overnight they ordered a partial evacuation in baghdad where some 100 marines and army soldiers have been brought in for extra security. u.s. warships lead by the george hw.w bush are headed for the persian gulf. we learned that the transport dock ship is head for the gulf as well. reportedly on board 550 marines. the ship giving the united more options for crisis response including evacuating americans. and this weekend radical militant released these disturbing images that claim to show the execution of some 1700 iraqi soldiers. iraqi military spokesmen telling the associated press he believed the pictures are authentic. we should note nbc news has not vert if ied their credibility. president obama heads back to d.c. this afternoon where he

faces some major decisions on a situation that is rapidly deteriorating. >> the president is evaluating a very vetting of every option that is available. a lot of work has been going on over the course of the weekend. there's a lot of work going on right now to make sure whatever judgments the president ultimately makes have the greatest amount of input and the greatest understanding of what will have the best effect. zblb amono, let's start with the latest developments from tal far what have you learned? >> the group eisis syria has taken control of tel affair. they captured the most senior iraqi official. the man in the entire north part of iraq was a known figure.

widely despise by the local population for the military campaigns he lead on behalf of the iraqi army. him along with the men were captured as the governor building fell into the hands of isis's forces. this effectively means that isis has at least four different in their iraq. under their control. they say they intend to take the fight to baghdad. they are undeterred by some of the air stlieks that the government has been trying to carry out on different locations. but nonetheless, they say the offense will continue until they liberate baghdad. that's the terminology they're using. that's the fight they believe they are engaged in now. they are trying to consolidate their grip on the territories they now hold. according to several sources we have spoken to in cities like moe sol and others shops are opening. they're trying to keep semblance

of law and order. they're trying to implement a distribution program for rations. they are trying to win the hearts and minds of the local population. there's a tremendous a. anxiety and fear as well as in a lot of these areas where they control. >> what are you hearing about the latest in terms behalf is next for this military commander who was taken? >> unfortunately right now it's difficult to confirm that particular. but sources on the ground in mosul are saying some of the isis fighters are telling them they plan on executing the military officer as well as some of the men. they say they're going make a pub lis display of the execution to give him the justice he exacted on so many of the local residents. now obviously there's no way for us or it indent my confirm that. that's the news that is coming out right now from the northern part of the country. we've already seen, as you mentioned, again there was this execution that happened over the weekend allegedly where, again, isis posted images on the website claiming that it had

executed members of the iraqi army or police force. there's definitely a lot of fear that isis as a group, radical and militant and draconian in a way they carry out the brutal killings. that's going to be a major cause of concern for the local residents at this particular stage. that's what we're hearing from sources at this point. >> i understand you've been talking to folks in the towns that have been taken over by isis. what are they telling you? >> well, they're telling us that life today, surprisingly, is returning a little bit back to normal. when you talk to them what about is happening on the ground. they'll tell you there has been isis fighters that have overtaken a lot of police stations. they have dissolved or completely abandoned a lot of the check points that had been set up peevely be the iraqi national army. that's one of the grievances the residents had. it had a lot of check points and restricted access and movement across the city. res debits say the check points

are gone making it a little bit easier for them to move about. more importantly it seems like the fighters are trying to set up a local governing council. we have spoken to a source and they plan on imposing one individual or placing one individual to become the local governor for the time being. his job is to return the city to some kind of basic rule. as i mentioned earlier, shops are opening up. the prices of food and gas are being regulated. they want to keep prices low to win over the hearts and minds of people. they are trying to assert themselves in a political and para military way. >> thank you. be safe, my friend. steve clemon washington editor with the atlantic msnbc and ann. steve, let me start with you in new york. we're talking before the broadcast before the possibility that drone strikes will be used

or tomahawks missiles. how much would they go in terms of changing the dynamic on the ground? >> nowhere. they would go nowhere. you're seeing a frustrated and alienated sunni population essentially ak wee sesed to their takeover by isis. they are upset over years now of prime minister maliki's complete, you know, sort of abandonment of their interests in the country. isis is walking flup are the drone strikes to going it hit the leaders and change the climate. it's south vietnam falling again. the scale of what is happening is so large. drone strikes are not an effective response. >> did we not see it coming? >> some people did see it coming. some people have been arguing since maliki -- that began a take over of the country in which iran essentially became the greatest ally of iraq.

and people are saying that's not a way to satisfy the aspirations of kurd or sue knees or shiite in balance. there hasn't been balance for a long time. some have seen it. but not those responsible for trying to think through the strategy. there's incredible political pressure on president obama to do something at this point from republicans and democrats as well. i want to play a bit what we've been hearing over the past few day. >> i'm concerned that we really haven't given the one asset that is really needed for the iraqi military and that is air supremacy. >> the air strikes, drones, whatever it takes. i want to make sure the intel is accurate before we start doing this. and i'm hopeful they're getting accurate intel on this. if no -- >> how does president obama navigate this? >> as you said, craig, has a great deal of pressure to do something. but you saw him on friday start

to push back on what that something is. it isn't a-- automatdic a military intervengs. the white house see it is as a limited strategy. there are forces much larger here at work than individual drone strikes or the killing of individual commanders or other kinds of pinprick help that the u.s. could apply militarily are likely to change. and so the white house is sort of caught in between needing to do something, because this is a long-term not in u.s. interest to have the sunni government fall -- excuse me have the shiite government fall in baghdad. but at the same time, the u.s. sees very few really helpful options for things it could coto

thwart that. >> one of those option. vice president joe biden's plan running for president several years ago. he suggested that we carve out -- carve up iraq. >> right. joe biden put a plan forward. it was a brave plan. three territories. mostly antonymous for sunnis, kurds, and shiite. they would be loosely fed rated. that's a hail mary pass. right now things are so dramatically convulsive. it's hard to see how it goes. if something like that weren't to work, the united and europe need to convene iran and the sue i dids, the gulf countries and perhaps turkey and discussing what the region is going to look like. we're looking at iraq today. fairly soon it's a massive regional proxy war between essentially the sawies and the sun sunnis.

if we don't get the major stakeholders to focus, it's going to blow up. >> and iraq is boiling. the white house watching several other major developments from the middle east along. pakistani air strikes killed 37 insurgents an attempt to take out militants. in afghanistan 11 people killed by a roadside bomb. and those historic elections there. meanwhile israel accusing the militant group ho mas for the kidnapping from the west. and ukraine. how is the administration able to keep all of these balls up in the air, ann? >> well, there's a long standing washington phrase somewhat light hearted despite the stakes of that the nfc and the white house are a constant state of wack a mole. several administrations have faced that. it's one this administration is

facing. they would like to put forth a comprehensive theory of the case in the middle east and certainly in afghanistan as well. and it really hasn't worked. i mean, there is no one solution to the numerous problems you laid out just in the middle east alone. and the solutions that might be applied there would be completely different in afghanistan and pakistan where the u.s. has very different long-term strategic aims. so what you see is the one-by-one approach, and the u.s. is engaging directly in each of these conflicts. you saw john kerry calling the sunni neighbors of iraq over the weekend. it's likely today that the deputy secretary of state, william bern berns, will speak iraq on the sideline of an unrelated meeting. >> good to see you in the flesh,

steve. we should note, i'll talk to sheldon whitehouse about the development in iraq. and preserving our ocean. there's a summit that started this morning. we'll have the conversation at 10:30. could this man, could this man be the first to be put to death in this country since a botched execution in oklahoma? i'll talk to his legal team as they mount an 11th hour strategy to keep him alive. first up, did eric cantor's defeat -- did it amplify the huge riff within the gop. we'll talk about what it means for 2016. lots of gop deep pockets are out in utah this week doing soul searching. mitt romney hosted the event. nicholas was there. he'll join me on the other side of the break. numbers are impre. over 400,000 new private sector jobs... making new york state number two in the nation in new private sector job creation... with 10 regional development strategies

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we are three days away from the republican party picking a new majority leader in congress. meanwhile, outgoing leader, erik cantor spent his father's day trying to explain that almost loss to tea party dave brat less than a week ago. the gop is trying to find a leader come 2016, and that was the focus of mitt romney's third annual summit in park city, utah. that's where 2016 contenders and the deep pockets that will fund their white house run gather to talk about the future of american leadership. that was the theme of the summit. another theme for some draft my mitt. a few think he go for a third try. this was romney's response on "meet the press." >> david, i'm not running for president. i said that so many times.

i'm not running and talk of a draft is kind of silly. >> political reporters nicholas is here and senior political reporter at the huffington post. good to see both of you. knick, you were out there in park city. romney insists he's not in. you believe. what is gained by fuelling this fire? oh, get in, mitt! >> this is a party without a dominant leader either on the white house or the hill. romney was the last contender for the white house. this is a way of holding together the thing that he built. the campaign structure, the money, the donor and have the structure somehow have some influence going forward in the party and in the 2016 primaries. >> is mitt romney sort -- has he emerged as the defake factor leader in the gop? >> i wouldn't say that. he built the most successful fundraising machine in republican presidential history. in the early part of the campaign, what you have is pieces of the machine looking for a candidate to get behind,

whichever of the 2016 contenders can seize what he built will have a huge advantage in those primaries in the year and a half. >> who else was out there? and what else happened? >> we had chris christie out there, we had mike huckabee. christie gave a speech. he didn't talk about the bridge scandal. he said it's over and done with when asked about it. i'm not sure the donors are moving on. i think now, at long last after all the months it is really taken its toll. i think a lot of these guys are fishing around for somebody else. hence the mitt romney in 2016. >> rand paul was out there in park city. so was chris christie. what does the draft mitt message. what does it say to them specifically? >> i think the draft mitt message is honestly a bit crazy. it wasn't even close in 2012, even though many republicans thought it was going to be. i think democrats would love to

run against mitt romney again. i think mitt romney is smart when he says that he's absolutely not running. people should stop talking about that and should start focussing on a real candidates whether it's going to be rand paul, jeb bush, marco rubio. the republican party right now doesn't have a really obvious candidate or really obvious leader for 2016. they need to start figuring that out. part is the fact that the republican party right now is divided on a lot of issues like immigration and foreign policy >>well, you mentioned division. gop chairman previs said there's no division among the party. this is cbs this week. this is what he had to say about 2016. take a listen. >> you get the policy right all day long. if you don't have a con dwit in the community. if you don't have republican and hispanic and african-american and asian communities talking about the republican party for four years you're not going to improve in national elections.

>> there's an event later with jeb bush, previs will be there. given what happened to cantor on the immigration issue, who is going to be the con due wit. is it jeb bush? >> jeb bush appeals to a lot of people. he has been talking more about immigration. he has been more moderate on some issues. previs -- republicans are saying there isn't any division or trying to spin. you have rand paul who is a lot less hawkish on foreign policy than many members in the policy. you have somebody like jeb bush who promoted the common core that are u upsetting. republican strug alling not only to find the candidate but find out where they are. democrats are more organized when usually they're not. >> there is, of course, the leadership election. what good for the republican party could come out of that? >> that's a great question.

i mean, he was saying there aren't any in the party. a top leader in the party was tossed out of congress for trying to straddle the line of immigration. which is the one issue that matters most to the voters. that's a big problem. i'm not sure a lot of good comes out if a tea party member wins the position on thursday. >> one of the stories i continue -- the story i think was lost in the whole cantor thing. the polling. no major poll had -- the whole thing was bizarre to me. >> i'm not sure anyone bothered to poll the race. except for the campaigns themselves. >> that's true. >> thank you very much. all appreciate you. it was seemingly just another saturday of shopping at the virginia costco for supreme court justice. then she realized hillary clinton was there, too. signing her book. in a casual stripe shirt and sandals. the justice took her copy of the book to the table.

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bergdahl. some said some were tipped off by different movements in the camps. much like the commanders, congress, and public. they watched it infold on television. >> not too many people knew about it and something, of course, that was came down from the highest levels and the joint task force guantanamo made sure it happened in a timely efficient manner when we were given the word. it went off without a hitch. >> the five involved in the swap were housed in so-called sample six which hold about 70 to 80 compliant detainees as they're called. they get to watch television and take classes. the last nine months some 15 detainees have been transferred out of guantanamo bay. 149 are still left. this morning vice president joe biden is on his way to watch team usa take on ghana at the world cup in brazil. part of a preplanned trip to

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the situation in iraq continues to change literally by the minute. we know that the islamic state of iraq and syria captured the most senior ranking iraqi military official and 40 other military police and personnel as well. it comes after isis continues to gain a foothold in the country. they captured another town, tal afar just this morning. as isis continues to gain towns, syrian refugees who fled that country's civil war are caught in the middle again. nearly 14,000 people who live in the refugee camp left syria with a hopes of building a better life in iraq. they're facing another war as isis gets closer to where they are. sophia jones is a middle eastern correspondent. she joins us from iraq. are they thinking about leaving

iraq? >> many of these people can't leave. they're very much stuck here. there are over 200,000 syrian refugees in iraqi kurdistan. many of them have jobs here. they can't get jobs back in syria. they have very little to eat. they have -- they can't go anywhere. they're stuck. >> what are the conditions like at the camp? >> the conditions are pretty poor. they're better than other camps i've been to, but it reeks of sewage, there are school programs for the children but they're very basic. people say the daily needs are not being met. they say the conditions are horrible. >> you've -- i know you talked a number of refugees. what is going through their mind as they see what isis has been able to do so far in iraq? >> well, other the past year, many of these syrian refugees from syrian kurt stan have fled. they fled suicide bombings,

kidnaps of kurdish students. they came here. a lot the conditions are bad, they say fresh start at the new life, perhaps now they see war has, in fact, come to iraq from syrian. they're wondering for how long they'll be safe. >> we'll leave it there. thank you very much. i want to bring in democratic senator from rhode island. sheldon whitehouse. how real is your concern that baghdad will be next? >> i don't know enough to have a view on that. i mean, i think obviously that would be their ultimate goal whether they have the capacity to come into baghdad where there's a stronger concentration of forces and the population would have a pretty strong itself in defending itself. i couldn't tell you. i'm looking forward to being at briefing this weekend so we get a sense of what the situation

is. what our options are. >> there's not going to be a briefing -- >> there's not going to be a briefing until this weekend? >> this week. >> this week. okay. >> i don't think there's one scheduled this week. but i'll confident there will be one. i'm looking forward to it. >> senator, is what we're seeing unfold right now in iraq, is it sort of chickens coming home to roost? is it a failure of u.s. policy in iraq? is that what we're seeing? >> the original sin was going in there in the first place, and then there was some very poor judgments made about disassembling the iraqi army and the government which stripped it of all the governmental structure, and into those vacancies came a lot of violence and we had to put that down. so this the end of a long story. it began with, really, i think our original sin which was going

in in the first place based on bad evidence about weapons of mass destruction and, frankly, a lot of propaganda about how saddam hussein was supporting al qaeda, which was exactly the opposite from true. >> you are joining us from the state department, we note. that's where secretary of state john kerry is hosting the ocean conference. leaders around the world are talking about strategies to protect the world's oceans. secretary kerry opened the conference an hour ago. i want to play a bit of what he said. >> no one should mistake that the protection of our oceans is a vital international security issue. it's a vital security issue involving the movement of people, the lively hood of people, the capacity of people to exist and list where they live today. >> senator, what do you expect to come out of the gathering to deal with the issue? >> i think anybody who is literate in oceans is keenly

aware of the alarms that the ocean is ringing. which are many and which are urgent. and this is an effort, first, i think to bring people together to expand that knowledge base to people who aren't necessarily literate in oceans and aren't aware of what is going on far out to sea and build a plan so the nations can pull together and try to turn us back before it becomes really potentially too late. >> climate change, another important part of this. of course, so you taken a number of steps to get some legislation through congress on this issue. there has been a fair amount of resistance resistance, to say the least. president obama hit back at climate change deniers this week at the commencement address. this is what he said. >> it's pretty rare you'll encounter somebody who says the problem you're trying to solve simply doesn't exist.

when president kennedy set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wasn't worth it. it was going to be too expensive, it was going to be too hard. it would take too long. nobody ignored the science. i don't remember anybody saying that the moon wasn't there or that it was made of cheese. >> how do you get legislation done with the kind of resistance you've seen so far from some of of your colleagues in congress, senator? >> well, i think the first thing you have to realize is that the denial argument is a phony. it's propped up by the polluting industry and a public relations machine that has become pretty expert at it. but the american public is really ringing up no sale on it. they're losing their numbers. even young republican voters think that the climate denial argument is ignorant, out of touch, or crazy to use language from the poll. so it's really a matter of

focussing what the president is doing, attention on the american people. letting their voice be heard, and like gay marriage and other issues in the past, when the public moves eventually prudent legislators will follow. there's only song that the legislators latched up with the polluting industries can hang on before they real the public isn't with them. they've got to abandon the barricade of lies they've have built around congress. >> senator sheldon whitehouse. good to see you. we have breaking news right now from the supreme court involving a case involving buying a gun from another person. let's get to our justice correspondent pete williams who is standing by at the high court. what did the high court say? >> reporter: it involves a practice known as being a straw buyer. one person goes to a gun store, a person who is legally qualified to buy a gun and buys it knowing full well that the purchaser is buying it for

somebody else. that's a straw purchase. it's illegal under the law. and today the supreme court upheld that law. now the case here involved a former policeman who thought he could get a discount for his uncle because he could check the police identification. he was charged with violating the law. he challenged it but today the supreme court upheld the kaegenf the law would be e vis rated if the court struck it down. it helps to keeps gun out the hands of those people not legally entitled have guns. including people with mental illness or people with felony convictions. the four justice who dissented are the four more conservative justi justice, thomas, samuel ali tow. it must be said in fairness over the years the federal agency in

charge of the have been forcing the law had change the view on what the law meant whether it was a clear violation, if you were buying the gun for somebody who was legally entitled to have a gun or not, but nonetheless aft has been pretty consistent saying you can only buy the gun for yourself. >> pete williams from the supreme court. we'll get decisions on thursday. some 14 cases, i believe, still outstanding? >> reporter: you're exactly right. coming up seven weeks since that botched execution in oklahoma. could marcus be the first inmate to die in the united since that botched execution? for now, that scheduled to happen tomorrow. we'll talk to his legal team right after this break.

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last-minute stay of execution. wellons was convicted in 1993 for raping and strangling 15-year-old india roberts back in 1989. if wellons is executed tomorrow, he'll be the first death row prisoner in georgia put to death by what is called a compounded drug. that's a drug with a chemical makeup that can be tweaked without fda oversight. i would like to bring in bill morrisson. attorney for marcus wellons. and editor of the tulsa world. let me start with you, bill. in may alone we saw execution for robert campbell in texas, robert route in texas, russell in missouri. last week john wynnefield in georgia received a stay. at this point, what is the best legal strategy you're employing to attempt to make sure your client is on the list as well.

>> right now, as we speak, a clemency hearing is being held on behalf of marcus wellons in atlanta, georgia. if that is successful, the whole process will stop. if that is not successful there is another action pending in the u.s. district court that argues georgia's secrecy law is a violation of wellons' right under the eighth amendment. we had a hearing here in georgia on friday that will argue the process that the state uses could procure the drug from a compounding pharmacy violates georgia and federal law. we lost it but are appealing it today. if any of the proceedings are successful, it, in effect, will stop the proceedings. >> i want to note for the viewers and listeners as well. this is a heinous crime your client has been convicted of.

the clemency hearing that is going on right now -- what are you arguing? what is being argued on behalf of your client? >> actually, that is being argued by another member of the defense team. my only role in this was to handle the portion related to the compounding pharmacy. >> okay. >> in essence what they're arguing is he's had a stellar record while in prison and other things about him that perhaps persuade those others to give him clemency. >> why is it to those who have said it doesn't matter where these drugs or how these drugs are procured. what would be your response to that? >> well, our response is that the state is going to take the, you know, most drastic step, the most drastic punishment available they at least comply with the law.

one of the things that we made clear in our attack last friday -- we're not attacking lethal injection as a process for executions. we're attacki inot attacking we connection but both state and federal law are clear that schedule ii narcotics must be prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose. the state of georgia is already determined, at least by the legislative fiat execution is not a medical procedure. therefore, we contend that the prescription itself is invalid, which means that the pharmacist and the doctor and anyone else who is part of the process are, in effect, breaking the law. >> an independent autopsy recently revealed some specific detail of that botched excuse of clayton locket in oklahoma in april. you were there for the execution. you were an witness. the excuse has become a corner

stone of the anti-death penalty arguments. first of all, who commissioned the autopsy and what did it show? >> yes, so the autopsy was commissioned by attorneys for oklahoma death row inmates. it was by respected pathologist. the preliminary findings with i want to stress they are preliminary. the execution team improperly faced a needle in the vein. causing the drugs to go in the tissue and leak out instead of into the vein. it found there was no problem with the inmate's vein quality of his veins. it really cast doubt on the statements by the prison director regarding the causes for the execution. it found no evidence of underlying disease that would have caused a heart attack. although the pathologist needs a great deal more information from the state to finalize his report. >> bill morrisson. we have to leave it there.

we'll be watching what happens in georgia over the next 24 hours and we'll continue to follow up on what happened in oklahoma. i should say a big thanks to both of you. after the break, the five thing you need to know about 2014 as team usa soccer gets set to square off against ghana. a hot topic at the water cooler this morning. who cares? look where you get to stay! booking.com booking.yeah! to map their manufacturings at process with sticky notes and string, yeah, they were a little bit skeptical. what they do actually is rocket science. high tech components for aircraft and fighter jets. we're just their bankers, right? but financing from ge capital also comes with expertise from across ge. in this case, our top lean process engineers. so they showed us who does what, when, and where.

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to futbol. it's a big day for soccer fans at home. a lot of bar watching. some folks at msnbc planni inni sneak out early as team usa set to kick off the run in brazil. they do so. here are five facts on brazil 2014 after opening weekend. five facts. keep up. many thought protests would be headlining the games. so far reports show that the excitement behind the games themselves appear outweighting the protest. the weather for team usa where they're playing may rain. may rain a lot. yesterday the floods put the city in emergency. our own meteorologist said there is an 80% chance of more rain for tonight's game. as for the matchup itself. the teams are in what is called the group of death. that's because in the overall strength of the teams, two of those teams have a bit of history. ghana, which is about the size of oregon proving the size

doesn't matter in soccer. it eliminated the usa in 2006. eliminated the usa in 2010. but team usa clint dempsey said this year's world cup is, quote, a fresh slate. didn't guarantee victory with that. best of luck. that's going to do it for this edition of 10:00. "news nation" is up next. remembering casey kasem. we are going to talk with kit kelly. and if i tap my geico app here i can pay my bill. tap it here, digital insurance id card. and tap it here, boom, roadside assistance. on'tday ooklay, it's axwellmay. the igpay? otallytay. take an icturepay! onephay, onephay! really, pig latin? [ male announcer ] geico. anywhere, anytime. just an aptay away on the geico appay.

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thit's not the "limit yoursh hard earned cash back" card . it's not the "confused by rotating categories" card. it's the no-category-gaming, no-look-passing, clear-the-lane-i'm- going-up-strong, backboard-breaking, cash back card. this is the quicksilver cash back card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every single day. i'll ask again... what's in your wallet? good morning, everyone. this is "news nation." we started with breaking news from the supreme court. the justices dealt what is being called a rare blow to the gun lobby. the decision known as straw man purchases. pete williams joins us from outside the supreme court.

it starts with helping folks understand in the first place what the straw man purchase is. >> right. that's when someone buys a gun for someone else. now, the court here before the supreme court is is it illegal if the person you're buying it for is legal ll lly entitled toa gun. normally the straw purchases are made for people who couldn't get them themselves. this case involved a policeman in virginia who thought he could get a discount for his uncle. he bought the gun and had then gave it to his uncle. he was charged under the law. he challenged the law. today the supreme court, by a 5-4 vote upheld the law. and said it doesn't matter whether the person you're buying it for is legally entitled have the gun or not. you can't buy a gun for somebody else and lie about it on the form. there's a place on the federal form that says are you the person, are you buying this gun for himsel