supplies. that is it for this evening. the rachel maddow show starts now. >> thanks to you at home for joining us. rachel as the night off and we are continuing to cover the breaking news at this hour the united states is waiting, taking military action in iraq again. throughout the day today, president obama made with his national security team to consider authorizing strikes to protect the civilians draped by t the militants. they found themselves once again considering a military operation in iraq tonight. it is helpful to go back to february of this year. it was in february of this year that serious fracturing among terrorist groups spilled into public view. when al qaeda reveesed a statement disavows any connection with the islamic state of iraq and syria known now as isis. it's not a brand of al qaeda.

isis does not have an organizational relationship with al qaeda. perhaps most importantly the al qaeda statement made it clear. it is not responsible for the actions that isis takes. al qaeda and isis were united together before this. isis was al qaeda in iraq. these two groups fought together against the ruling regime. they began to ignore leaders as they went across syria into the borter with iraq. isis took control of a border crossing between syria and iraq. they moved quickly and brutally. it was in part the group's extreme brutality that alienated even al qaeda. that led them to fight inside with the syrian opposition.

they deemed isis too brutal to be associated with them back in february. since then isis lived up to the designation and more than lived up to it. the goal is to create their own state. governed by their brand of islam that includes all of syria and large swaths of iraq. the reason it has been swift and merciless and successful on the way of achieving that vision. they captured many cities from northwestern syria to north eastern iraq. they took fallujah and they had a unique sick 95 cans not just because it's one of the largest cities, but fallujah was the site of one of the most hard fought anded itliest battles during the iraq war. isis captured oil feels in both syria and iraq which they used to fund the operations. they captured saddam hussein's

hometown of tikrit. they staged a mass execution there. perhaps one of the most valuable gains has been the second largest city. mo zul. that was notable not because of mo zul's size, but because of the location in a spot that links iraq and turkey and syria. tonight it is the plight of a city called sin jar located west of mosul. they are reengaging militarily in iraq. over the weekend as isis continued the brutal land grab, they teased the city and they hope an ethnic and religious minority group. they practice a religion that is derived from christianity and judaism and other influences. when isis took over, they forced

them to flee for their lives. isis vowed to kill them. they fled and some of them into the count ans surrounding the town. now they are stuck in the mountains with no food and no water. they are surrounded by isis forces that vowed to kill them if they return home from the mountain. 40,000 people, mostly women and children are stranded right now, dying of dehydration and hunger and unable to look for water because isis will kill them if they decent. several children have died and there were tens of thousands more trapped in dire need of food and water. the plight let to this moment debating military actions in iraq. president obama authorized interthemselves in libya and authorized strikes against gadhafi and made a days for that

military intervention. here's how he he explained it back then. >> the united states and the world faced a choice. gadhafi declared he would show no mercy to his own people. he threatened to go door-to-door to inflict punishment. in the past we had seen him anxiety civilians and kill over 1,000 people in a single day. now we saw regime forces on the outskirts of the city. we knew if we waited more day, benghazi, a city nearly the size of charlotte could suffer across the region and stain the consciousness of the world. it was not in our national interest to let that happen. i refused to let that happen.

so nine days ago after consuling the bipartisan leadership of congress, i authorized to stop the killing and force the resolution for 1973. >> isis's current strangle hold is a humanitarian crisis. isis target and killed innocent civilians because they are members of a religious minority group. they trapped and vowed to kill tens of thousands more. the civilians are trapped in desperate need of food and water. so tonight the united states once again faces the question, will we intervene and use american military power in iraq to try to stop what seems like it could be an impending ethnic genocide? we know there is an operation under way to those trapped people that. is in part a u.s. military operation to get the supplies to these people are we

are awaiting word on air strikes and whether we are on the verm of american military intervention in irk rack. chief pentagon correspondent, jim, thanks for taking the time right now. let's start by explaining something. >> we have news here. military officials told nbc news that the humanitarian air drops have been completed over the mountains where up to 40,000 of the members of the small religious sect had to flee from the isis rebels. that was escorted by american f-16 fighter jets. the drops, it's not chlorhow long they took, but the air drops of food, water, medical

supplies, humanitarian reto the iraqis on the ground there have in fact been completed successfully. all planes are out of that space. >> that's important information that leads to the next question. we are hearing about the possibility of now you are saying the successful kploegz of this humanitarian portion. >> this phase of it. because who knows how long the cities will be stuck. unless isis rebels move in and physically threaten those cities those taking refuge. the air strikes against that group is highly unlikely. it may be a situation unless

they find some way, some kind of relief valve to escape their situation on top of the mountain, that additional relief operations may be required. >> that is one thing we are talking about. would the air strikes only be about liberating those from that mountain or would it also be -- we are hearing reports of isis moving closer to the capital region of the kurdish region of iraq. would it be aimed at doing that as well? what are we talking about with the goal of air strikes? >> in terms of air separations over iraq, the white house very strongly emphasized the humanitarian meigs. we are told that was pretty much the goal of the president when they started outputting the plans together. it was an emphasis with a back

up combat mission if the refugees were threatened. at the same time now we find isis fighters at capital city 1.5 million people in the city. more importantly, not only is it a part of a larger u.s. strategy and trying to stitch together part of iraq, but it contains a u.s. consulate and 30 to 50 state department workers. there some 40 american military advisers there working with iraqis. so they do have somewhat of a stake and somewhat of a reason to get to a vailed warning to the isis rubbles. if you advabs on the city itself, you will be subject to u.s. air strikes. i can tell you, ultimately

nobody in the white house nobody in the pentagon wants to get involved in a shooting war. with the first bomb drop, the u.s. is not quite, but almost all in. one of the major concerns is they don't want to be caught in the middle of a sectarian war and be seen as the baghdad's private air force attacking isis. they would like to restrict and move about the country freely and attack baghdad. the last thing they want to do is get caught in the middle of that war. >> jim miklaszewski, thanks for your time. we are receiving word right now that the president, president obama is preparing to address the nation at 9:30 eastern time about 20 minutes from now from the state diming room.

he will be addressing on the subject of iraq. woo will have full coverage when that comes again about 9:30 tonight eastern time. let's bring in the chief foreign affairs official. andrea mitchell, the first thing i want to start on is the point that jim raised. the first of several missions. these are people who are trapped in a mountain and feel if they come down, isis wants to kill them. it strikes me and raises a more simple question of how do you get isis out from away at the bottom of the mountain. is that a job ultimately for the iraqi army or for the united states. that is the last thing this president wants to do around from where they are and circling the trapped people. this is a humanitarian crisis initially. it is conceivable that any

airlift operation and any of those were fired upon, they would be fired back. if there was an attack, all of our people there, they are military advisers. it's a key part of the iraqi solution according to the officials. i was there with john kerry a number of weeks ago and he was very keen to be supporting the kurdish leaders there. holding them and keeping them as part of a united iraq is a fragile and important goal right now. interestingly just today there was progress on the front at getting a solution to a new government. something they have been trying to do for weeks and weeks. as they were moving on this front, the crisis evolved. there is no way to get the

fighters out without getting engaged militarily. it is conceivable that you would have turkish or jordanian forces joined with iraqi forces, but there is very little confidence that iraqi air force personnel could do this job. >> you mentioned you were there recently and talking about the significance in iraq and as i understand it again, the areas that isis has taken are basically sunni areas. and now you are moving into kurdish territory. you would be taking kurdish territory. in terms of -- i understand and i feel the hesitancy of the obama administration to get involved in any way. what is the calculation when it comes to protecting a city like this? >> they have to be protected. it is an economic force. oil wealthy and very, very well

developed. it is a hub of commerce and the future of the curds. the kurds have been the most loyal allies of the united states. we have military advisers and a consulate. no question that the u.s. boob involved to try to protect it. the question is it has been reported that the dam saddam built in mosul. if that is blown up by isis as a way of flooding out the shiite cities to the south. that would be another crisis. isis was blocked from taking baghdad. they began to lose steam. they then took the opportunity to move north and move west and now they are controlling this territory and they are attacking and ravaging these minority communities. it is a criminal operation, but beyond any description, what is being described by people there

by bobby who knows the area so well here on msnbc, it is a destruction of mosques and of artifacts and sculptures. most importantly of people. these communities are being devastated and being killed. women are being attacked and kidnapped as children are being murdered. >> do we notice, this sounds like a basic question. do we know what is preventing right now, if they have an aim of killing, what is preventing them from doing that? if they know that tens of thousands are up there, why aren't they doing that? >> there logistical problems. that's a good question. i don't know the typography to know why they are not climbing up after the people have retreated. these are largely unarmed people and women and children. you have thousands and thousands of people who need to be

rescued. it seems from beliefings done, there various rules and protocols and other committee members have been notified. this is going to be a long-term engagement and not a quick operation. >> one final question, we were talking about the significance of it to iraq. and sort of the entire enterprise. i wonder, do you have a sense of how imminent the threat is of isis making a move on the city? >> that's a good question. we don't. we need better ground information from what is going on there. i don't know how imminent that is and how close they are, but if they were close, you would see an evacuation of the american teams certainly. you have the oil pipelines and the wealth of uxz rairaq when t

about the attempts. >> appreciate you taking the time. we are awaiting a live address to the nation from president obama. hooey is expected to speak from the state dining room at the white house at 9:30 eastern time, just over ten minutes from now. stay with us. we'll be right back. we got allstate, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing... called allstate quickfoto claim. it's an app. you understand that? just take photos of the damage with your phone and upload them to allstate. really? so you get a quicker estimate, quicker payment, quicker back to normal. i just did it. but maybe you can find an app that will help you explain this to your father. introducing quickfoto claim. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. so get out there, and get the best price guaranteed. find it for less and we'll match it and give you $50 toward your next trip.

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>> today news broke that they captured the largest dam in iraq, potentially devastating for iraqi civilians. it is white house completed this phase of the humanitarian mission that is weighing strikes. one of the many factors is a u.s. citizen's well do you meaned war fatigue. this comes as support among the american people. let's bring in the correspondent from reuters. we are about ten minutes away from hearing from the president. do we know what to expect some. >> he will start by talking about what just happened. this humanitarian mission has been accomplished that planes were involved in dropping off meals and dropping off water and medicine to the tens of thousands of religious minorities who have been displaced by isis. he will talk about why that was important and talk about what

the united states interest is in being in iraq right now. the fact that that setting is the state dining room of the white house means he is not going to take any questions. journalists won't have a chance to press him as to whether the next operation will ab i military strike. he will not talk about the strikes, but if he does, had will echo what the white house spokesman said which is that any operation by the united states in iraq would be limited in scope and there is not a for boots on the ground and this is not a time to get back into a major war. >> no boots on the ground and the suggestion is air strikes. when they say limited in scope, that seems so nebulous. do we have any sense in particular of what they might have in mind potentially when it am cans to involvement? >> it's nubulous and they don't want to define what it means.

it's reassure americans that we are not starting another war. >> do you have a sense that we go to iraq ten years ago, there was a congressional vote on that. how much latitude what they have here to act without congress's authorization. >> it was interesting what andrea mentioned. there have been communications between the white house and congress about this. they are being criticized. in terms of latitude, they will have to explore the next coming

days. they want to keep the options open, but they are not looking for latitude to start a war. there is no appetite among the party for that. that said, you may start seeing criticism from the republicans about the situation in iraq has deteriorate and they will find a reason to blame the president for that. that's because of the troop pull out which was such a big part of the campaign promise in 2008. >> i'm curious of what you make of it. republicans especially in the last six months pointing back to 2011 saying it wasn't handled the right way and it was too hastily trying to get out of iraq. do you sense a decision? >> there two sides to that.

that's to agree to a deal with the iraqi government to keep troops in iraq. the obama administration will say we tried. the government did not agree to provide immunity to troops and we will not lead them there as a result of that. going back to the core political argument that barack obama made as a candidate in 2007 and 2008 wants to extract the united states from iraq. he feels like that was a promise he kept that makes it all the more ironic now that he is facing the military involvement. >> from reuters, thanks if are your time. klemens is a foreign policy expert. thanks for being here. i start with this question. there is a couple of issues here. on this mountain with their lives in danger. the question of the city that is

the capital region of the area of iraq where it's about 40 miles away. as a bottom line issue, they cannot fall. i wonder from your standpoint, we have the white house saying limited in scope and no booeds on the ground. at what point does that thinking interact with the reality of it being a significant city? >> we will learn a lit more not necessarily towards armed strikes. the department of defense and others have been so buttoned up. that will be a big game changer and we are close with curd stan. there has been an investment with trying to make them play along with the government and also secure itself. we have given them lots of arms and support. i just received word that the president is going to announce more aid to iraq.

what i don't know form that 88 will be. he will say while he doesn't want to get bogged down further, it's important to stand by the people. they confirmed they made the air drop and the first wave happened. there is stuff tilting forward. it makes one wonder how if this is a libya or bengaziy-like situation with a mountain encircled by troops accident we wouldn't do more. the president is trying to make sure we don't have a slippery slope that takes us deeper into the middle of a civil war. >> i'm curious what you think the strategy might be. we have the mountain and a completed human carian mission. until and unless isis leads from the bottom of this mountain, you will have to have humanitarian missions to keep them alive and it's safe for them to come down.

is this a move where they are trying to buy time to be in a better position to deal with this or is there another end game? >> think they are buying time, but we are trying to figure out ways to turbo charge the military to be more active. we will try to make them much more effective and ramp it up as fast as we can. >> steve clemens, foreign tell us, thanks for your time. we have kristen welker, the white house correspondent, any minute we are hearing from the president. what's the latest? >> president obama has been in meetings throughout the day starting early this morning in the situation with his team trying to weigh his options in terms of how to deal with the humanitarian crisis. as we have now reported, the decision was made to move forward with the air drops delivering humanitarian aid in the form of food and water.

part of the reason why this document is coming after the fact is because this was a dicy mission. it's a slippery slope. they wanted to make sure this went off without a hitch. here comes president obama. back to you. >> good evening. today i authorized two operations in iraq. targeted air strikes to protect our american personnel and a humanitarian effort to save thousands of iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without foot and water and facing almost certain death. let me explain the actions we are taking and why. first i said in june as the drift group began an advance across iraq that the u.s. would prepare to take action in iraq if and when we determined that the situation required it. in recent days, our terrorists have continued to move across iraq and neared the city where

american diplomats and civilians serve and american military personnel advise iraqi forces. to stop the advance, i directed our military to take strikes against the convoys should they move towards the city. we intend to stay vigilant and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in iraq including the consulate and embassy in baghdad. we are providing assistance to the iraqi government and kurdish forces so they can wage the fight. second, at the request of the iraqi government, we have be fun operations to help save iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain. they marched across iraq they waged an innocent campaign and they have been barbaric against

religious minorities including the small and ancient religious sect. iraqis have been displaced and chilling reports described the militants rounding out families and conducting exclusions and enslaving the women. the women, men, and children from the area have fled for their lives. thousands or tens of thousands are hiding with little but the clothes on their backs. they are without food and water and people are starving and children are dying of thirst. meanwhile forces below have called for the systematic destruction of the entire people. that would constitutes genocide. these innocent families are faced with a horrible choice. they can stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger. i have said before, the united states cannot and should not

intervene every time there is a crisis in the world. let me be clear about why we must act and act now. when we face a situation like we do on the mountain, with minute people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help and a request from the government and when we have the unique capabilities to help the massacre, i believe they cannot turn a blind eye. we act to prevent a potential act of genocide. that's what we are doing on the mountain. i authorized targeted air strikes to help forces in iraq as they fight to break the siege and protect the civilians trapped there. american aircraft has begun conducting air drops and foot and water to help the men, women, and children survive. earlier this week one iraqi said

there is no one coming to help. well, today america is coming to help. we are consuling with other countries and the united nations who have called for action to address this crisis. i know that many of you are rightly certained about any american military action in iraq. even limited strikes like these. i understand that. i ran for the office in part to end the war and welcome our troops home and that's what we have done. as stander in chief i will a allow them to be fighting another war in iraq. as we support the iraqis as they take the fight to the terrorists, the combat troops will not return to fight in iraq. there is no american solution to the larger crisis. the only lasting solution is reconciliation among the communities and stronger iraqi security forces. however we can and should

support moderate force who is can bring stability to iraq. even as we carry out the two missions, we will continue to pursue a broader strategy that empowers iraqis to confront the crisis. they need to come and forge a government that represents the interest of all iraqis. they can fight back against the threats like this. iraqis named a new president and a new speaker. they are seeking consensus on a new prime minister. this is the progress that needs to continue to reverse the momentum of the terrorist who prey on iraq's divisions. once iraq has a new government, the united states will work with it and other countries in the region to provide increased support to deal with the hum humanitarian crisis and counter terrorism challenge. none of iraq's neighbors have an interest in this suffering or instability. we will work with our friends and allies to help get the shelter and food and water they

need and to help iraqis push back. >> several hundred advisers will continue to assess what more we can do to help train, advise, and support iraqi forces going forward. just as i consulted congress on the decisions i made, we will continue to do so going forward. my fellow americans, the world is confronted by many challenges and while america has never been able to right every wrong, america has made the world a more secure and prosperous place. our leadership is necessary to underwrite the security and prosperity that our children and grandchildren will depend on. we do so by adhering to a core principal and whatever is author to protect our people. we support our allies when they are in

they spread out to the east and west. and they drove a lot of minorities and the people, they accused him of being devil

worshippers. they have a very ancient religion that isis doesn't help and understand. they drove about 40,000 people up on a barren mountain with no water or foot or chance of survival. after the first saying we will send military advisers, they have the two missions to get supplies to the people on the mountain. to try to break the brock ead and destroy the position if necessary. that's where the u.s. has advisers. the question is, what will happen when there is the next crisis. what will happen when there is another group of people forced into a valley or another mountain.

>> as i hear this and i'm curious what you know, what their reaction will be. the president is saying you are 40 miles away and don't go any further. how do you think they respond to that? >> this is a group that is not going to be deterred by threats. not only did they slow baghdad when troops were put there, iraqi troops in this case and militia were put there. i don't think they would have had a chance of taking it

anyway. it's a strong kurtish city. you can tell by the city. it is one of the capitals of the region. they would have had a tough fight getting in anyway, but they could have gotten close to the city and started lobbying artillery. we will stand with them and help the friends. the curds in iraq were always the closest allies. they were the u.s. best friend in iraq. not too much to protect them. that's after the kurds were so loyal. >> you mentioned the failures of the iraqi military. we heads in as part of the case he was making to the nation. this was a request that was made to him by the government.

is the united states with the drop in which we are warning away from the mountain, is the united states trying to buy time and space for the iraqi government and the military to be able to go in and deal with that at the base of the mountain. is that plausible any time in the future? >> i think this was more of an act of desperation than that. i don't think the iraqi military has the capability to get anywhere close to this mountain. we have been told that iraqi generals called to baghdad for supplies. gasoline, more vehicles and those supplies are not coming. the u.s. would not be intervening because the president knows the allergy that most people in the united states have to involvement of any kind in iraq. unless there was a complete inability of the iraqi security forces to do it themselves.

>> nbc news correspondent live from tel aviv. appreciate that. we will bring you steve clemens. msnbc contributor. we had you on before the president spoke. your thoughts on it? >> i think the president is the key word tonight was genocide which you mentioned earlier. he has people in his administration and they don't want to have a moment in this administration. i think when you mentioned genocide, it demands action on the front. now you have to be careful not to have this expand. it is interesting that vice president biden's office just put out a weed out of his talk with the president. he said very explicitly the united states will do whatever it takes to protect our interest including air strikes which begs the question of what more beyond air strikes? that's just an interesting sentence and a read out like

kremlinology. they were important. >> if you make another line, we will have air strikes and they don't get it done, what then? >> there have been times with the white house and they are done in various cases. we would take whatever measures are necessary far beyond what we were talking about and they are nonspecific in that. there were key lines that would take us into and an order of magnitude difference in response of what we have seen.

they are operating across the borders of three or four countries. jordan and lebanon and iraq. now moving beyond others. we were talking about this story. it's a sunni story and this is a manifestation of a civil war in the region. we need to think about what the stakeholders are there. we need to look at the saudis and the turks are in a different social contract in the region. that's why the action needs to go. >> the situation where you had them taking over the sunni areas. the movement taking over the areas. now when you start talking about it, you talk about the kurdish territory and another group's territory. they reached a significant moment and interested in stopping.

you have many curds in turkey. that continues to sort of blur the lines. it furthers the notion of ethnically clean states. ethnically cleansed states. i think when you begin looking at that nationalism in this region, it can be incredibly toxic and destabilizing for all of the current countries. >> we know the period said if isis makes a further move, that would warrant air strikes and the other question is if people are trapped on the mountain, that seems open ended of when they might say the situation warrants a sort of military strike.

if they are not letting them return, into you know when the period would take an air strike? >> we animated everything we have to get the iraqi forces and get iraq to capacity and they want to move forward. we will be engaged, but a step behind. that's the only way to bring relief to those people under siege. >> msnbc foreign policy, thanks for being with us. appreciate the coverage of this crisis. we continue with lawrence o'donnell. good evening.

are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death.