carry out some of the basic reforms that are going to be required in order for them to achieve the kinds of models of success we've seen in estonia, poland, and other places. that's a tough road to hold. it took a couple decades for some of the countries who are currently in the e.u. to achieve the sort of market-based reforms that have led to such great prosperity. ukrai ukraine's not able to do that overnight, but we have to help in making sure we build a bridge to that new future. if we combine those efforts with a commitment to continuing the nato-ukraine military relationship, they are not a member of nato, but we have consistently worked with their military in terms of training and support, then, you know, i

think that not only will ukraine feel that in words we are behind them, but they'll see that, indeed, we are working with them as well. >> thank you, sir. just following up, will you have the military strategy on isis ready for nato allies this week, and in your view, what should nato be prepared to do to take on the islamic stake? lastly, how much stock is in the reported cease fire between ukraine and russia. how do you assess putin's mot e motiv motives? >> it's too early to tell what the cease fire is. we've not seen details, just a couple wire reports. we have consistently supported the effort of the president to maintain a meaningful cease fire that leads to a settlement of the conflict. so far, it's not helped.

either because russia has not been serious about it or has pretended it's not controlling the separatists and the separatists, when they've thought it was to their advantage have not abided by the cease fire, so we have not seen a lot of follow-up on so-called announced cease fires. having said that, if, in fact, russia is prepared to stop financing army training, in many cases joining with russian troops, activities in ukraine, serious about a settlement, that is something we all hope for. i said consistently, our preference is a strong, productive, cooperative russia. the way to achieve that is by

abiding to international norms, to improving the economy, to focusing on how they can actually produce goods and services that other people want and give opportunity to their people and educate them. that's not the path they've been pursuing over the last several years. it certainly is not in ef whvid when it comes to the strategy in ukrai ukraine. i'll leave it up to others to interpret mr. pputin's psycholoy on this, but what we've seen in actions is aggression and appeals to national sentiments that have historically been very dangerous in europe. now -- and are rightly a cause of concern so there's an opportunity here.

let's see if there follow-up. i consistently said he needs to follow up on the kinds of reforms that hi propoe proposedt eastern ukraine feels represented and fears are protected from discrimination. they are part of the platform and we encourage them to move forward, but no realistic political settlement can be achieved if effectively russia says we are going to continue to send tanks and troops and arms and advisers under the guys of separatists who are not home grown and the only possible settlement is if ukraine sees its territory, sovereignty, or ability to make decisions about

its security and economic future. with respect to iraq, we will be discussing this topic even before isil dominated the headlines. one of the concerns that we have had is that the development of terrorist networks and organizations separate and apart from al qaeda whose focus oftentimes is regional and who are combining terrorist tactics with the tactics of small armi s armies, and we've seen isis to be the first one that's broken through, but we anticipated this awhile back and was reflect in the west point's speech, so one of our goals is to get nato to work with us to help create the kinds of partnerships regionally that can combat not just isil

but these kinds of networks as they arise and potentially destabilize allies and partners of ours in the region. already we've seen nato countries recognize the severity of the problem. that is, it's going to be a long run problem. immediately they've dedicated resources to help us with hue m humanitarian air drops to provide arms to the iraqi security forces, and we welcome the efforts, and what we hope to do at the nato summit is to make sure we are more systematic about how we do it, more focused about how we do it. nato is unique in the annuals of history as a successful alliance, but we have to recognize that threats evolve,

and threats have evolved as a consequence of what we've seen in eukraine, but threats evolve in the middle east that have a direct effect on europe. to go back what i said earlier to ann. you know, we know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink isil's sphere of influen influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem. the question is going to be making sure we have the right strategy and international will to do it. this is something is a con

tipuation -- continuation of a problem seen certainly since 9/11 but before, and it continues to ma tas size in a number of ways. we have to organize the middle east, the muslim world along with the international community to isolate this cancer. this particular brand of extremism that is first and foremost destructive to the muslim world and the arab worth and north africa and the people who live there. they are the ones who are most severely affected. they are the ones who a constantly under the threat of being killed and whose economies are upended to the point where they cannot produce their own foods or goods and services to sell in the world marketplace,

and they are falling behind because of this small, narrow, and dangerous segment of the population, and we got to combat it in a sustained, effective way, and i'm confident we'll be able to do that, all right? thank you very much. appreciate it, mr. president. good morning, everybody, it's wednesday, september 3 r, william to "way to early," i'm thomas roberts, and you were watching the speech by the president obama and president of estonia. u.s. intelligence officials do confirm this morning a video does, in fact, show islamic state militants beheading a second journalist in syria. they murdered him in response to u.s. air strikes in iraq. he was a freelance reporter for time and u.s. foreign policy

magazine. he was kidnapped last year. the mill tapts warn they'll continue to kill western hostages if the air strikes do not stop. the killer says, quote, i'm back obama, with the same british accent as the foley video and videos appears to be in similar locations in a gitmo-like jump suit. president obama ordered 350 more american troops to iraq in noncombat roles. as we saw president obama speaking about the murder offering harsh criticism of isis's actions. >> like jim foley before him, steve's life stood in sharp contrast to those who murder him so brutally. they make the absurd claim they kill in the name of religion, but it was he, his friends say, who loved the islamic world. killers tried to claim they defended oppressed, but it was

steven who traveled to the middle east to tell the stories of men and women demanding justice and dignity. >> an unsuccessful attempt made to rescue a british hostage held by isis. we go to estonia, and i guess the most definitive thing from president obama there was the questioning from the american journalist about a more defined military strategy against isis. >> reporter: yes. and what he said was the intention was degrade and destroy isis, although when pressed by journalists, thomas, you heard him say, well, we want to reduce capabilities militarily and otherwise until it's a mangle problem. i spoke to a official who said this video has great emotional impact. the hearts of presidents and everyone in america go out to the family. it's not going to change the

administration's assessment of the threat pose the by isis or likely to change the president's strategy. part of the reason he's come here is, and you hear this over just the last few minutes, bill a coalition, international coalition. he's not prepared for the u.s. to go it alone, and clearly a decision has not been made to do what the united states is doing in iraq which is to go and take military action within syria. thomas? >> traveling with the president, thank you very much, appreciate it. the worldwide scourge is only growing and the head of the cdc says the window to stop the outbreak is closing. there's greater vigilance on college campuses, but ground zero in west africa, there's food shortages and the state of the region is in jeopardy as a death toll is mounting. a man wandered and workers tried to corral him. the latest is another american doctor, an obstetrician not

working in the ebola ward. the unlikely recovery captivated the country will have an exclusive interview. >> there was a time in the days in liberia you were really sick, doctors did not think you would make it through one of those nights. were you aware of that? >> yeah. >> did they talk to you about it? >> i don't think they said, i think you're about to die, but i felt like i was about to die, and i said to the nurse who was taking care of me, i'm sick, i have no reserve, and i don't know how long i can keep this up. yeah, i thought i'm not going to be able to continue breathing this way, and they had no way to breathe for me if i had quit breathing. >> well, at this hour, the pentagon is trying to figure out if the leader of the militant group was killed in smoomalia.

he was the target of the drone. three suspected members of the al qaeda link group were killed and officials believe that he was traveling with the driver in a top aid at the type of the air strike. dna evidence was taken from the scene of the strike and could take three days to determine in godane is among the victims. shifting gears and still ahead on "way too early" it's the new segment called "way too early to call" where we ring up a special guest, you're going to hear this for yourself. we'll chat. you have to hear it for yourself. we'll be right back. that was a clue.

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early for a fun conversation. hopefully they are going to answer. hello? >> good morning. >> oh! i'm pleased to be joined this morning by the real donald trump, can i hear it for donald trump, everybody? a little bit louder, please. show some excitement. >> yeah! >> yeah, there we go. mr. trump, thank you for taking my phone call. are you up this early? >> generally, i am, i watch the program. >> thank you, sir. >> i have to. >> donald, i want to say first because people love to hate you. can we show the als bucket challenge? you proved a lot of people wrong about your ie cconic hair ha it real. >> it is. >> you're proud of this because miss universe and miss usa did that for you. what was it like? a lot of people challenged you. >> it was called and vince mcman and others challenged me. it was seriously cold. i did it, as you know, miss

universe and miss usa, and we're proud of you, by the way, at the job you do. but look at that hair, that thick beautiful hair, what a mess. you know me well, and you know it was my hair, but over the years, i take heat on the hair. >> you do. >> i have to comb it back. people like it comb back like that better. >> amazing als raised over a hundred million bucks over the last month. attention gone towards a worthwhile charity. i want your take on something much more serious following a story about your dear friend, joan rivers, remains on life support. you are sending thoughts and prayers to her way and melissa and grandson cooper. she's an energy force like no other. >> she's amazing. she beat out athletes that were 40 years old and 35 years old, and great athletes and fighters and everybody there. they were exhausted, and she was

76 when she won, and her energy was incredible. she's really a nice person. you know, she's -- you see her on the air, and she's costic, but the truth is she's a very, very different and very nice person, and i went over there yesterday -- it's a little bit tough, you know, when you see what's happen to joan. the new version, 14th season, if you believe it of "apprentice" was just taped, and she was a part of it. >> oh, wow. >> i've seen her recently so it was sad to see her. >> will is the new season? >> in the fall, just finished taping, waiting for the right slot. nbc is into it. will be great, one of the best we've done. >> excellent. >> announcing the cast soon, but joan is a part of it, and, you know, it's an incredible situation to see what happened. >> details on where miss universe is held? >> yeah, probably miami.

we have seven locations bidding, but miami really wants it. you will be in miami. you have done a fantastic job. your listeners, most watch you on universe and miss usa and saw the ratings of miss usa, trumped everything on television that night including the tony awards. that was you more than the beautiful women i assume. >> it was a team effort. with you 100%. thank you for getting up early. i didn't know if this was going to work. appreciate it, thank you. >> great honor, thomas, keep up the great work. the show is fantastic. so long. coming up, confronting isis in the wake of another american execution. we'll be joined at the table with david rhode who was once held captive by the taliban. we have unbelievable video from

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okay, time to huddle around the water cooler. we have something not caught very often. caught on camera? >> that's right, thomas. we have been lucky enough to go to london, seeing the guards in the red coats patrolling outside. this trip on youtube was like any other, but this guardsman is creative. marches left, right, back and

forth, but he busts out moves delighting the crowd watching from the outside gates, a spin, and the ministry of defense has an internal investigation underway. the queen was not at the palace at the time, but no matter what happens to the guard, he put on a good show. >> he has to realize people are taking video. >> of course. he's just hamming it up. i don't think he should be punished for that. >> i don't know, they have strict orders not to smile even let alone bust a move. >> great to see the donald today by the way. >> wasn't that good? like "way too early"'s call? >> way too early. impressive. >> impressed the phone worked. >> interesting phone. >> it's cool. like maxwell smart talking on the show. coming up next, look at the stories in the day ahead, and "morning joe" is just moments away.

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going to "morning joe." governor christie travels to mexico to increase trade with the neighboring country and push job creation and higher education opportunities. now christie is going to meet with mexican president, and he will meet with business leaders to look at local companies on the trip. this morning, an ebola survivor will speak at a press conference in north carolina. she contracted the virus working with a missionary group in liberiame liberia. as we covered earlier, the president is on a trip that covers estonia and wales. full coverage next on "morning joe." and that's all for "way too early." let's toss it over.

whatever the murderers think they'll accomplish, they've already fail. they fail because, like people around the world, americans are repulsed by their barbourism. their or hifk acts only unite us and stiff fin our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists. and those who make the mistake of harming americans will learn that we will not forget and our reach is long and that justice will be served. >> top of the hour, welcome to "morning joe." that was president obama in estonia in the past hour talking about isis and the latest -- >> a horrific video. a lot of people shaken up by it, obvious obviously. i got a friend calling me yesterday afternoon asking me after the beheading whether new york was still a safe place to raise their kids. i know you got a call from a friend who was --