enemy that will stop at nothing to achieve his complete destruction. by that, i mean congress. >> president obama is prepared to authorize air strikes in syria. >> the president is a rather reluctant commander in chief. >> the president did not ask for any new authorization from congressional leaders for military action, though senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is publicly calling for a vote. nfl commissioner roger goodell is playing defense to protect the league and his job in the wake of the scandal. >> we didn't get this right. that's my responsibility and i'm accountable for that. >> all right. 1:00 p.m. on the east coast, 10:00 a.m. on the west, welcome, everybody. here's what you need to know right now. in just a few hours, president obama is going to address the nation in a prime time speech from the white house, a pretty rare event. he's planning on outlining what his administration plans to do. billed so far, quote, as a plan to degrade and ultimately destroy isis. his secretary of state is now on

a coalition building trip through the middle east to try to garner support for that plan. today, john kerry made a surprise stop in baghdad to show support for the new government and preview those presidential remarks. >> president obama will address the american people tonight and the world to lay out to them. his plans and his strategy for how together with many other countries involved in a large coalition, we'll take on the challenge of isil. >> we've got a lot more coming up on this in a few minutes. chris matthews and eugene robinson will join me to drill down on exactly what is at stake tonight. and we'll hear from a member of congress on what the president is up against politically. >> and more fallout for ray rice. his former team and the nfl. the owner of the ravens posted an open letter saying he didn't

see that elevator security camera footage of rice punching his then fiancee until monday. writing, quote, seeing that video changed everything. we should've seen it earlier, should've pursued our own investigation more vigorously. we did not and we were wrong. nfl commissioner roger goodell also insists the league didn't see the video until it went public. though, he did say the nfl suspected there was a second tape and tried to get ahold of it. >> well, we certainly didn't know what was on the tape. but we have been very open and honest. and i have also, from two weeks ago when i acknowledged that we didn't get this right. that's my responsibility and i'm accountable for that. >> coming up later in the show, we'll get a take on this from another nfl wife who herself has confronted domestic violence and also made a pretty controversial call on how to handle it. earlier this morning, authorities said they would charge a south carolina man with murder after the bodies of his five children were found in the woods in alabama. those siblings ranging from ages 1 to 8 were discovered in

garbage cans yesterday at an undeveloped lot off a highway. one week after they were reported missing. autopsies will begin on the remains tomorrow. and the father timothy ray jones will be transported to south carolina to face charges from mississippi. that's where police arrested him over the weekend on charges of driving under the influence. and last night, in ferguson, missouri, the first city council meeting was held since the death of michael brown. that meeting held in a 1,300-seat church to accommodate the demand from everyone who wanted to be there. emotions ran pretty high. >> you have the mike brown movement in your face. because of your ongoing neglect. >> none of us will be here if the police chief you guys put in office would've just came forward and said, we apologize. >> yesterday marked one month to the day since michael brown was shot and killed. all right. let's drill down on that prime time address to the nation the president's going to deliver

tonight. he's expected to outline his plan to defeat isis. the plan he spelled out for congressional leaders at the white house yesterday. reaction from senate leaders on the floor this morning seems to be split. >> president obama has made it clear that it's going to take decisive action to destroy the islamic state. through the use of air strikes and drones. this is a smart, strategic and effective approach. >> this is not the time to shirk or put off his solemn responsibilities as commander in chief. because passing off this threat to his successor would not only be irresponsible, it would increase the threat that isil poses to americans. >> and today on capitol hill, several senators are being briefed ahead of tonight's big speech. more briefings also planned for tomorrow. but the white house has made it clear, the president as of now will not be waiting for congressional permission. and it's not clear whether he'll eventually ask for such an authorization or if he even

needs it legally. joining me with a look ahead of the presidential address, chris matthews, eugene robinson, and lois frankel. chris, you've been on fire on this subject. do you think america needs to think twice before being drawn into this conflict? >> well, we always know there's going to be a reaction when we put tens of thousands of americans troops into the holy land of saudi arabia. being warned that was a desecration that led to al qaeda. when we threw iraqis out of power in baghdad and made sure none of the people ever get back into the military, it was called debathification, we ended up with those people joining isis. and we do know this, whatever the president does as a result of tonight's speech, there will be a reaction. and we ought to know what that is as much as we can beforehand. >> and, of course, that's especially the case when we look at backing forces on the ground very hard to predict when we don't know the weaponry we're providing and training we're

providing is going to be used. what lessons can the president learn for past experiences like that? and from past administrations. dick cheney making the rounds, he had choice words for the president. take a listen to that. >> our president must understand, we are at war. and that we must do what it takes for as long as it takes to win. >> chris, what lesson should the president learn? >> let's be careful here. he's not an authority figure on how to do things. he was the one put our troops to saudi arabia. went to the royal family and said, you'll notice that the kuwaitis are saying, what hotels are you people going to stay at? he basically intimidated them into desecrating their holy land. he was the one w-- after we wen into baghdad. the one that drove the sunnis out of power and into the hands of isis. so his track record is atrocious, atrocious. and this sort of knee-jerk dr.

strange love approach of this is always more of force. more force is not the answer. if you want to escalate, we know how to do this. we know how to make things worse in the middle east. we do know that. what we don't know how to do yet is deescalate, how to lower the heat, reduce the popularity, if you will, of these groups. and i think that's what we have to learn how to do. we're not going to kill the arab world. killing arabs on international television is what we do for the last 12, 14 years. we have to find a way of not killing them and bombing them from the air will elicit a response from isis. you can bet your bottom dollar, there'll be a reaction if we start a bombing raid over there. and the reaction will not be capitulation. you can bet everything you have on the fact that isis will not surrender in the face of a u.s. bombing attack. they'll do something to us. and we better be prepared when we bomb them again or escalate the bombing, that's what we're asking for. it's coming. >> incredibly important point and not being made a lot on the hill right now.

chris, this is on the eve. a huge number of americans aware of these beheadings, fearful. coping with these kinds of moments of national fear, national anxiety, what are the good examples that the president can learn from? >> this is different, in fact. because in the past, the american people have been very angry. they were certainly very angry about the hostage taking back in iran when they took over, the ayatollah took over back when jimmy carter was president. they were more angry about their loss of pride. this time, there's more than that. we're angry because of our pride being hurt with the beheadings of our two fellow citizens over there. but we're also angry -- we're also afraid. this term homeland. i don't particularly like it because it has an ominous sound, sort of a, oh, totalitarian aspect. it gets the americans really afraid. and we get really afraid, we'll go for almost any attack overseas but they think, oh,

that's going to make us safer. so it was used to take us into iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11. and there's cheney out there now doing the same thing. he's always fanning the flames for more military strikes, more military escalation. that's what he likes to do, what he believes in. that's one approach. if we want to go that way, fine. we're at where we are right now because of that approach. because of what we did with saudi arabia in 1990, the first iraq war, the second iraq war. and afterwards, what we did. what we did with kicking all the sunnis out of the government over there, driving them to isis, attacking isis by air. the hangings, the beheadings. we know all this. the cheney method has been used. it got us here. >> obviously, not a popular sentiment on the hill to say maybe the caution the president has shown is appropriate. but a lot of reason to argument that right now. i want to bring in eugene robinson of the "washington post." i want to look at those. this new nbc news "wall street journal" poll finding 61% find military action of some kind

against isis in iraq and syria is in u.s. interest. ahead of the speech, the public is supportive of the broad strokes of more intervention. what does the president need to accomplish tonight beyond laying out the finer points of how that looks? >> well, he has to walk a tight rope, basically. because as you noted, ronan, there is the support now, if you would asked three or four months ago, there was no support for any sort of military involvement in iraq or anywhere else in the middle east. and now apparently the public opinion is prepared for air strikes. i think the president has to be careful not to drive those numbers too high. because he -- what he doesn't want is some sort of push for greater involvement than he's prepared to undertake at this point. he's talked about air strikes, he's obviously still very cautious about air strikes in syria, which takes us into a whole new conflict that he has tried very hard to stay out of. and the results of anything we

do there are totally unpredictable. chris says you can predict something bad will happen, i think maybe you could go that far, but you can't predict specifically what will happen. >> there's public opinion and congressional opinion, and that's been very split. but also a lot of players on the hill wanting to hang back. and, of course, a really tough legal question in whether the president needs congressional authorization. how does he navigate that tonight? >> well, he has already navigated the legal question to his satisfaction. as presidents always do, he says i have the right to do what i need to do to protect the american people. you know, the political quest n question, politically i would say, you know, let me call congress' bluff. if mitch mcconnell wants to talk tough, let him whip a vote for me and authorize more action and i think mcconnell might have more trouble doing that. you know, really interesting thing was dick cheney spoke to house republicans in trying to kind of get them enthusiastic about this. and there's a whole pacifist wing of the republican party now

that gave him a very cool reception. and didn't like what he was saying. and really very cautious about further involvement in air strikes or anything in iraq. >> let's take a look at what the president is up against on the hill. chris and eugene, hold on a minute, i'm going to bring in lois frankel. what the president said as we just discussed, to his satisfaction, he feels he doesn't need congressional approval. they've been dressing this language of congressional buy-in, consultations, which is quite a slippery set of terms. is he sending mixed signals to the hill right now? >> well, great to be back with you. and i wanted to say to your cohorts there, very good remarks. i do think that if there's going to be a sustained plan of action, the president needs to come to the congress. i did support him with the actions that he took in iraq recently, but if it's going to

be sustained operation, yes, i do think he should come to congress. >> congresswoman, there are reports today that the president is going to call for training of army and syrian rebels. we talked about how that can be a slippery slope. there's word that the gop voices on the hill are sort of coalescing around in opposition to that. is that specifically something that should be subject to more consultation with congress before it goes ahead? >> well, i, you know, there's a lot of anxiety on anything like that. and i think chris raised some issues. there's so many unintended consequences. ideally, you like to give weapons and training to a local army there who can fight isil. but we all know from past experience, you can give arms that fall into the wrong hands. >> congresswoman frankel, really appreciate that take. chris, we heard from the congresswoman. a lot of voices on the show

coming out and saying we need more consultation and maybe bringing this to a formal vote. do you think that would serve as the kind of stopgap that you want. something to prevent rushing in in the way you're warning about. >> well, it could go the other way. it could be like in syria where you can't get the vote. but, i do think when we're electing people of the united states congress, we want them to play a role in war making. the war powers act set back in '74, and of course, our whole history, article one of the constitution. and if this is going to be a prolonged fight with isis, i think congress has to vote. that's my belief. why have a congress if it isn't going to vote on the big things? >> and may come to that if it gets past the 60-day mark. and we're looking at an involvement that could span years. eugene, what is the worst thing the president could do tonight? >> the worst thing for him or for me or for the world. it's, you know -- >> there's a lot at stake here, point taken. >> you know, i guess the worst

thing he could do would be to unintentionally leave everyone confused about the way forward. and there might be some deliberate ambiguity in what he says tonight. but at least we should come away with the sense that he knows the road ahead, and he knows where the junctures are. and he's got a plan, basically. i think the worst thing would be to say, we're going to do something, but leave people with the impression that we're getting into something that we don't fully understand. >> right. more perception. chris? >> one thing, lesson we learned from my hero. many of our heroes, winston churchill was to never tell people it's going to get better until you're sure it will. i mean, i think you have to sort of anticipate it's going to be he wil hell on wheels. isis is going to be around when the next woman takes the oath of the presidency. isis is going to be around and fighting us and maybe beheading our people and it's going to be going on.

there's no way to eradicate them. certainly dealing with the problems of the middle east forever. there's always going to be coming up next, the middle east conflict, the middle east peace treaties or whatever the deal. the process. the process is going to outlive all of us, the process of war over there. you know, i don't think we're right when we think there ought to be peace in the middle east. i don't think the peace and middle east go together. i think there's a struggle over land, religion, within the islamic faith between sunni and shia. a shia government or secular government. these are real conflicts. real conflicts that we have nothing to do with. and we have to be very aware of that. all we can do is stoke the flames. when i saw those beheadings, i wanted to go in there with flame throwers. i wanted to get everybody involved in that. but a president has to be smarter than that, as gene said. he has to think through the passions and figure out where we should be a couple of years from now. that's the president's job, not

ours. >> and so many americans are feeling exactly that anger right now. and clearly the president has been pushed to more decisive, aggressive. and it's an important point you make that one should never politically say it's going to get better until you know. and already, the president has come out and said very decisively, we are going to ultimately defeat them. you make a good point there, that's premature. always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> thank you. you can catch chris on "hardball." he's doing incredible work over there. that is tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern as we continue to ramp up to the president's remarks and tune back in for that. msnbc tonight will have special live prime time coverage of the president's address to the nation. it's going to be good. keep an eye. and up next, the ray rice saga takes another turn as the nfl commissioner weighs in and sparks a brand new round of controversy. should ray rice ever be allowed to return to the league? insider's take you might not expect coming up next. i know what you're thinking...

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i want to ask you about the ray rice issue, the domestic abuse that was not only tolerated, condoned, rewarded in some instances. >> yeah. >> and the nfl, you know, the most powerful brand in america in terms of sports -- >> they handled it so poorly, andrea, i'm so furious about this. there were no facts at issue. he admitted to beating his wife. we saw the video of him dragging her out of an elevator. there was nothing left to be discussed. he should have been fired right then and there. >> fiery words from kirsten gillibrand on our network moments ago. we're also hearing from ray rice

himself. ray rice has now told espn, quote, i have to be strong for my wife. she is so strong, we are in good spirits. the league is still reeling from the fallout from this incident. last night, ravens team owner issuing this letter to stake holders saying, quote, because of this positive contributions -- his positive contributions on and off the field over the last six years, ray earned every benefit of the doubt from our operation. we took everything we knew -- he is suspended from the nfl indefinitely. but roger goodell told cbs that the running back hasn't necessarily lost his job for good. >> what does that mean? he was suspended indefinitely? does that mean ray rice will never play in the nfl again? >> i don't rule that out. but he would have to make sure

that we are fully confident that he is addressing this issue. >> joining me now is duwan williams. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> goodell has told cbs, he could play again some day. is that appropriate? >> based on the situation and the circumstances and because they have already given him his penalty and he's paid his dues, then, yes. he made a mistake, he should not be made to not ever play football again. however, you know, there needs to be some moving forward. there needs to be things in place so this doesn't happen again. >> dewan, you have spoken out a great deal against domestic violence. >> yes. >> which you faced in your own marriage. the #whyistayed and #whyileft have been trending. and you yourself chose to stay. >> yes. >> tell us about that decision.

>> well, i love my family, i love my husband, my children. i chose to stay, but it was at a distance. i did, six years ago, move back home to ohio to rear my children where i got my license. i work in psychiatry and i do counseling and i can prescribe medication to people that have gone through situations like myself dealing with mental health and abuse. and just in the recovery process. what did i do? we are still married, however, we are currently living separately. i'm in ohio and wally goes back and forth to baltimore and florida and i stay with the kids. >> families are complicated. you found a way that allowed the right amount of distance. >> correct. >> and allowed yourself to protect you while also preserving your family. >> when you have two strong personalities living together and both have a strong passion and belief of what they stand for and you work with someone who isn't used to being told no,

you know, it's just like having fire and oil. so at one point you have to remove yourself. someone has to leave. >> i admire your candor on this a lot. what was your experience of that? did you find yourself isolated or supported in the nfl community? >> unfortunately, the first few situations that i encountered personally, there appeared to be a lot of support, but the support was very superficial. when things became just downright dirty and i really reached out for help, it was really, it was on a blind and deaf ear. i was told i had a liaison with the player personnel and that person would contact me to make sure that wally was doing his obligations to stay playing football. and whenever there was a situation between he and i that we weren't able to solve in a

civil manner. when i reached out to the nfl, i got voice messages, i was told i would be called back. there was a situation where i was asking for someone to please come to our home. and no one ever called me back. >> and an urgent crisis type of situation. clearly, more of this narrative we're seeing come out from the voices of the nfl being more act protecting themselves. >> we've had situations also where there have been situations where the police have been involved. and my personal situation. and when they come, it's like, you know, you don't want this to be in the press. you don't want this to hit the paper. you know, you don't want this bad press for the team. the team would tell us that we weren't to talk to reporters. we weren't to hire attorneys. they would handle and manage all the media. >> what is the message for the other janays out there? >> for me, what i'm trying to do currently. like i said, i went back to

school, and i am a psychiatric mental health advance practice nurse. and so i am learning and wanting to teach those who have similar experiences and educate them and provide them the tools to cope in a healthy manner. as opposed to turning to drugs and alcohol and using violence with violence. someone has to be level-headed, back away and use healthy, appropriate coping skills to manage stressful situations. >> dewan, i so admire your candor and your efforts to help others in this incredibly difficult situation. thank you for that. >> thank you for having me. and just ahead. take a look at this, everybody. you're not going to believe the outcome of this dramatic scene. find out what happened to the driver of this van right after the break. stay with us.

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problems in the middle east. and i don't think that it's really, it's really in our best interests overall to send troops back. >> one american's view on the crisis in the middle east. ahead of president obama's big speech tonight. and while the president needs to shape public opinion here at home, there's an equally important audience abroad that he's facing off against. today, secretary of state john kerry arrived in baghdad en route to other capitals for top level talks delivering the president's call for an international coalition against isis. >> in the days ahead, i will be meeting with leaders from across the region and beyond in order to discuss how can we best build on the work that has already been done and to assemble the broadest possible coalition for this fight. >> just how much of a done deal is that coalition building? and what's going to be required of its members? joining me now ambassador joe

wilson, and ambassador nicholas burns who has a long history in the world of diplomacy including working with nato allies. ambassador wilson, i'll start with you. iraq is the first stop on this secretary kerry trip. he's going to go to jordan, he'll have talks with the king there, other arab leaders, including in saudi arabia. what are the challenges he faces in persuading these leaders, particularly in these arab countries. >> well, i would hope he doesn't have many challenges whatsoever because at the end of the day, this is first and foremost a regional problem. and only secondarily does it become an international problem. i think the way that he's approaching it is the correct way in the first instance, i think you have to have an inclusive government in iraq to help shoulder some of the responsibility and help to turn the sunni tribes who are offering safe haven to isil to turn them against them. secondly, i think it's vitally

important that the arabs in the region and in particular, the sunni clerics go a little bit further than they've gone so far in declaring isil essentially a -- the greatest threat to islam. >> ambassador burns, we saw the president earlier today talking on the phone in the oval office with the king of saudi arabia. how important is saudi arabia's role in this? >> this cannot be a european canadian-american coalition. that's what began to develop last week at the nato summit in wales. it needs to be an arab-centered coalition. and so the saudis, kuwaitis, but also the turks need to be all in part of the military mission, need to be part of the air campaign, but particularly, they need to convince their citizens, their wealthy citizens from not contributing funds to isis.

and the other radical groups, which is what's happening. without that arab input, this coalition won't be able to work effectively. it's got to be a military contribution as well as a political contribution. >> one of the big points of controversy is how much this will extend into syria. how much of a stumbling block, ambassador wilson, is it going to be to get the arab states to intervene in a fellow arab state without permission from that regime there? >> well, that's a task that secretary kerry has before him. after all, we provided arms and splois and training to these countries who have been our allies for a generation. certainly since i was in baghdad in 1990 but i think we have a very specific mission, that is isil. there are a few things we can

and are doing unilaterally. i think it's important to consider decapitation activity. so getting u.s., going after the leadership of isil, i think should be a principal priority. >> ambassador burns, big tough question for you at the end here. two powers on stage, china and russia, staying silent on the threat. how significant is their role on this? >> it does show how cynical the leadership, especially the russian federation is. not paying attention to this huge crisis political and humanitarian. i think they're sidelined right now. the central roles being occupied by the united states. the big question, ronan, for the president tonight, are we trying to contain isis? or are we trying to defeat it? to defeat it, you do need to integrate syria into the strategy. and you'll need to empower and arm and train some of those moderate syrian rebel groups.

because you need a ground force to defeat isis. that ground force has to be in syria. rebels, peshmerga, and iraqi army. it won't be american troops quite rightly. so the president, i think, has put together a very sensible plan. he now needs to execute it. i think he'll have the support of the country. he should have the support of the country in going forward. >> and the numbers do suggest he has that much support. we'll see whether that's mirrored in the international community. ambassadors, it's a real pleasure. >> thank you. and up next -- >> thanks very much. >> up next, it's the battle for granted. live free or die, what other new hampshire references can i work into this tease? the important thing you should know and might not expect about the new primary results. that's right after the break. it's time for your business entrepreneur of the work. on main street and ft. collins, colorado.

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[ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. the results are in today after the final primary night of this election season. in new york, embattled governor andrew cuomo crushed his

opponent. in massachusetts, an upset as 18-year incumbent john tierney became the fourth incumbent to lose a primary this year. and scott brown nearly cracked 50% in soundly securing the gop senate nomination. >> i'm so grateful tonight. i'm honored to be your nominee for united states senator. men and women, young and old, some well off, some of them struggling. all across new hampshire, people are voting for change because they want the best for our state and for our country. >> but there's one superpac that worked very hard to defeat brown. they're a pac designed to end pacs by candidates who support finance reform. tired of big money in politics. raising nearly $8 million, including millions from a popular kickstarter. but in the new hampshire race,

they spent $1.6 million supporting former state senator jim rubens who just lost. where does the movement go from here? joining me now is may day pac's founder. it's a pleasure to have you back. this is an important issue you're raising and few others are right now. and the question is, is this a setback? and how much if so? you released a statement today entitled on your blog we lost badly. here's your quote. you said our question wasn't who could beat shaheen, it was who would make salient what we believe to be the most important question. if you don't put your money behind the candidates who can win, how does that work? >> right. so we're going to be in a portfolio of races. and we're going to be in races that are races we're going to win, we're going to take out incumbents. this was the most difficult race. we entered this race when we knew jim rubens had a nine-point polling and scott brown had more than 60 points in the polling.

so it was just an uphill battle the whole time. but what we succeeded in doing is to inject this issue into the republican primary, 40% of the people who voted said that the reducing influence of money and politics was important. and for those people who said it was important, jim rubens actually beat scott brown by 18 points. so our objective is to enter this issue into new hampshire. and i think as you see, as we get into the general election, it's going to be much more significant now that scott brown is the nominee. and obviously gene shaheen is a strong supporter of campaign finance reform. >> your group supports some republicans, democrats. you're also supporting congresswoman carol porter. she's been around a long time, establishment, in and out of office, she's co-sponsored legislation trying to make a dent on this campaign finance issue. the fair elections now act and government by the people act. but she hasn't had a lot of traction in actually changing

the stakes on this issue. why support her? >> well, it's incredibly important, we think, to be supporting leaders on this issue. and that's exactly who she is. and we want to be supporting people in new hampshire to inject this issue in new hampshire because obviously as we get to 2016, it's going to be incredibly important, the presidential candidates begin to get the sense this is an issue they need to take on. and so that's why we're supporting her and we're going to be supporting people also across the country to make this a salient issue and to make it so that we can win a congress committed to fundamental reform in 2016. >> professor, the stated goal of this superpac is essentially to end all superpacs. now that you're actually in the game, you see the kind of money you're up against, how realistic is that goal? >> well, i think it's completely realistic to imagine electing a congress that is committed to reform. once we can convince people, we can crack through this perception that the voters don't care about this issue. now, the setback for us in new hampshire was that we took the hardest race possible, a republican primary, 20% of the

people turned up to vote. that's about 7% of the population of new hampshire. and that -- in that case, it looks like it wasn't as significant as we want people to see that it is. but, indeed, if you look at the numbers, it was an incredible wedge issue in that race. and the more we can grow the salience of this issue in new hampshire, the more likely a presidential candidate is going to pick it up in 2016. that's the critical step to making an issue we can win after that election. >> certainly an issue that is salient to the future of this country and what politics in this country look like. lawrence, appreciate it. >> thank you very much, ronan. >> and up next, how will isis respond to president obama's address? just under seven hours from now. stay with us. [ male announcer ] ours was the first modern airliner, revolutionary by every standard. and that became our passion. to always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. that redefine comfort and connect the world like never before.

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welcome back. we have just learned of a new u.s. air strike in iraq. it apparently bombed an armed

vehicle belonging to isis. just ahead of president obama addressing the nation. across the world, another audience will be paying very close attention. the people of iraq and syria and the militant on the ground there. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in erbil and with me is terrence coleman. richard, does it look like ithe are getting u.s. support already? >> reporter: they certainly are. this is the affront of the american war on isis, manner partnered war that looks like it will be expanding very soon. in this area there is an indigenous kurdish army that's been working very closely for a long time now with the u.s. called the peshmerga, a kurdish military. we went out with them and they coordinate with u.s. air

strikes. they get weapons from the united states. and the way it pretty much works here is there is an air strike by drone or fixed-wing aircraft against an isis location, killing the militants, destroying their vehicles and kurdish militias will follow in behind them and take territory. and this is pretty much how the war against isis should work, how it could work, if the u.s. had allies like this in other places, like other parts of iraq or in syria. but, unfortunately, the u.s. does not have partners like this in other places. >> we'll be watching closely tonight to see what extent the president's remarks addresses that important issue of how collaboration with forces on the ground will work. evan, what kind of chatter are you hearing online as the president gears up for this speech? >> so far what we're seeing is isis militants are kind of making fun and mocking obama's efforts to try to get together an international coalition. particularly of middle eastern countries to take on this front.

i think from what they've seen, in the wake of last august, when they failed to act on the red line of chem weapons in syria, there seems to be skepticism and doubt that obama can get together this coalition of states and organize an effective response. they're mocking those efforts. i think they're interested to see what exactly mr. obama will say and what strategy he will lay out. i think that's what we'll see a real response. >> how much of a response do you anticipate? could that extend to maybe a tactical response on the ground? >> let's not forget, these folks are still holding western hostages. unfortunately, as we've seen before, it seems this is the bargaining chip they're using most often hwhen it comes to responding to u.s. threats or u.s. pressure. i hope that's not the case but we're anticipating that most likely will be. >> the most indelible images of this conflict, journalists, jaime james foley, sotloff, with

new threats to journalists as they struggle to bring us this story. richard, how palpable for journalists out there? >> reporter: well, i think the threat to journalists in syria, particularly in parts of syria that are controlled by isis is very real. very few reporters, if any, are still going into those areas of syria. so, we could be expanding a conflict that we don't know much about, or we don't know much about the results of that conflict. there are some reporters with the regime of bashar al assad, but in terms of what happens in isis-controlled areas, i think we're going to be relying on some aerial footage eventually released by the u.s. military. and, perhaps, some footage released by isis itself. but there aren't many independent reporters operating in those areas anymore because of the brutality. >> richard engel, thank you for your service bringing us this story. evan coleman, thank you to you as well. this week a major watchdog

group is responding to that threat to journalist, the committee to protect journalists, and it launched a petition to obama to do more to protect reporters. you can find that petition on our website. we'll look at the askings it makes throughout the week. tweet us wit with #letusknowwhatyouthink. it's a privilege to have your time. watch nbc's prime time coverage of president obama's address. it is going to be good. up next is "the reid report" with joy reid. especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but wondered if i kept digging, could i come up with something better. my doctor told me about eliquis... for three important reasons. one, in a clinical trial, eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin.

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>> it's a huge threat in the states. we need to stay on top of it. >> we've got to bomb them. we've got to sgeo get in. >> we have to get in and get out. >> is he going to go into syria? is he going to draw a line? the sand? >> on defense, the nfl admits to dropping the ball on the ray rice case, but won't rule out his possible return to football. and now a leading women's rights group is calling for commissioner roger goodell to be sacked. meanwhile, in ferguson, protesters plan to shut down a major interstate this afternoon, this after city council members were met with outrage and anger at last night's first meeting since the fatal shooting of michael brown. we start with president obama's speech, delivered exactly seven hours from now, in front of a prime time audience. the president will lay out how the u.s. must fight isis. he and secretary of state john kerry have been pressing allies around the world today and