ing. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. they're called aeromedical biological containment systems. abcs. air ambulance service called phoenix air operating out of cartersville, georgia decided roughly a decade ago they would buy three business jet-style planes, called g-3s and they used to be owned by the danish air force but when phoenix air bought them it was so they could outfit the planes with plastic modular units inside. these things called abcs. apparently the company thought they're most likely use for the sars epidemic in the early 2,000s. they did not ever get used for that. what they have been use ford a

number of times now recently is bringing patients with ebola from west africa to the united states for treatment. and not just people who have been exposed to ebola or watched to see if they're developing symptoms but people who are actively symptomatic and therefore a potential risk to infect anybody who comes into contact with their bodily fluids. essentially this abc idea is a plastic tent that gets tied on to a metal frame inside the body of this jet. there is enough room inside the tent for the patient and for all of the equipment that the patient needs to be hooked up to in there and i.v. line, monitors, that sort of stuff but also other medical personnel who are tending them while they're in flight. the patient, all of the gear and the medical personnel are all inside that sealed plastic unit inside the jet. descriptions about the past flights indicate they take great precautions to make sure nothing sharp is used inside the plastic tent on the flights.

they have some sort of needle-less i.v. system they use, for example, they don't want anything to puncture the tent, thus exposing anything inside the tent to what is contained within it. the idea behind the aeromedical containment system is anybody inside the tent with the patient has to be totally geared up and all their protective gear to keep them safe from the patient's bodily fluids as they try to help the patient. but if the tent works, if it just its jobs, the people on the plane, pilot and flight crew, they can just be in their normal work clothes, working as they normally would because everything else is sealed inside the tent, inside the plane. once the plane lands and the patient is taken off the plane the genius of the aeromedical biological containment system is after it's been used, all they do is untie the cloth ties holding it up inside the frame. the whole plastic tent then

collapses and they just scrunch it up and put it in its entirety into medical incineration. so basically they've created a sterile room and when they're done with it the whole room just disappears and is incinerated. they prepare another tent, an abc ready to go and you have super expensive but super effective infection control medical transport even for the most dangerous pathogens on earth. in august the u.s. state department gave phoenix air, this air ambulance company a $5 million contract for them to provide six months of service using those g-3 jets with abc plastic tent containment systems inside as needed to move americans infected with ebola around the globe. now, that is not the kind of system that you use to deal with

an epidemic, right, that is a system to rescue specific, very fortunate individuals from epidemic environments. but the state department topped the resources, the cdc worked with the air ambulance company to develop it, the u.s. army medical research institute of infectious diseases developed serious specific protocols for how people are handled in high tech transit systems like this. at the very high-end of the crisis it is impressive what they've been able to do. i mean, self-contained flyable biopods. right. it's great. it's nuts but it's great. the u.s. air force today also released photos of the its very impressive resources they're bringing to bear against the ebola epidemic. a c-10 globemaster giant cargo plane. it's going to be transporting air force personnel and lots of supplies to go build medical infrastructure in liberia and in the countries that are ground zero for the ebola epidemic. they're not going to be providing direct medical care to

patients these airmen, but they are going to be building modular, customizable treatment facilities that can be self-sustaining even in austere conditions when there is no other infrastructure around to support them. our military can do that. the military announced today in addition to the 3,000 personnel who were already going to be deploying to west africa to try to help control epidemic there they may be adding 1,000 more troops to the deployment. at the level of massive u.s. military logistical efforts and at the level of high-tech private jet-borne hepa filtered incineratable biopod, it feels the response to ebola is the future. it's a very 21st century effort, very technological intensive, impressive, that's one level. and then there is what it looks like on the ground in texas. at the site of america's first actual ebola case in this country. behold the cleaning guys. for all that high-tech effort

internationally and big picture this is the strategies on the ground in texas. you see the cleaning guys trucks today with the vinyl wrapped advertising slogans outside the apartment complex in dallas. today nine days after a man first became symptomatic in dallas, nine days into the period in which body fluids from that patient started to pose a real risk of transmitting ebola to other people in the country, nine days into it, texas today finally got their act together to send in this company called the cleaning guys to go collect the soiled sheets and towels and bedding from the apartment in which a man with ebola first got sick. nine days. no rush. amid questions about whether texas really has been on top of the situation texas governor rick perry today left the state and instead went to iowa to do a fund-raiser for a republican

state representative who you haven't heard of. and who probably rick perry hadn't heard of until about five minute goose. a person who doesn't necessarily mean anything to rick perry unlike perry would like to run for president and has to do fund-raisers to curry favor with that state's republican party. even though the first ebola case is happening in texas and at times the reaction to that case and dealing with that case in a public health level has seemed a little out of control, governor perry left texas today and went to iowa. he was asked about the ebola situation once he was on the ground in iowa, he didn't seem to have a well-prepared response. >> again, i think the cdc, the city of dallas, we respect the right decisions that have been made at this particular point in time and again, i think try to second-guess them at this particular time is not particularly a healthy thing for

us to do and we're comfortable that we have the right, the right safeguards in place to monitor these individuals. it's important to realize that unless an individual is exhibiting signs of the disease that they are not contagious. so at this particular point in time, we're not seeing those types of individuals from the standpoint of having the signs of this disease. >> at this particular point we're not seeing those types of individuals from the standpoint -- i realize that unless the -- we're comfortable -- governor perry is being asked about there is that nobody in texas collected the ebola infectious waste from the dallas apartment building from nine days until today and all that time, up to and including today, not only was the waste not cleaned up but the ebola patient's family members had

been ordered by texas officials to stay in that apartment with the infectious waste. and you can tell that dallas is struggling with this. today, dallas county's top elected official judge clay jenkins, we've talked to him about other matters on this show, he's a guy with a very big heart and who is trying very, very hard. we spoke to him on this show on efforts in dallas to provide schooling and welcoming family environment homes for kids coming unaccompanied across the border from south america into mexico -- sorry into texas. dallas county judge jenkins personally went and visited the family in that apartment, staying in the apartment where the ebola patient had gotten so sick. clay jenkins went there today, apologized to family members of the man who has gotten sick, told them he was sorry they had been confined in the apartment with infectious waste with no way to clean up. texas officials wanted to find another place to move the

individuals as they're monitored to see if they develop symptoms of the disease but as of this afternoon that had not yet happened. before the cleaning guys showed up in their vinyl wrapped trucks and hazmat suits the families had been putting things in plastic bags themselves, hoping that would help. one of the people in the house said they used clorox bleach on the bedding, they figured that might work. but other than that, no resources to do anything else. no instructions on what to do and they've been basically left to fend for themselves. not in liberia, right, or in some country that doesn't have good health infrastructure as we keep hearing about other countries coping with ebola, right? that's the way they've been treated here in this country in texas, the infectious waste left there for nine days and them ordered by texas officials to stay in there with it. with no way to clean it up. finally, nine days later, we are learning late tonight that the family of the guy who contracted

ebola, the people who have been forcibly cooped up in that apartment with the soiled and infected sheets they have finally be relocated and dallas couldn't find an official place to relocate them, it's a private residence as arranged by a good samaritan. >> the city and county has been working very hard to put this family in a safe location and it has been tough because no one wanted them. and so someone was kind enough to offer up a private residence that is gated, that is separated from any neighborhood, any apartment complex so they can have their privacy and be away from anybody with concerns. >> the public information officer from the city of dallas. nobody wanted them. they used personality connections, the dallas officials, to find somebody who would be a good samaritan, who would make their personal home available to that family. that's the response in dallas.

so, what we're going through is a test for the country, right, this would be a test for any country to handle any case of infectious disease that has become an epidemic in other countries, this is a test. at one level american response impressive, when top officials talk about what we're capable of it's impressive and they inspire confidence. the top health officials today and representative from the military and president president's advisers talking about the u.s. and what they can do and resources they're marshalling, it's impressive, it does inspire confidence. >> i think it's very important to remind the american people that the united states has the most capable health care infrastructure and the best doctors in the world bar none. and it's why people travel from all over the world to receive medical care here in the united states. finally, i want to emphasize that the united states is prepared to deal with this

crisis both at home and in the region. every ebola outbreak over the past 40 years has been stopped. we know how to do this. and we will do it again. >> we know how to do this. when they talk about what we can do, what we will do, what we're capable of doing, what we know how to do it is very impressive. when it comes to what we're actually doing, and what we have done, now that we have a real case, that is where the worry comes in. and you actually saw that did in the white house press briefing. in the contrast between the confident detailed statements from the expert officials talking about the top-down u.s. government response and having everything completely in hand but then, as do you at a good press briefing, you open the floor to questions and you get questions from this one from

"the new york times" confronting these officials with these very confident statements with the litany of how despite the best intentions and despite preparations and resources and despite america being the best health system in the world, despite everything that sounds so good in theory, on the ground in dallas, it has been kind of a mess. it has been one thing after another. >> so help me understand the stuff that you talked about in terms of preparedness here in this country, the conversations with the hospital, coordination with the local authorities and all, seems dissonant to people in the country who look at basically the first case or one of the first cases and see that the whole thing broke down. at every step of the way they were breakdowns. it broke down as person back there when he lied on the form, it broke down when the hospital turned him away. it broke down when the materials that were in his apartment

haven't been thrown away. it broke down -- it feels like to americans like you guys are up here talking about we have this great and perfect system that's going to be able to contain this virus because we've done all this preparation and yet it doesn't look like it's work. how should the regular, the average person have confidence that whether it's the case in howard or whether it's some case somewhere else in the country at the moment that somebody isn't being turned away there, that somebody didn't get their temperature got taken in africa but didn't get caught so they're on a plane as we speak? square the dissonance between your confidence and the fact that things don't seem to be working? >> square the dissonance between your confidence and the fact that things don't seem to be working. that's what happened today at the white house press briefing and happening now in the country. hold that thought. i have the worst cold with this runny nose.

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enagage with us. i want the public to understand this. i'm a married man with a little girl who will have her ninth birthday next week, okay? i'm wearing the same shirt i was when i was in the car with that family. i was in their house, next to those materials visiting with them and listening to them and assuring them last night and of course again today. i was in the car in close quarters with them for 45 minutes or so.

and then mike and i, you know, we're in close proximity to them as we showed them into their new home that they'll be in for the time being. if there were any risk i would not expose myself or my family to that risk but there is zero risk. >> that was the ernest and rather heroic top official in texas, judge clay jenkins, describing how he and the mayor personally called their own friends in order to find a place for the family to stay, the family of the nation's first ebola patient. called their personal friends until somebody would allow their own home to be used to house that family which had otherwise been housed for the last nine days with uncollected infectious waste in the apartment where the ebola patient, the nation's first known ebola patient got

sick to the point where he had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. it is a remarkable response at one level in terms of the human initiative of those elected officials. on the other hand, that doesn't sound like much of a plan if this has to be done in more than one place. joining us now is the director of the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university, specializing in public health response to large-scale catastrophic events. can you talk about how we should view the response in dallas? and one hand i'm very moved by judge jenkins and the mayor and the way they've gone to personal lengths, on the other hand it feels like it shouldn't be this haphazard. >> it's hard to know where to begin. every step of the way just like that reporter from the times was asking the federal official, every step of the way, there were unbelievable problems. the problems are the problems were not just in liberia, they were here in the united states

where the high touted systems are supposed to be functional. but they're not functional. we had the ludicrous situation in dallas with the man with ebola. is this a window in how the country is prepared? we're not ready. we're lucky it's just ebola. i say that, there is sars, bird flus, things that would have been far more dangerous. >> more contagious. >> much more problematic and i am telling you that our public health system and our hospital systems are not prepared at this moment as we're sitting here to deal with an event of that scale and we're getting a glimpse of that and whys and why nots as we watch this ludicrous scenario unfold in dallas. >> did we used to have a better

public health structure? has it eroded or we haven't ever developed something good enough to deal with the challenges such as this? >> here are some facts, we have a hospital preparedness program for large-scale disasters in country. in 2004, that was $500 million to spread among 5,000 hospitals in u.s. the proposed budget for that now is $255 million. exactly 50% every year it's gone down. >> why? >> because it's easy, it's low-hanging fruit, you trim budgets, you trim stuff that hasn't happened yet hoping, a wish and a prayer that something is not going to happen. won't be noticed. the same lowering of funding happened with the support of public health programs, in dallas, minnesota, throughout the entire country. lost probably 40,000 public health employee positions over the last decade. lost.

and you look at what happened in the hospital and they talked about a breakdown in the computer system. the two electronic health systems one for nurses and one for doctors didn't communicate. for god's sake if you are the triage nurse and the guy says i've been in africa i have a fever and i'm sick, you go to the phone we have a crisis here or you walk not emergency department, grab the medical team and start the protocol. the fact that they sent this person home is indicative of failure at the hospital. but more importantly, it's an indicative that hospitals don't have the money to do drills, practices, protocol develop me the and we're paying a price and it's sad. >> turning this into not just something we're watching with alarm and sort of chronicling as it unfolds but turning this into a teachable moment as far as policy is the thing that must happen after this and you've been clarifying in that. thank you. >> appreciate it. >> stay with us.

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♪ (dad) there's nothing i can't reach in my subaru. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru,a subaru. >> a lot going on in the world right now. almost none of it is good between ebola and isis and the crackup of the secret service. i mean this week is basically just racing from bad news to bad news to bad news, right? but in addition to all of the big bad news in the world right now there is also the matter of the forthcoming elections. i think next week, once the elections are with in the last month timeframe, more of the country's attention is going to turn toward the elections. but in advance of that, something unexpected happened in colorado that may scramble what people are expecting from the really important swing, swing, swing state this year. you should know about it. it involve this is guy, bob beaupre. it's a close rice reyes. one of the wild card issue is

the issue of personhood. you heard about this, for the third time this year, voters in colorado are again going to be voting on a bill that would give fertilized eggs the legal status of full-blown persons. colorado voters have already voted this down by huge margins twice before but they're getting it again this year, the reason it keeps getting voted down is because it would not only make abortion 100% illegal in every circumstance it's also designed to make illegal a lot of the most popular forms of birth control because of the super anti-abortion right that's pushing this has decided birth control is abortion, too. so colorado voters have voted this thing down twice, even mississippi voters have voted this thing down but it is back on the ballot. that's a real pain for republican congressmen, on the ballot on colorado and out loud

and proud supporters of personhood status. they're running in districts that are not as conservatives, so both of these guys have realized this personhood thing is not great for their record. so they had to renege on earlier support for personhood saying they didn't support it and oh, didn't realize it would ban birth control and very much pro birth control. very awkward for them. but it has not been awkward for bob b beaupre, shocked the state when he did a debate with john hickenlooper and decided to stop beating around the bush he said he's against birth control. like let's stop talking about us not being, i'm against birth control, he said he's against iuds because he doesn't think

it's birth control, he thinks its an abortion. a rolling, ongoing, semi permanent abortion clinic that you're operating right there inside your body. >> so, the devil might be in the details but i think it's an extremely important distinction to draw and understand to respect both the taxpayers' will and the technology you refer to. >> we're talking about implements and iuds, i don't think they -- >> iud is an abort-efficient. it's a device you have implanted in your uterus so you never get pregnant in the first place. it's birth control. and as all of the other top of the ticket republicans in colorado are changing previous support of personhood legislation and saying no, i

don't want to ban the iud, no, i love all birth control, i love contraception, old bob is cutting through the noise and no, i'm not, i'm against birth control. a remarkable development and should be clarifying for voters in colorado especially because they have it on the ballot this year for the third time. colorado right now has doug lamborne trying to get generals to quit the military as a protest and two changing their mind on anti-abortion/anti-contraception issue and someone running for governor flat-out running against contraception in 2014 in colorado. colorado's getting even more fun to watch than it already was. the whole country will start paying attention to the elections probably next week. colorado is already worth watching. watch this space. there comes a time in everyone's life when you want more.

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just because we're not supposed to call it combat doesn't mean there aren't casualties. we got word of the first american casualty of the u.s. bombing campaign in iraq and syria. u.s. naval forces central command announced the death of 21-year-old marine corporal jordan spears of memphis, indiana. he was serving on the uss macon island in the persian gulf. the macon island is an amphibious assault ship deployed to the gulf in support of the u.s. air war in iraq and syria. the corporal was one of the crew members. and the v-22 osprey was taking off, it's a tilt rotor aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter, but they can fly like a plane. for some reason the osprey in which he was serving lost power shortly after takeoff on the

deck of the ship. corporal spears and one other crewman bailed out as the aircraft descended toward the ocean. interestingly, the two pilots remained on board the aircraft and were able to regain control and safely land back on board the uss macon island. but the search and rescue mission for the two crew members who bailed out, that was only able to recover one of the two crewmen. efforts to recover corporal spears were unsuccessful. he's considered lost at sea. the first known u.s. casualty in the war in iraq and syria. very sad news today. today, isis released another one of their terror videos. this one shows the murder by beheading of a british aide worker and citizen named alan henning. he had been kidnapped last december, two days after christmas. in an earlier video they showed alan henning and threatened to kill him. today they released his video showing his death and threatening to kill another hostage.

now the threat is against peter kassig from indiana. army veteran that served in iraq but in syria he was there doing humanitarian work with syrian refugees. isis has him and they're threatening to kill him as well. he's been in captivity in syria almost a year exactly. his family put out a statement asking for prayers for their son. since all this began, the person i have most wanted to interview about the situation in syria, but understanding what we're getting into there, about understanding what our waging war there is likely to do there, the person i wanted to talk to is the american official the syrian government tried to kick out of that country for reasons

that made me like the idea of this guy. as we get this very serious news about the british hostage being killed, this american hostage being threatened, the first u.s. military casualty of the war, that guest i've been trying to talk to for months about what we're doing in syria is finally here for the interview. and that's next. [ engine turns over, bell dings ] great. this is the last thing i need. [ hand ] seriously? the last thing you need is some guy giving you a new catalytic converter when all you got is a loose gas cap. let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of that good old midas touch. hey you know what? i'll drive!

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so, the current chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is general martin dempsey. the previous chairman of the joint chiefs of start was admiral mike mullen from 2007 to 2011, he oversaw four years of the war in afghanistan and four years of the war in iraq, in fact he oversaw the end of the u.s. war in iraq before, of course, that war was unended and we started it back up. this week ad miral mike mullen went on the colbert report on comedy central and he let out a primal scream about the fact that we're going back to war now without really talking about it as a country. admiral mullen is a fairly

reserved guy, he didn't really scream but it was a pretty visceral thing. watch it. it starts with stephen colbert asking him about isis, the isis terrorist group and what it means to be afraid of them. >> we're asked to be afraid of it and we're reminded to be afraid of it but we no longer have much of a voice in it because our congressional representatives won't vote on whether we're supposed do anything about it. we're not asked to sacrifice that much for it. very few of us go fight. and we're also not told all that much about what's happened over there. so all we have is the fear and none of the action.

and so we eventually want to stop thinking about it. what happens to our men and women who go over there? we don't want them them to sacrifice for something we don't think is right but we don't have much voice in it anymore. >> so -- so you bring up a concern that i have with respect to a growing disconnect between the men and women who serve and in this all-volunteer force, less than 1% of the population, the best i've seen. they come from fewer and fewer places in america. and the american people who didn't have to buy into these wars and certainly vast, vast majority didn't have to fight in them don't know who we are as a military. in fact, i said this many times, what i actually i do worry about is that we become some version of something like the french foreign legion, which is please go off and fight our dirty little wars and let us get on with our lives. i think that's a disaster for america. we need to be connected to the american people and we need to do that through the system

that's here, those that are elected, and i certainly agree that those who are elected ought to vote on what we do. [ applause ] if i can make -- we ought to have a fulsome, raging debate about that in this country. >> admiral mike mullen speaking with stephen colbert on comedy central. before congress gave themselves 54 days off to go campaign for re-election, we had been keeping a whip on this show, keeping a whip count of members of congress who said they wanted to have a debate about u.s. military force in iraq and syria. now since congress left town without having that debate, we've started a new whip count of members of congress who say actually, you know, this is ridiculous that we are fighting a whole new war in iraq and syria and congress has never debated it or authorized it. we know we gave ourselves 54 days off, but let's pitch that.

let's come back and vote. let's debate this thing and let's vote on it. let's come back now before the election. so we've got this new whip count going. as you can see, the number of members of congress who want to do that is still a small number. but the number is growing. and now the top democratic in the house, nancy pelosi has joined the count. she now says congress should come back to washington now ahead of the election an debate this use of u.s. military force in iraq and syria and should vote on whether or not to authorize it. again, the numbers are still small, but the small but the numbers are going. and meanwhile, the undebated war continues. and it keeps throwing off these details that seem like they could really den fit from a robust debate if we as a country were capable of having one. what the united states is doing in this war so far is air strikes. today, iraqi defense officials confirmed claims by isis militants that one of iraq's attack helicopters was just shot down by isis. how much do we really understand

about the military capability of this group that they are fighting in iraq and syria. are u.s. aircraft and u.s. pilots at risk, as they mount air strikes against this group. seems like something we ought to debate. also the issue of turkey. the turkish parliament, they have not wussed out like our parliament has hp their parliament just voted this week to join the military effort against isis and that's not an easy decision for them. they have a 500-mile-long board we are syria. they just voted to let their military cross that border. they've been holding open part of their boarder to sensually let foreign fighters go join the civil war in syria, including eventually joining up with isis in some cases. there's plenty of anti-war sentiment. a lot of people don't want the turkish military gets into this fight because in part they don't see how turkey will ever get out of it once they get in. but at least they were bold

enough to debate it, bold enough to debate it and take a vote and now according to the turkish parliament, they are in. how important is that? they keep telling us that turkey is the most important player in the region who before this week hadn't weighed in on what they would do in this war against isis. how important is it to understanding what is going to happen to isis and syria now that turkey is in, in this war that our military is in now, at least from the air, but we as a country are not debating at all right now. how big is a deal is turkey joining up? robert ford is our former ambassador in syria. in 2010, ambassador ford got that job by way of a recess appointment because the congress couldn't get their act together to confirm him. way to go, congress. but he did get the recess appointment. then in july 2007, they tried to forbid him from traveling outside the capital without their permission. but ambassador ford and the french ambassador decided forget that, they were going to take a road trip anyway. they drove two hours north of

capital to visit syrian dissidents, to see the protest for themselves. the anti-government protesters responded by greeting them with flowers and olive branches. a few days later, both the u.s. embassies and ambassador ford's home were then targeted and attacked by pro assad loyalists. undeterred, ambassador ford decided to take another road trip, this time an hour south of damascus to visit more anti-assad protesters. he attended the funeral of a prominent anti-assad activist and dissident. after that, his convoy was attacked on the way to a meeting with another opposition leader. that was in 2011. shortly after that, october 2011, ambassador ford was pulled out of syria for his own safety. he returned six weeks later only to have to evacuate the country again in february 2012 when embassy staff had to quickly close down shop and leave the country in the face of syria's growing and more calamitous civil war. all of that confrontation and bravery on the ground in syria led us to give robert ford the nickname the am-bad ass-ador. even though he's no longer the

ambassador to syria, he's not afraid to weigh in on that interview. ambassador ford, thank you very, very much for your time to fight. >> it's nice to be with you, rachel. and thank you for their nice introduction. >> i am the am-bad ass-ador thing wasn't offensive to you. i meant it in the most positive way. >> friends of ours actually had that prepared for us on a block of wood and it's hanging in our house. >> yes! >> if i achieved nothing else in life, that's great. i want to get your take overall on what we're doing with this war effort in iraq and syria against this sunni militant group, isis. but first, i have to ask you

about this news that we received late today, this terrible news that isis has apparently now beheaded another western hostage, british aide worker they were holding named alan henning. they ended that video today by threatening another american who they are holding hostage. broad picture in terms of what they are trying to do and why they keep doing these things. what's your reaction to this latest news? >> well, first i'm very, very sorry. henning went there to help people. he's a humanitarian aide worker. he doesn't deserve this. the people, syrian people he was trying to help certainly don't deserve it either. he's a totally innocent victim and i have to say my prayers go out to his family, and as for

the threat against another american, i wish these people from the islamic state would understand that killing hostages is not going to change the way the american government is looking at this situation. it's just killing people for no purpose. >> in terms of why they do it, obviously they are thinking strategically about their long-term goals just as every other actor in this conflict is. is there anything about what must be their strategy for these acts of, you know, globally broadcast terror. is there anything we should understand about their strategy to sort of help us not do what they want. not fall into the trap that they are trying to create for us in terms of our own policy decisions being made in an atmosphere of being terrorized by them. is there any way that, anything we should understand about what they're trying to do that would help us not do it. >> well, what i understand them to be doing is basically trying to warn us off and to get out of attacking them in iraq and attacking them in syria. i think very unfortunate jim

foley and david sokolof were murdered basically as a message to the united states from the islamic state, stay away from this, we will come after you if you get involved. they were trying to intimidate us from getting involved, because they were advancing on the ground. i think we were concerned about the impact against them of american air strikes, for example. >> in terms of what happens next year, having the experience of your job, seeing the way congress handles foreign policy issues and diplomacy issues, i feel frustrated that the u.s. congress hasn't had a robust debate. as somebody who was there on the ground, do you think it would matter? does it disappoint you? do you think it would be important? >> i think it's extremely important. i can't emphasize this enough.

it's extremely important that the u.s. congress have a debate about this. a eni say it for two reasons. number one as an american citizen myself, i think it's very important for the coming to discuss this. we are putting our people in uniform in harm's way. and that needs to be discussed. that people in uniform deserve that discussion. second, if the congress has that debate, and if the congress votes in favor of authorizing sustained u.s. assistance to the syria modern opposition, and if the u.s. congress votes in favor of giving the president the authority to use military force when he sees it useful and necessary, that sends a very powerful message to the islamic state. it sends a very powerful message to bashar al assad. sends a very powerful message to countries like russia and iran who are keeping this wretched civil war in syria going. >> ambassador robert ford, ambassador to syria from 2010 to earlier this year.

sir, thank you so much for being here tonight. real pleasure to have you here. >> thank you. >> that does it for us tonight. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. changing his story, a live report is next. and then a live report from dr. nancy snyderman, and they are heading back to the u.s. good news on the jobs front. for the first time in years the unemployment rate dips below one big threshold but there is more to the good news picture. alarm on the harvard campus. why will there be increased police presence today? could it all be a big hoax?