Skip to main content

tv   The Cycle  MSNBC  February 6, 2015 12:00pm-1:01pm PST

12:00 pm
breaking news starts "the cycle." i'm toure, as we come on the air, top officials from the white house to the pentagon are scrambling to sort out claims by isis that a young american aid worker kayla mueller, who they've been holding for a year and a half was not killed by them, but by a jordanian air strike. many are skeptical. jordan has increases their air-strikes after one of their own being burned alive. jordan has only been striking targets picked out by the u.s.
12:01 pm
this is the first time isis has publicly mentioned this american woman. another big change in their tactics. as for u.s. tactics, just last week and the president told nbc news he'll deploy where any hostages are being held. this morning at the national prayer breakfast he called isis a death cult that hides behind the koran. >> you see isil a brutal vicious death cult that in the name of religion carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism. >> let's turn to wash where we have lair a jakes and nbc terrorist analyst, evan coleman from flash point global partners. aef an do you believe isis's claim. >> it is possible. we know they were targeting housing compounds near racka where isis fighters had gathered. we think we know she was in the
12:02 pm
custody of these folks at this time. but let's put it on a caveat. this was not put out by the al furquan media so we haven't heard officially from isis yet. number two, while this message did include pii information, personal identifiable information, her name and home address in the u.s. and her phone numbers and e-mail address, it did not include any photographs of her, it did not include her driver's license or any document that would suggest that she was definitely in the custody. and in terms of the only proof it provided other than the pii information, were photographs of a demolished compound. >> and we would have to believe all of the guards that were guarding her happened to not be there at the moment this strike landed. >> look, if she was killed in this strike if she was killed
12:03 pm
almost certainly she was killed while in the custody of a large number of other isis fighters or liasons. and let's also remember here that isis is very intent right now on trying to turn the tables on the propaganda. i think a lot of people, isis supports, think the killing of the jordanian pilot caused a blow-back in jordan and other places saying this is not legitimate. i think right now the isis intent on trying to change the pressure and put it back on the jordanian government and it is very convenient to say it was jordan who killed the american hostage and blame them. >> right. so a jordanian ministry spokesperson reported to nbc news saying that isis is lying about this and said quote, isis is being illogical and they are lying. how do they know it is a jordanian aircraft. what was the woman doing in a training center or weapon's storage facility because those
12:04 pm
are what we are targeting. how likely is it that she was already killed and how likely that one person was killed in these type of air-strikes? >> it is special possible she was in the custody of isis fighters and she was inadvertently targeted and one of the reasons you haven't seen a flurry of u.s. operations inside of syria trying to free the hostages because of the concern that such operations could result in the deaths of those hostages. >> it is not impossible. >> it is not impossible. but, look again, we have no proof here. this is not where the al furquan media has video of the hostage and there is no proof and i think we have to hold off here on making any kind of conclusion until we see that kind of proof. >> evan hang out for one second. can keir simons in is amman, jordan, where there is a mix of despair and defiance tonight. >> reporter: that is right. because today we saw a surge of public support for the
12:05 pm
air-strikes led by the jordanians. here on the streets thousands on the streets protesting and saying they wanted revenge. one young woman who i spoke to said to me jordan is now at war with isis. but then tonight this terrible news if it turns out to be true which is clearly aimed by isis at shifting public opinion back in their favor, if you like, in this region and possibly shifting public opinion in the united states. we have simply been saying we do not know what the truth is. but what the jordanians are saying, just remember that this is a group that ruthlessly beheaded a number of innocent hostages that burned alive a jordanian pilot. we cannot trust anything that the group is saying, the jordanians say. and bear in mind as they have been mentioning, they will see
12:06 pm
announcements like this as to their advantage in the propaganda war that continues with the air and ground war against isis rages on. >> keir simmons thank you for that report from jordan. >> and let me read you a new statement from an official keir simmons, u.s. officials saying the statement by isis could be a ploy to cause the jordanians and the rest of the american-led coalition to refrain from heavier air-strikes. just explain how that ploy would work? >> already we've seen the jordanian foreign minister put out statements saying very similar, kicking dirt and kicking doubt on whether or not this is true. the united states and jordan has been coordinating on the air-strikes. as evan noted, it would be unlikely, but not unknown for
12:07 pm
jordan to kit unknown air-strikes. it was known a few weeks ago that kayla mueller was alive. one intelligence official told me today if she was killed in this as isis was claiming they would probably spare no time in bringing her remains out to be shown, as a proof of this. so time will tell. it will take time to find the definitive judgment on her time or life right now. >> and on your brief experience how long will that take? >> it is tough to say. there aren't any ground assets in syria. it is noted that we can't do a lot of spying inside of buildings. i think that there are surveillance videos going up the satellites are trying to track the building and if and when there are some remains that are shown, it is not even clear
12:08 pm
that they can be proven to be miss mueller. so i don't think this is going to be definitive for a while. but time will tell. >> this is obviously a getting game trying to get inside of the head of isis and figure out what they are thinking and what motivated them and all of that. i want to read something you wrote earlier this week. you wrote the islamic state could choose to release her in act of mercy to deflect the widespread outbreak of anger spurred by the killing of the pilot. is there anything that we know about isis that they would consider this and is world outrage would bother them at all. >> whether worldwide outrage is anything that would bother them we don't know. and whether they would be upset about killing a young woman in
12:09 pm
the name of allah and whether they can be justifying under law or any law in the world are sadly mistaken and most people would tell them as well. there was widespread outrage this week after the video of the pilot. they were condemned by many sunni-arab governments and if it is proven that they might -- obviously people are outraged that a young woman would be held as well or be mistreated in any way and if she's been killed under their custody, that will hurt their standing with the very people they are looking to support them as they try to build a caliphate across iraq and syria. >> evan is talking about the horror many muslims would think about seeing a young woman killed. could we think of them further ramping up the violence. >> i think here think they are
12:10 pm
trying to put the blame on jordan. it is unlikely for them to execute the woman because she is a female and such a negative reaction and this is what we see is isis trying to flip the tables and saying this is your fault. >> and if we don't believe and most people on this side of the ocean does not believe them then who would have done it? >> we may not be believe them but the question is whether or not the jordanian government out of concern for defending the u.s. public will pull back. keep in mind they have ramped up their operations here and isis would like them to stop that bombing campaign. what better way to do it than to convince the jordanians they will lose the support of the united states. >> and evan doesn't that go to the larger context in this region which is this is a region with high sensitivity toward the notion of collateral damage and bombings. we may see this as isis propaganda or a working assumption from the washington officials today but many believe that the bombing campaigns end
12:11 pm
with civilian death. >> we have to be careful of how the isis propaganda is seen in this region. when you look at the video of the pilot, a lot don't know that, when they released this the uae stopped participated in bombing runs in syria because they said we can't afford to have one of our pilots shot down and you're not making enough preparations to rescue these guys. and that is uae, the emirates bombing libya, without our in put. so this is a country very aggressive by this and they were cowed by this act and by this video. so i think we have to be careful when we underestimate how impactful that is not just among the supporters but our allies in that region. >> thank you for your time. we're following all of the angles. the pentagon is following this
12:12 pm
situation and we'll go there in a moment. and another example of the isis brutality, acts against children and what the white house is considering this hour. and governor howard dean joins us as we follow this breaking news on the "the cycle."
12:13 pm
i may be a pizza maker, but i know a few things about dessert. like chocolate, and more chocolate. introducing papa john's new double chocolate chip brownie. delicious...decadent. served warm, for just $6. better ingredients. better brownie. papa john's.
12:14 pm
12:15 pm
welcome back. u.s. intelligence is scrambling to determine the fate of 26-year-old american aid worker kayla mueller. she was working to help syrian refugee before she was kidnapping in 2013. she spoke to her home town paper
12:16 pm
why she was going back. as long as i live i will not let this suffering be normal. i will not let this be something we just accept. it's important to stop and realize what we have and why we have and how privileged we are. and from that place, start caring and get a lot done. and jim miklaszewski has washington's response since late this morning. what do you have this hour? >> u.s. officials tell us that the female hostage may have been killed but we are told the counter-terrorism intelligence is scrambling to get any kind of information they could find. and i can tell you, this many hours later they have found no evidence that, in fact this female hostage has been found dead. and despite all of the sophisticated intelligence and
12:17 pm
surveillance equipment that the u.s. has at its disposal they don't have adequate intelligence on the ground. and so in that case they will defer, in this case to the jordanians who do have some network of operatives in syria and their information, according to what we are hearing out of amman this afternoon, is that they don't believe that the hostage has been killed in either an air strike or by isis itself or they are writing this off as pure isis propaganda abby. >> thanks for that report. and jordanians are calling today for more strikes on isis. >> this is a response to isis and what they have done to jordan and all of the other people is unjustified. if no one puts a struggle against them and fights them who else will fight them. >> but as gruesome and
12:18 pm
unsettling as the execution of that jordanian pilot was burned alive in that cage other accusations, girls used as sex slaves mentally challenged used as suicide bombers and boys sold into slavery and others crucified or buried alive. and ambassador thank you for being here. and you hear the details about the children and it is sickening, does it even make sense to go in militarily? >> the u.n. report is the tip of the iceberg of the atrocities, crucifixion crucifixions, being buried alive and those attracted to the social media being perpetrated by isis where is the seal team six media to show these
12:19 pm
atrocities and why are we not doing more to show the sheer mayhem and brutality of isis. >> maybe this is more reason to go in. >> and there is a social media battle for hearts and minds here. and while we have to understand how brutal this appears to us the fact of the matter is isis according to the intelligence reports from the middle east they are able to continue to get significant recruits. why? because this plays into the narrative that is exactly attracting these young adhere ants into the middle east in libya and iraq and syria and from north africa. you cannot underestimate the different dimension we are operating in with respect to the propaganda. >> and fred, i want to bring you in, not that but in what they are thinking and doing.
12:20 pm
in terms of the ransom they were doing for with respect to miss mueller, something with respect to $6 million. and mr. foley, they were looking for $132 million, what do you think accounts for the disparity of the amount they are looking for? >> it is my experience in the hostage cases, there is no rime or reason for the numeric value they place on this at times. and in most cases they aren't after the money. they are after the propaganda value. and the tragedy is the families living with this. and as the ambassador knows, the state department diligently works with families to try to help them through the process but you have the fbi involved because it is the crime of hostage hostage-taking and the cia involved from an intelligent
12:21 pm
perspective. and look we at a working level, as the agents looking for those hostages we spend a tremendous amount of time trying to find these people but we lack the human intelligence to tell us where they are so they can be rescued. >> is there a gender equality there. >> i don't think so. if you talk to the hostage-holders or hostage-takers, these are numbers that they can make up with no real thought or strategy behind them. and unfortunately, it really leads on the families to think there will be hope. with this now being the fourth american that allegedly has been killed, if in fact this is true, they are going to be looking for more. and from my days in the counter-terrorism arena, that is the real concern here. that americans are of high value and if they can pick up more they will. >> ambassador, if isis is lying
12:22 pm
here many suspect they are, if isis is lying, to what does that profit them what are they trying to accomplish here? >> i think, toure, given the attacks by the jordanian royal air force and where the jordanians over the last few days have done significant damages to the buildings we ourselves have not hit, they are probably trying to drive a wedge between jordan and the united states. they are trying in effect to play this game -- and i want to be careful what i say here because again we have no proof, but in the event that indeed this occurred what isis wants to do is to say we're not responsible, it is the jordanians that killed an american. and they want the americans to put pressure on the jordanians to dial back the recentlentless vengeance that the king has promised as a result of killing the pilot. >> fred some policy planners speak to the idea that the
12:23 pm
hostage-taking and certain terrorist attacks are tools of the weak. these are tactics used by basically groups that could never stand up to super-powers on any kind of military level, ground or air, and yet here we are, the entire middle east and western world reacting each time because of the brutality and the terror and our heart goes out to any kind of threat or murder of an american. speak to us though about that point, that it is actually the tools of the weak and we should keep that in mind in terms of the asymmetry of our military capacity here. >> well that is spot on. when you look at this from a historical perspective, you could go back to carlos the jackel and the opec summit hostage takeover and move into the kidnapping of the israeli olympic athletes in munich during the '72 olympics and through the 1980s and the kidnapping of the american hostages in beirut and the cia
12:24 pm
station chief william buckley and colonel higgins. this has always been a tool that the terrorists use when they can't defeat us on the battlefield. and that is what we are living through. and that is why this will continue. >> sadly this is nothing new. fred burton and ambassador ginsburg thank you for being with us. and we head to the white house and how things complicate the fight against isis. we are now six months in it. because i make the best chicken noodle soup. for every way you make chicken noodle soup, make it delicious with swanson®.
12:25 pm
♪ ♪ what? yoplait fridge pack. eight
12:26 pm
cups endless snack possibilities. available at walmart. have you heard of the new dialing procedure for for the 415 and 628 area codes? no what is it? starting february 21, 2015 if you have a 415 or 628 number you'll need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number for all calls. okay, but what if i have a 415 number, and i'm calling a 415 number? you'll still need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number. so when in doubt, dial it out! what's that thing? i moved our old security system out here to see if it could monitor the front yard. why don't you switch to xfinity home?
12:27 pm
i get live video monitoring and 24/7 professional monitoring that i can arm and disarm from anywhere. hear ye! the awkward teenage one has arrived!!!! don't be old fashioned. xfinity customers add xfinity home for $29.95 a month for 12 months. plus for a limited time, get a free security camera call 1800 xfinity or visit comcast.com/xfinityhome. fighting terrorism is a long-term struggle. there will be setbacks. and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. we have to work across multiple lines of effort in diverse con texes to be effective. today the united states has been reacting to claims by isis that an american hostage in its custody was killed supposedly by a jordanian air strike. the white house intended to make this a proactive day for foreign
12:28 pm
policy, unveiling the annual national security strategy which includes a goal of preventing isis from sustaining a safe haven in iraq and a goal of defeating them. now the new jordanian air-strikes intensified after the group burned a jordanian hostage alive and released a 20-minute video showing that. and the white house is concerned about the report of today's hostage's death but they say there is no evidence to corroborate the claims from isis. now we go right to chris jansing in the briefing room at the white house. chris, we do know the president just wrapped up a town hall on the economy in indianapolis. obviously though a lot going on on national security. what is the latest? >> reporter: obviously this was supposed to be a big day focused on susan rice and the administration that every year puts out this document but given everything that is going on in the world, getting scrutiny and i think there is one part that you can't disagree with the
12:29 pm
white house calling this a pivotal moment as we look at national security. that was one aspect of it. there are a couple of other things i want to mention that are very much related to what we see going on now with these reports on kayla mueller, which we've seen at the nsc, the white house and all of the administration and various organizations have said that they have absolutely no confirmation on this. but it comes at a time when the u.s. is also reviewing this jordanian request and is getting some pressure from republicans on capitol hill to provide more aid, including ammo some drones other things to the jordanians. that request was put in. it is also at a time when we are expecting very soon for the white house to send to the hill the authorization for the use of military force, the aumf and we are curious to see what the wording is the amount of time what will it say about the use
12:30 pm
of ground troops will it allow the president to use them or require them to go back to congress. this is the source of ongoing negotiations with the hill. but i think what you cannot underestimate as all of these other things are going on today's story has put a face and a name of a very beautiful young american kill whose biography is particularly compelling who is so young and it puts it all in a different context and you realize very much what the stakes are, just as we did with that horrific video of the jordanian pilot. if there is confirmation in any way, by the way, it would come from the white house. and of course, as you well know ari, the white house does have a protocol and a staff that stays in touch with the families of any of the american hostages and they continue to do that today. >> chris jansing, so well put and thank you as always for your reporting from the white house. this weekend does mark six months since the first u.s.-led
12:31 pm
air-strikes and with the news today, perhaps another turning point in this conflict with white house. we're honored to have former vermont governor howard dean with us. hello. >> hello. >> and let's start with the national security strategy can say a lot of important thing and in the bush era it is where they outlined a doctrine of preemptive war. what we've seen today, not as dramatic but it does say, governor that the goal here is not just to contain isis to protect americans, the objective is to destroy isis. we don't seem near that tactically right now. >> no. but we've taken a huge step toward it. there are a couple of important things. first of all i thought what paul rauch enshenbush said was important. they have made some big mistakes. for the first time an islamic
12:32 pm
preacher in jordan the islamic preachers in jordan are announcing isis as not islamicic. they have no particular love for the united states even though jordan is an ally these a turning point and they have made an enormous mistake and i do think this report is trying to get this out from under this. and even and i hope that kayla is still alive, and even if it is true these reports are true this is not going to get them out of the fix they've put themselves in. the average arab in jordan is now anti-sis and they will not recover and it will make our job easier easier. and you know of the government has been known as leading from behind and you've been aggressive for action against isis and today in the new report that the
12:33 pm
administration put out they called for strategic patience. what is your response to that? >> that is fine. i've been an advocate against isis but not boots on the ground. my belief in general on foreign policy and this goes back to colin powell and this is not just republican versus democrat business, if people aren't going to fight for themselves you can't fight for them. and we have not only the kurds, who we should be arming and training and now the jordanians. the jordanian arm is very good. and i think we should arm the jordanians and give them whatever they want. as long as they are willing to take this posture. that is what we need. we cannot continue to engage in wars where american troops are fighting other people's battles. there is no reason to give them air support and capable, kpet ebt fighting forces -- competent fighting forces. the iraqi army is a mess. i don't think we can turn them around but the kurds have a long history of zip plin --
12:34 pm
disciplined resources. >> but it does seem like the white house is struggling to get on the same page when you watch from afar. republicans, as blake said that the white house is critical and not taking this as seriously. do you judge this as normal the fact they can't get on the same page because of the complexity or are we hurting ourselves by not getting a step ahead. >> the republicans are desperately trying to turn a page in their own party. they have been in a bad stage for a while and they have been for five or six years. when the president says a. they have to say b. i don't think anybody takes the republicans seriously and they are looking for this propaganda edge. as i was growing up the disputes ended at the water's edge. you didn't attack a president, no matter whether our troops were engaged in the field. that is gone because of the bipartisan nature of the politics. that is something they'll have
12:35 pm
to overcome to be seriously taken as possible -- >> you are not concerned that the white house can't figure out how to move forward all on the same page? >> no. i think this president has changed the equation for america. he sees us leading multi national corporations -- that might be close. sometimes that too. but multi national coalitions which is what we should be doing. we should not be responsible soly for europe's wars. i'm waiting for europe to get involved in the ukraine and put troops on the ground there. it is not our place to be there. the obama doctrine is changing that. i think it makes sense. i think republicans have to get into a cooperative mode and work with us. they don't have to agree with us but we are all one people and we ought to be united on the same front. >> and are you comfortable with the democrats running as more
12:36 pm
hawkish in the 2016 is that the democratic party you want to be part of? >> what do you mean by hawkish? >> we see hillary being stronger militarily and we don't know what she will do military wise but we are seeing democrats being more hawkish. >> i think that is media talk. hillary decided not to get involved in this campaign until july and i don't think we should talk about this in campaign terms. the president is the president and they have to defend the country. defeating isis is defending the country because these people will do harm to the people in the arab states and the horrible atrocities against the arabs and they will do the same in paris and the same to us if they can. that is what the president said. i don't see that as hawkish. i see that as a foreign policy
12:37 pm
decision. >> and vice president biden saying he will not attend the benjamin netanyahu address in congress. >> bibi has to stop doing what he's doing. jus in in country don't list israel as one of the top five concerns. that was never the kate before. he's got to -- whether it is his inability to do politics well or maybe his personality or whatever it is but he has not done israel any favors in this country. i remember when the -- when vice president biden who is a strong pro-ez pro-israel person and went to israel and that day the minister of housing announced there could be 2,000 more settlements. why would you spit in our face if we are supposed to be a ally.
12:38 pm
we just need to change some partners and i don't like it when they interfere in our elections and since they have i think the best thing for israel would have somebody other than bibi from israel. >> thank you, governor dean covering a lot of important topics. and up next what jordan is saying about them being responsible for this purported death. strong language coming out of the middle east today. stay with us.
12:39 pm
curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your
12:40 pm
doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. we're in seattle to see which 100 calorie black cherry greek yogurt tastes best. definitely that one. that one's delicious. it's yoplait! what? i love yoplait! the other one is chobani. really. i like this one better. yoplait wins again! take the taste-off for yourself. toenail fungus? don't hide it... tackle it with new fda-approved jublia! jublia is a prescription medicine
12:41 pm
proven to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed by your doctor. once applied jublia gets to the site of infection by going under, around and through the nail. most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application-site redness itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. tackle it! ask your doctor now if new jublia is right for you. we have to increase this -- and step up this -- not just the air campaign but as we said and promises, we're going after these guys where ever they are. >> a defiant jordan not backing down and blasting isis' claim that its air strike killed american aid worker kayla mueller. the same jordanian minister claiming now, so they behead innocent u.k. hostages and burn
12:42 pm
a brave jordan pilot and now a hostage is killed by an air strike. sure. sick. today thousands of protesters march in protest in support of the king abdullah's response and even a queen joined in the street. if they want to end their part in the fight, that is certainly not working. and joining us now, ayman mohyeldin. does killing or executing a woman violate islamic laws. >> even just generally? >> yeah. >> yeah absolutely just as a hostage? >> yeah. >> you can't kill anybody. you can't kill any innocent person. >> gender out of it. they are not supposed to kill anybody. but when it is a woman, does that take it further? >> just across the board, killing innocent people is
12:43 pm
forbidden, there is no tennant that justifies it and nothing that makes it remotely you know tolerable. >> ayman, how much of this is sis wanting to cause tension between jordan and the u.s. and how much of that is planned out to we would have friction between each other. >> that is difficult to answer. and this is a true story, because obviously isis makes very clear in every piece of video it puts out, it tries to create a wedge, and even in that 22-minute video was about policy and create friction between the alliance between jordan and the king. >> so there is treat behind every move they make. >> the movies and the narratives they put out is to prop that fiction and propagate.
12:44 pm
but to blame jordan for the killing of an american is to create doubt and tensions between jordan and the u.s. and the air-strikes. so that is the objective of it if that is what they are trying to say. >> and there is no way to be sure, but what we've seen about how isis has held itself in the past about these issues do you think we'll see another video from isis about what happened with miss mueller and some experts before the show said there is a good likelihood we'll see another video soon. >> in fitting with what isis has been doing they have a strong messaging component in everything they try to say. they don't let things happen in a vacuum and not try to substantiate them f. there is truth behind this and she was killed by a coalition strike by accident or killed by isis they will definitely capitalize on the propaganda value as that as tragic as it is they will definitely try to do that. >> and try to get more hostages.
12:45 pm
>> and keep in mind it has been a lucrative trade. the isis fighters don't carry out the kidnappers, but they will sell them up the food chain to isis who is willing to pay to get western hostages. >> do you agree that isis overstepped their bounds in killing the jordanian pilot in the way they did it. >> it is gruesome but we've seen isis time and time again carry out horrific and barbaric acts. the burning of the jordanian pilot was a turning point just in the visuals of it and the fact they did it for sure but isis has beheaded people and executed people on mass buried people alive and thrown people off of towers crucifixions, public lashing and nothing has surprised me because it is barbaric but it continues to become stronger and stronger and that is really alarming.
12:46 pm
>> ayman mohyeldin, thank you. and a bright spot in the news today on the jobs front. expected wait time: 55 minutes. your call is important to us. thank you for your patience. waiter! vo: in the nation, we know how it feels when you aren't treated like a priority. we do things differently. we'll take care of it. vo: we put members first... join the nation. thank you. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ [meow mix jingle slowly and quietly plucks] right on cue. [cat meows] ♪meow, meow, meow, meow...♪ it's more than just a meal it's meow mix mealtime. with great taste and 100% complete nutrition, it's the only one cats ask for by name. pizza is perfect. pizza with bacon cheeseburger on it? way, way more perfect. the new bacon cheeseburger pizza with hickory smoked bacon, beef, dill pickle and signature burger sauce. a large for just $12. better ingredients. better pizza.
12:47 pm
papa john's. we live in a pick and choose world. (hi!) choose (hello!) choose choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! now we can all choose amazing sleep, only at a sleep number store. right now save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed. know better sleep with sleep number.
12:48 pm
--i don't know my credit score. that's really important. i mean - i don't know my credit score. don't you want to buy a house...like, ever? you should probably check out credit karma, it's free. credit? karma? free? credit karma. really free credit scores.
12:49 pm
shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. all tolled over the past 59 months, the private sector has added about 11 million point eight -- so almost 12 million new jobs and that is the longest
12:50 pm
streak of private sector job growth in our history. meanwhile our deficits are shrinking. they've gone down by about two thirds. our graduation rates are down. our graduation rates are up. >> and that was pb justresident obama just a short time ago. he has the numbers to back it up. 257,000 jobs were created in january. when you look at november and december, it is the best three-month job growth in 17 years. there were increases across industries in january with retail and construction leading the way. manufacturing continues to make slow and steady progress. the unemployment rate did take up to $5.7. wages were up 12 cents last month, but that barely has covered inflation over the past year. and now a market alert.
12:51 pm
wall street was less impressed with the news. the market is down across the board at this hour. those are the numbers. toure, there will be a test letter. thank you so much for joining us. we just noted the unemployment rate ticked up a bit to 5.7% but you wrote today that might actually be a good sign. why? >> one of the problems we have had is that the labor force has been depressed. a lot of people gave up looking for jobs because of the weak job market. that's bad for them and it's bad for the overall economy. many of us believe as the job prospects improve, we'll pull some of those folks back in. last month, we had a pretty large gain in the number of people entering the labor force. i don't make too much out of one month of these noisy reports. the labor force participation
12:52 pm
rate has really stabilized over the past year. if we keep growing like this it expect it to tick up a bit in coming months. >> any time you talk about gas prices, people say it's great. the gas prices are low. this is a wonderful thing. you talk to economists they have bad news. >> not peter. >> let's see. peter, are you going to rain on our parade and say low gas prices are bad for the economy? >> low gas prices are good for the economy, but we are now an oil producer as well. oil producers take a loss on that. net, it should be a positive because we import oil. we should gain more than we lose. unfortunately what's happening as drillers are pulling back faster than people are spending that money, the evidence that we have so far is the layoffs have begun in that oil patch.
12:53 pm
those employment numbers were down, and that's happening more quickly than the people having the confidence to go out and spend that money. i'm hoping by the second quarter and third quarter they'll have that confidence. one of the things in today's job report was we saw wages take a nice jump from december. there are reports that private sector actors not the government, but people like aetna, gap, starbucks, are raising wages at the lower level because they have to to get quality people. that tells me things are tightening a bit. that's good news. >> did i hear that right? did peter moresi suggest optimism? 3.2 million americans now are earning paychecks, more
12:54 pm
paychecks, versus a year ago. that's going to lift consumer spending. does that make you confident about the future? >> to some extent, it certainly does. by the way, one of the things you said in your opening was something about how wages are keeping pace with inflation. actually because of these lower energy prices and other factors that are holding inflation down these wage growth numbers we have seen are beating inflation pretty handedly. last we checked, inflation was less than 1%. that means a really wage gain of a pretty significant magnitude compared to recent months. if you look at weekly earnings that's up more. of course that's going to boost consumer spending. in my ways you're seeing a kind of a heating up economy. a recovery that's finally imbedded in the job market whether you're looking at
12:55 pm
inflation or wages. there's still not at any kind of level that ought to alarm the federal reserve. steady as she goes. >> sounds like i'm going to be the debbie downer. there's still so many people that are jobless. nearly one in six men between the ages of 25 and 54. too old for college, too young to retire. most may never work again. what do we need to be doing to help these folks find jobs? >> the president likes new taxes. that would be a great source of revenue so the chinese stop interfering in currency markets. that would employ those folks in manufacturing facilities. those would be good activityies for them. if we did that we could create
12:56 pm
another 4 million jobs easily directly. there would be multiplier effects. we would get back to where we were before the final crisis. i would point out this has been a problem through both the bush and obama years. growth since the beginning of the century has been less than 2%. that's not nearly enough and i think we could do better and that's what it would take to get these guys back to work. we are back with a final word right after this. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be
12:57 pm
one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.
12:58 pm
♪ stouffer's mac and cheese with real aged cheddar now in a convenient cup. new stouffer's mac cups. made for you to love.
12:59 pm
all right. thanks for watching "the cycle" today. isis claims on the death of an american hostage are being met with deep skepticism. it's friday february 6th and this is "now." >> isis is trying to exploit that relationship between jordan
1:00 pm
and the united states. >> the terrorist group isis claiming that an american woman they've been holding hostage -- >> was killed in a jordanian air strike. >> we have no confirmation of this. >> there is no way to authenticate if what they're saying is true or not. >> it is extremely difficult to get any information out of raqqah. >> they could easily stage a scene to make it appear that somebody had been killed in an air strike. >> they are co