jamie mcintyre has more from washington. >> reporter: robert mcdonald's problem began with an exchangeh a homeless veteran. >> army what unit? >> special forces. >> what years. i was in special forces. >> that mcdonald has been forced to admit it wasn't true. i incorrectly stated i, too, was in special forces. >> the former c.e.o. of proctor and gamble served but not in special force, the elite green berets. his explanation was he was trying to find common ground with a homeless man. >> with veterans my common ground is my veteran experience. as i said i made a misstatement. i apologise, i have no execution for it. if you look at my 61 years, you'll never find in my biographies that i claimed it be part of special forces. >> the wows was quick to accept the mea culpa. >> there's no need to think that his comment will stop him leading the fight for the veterans. >> there's no calls for resignation. even among his critics. >> i'm more concerned with a failure to implement the legislation that we have passed. >> reporter: some had harsh words. it was said: in a statement he said:. >> mond

jamie mcintyre is live at the pentagon for us. jamie. >> reporter: well tony, the head of the joint chiefs is giving his best opinion of what can help the ukrainians but pouring more arms into the conflict may not bring a political solution any closer. western officials say in recent reenlts russiarecentlythat russia has been moving more arms into ukraine. >> we continue to see support organized and effective support to the separatists in terms of heavy equipment and materiel. that has continued virtually unabated. >> defensive weapons like tow missiles. may make a negotiateed peace more difficult to achieve. >> we hope for a negotiated end to the crisis. >> sergey lavrov accused the u.s. of, quote unconditionally supporting ukraine's priorities, military solution to the conflict. pentagon officials say it's unlikely just the let of providing better weaponry to the ukrainians would change the position of putin,. >> i'm not wildly optimistic at this point that his orientation changes. partly because the one thing that's been very su

jamie mcintyre is there with the latest. >> the murder of moaz al-kassasbah by isis fighters was met in washington with resolve. >> it's just one more indication of the barbarity of this organization. >> and the revelation that the 26-year-old pilot was burned alive in a cage a month ago, while isil pretended that he was continuing to negotiate for his life, the president says that their ideology is bankrupt. >> i think we will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of a global coalition to make sure that they're degraded and ultimately defeated. >> jordan's king abdullah was in washington, meeting privately on capitol hill with members of the senate foreign relations committee. the king cut short his u.s. visit after a meeting with president obama and recording a short video message. >> this cowardly terrorist act has no relation to islam. it's the duty of all muslims to stand together. >> at the pentagon, the president called the pilot's execution twisted and said that it will put down support for isil in the muslim world. >> i think that this will continue to backfir

jamie mcintyre, thank you. and a group claiming ties to isil is claiming responsibility for a new cyber attack. they hit the twitter feed this morning, several with the cyber caliphate. the group took over the u.s. central command this year, and forbes magazine said that chinese hackers broke into his website last year. and they were using spyware for specific users. news of those two hacks comes as the white house announced a new plan to detect and stop potential cyber attacks. it's called the cyber threat intelligence center. it's mission is to gather data from across the government and alert other agencies to potential threats. white house today called the sony pictures hack a game changer, saying that data breachers are more sophisticated and more dangerous, and with more on that, libby casey is at the white house. >> john, president obama is prioritizing cyber security this year, and hackers in recent months have launched an attack for everything from steel to personal information to cry to create fear. wh

jamie mcintyre has more. >> a city of many thousands of people is a large city. retaking it will begin in april or may and require 25,000 iraqi forces. many aspects of future combat that level of detail seemed to take the white house by surprise. >> i'm wondering why detail this in advance? doesn't that play book and make it easier for i.s.i.l. to prepare and defend themselves against an attack. >> it there may have been differing news reports on this. >> reporter: the pentagon is talking about retaking mosul. pointedly not saying how or when. >> some folks know that. >> reporter: the u.s. central command spoke about what is the condor concept of operations calling for five iraqi brigades, 10,000 troops, to form a guard. three kurdish brigades will be implemented. >> i think yes, terrain fighters, yes it will have to be retaken. >> reporter: already what comes out is difficult to fathom. let's throw light in a dark corner. . >> the big gun, secretary of state john kerry and his counter part know that time is not on their side. >> reporter: delegations in the u.s.

jamie mcintyre has the story. >> reporter: the white house confirmed an f-16 bombed a storage facility in raqqa last friday. they cast doubt on the i.s.i.l. assertion that that strike killed kayla muller. >> the evidence we have is no civilians in the area prior to the strike taking place, calling into question the claims by i.s.i.l. >> photographic evidence by i.s.i.l. that after analysis by the community confirmed kayla's death, but not how she died. the pentagon will not conduct the usual investigation into unintended casualties because it doesn't consider the oil claim to be legitimate. >> we don't have a credible indication that there were civilian casualties as a result of the strike. let's not forget in whose hands this woman died. let's not forget who is responsible, iail. >> in a statement president obama said muller epitomized all that was good in the world. the young aide worker working with syrian refugees was a consite unit john mccain who yulo guised her on the senate floor. >> on behalf of the people of arizona and the united states congress i want to express the deepest

jamie mcintyre has more from the white house. >> as pro-russian separatists gain ground in eastern ukraine, president obama concedes no amount of additional weaponry can turn the tide of battle considering moscow's ability to match and surpass lethal aid supplied to ukraine. >> the president argued bolstering defenses could blunt the offencive and advance the peace process, by ratcheting up the cost to vladimir putin. >> if diplomacy fails, what i asked my team to do is look at options. what other means can be put in place to change vladimir putin's calculus. >> reporter: the so-called lethal defensive weapons include antitank missiles stopping a tank in its tracks. tracking radar, that can stop fire and return fire. and anti-aircraft systems that can shoot down spy drones that have been providing intelligence. on the munich conference on security problems john mccain argued while there may be no military solution there is a military dimension. >> how long can vladimir putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening. >> at the same conference angela merkel voiced a firm oppos

. >> jamie mcintyre thank you. >>> one thing the president is getting the gop to the bargaining table, going to tell >> the $4 trillion budget that president obama unveiled today is at much about politics than it is about money. that's no surprise. we have talked at length about the president's plan to raise taxes on the richest americans that in itself is going nowhere in this republican conscious but that is part of what's in the president's 2,000 page budget and not all of it is dead on arrival. what's on the cover of this monster, new york's tappanzee bridge. the plan to improve america's crumbling infrastructure. 278 billion to improve infrastructure, i say bravo to that. one republican member of the house said, i can't think of a better place than to invest in infrastructure. this may find republican sport. $268 billion of what the president wants to spend would come from a one time 14% tax an the $2 trillion in profits that u.s. companies have parked in other countries. the administration is also proposing a 19% minimum tax rate on future foreign profits that u.s. companies ear

. >> jamie mcintyre thank you. >>> one thing the president is getting the gop to the bargaining table, going to tell >> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. >> now everybody in this country can hear them. >> at 7:00, a thorough of the day's events. >> at the end of the day, we're going to give you an intelligent, context driven, take on the day's news. >> then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. >> this is a complicated situation. how significant is it? >> and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. >> they're sending their government a message. >> organizing themselves. >> people say they're finally fed up. >> weeknights, on al jazeera america primetime. >> the $4 trillion budget that president obama unveiled today is at much about politics than it is about money. that's no surprise. we have talked at length about the president's plan to raise taxes on the richest americans that in itself is going nowhere in this republican conscious but that is part of what's in the president's 2,000 page budget and n

. >> jipt in washington much -- jamie mcintyre in washington thank you >>> we are learning about three men in new york accused of spores i.s.i.l. two were about to travel to syria, the third is accused of bank rolling the operation. the men scud killing police officers and -- discussed killing police officers and federal bureau of investigation, and posted online about bombing copy island and assassinating the president >>> i.s.i.l. showed villages to destroy ancient artefacts from a museum in moss um. it destroyed a number of shrines, including christian and muslim artefacts >>> a fragile ceasefire in ukraine appears to be holding. it has begun to pull weapons. a warning - his report contains disturbing images >>> the battlefields of east ukraine are bleak and chilling places. the destructive power of modern weapons leaves destruction. the whom area is shattered. the interior of the terminals distrooun with debris and rubble. and the personal affects of those that were born and died here. >> translation: when a concrete beam falls, and someone is under it. we have to lift it up. we ha

jamie mcintyre reports. >> what pentagon officials are saying is that the chairman of the joint chiefs is giving president obama his best military advice about the best way to aid the government of ukraine, and that the president has made no decision. but privately pentagon officials say the worry about pouring arms into the conflict may not bring a solution closer. >> reporter: officials say russia has been moving hundred of pieces of equipment into eastern ukraine, including battle tanks to armed separatists there, and pentagon officials say it is apparent that the 118 million in nonlethal aid that the u.s. provided to kiev is no match for moscow's deep arsenal. >> we continue to see support organised and effective support to the separatists in terms of heavy equipment, and materiale. that support continues to virtually unabated. >> in recent weeks ukraine's forces suffered a series of setbacks and pentagon sources say the government troops need defensive weapons, such as american toe antitank missiles that have a chaps against the rebels. that prompted a fresh look at the lethal aid

. >> for more we are joined by jamie mcintyre from the pentagon how much do we know about the american missing in syria. >> well there's - he is a freelance journalist captured in august 2012. his family saw a video of him from back in that time where he was blindfolded. it's not at all clear that he's held by i.s.i.l. fighters. in fact they haven't had much information about him in the intervening time. the parents have been public and have been expressing concern about the gait of their son. they believe he's alive, that's the last they have seen. they were critical of the u.s. government for not having a process and a plan for safely returning u.s. hostages something that president obama pushed back on today in an interview that he gave where he said that everything - he has done everything possible to return american hostages safely short of paying a ransom which is against u.s. policy. he acknowledged that he authorised a rescue mission in syria, aimed at not just rescuing kayla muller but other hostages, but they may have missed them by a day or two. showing this the u.s. is will

. >> jamie mcintyre, thank you and more signs today that a ceasefire deal in eastern ukraine is falling apart. both sides were supposed to withdraw heavy weapons from the front lines today. but that hasn't happened. and john terry is here with more on this. john. >> we are talking about the northeastern part of the country, there was fierce fighting today. and even reports of ukrainian trooping cam toured. neither side, it appears, is willing to give the town up. >> a gas pipeline explosion caused by a mortar is the latest example of the fractured two-day-old ceasefire in ukraine. heading into the town of debaltseve. and within the past few hours valid vad said that he's hopeful that the rebels will allow all ukrainian troops safe passage out of the town. >> >> interpreter: i hope that the representative will not detain and hold these people and let those troops freely leave the settlements and go back to their families. >> after engaging in intense battle with the ukrainian troops pro russian separatists say they're now in control of the town. but the ukrainian military leaders dispute

. >> jamie mcintyre reporting for us. we have an associate dean of international affairs here in new york. also the granddaughter of the former soviet premiere nikita crew chef. kruschev. >> thank you. >> is the cease-fire deal finally taking hold here? >> the only one day. it may not hold on to tomorrow. we have to take it one day at a time. i think it's a good sign. it's a good sign that the rebels are saying that they would consider the heavy weapons. there is movement going on. that's a good sign. on the other hand the rebels declared they're going to make mariupol which is a strategic town on the sea. >> do you support the idea of spending lethal defensive aid. lethal defensive aid to ukraine. >> i'm not supporting it not that ukraine does not deserve lethal defensive aide. we know that putin would see it as an attack. if we're serious about de-escalating the conflict, it's a bad idea. >> have i heard you say this? his end game is that he wants to be assured that ukraine is under his control. >> he wants to be assure