that's why we call on all the world, protect assyrians. save assyrians in syria.y are facing death. people are unarmed. they are peaceful, and they need help. nobody is protecting them. they need relief. they need aid. they need a safe zone a safe haven to be protected. not even isis but other -- everybody just left them there. of course they're now doing their best and everybody is just leading them alone. >> asama, we know that several hundred families managed to flee if area and they're now living in potentially a cathedral. you have grave concerns about their safety. do they have any chance of defending themselves? >> actually i said yesterday, i sent some videos and photos to cnn. and i guess the number of families displaced is increasing again because now -- we're talking about 35 assyrian villages and towns, all of them being occupied and taken over by isis. so we're talking about thousands of families who have been left where other assyrians are leaving. so the situation is getting -- it's escalating. >> asama edward we appreciate the update. our thoughts

is condemning the destruction of iraq's artifacts from the capitol of the ancient assyrian empire.q has more that 12,000 ancient sites. jane sent this report. >> reporter: the ancient statutes from assyrian palaces are an inspiration for this man. as a soldier in mosul in the 1980s, he would side a camera in his pocket to take photos of them. he says he hasn't slept since he saw the video of their destruction. trrn what is this statute? it's just stone. but it's what the statute represents. any citizen will consider this statute as his ancestor. >> reporter: this is near the heart of baghdad's cultural center. many here know firsthand mosul's significance as the center of culture and history. isil took over the museum in june when it seized the city. the most valuable pieces have been removed years ago for safekeeping. they were wrapped to protect them. there was no protection from these men who smashed statutes from assyrian palaces and artifacts from the unesco world heritage site. nearby they used power drills to destroy these statutes. the images of the winged bull considered b

we have more now on the assyrian christians kidnapped by isis.ts fear they may soon be facing death and a family in california knows that fear all too well. they are anxiously waiting for news on 12 family members now among 150 christians said to have been taken by isis on tuesday. >> they came at 4:00 in the morning and attacked them and took them away. >> we heard it was like a sea of black uniforms marching through the villages burning down the churches, desecrating the crosses and wreaking havoc. >> one of the activists who reported on that mass kidnapping is the founder of the assyrian human rights network and joins us live now from copenhagen denmark. so assama it's been a couple of days since they were kidnapped in northeast syria. the number of people kidnapped get on getting higher. what are you hearing from your sources on the ground? >> the number is increasing since yesterday night, because isis is taking over more and more new villages and towns, assyrian towns. i have a list of names. i can read it for you. situation is deterioratin

the people that lived in this area where the assyrian's lived and they adopted the name.not the ancient civilization, just the descendents. and the assyrian christians have been targeted by isis for death, conversion, enslavement, sometimes they have been taken has slaves working in isis homes. cooking, cleaning, doing whatever the masters would demand. and starting last sunday, there was a series of about 30 assyrian christian villages that were holding out. they organized their defense e committees and isis invaded. the defense committees could not hold on. some men and women and children were taken captive and now up to 300 we hear of hostages have been taken. >> all right, after a long, hard battle, today marks an independence day for the internet. we have lots ahead of that, please stay with us. >>> i've said this before and it remains true. we get more e-mail about our next guest than any other guest we have on this show. it's an understatement to say that she's a fan favorite. she's my technological sherpa. her nad is jenni jardan and she joins us next. please stay

not to get in this trouble. >> reporter: gonje is an assyrian community leader.he says this attack forced many to flee their homes. many without food or water. often persecuted and ignored as they fight isis. >> for me as an assyrian american it's sad to say that our people they have not even received one bullet from the united states government. not in iraq, not in syria. >> reporter: the isis kidnappings the latest. the best hope says his family members will be part of a prisoner swap. >> you pray for the best. but given isis track record, that's not a good hope. >> reporter: since isis began its move, the assyrian community has been seeking international help and he fears without that international and u.s. help and soon, that the assyrians may be forced to flee their homeland. >> ken pritchett tonight, ken, thank you. >>> the santa clara board of supervisors approved a plan to buy a cell phone tracking system. critics say the technology can infringe on the privacy of innocent bystanders but the sheriff's department says it would only be used to help locate th

there is no protection from these men who smashed statues from assyrian buildings.y used power drills to destroy these statutes which have stood at the gate for almost 3,000 years. you see these everywhere in iraq. for people here these rrnth just lifeless statutes in a dusty museum most iraqis see them as part of their legacy and they mourn their loss almost as if they had been live. this is an art student. he says the loss of the statute is inconference call will begin momentarily. late -- incalculatable. >> when i travel outside of iraq i say i'm a son of the bib loanian. >> reporter: east of mosul was another assyrian capitol. almost as precious are the intricate carvings that told of empires created and lost. >> these statutes, they are ukraine. -- unique. destroying them i wish they looted them, because one day they come out. things like that have happened before. but destroying them they are gone forever. >> reporter: these were excavated by the british and others in the last century, major parts of the palaces were taken to foreign museums, those may be the

the group has taken more than 250 assyrian christians captain there in the past week. assyrians in syria, iraq and lebanon are not only worried about those captured but the survival of their community. some of these people are refugees from iraq. others are from syria, and the rest of their lebanese hosts, but all of them are assyrian christians. they gathered in front of the u.n. office in beirut to speak in one voice. their message was cleared: this minority community in the middle east believes its future is threatened. >> this is a conspiracy to put the indigenous people of this region, the assyrians from their homeland. terrorists are taking our land but they are going to fight back until our last blood. we won't. >> there is a heightened sense of concerns after hundreds of families were displaced in recent fighting in the northeastern syrian proven incident and more than 200 of them were captured by the islamic state of iraq in the levant. some managed to escape to tell their story. >> there was a massacre. they came to our villages at night. they burned people i

kennedy: isis militants have reportedly abducted dozens of assyrian christians, the ancient christianity is one of many brutally treated in the region over the last four years, lisa daftari is a fox contributor with a ton of expertise in the middle east and writing about the assyrians, what's going on, lisa? >> syrians in particular haven't been anything new, but we know, concerned reports say 150 of them have been taken under isis control. they seized the city. they took them into a different part, and the women, children and elderly are under isis control now as hostages. obviously, we can assume how this will end, but isis can use them for one of many of their benefits. kennedy: they are brutal murderist thugs but released some kurds and turkish truck drivers and assyrians in the past. how valuable are they? >> to be treated as isis hostages by the kurds or used as sex slaves in the case of the women and sold off. they could derive benefit by killing them and using it as propaganda. isis is coming off a defeat in kobani, it was very well publicized by the west that the kurds did a

this was another capitol of the huge assyrian empire. the gold found here was one of the biggest archaeological treasures ever unearthed. almost as precious are the carvings told of empires gone and lost. >> they are unique and destroys them, i wish they looted them because one day they come out, you know in a hundred years let's say, it doesn't matter. things like that happen before. but destroying them they are gone forever. >> reporter: these were excavated by the british and others in the last century. major parts of palaces were taken to foreign museums. those may be the only places left iraqis will be able to see their ancient heritage. >>> the afghanistan government is appealing for international help in finding survivors of avalanches. >> reporter: the pangea has seen snow before but this is something different, meters and meters of it. turning valleys into silent gorges. in the provincial capitol it was anything but quiet. helicopters buzzed overhead. hundreds of troops trudged uphill to secure the peaks, and a convoy of militar

is a feeling of helplessness among the christians, but there is also anger and defiance. >> the assyrian christian community says it is time to take up arms, and it is asking the world for weapons. >> do the christians deserve to be protected? yes or no. it's very clear that the united states is not depending for them. we want to hold with the iraqi armies, the egyptian army. >> people here fear the worst is yet to come. hundreds of thousands of christians have fled from this region over the years. christians few the displacement and kidnappings as yet another upset of persecution. last year thousands of christians were forced to flea the iraqi city of mosul after it was captured by isil. but the mass exodus from iraq was already under way since the 2003 war. it's a similar story in neighboring syria. christians say that they will no longer be forced out of their areas. they say they intend to fight back, and they want the international community to help them do just that. al jazeera beirut. >> in western iraq at least 21 people have been killed in twin blasts. a car bomb went off in a b

is a feeling of helplessness among the christians, but there is also anger and defiance. >> the assyrianhristian community says it is time to take up arms and it is asking the world for weapons. >> do the christians deserve to be protected? yes or no? it's very clear. the christians, the united states has not defended for them. we as a christian, we want to with the iraq army egyptian army. >> people here fear the worst is yet to come. already, hundreds of thousands of christians have fled from this region over the years. >> christians view the displacement and kidnappings as another episode of persecution. last year, thousands of christians were forced to flee the iraqi city of mosul after it was captured by isil. but the mass exodus from iraq was already underway since the 2003 war. it's a similar story in neighboring syria. >> christians say they will no longer be forced out of their areas. they say they intend to fight back and them. >> kurdish separatist movement has called on followers to end their 30-year long arms truthfully. abdullah ochalan who leads the kurdistan workers' part

the assyrian rights network representative says close to 300 people have been kidnappeded and 5,000 have fled their homes. one of his own relatives have been kidnapped. ian lee has been following the developments on the story and joins us live from cairo with the latest. we should note that because of syria's years' long civil war and large parts of the country under isis control it is difficult to get a clear picture of what's happening there. help us out. what do we know about the fate of the asyrian christians kidnapped earlier? >> reporter: that's right. it is hard to get the specific details out of there. we get a lot of it there the rights groups that give us this instructions. we know the attack did take place in the eastern part of syria, along a string of village running north and south up to the turkish border. in the southwest part there's a mountain range. that's where isis fighters were in control of the area. and they were able to push out a wide p.g. kurdish fighters as well as christian militias from the villages. we're told the fighters, the ypg and christian militias we

cleansing of minority assyrians call deannes is part of their narrative.f we have any hope for moderates to win out we can't allow pluralistic of syria to lose. we pray for them they will ransom them enslave them or kill them. melissa: zuhdi, thank you for your thoughts. our prayers are for you and your family. thanks for coming on. >> thank you, melissa. melissa: crude is down about 6%. losses accelerating on pressure from rising inventories in the u.s. we're just about 15 minutes away from the close of trading. we'll keep a close eye on this. >>> a few stories on our radar. russia is threatening to cut off gas to ukraine by end of the week. gazprom refusing to deliver supplies until it receives payment. ukraine is struggling financially as it awaits funds from a new bailout. >>> united continental shares falling after it urged pilots to stop making mistakes in the cockpit a leaked safety memo gave examples when pilots put lives of passengers in danger. >>> danger at the doctor's office. how a deadly bacteria now spread to outpatient clinics. cdc using a

. >>> activists say isil has kidnapped more assyrian christians.t least 220 have been abducted from 11 villages in the province in the past three days alone isil began abducting the assyrians on month. the fate of the hostages are unclear, thousands have fled the area because of the fighting. >>> the fbi now says it has investigations in every state into people suspected of plotting to join isil. that follows the arrest of three men for conspiring to join isil. >> reporter: investigators say at least two of these three men in brooklyn had made up their minds they were going to the killing fields and if they couldn't get there, they would kill here. and men like these are not alone. their numbers are growing. to all outward appearances for the last six months this 24-year-old was living a quiet life. he said to have blended into his new york neighborhood had a roommate and a restaurant job. but authorities say secretly he was making big plans. >> the initial actions were effectively to go to syria, and attempt to join isil in syria. >> reporter: las

assyrian christians have been there for thousands of years.e a teeny tiny minority that could be wiped out from the face of the earth. >> one of the things that this horrible violence is doing is it's drawing christians no matter what faith you are, together. >> right. >> sort of like speak in one strong voice. >> yeah. that's what pope francis men by an a couple mennism to work together for unity and a witness to the world. i don't care if they're catholics that have been captured or executed, this is all of our blood. we need to speak up and support these people. >> thank you for stopping by. i appreciate it. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," safety features save lives in a horrific california train crash. could different technology have prevented the crash from happening? we'll talk about that next. in new york state, we're reinventing how we do business so businesses can reinvent the world. from pharmaceuticals to 3d prototyping, biotech to clean energy. whether your business is moving, expanding or just getting started... only new york

the guardian reports one of the statues destroyed was a winged-bull assyrian protective deity that datesack to the 9th century b.c. >> on thurday unesco, the cultural arm of the united nations, called call for the u.n. security council to hold an emergency meeting on protecting iraq's cultural heritage. unesco director-general irina bokova said -- "i condemn this as a deliberate attack against iraq's millennial history and culture, and as an inflammatory incitement to violence and hatred." unesco has also warned about the self-proclaimed islamic state generating income from the looting and smuggling of cultural heritage items. earlier this month, the u.n. security council banned all trade in antiquities from war-torn syria and reaffirmed a ban on iraqi artifact sales from about a decade ago. joining us here in new york is zainab bahrani, a professor of near eastern and east mediterranean art and archeology at columbia university. she has worked in extensively iraq including periods as senior advisor to iraq's ministry of culture and a unesco consultant. we welcome you professor to democr

. << marty: hundreds gathered at a church at 2 per for a safe return of assyrian christian kid takentage by isis militants. oregon slender 50 men women and children were pulled from their homes and the syrian billon on monday. there's a form of the stall man. << marty: isis militants are known for using it with their culture in the recording task is they also turned social media campaign into young people. they're now using a popular disney movie to recruit when young women. >>: a beautiful daughter tucks cutoff for hair and becomes a soldiered pfeiffer family's honor. his firm many young women. this is a lending to the thoughts. there tracking dozens of isis woman on a lot and. this is the perfect example of the contradiction that the women coast. raise the disney inspire increased. >>: the role of places women no wonder just how a bribe but recruiters ansa tilak taters eyes leaving spies. recruit teenagers young woman's 1516 berger school girls that they think that cross into syria just days ago. they're both track and the institute and they said this is the target demographic for

these are assyrian christians. that empire once stretched from the mediterranean to the persian gulf. now their members are a minority even within the arab christian community. nic robertson is joining us from london now. nic, what do we know about the demands being put forward by isis regarding these kidnapped christians? >> reporter: what the activists what are connected with these as assyrian christians is they're expecting this to be a message to president obama, to coalition forces, they're fearing the worst. these 150 people there's women, children elderly, even some priests, several thousand families are affected. the isis offensive was against 35 different villages in that area. there were 600 of these christians hiding out, sheltering in a church in one of the nearby towns. so their concern is the fate of that 150 and what happens to the others who have left their homes or are hiding out in churches places like that will isis come back will they face a similar fate? but the reality is these activist networ

>> we are hearing anywhere from 78 to 100 assyrian christians are being abducted by isis. this began monday when the terror group raided numerous villages along the river in northeastern syria. this river hooks up with the euphrates. it's an area largely controlled by isis and it's where there has been heavy fighting the last couple days including coalition airstrikes. martha: did anyone manage to get away? >> reporter: we are hearing possibly 3,000 people. but the problem is that communication lines to these villages have been cut so it's difficult getting information about those who have been taken hostage. as one woman told the associated press, she doesn't know if her loved ones are alive or like so many others, they have been slaughtered. bill: some tough words from louisiana governor bobby jindal on the steps of the white house after the governor's meeting with the president yesterday. >> the president disqualified himself to be our commander-in-chief. >> governor jindal will debate that next. live. >> why does the president down play the threat worldwide of islamic

here, a militant uses a jackhammer to do face an assyrian statue that is more than 2600 years old. is a copy of the statue in the pergamon museum in berlin. the director says it is an icon of ancient near eastern art. >> the terrible thing is, it's not just the statues and the museums being destroyed. it is the cultural heritage of an entire country. illegal excavations and looting have also caused irreparable damage. >> leaders have devastated sites across northern iraq and syria. with crude equipment, they destroy as much as they steal. they then sell the artifacts on the international black market. the stolen goods are often smuggled through neighboring turkey or lebanon. western collectors pay high prices. their purchases make cooks rich and often help finance islamic state. the jihadists control large swathes of northern iraq, including the city of mosul. after the 2003 invasion of iraq, the national museum in baghdad was looted and ransacked. the museum has been able to recover some of what was lost, but it remains closed to the public to this day. >> while art is being destr

a human rights organization say they're holding 262 assyrian hostages.ting intensifyies between kurds and isis. >>> french police arresting three al jazeera journalists for flying illegal drones in paris. authorities in paris are no closer to solving the mystery of those other troubling drones sightings this week over some of their famous landmarks in the city. they say whoever is doing this is deliberately interfering with official surveillance capabilities. >> we have the reports of the identity of the man who has been called jihadi john. we told thaw. we have the three brooklyn men who have been arrested for a plot here domestically. so how will this all play into the homeland security funding fight? is this enough pressure for congress to get past their petty preliminaries and keep this country safe? he's out there. there's a guy out there whose making a name for himself in a sport where your name and maybe a number are what define you. somewhere in that pack is a driver that can intimidate the intimidator. a guy that can take the king 7 and make it

an assyrian winged bull, part of the wall of nineveh had stood for thousands of years. parts of the sun belt had another snowy day today. folks in red bank, tennessee woke up to more than half a foot. north folk, virginia, got eight inches and they had to get the earth movers out. across the south this morning, more than 180,000 homes and businesses were without power, most of them in the carolinas, where we find vinita nair. >> reporter: this is the scene above durham after last night's storm. four inches of snow fell in this part of the state, even more in the hardest-hit regions of the south, enough to snap tree limbs and fracture power lines. today crews were dealing with the clean-up, like this utility pole that splintered under the heavy weight of the snow. >> can you tell me when the power will be back on? >> reporter: jay simmons is directing part of the 1,000- person emergency team, helping to restore power. he's on a 16-hour shift. >> that's a big storm anywhere 200,000 people, but hopefully a lot of the problem will just be the trees and we can clear them. >>

they want to cleanse it, assyrians were there long before islam existed.ame asyria, signs of christian community that was there in its history. they want to cleanse it to accentuate the domination of the land of islam over the land of christianity. what they see as land of war. they're trying to do basically this genocidal cleansing not only people, but the churches and structures that identify as non-muslim earnings on that point, this is video that came into us about an hour ago from the town of mosul. it is obviously an act tick quits area museum of some sort where sledgehammers are destroying whatever history is left there, john. >> if there is any hope, bill, you can't have a free a moderate syria or middle east without diversity. as the minorities get cleansed so too will any hope of being able to have peace. so the threat to the world will increase as syria becomes more homogenous. as if diversity maintain so too will the chance of pluralism. the hope of any future global stability is being lost with these horrific atrocities against minorities like

. >> reporter: the ancient statutes from assyrian palaces are an inspiration for this man.soldier in mosul in the 1980s, he would hide a camera in his packet to take photos of them. he says he hasn't slept since he saw the video of their destruction. >> translator: what is this statute? it is just stone. but it's what it events. any citizen will consider this statute as his ancestor. >> reporter: this is near the heart of baghdad's cultural center. many here know firsthand mosul's significance as the center of history and culture. isil took over the museum in june when it seized the city. these were wrapped to protect them from the elements, but there was no protection from these men who smashed artifacts. nearby they used power drills to destroy these statues which have stood at the palace gates for almost 3,000 years. the image of the winged bull are so iconic you see them wherever in iraq. these weren't just lifeless statutes. most iraqis see them as part of their legacy stretching back to the beginnings of the world's first civilization. this is an art student. he says

the number of assyrians captured rose to 220 and were taken from veil 'ems in the north-east -- villages in the north-east provinces. now to zeina khodr in beirut. the kidnapping of christians, what can you tell us. >> activists reported that the islamic state of iraq and levant captured christians from villages in the north-east province, now they are revising the number to 220. they have been speaking to community leaders, families on the ground and as you imagine, the community is worried, conflicting reports on their whereabouts. we understand they were taken to an i.s.i.l. strong hold. they control 30% of that province strategic province bordering iraq allowing the group to move between iraq and syria. we don't know if they killed the people if they are alive or if i.s.i.l. is ready to engage in a prison swap. so far the group has not made demands. >> as far as the battle against i.s.i.l. how is that going. what protection is being made? >> well, like i mentioned, i.s.i.l. controls 30% of the province, they cannot afford to lose the territory. it means a major supply route that link

. >> i guess i think, okay they have taken more than 200 of these assyrian christians there, releasing9 of them a small fraction. can you read this as them trying to gain some legitimacy among their followers saying look we follow the courts. >> yes. i think that is one way to think of it. you know they've been accused of violating islamic law, in particular ways and sometimes they will make a statement saying that no actually we've had within our own structure the same kinds of violations that we see and punish them when they happen. i think they can try to attempt to get creditability by showing them that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of the law. >> king of ab la in jordan when asked what isis was trying to accomplish with brutal execution videos this is what the king said. >> what do you think they were trying to do with the video? with the -- >> always trying to intimidate scare, put fear into people's hearts and, you know this is a group that works by intimidations, that they are trying to invent

why do they want assyrians? are they going to kill them or using them as pawns to get back others in captivity? >> okay, depends on the mood swings and certainly won't mind killing them if they think they can get something out of it, fine. among the other problems we've got, we are witnessing the destruction of 2,000 years of christian civilization in the middle east. kennedy: no, it is one of the oldest collection of -- >> it is the oldest. the oldest. kennedy: where is their hashtag, by the way. heritage foundation index came out this week strongly criticizing american military ability under the obama administration. the report says that the u.s. military is aiming, and shrinking, there is shrinkage, and is only capable of fighting one war at a time. but ralph, i have always said itting are it's not size of the wand but the magic inside that counts. isn't it the same story with the military? >> yeah, to a point. there's a point at, which as we saw in the recent wars and the repeated deployments that took such

. >> isis militants have sparked new outrage by using sledge hammers to destroy ancient assyrian statues in iraq. priceless figures dating back 2700 years were reduced to rubble in mosul. isis says they were made by infidels. analysts say they were made just as replicas. the u.n.'s cultural agency wants the call an emergency session for the sake of iraq's antiques and national security. >>> now to argentina. a judge dismissed charges against the country's president after it was accused of conspiring with other leaders to cover up iran's involvement, alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing. it's a charge she's always denied. a judge says the case did not meet the minimum standards to warrant the criminal investigation. the prosecutorer who originally brought the case was found dead just days after making the accusation. >>> now to venezuela, where there is a rising tide of anger over the country's financial meltdown. anti-government protests are swelling and the president has been cracking down hard on dissent. last week security forces arrested and jailed a mayor who was accused of plott

the director of assyrian human rights network, guy edwards that i spoke with said 150 people were abducted including the bulks own family at this point he told me they have been split up. men were taken to a mountainous part of the northeastern syria. and the woman and children split up amongst the villages and towns where all of that fighting continues. as mentioned. kurdish forces are getting help from christian militia men and the coalition air strikes but really, the question at this point is what isis plans to do with all of those people abducted? sam edwards thinks three things. one use them to exchange for isis prisoners or human shoulds or three, to continue to instill terror and fear among all of those people in the region. jon, at this point, the greatest concern is will all of those men and women and children meet the gruesome and awful fate of so many others. >> it is awful to hear that isis is making ground in places. >> back here at home federal prosecutors entering the new evident in a terror trial of a man who is an al-qaeda recruit and plotting terror attacks since 2009. t

. >>> meanwhile, isis holding hundreds of assyrian christians captive. more of the same barbarism? or is this a war on christianity? we'll discuss. discover card. hey! so i'm looking at my bill and my fico® credit score's on here. we give you your fico® score each month for free! awesomesauce! wow! the only person i know that says that is...lisa? julie?! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and see your fico® credit score. he's out there. there's a guy out there whose making a name for himself in a sport where your name and maybe a number are what define you. somewhere in that pack is a driver that can intimidate the intimidator. a guy that can take the king 7 and make it 8. heck. maybe even 9. make no mistake about it. they're out there. i guarantee it. welcome to the nascar xfinity series. >>> there's no question that ice sis targeting christians nearly 300 assyrian christians were abducted. 21 egyptian christians beheaded in libya earlier. the pope saying the blood of christians everywhere is crying out to be heard. and the

according to activist groups isis fighters kidnapped at least 70 assyrian christians including many women children and comes amid growing concerns over the terror groups recruitment of western women. three british teens who police believe haves crossed over into syria, to meet up with the terrorist organization but why is isis luring women so aggressively and now joining me back just now back from iraq, is lieutenant colonel douglas ollie vant former director for iraq on the national security council for president bush and president obama. he also works for a consulting firm that has financial interests in iraq we wanted to mention that as well. >> thank you. >> let's talk about this and why isis is going after young women in western countries. why are they doing that? >> well, i think they're looking for any western recruits they can get, you know, gives them inroads into the west allows them to portray themesselves as being attractive in the west shows, you know, their core constituency the muslim arabs they're looking at you wons be happy in the west, these women have -- and men, have

the british-based syrian observatory for human rights said 90 assyrian christians had been captured, while another group put the number between 70 and 100. the captures come as i filed militants retreated from kurdish militia backed by the u.s.-led coalition. the obama administration is planning a major offensive in iraq to retake the isil- isis-controlled city of mosul, iraq's second largest city. speaking in kuwait monday after meetings with top u.s. officials in the region, newly sworn in defense secretary ashton carter vowed to defeat the islamic state. our discussion this afternoon affirmed the seriousness and the complexity of the threat posed by isil, especially, in an interconnected and networked world. defeat of this group can and will be accomplished. >> earlier this month, isis released a video of the beheading of 21 egyptian coptic christians in libya. amnesty international now has accused egyptian forces of failing to take key precautions before launching retaliatory airstrikes, which killed seven civilians in the libyan city of derna. a new report has raised questions a

>> there's much concern about the assyrian christians kidnapped by isis. what more are we learning about their fate this hour? >> reporter: really we don't have much more details about what has happened to these people. the attack took place along a string of syrian christian villages in the eastern part of the country, to the southwest. there's a mountain range where isis fighters have been in control. they went into villages pushing out ypg kurdish fighters as well as christian militias. those militias and fighters were able to retake part of the towns. these roughly 90 people taken captive, isis has not been good to the peoply before. we've known that they have sold women as sex slaves. we've also seen them kill their captives. we're waiting for the fate of those people. >> indeed. a great deal of concern regarding their welfare. ian lee monitoring situation was cairo. many thanks to you. >>> let's check some other stories we're following for you at this hour. we now know a turkish military vehicle was the target of a suicide attack in the afghanistan c

islamic militants abducted at least 70 assyrian christians including women and children.swept through a string of villages in northeastern syria. it's not clear what the extremists plan to do with the captives but isis had released i didn't do so earlier this month showing the beheading of 21 egyptian christians in libya. >> a violent crash boston sent a driver airborne. this traffic cam footage caught the car launching from the upper deck of interstate 93 on sunday. the vehicle slammed through an exit sign and a fence before that landing on the lower deck of the highway. the driver amazingly is in stable condition and has been arrested under suspicion of driving drunk. >> 6:47. we'll update several breaking stories this morning. >> including a raging building fire right there in philadelphia's kensington section. it's impacting the septa commute lines and david firefighters out there they're dealing with a number of things including bitter cold. >> they absolutely are, tam. we've got temperatures in the single digits in most spots wind chills down around zero in philadel

the captives are part of an assyrian minority that goes back to ancient times. the obama administration today defended its nuclear negotiations with iran. secretary of state john kerry told a senate hearing that u.s. policy remains the same: "iran," he said, "will not get a nuclear weapon". he spoke amid reports of a potential deal to curtail iran's nuclear activities for ten years, then slowly ease the curbs. >> anybody running around right now jumping in to say, "well, we don't like the deal" or this or that, doesn't know what the deal is. there is no deal yet. and i caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce. >> ifill: the white house also dismissed reports that it's negotiating a ten-year deal with tehran. the percentage of americans who lack health insurance has dipped to its lowest point in seven years. the drop last year, shown in a new gallup-healthways survey came as president obama's health care overhaul took full effect. more than half of those who are still uninsured said they plan to get coverage, rather than pay penalties. on wa

the local militia with the help of assyrian christians and coalition air strikes.y drove back the isis militants and took control of a key town along the syrian border with turkey and iraq. while in iraq there has been a new round of violence they say from the islamic state. at least 37 people have been killed in the latest series of attacks. for the very latest we go to john huddy. he joins us from the mideast bureau in jerusalem. >> reporter: there were a series of car bomb attacks today in iraq that killed close to two dozen people one with the continued fighting and also a major ground offensive that continues to rage on in iraq. iraqi forces at this point are in a pretty fierce battle for control of the city of samara between tikrit and baghdad. isis militants for quite awhile have been trying to push their way through to baghdad but have so far been stopped by those iraqi forces, with help from coalition air strikes, including more than a dozen during the past 24 hours. i have said this before i have been saying this losing control of samarra would be disastr

partners would be as thorough as we could make it >> but very succinctly would that bring in the assyrian refugees to pose a greater risk to americans? >> it is of concern to but what we want to do to hold to that screening process to unearth those that we have concern. >> we don't know what we don't know. there is a risk to try to be identified captions from the terrorist groups. >> the chairman recognizes the ranking member. >> is it our procedure for anyone come into this country that we provide a thorough vetting of those individuals before they are allowed to come? in the kisser. is stick is that your understanding mr. rasmussen? finigan national counterterrorism center provides the information in that allows the screening agencies to make the decisions on entry or exit. >> you have to have information first so the concern is we don't have the system on the plate -- and place on the ground to. we would be vetting databases a toehold in tradition -- information on those individuals. >> the executives for national security recently released a report that u.s. law enforcement and intell

the credibility gap in the "washington post" and the international new york times article scores assyrian christians kidnapped by islamic state be included in the record. >> without objection. >> i appreciate the patience of my friend and colleague from the state of texas. it it is with a heavy heart that we see the events transpiring as according to this chart. it is with a heavy heart that we see our friends in the ukraine who only want to be like us being slaughtered and we refusing to assist them. i have assured them that i will never give up ever until we see a free prosperous, democratic ukraine which is part of the committee of nations, which we would admire and include them in. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> keep track of the republican-led congress and follow a knew members through the 1st session. 's best access on c-span c-span2 c-span radio and c-span.org. >> join us tomorrow when the fcc we will continue and net neutrality or open internet proposal being offered by chairman tom wheeler. rules are designed to prohibit internet service providers from blocking or discrimin

. >>> a modesto man and his wife who are assyrian christians are ing can the obama administration tor relatives taken hawt in syria -- hostage in syria. >> if anybody posts any pictures of anybody or says anything -- you know, says anything derogatory that they will single them out. >> militants have taken over 11 villages in the past week. it's believed they are now holding close to 300 christians captive. due to their religion and ethnicity, asyrian christians have been persecuted for years in that part of the world. >>> nancy pelosi, a democrat, read a statement from a republican. >> he said we cannot allow dhs not to be funded. people think we're crazy. there are terrorist attacks all over the world and we are -- we are talking about closing down homeland security. peter cane of new york said this is like living in the world of crazy people. >> congress has until tomorrow to extend funding for homeland security or it will shut down. in the senate, republicans have agreed to hold a vote on a so- called clean bill without provisions on the president's immigration reform. so the han

in northeastern syria, these assyrian christians are fortunate to escape. more than 260 christians now held hostage by isis after fighters swept through their villages, according to an activist network. women, children and the elderly among them. >> at 4:00 in the morning they attacked them. >> reporter: california residents got a terrifying message about some of their 12 family members. >> what we have heard, it was like a sea of black uniforms marching through all the villages burning down the churches desecrating the crosses and wreaking havoc. >> reporter: the coalition conducted air strikes in the region to back up peshmerga fighters. but there is great worry the christians are in peril. >> when you have a group this big now, that's assuming they are all still together we don't know that they could be split up but we will always be mindful of civilians in any kind of air strike that we take. >> reporter: just across the border in iraq air strikes continued. u.s. french and jordanian jets hitting an isis training camp. the first combat operation inside

including this a god who protected the assyrian empire 2,500 years ago.> you see these pieces being smashed like that is heartbreaking. >> reporter: this archaeologist has worked in and studied the region for 20 years. >> isil is conducting a war essentially on culture and dull cultural diversity. >> this is brutal. exactly what we saw in the summer before september 11th what the taliban was doing. right, willie? they were going through afghanistan and they were destroying 2,000-year-old artifacts that can never be repaired. >> the things you just saw are priceless. the one statue 2,500 years old. i was thinking the same thing, the taliban was doing exactly this in the years before 9/11. >> after the invasion of iraq in 2003, there were stories for weeks about how some priceless artifacts in iraq had been stolen and now -- >> they behead human beings. i don't think we should be surprised that they take down stat tuesday. >>> moving to politics now, we're barely into 2015 and glovlz gloves are already beginning to come off between republican candidates. sc