ayman, we start with you. the president says we're sendin a nice way of saying we're sending 300 of our toughest military folks. patrick murphy broke down who those folks will be. >> when you send 300 of our nation's best, the navy s.e.a.l.s, army rangers, they have a job to do, and they'll do their job. but they're going to be in these iraqi brigade headquarters throughout iraq. i was on one ten years ago. at night, they're going to get mortared. it's going to be from isis. they're going to be blending into the community. so they're going to see combat. >> ayman, when the president says he's sounding advisers, it sounds nice. when patrick murphy explains what that means, you understand this is a much tougher group of folks going over there. do you think their presence could escalate the situation or help calm it? >> well, it's certainly going to at least from the perspective of the iraqi army help them out. depending on the capabilities, which, you know, are bar none better an far more superior than what the

good morning, ayman. >> reporter: good morning. sergeant bowe bergdahl remains here at landstuhl regional medical center where he continues to undergo valuations by medical health officials. during the next several days and weeks there will be a lot of questions surrounding this prisoner swap that took place, that released sergeant bergdahl in exchange for five taliban officers. now the question and the concerns of military officials here have to focus on his health. there are all kinds of questions as to whether or not he's mentally, physically, psychologically capable of being reintegrated into society. they say that is going to take as long as it needs to make sure he does that in a smooth process. they're also going to be questions about his physical stamina as he begins to reorient himself to his surroundings, to people, to friends and ultimately to his family back in the u.s. and as we're talking earlier, there are going to be controversial questions, exactly how did he disappear back in 2009? and also there are going to be s

ayman, we want to begin with you. the army and volunteer fighters, have they been able to slow the isis movement a bit? >> reporter: well, right now they also have a very important component working on their side, and that is the geography. the geographic composition of iraq allows the government to at least create somewhat the of a fortified position north of baghdad, and baghdad the capital itself. in short, they have been pushing back. they have been able to fight back. they're not yet taking back the large swaths of land that are in control by isi circumstances in the northern part of the country, which is about the size of jordan and has about 6 million people under their control rist now. the government has been able to hold its position with the forces. in the coming days, or weeks, he's planning on launching a counterdefensive to regain control of the territories that have been lost to the isis fighters. there are reports of skirmishes taking place in the smaller towns and cities on the outskirts of baghdad be

. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in landstuhl germany, with more. good morning, ayman. what is the latest. >> reporter: sergeant bowe bergdahl continues to receive medical attention here at landstuhl medical center where officials say his condition is stable. more importantly they say his condition requires him to remain hospitalized for the time being. in addition to that, they say they're focusing on his nutritional and dietary needs. this seems to be a departure given in the description by susan rice who described his condition as life threatening. their focus now is reintegrating him back into society and that will be determined at his own pace and his own comfort so long as it takes really. there are now growing questions and growing controversy surrounding not only sergeant bergdahl's disappearance in 2009 and what led him to wander off that base and the subsequent search missions that led to the loss of american lives, but also now growing questions about the prisoner swap and whether or not the release of five senior members of the taliban is ultimately going to

ayman, i want to begin with you. let's start simply, who is isis? how did they get to a point where they could pose a threat to the iraqi government? >> reporter: isis as you mentioned were originally a group of sunni arab militants in the western part or northwestern part of iraq over the course of america's occupation of this country that rose up really predominantly to fight the american occupation. that ultimately gave birth to isis, the group known as islamic state in both iraq and sometimes referred to as syria. their objective is to build a trans national islamic state in the modern middle east. they have 3,000 or 4,000 core fighters that includes some foreign fighters that have come from abroad. but in iraq specifically over the course of the past several days or weeks, their rank in file members have grown to include sympathizers and been able to tap into the ground swell of resentment that exists among the arab sunni population. getting a lot of support from arab tribes in the area and getting support from former badgei bathists. but the c

ayman live for us in iraq. thank you very much. >>> let's bring in michael who is the editor of the journal democracy. and msnbc and colonel jack jacobs. >> let me start with you regarding the comments made by john kerry. no country including the u.s. has the right to iraq's leadership. the president saying something similar. as ayman pointed out you're seeing shia militia on the street. there seems to be a focus for maliki on the military option. not the politics and factor in iraq just had elections. you hear kerry saying it's up to the people of iraq to choose their leaders. is this enough, at this point, we're hearing from the obama administration? is this the days' long option that we're going to get, at least, at this point? >> who knows. it's really -- probably not. probably not. but, you know, the united states has to say that, of course, for a couple of reasons. one of them is historic because in that region, the united states spent many years. many decades picking leaders of neighboring iran most nota

ayman on the ground. thanks, as always. i want to bring in josh barra and reported extensionally from iraq about a decade ago. thank you for being here. let's start with you, sir. there was a recent poll that 55% of americans did not want any involvement in iraq in any way, shape, form, or fashion. or nbc news poll found 57% of those polled at this point disapprove of president obama's foreign policy. all-time high for the president. how does this latest plan to send military advisers. how does the plan stack up? >> i think it can depend on whether he can sell the idea it's an limited intervention. it's not boots on the ground in sense of troops facing combat. as you got add earlier it's not entirely our choice whether they combat or not. if they're attacked then they're combat troops. i think it depends on how it plays out. we've had negative experiences in the past. for example, the reagan administration an attack on the marine base in beirut. i think the president, if it becomes another thing we're losing american lives

thank you, ayman. >>> to ayman's final point there, there is also reliably controversy today over the obama administration's handling of the crisis. it was ignited after this exchange between secretary of state john kerry and katie couric. >> at this moment, i think we need to go step by step and see what, in fact, might be a reality, but i wouldn't rule out anything that could be constructive to providing real stability, a respect for the constitution, a respect for the election process, and a respect for the ability of the iraqi people to form a government that represents all the interests of iraq. >> that created a right wing meme that kerry had stepped in it, despite the fact the previous day senator lindsey graham of all people reluctantly acknowledged the possible necessity of coordinating with iran. >> deal with stalin because he was not as bad as hitler. we need to coordinate with the iranians and the turks need to get in the game and get the sunni arabs back into the game, form a new government without maliki, but, yes, i don't want iran to dominate iraq and that's where they

ayman, thank you so much for joining us. how are iraqis reacting to the american announcement of 300 military advisers there? >> reporter: well, krystal, i think there's been mixed reaction coming in from different sets of iraq si socie -- iraqi society. we're here in the kurdish reason. yesterday i was with special forces when the announcement came that president obama had made his decision about the deployment of troops and not following through with air strikes. i can tell you they were not happy about that. they were not necessarily upset with the decision of advisers, but they were critical of the u.s. deciding not to provide any type of military support, particularly air strikes. they feel particularly the kurds because they have been fighting on the ground that they really need that air support and air cover if they want to change the momentum of the fighters on the ground to get isis back on their heels and perhaps completely obliterate them. but there's no doubt that they were disappointed. other, however, particula

let me go to ayman who is in northern iraq. ayman, you've watched this movement, you've seen what's going on. what's the latest on the ground there? >> reporter: well, the situation from a humanitarian point of view continues to cause major concerns for international organizations as they try and alleviate some of this pressure that is building up with hundreds of thousands of iraqis leaving the northwest part of the country. in addition to that, we are getting some news about the offensive by isis groups and affiliated groups that have pushed northwards of mosul. they have now taken the city of talafar but capturing the most senior military official. as we've seen in the past several days according to the images posted on these al qaeda-related websites, some of those officers and some of those military personnel are being executed in mass graves. we haven't confirmed that independently, but that is causing enough fear here ground for people to believe they are true and it is certainly stoking the flames of sectarianism even m

ayman mohyeldin, nbc news, los angeles. >> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com teacher layoffs. and a 60 billion dollar budget deficit. that's what john perez faced when he became speaker of the california assembly. so he partnered with governor brown to pass three balanced budgets, on time. for the first time in thirty years. today, the deficits are gone and we've invested an additional 2 billion dollars in education. now john perez is running for controller, to keep fighting for balanced budgets. democrat john perez for controller. >>> there's a nationwide manhunt for san francisco man tonight. bi calls him armed and dangerous. we have new information on ryan chamberland and his connection to bay area politics. >>> his family says he was the highlight of their family. we take you to the emotional gathering in the east bay. >> and tsa agent find a hand grenade in the luggage of a stanford prof

nbc's ayman mohyeldin reports. >> reporter: u.s. secretary of state john kerry concluded his trip to iraq today by holding meetings with kurdish representatives here. one of the issues that secretary of state kerry was pressing on was that he wanted the kurdish government or at least kurdish representatives to participate in a new government being formed by prime minister nuri al maliki. >> the government challenge is a central challenge that we face. in recent days, the security cooperation between the forces here in the kurdish area have been really critical to helping to draw a line with respect to isil. >> reporter: the kurdish leadership i've been speaking to over the course of the past week have not been hiding their disdain for prime minister maliki. in fact, the region's prime minister has said it's time for him to step aside and allow a new leadership to emerge. but there's no indication that is going to happen anytime soon. the u.s. wants to try to get a political process underway, that forms a new government, that also re

. >> reporter: ayman do crowe thrived in the culture of military life. >> it's not for everyone. i didn't think it was for me initially. it taught me so much. >> reporter: amanda spent her entire career in the navy, where she was told where to go, what to do and when to do it. she loved her job as a special ops parachute rigger. she also had an exhibit (neural streak in her. >> i didn't want to work for anybody else. i feel i am a leader and i can manage a business on my own. >> reporter: these two personality traits may seem at odds, entrepreneurs are risking mavericks, making it up as they go along? right? well not us as, aamanda found a way to run both sides. >> running a franchise. >> you are your own boss. have you the backing behind you. >> reporter: another navy vet, he was her inspiration. he opened up one of about 4 u. post-net franchises, specialize income mail and and business services, as a retired military officer like ayman dark, he was looking for order and found it in the post-net online pan wal describing how to run the company. >> we are used to having systems i

. >> ayman mohyeldin is following developments on the ground. i'm not sure if you could hear the ambassador. he was essentially blaming the united states policy in syria for what is happening in iraq right now. when you talk to people on the ground, do they believe that this problem began in washington? >> reporter: yes, certainly, and not only on the ground in terms of local residents and local populations but also from the perspective of a lot of gulf arab differents, some of the u.s. closest allies have been among its sharpest critics. they say the united states decisive inaction in syria was also a reason why groups like isis were able to grow more and more and become the power force that they are now in the region or at least in these two countries, iraq and syria. keep in mind, when the syrian revolution began, there was a moderate secular force. that was the free syrian army. there were moderate syrian rebels that wanted to fight against the regime with the u.s. backing. but the u.s. backing was so concerned some of these rebels would get

. >> and ayman mow ha dean joining us now. jay carney did not give any more information on the health crisis that the administration says he was facing, but what do we know regarding the treatment at the medical center. >> well, tamron, we understand from the officials here that he is going a full medical health checkup, and the reintegration is a separate process. right now at landstuhl, he is being evaluated by health official s officials to organize his health and physical and mental process is doing, and then the reintegration will continue, and exposing him to some of the media and the statements that the family has made, and there is no doubt when that process is going to get under way since the process is ongoing, but they say it is is happened before, and it is driven by the fasht and the conditi condition. he has been in captivity for five years, and that is a long time, and there could be post-traumatic stress disorderer, and other psychological issues, but they have to know the overall well-being before they can eve

first, ayman that there were tall ban members w tal talliban members who were freed and now some pushback from the government? >> yes, there is a downplay of suggesting that these men were somehow free. according to the agreement between the united states and the taliban that was brokered by qat qatar, they were going to be transferred, but no agreement to be put in jail or detention facili facility, so that the understanding is that these men would have serious restrictions imposed on them meaning they could not travel from the country, and the activity would be closely monitor theed and not allowed to rejoin any activity with the taliban, but at the same time, there are concerns that perhaps just being free inside of qatar itself could be alarming, but the qatar government is insisting it is not about where they are, but what they do, and that is heavily restricted and they are going to try to push on the notion that they are walking simply free to do whatever they want whenever they want. >> and ayman, at a hospital, a statement said no predetermined amount of time involved in his rein

elizabeth joins me now as well as ayman. elizabeth, first to you, because you covered this and dealt with the family for years and covered the pentagon as well as every other beat in washington before becoming deputy bureau chief. what is your understanding of the circumstances under which bowe bergdahl left his post? >> well, as the story said in today's paper, the senior military commanders who are very familiar with the investigation into his disappearance saying that he wandered off the post on his own sometime after midnight on june 30th, 2009. he left a note behind saying he had grown disillusioned with the war and packed up a back pack and did not take his body armor or weapons which is extraordinary. this is from a former senior military commander, very good source. the pentagon has not said officially what happened to him these days but of course the initial reports from the military, american military were that he had walked off his post back in 2009, which is how we reported it. then there was some -- there was --

. >> nbc's ayman ayman mohyeldin joins me. what's going on? >> reporter: this is an issue they've been dealing with ever since their own revolution begin and has morphed to include elements of militancy. but isis has managed to overtake several key border crossings and towns along the iraqi/syria border. this would mean there's another dimension to their own internal problems. as a result, they're taking the air-strikes that they had to over the course of the past several days. but they're in some ways paying back the iraqi government who's stood by the regime of president bashar al assad. and they welcome the air-strikes and the support they've been getting into the syrian regime. from the iranian perspective, it's different. iraq is a close ally to iran. but if you look at the two countries side by side, iran's backed syria and iraq over the past years. now it's being dragged into a proxy wars -- >> ayman mohyeldin joining us from erbil, iraq. >>> president obama heads to minnesota next hour. the president is meeting with someone who wrote h

ayman, we've got the situation at the oil refinery. jordanian government sent troops to reinforce the border with iraq. and now we've also got the issue of air support from syria that is making attacks within the border of iraq. what effect are these actions having on isis at the moment? >> well, first of all, it's giving you a sense how volatile the region is and how transnational the problem of isis has become. a lot of people have been warning about it. spilling over from syria. now we're seeing how it's sucking everybody in to this conflict across three different countries. now jordan, syria, and here in iraq. there's no doubt about it that the iraqi government is going to welcome the news that the syrian regime has now launched air strikes on isis targets along the border. the jordanian government is reinforcing the border to make sure the crossings that fell in syria don't fall along the jor dane began side. it gives you a sense there's a attempt to contain isis between the three countries and perhaps with the arrival of u.s. mil

ayman will join us from the ground with the latest. good morning, ayman. >> good morning. it was an early dawn raid on this oil refinery, iraq's largest oil -- >> taking some hits from ayman. we'll talk for a few seconds and talk about some stocks while we try to get ayman back. did you read the op-ed by mr. cheney? >> what paper? >> in your favorite paper pup did not see this? >> the "new york times"? >> no. i'm not being sarcastic. this was -- i wanted to -- >> i'm being sarcastic. maybe i've switched. >> i wanted to ask ayman about this, to the extent we were going to play the blame game in iraq. here it is, dick cheney, the collapsing obama doctrine. i read this thinking that i needed to be prepared this morning. this is a piece that effectively goes to the litany of things the president has said -- >> did you read the sean penn piece? i was more interested in the -- >> no. i saw that actually on mine. but it's at this point i thi think -- i think president obama is in an okay position. if you were to say that we gave back iraq after all that sacrifice, you would think

nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin is live in iraq this morning. ayman, given the sectarian tensions and how they seem to be escalating, is a political solution even a real possibility? >> reporter: well, certainly if you ask some of the officials in power, particularly here in the kurdish regional government, everybody insists. you know, i sat down with the kurdish prime minister today and he told me there is no military solution to this, there is only a political solution. that political solution has to begin with the leadership of this country to try to come up with a new framework. a military solution may buy time and set the isis fighters back on their heels, but it doesn't solve the underlying grievances that exist among the sunni arab community or the sunni arab population here that are really fueling some of the resentment against the iraqi government and leading to some of these fractures along sectarian lines. this is fundamentally a political problem that manifests itself along sectarian lines. right now the only solution, according to s

i want to start with some of what we heard from ayman. let's begin with this question about the leader. is it can -- taking your class by going back and trying to read and thinking about how old these divisions are, is it unreasonable to expect that any given leader through sheer force of personality or will could bring together these groups? in other words, is partition inevitable at this point? >> it's a great question. when i was there in '06-'07 the leadup had been the number of elections and i interviewed a number who preceded maliki and spoke of themselves as founding fathers. equa equated their actions to that of george washington, john adams. a lot see them as shia sunni or kurds. political leaders saw it as a game they couldn't compromise too much. couldn't demand too little. it was a struggle for power. and out that have emerged maliki who was a compromise candidate. he really wasn't someone that inspired the iraqi people or even inspired any confidence among his party. he was just everyone's second choice. and when they couldn'

ayman mohyeldin, erbil in iraq. >>> usually this time of year there's a drop in gas prices but not this year because of the conflict in iraq. according to aaa, the national average is $3.68 a gallon. that's the highest this time of year since 2008. here in the bay area it's up a couple cents this week. a gallon of regular in san francisco, $4.22. san jose, $4.09. oakland, $4.11 a gallon. >>> tesla is on the high road tonight. a new report claims the bay area-based company may be the most important carmaker. morgan stanley research analyst made that claim to investors this week. he says tesla is now being viewed as a true competitor to other carmakers and some like gm and bmw even created their own development team to create long range vehicles. they say they can't wait to see hat the carmaker has in store next. >> i think the technology of this car should be the way of the future. i hope they can bring it down to a price point that everyone -- that makes it affordable and it's good for the environment. and how many jobs they've created in california and just made, you know, driving a ca

and corporal ayman ruminated about it and said, i know i've seen it somewhere. >> the policeman immediatelyzed it as the same symbol that was on the first ransom note. the owner of the store, david kopenheffer, said he made the sign with his computer and the border was one he mimicked after seeing it on other signs. kopenheffer was a friend of the weiner family, and denied having anything to do with sally's murder. >> they knew each other quite well. both families were members of the presbyterian church. >> they worshipped together, sang hymns together. they both sat in pews not far from each other at the church. >> because of the similarity between the ransom note and the sign in the store window, investigators confiscated both his home and his office computers. >> the preliminary search that was conducted by the state police and one of our other agents revealed exactly to me what it revealed to them. initially nothing. >> next, investigators wanted to know the approximate time of sally's death so they could question kopenheffer about his whereabouts. a forensic entomologist analyzed the i

. >> ayman, you're speaking a lot with some kurds. i guess i would ask you, do they even have any interest in a unified iraq or at this point would they prefer to be governing their own territory? do they want to be a full country or is it some sort of weak federal system? >> reporter: well, right now, there's no dousht that the kurdish region, and certainly kurdish citizens have their own ethnic identity that is more autonomous than anywhere in the country. if they do have a state or try to declare independence, keep in mind they would be a land locked country surrounded by four other countries that are traditionally hostile toward kurds, turkey, iran, syria and iraq. they would be in a very geopolitical situation. they're buying time. they pretty much control their own affairs internally and externally. they have oil. they're happy and content with controlling their own affairs. >> ayman, thank you very much. >>> coming up after the break, weighing the options. i'll talk to both former bush administration official wolfowitz and new

right now, we go the landstuhl, germany, and ayman, what do we know about the rehabilitation process right now, the officials are tight-lipped about the overall conditions, and difficult to get any kind of assessment about what his state of mind is at the moment, but officials here that we have been speaking to have been saying that they the reintegration process is two stages. the first stage here at landstuhl is a complete evaluation of the medical capabilities and the health and the psychological stamina, and more importantly the overall well-being, and once that is cleared and he is stabilize from their perspective, then the reintegration process begins, and that depends upon a whole host of factors, how he reoriented to the surroundings and the people and how he interacts and a lot of that is driven by himself, and they will see how he is doing, and based on, that they will set a time line for the reintegration, and transfer to the united states. a lot of details about that process tend to vary from the patient to patient, and it depends upon their overall strength and whether o

and we are joined by ayman m mohyeldin. >> well, craig, we know they are in the capital, but we don't know where they are being held in qatar. and maybe doha. but we are not known too much about them, but they were held in captivity and according to some other sources, they are not in good shape mentally or physically, and in fact, many of them endured years of torture in the prison, but what we do understand from sources close to the taliban is that the five are in different areas and staying with different members of the taliban political office, and not all in the same compound which is slightly different when they first arrived on the first day where they are together, but now they are at different facilities to the second point of the question, they are being closely monitored. we spoke to qatar officials, and they have said that they want it clear that they don't want these individuals have a high profile or speaking to the media, and they are not in shape to do that, but more importantly the qatar government is aware of the whereabouts, and they will be monitor i monitoring the

that's what we're hearing on the ground. >> ayman in northern iraq. thank you. i want to bring in democratic congresswoman and iraq war veteran tammy duckworth. she was deployed there. one of the first army women to fly combat missions and lost both her legs when the helicopter was shot down in 2004. congresswoman, it's good to see you. thank you for being with us. the first of those 300 u.s. special forces being sent in as advisers set to hit the ground in iraq within days. they could be used to call in air strikes, we're told. i want to play a snippet of what secretary kerry told andrea mitchell about the mission today. >> what we're trying to do here is assess what are the capabilities of the iraqi military. what is the situation on the ground? how much is there? all the the different options want wrchith respect what you mt do about them. that will inform the president and the national security team to make judgments. >> do you support president obama's decision to send new new advisers? do you sport air strikes being used at all? >> i don't support air stri

ayman, thank you so much for joining us. how are

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is live in iraq.l us what this means on the ground, the idea that al maliki has appeared to reject the idea of forming a unity government. >> well, joy, right now the situation stands that this country had elections not too long ago. they're now on a constitutional process that is technically supposed to begin july 1st. what i mean by that is on july 1st, this country's parliament is supposed to convene. they're supposed to elect a speaker of parliament, then a president for the country. then the president turns around and apoints a prime minister. in this case, it would be somebody who won the most seats in parliament. that would be prime minister maliki's party. but the problem right now is a lot of the opposition, particularly sunni arabs, say they want to scrap that process. they want prime minister maliki to step down today and form a new government under somebody else's leadership. that is what he's rejecting to. he's rejecting to that interim period from now until july 1st that would effectivel

joining me now, nbc news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin. >> isis is a group that was founded late last year after they broke away from al qaeda. now, there are several components to the group itself. one of its largest component have said former iraqi army members, soldiers, members of the sunni arab community inside iraq itself. they have been able, over the course of the last year or so, grown their ranks, grown their numbers by tapping into social resentment in the sunni/arab communities of the western part of the country, and that has allowed them to grow. but they now also have, in addition to that, foreign fighters that have come in by the hundreds and who have joined their ranks. we've seen documentations, as well as heard from firefighters who have come from europe, including places like chechnya, central asia, as well as north africa. they also have that, but their numbers are predominantly made up of this sunni arab community, that inhabits both the western part of iraq, as well as the syrian population, the sunni arab syrian population. so those are the ones that r

. >> we'll take her to ayman for medical treatment. in baghdad, they don't have doctors who can help her. >> they took the back roads from baghdad and on to ramadi to avoid the fighting. they say they have suffered a loss. in the car behind them is a woman in mourning. >> i have come from iraq to see a psychiatrist because my tonne died 21 days ago, a victim of the fighting. he died in dearticlea. >> they had seen some victims from the war. it's hospitals like this where patient who have been injured in iraq, can get the attention they need. some of the injuries include burns on the skin and broken bones. medecins sans frontieres, or doctors without borders, are treating 230 people. patients are treated in iraq, before being transported by air or road across the border. >> the situation in iraqi, is good, but with the war, i am sure everything is changed. so in case of the need - if they need help or do something for them, they come to the hospital, and we can see if they are matching. the norwegian refugee committee says 1.2 million i

. >> that is the ambassador to united states to iraq earlier today, with but ayman, we know that right now, factoring into the crisis is e iran, and its decision to perhaps deploy elite revolutionary guard units to iraq. >> well, absolutely. i mean, this is a unique moment where the united states and iranian interests are both converging in iraq, and interesting not only is the iranian government making it clear the support for the maliki government politically and diplomatically and as well as with the military or paramilitary assets on the ground, but also spiritually as the grand ayatollah who lives in iraq has actually called on the young men in iraq to joan the fight to take up arms and to defend the country. that perhaps give the greatest indication that this violence that is spreading across iraq is falling more and more along the sectarian lines and taking a dangerous turn between the sunni community and the shiite community on the other and that is one of the reasons that iran is very vested in this, because they are a backer of the maliki government and the shiite government

. >> ayman, when we talk about other sunnis getting behind it, we also have the fact the united states in vienna today and elsewhere perhaps, secretly talking to iran about how to, you know, how to figure the lines of authority. how to coordinate. and how to deal with the fact that the head of the qods force, the iranian revolutionary guard, the bad guys supposedly, are now our new allies in going against isis? i mean, this is extraordinarily complicated. >> it is. as one political analyst here told me it is the irony of all ironies that the united states and iran have a convergent of forces in iraq fighting the type of al qaeda-linked groups that the united states and other u.s. applies in the region, including saudi arabia and qatar were trying to support in their very same fight inside syria. so you can see that the composition of the lines of the middle east are constantly being redrawn. the allegiances and the cooperation is completely being redrawn if you will, depending on what happens on the ground. according to some of the sources that i've been speaking to here in the region,

nbc's ayman mohyeldin, appreciate that update. this idea of using iran as a part of a solution in iraq is reverberating on the hill. here's senator lindsey graham yesterday. >> we're going to have to have some dialogue with the iranians to say let's coordinate our efforts but put a red line. don't use this crisis to take territory from the iraqi people. put them on notice that we will not accept their intervening into iraq for the purpose of creating a satellite state for iran. >> will that message resonate with both chambers? will we see more of it out of both parties? joining me congressman eliot eng engel. congressman, thank you for being here gop you think this idea of great collaboration with iran is smart or a dangerous decision to make here? >> i think it's probably both. i think it's smart because we frankly are caught between a rock and a hard place. we don't really know what to do. and we are grasping as strauss as foras i can see. this is a direct result, obviously, from our ill fated incursion into iraq during the bush

ayman mohyeldin is on the ground in iraq. what's the latest there this morning?> reporter: yet another day and another town that has fallen into the hands of isis, the islamic group that now controls parts of syria and iraq. now, the latest town that's fallen in their control is just north of mosul. they've also captured the iraqi national army's most senior military officer along with his men after they managed to overrun the governor building in that town. it gives you an indication that their offensive still continues. they're also getting a lot of support from the local population in many of these towns that they are overrunning. in addition to that, there are still skirmishes in the city of tikrit which is an area that the iraqi military has tried to make some pushes in the past 48 hours to reclaim some of that territory. but right now, the upper hand, at least, seems to be with the al qaeda-linked militants that are overrunning these towns. they now control at least several towns and cities in four different governorates. the iraqi air force for its part ha

let's get the latest on the ground from nbc's ayman moylhedin in erbil. how important is that oil field attack? >> it's important strategically and symbolically. it refines a quarter of iraq's oil. it would certainly have a tremendous amount of disruption on the electrical supply across this country. it would also create a sense of anxiety. we've already seen that on the ground in just days' worth of fighting. people are lining up for hours to get gas at the gas stations. so it's definitely creating real problems on the ground. but symbolically to see that the largest oil refinery falling into the hands of the isis fighters would give them tremendous amount of leverage in their ability to ultimately have more territory and more land and to really kind of perhaps down the road squeeze some concessions out of the iraqi government which would lose that. it has important symbolic and strategic significance. meanwhile, the country's prime minister, though, is trying to paint this as the fight against terrorism. and he today addressed the nation trying to bring

to fight under ayman al-zawahiri.e way these groups came out of isis, isis says these groups are traders. we're better than al-zawahiri. we're better than al qaeda. jenna: are they? >> they are worse, absolute. absolutely. what they are doing in syria, what they're doing in iraq today. those guys don't have only the ideology of usama bin laden, the anti-american, anti-western ideology of usama bin laden but also, they pose the ideology, sectarian ideology and ideology that came after the iraq war. jenna: help us navigate this. we're hearing from one senior intelligence official telling "the washington post" telling us that these guys are more anti-american and anti-western like you're saying. >> sure. jenna: then the spokesman for the president says this is different kind of threat, that core al qaeda repeatedly publicly vowed to attack u.s. soil but he seems to be saying these guys haven't. how should we look at them as americans? what kind of threat do they pose to us? >> first of all they're challenging the nationa

ayman mohyeldin, thank you so much.assador joseph wilson who served as deputy chief of mission in iraq during the first gulf war and was later a special assistant to president bill clinton and a senior director on the national security council. welcome back to the broadcast. it's good to see you. >> hi, alex. every ten years we get together. >> yeah, we've got to make it more often than that. i know you've been busy, as have i. here we go with the questions, sir. i read your new op-ed in which you wrote that in 1990 saddam hussein told you if it was dislodged, iraq would sink into war and chaos. as it turns out, he was right. but is iraq and the whole middle east better off without him? >> oh, that's a good question. i think it is entirely possible that what we see going on today would have happened at the time of saddam's ultimate demise. remember, he would have been 77 years old this year. his regime was already sclerotic when we invaded in 1993. the problem we have now is that had he been taken out by his own people,

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in iraq. do you expect any movement after today's meeting?> well, if there's going to be any movement, it's certainly going to happen in closed doors, and it's going to be very private. there's a lot of power sharing that takes place here in iraq. the way the constitution is set up. and more importantly, this country recently had elections. it's time for the presideime mir maliki to try and form a government. that's one of the issues secretary of state john kerry alluded to. constitutionally speaking, it could drag on for several more weeks. that's time iraq simply doesn't have. it's also one of the reasons why secretary of state kerry came to the region and tried to move this process along. in order to get the kurds and the sunni arabs into government again under the leadership of prime minister maliki, that is going to be a very tough sell. and as you mentioned, the kurds, they are power broke whers it comes to any kind of national iraqi government. they have the presidency. they also have the foreign ministry. these are important portfolio

and ayman mohyeldin is in iraq for us. what have you learned about this new isis video? >> reporter: good morning, alex. well, you know, the video was made in english, it's a well, slick produced video, it's certainly trying to appeal to the global community, if you will, to come and join the fight here in iraq. the way they are portraying this fight is consistent with their message. this is a jihad and this is the opportunity for jihadists around the world, if you will, to come join the fight. and without a doubt, this is the aim of the video, in addition to all of the communication that i have been putting out, regarding some of the fighting that has been taking place here. a global call to join the fight in iraq, made by english-speaking isis fighters, many european passports. it's part of a propaganda video as the group makes its steady and deadly push on to baghdad. iraq's military is also getting fresh recruits. thousands of shia men answering their cleric's call to join the fight. and the army is also getting some outside help in the form of american soldiers. 300

ayman mohyeldin joins us from erbil. it's really troubling and doesn't seem as politically or militarily this thing is coming together. >> absolutely. in fact, from a military point of view, the iraqi army today said it was trying to retake tikrit and twhen did so it had one of its helicopters shot down. it's struggled to get a military foothold to deploy soldiers in some of these small towns, let alone trying to make it ultimately to mosul in the northwest part of the country. even in the small towns and strategic cities on the outskirts of baghdad, they are struggling to advance on to those and to hold them. at the same time as you were saying, politically, there's a huge vacuum still in the country. the country is scheduled to convene its first parliamentary session on july 1st and ultimately try to put together a cabinet. there's no indication that prime minister maliki is going to be able to meet some of the demands of sunni arab leaders and the kurdish leaders and try to form a new national unity government. so far

ayman mohyeldin is in the northern city of erbil for us. >> reporter: well, it is still a very tense situation that's unfolding here on the ground, and more importantly along the area where we are, the kurdish region of iraq, about a thousand miles or so of the border between kurdistan and iraq now in control by isis rebel fighters. in addition to that, the isis rebels or militants have been able to take control over 30 military bases that were at one point controlled by the iraqi national army. four of those bases were occupied by the iraqi military when they were in iraq. not able have they be able to take over large parts of the country territory yally but able to consolidate their control over these arias and try to take the fight to the capital baghdad and other parts. it is a tense situation as this situation continues to unfold. the iraqi military has launched some air strikes in areas where they say al qaeda-linked militants have been hiding out but has not been able to dislodge isis fighters from the stong holds they've captured in the last week. >> ayman mohyeldin in the da

with us tonight from nearby ayman, jordan. it is notable that 11 years after this u.s. invasion of oh iraq that was meant to make that country safe for democracy, the u.s. secretary of state still has to come and go secretly and under heavy security. >> reporter: indeed. it's his first trip there in more than a year. brian, john kerry's message, his urgent message today to baghdad's political leaders was stop fighting amongst yourself or risk having isis shatter iraq's fragile peace. iraqi troops didn't turn and%k%n today but isis militants advanced to bakuba less than 30 miles from baghdad. the insurgents control almost the entire border with syria and for a while also seize add key checkpoint with jordan urging to the urgency of john kerry's trip to baghdad, landing under intense security. he met with sunni and shia power brokers. for almost two hours with prime malaki stressing that this is a moment of decision, a critical time for iraq's leaders. >> iraq faces an exsten shell threat and iraq's leaders have to meet the threat with the urgency it demands. the very fut

his first stop expected to be ayman, jordan, and heading to brussels and paris. that's for nato meetings there. now, his whole point, or one of the big points of the trip is to try to figure out how to bring stability back to iraq, and he is going to be pushing the u.s. agenda, pushing the u.s. position that we need a more inclusive government in iraq. when kerry gets to the second portion of his trip, he has another crisis, talking about the crisis in ukraine. a busy schedule for the secretary of state. there is some talk that he may head to iraq. we don't know, the white house has not indicated whether it will be on this trip or a later time. but at some point the secretary of state may, in fact, head into that country. >>> speaking of the white house, the first group of u.s. military advisors are expected to arrive in iraq today. what is first on the agenda once they get there? >> the white house indicated it will send up to 300 special forces troops into iraq. they are really there to put, in a sense, our eyes and ears there in iraq. they are there to advice

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in iraq. isis is now moving fighters freely across these borders. they are marching towards baghdad. secretary kerry is holding meeting after meeting. what impact is that going to have? >> reporter: well, there's no doubt that the future of iraq as secretary of state john kerry highlighted depends on what iraq's leadership does. now, there are two major issues. one is the shape of the government that comes into being, but two, the timeline in which it takes to get that government formed. now, this country held elections not too long ago. his party, prime minister maliki's party, won the majority of seats or the bulk of the seats, so he has the right to form that government. but he's got to form a coalition that the u.s. and others want to be more inclusive, more pluralistic, more representative. the u.s. wants that timeline to happen rather quickly. they don't want it to drag on for months as it usually does in iraq. they don't have the time for that because we've seen isis make territorial gains day after day. that's one issue, to try to get that g