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

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

. >> 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

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is following developments on the ground in iraq. 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

release, and the criticism it is drawing in congress, let's go to nbc's ayman mohyeldin in landstuhl, germany. 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

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

. >> 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

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

. >> 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 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

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 news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin. 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, fo

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

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

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in the northern part of the country in iraq's fourth largest city, erbil, home to a million and a half people caught in this conflict. also with us, former u.s. ambassador mark ginsburg, who advises the white house on mideast issues, dating back to the late '70s. 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 he

richard engel is now in baghdad and nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in northern iraq. richard, let me start with you. you're in baghdad. do you sense that this is a city that's preparing for a battle? >> reporter: yes, i do actually. i am right now in the square, which is where that famous statue of saddam hussein was pulled down as u.s. troops, marines came in, and eventually toppled saddam hussein. right now mostly the streets are empty, not a lot of people. people are afraid, they're staying inside their homes. prices are going up because some of the roads leading into the capital have been shut off because of the fighting. food prices are up 50% in some cases. fuel prices are also up. we've seen the iraqi army deployed, not just in their bases but putting their armored vehicles, their .50 caliber machine guns in front of the gates of their position. heavy military presence at the airport. we've been driving around baghdad for the last 45 minutes or so. i've perhaps never seen the city this empty as it is right now. there's not fighting in the city. it doesn't feel

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

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

ayman mohyeldin, appreciate it. >>> in seattle, the city council passing legislation to make the minimumage 15 bucks an hour. that's the highest in the u.s. fast food workers and others cheered this. the legislation goes into effect next april. but the increase is going to be phased in over several years. so it's not from 0 to 60 here overnight. businesses with more than 500 employees will get three years to comply. while smaller businesses will get up to seven years. a group representing national franchises says it plans to sue over the different classifications. >>> the obama administration's new plan to reduce pollution across the country is threatening to cause big headaches for democrats in november's midterm elections. the environmental agency says power plants will be required to cut emissions by 30% by 2030. it covers more than half of which are coal plants. house speaker john boehner did not hold back his criticism. he said the plan would cost americans jobs and increase electric prices. congressman boehner also said, quote, the president's plan is nuts. there's are not more suc

as we start in iraq, ayman mohyeldin is there for us in erbil in northern iraq.ight satellite delay. how far have militants advanced today from what you are hearing? >> reporter: well, we have been able to get a sense that they haven't advanced onto baghdad in the large number -- an attempt by the iraqi government to try to repel or reclaim some of the outer lying territory in between baghdad and cities and towns like tikrit which are 60 to 80 miles from the capital. in terms of the advance to baghdad or trying to enter baghdad we haven't seen any indication or offensive by the militants that any such operation is under way despite the fact that they were calling for it last week. there are logistics to consider and the concern of baghdad falling into the hands of militants. the city is tense. you mentioned suicide bombings and explosions adding to the anxiety and challenging the government's ability to maintain law and order and preserve security for the millions of people in the capital. >> talk about the tension, millions of people, the iraqis there. what do t

joining me now is nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin and spencer aker man. thank you for being here. 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 supp

nbc's ayman mohyeldin is following developments on the ground in iraq.

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 so

. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in qatar for us and joins me now on the telephone.bout their whereabouts right now? >> well, right now their whereabouts are being tightly guarded by both the taliban and the qatar government. we know they've arrived in qatar and there's been speculation as to whether the individuals were actually even in the capital or perhaps had gone and sought refuge in homs, outside of the capital. we understand from sources close to the taliban that the individuals are in the country. some of their relatives have been reunited with them from afghanistan and elsewhere. they've been brought here. the five individuals are actually receiving medical care given a lot of what they endured during the 13 years in guantanamo bay. some of the sources close to the taliban say the men are mentally exhausted, physically exhausted. they say they had endured a lot during those 13 years and are now going through a period of recovery and certainly going to be keeping a low profile for the next several weeks and months. >> we know that they're not going to be all

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

. >> and as we go to iraq and what is happening in that country, it was ayman mohyeldin who reporteds happening here, is that the same insurgents in the syria and the iraq militants and we want iran's help in iraq or iraq wants iran's help, but only to the point, because iran is on the other side of the conflict as far as the united states is concern concerned with what is going on inside of syria, and so it is -- look, this is a 1,000-year religion-war between shia and sunni and the borders be damned. >> and we will weigh in with jim mi miklaszewski. and you are hearing that it may be the worst best scenario to hear that drons could be used by gathering intelligence here, and what are you hearing there? >> well, ofar, the officials are saying that we have given all possible military options to the president, and they are waiting for him to select one from column a or b and whatever one e from column b. then they will plunge into the necessary military planning to carry out whatever the president's orders are. that doesn't mean they are not looking at options now in terms of aircraft

. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin, thanks again. with the white house considering its options in iraq it's hard to find good ones top. to help us walk through what can be done if anything. let's bring in kenneth pollack. director for persian gulf affairs at the national security council under president clinton. now he's a senior fellow at the brookings institution. so ken, given we're not occupying the country anymore, what can and should we be doing about this situation? >> well, first you guys are absolutely right, that we need to recognize that our options in iraq are limited. and we should think about it this way. iraq went into civil war in 2006. what we're seeing today is simply a revival of exactly that civil war. in 2007-2008 the u.s. polled iraq through a massive military effort combined with a huge diplomatic effort. that's effectively what it would take to do the same thing this time around, and we just don't have those resources there that we did have at that point in time. anything we do is going to have to be a lot mor

. >> nbc news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin, thank you. >>> in washington today, speaker boehner was certainly not the only one using the events in iraq to attack president obama. some are citing the growing jihadist strength in iraq as a latest example of the failings of the obama administration's foreign policy and the need once again for u.s. intervention. >> there is no scenario where we can stop the bleeding in iraq without american air power. the iraqi army is on the verge of collapse. i would urge the administration to get all of our people out now. i think the people in the isis have as part of their agenda to attack our homeland. the next 9/11 is in the making. >> joining me now, zainab al-shabazz. she just returned from a visit to iraq three weeks ago. so when you hear an american politician calling for air strikes in iraq, what is your reaction? >> it's not -- it certainly is not happy news to hear, but it's unfortunate. the situation in iraq is, in the past week or so, it's been not really encouraging to see what's going on in there and how the insurgent and these jih

. >> richard engel and ayman mohyeldin. >>> marines have been sent to shore up the u.s. embassy in baghdad. we're not talking about big numbers. contractors and other u.s. personnel were sent to consulates in safer parts of the country and in jordan outside of the country as john kerry told katie couric today in the yahoo! interview. >> i'm absolutely convinced that we have the security we need for our embassy. we watched this every single day. we have had any number of meetings to make evaluations. we don't discuss the numbers of people, but suffice it to say there are a number of contractors doing various things around the country and because of the situation around the country, clearly they're not able to be out there safely at this point in time. >> joining us now is william cohen, former congressman, senator and importantly, secretary of defense during the clinton years and played a large role in directing u.s. military actions in iraq during "operation desert fox" in late 1990s. thank you very much for being with us. first of all, what military decisions should the

let's bring in ayman mohyeldin from iraq. >> reporter: good morning, mika.fold all across the country at a very alarming country. this morning talifar held into the hands of isis, this group that wants to establish a state across iraq and the middle east. perhaps one of the surprising developments, we went out and spoke to some of those leaving the area. a lot of their grievances were not directed toward isis but more at the government of the prime minister nouri al maliki. they say over the course of his rule of iraq the past several years have seen a deterioration in the quality of life, quality of security and more importantly a sharp rise in sectarian tensions that has plagued them being a sunni minority in the country. one of the things isis has already done on the ground, according to several residents we spoke to who are leaving mosul today, they have controlled the prices of basic commodities of foods and petro and gas and that has brought some satisfaction to the local residents. they have removed a lot of the checkpoints the iraqi national army had

. >> foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin in northern iraq this morning. coming up in the next, how more on the situation in iraq including today's blame game about what caused the current crisis. we'll talk with general wesley clark who led the war in kosovo as nato supreme allied commander. we'll talk to him about all of that. >>> we want to turn now to one of the violent scenes that unfolded here this week here in the united states. this is what it looked like at reynolds high school in the suburbs of portland, oregon, on tuesday morning. distraught students were filing out of school of a freshman student there shot and killed his 14-year-old classmate, amelia hoffman, in the boys locker room. he also woundinged a phys ed teacher who tried to intervene and turned the gun on himself after exchanging gunfire with police officers at the scene. police say the shooter was armed with an assault rifle, nine magazines of ammunition, a handgun and a knife. according to the gun safety group everytown.org, this marked the 74th school shooting since the tragedy at

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

let's get to ayman mohyeldin, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. this could perhaps be the most decisive week in iraq's history. the government says it is going to launch a large scale military operation that could be backed by both the united states military and iranian special forces to reclaim territory it has lost. they are prepared to take the fight to the heart of baghdad and really push this country to the brink of a full-blown civil war. with violence spreading in iraq, u.s. officials aren't taking any chances. announcing overnight a reduction of staff at the u.s. embassy and deploying troops to beef up security at the sprawling compound. iraq's military is starting to fight back targeting alleged hide youths of al qaeda-linked militants. today the islamic state of iraq managed to overrun so far. the fighters are consolidating their grip on areas. the fighters have released disturbing images they claim are iraqi soldiers being murdered. one believed the pictures to be credible but nbc has not verified their authenticity. and the violence is