well among the accusations the president there bashir al assad his regime attacked his own people withorine gas eight times back in april and it's three years that president obama said he needs to go and quite a long time since he crossed the red line yet there he is. our chief intelligence correspondent kathryn harris is live in washington. we're learning more about the islamic state's military capabilities. >> reporter: that's right. the terrorist group isis or isil has taken a strategy jig approach to gain recruits and equipment according to a new analys analysis. an independent and privately funded research group reads in part isil did not become effective suddenly in early june 2014 it had been steadily strengthening and actively shaping the future operating environment for four years. >> there's been a deliberate and very thoughtful approach to how they built themselves up. they have armored units. they have vehicles. they have tactics. they have command and control structures. they are very well organized. it's not a bunch of terrorists running around. it's organized militant ar

while certainly there's room for discussion on this issue as we discussed earlier about whether bashir al assad whether the first policy point should have been that he should he should go i understand the point you're making but i'm much more interested in what we're going to be doing going forward because i think we have an enormous challenge and whether we come to an agreement or disagreement on something that took place three years ago is not going to help us get through that challenge or worse yet something. took place eleven years ago is not going to help us get through this challenge my point is i think all like minded countries the united states and yes i would include russia in this as well needs to kind of get together and work on what syria should be in the future and how iraq how we can all help iraq overcome these sectoral enmities that i think it is fair to say have been going on for some one thousand years so rather than litigate the past let's see how we can go forward and what are workable arrangements for the national here we are not less a giving the past here and i'm sure you

to take the military base in rhaka province in northeastern syria was the last stronghold for bashir al assad's regime in that particular area. isis claims it captured 250 of them. they are prisons of war. this is what they do to them. they march them through the desert, knowing full well what their fate is and executing them and gloating about it on the internet. a short time after that video was posted, christine, there was another video from isis. this time showing kurdish forces all wearing orange jump suits, the same jump suit worn by american journalist james foley, who was horrifically beheaded in a video last week. one of the soldiers makes an appeal to his president here in kurdistan, to stop cooperating with the united states allowing the u.s. air strikes to be conducted here in iraq. it finishes with a soldier kneeling before a mosque in mosul. three isis militants standing above him. e grabs his head, the tuft of his hair and gets out his knife and beheads him. this is how the video ends. we have seen this time and time again. certainly, it's just a horrifying image that really show

would a bold stroke against isis put us in bed with bashir al assad the person barack obama swore hef? tonight we look at the revolt and development facing the american president. how to choose the greater evil? a terror group or a dictator who

would a bold stroke against isis put us in bed with bashir al assad the person barack obama swore heok at

would a bold stroke against isis put us in bed with bashir al assad the person barack obama swore he would get rid of? tonight we look at the revolt and development facing the american president. how to choose the greater evil? a terror group or a dictator who has shown he'll do anything to save himself. howard fineman is the editorial director of the huffington post and bobby gaush is from the digital publication kwarz. the u.s. is sending missions over syria authorized by president obama this weekend to assess targets for potential air strikes against isis. they are using both manned and unmanned aircrafts for the purpose. u.s. officials won't seek approval from the assad government. meanwhile the pentagon is drafting plans for potential strikes against the terror group. the president hasn't ok'd strikes yet. nbc news reports the decision could come as early as this week. the strikes would target isis forces, weapons and supply lines between syria and iraq. today president obama, once again, talked about the need for rooting out the cancer that is isis. they warned it won't be easy

remember a year ago we were talking about whether to intervene in favor of syrian civilians with bashir al assad was massacring them. many didn't want to. let's replay that story. >> the only thing that's different there's 40 americans in irbil, 250 military personnel, americans in iraq. which the president put in there to try to stabilize the situation provide advice. if they are indeed at risk, would that then justify the united states doing military strikes and can those strikes be surgical or is that the slippery slope towards a combat situation >> that's exactly the point. the united states can intervene at will. i don't think they need any justification. they have a partner in iraq and very shaky and tenuous relationship with baghdad. we have to right that and stand that up. the fact that americans might be in harm's way certainly gives sufficient justification albeit not necessary to goudeau something to extract those folks but what the real issue is, is the united states should not at this point say what they are not going to do. this could be an escalation and we could be as phil descri

but i mean the problem is with cooperating with bashir al assad, he's a shiite muslim essentially andof down sides. we don't want to get in the middle of a sectarian conflict. that's why it's such a fine line this administration is walking. >> thanks very much for joining us. >>> coming up, don lemon's exclusive interview with michael brown's mother and the mothers of trayvon martin and sean bell. they talk about the worst part about burying a young son much too soon. their words of comfort and their words of grief. that's just ahead. so what we're looking for is a way to "plus" our accounting firm's mobile plan. and "minus" our expenses. perfect timing. we're offering our best-ever pricing on mobile plans for business. run the numbers on that. well, unlimited talk and text, and ten gigs of data for the five of you would be... one-seventy-five a month. good calculating kyle. good job kyle. you just made partner. our best-ever pricing on mobile share value plans for business. now with a $100 bill credit for every business line you add. having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a

al qaeda affiliated front. the group fights bashir assad in syria. that is where the journalist is believed to have been abducted in 2012. was sentis mother while he was traveling to turkey close to the border with syria. shortly after curtis was freed, his family released a statement to thank those who stood by them and the authorities who played eight key role in helping free the american journalist. >> the family is not privilege -- pretty to the exact terms negotiated. we were repeatedly told by representatives of the qatari government they were negotiating for his release on humanitarian basis without the payment of money. >> a u.s. senior official says curtis was released in the goal on heights where he was met by american personnel taken to tel aviv. he is to be debriefed by the fbi before returning home. to july, he back pleaded for western governments to contact his abductors or he would be killed in the following days. no news has filtered regarding the exact conditions of release and whether the demands of the fighters were met. his freein