evan coleman, stick around. i want to broaden out and look at the tactical picture here.n interesting face of the fighters that we're relying on on the ground that i haven't actually seen yet. take a look at this. they are mothers, sisters, daughters. again, something we haven't seen a lot of before, but they are on the front lines in the fight against isis. we take you to basic training in kurdistan. [guy] i know what you're thinking- you're thinking beneful. [announcer]beneful has wholesome grains,real beef,even accents of spinach,carrots and peas. [guy] you love it so much. yes you do. but it's good for you, too. [announcer] healthful. flavorful. beneful. from purina. think the tree we carved our names in is still here? probably dead... how much fun is this? what? what a beautiful sunset... if you like sunsets. whether you're sweet or salty... you'll love nature valley sweet and salty bars. that, my friends, is everything. and with the quicksilver card from capital one, you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase. not just "everything at the hardware s

we're going to ask counterterrorism expert evan coleman. "the cycle" rolls on with your breaking coverage of the crisis in iraq. so factors like diet can negatively impact good bacteria? even if you're healthy and active. phillips digestive health support is a duo-probiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract. i'm doubly impressed! phillips' digestive health. a daily probiotic. once there was a girl who never even in her laundry room... with downy unstopables, she matched her one-of-a-kind style with one-of-a-kind scents. downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. wash in the wow. we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. we've created tax free zones throughout the state. and startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see h

evan coleman, excuse me. chris jansing will join me in a second. oint there, the president stated the goals of this is a humanitarian effort. we're trying to avert disaster and also trying to protect american interests. he didn't necessarily say we're trying to wipe out or take out isis. >> i don't think he can make that argument, because the strikes that have been launched so far, and i think jim mccaffrey said as much as well, these strikes are not crippling against isis. ta this will temporarily stop their advance. this is not going to stop their advance entirely and it's not going to roll them back. the only way of really going after isis is number one striking militarily at locations or places that are significant to them. as general mccaffrey pointed out, a lot of those places are inside of syria. these are places if we strike them, we risk destabilizing syria as much as iraq. and then the second part is the political side. in order to make progress here, we need to convince the sunni tribesmen that have aligned themselves alongside al qaeda a

i'd like to bring in evan coleman. i think the salient question is whether or not what we are doing now in northern iraq, these air strikes, are enough to significantly degrade isis, not just hold them back temporarily. >> the air strikes, no. we can already see that right now. there are actually towns where isis continues to make gains despite the air strikes. the kurds continue to lose ground. unfortunately, the answer is military action, at least in this form, is not enough. what we need is assuming al maliki is willing to go, we need to make sure the new generation of iraqi leadership is willing to reach out to the sunni community s willing to reach out to those who may not love isis but didn't like al maliki and form a coalition government that brings in kurds, sunnis, and shiites and can share leadership. so far we haven't seen that from the iraqis. we haven't seen somebody that can be a definitive leader but still bring together the different section and different ethnic groups that comprise iraq. that's what's

evan coleman, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you very much. >>> still ahead, president obama'sder in chief. he campaigned on ending the war in iraq. now he's fighting to keep the peace. stay with us. elps people find better ways to better connect with each other. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities eachwon't have a claim.wners that's why allstate claim free rewards gives you money back for every year you don't have one. and why if you're part of the other 5%, allstate offers claim rateguard. so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. no matter what comes your way, your home protects you. ...protect it back allstate home insurance from an allstate agent. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's

and joining me now is terrorism analyst evan coleman. i want it start by asking about the militant.re taking great interest because offing beingof the acce determine what part of england he might be from. >> we have seen these beheading videos before, they're awful, abo but we've seen them. in the past it was the jordanian founder was the executioner. the idea that they're westerners is unbelievable. and this video actually came from an isis media unit which exclusively puts out english propaganda. britons, australians and presumably also americans fighting with isis. so the answer is there are enough of these guys out there that they have their own english language media win for isis. that should stand on its own as the subject of extreme concern. >> and what would be the import of getting western voices, british and american accents, in for those videos? >> first of all we have to recognize that al qaeda wouldee same. these folks are interested in waging a war against the united states.these folks are interest waging a war against the united states. best way is to have individuals

evan coleman is an nbc news terrorism analyst here. how much did that change things, that video that came out this week? changed just the tone, change any thinking by the white house or the pentagon? >> look, i think it's changed the political dynamic. i think it's given the american public a very cogent reason about why the u.s. should get back involved in iraq or why the u.s. should be confronting isis. i think the administration was having a lot of trouble trying to sell the idea of a u.s. involvement in either iraq or syria prior to this event and now it's become painfully evident about why it is the u.s. has to become involved or what it is the u.s. has to do and why that impacts u.s. national security. >> you said sell the idea to the american public, but did our policymakers and our leaders get that isis needed to be confronted in the way that everybody seems to think so now? but did they get it before this? >> no, i don't think that they did. i think the best indication about that is clearly the white house and the obama admini

evan coleman is an nbc news terrorism analyst. ambassador mark ginsburg is former u.s. ambassador to morocco. evan, i'll start with you. this question of syrian sovereignty is very important, right. the united states, yesterday there was a pentagon briefing in which it was said explicitly that the u.s. understands there's a border there, but we have a history of not necessarily recognizing that. we went into pakistan when trying to get bin laden. so what is, indeed, the likelihood that the united states can simply act as if that border is not there, move those air strikes right into syria? >> our history has been recognizing sovereignty given state exercises sovereign control over their territory. in cases such as pakistan or yemen where central governments have been unable to exercise sovereign control over their territory and have been unable to remove security threats, they pose a threat not just to us but to them as well. yes, we have intervened. i think this is an exact example of where that logic holds. will we intervene without the syrians? almost certainly we wil

joining me now, congressman adam smith, ranking member of the house armed services committee, and evan colemane nbc terrorism analyst. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you, al. >> congressman, do you support the president's actions so far and his emphasis on long-term political solution in iraq? >> first of all, we have to try and contain isil. they are clearly a very dangerous terrorist threat. they have taken territory in syria and iraq. they pose a grave threat to the region. they have announced plans to try to plot attacks and carry out attacks against the united states and western targets. the problem is to contain terrorism like that you need a reliable partner. in prime minister malaki we did not have a reliable partner. his sectarian corrupt approach to government is part of what drove so many sunnis into the arms of isil in the first place. the president is right. we have to have a legitimate power sharing arrangement in baghdad. in the meantime, with the kurds we do have a group that we can work with. we have a reliable partner in kurdistan. anywhere we can find sensible mo

joining us now, nbc news terrorism analyst evan coleman and vocativ's managing editor tracking a lote communications from groups in this region. i want to get to you on hostage tactics. first this news isis has taken control of this base in northern syria, evan. how sdch that mark syria and the syrian side of this as an inevitable target for the united states? >> it's not inevitable until the white house decides it is. we see a giant swath of syria under the control of isis. there doesn't appear to be any effort for the syrian government to strike at these folks or make serious inroads into the territory they controlled. and they control a large piece of the turkish border. let's remember for foreign fighters trying to get to afghanistan, you have to fly through pakistan. it's a big challenge. trying to fly to somalia or yemen, it's a big challenge. there are direct flights between the u.s. and a variety of other countries through istanbul. it's a matters of crossing the border and you are in a giant terrorist training camp. that's the problem. i can only imagine it will accelerate t

evan coleman, this is what we are up against. is it regional? does it have a global reach? >> it has a global reach. in the latest video where they beheaded a kurd there was a message issued to barack obama saying we are coming for you. we are going to kill your soldiers, et cetera. this is the consistent message. it's difficult to understand people don't see what a threat isis represents. isis has been open about it for a long time. two years ago baghdadi threatened terrorist attacks inside the u.s. homeland. we can choose not to believe him. as far as isis is concerned the u.s.'s adversary is looking to carry out terrorist attacks in western and european countries including the u.s. it believes it can do that if it recruits western operatives, individuals who speak english, carrying are british and american passports. if you look at the numbers, 500 to 600 british nationals have traveleded to syria. 900 french nationals. 100 american nationals. these are numbers that dwarf anything we have seen in afghanistan, yemen, any other conflict that al qaeda or a jihadi group esta

evan coleman is an nbc news terrorism analyst and senior partner at flashpoint global partners.ven conceivable we would have to make common cause with the bashar al assad regime in syria? >> it would be very difficult and complicated. let's not forget that the assad regime in syria has also a alli itself with another terrorist group being hezbollah. it's very complex. the good news is this. if the u.s. were to be launch air strikes, particularly in this part of syria, the syrian air defense apparatus is basically gone. so even if they say, well, you have to vet these attacks with us before hand, we don't really have to if we didn't want to. it's much like in pakistan or somalia or yemen. we could carry out these attacks more or less unhindered. >> you mentioned hezbollah, a shiite militant group, which has had alliances with hamas. so there's all this complication in the region. but then you've got qatar. but they suddenly come into play as a group, as a country that's helped us get another american out of the custody not of isis but another terror group. could they then become

for more on the threat from isis, i'm joined by nbc political analyst colonel jack jacobs and evan coleman, an nbc news terrorism analyst. the same i have been having in my head for days. how do we win a limited war, go from limited air strikes to crushing the enemy as secretary of state john kerry put it the other day? i will start with jack jacobs. how do we do both -- keep it limited and win all out war to eradicate isis? >> the irony is our ally in the whole thing has to be syria. >> right. >> just a couple of months ago people were talking about how we needed to squash assad. we need to be on the side of the rebels. exactly the opposite is going to be the case if we want to go after isis. our ally has to be assad. otherwise we won't be able to do it. it will require not only air assets but on the ground. that means assad. >> who fights from the iraqi side if we have assad with us at least by implication on the syrian side. who takes on isis besides us on the iraqi side? >> the only allies there -- it's not baghdad. we have been relying on baghdad for some time to no avail. it has to b

evan coleman is an nbc terrorism analyst. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> let's start where richard ended off. they said this was about air strikes in iraq. turns out they've demanded hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom. we don't pay. some european countries do pay. does the fact that they pay complicate the situation when an american is held captive? >> absolutely. the question is about whether or not they even expected to get paid a ransom or whether this was simply a way of convincing the europeans to pay more. in other words, if you don't pay, this is what's going to happen. that's exactly what we've seen in north africa. when the europeans have paid ransom, these groups have been executed britains and americans to try to force the europeans to pay more. >> the isis militants dmapded an end to the air strikes. the president launched 14 air strikes in iraq just yesterday which immediately makes you think about the fate of steve sotlo sotloff, the other american being held. how colicating is that as a or like

. >> joining me now is evan coleman, nbc news terrorism analyst and ceo at flash point partners. is that when they turned their anger towards the u.s. specifically? >> certainly not, i mean, if you look -- again, i think for a lot of americans that weren't familiar with isis, a lot of this seems to be in the last few days but that's not it at all. baghdadi, the leader of isis, as much as two years ago, openly declared his intention to launch terrorist attacks inside the united states. not in a secret recording but in a public recording officially issued through the islamic state media's channel. this group has issued video after video in which they talked about killing americans, killing american soldiers, larging targets on the domestic united states. now, look, we don't know when and if they would try to do this. the problem here, of all the different groups out there trying to strike at the united states, this is a group that has a very large and flush group of western recruits. in the last few days, france interrupted a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old girl who were trying to tr

. >> evan coleman, thanks for weighing in. appreciate it. >> "time" magazine's answers edition.you needed to know you didn't know you needed to know which includes falling stars. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. like days inn, where you can do everything under the sun. for a chance to win one million dollars, visit wyndhamrewards.com (vo) ours is a world of passengers. the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting... ...for a safe arrival. introducing the all-new subaru legacy. designed to help the driver in you... ...care for the passenger in them. the subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. whennk about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. nk about but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set u

evan coleman, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> israel fires back. the retaliation to renewed rocket attacks from gaza militants next. ality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. you just can'tider a 4-star know the name?p to 60% off, just no name? until you book. um... yeah, i'd do that! ♪ ♪ doctors have been prescribingdecade, nexium to patients just like you. for many, prescription nexium helps heal acid-related erosions in the lining of the esophagus. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. if you have persistent diarrhea, contact your doctor right away. other serious stomach conditions may exist. avoid if you take clopidogrel. nexium 40 mg is only available by prescription. talk to your doctor. for free home delivery

evan coleman is an nbc terrorist analyst. >> good morning.rning. >> they said this was about airstrikes in iraq.iraq. i turns out they demanded anded hundreds of millions in ransom.. we don't pay, some european ean countries do pay.do pay. does the fact that they pay th complicate the situation when an american is held captive?aptive? >> absolutely. >> abs it's a question of whether or o not they expect to get paid a a ransom or whether this is simply a way of inducing europeans to pay more, in other words, if you don't pay, this is water going to happen. gappen. in africa, they have been been executed for being an american as an inducement to force the e europeans to pay more.peans to . >> the president launched 14 he airstrikes in iraq just airstrikes in iraq just yesterday, which immediately yesterday, which immediately makes you think of the other ma american being held. held. how complicated was that as a fact?fact? >> look, i think everyone would like to do everything they can to save his life. to save on the other hand, we have a hi on the other hand, we have a grown-up of indivi