jim acosta, thank you so much, at the white house for us today. here's just a little bit more information, as we're talking about these different religious minorities caught in the middle of this. let's talk about -- let's focus on the uzidis. for generations, they have lived in the northern iraqi town of sinjar. this weekend, these terrorists, isis militants, pushed through their town, forcing these uzidis to flee to nearby mountains where they are now essentially stuck, living in these makeshift camps, their plight part of what is drawing international attention. let's go to ivan watson, in the northern iraqi city of irbil. let's begin with these 40,000 -- latest number i heard, men, women, children, stuck on the top of the mountain, and isis is right there, at the base. >> reporter: yeah. i've gotten all of this information from kurdish officials. the numbers of people stranded there vary. but it seems to be in the thousands. kurdish authorities here telling us that people have been dying as a result of exposure to the elements, the temperature

all right, dana, jim acosta, jim sciutto, stand by. i want to go back to alisyn in new york. >> thanks, wolf. we'll be back to you in a minute. for now we're going to ivan watson. he is in irbil, iraq. ivan, we've been talking about these u.s. advisers and personnel who are in the same town as you this. do we know what the plan is for them tonight? >> well, actually, the sun is starting to rise over irbil. i believe the kurds as they wake up will be very encouraged to hear that president obama has effectively threatened to use air power if this city is threatened further, and recall that the isis militants have advanced to within 35 miles of the city where i'm stand right now, and also to help relieve the pressure, perhaps break the siege around sinjar mountain, where these tens of thousands of yazidis are reportedly stranded. people will be likely encouraged. it will boost morale for a region that has been shaken by the recent advances of the isis militants. and it is basically answering a call that the senior kurdish leadership publi

let's begin with white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, what can you tell us? >> well, carol, what we can tell you is that in just the last several minutes the pentagon press secretary, rear admiral kirby announced on twitter basically announcing on behalf of the u.s. government that the air strikes have begun in iraq, rear admiral john kirby saying on twitter "u.s. military aircraft conduct air strike on isis, artillery was used against kurdish forces defending irbil near u.s. personnel." the last part is critical as we've been hearing from white house officials and the president said last night, when he sent those u.s. military advisers in to iraq back in june, he made it very clear at the time and officials have made it clear since then that were those u.s. personnel to come under threat, that the u.s. would launch air strikes or take action, and that is what has occurred. at the same time, the white house is making it pretty clear that they are also keeping a very keen eye on a potential humanitarian catastrophe, really a real humanitarian catastrophe that

jim acosta, you're there, let me begin with you. risen lessistening to the presit a while ago, day five since the shooting, what led to today's public comments? >> reporter: well, brooke, i think that they realized over at the white house and the traveling white house that is with the president right now this was becoming an untenable situation. the violence, the tensions mounting over the last several days really reached a boiling point last night where you saw police in ferguson, missouri, starting to arrest journalists from the "washington post" and "huffington post" trying to cover the story. and that is when officials in the white house decided this was just getting to be too much. and so the president was briefed on this situation last night by the attorney general, eric holder. once again, earlier this morning, eric holder, we should mention, is also coincidentally vacationing here on martha's vineyard. but he's been called into duty because of what's happening there in ferguson. and i think what you heard the president say t

jim acosta reports. >> reporter: after multiple rounds of u.s. air strikes on isis targets in iraq, this was all we could see of the president. the commander in chief on the phone with king abdullah of jordan discussing what's next. the mission in iraq will be limited, protect u.s. military advisers and diplomats in erbil and end the siege on iraqi minorities driven into the mountains by isis fighters. but the white house concedes there's no firm timeline. >> president has not laid out a specific end date. >> reporter: that prospect of an open-ended engagement is a far cry from the president's initial reluctance to deal with isis two months ago. as well as his preference for diplomatic solutions in ukraine and syria. after ending the war in iraq nearly three years ago. >> america's war in iraq will be over. >> reporter: mr. obama is now the fourth u.s. president in a row to launch military action in iraq. >> was he reluctant to make this decision? >> i think the president was determined to use military action to protect american personnel who are

jim acosta is joining from us the white house now with the administration's response to this growing eat. good morning, jim. >> reporter: victor and christi, president obama is receiving regular updates on the damage done by the strikes on isis. in the meantime, aides to the president are hinting there could be more air strikes in the coming days. after multiple rounds of u.s. air strikes on isis targets in iraq this is all we could see of the president, commander in chief on the phone with king abdullah of jordan discussing what's next. agents will be limited. protect military advisers and diplomats in erbil and end the seeing of minorities driven in the mountains by fighters. >> the president has not laid out a specific end date. >> reporter: that prospect of open-ended engagement is a far cry from the president's initial reluctance to deal with isis two months ago. as well as his preference for diplomatic solutions in ukraine and syria. after ending the war in iraq nearly three years ago. >> america's war in iraq will be over. >> reporter: mr. obama is now the fourth u.s. president

jim acosta looks at the tough choices facing this president. >> reporter: after multiple rounds of usair strikes on isis targets in iraq, this was all we could see of the president, commander in chief on the phone with king abdullah of jordan discussing what's next. aides stay mission in iraq will be limited, protect u.s. advisers in erbil and end the siege. but the white house concede there's no firm time line. >> the president has not laid out a specific end date. >> reporter: that prospect of an open-ended engainment is a far cry from the president's initial reluctance to deal with isis two months ago. as well as his preference for diplomatic solutions in ukraine and syria after ending the war in iraq nearly three years ago. >> america's war in iraq will be over. >> reporter: mr. obama is now the fourth u.s. president in a row to launch military action in iraq. >> was he reluctant to make this decision? >>> i think the president was determined to use military action to protect american personnel who are in harm's way in iraq. he was determined to use american military assets to try to

we saw the president's meeting and saw an animated discussion, jim acosta pointed out.you know, anderson, because of the reach and the capability of isis and isil, the president talked about isil related group, very capable, we've talked about foreign fighters on this program before. you can be sure the national security considerations also incorporate the potential for a threat against american targets around the world or here in the united states and so the department of homeland security will have been brought in. the fbi will have been brought in to look at the potential for retaliation attacks against u.s. targets. and that will be a real concern and so while you see the president's attention and the foreign policy team focused on what is going on inside iraq and the humanitarian crisis, there will be homeland security and counterterrorism considerations taken into account at this hour. >> we got to take a quick break. more when we come back including late word from the middle east. rockets apparently fired, seize fire broken. we'll have full details on that when w

let's go to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta, he's getting ready to ask the president a question. set the scene for us, jim. >> that's right. a pretty rare press conference for the president being at the state department, but the president is expected to recap what has been a pretty historic summit for washington, bringing together dozens of leaders from across the continent of africa, and it's been a challenge to get the billions of dollars being committed by both government and business to develop africa and part of that is because of the ebola scare and we saw a couple of leaders from africa, from sierra leone and liberia who was forced to skip the summit and the president earlier today was committing u.s. resources to combat that back in west africa. the other part of this, wolf, for the president is what's happening on the world stage and his diplomatic efforts to stop vladimir putin's steps to deescalate the situation in ukraine have failed as well as what's happening in gaza. so far the president suffers and the secretary of state's, forts to broker some sort of

jim acosta joins us now. so the president wanted to tamp down reports that air strikes in syria were imminent and his critics quickly jumped on what he said about not having a strategy and the white house has tried to basically do damage control. >> that's right. he was trying to end that speculation that he was on the verge of ordering air strikes on isis targets in syria. you know, one white house official told me after the president's comments that they thought the speculation was getting out of control so the president wanted to go out there and put an end tobl that. but it was in that context when he was asked about whether or not he would go to congress to authorize military action in syria that the president used those words "we don't have a strategy yet" and that of course just went aban bananas on twitt use a technical term. you and i know what that is like with a poorly phrased sound bite. this can take off and that's what happened. instantly the white house jumped into damage control mode. josh ear

senior white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president. m, the two are attending this big birthday party for a information aide to president clinton. will it be a little awkward? >> reporter: it could be complicated. we'll have to wait and see. see if they put out provic evidence of this hug that we're anticipating here on martha's vineyard. we should point out the president is getting constant updates on the mission in iraq. he's hearing about those advisers being cents in, humanitarian air drops continuing. he has some political business to attend to later on today. earlier this week, former secretary of state hillary clinton, a campaign rival back in 2008 she criticized his policy in iraq saying the failure of the obama administration to arm those syrian rebels contributed to she each went after president obama's foreign policy mantra don't do stupid stuff. when she said great nations need organizing principles and don't do stupid stuff is not a organizing principle. she called the president yesterday and didn't mean to go after you and

we'll bring in jim acosta. the president announcing he had given authorization to the military to do the strikes for each new strike, does the military have to go back to the president or is this just an open-ended authorization? >> at this point, it's very open ended, anderson. i heard from one deputy national security advisor, ben rods, who described this as a green light to conduct air strikes on one of two different targets if the case deems to be necessary, one target around irbil threatening american advisors and diplomats located in the capitol. it was isis shelling of the kur kurtish that prompted the air strikes. i should mention, anderson, you talk the about the yezidis. ben rhodes met to hear their concerns. the president is not authorizing each individual strike. he's making phone calls, talked with the king of jordan earlier today and members of the staff are reaching out to member the of the yezidi community -- go ahead? >> is there a longer term strategy? i mean, i know i'm talking years but week

cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta joins me now. good morning, jim. >> good morning, carol. that's right, the president is having attorney general eric holder head to ferguson tomorrow to get a better handle on the situation on the ground, in that troubled community. of course, this is all happening in the midst of what is becoming more and more of a federal civil rights investigation into the killing of michael brown, but at the same time, i just wanted to pass along, carol, some details we've picked up in the last several minutes in terms of why the president is not traveling to ferguson for the time being. they are not taking that off the table, but a senior white house official did tell me that one reason why the president is not going is they don't want to attack or tax the resources, those law enforcement resources that are on the ground that would be necessary for his protection. they think those resources are better being sent in to deal with the situation that's on the ground there that's unfolding. at the same time, in addi

jim acosta at the white house. what does today's attack tell us about the conditions in afghanistan? right now, nathan hodge is joining us, a reporter for "the wall street journal." he's in kabul right now. nathan what do you know about what exactly happened today? you're closer to the scene than we are. >> this attack occurred at a facility that could probably be best described as sort of the afghan west point. what's happening right now is the transition where u.s. and coalition forces are in the process of basically exiting the country by the end of the year. at least combat troops. slated to exit by the end of the year. this training has taken place so that afghan -- future afghan officers will be able to capably run and provide security forces to fend off the taliban threat that continues to be quite persistent and opposing the government here. this shooting took place in what's usually considered to be a relatively secure facility where afghan officers are trained under international supervision. but what we

let's go to jim acosta.ls there, i know there have been several background briefings with senior officials, what do they say the u.s. end game is right now? >> reporter: that's very good question, wolf, and i'll get to that. i want to tell you we do have some breaking developments right here in the white house. when you might imagine, when the president takes this sort of military action he's going to be consulting with allies and other world leaders in the region, in the middle east, he's done that this morning. and just the several minutes, photographers were taken back to outside the oval office to capture these images of the president on the phone. he is in this video you are seeing here on the phone with king abdullah of jordan consulting with the jordanian leader about what is happening in iraq rhine, also in the oval office with the president was deputy national security adviser tony blinken. there were other officials in the room. i wanted to make sure that you were able to see that. as to your quest

page as the commander in chief, and i am fully confident that's the case. >> let me bring him in, jim acosta joins me and gloria borger as well. jim, to you, i want to talk further about that exchange. it went on for a little longer. the president just talking to david gergen, former adviser, senior political analyst, said listen, the president is being prudent, cautious, and to your point though it is certainly david gergen's observation as well that the opinions, whether it is joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey or secretary of defense chuck hagel and the president, they all seem to be in different places. and he said that it seems the president is leading from behind, though i imagine the white house would disagree. >> well, remember, brooke, and i've said this before many times, i think one word that describes president obama more than anything else is caution. he is a cautious commander in chief and i think what we saw yesterday was that the president was perhaps taken to the very edge of ordering military strikes by the pentagon, by the national security team, but he decided to wait a

jim acosta at the white house. thank you. perspective on the isis threat now and president obama's response to it. we're joined now by the former u.s. ambassador to syria and iraq. thanks for being was. >> thank you, brianna. >> you advocated in a recent article in the "the new york times" for air strikes. but i wonder, you actually said in this article, you said degradation of isis could allow the secular opposition to gain some momentum. how is that possible to have air strikes that help the rebels fighting ba har al a sad without relieving the pressure that isis is putting on him? >> brianna, the first thing is to get our priorities right. i do believe we should launch air strikes. they should be heavy and immediate. but this is not the take side in a syrian civil war. this is to protect our own national security. i think prime cameron said it pretty well and speak for conditions in the country as well as in the uk. there can be secondary effects. isis has probably done more damage to other elements of the syrian-sunni opp

. >> let me bring in jim acosta, in that briefing. pushed josh earnest a little bit. d we have confirmation the white house is considering air strikes in iraq. jim, what more do we know? >> reporter: that is really it at this moment, brooke. and part of that is because officials inside the administration are really assessing what to do next. we saw some of this before, what happened back in june when the president was considering military strikes against these isis targets outside of baghdad when they were advancing on the capital city in iraq. and the concern at that time was perhaps baghdad could fall. and the president at that time said they were looking at short-term immediate military options that were on the table. and then in the end, he ended up not taking those options. so i think, you know, a note of caution is perhaps not unreasonable here, brooke. that we may be seeing a similar situation right now. having said that, the president will be meeting with advisers later on this afternoon, and we did see something very interesting. it was caught by one of our wh

we join jim acosta. he is at the white house. >> reporter: still spreading terror, another conquest, this time an air base in northern syria. but the white house now appears to be down playing expectations for military action in syria right away. >> chairman dempsey talked about it over the weekend. he indicated according to intelligence assessments, there is no evidence of an active plot right now. that said, we are well aware of the threat posed by isil. >> white house press secretary josh earnest pointing to a comment made by martin demty who says white house and syria does not pose a threat against the u.s. homeland. can i tell you with great clarity and scertainty dempsey said, that if there was danger within syria my recommendation would be to deal with it. that's different than what was said last woke after the beheading of american journalist james foley. >> this is beyond anything we've seen. we must prepare for anything. >> can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization w

let's go to our white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, this is so dramatic. the president has authorized u.s. air drops of humanitarian supplies to these stranded people. we know the u.s. -- the president has authorized limited air strikes against various isis targets. artillery. as far as we know, the u.s. has not authorized what the iraqi military is now doing in very, very basic, crude, limited fashion, going in there and trying to actually rescue people and get them out, right? >> that's right, wolf, that is not part of the mission at this point. it's not what the president has authorized. but i think ivan watson's reporting that brave effort that those iraqis undertook to rescue those people. i think it demonstrates what the administration has been saying, what the president has been saying over the last several days, that the key catalyst for the u.s. to take this action in northern iraq was this very big humanitarian crisis in the sinjar mountains with respect to those yazidis. you've heard various administration officials saying that humanitarian, nea

. >> i want to get to jim acosta who was at the news conference. what more did the president say? that was very direct at the heart of the matter here, hamas using human shields. >> absolutely that's right. he started off by talking about he was asked about israel and whether its activities in gaza have been proportionate and justified, and he basically went right after hamas and accused the militant group of being what he called extraordinarily irresponsible in launching rocket attacks from certain areas, suggested that was the reason for many of the casualties that have been suffered by the palestinian people during this conflict with israel. and then he went on to say twice in his remarks there at the end of this news conference, i have no sympathy for hamas. that was something that stood out to me. it's interesting to juxtapose that with what the state department said last sunday. you'll recall when those palestinian deaths were coming in near that u.n. school in rafah that the state department came out with a statement that really blasted israel and said that the unite was ap

joining me now is the senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. a difficult situation for the president, a decision to make when he put these advisers in he was adamant they were advisors, there would not be boots on the ground in any situation. is this going to for the administration's hand on that issue of boots on the ground? >> reporter: no, erin i don't think so. josh earnest was very careful to say earlier today during the press briefing there will be no boots on the ground in any kind of military operation in iraq but make no mistake the white house is deeply concerned about this unfolding humanitarian crisis that's under way in northern iraq. while administration officials are not taking air strikes off the table, the question at the hour is how far the president is willing to go. the killing and mayhem unleashed by the iraqi militant group isis may have reached a tipping point. after seizing cities and key assets the terror group have chased millions into the mountains of northern iraq where they are cut off from food and water. a situati

let's get more now from cnn's senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim?just saw a few moments ago the president leaving to resume his vacation up on martha's vineyard leaving the white house with his daughter malia about an hour and a half ago. we'll have to see who how long this vacation lasts especially with everything happening on the ground in ferguson. as for those calls for the president to head out to ferguson to see what's happening on the ground there, i've been talking to white house officials throughout the day. they're saying right now there are no plans for such a trip but they're not ruling it out in the future. it's possible we may see this down the road. there's not a plan for it at this time. in response to the calls for a big speech on race relations i talked to one senior white house official today who was cool to the idea saying it could really pour gasoline on the fire. they feel like this cautious approach the president is taking is the right one. after talking with civil rights leaders, big city mayors, members of the congressional

and the reason for that is simply that the pentagon is still developing that plan. >> jim acosta is joins us now live from the white house. jim, you gave the white house a chance to try and unring that bell about saying that they lack a strategy. they didn't take it. >> that's right, jake. no apologies from the white house for what the president had say yesterday. when i asked josh earnest about that, that comment from the president, when it comes to launching air strikes in syria, josh said it was the media's fault, that members of the media misinterpreted what the president said. that's the reason why the press secretary went out and did all the interviews with a variety of cable outlets including cnn. he was first on cnn trying to explain that about an hour after the rez wrapped up his remarks. josh went on to say and you heard in that clip you just played, that the reason why the president said there is not a strategy for hitting isisle? syria is because the military hasn't developed any plans for that. over at the pentagon today, the pentagon press secretary was asked about pentagon

jason is in minneapolis and jim acosta is at the white house for us. i'll start you, jim. president obama gave a news conference and said something that stunned a lot of people. listen. >> as our strategy develops, we will continue to consult with congress. and i do think that it will be important for congress to weigh in and -- or that our consultations with congress continue to develop so that the american people are part of the debate. but i don't want to put the cart before the horse. we don't have a strategy yet. >> no strategy yet, jim? >> well, don, in golfing terms, i think they'd like a mulligan on that one, to be frank. the president was trying to end speculation that he was on the verge of ordering air strikes in syria. and white house official told me they thought the speculation getting out of control. it was in that context. he was asked whether the congress would be asked to vote on this, that the president used those words, we don't have a strategy yet. as we all know in this age of social media, a poorly phrased sound bite can go viral instantly. that's wh

jim acosta reports. >> reporter: still spreading terror, isis fighters can boast of another conquest, this time an air base in northern syria. but the white house now appears to be downplaying expectations for military action in syria right away. >> chairman dempsey talked about it and he indicated there's no evidence of an active plot right now. that said, we are well aware of the threat that is posed by isil. >> reporter: josh earnest was pointing to a comment made a dempsey who said isis and syria do not pose a threat against the u.s. homeland. i can tell you with great clarity about that threat existed up side syria it would be my strong recommendation we would deal wit. that's different than what dempsey and other administration officials said last week after the beheading of american journalist james foley. >> this is beyond anything that we have seen so we must prepare for everything. >> can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in syria, the answer is no. >> reporter: earnest acknowledged semantics matter. >> that seems to be a differen

let's star first with jim acosta.se gathering intelligence about isis fighters in syria. do we know when he'll make a decision about air strikes? >> reporter: anderson, president obama has been meting with his top officials all week and more of that is expected, but josh earnest said he did not have a time frame for a decision. and when i pressed earnest earlier today on whether the president wanted to defeat isis, he said, of course, and the president's top advisers said that isis really can't be beaten without dealing with the group in syria, so that's a good indication of what's to come. still, the president has pulled back from the edge of taking military action before it's not out of the question here, anderson. >> he also didn't seek congressional authorization for air strikes in iraq. is there any new information about what he plans to do regarding congressional approval if there are air strikes in syria? >> reporter: yeah, a little bit new guidance from the administration tonight, anderson. that is an open que

but interestingly, jim acosta mentioned ambassador samantha powers' comments on ukraine. she has in the last several weeks often been just a step ahead of the administration on the level of her criticism of russia and calling a spade a said if you will about russian military activity as has nato. comments coming out of nato have been highlighting russian military steps forward there as a real escalation. so the question is, when will the administration take action when it comes to ukraine, but also was isis? is it just going to be further consideration of military strikes or will much of this wait till next week when the president is together with his nato allies. >> indeed, jim, it was august 8th when samantha powers said if russia sent in that convoy that supposedly will humanitarian aid for the pro-russian rebels, if that crossed the line, that would be considered an invasion by the united states. that happened friday. we know according to samantha power the invasion took place long before today. gloria borger, this is a very war weary american public. they are not ent

senior white house correspondent jim acosta joins me now.ly the president was looking to tamp down, you know, reporting that air strikes in syria were imminent but he inadvertently created more of a controversy. >> that's right, anderson. the president was indeed trying to end the speculation that he was on the verge of ordering air strikes on isis targets in syria. one white house official told me they thought the speculation was getting out of control, and it was in that context that the president used those words "we don't have a strategy yet." as we all know in this age of social media, a poorly phrased sound bite can go viral instantly and that's exactly what happened. so the white house jumped into damage control mode instantly and josh earnest, the press secretary, went on wolf blitzer later basically within an hour after the president wrapped up his remarks in the briefing room and said the president was referring to his strategy on isis in sear yachlt the white house argues the president has an overall strategy for isis but they are

let's begin with senior white house correspondent jim acosta. he's got the latest. jim? >> wolf, you heard the president just a few minutes ago wrap up a fairly lengthy news conference here at the white house about these pressing issues of the day, whether or not he'll take military action against isis targets in syria and, of course, russia's military operation that appears to be under way in ukraine. but getting to the situation with isis and syria, i just want to talk about something that the president just said in the briefing room within the last hour. he said i don't want to put the cart before horse. we don't have a strategy yet. he was talking about the situation with respect to thisquette of whether or not he will strike i was targets in syria. i've been told by a white house official in just the last couple of minutes and i literally got on the phone with the senior white house official as soon as the president finished his remarks because when he used those words, it caught meet by surprise, as well. and according to a senior white house official in just the l

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is at the white house, barbara starr is at the pentagonjim, let me start with you, the president authorized u.s. air strikes. today the air strikes against these isis targets in iraq began. tell us what we know. >> that's right. and i can tell you from talking to deputy national security adviser ben rhodes whn the last hour that the president did not make an additional decision when these air strikes were carried out, wolf. that was implicit when he announced toes air strikes in the state dining room here in the white house. i did hear from been rhodes that what the president has given the u.s. military is what is called a green light. a green light to take out isis targets that threaten the city of irbil. those u.s. military advisers are stationed there. they have been working with the iraqis to look at the isis threat. basically, what happened according to ben rhodes that isis fighters were starting to shell kurdish fighters. if they feel like irbil is being threatened, those air strikes are going to take place. another very interesting

jim acosta is our senior white house correspondent. jim, what did you think of the president? did he break new ground as far as iraq? we'll discuss that in a moment. but as far as the reaction to ferguson, missouri. what did you think about that? >> reporter: well, i do think it was noteworthy that the president said that the siege has been broken. i thought that was coming from the president an indication of where things are headed in term os of that mission. we may not see that military mission focused so much on sinjar and maybe focused on the advisers in erbil. as for ferguson, i thought it was striking the president came out and said he basically embraced the missouri governor calling him a fine governor in a decent, good man. that's as close as he can come in saying he has confidence in deal i dealing with the situation. he did also say that he is asking the fbi and department of justice to investigate the police shooting death of michael brown. we're seeing members of the congressional black caucus ask for that. so that's now underway. in the meantime, as jeffrey toobin

he's go to jim acosta. he filed this report. >> reporter: after multiple rounds of u.s.this is all we could see of the president, commander in kmeen on the phone discussing what's next. the mission in iraq will be limited to protect u.s. military advisers and diplomats in erbil and end the siege of the minorities driven into the mountains. but the white house concedes there's no firm time line. that prospect of an open-ended engagement is a far cry from the president's initial reluctance to deal with isis two months ago, as well as his preference for diplomat tick solutions in ukraine and syria. >> americans war in iraq will be over. >> mr. obama is now the fourth u.s. president in a row to launch military action in iraq. >> was he reluctant to make this decision? >> i think the president was determined to use military action to protect american personnel who are in harm's way in iraq. he was determined to use american military assets to try to address an rth humanitarian situation. >> isis is just as determined as one of its fighters told the news, we will raise the fla

jim acosta is with the president on martha's vineyard. >> even as president obama pedalled off with thest family and teed off on the golf courses of martha's vineyard. it's the kind of vacation that could use a mulligan. the clashes in ferguson, the crisis in iraq. >> yeah, we're looking forward to it. >> even an attack from hillary clinic to be within cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin summed it up. >> the president of the united states seems to be on the vacation from hell. >> has it been the vacation from hell? >> i don't think i would use that label. but i think the president has been juggling the idea of getting a respite, some breaks, taking a time down and resting with staying engaged. >> that means staying connected with susan rice and attorney general. >> we broke the isil siege of mount sinjar. >> it's not surprising that the president has to keep putting on a sport coat or a suit and go out in front of the public. >> mr. obama's defenders say consider his predecessor. the president has taken 125 partial or complete days off. still well behind george w. bush's 407. according to

jim acosta. not jim sciutto. allow military intervention. syria doesn't have control over these areas that the u.s. would be attacking isis in and the idea that, i mean it sort of plays into the narrative syria has been saying all along they're battling terrorists which in this case they are but the idea that the u.s. would do something that could prop up the syrian regime is a bizarre turn of events. >> the definition of choosing between the lesser of two evils but even though the foreign minister was out saying the united states has to go through syria and get a green light from damascus bair conducts air strikes senior administration officials say that won't happen. during the briefing earlier, it was said that look at the case of the killing of osama bin laden. that operation happened without the authorization of the pakistani government and so they think there's a clear precedent here. at the same time, you know, why should point out there was sort of a softening of the rhetoric over at the white house today

let's go to senior white house correspondent jim acosta. he has the very latest. bama has not made any decision to take action against isis inside sy a syria. he talked somewhat cautiously about acting any time soon. that was after defense secretary chuck hagel last week who described isis beyond anything we've seen. today they say they do not pose a threat to the u.s. homeland and they pointed to something dempsey said over the weekend. he said, quote, i can tell you with great certainty and clarity, dempsey said, it would certainly be my strong recommendation we would deal with it. here's what earnest had to say about that. >> you said there's no evidence of an active plot right now against the united states. >> that's what the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said. >> that seems to be a different question though than does isis pose a national security threat to the united states. >> that's correct. >> the answer is what? >> the answer to that is we are concerned about the threat that's posed by isil. >> not much more clarity than that. meanwhile syria's for

our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, is traveling with the president, who is on vacationut jim, the president is leaving vacation later tonight, going back to the white house for a big day of meetings. i am wondering at this point, because we know he was also briefed this morning on the situation in ferguson, then he will meet with attorney general holder tomorrow, how much of his sometime now dedicated to the situation in ferguson? >> well, poppy, he has been on vacation all week and it has been a working vacation we saw him out in front of the cameras a couple of times. he has been having regular briefings with his national security team and over the weekend, getting briefings from valerie jarrett, his senior adviser on the situation in ferguson. as you mentioned, he has to get back to business, heading back to the white house later on this evening, arising very late tonight and then two days of meetings at the white house. so one of those meetings will be with the attorney general, eric holder, on the latest in ferguson. as you mentioned with the justice department ord

let's go straight to our senior white house koerpt jim acosta. what the latest?las mcarthur mccain who died fighting for isis it appears, in syria. the white house is saying, and i've been talking to sourcers earlier, wolf, who have been saying they were aware of this man's travel overseas. i'll just read you a quote. from the nse spokesperson here at the white house. she says, we're aware of u.s. citizen douglas mcarthur mccain's presence in syria and confirm his death. we continue to use every tool we possess to disrust and dissuede those from traveling to jihad and engage in violence in return. the problem identified by white house officials of people with western passports who go back and forth between the united states and the west and these isis battlefields and have the potential to come back and cause damage on the home front and that's why senior beneficial administration says the battle against isis will not be limited to geographic borders. it was a speech designed to deal with two threats. one abroad, the other closer to home. >> rooting out a cancer

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is joining us now.n martha's vineyard. you asked her about all this. how did it go? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. sounding very much like a presidential candidate doing some campaign cleanup, hillary clinton made a brief statement to reporters before a book signing here on martha's vineyard earlier today. as you recall earlier this week she laid into the president's foreign policy suggesting that he was partly responsible for the rise of isis in iraq. she also said that one of his foreign policy principles, don't do stupid stuff, is not an organizing principle for the united states. she did say during her comments that she looks forward to hugging it out with the president later on this evening. but she did not necessarily walk back her comment. i asked her about that call to the president. here's what she had to say. was it a hard choice to call him? >> no. read in the book. we agreed we are committed to the values and the interests and the security of our country together. we have disagreements, as

jim acosta is joining us live from massachusetts. morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, carol. that's right. as the white house will say, the president is never really on vacation. he's taken his national security advisers with him on this trip. they are giving him three briefings a day on all the crises you've mentioned. don't do stupid stuff, that's been the envelope foreign policy of this president over the last several months. hillary clinton in that magazine is putting some distance between herself and president obama on the issue of iraq and the battle against isis. she is suggesting that the failure to arm the syrian rebels, the opposition in that civil war, contributed to what is happening right now in iraq. let's put a quote up on screen. she told the atlantic magazine, the failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against asad, there were islamists, the secularists, the failure to do that left a big vam couple, which the jihadists have now filled. this isn't

jim acosta. some are calling for more outreach from the president. are there any plans for him to come here to ferguson? >> no plans at the moment, don. the president is being cautious about this. you heard the measured tones he was using yesterday. i talked to some senior white house officials about this idea earlier this morning. they said a couple of things. one is there are no plans for the president to go to ferguson but that is not off the table. that could happen in the future. obviously, they want to wait for things to quiet down. they are concerned about a presidential visit swallowing up law enforcement resources to provide security for the president, if he were to come into ferguson. we were just up in martha's vineyard. and just when the president goes out to continue, local police have to cordon off the area to make sure the president is safe. the other part of this, you've heard some calls for the president to give some sort of big speech on racial issues. i talked to another senior white house official about that and they really feel l

there's now daylight from her and we have reporting from jim acosta after she did the interview withou, her people called the white housen an said heads up, we did this interview. i don't know they're going to be that tight anymore. >> that could be true. i've also heard from people around president obama, people close to the white house inside even, is that there's an adult recognition that she's running for president. and that one of the things you have to do when you're running in the same party to succeed lug a president, you have to sort of show some of the differences especially, by the way, when the president who you want to succeed is not terribly popular. there's an understanding that this is politics in a kind of way. look, you know, one thing that people are missing and they should read the whole interview, she has a lot of warm words for president obama. >> yes. >>en an she admires him and respects him. obviously, nobody pays attention to those. it's the stuff that's distancing that you pay attention to that i also pay attention to, but you know, it nevertheless, it's the

we will talk with jim acosta, he pushed in the white house briefing, he said strategy, specifically about asking for congressional permission and this and that, but i listen to people like you, david gergen. if you were whoaed by that, i consider myself whoaed as well. you talk about the president's prudence. it sounds like the military is giving the president options, options are on the table. so far, the president is saying sorry, this is not going to get it. we are going back to the drawing board. do we have any idea what the president might be asking for that perhaps he is just not getting from his national security team? >> well, the first thing, brooke, one has to do in an administration like this is figure out what is your goal. what is your long term objective. >> what is the goal? >> i must tell you, i think there's confusion and disagreement within the ranks of the administration about what the goal should be. we've seen now the president say well, we'd like to basically contain. that was the first argument for using force. we don't want the isis to threaten the kurds or threate

jim acosta is live at the white house.major decisions yet. now what? >> well, we think that is still the case, brook. the president is still scheduled to meet with his national security team shortly after this statement. we understand that to be the case over here at the white house. the meeting will be in "the situation room." although, vice president biden, secretary of state, john kerry, defense secretary, chuck hagel, they are all in different places. they will be phoning in or joining in on secure lines. the president will be talking about options for dealing with isis and syria and the ongoing situation in iraq. brook, in the last 24 hours, as we all know, this crisis in ukraine has bubbled back up again. nato came out earlier today and said it had photographic evidence of russian military activity inside ukraine's borders. so we expect that the president will be talking about both the situation in ukraine and also the situation with respect to isis and syria. we don't expect the president to announce any major decis

jim sciutto, jim acosta, barbara starr. >>> a lot ahead. right now we have to take a quick break as we wait to hear about president obama making comments. we'll dig deeper next and the larger strategic and military implications if isi six keeps rolling. s keeps rolling. ♪ [ male announcer ] over time, you've come to realize... [ starter ] ready! [ starting gun goes off ] [ male announcer ] it's less of a race... yeah! [ male announcer ] and more of a journey. keep going strong. and as you look for a medicare supplement insurance plan... expect the same kind of commitment you demand of yourself. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. our new flatbread sandwiches may be flat... the flavors, are anything but. so whether it's taste inspired by the freshness of the mediterranean... or the smoky spice of the southwest... or bold, adventurous thai flavors... ...you always get flavor that's anything but flat. and always with chicken raised witho

jim acosta today pressed the white house about potential air strikes. >> are air strikes on the table>> well, jim, i'm not in a position to rule things on or off the table in this context. it's important for everyone to understand and the president has made this clear that there are no american military solutions to the problems in iraq. the president has at the same time dem mon strayed his clear willingness to take the kind of military action that's required to of protect core american interests. >> okay. was that clear for you? remember, it was fewer than three years ago when president obama declared iraq "sovereign, stable and self-reliant" as the last american combat troops pulled out of the country. chief national security correspondent jim chute tote is in washington. this is exactly the kind of situation that could quickly turn into genocide. isis is giving people the ultimatum of convert or be killed. give us an idea where this is taking place and how much of iraq isis now claims as their own. give us an idea. >> i'll tell you, i'm told now that u.s. officials that the admini

>> jim acosta is with the president right now and joins us by phone. ot of pressure on the president to speak at more length, specifically about ferguson, but also over the last 12, to 20 hours, many developments in iraq? >> that's right, guys. and just so you understand why i'm on the phone here, because there's a bit of a scramble right now to get the president's statement out live here. the secret service is sweeping the news media. we've been move out of our filing center so we can't punch out the live shot as you might imaginep that's why i'm coming by phone. the president en route to our location to deliver the statement. we expect to be on both the situations in iraq and ferguson, missouri, last night. the president was given a briefing on the situation in ferguson by the attorney general eric holder and by a senior adviser valerie jarrett. you're right, there is a lot of pressure for the president to comment on that situation, not only because of the police investigation that is ongoing into the death of michael brown, but also because of the tr

jim acosta is our senior white house correspondent. jim, what did you think of the president?break new ground as far as iraq? we'll discuss that in a moment. but as far as the reaction to ferguson, missouri. what did you think about that? >> reporter: well, i do think it was noteworthy that the president said that the siege has been broken. i thought that was coming from the president an indication of where things are headed in term os of that mission. we may not see that military mission focused so much on sinjar and maybe focused on the advisers in erbil. as for ferguson, i thought it was striking the president came t

we begin tonight with jim acosta who is at the white house. some remarkable words from the president tonight live on television. >> that's right, jim. as we both know the dangers of live television and they played out here in the briefing room at the white house earlier today. but as the president was trying to take on the two major crises faying his administration, both isis and russia, let's start with russia first. russia's apparent military moves in ukraine. the president stopped short of calling that an invasion but made it clear that additional sanctions for russia are coming very soon, perhaps in the coming week, but the president once again ruled out any u.s. military solution to resolve that crisis. but as for the big moment of the day, and it was arguably not the president's best moment that he's had in some time. the president tried to explain to the american people what his strategy was for dealing with the isis threat in syria, and he used the words -- and you just played them there -- we don't have a strategy yet. jim, i have to t

. >> joining me now is senior white house correspondent, jim acosta.use this evening, i understand, they confirm that they were aware of this guy, is that correct? >> reporter: that's right. the national security council spokeswoman over here at the white house, anderson, caitlin hayden, put out a statement earlier this evening, saying that the u.s. was aware of douglas mccain being in syria. other u.s. officials tell us, anderson, that they were aware of his travels to syria and that he was on a watch list. he was being watched and they were on guard, according to one u.s. official i talked to, looking for a potential return of douglas mcarthur mccain, back to the united states. so they were watching him, they were keeping an eye on him, and they were obviously concerned because of what he was up to over there, what he might be planning to do if he got back to the united states. and this really goes to the issue that i've been hearing from white house officials over the last couple of days, anderson, of westerners with passports, traveling from the un