jim miklaszewski is following this for us. how does this match up with what we actually know has happened on the ground? what air strikes we are aware having conducted by the jordanians. >> well, nothing really matches because it's not clear exactly where if in fact this american woman has been killed or how she was killed where and when that happened. according to the claims it happened during yesterday's air strikes carried out by jordan f-16s but again officials here first of all are still scrambling. a few minutes ago, look, we're still looking, the entire intel community is lit up and trying to find out as much information as they can. but even if the woman would unfortunately be found dead officials here say it would be impossible to verify that she was killed in an air strike because as you know the isis has become such masters in video stage craft. it would be easy to stage a body to look at if it appeared to have been killed in an air strike. but they say for propaganda purposes they understand what isis is up to but

pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski has more for us. >> reporter: v.a. secretary robert mcdonald seeking out homeless veterans on the streets of los angeles. but it's this exchange as aired on cbs last month, that landed him in trouble. >> army navy? >> army. >> army? what unit? >> special forces. >> special forces? what years? i was in special forces. >> reporter: problem is that's not true. mcdonald was never a member of special forces. >> that is wrong and i have no excuse. >> reporter: at a news conference outside the v.a. today mcdonald tried to make it right. >> with your experience your service to the military then and now, how could you possibly say such a thing? >> i made a mistake. and i apologize for it. >> reporter: but he still took fire today from combat veterans like senator john mccain. >> it was wrong of him to claim that as part of his resume but i'm much more concerned about his performance as secretary of veterans affairs. >> reporter: a graduate of westpoint, mcdonald went on to special warfare training at ft. bragg and joined the 82

jim miklaszewski just set it up nicely.s is the same iraqi army that basically fled last year when confronted by isis. is there any reason to believe the iraqi army is in better position to go in and take back the second largest city in iraq? >> the army from what we hear has better officers has had additional training is better motivated, there's no question that the change from the maliki government to the abatty government has led to better oversight of the army. that said it strikes me that this plan for a quick attack on mosul ignores precisely the questions that jim miklaszewski raises in his report. first, the idea that this iraqi army force would be joined by the kurdish peshmerga, it goes contrary to everything i heard in my travels from the kurds. they feel that entering this largely sunni arab city of mosul outside of kurdistan would create political problems for them and for the iraqi government. that's just for starters. the strange thing is they're in a position now to squeeze mosul. they've cut off much of th

is trying to confirm this if that is possible jim miklaszewski. >> well the intelligence on the ground in syria is extremely limited. in fact it was last year when there were attempts to rescue the hostage james foley, they were relying on other hostages including a french hostage who had been released by isis earlier when france or at least institutions in france agreed to pay a ransom for that hostage. but by the time the u.s. military got to that site foley was long gone. so that is an example they use of how difficult it is for them to generate any kind of intelligence on the ground. they can have satellites in the sky, they can have drones spying in the air constantly but without that intelligence in the ground, their data base and their information is very thin. and quite frankly, joy, very weak. so at this point, they are all scrambling to learn what they can. but they are turned to jordan and what they think of this may all mean and they are skeptical of the isis claims that this woman has been killed in an air strike. so that is where this stands now. everybody is scrambling b

joining me now is jim miklaszewski. thanks for xrabling. what is the reaction you're hearing from the pentagon? >> one of the first reactions occurred even before the deaths were made public that is that many people here in the pentagon thought that isis was never serious about negotiating the release of this jordanian pilot or the japanese journalist. that their fate was pretty much sealed. that isis was simply using both hostages holding them out as propaganda tools to promote their militant and quite frankly morbid an brutal agenda. and second of all, in terms of the president's pledge to throw all of the resources that the u.s. has at finding the remaining hostages, that's already been proven pretty problematic. certainly there in syria there was a failed attempt by u.s. military to rescue american james foley. they landed at the right place but isis had already moved foley and then just recently there were two attempts to rescue american luke summers captive in yemen. he was killed by his captors. now the big concern is can the u.s. ho

jim miklaszewski is following these moves from one of the closest allies in the region. >> u.s. military officials tell us at least 20 of the jordanian f-16s took part in today's air strikes over syria. jordan didn't simply throw the jets into the sky and attack these targets at random. they were part of the original target set, set forth by the u.s. and coalition in terms of what kind of targets isis targets in syria were we going to strike today. in deference to jordan and the fact that their pilot was so brutally executed on camera by isis, they allowed jordanian pilots to take the lead. now, there is some gun camera footage which may be released later today. not sure what the direct impact of this would be on isis buxt i can tell you this is going to have tremendous impact in the region. highly symbolic. it's the first time we heard from any of those coalition members from the gulf states speak so publicly in condemning isis and pledging to contribute to their defeat and ultimate destruction. there's a lot of symbolism in the air strikes today if not actual bomb damage. >> j

jim miklaszewski is following this. it's an important step here in the relationship of something that's been much debated on the hill. what triggered this change now? >> well essentially the fact is that the moderate rebels supported in part by the united states just doesn't have the fire power to take on al nusra, isis obviously, and the syria government. so some of the training is soon to begin but the weapons they're talking about for the first tranche, which would be defensive in nature only some pickup trucks some small arms, some machine guns maybe even some mortars, but at this point, those decisions have not -- they've been made to deliver these weapons but there's no immediate timetable to do that and there's also some talk about even coordinating operations on the ground with these moderate rebels with u.s. aircraft in the air to launch air strikes against isis or al nusra targets in syria, but that is some ways away, and there are some legal issues that have to be resolved there before that happens. ronan? >>

nbc chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now.sure they are working overtime trying to figure this out. >> senior defense official tells us that the entire intel community in dod, military and entire u.s. government lit up at the first word from isis that the female hostage had somehow been killed. now, nobody is buying into the idea yet that they were killed by a u.s. air strike and in fact, they pointed out in the past the only way we really had any confirmation of these killings has been through isis videos of the brutal deaths of so many of these hostages now. and so that most likely would be the first confirmation that the u.s. government could get. then they warn too that it would be almost impossible to tell if a victim whether it's this american female hostage or not, if a victim had been killed in an air strike because as you pointed out earlier, andrea isis is so expert now at video stage craft. they could easily stage a scene to make it appear that somebody had been killed in an air strike. but that is inconsequential.

chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski, appreciate it. the u.s.8 countries that allow trans gender men and women to serve openly in the military. you can look at that map of countries that do allow service from trans members openly. al list robinson is a former army captain and west post graduate. you're an important voice on this. i want to talk about chelsea manning and her specific situation. an official at the bar racks roet in a memo after carefully considering the recommendation that hormone treatment is medically appropriate and necessary and weighing all associated safety and security risks presented, i approve adding hormone treatment to inmate manning's treatment plan. some are saying this is a convicted criminal betrayed the country. isn't someone who should be getting taxpayer approved hormone treatment. what's your response? >> well as someone ronan, who swore an oath to defend and protect the constitution of the united states and bear true faith and allegiance to the same the eighth amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment of

jim miklaszewski what are we expecting today?>> reporter: you mentioned, former secretary of defense, considered brilliant. essentially ran the pentagon during both panetta's and part of hagel's administration here at pentagon. considered a brilliant intellect and will be easily confirmed. so this hearing is not so much about the confirmation of ashton carter to be secdef for a review and critique of the obama administration's military and foreign policy. as we've seen here this morning already, senator john mccain now chairman of the senate armed services committee has probably bun one of the most outspoken, harshest critics of the administration on things like the withdrawal of all forces or almost all forces from afghanistan. he's criticized the obama administration for its conduct of the war against isis. he believes that ground troops must be involved. not he alone, also many within the military community, that air strikes alone cannot defeat isis there in iraq and, of course then there's the issue of ukraine. mccain again,

let's get to jim miklaszewski. it seems weird for the military to put something out this specific and public this early. what is the loblgic? >> no yes. and when reporters asked what is this about? there was push-back from the military and they said the intention is to set isis back on their heels and put them on a defensive crouch and take them out of their own battle rhythm but quite frankly after being hammered pretty much fairly or unfairly, however you want to look at it as to what many consider lack of progress in the u.s.-iraqi military effort against isis in iraq you have to guess somebody wanted to put out something that sounded like progress, steve. >> and this is the same iraqi army that laid down their weapons last year to sis so how can they make sure something like that doesn't happen again? >> u.s. military officials have claimed for some time they have stepped up the training of the iraqi forces who, quite frankly, basically are capable of conducting combat operations. but nobody has any qualms or a

jim miklaszewski is following these moves from one of the closest allies in the region. >> u.s.anian f-16s took part in today's air strikes over syria. jordan didn't simply throw the jets into the sky and attack these targets at random. they were part of the original target set, set forth by the u.s. and coalition in terms of what kind of targets isis targets in syria were we

let's get to jim miklaszewski.tary to put something out this specific and public this early. what is the loblgic? >> no yes. and when reporters asked what is this about? there was push-back from the military and they said the intention is to set isis back on their heels and put them on a defensive crouch and take them out of their own battle rhythm but quite frankly after being hammered pretty much fairly or unfairly, however you want to look at it as to what many consider lack of progress in the u.s.-iraqi military effort against isis in iraq you have to guess somebody wanted to put out something that sounded like progress, steve. >> and this is the same iraqi

and jim miklaszewski has washington's response since late this morning. what do you have this hour? >> u.s. officials tell us that the female hostage may have been killed but we are told the counter-terrorism intelligence is scrambling to get any kind of information they could find. and i can tell you, this many hours later they have found no evidence that, in fact this female hostage has been found dead. and despite all of the sophisticated intelligence and surveillance equipment that the u.s. has at its disposal they don't have adequate intelligence on the ground. and so in that case they will defer, in this case to the jordanians who do have some network of operatives in syria and their information, according to what we are hearing out of amman this afternoon, is that they don't believe that the hostage has been killed in either an air strike or by isis itself or they are writing this off as pure isis propaganda abby. >> thanks for that report. >>> and jordanians are calling today for more strikes on isis. >> this is a response to isis and what they have done to jordan and all of

nbc's jim miklaszewski. we appreciate it. >>> breaking news to bring you now.delphia as their site for their 2016 convention. well philly beats out new york and columbus ohio for the chance to be the host city. the event has been slated for the week of july 25th, and we're told competition has been fierce over the past few weeks ahead of this decision. dnc chairwoman debbie wasserman schultz visited all three locations last week. four final inspections. remember last summer the republican national committee chose cleveland as their city. the gop convention takes place july 18th through the 21st in 2016. >>> well with me now two people watching all the dwemplt developments in the 2016 race closely. we thank you both for being with us here. how does that come into play here? we get started knowing that philadelphia, pennsylvania chosen for the 2016 democratic convention? >> hey, frances. as you know this was debbie wasserman schultz' decision to make and she did visit all of those cities. they were looking very closely at doing this in new york in brooklyn. there

joining me now jim miklaszewski. the administration says it accepts mcdonald's explanation and it seems to be a direct explicit apology. >> it happened there in los angeles a month ago when robert mcdonald was seeking out homeless veterans on the streets when he encountered one vet who said he was special forces and mcdonald responded inexplicable i was special forces when that was not true. so far as you said, the white house is willing to accept the statement that he made a misstay and misstatement and apologize for it and the white house is willing to move on. declaring a military record that you don't deserve or military service that you don't deserve is one of the absolute cardinal sins that anybody in this service can do and so it will be a long time before mcdonald's apologies you through. >> and of course he did go to ranger school, i understand some of the confusion may have come from there. at any rate we have a direct apology and we'll have to see how that military community responds. always a pleasure jim

jim miklaszewski, thank you very much. >> you bet. >> and stick with msnbc for the latest on the story. we'll bring you the news conference live coming up at the top of the hour. >>> and next as the islamic state continues to metastasize in the middle east and the slaughter of ethnic minorities what lures new recruits from the west to join the terrorist groups ranks. >>> against the ropes. how two republican governors have worked to break the back of labor unions. my colleague ed schultz joins me just ahead. sfx: opening chimes sfx: ambient park noise, crane engine, music begins. we asked people a question how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40 $53, $21, do you think the money in your pocket could make an impact on something as big as your retirement? not a chance. i don't think so. it's hard to imagine how something so small can help with something so big. but if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge sfx: crowd cheering might not seem so big after all. ♪ ♪ want

central command told nbc news pentagon contempt jim miklaszewski that as many as 20,000 iraqi military and kurdish forces could be involved in the operation to retake mosul, iraq's second largest city. the official said that if needed, u.s. ground forces, including special operations forces and forward air controllers used to call in air strikes could also be involved in the operation. eerily, arriving on the same day, word that for the first time, a majority of americans would support u.s. ground troops in the battle against isis, according to a cbs news poll. 57% now favor using u.s. ground troops against isis. that support represents an increase. 47% in october of last year, and just 39% one month before that. furthermore, 65% of americans now view isis as a major threat to the u.s. the war rhetoric is also not limited to discussion of isis or even iraq. a member of congress is now suggesting that the proposed authorization to use military force in the battle against isis include the nation of iran. congressman ed royce, republican of california, and chair of the house foreign affai

. >> and chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me.ng the explanation? >> they are taking him at his word as far as we know. a statement earlier from the white house, we were hearing from our folks there, is that you know they accept his explanation that this was a misstatement, a mistake, he apologized for it and moving on. the question is why he would do it. there's no record of him making these kinds of claims in the past. we're going to find out about that later today when he steps out to talk to reporters later today in front of the va andrea. >> and it is an embarrassment for the new secretary, mik and we'll watch later on what he has to say. thank you very much. >> that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." join us at 8:00 eastern when msnbc and telemundo's exclusive town hall welcomes president obama at florida international university using your questions. you can tell us what you want the president to talk about on social media using the #obamatownhall. follow us on facebook and twitter. "ronan farrow

and jim miklaszewski. how many trooms are -- troops are we talking about here? >> there is no known number of troops for the time being but they said we don't need additional u.s. forces on the ground right now because the iraqi military is not ready. u.s. -- senior u.s. military officials say we do not want to rush to failure. and until such time as the iraqi military is in a position to present a viable offense against isis the u.s. military quite frankly, is content on the kind of progress we're making right now there, according to those officials. but the president took a huge step forward in his remarks today. when he said that he would, for the first time that he would actually authorize combat ground troops there in iraq. he said that if in fact there was a gathering of isis leadership and the iraqi military wasn't able to take it out, he would authorize the use of special operations forces the first time ever that he said he would authorize ground combat troops in this battle. officials here though stress this has to be a strategy of patience. they say a

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jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon for us. >> robert mcdonald was hired to clean up veterans affairs, but he talked his way into a mess of his. veterans affairs secretary was apologizeing for falsely claiming he was in the u.s. special forces. >> special forces? what year? i was in special forces. >> the comment last month when he was speaking with a homeless man in los angeles. he offered his apology after being contacted by the "huffington post." i have no excuse, he said. i was not in the special force. he was hired to fix an ailing va following reports of scandals at va hospitals across the country. he i is an army veteran having served with the 82nd airborne. the white house is standing behind him, issuing a statement. we take him at his word and expect that will not impact the important work he is doing to promote the health and well being. this is the second time in two weeks that he had been forced to correct his own record. on "meet the press" february 15th he discussed his efforts to repair the va. >> 900 people have been fired. 60 people will be fired for manipulating. >>

jim miklaszewski has the story from the pentagon. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the v.a.'s robert mcdonald moved aggressively admitting his claim being in special operations forces was just not true. but when it comes to those veterans, his battles are far from over. outside the v.a. on tuesday, secretary robert mcdonald got straight to the point. >> i made a mistake. and i apologize for it. >> reporter: this is what he apologized for. an exchange with a homeless veteran in los angeles aired on cbs, he falsely claimed he had been a special operations soldier. >> special forces? what years? i was in special forces. >> that was wrong. and i have no excuse. >> reporter: as a west point graduate mcdonald did survive special warfare training but joined the army's rangers, not the special operations forces. >> did you even realize you made that mistake as you call it and did you ever think you need to correct it? >> i was talking to a homeless vet ran. i was concerned about getting that homeless veteran if they were a veteran, the kinds of cares and services that they needed. >>

nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon for us. >> reporter: good morning. robert mcdonald was hired to clean up veterans affairs. now it appears he's talked his way into a mess of his own. veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald is apologizing after falsely claiming that he was in the u.s. special forces. >> special forces? what years? >> reporter: the comment aired on cbs news last month while secretary mcdonald was speaking with a homeless man in los angeles. mcdonald offered his apology after being contacted by "the huffington post." i have no excuse, he said, i was special forces. mcdonald was picked by president obama to fix an ailing va after eric shinseki resigned last may following reports of scandals at va hospitals across the country. he is, however, an army veteran, having served with the 82nd airborne. the white house is standing by mcdonald, issuing a statement. we take him at his word and expect that will not impact the important work he's doing to promote the health and well being of our nation's veterans. this is the second time in two we

>> kristen welker and jim miklaszewski, thank you for being with me. appreciate your time. >>> and john kerry is addressing the challenges of keeping isis from spreading. >> our goal today is to take this chance to think broadly about how to prevent violent ideologists from taking hold and how to prevent terrorist networks, sump as isil or boko haram or any group of other names, from linking up with aggrieved groups elsewhere and how to prevent them from there it by expanding their influence. >> the terrorist gruchs is pushing deeper into north africa trying to exploit unrest in libya, tunisia and algeria. i bring in ambassador ginsburg and sophia jones, a middle east correspondent for the world post who joins me by phone. ambassador, start with you. good morning. let me ask you about these areas. why is it that these areas in north africa seem so ripe for isis recruiters? >> jose when we overthrew gadhafi, we had ourselves on the back and left libya to its own devices. it has been a country that has been ripe with extremism, and what happened during t

jim miklaszewski is following the story. >> it's interesting because robert mcdonald was hired on atthat mess and it appears now he's talked his way into a mess of his own. >> reporter: veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonough is stepping back after he claimed he was in special forces. it aired last month while the secretary vs speaking with a homeless man. he offered his apology after being contacted by the"the huffington post". i have no excuse he said i was not in the special forces. he was picked by president obama to fix an ailing v.a. after the mess. he's an army veteran having served with the 82nd airborne. the white house issued a statement to nbc news. we take him at his word and expect that will not impact the important work he's doing to promote the health and well-being of the nation's veterans. that's the second time mcdonald has been forced to correct his own record. on "meet the press" he discussed his efforts to repair the v.a. >> 900 people have been fired since i became secretary. we have 60 people who have manipulated wait times. >> only 20 were dismissed. a v.a

it's being handled, especially from our side let's go to the pentagon let's hear from nbc news jim miklaszewski. jim, the sources are saying about the president's handling of isis, the crisis involved and his handling of isis his opposition of his handling of isis. within the pentagon what's your sense, who does pentagon think their allies in terms of fighting this are on the ground in the middle east? >> okay. first of all, the strongest ally in the region and you guys mentioned it earlier, are the person pesh, the kurds, fiercist fighters on the ground in the region. unfortunately they don't have the kind of numbers that could overrun and defeat isis. the second ally there in iraq you would think would be the sunni tribe. if you remember the iraq war turned around when in the sunni awakening. when the sunni tribes decided to join forces with the u.s. let's get to this issue on iran. i don't think you're going to see the sunni tribes joining forces as long as iran. continues to conduct military operations inside iraq. not just ground operations withly mishwith ly militias but air strikes. the

jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. this is a huge breakthrough, bigger step for the army. there were few in the pentagon or military who thought they'd ever see this day when the army would not only permit but pay for treatment for bradley manning's transition. when sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking thousands of secret documents to wikileaks, he was private first class bradley manning. the very next morning in a statement read by savannah here on "today" manning dropped a bombshell. >> i want everyone to know the real me. i am chelsea man, i am a female. >> reporter: manning's lawyer revealed chelsea wanted to begin hormone therapy immediately. >> i think the ultimate goal is to be comfortable in her skin and be the person she never had an opportunity to be. >> reporter: for a year and a half army officials at fort leavenworth prison denied chelsea the hormone therapy needed to transition to a woman. she sued the federal government and last week the commander approved the treatment. as an army private in iraq