press secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you.ll be right back. press secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we'll be right back. press secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we'll be right back. press secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we'll be right back.press secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we'll be right back.ress secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we'll be right bpress secretary rear admiral john kirby. thank you. and we' shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. they're still after me. get to the terminal across town. are all the green lights you? no. it's called grid iq. the 4:51 is leaving at 4:51. ♪ they cut the power. it'll fix itself. power's back on. quick thinking traffic lights and self correcting power grids make the world predictable. thrillingly predictable. >>> seven teen years is the longest i have ever in my life

here's rear admiral john kirby on where things stand now. >> we're talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 total isil fighters. at least several suicide attackers. and we do -- early indications are that yes, some of them did detonate their vests, detonate themselves. they were immediately engaged by

no word on who will replace admiral john kirby.the meantime, cuba trying to get things back to the way they were before becoming a state sponsor to terror. cuban authorities meeting with house speaker nancy pelosi. >>> it's being called a crushing defeat, as ukrainian forces -- shaky cease fire remains in place. and a water main break in los angeles, flooding homes and parking lots up to the roofs of cars. l.a. averages 1,200 pipe leaks a year. >>> now the obama administration is doubling down on a strategy to fight terrorism, insisting that isis needs jobs. >> we need time to go after the causes that lead people to join these groups. we cannot kill every terrorist around the world nor should we try? it might be too nuanced an argument for some. >> too nuanced for some? chris plant, syndicated radio talk show host also syndicated radio talk show host. too nuanced i don't know is she talking about me chris? >> she's talking about everyone, we're all beneath her, we're all beneath them they're all smarter than everybody else. we're a

we're back with rear admiral john kirby, the pentagon press secretary.seen that number 20,000 foreign forces volunteers, if you will have joined isis in iraq and syria, beyond the syrians and the iraqis who have joined isis. that number accurate? >> we don't have any reason to doubt it. i think the range we've seen is somewhere around 20,000. that's actually remaining sort of consistent over the last couple of months. but this is one of the real threats about this group, the foreign fighters. these are folks that come in with other passports, visas, and then perhaps can export some of this terror back to their home countries which is another reason why we have to take the threat so seriously. >> in addition to the 20,000 foreign fighters, how many local fighters do you estimate that isis has? >> it varies a lot wolf. it's hard to pin it down on any -- with any specificity on any given day. our estimates are somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 total people have joined isil. now, it varies every day. they get some people that come and fight and then leave.

we're taking a live look at rear admiral john kirby right now and he's speaking at the pentagon.en in. >> on capitol hill for his confirmation hearing -- at a hearing today and said that of the -- given the percentage of recidivism among released gitmo detainees that one of the five taliban five who were released for sergeant bowe bergdahl would be expected to return to the fight and that dia would not be able to do anything to trace them once the one year is up in terms of qatar watching them for one year. that seems to stand in contrast to what you said in terms of the ability to mitigate the risk that these released prisoners pose after the one-year mark in may in qatar if they decide to leave for afghanistan and return to the fight. how do you reconcile that? >> well, i didn't see the general's comments but let's just take that at the face value. what i -- i still stand by what i said up here before, and so let's look at this factually right now because it's very difficult to predict the future. all five remain in qatar. all five are being monitored. there are security assura

the daily briefing rear admiral john kirby is speaking. we want to listen. >> is there anything that the u.s. has seen as a result of the proof that the islamic state allegedly provided to the family that indicates when or how she died and whether or not there's any relation to the jordanian strike? and i have another question. >> short answer is no. and i wouldn't get into the specifics of evidence itself but we know that she's dead. isil is responsible for that death. but we're not in a position to confirm the circumstances specifically either to timing to be cause of death. >> and what is the understanding at this point of the military of the strength the size the activity of the islamic state? afghanistan? can you just assess how broad that may be? >> i would -- so let's put this in perspective. we've talked about this in the past. this is a group that does want to grow and expand its influence. you've heard from general rodriguez. you've heard from general campbell that they certainly are looking very sharply to see if they're expandi

i love john kirby and i watched him with great interest today and we fail to recognize this is a war much as a war on the ground. we have to counter the message. so as much as we talk about doing more to get the hostages out, we have to fight the folks in the media. this video, i've seen it well-produced and hollywood quality and meant to send a message to anyone captured to their base they want to recruit. we have to counter their message more effectively in the media. >> doug you have some pretty battle hardened groups on the ground you have hezbollah that have sided with the assad government and the ypg instrumental in getting isis out of kobani and the fsa, although they have crumbled and u.s. coalition airstrikes what is making battle hardened against isis. what is making them so strong? >> there are two answers. i think a lot of us said and i said in a week off the record they are killing hezbollah, what is not to like about this. but that was the wrong organization. both of these organizations got stronger by fighting each other. hezbollah is stronger and the islamic state is

we'll hear john kirby at the pentagon talking about isis. >> when the u.s. government says that they have -- they had information there were no civil yaps at this location and go on to say, as josh earnest did, that this cast doubt on the claim of isil that kayla mueller died in an air strike my question to you is how confident are that that you know what was at that site? >> what we said jamie, is we see no indication and we have no indication that there were civilian casualties as a result of those strikes. or collateral damage. so that is one. two, we've also said this was a legitimate target a known weapons storage fashion that isil had been using. we had hit it before. at least twice before that i know of. not uncommon for us to go back and hit it another target because sometimes they go back and use targets that have been hit in the false assumption once hit, it is safe and we can go back there and use it. not uncommon for us to go back and hit a target multiple times. we do not know the circumstances surrounding her death. i said that to lena. but i c

you talked with the spokesman for the pentagon rear admiral john kirby. he made it sound as if this attack was not a perimeter breach and did not immediately threaten u.s. troops but that it could get very very bad very quickly potentially. >> well the threat is ongoing because you have that isis presence so close. and undoubtedly, he expects and we expect them to continue to attempt to attack this base. fact is today's attack u.s. forces were the pentagon says kilometers away of where it took place so picture at least a mile away. the base itself as big as boulder, colorado so a big base. what's to stop isis from not attacking on another side of the base next time and looking ahead as u.s. forces are more forward deployed around iraq outside of the population centers of baghdad and erbil. they may not be combat troops but they are closer to combat and we got a taste of that today. coalition war planes flying over the western iraqi town of al baghdadi. this after isis militants seized the town and launched a separate assault on iraqi base housing u.s. mil

still, said pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby-- >> let's not forget in whose hands this woman died and let's not forget who is ultimately responsible for it, isil. >> reporter: in an interview today, president obama said kayla mueller was one of the hostages the u.s. tried to rescue with a raid into syria last summer. but it turned out the hostages had been moved just a day or twoy before. four americans were held hostage at the time, and now, scott, all four are dead. >> pelley: david martin at the pentagon tonight.ht david, thank you. we're going to have more about kayla mueller's remarkable life and that letter she sent home later in the broadcast. president obama vowed to bring her killers to justice. he blames isis, and on the battlefield in northern iraq isis is murdering entire villages. holly williams is there.e >> reporter: in once-peaceful farmland, these men showed us what they say is a mass grave. how many bodies are buried here?ed eyewitnesses told us isis killed at least 50 yazidi men here, and though we cannot verify what's buried under this mound, they told us the m

here's rear admiral john kirby on where things stand now. >> we're talking about somewhere in the neighborhoodf 20 to 25 total i

press secretary john kirby stepping down to make room for a civilian spokesperson. new defense secretary ash carter wanted to revisit the roles to determine if it is appropriate for a military member to be put at the podium. he has been acting as head of the secret service. now joseph clancy is getting the job permanently. a government panel recommended the president name someone outside of the service. he is sticking with clancy. clancy has been the interim director since julia here son resigned. before that he was head of the president's guard detail. estes canned with an agency rocked with security breeches and white house jumping incident. >>> he is the potential 2016 presidential candidate saying how he is different from his father and brother. >> i have also been fortunate to have a father and brother who helped shape america's foreign policy from the oval office. i recognize that as a result my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs. just for the record one more time, i love my brother i love my dad, and i admire their service to the nation and t

here's rear admiral john kirby on where things stand now. >> we're talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 total isil fighters. at least several suicide attackers. and we do -- early indications are that yes, some of them did detonate their vests, detonate themselves. they were immediately engaged by members of the iraqi army the seventh infan tri of the iraqi army. all were killed. >> but he's still downplaying the threat. >> i don't think we should make more out of this. i'm not saying we're dismissing the seriousness of the potential breach here, or of the increased activity by isil. but we ought not to make more than needs to be made of it. this is an enemy we still assess to be in defensive posture. it's one town. it's not all of iraq. we need to keep it in perspective. >> just noting here, the president's been shooting selfie videos this week. and the commander in chief is now on his way to sunny california for much needed r & r, golf and high-priced fundraisers. yolo, bob. >> yolo? >> you only live once, remember, the video from yesterday. >> i thought it was kind of app

. >> yesterday rear admiral john kirby said the dod has identified 1200 moderate syrian rebels. training is&gkÑ expected to begin in the middle of march. the army's major general will be leading the training mission. he has been the point man on the ground in jordan working with that country's special operations forces. already 100 u.s. trainers have been sent to the middle east to help the general. >> about 200 people we have -- that the general and his team, with our interagency and international partners, identified as potentials for the whole syria training and equip program. >> in an interesting about, face former u.s. ambassador to syria, record ford, pushing for arming the syrian opposition for months, now say the rebels favored by turkey and qatar are indistinguishable from isis, and he says after visiting rebel leaders in turkey, his views evolved and he estimates there are fewer than 20,000 moderate rebels and they are overwhelmed right now by the more radical al qaeda linked nusra front. >> talk?3ómiwkoÑçç about mission creep. next we arm these people and then history

. >> reporter: but rear admiral john kirby told us the u.s. has emergency plan to evacuate personnel if necessary. isis is also on the offensive in the north. here the terror group parading what it claims are kurdish forces in cages after capturing them in battle. >> sickening images there. cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of the video of caged fires. we do know though kurdish peshmerga forces have been pushing north toward the isis-held city of sinjar in recent days. >>> a cease-fire in ukraine if separatists is to begin in little more than 12 hours, but the fighting has not tapered off. the ukrainian president claims pro-russian forces have increased attacks. the defense ministry says at least eight soldiers have been killed in the past day. mr. poroshenkos the deal brokered in belarus could be in jeopardy. >> this is not just an attack of -- it is an attack of the minsk results. and without explanation because unfortunately after minsk the offensive operation of russia intensified significantly. we still think that the -- [ inaudible ] >

personal last friday between fox news correspondent james rosen and pentagon spokesman admiral john kirbyould you say that barack obama as commander and chief on the morale of the men and women of the united states armed forces? >> i think -- look i have to really take issue with the question. the commander and chief is the commander and chief. it doesn't matter. >> so you discount the proposition that the top officer some impact on the morale rank and file i didn't say that leadership is devoid from morale. >> just let the record reflect i didn't ask you a political question he. >> yes you did. >> oh, joining us from washington is rosen. why did you ask the question in the first place? i asked with the morale with the the command commander and chief. people have told me that it has not been a positive impact impact. i thought it was important for the record of this very tumultuous time that somebody at the meningioma have that question put to them "on the record." >> describe what you have heard. people don't know what the problem is if there is a problem. >> i think by and large recogni

. >>> outfront tonight, pentagon spokesman john kirby. let me start with the news you just heard jim reporting. we understand there's a new u.s. operation under way in which apache helicopters are engaging with isis. can you tell us more about that whether they are in direct combat? >> i'm not at liberty to talk too much about ongoing operations but i can tell you we assess it's still contested in environment. as i said earlier today we continue to want to put pressure on isil larpge part is apply by the security forces. again, i'm a little by tied to what i can talk about. >> to that specific operation. even as that's ongoing, you're talking about the iraqi military. you've also said most, if not possibility all of the attackers were wearing iraqi uniforms. do you have any indication of where they goes those? that's very troubling. >> it is troubling, and no we don't. we don't have any firm answers. it was something the iraqi security forces who defending that perimeter noticed very clearly that they were wearing the uniform pps. >> are

here's rear admiral john kirby on where things stand now. >> we're talking about somewhere in the neighborhood

here is pentagon press secretary john kirby on where things stand now. >> we're talking about someoneborhood of 20 to 25 total isil fighters, at least several suicide attackers, and

i had the chance to get more details from the pentagon spokesman rear admiral john kirby. admiral kirby, did the attackers at any time breach the base security? >> well it looks like they at least got to the outer base limits. we're still looking at this. and it's hard to say, you know whether they breached the perimeter or not but they got, you know to the perimeter level. at the very least and they were immediately engaged and important to note by iraqi security forces right away. >> now, keeping in mind that they control this town just a few miles down the road al baghdadi from the base i imagine the threat to the base is still ongoing. >> well we have been saying that for a long time jim, as you know. we put trainers in al assad, we did that knowing that al anbar province is contested and took a while to get advisers set and established on the base because there were some force protection measures to make sure were in place so we readily admit that it's a contested region sill continues to want to pose a threat here. this is a huge sprawling base. roughly the size of b

and just 24 hours into the job, he reacted to remove john kirby. isn't the first high ranking officer to hold the job, but he acknowledged there has always been an internal debate about having a military officer defend policy. >> one of the questions that i think he wants to rhetorically ask and consider is not just who the individual is but -- but what that individual represents, and whether it's appropriate or not to have a uniform up here. >> reporter: does that put you in a difficult spot sometimes? >> it -- it -- >> reporter: like now? [ laughter ] >> honestly it hasn't been a big issue for me. >> reporter: except it was an issue just last week when a reporter tried to pin down the admiral. >> reporter: would you say that barack obama as commander in chief has had a positive impact on the morale of the men and women of the united states armed forces? [ laughter ] >> i think -- look i -- i have to -- really take issue with the question. >> tonight got very personal last friday between fox news correspondent and pentagon spokesman. >> reporter:

. >>> breaking tonight, we just got word from washington late today that rear admiral john kirby is stepping down as pentagon press secretary. we're told the new defense secretary, ashton carter ordered the change reportedly because mr. carter wants to see a civilian in this position. no word yet on any replacement. >>> developing tonight potential 2016 candidate with a very familiar last name marks a critical moment in his candidacy. former florida governor jeb bush acknowledged his famous father and brother during a key foreign policy speech today, but went onto insist he is not his brother or his father. watch. >> i admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make. but i'm my own man. and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences. each president learns from those who came before. their principles, their adjustments. one thing we know is this, every president inherits a changing world and changing circumstances. >> dana perino co-host of "the five" and also served as press white house secretary under president george w. bush. so this

. >> joining us is a spokesman john kirby and good to see you and let's start with the news out of ukraine the military is pilling the heavy weapons out of conflict zone in the east and seen two days of relative quiet. will this ceasefire finally hold? >> well, we certainly hope so. that certainly is the wish here. everybody at the pentagon antonio but actions speak louder than words and ceasefires have all too often and all too sadly are a femoral because moscow will not abide by it and watching it closely and hoping it holds. >> last week secretary-general rasmussen says if it doesn't hold it is time for the u.s. to provide lethal help to ukraine, is that the thinking at the white house and pentagon? >> at the pentagon it's nonlethal assistance to ukraine forces is what we are focused on and there is a discussion on going discussion frankly and continually reviewed ukraine request for assistance to include lethal assistance but the focus is on nonlethal and would not get ahead of decisions not made yet. >> is there a red line russia should not cross and if so what is it? >> i don't think

. >> obviously listening to admiral john kirby, he was asked over and over again, and the word he keptwas backfire. when you see a group such as aye circumstances it's one thing to decapitate hostages another to take it to this level of burning a man alive inside of a cage. backfiring for isis don't you think? >> that certainly would be the hope. the sadism of a beheading, it's hard to get worse than that but isis has managed to do it here. isis' predecessor, al qaeda in iraq there are some connections that should be made here. >> connection to the would-be suicide bomber? >> connections that should be made with regard to how they overstep. the sunni community turned against them. this was the beginning of the end for al qaeda in iraq. this is now a successor organization. does this kind of mutilation this burning video, does this push -- we mentioned tribes. will the tribes see this and say, we can't be passive anymore? we have to openly fight against the islamic state. the islamic state has been trying to get ahead of that by actually eradicating the tribes any tribes that don't go a

pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby joins us. good evening sir. >> good evening. thanks for having me. >> thighs to have -- nice to have you. we wanted information to be wrong that she was not dead. what you can tell me about the confirmation? what is the confirmation? >> well, we do know that she is dead. i'm afraid i'm not at liberty to talk about the evidence and where we got that conclusion from. but the intelligence community has looked at this. we have looked at it. we agree with the assessment that she is sadly dead. and our thoughts and prayer goes out to the mueller family, to all her friends back home in arizona we know this is a horrible horrible day for them and we are thinking of them. >> we have done this with american journalists everyone seems, -- every dame we see in this t. is so heart breaking. it's inconceivable to think this could happen. is there any information about when she died? is it possible like the jordanian pilot that this was some time ago and just getting information now? >> no, honestly greta, we don't know, there is simply not en

this plan entirely which shows the cooling of relations that we've seen described by rear admiral john kirby. at that i can a listen. >> it's a complex relationship that we have with egypt. we recognize that know face a significant terrorism threat. we're constantly working through that with them. >> reporter: carol, you really have two philosophies on how to deal with isis in libya. the egyptian side is that there needs to be direct intervention. they want to back that libyan national government in the east to fight isis but that does pose a problem. there are a bunch of different factions inside libya, different militias that wouldn't be too keen on seeing that government getting weapons and fighting them as well. these other militias not necessarily joining isis. if it sounds complicated it's because it is. there's so many different groups in that country vying for power, vying for control and that's really where isis has been able to exploit. on the other side you have the diplomatic pressure. the u.n. believes that they can get these militias these groups together form some form of unit

i love admiral john kirby talking about how we have to get our act together regarding focusing on what we need to counter what they're saying. >> you said something very interesting. this might be meant to intimidate future pilots? >> absolutely. it's meant to show what your fate may be if you're captured. this was meant to show a message to our pilots as well as a recruitment tool. i talked to hollywood friends. this is high production. i know if you pulled it off youtube. if you see it, it was horrific. they leave the guys hands left. this is meant to frighten the bejesus out of flying. >> what do you mean they switched to beheadings to something like that? >> i wouldn't be surprised if they do the assassination of the female aide worker. it would be more horrific. they're trying to raise the bar to a level i've never seen before. these people are true evil. we dealt with evil in world war ii. we went after imperial japan. and we got to lead it. they got to do the work we have to lead it. >> colonel, we'll watch, including the meeting now about 50 minutes away. we'll have a lot more.

we're just getting an update now from john kirby.you more details as they come in. >>> in the meantime the family of an american man missing in syria is calling now on the u.s. government not for a special unit on the ground but simply for more information. it's a scenario similar to the foley family. they grew desperate for news about their missing son who was later killed at the hands of isis. >> we didn't feel jim was a priority, even though we were told that from the very beginning, that he was. and just to trust, that everything was being done. but we don't have much evidence of that mainly because of very poor communication. >> so a few detail bz the man who's missing right now. austin tice disappeared in syria august 13, 2012. he's a former marine, always a marine, who went on to become an award winning freelance journalist. he attended home school. he was an eagle scout. and here are his parents, deborah and mark tice. it's so great to have you on "the real story" today. i know it takes a lot of courage for you to come on and

-led air strikes, and at the pentagon, rear admiral john kirby confirmed it. >> they still have resourceseir disposal but we know that they're feeling the pinch because they aren't able to grab new ground and therefore aren't able to rob new banks and steal more cash. >> woodruff: the task force report did call for targeting the militants' online fundraising. the four-month extension of greece's financial bailout took a major step forward today. germany's parliament voted overwhelmingly to back the extension. the finance minister told lawmakers that it's in everyone's best interest. >> we're in a situation that financial market trust them again and griese can act without any support on its own, called competitiveness. for greece there's a longer road than for any other european country. >> woodruff: germany has pushed greece to adhere to spending cuts and other austerity measures. a leading opposition figure was shot and killed today. the interior ministry says it was a drive-by outside the kremlin. he was a prominent critic of president vladimir putin. on wall street, stocks lost ground

john kirby said this about the potential threat of drones falling into the wrong hands. this is not the first time we have workeded with the state department to transfer or sell. it suits our interest and i think it should suit the american people's interest to know that we're going to be involved from soup to nuts. >> okay, so paul that amounts to me as don't worry about it. we got it. but is the story of big weapons falling into the wrong hands -- i mean people -- everybody knows that story and how it ends. how confident should we be from the security standpoint that this technology will be secure? >> i think the most important thing to realize is the united states does not have a monopoly on drones. sometimes there's a perception that drones are a special technology we only have. and it's certainly not true. there are over 20 countries that are currently developing armed drones. and some of them like china will certainly sell those to other countries as well. so the key question is what will countries do with it? how will they use drones? one of the key things in the

that is actually coming from john kirby, a spokesman for the pentagon. you are looking right now at live pictures from the pentagon where the daily briefing is getting under way. we're going to continue to monitor that briefing and bring you further developments. >>> all right. meanwhile, pressure is mounting on gon kbon governor john kitzhaber to resign. he and his fiancee, sylvia hayes are investigated following reports hayes used her connections to the governor to win contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. and routinely used the governor's mansion to host meetings with clients. despite pressure from senior democrats and reports that he told aides he was stepping down, the governor says otherwise. >> a lot of talk today. do you have any intentions of resigning? >> no, i do not. as i indicated last week i recognize i've been getting a lot of pressure from many to do so. don't intend to do so. i got elected. a lot of people spent a lot of time and money and energy to get me in this position and i owe it to them to do the job as best i can. >>

i'm joined my rear admiral john kirby, the pentagon press spokesman. thank you for joining us. that's my question. it looks to me and based upon your statements today that isis is still on the offensive. >> no i don't know that i'd say that, chris. they certainly have been on the offensive the last couple of days, but our assessment is that strategically they're still very much in a defensive crouch. we need to keep this in%. al baghdadi the town near the base is actually contested right now. we don't assess that it's completely fully in their control and this attack never got beyond the perimeter, the extreme perimeter of a base that's roughly the size of boulder, colorado. so i'm not saying we're not taking it seriously, but i don't know that i'd go as far to say that isil is back on the offensive. >> who took that land back? who took that territory back from the isis forces? the americans took the forces back or iraqi forces? >> iraqi security forces have been battling with isil in an anbar. the situation is still very contested. i don't want to call it one way or the other,

. >>> breaking tonight, we just got word from washington late today that rear admiral john kirby is stepping down as pentagon press secretary. we're told the new defense secretary, ashton carter ordered the change reportedly because mr. carter wants to see a civilian in this position. no word yet on any replacement. >>> developing tonight potential 2016 candidate with a very familiar last name marks a critical moment in his candidacy. former florida governor jeb bush acknowledged his famous father and brother during a key foreign policy speech today, but went onto insist he is not his brother or his father. watch. >> i admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make. but i'm my own man. and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences. each president learns from those who came before. their principles, their adjustments. one thing we know is this, every president inherits a changing world and changing circumstances. >> dana perino co-host of "the five" and also served as press white house secretary under president george w. bush. so this

wondering what you're hearing from pentagon officials this morning. >> pentagon spokesman john kirbyin immediate danger even though he couldn't say for sure whether the security perimeter was breached but just the proximity to the attack is raising new questions whether u.s. forces will ultimately get dragged into a combat role as this war on isis intensifies, he insisted still not the intent in an interview yesterday listen here. >> these u.s. troops that are at anbar are trainers, advisers, that's what they are doing, training hundreds of iraqi security force personnel. they have the right to defend themselves. and so and we've been honest that of course u.s. forces are in a combat role. we conducted more than 2,000 air strikes. that's combat. there's not going to be a return to a combat mission on the ground and these individuals are not in a combat mission on the ground. again, as i said, they have the right to defend themselves and should they feel under threat they certainly have the right and the responsibility, the obligation, to shoot back. >> but let me point out to our vie

we have press secretary rear admiral john kirby. i didn't say admiral. fine. >> what a nice guy? >> it's a tough job. it's not fair. >> no. >> we should ask him about sports. >> but go there. >> we have to ask you, bob woodward is talking to people inside a building where you are. there were a lot of generals and admirals in rnlg cha what's your response from the pentagon? >> i certainly can't speak from the folks mr. woodward talks to i tell you we believe we are making a huge impact. these guys are on a dovesive crouch. they're having trouble getting recruits. they're constriptcripting now. this is a group radically different than several months ago we believe that strategy is working. >> what can you tell us? give us a sense something has developed in the past few months that is different? >> it is from a military perspective now. this is a different strategy than military from our purpose in the pentagon it's degrading their capability. reducing their ability to maneuver and operate. >> how are we doing that? >> for one from airstrikes in the air. we

one of his former receivers, john kirby now assistant athletic director. >> we knew he would be a great college quarterback but no one could fathom the ranks he's ascended to now and we could never think a lot of us were coaching him, playing with maybe one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. >> i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined. >> reporter: fans across the bay have another role model. the seahawks' marshawn lynch attended oakland tech high school and university of california. while he's chosen not to open the window of his life to the media -- >> yeah. >> reporter: there are plenty of people that the studio barber lounge in alameda who know what lynch is about. >> everybody here loves him. his teammates love him. it's good to have a kid come from a neighborhood and -- you can touch him again. these kids, around, you can see something that made it out of here and successful, but come back and just be normal. >> kids can come up to him and run and give him a hug and they just -- it's not portrayed in the media. the media thinks he's a thug, this and that

>>darya: the pentagon is looking for a new press secretary john kirby is one to be leaving the post accordingan he service announced the spokesperson for a little over a year no replacement has been made. >>mark: will have more on the big stores we have been following this morning as will bring a of a ride after the break to alive the outside here the webers low clouds and fog still a backup of all right now 55 waiting for sunshine and waiting for the upper 60s this afternoon. whoa, is ia luhbox t a llown ba rrrr..a turabeau. you' makg meelt.shl we mini bybels 10 turachee and a ole t ofun. mi babel.snk a ttleigge >>mark: would like to give you 2 ft. of snow you improvise the boston was a challenge. >>reporter: what are few knucklehead bostonian says choosing to deposit themselves in snowbanks worm insurance is the fault doesn't get you the frostbite my and asking people to stop the nonsense right now these are adults jumping off car roofs terry on railings leaping off porches lawson themselves downstairs but as the high- flying high jinks that have boston's mayor frosted. it is >>: a foolish

it could even go later than that rear admiral john kirby says i don't feel like we are red iny in april don't know. we are not taking april off the table. >> defense officials couldn't get on the same page about when we would be ready and but what is bizarre about this telegraphed more recently and criticized by so many, john mccain being one of the harshest critics. but there were rumblings about this back in december. and the iraqi defense minister was saying we are not ready for. this that was a couple of months ago. >> are they going to be ready in four months? we trained them for 10 years. they are going to take a few more months and now they will be up to speed. >> as if we didn't look weak and indecisive enough. didn't we spend $10 trillion training the iraqi army they couldn't take back the city from 2,000 isis fighters. what happened though all that money? there ought to be some accountability. up yards of $10 billion that vanish during the war that no one could ever find. fear not folks, while we are having a difficult time going after them in mosul we are beating them in soci

spokesman admiral john kirby spoke to cnn yesterday about it and hear him downplaying the concerns ofcan troops. listen here. >> we readily admit al anbar is a contested reason isil continues to pose a threat there, but this is a huge sprawling base roughly the size of boulder, colorado. not just a small outpost somewhere. there's many bases inside the big base. so very, very big area. and i would say that this incident not that we're not taking it seriously, happened nowhere near where u.s. or coalition forces were operating. >> the pentagon is stressing that this attack is mostly another example of isis propaganda. simply knowing they'd make a big splash by hitting this huge protected base but kirby pointed out it was a suicide mission so isis wasn't going to gain substantial ground anywhere. at the same time we've been hearing for months the deep skepticism on capitol hill about iraqi security forces that they may be ill prepared or at least under prepared for this war but because they beat back isis in this case defense officials are casting this event almost as a success because

lawsuit yesterday, rear admiral john kirby confirming two dozen isis fighters dressed up like iraqi soldierseached an air base in anbar province which houses 400 u.s. troops. the defense department claims the americans were two miles away when the fighting occurred. all of the isis fighters were killed by members of the iraqi army according to the pentagon. some may have detonated suicide vests. joined now at the big board by british royal air force officer and foreign affairs correspondent michael kay. thanks for joining us. >> good morning. good to see you. >> this is obviously scary news to hear american troops 400 of them apparently close, they are saying a couple of miles. they are in the base the isis militants are attacking. we have an aerial shot. take us through what happened here. >> first thing that's important is to pick up on what richard was saying about the context of the threat. in terms of the threat to the u.s. troops on the ground on this air base the threat is min pal. there is a reason for that. we have to look at the size of the air base. these are the two main runways.

john kirby from the pentagon was asked about this on friday.aid. >> what i can tell you is that we remain confident, as we were when we sent them there, that the assurances we received are sufficient enough to mitigate any future threat these individuals may pose. >> this was the whole debate back when bergdahl came back. do we leave anybody behind? do we get our people out no matter what the cost? even if the cost is five taliban going back or do we make an exception in this case. when you look at that debate and this, what do you think? >> i said on the air at the time i thought it was a rotten deal. i wasn't the only one. i think the idea of getting your troops back no matter what it costs in the military operation, that makes a great deal of sense. we followed that dictum for a long time. the question about whether or not you make a deal like this for a guy like bergdahl that's a different story altogether. i and lots of other people said at the time that it was something you should not do. >> shouldn't have made the deal. >> no, you're goi

. >>> rear admirable john kirby is is resigning as press secretary for the defense department.he first uniformed service member to serve in that capacity. the changes being made because the new defense secretary ashton carter wants a civilian in that position. >>> there are allegations of racism within the bridgeport connecticut police after an anonymous threatening letter with the words "white power" makes its way through the depart. a detective says it was type on department letterhead. officers say this is the third threatening letter in the last year the first one that identifies an officer by name. >>> this "wheel of fortune" contestant very good probably could have won the cnn quiz show. a 17-letter puzzle, no problem for this guy. >> we start with you, a letter please. >> t. >> one t. >> championship match. >> yeah that's right. >> no way. no way! >> no way. >> well that guy like -- >> he gets a clue right? >> that was a quality shirt. tapper probably has one just like it and i'll tell you it does smack of the quiz show in that a very suspicious end to that one as well.

wlets' bring in rear admiral john kirby. he joins us this morning. s what we have learned from reuters. they say that jihadi john's real named is mohammed emwazi. he is kuwait at this born but raised and educated in london. what more do we know? >> here at the pentagon i'm afraid we're not able to confirm that identity. we have seen news reports like you have. this is really a matter for our colleagues in the united kingdom to speak to. we can't confirm that identity. what i can tell you is this does get to a large issue of foreign fighters. you've reported this well. thousands and thousands of radicalized young men in particular are joining this fight, and that's what makes this threat of isil so significant. >> you stated the pentagon cannot confirm his identity however, there are reports that even back in september the fbi said that it had learned jihadi john's identity but was not revealing it to the public. does the fbi believe this is emwazi? >> i would point you to the fbi for that. what i can tell you is we're not able to confirm his identity

pentagon press secretary john kirby. admiral, always glad to have you on "new day."rs and i am not deft enough to make you do it -- >> thank you. >> -- so instead, please what i'm going to ask you to do is to lay out the justification militarily for these things. the immediate push back will be enough is enough. we don't need to do any of this. it's not working, the bombs. they have all of these foreign fighters coming at an unprecedented rate. they're gathering land. it's not working. no more. what do you say? >> well here at the pentagon we have been saying this for a while. this is going to be at least a three to five year fight against isil from a military perspective. i would say the strategy we're implementing we believe is working. we have put immense pressure on these guys. they're not taking new ground. they're starting to see problems that they're not getting the recruits. they're starting to constrict. they're losing revenues every month. financially they're under more pressure. we've got a coalition of 60 nations that are coming together to really try to