kristin welker is at the white house. what are the big takeaways from what you heard. >> touray the president was defiant in the remarks and say our coalition is on the defensive and that isis will lose and cited the 2,000 plus air-strikes that have already launched but trying to answer that question prior to his remarks, why does he need the authorization. the president saying he wants the authorization because america is stronger when the president and congress stand united. so he attempted to answer that question. and also addressed the thorny issue of ground forces say this is not a prolonged ground war and that local forces will be best positioned to take on the fight at the ground but he also said, look this represents a balance, that it also proserves the right for him to send in special forces if that is what is necessary. but again, those are some of the issues that are going to come under robust debate when this does in fact, head to congress. the president made it very clear he was consulting with lawmakers int

kristin welker at the white house. thank you very much. >>> and after the break, more on the claims by isis that an american hostage has been killed. more about the threat and what the white house can do about it. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? aleve, proven better on pain. >>> all right. more now on the breaking news about claiming that -- by isis that air-strikes killed an american hostage. now the claim comes as jordan has taken the lead in air-strikes with about 20 more conducted today. the more public profile is retaliation for the death of a pilot but also in retaliation for the sickening manner in which he was killed. on tuesday they released a video that showed he was locked in a cage and lit on fire. in jordan there was a massive outcry. the government -- i'm sorry jordan's king abdullah has chosen to eradicate isis and whether the government w

for "today," kristin welker nbc news washington. >> this is somewhat of a revolution in that this isst podcast that's become part of the popular culture. i could be mistaken on that psh. >> i think >> it is fasc no of us have finished. but we've started. it really suction you in with the story and it has become almost a cultural phenomenon in some ways. >>> we have a lot more ahead on the sunday edition of "today," a big anniversary for "thelma & louise." this is 25 years later. grandpa bode, grandma said you used to be out of control. really... i guess i did take some risks. anncr: bode, bode miller!!! trained a little bit differently. a little too honest sometimes. the media is useless. you were out of control. but not always. this- is your new wallet. no. really. you can now use your capital one card with apple pay to buy this that... or a few pairs of these-all from your iphone 6 instantly. it's easy. honestly- it's pretty awesome. and when you have the capital one wallet app you can keep track of all your purchases. see what i mean? awesome. what's in your wallet? >>> the rumors

kristin welker joins me live from the white house. christen what are we -- what are we expecting to hear from the president today? >> we expect the president to map out his case for why he's asking for congressional approval to authorize force against isis. congress has said all along they believe the president can campaign against isis but they want congressional buy-in because congress say they want to have authorization over this. so you are going to i anticipate make the same arguments in the letter he sent to congress saying that isis poses a threat to israel but also to the u.s. so here is a look at what is in the aumf request. it would sunset after three years. and authorizes the president or associated persons or forces. and it repealed 202 aufm for forces in iraq. it does not authorize offensive ground combat operations and the white house must report to congress in every six months. the ground combat operations is key because congress wants to say they know what that means. and josh earnest got a number of questions about wh

as nbc's kristin welker reports, they're already beefing up in one of the nation's >> reporter: at one of the world's busiest shopping centers, the mall of north america in minnesota, there is extra security today. this after a video surfaced overnight showing shabab a somali-based terrorist group, calling for attacks against western malls including this one. >> i think when it's a threat like that everyone's extra on guard. >> reporter: the group claimed responsible for the 2013 attack in the westgate mall in nairobi, kenya. a reign of terror where more than 60 were killed. today the secretary of homel officis are investigating the latest threat and urged vigilance from the public. >> i would say that if anyone is planning to go to the mall of americaed eded eded ed todd they have -- mall of america today, they have to be careful. >> reporter: he stresseded that people sho shopping. >> i'm not telling people to not go to the mall. i think there needs to be an awareness, there needs to be vej lance, and you know be careful obviously. >> reporter: in a statement, the mall said "we will

joining me now from washington nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker.ngton right snow. >> reporter: this is becoming a firestorm. the list of democrats who say they're not going to attend the speech is growing. on the list it includeses congressman john lewis, butterfield congressman, and grill grijalva. and some democrats say there's concern their remarks could undermine the deal getting done and as you pointed out, administration officials continue to fume about this. president obama says he's not going to meet with the prime minister citing the fact that the israeli elections are just a few weeksal and vice president biden now saying he will not attend the prime minister's speech. there are broader concerns here as well melissa, how will it impact the united states' relationship, of course a key ally, and how does it impact president obama's relationship with prime minister netanyahu. there are some rumblings, some speculation that the prime minister might back out at the last machineinute. >> thank you to nbc's kristin welker in washington, d.c. aym

. >> kristin welker outside of the white house. thank you very much. and stay tuned with nbc and we'll come with the comments from the white house from the summit live here today at 4:15 p.m. on eastern time. >>> and now a new acceptance of u mass to accept iranian students. after a fire storm eruption over the new policy they cited a 2012 law that excludes iran nationals from studying in the the u.s. if they plan on working in nuclear or energy fields. one professor described the reaction of the policy with ronan farrow moments ago. >> there was a feeling of universal outrage and surprise. people were taken aback. there was widespread upset. i think the sentiment among my colleagues was pretty much universal shock and a sense of just that this is an appalling decision. >> pete williams is following the story. did the university have any leg to stand on by citing this 2012 law in barring iranian students from studying in those particular fields? >> it is not the only cool with this -- school with this kind of policy. we found two or three other univers

kristin welker joins me from the house. >> reporter: good morning. >> we will get to the dnc in a minutel with the immigration issue that had a big change this week. >> reporter: a big set back jose. i expect president obama will be defending executive action on immigration which could provide relief from deportation for more than 4 million illegal immigrants. of course, this comes in the wake of a federal judge in texas who essentially blocked the president's immigration action earlier this week saying the president had overstepped his bounds. dhs secretary jeh johnson responded to that saying we think we are within the rule of law here however, we're going to acknowledge the ruling by the texas judge. dhs was supposed to begin accepting applications this wednesday. secretary johnson said that would be put on hold. i can tell you there are conversations going on behind the scenes at the white house about how to respond. you can anticipate this will be a robust appeals process, jose and there are discussions about the possibility of feeling an emergency injunction. so i expect that durin

>> kristin welker at the white house. good to see you.tement on that authorization of force against isis at 3:30 eastern time. you can see it live here on msnbc. we are also keeping our eyes and ears on a house hearing focused on islamic extremism. that hearing is under way. we will bring you any developments as they occur. >>> and as washington focuses on the fight against isis heads of state from france germany, russia, ukraine are meeting in the nation of bell a radios with eyes on the conflict between ukraine and russia. steve clemens, washington editor at large for the at lan particular. good morning. >> good morning, jose. >> your thoughts on the aumf the president making it clear it is limited in scope. but there are questions. >> one of the interesting things to notice is that it does replace the aumf established in 2002 for iraq. we had a 13 year window open for almost a never ending authorization for military force. the notion that this would expire explicitly in three years in my book is a step forward. the other part of this i

kristin welker has more. >> reporter: heightened security at the iconic malof america in the wake ofeo released by al shabaab, calling for attacks of western shopping mauls. they claimed responsibility for the one in kenya where more than 60 were killed. >> terrorists like al shabaab look for soft targets like west gate mall can penetrate, cause a lot of death, get a lot of attention. >> reporter: department of homeland security is not aware of a specific plot against mall of america or any other shopping center. johnson is calling for public vigilance. >> i am not telling people to not go to the mall. i think there needs to be an awareness, vigilance. >> reporter: a senior obama administration official says so far al shabaab has not shown an ability to launch major operations outside east africa. still, analysts say the group hopes to inspire lone wolf operatives. >> al shabaab doesn't have this capability to launch and direct it themselves what they're hoping for is inspired actors around the world to do their bidding for them. >> kristin welker, thanks so much. >>> two other big s

. >> white house correspondent kristin welker joins us. a lot of people would agree with the question that chris matthews posed there that some of the issues seem to be things beyond any government's control. >> reporter: absolutely. having said that tamron the white house argues that the way to get at the problem, the crisis of violent extremism, is to attack it at its roots, that that will take a broad international coalition. that's the message we expect to hear from president obama a little later on today, he is going to highlight programs that already exist in three cities los angeles, minneapolis, and boston. those programs target so-called vulnerable communities, young people who might be inclined to join a fringe group, a terrorist group like isis. let's take a look at what president obama had to say in the op-ed yesterday, tamron because he expands on that point. he says quote, we know from experience the best way to protect people especially young people from falling into the grip of violent extremists is the support of their fam

>> kristin welker appreciate that from the white house. i'm joined by retired colonel jack jacobs msnbc analyst. do you think there will will ever be a way to fully learn what happened if kayla mueller is indeed dead? >> forever is a long time. unless we have intelligence on the ground isis people interrogated corroborated accounts all we're going to have is anecdotal evidence. maybe overhead imagery we can interpret. there won't be real corroboration without real people on the ground giving us testimony. >> what's the likelihood of getting it? >> really really low. maybe over time some of the stuff will leak out as more intelligence of people who have been interrogated on the ground by locals. it's all going to be anecdotal until all the pieces are put together and that's going to be a long time from now. >> king abdullah said it would be relentless. do they have the supplies to do that? how long will that last? >> it's a good question. they can only do what they can do which so far means that just air strikes. they're not going to put a

nbc's kristin welker is at the house with more and how the president is keeping a close watch on this. >> reporter: erica, good morning. that's right, there were reports of minor shelling overnight but largely, this cease-fire seems to be holding. the u.n. security council is going to hold an emergency meeting today. meanwhile, president obama continues to monitor the situation while he vacations in palm springs. he's been in close contact with his allies yesterday speaking with the german chancellor and the president of ukraine, all leaders stress the need for this cease-fire to stay in place. and there is skepticism that that can happen. there was heavy fighting in the hours leading up to the cease-fire. now here's what the deal calls for. it calls for all sides to withdraw heavy weapons from the front lines immediately while reforms are worked on to ukraine's constitution. that is going to be a tough sell for both sides. now this is something that the obama administration has been pushing for. secretary kerry traveling to the region. president obama speaking with german chancellor

kristin welker joins me live from the white house.ing to hear from the president today? >> we expect the president to map out his case for why he's asking for congressional approval to authorize force against isis. congress has said all along they believe the president can campaign against isis but

kristin welker is in bloomington minnesota with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the mall of america is one of the biggest shoppings centers in the entire country. officials are working to make sure that the public is safe. law enforcement says people should still go shopping and calling for extra vigilance as this new threat put this community and this nation on alert. heightened security at the iconic mall of america in the wake of a video by the somali terrorist groups calling for attacks against shopping malls, specifically this one. they claimed responsibility in the mall in nairobi, kenya. >> terrorists look for soft targets like this mall. they know they can penetrate and cause a lot of death and get a lot of attention. >> the department of homeland security is not aware of a specific credible plot against the mall of america or any other shopping center. johnson is calling for public vigilance. >> i'm not telling people not to go to the mall. there needs to be an awareness and vigilance. >> a senior official