. >> i want to hear how this sounds to another reporter, michael isikoff. he recently joined yahoo!ews after hour years at nbc and the better part of 20 years at "newsweek." he broke the news the obama administration has decided not to apply it's targeting standards to syria. it means a looser policy in effect. isikoff is best known for his work uncovering president clinton's affair with monica lewinsky. he joins me in d.c. as well. michael, if we buy into the conceit, the trivialization of american political reporting really begin in earnest with the gary hart story, where are we now? is it so much worse today? >> there's no question that political report, perhaps all reporting has become more and more trivial in part i think sort of driven by the way media has evolved with twitter and facebook, attention spans are shorter, news bites are shorter. >> does that mean it becomes more entertaining as a result? >> i think there's no question that people's attention spans are shorter and to break through and grab people's attention you need something catchy, you need something grabby, an

writing for yahoo news and citing unnamed sources, michael isikoff reports the fbi recently searched the home of the employee of a federal contractor in northern virginia, while federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation. isikoff said the case relates to an august story by investigative journalists jeremy scahill and ryan devereaux based on a classified document which showed nearly half of those on the u.s. terrorist watchlist are not connected to any known terrorist group. john cook said the stories had revealed crucial information about the excesses of the u.s. watchlist system and "any attempt to criminalize the public release of those stories and if it's only those who exercise virtually limitless power in secret with no accountability." last week, jeremy scahill spoke about the significance of the revelations on democracy now! >> this document and others like it had long been sought after by the american civil liberties union and other legal organizations and lawyers who were present clients who had been unjustly placed on the no-fly list. we saw an immediate impac

. >> michael isikoff of nbc news is reporting that the united states is lowering standards for air strikes in iraq and syria, abandoning the, quote, near certainty, unquote, of no civilian casualties standard they have been using in afghanistan and pakistan. what are the rules of engagement for canadian air forces to revent civilian casualties? are we held to a higher standard or in lock step with the americans? >> isil has been carrying out a murder rampage seizing territory and killing children. you can be assured that the rcaf lived up to the highest standards in the world. that's the record. it has been and will be. >> the honorable member -- >> mr. speaker, turkey, one of our allies is currently facing a syria humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of people crossing its border, fleeing isil. winter is coming quickly. that will make the situation worse with. the does canada plan to play a roll in helping in the huen man tarn crisis. mr. speaker, canada is already very active on this crisis. we are the 7th largest donor in importance. clearly what we have succeeded in doing to