michelle kosinski live from the white house.lose out my show i just want to read you another part of this letter that kayla wrote to her father on his birthday while she was being held captive by isis. >> the hope of our reunion is the source of my strength. please be patient. give your pain to god. i know you would want me to remain strong. that's exactly what i am doing. do not fear for me. continue to pray as i will. by god's will we'll be together soon. all my everything kayla. sadly as we know today, kayla mueller will not make it home. the white house and the mueller family both confirming that kayla mueller has died. much more to come throughout the hours on cnn. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. the next hour of "newsroom" after a break. ugh... ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. huh, fifteen

christine. >> michelle kosinski thank you. the targeting scandal could be a criminal matter.verseeing the irs confirms the disappearance of the lois lerner e-mails may involve criminal activity. the congress requested the e-mails to determine if agents targeted tea party groups applying for non-profit status. the e-mails were thought to be lost in an e-mail crash. some of those e-mails were recovered. >>> loretta lynch a step closer to becoming the next attorney general. the committee voting 12-8 to send her nomination to the full senate. if confirmed, she would be the first african-american woman to serve in that position. >>> regulators voted for equal internet. the new rules will give equal opportunity for internet service and speeds on all web sites. network owners like comcast and time warner cable cannot slow delivery of certain sites and charge providers for faster access. a huge win for facebook and aol and twitter. the service providers like at&t and comcast don't want additional rules and they warned a legal fight to challenge this is coming. what does this mean for

jim, we'd like for you to stay with us throughout the hour and also michelle kosinski is with us the white house correspondent in washington right now, and so michelle we now have the news that the two prisoners on death row in jordan have been hanged in retaliation for the murder of that jordanian pilot, and do we know if there is a reaction from the obama ad adminvation some. >> no, and we just left a gathering with some officials not long ago, and right before we found out this news and they had no indication of it just before it happened, and we weren't really talking about that but there is no immediate official reaction as of yet. we have reached out to the white house, and we did hear from the state department earlier talking about this possibility, because we knew that it would be a possibility, and that jordan all day, really talking about the blood of this pilot not being shed in vein and it would not go in an unpunished way, and so the response of the white house to support jordan and in executing the people they have held and the e response was earlier, that we stand with

>> michelle kosinski reporting live from the white house. many thanks. >>> let's go to capitol hill and chief congressional correspondent dana bash. dana you've been getting reaction from the hill. what are people saying? what are lawmakers saying? >> reporter: there are more and more republicans who agree maybe not in as colorful terms as john mccain as saying he won't let this go as long as he breathes but agreed that this is too narrow. speaking right now about the house speaker, john boehner. we expect him to show up shortly for a press conference. ahead of that he just issued a statement, which i have here where he says that it is -- it doesn't give military commanders the flexibility and authorities they need to succeed and protect our people. again, we're talking about that important sentence that michelle talked to you about. talking about not authorizing the use of united states armed forces in enduring offensive ground combat operations. we're in this very ironic kind of bizarre world situation where you have republicans wanting to

michelle kosinski first made us aware of this along with dana bash. michelle you've been looking at this letter. it's two pages long. what have you found? >> reporter: yeah. so we're getting a look at this. this is legislative language that the president proposes to congress in seeking that authorization to use military force against isis. of course people ask, well we're already fighting isis right? well the thing is we've been using authorizations that are very old pertaining to al qaeda and the war in iraq back from 2001 2002. the white house has long believed that even though that gives them all the authorization they say they need it's not really proper to not have something that is narrowly tailored. but in looking what was sent there is some narrow tailoring to it but there's also some breadth. in the breadth it applies to associated persons or forces of isis. that means other groups fighting alongside them so that's potentially groups like the al nusra front. and also it doesn't limit where. no specifications because remember when we first star

michelle kosinski is at the white house with more. >> you heard we have to confront this discussion head on you can't shy away from it. take on the twisted ideology squarely and honestly. then over the last couple weeks the white house has come under fire by some for not ever using the phrase islamic extremism, seeming to shy away from it there. we all know there are other kinds of extremism, but it gets to the point where it's just as awkward to never say it as it would be if you just kept saying it over and over. we had a few people demonstrating outside the white house yesterday and one guy was holding a sign that said "just say it," especially when you consider that a lot of the programs being highlighted during this summit are geared toward muslim communities in the u.s. now the president has addressed this criticism, explaining his thinking. >> we are not at war with islam. we are at war with people who have perverted islam. >> reporter: it's really two points he was making that he didn't want to elevate terrorists by calling them religious leaders, which he says that is what they

>> michelle kosinski at the white house. contingency planning going on. we'll check back with you in just a little bit. shortly after the votes hit the fan, republican senate lindsay graham went in the situation room calling on both sides to get serious. >> i want the democrats tonight to help speaker boehner not shut down dhs in five hours and then i hope my colleagues in the house will abandon this desire to shut down dhs as a way to appeal the executive order. i don't think it's going to work. we don't have the votes in the senate. let the court act. >> now over in the house side new york republican congressman peter king was just a bit blunter tweeting this morning about some of his fellow republicans. he wrote, i've had it with this self-righteous delusional wing of the party that leads us over the cliff. again, that's a republican talking about republicans. but let's talk about democrats now. joining us is new york democratic congressman steve israel. why did you vote against funding homeland security for the next three weeks? >> number one, terrori

cnn's michelle kosinski has more on the possible shutdown. >> reporter: john and christine, for the first time we hear the administration say that yes it looks like this political showdown is heading for a shutdown for the department of homeland security. for the first time we are hearing the administration and the president himself spell out the cutting off funding for dhs will have a direct impact on national security. the reason that is interesting, for the past several days it seems like the white house has gone out of its way to avoid using that language. when asked directly by reporters, what impact will this have they were refer us to the department of homeland security for more detail or say it can't have a good impact on national security. now that the president put it out there, they are giving a little more detail on how exactly this could affect our security. things like having no funding for planning or local programs. also the fact that some 30,000 non-essential dhs employees will be furloughed. they are called non-essential, overall, that could have a negative effect. the w

michelle kosinski has the latest. >> reporter: john and christine, apart of the impasse is a federal judge in texas has put on hold implementation of the president's executive order on immigration. at a town hall meeting in miami where many in the crowd were asking why can't you do more on immigration. his tone was confident and defiant saying he is absolutely confident that the administration is on the right side of the law and will ultimately prevail. even if they lose the first round, they will be successful in a higher court. in the meantime the president said he is using this prosecutorial discretion to prioritize deportations as the white house puts it felons not families. he put out the directive to officials that they are not supposed to be deporting people here working and raising families. he said that if that wasn't met then there would be consequences. he also put the onus on republicans saying it is about time to act for comprehensive immigration reform. also on voters with only about 1/3 of eligible voters doing so in the last election he asked why are you not doing you

cnn's michelle kosinski is at the white house. she joins us with more.porter: hi carol. this is really interesting so far. initially we had the white house announcing this big summit but not ever using the words islamic extremism. but as the summit is getting under way for a second day now, all of the programs that they're looking at are really focusing on muslim communities around the country. what you have now is some who have been annoyed with the white house for not saying the word islamic saying these are people who are becoming susceptible to ideology that isis is recruiting for but then you have muslims around the country saying wait a second we're being singled out. it's really going both ways. social media is a big part of the focus. how to counter those messages that isis is so good at getting out around the world. this is what the secretary of homeland security had to say about that. >> in just a short period of time we've come a long way in terrorists organizations ability to communicate. they have the ability to reach into our communities an

want to bring in white house correspondent michelle kosinski. this operation has been going on for six months the bombing going on for six months. after all that time you might think official authorization might come quickly. you might think that but you'd be wrong. >> reporter: when you think about it it's not really necessary. the white house says the existing authorization which, by the way, in this request still stands, gives them all the authority they need to continue. that's just one part of the bizarre puzzle that is this new authorization for the use of military force. we're hearing a taste of that debate now in the house foreign relations committee. they're not debating the aumf per se. it's about strategy versus isis. this is coming up. we're hearing some on the committee urge for more flexibility while some of the speakers are worried about this leading to a greater war bringing up the specter, even, of vietnam. we know there are democrats who would like to see this aumf request more restrictive. many republicans would like to see it

michelle kosinski has more. >> reporter: we are hours away from running out of funding. employees will have to go to work but not be paid despite mortgages and bills to pay. tens of thousands of other employees would be furloughed. this is all over of course a political battle. at this point, the senate looks like it is poised to vote on a clean bill to fund the department of homeland security but not tie it to simultaneously defunding the president's executive action on immigration. in the house, a lot of republican opposition to this. the house speaker john boehner had the reaction to the continued barrage of questions on the subject. >> when they make decisions, i'll let you know. >> reporter: it is unclear if they will take up a vote on this so-called clean bill. this is setting squarely on john boehner's shoulders. accusing republican leadership of falling down on the job and saying the hard work has already been done on deciding the level of funding. the white house urging republicans as they put it take the responsible course now. christine. >> michelle thank you

our white house correspondent michelle kosinski is joining us with a preview of what we'll be expecting to hear from the president. what do we expect to hear from the president, michelle? >> reporter: he's going to have to strike a balance. this is a community based push. the dynamic is what has become interesting. white house for days now never mentioning the words islamic extremism, but today in all of these local programs they're looking at around the country, they are all focused on muslim communities. the result is kind of annoyance from both sides. you have some saying the white house needs to just talk about islamic extremism because muslims are the ones who tend to be led into or more susceptible to this rhetoric that isis is trying to recruit for. but then muslim americans saying hey, we're being stigmatized and singled out and they're planning a protest outside the white house today. so you can see the tensions the issues on both sides. that said, the summit itself they are bringing up really practical ideas here. again, it's all about the communities. we're hearing from these

our michelle kosinski is standing by live. where are we in the process? what is the protocol and what do we expect to happen? >> reporter: this will have to be voted on by congress. but we saw today the language put out there by the president. it's basically legislative language for congress to act upon, either adopt it or not or change it, try to, as they see fit. and the question has really been, what kind of leeway do you give to the president in fighting isis and then what kind of limits do you put on it? you really see the balance in here in this language. first of all, putting a three-year cap on it. leaving in place the 2002 authorization -- repealing the 2002 authorization of military force relating to the war in iraq, but leaving in place the 2001 authorization that what was designed for al qaeda and its affiliates. so it's interesting that they left that in place. that's the authorization that the president has been working under to fight isis up until this point. but you can see why al qaeda is still a threat, so are its affiliates. that stays

michelle kosinski reporting live from the white house. thank you. join us later this morning at 11:40 eastern as wolf blitzer hosts a special program on the obama/merkel news conference. let's dig deeper now with lieutenant colonel james reese. welcome, sir. >> good morning, carol. >> senator ted cruz suggested the united states should arm ukrainians with defensive weapons. what does that mean? >> carol, that's a great question. defensive weapons, offensive weapons, if we're pushing weapons in the ukraine, they can be used for either/or. i believe we have to listen closely to our friends on the ground like the germans that are right there dealing with this every day and i think we're making a mistake if we push lethal aid in the ukraine. >> why so? there is a sense that if the united states arms the ukrainians that russia will ratchet things up and it will become a full-out war and then russia won't stop. >> i agree. this right now just likes angela merkel said this is a diplomatic and political fight right now. we have to continue down this road. p

let's bring in michelle kosinski. good morning, michelle. >> reporter: the white house, not the the himself, yesterday he was talking about fighting terrorism but the white house seemed reluctant to respond to these comments. they did add when giuliani first said it he prefaced it about i saying this may be horrible to say and the white house say they fully agree with his statement that it was horrible to say. and they also said that he had the similar line of speaking during his fleeting run for the presidency. it's unclear if the president will take time to address that. this is going to be talking to the base. talking about those issues that he's been pushing and pushing hard and at times defiantly over the last few months. remember the state of the union all about middle class economics. he wanted to shape it around that. continuing to grow the economy. now, that's not to say all democrats have agreed with everything lately. most recently in the passage of the budget extension, there was tension between party leade

more now from michelle kosinski. >> reporter: shelling. fighting. civilian deaths escalating as russia expands its influence inside ukraine. now from some top u.s. officials, we hear shifting tone interge discussions, support in military leadership for the u.s. and its allies to do more. arm ukrainian forces. with defensive but lethal aid. >> we haven't taken options off the table. >> reporter: the president said this in india last week. >> i will look at all additional options that are available to us short of military confrontation. >> reporter: the tricky question though would arming ukraine end up a deterrent or stoke the fire into a proxy war with russia as the white house has worried. a group of foreign policy experts, including former administration officials just put out a report calling the situation critical. urging the u.s. and nato to directly arm ukrainian forces, inclusion anti-armor missiles. >> the proposal is not to give ukraine enough to beat the russian army. we can't do that. but we want the ukrainians to be able to raise the cos

michelle kosinski thank you very much.'s get more insight with cnn political commentator peter binart. he's a contributing editor at "the atlantic" and "the national journal." wonderful to have you on. we were just talking a moment ago, you were saying the more horrendous and barbaric isis becomes, the weaker they sexually are politically. >> i think that's right. this is after all a war for hearts and minds. there are some people out there attracted to these horrific videos. but a much much larger group of people in the muslim and arab world are absolutely repulsed. you see these in the scenes we're seeing in jordan. this was not popular in jordan. people in jordan are not interested in fighting for america in the middle east. america is not popular in jordan. when you see a handsome jordanian pilot from a powerful jordanian tribe humiliated and burned to death, i think it makes the politics for the king of jordan much much easier for him to be involved in this coalition. i think it's similar to what we saw in pakistan wh

let's head to the white house and cnn's michelle kosinski. good morning. >> reporter: hey, carol. i don't know if angry young people out there without opportunities are going to be subscribing to the state department's twitter feed or listening to those messages necessarily, but what this government wants to do as part of the summit is they did announce that a segment of the state department will be used to try to counter those messages not only monitor what's out there, because this has become such a big operation. in fact the president himself said it was social media that has, quote, turbo charged isis. but they also do want to try to counter it. here's what the state department said about that. >> this is how these people become radicalized. this is how young men become radicalized, on the internet youtube, watching these videos and getting this messaging. we want to intercede. we want to prevent them from get that go messaging but countering it with our own message and our own story. >> what the president said in that op ed this morning was that fighting extremism is really a

michelle kosinski reporting live from the white house this morning. thanks so much. >>> just a reminder our special coverage begins next hour, 10:25 eastern. then stay for the president's speech. that happens live at 10:30 eastern. >>> as i said some republicans are incensed that president obama refuses to use the term islamic extremist when talking about isis. they say it's flat out dangerous. here's senator ted cruz. >> this bizarre politically correct double speak, it is simply not befitting a commander in chief whose first obligation should be to protect the united states of america. what undermines the global effort is for the president of the united states to be an apologist for radical islamic terrorists. >> senator cruz isn't the only republican taking aim at the president. according to politeicopolitico last night while speaking at a private event in new york. former mayor rudy giuliani criticized the president and his love of the country. giuliani said this quote, i do not believe, i know this is a horrible thing to say, but i do not believe

michelle kosinski are you still with us at the white house? >> reporter: yes. >> let's talk about, i don't know if the president is getting ready to make a statement, if he is going to come into the briefing room is he going to address this issue. jeh johnson, secretary of homeland security we invited him to join us to hear what he has to say, because the ramifications of no funding will be enormous. first of all, hundreds of thousands of employees potentially won't get paid many of them will have to work but are not going to get paid at least in the interim until they come up with some funding, but a whole bunch of others thousands of other employees, many of them in critically important issues they will be furloughed. they won't even go to work. they won't be paid if you will. what's the attitude over there at the white house? do you expect to hear from top officials, maybe even the president himself? >> reporter: we do. i'm surprised that we haven't heard at least from senior administration officials at this point reacting to what just happ

that's part of what will be hashed out over these three days carol. >> michelle kosinski reporting liveat white house summit comes as new cnn poll show a majority of americans, 78%, want congress to give president obama the authority to use force against isis. that same poll also showing a growing number of americans supporting sending u.s. ground troops to fight isis. 47% now compared to 43% back in november. so let's talk about this. ron brownstein is here and josh rogen, cnn political analyst and columnist for bloomberg view. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> ron, i would suppose you wouldn't find these poll results so surprising right? >> i think the surprising number as you go through the poll the disapproval of the president handling of this not surprising given the horrific atrocities that we see. that clearly is a galvanizing force in public opinion. what is surprising is that number that says they are willing to consider ground troops. that is higher than we have seen. higher than i would have expected. whether it is real. whether it would actually endure and be stable w

i want to go back to michelle kosinski at the white house.michelle? it wasn't object then the schedule of king abdullah. he wants to get back to jordan. >> reporter: right. he's arriving right now. it wasn't on the books. it wasn't expected for today but we fully expected that they would meet at some point during his visit to the united states. again, they just met in december. he would take the time to meet with the president and now that's going to happen. obviously a much different tone than it would have knowing that this video was released today during his visit and that may not have been a coincidence, wolf. >> and we see the vehicle that has king abdullah of jordan there. that's clearly an armored vehicle pulling into the west wing of the white house, security clearly very very tight for the visiting king of jordan. king abdullah is going to be going into the west wing. he's being received by a protocol officer there. he'll go into the west wing. the foreign minister of qatar khalid al attiyah is joining me. i assume you've met king ab

we get more now on that from white house correspondent michelle kosinski. >> reporter: hey, john andistine. so now we've seen the president veto the bill that would extend the keystone pipeline and next up is this fight over funding the department of homeland security. republicans have wanted to tie that to at the same time defunding the president's executive action on immigration which democrats oppose and which the president would also veto. so at stake for republicans here is which is the lesser of two evils for them? allowing things to go to a partial government shutdown or giving in to democrats? so it was surprising now to hear the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell say that he is open to what they're calling a clean bill. a bill to fund homeland security without the immigration piece and then voting on that later. now, there are many republicans that are strongly opposed to that. so it's unclear how long this wrangling is going to take how long it's going to be before it comes up for a vote before dhs funding runs out on friday. the white house urged republicans to do the

michelle kosinski is there for us. we just saw the video of the meeting getting under way. >> there's a lot to discuss. they're going to have about an hour-long discussion and then we'll hear questions from reporters and see what they say during this press conference. that's going to tell us a lot about what unity is there and in what areas because we've heard secretary of state john kerry over the weekend talk about the unity being strong between the u.s. and eu on coordinating the response against russia but at the same time we're having this divergence between the u.s. and germany and other european leaders on whether it's even a consideration to send arms to ukraine. it looks like there are three areas really where we're likely to see the discussion and maybe something come out of it. one is what is the frame workwork of this peace proposal that will be discussed on wednesday. that's holding up everyone's reaction. not necessary to issue more sanctions now or make any announce announcements now about arming ukraine

>> michelle kosinski following the developments at the white house for us.helle thank you so much. a lot we'll continue following this breaking news. a lot of other news we'll get to as well this hour including this. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is set to speak before congress. that's coming up next month. before he arrives, the list of no shows is growing. senator bernie sanders is among those saying that he's not going. coming up, he's going to join us to explain why. i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. >>> just a short time ago, benjamin netanyahu tweeted, i'm determined to speak before congress to stop

cnn's michelle kosinski is at the white house. she has more on the poll numbers. good morning. >> reporter: hi carol. it's interesting. now we're seeing the country pretty much split down the middle on whether or not people trust president obama as commander in chief, along with this growing disapproval of how he's handling terrorism. foreign affairs in general. we're seeing a majority of people now, according to this new poll say that they disapprove of how the war against isis is going thinking that it's going badly. i think one of the most interesting things about this poll is as you see the disapproval, you're also seeing more americans open to sending ground troops if they had that choice. look at this 47% now would agree with that. 50% oppose. and that's up from 43% agreeing with sending ground troops just a couple of months ago. now the president is not in approval of sending ground troops. he opposes that although he has asked congress for an authorization for the use of military force against isis that rules out long-term use of ground combat troops but d

michelle kosinski, thank you.hose pictures are very graphic and are also of high propaganda value. but i can tell you what the pictures do show. they purportedly show lieutenant moaz al kasasbeh standing in a cage out on a street in the public, his clothes appear to be doused with some kind of fluid, some kind of liquid. he appears to have been beaten. he has bruises on his face, under his eyes. there is also -- and this is where it just gets harrowing. there is a line of fire that is approaching the cage in which he is standing. the series of photos then go on to depict the fire engulfing the lieutenant from the waist down. it is a horrifying depiction of what now seems to be the most sadistic of videos or photographs that isis has released. i want to go live to barbara starr who's standing by at the pentagon. there is so much talk of how this will affect the coalition and how the jordanian government will react to this, barbara. >> reporter: that is right, ashleigh. i can tell you from a source of ours here at c

michelle kosinski has the poll numbers for us. tell our viewers what you know.rter: you see a country divided as whether they trust the press. this growing inging disapproval over how he is handling the issues. 58% say they feel the war against isis is going badly. that's up from 49% just in october. among democrats, half are not happy. also, a majority disapprove of how the president is handling foreign affairs in general. terrorism and even cyber security. >> what about ground troops the possible deployment of u.s. combat ground troops? how do the american people feel about that? >> reporter: that's one of the most interesting things. as you see this grows disapproval, you also see among the respondents, more americans open to using ground troops in they had that choice. 47% agree with that idea. 50% approve, that's up from 43% in favor of ground troops just a couple of months ago. president obama, of course, staunchly opposes the use of ground troops. when he submitted just the other week this request for the authorization of the use of military force against

michelle kosinski is at the white house with a closer look. hi. >> reporter: this meeting today between president obama and german chancellor angela merkel will cover that ground. they want to talk about three things. first is this peace talk that will happen wednesday in minsk to see if they can avoid additional sanctions on the u.s. sidearming ukraine. that's something being considered at this point by the u.s. we know merkel and others are staunchly opposed. that begs the question of this unity. secretary of state john kerry over the weekend insisted this unity is still there, strong between the u.s. and europe in their responses to russia. we know there's a divergence of opinion what to do next and whether ukraine should be armed. there will be a press conference later on. i think that will be extremely telling as to where that unity is. obviously, when you're talking about sanctions and now this morning, we're learning the eu has prepared additional sanctions but is waiting to see what happens after peace talks, that unity is really neces

for the latest let's get to cnn's white house correspondent michelle kosinski. er getting a lot of attention, michelle. >> you hear of a summit going on you think okay, that sounds like a big boring government meeting, not sure what the outcome is going to be. the question here is an important one -- how do you prevent the kind of violent extremism we've seen so recently in europe how do you help local communities identify individuals and stop them? today we're going to be hearing from the president on this. and the things that he'll be talking about are you know countering propaganda. that's going to be a big topic. the white house is still not calling this islamic terrorism. because they say they want to draw from international experience fighting extremism of all kinds. and they say that the attackers we've seen are in fact not islamic, but simply terrorists. again, it will be interesting to see if there's any real progress that has been made and for example pilot programs that have sprung up. and the white house keeps emphasizing that you have to get to the r

let's start off our coverage with michelle kosinski.t the white house. >> reporter: hi brianna. you listen to the president's words you can't shy away from the discussion, you have to confront it head on, take on this twisted ideology squarely and honestly but then over the last couple of weeks this white house has come under fire for never wanting to use the words islamic extremism. words don't really change the reality, and we all know there are other kinds of extremism, but at times it would reach the point of awkwardness, the reluctance with which they seem to not want to have that as part of the discussion, especially when you look at the programs that are highlighted during the summit they all focus on muslim communities in america. well now the president spells out his thinking on this also calling on communities themselves to take some responsibility. >> al qaeda and isil and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. they try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of islam. >> we are not at war w

let's go now to cnn's michelle kosinski live at the white house. and really as the president addressed this issue yesterday, michelle even though he wouldn't say muslim extremism, almost all of these programs that were discussed were targeting the muslim community. >> yeah and president obama took the time again to explain why the white house has had this stance. i mean this wrapped up with again, blunt talk at times from the president, and others saying that everyone has not just a role but a responsibility to try to prevent violent extremism. in particular speaking to muslim leaders, muslim communities, to be a voice to counter it. and he he hit those same points. at first of all, he didn't want to elevate terrorists to the level of some kind of religious leaders. that they desperately want that. and this is not a war against islam. >> none of us i think should be immune from criticism in terms of specific policies. but the notion that the west is at war with islam is an ugly lie. and all of us regardless of our faith have a responsibility to reje

let's get right to cnn's white house correspondent michelle kosinski. portions of the summit before it has gun, michelle. >> reporter: absolutely. there's back and forth on various aspects. we've heard the white house talk about the fight for isis is a regional fight because it poses an existential threat to countries in that region. lately it seems like it takes something like a brutal murder specific to a country in that region to see, say, egypt join the coalition or jordan step up with airstrikes the uae to get back to doing airstrikes. so we're going to see countries from that region take part in this three-day summit. in fact as you said more than 60 countries will. what they want to do is look at programs around the country and around the world and take a look at what is working and what is not working because we've also heard the white house focus many times on getting at the violent ideology is really key ultimately to defeating isis for the long term. the thing is this comes at a time when according to a new poll a majority of americans now say

for more on all of this let's bring in our white house correspondent, michelle kosinski and our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. michelle this authorization, this language that the president submitted, he's seeking requests powers to fight isis terrorists without an enduring offensive combat role. those are his words. so what exactly is he seeking? >> reporter: that's open to interpretation to some point, isn't it? that's the language that was put in there. that's really the biggest limitation included in this request for the authorization of use of military force. those words, enduring offensive ground combat operations. that's really the only thing listed that is not authorized. the word "enduring" is what is somewhat vague. and the president spelled it out in plainer language in the letter he included with this aumf saying it would not authorize long-term large-scale ground combat operations, similar to what had been done in iraq and afghanistan. so you would think that could leave the window open, then to shorter-term smaller-scale combat operation isn't that right? th

michelle kosinski has more from the white house. >> reporter: you look at russian aggression in ukraine, the violence the russian heavy weaponry and personnel crossing the border and only increasing over the last few months despite sanctions and the threat of more. so now comes this consideration at the highest levels to look at the possibility of arming ukrainian forces. yes, we are talking lethal aid. shelling. fighting. civilian deaths escalating as russia pans its influence inside ukraine. now from some top u.s. officials we hear shifting tone internal discussions, support in military leadership for the u.s. and its allies to do more. arm ukrainian forces with defensive but lethal aid. >> we haven't taken options off the table. >> reporter: the president said this in india last week. >> i will look at all additional options that are available to us short of military confrontation. >> reporter: the tricky question though would arming ukraine end up a deterrent or stoke the fire into a proxy war with russia as the white house has worried. a group of foreign policy experts, including f

let's get to cnn's white house correspondent michelle kosinski with more. >> we've heard the white housefight because it poses a existential threat to countries in that region what we've seen lately is it takes something like a brutal murder to a country specific to that region for say egypt to join the coalition or jord ton step up air strikes. the uae to get back into the fight. so more than 60 countries in all will be represented at the summit that starts today on countering violent extremism. we've heard the white house say that the focus on stopping violent ideologies is key to defeating isis long-term. at the same time this comes as domestically according to a new poll. we're seeing a growing disapproval with how the war against isis, how the war on terror are going. you look at the numbers, 57% disapprove of how the president is handling foreign policy overall. so the summit today is going to look at what is working nationally and internationally in countering violent extremism. chris? >> all right michelle we'll be watching that and also there are going to be events to weigh in o

. >> let's get to it and bring in white house correspondent michelle kosinski and chief congressional correspondent dana bash who are working both ends of pennsylvania avenue on this one. michelle let's start with you. this was anticipated, but what are you learning from the white house today? >> reporter: it has been a long time in coming. you can see the balance that the president was trying to strike here. tailor something to fit the isis fit specifically but still leave flexibility because you don't know how the mission will change going forward. first place you see that balance repealing the 2002 authorization pertaining to the war in iraq but leaving in place the one from someone related to al qaeda and its associates. that's the one the white house has been operating under to fight isis. it's interesting that they left that one stand. however, we all know that al qaeda and its associates remain a threat. aqap being the main one. other areas of balance allowing the president and pentagon to fight isis wherever it is. doesn't put geographic limits on the fight and also includes i

. >> michelle kosinski from the white house. the associated press reporting, there are a number of reports that the potential, the would-be suicide bomber that isis wanted back may be executed tomorrow morning. we have not been able to independently confirm that. kordesh is in jordan for us. is additional public reaction expected or are these demonstrations going to conti e continue. >> reporter: we do expect that, anderson. there's so much anger and grief in this country. we've heard in jordan, announcement made a few hours ago, all mosques will be hold. anderson, this evening, this is a country, a nation in mourning. this is a man they considered to be a national hero and so many over the past few days said they were praying for his safe return home. so much grief tonight. >> king abdullah, as we mentioned, now returning to jordan. is there a sense in iman about what kind of response in terms of the military that he might order? >> reporter: it's very unclear right now, anderson. we did hear the jordanians promising this harsh

let's check in with white house correspondent michelle kosinski with the key points of that proposal. >> it's basically the president asking congress how much should i be able to do or not in fighting isis? this balance between narrowly tailoring it but also leaving flexibility as things change down the road. and you do see a balance. i mean really the only big restriction in this is against enduring offensive ground combat operations. or as the president put it long-term large-scale operations like what we saw in iraq and afghanistan. but how long is enduring? what does that mean exactly? obviously there is room for interpretation there. and there's nothing in this that would restrict say short-term smaller-scale combat and it allows the 2001 authorization against al qaeda and its affiliates stand. it lets the president fight isis wherever it is along with allied groups fighting alongside. and it allows for other combat like special operations search and rescue calling in airstrikes some of which we've already seen. there are some democrats who would love to see this more restrictive

michelle kosinski is joining us with much more. a lot of folks coming in for this. three days the white house is dedicating to this. what does the white house expect to accomplish? >> reporter: that's really the question. this was planned for months ago and then it was delayed for logistical reasons. they are making a big deal out of this. the skepticism out there is what could it really accomplish? it's just talking about counter violent extremism but the white house wants it to be practical and useful. when you look at it from that perspective, sharing information among national communities, international groups looking at programs that are in effect and seeing what works and doesn't work that cannot hurt. time and time again we heard the white house talk about how getting at the violent ideology is really going to be a key to ultimately defeating isis and having that last long-term. now, the timing is also interesting. yesterday we saw a new cnn/orc poll come out at a time when americans are split according to new numbers on whether they trust president obama as

michelle kosinski we appreciate it. >>> coming up guns and ammo. examined by ballistics experts in the trial of aaron hernandez. no murder weapon has been found in the case. now the testimony of the housekeeper of the nfl is raising some questions. >>> three new yorkers arrested accused of trying to aid isis. one of the men caught at jfk airport trying to catch a flight to turkey today. nypd expected to hold a news conference shortly. we'll bring that to you live. just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda®... ...no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience... ...the joy of sugar... ...without all the calories. think sugar, say splenda® you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the

michelle kosinski is there for us. what are you hearing from the white house? >> reporter: john, while this is going on, for the most part the white house has been quietme. so has the president. he did not mention this gdebacl. we know when the president got back from his appearance from the department of justice, he convened a meeting with the secretary of department of homeland security with the director of the office and management and budget. looking at sort of a way forward in this state of affairs as it is now. he also made two phone calls to the democratic leadership in both the house and the senate. only to democratic leadership though. i mean, the question has come up repeatedly in the past few days, what is the president going to do about this? some persuasion on the hill? is he going to sit down or at least call speaker boehner or in the senate, mitch mcconnell? what is he going to do exactly and the white house said if he could speak down with boehner but that hasn't happened and that's where it stands right now, john. >> no phone call to speaker bo

let's go to michelle kosinski at the white house. numbers suggest americans could be warming, i don't want to overstate it but could be warming to the idea of putting troops on the front lines in the middle east. >> reporter: that's one of the things it shows. this is interesting. what we are seeing is a country pretty much split down the middle on whether or not people trust president obama as commander in chief. also this growing discontent over how he's handling the biggest security and foreign policy issues, especially isis. isis medieval in its brutality, shocks the world almost daily now with its executions of muslims, christians jews, including americans. americans in this latest cnn/orc poll are now increasingly disapproving of how the president is handling the fight against isis. 58% now feel it is going poorly up from 49% just in october. even among democrats, nearly half are not happy. despite the coalition response that's been lauded by the administration. >> we are taking out their commanders their fighters and their lea

i want to go right to cnn's michelle kosinski at the white house.h president obama and the national security advisor dr. susan rice spoke publicly. did they have anything to say about kayla mueller? >> reporter: the president didn't mention it. we kind of expected that. we heard virtually the same things this coordinated response thus far from the state department the white house and the national security advisor, all saying basically two things. that they are deeply concerned about these reports that are coming out and that there is no credible evidence at this point that these claims are true. that said the white house does say the intelligence community is obviously looking into this and trying to get some more information, because it has been interesting in these last two cases, first with the jordanian pilot, for a long time isis would not provide proof of life. then it turns out it happened as we now know it did. in this case no proof of death, just this story about the death being caused by a jordanian air strike. i think it will be interesti

let's begin our team coverage with michelle kosinski live at the white house for us. >> this is testimonyxpect to hear from the house of homeland committee from the director of the counterterrorism center and

michelle kosinski is live at the courthouse. i don't know how seriously this threat should be taken but has there been any reaction from the obama administration or the secret service so far about this threat? >> reporter: we have reached out to the white house on this. this news was breaking as the president was taking off for a trip to miami to talk about immigration. we haven't heard anything directly from them yet. the secret service did weigh in. they said this is a joint terrorism task force case multi-agency and the secret service is involved in that. what they said was that the u.s. secret service will take all appropriate steps based on that investigation. the u.s. takes all threats seriously. it is not in a position to discount threatening statements until they are fully investigated. there is no one out there who wants to say they are not taking this seriously. what we have heard from analysts today is that these are boastings online that anyone could make. they are not the greatest things on earth to write online and

let's begin our team coverage with michelle kosinski live at the white house for us. >> this is testimony we expect to hear from the house of homeland committee from the director of the counterterrorism center and others. talking about foreign fighters continuing to head to the battlefield in iraq and syria to fight alongside isis and other groups. the number in total thought to be at least 20,000. with 3400 of them westerners 150 americans who traveled there or tried to. and about a dozen thought to still be fighting there. the chairman of the committee called this the largest convergence of islamic terrorists in world history. and foreign fighters of particular concern to the u.s. for fear they would come back here and launch attacks. also today we expect to hear as early as this morning, from the white house presenting legislative language to congress asking for authorizations specifically tailored to the fight against isis. it's expected to limit the possibility of ground troops in combat but not to limit location. chris? >> all right, michelle that's getting a little more complicated