has been stopped from happening for two years now mr assad stuck inside the ecuadorian embassy and i will be teasing i would squeeze will be speaking to you because she's standing by soon to give us the full scoop of the continuation of this live press conference with a songe in the ecuadorian embassy. in the meantime authorities in the u.s. suburb of focus on missouri have announced the deployment of the national guard to quell the ongoing violence there. the police again rounds of tear gas against protesters rallying over the killing of a black teenager by an officer last week security forces say that was in response to protesters reportedly throwing molotov cocktails at them a curfew has now come into effect for a second night following more than a week of demonstrations that are also calling for police to stop their crackdown on mostly peaceful protests it's now just off for his artie's anastasio charkha. could tell now would have been hard to imagine a moment where we would have to report in helmets from the streets of missouri earlier just hours ago complete mayhem and chaos wa

its title fairly recently in two thousand and eleven after president obama went public calling on mr assad to step down do you see any connection between that policy stance you know calling on assad to step down on the growth of isis and other terror groups in the region no but let me explain my views on that my own personal view was asking someone to step down in the absence of a den of finding a kind of political way forward is not the way i would do it i think what we need to do is a den of along with some other countries and i again i would include russia in this a way forward for how syria can be governed in the future because it's clear the kind of narrow basis on which assad was governing that is on the basis of an alawite. fellow tribesman and then a few of others was not sufficient so clearly there needs to be kind of an international plan on the way forward what i'm suggesting is we need a kind of bosnia type solution and then we can figure out who can be a part of that future and who should not be well i think some people would suggest that both is almost a failed state by by no

instead, they secured an agreement with mr. assad in which he would give up the chemical weapons stockpiles. the u.s. and international partners have provided humanitarian aid and some weapons to moderate rebel forces. but analysts say the islamic state has seized control of the rebel movement. the outcome could have been avoided, it goes on to say f the u.s. had acted against mr. assad and made a stronger commitment to moderate rebel elements much sooner. critics and analysts say. cars, west viinra >> host: carlos, west virginia, an iraq war veteran. carlos, what is your take this morning? >> caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. first of all i want to, you become appreciate the fact that all of your callers are calling enthused about the subject. some of them are incorrect. as a matter of fact, the idea that we did not respond to serious crisis by military invasion, we are seeing what we're seeing today in iraq is incorrect. actually we have gotten ourselves involved in syria as we did in iraq and 2003. in syria, we h

in syria, the president made it clear he has no intention of working with mr. assad. the free syrian army is not reliable. we would probably have to do something more like the early part of desert storm. go in, pick targets, slowly get to isis on the ground. not quite as effective but air power has a real role to play in both conflicts. >> admiral harward, you have heard people say, we have to get in there fast. we have to go. we have heard people on the hill say, we have to get into syria quickly. the president is taking his time. does it matter that we're going slowly now? militarily? >> you want to be smart, first and foremost. are we tied with the right folks? getting them what they need? we want to be deliberate. it's ironic to think of syria like the fattah. the enemy is using that as a safe haven. where they know they're safe somewhere and harder for us to get there. we have learned a lot. in dealing with safe havens the last ten years. we'll get them. but you want to be smart in how you go into those areas. >> best case in syria, steve? >> best case is we go i

opposed to more deeply inside syria and would bolster american support for the moderate syrian rebels mr. assadeir main foe. there's the trick they want to try to perform, e.j. >> no, that's right. i was talking to a western diplomat today who made the point that given the civil war within the civil war, you probably could, he was arguing, hit isil in ways that wouldn't help assad that much. on record saying assad could go even as we're going against one of his main opponents. the other key here is the united states is being very careful because it does not want to look like it is waging a war against sunni islam. and the administration knows it needs a lot of sunni support including sunnis inside iraq if they're going to turn isil back. and that's another sort of complexity about getting involved in the syrian fight. >> michael leiter, some people talk about destroying the islamic stays or stopping it and they have estimates the islamic state forces are larger than al qaeda ever was. what is the even remotest possibility of stopping or eliminating the islamic state? >> lawrence, we have to do

instead, they secured an agreement with mr. assad in which he would give up the chemical weapons stockpiles. the u.s. and international partners have provided humanitarian aid and some weapons to moderate rebel forces. but analysts say the islamic state has seized control of the rebel movement. the outcome could have been avoided, it goes on to say f the u.s. had acted against mr. assad and made a stronger commitment to moderate rebel elements much sooner. critics and analysts say. carlos, west virginia, an iraq war veteran. what is your take this morning, carlos? >> caller: good morning, ma'am. thank you for taking my call. first of all, i want to appreciate the fact that all your callers are calling about the subject. and as a matter of fact, the idea that we did not respond to syria's crisis by military invasion, we are seeing what we're seeing today in iraq. and that is incorrect. actually, we have gotten ourselves involved in syria as we did in iraq in 2003. and in syria we have started supporting initially the caller s talked a

they are going to be in the trenches facing the hardened fighters that are going to be armed by mr. assad >> the effort and outreach you so eloquently described, does this have to be complete before there is any possibility of armed action against isis? my expectation would be that this element of engaging the international community will be -- i don'that is think we will ever be in a donetion where we are talking to our international partners to address the asuation in iraq and syria they confront the threat of isil. that will be ongoing. to need this sustained involvement of the international community to support the efforts of inclusive iraq government and to use their influence. this is going to require a sustained effort and this administration is willing to lead that sustained effort. >> can the president decided to allow bombing inside syria? >> sure. thepresident has said -- national security advisor has said the president will not hesitate to order the use of military force to protect americans in that region. one quick thing. you have anything on ukraine saying they're been inva

assad. u.s. has been looking to build a coalition of winning international parties to stop the advance of the group this. week syria offered to coordinate with can he recollect. hollande described mr. al-assad as an ally of the jihadist. >> one thing has to be clear. bashar al-assad can't be a partner. he's an ally. there's no choice. they are supporting each other. >> president hollande speaking there. lucy was in paris and listening to the president's address. >> reporter: as hollande said in the speech, france has been supplying arms to those fighting the islamic state militants. he said the country would increase support as he put it to help maintain the unity of iraq and secure the safety of minorities. france still very much involved in that conflict. early this month, mr. hollande was speaking about this saying how slow he felt the west had been to step into that conflict and they were reaping rewards of that now. >> it's quite a wide ranging foreign policy isn't it? i see he had expressions of anxiety about the situation in libya too. >> reporter: that's right. he covered a wide range of topics. this is his main keynote speech. french diplomats come back from a broad. they

. >> bashar al assad, syria's president you know him. mr. obama said he won't sit down and negotiate with assad because assad is brutal himself, accused of using chemical weapons on his own people but just because the president won't do business with him does that mean the united states can't do business with him in another way? >> i think there's a way to try to work on the problem in syria without working directly with president bashar. he is the president of the country. he managed to get elected by a massive margin, just last spring for his third term, but the brutality that he has carried out and he has authorized against his own people has been enormous, and i don't see that there's any way we can have any open cooperation with them without losing the support of those that we will need to do the direct confrontations with isis. >> so i just spoke to a congresswoman who said the united states should reach out to other countries to help combat isis. which other countries should the united states be talking to? >> i think the main people w

president began facing criticism when he opted not to retaliate after the assad regime had used chemical weapons, crossing a red line mr. obama had declared earlier. >> there's no easy pathway here in dealing with isis. it's going to be long-term. it's not going to be solved through a series of air strikes whether it's in iraq or syria. >> reporter: as washington weighs its options, the world continues to mourn with the family of james foley. on the "today" show this morning, their grief was palpable. >> we had so many people praying for jimmy. and jim's strength and love was the answer to prayer. jim was held up by all that prayer. >> reporter: british security forces sources tell nbc news they have significantly narrowed the field of suspects in their hunt to find james foley's killer. lester. >> all right, kristen. thanks. now to our chief foreign correspondent richard engel who has been covering isis and this crisis in syria since the civil war there began and isis became a major force. he's near the turkey/syria border. you heard what u.s. officials had to say today. where does this go from here? >> reporter: good

bypassing congress might be difficult to justify, however given -- laying out the reasons after striking assad, mr. obama of voices row number also demanding a say, on wednesday a group of lawmaker wrote to john boehner and urged him to hold a vote saying mr. obama strikes "appears to be beyond the scope of the mission he laid out." they did not believe any of the existing war authorizations give mr. obama to conduct the long term campaign against isis and iraqi and syria. here's les from nevada. caller: good morning, thanks for taking our call. eyond that, it's nice to see finally got a bunch of these guys trying to all together. when we kind of got more traditional war but we actually have some sort of targets to go to instead of just get one target syria, one target in pakistan, we got some really bad guys and these are the terrorists, these are who we're at war with. host: mississippi up next. here's mary, republican line. hello. caller: hello? host: hi, you're on. caller: hi. i would just like to say that this is the only one and thing i've ever agreed with obama on. i don't think we should b

in syria, he drew a red line he would punish bashar assad if he used chemical weapons. the syrian dictator did and mra did nothing. in response to russia's aggression he trend fierce sanctions only to unveil under whelming. the huge message is weakness. quote. in iraq, the off chute isis is 60 miles away from baghdad. president obama has done little if anything to degrade the isis army. and now, it is taunting the president, in a series of videos of isis, shows the jihadists on the move, telling the world they are not afraid of america or anyone else. [speakerring foreign language] >> the translation of this video says, quote: the islamic calafate has been established and god willing it will not stop until we raise the flag of prophet mohammed in the white house. again, the u.s.a. has taken no military action against that group when it could have easily bombed their movements from syria into iraq and used drones against its leadership. president obama told us weeks ago he was studying the isis situation. we have not heard anything sense, that's the pattern. the president studies, discusses, analyzes,

mr. obama ends up supporting the assad regime. so it's a real dilemma, and i'm sympathetic to them.hey're doing the best they can, which is so far protect the kurds. and that's about as far as they've gone. >> darrell, have you been able to offer an explanation for -- i mean, grateful that it happened with this other journalist, but, you know, if it's an al qaeda affiliated group they've never wanted to look reasonable. i would think that in that circle you don't want to show mercy or compassion. what was the whole point of right after foley releasing a hostage? have you been able to figure that out? >> well, you know, it's clear to me that the majority with the possible exception of isis are primarily thugs and criminals, closed in this so-called jihadist movement. so i think basically if somebody paid them, and that's more than likely the reason they let him go. very surprising move. we've got to remember, there may be as many as 20 journalists still being held hostage, and there are hundreds of foreign fighters in syria or in iraq from nations like the united kingdom, european --

mr. secretary. do you have any information that there is a link, a relation between the assad regime and isil? as you may know the assad regime has been striking isil for the last few months. do you see yourself on the same page with the assad regime and do you still believe that assad is part of the problem or he might become part of the solution in the region? >> well, assad is very much a central part of the problem. and i think it's well documented as to why. when you have the brutal dictatorship of assad and what he has done to his own country which perpetuated much of what is happening or has been happening in syria, so he's part of the problem and as much a part of it as the central core of it. as to your question regarding isil and assad, yes, they are fighting each other as well as other sophisticated terrorist groups in syria. >> he is absolutely part of the problem. >> kevin? >> secretary, the charters of iraq, going beyond helping humanitarian and beyond protecting americans and directly going after isil through the iraqis or not, does the pentagon believe it has the authority and

mr. secretary. do you have any information that there is a link, a relation between the assad regime and isil?s you may know, it the assad regime has been striking isil for the last few months. do you see yourself on the same page with the assad regime and do you still believe that assad is part of the problem or he might become part of a broader solution in the region? >> well, assad is very much a central part of the problem. and i think it's well documented as to why. when you have the brutal dictatorship of assad and what he has done to his own country, which perpetuated much of what is happening and has been happening in syria. so he's part of the problem. and is much a part of it as probably the central core of it. as to your quell regarding isil and assad, yes, they are fighting each other. as well as other terrorist groups very so fis fisticated terrorist groups in syria. >> he is absolutely part of the problem. >> kevin? >> sir, can you address the charges of mission creep of iraq going beyond helping humanitarian, beyond protecting americans to directly going after isil whether throu

mr. obama hasn't ruled out air power to help the syrian rebel but they know that helps bashar al assad fighting isis. still, they say it's an option. >> we're actively considering what's going to be necessary to deal with that threat and we're not going to be restricted by borders. we've shown time and again that if there's a counterterrorism threat, we'll take direct action if necessary against that threat. >> ben rhodes concedes foley's murder is isis first terrorist attack on the u.s. that's an assertion the administration seemed reluctant to make after the benghazi attack in 2012. >> wendall goller, thank you very much. >>> the u.s. military as we've talk birthday is weighing expanding its operations against isis taking the fight perhaps into syria. we'll break down and analyze that strategy. >>> and more police officers are now using camera while on duty. but there are concerns over the new gear. we'll tell you about that. >>> plus, you a test flight for a new spacex rocket, we'll tell you the surprise result, next. [guy] aarrrrr! [announcer]even accents of vitamin-rich veggies. [guy] so h

mr. obama has signed off on yet. getting involved in that country's civil war is complicated by the fact there are at least three sides and attacking isis actually strengthens bashar al assad. still the brutal murder of it american journal jim foley infencified the calls from lawmakers to go after isis more aggressively. >> the best way to send a message to isis is through ordinants dropped on their heads and blowing them straight to hell where they belong. >> john mccain is not the only lawmaker who wants to take the fight against isis into syria and even the president's own military advisors say eventually, isis will have to be defeated there. deputy national security advisor ben rhodes says there's already a strategy to do that. >> we are who iing training and equipping and assistance to the iraqi security forces and kurdish security forces fighting them on ground in iraq and also providing support and military assistance to the moderate syrian opposition. what we would like to see is those efforts squeezed where iceal operates. >> meanwhile, vice president biden says iraq must heal the sectarian divisions in that country that are fueling isis and he says the u.s. is pr

mr. foley. the narrative on the other side includes some enemies which we share such as assad.rds and say that the patriotism is a way to defeat that. they feed on the primary idea which is the islamic state. flourishing throughout the middle east. just like 9/11 was a product of policy, the saudis were our allies. they push the ideology that created this. it is pulling our youth into it. the war in syria, it is a large magnet. stuart: are you concerned because some of these youngsters may come back to america and attack us in the homeland? your own children desert and fight for the enemy. are you concerned? >> i am very concerned. there are more muslims serving in isis than there are in the british military. until we have an american patriotic movement, the vacuum is going to -- that is why i am so active. the ideas of pro- americanism that this is the antidote, until we feel that vacuum, they will be radicalized and they will continue to be a threat. it is easier to get back on our homeland. stuart: we admired admire your work and we admire your bravery. we have another angle

mr selfridge thank you for having me so let's jump right in just over a year ago the obama administration requested approval from congress to launch airstrikes against syrian president bashar al assad and his forces and assad is certainly not a friend to us and here in the u.s. but the phrase you know the enemy of my enemy is my friend is getting tossed around and what are the chances that our two governments will work together to fight isis i think the chances of that are highly unlikely i think with the u.s. seizes an opportunity to take unilateral strikes against isis the interesting thing to me is that the administration when they requested that authorization last year was resoundingly shut down by the american public and congress was not even able to take a vote on that authorization because the public was so adamantly opposed to yet another war in the middle east and yet more potential for bombing but do you think that sentiment has changed given this new the new action in the rise of isis militants has that sentiment change i would think you know i don't actually think so i think most people haven't been paying close enough attention the difference between this time and last

assad. and, you know, we can't prove it. we don't know what would have happened if we provided them the aid, but i think that was a mistake, personally. >> it seems odd that mrsinton would wait until now to make these criticisms when, you know, if you've got ideological positions and very strong concept and thoughts on what should be going on in syria, maybe she should have done that sometime ago and not wait until we're closer to the collection season. >> no. she did, jose. in fairness, there was a plan that was drawn up by the administration. it was by hillary clinton as secretary of state, by leon panetta, and the secretary of defense, by general petraeus, i think was chairman of the joint chief of staff. they drew up a plan way back then to arm the free syria army. it was rejected by the president. she's pretty much been there for the past several years. she hasn't changed her position. she believes -- i know. >> but the word failure is new. >> yes, well, but the fact is her position has always been we should have armed the free syria army a few years ago as been my position. >> congressman, i can't thank you enough for being with us this morning. i appre