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mt. sinjar. >> we were hearing that there were aid drops taking place. >> we had to get on that helicopter. our crew had to get on that helicopter. ♪ ♪ ♪ ben! well, that was close! you ain't lying! let quicken loans help you save your money. with a mortgage that's engineered to amaze! tlet's get out of here. road-trip!guys. so esurance is using technology to help them see new york. should of brought a camera. you are a camera. bring cash? kind of like how they use technology to help you make smart choices about your insurance. nice shot, vika! us open, please. it's just how they roll. that was fun man, i'm exhausted. esurance. proud sponsor of the us open. >>> for days cnn correspondent ivan watson and his team had been hearing about a humanitarian crisis unfolding on a mountaintop in northern iraq near the city of sinjar. when isis moved in, the civilians moved out and up to sinjar mountain. little water, even less food. it was a crisis the team needed to see for themselves. >> i'd been offered

mt. sinjar. and to target those isil positions that are lay in siege to mt. sinjar.re no plans to expand the current air campaign beyond the current self defense activities. >> arming the kurds. it's been reported the u.s. government is directly arming the kurds. is the dod playing in a role in that operation or will it at some point? >> yeah, i saw that report in the media and open source, as well. over the weekend, it was the government of iraq and iraqi security forces that actually provided immediate resupplies to kurdish forces. we are looking at how we can help them. and studying the challenges they have, and with the team that we have in baghdad, providing some assistance. we are looking at plans at how we can expand that support. >> over the weekend, president obama said that he was considering creating some kind of safe corridor to assist those, some 15,000, i guess, yazidi refugees on top of the mountains there adson adson jar. and he said he talked to the british and french about that possibility. he also called it complicated. just how complicated would i

mt. sinjar area. stand by with us. we're going to get some u.s. reaction. acosta is going to be joining us. he's with the president at martha's vineyard. much more of our special coverage after this. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference. so think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. i did a little research. with a medicare supplement plan, you'll be able to stay with your doctor. oh, you know, i love that guy. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] these types of plans let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and there are no networks. is this a one-si

mt. sinjar.> we were hearing that there were aid drops taking place. >> we had to get on that helicopter. our crew had to get on that helicopter. ♪ ♪ start a team. join a team. walk to end alzheimer's. visit alz.org/walk today. the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this all new 2014 cts for around $459 a month or purchase with 0% apr and make this the summer of style. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >>> for days cnn correspondent ivan watson and his team had been hearing about a humanitarian crisis unfolding on a mountaintop in northern iraq near the city of sinjar. when isis m

mt. sinjar in iraq. were concerns earlier in the week there might be tens if not hundreds of thousands of yazidis who might need evacuation. the bottom line is u.s. forces assessed the situation on the ground and determined as president obama said, that may not be the case. libby casey, what i felt fascinating about what the president said he had maintained there would be no boots on the ground in iraq and he announced the boots that were on the ground that those special forces that assessed the situation have been pulled back. >> reporter: that's right, del. we heard from the spokesman of the white house just yesterday that there might be more forces needed to help with an evacuation down from the mountain but as we heard from defense department officials, the president reiterating it today, that will not be necessary. but it did look like for a moment there might be a stepped up operation to bring the yazidis down off the mountain. the president crediting the use of u.s. forces, and the peshmerga deali

mt. sinjar. are your troops gaining ground? >> absolutely, antonio. they had captured a lot of ground and had momentum going their way. they were able to gain this momentum as a result of the american army that was left behind, i'm sorry, manner arms left behind by the iraqi shooting forces, the four divisions that melted away in mosul on june 9 and 10. they were able to break through some of the peshmerga ranks and capture some of the ground. as a result of these air strikes that are taking place and we are very grateful for the united states and allied forces that are coming in and stepping up this momentum has been halted and now what we have to do is go on the offensive and repel i.s.i.s. advances. >> talking about the allied forces one of the concerns is that the kurdish force he did not have weapons to stand up to those american weapons that had been captured by the i.s. extreme is in addition to the united states, the french are saying they are going to give arms, the british are considering it and helping by transporting jordanian equipment. a

mt. sinjar.nto syria, work with the kurds in syria, and bring them back into camp in the far north. we're using the air strikes to protect erbil, as isis gets closer to erbil, they're hit on the front lines and held at bay. the problem is that we're not going against isis anywhere else. >> like syria? >> and baghdad, they're being stop bid ground forces down there. at some point if we're going to take on isis and treat the disease, not just the symptoms, we'll have to go after isis wherever they are. that's the whole western part of iraq and the eastern part of syria. >> you may be able to stem the tide temporarily, but to turn it will take greater effort. michaela? >> thank you so much, john. >>> pope francis is in south korea this morning, the first trip there by a pontiff in some 25 years. north korea fired at least three short-range rockets off its east coast this morning. the last one fired about half an hour before the pope's arrival in seoul. >>> to the mideast, a new five-day cease fire s

mt. sinjar and to a refugee camp near the syrian border. today we went there and heard horror stories. they are consumed with anger and fear, homeless by the thousands and on the run. today at this refugee camp they set fires and protested and told blood curdling stories of atrocities committed against their people by isis militants. they shot them and then cut their heads off. and these were children? one man in tears. they rape the females. he said 84 members of his extended family are missing and

mt. sinjar, where civilian refugees have been trapped by isis militant fighters. in addition to helping iraqi forces that are supposed to be fighting those militant and in addition to direct air strikes, u.s. troops have also in recent days begun dropping food and water and supplies to those trapped civilians. have you seen any of the footage of those drops? the footage of them dealing with civilians on this mountain. these are not just being done by

mt. sinjar. and also ahead, a second night of violence in ferguson, missouri, where a policeman shot and killed an unarmed teenager. witness and police versions of the story, as different as night and day. so what was it that really happened? we'll hear from the friend who was with michael brown when he was shot and we'll find out more about this young man who was supposed to be heading off to college this week, before his life was cut short. >>> hello, everyone, i'm ashleigh banfield. it's tuesday, august 12th. welcome to "legal view." the plight of iraqi yazidis highlights the cruelty unleashed by isis or islamic state as they prefer to be called and of course the danger facing all who resist. just within the last hour, those dangers were horribly realized as an iraqi air force helicopter crashed on a desolate mountain while trying to bring food and water to desperate and terrified yazidi people. by the thousands, these members of a small and ancient religious sect remain stranded on mt. sinjar

mt. sinjar.fficials insist that any ground support would have a humanitarian focus not a combat focus. >> the latest development comes as u.s. military planes drop food and water to yazidis. >> meanwhile a series of deadly bombings torn through baghdad, kig at least 27 people. all of this as iraqi prime minister al-maliki digs in and lashes out as what he's calling a conspiracy to replace him. >> we have iraq coverage from all the angles. >> barbara is reporting from the pentagon and anna coren will also join us. the most urgent bit of news we have coming from iraq is the word from the pentagon that it is considering an air evacuation of the yazidis from that mountain top where they have been sheltering. it's april operation that seems that could involve a ground component as well and put u.s. troops face-to-face with isis. >> we'll turn to barbara starr at the pentagon. this would be quite a mission. what would it entail? >> a lot of moving parts here. let's try and sort things out a bit. what t

mt. sinjar. what's the reaction to that where you are? >> i think the response is relief that at last given that this saga has now been going on for something like 13 days, the remaining people on the mountain now stand a chance of being properly rescued. i think that the issue is what kind of humanitarian corridor can be created for these people? do you really want to put ground troops out there weaving a path through islamic state positions with a very sort of checkered landscape there, some bits jihadists, some bits are not. or do you simply want to have an air rescue mission? a humanitarian air lift? troops could be very useful where the military advisers might have a role here, forming transit camps on the top of the mountain gathering up the refugees so they're already to go in very large numbers. >> yeah you've made great points. can you kind of walk us through? because you know the terrain, what needs to be done and what you think is the most effective way to do it? >> reporter: well, we'

mt. sinjar.ohn kirby joining me here next. >>> first, pope francis arrived in seoul, south korea, today. this trip is focusing on peace and reconciliation in the divided peninsula. south koreans are all abuzz over the pope's humble ride. the compact and downscaled kia soul that he rode from the airport with the window down waving to the crowds. and on this five-day trip, the pontiff will be meet with young people for asian youth day. he'll also meet with families from the ferry tragedy that killed 300 people. we'll have much more on all of that tomorrow with anne thompson who reported from his flight that he did tell her he is coming to the usa, coming to philadelphia, for world youth day next september. we'll be right back. hey pal? you ready? can you pick me up at 6:30? ah... (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh! move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting f

mt. sinjar. 40,000 of them. although we are getting word there are several thousand who have managed to get off the mountain and flee towards syria. that's thanks to the kurdish forces on the ground there that are helping these yazidis, as well as the u.s. air strikes that you mentioned targeting those isis mortar and artillery positions. taking them out, which means that those kurdish fighters can get in and help some of the yazidis. but that's only a handful of the tens of thousands that are trapped on mt. sinjar. as you mentioned, the situation, as that particular refugee mentioned, it's now beyond humanitarian crisis. is now a catastrophe. particularly if he's saying there are thousands of bodies up there. it is dire. it is incredibly hot. they have been without food and water now for days. obviously, those aid drops, the third humanitarian aid drop, reached them overnight. however, you know, that is some 50,000 meals, 10,000 gallons of water that has managed to get to some of them. mt. sinja

mt. sinjar today.s tied to that policy decision we made, and we were waiting for political reconciliation while people are dying out there in iraq, and waiting for that reconciliation to take place. i think that was a huge mistake on the administration's part. >> do you believe that we are currently in a third war in iraq? there was an editorial in the wall street journal today that said we're bombing with f-13s, we have military on the ground, increasingly so, as of today. are we now in a situation where we're in a third war there? >> i believe we are, and it's going to increase in scale and scope. the fact of the matter is, the administration has not recognized yet that they need a comprehensive strategy to defeat isis. isis is truly the issue. there's no magic wand going to take place when we have a new government in iraq. and somehow isis is going to go away, because we're reconciling the sunni tribes. this is a major threat to the region and certainly to the united states. i believe this, martha.

mt. sinjar each of the past few nights and the u.s. says the number remaining is in the low thousands. >> we had been estimating it was tens of thousands there. you may remember earlier this week, we had a report from our correspondent ivan watson and it featured one family in particular as he was on board that iraqi helicopter and everyone was rushing on to get to safety. ivan watson managed to find that family again. here's his update. >> reporter: in the chaos of an evacuation from sinjar mountain, several faces stood out. a 16-month-old baby and two very frightened sisters. two days after their airborne escape, we found their older brother, who was also on the helicopter. he led us to the place where they found refuge. after fleeing isis, this is how thousands of iraqis are living. derelict building, we find our friends from the helicopter. hi, guys. look at you. i remember you. hi. it turns out 16-month-old helene is a cousin of the teenage sisters. hi. it's good to see you. she says she had mixed feelings when she escaped aboard

mt. sinjar. tens of thousands of them are stuck, circled at the base of this mountain by these isis militants. they're running against the clock, trying to stay alive, little food, water, and in the blazing iraqi summer. it's something like a scorching 122 degrees at this time of year at the top of this mountain. and what we're about to show you, it brings home exactly how horrifying their situation is. ivan watson joined iraqi and kurdish soldiers on a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to the refugees. the photo journalist, mark phillips there. this is what happened when they arrived at the mountain. >>> and now cnn's ivan watson joins me on the phone from iraq. ivan, can you hear me? >> reporter: i hear you, brooke. >> wonderful. you and mark, your cameraman, inside of this helicopter here. i understand you all took isis fire as you were leaving and returning. tell me about this trip. >> reporter: it's pretty scary. and i think these iraqi air force crews and the peshmerga who go with them ar

mt. sinjar. they control all that, all the routes to the sinjar band and extended all the way to kurdistan, and erbil is in question where the air strikes are supporting. >> so where are the u.s. air strikes so far and what have they been able to accomplish? >> sure, friday night, the air strikes went in here in the vicinity of erbil to stop any potential assault on erbil. they were targeting mortars, artillery, et cetera, and the last two and today are in the vicinity of sinjar. they're targeting isis on the ground, maneuverability, truck convoys, et cetera. >> at this point, we're taking out individual artillery pieces or convoys or martyrs. this is not a concerted air campaign. >> that's a critical point. this is an air strike campaign largely designed to protect erbil and refugees of sinjar. it is not taking away isis' freedom or movement. there are five attacks taking place at right by isis. they have total initiative and freedom of movement. in kirkuk, they're conducting two movements north

mt. sinjar area to a refugee camp near the border with syria. but according to latest estimates, 10,000 to 20,000, maybe even more, may still be stranded. just a little while ago, the deputy national security adviser to president obama, ben rhodes, said president obama should get options in the next few days on how best to help them. >> we don't believe it's sustainable to just have permanent air drops to this population on the mountain. some of them have been able to escape. again, we want to get options in place to move them to a safer place. there are a range of ways for doing that. again, we're going to be cooperating with kurdish forces who are also operating in the region, other international partners and, again, our goal here is to work with the iraqis and international partners so these people can get off the mountain to a safer place. again, we don't believe that involves u.s. troops re-entering a combat role in iraq. >> our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what kind of rescue operation are they considering? >> wolf, basically two

mt. sinjar has been broken. tens of thousands of iraqi yazidis were forced to take shelter on the mountain to escape isis fighters, as you may remember. >> thousands of people have fled from iraq into war-torn syria. the u.n. says 15,000 yazidis who came down from mt. sinjar are now taking shelter in a camp near the iraqi border. senior international correspondent ivan watson is there. >> reporter: the exodus of kurdish yazidis from iraq fleeing the isis militant offensive is an international phenomenon now. this refugee camp is located in syria, about an hour's drive away from the border. there are at least 5,000 families, i'm told, living here. the camp sprang up nine, ten days ago. there is an aid operation under way here. there is food being distributed. there are high energy biscuits, some tents being distributed. we see a lot of volunteerism from kurds on this side of the border as well as international agencies as well. but just as the isis militants moved into iraq from syria, now you have huge populatio

mt. sinjar. cnn's jim sciutto joins us now from washington. jim, what do we know about the role of u.s. special forces in the operation on sinjar mountain? >> well, let me tell you, don, a pretty remarkable turn anderson from just a few hours ago. a special forces team, a little more than a dozen special forces soldiers went to mt. sinjar today to assess the severity of the situation. and they came back with the conclusion that it was less severe than originally believed. for one, there had been reports of 10 to 20,000 yazidi -- this is the religious minority that has been under assault there, yazidi refugees on the mountain. the team came back and said actually, it's a number in the low thousands. those refugees still there are getting the food and water they need from u.s. humanitarian air drops. and that they can get off the mountain without a massive u.s.-led air or ground evacuation. first of all, i'm told by a senior military official that there are a lot of yazidis who want to stay there. their homes are on the mountain. and the ones that want to get off, they're finding a way off

mt. sinjar has come up in the last few days. takes a while to plan these kind of operations, especially when you don't have ready access to the area. and we don't have that right now. >> we don't have that right now. general mark hertling, thank you so much. >>> coming up next, we'll focus on this region, we'll speak live with a reporter who just actually left that mountain and he has a pretty chilling account of how desperate parents are to feed their children. we'll talk to him from iraq. >>> also ahead, the academy in charge of the oscars hosting this message about robin williams after the actor's suicide. a tweeted genie, you're free. was it appropriate? was it encouraging someone on the edge? we'll discuss. >>> more american forces are heading to iraq, as the u.s. considers a change in mission. as we told you a moment ago, to help these yazidis and other persecuteded religious minorities facing certain death on top of this mountain in northern iraq. joining me now, jonathan rugman, foreign correspondent at itn. and he has b

mt. sinjar. sunni militants helped open that route and the u.s. has announced it has sent more military advisers to kurdistan in northern iraq. >> british planes are joining the effort, dropping food and water. they have more missions planned as well. the u.s. says tens and thousands of people are still stranded in the region, all of them facing possible starvation. we saw that really compelling report from our ivan watson as he was with the iraqi military as they dropped aid and ended up rescuing people and another iraqi helicopter bringing food to mt. sinjar crashed yesterday after picking up about two dozens people. >> the iraqi pilot was killed and a number of passengers injured. they were taken to hospitals in the kurdistan region. >> u.n. officials are warning that thousands of iraqis could face mass slaughter within days, even hours if the help -- if the international bodies don't do more to help right now. our senior international correspondent ivan watson has more for you. >> reporter: the scene is almost biblical, a modern day exodus. th

mt. sinjar. there, they have hundreds of thousands of their fellow believers being trapped by islamic state as they try to move. they are running for their lives, being threateneded at gunpoint by the islamic state to convert to islam on the, right there and then or face instant death. of course, the two air drops of aid relief we've seen happen bringing in much needed water and food to those people, but those here in the united states say they have a call for more u.s. support. >> government taking the right steps to for air strikes to go to this isis group. >> we have an obligation. we are a coup tri that believes in religious freedom. this is our belief as americans. we have to act on it. kald yan those here in the united states, about 200,000 in number. we believe there is another 200,000 christians in iraq who are being persecuted. that number is far lower according to the u.n. just ten years ago, when there was 2 million christians living in iraq. not just christians being r targeted. other

mt. sinjar and nobody knows how many have died from dehydration and from lack of food and water. well i spent a lot of time talking to the yasdz refugees and they really have gs the yazidi refugees and they have really horrific stories to tell. it is not the suffering of the people on mountain itself but the people who witnessed what the jihadists were doing as they left their homes. they are grateful they reached iraqi kurdistan and will be delighted to hear that the french are arnlg the kurds to d are arming the kurds to protect them that the americans and british are launching a humanitarian rescue mission but having spoken to these people who have witnessed so many horrible things so striking today was that none of them thought they had any future in iraq at all. for them the concept of iraq as a unified state is really over. they do not wish, many of these yazidis that i spoke to, they do not wish to be part of this country anymore. >> jonathan rugman. many of the yazidi refugees say they hope to relocate to the united states or europe. in cairo today the ousted president of

mt. sinjar. this is a big place. we believe there are 40,000 people trapped there who fled their homes with these militants coming. so, it's still dire, it's still a huge humanitarian problem. obviously, the u.s. has conducted three aid drops action now the british air force has conducted another one. so, you know, this is continuing, this is an ongoing problem. but for now the crisis is still unfolding. >> the word desperate is used so often it becomes commonplace. you look at that video, that is true desperation. people falling to their death out of hunger and thirst. anna coren for us from erbil, thank you. >> let's talk about this with professor peter neumann, director of the international center for the study of radicalization at kings college in london. more about isis. >> and we're joined by lieutenant general mark hertling and he can tell us about the military response thus far. general, to you first. we heard over the recent weeks we heard it from president obama yesterday, no boots on t

mt. sinjar? >> what we've seen of course is that i.s.i.s. continues to confound the experts in that it has proven to be a very effective fighting force. and even there are signs that it was able to push back the peshmerga for afew days. that seems to be changing of course. u.s. air power has been decisive in that regard it seems but the peshmerga are very well trained, highly disciplined well led force and i think as they begin to get more weapons and that appears to be happening, you'll see some reversals in the north. big question is sunni arabs, whether the sunni saishz are willing to push out this i.s.i.s. extreme organization. >> is army and the peshmerga going to be enough? as you indicated there are lines from at least a couple of u.s. officials that that is beginning to happen. i wonder if that's going to be enough, or if you can conceive of a day where maybe u.s, french, maybe u.k. boots may be on the ground and necessary, again, to protect the yazidis on mt. sinjar? >> i think on the lo

mt. sinjar crashed after picking up about two dozen people.he iraqi pilot was killed and many injuries. >>> the u.s. military says its planes dropped thousads of meals and crates of water. the u.s. insists there will be no boots on the ground in iraq. take a listen. >> there's a huge challenge with getting long-term sustainable assistance to the people trapped on this mountain. but what they will be able to do is take the lay of the land and come up with options to provide humanitarian assistance that will not be there in a combat role. they are there in an advisory role. >> and as we've been telling you, members of iraq's yazidi e religious minority are at the center of this. >> ted rowlands brings us their story. >> reporter: they are far away from the horror in northern iraq. but only if you measure in miles. this man is one of the hundreds of yazidis living in nebraska. he just learned four relatives, all of them children, died of dehydration while on this hillside. he said his sisters are also there being held by isis forced to convert to

mt. sinjar in the kurdish region of iraq. chief of staff to bar sanny, the president of the kurdish regional authority, and fuad hussein is joining us from erbil. mr. hussein, thanks very much for joining us. i want you to update us, first of all, on this iraqi military crash. the pilot was killed trying to bring badly needed supplies to the religious minorities who are stranded. we know alisa rubin, correspondent for "the new york times," she was seriously injured, a concussion, broken wrists, an yazidi member of the iraqi parliament was on that helicopter. what happened? what can you tell our viewers? >> yes, we have got trhree iraq helicopters and these helicopters bring people to the mountain of sinjar. some journalists and other members of parliament or government. to see the situation on the ground. this helicopter was there on the ground and while moving, it hit a rock there and then the pilot passed away unfortunately. the others, the other people who were in the helicopter, some of them, they were slightly injured. t

mt. sinjar.he best thing we can do is have advisers on the ground to train up the iraqi military such as they are to advise the kurds and help them maintain these weapons once we deliver them to them as long as they don't fall in the hands of the extremists. as long as they are vetted, it's the best that you are going to get into the region so i don't see much of a chance of the weapons falling into the wrong hands here. >> certainly we don't have a lot of options to turn to. thank you, appreciate it. >> thanks. >>> coming up, these are images from ferguson, missouri, a town that has become something like a police state. no fly zones. we've got the latest details about what the tragic death of michael brown is signaling and what it tells us about race in america right now. stay with us. your 16-year-old daughter studied day and night for her driver's test. secretly inside, you hoped she wouldn't pass. the thought of your baby girl driving around all by herself was... you just weren't ready. but s

mt. sinjar. each of the past few nights. and many of them are being taken to a u.n. refugee camp along the border between syria and iraq. anna coren is there. >> reporter: the wave of humanity that we're seeing crossing the border from syria into kurdistan northern iraq descended here. thousands of yazidis are at this unhcr catch. as you can see, hundreds of tents are being erected, making way for the thousands of refugees expected to arrive in the next few days. now, according to the governor of this area, he says 70,000 yazidis have come here in the last few days. many of them disbursed to other areas. some as you can see, have set up camp, erecting their own shelter. if they're lucky enough, they have their own cars. these people have been on the go for days after fleeing sinjar from those isis militants who were threatening genocide. the stories that we have heard are absolutely horrific. stories of family members being murdered, being decapitated. we've seen the pictures. these people have lived through it and they are desperate for help. they are calling on the

mt. sinjar each of the past few nights. and the u.s. says the number of remaining refugees is now in the low thousands. >> a report from our senior correspondent featured one family in particular as they rushed to board an iraqi helicopter to take them to safety. he managed to find that family again and here's his report. >> reporter: in the chaos of an evacuation from sinjar mountain, several faces stood out. a 16-month-old baby, and two very frightened sisters. two days after their airborne escape, we found their older brother who was also on the helicopter. he led us to the place where they found refuge. >> can we see? >> reporter: after fleeing isis, this is how thousands of iraqis are living. >> we don't have food, we don't have drink, we don't have sleep. >> up on the third floor of this derelict building, we find our friends from the helicopter. >> hi, guys. [ speaking foreign language ] >> look at you. i remember you. hi. >> it turns out 16-month-old helen is a cousin of the teenage sisters who were rescued. >> hi. it's good to

mt. sinjar that it doesn't warrant an international effort. but along with other countries they are trying to address this humanitarian crisis now spreading across northern iraq but the much bigger problem is how to fight the islamic state fighters and make sure the rest of this country remains stable. >> the crisis on sinjar mountain has attracted western governments in the way the rest of the region hasn't. within the past week the united states has launched emotional a dozen air strikes against the islamic state group. while u.k. has been planning a rescue operation on the ground. both countries have been dropping aid onto the mountain and air rescue some of the yazidis on the mountain. u.k. pledged millions of extra support in the last few days. bleak and disprip situation, millions have been -- desperate situation, millions have been displaced now while tens of thousands are homeless in gaza. oxfam says across the middle east, 28 million people are in need of humanitarian aid because of fighting and instability. brigadier general mark kim

mt. sinjar without adding combat troops on the ground. michelle, devin. >> thank you so much. karen. it is mid afternoon in south korea. where pope francis had a busy day, taking a high-speed train from seoul, the pope celebrated mass with young people in the stadium, and urging the audience to renounce materialism and work to improve the lives of the poor. >> here is a look at your friday weather. expect plenty of ran today from montana to new mexico across the west into minnesota. other than a few showers in south florida and northern new england, most other spots will be sunny, dry, and hot. >> temperatures will be scorching today across the south. temperatures mostly in the 90s. almost everywhere else though, you can plan on more moderate readings in the mid to high 80s. perfect for august. if you were with us yesterday you. know we showed you a robot butler. but, here is another robot who has the had a much more adventurous summer. >> it is called the hitch-bot, started its trip from hall fax, nova scotia. thumbing its way east to west. taking ride with strangers. >> hitch-bot p

mt. sinjar. one of the things the air force has been tasked to do is get some humanitarian supplies, water and food. tell us operationally how dangerous is it to get the humanitarian aid up there to them? >> if you look at what they've really done, what they've done is pretty smart. because they're controlling the rivers. without water, that part of the world is nothing. in addition, because they have the dams, they have the hydroelectric. so they can put the squeeze on baghdad, maybe even force a revolt. as far as the humanitarian mission up here, it's being done with c-130s and c-17s. the air force is good at dropping supplies things like that. the problem is that isis has captured who knows what from the iraqi army that they had previously and we gave them. so those aircraft aren't safe. they could be hit with aaa, maybe surface-to-air missiles. >> if that happens, what happens? does that engage us in a way that hasn't been engaged? >> it would engage us in a way that we haven't been engaged w

mt. sinjar. and it is for that reason that the isil forces were as effective as they were., i thank you all very much. >> and you can continue to watch the live stream on msnbc.com of that briefing. we'll of course bring you any new developments as they happen. meanwhile, president obama is on martha's vineyard in massachusetts. traveling with the president is nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing. chris, what can you tell us, sort of the latest of what the president is hearing at this moment. >> well, we know that he has been regularly briefed by his national security team. in fact, i'm told at least three times a day. the white house did release a picture of him with national security adviser susan rice. we should say that she wasn't originally scheduled to be on this trip, but given the trio of international events, obviously what is going on in iraq, but also gaza and the ukraine, the number of people who have come here to be with the president has been beefed up. look, they say the president is president wherever he is. so he is continuing to keep not

mt. sinjar top 110 degrees. and they're only going up. iraqi kurds are still flying in provisions on helicopters and flying out as many as refugees as they can carry, and then some. getting off of the mountain by foot may or may not be riskier than waiting for a rescue, but the united nations estimates 35,000 iraqis have done it, with the help from kurdish fighters. those fighters called the peshmerga. they've crossed into syria. yes, syria. apparently safer than where they are. and also back to the kurdistan region of far northern iraq. i want to get straight to the white house where there is right now ben rods is doing a briefing, unexpected briefing, so let's listen in. >> -- anywhere in the world again has the ability to protect themselves, but the purpose and the mission that they are going to iraq for is not to engage in combat. this is to make an assessment how we move that population off the mountain into a safe place. [ inaudible ] -- isis does pose a national security threat to the united states, can that also be the -- [ inaudi

mt. sinjar had improved.uation for the religious mint group the yazidis no longer enough to warrant an american intervention according to the obama administration. this shows u.s. forces meeting with yazidis on that mountain yesterday. this is the first time you've seen a picture of one of those men standing there. also today big news on the political front. the prime minister of iraq, nuri al maliki anoupnouncing he is stepping down, ending his struggle to stay in power. nick paton walsh. just days ago maliki filed a lawsuit to stop the change of the government. he was fighting the u.s. what made him cave? >> reporter: it's so important that this political deadlock has been lifted, erin, because nuri al maliki dug his heels in, wanted the courts to rule if it was legal for the new president to name a successor to him. but it seemed in the past few days this caused tense anxiety waiting for final word seeing his allies desert him one by one. iran, washington making it clear they wanted him out of power, then

mt. sinjar. the official says the situation is now stable. jane araf reports from the country's north. >> reporter: this floating bridge from syria is now life line for iraqi yazidis. the route off sinjar mountain from syria back into iraq. thousands have come off the area, the yazidis live in the region but with their towns taken over here they rely on the kindness of strangers. they have been stranded on the mountain for days and walked for hours. these are the survivors but a lot of them are wondering what will survive of their community. this camp was built for syrian refugees now full of yazidis who tried and failed to defend their towns. >> translator: seven of my relatives were killed by shelling. some were beheaded. >> reporter: he says they need help to go back and bury the bodies. she shows me the body of her decadecapitated brother moussah. >> my brother was beheaded and they put it on the internet for everyone to see. >> reporter: the yazidis say they have suffered over 17 massacres over the centuries. after this last one, the only

mt. sinjar. one of the things the air force has been tasked to do is get some humanitarian supplies, water and food. tell us operationally how dangerous is it to get the humanitarian aid up there to them? >> if you look at what they've really done, what they've done is pretty smart. because they're controlling the rivers. without water, that part of the world is nothing. in addition, because they have the dams, they have the hydroelectric. so they can put the squeeze on baghdad, maybe even force a revolt. as far as the humanitarian mission up here, it's being done with c-130s and c-17s. the air force is good at dropping supplies things like that. the problem is that isis has captured who knows what from the iraqi army that they had previously and we gave them. so those aircraft aren't safe. they could be hit with aaa, maybe surface-to-air missiles. >> if that happens, what happens? does that engage us in a way that hasn't been engaged? >> it would engage us in a way that we haven't been engaged w

mt. sinjar. a camera crew captured what happened next. relief supplies including food were pushed outside and gathered by the stranded yazidis. then as the helicopter slowed and touched down, desperation as yazidis of all ages jumped on toz the chopper in some cases parents pushed their children aboard. once safely inside, their faces told the story. in another war zone tonight, a new cease fire in gaza is hoo.+lding. negotiations on a truce resumed in egypt. this latest war between palestinians and the gaza strip and israel broke out more than a month ago. 1900 palestinians and 67 israelis have been killed. charlie d'agata is there. >> reporter: an israeli air strike on the fuel tanks of gaza's only power plant triggered a massive explosion 12 days ago. the inferno left the plant in ruins. today we found the u.n. humanitarian coordinator james rawley surveying the damage. he told us it's destruction not only plunged gaza into darkness but a humanitarian crisis. >> without electricity we can't get water into houses, we can't get water int