patty culhane has the latest. >> u.s. president barack obama focusing on his secretary of defense at this national security meeting he announced he was immediately senting him to thes middle east, in an attempt to get countries to contribute more to the fight against i.s.i.l. the president is pressured to do more. in a new poll, 60% want more sent to fight and 54% is unhappy with the about's proxy. now he's trying to convince the citizens. >> again these are urban areas where i.s.i.l. is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. >> a new tack for the president for the first time sight what he says iciting whathe sees is a b. >> in an election year unless baghdadi the head of i.s.i.l. surrenders or we take back moals, you see the situation in syria, oarch that it's going to be very hard. thut a vehicle big. >> patty culhane, al jazeera, washington. >> syrian forces have apparently maintained control of an area in eastern guta held by rebels for three years. lebanese hezbollah group are fighting

patty culhane has more from washington. >> the backdrop, the oval office. this is only the third time the u.s. president barack obama last used there setting for a national address, meant to send a message of seriousness after the attacks in california left 14 years, after looking into whether the killers were inspired by islamic state of iraq and the levant. the president telling america he has a strategy to defeat the group. >> the threat is real but we will overcome it. >> he had a difficulty, 57% disapprove of how he's handling i.s.i.l, 72% think the effort is going badly and 62% say it's time to send troops into iraq and syria. >> for god sakes, mr. president, change our policy, destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home. >> the president had his on careowncriticism. notice fly list from buying weapons. president obama also urged americans not to frame this as a war against islam. >> that too is what groups like i.s.i.l. want. i.s.i.l. does not speak for islam. they are thugs and killers. part of a cult of death. and they account for a tiny f

patty culhane from washington. >> on wednesday-- >> the backdrop, the oval office.is is only the third time that president obama has used the setting for an address. he has used the setting for the seriousness of the killings in san bernardino. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> he has had a tough time convincing the majority of americans, according to polls 57 there's disapprove of how he's handling the fight against isil. and 72% say that the effort is going badly, and 68% say it is time to send more troops into iraq and syria. his strategy is facing serious criticism from republican presidential candidates. >> for god sake, change the strategy and destroy the caliphate before we're hit here at home. >> the president had his own criticism for the congress saying its time for new gun control legislation. that is unlikely. just last week the senate voted down a bill that would keep people on the in-fly list from buying weapons. president obama has asked americans not to frame this as a war against islam. >> that, too, is what the group

white house correspondent patty culhane reports now. >> the united states is intensifying the war in iraq and syria in the hope that it will eventually lead to talk of peace. >> next in full coordination with the government of iraq we're deploying a targeting force to assist peshmerga forces and put even more pressure on isil. these special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture isil leaders. that creates a virtua virtuous cycle of more targets, more raids, more momentum. >> the middle said that when they find an isil leader, the teams will go into syria to get them, and then get out adding that even more special forces will be sent into the region as they find local forces capable of fighting and more military hardware is moving into the syrian conflict, and they'll come painted with many more flags. they'll send in reconnaissance planes, and in the u.k. the parliament is set to vote to send their fighter jets into syria for bombing missions. before leaving the climate talks in paris, united states barack obama describes ho

patty culhane. al jazeera, paris. >> in syria diplomat say the measures will more likely include more nato ships i more missile defense as well as turkey shooting down a military jet last week. >> well, i think the person who sums it up is again the german foreign minister saying that ther everybody knows there will be no military solution to this conflict. he has been talking about his hopes that the various opposition groups from syria can get an united line. but he's also said--he's referred to his own cabinet, agreeing to back france in the fight against isil and syria. german troops won't be involved in combat, but there is a frigit that will help the french aircraft carrier. there will be a reconnaissance plane and so on. he's hopeful that more countries will come on board. the u.k. will decide whether or not to stop bombing isil in syria. but most are aware that russia plays a crucial role. it said its bombing isil. some o of the today nato members are trying to call it a broad coalition agai

. >>> al jazeera's patty culhane is live at the white house for us. what are we expecting to hear from the u.s. president. any major changes in policy in unusual broadcast from the oval office. >> so far all signals from within the white house do not accept significant policy changes that the president will announce on gun control or fighting in the islamic state of iraq and levant. so basically we hear what we have heard from the president several times. so why the national address? especially from the oval office, this is only the third time doing that, and it is meant to send a message of seriousness. the reason is the american public overwhelmingly don't agree with what the president is doing. a number for you. 73% of americans thought a major terrorist attack in the u.s. was eminent. he needs to let them know what he's going to try to do is send a message to keep the american people safe. and he'll make the case for his strategy in syria and iraq. 31% of people approve of what he's doing. the vast majority say it's not working. he is going to try

patty culhane from washington. >> the backdrop, the oval office. this is only the third time that barack obama has used the office to send a message. the president telling inference he has a strategy to defeat isil. >> the threat is real, but we will overcome it. >> according to polls 57% disapprove how he's handling the fight against isil. 72% say that the effort is going badly. and 60% say that it is time to send more troops into iraq and syria. >> for god's sakes, mr. president change our strategy, come up with a ground force to go in "g" in and destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home. >> the president has his own criticism for the u.s. congress saying its time for new gun control legislation. that is unlikely. just last week the senate voted down a bill that would keep people on the know-fly list from buying weapons. president obama also urged americans not to frame this as a war against islam. >> that, too, is what groups like isil want. isil does not speak for islam. they're thugs and killers, a cult of death. they account for a

patty culhane has more from washington. >> reporter: the backdrop, the oval office, this is only the third time u.s. president barack obama has used this setting for a national address meant to send a message of seriousness after the attacks in california that left 14 dead. investigators looking into whether the killers were inspired by islamic state of iraq and the levant. obama telling america he has a strategy to defeat the group. >> the threat is real but we will overcome it. >> reporter: having a difficulty convincing, 72% say the effort is going badly. and 60% say it's time to send more troops into iraq and syria. his strategy is also facing serious criticism from republican presidential candidates. >> so for god sakes mr. president change our strategy, come up with a ground force to go in and destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home. >> reporter: the president had his own criticism for the u.s. congress saying it's time for new gun control legislation. that is unlikely. just last week, the senate voted down a bill that would have kept people on the no-fly list from

this comes as president obama stepped up his rhetoric against isil, patty culhane with more from washington u.s. pre president barack obama focusing on his national security of defense announcing he was immediately sending had tomorrow middle ease trying to get country to contribute more in the fight against isil. the president is under increasing pressure to do more in a new poll, 60% of americans want more u.s. troops sent to fight. 54% disapprove of how the president is handling the threat of terrorism, that's the worst he's ever done. >> we will prevail. >> reporter: now he's trying to convince americans his strategy is working. >> isil has lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq. they are working in encircle fallujah and cut off isil's supply routes in to mosul. again, these are urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. >> reporter: a new tact for the president for the first time siting what he sees as a big success, some analysts saying that it's still unlikely to change public opinion. >> i think in an ele

white house correspondent patty culhane reports. >> on wednesday. >> the backdrop, the oval office. this is only the third time that president barack obama has used this setting for a national address used to send a message of seriousness. investigators looking into whether the killers were inspired by the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the president telling americans that he has a strategy to defeat the group. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> he has had a tough time convincing the majority of americans. 57% disapprove of how he's handling the fight against isil. 72% say the effort is going badly, and 60% say that it's time to send more troops to iraq and syria. his strategy is facing criticism from republican presidential candidates. >> for god sakes, come up with a ground force that go in and destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home. >> the president had his own criticism for the u.s. congress saying its time for new gun control legislation. that is unlikely. just last week the senate voted down a bill that would have kept people

. >> patty culhane reporting from washington.hank you. >> a political report into what happen to a russian plane in october said there is no evidence of terrorism so far. that conflicts with the russian investigation which said that the plane was brought down by a bomb planted by isil. all 224 passengers and crew on board that metro jet airbus died. the report was issued by the egyptian civil aviation ministry. the plane was headed to st. petersburg carrying tourists from the holiday resort of sharm el sheik. >>> there has been fighting in yemen. a cease-fire between the yemeni government and the houthis is due to come into effect on monday. an u.n.-brokered peace attack on tuesday after 19 civilians were killed. >>> a landmark deal was agreed to in paris. some are warning that the real hard work of implementing the deal just now begins. it's approval by 195 countries in the european union was greeted by much fanned fair on saturday night and urged all nations to limit greenhouse emissions and report back in five years. but some

patty culhane went to where the split between the haves and have nots is visible. >> reporter: it isty built for excess where everything is on display and for sale. and thousands can be bet on a single game of cards. lost veining -- las vegas, nabokov is rebounding. but for things that make the play possible things aren't as good. people like maria, she cleans hotel rooms. she says it is not enough for her and her four kids even though it is double the federal minimum wage. >> i feel a lot of stress at home. i feel sad and i had to -- sometimes i had to stop paying some bills to get food for my kids, you know. that's -- that's my life every day. >> reporter: in the shadow of the gleaming gold tower where she works, she took part in this protest march? an attempt to get her coworkers to start a union. because the person she works for, donald trump, says a hire minimum wage would be bad for the country. it's a big debate in this campaign. american wages have barely increased since the recession, so should the federal minimum wage be raised? democrats say it would actually help the econ