the pentagon press secretary said that was not going to be a problem. and at this point, they're still moving forward with pentagon and u.s. plans to hand over that combat operation to those afghan forces. wolf, all of this comes at a very critical time for the u.s. president obama announced his transition plan for afghanistan, his plan to leave a residual force in that country next year. roughly 10,000 u.s. service members. that will dwindle down to nothing in 2016 when the president says the u.s. will completely withdraw from afghanistan. all of that hinges on a bilateral security agreement being signed by the next president of afghanistan. and as you know, that election has been in some turmoil in recent weeks. now there's an election audit under way. i talked to an official earlier this morning that said they're confident the next agreement will be signed by the president of afghanistan. the white house has warned repeatedly if the u.s. does not have the bilateral security agreement, there will be a total u.s. pullout by the end of the year. attack o

. >> other thing that struck me the pentagon press conference was the references to syria. dempsey.general >> we've got to go to syria. >> saying you cannot deal with the islamic state without with the organization in syria. what's going to happen? their saferia is saven and one of their rules terrorism, you have to destroy the leadership haven.y safe >> will there be american syria soon?nst >> i think it's possible to strike in syria. simply tell assad, privately, secretly, over the bet two weeks we're going to doing work against isis in your country, just to let you know. smart enough to figure out that if he combats us with take it out.we'll if he's also smart enough, he'll realize that isis is also his enemy. this is one of the contradictions, one of the things we have to get over is there are a lot of contradictions here. we may need iranian help before this is over. may have to tolerate syria, that's not to say support assad, have to do what i said and get to him later. toa strategy, you have establish priorities. right now, our priority needs to be to deal with isis.

. >> the pentagon press secretary says earlier this month that the chinese jet made several close passes by the u.s. navy plane in international air space. in may and june, chinese jets also flew unusually close to self defense force planes. he said he hopes the chinese will not repeat such dangerous acts. japan con trolgs the islands. china and taiwan claim them. vietnamese leaders are looking to mend fences. they're sending a senior official to try to rebuild ties. he'll spend tuesday and wednesday in china at the invitation of chinese communist party leaders and discuss how to avoid incidents that might destabilize relations. tensions flared in may when a state-run company set up an oil rig in waters claimed by both countries. it triggered anti-china protests and riots in vietnam. at least five chinese workers were killed. the vietnam ease spokesperson will send representatives to visit families of victims. >> michael brown was shot dead by a white police officer. family member, political leaders, human rights act vitss. they sang and prayed songs to celebrate his live. >> we have had

pentagon press secretary john kirby said two fa-18 jets dropped laser-guided bombs on mobile artillery near the city of erbil. militants with the islamist group isil were using that weapon to shell kurdish forces in their main stronghold. u.s. officials say they'll launch more air strikes if militants threaten american citizens and facilities. the united states has diplomats in erbil. secretary of state john kerry justified the attack on isil. >> isil's campaign of terror against the innocent, including the izidi and christian minorities, and its grotesque targeted acts of violence show all the warning signs of genocide. >> kerry said president obama approved the air strike to save innocent lives, and he said the world should join the u.s. in condemning isil's actions. security in iraq has been worsening since june when sunni militants seized the second largest city of mosul. >>> hope has faded for an extension on a temporary cease-fire between israeli forces and hamas fighters. the truce expired friday morning. and soon after, both parties resumed fire. israeli and palestinian delegat

pentagon press secretary john kirby said two fa-18 jets dropped laser-guided bombs on mobile artillery near the city of erbil. militants with the islamist group isil were using that weapon to shell kurdish forces in their main stronghold. u.s. officials say they'll launch more air strikes if militants threaten american citizens and facilities. the un s

but the pentagon's press secretary, john kirby, declined to discuss the operation. >> don't talk about intelligence matters, tony, i'm not going to start doing that today. we're planning organization here. we have to be prepared for all kinds of options. >> kirby said u.s. officials are not coordinating with syrian leaders on u.s. operations or efforts to combat islamic states. laums have been calling for air strikes since they saw this video of a murder of u.s. journalist by sunni militants. we coming to you from our studios in tokyo. up ahead in "newsline" stories from here in japan, but first, ron madison brings us up to speed on the latest in business news. >>> leaders of japan's biggest business federation will channel more money into political parties, namely the ruling liberal democratic party. analysts say the move is intended to give big business more influence in the economic policies of the government led by prime minister shinzo abe. officials at the japan business federation are expected to make a final decision on the matter as early as next month. they are expected to in

much more with the pentagon press secretary coming up. and a cry for justice, family, friends, politicians and celebrities remember the slain teenager michael brown. but many are also looking to the future. we're going live to ferguson. ♪ ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ sweet, sweet st. thomas nice ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ st. croix, full of pure vibes ♪ ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ st. john, a real paradise ♪ so nice, so ni-i-i-ce ♪ proud to be from the virgin islands ♪ ♪ and the whole place nice to experience your virgin islands nice, book one of our summer packages today. for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. it's about getting to the finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. it's important to know the difference. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger probl

according to a pentagon press release on this issue the missile directly supports the government of iraq and serves the interests of the people of iraq and the united states it also says that iraq will use the hellfire missile to help improve iraq's security forces capability to support current ongoing ground operations we now know human rights groups have been critical of the use of missiles since they have reportedly been fired at residential neighborhoods and cities where isis has been present specifically human rights watch has called on the u.s. to not send weapons to iraq until baghdad acts in accordance with international law and r.t. . however the american initiative to supply iraq with such powerful weapons may bring about even more problems in the past the militants have already maneuver of the army seizing dozens of u.s. supplied howard cers out of the four thousand machine guns to the arsenal plus fifteen hundred humvees that the army abandoned so it's a real fear that the hellfire missiles could end up in the hands of the extremists to anti-war activists brumback or thinks t

according to a pentagon press release on this issue the missile directly supports the government of iraq and serves the interests of the people of iraq and the united states it also says that iraq will use the hellfire missile to help improve the iraq security forces capability to support current ongoing ground operations we now know human rights groups have been critical of the use of missiles since they have reportedly been fired at residential neighborhoods and cities where isis has been present specifically human rights watch has called on the u.s. to not send weapons to iraq until baghdad acts in accordance with international law and r.t. . so you go closer look at what's being sent to iraq the hellfire missile can be fired from the air or a land primarily used against armored ground targets it's a guided system so its road of the easy to use missile covers four hundred fifty meters per second and this comes up the price a single unit costing more than one hundred thousand dollars but there is a potential downside to the iraqi army having such a powerful tool at its disposal the gro

according to a pentagon press release on this issue the missile directly supports the government of iraq and serves the interests of the people of iraq and the united states it also says that iraq will use the hellfire missile to help improve iraq's security forces capability to support current ongoing ground operations we now know human rights groups have been critical of the use of missiles since they have reportedly been fired at residential neighborhoods and cities where isis has been present specifically human rights watch has called on the u.s. to not send weapons to iraq until baghdad acts in accordance with international law and our team. and your activist brian becker thinks are arms dealers are the ones who benefit most from the shipment. it's five thousand missiles these are important unishe and they could be have a devastating impact on the battlefield it's good for us arms manufacturers and puts the us back in a position of perhaps a strategic significance in competition with iran with the central government in iraq will it change the equation on the battlefield we don't kno

the pentagon press secretary said this morning there's no rescue operation in the works right now they are focused on air dropping supplies. the u.s., u.k., australia and france have dropped tens of thousands of meals and gallons of water and supplies on the mountain. >> there is a huge challenge with getting long-term sustainable assistance to the people trapped on the mountain and the others affected by the crisis. >> reporter: what the pentagon press secretary has to say about the u.s. potentially evacuating some of those refugees by air or land. i'm working on those details for you for 8:15. live in washington, kyla campbell, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> 7:17. back here at home, workers are sprucing up the san francisco presidio national cemetery. the tombstones there date back to the 1850s from the battles between american settlers and the native-americans but because the graves are on a sandy hillside, they often slide. they have to be realigned every year. now a permanent solution has been found. >> it involves removing the headstone, setting it on the foot end of the grave site. di

just a few moments, the pentagon press secretary is expected to build upon the uncensored comments on isis we've heard this week from the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff prompting new questions across the country about how far this administration will go to deal with the growing threat. colonel jack jacobs is an m nbc military analyst and richard edge is along the turkey/syria border right now. let me go to colonel jacobs and this question. how do we square this circumstance? we're basically using air power in a limited campaign, although it's continuing, against isis. at the same time, we're hearing talk from the secretary of state, john kerry, that we're going to crush them. which is it? an all out war or a limited war? >> limited war. there's no way that the american public is going to stand for a reintroduction of troops into the region. they've said it many times. indeed, there's some indication the american pub slick not particularly interested in launching air strikes. just wants it to go away. it's not going be that. we'll prob

pentagon. we had some press people this there.t in someone who works for fox, he listened to spokesperson rear admirable john kirby who said the russians are highly capable, highly ready, and they're a lot closer to the board or of ukraine than they had been before the spring. it's all being watched at the moment, the markets reacting. now, let's get to one big mover of the day that is reantibioticking in a -- reacting in a different way, it is cheg. it's making a pretty p senate change to -- significant change to its business model, and the market loves this. the company is partnering with england, a book-distributing company, that will take over cheg's physical inventory and shipping so that they can focus on the digital business. stock is jumping right now, as you can see, it is up about 20% at the moment partly because we can't ignore this, the company beat on earnings. joining me now is dan rosensweig, cheg's ceo and president. thanks for being on. >> thank you, liz, how are you? liz: we are well. with all of the news that's

i want to you have a listen what the pentagon press secretary had to say. >> president has been verylear there's not going be boots on the ground in a combat role. that's very clear direction. but what he also told us to do, ws to take, to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis there in northern iraq and on and around mount sinjar. >> there's no option at the moment but boots on the ground in some fashion because if you're going to do an air evacuation you're going to be landing aircraft on that mountain, you're going to have to have security and protection for the aircraft as they come in and take off. they will be based at an iraqi air base. have to be security for them there. why an air option and not ground? a lot of these people are in very poor shape. they may not be able to make a 15 hour journey and security is a big issue. they've got to keep isis back. they have to keep isis away from all of this to keep it secure. so also look possibly important u.s. air strikes to be stepped up in the coming days to go against those isis positions near mount sinjar, that's the beginning o

obama has authorized reconnaissance flights over syria that would lead to air strikes but the pentagon press secretary just last hour, we brought it to you live, would not con firm any u.s. spy flights or any plans for u.s. air strikes over syria. >> i don't talk about intelligent matters, tony. i'm not going to start doing that here. i'm not going to get into the details. >> let's talk more about the use of air power now to reduce the isis threat with former nato commander and u.s. retired general wesley clark. good to see you. can air strikes defeat isis or will there ultimately have to be a ground campaign to stop this terrorist group? >> i think you're going to need a ground campaign but not from u.s. troops. i think there are plenty of ground forces in the region. they've just got to be motivated and organized in a way that they can fight and they've got to be directed. the united states can play a behind-the-scenes role in that with diplomacy and economic help. we can provide a certain amount of information. we can provide combat multipliers like the air strikes but people have to be o

from rear admiral john kirby, the pentagon press spokesman. >> the president has not yet laid out a specific plan for military action in syria, and the reason for that simply that the pentagon is still developing that plan and he's still reviewing them. >> i think anybody who has any knowledge of the united states military knows that we're ready. we're ready all the time. >> the clock didn't start with the beheading of the american journalist. that was just a symptom of what was a long and growing problem for the united states. so it's not wrong, it's just very, very late in the game, and it presents fewer options. so three years ago we had really good options in syria in how to stop their pooling in the east and going into iraq. two years ago we had better options, not great options. today our options are far more limited, far more dangerous and will call for far more engagement. >> general, you know that people in the pentagon, are they frustrated with the situation? >> even more important is i know how the system works, doug. but in answer to your question, they are extremely fru

joining me now on the phone is admiral john kirby, press secretary for the pentagon. admiral, it's good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. appreciate it. >> can you walk us through your understanding of what happened earlier today? >> well, the details are still coming in. this incident is under investigation. what we know is there was a coalition member visit to the after began military academy. it's their version of west point, really. it's where their train their officer corps. it was a official visit, not just by american troops, but by international troops as well as afghan national leaders. to look at the facility and improvements that had been made there. in the process of touring the facility, shots rang out. it appears right now they came from a building, obviously by an individual we believe to be an afghan soldier. that's the assumption going into this thing. fire was returned by the security personnel with the group killing the assailant. it was able to hit 15 in the group, wounding 14 and, of course, killing general green. >> so you make the analo

over at the pentagon today, the pentagon press secretary was asked about pentagon planning for isis in syria and he said "i think anybody who has any knowledge of the united states military knows that we're ready. so there's a bit of a disconnect there in terms of what the pentagon has developed in terms of planning for air strikes in syria and all of that raises the question, jake, as to whether or not there's a debate really going on inside the administration between the white house and the pentagon. i asked josh ernest about that. he went on to say, he wouldn't characterize it as a debate. he didn't deny there's a debate but he said when i asked if the president is on the same page as his cabinet, he said that the cabinet is on the same page as the president. so if there was a debate up until yesterday, white house press secretary is trying to say there isn't one anymore. >> thank you so much. we have more on the president's leadership and those comments later in the show. coming up next, what's scary enough to make the brits raise their terror threat level? we'll try to pin it down

part of it, reverend, when you talk about humanitarian aid, and there is nothing to confirm the pentagon press secretary denied any air drops happening now. let's be clear. there are 40,000. there are at least 40 casualties, deaths from isis because of lack of food and especially water. i anticipate -- i'm not confirming it's happening. i anticipate there will be humanitarian aid driven by the united states of america's military to the 40,000 refugees on that mountain top within hours. >> congressman, they really can't do the food drops without some air strikes because of the reports they are surrounded by isis, correct? >>. >> not necessarily. it's a two pronged measure. there are access roads obviously to that area. at the end of the day, it's a tragic situation what's going on now. >> you're talking about children. e.j., today the white house press secretary also seemed to be -- he did set limits on u.s. action in iraq. watch this. >> these problems can only be solved. the president made clear that american military action in iraq would not include combat boots on the ground. >> would this

joining me now with pretty strong thoughts about that is pentagon press secretary and u.s. naval rear admiral john kirby. he's on the telephone right now from new delhi, india. just your reaction to that strongly worded statement from isis. >> well, look, i mean, just to claim yourself an islamic state doesn't make you one. and real men don't behead and abuse and kill children and innocent people who are just simply trying to live a peaceful life. this group is nothing but a destabilizing threat to iraq, to iraq's people and frankly to the region. we remain committed to the mission we've been given, iraq security forces and their fight against isil and to protect u.s. personnel and facilities and we're going to do that, and you saw that evidenced earlier today by a strike against an artillery piece, a piece that isil was using to fire on kurdish forces in erbil, forces who were very close to where our people are serving right now. so we're going to continue to do that. we've been given a very clear manda mandate. a very clear mission from the commander in chief. we're more

joining us know is the pentagon press secretary, rear admiral john kirby. great to see you. >> thanks, shep. >> does not put our troops in a combat position. we now established a base from which we are launching activities. that's been announced by the pentagon. there was an open ended without a number of troops operations notification sent to the congress two days ago and we know 130 people went. and we know we have ospreys that fly like a plane and land like a helicopter. if one of those went down, are we then in come about position? >> we have not set up an air base in northern iraq. the very small number of troops that were put into northern iraq as the president said, many of them are going to be leaving and they're leaving on the ospreys. they were largely marines. so i don't think there will be any persistent necessary air element in the north. that said we have helicopters down at the baghdad airport that remain there to provide security assistance to the embassy but this is a very limited, achievable, dissecrete set of military objections in northe

we may get a better idea when the pentagon press secretary john kirby speaks to reporters any momentsow. yesterday, kirby's boss, the defense secretary himself, chuck hagel, branded isis, also known as islamic state, beyond a terrorist group. forcing the pentagon to, quote, prepare

we are going to get a live update from the pentagon press secretary about the operations that happened overnight. let's get to jake on the ground in jerusalem for us following the breaking news in the middle east. jake? >> good morning, kate. the three-day cease-fire between israel and hamas is history. the israeli military says rockets were fired into israel before the cease-fire ended and the rockets have continued well after. now israel is responding, quote, forcefully, unquote, with a relaunch of air strikes in gaza. that's where we find john vause with the latest. john? >> reporter: well, jake, right now, i can hear the sermon from a mosque not far from here. it is friday prayers. some people are out and about attending friday prayers. there are a few people on the streets. israel renewed the defensive two hours ago now and it seems the first target was probably west of here, the western part of gaza city. since then, the palestinians and other targets have been hit. according to the palestinians, there appears to have been a strike near a mosque that left a small child dead. ther

. >> and now listen to what pentagon press secretary admiral john kirby said today. >> i'm not goingt ahead of planning that hasn't been done or decisions that haven't been made. we don't tell telegraph our punches. >> major bob scales joins us. who is on first. which is it? >> isn't that the funniest thing? i have known general dempsey for 10 years. what he was trying to do, in my opinion, is send a signal to his fellow soldiers and to the american people that air strikes are not enough. that this war is going to last a long time. that the center of gravity of this whole campaign isn't iraq, it's syria and that it is going to require something more, as he said, than air strikes to win. this and it's going to take a long time. then this afternoon ghirm kirby just throttles it all back. what does he say well we don't telegraph our punches? excuse me? what did we do earlier in the week with the failed rescue attempt james foley, we telegraphed our punches. you telegraph punches at the tactical level. you set strategy and you build a campaign plan in public so -- we want isis to know th

because you are seeing right now the first pentagon press briefing since the air strikes began in iraq>> c-1330 air crews began a coordinated series of humanitarian air drops to the refugees on the mountain. over the last four nights u.s. and uk air crews have flown 14 successful missions dropping more than 310 bundles of food, water and medical supplies delivering almost 16,000 gallons of water and 75,000 meals. in concert with our military partners, the u.s. military is responding to the united nations security requests from the international community to do everything they can to provide food, water, shelter to those affected by this humanitarian crisis. additionally the president also authorized targeted air strikes to facilitate resolution to the humanitarian crisis, and to protect citizens, facilities and forces in the northern city of erbil. to date, u.s. air force and navy aircraft to include f-15es have executed 15 targeted air strikes. these air strikes have helped check the advance of missile forces around sinjar and in the area west of erbil. over 60 intelligence, surveilla

admiral john kirby the pentagon press secretary was asked about this at a briefing yesterday. take a listen. >> and we have concerns about isil's growth and their strength and global aspirations. >> just coming through the border with mexico? >> i've seen no indication that they are coming across the border with mexico. we have no information that leads us to believe that. that said, we do know they have aspirations to hit western targets and it's something as secretary hagel said yesterday that we've got to take seriously and have to try to be ready for it. >> and just one clarification, that was not a briefing, that was an interview with our kate bolduan on cnn's "new day." so there you have it, carol. officials are clearly worried about this threat. we have been talking with intelligence sources for the past several weeks about the concerns of isis militants who are american, who are european, coming back to the united states. they've learned all these tactics, learned how to make bombs and now they're worried that, with their passports they could easily come pack and launc

situation at mount sinjar we'll hear the president talk about as you heard from john kirby, the pentagon pressy feel like if they haven't exactly broken the siege at mount sinjar they've made major, major advances in terms of weakening those isis forces surrounding those refugees and that many of those refugees have gotten off the mountain. a lot of speculation as to whether or not the u.s. launched some sort of rescue mission that would put troops in harm's way. that appears to be not the case at this point and we'll be getting an update from the president on that as well. we don't think he's going to take questions, but something that we see in recent weeks we've been given guidance he doesn't take questions he d decides to take questions. >> this will be very interesting in the second term the president has i think wanted to speak more directly in some cases about race and racial issues than he did in his campaign and first four years of his presidency. five days into this crisis interesting to -- >> we've heard the president make personal remarks himself, a young black child at one point,

>> well, carol, what we can tell you is that in just the last several minutes the pentagon press secretary, rear admiral kirby announced on twitter basically announcing on behalf of the u.s. government that the air strikes have begun in iraq, rear admiral john kirby saying on twitter "u.s. military aircraft conduct air strike on isis, artillery was used against kurdish forces defending irbil near u.s. personnel." the last part is critical as we've been hearing from white house officials and the president said last night, when he sent those u.s. military advisers in to iraq back in june, he made it very clear at the time and officials have made it clear since then that were those u.s. personnel to come under threat, that the u.s. would launch air strikes or take action, and that is what has occurred. at the same time, the white house is making it pretty clear that they are also keeping a very keen eye on a potential humanitarian catastrophe, really a real humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding and white house officials and administration officials right up to secretary of state john ker

. >> but this morning pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby seemed to play down the isis situation. >> well, i think the general feeling is they're not capable of a 9/11-like style attack on the homeland right now. they certainly could through the use of foreign fighters impact western targets, including american targets, if they so choose. >> so once again we have mixed signals. the obama administration apparently not knowing how to deal with isis. that's disturbing, because the usa should be doing everything in its power to crush those savages. we have to bomb them in syria, we bomb them. we have to send in drones to kill their leadership, you do it. america has been equivocating about this threat for far too long. and one of the reasons for that is that many americans are fed up with fighting wars abroad. on the republican side, senator rand paul leading that movement. >> you know what? we are tired of war. we're worried that hillary clinton will get us involved in another middle eastern war because she's so gung ho. if you want to see a transformational election in our country

we may get a better idea when the pentagon press secretary john kirby speaks to reporters any moments now. yesterday, kirby's boss, the defense secretary himself, chuck hagel, branded isis, also known as islamic state, beyond a terrorist group. forcing the pentagon to, quote, prepare for everything. >> they marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. they are tremendously well funded. oh this is beyond anything that we've seen. >> the world is still reeling from the group's cold-blooded slaughter of american journalist jim foley who's parents now have made public the very last venomous e-mail that they received from foley's captors. it's dated august 12th. it reads, in part, quote, today our swords are unsheathed towards you. government and citizens alike. and we will not stop until we quench our thirst for your blood. you do not spare our weak elderly women or children so we will not spare yours. you and your citizens will pay the price of your bombings in iraq. the first of which being the blood of the american citizen james foley. he will be execute

joining us now is pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby.got back from around the world with secretary hagel last night. so we thank you for this. well, in terms of what the special forces saw, what did they find when they did this secret reconnaissance mission on top of the mountain? >> they found far fewer refugees an the mountain than we previously thought were there. probably just several thousand, less than 4,000, we think. and, two, the conditions were not as dire for the smaller number of people. we found many unopened pallets of food and water that hadn't been consumed yet. that was good. and the other thing we believe is that thousands of them were leaving every night due to the good work of the peshmerga and the security that we were able to provide from the air. these air strikes on isil mortar and artillery positions around the mountain. so we believe we made it safer for them to get off. we also helped them sustain themselves with food and water to make the journey off. >> we now do not think we will need a massive rescue operat

we're expecting at about -- well, about five, six minutes from now, rear admiral john kirby, the pentagon press secretary, is going to give us an update as to that shooting in afghanistan, where a green on blue attack happened. an american general has been killed. 15 coalition forces apparently. some were in the vicinity of 15 coalition forces have been injured in that attack. we're going to get some of the latest news straight from the pentagon. again, at the bottom of the hour. on the right-hand side of your screen, a moment ago, you saw that life picture we've been showing you since the top of the hour. that is dobbins reserve air force base where just moments ago, nancy writebol's plane touched down in georgia. nancy writebol is of course that american aid worker who contracted ebola, the ebola virus, while treating as a missionary, treating patients in liberia. she has been given an experimental drug treatment and she has shown some pretty remarkable signs of recovery, but we don't know if those signs are as remarkable as dr. kent brandly who arrived here on saturday, having undergone that