shane harris, welcome. first of all, who was kayla mueller and what was she doing?yria. >> an aid worker from prescott, arizona, who spent most of her life after college working in the region and particularly on the border of turkey and syria to help refugees displaced which the civil war. especially working with children, she worked with children in camps, lost from their homes. she had done art therapy and other things with them. she was drawn to the plight of the refugees, and went into syria where she was working with a hospital associated with doctors without borders and it was that time in 2013 when she was kidnapped by i.s.i.s. >> woodruff: is there any question it was i.s.i.s. that kidnapped her? has there been evidence? >> there was evidence. there niece question it was i.s.i.s. last year, kayla's family received proof of life from her kidnappers. they demanded a ransom payment as well. so i.s.i.s. had identified themselves as her captors but no known communication since that time last year between the family or u.s. officials and i.s.i.s. >> woodruff: how

we're joined now by shane harris of the daily beast joined by phone. e, what do we know about the jordanian pilot who we now now today was executed some weeks ago? >> well we're hearing tonight that he probably was killed possibly as early as january 3rd. maybe around the 8th of this month, as well. there have been reports coming out both from intelligence and national security sources that we have as well as people who were on the ground and that were tweeting around january 8th that isis was bragging about having killed a jordanian pilot and, in fact, having burned him alive. we're finding out that he may, in fact, have been dead for quite some time before this video was put on the internet today. >> and the methodology, as we've been talking about today new for the islamic state, burning to death, what is the most reasonable interpretation of why they changed this notology? >> one interpret is that in the muslim faith, burning the body is -- it is not the way to dispose of the dead. the dead have to be buried. by burning him, it is possible that they

. >>> we are back with more live coverage and joined by shane harris of the daily beast and joined byhone. shane, what do we know about the jordanian pilot who we now know today was executed some weeks ago? >> well we're hearing tonight he probably was killed possibly as early as january 3rd, maybe around the eighth of this month, as well. there have been reports of intelligence that we have as well as people on the ground and were tweeting around january 8th that isis bragging about having killed a jordanian pilot and having burned him alive. he may have been dead for quite sometime before the video was put on the internet today. >> the methodology is new for the islamic state. burning to death. what is the most reasonable interpretation of why they changed this methodology? >> one interpretation is that in the muslim faith burning the body is a -- not the way to dispose of the dead and that by burning him it is possible to send a message he was not going to be given a proper burial almost sort of a sacrilege to do it in this way. the other is given the beheading videos attracted a l

also joining me is bob baer and shane harris correspondent for "the daily beast."hose war is this? >> everyone involved in the middle east is involved in this car, like it or not. jordan has a problem with radicalization within their own borders and are absolutely terrified about blow back retaliation including spectacular terrorist attacks which could strike inside jordanian. i think the interior minister is quite right. in the short term there's a very robust sort of response. jordan has blood lust for revenge. is that going to carry in the long term? >> and that's the question. >> yes. and society is not necessarily united behind the idea. >> they are reinvigorated. will this last? to you, bob baer when you look at jordan as a strategic ally of the united states, i wonder if you could tell me how strong jordan is militarily and also i have read that they are pretty strong in terms of their intelligence gathering capability where the u.s. is not as strong. >> possibleppy, jordan has the best intelligence bar none. they understand iraq and syria. the united states

. >> shane harris thank you very much for joining us tonight. we will be right back.hoa whoa whoa! who's responsible for this?!? if something goes wrong, you find a scapegoat. ...rick. it's what you do. ahhhhhhhh! what'd you say? uh-oh! kelly! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. rick. don't walk away from me. ahhhhhhhh! there comes a time in everyone's life when you want more. like a new meticulously engineered german sedan. finely crafted. exactingly precise. desire for such things often outpaces one's means. until now. hey matt, new jetta? yeah. introducing lots of new. the new volkswagen jetta. isn't it time for german engineering? >>> we're back with our live coverage of the breaking news in jordan and we're joined by nbc news white house correspondent chris jansing. is there any word on the white house's reaction to the two executions that occurred in jordan tonight apparently in retribution for the execution of the jordanian pilot? >> good evening, lawrence. i was actually with some administration

. >>> let's bring in shane harris and from the brookings institution, kenneth pollack, a former persian gulf military analyst. ken, i'll start with you. you just came back from iraq and wrote a piece saying that isis is losing on the battlefield in iraq but where they have the most power is induceing fear and overreaction not on the battlefield but in videos and by killing our people. is this what is going on here? >> this is part of it. and we need to recognize while there is a military piece to this campaign the military campaign is more important. and this is what i talked about in my piece. look at the name. it uses terror for its purposes. it is trying to frighten other countries to deter them and it is trying to speak to the disenfranchised youth of the arab world, people angry and frustrated and looking to strike a blow against the powers that they think oppress them. for these people these actions by isis help in their recruiting. so they are trying to frighten up and reach out to people who they think will be receptive to their message. >> shane, we got confirmation with kayla