he would shoot you back saying i didn't get us involved in iraq. that was the misstep of all missteps, which he is kind of right about. for us to trust him with a nuke deal with iran right now following bergdahl and isis as the jv team would be insane. i would say one thing about the bergdahl thing. i read an account of what he was under, what happened to him while in captivity. i will say this, as a human being when i read that, i'm not saying what the administration did was right bringing him home, i felt like i would want that kid home. >> i understand the president's position at the time. they are going to say we don't leave any guy behind, fine. we also don't swap them for five terrorists. what's done in secret is now done. it's the same secrecy behind the new deal where we have much broader implications, much bigger ramifications. that is a nuke deal. >> a lack of trust how the white house acted in these two scenarios dealing with the most untrustworthy of nations. we are talking about iran. i think and this is me guessing, i think a lot of t

in their rampage across iraq and in parts of syria. lori: that's important perspective. the situation in -- you have iran helping iraq. the us is not involvedthis campaign. explain the dynamics of what's going on in tikrit right now. >> it's interesting. we the united states announced maybe six weeks ago that we were going to -- with the iraqis we were going to retake mosul in april or may. of course, we had to walk back. the iraqi government was upset about that. here we have this engagement in tikrit with my iraqi forces and shiite militia. and it's two militia guys every iraqi guy. we were never informed about this operation to take tikrit. that tells you about the relationship right now iraqi baghdad and the united states. i don't think we're even using air support at this time. the real issue is that the iranians have a pretty firm grip on parts of iraq that they're in. they want to continue to expand that grip. they're not part of any discussions about the retaking of mosul. you can be sure the iranians are taking to the prime minister of iraq and others. they plan to be that. they want to extend their influence throughout the reason.

in their rampage across iraq and in parts of syria. lori: that's important perspective. the situation in -- you have iran helping iraq. the us is not involvedthis campaign. explain the dynamics of what's going on in tikrit right now. >> it's interesting. we the united states announced maybe six weeks ago that we were going to -- with the iraqis we were going to retake mosul in april or may. of course, we had to walk back. the iraqi government was upset about that. here we have this engagement in tikrit with my iraqi forces and shiite militia. and it's two militia guys every iraqi guy. we were never informed about this operation to take tikrit. that tells you about the relationship right now iraqi baghdad and the united states. i don't think we're even using air support at this time. the real issue is that the iranians have a pretty firm grip on parts of iraq that they're in. they want to continue to expand that grip. they're not part of any discussions about the retaking of mosul. you can be sure the iranians are taking to the prime minister of iraq and others. they plan to be that. they want to extend their influence throughout the reason.

are hearing that the shiite militias backed by iran are starting to quit because of our involvement in iraq. help ush that headline and what do you make of that? >> look, i disagree. what has happen the shiite militia backed by the iranians tried to move twice in tikrit. and the isis and jihaddists are hundreds and thousands or more. it is a military failure backed by iran. and now they need an argument and demand united states destroy isis and then they will move in f and take over. but the mostly shiite army can't occupy the sunni area. we should have sunni forces engaged with isis. >> egyptian state tv said the task of wrapping military force would be military intervention to deal with security threats with arab nations. what about al-qaeda and the terrorist that are out there upon wanting to harm the united states and using these countries as their basis are we less safe now. >> we have united arab force. it may be requested or used in libia. and of course, jordan would like to have it, but syria and iraq is much more complicated. we'll wait a few weeks. >> and what our role will be. the adminis

iraq who in 2000 resigned his post in protest of the u.s.-led sections regime. thank you for joining us. can you respond as a person who is been deeply involvedin iraq, as we speak today, the u.s. is leading the bombing of tikrit what, 12 years after the u.s. first invaded iraq, into this report that you have written an introduction for called "body count"? >> first of all, good morning, any. good to hear you. i'm sorry we can't see each other. but let me just say it is in my experience, not surprising that ultimately, we seek -- coming out of the united states in terms of facing the truth, the facts. dianne feinstein did that in december with the release of the cia torture reports. the traditions for social responsibility together with icn w in other parts of the world have released the body count report which both documents i think our incredibly powerful base for which to discuss -- at long last discuss the possibility of redress and learning. learning, for example, that all these interactions, whether it was in iraq or in afghanistan or syria or in libya, the regime change approach to solving problems of international relations have no fu

whenu were in iraq, you were involved or somehow there was some kind of chemical weapon used? that's correct. in march of 2007 i was serving as commander of an al qaeda targeting cell. my team was hit by a suicide truck bomb they actually laced with chlorine. their intention with these suicide car bombs and suicide truck bombs is not only to create casualties with the explosion but also to create further casualties by having this poison chlorine cloud that would go off after the explosion. it's designed to you get burning in your eyes, in your nose, burning in your mouth. under certain circumstances it can actually kill people because you can't breathe. >> all right. eric, i mean you've just written a book on isis. what's your take on all this? >> look judge, in my book i talk about back in june when isis seized mosul, there were a lot of reports that they seized chemical agents out of mosul university. now, isis obviously has shown with beheadings, burnings enslaving people they'd have no hesitation in using chemical weapons. remember syria, the assad regime, judge, where isi

iraq war. the demonstrators are against us military involvement in afghanistan it and iraq as and iraq as well may remember her son died in iraq into thousand four. -- in 2004. >>> we are still dealing with overcast conditions in san mateo. we will have the forecast when we come back. >>> we are waking up to clearing skies in some parts of the bay area. we need you to straighten this out. >> good morning. we have a nice picture from the national weather service bay area. they sent us this shot here, thank you so much for it. that was in monterey where we could see some delays as far as flights go. -- where we could see some delays low. check before you go. i imagine the delays should dissipate through the afternoon as the rain is dissipating. however, later it could return and we could see those delays again. right now temperatures in san francisco at 58. oakwood 58. concord 61. we do have a a couple of 60s of their on the board. that is pretty much where they will stay. low 60s for the most part will hang around to the afternoon for most of the bay area and high 60s for some of our inland are

involved in trying to defeat isis in iraq. >> the sunnis. >> yeah, the sunnis. they are using iranian-backed shia militias on the ground, as well as the iraqi army. >> so they're bombing on the side of iran, in iraq. >> yes. >> and then down in yemen, they are bombing against the iranian-backed houthis. >> exactly. >> this is a massively complicated and extremely violent and somewhat bleak situation. >> my pleasure, chris. >> back in a moment. >>> did you feel justice was served when general maginnis got sentenced to 40 years? >> yes, as far as his crimes go, but not for thousands of service -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt. my producer is telling me that jacqueline sharp has called in, the house majority whip. congresswoman, are you there? >> yes, i'm here, chris, and thank you for taking my call. >> thank you. >> that was a clip from my favorite episode of season 2 of "house of cards." all three supposed of season three are streaming now on netflix. i haven't watched any of them yet, because i have a tendency to watch things i'm not in, but that won't stop us from having the cre

the abuses of the shiite government under president maliki and his use of iranian trained shiite militias. the more iran is involved in iraq, the more we drive sunnies to isis. so first we have to say get iran out of iraq and as you said, we should be training the kurdish peshmerga forces and right now they're grossly underarmed. unless we do those two things, i don't think there is going to be stability in iraq. >> let me turn to yemen now. iran has armed the hutsis, the saudis are bombing them. yemen is so out of control dangerous that the u.s. is actually pulled everybody out and yet in the same breath president obama continues to insist everything is fine, all is well. everything is under control. in fact he goes so far as to say yemen is a model of success for fighting counterterrorism. does that make any sense? >> well, the president said that last fall. i don't think that he'd say it now. but it's worth point how long is that the instability is because we forced out the president there and forced in another in an election in which he was the only candidate. we have candidate, isis, muslim brotherhood faction, hutsis

involved in trying to defeat isis in iraq. >> the sunnis. >> yeah, the sunnis. they are usingd shia militias on the ground, as well as the iraqi army. >> so they're bombing on the side of iran, in iraq. >> yes. >> and then down in yemen, they are bombing against the iranian-backed houthis. >> exactly. >> this is a massively complicated and extremely violent and somewhat bleak situation. amman mohyeldin, thank you so much. >> my pleasure, chris. >> back in a moment. we used to have so many empty rolls! (cha-ching!) (cha-ching!) (cha-ching!) it felt like we were flushing money away. mom! that's why we switched to charmin ultra mega roll. it's charmin quality and long lasting. with more go's per roll, it pays to use charmin ultra mega roll. charmin ultra mega roll is 75% more absorbent so you can use less with every go. plus it even lasts longer than the leading thousand sheet brand. for us, mega roll equals mega value. cha-ching! we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra mega roll? i have a cold with terrible chest congestion. i better take something. theraflu severe co

involved in trying to defeat isis in iraq. >> the sunnis. >> yeah, the sunnis. they are using militias on the ground as well as the iraqi army. >> so they're bombing on the side of iran in iraq. >> yes. >> and then down in yemen, they are bombing against the iranian-backed houthis. >> exactly. >> this is a massively complicated and extremely violent and somewhat bleak situation. amman mohyeldin, thank you so much. >> my pleasure, chris. >> back in a moment. the volkswagen jetta is really fun-to-drive. go for it. okay. wow... woohoo! i'm dreaming... pinch me. no, not while you're driving. and, right now, you can get a one-thousand-dollar volkswagen credit bonus on jetta models. seriously, pinch me. it's not a dream. ow! it's the volkswagen stop dreaming, start driving event. stop dreaming, and test-drive one today. hurry in and you can get 0% apr plus a $1000 volkswagen credit bonus on 2015 jetta and passat models. ♪ ♪ i love my meta health bars. because when nutritious tastes this delicious i don't miss the other stuff. meta health bars help promote heart health. experience th

in erbil, i met with the leaders of the kurds, i met with the head of the peshmerga. for us to be getting involved in the constitutional issues of a sovereign country like iraq by declaringt we need to be breaking apart the country, maybe is not a place we need to be today but i certainly respect each senator to have their own opinion regarding those kind of things. i know this. all of us and maybe what senator paul was referring to maybe in a way, a little differently than i would, but the fact is they are our friends. the kurds have done remarkable things in pushing back isis retaking some of the oil fields they had gained. they have been great fighters. they have been friends to the united states from the day we entered iraq and i think maybe he was just -- may have been just displaying certainly the respect that we have for them. >> of course it would be very problematic for the u.s.' iraqi allies and turkish allies for the u.s. to get behind an entire country for kurdistan, whether or not it should exist theoretically. >> and there's that minor detail, too. >> right. isis put out another propaganda video touting its alliance with boko haram. how real or not that is

us on the program. we're going to start tonight in the middle east. >> the u.s. is involved in the battle to retake the iraq city of tikrit from isis. >> the u.s. is providing air support for an offensive largely coordinated on the ground and led by iran. >> jon: finally, we're making progress in the fight against is-- wait. hold on a second. did you said s.a.e. led by iran? i think-- iran? are you sure. >> definitely, this battle being led by those iranian-backed shia forces. >> jon: huh. the iran we're crippling with sanctions and periodically threatening to bomb is now our-- i don't want to say ally-- let's go with battle buddy. which brings us to tonight's segment, "honestly whose side are we on again? in tikrit, u.s. and shia forces teamed up to fight sunni extremists with a law, which is interesting because those three same parties are duking it out right now in yemen. the configuration has a slightly different spin on it. >> breaking news out of yemen this morning, saudi arabia launching air strikes against houthi rebels there. >> they are fighting the houthis. the houthis are backed by saudi arabia'

us on the program. we're going to start tonight in the middle east. >> the u.s. is involved in the battle to retake the iraqt from isis. >> the u.s. is providing air support for an offensive largely coordinated on the ground and led by iran. >> jon: finally, we're making progress in the fight against is-- wait. hold on a second. did you said s.a.e. led by iran?

you'll do general allen is give us an honest assessment as to the end state we would like to see happen in iraq and syria when we complete the activities that we're involved in. and understand the political and military strategy that we have under way. and to give us a little sense of time frame relative to the various activities that are necessary. i was just in iraq last week in both baghdad and in erbil in both baghdad and in erbil with our kurdish friends and ankara with our turkish friends. the shia militias are everywhere in iraq as people know. general sulayman who was head of the force for iran has now become a celebrity in iraq. and i have to say it feels very strange to be there knowing much of the activity we have under way while it is necessary is really to iran's benefit. and i know there is a lot of concerns that after this activity is completed, if we're successful with isis, which i know we will be, and in essence the next issue is going to be dealing with security of our forces there with the shia militias. i was happy to see that turkey has gone ahead and signed an agreement, to train and equip agreement, that's something you made happen

you'll do general allen is give us an honest assessment as to the end state we would like to see happen in iraq and syria when we complete the activities that we're involved in. and understand the political and military strategy that we have under way. and to give us a little sense of time frame relative to the various activities that are necessary. i was just in iraq last week, in both baghdad and erbil with our kurdish friends and ankara with our turkish friends. the shia militias are everywhere in iraq as people know. general sulayman who was head of the force for iran has now become a celebrity in iraq. and i have to say it feels very strange to be there knowing much of the activity we have under way while it is necessary is really to iran's benefit. and i know there is a lot of concerns that after this activity is completed, if we're successful with isis, which i know we will be, and in essence the next issue is going to be dealing with security of our forces there with the shia militias. i was happy to see that turkey has gone ahead and signed an agreement, to train and equip agreement, that's something you made happen and thank you for that. at the

involved. now, the u.s. cannot carry out any air strikes in iraq without the request from the iraqi government. and the government tells ushe prime minister's office, they came one this request, they asked the u.s. to get involved because the iraqi air force does not have the same air power capabilities that the coalition has. they need more precision air strikes, more powerful air strikes because as you mentioned of where isis is positioned within the city. they want to try to minimize gage and casualties by doing this. but of course the issue here is the reaction from the main fighting force. these shia groups on the ground. some of them are saying that now that the coalition is involved they do not want to fight anymore and they are not going to push forward into tikrit. and what we heard from the united states, general lloyd austin, the head of central command, yesterday in a senate hearing saying the only reason the u.s. got involved is there were preconditions, that the militias will not be involved in this fighting. some of these groups saying that they're going to hold on to their positions and not give up. but th

used this in the middle of prayer to blow us up. >> it was one of four bombs that exploded. assertions that islamic state of iraq and levant was involved was dismissed. >> i don't buy the i.s.i.l. propaganda propaganda. i think it's highly unlikely. yennen doesn't have the grounds for i.s.i.l. not yet. i think the attacks are politically motivated. whoever orchestrated them wants people to believe it's i.s.i.l. to achieve political goals. >> in aden president hardy, backed by the u.n. is using loyal tribes to rebuild the power base. in the capital, shia houthi fighters allied with the former president are in control. then there's al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, which is active in the country for a decade. all sides trying to fill the emerging power vacuum blaming each other for the violence. >> they are trying to gain from violence all across the country. he thinks he can hold the world at ransom pushing the country to a slide towards anarchy and disaster. >> a quick resolution seems like a far cry. the death toll from the attack tips to grow >>> meanwhile, sources told al jazeera that an al qaeda-linked group stormed the administra

in iraq tonight. will american troops be involved in this effort? >> reporter: tonight,the images of destruction that stunned the world. isis fighters toppling ancient statues. using sledgehammers, drills, and chainsaws to erase all traces of an ancient civilization. and now word isis bulldozers have flattened iraq's city of nimrud. this is what the iraqi army is up against, all over iraq. from the north, where they are now waging their largest anti-isis offensive yet. to just west of baghdad, where we traveled to meet iraqi troops and watched their artillery pound isis strongholds. i'm standing right on the front line. iraqi security forces on this side, isis fighters on the other. perched on top of these berms, an iraqi sniper. can you spot isis from your scope? >> yes. >> reporter: iraq's defense minister with us on the front lines himself today, telling us they can fight on the ground without american troops. all around us, eager iraqi soldiers chanting and vowing to wipe out isis. but isis remains a formidable foe. david, even though americans are not involved in ground combat here, there are thousands of americans training the iraqi forces, in a fight that h

involved in too many places but we are used to it. is iran stretched thin right now? i realize they have a military too. right now they are active in iraqin syria, and pretty active in yemen and even more than that. plus they are iran and they have to worry about the militia they maintain in lebanon and all around. is iran stretched a little bit thin here? >> some people say no. many military analysts i've spoken to say they are not really stretched thin. they see this as a strategic conflict. it's not like they are fighting a war in afghanistan thousands and thousands of miles away in a mountainous land locked country that needs to be resupplied constantly with fuel brought in by contracting companies that have no bid contracts and costs that are limitless. iran has in many ways wantsed to draw the kingdom of saudi arabia into this proxy war. it has wanted iran to -- saudi arabia to get more involved in this fight. iran is trying to rearrange the map of the middle east right now. it is taking more territory and securing better alliances in iraq. it is taking more territory and securing alliances in syria. both places there it looks lik

first of all, tell us about this new offensive involving the city of tikrit in iraq.eing made against isis? >> reporter: wolf everybody has been watching this with laser focus for the last several daze. it looks like gains are being made. iraqi troops with a good deep of help from iran and the shia militia are on the outskirts of tikrit there are areas that have been liberated. pictures coming in of them taking down isis flags and vowing to move beyond the outer areas of tikrit into the city and get it back from isis to liberate it. this will be a big marker if the iraqis can succeed on this. because the theory is it will set them up to get momentum going to go further north and maybe eventually to get to the cityfof mosul. >> there are reports as you know that isis is struggling as an organization. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well there is evidence many officials say, including top u.s. military officials that there are problems within isis. that there are shortages of food electricity, commodities, oil due to air strikes against oil refineries in the areas th

us. seth: thank you. laura: what did you make of the islamic state being behind these attacks? seth: it is not clear how much the core group in iraq for example was involved in planning and the execution of this. how much of this was done out of inspiration for individuals in yemen. a lot of that is unclear. i think we will see over the next couple of days and weeks what actually is the involvement. laura: we know al qaeda is in yemen. will this be a turf war? seth: both al qaeda and is have conducted strikes against houthi targets. where al qaeda is generally drawn the line is not targeting mosques or public places. but they will target houthi headquarters. the assassinated a military intelligence chief recently. i think we will see a spiral in war against those two. laur:a: yopuu have two different governments. could it be more dispersed and difficult? seth: what yemen looks like now is what somalia has lookked like during the past several decades. this kind of anarchy is a breeding ground for groups like isil, al qaeda. they thrive from the instability and that is the danger we are seeing. laura: what about the regional powers? are they worried? seth:

us the condition of anyone involved. >>> here at the big board with the latest on the international fight against isis today in iraq soldiers made major head way breaching one of the major strongholds. they went into the city of tikrit it's about 80 miles north of bagdad and one of the largest cities held by isis and they are trying to retake mosul the country's second largest city. >>> and on capitol hill, president obama is looking for authorization to take military force against isis, it has been met with skepticism by both parties. they will set up the first war vote in congress in 13 years. >> all right alicia. >>> jurors in the boston marathon bombing saw another chilling piece of evidence today. they got a look at the tattered pieces of the backpack that dzhokhar tsarnaev used to detonate the bomb. he admitted he detonated a bomb in april of 2013. the jury saw parts of the pressure cooker and the bb's and wires that killed three and wounded more than 260 others. >>> police are looking for a men that held up vans that had jewelry it was worth $9.5 million and no one was hurt and police found the vans empty nearby. >>>

fighters that's a concern for the us and its allies, one because of the growing sectarian violence and two because of iran's overall influence and involvement in iraq are reports that iraqi commander has been harshly critical of the united states while hailing iran's involvement that said the fight to retake tikrit as we've been talking about is an important one because of the city's location north of baghdad south of mosul. it's been the largest ground offensive against isis so far in iraq. a really test to see how well the iraqi fighters match up against isis militants. it's also being called a prelude to the fight to retake mosul in the coming weeks. the us is expected to be involved in that fight whether iran will try to exert its influence as well remains to be seen. as for retaking tikrit iraqi commanders expect to have full control within the next few days and as soon as reinforcements arrive they'll begin gearing up for the ground offensive to retake the city center and that will likely involve street to street combat. >>> in jerusalem, john huddy fox news. >>> and still ahead on fox 29 news tonight at 6:00, body cam video like you've never

us. former ambassador to iraq, james jeffrey, said we are in a quote god damn free fall. we have got countries all the way to pakistan getting involved. how big a danger are we going to see this explode into a great regional conflagration? >> it's pent up frustration egyptian president sisi talk about this allied force in the arab league, 40,000 soldiers. it seems that these military are leading these results that will lead to catastrophic results. >> the iranians are shia as are the houthis in yemen. is that what we are seeing a sunni shia quite divide? >> first there is a civil war the houthis have people in their congress people within their government, they took -- they obviously took over the government in a manner that wasn't satisfactory to both saudi arabia and the united states. they ousted the president but they're there now. i think that saudi arabia has gone way too far. the air strikes that they're doing right now if this continues to ratchet up i just think it's going to be a terrible situation. >> what is the saudi objective to get the houthis to the negotiating table? >> to get them to the negotiating table they are g

interest in the region no longer as cohesive as they once were, it's hard for us as the united states to develop a consistent strategy across the board. we will get involved in syria, not iraq. >> if i could jump in the strategy has to be consistent with what the priority of the threat is. the priority of the threat that is destabilizing that region and globally is isis. i don't think it's iran. iran is an issue. isis is the thing we need to counter at the moment. i would have loved to have been 150,000 saudi troops mobilized to tackle the threat that has been spreading from syria. you're absolutely right, it's syria that needs to be addressed. we need to understand what the political road map is for syria before we move forward. that is at the center of instability within this region. >> okay. we thank you you all. still ahead, why at least one prominent republican who is trying to stop chris christie from running for president thinks it's time to give up that fight. next, the shocking new twist in the germanwings plane crash investigation. amid developing reports the airline is getting ready to make preliminary payments to the families of victims. those details, live repo

involved with kurdish issues over these many years. >> tell us a little bit especially for the nonspecialist in the audience give us a sweep of the kurds in present-day iraq turkey syria and iran and the historical trajectory in the 20th century of various parts of the book to telling the stories. what are some of the common themes and what are some of the particulars around the kurdish communities in these different countries that you observed? >> there are about 32 million kurds who live in those countries. that makes them the largest stateless people in the world. during the first world war the kurds aspire to establish a nation of their own and while they were sitting at the dinner table carving up the map the interest of kurds were neglected. at the paris peace conference president wilson repudiated this site's eco-agreement and he addressed the congress in the winter of 1918 saying self-determination was a cherished right and peoples and nations should not be sovereign to sovereign as though they were at chattel and some great game forever discredited. the kurds hoped as a result of the paris peace conference to be able to achieve their national asp

involvement as well. ian lee for us. the latest from cairo. thank you, ian. >>> well, now we turn to iraq. the united states has joined inn the fight against isis in the city of tikrit. the u.s.-led coalition carried out 17 air strikes thursday, targeting isis checkpoints, staging areas, and a command facility. iraq's prime minister asked for help after isis insurgents repositioned themselves around the city. the u.s. military got involved on the condition to iranian-backed shiite militias taking part in the operation withdrew from the front lines. >>> well, a fiery blast ripped through a building in new york city. just ahead, the frantic and dramatic moments after the explosion. woman: it's been a journey to get where i am. and i didn't get here alone. there were people who listened along the way. people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all, my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today. feduring sleep train's sundaytriple choice sale. to save big for a limited time, you can choo

iranian involvement in iraq saying they're worried about the role shia militia are playing in the country. >>> well, let's talk about this in more detail. in london, thank you so much for joining us just before we get into the role of shia militias and the role of iran by association, how do you think about this, do you think it's a gun dee? how do you see the advancing against isil right now. >> it's the final push. it's been an operation six months in the planning. the fact that isil is blowing up bridges and burning oil wells seems to though it's ability to defend urban areas as tikrit, and perhaps the high watermark will be seen in retrospect to kobane where the isil advance was slow. the big question really is will tikrit still be standing? will the city survive the battle for it. the iraqi forces may win it, but what about the residents future of it. >> we are getting reports of shia militias ransacking, burning houses. there has always been that fear that the sectarian underlying tensions are going to come to the forefront. how real of a risk is of that. >> it is a huge issue. build they will see the people who remain in the city as iraqis to be liberated or people who col

iraq? to leave. we don't want to be involved with this drama, too much risk. >> those companies are used to operating inonments like that. they have been as long as oil has flowed from the middle east. there will always be competitors willing to take it up. alix: what will it take for iraq to continue getting money out of their oil? isaac: ever since the iran-iraq war iraqi has been underperforming its potential with oil production. the problem now is the oversupplied market. many countries like iraq just want to keep using more. alix: they don't care about the price, they just want to sell it. isaac: that is the challenge for them, can they maintain the progress they have made in increasing production? alix: and of course, oil prices having a big hit on oil companies as well. around this time is one oil companies tend to go back to banks and get re-rated for their loans they look at their oil price and they judge how much money they will lend companies in the future. what is going to happen this time around? >> we think that in the next couple of weeks they will reset that curve in than the banks will

in iraq. urged the shiite militia involved to act with restraint. and he is mindful that this military operation should not be used as an excuse to exact sectarian revenge. the.i'm trying to make is that we are pleased that this operation seems to be advancing that is a positive development but we want to continue to make clear that the united states and our coalition partners it needs to be a continue priority from the prime minister and others in iraq that this is an operation that advances their efforts to use to take on isil. >> not a single democrat in congress has signed on to the presence proposal. >> you will recall before the presence and linguistic capitol hill there were a substantial number of conversations including at the presidential level with democrats and republicans in the congress about what language they would like to see included in an authorization to use military force against i sil we welcome the engagement that we have seen from congress the scheduling of the hearing of the senate foreign relations committee is one example of that which ultimately is a legislative process that should be d

involving an aircraft from the u.s. led coalition. newshour special correspondent jane arraf is on the ground in iraq. i spoke to her a short time ago. jane, thank you for joining us. can we start by talking about the significance of this battle for tikrit. the government seems to have made some progress towards re-entering the city. >> reporter: absolutely, gwen. this is a huge test. it's the biggest sunni city that the forces have tried to take back, and these are government forces, of course, backed by shi'a militia. so they're facing a lot of opposition. it's an isil stronghold, an i.s. group stronghold, and they've held it, essentially, since they rolled into the country starting last june. so it's really going to show whether they're able to take a city like this on the way to mosul. this is a necessary step to mosul. and they're facing a lot of resistance. they've been at this for almost 10 days now still inside only part of the city and fighting very fiercely with islamic state fighters who have laid explosives all the way along the roads. gwen. >> ifill: there have been some concerns the iraqi forces were not ready for prime time. has this shown that they

involvement and some fear the potential to become bogged down in more sectarian conflict. al jazeera baghdad. >> let's look at this military operation with a journalist in tehran. explain to us what is iran's interest in helping iraq against the isil fighters? how does iran benefit? >> it's not just iran that is going to benefit from the operation, it is also the rest of the regional countries. iran is proud to stand beside the iraq forces to flush out the terrorist group isil from that country. iran is going to push them out because what iran is basically trying to do is to build a safe border between rack and syria then to provide better support for the syrian government forces to defeat isil also over there. so, the stakion are high. we have tens of thousands of iranian pilgrims visiting the holy site every month in iraq, so iran has to provide some sort of security when they go there but let's not forget that this is also about america and its coalition forces. i think there is some kind of coordination between them, but they are not asking for help, because the iranian military advisors refuse to share intelligence with their pentagon officials. that's why america has been put aside in this particular operati

after years of the american military to use drones to bomb suspected al qaeda targets throughout yemen. iran is closely involved in both of these conflicts. in iraq it is iranian supported militias who are fighting against isis on the same side as the iraqi government and u.s.-led coalition. in yemen, iran is reportedly backing the rebels who have taken over the country and who are now the target of saudi arabia backed by the united states. but officials involved in the u.s./iran nuclear negotiations say the talks are restricted to the nuclear program. it is after all, complicated enough already and many sticking points remain. among other things, negotiators are trying to agree on a timeline for sanctions relief on how much access nuclear inspectors will have access to facilities and how long the deal will last. with the deadline coming nearer and nearer things are anything but certain. joining me now is nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, what's the latest on the continuing efforts to reach a deal? >> reporter: melissa, with that tuesday deadline looming the pressure to get a deal couldn't be greater. in fact secretary o

involved while he was not able to provide identities he did give us a little bit more information about their unit. he says these were very experienced members, this unit, in fact, has been deployed to iraq twice. has responded to hurricane katrina and other natural disasters. the pilots he said were among the very best had the highest level of centerification with thousands of hours behind control there's. these. uh-60 black hawks that they were using. again, there were two helicopters who went out for this mission. he said one of them ended up turning back because of the foggy conditions. now, we had heard from another military source earlier that they train in all kinds of conditions and so it was unclear if weather indeed was involved in this particular incident. the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but priority right now is the search and rescue mission. that is still underway. we've shown you some of the images of the debris that la been washing up your shore. we understand according to military officials they also have found human remains that have washed up onshore, and so that is the priority. a little more information about the type of helicopter involved. we le

involved? does it mean we follow the advice with respect to iran that he gave us with respect to iraq? the biggest long-term mistake that i think the prime minister made was in embracing a boehner-led effort while he snubbed very directly the president of the united states. a strong u.s.-israel relationship has the support of congress. it needs the continued support of the administration. and why would a friend of america act this way towards the president whose record itself is one of enormous support for israel? under president obama -- and with our support israel has received over $20 billion since 2009 and under president obama, u.s. has provided israel with over $1.3 billion for the iron dome system alone. that was after gaza. totalling $2.9 billion under president obama. and last year it was the united states standing by israel with respect to 18 resolutions in the u.n. prime minister netanyahu directly challenged the president, who has directly and steadfastly been the friend of israel. and he did not offer an alternative to negotiations, but repudiated those negotiations before we even know what the final deal may be. so this, i think, did not help.

us assume we can moving forward is a concern. >> general dempsey echoes your concern about the involvement of iran. listen to what he had to say. >> look iran is going to be influential in iraq am concerned about the way they wield that influence, there's ways they could wield it to promote a better iraq economically for example. and there's ways they can wield that influence to create a state where the sunni and the kurds are no longer welcome. and it's my concern about the latter that we're watching carefully as this tikrit event unfolds. >> and it's the question of which direction iran will go as the strategy moves forward and as the u.s. figures out its involvement in this. >> well you know michaela we have no evidence that iran is going to do anything that would be positive toward a successful outcome or a shared vision with the united states or other regional partners. that's going to be to anybody's benefit other than tehran's. so i don't, i understand what general dempsey is saying completely. we should be optimistic that they might be able to we might be able to achieve that kind of outcome. what i see happening is we're backing ourselves into a strategy because ira