suicide attack in that year and that it planned to challenge the iraqi government for control of western iraq and baghdad. that's what we heard six months ago. the administration testified that it had become aware that isis had established armed camps, staging areas and training ground in iraq's western desert in the summer of 2013 and that isis leader had again threatened to attack the united states of america. the administration told us that isis must be, in their words, constantly pressured and their safe havens destroyed and that its objective was to ensure that isis could never again gain safe haven in western iraq. however, what the administration did not say was that the iraqi government had been urgently requesting drone strikes since 2013. that there had been the opportunity to use drone strikes on those camps both in eastern syria before they came over the border and to use drone strikes as their units moved across the desert. as you know, drones can hone in and can see what's going on on the ground, can see these yupts traverse from city to city. these repeated requests, unfortunat

to make sure isil can't gain safe haven in western iraq and you were confident that iran -- iraq will deny them this. we all know how that turned out. just a few months later isil took over most of western iraq. how could your assessment have been so far off? why didn't we respond to their calls for help? your testimony from february shows that there was some serious disconnect within the administration on the reality of the threat in iraq. or we've been completely failing in addressing it. some of our military systems and information sharing to get a better intelligence picture of iraq last month, secretary kerry said nobody expected isil to capture mosul. even if our foreign military assistance had not quite kicked in yet, shouldn't our intelligence gathering efforts have been able to get a better assessment, more accurate assessment of samara and mosul? it has been widely reported that while taking control of mosul, isil seized rather large quantities of u.s.-supplied foreign military assistance and made off with nearly half a billion dollars from the local banks in addition to tan

just a few months later isil took over most of western iraq. how could your assessment have been so far off? how did iraq lose this territory? why didn't we respond to their calls for help? your testimony from february shows there was some serious disconnect within the administration on the reality of the threat in iraq or we've just been completely failing in addressing it. you stated that the u.s. began to accelerate some of our foreign military assistance programs and information sharing to get a better intelligence picture of iraq last month secretary kerry said nobody expected isil to capture mosul. even if our foreign military assistance had not quite kicked in yet, shouldn't our information and intelligence gathering efforts have been able to get a better assessment? a more accurate assessment of samarra and mosul? and it has been widely reported that while taking care of mosul, isil seized rather large quantities of u.s.-supplied foreign military assistance and made off with nearly half a billion from the local banks in addition to tanks

suicide attack in that year and that it planned to challenge the iraqi government for control of western iraq and baghdad. that's what we heard six months ago. the administration testified that it had become aware that isis had established armed camps, staging areas and training ground in iraq's western desert in the summer of 2013 and that isis leader had again threatened to attack the united states of america. the administration told us that isis must be, in their words, constantly pressured and their safe havens destroyed and that its objective was to ensure that isis could never again gain safe haven in western iraq. however, what the administration did not say was that the iraqi government had been urgently requesting drone strikes since 2013. that there had been the opportunity to use drone strikes on those camps both in eastern syria before they came over the border and to use drone strikes as their units moved across the desert. as you know, drones can hone in and can see what's going on on the ground, can see these yupts traverse from city to city. these repeated requests, unfortunat

objective thatat people in western iraq in this period even if they had back in 2006, 2007 when the u.s. was very great numbers, people decided to side with the iraqi security forces. that is what left the door open for isis to come in. the people-- some of supporting isis are the same kind of people that supported the united states at the time of the surge. they switch from al qaeda to the united states. they gave up on al qaeda and didn't like the way al qaeda conducted itself and didn't like the ruthlessness of it all. >> one hopes something like that occurs again, if they turn against isis. there is another thing then and now which is there has to be an attractive force in baghdad that is a government that signifies to them it is protecting all sex cts in all parts of the country's. . >> was a failure of intelligence not to know how strong isis have become and how they used their games so well in terms of how much money they've incorporated by taking on the banks of places they capture and once again, creating a situation where there was support for them in syria and now that suppor

collapse of the iraqi security forces was directly the result of the unwillingness of people in western iraq to believe that the iraqi security forces were there to protect them that were on their side. which in turn was a failure of the government of iraq to truly communicate that it was an evenhanded multiculturally evenhanded government. that was an objective that the united states had obviously had in iraq. and it failed in that objective to the extent that feel in western iraq in this period even as they had back in 2006, 2007, when the u.s. was there in great numbers, people in that part of the country just refused to side with the iraqi security forces. that is what left the door open for isis to come in. >> but is this a correct understanding? >> i mean some of the people who are now supporting isis are the same kind of people that supported the united states at the seem of the surge. they switched from al qaeda to the united states because they gave up on al qaeda and didn't like the way al qaeda conducted itself and didn't like the ruthlessness of it all. >> and one hopes that some

the islamic state, known as i.s.i.l., has taken control of a large swath of northern and western iraq. the rising power created a political opening for the country's kurds. we look at the kurds in iraq and around the region. by some measures they are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. they lived where the ottoman, persian empires came together in an area now divided. for decades the language, culture and ethnic identity have been repressed. there are 27 million kurds across the region. the largest concern traces are in turkey, iran and iraq. it is in iraq where the kurds dream of an independent nation, a dream edging closer to reality. since the u.s. invasion in 2003, iran's kurdistan government evolved into a country in all but name. the krg long wanted to extend its influence in the neighbouring areas, especially the city of kirkuk, sitting across huge oil resources. the challenge to the government in baghdad gave them that opportunity. we begin with this report from zeina khodr in northern iraq. >> reporter: kurdish officials are determined to pus

you have just north of israel and syria, isis has established a caliphate in northern syria and western iraq. prime minister netanyahu gave an important speech where he warned radical islam is on the doorsteps of israel. so i think the israelis here have larger strategic interests than just the situation with the palestinians. i think the prime minister is focused on that. >> the new reality is just incredible, it's territory controlled by eye sisis, right e doorstep of israel. thanks, ambassador nicholas burns, join s us live via skype >>> still seizing territory in northern iraq, now seeking recruits. ahead, western jihadists about why they want to join the fight. [ pay phone rings ] hello? oh, man. that never gets old. no, it does not. [ female announcer ] not all credit report sites are equal. experian.com members get personalized help and a real credit report. join now at experian.com with enrollment in experian credit tracker. join now at experian.com from safety... to fuel economy... to quality... today's chevrolet has it all. and it's a great time to buy. during the chevy 72 hour sal

isis now controls large parts of northern and western iraq and much of eastern syria. >> on the politicalront, iraqi politicians are scrambling to form a power-sharing government in an effort to save iraq from splintering into separate shiite, sunni, and kurdish states. in the first up, iraqi politicians named moderate sunni islamist celine -- salim al-jabouri to be iraq's new speaker of the parliament. to talk more about iraq, we go to baghdad to speak with hannah allam for reporting from iraq from the last two weeks. she served as the baghdad bureau chief for knight ridder newspapers from 2003 to 2005. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about the latest happening in baghdad right now as well as the choosing of the parliament leader? >> sure. hi. for a country on the verge of feelsse, the capital deceptively calm. people are going out and going about their business, restaurants are packed that night, families are out. you can't even find a space at the parking mall. that is not to say people are not terrified. they are. they're not immune to the violence that we're hearing about, ass

, sunni militants have taken control of a number of cities in an offensive across northern and western iraq. >>> authorities in germany have asked the top american spy in berlin to leave the country. they expelled the cia station chief after they discovered what they believed to be two new cases of americans saying that. authorities refused to identify the spy by name but local media say the person obtained secret government information. germans were already angry with the americans. last area they learned that u.s. agents had evens dropped on the mobile phone of chance lore angela merkel. >> translator: looking at it with common sense in my view, spying on allies is a waste of energy. >> last week authorities arrested a german intelligence worker for passing documents from a parliamentary committee to u.s. agents. and earlier this week they said they suspected a u.s. spy in the defense ministry. >>> british lawmakers are worried that extremists could carry out more attacks so they have submitted legislation that would give authorities greater access to communications data. the legislation

. >>> i in arabia, sending 2,000 troops to protect the country for 500 miles in western iraq. people killed on wednesday in the holy city, meanwhile, iraq's kurdish north said that it wants full independence. the kurdish parliament meeting today to decide their future after the president of the region asked for a referendum. >> this is a move that has fallen in line with the consistent march toward self determination, that the kurdish people have been on for sometime now. and tis critics say that he's being an opportunist, essentially attacking maliki, with the militants there, and the continued conflict or political crisis that continues between the sunni and the shiite politicians. in terms of practical steps, he spoke to the parliament, and he had two significant messages. those disputed areas like kirkuk, after the surge of islamist fighters came through, that those areas are now under the control of the kurdish government and they will remain under the control of the kurdish government. a reply or response by prime minister nurial maliki, who said that it would be unconst

islamic extremist isis has seized large parts of territory in western iraq, plunging the territory and was worst races since u.s. troops left three years ago. >> the iraqi army celebrates a victory over isis militants. but there was little to celebrate in the capital, baghdad, where troops bunkered down into position waiting for the sunni militants to attack. the bridge on the tigris river bank. the terrorists are trying to control the bridge to get into baghdad, as it is one of the key points into the city. the help of with shiite sectarian militias, have managed to stop the isis advance but have not taken back the cities already seized by militants. tikrit, tanks- in backed by helicopter gunships tried to force them out. >> more than 70 terrorists have been killed and dozens of vehicles have been damaged. >> the army said that troops have reoccupy part of the city, including tikrit university, a claim impossible to verify as fighting wages on. >> in turkey, the prime minister has officially become the candidate for president. hasp tayyip erdogan dominated turkish politics for more th

he has come from syria across the border into north-western iraq and appeared in a public place, that, itself, is a big message. what did he say? >> well, it's stuff that is consistent with what we have heard before from the audio tapes. once again he says "please come to the islamic caliphate. it's your duty to fight, we will bring jihad and we are the only ones that can bring peace to the islamic world." what we know is the islamic state is pushing this heavily, saying this is abu bakr al-baghdadi, and this message is clear, we can travel where we like within the islamic state, a big message to put out and one that people can listen to here. >> prime minister nouri al-maliki fired the chief of iraq's ground forces and the head of the police. as part of a strategy to re-organise the fight against sunni rebels. earlier we had more on the reaction from the academic philip smith. iraqi government had a level of fabrication in it. it's an obvious response. in terms of the shia militias, they haven't given it too much attention. they know what the islamic state is about. they are going to

the sunnis have seized control of northern and western iraq and declared the establishment of an islamic state. military forces are trying to push them back but an iraqi general was killed in a counterattack. some lawmakers want a compromise but parliament is not scheduled to meet again until next month. >>> afghans have been waiting to find out who will be their next leader. electoral officials have given them a hint. former finance minister, ashraf ghani is leading the race to replace hear -- harmid karzai. the officials say ghani has more than 56% of the vote. they say former foreign minister, abdullah abdullah has just over 43%. abdullah got the most votes in the first round of the election but fell short of a majority. he accused officials of fraud. he says he won't accept any results unless there's a full investigation. the officials have admitted that high ranking government officials engaged in vote rigging. they say they'll carry out an investigation and then announce the final results. the two candidates draw their support from different ethnic bases and some fear a disputed re

fighters have taken control over the last several weeks of a number of cities across northern and western iraq. kurdish leader, masoud barzani said the country is already effectively partitions. barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he said kurds would play a part in a political solution to the fighting. but he said independence is their right. in the past month, kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces. including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. the kurds have argued with iraqi leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and they have long pushed for an independent state. >>> the u.s. treasury secretary is look toward china and encouraging leaders there to make some changes. ai uchida joins us with that story and more from the business desk. >> a lower yuan keeps exports competitive and spurs growth but hurts american exporters. jack lew will push them to do more. lew was speaking in washington to members of the u.s.-china business council. he said the yuan needs to rise. >> we need to keep making progress getting toward

fighters from the islamic state group who control large parts of northern and western iraq are now threatening to advance on the capitol. their threat follows an explosion at security checkpoints in central baghdad. we have more details. >> the bomb took place just behind me 300 to 400 meters away. when we looked behind there was a big thick black cloud of smoke where the bomb, took place. it was at a checkpoint. seven people died and 21 people injured. it's the second bombing in 12 hours here in central baghdad, and there was another suicide-bomber on a motorcycle which hit another neighborhood here. after that bombing early in the morning the islamic state claimed responsibility for this. we have a picture of the man they say is responsible for that particular attack. now this is slightly different tactic than we've seen before. we have seen bombs here in baghdad for the last 18 months. but now the islamic state are very quickly taking responsibility for it. they say it's part of the tit-for-tat that is going on. the other sunni rebels are being squeezed in places like tikrit and say we will

it's thought sunni fighters could attack the area, having seized large parts of northern and western iraq. german german chancellor angela merkel has arrived in beijing for a 3-day visit, meeting the premier and prime minister for trade talks. she has brought a delegate of top executives from german companies. adrian brown sent us the latest from beijing. >> the german chancellor angela merkel has been to beijing seven sometimes signs 2006, indicating the importance of this developing relationship. the value of trade is put at 200 billion an astonishing vigor. the visit began in a chinese city. she visited a volkswagen factory. they are feeding into an obsession with a car. there are many vehicles on chinese roads, and chinese want german-made cars. most cars that government officials drive around with are german made. 75 are exports to the county from germany the the chinese president was that germany speaking again about how important this relationship was. it's the sort of relationship that the rest of europe must recard with envy. it's been overshadowed by the domestic security agency

isis fighter has gained control of much of western iraq in the last months. the persecution of christians has also been raising concerns. >> displaced iraqi christians demonstrated to draw attention to their plight. >> hundreds of iraqi christians forced from their homes in isis held areas gathered for a rally in the kurdish capital. demonstrators joined by iraqi christian leaders marched to the un's regional office to demand greater protection. >> we are holding a peaceful demonstration here. the purpose is to send a message to the world through the united nations. we want to make the world aware of the suffering and tragedy of the christian community in iraq. which is one of the world's oldest. >> church leaders also called on the u.n. to safeguard the property left behind by fleeing christians. thousands have thought refuge in kurdish areas after isis jihadis ts demanded they convert to islam or leave the city. many are appalled. it is a crime against iraq. christians and muslims used to live as brothers. we want peace and love. the government must find a

isis fighters control large parts of northern and western iraq. soldiers are struggling to keep the militants from capturing more territory and from reaching the capital. the ukrainian president has named a new defense minister and top general as his forces press on with an offensive to oust separatists. >> that is claiming an increasing toll on civilian lives and is forcing thousands to flee their home. the high commissioner for refugees says 10,000 people fled ukraine to russia since the fighting began. >> daily necessities like food and clean water are becoming scarce. >> for these people, war has become a fact of life. despite the danger, many are trying to go about their daily routines. in the current situation, there is little other choice. how can we live? we have nowhere to run. we would like to leave but there was nowhere to go. >> ukrainian army is stepping up its offensive against pro-russian separatists. it is struggling to end their uprising. the ukrainian president has announced changes to the military's top brass, they hope the newl

the attacks were the biggest since sunni extremists overran significant portions of northern and western iraq weeks ago. militants in egypt today attacked a government checkpoint in the western part of the country, and 15 soldiers reportedly were killed. the attack is believed to be retaliation for the government's crackdown against supporters of the deposed president, mohamed morsi. the attack took place around sunset when muslims break their fast during ramadan. and a u.s. drone strike today in pakistan, near the border with afghanistan, reportedly killed 15 militants. it was the fourth drone strike in the area since the beginning of a pakistani government offensive more than a month ago. back in this country, the environmental protection agency has taken steps to block the development of a huge gold-and- copper mine in alaska. the e.p.a. said the mine would have caused what it called" irreversible damage to one of the world's last intact salmon ecosystems." the state of alaska and the mining operators are suing the e.p.a. they say the agency has exceeded its authority. and a street alterca

he has come from syria, across the border into north-western iraq and appeared in a public place. it is a big message. what did he say. well, it's stuff that is consistent with what we heard from the audio tapes. once again he says "please come to the islamic cal af fate, it is your duty to fight and we are the om ones that -- only oning that can bring peace to the is lalic world." the islamic state are pushing this heavy, saying in is bagged. and the message is clear. we can travel anywhere we like within the islamic state. it's a big message to put out, one that people are listening to. >> two were injured when egyptian security forces fired at protesters protesting a hike in fuel prices. the government says it's necessary to fix the economy. there's widespread anger where half the population lives below the poverty line. >> reporter: a 70% increase in fuel prices took effect immediate. commuters are angry. >> this affects everything. children's expenses and work. how can the people afford a living. this is not fair. >> after the government renewed subsidies, taxi drivers say th

last month, sunni fighters launched an offensive across northern and western iraq. they took control of the number of cities and they've staged a series of attacks in and around baghda >>> the great tsunami of march 2011 did extensive damage to hundreds of kilometers of coastal line in northeastern japan. on the northern tip of the mainland, a pair of gates to a sacred shrine for local or so they thought.to the sea. until they received surprising news from across the pacific. >> reporter: 26 years ago they erected the gate on an eyelet and prayed for their safety while out fishing. the tsunami engulfed the port. waves crashed, knocking down the gate. many people thought it was losve a year later, debris like this giant pier started to show up on north american beaches. in oregon, a full meter long piece of wood painted in red washed ashore last year. when state authorities asked an oregon resident what it was, he knew immediately that it was part of a sacred gate. he works as a curator at the portland japanese garden. it is run by a nonprofit organization with 7,000

, sunni militants have taken control of a number of cities in an offensive across northern and western iraq. >>> u.s. vice president joe biden has indicated that his country could move forward with another round of sanctions against russia. biden spoke by phone with ukraine's president, petro poroshenko, about cease-fire negotiations that are going nowhere. white house sources say poroshenko told biden that the kremlin and pro-russian separatists in ukraine had rejected numerous proposed venues for peace talks. biden told poroshenko the u.s. is discussing with its partners in the international community the need to hold russia accountable for its continued support for the separatists. the sources say the two men agreed the separatists should immediately release captive ukrainian soldiers. they also agreed the organization for security and cooperation in europe should monitor the ukraine/russia border. last week, poroshenko told biden that his country's ready to implement another cease-fire, if the separatists lay down their weapons and meet certain other conditions. >>> "the new york times"

but over the last several weeks, sunni militants have launched an offensive across northern and western iraq. kurdish fighters have taken advantage of the instability by seizing disputed territory. they've taken control of kirkuk, site of one of the country's largest oil fields. but the kurds face opposition from turkey and iran, both of which have large kurdish minority populations. >>> the family of a palestinian teenager is planning to say good-b good-bye. his family believes he was murdered in a revenge killing. hundreds of palestinians took to the streets of east jerusalem in protest. some hurled firebombs and stones at israeli police. several people were injured. the boy was last seen on wednesday being forced into a car. he was found later in the day in a wooded area. his body reportedly had wound marks on it. many palestinians believe somebody killed him in retaliation for the murders of three israeli teenagers. the teens were abducted last month. their bodies were found earlier this week. israeli leaders blame the members of the islamic resistance group hamas. some israelis posted m

. >> from western iraq, the latest threat from al qaeda offshoot isis. >> we are going for you, barack obama. >> reporter: while u.s. government sources believe the talk is mostly battlefield bluster, they are concerned about the number of fighters in syria and iraq coming from eastern europe and the u.s. fbi are director james comey. >> all of my european counterparts are focused on this all day every day, trying to track those who are going and those who might come back. >> reporter: the chief bomb maker for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is ibrahim al asiri, believed to be behind the christmas 2009 underwear bomb attempt and the 2010 plot targeting cargo planes with bombs hidden in printerer cartridges. the concern now that terrorists are developing new bomb technology. and fighters who hold european or northern passports could target passenger planes. government sources tell nbc news that the u.s. may soon ask foreign airports to ramp up their screening procedures for u.s. bound flights. congressman peter king sits on the house homeland security and counterterrorism subcommittee

think about it that way because the border really has been obliterated between iraq and syria by the blitzkrieg across western northern iraq by the isis forces which says a lot about the al-maliki government. that cannot have happened without an exceeding degree of alienation by sunni in western iraq. isis because the al-maliki government gave them no option to participate. >> that's exactly how they see it and tolerating is a good word. they have great difficulty because of who they are and no one wants to live in a territory run by isis. it was underscored this past week by comments that matt olson made, the director of our national counterterrorism -- counterterrorism operation he's a very thoughtful, insightful who's been running and ctc for a few years and he said in a conference in athens something that's very important. the numbers of foreign fighters now in that the editor, syria, iraq, where isis is centered, the numbers are at around 12,000. these are much bigger numbers that were coming into iraq at the height of the iraq war. there may be as many as 1000 your pms and maybe as 100 americans. he qua

behind the recent offensive by islamic extremists who have captured towns in northern iraq and western iraq, and declared a cal fate or islamic state. for more about that and the counter offensive by iraqi government forces we are joined now via skype from baghdad by matthew bradley of the wall street journal. >> matt thanks for joining us, what is the latest at this hour? >> the latest is the .. last couple of hours is the appearance of the islamic state leader abu who made his first video appearance just today .. and in the last couple of hours, a video that was on social media and supposedly shows him giving what is called a hukba or sort of like a sermon to a meeting of muslims in a mosque in mosul, a city in iraq yesterday. so this is a very big deal because abu is only, the only known photos of him available and he is a notoriously elusive character and now a lengthy video sequence of him for the first time, and it is a very interesting development. we are now putting a face to a name of a jihadi leader who really has eclipsed al qaeda and the leader of al qaeda in the last couple of

. >> from western iraq, the latest threat from al qaeda offshoot isis. >> we are going for you, barack obama. >> reporter: most believe the talk is battlefield bluster. they are concerned about the number coming from the east. >> all of my european counterparts are focused on this all day every day, trying to track those who are going and may come back. >> reporter: ibrahim al asiri is believed to be behind the christmas 2009 underwear bomb attempt, and the 2010 plot with bombs hidden in printer cartridges. fighters who hold european or north american passports could target passenger planes. government sources tell nbc news that the u.s. may soon ask foreign airports to ramp up their screening procedures for u.s. bound flights. congressman peter king sits on the house homeland security and counter terrorism subcommittees. >> i think we have to anticipate this coming together of these evil forces, if you will. with the technology that they potentially have, and we have to be on our guard, we have to be ready. >> king wants the u.s. to provide foreign airport authorities with the latest

as you know, much of western iraq over the last months. the two days ago iraq and syria, a new islamic state ushering in a new era of international gian. and further announcing a terrorist for the new state. if these developments have put iraqi prime minister under intense pressure international as well as domestic to form a new government as soon as possible. hopefully that will include representatives al in order to govern. today we are on our with the ambassador and the challenge assume that this exists to form a new, inclusive government as well as continuing to fight and struggle. he serves as the iraqi ambassador to the united states since july 2013. prior to this see served as the iraqi ambassador to japan. the ambassador also live in the united kingdom, information technology sector. and serving in senior management positions for two major transnational. thank you, again, for joining hands. let me remind everyone that the ambassador has asked to speak briefly for ten minutes in order to allow the opportunity for you to ask as many

they have been in iraq for a long time, too, in western iraq and now they moved into northern iraq. but syria and iraq have to be looked at together in some ways and separate in some ways. but this caliphate they announced and are establishing covers most areas and is a concern to turkey, iran, and eventually europe and the united states. >> peter, i havet on a scale of 1-10 are we safe here in america? >> i think we are safer than we were but still not safe. there are many threats out there we have to be worried about unfortunately. >> peter brooks, thank you so much. >>> those worries are now felt in our country. why the fbi has arrested this woman for her possible connection to terrorist groups in the middle east they say. and plus, frustration hitting the boiling point capital hill. lawmakers are demanding action about the immigration crisis among the southern border. will anything get done? will anything get done? woman: this is not exactly what i expected. man: definitely more murdery than the reviews said. captain obvious: this is a creepy room. man: oh hey, captain obvious.

there's reports an an iranian pilot was killed in north-western iraq. what role is iran playing in iraq right now? >> this was a pilot killed on the ground in north-western iraq, bringing into focus what the rainian roll is. here is what we know. the head of one of the major forces in iran has been in this country advising the military and the government. there were forces here in the country, used as trainers vzing the military. same role the men's are playing. there are other ground forces from iran. they are keeping it quiet because they don't want it to spill over into a sectarian war. the iranians are here for one reasonably. ner to protect the holy shrines, tlooer of which are the holiest in the world. if they fall, it's not a problem for iraq, but will be a problem domestically in iran. that's why they are here. >> i'm ran kahn joining -- imran khan joining us from jerusalem. >>> a suicide car bomb wept off outside the main gait of the parliament after a security guard shot at the attacker in somalia. al-shabab is suspected. and they have been res

over running much of northern and western iraq.ut now, shiite millionaire joined security forces in recent weeks to try and boost security in the capitol. >> okay, let's take live picture now from old city. wet roads, you can see, market street wet from e rain, and boy did they need that rain in california. sue, we just mentioned california, the drought right there, the please for jerry brown for people to cut back. i was just in california. and the traffic signs you see, there the electronic ones you see on the freeways, side streets, all say please conserve water, severe drought. interesting to see. because we've had so much rain lately. >> yes, if only we could ship some of it over there. just doesn't work that way, unfortunately. yes, we've had thunderstorm activity every day this week. and there is still leftovers this morning down in cumberland county, in southern new jersey, want to let you know, even though it is muggy here, temperatures are in the 50's, out to the west. so we've got some refreshment on the way. 83 degrees

it came in the blitz in norther and western iraq and violence engulfs the country freedom prime malikicing problems from the shiite in the south. and the president has ordered in some americans, about 900 at last count to protect american facilities and embassy and embassy personnel and that kind of things. they will not do active war fighting unless they are under attack? >> that's right, john. they are u.s. service people to protect americans in the embassy in baghdad and other civilians and the assessments and to find out how good the iraqi military is right now. they gather intelligence from the human sources and electronic eavesdropping and also from unmanned drones. and it so voilths. if we are going to do anything else. bomb or reenforcements and all of that from a rolistic picture of the battle fold. how are the iraqis doing and can they hold? if they continue to disintegrate we are in big trouble, john. >> i know maliki is boosting air power and play claim to american airplanes and he said the country is owed; is that enough to it turn the tide of this thing? >> no. you can't

has taken control of a swath of northern and western iraq. the rising power has created a political opening for the kurds. we take a deep are look at the kurds in iraq and around the region. by some measure the kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. they live where the ottoman and persian empires were once together. for decades their language, culture and ethnic identity have been reprelsed by the governments under which they live. >> today there's a chance to see kurds across the region, it is in iraq where the kurds dream of an independent nation. since the u.s. invasion in 2003, iraq's kurdistan government evolved into a country in all but name. the krg wanted to extend its influence into neighbouring areas, especially kirkuk, setting atop huge resources. the islamic's state challenge has given them that opportunity. we begin with this report from al jazeera's zeina khodr. >> reporter: kurdish officials are determined to push ahead with a referendum. the kurdish government and iraq did not enjoy a go

nouri al-maliki offered amnesty to sunni tribesman in western iraq who fought with islamic state fighters and said he hoped the new government could be formed next week. for more information on iraq i'm joined by jessica lewis, research director, a former u.s. army intelligence officer in iraq, great to have you with us. with nouri al-maliki saying that a military solution needs to come first, is he trying to scramble and hold on to power that many including the u.s. want him to give up. >> i think that is possible. and i think that it's a tall order for the sunni population to which he is messaging with this amnesty proposal is clam as to -- callous to nouri al-maliki's proposals. i'm sorry how that will differ with the model of a new government in place. it's worth asking whether or not a new government is something that would achieve a different response from those who have taken up arms against the government. it's not likely that nouri al-maliki will achieve a different response. >> you mention the amnesty offered to tribes fighting with the islamic state insurge ents. amnesty and ba