barely a week before the vote really is indicative for people in scotland that westminster, london, the government there, doesn't understand the scots. that they've misjudged it, left it to the last minute. they had opportunities to put these offers on the table, these economic offers on the table years ago. they haven't done it. and that in essence is what the scots are saying. you don't understand us. let us run our own country. zmarl. >> fascinating. nick robertson reporting live from from scotland. thank you. the next hour of cnn newsroom starts now. good morning, i'm carol costello, huang for joining me. we begin with breaking news. as i said at the top of the last hour, secretary of state john kerry is in baghdad shoring up support to defeat and destroy isis. he was talking to the iraqi prime minister just about an hour ago. well, finally he came out of the american embassy in baghdad and made some official remarks, let's listen to what he had to

say. >> the fact that the iraqis were able to overcome such deep sectarian and ethnic divides and approve a new and inclusive government is really a great accomplishment. they're able to do this -- the fact that they were able to do this peacefully in the midst of unspeakable terror and violence and bloodshed is nothing short of historic. and it's a true signal that iraq and the leaders they've chosen are committed at this moment to the democratic future that so many iraqis have sacrificed everything to bring about. obviously, the hard work is very far from over. we all know that. in many ways, it's just beginning. establishing a government doesn't mean a lot if it is not

able to govern effectively or doesn't govern inclusively. and it particularly needs to govern inclusively in order to represent the interests of all the iraqi people. i was encouraged, very encouraged, as a matter of fact, because i've been here many times in many meetings and i have never in any of those meetings seen unanimity without complaint of the sense of direction and commitment to the concept of inclusivity and of addressing the unaddressed issues of the last eight years or more. i was encouraged by the commitment that i heard from all of the leaders that i met with today, but a particular clarity

from p.m. t prime minister, from the president and from the speaker. each of them restated their deep commitment to coming together in order to solve the immediate problems of inclusivity, of oil, of federalism, of the budget, of deba'athification. all of those issues have confounded iraq for these past years and divided it. they understand the road traveled and they understand the road they want to travel. and they don't want to go backwards. they all stated their commitment to the national plan, and that plan was developed specifically to address these long-standing grievances that have been an obstacle to iraq's prosperity and security for far too long. including, i might add, issues with respect to their security forces, the nature of those security forces, the makeup of those security forces.

the inclusivity of those forces itself. the regional autonomy issues. the devolution of power. questions of the constitution and particularly the allocation of iraq's budget. the national plan also calls for the establishment of locally rooted security structures that are directly integrated into the iraqi security forces. this national guard, as it has been called, will protect the population of iraqi cities and towns and it will also deny space for isil. as it does that, it is going to be the key to guaranteeing that iraq's territorial integrity can

be kept intact and, in fact, unthreatened. i was also encouraged to learn today that prime minister abad di is very focused on this national guard and plans to accelerate its formulation during his first cabinet meeting this week. the united states is prepared to provide technical advice and assistance in order to help the iraqis move this very important initiative forward. it's going to require patience and further compromise but it's the only way iraq has any hope of securing the effective inclusive government that the iraqi people demand and deserve. now, today president obama asked me to come here not just to build the coalition, not just to talk to the iraqis about the road forward here at this

moment, but also to underscore to the people of iraq that the united states will stand by them in this effort. we stand by iraq as its continues to build a government that meets the need of each iraq's diverse communities and we stand by them as we fight to overcome the single greatest threat that their government, their families, and their neighbors face today and that's isil. isil claims to be fighting on behalf of islam but the fact is that it's hateful ideology has nothing do with islam. isil a manifestation of evil, a vicious terrorist organization and it is an organization that achieves its goals only through violence, repression, and

destruction. fed by illicit funding and a stream of foreign fighters, it has seized territory and terrorized the people who live there regardless of their sect or ethnicity. there is literally no place for their barbarity in the modern world. this is the night the iraqi people must win but it's also a fight the rest of the world needs to win with them. it's a fight the united states and the rest of the world need to support every single step of the way. as president obama has made clear from the beginning a new and inclusive iraqi government has to be the engine of our global strategy against isil. and now that the iraqi parliament approved a new cabinet with new leaders and representation from all iraqi communities it's full speed ahead and president obama a few

hours from now will lay out his strategy for taking america, iraq, the region, and the world forward with respect to this challenge. we need to continue to drive this strategy over these next few days with intensity. already we and nearly 40 other countries even as i speak now are already contributing military, humanitarian, and other assistance to aid the campaign against isil. and to date with the help of our international partners the united states has launched more than 150 air strikes in order to weaken isil and protect the innocent people that it seems to harm and also to specifically help to break the siege at amerli, broke the siege at mosul dam and at sinjar mountain with success in each of those

instances. in addition, together with willing allies, the international community has dropped, air dropped food and medical supplies to iraqi families, including the 1.8 million people who had been displaced due to isil's brutality. and today i can tell you we'll be providing another $48 million to u.n. agencies, other international organizations and ngos that are working tirelessly to save lives and alleviate suffering. >> we're going to step away from secretary of state john kerry. you heard him addressing actually the world but mostly the people of iraq and you heard him say full steam ahead, america is ready to stand by iraq and the world to defeat isis. strong words. >> strong words, carol. it was really the formation of this government that was seen as a condition of additional u.s.

support and now the that the government is in place the u.s. sees it as the centerpiece of its strategy in combatting isis because it feels as if there is a new iraqi government that is more inclusive that would bring along the sunni iraqis that had been so marginalized under prime minister al-maliki, they will in effect feel that they have a stake in the country, that they will shun isis and that they will, in fact, join part of an iraqi power sharing government. not only is the prime minister putting more sunnis in his government but he's looking to add sunni arabs to a national guard in which, just like that you have sunni awakening years ago during the iraq war where sunni forces teamed up with american forces really to combat al qaeda he's hoping he can enlist sunni arabs to in effect feel more of a steak in their country and beat back isis. so now the job of secretary kerry is to go to saudi arabia,

meeting with golf nation to enlist their help in helping this fledgling government get on its feet with military sport, with diplomatic support, with economic support. so much to do to combat isis the secretary is saying this is a major milestone for the iraqis and now the u.s. feels it can give its full support to the new prime minister, carol. >> elise lab baht, thank you so much. let's check in with jim acosta. president obama will address the nation at 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight and he'll lay out his strategy to degrade and defeat isis. it sounds like that strategy is already in place and already under way, jim. >> that's right, carol. you know, the president does want to frame this threat posed by isis, that is a big part of his speech tonight, how it's become a poor national security priority, how they feel the terror group cannot be allowed to secure a safe haven as they're calling in the both iraq and syria. so the president will lay out a

strategy which involves building on this international coalition elise was talking about including arab partners they feel are important and beefing up support, training and equipment for iraqi and potentially syrian rebel forces. that is going to be a component of the president's strategy. i understand from talking to various officials here at the white house that the president, while he may not be seeking additional authority from congress tonight, he will be in the future asking for what's called title 10 authority and that is the legal authority to equip and train syrian rebel forces. so it does appear that using syrian rebel forces is a component of the president's strategy for dealing with isis in eliminating that safe haven that they have on the ground in syria. now, senior administration officials say the president will lay out a series of proposals, new proposals, tonight, on how to take the fight to isis and ultimately destroy this terror group. officials say the president is open to air strikes on isis targets in syria. of course, carol, the big

question is whether or not we'll hear the president say he has ordered those air strikes on isis targets in syria. but consider this quote from a white house official, i think it's pretty descriptive, it shows you where they are right now. it says "tonight you will hear from the president how the united states will pursue a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil, including u.s. military action and support for the forces combatting isil on the ground. both the opposition in syria and a new inclusive iraqi government." so, you know, a lot of people, carol, just want to hear the president say whether or not the air strikes have begun in syria. i think it's going to be much more complicated than that and i think president wants to sort of layer various components of this strategy. yes, they want to work with international partners so it doesn't look like the u.s. going in there unilaterally and launching a military operation against another arab muslim country. they don't want that image to get out there. that's why he's building this international coalition. that's why he's looking for air partners and going to the united

nations later this month so they want to stress that as part of the total package for going after isis at this point and i think we're going hear more of that from the president tonight. but i can tell you, carol, officials have said privately and publicly that to deal with isis you have to deal with both sides of that iraqi/syrian border. so i think you'll hear the president talk a lot about that tonight, carol. >> jim acosta reporting live from for the white house for us. for full coverage of the president's speech on isis, keep it right here on cnn. we'll bring you the remarks tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. i'll be right back. ♪ hey, jake! come on over here for a sec. why you wanna touch my dart so bad? ♪ [ high-pitched ] why's he wanna touch it? ♪ who said i wanted to touch it? ♪ jake, you know they've got affordable leasing programs ♪ yeah, i know. i was just... ♪ just think, jake, you could get your own ♪ ♪ and you could touch it whenever you wanted ♪ ♪ you could touch it all the time ♪ ♪ all the time i don't want to touch your dart. ♪ i know you're mad, jake, but you've got to get your own ♪ i'm not mad. ♪ i know you're mad, jake ♪ ♪ but you've got to get your own ♪

♪ i know you're mad, jake i'm getting mad, but wasn't... ♪ but ya gotta get your own ♪ ♪ but ya gotta get your own on my journey across america, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts that's when expertise happens.

mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. when laquinta.com sends him a ready for you alert the second his room is ready, ya know what salesman alan ames becomes? i think the numbers speak for themselves. i'm sold! a "selling machine!" ready for you alert, only at lq.com. [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too. by offering things like on-the-spot data upgrades -- an idea that reduced overcharge complaints by 98%. no matter how fast your business needs to adapt, if hp big data solutions can keep wireless customers smiling, imagine what they can do for yours. make it matter. move better, just talk to one of our scientists. imagine what they can do for yours. they'll show you a special glue we've developed that bonds metal to plastic.

and that makes the things you're trying to move... lighter. the less weight... the less energy. and what you save can be used for speed. for efficiency. or just for fun. this is the human element at work. dow.

so we've been telling you president obama will make remarks 9:00 p.m. eastern time. he'll lay out his strategy to degrade and destroy isis. what does mr. obama need to say tonight to get lawmakers and the american public on board? let's talk about that with ron christie, a former special assistant to president george w. bush. we're also joined by cnn political commentator and democratic strategist maria car doe that and cnn chief congressional correspondent dana bash. welcome to all of you. >> thank you. >> so here's what i'd like that do if it's possible. i'd like us to talk in a non-partisan way about what the country needs to hear because here's the thing -- americans are scared and confused. when you look at the polls, a majority of americans say isis poses a threat to the united states.

i mean, americans are really scared. and i want to talk in a non-partisan way but i noticed the look on dana bash's face, you looked skeptical. [ laughter ] because i think the partisanship has already started on the senate floor. >> it's so shocking, isn't it? that is true. but before we get to that, i want to report a little bit of news and part of what you were talking about with jim acosta last hour, carol, and this is this whole concept of what's called title 10 authority. that is authority that the president does believe that he needs from congress in order to legally arm a foreign group. in this case it would be to arm some syrian rebels for syrian fighters to go after isis on the ground. i am told that will that is authority that he has already asked for after the white house meeting with congressional leaders late yesterday. he did send up a formal request. so a democratic source tells me that is already in the works. he is asking for authority and along with that he is going to need some money, i'm told, about $500 million to support that.

now, this is different from the broader discussion that we've been talking about, whether he needs congressional authority or approval for a use of force broadly to send u.s. troops. that's not what this is about. this is more targeted, smaller. but it is significant that the president has already asked for it. we expect them to talk about it tonight. but that is what's going on. now, on that note, harry reid, the democratic leader, mentioned this idea, this concept on the senate floor this morning. he said he supported it but that was right before, as you said, carol, he went into some partisanship accusing republicans of following a former vice president who he doesn't think led them very well in iraq. >> i'm amazed, mr. president, amazed that some members of congress want to rush to war. because that's what they're talking about is a war. how did that work out for us last time? not so well.

the bush/cheney strategy of rushing to conflict doesn't work. it didn't work then and it won't work now. let's be cautious, let's be deliberate. >> we have a duty as a superpower without imperialistic aims to help maintain international order and balance of power. and in my view that international order is maintained by american military might. indeed, american military might is its backbone. but that is not a view this president seems to share. >> and, carol, mitch mcconnell talked about the fact that the americans don't need a lecture tonight, a clear allusion to the fact that republicans think the president is too professorial and said he doesn't think the president is comfortable as commander in chief. already strong words from these two leaders who just about 12 hours ago were sitting in n the

aufl offi oval office. >> here's the thing. our country in n danger. don't we have to come together? why not wait until after the president's speech, ron, to criticize? >> i absolutely agree with you, carol. this is a time we need to come together as americans, not republicans and democrats. we need to hear from our commander-in-chief. we need to hear a clear articulation of what the dangers are. why isis is a force that needs to be defeated. they need to be defeated decisively and how the president intends to take out that mission. i think he'll have broad-based support by republicans, by democrats, by independents but, by most importantly, the american people if he can articulate exactly why we need to take out this threat and how he intends to do it. >> so let's imagine if we will, maria, that the president's speech helps americans understand the threat and allows them to understand the strategy for getting rid of the threat. so will that stop the partisan sniping? >> well, let's also realize that

this -- we're going into midterm elections and i think a lot of it is being fuelled, a lot of those comments that we just heard, is being fuelled by that. but i'm going to be hopeful here, carol. and mitch mcconnell in a great interview you did with him, dana, said that congress would be there, republicans would be there for him if he asked for support. and if he laid out a strategy. i think tonight the president needs to do four things very well. the first, in order to assuage americans fears is to repeat what he said on "meet the press" that right now there is no clear intelligence that we are facing an imminent danger to the homeland. then he needs to follow that with why, then, do we need to go into this region and make sure to destroy isis. i think americans do feel that because of the beheadings. then the other things he needs to do is talk about the iraqi government coming together, because i think that's critical, talk about the international coalition and, thirdly, hopefully he will address this issue that we're talking about

here which is hopefully we're on the cusp of some sort of national unity. and i think that will help americans also breathe somewhat of a sigh of relief knowing that washington can come together in something as important as protecting americans. >> here's the thing, dana. the president is expected to talk about air strikes over syria. he doesn't feel he needs congressional approval to do that. might bit a better idea for him to at least approach congress about getting its approval in a show of unity? >> possibly. the problem is, what if there isn't unity? you know, the arms services chair, carl levin, who we were told to find because he was a good barometer of where the democratic caucus is in the senate, he said yes, in a perfect world it probably would be better for congress to vote to give the president the broad authority, but the reason is because the hope would be that it does show the world that the congress, country, is united

behind the president. but what if the vote shows the congress is split? and guess what? talking to the lawmakers that we have, it probably would show that congress is split. so it would be dangerous to do so on a policy and a leadership level, never mind the raw politics which is that there are a lot of democrats in tough reelection campaigns who would say -- who are saying you know what, mr. president? in thanks, we don't need to take that vote right now. >> dana bash, ron christie, maria cardona, thank you so much. i'll be right back. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked.

made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern.

wait, wait, wait, it's wait, wait, wait...whoa, does she have special powers when she has the shroud? no. guys? it's the woven one the woven one. oh, oh that gives her invincibility. guys? no, no, no... the scarlet king is lord victor's son!! no don't. i told you! you guys are gonna be so surprised when you watch the finale!!! you're so lucky your car has wi-fi. yeah...i am. equinox from chevrolet... the first and only car company to bring built-in 4g lte wi-fi to cars, trucks and crossovers. a broader mix of energies, world needs which is why we are supplying natural gas, to generate cleaner electricity, that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal.

and why with our partner in brazil, we are producing a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane to fuel cars. let's broaden the world's energy mix, let's go.

as we learned more tonight about the president's plan to target isis, there's word this morning that part of his strategy could include a plan to train and possibly arm moderate rebels in syria. let's talk about that. cnn military analyst lieutenant general mark hurdling joins us now. good morning, zblir go g rking, >> good mornings, carol, how are you there. >> i'm okay. so it sounds like a good idea, you fight rebels in syria and maybe you win except who are the moderate rebels and k we trust them. >> it's hard pulling the troops apart. there is some leadership within the free syrian army that we have contacts with. i would suggest our intelligence resources and some of the folks who have been watching this very closely both inside and outside of syria can help us connect with those and the training and equipping potentially is going to be done by more than u.s. forces, i think, if the president pull this is coalition together. there's going to be a lot of

other multinational partners contributing to this operation. >> before we get into the multinational partners, i wanted to ask you, too, about this idea of air strikes over syria because supposedly that's going to be brought up in the president's speech tonight, too. it's kind of a scary proposition because the government of syria has air power of its own. >> yes, they do. and it is a scary proposition. i think that's why the president has delayed in terms of addressing what he might or might not do. but right now we've got some areas within syria that is -- that are ungoverned spaces and when you have key target ping potential then you have to be able to develop a plan that might strike freely. and i think that will be part of the president's observations tonight when he gives his presentation. >> all right. let's talk about possible allies in this war against isis. several countries have been named as possible allies --

iraq, egypt, jordan, saudi arabia, the uae and turkey. the names labelling some of them, particularly turkey and saudi arabia, as reluctant partners. so what are the challenges in getting them to agree to such an alliance? and can we trust them? >> and i think you can. it's coalition building. it's ugly. we've done it before and, again, i'll go back to what the president said the other day about how we have learned an awful lot in the last 12 to 13 years of combat in iraq and afghanistan. one of the things we've learned is how to blend various elements of coalitions with their various national caveats. we've also been able to blend conventional and special operating forces along with air power. so all of those things are going to contribute to the fight. there are going to be some challenges. turkey is one. i mean certainly they have some of their diplomatic and consulate staff being held hostage by isis and at the same

time the kurds in this region, which we've sbeen so successful near erbil also extend along the southern line -- excuse me, the northern line of iraq and into syria. there's concern by the turks that should the kurds get a little too frothy, as it were, that they might do things the turkish government doesn't like. they've been dealing with the pkk threat, another terrorist organization, a kurdish terrorist organization, overthe last few years. so there's concern in turkey about a couple of issues. i'd also include on your list of potential contributors as the president came out of the nato summit last week, i'm sure he generated a lot of support from many, many nato countries, there were several named, poland, estonia. they have good special operations capabilities, they've developed those over the last ten years in partnership with us in iraq and afghanistan. >> so i'm just curious, as a military guy, what do you want to hear president obama say tonight. >> well, i want to hear all

about the coalition building. that's a critical piece. having spent a lot of time in this part of the world, over three years, i know we can not do this alone. we will not be accepted because we are both culturally and linguistically challenged. so we have to get support from an entire international community. that's critical. i think he's going to give freedom of maneuver to the combat and commander, general austin, on the ground, to drm where the key intelligence is and if we find key intelligence on strategic or operational targets he's going to give them permission to strike those. and i think the criticality of training, additional training to iraqi forces now that the government has advanced in baghdad as well as some of the free syrian forces are all going to be part of what i'm looking for. but the most important thing i'm going to look for as a former member of the military is he's got to prepare the american public that this is going to be a long campaign.

this is not something that can be solved in a week, a month, or even a year. this is going to take a lot of concentrated effort to eliminate this evil. >> lieutenant general mark hert ling, thanks so much for your insight, always appreciated. still to come, the nfl commissioner says the nfl doesn't have a clue about dealing with domestic violence. now he's facing calls to step down. and the wife of a retired nfl player is talking to cnn about what she went through and what the nfl needs to do today. [ male announcer ] nearly 7 million clients. how did edward jones get so big? let me just put this away. ♪ could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. it's how edward jones when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs.

advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america.

purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow.

purina dog chow light & healthy. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen.

a lot of people have been asking why the woman we saw ray rice punch in that elevator stayed with the former nfl star after that blow to her face and marry him. we're seeing an outpouring of answers to that via twitter. they're being tweeted with the hashtag "why i stayed." i want to share those. one woman tweeted "i thought i wasn't worthy of any kind of love." "because he had already shredded my self worth with his words in a hundred subtle ways." "the more you hope he changes, the deeper you sink into believing it." so let's talk about this. i want to bring in cnn's jean casarez and katie ray jones. welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here.

katie, i want to start with you. you wrote an opinion piece for the "new york daily news." you say it's the abused victim who often gets blamed in cases like this, not the abuser. why is that? >> domestic violence is a very complex issue and for those of us who've not lived in a violent relationship, it's hard to fathom that if someone was to assault us that we would stay. however, there are a lot of factors why women stay in relationship. i've been so inspired by the stories that we've been hearing with #whyistayed and #whyileft to hear about women speaking about those complexities. the fear in those relationships, the threats that are made that we know from stories we hear everyday that are real, that women are killed by their partners, children are killed, partners sometimes kill themselves. the blame that a victim feels in the relationship that she is somehow responsible for the abuse that is happening. and many women say that they love them. we have to remember that when someone meets someone that is

their partner they don't identify as being abusive. they don't tell them "i'm going to hurt you" three months, six months down the road. there's a huge sense of love this person feels and they still see glimpses of that person throughout the relationship between abusive encounters. >> and women are so nurturing. some women really think they can change these men and often you can't. jean, i want to turn to you because we're concentrating on the nfl and how it punished ray rice or didn't punish him enough but we're not concentrating enough, in my opinion, on the legal system itself because, let's face it, the prosecutor and the grand jury saw this video and they sentenced ray rice to counseling. >> there's so many levels to this and you bring up such a good point. the grand jury. the grand jury indicted ray rice. they indicted him on third degree aggravated assault and that made him very eligible for the pre-trial intervention program because he did not have a record. and it was agreed to by the

prosecution, it was agreed to by the judge but here's something a lot of people are forgetting. pre-trial intervention doesn't mean the charges are dismissed. it means they're allowing him to rehabilitate himself with courses on anger management. but one false move in the next year those charges will become active again. he can face them and he can face three to five years in prison. so he's not off scot-free. >> what if he punched someone else in a bar the same way he punched his then fiance? >> that's a good question because it began with disorderly conduct like a misdemeanor then third degree aggravated assault. did he get special treatment? i've seen in the courts time and time again that money, notoriety can help you immensely. >> jean, what do you think about that? you have a lot of experience with domestic violence victims. does this often happen that the abuser gets off easy? katie? >> sorry, i thought you said jean. i think we have lots of experiences when i've worked in

shelter where, as an advocate, i've been disappointed to hear her story and what she encountered and then to hear that he was ordered probation. to hear women talk about she went to get a protective order and it wasn't awarded. to hear she asked for the firearms to be removed from the home and that didn't happen. so there are times when the system feels like it's not working in the best interest of victims and i think many victims and survivors hear those stories and it makes them fear to feel actually make that choice to leave. so there's a lot of work we still need to do as victim advocates and communities in general to say that we really want to hold abusers accountable and push the system to follow through with the laws that are in place to protect women. >> last question for you, jean, and i mean jean this time. so now this video is out and there's a whole bunch of controversy surrounding it and a whole bunch of outrage. is there any possibility that it might be readjudicated? >> well, since he's entered into

a pre-trial diversion program, that will continue. i don't think that can be revoked unless he does something to revoke it which, as i said, can happen. but i think what we have to look at now is can change be effectuated through? through all levels? and the nfl, they focus on team camaraderie, they lecture all the guys about violence and anger management. but what about the women? their wives that are victims of this? what does the nfl do for them? not much, i don't think. and maybe they feel there hasn't been a duty, maybe that will change. >> who knows? i hope there's some kind of positive change. jean casarez, katie, thank you so much for joining us, katie ray-jones. appreciate it. be sure to check out my op-ed at cnn.com/opinion "blaming janay rice is an outrage." could a newly proposed bill on campaign contributions put shows like "saturday night live" at risk. and why is ted cruz doing his best dana carvey impression.

you have to see it. athena jones is live on capitol hill with more. good morning. >> good morning, carol. that's right, republican senator ted cruz says a campaign finance reform reform effort by democrats would, if successful, be really bad for comedy shows. why? we'll let you know after the break. oh, no, you can't open that. please choose one based on the cover. here we go... whoa, no test rides allowed. i can't show you the inside, but trust me. are you kidding me... at university of phoenix, we think you should be able to try before you buy. that's why we offer students new to college a risk-free period. so you commit to your education with confidence.

get started at phoenixtrial.com revolutionary by every standard. and that became our passion. to always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. that redefine comfort and connect the world like never before. after all, you can't turn dreams into airplanes unless your passion for innovation is nonstop. ♪

a broader mix of energies, world needs unless your passion for innovation is nonstop. which is why we are supplying natural gas, to generate cleaner electricity, that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal.

and why with our partner in brazil, we are producing a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane to fuel cars. let's broaden the world's energy mix, let's go.

>> none of us want war in that whole area out over there. [ laughter ] but as commander in chief i'm ever cognizant of my authority to launch a full scale orgy of death there on the desert sand. [ laughter ] probably won't. but then again, i might. [ laughter ] >> so awesome. dana carvey on "saturday night live" doing his best george h.w. bush impression. wait. why is senator ted cruz on the senate floor doing his best impression of that imsflepressi? >> who can forget portrayals of dana carvey as george herbert walker bush. not gonna do it. >> that was pretty good, right? cruz said a democrat-backed bill would add a constitutional amendment forbidding corporations from making political speech, put limited on their campaign spending, and,

since nbc is a corporation, those political skits on "saturday night live" could be a big no-no. that's why i'm telling you all of this. athena jones is live on capitol hill to tell us more. good morning. >> good morning, carol. this is pretty interesting stuff and, let's admit, it's pretty entertaining. he's not just talking about what this constitutional amendment would do to corporations like nbc but all kinds of corporations. but he really drives home the point with these pop culture references. let's go ahead and play another clip of what he said about s.n.l. producer lorne mike fls this amendment passes. let's play that. >> under this amendment, 49 democrats have signed their named to, congress would have the power to make it a criminal offense, lorne michaels could be put in jail under this amendment for making fun of any politician. that is extraordinary. it is breathtaking. and it is dangerous.

>> now, of course, senator cruz says this is not hyperbole, democrats would beg to differ here. the point is this constitutional amendment isn't going to go anywhere. there's supposed to be another procedural vote today that we expect republicans to block and even if the bill passed the senate it wouldn't pass the house and it wouldn't be ratified by 75% of the states as it would be need to be so this is about political messaging by the democrats in this case trying to get big money, like money from the koch brothers corporations out of politics so it's not surprising to see senator cruz do messaging of his own. we've seen him use pop culture in the past. you'll remember last year during the all-night filibuster he made for provision on obamacare he read from dr. seuss' "green eggs and ham." so he knows how to get attention for himself and this is someone who might want to be president one day and so it's good for him to kind of get press attention, he might think. carol? >>. [ laughter ]

i think you're right. athena jones, thanks so much. in just a matter of hours, president obama will lay out his game plan to the american people on how to destroy isis. beating them to the punch, former vice president dick cheney who just wrapped up a speech in washington on u.s. foreign policy. cheney's speech comes just one day after he met with gop lawmakers slamming the president's strategy. let's bring in cnn's national correspondent suzanne malveaux live in washington at the american enterprise institute where cheney just wrapped up his speech. what did he say, suzanne? >> well, carol, obviously it was a friendly audience and this is a speech that he gave, he said it had already been pre-planned but essentially saying that the war, the tide of war has not diminished, it has increased, that the threat is dire from isis. there are a couple things he wants to hear from the president tonight. he outlined them specifically saying that phasing in forces would not suffice, that it

should be a hard hit going after isis, not to recognize the border between iraq and syria because isis does not. to hit headquarters and also provide intelligence and this you need a coalition, you need partners to do that. these j r just some of the things he looking for in the president's speech tonight and here's how he put it earlier today. >> when you have a president whose primary concern is never to "elevate america" it's no surprise that we also have a defense secretary in a serious state of alarm. the world, as secretary hagel said a few weeks ago, is exploding all over. i'm here to tell you that there's a connection between these problems. between a disengaged president and some very volatile situations abroad. >> and, carol, here's the thing here, it's all about credibility, whether or not people are going to be listening to the former vice president or not. we heard from senate majority

leader harry reid who said that really the that he doesn't have that kind of credibility because there were so many mistakes that were made in the bush administration. vice president cheney, former vice president saying today it was five and a half years of the obama administration engaged in what he called retreat, withdrawal, and ins difference and that the u.s. has lost a lot of credibility because it doesn't have the kind of robust leadership at least that cheney believes that they had in the past. so clearly a debate, carol, over who you're going to pay attention to but everybody's going to be paying attention to the president tonight. one thing they do have in common that they agree on is that isis is a dire threat and that it is a very dangerous situation in the middle east right now. carol? >> all right, susan malveaux reporting live for us. thank you so much, i'll be right back.

fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well... did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter- -sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort.

he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready.s? when sales rep steve hatfield books at laquinta.com, so he knows exactly when he can prep for his presentation. and when steve is perfectly prepped, ya know what he brings? and that's how you'll increase market share. any questions? can i get an "a", steve? yes! three a's! amazing sales! he brings his a-game! la quinta inns and suites is ready for you, so you'll be ready for business. the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com! la quinta!

600 de-y from temperatures, molten lava and a climb that's the same height as the empire state building. two adventurers went into a volcano for one unbelievable journey. genie moost shows us. >> did you ever feel the to your knowledge climb down into a volcano? me neither, but this guy did. >> you cannot physically get closer without swimming in it.

>> that's george in the heat resistant suit along with his accomplice in adventure, sam. george is the teeny-weeny figure at the bottom of a volcano pit in the south pacific. >> it's one of the most dangerous and difficult to get to. >> they rappel down 1200 feet, a depth equal to the height of the empire state building. it took two hours to descent about 50 feet above the churning lava. even wearing a fire-resistant suit, george could only stand there a couple of minutes at a time. really hot? are you sweating in there? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. the heat from the volcano is sapping the energy out of you. >> they used a laser thermometer to measure the temperature of flying rocks. >> 600 degrees. >> look out for the lava. >> parts of it splashed me and melted my jacket. >> reporter: and the noise? >> i call it the sound of satan's washing machine. this churning bubbling gurgling. >> reporter: george says it was

unlikely volcano would erupt. they were more worried about the edge of the crater above crumbling and raining rocks down on them. george doesn't just rappel into volcanos, he got married on one. >> enough messing around. time to get married. >> awesome! >> you say that now, wait until lava bombs start falling within ten feet of her. >> shut up. >> reporter: to the sounds of a conch shell and periodic eruptions of mount yasser they exchanged vows back in 2006. >> you've been my supporter, my wall. >> reporter: michelle may have melted his heart, but it took this volcano to melt his camera when he set it down on a rock. he'll never get over that mem herizing orange glow. >> to me it doesn't even look real and i'm the guy in the shot. >> reporter: but boys will be boys, even deep in the mouth of a volcano. why settle for a selfie when you can horse around with a rubber

mask, as long as it doesn't melt. jeannie moose, cnn, new york. >> oh, needed a laugh today, thank you for joining me today, i'm carol costello. >> hello there, i'm john berman. >> i'm michaela pereira. a lot to get to at this hour. first up, president obama is getting set to make his case to you, the american people, on just how he plans to degrade and destroy isis. we now know some of what you can expect to hear in tonight's speech. an administration official tells cnn the president will focus on three major areas. he will frame the threat posed by the terrorist group. he will outline actions already being taken against them. and he will announce new proposals on how to finish the job of destroying the militants. >> while p