to escalate their campaign in iraq or syria. this is a group by the way that's not been directly linked to a single terrorist plot in the west and that includes the period when they were known as al qaeda in iraq as the height of the iraqi insurgency when there were many operations against them. they want to deter the united states by putting out these violent videos. if they the united states goes to syria, that's a red line. they could start putting their significant sources in trying to attack the west. that would be very frightening prospect indeed. >> nevertheless, britain just raised its threat level to severe, the highest level there in three years. we should know that president obama is headed to wales next week for a meeting with nato. how does that impact raising this threat level? just one of questions we might hear at the white house in just a few minute. we are awaiting a press conference there. there is other news, including what is going on in ukraine right now. we've seen new images of what look like russian tank

the trick is how do you fight inside syria. for a while the west and many regional countries were supporting the opposition groups inside syria to defeat president assad and now the government will hoping it will change and the world will have to operate in order to defeat them in syria and iraq. >> how do you think the syrians are going to react to statements made by the u.s. considering we are expecting the syrian foreign minister to speak shortly? >> reporter: yes, he is going to be speaking shortly and the line the syrian government has been using and what they are fighting is terrorist groups, it's not a popular up rising and they think it's time to hammer the point and want to say syria operation without operation from the syrian government is going to be very hard to defeat i.s. the other point is even for u.s. officials it's a dilemma, how do you strike the islamic state group positions and targets inside syria, i mean if the u.s. is going to use drones the syrian government has airplanes and have missiles and antiaircr

the syria piece still needs to be filled in because it's such a mess in syria. i think it's unfair to go after him for something that admittedly was inartfully said. >> his objective in what he was saying, and the white house has made this clear, he was trying to tap the brakes, to slow down speculation about how imminent it may be the u.s. is going into syria with air strikes. do you think he should have been trying to do that? >> yes, i think it was very important for him to slow those expectations. you know, once he asked the military planners, some of whom are trying to make the case for strikes, what would we achieve, tell me what would we even strike, some will take that and say, okay, he's asking for a target list and that means he's going forward. it was clearly i think his desire, really, to see if they could make the case. i don't think the case has been made. we don't have the same capabilities on the ground in syria like we do in iraq. and if we were to strike from the air in syria, we have to ask ourselves, if we displace isis from some part of syri

they're expanding across iraq, across syria. they're fighting the syrian rebels, and they're going to continue to do those things, whether or not we react. so if we don't react, if we wait, if we study the issue, we can be sure that the problem will get worse and worse, and when they hear we're about to weigh in, that factors into the calculations. >> so i guess the obvious question, where does the administration go from here? >> so john kerry will go to the region this weekend. he'll try to coalesce some international support around whatever it is they ultimately decide to do, and they're going to have more debate inside the administration. the white house doesn't want to intervene in syria. they've been very clear about that. there are a lot of people in the administration that say we have no choice. they haven't convinced the one man whose vote is the most important, his name is barack obama. until he's convinced, we're not going to see any movement. >> are the will, josh rogin, thank thank you for your insight. check out his

and the same with syria. so the configuration of our ability to collect intelligence has certainly hindered the ability to get the kinds of intelligence that you would want for a circumstance just like we're facing. so for those of us who believed for some time hey, we need to configure ourselves a little differently if you're going to address this growing threat, unfortunately, that didn't happen. now we're finding there was no strategy going forward and we're going to have one hopefully by the end of the week. again, that's something we're going to have to work through in short order. >> the president made it clear that it's going to take days if not longer to come up with that strategy dealing with isis in syria. would you be one to advise the president or would you be smart to launch air strikes whether from drones or manned aircraft or tomahawk cruise missiles against the isis command and control facilities most of which are in syria, not in iraq? >> you have an interesting problem. this is a terrorist o

with the organization in syria. what's going to happen? their saferia is saven and one of their rules terrorism, you have to destroy the leadership haven.y safe >> will there be american syria soon?nst >> i think it's possible to strike in syria. simply tell assad, privately, secretly, over the bet two weeks we're going to doing work against isis in your country, just to let you know. smart enough to figure out that if he combats us with take it out.we'll if he's also smart enough, he'll realize that isis is also his enemy. this is one of the contradictions, one of the things we have to get over is there are a lot of contradictions here. we may need iranian help before this is over. may have to tolerate syria, that's not to say support assad, have to do what i said and get to him later. toa strategy, you have establish priorities. right now, our priority needs to be to deal with isis. much foryou very coming in. >> pleasure. >> the latest battles are happening of course against the backdrop of a grim anniversary. it

differently here in syria. many of the members of congress of both parties syria in recent months. this. week. to go. to. syria. subsystem. i mean after the show breaking on our t.v. international while celebrities in the west take up the ice bucket challenge the arab world is desperate to pull loads awareness of the toll victims of war by using the rubble of gaza instead of shows will tell me why back. differently here in syria now many of the members of congress of both parties have gone to syria in recent months has a. former. president which is diddy's telling him to go. to go. to syria you probably saw the stuff. he's in for becoming independent schools a nation that nation should be self-governing govern the feels better to love someone else to do it for. staying with us it's been that difficult to be on social networks of late and not to stop. thousands of people posting photos and videos of themselves getting dazed in ice cold water almost two million people have already taken part in the stunt to promote awareness of. no room disease more than sixty million dollars has alr

we need to hit them in syria. we need to help free syrian army mobilize so they can fight them on the ground. when it comes to ground troops if our military commanders tell thanks we need ground forces to defeat isil, which is a threat to the united states, so be it. we have got to win and stop these guys. >> i want to bring in retired army lieutenant colonel and pog consultant, robert maginnis. bob, you say you doubt president obama, because you're saying about this president, i want to make your words right, you say you doubt he has the intestinal fortitude to take on isis. this is in an editorial that's been just recently published. why do you think that is and do you think that the chain -- the beheading of james foley this week might change that calculus? >> most certainly politics is at play here, jim. the president has known for some time that he is not going to put boots on the ground. he has been saying that consistently. you know, they -- we go back and think about when the syrians were using chemical we

inside syria. we are concerned. our teams on the ground are working there. at the moment, i can tell you more about the situation in neighboring countries as i know more about that. inside syria we do know there's a lot of concern for the 6.5 million who are displaced inside syria. >> do you think the numbers of people trying to leave the country will increase in the next few months as well? >> we've heard from refugees we've spoken to in recent months that leaving syria is becoming increasingly difficult. we've heard accounts from lebanese and jordan of increasing check points inside syria. as a result people have to pay more bribes to get through check points. conditions are are getting more difficult. we're hearing from people leaving and they say this is their last resort. prices are going up inside syria. people have been displaced multiple times, exhausted their savings and resources and have no other option but to find a way out. >>> the world health organization has warned as many as 20,000

chose to usein syria? >> i don't know if it tells us anything specifically he didn't make it back. he certainly can't eliminate the idea that these foreign fighters could potentially come back. again, that's the concern. as we have -- look, we also have a concern that they're getting radicalized in the first place, they're being attracted to such a perverse and brutal ideology, and that they would go over there and help in this complete depridation of the region inside iraq. it's very troubling. when we talk about the immediacy of the threat in the pentagon the reason why we are taking this threat so seriously, this is one of those factors. >> first of all, how many douglas mccains do you think there are out there? is the estimate still about 100 americans fighting inside syria right now? >> i've seen the estimate of about 100. i have no reason to doubt that here. at the pentagon we certainly think it's in the dozens, that's for sure but it's a very difficult thing to get your arms around >> as you sit in

. >> back on syria, is the u.s. flying surveillance missions in syria? i want to point out how many we've been told how many missions are flying every day over iraq. >> sure, sure, not going to talk about it, courtney. but i appreciate the warning as you asked it. but the difference here is that in iraq we were specifically asked by the government of iraq to come in and assist them with an isr effort. it was an overt ask. we accommodated that request. we continue to accommodate it today. that's a different situation than the when you're hypothesizing about now. bill? >> there's been a couple members of congress yesterday and today who have said they believe the president should go to congress and ask for an authorization if he decides to order military action in syria. what is secretary hagel's view of that question and more generally, does he feel the pentagon can operate under the existing authorization of military force? or would congress have to change it in some way if the president gave that order? >> i'm not going to speak to a question that's bet

the conflict in syria did give them more momentum. they have more fighters, more money, and a more solid cause where they can recruit more people. if you talk to the syrian opposition, they accuse the syrian regime of turning a blind eye if not supporting the existence and growth of the i.s. groups. the syrian government has said they have always said they are fighting terrorist groups like i.s., and now they are hoping the world will see their point of view, and at least scale back on his push to remove them, his the main rival right now on the ground is the i.s. group. >>> the deal that brought sergea sergeant bergdahl home is being said to be illegal. >>> hamas says it has executed at least 17 people it accuses of collaborating with israel. these deaths follow the killing of three senior hamas commanders by israel yesterday. jane ferguson has the latest from gaza, and a warning the images in this story are graphic. >> 11 took place in the early hours of this morning, 7 more have taken place, and some of those took place right here

all part of a campaign to spread fear among the people of syria. according to the report the executions have become common in the militant strongholds of ale aleppo. we've seen jaimings showing militants slaughtering people including beheadings and mass killings and crucifixions. it details war crimes, crimes against humanity and claims syria's government has committed. well among the accusations the president there bashir al assad his regime attacked his own people with chlorine gas eight times back in april and it's three years that president obama said he needs to go and quite a long time since he crossed the red line yet there he is. our chief intelligence correspondent kathryn harris is live in washington. we're learning more about the islamic state's military capabilities. >> reporter: that's right. the terrorist group isis or isil has taken a strategy jig approach to gain recruits and equipment according to a new analys analysis. an independent and privately funded research group reads in part isil did not become effective suddenly in early

ambassador to syria who resigned his post in syria. he said he couldn't justify the administration's policy there. he's senior fellow at the middle east institute. appreciate your being here. we've been hearing about the fears that the u.s. government and european government has about these jihadists in fighting in syria with passports. now we have the story of douglas mcarthur mccain, an american from california killed there. we have the story of the british, the video of the british guy from isis and that horrible video with james foley. how many western jihadists fighting for the opposition in syria are we talking about? and how much of a threat to doe pose to the homeland? >> i don't think we have an exact number, jake. but we certainly think it's in the hundreds. >> hundreds. >> in the hundreds. when i was working with counterparts from european governments, france, belgium, germany, they estimated there were hundreds of european citizens fighting in syria on behalf of radical groups there. in fact, our french counterpart said the

syria. eric: i'm eric in for bill hemmer. syria asking the u.s. ask permission before launching any attacks. >> reporter: if airstrikes in syria are ever going to happen, the pentagon needs to know what kinkind of fire power isis has. the white house has been careful to say president obama hasn't made a decision to pursue action in syria, but these flights against militants, the president once lumped in with what he called a jv tear vifts, if the president wants to unleash an aerial assault in isis this surveillance is necessary. eric: the pentagon coordinating with the syrian government on these strikes? >> reporter: there is no coordination. the obama administration is candid about saying they are not look for permission before they launch surveillance strikes or potential airstrikes. president obama has been saying for years that syrian president bashar al-asaad must go. as we know, he's still there. now his foreign minister is warning the white house they better call damascus to ask for

iraq and syria. they want ground war with u.s. troops on their own territory. in the aftermath of jim foley's execution and that execution video being posted online on tuesday of this week, and the threats to another american journalist, steven sotloff in that same video, the reaction globally has taken off in sort of two parallel tracks. one of them is the clues that isis has inadvertently provided as to who they are, how they be got at, including up to accent analysis of the voice of foley's killer from the video. one track is a manhunt. one track is a murder inquiry. the other track is about the larger scale, wholesale strategy to defeat this group. and in the last 24 hours, on 3 separate occasions, that second track about how to defeat isis has a group, that has led to three escalating instances over the course of 24 hours in which american officials have basically threatened that we are about to have an american war in syria. the first mention happened yesterday morning in a radio interview when

differently here in syria now many of the members of congress of both parties who have gone to syria in recent months has said he's a reformer the patriot missile president which is diddy's time for him to go to. stability and peace to syria is going to be submissive to. c.b.s. this is are you see it more than the propaganda. it is the state sponsored russia today program just words like sabean not like i don't think analyze this president is just ridiculous non answer to my question. john is not. supporting the same thing and sometimes their lives over them will bring people stories none the propaganda channels don't want you to see and we come to know some . cut. costs. to build a. mission to teach. well when the guys report i'm max kaiser you know i'm right i'm right i'm right i love it when i write a road again. they say well max indeed you are right that central bankers are wreaking havoc across the world and they go into those have eyes but first we're going to talk about mark carney partly because in the second half we're talking to a comedian this is in honor of the comedian

syria has warned the u.s. not to fliez over its territory but they're trained on israel and are not considered a threat to the part of the country where u.s. planes will be flyting. u.s. intelligence has already flown spy missions over syria without losing any aircraft. president obama has not yet approved air strikes inside syria but he warns isis or as he calls it isil will not easily be defeated. >> we'll take action where needed to protect our people and defend our homeland and ruling out a cancer like isil won't be easy and it won't be quick. >> reporter: american air strikes have succeeded in stops advances in iraq, but it continues to make gains on the other side of the border in syria. this propaganda video of an isis attack on a syrian military base starts with a suicide truck bomb followed by heavy weapons fire and assault starting with small arms ending with the capture of russian-made weapons. unclear when president obama will make decisions about air strikes over sear yas. the u.s. flew around the

in syria, the situation is a little different. we're dealing with a hostile government that has pledged to defend its air space. >> you bring up those surveillance flights. here's my question to you. is that the signal that something is imminent, or that is the beginning of likely months of intelligence gathering before anything happens? >> yeah, my expectation is going -- would be this is going to move pretty slowly. i mean, what we have seen from this president is that he's very reluctant to get intervened -- to intervene in syria. we have seen that over the course of this war. but this is definitely the closest we have appeared to taking action in syria since last year when air strikes were threatened over the country's chemical weapons program. but you know, i think is there a growing -- we have seen this with a statement from the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff this week. is a growing acceptance that there's no way to effectively turn back isis, unless they address both sides of the syrian and iraqi border. if we only a

if we just deal with iraq, they flee to syria. if we just deal with syria, they go to iraq. there's a different nature of the problem. different kinds of solutions. we can't deal with one without the other. we have to have a strategy in iraq, but we also have to deal with syria. it's a combination of a political strategy to get local support from both syrians and iraqis, to get regional support. it's not just a threat to us, it's a threat to the region and a smart military strategy in both these countries that can ultimately push them back and over time defeat them. that's a long-term strategy. >> sandy berger, thank you your time. >> we'll turn to another crisis facing the white house. the president finally weighing in on immigration reform. but not before 145 protesters were arrested outside the white house. which is why he's investing ain his heart health by eatingw. kellogg's raisin bran ® good morning dad. hi, sweetie. here's another eye opener, not only is kellogg's raisin bran ® heart healthy, but its a delicious source of potassium. mom make you eat that? i happen

ambassador to syria. >> thank you. >> bashar al assad, syria's president you know him. mr. obama said he won't sit down and negotiate with assad because assad is brutal himself, accused of using chemical weapons on his own people but just because the president won't do business with him does that mean the united states can't do business with him in another way? >> i think there's a way to try to work on the problem in syria without working directly with president bashar. he is the president of the country. he managed to get elected by a massive margin, just last spring for his third term, but the brutality that he has carried out and he has authorized against his own people has been enormous, and i don't see that there's any way we can have any open cooperation with them without losing the support of those that we will need to do the direct confrontations with isis. >> so i just spoke to a congresswoman who said the united states should reach out to other countries to help combat isis. which other countries should the united states be talking to? >> i think the main people

should be involved on the ground in syria? >> not in syria. the kurdish forces and i'm not sure which of the rebel forces, but let's remember isis is they enemy of the syrian government right now and so that has to be worked out. that's why i think it's a very difficult situation right now. >> what was shocking to me and i'm anxious to get your thought that the syrian military, bashar al arc assad and they lose control of this key checkpoint to the forces on the golan heights? what does that say it to you about the syrian military? >> it makes them suspect because there's no reason, unless that -- they were pulling back for more important targets elsewhere in the north of syria, but that is, to me, indication that perhaps this force is not as strong as we think it is. >> it's an indication to me that this regime potentially could be crumbling right now in the face of this enormous threat. they're losing all sorts of areas to isis and other forces there. >> but there is an opportunity here to say as we look at threats, the danger of isis and wh

in syria. >> is the president on the same page as his cabinet when it comes to dealing with isis. >> the more important observation is the cabinet is on the same page as the commander in chief. i'm fully confident that's the case. >> is the pentagon on the same page as the white house in terms of the threat posed by isis? >> yes. next question? >> now, don't be surprised if the president gets some work done on isis tomorrow morning. the president was supposed to spend much of this weekend doing some fund-raising and attending a wedding up in new york, but earlier today, brianna, the white house announced they're changing the president's schedule. he's coming back tonight and spending part of tomorrow morning here at the white house. that might mean some more work on isis is yet to come. >> we'll be waiting. jim acosta, thank you. the concern in britain is much greater than it is in the u.s. right now. as the threat level was raised to severe, prime minister david cameron warned that isis poses

you may not know they've gone to syria. they may be traveling to different parts of the world, and if they don't have a stamp in their passport which they will not, the british may not know where they've gone to fight or do anything. >> could that number be higher and we just don't know them? >> oh yes, i'm sure the estimates are below what is really. the russians at 800, i think those numbers are higher because some people go and cover their tracks exceptionally well and i think those individuals don't rise to the surface for those looking. >> how much more? >> oh, it's impossible to say, of course. but look, we have anywhere from 8 to 12,000 fighters, foreign fighters who are in syria who have gone to syria, that's so many more than what we had in iraq we don't know where they are, we don't know how many other people they have inspired but the incredible media exposure we've had on i.s.i.s. for the past couple of months now certainly good for informing citizens what's going on but it certainly draws more people to what's

captivity in syria. he was held by a radical al qaeda fighter group. we don't exactly know the terms under which he was freed after being held by that group for so long, we do know that the government of the nation of qatar was the intervener basically on theo curtis' behalf. qatar negotiated for his release and they were able to secure it. they have faced some international criticism for funding and supporting these radical sunni militias. qatar has faced criticism for funding these radical sunni groups that are fighting the assad regime in syria, so has the nation of saudi arabia, kuwait, the united arab emirates, honestly, in practical terms, maybe it's because of qatar's relationship with groups like that, that they were able to get theo curtis free. as the u.s. considers what to do next against isis if anything, who else would be part of any u.s. led effort? or if the u.s. wasn't going to lead it, who would -- who else would potentially lead that fight against them that the u.s. might participate in

moving from syria into iraq? >> we judge up to a hundred may have gone to syria to join extremist groups. we don't know how many cross the boreder from syria into iraq. that is something we are very focused on. as you know, we are taking action against isil inside iraq already. >> you might take direct action against isis, or isil, whatever you want it call it, in syria as well. the u.s. president authorized surveillance lights look over at the potential targets. how close is the u.s. now to launching airstrikes against isis or isil targets in syria? >> well, the president hasn't made a decision yet. the defense department maintains a plan of options and has presented those to president. >> what openings -- >> we are having a constant conversation inside the administration about what options could be necessary to go after isis. whether it is syria, iraq, anywhere they train. we're not restricted by geographic boundaries here when it comes to protecting american citizens. the president hasn't made a decision yet.

>> let's talk about syria. what do you do there? we don't have indigenous forces in syria. just air power? does that work? >> it could work. if we look at iraq. just step back to iraq. think about what the admiral did in afghanistan. using indigenous forces on the ground, special operations, air controllers, u.s. air power. that model could work in iraq to push i.s.i.s. back out of iraq. in syria, the president made it clear he has no intention of working with mr. assad. the free syrian army is not reliable. we would probably have to do something more like the early part of desert storm. go in, pick targets, slowly get to i.s.i.s. on the ground. not quite as effective but air power has a real role to play in both conflicts. >> you have heard people say, we have to get in there fast, we have to go. we have heard people on the hill say, we have to get into syria quickly. the president is taking his time. does it matter that we're going slowly now? militarily? >> you want to be smart, first and foremost. are we tied with the right folks? getting them what they need? we want to

will get involved in the fight against isis in syria. we'll talk about what's at stake for the president, both here in the united states, as well as around the world. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. he was held by militants in syria for almost two years. but today, the american journalist peter theo curtis is back in the united states. curtis spoke briefly with the reporters outside his mother's home in massachusetts. he says he's overwhelmed by emotion and grateful to be free. curtis was captured in to 12 by al nusri, an al qaeda affiliate. he says he's thankful for all efforts that went to securing his release. >> first, i want to thank you for coming out here on this beautiful wednesday morning. there have been literally hundreds of people brave, determined and big hearted people, working all over the world for my release. they've been working for two years on this. i had no idea when i was in prison, i had no idea so much effort was being expended on my behalf. now having found out, i have just overwhelmed with

syria. the absence of intelligence over syria has hindered the air force's ability to conduct targeted air strikes against isis in northern syria, should the president authorize them. syria's government warned any planes flying over its airspace would need the president's approval. a notion that the state department and the pentagon rebuffed. >> we are not coordinating with the assad regime on the operations we are conducting in iraq. or the operations or any efforts to combat isil. >> when it comes to the interest of the american people, the interest of the united states we're not going to ask for permission from the syrian regime. >> the syrian civil war has been raging for more than two years, and yet this is the first time the president has authorized the defense department to send surveillance drones over syria. other than to provide support for the failed hostage rescue mission in july. defense officials explained there aren't enough drones to go around, in fact, i'm told the military

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

let me start with syria. the decision that you have to make between, first of all, is it an "if" or "when" situation? can you defeat isis or isil and can you prioritize that you said assad -- [ inaudible ] defeating isis could help assad keep power. talk about how you prioritize those two pieces of your foreign policy. >> first of all, i want to make sure everybody is clear on what we're going to we're doing now because it is limited. first is to protect those on the ground in iraq. protect our embassy. protect our cons late. make shower that critical infrastructure that could adversely affect our personnel is protected. where we see an opportunity that allows us with very modest risk to help the humanitarian situation there as we did in sinjar mountain, we will take those opportunities, after having consulted with congress. but our core priority right now is to make sure our folks or safe and to do an effective assessment of iraqi and kurdish capabilities. as i said, i think in the last press conference, in

needs to go into syria, and launch those air strikes. and the reason being is that syria is a safe haven, and a sanctuary for the isis militants currently operating here in iraq. they have crossed the borders and they go back into syria, and the u.s. can conduct as many air strikes as they would like here in iraq, but at the end of the day, the militants will move back into syria, we heard frit jep ral dempsey the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and we know that to defeat isis, with we have to go into syria. and with we know that president obama has been reluctant to go get involved in the syrian war, but it has claimed the lives of some 300,000 people, but this is no longer about syria and iraq, but it is now about america, because these isis militants are going after american citizens, and we know from the horrific video that we saw that they are threatening to execute a second journalist, steven sotloff, if the air strikes continue. >> i want to bring in a cnn analyst who is joining me from washington, peter bergen, and talk ab

the story militants seize syria air base. the extremist group, islamic state capturing a major air base in syria driving out forces and gaining full control of an entire province for the first time since syria's civil war. the takeover of the base on sunday led to set backs. the full story available online at wsj.com. from florida, donald is on the phone. good morning. caller: i had a comment in general about the negative feedback we get from congress and senators mccaine and lindsey graham, whatever the president does. you know, he's aware of the, you know, the intelligence coming out of that area probably more than those two senators. what frustrates me is like a few weeks ago when the president was rescuing the yazidis from the mountain and hitting isis, they came out and said, well, you shouldn't reveal your strategy, how foolish. and now they turn it around this weekend and are demanding that he lay out his policy for them, you know. . it's just kind of silly how the politics are in this. now is the time as a cup tremend

has citizens who've gone over into iraq and syria. what's to stop them coming back and committing attacks against the u.s.? >> well, i think we developed -- both countries have developed a pretty comprehensive system for homeland security and defense in the aftermath of 9/11 and in the many years since then, many lessons learned, not a leak-proof system by any means with bombings in london and the near misses -- several near misses on the u.s. homeland with the underwear bomber and times square, etc. so in some ways we've been luckier than good. you can never have a perfect system. so i think the homeland defense systems of both countries are reasonably effective but not guaranteed. >> now, what about the strategy for tackling islamic state in syria and iraq? the president raised a few eyebrows yesterday by saying he doesn't have one, but this is a force we've seen grow in strengths for month. do you think it's a white house miscalculation? >> it's a white house tendency to focus on military withdrawal that in some ways their predeces

throughout the three year brutal syria civilian war, one thing to know about syria, they have a strong air defense system. they have a sophisticated national defense system to shoot down what they see as enemy aircraft. and syria, of course, did not develop that system because of the civil war that they're in. they've had this system in place for a long time. part of making themselves a target by israel or any other middle eastern government that might decide they want a piece of the assad regime. the assad regime has not been cheap when it comes to investing in the weapon systems. they have a rock solid ally in russia. russia has been more than happy to sell syria any weapons it wants and prop them up on complex systems like air defense. and that relatively sophisticated air defense system in syria is one of the reasons those american special forces, that team of marines and delta force commandos that carried out that attempted secret rescue mission last month to save american hostages held by isis in syria, their awareness of syrian air defense systems is apparently why that special

about to bomb syria? the mixed messages coming from this white house make that question very hard to answer tonight. we do know surveillance flights over syria have just begun. while air strikes are not part of the plan thus far, the administration reserves the right to conduct them on our own if needed. the air strikes we are already conducting against isis in iraq may be already having some adverse effects. the fbi and homeland security were sending warnings to local law enforcement late last week, warning that our current air campaign in iraq could provoke retaliation by isis sympathizers inside of the united states. so there are real risks if we attack in syria and there are terrible risks if we do not. if we instead let what the president called this cancer, isis grow. tonight we examine why we can't get a straight answer on the threat level from our own elected leaders. wheel examine the risks to america, and the exposure we face as a result of open borders at home and abroad. andy mccarthy and john

some you quoted think syria could become a worst wreeding ground for terrorists. >> the thing about syria is it's easier to get to than afghanistan. all you have to do is fly to istanbul, and the border is porous and ease why i to go over. it's not like you have to go through customs. you have to smuggle over the border and you are there much the problem is that that is easy to do, getting to iraq and afghanistan during the height of those conflict was difficult. they are concerned about the easiness in the travel. >> and on the counterterrorism side, ultimately it's a battle between privacy and security. one former ocircumstantial said minister want to keep the metadata private. they aspect counterterrorism to be on top of the people that might come back to the united attack. >> that's the tension of the fbi. how invasive can they be, if something happens they'll be criticise. if thinks don't happen and they are being invasive, they'll be criticised. how do they balance it, they don't have the resources to investigate every person that goes to turkey. how far do they want to go. >> we ca

his name is matt schrier, kidnapped by al nusra front in syria as well. he was held for seven months. after he managed to escape, he told "60 minutes" last year about the moment during his captivity, three weeks into his seven months in captivity when he realized he was not the only american that this group was holding, that this group was holding a number of americans. >> after 21 days, one jailer named muhammad moved him to a cell where another prisoner was lying on the floor. >> this guy shoots and and his beard is out to here and he's dirty and he's talking to muhammad in arabics, and muhammad is just like, america, america, like you. and i was like, what are you talking about? i didn't believe him. because the guy was speaking arabic, you know? he had the beard and everything. i looked. oh my god, he is an american. it was a curve ball. i didn't expect this at all. you know, like one of the first things i said, oh my god, they're collecting us. >> the way that that photographer, matt, escaped from captivity last year in syria, is almost impossible to

syria is the same situation. the turks, the kurds and even iran is have a vested interest. >> you've done better than the white house press secretary. maybe you should go speak for the president because your vision is a lot better than the obama doctrine. >> let's get to more of the obama doctrine. we heard from dennis a little while ago that the risks of supplying some of these groups with arms is also fraut with danger, and i guess that's the point you're trying to make. do you want to respond to that, angela? >> we are the leader of the free world, and it seems to me when you talk about junior varsity and isis, the president's foreign policy team is junior varsity. vice president, former senator, our president, former senator. where are the condoleezza rices in this administration? where are the henry kissingers? where are the colin powells in this administration? before we talk about a strategy dealing with weapons, the president needs to step up and show strength. >> i think colin powell said on a report bef

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and i know you're in parts of syria where the government is not in control. but what about the danger to the doctors, because you have the savagery of the isis group which dominates a large portion of syria. >> the conflicts, and access is to hard. and we have had to be creative in delivery of our programs for that region. and we have had to juggle it with the beneficiaries that we're trying to serve, and the security of our staff. it's not just the expatriate staff but all of the doctors in the hospitals, but i've been there and they have a disregard for humanitarian principles, which is difficult for us. i've worked in many contacts around the world, where at the end of the day, at least ambulances were respected and we don't see that in syria. >> you see doctors in jordan and lebanon and iraq working with people. and let's look at the doctors, and a trauma surgeon at work. >> we have the three new cases coming. >> some of these doctors are working around the clock. this doctor was a refugee himself. how many people are there like him, who, in your group, w

and that syria is syria bit was added to its title fairly recently in two thousand and eleven after president obama. once public calling on mr assad to step down do you see any connection between that policy stance you know calling on assad to step down and the growth of isis and other terror groups in the region no but let me explain my views on that my own personal view was asking someone to step down in the absence of a den of finding a kind of political way forward is not the way i would do it i think what we need to do is a den of along with some other countries and i again i would include russia in this a way forward for how syria can be governed in the future because it's clear the kind of narrow basis on which assad was governing that is on the basis of an alawite. fellow tribesmen and then a few of others was not sufficient so clearly there needs to be kind of an international plan on the way forward what i'm suggesting is we need a kind of bosnia type solution and then we can figure out who can be a part of that future and who should not be well i think some people would s

taking a look at syria, for example, u.s. officials believe more than 100 americans have gone there and to the region to fight for militant groups. jason carroll, cnn, new york. >> to get inside the mind of someone like douglas mcarthur mccain, it takes someone who has made similar choices, someone like a former member of the islamic extremist group and author of "radical: my journey out of an islamic extremism." he joins me tonight. is there anything specific to the fight in syria, now iraq, that's drawing these americans, these western europeans to fight there? >> absolutely. specifically, they have managed to gain control of territory. they have managed to demonstrate lightning conquests, which to the islam mind-set proves that god is on their side. this is something they draw from the original prophet. so they'll be using their lightning speed victories to demonstrate that god is on their side. and finally, the importance, the significance of their propaganda, their social media, their use of very, very slick videos and s

in terms of the syria comparison, in syria we were talking about limited strikes against the assad regime after its use of chemical weapons, you mentioned we were able to resolve diplomatically instead which, of course, has been what we consider to be a fairly good success in that regard. so they're just very different. we're continuing to arm the moderate opposition in syria who is fighting isil, not just fighting the regime. so it's a very different situation in syria versus iraq and we have different tools we use in each of those countries. >> i have to ask you about the issue about arming the kurdish forces. and i realize that's somewhat sensitive in terms of what parts of the u.s. government may be doing that and how much can be described. to the extent the u.s. has moved to defend irbil and help the northern iraqi regional government maintain its integrity, defend itself, including reportedly the pretty direct provision of weapons. is there a risk that the u.s. is ultimately contributing to the breakup of iraq essentially by reinforcing a regional government that would very happily

come from iraq and syria. my argument is me have to go a bit deeper than that, the threat we face today comes from the narrative of this extremism, wherever there is a broken sta state, wherever there is grievance, you see the extremist agenda being pushed further and faster, that is why we have problems in somalia and parts of nigeria, and indeed syria, iraq. the source the problem is the extremist and that is why the right approach to this is to identify the problem we face, the extremist narrative, and you have to take it on everywhere including at home, and when you take all that home, not just about targeting those who want to do harm, but those who put forward the extremist narrative that provides a background for bringing people into this violence. that is the approach we take. now do we need with allies to be sure isil cannot succeed in iraq and syria? yes, of course we do, but we have to be clear of what has brought this about. one of the principal courses of what has brought this about. ungoverned sp

was are you going to go to congress to attack syria, to bomb syria? he said we don't have plans to bomb syria yet. we may have to. >> to bomb isis positions in syria. >> in syria. >> sure. >> i just think -- it's a bum rap. he shouldn't have said it. it's a gaffe and why he had to send his press secretary out to cnn to use the word secretary 25 times in an interview. >> we do have that. josh earnest did use strategy many times and let's hear how he tried to clarify the president's statement yesterday. >> right. >> what's clear is we have a comprehensive strategy for dealing with isil. the aspect of the strategy that is still being developed by the pentagon and that the president is discussing in the situation room at the white house right now is what sort of military options are available for using military force against isil in syria? those options are still being developed. >> okay. kevin, to you. did that clarify it for you, those options are still being developed. >> alisyn, any time you hear the president or a member of his administration say let

s not being syria orshem, the greater syria. sometimes it is called isil. it calls itself the islamic state that many don't want to give it. we settled on isis today. it is one phenomenon we are talking about and has over 40 nationalities and has taken over a big swath of territory in iraq and syria. the full bios of our speakers are available online. i will only summarize certain aspects. john esposito is one of the leading voices on islam and understanding islam and the world. he is a university professor at georgetown, the founding director of the center for muslim-christian understanding and the former head of the middle east studies association and many other organizations. he has published 45 hooks, translated into 37 languages including uigar. shad ahamid is a fellow at the brookings institution is a former research person and has been in the research field and will help us with that perspective. he has a new book out entitled " temptations of power." this book is one of the reasons we invited him. if you follow him on twitter, you quickly realize th

and we know we don't want to go into syria. if we maintain that stance, that is a choice, there will be consequences. >> we saw the general saying that basically the border is stopping, it is stopping the existence? >> yes, the original sin is failing to intervene more aggressively in 2012. that was precisely the warning if we don't do something now and let the conflict continue and getting worse -- >> you mean in syria? >> yes, the ratted cals are going to gain ground. el you can't undo the damage. now we have to manage the situation to best of our ability, but syria is so, it is destroyed iraq and it is not a state as we know it. do we want to contain isis or do we want to defeat them? question? >> we want to defeat them. are we willing to live with that for five, ten years and what kind of repercussions does it have on the rest of the region and the fallout from foreign fighters coming back home to the u.s. or europe. >> very quickly, do they get harder to defeat the longer you wait? >> precisely. if it requires a massive ef

the islamic state group gains ground in iraq and syria. a new report showing 3 million people have been forced from their homes, fleeing the fighting. ukraine asks for n.a.t.o.' pro texas at separatists take control of the city. and th stewart speaks out after hitting and killing a driver on the racetrack. >> british prime minister said the thread posed by the islamic state group is more dangerous than that of al-qaeda. that's why britain moved to raise its terror threat level from substantial to severe. >> i don't anticipate at this point that there are--that there is a plan to change that level, but those are official announcements made by the department of homeland security. >> libby casey. what made the u.k. raise its threat level? >> reporter: this comes a week after the video was released showing the beheading of an american journalistly a british citizen. they're able to go to iraq, become battle tested and come home with the intent to do harm. there are more than 400 citizen who is have gone to the syria-iraq region, and there coul

we need to hit them in syria. we need to help the free syrian army mobilize so they can fight them on the ground. when it comes to ground troops, if our military commanders tell us that we need ground forces to defeat isil, which is a threat to the united states, so be it. we have got to win and stop these guys. >> we need to finish them off because they -- we will either fight them here or we will fight them there. that in my mind is basically the choice. >> so it sounds to me like you anticipate at some point combat boots on the ground? >> i don't know -- i don't know the answer to that, but you certainly don't take that off the table. >> we need to do everything we can to repel isis. i don't think we have the luxury of putting our heads in the sand and saying, well, it's over there and we're not going to do it. >> there's no boundary between syria and iraq. one of the key decisions the president is going to have to make is air power in syria. >> one of the decisions the president is going to have to make? who h