the same system that brings fresh snow to the syria is going bring more clouds. we will look at that in the week ahead coming up. >> thanks a lot. not done with the weather quite yet. a portion of the highway is closed again tonight. this after heavy rain and mud slides. more rain snow, and thunderstorm coming overnight could cause another mud slide. >> and happening now. certainly no let up for the east coast. another winter storm bearing down on the area. because of the storm at least 20 flights were cabncelled. check out katie camped out for much of the day with the hash tag stocked up on essentials. take a look at virginia where a lot of drivers say the roads are slick. the latest forecast is available to you. that app is free. police say they pulled over the suspect around 2:00 a.m. >> the suspect was initially uncooperative. uncooperative. no injures reported in that shooting. >> and a boy shot and killed in the streets of oakland and tonight there is a $20,000 reward to bring his killers to justice. when the victim is a child it is more so tragic. >> a roc

they are isolated and degraded inside of syria, while we conduct our main effort in iraq. we have not -- the administration had not added a -- a syrian regime or an assad component to the aumf although we are in active communication about what support we would supply once the new syrian forces are fielded. militarily there's a very pragmatic reason. you mentioned the moral obligation i suppose. let me not speak to that but let me speak -- >> well, congress has approved a significant amount of money to train and equipment people to go against isis and yet we know assad will barrel bomb them. >> yeah. >> so i'm asking -- so the president has sent us an aumf that doesn't allow us to protect them against what we know they will be facing down the road. in that to me is somewhat odd and doesn't seem congruent if you will with previous steps relative to train and equipment. >> i understand completely. and i'm not discounting the moral obligation. i'm rather giving you military advice and militarily there is a very pragmatic reason to support them, and that is we're not going to b

will there be anything left in syria? president assad: of course. syria is still here. it is that the first crisis we have faced. president assad: is about the syrian population. they are determined to survive and protect their country and rebuild it. the syrian people proved -- we don't have any other options. what other options do we have? pay a price. but to -- human only options we have are to defend our country and fight terrorism. charlie: i asked the question because many wonder what the cost is for syria. how will you put the pieces back together? how will he put the pieces back together when there is an end to this and who will do it? president assad: there is a misconception in the west that what is happening is a civil war. what is happening in syria is not civil war. when you have some war, -- civil war, you would have clear lines separated between different cities. that is not what we have. we have terrorist infiltrated areas and people are suffering from the fight. and from the terrorism of the terrorists. you don't have division in the society. you don't

traveled to iraq and syria to join isis. i think that all three of these schoolgirls were avid users of social media. they were exposed to some very evil figures, no doubt through social media. the police actually interviewed these schoolgirls at their school a few months earlier but did not intervene by telling the parents that the girls were at risk. it raises questions about what the authority should be doing to address this threat. >> british foreign minister said today in a speech people who act as apoll gists for terrorists are partly to blame for their actions. any idea what that means? >> i think that's an interesting point. i think these schoolgirls were aware of what they were getting themselves into, yet still decided o to travel to turkey and then on to syria. we're dealing really with a poisonous, evil islamist ideology and we have to confront this tremendous ideological evil. what we have in britain is infiltration of schools, universities mosques we have preachers of hate operating across the uk. it's hard to

certainly within syria they're worse off than outside of syria. and they are new transitionally deprived, but they aren't to the point of starvation. >> okay. and that leads into my other question. when you're going in and trying to get access into syria, i mean, you've got to worry about the assad government forces. and then you've got to worry about, you know freedom fighters and, you know, isis and all those other ones. you know, it just seems like one of the things i've seen on these other meetings that we've had in particular, i think it was afghan last year when we were talking to dr. shaw, he said that afghan was allocated or appropriated a billion dollars in foreign aid through usaid. but they couldn't account for $300 million. and as you're going from, you know taking our aid -- and i would feel a lot better if it was branded. that's the american taxpayers' money, and i agree with these other people that if we're sending our money over there well, i think they need to know where it's coming from. and i know that's an issue in itself becau

will there be anything left in syria? >> of course syria is still here. it's not the first kind of crisis that you are facing. >> but nothing like this. >> during the history you had many crisis damascus and aleppo has been destroyed many times but it's about the population. the syrian population are determined to survival and protect their country. and to rebuild it. >> how much is part of the power that every population has. and the syrian people proved they have strong potential. anyway we don't have any other option. what option do we have. whether we pay high price or less price. well what options do we have but to defend our country, but to fight terrorism. we don't have any. >> rose: i ask the question because many asks what is the cost to syria what it's going through. and how would you put the pieces back together? whenever there is finally an end to this how will you put the pieces back together and who will put the pieces back together. >> there's misconception in the west that what's happening in syria is a civil war. this is where you ask tha

a transitional regime away from assad is essential for syria and the people of syria. charlie: ukraine, what a great country, so rich in cultural heritage. some people look at it today and see all kinds of violations. they see a russia leader seemingly motivated by the collapse of the soviet union. although the driving force may not be to restore it but do something else. how far has he been willing to go in your judgment? bill: my years in russia have been a long exercise in humility about my analysis. charlie: because he surprises you? bill: he is a tactician and he has shown that with the ukraine. the thing to remember about russia is he is playing over long-term a relatively weak strategic hand. russia is basically a one-dimensional economy. it had the potential to diversify. it has a smart and well population but it has not done that yet. corruption is eating away at the rising middle class. demography is a huge challenge. the whole expanse of the earth there are only about 30 million or 40 million russians. looking across a very long border at more than one billi

i mean, in many ways if you look at the problems right now in iraq, in syria especially with isis, a lot of scholars and academics place it back to what happened with the u.s. invasion of iraqing. especially with the -- of iraq. especially with the u.s. privileging a shia-majority government while not taking into account sunni grievances in iraq gave and fueled movements like isis that mobilized on this kind of like, you know sunni consciousness, the sunni sectarianism, gave those movements fuel. so it's really quite unfortunate, and i think until we can resolve what's going on with isis right now isil in syria and in iraq, the future of democracy in iraq is still very much questionable and debatable. >> host: syria jordan, saudi arabia non-democracies. >> guest: yes. >> host: is democracy, in your view, a laudable goal? >> guest: i think -- >> host: for those countries? >> guest: if we look at public opinion in the arab world, the grievance structure in the arab world, there's two things going on. one is the dire economic circumstances for many in these regions. again, the region on

if they've been to syria don't let them back in. it's that simple. >>> when we come back, a proposal to gut entitlements from a fictional president that puts very real liberal bloggers up in arms. how a netflix drama just exposed a real "house of cards" in . >>> you know, i'm afraid to say this is why we're not going to get serious about entitlement spending, we can't even fake getting serious. i'm going to tell you about a made up president on a paid up netflix "house of cards" who proposes it bloggers go nuts over it and go nuts over here calling him out for being nuts because they're going nuts over something which isn't real, which is nuts. an an image tear president going after entitlements and by the with a a democratic one. charlie says the outrage over fiction shows why reforms in d.c. will never become a reality. >> and we should point out that the reason why the left wing bloggers at the huffington post care about this is when something gets into the popular culture like entitlements need to be cut they worry about it beca

so we wouldn't say that he is in control of these areas but you asked about syria, some scholars that have looked at casualty reports have been able to observe that the data shows that iran has been deploying more rank-and-file troops to syria but has been sending more higher-level commanders and that is the higher-level commanders that are needed. and so iran is sending rank-and-file troops there. one real problem is that if isis have to surrender or flee to create. and there is a real fear that they will seek to avenge that massacre. and it this is an excuse to ethnic cleansing we have a problem with our campaign. >> it has created more problems than solutions. >> i aim to please no. >> thank you again. >> take care. >> coming up, busybodies from washington made it illegal on the capital mind. some people broke the rules today and we will tell you what happened. but first a mother in trouble with the law of letting her children walk from the park alone. how dare she. we will catch up with her next. ♪ ♪ tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing

the cancer is in syria. but it seems to me every policy decision right now in the white house is driven by their desire to get a deal with iran and this effects how they are responding to the problem in syria. because they don't want to upset that apple cart because syria is alive with tehran. >> the intelligence community's moral is what at this point? big zero from -- >> it is terrible. >> i think people who have been on this issue and i hesitate to speak on their behalf but they are dedicated to the issue but they are frustrated that when the information has been presented in a very clear way, there has been a denial of the facts on the ground and that means you cannot tackle the problem. >> at the end of the day we are talking about unand under governed spaces. we are not contesting those spaces. it is going to require all instruments of stay graft jordanians have been a huge component of that next to israel or closest ally in the region. >> we ought to be advertising ourselves as the greatest nation on

and other important historical sites in syria and iraq. it's too early to say whether that was the reason bardo was attacked. but look at its location. they could have even attacked parliament which was just five minutes away from this location. but it does seem they went for a visitors site. >> it is now 1400 gmt, we continue with our special breaking news coverage of the hostage situation in the tunisian capitol this wednesday. gunmen have stormed the bardo national museum in tunis. eight people have been killed even of them are said to be foreigners, one is a tunisian a number of police officers have also been injured. now this is happening just a few minutes away from tunisia's parliament building. it's just five minutes away from the parliament building and that's the building you can see with the red roof. the building used to be a palace and it is one of tunisia's most famous tourist spots. let's just bring you up to date if you are just joining us of the key developments what we know at this stage about this hostage situation. gunm

and it isn't just limited to syria and iraq. jordan and other neighboring countries have been forced to bear the brunt of a massive influx of refugees fleeing the e t)ur'pé nd that's tested the limits of their already strained capabilities. last congress, the ranking member ted deutch and i convened four hearings on the humanitarian situation in syria. one we were pleased to join with congressman smith, and congresswoman bass' subcommittee in an effort to continue to shine a light on this aspect of the conflict that gets ignored. when we held our first subcommittee hearing on the situation in syria 80,000 syrians had been killed, and 1.5 million people had been displaced. less than two years later, those numbers have swelled, over ó[ ehwkexz(4e=t7f÷6 200,000 have been killed. more than 3 millione1 have fled. and now more than half of syria's population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. the u.s. has been the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in response to the crisis, providing much needed aid to syria, ira

they -- they were targeting monuments in syria and iraq. it looked like there is a continuation of ideology targeting the state, targeting the history, targeting the history of man kind. >> when you say enemies of the state, who do you think these enemies of the state are? are they people from within tunisia or from outside? >> well probably would be people from within tunisia, to be able to infiltrate the security system and get all the way to the gate of the museum. but these are actually international terrorists. this is a group that hate tunisia, but also they hate libya, syria, iraq france norway. these are people targeting human kind, who need to be addressed as enemies of human kind. not just enemies of tunisia. >> thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. he was on the line there from tunis. it is now 1315 gmt, if you are just joining us here on al jazeera, the events moving quickly in tunisia's capitol tunis. let's take you through the key developments of the last hour or so. gunmen have attacked the museum in tunis. ei

in syria and the kde pim iran. the kurds are factionalized and there are deep divisions but when they are under duress they come together to defend their collective national interest. by the end of the 20th century we started to see a little bit of a turn in fortune. the u.s. established a no-fly zone over iraqi kurdistan in the kurds were able to govern their own affairs and that experiments in grassroots democracy inspired kurds throughout the region to seek something similar federal arrangement where power was decentralized. >> is an extraordinary tale these dispersal against the four states in the struggle of the four states with their own challenges and parameters of regimes. you hinted at some turning points there in your last comments but how have kurdish movements and political organizations networked with each other? has the relationship also had some tensions? has it evolved? give us a sense of how in resistance to kurds have managed to find political expression or not in various points of history? >> bec

he didn't go to syria himself. he built a business around getting other people to syria which means he gets a commission . they will get there and realize they are eating strips of meat in the sun and with child brides. i bet he can get three times the commission to get these people back from syria. >> they say their cell phones don't work. i am not joking. >> in fact it is like summer camp. we should -- >> anna bell is champing at the bit here. >> i agree -- i kind of -- i am the mother of a 17-year-old and this is your worst nightmare. at the same time i admire this kid's industriousness. i asked him do you want french toast? nothing. grunt once for yes grunt twice for no. this is what it has come to. >> i did some research and he weighs 920 pounds? talking is brutal for them. the whole diaphragm is pushing down. >> teenagers are so lazy so the industriousness is amazing. >> fantastic? >> that is sarcasm right? >> fantastic in the sense of the word of unbelievable fantastical. >> awesome in the traditional sense.

syria state news agency says the attacks happened thursday in north western syria. a source tells cnn as many as 13 of the groups leaders were killed. >> breaking news now out of israel police in jerusalem say a number of people have been injured as a car ran them over. it happened near the border police headquarters. police headquarters. we don't have many other details at this point but we will bring you more information as we get it. >> welcome back to cnn newsroom. the prescribe of australia says his government has not given up on trying to save two australian men from being executed in indonesia. >> the men are part of the nine. nine people arrested in 2005 for planning to smuggle heroin out of indonesia. >> we want to assure people that even at the 11th hour the australian government is doing everything we humanly can to let the indonesia government and people know that it would be in neither their best interests or their best values for these executions to go ahead. >> photographs showing an indonesian police chief smiling and apparently posing with the two a

but actually expanded in other areas in southeastern syria. so now you're seeing this influx of foreign fighters, both on behalf of dash and interestingly enough foreign fighters fighting with the anti-isis forces, specifically the kurdish resistance forces. right there. and you're also seeing an influx -- a massive influx of foreign fighters on behalf of the iranny guards and their expeditionary forces in syria as well. >> you got a lot of foreigners and it's very compli -- complicated. as a syrian american, good idea, bad idea? >> completely combustible. it's a calderon that would lead to syria becoming a staging ground for international terror strikes. now, that being said, certainly the intent by the western fighters to go and fight on behalf of the kurdish forces against dash is noble, but as you also saw, the people -- when you talk to the people on the ground, they don't need more bodies. they don't need more fighters. they need more guns. they need better coordinated air strikes with the americans and the western-backed coalition fight

the supporting effort is in syria. we can do something in syria but we cannot do everything until the campaign in iraq is over. the key is to make sure the iraqi campaign goes well. laura: as you watch from afar after being closely involved, after so many years of the u.s. going wrong in iraq, do you fear -- do you feel a corner is being turned? >> they went wrong in 2003, in 2009 and 2010, they went wrong. maybe they are going back in the direction now. laura: general james to -- general james, thank you for joining us. a report by a global coalition of eight agency criticizes a counsel for letting down civilians and calls on the government to boost have military and -- to boost humanitarian responses. 8 million people have been displaced. >> good news does not come out of syria often. in the last few days the you win read a delivery to a palestinian refugee in damascus that has been smashed by the war. what makes it more cool is that the end -- more cruel is that the end is not insight. the statistics on serious diss

if they've been to syria don't let them back in. it's that simple. >>> when we come back, a proposal to gut entitlements from a fictional president that puts very real liberal bloggers up in arms. how a netflix drama just exposed a real "house of cards" in ♪ at mfs, we believe in the power of active management. every day, our teams collaborate around the world to actively uncover, discuss and debate investment opportunities. which leads to better decisions for our clients. it's a uniquely collaborative approach you won't find anywhere else. put our global active management expertise to work for you. mfs. there is no expertise without collaboration. . >>> you know, i'm afraid to say this is why we're not going to get serious about entitlement spending, we can't even fake getting serious. i'm going to tell you about a made up president on a paid up netflix "house of cards" who proposes it bloggers go nuts over it and go nuts over here calling him out for being nuts because they're going nuts over something which isn't real, which is

strategy is focused on iraq first but until the of mill town of syria which has been termed chernobyl it will spewed radioactive technology over the entire region. last fall may authorize training but to the great frustration when pressed on the path for word most officials seem to suggest we could figure out later this is creating and crisis of confidence and our witnesses are here to explain the strategy when the committee returns we will hear more about alejandra a you met -- a you imf request. >> thank you for calling this important hearing. we are delighted we have such a distinguished array of generals to speak with us this morning and thank you for appearing to day and for our country. with those significant challenges that remain we must address the elephant in the rooms in the for a new authorization of military force or aumf that congress has the important role to play in the policy i believe negotiations over the program congress needs to play its part and i will resist any attempt to marginalize congress with the constitutional role. service members the brave men and women

this week more than 200 syrian christians in northern syria were kidnapped by isis militants and are feared to be held as slaves or hostages. this group is showing their support for their communities in the danger zone. some have family there. >> what we want to convey is you have people in the u.s. these people most of them come from you, from the middle east, and we are doing all our best to support you. >> reporter: this group is calling on the united states government to do something to help. they want the u.s. military to consider arming assyrian christians in syria and their kurdish allies in iraq and they're hoping the u.s. will pressure countries like turkey to allow refugees fleeing isis to seek safety there. now, last night an assyrian church in san jose held a prayer vigil for those who were kidnapped by isis militants this week. they're planning a larger event later the next month. reporting live in san francisco. abc7 news. >> developing news in san jose. the search is on for two drivers after a high-speed crash killed a teenager and injured another. pollution say two ca

i would not go into syria right now. i think it i think one has to take precautions even going near the border with syria because isis is not only in syria they're all around the border. they are looking, and then was just sent to journalists recently saying be careful in turkey because they're coming into turkey, take them back into syria. so i think while people have to be very aware of what they're covering when they go into these war zones and have to understand understand, have to do their homework before they go anywhere near a war zone now. and it's not just in syria, or the lines are not so black and white. >> thank you for getting at the essence of the question. that's a change. >> i don't know if this is complete irrelevant but -- >> does it matter. >> the american society and the muslim society, wouldn't it be better if the troops were trained more abruptly for like -- >> that's a great question. i think we would not have the situation we're in an erect of the troops had been trained before they went to iraq.

america >> kurdish forces say they found evidence that isil fighters used chemical weapons in iraq and syria. >> you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, the force in the pipeline, financial help from iran. >>> fear many people are killed when a severe cyclone list vanuatu. >> we have reports of how men from the former yugoslavia are now fighting in the war in ukraine. >> hello kurdish security forces have found evidence which they say confirms accusations that isil are using weaponnized chemical agents in the conflict in iraq and syria. according to the kurdistan security council, samples collected after a sued attack contain levels of chlorine that suggested isil were using the chemicals as weapons. isil is suspected to be using chemical weapons previously, but this is the first time that an international investigation has proved those allegations. well, for more on this story we're joined by the managing director of the world's leading chemical weapons experts. thank you for being with us on the program. how surprised are you that chlorine might be being used by isil?

. >> last month, three british high school girls reportedly went to join isis in syria. it's estimated 4,000 people have traveled from western europe and several dozen more from the united states to join the fighters. >>> the damage is still being assessed in syria after a u.s.- led coalition strike last night hit an isis-controlled oil refinery. the coalition efforts against the mill lip tants are being criticized by an iraqi official. >> reporter: the u.s.-led coalition targeting an isis- held oil refinery on sunday night. a human rights group said airstrikes killed more than two dozen people including militantsance oil refinery workers. last november, the u.n. estimated isis earned 1.6 million a day from selling oil. security is high in turkey following the attack. >> translator: as you can see, our windows are broken. we had clients ininside. they ran outside fearing. >> reporter: coalition forces carried out 3,000 strikes on isis attacks in syria since august. this is criticized by an iraqi official. isis is said to have attacked this city over the weekend. >> trans

police believe they're already in syria. nbc, glasgow, scotland. >>> adopting into a happy home. families getting a break on new additions. >>> students get ready for new tests starting tomorrow in maryland. what to expect:police are to be believed. this is a young woman who has led a double life. >> and a high school student commits suicide. why is his cleanse friend facing a manslaughter charge? >>> and in a few minutes on "sports final," brice harper at the round table on the source of this season's confidence. the capitals wheeling and dealing to the trade deadline. their latest addition and what could be next. and maryland's des wells, the memories behind the emotions of senior day. >>> new charges are opening up some old wound for a femme in massachusetts. conrad roy killed himself last year and police now say roy's friend encouraged him to end his life. roy got into his grandmother's truck, turned on a generator, and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. first police say he got out of the car and texted his friend saying he was too scared to do it. the text messages reveal th

surveillance drone is said to ever crashed in syria's northern region. the pentagon said a drone is missing but will not say it was brought down. if confirmed, it will be the first aircraft downed in syria since coalition airstrikes began last summer. >> former sufficient troops volunteering to return to the fight in iraq. >> isis killed two of my friends. >> we'll find out what's pulling some american veterans back to that country without the backing of the u.s. military. >> one way the seattle police department is trying to let the public see everything its officers do. >> the secret service is investigating an envelope containing cyanide sent to the white house. officials say no one was injured from handling the letter. there are reports the person who sent it has a long history of sending dangerous substances to the secret service. this incident is just the latest confronting the service. director joseph clancy was grilled on capitol hill today. lawmakers urged him to fix the agencies culture can be including firing agents. the secret service has bee

and syria and iraq and beyond syria and iraq. so these are two important things that originate in the 1990s, and they're relevant to the period today. after the iraq war, a second snapshot, husband to have call snapshot. -- husband to have call snapshot. you know, after the iraq war caused sunnis to feel that they have lost power. so they are minority, arab sunnis are minority in iraq, and they suddenly felt that they no longer are in control. they felt that the americans were conspiring with the shias and with the kurds and even with iran to take over politics. there are indications that these were, there are basis basically, for these kind of conspiratorial thinking. because, you know, the first elections that happened after the, you know the americans hand over power to the iraqis was dominated by shia and kurds. and sunnis boycotted the elections and lost control. so there was like, a kind of sense that they're losing power and you start of to have a movement dedicated to the restoration of sunni domination in iraq. now, that

if they've been to syria don't let them back in. it's that simple. >>> when we come back, a proposal to gut entitlements from a fictional president that puts very real liberal bloggers up in arms. how a netflix drama just exposed a real "house of cards" in washington. let me talk to you about retirement. a 401(k) is the most sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. sure. you seem knowledgeable professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? i would. i would indeed. well, let's be clear here. i'm actually a dj. [ dance music plays ] [laughs] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp -- work with the highest standard. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into

you need some help there but for most of the people in iraq syria and the region, and this is the paradox in the entire affair. if you ask people around the region which are the three most dangerous countries that have been undermining stability and peace, and they will tell you they are israel, the united states, and iran. so in fact, when these three are trying to work out differences of course much of the region will balk against iran, and american transgression, but they would rather see these resolved peacefully, than to have another war compounded over the other wars in the region. thank you. let's look at the rest of the day's news that is coming up ahead, as they prepare for more fighting despite the cease fire, and how china is doing more to save el fans from poachers. show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie... what can you tell me about my future? >> can effect and surprise us... >> don't try this at home >> techknow... where technology meets humanity... only on al jazeera america >> tonight. did the police fail misty upham? >> if somebody did something to m

prosecutors accused the 47-year-old seen in this photo of plotting to travel to syria to join isis he allegedly wrote i am a muj mujadeed and will fight against the united states >> he's kind and did seem like a nice guy. >> according to investigators he was determined to become an enemy of the state, claiming 180 geed haudy individualors found on his computer. court documents indicate he'd been on a long road to the dark side the former u.s. air force mechanic left the military in 1990 after four years and converted to islam in 1998 and investigated when a co-worker reported he expressed sympathy for osama bin laden and was arrested living in egypt, allegedly trying to fly to turkey to get to syria. >> you have cooperation between turks and egyptians and united states to make sure he didn't get into syria. >> in -- if convicted he could spend years in prison. >> japanese police are investigating a phone call threatening to kill caroline kennedy. reporting a male caller said quote sh i will kill ambassador kennedy. that put a new focus on security for american diplomats. >> the real e

>> no, i -- i think -- when you say a stay in syria. we're not in syria. >> no i mean stay in terms of our military support for -- >> the military support -- >> -- for taking out isil and strengthening the moderate syrians. >> we are committed to strengthen the moderate syrians, we are committed to help train and equip. we're committed to other activities specifically focused on the assad regime but this -- this authorization, and the efforts to deal with isil are focused on degrading and destroying isil. and that particular military activity, should that goal be accomplished would then cease and desist. but the effort to support the moderate opposition will continue. now obviously if isil is eliminated, and the moderate opposition has gained capacity as a consequence of that particular fight they are going to be strengthened in their other activities and we have made that argument openly and publicly. >> how long in your opinion general, do you think it will take for assad to be removed militarily or politically, given his current stat

his ambitions spread beyond iraq into the chaos of syria. by 2013, al baghdadi changes the name again, this time calling the islamic state in iraq and syria, and soon take the first syrian city. the black flag hanging in the eastern city of raqqa. comes the strong hold for their growing movement. president obama is asked about the threat in the interview with the "new yorker" in january of 2014. compared isis to a junior varsity sports team, saying, quote, the analogy we use around here sometimes that i think is accurate is that the jv teams puts on laker uniforms, it doesn't make them kobe bryant. those remarks come back to haunt him as isis launches a massive offensive. including mosul, the second largest city in iraq, and tikrit, the hometown of saddam hussein. time after time iraqi troops either are defeated or run away. the brutality of the group, many iraqi soldiers flee in terror as they see the fighters approach. in a rare public message al badadi proclaimed the territory under islamic law, a caliphate with himself as the head. isis

in this case it is battle to isil in iraq and syria. the hearing began about 9:30. they have been testifying for a little more than a hour. but i want to go to our military expert here, mike lyons, retired army major, and as i listen to most of the testimony, there seems to be a lot of concern across

in syria, it is much more difficult because we have problems with the regime. we are relying with--the help of other air of countries in the region to help us with the training missions of the opposition that will fight isis in syria. that is in the process of being carried out. they are still in that process. it is too early to tell the prognosis. the bottom line is that america and our international partners have -- are committed to degrading and destroying isis. it will take a long time. it will not be done in a matter of months, but we are determined and we will win. burgess: i know you oppose the keystone pipeline. mitch mcconnell said he is going to lead that chamber you serve in, but we have not seen anything like that. we saw the senate get stuck on homeland security funding, and recently there has been an ugly fight over a bipartisan human trafficking bill, which appeared to have support until it came to the floor. how good of a job do think mitch mcconnell is doing right now? senator cardin: i am not going to judge the majority leader in the senate at

this week more than 200 syrian christians in northern syria were kidnapped by isis militants and are feared to be held as slaves or hostages. this group is showing their support for their communities in the danger zone. some have family there. >> what we want to convey is you have people in the u.s. these people most of them come from you, from the middle east, and we are doing all our best to support you. >> reporter: this group is calling on the united states government to do something to help. they want the u.s. military to consider arming assyrian christians in syria and their kurdish allies in iraq and they're hoping the u.s. will pressure countries like turkey to allow refugees fleeing isis to seek safety there. now, last night an assyrian church in san jose held a prayer vigil for those who were kidnapped by isis militants this week. they're planning a larger event later the next month. reporting live in san francisco. abc7 news. >> developing news in san jose. the search is on for two drivers after a high-speed crash killed a teenager and injured another. pollution say two ca

in syria, the u.s. is fighting against iran and is an enemy of iran which supports hezbollah and the government of bashar al assad. in syria the u.s. is also fighting with iran against isis. it is even confusing for me. in iraq we're fighting with iran. in syria we're fighting both with and against iran. and in yemen, now we're backing saudi arabia, egypt, and this other coalition. we say we're not going to get deeply involved, we'll just insist with some intelligence while at the same time huge negotiations, profoundly important negotiations on the way in switzerland with iran. >> it's clear. i see a path in front of us that is totally clear. >> let me ask you a dumb question. obviously the united states is the largest military on earth. everyone has been worried that we're stretched too thin. is iran stretched a little thing right now? right now they're fighting actively in iraq, actively in syria, pretty actively in yemen, and maybe even more than that plus they're iran and they have to worry about t

even syria is skeptical it will succeed. egypt's interior minister is sacked in a major shake up of president's assisi's government. taking at look at the foe phenomenal growth of mobile gaming. >> we begin in syria where we confront a syria strike has killed a commander. he was killed in p a special army operation in italy on thursday. earlier remembers say he died in a drone attack on february 27th, but now the group says that he was indeed killed on thursday. he was a vet repleader who held the title of general military commander. ever the the front. a closer look at the fronts and it's objectives. the group is al quaida's branch, it took on the name as part of the uprising against the asaad regime. it has also been fighting other groups. now it's leaders are considering cutting their links with al quaida to purely syrian entity. a rebranding would at least in theory free up more funding. u.n. security council and is listed as a terrorist organization, but reports are saying that not all leaders are onboard with this late

kobani which is in syria there's huge losses there in syria brought about by the combination of the forces in kobani as well as coalition air strikes. >> rose: it has also been reported it's a destination. there's been eliminations -- >> let's true.awe've taken out several of their key leaders. however they account for that. bear in mind isil leadership traces its origins from al-qaeda in iraq. so they know us, they have long experience with the united states, so one of their teachers if you will and attributes is they put out strategic, the leadership puts out strategic guidance which is done on a decentralized basis. so they account for losses. they plan on it. so they've got, they work their bench. and so yes we've had some successes taking out a lot of their leadership but they have replacements. >> rose: some argue we still haven't eliminated al-qaeda after all these years. it's a multilong time project. >> the al-qaeda core or senior leadership in pakistan has been decimated. but we've had of course the emergence of the franchises, if you will. and of course isil has made a lot out o

. >>> usair strikes against isis in iraq and syria growing. isis threat in the u.s. also growing. a u.s. national guardsman and his cousin arrested and charged for trying to join isis and plotting a terror attack on our soil. gary b. says we need to be doing more and spending more here. >> exactly, brenda. let me run a scenario by you. i'm a general in the military and i go to the commander in chief and i say i want to spend $10 million a day to fight isis overseas. any smart person would say, what's your strategy? you know what the response is? i don't have one. how do you declare victory? i don't know. that's what we have fighting isis overseas. i'm not saying it's worthwhile, but so muddling undefined, you can't figure it out. meanwhile, we have threats within our borders. as nomiki would readily agree, we need to protect our borders here and make it safe. that should be our effort. not fighting other people's wars overseas to the tune of $3 billion, $4 billion a year. >> i have to let you respond. >> i'm so happy you want the government to do this and not a private company. >>

mueller was captured back in 2013 after leaving a doctors without borders hospital in syria. u.s. officials confirmed her death last month but have not verified claims by isis that she was killed in a jordanian air strike. will carr has more from or west coast newsroom. will? >> this is quite an emotional ceremony. we heard from a number of kayla mueller's closest friends and family, including her mom, who choked up while she was reading a letter that kayla had sent her while in captivity. we also heard from senator john mccain, who actually teared up during a moment himself. he called kayla an extraordinary young woman and said she was a powerful example to follow. mueller was captured by isis in august of 2013 while she was in syria before she had traveled all over the world protesting genocide, raising awareness for hiv and aids and peacefully standing up for a number of other humanitarian efforts. listen to mueller talk about the syrian conflict in a youtube video she made back in 2011. >> i am in solidarity with the syrian people. i reject the brutality and killing that the s

they control one-third of syria and we have an administration that is completely oblivious and they would rather attack christians, they would rather attack conservatives than name the threat that we're facing and that's from islamic treatmentists. >> juan says we've been bombing. we can wipe out islamic treatmentism in 24 hours, 48 hours if we actually took the threat seriously, but we don't. we can't even say the name. >> let me just say the way you guys talk it would raise my blood pressure, i've got to call my doctor because you're scaring me and you're scaring the audience and this is why president obama has said we have to be realistic in in terms of who we're fighting. remember, they don't each have -- hang on lisa. we don't even have 20000 people in isis, isil, whatever it is don't make them out to be so large that they are the equivalent of what we had to mount in this country to fight nazis or fight extremists or you know, the imperial list in japan it's just not that. >> i totally disagree. >> don't make them so small that we are oblivious to threats -- >> i'm just trying to be

they are abducted in the province in syria's northeast. others freed were welcomed to a church in the city. >> the plans of the u.s. led coalition to train what it calls moderate syrian rebels have suffered a setback. the movement, which was the first rebel group selected to receive the training has disbanded. the group's ranks collapsed after fighting against the al-qaeda al-nusra front in syria. we have a report from beirut. >> they lost many men in the fight and the movement appears to have collapsed, but these syrian release were not killed by the syrian government. they died fighting al-qaeda's affiliates in aleppo. a few days ago, the nusra front declared all-out war on the group, accusing it of killing and kidnapping its fighters, a charge the u.s -- backed group denies. the movement has decided to disband. in a statement, a spokesman said the syrian military began to advance on several front lines because of the opposition's in-fighting, as long as it remained, it would be a target for al-nusra. >> the fighting in aleppo was not th

investigators believe his plan was to cross into syria to fight with isis but officials in particulary became sus spirk and sent him back -- suspicious and sent him back to egypt where he was deported to the united states. >> what you're seeing here is greater cooperation around the threat of foorn fighters -- foreign fighters flowing into the syria conflict and potentially flowing back into western countries. >> reporter: the f.b.i. says it found 180 jihaddist propaganda videos on pew's computer and found a letter believed to be his egyptian wife in which he wrote: in 2001 the they got a tip from his coworker saying he expressed sympathy for and support for the attacks in kenya and tans any ya. he claimed went to turkey for vacation and to look for a job. >>> it is a busy day for the royal couple here in washington today after checking out the lincoln and martin luther king, jr. memorials. prince charles and camilla are scheduled to visit mount vernon in virginia and prince charles will have a look at historical documents at archives today. the duchess of cornwall will visit the shake

and in recent years we have seen the phenomenon of tunisians heads over to iraq and syria, around 3,000 at the moment fighting for groups linked to or part of isil. we understand several hundred of those people have returned to tunisia. but up until now tunisia has been used more as a training ground as a weapons depot for these armed groups. and tunisia itself has been targeted. but civilians have escaped from any kind of targeting or attack or even any suspicion of attack up until now. so for tunisians to try to understand whether it was tunisians who carried this out, i think it will be very difficult for tunisians to stomach that at the moment. >> when you think about the international scale of those people out there who are causing insurgencies, or whatever you want to call it you would think that's a pretty small number and yet the head of the e.u. foreign policy unit says it was in her words [ inaudible ] in other words isil. >> i think it's way too early to say it was isil or not. but you say it's three gunmen but we just don't know that. we don't know if there are other cells o