Watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Top of the hour right now. Lets home in on iraq. Iraqi civilians are dying in an onslaught happening by jihadist isis militants. It has the u. S. Now considering Emergency Air drops and even air strikes in iraq. Fewer than three years after president barack obama declared iraq stable, the u. S. Is weighing its military options. Want you to take a listen to the white house response to cnns questioning about what these military options may be. Well, im not in a position to provide you a tactical assessment of the situation on the ground. What i can do is, i can give you some insight into the president s thinking in general about the kinds of principles that would apply to contemplated military action. That would include no combat boots being put on the ground in iraq. The president has been clear about that, and that principle continues to hold. The president has also been clear that any sort of military action that would be taken in iraq would be very limited in scope and very specific to addressing a core american objective. That was the white house just a little while ago. As you look at these pictures, heres the context of this whole story today. Religious minorities, women, children, on the run in iraq, because isis is moving from town to town, to village, delivering an ultimatum, convert or being murdered. Iraqs largest christian town has now been overrun by islamist fighters, tens of thousands of christians who live there have been forced to flee into the mountains. So joining me now, mark hertling, former u. S. Army commander of the iraqi city of najah and elise, let me begin with you. Youre talking to your sources here as were learning from whats happening in washington. Talk to me about the time line for these emergency, these humanitarian air drops and possible air strikes. Well, brooke, the president has been meeting with his National Security team all morning and into the afternoon, trying to decide exactly how the u. S. Could help these some 40,000 yezidis these minority christian sect in the north, basically escape from a mountaintop. They were out of food, out of water. They need shelter. A lot of people have died from the heat. And the discussion now is how can the u. S. Best help them. So were told that they are a range of options. The president is considering from air dropping supplies, food, water, medicine, shelter, to perhaps providing some kind of humanitarian corridor to get them out. And that would have to entail some kind of american air support or air strike. Were not really sure. U. S. Officials quick to point out, no decision has been made. Theyre considering it. But obviously, brooke, time is not on their side. And they do need to act very quickly, for two reasons. First of all, these people are in dire straits. And secondly, clearly, they dont want to give isis any heads up about what theyre doing. They want to strike quick, they want to strike swiftly and they want to get the job done. General, youve been to this desert, this part of iraq multiple times. I want to ask you about that, sinjar mountain. But first, you know, as far as these potential air strikes go, to elises point, how effective would air strikes be against isis . Well, what i would say, brooke, first youve got to consider the geography of this area. If you consider anyone ninewah province, sinjar is a rocky hill, in the middle of a desert and the Central Point of where isis controls. The state of ninewah, they have control over so to reach a point with any kind of relief efforts is going to be very challenging. It is not going to be very easy to bomb here. It is going to be very difficult to drop humanitarian supplies there, because this hill is you can walk on it. So any time you might drop something there, isis forces could go up and get it, unless you pinpoint it right at the very top of the mountain. Ive been on sinjar mountain several times. Whats that like . We used to have a communication site there. Its challenging. And as we talk about what the various options are for the president , im sure general dempsey and the National Security team are providing him all sorts of options right now. To include how the kurdish fighters might reinforce this area. How you might get some resupply into this force. But this is by no means a simple operation. And anyone that says it is has never been in combat before. I mean, its interesting to hear you talk about the lay of the land. This is just a big, rocky hill. We know tens of thousands of men, women and children are on top of this rocky hill. Right. Surrounded by isis at the base. They are up there, hanging on for dear life. They have no food, they have no water, and i understand at this time of year, it is hot. Its life or death for them. Its interesting, brooke. I think the last time i was on top of sinjar was july of 2008. And it was 137 degrees there with winds whipping across that mountain that was really rough. The other thing that i would point out, too, the yezidis are not this is not the first time this has happened. Right before i arrived in Multinational Division north in 2007 and august of 2007, they were the victims of the largest suicide bombing attack by al qaeda. Lost almost 500 yezidis in that attack. This is its not a christian cult. They are certainly not devil worshippers. I have had meetings with some of their leaders, and they are a very interesting and very different type of religious culture. But its one of only probably a dozen different religious in that area. Yezidis, turkmen. So as isis goes after this group, this is the beginning. There are a whole lot of other religious kults theyre soon going after, as well. So you have these isis militants. And we have been reporting on this months and months. Seizing towns, villages, cities. This is the first time where were really honing in on this, truly, religious persecution. And hearing from the white house, too, as they have been going on in and basically giving people the choice, either convert or be killed. Theyre abducting young girls. Yes. What happens to those girls . Well, and thats interesting, because we also experienced that when i was there, and it continues on with some of these extreme extremes, groups. They will take young girls, anywhere from the ages of 8 through 15 and make them their wives, multiple ones. And whats interesting about this, we ran into this in 2008 where a lot of the al qaeda members were coming in, taking Young Children for their wives, impregnating them, and then the terrorists, the al qaeda fighters, would be killed. The wife then becomes a widow. And in this culture, not only have they now been rate of speed raped, forced to undergo this sexual treatment, but now when their terrorist husbands are killed, then become a bane on the community, outcasts. These are people who eventually may turn into the female suicide vest wearers we saw so many of in iraq in 2008. So this is a very nefarious situation. These people are just flat out evil. And im sure the president and his National Security team are very challenged right now with what to do and bombing is probably one option. Its not a good option. Because whenever you bomb, you have to reinforce with ground troops. And having this area which it would be the equivalent of the battle of the bulge, with baston being sinjar, and you could send planes in, but then youve got to reinforce with some type of ground troops. The peshmerga could do this, but they are also needing ammunition and they have a very great affinity toward the yezidis and all of the other religious groups in this area. Just hearing you, general, i just cant help but shake my head, what do you say, especially hearing about what these young girls, who theyre forced to turn into. Well be watching how the u. S. Reacts. I appreciate both of you this afternoon. I do want to focus more on the religious minorities caught up in this. As we were just discussing, this group called the yezidis. They have lived in the Northern Iraqi town of sinjar. And this past weekend, isis fighters pushed through their town, forcing so many of these thousands of yezidis to flee. And they ended up in these makeshift camps in the nearby mountains and its their plight here that is drawing international attention. As i pointed out, in my conversation, there is no water in the camp, there is little food. And there are reports of these people starving to death. Theyre dying of dehydration. Cnns ivan watson reports. Reporter this is how the people are fleeing. The latest offensive by the Islamic State. Theyre piling into the back of trucks, piling their families in. In some cases, walking. Weve heard from families walking five hours on foot overnight and coming here to the gates of the kurdish city of irbil. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] so these people are for the most part from the turkmen ethnic group, all basically fled the fighting. They arrived here this morning, and they say nobody has come to help them, and they dont know where else to go. So most of these people, all of these children you see over here, are probably going to be sleeping here tonight. This is an example for you of the crisis that has now struck this part of Northern Iraq. You quite literally have and this is just one unfinished building that we have found. There is a string of just kind of abandoned warehouses and partially built buildings, highrises along the entry route into irbil that are full of families like that. Rolling up in whatever vehicleses they can find, packed with a few belongings. And, of course, their families, as well. And theyre just trying to find any shelter possible. The Iraqi Kurdish region has been enjoying an enormous construction boom, but i dont think anybody predicted these unfinished shells would become temporary housing for basically thousands of displaced people. Some of them coming with little children. Just a few months old. Some of them traveling part of the way here on foot. All of them say they are fleeing this offensive by the group that calls itself the Islamic State of iraq in syria. Here he was and here he is live, ivan watson in irbil for us. And ivan, few people have ever heard of this religious minority group, the yezidis. Tell me more about them. Reporter they are a small sect, an example of really how mixed ethnically and religiously this part of iraq is. That mixture has been dwindling ever since the u. S. Invasion of iraq and set loose all of this conflict. Ive been to the mecca, if you could call it, of the yezidi faith, in the kurdish region. The yezidis have long been persecuted. They say they have suffered genocidal policy some 72 times. And this latest offensive is another example of that. Theyre often considered satan worshippers by the muslim majority here. But the yezidis arent the only people under pressure, brooke. The people in the report you just aired, those people were Shiite Muslims fleeing isis. And we know that the patriarch of the christians of iraq, he has written an open letter, an urgent sos, calling for help for 100,000 christians who are fleeing now in conditions like the ones you just saw right there. So basically, anybody who is not a sunni muslim right now and doesnt adhere to the strict version, interception of islam of isis, is in fear right now, and is terrified. And is on the run as these militants move into towns and villages that had been protected by the Kurdish Peshmerga militia, which has been pushed back on a number of fronts within the last 36 hours. Brooke . White house calling this a humanitarian catastrophe, nearing a humanitarian catastrophe, considering air strikes on iraq. Ivan watson, thank you so much for that, for that report. Much more on the story coming up later this hour. Were following this other breaking story, hearing those prorussian rebels shot down a military plane in Eastern Ukraine. And we are told they used that same russianmade missile system. This is the same weapon investigators believe brought down Malaysian Air flight 17. So what message are the rebels sending to kiev, to the rest of the world . A live report, next. I dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. I love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angies list for bringing us together. Find out why more than two million members count on angies list. Angies list reviews you can trust. But parallel parking isnt one you do a lof them. Ings great. Youre either too far from the curb. Or too close to other cars. Its just a matter of time until you rip some guys bumper off. So, here are your choices take the bus. Or get Liberty Mutual insurance. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Call Liberty Mutual insurance. Youre watching cnn. Were following breaking news in several parts of the world. Lets focus on Eastern Ukraine right now. Because a ukrainian government, counterterrorism official, says the prorussian rebels have shot down another ukrainian fighter jet. According to preliminary reports, this was downed using a russianmade surfacetoair missile system. Lets get to our Cnn Senior International correspondent, Nick Payton Walsh in donetsk. What more can you tell me, nick . Brooke, the reason why theres so much tension on this, the ukrainian authorities are claiming a similar missile system, the buk, has been used to down this mig 29 slightly to the north of the crash site of mh17. Similar to that, took down mh17. All the parallels there, the ukrainian authorities rekeen to continue to remind people about their contention separatists took their plane down, agreed by the United States and world powers, as well. This comes to impossible for the investigators to continue wore their work at the crash site of mh17, because of the violence. While we were here, its been a very volatile day. Intense shelling to the south of this city. Small arms fire occasionally around the city center where i sit here. And interesting Political Development too in the separatist leader, the selfdeclared Prime Minister gave a rare press conference, suddenly resigned, handing his powers over to someone we havent heard of before, a militant leader. So a lot moving here. The Ukrainian Army advancing very quickly indeed. This jet being downed, and sad to say, yes, the investigation to mh17, thats halted for days, possibly weeks, because of the violence around the crash site. Brooke . Because of all of that, nick, have the investigators left . Reporter as far as were aware, the dutch have pulled back, certainly to their base on the ukrainian side, potentially further back, as well. The monitors assisting their access, they seem to be reconfiguring their presence, downsizing too. Nobody anticipates a continued presence. It is, as i was told by one official close to the investigation yesterday, simply sandwiched between the ukrainian and rebel front lines right now. On the map, you see the debris, ukrainians on one side, the rebels on the other. The front lines constantly shifting. The small arms fire came near the Investigation Team yesterday. Thats why theyre leaving. Theyre taking what they can from there, sad to say the human remains. Some personal belongings. The broader task of taking the wreckage away, piecing back together, doing the frik style of investigation. Thats going to have to wait until the conflict dies down and no sign of that where im sitting, brooke. Nick, thank you so much. Nick paton walsh in Eastern Ukraine for us. Lets take you back to what were learning from washington as far as the situation in iraq goes. The white house is considering military options, specially considering air strikes there. This was the scene outside of the white house, just a little while ago. These protesters, they are demanding president obama step in, help these religious ethnic minorities in iraq. So what role will the United States play . What are all the options on the table . How effective would even air strikes be . Thats next. Bulldog if youre like me, youve been working like a dog all year. But you dont need to camp out til labor day to reward yourself. Mattress discounters labor day sale is on now rest those tired bones on a queen size serta mattress and box spring set. Right now, theyre just 397. Get 48 months interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection. Not to labor the point, but this sale wont last long. Mattress discounters welcome back. Im brooke baldwin. When president barack obama was senator, he opposed the iraq war. Flash forward to 2008. Ran for president , vowing to push for u. S. Troops withdrawal from iraq. Six years later, president obama may be on the verge of some kind of military action in iraq, including possible air strikes. What would it take for president obama to okay u. S. Military action in iraq . Heres the White House Press secretary. Well, im not in a position to provide you a tactical assessment of the situation on the ground. What i can do is, i can give you some insight into the president s thinking in general about the kinds of principles that would apply to contemplateded military action. That would include no combat boots being put on the ground in iraq. The president has been clear about that, and that principle continues to hold. The president has also been clear that any sort of military action that would be taken in iraq would be very limited in scope and very specific to addressing a core american objective. Let me bring in jim acosta, in that briefing. Pushed josh earnest a little bit. And we have confirmation the white house is considering air strikes in iraq. Jim, what more do we know . Reporter that is really it at this moment, brooke. And part of that is because officials inside the administration are really assessing what to do next. We saw some of this before, what happened back in june when the president was considering military strikes against these isis targets outside of baghdad when they were advancing on the capital city in iraq. And the concern at that time was perhaps baghdad could fall. And the president at that time said they were looking at shortterm immediate military options that were on the table. And then in the end, he ended up not taking those options. So i think, you know, a note of caution is perhaps not unreasonable here, brooke. That we may be seeing a similar situation right now. Having said that, the president will be meeting with advisers later on this afternoon, and we did see something very interesting. It was caught by one of our White House Pool photographers earlier in the day before the president went to assign that v. A. Reform bill. There was an animated discussion that he was having with the chief of staff, denis mcdonough, outside the oval office. It was within the view of the cameras and it was caught on camera. We dont know what that was about. But, you know, if they are having conversations about something of this nature, obviously they would be animated. At the same time, we should point out, you heard at the end of what josh earnest said in response to my question, you know, whether or not a humanitarian crisis might meet the threshold for some kind of military action in iraq. You know, that was a very murky subject, and eventually what White House Press secretary josh earnest said in the breeciefing this is evaluated on a case by case basis. And so while they were really leaning in that direction and hinting in that direction, we cant say one way or another at this point whether or not that is the action that this president is going to take. Its something that might be on the table. We dont know how seriously on the table it is at this point. And i think part of it is because theyre watching what is really unfolding in Northern Iraq as a very serious humanitarian crisis and whether or not that tips the balance for air strikes. We just dont know at this point, brooke. Fastmoving story. Tens of thousands of christians fleeing this terrorist organization, basically giving them choice of convert or die. Its very dire. Well be watching to see what next comes out of the white house. Jim acosta, we thank you so much for your reporting there. So what exactly are we talking about when it comes to military options in iraq . How far can and will the u. S. Military go . Colonel peter monday sewer knows firsthand the kinds of things that are happening right now. Welcome. Thank you, brooke. Okay. So let me ask you a question ive asked within just this past hour. Id love to hear your response when we talk about possible air strikes and isis has really come in and taken control of a chunk of iraq. How effective would that be . Well, they would be more effective if blunting an isis offensive than they would be in retaking ground lost. The loss of sinjar, the yezidi homeland, border crossing, not unexpected, since its removed from the kurdish homeland and really a stretch for the Kurdish Peshmerga to hold on to that city. As you noted, there is more than 100,000 refugees now out of their homes in mosul and sinjar and other places, yezidis and christians who are now in dire straits. And i think what we could see with the obama administration, we could take libya as a case study, they acted once there was the threat of a humanitarian disaster in benghazi. And so this could very well lead to this administration ordering air strikes to assist the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in maintaining the line against isis and its advance in the northwestern portion of iraq. Colonel, i should point out to our viewers, you served in iraq, you served as an aide to general David Petraeus during the troop surge. When we talk about potential air strikes or some sort of military option in iraq, talking to bob baer, former cia operative, he said, listen, brooke, when and if the u. S. Strikes, and its debatable whether isis has control of the electric dam near mosul, but if they do, they could pull the plug on that and use that to retaliate. Well, that certainly is a possibility. Although i think the latest information is that the peshmerga still controls the mosul dam. Hopefully thats the case. Good. Once we launch air strikes, were only going to get one shot at the first strike so its got to be effective. We have more than 50 isr Intelligence Surveillance and reconnaissance flying over the region now, gathering the targeting information. And im sure that when the if a strike comes, its going to be a powerful one in order to take advantage of the element of surprise. How is that . How do you mean . Why would the u. S. Only get one shot . Well, one shot at the element of surprise. Once you start launching air strikes, of course, the enemy mows youre going to come at them, and they can disburse their forces. But the initial strike is an important one. Thats where youre going to be able to inflict the maximum amount of damage. Let me ask you about this sinjar mountain, where tens of thousands of these yezidis are held. At the top of this hill, they have fled their villages and homes because of isis. We know that the u. S. Will drop that humanitarian aid. They have very little food, very little water. How does the u. S. Even go about doing that . Well, its a very remote place. There is no ground line of communication to it. So youre going to have to drop supplies in via parachute. If you just drop them without any kind of breaking device, of course, it will just explode on the ground. There was reports that we tried to drop water, and the water just all broke apart when it hit the ground. So its going to be something thats pretty tricky, but, you know, our air Mobility Command has the resources and the expertise to drop things in by parachute. But thats a very shortterm endeavor. Were going to have to figure out a longerterm way to either get these refugees out of there or have some sort of deal to allow ground line and supply to them. Colonel peter mansoor, i appreciate you coming on and your expertise was were watching to see what the u. S. Does. Thank you. Thanks, brooke. As the u. S. Considers options to help this the yezidis, at least one christian can understand their situation. He has been there. He has seen firsthand how some religious minorities minority religions in iraq are persecuted. He also saw another side and he penned this opinion piece entitled learning to love the enemy in iraq. Well talk to him, live, next. Lets get right to it. Jeremy courtney, executive director of an International Development organization in iraq. He moved to iraq with his young family in 2007 to assist with relief efforts and still lives there today. He is author of preemptive love pursuing peace one heart at a time. And just wanted his insights as far as whats going on in iraq right now. Jeremy, first, just welcome to you. Thank you. You are a christian and you wrote this in your opinion piece. Let me just quote you. You said, the world may watch from afar and denounce all iraqi muslims as militants bent on conquest. But up close, the reality is very different. But just given the murderous rampage of these isis militants, you have to understand where the world is coming from. Yeah. I understand it. But its also important for someone on the ground and particularly someone as a christian speaking back mostly to a christian population, the challenge that in trying to provide some nuance to it. That said, tell me about sheikh ali. The sheikh is a friend of mine i met in a hotel lobby one day, about seven years ago. And i was sitting, minding my business, trying to work on some things. And when he and a group of robed clerics all decked out approached me, i kind of freaked out. I saw these guys as the enemy. I saw them as the scary face of islam that i had been trained to see them as and i began packing my things. And this guy saw my fear, i think and tried to calm me down and said no, no, no, friend, my beloved. Sit down. Let me get to know you. Let me talk to you. And this guy just really won me over with his smile and from there brought me into a community of Muslim Leaders and a community of muslim people from across iraq that have really changed my perspective on the ground there. With your perspective, you wrote at the end of your piece, that terrorists, they actually need the violence committed against them to justify their own violence, their own cause. You know, you wrote, as is the title of this book, they need preemptive love. But just to push tell me how one could, should, love someone who abducts little girls, forces families out of villages, or be beheaded. How do you show preemptive love . From a christian theological perspective, for one, you can start with this base level notion that everyone is made in the image of god. And so we spend a lot of time talking about how evil these people are. And thats absolutely true. But one of the things that were not discussing is how we actually have some of that stuff in ourselves, as well. And how the good stuff that we have in ourselves, they have in them somewhere, as well. And so when we talk about acute issues like are happening today, it can seem completely intractable and ridiculous. But when you back up a little bit and you have a larger conversation about our relationship with violence in general, our violent responses to things, when you look at a group of people that could choose to go in and love their enemies through the provision of services and care and working through our fears, then we start to see options that emerge that dont seem present to us today when were talking about yezidis fleeing from isis. But in a larger conversation, there are options. How do you mean . Well, so today all were discussing is air strikes against iraq. And thats germane and true and needs to be discussed. But in the context of a breaking news headline discussion, thats all that were getting to discuss right now. And were not so two weeks ago, when everyone was up in arms about christians being persecuted and homes being marked and driven out, that was an important thing. But the only thing we were discussing right then seemed to be the christians. They were our people. And we werent discussing the yezidis at that moment. Even though they had been persecuted. We werent discussing sha bat, we werent discussing shia. And most importantly, the christians up in arms here, lets say in america and around the world, were not discussing our complicit role in placing those christians in iraq in harms way. We voted for some of this stuff. This stuff is not unpredictsable. This was absolutely predicted. And here we are, and were decrying the persecution of christians in iraq, when, actually, we had something to do with it ourselves. We have been covering what isis has been doing for months and months. To your point about the yezidis, we are talking in depth about that today. And we will continue to do so. Because it is absolutely horrendous what is happening to tens of thousands of people in iraq. And i hear your point loud and clear, jeremy. I just want to push everyone to read your opinion piece, just go to c nn. Com religion. I appreciate you spending a couple minutes to come and talk to me today. We are also moving along following developments out of the middle east. We are hours away now from the end of that 72hour ceasefire between hamas and israel. And as these peace talks are under way in egypt, we are now getting word that the military wing of hamas has urged the Palestinian Negotiation Team to not extend the ceasefire unless one very specific demand is met. Thats next. Be a sound sleeper, or. L you a mouth breather . Well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38 more than allergy medicines alone. So you can breathe and sleep. Shut your mouth and sleep right. Breathe right. Get reaits crabfest atk, dip. Red lobster the years largest variety of crab. Like new crab lovers trio or try new jumbo lump crab over woodgrilled salmon. Crabfest is now. But only for a limited time. So hurry in, and sea food differently we are now, just watching the clock, a little more than nine hours until that scheduled end of the ceasefire that has halted the bloodshed in the middle east. Talks over extending it and searching for longerterm solution are under way in cairo. Israeli and palestinian delegations are communicating via egyptian mediators. Time running short. Now it appears the military wing of hamas is piling on additional pressure. Reza sayah, what do you know . Reporter yeah, brooke, these were already anxious hours here in cairo. But these statements certainly add to the tension. I think some people are going to look at these statements and theyre going to say this is hamas simply posturing and piling on the pressure in order to get what they want. But others are going to say these are threats and hamas is prepared to fight again tomorrow once this ceasefire is over. Briefly, lets tell you what the cassam brigade said, hamas military wing on tv. This is a television station run by hamas. They essentially called on the negotiating team here not to extend the ceasefire until the palestinians people initial demands are met. They say if there is agreement, then the ceasefire can be extended. If there is no agreement, theyre calling on this negotiating team to pull out of the talks and go back to gaza from cairo. Earlier in the day, we spoke to another palestinian delegate, made a similar statement, saying if israel doesnt respond to the demands of the palestinian people, the resistance can resume activity. They didnt say theyre going to start firing rockets again tomorrow morning. They didnt say they are going to start fighting. But brooke, when you hear these statements, you have to start wondering. Whats going to happen if 8 00 a. M. Local time friday comes, and there is no agreement. Is the bloodshed, is the fighting going to start again. I think a lot of people are hoping thats not the case. A lot of people hoping these two sides come to an agreement by 8 00 a. M. Local time tomorrow. To end the bloodshed, final hours of negotiating. Reza sayah, thank you so much in cairo, the site of the peace talks under way. Next, how is the media covering this conflict between israel and hamas . S. E. Cupp, host of cnns crossfire is here and will explain, next. Youre driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom youve had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . Liberty mutuals new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car plus depreciation. Call and for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch to Liberty Mutual insurance and you could save up to 423 dollars. Call Liberty Mutual for a free quote today at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. All right. What will it take to reach a longer Term Agreement over gaza beyond the ceasefire . Nine hours till it expires. Israel wants hamas to give up its weapons, in particular rockets. Hamas wants to end the blockade of gaza. Theres so much more here. What we dont often according to my next guest is the hamass longstanding goal outlined in its covenant, the destruction of israel. S. E. Cupp says that is the medias fault and it needs to change. You made the point, listen, if youre on the ground in this part of the world, you get it and know where this conflict began but if you are just an american watching the news coverage, you dont understand whats really at stake and what really either side wants. Right. The media treats hamas and in particularly within the confines of this conflict as sort of a political figure. So when they talk about hamass demandses, as the the ceasefire, its an end to the blockade in gaza. Its to maintain their tunnels. What they dont talk about hamass stated goals, its true objectives which are the total destruction of israel and annihilation of the jews. Thats not subjective. Thats not something im adding into the story. Its in the charter. Its stated in their charter. And as recently as this year, last year, political figures from hamas have said as up. Theyve not been coy about this being part of their overarching goal. For media reports tore omit that and just talk about the political demands seems like a real glaring example of either bias or a hamas victory on the r front. Media malfeasance was i think how you put it in the daily news. So you said israel wants peace, hamas wants genocide. We know hamas has used civilians as human shields, theyve been storing their weaponry near mosques and schools. On the flipside is, israel has been shooting rockets. There have been deaths caused by israel. Its not just hamas. Yeah. No, its not theres a lot of hand wringing over the bias in the media. Its mot bias to reflect sympathetically on deaths of innocent palestinians. Palestinians are people. Its not even biased i think to question or challenge israels strategy on this. The bias comes in that omission. I mean, imagine if we were doing a news report, you and i on what hitler wanted. And we said, well, he very much wanted to annex poland and parts of russia. You might say. You would be factually correct but more than that. He also wanted to kill a lot of jews. So to omit that in a report and it should be stated every time youre talking about hamass demands and wants if were going to be honest it, creates this moral equivalency between israel and hamas that doesnt exist. The demands are not morally equal here. What about president obama . Because we heard from him last night ep says he has no sympathy. He said it twice last night. He has no sympathy for hamas. Is that Strong Enough language, s. E. Cupp . Who would have sympathy for hamas . Hamas is a terrorist organization. The fact that that needs stating is problematic. This problem in the media has seeped over into the administration. To lament the situation for hamas at all i think is to not be Strong Enough in a stand for israel and is not acknowledging that the demands on either side are not equivalent. This is not a compromise that needs to be reached between two equivalent political actors. As you said, as i said, israel wants peace, hamas wants genocide. Thats a fact. If were going to have an honest conversation about it in the media, be that needs to be the foundation. Included. S. E. Cupp, thank you very much. Crossfire. Really appreciate you being here in person. Back after this. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. Honey, we need to talk. We do . I took the trash out. I know. And thank you so much for that. I think we should get a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Right now . [ male announcer ] whether youre new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. Its up to you to pay the difference. So think about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare Insurance Company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. I did a little research. With a Medicare Supplement plan, youll be able to stay with your doctor. 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Youll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. And with these plans, there could be low or no copays. You do your pushups today . Prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] dont wait. Call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan to go the distance with you. Go long. Noyou can watch live tv anytime. Its never been easier, with so Many Networks all in one place. Get live tv whenever you want. The xfinity tv go app. Now with live tv on the go. Enjoy over wifi or on Verizon Wireless 4g lte. Plus, now you get up to a 100 prepaid card when you purchase any new Verizon Wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. Visit comcast. Com wireless to learn more as we have been talking, discussing at Great Lengths the last two hours about the Current Situation in iraq, john kerry arrived today in afghanistan. This is his second trip there in less than a month. He is trying to end an election dispute. The two the president ial candidates have been fighting over results since a runoff back in june. Secretary kerry has negotiated an agreement to recount all 8 million ballots and create this unity government. But now hes pushing both of the candidates top hash out the details. Im brooke baldwin. Lets take you live to jerusalem. The lead with jake tapper starts now. It is nine hours until the the israel, Gaza Ceasefire is set to expire. Now hamass military wing says if you dont meet their demands, go ahead and let it expire. Im jake paper. This is the lead. The world lead. As the minutes in the ceasefire tick away, hamas is pushing negotiators to reject an extension and return to battle unless three key demands are met. Is the blood shed about to begin all over again . Also, a source tells cnn the u. S. Government is now considering air strikes in iraq after