Im martha raddatz. We begin with the latest on the new u. S. Mission in iraq. This weekend, more u. S. Air strikes against isis militants, plus new u. S. Air drops of humanitarian aid to help thousands of civilians trapped on a mountain by isis fighters. And just over night, u. N. Telling us at least 15,000 civilians have been able to escape. Meanwhile, president obama is warning u. S. Military action in iraq is a longterm project. Chief White House CorrespondentJonathan Karl has the very latest with the president on Marthas Vineyard. Reporter overnight the pentagon released new information on the air strikes over terrorist targets in iraq. 20 minutes later, u. S. Aircraft struck three more targets. With a followup strike destroying another. At 3 00 p. M. Eastern, the final target of the day was demolished. President obama bluntly acknowledged theres no foreseeable end to u. S. Operations in iraq. Im not going to give a particular timetable because as i have said from the start, wherever and whenever u. S. Facilities are threatened, its my obligation, my responsibility as commander in chief to make sure theyre protected. Reporter a key concern, the u. S. Consulate and hundreds of citizens in the city of erbil. Once thought to be iraqs safest city is now threatened by the Islamic Group isis. There is no doubt that their advance, their movement over the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and i think the expectations of policymakers both in and out of outside of iraq. Reporter president obama reaffirmed his promise not to send in Ground Troops and had this message for critics who say that the u. S. Would be in a better position if all u. S. Troops wouldnt have been withdrawn. There would be troops on the ground that would be vulnerable. Reporter the u. S. Is also dropping relief supplies to a group trapped on a mountain top. U. S. Planes are at risk, too, on these missions. These cargo airplanes that dont have the same defensive capabilities that a fighter jet does, has to get very slow and low to the ground. They have to push things out and so, theyre actually more vulnerable. Reporter the president is here on Marthas Vineyard for his family vacation. Hes already played a round of golf. White house advisers say hes closely monitoring military operations over iraq and receiving regularly briefings. He brought key members of his National Security team, including susan rice. Now, lets get the very latest on the ground in iraq from matt bradley from the wall street journal. Give us a sense of how concerned people are about erbil. Well, we have to remember that erbil was a flourishing city, that was growing economically over the last ten years. Especially in relation to baghdad and its not quite clear whether or not the units were there, these kurdish fighters will be able to defend the city. Its come as a major, major surprise this this group of islamic militias were able to make dwens against the peshmerga in the past week. So, its a major concern that erbil could fall, considering these guys are only about 30 minutes. You got these air strikes going on. You got the stranded people on the mountain. This is going to be a longterm commitment no matter what from the u. S. Thats what the president was saying in his speech yesterday. Theres no real shortterm solution to this conflict. We could say that this conflict could look like libya, where the u. S. Intervention is just confined to aerial bombardment. But, really, the crux of the fight is going to have to come down to the iraqi military. Which has fled in the Islamic State militants and the Kurdish Peshmerga who have shown themselves outgund and outmaneuvered by the Islamic State. Its going to be very hard to see how the iraqi army and peshmerga will be able to win back some of the land they have already taken. Thank you, matt. Thank you. Now for more on this strategy in iraq, general carter ham who commanded u. S. And Coalition Forces in mosul. And Christopher Hill is a former u. S. Ambassador to iraq. I want to start with you, general ham. You know mosul, erbil so well, i spent a lot of time there with you over the years, as you look at these small strikes on artillery, mortar positions, can they really have a longterm effect on isis . Martha, i think the initial strikes are already having some effect. A few strikes by the United States, many more by the Iraqi Air Force which is encouraging, it appears to have at least given pause to the islamic extremists as they seek to advance toward erbil and other cities, but much more effort will be required to achieve a positive outcome longer term. Is there a danger of Mission Creep here . I dont think so. The president has very clearly stated no combat forces. It remains to be seen how much support the United States is ready to provide in my view, first to the Kurdish Regional government in iraq and their armed forces, the peshmerga. But longer term, to help hopefully, a new iraq government rebuild the iraqi military. You heard what the president said what his goals were. Protect the infrastructure. How can you accomplish that without combat troops and how long does that take . It will be very difficult without without u. S. Ground forces or Ground Forces of others, which may they may be willing to participate. But it really centers around i think the president is right. There has got to be a responsible government in iraq to which a future iraqi army could be royal. Underlying cause of their quick evaporation under pressure from islamic extremists. I did this in january and even then he seemed to be waving a red flag about the violence there. How concerned should americans be whats going on now . We have a real interest in the middle east and iraq. Those arent going to go away in time soon. We should be very, very concerned. Ambassador hill, should the u. S. Have been paying more attention to iraq . Well, first of all, i think people are paying attention to iraq but there are a lot of other crises in the world that may have drown it out. Or reduce the bandwidth. But certainly this is a problem thats not just in iraq, its a broader problem, isis, whatever its origins, its pretty clear that its part of a situation in syria that has metastized into iraq. An improvement or the naming of a new Prime Minister not named maliki might be helpful. I dont think its going to solve this problem. Something that Hillary Clinton told the atlantic, she said, the failure to help Syrian Rebels led to rise of isis, do you agree . Id put it a little differently. The idea that you could arm some rebels and not others i think is a difficult proposition. I think the failure to focus on syria, the failure to come up with a political or diplomatic way forward, after all, if assad was hit by a bus today, there would still be a problem in syria because no one would know what that country is going to look like in the future. To come up with a diplomatic plan, keeps them out there fighting. Because they have no confidence that the International Community is coalescing around one idea. So, i think thats the major problem in syria more so than the idea that we havent put more weapons out on the battlefield. General ham, you were the commander during benghazi, this certainly has had an effect on the president s decision, what lesson is learned there when you look at iraq . Well, the circumstances are very, very different, of course, there was at least, as far as im aware, no indications of imminent attack of the u. S. Diplomatic facility in benghazi. The Certain Circumstance is different in iraq where theres an imminent threat. So the level of preparation, i think, is much more significant in iraq today than it was possible in libya in 2012. Thanks very much, general ham, and thanks ambassador hill. So, what about this group isis . We know so little about them. The army of jihadists surprised just about everyone with their fast and violent sweep through iraq. Now, vice news with stunning new images of the faces behind the terror. The Islamic Militant group in isis is so extreme that traditional al qaeda has disavowed it. Now, from vice news, video from inside the militant stronghold. Surreal scenes from a syria city. Families enjoying the coolness of the euphrates. But even here, theres always something more sinister, even with the children. And what happens in syria affects iraq and vice versa. The treasures from the march on baghdad are proudly paraded through the city along with new recruits from around the world. Here, the group is known simply as i. S. Or Islamic State. At a nighttime gathering recruiting continues. Beautiful virgins are calling. Enroll me as a martyr, this man sings. A call and a response to incite the crowd. Joining us now kevin from vice news. Incredible images there. What do the people tell you about how this group has grown so rapidly and advanced so far . Well, less than a year ago, when vice news started covering syria, isis was a small factions fighting. 245i were just in the mix in the civil war in syria. They have professionalized. Theyre an army now. You can see the way they swept across into iraq. Establishing the caliphate. This is a force to be reckoned with. Theyve now got weapons they have looted from iraq. American weapons. Tanks. They were he was there for three weeks and he saw how theyre establishing a state. How do they hold territory . Do they encircle it, do they scare everybody . Whats going on in these towns where theyre Holding People in iraq like mosul . We filmed religious Police Walking around and enforcing the law. Minor infractions. The demand is to take it down. Women are told to put hijabs on to cover. The religious police are armed and Everybody Knows that youll be going to prison and a judge could give you an amazing punishment. But youve got the air strikes going on right now around erbil. Will this scare them, stop them . I think thats to one side. They got 40 territory now. They are expanding now. Theyre expansionists. I think theyll welcome the attention the air strikes have brought them, the world attention. I think they have no fear. Theyre on a mission from god. Theyre very fundamentalists in their approach and i think were just going to see more of this. Were not going to see less. Very frightening stuff. Thank you very much for those reports. Up next the College Sports stunner. Will a new court ruling lead to big payouts for student athletes the ncaa president responds live. His first interview since the decision came down. Plus, brandnew details on the ebola emergency. Were on the ground with virus hunters racing to identify the next outbreak. Back in just two minutes. When folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Man [ laughs ] those look like baby steps now. But they were some pretty good moves. And the best move of all . Having the right partner at my side. Its so much better that way. [ male announcer ] have the right partner at your side. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Go long. Now, our closer look at an earthquake in the billiondollar world of College Sports. A federal judge ruling in some instances student athletes should get paid. The president of the ncaa is standing by live to offer his exclusive First Response to the ruling, after this from espns tom farrey. Reporter its a sweeping ruling that could forever change College Sports. Opening the door for student athletes to earn money. They should, quote, receive a limited share of the revenue generated from the use of their own names, images and likenesses. At the center of the case, former ucla basketball star ed obannon. Mvp of the bruins 1995 ncaa championship team. When he saw his image used in his video game five years ago, he decided to sue the nba. I realized that i hadnt been compensated or even told that i was going to be on this video game. I just thought that that was wrong. Reporter its an argument that ncaa critics have made for years, that College Athletes should share in the billions of profits from College Sports. The impact of the ruling beginning in 2016, players can receive annual payments covering full College Costs and universities can set up trust funds capped at 5,000 a year per player. Look, its a start. Its something. At this point, anything is better than what the players, the athletes were getting. Reporter why is this case, this claim meant so much to you . This has never been about me, this has always been about the rights of the athletes past, present and future. Reporter and that huge decision comes just one day after another major change in College Sports. The ncaas board voting to allow its five largest and wealthiest conferences to essentially play by their own rules and expand benefits to athletes, including more money to cover College Costs and Greater Health benefits. I think the story line on this is that student athletes win. We all know it costs more than room, board, books, tuition and fees to go to college. Reporter but many believe that the decision was simply an attempt to keep these large revenuegenerating conferences from walking away. I think this was a reactionary move by the ncaa. I think they were very concerned that the power 5 conferences could split off on their own because they would definitely survive without the ncaas help. Reporter for the average fan, its unclear whether this weeks action will change the action on the field. Most people already believe that theres a chasm between now power conference schools and the power 5, its only going to get more competitive now. Its a very slippery slope. Reporter for this week, tom farrey, espn, henderson, nevada. Our thanks to tom. Joining us now in his first interview since that big court decision, dr. Mark emmert, president of the ncaa, along with the president of univesity of the South Carolina and a member of the ncaa board of directors. First on the obannon ruling, the definition of amateurism boils down to youre not paid, does this turn College Sports into pro sports . It could potentially good. Its consistent with arguments that we have been making all along, and some things that we fundamentally disagree with, most notably, we disagree that theres a violation of antitrust laws going on here. Well probably continue to argue that in the coming months and beyond. But, it has the potential to fundamentally shift Intercollegiate Athletics in ways that many people are concerned about. So, will you appeal the decision . Yes, at least in part, we will. Again, no one in our legal team or in the College Conferences legal teams believe that the current rules are violations of antitrust laws and we need to get that settled in the courts. During the trial, ed obannon said i was an athlete masquerading as a student. I was there strictly to play basketball. I did the minimum to keep my academically minimal to keep my scholarship. Its a decision that he made when he was a student. He had every opportunity to do as much as he wanted to in school as he desire. He got a degree from the university and many, many thousands of student athletes take full advantage of the opportunity to be both a student and an athlete while theyre in college. More graduate than the students who arent student athletes. So, i believe strongly and the evidence demonstrates that they are students. The judge set a potential cap on payments to athletes at 5,000. Should they be paid more than a few thousand dollars . Well, martha, i think the reform that we passed last thursday allows us to do this. I think thats the right context for doing that. Sure, we need to share more of the resources with students, my own coach has said that. We need to provide them the full cost of attendance. Better health and safety benefits. Better professional counselling. I think a lot of people looking at this ruling and celebrating on behalf of the student athlete dont realize that what we did last week in indianapolis is really the right path for allowing us to do that. I want to turn to the major decision by the ncaa board of directors this week, it gives more freedom on rules to the five biggest conferences. Isnt there a bit of a contradiction here . You oppose pay for players but youre now allowing these big conferences to give these players more benefits. Well, what the members did last week was allow the five highestresourced conferences to make decisions about a handful of cases around student wellbeing. Mostly the things that he was just mentioning. It also allows other schools to do the same thing and so, this is a topic thats been under debate and discussion for more than three years about how to reach full cost of attendance. Theres very little doubt and debate about the need to do that and i and he and many others have been advocating for years. I think this move will allow us to get there you have to recognize that the association is a very democratic process. Its not as if any one person can change the rules. This new move will allow those decisions to happen more effectively. Lets talk about the impact on the game. What does this do to the competitive balance . Is it really as was mentioned in tom farreys piece the haves and havenots now . Well, martha, theres always been great diversity in division i. More teams and more conferences are successful year after year. As mark said, all of the reform, all of the universities are eligible to attain that reform. We really need but it doesnt start an arms race . Well, theres already an arms race. Make it worse . I dont know. Well have to wait and see. But the arms race today is around facilities and support staff, its not been focused on providing student athletes with things that they need. And so the changes that are being proposed by the 65 schools in those big 5 conferences are aimed entirely at supporting student athletes. The unfortunate thing about this whole debate it has been cast in many cases as the member universities and the ncaa trying to withhold support for student athletes and thats not the case at all. There is a huge debate about whether or not this is an antitrust violation with the way the rules are imposed. But look, all student athletes have to be treated the same and yes, the ncaa as an association can impose a cap. I cant be below these thresholds. Theres recognition in her ruling that much of what we do today makes good sense. No matter what, very big changes this week. Probably some very big changes coming. Thanks very much to both of you. Up next ebola emergency the latest on efforts to contain the outbreak. Plus, why do experts say we may not be ready for the next viral threat. And the drastic steps one city is taking to fight crime. But first, the powerhouse roundtables big winners of the week. Back in just two minutes. And now, marthas pick, the nba is marthas big winner of the week. Now to the global alert over ebola, this morning the outbreak in west africa continues to spread, the World Health Organization declaring it an International PublicHealth Emergency. The latest numbers, more than 1700 infected, more than 960 people dead. And here in the u. S. , new worries over whether were prepared for future viral threats. Heres our chief medical editor dr. Richard besser. Reporter hollywood has given the catastrophic scenario in movies like contagion, a killer virus raging out of control. In west africa, its what experts is happening right now. In liberia, they struggle to collect body is from terrified people. Trying to keep the healthy from bodily fluids. And while this new outbreak shows the horrors that ebola can show, its not the only out there. Influenza. Its always surprising us by doing things were not expecting. Reporter just five years ago, swine flu killed more than 150,000 people. 8,000 cases of another virus raised alarms in asia, sars. And hiv has killed more than 30 million. For ebola, theres no vaccine. Like many viral threats, ebola was likely introduced to humans from animals. Understanding whats out there that could potentially harm us. Reporter three years ago in cameroon, we joined a virus hunter who scours the african rainforest who may be slumbering in the jungle. Other hunters or people preparing animal meat, it can jump to people. They monitor not only the animal blood but blood of local hunters, drops stored on cards. We have collected almost 20,000. Reporter whoa. This looks like the kind of lab i might see at the cdc. Absolutely. The hunt for crucial links which have so far prove elusive. There are a lot of things that we dont know about. We never correctly predicted or even predicted at all any pandemic or an emerging infection of an Ebola Outbreak until it hit the population. Reporter worrying signs of the future as experts race to contain the latest outbreak. Our thanks to dr. Besser. Lets take this on now with our experts. Dr. Frank glover is a medical missionary who worked in liberia and robin sanders, the former u. S. Ambassador to congo and nigeria. Welcome to you both. Dr. Glover, i want to start with you. It seems like the two patients who are now in atlanta are doing much better, are we out of danger of the virus spreading within the United States . Dr. Glover . Well, no, we arent out of that danger, this is an International PublicHealth Emergency that the World Health Organization just declared on friday and were still seeing new cases and new suspected cases popping up in places like europe, canada and of course in nigeria. And back to africa, you warned congress this week, that unless something is done, this Ebola Outbreak could spread tens of thousands what has to happen in order to prevent that . Well, what has to happen is immediate protective gear must be given to the workers who are on the ground. Theres been a large death toll from the nurses and doctors who are trying to treat this disease. The Health System has completely collapsed meaning they dont have the capacity to see patients. Every day theyre seeing patients, mothers present with dead babies in their wombs, because theres nobody there to do csection. And theyre not getting these protective suits. Theyre not. Ambassador sanders, you were the ambassador during previous outbreaks, in 2002, 2003, why is this outbreak in western africa different . Well, the main reason is the population density, in congo, theyre in remote areas. This is population density in liberia, certainly in nigeria, the population lives very closely together, so its very difficult to quarantine, its easier for the spread of the virus. Because you have such close quarters. Both of you talked about what needs to happen, what will happen and what can happen . It seems like this is desperate. There are a couple of things. One i think the authorities and Border Patrol authorities across all of the countries that are affected need to communicate better, they need to assure that theyre not only quarantine but having zones of movement. One thing that gets left out of this discussion in terms of how this virus gets into the human population is the Food Security issue. Thats what happened in liberia. There are Food Shortages in those same areas. How the virus gets into the population, people are food insecure. They eat whats infected with the disease. Very quickly, to the people of the United States, what would you say in terms of being afraid of this . J i think our Health System is much well resourced and we have the capacity and Isolation Centers all over the country in hospitals. The cdc has made recommendations to the doctors in this country about what precautions to take, people coming from west africa or infected countries would need to be isolated. To be sure they dont develop sympt symptoms. It seems like theyre doing a good job with that, so far, we hope that continues. Thank you very much for joining us. Coming up baltimores bold new move to prevent crime, is it criminalizing childhood . But before we go to the break, our powerhouse puzzler, inspired by Richard Nixons resignation, he was known for that notorious enemies list. So, heres the question name the celebrity on nixons enemies list who joined instagram this week. Heres a clue, the person posted this picture with their dog. Back in a few minutes to see if the roundtable and you can guess the answer. The answer. So, who is the celebrity on nixons enemies list who joined instagram this week . Lets see those answers. Cokie . The dog is not a celebrity. Donald trump. Fifi. Fifi is a good guess. George. Whatever. No one got it. The answer barbra streisand. There you go. Up next the fire storm over a citys curfew for kids. Back in 60 seconds. And im here to tell homeowners that are sixtytwo and older about a great way to live a better retirement. Its called a reverse mortgage. Call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. It answers questions like. How a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money. And more. Plus, when you call now, youll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, youll learn the benefits of a governmentinsured reverse mortgage. It will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you taxfree cash from the equity in your home and heres the best part. You still own your home. Take control of your retirement today were back with the political uproar after a major American City takes a drastic step to make streets safer. But, is a curfew best and fairest way to bring down youth crime . Abcs chief National Correspondent byron pitts now on the front lines in his hometown of baltimore. Reporter its been years now since hbos the wire was on television. Creating a reputation the city of baltimore is still trying to live down. So far, this year, relative good news the overall murder rate is down. But no one is celebrating. In part, because the number of young people dieing is up. So, whats a cashstrapped city to do . Thus far, the public has not liked the answer. Considered one of the most restrictive in the nation, baltimore has upgraded its curfew law. 14 to 16yearolds by 10 00 weekdays. 11 00 p. M. On weekends. Parents or guardians could face fines of up to 500. But its not the fines or hours that bother Civil Liberties group, from your perspective, whats wrong with having a curfew . I think its offering a chance to criminalize children. Reporter but the Baltimore Mayor insists thats not her goal. To see how often children are unsupervised well into the night. When the street lights came on, you were supposed to be in the house. Somebody, some adult needed to know where you were, period. Now theyre turning into civil right issues for kids. Reporter you sound more like a parent than a politician when you talk about this issue. Im a mother. It broke my heart going to that curfew center, seeing 6yearolds, 7yearolds coming in there. Theyre not there by choice. Reporter part of the pushback that i have heard from people that once you introduce children to the criminal Justice System in any form or fashion that you begin to criminalize them . Thats nonsense. Reporter a city councilman proposed a new curfew, which includes youth centers, where police will bring the children until a parent or guardian is located. Making it a common sense were making it about helping not criminalizing. Reporter the response from teenagers on the street was about what you would expect. Why . Its summertime. Why cant we stand on the block. Reporter more than teenage bravado. Seen as part of the problem, enforcing the new curfew law will be a challenge. Im here to reform our organization, im here to change the dynamics of what is happening or will happen in the future. Reporter perhaps the real test for this old American City in my beloved hometown will come in the months to come. Not only to keep the kids off the street but put them on the road safer and productive lives. For this week, byron pitts, abc news, baltimore. Thanks, byron. The roundtable is here now. Espns lz granderson, who is also a cnn contributor. Sheryl atkinson. Abc political analyst matthew dowd and cokie roberts. Welcome to you all. Matthew, the baltimore solution, its not an easy thing to implement. Do you think it gets to the root of the problem . My mother always said nothing good happens after 10 00 at night. Dont be out anyway. That was 40 years ago. I worry about this. Obviously, parents and Everyone Wants to protect their children in the midst of Violent Crimes in these cities. We tended now toward a much more militarized police force. We also now are empowering them with the tools that we only used to use with the military. Trucks, guns all those sort of things. To me, this is a responsibility of parents, obviously, who are not necessarily dealing with it. I worry giving too much power to police. Lz, does it really say, stop and frisk everyone . Are you worried that it goes to that . Absolutely. I dont understand how in a country where we have seen vigilantes running around, enforcing their own laws, shooting unarmed black people, we just saw the nypd chokehold a man to death. How you can pass this curfew come on, they do look young because they are young and its very interesting. The people who are for this curfew are the moms. The moms are absolutely for it. Because they want their kids to be safe. You know what, in my neighborhood, the National Guard would be there. So, i just think its giving the moms in unsafe situations the ability to keep it safe. Sheryl, can you make the moms more responsible . I think its a tough situation. I would tend to local communities to work out. As a parent, i wouldnt have a problem with a curfew. In tampa, didnt criminalize and returned them to the parents or a supervised setting. Lz, i want to turn, all over the place here, because theres so much happening, but i want to the ncaa decisions, and what effect you think this will really have . Well, if there was a jenga puzzle, that would be the main peg thats pulled away. Well, the fact of the matter is, sports generalists have been clamoring about what they have seen as immorality of the ncaa for years. Theres now a law brought down by a judge to give sports even more ammo. Youll find a congressman or a congresswoman who will want to take this issue up on the hill because they want to get reelected. And it will force the ncaa hand. Quickly, we got to move on, well talk about nixon in a moment. Tony stewart, there was a very tragic accident, the race car driver he killed another driver, after the car spun out, hes going to be back driving 12 hours later . If nascar wants to have a good look, they wouldnt allow that man to get back on the road. Its not good optics for your sport. I want to turn to Richard Nixon. 40 years ago, Richard Nixon resigned. Cokie roberts, hard to believe, you were already a reporter at the time. Well, you know, we covered the watergate, the leadup to the resignation, to the actual resignation, i was living in athens, greece, my husband and i were reporters there, and watching that from afar was really quite something. But what it did teach us in a very important way was the tremendous strength of the american system and i remember a congressman coming up afterwards saying, you know the commander in chief of the United States armed forces was forced to leave office and not one soldier left his barracks to defend him. It never occurred to us that Something Like that would happen. But it was a very important lesson. To me, first of all, the reason im in politics is because of that. I was 12 years old. And probably a reason why sheryl is an investigative reporter. I watched the hearings when i was on vacation in michigan. I loved it. I think were still dealing with the aftermath of that 40 years later. We lost our sense of leadership. We moved from skepticism to cynicsi m and much of that happened in the midst of water gate. The advancement of journalism was great. We also lost a sense of idealism with our politicians in washington. Sheryl . I think we have gone backwards since that time where we felt empowered by journalists. Id like to think what would happen today. In this kind of scandal. Nixon would basically refuse to turn over tapes to congress, his aides would refuse to testify to congress or would take the fifth or lie to congress today. They would be controversialized on social media by special and political interests. This is all very depressing. Then, at the end, nixon would go on a popular latenight comedy show, during which time, he would refer to his attackers as political witch hunters. Lz, final thought on Richard Nixons resignation. You werent born but, actually, i was born. Barely. I was around. The thing that i find focusing on watergate. Unfortunately, overshadows everything he was able to do especially in Foreign Policy. He created epa. Which republicans probably now hate. As were having this conversation about legalization of marijuana, he started the war on drugs. He was the one that put marijuana in the subject one characterization that marijuana now has. Okay, and well go back to Foreign Policy, because coming up, new military action in iraq, how will it impact the legacy of the president who ended the war . Legacy of the president who ended the war . I dont think were going to solve this problem in weeks if thats what you mean. I think this is going to take some time. That was president obama yesterday talking about military action in iraq. Before heading to Martha Vineyards for a working vacation. Were back now with the roundtable. Matthew dowd, in the the New York Times this week that, obama becomes the fourth president in a row to order military action in that graveyard of american ambition. Well, to me, this is the decisions that have made by previous presidencies, especially president bush in 2002 and 2003, and our entry into iraq, the next president is also going to be dealing with this, to my view, if you broaden this, this is exactly what happens. We have a humanitarian crisis. We have a Global Crisis is when we dont align moral objection. With longterm strategic goals. You have to be idealism but realism and we have had president s in a row that basically had idealistic ideas. President bush was very idealistic. In the aftermath of this unrealistically, i think president obama dealt a bad hand but has played it badly. We know now that have a president ial Foreign Policy thats not strategic but ad hoc. It doesnt work. Were not acting like a superpower, thats the problem. I agree with Hillary Clinton as you quoted her earlier saying, that, you know, if we had gotten into syria when the rebels were begging us to come in and saying, here we are, trying to secure our freedom, where is america . Then, we wouldnt have this group fulfilling the vacuum. The president was very defensive about not getting a status agreement. Not having troops remain. And the president basically said, if they were there, they would be run over. But isnt the reason we did not know that isis was making such a rapid advancement because we didnt have people on the ground. Theyre not just there to walk around and show their guns. And i would argue, it may be time for someone to develop in the United States a policy thats bigger than going from country to country and treating them like theyre small paradigms independent of one another. Contain al qaeda and terrorism . And how are we going to accomplish that . We dont have that strategy. We never developed it. And there are people inside the government who believe we ought to have such a thing. Lz, i going to go to you as a person who doesnt cover Foreign Policy, but as a person who has watched and see what happened this week in iraq and over the years, what do you think. The more we have this conversation, religion and oil, the further we get away from the real problem. Part of the problem that we dont have the influence in the middle east, because we make decisions in the best interest of america. Whats in the best interest in america is oil. But to me this is what happens, if the history of our country, when Foreign Policy done well, we dont get overly involved in regional conflicts. We use regional conflictses. Temporary, not permanent. And we do it in a strategic sense. The wars involved havent been strategic or temporary. One word answer, does this consume the president for the rest of his term . Yes. Thanks, everyone. And next on a personal note about u. S. Troops in iraq, after this from our abc stations. It has been nearly three years since the u. S. Pulled its troops out of iraq and president obama declared the war over. I was with u. S. Soldiers on the last u. S. Convoy out of iraq in 2011 after covering the war from the beginning. And i was with the u. S. Commander after the americans officially handed it over to the iraqis. It was a somewhat somber day, no celebrations, just a simple ceremony at u. S. Military headquarters, camp victory, clearly named prematurely, but on that day, there was nothing but pride and hope for the future. Pure sacrifice has helped the iraqi people begin a new chapter full of hope for prosperity and hope. Peace. Reporter the wife of the current chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, cried talking to me that day, it was the first time she had seen this country where her husband, son and daughter had all served. Its pretty amazing. What the American Culture has done to help this country is nothing short of miraculous. Reporter we flew above baghdad after the ceremony with the last commanding general of u. S. Forces in iraq, general lloyd austin. Pointing out his old headquarters and how different the city looked from 2003 after the initial shock and awe invasion. Say bye to baghdad. Yeah. Reporter and i was with our soldiers for the final ride out of the country with a memory of those who didnt make it home, those 4,487 americans who gave their lives in this war, was still fresh. Lot of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice from that unit. Like, were finishing it up for them. Reporter but as dawn break and we crossed into kuwait, there was great relief that the war was behind them. And yet, i look back on what i said that day and what many others were feeling, that the relief might only be temporary. The war is not over for iraqis, iraq remains a very dangerous place. And theres a huge threat of sectarian violence and also al qaeda coming back in. Because war never goes the way you expect it to go, even when you say its over. In fact, general austin who i said goodbye to baghdad with from that helicopter now heads Central Command and overseeing the air drops. Now, we honor our fellow americans who serve and is sacrifice. This week, a twostar general Harold Greene joined the ranks of thousands who have given their lives. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news with david muir tonight. Have a great day. Have a great day. In the news, a change of plans superstar nascar racer tony stewart made this morning after killing another driving in a crash. And witness call it a miracle in the east bay. Good morning from our roof camera. 58 degrees in San Francisco with cloudy drizzle. Going for a high just of 63. So a modest warmup for some. Below average for everyone. Join us at nine for the details coming up on the abc7 sunday