Good day. Im Andrea Mitchel in washington. Where president obama and his National Security team are now in crisis mode. Tracking developments in iraq after the u. S. Launched its first air strikes this morning against isis. What we are apparently warning shots against an isis artillery piece outside erbil. It could be the first stage in a wider air operation. Joining me with the latest, nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. Mik, this was not a big strike today but it was sending a signal to isis. Absolutely. And clearly its being described here pretty much as a target of opportunity. U. S. War planes were in the air along with drones keeping an eye on those isis forces. Poised just outside of erbil. You know, which is a key strategic city for the kurdistan area there in the north. When suddenly apparently the isis fighters started lobbing shells in the general direction of some peshmerga fighters. And then were told the two u. S. Navy fa18 bombers launched each a one guided 500pound bomb to the target which took out the artillery piece and the truck that towed it. The rationale and the justification for that was not that this artillery piece was aiming its fire at the u. S. Consulate or any americans, but the americans and the consulate were within range of any potential artillery shot from those isis rebels. So under the rules of engagement appare apparently, were told that the order was given and the artillery piece was taken out, andrea. And one of the things that seems so surprising, it seems as though u. S. Officials were almost caught off guard last saturday when the peshmerga forces, the kurdish military, the strongest fighters in the area, were so badly routed by the approaching isis forces and how effective and strategic the isis fighters were. And we are told that many u. S. Military analysts were absolutely stunned by the capabilities of those isis forces to launch this kind of operation with the precision and discipline that you would expect perhaps from a more advanced u. S. Military force advanced and trained military force. In some respects, weve had officials tell us that they conducted operations much better than the Iraqi Military ever could. So it took a lot of people by surprise and actually shocked the u. S. Military and the u. S. Government because all of a sudden, it appeared that, hey, they have a real chance to rout the peshmerga and perhaps seize erbil. Nobody thinks they would want to seize erbil because then theyd have to try to manage a 1. 5 million population city, but they certainly were sending a message that they are not going away any time soon. Well, thats the oil. The oil pipeline and the capital of the region. So theres no question that it would be an enormous defeat if that were to happen. Mik, i know youll be standing by and checking on your reporting and your sources throughout the hour. Thank you so much. Joining me for more on all of this, barry mccaffrey, msnbc military analyst and former u. S. Ambassador to iraq, chris hill joining us from denver. Ambassador, first to you, let me ask you about where are the allies . We saw the president was just now on the phone within the last hour with jordans King Abdullah, probably to reassure him, but this is a situation where we havent heard from the saudis. We dont have any other air forces going in. Where is the coalition here . Well, theres been a resounding silence on the issue of this sunni extremist group. And im not sure thats going to change as long as their targets are shia. Arab shia on the one hand and kurds on the other. So i think for the time being its going to be a fairly lonely fight, but i think its worth making because i think if the perception among the kurds were that the u. S. Didnt come to their help, i think that would change a lot of equations starting with the fact that the kurds have not gone ahead with independence, largely because the u. S. Didnt want them to. And i think that has been the major factor in preventing kurds from becoming or from going with unilateral declaration of independence. If theres a perception the u. S. Isnt there for them, i think that could change in a big way. Barry mccaffrey, are you surprised with how small this operation is at this point . Well, i think a lot of the latest announcement out of the pentagon sounds more like lawyer babble than military thinking. The end of the day, i would be astonished if the peshmerga loses their capital to what is a fairly modest isis force, even though they are now equipped with four divisions worth of Iraqi Military equipment that took off like hairs from mosul. So i think were making political gestures with minor military force. The whole notion that were bombing because the consulate in erbil is in range is nonsense. If we want to prevent genocide if were going to supply 50,000 people in the mountains with food and water you dont do it by air drops out of three aircraft flying out of italy or germany. A lot of this doesnt make any sense. What is the mission . Well, thats one of those questions is this Minority Group that have been just terrorized, ravaged by the isis force fighters. Tell us from your experience, chris hill, about these minorities and what they are up against. They are very much minorities, often surrounded by other minorities. The yazidis, its an ancient sect. Zoroastrian is probably the closest you can come to explaining their theology if that helps anybody. But, clearly, these people are endangered as are many of the other christian sects there, including the caldean. This is a tough proposition. I can see why the president uses that as the justification. But i would agree that two fa18s or two 500pound bombs does not a strategy make. I think we need to look more broadly at what isis means not only to these tiny religious minorities but also to the entire region. I mean, this isis crowd, they have a big ambition. And by the way, i think its useful to make the point that as much as we need to see a government in baghdad not led by anyone named maliki, this is so far beyond the foibles of mr. Maliki. This point has to do with the broader middle east, and we need a broad approach to what were going to do here. We havent done anything in syria. And by not anything i mean theres no kind of political or diplomatic way forward. Weve talked about arming certain groupss and not arming certain other groups. Thats not a strategy either. I think we need a little more deep thinking here as we go forward. But, you know, journey of many miles begins with a single step or a single 500pound bomb. So i think this was the right way to start. But it needs to be followed up with a lot more. Briefly, chris hill, speaking of maliki, though, is al jafaafi the next Prime Minister . Had there been progress overnight in getting a new Shiite Coalition leader to be Prime Minister . There are a number of names, and his is one of them. This is someone who didnt do too well a few years ago. But i think at this point theyll take anyone not named maliki who can garner some broad support. So i think that name is as good as any other. What id like to see and what has also been very much missing is where is the socalled moderate sunni population in iraq . Why arent they clearer about their concerns about isis . And just as they acquiesces in another sunni takeover of iraq by saddam hussein, i think they ought to be a little more forceful in their views of this isis effort to take over iraq. And just one last thought, barry mccaffrey, how much at risk do you think the mosul dam is and that would be a disastrous occurrence if isis were to blow that dam and threaten the south shiite cities. Good argument. Are they going to act like a terror group in which case theyll put 30 feet of water down the river. Or are they trying to govern and recognize thats water and power. Id like to dispute the notion that isis is an equivalent of a modern day the iraqi army took off and quit and i think the sunni groups rose up throughout the sunni areas in opposition to maliki. And not necessarily under the control of isis. So this is a giant as ambassador hill correctly said, this is a tenyear galactic shift in whats going on in the middle east. And the u. S. Military power modestly applied, is not going to be a major influence on all of this. Barry mccaffrey, ambassador chris hill, thank you general. Thank you, ambassador. Much more ahead this hour right here on Andrea Mitchell reports. Well continue to bring you the latest developments out of iraq. Coming up next, inside the isis threat with msnbcs counterterrorism expert michael leiter. Well be right back. son oh no. Can you fix it, dad . Yeah, i can fix that. dad i wanted a car that could handle anything. I fixed it dad thats why i got a subaru legacy. vo symmetrical allwheel drive plus 36 mpg. I gotta break more toys. vo introducing the allnew subaru legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. 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. 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With all due respect to the secretary of state who is in another part of the world right now, is this the wakeup call . Two fa18s dropping 500pound laser guided bombs . I really hope not. If we go back to 2012 it was really clear that there were several elements of the Syrian Opposition that were very problematic. The al nuzra front and isis. Isis has only grown in strength since then. Its power in syria is very significant, shrinking the more moderate opposition and four, five months ago, moving into iraq. So if this is a wakeup call, everyone has missed everything else. And i dont think this is really a failure of intelligence. The Intelligence Community might not have nailed the tactical warning about when isis was going to move in and take mosul and move now, but the strategic warning from boith inside the u. S. Government and outside the u. S. Government about the consequences of growing confligeration with isis at the forefront has been very, very clear for more than two years. Two years ago, i recalled vividly being at the state department and hearing that the saudis and the uae were really rooi angry at the qataris. And that our syrian strategy was messed up and there were people at the state department and people elsewhere in the government pushing and you heard it from the hill. Pushing for us to be more actively engaged in syria before this group got so out of control. I think thats absolutely right. The call now of where are the allies, i think, is a little bit confused. It is true that the saudis have been quite silent. Both the saudis and qataris have funded that opposition. Isis was part of that. This is blowback. Exactly. The opposition was getting money and isis was part of that opposition. As you also know, the jordanians, turks, emirate s and saudis have pushed the u. S. To be more involved over the past two years. And weve consistently said no. With some legitimate concerns. Where will the weapons go . Who is our ally in this . But we have not actually followed the lead of our allies in many of these cases. So, in fact, you know, and also today we should point out the faa has officially restricted the air space over iraq. This is potentially already weve seen two bombs dropped but we dont know when and where Something Like this could happen. No commercial flights will be going over iraq. This is officially a war zone from the faas perspective. But the next steps, are the allies going to come or stand back and say, wait a second. A year ago we thought you were going after assad. You didnt. Were not going to put ourselves on the line until we see, are you really ready to follow through . I think thats exactly right. I think secretary terrys Statement Today is good and strong and important. It sounds an awful lot like a statement about the red line in syria and then, of course, we backed off. And that was a huge blow to our allies in the region. Theyve said since then and before then, are you really going to be trusted to dedicate yourself to this . So my expectation is allies will stand back and we really have to determine, will this be pin prick strikes or will this be some broader effort to push back isis. And the fact is isis is a local threat. Were seeing that now. The yazidis in erbil. Its a regional threat. Incursions into lebanon. Instability in jordan. Its a global threat and americans have to understand that not just isis but other elements of the Syrian Opposition, they are targeting the United States. And isis may not be today but in the future, their agenda is very much aligned with al qaeda. That means attacking the apostates in the west and thats the homeland, too. To really eliminate that threat or reduce that threat, do we have to go after isis in syria . I think there is no way to separate isis in iraq and isis in syria. There is no way. We can tactically now push back isis in iraq, but until we have a concerted effort in syria in that civil war, were not going to stop the threat. Michael leiter, thank you, as always. Coming up, the burden of American Leadership as a reluctant president obama returns to the use of military force in iraq. Well have hardballs Chris Matthews and republican Steve Schmidt joining me next. When innocent civilians are in danger of being wiped out and we have the capacity to do something about it, we will take action. Thats our responsibility as americans. Thats a hallmarkof American Leadership. Thats who we are. One swish of scope kills millions of bad breath germs, freshening your breath. So you can be the girl who doesnt scare the moustache off someones face. Scope. The freshest fresh, guaranteed. So factors like diet canoustache negatively impact good bacteria . Even if youre healthy and active. 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And its only from Unitedhealthcare Medicare solutions. Call right now or visit us online. O0 c1 wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. And even piano tuners were just as simple . Thanks to angies list, now it is. Weve made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. Buy their services directly at angieslist. Com no more calling around. No more hassles. Start shopping from a list of toprated providers today. Angies list is revolutionizing local service again. Visit angieslist. Com today. I ran for office in part to end the war in iraq and welcome our troops home. Thats what weve done. As commander in chief, i will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in iraq. Even as we support iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, american combat troops will not be returning to fight in iraq. President obamas political career was largely defined by his opposition to the iraq war and his Campaign Promise to end it. Now events have clearly forced him to take a dramatically different turn. What is going to be the political fallout . Its already happening. Joining me now, msnbc contributor Steve Schmidt, senior strategist. And Chris Matthews. Chris, first to you because weve seen sort of the heart and mind of barack obama in kind of tug of war with himself. The Statement Last night was, you know, this is limited. This is just a step. Were not going all in, but we cant allow genocide to happen. He doesnt want to be here, but this is where he is. I thought the New York Times headline was alluseinating. It talked about him being allowing the strikes. Authorizing. Not ordering. Its like, okay. Ive got to do this as a warning shot. I think, as someone said a couple of days of ago, hes a realist with a conscience. And his conscience is bothering him. But also as political sensitivity. Benghazi is a bad word. Doesnt help anybody on the democratic side. Munich is a bad word. Certainly rwanda was a bad word to bill clinton. Its what you dont do. The st. Louis when we sent jews back to europe to their death. You dont want to be the american president to let christians be massacred, to have people crucified and beheaded because you didnt do anything or to have a consulate facility overrun on your watch . I dont think he wanted that to happen. Thats why he acted. Steve schmidt, john mccain could certainly say, i told you so. Hes been saying if we. Syria get out of control this metastasized, radical group, they are terrorists beyond al qaeda in the way theyve been treating civilians. What do republicans say now . John boehner issued a statement saying in part the president s authorization of air strikes is appropriate but, like many americans, i am dismayed by the ongoing absence of a strategy for countering the grave threat isis poses to the region, Vital National interests are at stick. Yet the white house has remained disengaged despite warnings from iraqi leaders, congress and even members of its own administration. Such parochial thinking only emboldens the enemy and squanders the sacrifices americans have made. What do you think the appropriate republican response should be. Should politics now stop at the waters edge . Its important that it does. Look. The threat here is not to the prospects of the Democratic Party in the november election or the possible political advantage that republicans could take for the collapse of the president s poll numbers an the handling of foreign policy. The seeds of the next war historically are almost always sown in the last. What we have now in iraq is something fundamentally different from what existed in iraq when we left that country when the president took us out. And the cause of this metastization is not necessarily that we did not intervene in the syrian civil war. But the threat has become what it is today, and this threat is real. And the problem with the president s Statement Last night is that he spent too much time trying to explain this decision in the context of his Campaign Promise as opposed to educating the American People as commander in chief about the deadly threat that this organization provides. And so as we come on the 100th anniversary of the start of world war i, and we see the collapse of the National Boundaries between these countries drawn after the outcome of that war, we have a real serious extensial threat developing across multiple boundaries in this region with a tough determined enemy that is advancing, for example, on the only part of iraq thats functioning. Erbil and kurdistan in armored convoys made up of the vehicles we left behind. Gave to the iraqi army that they promptly surrendered in the first engagement against isis. Our focus as a country has to be to use overwhelming military force and air power, not necessarily the insertion of american troops but some american troops on the ground, to be able to direct the proper deployment of the air power assets. Because two 500pound bombs being dropped by fa18s is not commensurate with the threat that isis poses. And the degree to which we delay in confronting it, we will have to deal with a much bigger, more dangerous threat later don the road. And so the world is the way that it is, not the way we want it to be, and the Administration Needs to recognize this at this very dangerous hour in this region. That is, i would suggest, steve, its a fascinating political i mean geopolitical and military analysis. I wonder about the politics. You have the libitarian wing of the Republican Party and the Progressive Left wing of the Democratic Party who would both go crazy if we put any boots on the ground, even to direct air strikes. I think the word genocide trumps everything. Its about discernment. If its the sunnis against the shia, thats going to go on for another 1,000 years. You have the Christian Community affected. These are the early christians. They were there before islam. And were going to let them get wiped out . Let them be crucified . No, i dont think so. So theres an emotional level to this question because the Christian Community. Then you have the consulate we talked about last night. The consulate. We cant have another benghazi. Its not going to happen. So i think but he has to hes testing. Hes saying, as steve said, the two 500pound bombs. If isis says were not fighting the United States of americas military power and pulls back and lets those people come off the mountains and leaves the Christian Community alone. I dont think thats likely to happen but he must be testing that to say can i fight a very pin point war here, a pin prick and theyll get the message or are they zealots they want to fight the United States and draw us in, even if its a Suicidal Mission on their part. They may want that. Its very clear that they said to us last night in briefings the goal is to free those people. You cant do that without more air strikes. We need to use all the elements are American Power to annihilate as many isis members as we are capable of annihilating. This is a deadly threat that needs to be degraded before it continues to metastasize and spill over into the borders of jordan and other stable countries that have had a lot of destabilization, for example, because of the refugees flowing across the border in what has become a regional civil war. And this is one aspect, one offshoot of it. It is very important in my estimation that this country arm immediately kurdish forces, the peshmerga. They are an effective fighting force. They are a disciplined military organization. And the only stable functioning part of iraq, they are effectively de facto, an independent nation. We should acknowledge reality on this. The kurds will never give up kirkuk but they lack the Armored Vehicles and the infrastructure necessary to hold back isis because of isis ability to maneuver in open terrain with the equipment we left behind to the iraqi army, which, of course, as weve seen over a 20year period, has a tremendous capacity to cut and run in the face of any armed opponent, whether they are american, isis or what have you. The danger there is we become the military force of iraq instead of the iraqi army. Thats the darge. We replace them with us. Thats the danger. Steve schmidt and Chris Matthews, thank you. Tune in to hardball tonight at 7 00 p. M. Eastern for more an the latest developments out of iraq. Much more an that coming up right ahead here on Andrea Mitchell reports. Deputy assistant secretary of state for iraq, bret mcguirk joining me live from the state department. And startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. No property tax. No business tax. And no sales tax. Which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. Its not just business as usual. See how new york can help your business grow, at startup. Ny. Gov 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 here i am. Rock you like a hurricane fiber one now makes cookies. Find them in the cookie aisle. Coverage of the latest u. S. Military actions in iraq. Bret mcguirk is the Deputy Assistant secretary ff iraq and jouns me live from the state department. Thank you so much for being with us. You are the expert on iraq. So we defer to you on a lot of things. Im wondering as to the questions that have been asked today, how will these two 500pound bombs make a difference against isis . They seem to be warning shots, pinpricks against an artillery unit outside erbil. How is this going to be an effective way of showing american resolve . I would just say that as the strike was taken today, its a Tactical Strike in furtherance of the policy missions the president laid out last night. There are also iraqi air strikes taking part against isil targets done in cooperation wither people on the ground, with the people the president deployed after his june 19th speech and the two joint Operations Centers we set up in erbil and baghdad. Theres a lot going on besides the single strike taken earlier today. We know the president spoke to King Abdullah of jordan today. Is there any prospect that jordanian or saudi or other Coalition Forces might join this . I dont want to get ahead of that and talk about potential Coalition Forces but i will say over the last 72 hours, theres been a well spring of support for the iraqis, for the kurds, for the shia, sunnis, christians, for the entire all the populations of iraq. And many of our partners have come to us and asked how they can help. Were putting them in touch with appropriate iraqi officials. There are really dire needs both on the Iraqi Security force side and also on the peshmerga side. Were coordinating all that now as we speak. We had a meeting at the white house to coordinate all of this in terms of regional efforts to ensure any regional partner willing to help with supplies, with ammunition, with equipment, that they be done so in a coordinated fashion and we welcome that support. Were you surprised . Was american intelligence surprised that the persian peshmerga fighters were so quickly routed by isis fighters last weekend . You know, since this crisis started on saturday night, when isil launched a lightning assault across hundreds of kilometers against the peshmerga lines, and isil is proving once again to be a disciplined, sophisticated military force, it has excellent operational security. It acts with swiftness, surprise, it acts with military profurbiency. It acts with incorrect fire and then an Armored Vehicle assault. It is a militarily highly proficient organization. And that is why we need to strngt strengthen all the Security Partners in iraq. That includes the Iraqi Security force and the peshmerga forces. Since this began on saturday night weve seen a really historical level of cooperation between the iraqi army, the Iraqi Air Force and peshmerga commanders. Weve seen Iraqi Air Force jets in the sky doing Tactical Strikes in support of peshmerga units. Just today, the Iraqi Air Force flew a c130 to erbil delivering supplies to get to the peshmerga front lines. And we are obviously actively engaged in facilitating this coordination. It once again proved the military proficiency of isil and theres a political component and a military component. And that is what we are helping with. You were one of the architects of the surge. Your experience in iraq goes back a dkade with all these ambassadors and military leaders, two president s. So to what extent do we think some of those sunny tribal leaders of supporting isil or isis because of or as a result of the mistakes, acknowledged mistakes that baghdad made in excludeing sunni leaders from the government . Ill break it down like this. Its a complicated picture. There are three main fighting groups. One is isil. Theres no political solution to isil. They have to be isolated and defeated. They are a global jihadist global organization. Committed to committing acts of genocide. That organization has to be militarily confronted and defeated. Theres also a core element of the former baath party. And they are still fighting. That is part of the threat. They have a marriage of convenience. An unholy aluns with isil. And were working to split them off from isil. Thats increasingly happening. And then some tribal groups that are interested in control in their local areas and theres a political compone tonight that which are actively engaged with. But the core threat is isil. And most of the tribes in iraq are not supporting isil. Actually, they are trying fight isil. What were seeing is tribes that try to fight isil lose. Thats why its important to remember that isil, isis its called isil or isis depending on who you are talking to. Isil fights anyone in its path. It has a clear strategic path to create a state. If the kurds are in its path it will fight the kurds. If shia are in its path, it will fight the shia. It is trying to annihilate all religious and ethnic Minority Groups in iraq. And it kills and destroys moderate sunni clerics. Isil is a threat to all iraqis regardly of sunni, shia, kurd and many leaders in iraq are aware of this. They are asking for assistance and help from some of the Iraqi Security forces in their air component. Thats something were coordinating as we speak. Is there any way to protect the minorities from genocide without eliminating or breaking the siege, without going after isil or isis . Well, as the president very clearly said last night, particularly the situation with the yazidis an this mountain, we have an urgent need to get them humanitarian assistance. We tried in the early hours to work with the Iraqi Air Force, air drop assistance. The Iraqi Air Force did air drop them assistance but not to the effect we wanted. We clearly realized this was something we had to do and act with urgency and we did. The president issued the orders and the mission was conducted successfully. The president says we are prepared and authorization given to conduct targeted air strikes with a mission to break the siege of that mountain and that is something that again we are actively working on. Thank you bret mcguk for taking your time. A very busy day. Renewed bombing from israel. Bill nealy is live in gaza. Bill, thanks very much for being with us. What is the state of play right now on the ground . The ceasefire lasted three days. 72 hours, but not a minute more because just seconds after 8 00 this morning, we heard the first explosion as militants fired rockets across the border into israel. That was followed by many, many explosions throughout this day. The Israeli Military says more than 50 rockets were fired across the border into israel. Some were intercepted by the iron dome missile system. Others were allowed to fall on empty ground. Two, possibly three israelis were injured. One house took a direct hit. It didnt take very long for israel to respond. Prime minister netanyahu calling the renewed rocket attacks totally unacceptable and within an hour, israeli war planes were in the air and weve heard them streaking across the sky here and striking a number of sites. I was at one or two of them this afternoon. One 10yearold palestinian boy was killed, although its not absolutely clear he was killed by an israeli strike. Palestinians saying one member of islamic jihad, the militant group, was also killed. So it looks like the ceasefire is over. The war has resumed. Peace talks in cairo were deadlocked anyway. And now israel is saying there is no way that it is going to talk while the firing continues. Hamas said it wouldnt extend the ceasefire simply because its demands were not being met. One hopeful sign, the two sides havent walked away from those peace talks. Indeed, egypt is calling for a new 72hour ceasefire. Neither side is calling those talks dead. Andrea . Bill nealy, thanks for the update. You are looking at live pictures of the White House Briefing room. Any minute were expecting to hear an update from press secretary josh earnest about the u. S. Military missions in iraq today. Stay with us here on Andrea Mitchell reports. Its time for the your business entrepreneurs of the week. 45 years ago, the woodstock Music Festival shook up the nation and changed the cultural landscape. Today an main street in woodstock, much of that spirit lives on in the Small Businesses from peace, love cupcakes to an old hippy hotel turned music studio. For more watch your business sunday mornings an msnbc. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. So factors like diet can negatively impact good bacteria . Even if youre healthy and active. Phillips Digestive Health support is a duoprobiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract. Im doubly impressed phillips Digestive Health. A daily probiotic. Now to hawaii where Tropical Storm iselle is weakening after making landfall on the big island overnight. There are reports of downed trees and Power Outages an the big island and parts of maui. But the real concern is hurricane julio. A category 3 storm headed for hawaii this weekend. A rare double storm threat. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard joins us. Tell us about the weather and then i want to ask you as an ooh rack war veteran about iraq. But first to weather. How is the storm . Thanks, andrea. Aloha. Good morning to you. Its been a tense last 24, 48 hours. A lot of people are getting ready for the worst case scenario. Hurricane iselle has been dongraded to a Tropical Storm about 3 30 local time this morning. But people are remaining vigilant as we look to see what hurricane julio will bring. Things have been changing kind of on a minutetominute basis. I want to give a shoutout to our local Civil Defense workers, our red cross and all of the good response folks who have been standing at the ready to help assist people with their evacuations efforts. And thankfully the big island got through last night without any reported injuries or deaths. And people are safe. I know its very early out there, but its also election day tomorrow. How might this affect voting . I know i saw your tweet. You voted already for yourself, i presume. Yeah, well, you know, my message to everyone over the past week has been, first of all, get ready and be safe. Take advantage of the early walkin voting we had all the way through yesterday on each of our islands. And as we go into tomorrow, its looking like the weather will kind of create a lull, which will hopefully allow people to get out and vote. But again, weve got some Rural Communities where if you have these downed trees or if you have bridges that are flooded out, access really becomes a challenge. So priority number one, safety first. And secondly, get out and vote. And you did serve for a year in iraq back in 2004 and 05. Tell me your thoughts as you see us go back in, in a way, not Ground Troops, but go back in militarily to relieve the potential threat to those minorities and also with air strikes that could be £ing as well as the pinpoint or warning shots if you will that were fired today. I did. I served in iraq in 2005 with the combat brigade team from hawaii. This mission is and should be very different. This mission should be focused on providing a massive overwhelming and direct flow to the islamic extremists. Al qaeda, isil, going by various different names. These are the same extremists who attacked us on 9 11 and who continue to provide a threat to the United States, the American People. And this is an opportunity to focus in a very targeted way on taking them out and trying to eliminate that threat. Thank you so much. Be safe congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Our best to you and all the people of hawaii going through this very rough weekend. Thank you so much. Aloha. Aloha to you. Coming up, more on this breaking news coming out of iraq. Well check in with the latest from the white house coming up next here on Andrea Mitchell reports. I need to speak with your fraud resolution department. Ugh, we dont have that. What should i tell him . Just make that super annoying modem noise. shuuuuuuuh. Zzzzzzzz. De ee. Dong. Shuuuhh. hello . Not all Credit Report sites are equal. Classic. 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We still have a very strong hint from Deputy Assistant secretary bret mcgurk coming from the state department about a half hour ago that more real air strikes are going to happen if thats what it takes to relieve the pressure and get those people off the mountain. Well, good afternoon, andrea. You are right. That is the indication coming from the white house that president obama has given the green light for air strikes, if and when needed. So earlier today, the first round came and i think it is reasonable to assume that we could see more by the end of the day. Of course, that is something that well be asking White House Press secretary josh earnest about when he comes to the briefing room. He was due here about 15 minutes ago. We anticipate hell be coming any moment now. Well also be asking about the end game here. As you pointed out, these are two 500pound bombs dropped. How much impact can they have . How much impact can they have in terms of slowing don those extremist isis forces gaining ground there in Northern Iraq . And then how can this administration give assurances to the American People that there wont be u. S. Bootss on the ground . Of course, you heard president obamas justification last night for this military action saying that it is in part aimed at protecting u. S. Interests in the region. But also dealing with that mounting humanitarian crisis, aimed at preventing a possible genocide. White house Officials Say they believe the president has Legal Authority to do this, in part because the Iraqi Government asked for u. S. Assistance and also because the president is protecting u. S. Interests. Thats just a snapshot of some of the questions well be asking josh earnest about when he comes to the briefing room. Well also ask him to respond to some of the criticism from lawmakers an capitol hill. House Speaker John Boehner who has been saying the president should have been more sooner to prevent this from happening in the first place. Of course, this update, which is that lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have suspended their flights to erbil. Thats one additional change in the aviation situation after the faa today sent out their notice that there shall be no commercial american flights in the area. So iraq is now going to be a war zone in terms of the air space. Kristen welker, well be watching you and the briefing as josh earnest is about to come out. That does it for Andrea Mitchell reports. Follow us on facebook and twitter mitchellreports. New car smell and the freedom of the open road . A card that gave you that im 16 and just got my first car feeling. Presenting the buypower card from capital one. Redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac with no limits. So every time you use it, youre not just shopping for goods. 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I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in iraq. Hes been dragged into this. He doesnt want to do it. It is 1 00 p. M. On the east coast, 10 00 a. M. On the west and 8 00 p. M. In northwest iraq. That is ground zero for the ifrt u. S. Air strikes in that country since Ground Troops left in 2011. Any minute now, were expecting live briefing ofs from the white house and the state department. Were going to bring you both as they begin. Just this morning, less than 12 hours after president obama announced military operations, two u. S. Navy fa18s dropped laser guided bombs on isis artillery targets. They hit near iraqi curd stns regional capital of erbil. This after they dropped relief supplies to try to help up to 40,000 civilians from the little known yazidi minority. They are stranded on a mountaintop, dying of thirst