it will take time to develop and require boots on the ground to develop it. these isis fighters are very skillful. they don t use cell phones that much. you need people on the ground in contact with the iraqi military that s opposing them in order to gain the kind of intelligence from the locals who would know what isis is up to. but this is going to require the iraqi tribes to come on board because they re the ones that really could put a dent in the isis juggernaut right now. and do you believe, phil, that the united states has any sense of what isis is really about or what they re going to do? we heard barbara reporting on the current assessment from the u.s. intelligence. isis isn t going to risk an all-out war. but then you see car bomb after car bomb after car bomb in market after market after market. i think we have a sense of what they re about, but in the intelligence business, you have to differentiate two fundamental points. first is capability, how many of them are th
talking about it? is this already mission creep? no, it will be mission creep or change of mission when the president decides it s in the national interests of the united states to back the iraqi military with air strikes or other military force. what those troops on the ground now are doing is setting up joint operation centers, they re fanning out across the iraqi army to assess the state of readiness of brigades and divisions. this is more of an assessment mission at this point than an actual combat mission or helping the iraqi army defeat ice. phil, on this issue of mission, my question still remains making the case to the american people as to why the united states would need to do something right now. you hear the prime minister of iraq saying thank you, syria, we re so glad you helped us with those air strikes. but those came from bashar al assad so the u.s. says we don t like the air strikes. this is an incredible situation where the enemy of your enemy is your friend and h
russia s president is making it clear that he is not convinced that the assad regime is behind the chemical attack but he s not ruling out joining military action against syria although that seems unlikely. phil mott in russia. what did the russian leader say? and his tone sounded different than what i ve heard in the past? john, initially, it sounded like a possible shift in the russian position, perhaps a softening when vladimir putin says he doesn t exclude the possibility of backing military action against syria in order to punish them for using military weapons. he said that would have to involve the united nations it would have to involve undeniable proof. but he also made it very clear he doesn t believe that evidence exists in his words he believes it s ludicrous to suspect the syrian government from using these weapons. a direct quote, from our point of view it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces
0 ran out of time, that s does it for us. thanks for watching, early start begins now. breaking news overnight. ariel castro the man who kidnapped and tortured three cleveland women for upwards of a decade found dead inside his prison cell. we are live with the latest. the crisis in syria. new developments, president obama picks up crucial support for military action in congress. but overnight, a fresh warning from the russian president. you ll want to hear it. and shot right through. how close was it your face? like this much. a few inches away. a close call for one driver, when a surfboard smashes through his windshield. look at that picture. not what you want to see. and he s smiling. we re going to hear more from him. good morning. welcome to early start everyone, i m john berman. and i m zoraida sambolin. it s wednesday, september 4th. it s 5:00 a.m. in the e. we re going to begin with shocking news out of ohio. ariel castro the man admitted holding thr