With the woman who he fell in love with while he was behind bars. Damian eckles and lori davis. Specifically, dick cheney, who in an oped blasted president obama for get this, his handling of iraq. Thats right. Pot, meet kettle. Cheney, quote rarely has a u. S. President been so wrong at the expense of so many. This from a man who helped use faulty intelligence, remember weapons of mass destruction . None found. Miscalculated the cost of the war. Part of it they said paid for by rocks oils revenue. Never happened. And misjudged just how long the conflict would last. Quote, dick cheney back in 2003, i think it will go quickly. Weeks rather than months. It ended up lasting almost nine years. Underestimated the price paid by our soldiers. Speaking of american troops in iraq, quote, dick cheney, back in 2003 again. My belief is we will in fact be greeted as liberators. Wrong again. 4500 American Service members lost their lives in the iraq war. Here is the bottom line. The Obama Administration should and does hold responsibility for what has happened in iraq under its watch. But the fact that dick cheney has the gall to offer advice to anyone on iraq is laughable, except its not funny. The former commander in chief who sent us to war, george w. Bush, has done the classy thing and remained quiet. Perhaps mr. Cheney, with all due respect, you should do the same. Have a seat. Now lets go right to Anderson Cooper live in baghdad, jim sciutto in washington tonight. Isis fighters, anderson, have taken over a number of iraq cities. Are they expected to reach baghdad . You know, that of course an open question. We know there are some 35 to 40 miles, the closest city theyre in and fighting for baqubah still. That battle has been going on for more than a day now. Thats about as close as we know that they are in large numbers on the outskirts. Obviously there are insurgents. There are terrorist groups operating inside baghdad itself. Weve seen a number of suicide blasts, robeses, of car bombs and the like over the last several days. Dozens of wounlded. More than a dozen killed just yesterday alone. So, you know, its a big question about whether or not they can actually come to the gates of the city. These are more shiadominated areas, the shia fighters here that make up the iraqi military. A lot of these volunteers who have signed up to fight as well. They are highly motivated to protect shia areas necessary to protect sunni areas which an area like mosul, we all know what happened there. But don, the fight that is going on up in baiji, up north, the oil refinery, the Largest Oil Refinery in iraq, one of three Oil Refineries in this country. That battle is said to be still raging. Isis militants and their sunni supporters control at last report that we had based on two local sources, some 60 of that oil refinery. Iraqi forces, hardened troops, antiterror forces are still in control. The last report we got, about 40 of that facility. But that would be a major blow to the government here if that facility felt into the hands of isis. I want to talk about the reports of the evacuations, kidnaps, Foreign Workers in iraq. How dangerous is the situation there for them now. You know, it certainly is very dangerous. The Foreign Workers from that baiji facility, from the refinery, they were actually evacuated by private Security Firm before the battle took place. There were several dozen Foreign Workers, many germans and others. They got out. We know there are some indian workers from mosul who have allegedly been kidnapped. Some turkish workers as well, as well as turkish consulate there. There is very real concern about kidnapping. And among all westerners, frankly, even operating in baghdad, security is a daily concern. You to think about it all the time, no matter where you go. Jim sciutto in washington, we understand that Vice President joe biden called iraqi Prime MinisterNuri Al Maliki today. Do you know what the two discussed . Well, we do have a read out of the call. And what you heard from the Vice President has been a consistent message, really, from the white house. He spoke with the Prime Minister about possible additional military assistance. But he said that that would have to be part of a broader package that includes political agreement. And what does that mean for the iraqi Prime Minister . It means him doing what the Administration Says and the iraqis say he hasnt been doing, and that is make his government truly inclusive. He is the shiite Prime Minister. The view in iraq is that he really is the Prime Minister of the shia communities in iraq, not the sunnis and not the kurds. And that is seen as a root cause of the divisions you have right now. So thats another day where the administration is delivering that message to the iraqi leader. The president has been weighing his options, jim, for days now on what action to take against isis. Is there a sense of urgency about making this decision . Well, the Administration Says that yes, they are dealing with this with urgency. But i think also with great care. Partly because they want any milktary action to be coupled with Political Action as theyve delivered in many messages to iraqi leaders. But also, i believe, and ive heard this from administration officials, ive heard it from intelligence officials. They believe that iraq will hold, that iraq and the south dominated by shias, that the military there, one more loyal to the government and also the city of iraq, very much a shia majority city, because of those advantages, it will be unlikely that isis can move through there. Certainly not nearly as quickly as they did through the northern part of the country. The impression being that that gives the administration and others time to figure out what is the best next step. Jim sciutto, thank you. Anderson, thank you as well. And make sure you stay safe in iraq. Joining me now is jessica lewis, a Research Director for the institute for the study of war. She was stationed in iraq for 15 months as an army u. S. Intelligence officer on isis. And cnn analyst james spider marks. Michael waltz is a National Security fellow of the new America Foundation and a former special adviser on counterterrorism to Vice President dick cheney. And also, nina burleigh, who covered the middle east and Foreign Policy for rolling stone. Thank you all for joining us this evening. President obama has a big decision to make whether to honor the Iraqi Governments request and send military air power to iraq now. Should he do that . Why or why not . Well, he should do that. And as jim described, that the administrations acting with a certain degree of urgency. I have to tell you, don, if this is urgent, i would hate to see what deliberate looks like. Theyve had plenty of time to weigh all the various options. The concern obviously is how much time exists before maliki and his government are truly at risk, where were located just north of baghdad right now in baqubah. And does that timeline look like . So balancing all of that, i have to assume that our National Security council has not only a granular, but credible picture of what malikis survivability. Otherwise, wed have to have aircraft in the air right now. So clearly there is a picture that we dont have right now that indicates that baghdad and the government is in pretty good shape or at least sound for now. My suggestion would be lets hedge our bets and lets put something in the air to help him out. I asked the general, jessica, about airstrikes. Late today we got word that an iraqi is calling for attacks against embassies. Is retaliation against the United States . I think we should expect that there are threats outside of iraq and syria that can potentially respond to action at this point. However, i think those threats were there already. So as concerns this example, that isnt necessarily the data point that is i think most compelling for me. Im more concerned about what happens if isis retans control of the urban centers and the military bases in the northern portion of iraq that they currently have, and how much stronger they become over time the longer theyre able to maintain those positions. Youre a former adviser to dick cheney and his daughter. Theyre making a lot of waves with the wall street oped criticizing the president in an interview they just did on fox news. I want you to listen. Got to go back and look at the track record. We inherited a situation where there was no doubt in anybodys mind about the extent of saddams involvement in weapons of mass destruction. We had a situation where if we after 9 11 we were concerned about a followon attack that would involve not just Airline Tickets and box cutters as the weapons, but rather something far deadlier. Perhaps even a nuclear weapon. Is he a credible critic, michael . Absolutely he is not a credible critic. I think the iraq criticism today is only one piece of his broader point. Lets look at from boko haram in nigeria to libya to al shabaab in somalia to the levant with syria and iraq, the middle east and north africa are literally crumbling. Libya in particular, the administrations key Foreign Policy victory is in shambles right now. And i think the world is crying out for american leadership. And the president s underlying point is that has been absent under this administration. But you take a different point of view. You say former vp and his daughter slimed obama today. Explain that. Well, listen, i dont know where Vice President cheney went to college, but i think take a class in how to take a country apart and give it to a terrorist organization. That is exactly what seems to have happened here. The you know, they are not able to sorry. Theyre not able theyre not able to put any kind of blame on this president. As jay carney said, which president are they talking about here . They basically took a country apart. They went in there. Halliburton got 7 billion and no contracts before they went in . Its either they didnt know what they were doing or they did it out of greed. And im not saying greed is a bad thing. But that is what has happened here, i think. Let me read part of the oped. Rarely has a u. S. President been so wrong about so much at the expense solve so many. Too many times mr. Broome has told us he is ending the wars in iraq and afghanistan as though wishing made it. So his rhetoric has now come crashing into reality, watching the blackclad isis jihadists take territory once secured by american blood is final proof. If any were needed, that americas enemies are not decimated. They are emboldened and on the march. So what do you think of the policies here . Does dick cheney have any credibility when it comes to criticizing the administration when the faulty intelligence got us into the iraq war in the first place . Well, don, i need to tell you, as the senior intel guy, when we went to war in iraq, i was the guy that was holding the wmd bag and had to try to make sense of it. To the contrary, there were elements of wmd that we did find, but thats another story. Clearly, there was some intelligence that was extremely faulty. And was laid bare during the initial stages of the conflict in iraq. The issue that i have right now is that we could go back and there clearly is plenty of blame. Well rolled into iraq in 2003 far too few troops on the ground to really get a sense of what was going on. And then we decimated the military, told everybody to go away. So we created a vacuum into all of which what we have seen over the past decade boiled in. Why are we going back and fighting a war that has already been fought. No, no, no. Shouldnt we be looking forward . Yeah, yeah, of course. Your question of me, what is Vice President saying relative visavis what happened in 0304 and where we are today. Of course, all the could have, should have, would have stuff and all the pundits that are self congratulatory, they all need to shut up. What needs to happen right now is this Administration Needs to step up and make sure that we dont have a failed state in iraq, even more than its failed right now, or weve got a big problem going forward. So the problem has to be solved. And it includes maliki, as lousy as he is. We cant afford to increase distance and speed at the same time. Lets give the Iraqi Government some breathing space, and then lets deal with maliki post the some form of stabilization if we can help them achieve that thats where we are right now. All right. Everyone hold your thoughts. Stay with me. When we come right back, the surprising conservative voice that says liberals, you were right on iraq. Also, is this man the man behind the benghazi attacks . And should a jury of american citizens decide his fate . Im going to ask a former general with the george w. Bush administration. And an unlikely story of love behind bars. They met while he was on death row. Now theyre building a new life on the outside. Hey, i heard you guys can help me with frog protection . Yeah, we help with fraud protection. We monitor every purchase every day and alert you if anything looks unusual. Wow youre really looking out for us. We are. And if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, youre never held responsible. Just to be clear, you are saying frog protection right . Yeah, fraud protection. Frog protection. Fraud protection. Frog. Fraud. Frog. Fraud. I think were on the same page. Were totally on the same page. At discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Fraud protection. Get it at discover. Com [ male announcer ] if you cant stand the heat, get off the test track. Get the mercedesbenz youve been burning for at the summer event, going on now at your authorized mercedesbenz dealer. Hurry, before this opportunity cools off. Well get walk to iraq in a moment. First, we have some breaking news i want to tell you about. A tornado touch downs in the South Central area of south dakota. Damage is said to be significant in the town of wessington springs. People are reportedly trapped in rubble, and the director of a patient care at a local hospital says the tornado struck only a block away. One person has sought treatment so far, but staffers are prepping for other patients to arrive. Meantime, the National Weather service also says an extremely dangerous tornado is heading toward the nearby town of alpena in south dakota. We want to keep you update odd then story as soon as we get more information on it. Now lets get back to iraq. Now remember this speech by president george w. Bush in 2003 declaring the end of major combat in iraq. Major combat operations in iraq have ended. In the battle of iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now were engaged in securing and reconstructing that country. So we all know how that worked out. But now are we on the verge of history repeating itself . Back with us now is jessica lewis, Major General spider marks, Michael Waltz and nina burleigh. Also ask you about the main concern that the Political Leadership in iraq is not equipped to pull the country together. Youre an expert in this area. That an accurate assessment . I think its a very fair concern that we dont just face a threat from isis, this former Al Qaeda Group that is gaining territory in iraq and syria. Iraq may very well, now be in a sectarian civil war, which was the object of this group to create this circumstance in iraq. Because its what provides best for their Islamic State ultimately. But there is a big question in my mind as to whether or not the sunnis in Northern Iraq are ever going to stand with maliki again. The question is how this has become so politicized. Nina, i want you to listen to what glenn beck had to say today. And then well talk. Said we couldnt force freedom on people. You know what . Let me lead with my mistakes. Youre right. Liberals, you were right. We shouldnt have. Why is it so tough for people on the political right to admit that they may have been wrong and that they were wrong about the war back in 2003 and i have people now who are defending the former Vice President and defending the decision to go to war. This a nowin situation . Do we all just assume that the other countries want democracy just like ours . Well, im glad you asked me that, don. I am probably one of the people here knows the most because my mother is an iraqi christian from kirkuk. And those of us who knew anything about the country culturally in 2003 in the beginning were making all sorts of noise about how its much more complicated. It was a heterogeneous society. It was not in sectarian warfare until it was taken apart and dismantled. And i understand the urge not to talk about history, as the gentleman in the earlier segments mentioned. I understand that. But you cant we will repeat history if we dont understand how complicated this is. And thats why i think obama is right to begin to bring in the iranians and to Start Talking to other people in the region about this, people who will stand up against these people. You cant you cant keep on talking about weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction terrorist, terrorist. There is a there are civilians living there. They live together in relative peace. Yes, t