Thats going to wrap it up for way too early. Morning joe starts right now. Heres a political announcement. A political announcement. I saw already this was like two days ago. Take a look at this. Hes been called an elitist. He vacations on Marthas Vineyard. He has been accused of ignoring the crisis in missouri and overlooking the concerns of the africanamerican community. Hell, i could do that. Paid for by romney, 2016. Good morning, everybody. It is thursday, august 21st. Welcome to morning joe. A lot to get to this morning. Boy, we do. On the front page of all the papers, we have got news that there was an attempt to rescue jim foley. We start there. The pentagon confirms that dozen of special operation troops unsuccessfully tried to rescue the journalist james foley and
other american hostages earlier this summer in syria. The captives were not at the targeted locations and foley was eventually murdered by islamic. People are very angry right now about not only about this murder. The New York Times is reporting they angry this information was released. A lot of people feeling that the information was released so the president could look like he was really engaged. He, obviously, is getting hammered for going out golfing right after this horrifying news. The daily news has this on the front page. That actually cuts both ways. A lot of people talking about it. But can you imagine . I mean, both of you, if youre president of the United States and like the europeans pay out
these hostage ransoms all of the time but barack obama didnt and what a terrible choice to have to make. It is a terrible choice and other countries do it. President obama is vowing not to let up the campaign against the terrorists responsible for the bloodshed. Here he is yesterday. Jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world. No just god would stand what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. From governments across the middle east there has to be a common to extract this cancer and a clear rejection of this ideologies. We agree on that a group like
isil has no place. He was seen smiling on the golf course moments after, along with alonzo mourning, nba star. Before this, you heard from foleys parents as well in a News Conference so a lot of people are feeling this picture shows a president that is disengaged and a president who doesnt have a sense of tone in terms of the moment. There actually two ways to look at this. Because, you know, your first instinct is to look at this. Right . Yeah. And to say, how are and its the truth. Theres another way to look at it too, which is, i mean, you know, george w. Bush told us to go shopping, to go to malls after 9 11, show those terrorists. Here, i think theres probably one or two terrorists in isis,
because this is how they make their money, right . Al qaeda funded their operations by kidnapping europeans and getting ransom money, right . And so they are negotiating with spock with a pitching wedge here. He is spock. Maureen dowd calls him spock. He is spock. Im sure there may even be one or two terrorists, with willie, over in vae right now looking at him going, wow, that is one cold bastard. Like he goes golfing on marthas ven yard. People might be watching are you criticizing the president or not . I dont know what im doing. I just know that this is how terrorists fund their organizations and if the president were in the white House Reading his hands and weeping, no, he is out golfing. And its horrible for the parents, but it does send a message to the terrorists. Im sure barack obama would say, you know, if we cant go golfing at an exclusive golf course at Marthas Vineyard and the terrorists have already won. I dont think you can say that. Im not making light of any situation, im merely pointing out these are horrible, horrible optics domestically but internationally, willie, for terrorists, its basically like screw you, screw you. We are not going to live by your rules. Yes. Try to follow that one. Do you know what im saying . I follow what youre saying. We know this president , this white house has no time or patience what we call optics, theater. Im doing the job. If i play golf once in a while, so be it. In this case, i always hate the vacation and golf criticism that happens every summer with every president. Because they should be working 24 hours a day. Lets jaw say right here. President s are always working even on a whether on a golf
course or behind a desk. Yes. They are always working. Yes. So that is the first part. The second part is but in this case, you had such a horrific act and people saw it and it was on the front page of newspapers and the family was crying. Youd think out of respect, just for the family even, forget what the press thinks about it, for the family maybe take a step back an quietly go about your job. He is attacking isis relentlessly right now. Air strikes again yesterday and air strikes this entire month and not like he is sitting back and doing nothing. I dont think to confuse anybody here, mika. I could not have do it. I could not have gone out and played golf. I just couldnt have done it. That says, maureen dowd always calls him spock inspect. He is kind of spock. In this case, as maddening it may seem i do wonder, though. When you look at these terrorists, what are they
thinking . Like, they just traded in a war weary Sleeping Giant. Right. For a pissed off country and the story always ends the same lets see. No, it didnt. Osama bin laden, no, he got a bullet through his eye. Saddam hussein got no. We actually ripped off his head from his body after he was hung. Dresden and nagasaki, they have placed a huge target on their backs by doing this and im serious. When are the bad guys going to understand that its just better to walk on the other side of the street. Go ahead. Pick on europeans. They will pay your ransom. They are on a vacation from history. Again, im not being facetious here. There is no jingoism here. This is just stupid. Nothing speaks the conscience of war weary americans and pictures we saw yesterday all over the front pages. Horrifying and you cant just sit and let it go by. You cannot let this go by. They have exposed themselves. Your father, your brother, your uncle. They have exposed themselves as the cancer they are. The president of the United States are now calling them a cancer has has to be cut off. Everyone will agree. The attacks now will only accelerate and have as of yesterday. To washington now. Bbc state correspondent is back from lebanon. Kim, thank you for being with us. Great to be here. What can you tell us what happened, looking at the commando raid, the attempt by special forces of the United States, to go after and rescue jim foley, a failed attempt because he had been moved by the time the special forces got there . First off, id like to point out we are macking today the one Year Anniversary of the chemical
weapon attacks against syrians just outside damascudamascus. That provoked a brief moment of International Outrage at the time which almost led to american and European Military strikes against syria, which in the end did not happen. Syria one year on is even in a worse president. We heard from the french president yesterday saying if the International Community had shown a bit more resolve in pushing for a transition in syria, in other words, if the u. S. And its european allies had gone for strikes, perhaps isis were not to be where it is today. Kim, can i ask you about that . Because there is a debate, obviously, going on in the United States between two pretty powerful democrats. Hillary clinton, you know better than anybody, and barack obama saying that its, quote, fantasy. Her position and the president of france position. What is the feeling throughout the International Community,
throughout the European Community will what would have happened . Are they on the side of the president or Hillary Clinton as far as intervening in syria before this madness took over the entire country . Well, my reading from talking to european officials and from being in the arab world the u. S. Left a vacuum in the region. That is very much Hillary Clintons view as well. Its debatable, of course, but look at the situation on the ground at the moment, that is very much the feeling that europeans have and i do believe that because of what is happening in iraq, because of what we saw happen to james foley and because of this attempt to rescue american hostages in syria, i think only a matter of time until the press will have to consider the possibility of strikes against islamic militants in syria. The conundrum there is, of
course, ininadvertently he may shore your president assad who says he is fighting islamic militants. Joining us from erbil, iraq, nbc chief Global Responsibility bill neil li with the latest on the ground there. Bill . Reporter yes, well, the u. S. Air strikes have not stopped since the murder of jim foley. There were at least 14 yesterday bringing to 84 the on total of air strikes in the mosul dam since this campaign started. The big question where did this campaign end . What are its goals . Initially stop genocide against a religious minority and to protect you u. S. Facilities here in erbil. Why is the u. S. Continuing its campaign . President obama said yesterday that we will act, we will
confront isis, but for how much longer . And how deep is the involvement of the u. S. Here in Northern Iraq going to be . Its easy to start a campaign, not so easy to end it. Interestingly, this military operation, unlike so many others in the past that, desert storm, desert fox does not have a name. There is no brand on this operation and no end in sight. That is the question, what is the objective now . How far does the United States go . Bill, thanks so much for your reporting on the ground in iraq. Appreciate. Officials hope the tide is turning if ferguson, missouri, following the second straight night of reduced demonstrations. It follows a visit by attorney general eric holder who met with captain ron johnson along with College Students and Community Leaders. He says he understands why there is mistrust of police. Recalling when he was stopped twice for speeding and had his car searched. Attorney general holder rejected criticism of his trip to ferguson. I need to be here, you know . I was a little disturbed to see people questioning why i was here. My answer to that would be why would i be any other place than right here, right now, to talk to the people in this area who are deserving of our attention and we want to help as best we can. Prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury which will determine if the officer who shot 18yearold Michael Brown at least six times should be charged. Joining us now from ferguson, nbcs craig melvin. The reports from the ground last night, craig, relative peace. Is that what you saw . It was peaceful and calm for the second straight night. Monday into tuesday, nearly 70 arrests. Tuesday into wednesday, more than 50 arrests. Last night here, as of 1 00 a. M. , there were six arrests. By and large, the half dozen folks were arrested for failure to disperse, disturbing the
peace. Captain johnson indicated that Law Enforcement felt like the tide might be beginning to turn here in ferguson. We should note that there were some pretty severe thunderstorms at one point last night, but even before that, we saw the smallest, quietest crowd of protesters we have seen so far on the ground here. Of course, the highlight or the headline yesterday, i should say, attorney general eric holder on the ground for several hours meeting with Community Leaders and many with captain johnson as well and also some time with the congressional delegation and talked with missouri governor jay nixon, in addition to speaking from the heart about his own experiences as a young black man in america. He also we should remember here, this is the same attorney general just last week was somewhat critical of the response here in ferguson. At one point saying they should get these damn tanks out of here. But, again, based on what i saw yesterday, based on the folks i talked to last night, it
appears, it appears that, right now, peace and order are about to be restored to ferguson. We can hope. Craig, thank you very much. I love that line that eric holder gave, which is, you know, people are criticizing him for being there. He said where else would i be . I dont always agree with this guy but he is right. Where else would he be, right . It makes no sense. I want to show you a piece of video that came. Its from tuesday night. Local Police Officer threatening what appeared to be a peaceful protester on the streets. Oh, my gosh. Gun raid. Gun raid. My hands are up, bro. My hands are up. Hands up. Hands up. Raid [ bleep ] [ bleep ] hands up. Get back. Get back. Youre going to kill him. He is threatening to kill him. Get back. What is your name, sir . [ bleep ]. Your name is [ bleep ]
yourself go [ bleep ] yourself. Hello, officer. Officer, he is trying to kill me. What are you doing . I know you guys are watching. [ bleep ] he had to be told by another officer to pointing his gun at people for no reason. The st. Louis county Police Department says the officer has been relieved of duty. What in the hell . I would say there has been a lot of discussion around the imbalance of the Police Officer in st. Louis. Its a bad mix. That was horrendous. Im making no excuse for that guy. It shows they are tolgs tally unmatched to todays times. This guy is pointing a live weapon . What is going on here . He being gotated, yes. Youd think two weeks into this the learning curve youre not waving a semiautomatic weapon at a crowd with media all around. The media is everywhere and this guy in the middle of it pointing a gun. I just looked at the video early. I know there was, obviously, someone was rolling television video. This guy was clear knowledgeable that he was being videotaped. So at least you would think he would stop for fear of being seen doing that. So he says but he shouldnt be doing that. Im sorry, mika. He said he thought he saw somebody with a gun so he raised his weapon. He thought he was being confronted. Turned out it was a bb gun. He saw something he thought was a gun. The police say they relieved him because of the way he treated the crowd and not the approach he used. I would agree with that. If a crowd is goating you, that
is incite them even more to tell them, what he said . Its incredible. Incredible. But, listen. This is, again, this is bush league. Theres so many amateurs that have been down there. I sure as hell wouldnt know what to do. My gosh, a terrible situation. But there are great Police Officers across america, disciplined forces that know exactly how to do this. And at some point isnt the National Guard called in . Yeah, they have been there, yes. No question its a hard job. No. I cant even imagine being in that position. Im not trained to be in that position but there are a lot of great cops. A lot of good cops who are. Still ahead on morning joe, 13yearold pitching ace mo ne davis is making mat headlines for her pitching in the Little League world series. Bring you her story in a bit. Nick opperman brings us some bizarre shower thoughts. If Hillary Clinton wins in 2016, it will be the first time two president s have had sex with each other. What . That never rossed my mind. Thank you, nick. We really appreciate that. Im flaed he pglad he put th in my mind. That is, obviously, in hollyweird. A cat is put on a life saving diet. Oh, snucts i want that cat. The cat is on a diet. Life saving diet what is the cat eating . Chihuahuas for breakfast . First, here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. Kale chips for that cat good morning, everyone. Two things to talk about. The heat wave that is gripping the country and then what is going to happen with this tropical disturbance and will it affect florida and the southeast coast. . We are starting off with your morning commute, if youre in minnesota a lot of rain out and some severe storms. The heat wave is full fledged and it will be here at least a week. From texas all the way to florida and as far north as st. Louis, kansas city. That is where we are watching the peak of this heat. Easily 95 degrees for about all of next seven days in a row. The heat index will be worse. Notice the temperatures in memphis. No signs of a cool down right through the beginning of next week. Here is your thursday forecast. I got 95 plus in at least 13 states so that is one of the hottest temperature forecasts we have had so far this summer and it continues right into your friday. And as far as the tropics go the Hurricane Hunters will fly into this tropical wave out here today. This is projected. Yesterday we were thinking the caribbean and gulf and it shifted to the north and now thinking puerto rico and drub and tuesday near florida or the bahamas so all eyes will stay on that. Its too early to tell about intensity or anything like that because the land interaction down there in the mountainous terrain of the Dominican Republic. Youre watching morning joe. We will be right back. Shopping online is as easy as it gets. Wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple . Thanks to angies list, now it is. Start shopping online from a list of toprated providers. Visit angieslist. Com today. The summer that summers from here on will be compared to. So get out there, and get the best price guaranteed. Find it for less and well match it and give you 50 toward your next trip. Expedia. Find yours. Nobody ever stomped their foot and asked for less. Theres a reason its called an all you can eat buffet. And not a have just a l