But his leadership may become a casualty of the conflict nonetheless. Many in washington believe maliki cant unify his own country to stop the invasion and prevent a new civil war. Lawmakers say hes got to go, but the administration only hints at it. The white house may be nearing some form of military action. President barack obama tells top lawmakers in congress that hell seek their input but he doesnt need their permission. This as sources tell us that the u. S. Is carrying out man reconnaissance flights. Heres secretary of state john kerry defending dallas to nbc. Maliki was asking for help with air strikes in the last few weeks, as this was coming. As isis was coming toward this part of iraq. Why didnt we act then. For a lot of different reasons, not the least of which is we didnt have operational theater capacity at that point in time partly because Prime Minister maliki denied the kind of permissions necessary. That raises the question, why come to malikis rescue now. Isnt he a big part of the problem. Let me stress what the United States is doing is about iraq. It is not about maliki. And nothing that the president decides to do is going to be focused specifically on Prime Minister maliki. It is focused on the people of iraq. Lets head out now to the white house and White House Correspondent michele kaczynski. You see her on the lawn. What conversations are unfolding there encouraging maliki to step down, if any . Well, thats what people are talking about. I mean top congressional leaders, some top u. S. Officials are saying that thats what they believe needs to happen. From the white houses position, though, you really cant get them to answer the question. They went so far yesterday as to say, obviously not enough has been done by al maliki to incorporate all elements of the population within the government. Weve been togging for days how al maliki has alienated sunnis, kicked people out of top positions, generally stirred things up thats seen as a major contributing factor to what is going on right now. The white house is not going to stand there and call for regime change. Whats going on behind the scenes is a lot of pressure. We know that Vice President called al maliki yesterday. He talked to not only him but a top parliamentarian and the kurdish president , talked to all of them about the need for inclusiveness. We cant emphasize enough how many times the white house talks about this. Its virtually in every answer to every single question. They say number one, the best solution to the threat there is an inclusive government. That provides the framework that minimizes the threat. Whether thats too late remains to be seen but clearly the u. S. Still wants that kind of government in place, don. Michele kaczynski at the white house, thank you very much. This just in to cnn straight from the senate floor, of course you know john mccain and the president rarely see eye to eye on many issues and this issue when concerning iraq they dont either. Lets listen to john mccain moments ago on the senate floor. In the last couple of weeks, what is the United States of america done . Today we see on the front page of the washington post, u. S. Sees risk in iraqi air strikes. The president of the United States goes for fundraising and golfing and now is fiddling while iraq burns. Fiddling while iraq burns. Perfect time to bring in indiana senator, dan coats. What do you make of john mccains comments moments ago . I think what weve seen here in the last few weeks, in fact last several months, is the lack of decisive leadership either from our president or from president maliki. Clearly some blame falls to maliki in terms of his inability to do what i think everyone knew he needed to do, but also, our ignoring the situation to the point where he ven though we probably knew as the secretary of defense admitted to yesterday in a hearing, knew Something Like this was going to happen and we really didnt have a plan in place in terms of dealing with it. Its a complex issue and i dont have the solution to this. The commander in chief, the president of the United States, needs to be and with his people needs to be thinking about how do we deal with these situations if it should arise. Theyre acting as if this came as a surprise. Were kind of behind the curve here in terms of knowing what exactly to do. One thing we need is clear announcement of whether we go forward or not go forward and whether we believe iraq needs a new leadership, more inclusive government. Senator, stand by. Well talk more about, you know, the president informing and keeping members of congress informed. The issue, as you said, youre not sure of what to do. What would you have the president do . A lot of people are criticizing the president and from the president s side, hes saying or at least his administration is saying, what are the solutions . You are criticizing us, but there are no solutions. What would you have them do . I do agree with general petraeus who said we shouldnt be malikis or the shiites air force. Its going to take much more than that to address the situation, given the way its developed and how theyve intruded so far into iraq and lost that territory. I think at some point here, the moderates, whether theyre in iraq or whether theyre in any number of arab nations, need to step up and say, we will not accept this brutality. If our leadership, from these extremist groups. If our leadership isnt willing to address this, we cant just simply depend on the United States to come in and bail us out. I think we could lead potentially that effort among our western allies and the world through the u. N. And through our own exhortations to the moderates there that see this per version of this religion, the brutality thats taking place. Why arent they storming the courtyards and storming the where people gather in those different states like we did like they did with the fall of the soviet union and say we will not tolerate this. What are the imams, why arent they stepping up, the tribal leaders, people saying we dont want this form of perverted islam here. I understand what youre saying, but what does that have to do with the United States . My question is what would you have them do . Theres been talk of possible air strikes, thats one of the possible roads that the u. S. May go down. Do you have an apprehension to that . Look, the members of 100 members of the senate and 435 members of the congress are not the commander in chief and theyre not the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. We ought to be looking to their ideas in terms of how we may address this, but ultimately it is the president s decision as to whether or not we get involved. Give us an answer. One way or another in terms of how we should go forward. We can throw out ideas, but it falls on the president to provide that kind of leadership. The world is looking for it. The middle east is looking for it. I think the u. S. , whether we like it or not, is looked to as someone that can provide some control and security for people around the world. But we need to engage our allies in support of that effort and we dont have a president thats willing to take that lead. Everybodys just floating out there not knowing what to do. Dan coats, senator dan coats, thank you very much. Indiana. Appreciate you. In iraq all eyes on the nations largest refinery, terrorist fighters and iraqi troops claim to have control of the facility which is a vital economic source for the embattled government. Nic robertson, please, give us the latest on this. Whats going on . Don, we got breaking news out of that refinery. We understand a ceasefire was arranged between isis and the sunni tribes on one side and the Government Forces on the other side. They were able to get over 200 workers who were inside that refinery, they were able to get them out of the refinery through that ceasefire. But who controls what of the refinery, this refinery has like a 35mile perimeter. There are four sections of the refinery and the best information we can get putting together everything that we have is that some of it is under isis control and some of it is under iraqi army control. More than 200 people got out in the last couple hours through a ceasefire agreed on the ground there to get those workers out and safe, don. Nic robertson, in iraq, thank you very much. Appreciate your reporting. Make sure you stay safe there. Still to come on cnn charges of homegrown support of terrorists. Well have the very latest from texas. Bill have you seen my keys anywhere . Ill help you look. Maybe you left them in the bathroom again. Its just the strangest thing. The warning signs of alzheimers disease, may be right in front of you. Its alright baby. For help and information, call the Alzheimers Association or visit alz. Org 10signs mayo . Corn dogs . You are so outta here aah [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of greattasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. Nutrition in charge™. [ bottle ] ensure®. I dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. I love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angies list for bringing us together. Find out why more than two million members count on angies list. Angies list reviews you can trust. This is cnn breaking news. The breaking news concerns iraq. It is coming from the pentagon. Well let Barbara Starr break the story. What do you have. Good morning, don. This will await a final decision by president obama but the pentagon at this hour is now prepared to send 100 u. S. Ground troops, military advisors, to iraq. Several u. S. Officials are telling me. It does await a final decision by president obama. That decision could come as soon as today, we are told. 100 military advisors to iraq. They will be green berets, army rangers, navy s. E. A. L. S. If approved, they will deploy to the headquarters of Iraqi Army Brigades around the country, around iraq. They will both they will advise iraqi forces, but they have an additional job. They will also collect intelligence on the location and disposition of isis forces. The militants that both iraqis and the u. S. Want to see out of the fight in iraq. Don, i think whats so significant here for the military, for the pentagon, is, you know, the president has said no u. S. Ground forces in iraq. But, these guys, these 100 special forces, they are always prepared for combat. I dont know a Single Member of the special forces that isnt. So when they go to these brigade locations around iraq, they certainly may not be on the very front line of combat, but they will be close to the unrest and they will be in the position of some security concern. Many u. S. Officials believe. But that is where we are today. An announcement could come from the white house as soon as today, but this is the option we believe the pentagon certainly is preparing for and the one that the president is considering. Barbara, the question is, does the white house appear, i guess it does, i dont want to read too much into this, the distinction between Ground Troops do they seem to be backing off their initial assertment that there would be no Ground Troops sent to iraq. I think thats a really good point to expand on a bit here, don. The president has made it very clear, the u. S. Is not going back into Ground Combat in iraq in a significant way the kind of troops and for mations and weaponry we saw over the years in iraq that u. S. Pulled out of in december 2011. But, mine heres a big but, the u. S. Has been out of iraq since 2011. Now very small group, but they are special forces on the ground, they will be at brigade headquarters, advising iraqi troops, but also gathering intelligence. I think we will have to see what their exact orders are, so to speak, which has not come out yet publicly, but i can tell you, ive spoken to a number of sources who say look, special forces, they are always prepared, they always know that combat can come to them. If you are in an iraqi brigade headquarters, somewhere in northern iraq, you may not technically be in combat but if an artillery shell comes your way, youre in combat. This is a very sensitive situation at the moment. The breaking news from our Barbara Starr at the pentagon. Its showing that this appears to be escalating when it comes to this conflict in iraq now. Barbara starr is reporting at the pentagon, prepared to send 100 special forces, military advisors to iraq, if the obama administration, if president obama signs off on a green berets, army rangers and navy s. E. A. L. S. If you get more information well get back to you. Thank you very much for that. Lets talk about possible homegrown terror. Authorities have arrested two men in texas on terrorrelated charges. Official say that they conspired to provide Material Support to terrorists. One was on his way overseas when he was nabbed at Bush International airport in houston, texas. Reporting on this story for us is cnns ed lavandera, more from dallas. Whats the latest . Hey, don. Its a disturbing story, but one that also highlights a disturbing trend. U. S. Citizens going overseas to engage with radical islamists. These two men, americans, arrested in texas, have been charged with supporting terrorist groups in syria and somalia. A s. W. A. T. Team surrounded 23yearold rahatul ashikim khans home in austin. According to complaint he used chat rooms to spot and request groups for jihad dwroefr seas. Michael todd wolf was arrested at Houstons George Bush airport before boarding a flight to europe where he later planned to enter into syria through turkey and provide his services to radical groups. Wolfe referred to al qaeda representatives as righteous brothers according to the criminal complaint, showing an undercover fbi agent a Youtube Video of foreign fighters in syria. Wolfe discussed which militant groups he should join including the group isis staging an offensive against iraq. The texas native also told undercover officers he had been physically preparing to join jihad practicing martial arts, running and cross fit. The competitive sport which uses militarystyle techniques. This is something thats been going on for a while and since even the early 2000s, people from america have gone over to terrorist camps overseas, but sites like youtube can be used to recruit people even in the United States very easily, where before, they were out of reach. Reporter analysts believe as many as 100 american citizens have made the trek to fight in syria. Last month an american suicide bomber who grew up in florida set off a massive truck bomb at a Syrian Military checkpoint. Syrian jihadists tweeted several photos of the american before he took his life, with bombs strapped to his chest. Social media has now become one of the many ways al qaeda recruits westerners to fight alongside radical islamists. Both of these men were charged separately. Doesnt appear that they were working together. Both of them are still being held in custody and they will make their First Court Appearance friday afternoon in austin, texas. If theyre convicted, they face up to 15 years in federal prison. Don . Ed lavandera following the story, thank you very much. Still to come on cnn, American Apparel ceo dov charney is out among allegations of misconduct. Ive never assaulted anybody in my entire life. But did he get the boot because of bad behavior or the companys falling stock . They lived. They lived. They lived. dad we lived. Thanks to our subaru. announcer love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. The porter was so incredibly. Careful. Careless. With our bags. And the room they gave us it was. Beautiful. A broom closet. But the best part but the worst part was the shower. My wife drying herself with the. Egyptian cotton towels. Shower curtain. Defined that whole vacation for her. Dont just visit new york. Visit tripadvisor new york. [ male announcer ] with millions of reviews, a visit to tripadvisor makes any destination better. American apparel ceo dov charney fired by the companys board of directors yesterday amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment. Charneys lawyer says he will, quote, fight like hell against the allegations. For his part, charney says hell even take a lie detector test. What in the world is going on here . Cnns Jason Carroll is here with more and cnn Business ReporterAlison Kosick here as well. The crux of these allegations, jason, and you know this man because youve interviewed him, you interviewed him back in 2011, whats the crux of this allegation . Basically this time around, the company isnt saying specifically whats going on. The last time back in 2011 you remember he was sued by five former employees who basically said charney sexually harassed them, one of them a former model who says he coerced her into taking provocative pictures at his home. Dov charney told me he denied those allegations, saying these women were coerced into saying these things and they were out for money. First listen to what he told me back in 2011. The way i feel about this situation is, theres something disingenuous about the claims. First of all, theyre fake. Second of all, these claimants are being coached. Third of all, theres too much money involved in terms of the amounts of money that theyre claiming. And i feel im prepared to take a polygraph. Again, thats from 2011. He admitted to me at that point during that interview at his factory in downtown los angeles, is he provocative, yes. Has he walked around, for example, in his underwear at a certain time, yes. Giving meetings in his underwear, Walking Around he didnt say a meeting. Walking around where, the company . Well, at a part of the company, yes. But look, are you surprised . You look at the ad campaigns. It is reminiscent of in some ways. He says steadfastly what he does in his private life does not translate so much into his business life. I would agree with him on that. But if youre Walking Around a business, place of busi