Syrian rebels. Here is the president. Good evening. Today the United States continues to build a Broad International coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isil. As part of the air Campaign France will join in strikes against isil in iraq. And as one of our oldest and closest allies, france is a strang partner in our efforts against terrorism and we are pleased that french and American Service members will once again Work Together on our shared security and our shared values. More than 40 countries, including arab nations have offered assistance. This includes support for iraqi forces, strengthening the iraqi government, providing humanitarian aid to the iraqi civilians and doing their part in the fight against isil. Here at home, im pleased that congress, a majority of democrats and a majority of republicans, in both the house and the senate, have voted to support a key element of our strategy. Our plan to train and equip the opposition in syria so they can help push back these terrorists. As i said last week, i believe there were that we are strongest as a nation when the president and congress Work Together and i want to thank leaders in congress for the speed and seriousness with which they approached this urgent issue in keeping with the bipartisanship that is the hallmark of American Foreign policy at its best. These Syrian Opposition forces are fighting both the brutality of isil terrorists and the tyranny of the assad regime. We had ramped up our assistance, but this new effort will provide training and equipment to help them grow stronger and take on terrorists in syria. This will be hosted outside of syria in partnership with other countries and will be matched with other forces Kurdish Forces in iraq. This is in keeping with our principal strategy. The American Forces that have been deployed to iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. Their mission is to advise and assist our partners on the ground. As i told our troops yesterday, we can join with allies and partners to destroy isil without american troops fighting another ground war in the middle east. The strong bipartisan support in congress for the new training effort shows the World Americans are united in confronting the threat from isil which has slaughtered so many innocent civilians, with the bear bearic murder of two americans, they thought they could fight us or intim date us or cause us to shrink from the world but today they are learning the lesson of those who have come before. And when you threaten our allies, it doesnt divide us, it unites us. We join with those who seek a Better Future of dignity and opportunity for all people. And today air strikes against the terrorists continue. We are taking out their terrorists, were destroying their vehicles and equipment and stockpiles. And we salute our dedicated pilots and crews carrying out the missions with great courage and skill. As commanderinchief i could not be more proud of their service. As i told some of our troops yesterday, the American People are united in our support for them and their families and as we go forward as one nation, i would ask all americans to keep our forces and families in their thoughts and prayers. Thanks very much. That was the president of the United States. Of course coming out to address the nation after the senate voted to arm and train Syrian Rebels. That means that will happen. That is passed u. S. Congress and the president will go ahead with that. He also referred to the coalition of 40 countries and re iterated yet again that this will not involve american combat troops on the ground. Joining me is our own dana bash. She was covering this on capitol hill. And jim squuto and dan seeno and stephanie cutter. Great to have all of you with us. Dan, was there any question on this vote. The president said democrats and republicans [ inaudible ]. Can you hear me dana . I can. Sorry. I heard something strange in my ear for a second. How easy was it to get this vote through for him . It was very easy because of the strategy that he employed. What you just saw within the last hour was bipartisan it was 7822. But i have to zriep what describe what if the it ft. Was. It was to keep the government running. And inside that was the authority that the president asked for to arm and train the Syrian Rebels. It is not an accident this was wrapped up together. The president wanted it. He was on the phone, two members of congress all week long urging them to support his plan with regard to isis and procedurally to do this together because he wanted it on a mustpass bill, which is to fund the government especially before members of Congress Leave to go campaign which just happened moments ago. So that is why it happened in the senate. In the house yesterday it was different because the parties were very, very split on the question. Yext but now this has happened and it will pass stephanie cutter. So now what is at stake . The president will arm Syrian Rebels. There were many who pushes for this, including dan who is sitting next to me and arming Syrian Rebels means that some arms will get into some weapons will get into the apr of people that want to kill americans. I think the president is making the case of why this is necessary and tightly controlled. A i think and i think he will continue making that case. And he has to execute this plan and make sure that he is reducing the threat to the United States and ultimately eliminating it. So jim, as hes going ahead with the plan. And you have a report that isis is changing its strategy. How significant is the news. Im told by more than one u. S. Military official, in response, isis is changing the way it communicates and moves and conceals itself in response to u. S. Strikes so far inside iraq. This is something that was expected. In effect, they are running because they dont want to get hit so hard. Now this raises a concern or intensefies a concern that some have had as the strategy has been refined and debated that isis will flee to the cities, and you are concerned about civilian casualties, but im told they are confident they have security on both sides of iraq and syria to strike back at isis hard when the president decides to carry that campaign into syria. And dan, when you hear that and hear what jim is reporting, does this support the president , bolster him again right now to the nation, saying i will not put u. S. Combat troops on the ground. What kim said was important, because a lot of this is population dense areas. It is hard to conduct those operations from the air without doing serious damage to large numbers of civilians and civilian communities. I saw this in iraq when i was there in 20032004. It didnt work. Without the intelligence on the ground provided by our forces and without the small cohesion you can get with our forces and without protecting the iraqi allies on the ground with retribution with our forces, it is hard to not avoid large numbers of civilian casualties. And let me ask you this again, the president just addressed the nation and said there will be no troops on the ground. And yesterday the Vice President was in iowa and said something different. Let me play it for you. Vice president , do you agree with general dempsey about using Ground Troops if necessary if the Mission Fails . [ inaudible ]. I determined that based on you can determine that just on how the based effort go. They will determine that, but the president said there is no determination. I will not do it. What is the problem here. They are saying different things. I think the Vice President was putting the generals comments in context and that is what that is what general dempseys role is, to say based on our current information these are our recommendations. But the president is the commanderinchief and he makes the decisions. And hes made the determination that the our troops will not be used in a combat role in this effort. The question here though is how does he know that now . The reality is i think what general dempsey was saying, these are the missions we have and the objectives we need to achieve and those in the pentagon, both in uniform or not, it is hard to execute this mission and meet the president s objectives if hes ruled out Ground Troops. Not to say that well definitely need Ground Troops but how could you project to the administration and to the world that there is no chance there will be Ground Troops. It strikes a lot of people like it is a pretty irresponsible thing to say. It boxes him in. Stephanie, you know this president personally, will he keep his mind open and go back and change his mind and say to the American People that i changed my mind. I think he is determined to make this a successful mission. Look, im not in on the decisions, i dont know what hes looking at. But hes made the decision right now that Ground Combat troops are not needed. I think there is a larger cob text here. The americans dont want to send combat boops and weve been troops and weve been in a protracted war before. And we cant win this war against isis or anybody else by putting our troops on the ground. It is a strawman argument to say that because iraq was a mess for as long as it was, and we had so much of a force presence there, that is the only alternative to no ground forces. The truth is there are many military, from the Brookings Institute and in and out of uniform, said there is a modest decision to make, not unlike the surge in afghanistan, is nothing like the presence we had in iraq from 0311. Jim, go ahead. And there has also been some fudging of the definition of combat in the administrations statement so far. They are saying they will not be sent into a combat mission so they will not be kicking down doors or setting up fire officials but they have brought up other roles, including dempsey and josh earnest from the white house podium which are combat. If you are a forward ground controller, you are not a fighter, but you are in combat and face danger e. If you are an advisor, you may not take up fighting but you are in danger of combat and that is a risk frankly the administration has not been clear about. But, jim, i want to ask you one question about the british hostage now under duress, obviously making a statement, saying that the United States and the United Kingdom have left him, have let him go. Were not going to play that because it was made under duress. But that is what he said. What can you tell us about this hostage. Erin, this is a different video, so different from sotloff and foley. He is a british man captured around the same time foley was, and in an orange jump suit and speaking as a spokesperson for isis and giving the isis creed, granting as hes doing it. Im under duress, i dont know any will live or die but he still makes the argument, saying, for instance, dont let your countries drag you back to the on is of another the onis of another war. Not to terrorize but to get the message across in an eerie and disturbing way. Thanks to all. The war in isis could begin any day. We have a special report coming up. Plus 25 billion is how much america spent on training forces. When isis came many of them fled. So will the training that just passed congress mean anything . And polls in scotland just closed . Yes or no . The results are moments away. And a camera captures a uva student the night she disappeared. She is the fourth to go missing in that area. Are they connected to a serial killer. Thats keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. At humana, we believe the gap will close when healthcare gets simpler. When frustration and paperwork decrease. When grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home. So lets do it. Lets simplify healthcare. Lets close the gap between people and care. And youll see just how much it has to offer, especially if youre thinking of moving an old 401 k to a fidelity ira. It gives you a wide range of investment options. And the free help you need to make sure your investments fit your goals and what youre really investing for. 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Milt has finalized the list of isis targets within syria and now is ready to start air strikes. This is a whole new game. Barbara star is at the pentagon and what more can you tell us . Because this has been a pain staking prosez and one i think the president will be involved in at a minute level. Reporter good evening. The president has been briefed on the syria target list and if he gives final approval if he does, bombing could begin within days. The classified list of isis targets the pentagon wants to bomb in syria is complete. The military is ready. General dempsey and i have both approved and spent considerable time reviewing and adapting the sent com plan. Reporter but first the president must give his final approval. On his order, u. S. War planes and pilots will fly over dangerous territory, facing isis, Syrian Regime forces, antiaircraft and others. Things swung into gear after secretary chuck hagel signed a classified order calling for a detailed syrian bombing plan. But bombing planning was already underway. It began with a massive Intelligence Surveillance and recognizance effort. U. S. Drones over syria have precise video data on isis. The intertell jens has intercepted calls and social media. The targets, are isis commanders, weapons and camps. Sent comes plan includes provinces of a safe haven, include logistic capabilities and infrastructure. If isis leader bagdadi is found, the u. S. Will go after him, officials tell cnn. But even that is still not enough. It is not just the target you will go after. You will not send a bomb against one guy. You are hopefully going to want to affect the entire organization by that strike. Reporter the target list includes what type of aircraft and bomb will be used to attack each site. And the risk to u. S. Pilots from isis or syrian air defenses and the likelihood that civilians could be killed. It is joust as it is not just as simple as dropping a bomb where you think they are. Because i would submit many of them are within the society. Reporter president obama will not approve every target but he still needs to sign off on the over all plan. I am told that is what will happen, the over all plan is what the president will look at. He will not get involved in approving target by target. One big caveat, if they do find the leader of isis and some of those highvalue targets, the president may get involved in looking at those. Erin. Barbara, thank you. Outfront tonight, spokesperson jen sake. Thanks for being with us. Good to have you here. Your boss john kerry has been trying to build a force to fight isis. No one has agreed to put boots on the ground at this point. Are you confident that will change . First of all, military assistance takes many forms, it includes giving weapons, it includes training and equipping. There are definitely countries that have agreed to do air strikes. We wont announce that on their bee half but well have all of the assistance we need to be successful. But this is much more than a military coalition and campaign. There are many components that will be needed to be successful. Part of the plan in terms of the actual fighting against isis i know is to rely on iraqi forces in part to fight isis. The issue, as you well know, the u. S. Spent 25 billion to equip and train iraq forces through september of 2012, but in of them just ran when isis attacked. So is training going to work . Now we hear about training of Syrian Rebels and 25 billion and this is what happened. Well, look, i dont think nobody would have predicted what would have happened when isil had the kind of impact and power they had in turning back the Iraqi Security forces. Obviously there is more work that needs to be done moving forward with the security forces. It is not just the United States. Other countries will play a role in the effort and weve taken our own steps to push back on isil within the country as well. There is also steps that the government is taking. They just formed a government last week and implementing a National Plan and part of that is putting in place a National Guard that will take a different approach to pushing back from the local level, the threat that isil and other terrorist organizations pose. On this issue of who will fight, the president has been categorical there will not be u. S. Combat troops on the ground, and there have been many experts who have raised questions about that. Even general martin dempsey. And Vice President joe biden is on the list, suggesting u. S. Troops on the ground is a possibility. I want