How isis cannot be allowed to secure what theyre calling a safe haven in that borderless part of the world, both iraq and syria. Hell lay out his strategy, this portion of the speech is intended to counter the intention that he doesnt have a strategy to deal with the isis threat. Building an international coalition, arab partners in the region and iraqi and syrian rebel boots on the ground but no u. S. Combat boots on the ground. The president will lay out proposals on how the president plans to take the fight to isis to degrade and destroy the terror group. At this point, chris, it does appear the president is open to air strikes in syria. The question is when. Proposals. Thats a loaded word, jim. Any chance to dig down . I know everybody is being very circumspect. Any meat on those bones of what the proposal is . Like the arab world will lead the fight and not us . What do you think . Thats the big question, as you were saying, the white house said last night the president believes he has all the authority he needs to carry out the mission, he will lay out in the speech. For now this official said the president will not be asking congress for any additional authority. Having said that, the official cautions, elements of the president s plans for isis are somewhat a work in progress. Not the overall strategy, but the diplomatic outreach which continues this week. Secretary kerry in the middle east and the president goes to the u. N. Later this month. Chris, the big question is whether or not the president has decided on whether he will authorize air strikes on isis targets in syria. My understanding from talking to Administration Officials is that the president is ready to strike targetses on isis in syria. But whether or not well actually hear the president announce tonight that he is ordering those air strikes, that is the big question, we have not haefrd from officials that he is going to announce hes ordering air strikes on isis targets in syria. Thats something theyve not confirmed at this point, chris. Thats a very tricky part, because you have to distinguish political timing from military timing and what happens. The assessment is not there yet. Theres still intelligence work that needs to be done. The expectation that the strikes would start in the nearterm, im not hearing that yet. Breaking this morning, john kerry, the secretary of state, has landed in baghdad. The president is preparing his speech to the nation this evening, the secretary of state is delivering his pitch in the middle east, trying to shore up the support that jim acosta was talking about. Our Global Affairs correspondent is traveling with the secretary and is joining us now live from baghdad. Elise, what are you learning . Whats happening on the ground there . Well kate, this new Iraqi Government is seen as the centerpiece of this administrations strategy that the president will be laying out tonight. As you know, a lot of sunnis in the country felt very disaffected, marginalized under Prime Minister al maliki. The hope is that the new Prime Minister will give the sunnis more of a power sharing and stake in the country and shun isis. After he meets with iraqi leaders, hes going on to saudi arabia tomorrow to meet with gulf leaders, trying to enlist the sunni arab support for this fledgling government. Were not just talking about military support, were talking about drying up the financing, cracking down on the flow of foreign fighters, seen as the lifeblood of this group. And then as you know, the president will be laying out his strategy tonight. So when secretary kerry goes there tomorrow, arab diplomats telling me theyre looking for real concrete specifics on the strategy to see how they can best help the effort. And then the strategy will be really hammered home later this month at the united nations. Kate . Absolutely. Elise lavitt, traveling with the secretary of state in baghdad, and his travels overseas in the region continue through this week, thank you so much. Lets bring in cnn political commentators now. Margaret hoover, republican consultant and john avalon, senior Political Editor of the daily beast. Clearly the president has a lot on his plate or pressure that hes up against to perform tonight because this is a whole different American Public today than a year ago when he made his last primetime address. Weve now heard from elise in the region, in baghdad with john kerry. Jim acosta laying out the framework of the themes the president will be touching on. Jim seems to suggest theres going to be some surprise, some new proposals. Do you guys expect to hear any surprises, margaret . We need the president to lay out an entirely new reasoning. It doesnt necessarily have to be new. Details or the makings of a strategy have been out there. Yeah, yes and no. At his own admission, not necessarily. What he needs to do is explain exactly why the American People need to invest our time, our precious resources, you know, blood and treasure and our finances right now. Because look, this is a terrorist group that has territory the size of the state of indiana. The largest in any history. Far larger than al qaeda in afghanistan. Many years ago before we were packed. Especially important on the eve of 9 11. He has to explain to the American People why we are still engaged in this fight. This is a sign of a president who wanted to get out of iraq, but the Office Changes the person more than the circumstances change and thats what were seeing here. I think in terms of details were going to be seeing a couple of things. First of all i wouldnt be surprised if the president sort of reinvigorates a conversation about a Counterterrorism Fund in order to bring more partners to the fight. One of the real efforts is going to be this is not simply chapter two in the iraq war. This is not going to involve american boots on the ground. Its in americas vital interest to try to contain, degrade and ultimately destroy isis. Whats significant as jim and elise said. Because this is a stateless organization, trying stop the strategy across the border. Thats historically significant. Thats a big deal. The fact of the matter is the global war continues 13 years after 9 11. Elise is over there, traveling with the secretary. I wonder, shes traveling with the secretary, hes working as well as secretary hagel. Working to shore up support for this Regional Coalition. Is it too early for the president to be coming out to announce a strategy that must involve a Regional Coalition when theres still working to shore it up . We go to war with coalition weve got. But turkey, these regional actors are going to be essential. Its going to be essential, because thats how obama sees his strategy as being differentiated ultimately. But this message is to the American People. Is it less in your mind about ticking off 500 million to train and arm rebels, 5 billion for an overseas counterterrorism slush fund. Is it more about winning their support for this strategy. This the theater of the american presidency in the bully pulpit. You have to lead by explaining to the American People what your vision is and enrolling them in it i applaud the president for taking the opportunity and doing it tonight. Public opinion polling has changed significantly, especially in the wake of the beheading of these two american journalists. But what happens is if you tell and explain to the American People what the stakes are, the American People get on board. Too often weve been saying the americans dont want to go there, were nod interested, were warweary. But if something needs to be done. American people will be for doing it. What is at stake . Ive heard from mostly republicans saying this is the most important speech of president obamas time in office. I mean weve got a changing mood of the American Public. Just look at the opinion poll that we just released yesterday on how they, how americans view air strikes in syria. Now 75 of those polled are in support of the u. S. Conducting air strikes in syria. Thats a huge change from a year ago when the president made his last primetime speech. Its an indication of why you cant ultimately make strategy on public polling. President s need to lead, not follow. In terms of actually putting specifics behind an Obama Doctrine that responds to asymmetric threats like isis, these nonstate actors, these terrorist 0 organizations, one if you know threat from jihadism, still exists and needs to be confronted in a new form now. Congress is getting behind the president , he needs to put on his communication hat, explain it clearly and add specifics behind it. The president is not going to be seeking Congressional Authority and what that means with the relationship with congress, theyre going to behind the scenes, theyre going to thank him this time. But thats a very big deal. Midterm elections, its hard to get congress to do anything, isnt it . We knew it before an we know it now. Be sure to tune in 9 00 p. M. Eastern for president obamas primetime speech. Well bring it to you live followed by full analysis. Lets take a look at your headlines. We begin with breaking news, signs of hope in a fragile ceasefire in eastern ukraine. Ukrainian president , Petro Poroshenko says 70 of Russian Troops in ukrainian stert have withdrawn. The kremlin says poroshenko and russian president Vladimir Putin spoke by phone and are said to be broadly satisfied with the truce in eastern ukraine. How exactly do americans feel about congress . A new cnn orc poll reveals two out of three voters believes Current Congress is the worst of their lifetimes. To highlight the lack of respect for lawmakers, only 31 of registered voters say theyre enthused about heading to the polls in november. The final night of primary season featuring a big win for former massachusetts senator scott brown in new hampshire. Hell battle incumbent democratic senator gene shaheen in november. He was knocked out by exmarine seth moulten. New details this morning about the death of comedy legend joan rivers, a New York Daily News says an unplanned throat biopsy caused her vocal chords to seize and cutting off her air supply. According to medical sources, rivers might have survived the procedure if it had been done in the hospital instead of an outpatient clinic. An investigation is under way into her death. After first saying broadway would not go dark for joan rivers, officials reversed their decision. They dimmed the lights on theater marquees for a minute last night in memory of joan rivers. Im glad they did. They did. Two quick things, most endoscopies arent done in a hospital. Its not like she was doing something that unusual and i was happy about the broadway thing. It was so odd, i dont know if youre following it. They said she doesnt meet the criteria for who we turn the lights out on. It seems to misunderstand what its all about. To apply a political phrase they use quite often, it seems a little tonedeaf. Speaking of people who had difficulty saying things, the commissioner of the nfl is speaking out, Roger Goodell says not only did he not see the tape of ray rice coldcocking his wife, he didnt know what was on the tape. Believable . And does he think ray rice returns . We also hear from rices wife, herself. Is there more we dont know . And emotions boiling over at the First City Council meeting in ferguson since the shooting death of Michael Brown. What protesters were demanding, straight ahead. Totally delectabowl. Real silky smooth or creamy broths. Everything shes been waiting for. Carefully crafted with real seafood, real veggies, and never any byproducts or fillers. Wow being a cat just got more enjoyabowl. Fancy feast broths. Wow served daily. 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 vo ours is a world of the redeyes. daughter im really tired. vo the transfers. Well, thats kid number three. vo the copilots. All sitting. Trusting. Waiting. For a safe arrival. Introducing the allnew Subaru Legacy. Designed to help the driver in you. Care for the passenger in them. The Subaru Legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. The nfl is in full damage control mode this morning. Over the shocking ray rice elevator video. Commissioner Roger Goodell tells his story to cbs. And here it is, the league never saw the surveillance tape. They didnt know what was on it and they tried to get it. Basically, did what they could. However, the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, taking a different tack, owning a serious screwup. Apologizing to fans in a letter for the teams handling of the rice investigation. At the same time, rices victim, now his wife, the woman you see on your screen there, shes defending her husband and slamming the media cnns miguel marquez, following developments for us here. Miguel, lots of damage. Control . Not so much. Its starting to feel like a tidal wave of questions and disbelief. Roger goodell is speaking out as the National Organization for women call for his resignation. And he is defending his handling of the incident. Under a firestorm of criticism, nfl commissioner Roger Goodell speaking out for the First Time Since this shocking video was released on monday. In an interview with cbs news, goodell says the league never saw this video until after it was posted by tmz sports. Did you know that a second tape existed it . Well we had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator, we assumed that there was a video, we asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity. But what changed, i mean, on the first tape, she was lying unconscious on the ground. Being dragged out. Did you really need to see a videotape of ray rice punching her in the face to make this decision . No. We certainly didnt. And i will tell you that what we saw in the first videotape was troubling to us in and of itself. But what we saw yesterday was extremely clear, is extremely graphic, and it was sickening. But rebel casino, where the attack occurred, said it gave copies of the video to police, prosecutors, the state division of gaming enforcement and to ray rices own attorney. Baltimore ravens owner penning an open letter to fans on tuesday to apologize. Saying in part, the decision to let ray rice go was unanimous. Seeing the video changed everything. We should have seen it earlier, we should have pursued our own investigation more vigorously, we didnt and we were wrong. Rices wife, janay, breaking her sil innocence this Instagram Post to defend her husband and blast the media to make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horgt thing. To take something away from the man i love that he worked his expletive all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. This is our life. What dont you all get . If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone. Take all happiness away, you succeeded on so many levels. The nfl commissioner insists the buck stops with him. Did the nfl drop the ball . Or was the nfl willfully ignorant about what was on this tape . Well we certainly didnt know what was on the tape. But we have been very open and honest and i have, also, from two weeks ago when i acknowledged that we didnt get this right. Thats my responsibility and im accountable for that. For the nfl commissioner to say that they thought that the tape might exist and not know, its hard to believe. Because so many people were talking about this, so many people had it. Tmz even reporting that representatives from the nfl went to the hotel to view the video. Whether that ever got back to Roger Goodell is another question. Chris . Miguel, thank you for the reporting. One thing that the commissioner certainly right about, is he is accountable for this. The question is, what will that accountability mean . This matters beyond ray rice, it matters to a sport thats beloved by so many of us. And the question of what will really be about Going Forward. So lets dig deeper and bring in mel robbins. Senior commentator. Lets look at this point by point. Each of the relevant aspects of this. The first, this man needs to be tested, Roger Goodell. The credibility of everything this league does is up in the air right now. And it matters on a lot of levels. Is it the right decision to even come out publicly with a network that has big nfl contract . Arent you automatically with the safe harbor . And does it immediately make suspicious anything that goodell says . You know, chris, good morning, thats an absolutely excellent point. But beyond the fact that he went to a safe harbor for the interview, lets take a look at one of the things he said. That they didnt know what was on the tape . What did they think that ray rice was serving her dinner inside the elevator . Are you kidding . He just sat there in that chair and lied to the American Public as far as im concerned. They knew exactly what happened in that elevator. Very interesting, mel, just so everybody understands whats on the table right now. Replay this one particular sound bite again, because mels right, its what its all about. Well