Im Harris Faulkner in today for Shepard Smith and from the fox news deck american journalist james foley, murdered at the hands of islamic terrorists. They cut off his head. Then put it on youtube for all the world to see. And now attorney general eric holder has revealed the Justice Department is launching a criminal investigation and we are expecting to hear soon from chuck hagel and the chairman of the joint staff. And one of the questions i would wonder they will touch on is the criticism at the attempt at one point to try to free foley. We are learning more about that. The attempt to try to bring him home. An intelligent source says investigators are analyzing the voice on youtube to help determine his identity. The militant seemed to have a british accent on that tape. And u. K. Prime minister David Cameron said the terrorist is likely british. According to the guardian newspaper, a former prisoner of isis says the militant appears to be one of several british terrorists who guarded hostages inside syria. The former prisoner says hostages had nicknamed the group the beatle. The Officials Say the u. S. Sent special Operations Forces into syria this summer to try to rescue foley and other americans. But that they could not find the hostages. Officials also say isis militants demanded a ransom for foleys release. More than 123 million. Jennifer griffin has more. So we have our officials about to talk about this. Have you heard any more about what well learn . Reporter well, harris, we have learned that it took place over the july 4th time frame. U. S. Military sources tell me the special Operations Team that attempted the rescue were on the ground longer than they expected. When they got to first compound the hostages werent there. There was evidence they had been there just days before im told. They extracted information at the first compound and decided to go to a second location where they got into a firefight. One u. S. Aviator was injured. The intelligence leads for the operation came from interviews with the european hostages released this spring. They described where the american hostages were being held in Eastern Syria in the town of rocca. They said the executioner in the video speaks with a south london accent. Heres iraqs ambassador to the United States. We know for a fact that in syria and in iraq, more europeans are on the ground. We capture, we see, we see the videos and everything else. So we know for a fact that there are european passport holders who are jihadists. As i said before, this is a this is a tourist destination. We need to fight that. Reporter there are at least three more americans being held by isis right now, harris. Well, you know, that numb 132 million in ransom for foley, why that number . Well, the head of global post news where foley worked said the isis captors were demanding more than 100 million. 132 million in exchange for foley. He said they hired private firms to locate him and executives paid millions to bring him home. We had all of the appropriate communication you would imagine. But we hope that they would listen. But obviously, the situation changed when the bombing began. Reporter foleys employer said theres evidence the european government paid substantial sums of money to gain the release of about six european hostages this spring. The u. S. Did not negotiate with the terrorists and by law is barred from paying ransom. But in terms of why it was 132 million and not 100 million, harris, we dont know. Did you just say because i misheard you, did you say that the u. S. Does not negotiate with terrorists . Reporter that is that is an old maxim here in washington, that the u. S. Does not negotiate with terrorists and does not pay ransom. All right. Im just thinking of a situation with five taliban commanders who were released recently for the freedom of one american. Okay. Jennifer well, technically, harris, that was technically that was done through the qataris. We used a middleman. So the pentagon would argue that they did not negotiate with the taliban. We should report that. Thank you very much. The Senior National security correspondent for the daily beast is going to join us now. As this news is coming to fruition because were waiting to hear from pentagon officials on more information as jennifer just reported about the attempt to free james foley. Eli, thank you for joining us today. I want to speak with you first and foremost about something that may come one the News Conference and thats this criticism that the u. S. Government could have said no comment or they could have said the raid or the attempt happened but why so much detail . Well, i think that were beginning to see some push back against that. Earlier this afternoon, the chairman of the House Armed Services committee, buff mckean, said that he would like to find out whoever is responsible for the initial leak to news organizations before the white house made a decision to kind of come forward with a lot of this information. And there were a number of people i think in social media that sort of speculated that this the statements from the white house as well as the stories that came out appeared to have maybe a political motive. To make the president seem like he was doing something, but that said, as a journalist who covers National Security information im always wary of yet another leak investigation. And i do think that, you know, you can argue with both argue it both ways. But after the fact and in an operation like this, there is also an important right of the public to know the efforts of what its government is doing, particularly when its a classified action like this against a very serious threat. That the white house only until recently has been speaking abo not only recently, on the day of that we are hearing from the family members of james foley. Yeah. On the day of that we are hearing from president obama on james foley. Well, you know, as i said, i dont have all the information at this point to find out exactly, you know, what happened before. Allegedly there were news organizations that had the information and at least according to the white house the decision was made to come forward with the information, you know, publicly as opposed to having it kind of come out and then having them being no comment as you said. I have seen on twitter and other places on social media, people are curious to know which media outlet are putting out pressure to have this information released. But i have a different question for you. It has to do with maybe peeling back the veil a little bit for our viewers. You know, as journalists, eli, we can sometimes talk with authorities and they can say to us, look, hold off on releasing that. Because theres more to come. If we can maybe make a Second Mission to try to release, get free the other americans being held right now, well give you some video. Well make a trade with you. Can you hold back on this story . Let us work, let us do our jobs. We do that with Police Departments across the country. What do you think about that . Listen, i do it myself and my colleagues at the daily beast. Sometimes its not a matter of trade. If you write this information, then you could be endangering the life of an american and you could be endangering the life of people who are on a sensitive mission. And in my view, you know, usually i would err on the side of caution in a situation like that. However, there are of course times when youre dealing with a vast and secret sort of National Security state that there are there sometimes are efforts to try to use that in order to cover up embarrassing details or things that really the public should know. I think that one of the problems is that when youre dealing with so much of the war on terror being done on the secret side, and being done in a way that isnt shared with the public, then it does create i think a disconnect between the warriors and people who fight that war, People Like Us who cover it very closely and the general public who i think, you know, sort of woke up this summer to learn how you know, how shocked if you will that a group called isis existed, said they established a caliphate and all the violence. I understand from your reporting at the daily beast this could be linked to the jihad did group in britain. Talk to me about that. Well, there was an important arrest that began with british citizens in syria. Eventually, that case did fall apart, and, you know, it was seen at the time as a kind of call to arms for many of these foreign fighters, particularly British Foreign fighters in syria to kind of conduct more of these kinds of abductions. And just sort of back to this original topic, there was some information that we did not publish in this particular piece, you know, out of respect for various government agencies. So in that respect, but i would say that i think that theyre very, very connected. It raises an important point. Anyone who saw the gruesome video noticed that the man who was talking to the camera was had a british accent. And britain apparently has between 500 and 600 u. K. Citizens that have joined to fight the jihad in syria. Thats a very troubling number and thats just one country. There are lots of other western countries and this has been a real cause of serious concern i think for the National Security community for over a year. Good information for us to know. Eli lake, we appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And breaking news right now. Congressional investigators are saying that the pentagon broke the law. This is just coming in. When it swapped five leaders for bowe bergdahl. He was a prisoner in afghanistan for five years and the nonpartisan Accountability Office that the pentagon did not notify the relevant committees far enough in advance and that breaks the law. It also reports the way that the pentagon financed the transfer breaks the antideficiency act. Which is meant to keep agencies from spending more money than congress has allowed. After the swap, defense secretary chuck hagel said we made the right decision and did it for the right reasons, end quote. Well stay on this story as its coming up and hes due to speak in the next 16 minutes or so. So i dont know if reporters might ask about him. I would if i were in the press corps there. The missouri governor jay nixon has ordered National Guard troops to start leaving ferguson, missouri. This is after the protests there seemed to dwindle down and police made fewer arrests last night. Does this mean the worst of this unrest is finally over . We are live on the ground in ferguson. Stay close. And asked for less. Theres a reason its called an all you can eat buffet. And not a have just a little buffet. Because what we all really want is more. Thats why verizon is giving you even more. Now, for a limited time, get more data 1 gb of bonus data every month with every new smartphone or upgrade. Our best ever pricing with the more everything plan and 50 off all new smartphones. Like the htc one m8 for windows or android. Built to inspire envy. Come get your more with verizon. Youre thinking beneful. [announcer]and why wouldnt he be . Beneful has wholesome grains,real beef,even accents of spinach,carrots and peas. It has carbohydrates for energy and protein for those serious muscles. [guy] aarrrrr [announcer]even accents of vitaminrich veggies. [guy] so happy you love it so much. Yes you do but its good for you,too. [announcer] healthful. Flavorful. Beneful. From purina. S charlie. His long day of doing it himself starts with back pain. And a choice. Take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. Honey, you did it baby laughs missouris governor has ordered National Guard units to begin to pull out of ferguson. A systematic withdrawal. The guard arrived on monday and since then they have seen the nightly unrest first pop. And then begin to subside. Last night, the Highway Patrol captain said, quote, it was a very good night for ferguson. Much smaller crowds of people on the streets and police say they only made six arrest, thats done from dozens in the past couple of nights. The turning point came the same day eric holder travelled to ferguson, missouri. Part of his Justice Departments own investigation into the shooting that sparked the protest. Youll recall its been 12 days now. A Police Officer shot an unarmed teenager, michael brown. Eyewitness accounts differ widely on what led to that shooting. But today, the attorney general, back in d. C. Said, quote, he personally understands why so many people are angry. The National Outcry we have seen speaks to a sense of mistrust and mutual suspicion that can take hold in the relationship between Law Enforcement and certain communities. I wanted the people of ferguson to know i personally understood that mistrust. I wanted them to know that while so much else may be uncertain, this attorney general and this department of justice stands with the people of ferguson. The attorney general has vowed the feds investigation will be both independence and thorough. Lets go to mike tobin who has been there since the beginning, live in ferguson. Mike, so the governor is now pulling out the National Guard. Reporter yeah, its interesting. You never saw guardsmen down here at the demonstrations. Their duties were restricted to a security at the command center which is a little more than half a mile up the road. But the very fact that they were here in ferguson was an aggravating point. It was an indicator of this state of emergency. For those who wanted to claim militarized state, it was a point that went in their ammo belt. So the fact that theyre leaving can relieve some the pressure and it can also be viewed as an indicator that this really has hit a turning point. And i understand theres a lot of controversy now about the prosecutor who is set to handle this case. Reporter right. That is bob mccolic and there was a press conference today, who announced they had generated 75,000 signatures to get him removed as the county prosecutor or have him recuse himself and this is because he has a background with his family in Law Enforcement. His father, a state trooper. He was killed by a black man in 1964 and therefore they say he cant handle this case objectively. And he said theres no legal precedent for him to remove himself from this case and he will continue he says to fulfill the duties entrusted to him by this community. Harris . Mike tobin, thank you. Lets bring in now criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor diana iseman. Thank you for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Is it fair to say that this prosecutors background could lead to bias . Definitely. This seems to be a perfect storm of injustice here. People often misconstrue the role of prosecutors and Defense Attorneys in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors are not only out for conviction, but their job is to present the facts to the jury and allow the jury to decide whether or not the evidence rises to the level of beyond a reasonable doubt. In this particular situation, the prosecutor has a significant amount of underlying history that could cause him to perhaps not prosecute the Police Officer here if thats something being called for. Because he can identify with that particular Police Officer. Or it might present a bias. From another perspective though, its entirely possible that this has nothing to do with his ability to be fair and impartial in determining whether or not to bring charges forward. Well, in fact, theres nothing in his history that would lead anybody to believe his job has ever been on the line for any specific point of view. So it speaks to the issue of what youre talking about. Clearly hell be able to do his job and go forward. The governor has not said hell remove him under any regard. He wants to keep him there. So i guess im scratching my head as to why people would wonder he cant do so. What about the reports that the officer suffered an orbital eye socket and if thats true, how does it bear to the case . It might have affected his judgment and whether or not he was within his rights to shoot the victim in this case. I think that, you know, its really important to make sure that you have all of the facts. Every single detail is important when youre determining whether or not a Police Shooting is justified. Real quickly, have you ever heard of the highest Law Enforcement officer in the land taking sides in the case . Im talking about eric holder and his comments making this case personal. Im very surprised. Its surprising to hear the attorney general of the United States come out in support of the people which can be implied that hes against the Law Enforcement perspective in this case and has pretty much said this was an unjustified shooting in so many words. I think that its a little inappropriate for him to come out and make comments like that. But hes the attorney general of the United States. Wow. Okay. Thank you very much. A senior hamas official is now taking credit for the kidnappings of three israeli teenagers. Remember that is the very incident that tipped off or at least helped to up the off this latest to tip off this latest conflict between the israelis and the hamas terror groups. Stay with us. Start a team. Join a team. Walk to end alzheimers. Visit alz. Org walk today. Wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, shopping online is as easy as it gets. 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. For first time, hamas saying it was behind the kidnappings and murders of three israeli teenagers in the west bank. It happened in june. It really because what ultimately led to t