In washington in today for Andrea Mitchell. . Just a few moments, the Pentagon Press secretary is expected to build upon the uncensored comments on isis weve heard this week from the president , the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff prompting new questions across the country about how far this administration will go to deal with the growing threat. Colonel jack jacobs is an m nbc military analyst and richard edge is along the turkey syria border right now. Let me go to colonel jacobs and this question. How do we square this circumstance . Were basically using air power in a limited campaign, although its continuing, against isis. At the same time, were hearing talk from the secretary of state, john kerry, that were going to crush them. Which is it . An all out war or a limited war . Limited war. Theres no way that the American Public is going to stand for a reintroduction of troops into the region. Theyve said it many times. Indeed, theres some indication the american pub slick not particularly interested in launching air strikes. Just wants it to go away. Its not going be that. Well probably wind up launching air strikes if we have the intelligence to launch them. How about going into syria . Air strikes in syria . Is that in the picture right now . I think it is. That was telegraphed from the Defense Department. I think all things are on the table. If we knew where they were, we would probably bomb them right now and announce it after the fact. I dont think were going to telegraph it, though, and i dont think we have the intelligence on the ground yet to determine exactly where they are. But when we do we will probably bomb them. Who could be our allies in the fight against isis. The kurds, of course, are great fighters, theyve made a fight already. What about the shialed government in baghdad . Is there a possibility we will see a united front against isis or is that just a dream . I think on the baghdad side we already have allies. We have the iraqi army which has proven to be very ineffective. No political leadership, really, coming from baghdad. The Prime Minister has not been able to put together a government so were really seeing paralysis in baghdad. So most of the attention on the iraqi side is focused on the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. The question is what about the larger conflict . What about for the Syria Campaign that jack jacobs was just talking about if the u. S. Does decide to carry out some sort of operations, air strikes into syria, who are our allies then . Thats when we have tough choices. Are we going to be allied with Bashar Al Assad . We could need some sort of at leasting a acquiescence from Bashar Al Assads forces or hell try to shoot down american aircraft. So we will have it is a a it is a sill deal with Bashar Al Assad to allow an air campaign over syria . Also, hezbollah and iran who are both allied with Bashar Al Assad both fighting against isis and whats now called the Islamic State in syria. Do we make tacit agreements with those groups as will . So if youre going to start expanding this campaign be into syria, youll have to make tough choices about who your allies will be. Of course, we united with the ussr to fight the nazis so it seems historically possible. Let me go to you, jack jacobs. Once evidence, certainly United States in recent history, contemporary history weve all shared is that once you leave a country those who remain behind call the shots. Were out of iraq now, we havent gone into syria at all really. So how does isis get threatened by us if they know were containing them now, attempting to contain them now and have no longterm plan to take them down before we pull out again in the air strikes . How do you chase the future if youre not part of it . Well, you cant, actually. And, as a matter of fact, i hate to go back to what joe biden said before the war started, that maybe the best thing to do is to encourage iraq to go to pieces, to devolve into its component pieces and that appears to be what its doing by itself now. I dont think you can use the cliche put the genie back in the bottle. I dont think you can affect it strategically, only tactically. Can we live with a caliphate in portions of syria and iraq when it does come apart . No, i dont think we can and thats why were going to continue to target when we can target individual groups of enemies of the United States and of our allies in the region. Its going to be pretty much a tactical war for many, many years to come unless and until were willing to actually put troops on the ground as part of a Multinational Force to make sure that everything gets quiet. But were not going to do that. We dont have the political will to do that. By the way, neither do our allies have the political will to do that, either in the region or in europe who are also threatened by all this. You dont see them stepping up to the plate, either, and were not doing it without them. Back to you, richard. Weve always wondered now until we had james foley beheaded on television, basically, thats got our blood boiling, mine included, of course, like all americans, our blood is boiling over this. But the sunni people in iraq especially, have they chosen sides between isis and the Iraqi Government yet . Well, i think with each passing day the differences and tensions between sunnis and shiites in iraq are becoming more and more pronounced. Youre seeing more and more extremist tendencies among the sunnis. Look at what happened today in diyala province. You had a Shiite Militia, which everyone knows the Shiite Militias are backed by the government. A group of Shiite Militia fighters went to a sunni mosque, they levelled submachine guns and they kill 50d to 70 people. They injured who were then taken from the mosque, they were brought to the hospital, the Shiite Militia again, which is backed by the government chased them down, was standing in front of the hospital demanding to be let in so that they could finish them off. When things like this happen and they happen a lot in iraq you see extremism growing. So you see more and more people of the sunni side saying we better get with isis, nobody sells going to defend us. These Shiite Militias are out to kill us. Then you see the shiite saying well, if we dont have the backing of our militias, isis going slaughter us. So its forcing people take sides. And the choices on either side are not very good. Worstcase scenario it sounds like. Thank you so much, jack jacobs, thank you Nbcs Richard Engel in the field. Today jim foleys parents appeared here on msnbc describing how passionate their late son was about how he felt for people in need. Jim wanted to be there because he he really embraced the suffering of the syrian people. We need to embrace one anothers suffering so that this can be the world with some love and some compassion. Well, you can contact with that family. Nbcnews. Com writer cassandra detailed the back and forth between the family we just met there. The global post, which jim worked for and isis militants during jim foleys time as hostage. She joins us now. Give us a sense of how this back and forth worked from the time he was captured. There really was no back and forth for a very long time after he was captured. He was taken on thanksgiving day in 2012 and there was no contact whatever with whoever was Holding James foley until a year later. And that came in the form of an anonymous untraceable email sent to his family and the ceo of global post, the organization he was working for. What was the next round . Well, the email was the first contact, but it needed to be vetted. There needed to be proof that whoever was sending the email had access to james or had james in their hands. So the email was seen as a good sign so as Forensic Experts and linguistics experts looked at the email and tried to figure out who was sending it, the family asked for proof of life to know they had james with them. So there were a few emails exchanged, proof of life was determined and it was because whoever was sending the email was able to answer very, very detailed and specific questions via james that gave the phamedly satisfaction that james was with them. But those emails stopped after just a few weeks. So what is your sense, having reported this, the demand for 100 Million Euros, which is over 130 million, was that what broke the deal or what caused his death, the attacks by the United States on isis from the air . I think the first email had a number, that 100 Million Euros and that was seen as just a ludicrous, ludicrous figure. Recent ransoms have involved 2 million to 4 million. So when that number was put forward, it became clear there was no interest or getting a number down to ransom out james foley. Then what do you we have to assume it was the attack on isis from the air by u. S. Forces in the recent weeks that was their reason for executing him the way they did. But they had put out the word it was because we failed to negotiate with them. Is that just i hate to use the word spin but there were no negotiations . There were no negotiations. Ive heard it from several people. There was no negotiating going back and forth. Is it your sense that that 1 million euro de hundred million euro demand was seen as absurd on both sides . It was seen as absurd on all sides, from people close to the case, from the global post ceo said to me as well, you know, it was just a ludicrous number and it showed that there was no interest in putting forward anything to work with. Thank you so much, great reporting. After that 100 million was thrown out, there was no more negotiation, no more numbers, nothing. Thank you so much cassandra vinograd, Senior Writer for nbcnews. Com. Much more ahead, including on how the white house plans to deal with isis. Kristin welker will join us live traveling with the president on marthas vineyard. Plus, the latest from ferguson, missouri, with another quiet night on the streets, the focus now has turned into the grand jury investigation into the death of Michael Brown and who will be the prosecutor in the case. Well be right back. Once there was a girl who put her own personal style into everything. She always mixed and matched, even in her laundry room. With downy unstopables for long lasting scents and infusions for softness, her mix was like a fine fragrance for her clothes. Mmmmm. discreet i call it scentcessorizing. Transform your clothes, with mix, match, magic. Downy infusions and unstopables. Wash in the wow. Wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. And even piano tuners were just as simple . Thanks to angies list, now it is. Weve made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. Buy their services directly at angieslist. Com no more calling around. No more hassles. Start shopping from a list of toprated providers today. Angies list is revolutionizing local service again. Visit angieslist. Com today. Nature valley crunchy granola bars give you energy from 1 3 of your daily whole grains, so 1 3 of this commercial is dedicated to what you could do with all that energy. Energy for making new ocean friends. This is kathleen. Setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. Afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns. Thats two more pills. The evenings event brings laughter, joy, and more pain. When jamie says. Whats that like six pills today . Yeah. I can take 2 aleve for all day relief. Really, and. And thats it. This is kathleen. For my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. Get all day arthritis pain relief with an easyopen cap. Are people aware of what the governor said . I thought youd have a jurisdictional hearing of this matter deciding whether to take it to court or not, indict wilson or not but you also have this federal case of whether civil rights were denied mr. Brown. And my question is the way that nixon just described it, the governor, is theyre simultaneous. He called them parallel. In other words from these this week forward there will be two investigations happening at the same time. Is the Community Aware that thats the way its going to work . Its not a request whether this guy gets sprung by the local jurisdiction and possibly faces a federal investigation. Hes facing them both now. I dont know if Community Members are acutely aware of the intricacies of the federal investigation and them being parallel but they can, i can tell you. They are very much aware that the federal government is here to stay. Attorney general eric holder being here earlier this week, chris matthews, that was a big deal for a lot of people because a lot of people on the ground here do not have a great deal of faith in the local jurisdiction but they do have a fair amount of faith in the administration. I think it was it may bh a lesson for the president , too, and im not usually a critic of him. But i have to say i thought in a very positive way eric holder showed how you lead in this country. And a big part of leading is showing up. Anyway, nbcs craig melvin, thank you. You dont have to editorialize, i just did. Lets go to the pentagon from where press secretary rear admiral john kirby is briefing. As we have more details to provide on what we know, well certainly to that. Rita . Reporter does the u. S. Consider this an invasion and is the u. S. Taking any action, either calling any counterparts overseas either in ukraine or russia . Its certainly an unauthorized entry into ukraine by this convoy. And we are consulting, as i said, with International Partners right now about next steps. I dont have anything additional to add at this time. And i think, again, in my opening statement, made it very, very clear that what were expecting of russia. But no phone calls or anything yet between the administration . This is just happening today so im not aware of any outreach today by certainly by this building, and i wont speak for other agencies in the federal government. I would remind you, though, the secretary did talk to the minister just a few days ago and the minister guaranteed, was his words, that there would be no military intervention using the pretext of humanitarian relief and, in fact, assured us that there would be no military members as a part of this humanitarian convoy. Reporter you said under the guise of a humanitarian convoy. Does the u. S. Have evidence that there are military forces and military equipment . Im not prepared to speak to specific evidence at this time. Weve made our position very, very clear that they should not be doing this under the guise of humanitarian convoy, to use that as an excuse to cross the border in an unauthorized way. We have a lot more work to do here and i think well sort this out throughout the day. I think youll here more from us throughout the day. Joe . Reporter on iraq, we heard yesterday, secretary hagel and chairman dempsey talking about a longterm strategy. Could you give us a sense what does it mean . Are we going to face to see changes in regards to the current operation right now in iraq . I think what the secretary was referring to and im pretty sure the chairman was referring to was that we need to have a regional approach here and an agency and international approach about this threat posed by this particular extremist group, isil, and that this was this would take time to develop this kind of multilateral and multinational approach to dealing with this threat. The president himself said that this wasnt going to be over in a matter of weeks. I think were all we all recognize that this group didnt grow up overnight. They didnt get the capabilities that they got overnight. Weve been watching this for a while and we all recognize its going to take a while. But just as critically, joe, its going to take a while for everybody, not just the United States military. And the secretary was clear about this yesterday. Youre not going to see the answer to all isil problems through a military lens. Were a component, were a tool. We are conducting operations inside iraq against this group in support of iraqis and Kurdish Forces. But were not going to be the only tool in the tool box that can or should be used. Reporter do you know, does the pentagon know whats the size of isil in iraq and in sere war . Are we talking about 10,000 . 20,000 . Do we have any number . Its a difficult number to get at, and believe me, weve asked ourselves that question. But it fluctuates a lot. It changes if not weekly than certainly daily. Its a constant fluctuation so its hard to pin it down. This isnt a classic army with an order of battle that you can just take a look at a map and say this is how many they have. Clearly its thousands. Theres no question about that. But it changes everyday. And as weve talked about, they have free flow across that border between syria and iraq which for all intense and purposes doesnt exist for them. So its very difficult to pin it down to a given number. Lets go back on russia for a minute and another question. Is it not accurate that you now estimate there might be up to 18,000 troops near that boarder between russia and ukraine . And isnt the reality that you have seen very recently a number of additional heavy weapons, including sasurfacetoair missile go across and can you bring us up to date on this threatening encounter the Chinese Military has had with the u. S. Navy this week in the air . Okay, theres a lot there, barbara. Well start with the ukraine. Im reticent, as i typically am, to give a hard number on Russian Troops arrayed along the border. I have said for several weeks now that its north of 10,000. I believe it is still north of 10,000. We do believe that they continue to add to their battalion tactical groups there along the border. Reporter is i