Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. Isis is escalating its Relentless Assault challenging areas of Northern Iraq now, areas that had been thought secure near erbil. Casualties on both sides. In washington president obama will be speaking this afternoon about how to counteract domestic extremism here in the u. S. But first for all of the developments in iraq and overseas nbcs keir simmons joins me from london. Lot of action and fighting and its hard to sort out from the battlefield who is gaining ground frankly. Yes, it is andrea. I think really the big picture is that the map is fairly frozen, because of course the allies have air power, so its difficult for isis to move but at the same time without a real push on the ground its difficult to push isis away from the areas that its held since last year but what we saw overnight, as you say, was close quarters combat between isis and Kurdish Forces that continues for hours. Senior Iraqi Security official said tens of isis fighters were killed and injured and some of their vehicles were destroyed. Local sources told nbc news isis launched several waves of attacks before being repelled by reinforcements and crucial air strikes. It was close to the key city of erbil where isis tried to push towards that city in august last year. Its a place where there are u. S. Officials based and this fighting suggests that despite the Bombing Campaign isis still feels confident to launch these kinds of attacks. At this stage, what does iraq need, the iraqi forces is it only the Peshmerga Forces that are organized enough to withstand these kinds of close combat attacks or is the iraqi army being able to step up . How is the training proceeding . Well from what im hearing, there is training proceeding including crucially some of the sunni tribes in the anbar area of iraq, and they will be vital to try to push back in that particular area but i think that from what were hearing, it will be sometime yet before the various sides, baghdad, the kurds, perhaps some of those sunni areas, feel able to make a concerted push against isis across iraq and i think thats what you would need to see. By the way, andrea on another issue, the video, the propaganda video released by isis of that terrible killing of the coptic christians, the person in that video who is speaking english, and that analyst is telling us this afternoon that it does appear that person has an accent that is certainly u. S. Influenced, perhaps not native but very close to native. So it is suggesting that perhaps that person might have been able to might have gone to a u. S. School or been around u. S. A lot, so theres clearly going to be further inquiries who that person is and it clearly goes to illustrate how isis is spreading and sucking in recruits from all around the world. Andrea . Indeed and of course theres intensive efforts by american intelligence as well as British Intelligence to try to identify that person who is dressed differently and had not been this is the executioner who had spoken out on that horrible video. Thank you, keir simmons. All right. President obama in laying out his plan to fight terrorism in an oped today for the Los Angeles Times writing it say battle for hearts and minds and cannot be won by military force alone. Its a point the president is going to drive this afternoon when he speaks at the summit. Congressman adam schiff joins me, the top democrat on the intelligence committee. Theres been a lot of criticism and pushback against the administration for the way it is laying out the summit pointing out that its not focusing enough on what is really happening in the field on isis trying perhaps too hard to avoid identifying this as only islamic extremism, trying to look so broadly that it is missing the point. You know i hear this argument made over and over again, but i dont find it very compelling. What the president is trying to do is not frame this as a war on islam. If thats the way people perceive this i think it would have disastrous consequences. He needs to talk about and is talking about how someone would pervert the faith of islam but this isnt a fight between religions or western civilization and islam. Thats a point that he really has to underscore so i understand people are piling on the president about this but frankly, i dont think that argument is very weighty. Here he has the summit no heads of government coming, the participation has not been at a particularly high level. Well have foreign ministers, well be speaking to the egyptian foreign minister shortly who will be participating but there hasnt been a whole lot of support from europe or the middle east at a very high level for what the president is setting out here. It seems to be more of a dog and pony show. I think its important in terms of what were doing here at home and we coordinate our efforts with our european and other allies. We have been fortunate in not having many attacks in the United States. I think its in part because our muslim communities are better integrated. We have a better level of cooperation between our communitybased placing and the community and religious organizations. Thats something that i think europe can profit from those experiences, and i think we also need to work on our intelligence sharing with europe and our other allies. So i think its an important summit. I cant speak to why we didnt have other participation but i think its an important undertaking. What about the community, some of the Community Concerns that community involvement, Homeland Security involvement is really surveillance. We have to reassure them about their privacy and also that this is not just intelligence gathering, that this is a sincere effort to deal with their concerns. Thats absolutely right and that concern is prevalent from where i come from in los angeles. This is an invitation to a greater surveillance and theres a deficit of trust that has to be rebuilt. This has to be a partnership, not a lets get close so i can keep an eye on you but in many parts of the country, there are Good Relationships and i think that will be true in los angeles and thats developing in los angeles and its really going to be key to avoiding the kind of homegrown radicalism that were seeing around the world. Keir simmons referred to trying to identify who this horrible executioner is with an americanized accent speaking american accented or north american accent in english, possibly canadian. Any way that we have so far to identify who this person is . I cant speak to the effort in the gruesome video. His accent probably underscores the fact from the United States weve had a great many people join the fight from the european country, many thousands of foreign fighters. Were looking at one person in the video as gruesome as that person is probably the greater threat are those that have not been identified or cant be identified because they dont appear in a video and can come back with a greater anonymity. We have a lot on our plate to guard against. Should we be selling drones to some of these allies todays ally may not be tomorrows. Thats true. We have to be extremely cautious about it. Its one of the reasons why what example we set in terms of the efforts that we make to avoid civilian casualties that we have to set the bar very high because others may not, but also means that we have to be very careful about anyone we might sell that technology to. And finally on the war powers debate coming up there seems to be a lot of division between those in both camps, those who say that the president should be somewhat restrained should not have a blank check, and others who say that the president should not be giving up powers that hes the commander in chief. Where do you come down . Well i come down much more on the side of lets learn from the mistakes weve made. Weve had two broad authorizations that are continuing on and of course many many years after they were wrip to fight written to fight a foe that didnt exist at the time. Congress wants to have an aggressive role in the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers have in mind. We cant do if we write another blank check that doesnt allow limits on geographic, time limits so i come down on a narrowly tailored organization. Adam schiff the top democrat on house intelience. Stay here on msnbc, watch his speech live on msnbc, supposed to start at 4 15 eastern. Up next more on the fight against isis. Well talk to egypts foreign minister just out of crisis meetings at the u. N. Today. This is Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. I dont miss the other stuff. Meta health bars help promote heart health. Experience the meta effect with our multihealth wellness line. Know your Financial Plan wont keep you up at night. Know you have insights from Top Investment strategists to help set your mind at ease. Know that planning for retirement can be the least of your worries. With the guidance of a pnc investments financial advisor, know you can get help staying on track for the future youve always wanted. 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What response are you getting from the u. N. . What can the u. N. Do besides talk . Is there any action that the u. N. Is willing to take dwens this isis threat . We believe its necessary at this stage to reinforce or support the government of libya to undertake its responsibility to fight the terrorist threat and also to gain the support of the International Community in that struggle. We dont find it at all logical that the government of libya should be restricted in this fashion by the Security Council at a time when it comes under severe attack from the terrorist organizations from the isils of libya who are associated to the rest of this organization but the spreading across the african continent and the middle east. On that horrible tape the executioner threatened other egyptians who remain in libya. There are thousands and thousands of egyptians, mostly workers who have gone there for jobs. Are you making any effort to evacuate people . What can you do for your citizens who are under threat . We are of course concerned about their safety and are trying through the government in toboruk and in terms of our relationships and contacts with various tribes and political entities in libya to provide them the necessary security indicated those who wanted to department can do through by the tunisian government and border. They provided the facilities to do so. We continue to monitor closely and in cooperation with the Libyan Government and tunisian government and nigerian one to hopefully extract themselves find themselves in the way of harm and continue to protect those who remain through the structures of the tribes of libya. Has your intelligence been able to identify who this leader is who appeared on this video . Weve been trying to figure out his accent seems to be somehow north american, perhaps canadian, perhaps american influenced by education here but do you have any idea who these people are . Personally, i dont. Of course there is a high degree of coordination and cooperation between our Intelligence Services in egypt and the United States and in the past weve always been able to achieve results by such a close cooperation with other allies as well. We are hopeful that more collaboration between us will lead us to be able to impact these organizations from within more effectively. What more do you need from the United States . There was a hold on some spare parts for f16s and others after your government replaced the elected government the Muslim Brotherhood government. Do you need more military aid . Do you need more other kinds of support as you try to hold off isis now, so close to you in neighboring libya . Well certainly, but let me say that it wasnt the government who deposed president morsi. It was the people of egypt, and understood. And in the strength of 25 million. We have been somewhat restrained and we find its been difficult for us to meet the challenges in the sinai and in addressing the threats at our western border. Without being able to have the spare parts and fly the apaches that are so crucial in the fight against the terrorist organizations in sinai. I think it is very important that egypt remains militarily strong. It has been an element of Regional Security and dependence by the United States on egyptian facilities and capabilities and we certainly feel that we are somehow restricted at this stage and will hope these restrictions were lifted. Is that something youre going to be talking to secretary kerry, when you come to the state department tomorrow . Well i usually talk with secretary kerry on all the aspects of our bilateral relations and this has been an issue constantly brought up in our various meetings over the last period. And what about the threat from isis and isis supporters now in the sinai. This is a new level of threat part of your country. Definitely. They have sworn allegiance to isis and are operating within the operational and cooperative structure of this organization, and they have shown a degree of sophistication and the ability to wage more vicious attacks on our Security Forces and its quite apparent theyre receiving more sophisticated weaponry and this goes to show the relationships that exist now from nigeria to iraq between an organization that is growing and that we need every resource and commitment to be able to fight and to eradicate. Is egypt going to request drones now that the administration has a policy where its going to be willing to sell drones to allies . We will always seek to enhance our capabilities to fight this threat to be able to impact them and degrade them eradicate them to the best of our abilities, and certainly drones are an important aspect in this fight, and if it is available to us we will certainly be very willing to utilize them. Minister shoukry, thank you for coming to our studios and we will see you tomorrow. Thank you. Now to another blast of arctic air that taken over the eastern third of the country, showing no signs of letting up. It is so cold that Niagara Falls has frozen. Its not trick photography, its the real thing, taken yesterday from the canadian side of the falls. In boston the big dig continues. More from the weather channels chris warren. Reporter andrea were in bostons long wharf area where the sun is shining. It looks nice. Frustrations are mounting and in part because of this. This number right here 11. 3. Thats how many more inches are needed for this season to become the snowiest season on record for boston. The snowiest season is 107. 6 inches. So far this season 96. 3. Did the math down here and that is 11. 3 inches away from tying the alltime snowiest season here in boston. So with that getting around is difficult. Public transportation running on modified schedules. If your stop is open. You might have to go to a different stop. In some cases, the commute, andrea is tacked on by an extra two hours before and after, and now it looks like even more snow and cold on the way for the northeast, and right here in boston. Im meteorologist chris warren. Back to you, andrea. Unbelievable chris warren. Still to come politics, jeb bush trying to put some distance between himself and his family family. Does that work . First searching for answers at the site of another fiery train accident. More from West Virginia coming up next. Hey, girl. Is it crazy that your soccer trophy is talking to you right now . It kinda is. Its as crazy as you not rolling over your old 401k. Cue the horns. Just harness the confidence it took you to win me and call td ameritrades rollover consultants. Theyll help with the hassle by guiding you through the whole process step by step. And theyll even call your old provider. Its easy. Even she could do it. Whatever, janet. 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