We may be on the verge of a escalation in the fight with isis terrorists. The family of american aid worker Kayla Mueller has received proof that their daughter was killed. She wanted people to stop this fighting that has killed so many people. U. S. Officials cannot confirm exactly how or when Kayla Mueller died. Isis has always been one step ahead of the u. S. Government and of rescuers. But this is the tip of the iceberg of what may be coming giving our experience with isis. What is not possible to call into question is that isil regardless of her cause of death, is responsible for it. It is another reminder that theyll stop at nothing. This is just one family that is dealing with something that isis has been carrying out for months now. President obama about to formally ask congress for authority to use military force against isis. I think he has the support of
congress. As lawmakers prepare to debate new war powers to combat isis, an american hostage in isis hands has been confirmed dead. The family of Kayla Mueller said today they received confirmation that she is dead. The white house confirmed mullers death but could not confirm how or when she died. Any minute now, her family members are expected to make a statement in her hometown of prescott arizona. Just moments ago, john mccain delivered emotional remarks of condolence to the mueller family. On behalf of the people of arizona and the United States congress, i want to express the deepest condolences to kaylas parents marsha and carla mueller, her loving family and
many friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. President obama said in a statement that muller epitomized all that is good in our world. The president vowed that no matter how long it takes the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for kaylas captivity and her death. The evidence of muellers death came in the form of a photograph. The injuries are not inconsistent with injuries that could be sustained in an air strike, though the cause of death cannot be determined. Four days ago, isis claimed that kayla was killed in a Jordanian Air strike in raqqah. Her death brings increased urgency to a debate over war powers. One thats taking place this week on capitol hill. President obama is expected to send a request to congress for
an authorization to use military force against the selfproclaimed Islamic State leading to the first war vote in congress in 13 years. That request is expected by tomorrow at the latest. Joining me now is nbcs correspondents. What has been the reaction in jordan do this new corroboration that Kayla Mueller is in fact deceased and may have been killed in a Jordanian Air strike . I think it just compounds the sense of mourning that was already here because of the loss of their pilot in those horrific circumstances. With isis you have a sense of waves of pain caused by isis that kind of wash around the world because there is this terrible loss of kayla and as was mentioned before that the terrible killing of the jordanian pilot. It was that killing which has led to jordan and now the united ed arab emirates that are stepping up the air attacks on isis. What the jordanians say very clearly is you cannot trust isis. You cannot believe what they say. Isis misled the world about when that pilot died. The jordanians believed he died a full month before isis said that he had been killed and they even believed that isis was busy negotiating for his release even while knowing that he was dead so the jordanians say you cannot trust isis. You cannot believe anything they say about what happened to
kayla. How would isis know if it was the case that she died in an air raid what kind of plane or nation had actually dropped that bomb . Thank you for the update. Joining me now is amanyman and Brian Katulis. Were awaiting the mueller familys remarks. I think a lot of people thought Kayla Mueller had been the lost hostage being held in syria. There is still one more american austin ties. Theres been horse trading sort of behind the scenes between various groups inside syria. Some of these american hostages werent initially kidnapped by isis, but other terrorist groups operating in the region. How did that end up in isis hands . For the past several years as the state of syria began to collapse and state institutions collapsed, there was a spike in the kidnapping of western workers whether they be aid workers or journalists. The individuals who are actually carrying out the kidnapping may have been either you know criminals, local criminals, gangs trying to trade them up for a quick buck. And they would ultimately do that not necessarily with political motivations, but then they would kidnap them sell them up the food chain to others. The muellers kayla was a student at Northern Arizona university and Campus Ministryamong all the different organizations that she was involved in. Since then i have kept up with her and know her and her family. They have asked some of us to come and give you a few words of ways that we know kayla maybe words that arent so scripted. If i can get through it i think they said about two minutes for each of us. As far as syria goes when kayla was at Campus Ministry she was part of a just peace group. He we would talk about peace through justice. You cant have peace without justice. We would have a simple dinner and we would read books and talk about articles through a variety of lenses. Together a group of us traveled to guatemala to hear their stories and just keep that conversation going. So when kayla was in syria, i tried to follow what she was doing, and i would read her posts and it was really like
keeping vigil because it was so difficult to read about the horror that was happening in syria and to see the pictures that she would post. I have a few words from some of the things that she posted in march of 2013. She said i want to tell the world about the situation in syria. Theres no fuel. Theres no electricity. Theres no food. This is the situation. Theres shelling explosions gunfire, violence. No ones working. Theres no jobs. People are just surviving daytoday living for the sake of living. Every human being should act. They should stop this violence. People are fleeing. We cant bear this. It is too much. I hope you can tell the entire world what i have said here and what i have seen. Thats what were doing. Were telling the whole world. Kayla asked us. I think you saw one of her quotes when they said where is the world. We can say were right here syria. We have heard. We have seen your suffering reflected in kaylas eyes and we
have seen it and we intend to do something about it. And then we were thinking about having an attack and many of us were writing kayla saying what do you think about this military suggestion . There was no word from kayla. I had just seen her in may when she was home. Then we got word that she had been kidnapped. We have taken that long journey with her where we were forced to hold our breath. You know all these stories about kayla, she sounds so okay. I think were having a problem with the audio feed. That was the beginning of some remarks from family and friends of Kayla Mueller sharing their stories about the aid worker. Well go back to that presser as soon as we can get the audio back up. But it is a very emotional biography when you look at what Kayla Mueller did not just for syria, but latin america. This is a woman who cared about being a global citizen, who went to syria to be able to give the answer, where was the world in syria. She went there to say, were right here. America is right here. She represents everything that is good in humanity. Here is this young person who grew up in the United States not compelled by anything than her own desire to help the world and chose to go to a place like syria where there was a lot of suffering. Her words resonated very loudly. You can see how impactful she was in the simple facebook posts. Lets listen back in. Kayla would stand on her head. Those of us who know her and know what a free little spirit she was, we just delight in that
that kayla remained kayla. They tried to silence her. They locked her up. They kept us silent out of here but now shes free. Even in captivity and that she is grateful. Her light shines. We thank you. Syria, we hear you. Were going to do something. Hi. My name is erin street and im here to talk about Kayla Mueller. Kayla was my closest friend my kindred spirit. Im going to miss her more deeply than words can express. Kayla was joy. With her, life was always fun. A memory that always makes me laugh is when her car broke down a half a mile from our house. Instead, we turned on bob marley on full blast on the radio and we started pushing that chariot home. Our last road trip together was january of 2010. I was moving from illinois to arizona and she joined me and my two cats as our traveling companion. It was a difficult journey as i was leaving my okay. We are clearly having some audio problems. We will return to that press conference when we get the audio back up. I want to bring in Brian Katulis katulis. They are drawing attention to the situation in syria and saying this is a moment to of course, celebrate the life of Kayla Mueller but also to not lose focus on the country of syria and what is happening there. As one of them said syria, we hear you. We are still here. In terms of that situation, i wonder from your point of view are we getting any closer to truly listening to the syrians and resolving this conflict . Unfortunately, no. First, i think it is tremendous to hear the testimonials from kaylas friends there and her basic decency is something that i think Many Americans identify with. When i go to the middle east it is recognized. Un unfortunately in syria today, it is still in the middle of a very vicious civil war. I hate to interrupt you, but were going to have to go back to this press conference. There have been many long goodbyes and release of tears that have been residing in deep places over this last two days. It has been interesting to observe the bitter of the sweet that is the situation. I have been reflected on how i will do the same thing very soon. Goodbyes have never be too hard for me. They dont seem to be something in need of being made difficult or complicated. Sometimes i get a feeling if i will or will not see a person again, but moving on is as much a part of life as breathing. Goodbyes come with a package. Although goodbye is just a see you later, later might be awhile. As the french say, cest la vie. Were living in a better world because of her. Im going to end on a quote that reminds me of her. Peace is not something you wish for. It is something you make. It is something you do. Its something you are, and it is something you give away. Thank you. Hi. Im lori. Im jerry. Were kaylas aunts. This is a statement from kaylas aunts, uncles and cousins. First we would like to thank the media for your patience. Second, we would like to thank the fbi agents that have been working with marsha carl and the family. We have been amazing. We want to thank everyone for their love support, and prayers at this difficult time. It has been a stressful time for our family and also for the world. What can we tell you about kayla . Kayla was a combination of marsha and carl. She was generous caring compassionate like our sister marsha. She was strong driven and passionate like our brotherinlaw carl. She was the best of both of them. She had a quiet calming presence. She was a free spirit. Always standing up for those who were suffering and wanting to be their voice. Even as a little girl kayla was a bright inquisitive, kind little girl. At a very young age, kayla knew her passion. She knew her calling. A lot of people never have the opportunity okay. Brian katulis, to go back to the debate over syria and the challenges that are facing the
syrian people there is new debate about the authorization of the use of force in syria. There have been 5,000 bombs dropped in the air war against isis and they seem to have made little difference. How much do you think that might change . What we see happening with the Jordanian Forces reports of them amassing Ground Troops across the iraqi boardrder, more and more countries in the region are stepping up. But back in congress it is long overdue. Its been six months since air strikes began in iraq and five months in syria, and i think there are some serious questions about what these air strikes are having especially in syria. The biggest question is who is going to be the Ground Forces that these air strikes are supporting. We dont seem to have one in syria right now. Okay. It appears that the press
conference featuring family and friends of Kayla Mueller has finished up. There was some incredibly emotional testimony to the degree that there was testimony reminiscing, i guess you could call it about Kayla Muellers life. Erin street said peace is not something you wish for. It is something you make. Indeed, that idea that peace is an active process and that resources need to be allocated to peace is a concept at this moment in time given the contours in america and whether to get further involved in syria and i guess internationally. Whether you think jordan and its sort of renewed vigor in the fight against isis can bring in a broader coalition. The lady who was speaking early on who said that there is no peace without justice, i
think the testimony of people like kayla through their lives is they struggle to try to shed light on what is happening in syria so that the International Community can do something based on justice, not about policy and politics. Were seeing a paralysis to address the situation in syria because of politics. All of this humanitarian disaster that we have seen it has spilled over into every country around in the region and yet the International Community is unable to do anything to just stop the fighting. Indeed has become the calculus has gotten trickier begin that assad continues the barrel bombing. He is the lesser of two evils. The conflict is such a proxy for regional issues. All of that has created this paralysis whereby nobody really wants to address it and solve it in a meaningful way to end the suffering. Everybody is looking out in geopolitical interests where they stand. It sheds light about what i was saying earlier. Here is this young woman going into a dangerous zone. This notion that young people dont care, young people arent moved, i think her life really just shatters that myth. I want to bring in now on the phone diane foley who is the mother of american journalist james foley who was killed by isis. Diane, thank you so much for joining us. I know revisiting this painful moment is a difficult one. I have to ask you as someone who has been through this experience what it is like listening to the family and friends of Kayla Mueller hasas they try to make sense of what happened and offer some sort of eulogy for her
life . We are heartbroken for the mueller family. We know the pain of losing such a beautiful young american. Now we have lost four americans. All in syria to shed a light on the awful darkness and suffering there. Exceptional americans, really some of the best of america. We are truly heartbroken for the mueller family. I want to ask about the circumstances in and around these hostages. Families are told they cant speak about the hostages while negotiations are ongoing. Kayla mueller in particular. Most folks did not know her name or anything about her until just hours, days ago. How difficult is that for family members who im sure want to alert everybody and call as many resources towards freeing their loved ones as soon as possible . That is very controversial. It is very hard to know. We all had choices as family. We were told that the media silence was recommended. For us the foley family the captors then threatened us if we went to the media, so we went through the media several times and then went back into silence because we feared it would threaten jims life. In retrospect for us for the foley family we regret that we kept it so in the dark really because i think if our country had realized that so many Young Americans were being held in syria, perhaps the result would
have been different. I know you have been critical in the past about the u. S. Government and the way it sort of managed your sons hostage taking. What should have and could have been done different . In syria, it is unclear who he is being held hostage by. What could and should be done differently . Well i really think the white house is very aware that this can be handled better. That is why i applaud the hostage review committee that is currently undergoing a full review of what happened and my hope is that this will clarify the hostage policy for american hostage families the lack of communication between families between agencies and even between our allies was one of
the huge problems. I am very hopeful that this hostage review will at least present some very good recommendations to the white house. I call on the white house to act on those. Diane foley go ahead. This kidnapping could truly happen to any american. Isis has made it obvious that they want to keep kidnapping western westerners. I think it is something as a country we need to be very clear on what our hostage policy is. Diane foley, mother of james foley, thank you so much for joining me. I know this is difficult stuff to talk about. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Brian katulis, to go back to this broader question about the authorization of the use of military force and how much change that may bring to the
current battle against isis, i would love to get your thoughts on the practical iterations of the debate. First, it is hard to make that jump after hearing mrs. Foley and everything but getting back to policy i think it really is important because if were going to try to learn anything from the disaster that is syria and the threat that isis poses, its that we cant see cheap partisan politics really distort the policy. Im afraid thats what were going to see happen in the next couple weeks. It seems the