Speech is getting approval from those in washington who approved every one of our ventures into the middle east. We do not give into fear ever. Today with massive symbolic meeting. 13 years later, are we safer . If you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. Secretary of state john kerry after all is traveling in the northeast middle east trying to build support. Will others truly put boots on the ground in syria . Somebodys boots have to be on the ground. Congress has been very timid. Major development in the ray rice scandal. The nfl is asking the former fbi director to launch an independent investigation. A report that a new jersey Law Enforcement official we sent a video of ray rices elevator assault to the nfl five months ago. Commissioner goodell has been adamant adamant. We nothave not seen any videotape of what happened in the elevator. We [ bleep ] up. It really adds up to a leadership failure. The commissioners hold on his job and the leagues credibility could be in serious jeopardy. President obama told the Defense Department to target and kill key leaders of the Islamic State according to the washington post. Today, the United States military conducted another air strike targeting the Islamic State in iraq today near the mosul dam, bringing the total number of u. S. Air strikes in iraq to 156. But thats just air strikes. Thats not a war. 156 air strikes. Not surprisingly washingtons Armchair Generals in both parties are supporting the president s call last night to revise and extend the war in iraq. I support his ask. Were debating this in congress and i think hell have bipartisan support. We dont want to play Armchair Generals. We dont want to second guess. Im glad hes changed his policy. I think hes going in the right direction. I think he needs to be supported for doing this. We stand ready to work with the president to put in place a plan that would destroy and defeat isil. Frankly we ought to give the president what hes asking for. Joining me now, phyllis bennes, director of the institute of policy studies and william mccantz who translated a 2006 book the management of savagery what was rin bywritten by an islamic extremist. The people speech on diplomacy that president obama should have given last night, what would have been the highlights of that version of the speech . Well, i think if we had talked about diplomacy, we would be talking about the need to talk to iran directly and openly. This may be a moment to really reopen talks with iran. Weve been hearing that maybe there are quiet secret talks already under way, but the talks with iran on the Nuclear Issues are going well. This may be a moment to extend those faulks to really get to the heart of the regional role that iran plays, and the regional role that the u. S. Plays. And talk about a grand barter. That would be number one. What president obama gave us was four mostly military parts to a strategy. Four parts oa diplomatic strategy would start with iran. Then we would talk to russia open up new discussions with russia. Specifically about the question of the civil war in syria, which has, of course morphed into at least six separate wars. This would also be an opportunity to perhaps build on the good will that was built between the u. S. And russia in the joint effort to eliminate syrias chemical weapons. And in doing so it might eliminate some of the tension around ukraine just as an added bonus. So that would be number two. Number three, the question of a coalition. We heard a lot about coalitions. We heard president obama use the language of former president bush when he said we need a coalition of the willing. Well, that was a coalition of the killing. We need a diplomatic coalition, not a military coalition. Because the military stuff is going to make it all worse. Its not going to make it better. So a Real Coalition that brings together the whole range of forces in the region in syria, in iraq and ul the supporting characters is not going to be easy, its not going to be quick. But a move towards creating that kind of a coalition absolutely should be on our agenda. And finally, the question of an arms embargo. Again, not something thats going to happen right away but we need to open the discussion on why flooding the region with more weapons ends up with more weapons in the hands of isis. More civilians being killed a harder struggle to end the ruinous kind of conflict that we see in this region. And instead go back to diplomacy. Those, instead of the four military things president obama said would have made for a much better speech. William, youve got inside the mind to some extent of the Islamic State, translating their working document. Ive been asking as many people as i can on this notion of destroying the Islamic State, is it possible, and how many Islamic State warriors have to be killed to destroy the Islamic State . I think what the American People have to understand is that the idea of an Islamic State is extremely powerful. And its one reason theyve gathered so many jihadists under its banner. The book i translated was first made available back in 2004 and it laid out a blueprint for how to establish small pockets of control and move from those eventually to a caliphate, which is an effort to reinvigorate this old islamic idea of an empire ruled by a single man. For a long time the Islamic State tried to implement this vision and didnt have any success. When the Syrian Civil War broke out, it empowered the Islamic State, brought them a lot of money and a lot of fighters. And a brutal crackdown on the opposition also fuelled its propaganda. And so theyve been able to implement the strategy set out in that book and take territory and now control somewhere upwards of 2 billion. Its a huge war chest. And William Mccants the president said last night, isil is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. Im not sure what he was trying to convey with that line. It seemed like he was trying to convey to the American Public that therefore its something that can be surgically removed, pure and simple. But isil is a terrorist organization, pure and simple . According to what ive read from you, there is nothing simple about it. Thats right. That line really bothered me. It seems to me that it was used for political expediency or perhaps not to rouse congress to demand a vote about the legality of the war. And this is a war on an Insurgent Group that has pretenses to be a state. It is not a terrorist organization by any classical definition of the world. And it lulls the American People into thinking this was going to be easy quick, simple and surgical. Its going to be nothing of the kind. Its going to be very long, messy and dirty. Phyllis, everything we know about barack obama as a president ial candidate for the first time and then taking office was that he was, as nearly as we would come to it the first antiwar president that we have elected. And he is the person who has said repeatedly there is no military solution to these problems. And yet last night after many years, saying there is no military solution to these problems, when hes con fronted with the current version of the problems, what he reached for is a military solution. You know i think thats a very important point on the one hand, but i think we have to be very careful not to put too much focus on what barack obama the man may believe personally. I agree that he seems quite reluctant on making these decisions. But that doesnt seem to change his decisions. There is no question in my mind that this decision to ramp up the u. S. Military response after all this time saying there is no military solution, and in the context of his own the head of his Counterterrorism Center the intelligence agencies in general are saying there is no threat to the United States. And maybe there could be maybe if something changed sometime in the future there could be a threat. And saying that is suddenly this urgent need to go to war, i think this was clearly a politically driven decision. The horrific phyllis, can i just hold you there for a second. Theres that but i want you to consider this additional element, which i know you know a lot about. And that is the National Security establishment in washington, which, as you watch this it seems that they eventually, no matter which president it is no matter what era it is that National Security establishment eventually imprisons the president , willingly or unwillingly. And that this president , like all of his predecessors, was being hammered with the military options every day by that establishment, in addition to the clear political connection to whats going on here. Thats absolutely right. I think we have to be careful in how we understand and how we define that National Security establishment. I think that, for example, parts of the military are quite averse to moving militarily. Some of the intelligence agencies, as i mentioned have been very clear they dont see the big danger here. The pressure comes from the military industry those who make a killing, as they say, on selling weapons. Theyre going to do great from this escalation. And then those in congress and elsewhere who feel accountable to the shifts in Public Opinion that with the media largely going along, there is this sense of hysteria that emerged with the very brutal of two individuals that somehow that was quickly morphed into being an attack on the United States. Despite the fact that these two were not targeted because they were americans. They were not killed for america in that sense. They were nosey journalists doing what nosey journalists are supposed to do and they got into a lot of trouble. The family of one of the journalists has indicated that their information is that the kidnapping originally was carried out by nonby isis but by Syrian Opposition forces supported by the west supported by the United States. Which is consistent with things that we know about those other organizations. The fact that the Free Syrian Army beheaded six isis prisoners that they held prisoners who could not do anything. They were not fighting. They were captives. And they were beheaded. So this level of brutality is something endemic in this Syrian Civil War and in iraq since the u. S. Invasion and occupation. Its in that con b text that it becomes very ease for Public Opinion to follow this mediadriven hysteria thats picked up in congress so that no one in congress is prepared to say wait a minute this is not an urgent moment when our nation is threatened. This is not an isexistential threat to our country. Weve already spent 500 million just in the last five weeks on these air strikes in iraq. Who knows how many millions and billions more were going to spend that will not be available here for desperately needed things. And thats a political reality in which the president , as you say, is responding to political and pressures in washington that dont reflect the reality on the ground. William, quickly, before we go the two beheadings that clearly have provoked the situation in washington to where it is now, and you can see it in the American Public tracking polls of their reactions to where we are now, when the Islamic State conducted those two beheadings is this what they were likely telling themselves was going to happen . It could be. It could have just been as a deterrence. They could have been seeking to provoke us to take military action, put boots on the ground. It could have been designed to get us out of the region. All those sorts of reasons were floated after 9 11 to justify it. But the president did not take action because of those beheadings. He took action when the Islamic State pushed close to baghdad. The beheadings came in response to that. And he was pressured to take action, not by people in this country, or if he was, he didnt listen to them. He was pressed by our allies in the region that we have security agreements with. Thats why hes moving to take action against the Islamic State now. Thats why he played down the direct Terror Threat to the United States in his speech last night. Thank you both very much for joining me tonight. Thank you. Coming up the nfl is getting a former director of the fbi to investigate the commissioners handling of the ray rice case. And in the rewrite tonight, a legal analyst understanding of the killing of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson is changed, suddenly change by two witnesses who we heard for the first time yesterday, even though those witnesses have been telling their story in the media for a month. Theres only one thing that distinguishes those two witnesses, to eyewitnesses from all the other eyewitnesses we have heard from. Can you guess what that is . Tweet me your guesses about what is it about these two eyewitness sthass different. Mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm here we go, here we go here we go. Fifty omaha set hut losing feeling in my toes nothing beats that new car smell chicken parm you taste so good nationwide is on your side mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm the nfls socalled independent investigations into the ray rice case. Thats next. The National Football league wants the fbi seal of approval after an unofficial source said the nfl had access to the tape in april, commissioner goodell has hired former fbi director Robert Mueller to conduct an independent investigation into the handling of the evidence in the ray rice Domestic Violence incident. Muellers law firm confirmed he has been retained by the league, but the nfl also says muellers socalled independent investigation will ridiculously be overseen by john mara the owner of the new york giants who recently said the idea of Roger Goodell losing his job was, quote, misguided. Mara will also be joined overseeing this investigation by another owner, art rooney. The coowner of the Pittsburgh Steelers who in recent years has had his own problems with players off the field. Joining me now is sports column columnist for usa today nancy armor. Muellers law firm in washington has the following connections, nbc sports has confirmed the Firm Previously represented Washington OwnerDaniel Snyder one of the most controversial owners in the league now with the name of that team, and several members of the firm have taken jobs with nfl teams. One former wilmer heal employee is the rayiders president , dick cass. So this is already painted. Hes coming from a firm thats already deeply enmeshed in the nfl. Hes overseen by these owners one who has already prejudged the case. Good evening. Its not a great way to start. No one has questioned Robert Muellers integrity or his independence. He worked under two different president s, republican and democrat, and has always been seen as fiercely independent, but the ties that his firm has had with the nfl and, as you mentioned, the fact that john mara and art rooney are overseeing the investigation. Now, they both came out and issued a joint statement saying they werent going to have any role in the investigation, theyre just there to make sure that mr. Mueller gets all of the cooperation that he needs. But it doesnt exactly give the best impression of complete impartiality. Its that tone deaf thing the nfl has all the way through this. If theyre not there to do anything, why mention them at all, why put them into this release . This Informational Press release about it. I want to go to this thing that stephen a. Smith said about the head of the National Organization for women after she called for the commissioners resignation. Lets listen to what he said. I think this woman is off her rocker. I think shes lost her mind. Thats right, i said it. This is the most ridiculous nonsense ive ever heard in my life. Roger goodell deserves to lose his job . Because you know why are you acting like hes ray rice . Roger goodell did not hit janay palmer rice. Its never good to sound like youre out of your mind accuseing someone else of being out of their mind. But my point is theres a Roger Goodell defender. Thats what they sound like. And with defenders like that it just makes the situation worse. Yeah. The nfl just has a complete mess on its hands. Theyve really kind of backed themselves sbroosinto a corner and theyre trying desperately to get out. But every direction they turn, they just seem go back into a different corner. And yeah when youve got people like stephen a. Going off like that, it does not help them at all. They released this notion last night of the independent investigation like 11 00 a. M. Theyre in a panic over there. Oh, p. M. , sorry, last night. Not the normal Business Hours over there these days. Nancy, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Coming up next the District Attorney who gave ray