War with islam. The terrorist doss not speak for over a billion muslims to reject their hateful ytology. They no more represent islam than any madman that represents god or hinz u ismduism, no religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism. But some say the president is missing a point. Republican senator ted cruz and democratic congresswoman among those arguing you cannot separate isis and its islamic ideology. The New York Post put it more simply with this cover showing president obama blindfolded. Islamic terror . I just dont see it, is the headline. Thank you both being with me. Kristen, start with you. Is the white house concerned about a talk about terminology taking up to much of the oxygen surrounding the summit . They are concerned about it jose. Its made for awkward moments in the White House PressBriefing Room and the fact that president obama addressed it yesterday signifies the fact hes concerned about it and again the argument here is that by using the term islamic extremist, it only fuels the argument by terrorist theres is some western war against islam. Of course, critics argue this is president obama failing to look the problem squarely in the eye and address it directly. In terms of what happened yesterday here at the summit in addition to defending his use of the term violent extremism president obama also highlighted pilot programs in various cities across the country, minneapolis, los angeles and boston which really try to target some of these communities that might be at risk for joining Fringe Groups or a terrorist group like isis. Targeting young people. So afterschool programs mentoring programs job fairs. Now, the president mapped out the fact that there are also a number of challenges to steering young people away from Fringe Groups. We have a look at those challenges. They include discrediting the ideology, strong ideologist pushed through social media. Isis has been very effective at that. Addressing economic and political grievances and, of course encouraging communities and family members to speak out. Now, whereas yesterday was really focused on what Law Enforcement officials, Community Leaders can do at the community level, today is really going to have more of an international focus. President obama is going to speak at the state department in just over an hour from now. He will be addressing foreign leaders and his message is the importance of building an International Coalition to fight isis in iraq syria and wherever that group may be. Jose . And, jim, meanwhile, were learning this morning about 15 more air strikes against isis targets in iraq and syria. Is this any shift in u. S. Military strategy . No jose. Im afraid you wont see any significant shift or any real changes or progress on the battlefield there in both iraq and syria. Until such time that in iraq, the Iraqi Military services are in a position to be able to take over, take charge of the battle there on the ground inside iraq against isis. We know that the Peshmerga Kurdish forces are some of the fiercest fighters. Theyve been making progress but the Iraqi Military still has a long way to go. And youre not going to see significant progress either until there are american boots on the ground as forward air controllers, to be able to call in air strikes with more deadly accuracy and, in fact until you see American Special forces on the ground to actually go into some of these urban areas where the isis leadership has embedded itself knowing full well that if theyre in an urban area surrounded by civilian the u. S. Military is not going to bomb it. Now, president obama has said he would consider putting some Ground Forces not masses of combat troops but forward air controllers, and also special operations forces. So at least that is in the works, but in terms of the progress any kind of progress, in terms of the Iraqi Military to be able to take over the fight, thats anybodys guess, and its not going to happen anytime soon jose. And kristen, i want to ask you about reports from pakistan that the u. S. Will be holding peace talks with the afghan taliban. What does the administration say about this . Flatly denying those reports. Ill read a statement from nsc spokesperson a moment ago. The United States currently has no meetings with the taliban scheduled in doha and remain supportive of ap afghanled reconciliation process of course, the taliban has to be a part of that process. Is worth noting that there is new leadership in afghanistan, and president obama has a better relationship with this new president than he had with president karzai. There is some measured optimism that that country could move towards stability, but obviously still a long way to go. Jose . Kristen welker and jim miklaszewski, thank you for being with me. Appreciate your time. And john kerry is addressing the challenges of keeping isis from spreading. Our goal today is to take this chance to think broadly about how to prevent violent ideologists from taking hold and how to prevent terrorist networks, sump as isil or boko haram or any group of other names, from linking up with aggrieved groups elsewhere and how to prevent them from there it by expanding their influence. The terrorist gruchs is pushing deeper into north africa trying to exploit unrest in libya, tunisia and algeria. I bring in ambassador ginsburg and sophia jones, a middle east correspondent for the world post who joins me by phone. Ambassador, start with you. Good morning. Let me ask you about these areas. Why is it that these areas in north africa seem so ripe for isis recruiters . Jose when we overthrew gadhafi, we had ourselves on the back and left libya to its own devices. It has been a country that has been ripe with extremism, and what happened during the last few months jose is that isis sent emissaries to team up with al qaeda in the maghreb, and basically convinced them to join forces there. The same thing happened in the sinai, and so egypt and libya, or at least egyptian sinai and libya, had descended into chaos, and isis has taken advantage of it. When i listen to the presentation you just made of secretary kerry, its already happened, mr. Kerry. Libya is already in chaos. Preventing isis from reaching into libya is now past the stage of it happening. Its already happened. What do you do then ambassador . The fact of the matter is that these countries also have a responsibility to deal with these very serious issues that are affecting them directly first before they affect anybody else . Exactly, jose. This gets back to the fundamental problem involving this white house conference. If the American People were going to ask someone what do you do practically about this . Two problems. The white house is focused on the west where lone wolves indeed are cropping up. But the real more fundamental problem is the fight that must take place in the arab world. Theres no adequate american emissary spending time there to convince these countries to spend more time Gathering Forces putting together a strategy that doesnt always have to involve asking what the americans are going to do first. Secretary kerrys in washington. There should be someone high level in the administration in saudi arabia in the emirates in jordan in iraq in libya, algeria and morocco galvanizing the same type of forces necessary to militarily stop this onslaught from taking place. Sophia go with you. You actually met with some of the families of these 21 egyptian christians that were killed by isis in libya. Tell me what you found. Well many of these men were workingclass heroes for family em poverrished laborers who went to libya for a better life for themselves and family members. People lives six to one room. Incredibly impoverished. They didnt find a better life. They were destroyed because they were egyptian and christian. Sophia an Interesting Development in all this is that isis is now threatening italy, and italy is now scrambling to beef up its security . Yes. According to the government, they are ramping up security and theyre going to add an additional 1,800 Security Forces to the streets. One of the main concerns among people in italy is the fact there are thousands of people using this as a gateway to italy specifically. People that are desperately seeking a better life in europe but people are saying look we have thousands taking boats, what if some of those people will move to italy and they want to stop search and rescue missions, aid groups saying if you stop search and rescue missions you are destined to people who are all right seeking war and chaos. Ambassador its only 323 miles from tripoli into italy. Is this a real threat . No it really isnt a threat per se. Of course, the biggest problem is the fact that italy itself is a country where theres a significant muslim dissatisfied and disaffected muslim population. But also jose libya was the colonial power in libya, and it has a significant influence in libya, and we really need tone courage italy to take more responsibility for trying to at least pacify what is taking place and restore a Central Government in triply that could be able to in effect attack the extremists outposts in eastern libya. Ambassador beginsbury sophia jones, thank you for your time appreciate it. I want to remind you, you can see the president s remarks live at 10 30 eastern time riceght here on msnbc. And turning to the weather, an icy grip on the eastern half of the u. S. This morning. Could see recordshatters temperatures in more than 100 cities including the deep south which remains in a deep freeze answers check this out. Baltimore, maryland. This car encased in ice thanks to cars splashing water on to it from a water main break. Its so cold even in parts of Niagara Falls, theyre freezing over. Take a look at that. Nbc meter option dylan dreyer joins us from the canadian side of the falls. Dylan, good morning. Reporter good morning, jose. Yeah, had to go to canada to get colder because i wasnt cold enough this week but were on the canadian side of the falls looking at the american falls. What is bedwloond mist over there and we have been actually below freezing the entire month of february. One of the cold et februarys on record and that is why were starting to see these just impressive ice formations. Now, the falls themselves will never freeze over. Theres too much water. Its rushing way too fast but when you have the mist and the water that splashes off the falls, that creates incredible ice formations. This morning we were at 3 degrees below zero. Tomorrow even colder as this siberian express continues to pour gun is the eastern half of the United States. We wa at 8 below in pa duke ta kentucky earlier and even colder tomorrow with record shatters 1899 ux if was a very cold period in the United States. One of the periods that created most of the records across the south. We are going to crush those records as we go into tomorrow morning. So we are in a brutal cold snap here and unfortunately its relentless. Theres really no warmup in sight. But i guess without the freezing cold temperatures you wouldnt have a shot this pretty. Huh, jose . Absolutely. Thank you, dylan dreyer. So good to see you. Just Getting Started on this Early Morning rundown edition on thursday. Jeb bush outlined some views on Foreign Policy during a speech in chicago but also spent time talking about his famous family. Look, just for the. Reporter one more time i love my brother, i love my dad. I actually love my mother as well and hope thats okay. And i admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make but im my own man. Our own casey hunt was there and shell join the rundown live from chicago after the break. Plus another potential 2016 candidate. Senator ted cruz defends a judges decision that put president obama immigration action on hold. This hour ill talk with the president and ceo of the National Council of laras. Well be right back. That has fueled each westminster best in show winner. And this year, with her strong athletic build her fluid gait and her confidence in the ring the beagle by the name of miss p became the ninth. judge the best in show is the beagle vo congrats, miss p, on winning the 139th westminster best in show. Were proud youre continuing the purina pro plan tradition. Purina pro plan. Nutrition that performs. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat . Campbells healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. So this morning we have a better idea how jeb bush would approach Foreign Policy from the oval office. The perspective president ial candidate laying out his vision during his first big Foreign Policy speech since signaling white house ambitions. Speaking in chicago, bush attempted to prove he it think for himself while addressing the presidencies of his father and brother. Msnbc Political Correspondent casey hunt was at the speech and is with me this morning from chicago. Casey, good morning. Reporter good morning, jose. So reporter jeb bush is starting to lay out. Im sorry. Go ahead. Thats exactly what i was going to ask you. Go ahead. Reporter well jeb bush is starting to lay out his Foreign Policy principles as he prepares for a possible president s bid and yesterday here in chicago he walked a careful line trying to show that hes his own man while also talking about his brother and fathers legacies. I am so proud of my brother reporter the last time there was a republican president not named bush george w. Bushs daughter fit on his shoulders. Jeb bush sounds like he wants to be next but hes grappling with how to be different. Start weigh Foreign Policy speech in chicago yesterday. I love my brother. I love my dad. But im my own man. And my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences. On my orders Coalition Forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance. Reporter george w. Bushs up popular war in iraq helped elect president barack obama. There were mistakes made in iraq for sure. Using the intelligence capability that everybody embraced about weapons of mass destruction was not, turns out not to be accurate. Reporter now bushs dman waiting is signing up more than a dozen of his brothers advisers including paul wolfowitz, and architect of the iraq policy. The region is in chaos, and the Islamic State conquers territory that americans fought and died to protect. Jeb bush blames president obama. My brothers administration through the surge, which was one of the most heroic acts of courage politically that any president s done, it created a stability that when the new president came in he could have built on. Reporter in his speech yesterday bush talked tough but didnt say whether he would support putting american boots on the ground to fight isis. Restrain them. Tighten the noose, and then taking them out is the strategy. Reporter on the whole, polls show republicans are willing to support bush. But Many Americans say his last name makes them less likely to vote for him. A lesser problem for hillary clinton. But when it comes to iraq she has a problem of her own. Her vote to give bush the authority to go to war in the first place. This is a very difficult vote. This is probably the hardest decision ive ever had to make. Reporter seven years ago, that decision helped president obama. But this time it could help jeb bush. Were, as a nation we have to start acting like it again. The bush cabinet would have no difficult thats a 15 yard penalty and loss of down. Reporter bush sounded like he was looking for distance from his family he didnt outline policies dramatically different from her father and brother and critics are seizing on that list of advisers as proof he would be more of the same. Still, bush aides point out there werent former romney or Mccain Administration staffers available. Jose . Good point. And casey, quickly, scott walker was on cnbc this morning and called jeb bush a good friend. How close is the walker camp watching the bush camp . Reporter well, jose at this point, everyone in the republican potential field is watching jeb bush. Hes really taken very aggressive steps that put him out as a frontrunner here but i also think jeb bushs camp is watching scott walker in particular closely, because walkers had early success doing things that bush hasnt yet had to take on himself. Walker has risen in polls without having the benefit of a really family family name and also made a good impression talking to base voters in iowa. He gave a speech a few weeks ago very well received and we havent seen jeb bush tested in that way yet. Casey hunt, pleasure to see you. Thanks. After the break, zoom through some of todays other top stories including the emergence of a super bug in california that has sickened more than 160 people. And two big stars from the 90s both in trouble with the law. The latest on vanilla ice and screech, both facing very serious charges today. And happy new year to all of those celebrating the year of the sheep. Today, hanoi, vietnam, celebrated with fireworks. Laters this hour why everyone is not so thrilled with the year of the sheep. Here i am. Rock you like a hurricane. Fiber one now makes cookies. Find them in the cookie aisle. You owned your car for four years. You named it brad. You loved brad. And then you totaled him. You two had been through everything together. Two boyfriends. Three jobs. Youre like nothing can replace brad then Liberty Mutual calls. And you break into your happy dance. If you sign up for better car replacement, well pay for a car thats a model year newer with 15,000 fe