Heres whats happening today. New word from john kerry, who will soon head to the middle east to develop a strategy against isis militants in syria and iraq. Kristen, with a good morning to you. What new are you hearing from this administration . Reporter well, good morning, alex. We know secretary kerry will travel to the middle east after the nato summit a little bit later on this week. His goal to shore up allies to help defeat isis. In a New York Times op ed he talked about the importance of building a global coalition. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is playing defense after comments the president made about isis. Take a listen. As president obama travels to fundraisers, he is in damage control mode. After the president made the candid comments. I dont want to put the cart before the horse. We dont have a strategy yet. Reporter the remarks played directly into the hands of critics, including the chair of the house intelligence committee. To have a press conference to say we dont have a strategy is shocking given the severity of the threat. Thats whats so concerning to me. The president has laid out reporter White House Press secretary josh ernest was quick to brief. He is developing plans or military options for the president to consider if he decides its necessary to do so. But at this point the president hasnt made any decisions. Reporter a suggestion left by some of his top military advisers who warned of the global threat isis poses. This is beyond anything we have seen. We must prepare for everything. Reporter the president s Foreign Policy is being tested on multiple fronts. Nadal hassan reportedly wrote a letter to isis from president requesting to join. Nato released new satellitism imagines showing Russian Troops and artillery vehicles in the eastern part of the country. Speaking to a pro kremlin youth catch, putin said crimea is in dispensable to russia. It is best not to mess with us, he warned. Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers. President obama has a steep hill to climb. The president has always been very strong on issues of Foreign Policy. But what people are looking for now is the action to follow that. Lets talk more about options in both syria and iraq. A Research Analyst at the institute for the study of war. With a welcome to you. What is the perception with the approach to isis . Is there anybody like saudi arabia, turkey, jordan to be part of a coalition . Sure. I think beginning with syria there was what was a perceived u. S. Lack of leadership. I think with the threat that isis poses is not only bound to iraq and syria but has huge regional implications. Theres a huge appetite for u. S. Leadership in addressing the issue. Do you think when john kerry goes to the region this next week we will get a warm response, a palatable difference . He will get something from these countries. I believe so. The way isis has been making gains particularly in syria the last couple of weeks has true impact for regional stability. I think particularly with countries like saudi arabia that have been wanting to deal with syria and isis for a long time, i think there will be a willingness to cooperate. Lets talk about the perception of isis from our allies. How are they perceived by the allies . In syria, they have been able to make a lot of gains by negotiated truces along the Euphrates River valley. It is by fear of going face to face in combat with isis. So you think there is widespread acceptance of isis by local populations . No, i dont think so. I think what we have seen particularly in Eastern Syria is a willingness to have truces with with isis in order to avoid violent confrontation. And i think the second that there is a perception of a desire to defeat isis, particularly from western powers. And the Syrian Opposition has gone me to head with isis. Empowering them will have a mobilized populus against isis. So its fearinduced. Thats exactly what it is. What about the numbers of european or u. S. Citizens have that joined isis. Do we have a firm grasp on those numbers . Thats a difficult thing to track. I dont personally have firm numbers on the numbers of western fighters with isis but they are there. Their control creates a sanctuary in which u. S. And british fighters, as we have seen recently, are able to go and fight. Whats interesting is syrian president assad has survived years of civil war in his country. What is his role the next few weeks when it comes to isis. Will he take the fight to him in Northern Syria . Well, first of all, the regime is not a desirable ally in combatting isis. The conflict between isis and the regime thus far has been limited to Eastern Syria, which is not key terrain at this point in time. I dont believe that the fight will come head to head with isis in western syria. The regime largely allowed it to grow and expand as a strategy of weakening the Syrian Opposition. The truth is the Syrian Opposition. Okay. Isabel, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Now to london. David cameron raised a threat level there because of isis. Kelly, with a good morning to you, how worried are they in britain . They are fairly concerned, enough to raise the level to red, the highest level, meaning an attack is imminent. British Officials Say there is no sign of an imminent effect. But with 500 traveling to join isis and 200 back, the threat they say is very real. Britain has awoke to a new fear this morning splashed on every headline. Terror alert red, the highest since 2011. A terrorist attack, the government warned, is highly likely. What we are facing in iraq now with isis is a deeper threat to our security than we have known before. The terror group isis has the worlds attention, and theyre using it, posting another violent, disturbing video. This time of captured kurdish soldiers. Among them, hundreds of british citizens. This is the golden era of jihad. They have given tips on how to join the fight. And they have been executioner. This is james wright foley. Spoken with a british accent. There are gaps and we need to strengthen them. Brit app hasnt been attacked since 2005 when four islamists bombed the underground killing 52. Last year lee rigby was slaughtered in broad daylight by two islamic extremists. And people were killed outside a jewish center. Now it is posturing and directly threatening the western interest. Hundreds of thousands with passports that give easy access. They can travel to europe, britain and beyond. To the u. S. , where the threat level remains the same. I dont anticipate this morning that there is a plan to change that level. The department of Homeland Security said in a statement that officials are deeply concerned about the threat by isis, but they know of no specific credible threat to the u. S. Thank you, kelly. Other news now, u. S. Secret service and Connecticut State Police on the lookout for whats described as a potentially suspicious pepper and vehicle who could pose a threat to the president. The person is suspected of being in the vicinity where president obama was friday for fundraising events. Officials are not elaborating why they consider him a threat. A strict new abortion rule on friday. The rule, which was set to take effect friday, mandates all texas clinics meet the same standards as hospital including building, equipment, and staffing minimums. It it is texas officials vowed to appeal the ruling it is cutdown day in the nfl. Teams are preparing their rosters from 75 to 53. That includes the st. Louis rams, which drafted the leagues first openly game player, michael sam. No official word whether he has made the team. Jeff fisher is expected to make a decision by 4 00 p. M. If sam is cut, he could be pick up by another team or asked to play for the Practice Team official end of summer has all people heading to the beaches and barbecues this summer. Parts of the east coast could get soaked with thunderstorms. You wouldnt believe it looking at those pictures, which are pretty nice. Jeannette has our forecast. Good morning. Hey there, alex. Good saturday morning. Yes, the unofficial end of the Summer Season is with us. Its going to be a wet one for areas of the upper midwest and the deep south. Eventually the storms currently pushing the upper midwest. Will be hitting the east coast sunday into monday. Locally, heavy rainfall across wisconsin, down into illinois. This morning, heavy areas of rainfall across coastal texas and coastal louisiana. Flash flooding possible across louisiana with a couple of inches of rainfall expected. The storm system pushes across the upper midwest. That will bring showers and thunderstorms sunday, into monday. Another storm will be moving into the Northern Plains late today, into tomorrow. This is the threat for Severe Weather across sections of the upper mississippi valley, done into the central plains. This corridor in yellow looking at severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds, heavy downpours, hail and tornados likely. So well keep a look at that as we head into your late sunday. Saturday, the northeast, another beautiful day. More in the way of clouds. It will be warming up. As we head into sunday and monday, the east coast will certainly feel the heat and the humidity. So heres a look at your sunday. Showers and thunderstorms from boston to washington, d. C. The west coast, especially must of the southwest will be warming up significantly as we head into your labor day monday. The storms across the east will be hit or miss. Not everyone will get wet. Certainly not a washout. The beaches looking pretty about as we head through this holiday weekend. 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Thats more important than whatever the president actually said in those words. He was describing a strategy. Moving ahead, alex and whats important is to look this upcoming week as to what happens at the ney toy conference in wales. Secretary kerry will be working with his counterparts just to see can they get together the International Response to this terrible conflict going by an asymmetrical group. Doesnt that almost support why the president does not have an individual plan for the United States . Its not like they can take on isis on its own. It has to be done in a coalition fashion. Yes. I agree with what you are saying. Sometimes few things can be true at the same time. To obamas critics, they say he should have been a plan by now. Senator mccain, senator Lindsey Graham calling for a swifter, more forceful response without taking perhaps the intermediate steps that the president wants to do. We know hes been served in actions on syria. It was a year ago this weekend that the president said he was going to go to congress to ask for commission for strikes. That vote never happened. As it happened with the help of russia as it was, assad, the leader of syria did decide to put curbs on chemical warfare. Meaning in this terrible mess thats going on in multiple countries and this terrorist group, i think in terms of the political optics which are very different, it didnt seem necessary in mind sight for a press conference at that time for the president just to announce what he did. From inside the white house, lynn, is there a sense that we can deal with isis and win . Well, im not sure. I think that it just isnt clear yet what International Players are going to be working with the United States on this. Okay. You mentioned Lindsey Graham and john mccain. Heres what they said in an op ed. Continue to go confront isis in iraq but not in syria would be fighting with one hand behind our back. We need a military plan to defeat isis no matter where it is. Is this a policy program . Both. Especially with the november elections coming up. Syria, one of the other stories is the considerations in this, alex, is that we have vowed to not support the regime of the syrian leader assad. On the other hand, moderate forces who we need to we get messed up in internal syria politics. Let me cut to the bottom on that. Its not clear who the credible partners could be in all parts of the region. This is nothing new in a sense from senators mccain and graham that they are offering their hawks and often urge different strategy than the white house has been going on. Yeah. Let me get with domestic politics. Mitch mcconnells leaner is resigning. What does this mean for just as the Fall Campaign starts in ernest. The priority is to keep the senate democratic. Its never good when you have a shakeup at the top level of a Campaign Manager. Anything that could even be associated with corruption. Even if this has absolutely nothing to do with mcconnell, which i have been reading. Kentucky having more of a spotlight. The charges themselves or the base of this is that there is a payoff to a supporter of ron paul to switch support from representative bachman in iowa when the senators father ran for president. The Campaign Manager of mcconnell married his granddaughter. Right . Yeah. Look at all the parts of intrigue here. Hes not directly charged with anything. It looked like damage control. It looks like senator mcconnell doesnt want the risk of controversy with somebody surrounding him. Details on the release of the new i reverend al sharpton t rumors to rest. Did the president call on him to get involved in the Michael Brown case in ferguson . When folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. 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