ISIL, U.S. hostage spur talk of retaliation, 'trap' warning

PHOENIX — The battle against the Islamic State dominated the political talk shows Sunday as guests on the programs spoke about Kayla Mueller, the U.S. hostage from Arizona whom ISIL claimed Friday was killed by a Jordanian air strike.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said that his department is monitoring developments surrounding Mueller, but he did not shed any new light on her fate.

"Obviously we're learning as much as we can as quickly as we can about Ms. Mueller's situation," Johnson said on CNN's State of the Union. "Our thoughts, our prayers, our concerns are with her family right now."

U.S. officials have not confirmed the claim that Mueller was killed in the air strike.

Mueller was one of the topics Sunday as discussion also touched on the U.S. government's policy to not pay ransoms, its attempts at rescue operations and whether escalating military action is needed or a trap set by terrorists who appear to be deliberately attempting to provoke such escalation.

Johnson said the U.S. had shown, with the attempted rescue of the journalist James Foley, it is willing to try to rescue hostages in similar situations.

"It's something we continually evaluate our ability to do in this region," Johnson said. "But it is a very, very challenging situation obviously."

Nasser Judeh, the Jordanian foreign minister, appearing on ABC's This Week, said he had no solid information on Mueller's fate.

"We're hearing what you're hearing," he said. "Of course, our prayers are for Kayla Mueller to be safe and sound and alive."

Jordan's media minister Mohammed Al-Momani, appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, cast doubt on the claim that Mueller was killed as ISIL claimed.

Jordan launched airstrikes after a video released by ISIL showed a Jordanian pilot being burned alive. On Friday, ISIL said a bomb from a Jordanian fighter hit the building where Mueller was held, killing her. Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, provided no further evidence to support its claim.

"They tend to lie about these things all the time," said Al-Momani. "They negotiated a swap with our pilot that they killed weeks ago. ... They're liars. They don't have any respect for human life. That's why it's very difficult to actually make any accurate assessment or conclusions regarding the fate of the American lady."

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat who is on the Armed Services Committee, said on CNN that the country cannot allow itself to "fall into the trap that (ISIL) is trying to set."

"We must strengthen ... understanding exactly who our enemy is, why they are perpetrating these horrific acts and then come up with an effective strategy to defeat them," said Gabbard.

Former U.S. Rep Mike Rogers, now a CNN commentator, said ISIL played rhetorical games with Foley, the journalist it captured and beheaded. It made an unrealistic ransom offer for him, Rogers said.

"They really never intended to turn Foley over," said Rogers. "They were using all of this for propaganda."

Rogers said paying ransoms would put other Americans overseas at risk. "Think how many other people are exposed if you make those ransom payments," he said.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, also told CNN it would be wrong to pay ransoms for American hostages.

"Giving money just buys additional arms for them to kidnap more Americans, for them to murder more," said Cruz.

Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Tex., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, blamed the Obama administration for not doing enough to attack ISIL. He said he hopes the United States can galvanize Arab nations to take a greater military role, including ground troops.

"The air strikes have been limited. It's a policy of containment, not a policy to degrade and destroy the enemy," he told CBS' Face the Nation. "There's no ground force in Syria and the airstrikes are not sufficient to date to take care and take out ISIS."

But international experts on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS warned that ISIL already is faltering and the United States should avoid being sucked further into the conflict. They called for political and economic reforms to counter groups pursuing Islamic extremism. Military action alone will not solve the long-term problem, they said.