threat raising fear of a new alliance. barbara starr is working this story for us. barbara, what are you finding out? >> good evening, pamela. we have not heard from the head of al qaeda in months. now he has surfaced again and the question is, why? >> in an online audio message, a man purported to be al qaeda leader pledges allegiance to the new taliban leader. hundreds in the ranks already swearing their allegiance. >> i think we have to watch that very carefully. >> reporter: cnn could not independently verify the authenticity of the message. why would the man who succeeded osama bin laden pledge allegiance to the taliban, often seen as secondary to al qaeda? >> what he's doing is recementing the alliance between al qaeda and the taliban, an alliance that enabled al qaeda to have a sanctuary in afghanistan for much of the 1990s and part of the 2000s. >> the taliban had been staging massive attacks across kabul, trying to reassert their authority and gain bargaining power in peace talks, u.s. officials believe. but zawahiri's move may be trying to keep his al qaeda also in play. >>

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group. barbara starr is tracking this story. >> these are the fighters that the u.s. had provided training and equipment for and had put back into the field to fight syria and isis just days ago, really disaster has struck, they came under attack late last week, we now know that since that attack in recent days, five of these u.s. backed rebels have been captured by an al qaeda affiliate. one of them was killed in that original attack. the big surprise to the pentagon is that al nusra was behind the attack, they thought they would only come under attack from isis, apparently this al qaeda affiliate had other ideas, 54 of the rebels to start they wanted 5,000 in the field. one dead, five captured, an additional five other rebels who belong to an affiliated group also supported by the u.s. also captured by al nusra. a difficult situation for these fighters. and raising fundamental questions about the u.s. strategy to put them as the boots on the ground inside syria to fight isis. >> are there efforts underway to recover them? >> we don't know the answer to that question right now, w

correspondent barbara starr who is monitoring what's going on. a pretty amazing story, very disturbing, this train from amsterdam to paris. two u.s. marines are involved, one of them seriously injured. what are you learning? >> reporter: wolf, we've just received a statement from the pentagon in the last couple of minutes. keep in mind, all of these are first reports and in incidents like this, often the information changes in the opening hours. all i can tell you is what the pentagon has told us, and the pentagon's statement says they are aware of the report about the train incident, and that they can confirm only, and i'm quoting, that one u.s. military member was injured in the incident. now, the pentagon goes on to say the injury is, in their words, not life threatening. we are well aware that the pentagon is looking into reports and trying to confirm itself that these are marines that were involved in this. that is something i know paul is hearing in europe. the pentagon not yet confirming it, but indeed saying there were non-life threatening injuries to one of those military memb

in that -- i want to go directly to barbara starr. >> tonight a lating they're that russia was behind this attack two weeks ago on an unclassified system. that system has been down for the last two weeks off-line while cyberexperts here at the pentagon try to rebuild it this is an unclassified, but very critical system, 4,000 users in an organization called the joint staff. those are the people that work for the chairman of the joint chiefs, general marty dempsey, top military adviser to the president. this was a very stealthy, very sophisticated spear-phishing attack, if you will into the unclassified system, and whoever did it did get inside. the reason tonight they say a leading theory is russia is the level of sophistication. it could really only have been accomplished by the chinese or the russians. it has led them to believe it's the russians? absolutely no, they are still looking and still trying to get that unclassified e-mail systems back up, back online. >> just because it's unclassified, barb bra, that doesn't mean it isn't sensitive information, right? >> well, it c

barrier. barbara has the story. >> for military woman history is made. for the first time two female soldiers have passed the grueling 62 day army ranger training program. >> secretly sense of pride. we can not really cheer the females on. it's a humbling experience and get a chance to see the woman come through. >> even after all of the hard training the pentagon won't let woman join the elite 75th ranger regiment. one of the most special operations unit. army woman say that they won't no special treatment. amber smith flew held comicopte iraq and afghanistan. >> it needs to be straight across the board and the physical and mental strength to accomplish the mission. >> the 75th ranger regiment large scale entry into a combat zone under fire while executing the surgical rate to take out any treats. how hard is ranger school? 400 students started and only 94 graduated. of the 19 woman that began, 16 dropped out, one is still working to get through the program. little sleep and food is just the beginninbeginning. the soldiers have to do 40 push ups, 50 sit ups and a run. a 12 mile foot

has overrun another key city. barbara, what's going on. >> as you say, expect to see u.s. military action in the skies over syria ramp up in the coming days, but very serious questions about whether it will be enough. u.s. air strikes against isis and syria could be launched from this turkish air base within days, according to u.s. officials. this section of the border, u.s. intelligence calculates new isis fighters are still entering syria as fast as the u.s. can kill them. on the ground, u.s. strategy rests on the shoulders of just 54 u.s.-trained moderate syrian rebels. >> what we are trying to do is protect this very small force as it's on the very early stages of building combat power. >> the official pentagon word, the group is eager to fight and thwarted a recent al qaeda attack. the reality -- up to half are missing, they may have deserted early on, fled after the attack last week, or been captured. one officials admitting to cnn, quote, they are no longer a coherent military unit. >> they're not accompanied by u.s. forces in the field, which means they're going to get limi

another option, against isis. and that is ground troops. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has details and this is raising some eyebrows, barbara. >> indeed. good evening. the chief of the u.s. army, general odierro. about to retire in the next few days. he met with reporters here at the pentagon and got very candid about the tfight against isis. >> reporter: u.s. air strikes over syria trying to squeeze critical isis strong holds. in the west ramping up pressure near aleppo and idla, in the east, striking al-raqqah. iraqi troops may finally be getting ready to try to retake ramadi. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: but the top u.s. army general did not mince word about any part of the effort. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: on getting iraqi forces to fight. >> it hasn't gone as well as we would look it to. >> reporter: on the overall situation -- >> i think right now we are kind of at a stalemate. >> reporter: and a warning, the president's strategy especially in iraq may need fixing. raising the option of putting u.s. boots on the ground. >> if we find in the next several months we ar

series of computers. our pentagon correspondent barbara star broke this story. she has much more right now. what's the latest information, barbara? >> wolf, he had vowed to attack the u.s., that put him right in the cross hairs of the u.s. military. u.s. spy drones followed and track a hacker for days in the middle of heavily populated syria, before finally launching a hell fire missile off a drone to kill him as he stood in the street monday, cnn has learned. the mission to kill hussein, the most sensitive for the u.s. in months. several officials tells cnn. the u.s. had to be sure it was him, and to fire at him when civilians were not nearby. >> this is a huge gap for the united states, hussein was the most prolific english language prop gandist for isis. >> he's accused of being involved in the hacking of the u.s. central command website. and posting a so-called kill-list. including personal information and addresses of u.s. military personnel, which caused the pentagon to scramble to warn those who were named. he was linked to the shooting attack in garland, texas, in may, wh

on releases. former defense secretary chuck hagel told barbara star, he resisted pressure from the white house. >> not everyone at the white house has agreed with how i handled some of this. i have made it clear that i will not certify signing anything to release a detainee as long as i'm secretary of defense, unless i am convinced that it is in the best interest of this country about. >> a senior official tells cnn the team is working together to fulfill his pledge. >> i'm honored by his trust. >> ashe carter was compelled to make his own pledge. >> i would ask you to tell us and to make a commitment to this committee that you will not succumb to any pressure by this administration to increase the pace of transfers from guantanamo, will you commit to that? >> absolutely. >> further complicating the closure plan is figuring out where to send detainees that are not released. yemen is in a state of collapse. congress has forbidden the creation of a new facility on u.s. soil or using civilian prisons. >> so the pentagon is considered military facilities. >> we're working now on a prop

group recently launched a chemical attack. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has been digging on that. >> if isis indeed has a chemical weapon, the big question tonight, where did they get it? the patients came to this northern are iraqi hospital with blistered skin and respiratory distress. the kurds say isis fired mortars at them containing a chemical agent. >> 38 rounds exploded, seven did not. >> reporter: the u.s. is investigating and will test samples to find out if it was mustard agent, a chemical weapon u.s. officials now tell cnn isis possesses in small quantities. >> it's a game changer. because what it means is the introduction of chemical weapons when you do that, you have a real issue with protecting troops, you have a real issue with ensuring the safety of civilians that might be in the battle zone. >> reporter: samples from an attack a few weeks ago neconfir mustard agent was used near al hasakah. two attacks this week in kurdish northern iraq are being looked at. officials hope more testing will tell them if mustard or chlorine, an agent the kurds say isis has

isis. he favors troops on the ground against, taking over oil fields controlled by isis. barbara starr has a reality check on his vision. what are you seeing? >> good evening, if donald trump's plan works, take over the oil from isis and iraq he says he wants to take that money and give it to families of the fallen and the wounded. it's just not exactly clear yet how all of that would work. if he becomes xharchder in chief, donald trump has new details on his plan for dealing with isis. >> isis is taking over a lot of the oil in certainly areas of iraq. i say you take away their wealth knock the hell out of the oil, we take over the oil. >> on "meet the press quest he was adamant how he would do it. >> so you're talking ground troops? >>. >> we can circle it. >> reporter: enchts. >> a critic sis -- >> you just don't go into another nation and steal their wealth which is exactly what he's suggesting we do. >> the top retired army general had issue as well. when you hear him saying we should move in with our troops and take their oil and bomb the iraqi oil fields does anything like

of today's top stories. we begin with syria and pentagon correspondent barbara starr. tell us what you're learning. >> brianna, the pentagon now says it believes the first of the u.s. trained and equipped syrian refbls have been killed in that al qaeda-backed attack in northern syria. the u.s. is going to great lengths to say those rebels, the u.s. has their back, but they have a very big target on that back. smoke rising from a u.s. air strike in northern syria, launched to protect american-trained rebels under attack from an al qaeda linked group. the first strike since president obama approved air cover to protect rebels under attack from any group. al qaeda, the assad regime or isis, a hint of the expanded mission in the works for days. >> i think we have an obligation to support those fighters when when they go into. >> what if the assad regime attacks the u.s.-backed rebels. we have cautioned syria in the past not to engage u.s. aircraft, and the syrian regime would similarly be advised not to interfere. >> the strike here in northern syria the is the area in u.s. kror harris

on a u.s. consulate in turkey. barbara starr has more on this. what are you hearing? >> reporter: good evening. turkey, one of america's most important allies, suffering a wave of violence today. one of the big questions is, are the militants sending a message to the u.s.? gunshots rang out near the u.s. consulate in istanbul as turkish police blocked off the area after two women staged an armed attack. turkish authorities said the women were pat rt of a left win militant group. >> translator: the policeman was shouting and the woman said, i will not surrender. i will avenge the attack. the police warned her, drop your bag or we will shoot you. the woman said, shoot. >> reporter: the consulate issued an emergency message warning u.s. citizens to stay away and to exercise caution near large gatherings. it happened at the first of the heavily armed u.s. f-16 fighters arrived in turkey. those planes now ready to begin air strikes in syria and iraq. air strikes in northern syria will be aimed at killing isis. but they will also support kurds known as the ypg, something turkey opposed

go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she has new information. what are you learning, barbara? >> well, wolf, vladimir putin likes nothing better than to put on a show. but everyone when he's doing that, is he sending a message. warplanes take to the skies, part of an exhibition near loss c moss could y moscow. putin watching intently.loss moscow. putin watching intently. two kooe middle east allies putin is courting. the later saying -- >> translator: i'm glad to use this time to talk about regional and bilateral relations. >> reporter: putin is talking to both leaders about the fight against isis and the war in syria where russia is still supporting se ining syrian lead al assad. not the only putin move in the middle east that has the u.s. deeply worried. russia is selling an advanced s-300 air defense radar and missile system to iran to help secure iran's air space. >> we obviously problems, we've experienced those concerns to the russians. we can't see this as a positive development. at the same time at the defense department the president will have options availa