but who is isis? they combine viciousness on the ground with a supremacy in social media. >> it's trying to create the largest caliphate it can. >> what do we know about the man wearing a wristwatch who says he is the rightful leader of isis. >> faulker has been a shadowy presence for a very long time. >> and how he is using a former catholic school student from the boston area to spread propaganda. including the beheading videos around the world. >> why do you think this mosque keeps ending up attached to terrorism? >> isis controls the area the size of kansas across iraq and syria. you will see why they are the richest terrorist organization on earth. >> this is like a digital network. almost like a tv station. we take you inside a terrorist troop war that surprised al qaeda. the united states and our allies. or did it? >> now, from studio j at fox news headquarters, here is greta van susteren. >> what is isis and what do they want? over the past decade colonel oliver north and war stories team have

isis is pushed out. the real problem i have is whenever american mitilarism is involved, you get american military involvement, you end up leading to much more complicated and dangerous situations where groups like isis can emerge. that's my real dilemma. >> you let the elephant out of the room, as it were. iran. the u.s. just told syria these strikes were to be forthcoming. it seemed defacto headquarters of isis, life in the syrian city of raqqa has never been easy. what's going on now, well, that's for you to take a look at after this. whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts who work with portfolio management experts that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to th

these isis fighters right now. and the other thing it illustrates, phil, as you say is the failure of you are the i do act, turkey not part of this. and the coalition partners with the united states not willing i think to go after these isis fighters perhaps near the turkish border. phil, if you're still there, tell me what you're seeing right now. >> sure, john. you make the point about the turkish military. they are here patrolling this heavily fortified border. they have checkpoints here, armored vehicles patrols. what you were hearing was, yes, the crowd cheering as they have been through the afternoon as their kurdish brothers, the ethnic population stretches across the border between turkey and syria. these are largely turkish kurds but they are here watching their kurdish brothers fight at isis in the distance and wherever it has looked like the kurds have been taking the fight directly to isis, scoring a hit somewhere close to that isis position then, yes, the cheers have very much gone up. the turkish mili

is destroying isis. so the expectations among the kurds is in the immediate term isis targets around kobani will be attacked. and on the upcoming days, aspects of the operation, fighting will include kurds. hike nobody everybody agrees that is the most effective force fighting isis. this is the moment i can't tell you. in regards to what kurds of turkey, how turkey's role for kurdish perspective, there's a growing disappointment towards turkey within the syrian population and the population in turkey as well. this is being raised in the highest levels of kurdish representatives, politicians or military people that so far the general perception is that turkey is turning a blind eye to isis. so indirectly to support, treat jihadists in syrian hospitals. but if there is attacks, the perception change that now. many people think turkey took this support one step further, no longer turning blind eye and really helping isis. this is the perception among the syrian kurds. it's been raised by many people. among

homeland than isis itself? the answers that we have been getting are there isn't evidence out there. there are not plots of eminent importance to u.s. security. the way they worded that, they were plotting attacks that could be eminent. there seems to be a difference there. that is something we want to know more about. their goal was to attack u.s. targets perhaps on u.s. soil. the u.s. government has been really reassuring in the last few weeks that there aren't any known plots that could be disrupted or were of more specificity than at least what was said in the press release from centcom. >> in the days ahead, we will have more questions about those groups and what was achieved. michelle kosinski, thank you. >>> the human toll. the victims of isis in that region. there have been tens of thousands of kurdish residents in syria trying to get over the border into turkey. we have developments there overnight. cnn's arwa damon live on the border right now. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning. you can se

but they're here because of their parents' fear of isis. 10-year-old ibrahim explains simply "isis is now in our village, they attacked us and we came here," he says. "they destroyed everything. we have only our children now." as isis fighters advance through ethnic kurdish communities in northern syria their reputation for brutality triggered an exodus people fled carrying what they could tramping through the baking landscape to wait their turn at the border. in just a few days about 140,000 desperate, hungry refugees entered turkey. this in a country that is already sheltering around 1.5 million syrians from their country's civil war. the u.n. high commission for refugees says the burden is not being shared. >> we are doing as much as we can but obviously it's not enough. we are not getting enough support from the international community. >> reporter: these people say international efforts to destroy isis with air strikes have not halted the militants' advances so far. these are now people without hope. 55-year-old habash scoffs at the suggestion it could be otherwise. he says "you

it is up to kurdish forces to push isis out of the city. >> to liberate iraq from isis, they have to get rid of isis in the city of mosul. to do that, air strikes is not as effective as the rest of the country. anna, thanks. >>> police on high alert after isis targeting times square. commissioner bill bratton says isis is more dangerous than al qaeda because of the social media use to gather followers. he said militants are a plane ride away with the proper documentation. >> thousands of potential fighters there to exit that conflict at some point in time. including many canadians and british citizens and australian citizens. in excess of 100 u.s. citizens. the potential for them to come back and commit terrorist acts here are real. >> in addition to times square, the isis linked web site called for attacks on the las vegas strip. >>> and a rochester, new york store owner is in federal court to trying to recruit jihadists. mufid elfgeeh is expected to plead not guilty. he faces more than 60 years in prison if convicted. >>> this is interesting. australia confronting its own domestic

targeting isis command. peter ducey is live in washington with the breakdown. >> the islamic state says their capital is in the northern syrian town of raka where the first explosions were reported shortly after 8:30 eastern time last night with isis command and control centers, training camps and weapons depots all in the crosshairs of tomahawk missiles as well as ordnances dropped by predator drones, b-1 bombers, f-16 and f-18 fighters and for the first time ever in combat the f-22 raptor, stealth raptor. release from centcom in the last hour lists 14 targets damaged by the missiles. the united states is not alone in this air assault that lasted several hours. four arab partners also flew over searia, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, jordan and bahrain. fifth arab partner, qatar, contributed in some ways, just not with help in the air. we're told the decision to strike overnight was made early monday by a commander at centcom who is authorized to do so by the president. president owe baja has been r

many of the tweets denounce isis and highlight victories in the battle against isis. some images show debris from air strikes. some images show isis militants with stolen food. let's bring in our jake tapper, the host of "the lead." tell me about these tweets that abc reports showcase dead isis fighters? >> this is part of an interagency department called the center for strategic counterterrorism communications. it's basically intended to counter pro-jihadist propaganda with propaganda from the west, from the u.s. government. it's been going on for a while. the department was set up in 2010 under the obama administration. mainly it has focused on transmitting information in arabic. but in the last few months, it's been doing more things in english because there have been more isis fighters from the west. and you can find -- it's actually called "think again, turn away." it's basically aimed at mocking isis and pointing at the hypocrisy of their "islamic beliefs" by pointing out all the things about isis and similar groups that are horrific, that we report on all the t

isis and heorted supported isis against groups opposing him and established his own reign by using isis and others. so whoever was not against him was his friend because he thought that the enemy of his enemy was his friend. irrespective of who they were or what terrorist organization they were. >> what role should iran play in the battle against isis? >> a rant has not played the role they have been expected to play. we have discussed this with the arabians a number of times -- iranians a number of times. whenever we wanted to work with them, they shied away from it. and in syria, too, they were always part of the difficulties because their role was that of defending assad regime like rus sia did. that is the role they played. it's a fact we all saw. >> they supported the maliki government and supported syria. hezbollah came in and supported assad. the question is, are they opposed to isis? secretary kerry says we should look for ways that iran should be part and all nations should be part of an effort to stop isis. to the a what happened previously. taking the steps regarding the , we

and talking about, you know, those in charge of isis finances, isis propaganda, isis logistics, isis battlefield strategy. all of that is very, very clear. these are not just insurgents as isis' predecessor, aqi, al qaeda in iraq, was during the bad days of 2004, until the surge under bush and petraeus defeated them back in 2008. these are now people who operate in a much more organized fashion. certainly taking advantage of their ability to harness social media, so to put forward their propaganda, to perpetuate such violence and brutality that they terrify people on the ground. even if you try to peel away people on the ground from them, they are obviously threatened with beheading, execution, any number of brutal acts if they don't follow isis and isis' rules and regulations. so this is what's being -- what's confronting us as a civilization right now. and it is more than just putting down an insurgency. it is an army in the middle east, in the most vital part of that region. and it threatens, as i said, not just the region, but all of us. this is why the administration is seeking

that isis likes to put on. there are many number of things in which things could go in unexpectedly bad directions. >> after air strikes, is it clear that they have a next thing in mind that they might be able to do operationally? >> well, it's not clear. the president of the united states has said over and over and over again that absolutely we have troops technically inside iraq. at the end of the day, there are limited things that one can do from the air. the president seems to have set that and said we're going to keep bombing. we're going to keep eroding and degrading isis over time. nearly every other major commander from the former central commander, general maddis and others have said that's not a winning strategy. we're going to having attention inside washington, d.c. about how this war is conducted. and like afghanistan, you'll see that war litigated on the pages of "the new york times" and "washington post" and "wall street journal" despite what's going on over in syria on the ground. so i worry tha

isis heard us. isis did a preemptive strike against them, took about eight to nine villages, pushed tens of thousands out and were continuing to push out against turkey. >> in phase 2 here as we move forward, who do-wwr you see stepping up to take the lead in this fight in the region? >> first of all, in the region as a whole i'm still looking at egypt. egypt is very important, has the largest arab army which is trained by us. it has a significant air force. it has a tank force, ground force. most importantly a large special forces along with the jordanians that would be the spearhead of any ground operation. but i don't see yet arab forces with units on the ground. it may happen. that would be on the regional helpful. >> egypt is saying the right things. they say they want in and are encouraging the u.s. to expand the war beyond isis. >> yes, they are playing the role that we should have played by saying isis -- they allegedly are conducting an air raid with the u.a.e. against the jihadists in liby

ships at isis targets, the mission is clear -- to degrade and destroy isis. the attacks described as intense with the missiles, as well as fighter jets and bombers. the targets? we're told as many as 20, mostly in the isis stronghold of ragga. in the northern part of syria. this was not just the u.s. we did not go it alone. >> five arab nations joined the campaign. jordan, saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar and the united arab emirates. look at the video of a separate u.s. strike against a network of al qaeda terrorists, veterans, in syria. officials say they disrupted an imminent attack, that was being plotted against the u.s. and western interests. >> we're going to have complete coverage of this throughout the morning. let's get to the pentagon with correspondent barbara starr what do we know? >> the u.s. picked its targets very carefully. hitting what mattered to isis the most. >> overnight, u.s. and partner nations carried out 14 intense strikes against isis strongholds in raqqa, syria, and other northern cities. the attacks destroying or damaging multiple tar

but who is isis? they combine viciousness on the ground with a supremacy in social media. >> it's trying to create the largest caliphate it can. >> what do we know about the man wearing a wrist watch who says he is the leader of isis. >> he has been a shadowy presence for a long time. >> and how he is using a former catholic school student to spread propaganda. including the beheading videos around the world. >> why do you think this mosque keeps ending up attached to terrorism? >> isis controls a land the size of kansas. across iraq and syria. they are the richest terrorist organization on earth. this is like a digital network. almost like a tv station. we take you inside a terrorist turf war that has surprised al qaeda, the united states and ourle allies -- or did it? >> now, >> now from studio j at fox news headquarters here is greta van s sustern. >> what is isis and what do they want? for the past decade, oliver north and his war stories team have made 15 trips to iraq where isis is gaining groun

is isis afraid of? are they afraid of troops on the ground? >> isis is afraid that sunnis within syria and iraq had turn against them. i think you can see that in an event that just ham here in the last 24 hours. there was a major, what appears to any way be a suicide attack on the leaders of a major syrian rebel group. it doesn't have much in common with the united states but it is a major competitor with isis. they have already assassinated several leaders of the organization over the past year and it sure looks like someone is trying to get rid of any opposition that would present a challenge to them or would present any avenue for outside actors to try to gain a foot hold against isis. i think part of the problem is, in terms of social mead. we don't know what we should put this out. it was put out the other day for people in iraq and syria and it is trying to scare them by saying they're into we headings a and crucifixions and things like that. but people are rallied by this. they think this is gre

isis claimed it is isis' capital. there's been a lot of back and forth. a lot of syrian government bombings by the way on isis there. the u.s. would conduct air strikes in syria they said without the government's consent it would be considered an act of aggression. they have the capability with the air defense system to foot down suit fig u.s. fighter jets. if it were to happen the u.s. would destroy syria's air defenses. whether they gave consent about the air strikes is unclear. syrian deputy prime minister as i reported earlier it is in new york he's scheduled to speak on monday and followed by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in a footnote to all of this ainsley and heather israel shot down a fighter jet that strayed into israeli airspace in the northern part of israel apparently hitting rebel targets along the border rment we have reported extensively about the anti syrian government forces battling with the syrian government. it looks like this has nothing to do with the u.s. air strikes. but again if we hear anything from president assad i

war on isis as the u.s. begins air strikes in syria, the decision toc start airstrikes was made earlier todayçó bys7 centcom. they began two and a half hours ago as syrian activistsgjf syria, and the president, we expect, we'llúhíar from himjf eastern time, perhaps before hed leaves he will speak about this. but all of this;q0z really was i qe people in prime time and he gave a speech an=z he said, that he wasfáÑi willing to into syria.isedqpá he was willio form this coalition. the nato summit, but at that point, asxd they were leaving theñr nato sum summit, the administrationeiiu(q they want to be able to go into the unites nations generallpq as you well know, it has been very difficult to get very specific commitments, and even©t p ok the u.n. is going to state that they're going to transportation, the financing, of these foreign fighters, something the president talked weeks ago and he wanted to be that was the one country there wasqñr somejf burnback with some sources suggesting they weren't su

isis has been making progress. a few more miles each day. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: what you are seeing is tracer fire moving into that ridge line currently occupied by isis forces. and around me, the kurdish crowd is cheering. take a listen. >> incredible video there from our phil black. leapt's get the latest now from the turkey-syria border where is crisis is fueling a humanitarian crisis. so arwa, 150,000 refugees fleeing the town, but you also have civilian casualties because of the air strikes. at this point, the people that you have spoken to, are the air strikes helping or hurting at this point? >> reporter: well, there's a lot of conflicting emotions and thoughts when it comes to that. we're in the same position where the fighting was taking place yesterday, and as you can see, it is significantly quieter. we have been hearing aircraft high overhead, whether it's coalition or turkish, we can't tell. but the isis fighters do seem to have been pushed back. when you're talking about terrain like th

what kind of weapons does isis have? we heard so much about them gaining from the weaknesses of the iraqi forces. >> you're absolutely right. they have the typical ak-47s and explosives. isis is believed to be ex exceedingly wealthy. whether stealing oil and eletric, that along with as you mentioned the military posts that they have over run is believed to help build an arsenal of armored vehicles, rockets, missiles, mortars, machine guns and american made tanks. evidence of general guidance from a central organization and there is coordination that takes place and these beheld headings that we've seen and we northern iraq, it didn't take long for another group. there is coordination across the territory, although there seems to be different branchs for this organization where you have a town in syria that has the own military commander, who is probably in touch with the top leadership of the organization but probably also has a good amount of decision making ability with which battles he wants to launch on the local lev

now supporting isis. they have to have confidence that the central government in baghdad is going to reach out to them, represent their interests. >> and you have squads immeshed fighting alongside. >> and you're right. and this is the challenge, something big and dramatic has to happen by the new prime minister in his office, his cabinet to persuade the sunnis to come onboard. the u.s. can air attack all it wants but cannot win this war by that and furthermore, this is vital to understand, this is going to be a long campaign, but without boots on the ground and i don't necessarily mean u.s. boots on the ground, but without some kind of ground force, they can't keep progresses to various different stages. that's why setting up a new free syrian army or whatever has to happen quickly. it could be literally more than 12 months before it's fully formed and ready to go back in the fight. >> thanks very much. a lot more from christiane ahead. also, don't miss the interviews this week. the nation sits down with

by isis for the last several months. they need a sunni force. this is where the national guard might come into play. something that the leader has talked about. this is not something that will happen in the next several months this. is definitely a work in progress. >> and what if any have you heard about any reaction this late latest beheading and this other front they're playing with the executions? >> reporter: yeah, people are appalled, natalie. sadly it was only a matter of time before we would see this third beheading, obviously it is just the way that isis now operates. it's really come to define what they are all about. people describing them as, you know, the personification of evil and obviously we heard that from the british prime minister david cameron. these beheadings are part of their propaganda tools. they not only do this to instill fear and to provoke the west, provoke the united states, provoke britain, but they also do it to instill fear into the local populations. i mean, yes we obviously are focused

soil for isis to strike. however, he said that they need to be defeated where they are right now or they could become a problem. >> u.s. president noting that, saying the threat is not directly aimed at the u.s. homeland yet. but it could be very soon. mark preston, staying up late for us. we appreciate it. joining us there from washington, d.c. just past 2:20 now. we'll have much more on isis and the u.s. president's speech. the u.s. secretary of state makes the rounds in the middle east at this moment to build this coalition we've been discussing. we'll get you live to abu dhabi next to find out which states are likely to help. stay with us. ♪ ♪ it's time to bring it out in the open. it's time to drop your pants for underwareness, a cause to support the over 65 million people who may need depend underwear. show them they're not alone and show off a pair of depend. because wearing a different kind of underwear, is no big deal. join us. support the cause and get a free sample of depend at underwareness.co

and isis? we have bombs, but the question asked again and again here in washington through the think tanks, on capitol hill, what is the long-term strategy. how do you deal with some of the underlying issues, both in iraq as well as in syria, as it relates to isis, errol. >> joe johns is live for us in the u.s. capitol. thanks so much. it's just past 12:30. early in the morning there for you as well as we continue to follow developments in this breaking story. at this moment we want to cross to becky anderson who is watching all of this take place at the united arab emirates. becky? >> that's right. live in the gulf, in the uae, and the capital of abu dhabi. i want to show you a photo of what isis claims is damage from these air strikes. this is the first such photo that we have seen from raqqah. isis official radio tweeted this out, claiming it shows a communications tower damaged by the u.s. strikes. some speculation at least even their part as to whether it was a drone or a plane. we'll get

plans to deal with the isis threat. we're covering it live for you. >>> and a key question facing the united states, if the u.s. arms the so-called moderate rebels fighting isis in syria, what are the risks? want to change the world? create things that help people. design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy. be an engineer. solve problems the world needs solved. what are you waiting for? changing the world is part of the job description. join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here. ...and tkind of like you huffing sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung functio

isis, the terrorist group. that's run like a well-oiled business. >> the way isis documents its operations shows that it is different kind of terrorist organization. >> they are not just savvy. they are sophisticated and they learn. >> watching this latest propaganda video is akin to taking in a hollywood action movie. but the action here is all too real and the isis pr machine is constantly making sure the world is aware. the images of attacks and beheadings serving as beacons. >> it raises the profile of the organization and as a result brings more money to the organization and brings more members to the organization and brings more prestige to the organization. >> reporter: making the goal of all the publicity clear. isis wants to show its dominance and recruit. >> they are competing with other organizations and by documenting its actions it wants to show its superiority on the battlefield. >> reporter: besides videos, isis produces massive company reports. this is 410 ages all in arabic and all in an effort

until air strikes against isis positions in syria begin that's the core of isis. until the u.s. launches a campaign including supporting the ground forces existing in syria today that are fighting isis, we haven't begun the fight to degrade isis. >> how long does it take? does it take three years to destroy isis? >> it will take a long time. it will be a long campaign. the sooner that the u.s. starts by launching air strikes, the faster that we can all conclude this joint mission to destroy isis. >> bob, when you look at this, there are some folks out there who think even though we're hearing no u.s. combat boots on the ground, that ultimately that's what this will necessitate. many people say that's not going to happen. but do you think this mission would eventually lead to that? >> i think it will lead to it if isis strikes the united states, especially within our boarders or even american targets in europe. but what we're not looking at is very important is a unity government in baghdad. i've been talking to the sunnis almost every day, and they see the negotia

>> can i switch to the topic of isis and the foreign policy. there are two very hot foreign policy stories that are sort of popping at the same time. and this recent aghounsment, 350 more boots on the ground effectively to protect the u.s. embassy. you've seen these things play out before. is this a mission creep? is this truly an embassy that is in danger? this is the largest u.s. embassy in the world. 350 more soldiers. or is this a front for saying that's where they'll land and they will eventually be elsewhere. >> it's mission creep but it's understandable mission creep. you touch on a very important thing, and you understand this, legally, the president needs authority to act against isis. people assume the president can just send troops and, you know, bash any group, organization he wants. he can't. he has to have legal authority. right now, what they're construing the president's authority is coming from is that the united states needs to protect its citizens, its officials, consulates. and that's why it's okay to do this. he may need br

so all this is bringing the sense of isis -- the atrocities of isis to the forefront. many people here think that's really helped to gather momentum in favor of this motion. a poll has said that 57% are in favor of air strikes against isis in iraq. 24% against it. and when asked about syria, which is not a motion just to clarify that is on the table right now, 51% said were in favor, 26% against. so a complete turn around from what we saw last year. although there will be a backing of this motion, it will face many, many tough questions later on. about 3 1/2 hours i would say. >> and a six-hour debate. it's going to be quote a day there in london. thank you. >>> coming up next here on cnn, something she mentioned there, outrage over a series of gruesome killings is what put isis in the cross hairs of the west. but one of the coalition partners is known to use some of its own barbaric forms of punishment. what human rights groups are saying about saudi arabia. enhance your eye color for a naturally beautiful look with consistent comfort. find your perfect color and get

isis finance center. isis supply trucks and armored vehicles. sounds like a lot. how many more nights like last night are we going to have to have? >> as many as you can. ideally you take that out until there are no more left to hit. the problem is once you destroy the buildings then you go after the mobile targets and that's where your complicated targeting comes in. they're going to move them. we knew they were in raqqa. doubt if they're there today. moving them as we speak. to get them dispersed as far away. >> last night about syria. let's look at the complete air strikes so far. believe we have something of syria and what is happening in iraq. this is everything. this is, that we have here. syria and iraq. but the bgm-109, tomahawk, missile, f-22, raptor, the uss burke, and uss felipe sea, is that part of the iraq campaign as well? >> yeah, all these aircraft. not enough assets to cover everything. what centcom has to do is phase all of the assets in, come booned aboon -- combined operation air center. and work with coalitions. general mayville at the pentago

hamas is isis and isis is hamas. what they share in common, all militant islamists share in common. >> the prime minister went on to tell the united nations that the israel fight against hamas and isis with the u.s. are the same cause. >>> allowing nearly 10,000 american troops to remain in afghanistan beyond the end of the year. former president hamid karzai refused to sign it as a protest against u.s. air strikes that killed afghan civilians. under the plan, all u.s. troops would be out of the area by 2017. >>> the first clinton grand child is waking up in her new home this morning. charlotte clinton mezinsky. there you see them leaving the hospital. this baby will be busy over the next few days heading to iowa. the -- no, i'm kidding. she has a lot of aunts and uncles. she has 18 first cousins. we have a lot of young parents who watch early start. particularly at this hour. 4:00 a.m. eastern. if you are with a child or about to have one, hello this morning. >> charlotte clinton mezinsky. she never went to bed. >>

overall, i would say isis. having said that, i am very concerned about core al qaeda because they've been pushed out of the headlines and they're off the front pages and to get back in the game they may feel they have to carry out an attack and they're still capable. in arc digz to that, you have al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which have attempted several times to attack the united states including the christmas day bombing back in 2009, but overall, i would say isis and then i'd say al qaeda could even be more of an immediate threat because they may want to carry out an attack, but i think isis is more capable and al qaeda may do it and they may jump the gun, if you will, because they want to get back in the headlines. >> congressman peter king of new york thanks very much for joining us. >> wolf, thank you. >>> you were looking at live pictures and we show you the live pictures out of miami. we are standing by as a spokesman for the family of steven sotloff, the american murdered by isis terrorists about t

makes russians major contributors to isis ranks. even the military leader of isis in syria say russian officials goes by the name omar the chechen, who is believed to be a georgian national. it's the threat posed by isis and other groups that russia says is a main, if not primary reason for support of assad in syria. moscow has close ties with the regime and says western backing for anti-assad rebels created this crisis. >> some of our partners tend to differentiate the terrorists as bad and not so bad. and perhaps not so bad are those who contribute to destabilizing political regimes that are not allied to washington, for example, and that was the case with isis in syria, and that was a major reason, as we see it, of the emergence of the threat of such a scale. >> reporter: in the face of the threat, russia says it will cooperate to fight isis. but rules out supporting air strikes in syria without approval from its ally in damascus. what should be a common battle with the islamic state may once again divide russia and the west. mat

you will not convince isis. what is globally will have actual effects on the ground in terms of what these countries that are this now engaging in the escalation can and cannot achieve. >> it looks to me like the coalition has come with great reluctance. i think it will be difficult to engender the military support that they will need to defeat isis. that means people on the ground. we have been talking about training the moderate rebels, something of an oxymoron it seems to me. to go into syria. and they need a lot more of those and really defeat isis. in the interim, all we are going to see are attacks on targets of opportunity. far away from built up areas. we can confine them and identify them from the electronics and to the extent that they go underground, it will be more and more pressure on these coalitions to do something that's one reason and one thing they will contribute to this lasting a long time. >> we should note here as a matter of being on the record. we are talking in the moral standing. bahrai

other isis fighters move back in. there's no way to dislodge fighters without fighters going in on the ground following up the air strikes and depriving isis of territory. and that will take time to arrange and time to execute. this is not going to be a short fight accomplished by airpower. >> the u.s. is talking about it 12 to 18 months to vet and train some syrian rebels and some 5,000 syrian forces. also obviously the iraqi military has got to be taught how to fight or a new officer corps vetted. do you think they are stopping offensive capabilities by isis? >> to your point about nation's states ability to governor iraq's military being inadequate, i doubt we can build up the military in 12 to 18 months. to prevent violence in syria, iraq, or yemen, what we would focus on -- in syria, the agriculture minister reached out to the world noting economic and social fallout if the drought, the water crisis wasn't dealt with. u.n. reached out to us. red cross societies reached out and they said the worst drought in the m

once they turn on isis, isis' days are numbered. it's not going to happen without some sort of political accommodation to bring them on board whether that's increased federalism, you know, their own administrative state within a larger iraq, share of the oil revenue, perhaps their own armed forces and in terms of the national guard. but i think it's also going to require u.s. special forces to go in there and work with the tribes to make them truly effective once they stand up to fight isis. and this is the part of the strategy that's missing from what the president has said when he's boxed himself in to this no boots on the ground, no forces in contact, no forces in combat. >> here's the thing i don't understand. if i'm a sunni tribesman and i've seen what maliki did once the u.s. left, i've seen the money stop, i've seen the -- the, you know, i've seen sunnis in the iraqi military relegated to lower positions. i've seen incompetent generals buying their way in and then finally abandoning their troops. i've seen shia militias, deat

we know that isis holds about 20 hostages. we know that from former militants that have actually come back from syria. we don't know how many of them are british. we know there are a number of other european hostages and possibly women being held. but in terms of the rescue operation of what could happen, we're not sure yet. we know that britain said a rescue operation was attempted -- let me interrupt you for just a moment. we have prime minister cameron now speaking. >> -- in the name of islam. that is nonsense. islam is a religion of peace. they are not muslims, they are monsters. they make no see crest their desire to do as much harm not just in the middle east but to any countries or people who's seek to stand in their way or dare to stand for values that they disagree with. it was an isis fanatic who gunned down four people in a museum in brussels. so let me be clear, the british people need to know that this is a fanatical organization called isis that is not only murdered a british hostage, they have planned and contin

now it's isis in syria. isis's strength is now estimated at 20,000 fighters. this figure includes 2,000 european citizens. get this, several hundred american citizens recruited from poorly assimilated immigrant communities in the u.s. >> question, with nato new on board, does president obama have a coherent strategy for dealing with isis and if so, what is it, pat buchannan? >> it's coherent in iraq. it's not only coherent, it's working. isis has been defeated in four straight battles. the mosul dam has been retrieved. with air power, they can degrade and, i think, eventually defeat them. can the iraqi army recapture all of these armies and the real question is syria. now, the united states, i don't believe, has the authority to wage air strikes in syria. i think the president is going to come back. when you get right down to it, look at what's there. turkey has an army of 100,000 people. iraq has hundreds of thousands under arms. we have the ground troops who are not americans and using air power -- if you work with syria, i think you can degrade and defeat t

tonight, 4.5 million people live under isis control. u.s. secretary of state john kerry paid an unannounced visit to baghdad today. he met with the new unity government there. kerry announced that the united states will help fund a new iraqi national guard in the rdght against isis. that's the news from iraq tonight. with the rest of the world news, we'll go to bob schieffer back in new york. >> schieffer: thanks, scott. our homeland security correspondent bob orr met today with c.i.a. director john brennan at c.i.a. headquarters and as you'll hear, brennan painted a grim picture as he described the threat posed by isis. >> they have pillaged and raped and plundered and taken captive men, women, and children, and they have just mowed down tribes and families. they are evil incarnate. >> reporter: this is a terrorist organization with an army and heavy weapons and safe operating space. does that make it more dangerous than al qaeda was prior to 9/11? >> i think it certainly makes it more destabilizing to the region as a whole, and we know tha

meanwhile, isis says the bombs the u.s. vowed would roll back its terror campaign aren't doing a damn thing. >>> plus, the other big world story we're following, it looks like 1989 all over again. student protesters flooding hong kong streets now that beijing has shut down social media. is it only a matter of time before the chinese roll out the tanks? are we witnessing tiananmen 2? >>> the national leyland, it's been two weeks since anyone's seen 18-year-old hannah graham. now police say the man they think kidnapped the uva sophomore may be linked to the death of another virginia college student. did police just catch a serial killer? welcome to "the lead." we are monitoring two major stories breaking across the globe right now. first, a potentially explosive situation as riot police take on thousands of protesters in the street in hong kong. a semiautonomous state where democracy advocates ditched classes to protest the chinese's government to renege on a decades-old promise to allow free and fair elections in hong kong.

isis is exposed in syria and the reason why isis has a vulnerability in syria is because it is facing local resistance by syrian communities that are suffered under its controlled and because the free syrian army has launched a ground campaign against isis now. is a real window of opportunity for the united states to launch crippling air strikes against isis command and control and its leadership as these -- as this terrorist army faces local resistance by the syrian freedom fighter. >> general mcnearney. what do you say to people who say if we go in there and we bomb isis or you know try to take out isis we are then on the side of syrian president assad as well as iran? >> well, that may bey true. but the real facts are if you help the free syrian army destroy isis and to give them strength that they can go put more forces against bashir al assad's forces you have enabled the free syrian army which we know the right ones and we're going to enable them to be very successful. so people can say what -- that, but in reality of life, making the free syrian army stronger is the most import

-led coalition against isis. and you've rightly pointed out it's important to the states that the wider world get the sense that this is not just a u.s. effort, that this is an effort from the region. and when you talk to people here in the gulf at least, they say this is for all intents and purposes our responsibility. and having this being only a u.s. effort wouldn't be any fault of the u.s., which in many parts of this region isn't held in great esteem. but also important that the arab countries sort of step up at this point. amateur video in eastern syria claims to show several strikes from overnight. the u.s. military saying, as i've said, that saudi and the uae carried out seven of these 13 strikes. bahrain and zwror dan taking part in the first round of strikes, qatar, and i'll say it again, playing a supporting role. john? >> thank you, we appreciate that. becky anderson live for us there in abu dhabi. none of the original allies are taking part in this. is this a problem for the united states? we'll take

, to degrade isis, to destroy isis, whatever the goal is. do you think the president has lacked a clear coherent strategy in how to take on isis? >> i think it's time for us to put together a very serious package of international effort, u.s. engagement, including special forces, attacks, support to the peshmerga in the north, support to iraq in the south. if we do that, we present i.s. with a two-front war between the peshmerga and the iraqis in the south. we bomb them in syria. i think it's time to move out on all of that now. >> do you think the additional troops that have been put on the ground, even though they are said to not be troops on the ground, to not be combat forces, do you think they will be effective? do you think they'll sensingly become combat forces? >> i think that all troops in an area like this are potentially engaged in combat, let's be realistic. this force, however, is designed to protect embassy baghdad and also to get out and do advising, mentoring and training with the iraqi security forces. they won't be front li

-led coalition against isis. the prime minister there has recalled parliament and in the coming hours, law maker es are expected to approve air strikes. but no ground troops and operations will be limited to iraq. no involvement in syria. >> men while, u.s. and french fighter jets carried out the latest round of air strikes in iraq on thursday. and war planes from the u.s. and saudi arabia and the uae struck isis oil refineries in syria earlier. max foster is live with abu dhabi join us. what's the strategy here? >> they're trying to hit isis in the pocket that i know get so much financing, obviously, from their the oil efforts and they're using these mobile refineries to move around. they can dismantle refineries and move them around. the balance for the air strikes, and a lot of air strikes are being coordinated from here, actually. the majority of flights are coming from the uae and saudi arabia. the real balance there is to take out isis operations but not absolutely damage oil assets in that region. once isi

this was taken several months ago, i think. >> back in march when isis -- >> when isis first took over. so what is the situation now? is it any different? >> it's certainly different. after president obama gave his speech, after the air strikes began, we're told by activists who have visited there as recently as this week that many of the families, many of the women and children have left that central area of the city, some of the administrative offices have been abandoned by isis, some of their leadership we were told by an activist a matter of 48 hours ago have left the city and they're seeking safety because they really fear that they could be caught in the crossfire with all of these air strikes which are described as more powerful, of course, than what the syrian regime itself is doing. but at the same time, they're still there. they're still inside syria. they're still standing by this islamic state. >> isis has found a toe hold and we're seeing it play out in the hidden video. thanks so much. >>> now sounding the alarm for west africa and the world, the president asks for help o

there's going after isis in iraq and then later we would go after isis in syria. and i think we're coming to the realization that this is really one target set and we have to attack it simultaneously. so whereas i thought we were going to put off air strikes in syria to a later date i think we're going to see this sooner rather than later. because many of us believe this is all happening in syria. isis regards that they have some semblance of safety in syria. they regard that border as a hindrance for us. although they don't recognize that border, i'm assuming that pretty soon washington, london, and some of the other members of the coalition are going to say why should we recognize that border. so i think you're right, we may see an advancement of the timetable. >> you're talking about air strikes. everyone seems to be talking about air strikes. the president keeps saying that there will be no combat forces on the ground. but let me ask you to be very clear and help us because there are uniformed u.s. military personnel in iraq right now. they are on the ground.

those tribes are fighting isis. we've seen the free syrian army in the recent days go on the offensive against isis in the northern aleppo province. so this number is extremely fluid. the think about isis is, its worst enemy is the local populace. >> some of these isis mill tarl guys who have been recruited, iraqis, not only came from saddam hussein's military, others were in the post saddam hussein iraqi military, trained in part by the united states. but they were so irritated, so angry at the al malaki regime in baghdad that they flipped and went over to isis. let me play a little clip. another clip from secretary of state john kerry's interview. she asked him about the president's reference to yemen and somali, places where the president said the united states has had success fighting terror. >> isil is an animal unto itself. it is significantly such a threat because of the foreign fighters that are attracted to it, which you don't see in somalia. similarly in yemen. >> chris dicky, is that true that you don't s