♪ good morning everybody. mad dash here today, obviously. there's so much going on. we're just getting everything together for you. oh, my goodness, the things to talk about. and it's frightening this morning. i'm christi paul, by the way. >> i'm victor blackwell. this is a special edition of "new day saturday." we become viewers around the u.s. and 200 countries arnold the world. we're getting new information in. we're beginning in iraq and stunning new video of the first u.s. air strikes targetinging iceis fighters. >> for the first time on cnn here you're seeing the images from the u.s. military. these are f/a-18 fighter jets

honing in on an military unit. and saw there an explosion. >> yeah. those are 500-pound laser-guided bombs unleashed on the terror group that forced thousands of iraqis to run for their lives. later the u.s. targeted a mortar position and hit again when militants returned to the site. an isis convoy was also bombed. >> the attack happened near erbil, the capital of the kurdish region where hundreds ever stationed. west of erbil, u.s. military planes have dropped more food and water over mount sinjar. >> and these are the pack avenues being prepared for distribution to thousands of members of the yazidi minority who just ran to the top of that mountain. of course, they were under pressure by isis militants to convert to islam or die. >> now, we want to show you here the night vision video. those are pallets being hoisted over a cargo plane.

so far, the u.s. has dropped more than 36,000 meals and almost 7,000 gallons of water. >> this aerial view shows the bundles floweding to the ground. take a look at this. the british government says it will undertake it's own air drops as well. and the united nations is urgently preparing for what it calls a humanitarian corridor to get away from the violence. >> even in that area, isis has gained ground, do you believe it? they've captured a key asset of iraq's largest hydroelectric dam. u.s. officials say its failure would be catastrophic here because it would cause flooding from iraq's north all the way down to baghdad. >> u.s. warplanes patrolling northern iraq have a green light right now to go after these perceived isis threats, of course. >> a key official in erbil where the u.s. military has an operation there, said the u.s. air strikes are critical because isis fighters are outgunning

kurdish forces. chief international correspondent jim sciutto has the latest. hi, jim. >> reporter: with the looming massacre of minority yazidis and hundreds of americans now under threat, president barack obama did what many believed he least wanted to do, go back into iraq. >> earlier this week, one iraqi in the area cried to the world, there is no one coming to help. well, today, america is coming to help. >> reporter: still, the administration insists operations will be strictly limited. mission number one, protecting the yazidis. u.s. forces delivered food and water to strandia ze yazidis an have opened a border to iraqis in kurdistan. it offers all sunni muslims to convert or die.

>> its grotesque ice laid violence show all the warning signs. >> reporter: all the military adviser now stationed in erbil and baghdad. >> we intend to stay vigilant and take action if the terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in iraq. >> reporter: the more difficult question for the president is what then? he's receiptedly said iraqis must take on isis themselves. however as isis continues to advance with little challenge from eye iraqi forces both mr. obama and his advisers are offering as yet undefined american help. >> third is slightly broader but is related to our belief and commitment to supporting integrated iraqi security forces and kurdish security forces. >> reporter: some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing the president to do more. and right away. it takes an army to defeat an

army said senate intelligence chairwoman dianne feinstein, a democrat. and i believe we either confront isil now or be forced to deal with an even strong enemy in the future. administration officials insist there will be no mission creep. in addition to aid, what u.s. support would they provide to open a humanitarian corridor. to get them to safety. two, what happens if other groups including iraqi christians come under threat? will the u.s. rescue them as well. finally what type of military support will the u.s. offer to iraqi forces, not only to stop isis advances but to push back, to gain background. that's still an open question. christi and victor. >> jim sciutto, thank you very much. president obama speaking with "the new york times'" tom

freeman, said that iraqis missed the chance at that kind of cooperation. >> they squandered an opportunity. and i've been, i think, pretty clear, about the fact that had the shia majority seized the opportunity to reach out to the sunnis and the kurds in a more effective way passed legislation like de-baathification would have made a difference, the flip side if we can done exactly what we did and 10,000 troops there, that would not have prevented the problem. the difference is we would have had 10,000 troops in the middle of this chaos as opposed to have ago a much more limited number. >> with christians running for their lives in iraq, pope francis is sending a personal envoy there. cardinal filoni will travel to

iraq in the next few days for spiritual guidance. this is what he tweeted, quote, lord, we pray that you sustain those who have been deprievd of everything in iraq. #prayforpeace, end quote. officials say the american embassy in baghdad is open. employees there are operating with limited capabilities but warning that u.s. officials on the ground are at high risk for kidnapping and terrorist violence. >> as the swak becomes more dire, employees are evacuating from that egan. some companies are temporarily suspended drilling in iraq. you know what that means. they're saying that the escalating violence could force a hike in oil prices if production is disrupt >> we just talked about it. but there is apparently no one fleeing the new waive of violence quite like the hundreds

of thousand its of christian iraqis on the ground. >> yeah, ivan watson joins us from inside a christian church in kurdistan, where hundreds are taking shelters, sleeping in the pews or floors because there's nowhere else to go. >> reporter: hundreds of iraqi christians taking shelter in a place of worship. sleeping under the pews of st. joseph's church. these frightened people have come here because there's simply no place else to go. they're part of a wave of hundreds of thousands of iraqis who fled their homes to escape islamic militants. people are running for their lives, and according to the patriarch of the chaldean christian community of iraq among the exodus, hundreds of christians who tell us they've been given a choice by militants of the islamic states of iraq

and syria, either convert to their brand of violent, harsh islam or face the sword. the kurdish leadership is strugglinging to deal with this wave of humanity. the governor of erbil, a muslim, working with a christian priest to provide aid to these homeless families. the archbishop says issue rack's ancient christian community is basically being cleansed from its homeland. >> because they are making any kind of connection with the land now. they've killed the history. they've killed the future also. >> reporter: the exodus includes the other minorities from the religious and ethic mosaic of northern iraq including yazidis, kurds sherk ka minute and iraq. they may try to attack erbil a city that has become a fragile

safe haven. is erbil in danger? >> of course, because erbil protects them. it's very important to attack them. >> reporter: the kurdish leadership said it's grateful that u.s. air trikes are now helping to protect erbil but these desperate iraqi citizens just don't know what to do? >> what we do? what we do now? we won't submission to this. >> we want to be like other people in other countries. the usa government said in 2003, we came to the iraqi people to be free. that's the free? that's the freedom? impossible that's the freedom. >> reporter: all these people suddenly homeless. looking to a higher power for some kind of help.

ivan watson, cnn, in iraqi kurdistan. >> you know, early on, there were some, not everyone, but there were some who saw isis as this haphazard, ragtag group that really doesn't seem to be organized but that obviously has changed at least to get the u.s. involved. >> oh, sure. so who are they? where are they going to get their money? what is it going to take to beat them? >> speaking for the first time since her husband's bond was denied, lianna harris is talking about her attorneys and the plans and when she still stands behind her husband after their son in that sweltering suv. well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin.

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14 minutes past the hour right now. the u.s. has launched two rounds of air strikes against isis fighters in iraq and has the green light to conduct more. >> yeah, the pentagon says it used f/a-18 fighters to drop 500-pound bombs on the targets. let's look at the jets. >> this is the f/a-18 superhornet. it can go mach 1.8, has aerial

refueling capability. and includes laser-guided bombs as well. >> let's talk more about the u.s. military strategy in iraq. we're joined by andrew tabler, he's a senior former for the washington institute for near east policy. and also the author of "in the lion's den." >> we're also joined by director peter newman. he's the director at king's college in london. gentlemen, so great to have both of you with us. thank you. we know that u.s. officials say they've been able to hit isis military units and convoys advancing on erbil this morning. peter, to you first. are air strikes going to be enough to combat isis from going any farther? >> i think that very important in containing the threat, over the past months, isis, rather than being pushed back has actually advanced. it's actually gained more

ground. so it's really, really important that they're being contained. the second step is to really increase the capability of the people that are fighting against isis. the kurds, the iraqi government, the jordanians seculars in syria. and the third would be to bring about that allows for it. >> andrew, the kurdish fighters has been able to, for most of this conflict, have been able to hold on this large hydroelectric dam, the largest iraq. but now isis fighters have control of it north of mosul. some experts believe it could be used as a weapon to flood mosul. it's used to power the city nearby. do you think that's a tactic isis is likely to use? >> it's possible. and remember, that this is not the only dam that isis holds. isis also holds the largest dam

in syria on the euphrates. what makes isis unusual, not just the speed of its advance, but it's ability to take and hold territory until now. we'll see how u.s. air strikes affect that calculation. but my suspicion is that they won't be enough, it will take a lot more to get rid of isis which has carved out this securable safe haven between the tigris and euphrates rivers. >> president obama sat down with "the new york times," gentlemen, yesterday, let's listen to something he said about the iraqi government. >> they squandered an opportunity. and i've been, i, pretty clear about the fact that had the see ya majority seized the opportunity to reach out to the sunnis and the kurds in a more effective way passed legislation like de-baathification, that that would have made a

difference, i don't think that can be disputed. the flip side of it is, if they had done exactly what they did, and we had 10,000 troops there, that would not have prevented the kinds of problems we see anyway. the difference is we would have 10,000 troops in the middle of this chaos as opposed to having a much more limited number. >> andrew, do you think the u.s. overstilted the capability of the iraqi government? >> absolutely. i think, unfortunately, in this case, we overestimated not just the ability of maliki to be more inclusi inclusive, to answer very quickly is, our disenfranchised sunnis in iraq they don't feel represented. with the more sectarian policies and with more influence, that helped isis come to power. >> you know, peter, the president also said on thursday night that this is the iraqis' fight. that the way this will be controlled eventually is that

the iraqi forces must become stronger. the u.s. obviously has committed time, blood, treasure, to training and supporting and arming iraqi forces. moving forward, what more can the u.s. do, essentially? what does that commitment look like? >> sir, the commitment now in the first instance consists of advisers for special forces that are helping the parts of the iraqi army that are equal and capable of fighting to do so. in the longer term, however, it's really important that there is a political solution on top of the military solution. the iraqi government clearly has to change course. it has to become more inclusive. one of the reasons isis is so successful because they have the sunni tribes supporting them. it's only when the sunni tribes are starting to support the iraqi government again that you can finally see isis being dislodged from the whole country. that has to be brought about by

the political solution on top of the military solution. >> how is fighting isis -- i think people have a good idea who al qaeda is. isis is still somewhat of an unknown. hope us understand how it's different to fight isis as oppose toed fighting al qaeda as we've done in the past. peter? >> so, al qaeda always wants to overthrow governments. in syria, they're still trying to overthrow governments. isis has a different strategy. they don't care so much about the syrian government or iraqi government. they want to basically start their own state in a very small place and them expand from there. and because they are starting their own state, they can seize all the military quilt and all the fighters in the territories they hold. and they are fighting like a conventional army, not like terrorists like al qaeda. that makes them so dangerous, because step-by-step, they're becoming bigger and bigger. and every little piece of territory that they seize, they're getting money. they're getting troops, and they're gaining a base.

>> andrew tabler and peter neuman, we appreciate your insight this morning, gentlemen, thanks for being with us. we're going to continue this conversation for several hours today. stick with us here today. there's so much more to ask and so many more answers to get. but also another story that i know so many people are honed in on leanna harris' son cooper, he died trapped in a hot car. her husband justin is charged in his death. since is then investigators unveiled shocking allegations of cheating and grim internet searches. >> so does leanna harris still stand behind her husband? well, her attorney, the only network that he's speaking with is cnn. and the landmark ruling against the ncaa. we'll have that coming up as well.

tropical storm iselle is moving farther away from hawaii, but it's already done some major damage. >> take a look at the cleanup here. the that's the east side of the big island that you're looking at. iselle brought winds of 60 miles an hour when it made landfall. this could have gotten worse here. look at the wanna cue river. it's swelling. >> the mother of the georgia toddler who died after being left in a hot suv for hours says

she is also a victim. in a statement lianeanna harris writes the rush to judgment by the public in the mainstream media has left me with little confidence in the legal system and our society. police say harris was behaving strangely in the days and moments after the death of the death of her son cooper. she has not been charged with anything, but her husband has been just have been placed with murder and they say he left his car strapped in the car for seven hours while they went back to work in june. justin harris has pleaded not guilty. but leanna harris' attorney told me his client is afraid. listen. >> why not come out and tell the truth now? >> because she's not only dealing with the loss of her child, her husband, her life and grieving and trying to get her life back in order, she's also

concerned that the district attorney's office may try to level the charges against her. >> and this conversation went on for some time. we're going to have more on this story throughout the morning, so stay with us. all right. a landmark ruling friday could mean top-tier college basketball and football players are going to start getting paid. >> yeah, this could be a real game-changer. u.s. district court judge claudia wilkins ruled against the ncaa, the governing body for collegiate sports. >> in a 99-page ruling judge wilkins writes that the ncaa violated antitrust laws by forcing its schools to not pay athletes even though those athletes' likeness or images were used to generate revenues. plus she ruled that the ncaa cannot stop players from the rights. >> but also judge wilkins said that the ncaa could sate cap on the money paid to athletes as long as it allows $5,000 per

athlete per year. we'll see where that goes. the u.s. conducts another round of air strikes in iraq. there's new video to show you this morning. this is some of it of those strikes. and the specific targets the airmen went after. plus -- >> charles manson was born evil. >> the dark history of charles manson and the look into a an even darker mind.

well, a hearty good morning to you at 5:30 in the eastern. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell.