so many times with these news stories we get distracted by the pictures of people doing the wrong things, the protests, by semantics, semiautomatic weapons. what really matters is we have a police officer and a family of . what matters is we have a police officer and a family of a dead teenager both fighting for justice. that's the focus. thanks for watching. see you back here tomorrow night live from ferguson, missouri. i'm don lemon. make sure you stay for the latest. rosemary church live right now. >> we appreciate that. well, hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. back live to ferguson, mo mornings one of the many stories we're tracking for you. today we've noticed that protests so far have remained calm there in ferguson. >> but first the gruesome beheading of an american journalist. we are learning new information about a failed mission to try to

rescue james foley from isis. the pentagon has revealed that u.s. commandos attempted a rescue mission inside syria this summer to free u.s. citizens held by isis militants. >> that's right and one u.s. official tells cnn the kidnapped journalist james foley was among those to be freed but the mission failed because the captives were not at the location indicated by intelligence. >> now, this revelation comes a day after news that isis beheaded foley as a warning to the u.s. to stop its air strikes against isis fighters in iraq. barbara starr has details on the mission. >> reporter: one of the most dangerous missions u.s. commandos have undertaken in years by any measure. it was earlier this summer. it was several dozen of the most elite commandos from groups like s.e.a.l. team 6 and delta force, they went into syria by helicopter. they were protected overhead by fighter jets and surveillance

aircraft. right into what by any measure is enemy territory. >> now, u.s. president barack obama says foley's murder shocks the conscience of the entire world and isis has no place in the 21st century and said the sunni extremists have killed thousands for no other reason than they practice a different religion. >> no just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. isil has no ideology of any value to human beings. their ideology is bankrupt. >> revealed that foley's captives sent an e-mail a week earlier saying he would be executed. his parents spoke with reporters wednesday about their son's brutal murder nearly two years after he was kidnapped in syria. >> we're very proud of jim. you know, he was a courageous,

fearless journalist, very compassionate american. i mean the best of america. >> now, the u.s. says it meant to keep the mission secret but went public because the media were about to report this anyway. for more on all of this we'll bring in cnn security analyst and former cia officer robert baer joins us via webcam from irvine, california. you've -- welcome. you've participated in operations like this. how difficult would it have been to gather enough intelligence to go in and try and rescue hostages and this took place in syria? >> this -- i can't emphasize enough how risky this was. the syrians have missiles, the same one that took down the may lay airplane and still have their radar up and they're battle trained at this point. the problem is for this group

that went in is they were basing intelligence almost certainly on intercepts. they are unreliable. they had been moving the hostages around. this could not have been an easy mission and i think it's lucky that the teams got out with no loss of life. >> but what's the right move for the u.s. now? we've seen this brazen public beheading and threat that other hostages would be killed. obviously isis wants to draw the u.s. in even more. that would help it recruit more. so how does this change the calculation now? >> well, i don't think it's going to get any better. i mean i think it's going to get a lot worse, in fact. i know that special operations command is sending more soldiers into iraq for more missions like this as we speak. they're getting ready to move. and isis also wants a confrontation with the united states. they consider it a legitimizing

conflict that will keep them in power and, pandz their influence and more than that recruits. they want recruits from europe and from all over the middle east. they think they can beat the united states at this so they welcome a conflict when you have both sides ready to go in and fight it out, you know, goits to the go et worse. >> it seems as though despite the usair strikes which helped the kurdish forces in the north regain the mosul dam and push isis off slightly, what you said is true. they still have this amazing ability to recruit to grow to expand and in that horrific video of the beheading, you know, the stagecraft of that was also purposeful having a man that appeared to have a british accent speaking on behalf of isis. i guess as a way of underscoring they have these recruits. what's significant about that to you? >> well, they're particularly radical.

i spent time in britain working for tv and talking to these people and they are uncompromising south asian communities and more than willing to head to syria and iraq and they're particularly violent and they are ready to take on the united states. i mean, these people are not going to give up. this is not going to be a battle where we can go in with a few air strikes and get it over. and the big question i have living in the united states does isis have the ability to hit inside american borders? sources in washington tell me they're here. they don't know how capable they are. but i think that the united states, i know it's prepared for some sort of attack inside the borders. >> but what you're saying right there, you wouldn't be surprised if one took place, they certainly have the will to do it. the question is do they have the capability. bob baer our security analyst from california, thanks very much. we will bring you more of the life of james foley later this hour including a look back at the american journalist's really

incredible career. what drove him to cover stories in some of the world's most dangerous places. we've seen another night of protests in ferguson, missouri, but the big point to make these protests much smaller, much calmer than we've seen not just last night but certainly even the nights before. >> yeah, that is what we're seeing and storms rolled through just a few hours ago. >> now we're looking at live pictures there from downtown ferguson on floristant avenue where there only appear to be a few dozen people. reporters saying police may be out in force but there were more community leaders trying to keep the peace and there were possibly more media than protesters yesterday that could possibly even be true tonight. but no clashes, no scuffles that

are visible again just those small crowds that you see there. >> yeah, there was just that one time where two protesters had actually were there for the officer wilson but they were quickly led away before there was any trouble. >> good to nolte that there are people in this community that as this legal case gets under way are still supporting the police officer darren wilson because beyond what eyewitnesses are saying, there are two different accounts when the unarmed teen was shot, one he was defenseless and walk ago way or at least not charging at the officer, the other account is that he was and reached for the gun so we'll certainly keep our eyes on ferguson right now, indeed. >> let's go to our stephanie elam. she is standing by in ferguson, missouri, on the streets, of course, as we've been reporting there, steph, much quieter. talk to us about that and, of course, what influence u.s. attorney general eric holder had

in arriveing there in ferguson. he got to talk to a lot of people. was that a calling effect? >> reporter: from what i can tell, it was. >> all right. we clearly are having a few problems there. we'll try to fix that communication with our steph elam there walking alongside those protesters as we were telling you much quieter this evening, the weather has played a little bit of a role there but seeing very much the community leaders really taking, you know, they're standing in front there. they were standing between as we saw this time yesterday, they're standing between the police and between the protesters, they want to see this be about michael brown and him receiving justice. so, you know, as we look at these pictures now, you can see there's just a few people on the streets for the most part, the protesters have wanted to stay out there in the daylight hours and most of them have gone home.

there are still those protesters who want to get out on the streets and we will have -- all right. we've got stephanie now and re-established communication with her. steph, we were talking about eric holder's visit there to ferguson. he got to talk, even hug captain ron johnson and got around to meet a lot of people there and talking about the calming influence that is having on ferguson. >> right, and i've heard some people here in the town saying that they welcomed the attorney general coming to this small town to make it known that he hears them and that he's going to do a professional job of taking a look at this case and as you come back out here right now you can see that there's still a lot of people out there. we actually had a building of maybe about an hour ago for the group that was here, there was another group that joined in people wearing shirts that say amnesty international. there are also people wearing shirts from the clergy. they're just saying we're out here to help to keep people

moving and out of the street and keep things clear and moving so that there isn't any sort of instigation. you can tell that it is -- it's cleared out. that police have lined up in the middle right here and they keep telling people to keep moving as they are standing out here right now. but it's definitely a different tone. we're seen a lot of people out here marching today n. fact, we were with a group as we marched from where we were on florissant. >> all right, stephanie elam reporting from the streets of ferguson in missouri, many thanks to you. and we will, of course, have much more from ferguson later this hour. cnn's don lemon goes out into the street with missouri state highway patrol ron johnson. >> do you think it would be better -- you don't think the police get out and mingle with you. >> no. the only time they get up is when they go to lock us up. that's the only time.

>> see more of what don and captain johnson found coming up in about ten minutes from now. but first here on cnn, rockets are flying from gaza and israel's launching air strikes once again. we'll bring you the latest on a new roo round of fighting in the middle east. stay with us. you love this game. but does the game love you? ♪ who cares? look where you get to stay! booking.com booking.yeah!

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if you shoot, you will get attacked. a warning to hamas from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> they launched air strikes on at least 80 suspected military sites in gaza since the latest cease-fire ended back on tuesday. the health ministry says this strike killed the wife and infant son of the head of the armed wing of hamas. >> mr. netanyahu says the air strikes are in response to rockets fired into israel from gaza and they will not stop until israel's people are safe and secure. listen. >> translator: operation protect sieve edge is not finished. not for a minute. we are talking about a continued campaign. >> the united nations security council says it is gravely concerned now by the renewed

fighting. it's urging both sides to resume negotiations toward a lasting peace. but as fred pleitgen reports that doesn't seem likely any time soon. >> reporter: after about a week of calm, explosions rocked gaza once again. as hostilities between israel and hamas are back in full swing. rocket barrages lifting off towards israel and the israeli military hitting back hard with both air strikes and artillery. israel blames hamas for the violence. >> it was a direct and grave violation of the cease-fire. there was no excuse for it. there was no previous provocation. out of the blue. >> reporter: hamas for its part points the finger at israel and says this particular strike caused a major escalation. the group says israel attempted to assassinate the head of its military wing the qassam's

brigade's mohammed deif who is rarely seen except in old photos like that which purports to show im. hamas says daeif survived but hs wife and child did not. "i want to tell mohammed deif that he's our leader and we're all behind him" his mother-in-law said at the procession. the building they were in was flattened. you can see heavy ordnance was used and any sort of personal amongings we see have been totally mangled. they're still looking for bodies that might potentially be under the rubble here but it's unclear if anything could be found. the israeli military has not confirmed targeting deif but politicians say they consider striking him justified. israel said it's renewed operations are aimed at taking

out rocket infrastructure to prevent militants from firing at its territory. both sides it seems are entrenched and back on a war footing leaving very little hope for a cease-fire in the near term. fred pleitgen, cnn, gaza. >> just sounds like more of the same. >> it is. >> unfortunately. we will get back to ferguson, missouri next here on cnn. >> yeah, the missouri state patrol captain charged with keeping the peace there is using handshake diplomacy to achieve that. and don lemon rides along with captain ron johnson. that is ahead. unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second.

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our don lemon took out the offer and it was captain ron johnson of the highway patrol. here's what happened when they talked with some of the city's frustrated residents. >> this is what we've -- we should have been doing the whole time and this is what this community is saying. if we're going to have this, i'm sure communities around the country just police were coming out and speaking with us. >> i just want to holler at you. >> i'm glad you did. >> all right. >> it feels good just to walk and be relaxed in the neighborhood. >> and be safe. i've been in the neighborhood forever. first time i feel safe. >> new day's a coming. >> yes. >> all right. >> thank you. >> ki get my picture taken with you. >> yes, how are you doing, man? nice to meet you.

>> what's going on. >> are you doing all right? >> you don't think the police get out and mingle with you. >> no, they don't. >> only time they do is when they lock us up. other than that -- >> they get out and ask you your name. >> i'm going to tell you like this, me and him standing in front of my house about a month ago, standing in front of my house, i seen the police go past the street, run past my house, i knew he was going to come back. he came back two minutes later saying was we part of a some type -- >> was we smoking mar juan in. >> no, i just stepped out of the house. he just pulled us over. we three block as way from where he was talking about. >> you don't feel like they're part of the community. >> no, i don't. >> do you think the relationship would be better if -- >> only thing they do is take us in, get us off the streets no matter what your purpose is -- >> the thing is, i know y'all probably heard from some how you approach somebody, that's how they approach us back. hole on, man, why you grabbing on me and stuff like that. can you explain to me what i did

first? what was the reason for you even messing with me in the first place. >> yep, yep. >> if i'm on the sidewalk cow have said why you walking on the sidewalk, whatever the reason he is he could have got out and approached me like a man instead of cursing. why we got to be this or that. why can't we be, young man, let me talk to you for a second. if you jumping out with me when i feel like animosity and stuff like that well i feel like i'll make you do your job then today. >> reporter: so it's how somebody approaches you. >> yeah like we already committed a crime. like you caught me selling dope or something like that. you ain't -- you just pull immediate over. i pulled you over because your pants, can you pull them up? i can pull them up, officer, no problem. pull them up. pull your pants off. get off -- man, look, now what. >> i have to ask you, you got to meet with the attorney general today. >> yes. what was that like?

>> it was -- it was an honor but it was touching. >> reporter: what did you talk about. >> i reached out to shake his hand. that's the top law enforcement officer in this nation and he put out both of his hands and he just hugged me and he said, this is what policing is about. this is what policing has to do. and what a great statement. >> reporter: did you talk about anything? did he tell you about what he wants to happen in this community? what can you share with us. >> he said what we're seeing now community policing and getting out and being a part of the community to me that's what he said is what's needed. >> so he talked to you about community policing, not about the case at all. >> no, he just said, he hugged me and he said this is what policing should be. so what you're doing, what

you're showing the people is what policing should do. that's all we talked about. it probably lasted two or three minutes and then he was meeting with community leaders there and talking with them. >> the family wasn't there yet. >> no. >> no. do you think it'll make a difference that he came here. >> i think so. i think so. i think it shows that the white house, you know, our government at the highest level has heard the voices of the people that are here and so it is kind of like the theory about the highest hill in the lowest valley, you know, the white house would consider that the highest hill, you know, our community sometimes are the valleys and so when our voices can be heard there and then i think those protesters out here, those peaceful protesters out here could understand that. >> the other thing is, the st. ann officer pointing his gun at the purpose and using the foul language, the video is out there now. what do you want to say about that?

>> that was inappropriate. it will not be tolerated. his department has been informed of that and they have instructed he will not be assigned to this detail for any additional further days. >> reporter: what did you think when you heard about it, when you saw the video? >> i was upset. disappointed. angered. and that is not -- i thought it was disrespectful to every officer that's out here who's been out here since sunday. >> cnn's don lemon there with captain ron johnson and he really has been standing out as an incredible hero as a community leader there and you can see there that people really appreciating he's reaching out to the citizens of ferguson. >> this is all we're really

asking-for-the police who are here on a regular basis to approach us like people not as suspects, to talk to us on an equal level not as if the cops are more dominant and they say that would be the first step to ease this tension and it's not just in ferguson, missouri, this is the kind of thing you hear in many major american cities and suburbs, as well and why the michael brown shooting and protests have touched such a nerve. that sentiment is really felt by americans in many places. >> no what we're seeing on the streets of ferguson, it's quieter, the peaceful marchers are getting their message across. all of that noise that defused the message -- >> the distractions. >> the agitators are gone for the most part and the message is out there. justice for michael brown. >> yeah and we'll certainly wait to see as those multiple the investigations unfold. >> and we are going to turn back to our top story when cnn special coverage continues. >> yeah, we'll show you why the

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to those watching in the u.s. and around the world thanks for staying with us. you are watching cnn's special coverage. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. live pictures from ferguson, missouri, protesters still marching demanding justice for the fatal police shooting of michael brown, but as you can see tonight, the protests are much smaller. they are calmer than previous nights. >> there was a bit of a storm rolling through earlier that may have kept a few away tonight and others may have gotten weary of

those nightly confrontations we've within witnessing. police say the protests have been infiltrated by a violent element. doesn't seem that way tonight and was peaceful for the most time tonight so we'll continue to follow the situation here in ferguson but at this moment we'll turn to another major story we're following for you right now. u.s. commandos tried to rescue american citizens held by isis militants inside syria earlier this summer. but the pentagon says the mission failed because the captives weren't at the target location. >> yeah, one u.s. official tells cnn that kidnapped journalist james foley was among those to be freed. the mission involved dozens of elite forces, one of which was wounded while several isis fighters were killed. >> the revelation comes just after isis beheaded foley as a warning to the u.s. to stop its air strikes against isis fighters in iraq.

>> well, u.s. president barack obama spoke to james foley's parents offering his condolences. diane and john foley asked their son why he continued to reporting from conflict zones and say jim was motivated to do what he thought was the right thing. >> he was a courageous, fearless journalist, very compassionate american. i mean, the best of america. and he always hoped that this -- he would come home, that was his hope and he sustained all the others who were with him with that hope. >> before coming home he wanted to support his fellow inmates. he was always the first guy in line, the one who would take the bullet first, the one who would speak to the guards about inequities in food. he was never a slacker. he was always the standard-bearer, the stand-up

guy. >> so many people were praying for jim and i really think that's what gave jim an unusual courage, jim just could feel the prayers, he was strong, courageous, loving to the end, i mean, we just recognize our little boy highly. he was just a hero. you know. >> you know from the videos his last words were, i wish i had more time. to see my family. >> so jim had a big heart and just -- i just, you know, we -- that's what we shared with president obama, you know, we just pray that jim's death can bring our country together in a stronger way and with the values that jim hold dear -- >> held dear. >> jim would never want us to hate or be bitter.

>> such a powerful statement there by jim's family who obviously are going through an understandably emotional time and the horror of jim's death could easily overshadow the reason he was in syria in the first place. many of his friends online say remember him for how he lived and what he did, not for the horrible way he was killed, so the work that was so important to him and that so few are willing to do we show you here. >> reporter: james foley knew the dangers of being a war correspondent. he spent time embedded with u.s. troops in iraq and afghanistan and reported from the front lines in libya and syria. he shot this video of rebel fighters in syria used in a 2012 cnn report risking his life to cover the story. capturing the often gruesome cost of the country's bloody civil war. >> he always conveyed to me that he wanted to be right there in

the field at any risk even if it's the ultimate risk of death to cover a story firsthand and that was very important to him. >> reporter: in 2011 while reporting in libya foley and several other journalists came under fire. one of his friends south african photographer anton hammeril was hit and lay dieing. >> he said, help, i said, are you okay? he said, no. and more bullets came in and i said -- i called out to him again and i was -- there was no response. it's unreal. you know, why, why him and not me. i was maybe 20 meters away from him. a and, you know, he a family, three kids, beloved photographer for many years in johannesburg and he wanted to do a two-week story on the battle of brega. >> reporter: foley and several

others were kidnapped by gadhafi loyalists held in a cell and interrogated repeatedly for weeks. after 44 days foley and the others were finally released. later in an interview with cnn, foley says he left libya with the larger perspective on life. >> i have to understand the grace that has happened and, you know, there's a reason for me to be here, you know, there's a reason all these people reached out and what can i give? you know, what can i do from here on out? >> foley continued to cover conflict in the middle east. in 2012 he went to syria and spent weeks filming the flight of doctors in aleppo. >> what does she say. >> reporter: he helped raise money for an ambulance for their hospital. friends and colleagues say that kind of generosity was typical. >> he was more than just a journalist, you know, he really cared about his subjects and the stories he reported on. >> reporter: even in his death foley showed humanity amid the horror of war.

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live pictures for you of ferguson, mo mornings where things appear much calmer than we've seen over the past few day, not many protesters out on the streets there. but you can see police officials standing by just in case things do get out of hand. we are about 20 minute as way from midnight in ferguson, mo mornings we'll keep our eyes closely fix there had but it does appear to be a much more peaceful night. >> in other developments, a police officer from nearby st. ann, mo mornings has been suspended indefinitely after pointing an assault rifle at a ferguson protester and threatening to kill him. the incident happened shortly before midnight tuesday and was caught on video as you see. the officer cursed at the protester during the encounter.

other protesters mocked him before he was led away by another officer who told him to put that gun down. >> pretty stunning just to watch and see that. u.s. attorney general eric holder spent wednesday in and around ferguson talking with community leaders, student, residents and michael brown's family. holder says the federal government is doing its own investigation into the fatal shooting and is listening to what residents and protesters in ferguson are saying about all this unrest. >> the hope also is that through the trip that i'm making here today and stressing the importance of and the way in which this investigation is going that hopefully will have a calming influence on the area. if people know that a federal thorough investigation is being done. >> let's get live to our cnn producer steve castenbaum.

viewers will know you've been, you know, inside all of the unrest and things are much calmer tonight. do you think attorney general eric holder, his visit is really making a difference in calming the mood? >> i don't know if it was the attorney's visit here today. there are very few protesters still out here right now. just a few dozen at the most walking around continuing to walk around in circles here on the main drag through ferguson. earlier this evening as you saw we had some very heavy thunder and lightning storms rolling through here and that cleared a lot of people. a lot of folks left and as they continued to walk around in circles every time they would make a pass a few more people would drop out. it's tiring walking around nonstop hour after hour in the heat and humidity here. >> so, steve, considering all of that, you know, this really is all about mood and the emotions

of the police and residents, you know, we just saw don's report with captain johnson as he walked around and talked to local residents who said, you know this, comes down to just the police and the way they approach us, the way that we have conversations with them, the way that they question us. do you think that with all the events of the past week plus that this community is making progress in calming down the violent elements and getting to a place where a community level dialogue is now starting to diffuse tensions and get people moving in the right direction? >> the question is who is going to have that dialogue. one of the things all of us have been talking about here, cnn's crews, reporters, we've had a lot of experience covering protests all around the world and united states and we've been talking about this one and wondering why is this one so different? what's happening here that's causing such a violent atmosphere here and

confrontations between police and the protesters and there are two things that stand out. one of them is there are no people here who are organizing the protests. it's very much, you know, an odd hock sort of thing. people are doing this from the ground up and coming out so there aren't people, you know, organizing saying here's when we're going to protest, so there isn't that dialogue taking place between police and demonstration leaders, right. it's just ordinary people and folks who are coming here who want to protest. the other issue is there is isn't one police department handling the crowd control. it's multiple jurisdictions coming in and you wind up in a situation where, you know, police have different leadership in place and police from one department may do things differently than police from another department and standing side by side on the line together and taking commands from their own commanding officers and it's very difficult

to ascertain when things become difficult, when the confrontation as rise who's actually calling the shots among the police officers at the command level, so i think that's -- those two issues are making it a little bit more complicated here when you compare this to other large-scale demonstrations elsewhere in the past. >> and, you know, i'm interested to know what our international viewers think of what they've witnessed there this past week because today we've already seen the video of a police officer pointing his gun toward peaceful protesters saying, i will f'ing kill you and a few miles away from where you are, a black man who apparently had a knife was shot by police, the video has emerged. >> right. >> and it's striking because you wonder why less lethal force wasn't used first, something like perhaps a taser. has this really opened people's eyes in a way into what resident there is have been complaining about which is that the police

just use excessive force, they don't start the dialogue with us in the first place and that ruins everything and moves things in a more contentious direction. >> i think the fact that there are cam ration everywhere like you saw with that other shooting, it does open people's eyes and when you talk about that police officer who was here last night pointing the semiautomatic rifle at the crowd and using such offensive language and threatening to kill people, i was actually standing right there. my colleague stephanie elam pointed out to me today i'm in some of the youtube videos walking right by there as he's saying these things and i literally walked past the muzzle of his rifle and the guy was clearly, you know, scared. i mean he found himself surrounded by a lot of protesters. he's not from here. he was from a smaller department, maybe you can argue he shouldn't have been here because he's not dealing with crowd control on a daily basis. i don't know but i did speak to the sergeant who was later on some videos going over to that

policeman and telling him he needs to put his weapon down and he diffused the situation. so, you know, while one police officer is doing something abhorrent using language like that and threatening to kill individuals and using such horrible terms when describing them, other police officers are out here trying to do the right thing. >> it's a very good point there. i think that's why the protesters feel like it's unfair because a few violent elements in the protesting group meant that everyone suffered from the tear gas where we can see that the police officers, they're human too. there are a few bad apples, they get exhausted. some of them break their own standards but it does appear to be a double standard. steve, you hit it on the head this. has opened a lot of people's eyes to what happens in many parts of the united states. steve, live for us in ferguson, missouri and with so many media, you know, photographers watching this there is more scrutiny and people say we deal with this all the time. you're catching this now because

it's a major story and people have their cameras but this is what we've been talking about from the beginning? >> yeah. >> and this is -- so we've seen many cases but this is all sparked by one case, the shooting of michael brown and the fbi interviewing dozens of witnesses in ferguson and special agents look into whether police officer darren wilson violated michael brown's civil right. >> yeah, and that investigation is separate from the local criminal investigation. as randi kaye shows us, the accounts we're hearing about the shooting have some big differences. >> a confrontation at his police car then shots fired. for those who claim to know what happened to michael brown, that's about all they agree on. at least lee remember a scuffle. though an anonymous woman who did not witness the shooting but is a friend of the officer's says michael brown was the aggressor, which cnn has confirmed matches the account officer wilson gave authorities.

>> michael just rushes him and shoves him back into his car. punches him in the face and then grabs for his gun and michael grabs the gun. shoves it away and the gun goes off. >> also in dispute was brown shot from behind or was he charging officer wilson? it's still unclear. tiffany mitchell told cnn brown was on the run. >> as he runs the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him shooting and the kid -- body jerked as if he was hit from behind. >> reporter: this woman who took cell phone video of his body in the street told cnn that brown was shot from behind. >> while he was run ago way from the officer trying to get away he was getting shot at. >> reporter: dorian johnson who was with brown that day says brown spun around after being shot. >> he had his hands up beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to they will him to stop shooting but at that time

the officer was firing several more shots into my friend and he hit the ground and died. >> reporter: in a new interview with "the new york times," johnson's lawyer freeman bosley jr. said brown's hands were, quote, not that high. when npr asked him about brown charging the officer he explained it this way -- >> big mike did fall forward, okay, so people may be able to infer that the officer may have thought he was charging but big mike according to dorian did not charge the officer. he turned around, put his hands up. >> that's not how the anonymous radio caller describes it. she said he yelled for him to freeze and that's when brown turned around. he turned around before the officer started shooting. >> he started coming at him full speed and he just started shooting and he just kept coming and then so he finally ended up final shot was in the forehead. >> reporter: adding to the confusion yet another anonymous

witness who said he heard brown screaming at the officer, okay, okay, okay. with his hands up. that's when this witness says the officer fired six or seven shots into the teenager. then laid his gun on the ground. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> all right. well, we're going to take a very short break right now. but still to come on cnn, digging through the debris. >> residents and rescue teams in hiroshima, japan, work to find survivors after massive landslides. details in 60 seconds.

welcome back. news just in from thailand. the country's national assembly has now elected a new prime minister. >> yeah, he is general prayuth chan-ocha.

general chanochoa cha is a veteran of the thigh forces and only candidate for the position. well, the search and rescue effort is in full swing in japan after heavy rains triggered deadly landslides there. >> what we know is at least 39 people were killed in hiroshima on wednesday. police saying at least ten others still missing. the area reportedly received a record amount of rain within the last 24 hours. more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. let's get more on this now. this historic rainfall and horrific flooding. >> meteorologist petram is here with us. >> this region, we started the month talking about all these typhoons impacting japan and this is completely independent when it comes to typhoons making landfalls. >> as far as damage is concerned, ten people considered missing and the situation so bad

the prime minister of japan, shinzo abe cut his trip short to begin to deal with this and i want to show you the perspective as far as before and after the landslide. the building structures right here. look at the before perspective. look at the mudflow and debris that has taken over and gone down across this region and the before and after showing the massive damage and rainfall as historic as they come when it comes to whatmanned here. most rainfall in one day, most rainfall in one month and also the most rainfall in one hour in recorded history for hiroshima. all occurring here in the past 24 or so hours. take a look, 222 mill meeters in four hours about 8, 9 inches has come down, well above the august average and the stats again go to prove the significance of what has transpired here on wednesday afternoon with all the flooding that took place but i do want to touch on something else happening. a volcano across iceland that is

beginning to act up. we know there's a national park here. no permanent resident as loued. no public access now. nearly 4,000 quake, subglacial quakes occurred across here since saturday afternoon. 300 since midnight yesterday and we know a lot of signs showing some magma movements six miles below the surface and pretty good indicator eruption could be imminent and you take a look at the upper level wind forecast and you see the winds would carry out of iceland any ash flow would end up with an eruption over europe would play a very similar role to what we saw in 2010, rosie and errol which cost billions for the several flights halted across europe f this plays out it could be very, very similar. >> very much the same. people stranded and -- >> so you think it is about to blow? >> look at you going after the name. good for you. >> i wrote it down and got ready. >> well done. >> i didn't even try.

>> pedram, when are you going to say the name? >> you did yesterday. >> all right. thanks, pedram. >> you are watching cnn special coverage. i'm rosemary church is this and i'm errol barnett. stay with us. we will be back with more from ferguson, missouri, right after this short break. huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know words really can hurt you? what...? jesse don't go! jesse...no! i'm sorry daisy, but i'm a loner. and a loner gotta be alone. heee yawww! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. jesse?

hello, everyone. thanks for joining us for cnn's special coverage. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. a big welcome to those watching in the u.s. and all around the world.

now, we are following two developing stories right now. first in ferguson, missouri, live picture, the protests have been much smaller, much calmer and can't see any protesters to note mostly officers there. just hours now after america's top prosecutor visited this volatile city. we'll hear how the past week of violence his affecting the children and also details on the growing support for the officer who shot michael brown. >> plus shocking new details about a failed mission by u.s. commandos to rescue james foley. a closer look at the life of the american journalist and what the video of his death tells us about isis militants. and we'll actually begin with that story there. news from the pentagon because it's quite noteworthy. the pentagon revealing that u.s. commandos attempted a rescue mission inside syria this summer to free u.s. citizens held by isis militants. >> yeah,