girl friend for an intruder and panicked shooting her through a back of the door. the prosecutor says he intentionally shot her after an argument. we will have the latest on the verdict as it happens. >> great being with you tonight. that will do it. thanks for watching. >> good night. hello. and thanks for joining us for cnn's special coverage. >> great to have you with us. i'm john vause. >> i'm rosemary church. >> the strategy to defeat isis. >> our objective is clear. we will degrade and ultimately destroy isil there a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. >> president obama lays out a four-part plan to take down isis, the militant group terrorizing iraq and syria. >> ahead this hour as well, we will bring you global reaction and analysis on the speech as only cnn can.

correspondents weighing in live starting with anna coren in baghdad, then vicki anderson in abb abu dhabi. and matthew chance checks in from moscow where the u.s. may find some opposition to its isis strategy. but let's begin in washington. that's where president obama has announced that the u.s. will lead a broad coalition to ultimately destroy isis. >> his strategy includes expanded u.s. air strikes in iraq and also in syria. an assistant will flow to iraqi security forces as well as the syrian opposition. the coalition will move to cut off militants funding and to stop the flow of foreign fighters to the region and humanitarian aid will continue for civilians in harm's way, all with no american boots op the ground. >> we will conduct a systematic

campaign of air strike against these terrorists. working with the iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions so we're hitting isil targets as iraqi forces go on offense. moreover, i made it clear we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. that means i will not hesitate to take action against isil in syria as well as iraq. this is a core principle of my presidency. if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. cnn executive editor is live in washington. thanks, mark, for talking with us. the u.s. is a war-weary country, but still there's public support for going after isis. what do the polls tell us? >> well, rosemary, at this point, there is certainly concern in the united states that isis could move beyond

syria and iraq and in fact, they could come here to the united states. in fact, we've seen just polling in the last week that shows that 7 in 10 americans believe that isis is already here on the ground and that they are capable of launching strikes at any moment at anytime. president obama tonight delivering a speech not only to the american people but around the globe. by and large, he will receive support from the american people for these efforts. but as you said at the top, there will be no combat troops in iraq or in syria. and that is something the american people are veried a mabt about. they do not want to see that happen. >> that is critical, isn't it? and given the support that they raised in the polls and a number of polls have shown this, support for the american people for going after isis, what does that tell us is the likely outcome when it comes to congress? >> well, right now, i think it's simple to say that his speech tonight was received well by

republicans and democrats. there is some concern that he doesn't have a full enhanced strategy about how to deal with isis. there is a little bit of concern on the left that, in fact, president obama is getting the united states into a war. much like we saw what happened in iraq. they're open to the idea that the u.s. will up its military involvement in the area. however, they're very critical of president obama because they think that it shouldn't have come to this, that he should have addressed this at least a year ago. >> president obama really made it his aim here to end two wars and to get rid of osama bin laden. he achieved that. he certainly never imagined he would be in this situation, did he? announcing what in essence is a declaration of war with isis, although he didn't use those words. that's what we're dealing with

here. >> no doubt. he was very adamant about the fact that this would just not be the u.s. going at it along, it would be a coalition that would go in, of course, led by the united states. the question is how much will we see from our coalition partners. how much aid will they give? will they themselves put troops on the ground. that all remains to be seen. we have important meetings that will happen over the next couple of weeks. we will have secretary kerry overseas right now, meeting with allies, trying to build that coalition. but the fact is we will see more increased air strikes. we will see more money from the united states flowing into that area. what you will not see, though, is u.s. soldiers in there fighting in a combat role. >> indeed. that is critical. many thanks to you, as always. >> and mr. obama's strategy for isis is drawing a lot of reaction from analysts and politicians. here is a sample. >> 2/3 of the country was already onboard with this,

including a third who are supportive even of the notion of ground troops. so in wasn't a very high bar set this evening. i think whatever it was, he met it. >> he didn't speak to our allies and he didn't define the coalition. those are things that i know my constituents with fort campbell, a major military post in my district, that is something that they're wanting to hear and what they want to know. >> and a check for what our u.s. viewers thought. we conducteds instant polling while mr. obama was speaking. >> overall people who liked the speech who were involved in this. you look at gender here, the split, men and women, by and large, women liked it a little bit more than men. but look at this, kwloin get to par -- when you get to party, that's where you see the differences. democrats liked it at every moment more than republicans and

independently. and more importantly, the independents tracked very closely with the republicans. trust me, a lot of politicians in this town are watching that closely. let's look at a couple of points that are really worth noting here. this is the highest jor yawl point in the entire speech where most people in all groups liked him the most. and what was he talking about there? defining the problem. listen. isil is a terrorist organizations, pure and simple. it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its wake. in a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. >> one of the lowest point came here. people were not very happy, particularly the independents and the republicans? what did they not like? they didn't like any talk of american troops on the ground, even as trainers.

listen. >> we will send an additional 475 service members to iraq. as i said before, these american forces will not have a combat mission. we will not get dragged into another ground war in iraq. but they are needed to support iraqi and kurdish forces with training, intelligence and equipment. >> so what was the one area, though, where people really d disliked the speech the most? it's way down here, even the democrats had trouble stomaching this. the independents and the republicans way down here, what was the president talking about here? he was talking about jobs, the economy and his accomplishments. he injected politics, pure and simple. and at this time, nobody had the stomach for it. >> interesting there, tom foreman. secretary of state john kerry is in saudi arabia with a key goal in mind, build a middle east coalition to fight isis.

hen he will sit down today with persian gulf nations who support sunni abe rar states. kerry started his latest middle east trip in iraq where the new shia prime minister outlined steps to make his government more inclusive. to try to fight off isis. kerry says iraq will be part of the much larger coalition that wi fight isis. >> there's literally no place for their barbarity in the modern world. this is a fight the iraqi people must win, but it's also a fight that the rest of the world needs to win with them. >> anna, is there much optimism there that there's some kind of turning point now? faith that the strategy by the president might actually work? >> well, there is no plan b, so

really, this is what they've got to work with. and they have to make it work. people in abil in baghdad, senior officials were looking for the president to give that long-term commitment, and that's certainly what we've heard in his outline of his strategy to fight isis. what has been welcomed, of course, is the expansion of u.s. air strikes here in iraq. to date, there have been more than 150, according to u.s. central command that have been conducted over the past five weeks, and they've been extremely effective. we've seen many of them firsthand. you know, really making progress in places like mosul dam and close to us here in irbil. but there's also calls for intensification and expansion of that air support. and certainly that will now coming in the weeks ahead. the other welcome news is the fact the fight is going to head

to syria. that is a safe haven, a sanctuary for isis. that's where they have a lot of their economic infrastructure, the oil and gas fields that make them millions of dollars a day. so really, they need to hit them hard. that's certainly the feeling of official officials here in kurdistan. and the 475 additional troops that now takes the number to well over 1,500 u.s. soldiers on the ground. they will not be combat forces. the president made it perfectly klee, that is not the role that they will play, but they need to as assist and advise. that's sorely missed. there's no leadership here. they need to be much more effective, considering that they are going to be the ground forces taking the fight to isis. >> and with that in mind, the fact that the u.s. is now relying, especially on the iraqi military, put aside for one moment that it is a complete and total utter disaster, isn't the iraqi army one of the main

reasons why sunnis in iraq were supporting isis in the first place? >> yeah, absolutely. it's quite ironic, isn't it? the iraqi military, obviously backed by the former prime minister, the shia-led government, many of these forces were shia militia. and as you say, that is really ostracized, marginalized, persecuted the sunni population speaking to sunni tribal leaders over the past several days about how -- what involvement they will have in the fight moving forward. they say there's no reason for us to fight isis until we are given more power, better representation. which goes back to the political solution. this new government, which president obama mentioned as an inclusive government.

it'serly days, so fragile, the jury is out as to whether it can actually govern the key ministries of defense and interior are yet to be filled. we understand that will happen within the week. but obviously, it needs to be an inclusive government to include everyone, i colluding the sunnis so that they are onboard so that they are prepared to then, you know, potentially kick isis out of those towns and cities where isis has those strong holds. because u.s. air strikes are not going to be effective. you know, in these environments. that is going to require urban warfare. if you send in shias or kurds, that will be a disaster. that will bring to the surface all the sectarian divisions that run so deep within this country. it needs to be a sunni force that is to liberate these towns and cities under isis control, john. >> it's becoming pretty obvious about the sunni involvement and this plan has zero chance of

working. anna coren live in irbil. john, some critics say the obama administration made a big mistake by pulling out of iraq too soon, allowing isis to rise up with its brutal campaign. earlier, u.s. senator john mccain and former white house spokesman jay carney, now cnn's new political commentator had a heated exchange about just that. take a listen. >> lindsay graham and i and joe lieberman were in baghdad. they wanted a residual force. the president has never made a statement during that or after that he wanted a residual force left behind. the iraqis were ready to go. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff testified before the senate armed services committee that the number kas dacascaded o 3,500. that was not sufficient to do anything but defend themselves. you as a spokesman bragged that the last american combat troop had left iraq.

if we had left a residual force, the situation would not be what it is today and there would be a lot more -- >> senator, i can pause it with great respect for you that we don't agree on that -- >> no, you can't. you don't have the facts. you i don't have the facts, mr. carney. that's the problem. >> i understand that you present the facts that you believe are true based on the arguments that you've said that we should leave troops in iraq imperpetuity. >> you can watch obama's speech in its entirety here. we will bring you that about 45 minutes from now. take a short break, but much more on isis and president obama's speech is still to come. up next, the role of mid east nations in defeating the terror group. and that became our passion. to always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel.

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>> timeless ideas that offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the earth. >> becky, talk to us about the likely inclusion of this broad di-based coalition from the region there specifically, what their role is like and who's

likely to make up that, in some instances pretty strange bedfellows. >> you're absolutely right. john kerry, secretary of state later on in today, early morning here, 9:15 in the morning, trying to establish this regional coalition of the willing to help contain the spread of isis. the question is is how do they do that? the u.s. and the regional u.s. allies without strengthening al-assad, ryan and some of the iran-lanked shia-linked militia in lebanon. let's season to a sound bite of what else the president had to say today. >> this counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady relentless effort to take out isil wherever they exist

using our air power and our support for partners' forces on the ground. >> partner forces on the ground then. the meeting in today, six gulf states, saudi, of course, turkey, jordan, egypt, and the u.s. getting together alongside iraq there. a nascent government, of course, now traveling to saudi to try to exercise his influence in getting this coalition together. i'm joined by a regular guest on my show. let's talk about who he might get in this coalition of the willing. and what they might provide going forward. this is about counterterrorism. this will not be about waging a war on isis. you will not, i don't think, hear those words from regional allies here in the middle east. saudi, for example, a call with the u.s. president last night and the saudi king. the saudis agree on the need for

moderate syria opposition and the saudis would host that program. thoughts? the stakeholders, for example, the saudis in particular with provide a pr vision against the idea that this is actually an islamic state. barack obama made the point this is not an islamic state regardless of what they call themselves. it's vital that the saudis are there as the custodians of the two holiest place in islam. >> thuf almost uniquely concerted narrative from almost tehran from tripoli saying isis is a scourge and we need to get rid of them. meeting with the secretary of state today. sunni-led countries including the uae. we have had the most detailed public statement from the uae.

it is, and i quote, ready to join a coordinated international response. this from the uae ambassador to washington. the islamic state may be the most obvious and dominant threat at present, but it is far from the only one. and i think that's really interesting here. the uae has its focus on helping to nail this scourge that is isis, but also looking backwards, as it were. a rift here in the gulf about how to deal with the rise of political islam out of the muslim brotherhood in egypt, for example, and in libya. >> well, the uae has been very forceful in its view that this is a moderate liberal country, a heart of liberalism in a region at the moment. uae ambassador to washington was pointing out is this is not something that will stay in syria or iraq. it will reach every one of the gcc countries. and the time to confront it is now when there's this coalition, not later when it reaches our shores.

>> what do you expect physically so far from their support is con certained. there will likely be some military vochl, either from the saud disor the uae. but the point is not so much that the people, that the people and the troops involved are arab troops. but the coalition is seen to be arab-led. that it is a sunni problem that will be resolved by the sunni states. >> thank you. it is a very complex region as you know. he'll speak at the security

council at the u.n. in a week and a half's time but we should get more out of this meeting later on today. >> up next, another story making headlines in the united states. the nfl says it will launch an independent investigation into the handlingover player ray rice's domestic violence incident. and you might be surprised to hear who's heading up the probe. get 4 lines for just a hundred bucks a month. with unlimited talk, text and now up to ten gigabytes of 4g lte data. no overages no contracts we'll even buy you out of yours. so make the switch today. 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.

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>> well dock bap -- welcome back. the owner of the national football league baltimore ravens has spoken out. >> he was suspended indefinitely after a second video emerged which showed rice hitting his fi y fiian -- fiancee in an elevator, knocking her unconscious. >> when you saw the first video back in february, didn't you think at that point, uh-oh, something really bad happened in there? >> yeah. but the way it was described to us was that he had hit her with an open happened b and that she had hit her head -- >> open fist? >> correct. an open hand and she hit her head. we already knew that they had told the police that they had consumed an enormous amount of alcohol. like two bottles of hard liquor between four of thim.

>> you regret that, that's what i'm asking. don't you regret at that time saying, wait, it looks bad. >> yeah, yes. but again, do i feel -- that's my fault because we love ray so we have a tendency to hear what we want to hear and see what we want to see. and so the misdemeanor, the explanation that he hit her with an open hand. the fact that she was aggressive, i was picturing her whaling on him and him smacking her and maybe her head was this far from the wall and with her e enebria enebriation dropped. why did i believe that? because i wanted to.

he had a stellar record and the cops had already seen the video. i assumed it wasn't a forceful blow that moved her head three feet into that wall. that that's what i regret. >> the fbi director robert mueller will conduct an independent investigation into the handling of the ray rice domestic violence case. >> it was interesting and it was honest. take a short break. when we come back, our continuing coverage of president obama's speech on how america will fight isis. including a look at how these remarks were received outside of the u.s. i'm type e. my golden years will not just be gold plated. i had 3 different 401(k)s. e*trade offers rollover options and a retirement planning calculator. now i know "when" i'm going to retire. not "if."

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at its best. we stantd with people who fight foraire own freedom and we rally other nations on behalf of our common security and common humanity. >> u.s. president barack obama making his case for his plan to defeat isis in iraq and syria. welcome back to cnn's special coverage. u.s. president barack obama says the united states will lead a broad coalition to destroy isis and isis targets inside syria are now fair game. >> mr. obama's plan calls for expanded u.s. air strikes to support partner forces on the ground, but with no american combat troops. arms and assistance will flow to the iraq security forces and the syrian opposition. and the coalition will move to cut off the militants' funding and to stop the flow of foreign fighters to the region. mr. obama also described the threat posed by isis, also called isil, and why it must be stopped. listen. >> if left unchecked, these

terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region including to the united states while we have not detected specific plotting against our homeland, isil leaders have threatened our homeland and our allies. it's believed thousands of foreigners have joined them in syria and iraq. trained and battle hardened, these fighters could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks. >> let's get world reaction right now to mr. obama's strategy. matthew chance standing by in moscow, but first, jim bitterman in paris. the french are keen on some action in iraq, not so much syria. why is that? >> well, i think, john one of the problems for the french it was only a year ago the french were advocating bombing the syrian regime. so now it puts them in a position of siding with assad if

they support the opposition too much to assad in syria. however, in the case of iraq, the french made it very clear the last two days or so, they're going to stand with this coalition that president obama is trying to organize. for one thing, president hollande here in france is going to leave here tomorrow to go to baghdad to reassure the iraqi government that the french are on their side, they're going to support with arms and humanitarian aid, which they've already been doing. there's also an organization going on here of a conference on monday, an international conference on iraq. and they're not saying who's coming, but we're expecting a lot of high-level delegations from perhaps the united states and other european countries that want to join in this coalition. i think the thing you have in that sound clip with president obama, the idea that there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of foreign fighters on the side of isis in iraq and syria is something that really has got

the french concerned. the french foreign minister said yesterday there are hundreds of french citizens who are part of the jihadis. i think that's one of the things motivating them to participate in the coalition. >> jim, thank you. we go to moscow and matthew chance. and matthew, the russians might actually be quite pleased with some of this strategy. air strikes on isis targets in syria might just strength their ally, al-assad. >> oh, absolutely. and the russians have for some time now been condemning the actions of isis and other islamist rebels inside syria. but, of course, the russians at the moment are saying look, we told you so. we've been warning against the dangers posed by islamic state and the other islamist rebels fighting against the governments of president assad in syria for some time now. and you just told us we were exaggerating. this is the latest comments coming from the russian foreign minister, saying to washington look, it was only after the

beheading of an american journalist that you paid attention to us. and started to listen to what we've been telling you for a long time. at the same time, they're expressing concern that even though they're supportive generally of the idea of a sort of united international coalition to combat isis, they're concerned that the u.s. air strikes, if they happen inside syria, could be used as a pretext by the united states so attack the government of the syrian president. take a listen to what he had to say. . >> translator: isolation in the middle east -- >> the russian government, you know, relatively satisfied with the idea that the international community 1 against isis, but again concern that would lead to

the further isolation of their key ally, the syrian government. >> matthew, thank you. matthew chance live for us there in moscow. and just before him, jim bitterman in paris. thanks to you both. before his speech, president obama talked with saudi king abdullah wednesday about his strategy to fight isis. and after earlier stops in jordan and iraq, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in saudi arabia today to meet with ministers of six persian gulf nations. saudi support is, of course, considered key in defeating isis. >> saudi arabia along with jordan and turkey could provide vital help, but in different ways. saudi arabia would lend regional legitimacy to a u.s.-led coalition. they have a modern air force that could take part in air strikes, as well as a counterterrorism program considered to be among the best in the world. and in recent months, the keng dom has arrested isis supporters and has severely penalized anyone who had been funding the terror group. >> jordan has logistics and

intelligence to offer as well as connections with sunni tribes along the border of syria and iraq with funding and support. these tribes could help recapture territory currently under isis control. >> and finally, turkey could tighten its borders, preventing weapons and fighters to sneak into syria. that would cover a main source of revenue for isis. >> the president's speech on isis was watched all around the world. and for some analysis, i'm joined by the director from the institute of american university of beirut. thanks so much talking with us. i want to get your perspective on how this speech was likely received, particularly in the middle east. and what you think will happen as far as this plan goes. do you think it will be well received? do you think it will work?

>> there isn't a straightforward answer to any of your questions because it's a very complex and fluid situation. there are many people in the arab world who will be very happy to see this so-called coalition put together, attacking the islamic state, driving it back and driving it out of existence. there will be other people who are very concerned that the modern legacy of american military action in cahoots with autocratic arab regimes in the region in the last 20 years has only created more chaos which opens up more ungoverned spaces which allows groups like al qaeda and isis and islamic state to actually take root. so there's a very complex situation. and you will hear praise and criticism. everybody in the region almost without exception is concerned about the islamic state and its expansion. these guys have never been confronted, so now there's going to be a serious political

military confrontation to drive them out. it will probably contain them very severely, but the difficulty is foreign militarism with foreign autocrats only creates these movements rather than reduces them. so this is the real dilemma that so many people have. and you have a lot of arab governments who are quite reluctant to get overly explicitly involved in any direct attacks. they will provide back office stuff like training or logistics or supplies. but there's a very, very intensity enthusiasm among arab governments, except possibly one or two. they're very reluctant to be taking the lead in this. and their dilemma is simply that it's the autocratic arab regimes and their failed development policies as well as their political autocracy that has bred these movements like al qaeda and like isis and these groups. these groups came out of arab jails and arab autocratic

systems in the '70s and '80s and '90s. this this is the real dilemma about how to go about this. >> it's going to be a very delicate operation and certainly complicated, isn't it? you have john kerry there, u.s. secretary of state, traveling through reet john, trying to form this broad-based coalition. and some very strange bedfellows being pulled into it, which is going to cause a lot of problems and a lot of tensions as well. it's hard to figure out how this is going to actually work. >> that's correct. and i think it's clear to say that the vast majority of people in this region wiare opposed to isis and the islamic state and what they represent. they're widely rejected. but i would also say the vast majority of the ordinary people in this region, not the governments, but ordinary people, are also very strongly against american military action in the region. because they've seen what it has done in afghanistan and in iraq and the drone strikes in yemen. and so when obama uses somalia

and yemen as examples of how this coalition is going to work, that sends people running to lied under their beds in the region. because yemen and somalia are not very happy examples of how american militarism operates an what it leads to in this region. so there's just a really serious complex challenge that is forcing people to try to come up with any action that can blunt the islamic state in the short run. but the danger is that these actions in the short run will complicate and exacerbate the same problem in the long run. that's been the verdict of the last 20, 25 years of trying to address these kinds of groups. >> now, there was a message buried pretty much in the president's statement there. he said isis is not islamic. most of its victims have been muslim. do you think he hasn't pushed that message enough? certainly enough to sort of try

to register with some of those disenfranchised and young people, i guess, you could say, who are moving from the western nations. 1,000 or so of them moving to fight with isis. does that message need to be hammered home a little bit more? >> i think it's absolutely irrelevant. i mean, for people like cameron and obama and tony blair and these guys to talk about islam and what it really represents is like the king of saudi arabia talking about the atlanta braves bullpen and pitching staff. it's other worldly, it's not really about religion. these movements are rejected by the overwhelming majority of muslims and arabs in this region. so to try to come and talk to people about religion while you're bombing arab countries and creating the kinds of messes and chaotic situations that gave rise to these groups in afghanistan and iraq and yemen

and somalia and libya is completely nonsensical. i mean, it shows the kind of simplicity, almost the imby silty of the kinds of foreign policies that american and british leaders have been conducting in the region in the last 20 years. you need a much more sophisticated, realistic, rational policy that grapples with the real underlying causes. and all the americans are doing now is addressing the symptoms which is islamic state. and isis. the underlying causes need to be addressed. if they're not, then we will have something worse than isis five or ten years down the road. and the people of this region are the ones who pay the price. the americans can just, you know, get on their planes and pull out as they did in afghanistan and iraq. but look what they left behind. >> thank you for sharing your perspective with us here on cnn. we do appreciate it. >> and that's the point, dealing with isis, we are upgrading

conditions on the ground which will lead to the creation of another group like isis. >> it is a dilemma. do you do something or do you do something and just risk creating the same environment for more of this to happen. it's a difficult question. >> a lot more here to come on cnn. the final arguments have now been made. and get ready for the verdict. we are live outside the courthouse at the trial of oscar pistorius enters a decisive phase.

>> after verdict is imminent in the trial of oscar pistorius. >> the prosecution tried to prove he killed reeva steenkamp but pistorius said all along it was an accident. there's no jury trials which means the decision lies entirely in the hands of the judge. and we are awaiting the start of the proceedproceedings. and kelly phelps is our legal analyst and she has done for so many days, she is now live outside that courthouse in pretoria. so kelly, i guess as we head towards this verdict, did pistorius get special treatment during this trial because of his celebrity status? >> it's been a very common allegation that he has been given special treatment because of his celebrity status. but in fact, really, the opposite is true. and that is often the case with

celebrities who fall into trouble with the vil justice system. so, for example, a man charged with premeditated murder which imposed the most stringent bail terms. others would never have been charged with that based on the evidence that the state has. equally when it's come to coming in and out of the courthouse he's been paraded in front of the world's media. and interestingly, at one of the daily sessions, i was standing with the police officers outside of the courthouse and they actually said to me that they thought it was ridiculous that he was having to walk in through the front door of the courthouse in front of the media. and they said that it's because they are pains to show the world that he isn't getting special treatment, but by doing that, he's actually receiving treatment that is more harsh than a regular accused person who the world's media is not focusing on. >> so as we head towards the final stretch here, it cowl take

two days for the judge to actually simply read out a verdict. why is that? that seems like an awfully long time. >> it's quite a common feature of the south african legal system that lengthy judgments are issued. and it's related back to the fact that as you mentioned we don't have a jury system. and therefore for the purposes of legitimacy and transparency, it's very important that the judge's thought process is made very apparent in terms of that she applied her mind to correct and proper facts and to the correct and proper law in reaching her verdict. and that then puts the accused in a better position, or the state for that matter, in a better position to know whether they have grounds for appeal and whether the trial has, in fact, been fairly conducted by the judge. >> i'm not too sure there's anyone who has followed this trial more closely than you have. so at this point, do you think the prosecution has made their case for premeditated murder?

>> cases like this that are circumstantial, and we know the case called this a circumstantial case on the very first day of the trial, are far more difficult to achieve that burden of proof. having is reread both sides argument before today's verdict, i think the state has had a very difficult time in terms of finding objective factual evidence to base their claims on. so the been very successful in putting together a forceful and per situation i and eloquent narrative, but when it comes to finding the facts and the law on which to attach that, they've had a harder go of it. having said that, i think their strongest case is probably with regard to the murder is what we call legal murder. so it's the version where they said even if he thought it was an intruder, he still intended to shoot whoever was behind the door. the state has put one interpretation of legal murder forward for the judge to consider. and the defense have given a

different legal interpretation. and whichever one she finds to be a more proper assessment of the law will determine which way that charge swings eventually. >> and we will find out in the coming hours, kelly. and we will continue to check in with you. we appreciate it, thanks so much. >> and you are watching cnn's special coverage. coming up, we get an update on the ridesing floodwaters in northern india and pakistan as officials warn thousands of villagers to flee before it gets worse. ♪ [music] jackie's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. wait, wait, wait, it's wait, wait, wait...whoa, does she have special powers when she has the shroud? no. guys? it's the woven one the woven one. oh, oh that gives her invincibility. guys? no, no, no... the scarlet king is lord victor's son!! no don't. i told you! you guys are gonna be so surprised

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major relief effort is underway to rescue people in floods in india and pakistan, the indian army is building crossings to help those cut off by the rising waters. at least 257 people have been confirmed dead in pakistan, as well as 150 in india. authorities in pakistan have told more than 700,000 villagers to leave their homes as the peak of the floodwaters is still to come. you're talking about 700,000 people asked to leave, that's a massive number. >> and where do they go? >> absolutely. you were talking about the hundreds of thousands impacted. the concern now is the numbers are going to be well. into the

millions as the water flows down into one of the most prominent rivers in this part of the world. one of the images, about 400,000 people considered stranded. water takes over the first level, gets up to the second level, roof top is the only place they can go to. and we have dozens of helicopters across this region, some 100 boats as well trying to rescue people. 75,000 to 100,000 or so estimated number that have been rescued so far. but again, leaving roughly 500,000 in need of a rescue as well. this is a major problem right now. these two rivers converging down, eventually down into the indis river where we know some 12 million people have been warned. these waters expected to rise here in the next couple of days. the water levels across the region, we touched on this the last couple of days. typically the width of the water is about, say, several hundred feet. a this point, it sits at 12 miles, or 20 kilometers wide.

that's wider than the width of the grand canyon in the u.s. state of arizona. now a probability of 12 million people warned of waters moving into this region. a population of 400,000 people, possibly greater than that. about four miles away. they're beginning to put explosives on dikes and move the water away from populated regions. the heaviest populated regions are now being spared. this is the last option to save lives in places that are highly populated and that's really the only thing they can do at this point across the region. the aerial perspective showing you the mass amount of damage, the mass am of water in place.

the temperatures here, well into the 90s fahrenheit, or into the mid 30s celsius. water-born illness and disease is going to be a major, major issue. we've seen this happen before across pakistan. and the numbers when it comes to fatalities are really high, and also the disease spread becomes very prominent. so it's something we're watching here carefully. >> and that does it for this hour of coverage. >> for those who may have missed it or want to watch it again, we will replay president obama's speech on the plan to defeat isis in its entirety. (phone ringing) what's up jake? that depends man, what are you doing? just cruising around in my new ride. oh, the one i'm not suppose to touch, right? you got it. guess what i'm touching it right now, craig. what you talkin about jake?

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hello and welcome to those of you watching in the united states and all around the world. this is cnn's special coverage. pleasure to have you with me. u.s. president barack obama unveiled his much anticipated strategy for confronting isis, and as expected, it does include possible air strikes on isis targets in syria. mr. obama says the u.s. will lead a broad coalition to ultimately destroy isis. we are going to connect with our experts and our correspondents throughout the world during this hour. but first, for those of you that missed it, here is president barack obama's speech in its entirety. >> my fellow americans, tonight i want to speak to you about what the united states will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as