we are on the trail of u.s. secretary of state john kerry on his diplomatic mission throughout the middle east. his efforts to battle isis. plus, new truckloads of aid for people of eastern ukraine. fand out if this delivery will face the same obstacles as russia's last convoy. and later -- >> mlb phillies player brett meyer, suns player jason kidd, former memphis player james

johnson, former l.a. lakers matt barnes, goalie. >> and the list is growing. we'll tell you about the latest professional athlete at the center of a domestic abuse allegation and look back at the lenient penalties for some high-profile offenders. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world to our continuing news coverage here on cnn. i'm george howell. and we begin with the u.s. secretary of state john kerry who is now in cairo. the egyptian capital is the latest stop on his tour in the middle east as he works to build an international coalition against isis. he'll meet today with egyptian leaders and secretary-general of the arab league. in ankara on friday, kerry urged turkey to do more in the fight against islamic militants. turkey participated in the coalition-building talks in saudi arabia on thursday but did not sign a formal commitment. so far kerry has built a ten-state arab coalition consisting of egypt, lebanon,

jordan, iraq and the six gulf states of saudi arabia, bahrain, kuwait, oman, qatar and the united air ak rab emirates. i want to know first of all about the latest information as far as building coalition. what have you heard as far as the secretary of state's trip through the middle east? >> reporter: well, george, it does look like he is getting support. ten countries so far joining and supporting him. but here's the key issue right now, george, as people here we talked to, iraqi officials also say there's a key player in this region that is not really involved so far at least publicly for the moment. we are not seeing that happen, and that is iran. now, if you remember, there's this key conference taking place in france. the paris summit taking place on

monday where the international community is going to be meeting regional powers are going to be meeting there to coordinate their aid efforts for iraq's security conference and also humanitarian coordination, too. and secretary kerry also bringing that up during his travels saying that iran should not be at this conference, saying that there are serious issues with iran, that they do not want them involved at this point in time in this summit specifically. he's not ruling out that this is something that might happen later on, but saying that there are key issues that need to be addressed. and among those issues, he accused iran saying it's a state sponsor of terror, it's involved with syria with the revolutionary guards, of iran fighting in syria, supporting the assad regime. so issues that he's bringing up. when you look at iran's role, george, in this country, in syria, in the region, it is very important to incorporate iran in

any plan going forward to fight isis. everyone here seems to have a common enemy. and that is isis. now, another major issue is iran in iraq, for example, has very close ties to the government here, to the shia politicians. it also supports, backs and trains iraqi shiite militia. the tensions between iran, saudi arabia and other nations plays itself out in the violence we see on the ground. the sectarian violence, it's an extremely polarized region. when we talk to politicians, they tell you the real reconciliation to try and change the situation on the ground, to try and stop that sectarian fuel that feeds isis, allows it to gain ground, you need to have reconciliation that takes place between iran and saudi arabia. iran and the other sunni arab nations in this region to try and fight isis. so a key player here.

and at this point in time, secretary kerry saying not the time to have iran involved in a conference like this. but not ruling out that it would be in the future. george. >> so as far as strange bedfell bedfellows, i guess iran and the united states not teaming up in this one according to the secretary of state. another question i'd like to ask, a town that has been under siege now for more than 80 days, what can you tell us about the status of that town? >> reporter: george, this is a majority sunni town north of baghdad. now, we reported on minorities being surrounded under siege by isis, shiites being surrounded by isis, but this is the first time we're seeing a town that is a sunni majority, just like isis militants who are also sunni muslims, it is being surrounded by isis. residents there say and senior iraqi sunni politicians are

saying this town, they say, has been under siege for more than 80 days. they have been fighting, the local police and the tribes who have been fighting isis. and we have been in touch with them over the past week where they have come under constant attack. they say since june this town has endured 72 or 75 attacks. the latest attack this morning, they say, a suicide bomber in a boat blew up the last bridge, that life line that it had. it was a small wooden bridge that they used to get supplies in, military aid, ammunition, support that is really needed for this town. and they say that a suicide bomber blew that up today, breaking that last life line they had. they're really concerned about isis coming into their town. they have really been cut off from the rest of the area surrounding them. they have been using boats to carry their wounded out into nearby areas. they say they received some

support from the military. they say there are some iraqi military soldiers and special forces who did arrive, counterterrorism forces, who arrived there in recent days. but now with this bridge cut off, they do not have the ability to rearm them and receive any more support when it comes to ammunition. so they're really concerned now that there's a buildup of isis fighters around this town. this town was under the control of al qaeda in iraq, the predecessor of isis, in 2006. and they say those were horrific days, bitter days that they will not allow isis to come into their town because they will not live them again. but they will fight until the last breath, they say, but they need support, and they are asking and pleaing for u.s. military air strikes, saying we've seen it work elsewhere. why don't we get it here, too? george. >> the very latest on the situation in iraq from baghdad. we appreciate your reporting.

authorities in pakistan say they have arrested ten taliban suspects in the 2012 attempt to kill education activist malala yousafzai. malala, now 17 years old, was critically wounded by gunmen who boarded her school bus in october of 2012. she recovered after treatment in england. and that is where she presently lives. oscar pistorius is out on bail and awaiting sentence. he left the pretoria courtroom friday after being convicted of culpable homicide in the 2013 death of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. pistorius maintains that he thought he was shooting at an intruder when he fired through a bathroom door. robin curnow has more from pretoria. >> reporter: finally, a verdict. more than 18 months after oscar

pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. >> on count 1, the accused is found not guilty and is discharged. instead, he is found guilty of culpable homicide. >> reporter: disappointment for the state as they believe pistorius was guilty of premeditated murder, but the judge disagreed. the judge found that pistorius was not acting reasonably when he shot four times into the bathroom cubicle when he said he was awoken and thought an intruder was in his home. those shots killed reeva steenkamp. her parents stoic as the judge delivered her verdict. behind them, friends and family were in tears. >> we believed from the very onset when we prepared the charges and put the charges to the accused, that there was sufficient credible evidence to convict the accused on those charges. >> reporter: but relief for the pistorius camp. >> it's a big burden of us, off our shoulders and oscar. it won't bring reeva back, but

our hearts do go out for her family and friends. >> reporter: no sentence for pistorius yet. the judge ruled he was free to leave, despite objections by the state. >> i have used my discretion in favor of the accused. i grant the application to extend the bail. >> reporter: outside, cheers from a crowd. no longer just for an olympic athlete but for a convicted killer. before court was adjourned, the judge set dates for sentencing. it will be a month from now. and there's no maximum or minimum sentence for manslaughter. that's totally up to the discretion of the judge. rob robyn curnow, cnn, pretoria. the parents of steen vamp are voicing their belief that pistorius was found not guilty of murder. just hours after the judge delivered her verdict, they rejected the athlete's version of events. listen. >> there were so many mistakes

made. >> yeah. >> it didn't add up. >> in our minds. i think it was disbelief. >> on everyone. >> on everyone involved. >> most people. >> that have been following the case. >> we had messages from all over the world. wanting to know what's happened. she died a horrible death. a horrible, painful, terrible death. and she suffered, you know? and he struck through the door. and i can't believe that they believe that it was an accident. >> sentencing will be delivered after more legal arguments. that process set to begin on october 13th. still to come here on cnn, almost 2 million people now have been affected by floods in pakistan. the army is helping out, but huge challenges remain. plus, russia has sent a new convoy it says it full of aid. find out if it will face the same challenges that moscow faced previously.

a fragile cease-fire continues to hold. a convoy of russian aid trucks has crossed into the border of ukraine without hpermission. a senior border official says none of his staff had access to the more than 200 trucks. russian media says the convoy is bound for a war-torn city. that's luhansk. at the same time, russian president vladimir putin is coming under more criticism from ukraine's prime minister. >> clear for me what is the ultimate goal of president putin. his aim is not just to take donetsk and luhansk. his goal is to take the entire ukraine. he cannot cope with an idea that ukraine would be a part of big eu family. he wants to restore the soviet union.

>> cnn's reza seyah joins us with the latest. reza, what is the status of that convoy? >> reporter: george, i think this is a move by moscow that's going to be viewed as a positive by some here in ukraine and is going to be viewed with some suspicion by other people here in ukraine. it fedepends who you ask. here in eastern ukraine, the pro-russian rebels will see this as moscow helping the victims of this conflict. and in kiev, the pro-european ukrainians will have a lot of questions about this convoy. according to ukrainian officials at the border, more than 200 russian trucks crossed from russia into ukraine this morning. russia media claims that this is a humanitarian convoy, that these trucks include water supply, purifying egypt and gener equipment and generators. they say they've been checked by russian officials, but ukrainian officials say this convoy did

not have permission to come into ukraine, that they don't know what's in it, and they didn't have a chance to check the contents of the trucks. you'll recall about a month ago a similar convoy crossed from russia into ukraine, and it caused a lot of controversy. many in the west accuse moscow of using these trucks in an effort to supply weapons to the rebels, although they never provided any proof that that was the case. but if indeed this is a humanitarian convoy headed to luhansk, george, this is something that's going to help the victims of this war because they badly need some of these supplies that are allegedly in these trucks, george. >> but still a curious and mysterious convoy from the ukrainian perspective, clearly. so the question now, reza, how will the cease-fire -- how is it holding up given all the things that are happening? >> reporter: well, within the past several minutes, we continue to hear shelling, and that's a strong indication that this cease-fire continues to be violated, george. but relatively speaking, it has

been much more calm over the past several days. now the question is, how is moscow going to respond to the eu move of war, sanctions. they were implemented on friday. and perhaps the biggest obstacle is the view by some here in eastern ukraine, that the solution to this crisis is a separate state. in the rebel-held city in southeastern ukraine, the grim cleanup of war-torn neighborhoods. and the grief of victims who feel betrayed by the western-backed government in ki kiev. "how can you bomb your own people? a place with children and the elderly," asks this woman. she blames ukrainians for shelling her grocery store. that's why now she wants a separate state.

rebel commander andre kozer wants a separate state, too. "we can't be part of ukraine anymore," he says. how many here think the solution is a new independent state? >> almost everybody. >> reporter: you? yes? what about you? >> yes. >> reporter: when you travel around rebel-held southeastern ukraine, over and over again you hear people say they don't want to be part of ukraine anymore, and that brings into focus what could be the next obstacle in this conflict. how do you resolve this crisis when many here still demand a separate state? ukrainian president petro poroshenko has rejected calls by the east for a separate state. instead he promises a bill that would give the rebel-held region special status and greater autonomy. how much autonomy is unclear. for many here, the offer is too

little, too late. pro-russian ukrainians say kiev crossed the line when ukrainian forces targeted civilian areas without any apparent regard for civilian lives. this is what people here are furious about, shelling that hit just steps away from residential buildings. people here say the ukrainian army did this. this one missed. others did not. entire buildings were destroyed. civilians were killed. many injured and displaced. it's not clear how many. the government in kiev denies shelling residential neighborhoods. rebel fighters are accused of hitting civilian areas, too. but bitterness and deep mistrust linger. fueling calls in this region for independence. >> i prefer just peace and forgiveness. >> reporter: how kiev responds will either resolve or deepen the crisis.

many here in the east say they want a separate state. the government in kiev says there's not going to be a separate state. the eu and washington are coming with more economic sanctions. moscow says they're going to come back with their own set of economic measures. all indications that this conflict is far from over, george. >> cnn's reza sayeh live in donetsk following this convoy and developments around it. reza, we appreciate your reporting there. authorities in pakistan say severe flooding has left at least 274 people dead. nearly 2 million people have been affected in some way or another. with more than 40,000 homes damaged at this point, according to the government. the pakistani military is helping with rescue efforts. new flood warnings and evacuations are under way. meteorologist ivan cabrera is tracking it all at the cnn weather center. ivan. >> yeah, it's a matter of convincing people, george, downstream where the flooding has now been significant because it has not been raining there. the event occurred to the north, but now they're being told

there's a flood coming. well, what glad? it hasn't been raining. it's because of the rivers here and the fact that they are completely swollen. so they were evacuating people now. of course, south of the crest which is where we are right now and then eventually will get there headed into next week. this is an event that we're going to be covering for quite some time. so the warnings continue to the north, the watches to the south monday through wednesday there as we continue to see incredible volumes of water coming down the pike here along both rivers and then eventually getting down eventually into the arabian sea. these are people well to the north. this is one of the areas hardest hit. literally that's what's been happening. we've had folks that have been plucked out of just a completely marooned situation. you're surrounded by water. the only way you get out sometimes is by airlift. those are the lucky ones that were able to get out. another situation we're monitoring is the potential for significant flooding in the philippines particularly across the north in luzon, the

archipelago getting hit. this looking much more healthy. look at this tropical cyclone. it's a tropical storm likely to become a typhoon. certainly we're very close to it. 110-kilometer-per-hour winds. we'll have it in about 12 hours' time and then making landfall across extremely northern luzon. manila will be getting in on very heavy rainfall. i think that's going to be the main threat. this is the latest one from the warning center, because of its indication that it's organizing better now. we've bumped up the forecast to 160-kilometer-per-hour winds. right along the coast, significant wind. and then for the rest of us, even if you're not in the cone like places like manila, you'll be getting in on some of the rainfall. this is just astounding here, the fact that one of our computer model being ifs is forecasting over a meter of water. that would be about 42 inches of

rainfall here. and then manila, 180. obviously this is just a computer model forecast. this is not exactly what's going to happen, but the potential for incredible rains across the north. so we'll watch that closely. and this just in from the national hurricane center. we now have hurricane odeal paralleling the mexican coast over the next several days. and all the while bringing very heavy rainfall. remember what happened with the last system? same deal here with very heavy rains across the western part of mexico. because of the topography, we have the potential for flooding and mudslides here as well. and then we'll track it as it continues to head off to the north and west. i think this will continue to strengthen a little bit before, of course, it heads off to cooler waters and then begins to weaken. but again, with this one, the big story will be the rain. george. >> ivan, thank you so much. coming up after the break in our exclusive interview with the mother of murdered u.s. hostage james foley. diane foley made some strong accusations against the u.s. government. now senior officials are

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or go to lifelock.com/ll4. try the most comprehensive identity theft protection available risk free for 60 days with promo code ll4. plus get a multi-device charger free. call 800-416-4542 or go to lifelock.com/ll4. ♪ welcome back. the latest polls on the scottish referendum show independence is sitting on a knife's edge. among voters who say they have decided, 51% of those surveyed in a new icm/"guardian" poll

said they will vote no on september 18th. 49% said they'll vote yes. the numbers are effectively the same in the yuga poll. 52% say they'll vote no while 48% said they'll submit a yes ballot. with the margin of error with both poll, that means the race is now a statistical dead heat. cnn's business team is keeping a close eye on the economic repercussions that we could expect from a yes vote. one expert from britain's business lobby, the cbi, and another business from scotland have a very different view on potential fallouts. listen. >> i think the one that worries most because it leads to some of the others is the currency issues because at the end of the day, it's clear that scotland will not be able to use the pound. therefore they have to reapply to the european union and they will apply to adopt the euro. that creates a level of

uncertainty. and the issues about regulated industry. for financial services, for telecoms, there will need to be a new regulator in financial services and banking. there will need to be a substantial central bank who is a lender of last resort. you know, otherwise the banks will be required really to have their base in england in order that they can be, you know, regulated by and have a lender of last resort, which is the bank of england. >> when cameron is saying the edinburgh agreement through pre-negotiation and george osborne, the chancellor, returned to tell us that if scotland walk add way from the uk, they walked away from the pound, and of course the pound is an internationally traded currency. but the currency union issue, scotland is a massive exporter. in terms of the balance of payment, scotland has got massive exports, whiskey, drug discovery, you name it, we're exporting it. but the rest of the uk has got a balance of payments deficit.

if you remove the assets and the exports from the equation of a currency union, the pound will plummet. >> that was cbi president mike rake and kenny anderson of business for scotland. the news continues here on cnn. u.s. forces scope out isis targets in syria, and they may have new authority to take out leaders of the brutal terror group as well as its fighters. plus, one of the worst weeks ever for the national football league in america. now it's getting worse. another one of its biggest stars is in trouble with violence against a loved one. it's part of a story line we continue to see. that story next.

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world to our continuing news coverage here on cnn. thank you for watching. i'm george howell. here are your world headlines this hour. after a stop in turkey, u.s. secretary of state john kerry has arrived in cairo. the egyptian capital is the latest stop in his middle east tour aimed at building an international coalition against isis. so far kerry has built a ten-state arab coalition. a convoy of russian aid has crossed into the border into eastern ukraine without permission. russian media says the trucks are headed for war-torn luhansk. in kiev, ukraine's prime minister warns that russia's president is trying to eliminate

ukraine and resurrect the soviet union. authorities in pakistan say several flooding -- severe flooding has left at least 274 people dead. nearly 2 million people have been affected in some way or another. with more than 40,000 homes damaged at this point, according to the government, the pakistani military is helping with rescue and releaf efforts. after the discovery of an abdominal tumor, toronto's mayor, rob ford, has ended his bid for re-election. the controversial politician says he has to focus now on his health. voters will still be able to vote for ford, however. doug ford says he has accepted his brother's request for him to join the race. the election now is october 27th. let's get back now to john kerry and his push to build a coalition against isis. in ankara, the u.s. secretary of state has urged turkey to do more in the fight against isis

islamic militants. but the turkish prime minister was critical of washington, saying u.s. action in iraq isn't enough to achieve political stability. the coalition could face a much bigger challenge than initially thought. the cia has dramatically upped its estimates of the organization's strength. as jim sciutto reports, foreign fighters are now swelling into the ranks. >> reporter: the enormous growth of isis is, say cia officials, a product of its enormous success. as isis has swept across syria and iraq and established an islamic state, it has attracted defectors from other militant groups. it has recruited, sometimes forcibly, new local fighters. and attracted new foreign fighters. the intelligence community estimates isis now can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters, up from an older estimate of just 10,000 including hundreds of

westerners, among them a dozen or more americans. now that president obama has vowed to degrade and destroy isis, the new estimate signals a difficult fight ahead. >> presumably it's a longer fight if you have that many more fighters to degrade and destroy. >> we're not just simply about degrading and destroying them, the individuals, the 20,000 to 30,000. it's about degrading and destroying their capabilities to attack targets, particularly western targets. it's about destroying their ideology. believe me, everybody here at the pentagon knows what we're up against and is taking it very seriously. >> reporter: the new assessment makes clear that syria continues to be a powerful magnet from fighters from all over the world. more than 15,000 fighters from more than 80 countries, at least 2,000 of whom are westerners have flocked to syria. some to join the fight led by this man, al baghdadi, the isis leader has not been a target of u.s. military air strikes yet,

but with the new expanded mission, that will change. >> when you are going after a network like this, one of the things that you also want to go after is their ability to command and control and to lead their forces. >> reporter: intelligence officials emphasize that while isis is a formidable force in numbers, and fighting ability, it is still far outnumbered by the hundreds of thousands of iraqi, kurdish and soon it is hoped syrian forces aligned against it. now, training those 5,000 moderate syrian rebels to fight isis is going to take time. the pentagon estimates about a year. and they're still looking for a place to train them. the thought had been saudi arabia, but with secretary kerry in the region, saudi officials have yet to make any public commitments. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. the u.s. secretary of state is also responding to accusations from the mother of james foley. the journalist who was beheaded in a video that was made public

by isis last month. john kerry says he is, quote, surprised by comments from diane foley, suggesting her family could have been charged over efforts to try to bring their son home. our pamela brown brings us that story from washington, d.c. >> reporter: in her new interview with cnn, james foley's mother says she was threatened by government officials that she would be prosecuted if she raised money to free her kidnapped son. >> we were told we could not raise ransom, that it was illegal. we might be prosecuted. >> threatening someone with a criminal prosecution when they're trying to save their child is not only, in my opinion, reprehensible, it's also counterproductive. >> reporter: today secretary of state john kerry says he's unaware of any official suggesting criminal charges. >> i am totally unaware and would not condone anybody that i know of within state department making such statements so i

don't know about it. >> reporter: brian cunningham says government officials are supposed to help advise families of hostages. >> in my experience, not actually tried to criminalize the process of private citizens paying ransom, no prosecutor in their right mind, no matter what their motivation, is going to bring that case. >> reporter: the security council says it is clear that ransom payments to individuals or entities are prohibited. doing so would only put more americans at risk of being taken captive. >> as an american, i was embarrassed and appalled. >> reporter: foley says the u.s. needed to do more to rescue her son. sources say it wasn't the first time foley had been kidnapped. a few years ago libyan militants leased him after diplomatic efforts by u.s. officials. and the white house says rescuing foley this time was such a, it sent in u.s. special forces in july. >> the president was so convinced that this was a priority that he ordered a high-risk mission.

unfortunately, despite the way in which that mission was executed, that is to say successfully, it did not end in the release of mr. foley. >> reporter: while diane foley says she is not blaming the u.s. government, she says the fact her son is now dead is proof something needs to change. >> he was sacrificed because of just a lack of coordination, a lack of communication, a lack of prioritization. as a family, we had to find our way through this on our own. >> part of the challenge for law enforcement officials with hostage situations is that they can't share everything they know with the families of hostages. but of course, that's a little solace for the foley family who were just desperate to get their loved one back. pamela brown, cnn, washington. james foley's parents are honoring their son's life and legacy by starting a foundation in his name.

you can read more about it by going to jamesfoleyfund.org. and if you missed anderson cooper's interview with diane foley, you can watch it in its entirety. just go to our website at cnn.com. still to come here on cnn, on the heels of the nfl's ray rice controversy, we take a look at how domestic violence cases have been handled in other sports leagues. that's straight ahead. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, no discomfort, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid®. 100% real milk. no discomfort. and for more 100% real dairy treats you'll 100% enjoy look for lactaid® ice cream and lactaid® cottage cheese.

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welcome back. american football star adrian peterson is free on bond after turning himself in to authorities just a few hours ago. this is the mug shot here of the minnesota vikings running back. he was indicted in texas on a felony charge of injury to a child. authorities outside houston wouldn't say friday what led to the charge. but peterson's attorney did shed some light. he says it's tied to an incident where peterson allegedly used a thin tree branch also called a switch in many places on one of his children to discipline him. the incident was caused unintentional injury to that child. that is according to the athlete's attorney. peterson's legal team says he is deeply regretful. the vikings say they're in the process now of gathering information about what happened. the team has also pulled peterson from its lineup for sunday's game. so peterson's team, the minnesota vikings, say they are waiting for more information before making any major

decisions regarding their star unrunning back. some fans of the team, they're already taking a wait-and-see approach to all of this. take a listen. >> i was very disappointed. >> he's great. obviously, he's kind of a role model for everybody, you know, all the young kids and everything. to hear that just kind of blows you away. >> he didn't do anything bad. he just disciplined his kid in a way that most people don't even know what a switch is. >> he did a lot of dumb things as a kid. did i get a kick in the butt? yes, i did. and should somebody be suspended for that? i don't -- i don't agree with what they did. >> meanwhile in the continuing controversy over ray rice, espn is reporting the national football league players association received official confirmation friday of the running back's suspension by the league. notification came via a letter signed by the nfl commissioner, roger goodell. rice was spended indefinitely on

monday. the same day his team, the baltimore ravens, released him. this after a second, more disturbing, video emerged of rice allegedly knocking his then-fiancee unconscious in an elevator. the rice incident has brought out anger against the nfl, the most professional sports league in the united states. many felt rice's initial punishment of a two-game suspension was a virtual slap on the wrist. so how have domestic violence incidents been handled by other sports organizations? it's a question kyung lah looked into. >> they don't care about domestic violence. they care about the bottom line. >> reporter: outrage in the open over the airwaves of talk radio. >> well, who the hell's going to play in goal tonight? he's our number one guy! he's got to play. if a woman got bruised up a little. >> reporter: domestic violence doesn't just happen in the nfl, but sports watchers point out pro football handles domestic violence the best. >> the truth about the other sports is that the nba and major

league baseball haven't taken it any more seriously than the nfl has. >> reporter: radio host mike tuck says take a look at arrests across professional sports, and penalties have lagged behind the nfl's now six-game suspension. the handling of ray rice because of this video is the exception. in some cases, professional players from other leagues are back the same week. >> my lawyers have advised me not to comment. >> reporter: brett myers arguing on a boston street corner with his wife on june 23rd, 2006. witnesses called 911 saying myers struck his wife. hours later, his team supported him. >> i stand behind him. yes, i do. >> reporter: myers pitched less than 48 hours later. his wife did not testify and the charges were dropped. >> i want you to get individual counseling. >> reporter: another mlb player and eventual manager bobby cox faced a judge for a number of arrests for abusing his wife who showed up in court holding his hand. he was inducted into the hall of fame this year.

>> my husband just hit me in the face. >> reporter: a 911 call from the wife of then-phoenix suns basketball player jason kidd. >> i love my wife. i love my family. >> reporter: he publicly apologized for hitting his wife. kidd pled guilty to misdemeanor, reportedly paid a $200 fine to the court, and went back to the basketball court. he's now a coach for the milwaukee bucks. former memphis player james johnson was arrested on a charge of domestic violence. charges were dismissed, and he signed a new contract with the toronto raptors. former l.a. laker matt barnes was also arrested for domestic abuse. but after his fiancee call it had a misunderstanding, he's moved on to play with the clippers. then there's the nhl. colorado avalanche goalie v varlomov arrested and charged for assaulting his girlfriend. he was on the ice the next game. the prosecutor eventually dropped the charges saying he could not win a conviction. individual teams like baseball's

seattle mariners have been proactive with domestic violence, educating players and drawing a harder line than the league. but they are the exception. >> there's no question that this is a signal not just for the nfl but for all professional sports to take domestic violence more seriously. >> reporter: kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. we have much more online on the topic of domestic abuse. you can hear personal stories of abuse and an interview with the woman behind the #whyistayed campaign that's gone viral on twitter. you can find all of those links and more on our website, cnn.com/parents. still to come here on cnn, earth under fire. solar flares bombard the planet. and the results you see there, quite remarkable. [announcer] play close-good and close. help keep teeth clean and breath fresh with beneful healthy smile snacks. with soft meaty centers

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before it happens. if you or someone you love would like information about philips lifeline with autoalert, call now for your free information kit and ask about free activation when you order. so you could say the earth is under fire from outer space. the planet is actually being bombarded by the sun. solar storms have been raining down on the earth. it is the result of two recent bursts of activity from the sun. and again, don't worry, we are safe, but power grids, radios and satellites may be affected. for more on the solar flare and magnetic storm, meteorologist ivan cabrera is at the cnn weather center to explain what's happening. >> yeah, we've had a lot of those recently, george. we'll call it a solar maximum. here's when we get plenty of

solar storms, really, they're called electromagnetic storms by the time they get here. it's a solar flare that you see here that comes from the sun. it's that solar wind that arrives here with those charged particles that interacts with our atmosphere and then gets things going as far as the aurora. we'll show you that in a second. but as far as the storm itself, we do rate these from one to five. and this one is a three. so it's a strong one, but that means just minor disruptions back to our power systems and potential disruptions to navigation. but what we focus in on, and we haven't had anything significant occurring so far except the auroras, they've been fantastic all the way down to new hampshire. here's noaa's forecast. if you're in the red, about 100% what you're going to see out there. look at iceland there, parts of canada as well and into scandinavia and, of course, the aurora austrialis down to the south. between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

in this part of the world, you have to be up north or way down south to be able to see them. some incredible images coming out of the international space station. so you like to see the aurora? sure, if you're on planet earth, that's fine. but how about flying through the lights? that's always an exciting event. they've been doing that the last couple of days. there's some fantastic images coming from the iss. >> it is amazing to see how it can really kind of throw us off with our phones. cool to see. >> indeed. >> ivan, thank you. if you like flares like the ones you saw there, if you think that's impressive, just wait until you see our next story. it's one that proves solar power means a lot more to many people than simply dazzling lights. in fact, in one village in india, it is changing lives. we have more. >> reporter: in much of rural india, this is how women step out at night. this is how children do their

homework. a fourth of india's 1.2 billion people have no access to electricity. and in this state, one of india's poorest, more than 80% live in darkness. "we always used to wonder what it would be like to have light, how wonderful life would be," she says. ♪ for decades, it was just another one of the 19,000 villages without electricity. government-owned power lines stopped working decades ago. >> this village has everything, a school, a hospital, a railway station. but one thing that is holding them back, that is electricity. >> reporter: greenpeace india along with other local nongovernmental organizations turned it into a pilot project to see how power can make a difference. in this village of 2,200 people,

60 solar street lamps have been set up. and every single household now has access to power. 24/7. with india's ever-increasing population and insufficient resources, greenpeace says the country needs to look at alternative energy. >> the vision is to transform how it is done in the country. you have a huge problem of 300 million people in this country do not have electricity. you can't wait. >> reporter: in july, it became energy independent. "suddenly it feels like light has come into our lives. our children can study easily. we can walk around freely. we're finally happy," he says. it's still far from developed. the villages now have access to basics. the ability to charge their mobile phones at home, fans in

temperatures that often hit 40 degrees celsius, even computers, and most of all, confidence that they are now part of the new india. >> and once the phones and the computers are on, the whole world is at their feet. >> reporter: women like ronny davey also feel safer. "until last month, we couldn't even think about stepping out after 6:00 p.m.," she says. it's something most people take for granted, but you just have to come to a village like this to see what a difference one light bulb can make. it may be too early to tell what the long-term economic benefits will be. a social change is already evident. >> that concludes this hour of our continuing coverage. thank you for watching. i'm george howell. for our viewers around the world, i will have your top headlines in a moment. for those of you in the united states, cnn "new day" starts next. identity theft... ] it's one of the fastest growing crimes in america.

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breaking overnight. a big star on the football feel turns himself into authorities after indictment on child abuse. this morning, another pr disaster for the nfl. the administration finally says it is at war with isis. the question is who is with us? john kerry just arrived in cairo. he's looking for some helping hands. and george zimmerman. this man just won't go away. he's back in trouble, after allegedly threatening to kill another person on the road. we've got the 911 and the dash cam video. >> your "new day" starow