unfinished business remaining for those who served in the last war in iraq, not to mention the war in afghanistan, which is, of course, now winding down. make sure to follow me on twitter. this is "the lead." i now turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, war against isis as a third western hostage is beheaded. dozens of nations joining u.s.-led coalition. but will the u.s. team up with some of its most bitter foes to fight this terror group? act of terror? after a series of murders in washington state and new jersey, some worry the alleged killer has jihadist motives. and four hours in the street. new details why police left michael brown's body lying where he was gunned down all afternoon. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." isis calls it a message to america's allies. the beheading of a third western

hostage, david haines. two dozen american allies and other nations gathered in paris to discuss how to respond to the isis threat. about 40 countries have now joined the coalition to confront the terror group. france today began flying reconnaissance missions over iraq. australia now is sending warplanes to the region. but it's not at all clear how many partners will play substantial roles in what the obama administration somewhat reluctantly now calls a war against isis. our correspondents and analysts are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with our white house correspondent, michelle kosinski. michelle? >> reporter: the white house keeps talking about this fight, this war now against isis being all about building this international coalition. what will that look like exactly? what countries will do what militarily? today the administration is holding its cards close. even though there is mixed messaging out there on who has made offers, on whom the u.s. will work with and whom it will

not. >> the nation is grateful. your commander in chief could not be prouder. >> reporter: while president obama today honored military heroes of the past with a medal of honor, the current military strategy against isis is shaping up is front and center -- so the white house today wouldn't answer specific questions about what exactly the coalition is going to do country by country. they said they're working on organizing the message. first they need to figure out what will be needed from whom and when. secretary of state john kerry, though, traveling through the region and europe acknowledged there are real offers on the table out there. some of them are coming from arab countries, offers of not only air strikes but troops on the ground. other countries like iraq, for example, said france offered air strikes. what the u.s. has said is there are entities it will not work

with. one being iran. however, the white house today said there have been back-channel conversations on that subject. today tehran said it rejected an offer to work with the u.s. on this. so if there hasn't been coordination, then where did that offer, that so-called offer to iran come from? the white house wouldn't comment on it. but, remember, earlier this month, the iraqi president told cnn's christiane amanpour that iranian militias worked with the u.s. inside of iraq to help save these ethnic minorities who were trapped in a particular town. so there's a little bit of mixed messaging out there, depending on whom you hear from, whom you talk to. tonight we also know that the u.s. will wage a sort of battle within the u.s. against isis with the attorney general just announcing this new initiative to try to target radicalization and extremist recruitment within

american communities. >> michelle, on wednesday, the president pointedly is going to go to the u.s. military central command in tampa, florida, they're in charge of this region, presumably, they're working up the war plans, right? >> reporter: right. and he'll meet with the general who heads up the international coalition, the effort there. he's going to get an update, the white house says, on how those efforts have been going. it's been interesting because the white house really won't give any detail on specifics. but then it depends on what other country you talk to, you do start to hear the detail, at least the preliminaries of who's starting to offer what activities, whether that looks like now what it will ultimately look like is what we're waiting to see. >> that's going to be an important meeting with the general who used to be in charge of u.s. troops in afghanistan on wednesday when the president goes to tampa, florida. michelle, thanks very much. a bunch of countries are signing

up at least verbally to confront isis. one of the biggest players in the region says it wants nothing to do with the u.s.-led effort. let's talk about iran a little bit. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. is iran out of the picture? what's going on here? it gets sort of confusing. >> in the simplest term, there's no coordination of military strikes against isis. but, yes, on communication, as michelle said, secretary of state john kerry saying today that back-channel communications with iran possible, something that could be valuable. interestingly enough, even possibly with syria. again, not coordination or cooperation. but secretary kerry saying the possibility of communication there in his words, to avoid bad things happening in the simplest terms, shooting at each other, that kind of communication possible. but they're not going to be coordinating with syrian forces against isis on the ground. >> the coalition as it's being put together so far, a lot of rhetoric, a lot of positive

talk. but as far as substance, what do we know? >> so far, from western countries you have very public, specific commitments. australia for instance are sending eight fa-18 airplanes. the french are agreeing to air strikes on targets in iraq. not syria but in iraq. the canadians are sending 50 military advisers as well. from arab nations, it's going to be more sensitive for them to advertise their support publicly. i'm told by a senior u.s. military official today that more than one arab country is willing to take part in what are called kinetic strikes. that means air strikes against isis targets. but it's really this comment that attracted the most attention from secretary of state john kerry this weekend about ground troops. listen to what he had to say. >> we're not looking to put troops on the ground. there are some who have offered to do so, but we are not looking for that at this moment anyway. >> so what are those offers? i'm told by both state department officials and u.s. military officials that there is

no western country or arab country -- no foreign country offering to put boots on the ground in syria or iraq. in fact, what we're talking about are so-called indigenous forces. talking about trained syrian rebels, iraqi force, kurdish forces, possibly sunni tribes in the northern part of iraq. those would be the boots on the ground. you're not going to have a foreign offer of that sort of help, certainly not from the west but also from arab nations nearby. >> we know when the u.s. launched those tomahawk cruise missile strikes against gadhafi in libya, the u.s. was getting airpower support from the united arab emirates and qatar, their air forces were involved. i believe the uae is ready to join in in air strikes against isis targets in iraq right now. i assume you've heard the same thing. what about qatar? >> i've spoken to arab diplomats who say nothing is in writing yet. these commitments haven't been

specified yet. but based on past practice, uae not only in libya but also in afghanistan, of the arab countries that is very much a possibility. qatar also on that list. but again i'm told none of this has been agreed to yet. >> we'll see what saudi arabia does. they have a huge air force, a lot of u.s.-supplied fighter jets, f-15s, f-16s, sophisticated aircraft. we'll see what the saudis decide to do on that front. jim sciutto, thanks very much. let's dig deeper right now. i'm joined by the president's former national security adviser tom donnell. how much of a threat does isis pose to the threat? >> the threat is on a number of dimensions. it clearly posed a threat to the government and state of iraq which is where the united states first came in to stop a march on baghdad, if you will, or threaten the stability of the iraqi government. it poses a regional threat and a

threat to jordan. it poses a threat to lebanon. it can upend, if you will, the current state-led order in the middle east. that's the first level of threat directly. second, though, we have learned over the years in terms of our counterterrorism efforts, that when you allow an organization like this to have operational space where they're not pressured and they're allowed to plot, plan, raise money, it can become a danger to the united states and to the west. >> we learned that in afghanistan before 9/11, al qaeda operated, taliban let them operate and they plotted the 9/11 attacks. but in this particular case, the iraqi government supposedly hates isis. the kurds hate isis. can't they control isis in iraq itself after the enormous u.s. investment over the past decade? >> two things, number one, i think they can. it's going to take additional help from the united states and help from the coalition that secretary kerry is trying to built. we learned that lesson, the

lesson is operational space unpressured with a group like this will ultimately result in their being able to plot and plan attacks. the other thing that's going on is isis has become the central gathering point for foreign fighters coming to fight jihad. >> more than al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, more than al shabaab, more than al qaeda in the maghreb? >> with respect to the recruiting focus, some 12,000, maybe 15,000 foreign fighters have come in to the syrian/iraq region there to fight with isis. they have passports back to europe, maybe a couple thousand there, passports back to the u.s. that poses a threat. with respect to the really serious threats, though, if you want to rank them, i still say al qaeda, central and aqap, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. >> and that's led by al zarqawi.

why is he still at large, this guy who was some argue the real brains behind the 9/11 attack? >> the leader of al qaeda is not there. and we continue our efforts against al qaeda -- >> so long to catch this guy? >> it's taken a long time. but ultimately the united states achieves its goals in this area. with respect to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, this poses a threat to the united states. this is an organization that's indicated an intent and is actually undertaking operations against the united states and the west. >> why the u.s. launches air strikes and drones and others in yemen. >> we have a multidimensional set of challenges. al qaeda's become more complex -- >> and you don't have a problem calling this a war? >> i don't have a problem calling it a war against these groups, no. but we know how to do this. that's the important point about

the isis or isil effort in iraq and syria. we have learned a lot of lessons about how to do this. we know how to go against these groups and their leadership. we know how to develop the intelligence on the ground which is absolutely essential. >> i want you to stand by. got a lot more questions specifically on iran, should there be any cooperation? iran hates isis as well. should the u.s. and iran be working together? what about syria? is the u.s. indirectly providing some assistance to syria which sees isis as a major threat as well? much more coming up right after this. ♪ [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too.

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the united states trying to put together a broad coalition of allies against isis. but what about its traditional foes in the region? tom donilon rejoins us. there's one report in the syrian newspaper that the u.s., the obama administration, is indirectly providing some information about isis in syria through a third party to the syrian regime of bashar al assad. does it make any sense? >> i haven't seen that report. doesn't make sense to me. >> there are some u.s. allies who still have a direct relationship with bashar al assad. one of the reports said maybe germany or some other country has a powerful interest in

destroying isis. they're even willing to say maybe bashar al assad could help target certain locations, provide pinpoint locations of where isis may be basing itself in syria. >> i doubt if there's any direct conversations going on with the syrians at this point. i saw some conversations about deconfliction. >> what does that mean? >> that you're about to fly a mission over their territory, avoid them taking a shot at your airplane. with respect to syria, i think they would be foolish -- they don't need to be told to deconflict. they would be foolish to take on the united states air force. >> the president wants $500 million from congress to equip the free syrian army, among others. a lot of people in the obama administration, hillary clinton among them, wanted to do that a couple of years or so ago. the president rejected that advice. you were still in the white house. where did you stand on that? >> i don't want to get into

that. i can say this, that's part of the plan that the president's put forward here. the comprehensive persistent long-term plan to take on isis and to take it down. >> by bolstering the moderate syrian army, the rebels? >> it means bolstering up the iraqi armed forces that fared very poorly in their initial encounter with isis. we'll work with them very deeply. we'll also build out other forces in iraq of the national guard, sunni operations -- >> sunni militias? >> sunni militias. they'll be the -- >> the last time they did that with the sunni militias, they paid them -- is that what they want to do? pay these militia tribesmen to fight isis? >> no one wants to live under an isis-controlled protostate.

they have built out now. they're working to build out. hopefully a unity government in baghdad to which the sunnis can feel more comfortable working, unlike the maliki government which essentially developed such animosity with the sunnis, it provided a clear path for the isis group to come in and move -- >> let's hope the new prime minister is better than maliki -- if not, this is going to be a disaster. >> the ground forces will be principally iraqi and kurdish and sunni militia forces on the ground. with respect to the syrians, the administration is seeking $500 million to really expand the training of those groups. >> should it have been done two years ago? >> the administration has been working on this project to try to find moderate elements and the groups to work with inside syria. we now have a threat here. today in paris, 26 countries -- now 40 countries joining the

coalition. this is important, it's not just the united states versus this islamic group. in fact, it's the united states, a global group, including a number of arab groups, against this group. that's an important -- >> one final question, iran. the iranians have rejected u.s. repeated offers to be cooperative in this war against isis. the u.s. is reaching out to iran. but iran is saying, no. what do you make of that? >> i don't know any details with respect to a reach-out by the united states to the iranians. >> the iranians keep saying -- wendy sherman, the secretary of state, other u.s. officials have said, let's work together. and the ayatollah says, no way. >> there's deep distrust between the united states and iran. we're trying to work through some of that in the nuclear negotiations. i would not want to have the nuclear negotiations infected by anything iran might do or might not do with respect to isis. you couldn't have had this meeting today with a broad base

of arab and muslim support for the anti-isis coalition if the iranians were there. >> they wouldn't come -- they hate the iranians? >> they weren't going to show up. >> and third, the iranians have been terrible players in syria and throughout the region. doesn't surprise me, frankly. >> tom donilon, thanks for coming in. coming up, disturbing questions about an accused killer's inspiration. is he also a jihadist-inspired man, committed to hatred of the united states? also, new outrage and new questions in ferguson, missouri, after a newspaper reveals why michael brown's body stayed on the streets of ferguson for four hours after he was killed. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." 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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homeland security officials worry the constant propaganda recruiting from isis will inspire terrorist involvement inside the united states. the accused killer's own statements are raising serious questions about whether he could be a self-radicalized jihadist. our justice correspondent, pamela brown, is working the story for us. what are you finding out? >> authorities say the defendant in this case was on a mission to exact vengeance against the united states by killing four americans in two states, raising concerns of terrorism on u.s. soil. police say the man seen here in handcuffs is 29-year-old ali muhammad brown, the prime

suspect in a killing spree stretching from new jersey to washington state, one allegedly motivated by brown's hatred of u.s. foreign policy. brown's alleged victims, all adult males with no known connection to him. police say between april and june this year, brown killed three people in washington state, shooting them late at night in quiet locations, execution-style. a few weeks later in new jersey, 19-year-old college student brendan teflin found dead inside his suv from multiple gunshot wounds. >> we don't have any answers. >> reporter: police say they traced the gun used in all the killings to brown. in court documents, investigators say muhammad even confessed to the killings, citing an unusual motive. court documents obtained by cnn say brown told investigators he strictly follows the muslim faith and had become angry with the, quote, evil the government was allowing to take place in the u.s. brown allegedly telling police,

my mission is vengeance for the lives, millions of lives lost every day. iraq, syria, afghanistan, all these places where innocent lives with being taken every single day. so a life for a life. sources say brown is a u.s. citizen and has family living in new jersey. brown was convicted of bank fraud in 2004 and served time in jail. at the time reports say the fbi tried unsuccessfully to link the case to fund-raising for terrorists in africa. according to authorities, one of brown's co-defendants later fled to somalia to fight with the terrorist group al shabaab. while authorities aren't labeling muhammad a terrorist or charging him under federal terrorism statutes, there are allegations of brown's bloody crusade to kill americans are now raising questions. >> in order to meet the definition of a terrorism offense, it needs to be demonstrated that the crime was committed in order to influence government policy by intimidating or coercing -- through acts of intimidation or coercion.

based on the statements he's made, i believe you could prove there was a terrorism offense. but it doesn't necessarily determine whether it should be prosecuted in federal court or state court. >> and right now, brown faces state murder charges which carries a possible life sentence. and in washington state, he faces capital punishment. authorities could also bring additional charges and in his initial court appearance in new jersey, brown pleaded not guilty. we did reach out to his attorney and are still awaiting a comment. it's worth noting, wolf, that authorities aren't saying brown was motivated by a specific terrorist group and these happened before the bombing campaign on isis. >> pamela, thanks very much. let's continue the conversation. joining us right now, senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, former federal prosecutor, and our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes. why wouldn't they charge him with terrorism if he himself allegedly is telling authorities he did this to seek vengeance

for the u.s. operations going on in various muslim countries? >> the point of a prosecution is to get this man off the streets and convict him as easily as possible. terrorism requires proof of motive which might be difficult in these circumstances especially because it seems like he's a pretty irrational character. if the government, the new jersey authorities, the washington state authorities, can prove that this was premeditated murder, he is at least going to serve a life sentence and perhaps even get the death penalty in washington. so it just doesn't seem necessary to add to the complexity of the case by bringing federal charges when the point is he's going to be off the streets, presumably, forever. >> what do you make of that? a lot of people are still upset that major nidal hasan in texas was not formerly charged with terrorism even though he went on

a killing spree and was clearly, according to the court documents, inspired by al qaeda? >> in the hasan case, you have e-mail traffic between him and anwar al awlaki in yemen at the time. there's a much better case to be made in the hasan case. in this one, we don't know what authorities have discovered. he made the statement in custody -- >> isn't that enough? he said, i did this because i hate the united states, i randomly allegedly he says killed four young men in washington state, then another young man in new jersey? >> the federal government doesn't want to overwork the statute and stretch it to something of just a verbal blurt-out during a police interrogation. they want to see, did he have e-mail traffic? if he was raising money for al shabaab and other indications, that supports later if they want to put the charge of terrorism on him. but they're not going to -- really when somebody just makes comments and blurts out loud

that they believe in a certain thing, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to prosecute just for that. >> we don't have a lot of the information, jeffrey, about what he may have been doing online, if he was inspired by any of these websites, these pro-al qaeda websites, if you will. if that information were to surface, then you could clearly not only charge him with murder but you could charge him with terrorism -- these terrorism charges as well. >> you could, depending of course on what the evidence showed. but the trouble with these cases and the danger to the community is even if he had no other contact, it could be a situation like the tsarnaev brothers in boston who, at least as the evidence now appears, were not in direct contact with anti-american terrorists abroad but simply decided to work out their anti-american anger as lone wolfs. that's a great danger to the community, even though it is not

part of an international terrorist network. that's the question of, is brown a similar actor? >> jeffrey and tom, i need you on some other subjects we're dealing with later here in "the situation room" as well. but in the meantime, thanks very much. i want to get to some politics. a new cnn poll shows another senate democrat in trouble. in new hampshire, senator gene shaheen and republican scott brown are tied at 48% among voters. democrats need shaheen to hold her seat in new hampshire to retain a senate majority. brown is a former senator from massachusetts. 48%. up next, new details about the crucial hours after michael brown was shot by ferguson, missouri, police. why did authorities let four hours go by before removing his body from the street? also ahead, north korea sentences another american to years of hard labor.

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gathering all along. a hearse came to pick up the body at 2:30. but by then, it was too dangerous after a s.w.a.t. team came in at 3:20, brown's body was finally removed around 4:00 p.m. a spokesman for the st. louis county police tells cnn the paper's time line is, in fact, accurate. joining us now, the naacp board member john gaston, the missouri state senator and our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes still with us, former assistant director of the fbi. john, what do you make of this? i know the naacp is very upset about this four hours which that body was allowed to remain on that street. >> well, mr. blitzer, literally hours after the shooting, we spoke with st. louis county police chief john bellmer and we were very concerned because the

body did lay there for a number of hours. you only have one chance to comb that area and to get all the evidence that you need that the grand jury will potentially need. and we understand that. here's the other side of this that we want to take a look at. you're looking at an unarmed teenager, black man that was killed in an african-american area by a caucasian cop. you've got an area that was very upset. this is already a very sensitive situation where you have people that are getting -- that got very angry about this. you would think that local law enforcement would be as sensitive as possible, would get that body covered up, get the information that they need to try to get his body up off of the street to treat him with the respect and the dignity that he deserved. >> maria, what do you make of this time line? >> i have to tell you, i read the same article as you did, wolf. i have to tell you that i do concur with john. the community was outraged by

looking at this body all day long. there is video stream that i saw from young people's cell phone. the psychological impact of looking at the body and the blood around the body for hours long is very disturbing to this community. and this is a community that has a lot of young people and they saw themselves as mike brown on this day. so i am concerned. the second part of that article that we are referring to right now also discussed what other officers throughout the nation felt. and there are some legitimate concerns that everyone has at this point. >> what do you make, tom? you've been involved in law enforcement your whole professional career. are there legitimate reasons why law enforcement would leave that body on the street for four hours? >> yes, there absolutely are, wolf. if you recall back to the shootings at sandy hook and awe aurora, colorado, movie theaters, some bodies were left almost 24 hours as police did their work. the difference is the public couldn't see them and the family members couldn't see them to get even more emotionally involved.

in this case, yes, you have the body laying in the street. it's a shame that the police were not in a position to somehow put a screen around it. but you have a pretty large crime scene. you have from the police car, the pursuit of michael brown down the street, the place of the shooting, the bullet casings that would be ejecting from the officer's gun. so you have a pretty large area that really can't be easily concealed. and the difficulty of covering the body is that hairs and fibers matter. it's going to matter what they can take off of michael brown's body and clothing to prove or disprove what occurred at the police car. does he have the officer's dna, skin, hair, fiber from his uniform on him? if you start tampering with the body, that can really disrupt the crime scene. it looks terrible and it's very -- in a way, it is totally insensitive that michael brown's body had to lay there. but on the other hand, to do a thorough investigation, it almost couldn't have been

different. >> the argument the police make, john and maria, is that you don't want to tamper potentially with evidence if in fact a crime had been committed. john, your reaction to that? >> well, and i can understand completely where you're coming from from a law enforcement standpoint. we want to do everyone a positive service and get justice for the brown family. obviously we understand that. but if you read the article, you hear a lot of people were very angry. we were even receiving video messages, as maria alluded to. one thing that is a bigger problem in this situation is communication. that could have easily been communicated to the young people that were standing around this crime scene, hey, we want to help you all out, we want to get all of the information, all of the evidence necessary to bring justice to the situation, could you all please back away, let's let us do our job and we're going to try to expedite this as much as possible.

but from what i understand and what i read in that article, none of that was ever communicated. i know that at one time, mr. mcspadden went out there to try to get people calm and to get them to move away and try to back away from what was going on, but that could have easily been communicated to those young people that had just witnessed such a traumatic experience. >> it looked insensitive even as tom fuentes points out, there are often legitimate law enforcement reasons to not tamper with an area of a potential crime scene like that. but very strong article in "the st. louis post dispatch." thank you all very much. up next, six years of hard labor, an american is convicted and sentenced in north korea. but what was his alleged crime? and coming up, dozens of countries signing up to help america confront isis. but how many of them are really prepared to fight? i'll ask the state department

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well, there's really no comparison. why pay more for less? call today for a low price on speeds up to 150mbps. and find out more about our two-year price guarantee. comcast business. built for business. after holding him for months, north korea has sentenced an american citizen to six years hard labor. north korea says the 24-year-old arrived as a tourist back in april, ripped up his visa and declared he wanted asylum. the united states is seeking his relief and two other americans being held in north korea. cnn's will ripley spoke with him inside north korea and is joining us now from tokyo.

will, this is a major development right now. you had a chance to meet with this young man. >> reporter: yeah, and it's not a development that certainly would be surprising to him, considering that during our tightly controlled government interview, he specifically talked about the fact that he was soon going to be going to trial and going to prison shortly after. we had just five minutes. we had north korean officials standing in the room, monitoring us as we had this conversation. when i asked miller about the charges that he was facing. >> i will say that i prepared to violate the law before coming here, and i deliberately committed my crime. i have already admitted my guilt, and apologized to the governments of the tprk and i have been asking for forgiveness. >> reporter: did you tear up your visa and seek asylum? is that report accurate? >> the previous interview that

is what i said. >> reporter: tell me about your conditions here, how you're being treated. >> i'm with good health. i've received medical checks and provided with humanitarian treatment. >> reporter: and what is your message to your family? >> first off, i say my message to my governments -- i've been requesting help for a long time and there's been no movement from my government. the american government is known for having a strong policy of protecting its citizens, yet for my case, there's still no movement i've also written a letter to my president with no reply. >> reporter: while you're in north korea >> yes, about one month ago. for this reason i am disappointed in my governments. however, i want to believe that my governments or someone is trying their best to help me and i would be very glad to meet the

person that saves me. >> reporter: why did you come here seeking asylum? >> during my investigation, i have discussed my motive. >> reporter: what is your message to your family? >> i've had the opportunity to phone call them, so i've already spoken to them. >> reporter: what's the bottom line about your situation here and your message that you want to put snout >> that my situation is very urgent, that very soon i'm going to trial and i would directly be sent to prison. i think this is -- this interview is my final chance to push the american government into helping me. >> reporter: so it's your final chance. what do you want to tell them that you haven't already said? >> that i need help and they need to quickly make movements because there's not much time. >> were you aware of the possible consequences when you acted the way that you did, when you entered this country?

>> yes, i was expecting to be detained. >> reporter: were you expecting to be detained as long as you have been? >> yes. >> reporter: but you're now seeking the help of the american government to go home. why do you not want to stay here any longer? >> no comment. >> reporter: anything else that you would like to say about this? >> no, that is all. thank you for meeting me. >> reporter: matthew miller speaking to cnn a little over two weeks ago. he kept evading questions when i asked him about his motive entering into north korea. that could be because we had government officials standing in the room watching us the whole time. the two news agencies that were allowed to cover his judgment day where he was handed this six-year sentence, they said that miller was accused of entering north korea because he wanted to investigate the human rights conditions widely reported by the united nations concerned about the conditions

where people were starving in prison camping, forced to eat rats, executed, tortured. the impression we get from kenneth bei and matthew miller, those won't be the conditions he faces. possibly eight-hour workdays at an agricultural camp. wolf? >> will, good reporting. thank you very much. coming up, isis beheads another western hostage, this time a british aid worker. and sources say britain knows the identity of the isis killer. does the u.s. know? what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too.

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happening now. a warning that there's no time to lose in the war against isis, now that a third western hostage has been beheaded. are u.s. allies balking about joining military action? and whether some of america's most dangerous adversaries might secretly help the fight against isis. we'll discuss that, as well. plus, an nfl star responds to allegations of child abuse. he's being allowed to add -- return to the field. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this hour, world leaders are vowing to defeat isis by any means necessary, after the third

beheading of a western hostage. a british citizen slaughtered on video like two americans before him. officials for two dozen nations held talks today about the isis threat. and now we're learning about new offers to supply ground troops and air strikes to support the u.s.-led wash against these brutal terrorists. we are our responding, the newsmakers standing by to bring you the newest information about this global crisis. first, let's go to our chief national security respond jim sciutto. >> tonight, a senior u.s. military official tells cnn that more than one arab nation has agreed to carry out air strikes. france agreeing to carry out strikes in iraq, australia sending eight combat aircraft. but even after a third beheading, that of british aid worker david haynes, for some country hard commitments of military support are coming much less easily.

he's isis' third beheading victim in three weeks, murdered for the world to see. and like americans james foley and steven sotloff, a british citizen. >> we have to confront this menace. step by step, we must drive back, dismantle and ultimately destroy isil and what it stands for. >> reporter: even america's closest military ally has not committed to joining the u.s.-led military action against isis. the obama administration's version of the coalition of the willing appearing, if not entirely unwilling, at a minimum, uncommitted. >> you have a coalition i would argue of the semi-willing, the self-interested, and the self-absorbed. it's really going to be difficult it seems to me to get everybody focused on the same page. >> reporter: meeting in paris today, some 40 countries have offered at least some support in the fight against isis.

but a far smaller group has made specific and public commitments to join military action. australia vowing up to eight f-18 combat aircraft and 200 military advisers. france, surveillance flights and air strikes over iraq. canada, 50 military advisers. jordan, intelligence gathering. saudi arabia, training syrian rebels on its soil. and turkey, blocking both funding and the flow of fighters to isis. this weekend, after a six-stop coalition building tour through the region, secretary of state john kerry spoke of private commitments for much more, including arab participation in air strikes and more surprisingly, some countries offering ground troops. a step even the u.s. has ruled out. >> we're not looking to put troops on the ground. there are some who have offered to do so. but we are not looking for that at this moment any way. >> reporter: former u.s. ambassador to iraq james jeffrey

sees a region still on the fence. >> there is true international consensus and agreement that isis is a real problem that has to be dealt with, but there's also great fear in the region of getting too involved. >> reporter: i've spoken to senior officials who tell me that the ground troops secretary kerry was referring to will be so-called indigenous forces. no foreign country to this point offering to put their ground forces into a combat role and wolf, of course, that includes the u.s. >> that could be a serious problem if the goal is really to destroy, eliminate isis. more on that coming up. jim sciutto, thank you very much. there's a new message today from the daughter of the british aid worker murdered by isis. nic, what are you hearing?

>> reporter: she lives in the town of perth in the scottish mountains. a local member of parliament told us that the people from david haynes' school remember him as somebody who wanted to be very helpful, always reaching out to help others. today, his daughter, bethany, spoke. she wrote on facebook, and this is what she wrote about her father. this is david's daughter, who lives in perth. i was really -- i was really touched by the messages of support during this hard time. i know my dad would be really touched and grateful. that's what she said. this is the first time we've heard from her and heard directly from her since her father's killing. a very brave message from a girl who is only a teenager. and for the people of perth,

they feel they have lost something, they respected david for hisselflessness and for the way he tried to help with humanitarian work, wolf. >> i know that the prime minister, david cameron, he's talking tough on isis. hasn't made any firm commitments militarily speaking yet. and a lot of folks in britain are suggesting that he's distracted with the scottish independent vote. you spoke to david haines' family. what are they saying, that there might be some sort of connection with what the prime minister is willing to say and this independence vote. >> reporter: yeah, this is a time where david cameron doesn't want to upset anyone, doesn't want to create political waves by pushing through something that could affect the vote here in scotland. it could go either way.

when i talked to the member of parliament, who represents a constituency where david haines grew up, they want independence. it touches on the sensitivity that david cameron is avoiding dealing with this week. this member of parliament, who wants independance, said he would deal with the isis problem in a different way to how david cameron wants to tackle it. listen to what he said. >> i think in scotland, we would make a peaceful contribution to have our own voice and that we could contribute and do something meaningful and substantial in terms of foreign affairs, always believing in the united nations, working with other nations. >> reporter: believing in a role for the united nations at the moment. there's no indication that russia would change its position on the security council, that

there would be a resolution that would support action inside syria. so what we're hearing from those independent minded politicians here, wolf, they don't want to support military action. so we can see here why david cameron isn't pushing this issue at this very sensitive time. wolf? >> because that result, the referendum could go either way on thursday. thank you very much, nic robertson reporting from scotland. let's continue the conversation here in "the situation room." joining us now, the deputy spokeswoman for the state department, marie hearth. let's try to nail down our reporting that the british prime minister and other top british officials know the identity of this killer who killed these three westerners, that'sis killer. without telling us the name, does the united states government know the name of the killer? >> we're still talking to them. i know we've talked about this a lot on "the situation room." but we are talking to the british about really nailing

down who that was on the video, whether it was the same person on all three, whether that was the person who killed, who murdered all three of these american and british citizens. it's a conversation we're still having, and believe me, when we know who did this for sure, we have pledged to hold them accountable. >> will you release the name when you know for sure? >> that remains to be seen. we'll have that conversation with the british. sometimes there are reasons not to, but we've attempted to be as open about the threat that we know and about who may have been behind this, working with the brits on this. >> the guy holding the knife in all three of these videos released by isis, seems to be the same individual. is there still any doubt? >> there's one thing the intelligence community looks at. they look for any shred of evidence in those videos to determine who is responsible. they look at the voice. they look at the video. that's an ongoing process. >> you still say that's not 100%. >> we're still working on it. >> what about this report in the

syrian newspaper that the syrian regime of bashar al assad is getting u.s. information through a third party to go after isis in syria. is that truesome ? >> not at all. we will not work with the assad regime, period, full stop. >> even through a third party who would share that information is >> even through a third party. >> you found out that third party were sharing sensitive u.s. information, what would you do? >> we don't want to coordinate with the assad regime. we've been very clear with that. we don't want to share intelligence with them at all, period. we've made that clear to everyone. >> and if you found out a third party were doing that, you would tell them to strong? >> in very strong terms. >> what about iran? this is a different situation, because the secretary of state is suggesting that maybe there can be some coordination with iran in this war against isis. >> not coordination.

what he's suggesting is we're open to conversations with them. we've already had a few on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations that we had the last few months in vienna where we talked to them about iraq, because they know isil poses a threat to them, as well. so we're open to having that conversation. we won't be coordinating with them either. but they have role to play if they can support the nooew inclusive government in iraq. that's really what all of the regional players need to do. >> you saw the statements coming in from iran, the ayatollah and others saying they want nothing to do with the united states in this war against isis because of what the u.s. is trying to do against their ally, bashar al assad. >> we've not offered to coordinate with them. we have not asked to coordinate with them. but we are open to having a conversation about this shared threat. but we will not be sharing information with them or working with them. >> give me an example of what you would do, the united states,

in terms of iran and this isis military option. >> we've been clear with iran that what it can do, what anyone can do, is help the new inclusive iraqi government in baghdad that's now up and running. any support should be to them and the kurdish forces. the answer here is not militias or other organizations inside iraq. we know iran has a long history there. but we need to support this new government. >> clarify what the secretary of state meant when he suggested there were some partners out there ready to provide ground forces, combat boots on the ground as they say, to try to defeat isis in iraq and syria. >> he then went on to say that's not what we're looking at. he was obviously referring to the partners we have on the ground, the iraqi and kurdish forces and the moderate opposition in syria. those are the boots on the ground we will continue to support. those are the partners we're trying to build up as one small piece of this coalition. this is only one piece of the

puzzle here, this military aspect of it. obviously a key piece, but just one. >> as far as the combat boots on the ground, as they say, what about the sunni militias? are they involved already? have they been brought in against isis? isis, of course, sunni led. they hate the shiite led government in baghdad. >> one thing that's encouraging is this new government come together and say they want to govern in a different way. part of that is bringing in sunnis to feel ownership of their government and their country, forming these local national guards that will be coordinated with the central government. so everyone is on the same page. all pushing back against isil. that's something they've already started doing. >> is the united arab emirates on board to provide air strikes against isis? >> a number of countries have pledged their effort. the uae can speak for

themselves. what i will say is that secretary kerry has been traveling all over the middle east and europe. next week he'll go to the united nations and really putting every effort towards pulling countries together so they can contribute in any way they can. that will be different for everyone towards this fight. >> i think the uae is ready. the question is saudi arabia, qatar. i suspect they're not necessarily ready. is that what you're hearing? >> we're having the conversation about what each country can do. there's a lot these countryks do in terms of cutting off funding, cutting off foreign fighters. really, a lot they can do to fight the ideology of isil, standing up saying these people do not represent islam. >> we'll see what they do in those meetings next week at the united nations. marie, thanks for coming in. >> absolutely. still ahead, the search for clues in a gruesome new isis

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growing fear for the life of a british man being held by isis forces. 47-year-old allen henning is threatened, showing the beheading of another briton, david haines. he was thrive e delivering aid children in syria when abducted. brian, does this video contain new clues? >> reporter: there's a strong clue regarding when the video was taken. but on where it happened, it

looks like isis may have covered its tracks. now tonight, some of the burning questions pertain to who. who is the british militant in these videos? who knows about him? and who is going to do something about him? he's a menacing figure, all too familiar to us now. >> this british man has to pay the price. >> this man has become the boogeyman that scares the west. >> reporter: before the execution of david haines, the militant threatens prime minister david cameron. >> your evil alliance with america will only accelerate your destruction. >> reporter: there's a reason the militant calls cameron's government the lap dog of the americans. >> the british government isn't carrying out these attacks against isis. it's the americans. so he's trying to link the two together. because those are who the hostages he has.

>> reporter: after haines' execution, he threatens to kill allen henning. the reference to the haditha cam bombing gives clue to when it was made. in the james foley video, you can see structures in the video. in the foley and sotloff video, specific topography is shown. >> but in this video, there's only skoi and dirt. they're trying to be much more cautious in where they are shooting these videos. they don't want to give away their position to american and british intelligence. >> reporter: cnn national security analyst peter bergen said prime minister cameron knows this man's identity, but the official said that's for security and operational reasons. >> they're running operations right now to tray to figure out where he is, but others who are working with him. they may be working with his

family to lure him back home. >> reporter: could there be a rescue mission for allen henning? britain's foreign secretary tried to down play that possibility, telling reporters about henning "we don't know where he is." wolf? >> what are you hearing, brian, from analysts whether the militant in the video is really the one who killed these three men? >> reporter: that's a tough one to analyze. at some point, the man makes motions indicating he's doing it, but the video goes dark. because of the weapon he displays and the fact that the militant doesn't have any blood on him after the execution, he does not believe he's the killer. wolf? >> doesn't believe he's necessarily the killer. let's continue our conversation, brian. thank you very much. joining us, our cnn military analyst retired u.s. lieutenant general mark hurtling and security analyst peter bergen. peter, you reported that british officials, including the prime minister, they know the identity

of the individual, the british accented individual with the knife in all three videos. they believe it's the same person. >> they know the identity but are not disclosing his name publicly for what they call operational reasons. what those operational reasons are, i don't know. but it could be gathering more information about him in england in a way that's less dramatic. two, if they real kly are -- a rescue operation is something they must be contemplating, not wanting to tip their hands they know who this person is. >> but if they already know that the british know the identity, i don't understand what the difference is if they know the name is out there, opposed to knowing the british government has learned the identity of this individual. >> i'm just telling you what i know, they're withholding the name for operational reasons. >> does that make sense to you,

general? >> yes, it does. >> explain why. peter has done an excellent article on cnn.com saying the british know the identity of the man with the knife. what is the difference if we say his name is john smith or whatever? >> if you say that on a u.s. media network, it's immediately going to get to some of the arab networks and they're going to pick it up from cnn and others. it's going to cause a ripple effect. >> they're going to pick this up, too. >> they will, but it will be more prevalent -- >> operationally, how would that impact? >> every time you have a piece of intelligence, it can be linked to other intelligence. i would suggest that even in this kind of an organization, isis, they're going to put intelligence pieces together and they may completely maneuver the hostages away from where they have them now. that may have been what occurred in the first rescue attempt. but any time you can keep key pieces of intelligence from your enemy it's a good thing. >> they seem so bold. the same guy, the three videos, now they have threatened a

fourth individual with beheading. they're just going on as if they're not worried. >> i don't think they are worried. the general referred to the failed rescue operation. militarily it was a success in the sense it was well executed but the hostages had been moved and they had been moved and they don't know where these guys are. >> in that case, it could have been luck that they moved them as opposed to understanding the intelligence. so we have to prevent that. >> yeah. and the family said the u.s. government had some knowledge of his location for some period of time. it was certainly several months. but the general has mounted many of these kinds of operations. you have to be certain before you go in, certain enough that the hostages are going to be there. >> i assume if they know who the individual is, and we're hearing the british know, they must be

planning some sort of operation to kill this individual. >> i would suggest, wolf, they're planning all kinds of operations continuously, with any kind of new piece of intelligence. just like we saw for the hunt for bin laden over ten years. every time you get a new piece of intelligence, it allows you to do more things. as your analyst said, we have a lot of sky and dirt right now according to the film. i would suggest there's a lot more that we know. >> how many other westerners are being held by isis, do we know? >> i think we know. >> do we know how many? >> there are other americans, there are other westerners. >> other than that, we're not reporting beyond that. and for good reason, right? >> right. and europeans across the board in europe as the jihadis have expanded their role. i think you'll see quite a few captives continue. that's part of the issue too,

right on the border where you have aid as some of the recent hostages, reporters who want to get into the fight. >> others are being held. french and some other europeans are willing to pay ransom to get their guys out of there. the u.s. and briton not willing to pay ransom. that's been an issue obviously. thank you very much for coming in. just ahead, hillary clinton trying to make a comeback in iowa. a live report on her long-awaited return and what it could mean for the 2016 presidential race. and a minnesota vikings player accused of child abuse. we'll have new details on that and the league's response to domestic violence. the eyes may be the windows to the soul. but in the case of the lexus ls... ...which eyes? eyes that pivot with the road... ...that can see what light misses... ...eyes designed to warn when yours wander...

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hillary clinton is generating a lot of 2016 buzz today after her return to a state that can launch presidential campaigns or kill them. that would be iowa. last time hillary clinton was there she suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2008 iowa caucuses. she actually came in third behind barack obama and john edwards. so how would she do this time around? let's check in with our senior political correspondent breanna keeler, joining us now from des moines. how did she do over there?

>> reporter: it depends on who you ask. some people thought she was very thoughtful, some thought the speech was low key. she was definitely careful, i think you could say. there was some humility. she had a couple of nods to president obama. if her goal was to do no harm, she certainly achieved that. but at the same time, she did nothing to dispel this notion that she will run for president. >> hello, iowa! >> reporter: hillary clinton -- >> i'm back! >> reporter: -- throwing herself into the political fray for the first time in almost six years, stumping for democrats facing tough re-elections in november and hinting that she's running for president. >> it is true. i am thinking about it. [ applause ] but for today, that is not why i'm here.

i'm here for the steak. >> reporter: but in the state that dashed her hopes in 2008, clinton has lessons to learn from her last campaign. >> what does she need to do differently if >> she needs to connect with people. >> i don't think she showed up as much as barack did for us. he was here all the time. >> certainly all of us want to see her as much as possible. >> reporter: ruth harken, wife of senator tom harken, bucked the obama movement to endorse clinton in 2007. she says she'll encourage clinton to visit often. >> iowans are jealous about their candidates. so we have an opportunity to see a lot of people, and having contact with the candidates is key out here. >> reporter: after the harken steak fry, clinton spent half an hour on the rope line shaking hands and thanking people. >> there's so much at stake in this election and we'll both have much about that. >> reporter: do you think you'll be coming back to iowa again? >> we'll do what we can.

>> reporter: she's working to hone her message if she runs. >> women should be able to make our own health care decisions. and that, believe it or not, equal pay should mean you get equal pay for equal work. >> reporter: that riled up this crowd, though it was far from what barack obama inspired several years ago. do you feel like people who supported obama will transfer that to hillary clinton with just as much enthusiasm? >> that will never happener again. that was a one-time event with barack obama. >> reporter: and there is still this question of how involved hillary clinton will be in the midterm elections. she's committed to do several fund-raisers for democratic congressional candidates, including one on friday for the dnc that's targeting women. but it's really i guess the real question, wolf, is how many

candidates will she go out into these key states for and stump for? that's still unclear. although we're expecting it may be a handful, less than her husband, president bill clinton, will be doing, that obviously is in part to keep some of that political tarnish off her. >> 50 days till the midterm elections. thank you very much for that. let's bring in our cross fire host and gloria borger and corne cornell b, lsher. this kicks off for all practical purples her campaign. >> can we say what she didn't say, she's running. she gave us no reason to think she wasn't running. she said, i'm back. but the question is, does she have a clear campaign message? and i don't think so yet. i think what you're hearing is a

lot of income inequality. i'm for raising the minimum wage. i am a woman, which she talks about a lot more than she did in the last campaign. but does she have a message? no. is she running? yes. >> very quickly, you both agree, she is running, right? >> of course she is. this coy flirtation is getting a little old. it was one thing to hold off for a couple of months, if not a year, because she wasn't ready. it's very clear she's running. i don't know. i find this, i'm thinking about it, wait for applause line. it's a little annoying. >> you can't say that you're running this far out, because -- >> yes, you can. >> no, you can't. you can't say you're a candidate right now, because it comes with all the baggage of a candidate and you can't start doing that two years out. you do things like the book tour and the -- >> she's campaigning without

campaigning. >> exactly. >> on the republican side, chris christie is going into new hampshire in a few days. is he running? >> chris christie is going to be running against a very deep field. a lot of other people will be running. hillary clinton -- >> none of them are -- >> in i'm martin o mally or joe biden, i'm waiting for hillary. that's the rule now. they have to assume she's running. that's not going to stop bernice sanders. >> remind me, cornell, why she came in third in 2008 in the iowa caucuses. narrowly behind john edwards. >> once upon a time in the obama campaign, our hopes was to come in a close third in iowa so we could raise money and continue to go. but we invested heavily in the caucuses and the caucus system is a special system. you heard those women there saying we want to see her.

you have to be on the ground and invest in those caucuses and have grassroots in a way that you can't just drop $1 million in advertising in the caucus system and hope to win. >> bill clinton will be there, i guaranty you. if hillary is running. wasn't so great in 2008 but will be a lot better. >> this bernie sanders from vermont, he's toying with the idea of running, as well. is that a serious thing? >> for bernie sanders, it's a serious thing. for martin o'malley who is thinking about running. inevitability is never a good campaign. so she could use some serious challenges. he's going to challenge her from the left, however, and that could tarnish her a bit in a state like iowa. >> you've seen some of the folks like bernie sanders toying with this idea, that six to eight

years of obama policy hasn't worked out for democrats. and more clinton won't either, that kind of message. i don't think bernie sanders is as someone like elizabeth warren coming out with that message. >> if you're going to challenge hillary, you have to challenge her from the left which is what we did in 2008. >> i want you to watch this ad. this is alison dprgrimes runnin against mitch mcconnell in kentucky. watch. >> mitch mcconnell wants you to think i'm barack obama. mitch is the same guy who thought duke basketball players were uk. or who is attacking me on coal after doing next to nothing while we've lost thousands of coal jobs. he even said it's not his job to bring jobs to kentucky. i'm not barack obama. i disagree with him on guns,

coal, and the epa. and mitch, that's not how you hold a gun. >> then she goes out and fires it. pretty good ad, right? >> is she a democrat, by the way? >> she is a democrat. not the only democrat running very far away from president obama. look, i love seeing a girl with a gun. i'm going hunting this weekend, in fact. but i think it looks a little desperate to lean back on such a small issue when there are so many other kitchen table issues that a lot of voters are going to be voting on. >> are you surprised to see her say i'm running away from barack obama. >> what she's doing is sort of lining herself culturally where those voters are and that makes all the sense in the world. >> let me say that barack obama's popularity in her state is a whopping 29%.

>> his approval. >> right, his approval. >> he didn't carry kentucky. >> he did not. so it's not a surprise. >> kentucky voters are not as shallow as that ad makes them sound. they're not just going to be aroused politically by seeing some woman shoot a gun. they're looking at serious issues from obama care to the economy to foreign policy. and she's just not where kentuckians are. >> you know where obama care is working? in kentucky. you know where mitch mcconnell has been flip-flopping on the whole issue? kentucky. >> let's see how well they do. >> right now in the polling she is in dead heat with the guy who is the most powerful republican in the senate. >> the most expensive race in the country. >> all right, guys, good discussion. thank you very much. just ahead, a new twist in the nfl. ray rice is expected to appeal his suspension any time now. plus, the computer security hole

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see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. ray rice is reportedly planning to repeal the suspension handed down by the nfl after a video surfaced of the former baltimore ravens running back punching his future wife and knocking her out in that video that all of us have seen by now. joining us, our cnn commentator, l.z. granderson and jeffrey toobin is joining us from new york. do you think ray rice's career is over or do you think it is possible he could appeal and make a comeback? >> he can definitely appeal. i think he should appeal, especially when you consider the fact that there are men on the

field still who have been involved with domestic violence arrests in their past and they're on the field. will he be able to play this year? that's doubtful based on the heat and attention on him. but you can see him playing next season for sure. >> so ray rice can appeal his indefinite suspension, so explain how that would work, walk us through the process. >> it's quite complicated. you have a lot of different moving parts here. as i understand how the appeal would work, it would be the nfl players' union who would file the appeal and then say, under the collective bargaining agreement between the nfl and the players, the league and the team can't punish one player twice for the same event, same offense. and in this case, you had the nfl suspend him. and then the ravens release him. there are some other possibilities for how the nfl could defend this decision, but

this could get very complicated, very quickly. and i don't think anyone knows for sure how this appeal would go. i do think it is -- there's a very good chance that ray rice will be playing in the nfl again, whether it's this season, next season or somewhere down the line, i don't know. but he certainly -- almost certainly will have the chance to play again. >> let's talk about another star in the nfl, the minnesota vikings running back adrian peterson. he won't practice this sunday, but he is facing a child abuse charge. take a look at these tmz photos showing the leaked police report alleging peterson's abuse of his son. i don't think we have those photos. peterson did put out a statement saying -- denying he's a child abuser and after meeting with a psychologist, there are other alternative ways of disciplining a child that may be more appropriate. what do you think? will he be able to play?

>> oh, absolutely. you know, domestic violence revealed something very complicated in way more liberal in terms of whether spanking is okay in the south versus the north. you look at the education. people who tend to have a college degree view spanking as more bad than those who don't. when you factor in texas, he talked about growing up in texas, this is the way he was raised, and how he's being judged by his peers, all of this makes for a very fascinating nuanced differences between cultural differences and what science says is the most effective way. he certainly will be able to get back on the field. >> i think we have those tmz photos, i'm going to show them to our viewers. you see the injuries that this little 4-year-old boy suffered. but go ahead, walk us through

this. >> this is not a case about spanking. there is no question that spanking is legal in texas and every other state in the union. the issue is child abuse. and the question is, is that kind of punishment of a child with a switch, with a weapon, is that child abuse, or is that reasonable discipline? now, under the law of texas, if this case goes to trial, he can argue that under the standards of the community, his behavior was reasonable discipline. but i think, given those injuries, and apparently injuries to the boys' genitals as well, this is not spanking. this is something very different. you can see why the prosecutors brought the case. >> well, jeffrey, i think that if you were to show those photos to many people in the washington, d.c., area right now or in chicago right now, those photos will look very similar to the photos they experienced themselves growing up or their parents experienced growing up. i'm not saying what he did was right. what i'm saying is that fans

will be much more likely to embrace him because they understand the perspective he was coming from. we as a nation need to have a more nuanced conversation about discipline in this country. >> we definitely do. >> i'm not sure this is about nuance. i think this is potentially abuse, and a jury, which is the voice of the community, a jury may ultimately decide whether this is something in that community that's going to be tolerated. >> jeffrey, we have to leave it there. lz, thanks to you. important issues now being discussed. also coming up, how hackers could easily get ahold of personal information about your children. what if anything is being done to solve this problem and protect your family.

now a cnn exclusive, a gaping security hole in computer software revealed that could allow hackers to steal personal information about you and your family. here's jake tapper. >> now we're finding stuff that other people didn't see and it's playing in a national security arena. >> brian and ben say they've discovered one of the biggest potential security holes of the modern era, one that could leave your data and that of your kids' exposed to any hacker willing to find it. >> within a couple of minutes we found social security numbers, dates of birth, private student records, transcripts, grades. >> reporter: these two are so-called ethical hackers using their security skills for good to show vul nermts. >> we take that and reveal to to law enforcement, the relevant

part eighties and work to get the issues remediated. >> this month they found a weak in oracle software that the company discovered in 2012 and provided a patch for still remains a huge vulnerability to any customer that missed or ignored that news. sealy says at risk is the sensitive information from databases belonging to 20 government-related agencies, 100 schools k-12, and 50 constitutions of higher learning, affecting hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, he says. >> you could completely steal somebody's identity and assume someone else and take money out of their accounts. you could file legal documentation. you could take out business loans. the sky is the limit. >> reporter: they also easily access the records of the texas department of family and protective services. >> that is a department that had records of parents, the children, the situation of the

living environment of the child, things that the child had gone through. >> it's a little rattling. >> reporter: in a statement to cnn, the department acknowledged into t not only that the records were vulnerable but breached. anyone whose information was compromised is being notified and credit monitoring identity restoration services will be provided at state expense. sealy and kaud il are working with the fbi to alert the dozens of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of files that are still vulnerable and help patch their security systems. in a statement to cnn, oracle said it wasn't because of a product defect but the configuration of the security checks being disabled. the statement went on, the patch was issued as part of our regularly scheduled critical patch update customers know to apply every quarter.

oracle notified all of our customers directly to apply the patch. >> could they call everyone? probably. it may take a little while, but is it the right thing to do? >> reporter: jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront, breaking news. the united states launching its first air strikes against isis near the capital of iraq in baghdad. a live report coming up. plus, audio of isis talking to convicted terrorists about americans. hear that tape and the code words they use. ray rice wants his suspension overturned as outrage grows over adrian peterson. he's charged with child abuse. so why is he playing this sunday? let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm e