also at "the lead." check out our show page for video, blogs, extras, and subscribe to our magazine on flipboard. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. have a great weekend. i turn you over now to wolf blitzer. he is right next door to me in "the situation room." happening now, isis advance, terrorist forces seized dozens of villages as the u.s. prepares to strike the militants inside syria. can the pentagon win this war without u.s. troops on the ground? a break in the case. police are getting ready to announce major new developments in the search for a missing virginia college student. we're standing by for new information this hour. damage control. the embattled nfl commissioner makes a dramatic announcement as the league reels from multiple abuse scandals. what changes is roger goodell getting ready to make? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

following two major stories, we're awaiting a police news conference to update us on what they are calling a major break in the hunt for that missing university of virginia student. also, there's been a dramatic advance by isis forces in syria even as the u.s. launches new strikes against the terrorists in iraq. there have now been 178 u.s. air assaults on isis targets in iraq with the pentagon planning to dramatically increase that number, we're told, in the coming days. but there are also growing concerns about the u.s. strategy. we're using cnn's global resources to bring you in-depth coverage this hour with our reporters and our guests. our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, begins our coverage this hour. what is the latest? >> reporter: wolf, at the hour, isis remains on the advance across northern syria as everyone is waiting and watching to see when and if president obama will order air strikes against isis targets.

in northern syria, kurdish forces clash with isis fighters who have taken over some 60 villages in recent days, according to a monitoring group. u.s. officials know the war against isis must be won on the ground. but president obama insists it won't be with u.s. ground troops. >> it has to be the syrians fighting for their own country. that's the best way to do it, the most effective way to do it, the most sustainable way to do it. >> reporter: but is the u.s. running out of time before it even gets started? the pentagon estimates it will take up to five months to first find 5,000 reliable syrian fighters to train and then -- >> probably a period of eight to 12 months of actual training and fielding. so it's going to be a little while before you start to see opposition fighters returning to syria. >> reporter: so is it worth starting air strikes in syria now? >> there is still a significant

weakness and a significant gap if you don't have ground forces that are ready, willing and able to conduct missions in conjunction with airpower. >> reporter: in iraq, general lloyd austin, head of central command, did ask to place a small number of troops on the ground to direct u.s. air strikes when the u.s. began helping local forces retake mosul dam last month. the white house said no. president obama was sticking to his pledge. >> the president has ruled out the option of deploying american boots on the ground in iraq and in syria in a combat role. >> reporter: the pentagon insists commanders are not at odds with the president, even as the chairman of the joint chiefs holds open the option of requesting the u.s. military join iraqi troops as advisers on the front lines. >> there's complete alignment between the white house, the president and his military leadership here at the pentagon, from secretary hagel right on

down to all the planners putting together the options for the president to consider. >> reporter: but a former head of central command warns, the u.s. may be telling isis too much about no u.s. ground troops. >> i don't think we should reassure the enemy in advance that they'll never face them. >> reporter: of course, there are already some 1,700 u.s. troops on the ground in iraq acting as military advisers and military commanders say that number could still grow. wolf? >> so the next step we're getting ready -- the u.s. presumably already had some targets in place in syria right now. so the next step is just to go ahead and start the targeting, the actual air assaults against these various isis locations? >> reporter: senior u.s. officials are telling us the last step before air strikes begin will be for president obama to specifically authorize military action against isis inside syria. once he does that, the military

says -- publicly says it's ready to go and carry out the president's orders. >> he gives the general order to authorize those kinds of strikes but they don't give him necessarily a list that he reviews those lists and says yes or no to specific targets, does he? >> reporter: the understanding is that he is not -- no president in modern times takes out their number 2 pencil and goes through target by target. he's looked at the target list, has a general understanding of what the targets are, how they'll be struck, what the impact will be on isis, how much hitting those targets could destroy isis's capability. officials are telling us they're looking for two goals, to destroy isis's advance, destroy them on the move as they are now and also destroy their strategic capability, their ability to reinforce themselves, to get more weapons, command and control.

looking for that short near-term gain and the long-term gain. that's what the president is going to approve, we are told. that's what he has to authorize. and then those air strikes would begin. >> once the air strikes in syria begin, that opens up a whole new phase in this current war. thanks very much, barbara, for that. the secretary of state john kerry made the case for the u.s. war on isis at the united nations security council today. but to many people, his remarks sounded eerily familiar. let's bring in our global affairs correspondent, elise labott. you are monitoring what the secretary had to say. give us an update. >> reporter: it's not the first time a u.s. secretary of state took to the u.n. security council to urge the world to take military action in iraq. the comparison was inescapable. john kerry today, colin powell 11 years ago. but secretary kerry was quick to explain this was not deja vu. take a listen. >> i don't need to remind anyone here that the last two times the eyes of the world were focused

on iraq was when its government was in confrontation with the international community, with great consequences. today, however, we come together in support of the new iraqi government that has already made great strides in a short amount of time. and we must not miss this moment. >> reporter: now, wolf, the world was very skeptical back in 2003 about the u.s. case on saddam hussein's weapons of mass destruction. but today isis's advance and the beheadings of the two americans and the british citizen have l galvanized the international community. >> elise labott, thanks very much. we're going to speak shortly with the pentagon spokesman. but right now there's been a major break in the disappearance of a young university of virginia student, hannah graham. let's listen in. >> discuss sergeant mooney was the person who worked with his

team so incredibly hard over the course of the last 24 hours to develop information and use that information in support of a search warrant. i know you have a lot of questions. and i know i may not be able to answer a lot of those questions but we're going to do our best. but i want to make one thing absolutely clear -- this press conference and every press conference hereafter is about one thing and one thing only, and this is finding hannah. everyone within the sound of my voice has that responsibility. if you live in the city of charlottesville, if you attend the university of virginia, if that young lady's touched your life in any way, you have the responsibility to help us find her. now, hannah graham was on this mall last friday night into saturday morning. she walked from one end of the mall to the other end of the mall. and she walked past people. and now we have reason to believe she was inside of a bar

on this mall with an individual who lived on heshing hills way whose home we visited this morning. people saw her with that individual in that restaurant. videotape that you've already scene that detective sergeant mooney will talk about be depict signs of that individual, we believe. so my point is this -- people saw hannah and people saw him an people saw them together. and it's entirely possible, we believe, that hannah graham may have gotten into his vehicle, a vehicle that we seized pursuant to a search warrant. a vehicle that is characterized as a 1998 chrysler coupe, burnt

orange in color. i believe that vehicle was parked last friday night into saturday morning on fourth street, somewhere in that area, somewhere in the area of this mall that car was parked. somebody got out of it and somebody got back in it. and somebody drove away. if you remember seeing that vehicle and you remember seeing someone get back in it and you remember seeing it drive away, we need to hear from you. folks, we've had over 400 tips to find hannah graham. and it was from those, in large part, from many of those tip that is got us to the point where we are now. the point that helped detective sergeant mooney and a team of investigators put together some facts and circumstances in support of probable cause, sit down with commonwealth attorney,

present it to the magistrate, get authorization to go to take a car. and as i said to you this morning, while they were there executing that seizure for the purpose of taking that car and transporting it elsewhere to conduct a search, again, pursuant to that warrant, they established probable cause to obtain yet another warrant to enter that house. now, the question appropriately so has come up, well, was anyone at that house when the police arrived? yeah. there were three people. was the individual who we believe was with hannah graham there? yes, he was there. is he in custody? no. he's not in custody. was there probable cause to arrest him? no. there was no probable cause to arrest him. was there legally sufficient legal basis to detain him? not in the opinion of the ranking supervisor on the scene. not in the opinion of our

commonwealth attorney. not legally sufficient reason. so that person isn't in custody. but we know who he is. others know who he is. and while i'm not releasing his name right now, this man has not been charged with the commission of a crime. i've described his car. we know that he lived in the house that we searched this morning. we know that many of you were there. my suspicion is others know his name. and so there will come an appropriate time when i'll release that information. but right now, the message is this -- today was productive from an investigative standpoint, it was productive. the reason it was productive is it advanced the investigation. it got us to the point where we

need to be now. can bright legal minds debate that? probably. but when we arrest the person responsible for deconstructing the lives of mr. and mrs. graham and this community, it's going to be a prosecution that's going to lead to a conviction. o that's our goal. we're going to put together an investigation to make an arrest that will lead to a conviction. we have the legal and moral obligation to do that on behalf of hannah, on behalf of mr. and mrs. graham, on behalf of all of you. so i want to let detective sergeant mooney just for a minute -- be patient. there's a lot of things that are going to be left out. and you're going to say, what about this or that? we're not going to be able to tell you. but i want you to get an understanding, how did you get from yesterday to today and what

happened along the way to get you there? before i ask jim to do that, i'm going to preempt a question by providing you with this information. i'm not at liberty to disclose any items that we may have taken from that car, any items we may have taken from that residence, for lots of reasons. but the most practical right now is those items are still being evaluated for their relevance and their evidentiary value, if any. you probably can think of the kinds of things the police department would be looking for in a case like this. and you'd probably be right. but it's too premature for me to say, here's what we've got and this is what it means to us. i cannot and will not share that information with you tonight. but i want jim to let you have an understanding, how we got from last night or yesterday to where we are now. jim? >> i'll talk briefly about the video evidence that you're already aware of.

there have been numerous sightings of hannah on the downtown mall as well as the video evidence. we know that she was at the intersection of market and fourth street, that she traveled eastbound on the downtown mall. video evidence puts her in the 200 and 300 blocks of main street, the downtown mall. one of the videos -- and this came from tips, eyewitnesses that saw people in addition to an observation to the video. you see in front of one of the restaurants in the 300 block, you see a black male wearing all white. he has long dreadlocks walking westbound. within a couple seconds, you see hannah graham walking eastbound. you can very clearly see this black male with dreadlocks cross to the other side of the mall and then he travels eastbound behind her. an additional video captured at a store on the mall in the 300 block shows that same black male

with dreadlocks with his hands around hannah graham's waist. we know from witness accounts that they entered the tempo restaurant, on fifth street just off of the main part of the mall. we know that he purchased alcohol there and we know that hannah graham was with him. we also know that within 15 minutes, they were gone from that bar and that his car was seen leaving the area on video. and we have every reason to believe that m. graham was in that vehicle. >> if you have a question that jim can answer, he will certainly do that at the appropriate time. i just want to add -- just to underscore, emphasize, highlight the reason we're saying the tempo restaurant, because i want

people who were on the downtown mall last night -- or last friday at 1:00 in the morning, between 1:00 and 2:00 to think about the tempo restaurant, to think about the garage, to think about fourth street, to think about that section of the mall and replay in their mind, did i see someone that is a black male, 32 years of age, 6'2", 270 pounds with dreadlocks with hannah graham? did you see that? if you did, what did you see? they weren't the only two people on the pedestrian mall last friday night is my point. we need your help. we need people's help to find this young lady. jim and i sat with mr. and mrs. graham this afternoon, about an hour and a half ago. they want their daughter back. they want to know what happened

to their little girl. that's all. and that's what i want. and that's what you want. so we've got to do this together. when we leave here tonight, we're going to go meet with -- my guess, it's going to be a large number of volunteers that are going to want to help. thank god for the virginia department of emergency management, thank god for our fire department and the sheriff's department and all the people that have helped coordinate searches because all day tomorrow, they're going to be looking. as i said last time we were together and i'll repeat now, we need you to look, too. if you live east of here, if you live he's of here to the county line, be looking. in you live west of here to heshing hills, be looking. if you own a business or residence east of here to the

county line, straight on down market street and you've got a video camera in your house or it's a business and you have a video camera in your business, if you haven't talked to us, please talk to us. if you live or own a business west of here to heshing hills, up maine street, up preston, up barracks road, clear into the county and we haven't talked to you, please call us. we need your help. i'll take any questions you might have. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> the person i'm looking for, i'm going to answer your question specifically about -- i would to underscore and highlight. the person we're looking for is a black male that's 32 years of

age who's 6'2", 270 pounds and has dreadlocks. now, as jim just said to me -- ten people can look at a video and walk away with ten different impressions. i've told you earlier that we looked at a video and it looked like a reflection when in fact when we go back and look and critically evaluate it as a lot of you did, no, that's somebody. now we look at it and we see it's this person whose description we've articulated. we can't account for a gap. so we don't know that there may not have been more than one contact. what we know now because of eyewitness testimony or eyewitness evidence or information is that she was in that business with this person, that she walked in this business with this person. she walked out of that business with this person. >> that was after the [ inaudible ] -- >> that's right. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> it varies, some of the restaurants close earlier.

but 2:00 is -- generally 2:00 is about the latest. some of the restaurants close earlier, some are later. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> that has not been clearly established yet. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> we know who he is and we are aware of where he is, yes. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i would say to that, henry, that this male -- if anybody has seen him since that night in the last six days, we would be interested in that information. i would encourage you to come forward through the tipline. >> [ inaudible question ].

what about the subsequent rapes in the area -- >> every morning between 5:57, 6:00, the media gets a report that looks like this. those incidents are on that report. >> does uva know about this? >> i don't know if they know about it. they get a copy of this report as well. let me make something clear. i do so respectfully. we can have this conversation at another press conference. this conversation is about hannah graham. that's what this is about. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> don't have any reason to believe that. the issue -- and i'll say this and then i'd like to stay on point, if i can. the issue that the university and i will continue to always work towards -- and i really think we've done a better job of it over the years. but we will always work towards communication. not only will we fulfill our obligation to the community to make sure that things are properly disseminated and maybe

not just to a 6:00 in the morning media group, but also to make sure the university fulfills its legal obligation under the cleary act. yes, sir? >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i don't know that i've seen any -- the other thing, too, i don't know if we've recovered any additional video that we haven't even reviewed yet. >> that's exactly right. we've recovered additional video today. it's still being analyzed. and i cannot say that ms. graham is on that video. in fact, i can say right now, that the last video where we see ms. graham is in front of that store in the 300 block of east main street on the mall. there is no other video evidence that shows her after she leaves this mall that night. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i may.

we collected a number of videos today and they need to be analyzed and if we do, we will certainly release those. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i'm not aware of any relationship. i do not believe so, no, sir. i have no reason to believe that. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> unfortunately, no. i don't know that anything that i've been made aware of up to this point -- and i want to -- as i said to lots of folks before, i get briefed on these cases every couple of hours, things happen within 45 minutes of me walking up to this podium that i may not be aware of. so i will cautiously say nothing's been brought to my attention to help me answer that question either way.

>> when you talk to her parents, do her parents still have hope to try to bring hannah home alive -- [ inaudible ]. >> i will always be hopeful until we find hannah. i can't speak for her mom and dad, but i can tell you every interaction i've had with them over the past couple of days, they're hurt, they're concerned, they're frustrated. but not for one second have i ever discerned that they've lost hope in finding their daughter. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i don't know the number that were deployed at that particular time. i've been saying for many years and others have said, we need to increase our presence not only on the downtown pedestrian mall but across the table of organization. and we're working hard to establish that. >> [ inaudible question ].

>> i missed the first part of the question. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i haven't spoken to mark who's coordinated the searches, nor have i spoken to detective harris about the search patterns other than we're searching places that are logically associated with the mrapath tha our investigation has taken us. yes, ma'am? >> [ inaudible question ]. >> it's the reanalysis of the video and it's the witness accounts. a number of people pointed out a black male with dreadlocks that seemed to turn around when hannah walked eastbound. >> [ inaudible question ].

>> i can't answer that. i have no information one way or the other. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i won't discuss his criminal history. he has had police contact. yes, sir? >> [ inaudible question ]. >> the person who was with hannah graham in that tempo restaurant, the person who left in that car was there at that apartment, yes, sir. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i can't because mark's coordinating that. if we can -- if there's some way we can do that before the night's out, we can get you some information -- part of what's going to happen at 7:00 tonight is, one, to do what i think is really important. and that is to make sure that we ensure that the volunteers understand the mission and the importance of the mission. and then walk them through the practicalities of fulfilling that mission. and that's going to be largely

v-dem's role in this case. so they would be better suited than i. but you can imagine, we're going to recanvass, re-evaluate, re-search, reacquaint ourselves with the areas that i've described. due east of here to the county line, straight down market street corridor, west of here, clear up through the barracks road corridor. those are the areas we're going to focus. a couple of more questions? >> [ inaudible question ]. >> well, i'm not calling him a suspect. although we've used this term person of interest, i've never been quite fond of the term. so let me just say, we're interested in him. we're interested in talking to him. we're interested in learning more about his interactions with hannah. but to label this person in any way, shape or form -- i don't

know that that's appropriate, although we'll admit we've done that in the past. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> yes, ma'am? >> [ inaudible question ]. did she appear to be uncomfortable with him or distressed or was he a concern? >> i won't comment on what they've said about her appearance. but i'm interested in hearing from more people that saw her to put that together. we've had different accounts of her behavior. we've seen the video. she seems to be walking with a purpose. >> what was this man's reaction when you knocked on his door bright and early this morning [ inaudible ] -- >> i would say that i spoke to him and i want to speak to him again. >> his reaction, the look on his face? >> i'm not going to go into that. >> one more question. courtney?

>> did he cooperate? did he object to being questioned? >> i spoke to him early this morning and i want to speak to him again and i want to speak to anybody that has seen him since friday, saturday morning on this downtown mall. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i'm not going to go into what he said. >> do you have any reason to believe he's [ inaudible ] -- >> i have no reason to believe that. >> let me thank all of you for your continued interest on behalf of the grahams, on behalf of hannah, of course. on behalf of the university community and behalf of our citizens. we really need your help. we appreciate you being here. hope you have a safe night. >> so there you have it. the charlottesville police chief saying they think they have someone of interest but certainly not enough evidence to go ahead and arrest anyone. they're looking for this 19-year-old student from the university of virginia, hannah

graham. scene jean casarez is our reporter there in charlottesville, virginia. they said they had a major break in the case. what was that major break that the police chief spoke about? >> reporter: well, we heard a little bit yesterday and more today on this case. it has been across the country all week with national headlines. and there was someone that was at that mall a week ago tonight that saw hannah and felt she was distressed. and then shea saw an african-american male go up to her and they appeared to know each other. and that gave authorities in the last 24 hours to relook at that videotape and all the surveillance tape that they had on hannah. and they found, in fact, that that african-american male person of interest they are calling now walked to her, put his arm around her. and then they went to a restaurant. and the man at least ordered some alcohol. and that's the last person authorities are saying now saw hannah.

i think what's given this case such national significance, this is not the first young woman to go missing from charlottesville and this area. this is a university of virginia sophomore. and several years ago, another virginia university student also went missing. so the community has continued to be on edge and now there is another young woman. >> jean, stand by. tom fuentes is with us, jeffrey toobin is here as well. what did you make of the police chief, what he said? they went do this house early in the morning, three men were there. they questioned the so-called person of interest. he repeatedly described him as a black man with dreadlocks, 6'2", 270 pounds, but they said that the lawyers, the prosecutors, they didn't have enough evidence to go ahead and arrest him. >> i have to admit, i'm confused by this whole thing. they've taken the car into custody, presumably to do a forensic search on him. they were talking to the person of interest at the apartment last night. if they let him go, do they keep

him under surveillance? do they have some close watch on him? do they know right now where he's at and how to get ahold of him if they find evidence that's important in the search of that vehicle? i just don't understand really all of the dynamics. >> certainly haven't found enough evidence to go ahead and arrest this individual. >> apparently the local prosecutor doesn't think so. you certainly got the impression from the police chief's news conference that they think they know they've got their guy. this term "person of interest" has started to be used in recent years. it is an almost entirely meaningless term. it sort of means suspect but we don't want to name him as a suspect. i find this a very strange situation. obviously mostly it's a very sad situation. but to pin a investigation so much on one person yet not arrest him, it just seems odd to me. >> because it sounds almost like the prosecutors, the lawyers in

charlottesville, virginia, they certainly don't think they have enough probable cause to go ahead and arrest him. but that police chief was pretty bombastic in describing this individual, making it sound like they think he may be the guy? >> he did. and normally the courts have held that the more serious the crime, the more latitude would be given for law enforcement in detaining a suspect. i agree with jeffrey, the term person of interest is ridiculous. but he's a suspect. they're suspicious of him. they've taken his car into custody. that shows they're looking for evidence there to link him to her disappearance. so i think that -- it just sounds very strange to me that this guy would still be on the loose when they're so suspicious of him. >> yeah. the university of virginia police chief -- the charlottesville, virginia, police chief is clearly very suspicious as is detective sergeant mooney. but as you point out, the prosecutors there don't think they have enough probable cause to go ahead and arrest anyone. we'll see what happens. we'll update our viewers if we

get more information on this story. when we come back, we're going to get back to the top story right now. the u.s. getting ready to launch air strikes, could be any day now, against isis targets in syria going beyond iraq. when will those targets start being attacked by u.s. warplanes? stay with us. ♪ ♪ imagine the luxury... of not being here. the power you want with the fuel economy you dream of. performance with a conscience. this is volvo innovating for you.

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growing questions about the u.s. strategy to degrade and destroy isis forces with air strikes as president obama vows this new war will not see u.s.

combat troops on the ground. the pentagon spokesman rear admiral john kirby is joining us now to talk about all of this. you've seen all the reports, admiral. is there significant difference or any difference for that matter between the president and his generals? >> no, wolf, there absolutely is not. everybody's in alignment about the strategy. everybody's in alignment about the objectives and how to achieve them. we had a great session down in tampa between the commander in chief and general austin, the commander of central command. i can tell you ul all up and do the chain of command, we understand our objectives. >> you heard the testimony of james matisse who served under president obama. he told the house intelligence committee in his words that half-hearted efforts can backfire. what do you think? >> i don't think these are half-hearted measures at all. we have great respect for general madison.

the policy is clear but the strategy is. we have been active and energetic inside iraq with our iraqi partners for a couple of months now. and we have devoted a lot of resources and time. over 170 strikes. we're still flying more than 60 intelligence and reconnaissance flights over iraq. and we have helped iraqi security forces and kurdish forces take back ground that isil captured and we'll continue to do that. >> here's what the director of national intelligence, james clapper said, we underestimated isil and overestimated the fighting capability of the iraqi army. i didn't see the collapse of the iraqi security force in the north coming. is that a general intelligence assessment? does the pentagon agree with that? >> i think we certainly agree with the fact that we didn't expect four iraqi divisions to fold the way they did near mosul. we were surprised by that. we had been watching as the intelligence community had been watching isil grow and develop

their capabilities over time. they move at lightning speed. i will also say that the iraqi security forces have since then really coalesced. they're beginning fight back and take back territory with our help and with the help of our allies and partners. the pressure's certainly being felt by isil throughout iraq. >> has the president already signed off on u.s. air strikes against isis targets in syria? >> well, i won't speak for the president or for his intentions. what i can tell you is he had a great session down in tampa on wednesday where he was briefed on the achievements and the accomplishments that we've had in iraq as well as planning options for syria. we're still working -- finding those options. there is still work to do. but we'll have ready if we get that call to take military action inside syria. >> if he were to call tonight and say, go ahead, do you have targets already in place? >> i would just tell you this, wolf, the united states military is ready to provide options and

to take action where and when we're needed to. >> i know the french are helping the u.s. now with air strikes in iraq. does any other air force out there, whether in europe, nato, the middle east, any other air force ready to launch air strikes against isis targets in syria? >> well, right now, again, we're still refining our options here. we're focused on what we are going to be able to accomplish inside syria. we are working with a number of allies and partners. i wouldn't speak for their contributions yet. but what i will say broadly is we know it's going to take a coalition effort, regardless of whether it's aggressive strikes, you mentioned the french, or whether it's other kinds of support. we know we need coalition support and partners in this. >> on a totally unrelated matter, while i have you, just getting this in from norad, two u.s. jets intercepted six russian planes that neared u.s. airspace off the alaskan

airspace. norad says the russian planes never entered u.s. or canadian airspace. how serious of an incident is this? >> well, we've faced these kinds of incidents before. we take them very, very seriously. and we routinely intercept them. we'll make our intentions known to russia as we always do and we'll certainly discuss our concerns with them at the appropriate time and in the appropriate venue. it is important that as we talk about these kinds of reconnaissance missions that everybody has a clear, transparent sense of what we're doing so that we can avoid any kind of mishaps in the air. >> was there any connection -- there was some speculation that maybe these incidents were connected to russian anger over the visit to the united states by the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko? >> i haven't seen any indication of a linkage to president poroshenko's visit. but, again, i think for intentions you probably ought to

be talking to our friends in moscow. again, we take these things seriously. and we'll convey our concerns to russia through the appropriate venue. >> admiral kirby, thanks for joining us. coming up, the national football league's boss tries to quiet the uproar over players accused of domestic abuse. will anything he said, though, really make a difference? how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40, $21. could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement? i don't think so. well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. ♪ big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars.

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let's bring in cnn's rachel nichols and once again jeffrey toobin is joining us. rachel, let me start by playing a question you asked the commissioner about ray rice. listen to this. >> you've mentioned on tv last week that you guys checked and tried to get the ray rice video and any information. the atlantic city prosecutor's office said they don't have any electronic communication from the nfl asking for that documentation. can you give us the trail of how you did that investigation so people can know what you put into it? >> certainly. our security department works with law enforcement. they're fully cooperative. we gather almost entirely all of our information through law enforcement, and that's something else we're going to look at, rachel. is that the right process? should all of our information be

gathered simply through law enforcement? we understand and respect what they go through and the job they have to do, and there's certain restrictions they may be under. >> they're saying they don't have a record -- >> we asked for it on self-occasions, according to our security department. we asked for it several occasions over the spring, all the way from february through june. so i'm confident our people did that, and so that's something we'll have to discuss directly with them. >> so he's confident his people did that. is that good enough? >> i mean, look, there's a lot of different branches of government. i don't know who they asked. the group that had jurisdiction, the atlantic city police and the prosecutor's office, in an open records check from cnn, said they don't have any record of any communication from the nfl. now, they may have asked different law enforcement officers, but that begs the question, were you asking the right people in the first place?

it just goes back to this larger point of you seriously were they conducting these investigations, specifically the ray rice investigation, but any of them. when he gets up at the press conference today and talks about how things need to change, and he openly acknowledged that, and i give them credit for standing up for 45 minutes and answering those questions. but he didn't have a lot of specifics, and as they work that out, people are going to be looking for real answers, not just lip service. >> jeffrey, do you think we're going to see some major personnel changes, changing the rules of the nfl, he said they're not going to have a complete review until after the super bowl, which is in february. >> it's the middle of september now and the super bowl is in february. look, the big issue in the nfl it seems to me is what happens to people who are charged with domestic violence? we know for a fact that they have an inconsistent policy and

they have -- some people have been suspended for a week, sometimes longer. the big question is, what is the policy going to be? that was the precise question that he kicked the can down the road on that. he said we're going to change the policy. apparently by the time of the super bowl. so basically, this press conference was content free as far as i can tell. he did not announce any changes. he just staid that he was wrong, and there will be changes down the road. we will see what happens. >> you asked him if he would be willing to give up any of his power in the nfl. were you satisfied? >> he said everything is on the table. the system that is set up right now for discipline in the nfl is something that would just never fly in any other part of our american society. roger goodell is judge, jury, executioner and the appeals court. so he makes complete decisions, everything is under his control.

the nfl p.a., the players association can ask for an outside arbitrator to come in and review, but it's roger goodell that has to give permission for that. so the question i asked is hey, one of the problems without a system of checks and balances is that you make mistakes, as he has said he made in these cases. could there be more check and balances in the future? again, his answer is everything is on the table. we'll have to see months from now when the pressure is off if he does give up some of that power. >> ray mcdonald of the san francisco 49ers, arrested for domestic violence, remains with the 49ers. and because roger goodell has not changed the policies, he's apparently free to continue playing, unlike adrian peterson, unlike ray rice. as far as i can tell, he's going to continue playing because this policy review is going to go on for months.

>> so clearly the statement by the commissioner didn't resolve all of these issues. a lot of questions still remain. jeffrey, thank you very much. rachel, thanks to you, as well. rachel will be back later tonight, 10:30 p.m. eastern with her program, "unguarded with rachel nicoles." catch it right here on cnn, 10:30 p.m. eastern. coming up, as the u.s. goes to war with isis, we're learning new details of the mistakes that slowed the u.s. response. and a propaganda video called "flames of war." [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow.

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happening now, new isis victories. their enemies flee as they wage a lightning strike campaign. and now an admission that the u.s. intelligence community failed to understand the isis threat. >> the beginning of the war is only to intensify. the fighting has just begun. >> a dangerous new isis figure emerges, this one speaking english perfectly. we're taking a closer look at clues about his identity. and the nfl commissioner breaks his silence. he's offering an apology and a promise to change the league's policy on domestic violence. but is that good enough? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." ♪ up first this hour, huge

gains by isis in northern syria. a syrian human rights group says 60 villages have fallen in the past 48 hours. the terror group is advancing, while the new u.s.-led war against isis apparently only just beginning. and now america's intelligence chief is acknowledging that mistakes were made, mistakes that helped slow the u.s. response to this new isis threat. our correspondents and analysts are standing by with new insights into the widening war. up first, jim sciutto. jim? >> reporter: wolf, i'm told today by u.s. intelligence officials that it is now the consensus view of the u.s. intelligence community that it underestimated the isis threat and overestimated the iraqi army's ability to fight back. a frank assessment of how even the world's most capable intelligence agencies were surprised by isis' rapid success. from the nation's top

intelligence officials, it is a startling admission. the u.s. intelligence underestimated the threat of isis. director of national intelligence james clapper first telling the washington post "what we didn't do was predict the will to fight. that's always a problem. we didn't do it in vietnam. in this case, we underestimated the islamic state and overestimated the fighting capability of the iraqi army." intelligence officials tell cnn that the cia issued multiple intelligence reports on isis in the months before its lightning advance across iraq. detailing its growing capability and ambitions. the key surprise, those officials say, was the sudden dissolution of the iraqi security forces. even though they greatly outnumbered isis fighters. >> one of the most difficult things to do is determine the will to fight. i think they were totally

overwhelmed and there was a cascading effect there too, which is something very difficult to calculate and assess. >> reporter: one key contributing factor, the american withdrawal from iraq in 2011. >> after nearly nine years, america's war in iraq will be over. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence capabilities and critics say -- the president did not do enough to maintain a presence in iraq. >> the fact that they didn't leave a residual force in iraq, overruling all of his military advisers, is the reason we're facing isis today. >> reporter: syria represents an even bigger intelligence hole. made worse by the very limited u.s. involvement on the ground. the situation that is only now changing significantly. u.s. intelligence officials tell me that the intelligence community is confident it now has a better handle on isis,

including inside syria. why is that? because it's become a priority and the u.s. has been able to focus its robust capabilities in isis' direction. wolf, you're seeing a very frank reassessment of where the intelligence community was on ice ace few months ago and today. >> they're acknowledging they underestimated the capability of isis and overestimated, which turned out to be a disaster, the iraqi military. several hundred thousand troops trained, financed, armed by the united states simply crumbled. >> that's the one they zero in on. that dissolution of the iraqi army so quickly is really the biggest surprise. >> thank you very much for that, jim sciutto reporting. the secretary of state john kerry has been working today to try to rally international support for this war against isis. our global affairs correspondent has more on the secretary's

message. >> reporter: now that the president has authorization from congress to arm and train syrian rebels, the next stop is shoring up the international coalition. but for some the case being made at the united nations was a very familiar one. a u.s. secretary of state taking to the united nations security council to argue for military action in iraq. the comparison was inescapable. john kerry today -- >> the 7,271st meeting of the security council is called to order. >> reporter: colin powell 11 years ago. >> we view the situation with respect to iraq. >> reporter: kerry was quick to explain, this is not deja vu. >> the last two times the eyes of the world were focused on iraq was when its government was in confrontation with the international communities with great consequences. today, however, we come together in support of the new iraqi

government that has already made great strides. >> reporter: in 2003, colin powell offered what he called irrefutable evidence, now discredited, to ask the world to endorse an invasion of iraq and remove saddam hussein's regime by force. >> the gravity of this moment is matched by the depravity of the threat that iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose to the world. >> reporter: a number of countries were skeptical about u.s. claims and key allies hike france opposed washington's march to war. >> the use of force must only be a last resort. >> reporter: it's a different story this time. as kerry spoke, french planes had just concluded their first air strikes against isis targets in iraq. the threat posed by isis is far more visible. the militant's huge military gains in iraq and syria and the beheading of three westerners have galvanized efforts for a

coalition and more than 40 nations voice support for the american-led effort. >> i'm absolutely confident that through a global campaign, this comprehensive and committed, we can support the promise of the new government in iraq and we can defeat the isil threat. >> reporter: allies have been largely silent on the question of military action against isis in syria. with iraq, you have a government asking for intervention. but with syria, you do not have authorization under international law. as you saw during the iraq war, many countries are sticklers of having that legal mandate from the u.n. on use of force and that authorization is unlikely to come any time soon. >> thank you very much. let's dig deeper right now. the mistakes that were made. barbara starr is joining us with our military analyst retired

general mark hurtling. you had a big column, david. you spoke with the director of national intelligence. he acknowledged mistakes were made. how surprising was this to you? >> i thought he was being frank. i put to him the question of the performance of u.s. intelligence in assessing the emergence of isis. he said we saw them growing and saw the difficulties in the iraqi army. he said the thing that we underestimated was the will of this adversary and overestimated was the will of the iraqi army. it was striking in part because clapper is a long-time professional. he looked back to vietnam and said the united states made the same mistake then in overestimating our allies and underestimating oured ed advers. >> i assume that's why when the president was asked months ago,

he spoke about junior varsity. is that based on bad intelligence that he was receiving? >> clearly the intelligence agencies were not ringing the bell. if the president could say that and not be contradicted, that was a sign. i think what clapper was focusing on, wolf, was the most important and mysterious factor in warfare, which is will. do we have the will to prevail against isis? is isis clearly demonstrating the will to fight. >> the other blunder was overestimating what this iraqi military would do in the face of this isis threat. a bunch of guys they came into mosul, the second largest city, nearly 2 million people, and the iraqi military, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that the u.s. has spent training them, arming them, providing them with weapons, et cetera, they just ran away. >> reporter: a lot of military

people in the pentagon will tell you it goes back to 2011 when the u.s. military left, the iraqi government at the time didn't want the u.s. to stay. there was no agreement for the u.s. to stay. and i think, again, we're talking 20/20 hindsight. as you look back, were the iraqis really ready? militarily, perhaps not. but more significantly, politically not. the malaki government was not ever able, not ever willing to have an inclusive government and incollusive military and many people will tell you sewed the seeds for what's happened in the intervening years. predictable at the time, no. understandable as you look back. >> you spent a lot of time in iraq, general. would it have made much of a difference if the u.s. had retained 2,000, 5,000 troops in iraqi if malaki would have given

those u.s. troops immunitimmuni? >> i think it's irrelevant, because we didn't. but i'll push back about the iraqi army running away. it was becoming a good army during the period between 2007 and 2011. there was a lot of pushes toward increasing their strength, having them do operations on their own. and they were becoming good. not great, but good. and i think as soon as the u.s. left, mr. malaki had his will, started replacing leaders. when you don't have leaders in an army, that army is going to fall apart. that army didn't run away. in many ways, the tribal sheikhs said the government isn't supporting us, why are we fighting for the central government? i think they probably just walked away as opposed to run away from isis. >> david, you spent a lot of time in iraq. i was there, as well. you know a lot of those military commanders who weren't shiites like malaki but sunnis, as soon as the pressure came in, they didn't trust the shiites.

they ran away and many of them not only ran away, they defected to isis. isis has a significant army right now with a lot of trained iraqi officers. >> i think that's one key to isis' success on the battlefield is it's taken on these sunni officer from saddam's forces. i'm really struck, wolf, as i hear e general clapper, the director of national intelligence, general dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the way in which the military and our national security officials are pushing back at the white house, in effect, saying if we're getting into this conflict, we need to be more honest with ourselves about our allies, about our adversaries. i just see more pushback, especially in comparison to three in iraq. >> we head the pentagon spokesman tell us there is no

serious division or split or rift between the generals and the president of the united states. do you believe that? >> i do, wolf. and i also think it's a great point about the pushback. the names that were just mentioned austin, myself, we spent a lot of time there. i think we understand the culture when you live with the people several years, and we understand that just going in and inadvertently bombing places isn't going to work. you really have to have the iraqi culture take over on this. the expression of winning their hearts and minds is inconclusive. what you have to do is win trust and confidence. and that can o the ground belon to the culture. >> were you surprised barbara, that the commander of the central command under president obama was so blunt in saying these are half hearted efforts that can backfire? >> no.

he has always been one of the most candid senior officers in the u.s. military while he was in uniform, of course, he had to be very careful and could not publicly speak against anything. now that he's retired he has more leeway. is there an opinion in the difference of strategy? i don't think so. i think the administration panld the generals have the same goals and strategy. 13 years later, don't sugarcoat it, sail what is going hon and explain to the american people the price to be paid before some of these decisions are made. i am totally convinced that's where the general officer corps is right now. they want to see honesty with the american people. >> well said, barbara starr at the pentagon.

thank you very much. still ahead, u.s. officials now poring over this isis propaganda video. they're zeroing in on another masked figure behind a slaughter. the nfl commissioner change his tune about domestic violence but refuses to resign. his critics are already firing back. (woman) the constipation and belly pain feel tight like a vise.

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experts are combing frame by frame through a new isis propaganda video which highlights the terrorist's sophisticated use of social media. cnn's brian todd is looking into all of this for us. >> reporter: we are told by the intelligence community that they are specifically looking for clues about this man, this one man who has just blasted onto

their radar because of this video. he's an isis militant who speaks perfect english and appears to commit a horrifying act on camera. one counterterrorism official tells me this video shifts the focus to isis. he appears only at the end, but his voice resonates all the way to washington where a u.s. official tells cnn the intelligence community is analyzing this video, trying to determine this man's origin. >> we're here with the soldiers of bashar. you can see them now digging their own graves in the very place where they were stationed. >> reporter: this masked isis militant gloats as he presides over the execution of syrians. [ inaudible ] >> they lie! [ indiscernible ]

>> reporter: he speaks perfect english. >> this is the end. >> reporter: he could be arab and educated in the west. he could be american or canadian. >> clearly isis had a calculated step to put this guy on camera. why? because he seems american. the message is aimed at a western audience. and his intent is to a, project fear to the united states. and b, to instill and give this sense of projection of power. >> reporter: the entire video is pure isis propaganda, edited battle scenes featuring the enemy's armor getting blown apart. but a crucial moment comes in the film's final minutes when they ready their guns and appear to execute the syrians who dug their own graves. >> this is quite extraordinary, if this is a north american, because it would be the first time that a north american isis

fighter committed a war crime. >> the fighti ining has just be. >> they're going to be looking at any particular accents they may have, voice analysis, anything that can tip off law enforcement where they can pull the thread even further in terms of state and local to meet with some of the communities. >> reporter: did isis slip up and expose this man by having him say and do too much on camera? maybe not. the value for them, he says, is in propaganda and recruiting. if he gets captured or killed, they have more westerners in their ranks. wolf? >> brian, thank you. let's dig deeper. joining us is peter bergen and robin wright of the woodrow wilson center here in washington. what are they trying to do? it sounds like a north american accent. what are they trying to do with

55-minute propaganda video like this? >> they succeeded in showing it on cnn. let's start there. with wide distribution around the world. it's important to note there are only a dozen americans who have joined isis, two of whom are already dead, both of them african-american. but they're not going to be the last. this video was intended to recruit others. >> we knoll there's been these one isis plot foiled in australia, some isis sympathizer clearly arrested in rochester. are we going to see more of these individuals, plots if you will, inspired by these kinds of isis videos. >> now that the united states has crossed that threshold and entered the war against isis, it's clear that the united states territory, the united states personnel everywhere in the world, are indeed vulnerable. it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a different kind of

terrorism, something small, brutal, to do something in public, to behead someone or kill them. >> the plot in australia is they would take a random individual and behead that individual, videotape it, and put it out there on the web. >> that's classic terrorism. the idea is to use terror to intimidate and make everyone fear and that in a way is to some degree winning. >> how concerned are you about what happened in rochester, what happened in australia? >> well, we've only seen one successful attack in the west from these groups. that was on may 24 in brussels where somebody went into a jewish museum and killed four people. the war has been going on for 3 1/2 years, so it is a concern. 2600 werners have joined the group, at least. and those numbers speak for themselves. >> here's what may be more disturbing right now. in the last few days, these isis

forces in syria have rolled up 60 syrian villages. they seem to be on the offensive in syria, scoring some dramatic advances. >> this is the danger, we were focusing on iraq and they're making headway in syria, too. you have the syrian government, the western backed rebels, and then you have isis. isis has done very well in expanding its territory, creating a regional capital for its caliphate, and that's where phase two of the u.s. intervention is going to be and likely to be much tougher than we do in iraq. >> you know this region well. that pro-western, pro-syrian free army. is that really realistic to think that they can get the job done in syria, on the ground? they're the only pro-u.s. combat forces that are going to be

involved. >> look at the iraqi army, which the united states says is going to take three years to retrain. half of it after spending $25 billion, is in effective. and half has to be retrained. then you compare that to the syrian free army, which are the farmers and the pharmacists is, who don't have the arms and the discipline, two have very little experience, and that's going to be i think much tougher in making a difference when it comes to what our investment is. >> apparently 5,000 of these guys, the free syrian army, they're going to go to available -- go to saudi arabia. >> that's why there's so much skepticism in congress. it doesn't mean that it's -- it is unlikely to succeesucceed, bs better than doing nothing. >> but at any moment, the u.s.

could start launching air strikes in syria. >> i'm skeptical of that. >> you don't think they will? >> i think congressional authorization would be required for a broad campaign in syria. i think congress is going to take another position. the syrian government is not inviting us in. this is expansion of a war. typically you would want congress involved. >> do you agree? >> i think there may be military strikes. i think whether they're successful is dubious. the combination of military strikes of what? does that in turn strengthen the syrian government and the inability of the forces on the ground to take advantage of the u.s. air strikes. i think that's the problem. in iraq, i think we can make some headway. syria, i have serious doubts. >> the major threat to the assad regime is isis. guys, thanks very much. just ahead, a very different story we're watching right now. cnn pressed the nfl commissioner

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the embattled nfl commissioner roger goodell is apologizing, acknowledging he mishandedle the ray rice domestic violence scandal. he's promising to get it right

from now on. but some critics still are calling for goodell to resign. cnn's rachel nichols was over at the news conference and is joining us along with our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. rachel, you asked goodell about the former fbi director robert mueller appointed to handle the ray rice scandal. you pressed him about the fact that muller's law firm has close ties to the nfl. listen to this. >> rachel, unfortunately, we live in a world where there's a lot of litigation. there's a lot of law firms that maybe had some interaction with us in the past. robert muller has not. law firms may have. but we were hiring robert muller and his credentials and credibility to do an independent investigation reporting to the owners. i am confident that that will be the case. >> rachel, what did you think of that? >> well, look, as i asked him

the question and followed up with after roger gave that answer, i'm not attacking the integrity of robert muller. i'm sure he's of the utmost integrity. what i said, however, is even if robert muller conducts a flawless investigation, which he very well could, the appearance of impropriety is significant enough that a league that is being investigated whether they properly handled something should be concerned about whether they are looking like they are once again not properly handling something. this investigation, more than anything, is about regaining the public trust. and it seems like, by assigning it to a law firm, which by the way just took money from the nfl for negotiating one of its tv deals and which by the way the president of the baltimore ravens will be key in this investigation, worked at that law firm for 30 years. that raises question marks. again, even if it is a flawless

investigation, why put yourself in that position if you're a league looking to regain the public trust? >> jeffrey, you're a lawyer. you understand the appearance of potentially a conflict. robert muller, the former director of the fbi, a very, very responsible individual, i'm sure he ale do the best job he can. but i assume all the staff workers are from that law firm, which has a direct financial tie to the nfl. unless he brings in people from outside. but my suspicion is, he'll use the lawyers from that law firm. >> sure. the firm has hundreds of lawyers. the corporate side dealt with the nfl deal. he'll be dealing with a new group of lawyers. i don't have any tout about the integrity of robert muller and i suspect his investigation will be one where he lets the chips fall where they may. but if you want to have a fresh start and if you want to have your -- be free from any

criticism, you pick a different law firm. >> so he's acknowledging now, and you were there, rachel, roger goodell, they got it wrong, they made some mistakes. they're now going to study those mistakes, come up with some recommendations by the time of the super bowl in february. is that going to be good enough? >> it depends on what they decide to do. they talked about getting a panel of experts together, having those experts pore over their policy on their player conduct, from everything, from their punishment to who's deciding them. that's all well and good, but the panel are take its recommendations back to roger goodell. so this still comes down to him. right now he holds absolute power. one of the other questions i asked him was, would you be willing to give up some of that power? because the problem is when you are judge, jury and executioner, you have the potential for getting it wrong. there's no check and balances there. he said that's on the table. we'll have to seal if the table

of experts recommends more check and balances. >> another level of complexity in this task is what will the role be of the players union? will they agree to a new set of procedures? and what role will they have in setting these new policies? but the key point to remember is, nothing is going to change for months. and ray mcdonald, who is charged with domestic violence, is still going to play for the san francisco 49ers. months will pass where presumably that will continue. >> let me play a clip. rachel interviewed the executive director of the players association. listen to this. >> we heard roger goodell talking about making a significant overhaul of the personal conduct policy. what do you think of that, and is the union going to have any say in how that shapes out? >> the personal conduct policy is something we have spent a lot of time talking about.

perhaps not necessarily agreeing about, but hearing that they intend to have a discussion about overhauling that testimony is something that the union will have to be a part of. we look forward to working with them and correcting the problems or the issues that we believe have existed with that policy. >> rachel, how is this going to play out? >> they talked about cooperating. that's all well and good today. we seen that the nfl p.a. and the nfl don't always cooperate that well. and the nfl p.a. has a responsibility to -- like a defense attorney, fight for the rights of its players, protect the rights of its players. i think they see this as an ability to get back some of the absolute power. but i'm curious to see as the months go by, time goes on, the public scrutiny lessons, how much power the nfl offices are willing to give up. >> and it's not just domestic

violence on the table. it's marijuana. they have suspended players for an entire year because of marijuana. it's steroids. once you open this up, it could be a complicated negotiation. >> rachel, thank you very much. jeffrey, thanks to you, as well. an important reminder, rachel will back tonight at 10:30 eastern. must-watch tv here on cnn. that's 10:30 eastern later tonight. just ahead, hillary clinton tries to fire up the voters. the importance of winning over women, that's coming up. hi! can i help you? i'm looking for a phone plan. it has to be a great one, and i don't compromise. ok, how about 10 gigs of data to share, unlimited talk and text, and you can choose from 2 to 10 lines. wow, sounds like a great deal. so i'm getting exactly what i want, then? appears so. now, um, i'm not too sure what to do with my arms right now

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senate. so the top leadership, they are trying to send an urgent message today that the midterms really do matter. and so do women voters. let's bring in our correspondent dana bash. they staged a major event today. >> they sure did. the reason is because democrats are in tight senate races this year, are staying competitive because of the gender gap. women tend to favor democrats more than republicans. but to get them to the polls, they need to be energized. today the democrats brought out the big guns to do just that. a show of democratic force to fire up female voters for november's election. the president -- >> you can measure how well a country does but how well it treats its women. >> this is not a woman's issue. this is an american issue. >> reporter: and a future president? >> because if women work hard all day, they've earned equal pay. >> reporter: after losing the

2008 democratic nomination, this forum is a clue she plans to do things differently in any 2016 rerun. >> when women succeed, families succeed. >> reporter: but first, she's recruiting female voters for this year. >> the midterms really matter. >> reporter: women tend to turn out for democrats in presidential years but stay home during midterms. reversing that this year is crucial. is it fair to say that the democrats' ability to get the female vote out, particularly single women, will make the difference between holding on to the senate and losing it? >> absolutely. just look at north carolina, louisiana, alaska and iowa and look at this group of voters. they're heavily democratic. getting them out will be the difference in winning and losing. >> reporter: that's why in colorado, the democrat's top goal is to paint his gop challenger as extreme on women's issues. >> my opponent led a crusade that would make birth control illegal. >> reporter: in iowa, the

republican is a woman. but democrats argue wrong on a major issue that affects women, the minimum wage. she opposes raising it. >> is $7.25 appropriate for iowa? >> i believe it is. >> when tom and i were first married -- >> reporter: male gop candidates are making an effort in this year's ads to feature their lives. and democrats don't always have perfect pitch. the vice president hit a wrong note today when he praised republican friends. >> guys like packwood. >> reporter: he was forced to resign from the senate on allegations that he sexually harassed women. democrats say the female vote is so fee that their goal in nearly

every race is to make women who lean democrat so frightened that they make sure that they will get out and get to the polls. >> awkward, bringing him up at an event like this. gloria, do democrats have an edge when it comes to women voters? i'm talking about the midterms. >> so there are two ways to look at it. look at it nationally. democrats are up with women by 11 points. but republicans are up 21 points with men. if you look at some key battleground states, iowa, new hampshire and kentucky, all of which have women candidates, the republicans are up with men at about the same number the democrats are up with women. so they have that kind of parody there. if the republicans can keep that parody with men, they'll be okay. but if the democrats get out those women voters in greater numbers, it could make the difference. >> and we have susan here from

"usa today." welcome, susan. what do you think, all of a sudden hillary clinton, the former secretary of state, she loves talking about foreign policy and international affairs. now she's getting into domestic stuff. what does that say to you? >> she's not running for secretary of state, she's thinking about running for president. economic issues are almost always more important than foreign policy issues. but i think it's a complication that the topic has turned to terrorism. so the minimum wage, equal pay, those work with women. but fighting against terrorism, that could complicate efforts. >> because women are more concerned about that or because women don't want the u.s. to go to war? >> women are very concerned about terrorism. we know that. we know also that a majority of women say that president obama has not been tough enough in addressing these issues. so it's an opening for

republicans that they don't necessarily have on economic issues. >> as "the new york times" pointed out, the other thing about women is democrats are emphasizing now the social issues, issues like contraception, which used to be republican wedge issues. now democrats are emphasizing it so they can get women out to vote. >> what susan said is so true that national security is suddenly, because of what's going on, the war against isis, the whole term "security mom," which is so ten years ago, is coming back into republican lingo. and even just today, the republican head of the committee trying to get republicans elected to the house said that they're pushing it. they have maybe four or five new ads out on the campaign trail. i was talking to a democratic strategist who said they're going to push back and say that whole concept is sexist. >> it could motivate the republican base if republicans

weren't so divided on what to do. >> let me ask you this, susan, the president last night, in praising the congress after the house and senate voted to give them the authority to arm the moderate syrian rebels, said this was american foreign policy at its best. were you surprised more democrats opposed what the president wanted as far as arming the syrian rebels than republicans? >> yes. look among the democrats who opposed it, elizabeth these are people seen as potential presidential contender, these are people that are tapping into a vein in the democrat party that is a problem for barack obama and also an issue for hillary clinton. >> they didn't want her to have the problem to authorize the war. >> and then hillary clinton is glad she wasn't in the senate yesterday because she would have had to take one of those votes.

>> and i was surprised to see how tough he was yesterday. >> incredibly tough. he didn't name names, but you didn't have to know names to know who he was talking about, the hawks in his party. he's having this tug of war with him self-. does he want to be an isolationist like his father, ron paul or the middle of the road? the way he went after what he called the interventionists yesterday, made it clear that is where he is staking out his differences from other people. >> i've spoke tone rand paul, he doesn't want to be called an isolationist, he wants to be called a noninterventionalist. all of you have a great weekend. we have more ahead. but first this impact your world. there is something magnetic

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secretary of defense, the former cia director, leon pinetta, speaking out about the isis onslaught going on in iraq and syria. telling scott pelley of the cbs news, he thought it was important for the united states to maintain presence in iraq after the withdrawal of 2011. he went on to say he disagreed with the president's decision to not arm the syrian rebels. listen to this. >> the key was how do we develop a leadership group among the opposition that would be able to take control and my view was to have leverage to do that, we would have to provide the weapons and the training in order for them to really be willing to work with us in that effort. >> but with virtually his entire national security team unanimous on this, that is not the decision the president made. >> i think the president is concerned, and i understand it, was that he had a fear if we

started providing weapons, we wouldn't know where the weapons would wind up. my view was you have to begin somewhere. >> it looks like the secretary -- the former secretary of defense certainly agreed with the former secretary of state hillary clinton at that the u.s. should arm the modderal syrian rebels a couple of years ago. the critics of the president admit that was a mistake and the isis terrorists grew and grew and expanded in iraq and now control a huge swath of land between syria and iraq. interesting words from leon pinetta. we have a big week ahead in the situation room. i'm heading to the new york for the annual meeting of the united nations general assembly. the world's most powerful leaders will be there, including the united states. he is addressing the general assembly and on wednesday he'll be speaking about isis. that is one of the many global issues the president will face.

and i'll talk about the terrorist group on monday, and my special guest the secretary of homeland security, jon jay. and he will join us live and we are lining up other key players as well. join me next week. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." are the "outfront" starts right now. >> "outfront," roger goodell breaks his silence. and the ravens knew about the video the same night the player knocked out his wife. and a missing uva student and who could be responsible. and alibaba's record ipo. the stock jumped almost 40% today so why are some saying run. let's go "outfront".