and extras. that is it for me on "the lead." jake tapper returns tomorrow. i turn you over to brianna keilar who is sitting in for wolf blitzer today and that means she's in "the situation room." >> thanks, jim. happening now, breaking news, terror warnings. the head of the fbi says an al qaeda group targeted by u.s. air strikes may still be planning an attack. new air strikes. frer french fighter jets reveal new details of the terrorist income. suspects arrested. the man wanted in the disappearance of a virginia college student is in custody in texas and facing extradition. will he lead authorities to the missing young woman? wolf blitzer is off today. i'm brianna keilar. you're in "the situation room."

we are following breaking news. possible terror threats against the united states, including one by an al qaeda group based in syria. fbi director james comey says despite air strikes, the united states has to assume the so-called core zone terrorists could attack at any time. hours earlier, iraq's new prime minister reportedly said his country's intelligence agency had uncovered an imminent isis plot against the new york and paris subway systems. we're covering all angles of the terror threat at this hour with our reporters, guests, and cnn's global resources and we begin with cnn justice correspondent pamela brown. what's the latest you're hearing about the khorasan group? >> james comey says khorasan is still at the top of his list of priorities. he believes that the group is still in tact and could still be actively planning to attack the u.s. or europe. despite a series of syrian bomb

attacks in western syria, the fbi director says, quote, he's not confident at all that the u.s. air strikes have taken out the khorasan group. >> in one shape, way, form or another, the united states telegraphed the fact that they knew about this group and were preparing to come after them. it's quite possible that some of these fighters and operatives managed to disperse before these cruise missiles took effect. >> reporter: james comey said that the fbi did not have enough information to know the specifics of the attack but believes khorasan could carry out the attack tomorrow, next week, or months from now. they had already acquired materials and in the advanced stage of planning an attack against the u.s. and europe. intelligent sources tell cnn at least one of the alleged plots

included attacking the westerns. officials have identified the isis member seen in the beheading videos of three journalists but won't reveal that name publicly. and intelligence officials say they may not publicly reveal the identity until the suspect is brought to justice. we don't know how that's going to happen. it will either happen open the battlefield or in a u.s. courtroom. brianna. >> are you able to tell us how they were able to pinpoint the identity of this man in the video? >> he's wearing a mask. officials had a group of suspects that they were looking at because of the accent in the video. they were able to trace it to london. through voice analysis and picking apart metadata. >> thank you so much for that report. let's get more now on the

alleged attack to attack the subway systems in new york and paris. jim acosta is working this part of the story for us. the key is we say alleged plot because we're getting mixed signals here from iraqi versus american officials. >> absolutely, brianna. this got started earlier when the new iraq minister abadi told a group of reporters gathered at the united nations that baghdad had information about an imminent threat, a terror plot that was going to be hashed by militants on their subway systems. and according to american administration officials here at the white house and up in new york, they have no information that it's a credible, specific threat at this point, according to one senior administration official at the white house, they still want to corroborate this and while they are not

commenting publicly, the mayor of new york came out on the cameras and just about an hour ago to reassure new yorkers that their subway system is safe. here's what he had to say. >> i have a simple message for all new yorkers, there is no immediate, credible threat to our subway system. i say that with confidence. people should go about their business as they normally would. >> one thing we should point out is, according to administration officials, prime minister abadi and president obama did not talk about this yesterday in new york and the secretary of state john kerry. that's according to administration officials. and we should also point out, brianna, administration officials have been saying that they don't believe isis has the capability at this point to carry outer r terror attacks on. soil. >> it's all very confusing and we'll be trying to figure out

the details here during this hour. jim acosta at the white house, thank you so much. we're also learning more about the latest air strikes in syria. joe johns is joining us at the pentagon. >> the campaign to destroy and degrade isis continued today with the french government getting into the act. the united states flying several missions around baghdad, in fact, with the pentagon making it clear that, as far as they are concerned, more air strikes against isis in syria are to be expected. >> a day after a french citizen was executed in algeria by a group loyal to isis. >> munitions 41 total.

>> reporter: at the pentagon, a battle assessment from the latest strikes in syria, a dozen targets and six from the united states, hitting oil refineries controlled by isis destroying parts but not all of the targets. >> it wasn't about object literating refineries off the face of the map, it's about degrading their ability for these refineries. >> reporter: leaving some areas in tact so that future owners won't have to start from scratch. these images reveal how one refinery looked before the bombing and the aftermath. substantial damage for sure but fall short of demolition. >> we want to keep some available in the hope that they can be used one day by the moderate opposition. >> but that's actually where the real money comes from. the crude oil, the infrastructure, that's where the isis money comes from.

so if you really are going to take out isis' financial capability, don't you -- >> we're not going to be using these refineries for some time. >> reporter: one admitted problem is the lack of human reconnaissance in remote areas. >> we don't have anybody on the ground going to these sites. >> reporter: making it hard to know the effectiveness of the strikes and human toll. a monitoring group said at least 14 militants had been killed but also five civilians. >> it's going to take a while to work our way through that in terms of civilian casualties. >> so how much is this costing the taxpayers? that number is hard to pin down. the pentagon says the best estimate for military operations in syria and iraq is right around 7 to $10 million a day. brianna? >> joe johns for us at the pentagon, thank you. let's talk about all of this. so much news today. marie harf is joining us there in new york. >> happy to be here.

>> let's talk first about this alleged plot against new york and paris' subway systems. this is something that the iraq prime minister put out there as a credibility. is this a real threat? >> we cannot confirm this report at this time. we just don't have evidence to support it. we obviously take any threat seriously and will be working with our iraqi counterparts to corroborate is on our end. we cannot confirm it at this time. >> and we are hearing from, as well, the prime minister telling reporters that the intelligence agency had uncover this plot. you don't have the sense, then, definitely that he has the intel to back this snup. >> well, we don't have anything to back it up on our side. certainly our intelligence community is focused at looking any potential plots. we take these reports very seriously but nothing to confirm

it at this point. our folks are very focused on this or any alleged plot. >> if he has this intel, wouldn't you expect that he would share this with the president or with secretary kerry? they've all been at the u.n. together. it's not like he didn't have the opportunity to discuss this in person. >> well, that's right. we have a number of contacts, including with the prime minister. we have a huge team here still in new york even though the president has left new york talking to the iraqis about all of this and we'll continue to do so as we work to confirm it. i'm up here in new york and i would feel safe taking the subway today as i was yesterday. we'll keep working on it but nothing to confirm it at this point. >> that's certainly very telling that you would feel safe taking the subway. when it comes to this alleged plot, this information from the iraqi prime minister, as the president, secretary kerry or who in the administration -- i'm

assuming someone has checked in with him about this. >> well, i don't know specifically who has talked to the prime minister but we have a very robust intelligence sharing with the iraqis. we have a number of people who talk to them about the potential threats. i'm sure that people who focus on counterterrorism are looking at their information to see if we can back it up with our own information. again, we just want to be very clear with the american people and particularly new yorkers about what information we can back up and what we can't. we'll keep looking into it. >> prime minister abadi, very significant. he's replaced nouri al maliki, who has not seen as the man for the job. he had really ostracized sunnis. and the task at hand for prime minister abadi is seen from the perspective of your administration as essential to the success of combatting isis

in iraq. i wonder the question has been, is he the man for the job? and i ask in relation to this because it appears that he's either wrong about what he said or that he does have intel and he hasn't communicated it to the u.s. government. so looking at that, marie, how is he the right guy for this big, big job? >> well, let's not jump to any conclusions that he may have from his own intelligence sources. we are working to look at these allegations. the president and secretary are impressed by the vision that he has displayed for a more inclusive iraq that brings together sunni, shia, and kurds, to have a better future. we've heard him say the right things. he's done many of the right things. he's put forward a plan to bring his country to fight back against this very terrible threat. we'll keep working with him but he's on a good path and you're right, we hadn't seen that under

prime minister maliki. >> so you think secretary kerry is very confident in prime minister abadi and his vision that you just laid out? >> absolutely. we're going to judge him by his actions in the coming days and weeks and months but what we've seen so far and the work that he's been able to begin putting in place for the people of his country, he's been doing the right thing and, believe me, he recognizes the significant threat that isil poses to its people and the only way to push back on this threat in the long term is to bring people together, get them invested in their own security forces and get them working together to really push back on isil. i think he knows that's what needs to happen now. >> stick around with us. we're going to talk much more ahead about the air strikes in syria, the effect that they are having and if they really are negatively affecting isis as well as other terrorists in the region. stay with us. "hello. you can go ahead and put your bag right here."

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we're following breaking news, including frenk strarks inside of syria. let's go to marie harf. one of the things that was really interesting to hear today was fbi director james comey saying that he's not confident that air strikes inside of syria have disrupted the khorasan group who have believed to be

close to a plot against the u.s. the question, then, is there some sort of imminent threat to still exists that khorasan has not been disrupted? >> i think when you take military action against a group, it certainly has an impact. you've heard my colleague, john kirby, say a few times over the past few days that these air strikes that we've taken in iraq and now in syria have had an impact. they've degraded isil and the khorasan's capabilities. we're going after these groups so they can't threaten america. i will say, as the president has made clear, this is going to be a long campaign. it doesn't happen overnight. in addition to the military strikes we're going to be taking, we're going to use this as an opportunity to get at the core causes of why people want to join the khorasan group and isis. that's going to have to be part of that as well. >> kirby allen said it's hard

because we don't have boots on the ground. how can you be sure there is an impact? >> just from a purely operational military perspective, when you drop that much ordinance on these targets and see it hit the intended target, you can see it had an impact. but what we do after these strikes is gather all the intelligence we can. it's true we don't have boots on the ground to gather that information but we have a variety of ways that we can do that. we gather information about how they impacted isis' capabilities and if you're talking about the oil refineries that we've struck recently, that's been a major financing for isil. a majority of their money comes from oil and kidnapping for ransom. we can go pretty far in cutting off the ability to finance their group. >> was the fbi director wrong in that khorasan has been impacted here? >> this is a long-term effort. no one set of air strike is

going to do that. no one set of strikes will completely get the job done. that's why we're going to keep doing it. you saw us act with five arab countries in these strikes and that will continue. >> speaking of those partners from those arab nations, we're seeing at this point the dutch foreign ministry is saying that they will be providing f-16 fighter jets and 250 troops to help carry out air strikes. also right now, the belgians are waiting to put their support behind these air strikes as well. are you confidence that you'll get the help of the belgians and the british? >> we're confident we'll have all of the help that we need to take on this threat and there are many ways countries can do that. not all of its military and there are a number of ways that countries can contribute.

we know we'll have what we need to take on this threat. you've seen -- it's extraordinary if you think about it, the five sunni arab countries have joined with the united states to attack another arab country. that's really unprecedented and shows how everyone around the region and indeed the world understand how serious and significant this threat is. >> maria, thank you for being with us. you said you personally would be very comfortable on the subway. you were there in new york as we talk about this threat that the iraqi prime minister is talking about. thanks for being with us. >> absolutely. next, new details about the syrian rebels getting together to fight isis. and later, the strikes on isis have human rights activists pointing to what they see as terrible abuse. practice by a prominent u.s. ally. you're in "the situation room." how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40, $21.

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the ground in syria and go after isis and bashar al assad. included in that this time around is a contingent of christian rebels. that, they believe, is a sign that they are, indeed, open to a much more inclusive syria down the road and hopefully to immediately getting more support to the u.s. the rebel leaders i talked to, very, very harsh against u.s. policy, which they are calling half measures and they want arms now on the ground, brianna. so i asked one of those rebel leaders, a spokesman for one of the groups, just who are you guys and how can the u.s. trust who you are not to be getting these weapons into the hands of terrorists? here's what he had to say. >> there has been vetted that has been receive heing support for quite a few months and advanced weapons from the international community. they've shown how they use these weapons and they were able to use these against isis and able

to use these advanced weapons against assad. at the end, it's a question of why they are receiving, especially since they are vetted and trusted, we need to increase that flow. >> and getting that flow 12 months from now could be much too late. >> those brigades might not be here and then the international community is going to have a much larger crisis at their hands. it's a question isis is not the syrian problem anymore. it's a threat that threatens the whole region, threatens turkey, lebanon, saudi arabia and we might see some bombers anywhere in the world. we need to act and we need to act quickly. >> reporter: brianna, very critical about these air strikes only targeting isis or terrorist organizations within syria without assad getting bombed. they say that nothing is going to help there. and they also were very specifically critical about the fact that they have had absolutely no coordination, no

information on where those air strikes were going to be so that they could move in and take advantage of that in a strategic sense in their battle. brianna? >> very interesting point there, drew. this is a fascinating, fascinating story. thank you for bringing this to us from the border there. i'm joined by two men who have extensive experience in iraq. cnn military analyst and retired army general mark hertling and a top adviser to general david petraeus. colonel, to start with you, you heard drew there asking that representative of the rebels, how can we trust you? and that rep basically saying the u.s. already does in a way these are tried and true rebels. is that true? is that your assessment. >> i believe we have good knowledge about a number of these organizations and i think it's reflected in the fact that these rebel groups have been in the fight, they have been

fighting aside, isis, al nusra and others. they are tested and vetted and i believe we should reinforce and support them because they are the ground component in this fight in that part of syria. >> jen hertling, what do you think about the idea, and this is an argument that some have made, that the rebels could just turn around and use weapons to fight assad? they are banding together not just to fight isis but to fight bashar al assad which is something that the u.s. isn't doing. how tricky is it to give them arms? or does this not really trouble the u.s. too much, they just don't want to be doing air strikes against assad? >> this is very tricky, brianna. and i'm not sure i agree with general kirby on this. whenever there's an opportunity to potentially get arms, everybody becomes america's friends and everybody starts fighting the forces that we fight. the whole issue here is what

caused such dissension among the national security team of the president when we were looking at getting involved potentially in a syrian civil war. that is not what we are doing in northern syria right now. we are fighting a potential terrorist threat that's trying to build a state. we do not necessarily want to get between the free syrian army and bashar al assad. that's where things started taking a different turn. while we certainly want these groups to help us fight isis and we wouldn't mind them overturning bashar al assad, i think their attention is going to be on one versus the other. >> colonel harvey, today i spoke to mark ki mcmmit. he thinks the best outcome for syria would be keeping assad in a reduced position, mayor of damascus and then protected

areas around that in syria. do you think this is the end game? >> well, i don't think we understand what the end game is at this point. clearly there's going to be a devolution of power and the syria we have seen is not going to exist in the future. so what is the political outcome going to be and how is power going to be shared ultimately has to be addressed and until we get better clarification on the power base and the fighting between these groups, which will take some time, we're not going to see a political end game here that's going to be clear to us. >> and this was what we were talking about, general, earlier with kimmit, which is, what does syria end up looking like? like syria where gadhafi was gown and there's a big power vacuum or does it look like iraq after the first -- >> that's the potential power vacuum, where it's a very good thing to say from the free syrian army, we want to replace bashar al assad.

there's another thing to say, okay, what are we replacing him with and what group is moving forward? this is always the danger when you start talking about regime change, especially in a society that has been held together at times, even though it's a horrible society, has been held together by a brutal dictator and that's what we're talking about right now. i don't think we want to open up another element of chaos in this area right now. >> and unpredictability, what happens, that is the question, does it get better, does it get worse? colonel harvey, when you assess really i guess the strategy here, this mix of armed syrian rebels and air strikes, will this keep isis at bay? >> well, i think what we need to keep in mind here, in keeping isis at bay is, none of the strikes in the operations to date have been divisive. they are the first stages of a long campaign and going after

finances, foreign fighter recruitment and it's an important element. we don't have a political partner in syria and there are key pieces in the diplomatic coalition that are missing. most importantly, we do not have turkey solidly on side with the coalition yet and they are critical to getting after the islamic state. >> all right. colonel harvey, thank you so much, general hertling, appreciate you guys being with us. >> thank you, brianna. coming up, new focus on what happens in some of the countries fighting alongside the u.s. plus, a major development in the disappearance of the virginia college student. a suspect now in custody and we are learning new details. take and... exhale.in...

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and find out more about our two-year price guarantee. comcast business. built for business. a war against isis prompted in part by the horrific beheadings of two american journalists. but a key ally in the u.s.-led coalition has a disturbing history of beheading it is own citizens. dozens of them this year alone. cnn's brian todd is working this story for us. what are you finding out, brian? >> brianna, the government of saudi arabia has beheaded at least eight people, all in the name of law & ordeand order.

it's the brutal practices of isis, outrage of the beheadings of westerners in isis captivity. striking back at isis for that, a powerful coalition, including five arab nations. >> we are joined by our partners, saudi arabia. >> reporter: they routinely behead people, even for nonlethal crimes. >> the numbers up to the month of september is basically stands at 59 people executed, almost all of them by beheading. >> reporter: these scenes from videos posted on the website live leak. some crimes people are beheaded for in saudi arabia include adultery, witchcraft, drug-related charges. >> four members of the same family, four brothers beheaded or executed in saudi arabia because they were charged and found guilty of possession of

drug although they were not found guilty of drug trafficking. >> reporter: the sources of its information, according to amnesty, accounts from suspects and others on the ground who in some cases have provided documents. amnesty has gathered photos, like this one, and medical reports. this photo is from an egyptian newspaper. analysts say the saudis have a court system based on islamic law. defense attorneys for those who can afford them and an appeals process for those convicted, appeals which don't go far. one analyst points out, with america's own record of executions, the saudis may not be receptive to moral indignation. >> they know that we execute people. we have different forms of execution but we occasionally botch them. >> reporter: a state department official tells cnn it's made clear the concerns of human rights conditions in saudi arabia. analysts say in this military campaign, the u.s. has to make a concession. >> it needs the support of saudi

arabia, kwaqatar and other gulf states so it's not seen as a crusader of propaganda. >> we tried repeatedly in calls and e-mails to get response from saudi officials at their embassy in washington and with outside representatives to these accusations of beheadings and the overall treatment of people with regard to crimes. they did not respond. >> an element to this is the saudis are facing serious accusations of how they are getting convictions in these cases? >> people accused of crimes are often tortured, coerced into giving false confessions. we tried to get response to those accusations and did not get a response. >> brian, thank you for your report. next, a scary turn in the search for a missing virginia student. at the top of the hour, what police are doing to keep the subways safe after today's surprise new warning about

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we have much more ahead on the breaking news out of syria and iraq. but there are morn new developments and also a scary turn in the search for a university of virginia student, hannah graham who disappeared almost two weeks ago. cnn's erin mcpike has the latest. erin, tell us about the new information. >> reporter: well, brianna, the suspect in this case, jesse matthew, was found in texas. he could be coming back here to

virginia as early as tonight, late as by saturday. he'll be charged with abduction. after an exhaustive manhunt, jesse matthew suspected of the abduction of hannah graham, isn't fighting his extradition back to virginia. >> so you are, in fact, agree g agreeing -- >> reporter: but although matthew is behind bars, the whereabouts of hannah graham is still a mystery. >> this bright, really intelligent and athletic, friendly, beautiful 18-year-old college student who has been part of our community for the last two years is still missing. we have no idea whatsoever where she is. >> reporter: 1500 tips led law enforcement 1300 miles away from

her disappearance to a beach in galveston county, where matthew was found camping in a tent. he's being held without bail as three charlottesville police officers are in texas to escort him home. matthew was seen following her from the mall and police seized items for forensic testing. authorities say he walked into the police station over the weekend, asked for an attorney and left. that changed two days ago when police said they finally had probable cause to charge him with abduction and the intent to defile. >> the evidence that was obtained from the house in the car was sent to the lab for processing. i'm not at liberty to disclose the type of evidence or the results of that process. those two issues will be very relevant at his trial to discuss them in too much detail at this point, that risks being

prejudicial. >> matthew father says he spoke to him this week and insists he's not responsible. >> the only thing i can see him -- maybe trying to give the girl a ride home or help her out to kill or hurt somebody. that's not my son. >> now, the police chief said today that he still has hope that hannah is alive. of course, that hope diminishes some with each day but he's urging residents to search and research their property for anything she might have been wearing, even strange tire tracks, any clues that could lead them to her. >> with me now here in "the situation room," cnn law enforcement analyst tom fuentes. we're actually going to recreate hannah's steps that evening. >> okay.

>> this is charlottesville. the campus is right over here of she started that evening at her apartment right here, then she went to a friend's apartment for dinner and drinks. she was seen at mcgrade's pub sb intoxicated at 12:46 a.m., then caught on camera here at sal's pizza, then seen on a camera here at the jewellers. this is her walking with someone who authorities believe to be jesse matthew. and then after that, there is another man walking behind who later got in touch with police, even before this video came out. but what sort of is fascinating about all of this is that in the end, she ends up toward the end of her journey that evening,

she's at 1:08 a.m. at the tempo bar where she's seen with matthew, who leaves in a car right here, and then it is 12 minutes later where she is here and sends a text saying that she is lost near this area. what to you make of this? this is a 25-minute walk, but 12 minutes later when this text is sent. >> first of all, when you have going past the jewellers, then you have the same time she's at the bar, she's right in this vicinity here and have witnesses saying she went into the restaurant with matthew, and they're there about 15 minutes. he ordering alcohol. we don't know what he did, if he drank or she drank. but he ordered some. then they leave together. >> he's seen leaving in a car. >> the witnesses apparently say they leave in the car together, and she drives him. now, here we have a short time later at 1:20 a.m. that she's sending a text saying she's l r

here. but you would think you would not be lost if you're in your second year of school at uva and you're a block from where you live. >> we timed this out. this is a four-minute walk, not even drive. but let's day we know that she was intoxicated. is there a possibility that she could have been there? and it's walk towards campus mind you. is there a possibility she could have been lost? >> yes, there's a possibility she could be lost. there's a possibility he took her phone and texted, to say that she's lost at this location. it could be that he'll claim he left her alive somewhere, this is where i live, let me out and she got out but was disoriented and didn't know that she was a block from her house. so that's a possibility. and someone else came along and took her. we don't know that.

we don't though what forensic evidence the police found in his car and during the two searches of his apartment. >> this is what we're trying to figure out, some of the points that police are dealing with. thank you for piecing this together for us. breaking news, a new round of air strikes on isis targets inside syria. we're getting new information on that. . well... did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter- -sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ who's going to do it? who's going to make it happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions. build bridges that fix themselves.

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happening now. breaking news in the war against terrorism. new warnings from officials about alleged plots to attack americans. we have new information about a claim that subways here in the u.s. may be targeted. this hour, we're learning more about isis under attack and the secret black market smuggling making the terror group so rich. plus -- [ gunfire ] >> disturbing video of an unarmed man shot by a state trooper. the police chief is apologizing and talking exclusively to cnn. >> this is something that's just been weighing on me. it's something that needed to be said. should have been said a long time ago. >> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. you're in "the situation room."

>> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news tonight. witnesses inside of syria report new air strikes against isis within the past hours, with big explosions shaking the strong hold of raqqa. the fbi chief is warning that an al qaeda cell may still be actively plotting attacks, even after being bombed. at the same time, u.s. authorities are investigating a reported claim by the iraqi prime minister that his country uncovered an imminent isis plot against subway systems in the u.s. stand by for the latest on that. our correspondents and analysts are following all of the breaking news in the war zone and here in the u.s. we go first to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. >> reporter: the terrorist threat from khorasan, a reminder how officials are with the

terror threat emanating from the middle east. as they are, u.s. warplanes in the air over iraq and syria every day striking terrorist targets. >> this is just the beginning. >> reporter: just the beginning of a campaign the pentagon now says may take years. air strikes overnight killed 14 isis militants in syria, according to a human rights group, with u.s. and france striking more vehicles and warehouses inside iraq. now the international coalition fighting isis is growing. isis, in its propaganda at least, remains uncowed. one video showing the strong hold of raqqa appearing unharmed, with isis fighters relaxing, even singer. but the song was drowned out by this, 41 precision guided bombs

dropped by 16 fighter aircraft. six from the u.s., ten from coalition forces. the target, these oil refineries in eastern syria. profitable assets that isis uses to finance its operation to the tune of $2 million a day. they are assets that u.s. forces are hoping to simultaneously disable and preserve. >> we want to keep some infrastructure available in the hopes that it can be used again one day by the moderate opposition. >> reporter: the shocking beheadings by isis were the sparking of this campaign. cnn learned that u.s. intelligence agencies determined the identity of the man speaking in these isis execution videos. and this is one face of the pilots now targeting isis. the united arab emirates first female pilot and strike king commander, flying in the face of a group known among many acts of

violence for its brutality against women. i spoke to the pentagon spokesperson admiral john kirby and asked him how the damage assessments are going from these strikes. he said they are having success and they are disrupting operations. but even the pentagon won't say that the first round of strikes destroys these groups. they know that preparing the u.s. people for -- the american people for a campaign that's going to last years here. i did ask about iraq in particular, because that's a place where you do have a ground force with the air strikes, iraqi and kurdish forces. he said their biggest gain today is taking back the mosul dam from isis, a key piece of infrastructure. but they have a long way to go, even in iraq. >> and they don't have eyes on the ground in syria. jim sciutto, thank you so much. now the latest on another terror group targeted by u.s. air strikes. the fbi director is warning that

attempts to stop the al qaeda cell from plotting against americans may not have been successful. we're talking about the chorasan group, and pamela brown has more. >> reporter: the fbi director says he's not confident at all that the u.s. air strikes in syria have taken out the group of seasoned al qaeda operatives. the group was planning an attack on western targets and he believes they could carry out the attack tomorrow, next week or a month from now. according to u.s. intelligence officials, the group of al qaeda operatives, including a former deputy of osama bin laden, had already acquired materiels and was in an advanced stage of planning attacks against europe and the u.s. he's made it clear today that this group is still at the top of his list of concerns.

>> pam brown, thank you for that report. there's also new word that iraq is conducting its own investigation into an alleged isis plot to attack subways in the u.s. ro u.s. authorities appeared to be blind 150i blindsided when the iraqi prime minister spoke about this. jim, i just spoke with a spokeswoman from the state department and she said she would be very comfortable riding on the subway in new york. mixed messages between what they're saying and what's coming out of iraq. >> reporter: this all started when iraq's new prime minister, haider al abadi, told a small group of reporters that baghdad intelligence officials had information about an imminent isis terror plot aimed at subways in the u.s. and paris.

officials from the white house, fbi director saying they were not aware of such a blot. and the new york mayor, here's what he had to say. >> the nypd intelligence bureau which has outposts all over the world and is the leader in terms of this work and local law enforcement all over the country has assessed the statements of the iraqi prime minister, and at this point finds no specific credible threat. >> reporter: what makes all of this even more curious is that president obama and secretary of state john kerry just met with a body this week at the u.n. and administration officials say the prime minister did not raise this alleged plot with them either. over at the u.n., a body was asked my cnn once again by this claim and here is his response to that.

>> what is the source of that terror plot threat, the terror plot, where is that threat from? where was the source of that plot? >> reporter: you can seal in that video right there that the new prime minister did not have more to say about that, did not repeat that claim. it is important to point out that senior administration officials say the u.s. intelligence community remains concerned about this threat posed by foreign fighters traveling to and from the isis battlefields. but officials stressed they don't believe isis has the capability to launch terror attacks on u.s. soil but u.s. law enforcement appear to be more concerned about the potential of attacks carried out by al qaeda affiliated with the khorasan group. >> jim acosta, thank you so much. to help us try to get through this, we want to bring in paul crookshank and phillip mudd. this is all very confusing,

phil. why would you have the iraqis knowing about a plot that the u.s. is denying. what do you make of this? >> this smells. if you can figure this out, you're a better counterterrorism analyst than i am. i've got two problems with them. if you're a security service and you get a threat to the united states, you know what you do? you walk into your counterpart and you say here's the threat, and here's how we're going to validate it or wash it off the table. you do not front it publicly in new york city. the way this is done makes no sense. second and finally, the timing is really silly. you show up in new york city for a u.n. conference to talk about the seriousness of the threat in iraq. you're trying to persuade partners to do more. all of a sudden you front a plot that has to do with attacks in europe and the united states? this smells to high heaven to me. i don't get it. >> what do you think, paul,

fishy to you? >> this information seems to come from captured isis fighters in iraq that the iraqi government has captured and interrogated. these interrogations are notorious for providing unreliable information. either they made it up or made these claims under duress. not sure whether they've been crosschecked or verified at this point. >> so paul, this is sort of the question that comes out of this. prime minister haider al abadi is the new prime minister of iraq. they're saying this is the guy for the job, this is someone they can partner with, and they don't want to detract from his authority on this. but if he is the guy for the job, this is someone who is saying this one day after meeting face-to-face with president obama in iraq. isn't this troubling from someone who is supposed to be the answer to the political problems in iraq?

>> it's very, very raw information. i think the americans would have expected it to be shared first with them privately before he goes and talks to the world's media about it. i think there will be great frustration that this was put out in this way? >> i'm sure there is. phil, let's talk about the khorasan group. this is the group that authorities have said did pose an imminent threat to the u.s., the fbi director saying he's not confidence that these air strikes inside syria have disrupted their plotting. how concerned are we about an imminent threat still existing? >> the concerns should be high. my experience is that lots are like cats, they have nine lives.

you might think of terrorist cells as a tight cluster of people, but you may have the operational commanders providing strategic direction, as we saw on 9/11. you might have people facilitating traffic of operatives from europe. a lot of people in a loose confederation plotting over months or years. once these plotters get an idea in their mind and they think that idea is going to work, you may eliminate 20% of the plot, the rest of it will regenerate. i don't even know the intelligence, but this is going to keep coming back and back again. >> i think we're getting mixed assessments from the american

government. we heard from comey. he's not confident the khorasan group has been affected. we just had the deputy spokeswoman for the state department and said strikes have been effective. she seemed to push back on comey's assessment of the khorasan group. help us with that. if you think that it's been undermined by the strikes. >> the short answer is, we don't know. we don't know if the leadership has been killed. the westerners, they were trying to recruit into these attacks, we don't know if they've been killed. we don't know the answers to those questions at this moment. it's possible they could reconstitute themselves, they could build training camps again. >> if they're loosely affiliated and spread out, how much do you think that khorasan has in terms

of reach, do they have members in syria that could carry out a plot? >> we don't know that yet. the intelligence is suggesting that they were in the planning stage in syria. this group is very much part of k5 al qaeda, so they have connections throughout the midwest. so this is a group which is really al qaeda's a-team with a lot of reach throughout the region. but the concern will be that they could get back into the west to launch attacks. >> check out the cover of the economist, this is something that created a whole lot of buzz. this is it. it's president obama photo shopped on the body of george w. bush, an iconic image of him there on that aircraft carrier, declaring mission accomplished. this says mission relaunched. what do you think of that? >> that doesn't make sense to

me. let's be serious, when i was at the agency in 2001 and 2002 going into the mid 2000s, we threw everything but the kitchen sink at al qaeda. major boots on the ground in afghanistan, drone strikes in afghanistan, cooperation with security services, maybe 100 or more around the world. we opened guantanamo. we had black sites with prisoners in them. now we have a president, 13 years later, saying maybe we can stem the flow of foreign fighters, let's have an air campaign and front it with other people. if you think this is what i saw when we threw everything at them 13 years ago, you've got to be kidding me. this is far more restrained. >> so you're saying it's not the same, you can't make the comparison. thank you so much to both of you. appreciate it. thank you. still ahead, it's being

called an historic agreement in the war against isis. stand by for exclusive new details on this and will air strikes be enough to cut off a huge money maker? we're learning about the black market that is making these killers rich. are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team are constantly monitored for threats.

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would let me take you home. that's the value of performance. the power of allegra relieves your toughest indoor and outdoor symptoms fast and stays strong for 24 hours. stop suffering. start living. tonight, a new alliance in the war against isis that's being billed as historic. more than 20 syrian rebel commanders have signed off on a new unity agreement. cnn was the only news organization at the meeting. correspondent drew griffin is

here the turkish-syrian border with exclusive new details. this was unexpected and obviously very fascinating. >> reporter: it was unexpected. 20 of these commanders in one hotel, just across the border in turkey. and they were agreeing to join forces and what's interesting about this, breanna, along with many of the moderate muslim rebels is the christian rebels in syria agreeing to form this alliance. a lot of this work to bring this work together done by the syrian emergency task force, the group out of washington, d.c. and also members of the house foreign affairs committee, trying to get this alliance together and convince maybe the united states, maybe international conglomerates that these are the rebels worth investing in. a lot of people are still very skeptical, but they believe, the groups who signed on today believe this is the start for a

more inclusive and potentially future free syria. >> and also, drew, rebel leaders that you spoke with have a number of concerns about the u.s. and allied air strikes there in syria. what do they say to you? >> reporter: two of those commanders, breanna, confirmed there were civilian casualties. all of them told me that they were not involved in any of the coordination or planning of those air strikes, and quite frankly, were stunned that the u.s.-led coalition isn't using their talents on the ground to make these strikes against isis particularly in syria much more effective. it is a disconnect between what they think the strategy is in syria, and perhaps what the u.s.-led coalition is. they want to get rid of isis and assad's regime. it seems the u.s.-led coalition

just wants to hamper isis in the northern areas. they truly believe you can't just cripple isis, you have to get rid of them and get rid of assad's regime. so there is some tense communication going back and forth there. they want a much more active role, if indeed the u.s. wants to get rid of isis. >> these rebel groups in the u.s. and some of their allies with different goals, neighbor overlapping but not the same. the question is, can they work together? drew griffin, thank you so much. just ahead, isis boasts about its oil supplies. new information about the black market connections making the terrorists rich. and a new assessment of isis in iraq. is it evident that u.s. ground forces may be called into action? design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy.

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the pentagon is promising that massive bomb attacks to put isis oil refineries out of commission. our correspondent has been talking to her sources about this. what are they telling you? >> reporter: we've heard that president obama has said that the campaign against isis is not just a military one, cutting off the flow of foreign fighters and

finances, but the lifeblood of this group is equally important. which is why u.s. air strikes in syria went after isis pocketbooks. ice sis not just one of the world's most dangerous organizations, it earns millions every day from this. oil crude pulled from beneath the sands of iraq and syria, and sold on the black market at a discount. >> they use the financing to expand the recruitment. >> reporter: experts say isis focused on seizing oil swaths of the most oil-rich areas in the region and controls as much as 60% of production in syria, along with seven oil fields in iraq. u.s. government sources tell cnn isis takes some of that crude out of the ground and refines it for their own use, to fuel its

trucks and tanks. joseph night, the u.s. hit some of the organization's mobile refineries. what's more concerning, sources say, is the rest of that oil, which is now being smuggled out of syria, by more than 200 isis tanker trucks, driven along secret routes in turkey's southern corridor. what's not clear is just who is buying all of it. sources say isis crude oil appears to be sold by middlemen, intermediaries who sell the oil to legitimate refineries in the region. >> there are a number of tribes, local tribes, local families. eventually, basically they either trade it to neighboring territories. >> reporter: and that, sources say, means some of isis oil may be making it into the world market undetected.