vast majority of muslims think people deserve to die for having different viewpoints. make sure to follow me on twitter. that is it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i now turn you over to one mr. wolf blitzer who is right next door to me in "the situation room." happening now, ebola spreads. a health care worker becomes the first person to contract the disease outside of africa as another patient arrives for treatment in america. can u.s. authorities prevent the same thing from happening here? an urgent huddle at the white house. american isis recruit, an airport arrest of a u.s. teenager accused of planning to join the terror group overseas. and plea for help, the parents of a university of virginia student ask for help in ending their family's nightmare. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." let's begin with the ebola epidemic that is spreading.

so is the fear. as the white house convenes an urgent meeting on the deadly virus, an american cameraman who contracted the disease in liberia arrives in nebraska for treatment. federal authorities approve an experimental drug for the first patient to be diagnosed in this country, now in critical condition in a dallas hospital and fighting for his life. and we're also learning that a nursing assistant in spain is now the first person known to have contracted the disease outside of west africa during the current outbreak. anderson cooper has an interview with a quarantined partner of the dallas patient. our correspondents, analysts and newsmakers are all standing by. first to dallas, cnn's martin savidge has the very latest. martin? >> reporter: good evening, wolf. hospital officials a short while ago updated us on the condition of thomas duncan. he is described in critical condition. he had taken a turn for the worse over the weekend going from serious to critical. but he is stable. he has been administered an

experimental drug. so there's reason for hope. family members of thomas eric duncan tell cnn the 42-year-old is now being given an experimental drug called brincidofov brincidofovir. experts say it's the best drug available due to a shortage of zmapp. as the home where duncan last stayed was cleaned, his partner louise and her family remain on quarantine, moved to another home reportedly provided by a member of a group. following an intense manhunt in dallas, health workers say they have tracked down the homeless man who they say rode later in the same ambulance which took duncan to the hospital. so far, he's had no signs of the disease. across dallas, special fever measurement kits are being delivered to schools to measure

a student's temperature without a thermometer, in other words, without touching them. >> there have been suggestions from people in congress, from the public, from the media, we'll look at those and see what works to protect americans and to make sure that whatever we do doesn't unintentionally actually increase our risk. >> reporter: tonight, ashoka mukpo is also being treated in the u.s. at a nebraska medical center in omaha. >> he's enormously relieved to be here. of course it's still quite frightening. but he's hanging in and he sounds very strong. >> reporter: the 33-year-old was an assignment for nbc news in liberia when he was exposed to the deadly virus. >> with each one of these patients, therapy needs to be individualized. so we certainly are considering all treatment options and obviously will need to be discussed with him because ultimately if there are experimental therapies involved, he's going to have to be willing to -- and understand the risks

and benefits of those. >> reporter: wolf, back here in dallas, the officials are reassuring the public once more that beyond the patient, thomas duncan, there is no one else that is exhibiting any signs or any symptoms of ebola. all 50 people being monitored have been checked today. all are fine. >> let's hope it stays that way. martin savidge, thanks very much. a few moments ago, president obama spoke out about the threat, calling it a top national security priority. let's go live to our white house correspondent, michelle kosinski. she's got more. michelle? >> reporter: the president met with his national security team including the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs. they say they are treating this as a top national security priority. what they wanted to do was look at the measures in place both to stop the spread of ebola in west africa and keep it from taking hold here and see if anything more needs to be done, as well as reassuring americans. here's some of what the president just said. >> it is important for americans

to know the facts. and that is because of the measures that we've put in place as well as our world-class health system and the nature of the ebola virus itself, which is difficult to transmit, the chances of an ebola outbreak in the united states is extremely low. >> reporter: still they said they are looking at additional protocols. possibly more screening of people once they get to the united states. they've already expanded screenings of people as they are getting on planes in those countries affected by ebola in africa. that includes asking people questions, taking their temperature. the administration says those measures have prevented dozens and dozens of people from getting on planes and coming here. of course, the problems with screenings, though, are they depend on first of all people telling the truth and secondly people might not have symptoms there but develop them in the u.s. that is exactly what we saw happen in the dallas case. we asked that of the administration today. that seems like a risk that we

as a country are willing to take. but they said over the last six months, tens of thousands of people have flown from african countries. there's only been one diagnosed case in the u.s. they say even though, yes, there were some missteps in that dallas case, they feel like the system, as it is right now, is working well. >> what did the president say about the notion of some sort of travel ban? >> reporter: that question has come up. the president wasn't asked it specifically today. but we asked that of the administration. and time and again, they say they don't think it's necessary, first of all, and that it might even hinder efforts to tackle the virus and its spread in africa. they are looking at additional procedures. but they think that that could be detrimental and they don't want to impede the flow of people and equipment to africa. then again, the question has been asked, why not just keep people from coming here? still send things over there? and they say they just don't think it's necessary. they point to the capability of

the american medical system to stop the spread of the disease here anyway, wolf. >> michelle, thank you. cnn's anderson cooper has spoken with the partner of ebola patient thomas eric duncan. she and relatives who were in the apartment with duncan, they are still under quarantine. but they have now been moved to another home. anderson is joining us now. anderson, we all remember that really critically important interview you did with her last week that seemed to have really changed the way the cdc and local authorities were dealing with these people. who did you learn from this second conversation you've now had with her? >> in that first interview, she had been left with the sheets, the soiled towels that thomas eric duncan had used. that's finally been dealt with. hazmat crews on scene even today continuing to clean her apartment. she is in an undisclosed location. she continues, she says, to take her temperature and the temperature of those people in

her family throughout the day. she's seen no signs in herself or the three people she's with. she's most concerned about the status of thomas eric duncan. listen. louise, what are you hearing about thomas's condition? >> it's gone from critical to worse. that's why i really want to go on the air to ask the american government to please help me. i want them to save his life. >> did they tell you his condition had worsened? i understand you heard his condition worsened from a reporter? >> yes. >> what was the last time you talked to him? >> two days ago. two days ago. they put a tube in his mouth, he could hardly speak. so i said, okay,ly call you back later. and i haven't heard from him anymore. >> you must be very worried? >> i am worried. i am sad.

i'm frustrated. i'm just asking god and asking the american government the same medicine they're giving people that come from liberia, the ebola people that came, the people with koibl, please help save his life. >> and zmapp was given to the two patients who came to the united states. there won't be in more zmapp and a number of sources are telling us, that thomas eric duncan is receiving another experimental treatment. >> she's deeply concerned about duncan and understandably so. he's in really critical, awful condition right now. but she's still potentially very vulnerable as well. she's still within a 21-day window. >> that's absolutely correct, as are one of her children and two other people in that house. even her daughter who's 35 years

old and lives elsewhere is the person who actually found duncan on the day when they actually brought him back to the hospital. the daughter is the one who actually called the ambulance. so that daughter also is potentially at risk as are a number of other people who apparently, according to a local health official, has had contact with duncan. that 21-day window hasn't expired yet and that's the incubation period. >> does she not believe that there's no zmapp that they gave those two americans who came back when the federal government -- when the cdc and others say they don't have any more of that, does she not believe them? >> she's not really sure. i tried to explain what the government's stance is several times. and she seems to accept that later on in the conversation. but she's clearly just frustrated, clearly she's scared and just wants to appeal to anybody possible. she's very thankful for the efforts the doctors have made

thus far. she's frustrated she can't talk directly because she's not a direct family member. she's been told she can't have direct communication to receive updates of his condition. so now she's learning things through her son who's also the son of thomas eric duncan. >> heart goes to her and that entire family, everyone else who's involved as well. anderson, thank you very much. an important note to our viewers, watch anderson's interview later tonight on "a.c. 360," that's at 8:00 p.m. eastern. isis on the move, the terror group raising a black flag in a key border city. do air strikes, are they really doing any good right now? i'll have the former u.s. military commander. and a tearful plea for help from the parents of a missing university of virginia student. we'll have the latest on this search.

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let's get back to the breaking news. this time involving the war against isis. a u.s. teenager, a 19-year-old arrested trying to leave the united states. authorities say he was on the way to try to join the isis terror group. that comes as isis is gaining new ground in both syria and iraq seemingly shrugging off those u.s. and ally air strikes. jim sciutto is joining us now with more on what's going on. despite all those air strikes, looks like isis keeps on moving. >> this is exactly the kind of recruit that u.s. law enforcement has been focusing on, someone, an american,

radicalized at home who talks about going to fight and then actually takes that step. that's when authorities swoop in. there may be dozens, even hundreds of americans talking about the same thing. but it is when they take that step of traveling or attempting to travel to the war zone that the u.s. authorities act. he told his parents he felt an obligation to migrate to isis-controlled land. chicago area teen mohammed hamzah khan is, say federal prosecutors, the latest of roughly a dozen americans to volunteer for isis. he was arrested at chicago's o'hare airport just as he was about to aboard what he said was a one-way journey to syria and to war. on the ground there, isis is advancing even in the face of american airpower. today in kobani, northern syria, kurdish fighters are locked in bloody street battles with isis. the militants have already

raised their signature black flags on a building and a hilltop overlooking the town while raining down shell fire from tanks and heavy artillery. quoting one fighter, a reporter for arabic on tv tweeted, we hoped american planes would help us. instead, american tanks in the hands of isis are killing us. u.s. officials call the effort against isis there ongoing. >> this is something where we've long said from the beginning that this would take some time. we're working closely to do everything we can to help push back isil in this part of the country. >> reporter: in iraq where u.s. officials hope the combination of coalition airpower and iraqi army units would turn the tide, isis is still advancing as well. capturing the city of hitt and closing in an ramadi. the u.s. deployed apache

helicopters to come to the rescue of overwhelmed iraqi soldiers. >> the strategy of aerobombardment is not going to work to destroy isil. but they're going to draw this conflict out and it will not lead to isil's destruction, which makes it much more dangerous. >> when you look at the map, you see just how difficult it's been to make progress against isis. here's how iraq looked before the u.s.-led air campaign started, with 13 cities and major towns under isis control. this is iraq 59 days later. 14 cities under isis control. they gained the city of hit here and ramadi to the west of baghdad. that is now being contested for control. some iraqi army units have fled there, leaving it in effect to those isis fighters. now let's look at syria next. no need for a before-and-after map in syria because 14 days ago

when the strikes started, there were ten cities under isis control. today, still ten cities under isis control. and kobani, that crucial city we've been watching the fighting play out across the border from turkey, that one contested with isis fighters now inside the city, wolf. when you speak to u.s. military commanders, they say, we never said the air campaign alone was going to change this map immediately. but here you can tell it's going to take a lot more and certainly a much more forceful ground offensive, at least from iraqi and kurdish forces to change the number of cities and the amount of territory under isis control. >> certainly will. jim sciutto, thanks very much. let's dig deeper right now. the former commander of the u.s. military central command, also the former special middle east envoy, retired general anthony zin zinni. thanks very much for joining us. these air strikes that the u.s. and the allies are launching in

iraq and syria, correct me if i'm wrong, so far doesn't seem to be a game changer by any means. >> no, they're not. i think it's been said so many times without a credible ground force, you're not going to roll back isis. you can take out and destroy and degrade a little bit what you can find and target. but once they get in the city, it's going to be much more difficult when they're in close contact and where they may hide amongst the civilian population. >> i read those press releases the u.s. military central command puts out almost every day describing these air strikes and they point to the u.s. aircraft, the coalition aircraft from the uae or saudi arabia or others involved. and then they sort of say, well, they destroyed a vehicle, they destroyed an armored personnel carrier or a tank. looks like there's not much destruction going on if that's the best they can do. >> well, i think you see a problem with targeting other than obviously things like were

just mentioned. but they're at the onesies and twosies. and it isn't doing significant damage to isis. my worry is isis is so close to baghdad, whether they can take baghdad or not would be an issue. but they can get into the suburbs and within the city and raise havoc there. i think that's what's eventually going to happen unless there's a rollback. >> i remember the sacrifice the u.s. military had to endure to capture ramadi or hit and certainly fallujah. i was in fallujah myself. i remember when the u.s. retook fallujah over there. looks like all these areas now, despite these air strikes, are virtually in the hands of isis. what's going on? >> what you're seeing is isis is much better armed than a.q.i., al qaeda in iraq was, its forerunner.

and it took american ground units with all the firepower we had in support and bloody fighting to retake those cities. there's going to have to be a credible ground force that's not there now in conjunction with the kind of air support, attack helicopters, artillery, et cetera, that are going to have to be used again. if we just let them sit there, they're going to obviously expand where they see an opportunity. they're going to test the iraqi military again. the poorly armed kurdish forces are going to be stretched too thin. so time is not on our side, despite what i hear the administration saying. >> stand by for a moment, general zinni. we need to take a quick commercial break. we're going to have a lot more including the disappearance of the iraqi military. where are those iraqi ground forces? why aren't they defending their own country despite the enormous u.s. effort to build up those troops over the past decade? much more with general zinni right after this. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality

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build and its long-term commitment is far from clear. so it doesn't exactly help matters when the white house has to apologize to key members of that coalition for offending them. tonight the obama administration is scrambling to hold together the coalition of arab countries battling isis after vice president biden was forced to apologize to two key arab allies for comments he made questioning their commitment to stop the terror group. >> our allies in the region were our largest problem in syria. >> reporter: his critical comments about turkey, united arab emirates, saudi arabia and qatar came during a recent speech at harvard. >> they poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against assad, except that the people who were being supplied were al nusra and al qaeda and the extremist elements of

jihadis coming from other parts of the world. >> reporter: the white house was asked about biden's apologies to turkey and the uae today. >> the fact that he called the leaders of those senior officials in those countries is an indication that he himself wishes he had said it differently. >> reporter: privately, however, officials admit while biden was undiplomatic, he wasn't entirely wrong. sources say competing agendas among allies in the region has allowed money and weapons to end up in the hands of extremists. biden also gave voice to u.s. criticism, turkey has allowed foreign fighters to cross the border into syria to join isis. >> and the turks' president erdogan said, you were right, we let too many people through. >> reporter: that conversation was either supposed to be private or it never happened. but all of this is making the job of keeping a fragile

coalition on message even harder for the state department's top public diplomacy official who just returned from the region. >> i think they regard it as a very minor distraction compared to this real challenge of mobilizing all of our collective forces against this abhorrent organization. >> reporter: wolf, this is the difference between politics and diplomacy. most of the sources that i've spoken to agree with biden. but they say it's not exactly something you say out loud when the u.s. needs arab and muslim countries to be in the lead fighting isis. and they say a lot of this happened in the past, arab countries, turkey, they're all on board now. so it seemed a little bit like an unnecessary dig at important allies that the u.s. needs right now. >> thanks very much. let's bring back retired general anthony zinni. was it really necessary for the vice president to apologize for basically saying what everybody knows to be more or less the truth?

>> well, i think he could have mentioned also what they do for us. take the united arab emirates. they're actually flying sorties and striking targets. we were with us in the balkans, in the first iraq war. i think it would be more diplomatic to at least mention the support we're getting. if there are issues that they're arming people that they're uncertain where these weapons are going, that certainly needs to be cleared up. but i think just to talk about the things that need to be done and maybe the negatives that we need to work on, i think there's not enough mention of the positive part as this coalition builds. if we keep stressing the negative and sort of passing the buck as if we didn't arm people in afghanistan as elsewhere that eventually those weapons were turned around, i think we're going to lose allies. >> what about the disappearance of the iraqi military?

leon panetta, former defense secretary, says the u.s. could be engaged in a 30-year war against isis. what do you say to that? >> there's an important point. it's not about the material things the iraq army needs, the weapons and the logistics and communications. it's also they need something to fight for and they need leadership. the maliki government obviously alienated large portions of the population. the political generals put in place weren't capable of standing their ground and leading their forces in combat. i would go back to the disbanding of the iraq army that neither i nor my predecessors thought was a good idea. we worked on a campaign to ensure we wouldn't do that. and we find many of those thrown out back even to that time are now fighting with isis. >> which is a horrible situation. general, thanks very much for joining us. >> sure. we're also following developments in the search for that missing university of virginia student, hannah graham.

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tearful new plea from the parents of the missing university of virginia student hannah graham. cnn's jean casarez is keeping track of the search. what's the latest? >> reporter: the latest is searchers were out again today working on an eight-mile radius. the epicenter being charlottesville, because the statistics show that that is where a missing person can be found within eight miles. while the search is going on, her parents stepped up to the microphone and very bravely gave an emotional plea to the public. >> despite all of your efforts, hannah is still missing. somebody listening to me today either knows where hannah is or knows someone who has that information. we appeal to you to come forward and tell us where hannah can be

found. please, please, please help end this nightmare for all of us. please help us to bring hannah home. thank you. >> reporter: and this is the largest search effort in virginia's history. and another first this weekend, the wolpert company out of ohio sent up a private plane they have with state-of-the-art technology of ultra-high precision sensors that scan the earth and can go to an exact location. law enforcement told where they wanted those scans of the earth to be had. they are analyzing the pictures right now. it takes 20 hours to analyze them. they will see what the results are. but where drones can give visualizations, this is more precision. this is higher accuracy. state of the art and they have never been used in a search like

this. the senior vice president told me, i'm a parent, it just feels good. >> awful situation. jean, thanks for that report. let's dig deeper. joining us here in "the situation room," cnn law enforcement analyst tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi. also joining us, the investigative journalist from charlottesville right now. after this very emotional appeal from hannah's family, has anyone come forward? what's the latest, if you're hearing? i know just came from a briefing. >> those comments by sue graham are absolutely gut-wrenching. and i was one of many, many people around this world who watched that video and just sobbed. and finally had to turn it off. i do know that this afternoon, tim longo, the chief of the city of charlottesville police department, has called on everyo

everyone, everyone who knew jesse matthew in the past to come forward, make themselves available to talk with police. not just anybody who might know where he was that night. but anyone who knows him to come forward. i continue to talk to friends of his who tell me, every one of them has a story about jesse and the woods and how he knows the woods better than anyone they know. if you go just a few miles in any direction outside of this little city, you find yourself in dense forests, mountains, rolling hills, rivers, and he knows this area perhaps better than anyone. that is why we'll continue to look for hannah because she could be anywhere. >> tom, how critical is timing right now as fall is here, winter approaches? >> i think the timing is important and the sooner the better in terms of locating here. some dna evidence is perishable. and if her body is somewhere, if she's been killed, which we all hope is not the case, but if that is the case, the better

chance of solving the case if they find her sooner. >> coy, it's been three weeks as we all know. police are focused in on this eight-mile radius right now. tell us why. >> i believe that they said that they stand a chance -- it's most likely that they will find hannah in that area. i've gotten some messages from people who say, well, he took off to galveston, texas. she could be anywhere between here and galveston. i don't believe that is the information that police are basing their search on. there were 36 guys out in the woods today searching. we had 120 on saturday. another 120 on sunday. i talked with tim longo today. and i understand these guys have been working 12-hour days in the woods. they're tired understandably so. this is a herculean task. but there is not a one of them who will give up and who will stop looking for hannah. we will find her, wolf.

i'm convinced of it. we will find her. she's out there and we'll keep looking. >> let's hope that's the case. coy, stand by. tom, stand by as well. we're going to take a quick commercial break. when we come back, we'll continue our discussion. not to be focusing, again, on my moderate my goal was to finally get in shape. to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i finally made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance on humira. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and

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tearful new plea from the parents of hannah graham, the

university of virginia student that's been missing for just over three weeks. we're back with tom fuentes and coy barefoot. coy, matthew is the suspect. his lawyer chose not to try to get him out on bail or bond. is he talking in prison? what do we know about this? >> i don't believe he's talking in prison. i do know that jesse is being kept in -- it's about a 7 x 7 foot cell. there are no bars on the front. it's a thick, clear plexiglas front. he's being monitored at all times. there's a television set across from his cell that he watches without sound. i know his attorney has not asked for bail and in virginia, you are not eligible for bond on the charge of abduction with the intent to defile, unless you have incredibly rare circumstances that would be decided by a judge. but he took flight to galveston,

texas, and had to be brought back over 1,300 miles away. so i guess his attorney is thinking why ask for what we know we won't get? >> if there's let media attention, do tips dry up and make the investigation more difficult for police? >> we certainly want to keep this top of mind for everyone. there are people around the world who have been touched by this story. the virginia department of emergency management last night in their press release, they actually used the words "dwindling media participation." that, of course, is not true of cnn, thank goodness, which has been on this story from the beginning and for which we are all appreciative of here in charlottesville. there's over 3200 tips that have been called in. it's my understanding that they continue to come in. i receive almost every night, somebody will say hey, i know this. should i call the tip line?

i give them the number and i say absolutely, call the tip line right now and let them know what you know. >> tom, take us behind the scenes. what is likely going on with law enforcement, whether it's local, state or federal level? they're looking for this young woman. >> they're looking for her. that's paramount. but they're also diligently working on analyzing the evidence that's been obtained. we heard the story of the forensic ties between the morgan harrington murder in 2009 and other victims who have gone missing or attacked. you know, that effort to try to link forensic evidence, which may include dna evidence, back to this case is critical. and they're going to be working very, very hard to see if they can do that through the evidence. >> tom fuentes, thank you very much. coy barefoot, we'll check back with you tomorrow. let's hope there's a break in this case because it is a heart wrenching, very painful situation for so many folks

around there and around the country and world. thanks for joining us. let's turn to politics right now. president obama now says all of his policies are on the ballot, but embattled democrats like senator mark prior of arkansas don't want it to be a referendum on the current president. that's one reason why he's now taking selfies with someone who is a lot more popular in arkansas. talking about the former arkansas governor. the former president, bill clinton. he's out there campaigning in arkansas for state democrats. today, our senior political correspondent breanna keeler is in arkansas, as well. she'll join us live in the next hour. we'll have much more on what's going on. get ready for the midterm elections coming up november 4. coming up here in "the situation room," a u.s. teenager, a 19-year-old, arrested at the chicago airport. authorities say he was actually planning on joining the isis terrorists.

and the isis killer in the videos is threatening to behead another american. are authorities any closer to tracking him down? i'll speak to the state department deputy spokeswoman. she's here live with me in "the situation room." ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

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breaking news. teen terror charged as a young american man, 19 years old, indicted for allegedly trying to

fly off to join isis terrorists in syria. how many other americans have succeeded? ebola turning point. the first known case which the virus was contracted outside of africa. what new action is the u.s. planning to do to stop the spread of this disease? days of rage. plans under way for a weekend of civil disobedience to protest the police shooting of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. will the state listen to new calls from brown's family for a special prosecutor? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following the breaking news. president obama now declaring ebola a top national security priority following an urgent white house meeting following the spread of the virus. charges against a chicago area teenager arrested at the airport, where he was trying to fly to the middle east to fight

with isis forces. we're covering all the breaking news with our correspondents, our guests in key locations, including the state department deputy spokeswoman. she's here. but let's begin with barbara starr. she has more now on the growing concern at the pentagon about these isis advances. what are you hearing over there, barbara? >> reporter: at this hour, i don't think you can underestimate how concerned the pentagon is about isis advances west of baghdad. i've been talking to officials all day. the outlook is, by all accounts, grim. iraqi forces over the weekend tried to move west of baghdad towards anbar province and they were pushed back by isis. this is anbar province. fallujah, ramadi, towns americans have heard of for years, because hundreds and thousands of american forces fought and died there. so many wounded during the war in iraq. now isis on the march and the

iraqis unable to push them back. that is why u.s. apache helicopter gunships were called into action over the weekend to try and push isis back and let the iraqi forces get some momentum going. but by all accounts, they could not do it. if isis is able to take this section of anbar province, fallujah, ramadi, everything west of baghdad, that will give isis basically control of hundreds of miles of the euphrates river valley, back up into syria, all the way back up into the turkish border. that is why it's so concerning right now, and the problem is, though, they will call more apaches into action, they'll have more air strikes. but the problem, officials tell me, the iraqi forces on the ground just are not getting it done. wolf? >> they are not getting it done by any means. why aren't more u.s.-led air strikes being launched against those targets, those isis

targets in and around coaround ? >> u.s. officials know that this is a very emotional subject. there's been a good deal of visibility about it, because u.s. and international television crews are perched on the hill near the town and can see most of what is going on there. but what u.s. officials are telling me is they have no mission to protect kobani. they have a couple of problems here. it is very close to the turkish border. if you're going to launch air strikes from 15,000 feet, you have to make sure you're not hitting the kurds, the syrian kurds, you're not hitting into turkey. these are some technical issues. but the real reality they tell me is they have no mission to save kobani from isis. the u.s. military, the coalition mission in syria is to try and degrade isis when and where they find them and keep isis from moving across the border into iraq and that takes us right

back to how tough all of this is, wolf. >> barbara, thank you very much. let's bring in pamela brown with more on that 19-year-old chicago man that was allegedly trying to join isis. >> he left behind notebooks inside his home, detailing his support for isis and desire to travel to syria or iraq. he was arrested just before boarding a flight overseas. today in federal court, the 19-year-old illinois man stood silently as he was arraigned on charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, accused of wanting to travel to join isis. according to this criminal complaint, muhammad kahn had a $4,000 ticket to istanbul and cash for a hotel with an map

with an arrow pointing across to the border. >> what they were waiting for here was the last minute, because the more deeply he gets into this criminal conspiracy, the more likely they have a case in federal court. >> reporter: according to this criminal complaint, police discovered notebooks at kahn's home with drawings of the isis flag and armed fighter with the words "come to jihad." one page says, here to say, we are the lions of the war. my nation. the dawn has emerged. >> authorities say he is offering himself as a soldier for isil. in other words, he's going to provide services to this terrorist organization. >> reporter: authorities also found a three-page letter to his parents, in which he allegedly asks that they please make sure to not tell the authorities about his plans to "migrate to the islamic state."

>> really surprised. the kid was polite, you know? i didn't expect anything like that. >> reporter: kahn is one of at least a dozen americans who authorities say have attempted to travel to syria to fight. although the fbi director said he can't be sure to know a whereabouts of all the americans trying to join the fight. authorities say kahn bought a round trip ticket arriving back to the u.s., but during an interview, he said he wanted to travel overseas to syria or iraq to be involved in public service, police force, humanitarian work or a combat role. we did reach out to his attorney and have not heard back. >> that round trip ticket cost him $4,000. do we know where he got that money? a 19-year-old kid getting $4,000 is a lot of money. >> that's a big question. we know that according to this criminal complaint he was in

touch with someone else who was allegedly trying to recruit him. so of course, they're going to try to see if this person could have played a role with that money. >> pamela brown, thank you very much. new information here in "the situation room" about the hunt for the black masked killer in those horrifying beheading videos. brian todd has more now. what do we know about this man? >> reporter: we know there's new pressure on british and u.s. officials to hunt down this man. he's appeared in all four isis beheading videos and has threatened to kill another american and puts more heat on the allies to take him off if battlefield. he's now threatened to kill a third american in isis captivity. >> obama, you have started your aerial bombardment which keeps on striking our people. so it's only right we continue to strike the necks of your people. >> reporter: the accent the same. the rhetoric much the same. the british newspapers call him

jihadi john. >> we implore his captors to show mercy and use their power to let our son go. >> reporter: kassig's parents released a letter their son sent them. "i am obviously pretty scare to die." as his parents wait, there's new urgency tonight to capture or kill this man. an official in british prime minister david cameron's office tells cnn cameron's held an urgent meeting with his top intelligence, defense and police officials and pressed them to hunt down jihadi john after he spoke in the grotesque murder video of british aid worker allen henning. analysts say the presence of this british jihadist showing the beheadings of two americans and two british citizens puts enormous pressure on david cameron. >> it is priority for the prime minister to take this guy off

the battlefield. >> and isis seems to be working hard to remove as many clues as possible. there's a fresh clue in the hemming video. >> if you watch this video carefully, you can see his eyes move back and forth. so he's probably reading from a cue card, which means he's being forced to read a script. >> reporter: he says it means hostage and hostage taker are under more duress. >> does that mean that this man is under more and more pressure in >> he's under incredible pressure, because he's now the face of these beheading videos for the west. >> reporter: but a mission to capture or kill jihadi john is a huge risk. >> isis is operating in a remote part of syria. they know that area well. it's pretty far from the boarders so getting in there would be difficult. >> reporter: one reason is this british jihadist may be operating in or near raqqa, an isis strong hold where he'll have plenty of reinforcements. a drone strike is also risky

because of all the western hostages right around him. >> there's still significant doubt that this guy is the actual real killer of these hostages. isn't that right? >> there is, wolf. analysts told me today the fact that the militant's hands and clothing are clean following the beheadings in each video means there's a good chance he didn't do the killing. that he spoke and made gestures and someone else may have come in and done that killing. >> brian todd, thank you very much. let's dig deeper with marie harth, the deputy state department spokeswoman. thank you very much for coming in. i assume the u.s. is doing everything it can to authenticate these videos. >> absolutely, and we do believe we have identified the man in these videos and we've been very

clear, no matter how long it takes, we will find this person and hold them responsible, accountable for what they've involved in. >> have you concluded that this masked man is in fact the man who beheads these innocent people this >> as your segment just noted, that's not always shown on the video. he's clearly very involved with the situation and we're looking at all that to determine who may have unfortunately taken that act specifically. but obviously he's involved. we believe we've identified that person and we're committed to finding them. >> i assume the british believe they have identified this individual, as well. what would be wrong in releasing this person's name? >> we're working very closely with the british, with british intelligence, with our british counterparts across the board to find those responsible, because it's american and british citizens that have been murdered at the hands of these terrorists. obviously we don't always release the information we know publicly, because we have ways of finding out that information and we want to be able to use

that information to find them. >> would it be an intelligence sources, mel thods, some sort of complicating factors? >> that's a number of reasons not to release it. when we can make more information public, we will to so. >> what can you tell us about this 19-year-old, muhammad kahn, who was arrested over the weekend before he got on a flight where he was supposedly, allegedly going to be working, supporting these isis terrorists, what do you know about this guy? >> as my law enforcement colleague said today, he was arrested on saturday, charged with trying to go join isil. which is a very serious accusation. we know there are people who may try to join these groups. we know a small number have joined them. so we're focused on it. obviously this is a concern. >> as you know, in the document in the criminal complaint, it says he received his u.s. passport in may of this year, just a few months ago.

any red flags involving this guy, giving him a u.s. passport that the state department is in charge of giving their passports. >> we are. i don't i have in details to share. law enforcement is looking at his case. but in terms of passports, we are concerned about americans that may have gone there and attempt to come home. we do have the ability to revoke passport it is they are deemed a threat. >> as far as you know, he's under arrest, but the state department has not revoked his passport? >> not to my knowledge. but there are a variety of tools that we have to prevent team from traveling. >> marie, stand by. more questions for you. we've got a lot more to discuss. marie harth is here in "the situation room." we'll take a quick break. we'll be right back. when folks think about what they get from alaska,

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we're back with marie hearth. at least three or four mortars landed in that green zone in baghdad. is the u.s. embassy and the americans there, i think it's still the largest u.s. embassy in the world, are they in danger? >> we're still looking into those reports, wolf, about whether or not mortars did land in the green zone. but one of the main reasons we have taken military action inside iraq for many weeks is to protect our people there. it's a dangerous place but we have full contingent of folks there. >> are you thinking -- rethinking maybe bringing home more americans right now? >> we really do believe it's important to have a full staff in baghdad and in irbil, because we need to be closely coordinated and working with the iraqis on this fight. so it's important for them to be there. they know it's dangerous, but we

have taken the steps to protect our people. >> are you planning on taking more steps to protect all the americans in that so-called green zone in baghdad? >> there's already a high level of security in baghdad. >> i got a bunch of tweets that rockets are coming in. maybe the u.s. should install that so-called iron dome system around the green zone that worked very well in israel. we'll see if the u.s. needs to do that at some point down the road to protect those americans in the green zone. turkey. any decision yet by the turkish military, which is the largest in the region, a nato ally, to send in boots on the ground to destroy isis near that city of kobani, near the turkish-syrian border? >> i know the turkish government

is still talking through the role they will play in the coalition. we have officials over in the region to meet with the turks to talk about what role they can play. that doesn't necessarily have to be military action. there are a number of things they can do, including cracking down more on the foreign fighter network, which they can play a key role in shutting that down. >> which raises the controversial comments that the vice president joe biden made at harvard university the other day that really upset the turkish president, the uae, later apologized. let me play the clip of what the vice president said. >> they poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against assad, except that the people who were being -- who were being supplied were al

qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world. >> he later issued a pretty unusual public apology for the government of turkey, the government of the united arab emirates saying don't get me wrong. i appreciate what you're trying to do. but was he factually correct in what he said and did he need to apologize? >> he did speak to our partners that we've been working with in this coalition. i think he made clear he did not intend in any way to relitigate history and make accusations how isil's strength got to where it is and made it clear that turkey and the uae play clear roles in this mission. so what we're hearing from our partners is how to move forward from here. not these comments. they're looking now how we come together to fight this threat. >> there were a lot of reports

that individuals in qatar, they were if you believing isis and other terrorist groups in syria. but they've been a very, very loyal, friendly country to the united states. they've worked very collaborative effort. did the united arab emirates, were there other individuals funneling money to these isis terrorists as well? >> we've never had evidence that pointed to governments suppo supportisuppor supporting isis. these countries have taken steps to crack down on this financing network. you're right, the uae has flown next to us in our military action in syria. one of their pilots was a woman, which is incredible. they're a very close friend when it comes to this fight. the vice president made clear what he was intending to say and we're focused on moving forward. >> marie, thank you very much for coming in.

just ahead, new details of the first case of ebola contracted outside of africa. plus, calls for tighter airport screening for ebola. is customs and border protection doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus? ♪ 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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liberty mutual insurance. we're tracking major developments in the fight against ebola. a nurse's assistant in spain, now the first person to contract ebola outside of west africa.

marking a very dangerous milestone in the deadly disease's spread. another american with ebola has just arrived in the united states. the freelance cameraman who contracted the virus in liberia has arrived in nebraska for treatment. and president obama wrapped up a meeting a little while ago with top public health officials at the white house and made it clear his administration is taking this outbreak very seriously. >> it is an issue about our safety and in respect to our economic stability in the region. >> the president called for additional passenger screens in the united states and abroad. elizabeth cohen is in dallas. you're learning new information about that experimental drug being used to treat some of these ebola patients. what's the latest? >> reporter: wolf, we just learned that the patient in this

hospital, thomas eric duncan, he's been receiving a new drug that was designed for other viruses and is still experimental, but they're hoping it will keep this virus from replicating. but it's important to note that duncan had been sick for about ten days before he started receive thing drug. ten days for ebola, that's a long time. this is a fast-moving virus. he's in critical condition. it's unknown whether it will help or not. >> elizabeth, what is being done to help contain the spread of this illness right now in the dallas area? >> reporter: they're doing what's called contact tracing. they made this list of 48 people who had contact with duncan since he's become ill. 10 of those are high risk, hospital workers and family members. the other 38 are low risk. for example, they were in the ambulance after he was in the ambulance. but what they do is keep track of all these people. they get a temperature on them

twice a day. they visit them every day. and so far good news, so far no one has become ill. wolf? >> let's hope it stays that way. thanks very much. there's also growing concern that customs and border protections is not doing enough to protect the american pub wli with the spread of ebola. our aviation correspondent has been monitor thing part of the story and joining us from dulles international airport right outside of washington, d.c. what are you learning, renee? >> reporter: some people are saying that the u.s. screening procedures, they are, in a word, passive. it's not good enough to prevent more people infected with ebola from making it to the u.s. on a plane. here at dulles, where the ebola patient first landed in the u.s., passengers say they are ready for the u.s. government to get more aggressive.

at newark airport, quarantine officers surround a sick passenger on united flight 998 from brussels. it was determined the passenger did not have ebola. the scare coming as the calls get louder for more aggressive screening for the deadly disease at u.s. airports. >> these are reminders that the threat is out there. >> reporter: new york senator chuck schumer pushing for more adepressive screening of passengers arriving in the u.s. from ebola hot spots. >> including a temperature check for travelers returning from liberia, guinea and nigeria, either directly or indirectly through another airport. >> reporter: passenger's temperatures are already taken when they leave west african countries and must fill out a detailed health questionnaire. but schumer says those procedures need to happen in the u.s., too. >> if you ask them a lot of specific questions and cdc is

very good at coming up with these questions and doing it, you may well find answers that you wouldn't have found in a cursory type of questioning. >> reporter: there are only two non-stop flights to the u.s. from countries most impacted by ebola. >> the problem is when they get here, they're coming to another gateway airport, they're coming to a flight where you may not know they've been in liberia or other countries. >> reporter: some u.s. lawmakers are calling for a hat to flights all together. >> what is correct is we treat this in a circumstance where we stop travel to the united states. not just from there but also understanding that the african travel goes to europe and other classes. >> reporter: but the cdc director says those flights are crucial. >> if we can't get assistance in and keep the airlines flying, it

will be harder to stop the outbreaks there. >> reporter: wolf, at the end of all this, we know that customs and border protection will be on the front line for the screening process. i have been in touch with the agency and at this point, no definitive word on the extent to which these measures will be ramped up. what the white house made very clear today is they are not considering banning flight to the region. wolf? >> renee marsh at dulles international airport, thank you very much. let's dig deeper now. joining us a public health specialist at fordham university in new york. are airline passengers at risk right now? >> look, i think at the moment that the screening measures that we've got in mace stop people who are symptomatic from getting on planes. if you haven't got a fever, to the best of our knowledge, you

can't catch ebola. but these measures aren't going to stop people with ebola from getting to america. so the focus has to be on west africa, banning flights isn't going to stop people from coming here with ebola. >> should they rethink some of these screening methods, though? >> it's really important to say every aspect of this ebola response has to be done more thoroughly than currently being done. so they have to take temperature responses real yet seriously. if it's a slight temperature up, it's really important to chase things down. so doing the existing screening measures is going to be really important. i think -- i would be confident to be on a plane leaving west africa and not catch ebola on that plane. the screening measures that exist work pretty well to do that. but i don't think we're going to keep everyone out. >> today, a spanish nurse tested

positive for ebola, the first known case of someone who contracted the disease outside of west africa, was not infected in west africa but contracted it in europe outside of africa. how alarming is this? >> i have to say, this is a really shocking development. this is something where my belief is that if you're in a major western hospital operating under good conditions, this is a disease that is hard to get. today we're seeing that that isn't necessarily the case. we really want to know what's happened here, because if he's had a needle stick injury, if there's been a breach of protocol, perhaps he didn't know what the patient had at the time, any of those situations might make us feel better. but if this is something where there isn't a clear breach of protocol, we have to be concerned that this may be more contagious than we thought. >> so we have to investigate how this nurse in spain contracted the disease in spain. she had never been to africa,

unlike all the people who have been in united states with ebola, they got the ebola in west africa and came here. so they really have to study this specific case to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again, right? >> this is the first time that ebola has ever been transmitted outside of africa to the best of our knowledge. we believe at the moment that the basic personal protective gear, not haz/mat suits, but we isolate people with basic personal protective gear and that should be enough. so we do need to know what's happened here. i think the thing to me that this reinforces, it's one thing for the cdc or the spanish equivalent to distribute those protocols, it's another thing to get people trained and on high lert.

my brother is on the ebola team looking out for london at the moment. i can tell you, they practice a huge amount. that's hugely important. >> you heard elizabeth cohen report thomas duncan in dallas is receiving that experimental treatment. he's listed in critical condition. he took a ton for the worse at that dallas hospital. could these experimental drugs save him, do you think? >> this is an off license use. the drug has been developed and licensed for one thing and now being tried for another. i think it's worth a go, because we know the safety profile of this drug. but i have to say, it's a gamble. and if he survives, we are still not going to know whether this drug is useful. we're well into his infection

now. the dye is cast for him, whatever this drug does. so we're seeing physicians doing everything to give him the best shot. >> and that other drug, zmapp, apparently there's known left. doctor, thank you very much for joining us. we'll continue this conversation tomorrow. appreciate it very much. just ahead, ferguson, missouri now bracing for a fresh wave of protests after a weekend flash mob interrupted the st. louis symphony. our panel is standing by to bring you the latest news from the city that is still very much on edge. stay with us. (receptionist) gunderman group. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups.

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ferguson, missouri on edge

once again tonight as the city awaits more protests after weeks of demonstrations, protesters remain on the streets demanding the arrest of officer darren wilson who shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown two months ago. beyond the streets, an unusual protest at the st. louis orchestra. listen to this. ♪ which side are you on, friend ♪ ♪ justice for mike brown, justice for mike brown ♪ >> let's discuss what's going on. joining us is don lemon. naacp board member john gaskin and jeffrey toobin. john, what's going on with this new wave of protests outside of ferguson? what's the goal here? >> well, it appears the protesters are being more creative if their strategy.

they are broadening the issue and broadening the folks, at least the crowd of people that are seeing the protests, that protest that took place saturday night was probably the most creative that i've ever seen. the typical folks that go to the symphony are a demographic that we have never appealed to. so for them to get the opportunity to hear that there are people within that community that want justice for michael brown, that want them to be aware of these types of issues, to know the type of racism that's taking place in the city of st. louis i think is a good thing. the protest was quite organized and i believe it was done in a way that was quite dignified. because as you can hear, some people even joined in. there was some applause during that performance, or demonstration rather, as well as after. and even after the protest, no one was arrested.

they peacefully filed out and went back to listening to the performance. i've spoken with a number of people that were at the symphony and some thought it was a disruption, did not take too kindly to it. there was some that appreciated it. >> don, talk now there may be thousands that could be getting ready to protest. what do you make of these latest developments? >> i thought the symphony protest was pretty engenius. as i always say, you have to meet people where you are. you can't just keep to sing the same old tune. there's a time for protests on the street and for people to be in an uproar. then there are times like this symphony where you meet people where they are and it paid off for them. if they continue in this vein, if they continue reinventing themselves when it comes to showing their outrage, it can only be helpful to their side.

>> jeffrey, these reports that michael brown's parents are asking the governor of missouri, jay nixon, to reconsider his earlier decision not to appoint a special prosecutor or counsel, but to keep the prosecutor in place. a lot of folks in the community are not happy with that decision by the governor. >> this has been a continuing source of controversy ever since the prosecutor took over this investigation and began the grand jury proceeding. it's not going to change now. the governor is not appointing a special prosecutor, and the question now is, what is the result of this grand jury investigation? will there be an indictment? this is going to be a key legal turning point and a key political moment in terms of how the community is prepared for it. that, i think, is the next really dramatic serious moment coming. it's apparently october, it's

going to be november at the earliest. but when the grand jury returns it's decision, that's a time -- >> we're told that grand jury decision may be delayed to january or later. >> it could be. originally the deadline was october. it's been moved back. i think moving it back is certainly better if you're going to have a thorough and appropriate investigation. but at some point, it's an up or down decision whether he gets indicted or not. that's going to be a big deal. >> as the naacp taken a formal decision on this prosecutor? or do you want the governor to name a special prosecuteer? >> we have asked several times the governor appoint a special prosecutor. as you can see, our requests have been ignored, as many other groups, along with the family's. so it's our hope that they will be thorough.

>> don, how do you see this playing out? >> i sat down with the governor and discussed bob mccullough. he said he's happy with him and i agree with jeffrey, it's unlikely that the governor changes his mind at that point. >> jeffrey, legally speaking, this grand jury only meets once a week, so they have a lot of work to do. >> mccullough said, i am going to present every piece of evidence to the grand jury. that's a lot of evidence. we've discussed how many eyewitnesss there were. how many eyewitnesss will testify. all the forensic tests that we don't even know all of them that have been completed yet. when you're presenting evidence only one day a week to the grand jury, that's going to take a long time. >> john, will there be a lot more protests by folks in the coming days? >> i believe there's going to be

a lot of unrest and you're going to be hearing from a lot of people that are upset. >> don, you were there and spent a lot of time on the ground what they call these outside agitators. peaceful people want to protest, but people from the outside come in i have. that happened a lot in the very beginning. i don't know if that is going to happen to the magnitude that it did in the beginning. i think for the most part, and john would know more about this. they've gotten a handle on those so-called outside agitators. but i do think as i said, as you saw from the symphony, that protest thes are going to evolve. yes, there may be some more violent protests. let's hope there aren't but i think they'll change. by them they will bring more people in with their message to understand what they're trying to get accomplished. >> thanks very much. an important note to our viewers. don lemon will be back later tonight. 10:00 p.m. eastern, cnn tonight.

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we're just about one month away from a very important mid-term election. it is not necessarily the colonel leader of the party. that would be the president of

the united states. president obama. many democrats are trying to distance themselves from president obama right now. instead they're turning to bill clinton who is a lot more popular in some of those states. and he is hitting the campaign trail in his home state of arkansas right now. let's go to our senior political correspondent. she is in little rock with more. how did it go in arkansas? this is a sensitive moment a month before the elections. >> reporter: it is very tight races here. when it comes to congressional races, as well as the gubernatorial race, and this is a state that is very important to bill clinton personally. you look at the ballot for november 4th and it reads like cars out of his 1980s rolodex. mike ross who was his driver during his 1982 run for governor. he is now running for governor. mark pryor, one of the most vulnerable incumbent senate democrats. he is hoping to hang on here and that is someone who bill clinton knew even as a kid.

he was here campaigning for all of these democrats today. and i asked him about what really democrats need to do to win. and there's also this speculation that perhaps and it may be a long shot. if his wife were to run that she might be able to put arkansas in play. i talked to him about that. >> how do democrats win in arkansas? >> more of this. if young people vote, these people will win. they have a good poll today. >> 2016? >> i'm worried about this election. >> and you look, wolf, at bill clinton's schedule. four stops over two days. three of them are colleges. he is concentrating very much on the youth vote, the young voters tend to stay home during offyear elections like this one and he is trying to make sure that at least enough of them turn out to

keep democrats in charge of the senate. and in charge of the state house. >> pipg president clinton confronted the unpopularity head. on tell our viewers what happened. >> reporter: yeah. this is something that is playing very big here. when you look at the ads run by republicans and outside groups, they really lump in the democratic candidates with president obama. as you would expect. this is napping other states as well but the president's approval rating is about 30%. he is very unpopular. you won't see him showing up at a campaign event for mark pryor. and we heard bill clinton addressing that head on as you said. he said to this crowd, vote for what you are for. not for what you are against. >> so most of these democratic candidates in states like arkansas or louisiana, north carolina, kansas, kentucky, where there is really

competitive races. correct me if i'm wrong. they don't want the president of the united states to come in and campaign with them. but they might welcome bill clinton. is that right? >> reporter: yeah. in fact they would welcome bill clinton. that's exactly right. and they would welcome bill clinton above any other democrat. we just saw in a recent "wall street journal" poll that he is by far the most popular surrogate for democrats. that a lot of registered voters say, if he endorses someone, they look favorably on the candidate that he endorses. and that really, i guess, what could detract from that. some people, he may be polarizing but he certainly makes up, let me try to rephrase that. he sort of wins more people over than he loses. more so than any other democratic candidate, wolf. >> he certainly does. from little rock, arkansas, with the former president of the united states, bill clinton campaigning for democrats. tight elections going on there. thanks very, very much.

remember, you can always follow us on twitter. tweet me at wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at c nnn sit room. you can dvr the show so you won't miss it. erin burnett starts right now. major gains by isis despite more air strikes as the u.s. races against time to save an american hostage marked for death. plus, an "outfront" investigation on how isis makes its money to funnel its reign of terror. and as ebola patient thomas duncan's condition worsens, did he know he had been exposed to ebola before he board that had plane to america. good evening. i'm erin burnett. outfront, the breaking news. the clock