11 million viewers at a time to a & e and merchandise that goes with it brings up to $400 million. certainly enough to bet on in vegas. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i'll turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." wolf? happening now, breaking news. terrorists aligning with new concerns that terrorist spinoffs have agreed to team up with isis as the u.s. braces for air strikes against khorasan. and isis speaks. the chair chief is back taunting the u.s. and its allies as terrified, weak and powerless. plane problems. this happened to the secretary of state, the nation's spy chief and even the president of the united states. why are america's leaders facing a series of breakdowns with their official aircraft? and guilty plea? the day before a virginia kidnapping suspect heads to

court in another case, a surprising turn. i'm wolf blitzer. kro you're in "the situation room." let's get right to the breaking news. u.s. jets strike in syria at khorasan. that comes amid growing concerns that a new terrorist supergroup is being formed in a merger among isis and al qaeda factions. the leader of isis is back days after reportedly wounded in an air strike. the audio message calls for the group to defeat its failure and will face destruction. standing by, our correspondents, analysts, newsmakers, including the head of the u.s. military retired anthony. let's begin with the u.s. air strikes against an al qaeda

spinoff which was targeted at the tart of the u.s. air campaign in syria. this comes amid a concern of a merger between the faction and isis. let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what about these air strikes are you learning? >> there have been now a third round of air strikes against the so-called khorasan group in al qaeda. this is a hardcore al qaeda operatives that moved from pakistan to syria. they have been working on making bombs that can evade airport screening. that is why they are so critical to u.s. national security. the u.s. struck the khorasan the first night of attacks and a couple weeks ago and now there's a focused strike against them, an indication that the u.s. is getting better intelligence about where these operatives are hiding out. wolf? >> all of this comes amid now reports that another al qaeda affiliate and isis have come to

some sort of an agreement to work together. what are you hearing from your sources? >> very concerning, wolf. the national security team has been looking into this all afternoon. what all of us are hearing is that the al qaeda offshoot called al nusra and isis have come to some sort of ad hoc accommodation out in the field, if you will, in certain places, perhaps, collaborating and joining forces to work perhaps against the syrian rebels that the u.s. backs. not a formal merger at this point in that sense of it. but very concerning because although they have a lot of differences, they are unlikely to come to a full accommodation. the fact that they are even talking and potentially working together causes the u.s. intelligence community an awful lot of worry about where all of this is headed. wolf? >> meantime, u.s. defense officials were up on capitol hill today answering some pretty

specific, tough questions about this overall u.s.-led war against isis. what were the headlines? >> it's the same bottom line question that most americans want to know. are u.s. combat forces going into iraq and even down the road potentially into syria? defense secretary hagel said, absolutely not. no combat forces on the ground. the policy there for the military has not changed. but i want you to listen to general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs and then we'll come back and talk about what he's really trying to say. >> i'm not predicting at this point that i would recommend that those forces in mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by u.s. forces but we're certainly considering it. >> certainly considering that. i talked to one of his top aides. what dempsey is saying is what he has said in the past. complex military operations, like the iraqis trying to retake the city of mosul which isis has

a firm grip on at the moment. very tough for the iraqis to do themselves. dempsey is saying, no combat forces but he might down the road in those kind of operations be willing to consider putting certain types of u.s. military advisers with iraqi forces on the ground. basically, very high-tech advisers that can pick out targets and then transmit that target information to the air. not supposed to be in combat but as the situation on the ground can always get very ugly. wolf? >> meanwhile, fresh u.s. air strikes in syria, new concerns of a terrorist alliance there which underscores how crucial the front is in the fight against isis. elise labott is joining us. elise, you had first word that the u.s. is reviewing its overall strategy in this war against isis, in dealing with syria. what else are you learning? >> wolf, the white house is pushing back on the story saying there's no formal review under way, just a constant weak

calibration of the strategy. even the administration officials say there is widespread recognition that defeat isis you need political change in syria and that should be part of a plan. coalition air strikes continue in kobani against isis targets. underground, isis fighters dig tunnels and trenches hiding from the air strikes as they battle opposition forces. in aleppo, president assad's forces have made their own advances with punishing air strikes against the u.s.-backed rebels in which the defense of secretary said one enemy was more lethal. >> yes, they want to see assad go. yes, there's no question. but the most absolute, immediate threat to most of these people is isil and what isil is doing to their villages and to their families and their homes. >> reporter: the white house hoped to defeat isis in iraq before pivoting to syria and has been struggling to define its plan since the president admitted over the summer -- >> we don't have a strategy yet.

>> reporter: but worried syrian rebels won't last against isis and the regime and under pressure from coalition allies, senior u.s. officials tell cnn the obama administration is undertaking a, quote, vigorous assessment of whether isis can effect change in syria, including removing assad from power. >> this requires us to take a hard look at what we're doing on a regular basis. >> reporter: the focus on assad is a change in tone from two months ago when secretary of state john kerry told cnn there was no link between assad and isis. >> it is going to be a policy to separate assad, who is mostly in the western part of syria and of a certain corridor.

>> reporter: now the u.s. is looking to speed up and expand a program to train 5,000 syrian rebels over the next year to battle isis and ultimately assad. >> when the u.s. sends rebels that they are out for isis and the assad regime and he could begin to resist and that's the point where, what will the u.s. do? support those troops going inside syria? let the assad regime decimate them? >> martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said it would take about a year or so to train those 5,000 troops and they really need 15,000. so we're talking three years. the officials say the opposition may not have that kind of time which is why they want to expand and speed up that program to fight isis and hopefully make dents against isis' grip, too. >> it's a long fight that these coalition partners have. thanks very much for that, elise.

as the united states rethinks its strategy, isis is basically saying, bring it on. the new audio message is full of taunts and threats said to be by abu bakr al baghdadi. let's bring in arwa damon, our senior correspondent, who is on the ground near the turkey border. is al baghdadi really back? >> reporter: well, that would appear to be the case, wolf. or at least the very image that isis wants to portray, that its leader is alive and well. why was it audio and not a video message? that we quite simply do not know. at this stage, we cannot verify its authenticity but al baghdadi most certainly continuing to make fiery statements, talking about wanting to create volcanos of jihad. some clues as to when it may have been filmed, he makes direct reference to the additional 1500 troops that

president obama is planning on sending into iraq. also, talks about how isis is not pleased to recognize the new allegiances that are being sworn by various other extremist groups from countries such as e egypt, libya, saudi arabia, yemen, calling on saudi arabia, for example, to carry out direct strikes against the saudi royal family. in all of this, wolf, isis is trying to continue to establish itself and also send out the clear message that no matter what may be out there, even if its leader is in fact wounded, he's still putting out these messages and he's still very much at the head of the organization. wolf? >> arwa, be careful over there between turkey and syria. a retired u.s. general anthony yazini, former middle east

enjoy. does from assad need to go in order to keep this coalition together? >> well, i think the problem with this strategy all along has been lack of a credible ground force and a hope that somehow some sort of coalition forth or iraqi army would develop into one and the operation inside syria would develop into one and i think what you're seeing is assad making gains and the probability of that moderate resistance developing into these ground forces becoming less likely. and so there needs to be pressure on assad. let me say that, you know, this strategy is dependent upon air strikes really doing major damage to isis and that probably hasn't occurred and the ground force and as you just reported that would take years to put something like that together.

and the third sort of hope in the strategy is that the timing doesn't work against us and i think it does. as long as isis holds that territory, that they can recruit and they can actually create coalitions with al qaeda or other forces, this works against us. and that's why i think you see this now look towards assad. >> because the only ground forces in syria that i see that can deal with assad is the military of turkey, a nato ally. is there any reason to believe that turkey would send in its air force and try to get rid of bashar al assad? >> i don't think turkey would do that alone. if this becomes a nato operation. but to think turkey would take it on by itself without that kind of support, commitment and coalition, i don't think that's in the cards.

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need to lower your blood sugar? ask your doctor about farxiga and visit our website to learn how you may be able to get every month free. new u.s. air strikes against an al qaeda cell in syria, new concerns about a terrorist alliance over there and a u.s. review on strategy of isis. we're back with retired anthony

zinni. general zinni, let me read to you what a columnist andrew sullivan wrote, very critical of the administration's strategy of dealing with isis. "to go back in and do without combat troops what we could not do with 100,000 is a definition of madness brought on by pride. it is to restart the entire wall all over again." is he right? >> i don't believe so. we broke it and now we own it, to use secretary powell's pottery barn. we can't have iraq collapse and i think now we have a commitment to iraq with this new government, perhaps we can get the motivation that would allow us to reconstruct their military. but i think in the end, time works against us and eventually you're going to see u.s. ground forces in there again. i don't see how we can avoid it.

this thing is metastisizing and that could compound this program, too. so the middle east is really in a position where we've got to do something decisive here and we're not. >> what makes you think, general, that right now the u.s. is going to have about 3,000 troops or advisers. what makes you think that 5,000, 10,000 when all is said and done will really make much of a difference? >> well, i think the priority has to be to get them out of iraq. you can't get them out of iraq with just air strikes. you have to get them out of iraq with a counter offensive using ground forces. the iraqi army is at least a year or so away from being able to do that. if you want to up that time

schedule -- and you may have to because of the situation deteriorating as it is in syria and elsewhere -- i think you're going to have to have ground forces from the u.s. and maybe other coalition allies that would join and participate to push them out, to give space to buy time, to rehabilitate anbar province to, get them away from the gates of baghdad and give a little bit of breathing room to the iraqis in this. we seem to have this wish to find a ground force that just isn't there and we seem to think time is on our side. i doubt both of those factors, which are part of this strategy, are realistic. >> the u.s. spent a decade training, arming, financing the iraqi military. they built up an iraqi military of 2 or 300,000. once isis arrived, they abandoned their posts, they abandoned mosul, the second largest city in iraq. they simply ran away after ten years and so much effort on the

part of the military to train these guys. it doesn't look like they are ready to do anything militarily speaking for all practical purposes right now. >> well, you know, the key is not just training and equipment. you have to have something to fight for. i don't think the maliki government with the way they appointed senior officers, it wasn't a merit system. the lack of motivation, the lack of allegiance to baghdad, especially with the isolation of the sunni population created this environment. so it can't be just more equipment and more training. it's going to have to be a sense that the baghdad government now will really provide something that gives backbone to the army and motivation. and that has to be something that indicates to the sunnis that this will be an enclues in government in a major way. >> that seems like a little bit of a wish there, that this new government will be significantly

better than the old government of al maliki. it's very, very close to the regime in iran, as you well know. >> yes. and, you know, i think that there has to be more pressure on this new government to make the changes and bring the sunni into the fold or else if there's no hope, this will just become a country that's split up with part of it as an iranian satellite with the sunni part being god knows what and under violence and chaos, much like what we see in yemen and somalia and elsewhere and a kurdish population that is going to be caught in between all of this. and that, i think, will stress the middle east and create more problems than will stretch across it. >> but the u.s. can't want a really peaceful solution and a new iraq more than the iraqis themselves, right? >> absolutely. and we maybe need to get

creative about the government. it may have to be some sort of federation or con federation, semi-autonomy. we may look for partners for sponsorship. we'll take care of the kurds. we have in the past. the iranians may be more concerned with sponsoring the shias and maybe the arabs will look towards a more sunni part of this. if you can't find a government to sort of pull everything together under one national system, we may have to look at more creative solutions to this. the u fightnited arab emirates degree of autonomy and manage to do their federal part of this very well and this is a model we may have to look at down the road. >> i suspect the break up of raqqa, people who really know that country suspect a shiite area, baghdad specifically, aligned with iran.

a sunni aligned with states in the gulf and kurdistan, basically, being almost semi-autonomous. independent kurdistan will probably happen sooner rather than later. general zunni, thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you, wolf. we're watching other dangerous developments. up next, caught on camera, russian military vehicles moving directly back into ukraine even though moscow says no such thing is happening. we also have new details about a sting of plane problems. delayed a critical mission to north korea.

as fighting ranges between ukrainian forces and pro-russian separatists, russia is denying any incursion. let's get information from our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. jim? >> nato officials say they have extensive intelligence, including satellite photos, that show russia is on the ground in eastern ukraine and even more forces moving in, publicly available information, like this video which appears to show russian tanks here crossing that border again. it's the view of ukrainian

officials that i've spoken with that these new weapons are intended for a new offensive by pro-russi pro-russian separatists inside ukraine. this is a rare view inside the fighting in eastern ukraine. a gun battle at the airport in donetsk. then, a rebel tank fires and destroys a ukrainian military position. these are ukrainian forces battlibat battling separatists and now more heavy weapons are on the way. ukraine's president says his country has lost control of its eastern border. >> translator: the ukrainian/russian border is repeatedly crossed by the russian regular forces. >> reporter: now, the same russian forces say nate he

nato's supreme national commander are firing at drones from the international observer mission. today, the russian foreign ministry spokesman said no russian forces of any kind are in ukraine. >> translator: there are no military forces and moreover, no presence of our troops in the territory of ukraine. >> reporter: on the map, you can see how russia has in effect now occupied territory inside eastern ukraine. it's this area here under the control of pro-russian separatists. these are russian weapon systems as identified by ukrainian authorities. you can see the troop divisions along the border which are 8 to 10,000 russian troops positioned along the border. and the red area is in effect in control by russian authorities and just to place it, this here is where u.s. officials say

russian-supplied artillery is what shot down the malaysia airplane. the cost of this through sanctions has not, on the ground, affected russian policy. >> all right. thanks very much for that, jim sciutto reporting. let's go to the scene right now. cnn's phil black is back on the ground in eastern ukraine. what are you seeing there, phil? >> reporter: wolf, that does not mean a lot to officials here. the ukrainian government says, well, they've heard that before. more than that, its officials will tell you they've seen this play before and they know how it ends. they are talking about the so-called little green men, well-armed professional soldiers that have shown up at key points throughout this crisis, really having significant impact and things have not turned out well

for the ukrainian government. the ukrainian government believes that its troops should be getting for an imminent attack or widening of an assault by separatist forces with significant backing by the russian military and its regular forces as well. what they don't know, they say, is the scope, the intent of any sort of imminent operation, whether it's limited attempt to key infrastructure like the airport outside that key area of donetsk or perhaps pushing through the south to try and establish something that russia doesn't yet have and that is a direct, physical link between crimea and the russian mainland. for all of these reasons, the ukrainian government says it has every reason to be concerned and all of this in the context of ongoing fighting. a cease-fire in name only, that's what we've seen here since september. both sides have continued to trade fire. people dying still on both sides

and that's really escalated over the last few days. wolf? >> such an awful, awful situation seems to be getting a lot worse. phil black in ukraine, thank you. international monitors have seen a lot of military traffic. joining us now is the organization for cooperation. michael, thanks for joining us. has russia violated the cease-fire agreement? >> good to be back with you, wolf. well, what we've seen over the past few days, saturday, sunday and then again on tuesday, wolf, was very major military convoys, unmarked military convoys crossing from the east towards the next city and these were no small tracks. these were with no insignia, many toying artillery as well as multiple rocket systems.

as phil's piece also indicated, wolf, the shelling in and around donetsk city has been among the most intense since the beginning of the conflict. this isn't what one would expect so many weeks after the signing of the cease-fire. we haven't seen military fire moving away from the contact line so a very worrisome situation indeed. >> is russia invading ukraine? >> well, you know, wolf, we're certainly an observation mission, as you know, and the vehicles, the individuals that we have observed have no insignia. so we're not here to assign a particular identification to anybody but what we do see is a continuous escalation and a very, very big impact on the civilian population. yesterday, our chief monitor addressed the u.n. security

council and he did sound the alarm bells of this escalation and the very, very heavy toll on the civilian population in eastern ukraine. >> let me try a third way and maybe you can give a specific answer this way. those tanks, those armored personal carriers driving those vehicles? >> we don't know. these aren't people who carry identification with them but i can tell you in the past few days that we have experienced some very unusual things. for example, you may recall that we put four unmanned, unarmed aerial vehicles into the air. so drones in eastern ukraine and shortly after they went into the air they were subjected to very heavy, sophisticated grade

electronic jamming as well as light fire from the ground. so this is something we haven't seen before and, of course, it's very unfortunate because it does put the peace process into great jeopardy. >> one quick final question before i let you go. the recovery of the malaysia airlines flight 17, we know a lot of the wreckage is still there. we know that bodies presumably, remains are still there as well. what's the status of getting to that area and finding out specifically what happened and at least recovering the bodies? >> well, as you know, we were there within 24 hours and we've been there many, many times escorting officials, experts, emergency workers. we have good days and we have bad days when it comes to taking folks out there. at the moment, there's a very robust plan to take the big wreckage pieces out but also the

human remains are still occurring and it's very cold and the project will have to be delayed until springtime. >> well, good luck to you and all of the monitors with osce. michael, thank you. we know this is a really dangerous and escalating crisis right now. michael joining us from the osce. up next, what's behind a string of problems with the u.s. jets that carry top u.s. officials, including the president of the united states? and later, we have surprising new details about the legal strategy being discussed for the suspect in the kidnapping of the virginia of university student hannah graham.

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we're learning new details about a disturbing string of problems and breakdowns on the u.s. air force jet that carry top u.s. officials, including the president. our aviation correspondent rene marsh is joining us with the very latest. disturbing stuff. what are you learning? >> it's the dreaded announcement, plane delays due to mechanical problems. not even our country's dignitaries are immune. four of our top officials, including the president, have recently had plane problems, delaying important missions and trips. so is this an indication of a bigger problem or just a coincidence? tonight, we ask the air force which operates the planes. even the world's most powerful

leaders experience plane problems. america's top spy james clapper delivered two americans home from north korea last week. but two mechanical mishaps. electrical problems in hawaii and a navigational issue in guam briefly stalled the high-stakes mission. secretary of state john kerry had four breakdowns of his own this year. in vienna, switzerland, great britain and hawaii. two of the incidents forced the man who once had his name on the side of a plane to fly commercial. in philadelphia last week, even the leader of the free world wasn't immune to a travel delay. while flying his smaller version of air force one, problems on the wing forced president obama to use a backup. >> if the u.s. air force can't get, you know, the secretary of state or sect dairetary of defeo a very high-profile meeting,

that is embarrassing. >> reporter: embarrassing but eventually everyone arrived safely. and if you think the plane problems could be a function of age, experts say age is just a number. the secretary of state, vice president and first lady usually fly modified boeings 757s which the pentagon says is mission ready 94.4% of the time. the oldest one in the fleet is just 16 years old. the same age as most major u.s. airlines. and a relative baby compared to some planes used by the air force. they have b-52 bombers more than 50 years old expected to be in the air until at least 2040. the modified 747s that often serve as president obama's air force one were delivered to the first president bush nearly 25 years ago. >> has the same configuration of the majority of the airliners with the exception we have a few extras for the president so he's

got living quarters, places to cook meals, areas for the staff. >> reporter: a process to replace the plane is under way but it will be a new president who gets to break them in. well, the air force defends its fleet saying that the planes designated for the top leaders is the most reliable in the air force. it just so happens that they say these string of incidents, they happen to planes that are very high-profile so people tend to notice. >> let's hope it remains that way. rene, thank you very much. new details about the behind of scenes legal wrangling that may be going on as the suspect in the hanna graham goes before a judge. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365, the team can gain real time insights and

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new and surprising information that suggests jesse matthew, the man accused of kidnapping the university of virginia student hannah graham, could plead guilty in another case. the investigative journalist coy barefoot has been talking to his sources. we're joined now by coy and tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. coy, tell us what you've been learning jesse matthew has been prepared to do. i know you've been speaking sources close to his defense team. >> i got a call last night from somebody close to the defense team and got a sneak peek into the truly fascinating legal calculus that is going on as we speak. of course, tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m., jesse matthew will appear for the first time in person in the circuit court in

fairfax to face these three charges, abduction, rape, and attempted capital murder. we could hear a number of motions on both sides, but here is what everybody is waiting to find out tomorrow. judge dennis smith will name the particular judge in the circuit court there who will oversee the trial, and that is the absolutely critical ingredient, because that's going to decide if the defense is going to decide to go to trial or not. the last thing they want to do is go to trial. because the jury is likely to give jesse matthew, their client, life in prison. so they may decide to made guilty, throw himself on the mercy of the court. and if you have a judge that sticks to the state guidelines, which are just suggestive, but if you have a judge that sticks to the state guidelines and then jesse matthew could plead guilty and i had a couple of lawyers total up the numbers for me. he could get 15 to 20 years and

be out in 17 before he's even 50 years old. if he gets off in the charges he's likely to face in central virginia, that means jesse matthew walks a free man in 17 years. >> that obviously is possible, jeffrey toobin, but to me, i'm not a lawyer, you are, that sounds highly unlikely he will ever walk free if he's convicted of these three felony charges. >> there are a lot of moving parts here. i don't think you can somehow assume he will be acquitted in the graham case. that seems unlikely. this case, coy can correct me if i'm wrong, there's potentially dna evidence tying him to the crime. >> his dna underneath her fingernails. >> how do you defend a case like that? >> i guess what he's saying, if he pleads guilty, there's no trial, he just pleads guilty, he could get out in 15 to 20 years? three felony charges could give

him life. >> as coy points out, the guidelines are maybe for only 15 or 20 years, but those are suggestive. if there were ever a case to give a higher sentence, this would be it. the classic defense strategy in high profile cases is delay. put things off, let passions cool. that would seem to be more ordinary circumstances. >> tom? >> i agree with jeff, but the passions oh of this case are not going to die down this month or ten years from now. so whatever ploy the defense may have thinking that could be possible is not possible. >> let me just have you wrap it up, coy. they may be indulging in wishful thinking, these defense attorneys. >> the way it was explained to me over the phone with somebody who said look, if you only have bad options, you're going to

take your least bad option. that's what the defense is currently looking at, the defense in charge of defending jesse matthew in fairfax. we'll see what happens tomorrow morning. >> 9:00 a.m. eastern fairfax, right outside of washington, d.c. in northern virginia. coy, thank you very much. tom, jeffrey, guys thanks to you, as well. coming up, the grand jury investigating the shooting death of michael brown hears from a crucial witness. we'll have new details. ♪ [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home.

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happening now, breaking now. reports that al qaeda and isis are joining forces as a chilling new message emerges from the isis leader rumored to be wounded or dead. russian aggression. as monitors say moscow sends forces directly into ukraine, we're learning of details to have long-range russian bombers patrol off u.s. coastlines. could it spark a military confrontation? a damning new report on september's white house intrusion by a knife wielding man reveals a number of missteps. i'll talk to the reporter who broke the story. autopsy testimony. the pathologist hired by michael brown's family appears before the grand jury investigating his death. could his findings lead to

charges against the police officer who shot the unarmed teenager? 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. disturbing new reports that isis and an al qaeda affiliate have agreed to join forces in syria. this comes as a report emerges allegedly of the isis leader thought to have been billed ki wounded in a u.s. air attack is threatened a volcanic jihad. we have our correspondents and other guests standing by. let's begin with barbara starr. she has more on the breaking news. barbara, what are you learning? >> wolf, there have been a fresh round of air strikes against a group called the khorasan inside syria. a very hard core al qaeda group the u.s. is trying to go after.

but at the same time these tapes are emerging and a key question, is the leader of isis dead or alive? ice else is burrowing in for the long fight. in a new video, they show off their latest strategy to survive. fighters in an underground tunnel system in iraq sheltered from coalition air strikes. and isis' leader has come out of hiding. the group released audio only of him suggesting he survived an air strike. the new message, he called the coalition terrified, weak, and powerless, and threatened volcanos of jihad everywhere. cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of the audio. with over 800 air strikes so far, the nation's top defense officials today said again there

will be no u.s. boots on the ground in the fight against isl isis. u.s. military will not be engaged in gcombat missions. >> i'm not predicting at this point that i would recommend that those forces in mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by u.s. forces, but we're certainly considering it. >> reporter: as the united states prepares to end 1500 additional military personnel to iraq, the joint chiefs chairman says iraq will need 80,000 of its even troops to recapture territory it has lost to isis. but the idea got a skeptical reception. >> i'm asking what's the difference in the men of the -- the iraqi men that we have in the forces there in making a difference, not running away from the battle? >> reporter: dempsey admitted even with more training, iraqi

forces still need to show they are up to the fight. >> one of the assumptions is that the iraqi security forces will be willing to take back al anb anbar province. if those are invalid, i will have to adjust my recommendations. >> reporter: he's talking about u.s. troops going with iraqi forces in the field. but aides say he's not talking about combat forces, he's talking about sending u.s. troops that could help the iraqis pick out targets to hit. he says they won't be in combat. wolf? >> thank you very much, barbara. let's bring in elise. what are you picking up? >> reporter: well, wolf, i think the interesting thing that we're hearing right now is about the story about how the united states is basically looking at a recalibration of their strategy in syria. on the hill today, they

recognized that the two-front war, fighting isis and the regime. but take a listen at defense secretary hagel. >> yes, they want to see assad go, no question. but the most absolute immediate threat to most of these people is isil, and what isil is doing to their villages and their families and homes. >> reporter: it wasn't so long ago that he wrote the white house warning that a lack of a coherent strategy in sere yyriad hurt the campaign against isis. there is a realization they need to rethink how the overall isis strategy fits in with a strategy for the future of syria. >> what are you hearing from your sources? can the u.s., elise, defeat isis without assad leaving damascus? >> reporter: the u.s. has said that the air strikes in syria

are to blunt isis next door in iraq and hoping to train syrian rebels to battle isis. but these rebels, battling the regime, battling isis. i think many people think that assad is benefiting from that campaign against isis, because it's zapping the focus of the administration. so the argument of the allies of many of the administration is if you don't help beef up this opposition now, beef up their capabilities, take steps for a political solution in syria, including an eventual exit for president assad, that moderate syrian opposition will be destroyed and they won't be there to fight isis. but the problem is, there's no political opposition right now to fill that vacuum if assad were to go. so the administration, a lot of people feels need to redouble its effort to find that viable alternative. you have russia and iran still supporting assad and have shown they're not showing any signs

willing to change course. >> russia and iran still supporting bashar al assad. thank you very much. joining us here in "the situation room," the state department spokeswoman jen saiki. thank you very much for being here. i've got some important questions. has this terrorist group the u.s. regards as fighting assad's regime, have they formed a new alliance, thanks to khorasan, with isis? >> we don't have any independent confirmation of that at this time. as you know, they had a divorce of sort earlier this year. >> it wouldn't surprise you if all of these al qaeda spinoffs, if they say, there's a bigger picture, they all oppose assad and the united states, they're going to work together. that would be a huge and very dangerous development. >> they were working together earlier this year. so only for the last several

months have they not been working together. but the bottom line is, they're both terrorist organizations. we certainly are focused mostly on isil, but we'll be tracking this closely. >> do the moderate syrians, the guys that the u.s. wants to train in saudi arabia, do they have an alliance of sorts with el nusra? >> i wouldn't put it that way at all. there's no question there are some components of the opposition that have worked with different extremist groups and elements. that's one of the reasons why we track our vetting so closely and work with specific groups. that's something we're very aware of. but the situation in syria is a mess. no question about that. that's why it's so challenging and why we make careful decisions about what we should do next. >> can the u.s. and its coalition partners destroy, degrade, and ultimately destroy isis without getting rid of bashar al assad and his regime

in damascus? >> we wouldn't butt it as simply as that. isil has had safe havens in syria for several years now because of assad. assad is the greatest magnet for terrorism that there is in syria. we're focused on a military approach with other components. we are not focused on a military approach as it relates to assad. >> why not a military approach? if the u.s. would like assad to leave, he's got the support from iran and russia, he's got hezbollah from lebanon supporting him. is there a diplomatic way, he's just going to wake up and say i've had enough, i'm ready to leave? >> we believe a political transition is the right step. we have believed he's lost his legitimacy for a long time. >> he doesn't believe that. >> that's long been the case. >> can you do that with only diplomatic or economic pressure or does it require military

action? clearly the moderate syrian rebels don't have the capability to destroy his regime. >> they're all linked in the sense that the opposition needs to be strengthened and boosted up. we've been increasing the assistance and if they can be more credible militarily, they can pose a bigger threat militarily. >> how long is that going to take to get them into a credible military posture to represent a threat to isis and the syrian regime? >> it's going to take some time. >> what does that mean? >> i can't put a timeline on it right now other than to say we've begun the process, we're going to start the train and equip program soon and we're confident they will be more credible militarily. >> 5,000 of these fighters are been vetted. they're going to spend months in saudi arabia being trained by the u.s. and others? >> that's right. but i would remind you that we've also increased the scale

and scope of our assistance over the scope of the last year and a half. we've increased that and we're going to keep taking steps to past the opposition. >> let's talk about the secretary of state john kerry. he had a very important meeting in jordan meeting with king abdullah ii, and the prime minister of israel. he went to amman from jerusalem. the egyptian president called in, mahmoud abbas is there as well. what's going on? >> you spent a lot of time in jerusalem this summer. you know how tense the situation is. the secretary has commitment to make sure he does everything he can to reduce tensions there. he met today with prime minister netanyahu, with king abdullah, he met separately with president abbas and encouraged them to take concrete steps to reduce

the tension. >> like what? >> he's confident they're going to take steps. it's clear on the ground what's happening, there's rhetoric that's been rising, there are attacks going back and forth. it's obvious what needs to stop and end. he's confident coming out of his meetings that there's going to be some progress. >> so he wrapped up these meetings in amman, he's encouraged with the palestinian-israeli relationship? >> we're focused on the situation on the ground in israel. we've seen incidents happen every day. that's what we're focused on right now. >> is there one specific thing you want the israeli government to do? >> there's a couple of things, as well as the palestinians. they all need to reduce the rhetoric and condemn violence, to prevent that from happening on the streets. there's steps as leaders they can take. >> good luck. i would like to see that peace process get back on track. if the secretary of state can do

that, we will add mire him if he can get that peace process on track. >> thanks, wolf. more breaking news coming up. a series of jaw-dropping blunders by the u.s. secret service, laid out in a review of the white house incursion in september. i'll speak to the reporter who just broke this story. 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

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one agent that was on his personnel cell phone when the including jumped the fence. joe johns is work thing story for us. tell our viewers what you're finding out. >> reporter: this is a detailed executive summary from the homeland security department on that incident, september 19, involving omar gonzalez right here at the white house. it details a series of breakdowns and as you mentioned, one of the most interesting things, i think, that's come out of all of this is something we have put into a graphic for you. i'll read. at the time of the incident, the canine officer here on the grounds, a technician, was stationed inside a van with his kay neighbor partner parked on the white house driveway when gonzalez jumped the north fence. the canine officer was on his personal cell phone without his radio ear piece in his ear. he had left his second tactical radio in his locker. that right there is a big

breakdown. secret service had multiple encounters with this individual, gonzalez, on july 19, july 21, august 25, and somehow or other, his name didn't get all the way into the system. there are other concerns on the day this man got into the white house, including the fact that there was construction here on the grounds that was blocking the view of some of the officers. and a number of other concerns, in fact. so it comes down, they say, to training and figuring out how to handle people who they don't want to shoot with deadly force, how do you handle somebody who jumps the fence here at the white house in that type of situation? >> that guy didn't just jump the fence, he got inside the white house and into the east room of the white house. it was all very shocking. joe, stand by. i want to bring in the reporter who just broke the story, michael schmidt of the new york times is here in "the situation room." this report that was done, this review, they want to learn from

the blunders, the mistakes that occurred, learn lessons so it doesn't happen again. what jumped out at you as the most startling new development? >> unfortunately for the secret service, it's a bit comical. it's like a perfect storm of missteps. the most interesting thing i found is that there was an officer at the door who could have stopped him on the outside. but what he did is he didn't know what was going on. he saw all this commotion. he took out his gun. he hid there behind a pillar and said if this guy is coming up, the door is going to be locked. then the intruder went right in because it was unlocked. from there, a female officer tried to stop him and couldn't do that and he kept on going. so it's kind of -- as i was saying, this kind of crazy little turn of events. >> i read your report that there was part of the offense that didn't have any projectiles on the top that could have stopped

him? >> there are these small spikes at the top of the fence, they look like ornaments but there was not one in the area where he climbed over. and they think that allowed him more easily to do that. the fence is fairly high, but there's been dozens of climbers. but this looked like it helped him. >> once they found this guy, he went right in the door, which was unlocked, then went inside the east room. that's where the president can entertain guests, has major news conferences. they could have shot and killed this guy, but they made a deliberate decision not to use lethal force. >> several times in the report, the officers say they didn't think he was a threat, they didn't think he was armed. he gets through these bushes and the officers figure there's no way he's going to come out. they thought it was just too

complex in there. next thing you know he goes right up the steps and he's already in. >> he was on the watch list. they had been watching him for weeks before this incident. >> yeah, lots of run-ins had started all the way back in july with him. they even saw him on the day that he jumped over the fence. officers who knew him from a previous incident when they saw him with a hatchet on his belt walking around the white house, recognized him. but they said he wasn't exhibiting any odd behaviors and let him go. >> disciplinary action, has there been any? >> so far no. but that will be reserved until after this larger review, which the deputy department of homeland security secretary comes out, which could be in the next month. after that, there would be discipline. i think the person with the most scrutiny on them is this guy in the van with his dog, who was on

his phone. >> he was on a personal cell phone and his ear piece, he took it out to make a personal phone call. awful timing for him and this whole incident. >> the report even had the detail that he was on his speakerphone. so you have this image of this guy sitting there holding his phone. the president has just left. he probably thinks his day is coming to an end, and maybe that was the point where his career ended. >> we'll see what happens. so far he still has a job, he hasn't been fired or anything like that? >> that's our understanding. >> michael schmidt of "the new york times," thank you very much. good reporting. let's get some reaction on this and other issues. the ranking member of the intelligence committee joins us. congressman, you hear this information. what goes through your mind? >> it's just a wild world out there. but i have confidence that the united states and allies will take care of the safety and welfare of our country.

>> it's hard to believe a series of missteps or whatever could have resulted in a guy -- i was a white house correspondent for years and i was on the north lawn of the white house all the time and once in a while you get some guys jumping over the fence. but within a few seconds, they're stopped there. it's shocking to me that someone could run all the way across the north lawn, get inside and get into the east room of the white house. >> i think it is shocking. we have to remember we have excellent men and women who work for the secret service. but when you have situations like this that has to do with upper management, making sure the systems work. that just hasn't happened. and people need to be held accountable. the secret service is one of the best in the world in what they do. but this embarrasses them and we need to deal with it. >> the secret service does a fabulous job except in this particular case they made some serious blunderses there. hopefully they'll learn the lessons to make sure it never happens again. let's talk about some other

issues in the news right now. al qaeda and the al nusra front, there are reports it may be merging with isis. what do you know about that? >> there was supposedly a meeting for four hours. remember, al qaeda told isis, we don't want you here, we don't like you cutting people's heads off, we think that you hurt us. now, the al nusra front, which is part of al qaeda, is focused more on their region. where al qaeda is focused more on the united states and our allies and attempting to do whatever they can to perform attacks on americans and our allies and israel also. >> there are reports that this khorasan group and other al qaeda splinter groups are broker thing deal between al nusra and isis. >> khorasan is a group, they've been around for a while. they come basically from pakistan. but they are very smart. they're trying to develop bombs that can get through detection.

they're trying to develop bombs that can go into laptops. they're trying to find a way to do whatever they can to attack the united states or allies. and really khorasan is at this point just as dangerous as isis. isis is still focused on their region and focused on controlling the land and moving. but when it comes to khorasan, that's still core al qaeda that looks at us as the ultimate target. so we have been effective in the last couple of months taking out senior leadership. >> this new audio recording of the isis leader, who is supposedly the iraqis said he had been injured if not killed in an air strike a week or so ago, there's a new recording of him. has the u.s. authenticated it is his voice? >> we had briefings today.

no, it has not been authenticated. let me point this out. if it is baghdadi, where didn't they have a official? why didn't they have his visual? he is a very strong leader. he's the person who has led isis where they are. he's coordinated them, really obtaining illegally billions of dollars and it would hurt isis if he were killed. but there's a lot of other leadership involved with this, too. they've had command and control. they are a very, very serious group that we have to deal with and they are dealing with. >> we heard our pentagon correspondent barbara starr report the u.s. is conducting more air strikes against khorasan now. three weeks ago the obama administration said khorasan posed an imminent threat. how imminent is that threat to the u.s. homeland from khorasan, these other al qaeda groups right now sp >> what i just said before,

khorasan is probably a bigger threat to us than isis. isis is a threat. they will be a threat for a long period of time. but as far as the present danger to the united states or our allies, i'm worried about khorasan. we have to be focused on them. they're doing research and development in trying to develop mechanisms to attack us, to blow us up. whether it's airlines or attacking the united states, or suicide bombs. khorasan is working hard to develop that technology. >> so there is a possibility, correct me if i'm wrong, congressman, that core al qaeda, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen, el sha bob, isis, they could unite and that would be a formidable front, wouldn't it? >> i don't believe they're going to unite. they'll try to help each other if they can. but you have the group in yemen, in that area.

they have done a lot of research. they do the type of things focusing on things that khorasan would. but the core al qaeda focuses on suicide bombs, blowing up airplanes, that type of thing. this isis is a different situation. but if they are working together, i think the leader of al qaeda has lost a lot of his command and control, which makes it more dangerous for us because we have more people to look at and to find throughout the world that are threats to us and our allies. >> congressman, the ranking member of the house intelligence committee, thank you very much for joining us. just ahead, as reports survas of russian convoys rolling into ukraine, now reporting of russian bombers patrolling the u.s. coast. the pathologist hired by

michael brown's family appears before the grand jury probing his death in ferguson, missouri. we're taking a closer look at how his testimony could potentially change the investigation. fifteen percent or more fifon car insurance.d save you everybody knows that.

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it's an aggressive move certain to strain the relationship between moscow and washington. russia now planning to send warplanes on patrols off u.s.

coastlines. brian todd is looking into this story for us. what is going on over here? >> reporter: this is about russia's risky calculated pattern of aggression toward the u.s. and western allies. there have been been multiple incursions close to u.s. air space this year. a russian military plane came within 50 miles of the california coast. some of these encounters have come within a razor's edge of causing serious casualties. a russian jet fighter buzzes right in front of a u.s. air force surveillance plane, within 100 feet of the nose. a move which u.s. officials said endangered the american crew. another incident. a russian military aircraft comes within 50 miles of the california coast, the closest within years. get ready for more. russia's defense minister says his military is about to send bombers to patrol near american coastlines. >> you're going to have bombers coming in this direction and coming down this coast almost

certainly and you're going to have bombers coming down this coast and he also mentioned in particular flying in the gulf of mexico. >> the russian planes likely continue fly inside u.s. air space, within 14 miles of the coast. but u.s. officials call it prevoktive and destabilizing. russia's defense minister says it's in response to aggression near its border with ukraine. >> this is in response to strengthen putin's appeal with his base. >> reporter: a jet nearly colliding with a russian surveillance plane. in waters near stockholm, an underwater vessel makes an emergency call in russian. it triggers the largest submarine hunt off sweden since the cold war. all this has taken place since russia invaded crimea in

february. analysts say this is one man, vladamir putin, flexing his muscle, desperate to restore russia's cold war power. >> he's personifying as the tough guy, the image of russia he wants to present, a russia that will not back down, that will take on the west. and a russia that will take on everybody. >> reporter: the dangers now, according to analysts, that russian or western forces might miscalculate and there will be a military confrontation. and given all the air traffic, there might be an accident with russian aircraft or another adversary will follow vladamir putin's lead. >> these russian planes, when they fly into these areas, including off the u.s. coast, whether in the gulf of mexico, the caribbean, areas close to

the united states, they won't fe niecely be using some key instruments. >> russian military aircraft sometimes don't fly with their lights on at night, they don't always respond to radio queries from air traffic control. that is the real concern about a potential aviation accident. that could happen. it's very worrisome. >> brian, thanks for that report. just ahead, he performed a second autopsy on michael brown. now this pathologist is sharing his findings with the grand jury investigating the controversial police shooting. we're taking a closer look at the impact as testimony could have on the case. [ man ] i remember when i wouldn't give a little cut a second thought.

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see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. critical testimony in the case of the shooting death of michael brown in missouri. the panel will decide to indict the officer who shot him, they heard today from a famed pathologist who was hired to conduct a second autopsy on brown's body. we don't know when the grand jury will reach a decision. let's talk all about this with john gaskin, tom fuentes, former fbi assistant director, and our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. john, let me start with you,

jeff, the pathologist, he's very well known. he appears before the grand jury for a couple of hours if not longer. what do you make of this? >> i'm familiar with his results and they're ambiguous frankly whether a crime took place. he says he believes there were seven shots opposed to six. one of the shots hits michael brown in the arm in a way that potentially could have been from behind or potentially could have been with his hands up. but there is no piece of evidence from michael bodden that suggests that with certainly officer wilson shot michael brown in the back. it is simply ambiguous to me it seems to me whether this evidence will encourage the grand jury to find indictment or no true bill. >> how prominent do you think this testimony is from the doctor, tom? >> i don't know. the other problem with this, there's two other autopsies. so the odds that three autopsies

are going to be in exact agreement and three doctors are going to come to the same conclusion as to what occurred i think are rare. it only compounds the problem and the confusion in the case in the long run. >> walk us through this process right now. they're right near the end, we assume, of this grand jury, right? >> right. and the prosecutor has said he's presenting all the evidence to the grand jury, which is very unusual. usually prosecutors try to only give a limited amount in order to find -- in order for the grand jury to find probable cause. at that point, at some point, the grand jury may well be presented with a draft indictment by the prosecutors and they would be asked to vote on it. they don't have to be unanimous. all it catakes is three quarter to vote indictment, or the prosecutor may advise we don't think it's justified to have an indictment. prosecutors have a lot of

control. even though it's the grand jury voting, much more than in the trial, grand juries control the process. remember, there's no judge in a grand jury room. the prosecutor runs the whole show. >> and we don't know what the grand jury is going to do, john gaskin. but give us a little flavor of what the mood is in missouri. >> well, things are calm. i guess it could potentially be the calm before the storm. many people are waiting just like we are for what the grand jury's decision will be. so we're waiting patiently. as we know, it could be any day now. but the concern still lingers in the air on what the reaction will be from local law enforcement and the national guard, if they are deployed into ferguson and the st. louis community. many people are concerned about their first amendment rights, about their right to protest. i've spoken with some local media, some of those individuals are also concerned about will they be able to cover the story and from what angle, considering

the constraints that we saw back in august. if we see anything remotely close to the rubber bullets, the bean bag bullets i guess, if you will, the tear gas, the armored trucks, the snipers or anything remotely close to that, then i think we're in for a very difficult and hostile situation again. >> john, you know the hazelwood school district, which includes ferguson, missouri, they've already issued guidance on their website telling very worried parents and students that school superintendents will be given three hours' notice if a grand jury decision is reached during the week. have you heard about other school districts receiving similar plans? >> yes. they met with community -- the law enforcement met with community leaders just last friday, and i believe i mentioned that on your show last week, and those were some of the guidelines that were recommended by the prosecutor's office.

it's my understanding that the prosecutor's office has asked schools to close really for two days following the announcement. either way it goes. and so i can understand that for those types of safety precautions, because many school leaders are concerned about the safety of their children, coming to and from school and what the reaction could be within the classroom amongst other students, especially if words are shared in the classroom. >> very quickly, tom, does the federal law enforcement, do they have role to play once a decision is reached? >> i think in this case, just the monitoring and assisting all of law enforcement and intelligence and the fact that this could play out in other cities around the country. so we're looking at a potential of maybe being two storms. we could have officer wilson indicted in this case and go through this same emotion again at the conclusion of a trial, if he's prosecuted. because it's going to be much more difficult to find him guilty than it is to indict him.

>> tom fuentes, thank you very much. jeffrey thanks to you, as well. john gaskin, always good to have you on the program. stand by. much more news right after this. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern.

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one of the biggest battles looming present president obama and republicans, we're talking about immigration reform. dana bash is here in the situation room with details. dana, it looks like the rhetoric is heating up. >> it absolutely is. things are so tense that harry reid told ted barrett that he

asked the president to wait until after congress gets, quote, the finances of the country out of the way. translation -- do it too soon and it could risk another government shutdown. >> reporter: fresh from being elected by fellow republicans as the next senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell lashed out at the president by changing immigration by executive order. >> we would like the president to recognize the reality that he has the government that he has, not the one he wishes he had. >> reporter: brinksmanship is back and even concerns about another government shut down. mcconnell said that won't happen. but cnn is told republicans are engaged in private conversations around the capitol, allowing some illegal immigrants to stay legally. >> we're going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path.

>> reporter: arizona republican matt salmon agrees with the president on immigration reform but said executive action without congress, he got some 50 republican lawmakers to sign this letter, urging retaliation against the president by chopping funding for immigration policies. >> so you want to use congress's power of the purse to stop the president or take away what he's done on his executive order on immigration? >> that is really all we have. either we can complain mightily and ring our hands or do something about it. >> but sources tell cnn some republicans are reluctant since last time they did this it led to a shut down. >> but you know from last year, you risk the government shut down. are you willing to do that? >> nobody is talking about a government shut down. >> what we want the president to do is act big, act bold and act

broadly and act soon. >> reporter: most support the president going it alone, fed up that the democrats passed legislation and the gop house never acted on it. >> this is doing from what a humanitarian and morale standpoint is right. >> dana, i know as you are working this, getting new information that is just coming in on what we can expect from the white house, is that right? >> it is a working plan. and this is told to me by an administration official confirmed to me, originally in t"the new york times," first tht it would direct immigration agents to allow illegal immigrants whose children are americans to obtain documents to allow them to stay legally and protect immigrants who came to the u.s. as children, so-called dreamers. but make clear anybody who is a criminal would still be deported. now the big question is timing. when is this going to happen? the source i spoke to said as soon as late next week, but i

should also say that at the white house they are telling jim acosta that the president will make no decision until he returns from asia, which is this weekend. >> we'll see what happens. thanks very much. good report. >> and a new recording has emerged of a professor who helped to design the obama care making jaw dropping remarks about americans and how the act was sold to them. joining us from the white house, what is the latest on this front, joe? >> wolf, republicans were excited to discover the videos that show a former administration consultant calling the american public stupid. this is the latest trouble for obama care. and this time the issue is transparency. >> reporter: leave it to one of the key consultants of the affordable care act to inflict the kind of damage to the president's signature achievement in office that republicans were never quite able to muster. >> get a law which said healthy people will pay in, he made it

splitity healthy people will pay in and sick people get minute. >> reporter: here is mit professor talking about the tortured way the law was written so it wasn't viewed by the public as a tax. >> lack of transparency is a huge political advantage and call it the lack stupid of americans. >> and now after the gruber recordings, it is said that americans are dumb. here is what he said about taxing expensive health care plans which would create higher costs passed on to consumers. >> it is a very clever basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the american voter. >> on msnbc he tried to clean it up. >> i spoke off the cuff and i spoke inappropriately and i regret having made those

comments. >> the white house response. >> i think the president is proud of the transparent process that was taken to pass that law. >> democrats tried to down play the role gruber played in making the law. >> i don't know who he is. he hasn't read our bill. >> top republicans in congress piled on in glee. >> we were subjected to a whole lot of stuff during the obama care debate that we knew was not true, not even close to true and what this insider saying confirms is that they were spinning tails from beginning to end. >> reporter: now this all got started with one guy upset with his insurance and started watching hours and hours of jonathan gruber. wolf. >> thanks very much. joe johns at the white house. that is it for me. you can follow us on twitter. tweet me at wolf blitzer or tweet the show at cnn sit room. and join us tomorrow.

every day in the situation room and you can dvr the show so you don't miss a moment. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room," erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" tonight, breaking news investigators say the man who broke into the white house six weeks ago could have been stopped well before he got inside. shocking new details breaking about what the agent on duty was actually doing at that moment. plus in ferguson a family lawyer said there is no doubt about it, michael brown had his hand up, sur rendering when he was shot and killed by wilson. and how a space probe touched down on a comet and how the landing almost ended in a disaster. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news, a major revelation