blogs, extras. that's it for "the lead" on this beautiful tuesday. i turn you over to one mr. wolf blitzer. he's right next door to me. he's in "the situation room." wolf? happening now -- inciting a riot? michael brown's stepfather is now under an investigation to determine if he stoked the violence in ferguson. could he end up being charged by the same prosecutor with the grand jury probe? and around the clock security for the former police officer who shot and killed michael brown. we're going to talk about all of this and more with emanuel cleaver, missouri's congressman. and war on isis. we'll talk about it with rear

admiral john kirby. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the national guard is on the move tonight in missouri and there's now new post-ferguson fallout, hundreds of high schoolers who walked out of class. this is the latest in the decision not to charge the police officer in the death of michael brown. and now we're learning off-duty police officers from the police union are volunteering to protect wilson who has been forced into hiding and faces continuing threats. and michael brown's stepfather is under investigation for his actions last monday night and the rioting that devastated parts of ferguson. our guests include emanuel cleaver of missouri. let's begin in ferguson with

cnn's george howell. tell us the latest. what is going on there? >> the headline in ferguson is really the investigation. what led up to all of the damage and the destruction here in ferguson? who is behind it? police are promising to look into all angles to find the parties behind it, including comments from louis head that were caught on tape. >> burn this bitch down! burn this -- >> reporter: it was a moment of raw frustration and anger on the night the grand jury's decision was announced. michael brown's stepfather, louis head, shouting to the crowd. ferguson police chief tom jackson says they are now investigating whether brown's stepfather was trying to incite a riot. st. louis county police say they are also investigating. no charges have been filed. police plan to interview mr. head and have already interviewed people who know him.

brown's family attorney condemned the outburst when it happened and again on cnn overnight. >> it is not appropriate in any way. we don't condone people acting on emotion calling for people to do irresponsible things at all. and so we want his family, his mother and father's message to come across louder than anybody who might be associated around them. they can't control what others do. they can control what they pray for. >> reporter: the protests that night quickly turned destructive and violent with cars and buildin buildin buildings torched. meanwhile, the back and forth continues as the five st. louis rams players put up their hands in protest. the union quickly denounced the action and the rams reached out to the officers saying they,

quote, regretted any offense taken and added, "the rams will continue to build on what has always been strong and valued relationships with local law enforcement and the greatest st. louis community as we come together to help heal our region." but a rams spokesman followed up to say they did not apologize. st. louis police in turn took to twitter to compare the definition of apology to the rams' statement. you're being looking at the businesses, many of them boarded up. the business owners here, quite frankly, struggling. there's no business to be had on this street. businesses are boarded up and police plan to investigate all reports of property damage, wolf, as they try to move forward in this case. >> thanks very much, george howell on the streets of ferguson. and now two federal investigations. listen to the attorney general of the united states, eric

holder. >> well, the grand jury proceeding in st. louis county has concluded. i can report this evening that the justice department's investigation into the shooting death of michael brown, as well as our investigation into allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the ferguson police department, remain ongoing and remain active. >> we're also learning new details about those investigations. our justice reporter evan perez is talking to his sources. what are you hearing? >> wolf, the attorney general was just repeating what he has said before about these investigations. i'm told that they expect that this investigation into the shooting by the justice department's civil rights division is going to wrap up by the end of attorney general's tenure which is sometime in february. the issue is that all along, the best chances for any charges against darren wilson is with the state investigation. i'm told that this remains a

very long shot with the civil rights case, that the justice department is doing. >> are they concerned that they are raising expectations out there? >> wolf, i think what the attorney general is trying to do is make sure that there is a process that he's trying to oversee and i think you're right, there might be a danger in that. in an interview he told me a few weeks ago that people should not necessarily interpret what he's saying to mean that there's going to be an indictment. what he's saying is, if in the end what you get is reform of the police department, that perhaps that's the legacy from the michael brown case. >> and the justice department investigation, part two, shall we call it, of the entire ferguson police department, what is that all about? >> well, that's an investigation of whether or not the department has this history of pattern and practice of discriminatory policing, wolf. and i'm told that that process is a little bit more difficult, it's, frankly, a little more complicated because it's a much smaller police department than the justice department is used to investigating.

usually much bigger departments have this issue. this is a tiny police department with 54 uniformed officers so they don't have the number of incidents to investigate. so what could end up happening is they are going to look at some of the things, including the chief jackson, head of the police department and whether or not his leadership has led to some of the issues there. >> evan perez, thanks very much for that update. we're also learning that police union volunteers, off duty police officers, are protecting darren wilson as he faces new threats to his life. cnn's brian todd is working this part of the story for us. he's joining us now with are mo. what are you finding out? >> we've learned that the off duty police officers from the st. louis county area are not only protecting darren wilson now, they have been protecting hem since just after the michael brown soothing in august. i spoke with the national head fraternal of police order who told me about this protective detail. the officers are not being paid by wilson or anyone else to

protect him. i asked if it's officers surrounding him 24/7, police in front of his home at every moment, they would not give those details. wilson has gotten threats over the phone, in e-mails, on social media, that there are apparently bounties on his head and these are threats not only to him but his family as well. he says that the protection will go on as long as necessary. >> all americans deserve to be protected. we stand for due process rights not just for police officers but for all americans who, by the way, our members spend every day on the job and in their off duty hours endeavoring to protect. >> reporter: knew, community activists in ferguson say there will be likely be people in the area who are upset that ferguson is getting this protection but jim pasco of the fraternal order of police, when anyone is

inundated with threats, as he is, it's the official duty of the police. >> he's critical of the ferguson police department, right? >> he was surprisingly critical. jim pasco says they protected darren wilson from the get-go was because the ferguson police, in his words, was, quote, unwilling or unable to provide security for darren wilson. he said the ferguson police never protected darren wilson as they were supposed to do. we requested a statement and have not heard back from them. >> let's talk about all of this and more with emanuel cleaver of missouri. congressman, thanks for joining us. do you think it's reasonable that there's now a formal investigation underway into the possibility that michael brown's stepfather, louis head, incited riots immediately following the grand jury announcement? >> well, what mr. head said was

unfortunate and certainly he needs to be held responsible for what he said. but there's a larger issue here and it is race relations in this country. i don't think that now trying to prosecute the stepfather of michael brown is going to be helpful and i don't think his words incited a riot. in fact, i continue to hear the demonstrators continue to riot. i've been in ferguson with many of the demonstrators. many of them have gone through nonviolent training. there were hoodlums who caused the destruction and many who were protesting to tried to stop them. on one occasion, the police department arrested the same person from los angeles two consecutive nights. we've got a situation that i think is far bigger than

ferguson, far bigger than mr. head or officer wilson. this is a dramatic revelation that we have not moved as far as we thought in terms of race relations. these are the best of times and the worst of times, to quote the opening lines of the tale of two cities. we've got to do something about it that exceeds just focusing on ferguson. >> wouldn't it be helpful, though, if mr. head, the stepfather, apologized, expressed some remorse, said he was simply acting out of his frustration, his anger, he really didn't mean what came out of his mouth? >> it was my understanding that he's already done that, that he's already apologized. and i think that what is the purpose of now trying to indict this man? i mean, there is no socio

benefit, no political benefit. and all it's going to do is create a whole new level of friction, racial friction, not just in ferguson but around the country. and it would seem to me that at a time like this, people with goodwill in this country will say, look, we thought we were further along and we are not. let's deal with those issues instead of focusing on the things that can separate us and divide us racially. we have made monumental progress in race relations but i've got to tell you that right now race relations, the movement of race relations has stalled. we're not moving right now. >> as you know, four members of the congressional black caucus, you're the immediate past chair of the congressional black caucus, they held up their hands symbolic clee during comments on the floor of the house of

representatives. you were on the floor when it happened. i don't think you were one of the four who did so. what do you think of those actions? >> well, i've spoken to all four individuals who -- they were really trying to make a statement about the fact that there is some -- there are problems with black relations with the police departments. they were not saying that they saw michael brown, hands in the air or anything else. this has become a symbol -- raising your hands has become a symbol in many african-american communities and frankly white communities around the country for people who believe there needs to be some kind of new look and reform of police relations with communities of color. that's all it was. i think some people on the right are trying to make that into some kind of black panther statement and it was not.

it was a symbol of their belief that something has to be done. and, frankly, you're going to see a lot of that all around the country, the same thing with the rams. they are not saying michael brown was angelic. they are saying, look, there's a problem here. and we need to have it addressed. >> but you didn't raise your hands, right? >> i did not raise my hands. but, you know, the issue is far more significant than the raising of hands or not raising of the hands. no, i did not do that. but i do believe that there are african-americans who are saying, look, you may not agree with us but try to feel the pain. it's called empathy in theology. feel the pain. i mean, we're hurting. there are many young african-american men that are

being shot but there were a number of them unarmed and they are saying all around the country, that needs to stop. we need to figure out how to stop those senseless killings. >> congressman, i want you to stand by. i have more questions to ask you. we'll take a break. much more with congressman emanuel cleaver of missouri when we come back.

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e financial noise financial noise

financial noise financial noise we're following the new protests in the ferguson, missouri, area. there's been a massive student walkout a week after riots

rocked the city following the grand jury decision not to charge the former police officer darren wilson in the death of michael brown. we're back with democratic congressman daniel cleaver. congressman, i think you're with the president as far as military-style equipment from the pentagon being provided to local law enforcement. but you don't like the heavy military equipment but we're told that only about 4% of that equipment is really military grade, which the pentagon provides and made clear yesterday that it will continue to be delivered. is this really a big problem? >> it is. congressman lacy and i flew back from ferguson, from st. louis, actually, with the attorney general and went immediately to the pentagon to meet with secretary hagel and we talked -- we spoke with him about the use of military equipment in what is called the 1033 program and told

him that what -- they made ferguson look like fallujah and americans, black and white, were all alarmed when you see the emirates walking down the street and you see the military-style machine guns. i think we need to allow certain surplus to go to new york, philadelphia, boston and those areas that might be targeted by terrorists, we need to make sure that they can have everything that they can possibly use to combat terrorism. but bringing that kind of equipment into waxahachie, texas, where i was born or ferguson, it makes no sense. and so i think we've got to redesign that program to make sure that communities that receive equipment are able to finance the training on that equipment, to just tell people to get up and use that equipment i think is foolish and it's not in harmony with the will of the american public.

>> as you know, and we've been reporting, darren wilson, the police officer, is -- ex police officer is receiving protection from st. louis area police officers who are volunteering to provide security for him. is that okay with you? >> absolutely. and anybody who is caught, if they can trace anything back to any individuals whose threatening that man's life, they need to be jailed and if they will allow me, i'll lock him or her up for doing that. that is just not to be tolerated in this country. and i think that every decent american believes the same thing. you don't threaten people. you don't decide that you are going to take things into your own hands and meet our justice, as you see it. i was mayor of kansas city. i had police protection. i trusted my life and the wife

of my children with them. i think it's foolish to even believe that the police forces around the country are evil somehow and people are psychologically in a spot where they may not be good police officers but to condemn the police officers around the country i think is foolish. >> should the president visit ferguson? >> absolutely not. the president was elected to be the leader of the free world. he was not elected to be the head of the naacp or the urban league. there are people who get up every morning with the job of dealing with civil rights matters. and if a person goes to ferguson, we created a whole another controversy. for every action, there is an

opposite -- and so we need to stop this action/reaction. because i think it's doing enormous damage, maybe irreparable damage. >> emanuel cleaver is the democratic congressman from missouri. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. the isis leader reportedly arrested. could they lead the u.s. and allies to the terror commander? i'll ask a pentagon press secretary, rear admiral john kirby. plus, a cnn exclusive, nick paton walsh on the most dangerous assaults by isis. and coming into "the situation room," also, we're getting new pictures from a deadly new school bus crash. we're going to have details of this and the day's important

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horrible story and get more information. look at those two school buses right there. let's hope for the best. we're also following dramatic new developments in the war against isis, including the capture of the terror group leaders' immediate family. let's get some details. pentagon correspondent barbara starr is standing by. barbara? >> wolf, perhaps members of baghdadi's family have been captured, will they have the intelligence the u.s. needs about where the isis leader is hiding? pressure now rising on isis' reclusive leader abu bakr al baghdadi. this woman is believed to be baghdadi's wife or ex-wife. she and her child arrested by lebanese authorities when they tried to enter the country from syria. secretary of state john kerry ruling out any swap for hostages held by isis. >> we don't negotiate and i

think people know that. >> reporter: inside syria, near raqqa, electronic warfare garrison in raqqa, a building to detect and potentially target u.s. and coalition aircraft. near aleppo, the u.s. struck yet again al qaeda operatives known as the khorasan group. in iraq, iran flying phantom jets in eastern iraq. the u.s. military watching closely and a u.s. official tells cnn so far the iranians are not flying near coalition jets. the next major move by iraq, u.s. officials tell cnn that iraqi units plan to start moving north to mosul hoping to push out isis which seized the city in june. >> we all know when we said that

mosul and the iraqi security forces working in concert with kurdish forces are planning toward that end. >> reporter: the u.s. is now setting up unprecedented vetting standards for selecting modern syrian soldiers to train. they will be constantly reviewed throughout the u.s. training. all of this as the u.s. is also looking to arm sunni tribes in anbar province, west of baghdad, hoping they will revolt against isis. but look, all of this is going to be very tough, potentially very slow going. u.s. officials say they don't really know when the iraqi forces will be able to stand up on their own and when those syrian rebels will really be able to move against isis. wolf? >> barbara, thank you. let's dig deeper on the current

state of this war against isis. joipi joining us right now is rear admiral kirby, the press secretary. thanks for joining us. what can you tell us about these reports that baghdadi's wife or ex-wife and a child have actually arrived in lebanon? has all of that been confirmed by the department of defense? >> we're still looking through our reports. everything that we've seen indicate that those reports are accurate, that they did detain this woman and a child as well and it's the belief here in the pentagon that this woman was a former wife of al baghdadi. this is a military operation and we don't have much more information about this. >> a yemeni operation? >> a lebonni operation. >> and there was assistance from the united states. is that right? >> this was a military operation

conducted by lebanon. we don't have a lot more detail beyond that. >> is she the wife or ex-wife? do we know that? >> we believe this is a former wife of abu bakr al baghdadi. >> do we believe that she has significant information that could assist the u.s. in this war against isis, for example, knowing where this guy, al baghdadi, might be located? >> well, it's possible. it's absolutely possible. again, this individual is in the hands of lebanese forces. i'm sure that they are talking to her but i don't have much visibility in terms of what she might be saying or what information she might have. it's certainly possible that she might have information that we could use. >> is she in the friendly hands of the lebanese forces? there's hezbollah which controls big chunks of lebanon, not so friendly to the united states, basically aligned with bashar al assad's regime. >> it's our understanding that

she's being detained by the lebanese military. >> which is friendly to the united states, is that right? >> that's right. >> stand by. we have more questions and we'll take a quick break. much more with the pentagon press secretary right after this. so,as my personal financial psychic,

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reporting the military members to be careful out there because isis wants to attack them. here's the first question. are these credible and specific threats against the u.s. military that generated this fbi bulletin this morning? >> well, without speaking for the fbi, what i can tell you is we're not aware of any specific individual credible threats against individual service members with respect to this warning. that this was really more of a broad, general warning. similar, in fact, to the ones that our own admirals have been issuing to their troops since we've been in iraq. we know that they monitor it, pay attention to it and we want to make sure that our troops are being as careful as possible. >> what advice do you have for u.s. men and women in the united states military about posts that they might want to do on social media, twitter, facebook or instagram, whatever, what is the best advice to protect

themselves and their families? >> the same advice we give them when they sign up and go to boot camp, which is to be very careful about the kind of operational information that you take for granted on a day-to-day basis and posting that out there on social media sites at large. for instance, you don't want to talk about the movement of your command or your unit, deployment dates, whether you're coming and going or where you are going to. if you're going to be separated from your family for any length of time, even if it's not for deployment, for training exercise or over the holidays, i don't want think you want to put that information out there as much as possible because, again, it alerts people who may wish you and your family harm, whether they are terrorists or not, that you guys are separated, that you are not together. i think you want to try to limit as much information as you can out there about your movements and about the movements about your command in your unit. >> there's confusion about whether the troops should be wearing the uniforms walking around the united states off duty, shall we say.

>> there's no prohibition in the united states right now to the wear of uniforms off base or off installation other than what is prescribed locally by your local commander. there's been some changes overseas. european commander not long ago issued directives about uniform use in europe, again, tied to this overarching threat that isil poses. we want commanders at all locations around the world to be prudent, to be practical, and issue those kinds of orders and guidance that they believe they need to protect their troops and families. there's no prohibition against uniform use here in the united states. >> let's talk about the jets that they are launching strikes against targets in iraq. isis targets. is there any coordination, director indirect, going on between the u.s. and the iranians? >> no, wolf. there's no coordination

militarily between the united states and our troops, our military operations there and those of tehran inside iraq. there's no coordination at all. the air zones is being done by the iraqi government. >> there's no coordination even through the iraqi government? because if you have iranian jets flying over areas, u.s. jets flying over areas, there could be a problem. >> absolutely. and, look, it's sovereign iraqi air space and the iraqi governments deconflicts that air space as that is their responsibility. >> what does that mean, deconflict their air space? >> it's their air space and they are responsible for coordinating use of that air space by both their aircraft and the aircraft of nations that may be flying missions over their country. we are not coordinating directly with the iranians at all. >> is the u.s. owe kay with these air strikes inside iraq against isis targets? >> we're not taking a position

on that one way or the other, wolf. we have indications that they have thrown these missions in recent days, these air strikes in eastern iraq. but that's not something that we are going to take a position on. what we have said and we'll continue to say is that any nation involved in anti-isil operations inside iraq, we ask that they do those things in keeping with an idea that we don't further inflame secretary intentions inside iraq. >> but the airaqi government is okay with the isis strikes, right? >> i know they have communications with tehran about the interests in iraq and the military activity that they are or are not supporting. i won't speak to their positions. >> how is the vetting of the syrian rebels going? i know about 5,000 are et going ready to be sent for training. what is going on? when will they be able to start

training? >> the vetting hasn't started yet, wolf. we've set vetting criteria so we know how we are going to vet them and some of the processes that we're going to use to do that, to include potential bio metrics and we've got some site surveys going on and three countries within the region are going to work with those areas to get the sites area to take tra trainees. but none have showed up for training. it's going to take -- once the vetting starts, we think it's going to take 3 to 5 months to get that complete and then another 8 to 10 months to conduct the training. >> who are the other two countries if saudi arabia is one of the countries? >> the turkish government has offered and the qatari government. >> not jordan, necessarily? >> those are the three countries

that we're predominantly working with. we have talked to others about their willingness to help but i'm not at liberty to go into those discussions right now. >> everybody set for a new secretary of defense over there? >> secretary hagel is the secretary of defense and it's a big job. his focus is making sure our men and women around the world at harm's way around the world in iraq and afghanistan get the support that they need. that's our focus right now. >> you've seen the reports that ash carter is about to come the nominee, right? >> we've certainly seen the reports oh ut the reports out there in the media. this is something that only the president can announce. >> i'm anxious to know if and when that happens. the press secretary for the pentagon, john kirby, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me, wolf. stand by. we have exclusive pictures from a city right at the heart of the fight against isis.

nick paton walsh walks a very, very dangerous street of kobani. nick has risked his life to bring this report. also, new details about the threats against the former police officer darren wilson and what police in ferguson, missouri, are doing to try to protect him. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. 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 instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. this is the microsoft cloud.

this just into the situation room. an exclusive visit to the front lines of the fight against isis. for weeks, isis fighters have been trying to capture kobani near the syrian turkish border. kurdish fighters have been holding on thanks to air strikes. cnn international correspondent nick paton walsh and his crew just made the dangerous trip across the border into kobani. here's his exclusive report. >> reporter: we've been taken down this street toward the

eastern front line behind the curtains they put up to protect them from snipers by media who are two of the female ypg fighters escorting us down there. this is near the eastern front where there's been much more intense fighting in the past three or four days. when we get differing figures from whoever you speak to about how much of the city is controlled and you see here, quite remarkable devastation caused by the explosives used, what's quite clear is that isis is far from giving up on this fight. trying to take ground every day. they move toward the official border crossing three or four days ago. that was a substantial advance. they were beaten back by each night. particularly last night we had very intense clashes further down this street toward the eastern front here.

you can hear, you can see the absolute devastation as we get closer toward isis' position here, to the northeast of the city. some of this is caused by air strikes but some of this from the daily constant, sometimes every five minutes thump of mortars, some home made by isis, the pounding into kobani. we can see turkey literally behind us. as they edge through the wreckage closer and closer to the places isis is trying to push toward. >> amazing reporting. they are safely back in turkey right now but they saw a whole lot more during this trip to the front lines of this war on isis. we're going to have much more of his exclusive reporting from inside syria. that's coming up in the coming days. amazing work, risking his life. the crew risking their life.

also coming up, under threat and now underguard by offduty police. we're learning new details of the security surrounding the former security police officer, darren wilson. and don't forget, this sunday, cnn heroes. [ female announcer ] hands were made for talking.

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happening now, threats in ferguson. we're learning more about the threats officer darren wilson may be facing. and the lengths police are going to protect him. plus, did michael brown's stepfather intend to start riots? the investigation underway. another racially charged case

involving a white police officer, an african-american man, and a deadly chokehold. a grand jury decision is expected soon. will new york erupt at any unrepresent and a new blow to the ruthless leader of isis hitting at the heart of his family and the terror group's inner circle. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." angry words from michael brown's stepfather, now at the central of a formal investigation. police are trying to determine if he intended to spark fiery riots last week. the unrest after his enraged

response to the grand jury decision not to indict the police officer who shot and killed his stepson. all this raising the possibility of a stunning twist. will he face criminal charges while the former police officer darren wilson walks free? we're learning more by the way about wilson's life right now. and police efforts to protect him and his family from death threats. our correspondents and analysts are standing by. they're covering all the new developments in missouri. let's begin with brian todd. we've got new information on the usual level of security being provided to darren wilson. he has a detail of offduty police officers guarding him. even with that the threats to wilson don't seem to be subsiding. he has been threatened over the phone. in e-mail. on social media. apparently there are bounties on his head. now cnn has learned darren wilson is protected by a detail of offduty police officers who have been buy his side since the august shooting of michael

brown. >> the fraternal over police members from the surrounding area have volunteered and provided him with security from that time, right up until the present. >> how long will you be doing this? >> as long as we have. to. >> reporter: the fraternal order of police says the office duty police officers are not being paid by wilson or anyone else to protect him. he would not elaborate on the nature of the protection. it is likely very discreet. >> a low key protection. not a marked unit in front of the house that draws as much attention as it may divert. maybe one person, maybe two people so that officer wilson, former officer wilson can sleep at night. >> reporter: wilson's lawyers say it is not just darren wilson they're protecting. >> there are threats not only against himself but his family. >> reporter: including wilson's new wife who is pregnant and on leave from the ferguson police. one dern attorneys and law enforcement experts have, experts by hackers to track him

down. >> there are cyber hack here's are trying to actively find out where is darren wilson? they'll be trying to find out dwher darren wilson spend his last dollar? so they can track and put out in public where he is? and create an enhanced threat to him. >> reporter: the fraternal order of police director is critical of the ferguson police department saying it was, quote, unwilling or unable to protect darren wilson while he was still formally part of the force after the michael brown shooting. pascoe said the ferguson police never protected wilson and that's what the police department is supposed to do. we tried several time to get response from the ferguson police. we did not hear back. >> so no one is being paid to protect wilson. how much would it cost, for example, if a police officer were actually getting paid to do that? >> reporter: ron, the law enforcement expert said if you're paying a police officer a standard rate, they could get maybe $30 an hour minimum. you're also talking about

multiple officers over the course of a day or a week working in shifts to protect him. then you have the cost of food, of rental properties where you might have to move him around. this could be a very expensive due set and right now the police aren't being paid and we're not sure who is being paid for it. >> and they want to protect his wife as well. now to the investigation of michael brown's stepfather. george howell is joining us live from ferguson, missouri. tell us what's going on as far as this part of the story is concerned. >> reporter: wolf, good day. we're talking about a lot of property damage here in ferguson. a lot of business own here's are struggling. so the question now, was there a singular voice? a singular event that helped to spark and incite the looting and the riots? that's the question we understand the police chief of ferguson, tom jackson, is into. also, when the st. louis county police are looking into this case.

they're going to look at that video. the video you've seen where mr. head, according to his family, was very emotional. but police are questioning whether he helped to incite a riot. we also understand that they are going to question people who know head and also plan to question him as well. but they're not just singling him out. keep in mine, there is a lot of damage here. a lot of businesses have been burned down. they're boarded up. so police plan to pursue every angle they can to try to find anyone responsible for what happened here. >> the last hour i spoke with the representative, emanuel cleaver, the immediate past chairman of the congressional black caucus. he was under the impression that louis head, the stepfather, had apologized, expressed remorse. i haven't seen that or heard that. i wonder if you have? >> reporter: i haven't heard it directly but i've heard what you have heard.

and when you think about what we've heard from brown's family. leslie mcspadden. we understand that she put it out there that it was a very emotional moment. that mr. head was acting out of frustration and she makes the point that he did not act. still, police are at that video. they're questioning whether the words that he used there, whether the emotions in that moment. whether that help to change the mood of that crowd that night. whether it helped to incite in riot, the looting that we saw play out here. >> george howell on the streets of ferguson. thank you very much. joining us, our anchor. don lemon, sonny, the community activist, john gaskin, and tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi. do you think the police would have a strong case against the stepfather for inciting violence? >> no. i think they'll have a hard time proving that somebody that heard

him in the midst of all that noise actually went over and did an arson or committed an act of starting a fire. i think most of the people you see in the crowd are not watching cnn. they're not watching media reporting of him saying that. so it is probably a very few number of people that heard it at that time. the other argument being, i think many of the peel that were there were benlt on what they did from the beginning. with or without him inciting them. so i think the cause and effect of his words will be hard to prove. >> would it also be a factor in whether to go ahead with a charge against the stepfather? the anger that would generate? that there could be violence as a result of that? >> i think it is a political question. it is unfortunate to me that criminal justice is whether or not people get angry if a charge is brought or isn't brought. we have to investigate crimes, if the crime is committed, bring prosecution. i think there has become so much politics on this.

i doubt he will be prosecuted. >> you probably know this. the lieutenant governor of missouri, he is actually called saying he acted criminally that night. what do you think? >> i agree with tom. i think that would be a difficult case to prove. it is that cause and effect that tom referred to. how do you prove if you're a prosecutor, that someone heard it and then reacted to that. but certainly if you look just at the law, wolf, and you look at whether or not he intended to cause a riot and then urged people to riot, urged people to burn property, the elements may be there. but very, very difficult to prove. and i think any prosecutor that looks at a case like this, given what is going on, what has gone on in ferguson, would never touch this case. you would have to be really tone deaf to the larger issues that are at play here to bring a case like that. >> sonny, this is the same prosecutor who brought all that

information before the grand jury that did not indict the police officer, right? >> that's right. and again, the back lash, would just be incredible. of course, prosecutors are in the business of sending a message out to the community as to what will and will not be tolerated. but there is that prosecutorial discretion. and any prosecutor looking at something like this i think would run in the other direction. it would be a very difficult case to prove. and again, look at the climate. i've got to tell you, when you look at the ferguson police chief's actions, the fact that he has never reached out to the family, has never reached out to michael brown's mother, release that had surveillance videotape, leaked it and is now coming forward and saying this, there really seems to be an agenda. and that is something that really shouldn't be tolerated from our police departments across the country. >> as you know, michael brown's mother has said her husband, the stepfather of michael brown,

that his comments were a result over deep anger, overwhelming frustration. has he apologized though? have you heard a formal apology in the expression of regret, remorse by the stepfather? >> i have not heard one personally. according to his attorneys, according to benjamin crump, yes, he has expressed remorse. i haven't heard it. as we look at that, talk about throwing gasoline on a fire. imagine the irony that the man who shot your son, killed your son is not charged and then your husband or the stepfather is charged? people would be outraged. i'm not sure what would happen in that community. anything can happen but anyone, i think they would be really, really silly, quite honestly, to charge this man considering what is going on there. to answer your question directly, i've heard from the attorneys that he's expressed remorse. i have not heard personally from him.

>> don't you think it would be a good idea to do an interview with you or me or someone and to express that regret? >> it would. think about it. look how long it took darren wilson to come forward and do an interview. his words were reprehensible. but i don't know how i would feel a loved one had died. i'll give him that. but his words are rep rehenlsible. there's no excuse for it. as jeffrey toobin always says, ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances. and he may not want to subject himself to that. it would be great if he did it and he came and he apologized but i'm not sure if he is the kind of person who wants to go under that type of skro any. >> darren wilson, the former police officer, he is receiving extensive protection from irs

vo. st. louis the voluntary officers. he thinks that's appropriate. do you agree? >> it certainly is the right of those police officers to use their time and resources to protect them if they feel as though that's something they want to do. it certainly doesn't solve anything by individuals resulting to violence to take justice into their own hands by hurting darren wilson or putting bounties out for his wife or to hurt his wife. that doesn't help in healing the region or healing the city of ferguson. so there's probably a good reason why he is having security. i would not be surprised if bets are made on his life and people were obviously trying to do him harm. i think that if he needs security to protect his life, that is what is warranted. >> i also heard, congressman

emanuel cleaver that he didn't think it would be a good idea for the president to come to ferguson right now. he pointed out he is the president of the united states. not the president of the naacp. it would probably be a bad idea to come to ferguson. what are the folks there thinking? do they want to see the president there? >> yesterday you interviewed a business owner in ferguson that owned a salon. that would mean a lot to them. a lot to the family to see the president has heard their cries and wants to be there to hear their story, to see the message that race relations is at the forefront of social conversations in this kre. by him making a decision to come, that would start to evaluate the situation. i think it would make a major difference. >> let's get to a sensitive issue. one of the bigger issues at hand

is this whole issue, whether young black male in the united states are unfairly targeted by police. so one study published earlier, pro publica study pointed out, it found that among young black men, ages 15 to 19, they were shot by police at a rate 21 times higher than whites the same age. you can see the numbers up there on the screen. 1.47 per million among whites. 31.17 per million among blacks. that's a problem, right? >> it is. and if you look at i, what pro publica means, that is per capita. so if you look at the percentage of whites and the percentage of blacks, you get. that it is not done by population. so yeah. it is a problem when you look at one is 1.47 per million and the other is 31.7 per million. you have to remember, african-americans only make up 12% of the population. some of that quite honestly is

probably attributed to the fact that maybe there is more interaction with law enforcement. but still, those numbers, those numbers are jarring when you look at i. 31 time? 21 times more? that's a huge number. >> last night, don, bill o'reilly, he had some other statistics suggesting police shootings aren't necessarily unreasonably high in the black community. he said when you include all age groups, more than twice as many whites were killed by police in 2012, by blacks, he said, 123 blacks were killed by, in 2012 by police. 326 whites were killed. you see the numbers right there. is that a fairer statistic? >> he's right and he is wrong. here's the thing. the reason i'm looking down, i think this is very important and i want to get the numbers correct. the first were 15 to 19-year-olds over a two-year period from 2010 to 2012. 21 time greater than whites.

and then from bill o'reilly, this was in 2012. 123 and 326 were killed by koms and 123 white -- >> 123 blacks and 26 whites were killed by cops. but he's not doing it percentage wise. if you look it a, 12% of the population, he is not doing it by percentages. by total population. even yet when w those numbers, when you think it is only 12% of the population, that's still a large number. >> can i weigh in? i think when you really look at the statistics, they are really faulty. because when you talk about officer-involved shootings, there isn't a mandatory reporting. it is a self-reporting. almost on the honor system. although the fbi does have some statistics, most people know that those statistics can't even be counted upon. because they are self-reported.

so my suggestion has been all along that we need mandatory reporting from our law enforcement agencies around the country and i think that the number of officer shootings involving young black males is actually much higher than is even self-reported. that's something that needs to be part of the conversation. >> in terms of change. >> and she is right. it is hard to get confirmation from the justice department for some of these numbers for the very reasons. >> because they don't have it. >> let me let tom fuentes weigh in as well. >> what they do have is that when there is an officer-involved shooting, it is investigated. we've heard paul on the air talking about the manhattan, the d.a.'s office. they conducted a grand jury investigation and every officer's involved shooting in new york and treat the grand jury as an investigative body to look into every detail of it. not just try to get an indictment but look at all the facts of the case. i think it is true that there should be mandatory reporting on all crime issues that go into

the uniform crime reports and there isn't. at the same time, there needs to be an analysis of what occurred in these shootings. yes, there are some shootings that should not have ham. no question. i think we need look more factually at the circumstances behind each shooting. >> very quickly -- that is the reason. everyone says this whole hands up thing, the narrative is false. that hands up thing rightly or wrongly, it is not just about michael brown. it is about the numbers and the percentages and the statistics that we have been talking about. that's what that is about. >> stand by. everybody stand by. we have a lot more to assess, to discuss the panel. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. 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 instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts,

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we're back with our ferguson panel to talk about another racially charged case. a grand jury is expected to vote tomorrow on whether a white new york city police officer will face criminal charges in the death of an african-american man. look at the video. cell phone video showed the officer, daniel, grabbing eric and putting him in a chokehold. a tactic banned by the new york city police department. he is heard repeatedly telling police he couldn't breathe. anti-police protests erupted soon after the incident in july. he was stopped for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. what do you make of this?

we're expecting a grand jury decision tomorrow. when you look at the video, all of it was caught on videotape. what is your assessment? >> the first thing that's striking is that it is all caught on video. that's the evidence we need when you have interactions with police officers. that's why i've always been in support of police officers throughout our country having body cameras. i think it protects not only people that are interacting with police, but i think it protects police. when i look at this, i'm surprised the grand jury is still out on this. it seems to me that that kind of chokehold and that kind of show of force with that many officers for someone whose infraction was allegedly selling loose cigarettes seems to be excessive to me. that's what this would be. an excessive force case.

i think you put your common sense hat on and you think was that kind of force necessary? a chokehold? there seems to be one officer in particular, the one with the green shirt with the number on the back, that seem to be acting in an excessive way. if i were a prosecutor looking at this tape, that would be my assessment. >> tom fuentes, the new york city police department prohibits that chokehold. what do you think? >> for a while police departments were teaching that as a nonviolent way to get somebody to be subdued and discovered that it is very easy to accidentally kill someone. it is supposed to put someone to sleep and make them faint but unfortunately, it is not too difficult to kill someone by accident. four police officers are trying to place this person under arrest and he won't comply. i think we're getting to the point, are we saying, okay, it is a minor infraction. either don't arrest them and walk away from it. if that's the case because it is such a minor charge. or if the decision is made to

make an arrest, do people on the street debate the police now if they don't want to get out of the car? if you don't want to get out, don't get out. if you don't want to be taken into custody, don't. we're asking the police department to become a debating society. we're asking police officers to become olympic wrestlers with ukts is that that don't want to be taken into custody. if it is a false arrest, you can have your day in court. in 2011, new york city paid out $286 million in claims against the police. if it is a false arrest, if it is excessive force being used, you can have your day in court later. >> don lemon, you live in new york. you've been following this case. let's say he is not indicted, the police officer, for manslaughter or neglect or whatever. what do you anticipate happening there? >> new york city is a much different city than ferguson, missouri. but wolf, can i just say, it is tough to watch that video. you're watching somebody dying

in that video. someone's loved one. so i sat there and i saw the split screen between don and the video. yes, you should comply with police officers. police officers have a very tough job. i'm not making excuses for people who don't comply. there is the issue of excessive force. and what sonny said for what happened because of selling loose cigarettes that you can buy in most bow did he goas around the city. i don't know the answer to your question. i don't know what will happen. i don't think there will be the level of violence in ferguson, missouri because new york city is a much different place and people here deal with issues differently than there. >> don lemon, we'll see you later. >> cnnton. >> yes. >> and a lot more don lemon coming up at 10:00 eastern. thanks to you guys as well. just ahead, an influential figure in isis. she was seen during a prisoner swap.

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coordinated operation. weeks in the planning lebanese authorities tell cnn. with lebanon, syria and iraq working together. an overseas intelligence force says they received help as well from u.s. intelligence. on that, the cia would not comment. the target, a former wife of the isis leader wanted for both her personal connection to abu-bakr al-baghdadi and for her potentially significant role in the terrorist organization. she is a former wife of the feared isis leader, abu-bakr al-baghdadi. lebanese sources tell cnn the woman identified as saja al-dulaimi and seen here during a prisoner exchange in march had a potentially significant role in the terror group. >> we will gain some intelligence from her. we may gain insights into his movement, who he surrounds himself with, whether he was injured and the degree of his injuries. >> reporter: the capture along with one of al baghdadi's

children took place as he was entering using a fake i.d. card and followed weeks of planning, say lebanese authorities. >> i'm not going to speak about a lebanese military operation. we've long said that he is the recognized leader of isil, command and control of the organization which stems from leadership and makes him valid from a perspective. >> reporter: the leaders reached a landmark agreement to join forces to fight the group together. iraq's shiite nominated government in baghdad, striking a far-reaching deal with kurdish forces in the north. it will send $1 billion in arms to kurdish fighters. ease the flow of americans supplied arms through baghdad and crucially, share oil revenue between kurdish areas and the south. >> the kurds will be much better provisioned with salaries to help maintain their fighting force but also that they can get more sophisticated weapons. weapons that we wanted to provide them but haven't wanted

to, if it tlenl to divide or rupt you are the country. >> reporter: it is a significant achievement for the new iraqi prime minister. narrowing a deep divide just three months into his term in office. that his predecessors could not or would not reach in years before him. the ex-wife and her child were captured more than a week ago and overseas intelligence source adds, this detail to cnn that al dagi had been in contact with his former wife calling for the release of his son. does she know where he is? does he have information about his injuries, et cetera. but apparently it is more than that. that she had some role in this organization that makes her a valuable target. >> she could have useful information. with us now, the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee congressman ed royce of california. mr. chairman, thanks very much for coming in. what can you add? as far as this ex-wife? i believe she is the ex-wife,

the child now in lebanese custody. >> we once had al baghdadi in custody, the united states had him in custody. >> he was in custody in iraq. >> in iraq. and since that time we've had very little information on him directly. this will be our first opportunity to really get some intel. and lebanese or of course, running the operation. that will be shared with us. the other observation i would make is that in the interim, we haven't had many setbacks for isis. as a matter of fact, we have seen over the last few months that they've been able to hold their ground, including around chonani. and they continue to recruit at about 1,000 per month. so given this set of circumstances, this is programs the first insights we will gain. >> what i think i hear you satisfying is that despite the pounding that's been going on

against isis and iraq and syria, they remain formidable. >> very formidable. and not only that but a lot of that offensive capability that we're taking is still pretty, you have an average of 250 air strikes per mofl it is not a tremendous amount. and at the same time, the pre syrian army is out of ammunition. the kurds until this deal was struck yesterday, have not had arms. and it will still an while before they have anything exempt small arms. we had a deal where they saw a unl overrun. they called for air strikes. by the time we had scrambled, it was two and a half hours later. by that time, isis had done their work with armor. they had ten armored vehicles there with 50 caliber machine guns and they just mowed down the kurds. we have to get that support to these allies. >> we heard in the last hour

from the pentagon press secretary, admiral kirby, saying the vetting of the free syrian army rebels, the opponents of bashar al asad, they'll be trained in saudi arabia. in qatar, in turkey. the vetting hasn't even started yet. >> none of it has started. you have the micromanagement of the bureaucracy or some say the political element. this is what the pentagon has the gone against them want to take the air strikes when they have them. they want to be able to extend the weaponry. and yet, well, it basically cost the secretary of state his job. i mean, that's what this fight was over. >> explain what you mean. chuck hagel was pushing as the pentagon was pushing for more decisive action. calling attention to the fact

that the free syrian army was out of ammunition. calling attention to the fact the kurds still weren't getting the armament they needed. and that air strikes were going through a political process that took so long and was so cumbersome and so strict in material of targeting that it was not defeating isis on the ground. and this is an argument that's been going on between the white house and the pentagon and it is one that's amplified from the jordanians, the gulf states, turkey, other allies in the region that say if you want to stop isis from recruiting, you have to set them back and defeat them on the battlefield. you can't do that until you give the allies the weaponry they need and a more serious strategy. >> this will be a long, long process. thanks very much for coming in. ed royce, the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee. just ahead, we'll break down all the new terror developments.

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a potential blow to isis as the terror group may be plotting attacks on u.s. troops on american soil. let's bring in our retired general, cnn counter terrorism analyst and our security analyst, robert baer. if this is al baghdadi's ex-wife and child, what does this tell us? why were they fleeing to lebanon in. >> she might have felt safer there with all the bombings. she probably didn't want to stay in harm's way. and if she made her way to places like tripoli, she would

have been fairly safe. lebanon is still a neutral country in that sense. so she was taking refuge, i would imagine. >> do you think she has information that could be helpful to the u.s., others in locating al baghdadi? >> i think there's a chance. let's look back at the bin laden operation. you don't get a piece of light bull that intelligence that lets you take somebody down. you get a thousand bits of sand that you have to piece together. a thousand pieces of a puzzle. she may know somebody he met two years ago. she may know a the that a earn of activity. i don't think she alone can lead to the takedown. she might have a tiny piece of a puzzle that fits into a broader mosaic that helps us understand what he's 00 to. >> every little piece of information adds up. it helps. general hurtley, you've seen this bulletin saying isis is calling for attacks against u.s. military person old american soil. and that u.s. military personnel should be careful in their

social media postings. maybe they shouldn't always be wearing their uniforms when offduty. what do you make of this? >> it is a report that we receive a lot in the military. it is something that i think as admiral kirby says, you know, isil is casting a net even from untrained supporters of his organization. that in and of itself is dangerous but these are not terrorists. these are potential murderers and there's the potential for someone to attack a service member, as we've seen many time in the past. where it might not be a trained, organized kill. but it is someone who is trying to support the organization. that's always dangerous. but military commanders have means to get their personnel to make sure that you're traveling in pairs, you're not wearing the uniform unless you have to. you're more situationally aware and that word has gone out for

several months to all military personnel. as we approach christmas and people going home on leave. some folks coming out of theater in uniform that don't have civilian clothes to wear. it becomes a little more difficult to have that policy across the board. >> and you heard the pentagon press secretary. admiral john kirby tell us in the last hour that he thinks it is a bad idea for anyone in the u.s. military, on duty, offduty, to be doing any social postings about where they are, where they're being deployed, what's going. on he thinks that's dangerous. that's pretty worrisome, isn't it? >> absolutely. with facebook and twitter, it is so easy to track these people down. and i think definitely the military is a tafrgt isis and other islamic groups other. than that, the fact the fbi has publicized this warning them get dozens of these a day. they take this one seriously. and i think the military has to, too. there's something different about this one that, you know, i

think they have a solid piece of information there. >> phil mudd, how worried are you about these reports, khorasan, al qaeda, they're planning attacks. >> there are a couple pieces to put together. the first is terrorist organizations are like earth worms. you cut off little pieces of them them regenerate. we have not taken down the key bomb maker here. you can assume there are elements and plotters left from the khorasan group we first started bombing months ago. the second and final is, we had warnings out of the u.s. government months ago about the potential that khorasan was trying to put together, improvise explosive devices on to aircraft. my experience at the agency, once they get on to a plot. maybe they have a device that they think will work. the plot here's are still there. the pieces of the earth worm that will regenerate among the plotters will return to the same plot. to another attempt to take down an aircraft. this sounds credible to me.

>> all right. guys, thanks very much for joining us. much more news coming up including the latest out of ferguson, missouri. stay with us. they take us to worlds full of heroes and titans. for respawn, building the best interactive entertainment begins with the cloud. this is "titanfall," the first multi-player game built and run on microsoft azure. empowering gamers around the world to interact in ways they never thought possible. this cloud turns data into excitement. this is the microsoft cloud. dentures with toothpaste or plain water. and even though their dentures look clean, in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. polident's unique micro clean formula

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you had a committee where republicans were beating up on a key member of the president's cabinet and practically the same time, republican leaders were privately telling their rank and file that there is nothing in the short term that they can do about it. homeland security secretary came to capitol hill knowing he would be in for a scolding. >> the president's unilateral 5:00s undermine the constitution and threaten our democracy. >> republicans raked him over the coals for the president's executive action allowing some 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the u.s. legally. >> he's acting in the capacity beyond where he has the ability to do so. >> sir, i respectfully disagree. >> on what basis? >> they are lawfully present -- >> laufwfully? >> republicans decided not to take the immigration fight so far that it risks a government shut down. >> frankly we have limited

options and limited abilities to deal with it directly. >> that's because the republican's sharpest weapon is the power of the purse, cutting funding. but if the gop goes down that road they would risk a shut down. >> everybody wants to know if there is going be a government shut down. >> we're not going to take that bait. >> why sit bait? >> that's been the president's biggest bully is to scare the american people into thinking we're going shut down the government. >> they will only extend funding for a few months to buy time. >> it's going to be difficult to take meaningful action as long as we have got democratic control in the senate. >> but groups are impatient and unhappy, one accusing gop leaders of writing a blank check

for am nesty. >> what do you say to groups who think this is caving? >> i don't think you're caving when you're trying to restrict the actions of the president. i think you're taking every initiative that is possible at this point. >> house republicans will hold a vote this week on a bill that says the president violated the constitution by using his executive authority to change immigration policy. the vote will largely be symbolic. >> safe to say no government shut down? >> yes. >> gloria, standby. right now still early. mitt romney, 25%, jeb bush 9%, chris christie 8%. >> i think it's all about name

recognition certainly for mitt romney. ho he is a fox news contributeover. i think at this stage it's all about whose names people recognize. so as carson's support surprising that level? yes. but, you know, will this -- does the law shake out? >> he's a pediatric neurosurgeon. he does have an amazing personal story. >> he does but he also has compared the american government to nazi germany. he has said that obama care is the worst thing to happen in this country since slavery. it's kind of -- he has said some inflam tory things. >> but it's proof for, you know, sort of the average person out there who is not an avid republican when it comes to the consumption of conservative

media they might be surprised. other people might be surprised but they know him and like him. if he goes down that road, those things will be big issues. >> rand paul was only 6%. surprised? >> in some ways yes and in some ways no. i think this speaks to the challenge that rand paul is going have but also maybe the plus that rand paul has in that he's not your average republican candidate. he doesn't appeal to the traditional conservative primary voter in a lot of ways on national security, case in point. i think that's part of the issue. >> in this day and age, name i.d. happens overnight. people recognize you. it's not like back in the day when it took a while to get name recognition. now they see you and suddenly they know who you are. >> jeb bush, he's got good name recognition. >> some would say good karma.

>> he says he's seriously thinking about it. >> i have been talking to sources all day about this. i think he's obviously considering it more seriously than he was six months ago but i this think he has not made any decision, wolf. he has not asked for commitments from either funders or staffers. he has not laid the ground work for any kind of a campaign. >> take a look at this. hillary clinton clinton, way way ahead, 65%. bernie sanders, 5%. it's hers if she wants is. is that fair? >> very fair. the question whether there will be a remotely credible opponent. >> if she runs and we should know within a month or two. >> hillary clinton may be the only democrat who thinks she might not run.

>> all right guys, thanks very, very much. that's it for me. you can always follow us on twitter. go ahead and tweet me or tweet the show. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. up front starts right now. >> investigators pursuing possible charges in ferguson against michael brown's stepfather. could he be charged with attempting to incite riots? synthetic designer drugs are deadly. a special report tonight. >> and a powerful wife arrested with her son. her husband now desperately trying to save that son. let's go out front. >> with good evening. out front tonight, ferguson policeoo