that was wonderful. >> so what next for paul? i asked him. he said after tonight's show he would like to play a villain in a three-episode arc on "csi miami." of course, that show was canceled in 2012. he might need another plan. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, breaking news, spy plane confrontation. >> this is the chinese navy. this is the chinese navy. >> cnn's there exclusively as china's military confronts an american spy plane. our crew on board for the intense encounter. why is china building a secret military base in disputed waters? terror gains, another city falls to isis as thousands flee advancing terrorist forces. is the wife of an isis commander giving violate new information to u.s. interrogates.

north korea says it has an ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons able to fit onto missiles. but washington is skeptical. we'll get the latest from marie harf. kim jong-un parades once starving citizens who tried to flee showing them off exclusively before cnn's cameras in an effort to soften the image of his ruthless regime. is this the latest propaganda tied to kim flexing his country's nuclear muscle? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following the breaking news the tense confrontation between chinese's military and an american spy plane monitoring disturbing developments in disputed waters hundreds of miles off the chinese coast. that's where beijing is building manmade islands that could serve as launching points for sea battles against the united states and its allies. we're also following the latest

isis onslaught with more cities falling to terrorist forces in a bloody offensive that has tens of thousands of people fleeing for their lives right now. and we're also learning the u.s. may be getting some vital new information from the wife of an isis commander. we're covering those stories much more this hour with our correspondents around the world and our guests including the state department deputy spokeswoman, marie harf. let's begin with jim sciutto who's in manila right now in the philippines. he has an exclusive report on that confrontation between the chinese military and a u.s. spy plane. jim, tell our viewers what happened. >> reporter: wolf it comes down to the fundamental potentially dangerous disagreement. though these islands are brand new and in fact manufactured china sees them as sovereign. the u.s. spy plane flew over them today.

chinese protests getting louder. l u.s. moves getting bolder. the tension there escalating. >> this is chinese navy. leave immediately. >> reporter: high above the south china sea, the radio crackles with a stern warning. the source of dispute appears on the horizon seemingly out of nowhere, islands manmade by china hundreds of miles from its coastline. cnn got exclusive access to classified u.s. surveillance flights over the islands. the first time journalists have been allowed on an operational mission by the state-of-the-art p-88 poseidon, a sub-haunting aircraft. we've just arrived on station now above the three islands that are the targets of today's mission. it's these three islands that have been the focus of china's building in the south china sea

over recent years. china's alarming creation of entirely new territory in the south china sea is one part of a broader military push that some fear is to challenge u.s. dominance in the region sailing its first aircraft carrier, equipping nuclear missiles with warheads and now building military bases far from its shores. for the u.s., the islands are a step too far. this flight is part of a new and bold american military response that may soon including sailing u.s. warships close by as well. in just two years, china has expanded these islands by 2,000 acres, the equivalent of 1,500 football fields and counting an engineering marvel in waters as deep as 300 feet. you're a military man. you look at this. any doubt that's a future military installation? >> it appears to be a build-up of military infrastructure not to mention we were just

challenged probably 30 minutes ago. and the challenge came from the chinese navy. and i'm highly confident it came from a shore on this facility here. >> reporter: what used to be the fiery cross reef now has early warning radar, an airport tower and a runway long enough to handle every aircraft in the chinese military. some are calling it china's unsinkable aircraft carrier. these videos of the al qaedas taken from the advanced surveillance cameras, never before declassified. in a sign of just how valuable china views them the new islands are very well-protected. >> there's obviously a lot of surface traffic down there. chinese warships and chinese coast guard ships. >> reporter: we heard the proof, the chinese navy ordering the p-88 out of the airspace four times on this mission. and like the surveillance videos the audio of these

warnings never before shared with the public. you heard over the intercom this is the chinese navy what was interesting is that there are also civilian aircraft there was a delta flight on that same frequency. when it heard that challenge, it piped into the frequency to say, what's going on? the chinese navy then reassuring them but as the flight crew tells me that could be a very nerve-racking experience for civilian aircraft in the area. and the more china builds we're told the more frequently and aggressively it warns away u.s. aircraft. >> this is a dredger actually pumping sand from under the water on top of an area they're trying to build up land. and we see this every day. so i think they work weekends when they're doing this. >> reporter: 24/7? >> we see it all the time. >> reporter: looking at these islands, you see the landing strips you see military barracks roads being built, and

squadrons of dredgers and trucks added to them every day. they look like very permanent installations. it's difficult to see out even with increased u.s. military traffic in the area how china backs down. >> jim, why the increased concern about all this right now? i know there is intense concern at the highest levels of the united states government. >> reporter: it's two things wolf. one, it is pace. over the span of just two years, china has expanded the area of these islands from five acres to 2,000 acres, 400 times, and it's rising every day. but it is also this, it is the militarization of them, putting in landing craft that can carry the largest military aircraft in the chinese arsenal, the early warning radar systems, deepwater harbors that can accommodate chinese navy ships. it is that militarization that has the u.s. considering a bondholder military response.

>> when the chinese military says to the american poseidon the crew up there, please go away quickly, what's the reaction from the crew inside that poseidon surveillance plane? >> reporter: well they recite very calmly a script. they say, we see these as international waters international airspace and that the u.s. will continue peacefully. there was one instance there that when that american pilot delivered that message, i heard the frustration from the chinese radio operator on the ground coming back simply saying go, go, go away! you can hear the anger there. it's hard to see how this tension doesn't escalate going forward. >> jim sciutto with an exclusive report for us. thanks very much. we'll get reaction to that coming up. but also there's breaking news about isis that we're following vital new information. u.s. interrogates mayors may be getting information out of the widow of an isis commander. barbara starr, what are you

picking up? >> reporter: that raid killed him over the weekend. she's being interrogated. and a u.s. official tells me now she is talking, she is cooperating, she is engaging with the u.s. interrogation team. she is offering information. how valuable is the information, is she offering things just to perhaps try and save herself? they're going to be vetting all of it, trying to see what they can corroborate. they're talking to her about her husband's isis operations money, financing and a very sensitive matter wolf did these two people at any point have any american hostages in their custody? what do they know about the american hostages? do they know anything about the network that held them how they were held, where they were held? this is one of the top pieces of information the u.s. would like to get from her. wolf?

>> we also know isis is taking over the ancient syrian city of palmira right now. and potentially they'll not only slaughter a lot of people but destroy 1,000-year-old artifacts, archaeological treasures. how dire is the situation based on what you're hearing? >> reporter: wolf, a potential historical and cultural disaster in the works. already the united nations weighing in this is a world heritage site of unesco as you say, centuries old. isis is a short distance away. syrian forces have had to back off. and obviously isis has done this before gone into these areas of priceless antiquities and destroyed them as part of their rage. a lot of concern about this area and what may happen in the coming hours and days. of course this comes just as the u.s. is absorbing what has happened in ramadi and trying to figure out what may happen next.

>> more on this story coming up as well. barbara, thank you. now to north korea's frightening nuclear claim. kim jong-un's regime says it now has the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons and place them on missiles capable of striking u.s. troops, even the u.s. mainland. brian todd is working the story for us. >> kim jong-un tonight is being blatantly aggressive forcing the white house and state department to reassure americans that he doesn't have the capacity to hit the u.s. with nuclear warheads. but what worries experts and officials we speak to is that kim's regime is working hard toward that goal and may later threaten the american homeland. brazen about his ambition kim jong-un pounds his chest over his nuclear arsenal, north korea's state news agency says quote, we have had the capability of miniaturizing nuclear warheads for some time. the regime says it can also guarantee the accuracy of short to mid range and long-range rockets.

the ominous implication, that kim has the capability to hit the u.s. with a nuclear-tipped missile. the white house says it doesn't believe nuclear has that capacity but admits they are working on it and could later threaten the u.s. homeland. former u.n. weapons expert david albright says the reality is in between. >> it's a credible claim that they could miniaturize. where their claims are less credible is when they say they can launch missiles with nuclear weapons that are accurate. >> reporter: albright says north korea has flight tested missiles that can hit south korea and japan and has miniaturized warheads to fit those. they've also miniaturized warheads to fit missiles that can reach the u.s. he says but those missiles would have to travel through space, then reenter the atmosphere. albright says north korea hasn't flight tested those missiles yet and they could break up. >> you may be down 10%, 20% chance of success and are you willing to commit suicide for a 10% chance of success?

most nations would say absolutely not. >> reporter: but kim and his regime are not most nations. he recently boasted a testfiring of a missile from a submarine. >> fortunately they've not gotten as close as they would have us believe. they're many years away from developing this capability. >> reporter: kim just nixed a planned visit from the u.n. secretary-general and reportedly executed his own foreign minister. one analyst says kim is the most isolated north korean leader ever. >> we know when new units are formed or new recruits brought into the korean people's army they regularly are lined up to witness an execution. so intimidation is always part of north korea's playbook. he's really using it. >> mike green says it has become very worrisome in terms of how

decisions are made inside kim's inner circle. who, for instance, he says will come up to kim and say, don't do that, boss? glean says chinese president xi jinping can't stand kim. >> brian todd, thanks very much. joining us, the state department deputy spokeswoman, marie harf. thanks very much for coming in. i want to get to jim sciutto's exclusive report. he was in the poseidon surveillance plane. what are the chinese up to from the u.s. perspective? why is this becoming such a major source of concern, these manmade islands they're building hundreds of miles off the chinese coast? >> it really is the pace and the scope of how they've really upped their efforts to reclaim some of this land. you saw it firsthand here. i was just in china with my boss secretary kerry, who in every single meeting he has, starting with the president of china all the way down raised this issue because we are concerned it could raise tension

with china's neighbors. that's our biggest concern, and it could also lead to possible miscommunications. so we think there's a way to resolve this diplomatically. but it is very concerning. >> how do you resolve this? they're using this for military purposes if you believe what these poseidon surveillance planes see, the bases in effect they're building there? >> we think they need to stop this kind of land reclamation. we want them to know we're watching what they're doing. we know what they're doing and it's not acceptable. and they can come back from the brink here. they need to take diplomatic steps to discuss some of this with their neighbors, try to reduce tensions in this part of the world. >> any indication they are going to do that? >> the proof is on the ground. >> marie, stand by. much more to talk about including what's going on in north korea, this miniaturization of their nuclear warheads isis, lots coming up. we'll take a quick break.

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we're following news out of north korea, the kim jong-un regime claiming it has the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons which could put on missiles capable of potentially striking the united states. we're back with marie harf. does north korea have this capability based on everything you're hearing? we don't think they do. we don't. >> you think they're making this stuff up? >> i think they say a lot of things publicly to try and make

people think they have more capabilities than they do. but we haven't seen anything to indicate they do. >> ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general, was supposed to be in north korea in the coming days but that trip was canceled. do you know why? >> we've seen kim jong-un do this with a number of senior leaders lately. he's rejected several meetings. he's isolating himself even further. >> at the same time some 30 women, including 30 american women, are now in pyongyang and getting ready in the coming days to do this peace march from north korea to south korea along the demilitarized zone saying they have permission from both the north korean government and the south korean government. did you give them your encouragement to go on this mission when the american women on this trip left? >> we certainly didn't and we are very clear that we do not believe americans and that's who we give advice to, should travel

to north korea. we've seen as we've talked about americans who are arrested there, who are detained there. we don't think it's a place americans should be visiting. >> are you worried about their security? >> there's also reasons we have these travel warnings in place. we've seen americans detained. we've worked hard to get them home. >> their hope is that maybe this kind of human-to-human contact could advance the peace process, if you will, and convince the north koreans to be more reasonable. >> what could advance the peace price is north korea taking steps to get back to the negotiating table and taking steps to denuclearize like they've committed to do. we had discussions with the chinese, for example, about how we can additionally pressure the north koreans to come back in line and stop taking these escalatory moves. >> what's your assessment of kim jong-un, the north korean

leader? >> i think he's trying to publicly make very clear that they have an arsenal that should scare people. i think he's trying to use those kind of scare tactics with this submarine missile launch that they can miniaturize nuclear weapons. i think he's using a lot of bravado instead of taking care of his own people. he's showing off on the international stage and ignoring north koreans who are starving. that's what he should be focused on. >> let's talk about isis. they're making gains right now. a year now they've been in control of the second largest city of iraq, mosul. now ramadi, the capital of the anbar province, they're in control of that. in syria, they've moving on the ancient city of palmira which has a lot of archaeological treasures and a lot of people right now. potentially they could start destroying there what they've done in other places. why is isis so capable, so strong right now and the iraqi military so weak? >> well, i think we always knew

this conflict would ebb and flow. we knew there would be ups and downs and we would see scenes like ramadi. but with ramadi a few key points to make here. it's not like what we saw in mosul. in the 96 hours since isis took ramadi, the iraqi forces have held their lines on the outside of the city. we've advised them and helped consolidate those lines and planned for a counterattack. and iraq's political leaders at the same time came together from all different parts of the country, all different sectarian backgrounds and came up with a plan that we're going to help them implement. so this is a long fight here. isil's lost about 25% of the populated areas it had controlled at the start of this conflict. so there has been progress. but this is going to be a long fight. we'll see things like ramadi but we'll help the iraqis push back. >> the president has an emergency meeting of his national security team including your boss the secretary of state john kerry, was there. 25 from the intelligence community, from the white house, the state department the pentagon the u.s. military commanders they were all part

of this meeting. is he coming up with a new strategy now because the old strategy seems to have failed? >> well i wouldn't say the strategy's failed. no one is sugarcoating what's happening in ramadi. but overall, isil's been pushed back in large parts of iraq. >> but they haven't been pushed back in mosul. they still control mosul, a city of 2 million people. >> this is going to be a long fight. the national security team regularly gets together to talk about where the strategy is and where it's headed. there's no strategy review per se. but we're taking stock of the situation and how to help the iraqis retake ramadi and keep pushing back on isil. >> are you ready to provide weapons, arm, directly to the friendly iraqi sunni militias around ramadi and the anbar province and to the friendly peshmerga, the kurdish forces without going through the central government in baghdad? >> all of our assistance has to be coordinated and go through

the central government. >> the sunnis and kurds complain they're not getting what the u.s. promised them. you're getting it to the iraqi government but the iraqi government isn't delivering it. >> they are. >> speak to the kurds or the sunnis they say they're not getting it. >> i know our folks have talked to them quite a bit. they're getting additional weapons. we're trying to expedite it as quickly as we can. we're working with the iraqi government as we have to. but we are getting more weapons to them. right now on these positions outside of ramadi, we have advisers helping them plan a counterattack, consolidate their lines. i think you'll see that going forward. we'll help them to retake the city. >> your quick reaction to "the wall street journal" report that when hillary clinton was secretary of state, some of her political aides interfered in the release of documents, documents that should be made public for political reasons. >> i saw a lot of unnamed sources in that report. i have nothing to confirm those allegations. what i can say, though is the

state department there are specific rules on what you release under foia. that's what governs what the state department puts out, period. no matter who may have been kept up to speed on what kind of foia requests we have the rules govern what we release, period. i have every expectation that was the case. >> you saw the story in "the wall street journal" that her top aide cheryl mills, would routinely get involved and say, don't release this don't release that. >> there are rules that govern what's released under foia. i have nothing to confirm those anonymous allegations made in that "wall street journal" story. the secretary senior staff is kept apprised of what foia requests come in. but there's a specific set of rules that govern what's released and that's what was followed. >> marie harf thanks very much for coming in. >> happy to be here. coming up osama bin laden's secret library, newly declassified documents reveal the terrorist leader read bob

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newly declassified documents showing what osama bin laden was thinking reading and doing at his hideout in pakistan. hundreds of documents seized during the 2011 raid that killed bin laden were made public by the u.s. intelligence community today. it includes correspondence in

which bin laden urges his followers to concentrate on attacking and killing u.s. targets and americans rather than trying to form an islamic state. the diplomas also show the al qaeda leader very deeply doting on his family giving advice and reading actually. bin laden's digital library included books by bob woodward and articles from "the washingtonian" magazine and other popular magazines. our national security analyst peter bergen interviewed bin laden in the 1990s. he joins us along with a former cia official phil mudd and fran townsend. these documents are pretty impressive when you take a look at the fact that he was reading "washingtonian," "business week," "time." what was going on here? >> bin laden went to the best

high school in saudi arabia. he also went to the best university. he also read english pretty well and speaks it to some degree. and he's an educated guy. he had wide interests. the way this worked is that he would ask for something, somebody from his team would go and get it. they would turn it into pdfs and put it on a thumb drive and bring it into the compound. obviously he didn't have internet for security reasons. >> there are two sides you see of bin laden in these documents released today by the intelligence community. one side the stuff he's reading, the popular magazines, doting on his family love letters that they released to one of his five wives, to his son. on the other hand there's other letters there where he says the focus should be on killing and fighting the american people brutal correspondence as well go after the americans, don't worry about an islamic state, just go out and kill. what do you make of this? >> we shouldn't be surprised that there are multiple sides

and none of them particularly honest, right? so we've seen -- we know gadhafi was liked pornography, we know that saddam hussein, same thing. and bin laden is reported to have found pornography in his hideout after the raid. so look, these guys have multiple sides. it doesn't really surprise me. and they're all very narcissistic. the continuing theme is it's all about me. and so whether you're talking about his thoughts about operational plans and running al qaeda as an organization or talking to his wife or watching pornography, it's all about him. >> you went through the documents, peter. none of the documents released today include the pornography, right? >> correct. if it's indeed true that there was pornography found on the compound that were other adult males who might have been looking at it. bin laden himself was a religious zealot. i find it hard to believe that

he was watching it. i can't prove that he wasn't. >> what do you think? >> there's two pieces to this. when i was at the agency we found this stuff on hard drives -- >> at the cia? >> at the cia. we found this stuff on hard drive after hard drive. i would agree with peter. if i were on the inside one of the things i'd be cautious about is chain of acquisition. if he was given a piece of electronic material, a thumb drive, a laptop from a subordinate, that stuff might have had pornography on it already. before you say bin laden had pornography, i'd be cautious. >> if he did have pornography there, why wouldn't the intelligence community release that? >> you don't want to humiliate your adversary and act like you're laughing at him. >> even bin laden? >> i wouldn't. i would say, we have a serious adversary, we're not going to pretend to his subordinates that we were laughing at him. >> i wouldn't release it either. it is true to say there are others there. but what phil said is very

important. we found this often in raids in afghanistan and around the world. the fact that one was a religious zealot didn't seem to influence these guys when it came to this kind of material. we don't know for sure it was bin laden. there were other males there. we don't know where precisely -- and the government has not confirmed it -- about the pornography. but it shouldn't surprise anybody that these guys what they say publicly about who and what they are doesn't always comeport with what we know from the intelligence agencies and our intelligence allies. >> what do these documents tell us about bin laden and the al qaeda that he created as opposed to isis right now? >> it's one of those great examples where you have a sharp distinction. he's saying we're not ready to build an islamic state. he said that to people in yemen, algeria and other parts of al qaeda. he said, let's attack the united states. isis is the other one around. they might want to incite an attack inside the united states but they're recruiting thousands

of people around the muslim world to come to this supposedly ideal islamic state they're building. >> guys, thanks very much. more on this story coming up later. meanwhile, a cnn exclusive from north korea, kim jong-un parading some once starving detainees in front of cameras even as he flexing his own nuclear muscles.

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a group of prominent women from around the world are there in north korea right now preparing to make a daring potentially risky demonstration for peace. the women including the legendary feminist gloria steinham plan to hold a peace march. joining us from pyongyang is gay dillingham -- i think we may have lost gay. gay, are you there? unfortunately, i think we have lost gay dillingham in pyongyang, north korea. we'll try to reconnect. we'll try to reconnect with gay in a moment. she also is with gloria steinham we want to get an eyewitness account of what's going on in north korea right now with this peace march. stand by. we'll try to reconnect with them. in the meantime, we have a cnn exclusive. north korean defectors who fled the country as starving teenagers now paraded before cnn

cameras by kim jong-un's regime. cnn's will ripley spoke to them met with some of them. will you're joining us now live. you were just there yourself in north korea. tell us what you saw and what you heard. >> reporter: wolf i'll tell you one thing, it seems as if there are two sides to north korea. there's the north korea that announced the expansion of their nuclear program, the miniaturization of nuclear warheads. then there's the north korea we saw on the ground which is very concerned about what the world thinks of them particularly on this issue of human rights and how defectors are treated if they return to the country. here's what they showed us. we find eight north korean students waiting to tell us how great their lives are in a country they tried to escape. the students' bizarre journey began several years ago, each ran away from north korea,

finding refuge with a missionary in china. he says the teens were desperately trying to escape hunger. >> translator: i looked for fish bones and rice to mix together to make porridge. >> reporter: under the watchful eye of three government officials, the students are reluctant to admit ever being hunger. millions of north koreans today don't have enough to eat. supreme leader kim jong-un accused of spending massive amounts on the military and nuclear weapons at the expense of feeding his own people. four of you were hungry? the missionary who housed and fed the students in china promised a life of freedom in zshg south korea. but when he tried smuggling them in, border guards sent them back to the country they fled. the students admitted they were

scared. >> translator: the missionary made us think if we went back we'd be killed. >> reporter: it's a fate others have reportedly faced. these north korean propaganda videos call defectors scum of the earth, the videos are in english, handed out to news outlets, including cnn, part of a new pyongyang p.r. blitz trying to paint defectors as criminals. today, their government is parading them in front of our cameras as poster children of pyongyang's compassion and forgiveness. >> translator: being back home, i'm happy. i love my life. >> reporter: cnn did not see their actual living conditions. but each insists life is better now than before they defected. what would you say to people listening to this who say it sounds like your government is forcing you to say this? >> translator: we were never

forced to say this. >> translator: we are not pets. >> reporter: pets are what pyongyang considers defectors who do make it out, claiming they're coerced to testify about widespread human rights abuses and suffering at the hands of a brutal, repressive regime. north korea wants you to believe this is what life is really like. they question why anyone would want to leave. so clearly you have an attempt to try to discredit the testimony of hundreds of defectors. that testimony of widespread human rights abuses and repression of course has been tremendously damaging for the regime. but then you have actions like today canceling ban ki-moon's visit to the area near the demilitarized zone the kaesong military complex and then ramping up the rhetoric. unpredictable regime is the best way to sum it up. >> will ripley reporting for us thank you very much. more on the north korea situation coming up.

a group of women planning a potentially risky peace march across the demilitarized zone from north to south korea. we're standing by. we'll talk with one of them. plus more on the breaking news we're following, the widow of an isis commander killed in a u.s. special operations forces raid now providing information to u.s. interrogators. we're going live to the pentagon. if you suffer from a dry mouth then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath? well, there is biotene specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants... biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth.

breaking news. a group of prominent women from around the world now in north korea preparing to make a daring potentially risky demonstration for peace. joining us on the phone from pyongyang right now, the

filmmaker gabe dillingham and gloria steinem from the united states. gabe tell us what's going on how have you been received so far? i know you and your fellow women over there, they're trying to make this trip this march, from north into south korea along the dmz. >> hi wolf. yeah we do like to call it a march -- excuse me, a walk instead of a march, if we may. militaries march, women like to walk. so we were after the press conference in beijing, which i think you all covered, we flew into pyongyang day before yesterday. we warm reception with our hosts which are a number of different women's groups here on the ground in north korea. and i will say compared to when you and i came december 2010 there's a new airport being built. takes awhile. things are looking different because we're in may versus december.

there was quite a bit more traffic. things are green. we had very warm reception yesterday. what we did was we -- they toured us -- we had our orienttation in terms of touring to see a hospital we saw a school. and today we are havinging a peace symposium with the north korean women. and we spent a little bit of time -- >> gabe let me ask gloria steinem a quick question. gloria tell our viewers -- >> here she is. >> gloria are you there? >> yes, i am. >> gloria tell us what the mission is all about. what do you hope to achieve? >> we hope to achieve what the north and south korean women cannot which is to cross the dmz peacefully and show that it is a temporary and was always intended to be a temporary division. they cannot walk we can. this is an enormously impressive

and representative delegation of outstanding women who have won the nobel prize for bringing peace before huge variety of people who have taken it upon themselves to do this symbolically to call attention to the fact that it's been -- it was supposed to be a few months it's been 70 years. and to cross where the north and south korean women cannot. >> and gloria you have permission from both north and south korea to make this walk across the dmz? >> yes, we do. >> do you think you'll have a chance to meet with kim jong-un? >> we are not asking to meet with any officials. we don't want to meet with officials. this is a walk of women on behalf of women. >> tell us when that walk will take place, gloria. >> we're leaving -- may 24th. >> we want to stay in close touch, gloria with you, with

gay, with the other women. we want to cover this important walk across the dmz. good luck to you. be careful over there. i was there for six days in pyongyang in 2010 when i covered bill richardson's visit there so i'm a little familiar with what's going on. good luck. >> thank you. there's other breaking news we're following. new details of the isis widow now said to be cooperating providing new information to u.s. interrogators about her husband, a terror commander killed in auskill ed in a aus u.s. air raid. if you struggle with type 2 diabetes you're certainly not alone. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. imagine what it would be like to love your numbers. discover once-daily invokana®.

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and find answers to your questions. you can even check your connection status on your phone. now it's easier than ever to manage your account. get started at xfinity.com/myaccount collapsing strategy as isis sfilgts its way into another city. u.s. war fighters are scrambling trying to figure out their next move. are they ready to admit the situation is dire? standoff in the skies. u.s. flight planes confronted by china during a mission to figure out what's happening on those mysterious manmade islands. cnn has exclusive access to the secret flights. bin laden's dying wish

reveal the al qaeda leader was planning spectacular attacks against america till the end. did he get tips about a book about president obama's wars? deadly stop. we're getting the most detailed account yet of a critical moment in the arrest of freddie gray. could this video be key in the criminal case against baltimore police officers? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitz are. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> as isis fighters seize control of another city an insider with the terror group may be spilling secrets to the united states. we have new information about theed by dough of an isis commander killed in daring u.s. raid. also breaking the secret military operation that china doesn't want the united states to see. cnn got exclusive access to classified u.s. surveillance flights off the chinese coast to investigate newmanmade islands. we're told they appear to be future military installations.

the chinese navy confronting the u.s. spy plane with this warning. >> we are military aircraft. this is chinese navy. you are approaching our military alert zone. leave immediately. >> i'll ask senator tom cotton about those stories, he's an iraq war veteran, standing by live. our correspondents and analysts are also standing by with all the news that's breaking right now. let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr for the very latest. >> a short time ago a u.s. official told me the widow of that isis commander killed in the delta force raid deep inside syria, she's talking, being interrogated in iraq she is talking and cooperating with u.s. interrogators. she is offering information, of course what remains to be seen is can it be vetted? can it be -- is it valid?

and accurate information that she is offering? they are talking to her about everything from isis operations and finances to the very sensitive issue of american host hostage hostages. does she know anything because of her husband's involvement in finances about hostage ransoms, about hostage operations where maybe and how maybe some of those americans who were killed by isis might have been held by isis inside syria. all of this in the plus column for u.s. strategy against isis. but it comes as isis is clearly on the offensive in other areas. ramadi residents continue fleeing the city as isis consolidates its position. across the border in syria, the ancient city of pal maya with artifacts dating back thousands of years now largely in the hands of isis.

experts fear a repeat of scenes like this in iraq when isis destroyed museum antiquities. >> we're concerned about this obviously it has been caught in the crossfire for some time. >> reporter: the pentagon insists its anti-isis strategy is not changing. it will train iraqi troops. there will be no u.s. forces in combat on the ground. >> what this looks like in fact on the ground is containment. but that's not what president obama says his policy is. that's not what he's selling to the american people. >> reporter: after several days of saying the loss of ramadi was just a setback, u.s. officials increasingly are acknowledging behind the scenes how serious the situation is and are watching for signs of what may happen next. if iranian-backed shia militias move in could there be a new sectarian blood bath? will isis expand into shia areas beyond its traditional power days in sunni-dominated regions?

a u.s. intelligence official tells cnn, if isis were to expand beyond sunni areas in iraq it would signal a more serious threat to baghdad. >> we need to take these people down and take these people down quickly. they will dig in and we're never going to get them out. >> reporter: with air strikes continuing iraqi forces are regrouping. for a counterattack to try to take back ramadi. but is the defeat of isis really any closer? >> you have isis on the defensive in tikrit and northern iraq. but on the other hand they're on the offensive in al anbar province palmyra, syriathe campaign is now in the balance. >> you'll remember a couple of days ago secretary of state john kerry said ramadi would be back in iraqi hands perhaps in a few days. well maybe not so fast. today is senior state department

official called the situation a serious setback. that official said nobody is kidding themselves about it. wolf? >> barbara thanks very much. as isis scores one victory after another, president obama's strategy for fighting the terrorists is under attack by republicans and others here in the united states. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is joining us with more of what's going on. what's going on there, jim? >> the white house is signaling it's open to making minor changes to its strategy for defeating isis but that's not enough for the president's critic hot insist he's losing the battle against the terror group. >> god bless all our coast guardsmen, god bless -- >> reporter: as president obama sounded the alarm on climate change in a speech to coast guard graduates, the environment was heating up back in washington. over the white house plan for beating isis. >> where is our morality? where is our decency? where is our concern? about these thousands of people that are being slaughtered?

>> reporter: republican senator john mccain slammed the president for allowing isis to seize the key iraqi city of ramadi. and laid into white house press secretary josh ernest for snapping back at critics this way. >> are we going to light our hair on fire every time there is a setback? >> we are seeing a dark chapter in american history. and it's getting darker. because in response to a slaughter in ramadi the answer seems to be "let's not set our hair on fire." >> reporter: frustration with the battle against isis has some gop presidential candidates floating the idea of sending u.s. troops into combat in iraq. something the white house has ruled out. >> i don't want to see us put in a million soldiers spend ten years, $1 trillion trying to create a democracy where one hasn't existed. but send in troops destroy their training centers, recruitment centers, and then get out. >> reporter: jeb bush who

admittedly mishandled questions about his brother's record iraq is making the case the country was better off under president george w. bush. >> isis didn't exist when am prowas present. al qaeda in iraq was wiped out when my brother was president. there were mistakes made in iraq for surgee. >> reporter: in a speech on climate change the president steered clear of the debate over his strategy, instead arguing that global warming is a national security threat. contributing to the crisis in syria where isis took root. >> it's now believed that drought and crop failures and high fuel prices helped fuel early unrest in syria which descented into civil war in the heart of the middle east. >> reporter: tonight the white house is backing an iraqi plan to send shia militia forces into the sun sune sea 95 dominated anbar province to help retake ramadi. it's a risky move but one the

white house says it supports as long as shia forces are under the control of the iraqi military. let's bring in republican senator tom cotton iraq war veteran, member of the armed services and intelligence committees in the u.s. senate. thanks very much for coming in. several of the republican presidential candidates are now openly saying send in more u.s. troops. boots on the ground if you will. you heard former new york governor george pataki expected to announce soon lindsey graham was here in "the situation room," he said 10,000 there of about 3,000 u.s. troops in iraq right now, bring that number up to 10,000, maybe that could help. are you with them? >> i am. i'm glad that you recognize that we do have boots on the ground already in iraq. the president's put a cap at 3,000, an arbitrary cap, there's no military reason for it. when some folks say we shouldn't put boots on the ground i think it demeans the service of those who are in iraq. i wish the president would lift

the cap and listen to the best judgment of his military commanders. we could use more special operations forces forward air controllers, intelligence logistics experts to fill some of the gaps in walki capable iraqi cancelties and try to stop this into descending into sectarian war of the kind of i saw in iraq in 2006. >> the u.s. had 150,000 u.s. troops. how many troops do you think the u.s. needs now. >> we wouldn't be looking at something like that. the president i would say poses a false choice with iraq like he does with iran. the choice is not between nothing and 150,000 mechanized troops. on the order of a few thousand more. it's a question for our commanders to provide their best military judgment to the president to make a decision about the number and types of troops we need. there's no doubt we need some of those specialized assets. whether they're special operations forces or intelligence experts to help defeat the islamic state. that's the president's stated goal. he's not providing the resources

to achieve it. >> i'm sure you'll agree the iraqi military whether mosul or ramadi ramadi has been so disappointing. the fact that they want to get iranian-back the shiite militias to help and recapture, at least contain isis in ramadi what does that say to you? >> there's been a lot of disappointments with the iraqi army no doubt about that. some units have performed well. a lot of their units have not. i think the very bad idea what the president and his administration is saying they support now, bringing in iranian-back the shiite militias into the anbar province for two reasons. one, i think no doubt it will stoke more sectarian conflict and two, these militias are paper tigers. they have proven themselves incapable of taking tikrit. i don't think they're going to succeed. and they're going to stoke sectarian violence. i think it's a bad idea. we need to be relying on more american advisers more trainers people who are assisting. we need to be working with the sunni tribal leaders and tribes. these are the exact same people who turned in our direction in

2006 '07, '08, we know who they are. a lot of the army officers and marine officers there on the ground with them are still on active duty today. >> they don't trust the iraqi military which is largely shia, right? >> regrettably at this point, yeah. there's been talk the last two weeks about what we would have done in 2003 knowing what we know now. what's even more tragic is barack obama knowing what he knew then in 2011 made the decision to withdraw all of our troops. those troops were a critical component to training the iraqi army, to maintaining its plural istic nachb. >> you remember when president george w. bush was president he was the one who announced the deadline for getting all u.s. troops out of iraq. president obama implemented what president bush had originally put forward. >> but there was an effort to pursue a new status of forces agreement that would give american troops under president obama. the difference when is that dispute came up under george bush's administration, the bush administration was committed to making agreement.

under the obama administration they were just committed to getting out of iraq. we see the wages of that now. >> white house officials say they trood with nuri al maliki he refeud he wouldn't give that status of forces agreement, he wouldn't give immunity to u.s. troops as a result all u.s. troops got out of there. >> they said that throughout the bush administration as well somehow the bush administration was able to achieve agreement, gave our troops immunity help prevent -- >> so frustrating after all the blood and treasure trillion dollars, whatever the u.s. spent, the training over a decade to get an iraqi military capable, they're obviously not very capable. >> it absolutely is. if we'd had troops there in 2011 we might have fewer troops there today than when the president has already put into iraq what we need to put into iraq. >> we have much more to talk about, including tension between the united states and china. what's going on in north korea. much more with senator cotton right after this.

>> we have much more to talk

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we're back with senator iraq war veteran tom cotton. breaking news on isis we heard the u.s. is now interrogating the woman, the widow of that slain isis commander, she's talking to u.s. interrogators. what can you tell us about this if anything? >> first off, jsoc is awesome, the raid they conducted who killed abu sayyaf -- >> the delta force commanders special ops. >> who killed abu sayyaf key leader of the islamic state and captured his wife, an amazing operation. to say it's in the middle of a

strategic failure to stop the islamic state -- i don't want to comment any more about his wife and information we may or may not be getting but jsoc is awesome. >> your colleague senator rand paul who's a republican presidential candidate, he's out there on the senate floor, he really hates any extension of the so-called -- what's called the patriot act which he says unconstitutionally eavesdrops on americans' private conversations. where to you stand on this? >> i respect and i like rand and work well with him. i severally disagree with him here. what i believe is that a lot of the nsa's telephone meta data program is the result of misinformation spread by a traitor, ed card snow win. the nsa is not listening to anyone's calls, reading americans' e-mails. they're collecting data your phone company already has so they can search that data quickly in the event of a terrorist plot. there is no doubt this program has stopped terrorist plots or helped investigate them. furthermore, i don't think it poses any legitimate risk to

americans' privacy. what you did do with your grocery discount card is more invasive. >> you totally edition agree with senator rand paul? >> i firmly disagree. the nsa meta data program as critical tool to keep us safe especially in the threat environment we face today. >> republicans are the majority in the senate, how do you think this is going to play out? >> we'll see. >> there's debate among republicans too. obviously with democrats. >> the program expires along with a couple other important provisions that our national security professionals need to track terrorists and stop properties. i'm trying to make sure they have the tools they need to keep us safe. >> north korea, they claim kim jong-un's regime that they can miniaturize nuclear warheads potentially endangering the u.s. homeland. is that true? >> there's no doubt they're working to miniaturize their warheads. there's published reporting in the last couple of months saying that they have over 20 warheads they're in the path of maybe

100, they have intercontinental negligent missiles already. those are going to be designed to strike u.s. territory and u.s. citizens. it goes to show you what a dangerous path the president's going down in iran. because what happened in north korea, i believe, is foreshadowing what happens now -- >> why do you say that? because the president and secretary of state who negotiated this deal they have until the end of june to final finalize it they say this will stop iran about building a nuclear bomb. >> makes it much harder to confront the challenges of north korea. iran is even more dangerous because in addition to their nuclear programs they're the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and they are spreading unrest throughout the middle east attacking our allies trying to topple governments. >> let's talk about jim sciutto, our chief national security correspondent's, exclusive report. we had it here in "the situation room" in the last hour. he's flying in one of these surveillance planes, poseidon over these manmade islands that

the chinese are building. huge islands, hundreds of miles off the chinese coast, that you can see, showing our viewers pictures there are bases there, air strips control towers. the u.s. is very much opposed to this. what's your take on what's going on? >> great reporting by cnn. i support what president obama and secretary of defense ash carter have done here. china's claims have no legal basis. these manmade islands are hundreds of miles away from their coast. these are international waters. and they're building these islands not only to develop heli pads or even aircraft landing zones so they can project power against our allies like the philippines or taiwan throughout the region. they're building them to establish a claim to the territorial waters around it many of which are rich in mineral rights. like china tried to establish an exclusive air zone in the east china sea over some japanese and the united states military stood up to them then the united states military needs to stand up to these claims now. >> secretary of state john kerry, in every meeting in

recent days with chinese officials from the president down, he raised this issue. it is of such concern to the united states. do you think he's right on this? >> yes, secretary kerry, secretary carter have been raising these concerns. the u.s. military is trying to assert the primacy of free commerce over the open seas. we need to make sure we stand with our allies in the region who have claims to these waters and these reefs as well. we can't let china bully them. >> thanks very much for coming in. in. osama bin laden's final days. the backs he was reading, the love letters he wrote, the attacks he was plotting against the united states. we're also learning about a new witness who's opening up about the arrest of freddie gray in baltimore and the van ride that allegedly killed him.

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breaking now inside the mind of the murderous plots of the man who brought terrorism to america's door steps. four years after osama bin laden's death, we're now getting revealing new information about the al qaeda leader his life in highing, his next saying on attacking the united states and killing americans. documents seized during the navy s.e.a.l. raid on bin laden's compound were just released today by the u.s. intelligence community. cnn's tom foreman is joining us. he's got new information. what have you learned? pier these newly declassified revealed the trite ning depth of osama bin laden's hatred of the united states his desire to strike another major blow against america, and the real steps he took to make it happen. newly revealed in the now-declassified bin laden papers al qaeda sent agents to attack targets in the united kingdom, europe, and even russia with an emphasis on

hitting americans whenever possible. so why did the attacks fail? according to the master terrorist, it was bad luck and god wasn't on our side. the papers show in all the years since 9/11 bin laden's desire to strike america again never let up. one says these big-eating invaders and their loyal dogs are too scared of death to fight us face-to-face. the main reason they continue to kill us is because we do not have the knowledge and the resources to counter their technology. bin laden clearly feared the power of american drones warning his commanders to change locations only under cloudy skies to avoid detection. and he cautioned, we should be careful not to send big secrets by e-mail because the enemy can easily monitor it. computer science is not our science. he distinctly saw any plan to establish an islamic state as

premature and risky, writing that his followers should be prepared for a long struggle for things like food and water shortages. i am sure that you are aware that climate change is causing drought in some areas, and floods in others. his online library also revealed in the documents contain nearly 40 books in english, including "obama's wars" by bob woodward "blood lines of the human naughty," "the rise and fall of the great powers." and there is this. an application form for would-be jihadis, asking about their education, families hobbies, and do any of your family or friends work with the government? would they be willing to help us? do you wish to execute a suicide operation? and who should we contact in case you become a martyr? it really is a remarkable collection of papers. even one message to american voters saying the reason the value of the dollar was falling and the suicide rate among soldiers was rising was

essentially because the united states was destined to lose the war on terror and yet as we know he was ultimately killed by the very troops he said could not win. >> tom foreman, thanks very much. our cnn national security analyst peter bergen. he interviewed bin laden, wrote a book on the search for him. also former congresswoman jane harman leading expert on intelligence heads the woodrow wilson international center for scholars. also retired lieutenant colonel james reese, former delta force commander. babb bare cnn cnn security analyst, former cia operative. peter, let me start with you. "the washington post" quoting from some of the documents released today saying that he seems to have been exhausted when he spent six years in that compound. he wrote this. i have been living for years in the company of some of the brothers from the area and they are getting exhausted security-wise from me staying with them and what results from that. i think that i have to leave

them. so before he was killed, just before he was killed he was thinking about leaving that compound? >> well you know that's very much new. he'd been there as you said for six years. there were two people with him who were from the area. people that were long-time members of al qaeda. this letter demonstrates that they were under considerable strain. the context of this letter by the way is bringing his family from iran into pakistan. and he was sort of saying, the people around me don't necessarily want to bring my family in because that's a security risk for them to go outside and bring people from iran into this area. >> you believe, jane harman he spent six years in that compound, about a mile or so from the pakistani west county, and nobody in the pakistani intelligence or military knew that bin laden was hiding out there? >> not credible. i remember that musharraf, after he left pakistan was at the wilson center. and i asked him, how is it

possible that nobody knew? he said, oh are they would have told me if they knew. no way possible. the locals and plus the isi had to know. >> bin laden was hiding from people on the compound. one of the wives of the bodyguards didn't know this was osama bin laden living there. she was specifically told to ignore any kind of strange presence and she only saw him once. he never went out. he was being very careful about his security. >> but the compound was suspicious. these very high walls, different from anything else around it. nobody coming in and out. or not off then. i can't imagine that somebody in local government and in the intelligence didn't know he was there. >> bonn bear i don't know if you want to weigh in. what was fascinating was bin laden getting ahoetd hold of a lot of the american magazines, reading them "washingtonian" for example, did that surprise you? >> no wolf.

because he was looking at the united states. he attacked on 9/11 counting on the united states changing its policy pulling out of the middle east withdrawing support from saudi arabia what have you. so he was desperate to understand this country, and clearly he didn't. i mean he was reading anti-semitic works, he was reading conspiracy theorists. he was very confused i'm sure through all of this what we were going to do next. end of the day, he ended up you know causing the death of more muslims than anybody since the mongol mongols. i think this probably all came as a surprise to him. and i think frankly he was a defeated man. he couldn't resurrect his networks. it would look like he tried and he was fairly irrelevant by the time the s.e.a.l.s got him. >> he was really interested in killing americans. colonel reese, if you read these documents, go after, attack america, attack their economic infrastructure. don't worry so much about

creating an islamic state, which is very different than isis right now, right? >> yeah, wolf it is. what i think it really starts to show you is the egos of some of these leaders are out there, that they have to deal with. a lot of bin laden, like you said stick to fighting the americans. you've got baghdadi czar carr wee, big egos which get in the way. i think that was the beauty of bin laden. he had a focus, he tried to keep that focus. >> you think it's smart, colonel reese, for the u.s. intelligence committee to release these documents? >> i do, wolf. one, i think it's very important for the american public to understand. the american public are smart people. sometimes i think we discredit what they think. but i think it's good for them. they get to understand what else is out there in the world. especially when we sit back here and they get to understand the threats that we have to deal with every day, especially the folks that are doing this 24/7 in the intelligence law enforcement, military

communities. >> peter, if you go through these documents as you have there are a lot of documents released today, there's two sides. the killer the terrorist, bin laden. also an emotional, personal side. he writes love letters to one of his five wives. beautiful letters. he writes to his son, to his other children. he writes this the to one of his wives. beloved wife, know that you do fill my heart with love. beautiful memories every time i thought of you my eyes would tear for being away from you. >> hitler loved his dog. you know. one of the concerns about releasing these letters that the u.s. intelligence community had, are we going to humanize him? of course he was human. this is part of his personality. he was a loving father, a doting husband. at the same time he was a mass murderer. >> what do you think? >> well i have no sympathy for this guy. i would point out, though we never would have had this if president obama hadn't taken the career-risking move to send in folks on the ground to capture the -- try to capture him and

capture these documents. we've just done the same thing in syria. and this is a much better way to go than just to use drones. >> bob bear, one of the letters one person wrote to bin laden about the financial problems that al qaeda had that they needed to get more money, if you will maybe have some options like aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. what would you take on this part? >> an answer to me is whether he was getting secret financing a lot of money. the accusation is the saudis continued to fund him or the pakistanis or what have you, even private donors. it's important to understand he was running out of money. al qaeda spread but it wasn't directly under his control. aqap is an independent organization that rose, al qaeda 2.0 if you like, out of his

purview. so by the way, i think it's great these things are being released because the american people need to know who our enemy and is what we're facing as by fight this war. >> colonel reese, as you know isis now, not only still controls mosul, they've taken over ramadi but in syria they're moving in in fact they've taken over this ancient city of palmyra. not only slaughtering a lot of people there, presumably they're going to destroy all these archeological treasures, these antiquities, as they've done in other cities. here's the question. does the u.s. have any responsibility to send in troops not only to protect the people there, but also to protect these ancient archeological sites? >> wolf what the u.s. has the responsibility to do i believe, is get the united nations security council, have an emergency meeting, and the nations need to look at this. this to me is an atrocity that we need to do something about.

right now this whack case isis are killing antiquities that is about mankind, the history of mankind. we're going to sit around write papers put things out. we turn around they're all going to be gone and destroyed. it's a real crime that we're not looking at this across all of humanity mankind, and the nations. >> if you wait for the u.n. security council or the u.n. general assembly they're going to be destroyed long before that. and thousands of people are going to be killed. obviously the people are a lot more important than those archeological archeological treasures. >> i don't care that's a high population from but it is destroying the history of syria, total tragedy. this administration needs to put a person in charge of this. john allen is over there, retired general john allen. i don't think he has the authority to move and to cause changes in our strategy. we're doing one thing in iraq which is maybe empowering shia militia to go in to save this city. but then we're against shia militia in yemen.

and what our overall strategy is is confusing. if we lose -- as everyone has been saying all day, the moderate muslims in the area which we are doing, who in the world is ever going to defend these cities? >> do you agree with lindsey graham senator from south carolina this week he said the u.s. has to increase its troop presence in iraq right now about 3,000 u.s. troops in iraq it's got to go up to 10,000 as a start? >> well i don't think we need another big land force. i don't think the american -- >> he doesn't say big, 10,000. >> i don't know what the right number is. we should have some more advisers on the ground especially these white soft forces to encourage the iraqis to fight. but we should not be i think empowering shia militias to engage in what could amount to ethnic cleansing in sunni areas. i think that will set back our cause -- it will be even worse than it was when saddam was

here. >> jane harmon peter bergen bonn baer james reese, thank vets much. we'll stay on top of the story for our viewers. another story we're watching right now. there's a new interview with a witness to the arrest of freddie gray in baltimore. this new cell phone video and her account benefit prosecutors the key against the police officers who have been charged in his death?

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demonstrators gather on the streets of baltimore to demand justice for freddie gray the baltimore man who sustained critical spinal injuries in police custody, later died leading to the arrest of six baltimore police officers. the march began at the site of gray's arrest made its way to the headquarters of baltimore's police. union, friends and family of gray were among the marchers. it's been just over a month since gray's death. there are new questions being raised over the investigation. let's dig deeper with two cnn law enforcement analysts. joining us tom fuentes, cedric alexander. tom, you saw the story in "the baltimore sun" today, there's a new witness, a new witness who says she woke to freddie gray screaming as he was being dragged into a police van. we'll show our viewers some of the video from her cell phone. the witness says police never

reached out for her cell phone video. she's never spoken with the police. could her story, though be part of the investigation right now even at this late moment? >> it could, wolf. my question would be what's she been doing all this time? she knows these officers have been charged. it's a major point of contention between the community and the police. why would she not come forward, supply that video, if it's evidence of what occurred at the time of the arrest? >> you think it's problematic, cedric that the police didn't contact her or she didn't contact the police and say, i have some additional video that may be of interest i have some eyewitness testimony, what i heard and what i saw? >> it could be a variety of reasons, wolf as to why she is just now turning over this information. sometimes it's out of fear. sometimes not certain what to do. it must have a lot to do frankly with that disconnect between police and community. don't be surprised if over time, you're going to see more

evidence that may be introduced either through eyewitness account or through video account. so i'm not surprised at this at this stage of this investigation. we may see more of this going forward. >> at you know cedric, the baltimore police commissioner said today there's uncertainty among those in his police department following the death of freddie gray that everything that has followed has further exacerbated the uncertainty in the month since gray's death. baltimore has actually seen a spike in violence. six people were shot just yesterday. if you were the baltimore police commissioner you obviously have a lot of experience in this area what steps would you be taking right now to try to fix what could be a morale problem? >> let me say this. commissioner betts has been around a long time. i consider him a friend. he's a noble member as well too. in addition to that i think commissioner batts and his staff

are more than capable of finding ways and one of these ways i'm sure if you were to ask him in which to move forward, that is continuously continue to build those police and community relationships. that is the one thing that is the most important. even though they still have this sense of crisis that they're going through. i think what's going to be really important for that commissioner and for that community is that we have to continue to engage in those relationship-buildings. that is going to be the one piece that's going to help that community move forward. you've got two things going over here. you have an active investigation in a community that's still upset. but you also must have a police department and community working together in order to resolve whatever issues may come up in the future. >> because it's been said tom, you know some of those police officers feel they've been thrown under the bus. >> i think so. what do you tell them as far as trying to reduce the number of murders occurring, the shootings

on the streets, without aggressive police action to take guns off the hands of the people? you have more than one community you're dealing with. you have the law-abiding community that wants good policing then you have these guys running around within guns shooting each other. all the community policing in the world is not going to improve the relations between the police and the shooters who are running around killing their fellow citizens. >> it's still a big problem in baltimore. we'll watch it closely. tom, thanks very much, cedric you as well. much more noour news coming up.

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and find answers to your questions. you can even check your connection status on your phone. now it's easier than ever to manage your account. get started at xfinity.com/myaccount the fight against isis is promising to become a flash point in the 2016 presidential elections. some potential republican contenders expressing support for increased military action by the united states in iraq. senator lindsey graham for example, he told me here in "the situation room" this week that he wants 10,000 u.s. troops in iraq. there are about 3,000 there right now. even if that means american casualties. the former new york governor george pataki is calling for more troops to counter the isis threat. let's bring in our senior washington correspondent jeff

zell lany and cnn political reporter sarah hurry. what do you make of this debate? presumably it's going to put pressure on some of the other republican candidates to step and up say, yeah the u.s. has to have boots on the ground as they say. >> it definitely is. somewhat of a surprising debate. think we thought beginning of this campaign the iraq debate was behind us. but now we're going from what happened there was the policy right, to what should happen going forward. i think we are going to see the divides, we are seeing the dwights in the republican party as we speak about this. but the majority of americans are still opposed to boots on the ground anywhere. so that would be a very very very hard argument i think to make. i'm not sure governor pataki is not just perhaps trying to outline his presidential ambitions a little bit more by making this statement. it's easy to say on the campaign trail, much harder to implement. >> he was pretty firm on cnn's "new day" making that case. >> he was. the reality is if you were going out and campaigning now, this is what voters are asking in town

halls. they are asking you how you're going to deal with isis. i think a lot of that is because we saw americans who were beheaded by this group. this is something that i think hits close to home to americans in a way they kind of understand. and they want to know how people are going to deal will it. by the way, this should be a question you should have to answer if you are running for president. you are going to be the commander in chief. you should respond to how you're going to deal with isis what your line is to sending troops into the line of fire. >> but there is a bipartisan war weariness. you talk to voters i'm not sure that is the majority republican argument. >> if it does become isis iraq a focal point in this presidential campaign sarah how does that play out for hillary clinton who's the front rubber for the democratic nomination? >> i think she's going to have to answer more questions about her vote to authorize the war in iraq. she touched on that a little bit in iowa. i think that will continue to come up. i think she will have to decide how she's going to separate herself from the republican field in terms of offering up a

line of strength against isis. like jeff said people are war weary, they don't necessarily want to send troops in. that is particularly true of democrats. >> you were there yesterday in cedar falls when she had that five-minute exchange with reporters. you asked one of those questions. she was quick to say, i made a mistake. >> she was quick to sa say that but she didn't say what she would do going forward. it's easy to say i made a mistake. it's more difficult to say what policy will be. her challenge if she separates herself from president obama, president obama's policy in iraq right now, it's sure to be changing as the threats grow. she's going to have to decide if she will change any of her views, separate herself from him. i still don't think this is going to be the dominant issue of this campaign i think the economy is. boy, it's hard to tell. we don't know what the campaign's going to be about. >> let me show you what's happening on the senate floor right now. senator rand paul, who's a republican presidential candidate, it's not a filibuster texasally but speaking out against any extension of the patriot act. he's been going on now for several hours.

going to continue for more. this is a winning issue for him? >> i think it's a winning issue for him no question. this is how he came to prominence doing this. i talked to a republican senator today who told me that this is why senators should not be allowed to run for president, this republican senator was very concerned he was using the senate floor for political gain here. so i think he can maybe do this for a day, not a long time. >> we were talking about this he is fund-raising for his campaign off of what he is doing on the senate floor right now. so obviously they think this is a winning issue for his presidential campaign. if you should be allowed to do this, if this blurs the linesness too much that's a question. >> there's nothing illegal? >> there's nothing illegal but how does that sit? do you want your sitting senator raising money for his presidential campaign off this sort of faux filibuster on the floor? >> i think this may be one of the many new things about money and politics on the senate floor. >> this is a huge issue for him. he's made no secret of that over these past several years. all right, guys. thanks very very much. remember you can follow us

on twitter. i'd love to hear from you. tweet me @wolfblitzer tweet the show @cnnsitroom. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next breaking news. an american spy plane confronted. only cnn cameras there to capture it. our exclusive report coming up. the deadly biker brawl. waco police have seized 1,000 weapons from the crime scene, including an ak-47. some of those weapons were actually hidden in toilets. our special report. the controversial hunter who killed that black rhino. he says he's saving the endangered species. live tonight, let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront," breaking