spokeer boehner >> we expect to hear more from the pentagon. you will hear that on "happening now." it starts now. a fox news alert. the united states and allies in the middle east go on the offense targeting isis militants

and veterans of al dwied. i am jon scott. good northerning. >> i am melissa francis in for jenna leee. the strokes taking place inside the borders of syria. the islamic state declared its capital and the united states on its own attacking a group of fighters west of there. no word on deaths. we hope to hear more from the pentagon during a briefing scheduled to begin any moment. >> we have live cov rmg. juan hudy is watching live from jerusalem. we begin with senior white house affairs correspondent within windel. what is next? >> reporter: the president is headed to build a coalition on foreign terrorist fighters that will compel the nations to rein in on equipment and choke off the funding. the morning after the first coalition strikes in syria, he noted the muslim nations are joined in the fight and they targeted another al-qaeda spin off that was planning attacks on the united states.

>> we also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the junes and allies by other opnutrients in syria. it must be clear to anyone who would plot against america and try to do americans harm that we will not tolerate save havens for terrorist. >> the united states was joined by ort n other nations notified syria the strikes were coming. iran says the action was

illegal. youtubes officials ruled out coordinating the fight with iran and denied claims that we asked to join forcing with iran and they turned us down. tomorrow the president will chair a meeting at the state level and it is only the second time it happened. he is trying to lay the ground on qutar fighter terrorist later in the fall. so you heard just now the driving force behind the new attacks is a new military coalition. several arab nations now fighting alongside the united states. john hudy is watching in jerusalem. how are these nations helping the united states now? >> a couple different ways, melissa. let's start with the airstrikes. the uae is confirming their ai s

force was involved in the attacks last night. intelligence gathering is something jordan has been involved in. and then there is the training of syrian rebels that have been fighting isis. we are going to interrut that and take you to the pentagon. there is the pentagon spokesman and let's listen. >> the yoount arab emerates and saudi arabia continue to be a critical part of the strategy. the secretary appreciates their relationship and the hard work and leadership shown by general loyd austin who gave the secretary an update throughout it. we didn't cord nature with the assad regime. the was no military to military

xhcommunication. in terms of the network of seasoned al-qaeda veterans, they were taken to disrupt attack planning ge planning against the united states and western targets. these terrorist have stbed a safe haven to test devices and recruit westerns to take action. the united states took action to remove their capability to act. i will turn it over to the director of operations in a minute. first, i will let the general get into the details of the assessment but the initial indication is these strikes were very successful.

it isn't our all peace to discuss future operations, i can tell you last night's strikes were only the beginning. there maybe techniques and procedures we will not be able to address here to preserve options we may want available to us in the future. and we will leave it up to the partner nation toes detail the specifics of their ininvolvement. you have seen statements from some of the countries acknowledging their ininvolvement. and i will note secretary hagel is proud of the personal who participated in and supported the missions and appreciates their service and sacrifice. i will turn it over now. >> good morning, last night at the direction of the president of the united states, u.s. military forces under the command of united states central command, in conjunction with coalition partners to the region, executed a series of strikes against isis and other terrorist targets in syria. coalition strikes targeted training camps, head quarters, commander centers, armored

vehicles and leadership. the united states executed strikes against another terrorist affilation in northwest syria. the intelligence report indicated the group was in the final stages of plans to execute major attacks against western target and potentially the united states homeland. the strikes were done in three waves. the first started at midnight in syria or 8:30 central time. i draw your attention to the map. the first slide, please. in the first wave of strikes, the ussr in the red sea and the uss philippine sea launched more than 40 tomahawk cruise missiles in eastern and northern syria.

that is the target area over here as you look at the slide. the majority of the tomahawk strikes were against manufacturing shops and training

camps. f-2222 rafters were second, f-16, b-1 bombers and drones. they launched around 9 p.m. eastern standard time against targets in north ern syria. isis head quarters, training camps, barracks and combat vehicles. the final wave was shortly after midnight standard time. regionally based f-16 attacked targets in eastern syria to include isis training camps. coalition partners participated in the second and third waves supporting with a range of combat capabilities that began with combat air patrols to actually strikes on targets. 96% of all of the delivered munitions were precision guided. i would like to show you several before and after pictures that highlight the affects of the

mission. if i can go to the next slide. next slide, please. this is showing an isis finance center. it is a before and after. on the left is the before and on the right as you look at it is the after. it was engaged with tomahawk fired from the uss philippine sea. the intended target was the communication array on the roof of the building. they detonated with focusing on the communication array. you can see the after picture. the roof top communication is damaged while the surrounding structure is largely intact. if i can go to the next slide, please. the second picture shows an isis command control building targeted by u.s. airforce f-22

and this was the first time it was used in a combat role. the flight of the f-22 guided precision ammunition targeting only the right side of the building. you can see the before shot and as you look at it on the right hand side the after shot. and you can see the commander control center where it was located in the building was destroyed. if i can go to the third slide. the third and final picture is a des dns and it is along the border between syria and iraq. this was a rezidenti a, l area used for training and logistics for isis fighters. it was engaged with multiple guided missiles and ammunition launched from the uss george w bush. you can see the target locations within the fenceline -- fence line -- of the residents.

there is a video showing how it is done. i will let you look at the video of the same target as well. again, you will note the affects of the strike were within the targeted area. the pictures in the video highlight the strikes with multiple aircraft and cruise missiles from several countries. it was through the planning of united states central command, combined arm and air operation centers located in the region

that these strikes were successful. last neath's strikes are the beginning of the campaign to degrade and ultimately destroy cyst. our continued tasks are to continue degrading them in syria and iraq and build partners and a coalition. to assist in placing iraqi security forces on the offenses. to support the broader diplomatic efforts in the region. to implement a syria train and equip bramante and continue to work with ink forces. we will take your questions with that. >> when you talked about the mission continuing you didn't mention the other group. can you tell us if you expect the group should assume this is it? do you have battle damage assessment against them? did you believe it is possible you killed their leader? do you have any sense of what you accomplished that you are able to give us.

>> we are still assessing the effects of the strike. we have been watching this group for a quite a time and believe they were near executing attack either in europe or the homeland. we know they have attempted to recruit westerns to serve or go back into their homeland. they are not focused on a regime but are establishing roots in syria in order to advance attacks against the west and the homeland. >> do you have any assessment of what you accomplished in those strike snuz >> it would be premature. we need to do more study. >> is it going to take you a

year to train the 5,000 syria armie you going to need ground forces between now and then? if not, how is this different from 12 years of war in iraq and afghanistan? why is this different from whack a mole. >> >> the short answer to your question is no. we will not put ground troops in syria. we are in the beginning of implementation and it will be a year program. it is necessary but not sufficient. >> are you sure about no ground troops? >> we are appropriately sized for the task given. >> general, were any leap targets included on last night's hit lis and what results did you get? were any leadership taken out? >> we didn't target individual leaders. we did target command and control centers. overtime, as we develop the

targets with pattern of life and where leadership went. but we didn't specifically target individuals >> you talked about a credible and sustainable campaign. how long can the american people expect airstrikes to continue and what shape will they take? opportunity strikes or strikes like last night? >> what you saw last night was a disruption to isis forces that were enabling their strikes into iraq. look at what we are doing regionalally. we have a partner in iraq to work with. but we are striking through depths of formations because we are trying to disrupt their

support bases while we enable, in iraq, their iraq security forces with the help of partners to dislodge and remove isis from iraq. >> will this be years? >> i would think of it in terms of years. >> you said there is evidence the other terrorist group represents an imminent threat to the homeland and europe. is it your sense the threat is contained within syria or effort these operatives are outside of syria? >> i would want to walk away from that and not talk about it here. >> you did they represent imminent threat to the united states. people want to know if the threat is deterred because of the strikes? >> let us have time to assess the targets and the effects we thought we had last night. >> you talked about the strikes

as hopefully having an affect on iraq and i wonder if you can assess obviously iraq and the campaign have been going on for a while. do you happening you have an affect with those strikes and what more is going or hoped for from this way? >> the most important thing is to create space for the iraq security forces to reorganize and replace leadership thad needs to be replaces to allow them to reorganize their equipment and rearm, to get their ministry connected to this n newly formed government and allow them to get on the offensives. what we have been doing over the last couple week's and last night's campaign was about buying space so that they can get on the offensioffenses.

>> joe, you talked about the old role with the iraqis knowing on the offensive. won't these benefit assad? >> the task at hand is countering isis right now. we were doing strikes in syria but did several strikes in support of other forces in iraq. but the principle focus is coaptering the threat to isis

first to iraq and to the region. >> but as a result it is benefiting assad. >> i would not say it is benefiting him. it is causing them to address the fact that this is causing problems. >> we have heard a lot about the air defense system being robust. were any of the aircraft hit with radar? was it turned off? anything along those lines? >> the target acquisition i would characterize as passive. >> did they turn it off? >> i will not get into what they did but think it is fair to assess as a passive radar. >> general, can you talk about the decision to use the f-35? >> well, what we were looking at was the effects we wanted to see on the target areas and what platforms in the region would be best suited to do that. we had a large menu of targets to strike from and we chose from there. it is less the platform than the effects we seek and what platform can deliver that. that is the job of the chaos.

>> can you give us a percent null of what was dropped by arab allies and what percentage was dropped by the u.s.? >> let me let the >> host: nations of those nations to speak to their level of effort. >> jim? >> yeneral, can you talk to what level of coordination there was with the moderate opposition and whether there has been any movement on the ground or on part of the opposition forces to capitalize on the strikes or in the case of it the syrian governor officers. >> the reach is right lly so in the hands of the civilian instruments of the national capability so i will deflect that and let our state department colleagues address that. >> have you seen isis take any actions post strike?

>> look, isis is a very well-organized learning force. it is too easy to characterize what isis has done in result of the attacks last night. they are very well funded. they are a learning organization. and they will adapt to what we have done and seek to draaddres their shortfalls and gaps against our air campaign in the coming weeks. >> what was the rational for striking the financial center spick specifically the electron electronics? >> to look at the support and the command control. we characterized the area and

activities going on and gained an understanding of what that target represented to them and decided disrupting that would -- striking that would be disruptive. >> you have a license to strike unilateral without going through the secretary of defense for prior aprofiproval of targets o hagel in the chain of command in terms of fleeting targets and fixed targets. >> the president and secretary are both in the chain of command and remain there.

as far as what targets and future operations i would like to not comment on what the next page is other than to say you are seeing the beginnings of the sustained campaign and strikes like this in the future can be expected. >> can they strike without going up the chain of command? >> it will be dictated by the facts on the ground and what the targets mean in terms of the effect we seek which is to disrupt. it would be take to lay out some sort of lock step process. it is driven by the opportunities we see. >> general austin has the authority? >> yes. i think that is what you are asking. >> since isis is disbursing people to mix with the population and hide that is going to make airstrikes difficult. how are you going to maintain their affectiveness and isn't that -- effectiveness and -- isn't that going to require jay tracks and will you train the syrians in this? >> your point about isis adapting to the airstrikes is a good one and we have seen

evidence they are doing this. we have seen this now as a result of the air campaign in iraq. there are other ways to deliver precise munitions than putting a jay tack forward. it is obviously something we prefer to do when collateral daniel or concerns about precision in a closed environment or urban environment when there is a convergence of forces is in play. there is a desire to put something on the ground but we don't have to strike with jay tacks forward. we have been doing this successfully thus far in places not only the rural places like you saw in mount sinjar and as we move to support the iraqi forces as they go through mosul but in built up areas we have been able to provide air support

without putting forces forward. i think we will continue to look at how we can do that as we move forward. >> general to ask an earlier question a different way. what percentage of the total ammunition were dropped by u.s. force snuz >> the prepond rbis of the force

came from united states platforms. i will have to get into the numbers and actually count the types of ammunition. it is a little lis meeting because we use different types of ammunition. we might have a precise one that can service one rocket and missile and others may have to serve as a couple times to get the affect we see.

what you heard. three things. the most important aspect is the arab coalition. five arab nations. four nations were dropping bombs. 14 aircraft and all u.s. made were participating and this now has an arab face. the fact the administration managed to put this together and they managed to coordinate is important. second is intelligence. if you listen, they attack

teeded this group in northwestern syria and denied territory and were able to take them out without having boots on the ground. what does that mean the it means the quality of the intelligence has gone from zero to the point where they can do targeting quality intelligence. and the third thing is coordination. all 12 of these arab aircraft were u.s. made so that there makes it easier but to deconflict and coordinate and do the assessment speaks well for the allied cooperation and details put into the strikes. >> this could be taking place for a long time. you heard the general say a credible and sustainable and persistent campaign. how long are we talking about? we will ask that question of general scales when we return.

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the first assessments of what took place overnight when american tomahawks as well as dropped ammunition and half a dozen muslim country's reining down on syria. general scales, you heard mayfield say this is a credible

and sustainable and persistent campaign. >> how long are we talking? they said years. >> i think it will definitely go on for years. we are fighting a terrorist organization. not a mechanized army. the targeting is good but sparse. so the fact you can get just 20 isis targets that are static and fixed is pretty good. notice also what he said. he used the terms isis is a learning organization and adaptive. he said this is an openended war and that is code word to let the people know the effectiveness is going to diminish as they begin

to hide and hug civilians as you heard suggested. the killing curve will demenish over time. but it is better to have isis trying to hide from airstrikes than conducting training. >> he said the strikes didn't target individual leaders but they were going after leadership nodes and the isis version of the pentagon if they have such a thing. they were able to hide inside syria and knew they were safe from american airstrikes. now they know they are subject to the strikes. how will the tactics and mechanisms change? >> they have already starting moving head quarters and moving in and amongst the population. they have abandoned some

equipment on the field and pulled in disburse forces and they have taken the senior leaders and pliterally hidthe t away. the focus is not to attack the high value targets but to go after the middle management and communicat communicators of financial experts, bomb makers, trainers and the heart of what makes isis function. take those out and the senior leadership will collapse over time >> there were a number of other countries that dropped strikes as well. how significant is that? >> huge. absolutely huge. now the campaign has an arab face and our detractors in the region cannot say it is the

cruseders against the islamics. mow it is the regional forces against isis. that changes the reflection of the campaign. the question we have to ask is how long will our arab allies stick with this and how long will they be able to put up with regional pressure to back up, assist and make this an ameri n american-only campaign. >> who are the groups we are fighting now? peter brooks is here with the heritage foundation and former deputy of defense. today before most americans had not heard of this group. now we are hearing in this briefing we were trying to stop an imminuent attack on the homeland and the west this group was preparing. where did they come from? what can you tell us about?

>> they are a group that was across the globe. a lot are coming from the afghanistan/pakistan leader. the leader is from kuwait. this is a dangerous group and we are starting to put a face on the plot we talked about of cell phones and computers being used as explosive to target international avivati leal avia. we with coming up with an idea of the threat and the threat we are facing that was involved in the final stages of undertaking the terrorist plot. >> he was asked by the reporters and you are telling us about this imminent attack and that is why we responded today and can you say if we stopped the attack. he barely responded and said

wool hawe will have to assess the damage so made it seem like the threat is still out there. >> i think the general had a good answer because he should not get into intelligence sources and methods. they may not be able to tell whether the individuals being looked at where were the bombs fell. the intelligence community is scrambling trying to find out how it may have made the plot more difficult to take. this comes down to an intelligence and law enforcement game being supported by the military. there is reason to be cautious and nervous. >> he showed us a map where in the northwest they have battled together and in the northeast it is the isis head quarters. to a lot of americans watching home it feels like you strike

down one radical extremist and two more pop up. low do we deal with that? >> i think what we need to be is sober about the threat we are facing. some of the information about al-qaeda being on the run and isis being the team. i think we have to understand this fight and struggle we are in and the security is earned one tough day at a time. we have to understand that. no matter how much we have to focus on other issues we have serious international security threats we are facing as a country. >> and the lieutenant general went to lengths to separate the groups. why is that important? >> they have different objectives. isis is trying to set-up a

caliphate and the other group is affiliated with al-qaeda and is targeting the west. they went to syria so they could have a place to train westerns to attack the u.s. i see them as having different objectives. in the long term, they may embrace al-qaeda's objective of the global caliphate. but this is the group closest to american interest. isis is a bigger threat in terms of geography. >> very troubling. peter brooks, thanks. >> we will look at the

surprising ahead for the upcoming elections next. >> i can tell you last night's strikes were only the beginning. for this reason there maybe tactics, techniques and procedures we may not be able to address today to preserve options we may want in the future.

>> let's check out what is ahead on "outnumbered" at the top of the hour. you have a lot on your plate. >> president obama saying he will not tolerate save havens for terrorist the morning after launching the first wave of airstri airstrikes in syria. but can the president shor up the support he needs to destroy that terror group? >> a new warning about radicalized americans who joined isis and returned to america. >> and does god have a place in

politics? a new study that may surprise you. >> "outnumbered" top of the hour. great to see you, melissa. >> jon, over to you. >> it was through the careful planning and coordination of u.s. central command, combined arms and air operation center located in the region that these strikes were successful with minimum collateral damage. >> announceing aircraft from several nations and made on targets against two groups. let's tack about all of this with jerry sibe, executive

editor of the washington journal. the president has already gotten the backing of speaker boehner who sent out a release applauding the president for making the strikes. another member of the democratic leadership on the house side said he is supportive but wants congress to vote. how is this playing in the midterms? >> in the short term it will go over well. this was a serious effort and not a pin prick strike. and are we serious about this and with arab partners is the ort thing. are we going to venture into another middle east problem by ourselves and now people in congress and the american public are seeing the picture is different. five arab nations were involved and that helps a lot. >> what sobered people up this

was likely the thing that goes on for years. >> the support now isn't the same thing as support a year from now. i don't think it will be a huge midterm election but we are setting up a debate for the 2016 presidential cycle and i know it is down the road but i think that is where it is going to head after congress comes back. congress left an issue to be dealt with coming back after the election. they voted to train syrian rebels and didn't attempt if they want to authorize broader action over the long term and they will have to deal with issue when they get back. >> congress isn't in session. is the timing in this tied to the fact there couldn't be a vote in congress because they are not there? >> i don't think so. because interestingly the president said to congress look

i would love it if you would authorize military action. do it. >> they didn't want to do that. >> it was much easier to kick that can down the road. both parties are split on this. the vote in the house to authorize raining and assistance -- training -- to syrian rebels. you have liberals split among themselves and republicans split. and some backing the vote and some not. there is not an agreement on either party which how far and how fast we want to go. brand new information we just learned from the pentagon briefing about the airstrikes in syria. we have fox team coverage and expert analysis including live report from the middle east next.

a fox news alert. several arab nations now fighting alongside the united states to take on isis in syria. john huddy is watching the news from the middle east bureau. we would love to know about the other countries fighting alongside the united states. what can you tell us? >> you have jordan, saudi arabia, the uae and among those five countries involved in the strikes. the uae confirmed their air force was involved in the strikes. i think general scales who was on earlier made a good point about the arab coalition involved saying now the campaign has an arab face.

but the question is now how long will these arab allies stay on and stay with the united states in this fight and will other arab countries join in and jump in? you have the airstrikes. intelligence gathering. jordan has been involved in that. and you have the training of the syrian rebels, the free syrian army and those fighting isis. saudi arabia has been training syria rebels that have been battling the government for several years. that has been happening for years. of course, one country that has been absent has been turkey. and this is a big deal because turkey number one has a very strong military. it has bases that possibly fighter jets could go from. and also another aspect to this is that turkey is taking on hundreds of thousands of syrian

refugees. that is a big question mark of will turkey get involved along with the other 40 arab nations part of the arab league and other nations as well? airstrikes, intelligence gathering and training but how long will these countries be involved? remember he said this is the beginning of the campaign. >> thank you so much. we appreciate that. as we continue to follow breaking developments here is what we are working on. an armed veteran barrels through the door of the white house and many people are wondering if someone should have seen this coming. and why state police in pennsylvania are now closinging on the survivealist charged

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>> i certainly picked a full day of news to join you. >> we're glad to have you here. we'll be back. >> in an hour, right. >> thanks for joining us. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> we begin with the u.s. military releasing video of the intense air strike campaign inside syria and we just heard from the pentagon. that brefing wrapping up just a few minutes ago on live fox news and also in the past hour or so, the president addressed the nation. what's happened overnight is important for us to know is the first u.s. air strike, began raining bombs on islamic extremists in syria. we hit their base of operations and not just isis but another terror group, one that many intelligence officials say could be a bigger direct threat to americans here at home. this is