a u.s. citizen is killed fighting with isis in syria. journalist peter theo curtis is back in the u.s. after being held by a syrian extremist group for nearly two years. and a stunner at the u.s. open. a 15-year-old american upsets the heavy favorite to become the youngest player to win an open match in nearly 20 years. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, august 27th, 2014. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. a man born in chicago is believed to be the first american to die fighting for the islamic terrorist group isis. u.s. officials say they knew

douglas mccain had traveled to syria to join the extremists. they also say about 100 more americans are in syria fighting. isis is also said to be holding an american woman hostage. susan mcginnis is in washington. susan, good morning. >> anne-marie, good morning. mccain was reportedly killed by rebels fighting with the free syrian army which is backed by the u.s. his death could help u.s. officials now trying to identify other americans that have joined the isis terror group. u.s. officials believe 33-year-old douglas mccain died fighting alongside isis militants in syria over the weekend. rebels trying to expel the terrorist group say mccain died during a fight near aleppo, and they found a u.s. passport in his pocket. using the twitter name mccain praised isis and defi finfended. he said he converted to islam ten years ago. a friend from high school in

minneapolis said he's not the guy she knew. >> he was silly. he was a trickster. he was a class clown. just always could make everyone laugh. >> a u.s. official says mccain was on a u.s. terror watch list. his death is shining a spotlight on foreigners in syria that have joined militant groups, dozens of them believed to be americans. the u.s. is now conducting surveillance flights over syria, gathering intelligence ahead of possible air strooiks against isis. >> we will do what's necessary to capture those who harm americans, and we'll continue to take direct action where needed to protect our people and to defend our homeland. >> isis already beheaded a u.s. journalist in syria and is now reportedly holding another american, a female aide worker. now, mccain's family say they had no clue about his interest in isis but back in june he tweeted "pray for isis."

also a friend said she saw jihadist postings on his facebook page, anne-marie. she thought he was kidding around. >> thank you, susan. the american hostage held in syria for two years is back on u.s. soil this morning. peter theo curtis was reunited with his mother. the 45-year-old journalist was freed over the weekend by a sunni extremist group. he's deeply indebted to the officials who helped get him released. and president obama says the u.s. will rule out isis like cancer. he's already authorized strikes against islamic militants in iraq and now he's considering ordering strikes against them in syria. but first he needs more intel. david martin reports. >> reporter: the surveillance mission flying over syria are a major attempt. the senior pentagon official there says one of the primary objectives of the missions is to determine how isis commands and controls its forces.

who are its senior leaders, and h how do they communicate. syria has warned the u.s. not to fliez over its territory but they're trained on israel and are not considered a threat to the part of the country where u.s. planes will be flyting. u.s. intelligence has already flown spy missions over syria without losing any aircraft. president obama has not yet approved air strikes inside syria but he warns isis or as he calls it isil will not easily be defeated. >> we'll take action where needed to protect our people and defend our homeland and ruling out a cancer like isil won't be easy and it won't be quick. >> reporter: american air strikes have succeeded in stops advances in iraq, but it continues to make gains on the other side of the border in syria. this propaganda video of an isis attack on a syrian military base starts with a suicide truck bomb

followed by heavy weapons fire and assault starting with small arms ending with the capture of russian-made weapons. unclear when president obama will make decisions about air strikes over sear yas. the u.s. flew around the clock for several weeks before launching there. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. after seven weeks of intense fighting and more than 2,000 killed, israel and hamas have agreed to an own-ended cease-fire. palestinians celebrated in the streets after the truce took effect last night. the deal calls for israel to allow relief supplies and construction materials into gaza. talks between israel and hamas resume in egypt next month. and peace could be coming to ukraine. russian president vladimir putin met with the president in ukraine in belarus yesterday. it's the first meeting between the two leaders since june. after the talks the president

says a roadmap is possible. they say it's killed at least 2,000 civilians since april. president obama says he is working to regain the trust of america's veterans. he spoke at the american legion national convention in charlotte, north carolina, yesterday. he said his administration was going to try and fix the scandal-plagued v.a. hospitals but as wyatt andrews shows us, it may be easier said than done. >> reporter: after a four-month investigation, the v.a.'s inspect e general denied the most explosive allegation driving the scandal in phoenix, that up to 40 veterans may have died because they were on secret waitlists for care. we are unable to conclusively assert, the report says, that the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths of these veterans. some 20 deaths are blamed instead on the poor quality of care. the report does not answer specific charges raised by widows of veterans like debbie

vie yeah who say their husbands died waiting for appointments s that might have made a difference. >> it took two months to see his cancer doctor when they found out he did have cancer. >> reporter: the lead whistle blower dr. sam foote says they went too easy on the v.a. it was foote who first raised the possibility of 40 deaths. >> i find it very hard to believe that timely care would not have helped any of those 40 patients. i just can't accept that. >> reporter: still this report makes clear that the phoenix investigation is just the beginning. it reveals that 93 separate v.a. investigations remain active nationwide, that the fbi is involved in some places, and might bring criminal charges. wyatt andrews, cbs news, washington. on the "cbs moneywatch," wall street's late summer surge and hp's issue of power cord recalls.

jill wagner is at the new york exchange with that and more. good morning, jill. >> good morning, anne-marie. closing up two points above the 2,000 mark for the first time on tuesday. the dow gained 29. the nasdaq rose 13 points. most asian stocks got a boost from the s&p's record, tokyo's nikkei gained a fraction. hong kong's hang seng lost half a percent. the markets got a lift from upbeat economic reports. orders for long-lasting manufactured goods shot up by the largest record in july, 22.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis and because of strong job gains, u.s. consumer confidence rose in august to 92.4%, its highest point in 72 years. warren buffett is part of the whopper deal with burger king to buy tim hortons. the $11 billion price to purchase dan's tim hortons is to use $3 billion.

it will change burger king's address to canada to save on taxes. until now buffett called companies who do such things as corporate deserters. hp is recalling more than 5 million ac power cords because of possible overheating which can pose a fire and burn hazards. the cord is used for hp come pant and mini notebook computer. the company has gotten 29 reports of power cords overheating or melting or charring. and american airlines are pulling their flights after contract disputes. paying orbitz for booking on the sites has become too costly. american airlines has been dropped and u.s. airlines will do it monday. if you have tickets, though, you can still make the trip. coming up on the "morning news," police policy. in the wake of the michael brown

shooting death, law enforcement officials defend their use of deadly force. this is the "cbs morning news." crest gaand the other, a crestwhitening toothpaste.. here's what they thought. i can't tell if the paste whitened. well the whitestrips worked. yeah. the paste didn't do that. crest whitestrips work below the enamel surface, to whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest whitestrips. the way to whiten. (birds chirping softly in background.) (loud engine sounds!) what! how's it going? heard you need a ride to school. i know just the thing to help you get going. power up with new cheerios protein. one of our favorite things to do is going to the dog park together. sometimes my copd makes it hard to breathe. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. come on, boy! [ female announcer ] symbicort is for copd,

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it's not expected to make landfall in the u.s. meanwhile in the pacific hurricane marie is expected to generate some very big surf on the southern beaches of southern california. a high surf advisory is in effect today for breakers 10 to 15 feet high. marie has winds of nearly 95 miles per hour. the draft report says that global warming is here and it's caused by humans' increasing greenhouse gases by burning coal, oil, and gas. it says that continued emissions will likely cause long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system and it will increase the likelihood of severe and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. and protesters still being held over the killing of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. the latest demanded the arrest of darren wilson, the police officer who fatally shot brown. vladimir duthiers reporting that

some may be on wilson's side. >> reporter: the brown shooting ignited a debate between them. for many law enforcement this is not a black-and-white issue. >> you can go from zero to 60 or 0 to deadly force in under a second, and we shouldn't have an expectation in this country that every single less lethal option will be utilized before deadly force is used. >> reporter: according to missouri law deadly force is justified when an officer reasonably believes that such use of deadly force is reasonably necessary to effect the arrest and also reasonably believes that the person to be arrested has committed or attempted to commit a felony. sounds to me as if the cops are protected no matter what they do. >> do i think the police officers are protect by a blanket policy where they can just shoot people and get away with it? no. but i do think the law allows for police officers to use

deadly force. >> reporter: police say he punched brown in the face and tried to take his gun, both of which are felonies. but witnesses say he had his hands up when he was shot multiple times. >> reporter: you can retreat and step back from the situation. >> i would say there are situations where police officers step back. that's not typically in our nature. even in missouri's law it says police officers are not to retreat. they're to do what they need to do to effect an arrest. that is the law. grand jury will meet again to hear evidence in the case. vladimir duthiers, cbs news, ferguson, missouri. >> that was vladimir duthiers in ferguson. straight ahead, your morning weather and in sports, a stunning winner in the u.s. open. a u.s. man wins against a highly ranked opponent. cilantro, avocado, tortilla strips, and a drizzle of margarita sauce,

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here's a look at some forecasts in some cities around the country. in sports a stunner at the u.s. open. 15-year-old american cici bellis defeated the women's 12th seed in three sets. bellis is the youngest player to win a u.s. open match since 1996. she's only in the tenth grade and she's ranked 1,208th in the world. also serena williams beat another american teen, taylor townsend in straight sets. michael sam is still a st. louis ram after making it through the first round of cuts. sam, the first openly gay nfl player has five tackles and three sacks through three preseason games. teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by saturday. kevin love says he's in

cleveland for the long haul. the new cleveland cavalier was introduced yesterday. he was traded from minnesota for first round pick andrew wiggins. love says he plans to stay with the cavs and lebron james even though he has an opt-out clause in his contract. bumgarner was pitching a perfect game until morell doubled down the line. the giants beat the rockies, 3-0. when we return, a fatal shooting range accident. a young student kills her instructor with an uzi in a bizarre incident. save 50% on hundreds of items, like dog treats, rawhide and select martha stewart pets™ products. petsmart®. we are the solis family. and this is our chex commercial.

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forecast in some cities around the country.

a tragic accident at a shooting range in arizona. a 9-year-old girl killed her instructor monday. he was showing her how to use an uzi, a submarine. she pulled the trigger and the recoil sent it over her head, the bullet hitting her 39-year-old instructor. officials say the girl was at the range with her parents. and a dead man was found alive in brazil. that guy that you're going to see right here giving the thumbs' up, he was pronounced dead after two cardiac arrests. saturday the family found him wriggling inside a body bag. he was being treated for terminal cancer but now his parents say their prayers have been answered. and a foam base, fire suppression foam covered several helicopters at the hangar base. they were testing when something

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a civil war officer will be awarded the medal of honor posthumously next month. lieutenant alonzo cushing died during the battle of gettysburg. president obama approved the medal after lobbying by the officers descendants and war buffs. he died 151 years ago and has to wait longer than any other medal of honor recipient. and a british man is suspected in the murder of british journalist james foley. clarissa ward looks at it. >> reporter: at home in britain he was a gifted 20-year-old who once dreamed of becoming a doctor. but in syria now he is one of

hundreds of young men who have left the uk to join the brutal terrorist group isis. >> this is james wright foley -- >> reporter: the execution of american jirnlt james foley apparently at the hands of a british citizen has left the country struggling to understand how one of its own could be responsible for such an atrocity. this is an analyst. >> it was a shocking thing to see but it wasn't surprising. if you look at british fighters in syria over the last year, we've seen them operate suicide bombers, we've seen them execute prisoners of war. they're participating in some of the most brutal acts out there. >> do you think thee young men see themselves as british? >> they do not see themselves as british at all. they've bought into something else, a different identity. >> reporter: they see themselves as defenders of islam in a war against nonbelievers. their barbaric tactics have been

glamorized on social media. a powerful group that british authorities are now trying to crack down on. but the challenge is a formidable one with every victory on the battlefield, isis has appealed growth, and many are concerned that it is only a matter of time before their jihad spreads beyond the middle east. >> this is a message to canada and all of the american powers. we are coming, and we will destroy you. we are going for you, barack obama. >> one striking thing about these jihadees is that some of them are religious novices. two men from britain who went to fight in syria purchased copies of islam for dummies on amazon, so they don't necessarily have a sophisticated understanding of islamic theology. they're drawn to the idea of becoming warriors. clarissa ward, cbs news, london. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," more on the death of the american

isis fighter. we'll hear from margaret brennan at the state department. plus, we'll take you to the burning man festival, where there are complaints that big money is spoiling the event. and we'll show you how social media websites are helping people find their faith. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

"eyewitness news" begins in braking news a brazen heist pulled off in the middle have the night, two men dress had as police officers ripping off an estimated hundred you this dollars. we are he live with new development. >> it is wednesday, august 27th i'm ukee washington. i'm quarter von tiehl. gunfire at a basketball court leaves a teen dead and new police are looking for a person who pulled the trigger. ocean county family's plea for help they are asking u.s. and israeli governments to step up their search for a student who vanish in the holy land. and honoring our taney dragons the little league team that inspired a city gets a parade today. we are talking to them later on. hopefully nice parade weather. let's find out. katie is in the weather ce