we'll talk about it with rear admiral john kirby. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> the national guard is on the move tonight in missouri and there's now new post-ferguson fallout, hundreds of high schoolers who walked out of class. this is the latest in the decision not to charge the police officer in the death of michael brown. and now we're learning off-duty police officers from the police union are volunteering to protect wilson who has been forced into hiding and faces continuing threats. and michael brown's stepfather is under investigation for his actions last monday night and the rioting that devastated parts of ferguson. our guests include emanuel cleaver of missouri. let's begin in ferguson with cnn's george howell. tell us the latest. what is going on there? >> the headline in ferguson is really the investigation. what led up to all of the damage and the destruction here in ferguson? who is behind it? police are promising to look into all angles to find the parties behind it, including comments from louis head that were

. >>> coming up, we are going to talk to pentagon press secretary rear admiral kirby, john kirby, about a possible deal now between the united states and turkey for joint military action in syria against isis. we will also ask him about the new isis threat that has to do with our troops right here at home. >>> well, some major american business leaders may be ready to turn now on obamacare. they are angry the administration is suing a handful of companies over their workplace wellness program, you know what those are, the programs that give you incentives if you quit smoking or lose weight. a representative for the business roundtable, a huge group of ceos is saying this, "the fact that the equal employment opportunity commission sued is shocking to our members. they don't understand why a plan in compliance with the affordable care act is the target of a lawsuit. this is a major issue to our members." charles payne is the host of maki making money with charles pain on the fox business network and here to explain all that. so, i thought that they wanted programs like this. we hear a lot

we are joined by rear admiral john kirby. good to see you. we heard general terry urging patients -- patience saying it could be a minimum of three years. saying the targeted strikes kill. is the bombing being more successful than we thought or heard. we know over time. more you do, the more you'll decrayed and damage the organizations ability to operate, communicate and lead itself. we know we are having an effect. so what you saw are two practical, tactical representations of that effect. >> well i think the other one you are talking about is the kurds saying that they opened a corridor in the area of mt sinjar, allowing them to reach the refugees besieged by i.s.i.l. the kurds say it's the single biggest military offensive. the most successful so far. how important is this victory. i'm not sure i'm in a position to quantify it. it's a big undertaking. we help them with air strikes. there was 50 air strikes conducted by the coalition in preparation of their movement to establish the line of the communication with mt sinjar. it was supported

we'll talk live with pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby, next.eed you on the runway. (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power. >>> welcome back to cnn's coverage of airasia's flight 8501. the "uss sampson" is expected to arrive at the debris field later today. airasia confirms the debris field is that of the missing jet. the question is now that the debris has been found, the first pieces of it how can the u.s. be of help? we want to bring in pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kishy. thank you so much for being with us. to that question now that this debris has been found, what do you see the u.s. role to be? >> well first let me express on behalf of all the men and women of the defense department our deepest condolences to those affected by this terrible tragedy. we know there are hundreds of families going through just an unspeakable ordeal our hearts go out to them. as we've made clear, we're ready to help in any

and at today's pentagon news conference rear admiral john kirby were was asked if the cyber attack weret of war. >> i'm also, you know, not able to lay out in any specificity for you what would be or wouldn't be an act of war in the cyber

we're going to have john kirby joining us. hundreds of thousands of u.s.rsonnel are now being told, be very, very careful what you post on social media, whether facebook, twitter, pictures you post. isis is threatening the united states military. and a lot of people are worried, should u.s. military personnel when they are on leave, for example, around the holidays, wear their uniforms and civilian clothes? >> wolf blitzer, in 8 1/2 minutes, we'll be watching. >>> coming up, the obama administration is asking for more money to fight ebola but is the answer to fight the disease a new kind of rapid test? that's coming up next in our that's coming up next in our tech lead. will that be all, sir? thank you. ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. and often even more. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. re

and at today's pentagon news conference rear admiral john kirby were was asked if the cyber attack werenow, not able to lay out in any specificity for you what would be or wouldn't be an act of war in the

military, admiral john kirby is the press secretary and joins us here in the studio. thank you very much. what could the two ships do? what service could they provide if asked? >> our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected and we are willing and able to help however we can. the destroyer samson. it wasn't outfitted and diverted to this cause. she does have a helicopter on board so they could be used and they could help in the recovery of debris off the surface of the ocean as well. the other ship is a smaller warship and she is in singapore right now. she is outfitted with a side scanned sonar. sometimes it can be handled remotely. it can help you map debris on the ocean floor and help in the search for wreckage. that ship hasn't left yet and probably won't and may not be needed. we are in touch with the indonesian authorities to see what they require. >> what are assets do they have? >> the navy is on scene and doing quite a good job of debris recovery and search and rescue. this is a capability that virtually all navies around the world have to be good at

today admiral john kirby explained how the equipment can help. >> we had one ship on station. the destroyer samson. it wasn't outfitted for search and rescue and it was doing other missions but she has a helicopter on board so she can be used for search and rescue operations and can be helped with the recovery debris as well. >> there questions today about how the families were informed and the concerns about the crowded airspace over southeast asia. john is a former member of the national transportation and safety board and a writer. good afternoon in asia ceo. they have the top priority for the company, but how did that manifest during all of this? >> despite the best efforts of the airline to have a world class family assistance act in place, it was turned up dead down. # and little training in the area of family assistance. they are going spend that kind of money to set up these programs if governments. as we saw today, they botched things up a little bit. # because of the actions of the government. i think that many people outside of the circle convict them for the accide

and at today's pentagon news conference rear admiral john kirby were was asked if the cyber attack were an act of war. >> i'm also, you know, not able to lay out in any specificity for you what would be or wouldn't be an act of war in the cyber domain. >> lieutenant colonel oliver north joins us. good evening, sir. >> greta. >> we've seen the new war nation against nation. nation against an ideology. and now is this a new war? and will the administration not call it that? >> admiral kirby and the president are in a difficult spot because neither nato nor the united nations have defined what an act of cyber war would be. interestingly enough, they took it up at the wales summit, nato summit in september. agreed that it could be an act of war. but then decided they wouldn't define what an act of war might be. >> why would we defer to them to define what anthony of war might snb and what is an act of war? >> anthony of war has always resulted in a collective action and the collective actors in this case is nato. so neither the united nations nor the nato alliance has quite frankly got the

today at the pentagon jen griffin asked john kurdishby -- john kirby when is this an act of war.ere's his response. >> i'm also not -- not able to lay out in any specificity for you what would be or wouldn't be an act of war in the cyber domain. we take -- it's not like there's a demarcation line that exists in some sort of fixed space on what is or isn't. >> what if they shut our lights off? he went on to say the cyber remains challenging. we should messenger, his comments came before the fbi released its statement confirming north korea's involvement and before president obama's news conference. hear to weigh in is general westley clark, senior fellow for the ucla center for international relations and also an author of the book "don't wait for the next war: a strategy for american growth and global leadership." general, nice to see you again, thank you. >> good to we with you. >> are we close to an act of war here? >> well, if you destroy property and if you kill people, it's -- you're starting -- you're on the line at that point, especially if it's coming from a state. in thi

here's the pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby. >> we have no indication that the reports are not true, that iranian aircraft have conducted air strikes in the last several days against isil targets in eastern iraq. >> the iraqi government has responsibility for deconflicting their air space so, of course, we have visibility to some extent, to a larger extent what's happening there, but it's up to the iran government to speak about this issue. >> the state department and pentagon have had a hard time explaining this development but we it it ter rated the u.s. air force does not coordinate with iran. >> secretary kerry also met with the iraqi prime minister in this case. how did that go? >> well, this is the first meeting at nato headquarters to discuss isis, almost one year after the islamic state militants crossed into iraq. 60 countries were present and while they admitted a slow start in organizing a response to isis, today iraq's new prime minister asked for nato's help, a formal request to improve iraq's military, secretary of state john kerry met with the new prime m

then a pentagon briefing with rear admiral john kirby, and later, the head of the air national guard talks about the ewan's role and operations. tuesday marked the first night hanukkah, and the national menorah was lit on the ellipse. the ceremony included ranks by vice president biden. >> you know, the word "hanukkah" relates in think view to ceremonies and celebrations like this one. but the word "hanukkah pay has roots in hebrew and the same word as education. we dedicate, we educate, we live, we celebrate. as part of these celebrations, we in american friends of lab lubavitch have started an essay contest where we have children from across the country explain what hanukkah means to them. so i would like to call simi from pennsylvania to read her winning entry for us today. [applause] >> what hanukkah means to me. hanukkah is a special meaningful holiday for me. it is a great way to remind us of great miracle's. hanukkah in english means dedication. i think dedication, beautifully describes the jews. we are dedicated to judaism. we fear and love our leader and he creates all of ou

joining us to discuss all of this and the new threat is pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby morning, admiral. >> good morning. thampgs for having me. >> what specifically has prompted this new fbi warning? >> this is a warning that has built on similar warnings that our combatant commanders, our four-star generals around the world have issues to their troops over many months. just a recognition that the threat is very real and that we want our service members and their families to be extra careful. >> it sound like there's something specific here. because this one is specifically against service members and it's specifically telling them to be careful on social media. so give us more. what's that about? >> let me state at the outset, this is not the result of a single credible threat. this isn't the result of some sort of threat out there that we've picked up on. it is, however, the result of many months of conclusion by intel analysts that this group, isil, poses a real threat, not just to the region, but to our interests, our allies' interests. and that backs up on our tro

. >>> now, an update from the pentagon from press secretary john kirby. in the briefing, he says that iraq will receive mine-resistant vehicles to deal with the roadside bombs set by isis. >> good afternoon, everybody. only seven minutes late today. i know you've seen the secretary's statement but i would like to go over it again, with respect to the terrorist attack on the pakistani school. on behalf of all the men and women of the united states defense department, the secretary extends his deepest condolences to the people of pakistan's following today's ruthless attack on the school in peshawar. the heartless slaughter of the innocent students and teachers was an act of pure cowardess. the united states remains instead fast to ensure security in the region. we stand with the pakistani, we honor their sacrifices and join the victims in their mourning. >> can you bring us up to date on iraq, the troops that are going to be going in. now that the funding has been approved. can you give us an idea of sort of the pace and over what time period can we expect