who is al baghdadi. how did he emerge from syrian civil war to control large parts of syria and iraq. >> reporter: al baghdadi, a man with a bounty on his head may recently have made a rare appearance. in this unverified video posted online the man who appears to be the elusive leader of the islamic state spoke out for a half hour during prayers. introduced himself as ebra him. >> it is a burden t to accept this to be in charge of you. i'm not better than you. if you see me on the right path, help me. if you see me on the wrong path, encourage me and help me. >> baghdadi born some 50 miles north of baghdad. he claims to trace his lineage back to the prophet mohammed giving him added legitimacy as a religious leader. in 2005 he was captured by u.s. forces believed to be a middle-ranked militant during a sunni insurgency. after his release he took over as head o of the al-qaeda iraq branch. the leader at the time was killed in an u.s.-led raid. al baghdadi rose in a newly state, last year he openly deified

terrorism expert richard barrett believes al baghdadi's time in u.s. captivity motivated him to build his base. >> i think two or three other people who are now in the very, very senior ranks of the islamic state who were in camp buka qa the same time. >> he lams to be a descendant of the prophet muhammad. and even tries to emulate his mannerisms by praying like him. but others he claims promoting brutality. propaganda videos have thousands of iraqis fleeing for their lives. baghdadi himself is living in the shadows, often stairing into skies. >> prepared to work with closest but keep everyone else unaware of his identity at least. he slowly sort of annihilated or assassinated his rivals. >> reporter: intelligence experts believe al baghdadi has done a good job of organizing his forces. >> he certainly has expressed in the past that his ultimate target is going to be the united states. >> reporter: now they fear isis may even be more dangerous than al qaeda. jean casarez, cnn, new york. >> we're joined by retired army general peter mansoor and author o

>> baghdadi was picked up in 2004 as a minor player.hen zarqawi, the original leader of al qaeda in iraq, when he was killed in 2006, amongst his pockets was found a map of baghdad with a circular ring of terrain around the outside of the city. his strategy that he outlined was to cut baghdad off from the outside world and conduct operations to terrorize the shia and get them to attack the sunnis, which would cause the sunnis to coalesce behind al qaeda. what baghdadi is doing is rewriting that zarqawi strategy. he has picked up an existing playbook and he is running that. al qaeda in iraq was absolutely hopeless at administration, governance, getting people alongside. what they have done is, baghdadi has been able to trade the administrative elements of the state. it is like the fighting capability of al qaeda with the administrative city of hezbollah. people engaged in the syria campaign have experienced with has below. -- hezbollah. >> that was the big chance he took. they were out in the desert and they were presented this opportuni

officials tell us it's unlikely al baghdadi has hands-on command of units on the batt battlefield.ds with inspiration and strategy, they say. what about the paradox between a figure who presents himself as holy and gentle but leads a group behind these image, of executions and crucifixions? is that his signature what he wants? >> every indication we have is this campaign of terror by isis has signed off from the very top of the organization, from al gag d baghdadi. this is a if i ffigure even mor extreme than people like bin laden. >> reporter: the u.s. air strikes against isis have likely elevated al baghdadi's stature among jihadists around the world it the fact the so-called crusaders are attacking them, they believe, will only get other terrorists to rally around him. brian todd, cnn. >>> president obama comes face-to-face tonight with his former secretary of state and current critic, hillary clinton, now that potentially awkward meeting, how will it play out? that's coming up next. can this decadent, fruit topped pastry... ...with indulgent streusel crumble, be from... fiber o

forces in iraq arrested abu bakr al-baghdadi near fallujah in 2004 in a hunt for al qaeda fighters. he was locked up for at least ten months before the u.s. let him go. he was considered a low level threat. it is not clear how that experience affected him, although a few facts are certain. in the years right after his release he was known as a preacher. he is thought to have a doctorate in islamic studies and claimed to be a descendant of the prophet mohamed. joining the al qaeda branch in iraq. >> al qaeda was a solid training grounds for him. i think he witnessed day by day the inability of iraqi leaders. he witnessed how the americans basically operated in iraq. >> reporter: and after the u.s. killed al qaeda's leader in iraq, abu massaad zawahiri, baghdadi's group has changed its name twice. saiislamic state of iraq and the levant anding islamic state. some say baghdadi is more fearful and more tough than osama bin laden ever was. >> he is extremely calculating. i think he has both not only the vision but the political leadership. >> reporter: and he has the money. reportedly ra

do you think that baghdadi will watch this video? >> yes i do.at's going on in the world. we've seen them for example talk about events in missouri. i don't think they always understand how their message resonates in the west but at a fringe level, there are people in the united states and europe who believe in that fringe message, so they're trying to listen to those people, to the fringes they want to recruit from. there will be people in the organization who watch this. i was noting for example the british security authorities are still talking about 500 or 600 kids who went from the uk out to iraq. so it's not clear that tens of thousands of people will listen to the message that they tweet out after events like this, but if they reach tens or hundreds, to them that's a big success. >> how do you think she constructed this message? it seems as though she has, she somehow got some insight into what baghdadi might be thinking. >> i'm not sure how she constructed. i'm not going to comment on what she did or didn't do. i will say as a counterterr

ten years ago baghdadi was preaching there. now isis has forced its way across syria and northern iraq, claiming to establish a new country, a caliphate, an islam state, attracting thousands of europeans and more than 500 british citizens. >> this is the land of jihad. >> reporter: many as bloodthirsty as baghdadi himself. here, one former british rapper holds up a severed head, recruitment that has caused soul searching in the uk. the vast majority of europe's muslims oppose isis, a message repeated at friday prayers. >> we don't murder and slaughter and behead. >> reporter: james foley's killing has raised fears that the jihadist with a european passport could travel one day to the u.s. with dark intent. keir simmons, nbc news, london. >>> president obama has ordered a review of federal programs that fund military equipment for state and local law enforcement agencies. it comes in the wake of what many felt was a heavy-handed police response in ferguson, missouri. but tonight it appears that tensions are finally easing there

but baghdadi is also very shrewd. and he doesn't-- he doesn't get ahead of his-- of the capacity of his organization. so you know, he timed the caliphate announcement to a point at which it would breed local resistance, because this is not something-- the sunni arabs in iraq are not naturally inclined to be part of some extremist caliphate based on a doctrine of 7th century islam. but the capacity of isil and their ability to subjugate local populations with was such that there hasn't been the kind of local resistance that you might have seen, if it had happened a year ago. and where there has been local resistance, it's been crushed. it's been crushed literally with isil fighters putting heads on spikes. this is what they do to intimidate local populations. so baghdadi is very shrewd. but you know, we're shrewd too. and so are the iraqis. and we're working with them right now on what's going to be a long-term plan. but we have to deny space and oxygen for this group to flourish. and that will require supporting the i

at the head is, of course, isis leader, the caliphate abu al baghdadi. he emerged from hiding last month. he's placed himself at the top of the hierarchy which could number in the thousands. deputies and fighters and many of his leaders in iraq were once in the ranks of saddam hussein's now defunct army. joining me here in the studio, michael weis, editor in chief of the interpreter and msnbc's terrorism analyst evan kohlmann. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> evan, what do we know about the way that baghdadi recruits and brings people into this brutal organization? >> one of the most effective ways is with propaganda. particularly online propaganda. unlike some of the other groups fighting in syria and iraq, there's a large quantity fighting with isis that are not syrian or iraqi. they are tunisians, libyans, saudis. in order to reach this audience they put out propaganda on the internet. in order to lure these individuals to travel to syria or to iraq and wage jihad. they explain it as waging -- making a journey to the islamic state and wag

its leader is abu bakr al-baghdadi. captured in 2005 but later released.s boldly declared himself as leader of all rawks. >> soon enough, they have prepared themselves well for the day we will fight you. >> reporter: he's been using slick social media campaigns to attract foreign fighters including hundreds of westerners. >> these are actually quite battle hardened veterans who have real commitments to the jihaddist cause. >> reporter: those fighters have captured much of iraq and syria but do not want to stop here. they want to control all of this area within five years. it does show the islamist state has big ambitions beyond the borders of syria and iraq. john. >> jonathan betz. thank you. >>> since 2003 fighting has forced dramatic population shifts in iraq. 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes as the islamic state group moved into areas considered relatively safe. over the past two months, the islamic state has pushed into kurdish territories, close to 200,000 people forced from areas around mosul, erbil and kirkuk since the beginning

we know that one of the things that abu bakr al-baghdadi said when he was released from u.s. detention in iraq, he said to his american captors, see you guys in new york. they had been clear they want to bring the fight to the west, home to our home. so, yes, it is a danger, and that is something, especially with american citizens that are over there in an undetermined number, the ability of those individuals to come back further radicalized with a desire to do damage to the homeland is something that the u.s. intelligence community and the law enforcement community takes seriously. >> there's a rivalry, if you will, with al qaeda, almost saying we are going to do what you haven't since 9/11. >> again. al qaeda kicked these guys out. they were a little too brutal for even al qaeda. there has been a little one-up-manship. i.s.i.s. has the upper hand. they are getting all the press. al qaeda is probably saying we are kind of second-seeded here. they are bold, they know thou use social media and terrorism. the foley incident was an act of terror. the idea that we will behead som

the group's ladder is abu bakr al-baghdadi, and this is reportedly al baghdady last month giving a sermon in a mosque in northern iraq. analysts say they think he is 40 years old, born in samara, iraq, 80 miles north of baghdad. i if you're up on biblical history you heard of that place. when he was younger he often led prayers at a local mosque. apparent he was also a very good soccer player, somebody who claims he knew him at the time called him the messi of their team. al-baghdadi took a lot of heat after the sermon for what appears to be a rolex on his wrist. see right there? a lot of people were yelling about that. strange sort of thing for the head of a group violently fighting the ways of the western world but there you have it. analysts say he has some 8,000 militant fighters under his control at the moment. he reported by wears a mask when addressing his commanders, earning him the nickname the invisible sheikh. in the year 2005 american forces in iraq captured him and he spent the next four years as an american prisoner. he went free after that. analysts say he may have met with

okay, baghdadi says he's watching you and you say you're watching him. my take? if he's been watching you, he knows of your feckless foreign policy. you don't have a clear mission, and you don't have a clear strategy. you watch them slaughter in syria and iraq and now you go on vacation. now i'm trying to not be too hard on you, mr. president, but your track record doesn't exactly put the fear of god in any of those terrorists. example -- you were wrong when you scoffed at the idea of a genocide or ethnic cleansing in iraq if u.s. troops were withdrawn. you were wrong when you pool pulled american troops out of iraq saying it would be irresponsible. and today you even blamed george bush. you were wrong when you called isis a vj squad. they're nor callous than anyone could have predicted. they're a well organized military operation. savvy on the battlefield, experienced in weaponry maneuvers and war tactics. you were wrok when you dithered on that red line in syria has isis gained strength and military experience in that war. you were wrong leaving an inexperience

u.s. >> baghdadi, who is the head of isis is a narcissistic psychopath. he wants to be bigger than osama bin laden and he measures how effective and big the terrorist activities he can carry out in the west compared to what bin hadd laden was able to do. >> analysts say that abu bakr al baghdadi has also taken a page from osama bin laden's propaganda book. they say al baghdadi gets the value of shocking the world and the world media. he says that, they say he knows how chilling it is for westerners to see a man speaking in a western accent looking into the camera, and then doing a barbarric act like the killing of james foley. he gets that kind of shock value and that's another page, ka are carol, from osama bin laden's playbook. >> senator john mccain fears isis sleeper cells may form in the united states, he doesn't believe they already exist in the united states? >> right. that's right. >> brian, stick around. because now i want to bring in richard barrett with a security consultant group in new york and also a former coordinator of the united nations

>> well, the name abu bakr al-baghdadi refers to the fact that he was born in baghdad. which he wasn't. he was born in samara. like somebody from new jersey claiming to be born in new york. what we know about him is that he was born in 1971. that he has a doctorate from the university of baghdad. a doctorate probably in islamic studies. that may be disputed. he was imprisoned by the americans in iraq during the american occupation. we don't know quite when he was radicalized. he might have been radicalized during his imprisonment or radicalized with his experience in meeting with zarqawi. since that time there's a morphing of these various organizations, al qaeda in iraq became the islamic state of iraq and then became the islamic state of iraq and syria and then just became the islamic state. that's where we are now. what's interesting about him is he's off the radar. so the fact that he proclaims to be the caliph has touched a raw nerve on people who are higher on the food chain in religious scholarship or even the head of al qaeda central. >> very interesting stuff.

. >> to hear al baghdadi hear it, he's head of state. the status that merges religious and governmental leadership. who al baghdadi, how he got where he is, and the caliphate are all on "inside story."

baghdadi, head of isis, is a narcissistic psychopath.e wants to be bigger than osama bin laden. and one of the ways he will measure that is how effective and how big the terrorist activities he can carry out in the west are compared to what bin laden was able to do. >> reporter: analysts say al baghdadi is also taking a page from bin laden's propaganda book. they say he gets shock value. he knows how chilling it is for westerners to hear someone with a western accent speaking to the camera and then carrying out a horrifying, barbaric act like the killing of james foley. brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> let's talk more about what you just saw there in that piece. i know, josh rogan, cnn, senior political analyst and senior correspondent for the daily beast. we just heard -- it's frightening, the assessment of the potential threat from isis to america. but just broadening out, i'm sure you were watching as we were live on cnn, ben rhodes, from the white house speaking from the vineyard, suggesting that even if isis were not to attack the u

u.s. >> baghdadi, who's the head of isis, is a narcissistic psychopath.wants to be bigger than osama bin laden. one of the ways he will measure that is how effective and how big the terrorist activities he can carry out in the west are compared to what bin laden was able to do. >> reporter: analysts say al baghdadi's also taking a page from bin laden's propaganda book. they say he gets shock value. he knows how chilling it is for westerners to hear someone with a western accent speaking to the camera, then carrying out a horrifying, barbaric act like the killing of james foley. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> isis certainly the most serious development out of iraq, but we do have some positive news to bring you. u.n. aid now arriving in northern parts of the country. keep in mind this is where fighting has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee from their homes. 200 tons of basic supplies have already arrived with an additional 200 tons expected to arrive there by the weekend. also, we have this incredible story to bring you of one of the refugees

he's nothing compared to the threat that al baghdadi who really does pose to us.nd unfortunately what we saw today, eric, in that press kmps is a president who doesn't understand the difference. choudri incites people. the bottom line is al baghdadi is built a terror army that is unlike anything we've ever seen before. it is not only the best financed, it is the best armed. and it is the biggest. the numbers now vary somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000, some 12,000 in which may well be americans, canadians, brits, australians, people with western passports who can get into this country. so -- >> colonel, let me ask you. i agree with you, the size and major threat that isis has become. how did they miss it? how did the white house, how did the defense department, how did the intel community miss isis? where as recently as a couple months ago president obama calls isis the jayvee team. they were so off base. but how? sfwl because the president, first of all, could not possibly be reading his presidential daily brief. i mean, this is a document that there's only a hu

it's now the strategy of al baghdadi. we know what their ideology is, what is particularly scary is that it effectively controls the state and has ambition to take the mantle away. and we thank you again for the time to testify about the situation today, and that's why we look forward to consulting with you to little a handle on it over the weeks and months ahead. >> i'm not sure if you answered the question about the war in iraq. >> i have to say, congresswoman, i'll let the historians sort out what happened over the last 12 years. >> thank you, mr. cook of california. >> thank you, madam chair. >> i'm very concerned about malaki and his credibility, which to me is absolutely zero. we have a group representing camp liberty and what has happened in the past. you cannot overlook that. what scares me even more was isil, i.s.i.s., and the fact that they went in there and they defeated four divisions. you know. in the history of the united states marine corps, the marine corps has never had four divisions in one place at one

. >> i'm sending you this message to you, abu bakr al-baghdadi the head of the islamic state. my son steven is in your hands. steven is a journalist who traveled to the middle east to cover the suffering of muslims at the hand of tyrants. steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson. he's an honorable man who has always tried to help the weak. we've not seen steven for over a year and we miss him very much. we want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him. since steven's capture i've learned a lot about islam. i've learned that islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others. steven has no control over the actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. i've always learned that you can grant aprmnesty. i can you to please release my child. as a month i ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. i ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the prophet mohamed who protected people of the book. i want what every mother wants to live

a letter obtained by fox news the convicted shooter major nadal hassan, tells the isis leader al-baghdadi he wants to join the caliphate. i formally and humbly request to be made citizen of islamic state. the attorney underscores hatch hasan's action, and thought process are driven by religious extremism. in the last year the justice department brought five prosecutions against americans. in florida, california, virginia and north carolina, for trying to help terrorists in iraq and syria. lou? lou: catherine, thank you. catherine herridge. much more on the u.s. response to the islamic state and putin's worsening aggression in ukraine. we'll be talking, among others, with best-selling author brad thor here later in the broadcast. >>> the president dodge ad question about executive action on immigration in today's news conference. he stated plainly that if congress won't address the issue that he will. that likely wayne enough for some pro-immigration reform advocates and activists who were protesting outside of the white house today. u.s. park police arrested 145 people at rally, calling f

baghdadi, he militaryby the u.s. and then subsequently released. i do not think anybody in the 21st entry has ever seen someone who has a death hold around him the way this man has. he has to be destroyed along with the people around him in order to provide this relief. as i said, the story has yet to be written, steve, of the thousands who have already been massacred by i.s.i.s. since i.s.i.s. was able to begin controlling territory and set up at the islamic caliphate. troublesome -- the obama administration and not just the obama demonstration, the iraqis, the turks, the jordanians all understand this has been a problem. the reason i am concerned about the administration's approach is in the president's speech yesterday before he left for martha's vineyard, he indicated that unless there is political movement in iraq to solidify and stabilize the iraqi government, he won't really want to commit much more support to getting rid of i.s.i.s. i.s.i.s. has very little to do with the future of the political equation in iraq. it has four more to do with

whenever you identify a megaterrorist, you have to take him out like bin laden, like al baghdadi, if possible. >> so about the people there, they are being killed because whatever way you look at this there are an equal number of casualties. more than 2,000 palestinians killed. mostly civilians. that's against 66 israelis, mostly military. why are you killing innocent people? >> we're retaliating to over 3,000 rockets shot at us. let's make no mistake. hamas decided to shoot rockets and missiles on israel from within civilian concentrations. this is a very cynical and cowardly approach. but can i ask you, how many israelis need to die for us to gain your sympathy? >> hamas wants you to lift the siege. why is it so difficult for israel to do that if it will bring about peace? >> no, we have no siege. there is no siege going on in gaza. every day there is dozens and dozens of ship loads or trucks of food and medicine and humanitarian needs flowing into gaza. that's not a problem. the problem is that what they try and bring into gaza is also weapons and more concrete to build more tunne

sotloff's mother is asking abu bakr al baghdadi, the leader of the ruthless terrorist group himself tore her son. if you can imagine the kind of pain the sotloffs are going through or the hell that steven himself is likely enduring in captivity except my next guest, is an exception. david rode was kidnapped by the taliban and held prisoner for seven months before escaping. there are other americans being held by isis. we're not going to release their names because we hope that that will help secure their safety a little bit more. "the new york times," for instance, tried to keep your capture quiet. is it it a mistake, do you think, for sotloff's morgue to be putting this plea out well or is the genie out of the bottle after he appeared out there. >> i applaud her to somehow communicate with his captors and maybe save his life. i've been home for five years and i've talked to different families, and not the sof layoffs, but the foleys and others and there is a community and they try to each other and they figure outdo you stay quiet? do you go public some in the foley case and prior to

abu bakr al baghdadi is who she's addressing. would one need to appeal to from a group as brutal as this to get them to stop and listen to this mother's plea? >> well, this group is very brutal and each group like this even though we don't like their rules they have their own rules and by her communicating with them in this fashion, she's demonstrated a recognition and respect for these rules. she talks about the fact that the prophet protected people of the book which is true, and muslims have a history of doing that for those that recognize their authority in appropriate circumstances. she's simply demonstrating a respect for their history and who they are and if they are worthy of that respect they'll respond. >> what are the chances, chris, that the message has been received by baghdady? >> in circumstances like this, the very frightening thing that the family faces is that their chances for success are slim and none. it's an extremely long shot and it talks a lot of courage knowing that the odds are against you in the first

syria for the release of her son np in a video message shirley sotloff asks isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi to free her son steven who's been missing since august, last august, last year. steven sotloff is the other american journalist shown in the isis video in which james foley was beheaded, you may remember. isis said that sotloff's life depends on the u.s. halting its air strikes on isis fighters in iraq. shirley says her son was only trying to report on the suffering of muslims. >> since steven's capture i've learned a lot about islam. i've learned that islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others. steven has tho control over the actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. >> incredible there. and the american journalist released by militants in syria over the weekend is now back home in boston, where he spoke briefly to reporters. peter theo curtis was held for nearly two years, but the joy of his release on sunday was tempered by the execution just days earlier of fellow journalist james foley. curtis's mother nancy says she is o

heather: baghdadi is claiming to be chosen by god to be the new leader of islam.s real threat not only for the united states but for saudi arabia and so many of our i guess traditional friend over there. why is that such an important thing? >> well, because he is a challenge to them. and unfortunately we haven't seen them step up yet in my view. you know there are issues of capability. there is issues of political will. there is issues, saudi arabia may not want to come into what i call the strategic headlights of isis and isis become a major threat to them. they are coming for these countries and these cultures. so they better work with the united states and international community. john kerry is on the way to the region to talk to them to come together to take on this threat but this is very late in the game unfortunately. heather: saudi arabia has a big, big air force. wheel see if they do something. peter said something interesting. we'll let you go. i want to mention this to jon and our viewers, freeloading in international security is something very common.

and their leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi, has been described as "a balding, middle aged man."laughter) in other words, they're 40-somethings having a mid-life isis. (laughter) >> stephen: you know how it is! you know how it is, you see your youth slipping away, so you go out and get an exotic new sports tank, and cheat on your wife with your other wives. and you try to diet, but you still can't fit into your high school suicide vest. worst of all, isis has now attracted the most violent, heavily-armed people on earth -- americans. >> new details emerging about american jihadist douglas mccain. he wasn't the only terrorist to come from robbinsdale coopers high school in minnesota. we now know troy castagar who went overseas to fight an al quaida group with mccain's classmate. could there be a third terrorist athill robbinsdale coopers? this gunmen is wearing a shirt saying cooper hawks, the same as the high school mascot. >> stephen: cooper hawks! they leave it "all" out on the field. especially after a drone strike. their prom theme this year was israel under the sea. (laughte

. >> reporter: shirley sotloff directed her plea personally to the isis leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi, a brutal h r: f joaser joe massachusetts after being held for two years by a different jihadist group in syria. >> i had no idea when i was in prison that so much effort was being expended on my behalf. now having found out, i am just overwhelmed with emotion. >> reporter: as much as the american hostages have focused attention on syrian terror groups, it is the american recruits who have joined them that most worry authorities. today, new details emerged about the background of this american, douglas mcarthur mccain, killed fighting for isis in syria over the weekend. it turns out mccain's high school in suburban minneapolis, the robbinsdale cooper school, brought together at least two midwestern boys who went on to become terrorists. this family photo shows mccain on the left, and on the right, his high school class meat and friend, troy kastigar, who later died fighting for the al qaeda group in somalia. >> there was no indication while they were students of ours that they would tu

rather than worry about the guy who actually drew the knife across the throat, let's worry about baghdadiho is head of what he is calling the islamic state. he says it's stateless, it is not. he controls more land than the size of belgium or new england. it is very -- he have very much controlling a state in almost under under any definition. by the way, al qaeda is, according to the u.s. government. in dozens of states around the world it has access. i would rather go after the self-proclaimed k baghdadi, because if we could kill him that would be consequential. it wouldn't be the end of it but that is important. >> that's going after an individual none the less. state are no state. now, let me just say thngeght look, we just recently went after and caught abu can a tallla, the guy who was involved in benghazi, brought him back to the united states. is he going on trial sjted that a good example. >> it's not enough. you don't want to go after individuals, you want to go after organizations, movements and in this case what is calling itself the islamic state and it is calling itself that

i would rather go after the self-proclaimed khalif baghdadi, because if we could kill him that wouldconsequential. it wouldn't be the end of it but that is important. >> that's going after an individual none the less. state are no state. now, let me just say thngeght look, we just recently went after and caught abu can a tallla, the guy who was involved in benghazi, brought him back to the united states. is he going on trial sjted that a good example. >> it's not enough. you don't want to go after individuals, you want to go after organizations, movements and in this case what is calling itself the islamic state and it is calling itself that because it controls a vast amount of territory in what used to be the nations of syria and iraq and which may never again be those nations. we need to go -- this needs to be fought os as a war. we need a military paradigm or not law enforcement paradigm or at least the law enforcement paradigm has to be subsidiary and secondary to the military paradigm which means we go after them militarily, economically, and in a war of ideas, go after them dip

u.s. >> baghdadi, who's the head of isis, is a narcissistic psychopath. he wants to be bigger than osama bin laden. one of the ways he will measure that is how effective and how big the terrorist activities he can carry out in the west are compared to what bin laden was able to do. >> reporter: analysts saying abaghdadi's also taking a page from bin laden's propaganda book. they say he gets shock value, he knows how chilling it is for westerners to hear someone with a western accent speaking to the camera, then carrying out a horrible barbaric act like the killing of james foley. brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> we are happy to report it's another calm night on the streets of ferguson, missouri. it's now around 39 minutes past midnight. there are no protests and no scenes of violent confrontations with police. these improving conditions prompted governor jay nixon to order the national guard to start leaving ferguson. guard troops had arrived on monday. earlier we heard from our stephanie elam, who said streets are calmer and the tone has also changed. >>

officials tell us it is unlikely al-baghdadi has hands on in the battlefield.bout a paradox, a figure that shows himself as holy and gentle but leads crucifixions. >> is that what he wants? >> every indication we have is this campaign has signed off from the very top of the org organization has sign-off from al-baghdadi. this is much more extreme than even the leadership of al qaeda. even bin laden himself. >> analysts say the u.s. airstrikes against isis have likely elevated his stature among jihadists around the world. the fact that the crusaders are attacking them will only get others to rally around him. >> senior u.s. intelligence official tells me it is hard to know exactly where he is. the pourous border between syria and iraq is making it difficult to nail down his whereabouts right now but he is almost certainly moving around. he is in bunkers. he is very weary now of security, especially in light of what is going on. >> he is a target. i'm sure the u.s. would like a drone to fly over where he is. >> they are trying to kill him. >> launch a missile and

admiration of the other so-called islamic caliphate, islamic state group in iraq and syria and its leader baghdadi. it's important to take these remarks with a grain of salt. >> that's because boka haram is a propaganda saavy group the i would say this receipt claim is an attempt to perhaps capitalized on the renewed notoriety of the so-called islamic state group in iraq and syria. one note here, the situation in nigeria is immensely different from iraq and syria. while they have been widely criticized for their inability to act strongly in the face of boka haram, the military is presents across the northeast while we have seen boka haram signal a shift in strategy by trying to take over and seize towns instead of hit and run attacks, what they are doing really is displace people out of their homes, push people out of these towns. and that is very different from actually running an effective bureaucracy or a so-called caliphate in those towns. boko haram, what can you tell us about that, the police have been kidnapped? >> that facility is in that same gwozo, where they are claiming to established

. >> reporter: shirley sotloff directed her plea personally to the isis leader, abu bakr al baghdadi, a brutal megalomaniac who claims he is the caliph of the muslim world. that's how she addressed it. >> i've always learned that you, the caliph, can grant amnesty. i ask you to please release my child. >> abc's brian ross with that report. >>> breaking overnight, a major explosion at a bp oil refinery outside chicago. the blast at the whiting, indiana, facility could be felt two miles away. it's in a huge plume of smoke into the night air. investigators later said that a compressor at that refinery had exploded. >>> an experienced pilot with the massachusetts national guard is still missing this morning after his fighter jet crashed into the mountains of west virginia. the pilot reported an in-flight emergency. the jet went down in a remote heavily wooded area. the pilot's commanders are hopeful, though, saying that he is well trained in survival techniques. >>> the sister of the accused boston marathon bombers has been arrested for threatening the mother of her boyfriend's child. ail