let's bring in barbara starr. military operations are done in complete secrecy. why would anyone believe that there would be some sort of consultation with the family before navy s.e.a.l.s are deployed. they would fear the u.s., understandably, there would be a leak and the entire mission could be compromised if family members who don't have security clearances would be informed about that. >> i think we're dealing with a very sensitive issue. two families in grief really coming to grips and understanding about what happened here. the u.s. military, the cia does not inform families of time, date and place where they might stage a commando operation to try and rescue an american hostage. that just simply does not happen. there is communication through the fbi and the typical language a family would be told is that everything is being done to get your loved one back. luke somers' stepmother and sister commented on this to cnn earlier. what they said was, and let me quote in part, "we feel that luke's stance would have been that more discussion should have taken pla

the president is about to make at the white house but we heard from barbara starr that chuck hagel decided it would be perhaps more appropriate for him not to attend this formal announcement. jake tapper is our cnn anchor. there's been a lot of awkwardness, jake, as we look at what's going on right now this transition from chuck hagel to ash carter. >> that's right, in fact, wolf, as you know, though the white house and secretary hagel had agreed to say that it was a mutual decision, secretary hagel insisted the announcement come out when he wanted it to come out not when the white house did, which was going to be later after they settled on a pick. it's also true many of hagel's defenders were upset at the anonymous quotes from senior administration officials insulting secretary hagel saying he was not up to the job and besmirching his reputation. that's something a lot of hagel stalwarts were not happy about. so it's perhaps not surprising that the secretary has chosen not to attend this event in which his replacement will be announced to the public assuming, of course, he is confirmed t

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> a united nations counterterrorism official says people who participated in the cia program are part of a, quote, criminal conspiracy and they must face justice. but will it ever happen? well, i talked about that earlier with cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. >> the one possibility, but it's very remote involves the concept known as universal jurisdiction. >> and how does that work? >> well, it hasn't worked very many times. the most famous example was when a prosecutor in spain sought to bring a case against augusto pinochet, the former dictator of chile, and he was actually arrested in london. and that case was proceeding against him on the grounds that he had tortured spanish citizens in she lay. he was actually held pending trial, but he died before that case ever was resolved. that concept that there are some crimes that are so universal in their application, they can be tried anywhere, that's the idea behind those sorts of prosecutions. but it does seem like a remote possibility here. >> jeffrey toobin also points out that a u.s. law passed

here's cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara? >> reporter: good evening, brianna. just as the al qaeda and islamic state are going after each other and threatening the united states, think of it as sort of a hatfields and mccoys feud. in syria, propaganda videos of isis' bloody violence, intimidation and killings. ♪ in yemen, the al qaeda affiliate puts out its new video showing pictures of its top leader. the two terror groups now vying for power. >> aqap is competing with isis for recruits from the arab world, for attention in the global jihadist community. >> reporter: and the u.s. may be in the crosshairs as the rivalry grows. >> i don't think there's any doubt that if isis decides to, they have the ability to launch a major terrorist attack on western soil. this is a group with up to 1,000 western recruits. >> reporter: and al qaeda in yemen posting a new edition of its magazine calling for attacks on the west and complete with updated instructions yet again on making explosives. the type of instructions that inspired the boston marathon bomb attack. the chaos

joining me now, barbara starr and jim acosta. a, tell us more about the president's choice. >> barring the unforeseen, barring any last-minute surprises, several officials are now indicating ash carter will be the president's choice to replace chuck hagel who was pushed out as defense secretary last week, of course. ash a long time pentagon veteran. he served as hagel's deputy until last year. before thaefs tht he was the to acquisitions official. he knows the ins and outs of how billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent on weapons and defense programs. he knows what can be cut and what still might be considered essential. if there's perhaps one short coming in his resume it would be he doesn't have a lot of experience on the geopolitical world global stage but certainly some. so what are his advantages. he wants the job, there's a lot of people that have bowed out and he can get confirmed by the senate arms services committee, by senator john mccain, a republican, who wants to see much more action by the u.s. in iraq and syr

john, christine. >> barbara starr, thank you for that.oreign relations committee meets later today. leaders trying to reach agreement on the authorization use of military force against isis. the white house wants all options on the table with no limits on how or where the u.s. can attack the extremist groups. senator rand paul is calling the current conflict illegal. all measures rule out u.s. troops on the ground. >>> the united states is no longer operating prisons or holding detainees in afghanistan. the final three have been transferred or released as nato combat mission winds down to the december 31st withdrawal date. u.s. troops now expected to stay longer than that date. the afghan military is in charge of all facilities. >>> a $1.1 trillion spending plan to keep the federal government operating beyond midnight has hit a snag. house speaker nancy pelosi demanding two provisions be removed from the measure. one eases regulations on derivatives. the other raises limits on political donations. a short-term extension of the deadline co

cnn's barbara starr at the pentagon with more. >> reporter: john and christine, u.s.r in the khorasan group is still alive after months of air strikes. a french bombmaker, david drugeon, a master bombmaker, they thought they killed him potentially in an earlier air strike. now officials have every reason to believe he is still alive. the concern about drugeon, he has the skills and knowledge on how to make bombs that can potentially bypass airport security measures. the fact he is still alive causes a good deal of concern to u.s. officials. they also believe the leader of the group, a man named fattli, also still alive after months of u.s. air strikes against the khorasan group. this is a group of hard core al qaeda operatives that move from pakistan to syria in last several years. it is a group that causes the u.s. a great deal of concern because of their abilities and desire to potentially attack the united states. john, christine. >> thanks, barbara. the senate foreign relations committee meets today trying to reach agreement on using force against isis. white hous

barbara starr is at the pentagon. ian lee is in cairo. but first to pamela brown, all federal state and local law enforcement are being put on alert. what more can you tell us? >> sending out this warning to law enforcement agencies across the country surrounding the torture memo release. this bulletin warns while it's unlikely, today's torture memo may spark online reaction and may influence home-grown violent extremists. the terrorist groups may exploit the findings for recruitment purposes. but the warning was sent out just as a precaution courses tell me, so far no new intelligence indicating there's anything in the works as a result of the memo. but of course these are the concerns we have been hearing from law enforcement sources leading up to the release of that memo today. so they're really just reiterating that to law enforcement. >> and the director of the fbi also held an off-camera briefing for reporters today. what did he have to say? >> that was one of the first questions he received. his reaction to the torture memo. he tol

cia had info before torture. >> barbara starr joins us now with more. barbara, this really was extraordinary. you just don't see, generally speaking, cia directors taking questions in a news conference like this. so the question is, why did he do it? who's the audience here because generally speaking, they don't have to reach out for public opinion. >> i think that brennan was extraordinarily frustrated. when you talk to cia people, john, over the last couple of days, they are just beside themselves. their feeling is that everyone has listened to the senate report, to senator feinstein and nobody has really listened to them, that they had been very precise, that they have been very detailed. brennan has said, no cause and effect unknowable whether these techniques specifically led to detainees to offer up useful intelligence but useful intelligence, they did offer up. so, you know, everybody has got their own position. this, i think, was brennan's chance on behalf of the white house. make no mistake, to go out there and speak to the world and especially

senior white house correspondent jim acosta, pentagon correspondent barbara starr and with us from cairo where there are security concerns is ian lee. first, we want to go to evan perez with a look at what this report will say. good morning, evan. >> good morning, john. there's no doubt this is going to be a really ugly day for the cia. this report has been fought over for years now. for the last few months the cia has been working with the white house and with the senate to try to decide what to release in this report. the findings are going to be really ugly in the sense that we're going to learn a lot more about what went on in this program. we know for a fact that there's going to be more information about the detainees, what they were subjected to. we also know that the report will portray the cia as going beyond what the methods that were authorized by memos that were done by the justice department and that it misled, according to the democrats who did this report, that it misled the justice department, misled the white house, and misled congress about what it was doing with the de

barbara starr at the pentagon, thanks very much. let's talk about this and more. joining us, the state department deputy spokeswoman, marie harf thanks for coming in. >> happy to be here. >> let's talk about this. the report, i take it, as far as you know definitely will be released tomorrow by the senate intelligence committee? >> that's certainly our understanding. >> over the weekend, we know your boss, the secretary of state john kerry, phoned the chair of the intelligence committee, senator dianne feinstein, raising concerns, wanting to make sure they know if foreign policy implications into the timing of this release. it sounds like he's pretty concerned there could be some negative foreign policy implications for the united states and potentially some threat -- some danger for u.s. civilians and military personnel. >> to be clear, a couple of things are both true here. the first is that the secretary and the state department and the whole administration support the release of this report. we've always said that. we support the transparency that comes along

barbara starr has the latest. >> reporter: a lot of people wondering if the u.s.behind this. could this be the counter attack, the response that the white house promised for north korea's hacking against sony. nobody is saying right now, but it is hard to figure out who may be behind it. some people think the north koreans turned off their own system or the chinese cut off access. nobody talking about it. here at the pentagon, the game is all about cyber defense right now. options being developed to improve pentagon defenses against any potential north korean hacking. security already very tight. of course on classified computer network systems. a lot of working done to double check and just to make sure all of the systems are fully secure and developing options for the president. if he decides to launch some sort of cyber counter attack against north korea and of course the administration has other options as well. sanctions or putting north korea back on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. christine. >> barbara starr, a spokeswoman saying you may see s

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> lieutenant commander in the u.s. navy reserve says he has some idea of what the detainees experienced because similar torture tactics were used on him. ryan casey says it was part of a military training program called f. e.a.r. he talked to us earlier. >> these measures were never meant to, as a means to actually elicit reliable intelligence but to get you used to torture. there's a big difference. being tortured as it is, and i assure you it was very unles pleasant and as groggy as you are from sleep deprivation you know it is training. a real p.o.w. or detail knee doesn't know it is training or if he or she will ever get out and see the light of day or their family. that's a big difference. the point is it was never meant for interrogation. it was meant for torture. >> that's an audacious claim that you make. that the enhanced interrogation techniques was not to extreme intelligent but to flex american muscles as you write. do you believe the cia had no interest in obtaining any intelligence from this? >> no. that'

dianne feinstein presented the initial report earlier in the week and barbara starr is working this part of the story for us. barbara, what did brennan say about these controversial cia tactics and the intelligence that led to the killing of osama bin laden? >> well, to some extent, that's the bottom line of all of this, did this help get osama bin laden? brennan spoke again, as michelle.ed out, while some of the detainees were subjected to enhanced interrogation, like khalid sheikh mohammed, eventually offered up key evidence to giving up osama bin laden. it's not clear if the enhanced interrogation led them to offer that intelligence. listen to what he said. >> the detainees who were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against bin laden. again, i am not going to attribute that to the use of the eits. i'm just going to state, as a matter of fact, the information that they provided was used. >> so he's refusing to decline but certainly leaving the door open. senator dianne feinstein, head of the

let's begin with barbara starr who has more on the disturbing findings. what are you learning? >> reporter: the cia says today some mistakes were made but that what they did was legal and that it did gain the country valuable intelligence that prevented additional attacks. the senate democratic report begs to differ outlining what can only be said as brutal interrogation techniques including something called forced rectal feeding. that's just the beginning of it. abu zubaydah, a top al qaeda operative, deprived of sleep for 17 days as part of his interrogation. other practices and let me walk you through it, other practices the report details, detainees chained up and hung by their arms. again, sleep deprived others for more than seven days. shackled naked, one likely detainee froze to death. sexually threatened with a broomstick, waterboarded, near constant drownings. the report also, there is acknowledgment that president george w. bush, this happened during his administration. he did not know for some time some of the details involved. and, wolf, there was a decision to keep

let's bring in cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, good morning to you. what kind of grave consequences is jordan actually talking about? >> well, jordan along with the united states saying they will hold isis responsible for the safety of this jordanian pilot and obviously they want him returned to jordan. grave consequences, you know, no one is really saying. obviously i think it's fair to say people are looking at whether any type of rescue is possible, any type of discussion with isis to get him back. all of these things very problematic. at the same time though, his family is speaking out, calling upon isis to keep him safe and to treat him fairly. i want to you listen to just a little bit of what his father had to say. >> translator: he is now in the hands of islamic state fighters and i do not want to describe him as a hostage. i call him a guest. he is a guest among brothers of ours in syria's islamic state. i ask them in the name of god and i ask for the dignity of the prophet mohammad, peace be upon him, to receive him as a guest and treat him w

want to get to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr with the latest. >> good morning.stage rescues are perhaps the most dangerous work that u.s. special forces do anywhere in the word. this time as you say they were trying to rescue this american hostage luke somers. they did not know pierre korkie was there. he didn't know who the other man was according to u.s. u officials. it did not work in the end. the fire fight broke out. u.s. believes the al qaeda terrorists killed the hostages at that point, shot them. the u.s. tried to save them. ultimately both died. over the weekend, top lawmakers voiced support for this very risky mission. have a listen.>> if we're going to pay ransom to al qaeda so they can rape women, imprison men, women, children, that's a bad plan to start with. i agreed with the president's decision. >> you end up just funding other hostage taking and the cycle perpetuates itself. i think our decision is the right one. >> so what does it take to make one of these missions successful in the end? well you have to have perfect intelligence, have to know

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> a key taliban commander, the one believed to be responsible for a massacre that left 145 dead has been killed. that, according to pakistani official that is conducted a raid on thursday. the man suspected of organizing the school attack earlier this month. he's believed to have been involved in the killing of other security personnel and tribal elders. we are learning more about the victims who went to that school. the rampage lasted for hours. and more than 100 children are among the dead. here is cnn with a profile of some of the students. >> reporter: shahood alam just some of the faces of the 145 people killed, including 132 children during a terror attack carried out by the taliban in an army run school in pakistan. as the identities of these intent victims emerge, the country continues to mourn the dead. the principal of the school was killed by the militants in front of her students. her students from all over the world paid tribute to her resilience. several other teachers lost their lives on that fateful day. a survivor described what hap

>> barbara starr, thank you so much. for more on the security threats facing americans and the united states, i want to continue our exclusive interview with jey johnson, the secretary of homeland security. secretary johnson, how concerned are you that this is the new m.o. for terrorists abroad? parade them before the cameras and kill them. >> jake, as your show just pointed out, in some cases, terrorist organizations do this simply for elicit revenue. others do it because they demonstrated the depravity to kill americans because they are americans. what i believe is significant now in addition to the threats we've faced from overseas, is the use of social media, literature that has a reach into the united states, that has the ability to reach individuals, so-called lone wolves here in the united states. which is why public engagement, by engagement with my department, by state and local law enforcement, by a number of the engagements that's i'm conducting myself in the islamic community in this country have become more

barbara starr has latest. >> reporter: a lot of people wondering if the u.s. could be behind this.be the counter attack or response the white house promised for north korea's hacking against sony? it may be hard to figure out who is behind it. some saying maybe the north koreans turned off the system. maybe china cut off access. nobody talking about it. here at the pentagon, the game is about cyber defense right now. options being developed to improve pentagon defenses against potential north korean hacking. security already very tight on classified computer network systems. a lot of working done to make sure all of the systems are fully secure and developing options for the president. if he decides to launch some sort of cyber counter attack against north korea and of course the administration has other options as well. sanctions or putting north korea back on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. christine. >> barbara starr, thank you. >>> to france now where a second car attack has happened on pedestrians in two days. french officials urging calm after at least 11 people

barbara starr has more on the disturbing allegations contained in the report. >> reporter: the brutality is shocking. the report reveals at least five detainees were subjected to what it calls rectal feeding. interrogation procedures that went on for months. at least one detainee died from hypothermia. >> stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods of time. they were deprived of sleep for days. in one case, up to 180 hours. >> reporter: one detainee had his lunch pureed and poured into his rectum. he eventually attempted to cut his wrists, chew into his arm and cut a vein in his foot. much of the information kept from president george w. bush's own secretary of state. >> there are cia records stating that colin powell wasn't told about the program at first because there were concerns that, and i quote, powell would blow his stack if he were briefed. >> reporter: a former top cia official says some details were held close, but that the agency did not engage in torture. >> absolutely not. absolutely not. i mean, people of conscie

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> pakistan security forces say they killed a key taliban commander believed to be responsible for a school massacre that left 145 dead a couple weeks ago. officials tell us they conducted a raid in the khyber agency on thursday. the man known only as saddam is suspected of organizing the school attack earlier this month and also believed to have been involved in the killing of other security personnel and tribal elders. >>> india's army said it is leading a full intensity pons to deadly tribal attacks in as sam states. they've sent 5,000 extra armed police. on tuesday, 72 people were killed when suspected militants targeted another tribal group. it is the scene of several long-running complex and often violent ethnic conflicts. one of the deadliest involves the region's native bodo tribe. the group known as the national democratic front of bodolan has been linked to.attacks over nearly 20 years. the group claims they are neglected by as sam's regional government and demands the creation of a celebrate state for the tribe. much of the tension stems in

barbara starr has more on that ♪ >> reporter: while isis and al qaeda have long called for lone wolf officials are increasingly looking at a much harder to identify problem, how disturbed and violent criminals in local communities are spurred on by radical islam to launch attacks. the horror in sydney a wake-up call. >> the perpetrator was well known to state and commonwealth authorities. he had a long history of violent crime. infatuation with extremism and mental stability. >> always appears to that be toxic cocktail of events going on in individual's life who are latching on to a cause like the islamic state seems to be the tipping point. >> reporter: the case file, november, thompson assaults new york police officers with an ax. the nypd says he converted to islam and was self-radicalized. his parents tell police, he was depressed and spent his time online. he has no known connection to militants but visited radical websites in the days before the attack. october, canadian soldier nathan cirillo is murdered on ottawa's parliament hill. the gunman michael ba bchthe ga. he had conn

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> u.s. senator john mccain live tweeted his trip to baghdad friday. he sent out a photo of his arrival followed by a picture with a meeting with the iraqi parliament speaker. he also met with six sunni tribal sheikhs to discuss how to fight the isis militants. mr. mccain was in kabul the day before. >>> ukraine's government swapped prisoners of war on friday with pro-russia separatists. a few hundred prisoners were exchanges between the two sides part of petro poroshenko's plan to end a pro-russian uprising in the east we have been covering here for months now. more than 4700 people have been killed in the conflict. meantime, the russian president signed a doctrine on friday calling the u.s. and nato top military threats. russia is in the middle of a standoff with the west over ukraine. erin mclaughlin has more from moscow including what this doctrine could mean for peace talks. >> russian security analysts tell me that they see this in new doctrine as the kremlin's response to western sanct

let me bring cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr to talk more. this. down? >> good morning, randi. this is a part that's a mystery. late yesterday the top u.s. commander for the region, the head of the central command general lloyd austin, who never speaks publicly, did issue a very public statement saying that it was certain that the plane was not shot down. now, they are not saying what did bring it down but they are adamant that isis is not telling the truth and that isis did not shoot the plane down, and the plane didn't come down by hostile fire. so this is a bit of a mystery, how it is they are so certain and what exactly did happen to this airplane. the family of the jordanian pilot now coming out in public as well, very much pleading for his safety and his release. his brother speaking just several hours ago. >> translator: i appeal to my brothers in the islam you can state to have mercy upon mice brother. if they search his clothes they find a white koran he's been carrying since 2006. i asked god to free him and bring mersiest to the hearts o

pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me now. barbara, how soon could these transfers happen? >> reporter: some are already under way. expect to see several more transfers, perhaps half a dozen, by the end of the year and then dozens more through the first half of 2015. this gets the president at least further down the road to making the population of guantanamo bay smaller, maybe he can get it down to just several dozen. whether he can get it closed or not is going to be an issue. there's a lot of political and legal controversy about all of that. but they are on the road to try and ship out basically as many detainees as they can, send them back to their home countries or get a third country to take them. one of the big issues, they have dozens of detainees from yemen. you cannot send them back to yemen. al qaeda is very strong there right now. so they're trying to solve that problem. if athletic do that, they might be able to really get the numbers down. president obama closer to his vow to try and close guantanamo bay. >> bar

cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr is here with details on this breaking story. barbara?. david drujan, french man, master bombmaker of the khorasan group from pakistan to syria a number of years ago. the u.s. had hoped they had got him in a november air strike. now two u.s. officials telling me every reason to believe he is still alive and a big concern to the u.s. because of his bomb making skills. they are continuing to monitor khorasan electronic activity, communications. that's how they're getting some of this information. also still alive, another man pmusan al fadli, the so-called leader of the khorasan group. after bombing several air strikes inside syria and even as the war against isis in syria goes on, the worry is that these two key leaders of the khorasan group are very tough al qaeda affiliate are, in fact, still alive. jake? >> barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you so much. more news on the terrorist front, defense secretary hagel expressed satisfaction at the pace and the success of the u.s.-led campaign against isis in iraq and siria, but the shocking

but first to barbara starr at the pentagon with the latest on the terror attack at the school. barbara, it really does, it just makes you stop and feel sick to your stomach when you imagine the kids quietly taking an exam, sitting there in that room. i know this happened in pakis n pakistan. the group has a long history of targeting the united states that was responsible. >> reporter: evening, erin. horror of what happened in pakistan. this is a group well-known, the ttb or pakistani taliban have a long history of brutal violence and behind attacks here in the united states. back in 2010 they were said to be behind the failed attempt to set a bomb in new york's time square. in 2009 they attacked a cia base in afghanistan killing seven cia agents there. they have repeatedly vowed to attack the united states. whether they are capable of actually lunching an attack overseas outside of pakistan would remain to be seen but today's event inside of pakistan, absolutely horrific. condemnation from around the world about what they have done. they have claimed this is a revenge attack the

. >> in washington, our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, joins me live now and in carmel, california, cnn military analyst, lieutenant colonel rick francona is with us.ba barbara, the pentagon saying anything about this? >> reporter: a senior defense official is telling me they have no direct evidence that this plane was shot down. they just don't see the evidence that they would be looking for. but this is very early on. the jordanians, the u.s. and coalition authorities continuing to investigate all angles as to what might have happened to this plane, what would have brought it down. for now, it is isis that's saying they shot it down. u.s. officials are saying they're not so sure. they just don't see the evidence. >> and, look, this may be a jordanian pilot but he is also a coalition pilot, a coalition that's led by the united states of america. what's the status of americans, american pilots, american warplanes and how much we're flying sororities as well? >> reporter: they say there is no change in the flying status right now. flight operations are continuing as planned. but all

. >> want to bring in barbara starr from the pentagon and our cnn national security analyst bob baer.bara, we heard from the jordanian spokesman who told cnn it appears that the f-16 fighter jet was shot at from the ground. what are you sources telling you and why does it make a difference how this jet went down? >> su >> reporter: our sources are telling us they think at this point it is unlikely it was shot down. they don't see the evidence yet. everyone's continuing to investigate what did bring the plane down. there's no final conclusion. but for now, it doesn't look like a shootdown. one of the reasons this is so important is the coalition, u.s. pilots, everybody else, they need to know if isis has some type of weapon that can reach their altitudes where they fly generally well above 15,000 to 20,000 feet. that would be a big concern. they don't look like they're going to have to change operations right now. they want to find out exactly what did bring the plane down and obviously a top priority is whatever they can do to get this man back. >> and, bob, if a u.s. pilot was shot d

. >> barbara starr joins me now with more on this story. pentagon says the plane was not shot down. do we know what happened to it? >> well, at this point the pentagon, u.s. military, coalition are not saying anything other than they are saying that evidence shows them it wasn't shot down. they're not saying what did happen to it or how it came down or what the evidence is that leads them to the conclusion it wasn't shot down. this is a mystery to the public at the moment. they are still investigating all of it. you have to ask what evidence could they have? was there potentially a may day call from the pilot before he ejected he was having mechanical trouble? could it have been something like that? we don't know but they are adamant, unusually adamant, they believe it was not shot down. >> unusually adamant. that's really interesting. as we heard, the brother referred to isis as brothers. he said islamic state are our brothers and he should be treated like a guest. do you think he will fare better than other isis hostages? we know that he'

let's go straight to the pentagon to our correspondent there, barbara starr. there are multiple questions about this story, isis is claiming, key word claims, it has these heat seeking missiles that brought this plane down. what do we know about isis' capabilities? >> they do have access by all accounts to those shoulder fired surface to air missiles. could they strike a warplane flying 15,000 or 20,000 feet up? that's problematic to see that a u.s. coalition warplane would fly within the range to put itself at risk of getting shot down. right now u.s. authorities say there is no evidence that the plane was shot down. they're not able to say yet what they do think brought it down and these are first reports but logic tells you there would be a couple things they would look at. did some wing man, another pilot fly nearby see a missile launch. is there any radar signature, any heat signature from a missile that may have been launched. did the pilot who ejected give any warning that he might have been hit by a missile. so these are all the sort of very typical fa

>> all right, barbara starr reporting live from the pentagon. thanks so much.ed interview with cnn's jake tapper on thursday, former cia chief general michael hayden said some of the techniques used by interrogators were medically necessary. hayden was the cia director from 2006 to 2009. he was replaced by leon panetta, who later served as secretary of defense. hayden denies claims by senator dianne feinstein that he misled congress about the tactics. >> is she saying that you misled congress. your response? >> yeah, my response is you've got to be kidding, all right? i'm the one who argued within the administration, frankly, with the strong support of the president in 2006 during that first summer when i was director, that we had to go full monte to the committees. this could not be just the president's program. it had to be america's program, jake. and to do that, we needed political support from the other political branch. so, i went down there in september of '06 and then later. the first time that all the members of the intelligence committee had been brie

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> now, the u.s.ixed record when it comes to hostage rescues in the past years. we pulled up some, the u.s. agents tried to free james foley, the american journalists held by isis. but foley had been held by the terror group, isis. and two aide workers were captured in somali, and 2010, linda norgrove, a british aide worker captured by the taliban was killed in a failed rescue attempt. in fact, a u.s. navy s.e.a.l. was disciplined over the incident. and you may recall u.s. s.e.a.l.s also rescued captain phillips after his ship was hijacked. so no guarantee of success, they are highly difficult missions. >>> and new freedom in uruguay, the u.s. released the men, flying them to the nation on sunday. but the release has led to controversy and concern in their new host country. >> reporter: the six former guantanamo detainees are now being cared for at two hospitals. they arrived in uruguay on sunday. the president said they're considered refugees by his government. four of the refugees are from syria, on

joining me pentagon correspondent barbara starr. you have centcom indicating that perhaps they have a reason to believe that isis couldn't do this. is there any like strict evidence about why they wouldn't have been able to. >> well, look, i mean it's very unusual for central command to come out with such an adamant, clear, unequivocal statement, they say the shootedown did not happen, the plane went down for some other reason. we don't know what that reason is. if you think about it, it's sort of logically how could they come to this conclusion. did the pilot perhaps make a mayday call? was he having technical problems? were there some other problems with the plane, some equipment failure? did a wing man see something? if a wing man flying nearby they would have seen a missile launched. maybe the wing man didn't report it. he didn't see anything. we don't know. there's a lot of very typical factors that can go into the military somethicoming to an in understanding of what happened. clearly they want the pilot back, to be able to ta

>> barbara starr reporting live, thank you.hanks. ♪ [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable global commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. great job. (mandarin) ♪ cut it out. >>see you tomorrow. ♪ e financial noise financial noise financial noise financial noise >>> the ride sharing service uber is hitting major roadblocks. first it gets kicked out of countries like thailand and spain for violating local laws. now it's under legal pressure in its own back yard. two california cities are suing the company to block the service over its allegedly shoddy background techs. cnn money technology correspondent rory segal has more on the story. >> it's been a rough couple weeks. you had a passenger allegedly raped in new delhi. this isn't good for the company's image. you go to their own back yard in california where the business is booming. they decided that they've been sending cease and desist orders for the past year. the san francisco d.a. says there's something wrong with the screening process. he

barbara starr reports. >> reporter: the brutality is shocking. the report reveals at least five detainees were subjected to what it calls rectal feeding. interrogation procedures that went on for months. at least one detainee died from hypothermia. >> stripped naked, diaper, physically struck and various painful stress positions for long periods of time. they were deprived of sleep for days, in one case, 180 hours. >> reporter: one had his lunch pureed and poured into his rectum. he attempted to cut his wrist, his wrist and foot. much kept from george w. bush's own secretary of state. >> there are cia records stating that colin powell wasn't told about the program at first because there were concerns that, and i quote, powell would blow his stack if he were briefed. >> reporter: a former top cia official says some details were held close, but that the agency did not engage in torture. >> absolutely not. absolutely not. i mean, people of conscience can disagree on this, but the people who are on the front lines who are actually engaged in trying t

barbara starr reporting live from pentagon. many americans have been shot by the actions included in that senate torture report, former intelligence officials are standing behind it. earlier today, general michael hayden, the former director of the cia, stood up for the program saying the spy agency was working for the american people. >> the way the nation speaks to us is the president authorizes something, we inform the congress, the attorney general says it's legal, and the director of cia says "i think this is going to be effective, it's worth the candle." at this point you think you have a social contract with the american people. not with a particular administration. so what's happening now these folks having the rug pulled out from under them, people doing what they thought we wanted them do, that's unprecedented. >> general hayden is not a happy man this morning. what else did he say in i'm joined by chris frates to tell us. good morning. >> good morning, carol. i talked to james mitchell yesterday. he's the reported ar

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> the united states' mission in afghanistan is starting a new phaseey are shifting from combat to training roles. it's also a time of change for the pentagon as the secretary of defense prepares to step down. chuck hagel just completed his final visit to afghanistan as chief. that's where he spoke to cnn in an exclusive interview. >> reporter: this is chuck hagel's fourth trip to afghanistan but his last as secretary of defense. we traveled with him where he met with troops sharing his own experience at first enlisted combat veteran to serve as defense secretary. >> reporter: do you think it will be a loss for the defense secretary position for someone who did not have that experience? >> that's not for me to decide. everybody brings their own set of experiences and their own strengths, and i, i believe my set of experiences fit me very well. but that's chuck hagel. i don't ever judge anybody else. >> reporter: at the end of this month, u.s. forces will give up their combat role for training, advising and assisting afghan forces. a new mission as the

barbara starr thank you for the reporting this morning. >>> as u.s.ines prepare for the potential of extremist violence in response to this, washington is bracing for, of course, the political backlash. let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent dana bash and jim acosta. jim, let me go to you if. can you detail at least what we know ahead of this executive summary being released in terms of the interrogation and detention techniques? >> reporter: i think most of this is known already, poppy. you know, the chief enhanced interrogation technique that's really at issue here is waterboarding, which john mccain, the republican senator from arizona, has called torture. president obama has said we have tortured people, and then earlier this morning, senator angus king, the independent member of that senate intelligence committee, said to cnn "new day," did we torture people? yes. did it help prevent attacks? no. so there are lots of different opinions on this. lot of this is going to center on these waterboarding techniques that were used during th

joining me live, our pentagon correspondent barbara starr and national security analyst and former ciirative bob baer is back with us. barbara, first to you, the americans are quick to clarify that they didn't shoot the plane down, that they don't have that kind of capacity. the question becomes, is that propaganda? what would happen with the coalition if they knew there were capacities for isis to start fighting their pilots from the air? >> look, i think everybody pretty much understands that it's a great likelihood that some isis fighters do have shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles. is the u.s. putting out propaganda? is the u.s. flat out telling a bold lie? i don't think the four-star commander of the u.s. central command would allow any statement to go out in his name, general lloyd austin, unless he was 100% sure of his facts. he's saying the statement went out in his name, he's saying isis did not bring it down, they did not shoot it down. we double-checked and triple checked, other military sources saying the syrian regime did not shoot it down. the question is what did brin

i want to get straight to barbara starr at the pentagon. also joining us is peter brooks, senior fellow of national security affairs at the heritage foundation. barbara, i think it's safe to say ash carter is not necessarily the president's first choice to be defense secretary, but he is a pentagon insider. how will this nomination will received? >> i think very well by military and by the pentagon leadership. well known around here until late last year he served as hagel's deputy. he has been the top weapons buyer here at the pentagon. he knows how billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent and with budget cuts coming potentially from congress he will be on the hot seat to figure out what is cut, what is kept. he's someone who is likely to get readily easily confirmed by the republican-led senate arms services committee. they know him. he shouldn't run into any particular problems. perhaps the biggest question, though, you know, hagel was pushed out because the administration, the white house said it was time to transition to new leader

barbara starr joins me now. what do we know about the targets that they are trying to hit?ve are these strikes? >> reporter: i have to tell you, over the weekend, some very interesting unique targets hit by the coalition. let's look first at syria. there were 17 strikes around kobani. moving on, raqqa, look at that, that's the place that isis declares to be its headquarterses, essentially. and there were a number of strikes there, nine of them, including one against a declared -- what the u.s. believes was on electronic warfare garrison. just a few moments ago, a military official explained to me this electronic warfare garrison was a place the u.s. noticed was containing some jammers and there was a lot of concern this equipment could be potentially used by isis to jam u.s. aircraft, u.s. radars. quite concerning. also in aleppo, another air strike against the khorasan group, that al qaeda group the u.s. says is trying to attack the united states. over in iraq. there were 13 strikes in and around mosul, this is very interesting because what we have reported and we already

barbara starr, thank you very much. meanwhile, u.s. military bases around the world are ratcheting up security as a precaution and there are several reports that u.s. embassies are going on alert all because of the pending release of a so-called torture report. tomorrow senate democrats are due to unveil their findings on enhanced interrogation techniques that the bush administration used on post-9/11 suspects. it includes details of how they were treated including waterboarding, sleep deprivation and slapping. republicans have full support from the report and many intelligence community warn that disclosures will anger allies and rally terrorists. >> let me move you on to a couple of other things. the senate intelligence committee, we expect, will be releasing this report on the cia activities vis-a-vis interrogation of terrorists during the bush administration may come this week. do you know what's in the report and what's your basic fear or do you applaud the idea of saying let's get this throughout? >> no, i think this is a terribl

our barbara starr has more. >> reporter: since the sydney attack by a gunman claiming isis affiliationstralia very much on edge. >> an attack is likely. we don't know when and how an attack may come, but we do know that there are people with the intent and the capability to carry out further attacks. >> reporter: the sydney gunman, the latest in a series of attacks often by people with violent criminal backgrounds and mental illness. >> we have to consider that isis is almost a magnet for the deluded and mentally ill to associate themselves. as soon as they put the banner of isis behind it it obviously has a greater repercussions in terms of the gravity they believe their actions are that they're taking. >> reporter: security now being increased across france after three attacks in the past three days. on saturday a man stabbed three police officers while allegedly shouting god is great. on sunday, a vehicle rammed into pedestrians, witnesses said the driver also was shouting allahu akbar, "god is great." on monday a van plowed into shoppers at an outdoor market. the french prime minis

. >>> cnn's barbara starr joining me now for more on how the u.s. might fight cyber terrorists. barbara, what are you learning? >> good morning to you, randi. for the u.s. military this is not a new issue. i'd say over the last decade plus the military's really been focusing on the cyber world and this whole notion of cyber warfare. in fact, they have now an organization in the military called the u.s. cyber command just like central command, european command, pacific command. this is the cyber command that is e quint to fight a cyber war in cyberspace. not on any one piece of ground around the globe. the cyber command is really an interesting organization. let's look at some of the things they do first. they are first and foremost prepared to provide cyber support to those combatant commanders on the front line. if the commanders in the middle east, in the pacific are getting hacked, the cyber command will help them deal with that. it will help them form plans to even conduct attacks in cyberspace. so they also defend the military networks against attackers. if north korea was t

let's go straight to barbara starr who is following this fro from the pentagon. good morning, barbara. >> good morning, poppy. troops at the ready in case there are retaliation attacks. this report has been in the works for months. the question now, of course, is how will the world react when it is made public. this morning, thousands of u.s. military personnel on heightened alert, anticipating the release of a report by the senate intelligence committee on top-secret interrogation tactics and torture of cia detainees. >> our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and death. >> reporter: marines are positioned in key areas, ready to respond to potential violent reactions directed at u.s. embassies and military bases around the globe. believed to be included in the report, details of waterboarding and other interrogation tactics in the years after 9/11. the cia believes the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, provided by key information that prevented other terror attacks and led to the capture of osa

while we are let's turn to barbara starr, pentagon correspondent. one of the concerns here is the fbi and the department of homeland security are concerned about what could result in overseas, in fact, going lengths to release a bulletin warning that there could be repercussions. what more do we know? >> i may have the quickest answer because right now while the warnings are out there. while forces are on alert and being watchful, no indications yet of any direct threats to any u.s. facilities either many the united states or overseas. still keeping watch but right now it's really extraordinary, they're seeing a very muted reaction to all of this. >> what about u.s. allies, barbara? one of the fears has been that some countries that the u.s. is friendly with would be outed as hosting some of these black sites for secret prisons. >> well, we've just actually heard from the former president of poland who was in charge of that country when some of this happened. he said yes he was asked by the united states to provide a facility where people could be q

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> joining me now is reuters investigative reporter david rhode whohs by the taliban. he was able to escape. it's understandable that u.s. government tell a family in advance there's going to be a classified raid for, i mean, for obvious reasons, isn't it? >> well, this is another example of the shifting policy that families have complained about. in my case and in one other i know for sure, my family was told if there was an opportunity for a raid, they would be asked for permission. >> oh, really? >> yes. i know from an active case that's still ongoing they were also told about this. this is the second example of where the american policy does not seem clear, the separate issue is where some families that if they paid a ransom, they would be prosecuted. again, it's five years have passed since my case. there was no talk of anyone being prosecuted for a ransom in the pass, now there's some new standard possible prosecution if you do pay a ransom. >> we talk about this so often about the lack of communication that families say frustrates them. never m