i want to bring in colonel rick francona with me now.h your former work with the cia, i know you are familiar with this area. this is predominantly kurdish. all these reports that the kurdish fierce fighters are on the run. who is going to save these people? because food and water ain't going to do it when isis is in this position. >> well, the trouble is, the isis has already pushed beyond where they are, and they're putting pressure on the peshmerga. they're pushing into the kurdish area now. this is an enclave that has been surrounded and completely at the mercy of isis. >> you just heard elise saying there's no way there are going to be american boots on the ground with regard to this. although there are. we've got advisers, for whatever purpose, advisers are working at this moment. isn't this what's required to save this entire community? >> well, we could beef up the kurds, give the kurds enough air support, maybe additional munitions and things they need, and they could probably move in and take this place. but that's going to req

air power is not the end game here. >> colonel francona thanks so much. i have to take a break. we'll be back with much more in "the newsroom." thank ythank you for defendiyour sacrifice. and thank you for your bravery. thank you colonel. thank you daddy. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance can be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. >>> to stop the advance on irbil i've directed our military to take targeted strikes against isil terrorist convoys, should they move toward the city. we intend to stay vigilant and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in iraq. including our consulate in irbil, and our embassy in baghdad. >> as of this morning, we have taken action. it has begun. two american f-18 aircraft have dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece used by isis in northern iraq, this went down 6:45 a.m. eastern time, according to rear ad

rick francona, we'll see you again.l be right back. save you fifteen percent or huh, more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know the great wall of china wasn't always so great? hmmm...what should we do? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. remind me to tell her happy anniversary. [ cortana ] next time you talk to caroline, i'll remind you. [ siri ] oh no, i cannot do that. oh, and remind me to get roses when i'm near any flower shop. sure thing. remind you when you get to flower shop. i can't do that either. cortana, it's gonna be a great night. [ beep ] oh wow! thanks for the traffic alert. i better get going. now that is a smart phone. ♪ oh, wait ♪ it's 'cause you make me smile ♪ >>> back now live in ferguson, missouri. what a difference some police tactics and a few hours makes. it's looking like what protests should look like, and not in the middle of a war zone. >> it's been great to watch your reporting and great to have you on the ground there. and gr

we're back with colonel rick francona and juliet.sis. do we know what that means and how many ice i go members have been taken out? >> they've released some numbers. it is in the low 20, 30. that's not the point. he said they're being effective. they're being effective at what they're aimed at. the goal is to assist in the humanitarian operation around sinjar mountain. they're doing that. they're allowed the kurds to get in there and open a corridor. they're keeping isis at bay and keeping them away from making the advance on the city. that's all well and good. that's as far as it goes. they're not striking isis in a big manner. they're not going after what i call core isis. they're not hitting them that mosul. they're not going after the troop formations as probably they should. continuing president wants to wait until we have some sort of inclusive government in bag. but i'm not sure we have the time, the luxury of time to do that. because isis remains on the move. so i think it is a more critical issue than i think we're looking a

in the meantime, colonel francona still with me.reak is about the kurds. this area that has undergone the air strikes by the americans up until now has thought to be pretty safe, because the kurds were strong, protected by the peshmerga. are they officially outgunned? is it a wise idea to arm anybody anymore in this part of the world? >> you always run the risk of things falling into the wrong hands. of course the kurds are now outgunned because isis has gotten its hands on all of that u.s. military equipment in the mosul area. they've taken it over, integrated it into their armed forces. very effectively, by the way. they've been able to move that equipment into syria. they moved it back to iraq. now they're using m-1 tanks. this is state of the art stuff. up-armored humvees, which the kurds have no protection against. they said, we can't defeat the armor on the humvee. >> effectively the american -- >> the american -- >> armor, the pilfered american armor. we're flat out of time. colonel francona, thank you. we're continuing to wa

colonel francona, this is a tragedy with the deaths in the situation.is looked at politically in terms of what this means for the equation for israel. what does israel do next? do you think this is a game changer? >> oh, yeah. as was the capture of the soldier was a game changer for the israelis. as colonel maginnis just said, they would go in and try to find this guy just like we would have done with our soldiers in the past. israelis do that with theirs. they stop the operation and they can go back to destroying the tunnels and defensive operation. politically, this frees up the israeli government to free up without leaving someone behind. hezbollah and hamas have both held human remains. >> we do not know where the body is at this point in time. >> that is different than having a live captive. the israelis have waited over a decade at times to negotiate for the return of those remains. so this really frees up the israeli politically. i know that is a grim calculation, but it frees them up to do what they need to do on the offensive side and also to m

colonel francona, i appreciate it. philip mudd as well. this is one of the worst greened on blue attacks, certainly not the first. more from randi kaye now. >> reporter: this is the scene, march of last year after a deadly attack on troops in afghanistan's wardak province. another green on blue attack as they're called. a man wearing an afghan security uniform grabbed a heavy machine gun and opened fire. two u.s. soldiers were killed, one a green beret. ten other americans wounded. that same year, 2013, the pentagon says 14 nato forces died as a result of these types of attacks. the year before was far worse. 61 deaths. green-on-blue attacks began to accelerate in 2011 after president obama announced his plan to pull most u.s. forces out of afghanistan and end combat operations this year. transferring security responsibilities to the afghan forces. forces that require training. >> the green-on-blue attacks are a very concerning problem. and action is being taken to protect against those kinds of attacks. but it does not change the mission.

thanks very much, lieutenant colonel rick francona. stay with us. we will have a lot more right after this break. hey pal? you ready? can you pick me up at 6:30? ah... (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh! move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting for him. (vo) the longest-lasting midsize sedan in its class. introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. >>> a few other stories we are keeping our eyes on, a brand new cease-fire between israel and hamas, the middle of the night in jerusalem and gaza. exactly two and a half hours into the latest of a number of agreements meant to allow peace negotiations to proceed in egypt. cease-fires don't have a great history of success in this latest conflict. one of them a few days ago lasted less than two hours. seeing a live picture there from gaza city. >>> moving on now to chaos in ukraine. secretary of state john kerry is sending a strong

i want to bring in erin mcpike and lieutenant colonel rick francona.to you, erin, is the prime minister saying it severely hurt strategic systems of hamas, what it has built, and that its military is regrouping. >> reporter: fred, we are awaiting reaction from the white house on benjamin netanyahu's statement just now. however, we did hear from president obama just yesterday. he says he is in constant consultation with netanyahu, but of course this has gotten tense. we heard from israeli officials, also the israeli media, they're criticizing john kerry for not doing enough, even though he has been on the phone with people from the region day-in and day-out since this began. but essentially we're hearing from the israeli press that they think that some of the obama administration is being naive in trying to force this truce. there was an ap report that came out just this morning in which essentially netanyahu has said to the obama administration don't second guess me on what i am doing with hamas, fred. >> all right, colonel francona, what does it mean

colonel rick francona, thanks very much, general james williams, thanks as well. i'm jim sciutto.al viewers, returning to the scheduling program. for the rest of, a fast forward look at the week ahead. that's going to start right after this break. we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. transamerica. "vocce vanduccos!" "when your favorite food starts a fight" "fight back fast" "with tums." "relief that neutralizes acid on contact..." "...and goes to work in seconds." ♪tum, tum tum tum tums! "and now, try great tasting tums chewy delights." "yummy." [ blows whistle ] then spend your time chasing your point "b"... ...the war of 1812. [ bell rings ] you get to point "b", and sometimes things change. but your journey is not done. capella university is the most direct path to what's next, because our competency-based curriculum gives you what you need to move forward to your point "c". capella university. start your journey at capella.edu. yazidiyazidi. >>> you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm jim s

rick francona, has the u.s. response so far been up to it? >> well, we've kind of -- i think we're not really paying much attention over there. other focus, as you said, has been riveted on what's going on in gaza. and 300 people on the ground. they issued their initial assessment and it was not good. you see what's happening. every time they meet isis they go back and forth. with the fire power and the air power and they are still not able to dislodge this, this is a disaster. and it's going to get worse as they move further south. they are coming down to tiger's alley. but now they are moving on samarra. it will galvanize shia. it is a holy city for shia. if they go after the airport, and they are moving south already, they are not stopping. it is amazing how fast they are able to move and how effective these guys can be. >> we talked a lot in a number of segments today about the incredible divisions in the region right now. all the competing interests, whether we're talking about israel and gaza or the crisis in syria and iraq. when you ha

obviously, lieutenant colonel francona, for something like, that you can't just have c-130s or whateverefully, very low and they need military support. >> and the fighters would be equipped to detect any kind of air defense on the part of isis and be prepared to take action to protect those aircraft. >> i want to thank everyone on our panel for this breaking coverage. that does it for us in this hour of cnn. obviously, our coverage is going to continue on now through the evening. cnn coverage continues now with wolf blitzer and alisyn camerota. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> good evening. this is "cnn tonight." i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we're following breaking news. events in iraq now spinning out of control as isis, the group that is being called even more violent than al qaeda is spreading its vicious reign of terror north, leaving a trail of death and destruction amid fears that isis will target american military and possibly civilian diplomatic advisers in and around the area of erbil in n

let's go to our cnn military analyst and retired lieutenant rick francona. do you think mission creep? >> i certainly do. >> is that what this looks like it could be? >> this started off as an effort to protect american people in irbil. then help the yazidis get off that mountain. this is neither of those. this is supporting iraqi military peshmerga on the ground in a combat operation. i don't see how you can call it anything esbut that. we are performing as the iraqi air force, as barbara said, and there are likely some u.s. personnel on the ground up there something we do knot know yet, that is not being confirmed by the pentagon and the administration. show that graphic, the dam, the google earth, the location of the dam as you tell us about the significance of this dam in mosul. why is this so important? i know the infrastructure there is horrible on this dam. they don't want it to break. >> it's about 15 miles north of mosul. it creates a huge reservoir of water. if anything happens to that dam that water comes down the tigris valley, comes through mosu

i want to bring in cnn military analyst lieutenant colonel rick francona. hi. >> hi, good morning. >> it looks so rinky dink to me. >> this particular one is, a smaller rocket, probably one of the homemade ones, you can launch it from any tube, use a car battery to ignite them. it's really quite simple, quite ingenious. they'll go maybe ten miles. these are not the rockets that are a big threat to the israelis. >> let's talk about this kind of rocket for just a moment. it's so strange, so they're in the middle of a street and there's a blue tarp covering the rocket paraphernalia with branches and trees. >> yes. and once they launch this, the israelis will detect it, because they have almost 24-hour coverage of the entire gaza strip. it's not that big. they've got these blimp-born cameras and sensors, plus all the drones, so they can see what's going on and as they detect the rocket going up they can immediately bring weapons to bear on the launch sites. the problem is as you see there, this is in the middle of a crowded street right beside probably a school

some perspective from rick francona and bobby gauche and delta force officer jeff beady. you served as ade delta force officer. there were few fewer yezidis than thought. there is not likely to be a u.s. rescue mission. so what goes into this kind of determination, the 24-hours those special forces guys were up on top of that mountain? >> well, i'll tell you, wolf, it's very encouraging to see that we have reestablished the fact that american eyes on the target are key prior to committing any american forces. unfortunately, we didn't do that back in 2003 when we first went into iraq. we didn't have american eyes on mobiles. here a day or so ago, people said it's a huge catastrophe and we need troops to relief this situation. because we put u.s. eyes on the target who are skilled in conducting an assessment, they provide us the information to inform our decision leaders an accurate picture so we don't go ahead with poor information and commit a tactical set of mistakes and that is what they did. i think it's outstanding and the fact that they left, wolf, indicates to me, y

>> joining us now to discuss pal line center director yusef and rick francona and bob behr, former ciave. our senior international correspondent nick robert ton talked with senior hamas leader. have a listen to his interview. stphrt hamas is a movement of institutions. it has respected leadership. all the members of hamas in political or armed wing are disciplined. the israelis, egyptians and american administration know this. otherwise, john kerry would not have intervened this time. >> president obama said it is irresponsible for hamas to fire their rockets from civilian neighborhoods. that's what you are doing it. why do you do it when you know civilians are going to die? >> translator: look at the results. how many israeli civilians were killed? israel know the number. while how many palestinian civilians has killed? it killed up to this minute 1,700. we killed 63 soldiers. we kill soldiers highly they kill palestinian civilians. >> but because -- but because -- because you're firing your rockets from civilian neighborhoods. that's where you are firing your rockets from. your rocke

we'll dig deeper with phillip mud and military analysts, lieutenant colonial francona. this is clearly a vetting problem here. a, this was an officer in the afghan military that raises problems but talk about the vetting process. it's supposedly extensive, but is it really? >> it has changed since 2012 because we had a rash of killings in 2012. we approached the afghans and said you've got to improve your vetting so that we have less of these incidents. the institute of the process, they brought in computers and they are matching databases with ours now, but it's not quite there yet, as we have seen, and jim is right, the incidents are down, but the vetting process is totally an afghan issue right now and then we're given the result, and there is not much we can do about this. as we withdraw -- >> so they control the vetting. >> they do. they do. and so we have to take their word for it once they are vetted. we can get the result and run it through our computers, but they do the investigation. >> phil, i mean, the reality is and this is no disrespect to the afghans, but

lieutenant colonel rick francona joins us live here in the studio. we're talking about this green on blue type of attack. this has happened before. what can be done to mitigate this kind of situation? >> the problem is we don't control the vetting of the afghans. the afghans do. so we have very little control who has access to these facilities and as we draw down, we have less and less control over the facilities. the afghans are almost completely in charge, so they control who has access and we have to take their word for it. so this really worries the u.s. troops because they look at their supposed counterparts, and you just don't have the element of trust that you need if this is going to work. >> i don't want to bury the lead here because jim just reported a short time ago that it was a general officer, a u.s. general who was killed. jim, at this point any information about his identity who he was leading in this area, and how on earth an afghan soldier, an armed afghan soldier could get so close to a general officer? >> well, let's start first w

so back with me is cnn military analyst lieutenant colonel rick francona and jessica lewis.he is the research director at the institute for the study of war. jessica was stationed in iraq for 15 months as a u.s. army intelligence officer on isis. but first, we want to go to cnn's jim sciutto. he has some new information about u.s. military assistance to the kurds and iraqis. what have you got, jim? >> that's right, alisyn. senior administration officials telling short reporters a short time ago that the u.s. in addition to authorizing air strikes against isis and these humanitarian air drops is going to expedite arms to the kurdish fighters, the kurdish militias, the so-called peshmerga in the kurdish controlled areas in the north. this is in addition to arms that the u.s. is giving to iraqi forces, including hell fire missiles, ammunition, ex-set. as the point was made earlier in the evening, one problem that the kurdish fighters are facing is they're well outarmed by isis who stole weapons supplied by the u.s. and this will be one way that the u.s. is attempting to right t

colonel rick francona, thank you.ppreciate it. >>> we have been following closely the condition of these two americans who are battling this potentially deadly ebola virus. they're in atlanta, staying and being treated at emory medical center. but coming up, you will hear from this man. he says he survived ebola some 40 years ago. we talked to erin burnett, she'll join me to explain that conversation and how he says he beat it. ♪ [ male announcer ] over time, you've come to realize... [ starter ] ready! [ starting gun goes off ] [ male announcer ] it's less of a race... yeah! [ male announcer ] and more of a journey. and that keeps you going strong. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we get that. with over 30 years of experience, we'll be there -- ready to go as far as you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- and could save you in out-of

jim and colonel francona, if you could stand by. there's still so much of this story we have left to tell. we cannot talk about the people enough who are absolutely on the run for their lives. men, women, little kids. the elderly. some in cars. some on foot. some even barefoot, covered in dust, filthy, broiling, 120-degree weather. the desperate story of the refugees at the heart of this problem next. what if a photo were more than a memory? what if it were more than something to share? what if a photo could build that shelf you've always wanted? or fix a leaky faucet? or even give you your saturday back? the new snapfix app revolutionizes local service. just snap a photo and angie's list coordinates a top-rated provider to do the work on your schedule. the app makes it easy. the power of angie's list makes it work. download snapfix for free. and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine, what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine, loving your numbers. introducing

want to turn to our military analyst, retired lieutenant colonel rick francona here with me in the studio. watched you out of the corner of my eye when our correspondents are giving us a sense of what they're seeing on the ground and you're acting -- reacting almost viscerally. >> i don't get it. this is a real opportunity for them to make some headway in the negotiations and hamas wants to fight. just as they've been handed quite a brutal beating at the hands of the idf. they've lost their tunnels, strategic weapon, rockets have been proven ineffective. a few rockets left, but do they really want to get in another fight with the israelis? they need to stay at the table and talk about these things, but if their conditions are to have all of these -- the blockade lifted and all that before they agree to a cease-fire i think that's a nonstarter. >> talk about the fact that you have a palestinian delegation there, it's not just made up of hamas, there are other players at the table from the palestinian side. is there talking to hamas in your your sense from that delegation? >> i would love t

colonel francona, thank you. want to take you to the case of the american army sergeant bowe bergdahl. remember this id havideo from bn may, release from his taliban captors. after being held as a p.o.w. for five years. today, some questions about how he ended up in their hands in the first place, questions from the general who's investigating exactly what happened before he disappeared from his post in afghanistan. did he walk willingly into their hands or was it something far more complex than that. and a brand-new photograph has just released of what sergeant bergdahl looks like now. shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. >>> what to do about sergeant bowe bergdahl. the army still doesn't know how to handle this soldier, who was held by the taliban for five long years. there has never been a case q

also joined by cnn military analyst and retired air force lieutenant colonel rick francona and from cleveland, former s.e.a.l. chris heben. i want to play this short piece of tape from an eyewitness there when the attack happened. >> translator: i was inside the academy and suddenly i heard three gunshots. after the shooting, helicopters landed inside the academy compound and took away their casualties. i don't know what happened next. >> so jim sciutto, i want to bring you in next. some new and breaking information about the actual attacker. what have you learned? >> we have detail, that this attacker was an afghan soldier, a vetted afghan soldier. they go through a serious vetting process. a seven-step vetting process. to make sure, for instance, they weren't former taliban fighters. also just to check their loyaltyings. that soldier went through that. had been with the unit for some time. then today took his weapon, a light machine gun, i'm told, a heavy weapon, and turned it on these coalition soldiers. killing one u.s. general. wounding a german general. and wounding as well 15 -- 14 oth

colonel francona, these people don't negotiate.rst point on how they could retaliate. they could unleash a crash program to attack the west. what do you mean? >> that would entail giving western recruits specifically tailored training to make the kind of bombs where you could go to a home improvement store in the west or a beauty supply store and actually make an explosive device. we saw al qaeda and pakistan give that training to western recruits in the 2000s in the period after 9/11, we have not yet seen that from isis. they could launch this kind of program and send operatives back to the west to launch attacks. >> i urge our viewers to read your piece. paul, thank you. general hertling thank you as well. >>> the ncaa has fought the idea of paying college athletes. but a new lawsuit could totally change the way colleges do business and mean paychecks for athletes in several sports. stay with me. ♪ ♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delici

air force colonel rick francona. >> always better to do this in daylight because what you're trying to do is put this into a material where you're trying to support. it does no good to drop this and have them climb over rough terrain. if you do it too far, the people you're trying to help will take it in an area they shouldn't be. you have to be sure that the aircraft that are going to drop the humanitarian daily rations, hdrs, that the aircraft that are dogs this are safe. you want to take them in with some fighter protection. you want them looking to see if there are any air. >> dewayne: fences. it's a well-thought out military operation. we'll use a c-17. you can drop about 17,000 meals at one time. >> could it turn unwhittingly into a fight with isis? can they knock them down? >> no the at the altitude that we've talked about. there has been a lot of equipment taken from the iraqi army. although we don't believe they have acquired any air defense capability above, say, 17,000 feet, we're really not sure what they have taken from the syrians. isis has shown them to be very serious a

we have lieutenant colonel rick francona.s a surprise politically. >> no. >> sanctions, everybody says sanctions will be enough. clearly they don't mean anything to putin. let's take a look at the map and see what's going on, where the buildup is here. we'll show you with the floor of the world that we have. obviously ukraine and russia share a border. what do you see, and what does it mean? >> well, the russians have moved a lot more troops, 20,000, as you said, 17 maneuver battalion. that's enough to go into the east ukraine if they want to. the question is now will they? >> the obvious question but they need to be asked. is there any good reason for them to be there? are they ever there? is there ever any justification for them to be there other than the obvious? >> they will say this is for a military exercise or they are preparing for humanitarian aid to fellow russians. >> both of which they said before crimea? >> exactly. this is a template they see. call a military exercise or say they will have humanitarian intervent

air force rick francona and the recent author of "out of the mountains, the coming age of the urban gorilla." how effective are they to slow down isis forces? >> they are effective in what they are doing but not enough to blunt the offensive. they are taking out small units, mortar positions, artillery pieces, several vehicles. i'm not sure that's going to blunt isis. they have a lot of equipment and vehicles. they can move quickly. >> they have tanks in some cases. >> they have not only tanks but m-1 tanks, u.s. made and a lot of the old russian-made tanks, as well. they can bring a lot to bear and quickly overwhelm what one carrier air wing could do. so there are other assets in the region, we may have to bring to bear on this. >> david, you say that the american air power totally changes the equation. how -- in what way do you think that changes it? >> well, as i think most will remember, we were the current islamic state and they were operating as gorillas and moving around in civilian clothes with weapons in civilian weapons and would sneak around by night and plant bombs. what they ha

. >> and "outfront" tonight, military analyst rick francona who has spent time in iraq and this area. jacob silverburg who has been to the mountains where the yazidis are right now struggling to survive. jacob, you have been there and on those mountain tops. you know the terrain. does it seem as though that bouw colic area is the least bit capable of supporting tens of thousands of refugees? >> the mount that i remember was barron, rocky and scrub brus but not a forest. at the time, many lived at the base of the mountain. the mountain itself had terrace farming and poor yazidis but it didn't seem capable of playing host to a large number of people. >> let's drill down on where it is we are look here. as we look at the map this is a large country but as you move northward you can see where we are in relation to baghdad. we are going to try to show overhead where the yazidis are located. so walk me through what we're seeing. where they are in relation to this. >> this is in the northwestern corner of the country close to the syrian border. this is a mountain ridge called sinjar mountain

joining me now rick francona and fran townsend.here is the humanitarian drop component and the possible, the use of u.s. military fighters to bomb advancing isis forces. >> yeah, both are probably important on the humanitarian side. this is something we can do but has to be done right. you can't push things out of the back of an aircraft. they have to be targeted to get to an area where people can find them and use them. you don't want them going out and exposing themselves to isis fire. >> there is concern, if you're dropping supplies out of a c-130 from height or low, you have to have some sort of fighter jet escort. >> they will go in there. they will probably have f-16s equipped to do air defense suppression. that's the fear. has isis gotten itself ahold of a weapon that can knock down a higher flying aircraft. we talked about this and the malaysian aircraft, these more capable anti-aircraft systems. right now we don't believe they do but who knows what they have taken. isis has proven to be effective in moving things from one

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and state department official and also with us rick francona. >> rick, because of that, colonel, let'start with you, so you hear the operations laid out from what we know by barbara. we talk about the fact that this is a massive under taking. it's very well going to put u.s. forces potentially face-to-face with isis forces. is this going to work? how would it look? >> no matter how you do it, ground or air, you are going to have to put a u.s. presence on top of that mountain, to just marshall the people in whatever convoy or put them on whatever helicopters. if you are going to bring in massive amounts of helicopters, we're talking thousands of people, if you use the big army helicopter that carries 65 people, how many sorties are you going to have to make? you are going to have secure a point on that mountain. you are going to put people up there not rush the helicopters. you need to keep them back for the safety of the crew, the aircraft. you got all these people up there, you are going to have to secure them. if you have to air bridge, where are they going to fly? they are going to

let me just bring in colonel rick francona on the phone with me.asize barbara ra's point, three strikes in less than 24 hours, stationary convoy of vehicles. before that, it was the artillery targets. tell me what the u.s. specifically is going after? >> anything that composes a threat toer bill, anything that composes a threat to the consulate or u.s. forces working in that joint command center in northern iraq. so it looks like they are looking for targets of opportunity if they see anything that's in that general area that has an offensive capability, they're going to go ahead and strike it rather than wait for isis to make a move, they'll try to set up a safe cordon there. anything in that area, they're going to strike. >> what about the damage that would be done? we're obviously not there on the ground but hoping to damage all of this completely. >> you know, each one of these aircraft, the way she described is if they made two passes and dropped one bomb on each, they're guiding each one with a laser. they can take their time. if they're high

i want to bring in colonel francona about this.w this very well. >> for several reasons it provides power to the region of the country. it also provides water. more importantly control of it is very important. if that dam fails it will cause a massive flood. meters of water rolling down the tigre tigress valley. it is just that the dam is in bad shape. the army corps of engineers called it the worst dam in the world. >> you can't maintain it when isis is there. >> we want to get the dam back into friendly hands so they can get technicians back in there. >> the u.s. air strikes, are they working? >> looks to be. looks like there has been a bit of a shift. i know the initial focus of the air campaign was to protect erbil and provide support. we are seeing it expand to help the kurds. it looks like the air campaign is expanding and the strikes are working well. what strikes me is they are providing almost close air support for the kurds. >> you think u.s.? >> special forces are special intelligence agency. air trikes are much more eff

forces on the ground in iraq. >> lieutenant colonel rick fran con n francona.van perez, thanks. >>> and after three days, gaza and israel involved in a bloody war against. live to gaza, next. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve.. at humana, we believe the gap will close when healthcare gets simpler. when frustration and paperwork decrease. when grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home. so let's do it. let's simplify healthcare. let's close the gap between people and care. can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. >>> the blame game and rocket fire between israel and hamas is on again. israel waited several hours friday before resuming attacks on gaza even after rockets began being fired at israel. talks for the three-day cease-fire failed when hamas didn't see its key demands being m

joining me now is cnn military analyst colonel rick francona.sara at the border saying she is hearing artillery rounds. is this even going to happen? >> i think so. i think everybody is trying to get their last licks in before the actual time. >> okay. >> they want to get the maximum damage, and then they're going go into this period of lull. >> okay. so karl penhaul is reporting that he believes that israelis are using some area weapons aimed at inflicting mass casualties on the enemy forces. were those weapons intended for urban populations, for urban areas? >> no, but you go with the weapons you have. the israeli defense forces equipped to fight conventional war. they're not really designed to fight in this urban environment. this is a very difficult place to fight. so where as you have the aircraft, they're dropping precision weapons on a plan. they know where they're going to strike when they go up. they also have aircraft circling around for targets of opportunity directed by the drones. but they're all guided. the drones can see what they

bring in our cnn military an thrift lieutenant colonel nick francona.onel, they can do targeted strikes, they have very, very good weapons system, but how targeted can one be pumping that much force into such a heavily populated area? >> you can't. that's the bottom line. you can hit the target you want. the problem is, as you hit the target you've got a lot of collateral damage, because the weapons put off a huge explosion. the air strikes are probably more accurate because those are planned. the pilots take off, know what they're going to hit. they can hit that precisely, if they're flying the targets of opportunity guided in by drones or drones themselves, very precise. the problem comes in when using tank fire and artillery. these are not guided, aimed, not guided. when they hit a tremendous explosion and as we've talked before, in this densely populated area, there are always going to be civilians present. it's just the nature of the business in gaza. >> one of the things possibly complicating this just in the last 90 minutes, the palestinian deleg

our jonathan mann spoke to rick francona. >> been a lot of equipment taken from the iraqi army and although we don't believe they have acquired any air defense capability above, say, 17,000 feet, we're really not sure what they may have taken from the syrians and isis has shown themselves to be very effective about moving things between what was syria and iraq and beefing up their forces where they need to be so this is going to be -- have to be a well-planned and well-executed operation if it's going to work. >> all right. well, let's get some answers to these questions. joining me is former cia operative robert baer. bob, thanks for joining us. we know these humanitarian drops have already took place and now we're waiting for what the u.s. president says are possible air strikes only to protect u.s. citizens but what is the risk level here both for the u.s. and for civilians on the ground? >> well, the risk level is enormous because right now any air operations in that part of iraq have got to be a high altitude. isis for one has taken stinger missiles from the iraqi army stored at camp s

we have also senior military official colonel rick francona with us as well. we heard representative peter king say that isis is more of a threat now than al qaeda was prior to 9/11. do you believe that to be true? >> i think it's true in the sense that isis now holds territory. and, of course, we know that a terrorist group holding territory, being able to train people there, being able to have people there that are gaining experience, skills, organization, is the basis for the kind of attack we saw on 9/11. you cannot do an attack on that scale if you're not holding territory. that's really the lesson from 9/11. you can never let terrorists hold territory anymore. that's why it's happening now. that's why it's so important to push back isis. >> let me come to you colonel francona. i want to read something for you that douglas ollivant wrote for cnn.com about the u.s. air strikes. he's the director for iraq of the u.s. national security council. here it is. there it is. air power is incredibly potent when properly used but nearly useless in the wrong situatio

. >> i want to get lieutenant colonel rick francona's take on all of this.ve just joined us, there are some veterans who have been sending out tweets about these pictures that we're seeing on the other side of the screen right now. and here are some of the tweets thatty read to you, and you can tell me if you agree. one of them says the gentleman on the left has more personal body armor and weaponry than i did while invading iraq. another one says i don't know how it was in iraq and afghanistan, but in bosnia we had less firepower while on patrol than the cops in ferguson. another one says police have tons of military gear, but they're not exactly militarized. i know of plenty of line infantry units more compassionate than this. what do you think when you hear all this? >> i agree with everything the general and radley said. the impression that people get when they see this, you know, they look like soldiers and they start acting like soldiers. but if you're the person on the other end of that and you see this, soldiers are there to protect a civilian popula

rick francona and kimberly dozier, we appreciate you, thank you. >>> health officials say it's the deadliest are preparing to return to the states for treatment. so how much risk dobb they pose, and could an outbreak happen here in the u.s.? >>> at this moment, medical professionals at emory hospital in atlanta preparing for the very first known case of ebola in the u.s. hours from now, a plane carrying one of two infected americans is expected to arrive. >> dr. kent brantly and a worker, nancy write boll cbombb contracted it while working in liberia. >> we want to talk with a doctor with the national institutes of health. doctor, thank you so much for being with us. can you give us a sense of -- we do have international viewers here with us this hour. can you give a sense of the risk in in liberia and sierra leone and sigh beberia now? >> it's really dreadful, it's an outbreak that's really out of control. you mentioned the statistics. there have been over 1,300 people infected over 730 people have died, and it's the inadequacy of the health care infrastructure as well as the difficulty wit

peter beinhart, and lieutenant colonel rick francona, a retired u.s. air force intelligence officer assigned to the u.s. embassy in bagdad. thanks for jining us. we're going from bad to worse in iraq. that's the reality. having been in country as you have and understanding it politically as you do, peter, it always has felt like a country very much desiring to break apart. you had the kurds who had been asking for their territory. they haven't gotten it. you now have this majority-minority pull with the government. let's start with that. with what's going on there, maliki has the power. no question about it. does he have the ability, rick, to fight off change? >> well, that's a good question. he's trying to do that. but time is not on his side and he's lost all -- he's losing his support. we saw him flexing his muscle. this is not how you have a transition of power. he's taking on the trappings of a dictator. >> he says i'm not leaving. the only thing that matter, he says is the military. he sets up, fires on opposition. distracts from anything they're

i want to bring in rick francona. thank you for being with us. appreciate it.ond mt. sinjar, the refugees not as numerous as we thought. many were allowed to escape much quicker than we thought. the air strikes and air lifts may have worked better than we thought. how were they able to make this so quickly with the u.s. forces and why do you think everything that was done worked so quickly? >> internal defense, used to going out, working with locals and assessing situations very quickly. they were able to get up there. as we always say there's nothing like american eyeballs on the target. american military people judging what the american military will have to face. and, you know, professionals looking at the situation. so, i think this is good news. we had an american team up there, providing a good assessment. >> what you're looking at right here, these are some of the air lifts, bringing in aid and bringing out some kurds. i don't think this is what got most of the numbers out. most fleed on foot, maybe even through syria and back into iraq. the question now

rick francona is a retired intelligence officer. he is now a cnn analyst. great to see you. a lot to discuss. let's get to the area and show the viewers the area we are talking about here. this is northern iraq. this is where the latest attacks, if you will, the focus of the isis surge has gone. this kind of spider web red area, this is where isis has taken over, over the last couple of months. when you see this area, you noted their strategy in the push isis is making, what does it show to you? >> they have come down the euphrates and tigress valley. if you look at what's in the valleys, are dams. all the power generation is located in these areas. if they take the mosul dam, they control all of the power north of baghdad. >> there's strategy behind this. this is not a rag tag group of militants pulled together. there is -- there is operational kind of, there's a mentality here. >> as you watch how they move, they move like an army. they move with armored support, artillery support, they take everything with them and go after designated targets and fight well. they are not