group fighters have also destroyed shrines considered sacred by other religious groups. one was the tomb of jonah blown up in july. to recruit new fighters, the most disturbing, the videotaped beheadings of two american journalists. the fighting in iraq is having a devastating effect on since across the country. nearly on civilians across the country. temporary shelter in mosques and other buildings and over 2 million syrian refugees living in iraq. food clean water material for shelters. iraqi american's zena sabi, author of between two worlds which documents her experience growing up in iraq under saddam hussein. zena welcome back. give me your reaction of what you heard from the president? >> well, it's like a quick reaction, a military reaction to the middle east as opposed to a lock term reaction, instead of playing a whack a mole game. the united states did not win world war ii by only mill tried intervention. it stainless steeled -- i.t. stabilized, bill military intervention -- >> shouldn't it be first the military intervention to symptom the islamic state or not

he's talking about this group khorasan which was in syria, as well. >> you've been watching this groupe the khorasan group was nearing the execution phase of an attack in europe and homeland. >> so nearing the execution phase he says of an attack either in europe. have you been made aware of that? do we have any idea of what kind of attack and whether it's been disrupted. >> we have been made aware they were moving towards an attack, it was fairly imminent. we did not have more details than that. other than being briefed, for some time. this group in syria represented perhaps a more imminent in the united states than even isis. >> given this now seems to be -- it's going to be a long conflict, should congress vote on authorizing this? >> well, it's always better for congress to authorize something, but there's been many instances where congress has not authorized, particularly when it's an air campaign. i don't think we've ever, as a matter of fact, had an authorization for the use of military force when there were air strikes involved such as in bosnia, for instance. and, in fact, the

these are groups that don't hold the government in any state of validity; that generally denigrate groupsle based on characteristics like skin color, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, so i think it's quite clear what domestic extremism is. >> david you were inspired to use humor after a kkk rally in 2007. tell us about that. >> it was a pretty creative response on behalf of activists with a group called mountain justice that formed a group called the coo cluck clowns. and rather than meeting hatred with hatred and running away and saying they just want attention ignore them, they chose to be presence and transform the energy of the event in a way that denied the kkk for what they came from. >> you are using innovative techniques to combat racism and hatred. it is clear that the kkk is trying to get in touch with kids. starts? >> well, i think it's extremely important to reach out to the kids. these problems are long in the making, and generally long in the solution, but i really think it's incumbent upon all of us to reach out to each other and children. the best defense against bigot

facilitating of these groups. it's targeted at the gutteries and others that have perhaps supported a lot of these groups in the past and certainly the countries that have rejected security council resolutions even when they are binding and not adhered to them. i think that they are quite vulnerable. they are trying to expand their presence in the world and are hosting a world cup in 2022 so i think that language is key language and the countries that want to be responsible and be part of the international community will have to live by the language of this security council resolution. >> let's listen to the president. >> 7,272nd meeting of the security council is called to order. the provisional agenda for this meeting is threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, foreign terrorist fighters. the agenda is adopted. i wish to warmly welcome the distinguished heads of state and government, secretary-general, ministers and other distinguished representatives present in the security council

the main group we heard about was al qaeda.his has been incredibly overshadowed by the islamic state. how has that happened? >> the islamic state is basically al qaeda in iraq successor, overshadowed the cause when osama bin laden died and al's lorrie to go over, there was reshuffling that happened and people were not happy with the strategy and the charismatic view of the world that is different from bin laden. it was sticking much more power back in november of last year. decided to send a letter to mosul and tell them that he has been and do not represent bin laden's legacy and that they should join. only one or two franchises decided to join him. since the islamic state has been getting so much ground in syria and iraq, taking mosul was the tipping point and a lot of splinter groups have joined. they see them as the new kid in town. the one that can represent them and get them what they want. >> describe to us how their ways of operating are different. we have the islamic state which is targeting french citizens. how would

. >> the khorason group. the pentagon says that group is an al qaeda-linked organization. they say it was ready to execute attacks on commercial flights. blowing them up using cell phones, clothes and toiletries that would fit in the carry-on size loaded with explosives. we'll have much more on that group in just a moment. our justice correspondent, pamela brown, begins our coverage tonight following the story about potential lone wolf attacks. pam, what are you hearing about this warning, which obviously is coming right after those first air strikes in syria? >> reporter: this warning is in response to that, erin. this is a joint bulletin sent out by the fbi and department of homeland security to law enforcement agencies across the country, telling them to stay on heightened alert for lone wolf attacks in the wake of the strikes against khorason and isis in syria. the concern among law enforcement officials i've been speaking with, erin, is that the strikes could perhaps incite violence from isis sympathizer

group there asge well.i cannot talk about the english in more detail but if you want i can give you the reference to the team that did the research on my group. gentleman in the corner, in the back. perhaps an unfair question -- my name is ethan. thomastioned unsurprisingly, that what happens in scotland is unlikely to have any great influence in russia. what of the reverse? in russia,ent events syria, iraq, the recent spate of, for want of a better term very bad things, is this likely politicalany conservativism or do we really just not have enough data to say? >> it's a really good question. say isly, what you might the majority of scots are in favor of either independence or devolution. that is over 60% likely the option and most of those who say independence is their first option him and nearly everyone would then vote for further devolution then surprisingly. the majority of scots if you ask them right now still would say foreign affairs and defense are best done by the u.k.. i think it's a really vali

it was an associated group. for years in iraq and then in 2013, it became isil. al qaeda and iraq changed their name and became isil. it started to recruit other al qaeda affiliates. so it's clearly an associated force of al qaeda. the folks who attacked us on 9/11. and that's the basis of which we have the authority to go after. >> even if that association ended? we know that al qaeda broke with isis. >> again, they had a split but isil claims that it is the rightful heir to bin laden. it's been recruiting other al qaeda affiliates to join in. >> why not ask congress to give authorization for use of force? >> we said we would welcome it. if congress wants to do that, we would work with congress to do exactly that, one authorization that's more targeted and focused on isil. but it's something that, while we would welcome it, we don't require it, and so we're proceeding on the basis right now of the 2001 operation. >> and congress adjourned before taking that controversial action. thank you, tony blinken. >>> new

. >> let's talk about the strikes on the khorasan group, the al qaeda affiliated group. do we have an assessment on whether we managed to disrupt the ability. >> we are assessing those strikes. we believe that we have disrupted the group's capabilities, we were in the final staples of planning for an attack, perhaps in europe and the homeland. we hit them pretty hard. we know that we have disrupted the capabilities. the degree to which we did that, we are trying to figure it out. can you speak to whether the plot as has been reported to develop a bomb, a nonmetallic bomb that could be part of container? >> no, i don't have much detail on that, i'm afraid. we are not going to talk about intelligence matters here. all i can say is we have good, solid information that they were nearing the end game, planning for an attack. >> has the mission grown. as you know, the president called this a counter terrorism operation, and you were amongst the first to describe it as a war against i.s.i.l., similar to the war against al qaeda. martin dempsey suggested the possibilitiy of u.s.

groups. the key is, a lot of these alliances are localized. the we're seeing now is -- enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. we see the syrian government is quite happy to see strikes coming down on isis, particularly, nusra as well, while they are clearly -- the us government has made it clear they don't consider the al-assad government to be a legitimate partner. we have also seen opposition groups, more mainstream groups divided in their views. some have welcomed u.s. strikes on isis because they have also been attacked by isis, while others are afraid what you strikes will end up doing is reinforcing assad -- the assad government. it is confusing on one level, but the main guidance for us should be protection of civilians. i think one keeps this principle in mind, it will actually clarify and make it easier to pursue certain priorities in syria. >> nadim houry, thank you for being with us, human rights watch is senior researcher in lebanon and syria. speaking to us from beirut,

the is, which is a splinter group. absolutely we have a major fight, struggle, between the two branches, between the competition, which is clear, on the syrian battlefield. the is, the islamic state is winning the fight now. and enough for now, gradually using ground, which is recognised by al qaeda as a religious movement. >> would it be counterproductive for the islamic state and abu bakr al-baghdadi and some of his followers to say, "hang on, time to get rid of al qaeda", and think the target should be someone like ayman al zawahiri. >> well, for the is, they consider al qaeda as too soft, have no determination, unactive and not representing the principle of islam, the argument is not only who control the ground or finance and recruit, it is who is controlling the legitimacy, and for the group now, i.s.i.s., the islamic state, now they think they are repeating the legitimacy of the islamic state. and - if we look at the development now, really they are controlling the heart of the arab world. you talk about syria, i

group. they're also going to look at the funding of this group. they're going to amend the current rules in place, the sanctions that are in place againsta al-qaeda, and add the islamic state group to all of those sanctions. then the last part of this resolution is about countering violent extremism, as they call it. they're try to engage the local communities, try to persuade people, persuade people to come up with methods to prevent fight tours join i.s. >> thank you. australia's prime minister tony abbott has mee met with the parents of al jazeera journalist peter greste. the prime minister told greste's parents that he has spoken with the egyptian president, and he'll keep up the pressure for their son's release. >> greste along with mohammed fahmy and bader mohammed were convicted and al jazeera is asking for their release. >>> the leader of the question complain say david cameron as visit is an indication that the rest of britain is panicking about next thursday's referendum. we have more on that. >> reporter: as he swept his motorcade into

a large group of undecided in that group as well. interesting. yes.m sorry, i can't talk about the english in more detail. i can give you, later, i can give you the reference to the team that has done the research on that group. >> perhaps, an unfair question. >> identify yourself. >> i am ethan marrin. sir, you mentioned unsurprisingly, what happens in scotland is unlikely to have great influence in russia what of the reverse? do recent events in russia, syria and iraq, the recent, for the want of a better term, very bad things, likely to induce conserveatism, or we don't have good enough data to say? >> it is a good question. i think it is genuinely a good question. what you might say, what i showed early yearl, a a majority of scotts are -- over 60%, like the option. most of the ones who say, independence the first option, second favorite option, go for it. surprisingly. the majority of scotts if you ask them now, say, foreign affairs best done by the uk. that is a valid question. imperically though, what we have seen over the last few weeks, the p

, the khorason group. lots more to come on that. u.s. officials say it could be even more dangerous than the islamic state also known as isis. we reported yesterday about the khorason group and its reported leader, who officials say was close to osama bin laden. we're told the group was developing cutting edge weapons of terror, including nonmetallic explosives that they would then pack into toothpaste tubes so they could get through airport security. the president mentioned nothing about this group when making his case for strikes against syria. instead the white house said it would build an international coalition to take on the islamic state. and it apparently did exactly that. according to u.s. officials, saudi arabia, jordan, bahrain, the united arab emirates, all dropped bombs on syria overnight. qatar helped with support flights but did not launch weapons. we have a base there, airplanes took off from there. it was key. notice that no nato nations took part. we're a member of nato. no nato nations,

that group is that group, much more than isis. that can change. we had a new audiotape from one of its leaders, citing people in the west to do lone wolf attacks. >> this is the concrete threat to the u.s. in the aviation sector, in the way that isis has not cracked that threshold? >> i think that is true. it has been nine years since al qaeda launched the attack. that was on the three american hotels. it was a spectacular failure, because almost all the victims were jordanian. there was a very unusual statement -- it was almost like an apology. it was not a real apology. yeah, i think that is exactly right, catherine. this is a group that has the track record. of course, there are indications they have linked up with either the people in al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and they are sharing bomb making and that explains the strike. >> i want to bring marion, because one of the things i have learned through my reporting, there is a bomb maker in yemen -- this is the person who is the expert with nonmetallic explosives. he was behind the underwear

the khorasan group and isis are now learning how the u.s. fights groups like them.the pentagon announced more than a dozen air strikes on isis in syria. a dozen air strikes targeting what the pentagon describes as modular oil refineries. the belgians and the dutch announced they'd be sending their own fighter jets to fight in iraq if not in syria. army chief of staff ray odd easterno said that to support those u.s. air raids we might expect that a u.s. army headquarters group might also get called up as well. there hasn't been a headquarters group stationed in iraq since the u.s. war ended there in 2011 but apparently another headquarters unit may be getting ready to go. 100 to 500 more american soldiers. and we still do not know how long this campaign is going to go on or if the u.s. congress % will ever authorize it or what the ultimate effect will be on these terrorist groups or on the syrian civil war or on the iraqi government or on global terrorism, but as those targeted groups in iraq and syria, that's are learning what it feels like to face this u.s.-led int

so this group is a very potent group. we know they can develop clothing bombs where you dip your clothes in the liquid and it become as bomb. we know about the tooth paste bomb, the underwear bomb. so this is group is an extreme danger and i understand why these air strikes had to take place yeah, al jazeera national security contributor, joining us from washington. good to talk to you, as always. so near the border between iraq and syria, forces say they are already seeing the impact of last night's air strikes. near the crossing in iraq thigh think there's been rah direct result of the air strikes on monday night. they say they have orders not to fire on the isil fighters just a kilometer away from them here. but they are also seeing during the course of tuesday, that they haven't taking any incoming fire. it's become a stagnant front line, what they are not sure if this will continue. the general that is in the charge of this area, spoke to his opposite number on the syrian side, who told them there were two key areas

of that group may be? >> yes and no. we know some of the leadership of the khorasan group. but unfortunately, intelligence is not good enough in syria to know all of the people in that group. and it's a loose membership. people come and go. i think when people heard about these strikes, they obviously initially thought isis. but as you've noted in your report, the khorasan group and larger related al qaeda entity have really been at the forefront of the intelligence community's minds not because of their influence in syria and iraq, but because they are so focused on attacking the west. and they have a hardened experienced group of terrorists who are really quite good at doing just this. >> this morning on the "today" show, susan rice spoke out about it. take a listen. >> is he the new osama bin laden? >> no, he was an aide to bin laden back in the early stages of al qaeda. he's obviously a dangerous operative. but he has nothing like the cache of bin laden. >> how significant is his killing? and who's goi

as terrorism groups are active. other laws making, working with -- spreading -- advocating terrorism rather would be a crime punish. for up to five years in prison. and we heard some groups, particularly islamic groups in australian voicing concern about this, saying this could give added cause for the security forces to target the muslim minority in australia. and questions about infringement on civil liberties as well. >> indeed, ivan, thanks so much. good to see you, ivan. thank you so much. becky? >> yeah, the argument, mike, many people make to dissuade young muslims from joining isis isn't that it doesn't represent islam, and in britain, one social media campaign, that message with more than 120,000 views so far. samuel burke has the story. >> a group of young muslims started a media campaign because they believe isis does not represent their religion. >> it's totally unislamic. >> they're killing innocent people. >> you're unjust. >> it started in london with a video produced by the active change foundation a

the more we talk to fighters, the more it appears like this group is not really a discreet separate group per se, but highly experienced jihadists who come from different places who have come to syria to take advantage of the ability to move freely as a safe haven for themselves. >> what is their relationship to i.s. in syria. >> it seems that they have a relationship with the rival group to i.s., al-nusra. this sounds increasingly complicated. al-nusra has been one of the more successful rebel groups inside syria fighting the assad regime and also fighting isil. it seems that khorasan, just a group of commanders that organized themselves as sort of an informal off shoot, making their own plans separately. >> what do we know about the leader of this group,ed leader of khorasan? >> not much at all. he might be turkish, we know there's another commander, maybe his right hand, who might be a kuwaiti citizen. is it not clear, nor is it clear whether they are dead or alive. >> the u.s. has had a multi-million dollar bounty for the last two years. >> president obama will address the united nati

no terrorist group is invincible. the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent syrians and iraqi civilians has shocked and united all civilized people for the barbaric murders of two american journalists and an attack has demonstrated these terrorist threats are not confined to one part of the globe. the president has set -- has said the u.s. will continue to do what ever is necessary to .rotect at home and abroad we work with our partners in the region and allies over the long term to bring peace and security to a chaotic heart of the world. thank you very much gorelick forward our discussion. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thank you very much for that hystericaland description of the threat that we face today. you started in belgium. i would like to go back to belgium. i listened to what you said. you are portraying an which hason followers, sympathizers, and some cell structure in europe. if i would compare that to al

and inside that other terrorist group bombed in syria, the khorasan group. news tonight that may have been actively plotting attacks inside the u.s. >>> plus, a test of leadership for president obama. he's taken action to secure america. but today a gop senator accused him of crying wolf on terror right before the mid term election. >>> a source tells nbc news, an al qaeda terror group is testing explosive devices to bring down planes. the u.s. had information on specific, concrete plots that were learning about home-grown terror plans. who is khorasan, and who is their leader? that's next. the wish we wish above all...is health. so we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. expanded minuteclinic, for walk-in medical care. and created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. introducing cvs health. a new purpose. a new promise... to help all those wishes come true. cvs health. because health is everything. explosive devices to bring down ...so you say men are superior drivers? yeah? then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis

khorasan group.an group was in syria. centcom says planning attacks on the united states and targets connected to the west. central command says it conducted eight strikes on khorasan in aleppo. that is on the other side of the country. the training camps and other facilities were hit. back to isis. the strikes were significant in the terror group inside syria. previously it was just iraq where the united states was hitting targets for over a month. >> this marks a new phase and turn here. these strikes began with tomahawk missiles and followed up by fighter jets and drones. the u.s. not alone. all the partner nations involved in the air strikes are arab countries. including qatar, bahrain, united arab emirates and jordan. i want to start with senior washington correspondent joe johns. joe, we confirmed from central command. what are they telling us? >> reporter: the five arab nations along with the united states have struck the area. the latest information from cent sd centcom. the mix of tomahawk a

head of the group. she made a direct plea. evidently it fell on deaf ears but take a listen to what she had to say. >> steven had no control over the actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. i always learned that you can grant amnesty. i ask you please release my child. as a mother, i ask your justice to be merciful and not punish him for the matters he has no control over. >> in spite of and despite the pleas, the islamic group may have carried through with the threat. we know that the family is grieving privately. they are not going to make a public comment. >> we are bringing in retired colonel and the head of the joint chiefs and colonel nice to see you. let me ask you what is a substantiative question, the islamic group is becoming more aggressive since the air strikes in iraq began, it is clear that the air strikes are not going to stop, if anything, the beheadings of the journalists will stiffen the resolve here, do we know if the air strikes are degrading the islamic state gr

we wake up and weep hear this new, khorasan group. isn't a new group to counterterrorism people.ook where does this group come fruchlt whom. what was going on? >> that became a trigger. khorasan became a trigger. they were there. actionable. became the trigger. everything else flowed across the field. >> here hae what we know about targets last night. isis fighters, training compound. isis headquarters. command and control facilities. storage facilities. isis finance center. isis supply trucks and armored vehicles. sounds like a lot. how many more nights like last night are we going to have to have? >> as many as you can. ideally you take that out until there are no more left to hit. the problem is once you destroy the buildings then you go after the mobile targets and that's where your complicated targeting comes in. they're going to move them. we knew they were in raqqa. doubt if they're there today. moving them as we speak. to get them dispersed as far away. >> last night about syria. let's look at the complete air strikes so far. believe we have something of syria and what is

group. and syria itself. then there is this, buried in the press release from the military, a report that an imminent attack against the u.s. was thwarted in syria overnight according to u.s. officials. air strikes were conducted by the u.s., west of aleppo against the terrorist group corazon, a network of seasoned al qaeda veterans. >> we wait to learn about the effectiveness of the attacks. two big headlines coming out of it, one will be the coalition and why britain wasn't part of it. the second part, buried in the press release, what may be the biggest surprise, certainly for americans, an imminent attack against the u.s., thwarted by this group, the corazon group. >> i got off the air with a senior u.s. official, who said indeed there was active plotting by this group, a group of al qaeda veterans inside syria, what did they hit? let me go through this with everybody. they hit corazon training camps and explosives and munitions, production facility, a communication building and command

marginalized groups casting ballots.

they are supporting different groups. i would suggest that the free syrian army is a preferred choice for everyone but we don't seem to have a strong, moderate faction. the second is al-qaeda's response. i think iraq is an better response for us in many ways. the krg with the peshmerga on the ground have the strongest fighting force who can take on isis in iraq. and iraq is an easier circle to square whereas in syria we're a long way from a political settlement, and what do we do with assad because he in some ways has caused some of the problems that we're seeing and how isis has been able to brought up. >> we'll talk about the future of the alliance cobbled together to oppose aisles. can they hold together long enough in this phase of the conflict for the promised combat force to take the field in syria? stay with pups ay with pups primetime news. >> welcome to al jazeera america. >> stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera

these are groups that are not focused on the united states. there are slivers of groups that do. we've used instruments of power that do not include doubling down. i mentioned yemen and somalia. how often have you heard of yemen and somalia last year. my point is you can talk to me about i.e.d.'s, sniper, the control of geography, weapons. to my mind these are characteristics of insurgent groups. they're not the characteristics of the slivers of organizations that i witnessed to threaten america. we do not need instruments of power of people going against baghdadism worry about people going against new york and the instruments of power we used were not doubling down but let's take out a scalpel, use partners like the pakistanis and yemenis, use coalitions that support you and when you need to use u.s. intelligence and scalpel strikes to take out the leadership. and by the way, it worked. >> dan? >> just a few points. mike, you and i are going to disagree about credible warning between 9/11. at least in the administration i served in, we thought that nairobi and sar esa lamb were

group is that group, much more than isis.hat could change. we have audiotape from one of the leaders inciting people to do loan wolf attacks within the last 24 hours. >> this is a concrete attack to the u.s. homeland or the aviation sector in a way that isis has not crossed that threshold. would that be a fair -- >> that would be true. it has been nine years since there was an attack launched on ,he three american-owned hotels and it was a failure because almost all of the victims were jordanians attending a wedding. they had to release almost like an apology. it was not a real apology. right,hat is exactly catherine petted this is the group that has the track record, and of course, there are indications that they have linked up with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and they are sharing bomb-making expertise and that explains the strike. >> i want to bring marriott -- mary in. i have learned there is a bomb maker in yemen, a person that is an expert with nonmetallic explosives. underwear bombhe that failed in 2009 over detr

groups coming behind it and youth groups.ple so vocal about this. and they're really rising up. they've launched a petition this week, the up for school petition that's growing in numbers. and they're really calling out for change saying it's time to stop the attacks on school and start to see creating opportunities for out of school children to start learning. >> so it's not dark at night. and putting the toilet facilities indoors. >> there are simple solutions, you want to know that the perimeter of schools are safe, safe journeys to and from the school buses. we've got young people calling out, we have a group of 500 youth ambassadors for a world at school who are looking over, calling it out in 85 different countries. and they know that if they can find safe journeys to school, good lighting as you say, separate toilet facilities for girls that they feel safe going to, there's a lot -- there's a long list, but it's a fairly simple list and one that, i think if we keep heeding these voices from young people that actually g

and 27 other leaders from his group were killed. >> this is a group in the region, and they have taken out that many of the leadership. and i think they have done a lot of damage with the people who make the decisions in the group. but this group came into syria now, and escorted them. and one of the two main conservative groups who came out in 2012, the bigger one and more well-known one, they were very much part of the fighting force that took the battle and they didn't have the right weapons or ammunitions, and these groups started making inroads into the front line. >>> in syria's capital, a new government push to take back a rebel stronghold. inside of the regime's defensive, inside of damascus. >> syrian state television shows the government's latest push to recapture the eastern disc of damascus, it was taken by the government last year. it's hundreds of meters away from the city center. and now there has been an unprecedented campaign by the syrian government to clear it. the regime said that the airforce is carrying out up to 20 airstrikes a day. the destruction is extensive.

group. >> anyone that feels an inspiration or aspiration to join a group like this, will join in the acts of murder and pillage, can safely be in the knowledge that this is not anything to do with their faith. if the inspiration comes from their faith, that can be disqualified immediately. a lot of people who feel that this organization hijacked the name of islam, are shocked by the murderous activities of what, essentially, are thugs. for other people, men or women, to join a group like this, from britain or anywhere else in the world is something we do not ipp courage in the -- encourage in the slighters. >> the british security service believe up to 500 brit ans have travelled to the region and are worried about their return as radicalized young men. what are leaders such as yourself doing to stop this radicalization. >> that's true. there are fears by the family, not just the security services, often who know nothing about the activities of the young people, until the security services knock on the door and tell them that their son or daughter left the country and has gone to, of

group. for the security of the country, the region, and the entire world. >> a spokesman gave a positive assessment of the air strikes last night. >> we think we were very effective last night. we're still assessing the results of the strike, but every indication is that we hit and our partners hit exactly what we were aiming at and that we have severely damaged their ability to sustain themselves and to command and control their own forces. >> chuck todd's, moderator of "meet the press." andrea mitchell joins us, also host of the andrea mitchell reports. and michael leiter is the former director of the national counterterrorism center. first, i want to start with chuck. the white house role, this is like osama bin laden getting killed, we didn't think it was coming, then a big splash. >> not only that, doing it when they did it, the day before the president's going to new york, the united nations. this is to start essentially dropping a bomb on the seventh different nation that this preside

in his discussion on the group isis. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. with congress returning monday, here is a message from one of the student cam competition winners. >> food that are most often genetically modified our corn modifiedng billions -- our corn and soybeans. are genetically modified. >> they are genetically modifying them to treat vitamin a deficiency throughout the world. >> if we can get them the food they need, i say why not. >> both the safety and nutritional value is inconclusive and highly disputed. >> there is no difference between a few eight oral -- if you ate organic and regular food. >> who is determining -- responsible for determining whether the foods should be labeled or ignored? >> join us during washington journal for the theme of the cody 15 two mccammond of thetary -- come -- 2015 student cam documentary competition. onthey hosted a discussion scottish independence and recent survey data about

the islamic state group no longer fire back. movements are punished by the mortar tricks, like this one. in a 3-hour battle troops capture zer tech mountain and bombarded the villages below. left vacant by the christians and yazidi. >> translation: these are the villages, this is the i.s., armed i.s. outside the village. they bombarded here, and no longer have the capabilitiment peshmerga on the front line feel great. rncht a city of 2 million, mosul is the iraqi capital of the islamic state. as mosul goes, so goes the war for rick. >> this is the -- iraq. >> reporter: this is the forward-most point for the peshmerga in iraq. in the nearby ground is bartela, a christian town held by the islamic state group, and behind it is mosul itself. >> commanders say they are waiting on an order to push towards the most fortified bastion in iraq. first, they want the backing of sunni and shia so far ass. they want air strikes and arms. >> we need weapons, we need support, outside help. we need every kind of help, because we are pure people.

we should not stop until we have complete annihilation of the group. this is going to happen at the regional and national level in three arenas: the military, financial and ideaological. it is special that countries join iraq and their fight by providing the correct level of support. when it comes to regional security, bah ran has assumed their fair share of the burden. we join friends and allies and in the fights against pirates in the indian ocean and by keeping a watchful eye around the waters of the arabian gulf, today we stand ready to join allies in the region and world and contribute their share to the necessary fight. we firmly believe the time has come for the countries of the region to take the lead for the terrorist groups among us. islamic institutions and scholars around the world must not hesitate to point out the terrorist cults and legitimize any religious justification they give. we condemn the authority from sc scholarships and urge them to continue doing so to help us defeat the clear danger threatening muslims and non-muslims alike.

it's a very potent group. so this group is an extreme danger, and certainly i understand why these airstrikes had to take place sooner than later. >> america's arab partners didn't participate in the strikes against the khorasan group, but did against isil. secretary of state, john kerry and the president said the u.s. would not go it alone. today he said thank you to the general assembly. >> to say thank you to all of them for their participation and commitment to going back against the violent extremism. >> you have a situation here, where four arab countries, with a high sunni-islam majority, plus bahrain, have joined forces with the people often denounced as crusaders and imperial resists, to fight other sunni muslims. >> senior officials say that the coalition jelled in just the last few days. now one country noticeably absent from the coalition, was turkey. they had been holding back because 49 of its citizens have been held hostage biles, and they have now been released. and turkey is now reevaluating i

there is no group in syria that calls itself the khorazan group. al qaeda fighters who were trained in khorazan which is afghanistan and pakistan. the region of afghanistan and pakistan who traveled from the region to syria with the hopes of setting up a base to offense attacks on the west and various other countries. that's no secret. why has the government decided to refer these folks as the khorazan group? is it because of the fact that they are so distinctive that they deserve their own name? or is it because of the fact that we are afraid to call them what they really are which is a designated foreign terrorist group, but it's not a group that we are going to get arab allies to cooperate. not qatar, to cooperate in air campaign against. >> fascinating. potentially we want them to seem like a more cohesive group. >> it's very easy to say. these guys were trained in afghanistan and al qaeda. they are there and plotting against the west. you are focusing on a specific unit. we really need to know, is this group merely part of them and if it is an

essentially the group that attacked us on 9/11, of which the khorasan group is part. now isis, which is devolved from al qaeda, it is less clear. it was interesting to me. the u.s. strikes, there were only u.s. strikes against khorosan. under what -- it seems to me there is some lawyering going on here. mary, i'm sure, knows the kinds of lawyers that work in the white house and how clever they are. is it really legitimate? there is no u.n. authorization. this is not a nato operation. there is no arab league authorization. this is a coalition of the willing, not a very large coalition, although it has a lot of arabs in it and also the french, which is unusual. so, how kosher as a matter of international law? >> one of the things i think will has pointed out is we have a problem with definitions here, right? what precisely are we saying when we say al qaeda? it has been my assertion all along that this administration follows the amf to the letter of the law. that defines al qaeda as that group of people who carried out 9/11. it is specifically limited to the few thousan

of a nonprofit education group. he's a seasoned diplomat working in iraq, jordan, united ar ash emirates. the former headquarters of the u.s. central command responsible for military operations in iraq and afghanistan is based in qatar. ambassador says that makes the relationship between the two countries complicated. >> qatar is a member of the gcc. there's problems with saudi arabia and the united arab emirates over backing parties. but the gcc led by saudi arabia and iran has a rivalry. the obama administration is trying hard to come up with an agreement with iran on halting their development of nuclear technology that would almost certainly lead to nuclear weapon and weaponization of their missiles. so qatar is a member of the gcc. it is very important, having an air base there when we are concerned about i.s.i.s., iran, and its hedgeo monnic ambitions, other groups in the area. all of this make qatar an important player for the u.s. and the gulf. as your report painted out, there are -- pointed out there are in

chertoffrnoff group -- group, a global risk advisory group.have just heard mention of the threat from the admiral. what was that thread? and are they still capable of carrying that out yet complex first, let me -- what was the threat? and are they still capable of carrying that out? >> first, let me explain about the group. they are responsible for exploding a french tanker in 2002. he was an al qaeda bodyguard in iraq, and then running operations in iran. these are serious people. the plot was an aviation focused plot, which would have been looking to put explosives on aircraft flying to europe or to the united states. no doubt, the blow that was struck in the last 24 hours had an impact. but i would be surprised if they do not continue, as al qaeda has traditionally continued, notwithstanding how much we hit back at them. but although we have not heard of this group until today, is this actually an old group buy a new name? >> we have to realize that often these groups shuffle and reshuffle, and rename them sides -- themselves, just as isis

the khorasan group is just one of them. it's a splinter group of al qaeda which moved to syria to locate and recruit westerners among the thousands of foreign fighters in the country. the khorasan group is considered a threat to the u.s. because american intelligence officials say it wants to bring down airplanes with explosives, a traditional al qaeda objective. the group's leader is this man muhsin al fadhli, age 33, born in kuwait. he ran al qaeda's cell in iran, reportedly fought in afghanistan and chechnya and was a top aide to osama bin laden, said to be one of the few people that knew about 9/11 before the attacks. now al fadhli and his organization are under attack. so is isis. and there are many more in syria just like them. one positive development in the u.s. effort to build a coalition against isis, khorasan and all of the other extremist groups, today turkey said it would participate in this mission either providing direct military or logistics support. brian? >> richard engel on the syrian border for us tonigh

we'll look at the islamic state group and how the group is trying to recruit members.nd part two in our series, five days along the border. a county that can barely afford a police force because of the immigration crisis. >> after recent gains iraqi forces are preparing to take back two major cities in the north from the islamic state group. is took both mosul and tikrit. but now they're pushing to the senator of tikrit. a number of i.s. fighters have moved ahead of that battle. josh, good to see you. what more can you tell us about this ground offensive? >> it's good to see you, too, tony. since u.s. airstrikes started a couple of weeks ago. the momentum on the ground has shifted. it's town after town that the iraqi forces and person measure go are taking. you can imagine the house to house fighting there. but so far the ground forces have found real success. >> josh, you know, there is word that the hi islamic state leader was killed in a battle with iraqi forces. is there anything that you can add to the reporting on this? >> well, yes the iraqi army has announced t

willat be in direct conflict with the group.there is little group that isil is is the strategic enemy. this threat is most acute in iraq. the group safe haven and resources in iraq pose an immediate and direct threat to our presence there, particularly our embassy in baghdad. to thoseat includes americans held hostage by isil. potential to use it safe havens to planning chordate attacks closer to europe, and potentially the united states. this threat became real earlier this year with the shooting at a brussels museum that killed four people. then with the arrest we saw in france of an isil operative. at this point, we have no information that isil is plotting an attack in the united states. what we do know, as my colleague , thousands of foreign fighters have crossed into syria over the past three years. this includes more than 2000 europeans and more than 100 americans. many of these fighters that have flocked to syria have flocked to isil's ranks. we are worried that they will gain training and return to their own countries.

group. officials are still assessing the result of the strike trying to figure out if they were able to take out the key leaders in the khorasan group. >> what are law enforcement officials looking for to detect these lone wolves? >> they are looking for unusual behavior. anyone using social media account tos a pouz violence, anyone that's grown violent in the way they are posting or i should say anyone who is encouraging violence in their posts, encouraging extremism. and then also anyone who might suddenly do that and shut down their social media account. those are red flags that officials will look for. they are acutely aware of the fact that isis has been using social media to push their agenda as propaganda, pushing for lone wolf attacks. that's something they are very concerned about in the wake of the strikes in syria. >> is there any way to know how much lone wolves thereby out there? >> officials say there are hundreds of individuals they are keeping their eyes on who could become h