the pentagon says the isis mouthpiece known as "jihadi john" was the target of a recent airstrike in syria. "jihadi john", whose real name is mohammed emwazi, is a british citizen who took part in the killing of several western hostages, including americans. officials say the u-s military picked up on his trail and saw him move to the location targeted in the strike. "we've got several methods that whether or not the strike successfully killed the target that we wanted killed. we know for hit its intended target and that the personnel who were on the receiving end of that weapons officials say the u-s believes "jihadi john" was still involved in kidnapping and killing people at the time of the strike. british prime minister david cameron says if "jihadi john" died, it would be a "strike at the heart" of the terror group. donald trump told iowans how he would deal with isis during a stop in fort dodge. presidential candidate"i would bomb the s out of them . i would just bomb those suckers. and that's right, i'd blow up the pipes, i'd blow up the refinery -- i'd blow up be nothing left.

army-spokesman, 16:01 "now this was significant of course because jihadi john was somewhat of an isil celebrity, if you will. 16:07 /bridge/ terror experts agree jihadi john was likely isis' number one celebrity but where one isis member dies there's honor which likely was jihadi john's s mber one objective.sot/salem :52 "these fighters thrive on the e idea of matyrdom.. in a sense they have a great pension plan that heaven 40 virgins a wonderful life and for many of these people matyrdom is what they seek" 1:06/vo/ the death of a sadistic killer like jihadi john according to terror experts would just be a temporary nuisancebecause like so many other leaders of terrorists organizations in ththpast thth the u.s. has killed there's always *more* jihadists willing to take their place/sot/2:47 salem "so far, no lack of candidates to be suicide bombers or to be media beheaders as gruesome as that is. but this ain't over" 2:56/vo/on capital hill, im jeff barnd. 3 3 this week on full measure an account of workplace discrimination that will likely startle you. one woman's story y unds like so

jihadi john we'll begin to aughter your people on your streets.s. and the face of evil. jihadi john whose real name ishammed emwazi ....is now believed to be dead.... the pentagon says he was targeted by a drone strike as he was leaving in a vehicle in the isis declared capital of raqqa in syria..(map) the u.s. spent months trying to hunt down emwazi... seen in these chilling videos showing the beheading of captives by the islamist terrorist group - is. nats: terror video you have plotted against us ? authorities figured out emwazi's identity soon after the beheading of foley in august. wannabe isis leader then slaying americans steven kassig, plus two britons, and two japanese hostages. british prime minster david cameron saying this morning?. the u-k and the united states have been working closely to track emwazi. "this was an act of self defense - it was the right thing to do" in a statement to abc news the parents of murdered hostage james foley said the airstrike against jihadi john was of small solace quote: this huge effort to go after this deranged man filled with hate when they can't make half that effort to save the alive. it's unfortunate that they government do

officials say this morning they presume jihadi john was killed by that u.s. drone strike based on what they observed in the hit and say his car was struck and it virtually burst into flames. they may never have 100% confirmation, but they can come close by listening to the social media. >> okay, so clearly he is an hvt or a high value target but could this be a turning poinin the fight against isis? >> reporter: well, it will certainly give isis leaders pause about how effective the u.s. was in tracking this top target. now, here's a big question. could the u.s. be after other top targets? well, richard clarke, a former counterterrorism adviser to the white house and current abc news consultant, says this might be a a big blow to the terror group when its propaganda figure is killed. kendis and reena, back to you. >> all right. stephanie ramos reporting from washington for us on this, thank you. >>> well, also breaking right now, we're just learning another blow to isis.

"jihadi john" was quote, evaporated. on says the strike hit a vehicle carrying him in northern syria. the battle against isis was one of the main topics during tuesday night's gop presidential debate. >> most of the people who want a no-fly zone also favor arming allies of al qaeda which became isis. that was the dumbest and fool hard by notion and most of the people up here supported it. >> we have a set of allies in the arab middle east who know isis is their fight. they have asked us specifically over and over again to support them. they news mead leadership support and resolve from the united states of america. cheryl: british firms say "jihadi john" studied computer science at a university in london before he left for syria in 2013. nicole: turn it over to donald trump, pointing to rival ben carson's own descriptions of his pathological temper as a young man. in an interview with cnn donald trump saying a pathological temper can not be kurd and it's a very serious disease. in a rally in iowa trump also slamming other

air strike killed the infamous executioner known as jihadi john. a vehicle was targeted in the syrian city of rock ka, an islamic state stronghold. johnathan vigliotti is in london with the details on this this morning. >> reporter: jihadi john was the international symbol of the brutality that is isis. he first appeared on an islamic state video last year wearing a mask dressed in black and holding a large knife. he spoke with a british accent. before executing american the beheading video provoked outrage. it was the first of several brutal skugs. jihadi john was identified as a british citizen, mohammed emwazi last february. a former hostage described him as a psychopath. he was born in kuwait and moved to england as a boy and believed he left syria in 2013. they believe he helped in the executions of these journalists and a number other western hostages. the u.s. launched air strikes year. a number of senior isis members have been killed but if jihadi's john's death is confirmed, he would be the best known. >> johnathan vigliotti in london, thank you. >>> th

tag: the pentagon says it is working to confirm that jihadi john was indeed killed by the u-s airstrike. from what they saw in the hit..they believe he is dead the vehicle he was in burst into flames and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporated. stephanie ramos abc news washington the united kingdom's prime minister, david cameron, says this morning he is not certain if the airstrike was successful. new details are coming out in the case of the unarmed, handcuffed man who died in police custody in virginia in 2013. according to court records, linwood lambert called 9-1-1 at about 3 am. police finally found him, handcuffed him and took the 46-year-old to the hospital. when they parked at the hospital, lambert kicked out the window and runs into the emergency room door. that's when officers tased him. the logs show the three officers used their tasers 21 times over the next 16 minutes. then officers put him back in the car and took him to the jail. "it looks like he stops breathing while he's positioned in the car in front of the hospital." " lambert told police at the time th

was a taxi driver. according to colonel steve warren, the process now begins to try to work out whether they really did get jihadi john. it's going to take' couple of days. colonel warren says it's not an exact science. >> the intelligence indicators that we had gave us great confidence that this was jihadi john and an opportunity presented itself with minimum civilian casualties and we took the shot >> a couple of things worth noting, colonel warren says he was an isis celebrity and not strategically significant. he also pointed out that they have been killing mid-to upper level leader leaders at one a day now since may. >> there is also news of new tactics regarding isil oil fields correct? >> kind of new on one hand but not on the other. according to colonel warren, they've instigated a new operation called tidal wave two. tidal wave one is something that stems from the second world war when the allies went after nazi oil installations and these pictures show the coalition going after isil oil installations, refineries, separation units, dumps, pumping station. that sort of thing. now the idea and that's what these

army-spokesman, 16:01 "now this was significant of course because jihadi john was somewhat of an isil celebrity, if you will. 16:07 /bridge/ terror experts agree jihadi john was likely isis' number one celebrity but where one isis member dies there's honor which likely was jihadi john's number one objective.sot/salem :52 "these fighters thrive on the idea of matyrdom.. in a sense they have a great pension plan that when you die.. you go to heaven 40 virgins a wonderful life and for many of these people matyrdom is what they seek" 1:06/vo/ the death of a sadistic killer like jihadi john according to terror experts would just be a temporary nuisancebecause like so many other leaders of terrorists organizations in the past that the u.s. has killed there's always *more* jihadists willing to take their place/sot/2:47 salem "so far, no lack of candidates to be suicide bombers or to be media beheaders as gruesome as that is. but this ain't over" 2:56/vo/on capital hill, im jeff barnd. 3 this week on full measure an account of workplace discrimination that will likely startle you. one woman's

jihadi john over raqqa, syria. how do they prove that jihadi john was really killed? robably the same way that they decided this is jihadi john. the sources we have throughout the world are our greatest assets in the war on terror. this just shows technology can do a lot but if you don't have sources to confirm somebody's location prior to the bombing, it doesn't really do you a whole lot of good to throw bombs down there. i would assume if our intel community is telling us he's no longer with us, he's most likely not with us. >> we heard not so long ago they targeted b targeted baghdadi, killed him, but it durnz out we didn't really kill him. >> that's why intel sources are not saying to cnn or anyone else they're 100% sure. they're saying 99% sure because the fact is unless they have eyes on specifically, source information can be flawed sometimes, but still it has proven our greatest information. >> i'm getting new information from my producer in my ear. putin says he's willing to work with washington to defeat isis. is that correct? that is correct. even though the

allies say they are reasonably sure a drone strike in syria killed the british citizen known as jihadi john. he was the one officials believe was the mast man in several graphic videos in which western hostages were beheaded. u.s. officials and western allies saying they believe jihadi john was killed. phil mattingly is saying the white house is aware and monitoring this situation and there is a briefing underway at this hour. the white house no doubt aware of this situation. it will be interesting to see in the hours and days ahead what actions u.s. officials will take to shore up security. bombing lastf the month, the apparent bombing of the russian metrojet over the and isispeninsula, have taken responsibly for that. is interesting to see whether we are now seeing the opening of a new wave of terror. the death toll in paris according to our latest numbers, 35 at least. 100 hostages at a paris theater. so far, no one has claimed responsibility for this violence or who is holding those hostages. scarlet? scarlet: thank you for that recap. we did get a headline from "liberation" which reports the p

they are reasonably certain one of those was jihadi john. another u.s. official said that they thought it was very likely, also, that it was jihadi john. what they do afterwards is look for forensic evidence and try to get evidence of the body on the ground and match that to other evidence that they can, the dna, teeth, whatever they can. short of that, the pentagon likes to be extremely cautious before saying 100%. >> you were told essentially 100%. so assuming emwazi was killed, what does that tell us about our intelligence assets in syria that they were able to pinpoint this guy when he was walking out and get him? >> well, i think it's a good victory for the american way of counterterrorism right now. in fact, they are able to have such a precision drone strike inside the city of raqqa. it was believed a while ago that some of the hostage takers were there and holed up there. that might have been the reason they were not going after them, the potential for collateral damage. even if they are found, you make sure there's as much intelligence to gather

jihadi john was the leader. an early recruit to isis... theeihadist group whose reachh now extends from syria and northern iraq to north africa... the strike targeting jihadi john - comes shortly after he latest isis attack in lebanon where at least 43 people died last night in a double suicide bombing. "jihadi john's family all now british prime minister just spoke, calling jihadi john isis' u.s. it was an act of self- defense. back to you." u-s army colonal stve warren is now saying he's quote "reasonably certain" that the strike killed announcement yet... the topic of isis has reached the deccion 20-16 campaign trail... in an iowa campaign stop last night -- donald trump gave a glimpse into his strategy to fight isis. the billionaire said people don't believe he has a plan. hh gave his critics a blueprint.... "isis is making a tremendous amount of money because they have certain oil caps, right? they have certain areas of oil that they took away. they have trump also spent a lot of time -- criticizing the man challenging him most in the

jihadi john was identified as a british citizen, mohammed emwazi, last february. a former hostage described him as a psychopath. he was born in kuwait and moved to england as a boy and it's believed he left syria in 2013. emwazi is known to help in executions of these journalists and a number of other western hostages. he had been on the rhine for years. the u.s. launched air strikes against isis and syria last year. a number of senior isis members have been killed, but if jihadi's john's death is confirmed, he would be the best known. >> johnathan vigliotti in london, thank you. >>> this morning in iraq, kurdish forces entered the isis-held town of sinjar. it began yesterday supported by u.s. air strikes. charlie d'agata is with the kurdish troops and joins us on the phone from sinjar. charlie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. i'm actually standing inside sinjar city. it happened a couple of hours ago. people on foot and kurdish forces started sneaking down the mountainside into the city itself and then dozens more followed, followed by hundreds after that

the pentagon this morning saying it's still trying to figure out if it was indeed jihadi john that was killed in that strike. >> we are reasonably certain that we killed the targetna we intended to kill which was jihadi john. >> it was his covered face that appeared in all of those videos showing the killings of western hostages. john, what is the latest on the strike and whether they did indeed kill the man we know as jihadi john. >> we just don't know for certain. there is a press conference going on at the moment by the pentagon briefing room here in washington d.c. coming in from baghdad, it's being hosted by colonel steve warren. according to him, there was a drone strike carried out yesterday, a very routine drone strike according to colonel warren using hell fire missiles. according to him, the people that they expected to be present when the drone carried out the attack were carried but what they can't say for certain at the moment is whether anybody killed in that group was jihadi john who has been seen talking in the most egregious fashion and beheading a lot of american citi

the pentagon says it is working to confirm that jihadi john was indeed killed by the u-s airstrike. from what they saw in the hit..they believe he is dead the vehicle he was in burst into flames and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporated. stephanie ramos abc news washington jessica rae: sioux city police are on the lookout for one suspect involved in an armed robbery at a gas station. police say this individual robbed the kum and go gas station on pierce street at gunpoint early thursday morning around 4 o'clock. surveillance video shows the suspect trying to recover some of the money he dropped just after the robbery. if you have any information on the identiy of this man please call crime stoppers at 712-258-tips. jessica rae: following a week of protests over alleged racism at the university of missouri, new leadership has been selected. the university has named michael middleton, a law school professor, as interim president. the announcement comes after another act of vandalism last night, where someone spray-painted over the word 'black' on the sign in front of the

the vehicle he was in burst interest policemens and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporateed. >> back here the c.h.p. said the 35-year-old san bruno woman was killed after a chain reaction crash near pittsburg. it started as a minor fender bender shortly after 7:00 last night. the woman was standing in the roadway exchanging information with the other driver and oncoming cars, one of them, hit a parked car and then ran her offer. her passenger was also hit and taken to the hospital in critical condition. >> a 90-year-old woman, pedestrian, is dead after being hit while cross the boulevard. the victim was in the crosswalk, the 69-year-old driver is cooperating. investigator say that dark in was factor in the accident. >> your commute across the bay bridge could be delayed tomorrow but if caltran plans to emblowed part of old bridge, the implosion is set 7:00 tomorrow morning or 1:00 o'clock p.m. depend on the weather and the tides. in six seconds dynamite will break apart 20,000 pounds of concrete on a remaining tower taking place underwater. caltran will shut down the bridge

of others. >> in a tape the parent of murdered hostage james foley said the airstrike against jihadi john was a small solace, feeling more should have been done to help foley went three was alive. the pentagon said they are working to confirm that jihadi john was, indeed, killed by the united states airstrike. >> a funeral is held today for a young fighter pilot from him bother who was killed last month when happy crashed in england. he ejected but did not survive. he graduated from the university of san francisco in 2004 and joined the marine corps as a pilot in 2005. his father and marry still live in hillsborough. >> super bowl 50 is months away and muni rides in san francisco could feel the impact near super bowl city. here is an expensive proposal to take down muni cables before the big game. >> that is right, super bowl 50 is less than 90 days away now and while the became is in santa clara, the official super bowl festival is here in san francisco. look at the vision for super bowl city on market street, the idea is to on the village the week before the games so locals can enjoy it. bu

elizabeth: jihadi john was the chief executioner for isis, presiding over the killings of foley along with fellow americans steve sotloff and peter kassig, plus two britons and two japanese hostages. his real name was later revealed to be mohammad emwazi, a british citizen, the son of kuwaiti parents who emigrated to the u.k. precious resources had been concentrated to seek revenge, if you will, or kill this man. elizabeth: meanwhile, us officials say, jihadi john essentially evaporated when the vehicle he was in hit and burst -- was hit and burst into flames. elizabeth hur, abc news, new york. sean: abc news spoke exclusively with president obama about the war against isis just hours before news broke about the attack. here' s what he had to say. >> what is true is, is that from the start our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them. they have not gained ground in, -- in a rack. -- in iraq. we' ve made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters. sean: less than an hour ago senator jeanne shaheen released this statement saying, " today we have rea

jihadi john for more than a year, but hours ago he was the >>> a direct hit overnight killing possibly one of the most wanted men in the world. jihadi john, the british terrorist with the islamictate front and center in those disturbing beheading videos. real name mohammed emwazi. the u.s. has been tracking him for months now. the strike was 100% flawless. seen for the first timee since last august, beheading american journalist james foley, and again beheading american steven sot shroff. and many, many more. his voice was disguised but his british accent recognizable. >> after being identified earlier this year, disappeared from all@ isis videos. born in kuwait, growing up in west london, he attended the university of manchester. he is kblooefsis believed to travell to syria. in a statement to abc news, the air strike against jihadi john was of small solace. quote, this huge effort to go after this deranged man filled with hate when they can't make americans were still alive. it's unfortunate that the government doesn't get it. they think it gives us solace, but it doesn't. american o

one official telling abc news it was a 100% direct hit, and that jihadi john basically evaporated. >> new details about the killing are still coming in this morning. abc news investigative producer james meek has been working his sources and joins us live. james, jihadi john was not the head of isis, but the u.s. military really wanted to get him. how long were they tracking him, and how does his death impact isis? >> well, good morning, reena. they've been tracking jihadi john. his real name is mohammed emwazi. he was unmasked finally in a series of leaked news reports early in the winter of this year after presiding over the video beheading of a number of u.s., british, japanese aid workers and journalists. they've be tracking hi quite a long time. and the intelligence agencies of the u.s. finally zeroed in on his location. and got the green light to attack him with a drone strike in raqqah, syria. as he was exiting a building, a drone missile hit the vehicle he was in. and as one official said to me, evaporated. and on the impact, leaving his car in flames. >> okay, so james, we're

e, note the term it shows that the pentagon is pretty much certain that the man they called jihadi john was killed in this drone strike. the pentagon goes on to say that he was the only high-value target who was in fact targeted by that from strike yesterday. tom: philip crowther reporting from washington. the islamic state has claimed responsibility for suicide blast in baghdad that killed 21 people and left 21 others injured. it started as a memorial service was being held for a shia militia fighter, who himself was killed in a battle with islamists. at least five people were killed in a roadside bombing that struck a shia shrine. 2 weeks on from the russian plane crash on the sinai peninsula, officials in moscow say that it affected flights operated by the egyptian national carrier, banned from flying into the national capital. the kremlin announced the suspension of russian passenger flights to egypt. a group affiliated with the islamic state organization says it brought down the plane, all 224 people on board losing their lives. funerals are being held today in their group for the 40 4

tag: the pentagon says it is working to confirm that jihadi john was indeed killed by the u-s airstrike. from what they saw in the hit..they believe he is dead the vehicle he was in burst into flames and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporated. stephanie ramos abc news washington the united kingdom's prime minister, david cameron, says this morning he is not certain if the airstrike was successful. prosecutors want the maximum sentence against former subway spokesman jared fogle. a judge will sentence fogle next thursday for having child porn and having sex with a minor. the prosecutor is asking the judge to sentence fogle to 12 and a half years in prison and a lifetime of supervised probation. the university of iowa has had some major changes over the past two weeks. and it has one more to add to that list -- a change in how much it pays its minimum wage workers. you're looking at on our citycam this morning. kaj will be back right after the break with a full look at your friday forecast. stay with us. plan on a pretty decent friday. while the wind will still be out there,

camera, a clerk's quick thinking saving a woman after she was kidnapped. >>> and the breaking news we've been following all night, jihadi john targeted in a u.s. air we'll have the latest. >>> police in northe california pulled over this car because it was going too slow. it turns out it was one of google's driverless cars progmmed to travel below 25 miles an hour for safety reasons. police did not issue a ticket backing up traffic. >>> and there is a new embarrassment for the u.s. secret service. uniformed agent lee robert moore has been arrested for sexting someone he believed to be e a 14ear-old girl. the recipient was actually an undercover detective. some of the communication took place while moore was on duty at the white house. he is also accccused of ying to arrange a meeting with the girl. >>> your next buick suv may made in china. "the wall street journal" reports gm plans to move ahead with its goal to import the envision. it would go on sale by the end of next year making gm the first u.s. automaker to sell a chinese made vehicle here. >>> so here's a possible solution to job-related stress. a northern italian te

support what ayman was saying, we are hearing from the pentagon that as far as they're concerned, jihadi john was an isis celebrity. they use the term isil for isis. they called him an isil celebrity, although they also back up what ayman was saying, saying he's not considered by them to be a major tactical figure but clearly they thought it was important enough to continue to pursue him over a matter of a year, as you mentioned, there were three reaper mq-9 drones involved, one british, two american. i was apparently the american drone that fired the missile that we think killed him, and they think that they did kill him, because they saw a man they believed to be jihadi john, emwazi, emerging from a vehicle, getting into that vehicle and that's the vehicle they struck. they also, we understand in the last past hour, believe that he was with what they call his best friend that we don't seem to have a name for that yet. so they still are unable to confirm actually that jihadi john has been killed. interestingly, they say one of the ways they might get that confirmation is from what we now regular

jihadi john was the face of isis's hostage videos. beheaded victims included u.s. journalists steven sotloff and james foley. peter kassig was an america medical worker helping war victims. david haines and alan henning came from the u.k. kenji goto from japan. coalition leaders say the killing strikes at the heart of isis, silencing the person who had become a figurehead of fear. in washington, i'm emily schmidt reporting. the strike is doing little to ease the grief of victim steven sotloff's parents. in a statement they say quote... 'this development doesn't change anything for us; it's too little too late. our son is never coming back.' indianapolis metro police now says it knows who killed the pregnant wife of a local minister, now they just need to find the suspects. police now have surveillance video of the suspects who allegedly killed amanda blackburn during a home invasion. detectives collected the video from surveillance cameras from homes in her neighborhood. investigators say they believe that burglars were leaving a home when they saw blackburn's husba

it's believed the isis leader known as jihadi john was killed during the u.s. drone strike in syria. wmur's jennifer crompton is live with reaction from foley's family, one of the journalists who was killed by jihadi john. reporter: well, james foley last visited his parents' home in row chester in the summer of 2012. he was taken hostage that fall and his parents very gracious two years later in their willingness to talk about his death at the hands of isis. and gracious again tonight, willing to talk about the apparent taking out of the man that killed him. they say it brings them little solace. >> it's just a somber time. the bombing in paris, and the bombing going on, continuing in syria. my fear is that this vital beget more violence. reporter: the parents of slain makes no difference that mohammed emwazi, joan as jihad ji john, may have been killed. >> i don't carive it's jihadi john, sam, james, he was a low level operative in the organization. reporter: joined by feelings of frustration over what they say as the government's misguided focus. >> if we wou

the vehicle he was in burst into flames and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporated. >> brian, could this be a turning point in the battle against isis? >> certainly the u.s. hopes so and it will give the isis leaders there pause about how effective the u.s. was in tracking down this one top target. can they be after others as well? >> our thanks to you, brian, for staying on top of the story over a year. we'll have complete coverage on "gma" first thing in the morning and online with the latest 24/7 >>> a heartbreaking murder mystery. a young pastor comes home to find his pregnant wife shot in their home. her attacker still on the loose. police are trying to piece together how and why this apparent robbery turned deadly. abc's geo benitez has that story. >> reporter: they were a young couple in love. a pastor and his wife -- >> that's when i knew that i'd met the girl that i was going to marry. >> reporter: just days ago, the unthinkable happened. the young family torn apart after a mysterious gunman shot 28-year-old amanda blackburn once in the head. she was reportedly

and get the kind of forensic evidence that would be necessary to determine whether in fact this was jihadi john who was killed in this strike. so what the u.s. is relying on here for any kind of confirmation is two things. number one, they have the overhead surveillance video where they saw someone they believe to be mohammed emwazi, jihadi john, get into a vehicle with another individual, a driver who has been described as his best friend or friend, that's sort of a colloquialism the u.s. uses as driver. they got in the vehicle together and that's the vehicle that was struck and the two individuals were killed. the second means they have to determine whether in fact he was killed is any kind of chatter, whether that's on the internet, any kind of signals intelligence, intercepts they get, where they are hearing about isis fighters speak about him. the only other option, the only other confirmation they will have is if in fact he was not killed and he shows up on a video somewhere, obviously that would be another indication of what happened here. but as far as any kind of dna evidence, that's j

jihadi john is believed to be dead. jihadi john killed james foley after foley was jihadi john was one of the military's top target and tonight the u.s. government is almost certain he is dead. fox 25's kathryn burcham is live in rochester, new hampshire, kathryn you have reaction from james foley's father. >> reporter: u.s. officials celebrated the reported killing of jihadi john, his parents fear that it will only inspire more violence against americans and european you much like what happened in paris earlier tonight. >> what we want is the elimination of isis. >> reporter: john foley says he's no longer surprised by acts of terrorism after his life was changed by the ultimate act, when his son james, a freelance journalist from rochester, was killed by isis after being held captive for two years. >> lives are being destroyed by isis. they're the villain. jihadi john is only part of isis. >> reporter: u.s. officials certain that jihadi john was killed in a drone strike. he beheaded foey will in chilling video but his death john foley says is hardly a cause for celebration. >> he's a low level jihadist so if we have anythin

was a 100% direct hit. abc's brian ross has been tracking the story overnight. >> reporter: the world first came to know jihadi john a little over a year ago when he appeared in this video wearing a black mask holding a knife and threatening the life of american journalist james foley. his voice was disguised, but he could not hide his british accent. >> you have plotted against us and gone far out of your way to find reasons to interfere in our affairs. >> reporter: one after another he presided over the murders of foley, american steven sotloff, peter kassig, plus two britons and two japanese hostages. >> our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people. >> reporter: earlier this year his true identity was revealed to be mohamed emwazi seen here wearing an american baseball cap, the son of kuwaiti parents who emigrated to the united kingdom. even as a schoolboy in london, emwazi was spotted by teachers as having a violent streak. one teacher told the bbc that at the age of 11, he was put in anger management therapy. >> we'd find that he'd get very angry and worked up, and it would take him a long time t

john was indeed airstrike. in the hit..they believe he is dead the vehicle he was in burst into flames and one official said jihadi john essentially evaporated. stephanie ramos abc news washington jessica rae: sioux city police are on the lookout for one suspect involved in an armed robbery at a gas station. police say this individual robbed the kum and go gas station on pierce street at gunpoint early thursday morning around 4 o'clock. surveillance video shows the suspect trying to recover some of the money he dropped just after the robbery. if you have any information on the identiy of this man please call crime stoppers at 712-258-tips. jessica rae: following a week of protests over alleged racism at the university of missouri, new leadership has been selected. the university has named michael middleton, a law school professor, as interim president. the announcement comes after another act of vandalism last night, where someone spray-painted over the word 'black' on the sign in front of the buliding housing "black culture center ." authorities have also arrested two people charged with making racially charged t

jihadi john was the leader. an early recruit to isis, the jihadist group whose reach extends from syria and northern iraq to north africa. the strike targeting jihadi john comes shortly after the latest isis attack in lebanon where at least 43 people died in a double suicide bombing. jihadi john's family live in london. no comment from their lawyer but the british prime minister just spoke calling jihadi john isis' lead executioner and saying if he has been killed by the u.s. it was an act of self-defense. back to you. >> reporter: the federal government is laying out produce safety rules to prevent food born illnesses. under the rules, the government will soon have more oversight over farms. regulators will make sure workers are trained to wash their hands and that irrigation water is monitored for harmful bacteria growth and animals don't leave waste in fields. if cdc estimates 48 million americans are sickened each year from food-related diseases. that's roughly one in six people. katy zachry takes the closer

officials say jihadi john essentially evorated when the vehicle he was in was hit and burst into flames. in new york, elizabeth hur for abc 7 news. >> this airstrike on jihadi john comes as the u.s. steps up its fight against the islamic state in iraq and syria. in an exclusive abc news interview, president obama talked about the success the u.s. has had in containing the momentum of isil. but he says more needs to be done to completely decapitate their operations. hasident obama: our goal been to first contain, and we have contained. we have made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters. the pentagondays, announced as many as 50 special operations force troops were deployed to syria to assess conditions for military action. changing gears, hold onto your hat and skirt today. you can see our live camera shaking. it will be a breezy start your weekend. doug hill is here with a look at your forecast. doug: plenty of sunshine and gusty wind outside the weather center. the further west you go, the windier it will be. let's show you the wind advisory in effect until 6:0

routine part of their fight international space station isis. >> this is significant because jihadi john was a somewhat of a celebrity. >> he's the mask wear ing, knife wielding man. >> this guy was a human animal and killing him is probably making the world a better place. >> believe me, if it's not dead we'll be seeing him within 48 hours. >> this is a good day for the intelligence services but for the families of the murdered hostages news brings little solace. >> it's just so sad that our precious resources have been concentrated to seek revenge or kill this man. >> jihadi john is believed to be 27 years old, his real name mohammed emwazi who fled for syria in 2012. >> he's a sad individual filled with hate for us. >> in a statement families told abc news this development doesn't change anything adding their loved ones are never coming back. >>> a convicted killer pleaded guilty to pulling off a daring escape from a prison. 35-year-old david sweat admitted power tools to cut through the walls and a steam pipe to break out of the clinton correctional facility last june. sweat remained on