in the next half-hour, we'll be speaking live to the pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby about the strikes against islamic state and the coalition's long-term strategy. stay with us. (vo) if you have type 2 diabetes, you may know what it's like to deal with high... and low blood sugar. januvia (sitagliptin) is a once-daily pill that, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar. januvia works when your blood sugar is high and works less when your blood sugar is low, because it works by enhancing your body's own ability to lower blood sugar. plus januvia, by itself, is not likely to cause weight gain or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). januvia should not be used in patients with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. tell your doctor if you have a history of pancreatitis. serious side effects can happen, including pancreatitis which may be severe and lead to death. stop taking januvia and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area which may be pancreatitis. tell your doctor right away and stop taking januvia if you have an allergic reaction t

that's admiral john kirby. let's listen to him. >> the president's comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil and to protect the united states and its partners. our coalition partners in the fight against isil which in these strikes included jordan, the united arab emirates, bahrain, and saudi arabia with qatar in a supporting role continue to be a critical part of our strategy. secretary hagel appreciates their partnership and in particular the hard work and strong leadership shown by our central command commander general lloyd austin who gave the secretary an update on the operation throughout it. we did not coordinate with the assad regime. while the united states did inform the syrian regime through our u.n. ambassador of our intent to take action, there was no coordination and no military-to-military communication. in terms of the khorasan group which is a network of seasoned al qaeda veterans, these strikes were undertake on the disrupt imminent attack plotting against the united states

i'll speak live with the pentagon spokesman, rear admiral john kirby about the new phase in the u.s.-led air campaign. tough talk from the president of the united states at the united nations. >> there can be no reasoning, no negotiation with this brand of evil. the only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. >> president obama urges world leaders to join the battle to destroy isis and pushes them to cut off the flow of foreign fighters. hostage beheaded. isis allies in algeria murder a french tourist calling it a message of blood to france who has joined the u.s.-led air strikes. are americans in danger overseas? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer at the united nations. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> let's get right to the breaking news. u.s. and coalition aircraft this afternoon are carrying fresh strikes against isis targets in syria and iraq each as they avenge from the rubble of earlier strikes and under strong pressure from president obama the united na

rear admiral john kirby saying this: we are at war.live at the white house where the president is expected to speak this morning in just about an hour. good morning to you, doug. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this is a significant attack in its size and its scope. the president answering many of his critics with a multi-pronged attack which for the first time included attacks inside the borders of syria. the u.s. military employed an array of weapons, including 47 tomahawk attack missiles launched from the red sea and also from the uss philippine sea, a cruiser in the north arabian gulf, as well as from remotely piloted aircraft, bombers and fighter planes. there were a total of 14 strikes in all using roughly 100 precision-guided weapons. play ago supporting role were several members of the international coalition, including sunni arab states, bahrain, jordan, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and qatar. here is general jack keane talking about the significance of that. >> it's very significant that we have four arab muslim

the pentagon press secretary released this statement saying that: john kirby went on to say: our white house correspondent said that it seems the bombardment would or has lasted honour, and it's unclear which partner in additions are joining the fight along with the united states. we can go to sue turton who joins me on the phone from northern iraq. sue, it was inevitable, as lisa stark was saying, there was a loft of posturing that the u.s. will go into syria, but was it a surprise, and what do you make of the timing? >> it has come as a surprise. we are not far from the iraqi border, which is an area targeted, by the sound of it. we understood it would be weeks if not months before the syria bombardment began. really, this has come as a bit of a shock. i'm guessing it came as a shock to the fighters from i.s.i.l., who have been caught out by the bombing campaign. it sounds like much more of a sustained bombing campaign than we have seen in iraq, which has kind of been on small individual targets taking out vehicles. most of the time it's individual targets with a few fighters at the

both are true. >> rear admiral john kirby, i certainly hope it happened. you, and it's nice to speak with you. >> you too, shep, thanks. >> a little bit of news there. it was very soon, weeks, and whatever they planned last night if successful it will stop that imminent attack on either europe or the united states. we needed imminent. we'll be back. are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team are constantly monitored for threats. outside and in. that's why hp reports and helps neutralize more intrusions than anyone... in the world. if hp security solutions can help keep the world's largest organizations safe, they can keep yours safe, too. make it matter. ♪ who's going to do it? who's going to make it happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions. build bridges that fix themselves. get more clean water to everyone. who's going to take the leap? who's going to write the code? who's going to do it? enginee

this statement was released: john kirby went on to say: . >> let's go to our correspondent imran khan, joining us live from the iraqi capital baghdad now. imran, how will the u.s. air strikes in syria be received by the iraqi government? >> well, the official line is that they will be welcomed. the iraqies said in order to defeat i.s.i.l. in iraq you need to go after the safe haven in syria, and that is what exactly has happened. we haven't had an official reaction. it's unlikely we'll have an official reaction. iraqi military analysts and those in the security and defense forces will be watching to see what happens next. here in iraq - there's a difference between iraq and syria when it comes to the air strikes. in iraq, when the air strikes happen, we have had examples of these in amerli and the sinjar mountains, where the air strikes happen and ground forces from the kurdish and iraqi forces went in and cleared areas of i.s.i.l. fighters. they are unavailable in iraq. the syrian rebels are not in a position to go into those territories, they are not strong enough. this would be a d

this statement was released: john kirby went on to say: . >> let's go to our correspondent imran khan, joining us live from the iraqi capital baghdad now. imran, how will the u.s. air strikes in syria be received by the iraqi government? >> well, the official line is that they will be welcomed. the iraqies said in order to defeat i.s.i.l. in iraq you need to go after the safe haven in syria, and that is what exactly has happened. we haven't had an official reaction. it's unlikely we'll have an official reaction. iraqi military analysts and those in the security and defense forces will be watching to see what happens next. here in iraq - there's a difference between iraq and syria when it comes to the air strikes. in iraq, when the air strikes happen, we have had examples of these in amerli and the sinjar mountains, where the air strikes happen and ground forces from the kurdish and iraqi forces went in and cleared areas of i.s.i.l. fighters. they are unavailable in iraq. the syrian rebels are not in a position to go into those territories, they are not strong enough. this would be a d

on thursday, two days after the attack on the village, pentagon spokesperson rear admiral john kirby said there had been no "credible" reporting of civilian deaths. well, for more, we go now to beirut, lebanon where we're joined on the telephone by nadim houry. he's human rights watch's senior researcher for lebanon and syria and the director of the beirut office. nadim houry, welcome to democracy now! tell us what you have found. >> we were able to speak with three local resident in the village of kafr deryan who told us there were two separate strikes that evening on the village, one that hit al-nusra group of buildings outside the village and shortly after, missile strikes that destroyed two homes in the village that killed seven civilians as well as two men. there are some contradictory information about the identities of these two men. one said they may have been missouri while others said they may have been civilians. will others said they may have insulin's. been civilians. , remnants of the tomahawk cruise missile in a video that was used on those homes. >> talk about the sig

rear admiral john kirby, this is what he had to say. >> the sanctuary they have in syria is the hub, the headquarters, if you will, and so the targets that we've been hitting there have been getting to those commanding control capabilities that they have enjoyed inside syria. so how do you know that you're having an affect. well, it will take a while. we'll know when they have changed their operations. we'll know when we can see they no longer are flowing quite as freely cruise that border. we'll know when we have evidence that it's hard for recruit, train, or just aren't doing as much training and recruiting. >> decode this for me, mike. are the airstrikes in iraq and syria degrading isil? >> well, by the rear admiral's own assessment they can't tell yet. we're four days into this, and it's picked up a great deal. there has been diplomatic success, hard to tell what kind of impact it has had. one thing that the rear admiral john kirby did go on to say, to go after the four elements, two-thirds of the isil fighters are within syria. what they're trying to do within syria is hit the c

by the press secretary rear-admiral john kirby. always a pleasure to have you with us. >> how important was the first step. how do you measure success when you start a campaign like this? >> it is not insignificant in the first steps from an air strike perspective that we were able to garner the support of five arab nations who participated in the missions. not all of them in the form of air streaks, but all participan participants. it speaks clearly to the threat that i.s.i.l. poses not just to us and our interests, but the interests of those who have to live in the region against this kind of challenge that they are facing. we were thrilled we were able to get that kind of support. i'll tell you from a practical perspective that we were success: we are assessing and will throughout the day. we are analysing the degree to which what targets were hit, and how well they were hit. everything that we have seen indicates that the strikes were successful. >> some said i.s.i.l. may pull out of areas where they may be hit. martin dempsey,

spokesperson rear admiral john kirby. and the strikes are meant to target isis's ability to command, resupply, and to train. president barack obama being updated as he gets -- and he has notified congress on this. we're going to get now straight to cnn's jim sciutto, who is in washington. also jim acosta joining us from washington as well. gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening. the information is coming in. jim sciutto, at first there were three nation states that we heard about, all arab states. now we're hearing about five. this is particularly significant because? >> reporter: no question. because you heard in recent days secretary of state john kerry, president obama talking about how they wanted to internatio l internationalize this effort, make it u.s.-led perhaps, but to have important partners in the region. and now you have five in the region taking part tonight in at least three of them, i'm told, in kinetic activity. that is, dropping bombs tonight, not just support flights, refueling flights, or sur

so we've been listening for the last 20 minutes or so to a pretty important pentagon briefing by john kirby. he said off the top and reiterated his point, he was asked about the isis video and general kirby couldn't address the situation. he said they are still gathering information. we know the intelligence community is working to authenticate the video but he did say, of course, his thoughts and prayers continue to be with the sotloff family. secondly, and this took over the bulk of the briefing, was the air strikes, the u.s. air strikes in somalia south of m ochl mchl ogadishu. he said that they had intelligence that led them to this location, they took out a vehicle but he was specific in saying we believe we hit what we were aiming at but would not say definitively where they got the al shabaab leader and let me, if you're just joining me, we're at the bottom of the hour, breaking news as we've seen this video of this american journalist, steve s ven sotloff. we saw the plea of his mother, shirley sotloff, pleading with the leader of this isis terrorist group basically asking for them

secretary rear admiral john kirby was asked about that and this is his response. >> we've all seen press reporting about the potential murder by isil of mr. sotloff. i don't have anything to confirm it today. obviously we're monitoring it as best we can. and our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the sotloff family who has endured incredible hardship and suffering just by virtue of his captivity and being held hostage. i can't confirm those press reports right now. >> british prime minister david cameron has released a statement. he's saying sotloff's apparent death is, quote, an absolutely disgusting and despicable act. keep in mind the contents of this second beheading. it was just two weeks ago isis threatened to kill steven sotloff and we saw him in that video if president obama did not back off on air strikes in iraq and it was in that video of the beheading of james foley. in this video that we're focusing on today involving steven sotloff in the final moments of his life, sotloff spoke directly into the camera. he said he is, quote, paying the price for u.s. intervention a

on the president's strategy to degrade and defeat the islamic state, i'm joined by rear admiral john kirby. thank you for timing the taking the time to join us. >> great to be here. >> he's been quoted as describing the conflict by saying that world war iii could be at hand. how do you reconcile that with the president's refusal to say we are even at war? >> i think we have acknowledged that we are at war with i.s.i.l, in the same way that we're at war with al qaeda and its affiliates. we also know this is going to be a long term struggle. it is also, and this is an important point, one that is not purely militarily, not through u.s. military action alone. general allen will come along exactly in that vein, to maintain a strong coalition of partners that can go after this threat over the long term. >> talking about what our involvement will be, the pentagon had recommended that small contingents of u.s. special forces be sent in to work with iraqi forces and coordinate air strikes, but president obama said no, he didn't want to send that many troops in. is that the case? >> that was the pr

air strikes in syria was starting, i was speaking with rear admiral john kirby. here's what he told me. >> i'm not at liberty to tell you too much detail because it's an ongoing operation although we believe it's wrapping up right now. coalition partners, we're conducting additional air strikes inside syria this afternoon. these targets are in the eastern part of the country and were really aimed at trying to get to the isil's capabilities at developing revenue. so really about going after some of the means by which they finance themselves. >> does that mean oil fields? oil refinery equipment? >> i'd really rather stay away from the specific targets because the operation is under way as we talk but they're trying to get at their streams of revenue. >> there are some reports that u.s. air strikes in the previous round had killed perhaps two of the top leaders of what's being called the khorasan group, an elite cadre of al qaeda fighters in syria. can the pentagon confirm that? >> no, we cannot. we've been obviously monitoring this very closely but as we speak toda

posting on twitter john kirby said bomber jets were used in the attack.omahawk missiles like these were also launched from the sea against 20 targets. it has been among the locations ahead, raqqa. one activists said there have been 18, airstrikes in total 17 concentrating in the downtown area. the air force and the eastern airports to the west of raqqa have also been hit. the news comes after john kerry warned about the potential long-term impact of the organization. >> isil is not only beheading individuals but tearing at the fabric of all civilizations. it has no respect for life. it has no respect for religion. and it has no respect for culture. >> the u.s. has launched around 190 airstrikes in iraq since august. the decision to strike in syria was taken after authorization from president obama. >> regional correspondents in beirut has more on the airstrikes in syria. >> to make a real assessment but we do know there have been 20 airstrikes concentrated in the town of raqqa. the purpose has been described as to degrade the command and control of the or

today john kirby told our anderson cooper that the khorasan attack was well along in development andmminent. >> we know they were very close to the end game in their planning. we don't know exactly where the attack that they were plan would go take place. that's why we say we think it was either in europe or the homeland. there's least up to the u.s. organized by isis and khorasan. shotgun and a map. in both cases, secret service agents interviewed gonzalez and determined he was not a threat. >>> 1 million people in liberia and sierrainfe infected by the end of january. ebola could kill hundreds of thousands of people and embed itself in populations for years to come. the world health organization saying if we do not get this outbreak under control, ebola could become a permanent part of life in west africa, spreading as routinely as malaria or the flu. >>> the man wanted in the disappearance of hannah graham now a suspect. he's charged with abduction with intent to defile in the case of a missing university student. police believe matthew was the last person to see hannah graham. a

or europe and we felt this was the right time to act. >> bill: reared a smirl john kirby. martha: we'll speak with press secretary josh earnest in studio. how did we go from isis being an imminent threat. iprise asked pe a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today. bill: korean prison camp for the first time since he was sentenced to six years hard labor for committing hostile acts. >> it's 8 hours of work per day. mostly it's been agriculture. other than that it's isolation. no contact with anyone. but i have been in good health, and -- bill: the associated press says matthew miller made that brief statement under close guard and was granted a 9-minute phone call to his father. he says he has written letters to secr

to rear admiral john kirby. do you think this progresses, then sniff the brits have already prepared through their defense secretary this will take another two or three years, and yet it will only involve airstrikes, even though the belief is that airstrikes alone won't do it and we have said much to same, then what is going to happen next? >> well, you need three things here, right? in addition to airstrikes you have to have willing, capable partners on the ground. there does need to be ground forces but need be indigenous, the iraqis, kurds, syria, a modern opposition that can take the fight inside syria to them. number two you need pressure outside the military sphere. you have to put pressure on them economically. the department of treasury is working on options. you have to put pressure on them internationally, took not just from an economic perspective. number three, the hard one you need good governance. you have to provide alternatives to people so they're not drawn to this radical ideology and that come

pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby describes the military action as u.s.ter, bomber and tomahawk land attack missiles. isis command and control, its headquarters, its logistics sites, fuel depots, weapons depots. geographical location are in and around raqqa, syria, one of the two capitals of the islamic state as it calls itself. a senior gulf diplomat tells nbc news other gulf nations, saudi arabia, the uae, jordan, bahrain and qatar are involved. this is 12 days after president obama's address to the nation outlining a strategy against isis. >> i've made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. that means i will not hesitate to take action against isil in syria as well as iraq. this is a core principle of my presidency. if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> joining me now by phone, colonel jack jacobs and here in studio, a terrorism analyst. let me start with you. the enemy gets a vote, as they always say. what do we expect to see from isis which is now, particularly against the dramatic ba

we're now joined by rear admiral john kirby, press secretary for the pentagon. admiral, are you concerned that isis may retaliate against some of the western hostages it is holding, such as what we just heard about this one hostage from the uk? >> we've remained concerned about the fate of the hostages that we know that they have. it's not something we've ever taken lightly. certainly it's something that we've never stopped thinking about. we attempted one rescue not long ago over the fourth of the july weekend. it's something we're watching very closely, as closely as we can. >> we're all learning about the terrorist group khorasan over the past week. what can you tell us specifically about the threat that they pose to the united states? >> well, i'm a little leery getting into the specifics of the intelligence matters, jake, but what i can tell you is we do know and had good, specific information that they were in the end game, very close to finishing their planning on a plot to attack western targets. either in europe or in the u.s. homeland. i think that par

right now rear admiral john kirby is briefing at the pentagon. let's listen in. >> and they are an economic asset to support future operations. producing between 300465000 -- 300-500 barrels of refined oil per day, isil is purported to again rate millions of dollars of revenue from these refindlies. these were, as were the strikes we conducted earlier this week, strategic attacks meant specifically to get at the ways that this group sustains, leads and controls itself. there will be more. now, if i can have the first slide, i'm just going to walk you through some of the specifics from yesterday. this is a map of the area. you can just see as i said it was in eastern syria. we've located the three areas i talked about, sort of where they were, the strikes happened. twelve total refineries, twelve attacks. next slide. this is sort of a breakdown of how it went by the numbers. so 12 modular oil refineries, again, all in eastern syria. sixteen total fighter aircraft participated in this, ten from the coalition of saudi arabia and uae, six from the un

press secretary john kirby said 10 of the 16 fighters jets were from u.s. allies saudi arabia and and united emirates. >> i'm not announcing future operations but will look at isil in syria and on the civilian casualty issue we take that seriously and will assess that as we work through the damage assessment process. >> kirby denied that syrian government forces invaded facilities attacked by the u.s. military. he did not confirm media reports that the air strike also killed the leader of the al qaeda affiliated extremist group khorasan. >>> china supported a u.n. security council resolution aimed at stemming the flow of foreign fighters joining extremist groups abroad but the country takes a difference stance than the u.s. on the air strikes against islamic state militants in syria. u.s. president barack obama led the council in the unanimous agreement. the resolution requires countries to adopt laws that would criminalize citizens traveling abroad to sign up for insurgencies. about 15,000 people from more than 80 countries have joined based on kind of our

pentagon spokesman john kirby tells cnn that the attack that khorasan was planning was well along in development and imminent. >> we know that they were very close to the end game in their planning. we don't know exactly where the attack that they were planning would take place. that's why we said we think it was either in europe or the homeland. so there's some information that we probably didn't have all the way down to the exact detail. that said, we know they were close. we know that they had a very serious intent to conduct an attack on western targets and that drove a lot of urgency. >> connect the dots, you might recall earlier this year people were told there could be extra scrutiny coming from the airports into the u.s. and also scrutiny when you reboard the plane. officials believe that tuesday's air strikes have at least temporarily disrupted attacks in the u.s., organized by isis, of course. they're warning now the air campaign may spark attacks by homegrown violent extremists. a bulletin sent tuesday bit fbi and homeland security urging law enforcement agencies to stay v

john kirby, thanks so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >>> all right, and now, three things to know on this busy thursday. president obama today called for a stepped up global response to the deadly ebola epidemic ravaging parts of the african continent. >> everybody has the best of intelligences intentions. but people are not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stop to this epidemic. the response to an outbreak of this magnitude has to be fast and it has to be sustained. and that's only possible if everybody chips in. if every nation and every organization takes this seriously. everybody here has to do more. >> the virus has killed nearly 3,000 people in west africa, and there have been estimates that it could become much worse. >>> meanwhile, the second american doctor to contract the disease in liberia has been released from a hospital in nebraska where he's been treated from early this month. >>> the man suspected of abducting 18-year-old university of virginia student hannah graham appears before a judge today. he was arrested in galveston coun

the pentagon spokesman john kirby has just been speaking to the abc's "good morning america," and hes they consider the strikes to be a success so far. >> we're still assessing the effectiveness of the strikes that took place over several hours last night, but all indications are that we were very, very successful in hitting what we were aiming at. >> what did you take out? >> well, we took out command and control facilities, the supply depots, some training areas, some vehicles and trucks, that kind of thing. mainly what we were going after is this group's ability to sustain itself, to resource itself, and to frankly command and control and lead their forces. >> john kirby there from the pentagon saying the strikes have been a success. we are expecting to hear from president obama at around 1400 gmt, in around two hours time. we will bring that to you live here on "bbc world news." teacher of the un-teachable. you lower handicaps... and raise hopes. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or ab

here is what we heard from john kirby: let's start the coverage with events being followed from ammann jordan, and we'll talk specifically about jordan. first, what happened and the involvement from the arab world. >> well, we understand according to several activist groups that have a presence on the ground in syria is that i.s.i.l. targets were struck in the provinces in raqqa and another province. two provinces where the islamic state controlled territory. we understand there are casualties, we have not heard about civilian casualties, and what we know is according to the pentagon and other sources, these air strikes will continue. we know that they have happened in raqqa and other areas and training facilities in the country side, and these training facilities are used to train fighters who joined the islamic state group. this is the first time that parts of syria are struck in this operation, and, as well, that jordan confirmed its participation. >> okay. so participation. this is the key thing from all these arab states that talk about support. you said jordan doesn't get specif

press secretary john kirby said 10 of the 16 fighter jets that conducted the attacks were from u.s.llies saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. >> there are other refineries that they have, and of course as i said, i'm not announcing future operations here, but we're going to continue to look at future strategic-level targets against isil in syria. and on the civilian casualty issue, certainly we take that seriously and we'll continue to look at that and review that as we work through the damage assessment process. >> kirby denied that syrian government forces have invaded the facilities attacked by u.s. military. he did not confirm media reports that the air strikes also killed the leader of the al qaeda affiliated extremist group khorasan. >>> a u.s. navy commander says many from the asia pacific region have likely joined the islamic state extremist group. >> our estimations today is there's probably been about 1,000 potential aspiring fighters that have moved from this region, based on kind of our overall assessment. that number could get larger as we go forward. >> admiral s

you've heard my colleague, john kirby, say a few times over the past few days that these air strikes we've taken in iraq and now in syria have had an impact. they've degraded isil and the khorasan's capabilities. we're going after these groups so they can't threaten america. i will say, as the president has made clear, this is going to be a long campaign. it doesn't happen overnight. in addition to the military strikes we're going to be taking, we're going to use this as an opportunity to get at the core causes of why people want to join the khorasan group and isis. that's going to have to be part of that as well. >> kirby allen said it's hard because we don't have boots on the ground. how can you be sure there is an impact? >> just from a purely operational military perspective, when you drop that much ordinance on these targets and see it hit the intended target, you can see it had an impact. but what we do after these strikes is gather all the intelligence we can. it's true we don't have boots on the ground to gather that information but we have a variety of ways that we can do th

this comment came in earlier from rear admiral john kirby who is the pentagon press secretary.reads in part as follows, the decision to conduct these strikes was made earlier today by the u.s. central command commander, that's the group that oversees the region. under authorization granted him by the commander in chief. we will provide more details later as operationally appropriate. still confirm thag this decision to launch the strikes was made today by u.s. centcom pursuant to authorization granted by the president. i want to bring in congressman peter king who's a member of the house homeland security committee and chairman of the subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence. so congressman, you're reaction now. because the president came under some criticism for waiting too long to launch the air strikes that he said he was going to launch. the white house said we're building a coalition. tonight we're getting our first look at what that coalition -- how it looks. five muslim countries, sunnis who will be fighting other sunnis, no european allies. your thoughts. >> i

three people were killed, but pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby said there is as yet no hard proof godan was one of them. >> he is the recognized, appointed leader of the al shabab network in somalia. so if he was killed, this is a very significant blow to their network. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence has been tracking godane, who went by multiple names, for years, and the state department has offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his capture or death. according to this wanted poster he was 38 years old. al shabab is best known for the attack one year ago when gunmen seized the westgate mall in nairobi, kenya, and terrorized shoppers during a three-day standoff which ended in a shoot-out with police. >> godane claimed al shabab was responsible for the mall attack which killed and injured dozens in nairobi. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence thought they had located godane once before but an operation to get him was called off at the last moment for fear he had been alerted. charlie. >> rose: home depot may be the latest retailer to be hit by a security breach.

. >> we have a statement from admiral john kirby confirming it's part of the campaign against isis and confirms u.s. and other partners are using fightsers, bombers and land land attack missiles and not providing other operational details at this point. but did in a statement indicate these strikes were authorized by the president and are going to provide more details as they become appropriate later on. we'll keep you posted on the situation with air strikes ongoing in syria. >> now, back to local news now. imageinnin your high school science fair on a global scale. judging is going on at the google science fair and jonathan bloom walked the floor to meet some of the bright young minds. >> that robot flew away from a kid trying to swat it. >> i call this fly bot. >> fly bot? >> yes. >> the 5-year-old modelled the robot after a fruit fly. >> they're able to move faster than we can blink our eyes. >> and how a drone can dodge falling objects while searching for survivors. it earned him a spot in a world wide competition for teen-age innovators. >> they don't realize things are impossibl

pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby says tonight, "i can confirm that u.s. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against isil, terrorists in syria using a mix of fighter, bomber, and tomahawk land attack missiles. given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time," he says. >> but he did go on to say, the statement goes on it say that "the decision to conduct these strikes was made earlier today by the u.s. central command. commander under authorization granted him by the commander in chi chief. we will provide more details later as operationally appropriate." there's a lot to get to this evening. >> there sure is. let's get right to cnn's team on this, jim sciutto and jim acosta in washington and arwa damon in turkey. jim sciutto, let me start with you. what do we know? >> it's been a remarkable evening. all of these events unfolding just in the past half hour, 45 minutes or so. but i've been told by senior u.s. military officials this is where things stand. that a short

pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby says tonight, "i can confirm that u.s.forces are undertaking military action against isil, terrorists in syria using a mix of fighter, bomber, and tomahawk land attack missiles. given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time," he says. >> but he did go on to say, the statement goes on it say that

>> let's talk more about this with pentagon press secretary, rear admiral john kirby. good morning. hearing from barbara starr, the latest reporting, by no means have things been quiet in this part of the world. we know two strikes in syria, counted as one, since it was a single target hit and in iraq. two air strikes west of baghdad, two air strikes southwest of erbil. walk me through the assessment, why the target's effectiveness? >> the ongoing campaign against isil. an offensive campaign. we've been clear, we're going to put the pressure on them and we're not going to be constrained by the border between iraq and syria as we do this. the targets we hit, some were defensive in nature. in and around erbil, we've been doing it for quite some time. the strikes around baghdad, more offensive in nature and as barbara reported, two strikes on a single target, a staging area inside syria. inside the iraq/syria border overnight. again all aimed in every regard, whether you call it offense or defense, to continue to put pressure on isil, wherever they are. >> just to be clear, as we were

pentagon press secretary john kirby describes the action as u.s., military and partner nation forces using fighter, bomber and attack missiles. the headquarters and logistic sites and training sites and troop encampments. the location of these are in and around raqqa, syria. that's one of the two capitals. other nations of saudi arabia and bahrain, jordan and qatar are involved operationally in the air strikes. this is just 12 day as after president obama outlines a strategy against isis. >> i made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists wherever they are. that means i will not hesitate to take action in syria as well as iraq. this is a core principal of my presidency. if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> joining me now by phone in studio, terrorism analyst with global partners. let me start with you. the enemy gets a voes. what do we expect to see from isis which is against the backdrop of the un general assembly. this is a global war. it expanded past and it's a global war. >> indeed. the spokesman of isis over 24 hours ago, the attacks on the hide outs in sy

. >> we have a statement from admiral john kirby confirming it's part of the campaign against isis andrms u.s. and other partners are using fightsers, bombers and land land attack missiles and not providing other operational details at this point. but did in a statement indicate these strikes were authorized by the president and are going to provide more details as they become appropriate later on. we'll keep you posted on the situation with air strikes ongoing in syria. >> now, back to local news now. imageinnin your high school science fair on a global scale. judging is going on at the google science fair and jonathan bloom walked the floor to meet some of the bright young minds. >> that robot flew away from a kid trying to swat it. >> i call this fly bot. >> fly bot? >> yes. >> the 5-year-old modelled the robot after a fruit fly. >> they're able to move faster than we can blink our eyes. >> and how a drone can dodge falling objects while searching for survivors. it earned him a spot in a world wide competition for teen-age innovators. >> they don't realize things are impossible so t

real -- rear admiral john kirby will be answering questions. pentagon briefing is expected to start shortly. live coverage on c-span. again, waiting for the start of the defense department briefing was rear admiral john kirby. while we wait, and look ahead to this week. here is today's pentagon briefing. things to open. first we have all seen press reporting about the potential l of mr. sotloff. informationve any today, and our thoughts and prayers continue to go to to the hardshipho've endured by virtue of just his captivity. i cannot confirm those press reports right now. i know you have all been tracking events in somalia last night. if you will bear with me i will walk you through what i can right now. yesterday at approximately 11:20 u.s. specialtime, operations forces destroyed and it can't met and a vehicle -- and in commitment a vehicle using laserguided munitions. we are still assessing the results of the operation, and we were provide additional information when it is appropriate, and i will not be able to provide specifics about the

admiral john kirby wouldn't call it a war. i don't know what more can happen in order for our leaders to be more clear in terms of what they say. >> i think the challenge for us is to be in our own mind to decide what we are prepared to do. if it is containing isil others will not be prepared to join us. and if it is about defeating isil and we make it clear what we will be prepared to do and at the same time ask what others will do. for saudi arabia tis a fundmental threat. and they have an interest in being involved and they should host a international conference and everybody in advance should be prepared to know they will have to make commitments to fight isil. >> they have to step up to the plate. we heard from the ua e. now is the time to act and we are ready to join. no idea what that will look like. the counsel rows are known for saying but not following through. what will happen? >> i think the nature of what isil preponderates as a threat gives us a unique opportunity for them to not just talk or write checks in term

an imminent threat to western targets using that as -- eric holder and pentagon press secretary john kirby described the seriousness of the threat posed by the terror group. >> this is a group that has been known to us for two years, we were concerned that they were getting close to an execution phase of plans we have seen them foment over the last two years. >> we have seen them planning targets either here or the u.s. homeland. >> all right, there you go, show me your muscle, but u sometimes only when you feel like it. >> so that was all of a sudden khorasan becomes the imminent threat that was going to happen, it was planned, it was on its way, there was going to be some airport threats, airline threats, because that's their cya moment. because president obama, a lot of people believe he should go in and kill those people, but some of us also agree that he should go to congress and get permission first. but if there's imin effect threat, he can go ahead and bomb. he's -- he put the imminent threat right next to some bulk and he gets away from it. so he cya'd himself into bombing it. whi

. >> retire admiral john kirby, we appreciate you taking the time to join us to discuss all this. thank you. >> thanks for having me. >>> for more, i'm joined by oliphant. he served two tours in iraq. was a contractor for the government in afghanistan, he led a team that helped to coordinate pt 2006 verge in iraq. and is a senior fellow at the new america institution. are you surprised by the attackses against i.s.i.l. waves of strikes, training camps, communications and command and control facilities? >> this is what we need to do if we are serious. again, we are just doing air strikes, and we don't have a plan to throw the islamic state out of syria, but we do have a plan for the iraqi side of the border. we need to think of the strikes as being in support at least for now of the main effort that is going to occur in iraq. we do have proxies on the levels. >> talking about getting serious, how important is it for the ongoing effort, for the sunni arab says to take place in the strikes against sunni arab extremist. qatar covered in support, the others in kinetic action. do you th

. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," admiral john kirby joins us live.e'll speak to former israeli president. >>> up next, did you upgrade your smart phone to an iphone 6 or 6 plus? >> no, i'm still on blackberry. >> i love it. i'm samsung. >> i'm loyal. >> you're loyal. the sales numbers are in and it looks like apple has hit another record. >>> and standsing by your man. the so-called kissing congressman gets help from his wife in his bid for reelection. we'll show you the new ad, next on "morning joe." whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. go to comcastbusiness.com/ checkyourspeed. if we can't offer faster speeds or save you money we'll give you $150. comcast business built for busine

launched air strikes in syria, bombing eisis targets inside syria first, john kirby, just moments agowe spoke with him about the latest u.s. military action. admiral, thank you for join being us, sir. >> thanks for having me. >> what did khorasan have 24 hours ago that it doesn't have right now? >> we're still assessing the effects of the strikes that we took against the khorasan group in syria. we do know we hit what we were aiming at. some of it was their weapons-making capabilities and command-and-control. we're still assessing the effectiveness, the thoroughness of those strikes, and we'll know probably in the next day or so. >> how long have they been on our radar screen? i thought isis was our target in iraq and in syria. now i'm hearing about khorasan. how long have they been on our so-called radar screen? >> we've been watching this group khorasan for quite some time now. we've been aware of them. they're a derivative of al qaeda, an offshoot of al nusra. while it may be a new name to many americans, it's not a new name to the defense department or intelligence community. we k