this man is one three british citizens at the hostages nicknamed the beatles, jailers and torchers for the militant group. >> in an interview on why who news, the sin lanes said the cons is done more to save their brother. >> i really, really, really, really hope that in some way jim's death pushes us to take a look at our approach, our policy to have hostage nexts. >> dire warnings from top military officials saying isis is as well funded and sophisticated as any group the united states has ever seen. beyond just a terrorist group. >> they are a threat to every interest we have whether it is in iraq or anywhere else. >> officials have been clear: the airstrikes, 100 so far have been been a knock out blow. >> we should expect isis to regroup and stage new offensives. >> there is the big question of syria. the chairman of the joint chiefs says isis is safe haven must be dealt with. >> can they be defeated without real estating that part of their organization which resides in syria? the answer is, no. >> the general was not enthusiastic about airstrikes in syria but did not rule them out

former hostages identified the man with the knife as one of three british citizens the hostages nicknamed the beatles, who served as jailers, torturers and executioners for the islamic terror group. in a final, chilling e-mail, sent to the parents of james foley and made public tonight, i.s.i.s. said, you do not spare our weak, elderly, children or women, so we will not spare yours. that's how jim foley's parents learned he would die. >> what will work to defeat a force as ruthless and implacable as i.s.i.s.? martha raddatz is here. what are they talking about today? >> well, they're going to continue these air strikes. and they have really been pounding the i.s.i.s. targets in iraq. they've pounded about 100 targets since these air strikes began. but they said today at the pentagon, they are sure i.s.i.s. will regroup. and chuck hagel, the secretary of defense, had some really alarming language, calling i.s.i.s., an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in iraq or anywhere else. >> what about that phrase, imminent threat? does that mean a target here in the homeland, in the united

>> you think it would be misleading for them to go down this route for john or this group nicknamed the beatles? >> yes. >> can i ask you, you know, thank god you were released. and you made it home to your loved ones. and jim foley, there was a ransom request that was made. the americans don't meet those ransom requests. the western europeans are known to do it, although no one will ever confirm it. do the captives, you yourself and jim and steve sotloff, do they noknow this metric? >> yes, of course. >> so when you are released, is that known to the americans that they're watching the western europeans leave because their governments paid for them? >> i was paid for. i don't know what was the term of transfer. i presume there has been a bargain because -- well, i have no clue what it was. >> yeah. >> i can't say. i mean -- >> did you ever have any kind -- i'm sorry, we have a delay between us. >> -- as a hostage. >> what was that? can you repeat that? >> there are many things we can get in exchange for the release of a hostage. not only money. >> did you know or were you held with steven sotl

some people called him one of three different british guards, nicknamed the beatles by the hostages themselves. they are considered a very brutal, very idealistic than al qaeda was. i was told that al qaeda is dedicated, it is devoted but sometimes in the off hours, al qaeda members would drink, smoke, do things that aren't necessarily consistent with al qaeda's propaganda. these groups are totally committed, totally believing that they are part of this caliphate, part of the islamic state and totally brutal. >> richard engel, please stay safe. >>> with us now, former counterterrorism and a former jihadi. thank you so much for being here. your story is fascinating. you were recruited by extremists. tell us your story. by the time i became at the age of 19, i met the taliban and basically started to believe their world view after they had taken over in 1995 in september of 1995. i had taken that as a validation of their jihadi outlook and i started to believe in it myself and was heavily involved in that until i turned a i way from it. >> wow. he also spoke about the fact that he suspected a lo

some people called them one of three different british guards nicknamed the beatles by the hostages themselves. they are considered a very brutal, very idealistic, even more committed, according to security officials, than al qaeda was. i was told that al qaeda is dedicated. it is devoted. but sometimes in the off hours, al qaeda members would drink. they would smoke. they would do things that aren't necessarily consistent with al qaeda's propaganda. these groups are totally committed, totally believing that they are part of this caliphate, part of the islamic state and totally brutal. >> one thing we've been reporting on this is this emerging phenomenon of social media being a breeding ground for that foreign recruitment effort by isis. social media is also a platform for some of these demands attached to these kidnappings. what can you tell us about that? >> well, it seems that the demands were not even serious demands. they were demands for a release of an unspecified number of muslim prisoners. they were demand for 100 million euros. a demand that negotiators didn't think was credible beca

hostages identified jim foley's executioner as one of three british citizens, the hostages nicknamed the beatlesecutioners for the islamic terror group. in a final chilling e-mail sent to jim foley's parents by isis. they wrote, you do not spare our women, our children, our elderly, our weak, so we will not spare yours. that's how foley's parents learned their son would die. brian ross, abc news, new york. >>> and there is growing concern about the fate of a second american hostage being held by isis. journalist stephen saltoff. soltoff was shown in the gruesome video of the beheading of james foley. isis threatening to kill soltoff if air strikes continue. >> in ferguson, missouri, 13 days since the shooting of michael brown. the protest marches are subti subsiding with fewer arrests and police calling the mood calmer. governor jay nixon ordered systematic withdrawal of the national guard. and the man put in charge restoring order to the streets says he is confident that the city will emerge from the crisis stronger. >> i believe deep in my heart, ferguson will be known for creating change thro

james foley, some former hostages identified him as one of three british citizens the hostages nicknamed the beatleserved as jailers, torturers and executioners for the islamic terror group. >> jim was the subject of repeated physical abuse at their hands. >> reporter: with growing concern about the fate of a second u.s. hostage held by isis, steven sotloff, the secretary of defense said the u.s. would not hesitate to do a second mission. >> we will not relent our efforts to bring our citizens home and their captors to justice. >> reporter: the mission involved special forces and a fleet of aircraft was launched after it became clear that no negotiations were possible with the isis group which had demanded a ransom of $130 million for the release of foley. >> the fbi didn't take it seriously. we didn't take it seriously. >> reporter: meme involved in the process say hostages from france and other european countries held by isis were set free after ransom papers of about $2 million cash each delivered by middle men from turkey. something the u.s. has refused to consider as a matter of principle. in a

the captives nickname the guards the beatles because of their british accents. >>> u.s.air strikes are again targeting the militants in northern iraq. the strikes damaged several humvies and road side bombs. >> governor nixon ordered the national guard to withdraw from ferguson. violence sparked by a controversial police shooting has subsided but the investigations into the death of 18-year-old michael brown are far from over. leanne gregg is live in ferguson with the latest. >> reporter: the governor says the withdrawal of the military will be systematic and coordinated with the highway patrol. protesters in the community say there are still many unresolved issues. signs of de-escalation in ferguson, missouri. calm demonstrations. only a few arrests compared with dozens earlier. the missouri governor says it is safe to withdraw the national guard sent to protect the law enforcement command center after demonstrations in the past two weeks often turned violent with gun fire, tear gas. >> i hope the calm we witnessed can be enduring. >> reporter: moving away from violence

the former prisoner says hostages had nicknamed the group the beatle. the officials say the u.s. sent special operations forces into syria this summer to try to rescue foley and other americans. but that they could not find the hostages. officials also say isis militants demanded a ransom for foley's release. more than $123 million. jennifer griffin has more. so we have our officials about to talk about this. have you heard any more about what we'll learn? >> reporter: well, harris, we have learned that it took place over the july 4th time frame. u.s. military sources tell me the special operations team that attempted the rescue were on the ground longer than they expected. when they got to first compound the hostages weren't there. there was evidence they had been there just days before i'm told. they extracted information at the first compound and decided to go to a second location where they got into a firefight. one u.s. aviator was injured. the intelligence leads for the operation came from interviews with the european hostages released this spring. they described where the

hostage says he recognizes the executioner as the ring leader of a group of british jihadists who guarded foreign captives. those hostages nicknamed them the beatles. they hide in plain sight and hand crooks the key to your money. fairfax county police are trying to set down a new set of atm skimming suspects. news 4's pat collins is at one of the banks that has been hit with new video of the men who are behind the new scam. >> reporter: wait until you see these surveillance pictures. these guys are big and bold. they are out there doing their crooked little thing like the camera wasn't there. rare surveillance pictures of skimming suspects at atms trying to steal financial information so they can tap into your bank account. they make no attempt to hide their faces. they linger in front of the atms for a long time. police have enough video of these guys to make a documentary. they have the pictures. they just don't have the people. >> certainly characterize these people as bold and brazen. >> reporter: and they are for the most part getting away with it. >> unfortunately, we have not made a large number of arrests in these types of cases. >> repor

the nickname for this group is the beatles because of their national origin.oying brits, people who speak fluent english, this is propaganda designed squarely añ the united states and western countries. this is both a recruitment call for more jihadists aor mjut foreign nationals to join the cause and a message to the united states. >> what do you think the u.s.' message or retaliation tactic should be back for isis? we've already -- have the air strikes. they say this was in retalation to that. do you think the u.s. should deploy an air strike campaign in syria? >> well, it's complicated. but i can at the you this. right now isis is making a concerted push to squeeze the western-back rebels out of aleppo, the last real main stronghold of the revolution. there are rebels in aleppo who are fighting both the assad regime and isis at the same time. many of them wouldñwelcome air strikes against isis, because it would at least relief some pressure on one of the fronts. the problem with this, of course -- >> i was going to say, what's the danger in doing that? >>

the hostages reportedly gave them british nicknames, specifically they nicknamed them john, paul, and ringo. >> in the darkest of black humor, former hostages of islamic state apparently called their captors john, paul, and ringo after the beatles. a reference to their nationality and english accents. sources have now confirmed to the bbc that islamic state has been using three british jihadis to guard its prized foreign prisoners. the fbi is leading an international manhunt for those responsible for the beheading, as the victim was an american. here, the intelligence forces and the police are also working to identify any british citizens involved in the journalist's murder. >> that report from bbc radio 4. there have been a number of hostages released, apparently from this same cell of terrorists that was holding jim foley. they're all europeans or turks. they've been able to get out apparently because ransom was paid to isis in order to get them released. we now know those former hos substantials were debriefed by u.s. intelligence after they got released as part of u.s. planning for that special operations raid last month that made an attempt inside syria to go free the hostages. based in part on information from those hosta

that herecognizes the executioner and says the killer is the ring leader of british jihadists nicknamed the beatles because of the british accents. >>> today defense secretary defended a failed rescue operation to save james foley and other hostages. last month u.s. special operations forces in helicopters swarmed a compound in syria. they engaged in a fierce gun battle before they determined the hostages were not on site. hagual says the intelligence for such missions in his words doesn't come wrapped in a package with a bow. >>> before reporting in syria james foley was here in the district and had a journalism training program in a d.c. news room connected with northwestern university. chris gordon has more with how foley's death impacted the school. >> reporter: this is the medill news room. in 2007 james foley was a student here. professor ellen sheerer who teaches journalism and national security says foley was always special. >> jim was a magical student from beginning until end. he was very directed. he knew what he wanted. he had a passion for conflict reporting. >> reporter: james foley w