last hour or so who said not only are sites in raqqah being hit, but there are sites outside of raqqah being hit as well. in terms of the timetable, i'm being told that this timetable is not yet defined and that this operation could be going on for some time. we should get some clear guidance as to how long this is going to last. speaking of timetables, the president is conducting these air strikes along with these air partners at a critical diplomatic time for him as he's heading the united nations later on tomorrow morning. he's heading up to the united nations to talk about building this coalition. he also wants to talk about the topic of foreign fighters. so i was curious as to whether or not this was a sensitive diplomatic time for air strikes to be brought into syria, and a senior u.s. official said that's not necessarily the case. the targets they're going after are hard targets of critical significance when it comes to the isis threat. they're going avatar gets that are really hitting isis where it hurts. the other thing we also want to point out, errol is that the president ha

they've hit them in raqqah. there's hopes that they will hit them in cabaun eye, which is where we have seen that fighting in the last few days and obviously that flood of refugees heading towards syria, unwards of 200,000 people crossing the border into turkey. but it isn't something that is going to defeat isis. and that's what we can testify to, having witnessed the campaign here in iraq, rosemary. >> yeah. i see your point. there would be some concern here, too. with all the focus initially on iraq. now, of course, this incredible refocus turning to syria and what's happening there. there would be a fear no doubt on the ground there in iraq that it maying ignored in the course of this. and of course you've spent a lot of time with the peshmerga fighters and the importance of having troops on the ground. no talk of that at this point in syria, but it's going to be very critical, isn't it? what's being said about that part, presumably the next phase of this attack in syria? >> reporter: yeah, an important poin

the civilians in raqqah have been trying to get their story out.e been in touch with these sources for months as of may until now trying to tell the world, you know, they're fighting two different wars here. one against assad, one against isis. they're happy to get help against isis but they have resentment towards the world and toward their arab neighbors for not helping them out earlier when they were fighting assad. >> that's interesting. do they like the fact that the united states now has this five arab nation coalition thus far or do they resent that? >> they're happy to get the support against isis but there is resentment toward their arab brethren because they say we've been asking for help, they could have helped us against assad and what they add f they help us get rid of assad maybe isis wouldn't have had the opportunity to grow, fester, build their headquarters in raqqah. >> that's such a great point. many people are saying that today. lisa, thank you so much for sharing the photos with us. >>> a baby gets life-saving surgery after appe

raqqah considered the isis capital in syria.e1 and then the tomahawks racing across the nighttime skytonight, you'll see the images coming in now, and this new ow1 question.w3 have these airstrikes stopped a1 new 9/11-type plot targeting america? were they making bombs that could get past security and onto planes headed to america? abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross leading us off tonight. brian, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, david. the overnight airstrikes may well have stopped what was xdçó supposed to be al qaeda's next described by u.s. officials today as a bold, imminent plot that included american passenger jets, by what was essentially the special forces of al qaeda,1 the concern was so great that the u.s. dedicated eight of the 22 airstrikes against the syrian base of the khorasan group ju$e city of aleppo. >> we believe the khorasan group was nearing the execution phaseq of an attack either in europe or the homeland. >> reporter: three key factors emerged today about why the e1 khorasan group is considered so 1 it's made up of some 50 seasoned al

he was talking about how the mood in raqqah was conflicted.e one hand happy that the world was finally paying attention and doing something about the nightmarish conditions they've been living under. on the other hand great fears because isis fighters had entrenched themselves even further within amongst the civilian population. in other parts of the country a sense of apprehension, the uncertainty and fears of what the days ahead could potentially hold because the u.s. has not just been targeting isis facilities in its air strikes, there's also been going after other islamist units such as the nusra front but many inside syria view it as being an entity that fought against the regime and fought against isis. people concerned because they don't know where the americans and its allies are going to strike and whether or not there's going to be even more collateral damage. now they're living under conditions where they not only have to be fearful of regime attacks, isis attacks but now also the possibility of becoming victims of these ongoing str

. >> they know and they built their infrastructure in raqqah. the president was so fixated on his red line about assad using chemical weapons and that's when baghdadi jumped from iraq into syria and they built the headquarters there. and that's when they really began their plans on this caliphate and islamic state taking over oil fields. that's where they get their revenue, taking over airfields, taking over all the elements that are needed to make a state and doing public crucifixions. we have been reporting on that all along. building this caliphate and their headquarters he must be there because he has the protection but at times he shows his face to invigorate the cause and radicalize others to join them as well. >> that's why the syria part of this is so important. the president doesn't talk about syria and the air strikes are not in syria but if he is hiding there and he is the leader. >> the thing about him being in raqqah. that is the capital. this is his office and headquarters but he may not be there. why? they have learned from what w

video secretly shot by a woman walking through the heart of raqqah.ncy has been looking through this footage and joins us now. this is a unique view. >> fascinating look. a young woman in her 20s. we know her name, not going to release it. she grew up in raqqah, she left when the free syrian army had the control of that. the u.s. ostensibly supports the free syrian army as one of the moderate groups. she returned when isis took control back in march and she shot video, incredible video, showing the fighters. here she's getting into a taxi to go into an internet center. she breaks some of the stereotypes people have as he eavesdrop on women's calls back to their loved ones back at home in france. they're speaking fluent french. you would think that with all the dress code restrictions and everything, women wouldn't like it here but listen to what this one is telling her family member. >> translator: i don't want to come back. because i feel good here. it's not a question of coming back or not. if i want, i can come back. i just don't want to come back

so they moved most of their manpower out of raqqah.what is being targeted right now, concrete buildings, really not damaging a lot, underground wise, practical wise. so the negative impact is that all those fighters are left, raqqah, moving toward kabani. so this increases the possibility of city falling into isis or massacres take place even more. so this is one of the thing that i need to share with you. the demand for the local officials is that to degrade and destroy isis, they should focus on targets around kabani too. it is being focused on from three directions. north, east, and south. so the city is under attack. despite the fact that kurds have been fighting, resisting, with very, very modest weapons which are not matched to isis' weapons. but the situation is getting worse. isis has been using humvees, sophisticated tanks, whereas the kurds have kalashnikovs. they have been resorting to using their bodies to stop the tanks, to explode the tanks, because they don't have weapons. this is what happened on the ground, unless isis

are striking raqqah and the areas there. but we -- the only way we will see that we're really winning this war is by actually capturing isis members by actually destroying isis bases, getting rid of their artillery, their ammunition, but what we may see and this is the real danger is as this happens, we may see a mass exodus of european and western jihadis leaving the region and then coming back to their home countries or back to europe and, of course, with the european visa they've free access to travel wherever they want and already seeing things in algeria, we've seen an attack in belgium where a french jihadi who returned from the region had actually shot some people at a jewish museum so my main concern is that as we start winning this war, if there's an exodus and people start coming back to europe how will the agencies cope? how will we be able to monitor these people and that's a real worry for me. >> don't we also want to be careful as we say this? this is being watched around the world and as we talk about let's be

i think it's important that symbolically raqqah has been struck. i think it's going to be not so clear in the coming days whether or not it's going to degrade isis just with at least one day of strikes as we've seen tonight, rachel. >> what do we know about the level of involvement from these other arab nations? the saudis, bahrain, jordan, qatar? do we know how much they are involved and is that the sort of thing we will hear from them officially or will this always be something covert from their perspective? >> both. i've spoken to some arab leaders this evening. some arab diplomats. and they have spoken to me privately saying that some will make comments following president obama's speech. they want president obama to come out first and set the tone for this international engagement if you will. more importantly, they'll come out and speak about it. they may not necessarily address the operational involvement but they'll certainly lend their diplomatic support to the united states and to the operation. there's no doubt arab countries in the regi

video came from raqqah. >> what we know is we have geolocated the person who posted this video.in fact, it's been posted by three people at this point from different angles. and they are located in raqqa. so we feel comfortable while we can't confirm with the pentagon that this is in fact u.s. air strikes on the ground, we do know that those who are posting these videos are based in raqqa. and this is certainly what u.s. air strikes would look like. do not expect this to look like shock and awe. this is not shock and awe. this is approximately 25 targets. it will be carried out. there won't be any stealth fighters involved. there are f-16s and f-18s. they are not stealth fighters. so as john bussey was pointing out, it is very interesting that the syrians clearly did not turn on their air defense systems. or if they did turn them on, they have been blocked in some way. and the u.s. and its allies certainly have the ability to do a number of things that might have prevented the syrians from turning on those air defense systems. but i do not have any indication from defense source

raqqah has been the headquarters of isis for over a year now. they've been terrorizing people from there. they've spread out through eastern syria and into western iraq. and now the united states and its gulf allies, and jordan is striking against it. it's a remarkable development and a major testimony to the president and secretary kerry's diplomatic skill at pulling together such a coalition. i was really skeptical that those countries would be engaging directly, militarily inside syria. and of course we have to wait until the morning of the next few days to see who exactly did what. but if the early reports are true, it's a remarkable development. >> and knowing the inside of the islamic state as you do or as well as anyone does here, what do you expect their tactical reaction to be to this? >> caller: well, they have already been preparing, i'm sure. they knew these strikes were coming, telegraphed weeks ago, so they would have hidden away any really valuable artillery or tanks. they will probably blend in to some of the cities where they ar

isis has now opened a logistics supply line. >> translator: raqqah is close to the border of iraq. and we saw already that weapons are going back and forth. >> reporter: several thousand are coming from western countries. >> we coming, and we will destroy you. >> reporter: heightening concerns across europe with the u.k. recently lifting its threat level. the security measures in those countries make it difficult. >> translator: since western fighters joined isis, they consider their home country as infid els. >> reporter: it is also perhaps why a werner was chosen to front the horrific beheading of journalist james foley. >> translator: it is possible that the goal was to project the image that a european or western person executed an american so they can showcase their western members and appeal to others outside syria and make them feel that they belong to the same cause and that they, too, can do anything in support of isis in their respective countries. >> reporter: and there is also the internal indoctrination of innocent minds. of of of of establishing more and morris la-- m

raqqah has been the headquarters of isis for over a year now. they've been terrorizing people from there. they've spread out through eastern syria and into western iraq. and now the united states and its gulf allies, and jordan is striking against it. it's a remarkable development and a major testimony to the president and secretary kerry's diplomatic skill at pulling together such a coalition. i was really skeptical that those countries would be engaging directly, militarily inside syria. and of course we have to wait until the morning of the next few days to see who exactly did what. but if the early reports are true, it's a remarkable development. >> and knowing the inside of the islamic state as you do or as well as anyone does here, what do you expect their tactical reaction to be to this? >> caller: well, they have already been preparing, i'm sure. they knew these strikes were coming, telegraphed weeks ago, so they would have hidden away any really valuable artillery or tanks. they will probably blend in to some of the cities where they ar

but the group apparently trying to train raqqah's operating normally.ag flying overhead. >> well, it's used raqqah as the defacemasto capital for months. what life is really like inside the city. we have this report. and we have to warn you some viewers may find some of these images in brian's report disturbing. >> one witness relayed what it was like as allied missiles struck. the witness said isis leaders in the city of raqqa vanished from side. >> they fled out of fear. but they were living among civilians. this is very dangerous. >> according to accounts, isis terrorized the people every day. this is what residents routinely see. crucifixions of nondlooefrs, the severed heads of isis enemies displayed on poles. >> is this still common place in raqqa? >> yes, they are. unfortunately, the number of crucifixions have gone up, as well as decapitations. and they're for anyone who opposes the islamic state. residents describe an islamic police state where music has been banned. women have to dress head to toe in veils. if they don't, they could be lashed

but switch over to this video of another strike reportedly showing what was done over the city of raqqah. this target is the headquarter for isis. also important to note, nbc news cannot verify this video's authenticity. this is circulating widely on social media. and as we look at the u.s. fighter jets taking off, the pentagon released a statement just now saying they have destroyed and damaged multiple targets. the numbers are rolling in. 47 tomahawk land missiles were used. they hit everything we are told from a weapons depot to stormg units and important building. we are also learning that countries are stepping in on this fight to help the u.s. with these strikes. they include the united emirates, saudi arabia, qatar, jordan and bahrain. so far no report from the islamic state. >> angie goff, thank you. >>> 6:04, the air strikes come as the u.s. and world leaders are set to begin the united nations general assembly today. nbc news' chief foreign correspondent richard engel says the timing is clever. the u.s. can look strong in front of the u.n. with air strikes already underway. pre

fighter jets taking off with the bombing devices reportedly happening in the area of raqqah. this is 100 miles away from syria. it is an isis stronghold, as you mentioned. it is believed to be where the extremists are headquartered. we are learning that syrian representatives were notified yesterday and that this could happen and the chairman of the house armed services committee just releasing this statement saying that this is one step in what will be a long fight against isil. now no official response from the islamic state just yet, but a man who identified himself as an isis fighter in syria say that is the group will respond and right now they are blaming saudi arabia for letting this happen. we are staying on top of anything new to come in and will bring you the very latest. >> angie goff from the live desk, thank you. >>> new this morning, there's extra security at a military base in colorado following reports of shots fired inside a building there. people are allowed to enter the base but cannot leave. >>> later today we could find out what was inside the car. missin

taking aim at the isis stronghold of raqqah in syria. and trying to stop the state-controlled oil business by destroying refineries that once generated millions a day. >> they are not pumping out any refined oil, out petroleum, any time soon. >> reporter: great britain could be joining the countries in iraq soon. the house of commons has a vote for today. >> what's the best estimate for how many americans are fighting alongside isis in syria? >> reporter: this is a huge problem. about a dozen on the ground there now. and more than a hundred have gone to syria or returned or arrested while trying go. terror recruiting is a big problem. that's why you saw the u.n. resolution dealing with foreign terror recruiting. >> thank you. >>> new york city is under a heightened security alert this morning after iraq's prime minister claimed he had credible information that isis militants were planning an attack. as a precaution, hundreds of extra police are patrolling the nation's biggest subway system. they insist there are no specific threats of an

>> reporter: today, over the isis stronghold of raqqah, syria, a sign of the battle that could be coming. activists in syria posted this photo of what they said was an unarmed u.s. drone. isis posted its own photos of the surveillance craft circling the city. the u.s. is urgently seeking intelligence on potential military targets and on any sign of the two american hostages still held by isis. >> where are they? and are there any rescue attempts that are possible? >> reporter: the u.s. is also searching for some other americans in syria, those like this former college student from boston, who have turned on their country to join isis. the jihadist recruitment pipeline to syria from the u.s. and europe is of huge concern to law enforcement authorities. >> why did this happen to us? >> reporter: and now, they are closely monitoring the preaching of this charismatic muslim cleric now living in dearborn, michigan, ahmad jibril. >> i want you to know that these were real men who were there to give their jugular veins for the sake of allah. >> reporter: jibril's internet videos are credited wi

carried out overhead by spy planes and satellites and around the isis stronghold of the syrian city of raqqah. this is where u.s. officials believe isis staged its barbaric murders of journalists stephan sotloff and james foley. today, the president vowed isis will pay the price. >> we will not be intimidated. their horrific acts only unite us as a country and stiffen our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists. >> reporter: the isis commander abu bakr al baghdadi and his key deputies are prime targets for the u.s. and so is the hooded british speaker seen in the hostage videos. >> i'm back, obama. >> reporter: and others from isis not seen but clearly part of the execution and video team. >> and those that make the mistake of harming americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served. >> reporter: in the search for clues, some of the recent gruesome isis videos offer unintended leads. here the camera pans and briefly catches a glimpse of one of the isis camera operators. and then another isis fighter, part of the all important p

ago there were 14 strikes early this morning in four general areas including the northern city of raqqah which has become i.s.i.s.'s base of operation. among the targets were fighters, training compounds, headquarters and command and control facilities. it was tomahawk missiles from the red sea and drones and attack and fighter aircraft with the others in the region. the u.s. was the only non-arab country taking part. and syria was told yesterday they were told they were coming. there has been no confirmation from the american side which said it would not coordinate with the assad regime. >> that's what's happening now, but what about future cooperation from other countries? >> reporter: the u.s. has five countries, jordan, bahrain, united arab emirates. they are dropping bombs as well. their aircraft are in the sky. it could include western partners as well. france and australia are helping fight in iraq against i.s.i.s. britain has said it's willing to fight against i.s.i.s. none have committed to fighting inside syria, but that's a possibility. >> alexander marquardt on the syrian bor

spy planes and satellites honing in on raqqah where they think they were killed. in florida steven sotloff's family and friends remember a dedicated journalist. >> he wanted to give voice to those who had none. >> reporter: it was a mission that cost him his life. secretary of defense chuck hagel said there are at least 100 american passport holders fighting with isis and terror experts say english speakers are key to spreading the isis message increasing their power and recruiting others. reena, tahman, back to you. >> gloria riviera live in washington. >> the terror threat from iceland is sure to be discussed at the nato summit this week even though ukraine is the main item on the agenda. >> president obama will be meeting with several heads of state today in newport, wales. abc's devin dwyer is traveling with the president. good morning, devin. >> reporter: good morning, reena and tahman. president obama arrived here overnight making front page news this morning. he's the first american president ever to visit wales. the nato summit already under way. the agend

and five arab allies focused on raqqah, hasakah and abu kamal. they hit command centers, equipment and training camps. separately u.s. forces attacked aleppo, the stronghold of an al today linked faction known as the khorasan group. >> intelligence indicated they were in the final stages of plans to execute major attacks against western targets and potentially the u.s. homeland. >> reporter: u.s. warplanes and drones started hitting islamic state positions in iraq at the beginning of august. but president barack obama held off on attacking syria, where a civil war has been grinding on for more than three years. he's been wary of helping president bashar al assad in his fight against anti-government forces. he blames assad for carrying out chemical weapons attacks and other atrocities. but obama decided the benefits outweighed the risks, and he assembled a coalition of more than 50 nations to join the fight. >> this is not going to be something that is quick and it is not something that is going to be easy. >> reporter: u.s. officials warned the a

the bombing of raqqah is very significant because this is an area that is controlled by isis and considered to be the group's headquarters. we are hearing so far from the chairman of the house armed services committee releasing a statement saying, quote, this is one step in what will be a long fight against isil, end quote. we are also hearing from someone who identifies themselves as an isis fighter in syria. they are telling reuters, the news agency, the militants will respond to the air strikes. he also adds that they are zoning in and blaming saudi arabia for letting this happen. as we follow this story, we have breaking news that a syrian fighter jet has been shot down in israel. i'm going to work this and come back with an update in a few minutes. over to you. >> see you then, thank you. >>> the air strikes come as the u.s. and world leaders are set to begin the united nations general assembly today. the foreign correspondent richard engel says the timing is clever and the u.s. can look strong with the actions underway. president obama is expected to rally more nations to join the cam

ago there were 14 strikes early this morning in four general areas including the northern city of raqqah which has become isis's base of operation. among the targets were isis fighters, training compounds, headquarters and command and control facilities. now those strikes were a combination of tomahawk missiles fired from the red sea and drones as well as attack and fighter aircraft with other countries in the region. the u.s. was the only non-arab country taking part in this morning's assault. and interestingly, syria is now saying this morning that they were told yesterday that the strikes were coming. there has been no confirmation from the american side which said it would not coordinate in the fight against isis with the assad regime. >> that's what's happening now, but what do we know about future coordination from other countries? >> reporter: the u.s. has assembled a coalition with five arab countries. jordan, saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar, and the united arab emirates. they did not just take a role in terms of support. they are actively dropping bombs as well. their aircraft are

they say eight strikes hit targets in eastern syria, as well as aleppo and raqqah in the northern region. they say their attack near the syrian border with turkey appears to have been successful. they were targeting a storage facility that was being used as a logistics hub by the militant group. a senior u.s. air force official in charge of the operation says the attacks have helped weaken the militant group's chain of command. but he says it will take more time to cut off the islamic state's source of funds. >> i think we're just in the beginning portions of the campaign that will allow us to see those specific effects that will take long-term to ultimately see the effectiveness. >> some reports say the u.s.-led air strikes have killed civilians in syria. u.s. defense department spokesperson steve warren says leaders in washington are investigating. but he said so far they have found nothing to confirm the allegation. >>> a group of japanese lawmakers will travel to seoul next month to meet with the south korean counterparts. they're trying to lay the groundwork for a possible bilateral

in red you see some of the targets that we hit in syria that were focused on isis around raqqah, which is the headquarters essentially of isis, but also down towards al qaim and the crossing down there, it's very interesting because the lifeblood of any insurgency is cash. and isis had been developing these modular oil refineries that allowed them to collect almost $2 million a day in oil revenues, and so all those things that you're seeing, all those red dots are command and control, they're refurbishment training areas that isis had in this safe haven in syria, and so the administration made a decision to go in and hit those targets to help the effort in iraq. >> and you said to help the effort in iraq. obviously we want to protect the west. we want to protect americans, but it is right now to look after iraq. >> right. the effect on isis is to help the fight in iraq, and what was happening in syria, it was that the isis had the ability to go back into safe havens and to rearm and regroup. but if you look at these strikes that were done later in the week and yesterday included, you c

the persian gulf and red sea, targets that khorasan terror cell around aleppo and isis targets in raqqah. the missiles struck training camps, manufacturing centers and a finance center. half hour later, 4:00 a.m. the u.s., joined by its arab partners, unleashed a torrent of f-18s, f-15s, and 16s, and the f-22, the first time the stealth fighter has been used in combat. hitting an isis command center with gps-prescision guided missles. >> you can see on the left-hand side, the before shot, and then you can see, as you look at it on the right-hand side, the after shot. >> reporter: just after 7:00 a.m., the third and final wave. more fighter jets launched to take out isis targets year the iraq border. including this residential compound converted to an isis training camp. it was wiped out by a volley of missles, which the pentagon said hit directly on their marks. the u.s. carried out the overwhelming number of strikes, but bahrain, jordan, the united arab emirates and saudi arabia all launched airstrikes. qatar had armed fighter jets providing cover in case syrian government warplanes sho

the very first reports came from a twitter user in raqqah who heard bombings near some government buildingsnow used as isis headquarters. the pentagon says a centcom commander decided to strike earlier on monday. and now the munitions rain do you think on isis militants just after dawn are coming from some manned aircraft like f-18 fighters flying off the uss george h.w. bush in the persian gulf as well as some b-1 bombers. and for the very first time in combat stealth raptors unmanned tools are being used as well like predator drones and tomahawk missiles fired from the uss orderly burk the united states not alone in the brand-new effort. four arab nations flying missions over syria. they are united arab emrattles, saudi arabia, jordan, and bahrain. a fifth nation qatar is helping out but they're not flying in the skies this morning. president obama has been receiving regular updates on these air strikes throughout the night from military officials. the president did dial capitol hill to fill in the speaker of the house and house minority leader nancy pelosi with details about this operati

here are the three major cities behind me where the strikes hit the capital city damascus, raqqah andppo which has seen fighting for more than a year. chief white house correspondent ed henry joins me in studio at the maps. let's start out with the countries who are with the united states. >> this is what president obama was trying to hit hard before he left here for new york city was that the white house in pointing out you see

most are in the isis stronghold of raqqah. but also a new terror group inside syria called corasan. how that active plot targeting america was stopped. >> surprising developments. our abc news security team up all night tracking this story. start with martha raddatz who's in washington. >> reporter: good morning. this is a major escalation in the fight. it may not have been shock and awe, but the wave of air strikes in syria was the biggest we have seen in a single day since the u.s. began attacking isis in august. we did not do it alone and not just attacking isis. the strikes were launched from the air and the sea. missiles and precision-guided bombs from u.s. stealth bombers, stealth fighters and armed drones pummelling 22 targets in syria with 47 tomahawk missiles fired from navy warships in the persian gulf and red sea. >> very different than iraq. this is almost like a desert storm. lots of fire power, everything the united states has, all our best gear into this fight. it's a high-threat environment. >> reporter: 14 of the targets were aimed at isis headquarters, supply depot

the very first reports came from a twitter user in raqqah who heard bombings near some government buildingser decided to strike earlier on monday. and now the munitions rain do you think on isis militants just after dawn are coming from some manned aircraft like f-18 fighters flying off the uss george h.w. bush in the persian gulf as well as some b-1 bombers. and for the very first time in combat stealth raptors unmanned tools are being used as well like drones and tomahawk missiles fired from the uss orderly burk the united states not alone in the brand-new effort. four arab nations flying missions over syria. they are united arab emrattles, saudi arabia, jordan, and bahrain. a fifth nation qatar is helping out but they're not flying in the skies this morning. president obama has been receiving regular updates on these air strikes throughout the night from military officials. the president did dial capitol hill to fill in the speaker of the house and house minority leader nancy pelosi with details about this operation. and officials with syrian president bashar al assad, they also got a he

is being carried out by spy planes and satellites over the isis stronghold of the syrian city of raqqahs is where u.s. officials believe isis staged its barbaric murders of journalist, steven sotloff and james foley. today the president vowed isis will pay the price. >> we will not be intimidated. their horrific acts, unite us, stiff in our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists. >> reporter: the isis commander, and key deputies are prime targets for the u.s. and so is the hooded british speaker. seen in the video. and other from isis not seen but clearly part of the execution and video team. >> those who make the mistake of harming americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served. >> in the search for clues, some of the reecen recent gruesome v offer leads. the camera pan and catches a glimpse of one of the isis camera operators. then another isis fighter driving the truck. part of the all important propaganda team that records and distreb u distribut distributes. >> the act that follows the act of violence is almost as

they're in the far northwest corner of syria, near aleppo and raqqah. now only the u.s.nvolved in this round of strikes. and those missiles hit at least two khorasan training camps. now jordan, united arab emirates and bahrain were involved. and the finance center was struck. the third wave was against targets in eastern syria. and we also have images today of a purported islamic state residence near the iraqi border. and, this is just the beginning. >> jason, in terms of the training camps, do we have any kind of asisment as to how successful they were in hitting khorasan? >> well, the pentagon said that they were successful. what that means exactly, we don't know. and we don't have images that show us what that means exactly. but the pentagon is saying that the real main aim of last night's strike was to not go after individuals, not to go after foreheads, but to go after mechanisms they use to communicate, and that these were very precision weapons they were using to attack chore son and to disable their ability to carry out a potential strike against the united state

if they take the city, isis would have free reign from raqqah to the turkish border. pentagon officials tell cnn so far, the military does not have orders from president obama to protect the kurds in syria, so strikes are few for now, hitting only at isis targets the u.s. wants to destroy, while refugees are trying to escape by the thousands. from the defense secretary, a chilly warning about anticipating success. >> i also want to emphasize that no one is under any illusions, under any illusions that air strikes alone will destroy isil. they are one element of our broader comprehensive campaign against isil. >> reporter: there are other limitations to what air power can accomplish. >> air strikes don't work if you don't have good intelligence. we have long passed the idea of carpet bombing an area, of going after an area without having precision intelligence associated with the targets in that area. >> reporter: but the more than 60 coalition and u.s. air strikes in the area have had an impact in the areas where bombs have fallen according to a top military official.

official tells cnn, a capture of this base completed the takeover of raqqah province.d tank is displayed. heavy artillery and a stash of weapons and am moammo. >> you can find all kinds of weapons, and obviously the thing that would concern us most is if they have captured surface-to-air missiles which could be used somewhere else in the region, particularly as the u.s. starts air strikes. >> reporter: douglas oliphant says some of this could be staged because it doesn't show anyone fighting back at isis. it shows good combat discipline, it also may be a reflection on syrian forces. >> it could be an indicator of a lack of leadership in the syrian army as well. if your leaders leave any kind of military organization, if the leaders aren't there sharing the toughness, sharing the combat, and they heave the soldiers up to their own devices without any leadership there, the soldiers will sometimes give up. >> reporter: there's also a question of whether some elite forces may have been killed in this battle. at one point in the battle, the isis fighter shows the id of a sy

has been conducting drone flights over raqqah.ooking for signs of hostages or the areas where they have carried out their execution, but so far, without success. one senior official told abc news this latest execution out in the open during the day is a sign that i.s.i.s. still feels it can carry its bar baric medieval acts with impunity and the u.s. officials say it still holds two young american aid workers and two more british citizen, one of whom appeared in this latest video described as the next victim. >> so four more families in anguish this morning. brian, thank you. let's go to washington now and our chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz. martha, good morning. is it possible that this was potentially strategically unwise move? on the part of i.s.i.s.? the white house is trying to recruit countries for a coalition to fight i.s.i.s. so would this latest act of barberism make that easier? >> it certainly seems like it would. it enrages the united states. it enrages the british. i think one of the reasons they do

gloats as he provides over the executions of syrians apparently captured from a military base near raqqah>> they said we kept fighting them to turn our guns towards the muslims. they lie. we are the harshest wars to fight and the flames of war are only beginning intensify. >> reporter: he speaks perfect english. >> this is the end of every one we get ahold of. >> reporter: he could be american or canadian. >> clearly isis had a calculated step to be able to put this guy on camera. why? because he seems american. the message is aimed at a western audience and his intent is to, a, project fear to the united states and, b, to instill and give this sense of projection of power. >> reporter: the entire video is pure isis propaganda stylishly edited battle scenes featuring their heavy armor getting blown apart but a crucial moment comes in the film's final minutes when the masked isis militant and his comrades ready their guns and appear to execute the syrians who dug their own graves. >> this isn't north america. it's quite extraordinary. the first time a north american isis fighter has commit