joshua starr. dr. starr, welcome back to "viewpoint." great to see you. >> thank you very much for having may. it's great to be back, jim. >> entering your third year. you're about to give your third state of the schools speech. what are you most proud of in terms of accomplishment and change over your first three years? >> montgomery county is such a great school system. we've done so well for so long. the question is how do you take a great system and make it even better. we have to recognize we have long-standing achievement gaps, but we have so many strengths. there's three things we're focused on. academic excellence is of importance to us. whether it's sa.a.t.s, kids hav to be prepared. and critical problem solving is a skill for the 21st century. employers want people with skills, but they want people who can be curious, who can be creative, work in teams and collaborate and think of new kinds of solutions. the third piece of social and emotional well-being, the idea that our kids should not only be academically prepared but good

but a police officer was staking out the location by the time maxwell, starr, and another friend leftn the friend's truck. >> next thing you know, what in the hell is behind us? i look and there's about 30 cops and feds. i'm just so mad and so upset that this happened like this. because this was probably the only chance that i'd ever had. finally, when i got out of the truck, you know, i'm not come complying very well and i turned around and took off. they shot me with a bean bag, then they tased me with the taser. then they set the dog on me. when it was all said and done, you know, i'm like, i mean -- i'm like, man, you guys -- i don't know how you did it, but you guys are good. i got to give you that. if i had made it this time, i just wanted to be somebody else. and just be a citizen. i figured that if i had stole a few years now, as much time as possible, who knows. if i could go out and live a citizen's life, one more chance, that if i did get caught later on down the line, i would have been able to look back on my life and see i had a little bit of life to live. that i'd lived

judge starr, coming to you. we often talk about on this committee and in businesses across the nation and in union halls about the cost of unionization, the cost of bargaining, the cost of dues, et cetera, whether or not a union member should have to pay dues voluntarily or not have a choice and that. what do you think, in your experience and, we be the cost of unionization for the employer and the employees? can you estimate employer-employee cost of student athletes in your nice at baylor, for example? >> we've not punched through the numbers enough to even come up with a reasonable estimate. what we do know is the whole idea of collective bargaining is, in fact, to increase the whole reservoir of duly agreed upon commitments by the employer. so i think part of the question is, what can we do outside the collective bargaining, which has never been contemplated before, that, in fact, improve student welfare? that's the ultimate policy question you've rightly focused on. that unionization process is just raising

. >> we have breaking news and i want to bring in barbara starr. she's at the pentagon.is about u.s. efforts, right, to try to rescue james foley, the american journalist who was gruesomely executed by isis fighters in iraq. >> actually in syria. we have an extraordinary revelation by the obama administration in the last few minutes. earlier this summer, u.s. special forces several dozen of them landed inside syria for the first time we know of combat boots in an attempted hostage rescue of james foley and several other hostages being held by isis. these were the most senior special forces the u.s. has on the level of delta force, seal team six, we have seen spring into action so many times before. they had intelligence. they went to a site in syria. that location not being disclosed. they came in by helicopter, several dozen of them. they were backed up in the air by combat aircraft by intelligence and surveillance aircraft keeping an eye on them at all times. when they got to this facility, they engaged isis fighters on the ground. we are told they killed several of th

and a lot of that involves a plan to transfer starr scientific stocks to williams. now that plan actually never went through. it's something called a margin loan and mcdonnell said he didn't really know anything about it and placed a call to his stockbroker to found out more about it. that plan never happened. however, they did get the $50,000 loan. he said he understood it to be a 2% interest and that he would be paying it off in three years. and really, he basically said he got nothing from starr scientific and everything perfectly legal. but of course, we still have to hear the questions from the prosecution. not sure yet when that's going to happen. the defense is still at it. getting mcdonnell's side of this story out. i'm peggy fox reporting live in richmond. mike? >> do you think the jury is buying this? do you think they understand these are just legitimate loans or do you think it seems like it might be something else? >> reporter: well, it's a very very complicated case. we know that maureen mcdonnell actually bought starr scientific stock from the $50 mil

since 1996. >> but if starr is found guilty for aiding in jimmy's escape, she could face prison time.>> oh, yeah, the escape. my family is my family. i love them to death. i'm not going to turn my back on them, any -- whatever, you know, what i mean? i'd do it again in a heart beat. >> jimmy is unaware she's in the female unit. he's freshened up his cell getting rid of the graffiti. and found an old friend, will flowers in the cell across the hall. he's been trying to teach flowers sign language but with mixed results. >> man, it's been 30 years since i have done sign language. i'm a little slow. i probably suck at it. >> he's killing me. i got to tell you, he's killing me. >> you slow down. >> you are killing me. >> flowers is currently charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. he's pled not guilty and is awaiting trial. but it was while serving time in prison that he got to know maxwell. the two can spend time together one hour a day when they are released into an enclosed rec area. >> it's nice, not like the park, i guarantee you, but it's nice to be out here, fresh air, out

your correspondent barbara starr mentioned the lone wolf. these people are much more smaller in networks, harder to monitor and detect, and that, of course, makes the job of counterterrorism all that more difficult. >> so that's one front with isis. the other front is there on the ground in iraq, and i know you've said that in the past few weeks, that iraq leadership under al maliki, for example, didn't seem to care that some of the cities had fallen. they're trying to take back fallujah right now. take it back from isis. what are the chances that this country can come together, sunis and shia, and unite in their government to try to do their part up against isis? >> well, the prime minister-elect of iraq, he has a very difficult job. he has to undo a lot of the damage that his predecessor nuri maliki created. maliki basically ostracized the suni arabs of iraq, discriminated against them, prevented them in playing a role in iraq's government. he turned the iraqi army into his own personal militia. basically, a lot of people were disenfranchi

barbara starr on the plan. jim accost to on the decision to launch the mission and ivan watson on the ground in northern iraq. we begin with barbara starr at the pentagon. so what do we know at this hour about the operation? >> anderson, tonight we can tell you iraqi officials are telling us iraqi air forces have been striking all day at various targets in and around the area. no u.s. fighter jets involved at this point. the u.s. clearly sharing intelligence with the iraqis. why the concern? there are 40 american troops there working as advisors, as isis advances, the top concern is the safety of the americans, the safety of american personnel in iraq is the marker for the president as you would expect their protection, their safety if that becomes at risk in the hours or days ahead, there will most likely be those air strikes to try and take out any isis threat, protect the americans and possibility even evacuate them from the area. we need to be clear, at this hour, none of that has happened but we are headed

barbara starr is joining me now. barbara starr sta, what do you know?k, this information just coming into cnn right now. there have been two additional rounds of u.s. military air strikes against isis in northern iraq. everybody bear with me. i'm going to detail it for everyone the information just coming into us. shortly after 10:00 this morning eastern time, a u.s. military drone, a remote piloted vehicle, struck at an isis mortar position. they hit that position and then they tell us when the isis fighters shortly thereafter returned to the site, they were attacked again at that site by the u.s. military and that site we are told was destroyed. this is all, of course, just outside offer bill. so the first strike 10:00 this morning. a u.s. military remote piloted vehicle, generally they carry hell fire missiles. they are very precise going against very particular targets hit an isis mar tore position. that was at 10:00 this morning. an hour and 20 minutes later, 11:20 this morning east coast time, four f/a-18 aircraft we believe all off the deck of th

quietly we'll appreciate that >> good afternoon aaron starr planning staff. the item bruce before you is a department supported ordinance to amend the sections of the planning code to restraining order reorganize time tables to update and semiimply code language i presented that on june 20, 2013, and looked at it october i was overlook optimistic other than the timing but the year it took to bring this forward was good we hosted two meeting and drafted the 4 hundred and 60 page odd ordinance and have the city attorney reviewed the ordinance and signed it which took 5 months. today, we're asking toy initiate in orients and set the september 4th as the deposition date the organization of article 2 has been around since 1980 but until now monopoly massachusetts has been crazy enough to organize it and they have also their own set of articles they have the zoning control tables that lists standards and controls in one table and providing the reader one single source for every zoning district article two on the other hand, only lists the use and the distinction of

. >>> cnn correspondent barbara starr has details and joins us on the phone. >> good evening. the u.s. military took a significant step forward today. there had been four air strikes very different from what we have seen over the last several hours beginning yesterday. today four air strikes by the u.s. specifically to defend the civilians, the iraqi minority, tens of thousands of people trapped on that mountain top. the u.s. conducted four separate air strikes against isil targets particularly against armor personnel carriers firing on the city as well as armor trucks. in four rounds of air strikes the u.s. really took a significant step forward doing exactly what president obama said he was going to do which was to try to work to prevent a potential genocide of the people. the initial assessment is they were successful in carrying out. there are reports that some of the people have been able to get out. the kurds helped try to establish a safe corridor. there are so many people in the mountains. the concern is that isis is on the march towards them as well as towards erbil.

joshua starr is here with us now. thank you for being with us. we said nerve wrecking time for students. what about the school superintendent starting his fourth year on the job? >> it's such a wonderful time. kids are nervous but everybody is ready to come back. i was with some teachers this morning in our alternative education programs. everybody is ready. we love greeting our kids. we of course have 154,000 we're expecting this year. >> that's a lot. >> we're up by about 2800, the biggest ever. they keep coming and we keep doing everything we can do make sure we have the buildings ready. as you know we're building new buildings, putting on additions but we're bursting at the seams. >> you have three new buildings you'll be taking the wraps off. >> we have three new construction projects. with very a whole new building and waters landing and some other places where we have expansions. there's construction going on everywhere and we still have a lot of portables. we're hoping the state will come through with some help because we are the fastest

its official name is the "starr bumble bee."s because it was built by a pilot named bob starr. i would have trouble fitting in there. how dhe fit in there? >> bob was a really sort of slightly built guy, right, so he sort of squirmed himself in. >> the little plane only carried 2 1/2 gallons of gas, so the flight of the bumble bee was very, very short. i'm just surprised it made it off the ground. >> yeah. well, you know, one of the reasons he kind of named it bumble bee is, you know, there's the old myth that, you know, if bumble bees knew anything about physics, they wouldn't be able to fly, right? so, that's kind of where he took the theme from. >> up there is a concept that really needed to "bee" aware of the physics of flying. that looks like a one-man flying machine. >> it is. it's a one-man hoppi-copter. it was meant to drop soldiers into battle with their own personal helicopter. interesting idea but terrible application. all it did was break legs, and it was abandoned really quickly. >> oh, no! so, it didn't work? >> di

joining me now is the superintendent, joshua starr. thank you so much. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> reporter: how are you feeling about the start of school in the system? >> i'm feeling great. everybody is thrilled to have the kids back. we have 154,000 kids coming out, 2800 more than last year. and we're ready to go. >> let's talk about the new student enrollment numbers just continuing to go up. >> every year we keep going up. more kids coming to montgomery county, more kids being born and we're thrilled to have them in in our system. >> what did you have to do to prepare? >> we just built or 202nd school, we'll be there later today. we're expanding schools. we have of course portables. we are bursting at the seam. but we're also ready and we have safe classrooms for everyone. >> so technology in the classroom. you're pushing this thing. 40,000 is the goal for tablets, laptops, chrome books. >> so we're talking about 40,000 chrome books. we started with about 12,000 right now. but we are just so thrill that had we can provide our kids with the technology t

cnn's barbara starr joins us from the pentagon with more.d morning, barbara. >> good morning, carol. why isis, why now, why syria? why all the if focus on this? u.s. official also tell you this isis movement is so different than anything they have seen in the past with terrorist groups, this is some 10,000 fighters they have weapons, vehicles, they have armored vehicles, tanks, artillery, mortars, they move like an army, they are organized like an army, so what the u.s. is doing right now is trying to collect intelligence on that isis army, where are they on the ground, what are their patterns of movement, where are their troops? where are those convoys? how are they moving around? how are they so much on the march across northern syria and across the border into iraq? president obama expected to make a decision at some point about whether or not to conduct air strikes to challenge all of that. what the goal is u.s. officials tell us is air strikes would not defeat isis at this point, but to stop their momentum, to stop them from being able

barbara starr joins us next live with the very latest. what does it mean to have an unlimited mileage warranty on a certified pre-owned mercedes-benz? what does it mean to drive as far as you want... for up to three years... and be covered? it means your odometer... is there to record... the memories. during the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event now through september 2nd, you'll get complimentary pre-paid maintenance and may qualify for a two-month payment credit. only at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same c

i want to go to barbara starr, our pentagon correspondent, right now.our viewers on what the u.s. military has done so far today. as far as air strikes are concerned and as far as humanitarian air drops of food and water are concerned. >> well, wolf, they're continuing with both tracks. both air strikes again isis positions and also the food drops. you know, you look at these pictures that ivan watson has brought the world and you come to understand genocide is not a word. this is the face. ivan watson is bringing you the face of genocide unfolding on that mountain top in iraq. and the pentagon knows this full well. in fact, behind the scenes, you know, they're already looking at what more they could possibly do. the president on saturday sort of in an almost aside before he left the white house talked about an international effort to get these people off this mountain. but there's some very critical things in this video that tell us all what the military's situation is. the fact that this helicopter with the peshmerga fighters had to shoot its way on t

let's go to barbara starr. the pentagon paying close attention to the northern stiff irbil where some of those military advisers are located. are there lives at risk? >> reporter: there's about 40 military advisors in the northern stiff irbil. over the last 24 hours what the u.s. has noticed isis fighters, these militant fighters moving closer to irbil, moving into tier bill area, and moving at a much greater rate than they had seen before. they have a lot of capability to cause havoc on the ground with their fighters, with their weapons, with their ground weapons and vehicles. so the concern is about those 40 americans who are there. the troops have been there for several weeks. they are working to help iraqi government forces try and get back sort of into this fight against isis. but if the situation grows any more dire for the americans the question will have to be confronted is do they try to evacuate them out of there sore it so dire the u.s. might undertake air strikes in irbil to problem text the america

barbara starr joins me now. >>

barbara starr is going to continue her great reporting at the pentagon for us. you see the breaking news, the president approved air strikes last night, but now we have learned at least the very first of what would probably not be the last of those air strikes had been ordered and executed in iraq. >> two f-18s sent off the aircraft carrier "george bush." no small irony that the aircraft carrier named after president bush, that's how long we've been in this situation in iraq. stay with cnn for the breaking news and how effective it is. we'll get you to "the newsroom" right now carol costello. carol? >> thanks, chris and kate. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. we start this hour with breaking news out of iraq. the air strikes president obama authorized just hours ago have now begun. let's begin with white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, what can you tell us? >> well, carol, what we can tell you is that in just the last several minutes the pentagon press secre

pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me live on the phone. we have anna coren live in the city of irbil. barbara, what do we know about and what u.s. war planes were targeting? >> reporter: this was the heaviest round of strikes in a five-hour period. this morning the u.s. struck five rounds, five rounds of targets in northern iraq. they went against isis trucks, armored vehicles, mortar positions, a number of strikes there. very interesting with a very heavy round of bombardment and in one case the planes, the fighter jets circled around and then came back and struck again when they saw a target not fully destroyed begin to move apparently. the pentagon is saying the strikes were carried out by both fighter jets and unmanned drones. we have seen that before. clearly continuing to take the military tact to try to be as precise as they can against these targets, use precision weapons and be able to strike these targets even as they move. every indication this is going to go on for a while. >> the president said this operation will last months

>> cnn's barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you for that. i want to talk more about the first known u.s. ground operation in syria with chris heben. he's not just a former navy s.e.a.l. he was a member of s.e.a.l. team 8, a group reserved for exactly this kind of mission. also joining us author and terrorism expert and cnn national security expert peter bergen. chris, if i can start with you. first off, when this kind of a mission is set out upon and knowing full well that you probably and i know you can't say it, but you probably conducted missions very similar to this, are you given a degree of certainty, and are you also given what the unknowns are? >> you're usually not even launched for the mission unless there's a 75% chance or greater of success. and by success, meaning the person or persons you're supposed to be looking for or getting are actually there. and all of the unknowns are made known to you. the intelligence gathering is massive. it is massive. and it happens at a very high rate of speed. you've got guys chewing through inte

michaela, john. >> barbara starr, currently very concerning. diana magnay as well, thank you for that. >> rushsia might be tied to a hacking attack. on jpmorgan chase. financial institutions in the u.s., banks. the fbi not only considers this a major breach but a national security matter. the agency is working with the u.s. secret service on the investigation. >> we're joined by christine romans, cnn's chief business correspondent and anchor of "early start." you've been doing digging on this. >> a lot going on here. the fbi very clear that they don't know where this attack emanated from. they have not said specificallies this is from russia. they are concerned and investigating. looks like it was jpmorgan and several other banks as well. this is -- they got in there and a lot of data. they got information in there. jp moorgen telling us companies of our size unfortunately experience cyber attacks every day. multiple layers of defense and monitor fraud levels. they say so far they have not seen any unusual fraud activity at this time. jpmorgan

. >> barbara starr, just thinking about the fact that these twos crisises are so very different both in terms of who the actors are, the role of our allies in the region but there is one through line as you and i have discussed which is, what is the role of the united states and the u.s. military in the 21st century? >> i think that's right, jake. quickly, strip away all the words. what the american people want to know is do these crises involve sending u.s. troops into battle. in ukraine certainly not. there might be a decision to provide arms to the ukrainian military. the problem is if russia keeps going, it gets into nato and then the u.s. does have an obligation to militarily defend other nato countries. if the president chooses air strikes in syria, that does involve u.s. troops, he will have to make the case, what is the threat that isis poses to the united states and why it is important torn send u.s. troops into harm's way. if for so many u.s. military families and i think for most americans, the key question is, does it involve sending u.s. troops into battle. what is the t

air strikes, we heard barbara starr, our own pentagon correspondent, throwing out two questions.i sum that up for you, let me throw up the picture. we know the president is away. he is on martha's vineyard. and here he is sitting with susan rice, national security adviser, being updated. obviously, he is president no matter where he goes. he's with the first family on the vineyard. but still obviously very in the loop to what's happening in iraq. and just quickly, one of the headlines from one of the responses from barbara starr to the lieutenant general. he was talking about isis' momentum and saying despite some of these targeted air strikes and hitting those isis targets, the momentum has not been broken. that was his word. has not been broken. and timetable, and we listened to the president before he left for the vineyard on saturday. you know, we don't have any specific amount of time. he just said this campaign would be protracted long-term. so that's what we have from the president and from the pentagon today. colby bazel, let me bring you back in. my apologies, but that w

jake in. >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you so much. coming up next, the national guard pulling out of ferguson, missouri, where we are right now but with tensions still high here, is that too soon? plus, he's the congressman who represents this district that i'm standing in. he says he has no faith in the ferguson police department to lead the investigation into michael brown's killing. what does this congressman want to see done? i will ask him coming up next. , and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to r.a. symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. [ male announcer ] humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serio

barbara starr has the latest on what the u.s.ng this morning. >> reporter: good morning, john. 130 additional u.s. troops in northern iraq, more than 900 american forces on the ground now in that country. the new job to assess how to get those thousands of iraqiy, you see these civilians stranded on the mountain top off of there. how to get them off of there safely. the military looking at a number of options and working with other countries. two ideas on table, get them out by air. that could take weeks of landing aircraft around the clock to fly them out. not clear where they would take them. land. hundreds of trucks, again, maybe it could take weeks to drive them out of that area, transport them to a safe location. nobody knows at this point where that would be. one of the big challenges, of course, is security. security to keep any kind of evacuation effort safe, orderly and organized as it would unfold over a number of days and weeks. there are thousands of people up there but also the u.s. likely to have to step up air stri

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> well, for more on u.s.itary options in syria, i spoke with janine davidson at the council for foreign relations and a former u.s. deputy assistant secretary. i asked her about the limits of reconnaissance alone. >> you need boots often the ground to get a certain type of intelligence, but there are a lot of things you can get with air power, drones, ariel sur vile lance. i mean, these fighters, they do have training sites that are probably visible and also they're moving in between places. there are things that you can see. you're absolutely right, eventually there's only so much you can do without knowing what's going on on the ground especially as the isis fighters move into the urban areas or retreat back into the urban areas. >> so what do you say would be the comprehensive strategy the u.s. gloft is currently looking at? >> i think what you're hearing from the administration. people want to hear more but i think what you're hearing is the cautious and long term and with an important understanding that

barbara starr at the pentagon for us. as always, barbara, thank you. >>> let's turn now to more breaking news, the american doctor infected with ebola will be released, if you can believe it, from atlanta's emory university today. kent brantly arrived at the facility earlier this month. he contracted the deadly virus while treating infected patients. he was working in liberia. brantly and his colleague, nancy writebol, received experimental treatment before being flown to an isolation unit in the atlanta hospital. brantly will make a statement about his recovery later this morning. doctors are also expected to give an update then on writebol's condition. just unbelievable the turnaround that he has seen. >>> going to take a break. coming up next on "new day," a grand jury has started looking at evidence in the michael brown shooting. we have a brand new witness coming forward as well. what he says he saw that day and what it means for the investigation. unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlim

we learn more from barbara starr at the pentagon. >> reporter: u.s.icials tell cnn there are longstanding and ongoing talks inside the administration about increasing air strikes in iraq and even the possibility of tailored air strikes inside syria against specific isis targets. but officials stress no decisions have been made by the white house. >> we're actively considering what's going to be necessary to deal with that threat. and we're not going to be restricted by borders. >> reporter: and the pentagon is divulging nothing. >> we don't telegraph our punches. i think you can rest assured that the leadership here in the pentagon understands the threat posed by this group. >> reporter: the talk of military options stirred up by this comment by defense secretary chuck hagel about the threat of isis and its ranks of 10,000 fighters. >> oh, this is beyond anything that we've seen. so we must prepare for everything. and the only way you do that is you take a cold, steely hard look at it. and get ready. >> reporter: officials are taking pains to emphasiz

we begin with barbara starr, what have you learned? >> good evening anderson. three strikes, one against an isis artillery position followed by another strike by a drone and a third round of strikes by a number of f-18s off the carrier in the persian gulf. they are striking at convoys, artillery, mortar positions. this is aimed at stopping the isis advance on irbil. they are going after mobile targets of isis and trying to push them back from the outer perimeter around irbil. very precise targeting by the united states, they are using precision weapons, 500-pound precision-guided bombs. they are being as precise as they can. isis fights like an army. an army with heavy weapons, heavier weapons than they've had and taking ground and oholding ground. nobody is talking about defeating but simply pushing them back a bit, if they can. this is an army, this is a group that is fighting something that al qaeda only could have aspired two years ago. al qaeda never got this far. anderson? >> startling to see how fast they are moving. the humanitarian air drops, have they

barbara starr has the details. >> reporter: desperate iraqis again, on the run from isis. this time, minority turkmen in iraq, people desperate for food, water and above all, safety. the u.s. military is prepared to potentially expand operations to airdrop humanitarian supplies and bomb isis positions to help break its grip here, if president obama orders it. across the board in syria no decision yet by the white house on whether to begin air strikes against isis strong holds inside syria. >> i would not at this point set up a time frame for a presidential decision. >> reporter: president obama critics, as expected, impatient. >> can i just say the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs talk about what a huge threat this is, biggest we've ever seen, et cetera, and there's nothing to follow that up, because there's no strategy. >> reporter: for now, pentagon drones continue flying into iraq, looking for future targets, including convoys, weapons, personnel, anything that can be hit. its critical military intelligence needed first before the president is e

they just didn't find the hostages. >> barbara starr reporting there. and to barbara's point, the obama administration says they never intended to disclose this mission took place but only revealed it because media were preparing to reveal it anyway. >>> john and diane foley say the families of hostages have no control over u.s. policy. >> we found out from, actually, a combination of my brother-in-law reaching out to us from houston, because's one of the administrators. there's something going on, you know. and then right at the same time, we heard from laura jakes of the ap. and, you know, she was crying on the phone. she'd been trying to reach us for days. i'd been ignoring her calls, because we didn't dare talk to anybody. then we just knew. then it was out there. we weren't directly notified. we found out like everyone else. >> the image of how he died still etched in your -- >> well, we knew it was jim. we didn't watch the video. we didn't watch the video. >> to answer your question, it's horrific. people can die in a lot of different ways. but th

pentagon correspondent barbara starr reports. >> reporter: the first challenge for any rescue operation, figuring out how many people are trapped on sinjar mountain. the pentagon's top operations officer says nobody really knows. >> i've seen reports of numbers in the thousands and i've seen reports in the numbers of tens of thousands. >> reporter: the u.s. is continuing airdrops of food and water and air strikes against isis positions around the mountain trying to push the militants back. a vital military step if a rescue operations to be launched. >> we're working with international partners to develop options to bring them to safety. >> reporter: several defense officials tell cnn, if there is any rescue mission, it could be chaos like this. there will have to be ground troops from some country on the mountain to keep an evacuation orderly and secure. u.s. officials tell cnn there are two basic options. a massive air lift, potentially landing helicopters and cargo planes for weeks to move everyone out. or a ground operation using hundreds of vehicles to transport people to safety. th

carol. >> barbara starr reporting live from the pentagon. many thanks to you. want to bring in a senior fellow at the council of foreign relations. also advised u.s. commanders in iraq and afghanistan. welcome, sir. >> thank you. >> what do you think of this latest news that the united states is considering directly participating in these evacuations off the mountain. doesn't that mean boots on the ground? wouldn't you want american troops protecting these aircraft as they fly in? >> i think that sounds like it's very much called for but i think we need to look beyond the yazidis issue, tragic and heartbreaking as it is to look at the larger issue is which is now we're involved in bombing isis positions. we're in fact at war against isis which we have to be because isis is a terrorist state in the middle of the middle east. my question is do we have a strategy to win the war beyond the issue of the yazidis or protecting erbil. i think we need to have a strategy for rolling back isis to break their hold on so much of iraq and syria and that's what i'm still wait

barbara starr out lined them expertly for us. let's talk about this with mike baker, a former cia covert operations officer. he's now president of global intelligence firm. good morning, mike. >> good morning, thank you. >> so these american recon flights, these spy planes flying over syria, what specifically will they look for? >> well, you've got to put together target packages. you've got to have, specific details, not just a general idea of how you are going to -- what you are going to when and where you are going to attack. specific sites, and you know, we've got an array of options in terms of how we would conduct these strikes, but at the very front end of it, you've got to have information that allows you to pick and choose which ones with specificity. so the unmanned or manned surveillance that we're talking about now over syria and this all started in syria quite some time ago, isis has been very busy consolidating their territory, they own a province in northern syria. they moving into alleppo in that area. obviously w

we get more this morning from cnn's barbara starr. >> john, christine, the american douglas macarthur mccain killed in syria, said to be fighting alongside isis. his family notified by the u.s. government, telling our jim sciutto they had not known that he was in syria fighting as part of the war going on there. u.s. counterterrorism officials say he was one of the americans that they were keeping an eye on, that they were investigating for possibly joining militant groups. and if he had attempted to travel at any point, traperhaps come back to the united states, he would have been subject to additional scrutiny. so what about u.s. air strikes in syria? what about the next step there? well, by all accounts, u.s. reconnaissance flights are flying along the border, staying for now on this side of the iraqi, the iraqi side of the border. but having a look into syria, trying to determine any location of potential isis targets that they can. the real question, of course, is whether president obama will take the next step and order air strikes in syria. but there is some concern at the pent

let's get more from pentagon correspondent barbara starr. you've been to afghan army training camps. you've seen what's going on and done some checking. what is going on over there? >> well, look, wolf, afghan and u.s. troops coalition troops work side by side from the smallest military bases to these more major facilities like this training on training ranges with live ammunition. we have been there. we have seen it. there has to be a measure of trust involved between both sides. and this at times has been very difficult to come by as a number of these attacks, the so-called green on blue afghan soldiers those in afghan uniforms if they're really soldiers or not, taliban sympathizers in afghan uniforms all of this whole mix of people attacking u.s. and coalition troops. it's been a major problem. they've been able to get a handle on it and bring those very difficult statistics down by these additional security measures, but today, wa we see is it just wasn't enough. if there is a determined attacker, u.s. general the most junior private fir

want to bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. this has to be a huge question among many of the media troops right now. just how safe has this operation been and just how possible might it be for further operations, a broader operation against the rest of the isis force, barbara? >> at this point, what we are hearing from the pentagon and from the administration is exactly what admiral kirby said as the spokesman, the president is very clear, there are parameters about what the u.s. is authorized to do, what the u.s. military's authorized to do. i think it's fair to say there will be more air strikes, more humanitarian air drops. but against these isis targets in the north and only in bagh d baghdad, if it is to protect u.s. personnel at the embassy or the airport. that has not emerged as a target set yet. so, you know, we've seen sort of the first step going against a target in erbil they thought was a threat, and now more targets in northern iraq, if the isis forces move against those iraqi minorities. but this is pretty much wi

let's begin with the pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what are you finding out, barbara, first of all, about a possible u.s.-led rescue mission? >> well, wolf, and, you know, that is unfolding at this hour. let me bring everybody quickly up-to-date. there has been another u.s. airstrike and another u.s. drone struck an isis position west of singar. that is pretty interesting because it is on sinjar mountain that the focus is on ia rescue operation for what may be up to 20,000 people still stranded on the mountaintop. u.s. officials say president obama could have options to begin to look at within 48 hours. that does not mean a rescue mission will be under way in 48 hours, but they are beginning to assess the situation. two options remain on the table. basically, there are only two ways out of there, either by ground over transport vehicles or by air. some officials are saying the air option may look better at this point. it is quicker. some of those people are in such desperate shape they may not be able to make a long journey over land,

let's turn to pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what's the pentagon saying, barbara. >> on this day when of course, the uk raised its terror level, actually took action, the pentagon as part of the obama administration still struggling obviously to explain exactly what's going on in washington. if the president says there is no strategy yet to deal with isis unless syria, what is the pentagon doing about military options? they acknowledged today what we all know. they've been working on military options for months. they have military options. so what is holding everything up? that's a question i put to the pentagon press secretary. >> planning is anitirative process, barb. it's not like, you know, the question is it assumes this is some sort of binary thing where we get an order to do it and here's the binder and there you go, we've got to turn it into you on your due date. the situation on the ground constantly changes. it's very fluid. >> the reality is, of course, the pentagon again has been working on military options for month

barbara starr at the pentagon. she raises an important question about cooperation with the syrian regime of president assad. he has offered, by the way, to partner with the united states in his own fight against isis. isis representing a major threat to his regime. let's go to nick paton walsh. he's joining us from london. what's the likelihood, as remote as it might sound, there could be this alliancalliance, if youa partnership between the u.s., bashar al assad regime, and their common battle against isis? >> i think nothing really in public, wolf. you have to bear in mind, a year ago, they were in the middle of accusing the regime of using chemical weapons and killing 1,200 people on the outskirts of damascus. many argue, too, that the tens of thousands killed by often indiscriminate bombing in northern syria is actually the crucible in which the radicalism of isis was formed. that people were so infuriated by the absence of western intervention and the brutality of this assad regime that they found isis a bette

don. >> barbara starr, pentagon correspondent.one was hoping for a peaceful and uneventful night in ferguson, missouri, last night. it was not to be. this reverend tweeted, tonight was another travesty, a gross violation of the civil rights and human rights of the people of ferguson. god is watch and so is the world. the reverend is here with me. describe what happened last night. when did it turn ugly and why? >> last night, as has been the case for so many nights, young people and other residents of ferguson organized themselves in a very powerful very respectful very dignified and peaceful way to do what any american citizen is encouraged to do when they believe their government has wronged them and that is to organize themselves into a peaceful protest. address their grievances. that's what we saw last night. that effort was met with a military opposition on the other side, it seems. there was an extraordinary display of both police and national guard and other law enforcement officials with large military-like cannons, with a

meanwhile, the investigation continue, barbara starr has the story. >> u.s. and british intelligence experts are scouring every frame of the gruesome video, showing the murder of james foley, for clues about who killed him. president obama offering condolences and tough words as commander in chief. >> when people harm americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done. >> but before any next steps, intelligence experts have work to do. first, washington and london are analyzing the british accent in the voice of the killer. >> we're very concerned by the apparent fact that the murderer in question is british. and we're urgently investigating. agencies on both side of the atlantic and then to see if we can identify the individual in question. >> does the accent indicate where he might have come from? are there cell phone intercepts matching the voice? could he have been held at guantanamo bay expe? experts are looking at the terrain to see if it matches topography in iraq or syria. until now, isis has not made attacking the west a direct pr

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> it's been rum go when for nearly two weeks but now the iceland meteorological agency says the volcano is finally erupting. this is a fissure eruption which is less explosive than the main chamber eruption which could spew ash into the atmosphere but it could turn into the main chamber eruption. the reporter will join us in moments to give us an update. >>> well, coming up right here cnn. there is a sobering warning from health officials over the spread of ebola. plus getting a new vaccine out with the help of healthy human volunteers. negatively impact good bacteria? even if you're healthy and active. phillips digestive health support is a duo-probiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract. i'm doubly impressed! phillips' digestive health. a daily probiotic. . >>> a sobering development for you here. the threat of the deadly ebola virus is being put into numbers. the world health organization warns the total number of cases could exceed 20,000 over the course of the crisis. >> the w.h.o. had issued what i

vic lee, abc 7 news. >> vic, thank you. >>> that 5-year-old met ringo starr last night in san jose. tonight he will meet paul mccartney. he's a huge beatles fan. he got to show off his skills for ringo. this is a dream come through for him as well as his mom who's beaten breast cancer four times and now is battling ovarian cancer. she dez getting king to meet the two survivoring beatles is part of a deeply emotional mission. >> i need to make sure i have as many great memories with my kids as i can while i'm still here. >> she calls king a miracle because he's the only survivor of a set of triplets. ringo told him he now has four new brothers, john, paul, george and ringo. you'll see his meeting with sir paul coming up. >>> robert freedman will be ushering the event tonight. he has some experience. back in 1964, freedman also ushered the first beatles concert in the bay area at the cow palace. >> they had assigned me to hold back the girls from the stage. and so i was sort of in the front with a line of ushers holding back the girls. they were climbing all over me. >> not a bad gig