steve sotloff disappeared two years ago. today his mother made a dramatic appeal for his release and 35-year-old theo curtis, freed over the weekend after nearly two years in captivity is back home tonight. here's margaret brennan. >> reporter: it had been 22 months since writer peter theo curtis saw his mother. last night they were reunited at boston's logan airport. today outside his mothser's house in cambridge, massachusetts, an emotional curtis told reporters how thankful he was to be free. >> i remember how good the american people are and what kindness they have in their hearts and to all those people i say a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart. >> reporter: curtises was held captive by jubhat al-nusra jubhatagokid's wing in syria until his release was negotiated sunday. i.s.i.s. has also taken american hostages but so far has not responded to negotiations. >> i'm sherri sotloff. my son stephen is in your hands. >> reporter: today the mother of another kidnapped american, journalist steve sotloff pled for help.

my son steven is in your hands. >> reporter: the mother of freelance journalist steve sotloff made an impassioned plea for help, held since last august. >> we want to see him safe and sound and hug him. >> reporter: the world first saw sotloff's face when i.s.i.s. released the video showing the beheading of fellow journalist admes foley last week. the same executioner threatened to kill sotloff next unless the u.s. calls off air strikes in iraq. >> i ask you to please release my child. >> reporter: sotloff's mother directly addressed i.s.i.s. leader and begged for his mercy. >> i want what every mother wants, to see her children's children. i plead with you to grant me this. >> reporter: the sotloff family considers it part of an 11th hour plea for help since all u.s. efforts and other diplomatic channels have failed. >> dubois: margaret brennan at the state department, thank you. the u.s. military today said the number of air strikes against i.s.i.s. targets in iraq topped 100. president obama is getting closer to a decision on whether to attack i.s.i.s. bases in syria as well. he's

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> how does this new announcement from the president and the video itself affect the search for steve sotloff, the other journalist being held by isis? >> the search for foley and sotloff have been going on for years. it's believed they are being held in syria. the u.s. military has no military forces in the air or on the ground there at syria. but i can tell you, one of the big questions, of course, was the threat from isis, that if the u.s. continues these air strikes, there would be similar killings. the u.s. military went through this in the opening war itself in iraq. when al qaeda in iraq was grabbing americans and other foreigners and beheaded them on camera, yet the military proceedings. the portland made it clear that the u.s. would continue to support the iraqis and the kurds in their efforts to fight back and beat back isis. so there is no backing off on the part of the u.s. military. and i guess you would say it's written in stone that the u.s. military cannot be held hostage to terrorist threats. so the president made it clear that the u.s. military was not going to back down at

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 sotloff? sorry. we have a delay, unfortunately. it's difficult to communicate. >> -- as i said. >> did you know steven sotloff? were you ever held with him as well? >> yes. >> the american who's being held now? and what do you know about him? >> he was doing as good as he could according to the circumstances. >> and when you see these threats that are being made now for the amer

as steve sotloff's mother awaits word on the fate of her son, the u.s. announced today it had carried out three more air strikes against isis, clearly ignoring the terrorist threat to kill sotloff if the bombing continued. >> with the very latest as always, thank you brian. >>> now we turn to another big story developing in the west tonight, officials warning stay out of the water and here's why. monster waves, powerful rip currents fueled by a storm offshore. at least one person has died and abc's nick watt is there over the concern that the waves and the flood are only getting stronger. >> reporter: at the infamous wedge in newport beach, california, 20-foot waves are crashing in. the water is treacherous. so is the sand. >> i don't think we've ever seen such a thing like this ever. >> reporter: tropical storm marie 800 miles from shore is making waves, throwing thousands of spectators. >> it's been since 1987 that i've seen a surf like that. >> will you be glad when this is over? >> it will be a little bit of weight off the shoulders. >> >> reporter: t

. >> the captives, you yourself and jim and steve sotloff and those who are still there, do they know this metric? do they know that if you're american your government is not going to -- >> yes. >> so when they are released, is that known to the americans that they're watching the western europeans leave because their governments paid for them? >> we'll hear nicolas henin's response to that question later this hour. >>> thankfully, it's been another calm night in ferguson, missouri. the state's governor has ordered the national guard to begin leaving ferguson as the number of protesters and violent clashes dwindled. the guard first arrived on monday. meantime, a memorial for michael brown marks the exact location where the african-american teen was killed by a white police officer. you see it here as it runs right down the street, lined with rose petals. brown's funeral is monday there in st. louis. >> now, stephanie elam has been covering the story for the last several days for us. stephanie, thanks for being up so late. let's start, second night in a row it is quiet thankfully. what

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. >> reporter: there was no news about the fate of american journalist steve sotloff and two others including a young female aid worker. president obama issued his own word to those responsible in isis. >> america does not forget. our reach is long. we are patient. justice will be done. >> reporter: but the president went on to say that going after and rooting out isis won't be easy and won't be quick, diane. >> he said our reach is long. thank you, brian. as you know, the president saying it won't be easy or quick. today we learned he is taking action and sending spy planes, drones, to fly surveillance over syria at his command. what does this mean? abc's chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz at her post tonight. martha, how big is this? >> reporter: approving surveillance flights does not mean that air strikes in syria are a certainty. what is certain tonight is that the pentagon is preparing options for air strikes. to do that, they need to pinpoint where isis has weapons using drones. they look for training camps and especially to track the movement of convoys and supplies bac

we've still got steve sotloff missing from florida, and on thursday there was a tweet out by isil saying we're going to deliver his body by courier to the americans. >> this use of technology, is there a difference, i wonder, off the top of my head, whether women advice men are watching the beheading video or should people be watching the video at all? >> the use of technology? i don't think it affects who is watching the videotape i think it affects the number of people that are watching the video. i thinken women and men are sexually on the internet. but i have to quickly say there's -- equally on the internet. the kurds that the ewes u.s. who the u.s. have finally decided to arm, they're very, very feminist and they have an entire battalion, the 2nd ballottian that are all women, and isil believes nur killed by a women you are denied into heaven. i'm excited because it's a matter of time before they actually meet these female fighters. maybe women will liberate all of us and save iraq for us. >> that would be fabulous. how about using -- how about using our leverage with turkey, with

. >> i'm wondering if we can change topics and talk about steve sotloff. s in the video where we saw jim foley executed. sotloff as far as we know is still alive and sigh sis is threatening to kill him. what, without disclosing sensitive information, can you say about active plans to secure his release, whether it's diplomacy or other means? >> well what we've done since we became aware that they were being held captive is put every resource we have from an intelligence perspective, military perspective to try and bring them home. as we all now know publicly we attempted a military operation to rescue mr. foley and other american hostages. that was not ultimately successful. diplomatically we at the sate department has reached out asking anyone who may have information or influence over isis to help. but the reality is isis doesn't answer to anyone and it's been a tough path here. but we're going to keep using the intelligence resources to try and locate where they are and hopefully to bring them home. >> do you have any confidence that that could happen? i

. >> reporter: good morning, and this morning steve sotloff's mother awaits word on whether her emotionala to save her son's life had any impact at all on his captors. >> i am shirley sotloff. my son, steven, is in your hands. >> reporter: the mother's last-ditch plea came eight days after isis publicly threatened to kill her 31-year-old journalist son if the usair strikes continued, as they have. >> steven has no control over the actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. ♪ >> reporter: shirley sotloff directed her plea personally to >> reporter: shirley sotloff directed her plea personally to the isis leader, abu bakr al baghdadi, a brutal meglmania who claims he is the caliph of the muslim world. >> i've always learned you, the caliph, can grant am mess city. i ask you to please release my child. >> reporter: but isis is a group that has shown no mercy as it has conducted its ruthless holy war across syria and iraq. thousands of innocent civilians have already been executed as the group has demonstrated the thirst for blood. >> this is not the kind of terrorist group

steve sotloff is one of them. they warn that he could be next. >> i just want to be very clear that no effort is spared trying to bring our people home. >> reporter: international news organizations have had to rely on a syrian regime and opposition forces for access. >> that made reporting overall a lot more bias. >> reporter: it has relied on images like these from activists and novice journalists. >> many were not prepared to do the job, they were not trained on safety and security and that has resulted in a lot of fata fatalities among young amateur journalists. >> freelancers like foley also stepped in, but their numbers are defen dwindling. >> it's simply too dangerous. it's almost like signing your death warrant. >> the dangers are getting video and the competing news headlines have made it hard for a world to follow a crisis that has taken nearly 200,000 lives. >> syria is turning into a black hole, and there is very little attention about what is happen inside syria. we saw the story fade away. >> foley's

about the possibility that they -- >> when you see americans killed abroad or threatened like steve sotloff to be murdered abroad by isis, when you see they've radicalized americans who have lost their lives but there are others that could bring the fight home, that engages the american public in a different way. certainly there are officials, including the chairman of the joint chiefs last week and secretary of defense hagel who both called an unprecedented threat, one that could be contained temporarily and had to be defeated. they made it clear it's a threat from the homeland. >> i want to play one sound bite from the state department. this is about uae in egypt and their actions and air strikes inside libya that washington didn't know about. >> there were air strikes undertaken in recent days by the uae and egypt. we believe outside interference in libya exacerbates current divisions and undermines libya's democratic transition. obviously that's part of our concern here, given the fact that libya is in a very fragile place. >> so why -- how is that different -- how is that different fro

steve sotloff being held by the islamic state group.how they're attracting fighters from around the world. plus questions about guns in the hands of children after a nine-year-old accidently kills her shooting instructor with a sub machine gun. it's all coming up right after "real money." we'll see you then. >> it's harvest time in the great plains and grain farmers are looking at a bumper crop. that should be good news. but in some states brai grain and soybean farmers are still trying to unload last year's harvest. it's 13 weeks behind on more than 10,000 railcar requests. the situation is so dire the surface transportation board is holding a public hearing in north dakota to discuss the crisis. the agency is directing the two major rail freight players, canada pacific and bnsf to attend the meeting. the state's farmers are desperate for a sick. but as reports, this backlog goes back more than a year. >> we'll do everything that can be done to restore service levels. >> railroad officials are under fire as traffic jams snarl freight t

is there a possibility of other special operation to try to rescue not only steve sotloff but other americanoperations that may or may not come in the future. but again, as secretary hagel made clear, we have the obligation to make the attempt when we can. we have the obligation to protect and rescue american citizens that are being held hostage. that's a responsibility that we in the military take very seriously. >> why did u.s. officials put details out about this failed raid? because we just heard here in this "the situation room" on our show from a former navy seal who said he sure wishes they hadn't and we know that there with a number of folks, special ops forces who are down right ticked off that that information is out there. they think i puts their lives at risk. >> we're not happy about it either. i wish we didn't have to talk about it the all. the operation happened in mid summer and there wasn't any discussion about it. it wasn't something we wanted to door or something we revealed unanimously. this was something we felt we had to do because several media outlets started to get t

in that same video, militants threatened the life of another american journalist, steve sotloff.dent obama says the united states will continue standing up to the islamic state. joining us now, ambassador adam morelli, a former state department spokesman and served as ambassador to bahrain. mr. ambassador, you want to do more. the president says we have to stand up. others have called for more to be done. there are limits to what we can do without congressional action, aren't there, and who makes these decisions? >> well, this is a very long war. and we should be clear about what's at stake. i think the brutal execution of mr. foley demonstrates two things. number one, it demonstrates what a lot of people have been saying for a long time, which is that the islamic state represents a threat to the united states and represents a threat to u.s. interests. the islamic state has said they'll attack america and americans. now they've proved very graphically that they will do that. so that's number one. number two and i think more importantly, that, you know, if you're going to talk the

difficult for the families to see, of course, the jim foley video and to see the threat against steve sotloff and that impacts their psychology when they're waiting for news of their loved ones and there's been so much of a blackout in the past years. people have been held for a lengthy period of time and jim foley was taken in 2012 when isis didn't even exist officially across syria or iraq potentially by criminal gangs who may have passed down the chain in the past months or so. an extraordinarily difficult time to realize that perhaps these hostages have ended up in the worst possible hands now part of some broader social media game being played by isis with washington having these warplanes above us. jake? >> nick paton walsh, my friend, please stay safe. >> i want to bring in paul cruickshank now. it it looks increasingly likely that the killer on this video was a british citizen. take a listen. >> we have not identified the individual responsible on the video, but from what we've seen it looks increasingly likely that it is a british citizen. this is deeply shocking. >> a former hostage

. >> i want you to keep in mind steve sotloff and others missing in syria. nahomi, i heard you want to jum in there. >> what i'm worried about from where i sit is that the same story and the same talking points from officials about how brittains, australians, canadians, americans are joining this fight is identical in an echo chamber around the world. >> that's true. >> how do you know? how do we know? >> because we have extensive intelligence assets on the ground. all of these countries have cia, mi 6, turkish intelligence. there's a ton of evidence. let's also remember that the administration's declaratory policy and functional policy are two different things. they're hyping isis and the president is deciding not to confront isis in syria. it's not as if the pentagon is pushing us. >> not what i'm suggesting. >> right. >> so what's the point of the hype? the idea is the point of the hype is it's sort of a cover your butt mission by the administration. they know that americans after the death of james foley are very concerned about the isis threat. i think

beheading of james foley, and you see while he is down, they march out the second journalist, steve sotlofft we've got there is potentially the next round of this. and the threat from the terrorists that they will kill him if we don't stop our airstrikes. does this jeopardize then anything we might do to set him free or potentially any other americans taken? >> yeah, if i was in the special operations community or the family members of the hostages who are being held, i would be absolutely furious right now. i can only imagine in the communities that they possibly feel yesterday when the information was leaked, similar to the way they felt the day after the osama bin laden raid details came out. this is their lives. they make sacrifices each and every day that are extremely dangerous, and they're quite professionals. they do it without acknowledgment or recognition because their lives depend on it. so when the dod comes forward with this type of information, sort of to just cover what they thought some news agencies were going to come out and reveal the information, the fact that they came

and now it threatens to behead a second american journalist, steve sotloff, who has written for "time" and "foreign policy" magazine. >> mary, ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. they are tremendously well-funded. oh, this is beyond anything that we have seen. so we must prepare for everything. >> that everything, some fear, could include terror attacks here at home. like the 2005 london subway and bus bombings. some 500 isis members are believed to have british passports, like james foley's suspended killer, and the reports put the number of americans at about one dozen. some cite the president's long refusal to help arm the syrian rebels for helping to create the conditions for isis to flourish and say the u.s. is now playing catchup, warning air strikes will not be enough. >> to defeat isis in syria, we're either going to have to send in troops or work with the syrian army. we are not going to defeat isis just with air strikes in syria. >> we now face a new and potentially lengthy battle with an underestimated adversary. and for a president who sa

steve sotloff and the others, keep them in your prayers. >> we should have wiped out 10,000 by now -- >> maybe it's happening and we don't know. >> i don't think so. >> we can hope. >> yeah. >> we continue to wait for that pentagon briefing, and we will bring that to you live. >>> meanwhile, growing criticism over president obama's golf outings coming from both sides of the aisle now after he teed off just eight minutes after condemning the american journalist, his beheading, james foley. plus, new questions about social media's role in the ferguson chaos. did it help start a much-needed conversation or just fan the flames of controversy? ♪ ♪ and a razor that gives me healthy looking skin. venus & olay lets you say goodbye to shave cream with olay bars that help lock in moisture for less dryness. venus & olay a perfect match for healthy looking skin. but parallel parking isn't one you do a lof them.ings great. you're either too far from the curb. or too close to other cars... it's just a matter of time until you rip some guy's bumper off. so, here are your choices: take the bus. or ge

steve sotloff. we're praying he won't suffer the same fate as james foley, who was beheaded by militants as cameras rolled. what happened to mr. foley has set off a flurry of activity from both the pentagon and the white house. here's deputy national security adviser ben rhodes just last hour from martha's vineyard. >> i can assure you that we have done everything that we can possibly do to try to bring home our hostages. it's an incredibly different circumstance in a place like syria, again, where you have such a violent conflict raging. but we've used all of our military, intelligence, diplomatic resources that we can bring to bear to try to pull a thread to find out where our hostages are, to try to rescue them when we saw an opportunity to try to work with any country that might have any means of locating them. tragically, we weren't able to rescue mr. foley. but we're going to keep trying for all of our hostages, not just in syria but around the world. >> our top-ranked military officer has del

what is the state department doing to help secure the release of steve sotloff? >> this whole administration has put every effort behind first finding but then securing the release of these american hostages. as you saw this week, we spoke about a military operation we attempted to rescue these hostages and unfortunately they were not there. on the diplomatic side, we reach out to everyone pleading for people might have leverage or influence over isis. the unfortunate reality is that isis answers to no one. they are a group that has attacked muslims, sunni and shi'a, yazidi, christians and now an american. so we are putting every effort behind this but we have been clear that we don't pay ransom for two very specific reasons. the first is that we don't want to fund ie sfoil do more of these kind of activities and we also don't want to encourage them to take additional americans hostage and think they would be able to get a ransom if they did so. >> is there concern that the highly public -- it was not called by the u.s. government, a prisoner swap, but reportedly

steve sotloff.suffer the same fate as james foley, who was beheaded by militants as cameras rolled. what happened to mr. foley has set off a flurry of activity from both the pentagon and the white house. here's deputy national security adviser ben rhodes just last hour from martha's vineyard. >> i can assure you that we have done everything that we can possibly do to try to bring home our hostages. it's an incredibly different circumstance in a place like syria, again, where you have such a violent conflict raging. but we've used all of our military, intelligence, diplomatic resources that we can

as steve sotloff's mother awaits word of the fate of her son the u.s. t three more air strikes against isis in clear defiance of the isis demand the bombing stops or that sotloff die. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> the sister of the accused boston marathon bombers has been arrested. charged with aggravated harassment for threatening the mother of her boyfriend's child. police in new york said she called the 23-year-old woman monday and said, i have people that can go over there, and put a bomb on you. >> now to a tragic story in texas. a father has been acquitted of shooting and killing the man who ran down his sons. the two preteens were pushing a truck that had run out of gas with their father steering. when a drunk driver plowed into them. police said david barajas went home, got a gun shooting the driver. but no murder weapon was ever found. and barajas was found not guilty. he says though it doesn't really help. >> i'm still destroyed. i'm missing my sons. all way and forever. >> the driver's family left the courthouse without saying a word abou

so if they knew where he was, assuming they know where steve sotloff is, as well, right? what -- what possibly could be done here in a reaction to this threat against his life? >> well, i think if you pause that statement a little bit they may have known for some period of time, the location of jim foalet and other prisoners. the prisoners may well have moved, but clearly, once the u.s. government want to find these folks they may have a contingency plan to rescue them and at this moment when the life of the hostages, the three americans is in much graver danger than it was just a week ago the calculous must begin to shift which is do we know who the hostages are, who is holding this emand who is the opposition likely of those being imprisoned and is the operation remotely possible to be successful? these are the questions that must be -- that the white house must be considering right now. >> it's a very complicated situation. robert, one of the things we're looking today and it appears these air strikes come in reaction to what we saw yesterday, just the horrific images

. >> reporter: they are referring to steve sotloff, the man isis showed in this video of foley's beheading kill him, too, if the u.s. continues military intervention in iraq. the u.s. already launched more than a dozen airstrikes on isis in iraq since foley's beheading. >> thanks, kyla. >>> 8:47. happening today the aunt of a 2-year-old girl killed had a hit-and-run crash in san francisco is due in court. 25-year-old larrish a gauge faces felony child endangerment charges for the death of mi'yana gregory. police say she walked into the middle of the crosswalk against the light with the child. they say she then left the little girl unattended in the middle of busy mission street to go back to the curb and get the toddler's twin brother. >> the little girl didn't want to go in the street and she took her out there and then pops back into the frame to get the little boy. that's when the car goes by. >> i can't comprehend her not being more responsible. i can't. >> there is no way she should not have held her in her arms or eld had her hand. >> police continue to search for the hit-and-run dri

the choice has to be made again with steve sotloff. the united states and europe and put that in the balance with the life of one man. what do you do? i don't envy his position. >> i had no idea, until this story broke a couple of days ago, that i guess i read a report in "the washington post" or "the new york times" that al qaeda primarily gets its funding now from this. $15 million. >> yep. that and isis has been swooping up funds and actually machinery and movement across iraq so they are getting a ton of money that way well. >> all right. >>> up next, texas governor rick perry continues what appears to be a march toward running for president in 2016. now he is showing off his foreign policy chops? kasie hunt was at his speech yesterday. she joins us next. >>> bob mcdonnell tells the court his marriage is on hold, but prosecutors look to keep the focus of his actions as governor of virginia on center stage. we will be right back with much more "morning joe." ♪ don't go away you can call me another day ♪ so i can reach ally bank 24/7

sotloff is speaking out. her plea comes eight days after the release of a video showing the execution of another journalist steve foley. >> i'm shirley sotloff. my son stephen is in your hands. >> reporter: she addresses the leader of the islamic state group by his preferred title, asking him to let her son come home. >> you, the caliph can grant amnesty. i ask you to please release my child. >> reporter: in this video she calls her son an honorable man who always tried to help the weak. >> stephen is a journalist who travels to the middle east to cover the suffering of muslims at the hand of tyrants. >> reporter: the 31-year-old miami native had reported from syria several times when he disappeared last august. the sotloffs kept his captivity secret even from close friends. they thought if they publicized his case his captors in the islamic state group would kill him. but last tuesday the group released a video showing the execution of another journalist james foley and threatened to kill sotloff next if the u.s. did not stop targeting it's fighters with airstrikes. >> since stephen's capture i've learned a lot

launched 14 air strikes in iraq just yesterday which immediately makes you think about the fate of steve sotlo sotloff, the other american being held. how colicating is that as a or like to do everyth to save mr. sotloff's life. on the other hand, he is with a group of individuals who are extremely unpredictable and most likely have already made their decision about what they're going to do. i don't think this is directly relevant about whether we continue air strikes or not. these folks are looking for a confrontation with the united states. >> and in terms of another possible rescue mission, now that it's been released to the public that we attempted back in july, does it make another attempt impossible? >> look, these folks have been looking for something like this now. but it's another question about why are we not involved in syria? why are we not striking isis's headquarters if we're launching secret missions to free hostages, why aren't we expanding the conflict there? there's a worry, of course, about destabilizing syria, but there's no doubt this is where isis is based out of and where their