thursday, august 21st. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good morning. i'm michelle franzen. >> i'm devin dwyer. great to have you with us. two big stories we're following this morning. both with the manhunt, islamic extremists, and in ferguson. we hope you stay with us for that. there is much to come in this half-hour. we do start with the search on right now for the islamic extremists responsible for the execution of american journalist james foley. >> meanwhile, a new report in "the new york times" says isis militants once sought $100 million ransom for foley's release. with more here is abc's brian ross. >> reporter: as outrage spread around the world over this scene, jim foley's parents said they had never been prouder of their son. >> he was strong, courageous, loving to the end. >> you know from the videos that his last words were, i wish i had more time to see my family. >> reporter: u.s. and british authorities spent the day looking for clues on the video