crash. richard, of course, covering isis for years. thank you so much for hanging with us. sorry about the delay. >> it's not a problem at all. can you hear me? >> i can hear you! god willing. thank you. >> reporter: the science works. the magic of television. >> let me ask you, richard, about, obviously, the bottom line here again is we do not know if i sis is just bragging. taking credit for something that they couldn't conceivably have done or didn't do in this instance when they say they brought down this plane. if they did bring down this plane, if they did get a bomb on this plane, for example, somehow, is this a big expansion about what we know about their capabilities particularly in that part of the sfwhorld. >> reporter: it depends, really. isis has enormous capabilities in iraq and syria. the group operates tanks, it controls cities, it controls the lives of millions of people. and isis has been expanding very rapidly. it is not like al qaeda. al qaeda was difficult to join.