First wave was a flurry of tomahawk missiles launched from air carriers and then followed by jet fighters. And it is a goal to retrain and command the fighters. And the u. S. Is the only nonarab member of the coalition, and sources tell cnn that five countries took part of the operation, saudi arabia, bahrain, jordan, qatar, united emirates, and the support is greater as they learn that the goal of isis is to topplek is you lar governments and control one strong state from aftera ka to the east and beyond. And one big surprise, the u. S. Expand expands the mission in the very first hours and goes it alone to target an al qaeda offshoot operating in syria. The pentagon says the group, khorasan, plotted an attack against the u. S. And interests. They targeted a weapons factory, a Communications Hub and command and control facilities within syria. Wolf . Clearly, carol, this is a major u. S. Led operation. We have our team of reporters and analysts across the globe. They are all standing by this morning to bring you the details of this major breaking story. Lets start with cnn chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto here with me at the United Nations. A lot of activity to take place here at the u. N. , and jim, what are you hearing about the initial success of the bomb Damage Assessment of the u. S. Led operations . Well, reexpecting to hear it in two hours time, where at 11 00, there is a briefing at the pentagon where they share some of it, and this is something they are assessing, and you wont get a complete picture in a couple of hours to find out what they accomplished. I was told last night when the strikes first started and this is the first day as you know, and it is going to be a Long Campaign as we saw in iraq, but this first day is decisive to go after major targets, and hard targets and real show of force in the first day and they hope to have had some success of targeting the Senior Leadership of the isis and the al khorasan and that is something tos a snesz the initial ho somethins in the initial hours after the at tacks. And the sunni groups cooperating with the United States in this attack, and that is going to help the president coming here to Seek International support. Yes, enormous success to get the local partners to participate and not just a support role, and refueling, but we know that four of the five nations, saudi arabia, jordan, bahrain and, who am i missing there . Qatar. Well, qatar did not, but four of them took place in the kinetic air strikes and dropped bombs, and this is a big ask of arab nations to attack another Arab National longside the u. S. In light of the americas reputation there. And so for four of them to take part in the military action, this is going to internationalize it. And bahrain is the home of the navys fifth fleet, and there is a navy base there. And i was not surprised of the uae, and i was not surprised of saudi arabia so much got involved, because saudi arabia, and the ua and they are basically on the same page as far as the u. S. Position of isis and Bashar Al Assad was, but qatar the, i was surprised, even though they did join in the air strikes against khadafy in libya, and they have played more of a ambivalent role, but they came through. And yes, qatar has attracted a lot of attention, negatively, that has allowed money to get to the groups, and you will hear it from the partners who took part in the attack thes yesterday from the uae saying, wait a second, what is qatar doing here, because they have been helping the groups, and so to see them take part is a big step, and this is a big emphasis of the president for the unag week here and he wanted to internationalize the effort and not only on the military side, but to stop the flow of funding to the fighters. And so he wants to see a binding resolution in the u. N. To get International Help particularly from countries in the regions to stop the flow of fighters and money, and at the top of the list, is turkey. A lot of criticism and a lot of it in private from the u. S. Officials even that turkey has not done its part, and the u. S. Is looking for countries like turkey and others to stop that flow. And the obamaed a pinistration is making the case that there is no coordination or collaboration with the regime of Bashar Al Assad or the iranians for that matter, but we have learned that the Obama Administration did give a heads up to the Syrian Government right here at the United Nations, and the u. S. Is going to do this and dont get any wild ideas about stopping warplanes, u. S. Or otherwise, from engaging in these targets. Yes, i have spoken to an official this morning that confirmed that the u. S. Did notify them, and there was no coordination and did not ask can permission, but we are going in, and we are doing that, but it is a level of communication between the governments is substantial in light of the fact that president obama called for the removal of bashar al s al assad three years ago, and now he is an enemy, but reached out to him to do this. And you mentioned iran, and there is no coordination with iran against isis and certainly not in syria, and yet, you have u. S. And iran on the same side doing many of the same thing, and both of them for instance arming the kurdish rebels. So when you look at the International Coalition forming here, and the president is trying to further solidify here at the unga, you will have interesting partners taking part of it alongside the u. S. And the west. The isis is the one unifying factor in the region that pretty much everyone can agree that isis is the problem. And i dont believe anybody should get carried away, because there is no doubt that isis is suffering, but it is just the beginning. Yes, that is a point, because it is six weeks into the care air campaign of u. S. Against iraq. Air strikes. Yes. And you have a substantial ground force of the cukurdish peshmerga as well on the ground, and even at the end of six weeks, those forces have not gained any ground. They have stopped the advance of isis, but they have not gained any ground, and that is going to give you an indication of how long it is going to take the u. S. And the partners to fight against them. And now, we are standing by to the hear the president of the United States, but, carol, i will throw it back to you, and this phase of the war, which is a little bit of the shock and awe, but the beginning. And again, the president is about to fly to new york to meet with the United Nations, and before he leaves washington, he is expected to make a statement on what is happening with within syria, and of course, we will bring you that statement live. L lets talk now more about the Khorasan Group, because the u. S. Targeted this group within syria without the help of the arab allies. Khorasans existence was only acknowledged last week when the u. S. Director of intelligence James Clapper said it is operating in iraq and syria saying it is exporting threats to the homeland. And so, yes, lets talk about this offshoot, the Khorasan Group, and it sounds like a law firm, right, and so the question is why havent we heard more about this group . Is well, we did, but the group was not exactly named. This is the group that was supposedly making bombs out of toothpaste tubes, and clothing that is liquid explosives, and the idea is to get on an unplane undetected. And joining me is the author of five books on terrorism, peter. It is somewhat amazing that in the sixth paragraph of a press release, separately, the u. S. Has taken action to disrupt the imminent attack plotting against the United States and the western interests conducted by a network of season ed al qaeda veterans, sometimes referred to as the Khorasan Group. Why are we just learning about this this now . Well, the Khorasan Group as the press release says a group of senior operatives that are a part of al qaeda, but the problem is that until recently, the senior operatives were mostly based in the tribal areas of pakistan where the leadership of al qaeda is. They have migrated over to syria, because they know that is where the action is, and that is where they need to be present. They used to be part of a group called al nusra which is the official al qaeda affiliate, and now it seems that i have split that group and running their own show, so they are the splinter of a splinter if you want, and i know it is very complicated, but they are essentially al qaeda and very much focused on attacking the west. Because they are senior operatives, they do bring the expertise of al qaeda from years if not decades of attacking the west, and that is why they are particularly dangerous. So they are supposedly setting up shop in syria, i mean, how large is this group . It is very difficult to say. At this point, i would not believe they have more than perhaps 100 members. But it is really not about the numbers, it is about the expertise they bring to the table, because they draw on the entire International Group of al qaeda. And al qaeda in yemen has successfully tryied to attack america including the Christmas Day bombing, and the u. P. S. Bombing in 2010 and on a number of other occasions, so they are the best of the best in terms of the bomb making, an concealing things, and if they can now draw on the foreign fighters that are pr present in syria, that would indeed be an explosive combination. And the other odd thing, and i want to the run it by you, and the only video posted by one of the Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan Tsarnaev posted about the emergence of the black flags of the Promised Land of khorasan, and with what do you make of that possible connection . Well, the connection exists insofar as jihadists in the area of central asia where the leadership of al qaeda is based in khorasan. It includes pakistan, and it includes uzbekistan and Central Asian kcountries, and so the reference of the khorasan in the boston bombers video is to that piece of land and not to any particular group. The group was not named Khorasan Group until recently, and the boston bombers would not have known about that. And the final question for you, sent com said that they recruit sorry, i want to ask you this question instead. Sorry about that. So the u. S. Struck the Khorasan Group alone without the arab allies, why . Because, that group in addition to the isis presents perhaps the most imminent threat against the west and particularly against the American Home laland. Isis is a danger, because it is so powerful, and so present in the region, and has so many fighters, but it is so busy in the region that the attacks on the u. S. Homeland are not perhaps an imminent priority whereas khorasan and al qaeda which are not a part of isis, for them attacks on the west are a priority, and they do have the expertise, and they are much smallerer than isis, they have to be dealt with, because in the short term at least, they are the greatest threat to the u. S. Homeland. All right. Peter neumann, thank you for your insight as always. Thank you. And the United States and allies are conducting a war of ter the error on the air and not the ground, and is that enough to degrade and ultimately destroy isis . Christiane amanpour and rick, who is a former analyst of the military joining us now. What do we make of this outcome . Is. Well, the general will agree that doing nothing has brought us here sh, and the vacuum crea by a nonintervention policy is what has allowed syria to flourish with the isis and the al nusra as Peter Neumann said, and even khorasan has allowed the dysfunctional politics there to become a National Security threat and the rise of isis there. Im fascinated by what he said about khorasan versus isis, et cetera. We know that al qaeda is competing still for relevance. Isis, because it captured t territory, and because it has been successful in bringing some 15,000 foreign fighters, suddenly with the brutal beheadings was getting the lions share of the attention and the recruiting and the establish me establishment as the new terrorist, you know, bully on the block. And so al qaeda is trying to compete again, and it is really fascinating that. And is there a chance that they will begin fighting amongst themselves . Well, it could be, because the general of kazhorasan and is do not get along. And so khorasan is part of the prophet, and we have been hearing for years and years the black flags of khorasan and the Unstoppable Army to march to jerusalem, and they wrap themselves in that mantra, and they are trying to the outislam the other radical muslims. And lets talking about the war that is going on within syria, and that is definitely what it is. And so we have the arab allies this time around, and pretty Impressive Group of five arab countries. Yes, in is a real Success Story for the administration. I was skeptical and you and i have talked about this, putting together a Coalition Putting together arabs willing to commit military force. Normally, they will commit moral support, money, basing rights and all that, but they actually put the aircraft in the air and dropped bombs on syria. And this is a different story. Does it make it different, christiane . Well, it is, but dont forget that all of the nations want to see the end of assad number one and many of them are ainngry at the United States for not taking the line to assad. And so all of the countries are angry about, that and all of them want to see an end to what is a threat othem which is this militantism, but i agree with lieutenant colonel, it is extraordinary to see the allies. They get two things out of this, an end of isis which is a threat to them, and they can remove the regime of Bashar Al Assad, and that is going to give them a legup in the constant competition with the iranians. And a comment about Bashar Al Assad, and he has a military, and is he allin with this . No, no. And is the United States military concern eded a that he may may benefit from it. No, not fire. He does not have that capability, but can he benefit from them taking out isis . Potentially, although it is more complicated, because he was allowing isis to be his shock troops against the moderate syrian army that the west is now trying to back. The Free Syrian Army was pushing back bashar and isis, and so this may help him or hurt him, but one of the things that the u. S. Is very scared about is that unlike 9 11 when terrorists had to come over here and nefariously get visas from the fake and the underhanded ways, these people do not. They are american citizens and european citizens, and et cetera, and all they have to do is to come back to the United States or europe and create mayhem. This is smart for al qaeda to do this, because what they do is to bring the bombmakers to the place where the Delivery Systems are already there. Outfit the delivery system, which is an american citizen with the passport and send him on the way. And we will talk much more about this throughout the day on cnn. Christiane amanpour, you will be back and Lieutenant General rick francona, you as well. Arab nations are joining the u. S. Against isis today, but why not britain . We are live with answers next. vo if you have type 2 diabetes, you may know what its like to deal with high. And low blood sugar. Januvia sitagliptin is a oncedaily pill that, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar. Januvia works when your blood sugar is high and works less when your blood sugar is low, because it works by enhancing your bodys own ability to lower blood sugar. Plus januvia, by itself, is not likely to cause weight gain or low blood sugar hypoglycemia . Januvia should not be used in patients with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Tell your doctor if you have a history of pancreatitis. Serious side effects can happen, including pancreatitis which may be severe and lead to death. Stop taking januvia and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area which may be pancreatitis. Tell your doctor right away and stop taking januvia if you have an allergic reaction that causes swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, or affects your breathing or causes rash or hives. Kidney problems sometimes requiring dialysis have been reported. Using januvia and a sulfonylurea or insulin together may cause low blood sugar. To reduce the risk, your doctor may prescribe a lower dose of the sulfonylurea or insulin. Your doctor may perform blood tests before and during treatment to check your kidneys. If you have kidney problems a lower dose may be prescribed. Francona, you as well. Adache. For help lowering your blood sugar talk to your doctor about januvia today. Narrator these are the skater kid whoa narrator that got torture tested by teenagers and cried out for help. From the surprised designers. Who came to the rescue with a brilliant fix male designer i love it narrator which created thousands of new customers for the tennis shoes that got torture tested by teenagers. The internet of everything is changing manufacturing. Is your Network Ready . Whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts thats when expertise happens. Mfs. Because there is no expertise without collaboration. Early indications are that we hit what we with were aiming at and we greatly disrupted this groups ability to continue the plot and planning that they were cog f continuing for europe or u. S. Can you confirm that the main targets were five individuals and you got them . Nott a this point, but cle clearly one of the things that we were trying to do is to disrupt the ability and go after the leadership, and we will know more today. Continuing with the breaking story this hour, the u. S. And arab a allies striking the isis targets in syria, and here is what we know. The strikes began with tomahawk land missiles launched from the u. S. Ships. Those attacks followed by air attacks on buildings and hard targets trained to take out isis command and control and supply facilities. Five arab countries joined the u. S. In attack, jordan, bahrain, saudi arabia, qatar, and united emirates, but notably missing is great britain. The president obama is due to speak at the the general sas sem pli in new york in the next hour, and will address the nation beforehand. And as the president delivers the remarks at the white house, he will be scheduled to address the General Assembly tomorrow morning and then e ppreside ove special meeting tomorrow at the council tomorrow afternoon. And he will talk about the obje objectives and why the u. S. Went ahead with these five arab countries to launch air attacks against syria for the first phase in president obamas war gai against isis. And only now, h he has started to do so in syria and iraq. And now, michelle kosinski, what do we know about the president . He is going to be speaking on the south lawn of the white house, is that right . Rightt at 10 00, and he has decided to give an address on this important occasion. We expect him to rea affirm americas commitment to what they have stated the goal is. This administration saying to degrade and ultimately destroy isis. We also expect him to highlight the successes of this additional phase so far. And not sure how much detail we are going to get from him, and keep in mind that we are waiting for the pentagon briefing this afternoon, and we expect him to highlight what the administration sees as the su success of building this coalition to many unexpected that it came together so quick will, because remember, over the last several weeks, the persistent question has been, okay, you want to build the coalition, and where are they now . Even as the u. S. Is conducting air strikes in iraq, it has been pretty much only the u. S. Up until the point that france jumped in, a matter of days ago, but the administration keeps, keeps emphasizing the importance of the region in this effort, ongoing. That they need to solve their own problems first of all in terms of security, a nd that also, isis poses a greater threat to the people of that region than even it does to the United States. So where are they . Where have they been . And the administration said in the last week, keep in mind, that we will be seeing more countries stepping up, and arab countries involve and now, here we are. They were able to pull it together the, and see other countries not only able but willing to step up last night, wolf. Yes, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations here, michelle, Samantha Power said that sunday, if the u. S. Does launch strikes inside of syria, there would be other arab countries who would join in that acti activity, and she turn thessed out absolutely right, Samantha Powers the u. S. Ambassador to the u yoo nited nations, and so when does he leave washington for the United Nations, michelle . Shortly thereafter, 10 20 is the scheduled time, and we will see if it runs according the schedule. So if he is coming out at 10 00, we expect less than a 20minute address and we dont at this moment expect him to take questions. Hopefully more detail, but we also expect him to sort of give us a shape to the mission so far, and what it accomplished, but also to say that this is going to be ongoing, and i know that we have been talking about this this morning, but even the way that the white house framed the address that the president is about to give, he said that he would talk about the Counter Terrorism strategy. Again, they are saying that, you know, others may call it a war, but they see it as a sustained Counter Terrorism strategy that is going to take a long time, wolf. Certainly looks like a war, feels like a war, and sounds like a war, and you have planes dropping sophisticated bombs has all of the indications of a war to me. Michelle, do we know if the president made phone calls to any of the countries involved . Any of the allies or the World Leaders in advance . Has the white house released information on that . Well, shgs v, we have not s readouts and it is clear that what the white house wanted to do is to let the initial information come from the pentagon and any detail they kent referring to us the department of d defense for Additional Details ark and we no e that the president spoke to members of congress and members of congress were notified leading up to the strikes beginning last night. Michelle kosinski at the white house, and we will stand by to hear the president at the top of the hour, and the president did not believe he needed congressional authorizati authorization, but when congress voted last week to go ahead to support arming and training moderate syrian rebels, that is additional political backing that he thought that he needed, but he went ahead, and did it even though there was no formal new legislation, and he had not authorized a new stage in the war. Carol . Thank you, wolf. Britain is now taking part of air strikes over syria, despite threats to its own citizens and a home grown terrorism threat far worse than the United States. And we have Nic Robertson in n london, and we have arwa damon on the border of turkey and syria and anna coren in irbil, ir iraq. Why didnt he engage britain . Well, David Cameron has tweeted a that he does support today the United States. The ministry of defense has come out to say they support the United States and the coalition of the arab allies and the strikes against isis, and David Cameron has said that the while he is in new york this week attending the unga that he is going to be having discussions with others about what more britain can do, and what more other countries can do to support the operation, but he does not have the Political Capital in britain at the moment to go this alone, and to say that we are going to join. Famously, if you will, in august last year, trying to get some political can support for air strikes against syria then, because of the chemical weapons that were used, he failed then. So he seems to be right now very cautious, carol. Okay. And by other countries at the United Nations that the prime min ster may meet with, that including iran, correct . It does. And part of that not initially, though. And so, that is official. We understand from 10 downing street, he is going to meet with the president of iran, and isis is and going to be tackling the threat of isis is going to be one of the issues they will talk about. Certainly a lot of discussion in britain should David Cameron engage the iranians on this, because they are a major player in syria at the moment, and would like to see isis deeffeted in iraq and syria, but so far, again, on that, the political will and temperature perhaps not there. This is being called a conversation rather than part of an extensive ongoing dialogue. Nic robertson, thank you for joining us from london. And anna coren from irbil, iraq, and now 190plus of the attacks have been confined to iraq, but now it is expanding, and what is the e reaction from where you are . Well, certainly, speaking to political and the military officials here in kurdistan and northern iraq, carol, they are welcoming the air strikes into syria. They have said from to getgo, that they need to go after isis in its safe haven in the sanctuary otherwise the entire operation is a futile exercise. So certainly pleased. There is a really a sense that about time that this is beginning, and they were pleased that the United Nations were a part of the air strike, and encouraging sign Going Forward, but as far as the officials here, they would like to to see an intensification of the air campaign here, and yes, 190 u. S. Air strikes to date, and a number of french air strikes over the weekend. It is helping, carol, but it is not necessarily degrading isis the way that it initially was hoped. Obviously, taking out those artillery pieces, those enemy positions, and the Armored Vehicle vehicles, but it is not driving them back. Containing, yes, but they are not retreating, and this is what the problem is ongoing for the peshmerga and the Kurdish Force s and the Iraqi Security forces, and at the end of the day, carol, they are the boots on the grou ground, and if they have the air cover and still not making the advances, what does it say for the strategy in syria . We will talk more about that la later. Anna coren reporting live from iraq this morning. Thank you. And still to come from the newsroom, record numbers of men, women and children fleeing syria to save themselves from isis. Righabreva can heal itcold sore, in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. Without it, the virus spreads from cell to cell. Abreva penetrates deep, and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. You could heal your cold sore fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. Learn more at abreva. Com mara dont tough it out, knock it out fast. With abreva. Abe get in punch it let quicken loans help you save your money. With a mortgage thats engineered to amaze thanks, g. Welcome back. Im wolf blitzer at the United Nations, and we are following the breaking news. Chaos outside of syria as we report what is going on this morning while the bombs rained down on the isis targets in that wartorn country, there is a d sudden and massive flood of refugees fleeing the country, and creating a crisis at the bord border. Arwa damon is at the tur kirk and syrian border, and, arwa, this is unlike any displacement that we have seen in the last three years of the civil war. And set the scene for us where you are and what is going on. Well, this is one of the border crossings that the refugees have been coming across, and 158,000 according to unicef since friday and this is unprecedented number since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War three years ago. A lot of them are coming across absolutely despondent, and dejected and having waited overnight on the other side, and you can see the conditions out here. It is hot, windy, and dusty, and the children didnt have water or food. Many of them coming across in tears. A lot of the adults, the women especially, we were speaking to, breaking down, and completely, as they spoke about everything, the lives that they left behind and at this stage, they dont know when they will go back home. And refugees when we spoke to three years ago when this began are still living as refugees, wolf. And arwa, you are getting initial reports on what the u. S. And the five Arab Coalition partners managed to achieve with the air strikes and the tomahawk cruise missiles, and air strikes against the isis targets within syria. Well, the syrian observatory for human rights is reporting that at least 70 militants were killed. Hundreds more were wounded saying that according to their sources, at least, and we cant independently confirm this, but the wounded were transported across the border to iraq, and that being said, wolf, isis had been anticipating these types of air strikes from the u. S. , and had evacuated a lot of the key locations, and split itself up into smaller groups, and also in the process according to the ammists who had been watching the according to the analysts who had been watching the military closely, and hiding the ar till ray between the landscape of the syrian and the iraqi border. One syrian activist in raqqa said they appeared to have changed the behavior and the isis militants much more prominent in the streets, and he also said that they were taking over peoples homes. So while it may seem like a significant act, and it was in the fact that the u. S. Has put this coalition together is not to be underestimated. This is still just the beginning of a very long battle that is what all indications are that is going to promise to be, because it is not an organization that is going to evaporate into thin air, and plus, we are hearing from the human observatory of human rights, that the other areas have been hit that may be terrorist organizations, but it is not the view necessarily shared by the Syrian Opposition members across the border from where we are right now, wolf. So you are there in turkey, and right on the border of syria, and we know that turkey is a nato ally, and 1. 5 million refugees from syria have flooded into turkey, and certainly turkey has its hands full dealing with the refugees, but what are you hearing of turkeys willingness to yuse the turkish air bases to strike the attacks against isis in syria, and will turkey cooperate militarily with the u. S. . That we are going to have to wait and see. The turkish government had been very reluctant, and in fact, they did not join this coalition that the u. S. Was putting together, and come under heavy criticism for, that and the r h rational for not wanting to join it is because isis has 49 turkish hostages and the release was negotiated over the weekend, and the details not put out to the public at this stage, but the turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that they may be taking more action, and we will have that in the future, and again, not just the future, but this influx of refugees which has been massive, but also the tensions across the country and the border here, and some of the refugees here today were upset that they could not bring their livestock with them, and they began screaming, shouting, and some of the Turkish Security force forces firing the tear gas at them. So the situation is so tense, and so incredibly complicated. And the turks are being up tight lipped about what they did in order to get the nearly 50 turkish hostages back over the past few days. Arwa, be careful over there, and we will stay in touch with you, because there is a lot happening on the turkish, and syrian border. And still to come, the tam ma hawk missiles, and what the u. S. And group does against the isis groups, and also a group that is plotting against the u. S. Homeland target, and we are getting more information. The breaking news continues. This is starting to look like a fairly comprehensive strategy. There is a move in syria which we have been waiting for, for a long time. A coalition with the other gulf states who are participating in the attacks, and of course, the other shoe that has to drop now, it seems to me is what happens in iraq. What kind of boost to the morale of the iraqi and Kurdish Forces does this represent . They have to follow up now on what is an opportunity created for them. Anncr now you can merge the physical freedom of the car, with the virtual freedom of wifi. Chevrolet, the first and only car company to bring builtin 4g lte wifi to cars, trucks and crossovers. Hi mom. You made it anncr its the new independence. I have 40,ney do you have in your pocket right now . 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years, that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. The attacks, and of course, t we are following the breaking news, the u. S. Not only struck isis targets in syria, but also thwarted what a top u. S. Official is now calling an imminent threat gaiagainst the. Homeland target. Debris was being cleared this morning from a suspected u. S. A air strike against the group known as khorasan. Khorasan we are told is an al qaedaal fill yated group, and the members have plotted attacks against western airliners and they have set up camps for training fighters and members coming from yemen, and pakistan and afghanistan and elsewhere. And in fact, a 33yearold quay ta Muhsin Al Fadhli is a top operative. It is a different operation than the isis targets inside of iraq and syria. These are air strikes against this terror group known as khorasan, and what are you learning, barbara . Well, these air strikes ga s against the khorasan took place in western iraq near aleppo, and clear on the other side of the country from where the isis attacks took place, and clearly where the regime has air defenses, but that uey were not effect last night. And so they went after them because they had intelligence of the group that they were in the final stages of planning an attack possibly gaiagainst a tat of the u. S. Homeland or in europe, and this is not the say that the u. S. Had any intelligence of the exact target, but it had intelligence that the group was in the final stages of planning and if they let it go any further, the u. S. Could have trouble detecting the plot, so they decided to move against it, and firing a number of weapons last night against the the leadership, and command and control, and the question, of course, what is the result, and who and what did they get . I want you to listen to the pentagon spokesman and what he had to say to cnn a short time a ago. We are still doing what we call the battle Damage Assessment right now throughout the morning, chris, but we are pr pretty sure that on the strikes conducted against the group khorasan are very, very effective, and again, we e will get more information throughout the morning, but the early indication is that we hit what we were aiming at and disrupted this groups ability to continue plot and planning for attacks either in europe or attacks here on the homeland. And we expect a pentagon briefing at 11 00 eastern time this morning with more details about all of the overnight activity in syria. No word critically yet on whether or not they got that man fadli who is the reported leader of the group. Wolf . We will have more of that from 11 00 as we have the pentagon briefing at the top of the hour, and the president s statement to the nation, an indeed the world in the south lawn. Back to you, carol. So lets call what is happening is indeed war. America is at war with isis and this the apparent Khorasan Group. We have just entered a new expanded phase. And this tweet came, all americans must stand with president obama, and those against isis, and in particular those in the area tweeted by representative king. Joining us is a republican strategi strategist and democratic strategist. What do you make of this tweet by robert king . Is. Well, it is a thing that he would do, a rise above partisansh partisanship, and it is unprecedented to see a coalition to form in the middle east for us to speak with one voice, and it does not mean that either party is going to grandstand, but for congressman king, it is to his credit. And the president did reach out the various lawmakers and told them about the air strikes before they happened. That is a good sign, right . Well, right. I think that at a this time the public doesnt look at this through a republican or democrat lens. They understand the mission. They understand there are American Service people in harms way and they want to see the mission seen through. Its not all hugs and kisses out there, though. Theres a scathing on ned the wall street journal titled what obama knows, everything gets things wrong. What sets obama part is his ideolo ideology rigidity and his ignorance. Thats harsh, robert. Thats the kind of rhetoric you hear on right wing talk radio and its beneath the character the wall street journal. Its beneath the character of the wall street journal and if you look at the actions the president took, the International Leadership he showed it proves the journals editorial was wrong. You could argue kevin that war is not within the president s ideology, at least the president obama that ran for office in 2008. Well, look, while everybody is looking to support the mission and hope this mission is successful, there is always going to be a push and pull on how we develop the policies. Whether theyre longterm policies or shortterm policies that are designed to keep the country safe. And also how it affects our overall world view as a nation when it comes to foreign policy. Will there be voices of dissent . Of course, thats what happens in democracy. So i dont think its outside the bounds. Instead, is it going to be a contribution that ends up having the president maybe have a better policy and has congress increase their level of oversight of that policy . Thats just all part of the roe says. I think dissent is a great thing but i dont know when it gets down to being just mean and with no real insight thats when you begin to wonder. Dissent is important and congress has a Critical Role here to engage in a better scrutiny and explore what their Constitutional Responsibilities are now as this situation in the middle east does escalate. But to resort to that kind of name calling which is all too common a practice in the Political Party for both Political Parties really does demean our political process and, frankly, undermine what is should be a very important unifying time in our country. I hear you. With that said, you know, a lot of people have problems with president obamas strategy or lack thereof so, kevin, does it seem to you right at the moment that the president s strategy might be working . Maybe is working . Well, its obviously i think most military experts will tell you that it is we wont know right now whether or not we wont know for a long time whether or not the these strikes are going to have a greater impact on degrading the infrastructure of isis. Also we have this new threat. Many people right now are just hearing about this new threat from the group thats out in western iraq and wouldnt you agree, kevin, that the coalition the president has established and bringing the arab countries into this process is a very important first step for addressing this crisis . Come on, kevin, you can do it. Look, i think just like when president george w. Bush put together a coalition to take actions in the National Security interests of the country, i think its good when president obama does it. I think the differences we had here is that president obama should have done this a lot earlier before this threat became so imminent. Kevin, the difference we have here is that in regard to the National Security interests of the american people. The difference we have here is this is not an american mission, this is, in fact, a mission for the soul of islam and the arab countries are leading that battle and were supporting them the process. Thats what makes this so credible as opposed to the u. S. Becoming a recruiting tool for al qaeda. The big challenge Going Forward is whether or not its going to be sustained an whether or not its part of a larger security strategy. We both agree on that. Ill end it there then. Thank you so much kevin madden, robert zimmerman. Lets head out to the United Nations and wolf has new info for us. Hi, wolf. High tensions across syria this morning while the u. S. Wages war on isis targets. Israel is taking responsibility for shooting down a syrian warplane that israel says attempted to infiltrate its airspace. Idf, Israel Defense forces Spokesperson Lieutenant colonel peter learner is joining us for more. Lieutenant colonel, tell us what happened. At around 9 00 this morning a Syrian Air Force aircraft infiltrated israel around 800 meters, almost a kilometer into israels airspace. Just to put that into context, this airplane could have crossed the entire width of israel in two minutes. This is why theres absolutely we do not tolerate the breach of our airspace. The aircraft, syrian aircraft was struck down by a Patriot Air Defense battery and, yeah, the incident is over as far as were concerned. Were looking into the cause. We dont know what mission the aircraft was on but, indeed, the challenge and the Syrian Civil War on the other side has been spilling over several times in recent weeks and this is part of it. Do you know what the intention of that aircraft was . Was it hostile intention towards israel . Could it have just strayed in . Do you have any indication of what was going on . Well, we dont know what their mission was. It could van stray, they could have had malicious intentions. As far as were concerned, it isnt important. From the minute of breach into the state of israel, within five minutes they could be over tel aviv and two minutes over haifa. We dont have the flexibility to allow this type of penetration. And the Syrian Military air force there are aware of this, they know this and thats why they should have remained on their side of the fence and not penetrated into our airspace. What about the pilot or pilots of that syrian warplane . Any word on what happened to them . We know that they ejected. They landed in syria. I dont know as far as their wellbeing. We can confirm we saw them eject from the airport. This is, what the, the first time in about 5 years theres been an incident along these lines between israel and syria, is that right, colonel . Indeed. Its the first time an incident in the air has taken place but in rekren years weve had several incidents, crossborder fire, errant mortar fire, rockets, explosive devices along the border with syria, but, indeed, this is, of course, extremely out of the ordinary when an airplane infiltrates our airspace. I think its since about 1985 was the last time Something Like this happened. So, yeah, its a different reality but it is probably a result of whats going on on the other side of the fence and we have to stand guard and be prepared for that potential spillover. And very quickly, colonel, the u. S. , i take it, has not asked israel to get involved militarily in these air strikes or any other strikes against isis targets in syria, is that right . There are violent extremist organizations, whether they are hamas, hezbollah, isis, nusra front, theyre all around our neighborhood. We are focusing on defending our borders and maintaining our safety and security, our allies there operating under their own interests and we have to maintain our own. So were operating within our the safety of our borders and thats the right thing for us to do at this time. Lieutenant colonel peter lerner of the idf, spokesman for the Israel Defense forces, thank you very much. The next hour of cnn newsroom starts right now. Good morning, im carol costello. I want to welcome our viewers from around the world for this special edition of newsroom. Were about to hear from president obama about the war on isis as it escalates to a new level. And ill wolf blitzer reporting from the United Nations. The u. S. Assembling a coalition of arab allies and together launching overnight air strikes inside syria. Turns out, isis is not the only target of this new u. S. Led military offensive. Well take you the white house as soon as the president begins speaking but first i want to bring you up to speed. A senior u. S. Military official tells cnn the first wave of the aerial bombardment was a flurry of tomahawk missiles launched from aircraft carriers. Then fighter jets and other warplanes rained down even more bombs. The goal, taking out isis ability to command, train, and resupply its militant fighters. The u. S. Is the only nonarab member of this coalition. Bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, jordan and qatar all assisted and in just a few hours the u. S. Expands the mission to target an al qaeda offshoot. The pentagon says the group plotted an imminent attack against u. S. And western interests. Early indications are we hit what we were aiming at and we disrupted this groups ability toll disrupt the plot and planning for attacks either here or on the homeland. Cnn has reporters around the world to break down all angles but lets bring in wolf blitzer live at the j. C. S. Were going go to the white house, well hear from the president and were told hell speak for ten minutes or so before border marine one to fly to joint base andrews outside washington then come up to new york for the u. N. Is that right, michelle . We havent gotten the twominute warning yet so it could be several more minutes before we hear from the president. We got more guidance that hell speak for five to ten