Arabia, jordan, the uae, and qatar. The pentagon is not providing many details this morning except to say that at least 14 different isil targets in Eastern Syria were struck, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Martin Dempsey said eight were intended to try to disrupt what he described as imminent attack plotting. Here is some of the video that the department of the defense released overnight of some of the tomahawk cruise missiles that were fired. The pentagon says at least 40 tomahawk cruise missiles were part of the initial volley of the attacks. As we wait for the president to talk about the details, lets bring in Randall Pinkston who is live from the north lawn of the white house, and randall what are we expecting from the president . We expect the president to talk about the significance of the fact that a coalition of nations has joined with the u. S. In going after isil. The president said from the beginning that america would participate, but he wanted to make sure that other nations especially nations in the region would be involved. Significantly, at least five of the nations that have been identified so far are from the gulf states. They are sunni major states, including qatar, the owner of our parent company, as well as saudi arabia, jordan, the united arab emirates, all of them participating against these radicals, calling them terrorists, saying their strikes were conducted against terrorists. Isil has as we know slaughtered thousands of people, and recently beheading americans, and an aid worker from the united kingdom, and threatening to continue more of that. President obama is going to continue his efforts to build a coalition. This past weekend the department of state issued a list of some 50 nations that are part of the coalition, but we dont know what each nation is providing. But the effort is to make sure its a coalition of nations going after isil. A great deal of surprise and admiration last night when it was disclosed that there were five arab countries in this coalition. And perhaps its a bit cynical to talk about politics, but he seems to have a unified support from both sides now. Well, significantly, congress is in recess now, and the leaders of congress have basically left it to the president to conduct this effort under his leadership as commander in chief, but some of the members of congress are also saying that they want to have more conversation, more debate about it, so after the elections, we expect that we will be hearing more from members of congress about exactly what they want the administration to do, setting goals and limits. At this point, however, the fact that you do have a coalition of nations, including arab nations participating in the strikes, indicates that American Leadership is working. And the Obama Administration will continue to work on building the coalition when he goes to new york to chair the Security Council on wednesday. Randall i wonder if the white house is adding anything to some of the details that came from Martin Dempsey. He described eight of the air strikes were aimed at what he said were eminent plotting against the United States and western interests by alqaeda affiliate. Well, the attack against the alqaeda group, those eight strikes were carried out only by the United States. So first on the part of a coalition, including gulf states directing their effort agains s againsts isil, and then the u. S. Going after the alqaeda affiliate. They have set up a base in syria to do a number of things. First to build weapons. Secondly to recruit westerners, and the u. S. General dempsey as well as john kirby says what they were really doing were plotting a strike against western nations and possibly the u. S. , a strike on u. S. Soil as admiral dempsey put it this morning. So the eminence of that possibility, prompted the u. S. To target that alqaeda affiliate in syria. Were going to ask randall to stand by. If you are just joining us, were waiting for the president to come out and speak at the white house. We is going to provide some remarks about the uslead air strikes overnight. Lets bring in the former commander of u. S. Central command. And first of all, your reaction to the news of these air strikes, and what you make of how they were carried out last night and the significance . Well, i didnt have any details at all, but not unexpected. The president said that he was going to target this group in syria, and its i think certainly to be expected, their Logistic Support and most of their training, other facilities from my understanding are located in syria, so it wasnt going to be enough to do things in iraq. So i think it remains to be seen exactly what they went after. But if you are going to keep this group at balance its essential that they be hit in their heartland and the places where they really have their center of gravity. I know saudi arabia and jordan have pretty sophisticated air forces, but tell us about some of the capabilities, for example, of the uae, bahrain, and qatar as far as assisting in these strikes last night. I have no idea what they did. The air forces of the uae is very sophisticated. Qatar also participated in some of the air activity over libya, so they have capabilities and experience. Bahrain also. But one of the critical elements here is intelligence, knowing what to go after and how to get the background on those things is really important. So i think well have to wait and see. Reporter and generally in terms of the operations, is it a simple matter of the United States getting that information, sorting it out, and essentially saying to the saw saudis, and the uae, here is your target list . Is it that simple . It is not simple at all when you are dealing with coalitions, particularly ones you are not used to operating with. So if they were joint air strikes, it would have required a significant amount of planning. But once you get the pieces together and get it sorted out, the individual pilots ought to be pretty skilled at what they do, but the planning is typically very complex. There was some confusion last night and contrarian reporting about what sort of systems isil might have. The fact that the United States used tomahawk cruise missiles, does that suggest that perhaps isil may have gotten some of their hands on some of the surface to air missiles that syria had for all of those years . Im not sure what they have. I would suspect they have shoulder mounted heatseeking missiles, and i would also suspect as the planners looked at the targets they chose to strike individual aim points with the best weapons. So you are probably seeing a mix of tomahawks and unmanned aerial vehicles, along with the strikement bomber and fighter aircraft, so i think they would ha ha have divvied it up. Admiral thanks for joining us. Were going to swing it back to Randall Pinkston. We just got the twominute warning that the president should come out. Describe what were expecting in the president s trip. How long is he going to be in new york . What is his primary mission . His primary mission is to chair the United NationsSecurity Council. Out there it all, whether he is in new york or the white louse, he is going to continue to try to build this coalition. We expect him to give a comment about the bipartisan support he has and is receiving from democrats and republicans. Both of whom who are on board with the president s plan. The unknown is what about the boots on the ground . Because all of the military experts are saying that it is going to take troops on the ground ultimately to deal with isil. The president has said he does not intend to send american troops, so that means that Coalition Partners will have to kick in, ideally partners from the region, and no word on that yet. Randall pinkston at the white house. And there is the president stepping up to the podium. So lets listen to the president of the United States. Good morning, everybody. Last night on my orders, Americas Armed forces began strikes against isil targets in syria. Today the American People give thanks for the Extraordinary Service of our men and women in uniform, including the pilots who flew these missions with the courage and professionalism that we have come to expect from the finest military the world has ever known. I outloaned our strategy to confront isil. I made clear that as part of this campaign, the United States would take action against targets in both iraq and syria, so that these terrorists cant find safe haven anywhere. And i made clear that america would act as part of a brood coalition, and thats exactly what we have done. We are joined by our friends and partners, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, jordan, bahrain, and qatar. America is proud to Standing Shoulder to shoulder with these nations on behalf of our common security. The strength of the coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not americas fight alone. Above all the people and governments in the middle east are rejecting isil, and standing up for the peace and security that the people of the region and world deserve. Meanwhile, we will move forward with our plan supported by bipartisan majorities in congress to ramp up our effort to train and equip the Syrian Opposition who are the best counter weight to isil and the assad regime, and over 40 nations have offered to help to confront this terrorist threat, to take out terrorist targets, to train and equip iraqi and Syrian Opposition fighters who are going up against isil on the ground, to cut off isils financing, to counter its hateful ideology, and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region. Last night we also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the United States by seasoned alqaeda operatives in syria. And once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against america and try to do americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people. I have spoken to leaders in congress, and im pleased that there is bipartisan support for the actions were taking. America is always stronger when we stand united. And that sends a powerful message to the world that we will do what is necessary to defenning our country. Ill have the opportunity to people with the Prime Minister of iraq and with friends and allies of the United Nations to continue Building Support for the coalition confronting this serious threat to our peace and security. The overall effort will take time. There will be challenges ahead, but were going to do what is necessary to take the fight to this terrorist group, for the security of the country, the region, and the entire world. Thanks, god bless our troops. God bless america. And president obama going back to the oval office briefly after remarks there on the south lawn. He named himself, the five arab nations that participated in the attacks. The president said americans are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with these countries for our common security. The president provided some brief details about the part of the air strikes which went after what he described as seasoned alqaeda operatives from the korasan group. This group has been in the mix of plots attacks against the u. S. He says the unity sends a powerful message to the world, and the United States will continue to do what is necessary to take the fight to isil. Al jazeeras Randall Pinkston joins us live from the white house. Your reaction . It is obviously very significant that the president pointed out by name the arab states that participated in the initial air strikes, the first of what is expected to be many efforts. And also to the fact that he pointed out that the bipartizan majority in congress had supported his decision to provide 500 million to train and equip syrian rebels. It is also interesting, although we would not expect him to say anything about this, that he did not mention one of the players in this entire dynamic, that being iran. As we know, the u. S. Did not seek and said that it would not want irans involvement in the coalition. Nonetheless, secretary of state john kerry has been involved in bilateral one on one discussions with iranian officials in new york. And it is expected that iran may be playing at least passive role in assisting the Iraqi Government to fight off isil. Another interesting fact that wasnt mentioned but we now know is the Syrian Government was informed about the strike. Was it a courtesy or a way of telling syria, listen, we know you have an air defense system, and we will bement doing into your country, if you oppose us, we will take you down. That is one possibility that a military analyst suggested. So the u. S. Did not strike specifically syrian targets but took on isil. The Obama Administration continues to call for the removal of bashar alassad. Its a very complicated situation with a lot of moving pictures, a lot of enemies of enemies so to speak. And the u. S. Will be treading a very difficult course as it tries to accomplish the mission paid out by president obama. And randall so intriguing that you look at the one nato member that is in the region, turkey, did not participate at all, and yet you have these five arab sunni nations that did. Turkey as you pointed out being a member of nato, which is of course the organization formed after world war ii lead by the United States and u. K. And other allies, turkey has only agreed to provide one Nato Air Base in turkey for the delivery of humanitarian supplies, nothing to do with the military. Most recently of course, turkey had a number of hostages who were released by isil, with a great fanfare, not a shot being fired and allegedly no funds being paid. Was there a side deal between turkey and isil saying if you let our people go, well stay out of the fight, we dont know. We also know turkey has been a transit point of borders adjacent to syria for the in flow and out flow of fighters and supplies. Will anything be done to stop isil from having that freeflow of movement. So as i said, complicated, a lot of moving parts and disparate interests, shall we say. Randall as we look at the pictures of the president and his aids boarding marine one and flying up to new york. I wonder if there is any sense, perhaps of some relief among those close to the president given that he has gotten a lot of criticism over the iraq policy and by the way they are carrying some of these bags and suitcases in part because the president is going to be there for a couple of days. But he got a lot of criticism even from members from congress, secretary kerry, and secretary hagel, and then all of a sudden, these five countries are joining the coalition. And that is helping the president in a lot of ways this morning. Well, many are saying he should have done this sooner. There are also experts who said there would not be striked in this syria. But a military analyst told us this morning that in point of fact they must have already had the targets identified. That the u. S. Was a lot further along in deciding what they were going to do in syria before he made the speech because you cant plan this kind of operation coordinating with military units that you normally dont work with, you couldnt have done it this quickly. So the administration obviously has been keeping its cards close to the vest, and not revealing what it was going to do until the point that it was ready to do it, and this morning we saw the beginning of what is expected to be what the president says will be a lengthy operation. Randall pinkston from the north lawn of the white house where you can now hear the blast of the rotors on the south lawn of marine one where the president is heading to new york for the u. N. Meetings in the next couple of days. The president is going to be talking about Global Climate change at about 12 30, 12 45. We will be taking that live. Joining us now is general kemmet. On the last point of knowing about these targets in advance and having the intel for sometime. Does that sound about right to you . It really does. There has been active planning going on by the air target officers on this operation for some time. How difficult is it when you have the information and targets to then essentially provide that information to the Coalition Aircraft to make sure they are staying on their mission, that they have the proper mission, and you dont have some confusion as these air strikes are carried out. I heard an admiral talk about the complications and he is absolutely right. My suspicion is there has been an air Operation Center formed for this specific purpose. So this type of coordination has not just been done exclusively by the United States but those partner nations who have been participating alongside of us in those strikes have been actively part of the planning, and probably helped a lot in providing the intelligence which lead to these targets . The are you surprised that the information didnt leak when you are talking about saudi arabia, jordan, uae, and qatar, and for that not to leak until the strikes were underway, were you surprised . I really was. And i was pleased to see that. It tells me the planning has been done in a fairly tight control, and for political purposes it probably is helpful that we were seen to be attacking as a general coalition, that not only helps the individual countries involved, but the collective effort being sursued by the world against isil right now. Can you tell us what is going on over at the pentagon and other agencies today as they try to assess the success of last night, and how quickly do they then turn that information around for the next round of air strikes and missi