Rockets are flying. An impasse right now, america watching with a laser focus on what happens next. Lets begin our coverage first in iraq from the pentagon to the white house, to the center of the crisis in iraq and beyond, cnn is covering this story like no other network can. Our senior White House Correspondent jim acosta is at the white house, Barbara Starr is at the pentagon. Jim, let me start with you, the president authorized u. S. Air strikes. Today the air strikes against these isis targets in iraq began. Tell us what we know. Thats right. And i can tell you from talking to Deputy National security adviser ben rhodes whn the last hour that the president did not make an additional decision when these air strikes were carried out, wolf. That was implicit when he announced toes air strikes in the state dining room here in the white house. I did hear from been rhodes that what the president has given the u. S. Military is what is called a green light. A green light to take out isis targets that threaten the city of irbil. Those u. S. Military advisers are stationed there. They have been working with the iraqis to look at the isis threat. Basically, what happened according to ben rhodes that isis fighters were starting to shell kurdish fighters. If they feel like irbil is being threatened, those air strikes are going to take place. Another very interesting thing that ben rhodes said, is that if those people are taking refuge in Northern Iraq are threatened, basically on the verge of being slaughtered by these isis fighters, that Additional Air strikes would take place. They were very clear at the white house in a background Conference Call with reporters that they intend to break the seige where those people are taking refuge. This threat to u. S. Personnel will likely continue. Last night open a Conference Call with reporters, Senior Administration officials is he they have no plans to evacuate those military adviser in irbil. That means they will continue to be in harms way and as long as that kins, these air strikes may be happening on a case by case basis. The last thing that ben rhodes said as he walk away from reporters, it was a he was heading into a principals meeting at the white house, that refers to a meeting among the president s National Security adviser as to what is happening in iraq right now. There is no plans for the president to go anywhere but marthas vineyard. He will be taking National Security advisers with him. Separately, we want to point out that the white house is also taking the point of saying they will be supplying a war powers letter to leaders in congress, it refers to the legal constitutional notification that the president must provide to lawmakers up on capitol hill that these air strikes are taking place. My understanding from talking to Senior Administration officials is that that could be happening at any moment. Thats just a technicality. Barbara, tell us about these air strikes. Two 500 precision bombs were targeted around irbil, is that what happened . What we know is that two f 18s attacked target. This was an artillery piece, mobile, that means it can move around very quickly, being manned by isis. Isis, the u. S. Says, was shelling Kurdish Forces in irbil where these u. S. Forces are located. That was the reason for moving in, dropping in 500 pound laser guided precision bombs on the artillery piece and taking it out. This meets the president s standard of doing what is necessary to protect u. S. Personnel in irbil, both military and diplomatic personnel at the u. S. Consulate there. All indications to under score what jim was saying is that the air strikes will continue if isis doesnt back off. They are prepared. They now have u. S. War planes, mainly navy planes off the george h. W. Bush at this point, in the air, on combat patrol, looking for threats, they can move immediately. They dont have to come back for additional authorization. If they see a threat, they can take it out. The second sort of category of air strikes would be against isis up in those mountains in Northern Iraq to protect the iraqi minorities who are trying to find some refuge there, if isis begins to move on them in any fashion in the coming hours. The u. S. Prepared also to undertake air strikes there. I have to tell you we have learned how quickly, how urgently this plan came together. An official telling me it was just wednesday when talks between the u. S. Military and the white house began in earnest. It was yesterday when it all came together. General Martin Dempsey working it around the clock, chuck hagel calling in by secure video teleconference. So this is really been a very quick and swift effort to get this moving. The question now, now that they have opened the door to these air strikes, where does it could go from here . Has this actually suddenly broadened the u. S. Mission in iraq . Are u. S. Forces back in action essentially some two and a half years after leaving iraq . Wolf. Barbara, im going to ivan watson. Hes in irbil. How Many Americans are in irbil, right now . I take it there are a few dozen military personnel, some couldnnsulate personnel, were talking about a whole lot of americans there, right . No. I think for security reasons, the administration is reluctant to give a precise number. Slightly under four dozen military personnel, several dozen diplomatic personnel, some having moved up from baghdad several weeks ago. The question why irbil, why does it suddenly appear to be taken over by isis militants . How quickly are these people on the move and what can be done about it . Isis, you know, was thought to be stretched thin. It sure doesnt appear to be so. Stand by. The question being asked why not simply evacuate those few dozen americans, get them out of harms way. I want to go to irbil right now. How proud is the reach of isis . Look at this map right now. This is what the terror Group Controlled in june, heres what they control now and they are slowing down at all. They are not stopping for a while. The kurdish capital of irbil seemed safe but not right now. Christians, hundreds of thousands have fled iraq and now tens of thousands of them are being end dangeroused and other other minorities are being threatened, the secretary of state and the president called genocide. Whats it like where you are, ivan . We moved across the street from the church, wolf and now were in an unfinished building, basically a construction site where some of the displaced Iraqi Christians have taken shelter. We have seen scenes like this in other parts of irbil as well. All of the people we talk to, they basically fled their towns and villages after the Kurdish Militia pulled out wednesday night and triggered a mass panic and sent just a wave of humanity, annex odd us of people fleeing toward irbil and other kurdish city which have basically safe havens, but not that save. Irbil is only 30 miles from the front lines where isis is operating. It is quite close. Kurdish leaders say they are grateful that the u. S. Has brought air power to protect them. As one kurdish told me, the mosu lixt dam is a strategic location that was captured by the isis military the other day. He told me they used tanks, which were weapons in the iraqi army arsenal captured by isis. I met a young man, this is a 22 rled, you fled your house two days ago. Can you tell me what was the scene like when you ran away . I dont know. Im just too scared. There was a thousand car and my father drove the car for six hours, six hours, a few hours in the dust and in the road. When we were in the dust, you couldnt see anything, just cars running away. We didnt know where we are going. So i dont know. And you were running from isis, from the Islamic State . Yeah, Islamic State. Those people are not people. They are monsters. Not monsters. Monsters are better. Did you think you can ever go home . I dont think so. You think its finished . No, its finished. The American Air Force has started bombing. Right yeah. Maybe. Maybe they can. Nobody knows what they are going to do, wolf. Ivan, im going to come right back to you. Were going to stay on these pictures. No other News Networks have these kind of images that ivan watson is showing us. These isis forces are on the move, they are threatening irbil, its hard to believe for those who have been that part of iraq. The isis troops, went over into mosul and took over. The iraqi army abandoned their positions, warehouses, one of the reasons these isis forces have u. S. Military hardware which the Iraqi Military simply abandoned and beyond that, the isis forces went over and captured a whole lot of banks and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars and buying a lot of stuff with that. Thats why these other areas once considered safe and secure are now considered endangered. Much more of the breaking News Coverage right here on cnn right after this. To stop the advance on irbil, ive directed our military to take targeted strikes against isil terrorist convoys should they move toward the city. We intend to stay vigilant and take action if these forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in iraq, including our consulate in irbil and our embassy in baghdad. President obama speaking last night, announcing the authorization of u. S. Air strikes against isis targets in iraq. The authorization occurred yesterday. This morning, the u. S. Began those air strikes launching two major air strikes against various artillery positions manned by isis forces in and around the irbil area. The president called it isil. Others call it isis. The islamic of the isis forces are now simply causing themself the Islamic State. They want to establish a caliphaten compassing not only iraq, syria and lebanon, but that whole region. How dangerous is isis right now . Brian todd is taking a closer look at the history of what they have done and what they want to do. Brian, what have you found out . Wolf, u. S. Intelligence officials are telling me they have growing concern that isis is going to expand its threat beyond the territory is controls now, far beyond it, to include possible attacks on western and u. S. Interests. This comes as chilling new images have surfaced showing what could be the future of the militant groups threat. A chilling image of what could be the future of the Islamic States threat. In a new propaganda video, this man identified as altrinidadi is referred to by isis as an american. He calls on mrns american to fight. The senior u. S. Official is tracking this man and cannot confirm hes american. Another man in the video identifies himself as british. The concern is could grow. The more immediate threat to europe, and what is called an eventual threat to the u. S. Homeland. Intelligence Officials Say over the past few months, People Associated with isis have been arrested in spab spain and france for plotting attacks and constructing explosive devices. They confirm the shooter on the attack on the Jewish Museum in may in brussels was a member of isis. There is calls for u. S. To help contain the isis threat by arming kurdish officials. We need the United States and nato to interfere because we are fighting on behalf of all of those who are against terrorism. Reporter u. S. Officials insist any military assistance would be channeled through the Iraqi Government in baghdad. Experts warn that arming them directly comes with danger. Now, another risk, if the u. S. Directly gives the kurds a lot of weapons and other military help in this situation and the kurds make real gains on the battlefield, the kurds might want to kick to the not just isis but the iraqis as well and they may want to become an independent state. That, experts say, is going to create another mess in that region, wolf. The kurd issue occurredish Kurdish Military is the best fighters but they cant compete with sophisticated equipment that isis stole from the Iraqi Military as they moved from syria and took over huge chunks of iraq. Back in 1991, the first gulf war, the u. S. Launched air strikes against saddam husseins positions to liberate kuwait. The u. S. Wound up spending near a decade in iraq. In 2014, the u. S. Once again launching ire air strikes in iraq against isis. 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Talk to your doctor. Good morning, im carol costello. Well get back to the breaking news out of iraq in just a few minutes. But first the ceasefire in the middle east now over. In gaza, hopes for a truce are now dashed. Rockets once again flying after that 72 hour ceasefire expires. Empty streets across the gaza strip as israel fires against hamas who they say broke the deal. The Islamic Jihad are taking responsibility and the consequences are reaching far beyond the gaza strip. Israel pulling out of peace talks saying it will not negotiate under fire. Israel accepted the egyptian initiative, three weeks ago. We accepted that there should be a cessation of fighting and we can discuss the issues. It can only work if you can make the ceasefire stick. Hamas has shown that their whole view is not dissame from isis in iraq. This violent jihad against every else. Lets talk about this. Daniel courteous welcome to you both. Thank you. Daniel, is it any surprise the fighting has started again . No, not at all. Hamas is very nervous about being marginalized in these peace talks because in fact egypt and israel are in one mind in most issues and israel prefers to deal with the Palestinian Authority. In some respects what hamas and its allies are, the Islamic Jihad are doing is reminding everyone that they are there. The second thing hamas doesnt completely exercise control even within its own ranks. The military wing of within gaza is sometimes operating on its own. A part of it doesnt understand why hamas would fire rockets into israel. Parts of gaza wipe out, more than 1,000 people are dead. At this point who cares who started it . Why doesnt hamas stop . It condition win. Well, carol, it does appear from the press reports that it was Islamic Jihad that fired those rockets this morning. Nonetheless, hamas bears responsibility because its the controlling authority. Its hard to imagine why they would do this. Maybe its an attempt to reinforce their negotiating position in the cairo talks but they have very few friends left in the world, throughout the arab world. Theres been a lot of criticism of hamas for the fact that its not abided by these ceasefires. Islamic jihad clearly violated the ceasefire this morning. You cant blame the israelis for defending themselves against those attacks. I think youll see more efforts by the United States and other countries to try to reinforce those talks in cairo, but right now those talks have been suspended. So daniel, the top palestinian negotiator still says hamas is part of their official delegation in egypt, but they are, quote, one group in cairo but at this point should hamas be kicked out of these talks . Well, i dont think the Palestinian Authority wants hamas to be divorced from the talks because that would reinforce the separation that they have tried to overcome through political means in the past few months. That said, hamas demands, which they want to be rewarded for what they started militarily are simply untenable and the Palestinian Authority which is trying to negotiate in a sense between hamas and egypt and then, of course, with israel, is finding itself in a very challenged position, so, no, i dont think the Palestinian Authority wants hamas out of the talks but hamas is unlikely to see any of its demands met through this negotiating process. Okay, last question to you nicholas. Where do things go from here . Well, i think youll see continued rocket fire from both sides this morning. They will be attempts to impose another ceasefire. Meanwhile, the United States, as youve been reporting all morning, carol, has to pay attention, i think, to a more urgent situation and thats a situation in iraq where the isis advance and the american air strikes this morning. All right. Nick loss burns, and daniel kurtzer. Well be back with more after this. Hey pal . You ready . 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