Verge of air strikes on isis in syria . Also, this could be the best clue yet to exactly what happened when Michael Brown was killed. What sounds like gunshots caught on tape while a man was video chatting with a friend. You are pretty. Youre so fine. Just going over some of your videos. How can i forget . Will this tape answer the questions or raise even more . Were going to begin, though, the death of an american jihadi. Evan perez joins me from washington. What do we know about american mccain and why he joined isis . Don, right now there are still a lot of details that are not known. We know he is 33 years old. The fbi started investigating him several months ago when they realized he had probably gone to join the militants in syria. Now we know that he was a member of isis, which is one of the more radical groups that is fighting in that civil war. And we know that he was killed over the weekend. Now until today, really, they only knew in the United States that he had some minor scrapes with the law, and he converted to islam about ten years ago. And his family said they last heard from him when hey went to turkey a few months ago, don. And how was he killed . He was killed in a battle with a rival militant groups. Its still a little foggy because there are so many groups that are fighting over there. One British Human Rights Group that is monitoring the area says that they were fighting al nusra, which is an al qaeda group, the Free Syrian Army, which is a group that is backed by the United States says they were killed in a battle an isis battle with their group. And evan, weve been talking a lot about the numbers, about how many others could be out there. How many others could be out there doing the same thing . We know about 100 americans are believed to have gone to syria and are fighting with these militant groups. Well dont know how many have joined isis. The fbi is keeping close tabs on as many of them as they can. But as you know, its really difficult. A lot of times they only know that these people have joined these groups after they have gone over there. And the question is what is the real fear of here in america . I understand that, you know, the threat of isis coming across our borders, just sort of similar to people crossing our southern borders. Its porous. But that doesnt mean the moment they get here that something will happen, correct . Right. Thats exactly right. I mean, one of the things we can see as from this battle that this gunship was involved in this weekend is that some of these people are going over there to join the fight there. Now, the fear is that eventually theyre going to be trained and that theyre going to come back here. They can obviously travel. So what the fbi is doing, for instance, is putting them only watch lists so once they know they have gone over there, they are flagged as soon as they get on a plane to try to come back to this country. Today the state Department Even said that they can cancel their passports so that they cant travel anywhere. So thats how theyre trying to deal with it. Evan perez, thank you. I appreciate your reporting. How Many American jihadists are out there . The same question i asked evan perez and what can we do about them. Joining me is rita katz. Also julia cayenne, Cnn National Security analyst and michael weiss, who writes for Foreign Policy and now lebanon, a columnist for them. Julia, i want to start with you the same question i asked evan. I saw you earlier on cnn. You bring up good point when you say what is the threat of isis coming to america, and you equated it to the southern borders. Right. There is no question that dangerous people can get into this country either through border illegal border crossing, or if they have a passport or a visa, can get into this country. I dont think thats right to question. Look, there is bad people in the world tlchltd have sociopaths there are people that join terrorist groups. And nothing about this should surprise us, you know, 12 years after september 11th. I think the better question is are these attacks imminent and should the average american care or be worried, change their behavior. Everything weve seen, the fbi report, the fbi bulletins, the fact that mccain was already under surveillance is a good sign that we probably have some Situational Awareness of who is doing what should put people at ease. But understanding were never going to get to zero. Were never going to get to perfect. What we try to do, given the terrorist threat is its a little bit of whacamole here. Sometimes its military missions abroad. Can we get to lets talk about real quickly before i bring the other panelists in, juliet, what drove american Douglas Mccain and others like him to turn away from america and join a group like this . Well, to put it in historical perspective, unfortunately, every war america has been in, we have had people side with the enemy, quote, the over side. We saw this during world war ii. This is not unique to our times. And it is nonetheless scary to the extent that people are getting radicalized. There is a number of reasons why. One is obviously the internet. Another is a sense of isolation, unemployment. Mccain didnt seem to have a strong linear narrative about school and then being employed. He may have been a bit of a drifter. Even if he was a nice guy, as they often always are. And they look for a sense of identity abroad. And look, there are sociopaths in the world who say im going to join isis. They show up at isis. They show up in syria. They get killed because they are joining something that is, you know, violent and ultimately got killed by u. S. Force. People who become disenchanted for one reason or another. Rita, you track jihadis online. What do you know about this case . Well, we were this morning actually, last night we signed a message on twitter from groups that are fighting isis in aleppo, free syria now people. And they reported about one of their latest battles that occurred in aleppo in which they were able to successfully defeat isis fighters. And they reported among their 40 something people that were killed, they found two american two individuals, two isis fighters that had on them american passports. And so that was something that really triggered us into start looking into the profile of the individual. And, again, it really didnt surprise me to see immediately his involvement on twitter and part of the social media that isis is so investing, investing unbelievably amount of resources to recruit people like him. He himself had an a active twitter page that was communicating with other western fighters in syria and in iraq and in english obviously. Im seeing a recurring theme here, michael. Im seeing the internet. Because, listen, these mostly men become radicalized. We have freedom of religion here. Is there anything we can really do about it, short of stopping people going online . No, unfortunately i dont think so. For the better part of the past half decade weve been obsessed with the socalled lone wolf attack. Not that it would be an al qaedastyle spectacular tantamount to 9 11. But things like abu mutallab, a guy who tried to blow up his underpants in an airliner above detroit several christmases ago. These lone wolfs have been inspired by clerics such as anwar awlaki. My concern is there is a threat posed by returning from syria and reaching anywhere in europe and the United States. But also, look. These guys are incredibly savvy at using social media such as twitter, facebook, other websites that most people hadnt heard of until isis made them famous. They are also probably the most successful terrorist organization in history, at least islamic terrorism. They far outmarshaled al qaeda. They control a territory slightly greater than the size of great britain. What theyre able to do is radical people already in the west. I mean, this guy, mr. Mccain obviously went off to join isis with exactly that intent. He was living in the United States in minnesota. There are other people who dont even need to go to syria and fight with isis. They can be inspired by isis by its ideological proclamation, by the sermoning of Abu Baqir Al Baghdadi and commit attacks on u. S. Soil. I want to move on and talk about the search for the killer of james foley. Its really important. Everyone is focusing on the identity of the man you see there in these videos. Was the isis killers british accent of surprise to you, rita . Oh, definitely not. Definitely not. And two things that were very important to mention about the isis beheading video. One is the fa that the executer himself spoke english with a british accent, which is not a surprise like i mentioned, because the number of british fighters in syria iraq is very large. It actually illustrated by the fact that the british fighters in syria have their own Media Organization under the ban eof tallhid. Their group they disseminate for about two or three years a large amount of video, audio and twitter messages. They created their own Recruitment Network on social media through which they not only recruit, but even fund raise and even call on other peoples to join. And by the way, Douglas Mccain himself was already in communication with that specific group. In addition to the fact that it wasnt surprising, the fact that the executer himself, and thats again to this same message about the recruitment, the executer himself spoke english has a very Important Message here to everyone here in the west is the fact that, you know, isis could have taken an arabic speaker and fighter. For sure they have thousand of them, no doubt about it. The reason they took an they choose to take an english speaker. And the reason is for recruitment. Right. And when were talking about recruitment online, if you had seen the reactions a few minutes after the video was released, the cheerful reactions, the celebrations, it had more than the element of intimidation. I got to go, rita. It has the element of recruitment. Thank you very much, reit. At the thank you, michael. Thank you, julia kayyem. When we come back, what will it take to identify the isis terrorist who beheaded foley . What will the white house do to capture him. And alleged moment when Michael Brown was allegedly shot while chatting with a friend. You are pretty. [ gunshots ] youre so fine. Just going over some of your videos. How can i forget . Will this tape raise more questions than answers . Plus, a bucket challenge with a difference. Well explain coming up. [music] jackies heart attack didnt come with a warning. Today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. If youve had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Co until youre sure you do. You need a hotel room bartender thanks, captain obvious. Co which is why i put the hotels. Com mobile app on my mobile phone. Hotels. Com i dont need it right now. Crestor lowered bad cholesterol in its a fact. Highrisk patients more than lipitor. Bad cholesterol. Youre going down yeah lowering cholesterol is a big deal, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors, because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. So, when diet and exercise arent enough to lower cholesterol, adding crestor can help. Im down with crestor crestor is not right for everyone, like people with Liver Disease or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor about other medicines youre taking. Call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired; have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of rare but serious side effects. Are you down with crestor . Ask your doctor if crestor could help you. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Welcome back to cnn tonight. While president barack obama has given the go ahead of reconnaissance flights over syria, the white house insists he has not authorized targets against isis target theres. Im going to talk with this Major General james smieder marks and former commanding general of the u. S. Army intelligence center. Peter bine earth in and columnist at haaretz. And also back with us now is michael weiss, Foreign Policy and now lebanon columnist. General, you first. Should the u. S. Bomb in syria . It sure should, and it should without asking permission. Look, we have great intelligence. Intelligence collection is a matter of routine. The fact that the president has authorized reconnaissance flight, all that really means is they want to get a little more precise targeting on the already existing target folders that have already been put in front of them and the Combatant Commander can go ahead and release those things at any time. So really, thats a final step. Its not an absolutely essential final step. But absolutely the United States should go after those targets as quickly as possible. But general but its only going to give them a tactical advantage, the u. S. A tactical advantage. But isnt the president in an awkward position . Sure. How does he accomplish that . The first thing, don, is you need to create a strategy. And the president and his administration has failed to do that. Thats step one. If what the United States chooses to do and rolls into a strategy of chasing isis and tactically going after isis as targets on the battlefield, we dont know what right looks like. Well dont know what the conclusion, what the horizon needs to look like. We need to take a step back and establish a strategy, but simultaneously, we have to be able to go after them in this large ungoverned space so that we can hold them where they are and stop their progress. Michael, i want to play something. This is the pentagon secretary john kirby. He had this to say about u. S. Surveillance over syria. Here he circumstances the president has been clear about this, secretary hagel has been clear about this. This is a serious threat. From a Serious Group of terrorists. And we need to stay mindful of doing what we need to do to protect american citizens at home and abroad. And its been stated before. Were not going to hold ourselves to geographic boundaries in order to accomplish that job. 10 without getting into international law, for which i would be ill educated to speak to, i can tell you well do what we need to do to protect americans. A serious threat at home and abroad. Isis is a serious threat to our homeland . Do we need to take them on abroad . I think so. Admiral kirby referred to geographical boundaries there are no geographical boundaries with respect to isis. The boundary between syria and iraq has been erased. You cannot fight isis in what is left of one country. What were doing in iraq is good. Its prevented the genocide of yazidis. I hear on twitter that we might be doing airlifts to protect another minority population there. But as the general said, this is a tactical sort of initiative. Its not going to defeat or even contain isis. When they are blown up or shot at in iraq, they have an easy command center in iraq province of syria to which they can repair. For all the talk we should be partnering with the assad regime, let us not forget until june of this year when isis marched into moses 8, an event that nobody seemed to have foreseen, the Bashar Al Assad regime did not drop bombs in the province. Ive seen so many arguments that state a simple and longstanding truth which is assad himself is responsible for the rise of this transnational terrorist army. And the general is also quite right, we do not need his permission to go in and bomb them. In fact, the abortive rescue mission that was conducted for james foley earlier this summer provious can send in manned aircraft. You can send in surveillance drones. You can even spend in special forces into Eastern Syria without the knowledge of damascus. I think we absolutely have a moral and strategic objective to meet. And continuing that, im wondering why peter you wrote in the atlantic, you said if the u. S. Doesnt act against isis, no one else will. Do you really believe that . Why did you rye wry that . I think its true. I dont think there is anybody else with the capacity to try to act effectively against isis right now. The question i also wrote about who are our allies on the ground. I think we can hurt isis from the air, but we cant take territory from isis from the air. Whenever weve had successful efforts like this whether it was in kosovo or afghanistan when we defeated the taliban originally we had allies on the ground. The kurds in iraq. So the question i think is who are our allies on the ground in syria . And we have this irony that the Obama Administration spent the last couple years basically saying that the moderate nationalist nonjihadist rebels in syria arent really worth very much. Theyre too disorganized. Theyre not strong on the ground. We cant even really tell them apart. So who are we fighting for . Thats the 10,000 question here. Who are we fighting for then . My fear is that the Obama Administration itself has repeatedly told us they dont believe we have allies on the ground Strong Enough or reliable enough, in fact, to be worth partnering with. Its really remarkable about face. I really would love to believe that we have learned something about the Free Syrian Army and nonjihadist rebels in syria that has changed the Obama Administrations mind. But i dont know what it is. Youre not sure who are we fighting for. Thats probably a better way of putting it. General, how does Bashar Al Assad play into this . You heard what michael said. He believes that its really this is Bashar Al Assads doing. Well, you know, don, as everybody has indicated, frankly, this is a little bit more than irony. The <