Know about the 9 11er the recover attacks. Barbara starr, to you first. Give us the details on this strike that killed al fadhli. Very interesting strike indeed. They was on july 8 but not until yesterday that the pentagon publicly confirmed the death of al fadely. It was a drone attack in northern syria. There are no troops on the ground but he was traveling in a vehicle west of aleppo, a drone was tracking this vehicle and when they were convinced it was him they took the shot and killed him. Theres been internet chatter over the months that he might have died in some other strike but the pentagon putting out a detailed for them Public Statement saying they did take the shot and he is dead. Paul, the pentagon is saying alfadhlis death is going to degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations against the United States and our allies and partners. How singh scant this . A very significant break. Alfadhli was leading al qaeda efforts to use syria as a base to launch attack against the west. Potentially against u. S. And western aviation. For al qaeda, kind of a promised land, theres thousands of western and european recruits and alfadhli was leading efforts to talent spot them and train them and send them back to launch attacks in western europe and the United States. Hes been doing that for the past couple of years. This is a significant breakthrough it makes the United States safer, it makes europe safer but the danger for this group has not khorasan. There are a number of representatives with the al qaeda set up in the tribal areas of pakistan considered very dangerous as well. A number of bomb makers still at large. So still a significant threat from this veteran Al Qaeda Group in syria, brianna. Professor give us a sense of this. This is a veteran Al Qaeda Group. There is supposed to be tremendous bomb making facilities and creativity as weve heard from sources here. The goal of khorasan has been to find new ways to attack the u. S. And europe but until last year Many Americans hadnt even heard of this group. Give us a bit of the back story here. Here. Well, the important thing is to not drew this as a dramatic development. Its an important piece of progress. Two things to keep in this in context. This particular death wont end the danger we may face from al qaeda. Its certainly not going to lead them roll up their tents and not continue to try and do things to the United States. At the same time we want to keep the threat in perspective. Cold hasnt been effective in attacking the United States or its allies in recent years and the size of the threat it poses is greatly reduced. Indeed some would argue there are others that pose more of a problem to the United States than al qaeda does. So i view this as a piece of good news but its not the end of the campaign and its also important to keep just how serious the threat is in some perspective. Paul this was a targeted drone strike. What does that tell you . Does this tell you this is just one data point . Does this tell us a trend about where intel is at this point in capturing terrorists or targeting terrorists in the area . Brianna, we dont know whether they had intelligence about where he was going to be at a particular point of time or they just got lucky through one of these socalled signature strikes where they see sort of vehicles convoys, groups of jihadi s jihadis which they think potentially could be al qaeda. Its possible they could have got lucky here if they did have intelligence thats significant because theyve been trying to play catchup in syria. They havent gotten the same eyes and ears human intelligence sources there they have in other places like tribal areas of pakistan like in recent times at least yemen. So it will be interesting to see if we hear more about what led to this strike. And we expect to hear that barbara, do you think . What are you hearing . Well, i think the pentagon is going to play their cards very close, not likely to hear much more than we did yesterday which was the bare bones of what they did. But they do say behind the scenes it was a targeted strike if you will that when they took the shot they did indeed have the intelligence to know he was in the vehicle. That is what they are saying at the pentagon. Okay, they knew it was alfadhli. Professor, i want to talk to you about the broader fight against isis in the this region. You say the u. S. Needs to rethink its strategy or risk isis developing into a fullblown operational state. Why is that . Well i think the United States needs to at least contemplate the possibility that its efforts to degrade and destroy isis will not work. That doesnt mean isis will start expanding in the middle east or to other parts of the world. It seemly means isis might be able to retain power in the areas it controls. If thats the case and if the United States doesnt want to go back in in large scale in iraq then its going to have to figure out a way to for lack of a better phrase live with it and focus its efforts on containing isis. I think were already doing that. Were organizing other forces to do that but we have to recognize that isis is in the process of trying to build what for all intents and purposes is a territorial state. They may call themselves a caliphate or whatever. But a territorial state is what theyre trying to create. The United States and its partners should focus their efforts on maching sure it doesnt attract sympathizers elsewhere. Professor steven walt, paul cruickshank, barbara starr, thanks to all of you. We are following breaking news we have just heard a Major General in a News Conference praising the bravery of the five Service Members massacred in last weeks Service Members in chattanooga. Rapidly going from room to room they got their fellow marines to safety once they had got on the safety some willingly ran back into the fight. He fbi is treating Mohammad Youssuf abdulazeez as a home groub violent extremist who at this point investigators believe acted alone. The fbi is saying its too early to say if he had been radicalized but they say thats something they are looking into as a possibility in their investigation. We also got a leerer picture of what happened inside the Naval Reserve center where five Service Members were shot and killed. 2 t entire incident happened very very quickly. It lasted anywhere from three to five minutes. Authorities say the shooter crashed through the front gate. He got out of his car armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and several magazines of ammunition, a Service Member inside the facility spotted the shooter and fired several rounds. Abdulazeez according to the fbi, started shooting at the building. He walked inside he shot his first Service Member and then continued to pursue others while he was shotting. The fbi says he made it out of the building clue there the back and shot and killed four Service Members. Chattanooga Police Responded to the scene and it was one of their officers who eventually shot and killed abdulazeez. Heres what authorities had to say about how many weapons and what kinds of weapons were found at the site. We found three weapons inside the facility that we know belonged to the shooter. One weapon was located in the vehicle and two were located on his person. Two additional weapons were recovered at the scene, those weapon s weapons belonged to Service Members and at least one of the weapons was discharged at the subject. Whether he was struck by those individuals is unclear at this time. Now, authorities are still waiting for a ballistics report but according to preliminary information, brianna, they dont believe any of the Service Members died in friendly fire. Alina machado, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Still ahead, Hillary Clinton hits a bump in the president ial race. A new poll has her trailing in three key swing states. Plus what the numbers reveal about some of her republican rivals. And imagine driving down the highway when this happens. Hammers making your car go haywire. The new danger exposed for half a million american drivers. No artificial flavors, colors sweeteners preservatives, and no artificial smiles. Because clean dressings, taste better. Panera. Food as it should be. Are you moving forward fast enough . Everywhere you look, it strategy is now business strategy. And a partnership with hp can help you accelerate down a path created by people, technology and ideas. To move your company from what it is now. To what it needs to become. Is. Shes considered the frontrunner but shes trailing Top Republicans in three important swing states. The Quinnipiac University poll asked voters in colorado iowa and New Hampshire if threee campaign was held today, in a matchup between clinton and Jeb Bush Bush leads by a few Percentage Points in each state. More than a few, actually, in some there is a margin of error here of course. Then the numbers against florida senator marco rubio, they arent much better. It is close in virginia as you can see there. The only difference two points two Percentage Points so within the margin of error. But the largest gap between clinton and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker this is where the big gap exists. Again, you can see the closest between them there in virginia. I want to take a closer look at this poll and the candidates. We have cnn political director David Chalian joining us to talk about this. Sometimes polls come out and confirm what you already know or suspect. This is interesting, this poll. Yesterday what is the big take away . Lets put the caveats in place. Its a snapshot in time looking at a general election thats not until a year and a half from now is very difficult to do. But it gives us information. There are warning signs for Hillary Clinton about how voters are perceiving here in these key states. These are battleground states and she is in terms of her favorability rating underwater. A majority of voters in these three states say shes more unfavorable than favorable. Thats not a place you want to be. Same on her honest and trustworthiness. So if youre the Clinton Campaign theyre not worried about this they have their plan they look at their data they love to question all the public polls throughout thinking they have a better sense whereof the electorate is but i think its clear this is something that will be part of the Hillary Clinton project for the next year and a half the f she is the nominee is going to be addressing this issue of giving a reason for voters to have a perceptions but about her that is more favorable than unfavorable. So she has this issue about the the likability issue, the trustworthiness. Do you think the issue on does she understand and not just for Hillary Clinton but jeb bush and marco rubio as well does she understand my problems, thats a huge thing. Voters want to know that someone understands its hard for them scrape together to put food on the table. To clothe their kids all of these pocketbook issues and democrats think economics will define the election. What do we know about that and how big of a concern should that be . We see Hillary Clinton upside down in all three states in these numbers. Whether or not she is carrye caring about these issues. I think thats not that different from likability. If you dont want to have a beer with the candidate youre probably thinking theyre not looking out for your interests. However the policy debate isnt pulley engaged so you are right. Voters are looking for which of these candidate las vegas my back. And the Clinton Campaign believes they when that policy debate gets engaged theyll win out on the economic arguments in a similar way that barack obama was able to do with mitt romney. Because she just started talking about her economic policies early last week and shes sort of now talking about corporations and how she sees wall street. Thats evolving. It takes a while for that to percolate to the masses right . And to be fully engaged from both sides in the context of a general election. But youre right. Jeb bush is having this problem, also marco rubio is right side up in all three of these battleground states on this topic. Its something that perhaps feeds into his generational argument that hes making everyday which is that he is the leader for the future and that ties into how people envision their economic future. Real quick. So who at this moment in time very far out from the election is is faring the best against snik. Well listen in this poll this this poll. As you said walker does nicely against her, rubio does well against her. She i think even jeb bush is doing well against her in iowa and colorado. Virginia she seems to have more of a stronghold. But i wouldnt read too much as to where is the election a year and a half from now. We should look at these polls as the snapshots they are and say what here do all of these candidates need to address. So i dont know who matches up against her best but i think the Clinton Campaign is probably worries about all three republicans tested here as potential strong republican contenders. Well call it a midsemester report card. David chalian, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Donald trump sat down with Anderson Cooper you dont want to miss that interview on ac 360 tonight at 8 00 eastern. For the latest in politics head over to cnnpolitics. Com. Still ahead, the growing trend near the nations airports. More pilots are reporting lasers aimed right into their cockpits. Where it happened this time. Plus planes packed with passengers nearly collide with flying drones. The two frightening incidents that happened in a single week. When you have a migraine youll reach for anything to make the pain go away. Truth is, most pain relievers dont work like excedrin migraine. It relieves my pain starting in 30 minutes. Thats fast plus, sensitivity to light and sound. Excedrin migraine. Wow, that was fast. 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Too bad this is happening. Fine, what if i just put up the x1 sports app right here. Ah jeez its so close. He just loves her so much. Do it. Come on. Do it. Come on yes awww, yes that is what im talking about. Baby. Call and upgrade to get x1 today. New developments on a troubling and dangerous trend that involves lasers and commercial planes. At least six more flights over the new York Metro Area report being hit by lasers just on tuesday. And these powerful lights they can temporarily blind pilots. We want to bring in cnns aviation correspondent rene marsh in washington and we have patrick tucker, the Technology Editor for defense one. Tell us more about these incidents. Its startling youre talking about several in one day, right . In the new York New Jersey last night between 9 30 and 12 10 a. M. Is when the faa said four commercial aircraft were hit with these lasers an American Airlines flight express jet as well as