A group that nobody in the public was aware of until, i think, this week, was the Khorasan Group. But theyve been plotting for a while in ways that have caused us great concern in tsa and those with class five briefings that we provided. The Khorasan Group a splinter dprup of al qaeda was one of washingtons most guarded secrets. Now that secret is out. And the tsa is giving new details about the groups threat to the u. S. The president gave me a mission destroy isil. And i will recommend to him what it takes to destroy isil. The battlefield in syria may be getting a little more crowded. The u. S. Is getting more air support to battle isis, but the chairman of the joint chiefs says there needs to be more forces on the ground. Ill talk to the state Department Spokeswoman about how that could work. On behalf of the ntct board of regents, administration, faculty and staff, i would like to offer my sincere condolences to these families. This is indeed a sad day for these families and for North Central texas college. Four families and an entire community have been rocked by the deaths of four student athletes who died after a semislammed into their teams bus last night. Well go live to the scene. The Justice Department is calling out the Ferguson Police department over its latest infractions. The department is already under investigation following Michael Browns shooting death. So what is next for ferguson . And a party with a purpose. Heres a live look at thousands of people in new yorks central park gathering for the Global Citizen festival. Everything kicks off in about an hour from now. Well take you there for a preview. Good afternoon, im milissa rehberger. We begin with new air strikes in the fight against isis. Today targets in iraq and syria were hit by war planes and drones, an isis command and control center was among the targets destroyed there. For the first time british fighter jets entered the conflict today. Two Royal Air Force tornadoes flew parliament approved combat missions over iraq but did not carry out air strikes. It comes as more european nations join this coalition, the united kingdom, belgium and denmark have all agree to carry out air strikes against the militant group in iraq but not in syria. In his weekly address to the nation, president obama welcomed the help. I made it clear that america would act as part of a broad coalition, and we were joined in this action by friends and partners including arab nations. At the United Nations in new york, i worked to build more support for this coalition, to cut off terrorist fninancing an to stop the flow of foreign fighters in and out of that region. Lets bring in maria harp. She joins us now. How important it is that the british have added their forces to this mission . Well, its crucial that we have countries from around the world, the arab world that we saw the first night with those five arab countries and also country in europe now stand up and say this is a significant threat and theyre going to help us fight that threat. Not all of that will be military assistance, but thats certainly a key component of it. The plan to fight isis in syria calls for arming and training 5,000 rebels but general Martin Dempsey says that 5,000 rebel fighters will not be enough. Lets listen to what hes had to say. 5,000 has never been the end stage. Weve had estimates from 10,000 to 15,000 is what we believe they would need to capture lost territory in eastern syria. How do we identify and also vet out a group in syria which is obviously in disarray . How do we choose among the rebels that are very differentiated from one another effectively . How do we make that happen . Absolutely. And chairman dempsey is right, this is just the beginning of an effort to train and equip the modern opposition in syria, this effort that passed the house and Senate Last Week is just the start of that. So were going to keep increasing our support to them. We take great care to vet who we give any arms and assistance to because we dont want them falling into the wrong hands. Theres always a risk of that, of course, but we think the reward really outweighs that rinch here. I want to ask you about that risk. Because as history shows arming the rebels is a very risky proposition. Sometimes it really does turn against us. Has it ever really worked . I think there are cases where certainly weve supported groups that have helped us in the fight, different places around the world. When it comes to syria, what we need are troops on the ground that are part of the Syrian Opposition coalition that weve been working with to take the fight to isis as we strike them from the air. So thats why weve continued to build them up. The reason i think its actually taken a little while to get this equipment and these arms to them is because we were vetting them. The process just takes a while. We think the reward from having this force on the ground really does outweigh the risk. Reuters is reporting this afternoon that an al qaeda Splinter Group fired a rocket at the university of sanah, yemen. The group said it was in retaliation for a u. S. Drone strike yesterday. What can you tell us the, if anything, about that . Weve seen those reports but we have nothing to indicate that the attack in sanaa, that the u. S. Embassy was the target. All of our people are accounted for. Nobody was injured in it. Ive seen those reports online but nothing to validate those claims. State departments marie harf, thank you. Have a good day. You too. Were learning more today about the little known syrian based Khorasan Group and the Terror Threat it may pose to american travelers in the u. S. And abroad. Most americans only heard about this group after they were targeted by isis positions by u. S. Air strikes earlier this week. Yesterday head of the Transportation Safety administration said khorasan has been learning from al qaedas past bombing attempts. Lets listen. So we have another group now that has been looking at some of those issues and doing the research and development and testing of devices that they believe will be successful in getting through some Airports Security en route some place to a location in europe or the u. S. Kristen welker who was at the white house. He said the khorasan presents a clear and present danger. How seriously is the white house taking the threats posed by this group . Oh, very seriously, and you heard the tsa director, john pistil map out just how seriously they believe the Khorasan Group is trying to come up with a plot to potentially develop an improvised explosive device that would circumvent security at some airports. In fact, back in july, the tsa directed some overseas airports to stiffen their security and their screening of passengers, particularly those that have direct flights to the United States. So they are taking this sear seriously. Ill read you more of what he had to say. Quote, i see the Khorasan Group of being a very capable, determined enemy who was very much focused on getting somebody or something on a plane bound for europe or the United States. And youll recall when the u. S. Announced that it was launching air strikes against not only isis targets but against khorasan targets as well in syria, they said that the group was potentially planning an imminent threat against the United States. So clearly the u. S. Very focused on this right now. And the tsa working to mitigate the threat level at some overseas airports as we speak. And i will say that this all comes against the backdrop of the u. S. Continuing air strikes as you were just discussing in iraq, in syria, the uk, of course, voted to approve air strikes in iraq on friday but not approving air strikes in syria. Theres a lot of political debate going on in washington as well with some laurps saying that they want to vote on air strikes that they dont think president obama has the authority to act unilaterally. The white house disagrees, it says the president does have the Legal Authority to do so. At this point in time, there are no indications, though, that this congress is going to come back from its recess. It looks like theyll be out on recess through the midterms. They wont come back until late november. That has a lot of members in congress and the public upset that congress should be here right now while the u. S. Launches this military noif the middle east. You can anticipate a robust debate when they do return in november. Back to you. Obviously safety comes first, we all know that, but as far as air travelers, passengers go, as far as their convenience, are we going to see any kind of changes immediately and in the near future as far as Airport Security goes . Its certainly possible. At this point the tsa hasnt announced anything. What we have seen is stiffer screening at some of the overseas airports but in terms of what travelers here in the u. S. Might see, it doesnt seem as there are immediate plans to change anything, but of course that could change. Intelligence officials are monitoring this situation and they are responding to it as needed. So its certainly a possibility. But at this point in time, no announcements of that. Nbcs kristen welker. Thanks. Were keeping an eye on that massive ground stop in chicago which is still causing a travel nightmare this afternoon. Ohare international, the worlds busiest airport, canceling flights. Midway scrapped at least 70 flights. All of this is a result of that fire yesterday at an faa facility in suburban chicago. Police say the contract employee, brian howard, set this fire. He is in custody facing a felony charge. Authorities say there are no indications the fire was terrorism related. And lovely news, the Clinton Family grew overnight. Chelsea clinton has given birth to a baby girl who they have named charlotte. Its the first child for the former first daughter and her husband mark mezvinsky. We dont know where the baby was born and we still dont have a picture yet. Clinton announced the birth on twitter. Saying that marc and i are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth af our daughter, Charlotte Clinton mezvinsky. As for the new grandparents, bill and hillary say theyre thrilled and marc is bursting with pride. Well have the latest on a deadly bus crash in oklahoma involving several College Students and a missing student Hannah Graham. Were less than an hour away from the third annual Global Citizen festival here in new york city. Activists are gathering to take action on global poverty and education. Some of the music industrys biggest stars are joining them. Musicians like jayz, Carrie Underwood and the roots will be performing. Ronan farrow is host of ronan farrow daily and will be cohosting our coverage this event. He joins me live from central park. Hey, ronan, hows it going . Great show so far. Right out here were about to see another dirt kind of great show. Were actually expecting 65,000 people today. And whats interesting about this concert is you cant get in by buying a ticket. So more than 80 of the people here have actually performed some kind of an act of act victim, lobbying for a new piece of legislation, lobbying for money from governments. The Prime Minister of india will be here, the Prime Minister of rwanda will be here. Voices that you wouldnt expect at a celebrity concert. Ronan farrow, thank you so much. Well be checking in with ronan a little while from now as well. As we continue to count down to msnbcs live coverage of the Global Citizen festival in central park thats less than an hour away from now. You know what my business philosophy is, reynolds . No. Not exactly. To attain success, one must project success. Thats why we use fedex one rate. Their flat rate shipping. Exactly. It makes us look topnotch but we know its affordable. [ garage door opening ] [ sighs ] honey, havent i asked you to please use the we dont have a reception entrance. [ male announcer ] ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® for as low as 7. 50. [ male announcer ] ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® this is the one. Can we go for a test drive . Oh sure, ill be right back. Thanks. Leather, running boards. 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We have some developing news on the ebola crisis. The National Institute of health says it will admit a patient who has been exposed to the virus, an american doctor who was volunteering in sierra leone. The doctor will be taken to the nihs Clinical Center in suburban washington, d. C. Now to developments on that deadly bus crash on an oklahoma interstate. Were learning the ntsb is now sending a team to that scene. Four members of a College Softball team were killed when a semi truck slammed into their bus on i35 south of oklahoma city. A dozen others were injured. The team was heading home after a scrimmage. School Officials Say theyll hold a prayer vigil tomorrow night for the victims and its other traveling athletic teams have been called back to the campus weapon know the names of the four killed, brooke decker, caitlin woodly, they range in age from 18 to 20. Developing now the suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham is now in custody. Jesse matthew is being held without bond and is expected to have his initial Court Appearance next thursday. Matthews been charged with abduction with intent to defile. Meanwhile, police havent found 18yearold Hannah Graham. She disappeared on december 13th. Police have expanded the search to rural areas outside of charlottesville, virginia. There are no indications this weekend that the Justice Department will urge the u. S. Supreme court to uphold state laws granting samesex couples the right to get married. Attorney general eric holder made the case in an interview yesterday with nbcs pete williams. I expect that the Justice Department will file a brief and the brief will be consistent with the positions that we have taken in the past in support of samesex marriage. I cant imagine that that would be, that we would take any other position while this president is in office and certainly as long as i am attorney general or anybody who is my successor. 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