Its the start of a military revolution. Now its looking at me. Machines operating on their own. It recognized you instantly. Using Artificial Intelligence to make decisions faster than humans, and raising questions the pentagon is only beginning to grapple with. So, if the machines better, why not let it make the decision . This goes to the ethics of the question of whether or not you allow a machine to take a human life without the intervention of a human. I would say at this point, i am certain. Certain . Yeah. Thats a rare thing to say, for a prediction for a scientist, and im willing to say it. You do know how mindboggling this sounds . I mean, a new planet hasnt been discovered for 170 years. I believe you think it looks like this animation over my shoulder here . We think that its somewhere between ten and 20 times more massive than the earth. Im steve kroft. Im leslie stahl. Im bill whitaker. Im david martin. Im scott pelley. Those stories, tonight on 60 minutes. 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Bristolmyers squibb thanks the patients, nurses, and physicians involved in opdivo clinical trials. Stahl in the long, bloody history of terrorism, few acts of violence have been more savage or shocking than those carried out by isis, including the beheadings of Young American hostages in 2014. The videos went viral and catapulted isis onto the world stage. Americans, art and shirley sotloff, the murder of their 31 yearold son steven was shattering because of the brutality of his execution, and because they think he couldve been saved if not for what even the white house now admits was its own ineffectiveness in dealing with the crisis. But what really sealed their sons fate, the sotloffs believe, is the governments policy against paying ransom. Steven sotloff i am Steven Joel Sotloff. Im sure you know exactly who i am by now and why i am appearing before you. Stahl Steven Joel Sotloff was beheaded by isis. His execution, on september 2, 2014, was seen around the world on a video. Did you ever watch it . Art sotloff i have viewed stevens body with his head on his chest. Shirley sotloff i had to see that because i needed to be sure that that was him. Stahl steven was born and raised in miami, attended college in israel and became a freelance journalist, reporting from war zones where information was scarce, like yemen, benghazi, libya and syria, where he went in the summer of 2013. Just before he crossed into aleppo, he called his dad. Art sotloff he contacted me and told me not to worry and. But, if i dont hear from him within four days, that i should get in touch with one of his colleagues. Stahl ooh, thats ominous. He didnt hear from his son, not just for four days; it was four excruciating months. Then, finally, they got a ransom letter with demands for the government to free all the muslims in u. S. Custody, or. Shirley sotloff then, there is a last option 100 Million Euros will secure stevens release. Stahl which is Something Like 137. Art sotloff 137 million. Stahl what was your reaction . Shirley sotloff the reaction was, how the hell are we going to get this money together . Stahl they thought the u. S. Government would help them, but they were bewildered and then infuriated when they say they met a stone wall the u. S. Policy forbidding the paying of ransom. Lisa monaco its some of the hardest work that ive done. Stahl lisa monaco, assistant to president obama for counterterrorism, oversaw the hostage crisis. Monaco these are horrible choices. On the one hand, if you dont pay a ransom, you are putting an innocent life at risk. On the other hand, if you do, youre fueling the very activity thats put them at risk in the first place. Stahl did you feel ever that the policy might be wrong . Monaco the policy, thats been a decadesold policy of not paying ransom. I think is the right policy. Stahl so, you didnt question that. Monaco we didnt. We believed that that was important to maintain. Stahl but with the exception of the countries do pay ransom without publicly admitting it. Steven was held with 22 other hostages, including the three americans james foley, peter kassig and Kayla Mueller who were all killed. Once the european governments paid ransom, isis released their citizens, one of whom smuggled out this letter from steven. Art sotloff he was speaking how he cant stand seeing all the captives leave from all different countries. How could the United States just stand by and not do anything . Stahl as the european hostages came out and spoke of mock executions and waterboardings, the sotloffs decided they would try to raise at least some of the money themselves. But then, they and the other u. S. Families attended a meeting in washington with officials on the National Security council. Art sotloff all of us were saying, well, why cant we try to save our kids . And they said, because its against the law. We do not negotiate with terrorists. Stahl did they say you would be prosecuted . Art sotloff they said, you could be prosecuted, and also your donors could be prosecuted. Stahl so, if i gave you money, i could be prosecuted . Shirley sotloff yes. Art sotloff correct. Stahl did anybody say, are you kidding me . Art sotloff yes, they did. Yes, they did. Stahl so, it was a little bit contentious. Art sotloff oh, yeah. We kind of verbally fought back. Stahl they were threatened that they could be prosecuted. Is that true . Monaco so, whats true is that some families felt threatened, and that was unacceptable. And that should never have happened. Stahl are you suggesting they may not have been threatened . Monaco no. What im suggesting is, i wasnt present when any threats were made. But what matters, lesley, is that these families felt that way as they were going through the most horrific time they will ever encounter. Stahl but was that the policy . Was that true . Could someone who contributed to pay ransom also be prosecuted . Monaco so, whats true is that the Justice Department has never prosecuted a family, or friends of a family that has paid a ransom. Stahl but was it the policy . Monaco well, whats. The. The policy is, the United States government will not pay ransoms or make concessions to terrorist hostage takers. Stahl that policy is based in part on a presumption that paying ransom invites more hostagetaking, but that is refuted by a new study that examined the case of every known western hostage taken since 9 11. It was coauthored by peter bergen, a counterterrorism expert, for the nonpartisan new america foundation. Peter bergen they dont know necessarily youre american when they take you. Its sort of a target of opportunity. So, some countries are known to pay ransom the french, the germans, the spanish. Stahl even though they dont admit it. Bergen they dont admit it, but they do. Their citizens have much Better Outcomes than americans. Americans are huge outliers here. Youre twice as likely to have a negative outcome compared to every other western hostage. Stahl you say negative outcome, you mean murdered. Bergen murdered, die in captivity or just remain in captivity. Stahl 14 of the european hostages held with steven made it home. Those from countries that dont pay ransom didnt; four americans and two brits died. I keep playing in my own head this horrible situation where the american hostages watched the other ones be set free, and i wonder if it wouldnt have been better if. If our government did what the european governments did, which was pay ransom but then deny it, in order to save their citizens. Why couldnt we have done that . Monaco wed still be fueling their terror activity. Whether its hostagetaking or whether its terrorist plots, to kill americans here in the homeland or elsewhere, is not activity that the United States government should be in the business of funding. Stahl what do you say to critics of the policy of not paying ransom . That the beheadings of the americans ended up having more value to isis than any money would have been. Thats really what put them on the international map. These beheading videos were a gold mine for isis. Do you. Do you see it that way . Monaco i dont, and i think its giving brutal, murderous thugs too much credit. Stahl what about the argument that if you pay ransom, youre just encouraging them to kidnap more . Also, that the money is going to go toward terrorism . And so, whats the comeback to that . Its a hard thing. Art sotloff going back to what president obama said to us in person, that he would do anything in his power to save his children if he was in the same situation. And i say that he should put himself in the same situation. And i think that the government has a responsibility to protect its citizens in whatever way that they can. Stahl what do you say when you hear people argue that steven knew he was putting his life at risk by going into syria at that point and, you know, kind of, the burdens on him. Art sotloff steven was driven by truth, that he had to report the truth. He saw that there wasnt information coming out of these areas, and thats really what drove him. Stahl in the summer of 2014, nearly a year after steven was abducted, president obama ordered a military operation to rescue the hostages. Monaco this involved a number of. A large number of military Service Members and special operators, who. Stahl putting their lives on the line. Monaco putting their lives on the line, going into the heart of isil territory in syria. And as we were monitoring the operation, word came back, some very devastating words its a dry hole, which meant that they werent there. Jihadi john this is james wright foley. Stahl about seven weeks later, james foley became the first of three american hostages beheaded. Steven appears at the end of the video. Jihadi john the life of this american citizen, obama, depends on your next decision. Stahl the sotloffs then received an audio message that sounds like steven was forced to record, designed to pressure the u. S. Government. It was given them by the f. B. I. Art sotloff this is always tough for me because its actually his voice, and it just makes me feel like hes still in the room with us. Steven sotloff to mom, i do not have much time and will probably not get this opportunity again, so i would like to get straight to the point. My life depends on obamas next decision. Mom, please dont let obama kill me. Mom, you can still save my life, just like the families of my previous cellmates whom im sure youve met. Fight for me, i love you. Shirley sotloff powerful. Art sotloff i got to blow my nose. Im sorry. If i could excuse myself . Stahl its okay. Its. Its cruel. Shirley sotloff very. I dont know what they wanted us to do. Stahl and always saying mom like that. Shirley sotloff mom. Stahl mom, mom. Shirley sotloff yeah. Stahl they learned of stevens death a few days after that. Art sotloff and hes in a much better place. Shirley sotloff we know hes in a bette art sotloff and, you know, he isnt suffering anymore. Stahl a couple of months later, they met with president obama. Art sotloff i asked the president , i said, how did you feel when my son was being held up by his neck and they were saying that this message is for you, president obama; stevens life depends on your next decision . How do you feel about that . And he looked down, and he really couldnt answer the question. I guess its a question that shocked him because, it shocked me that i even asked him that. Stahl how do you feel now about what happened . Maybe your role with the families whose kids were beheaded. Monaco i feel like, in many respects, we did not do right by these families, that we failed them. Stahl you feel you. You failed the families . Monaco we have americans who were brutally killed. Stahl after the beheadings, she put together a task force review how the government handles hostagetaking, that included a meeting with the families. Monaco it was a lot of raw emotion and a lot of frustration and grief. Stahl anger at you . Monaco anger at us, anger at the loss of their loved ones, anger at the government. Stahl one of the task forces conclusions was that the various Government Agencies working on hostages were not coordinating with each other, which led to the creation of this new unit. Have we seen any claims of responsibility . Not yet. Stahl led by the f. B. I. , it brings together all the key agencies that work on hostages including the c. I. A. , defense and state departments in one place to work side by side, 24 7. They share intelligence and keep the families informed. Any results . No, sir. Not yet. Stahl howe t wasnt even reviewed, though the Justice Department, in this public document, all but promised not to prosecute a family or their friends who do pay ransom to terrorists. Is it a good policy now . Are you happy with the way it has turned out . Art sotloff its a better policy than what it was. I mean, now it gives at least people the opportunity to try to save their Family Members. Stahl uhhuh. Art sotloff but i think its far from really solving the problem, because there is still money that has to be raised and paid, and the average family just cant do that. Stahl and you think our government should. Art sotloff absolutely. Shirley sotloff its a human life. How do you let an american go like that, just let them be killed and murdered . Every human is valuable. Everybody has a family, and they want them to come home. Stahl the sotloffs have started a foundation in stevens memory called two lives that, among other things, funds Safety Training for freelance journalists traveling to war zones. Today, there are still dozens of americans being held hostage. In 12 days, donald trump will have to decide on the best strategy for getting them home. L i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating whats within me with onceweekly trulicity. Trulicity is not insulin. It helps activate my body to do what its supposed to do release its own insulin. Trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. I take it once a week, and it works 24 7. And i may even lose a little weight. Trulicity is a onceweekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. Trulicity is not insulin. 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Now, a new generation of drones is coming, only this time, t are autonomous able to operate on their own without humans controlling them from somewhere with a joystick. Some autonomous machines are run by Artificial Intelligence which allows them to learn, Getting Better each time. Its early in the revolution and no one knows exactly where it is headed, but the potential exists for all missions considered too dangerous or complex for humans, to be turned over to autonomous machines that can make decisions faster and go in harms way without any fear. Think of it as the coming swarm, and if that sounds like the title of a scifi miniseries, well, stay tuned. As were about to show you, its already a military reality. This