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To strike the necks of your people. reporter: a voice we now think belongs to a 26-year-old from west london nameded mohammed enwasi. jihadi john s value as a top isis figure has grown. his chief value is being the west boogeyman and isis man on the ground who tells it like it is and does terrible things to his victims. he s out of central casting for isis. isis has a flare for the dramatic. they re very good at social media, film production and figuring out in terms of narrative what is it that will scare people. reporter: his mask british accent, motion with the knife, the fact that he may have beheaded hostages on camera not only shocks western viewers but emboldens other isis viewers. the freaky thing about jihadi john is he looks like he likes that job. so for isis it s a way of desensitizing everybody who is within isis to the fact that is ....
Finally, jihadi john is revealed. he s the front man for unspeakably horrific isis beheading videos face covered, dressed in black. he holds a knife next to kneeling hostages taunting the entire world in perfect english with a british accent. now, u.s. officials confirmed that jihadi john is a kuwaiti born londoner named mohammad emwazi. we are learning more about his background and why the white house now sees him as a top target. that comes as shocking new video shows isis thugs ransacking an iraqi museum taking sledge hammers and jackhammers to priceless antiquities they called false idols and gods. our correspondents and analysts are all standing by. let s begin with our chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto, who has the very latest. we are learning now that u.s. lawmakers have been briefed on suspected americans in isis. ....
To his victims. he is out of central casting for isis. isis has a flair for the dramatic. they are very good not only at social media but also film production and also figuring out in terms of narrative what is it that will scare people. reporter: his mask british accent distinctive motion with a knife, the fact that he may have beheaded hostages on camera not only shock western viewers but emboldened isis militants. the freaky thing about jihadi john he kind of looks like he likes that job. for isis it s just a way of continuously desensitizing everyone who is within isis to the fact that that is business as normal. reporter: u.s. intelligence and law enforcement officials tell cnn jihadi john is prized as a westerner within isis because he helps recruitment. the message is to westerners if you come to isis you can be important, not just that you can be part of the crowd. reporter: he sprang into america s conscience with the video showing james foley s murder. it was soon ....
British girls last week showing how broad the appeal is of isis today. you now have 72 hours. reporter: the voice of some of isis brute talal videos. with a british accent. our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people. reporter: u.k. officials have identified jihadi john as mohammed emwazi a 26-year-old british national born in kuwait but raised in london. today the white house said jihadi john is a top terror target. the mind the president, he ranks highly on the list. that individual responsibility to the murder of innocent individuals. reporter: isis broad appeal from a well-off family earning a college degree in technology ....
Rescue came from these interviews by the fbi and at the time they also thought that if they carried out this rescue they might also be able to nab emwazi which is something we did not know. what about this other presumed westerner who was featured in that isis video purportedly showing the beheadings the execution of those 21 egyptian christians in libya? i assume u.s. officials, others are trying to track him? he spoke seemingly with almost an american accent. reporter: right. exactly. that s exactly what alarmed the fbi. they have opened an investigation now because they want to know whether or not, again, the operating assumption that they have is that this accent appears to be western. they think that perhaps that person might have spent time in north america, just again, listening to the accent. they don t know for sure whether that person spent any time here in the united states but this is something that they are now digging into and they are hoping ....