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New Day Saturday

British Jets over Iraq, Ready to Strike; Chelsea Clinton has Baby Girl; HIV Drug Used to Treat Ebola in Liberia; U.S. Destroys Its Own Equipment; FBI Investigates Beheading In Oklahoma; ISIS Fights Kurds For Syrian City; Police: Ambush On Troopers Planned For Years; Suspect In Missing Student Case Back In Virginia

Aired September 27, 2014 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Grab your coffee and gear up, there is so much to discuss and we're glad to do it with you. I'm Christi Paul.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Joe Johns, in for Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 out West.

PAUL: We want to start with this beheading on American soil. You can imagine that has really instilled fear of an ISIS copy cat attack. The FBI is investigating whether this man, it's Alton Nolen, and whether he may be linked to radical extremism after he beheaded a co- worker near Oklahoma City.

JOHNS: Nolen was fired right before the rampage. Witnesses say he had been trying to convert colleagues to Islam.

PAUL: An Oklahoma highway trooper, though, is speaking out now about her run-in with Nolen four years ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. BETSY RANDOLPH, OKLAHOMA HIGHWAY PATROL: In a split second he exploded out of the car, hit me in the chest and pushed me back. I lifted my hand up thinking my finger was gone. It hurt so bad. My fingers had gotten tied up in the chain. I wish I had killed him, you know. I never -- I was never afraid of him or I would have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: CNN national reporter, Nick Valencia, is here and that is really a pretty remarkable statement coming from a trooper.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You never hear a law enforcement official say that. The full story of what happened in this incident is yet to be told. We know the suspect was shot. He was sedated for a while. So police have yet to interview him as far as we know.

Here's what we do know about the attack. It happened shortly after the suspect was fired from his job and that had everything to do with how he was interacting with co-workers. Take a listen to the lead detective on this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JEREMY LEWIS, MOORE, OKLAHOMA POLICE: He had just tried to convert fellow employees into Islam and then it gets into more detailed things that obviously are under investigation and are part of the reason why the FBI is involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The suspect is in stable condition. We expect that interview to happen later. We know that the FBI is looking into the social media footprint of the suspect. Now some think that this had ties to Islamic extremism.

I spoke earlier to the members of the interfaith community this morning in Oklahoma, a strong presence there because of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado last year and other disasters that the community has dealt with in the past.

They are a little bit more reluctant to embrace this Muslim angle that this had anything to do with Islamic extremism. The way they categorized it was that this is a workplace violence incident and that's how they are treating it and that's how they are trying to heal through it.

PAUL: I think the beheading is what has people -- because of everything in the news lately. Look, we do want to point out a pretty heroic guy in all of this as well.

VALENCIA: Yes, Mark Vaughan, he is the CEO and Martin Savidge did a wonderful report on him, focusing on him, and that's really what the community there wants to talk about this hero.

He is also a reserve deputy for the Oklahoma Sheriff's Department and he was armed at the time of this attack, and he's the guy that really saved so many other lives.

People I have spoken to there are convinced that the suspect would have continued with this rampage had he not been stopped. A grisly attack and that community has gone through so much. More questions that we need to answer going forward.

We'll wait to see what the police come up with this interview after the suspect is in more stable condition and able to talk.

PAUL: Able to talk, right.

JOHNS: Really shocking after hearing so much about beheading, internationally, surface here in any form in the United States.

PAUL: Be talking about it here. Nick, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

JOHNS: Now to Syria where an intense battle has been under way for a strategic Syrian city within ear shot of the Turkish border.

PAUL: Here's what we know this hour. Residents of the embattled Syrian city, Kobani, say militants are less than a mile and a half away. Kurdish fighters are running low on ammunition and weapons.

JOHNS: This as there have been new airstrikes overnight in Syria and Iraq. U.S. fighter jets have been searching out and striking so called targets of opportunity.

PAUL: Warplanes we know will soon be coming from Britain, Belgium and Denmark to help in Iraq. CNN's international correspondent, Arwa Damon, joining us now. She's near the Turkish/Syrian border with that battle between ISIS militants and Syrian Kurds has been going on.

We saw those just remarkable pictures yesterday. Arwa, first and foremost, what is the situation like there right now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Kurdish fighting force has managed to push the ISIS fighters further back away from Kobani. And right now, the battle is concentrated within the hill behind us, but also these three villages right below inside Syria, those villages are controlled by ISIS.

Earlier you could see some ISIS, presumably vehicles going back and forth, individuals on motorcycles on the hilltops, it's so far we can't make it out. But ISIS fighters on one hilltop, Kurdish fighters on the other.

This is one of the key front lines around the town of Kobani that is basically been under siege for over a week now. ISIS moving into these areas, last Friday, taking over dozens of small villages like the ones behind us right now and encircling Kobani.

Since then people from Kobani in fact, Kurds, whether they are Syrian or Turkish Kurds, begging the international community, the coalition to do something to break this siege.

Because even though you can hear sporadic gun fire still, even though so far the Kurdish fighting force has managed to keep them outside of the town of Kobani itself, they don't know how long they will be able to hold on to this very vital area.

If in fact ISIS is able to capture this area that means that the terrorist organization would have despite the U.S. airstrikes gained control over a significant portion of north western Syria.

And while this is going on, on the Turkish side we have been hearing numerous reports about Turkish Kurds going across trying to beef up the predominantly Syrian Kurdish fighting force across the border.

Also a lot of people gathering around watching what is the taking place, cheering whenever the Kurds are able to push forward.

JOHNS: Arwa, Joe Johns here. I know I have been seeing on Twitter many messages, people calling for airstrikes to come in and help those people on the border. Are the Kurdish fighters running out of ammunition? Are they outgunned, basically?

DAMON: They are not necessarily running out of ammunition at this stage, but one has to put it in these terms. What they are fighting with, small arms fire. They have a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on the back of a vehicle.

They have some artillery, mortars, but the ISIS fighters have we're told is things likes tanks, American-made tanks, that they got their hands on when they took over huge swaths of Northern Iraq earlier this summer.

So they are outgunned when it comes to the sophistication of the military equipment that they have at their disposal. There have been numerous cries, people we've been speaking to failing to understand how it is that the coalition that says that it's here to try to save the Syrian population from ISIS, is flying.

And yet failing to strike at these various ISIS targets and break the siege of Kobani. That being said since the early hours this morning we have been hearing aircraft overhead. But pretty high up and it did seem to be aircraft running more surveillance missions than anything else.

There have been various reports perhaps of targets being hit around this area, but nothing that we can confirm at this stage. As we can tell from the battlefield layout behind us, this is vast terrain. People say that should those jets strike here, the risk of civilian casualties is fairly low.

That's why they feel confident in asking for this kind of support because they say the vast majority of civilians cleared out of these villages when ISIS first advanced. That happening last Friday causing an exodus of around 200,000, mostly Syrian Kurds.

What we're talking about here is not just a refugee crisis intensifying, it's the lives of those people who are in Kobani currently under siege.

JOHNS: Arwa, be careful. Thanks, Arwa Damon reporting from the Syrian border with Turkey.

PAUL: CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona with us now. Colonel, thank you so much. I know that you were just listening to her report here. How important is it for airstrikes to help secure Kobani?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Airstrikes would be very important. The problem is getting the airstrikes in there effectively. What we have is a situation on the ground where air could be effective, but air can only be effective if it's guided.

And there's no one there to control these airstrikes. We could go in and put a lot of bombs where we think the ISIS fighters are, the problem is they are mixed in with the civilian population as she pointed out, they are in these villages.

If you try and put bombs on there without someone on the ground designating the targets we're going to kill a lot of people and we probably won't achieve the objective. I know it sounds easy, but it's very difficult to do this effectively. PAUL: It sounds so desperate there. She just mentioned the 200,000 Syrian that have crossed into Turkey. Will that influence do you think, the refugee crisis now, will that influence Turkey to get involved in some way here because they haven't yet.

FRANCONA: Yes. Well, one would hope so because Turkey would be an invaluable addition to the coalition. Turkey has a really serious military and they've got capabilities that can be brought to bear right there on the border where it's needed.

And Turkish Air Force is very effective and the Turkish air bases would be great if the coalition could use them. So Turkey could be a real valuable asset here, but as of yet they have declined. They have got a huge crisis on their hands with these refugees flooding across the border.

But I don't know if that's going to tip the balance. The Turks will become involved when the Turks believe that ISIS threatens them. And I think ISIS realizes that going across into Turkey triggers a reaction that they really don't want. So I think we're going to see the status quo on the border between ISIS and the Turks right now.

PAUL: How vulnerable and how pivotal is it if ISIS takes that city, Kobani?

FRANCONA: Kobani is a primarily Kurdish city, some Syrians there. This area is a border area. It's one of the primary border crossings and it's how a lot of these people get to and from. ISIS wants to control that border. They are trying to cut off that border.

We're talking yesterday to Phil Black when he was on the border there. He said that the ISIS fighters are not really stopping the refugees from departing. They are more interested in seizing the terrain. They want to incorporate that into the area that they control and they regard that as their border.

PAUL: All righty, Colonel Rick Francona, always appreciate getting your perspective on this. Thank you so much for taking the time this morning.

FRANCONA: Sure.

JOHNS: Air travelers are still rebooking after a fire at an air traffic control center grounded thousands of flights in Chicago. What police say the man accused of setting the fire posted on Facebook just before the turmoil began?

PAUL: And there is a new Clinton on the planet this morning. We're going to catch up with some baby news in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We have this just in to CNN. British Royal Air Force Tornados, we are getting word now flying over Iraq. They are ready to be used in an attack role and when appropriate targets are identified obviously they are going to do that. At this point, the latest we are hearing is that they are over Iraq, no strikes from them just yet.

JOHNS: Moving very quickly after that parliament vote over Iraq not Syria.

PAUL: Not Syria. We should point that out. Definitive distinction there. Let's talk about your morning read. We have a lot of news to get in. Starting with baby news.

JOHNS: Chelsea Clinton is now a mom. The former first daughter has given birth to a baby girl. She tweeted, "Mark and I are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky." We'll have more on the Hillary Clinton's role as a grandmother coming up in this hour.

In less than an hour, a Florida jury is set to hear more testimony in the retrial of Michael Dunn. Dunn is accused of killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis, almost two years ago during a heated argument over loud music at a gas station.

In February, a jury found Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder, but jurors deadlocked on a first-degree murder charge. So, prosecutors are trying Dunn again.

PAUL: The FBI has charged an FAA contractor in connection with a fire yesterday that has snarled flights across the country, even this morning. The FBI says 36-year-old Brian Howard sent a Facebook message to a relative before that fire.

And it read, quote, "Take a hard look in the mirror. I have and this is why I'm about to take out DAU and my life. So, I'm going to smoke this blunt and move on. Take care everyone," unquote.

JOHNS: Investigators say a suspected cop killer in Pennsylvania planned his attack for years. Eric Frein is still on the run this morning two weeks after an attack that left state trooper dead, another injured.

PAUL: Alexandra Field is joining us now live from Monroe County, Pennsylvania. So Alexandra, do we know when the last sighting of Frein was because we know that there had been several and what are police saying about this planned attack that they have discovered?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There have been a number of different sightings and as we have these that's when you see law enforcement move their units and try and zero in on Eric Matthew Frein.

What we know at this point from police is that the most recent sighting was about two, maybe three days ago at this point. They are doing a parallel investigation while they search for Frein they are also looking a lot into his history and his background.

Here's what they uncovered. They now determined that they believe he was planning for a confrontation with police officers for years and that evidence comes from the hard drive of a computer a search of that has turned up a couple of things. It shows that Frein had spent a great deal of time researching things likes police manhunts, survival skills, law enforcement technologies, they are also telling us that as they delve into Frein's background, they are learning that he had experimented with making homemade explosives.

So that is something that officers are being told to be aware of as they head into the woods looking for the possibility of booby traps and trying to conduct this search aggressively at the same time they know that in this case they really have to approach with caution here -- Christi and Joe.

PAUL: I was going to say, Alexandra, I know that they were watching for booby traps, is there anything else that they've learned that is going to have to modify or readjust how they look for him?

FIELD: You know, there are about 1,000 law enforcement officers, Christi, who have been involved with all of this. Not only are they trying to look for any physical sightings of the suspect, but they are also looking for any signs they can find out here that he is still around.

So we know that in the last two weeks they've recovered a few of his items, which they believe he left behind. We're also hearing that they have been looking at some of the abandoned and empty shelters and homes in this area and have seen evidence that some of these structures have been tampered with.

Right now police are telling us they believe that the suspect is playing some kind of game, certainly, Christi, Joe, they want to bring it to an end here.

JOHNS: A lot of information. Thank you so much for that, Alexandra.

PAUL: OK, so for two weeks police in Charlottesville, Virginia have been sifting through tips looking for evidence in the disappearance of missing UVA student, Hannah Graham. Police may be a step closer to cracking that case this morning. We'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Think about this. More than 2,400 tips and there is still no sign.

JOHNS: Unbelievable.

PAUL: Hannah Graham.

JOHNS: Unbelievable. This morning, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham at UVA is waking up in a Virginia jail after being processed overnight.

PAUL: CNN's Jean Casarez is there on the ground in Charlottesville, Virginia. So, that's what was happening while we were sleeping overnight. He was being moved. Do we know, Jean, if he is talking much to police? JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know at all if he's talking much. I mean, the only words we really heard him say when he first came before a judge in Galveston, Texas he talked about that they had taken all of his clothes.

So you could see that what he had on his mind was not what law enforcement has on their mind, possibly, but he did spend the night, his first night back here in Charlottesville. I do understand he is in segregation, which is for his safety and for the safety of the other inmates.

Also they allowed two free phone calls, when you get booked in the jail and he passed on that. He didn't want to call anyone. I think this community says OK, he's in here, we better focus on Hannah right now.

And so emergency dispatch operators, they are even bringing more in from Fairfax County, Virginia, today to take calls from the tip line. They want anybody to call that saw anything, that saw Hannah, they are still asking for that because there were so many people out and about in the community that night.

And Temple Restaurant is something that was the last stop, at least for Jesse, and police believe that he then met Hannah and they walked away. But I spoke with the owner of Temple Restaurant. He said that he was there and he immediately looked at Jesse because he wasn't dressed like the other people were.

But he never saw Hannah in there, just Jesse. He came two different times. He acted erratic, very excited, very, very just hyper. And a local radio commentator told CNN the very same thing, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COY BAREFOOT, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: I spoke with people who were partying with Mr. Matthew that night. I spoke with people who were in Temple, and they described his behavior as disturbing, erratic, aggressive.

He was constantly tracking these women around the bar, putting his arm around them, touching their hair, their back, their legs. One of the young women with whom I spoke told me she finally had to tell him keep your f-ing hands off me. That took place about an hour before he ran into Hannah here on the downtown mall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, yesterday at the emergency dispatch center when they were taking all of those tip line calls, you're not going to believe who walked in. Hannah's parents walked in.

And I'm told the room just came to a solemn halt and Hannah's mother spoke to all of the 911 dispatch operators to thank them, that they were overwhelmed that they were trying to help find her daughter by taking these tips from people around the community. And so Christi, it was really a moment that I guess everyone got very emotional and when we were there yesterday, cupcakes and cookies were delivered. And it was from Hannah's parents once again to say we can't believe that you care so much about finding our daughter.

JOHNS: It's unbelievable. Jean, normally in a case like this, you have information that you can glean from affidavits, in support of a search warrant, or in support of an arrest warrant. Have you been getting those documents? And have they been giving you any clues about what authorities think in this case?

CASAREZ: We have gotten none of those documents, Joe, because as an attorney you know they are sealed many times. In this high profile case everything has been sealed. When you ask well, what was the probable cause that you had to arrest him for abduction, which is the kidnapping, that's what he is arrested for at this point.

They say that credible evidence that they have from the car and the apartment, led to that arrest. The forensics weren't in so what was the credible evidence in the car? Could be tangible items, right, that were found in the car.

Yet we heard at the police press conference they haven't found her cell phone. They haven't found her clothes at all. But that doesn't mean there aren't other personal effects they may have found in the vehicle or the apartment.

PAUL: Very good point. Jean Casarez in Charlottesville, Virginia there, thank you so much for letting us know what's happening this hour.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

JOHNS: U.S. warplanes have unleashed a new round of airstrikes on ISIS overnight.

CASAREZ: And word coming in to CNN that British fighter jets are now in the skies above Iraq. We'll tell you more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: British jet fighters right now are flying over Iraq and ready to attack ISIS. This is following yesterday's vote by parliament of course to join the U.S.-led coalition. That did not take long.

JOHNS: That's right meantime the U.S. have launched new strikes in Syria with many warplanes taking off from a carrier in the Persian Gulf. Our Becky Anderson was on board. Here's what it was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's around 3:00 in the afternoon here on the aircraft carrier the "USS George H.W. Bush." What you are witnessing are the F18 Hornets and Super Hornets returning from either training or arms missions. It's incredibly noisy. It's quite something. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: For more on the ISIS air strikes let's bring in Catherine Zimmerman, a U.S. terror analyst and senior analyst at American Enterprise Institute and Douglas Ollivant senior national security fellow with the New America Foundation. So Catherine, are these air strikes enough to destroy ISIS in Iraq?

CATHERINE ZIMMERMAN, SENIOR ANALYST AT AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: No. And I think that we've seen even the President make it very clear that there needs to be ground troops fighting ISIS in Iraq and the composition of these troops is where there is disagreement, whether it's just going to be Iraqi, regional, or even some are pushing for American boots.

PAUL: All right I want to point out that what you're looking at is a brand new video that we're just getting in here as we talk about those British jets over Iraq right now.

Douglas, so I'm wondering how long, I mean if they are flying over Iraq now, do you think they are doing surveillance, they're getting -- or do they already have that and they are up for an actual mission at this point?

DOUGLAS OLLIVANT, SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY FELLOW WITH THE NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: Well it's hard to say. I'm not in the you know the chaos, the air operations center looking at what's happening on and that tasking these planes to do what they are doing.

But I think in general what we're doing and what we're seeing in Iraq right now is still the shaping phase as we call it. We're not into a decisive operation yet to push ISIS out of Iraq. We still have a U.S. division headquarters, and again not -- not boots on the ground but about 150, 250 soldiers led by U.S. Major General who will provide command and control for how we're going to advise and assist the Iraqi forces, both the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga as well.

Once we do start to see a major operation -- a major ground operation to push the Islamic state out of Iraq, we're not there yet. We are still in the opening phases of this conflict.

JOHNS: Which sort of begs the question, we've been seeing both in Syria as well as Iraq, this attempt to hit targets of opportunity. That would be Armored Personnel Carriers, tanks, what have you. How significant is that in the short-term, or is this -- are all they doing basically is flying around up there and making their presence known and making it harder for ISIS to move around, moving assets and so on.

OLLIVANT: I'm not sure what you're coming to with that, but having the aircraft up in the air is important. At the very least as you say, it's keeping the Islamic state from operating freely. You know they are no longer able to get in a convoy of 100 vehicles with their black legs flying like we saw a couple of months ago. If they do that they'll be destroyed in detail by the U.S., British, other aircraft. Now, as to whether they are actually able to find a target of

opportunity or not, I mean this is the downside of not having controllers on the ground. Air power can still help but it's not as potent without trained observers with radios talking to the pilots, telling them exactly where the friendly troops are and where the hostile troops are and the situation like we're seeing currently, where troops are intermingled and they are hiding among the civilian population, it's very difficult to use air power effectively in those circumstances.

PAUL: You know Douglas not only that, but we have this situation this week where 100-plus Iraqis were killed by ISIS.

OLLIVANT: Right.

PAUL: A base was seized because as we understand that the vehicles were driving up but they were vehicles from the Iraqis so they didn't realize that they were actually ISIS fighters. How effective, Catherine, can the U.S. air campaign be if troops on the ground seem to be dare I say so ill prepared?

ZIMMERMAN: Well as I pointed out that we're looking at a situation where it's very hard to differentiate between enemy targets and friendly targets. And that's one of the benefits of having eyes on the ground. But I do think that we need to be very aware of what we're doing in Syria and how it's affecting the Syrian fight. We're looking at a situation where the U.S. is hitting targets that are -- we're deeming terrorists (inaudible) as al Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra in the north.

But that's allowing the Assad regime to consolidate some forces against the -- against the secular opposition the moderate opposition that the U.S. is supporting in southern Syria.

So we need to look at a strategy writ large when dealing with the Syrian problem.

JOHNS: Douglas we have a snippet of sound here about the U.S. strategy for ISIS. Listen to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: This isn't just about air strikes, air strikes can kill terrorists, but it's about a comprehensive approach to addressing the threat of ISIL. That's why taking on foreign fighters, cracking down on their financing, humanitarian assistance, delegitimizing ISIL, these are all components of this comprehensive strategy we're working on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Comprehensive strategy. But has the United States even settled on a political or economic strategy and if so, what is that?

OLLIVANT: Well I think our strategy has shifted to recognize that ISIL is our most potent threat in the region. You know I just pointed out I think for a long time we were so concerned about not aiding the Assad regime that not only we, but all of the neighbors in the region, really refused to do anything about the ISIL threat and let it fester.

And that's part of why, for example, Turkey has been openly -- not openly but clearly letting things happen for the Islamic state. Not cutting off their flow of foreign fighters, not cutting off their money, because they cared more about the overthrow of the Assad regime than they care about the Islamic state festering in this non-state based in Syria.

I think now that is starting to change and we are shifting our assessment of the threat to realize that the Islamic state is the premiere threat in the region. And while we're no fans of the Assad regime, the Assad regime is not planning to come attack Europe or the homeland any time soon. And that's a second tier problem.

PAUL: All right Catherine real quickly General Tony Zinni a former CentCom commander said recently you've got to get them out of Iraq, meaning ISIS. Not that they are going to take it but they can cause chaos in Baghdad.

So I want to ask you how imperative now that we've got British forces overhead there, how imperative is it to the stop ISIS before they surge on Baghdad?

ZIMMERMAN: It's very important. And I'm actually concerned that we're looking at a Baghdad that will blow up. We have Shia militia forces there, Iraqi security forces there and it will devolve into something that we saw earlier in 2005, 2006.

But I think that when you're looking at ISIS itself, simply going after ISIS in Iraq is not sufficient. The group doesn't recognize the border between Iraq and Syria and will be able to retreat back into Syria and remain a vigilant threat against the United States.

JOHNS: Really interesting discussion there. Catherine Zimmerman and Douglas Ollivant thanks to both of you.

ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.

OLLIVANT: Thanks so much.

Coming up, doctors on the front lines of Ebola find a way to help the sick using an unlikely form of treatment.

Plus Chelsea Clinton has given birth to a baby girl. We'll tell you how Hillary Clinton is reacting to becoming a grandmother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So glad to have your company here. I'm Christi Paul.

JOHNS: I'm Joe Johns.

Now, five things to know for your NEW DAY. Number one. U.S. fighter jets have been in the skies over Syria and Iraq searching out and taking aim at ISIS targets. Soon they may get help from the U.K. The British defense ministry says Royal Air Force tornados are now flying over Iraq and are ready to be used in an attack role if appropriate.

Number two, the FBI is trying to determine whether a man with ties to Islam carried out an ISIS copycat attack by beheading his ex co- worker. The gruesome rampage took place on Thursday after the suspect, Alton Nolen, was terminated from a job. According to witnesses Nolen had been trying to convert some of his colleagues to Islam.

PAUL: Number three, four college students are dead after a semi truck crashed into a bus in Oklahoma. The names of the victims are not being released until a little bit later this morning. But the bus belongs, we know, to North Central Texas College and was taking the women's softball team home after a game. Investigators say the semi swerved off the road, crossed the median, entered the southbound lane and that's when it slammed into that bus.

JOHNS: Number four, a CNN exclusive, Lebron James sits down with Rachel Nichols, host of "UNGUARDED" for his first extensive interview since his return to Cleveland. King James says he is ready for the new season, in fact, he has even slimmed down in an effort to be faster and lighter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: I lost a few pounds. I haven't been in this weight class. Right. I'm in the 250-ish range, you know. A lot lighter than I've been playing at in the last two years. But I feel good.

PAUL: Looks like he's been on one of those diets --

Number five, Hillary and Bill Clinton are grandparents this morning. Their daughter Chelsea tweeted out the good news to her followers there.

JOHNS: CNN executive political editor Mark Preston is following that story for us.

PAUL: So Mark, good morning to you. The Clintons, they have not been shy about saying they have been waiting for this moment.

JOHNS: Right. They are not using it but they haven't been shy.

MARK PRESTON, CNN EXEC. POLITICAL EDITOR: No doubt. I mean look, just like any grandparent, I'm sure you guys have felt the pressure -- I certainly have felt the pressure from my parents as well as my wife's mother as well before we had children, but look, that little girl that grew up in the national spotlight back in the 1990s, she has her own little girl now.

We learned last night just after midnight that Chelsea Clinton had a baby girl. She put this note out on Facebook and Twitter to announce the news. "Marc and I are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky." Now as you said, the Clintons haven't been shy about talking about this publicly. They are being very guarded right now, though, because they want to try to give this young family a little bit of space. But again, as you said, they have talked about it. And this is what Hillary Clinton had to say to our own Sanjay Gupta earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: My book tour over the summer I must have shaken 70,000 hands and probably more than half of them mentioned something about being a grandparent. And oftentimes it was sort of joking like it's so much better than being a parent. You know, if I had known how good it was I would have skipped the first part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: So there you have Hillary Clinton talking about it. First lady, senator, secretary of state, now a grandmother.

PAUL: Mark, I hope you don't get in trouble for calling out your mother-in-law on television there. Talking about how she bugged you about it. I know a lot of people who are probably looking at this and she is a very polarizing figure, people probably have their mind made up about Hillary Clinton politically. But is there any way that this could affect her decision to run?

PRESTON: Really, that's a great question because they have talked about it. She has actually started talking about it in political terms in speeches that she has given. You talk to the Clinton allies, Christi, they don't want to try to link this at all. They do want to try to separate it.

The fact of the matter is it's connected but to your point, people have already made up their mind about Hillary Clinton. We believe she is going to run for president. And look, this wasn't a surprise. We knew that this baby was coming. We should expect Hillary Clinton to announce her intentions about whether she's going to or not, by the end of the year. But it looks like she is going to run.

PAUL: All right. Well, all the best to the Clintons and new baby, Charlotte. Mark Preston, appreciate it so much coming to us from D.C. Thank you.

JOHNS: Next on NEW DAY, an HIV drug is being used to treat people infected with ebola in Liberia but does it work? CNN is on the front line.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough. Right now, everybody has the best of intentions but people are not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stop to this epidemic. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That epidemic being ebola, of course. President Obama there, speaking at the United Nations this week in New York urging the global community to commit to the fight against what seems to be a really prolific outbreak of this.

JOHNS: He went on to say quote, "It is something that connects everybody, all of the time." So far the U.S. has committed about a billion dollars to the fight and is sending 3,000 troops to Africa. Those forces will help build ebola treatment centers and train health care workers.

PAUL: Elizabeth Cohen travelled to Liberia. Wait until you see how this virus is being treated there.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're taking you inside an ebola isolation unit in rural Africa, a worker carrying our camera. Going deeper, still more sick patients -- children.

DR. GOBEE LOGAN, BOMI COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: A situation like this I have to use every brain cell to save some people's lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our central supply room.

COHEN: For Dr. Gobee Logon, desperate times call for desperate measures. While the world waits for a proven ebola drug he is experimenting with an HIV drug called lamivudine.

LOGAN: In order for everyone in the unit not to die I think I need to try this medication.

COHEN: This is as close as I can get to this ebola isolation unit and I want to introduce you to four young women. Elizabeth, Susan, Fatu and Masa. They came here with ebola but they were given the HIV drug and now they are doing well, they are able to walk around and they will be discharged soon.

So ladies tell me how -- how do you feel now?

Dr. Logan has tried the drug on 15 patients so far and remarkably only two have died. Across West Africa the outbreak is killing at a rate of 70 percent but in this group of patients, just 7 percent.

Is it possible that an effective treatment for ebola may have come from here, from your ebola treatment center in this rural area?

LOGAN: Yes. It's highly possible.

COHEN: We reach out to top scientists in the U.S., does the doctor's approach make sense? They say yes. Ebola and HIV cells are a lot alike but they want a lot more proof.

In the United States some doctors say no, don't use a drug until you had a study. You need a study first. What would you say to that?

LOGAN: Elizabeth, our people are dying and you are talking about studies. It's the matter of doing all that I can do as a doctor to save some people's lives.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Tubmanburg, Liberia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Gosh, what an incredible doctor doing what he has to do with what he's got and look what's happening. To learn more about how you can impact your world and fight against ebola, visit our Web site, CNN.com/impact. And thank you for doing so.

JOHNS: It was equipment meant to help the Iraqi military fight ISIS, but then it fell into the hands of the terror group. Now, the U.S. is using air strikes to destroy it. A look at the cost of war coming up next.

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PAUL: The U.S. is expanding its effort now to degrade and destroy ISIS by launching air strikes in Syria. In the process it's spending millions of dollars a day to destroy, get this, its own equipment. CNN Money's Christina Alessi, explains all of this to us. Good morning -- Christina.

CHRISTINA ALESSI, CNN MONEY: Well, Christi, as you mentioned this is equipment the U.S. gave or sold to Iraqi security forces in the war that ended in 2011. Vehicles like humvees and MRAP that ISIL eventually got its hands on. The Pentagon confirmed as much to CNN saying "When we have seen terrorists employing this equipment we sought to eliminate that threat."

So essentially now, we're sending $30,000 bombs to destroy humvees worth about a quarter of a million dollars each depending on what it's equipped with. I counted 41 in total since the attacks began in August. And we may eventually have to replace them, analysts say; that's if we want the Iraqi military to secure its own border.

But those are future costs. Right now the Pentagon says we're spending between 7.5 and $10 million per day. That number will ultimately go up. Remember, we ramped up the campaign this week by starting attacks in Syria, with 47 Tomahawk missiles. Those alone lost $1.5 million each.

Now in that mission we also sent 48 strike ready aircraft. That includes the F-22 raptor which cost about $62,000 an hour to fly. And experts say the munitions they carry can cost up to $30,000 each. But those figures are a drop in the bucket compared to the overall military budget. The Pentagon requested $500 billion next year -- Christi.

PAUL: Christina, thank you so much. For more on the cost of war visit money.com.

JOHNS: That's it for us. We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern.

PAUL: Yes, don't go anywhere though. "SMERCONISH" starts right now.