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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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U.S. official: Attack targets Al-Shabaab leader, but his fate is unknown
Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) - The U.S. military went into Somalia with one goal in mind: Kill Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of Al-Shabaab.
One day later, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said flatly, "We certainly believe that we hit what we were aiming at."
What he did not say is whether Godane is dead.
The United States is "assessing the effectiveness right now" of the attack launched hours earlier, Kirby said Tuesday, including who, if anyone, was killed.
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Hitting future ISIS targets will be much more complicated
(CNN) – If the U.S. decides to increase the number of targets across Iraq, it will face ground difficulties of taking on ISIS.
It's one thing to take out ISIS militants around Amerli, a farming hamlet of less than 20,000 people in the middle of nowhere, where U.S. airstrikes are extremely effective.
It's a different ball game in the strongholds like Mosul, Tikrit, and Fallujah where there are millions of people. It would fundamentally become an urban warfare.
CNN's Anna Coren reports.
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Analysis: ISIS execution video reveals U.S. airstrikes working
(CNN) – Militant group ISIS released a video Tuesday showing a masked terrorist beheading a second American, journalist Steven Sotloff.
The terrorist called his gruesome act retribution for U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
"When the adversary starts complaining and talking about how much pain we're inflicting on them, that's an indication they're in trouble. This is clearly an indication this is causing them a lot of pain," said CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA official Phil Mudd.
FULL POST
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GOP congressman: ISIS has declared war on the U.S.
(CNN) – ISIS released another gruesome video Tuesday, showing the beheading of a second American, journalist Steven Sotloff. The terrorist in the video speaks to President Obama, telling him, "Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people."
"The executioner specifically addressed his remarks to President Obama, who is the president of all of us, he's President of the United States. So this clearly is an attack upon the people of the United States of America," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
FULL POST
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Fmr. CIA operative: ISIS cells are here in the U.S., and they’re capable of striking
(CNN) – Militant group ISIS released another gruesome video, showing the beheading of a second American, journalist Steven Sotloff.
The terrorist group has gained strongholds in eastern Syria and northeastern Iraq, and, according to a former CIA operative, ISIS cells have already infiltrated the U.S.
"The people who collect tactical intelligence on the ground, day-to-day – and this isn't Washington – but people collecting this stuff say they're here, ISIS is here, they're capable of striking," said CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer.
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