[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And I do have a lot of news. Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.
[Costello:] Happening now in the NEWSROOM, terrorists targeted.
[Elise Labott, Cnn Foreign Affairs Reporter:] The leader of al-Shabaab, Ahmed Godane, and his deputies were holding a meeting of their top commanders.
[Costello:] Breaking overnight, a secret U.S. drone strike in Somalia, the Pentagon launching missiles and a mission. So why are we attacking an al Qaeda offshoot when ISIS is such a clear threat? Also, hacker hunt. Nude pictures stolen from celebrity phones, the FBI now on the case.
[Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Agents will be interviewing the alleged victims and will likely be in touch with Apple in an effort to find out who the hacker or hackers are.
[Costello:] The mystery man hacker reportedly called "Original Guy" on the run this morning. Also
[Unidentified Male:] They've got to go.
[Costello:] Wage war. A nationwide protest, civil disobedience, demanding to double their salary to 15 bucks an hour.
[Unidentified Female:] We don't want handouts. We don't want pity. We just want everyone to understand our reality.
[Costello:] Let's talk, live in the NEWSROOM. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. New this morning the U.S. military launches clandestine strikes and the target is thousands of miles from the hot spots that have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. A regional governor in southern Somalia says an apparent drone struck a small village held by the terrorist group al-Shabaab. That militant group linked to al Qaeda carried out the brazen dayside attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya last September, killing more than 60 people. You remember that. The U.S. military offensive comes just a day after al-Shabaab fighters disguised as government troops laid siege to a prison where dozens, possibly hundreds of their comrades are being held. Our global affairs correspondent Elise Labott joins us now from Washington. So, Elise, the president is taking heat for not taking decisive action in Ukraine and Syria, so why Somalia and why now?
[Labott:] Well, Carol, as officials say, you know, they're kind of sensitive to that saying look, we can walk and chew gum at the same time if you will, and they've been watching al-Shabaab for some time. As you just said they pose a growing threat to not just the region but the world as al-Shabaab is planning attacks outside the United States, outside Somalia, and senior U.S. officials are telling me listen, we had a target of opportunity that presented itself, this meeting of the leader of al-Shabaab, Ahmed Godane, and some of his top commanders. They were actually meeting in this rebel-held village where the strike took place to talk about this growing this offensive, how to fend off this offensive by the Somali military and the African Union and they were all meeting and this target of opportunity presented itself. And Carol, they don't present themselves that often so they're constantly watching. This is a continuing threat and they and they saw the target and they went after it.
[Costello:] All right. Elise Labott reporting live from Washington this morning. President Obama is not just facing critics on Capitol Hill, he's also taking heat from everyday Americans. A "USA Today"Pew Research Center poll shows widespread dissatisfaction with the president's handling of crises in the Ukraine and in Middle East. More than half of Americans feel the president is not tough enough on foreign policy and national security. It is the quandary much of the country remains divided over America's exact role in the world, the same poll shows 39 percent of Americans feel the United States does too much in helping to solve the world's problems. Thirty-one percent say the United States does too little. So let's head to the White House now and CNN's Michelle Kosinski. Michelle, today the president leaves for Europe to shore up alliances and meet with fellow members of the NATO military coalition. Tell us more.
[Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Right, Carol. And you know, NATO no longer has that identity crisis that everybody was talking about. Well, that was back before Russia suddenly effectively invaded Ukraine, and now there's talk about expanding NATO membership, and building a rapid response military force.
[Kosinski:] How is President Obama ending up in the sleepy Baltic capital of Estonia this afternoon? Just take a look at its neighbor, and Russia'unceasing actions down the road in Ukraine. And suddenly this added on meeting with leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is at the heart of what the NATO alliance is for, as the White House put it, to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defense. Now once again just as we commemorate the start of World War II, NATO matters. Ukraine is looking to join. NATO's secretary-general is proposing creating a rapid response military force ready for emergency defense in 48 hours, something the White House supports. This summit now will also look at what to do next about Russia, as Europe draws up new sanctions. Yet another crisis looms to be discussed by the West and that is ISIS. With thousands of foreign fighters, with Western passports currently fighting in Syria, Britain's prime minister now with Europe has vowed to act.
[David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] A firm security response with the military action to go after terrorists, international cooperation on intelligence or uncompromising action against terrorists at home.
[Kosinski:] President Obama at home, while airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq continue, had a bit of a rough, long weekend in the press following those words on Syria.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We don't have a strategy yet.
[Kosinski:] With some head-turning reaction from both parties.
[Sen. Ted Cruz , Texas:] The Russian bear is encountering the Obama kitty cat.
[Sen. Dianne Feinstein , California:] He's very cautious, maybe in this instance too cautious.
[Kosinski:] The president has made clear he is loath to use military force unless it is well thought out and will work, has repeatedly emphasized the need for a strong international coalition on both Russia and ISIS. Now this NATO summit has plenty on the table. Yes. Like it or not NATO has plenty to do now and among the goals of the summit will be assessing the effectives of the international response to both Russia and ISIS, and seeing what more can be done Carol.
[Costello:] All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House this morning. Checking some other top stories for you at seven minutes past the hour. Jury deliberations begin today in the trial of four former Blackwater guards who killed 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007. At issue is whether they were justified in opening fire. The guards say they acted in self-defense after coming under attack by militants but Iraqi witnesses say the guards fired without provocation. Police in Ferguson, Missouri, are starting to wear body cameras. Most of the cameras were donated by security companies following the shooting of that unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. Ferguson's police chief says body cameras could have made a difference in the investigation into Brown's death. Yesterday a group calling for Officer Wilson's dismissal blocked traffic briefly along Interstate 70 in Missouri. The traffic stoppage took place despite a request by Brown's family calling for a delay. A Delta flight was diverted overnight because of a fight over leg room. Call it recline rage. Seriously. Witnesses say an argument started when a woman who was knitting decided to recline her seat.
[Unidentified Male:] This woman who was sitting next to know knitting actually, just tried reclining her seat back. The woman behind her started screaming and swearing and then the flight attendant came over and that exacerbated what was going on, and then she demanded that the flight land.
[Costello:] OK, so if you're keeping track this marks the third time in eight days that a flight was diverted because of arguments over a few inches of leg space. Delta says they rerouted last night's flight out of an abundance of caution and they apologized for the inconvenience. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the FBI is working to figure out how hackers got access to nude photos of some of Hollywood's biggest stars. What investigators think happened and is your data safe? We'll talk about all of that next.