Today's Situation Room:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
New rounds of airstrikes in Mt. Sinjar
U.S. airstrikes targeted ISIS units and checkpoints around the Mount Sinjar area. CNN's Barbara Starr reports.
U.S. airstrikes push back ISIS
Intense airstrikes have slowed ISIS's advance, but Pentagon officials tell CNN's Barbara Starr it might not be enough.
"Heroic" mission rescues desperate Yazidis from ISIS
The Iraqi air force and fighters with the Kurdish peshmerga carried out a dramatic rescue mission Monday at Mount Sinjar, taking supplies to desperate Yazidis and bringing some on board to make it safely out.
A CNN crew was on the flight that took baby diapers, milk, water and food to the site where thousands of people have been driven by ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State.
CNN's Ivan Watson, who was on the chopper, described the mission as "heroic."
Teams hurled out bags and boxes of food from as high as 50 feet before approaching the ground. Once the chopper landed, some of the trapped families rushed the helicopter. Soon, numerous people - including babies and the elderly - were packed into the flight.
As it took off, evacuating the sobbing, hungry people, fighters on board had to open fire at the ground in order to make it away from ISIS.
"They flew in shooting; they flew out shooting," Watson reported.
"There was not a dry eye on the aircraft."
"The most effective and ruthless terrorist organization in the world"
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the group known as ISIS that now calls itself the Islamic State, is employing the most brutal tactics of any terror group. What is this unknown group that is now under fire from U.S. airstrikes?
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The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is the command center for breaking news, politics and extraordinary reports from around the world. Tune in weeknights from 5-7pm ET on CNN.
