More Canceled Flights in Chiago; Violent Weather at a Phoenix Airport; Manhunt in Missouri for Shooters of Two Police Officers
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top story right this hour. President Obama admits his team quote "underestimated the control ISIS had on Syria." You'll hear part of an interview that could have a lot of people talking tomorrow. Plus, canceled for a third day. More than 600 flights in and out of Chicago are grounded. Passengers are frustrated. The ripple effect is impacting travel across the U.S. And violent weather tears a section of roof right off the Phoenix airport. We'll give you a closer look at the damage. We begin with a manhunt underway in Missouri who for the persons who shot at two officers overnight. One in Ferguson, and the other in St. Louis. The Ferguson police officer was shot in the arm while on patrol, and in a separate incident just three hours later someone shot an off duty St. Louis police officer in a drive-by. He was hit. The incidents have both communities on edge. Tensions, as you know, are still high in Ferguson after an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer last month. Let's go to CNN's Sara Sidner now who is in Ferguson. So Sara, what are the conditions of both of the officers?</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We can tell you that they were both injured. One of them shot in the arm. They are both nonlife-threatening injuries. The other officer was not hit by bullets, but by glass and had some minor injuries from the glass there. And the two incidents do not appear to be related in any way, according to authorities. And also, the incidents don't appear to be related in any way to the August 9th shooting of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. But this community is, as you mentioned, very, very tense, and very worried about any time there is now any kind of confrontation between police and the community, Fredericka.</s>WHITFIELD: And so, Sara, police say these incidents are not related?</s>SIDNER: That's correct. At this point they don't believe they're related. In this incident, I can tell you I'm standing outside of the community center where the police officer here in Ferguson was shot. He was on a routine patrol, according to the police. He went around back. He saw someone. That person he tried to get out and tried to figure out what was going on with that person. It was at night, 9:00 at night. And authorities believe the suspect turned around and fired at the officer and then there was a chase that ensued, and they went just back into those woods there. They are still searching for that suspect. In the other situation that was actually in St. Louis close to the airport on i-70, there was what appeared to be a drive-by shooting that was an unidentified -- the officer was not in his police car. He was not wearing his uniform. Only had the pants on, and his car was shot up by several suspects according to police, and they have not found either. Not in that incident or this incident, and there is no known motive yet, but the investigation continues, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Sidner, keep us posted. Thank you so much. All right, meantime, hundreds of flights in and out of Chicago are grounded for a third day today, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across the country. The airlines have been scrambling since Friday when investigators say an air traffic control center employee set a fire that accused O'Hare and midway airports to halt operations. The FAA says it could take weeks before all the necessary repairs are made.</s>MARK MURPHY, TRAVEL EXPERT: You are going to see the slow roll-out of flights because they are getting flights out. They just can't get as many in to that hugely busy airport, as it would normally do. So that's going to slow that down. If I'm a business traveler, I'm figuring out other options. I'm driving to different airports. I'm thinking, God, how to get out of the way and do my job.</s>WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, meteorologist Jennifer Gray has more on the impact of the cancellation across the</s>U.S. JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fred, because of that fire in the facility that controls all the planes in the Chicago region, you saw how many delays you had on Friday. More than 1,000. A lot on Saturday. Still seeing 800 flight cancellations today. Chicago O'Hare, Midway, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Reagan and Detroit, even more airports than this, all affected this. This create that ripple effect from planes can't get in, can't get out. Do plan on cancellations and delays to continue Monday and even into Tuesday. So it is going to be a nightmare for some folks as they are traveling for business or even pleasure early part of the week. We have had incredible amounts of moisture pulling into the southwest. We had severe weather across Phoenix yesterday and then today. We're still seeing rain anywhere from two to four inches in western Wyoming. We're seeing one to three inches in portions of Idaho. Boise, two to four. So a lot of rain still reported in the southwest, and also the southeast. Florida has gotten so much rain over the past couple of days, the past week or two. Four to six inches around Tampa. This is through Monday. Four to six in Charleston. South of Atlanta, south of Macon could see four to six inches as well. Another big story, temperatures in the north. Look at Marquette, 78 degrees on Sunday, 48 degrees on Monday. Temperatures are dropping some 30 degrees. We're seeing temperatures in Minneapolis, 83 on Sunday, 61 on Monday. So quite the tumble. Chicago, your high temperature will drop from 79 to 64 Monday into Tuesday. Incredible -- Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, incredible indeed. Whoa. Big drop. All right, thanks so much, Jennifer. All right. In Syria, there's new fighting today along the board with Turkey. And that's where Kurdish forces have been battling with ISIS militants for control of several towns. U.S.-led coalition forces have been conducting airstrikes on ISIS targets in that area over the weekend, including an ISIS compound near the town of Kobani. CNN's Phil Black has spent the day on the border right near the heaviest fighting taking place there. He is with me now. So Phil, it sounds quiet. Looks relatively at ease right now. But you paint the picture for me.</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, today, Fred, we saw some pretty heavy fighting indeed. It's all about that town of Kobani that you mentioned. This is what ISIS is trying to get to. There has been advancing through the territory surrounding it from every direction through the course of the week. And now, they are very close indeed. What we saw was fighting from that town just a few miles to the east, and it was ISIS fighters really pounding the local ethnic Kurdish fighters who were trying to resist them. Very close. Like I say, a few miles to the south. They're said to be even closer. Officials in Kobani say that as many as ten mortar rounds fell on the city itself today. So what all of this means is that ISIS is getting very, very close. This advance on this town has already triggered a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have left the area fleeing into and across the border into Turkey. And so, there are real fears on the ground now that ISIS may claim this city in the coming days, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: So, Phil, does the airstrike did take out that one ISIS structure. What kind of impact does it mean for that group as it continues to fight the Kurds?</s>BLACK: Well, what the fighters on the ground are saying is it did not make enough of a difference at all. And given what we saw today as well, it was clear that ISIS had advanced further beyond that point, so it hadn't stopped them. If it slowed them down, it wasn't by much. So what those Kurdish fighters on the ground are saying they want are more airstrikes. Really, substantive airstrikes that can really make a difference to the course of this battle because so far they say they haven't received it. And without it, they don't hold out much hope of being able to defeat ISIS in the long-term?</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Black, thank you so much. Stay safe. All right, back in this country. Murder and assault charges are expected to be filed tomorrow against Alton Alexander Nolen. The suspect in a gruesome killing near Oklahoma City. Police say Nolen beheaded a co-worker and wounded another before being shot by a company executive. The attack happened just after Nolen had been fired. The FBI is now investigating after co-workers told authorities Nolen tried to convert them to Islam. The suspect remains hospitalized. Police interviewed him yesterday after he regained consciousness. And President Barack Obama admits his team quote "underestimated the control ISIS had in Syria." We're live from the White House next.