After chaos, state troopers take over security in Ferguson
With officials bracing for the worst, hundreds of people are gathering to protest the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen.
Police and protesters have faced off every night since Brown was shot. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon says the events have made Ferguson look “a little bit more like a war zone."
President Barack Obama spoke with Governor Nixon on Thursday, sharing his concerns about recent violence in Ferguson after the shooting.
"Now's the time for healing, now's the time for peace and calm on the streets of Ferguson," Obama told reporters.
CNN's David Mattingly is OutFront in Ferguson with the latest.
Official: ISIS is "credible alternative to al Qaeda"
(CNN) - The Islamic State terror group is now "a credible alternative to al Qaeda" that is "expanding its presence" with foreign fighters returning from Syria, and possibly Iraq, to their home countries, a U.S. intelligence official said Thursday.
The official, who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information, has direct knowledge of the latest intelligence on the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
According to an assessment, the group has grown in size since the spring and its takeover of Mosul in northern Iraq as more fighters from around the world have mainly traveled to Syria to join its ranks.
The United States believes that while the group remains largely focused on its brutal takeover of large areas of Iraq, there is also an "expansion of its external terrorist ambitions."
