we're going public! [cheering] the fastest in-home wifi for your entire family. the x-1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. certainly glad you tuned in. welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. ahead this hour as iraqi forces battle militants, we're learning about the growing political crisis in baghdad. plus, so far so good. a new attempt at a middle east cease-fire appears to be holding. racial tensions running high in the u.s. a deadly police shooting of an african-american teenager who witnesses say was unarmed.

thanks for joining us, everyone. well, in baghdad it roraq troop have taken up in several neighborhoods. >> the troubling development as it emerges just as government forces continue to fight isis militants in the north of the country. the exact reason is unclear but there is an apparent power struggle between prime minister in our ri malaki and the prime minister is resisting calls not to run for a third term. the president, farad masoon. he broke the law to elect other candidates for prime minister. allot to discuss in the developing scenario. still a pleasure to have you

there joining us from skype from berlin. as i've mentioned just there what appeared to be pro malaki troops are taking positions, strategic ones, in and around baghdad. how serious a development is this considering we have the isis militants expanding in the north and not too far from baghdad? >> you know, the americans have made it very clear that they don't see any major different patterns in the troops in baghdad. the reality is it's a major severe political crisis in iraq. a few months before the elections there is no iraq government, no nominated prime minister. prime minister malaki is fighting tooth and nail to have his mandate renewed for a third term. i think this is his last card. he has lost everyone, including his allies, members of his own coalitions, the militia establishment.

even iran stands against them. he is bargaining very hard. we don't know what he wants. probably he wants immunity from any future persecution, but the reality is the next few days, as you said, are very, very critical. the country is facing a crisis. you have the isis surge. you have the kurds are also inclining to have their own state. you have the sunni insurgency. i hope that there is a government sooner rather than later because the future of the state is on the line. >> so does malaki hold all the cards then? i know you're saying this is the last hand he can play. the u.s. state department made it clear over the weekend saying that he supports the president. if malaki stays put, you have the isis militants standing by to capitalize on any instability on the capital. how complicated does this picture become if he doesn't

budge? >> very complicated, and i think you're absolutely correct. his coalition has the largest number of members in the parliament so you have to basically shove malaki aside, but even some members of his own coalitions are against him. malaki has become a liability, a liability not just to his own coalition but to the stability of iraq. he has made some major blunders. he has mastered the art of making enemies. i don't think he knows when to really disappear from the scene so, yes, if malaki does not budge, if he does not basically stand down, you're going to have a prolonged crisis. in the meantime, the is ram mick state surges forward. in the meantime the kurds basically make gains against the islamic state and decide to go it alone so the reality is

malaki has his last card to play. he can also prolong the crisis and exacerbate, aggravate both the political and military situation in iraq. that's why the u.s. has made it very clear in the last 48 hours that basically it would like an elusive government and it does not support any kind of a coup in the government and the deployment of forces in particular in the green light where the government's offices and presidency and the prime minister offices are located. >> fawaz, what else can the u.s. do? iraq has shown that it cannot p be put together with force. there needs to be a solution in order to keep the country together in one piece. what do all the factions need to work together whether you have u.s. strikes in the north, humanitarian aid being dropped and won't there need to be an

iraqi grown political solution in order to dominate isis and really keep this country as one? >> you are also very right. you say that the united states has limited options. since the americans left iraq in 2011, the obama administration has not been able to influence the political process even though vice president joe biden, who has been in charge at the iraqi portfolio, has tried very hard to convince the prime minister to change course, he has failed as we know to do so. the reality is iraqis themselves will have to exert more pressure on al-maliki. the last move has alienated more and more people from his own coalition and the iraqi coalition both the shiias, the sunnis, the kurds, the various communities have come together, not only to fight the islamic state or isis regardless of what

we call it or what it calls itself, but the reality is for iraq. the future of the iraqi state is on line and only the iraqis, the iraqi communities by coming together, coalescing together, by accepting no coalition can dominate the country. they have to accept the parliamentary system. that's the only way to save iraq. all they can do is to make its own very clear and convince some members al-maliki's coalition to tell them that's enough. it's about time to exit the scene and allow a more unified force to lead the country in the next. >> we'll see if they follow your advice. fawaz, just past 9:00 in the morning. he said the entire future of the iraqi state on the line. so many things happening in so many states. >> it's a real concern what is happening there on the ground. >> yeah. meantime as we also discussed, there is fighting that continues

in the northern part of the country and with it the desperation. >> yeah. these are refugees from the yazidi religious sect fleeing from iran into syria of all places. kurdish forces rescuing some 27,000 yazidis. tens of thousands of them remain tlapd by isis fighters. the u.s. and brittain are dropping few and supplies. american war planes also launched airstrikes on isis forces. kurdish towns have been recaptured. a third has fallen. the front line between kurdish soldiers and isis is baron, vast, and nearly deserted. the kurds and the militia called the pashmoga know it's only a matter of time before they grab more land. we have the story from northern

iraq. >> reporter: a pile of dirt across a baron highway. this, the first line of defense for iraqi kurds fighting against isis militants said to be a short drive away occupying this village. in this eerie no man's land on the kurdish front line a tent city recently abandoned. this camp was a temporary home for thousands of iraqis who fled the isis mill taitant capture oe nearby city of mosul. when isis went on the offensive, they fled. some ran so quickly they left their cars behind. it is here among the other abandoned cars of this sun baked plain that kurdish fighters are digging in, building fortifications and regrouping after a chaotic retreat from the islamist militants just five

days ago. the biggest threat fighters hearsay armored isis con voice led by suicide bombers and speeding vehicles. >> translator: one of the suicide cars farther operations. the others farther the operations. that's why we are threatening our defense lines, to prevent these cars from approaching us and trying to make it more difficult for them to attack. >> reporter: the kurds have gotten some help from american airstrikes, but everyone here says they need more. >> well, our weapons are sort of old iraqi army weapons. unfortunately the weapons they have seized from the iraqi army that was from the u.s. army was -- they were very advanced weapons so we do neat better weapons. >> reporter: the kurdish ranks

bolstered by unlikely volunteers. a 19-year-old and his father run a car wash back home in sweden. >> reporter: i don't understand. you were both living in sweden? >> yes. >> reporter: you heard about the news and came to kurdistan to fight? >> yes. >> reporter: what is motivating you. >> my heart. i give everything for kurdistan, yes. >> reporter: the isis militants say they're fighting to build an islamic state. the kurds are defending a region that's still not quite an independent state. from the worst threat they have seen in more than a decade. ivan watson, cnn on the kurdish front lines in northern iraq. and we will of course have much more from iraq later this hour on cnn, including what they're trying to do to help civilians caught in the violence. first, we'll turn our focus

to gaza where so far at least the latest attempt at a cease-fire appears to be holding. we'll bring you live reports from both sides of the border next.

well, the new middle east cease-fire appears to be holding this hour. >> yeah. this is an uneasy three-day truce between israelis and palestinians took effect at midnight in the region. looking at live pictures of what appears to be gaza city. just past 10:00 in the morning. this is a ten-hour old cease-fire now. >> during today's lull in violence, israel and hamas are expected to resume the indirect talks in cairo. both sides say they don't want to go back to the status quo that preceded the recent violence. >> yeah.

let's go ahead and bring you our team coverage now. cnn's sarah sidner is live in jerusal jerusalem. >> let's start with our john vause who's in gaza city. john, the cease-fire has held for more than just over ten hours now, right? we've been here many times before. how's it all looking right now? of course more importantly, who blinked first? >> reporter: yeah, it is a good question, rosemary. right now it is all quiet here. the fishermen are headed back to sea. some normality had returned to gaza, at least gaza city even though the airstrikes had resumed sips the last cease-fire came to an end. the palestinian rocket fire also continued. there was an uptick in both the hours before the cease-fire came into effect, and as to the question of who may have given

in, at this point we don't really know. the wording that came from the egyptians said that both sides agreed to this humanitarian lull simultaneously. so they're not giving anything away there. i guess we'll know essentially who was willing to give in when we find out the details of any lasting agreement if, in fact, there is one. and that will be difficult if both sides dig in and stick to their positions in cairo. it will go the way they've gone before. three days now we may be back into the situation where rockets are firing into gaza and the israeli airstrikes are back on. one other point is we did have a cease-fire that did end on friday and in the days since that cease-fire ended and the one that came into effect midnight local time, according to health officials 16 palestinians were killed.

we had a situation while they negotiated to stop the fighting, people here in gaza continue to die, rosemary. >> yeah, exactly. of course last week on friday, 70 hours we hoped to see it get to 72 and possibly be extended. that is the hope, of course, across the globe. john vause reporting there for us in gaza city. >> let's go in and bring sarah sidner standing by in jerusalem. sarah, i imagine there's as many skeptics where you are as there is in gaza. israel is participating in the cairo peace talks. anything differently about their negotiating position now compared to last week? >> reporter: no. i don't think there is anything different except for the fact that the firing has stopped in israel and they said, look, this process has to be two pronged. first, the cessation of fire and then we'll talk, and that seems to be what is happening now. since midnight there hasn't been any firing out of gaza and no airstrikes in gaza from israel. what we are seeing is

international pressure on both groups to try and get something resolved so that humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in gaza can be alleviated somewhat. there are estimates from the u.n. that it could take 30 years to rebuild the damage left behind there in gaza. and certainly on the israeli side, especially on the border where the rockets have a much greater chance of injuring or damaging property there have been frayed nerves there. for a while israeli jews who were polled had said that they don't want it to stop because they want israel to be able to crush hamas, but if you talk to analysts, both military and political analysts, actually doing that from the israeli perspective could mean a re-occupation which they couldn't stomach for years. what israel is asking for is hamas demill tar rise. what hamas is asking for is that

they end their blockade and open up the sea port and airport allowing the government there and people there to use those so that their economy can get better. those are two big points and both sides don't really want to give in on those, and i'm not sure that we're going to see it. speaking with analysts, that actually happen. but the firing that has gone on and the damage that's created and the humanitarian crisis that that has created has to find some end. the u.n. pushing very hard making statements time and again, but israel's position is if there is firing from gaza, then the operation is going to continue for some time. we heard the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying that will continue for some time, this operation, to try to get rid of the tunnels, which they believe is complete. 32 tunnels destroyed. certainly if there's firing coming from gaza, israel is going to react and react severely. >> that's the perspective of how many are waking up the beginning of this new week.

sara sidner and john vause joining us where the time is 10:18 in the morning. still to come on cnn, tensions are rising in the u.s. state of missouri for the shooting death of an african-american teen. we'll bring you the latest thonn. tragedy on the racetrack. tony stewart hits and kills a young fellow driver.

unrest over the shooting death of an african-american teenager in suburban st. louis, missouri. what turned into a candlelight vigil turned into violent confrontations. police reinforcements rushed to the city to control the unrest. looters were in the city. police used all forms to try to get the crowds to go home.

cnn's george howe joins us on the line from ferguson. george, it's 3:20 in the morning here on the east coast. what is the scene there in ferguson this hour? >> reporter: i think it's fair to say now that police are getting more control of these streets, but it has been a process that's taken several hours early this morning. we were responding, myself, fellow journalist as we were taking images, again, of what started out as a peaceful march. we just noticed things started to rachet up there were people who got in the faces of police officers. in onease we even saw a police officer clearly cross the line cursing at protestors. you could tell that nerves were on edge. again, this is because many in the community believed that this unarmed teenager was shot and killed with his hands in the

air. again, we're hearing a different account from the police saying they believed the teenager started an altercation with the police officer. he was in his car, in fact, when shots were fired. there are a lot of discrepancies and unanswered questions. what we're seeing in the community of ferguson, missouri, people taking to the streets. again, a lot of people are very angry. they are demanding justice. again, what we saw tonight again started as a peaceful protest, then got quite chaotic. we saw some people simply come in to cause trouble. you've seen the images of looting the stores. we heard shots fired. we know people threw rocks and bottles at police. it has been quite a chaotic scene here in missouri. >> george, these are serious accusations directed at police. information from some witnesses that the young teenager was

unarmed and had his hands in the air. what evidence is there to support their side which is very different from what the police are saying? >> reporter: well, you know, through the process of getting information, gathering the facts we are trying to determine whether there is cell phone -- cell phone video, rather, whether there's surveillance video. we're trying to figure out exactly what the witnesses saw and heard. certainly we'd like to speak with them and get their accounts, but what you have really, you have the statements of witnesses and you have mr. brown's friend walking along with him. he, according to his account, he and brown were walking down the street when they were stopped by a police officer and at one point while his friend, while mr. brown had his hands in the air, we understand that the police officer allegedly shot and killed him there. >> all right. cnn's george howell reporting there on the line from ferguson. we will continue to keep a very close eye on this. from what we're hearing from

george, the police seem to think that they have this or they're starting to get some form of control there but it is very, very early in the morning there. all right. now to this, a tragic accident in new york state has killed a young sprint car racer. kevin ward jr. was just 20 years old. he died sunday after being struck during a race by a car driven by tony stewart. he's a star on the stock car circuit. as alexander feel is about to show you, the victim was not in his car at the time. >> reporter: it's the race that has shocked the sport and beyond. famed nascar driver tony stewart appears to cut off a fellow driver, kevin ward jr. it happens on lap 14 of a 25 lap race on a dirt track in upstate new york. ward forced toward the wall spins out. >> it's racing. you go out to the track, you jump on the track, you know. you expect the worst, hope for

the best. >> reporter: amateur video obtained by cnn shows what happens next. ward gets out of his car, pointing fingers presumably frustrated by stewart. a yellow flag on the course lets drivers know to slow down. several cars pass ward. then stewart's car hits him. the 20-year-old driver killed. >> this is right now being investigated as an on track crash, and i don't want to infer that there are criminal charges pending. i would only say that the investigation, when it's completed, we will sit down with the district attorney and review it. i want to make very clear there are no criminal charges pending at this time. this is an ongoing investigation. >> reporter: stewart, a three-time nascar champion was questioned last night. today he planned to race in watkins glen, new york. a short time ago his race team announced he wouldn't. >> it's just an unbelievable

tragedy. our hearts go out to obviously kevin and his family. thoughts and prayers. this is a very tough, very emotional time for everybody, his family, our family at stewart-haas, tony stewart so, you know, with that being said we feel that as a group tony will not drive today. >> reporter: in a statement nascar says, quote, our thoughts and prayers go out to family, friends and fellow competitors of kevin ward jr. we support tony stewart's decision to miss today's race, and we will continue to respect the process and time line of the local authorities and will continue to monitor this situation moving forward. the sport mourning the loss of one of its own, while many questions still remain about one of its most famous. alexandra fields, cnn, watkins glen, new york. >> now this is really rocking the motor sport world right now. other drivers reacting to this

tragedy. some racers spoke sunday from watkins glen, new york, where tony stewart was supposed to race. take a listen. >> all of our thoughts and prayers, it may not seem like it. i wish there was more to do but, you know, it goes to the ward family and what happened. it also goes to tony because it's not like he's sitting there and -- and for getting about it. i mean, it's a tough scenario so you just try to come together. that's all you can do. >> our thoughts and prayers are with the ward family. it was a tragedy. our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. it's a tough situation with the motorsports world. >> a catastrophic evening. our sympathies go out to the family. loss of a young man. you know, it's been a difficult day for the stewart-haas organization. we all recognize that. we're all family as we travel 36 weeks out of the year, it seems like 100 years together. so our hearts go out to tony, but specifically out to the

family. >> now kevin ward's family did release a statement to express thanks for the prayers and support they've been receiving. rosemary. >> of course, errol, we go now from that very tragic story in sports to a much more uplifting one. rory mcilroy is celebrating his second straight major title. he battled back from a very poor start on sunday to win the professional golfers association championship at the valhalla golf club in kentucky. mcilroy beat runner up phil mickelson by one shot. the 25-year-old from northern ireland is now the fourth youngest player to win four career majors. well, we will have much more on rory mcilroy's pga championship victory coming up later this hour on cnn so stay tuned for his one-on-one interview with shane donoughe. >> when we first interviewed you

after your first major championship success at congressional, one thing struck me from the conversation. you said you'd certainly like to be dominant. how do you feel right now? major number four is in the bag. >> and that conversation coming up in our next half hour right here on cnn. all right. but, first, for you, the ukrainian military is battling pro russia separatists for control of dopnetsk. what they're doing to retake the eastern city. stay with us here on cnn.

welcome back to cnn's special coverage, everyone. i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church. check the headlines for you.

iraqi troops and tanks have deployed in several neighborhoods in central baghdad. the apparent buildup is not clear. meantime, in northern iraq, take a look at this footage. refugees continuing to flee from isis militants. this is the scene from iraq's border with syria. thousands of yazidi militants. imagine what it must be like trying to get into syria. 20,000 were rescued from mount sinjay. thousands remained trapped by isis fighters. an uneasy calm in israel and gaza. a new 72 hour cease-fire fook effect at midnight. the fighting began again friday after the truce expired. they're expected to resume.

a shooting death of an african-american teen in missouri. witnesses say michael brown had his hands up when police shot him to death. police say brown was assaulting an officer at the time. the ukrainian military is closing in on rebel-held territory in the east in an effort to ensnare pro russia separatists. >> here's what took place over the weekend. heavy shelling in donetsk on sunday. government forces are demanding the rebels surrender. separatists say they'll keep fighting until the military stops all activity. the conflict is taking a toll on people inside the besieged city as well. many russian speaking residents are flocking to moscow. constant shelling has led to a shortage of electricity, food and water. sunday's violence shattered talk

of a cease-fire as well. we'll go ahead and bring in will gripley who's been constantly monitoring the situation from the capitol in kiev. he joins us from there. will, with the ukrainian forces encircling donetsk, how will residents and of course separatists responding to what i guess is ascribed as the tightening of the noose? >> reporter: yeah, we just got an update from the city office there in donetsk, errol, and what we're hearing is that a bad situation inside that city keeps getting worse. overnight it was a sleepless night for many people because there was near continuous artillery fire. there were explosions heard all around the city. you talked about the ukrainian military having the place surrounded and closing in. rebel fighters according to the ukrainian military are shifting their positions moving out of donetsk to the area right around the mh-17 crash site and their other strong hold, luhansk as

they continue to fight off efforts from the ukrainian military in those regions as well. we know the shelling overnight hit a prison in donetsk. it caused big fire, some explosions. prisoners actually started rioting. three people were injured. one person was killed. there was actually a jail break. a lot of the prisoners were able to escape. some of them though after getting out into the city have already turned around and come back into the prison as of this morning. people are trying to flee the city right now, donetsk residents who until now have tried to ride things out. they're facing obstacles as well. in fact, a car that was evacuating some injured soldiers was fired at by rebel forces according to the ukrainian military, and the impact of this is now spreading directly to the russian border where the news agency is reporting that all of the border crossings are closed right now and they actually had to evacuate customs agents. meanwhile, in the midst of all of this, errol, the humanitarian

situation continues. people in luhansk have been cut off, no food, running water, no way for the military to get in there. it's a bad situation for the people caught in the crisis in eastern ukraine. >> when you put all of these pieces together, the humanitarian situation is worsening in the east. russia appears prepped to move into eastern ukraine if needed to keep the peace as they claim it. some estimated 20,000 troops. they have a mastered that. so what's the latest on that possibility, that russia could come into the east in the country under the guise of a humanitarian effort. i know the u.s. and russian top diplomats did speak about that. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. john kerry reaching out to the russian foreign minister basically saying that if russian soldiers cross over on the ukrainian soil, that would be an action that the global community would take very seriously and condemn. the u.k. issuing a similarly

worded stern warning. of course, the russian officials are putting out their own numbers saying they're only trying to help the people in this region who are in need of help. all sides can certainly agree on the fact that there are more than 200,000 people in luhansk who are going to be in a very bad situation, even worse than the one they're in right now, very soon if they don't get food, water, medical supplies and medical personnel in there. the number of people on the border are in the number of thousands. russian has disputed 20,000. there's no way to know for sure. we know the troops are there. russia wants to send in a convoy. the rebels want a russian convoy. no way. they'll only allow an international unarmed convoy to enter with the escort of ukrainian soldiers. essentially ukrainian soldiers will have to go into the rebel territory to help deliver food. rebels will not condone that, not allow that. some 1400 people have died since mid march and they're not ready

to surrender their territory any time soon from what we're hearing, errol. >> an important week ahead for people in the ukraine. will riply joining us live from kiev. rosemary. errol, let's turn to turkey. prime minister irdowan is expected to take over. he won 52% of the vote on sunday. that means he won't have to face a runoff election. he says turkey will see a new social reconciliation with turks who are equal citizens. this was the first election. errol, emerging markets editor joins us from abu dhabi. john, mr. erdogan narrowly avoided that. now he's giving this impression that he'll make things more

inclusive. that wasn't his legacy as prime minister, was it? >> certainly was not. it's fair to say he was more autocratic than inclusive. that's his record in the dozen years. this is a new chapter. first direct vote for a president. mr. erdogan thinks he can turn the page and be much more inclusive for 77 million turks as he's suggesting here. look carefully, he's trying to speak to who he defines as the city elite, those who opposed his more autocratic ways in the past. his support comes from the hinterlands. now he needs to turn the corner after he's had a good record for the first 8 years. he's seen his 15% increase come down to 2%. with what we see around the borders in syria and iraq, he's going to struggle to hold on to

4% in 2014. i'm watching what's going to happen at the end of the month here. why do i say that? august 28th, the current president steps down. the party conference for the a.k. party will pick a successor as prime minister. will it be a hand-picked predecessor or one that will be a counter weight? the odds on bet it will be a hand-picked successor. what will that mean going on? how much control will prime minister erdogan have over foreign policy and economic policy going forward, rosemary. >> we know you will be watching that very closely. we will, of course, as well here at cnn headquarters. many thanks to you, john. we are going to return to our top story next on cnn. a crisis in iraq that seems to be going from bad to worse. >> that's right. we'll talk to a pair of iraqi sisters living in the u.s. right now but feeling helpless, desperate of their news from their family thousands of miles away. hear their story after this.

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well, on his irbil in kurdish iraq to talk about the crisis facing christians there. the catholic patriarch of baghdad called isis's rein genocide. >> that's right. on sunday pope francis offered prayers for the thousands of iraqis affected by isis brutal rampage. he told the crowd at vatican city, all of this deeply affects god and deeply affects humanity. >> translator: the news arriving from iraq leaves us in disbelief and dismay. thousands of people, including many christians, chased away from their homes in a brutal manner. children dying of thirst and hunger during the escape. women seized, people massacred,

violence of every kind. destruction everywhere. >> meantime, thousands of kilometers away from iraq, a pair of sisters worry about 30 of their family members who are caught in isis controlled areas. they haven't heard from their relatives for weeks. for one reason or another, their loved ones have been silenced. as nick shows us, the sisters are speaking out. >> reporter: tears from a woman whose family is caught in the conflict. malia she uses for safety concerns, worries she will never genesee her family in iraq. 30 of them including cousins, aunts, uncles live in and around mosul. she came to the united states in 1997 fleeing saddam hussein's regime. she hasn't spoken to her family in weeks. fears what she calls a death march by isis is a foreshadowing what will happen to them. >> she was weeping, crying.

help, please. tell international community and all the humanitarian agencies to go and interfere. a safe haven. >> reporter: your family's there as well? >> we have because when we left the country it was all work. we came here and that country, look at that situation, they just can't get rid of it. this death place, it was a stamp and it is war forever. >> reporter: for the first time in two years there are american air raids in iraq. suleman's sister, we'll call her amal, says it will take more for things to change. thousands of miles away from the conflict, she says it is difficult, if not impossible, to continue with daily life. >> it makes me very sad actually to see my family hurt like that. >> reporter: what is it that

hurts you the most? >> we don't know that they're going to stay alive for long or not. >> reporter: watching images, the solution is simple. >> how can anyone with conscience see that and not interfere and stop it immediately? >> reporter: both sisters say their family in iraq, much like the intelligence community, was caught off guard with the emergence of isis. with communication nonexistent they only hope their family is safe. >> reporter: what do the people need now? >> intervention of the international community, the u.n. security council. all concerned people to attack for humanitarian reasons to say that the minorities in that piece of the country. >> reporter: a plea she says that's necessary for the sake of peace in a part of the world that in recent years has seen little, if any. nick, cnn, atlanta.

well, rosa burke is the head of the kurdish society which is part of the university of london, and she joins us now from our bureau in london. many thanks for joining us and talking with us. can we start with getting an idea from you what you think the motive is of isis as these actions particularly towards the yazidi people? >> when we look at the region we can clearly see that there are so many minorities living there. we have not only a strategic region but a culturally diverse region. we have yazidis, syrian christians. the motive behind isis targeting that region is ethnic cleansing. isis wants to ethnically cleanse the region and in doing that those non-sunni muslim

minorities. >> now what we're seeing on the ground at this point, we've been reporting about some people who have escaped from the mountain, and they're actually heading towards syria, which is a concern in itself, and some people have had access to the humanitarian aid that is being dropped by the americans and other nations. talk to us about what you think about the timing of that and also the airstrikes that have been initiated by the united states. >> well, when we look at the past few days we can see that international intervention was coming too late. the u.s. intervened at a point of time where already hundreds of yazidi people died of starvation. they had no water to drink and the only humanitarian corridor that was provided was provided by the ypd forces who have been

fighting against groups like isis in northern syria already for like two or three years. so without the help of kurdish forces on ground, the humanitarian rescue plans will have been not possible so i believe that the international community, international intervention needs to cooperate with kurdish forces because they know what to do. they know the region. they know the landscapes. they know how to strategically get in and the region and i also believe that the military intervention is only a short-term solution. we need a political solution to this story because yazidi people are fleeing in the region. there are 250,000 fleeing yazidi people and the community of 500

to maybe 800,000 in total in the world. so that means a quarter of the yazidi people are forced to migrate and the international community needs to develop some mechanisms to bring them back home where they can practice their religion, where they can exist, otherwise, migration for yazidi people means assimilation, thus, the vanishing of an he entire culture, culture and heritage. >> what about the people we talked about who were heading to syria? what are they going towards? what are they looking forward to there? have you had any opportunity to have any contact with anyone moving in that direction? >> well, as i mentioned earlier, the ypg forces have been fighting against those groups in northern syria for more than two or three years and they have been able to create a semi-safe

and protected area with those three regions. there's kurdish yazidi people fleeing to that area. they're looking for semi-protected -- will be living in a semi-protected area. however, this is only possible because of the kurdish involvement. there is no -- i mean, they are fleeing from a crisis region into another crisis region so i don't know if this is really what international community is looking for. we need to protect those people on a different dimension. this is only a short-term solution. >> all right. rosa burc, many thanks to you for joining us from london. we'll take a very short break and be back in a moment.

welcome back. rory mcilroy is celebrating back-to-back majors today. >> that's right. we're approaching 4:00 a.m. maybe he's finished partying. he's made it three straight victories with a dramatic one-shot win at the pga championship. 25-year-old from northern ireland overcame americans phil mickelson and rickie fowler. he spoke to our cnn. >> rory, we're making a habit of

this. when we first interviewed you after your first major championship success at congressional one thing struck me from the conversation. you said you'd certainly like to be dominant. how do you feel right now, major number four is in the bag? >> when i won my first one at congressional and we sat down and did an interview, i felt like it was the start of a journey. i felt like it was the start of something. it could be the start of something big, you know, to get that first major out of the way at the age of 22. you know, to have that experience in the bag, i felt like i could go on and i could win more. i'm starting to do that. you know, to win two majors in one season, two majors in a row going for my third at augusta, i'm in a pretty good place. >> earlier in the season when you weren't playing your best, you had quite a few top tens, you did predict this, two majors

was realistic. how do you feel now? >> i said at the start of the season i didn't win a major in 2013 so i better -- i better win two this year to make up for the lost year last year. somehow i've been able to do it. the sense of satisfaction that you get from especially a win like today and coming out on top of, you know, some of the best players in the world and battling, you know, down the back nine of a major. all that pressure and everything that comes along with it and being able to produce some of your best golf when you need to, that's what i'm most pleased about. >> i've been tracking your progress and your golf for a long time, since you were about 13 years of age. this is something different, and if you don't mind me saying it, i've seen a certain ruthlessness in the way that you carry yourself now with regard to how you focus totally on your golf. you've dedicated yourself to the pursuit of all of those lofty goals and dreams that you've

had. is that fair to say? >> i think it is fair to say. to be honest, i realized this year that we only have one goal with us and we only have a certain time span. you know, we have a career in golf, golf careers are typically longer than other sporting careers. still, there's only a certain window and every tournament you don't win is a missed opportunity, and that's sort of my mindset at the minute is, you know, i didn't -- i didn't want to go to augusta next year not having won this. i wanted to go to augusta with four major championships and i want to win five and a career grand slam. i've refocused and dedicated myself. this is important to me. this is my career and i want to make the most of it. >> he seems so understated there, too. >> yes. >> good for him. this was a wild weekend of weather in parts of the u.k. as

remnants of once hurricane bertha battled the region. >> let's turn to pedram javehari. this isn't usual? >> no. 60 miles per hour, reports of six tornadoes across the west in recent days. one of them across belgium caused four serious injuries as well. the storm system causing a few active storms across the region. portions of northern u.k. on into scotland where we have remnants in place. bertha pushed ashore. it was impacting the caribbean, skirted the eastern u.s. and damage left in places in france. we have trees down, power lines down and six reports of tornadoes, three in belgium, one near luxembourg. ef-1 scale associated with it. you take a look, the severe threat at a level 2 in a scale

of 1-3. large hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes indicated in red as well. severe weather there. take you out over portions of japan where we had a long typhoon make landfall sunday afternoon. look at the footage. the wettest august on record across this region. records have been kept here since 1886. in some spots across southern japan we had reports of water reaching a junior high school's second floor and people had to be rescued from the third floor of the high school. you see why with the photos. if i told you four feet of water came down in 11 days. the graphics will show you. 47 inches, 1200 millimeters quadrupling the monthly average. getting upwards of eight feet of rainfall in the last 11 days. historic wet weather and historic activity when it comes to super typhoons as well.

how about this, 13 average to date should be 10. we tied the typhoon scale for what is average. super typhoons, again, four, we should have one in this region as well. quieter conditions are expected in the coming days. lastly though, want to leave you with the super moon part 2 taking place inside the next hours. we have the closest approach when the mo when the moon orbits around the earth. images from the recent full moon up there. of course, the super moon in the czech republic as well. the perspective. you can share with us your photos on ireport. this particular one out of the cayman islands show you the scene. >> very cool. there's another one next month? >> there is. >> another sequel. thanks, pedram. you have been watching cnn special covering. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnet. please enjoy your monday no

matter where you are in the world. stay with cnn. stay with cnn. "early start" is next. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

happening now, chaos in iraq. u.s. air strikes helping take down terrorists there as that country's government seems to fall awart. embattled prime minister clinging to power. the u.s. picking sides in this tense political battle. we are live in iraq for the latest. silence over gaza. a cease-fire between hamas and israel goes into effect hours ago. negotiations for a long-lasting peace happening now in egypt. after several failed