♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, the black heart of isis. >> the fighting is really intense in this area. >> we are on the front lines with the forces retaking mosul in iraq. >> air strike. >> eyes peeled for suicide bombers. >> going to count to three. okay? three, two, one. >> dodging sniper fire in the streets. families emerging from the destruction. >> bullet wounds. >> for the first time in years a glimmer of hope for the future. plus, winter is here. >> the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. >> "game of thrones" is back with a vengeance.

this season expect the unexpected. >> when i read it on paper, i was like this doesn't feel like the six seasons i'd read previously. >> revealing who they think will end up on the iron throne. but first here the "nightline" 5. and number 1 every tv doctor knows scrubbing is serious business. they also know you need to get your annual check-up. now with one touch using the mycigna app you can find a doctor in your plan's network to save money. need to be thorough.

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good evening. and tonight you're going to get an extraordinary up-close look at what it's like to be inside a major city that is being liberated from isis. we're on the front lines in mosul, iraq, where snipers and suicide bombers are fighting until the end and where families have lived through hell. you're going to meet children who survived being used as human shields. "nightline" welcomes abc's ian pannell reporting from mosul. >> reporter: a lone flag. planted in a wasteland. a milestone in the fight against isis many thought would never come. iraqi forces retaking the city of mosul. but it comes at a heavy price. it's impossible to describe the scale of the destruction here. it's 360 degrees. i've rarely seen anything quite this devastating. it barely looks like a city anymore. when we

the u.s.-backed offensive to retake the city was in its final days as iraqi troops gained ground we saw hundreds of families fleeing. they emerged as if from hell. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: it's incredible. there are a dozen, two dozen people have just gone by, men, women, old men, children, some of them clearly very badly injured. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: there's nothing here. there are no facilities. there's no hospital. there's no care. the survivors shell-shocked and shattered. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: the escape to safety is perilous. huge piles of db rie are haebrio navigate and slow to climb. after years of brutal occupation those who a

struggle out, often helping the old and infirm. some are separated from their families, sometimes forced to leave them behind, like marian. this was the country's second largest city and it's been the beating black heart of the islamic state in iraq since it swept through here three years ago. last time i was here was with counterterrorism forces and they were the first troops to push into the city. so we were at the tip of the spear. at that point this was insanely dangerous. i was there on day one of the offensive. >> we've seen a number of isis fighters moving around, carrying rocket-propelled grenades. there have been incoming attacks. [ gunfire ] and a lot of gunfire. >> reporter: the fighting lasted nearly nine months. thousands killed, ten

thousands injured. despite a declaration of victory, the battle for the city isn't entirely over. something we witnessed as we made our way through the bombed-out buildings and alleyways of the old city. with special forces general sadi. what would you say the biggest dangers are? pockets of isis fighters remain, huchker hunkered down, ready to fight to the death. >> i'm going to count to three. >> reporter: it's the unprotected spaces between the buildings that are most dangerous. where isis snipers perch overhead, picking off their victims. >> sniper, sniper. >> okay, the troops are telling us to take cover in here. we're very close to the front line, and they're literally fighting over every inch, every yard. the fighting is really intense in this area, even now when they

>> reporter: within minutes of us filming these two soldiers in the alley a suicide bomber leapt off a building, attacking them. both were wounded. for the men of the counterterrorism force this is a kill mission, a hunt for the final isis fighters. they rarely take prisoners. >> there are two bodies lying in the streets here, clearly belonging to isis fighters. and as the troops cover the ground, help comes from the air. [ explosion ] >> air strike. >> another air strike. american? >> yeah, american. >> americans. we've been hearing the sound of that consistently throughout this morning. constant strikes by the u.s.-led coalition. it's hard to imagine that the troops would have got this far forward despite the brave fighting on the ground without that support. >> reporter: we move to the very front. a house just taken from isis and a symbo

caliphate. in a deliberate show of scorn they turn the flag upside down and smile for the camera. and amidst the chaos and rubble children's clothing. a reminder of the lives once lived here. i don't know if you can see this here. residential areas. these are houses destroyed. these are lives destroyed here. and this is because of what isis did. soldiers and civilians have paid a terrible price. for a war they didn't choose. 6-year-old malak and her 15-year-old sister dalal were forced to help those who were terrorizing them. they were used as human shields. isis fighters made them run into the line of fire of the advancing iraqi army. their father was killed. both girls horrifically injured. >> you can see where the little girl was shot. she's obviously had surgery here. and she's got bullet wounds as well. she's also got wounds here. you can

scars there. it looks like the bullets perhaps went through her. it's an absolute miracle that malak is alive. and her name in english means angel. she's a really strong little girl. you're super strong. yeah. you are strong. >> reporter: her sister dalal lost her hand in an explosion. >> this is your house? >> reporter: isis even used their home as a hideout. the thing i want to show you here are the holes in the walls on the left and the right-hand sides. easily enough space for a man. and these holes were made by the family for isis. i want to bring in our translator here, ashed. ashed, can you ask the ladies why they did this? why were these holes made?

>> she said they make us do this so they can use it as a cover from the air strikes to go in and out from another house to another house. >> so like a rat run essentially so they can move there and they're completely unseen. >> yeah. >> what would have happened if you hadn't made those holes that they drew on the wall? >> they will blow up the house. >> they'll blow up the house if they didn't do this. or they'll kill the people inside. and we've heard this story repeatedly from people, that they were ordered to do things by isis, and these stories are repeated time and time again throughout this whole neighborhood, throughout this whole city. for the families that have reached safety their struggles aren't over. [ child crying ] nearly a million people are displaced. ahmed stands at his brother's bedside. he's waiting for word from his wife. they were separated as they escaped.

they have news. gaith gets word his wife may be coming. eventually she appears, injured but safe and alive. and just feet away we met samir, standing watch over his baby girl, rama, one of the youngest victims of isis. poor little thing. she's dehydrated. she's malnourished. i've been told that the mothers can't breast-feed because they don't have enough food. there's been no clean water. we were able to ask isis to let you out with the baby to get food? after months living as prisoners in their own homes, denied the basics for survival by extremists who claim to be men of god, many are overcome by the agony of what they've endured.

malak and dalal are trying to reclaim pieces of the life they once had. do you feel angry about what's happened? sad? but these girls refuse to be held hostage ever again. dalal wants to become a teacher, to use education as a weapon against isis. her little sister just trying to enjoy life, as only a 6-year-old can. too many children bear the wounds of war. physical and mental scars, symbols of their survival. and miraculously,

uncertain future, their hopes and dreams are still alive. for "nightline" ian pannell in mosul, iraq. next here, we're with the stars of hbo's "game of thrones" as the show finally returns. the actor who plays jon snow talks about what it's like to come back from the dead and why this season feels completely unlike anything that has come before. remember our special night? abdominal pain... ...and diarrhea. but it's my anniversary. aw. sorry. we've got other plans. your recurring, unpredictable abdominal pain and diarrhea... ...may be irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. you've tried over-the-counter treatments and lifestyle changes, but ibs-d can be really frustrating. talk to your doctor about viberzi,... ...a different way to treat ibs-d. viberzi is a prescription medication you take every day that helps proactively manage... ...both abdominal pain and diarrhea at the same time. so you stay ahead of your symptoms. viberzi can cause new or worsening abdominal pain.

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visit kp.org/wearekp to learn more. ♪ well, i know what i'm doing sunday night. along with millions of "game of thrones" fans, i'm going to be watching as this legendary tv series enters

season. abc's jesse palmer sits down with some of the stars. >> reporter: after an agonizing year of anticipation -- >> the lone wolf dies. but the pack survives. >> reporter: "game of thrones" is finally back. and for fans winter is finally here. >> the great war is here. >> reporter: the medieval fantasy epic about warring families, dragons and a coveted iron throne drew nearly 9 million viewers for its epic season finale. >> you've got daenerys crossing the water on her way to westeros. she's got the army, the dragons. cersei's taking the throne back home. jon snow's the king in the north. >> king in the north! >> what can fans expect here from season 7? >> more blood. >> well, you said it all. i think that's as much as we can say, isn't it, guys? >> yeah. it feels like it's accelerating toward the end game as opposed to any sense of treading water. >> is there anything that's going to happen that's just going to throw fans at home? >> it becomes a completely different tv show from the one you expected 37 when i read

doesn't feel like the six seasons i'd read previously. >> fact that we normally have ten hours to tell this story and now we've got seven hours. stuff that would have taken slightly longer to maybe develop has now been really punched in really hard. and things are happening. every episode feels really huge. >> reporter: last season "game of thrones" took us on an emotional roller coaster. we cheered. we cringed. and we cried. >> hodor! >> reporter: the massive battle sequence dubbed "the battle of the bastards" took nearly four weeks to film and raised the bar for epic fight scenes on tv. >> apparently, there's a bigger battle scene? season 7? i've heard the biggest we've seen yet on "game of thrones." >> there are a couple. >> a couple? >> yeah. >> not just one?

>> i'm writing that down. [ laughter ] >> you have this sequence that i won't talk about this season. but what they did with the horses was just --. >> the show has made a star out of 30-year-old kit harington as the iconic hero jon snow, who was killed off the series last year before being mercifully brought back to life. [ gasping ] >> i have to say around a year ago this time last year i sat in a room with some of you and a lot of your colleagues and you told me to my face that jon snow was dead. >> jon snow. is he really dead? >> he is dead. >> he wasn't coming back. are there any big lies you want to just get out of the way right now i can run with? >> so many. >> that's not a lie, though, is it? >> no, it's not a lie. he was technically dead. >> how were you able to keep it a secret the entire time? that must have been torture for you. >> yeah. living your life as a cliff-hanger is not that fun. [ laughter ] >> the king

>> what can we expect from the newly crowned the king of the north in season 7? >> he never expected to be there, did he? something happens and you're straight back to square one. he's still got his annoying sister to deal with. it doesn't change being lord commander in the north. just the situation. you've got more to deal with now. >> reporter: like jaime lannister, the show's hunky anti-hero. >> the last time we see him he's now back home, all three children now dead. cersei's on the throne. she's basically just killed half the cast. >> yeah. >> there's this amazing look on your face at the very, very end. where it's not a look of admiration or love for your sister but it's almost this look of -- >> well, that's what you read into it, though, isn't it? that's the beauty of being so blank-faced. people can just read into it. that's the whole point. i mean, i'm not going to tell you what he thinks because then i would give away what happens. >> absolutely. >> but i think you're absolutely right. i think when you watch the show and you're into these characters a moment like that is great

know, people read so much into it. >> yeah. >> he's going to kill her now. that's going to happen. or -- or not. >> da, da, da. >> reporter: now with the final season just around the corner anything can and probably will happen. >> just quick show of hands. how many of you seriously are still surprised your character's still alive? that's everybody. is it liberating as an actor to have that uncertainty on a show, where literally season to season you just don't know? >> exciting. >> it is exciting. >> yeah. >> i think so. >> am i the only one ridden with anxiety about it? i don't find it exciting. >> what does it mean to work on a franchise that's just been so successful and that's become so massive? >> i mean, i'm people i'm sure want this thing to go on forever. i'm sure a lot of people want. but it has a beginning, middle and end. i don't think -- i'm not comparing it to the beatles or anything

their own tribute band now we wouldn't hold them in the same esteem that we do. >> as just a fan of the show i don't personally think there's a wrong way to end it at this point. because it's so complex. >> just really quickly just blurt out who you think in the end will sit on the iron throne. >> daenerys. >> the scary snowman. scary snowman. >> got it. so the white walkers win? >> i'm going to say daenerys. >> tyrion. >> ah. >> interesting. >> bran. >> i don't think anyone will sit on it. >> ooh. >> i think it will be destroyed. >> the dragon. no, i don't know. tyrion or daenerys. >> you're going daenerys? >> or tyrion. >> definitely bronn. [ laughter ] >> whoever it is, one thing is for certain. they'll all be killing each other over that damn throne. for "nightline" i'm jesse palmer in los angeles.

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i want to thank you for watching abc news tonight. as always, we're online 24/7 at abcnews.com and on our "nightline" facebook page. thanks again for watching, and good night. >> one player, three lifelines, 14 questions, and $1 million up for grabs--it all starts right now on "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody, welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play

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