again, state-run media in russia saying al baghdadi -- abu bakr al baghdadi, the leader of isis, may have been killed in an air strike on may 28th. we will continue to watch all of this and get new developments as they happen. thanks, diana. >> we'll also have much more on the new russia investigation. the special counsel goes on a hiring spree as the president goes off, calling these bad people. the vice president also lawyering up when it comes to the russia investigation. all the latest details next on "early start." >>> new developments in the russia investigation this morning. special counsel robert mueller bringing 13 lawyers on board to help with the probe, and we are told he is not done hiring. the "washington post" reporting mueller's team is now investigating the finances and dealings of the president's son-in-law and adviser, jared kushner. a lawyer for kushner says they don't know what the report refers to, since it would be standard practice for the special counsel to examine financial records to look for anything related to russia. >> cnn has already reported the fbi is

baghdadi had a ph.d. he was a soccer player. >> narrator: abu bakr al-baghdadi's journey from religious scholar to jihadist leader started back in the early days of the american occupation. as the u.s. army conducted mass sweeps of the sunni population, baghdadi was put into an american prison. >> for a number of people who had spent time in these jails, they spoke about them as jihadi training camps. so through being in jail together, people created new networks. >> narrator: they were known as "jihadi universities." baghdadi learned zarqawi's methods. >> he is able to network with other committed jihadists, capable jihadists that were attached to major organizations like al-qaeda in iraq, and he begins to network with these men, many of whom he would rise with through the ranks of al-qaeda in iraq, later the islamic state. >> narrator: after his release, baghdadi moved up inside zarqawi's organization. >> he very wisely played up the idea that his tribe had direct links to the prophet mohammed. and this

officials tell us at cnn that they cannot confirm the death of al baghdadi.ue a word of warning with anything ever coming out of russian state media, the same actors that attempted to interfere in the united states elections and the french elections, that injected fake news that may have started the qatar blockade, but if this is, indeed, true, diana, how significant would it be for the war on terror? how brutal has his reign been atop isis? >> well, symbolically, it will matter, but in practical terms, isis is, you know, in its last legs in terms of what it was, a terrorist group that had a huge amount of territory through iraq and syria. that has absolutely been crushed by the coalition and iraqi ground forces and various different syrian forces, crushing isis both in iraq and syria. and also there has been various isis leaders killed in the last few months. so really, the organization has unraveled and is very much on the back foot. so al baghdadi's death, yes, will matter symbolically and it is very, very unclear who might assume the leadership, whether t

we have not seen that with baghdadi yet. again, if he were dead and isis were driven into some kindwe hah ofhdadi internal disarray, it could take months before they acknowledge the fact. i have seen no evidence to suggest he has been taken out. there was a good report in the guardian by my friend who is in iraq, in the one of the areas i think of baghdadi was hanging about, where the incoming militia said we feel like he was just here. this has all the makings -- in terms of the infrastructure that was built, the statehouses, and looked like a place a top dog would have been hiding recently. jeff: we heard that with bin laden a lot too. michael: on lost count about the number of times the former leader, the main insurgency in the caucuses was said to be killed. rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, never more so than the war on terror. jeff: michael weiss, we appreciate it. michael: sure. ♪ charlie: oliver stone is here. he has used films such as "platoon," "jfk," and last year's "snowden" to challenge the preva

abu bakr al-baghdadi. he talked to investigative reporter and author michael weiss. >> i take this accidentcally principally because he would not be in raqqa at this time and senior leadership would not have this high level meeting when the so-called caliphate is crumbling and raqqa is crumbling. >> rose: and we conclude with oliver stone, his documentary called "the putin interviews" premiered on showtime monday night. >> what does a director do? i want the actor to do his best. that's not the say i'm going to leave the movie and act as his friend. maybe during the course of the movie, with mr. putin, i felt like i was keeping him interested. i was making him think, and about everything, across the board, about what's going on in the world today, and i think he said some very pregnant things about the united states and about russia. >> rose: michael weiss and oliver stone, when we continue. >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by the following: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedi

we have not found al-baghdadi. but we have found just about everybody else that falls underneath him, all of his lieutenants. when we have these opportunities and we can strike them safely, we will and we have done so many times. >> do you think you will be able to verify this information any time soon? >> i don't know. and just like right now, we have seen this before, as you have already been reported. this has been a battle drill where many times these claims have been brought up. but before the united states, before the coalition comes forward with any kind of confirmation, we want to be 100% accurate and correct. >> so while i have you there is word that 4,000 more troops will be deployed to afghanistan. general mattis has said we're not winning there right now. it put us at about 12,000 troops on the ground. what should the american people know about how it's going where you are? >> well, i think it is fair to say that isis losses are undeniable and irreversible. in the course of the last two and a half years

baghdadi doesn't stay any for weeks. essentially what happened because of these rules for engagement. >> now as a result for these a rules of the gaugement, now, this mad man cold-hearted brutal killer is is on the loose and wt could have taken him out. >> you see what isis has done today. at this time we were going after these guys before anyone necessarily cared about them and we were taking them out constantly because we knew a small group of organization knew how bad these guys were. you saw what they did when they came back to mosul and basically took over.ea >> number one, thank you for all your hard work, thank you for your dedication. it's sad that this happened. all the rules of engagement, all the guys arrested for protecting their platoons and put in jail in some cases it's outrageous. thanks for telling your story. >> thanks for having me, sean. >> when we come back, a very important question of the day. we need your help and it has to do with former president obama, straight ahead. delicious... fresh fruit.

baghdadi doesn't stay anywhere for two weeks. of the new rules of engagement that had taken place where u.s. troops were told to leave. >> sean: as a result of the rules of engagement, now this madman, you know, cold-hearted brutal killer is on the loose. we could have taken him out. is that a fact you see what isis has done today. this time we were going after these guys before anyone necessarily cared about them and we were talking out them constantly. we knew, small group of peep in our organization knew how bad niece guys were. you saw what they did where they came back into mosul and took over. >> sean: number one, thank you for all of your hard work, thank you for your dedication. it's sad that this happened. all of the rules of engagement, all of the guys that have been arrested, protecting their platoons and put in jail in some cases, outrageous. appreciate you telling your story. >> thanks for having me. >> sean: when we come back, very important question of the day, we need your help and it has to do with former preside

the socialed press reporting russia is claiming that it killed abu al baghdadi in syria.

abu bakr al-baghdadi.investigative reporter and author michael weiss. >> i take this accidentcally principally because he would not be in raqqa at this time and senior leadership would not have this high level meeting when the so-called caliphate is crumbling and raqqa is crumbling. >> rose: and we conclude with oliver stone, his documentary called "the putin interviews" premiered on showtime monday night. >> what does a direct

there were 300 militants, including al-baghdadi, may have been present. but in the aftermath on the right, there is little sight of a bomb blast. buildings are destroyed very precisely. close-by structures, untouched. >> the bomb site looks very clean. doesn't look like it was subject to the bombing we normally expect from russian, where syrian air forces. >> u.s. officials are adamant they don't know for certain if al-baghdadi is still alive or where he's fighting. as u.s. fighters got closer to raqqa in recent weeks, fighters and leaders have been pushed out of the city, u.s. officials say, many fleeing south. u.s. air strikes and special operations are picking up in that area. but al-baghdadi several months ago is reported west of mosul near the city of baa. days ago, syrian media reported him dead. >> many times these claims have been brought up. baghdady is someone who is extremely careful about his personal security. and u.s. officials say right now they are doubtful he would be at a meeting of 300 people. wolf? >> barbara, you're also following bre

could not confirm whether baghdadi had been killed. been several reports of his death in the past including last weekend when syrian state television announced baghdadi's death by a u.s.-led strike. keep in mind he was only publicly seen once, that was back in june 2014 in mosul when his fighters captured the city. his whereabouts have been unknown for quite some time. there's some reports that suggest he's been hiding in thousands of square miles of desert rather than living in mosul and raqqa where american troops and u.s.-backed forces are fighting. it's not something we can confirm at this stage. >> unlike previous leaders, he keeps a low row file and that makes it harder. that would be much more significant if it is confirmed. we'll have more on this story as it develops. >> up next on "morning joe," more on the latest developments in the on going probe in the president's possible ties to russia. >> nbc learns news he is now under criminal investigation by special counsel robert mueller over whether he used his power to try to shu

how likely is it that baghdadi is dead and if so what would isis look like without him? wise is. >> the big qualifier we don't know whether this is accurate. but it was draft interesting because they said he's dead. what do you make of all of this >> i think it's skeptical. principally because he would not be in raqqa. and they would not be having this high level meeting when it is crumbling and all of are a ka is now end circled by the democratic forces backed by the united states. it is true that russia casually bombs there but it's not really the main stay of their endeavors, as we've seen from the two plus years of their interventions, this has been more about prompting up assad against other rebel groups including those back in the united states. the areas i've heard baghdadi travels in including bag, northwest i rack, the key area, on the syrian. i want to talk about what isis away look like or the islamic would look like without abu bakr-al-baghdadi in charge. he's 46 years old. where would it go next and how cablely would it be able to continue on with what it ha

if al-baghdadi was killed it would be a major takedown.s mentioned he is considered the world's most wanted man with a 25 million-dollar u.s. bounty bounty on his head. pentagon officials are skeptical of russia's claims. baghdadi remains elusive, never stays in one place and unlikely he would be at a meeting of commanders and fighters. if al-baghdadi was killed in recent weeks it, may not necessarily have that serious impact on isis's over all operations certainly in light of the recent terror attacks in the uk, tehran and baghdad, of course the ongoing fighting in iraq and syria. while it is unclear if al-baghdadi is alive or dead, what is clear is that the russian airstrike was a heavy one, taking out according to russian officials as many as 30 midlevel isis commanders and probably perhaps upwards of 350 isis fighters. also russian officials say that the u.s. was made aware of the attack. back to you. melissa: john, thank you. >>> here now is peter brookes from the heritage foundation. he is also a former deputy assistant secretary of

number one, baghdadi looks after his own security.was an air strike near raqqa, syria, about three weeks ago against a compound, and i think we have some aerial shots to show you of this compound that was struck, and there were 300 isis operatives and baghdadi maybe there. the picture is a little suspicious to begin with because it's a pretty clean site. you don't see craters. you don't see rubble. very unlikely that baghdadi let himself be at a meeting of 300 people knowing full well he might get -- this large group might get spotted, so a lot of skepticism about that. u.s. officials say there were air strikes by the russians in the region, but nothing to confirm baghdadi was there, and, in fact, they are locking at an area perhaps a bit further south. if we have a map to show everyone. southeast of raqqa there's a town where the u.s. now believes a number of isis leaders have fled to from raqqa. whether baghdady is there or not, still an open question, jake. >> if true, how much do intelligence experts believe the death of al baghda

not the way al-baghdadi operates.e he declared the caliphate and for them to create a target with all their leadership in one place, that's very hard to believe. now, the other problem as far as i can tell, the united states intel communitha't picd up anything. usually the russians have this happen in may 28, usually we catch chatter, you hear people chatting about it and we've had nothing. so -- trish: why would they make this up? >> the russians can be doing it for several reasons. the primary is they have not been fighting isis. they have been fighting our guys and fighting our antiassad freedom fighters and they might be trying to show -- they're more in the fight against isis than the americans. there's a real drama playing out in quiet area in southern syria where the iranians are trying to prevent our allies from moving forward and closing the iraqi border because the iranians want a super highway from tehran across iraq across syria and lebanon sea. trish: russians want to look like they are the tough guys and

dough ligs fighting isis could not confirm whether baghdadi had been killed. there were numerous reports of his death including last weekend when syrian state television announced he was killed by an american strike. he was only seen publicly once, back in june 2014 in mosul when his fighters captured the city. this would be a significant blow to the group if the info proves to be true. it's not something we can confirm at this stage, frances. >> lucy kafanov, thank you. >>> the pentagon is sending more troops to afghanistan, putting another 4,000 americans in harm's way. that would push the total number of u.s. service members there to around 12,000. this will be the largest deployment under president trump so far. an administration officials says these additional troops are being sent in in order to break the stalemate in this nearly 16-year-long warn. >>> house majority whip steve scalise remains in critical condition after being shot in the hip in a congressional baseball practice. yesterday he had multiple surgeries to address internal injuries and a brok

welcome back experts have been speculating over who could replace my sil leader abu bakar al baghdadi if his death is confirmed it follows reports of his possible elimination by russian as strike votes on like al baghdadi who had a religious background the two main contenders to replace him have a very different history. by the end i add algy widely both served as security officers under saddam hussein and following the u.s. led invasion of iraq in two thousand and three they both joined the sun the insurgency part of which later transformed into islamic state. well let's discuss this issue further with nicholas davis got on our hands the american invasion and destruction of iraq thank you very much indeed for joining us this evening well the speculation over isolator abu bakar al baghdadi is replacement as we just heard if his death from a russian as strike is confirmed was related contenders off or operatives of saddam hussein i mean what do you think about that. while i think in the big picture it's not really going to make much difference who replaces baghdadi . essentially where

now believinging al baghdadi ma have been at that meeting. his whereabouts have not been known for some time this. among the few pictures of al baghdadi before he emerged as the leader of isis in around 2010 after splitting from al qaeda. he was officially designated as a terrorist in 2011. the u.s. now offering $25 million for information leading to his capture. al baghdadi born in iraq was born in a u.s. prisoner camp until 2009. in the years that followed his lead he built the form that came isis and his death would be a huge blow to that group and inevitably a boost to russia's ambitions in the middle east. back to you. >> all right. there are deals, and then there's this, a blockbuster one for one of the world's most valuable grocery chains. amazon is buying whole foods for almost $14 billion. that's amazon's biggest acquisition ever. it also means that you can now add grocery store chain to amazon's long line of products. whole foods which made its names selling expensive organic products has been struggling after fiercer competition ha

abu bakr al baghdadi's brutal reign only began three years ago but in that time as the founder of isis, he became the face of evil to the civilized world. >> history will regard baghdadi as a blood thirsty tyrant. during his reign his organization conquered a vast stretch of territory ruled over something like 5 million people and he imposed his iron will and executed anyone who stood in his way. >> reporter: and it was baghdadi who inspired his followers to stun the world with social media videos that depicted barbarism and atrocity, among his thousands of victims were four young americans taken hostage in syria. james foley, steven set love, peter and kayla mueller whose parents say baghdadi took her as his personal sex slave before she died in captivity. >> look at the symbolism in that. he's raping america. >> reporter: he had been a prime target of u.s. forces and he has been reported dead many times before only to reappear. the russians claim one of their air strikes last month near the city of raqqah targeted a meeting of top isis leaders and that some 300 of them were killed. t

russia says al-baghdadi was killed in an air raid on may 28.his is not the first time al-baghdadi's death has been reported. all previous death claims were proven to be false. >> meanwhile back here at home it was a packed house at nats stadium. nearly 20,000 people showed up for the annual congressional baseball game last night. the game this year taking on special meeting in the wake of the ambush at the republican practice in alexandria. on the field just before the game began the lawmakers knelt in a prayer circle. many of them wore hats representing louisiana state university in honor of injured congressman steve scalise and his home state. the stadium erupted when injured capitol police special agent david bailey came out on crutches to throw out the first pitch. >> this morning congressman steve scalise continues his long road to recovery after being shot during that baseball practice early wednesday morning. investigating weapons purchased by the gunman and trying to piece together a motive. fox5's melanie alnwick live from alexandria w

abu bakr al baghdadi has been claimed to have been killed in the past. that information hasn't panned out. it's difficult to verify this kind of information. some experts suggested he may have not have been in raqqah at this time. raqqah is in the midst of assault, u.s.-led forces, kurdish force, syrian fighters so it would not be the most practical place for him to be. where else he could escape to nobody knows but this is information we should take with a grain of salt. this is coming from the russian military. they informed the united states about this strike. no confirmation at this stage from any u.s. officials about whether this information is accurate. >> thank you. >>> there's new development in special counsel robert mueller's investigation into alleged ties between the trump campaign and russians. "the washington post" reports mueller is now looking into the finances and business dealings of president trump's son-in-law jared kushner. the fbi reportedly been examining the finances of former campaign chairman and carter page. nbc's white house c

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if baghdadi is, indeed, dead, what does this mean for the fight against isis? >> robin, probably in the short term it will have some effect in the fight around raqqah. the tactical situation. it may upset the isis leadership. so but longer term think about what happened after bin laden, not much. think about what happened after zarkawi, not much. this is an ideological struggle. not like north korea where if kim jong-un was killed the regime would collapse. in an ideological structure like this killing an individual soldier may not have a long-term effect. >> as david just mentioned this is not the first time that he has been reported dead. so how do we know for sure? >> well, we don't. remember, raqqah is a city under siege. so the russians have no hard evidence. there's no dna evidence that would suggest that he's dead. the other thing is this morning, robin, the department of defense and the u.s. has told us that they've heard no chatter. so nothing to back it up. no intelligence to back it up. so we need to remain very, very suspect of this claim. >> i'm su

the country is claiming that it may have killed isis leader abu bakr al-baghdadi.k a meeting of isis leaders outside of raqqah syria. the group's defacto capital possibly killing leader. they cannot confirm the report at this time, previous reports of al-baghdadi has been false. raqqah has been attacked by the ground and on the air which has been closing in in the recent weeks. thank you so much for joining us. >> good morning. maria: if true how significant a development is this in fight against isis? >> it's very significant. there needs to be a world combat against isis. isis has been bad. they have grown, they have spread like a cancer and any time that we can take out one of their leaders or deter their horrible agenda, it's a victory for man find. maria: there have been several rumors in the last several years, in fact? >> the russians actually did it, it may take a while for the intelligence community to pick that up and get confirmation but ultimately, whether it was jihadi john or anybody else who had a horrible agenda like isis, any of the terrorist leade

al-baghdadi's whereabouts has always been secret.e fbi has recovered both guns used by the shooter, 66-year-old james hodgkinson. both a handgun and a rifle were found at the scene. investigators say they were purchased lawfully. they also say hodgkinson's had a valid license to carry. he was killed in a shootout with capitol police after injuring five people including congressman steve scalise. meanwhile, congressman scalise remains in critical condition. he had another surgery last night. he'll need more in the future. washington says that bullets damaged many bones and internal organs. tyson's food lobbyist matt mika is listed in serious condition. that's a upgrade. he had been in critical. officer crystal griner is in good condition. four people were hit by gunfire. wisdom, over to you. >> all right, time now for the morning any other -- morning line. easy for me to say. it was a night filled with a lot of emotions at nats park. the charity baseball game between the didn't republican lawmakers. thousands in the crowd on their fee

now, believing al baghdadi may have been at that meeting. >> abu bakr al baghdadi is dead. >> reporterthere's been previous reports of his death. and his whereabouts have not been known for some time. this, the picture of him, before he emerged as the leader of isis. he was designated as a terrorist in 2011. the u.s. offering $25 million for information leading to his capture. but isis has lost considerable territory, after increasing pressure from air strikes by the u.s. and its allies. secretary of state saying in march -- >> all of abu bakr aill baghdads deputies are dead. >> reporter: if it's true, it would be a major achievement for russia in the ongoing effort to defeat isis. al baghdadi was detained at a u.s. prison camp in 2009. he built the fighting force that became known as isis. his death would be a blow to that group. and inevitably, boost russia's ambitions in the middle east. >> thank you very much. >>> let's get more from aman. i guess the first question is, is there any reason to be skeptical about whether or not this is true. russia says itself says we're not sure. >>

>> i pledge my allegiance to abu bakr al baghdadi on behalf of the islamic state. >> she asked him to repeat what he was saying. >> what's your name? >> i pledge my allegiance to abu bakr al baghdadi on behalf of the islamic state. >> the dispatcher said, you need to hear this call. >> reporter: sergeant andy brennan, trained hostage negotiator, was working an off-duty detail at a bar downtown that night. when he responded to the signal 43 call at pulse. and headed to the dispatch center. >> so i went and sure enough, five minutes later, this shooter calls in. >> where are you at? >> in orlando. >> where in orlando? >> reporter: the shooter hung up, as he would again and again that night. >> chilling. i said, let's call. so we made our first call. immediately. from that dispatcher's station. >> hello there. hi, there. this is orlando police, who am i speaking with, please? >> you're speaking with the person who pledges allegiance to the islamic state of abu bakr al baghdadi -- >> we wanted to confirm we had in fact the person that was inside. you can start to hear the serious tone in

the mosque is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only publicouncing a new caliphate three years ago. the us military described it as a crime against the people of mosul and of all iraq. it has denied an allegation by the jihadists that an american air strike was to blame. frankie mccamley reports. an image of the past: the grand al—nuri mosque in mosul, which had stood for over eight centuries with its famous leaning minaret. from above, drone footage shows its now flattened. one of the old city's most famous historical sites, a shadow of its former self. us—led coalition forces claim so—called islamic state is responsible: however, is claims us aircraft destroyed the mosque. but, no matter who is telling the truth, this is a hugely symbolic moment. the mosque is where back in 2014 isis leader abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance shortly after declaring a caliphate. it comes as this exclusive footage filmed by the bbc shows coalition troops within metres of the site. a few hours ago i was there in the evening with counterterrori

for years al baghdadi was one of the most wanted men. a $25 million reward from the u.s. for information leading to his capture. the last public video of baghdadi was from a mosque in mosul in 2014. >> he has been on the run quite a bit since thenment russia this morning says it has killed the leader of isis, of course, we'll continue to stay on breaking story and bring you the very latest if and when we get confirmation. >>> now to something rare in the nation's capital. true bipartisanship on display at last night's congressional baseball game. there were ball, strike, runs, of course, scored. in the end the democrats defeating the republicans. >> not as important as the unity they showed on the field following wednesday's attack at a republican practice and stephanie ramos reports. >> reporter: the annual congressional baseball game in washington pitting democrats against republicans hit a home run last night. the first pitch thrown by capitol police officer david bailey. he was hit by gunfire wednesday morning when 66-year-old james hodgkinson started shooting at repu

now the whereabouts of al baghdadi have long been a mystery.re have been many rumors of his death, and he's rarely been captured on camera. he did appear in 2014 in mosul, iraq, to proclaim himself the caliph or leader of his so-called islamic state. we do not know how much of a role he played in isis militarily or strategically or how much impact his death would have on the group other than symbolically. al baghdadi rose to become the leader of al qaeda's offshoot in iraq later splitting with al qaeda's leadership which has criticized isis for its brutality. jeff? >> holly williams in istanbul, thank you. >>> the pentagon is making plans to send thousands more troops to afghanistan. most of them will be trainers or advisors. our david martin at the pentagon reports that three to 5,000 additional troops are expected to be deployed there in afghanistan. 8400 american forces are already there. the reinforcements would bring the total u.s. presence to at least 11,400. >> in the past hour president trump on twitter lashed out at the russian investi

that al baghdadi may be dead. the use of the word may means the fate of a man some call the invisible shake is still unclear. unconfirmed reports this morning that the leader of isis is dead. al baghdadi seen her delivering a sermon in 2014 claiming a charge area of syria, declaring an islamic. mugs administration saying he and up to 30 fighters may have been killed on may 28th. posting on according to information being checked via various channels the leader of isis was at the conference and was liquidated by the strike. the u.s.-led coalition saying this morning it cannot confirm the reports. the raid targeted a meeting of isis leaders in their raqqa stronghold in northern syria, now believing baghdadi may have been at that meeting. but there have been a number of previous reports of his death and his where abouts have not been known for some time. this among the few pictures of baghdadi before he emerged as the leader of isis after splitting with al qaeda. he was officially designated as a terrorist in 2011. th

it is so memorable that back in 2014 the islamic state group leader abu bakr al—baghdadi gave a speechy mosque. why would they destroy it? it is the same reason. it is very simple for them. they know, from the media and unofficial media, the iraqi army want this, to destroy the iraqi army want this, to destroy the idea of the caliphate which announced from the mosque. this is very important for them. if they stormed the mosque and they finished the placed where abu bakr al—baghdadi appears in front of the people publicly, it means that the caliphate will be finished and the idea of the caliphate will be destroyed completely. then they will lose mosul and finish isis's assistance in any big city in iraq. let's have a look at some of the other news for you. the conservative government in britain has outlined plans to parliament. after losing the majority in the election, the government put forward no controversial pledges. eight of the 27 bills in the speech read out by queen elisabeth concern the withdrawal from the eu. queen elisabeth concern the withdrawalfrom the eu. there queen elis

the mosque is where back in 2014 isis leader abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance shortly a caliphate. it comes as this exclusive footage filmed by the bbc shows coalition troops within metres of the site. a few hours ago i was there in the evening with counterterrorism forces in iraq, which is the closest we've gone today. just 150 metres away from the mosque, and two hours after we left the place, we heard this bad news that is destroyed the mosque, or blew it up. attacking the city from all directions, iraqi commanders say they are in the final chapter of the offensive, but with thousands still trapped in the city and more sacred sites destroyed, it's clear the battle for parts of mosul is far from over and nothing is safe. craig whiteside teaches national security affairs at the us naval postgraduate school. he was previously a us army colonel in iraq, and he researches and writes on the ideology of the islamic state group. i asked him whether he believed the iraqi government's statement that the mosque was destroyed by is. ido i do for now. without definitive proof it

it's where there is leader abu bakr al—baghdadi gave a speech three years ago proclaiming a new "caliphate bring you more as we find out. today the british government set out its programme of legislation in the formal ceremony of the queen's speech. of course, given the circumstances — theresa may still doesn't have a working majority — it was always going to be subdued. gone are the uk prime minister's ambitions for big changes at home. in fact this may be a queen's speech that will be remembered for what's missing rather than what's being proposed. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. nothing normal this time. a sense of occasion but a political year like no other. the bus and for now, she still has the prime ministerialjaguar. your first and last queen's speech, prime minister? the music and the marching still happened. yet, with the election held in a hurry, no time for the queen's horses to practice. so the royal bentley had to do. the queen arriving for the 64th time. her son, not her husband alongside her. get your skates on. first race is 2.30 pm! after all, with royal asc

do you know where abu bakr al—baghdadi is?aghdadi is? laughter man, i was hoping you knew! if you know, please tell me and we will kill him forthright. everyone claims to kill him at least once a month. we have someone claiming to kill abu bakr al—baghdadi. the latest one was made by the russians. i wish them well. i hope that they did. i will be happy to hear that they did. i suspect they didn't. for now russia and the us share a common enemy. 0nce they didn't. for now russia and the us share a common enemy. once the islamic state is gone, two the powers will be left backing different sides in an unfinished war. the potential for confrontation is real. stay with some bbc news. far to come, including this. just days before the tour to france, we take a spin through the history of the b i cycle. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong, with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong

they claim that an air strike killed abu bakr al baghdadi in syria.t time it's been reported that he's been killed or is on the brink of death. these are all headlines that talk about whether he's been killed. for more on what is going on here, and the continued fight against isis and terrorism, i'm joined by "the new york times'" reporter who has helped me before on these things. two things. first of all, abu bakr al baghdadi is probably the world's most-wanted terrorist, the head of isis, many different groups have pledged allegiance to him. we don't see him much. we're seeing video of him here. he doesn't speak much. we don't really generally know where he is. is he that important? >> first of all, let's say the pentagon is not confirming -- >> correct. >> they're urging caution. that's important to get out there. >> we don't know if he's dead or not. >> we don't know, he most likely is not dead because the pentagon would know by this stage. he has enormous symbolic significance to the islamic state, a generation of young men who joined the group h

it's important to take out a leader like al baghdadi, but it's not sufficient.s demonstrably. isis is an idea that's franchised itself, and so it's a little bit self-deception for any of us to suddenly celebrate and say, okay, now the problem will go away. >> but still a significant symbolic victory, chris? >> i believe so. continuing to pursue the leadership inside these networks is always going to be critical, but i think to stan's point, if you hang your hat just on taking out the leadership, in a network, that doesn't really work because there is no top-down leadership. they're all integrated, so you have to continue to keep pressure on the entire network. >> that's kind of the point that isis wanted all along, the decentralized structure. another bit of news is that in afghanistan, we know now that the president has given over authority on troop numbers over to the pentagon, over to general mattis. and the "associated press" today is reporting that they are likely to be adding an additional 4,000 troops there. that enough to turn the tide, chris? >> well, i