>> barbara starr for us at the pentagon. a surprising turn of events in iran today. the country's presidents is praising the new nuclear deal with the u.s. and other nations promising iran does not lie when it promises to abide by the agreement. members of congress they are not so sure. the battle lines already are forming for what looks to be a titanic battle over what president obama is calling an historic deal. let's bring in cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim? >> reporter: that's right. when it comes to this nuclear deal with iran the white house has no shortage of critics from congress to the middle east. white house aides tell us they have just about every top official in this administration reaching out to skeptics starting with the president who plans to speak with the top four leaders in congress by the end of today. even as he was on the road president obama was on the phone, dialing up nervous lawmakers who aren't sold on his nuclear deal with iran. the president's already tried and failed to convince his biggest critic israeli prime mini

let's go now to cnn's barbara starr live at the pentagon. barbara, lay out how this horrific attack went down. >> reporter: it started at morning prayers and tonight as it concludes, kenyan authorities are saying that at least four gunmen have been killed and more than 500 students now fully accounted for, still raising concerns about this al qaeda group and what they may be up to next. it is a blood bath at a college in kenya. 147 people killed and dozens injured when heavily armed gunmen from al shabab an islamist militant group, stormed garissa university in southern kenya. an eyewitness reported the attackers burst into early morning christian prayers and then began separating muslim and christian students killing the christians. not a surprise that terrorists went after a large student population. nearly impossible to fully protect. >> kenya is such an important target for al shabab because kenya has been the primary driving force behind operations against al shabab in the region. they are the biggest, biggest enemy for al shabab. >> rep

cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr has that part of the story. orning, carol. all of this of course at the request of the government of nepal asking the u.s. for some additional assistance. we are told by the pentagon two special forces aid teams that had already been in nepal for high altitude training will now begin helping search some of the more popular trekking routes in nepal, including the everest base camp route, trying to look for any trekkers that may be stranded injured, or perhaps even killed in the aftermath of all of these earthquakes and aftershocks. so they will help with the nepal army to begin searching these popular trekking routes at these very high altitudes. it's about 2,000 special forces that had actually already been there for some high altitude training. they also have specialized medical training so they will also help with some medical assistance setting up some tents for people. the people of nepal who may be homeless have nowhere to go back to or too afraid to go back in to their homes. all of this part of the effort

barbara starr at the pentagon. isis may have pulled most of its fighters out of tikrit but it's still a very very dangerous place. our senior international correspondent arwa damon made it into the city with shots still being fired and explosions still echoing. >> reporter: this is the main road leading through tikrit. this is the center of the city. that building we were told had a suicide bomber and a sniper on the roof. there are still various gun shots that you do hear pockets of resistance still exist. that the governor's compound. when the iraqi forces went inside one of the majors was telling us it was boobytrapped. the stairway had explosives in it and when one of their officers stepped, it detonated. two officers were killed another three soldiers wounded inside there. if we swing around a bit more you still see smoke rising and you see plumes of smoke throughout the entire city. there were widespread concerns that when this force came through tikrit a sunni area it would be carrying out acts of revenge, r

pentagon correspondent barbara starr looks at what could happen if a strike against iran is ordered.r: even as the u.s. and iran struggle to reach a nuclear agreement, defense secretary ash carter said there are other ways to stop iran's nuclear program. >> the military option will remain on the table. >> reporter: bombing iran's nuclear sites could be tough. >> even military action would not be as successful as the deal that we have put forward. >> reporter: if there is no deal or iran violates a deal, any potential bombing campaign by israel or the u.s. would have problems. iran's nuclear sites are spread out. at least two are buried underground. >> translator: the deal will leave iran with underground facilities, a nuclear reactor and advanced centrifuges. >> reporter: that's a problem because f-15s have to be refueled in midair. >> the israelis are going to have difficulty getting to all of the targets. they can do things in the 500 to 700-mile range. >> reporter: israel doesn't have large enough bombs to fully destroy those underground sites. >> i think it's a fair characterizat

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let's bring in cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr on al shabaab and what its aims are. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. al shabaab is a group that the u.s. has been watching for years. their initial strong hold in somalia is where they have been operating in the initial years. driven out in recent months by major combat operations by troops from africa from the african union in east africa. they've been set back on their heels a bit in somalia. the al shabaab has been turned to the so-called soft targets that we've seen. shopping malls. this university today in kenya. it was just in february that al shabaab issued a video claiming that they were going to threaten u.s. and european shopping malls. the soft targets are so readily available for them to go after. the kind of targets that just simply cannot be reasonably practically fully protected against attacks. so this is something that the u.s. is well aware of. the concern for the u.s. about al shabaab is not, of course what they are inflicting on these people in kenya and somalia. terrible as it is. a l

our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has taken a look at that. what are you hearing from the pentagon at this hour? >> reporter: good morning, the pentagon, the u.s. intelligence community has been watching al shabaab for years. this is their latest attack. again, this group out of somalia, moving against the so-called soft targets. they have attacked shopping malls in the past, areas not practical for anyone to fully protect. they moved against this university, and the situation on the ground, as you say, still unfolding, still very unclear as to exactly the casualties, the wounded, how many are being held hostage. kenyan authorities moving against this. this is a big task for them. al shabaab, their stronghold has been somalia. they've been rooted out of some of those areas because african urine june troops have moved in and conducted a long campaign against them. many people say al shabaab is on the run, if you will. look, they still have demonstrated today they can move against these soft targets. why is the u.s. continuing to be so concerned

/iran relationship. >> barbara starr, thank you so much. let's talk more about this with cnn senior international correspondent, arwa damon, live in baghdad. you just returned from tikrit. you were there this morning. what's it like on the ground inside that city? >> reporter: well i can tell you first and foremost that those iranian backed shia militias that the u.s. is so concerned about are very present on the ground. they were very much a part of the push into tikrit. they proved to be essential in the battle to take tikrit and there are a lot of concerns we are hearing about from the various senior members of the iraqi security forces the federal police that we have been speaking to as to how much control they can actually exert over them. the entire city has been decimated. there are plumes of smoke that rise above it due to explosives that the iraqis had to detonate in place but also when we were turning around one corner we saw a group that was mostly made up of these iranian backed shia militias and one man was holding a severed he

let's get the very latest from our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. barbara? >> reporter: wolf, the assault went on for hours starting in the early morning when al shabab gunmen part of an al qaeda linked group in east africa attacked this university in southern kenya. kenyan authorities are reporting by the time it was over 147 dead more than 500 actually nearly 600 students finally accounted for. at least four gunmen dead. the gunmen began bicepy separating out the christian and muslim students and killing many christian students. so this has just been a devastating attack. it's another attack by this group which has been on the run somewhat against one of the so-called soft targets. universities shopping malls, people who are just going about their daily business and there's really no practical way to fully protect them from a terrorist attack. the white house condemning it. the president of kenya coming out, reassuring his people telling everyone to stay calm but also asking if anyone has information about the attackers to please share it. wolf? >> tell us

. >> barbara starr, thank you very much. >> sure. >>> coming up next one day after the governor of indianao fix the state religious law. today the governor of arkansas gave his news that he won't sign the bill in the current form. did he learn the lessons of what happened in indiana? we'll talk to the representative that made the push to change everything, next. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be pla

let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr work the story for us. what are you learning? >> wolf so far no verification that the saudi air strikes have directly killed civilians on the ground. but the question of civilian casualties is something that has the pentagon concerned. a yemen government special forces camp under attack. explosions in the street. as government and rebel forces battle each other in southern yemen. civilians run for safety as french troops evacuate children. more than 600 indian chinese, pakistani and slivisri lankans getsing out. the u.s. is providing more backup for the campaign against the iranian-backed rebels. >> we have expedited weapons delivery increased intelligence sharing and we've established a joint coordination planning cell in the saudi operation center. >> the pentagon appointed karl mundy to run a 20-person support operation. the immediate question will the u.s. share detailed satellite imagery on specific targets the saudis want to hit? >> the united states would be in a terribly difficult and awkward position if it did not offer

barbara starr is joining us. she has this story for us.> reporter: wolf another place on the ground where the u.s. has almost no intelligence no ability to influence events. outside damascus syria, the palestinian refugee camp now almost completely captured by isis. the estimate is they control 90% of the camp. there are 18,000 palestinians refugees including 3,000 children, who have been living there in dire circumstances due to the ongoing conflict in syria. the u.n. says the hour has never been more dire for these people. the running gun battles across the neighborhoods are -- there is no food water, medicine. no ability to get aid in. the u.n. calling for a halt to the fighting. there's no indication that isis is listening to anybody. >> that's true. let's turn to the deadly terror attack in kenya. we are learning about the hunt for the mastermind behind that attack at the university killing about 147 students mostly christians. >> reporter: indeed. the kenyan government putting a $250,000 reward on the head of a man, an al shabab comm

barbara starr is outfront. >> reporter: it is a blood bath at a college in kenya. 147 people killed and injured when heavily armed gunmen from al shabab an islamist militant group, stormed garissa university in southern kenya. an eyewitness reported the attackers burst into early morning christian prayers and then began separating muslim and christian students killing the christians. not a surprise that terrorists went after a large student population. nearly impossible to fully protect. >> kenya is such an important target for al shabab because kenya has been the primary driving force behind operations against al shabab in the region. they're the biggest, biggest enemy for al shabab. >> reporter: kenyan troops have taken the lead in attempting to push al shabab out of its traditional stronghold in somalia. kenya's president, trying to reassure his country, calling up more police recruits. >> i also take this opportunity to urge kenyans to stay calm as we resolve this matter. >> reporter: the siege ongoing for hours, as kenyan security forces fired back and rescue forces tried to move i

barbara starr is live. hi. >> reporter: good morning.itary helicopter raids, all of it has gone into the raised in shabab in somalia in recent years. there has been limited success getting the leaders. in kenya, al shabaab very active under this leadership we've seen attack the university. the top military talked about the strength of shabab. general david rodriguez testify testifying before congress said about al shabaab, i "it remains a persistent threat to the u.s. and regional interests. al shabaab has broadened its operations to conduct asymmetric attacks, these type of attacks against so-called soft targets that reach such h destruction. can al sha bob reach out and conduct a major assault into the united ? the intelligence assessment is probably not. but they are very active going after targets in their region. the big concern is they might be able to recruit somali americans living in this country to go back to somalia and fight or stage lone wolf attacks here in the u.s. it was just in february al shabaab issued a videotape thre

let's begin with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr live in washington. ? >> good morning, alisyn. the situation unfolding in kenya very carefully, very cautiously. this is still an ongoing terrorist attack as you say. hundreds of these students perhaps still unaccounted for as many as 15 potentially dead. this is a hostage situation. gunshots still ringing out. al shabaab gunmen attacking this university in southern kenya earlier this morning. now the al shabaab claiming credit for this attack is a group that the u.s. has been watching for years. their strong hold is in somalia. they have staged any number of raids and attacks across the kenya border. in 2013 of course they claimed responsibility for the attack on the west gate shopping mall in nairobi, kenya. this is a group that has also vowed to attack u.s. shopping malls in february of this year just a few weeks ago, they released a video claiming that they were planning to attack u.s. shopping malls. they were talking about the mall of the americas in minnesota. one reason al shabaab is of such conce