we have ben wedeman joining me with the latest. in ramadi much like the oil fields shows how strategic isis has been to really try to choke off the iraqi government. >> reporter: certainly after may 17th when they took ramadi this additional step of cutting off the flow of the euphrates river passing through ramadi poses a problem. there are millions of iraqis who live downstream from the euphrates in ramadi. they are threatened with losing their drinking water and water for agriculture as well. certainly this is yet another headache for the iraqi authorities. going back to the controversy about what tony blinken is saying that more than 10,000 isis fighters have been killed within the last year that has, as you said caused a lot of push back by the pentagon and many others. back in january, stuart jones, the u.s. ambassador to iraq says 6,000 isis fighters had been killed. this caused discomfort among pentagon officials who worry this is the body counts like used to be put out by u.s. officials during the vietnam war. now, a, the

our senior correspondent ben wedeman joins us with the latest. good morning, ben. >> reporter: good morning, john. the worry of iraqi officials regarding the dam in ramadi is they will cut off the flow of the euphrates river. that is the source of water for many iraqis downstream. so this is just another complication that has happened since the may 17th fall of the strategic city in anbar province to isis. recording the statement from the deputy secretary of state, yes, he did say that the u.s. he believed the coalition, has killed as many as 10,000 isis fighters but the cia says isis has between 20,000 and 32,000 fighters and has been able to replace them through recruitment over the years. now it is important to keep in mind according to u.s. officials, isis has since the height of its expansion, has lost about 25% of its territory. keep in mind within the last month, isis has been able to make two stunning victories. one, of course, is the fall of ramadi. the other is the fall of palmyra. despite the loss of territory, isis doesn't seem to be s

ben wedeman just returned. ben, we're just learning, 450 more american troops are going into iraq.nough to stop isis? >> reporter: certainly in terms of the numbers, it's small. keep in mind that out of the current 3,100 u.s. forces here in iraq at the moment only about 650 are actually involved in training. an additional 450 isn't going to make a huge difference. what's interesting is that they're going to be deployed to a base which is halfway between fallujah controlled by isis and ramadi controlled by isis. they're going to be very much near the action. that seems to be one of the objectives of this new deployment the creation of a new base where u.s. forces will be training the iraqis. it appears that they're going to be playing sort of not necessarily -- they're not going to be involved in combat. but they will be close enough to the action that they can provide the kind of up close advising perhaps, that they have not been doing until now. >> ben, you were right outside the town the iraqis say they control but the united states says at best it's 50/50. what did you see? >> r

ben wedeman, cnn, anbar province iraq. >>> and please stay with us here on cnn.ll have a closer look at what life was like living under the rule of isis. we have an exclusive report from tal abyad. >>> and a little bit of breaking news for you. a small plane registered to oscar-winning composer james horner has crashed, killing the pilot. >> right now we don't know if horner was flying the plane. the faa said the crash happened monday morning near santa barbara. he is known for right being music for titanic, brave heart and avatar. >>> u.s. president obama used a radio interview to speak very candidly about race. but his use of one word in particular turned attention to the topic. >>> also details on a white supremacist movement which allegedly insfiered the charleston shooter. recently signed a 30-year mortgage on this home. they must be confident about the future. are you? buy in. quickenloans/home buy. refi. power. seems like we've hit a road block. that reminds me... anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea... ...gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon h

ben wedeman, cnn, anbar province, iraq. >> a new kind of morning begins in the u.s.arleston. victims of last week's church shooting now being buried. how the families and the community are honoring the people they've lost. that's ahead here. plus donald trump says the u.s. is becoming the dumping ground for the world's problems. we will tell you how he's fairing in the latest polls as well. that's coming up. so you're a small business expert from at&t? yeah, give me a problem and i've got the solution. well, we have 30 years of customer records. our cloud can keep them safe and accessible anywhere. my drivers don't have time to fill out forms. tablets. keep them all digital. we're looking to double our deliveries. our fleet apps will find the fastest route. oh, and your boysenberry apple scones smell about done. ahh, you're good. i like to bake. with at&t get up to $400 dollars in total savings on tools to manage your business. okay guys, we've got two cars here. we're going to start watching a movie in the chevy malibu. ♪ (kids laughing) he's flying ok guys, pause t

ben wedeman live in baghdad. so much for your reporting on the ground there. >>> a new york prison worker has been arraigned on charges that she helped two convicted killers to escape. joyce mitchell's attorney entered a not guilty plea late friday. authorities say she provided hacksaw blades, drill bits and lighted eye glasses to the escapees. cnn's legal analyst mark geragos talked about friday's court appearance. >> my suspicion, at least, is that this is kind of a kabuki theater in terms of what the prosecution is doing in terms of trying to get other people to cooperate and by putting out this kind of a message, having her right before the weekend taken into custody looking terrified and everything else. and at the same time, understand something, she should be terrified. god forbid anybody gets injured in the capture of these two escapees. she is going to be in a world of hurt. right now she's got -- she's facing a felony and a misdemeanor. if somebody gets hurt on this, there's a lot of prosecutors who cou

>> ben wedeman live in baghdad. e appreciate your insight and efforts to bring us the reporting from that region. thank you. >>> you are watching "cnn newsroom." ahead, a group of hikers learn their fate in a malaysian courtroom after being arrested for their naked photo shoot atop a sacred mountain. you wouldn't take medicine without checking the side effects. hey honey. huh. the good news is my hypertension is gone. so why would you invest without checking brokercheck? check your broker with brokercheck. >>> welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. four western tourists are expected to leave malaysia for home today after serving jail time for stripping naked and posting photos on top of a sacred malaysian mountaintop. all four backpackers pled guilty to obscenity charges. the court fined them about $1,300 and then freed them, taking into consideration the three days that they had already served. local residents said their behavior caused an earthquake earlier this month, an earthquake that killed 16 peopl

ben wedeman, cnn, anbar province, iraq. >> you are watching cnn newsroom.ire for the iran nuclear talks. just ahead on the show we'll explain what each side is hoping to gain from a landmark agreement. it's part adrenaline and part adventure. it's part geek and part chic. it's part relaxation and part exhilaration. it's part sports car and part suv. and the best part? the 2015 gla. it's 100% mercedes-benz. ♪ most weekends only last a couple of days. some last a lifetime. hampton. we go together. always get the lowest price, only when you book direct at hampton.com >>> welcome back to cnn newsroom. i'm george howell. u.s. secretary of state john kerry heads to vienna today for the next round of nuclear talks with iran. keeping in mind there's a self--imposed june 30th deadline to reach a deal. here's a look at what's at stake. ♪ >> the object of this exercise is to ensure that iran's nuclear program remains peaceful and to remove restrictions that have been imposed on iran unjustifiably. >> the inspectors will have access throughout the entire supply chain g

our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is covering the story from baghdad. >> reporter: that'sat somehow this 450 additional u.s. troops added to the 3,100 already here will somehow make the difference. they're going to be based at an air base which is halfway between ramadi and fallujah two towns under the control of isis. the u.s. wants to provide training and perhaps weapons to sunny sunni fighters. but it's not going to be anything along the same scale as what we saw during the surge in 2006-2007 when the u.s. spent millions and millions of dollars, actually paying the salaries of sunni tribesmen, training them providing them with weapons. and they did succeed back then at crushing al qaeda in iraq as it was called back then. it's a whole different order now. you have isis controlling a third of the country. they're much better armed than al qaeda in iraq ever was. and certainly there's hesitation within the iraqi government itself to arm and train sunni tribesmen, because the worry is they'll take that training and take those weapons over to isis. >> ben wedeman reporting

listen to what ben wedeman was told. >> reporter: the crew of this iraqi army 155 millimeters self-pro-felelled howitzer prepares to fire. the target is the isis held town west of baiji where the battle wages on. the howitzer and its ammunition are american made. the united states says it is going to send an additional 400 troops to help in the effort to train the iraqi army, but when you speak to iraqi military officers, they say that's just a drop in the bucket of what they actually need. iraqi forces, a combination of government troops and members of the shia led prar military group have been battling to take baiji and the nearby refinery from isis. iraqi officials in baghdad told cnn most of the town is now in pro--government hands, but when we got near it through the haze it didn't seem so secure. you can hear gun fire, says local sunni commander. until now there are skirmtishes with the remnants of isis and others are fleeing toward mosul. field commanders say isis while on the defensive still holds 50% of baiji. major general has been in the iraqi army for 37 years. he says what ira

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and in talking to ben wedeman, they need more weapons, not training. you talk to a general who has been in the army for 35 years, he said he did not believe the united states was committed to defeating isis. he says the u.s. has the abilities to defeat them, but he has not seen it yet. >> can more weapons and training defeat isis or is there a political component to this as well? >> reporter: ultimately it will be a political deal between the sunnis and shi'ites. a lot of mistrust there. this goes back for many years. so there is that divide that will be difficult for diplomats to try to get them to come together and see eye to eye. as you reported earlier, you said earlier that these weapons had been slow to getting to the sunni fighters. that highlights this mistrust that okay if they are able to defeat isis what next? that is going to be the crucial part moving forward. >> that sunni disenfranchised government in baghdad is something feeding the fuel of the recruitment of isis as well. important to watch that. thank you, ian lee. >>> american citize

ben wedeman, cnn, baghdad. >>> another one of the 14 men  under u.s. indictment in the fifa corruption case surrendered to italian authorities. alejandro burzaco is an argentine marketing executive accused of paying bribes for media rights. >> meantime, former fifa vice president jack warner is blasting the u.s. in his own newspaper in trinidad. he accuses the u.s. of racism and says he cannot get a fair trial there. u.s. prosecutors allege warner took millions of dollars in bribes. >> and the head of australian's football federation maintains his country's bid for the world cup was clean. frank lowy explained the faa's $500,000 denation for a center of excellence in warner's nation. >> i have never spoken to warner about the subject. it was with always done at the level of the executives. both areas. >> no conversation with jack warner about this? >> no conversation with jack warner about this. >> when he talks about an avalanche of secrets he's sitting on, this is not one of them. >> i have no concern about that. and i have made no offer to him. i ha

ben wedeman, cnn, amman. >> well french authorities are investigating the motive by the terror attacktory on friday. a man set off a blast injuring two people. authorities then found a severed head hanging from a fence at the factory with islamic writing nearby. officers found a decapitated body who authorities say is the suspect's body. they later took that suspect in to custody. michael, you can see there's a lot of activity here now behind me. the hotel where 38 people lost their lives yesterday here in tunisia. hotels are now closed. we see buses going in all morning. a lot of activity. another bus coming out now, taking tour ists away from what was a murder site. very frightening experience for everybody involved. >> i was there, i think 2011 and you know, it was then real oasis in many ways in the region for european tourists. there were thousands and thousands of tourists who loved to go there for the beaches and the atmosphere and the comparative stability. what have you been feeling there? what's your sense among people that you have been able to talk to? >> yeah. you talk to

>> all right, ben wedeman in baghdad. be careful over there. thank you very much. president obama has been criticized over the past 24 hours, including by some members of congress for a lack of an anti-isis strategy in iraq. but the president has seemingly put the blame directly on iraq's government. listen to this. >> we don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the iraqis. >> all right, let's bring in the ambassador of iraq to the united states mr. ambassador thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> you heard what the president had to say. let me play you more of what he said at the news conference yesterday because, also he's clearly disappointed in what your "boston" is doing or not doing. listen to this. >> one of the things that we're still seeing is -- in iraq places where we've got more training capacity than we have recruits. so part of my discussion with prime minister abadi was how do we make sure that we get more recruits in. a big part of the answer is our outreach to sunni tribes. >> so