the commander of one of the strongest shia militia backed by iraq. he did -- he denies the attacks at all. >> we are not in a hurry. we are destroying their supplies. the longer it goes on, weaker islamic state will become. the areas around tikrit have now been liberated. this is as far as we have been allowed to go because of the fighters. all around this evidence. this the wreckage from one of the extremist suicide bombs. the iraqi army the battle for tikrit has largely been on the sidelines. >> we are going to stand back and let you run through the lanes all by yourself. iraqi soldiers have been trained by american and spanish forces. >> they will have established -- six weeks to train a brigade but that is not enough. >> a strong iraqi army made up of shia and sunni is needed to overcome the sectarian divide. the shia led militia is seen as potentially destabilizing. but it is the shia militia doing much of the fighting and dying in the war against islamic state. these are some of the thousands who the party lost their lives leaving women and chi

the strikes were requested by iraq's government after iraqi leaders earlier said they didn't need u.s. help to win back the city. instead, iraq turned to military advisers from iran to help its fighting force of more than 20,000 men many of them shiite muslim militiamen with iranian links. a condition of the u.s. strikes is that the militias go home. just outside tikrit two weeks ago, an iraqi general bahaa al azawi confidently told us that victory was days away. but the tikrit offensive stalled, even though one senior iraqi politician told us isis may have only 20 fighters left in the city. >> there are very few. they're using snipers and boop trap buildings. >> reporter: saad al muttalibi admits iraq's army is feeble despite $20 billion spent by the u.s. to train and equip it. >> i think the american money was very badly spent. >> reporter: by whom? by the iraqis or by the americans? >> by the americans. the americans produced for us a very weak, disorganized army, filled with corruption, an army that fell within the first battle. >> reporter: the u.s.-led air strikes may help win b

. >> reporter: if they do overtake isis, some fear more bloodshed sparked by iraq's deadly religious tary officials say about 25,000 iraqi troops will try to retake iraq's second largest city of mosul this spring, but caution the offensive will be delayed if iraq's army is not ready for that fight. >>> still ahead on the news at noon, people living on cape cod say they have never seen anything like this. the beautiful side of the snow and ice next. >> spring knocking on the doorstep. if you're sniffling, here's why. first time i'm showing you this year. moderate on the tree pollen and moderate on the mold. as far as our forecast, we've got ups and downs in the seven- day. i'll tell but your weekend coming up in one year 5.6 million hospital workers helped perform 26.6 million surgeries deliver 3.7 million babies and treat 133 million e.r. patients. now congress is considering cuts which could increase wait times reduce staff, and threaten your community's health. keep the heart of america's hospitals strong. for you and your family tell congress: don't cut hospital care. >>> as exhaus

the government towards security in iraq welcoming the applicable microrate by iraq in a manner enabling iraq to exercise its significant role as a key arab player and we hope that iraq will be able to achieve the obligations of the reconciliation accord. steering away from syrian or ethnic discrimination maintaining that iraq as a state should restore sovereignty and security across the home sail in order to fend off any terrorist threats. egypt is monitoring the development in lebanon. amid the challenges facing the region, and here not failing to suppress egypt welcomes the dialogue among all the lebanese factions, with an aim to put an end to the division and polaritionation and tension, in order to enable lebanon, as a country, to get through this political moment safeguard and preserve the resources of the country, and we hope that these efforts will bring about an election of a president without further delay, and here i would like to mention the suffering of the somali people of the threat of their daily life for more than two decades, despite the noticeable

it is his own mess because we came at a by iraq in 2010 clearly leaving the country and prepare to defend itself now be pushed iraq into the arms of iran and we're just giving air support for the iranian army. there is no way to not rings of bell of this you don't put people on the ground but this president is so casualty evers the ones in baghdad cannot lead the troops that they just trained and up north they cannot get within 10 kilometers of the front lines so what this leads to is instagram and atwitter videos of atrocities perpetrated by iraqi troops with the iranian leadership edited is no surprise for those that have not led the iraqis if you don't supervise them they go to the level you constantly have to supervise to say don't shoot your friend in the foot would now be fun not to beat your men? >> but which ones did day raised? if it's the iranian militia racemes the forces are in deep. >> effectively when the iraqi militia and other dominated areas are a defacto province of very and. the areas are playing chess but isis is playing checkers kennedy: what about the iraqi forces? p

iraq is in a unique position. the two closest allies are enemies. it is backed by the united states but also for the past several years has had tremendous iranian influence, politically, economically, militarily and religiously. a close religious connection between iraq and iran given the fact they are predominantly shia. there have been concerns about the is shia militias and the behavior of these. the past several years have taught us the rise of shia militias have brought a lot of sectarian rife with them as well. that's a major concern for the united states. are they inadvertently strengthening iran and its influence in iraq? in the long term what has emerged is iran has become a major player in iraqi politics. that's a fact. it cannot be denied. the question is how does this new iraqi prime minister maintain that balance between his close association with the united states and the close affiliation with iran? >> if this one is successful, the next big ground offensive is mosul and then the u.s. and iraqi government will be in a position of thinking how much do

but the problem is that iraq is fighting -- is being spearheaded by iran.up with iran, it appears. >> the president doesn't understand that sometimes the enemy of your enemy is still your own enemy. and i think he has gotten into bed with a dangerous, dangerous situation with iran. the middle east, the arab countries and the middle east are worried about iran now. if iran becomes a nuclear iran which he is going to let them be after 10 years, they are going to be scared to death. you cannot have a policy which strengthens the enemy. and i think iran is still an enemy. >> governor, nice to see you, sir. >> thank you good to see you. >> as the u.s. tries to deal with iran president obama demanding outside the nuclear weapons program deal that iran released detained americans and help former fbi agent robert listenson. he disappeared from the i'll land of kish in 2007. christine, nice to see you. every time you appear on this show i keep thinking next time it's going to be very different that we are going to be celebrating. all these years later you your husba

we have couple competing objectives in iraq, we want to make sure that we defeat isis because they pose to our homeland. we don't want if see iranian increase by making iraq some kind of a vast state of tehran. those goals are somewhat in conflict. complementary in part because we're trying to defeat isis at the same time, this heavy reliance on these iranian backed shia militia is concern. >> how does this trying to get some kind of deal to curb their nuclear weapons? you heard the reservations that senator burr just expressed. >> i'm for a good deal f. we can get one. think it's still unclear what that final deal is going to look like. and i would be very good because alternative is we pass new sanctions which i would support. we hope to keep europeans together if we're lucky. and we wait for that additional economic pressure to bring iran back to the table get a better deal. the problem is, that may take years. they may get to israel's line before that time comes. alternative is also dangerous. but i'm trying to keep my -- >> schieffer: should we extend the deadline? senator burr would be willing to go along with that. >> i was interested h

the fact that irregulars of one of iraq sex are leading an offensive in an area that's controlled by iraq sunis is problematic at least. so how they comport themselves if they're successful is going to be very important. it's a way of saying what happens after the battle maybe more important than the battle itself. >> with regard to the battle we have to talk about iran. i want to ask you and we brought you on because you're familiar with the iran general and referred to as the shadow commander and the dark knight. i know he was once called a truly evil figure and photographed on the frontlines. you dealt with him indirectly and can you tell me a little bit more of who this man is? >> he has commanded the iran revolution guard since the late 1990s, so a long time in the job and it's irans external operation forces. they control, arm and train and proside operation directions to groups and to those iraq that lish sas so a capital and dangerous man. >> and i am going back to your point about some of these iraq's with the blood on the hands. there are photos that have surfaced that have appe

by james jeffrey ambassador to iraq and turkey. currently a fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from berkeley, california, we are also joined by steven fish who is a professor of compare at this politics at uc berkeley focuses on democracy in europe. i had good to have you with us, i'll start with you and the issue that libby casey first raised in her story. that the president was elected to end wars but now he's facing criticism for not getting more involved. is that fair? >> first of all the president ran on an ending of was campaign and the american people were tired particularly of iraq to a lesser degree but still significantly afghanistan. but the american people did not elect barack obama for revolutionize what has been 60 years of american management of a global security system. that says based on military force and the willingness to use it if necessary. i believe, and i work for him in his heart of hearts he is not certain in the 21st century that tradition is the correct tradition. he therefore ev

. >> reporter: the attempt by iraq to re-take the town of tikrit from isis is well underway. according to iraqi media reports, there may be as many as 30,000 iraqi soldiers police men, sunni tribal leaders as well as fighters with the shia popular mobilization unit involved in this offensive. and the iraqi media says the army and the other militias have been able to take some territory to the south of tikrit. now what's interesting is the level of iranian involvement in this operation. the head of the elite iranian kutz force is reportedly in the area. he is playing a supervisory role in this offensive. in addition to that there are apparently lyly iranian drooptroops on the ground. according to some reports they are using artillery. a pentagon official said the iraqis did not ask for any advice on this operation and that there have been no coalition air strikes in the area. the only air strikes have been by the iraqi air force itself. the iraqi officials say this operation could take as long as ten days but it could be an even longer slog than that. tikrit is a town of aroun

>> warda: yeah, to get iraq to its normal situation. >> logan: and by getting iraq to its normal situationtoring the border between iraq and syria? >> warda: yes. >> logan: getting rid of da'esh, the islamic state? >> warda: exactly. >> logan: defeating them militarily? >> warda: please god. >> logan: the christian community hastily set up militias to guard their deserted villages and homes along the frontline, and they're getting a little help. we were surprised to come across american brett felton, a christian veteran of the iraq war, who traveled on his own from detroit to train christian volunteers. and this man, khamis, who said he came from australia, driven to defend the land where he was born. what do you think the islamic state intends to do with the christians here? >> khamis: to wipe them out, to be nothing. no place left that bears the name of christian or christianity. >> logan: christians in the frontier town of al qosh live in the shadow of the islamic state. under constant threat, the militiamen keep watch as they celebrate their faith and carry out traditions that are as o

. >> the air campaign tikrit is absolutely necessary ground forces supplied by iraq weren't working. there is no effective iraqi air campaign. we put a caption on this by saying the iranian backed had to get out of tikrit before we would do it. it will change the nature of the battle. it won't win it. air campaign has to be done because of incompetent iraqi forces. absolutely it helps the shia backed iranian government. there is no question at the same time trying to negative wait with iran over nuclear weapons. >> colonel peters help me out here. there are about 400,000 military personnel between the iraqi army and peshmerga in the syria iraq area. why can't they control 30 or 40000 isis troops. what am i missing? >> you just hit on a key point and i want to build on what colonel hunt just said. what we should really be alarmed about. we just saw almost 30,000 iraqi troops iraqi shia militia iran backed militia and iranian revolutionary national guard almost 30,000 of them could not dislodge some hundreds of islamic state militants from this relatively small city of tikrit. that tell

states. -- by a slavic state. iraq needs to recapture it if it's going to keep its viability as a state. >> is it mostly shia militias -- a rating in general is commanding some of the troops will stop >> yes stop he's basically responsible for all of the operations external to it ran -- external to iran. what he is doing is taking a personal interest in this. he is reported to be in and around tikrit, managing and leading the forces in this area. he's obviously a very hands-on commander. ask how are the americans supporting this battle? >> it's interesting because according to official statements from the pentagon, there's no direct u.s. involvement in this in terms of air support, logistics or anything else. there are probably some elements of support there, especially on the logistical side. there may be some kind of support that is not immediately evident, but there's certainly nothing that has been publicly revealed. x what will determine whether they can take tikrit and go to muzzle? what's meant them is key. the

in alqosh, they remain under attack in much of iraq and syria and throughout parts of the middle east. 21 egyptian coptic christians recently were beheaded byisis fighters in libya, and isis has made it a point to publicize its destruction of ancient and precious christian artifacts in iraq. hundreds of christians have been taken hostage, an untold number have been killed and hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced, and yet the christians we met insist they will never surrender to isis. >> ( translated ): we will overcome them. we will never leave. they are evil. they are murderers. they will not defeat us. we will defeat them. >> reporter: while the u.s. government has yet to issue a ruling about the legality of volunteering for these militias, brett says the international community, including christians in the united states, need to do much more to defend people he describes as "their brothers and sisters in christ," people now under attack here. what's the message that you are trying to take to the world? >> they need to open their ears. people are crying. they need to open their eyes. they need to help. we need funds, we nee

men and women often use weapons designed and built during the cold war but their experiences shaped by iraq and afghanistan and libya and kosovo and against violent extremists, not a face-off between the iron curtain and central europe with the threat of a large-scale nuclear war. for me the war ended in september of 1991. i was in command of a unit on the day when president george h.w. bush ordered all of our nuclear bombers and their supporting tankers and half of our intercontinental ballistic missiles off of cold war alert status. in short order, he implemented other initiatives that have dramatic effects on u.s. posture and stockpile as well. yes, we still retained a nuclear deterrent force, ballistic missiles and intercontinental missiles on alert. for those of us in the field, the cold war was over. while we had hoped for long periods of peace dividend the 21st century has brought new challenges. today's threats are more complex than the existential threat posed by the soviet union in the 20th century. today's threat include hybrid combinations of strategy tactics and capabilities. t

but in a war fueled by sectarian hatred peace may not be a possibility. >> two revolutionary guards have been killed in iraq by u.s. drone strikes. the u.s. is denying the iranian reports saying that guards have been posted to the city of tikrit to advise in the war against isil. >>> they have september one of their top military commanders to recapture the city of idlib. it is the second provincial capital to fall in rebel hands. the united nations says syrian refugees need urgent aid and resources are dwindling fast. this is likely to be addressed at the aid conference being held in kuwait on tuesday. >> in 2014 the united nations appealed for $7.7 billion in aid to help civilians in syria. but only 63% of the money pledged was donated. in a new report, some of the worst offenders include australia, japan, south korea and russia. this year even more people need help, and an estimated 80 million people required a told of $18.7 billion. that would provide each person with only the absolute minimum for the equivalent of one $1 u.s. a day. most of the 4 million syrian refugees are in turkey, lebanon jordan egy

army has apologized to veterans wounded by exposure to chemical weapons in iraq. report last year found the pentagon failed to act on claims by more than 600 u.s. servicemembers reported being exposed to chemical weapons in iraq since 2003. "new york times" found they did the -- concealed the weapons that have been developed with your support in the 1980's and deny medical care to the wounded u.s. soldiers involved. u.s. army undersecretary brad carson has admitted the military failed to follow its own policy for treating wounded soldiers and has pledged more medical screening and support. wikileaks has published key chapter of the secret transpacific partnership -- a global trade deal currently being negotiated in secret between the united states and 11 latin american and asian countries. the tpp would cover 40% of the global economy, but details of the agreement have been concealed from the public. now, wikileaks has released the "investment chapter," which highlights gritting a tribunal for corporations can sue governments if their laws interfere with a company

off the record they said they made a mistake by letting saddam hussein stop. iraq led by saddam hussein was seen as the kind of buffer to stop iraq. everything changed after the 2003 and iran is the rising power in the region and they are making all the gains here. what would iran want from that influence. i think it's to have strengthening its position in negotiations in the west and mainly to the u.s. and saying look, we are a power of the party here. you need to take us seriously, and, therefore, we - you need to give us the right influence, the right exercising their own will and to be taken as regional powers in - in this area. that's why i think the arabs are worried. >> to take them seriously, basically. >> now omar we are talking about the rise and rise of iran shall we say. we had seen last year the new king in saudi arabia and there's no doubt that saudi arabia is a major player in this region. when he ascended to the throne he said it was time for muslim brothers to reach out, come together and put aside their differences. we are not seeing that in yemen

as reported by iraq today, no pmf forces in that area. senator mccain: so there's 4000 iraqi -- who are the others? commander austin: the shia militia that were there have pulled back from that., sir. senator mccain: so the fighting is being done by iraqi forces? commander austin: sir -- senator mccain: i only have a few minutes. maybe you can shorten the answer. commander austin: it is being done by iraqi special operations forces and the federal police -- senator mccain: why do we see pictures of soul amini leading and orchestrating this effort? commander austin: those pictures were from before. as you know, the effort from sola money has stalled. senator mccain: so the shia militia is no longer in the fight? are they still in the fight? commander austin: no, sir. they are not part of the clearing operations into crit -- in tikrit senator mccain: so the airstrikes we are carrying out our only in support of iraqi military activity? commander austin: that is correct. preconditions for us to provide support, we had to know exactly who was

forward, the iranians are moving more nimbly and increasing their influence on the iraq of the future. >>> we're joined byn iraq analyst on skype tonight from maryland. great to have you with us. how concerned should the u.s. be over any role iran is playing? >> clearly the u.s. should be concerned. the sunni arabs, some of the gulf states have criticized u.s. policy in iraq since 2003. they believe the united states handed iraq over to what they consider to be proiranian forces, and so there is that concern. this is why, i think this battle for tikrit is very tonight. on the one hand, it's psychologically important to see whether or not the iraqi forces as you mentioned in your report they tried several times to take capture tikrit but it didn't work. so now this is going to be a new test of their capability especially now that they have iranian support. but they do not have apparently u.s. support at this time. the second test that is going to be very important in this campaign is whether or not the population is going to be treated fairly the sunni population. how the iraqi forces are going to deal wit

iraq in syria. >> i agree with all of that. at this point syria is have a country'' controlled by iran iraq when ever be a country again half of lled by rail the other half by the islamic state it does need to continue the jihad globally not just in syria or iraq the purpose and now has boko haram as the affiliate's and others pledging allegiance as far as pakistan. in though whole is - - movement is what we need to think about. lou: the most countervailing force to this point has been the kurds themselves which we refuse to arm or to support aggressively. what to possibly be the reason? >> i cannot explain the motivation but the current battle in an tikrit it is about to be squashed with the area led leadership on the ground with iraqi forces joining in collaboration that "the new york times" has reported as lycia of alicia and know-how their distinct from hezbollah. already people talk about the sectarian conflict they are reordering according to sectarian identity with extreme specter's the way we have not seen before. lou: are we simply watching and iran assert its dominance in this region? there seems to be no limit to the

figures don't include those the third of iraq held by is isil fighters. the death toll is slightly down on january 1,375 people were killed. iraq's prime minister says his government is preparing a new offensive against the islamic state of iraq in the levant. he said it will work to liberate people held by the armed group including in tikrit. we are now discussing the operation and kishing dash out of iraq. i can't do timetables. we are working within this to would, with the people of this places, people of nineveh and people of other areas. they will be with us and they are with us at the moment. i think there is over seeing the whole organization of this military operation it has to be military execute and civil operation to safer gard the people and to look after the wellbeing of the people. >> in syria, the u.s. backed rebel group has joined forces with the hard-line opposition group after the group suffered heavy defeat in the al-qaeda affiliate, the nusra front in aleppo on saturday. fighters and six nusra front fighters were killed in those clashes

iraq in syria. >> i agree with all of that. at this point syria is have a country'' controlled by iran iraq when ever be a country again half of is controlled by rail the other half by the islamic state it does need to continue the jihad globally not just in syria or iraq the purpose and now has boko haram as the affiliate's and others pledging allegiance as far as pakistan. in though whole is - - movement is what we need to think about. lou: the most countervailing force to this point has been the kurds themselves which we refuse to arm or to support aggressively. what to possibly be the reason? >> i cannot explain the motivation but the current battle in an tikrit it is about to be squashed with the area led leadership on the ground with iraqi forces joining in collaboration that "the new york times" has reported as lycia of alicia and know-how their distinct from hezbollah. already people talk about the sectarian conflict they are reordering according to sectarian identity with extreme specter's the way we have not seen before. lou: are we simply watching and iran assert its dominance in this region? there seems to be no li

worse, but we were part of that, but the third part of this, we're assuring another civil war inside iraq byetting iran put boots on the ground. we're convincing sunnis throughout that region in saudi arabia and elsewhere, but also in northern iraq, that we are giving iraq to iran, and they won't bide by that. >> didn't they do that in 2002? >> we're doing it again. >> it seems like we turned over that government to shia, who we hated in the hostage crisis, and now we give them the government of iraq and now we are surprised they have it. >> the problem here is different things we're doing is running at cross-purposes. the fundamental problem is that iraq doesn't even really exist anymore as a state, as we commonly understand them. to the extend we're trying to bring together sunni and shia, we're alienating iran, but in order to take on isis we're working with iran, and working with iran alien yates the sunnis. >> in isis quit tomorrow, if they just put their hands in the air and walked away, they didn't exist anymore, who would own all that land in iraq? >> it could be governed by the sunn

iraq was lead by al-maliki who was a personal problem for many of the sunni arab leaders in the regionso he was considered to be very closely aligned with iran but also a lot of the sunni leaders in the region simply didn't like him and didn't consider him to be a reliable partner. and now it's part of the reason why some of the sunni states such as suddenee-- saudi arabia were so reluctant to get behind malick'-- maliki effort to repel an islamic state and in some ways sort of tacitly backed the islamic state until they found out the true nature of the threat. >> srennivasan: in iraq how likely will we to see ground forces from the arab league or even part of the u.s. coalition? >> it doesn't seem like there will be ground forces from the arab league any time soon. the arab league ground forces is not-- is not a fully developed force quite yet. and so that would have to-- if that were to be deployed, it would be quite a long time in the future. i don't think that the united states or the iraqis or the iranians for that matter have the kind of patience to wait for a fully developed ara

as reported by iraq today, no pmf forces in that area. senator mccain: so there's 4000 iraqi -- who are the others? commander austin: the shia militia that were there have pulled back, sir. senator mccain: so the fighting is being done by iraqi forces? commander austin: sir -- senator mccain: if you could shorten the answers. commander austin: it is being done by iraqi special operations forces and the federal police -- senator mccain: the white we see them leading in orchestrating this effort? commander austin: those pictures were from before. as you know, the effort from solar body cash -- he was no longer on the ground -- senator mccain: so the shia militia is no longer in the fight? are they still in the fight? commander austin: no, sir. senator mccain: so the airstrikes we are carrying out our only in support of iraqi military activity? commander austin: that is correct. the precondition to sit -- to provide support was that the iraqi government had to be in charge of this operation. we had to know exactly who was on the ground, we h

close by way of iraq in the north, and houthis in the south. air strikes are now hitting engines on the other side of that border. joined by artillery from the saudi side. fighter jets on saturday struck the targets, command and control centers. the coalition says strikes were precise. the houthis say the air raid killed dozens, including children over the last four days. abd-rabbu mansour hadi left at the start of the campaign urging leaders to stop the fights. >> military strikes are not the way. i hope arab leaders do not back a losing course. i call you to sake dialogue and elections and have mercy on the people of yemen from the strikes. >> reporter: that call call on deaf ears. saleh is accused of striking an alliance with the houthis. the the outcome could change yemen's political landscape and tip the balance of powers. >>> al qaeda-linked fighters in syria captured the northern city of idlib in a blow to government forces. the strategic transport hub is the second provincial center to fall to rebels since the war began. stefanie dekker

of the damage was caused by arson and intentional demolition inflicted after isis had fled the area. >> those 20 families living over there all fled when the militia came. >> iraqclearly faces serious threats in its conflict with isis. for the abuses committed by the forces fighting isis are threatening the country the long-term. iraqis are caught between the horrors isis commits in the abuses by militias, and civilians are paying the price. amy: a video produced by human rights watch. would we come back, we will be joined by erin evers, iraq researcher for human rights watch. she co-wrote the new report, "after liberation came destruction: iraqi militias and the aftermath of amerli." she has been on the ground in iraq with human rights watch since september 2012. we will also speak with journalists matt aikins, his latest piece for "rolling stone" is titled, "inside baghdad's brutal battle against isis." we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. aaron: thank you for joining use,rin. as we talk about your report, we're joined by erin evers who co-wrote the new report, "

the in-fighting and the rise of groups affiliated by the islamic state of iraq and the levant raise concerns of instability that threatens to destabilize the whole region. despite all the optimism about signs of progress there remains the trust deficit that the warring fashion he don't seem to have overcome to the point that the talks here at rabat both party, don't repair to do business with each other hashem ahelbarra, al jazeera. >>> heated exchanges among councilmembers before an agreement was reached. james bays reports from new york. >> a rare moment. a new security council resolution on syria is passed condemning chlorine attacks and promiseing repercussions if they continue. for some there was no doubt. >> let's ask ourselves who has helicopters in syria? certainly not the opposition. only the regime does and we have seen them use their helicopters on countless other individuals using barrel bombs. >> that led to a stormy rowe, are row just minutes after the group had agreed on a resolution. perhaps ambassador cherkin said, perhaps the bombs went you off at a time when the helicopter

so the gradual chipping away of that ground within iraq by a secure shia government is critically importantraq and the united states simply make for strange bedfellows. the u.s. sees tehran as the most active state sponsor of terror. but in this battle they're determined to fight a common enemy, isis. even if it means looking over their shoulder. >> but to iran they are a threat. they are going after primarily shia. they are attempting to kill as many shia as they can. it is the number one population on their target list. so to iran it's a much more important issue to get isis under control, even more so than the united states and europe. >> reporter: michael holmes cnn. >>> the u.s. house has passed a bill avoiding the shutdown of the department of homeland security. >> that legislation will fund the agency through september. the homeland security secretary thanked congress for backing the bill. >> on behalf of the approximately 225,000 men and women of the department of homeland security we thank those in congress democrats and republicans, who voted for the bill and in particular those i

by isis. and in the audio was come and join us in iraq and syria and spread the caliphate in nigeria. eastern city in libya and across the sea from the mediterranean that is controlled by isis. >> and you do dangerous work. hads off to you for willing to take. it >> you can see his work in a special presentation of fox news reporting. unholy war. bret baier is the anchor and airs saturday night at ten and sunday. >> and incredible surveillance footage and giving new mean to the phrase "drive in". everybody knows the first man on the moon. but can you name the last one. a story to share with the whole new generation. roven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are ya? good. aleve. proven better on pain. okay...listen up. i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. ohhhh. okay veggies you're cool. mayo, corn dogs you are so out of here! ahh... 'cause i'm reworking the menu. keeping her healthy and you on your toes. the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals antioxidants and 9 grams of

claimed motivated by extreme islamic beliefs, america's wars in afghanistan and iraq. tamerlan tsarnaev was killed by a fire fight with police. his younger brother was found hiding in a boat. while hiding there it is said he scrolled messages that included the u.s. government is killing our innocent civilians. the defense will portray tsarnaev as an impressionable young man. prosecutors will argue that the student possessed his own extremist views. given the celebrations that followed in boston after his arrest the defense claims he won't get a fair hearing and have tried to get the trial moved to another city. if found guilty he could face the death penalty. >> let's go to boston and get the latest in the snow there. i guess for many bostonians this feels like it has been a long time coming now. >> reporter: almost two years since that fateful day in april 2013. there has been a number of other trials connected to this that have happened in the intervening period. the process has been a tricky one. the defense has tried to have it moved three or four times because they

. >>> iraq's army is advancing in to the center of tikrit backed by shia militia and sunni tribes menlitary is trying to recapture the city from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. isil has been in control of the area since june last year. the operation began a few days ago on monday iraqi soldiers took control of theville only east bank of the tigris river. troops are also said to be making gains in the west of tikrit. they want control of the strategic street which connects to central a tikrit. iraqi forces are meeting resistence with several of its soldiers killed in the fighting. now a report. >> reporter: from the air and on the ground, this iraqi advance is in to northern parts of the isil plaintiff held city of at that treat. in front lines soldiers mock the fighters of isil on radio frequencies both can listen to. this shia in litsch a fighter says we are now there and coming to get you. where are you? the isil fighter retorts by saying by god we will come and slaughter you. our martyrs will go to heaven and yours will rot in hell. and that's the kind of sectarian divisi

the in-fighting and rise of groups affiliated by islamic state of iraq and the levant raise issues of destability that threatens to destabilize the spire community. throughout talks here in the capital rabat both parties never met with each other preferring instead to do business with the united nations envoy hashem ahelbarra, al jazeera. >> before a draft agreement was met, as our diplomatic editor james bays reports. >> a rare moment, a new security council resolution is reached against chemical chlorine attacks. the resolution doesn't say which side was responsible for the chlorine attacks but there was left no doubt. >> let's ask ourselves who has helicopters in syria? countless attacks on syrians by barrel bombs. >> russia said the opcw report, perhaps ambassador said, chlorine bombs went off santa time when helicopters just happened to be flying in the area then he said this. >> translator: we provide the technical details then our colleagues smile and say we know it's the government that is responsible. can we work like this in the security council? no. don't protect the terror