chairman dempsey: of course. there are six things that from the military perspective concern us about iranian influence. for them a regional, two of them are global. the four regional concerns are surrogates and proxies, weapons trafficking, ballistic missile technologies, and mines they have developed with the intent to be able to close the straits and certain circumstances would cause them to. the two global threats are there nuclear aspirations for a weapon, which is being dealt with through the negotiations on a diplomatic track and ciber is and cyber is the other threat they pose. they are concerning, of course. senator corker: as it relates to dealing with tikrit, should we care that iran's militias and others are involved in helping move isis out of those areas? or will help move out of those areas when we begin the muzzle -- attack. chairman dempsey: there is concern that anything anyone does to counter isil is a good outcome -- the activities of the iranians is a positive thing in the military terms agai

chairman dempsey: of course. there are six things that from the military perspective concern us about iranian influence. for them a regional, two of them are global. the four regional concerns surrogates and proxies, weapons trafficking, ballistic missile technologies, and mines they have developed with the intent to be able to close the straits and certain circumstances would cause them to. the two global threats are there nuclear aspirations for a weapon, which is being dealt with through the negotiations on a diplomatic track and cyber is the other threat they pose. they are concerning, of course. senator corker: as it relates to dealing with tikrit, should we care that iran's militias and others are involved in helping move isis out of those areas? or will help move out of those areas when we begin the muzzle -- attack. chairman dempsey: there is concern that anything anyone does to counter isil is a good outcome -- the activities of the iranians is a positive thing in the military terms against isil, but we

tsongas: general dempsey? general dempsey: we are building the iraqi security forces to contribute and they are being kind of part of an internal media blitz and it is popular because they did succeed in pushing back against isil, although they are not having as much as s as i think they initially reported, so i think the issue of trying to make sure the iraqi military forces remain in force for stability in the future and not this mobilization force, and there is secondly a d conflicting, airspace, ground and decisions based, and so yeah, it does make a couple kidded. -- make it complicated. rep. tsongas: thank you, my time is up. . -- rep. thornberry: thank you. rep. wilson: i'm very interested in seeing changes to sequestration, and thank you general for bring up the idea of readiness, because this needs to be addressed but it should also be put in the context that actually, bob murdered -- bob woodward, he said in his book "the price of politics" that we are getting a shrinking military and we will have th

general dempsey. general dempsey: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the opportunity to provide you with an update and to defend -- discuss our defense budget for 2016. i asked that my written statement be submitted for the record. our military remains strong today. however, with threats proliferating, resources the planning, and sequestration just months away, our ability to assure our alleys is in question . and our questions over adversaries are shrinking. this is a major strategic challenge affecting not only our military, but ultimately america's leadership. we face the reemergence of nationstates with the capability and potentially the intent to constrain us. in space and in cyberspace, our adversaries are rapidly leveling the playing field. and we face an increasingly capable network of nonstate actors including the islamic state of iraq, who can threaten our national security interest. our strategy against faisal integrates and balances nine lines of effort. iso's -- iso -- iisil's isil's threat is trans regional and will require a

general dempsey: thanks. speaking to you about combat search and rescue is like talking about nuclear issues sitting next to a nuclear physicist. i will do so nevertheless. we are not limited. the bomb does not limit our ability. you know generally where we are postured. my staff will articulate that tomorrow. if we think the mission is high risk, we can put the package airborne as part of the air tasking order. we are attentive to that. you will find our staff relieve your concerns tomorrow. representative mcsally: i wanted to follow up on the a-10 issue. this was dealing with our allies, related to the aggression that we have seen come out of russian, and we have a-10's deployed to iraq and syria. the president's plan requires mothballing them. i asked the secretary yesterday if that was a budget decision, and she said yes. i wanted to hear if that is a case, because we have heard different armaments over the last two years, all over the map, that if you have the resources, would you keep the a-10 flying th

senator sullivan: general dempsey, do you agree? general dempsey: i'm actually concerned about european security, for reasons we talked about. it is not just about russia. it is what russia has done, to start a fire and it may actually burn out of their control. european security for the first time in 20 years security -- concerns me. and the network runs from afghanistan, pakistan, to bow boko haram. we can just do with one of them, we've got to deal with them in the aggregate. we've got all kinds of tools direct action, building partners, like with the french. we've got to keep pressure on the network or the last one is one i would have to discuss and close session on narrowing technological gaps in key areas. senator sullivan: i want to switch to the strategic posture we have. mr. secretary, you did mention and agreed alaska occupied the most strategic place in the world. i want to straighten the record with the chairman and the ranking member, billy mitchell was court-martialed, but for " insubordination after accusing army and

senator corker: chairman dempsey? german dempsey: i have no data to sit just they have any doubt about the support of congress or the american people. senator corker: we have had some great conversations and always appreciate your candor. should there be any concern of people here that iran is influencing the outcome against isis? does have she and militia on the ground, does have some of their own personnel -- is that a concern anyone that cares about u.s. national interests should have? chairman dempsey: of course. there are six things that concern us about iranian influence. the four regional concerns are circuits and proxies -- surrogates and proxies, weapons trafficking, ballistic missile technologies and minds they have developed with the intent to be able to close the straits and certain circumstances would cause them to. the two global threats are there nuclear aspirations for a weapon, which is being dealt with through the negotiations on a diplomatic track and cyber is the other global threat. they are conce

general dempsey, do we know basically what the floor strurture is?hat is the current floor structure of boots on the ground? >> i would have to get back to you for the record on the exact number senator -- >> i'm happy to get ball park figures. >> tikrit operation, there are approximately a thousand sunni tribal folks, one brigade of iraqi security forces which number approximately 3,000 a couple hundred of their counter terrorist service, and there's approximately 20,000 of the popular mobilization force, which are the shia militia. >> so -- so the shia militia dramatically outnumber the iraqi security forces in this? >> they do. >> and the shia militias are pretty much iranian sponsored, correct? >> i would describe them as iranian trained and somewhat iranian equipped. >> secretary carter i think you said that the outcome of tikrit will explain an awful lot of things. what did you mean by that? >> i believe it was general dempsey who -- who -- who made that statement. so i'll let him explain himself, but i agree with it. >> here is what i meant by

and then chairman dempsey.l, first of all i share your concern about the shia militias and the face of sectarianism looming again in iraq, which, as you know extremely well from your own service, is the principle challenge that government of iraq faces going forward. however training and equipping is to iraqi security forces through the government of iraq. and our assistance to per mer ga also to the government of iraq. that reflects the view that a multi-sectarian iraqi government is the best way to keep iraq together and to defeat isil in iraq and ultimately drive them out of the country. but i say i share your concern because what we've seen in the last few years has been sectarianism erode the capabilities of the iraqi security forces and that's why they collapsed in the face of isil. so i absolutely share your concern. about efps, you know that extremely well from your own service. we've had that experience before. and general dempsey, who was there also in iraq does as well. so let me ask him to join in.

general dempsey chairman dempsey in front of the house armed services committee on january 25th general breedlove testified, quote, i think first and foremost mr. putin has not accomplished his objectives in ukraine so next is probably more action in ukraine. in your professional military opinion do you think general breedlove is correct that putin will continue kinetic military operations in ukraine in lace places like marry open poll because he has not -- maropol because he has not obtained his objectives. >> in a april 2014 speech, putin referred to a concept he described as new russia that stretches from, across oblasts of ukraine, essentially eastern, southern oblasts of ukraine and up into transnistria he said that is what he intends to do and to this point their actions suggest to me they may be intent on accomplishing it. >> is the convince you or give you the view that we should be providing defensive weaponry to ukraine? >> chairman, we have, as you know, we provided about $100 million in other kinds of aid. we have a program to provide -- >> the question is, do you believe we

and let me begin with secretary carter and general dempsey, i know secretary kerry mentioned that he feels that currently the aomf that we have from '01, and '02, give the united states the legal authority to what is now occurring. do you both believe that to be the case? >> i do yes. >> yes, i do. >> from your perspective you will make unanimous, that every witness who comes before us believes that currently we're operating under a legal premise with what we're doing today. secretary carter chairman dempsey, has there been any indication to the people we're dealing with as part of our coalition or the troops that congress today is not behind what is happening on the ground with isis. >> i can't speak to that mr. chairman. i think that the folks i have talked to of ours do in fact believe that the outrages that secretary kerry described on the part of isil warrant the operation that they are involved in. and we don't anything that isn't lawful -- >> but there's no one that you deal with that doesn't believe that congress is wholeheartedly behind the effort to deal with isis is that c

general dempsey this question is for you. if this passes how will things be different after this passes than they are now? what -- what is this going to change? >> i don't think there will be any difference in our activities. i think there will be potentially a difference among our -- our coalition partners in the way they view our commitment to the fight, but in terms of the way we apply military force either directly through partners or enables others it won't change. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman this -- what i'm going to say now is a statement for the record. it is not a question. and i want to respond to some of the comments that were made here today. i'm one of the 47 senators that signed the letter that there's been all of this talk about in recent days. you know, this indignation and breast beating over this letter is absolute nonsense. each of us that signed that is an elected member of the united states senate and as much is a member of the first branch of this government. it -- to say that we should not or b

general dempsey, thank you for being here. and i want to say again, all the committee members appreciated your participation in our retreat about a month ago at annapolis. the fact that you would take time to come out there, meet with us, and discuss some of the challenges we face was extremely helpful, and meant a lot, and we are very grateful for that. for being here today, and for your many years of service. as y'all know, this committee has done things a little differently this year. rather than start out talking about the president's budget we have spent the last two months looking at the national security challenges that we face around the world. and i think that has put us in a better place to be able to look at the administration's budget request, and a number of the other issues that are before us. i would say for me, one of the key takeaways from the last two months has been the growing threat to our technological superiority. we have had classified and unclassified sessions on that. and to me, it is one of the key c

general dempsey, this question is for you. if this passes, how will things be different after this passes than they are now? what is going to change? >> i do not think there will be any difference in our activities. i think there will not be a potentially a difference among our coalition partners in the way they view our commitment to the fight. that in terms of the way that we applied military force, and either directly their partners ornately others, they may change. thank you, very much -- >> thank you very much. what i'm saying now is a statement for the record and it is not a question. and i want to respond to some of the comments that were made here today. i'm one of the 47 senators that signed the letter that there is all this talk about in recent days. this indignation and beating over this letter is absolute nonsense. each of us that signed it is an elected member of the united states senate and is the first branch of this government. to say that we should not be communicating is nonsense. members of congress, every s

senator corker: chairman dempsey? german dempsey: i have no data to sit just they have any doubt about the support of congress or the american people. senator corker: we have had some great conversations and always appreciate your candor. should there be any concern of people here that iran is influencing the outcome against isis? does have she and militia on the ground, does have some of their own personnel -- is that a concern anyone that cares about u.s. national interests should have? chairman dempsey: of course. there are six things that concern us about iranian influence. the four regional concerns are circuits and proxies -- surrogates and proxies, weapons trafficking, ballistic missile technologies and minds they have developed with the intent to be able to close the straits and certain circumstances would cause them to. the two global threats are there nuclear aspirations for a weapon, which is being dealt with through the negotiations on a diplomatic track and ciber is the upper -- other global threat. -- cy

and thank you, secretary carter and general dempsey. first, secretary carter, congratulations on your recent confirmation, and, general dempsey, i want to say thank you not only for your generosity of time before this committee but also with new members in general. you have been very very kind. so thank you. first, i'd like to start secretary carter, in 1915, 100 years ago this year the mark 5 dive helmet, the trademark of diving, was created. military divers are located a number of military installations around the country including at the naval support activity center in panama city, which is in my district. i had the opportunity to visit recently and it's just phenomenal. with the 100th year upon us, mr. secretary, i would much appreciate if you would support the designation of 2015 as the year of the military diver. to honor those who are serving and have served and will serve as military divers for our country. >> well first of all thank you for hosting our folks and for supporting service members in your district. we don't take it

general dempsey we had a brief conversation about this. let me tell you where we are and tell you why we need your help. right now the president submit ed a budget that had a base amount of $561 and our budget committee is currently marking up a budget with the base of $523. they are indicating they want to make up the difference to that jagged edge of the number, as you said mr. chairman, by oko so the aggregate number would be $613. how you cobble it together does make a difference. i'd like you guys to help us with this. i have told the budget committee that making up with oko does not work. 70 members of the house signed a letter and sent it to the budget committee asking to honor the base budget number of $561 that the president asked for. what i have said to the budget committee is they should ask you guys, so this is my asking you guys help us. mr. secretary you said, one it effects because this is the basis upon which you build your next budget. that's certainly important. we don't need to hear it's an issue of rather, i think ther

general dempsey: i do. senator wicker: i'm doing everything i can and i appreciate your testimony that threats are proliferating. it seems to me that is what is obvious. it does concern me when the secretary of state completely misses the point as demonstrated by the juxtaposition of director clapper's statement. now, secretary carter, on the first page of your testimony thank you for commending our troops. you say and afghanistan, our soldiers and marines are helping submit progress made toward a more stable, secure and prosperous future. i want to salute you are saying we made progress. it seems to me if there are people listening to the network news or the talking heads who would conclude that things have gone to hell in afghanistan. as was pointed out in response to senator inhofe's question, president ghani and his leadership are in a partnership and appreciate our presence there. things are headed in the right direction. and the blood and sacrifice that has got us to where we are. you say they are wor

tsongas: general dempsey? general dempsey: we are building the iraqi security forces to contribute and they are being kind of part of an internal media blitz and it is popular, because they did succeed in pushing back against isil, although they are not having as much success as i think they initially reported, so i think the issue of trying to make sure the iraqi military forces remain in force for stability in the future and not this mobilization force, and there is secondly a d conflicting, airspace, ground and decisions based, and so does make it complicated. rep. tsongas: thank you, my time is up. rep. thornberry: thank you. rep. wilson: i'm very interested in seeing changes to sequestration, and thank you, general for bring up the idea of readiness because this needs to be addressed, but it should also be put in the context that actually, bob woodward, he said in his book "the price of politics" that we are getting a shrinking military, and we will have the smallest army and the smallest air force since

let me just begin with secretary carter and chairman dempsey. i know secretary kerry mentioned that he feels that currently the aumf that we have from '01 and the one from '02 give the united states the legal authority to do what is now occurring. i wonder if both of you would answer yes or no whether you believe that to be the case. >> i do yes. >> yes, senator. >> so from your perspective, you will make unanimous every witness that's come before us on behalf of the administration believes that currently we're operating under a legal premise with what we're doing against isis today. let me ask you this question secretary carter and chairman dempsey, has there been any indication to the people we're dealing with as part of our coalition or the troops that congress today is not behind what is happening on the ground with isis? >> i can't speak to that mr. chairman. i think that the folks i've talked to of ours do in fact believe that the outrages that secretary kerry described on the part of isil warrant the operation that they're involved in and

ash carter and jack dempsey all facing lawmakers. what will they say about the strategy to defeat isis now. martha: dozens of republican law makers taking heat for signing a letter they sent to iran's supreme leader. we'll talk to nor john mccain about what he thinks about the backlash for that. >> what that letter did was tell the iranians that whatever deal they make, that the congress of the use the is going to play a role. maybe that wasn't the best way to do that. i think the iranians should know that the congress of the united states has to play a role. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. do you want to know how hard it can be to breathe with copd? it can feel like this. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva respimat does not replace rescue inhalers for sud

chairman and thank you secretary carter, general dempsey. i was a masters of public policy graduate so you were one of my instructors back in 1988 and 1990 so it is good to see you again. we've both been able to find a good job to make a difference. >> thank you. you make me proud. >> well i look forward to working with you in future. i want to talk a little bit about combat search and rescue capabilities in iraq and syria. i was 26 years in the military and i was an a-10 pilot, just truth in advertising and ran our joint search and rescue center during the operation southern watch and then the early days of the afghanistan war. so i know there is tremendous challenges in trying to make sure if someone has to eject or get shot down, that we're able to rescue them very quickly. also in the environment that we've seen with the fate of the jordan pilot to locate and protect them and get the forces to get them right away. i'm sure you're aware of that. and i'll have a more classified briefing tomorrow on that posture and i know we'll have to tal

general dempsey, thank you for your service. i want to go back to a theme that we have discussed during your confirmation hearing and that is this broader theme of leveling with the american people on our threats. i would call it a pretty general bipartisan concern that there is a disconnect sometimes between what we are hearing from the uniformed military and what we are hearing from intelligence services and agencies and importantly, what we are hearing from the leadership of this country. the president senator wicker was talking about secretary of state. there is growing agreement here about the importance of defense spending and how we certainly think -- most americans think we face a lot of threats in the world and defense spending is a function of these threats. when we hear the disconnect between different members of the administration on what the threat levels are and how the president in many ways takes a very benign picture of what is going on in the world and how we are making progress in a lot of areas -- it undermin

welcome back general dempsey. you're going to miss us when you're gone. >> yes, sir. >> thank you all for being here. with that, the hearing stands adjourned. >>> deputy secretary of state anthony blanken will update on negotiations with iran. this comes as a deadline nears for the p5 plus 1 countries to reach an agreement with iran. live coverage starts at 5:30 on c-span 2 and here watch live coverage on the republican budget at 1030 a.m. eastern. >>> now isis rears their ugly head and this army is very shaky. we shouldn't be surprised by that. you can't undo decades of soviet era and saddam era stuff with eight years. especially when you've taught them on a model where they'll have u.s. advisers and partners with them. if afghanistan according to the president announcement, we have 10,000 troops in an advising training role but we'll draw down to 5,000 troops and zero after that and i warn we'll see a similar result when isis attacks. that is going to be shaky. >> daniel bulger on the f strategies in iraq and af

did general dempsey say anything about the level of u.s. involvement in iraq? >> reporter: well, scott general dempsey says he saw no need for any more u.s. military advisers in iraq. they are already more than 2,500 of them on the ground here. he also made it clear that a dramatic escalation in american-led air strikes or carpet bombing iraq, as he described it, would risk many, many more civilian casualties. >> >> pelley: holly williams reporting for us tonight from baghdad. holly, thank you. hillary clinton is expected to be speaking soon and for the first time about her use of a private e-mail account instead of the government system when she was secretary of state. one source is telling us that she's considering a news conference. conducting official business by private e-mail would appear to violate a 2009 law designed to protect public records. clinton didn't mention it today but the white house found itself facing new questions after an interview with the president by our senior white house correspondent bill plante. >> reporter: mr. president when did

chairman dempsey, it's great to see you. as we may not see you again, i want to reiterate how much i appreciated your forthcoming testimony before this committee. and just to address briefly the sequestration, i share the view you have that we have to deal with it across the board. as we know, how we defend our country does not exist in isolation. i come from a state that is heavily invested in education and it is that educated community that leads so often on developing all the it technologies that all the service chiefs have acknowledged and are very important to how we move forward in defending our country we remain agile. to protect our country, we have to invest in our minds in anything else. it's all linked. i appreciate your acknowledging of that. but two weeks ago, this committee had the chance to discuss the proposed against isil with general austin and the secretary, so i thank you for your presence here today to continue that discussion. at that hearing, i asked general austin about the complexity of the challenge

you heard even general dempsey say that.he other number of 20,000 shia militia troops with only 3,000 iraqi security forces. from a military perspective that's not a partnership. that's clearly the iranians in control of the situation. and following that do the shia allow the sunnis back into their homes. so they are very concerned at the pentagon with regard to that situation in tikrit. >> and you have heard testimony saying they want this aumf to be passed unanimously in congress. what signal does that send to the troops on the ground if they do not get the unanimous support? >> congressional support is something all soldiers pay attention to. and it's one of those things where you find out who is on your side, and who is not. i think unanimous would be what the soldier on the ground would want and hear and understand, if they are go to get into this part. if there is a split that is going to leave the soldier wondering what is going on. >> we want to make you back to washington right now. this is senator kerry. responding

let me just begin with secretary carter and chairman dempsey.rry mentioned that he feels that currently the aumf that we have -- >> we have been watching the testimony on the senate foreign relations committee hearing on isis strategy and authorization of use of military force against isis. as you were seeing there, secretary of defense, ash carter john kerry, secretary of state, and general martin dempsey have started their testimony. we will keep a close watch on this keep you informed throughout this program. >>> but i want to continue on this issue. manu raju is a senior political reporter. great to see you. >> great to be here. >> the president introduced this aumf a month ago, it has basically not moved much. is this hearing attempt to get it unstuck? >> sort of. it is a difficult path for the administration now. you have a lot of democrats that don't support what the president proposed because they believe it gives too many options for the commander in chief to send troops on the ground and not just for obama but also for the next command

unless i get 10% of the growth i cannot do this movie. >> i do not compare general dempsey to a movie. >> they are going to argue for as much money as they can get. why do they say there is room to prioritize within the budget. >> dempsey is the boss and says i cannot defend america if the sequester continues. ash gardner says i cannot defend america, i believe him. >> they are politicians. >> they are politicians. >> no one is above questioning. >> aren't they politicians? i don't understand why someone has stars on his chest we should be you doing and saying okay. >> the problem is the notion are compromised. we should have the strongest military in the world and sequestration should be focused on domestic spending, not military. it's always we've got to get more here and take little there. >> nobody is going to cut jack, not even their damn hair. >>> what have you got? >> as the administration negotiates with iran iran and hezbollah getting left out of a new u.s. intel report on global terror threats. is that a mission a threat to our lives and livelihood? the epa's latest targets

dempsey: you touched on two things near and dear to my heart. one is the g.r.f. we do have to restore its readiness. because of increasing demand and reducing supply, we have to reach into it and send it forward, which is not the intention. but we are forced into that position on occasion. there is the issue of presence. we have our forward stationing right. we are looking at how we can be less predictable to our adversaries, more reassuring to our allies, and maintain readiness through a thing we are calling dynamic presence. we are very much interested in pursuing bad idea. sequestration makes this -- both of those almost impossible. rep. gibson: i appreciate those responses. even the vision i am laying out requires the world's strongest military deterrent to those who would do us harm. this vision also includes american leadership. it is a different conception of power and how we would array it it would look for contributions from our friends and allies at the level we would expect, and also recognize the moral strength of our country as evidenced through dipl

the defense secretary, as well as general martin dempsey.nk you all for watching live coverage here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [indistinct chatter] >> live on capitol hill. as the senate foreign relations committee is preparing to hear from secretary of state john kerry, ashton carter, and martin dempsey. they will be discussing the ongoing russia, ukraine conflict. we have seen -- we have exley seen defense secretary ashton carter arrive, along with chiefs chair martin dempsey and we are still awaiting the secretary of state john kerry. the senate foreign relations committee will question three of america's top national security officials about new war powers. that is being crafted to fight militants with the islamic state group did the white house must reconcile demands from democrats who don't want another ground war, with concerns of republicans who want the opti

general dempsey: yes, that is an eloquent answer. secretary carter, i do want to talk about an area of your budget and a little more detail. $5.5 billion scheduled or increased activities in cyber. i am extremely concerned about cyber. i think it is the next frontier of warfare. we have had plenty of warning shots across our now in the last couple of years, yet congress hasn't acted. i commend you for taking this in a kit of. news reports are that the cia is expanding their cyber capability and in a substantial cyber capability. you are building a substantial cyber capability. i don't want a return to the post 9/11 days when we had a lot of intelligence capability but they were not talking to each other. please assure me you we -- you will be coordinating so we are not duplicating, overlapping, spending more taxpayer money than we have to, and worst of all, not sharing whatever information is being derived in this field. >> thank you, and you are absolutely right this is a terribly important dod mission. that's why both i and the cha

chairman dempsey, it's great to see you. as we may not see you again, i want to reiterate how much i appreciated your forthcoming testimony before this committee. and just to address briefly the sequestration, i share the view you have that we have to deal with it across the board. as we know, how we defend our country does not exist in isolation. i come from a state that is heavily invested in education and it is that educated community that leads so often on developing all the it technologies that all the service chiefs have acknowledged and are very important to how we move forward in defending our country we remain agile. to protect our country, we have to invest in our minds in anything else. it's all linked. i appreciate your acknowledging of that. but two weeks ago this committee had the chance to discuss the proposed against isil with general austin and the secretary, so i thank you for your presence here today to continue that discussion. at that hearing, i asked general austin about the complexity of the challenges

martin dempsey set to hold talks. dempsey dempsey's visit begins as the new war on terror.troops launching ground and air attacks against boko haram in northeastern nigeria. the offensive begins one day after boko haram pledged allegiance to isis in the audio message purportedly recorded by the group's leader. i want to bring in nima live in london with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, christine. if this is true it breaks isis out of the policy of containment that the u.s. and coalition allys have been working hard to impose. trying to limit the group's influence and activity to iraq and syria. boko haram really in a lot of ways is the isis equivalent. the isis equal in terms of territory control and terms of just brand name recognition really in africa. for a group of that stature to assume itself and pledge allegiance to isis is a big propaganda win. it gives isis an arc of allegiance that stretches from one coast to the other. this raised profile in terms is the lifeline of foreign recruitment and foreign donations. boko haram at the moment as you rightly said is b

this is general martin dempsey. he just arrived today.ow iraq is trying to regain control which isis overtook in june. it's the birthplace of saddam hussein. as jmpgeneral dempsey hits the ground good news to celebrate. iraq forces said they liberated another city from isis. senior international correspondent is live in baghdad for us. ben, before we get to general dempsey, tell us about the win by iraqi forces. >> reporter: yes, these are iraqi forces. we were with them today as they were launching on the attack east of te crete. it appears yet again they've been able to drive isis out of that area. they've made pretty impressive progress and basically three days they were able to take a stretch of about 50 miles of road leading to the eastern side of the city and what we saw today, we saw cars smoldering that had been hit by iraqi aircraft. isis one car, a truck that seemed to have a gun on the back was hit by an air strike. we saw three charred bodies around it. isis has lit these oil fires around the city in an attempt to make the air

she does the great dempsey and that as well. of course dempsey is the meal ticket.he's a hard hitter from the western mountain country and turned boxing in new york in new york into million-dollar menace -- industry. the next million-dollar game is not joe louis. the next million-dollar gators -- he turns baseball from small ball into long ball. like dempsey he is a slugger. there is lou gehrig born in new york columbia university. there is jean tunney who beat the great dempsey native new york from greenwich village. it was always the big hitters, the outsiders the roofs in the dempsey to capture the crowds. this came in with a lot of money. joe patterson from the patterson mccormick family in chicago. he is a a breakaway a one-time socialist and the rebel of the family. .. in a new way and reading it in a new way. and the tabloids, of course have never gotten away. and what i tried to do with these characters -- and this is important, i think, for the story -- knowing the future, knowing what's going the happen can be a tremendous liability for a writer of history

general dempsey is certainly right in his formulation. this is a numerical possibility here all around tikrit we think there are only between 1 and 2,000 i.s.i.l. fighters, it is not a question of when, it's just a question of what price the iraqi government and militia forces pay to push i.s.i.l. out of here whether this is relatively bloodless or whether they really pay a high price but the outcome is not in doubt. >> as you know probably better than almost nebraska, urban warfare, are you confident they are able to kick i.s.i.l. out of mosul, mosul is the second largest city and what timetable? there is a lot of back and forth on when that offensive will begin. >> mosul is a different animal. tikrit is about the size of richmond, virginia and we think the bulk of its population are now displaced moved out. there are probably less than 50,000 citizens maybe well less than that left in tikrit. this is going to be a fight. as you point out mosul is very different. i think that's why this fight is important. everyone in mosul looks at what

general dempsey was here in baghdad.e minister, defense minister and his message was the u.s. led coalition is lead the fight against isis. the partners have since last september launched more than 2,000 air strikes on isis targets in syria and iraq. the u.s. led coalition trained more than 5,000 iraqi soldiers as well as peshmerga fighters in the north of the country. so given that all eyes in iraq are on tikrit, where there is -- eye -- ran yan involvement. as far as the situation in tikrit goes iraqi forces which are led by the shi'a paramilitary forces with the iraqi army forces playing a supporting role seem to be making significant progress. we saw at the frontlines of smoldering vehicles. in three days in fact the iraqi forces managed to advance 50 miles to the very edge of tikrit. when we were there, they were one mile to the east of the center of the city. yes, there is an iranian role being played there. i had the opportunity to speak to four iranian advisers at the front line. they described themselves as volu

there is a peculiar tone to say general dempsey was in baghdad but he is not involved in the fight innnot make this up. he is trying to salvage something with iraqi leadership's. and one is that would shatter the iraqi army. so that would lead to the petition but it is the bad outcome. but it points the shia militia into the only vegetable force in it is the force that is led corps commanded by of brigadier-general in the iraqi our view so far has not shown as anything at all. this is what dempsey is going to baghdad to visit you cannot make it up. >> but if anyone could do would be americans and our policy in iraq and in the middle years. >> we have watched a four-star general david petraeus of which there are many acolytes of among the general staff in the united states military. >> but our question is simple. with united states military? but this is madness. >> is a generational fight to save the 30 years' war than to say world war ii and is our general scope and the conversation really takes to. the administration is low rolling though war is of airstrikes in very subtle and metho

general dempsey will meet the iraqi ministry of defense officials.ill meet the minister of defense, will hold later in the day a press conference. many things on the agenda really. especially the tikrit operation. there is criticism here in iraq for the u.s. being on the sidelines leading the charge. so this is the latest update on mr. martin dempsey's visit. >> is that slightly awkward, diplomatically, isn't it? the fact that iran is so involved and the fact that tehran and washington have common ground. >> there is a shared desire from both washington and tehran to dislodge and to deface the islamic state militant group. however, also there is a hidden conflict between both countries. the united states says that the iraqi government, of course iraq's a sovereign country, and they haven't asked for the u.s. support in the tikrit operation, which is the largest so far since the extremist group seized large territories of iraq since january 2014. however however, iran, according to the iraqis, and they very much support and appreciative any role-playi

i think that's part of dempsey's mission.ot of what we're seeing isis is a direct result of mall administration of not dealing with the sunnis of discriminating against them suppressing them. when isis came in, that looked like a good deal to the sunni tribes. they have to reverse that. isis they're so barbaric. i think there's a risk that they'll implode, that -- they'll a alien ate the local population. people are getting a little fed up with hands cut off, free people being forced to have blood drawn in order to give it to the troops, their daughters having to marry the soldiers. we have to be sure the shia militia doesn't reverse that kind of thing and make these guys look good again. >> let's talk about the iran nuclear talks. should the u.s. congress have the right to sign off on any agreement before it is codified? >> short answer is yes. >> on what basis. >> that may be the shortest answer you ever get from a politician. because the sanctions were created by congress. the sanctions originally were created by an act of

let's bring in suzanne malveaux with more on general dempsey's visit. good morning. >> reporter: this trip is critical. it speaks volumes that the top general is on the ground in iraq today. the chair of the joint chiefs of staff arrived just a couple hours ago. he'll meet with the prime minister the u.s. ambassador and iraqi military u.s. military leaders. over the weekend he said something very important. he was with his french counterpart and he expressed a great deal of confidence that the fight against isis to take back tikrit is going to happen rather easily. he noted that there are roughly 23,000 iraqi soldiers and shia militia men going up against these isis fighters who really number in just the hundreds. but more important than this aspect they have not given the land back to sunni who live there so they've been involved in sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing. a problem for iraq because it promotes instability and a big concern for arab allies in the region who fear that iran's growing influence in iraq and syria will continue. so dempsey

general martin dempsey told the senate foreign relations committee that in his few anyone who fighting against isil is doing the right thing. i'm paraphrasing there but he did say once the fight against isil is over, he said that the u.s. and other countries are very much concerned about what sectarian strife could result because of all these different countries and groups coming in to try to push back against isil's influence. but he did suggest that that's a long-term issue, something that he felt that military leaders particularly here in the u.s. would have time to game out. >> so there is still a push to try to get these new war powers for president obama. how close is he to getting them, and how would he use them? >> it's not really clear barbara, how close they are to actually getting this authorization actually put into a formal bill, debate it, vote it on, and send it to the president's desk. it could be a quick process, a lengthy process right now there is just no way of knowing. let's consider this. u.s. and coalition forces started airstrikes on isil targets back on august

. >> superintendent mike dempsey is in charge of keeping staff safe while rehabilitating and educating even the toughest teen offenders. >> juveniles are much more challenging and much more frustrating on a daily basis. >> when i walk away, that's it. so you choosing for me to walk away? okay. >> they have a thought or an emotion and they will act on it immediately. and most times you can't, you don't ever see it coming. >> after he refused to come to the door and cuff up so we could get him out, we had to gather together an extraction team to get into his room so he wouldn't hurt himself. >> are you ready to cuff up? no. >> this generation of juveniles, they're a lot more reckless. they're probably ten times more reckless than an adult offender. they explode. they have their aggression moments. they're fighting and it's over. and then they -- they'll even apologize. all within a three-minute period. >> while cell extractions at pendleton are rare the procedure is used in extreme circumstances to guarantee the safety of offenders and staff. >> everybody's in good shape. nobody's hurt.

. >> reporter: ashton carter and martin dempsey testifying before the house armed services committee. the two are urging immediate congressional approval for president obama's authorized use of military force to go after islamic state terrorists. >> the global security environment is as uncertain as i've seen in my 40 years of service. >> reporter: the president's proposed plan comes without geographical limitations, meaning the united states can take the fight against isis beyond iraq and syria but it's the use of ground forces that has congress hung up. democrats want reassurances, the battle will not go to the ground. republicans argue such a stipulation ties the hands of the commander in chief. >> the strategy in so far as we understand it today i think is insufficient to achieving the president's aims of degrading and destroying isis. >> we want a lasting defeat of i sill and only local forces on the ground can impose a lasting defeat and that's our strategy. >> reporter: the timing of today's hearing is particularly poignant. just yesterday, an american citizen and us air force

john kerry, ashton carter and the joint chiefs chairman general martin dempsey will testify. >>> in a bit of sad irony, while the senate decides whether to authorize war, the actual war has long been underway. thanks to american guidance on the ground and oddly iran iraqi forces have proved they can fight. earlier today iraqi soldiers took control of a hospital in tikrit a sign of military might against isis. that hospital just a few blocks of the presidential palaces. let's bring in cnn's senior international correspondent arwa damon live from istanbul. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. although planting that flag on the hospital may be a temporary sign of iraq's military might, the battle is far from over. the iraqi security forces along with iranian backed shia militias have been attempting to recapture the strategic city of tikrit. they're approaching it from four different directions. whilst there has been some success made on that front, in ramadi a critical city as well deep in iraq's sunni hartland isis there launching its ono fence sieve against the iraqi security forc