security forces say they've arrested over 1,000 suspected is members in eastern mosul.e have an exclusive report on the raids. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: the trump administration revokes us government protection for transgender students, angering teachers and campaigners. the chief of staff for marine le pen, leader of france's national front, faces a formal investigation over the alleged misuse of eu funds. i'm sally bundock. in business, supercharged! tesla says it's on track to hit the mass market this year. but is its surging share price becoming unplugged from reality? plus, enabling talent — the job—seeking challenge faced by south africa's 2.8 million disabled people. iraqi security services say they've arrested over 1,000 suspected islamic state members in eastern mosul since it was recaptured over a month ago. as militants attempt to fight off government forces for control of the western half of the city, the authorities say sleeper cells 0n the hunt for sleeper cells, these agents from the national security service are on their

the fight will be different than the liberation of eastern mosul. the liberation took four months, so i am hesitant this will be anywhere in the park. >> to have any idea how drunk or weak islamic state is in western mosul -- strong or weak islamic state is in western muscle? >> we do not know. press reports are not as credible. >> we're going to move these tory to peace talks over syria. as he talks between the syrian government and opposition negotiators have resumed after almost 10 months. the objective is to create a peaceful transition after military conflict has ended. >> it is an act of solidarity. the u.n. special envoy for syria is meeting syrian women who have suffered either under the assad regime or the opposition. >> they were sending through me the message that while we are going to talk about the teacher of syria, we cannot forget about those who are still detained or abducted or missing. >> in the morning he held talks with the syrian government and opposition. the government and opposition groups are far apart on key point, what what

the assault on islamic state is under way. 0ur correspondent basheer al zaidi joins us now from eastern mosulest was revealed in the statement talking about seizing more villages in the salon outskirts of mosul. —— the southern outskirts. that is well forces and advancing to the area south of mosul airport. they want to reach that area and they are pushing towards the airport and villages on the outskirts of the western side of mosul. what about civilians in the area? what is happening to them? the civilians, as quentin said a few minutes ago, were told to stay at home. there was any drop by the iraqi air force asking him to at home and away from is militants operating on the western side. meanwhile, they are be good to be offered a safe route, actually, to go south of mosul. there were reports recently about the human crisis and the shortage of food and water. i am crisis and the shortage of food and water. iam hearing crisis and the shortage of food and water. i am hearing the iraqi artillery shelling the western part of mosul, while the coalition air force is still looming in the skies of

(gunfire) (gunfire) >> narrator: anmar's unit pushes into the tahrir district of eastern mosul. they must root out isis street by street in an area still full of civilians. >> narrator: anmar leads his soldiers house to house looking for isis. they don't trust the civilians-- anyone could be an isis sympathizer. (shouting, crying) and the civilians fear the soldiers. (baby crying) >> narrator: anmar's unit has pushed isis back and needs to establish a base in the neighborhood. >> narrator: the soldiers occupy a house and move onto the rooftop. (distant gunfire) >> narrator: they set up sniper positions to look for isis gunmen and suicide attackers. mustafa al-ghazi is the unit's best sniper. in such densely populated areas, it is difficult to distinguish fighters from civilians. >> narrator: sergeant naif al-qairani has served in the iraqi army for 11 years. he fought alongside u.s. marines in 2006. this rooftop is the farthest he and the other soldiers have gotten into mosul. the other side of the road is isis territory. >> narrator: the family goes back into the house, but the

we saw the battle for eastern mosul which took over three months.itary took a lot of casualties in that battle. now, of course, they have begun yesterday morning, the second part of thecoalition. more than 5,000 u.s. military personnel on the ground. u.s.-led aircraft providing air support for the iraqi forces and arrival of secretary mattis is critical to reaffirm the commitment to the war against isis. secretary mattis is a man with many years of experience in iraq. he served in the first gulf war, the second gulf war and he knows the country well and he knows the sensitivities well. that, perhaps, is why before he arrived in baghdad, he stressed contrary to what we heard from president trump during the campaign and afterwards, the united states has no interest in seizing iraq's oil. this is what he said. >> all of us in america generally paid for our gas and oil all along and i'm sure we will continue to do so in the future. we're not in iraq to seize anybody's oil. >> reporter: of course, this battle for mosul could continue for some time. iraqi

they took eastern mosul. took about 100 days, and experts told us on this very show it could take three times that amount to try to take eastern mosul. there are 750,000 people that are trapped in that city. the associated press is reporting at least 30 iraqi soldiers now and more than 200 civilians have been killed or wound in just the past three days. this operation inherent resolve as it's called started about this time last sunday. isis is using car bombs, snipers and dozens of armed drones, friday, iraqi forces took full control of the city's international airport. a key victory in the ongoing battle. green beret ben collins was on "fox report" saying this is going to be a long process. >> the concern here is if it took essentially 100 days to retake eastern mosul, it could take up to three times as long. harris: that's a year! >> we could be looking at months that the civilians are stuck. harris: isis also is using more and more armed drones in the area. the bombs not causing much serious injury but dis

and we spoke to many people who had fled eastern mosul, and they said they came under fire from those people are in a very precarious position. in the past, the iraqi government which wanted to avoid a mass exodus of civilians out of the city have told civilians to stay put if they feel safe. increasingly, given the level of air attacks, artillery bottom bartments and whatnot, there's really nowhere safe in western mosul. and frankly, there's really nowhere for them to go. and the battle does seem to be intensifying. the day before yesterday, iraqi forces took control of albu saif which is a village just to the south, about a mile south of the southern perimeter of mosul. now, there are iraqi artillery on that hill pounding that airport, which is the first major objective of this operation. but even if they take the airport, they still haven't gotten to the narrow alleyways and streets that are really going to be a challenge to the iraqis when they enter the city. because, we know, for instance, isis has dug an extensive network of tunnels in many parts of the city. ana. >> just the i

we have seen the iraqi air force dropped letters penned by people in liberated eastern mosul along theuses to be picked up by people inside saying stay inside your houses. when the iraqi forces come in the part of town, they are friendly forces and help them. >> nina dos santos, thank you. >>> we have learned that vx nerve agent was used to kill kim jong-nam. the report from authorities say the poison was found on kim's eyes and face. he was attacked at the airport in kuala lumpur by two women. three north korean nationals are still wanted. >> that story has every twist and turn. a spy novel. >> like a movie. terrifying story and video adds to that. >>> did president trump's lawyer really promise to deliver a controversial peace plan for the ukraine directly to the white house? one says yes and he is speaking out to cnn. we are live in kiev. >>> all right. 23 minutes past the hour. good morning. new revelations this morning about a controversial peace plan to settle the conflict with russia and ukraine. a ukrainian lawmaker presented his plan for peace to president trump's personal law

iraqi forces declared eastern mosul liberated and they plan to use the airport as a launching. >>> authorities declared the dakota access oil pipeline protest point cleared. the federal government ordered everyone out by yesterday afternoon. most le arrested 3 dozen hold outs. crews began bulldozing shelters. they will keep fighting in court. >>> cell phone vid yeof an -- video of an off duty police officer firing at a teen during a neighborhood dispute sparked a -- dispute in anaheim. they are demanding the officer be charged with a crime. here is the video from tuesday that they are upset about. the man in the glasses is the off duty police officer. police say he lives along a popular route to three schools and he was frustrated by kids walking across his property and that is what led him to grab the boy. the boy tries to get away and his friends tried to knock the officer down. you can see he has his gun in his hand and he pulls the trigger. no one was hit. he said he was sticking a classmate. [ indiscernible ] >> he was like get off my lawn. i thought -- i thought he was going to shoot me.

now some of the residents of eastern mosul are leaving because of the uncertain security situation. understand these isis sleeper cells are distributing leaflets warning everybody that if they cooperate with the iraq authorities, they will be killed, poppy. >> ben, also we know that a man who carried out a suicide bombing on monday, we've learned, has been identified as a british former detainee of guantanamo bay. what have we learned? >> reporter: this is ronald fidlor, he was a 50-year-old british national from manchester. in 2001 he was picked up by u.s. forces in pakistan, sent to guantanamo bay. he was released in 2004. afterwards he claimed to have been tortured. the british government paid him 1 million pounds in compensation for that. however, we understand that in 2014, he traveled through turkey into syria, joined isis. he took on an isis name, and three days ago he was basically a suicide car bomber, killed himself right outside of an iraqi army base southwest of mosul. we understand that between iraq and syria, there are about 400 british nationals fighting on the side o

being drivenfter out of eastern mosul -- there were bombers, mines, barricades, trenches and tununnelsjihadists were completely surroundeded in west mosul, so d little choice but the fight too the death. i iraqi forces carried outt airstrikes overnight, headed a ground attack on the city itself. most of the fighting will be done house to house. it is believed 750,000 civilians are trapped inside the city. losing mosul could spend the end of the extremist caliphate. the jihadists are on the back foot in iraq and syria. they also lost control of a syrian road after a three months .ong battle --the i iraqi air force hitting islamic state targets on the syrian side of the border. it is the first time the operation has been made public. meanwhile the islamic state group says it was behind a pair of car bombings in northern syria a couple of hours apart. day earlier that area in question had just been liberated from the extremists. reporter: left with an unfortunate fate pre-it 49 people were killed in the first car explosion with a second explosion occurring just moments after, killing two

troops liberated eastern mosul last month are and moving into the western part of the city. it has been slower than anticipated. if they are successful, it would be a major victory over the terrorist group but the stakes are high as you might imagine, hundreds of thousands of people live inside the isis controlled half of mosul. kitty logan with more. >> reporter: early morning local time, iraqi troops made rapid progress today but are expecting things to get much tougher as they move towards residential areas. iraqi military police seized several villages on the west side of the city in the first few hours. the next step is to take control of the airport also to the south but the battle is likely to get much tougher when they reach the narrow streets in the west of the city. but today iraqi troops went in with full force, convoys of armored vehicles on the ground backed by helicopter rocket attacks and crucially coalition airstrikes targeting militant positions ahead of the ground troops. u.s. defense secretary jim mattis said u.s. forces are embolden in this battle giving

mosul. the city was seized more than two years ago, as is took control of northern and western iraq. iraqi forces launched their main offensive in october. and last month they recaptured the eastern. but around three quarters of a million civilians remain in the western half — where there'll be stiff resistance from is. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville and cameraman nik millard are the only television journalists on the frontline with the iraqi forces. just after sunrise, iraq began what it hopes is its last major battle against the so—called islamic state. thousands of men and hundreds of armoured vehicles in a line of attack that spread for miles. the iraqi army are starting their assault on western mosul. they have reached their own defences. armoured vehicles are lining up, getting ready for the islamic state. they are only a couple of kilometres over that way, and they know these men are coming. they are dug in, the assault in western mosul has started. leading the attack, iraq's emergency response division, police special forces. some of these men were surrounded by is two years ago. theyjust escaped with their lives. today, they threw everything they had a

eastern side of the city, because they are now surrounded on the west side. they are besieged by the iraqi army, militias and police. >> reporter: since the campaign to drive isis out of mosulan nearly four months ago, iraqi forces, backed by u.s. air support and special forces, have retaken the eastern side of the city, up to the river. the western side is now completely surrounded, and isis is under siege. an iraqi military offensive to retake the rest of the city is expected to start at any time. meanwhile, isis sharpshooters are still killing soldiers on the government-controlled side. because of isis snipers just across the river, we need to use these trucks as protection. these neighborhoods were recaptured by iraq's u.s.- trained special forces, after brutal fighting. it's now up to the regular iraqi army to try to hold the line. colonel naji hears on the radio a position nearby is coming under heavy fire, and he races there to lead his soldiers. backup arrives with heavy weaponry. >> ( translated ): there is an attack by isis and the humvees are going to support them. there is only one injury, god willing. >> reporter: for these men, the fear is that this attack is

having seen people flee from eastern mosul, what sort of indication does that give you of the kind ofnd the condition they will be in? the civilians are fleeing very horrific conditions. they are having to cross frontlines from within mosul to is controlled territory and quite often they are coming out with nothing more than the clothes on their back, very much caught up with the crossfire from is and the iraqi security forces as well. it's a very dangerous situation for civilians to be fleeing and arriving in a state of real desperation, so a lot of work for the humanitarians on this front. yes, what sort of preparations are you making? at 0xfam what we are focusing on is the positioning of the emergency stock, making sure we have a supply of goods and services in place for when they flee from mosul itself. and the humanitarian community on the whole, as well as with the iraqi government, are preparing camps for displacement, purpose—built to house the civilians fleeing mosul. we're also trying to support some of the key infrastructure within strategic locations in order to make sure

northern road footage that the islamic state have dug deep tunnels in the village just south of eastern mosul. plenty of fighters remain in western mosul, iraq's last city held by the islamic state. the assault on islamic state is now under way. quentin somerville reporting. let's look at the headlines. thousands of prison officers in london and the south east of england are to get an instant pay increase of between £3,000 and £5,000. ministers hope it'll ease the pressure on the service. iraqi troops supported by american air strikes have begun their assault to recapture western mosul from islamic state militants. donald trump has defended the achievements of his presidency so far at a rally of his supporters in florida. mr trump also made another attack on the media. sport now. time for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello. good morning to you. this evening it will be lincoln city waiting for their name to be drawn out of the bowl for the quarter finals of the fa cup. it is the first time in over a century that a non—league side has made it through to the last eight. they beat b

eastern mosul was t declared fully liberated last year but many remain trapped. marine le pen is refusing to speak to police. the far right leader is wanted for questioning over a fake jobs scandal. it is alleged she made illegal parliament repayments to her staff in france. her personal ascendant -- assistant has been charged with breach of trust. she was summoned last wednesday for questioning but refused to attend. sherding to her lawyer, will not speak to police and laughter the french elections. i'm joined by our french politics editor. she says she is refusing to speak to police. is this legal? can she do this? >> for you and me, it is illegal. you have to go and be questioned by the police. but marine le pen is a member of the european parliament and has parliamentary immunity. she would have been questioned only in a certain way. she can say i'm not going to the police. this is still legal. marine le pen is a lawyer so she knows the rules. obviously, this is a political decision because she has said from the beginning that this is just an attempt to torpe

as we have heard, eastern mosul was liberated by government forces two months ago, we got this view ont part of the city. the long awaited operation to take the western side of most was happening, in this side there is mixed feelings about people who are happy about the news of the operation. suicide attacks took place. and this year ‘s presence has been increased, however that has not stopped people from coming out to the market. we're so happy that our brothers in the iraqi army are liberating our brothers in the west. the westerners had been heard by the tragedies of is. they have really suffered from hunger and thirst. so we are so happy about the start of the operation. thank god we are in high—spirited and there is good relationship between mr g forces and the people, we feel safe, god willing things will be stable sooi'i. a senior member of the new us administration has distanced himself from donald trump's assessment of the media as "the enemy of the people". the president made the comments during a rally on saturday in florida — but his defense secretary, james mattis, had thi

the army captured eastern mosul last month, and began its offensive to retake the country's second largest city last october. today's fighting prompted a thousand people to evacuate their homes. the united nations says 400,000 civilians may flee mosul as food and fuel supplies run out. in syria, government air force strikes and jihadist suicide bombings are disrupting the latest u.n. brokered peace talks. today, in the mostly-government controlled city of homs, syria's third largest city, suicide bombers struck two security offices, killing at least 32 people, including the general who headed military intelligence. a group linked to al qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks. the syrian air force responded with airstrikes against a rebel- held enclave in homs. on thursday in geneva, the u.n. opened its first round of peace talks in ten months, with representatives of the sides in syria's six-year-old civil war. german chancellor angela merkel says a two-state solution is the only realistic way to end the israeli-palestinian conflict. merkel made the comment in her weekly video message

security forces say they've arrested over 1,000 suspected is members in eastern mosul.this hour: the trump administration revokes us government protection for transgender 5tudents, angering teachers and campaigners. the chief of staff for marine le pen, leader of france's national front, faces a formal investigation over the alleged misuse of eu funds. i'm sally bundock. in business, supercharged! tesla says it's on track to hit the mass market this year. but is its surging share price becoming unplugged from reality?

the move comes after iraq regained control of eastern mosul in a months long battle.nn's ben wedeman live with the latest. ben, what are we expecting from the visit from secretary mattis? >> reporter: basically he wants to go and see what's going on and meet with iraqi officials. keep in mind, boris, he is no stranger to iraq. he served in the first gulf war and during the american occupation. he knows the country well and the challenges well. this is a battle that's in addition involving more than 100,000 iraqi troops. there are more than 5,000 u.s. military personnel on the ground providing vital assistance and backing for the effort to drive isis out of western mosul. there are u.s. war planes and other coalition war planes hitting isis targets on the ground. the u.s. has a large role in what's going on in northern iraq. secretary before arriving in iraq took the opportunity to, in a sense, contradict president trump, to say the united states is not interested in iraq's oil. this is what he said. >> all of us in america generally paid for our gas and oil all along.

government forces recaptured eastern mosul last month that they seize the city in 2014. train to the white house pushing back the release of a revised executive order until next week. of order planes to target the same seven countries. they are iraq, iran, syria, libya, somalia and yemen. new orders to drop language regarding an indefinite suspension of syrian refugees said they will no longer be singled out. also expected to contain language exempting legal permanent residents. lauren: vice president make them to deliver remarks to the conservative political action conference today. the largest annual gathering of conservatives across the country. today's speakers include kellyanne conway, white house counselor, steve gannon, white house strategists and the chief of staff. fox business will have live coverage of cpac at 10:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow for the president's speech. lea: after months of protests in frigid temperatures, thousands of people shed down who are writing the code access pipeline. >> i am terribly sad to know it's not just a pipeline thing. >> that thi

could be the bloodiest phase yet, it comes 26 days after the government declared they liberated eastern mosulu began at the top of the hour. greg: big news, rock america this week, barely one month to trump administration, nick cannon quit america's got talent. but also national security director michael flynn resigned over a phone call with a russian ambassador. here is a quick primer on flynn and russia. >> michael flynn was so chosen y president trump to be national security adviser, general flynn has been around, he is tough, you could probably tell he could beat up a herd of manatees, he gave his pal igor a call, and said look, i know obama stinks, but i am in this new job. you should see the bathroom. people were listening in, people who hate trump. now the phone call, not illegal, but leak of the call? a felon i, which is grown up speak for a really gad thing, bd thing, like at dad stole a dmw and drove it off a cliff. the media, wants payback only cares about the call even though the leak is a bigger deal. like someone robbed a bank but the media is bad that robbers don't use turn sig

troops are very close to the fighting, assisting iraqi forces against isis as they did recently in eastern mosul. >> the u.s. forces continue in the same world that they were in an east mosul and the coalition forces are in support of this operation and we will continue, as you know, with the accelerated after to destroy isis. arthel: secretary mattis says the pentagon is considering whether to add more troops in afghanistan to take out the taliban. general mattis and the united arab emirates on his first trip to the middle east since taking office. eric: vice president mike pence making a strong promise to the members of nato about the u.s. commitment to the alliance. also sent a warning about military spending. the administration earning members to pony up. will this reassure our allies? >> our allies have got to be reassured that the united states has a strong leader who is reassuring them that if going to back them and he's had his secretary of state, secretary of defense doing just that this week with our european allies. em and with safelite's exclusive "on my way text" she knew exactly wh

of course keeping in mind it took about three months to finally gain control of eastern mosul.west their intention is to go in, go strong, go hard and make sure that this operation is over as quickly as possible. >> our thanks for being on the front lines in iraq to show us what is happening. so it's an important development. >> it is a lawyer for the aclu says 746 people were detained by u.s. border agents in the chaotic hours in the first weekend of the president's travel ban. that was after a judge partially blocked enforcement of the executive order. it's not clear how many people in the u.s. may have been deported during that time. so those statistics and the trump administration's rhetoric has been sparking fear among immigrants nationwide and it's creating an underground network of safe houses for undocumented immigrants. she's taking us inside the shelters. >> pounding, standing, laying the ground work at the secret home in los angeles. >> how many families would be -- >> about three families that we can host here. >> she walks us through one safe house from the undocum

mosul. americans will support ericy forces who recaptured eastern m mosul from terrorists. but a much larger battle for the western side of the city in the next coming days. i'm elizabeth prann in washington. now, back to forbes on fox. of course for all of your headlines, log onto foxnews.com. david: as more democrats are actually beginning to question the president's mental health, some actually want to make it easier to remove a president. oregon's democratic congressman earl blumenhaur calling for the 25th amendment to do that to actually put a psychiatrist in the white house. they say they're worried about what he calls erratic behavior from our current president. now, rich, you say this review would be a big waste of tax dollars. before you give that explanation and let me just go over the 25th amendment for folks out there who may have forgotten it. section 4. it essentially says that the vice-president can get together with the majority of the cabinet, go to the senate, and the house, and the president is incapacitated and the vp can replace it. this particular amen

iraqi forces took control of eastern mosul last month. but is still fighting in the west.nathan: when many children from low-income families start school they are often already behind. in today's "spotlight on education," kellye lynn shows us how an organization in southeast is healing underserved -- helping underserved young people overcome challenges at school and also in life. kellye: in the southeast neighborhood, children are often exposed to things they should never see. >> children every day, kids are seeing people they love get killed. right there. they got to walk by every day. this is like a safe haven for them. >> a safe haven where hungry kids in anacostia come after school to find food. help with the homework and people who care. >> our goal is to help empower the 500 children who live there, graduate from high school, ready for college and kellye: horton's kids offers computer room, clothing for kids in need and weekend enrichment classes. services paid for by public and private funding. and to promote love of reading a library stocked with books that kids re

the iraqi army controls the eastern half of mosul. the west remains in control of islamic state. york times correspondence saying the city looks remarkable, driving past open cabayejoints. looks remarkable, driving past open cabaye joints. those looks remarkable, driving past open ca baye joints. those reports looks remarkable, driving past open cabayejoints. those reports of relatively normal lives. this though has also brought out comments from the top us military commander saying, we will see both most sought and raqqa campaigns conclude, that is my attempt. we asked hadya alalawi from bbc arabic to look at how realistic that is. the iraqi army has actually been attacking the western side by some missiles, using the help of the american airforce. however, they are really struggling. i think the biggest problem at the moment is how they're going to connect from the eastern side to the western side because of the bridges that the us actually attacked at the beginning of the offensive. now, is, what it did is, actually, it's trying to destroy these bridges completely so they can'

last month iraqi forces took control of the eastern mosul but west remains in the hand oven trench extremist. >>> quick has ter mind of the 1990's terror plot on new york city landmarks, has died in a federal prison. omar abdel rohman known as brian shake was serving life sentence for, conspiring to plot bombings target that targeted the u.n., george washington bridge, and the lincoln and holland tunnels. omar abdel rockman was 78. >>> woman behind the supreme courtland mark row verse weighed decision has died. norma mccorvey was lead plaintiff in the case that legalized abortion back this 1973. she was in her third pregnant i during that case and she gave the baby up for adoption. mccorvey later became a born again christian, and then join group opposed to abortion rights. mccorvey died of heart problems in texas and she was 69. >>> well, today is in day off for president trump, he is interviewing at least four procedures section important national security advisor, yesterday, the president held a rally in florida where he resume his attack on the reporters who cover him. kenneth craig was

iraqis-led forces took control of eastern mosul, but the west remains under is control.has voiced concern for civilians trapped in iraq second-biggest city. angela merkel will host christine lagarde, seeking assurances the imf will contribute to the greece bailout. area finance ministers will meet ofmonday, where a review greek compliance with bailout terms could determine the ims further involvement. says theoufakis bailout will only delay the country's problems. >> the greek state went bankrupt, and europe decided in its infinite wisdom to pretend that did not happen. how do you do that? ,xtending liquidity to it pretending it is a liquidity problem when it is an insolvency problem. rosalind: global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. rishaad: now the head of the cleveland fed says she believes the u.s. economy is on "sound" footing. making those comments in singapore. let's get more from kathleen hays. been said so far? i don't think she said anything on the interest rates just yet, but

mosul. iraq's second—largest city was seized by the extremist group over two years ago as they took control of northern and western iraq. last month, the easternred. but around three quarters of1 million civilians remain in the west of the city, which is still controlled by is. bill hayton reports. shortly after dawn, but without any apparent urgency, iraqi government artillery opened fire. in the distance, several kilometres away, smoke rose into the morning sky. the assault won't be a surprise to the population of mosul. after the capture of the eastern half of the city last month, it was only a matter of time before government forces advanced into the west, and the operation was announced by the iraqi prime minister. translation: i call on our brave forces to proceed with courage to liberate the other half of mosul and its peoples from the oppression of the islamic state group forever. it is believed there could be as many as 3,000 is fighters in the west, hidden among more than 600,000 civilians. in the densely packed streets, the fighting will be intense. the united nations has called on government forces to ensure the safety of those civ

as is moved the offensive to remove them began last october, with iraqi troops securing the eastern part of mosul eastern part but the western half of the city is home to around three quarters of a million civilians, and stiff resistance from is fighters is expected. and stiff resistance our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, and cameraman nik millard, are the only television journalists on the frontline with iraqi forces. are the only television journalists they sent this report. are the only television journalists just after sunrise, iraq began what it hopes is its last major battle against the so—called islamic state. thousands of men and hundreds of armoured vehicles in a line of attack that spread for miles. of armoured vehicles in a line the iraqi army are starting their assault on western mosul. they've breached their own defences. their assault on western mosul. armoured vehicles are lining up, getting ready for the islamic state. they are only a couple of kilometres over that way, and they know these men are coming. of kilometres over that way, they are dug in, and the assau

they secured eastern mosul. took them three months. now western mosul.take up to six months because it is such a densely populated city. and they are facing 5,000 soldiers who will be entrenched in the city with narrow roads and it will be bloody. >> bill: willing to die. >> very willing. that's where the caliphate was started from was that part of mosul. >> bill: we'll watch the news from europe today. shannon, what's next? >> shannon: john mccain's office responding this morning seeming to imply president trump's comments to the media could lead to a dictatorship. we have clarification with howard kurtz next. >> from indonesia, vietnam and singapore. ♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. ♪ that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. ♪ here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority : you >> shannon: you saw him take them on last week and the president over the weekend also tweeting about the media saying

last month, iraqi government forces secured the eastern part of mosul after weeks of fighting. time, the iraqi federal police have made it in time inside of mental city. and the river tigris is in the foreground. it really was a very fast assault to get here. now, behind me, perhaps if we move the camera over there, you might pick out the helicopter, the gun ship which is launching an attack against the town of abu safe, and important town, all that lies between the federal police and mosul is that town, a daesh stronghold. all morning we have watched these helicopters attacking the town and the iraqi police have fired their own home—made rockets deep inside that town. it is very important for them. just two miles, you can hear them. just two miles, you can hear the helicopters firing again, you can't quite see it. we can hear it. just beyond that town, two miles, is mosul‘s airport. that airport is mostly symbolic value because the islamic state long ago destroyed the i’u nways islamic state long ago destroyed the runways and terminal buildings. taking that would be very impor

they took control of it eastern mosul. the west remains under i.s. control. the u.n.for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in iraq's second-largest city. angela merkel will host christine lagarde, seeking that re-assertion -- ministereek finance yes varoufakis says it will only delay the problems. >> they will pretend that did not happen and how do you thing did not happen, but extending liquidity to it. you keep kicking the can down the road, or as i like to say, the snowball up the hill. at some point, the snowball comes into an avalanche. than 2600e journalists and analysts and 100 20 countries. i'm haidi lun. this is bloomberg. yvonne, betty. yvonne: time to see how the asian markets are shaping up this monday morning. here is sophie. asian markets looking for a third of a percent weaker this morning and the nikkei 225 in focus given japan's traded at came in below estimates this morning. the japanese session now lower for a third day. take a look at some of the decliners. we have the likes of mitsui came in mining mower. we have pacific metals up over 5%.

they seized control of mosul's airport and entered the western half of the city, having already liberatedly the eastern half. after mosul, the next major objective in the war against isis is across the border in syria. we're insidey american special operations base, which is used as a hub for the campaign to liberate the isis capital of raqqa. syrian fighters being trained here are part of a force of about 15,000 being assembled to assault raqqa. but joseph votel, commander of u.s. forces in the middle east, told cbs news they need more than the ak-47s they'll be issued after 20 days of training. >> antitank weapons systems to address vehicle-borne i.e.d.s. certainly mortars would be something that would help, things they would need that you would expect of a force that is going to conduct an assault. >> reporter: the weapons would be flown into this dirt airtrip built for the u.s. by a syrian engineer who lost his family to isis. we landed in tilt-rotar opsry aircraft, but the strip is long enough to handle large cargo planes from the united states. torque the commander of the campaign in both iraq an

mosul? >> one thing we've seen, these operations take longer than most people would expect. this began four months ago and they have secured the eastern half of mosul and much of the surrounding area. they're pushing on the western part. most people expect this to take several months. isis doug in there and holding out. they're fiercely fighting. there are some other things that will slow down this operation. hundreds of thousands of civilians left in mosul. there are much smaller roads in the western part of mosul than in the eastern part. slowing down armored vehicles, making it more difficult to move around. so most people think this operation will take several more months to complete. they do see according to u.s. commanders steady progress being made and isis losing ground. >> so once mosul is liberated and isis driven out, what is next for the u.s. forces there? >> we got a real indication by general townsend, the top u.s. commander there, secretary mattis, the u.s. is expecting to stay in iraq not only once isis defeated and as a base of operations to attack isis in series and help stabilize the iraqi military for the long-term

mosul. iraq's second—largest city was seized by the extremist group over two years ago — as they took control of northern and western iraq. last month the easterntured after a major offensive. but around 750,000 civilians remain in the west of the city — which is still controlled by is. earlier this morning our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville — who's with the iraqi forces — sent this update from the front line. iraqi special forces police are now moving forward. they've breached their own defences and they‘ re heading towards the so—called islamic state, who lie just beyond that hill about two kilometres away. all morning here, coalition aircraft have been overhead, dropping very large bombs on those positions, softening them up so that these troops can then go in. there's no real element of surprise in modern warfare, and last night, the residents of western mosul, who are just over there, were warned in leaflet drops to stay in their homes. these men, let'sjust spin round and we can show you, they're all lining up and getting ready for the battle. look, there's a tank coming in just up there. these men aren't expecting an easy t