is ramping up air strikes in iraq trying to stop isis extremists from taking over a dam on the euphrates river. if it falls to the extremists, it could fall baghdad. i want to bring in our reporter jamana from baghdad. this is another critical piece of infrastructure. >> reporter: christine, the isis militants in the province have been trying to capture the haditha dam. much of the province has been under control of the isis cities like fallujah for months now. since january. but, haditha and the dam have been under control of the iraqi security fources and tribes in the region. this is not stopping extremists from trying to capture it. the concern is the continuous attacks that have been launched genera on the dam. for andbar province. on sunday morning, they launched the ground offensive with the backing of the u.s. air strike. they say they have managed to make progress taking out isis positions. the focus of the operation and offensive has been a district called barwanah. six miles west of haditha. that is the launch pad. this is where isis militants is using the area to carry out th

euphrates valley and the city on the euphrates. these are the targets they need to hit. they hit the command and control and storage facilities. it is good to do it now because isis has already started to disperse assets. they were able to catch them before they moved them. it is important to do that. also, they probably went after where they think these guys are staying. there have been a lot of drone activity in raqqa the past few days. drones are good to find people. if they could find the leader which is sleeping, wouldn't that be nice at 2:00 a.m. >> there has been this intelligence for a period of days and weeks and the missiles which clear the way. you have fighter jets. tell us what the stage is looking like. >> the first thing is the tomahawk landed missiles. they are not manned. if you lose one. it is not that big of a deal. they probably knocked down the power initially. it is back up now. that area has a lot of hydro electric power generation. you take the power down and it takes down any communications and air defense they might have. then you follow that up

stepping up air strikes in iraq trying to stop isis from seizing a strategic dam on the euphrates river. if the haditha dam falls to terrorists it could bring down the flood gates. i want to bring in jomana ka rrk a radesh this morning with more. how are they doing? >> reporter: christine, haditha dam is in anbar province. the province mostly controlled by isis. that is where we saw the early advances back in january where they took over major parts of anbar and fallujah. the haditha and haditha dam have been under control of the iraqi security forces. isis has been trying over the last few weeks and months to capture that key installation. the haditha dam. officials told us they have been concerned in the attempts to capture the dam. isis has launched attacks and they are concerned of mortars and attacks to damage the dam and cause what they call catastrophic flooding in anbar province and other parts of the country. that is why iraqi officials requested the assistance of the u.s. military because they have not been able to do this of their own. under the cover of u.s. air strikes, the

. >> they have been across to fight anywhere east of the euphrates river. they will be welcomed into an area controlled by groups linked to islamic state. turkey doesn't want the conflict spilling over here. but the is is holding more than 40 turks hostage. and the turkish government worries that playing an active role in a u.s.-led military campaign could relative in isil taking out brutal revenge on those hostages. the human conflict, like dozens of turkish towns and cities, it hosts hundreds if not thousands of those escaping from the fighting. >> there's no life, the people are tired. the islamic state took everything and controls everything inside of the city. there's no money, no work. >> the u.s. officials say that they understand turkey's unique position as the only muslim majority country in nato, but being so close to the conflict, its discrete cooperation is essential if the campaign against the islamic state group is to have any chance of success. bernard smith, aljazeera, turkey. >> the international relations, he joins us live istanbul. now, t

we're dealing with targets in the raqqah area, but it's spread out through the euphrates valley. there are several places and cities, and we know over the past weeks that ever since the president made his announcement that isis has been moving their high-value assets and disbursing them, parking them much further apart, moving them from depots out into cities and towns. and if you look at the geography in that whole euphrates valley, there's a lot of places to hide things where it would be difficult to get into. so our target is much more complicated now. because when you go after them, you can't take out a group of tanks with one missile. you've got to hit each tank individually. it really complicates things. but 20 dead, that seems kind of low. we don't really know yet. and we may not know. bought e because eisis may not tell us. >> and we just showed a map of the most recent air strikes in iraq and in syria, and it does show you this vast space, this network of control, really, that these, you know, sunni militants have been able to create in between syria and iraq on the cent

one air strike destroyed an isis boat carrying supplies across the euphrates river near baghdad.president obama vowed to destroy the terror group. >>> meanwhile, dozens of turkish hostages heldhv isis are back home. they landed at ankara airport yesterday after three months in captivity. they were working at the consulate when militants took over the city. turkey insists no ransom was paid and no conditions were accepted for their safe return. in the wake of those turkish hostages being set free, the life. she hopes isis will see it in their hearts to release him. isis threatened to kill allen henning in a video made public last week that showed the beheading of fellow british aide worker, david haines. >>> new this morning, afghanistan's two presidential candidates have signed a power sharing deal. that makes one of them president and the other chief executive. this agreement comes three months after a disputed runoff election. the two hugged after inking the deal today in kabul. it's a victory for u.s. secretary of state john kerry. back in july, he got the candidates to agree

one destroyed a boat moving supply the across the euphrates river. and the other targeted armed vehicles, i.s.i.l. checkpoints and the guard post. the u.s. conducted a total for 183 air strikes. with us for the latest on the fight and the other developments out of washington d.c. is randall pinkston. >> there was a large protest in iraq against those u.s. air strikes, and the demonstrators are following a shia cleric. should the u.s. be concerned about the visible animosity happening on the ground? >> well, the cleric you are talking about is sadder, and if you recall at an earlier point his followers battled american forces in iraq. there's concern. muqtada al-sadr calling on his followers to protest the possible return of combat troops of americans on the grouped. which the u.s. do not want to do, but the u.s. is trying to assist iraqi forces in fighting off the fighters of the islamic state, i.s.i.l. >> speaking of the president, have the u.s. strikes had any impact on i.s.i.l.'s strength inside iraq so far. >> you mentioned 183 air strikes. every

know, 70 square miles of something like this, of a mixture of farmland, waterfront, every on the euphrates and he could control that area. a lot of our engagement with working with these tribes and working through them. from an american's perspective, tribes on sunday is seen as anti-modern, antithetical, building a modern state of it took a while for us to understand how vitally important to social institution was to the iraqi culture and how family ties trumped political ties. we had a very robust tribal engagement program. i do and not particularly attractive mustache. and worked with these tribal leaders to help them recruit men from the villages to be part of the local protective force, in a way would be was trying to do in city of raising local police forces. we are just doing it with tribal forces. >> that was like, also and with regards to the bifurcation of the insurgents, nationalist insurgents and then the more islamist extremist insurgents, very much driven by al-qaeda. the reason i'm kind of bring that up was it was important what's going on in the book but also a dynamic that

a number of vehicles and supply boat on the euphrates river were hit.ive whatever support is needed in the fight against isis, but the president offered no specifics. >>> the new u.s. involvement in the middle east to fight isis and the impending withdrawal of forces from afghanistan is again sparking a national conversation on post-traumatic stress disorder. a group of scientists in california have a new way to identify people at risk for ptsd and other disorders often undetected, like depression. they do it all using a computer. it's a virtual therapist. and it is today's big idea. so the computer known as ellie turns sensors onto human expressions to look at facial expressions and the way they move. a way to tell what a patient is really thinking and how they are really feeling. team members and a team behind the project, lead searcher gail and skip, join me now. they're both with the usc institute for creative technologies. thanks for joining us. >> hi. thanks for having us. >> absolutely. skip, let me start with you. this has already been used on u

up the euphrates, so this is an attempt to keep them from controlling the entire euphrates valley. >ry in this region, who are suffering severe loss. >> yes. >> and we have to give the iraqi military to stand up if they are going to back the territory. now we have blunted the offensive in iraq, but we have not been able to roll back what is going on there. >> and let ee's talk about what su success and ultimate victory which is down the road, but the success in the short term might look like and when and how will the coalition partners know that what happened overnight, and the 150 precision guided missiles, and if it was successful. >> well, if they take pressure off of what is going on in iraq. this is one target set, and there are portions of it, and ideally stop what is going on in iraq and syria. and so we have stopped what is going on in iraq and stopped the mome momentum, but we have not rolled it back. if we see the iraqi army and the peshmerga starting to roll it back, we will stop isis from being resupplied by going down the valleys and going across the border crossings int

. >> reporter: fighters have been trying to cross the board anywhere east across euphrates river. >>reporter: the province behind me across the now closed border. of course, turkey does not want the conflict spilling over here. turkish government worries playing an active role in the u.s.-led plan to push back i.s. forces could result in the i.s. taking brutal revenge on turkish hostages. >>> like dozens of turkish towns, it hosts hundreds of thousands escaping the fighting. >> reporter: the people are tired. the islamic state took everything and controls everything inside the city. there is no money, no work. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they understand turkey's unique position as the only muslim majority in nato. but it's discrete corporatio cooperation is viewed as essential if they are to have any chance at success. >> the australian government has raised its threat level for the first time ever. prime minister ton tone has raised threat level. fiji's military chief said that the commander made the right decision. the 45 peace keepers were released after being taken two weeks

reporter: since january aspiring fighters have been trying to cross the border anywhere east of the euphrates river. raqqa province just across the border. of course turkey does not want the fighting spilling over here. the turkish government fears playing an active campaign to push back i.s. forces could result in i.s. taking revenge on its hostages. >>> it hosts hundreds if not thousands of syrians escaping from the fighting. >> the people are tired. the islamic state took everything and controls everything inside the city. there is no money, no work. >> reporter: u.s. officials have said they understand turkey's unique position as the only muslim majority country in nato. but being so close to the conflict it's discrete cooperation is viewed as essential if the campaign against the islamic state group is to have any chance at success. bernard smith, al jazeera, turkey. >> the australian government has raised its threat level for the first time ever. prime minister tony abbott said there is no information to suggest that an attack is imminent. it's threat level is now at high. it's the seco

that's the euphrates river valley, that's a reach too far for him.nd really, right now i see nobody who is ready to fill that void. as i said the kurds might try to take advantage of any isil retreat, but in syria itself there is a number of disparate groups, and you could see a certain amount of warlordism. >> is that a strategy? you know the area so well, is that a real hole in the strategy? you can start a fight. you can degrade a force, but there needs to be something to fill that void. and then on the question of who goes in on the ground and does the fighting, boy, is there a viable proxy beyond the free syrian army that would do essentially--forgive me for putting it this way, the bidding of the coalition? hthe only power that i see that has the wherewithal to do it is turkey. yet, inside turkey there is a lot of controversy and division over the whole matter of syria, and islamism. this di baits cuts across the divide itself. >> will you please take a moment to explain the divide? i don't think we do a service to our audience by not explainin

one air strike destroyed an isis boat carrying supplies across the euphrates river near baghdad.other air strike destroyed two isis armed vehicles and several checkpoints manned by the militants. president obama has vowed to degrade and destroy the terror group. the wife of a british aid worker being held captive by isis has issued a plea for his life. barbara henning-wright said her husband allen is a peaceful, selfless man and hopes isis will see it in their hearts to release him. they threatened to kill allen henning in a video made public last week which showed the beheading of fellow british aid worker david haines. >>> dozens of turkish hostages held by isis is back home. they landed at ankara airport yesterday after three months in captivity. the 49 turks were working at the consulate in mosul, iraq, when islamic state militants took over the city. turkey insists that no ransom was paid and no conditions were accepted for their safe return. >>> now to the ebola virus, thousands of volunteers and health workers are fanning out all across one western african nation trying to

the attacks centered around the northwest along the euphrates river. department of defense says anna boat was hit. our vehicles checkpoints, guard brosts attacked. in baghdad, hundreds of people marched in the streets to protest u.s. air strikes. supporters of shia cleric, many of whom fought government forces as well as sunnis and american troops following the u.s. invasion of iraq. sadr's supporters say they stand for peace and are against isil but they call the american presence an invasion. >> the americans are trying to reoccupy iraq after they have 4re69 it they want their stamp on us. reporters blame the u.s. for the rise of isil. protesters say the u.s. entry in iraq in 2003 created a power em balance, a way forward has to be led by iraqi forces, not western powers. in ukraine, officials finalized their cease-fire deal on the ground more violence. russian convoys deliver humanitarian aid for the first time. 200 trucks entered from russia. there were several explosions at a munitions factory this morning and at the main airport nearby where rebe

one air strike destroyed an isis boat carrying supplies across the euphrates river near baghdad. another air strike destroyed two isis armed vehicles and several checkpoints manned by the militants. president obama vowed to degrade and destroy the terror group. meanti meantime, dozens of turkish hostages held by isis are back home. they landed at ankara airport yesterday after three months in captivity. they were working in mosuling with iraq, when islamic state militants took over the city. turkey insists no ransom was paid and no conditions were accepted to are their safe return. >>> now to news in africa, thousands of volunteers and health workers are spreading out across one west african nation trying to keep the ebola outbreak from spreading. sierra leone is on lockdown as volunteers go door to door with information. emergency workers say the lockdown is helping them find new cases of ebola and getting the sick to treatment centers. some health workers were attacked while trying to bury the bodies of ebola victims. so there has been a little bit of trouble. so far, more than

one air strike destroyed an isis boat carrying supplies across theç euphrates river near baghdad.resident obama vowed to degrade and destroy the terror group. >>> dozens of turkish hostages held by isis are now back home. they landed at ankara airport yesterday after three months in captivity. the 49 turks were working at the consulate in mosul iraq when islamic state militants took over the city. turkey insists no ransom was paid and no condition was accepted for their safe return. in the wake of the turkish hostages being free, the wife of a british aid worker being held captive by isis is worried for his life and has issued a plea for it. in a statement, barbara henning writes her husband is a peaceful, selfless man. he threatened to kill allen henning in a video made public last week that showed the beheading of aid worker david haines. >>> afghanistan's pro presidential candidates have signed a power-sharing deal that makes one president and the other chief executive. this agreement comes three months after a disputed runoff election. the two hugged after inking the deal toda

the success of the offensive down the euphrates up to the gates of baghdad made it clear that a significant ally of the united states, iraq, was in peril. second, sadly, it came very much to head with the beheading of the american journalists. that level of shock and outrage provoked by the killings, spurred the president to make the decision. >> do you think the campaign can be successful, the aim of degrading i.s.i.l., was it air strikes alone, and without u.s. and allies on the ground? >> well, the first part of it can be successful, which is inside of iraq, the combination of air strikes from the coalition, and the ground efforts by the iraqi troops to regain lost territory is an objective that is obtainable in the next few months. it's problematic when we talk about efforts inside of syria. the u.s. aim is, at this point, to arm and equip the moderate syrian rebel groups so they can destroy the syrian government. we had a lot of trouble over the years arming - vetting the moderate syrians, and capabilities are questionable. in the near term we are gaining territory in iraq. >>> if i.s.

and they are right now, some groups of fsa are fighting alongside ypg against eye ses around the euphrateser. so in regards to free for the hostages, among the kurds is that there was a deal that has been done within the government, turkish government and that isis, the deal is that there are some ideas or allegations that turkish officials provided a train load of weaponry before this attack happened. so i talked to a muslim who is a head of the local kobani council, what they call it, the local government. he was saying that there are videos, and i think this video is now also published on cnn's site if i'm not mistaken. there are videos that the turkish train stops somewhere. and officials both on the turkish and syrian side of the border, they are very concerned that this is a situation. i can tell you that there is a big fear, a big concern. and what personally creates a concern for me is that the peace process, the status of, this can come to an end. this can be jeopardize. this can be an unusual, grave concern for me. so hopefully this crisis situation will be addressed effectively.

halfway between euphrates, and in the kurdish area. said they're out in the middle of big desert areas. so the limit, limits the exposure. of the civilian population. and so, itdamage. it hits isis in the pocketbook. robs them of lucrative income. prevents them from refining oil they can use for their own use. so it's, it's a good target set. we saw this as a finance center and oil fields. part of the economic punishment we are dealing to isis. >> congressman, we understand they hit 12 targets. does this make a dent into isis' funding? >> absolutely. think about it. they're selling oil for about half the price, i think oil went today, $73 a barrel. say they're telling at $35. at 300 to 400 barrel a day they could be selling on the black market, you are talking $3 million, $4 million. nice liftle chunk of change each day to finance their, their activities back there in their safe haven. >> talk about the money being spent on all of this. the cost involved in the campaign. first night, 47 tomahawk cruise missiles launched, each costs $50

tying gres river valley from south to north one from east to west in the euphrates river valley that will head out to the anbar providence. they have had problems dealing with isis. we need the kurds to do it they have the will but also need a lot of weapons and sunni tribes. that is an odd combination of organizations to begin with. what we define that as is risk associated with whether this is going to be successful or not. judge, no one knows if it's going to be successful. we shouldn't be overly optimistic about the harsh reality here. what should we do? we have the degree of unsirnt. in the military what we do is mitigate the risk. we take advisors and put them down into organizations to assist them with the fight. the president's decision is only going to send them back to the crusade headquarters. the fighting goes beyond those headquarters and that's where the advisors should be. i hope eventually changes that decision. second we need to bring in haai support to help the ground offensive. to do that we need controllers to coordinate it. right now there is no plans at all to h

you have yes roaring down the euphrates and tigress valley. seizing territory.asan group trying to bomb an american airliner. the president rightly took action when he saw military action was initial solution not the final solution. >> douglas, didn't he say that he thought the president did say at one point that there will be a moral cause for to go to war at points. when he within the nobel peace prize, correct. that's correct. i think that's been barack obama. he inherited this war on terror. people thought there would be a greater break from george w. bush. it wasn't. he started getting intelligence information. we went after al qaeda with everything we have got. the record of success on some drones, drone strikes have been really almost underplayed. without the killing of osama bin laden, his first term he may not have been re-elected. now there was the hope of the arab spring all of us thought there might be a wave of democracy going. and, cnn covered it a lot. well it kind of fizzled. seems like we are back to where it was when, in 2008, when he inherited

and the tactics they're using, you described it there, we saw it the whole way down the euphrates valleyre seems to be no leadership left. >> did the u.s. actually know what they're hitting? how do they know a building is being used as a command or control center? or is it just a building? >> we've had quite a few weeks now, just after the president's announcement that he authorized strikes in syria. that immediately began a manned and unmanned flights over. we' been conducting reconnaissance over a variety of platforms from satellite always the way down to drones to figure out who's what and where they are. so you can get a pretty good idea by watching what goes on. and a lot of these systems, they don't really know they're being observed. so they got a pretty good handle on that. that's how they're going to do the official bomb damage assessment is using these reconnaissance assets. .of course, absent, you know, boots on the ground or people on the ground with eyes on the target, you're only getting what you can see from the air. >> so that would obviously, my layman's assess. here, th

they were coming down the tigris valley and euphrates valley, and it almost looks unstoppable.once you are the u.s. airpower in there and supporting the iraqi military and the personmerga, they were able to stop defensive and try to roll it back. now, they're sometimetymied rig. they're having trouble. >> it looks like we can do this from the air with no other boots on the ground. i think it's a little deceptive for the american public right now because i think soon we're going to come to the realization that this is a much bigger deal than we thought. especially if the president is serious about destroying isis, that means we have to look at this whole isis operation, and that involves two countries. iraq and syria. >> we also have to look at the propaganda that's going on. every time they release one of those videos of them executing people, they're trying to sew fear. they're also trying to recruit other fighters to come and join them. they're also trying to tap into the local sunni discontent to broaden their forces. if they know that a coalition is being formed with the u.

. >> -- down the tigris and euphrates, which are the green rivers here and captured places associated with these yellow dots and what they're doing is they're basically taking control of the water, the dams, the ability to flow south, creating the opportunity for a stranglehold on baghdad. >> so what does the u.s. strike and how do they go into syria? >> so, what we're probably going to do, and i don't know for sure, and i doubt anybody does, but in syria we'll probably be looking for targets that are associated with logistics. their ability to resupply the forces, isis' ability to resupply the forces down south in iraq flowing down along these river lines going after training areas, ammunition dumps, any place where there's a large aggregation of these forces. when you move south, then the targets will change. in the south what we'll be looking for is supporting the iraqi forces in particular and giving them air cover so they can maneuver. >> and where do we come out of? i know one of the things in the last time the u.s. considered bombing syria, they were standoff weapons, those mis

as they came down the euphrates. exact same tactic. very effective then. very effective now.at some point the iraqi army has the to take back the territory. further help from the u.s. or coalition? >> that's the problem. jim will jump in. special forces go out and replicate, iraqi command structure melted away. the problem with that is, that is the deaf ngs of troops, boots on the ground. >> general. have to leave it there. -- is the definition of troops on the ground. >> general. we have to leave it there. how can western women be attracted to isis. why some of them consider this terror group, family friendly. that's next. a yummy reward is important after a good workout so i give butch delicious milo's kitchen chicken grillers recipe dog treats. that's called inward facing dog. he could do it all day. milo's kitchen. made in the usa with chicken or beef as the number one ingredient. the best treats come from the kitchen. whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. red lo

haven't even touched on what colonel rick francona terms the cavernous ravines and valleys of the euphratesesumably a lot of these isis fighters could have been secreting away a lot of gear and certainly their persons. don't you need person-to-person combat to get to those people and these munitions? >> well, yes. but the constituency for that kind of operation in the united states is close to 0%. not even president obama's most right wing critics are suggesting sort of substantial ground forces. now, we have had ground forces in syria. we had the unsuccessful operation on july 4th to rescue the american hostages. and it would be hard for me to imagine that there aren't some limited number of special operations forces already in syria. after all, how do you conduct air strikes, how do you have the intelligence to do these strikes without that? but of course air strikes are not sufficient. but the idea -- but that doesn't mean that they're not helpful. after all, isis was quite surprised by these 20 air strikes overnight. there's no indication that they had any kind of planning for this. and

certainly in the tigris river valley to the another and euphrates river valley to the west. advisors and trainers on the ground to be sure. i think those numbers will grow. here's why. a number of iraqi army units as we know collapsed in the face of isis. they have to be reconstituted and retrained. that will take some time. on units are clearly fighting and holding their own but a lot need to be retrained. so we'll need people to do that. we need air ground controllers as well. assistance to the peshmerga. also, shannon, we need to provide arms, equipment and training for the free syrian army, some which has already taken place. on the ground, we are support aground campaign led by the iraqi army in iraq and led by the free syrian army in syria. shannon: okay. the final part of this plan, as we know it, the deciding from u.s. officials being able to carry out airstrikes in isis in syria. that would require a lot of cooperation from a lot of people and places. assad in syria already warned the u.s. not to do it without his permission. how likely do you think we'll move forwa

the latest focus for american concern, the big dam on the euphrates northwest of baghdad. u.s. military say they carried out five air strikes against the i.s. militants here, knocking out vehicles. it's the first time the americans have bombarded a sunni area. so far their air power has been used almost entirely of kurdish forces in the north. they said they wouldn't do it in other areas until an inclusive new government is formed in baghdad with full sunni participation. but president obama preparing to brief congressional leaders on tuesday and the nation on wednesday can point to the strikes near the dam as an example of how he intends to set about beating the islamic state. >> what i want people to understand is that over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of isil, we are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. we're going to shrink the territory that they control. and ultimately, we're going to defeat them. >> reporter: mr. obama can also point to a consensus among all the isis states. regional support like this will be

isis was running down the euphrates and tigriss valley. the purpose was blunt that. change the narrative. stop them where they are now. we have to get a ground force in to start rolling them back that. has to be done. you can't allow these people to sit on the territory. in iraq, we have a ground force to do that. they're just not capable right now. hopefully they will be. the question is -- after you get them out of iraq. then what happens? the syria portion of this is, the real key. dan, how skeptical are you about the training, so-called moderate syrian rebldz. the u.s. talking vetting 5,000, doing it over the course of 12, 18 months. do you buy this? is this just a fant sasy? >> no, it doesn't pass the smell test the i have been doing foreign internal defense for two decades. in my, in my, in my back ground. and my, many of my peers have expressed the same. the syrian free army that might have had an option a few years ago, has, has largely been wiped out. bashir al assad, effort to take on syrian free army, if isis, isil rosen t ein the wake. whatever is left of

today we believe that isil has as many as 30,000 plus fighters and it controls much of the tigris/euphratesoss roads of the middle east and from this position isil poses a multifaceted threat to the united states. this past january, the leader of isil warned that the u.s. will soon be in direct conflict with the group and there's little doubt that isil views us, views the united states, as a strategic enemy. this threat to us is most acute in iraq. the group's safe haven and resources in iraq pose an immediate and direct threat to our presence there, particularly our embassy in baghdad and, of course, that threat includes the threat to our -- to americans held hostage by isil. but that threat extends outside of iraq to the west. isil has the potential to use its safe haven and to plan and coordinate attacks both in europe and potentially in the united states. this threat became real earlier this year with the shooting in a brussels museum that killed four people by an isil fighter and with the arrest in france of an isil operative who had access to several explosive devices. we have no info

targets around a strategic dam on the euphrates river.hat comes ahead of a speech due for wednesday in which the white house says president obama will outline his strategy to defeat i.s. meanwhile, iraq's parliament is today reconvening to try to approve a new government. it's likely to be a more inclusive administration to try and pave the way for international support in the fight against i.s. militants. >> reporter: the new iraq government will be inaugurated here in this hall of the iraqi government. shiites form the majority here, but both the kurds and the sunnis, the other two main communities in iraq, will be included in the government when their presentation for minorities as well. last time around, the outgoing prime minister nuri al maliki announced his cabinet here. back then, it was also meant to be a national unity government based on a power sharing agreement. but soon after, he fell out with the kurds and the sunnis who accused him of being authoritari authoritarian. eventually, rifts and divisions were exploited by the ex

in the euphrates river valley, there are a number of sunni arab tribes willing to take up arms and fight the islamic state, and they're not aligned with the damascus government either. we could take advantage of that and use jordan and saudi arabia and our iraqi partners to work with those tribes in developing a resistance almost like an awakening movement. the same dynamics apply to the northeast. if you did that with kurdish and sunni arabs in the northeast that are willing the fight and the free syrian army in the far west, then you have the makings of a three-pronged effort to put pressure on the islamic state. it would be an awakening-type movement, and it would be a tribal militia-type movement. then you could move towards something like a no-fly free zone that might begin to give you a political way forward in syria. >> woodruff: andrew tabler, that sounds like a significant balancing act for the united states to be juggling this many different players and this many different interests? >> absolutely, but after the initial strikes, right, that's the key question: who goes in and f

. >> people have been gambling since organized society was formed on the banks of the tigris and euphratesas long as there is life on this planet. and that's a fact. >> no one's saying that people can't gamble. this is about government using gambling to prey on human weakness for profit. >> les bernal is head of the national organization stop predatory gambling. he and massachusetts state senator sue tucker have been fighting a move to bring casinos and slot parlors to the bay state. >> we're in the worst economic crisis since the great depression, and the daily voice of government to most americans is, "we're gonna push casinos, and we're gonna push lottery tickets." >> well, but you have a situation where states are desperate. they're way over budget. they have to find revenue somewhere. they know people will gamble. >> as a revenue raiser, it defies every principle. it's regressive. in other words, it takes far more money out of lower-income people's pockets than higher-income. it is cannibalistic. in other words, it eats other forms of revenue. when you have your citizens dumping $2 bi

locations are long the tieg resistigrus euphrates rive. >> stand by mike. syrian president bashar al-assad is fighting in a three year war. randall pinkston has more on that story. >> reporter: syrian president bashar al-assad inclination to power battling a three-year-old civil war this according to the united nations has killed more than 150,000 and displaced 10 million. >> as is common in a lot of civil wars, the longer they last, and the more brutal they become, the more radicalized the indigenous population grows and the more likely they or the attract radicals from outside. >> reporter: the u.s. has been a vocal opponent. president obama called for assad's ouster three years ago but as the violence has grown one security analyst says america's actions were not enough. >> up until now the u.s. strategy has been to support some of the rebel groups in the hope of putting sufficient pressure on assad and getting a deal with the assad regime. >> reporter: while the u.s. the west and the arab world hesitated i.s.i.l. fighters moved aggressively using effect

fact, in the latest one of these offensive air strikes, they even bombed two small boats in t the euphrates river. they want to keep rolling them back and going against these targets in iraq and pushing isis back towards where it came from in syria. and the next decision is, do you want to go against isis in syria? that may be the biggest decision the administration is facing right now. but definitely look for more of these expanded air strikes to help iraqi forces move against isis. >> what's next for the u.s. military? about 1,600 u.s. troop, advisers, as they're called. they're in iraq right now. i've heard estimates that number could go up significantly. >> reporter: it may well if as jim reported on what general dempsey said today -- if general dempsey feels that there is a need for more troops. very specifically general dempsey was talking about being -- those forward air controllers on the ground, calling in air strikes and also working more with iraqi forces in advising them. if he feels he needs more in the field, he says he will go back to the president and ask for it. >> barbara,

they were rolling down the too euphrates valley, rolling down the tigris valley, they're not doing thatwere a toibl slow that momentum down, almost stop it. now we're getting the iraqi forces on the ground to reengage. so they've been somewhat effective in that. otherwise, they would have been further south of baghdad by now. >> do you think, and i'm going to ask you this question as well, lina. do you think, in fact, they're just going underground right now? that, in fact, they will resurface, miss khatib? >> yes. what has happened is that isis anticipated these air strikes by going underground. they have evacuated whatever bases they had under their control, and they have hidden most of their leaders and their members. so, in a way, we can see that air strike is actually part of the isis strategy. because it wants a defensive war. >> all right, so colonel, i see you not particularly agreeing with that comment, but let me ask you about that. look, the u.s. was so vocal in projecting and broadcasting what it was going to do. it said it's building a coalition, said we're going to do an a

i've been up in that whole euphrates valley where they are. if you start at raqqa and go all the way down to the iraqi border, there are caves and canyons and valleys up there. you can hide a lot of stuff and a lot of people up there and you're going to have to go in there on the ground and get them out. we're going to be in this for the long term. >> and long term who knows,000 long -- >> of course we've heard you talking about how isis is morphing into yet another terrorist organization. just as al qaeda morphed into isis. so i hear you saying that air strikes will work in the short term. and then what? hold that thought. >> yeah, just for a moment. >> yeah, just for a moment. it's the top of the hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this is cnn tonight piem don lemon. >> and i'm alisyn camerota. u.s. jets began air strikes in the isis stronghold of raqqa, syria. this happening a few hours ago. all foreign partners participating in the strikes with the united states are arab countries at the moment. this is a senior u.s. military o

does it really and that the euphrates river and we need some form of new nationhood further east?k you're right, the borders of the moment are a fiction. but that doesn't necessarily mean a fundamental change over the long term. if people get to grips with the problem, we can deal with nationstate as they are. but we need to bring some security back and that will require dealing with the long-term problems that exist. >> it goes back to the crimean war. around --save the day halfway around the world, it doesn't work, does it? >> there is some sense in which the ottoman timeframe has ended and we are now returning to that time and trying to sort these countries out. at the end of the day, we tried -- we tried passivity. prime minister al-maliki cause the problem almost more than anybody. >> you have the kurds across three nations. , we haveand say, look an artificial construct. let's get the caliphate and then make the borders rational. >> you are jumping so far ahead. the point at the moment is to get a grip of the problem and to see where we are. once we have a grip of the proble

what we harvest, it is because mankind has discovered a culture to train the tigris and the euphrates. we have constitutions and laws that govern our relations, we cannot forget that known tot code of law robbie was that of king, king hammurabi. help scholars, philosophers, richness and production. .oday iraq is in danger that which threatens it in dangers our future. terror haslind iraq. invaded parts of if we do not act quickly to end it, it will spare no one. inside iraq or outside it. recognizes not countries nor the borders nor except their institutions. it is barbarism that knows no religion and no values. islamhough it tends to be hides.ghts -- scare -- obscure. and has aggression against human life and dignity and is in denial the principles of freedom and the concept of difference. madame president, i appreciate the role of your counsel and adopting resolution 2170 and in today's statement. lebanon calls upon you to remain united in order to advance it stakes in the international position in order neededize the resources and keep terrorists from escaping punishment and holdin

the tigress to the east and the euphrates to the west. two major dams to be focused on. the mosul gallon dam, and this is where the airstrikes were carried out and the airstrikes on behalf of the u.s. were able to protect water line and infrastructure for iraq. now the focus has been the had itha dam. it's five files wide. up s. officials will tell you that's cital infrastructure. it falls into isis hand that could be devastating. two crystal points the next couple weeks. you've recollections next week in iraq. you look at the reaction out of that nato summit friday afternoon. whether it's denmark in the north or saudi arabia to the southeast. there seems to be a consensus that all these countries have to. i in some manner to assist in the rooting out isis. martha: this story also coming up on the serious illness sweeping through the up s. a dangerous virus sending kid to the hospital by the hundreds. doctors say it could go nationwide. bill: is this donald sterling all over again? another nba owner? we'll tell you what he wrote. martha: karl rove weighs in on some of th

. >> since january, aspiring fighters have tried to cross the border anywhere east of the euphrates river to be welcomed by groups linked to the islamic state. >> behind me across the now closed border, of course turkey doesn't want the conflict over here. the isis holding more than 40 turks hostage. the government worries playing a public and i have role in a u.s. military campaign could result in the i.s. taking out brutal revenge on those turkish hostages. >> there are plenty of reminders of the human cost to the conflict. like dozens of towns and cities, it hosts hundreds if thought thousands of syrians escaping from the fighting. >> there is no life in rack da. the people are tired. the islamic state took everything and controls everything inside the city. there is no money, no work. >> u.s. officials have said they understand turkey's unique pox as the only muslim majority country innate toe, but being so close to the conflict, its discreet cooperation is viewed at essential if the campaign against the islamic state group is to have any chance of success. bernard smith, turkey. >> m

today we believe that isil has as many as 30,000 plus fighters an controls much of the tie gres euphratese crossroads from the middle east. from this position, isil poses a threat to the united states. this past january the leader of isil warned the u.s. will be in direct conflict with the unit. there is little doubt that the isil advice us as an enemy. resources in iraq pose a presence to us there, in particular our embassy in baghdad and that threat includes the threat to americans held hostage by isil. but that threat extend outside of iraq to the west. isil has the potential to use its safe haven and plan and coordinate attacks both in europe and potentially in the united states. this threat became real earlier this year with the shooting in a brussells museum that killed four people by an isil fighter. and then with the earrest we sa in france of an operative with several explosive devices. we have no information that isil was plotting and attacked within the united states. as my colleague said, comey and johnson referred to that thousands of fighters flock to sir why over past three

controls much of the tigris euphrates basin, an area the size of the united kingdom. strategic goal is to establish a caliphate to armed conflict with apostate regimes. those it considers apostates such as iraq, syria, and the united states are at it poses a multifaceted threat to the united states. i will talk about this now in detail. in january, its leaders warned the u.s. will soon be in direct conflict with the group. there is little doubt isl views the u.s. as a strategic enemy. the threat is most acute in iraq. safe haven and resources their present an immediate and direct threat to america. this includes our embassy in baghdad, our conflict, and americans held hostage by isil. in the region, lebanon, turkey, jordan, isil has the capability to carry out small-scale attacks and threaten americans as a result. but the threat extends beyond the region to the west. it has the potential to use it safe haven to plan a coordinated attack in europe and the united states during the threat became real this past year. also, with the arrest of an individual recently in fra

targets both thursday and friday taking out a unit of militants as well as a supply boat on the euphrates river. and the u.s. may be closer to working with iran against isis. speaking at the united nations yesterday, secretary of state john kerry said that iran has a role to play in the international coalition against the terrorist group. >> it's about taking out an entire network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement. the fact is, there is a role for nearly every country in the world to play, including iran. >> joining me now here in studio is marie harf. glad to see you. >> good to be here. >> big question here. as you know, yesterday secretary kerry said iran has a role to play. go back seven days prior and that wasn't necessarily the tone of his statements there. actually saying that iran's been a sponsor of terror. what has changed in seven days? >> nothing's changed. to be very clear, we won't be coordinating with iran when it comes to military action against isil. but i think what the secretary was saying is that iran can play a more cons