the critical infrastructure in haditha, the haditha dam. the government is still in control of that. overall the airstrikes have not changed the battle lines. isil controls much of the sunni heartland in june. the government has not been able to recapture any territory here in the north. the strikes helped the kurds recapture the mosul dam and a few villages, but they have not been able to reverse the momentum. so far they have little appetite of turning against isil at the moment. they want guarantees from the government that their demands will be met. >> anbar is a big chunk of territory. explain its strategic significance. it stretches down as far as the outskirts of baghdad? >> reporter: exactly. borders isi, it means that isil will have an open supply line. we have to remember that some sunni tribes did support the government in efforts to get rid of al-qaeda a few years back. that's why it's important to have sunnies on board. what we understand from sunni opposition leaders on the ground, they want the government to approve the creat

coalition air strikes have been targeted the haditha dam, areas around the haditha dam to make sure i.s.i.l. doesn't take over this dam in anbar, but elsewhere there's been limited success on the ground. at the end of the day, the government as well as the coalition are going to need the support of the sunnis and right now sunnis have little appetite in fighting i.s.i.l. for them they want the government to give them guarantees before they do that. one of them setting up a local force to protect their people. they're saying once we get rid of i.s.i.l. they're replaced by shia application ya men. publis. >> three pronged attack on the town's eastern side, kurdish forces are now struggling to defend it and there are fears for the safety of what could be thousands of civilians who are thought to be trapped there. more from jamala shayal who is in southeastern turkey. >> on the political front, there have been some sort of developments taking place. turkey's foreign minister in the united states issued a statement where he said there was some agreement between washington and ankara. bear in min

you mentioned haditha, and now al hit is under patrol. control. in haditha, they abandoned their positions. they're calling it a tactical withdraw. this will be a big blow to the iraqi army. they've suffered a number of set backs over recent days. isil very much on the move in anbar province. this has led to many politicians to say that we need troops on the ground in anbar province to deal with the isil threat. the airstrikes simply aren't doing enough. also what they're calling for are more close support aircraft to go in with the iraqi troops. the official government position is that there should be no international troops on the ground in baghdad, but the situation in anbar is becoming ever more precarious, and people are askinger questions. >> thank you. well, towns in syrias are too close to falling to the islamic state. u.s. airstrikes have been helping to thwart their advance, we go to jamal in turkey. bring us up-to-date with the latest fighting in kobane. >> reporter: well, the latest coming out of there is that the fighting is concentra

haditha, and others, and are entrenched inside the towns. they have tactic from i.s.i.l., appearing to be to get to a place where there are civilians. over the last few days, 24 hours is iraqi army and pro-syrian troops surrounding the towns. because of the fear of casualties, they have not gone in. i.s.i.l. is hiding in civilian population. it's based on the syrian iraqi border. the problem is what to do when the towns are surrendered. they are using shelling, air support and gun fire to keep the i.s.i.l. fighters within the town. going in to clear them appears to be difficult. >> reporter: the muslim world is celebrating eid. there's little celebration for refugees fleeing from i.s.i.l. forces. we report from a refugee camp in erbil. >> eid is a celebration for young and old. it's enjoyed by children. it's a day for presents and new clothes. children are happy. they think they are on a trip. he hasn't been able to tell them the truth. they lost everything when they ran away from advancing fighters. now they are one of 250 families living i

coalition air strikes have been targeting the haditha dam, areas around the haditha dam to make sure i.s.i.l. doesn't take over this dam in anbar but elsewhere there has been limited success ton ground. at the end of the day-- on the ground. at the end of the day, the government will need the help of the sunnis on the ground. sunnis have little appetite fighting i.s.i.l, they want guarantees, one of those gairntsz igairntsis settingguara national guard. >> syrian town of kobani, u.s. air strikes continue to bomb that town. i.s.i.l. fighters have renewed a three pronged attack from the town's eastern side. kurdish forces are conning to defend an there's fears of safety of hundreds of people trapped there. >> on the political front there have been some sort of developments that can place turkey's foreign minister currently in the united states at present issued that there was some sort of an agreement reached between washington and ankara, to find a more holistic solution to the i.s.i.l. problems. bear in mind, turkey has said the confrontation shouldn't be one dimensional, it should b

they have been targeting the haditha dam, areas around the haditha dam to ensure i.s.i.l. doesn't take over this dam in anbar but other places have there been small progresses. right now, sunnies have little appetite in fighting i.s.i.l. for them they want the government to give them guarantees first before they do that. one of those guarantees is setting up a national guard, a local force, the people of the area protecting their area because what they have been saying is once we get rid of i.s.i.l. they're just replaced by shia militia men. >> talks about the syrian border town of kobani. the u.s. is trying to get turkey to do more to help. this comes as a senior kurdish official is urging the international community to do more to save kobani. u.s. said it carried out more air strikes in the area. al jazeera's jamal al shael has the story. >> reporter: turkey's foreign minister actually in the united states is at present issued a statement where he said there was some sort of agreement reached between washington and ankara and that agreement is with regards to finding mor

targeting the haditha dam, areas around the haditha dam, elsewhere in the country there has been limited success on the ground. at the end of the day, the government as well as the coalition they're going to need the support of the sunnis on the ground and right now sunnis have little appetite in fighting i.s.i.l. for them they want the government to give them guarantees first before they do that. one of those guarantees is setting up a national guard, local force for the people of the area because once they have been saying is once we get rid of i.s.i.l. they are just replaced by shia militiamen. >> there is no deal to let the u.s. led coalition, and the border city of kob kobani is unr siege. coalition bombings have hold off i.s.i.l.'s advances for now but i.s.i.l. is said to be rearming in the region. the mission will eventually conclude going after the regime in syria, turkey wants this insurance. >>> david cameron and his party did not participate in the vote. the spokeman says will not change british policy on the manner. coming days after sweden said it would officially rk the sta

fighters are now taking shelter and taking over smaller more urban towns such as heat and haditha. makes it difficult to hit unless you're hitting ground troops. we're seeing iraqi army surround these towns and use air strikes and iraqi helicopters to go in and to hit targets in the area. so there seems to be a period of confusion as to who hit what earlier but now we're being told that this wasn't a result of u.s. air strikes but more as a result of iraqi army operations. >> thank you, thank you very much, imran khan. >> groups now firing rockets into civilian areas, kobani, very close to the turkish border, thousands of kurds have fled into turkey because of the fighting in syria. pictures taken apparently by i.s.i.l. shows the advance towards kobani. they've now been forced to retreat. bernard smith has more from turkey. >> reporter: it is an indication of the desperation of the syrian fighters in kobani. it took a female suicide bomber to dislodge i.s.i.l. from a position on a strategic mountain to the south of kobani and on monday morning though the shelling and gun fire conti

in anbar, haditha, ramally, fallujah, the main suburbs. and we are not getting the movement against i.s.i.l. that we expected. they are becoming more vocal in asking boots on the ground. this is the first time, really, anyone who is that public a figure said that they need boots on the ground. whether americans or international boots. >> imran khan in baghdad >>> in syria, kurdish forces in kobane say they plan to go on the attack against i.s.i.l. an intense battle has gone on for weeks, with kurdish fighters supported by u.s. air power. live to the turkish, syrian boarder. stefanie dekker is there. it looked as though i.s.i.l. fighters had the upper hand in kobane. it's a fluid situation. >> it is a fluid situation, but what we hear from one of our sources is there's a change in language, more positivity. they have made advances in the east, an area that i.s.i.l. controlled. there were four coalition air strikes, which helped in that. while they've been fighting defensively over the last three weeks, they switched to an attack method. the

fighters are pushed taking shelter in haditha and other towns. what happens after is iraqi army forces and troops surrounded the areas, and the fight is one of shelling and clashes on the outskirts. the iraqi army have not gone inside the up to s for fear of civilian casualties. >> with large numbers of fighters taking up positions in urban areas, it's highlighted the difficulty of the fight. >> meanwhile, the syrian government is making a concerted effort to take on opposition fighters in aleppo, attacking rebel positions. we have this report. >> the syrian government is on the move in aleppo. it controls parts of the city, such as the central prison, and wants the rebel held country side. on friday government forces attacked two villages, threatening rebel supply lines to the north. several fighter were reported to have been killed. >> regime forces advanced in several directions. wr preparing to regain areas under opposition control. >> this overlooks the only road connecting the rebel city with towns close to the rebel border. towns that cont

haditha and other, and are entrenched. the tactic is to get to that place where there are civilians. what happened over the last few days is iraqi army and pro-sunni government troops surrounding the towns, but because the fear of civilian casualties, they have not gone in. effectively i.s.i.l. is hiding within civilian population, because they have been forced out. the problem is what to do when you have them surrounded. shelling, air support and kun fire, keeping it within the town. it appears difficult. >> thank you. >> the muslim world is celebrating the holiday of eid, there's little celebration. we have report from a refugee camp in erbil. >> this is a celebration for young and old. it's especially enjoyed by children. the holiday is a time for presents and new clothes. this man says his children are happy. they think they are on a trip. he has not been able to tell them the truth. they lost everything when they ran away from advancing fighters. now they are one of the 250 families living in the refugee camp in erbil

as i said, i think it's a matter of time for haditha and eventually the capital of row manny.simply to show because all of the world's media is on this as though it were the battle of the century. so that, for them, is propaganda. if they can show that they can take kobani in spite of our air strikes, they win a major propaganda victory. but, again, i just have to say, you cannot win a fight like this only from the air. you cannot do it. >> yeah. dianne feinstein, the senator from california was right some weeks ago when she said, it takes an army to beat an army. >> yeah, there's no question about that. and it's going to be very interesting to see the sort of breakdown and the assessment afterwards, as to how effective these air strikes were, and in fact, whether any ground was actually gained. all right. ambassador ryan crocker, thank you so much for us on the phone there for us. >>> well, up next, did a police officer go too far? >> we're about to get so the by the police. ahhh! [ screaming ] >> next, our legal experts join us to debate a lawsuit against this officer who's

airstrikes in conjunction with iraqi forces drove isis back from the strategic haditha dam, but it was a rare victory in a fight that's about to get even fiercer. two days ago, isis downed an iraqi air force helicopter in anbar. and iraqi officials say they used a shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile. last week, extremists took over two more anbar towns. where they're not fighting, they're running things, even raising money. we were shown an official isis receipt given to a truck driver who paid them $300 of what they called "road tax." while isis is consolidating its position in anbar, there's no immediate fear, scott, that the capital itself is going to fall. however, defending it is such a priority that there are now 12 teams of u.s. military advisers on the ground with the iraqi defense forces of baghdad. >> pelley: and u.s. officials are telling us think in terms of months or years before this fight is over. liz palmener baghdad for us tonight. thank you, liz. in secretive north korea the biggest secret is what's become of the leader kim jong un? and the c.e.o. of microsoft put

and also into haditha, and they're hiding out in urban populations which makes them very difficult to hit, iraqis always maintain this idea that you can hit them when they weren't in urban areas, you have to be very careful. they need very good intelligence and avoid civilian casualties. the fact that we've seen this is very grave for iraqis. >> what do you know about the attacks in mosul? >> reporter: well, i can tell you overnight according t to reports, therapy hit on the outskirts that have town. that's the first time we've seen airstrikes coming into the main isil hubs in iraq. they have come very close to the urban area there. they say they didn't hit any civilians, but they did hit where jihadists were hiding out. that was seen as a success. it will be markly different from what happened in heat. >> emr an on khan reporting from bareporting from baghdad. >> kobane is part of syria aleppo province and is right along the border. this isil video shows the group's advance towards that town. >> it's an indication of the kurdish fight necessary kobane. they have launched isil on a po

saturday isis forces surrounded al-haditha, the last remaining town fully under government control, ande further inroads into al- ramadi. isis now holds almost every major population center in anbar. on the outskirts of baghdad, in anbar, iraqi army troops keep a wary eye on the horizonbut their hold on the province slipping day by day. the army has been plagued by absenteeism, corruption and incompetencehardly the ingredients for success. anbar's provincial council says it is appealing to the government in baghdad for american forces to join the battle although baghdad has, until now, made it clear it doesn't want us ground troops, and the obama administration has repeatedly insisted no combat troops will not be deployed here. "as if all this weren't all grim enough, a series of car bombs in the iraqi capital and elsewhere in government-controlled areas indicates a two-pronged approach by isis: to take more territory, and sow terror. ben wedeman, cnn, baghdad." the look map busy the kinds of a nudist selling himself to women. the mannes and a white bmw. new this morning one-fourth of u

is doing, they have left their bases they control towns like haditha, and parts of the two largest city. they are mounting an offensive an amore. a ply line, if they take the town and cut off the province and may be able to take over the whole province. what is happening in anbar is crucial. what we are hearing is that we need ground forces in the area. the anbar provisional council leader has gone a step further saying we would like international troops. he wasn't specific. he said withwe need international troops on the ground. the coalition air tricks are not going enough. >> the appetite for ground troops to go in is negligible. >> that's right. only two days ago. the state department would ask a question. do you think you'll need ground troops. the answer is simple. air strikes are enough. it will be a long battle. a battle taking a while that will have highs and lows they are sticking to the guns. the iraqi government's position is that ground troops should not arrive in iraq. iraqis should themselves be supported. there are 1600 u.s. soldiers in a training and intelligence gather

the turkish fighters are attacking inside iraq, well coordinated, haditha dam, taking some of these facilitiesback, we are very careful to make sure nothing goes wrong because that would be the worst possible scenario. we hit the wrong target, hit civilians that would go so far against us with the rest of the world and the coalition. >> the u.s. has relaxed the policy it's followed with drone attacks in yemen and other places, which is to have almost nearly perfect confidence that we are not going to have any civilian casualties and part of the problem is that i.s.i.l. is beginning to follow the example of something hamas did in gaza of putting some of their weapons and their fighters in areas where civilians are. >> right. >> do we have no choice but to relax that policy and unfortunately face the possibility of civilian casualties? >> i think that notches up everything and it gets back to war and getting congress involved and all the things that go along with that. the president is doing everything he can to go under the force agreement he has now. you've got to go back to congress and decid

fighters are pushed into the province, taking shelter in haditha and other towns.hat happened after is iraqi army forces and pro-sunni troops surrounded the areas, and the fighting now is one of shelling and clashes on the outskirts, but the iraqi army has not gone in the towns for fear of civilian casualties. >> with large numbers of fighters taking up position, it's highlighted how difficult the fight is, a fight that will not be over any time soon. >> reporter: the fighting with i.s.i.l. led to security precautions in mosques in iraq. muslims began celebrations with eid. the hall day lasted three days. ibrahim was ordered by god to sacrifices the sons. elderly palestinians were allowed to mark the everyone in jerusalem. all are expected to use the permits over the next three days. >>> in pakistan protesters protested against the prime minister. protests have been raging in islamabad. opposition politician imran kahn is leading the call for omar sharif to step down. >> sacrifices occur. for those that could afford to. for muslims that had to flee their homes, it'

saturday isis forces surrounded haditha, the last town fully under control. isis now holds almost major population center in anbar. on the outskirts of baghdad also in anbar, iraqi troops keep a wary eye on the horizon, but their hold on the province is slipping day by day. the army has been plagued by absenteeism, corruption and inkpe tension, hardly the ingredients for success. anbar's provincial council says it's appealing for american forces to join the battle, although baghdad has made it clear it doesn't want u.s. ground troops, and the obama administration has repeatedly insisted no combat troops will be doueployed here. as if this wasn't grim enough, a series of car bombs indicates that isis is following a tr two-pronged approach, to take more territory and sow terror in those areas it doesn't control. >>> we are getting word that nine u.s. led coalition air strikes struck around the city on sunday. you can see smoke rising over kobani there. fighting for the city has intensified in recent days. rick walsh has more on the battle for kobani. >> reporte

as i said in some areas amerli, mosul dam, haditha, those airstrikes were very helpful. we're actually focusing around kobane providing airstrikes to provide humanitarian assistance and relief there obviously to give time to the fighters to organize on the ground. but in the anbar province our hope is to stop or halt that tactical mission and momentum that they have there. >> thank you, just a quick follow up on turkey and i have another question. there are few as you noted there are few countries that are facing a threat or the impact as much as turkey. and it does seem as if while other coalition members have eagerly come to the table, it does not seem like it's more of a harder sell with turkey. if you could layout what the reluctance here. is that an issue with the dealings with the kurds? is it a combination of such, and how much longer do you think this will take? we heard--you laid out this policy on training the opposition in syria to capable fighting force and acknowledged that it would take a long time. it seems that there is an iraq-first strategy while that f

fighters are pushed into the province, taking shelter in towns like haditha and others. what happened after forces and pro-sunni troops surrounded the area, and the fighting is shelling and clashes on the outskirts. the iraqi army have not gone inside for fear of casualties. >> with large numbers of fighters taking up positions in urban areas, it's highlighted how difficult the fight is against people. a fight that will not be over soon. >> a number of strategic battle grounds not far from the iraqi capital is proving hard to find. there are conflicting reports op who holds a town north of baghdad. pictures of fighting - i.s.i.l. taking part of the town on saturday. the government says it is in control, sending out this video to back up the claim. the syrian town of kobani has been under i.s.i.l. control for weeks. kurd have been forced to hear. a stray missile has been fired from the town into turkey, wounding five. bernard smith is in sewer at, turkey, near the border. >> turkish authorities have evacuated people, because i.s.i.l. fighters have seized a hill, and are s

if they're going to attack the haditha dam, they will move as many forces they think they're going toand overwhelm the forces that are there. it's not the numbers you have in total. it's the numbers you have on the battlefield in any particular spot. isis is very good about moving people. just take a look at what they're doing. they're controlling a battle in kobani and almost 500 miles away they're battling in iraq. their command and control structure has want been defwraded. they're still effectively managing their forces. >> meantime, they're paying people within the cities that they have taken control over to at least have some presence there. lieutenant colonel, thank you. appreciate that. >>> still ahead in the cnn news rm, the first known european case of ebola has a nurse's aide in madrid struggling to recover. it has left people in spain wonder if anything their country is also up for the fight. growi. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like sm

way from one side of iraq all the way out to the syrian border is now in the hands, except for ha haditha dam they will not blow up. they want to control that third of electrical power going into baghdad. >> what do you think president obama is thinking? >> i don't think he gives a dam. i think he is hoping that he can hold the lid on this until after this election so it won't be just another disaster for this administration. >> let's say that's true. move into december and january, isis has shown no indication it's shrinking or getting weaker. if it is getting stronger and stronger and growing in numbers, what happens? >> unless we can build a relationship with the sunnies we abandon in on garr. >> is there still hopeless. >> there may be time to get him over the election. force all this attack on the american embassy in baghdad, obama can take a deep breath and it really doesn't matter to him as long as he gets election. >> how good is the information? is this just supposition that our baghdad embassy is going to get hit? >> i think there is a lot of americans out there deeply concerned

says the latest air strikes destroyed fighting vehicles in positions near mosul, baghdad, and the haditha dam. they're bringing three more fighter jets and a warship. britain carried out its third day of targeting as well. j >> reporter: these kurdish forces have rabia surrounded, as they wait for the final push, they can hear coalition fighter jets in the sky. ahead of them is a ghost town, deserted, apart from one building. a hospital where islamic state militants are still hiding out. then, as we watch, this. two missiles appear to hit. rabia, captured by jihadists in june, and their main supply route to syria, has fallen at least. >> these kurdish fighters are delighted at the spectacle which has unfolded before them. they say that the hospital over there was the last building to fall in rabia, and that they can now advance, assuming there are not booby traps left by jih jihadists on the roads ahead of us. and these are roads we dare not take, for the casualties have been high. this man was shot dead by a jihadist sniper. three islamic state suicide bombers blew themselves up here yes

we are seeing haditha surrounded by sunni militia, that and another town has a pitch battle. and i.s.i.l. fighters are under pressure in other areas that they control. this all seems to have been sparked by u.s. air strikes and coalition air strikes on key base camps in anbar province, which weakened i.s.i.l. fighters. this happened over the last three days, and we are seeing a renewed push. >> anbar province, strategically important. it borders three other arab countries. important for those arab countries, as well as iraq, that their government forces keep control of that province. >> that's absolutely right. you have saudi arabia. now, what saudi arabia have done over the last few months is put a significant amount of troops on the border to try and stop i.s.i.l. fighters coming and infiltrating the border with saudi arabia. they are also considering building a wall along the border. they haven't got far with that idea. it takes a long time to do that. jordan is the other player, it's part of the coalition, mounting air strikes within iraqi territory, and understands the n

sinjar, haditha dam, and this is a list in the series of crisis.urds are caught in the middle. this is a group who are protecting kobani from isis, who are regarded not only by turkey but the united states as a terrorist group. the kurdish group is associated with the pk. if isis were fighting against hezbollah, would we jump in and attack, you know, isis to -- if it meant helping hezbollah? i mean, it's a difficult question. >> yeah, it is a difficult question and tragic for the people that are there in kobani. thank you so much. thank you both. >> thank you. >>> coming up, the vikings' adrian peterson appears in court as nfl owners gather in new york to talk for the first time about their plan of action following a series of domestic violence scandals. put your hands together for new nestlé© toll house delightfulls morsels, the chocolate you know and love now filled with caramel, peanut butter, cherry, and mint. so peanut butter up some brownies. and caramel-ify those chocolate chip cookies with new nestlé© toll house delightfulls. bake some love

we've seen that, as i noted before, at the mosul and haditha dams.we've seen it more recently add the border -- at the border crossing. and as we speak, we're seeing it in zumar in the north where the peshmerga have retaken the town, and we're seeing it as we speak where the iraqi security forces are moving to take the area around the oil refinery that iraqi forces have held very valiantly since june. so what means is this, and this is our approach: we are working with the iraqis to establish a campaign plan that is planned, coordinated and methodical to begin over the next months to take back, site by site, town by town, territory that has been lost to isil. at the same time, and this is where you have to do some building of the plane at 60,000 feet, we didn't assess -- we did assess the iraq security forces, and we found about half of them we were able to effect were not competent. the glass half full, there's about half the forces that are. the coalition in the weeks and months ahead, we'll begin to take part in that effort. and then as i mc a isi

focus on haditha further up the euphrates.tainly the american assessment, and they do have experts on the ground in joint operations rooms with iraqi forces, etc. their assessment is that there is no imminent threat to baghdad. the i.s. forces are not far away. probably 30, 40 kilometers, but they've been there for quite some time, and there's no sign of a big marshalling of forces for some kind of frontal assault on the gates of the capital so. the americans are trying to calm fears that are actually quite strong in baghdad itself, especially after a series of bomb attacks there quite undermining for morale in the city. there are fears. but the americans are trying to allay them. >> jim muir, who's in erbil for us. >>> the prosecution at the sentencing hearing of oscar pistorius has recommended that the athlete serve at least ten years in jail for killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. in his closing arguments, state prosecutor gerrie nel said it was the minimum amount that society would be happy with. pistorius faces up to

in iraq, pentagon officials say fighter jets launched a handful of air strikes near haditha and baiji north of the iraqi capital about 50 miles from the town of khan al bag gaddy. sources told us militants had circled that town. today we have no update on that situation. all that as president obama yesterday called the war a long-term campaign saying there will be days of progress and periods of setback. let's bring in ambassador dennis ross, a fox news contributor. ambassador ross served as a special assistant to president obama, special adviser to the former secretary of state hillary clinton and adviser on the middle east decades dating back to president reagan's administration. where are we today? >> i think we're in a process where, in fact, we will have days as the president said where we have gains and days where we're going to see that isis has some gains. isis wants to create symbolic victories because it uses that to try to enhance its appeal. the more it looks like it's standing to us and effective, the more it looks like it is a growing concern and draws in a sense more fo

gave back the dams at haditha and mosul but lost ground in other cities. u.s. officials tell me that the real measure of success from the u.s. perspective is does the u.s. stop isis from threatening u.s. interests both abroad and back home? the trouble with that measure is something we're only going to know over the months and years to come of a campaign that u.s. officials are saying all the time now will last months and years as well. >> that is something we keep hearing from officials, that this will be a lengthy, protracted campaign. >>> ahead on cnn, typhoon vongfong is towering toward southern japan. people there are getting ready. we'll have a live report. >>> pressure is back on hong kong's government as people pitch tents in the city's financial district. >>> southern japan is bracing for another powerful typhoon days after phanfong. with the details, i understand this will affect millions of people. >> it is going to be in a -- it's going to be a very long evening in okinawa. we have the latest from the world weather center. deteriorating conditions a

many are heading north towards haditha. others heading south towards an area between ramadi and fallujah. others further south, and then back up north to bag dad. one of our concerns is that with so many people on the move, we're receiving reports that some cities are turning people away, and not allowing them to enter unless they have a sponsor or relative in the city. >> it's ironic, isn't it, because i think a lot of them went in as a city of refuge in the first place. is this the work ultimately of all actors in this awful caldron? it's not just about islamic state. it's about air strikes as well coming from the coalition. >> david, i think we're having a problem with audio. you cut out. >> okay. i just wonder. i'll try and keep the question a bit shorter. who is the responsible for the exodus? it's not just islamic state, is it? >> david, i don't know your question. but in terms of the worst crisis, iraq is a huge displaced crisis. we estimate up to 1.8 million people in the country displaced with over 200,000 refugees

haditha think other security forces are holding and others like fallujah in contested, i think they are far more than contested. >> are they alarmed? >> there is alarm, yes. absolutely. like i said there is a lot of regret and anger from commanders and troops who fought hard in the years of iraq to especially places like fallujah, to take those people.nd to give them to but the alarm now, i think, is past them. right? these groups of owe -- these cities have fallen, groups have taken them over. now it's baghdad. air strikes, what comes next. i think that's the concern the question that you are hearing over and over again. >> they use the term influx in anbar and because it looks pretty bad. so i am just having a hard time that they don't think that baghdad is influx in light of the fact that they keep marching closer and closer and closer and shooting down iraqi helicopters. >> well, if isis is in anbar and actually in control of a lot of those cities and pentagon describes it as influx they are not in baghdad. each if some elements of isis get into baghdad. it would be like you have se

officials say that territory does matter and they claim victories in retaking the mosul dam, the haditha dam and protecting irbil and baghdad from further isis advances. still, the map of isis controlled territory in iraq looks. the same today 61 days into the air campaign as it did before the bombing started. president obama came to the pentagon wednesday to meet with his commanders to discuss the strategy against isis. it's a rare visit and the last three years he's come here before for only a 9/11 commemoration ceremonies and for a personal health checkup. echoing a point his advisers have been making the last few days that the fight against isis will not be won overnight. jim sciutto, cnn, the pentagon. >>> still to come for you here on cnn, yet another super typhoon takes aim at japan. meteorologist pedram javaheri has all the details after this very short break. stay with us. every day people fall, from a simple misstep, to tripping over a rug, to just losing their balance. and not being able to get up from a fall can have serious lifetime consequences. being prepared is important.

only one major city, haditha, remains under government control in iraq's vast anbar province.r location we can see more abandoned homes from an iraqi machine gun position. the houses, says general ali-r all booby trapped. snipers fire every day, the soldiers told me, at 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. but during our visit they were silent. once again, however, our hosts insisted on opening fire. for now a handful of isis fighters harass the army, but at least here they haven't overrun their positions. "they just want to prove they're here," says the general. "they can't come closer, though they've tried several times. the real danger to the iraqi capital," says brigadier general muhammad al askari, "is from isis sympathizers in the city. they're a gang," he says. "they deploy among civilians. they disappear into the civilian population and camouflage themselves." the enemy inside the gates, the enemy outside the gates. where there's an uneasy quiet for now on baghdad's western front. ben wedeman, cnn, in eastern anbar province. >> now, one thing to consider is that while people in ira

they're trying to take control of two major towns there, ramadi and haditha.y're trying to cut those towns off from baghdad so they can take them. and if they are able to take them, then they'll have unbroken supply lines stretching right from raqqa in syria, their headquarters town, all the way to the edges of baghdad. so i think there will be some concern perhaps about the airport perhaps coming under threat from isis, coming under threat from isis artillery rounds. obviously, that's very crucial to all this american aid coming in to the iraqi military and american diplomats and advisers being able to get in and out of the capital, don. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. >>> a public apology tonight from nbc's medical correspondent for violating her quarantine for possible exposure to ebola. that's next. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees, from the bank where no branches equals great rates. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore

saturday isis forces surrounded el haditha the last remaining town fully under government control and make further inroads into ramadi. isis now holds almost every major population center in anbar. on the outskirts of baghdad also in anbar iraqi army troops keep a wary eye on the horizon but their hold on the province is slipping day by day. the army has been plagued by absenteeism, corruption and incompetence hardly the ingredients for success. anbar's provincial council said it's appealing to the government in baghdad for american forces to join the battle. although baghdad has until now made it clear it doesn't want u.s. ground troops and the obama administration has repeatedly insisted no combat troops will be deployed here. as all this weren't grim enough a series of car bombs in the capital as well as government controlled areas indicates that isis is following a two-pronged approach to take more territory and to sow terror in those areas it doesn't control. >> so, ben, given just how close anbar is to baghdad, tell us what you're seeing on the outskirts of baghdad. how heavy ar

and they claim victories in retaking the mosul dam, the haditha dam and protecting irbil from further still the map of isis controlled territory looks. the same today, 61 days into the air campaign as it did before the bombing started. president obama came to the pentagon wednesday to meet with his commanders to discuss the strategy against isis. it's a rare visit and the last three years he only came for 9/11 commemoration ceremonies and for a personal health checkup. echoing a point his advisers have been making the fight against isis will not be won overnight. jim sciutto, cnn, the pentagon. >> more news still to come for you. pennsylvania police make a new discovery in the search for a man suspected of shooting two police officers. coming up, the latest clues left behind by survivalist eric frein. helps you find a whole range andof coverages.ur price" tool no one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all! no one at all! no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you okay, buddy? i just had a dream that progressive had this thing called... the "name your price" tool... it is

isis has also surrounded the town of haditha on the euphrates river.yesterday, the anbar council is appealing for american troops to be deployed in anbar. one of the head of the council telling us that he believes as many as 10,000 isis fighters have been dispatched to anbar from syria and northern iraq. so situation in baghdad very tense but stable in anbar very grim. >> all right. ben, you know, so erin, i want to go to you at the white house. he's talking about how they are some pleaing for u.s. troops. we have colonel rick francona and other experts who continually said throughout the weeks at some point there is going to be most likely need to be some sort of ground movement from a coalition perspective. is there any indication that the president is willing to switch his stance and consider u.s. troops? n. a coalition fashion to go into iraq? >> no. the administration is not changing its stance that there will be no american ground troops. they have said over time that their duty to be coalition forces in some fashion and train iraqi and syrian fo

fighters are pushed into the province, taking shelter in towns like haditha and others.hat happened after is forces and pro-sunni troops surrounded the areas, and the fighting now is one of shelling and clashes on the outskirts. the iraqi army have not gone inside the towns for fear of civilian casualties. with large numbers of fighters taking up positions in urban areas, it's highlighted how difficult the fight is. a fight that won't be over soon. >> imran khan joined us. what more can you tell us? >> there's a real concern in baghdad about the sheer numbers of fighters. i.s.i.l. fighters in anbar province, moving through the province, and are wondering how to take the people out. they are stationing themselves as a report, in urban areas, making it difficult for air strikes to go in, and making it difor iraqi helicopter to hit the i.s.i.l. fighters, because they disappear within the civilian population. the air strikes concentrate in the north, disrupting the supply line between syria and iraq. many iraq yois would like to -- iraqis would like to see a concerted effort

fierce fighting under way for the cities of ramadi and hadi a haditha. today, the iraqi army abandoned an army base near the city of hit. it shows recruits being kicked, fired at and dragged, an indication of how brutal isis can be even within its own ranks. crawling through simulated barbed wire. the last man gets the honor of a knee to the body, a fighter drags a cloth mat to rescue a wounded comrade. as they pull away, they're fired at. this is the latest isis propaganda, a video called "blood of jihad" showing fighters in basic training. is this anything that they would use in anbar right now anywhere on the battlefield? >> almost never. this type of hand-to-hand fighting with automatic weapons, mortars, artillery, vehicles, almost never really occurs. throughout this entire video, what you have is the stage set of exercises. you look at them and this really isn't a training exercise. it's a video exercise. >> reporter: propaganda? >> exactly. >> reporter: but somehow isis has captured most of anbar province and come within just a few miles of baghda

what's also significant is that haditha is at the head of a very large dam on the euphrates, so that's another critical point that isis is in danger of taking over. earlier this summer, coalition aircraft did prevent isis from taking that dam, but as we've seen, these coalition strikes are of only limited utility. they don't seem to have stopped isis from taking continuously large expanses of anbar province which, of course, is iraq's largest province. >> so, ben, just bring us up to speed because we've heard now 80% of anbar proveince is in th hands of the isis fighters. how close, how far from city limits is that? >> reporter: well, baghdad is a huge city, 9 million is a sort of conservative estimate. it's a sprawling city. for the most part isis is not anywhere near the center of the city. they are on the western outskirts, about 20 miles from here essentially. they are only about eight miles, however, from baghdad international airport. we have had the opportunity to go out to the defensive perimeter of baghdad and see how iraqi forces are operating in that area. typically they sho

that ground force, iraqi security forces, kurdish rebels and they claim as victory taking back the haditha. it was 13 cities at the start of the campaign and 14 cities now. in terms of taking back big chunks of territory, it hasn't happened in iraq either. >> really disturbing development across the board. jim sciutto, thanks very much. >>> let's go in depth right now, joining us military analyst mark hertling and a senior adviser to the senior opposition coalition. guys, thanks very much for joining us. what do you want turkey to do as far as turkey is concerned and what do you want the u.s. to do? >> well, you heard the turkish president and prime minister made an actual very good point when they specifically pointed out that you need a comprehensive approach to defeat isis, that an air defense is important but not sufficient. you cannot just bombard isis without establishing a ground force on the ground that not only pushes isis out. the united states is doing the right thing. it has intensified air strikes against forces and has helped and slowed down their advance but what the united

officials say that territory does matter and claim victories in retaking the mosul dam, the haditha damdad from further advances. still, the map of isis controlled territory in iraq looks much the same today 61 days into the air campaign as it did before the bombing started. president obama came to the pentagon today to meet with his commanders to discuss the strategy against isis. it's a rare visit. in the last three years, he's only come for a personal health checkup and 9/11 memorial celebrations. the president echoing a point that many advisers have been saying, in his words, this is not a fight that's going to be won overnight. >> this the going to take a long, long, time. everyone should be bracing for that. jim sciutto, thank you very much. >>> still ahead, we'll talk about all the breaking news. u.s. homeland security jeh johnson is standing by. we'll discuss what's going on. he's just leaving a high-level meeting with president obama over at the pentagon. >>> young men in the united kingdom and the united states suspected of plotting terror. what are their links to isis? go ahe