brian. >> richard engel from irbil in iraq for us tonight. we'll stay on this story, obviously. >>> we turn now to news in this country. and for a lot of people that means weather. folks are keeping a close eye on the skies as we head into the weekend. from coast-to-coast in fact. torrential rain slamming several states in the west as this major system pushes ashore. and in the east another big snowstorm coming together. nbc's miguel almaguer has our report. >> reporter: the river of rain is now pouring into northern california, the most powerful storm this year set to dump sheets of water for five straight days. outside sacramento -- >> we heard some big booms and all the power shut off. >> reporter: wind speeds top nearly 80 miles an hour. up to ten inches of rain could fall here. in the mountain town first responders are bracing for an emergency. >> we have already done reverse 911s, advised over 1,000 people that this water's coming. >> reporter: with trees toppled into cars and homes, power out for thousands near medford, oregon, the cle

i want to go straight now to our tim lister who is joining us on the phone from irbil. so tim, it seems as though the fighting it appears has stopped for now and there has been heavy casual cities inflicted on isis. >> reporter: that's right. that's what i'm hearing this morning, zain from kurdish peshmerga officials. the fighting lasted more than five hours. it was on a variety of fronts close to the river. isis began a multiprong defensive. the kurdish lines down there are pretty strung out. they don't have that many guys on the defenses and they're not very well equipped. however, eventually air power was introduced last night and that may have helped considerably turn back the isis attack. a kurdish official told me that there had been many casualties on the isis side but it was much too early to get a proper fix on the numbers. and they're also very wary of ieds because it's been a tactic of the isis militia as they come forward to lay ieds and disguise them and they have caused 70% of kurdish casualties so far. >> tim lister live for us there in irbil, reporting t

i mean, i have been in irbill. i was in irbill right before -- right about the time that isis was becoming dominant in january of 2014. in that area. do you have -- and i didn't have fear of isis there although we were certainly being careful and being alert. do you have fear? a lot of our work was set up training line north of mosul. weave ran that for about a month and we moved to trains battalion. we are not really based in irbil, i just happen to be here today. >> are you confident that training is -- that finance being successful, that people are learning it? can these peshmergas fight this fight? >> well, the ones that we are training are syrian christians, they are not peshmerga we have the protection units. they are very capable, morale. able to learn quickly. able to take the fight to isis. lost a lot and fighting literally for the survival of the syrian culture and christianity in iraq. >> he is what the status of the fight. how is it going? >> getting ready to deploy but they also need funding. right now

backed kurdish forces known as the peshmerga pushed back the assault on irbil. this follows several days of egyptian aircraft pounding suspected targets in libya, in retaliation for a video released this weekend showing the beheading of 21 individuals the terrorist groups said were egyptian christians. >>> and two unconfirmed allegations by iraqi officials. two local iraqi officials say isis has burned alive several dozen iraqi soldiers in a town near the air base where u.s. sources trained iraqi forces. >>> and it is said on that online isis is selling human organs. and nbc news has not confirmed the allegations nor has the u.s. government verified them. moments ago josh earnest defended this week's white house terrorism summit as one part of a larger strategy to defeat isis. >> the summit that we've convene convened over the course of this week is not the summit to discuss our comprehensive strategy to eradicate extremist who pose harm to the united states. we do have a strategy for that. and one component of that strategy is countering violent extremism. >> w

. >>> an isis assault near the iraqi city near irbil over. kurdish fighters have stopped the assault after hours of heavy fighting and airstrikes killing several dozen isis fighters in the process. for weeks now isis was making almost daily attempts to break through those kurdish lines. cnn contributor tim lister is in irbil, iraq this morning to tell us more. high tim. >> reporter: hi carol. yes. by the standards of this region it was a very substantial battle. 45 isis fighters killed according to kurdish officials. fighting went on for five hours and they couldn't bring in airstrikes until very nearly the end of the engagement because the two sides were so close together they were worried they would hit peshmerga positions and not isis positions. it is over. i don't think there's any chance isis would have made it to irbil. it's a pretty well protected, well-defended city. what it does show is isis is constantly looking for opportunities along this vast front 1,000 kilometers long to try to weaken with overt kurdish forces. they want to div

phil black is joining us from irbil, iraq. i know you're in irbil, but is there a feeling on the ground in iraq this sort of retaliation by jordan could be used as a recruiting tool for isis? >> reporter: this is a region, zain, that takes an enormous interest in this sort of stuff, because sit a region living under the shadow of isis. this has been enormous interest in the fate of moath al kasasbeh, the jordanian pilot, and some distress at news that he has been executed in the way that he has, despite recent effort, the resent process of supposedly trying to negotiate his freedom. people have been watching and people have been intensely concerned about how that could potentially impact that here. this is a region where, 20 minutes outside of irbil where i'm standing now, kurdish fighters are trying to prevent the forward advance of isis. it is a territory where isis has struck with suicide attacks. these are people who live under this threat, so very much concerned with further examples of brutality by isis. in terms of how

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has our report from irbil, iraq. >> reporter: it seems beheadings weren't enough for isis. the group has released a new video showing 17 kurdish troops locked in cages and say they'll be burned alive just like a jordanian pilot. according to u.s. officials, kurdish forces have managed to take back around 20% of the ground lost to isis this summer. their fighters though underarmed have shown a real fighting spirit, a spirit isis is trying to break by throwing everything it can at them including bombs laced with chemicals. we've heard about isis using bombs like this. and there have been international condemnations and investigations into them, but i've never actually seen one. the kurdish forces here are claiming that this is chlorine powder that was part of a very large truck bomb. the powder had a texture like sand. kurdish fighters say they shot the driver of the truck bomb with a shoulder-fired rocket before he could set off the explosive. these kurdish troops have done all they could from the north. now they need the iraqi army to do

if they're able to cross the river then there's only open farm land between isis and irbil. the kurds will try to reenforce that area. that's isis intention. they want to draw kurdish ishish in all different areas. that's why they launch the attacks at night. we hear this is still going on. casualties on both sides the. airplane power was not used because of the danger of hitting kurdish forces. they aren't equipped to deal with a much better armored isis force attacking them. >> irbil as the headquarters for internationals. barbara starr confirmed a photo obtained by cbs news is the photo of the leader. he was in an american prison in iraq. this picture is from 2004. there's so few pictures of him. what do you know about the time in american custody? i was there early 2004. the insurgency was just getting under way. the u.s. forces were rounding up an awful lot of people. this mile mannered phd student just completed a doctorate in islamic studies. it's quite possible while he was there former officers and stayed in touch with some of them. they are now the military grain i

in northern iraq they're holding on to mosul and irbil. for kurdish fighters making gains, the toughest fighting still remains. cnn's phil black is in irbil. >> reporter: carol, as we've been touring the front lines of this region it is very easy to see the confidence that kurdish peshmerga are feeling. they believe that the military momentum in this region is with them and very much against isis. in the latest important development those kurdish fighters with the help of international air power have gained three military objectives bridge head to the north of the city of mosul which remains under isis occupation. this is all part of the ongoing effort by the kurdish fighters on the ground first of all to halt the isis advance in this region which they have achieved to roll back a lot of those isis gains. again, significant achievement there. now their efforts are to dig in these defensive lines and hold them. what they believe they have done with the assistance of international air power is really reduce it not take away entirely the abil

its overriding aim is not to take irbil. it is to draw the peshmerga away from mosul, the crown jewel for iraq. that city is being strangled essentially by peshmergaa force on three side. anything isis can do to draw the peshmergaa away from mosul and cause it problems elsewhere is something they're very interested in doing. as for the peshmerga foesz, well after visiting about seven different front line positions over the last ten days they are not well armed. they have very little in the way of defensive armor. a lot of the casualties, of course by ieds. they have very little to stop the suicide bombs in humvees, one of their favorite weapons. they have light arms. they've recently received a lot of german machine guns which has helped. but they node heavy armor to be able to deal with an jenny has after all seized a great deal of equipment from iraqi armories over the last eight or nine months. and it's well equipped. in fact the kurd are reduced to repurposing humvees that they catch, that they seize from isis. >> we wil

phil black live for us in irbil. thank you. >>> take a short break here on cnn. when we come back, a packed commuter train slams into an suv killing six people. investigators want to know just how the crash occurred and they want to know why. >>> plus the long awaited homecoming of an imprisoned al jazeera journalist. he talked to cnn about what it's hike to taste freedom once again. can a truck change how people feel about a guy? we talked to real people, not actors. we showed them two pictures of the same guy in the same location. the only difference... the vehicle behind him. if this guy could grow facial hair what would he grow? just a soul patch. the truck guy. mutton chops. show me how truck guy would shake my hand. oh!! you know you want a truck. the all new chevy colorado. motor trend's 2015 truck of the year. ♪♪ nobody told us to expect it... intercourse that's painful due to menopausal changes it's not likely to go away on its own. so let's do something about it. premarin vaginal cream can help it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and ma

phil black is live in irbil, northern iraq where we know this war has been going on constantly. begin with the claim by isis. jordan saying this is a pr stunt. a lot of skepticism on this phil. >> reporter: yeah brooke it is right to stand back and look at this with considerable consideration. giving recent events involving isis and jordan. isis murdering the pilot, burning him alive, jordan making a big deal of stepping up air strikes and retaliation. isis track record for propaganda a lot of reason for skepticism there. the if you look at the allegation made by isis. break it down. there's a lot of room to breathe. isis hasn't explained how it knew it was a jordan aircraft. that denies credibility. isis says this took place specifically during friday prayers, the most significant prayer event for muslims of the week. it could be interpreted as another attempt by suggesting this muslim nation jordan was trying to kill other muslims during this special time. the claim that isis makes in seeing that no other isis members were killed in this strike convenient certainly but very mu

>> reporter: talk first about what happened overnight near irbil. continued for hours. senior iraqi security official says tens of isis fighters killed and injured, some vehicles destroyed, while local sources say isis launched several waves of attack before being repelled by reinforcements and air strikes. this was close to the key city of irbil. in august they attempted to push toward that city. a place where u.s. officials are based and what it suggests is despite sustained bombing campaign, isis still feels confident enough to launch this kind of an attack in general in terms of macro picture in iraq it is something of a stalemate because as we discussed many times, you cannot win a battle with air power, but you can pin down your opponent and in this case the opponent being isis you can pin down an opponent. these are really not skirmishes but smaller battles over smaller pieces of territory, while most of the map is relatively fixed. >> what are they hoping to take away from the summit kris? >> reporter: they want to broaden the picture, autho

let's now go to correspondents who joins us from the northern iraq city in irbill and talking about unityfight against i.s.i.l., talk to us about the relationship or ties between iraqi and germany. >> reporter: well undoubtedly you heard them talk about their close cooperation, their good relationship, their historical ties we also heard the prime minister minister al-abaddi saying they need help because the economy is suffering from the oil prices dropping and iraq also needs weapons. we have been hearing coalition members saying islamic state of iraq has been on defensive and have not been able to capture new territory and at times have been pushed back but this is a very well trained group, even the prime minister stressed this and we have seen this for ourselves, two weeks ago the peshmerga forces with help of air corps managed to push i.s.i.l. south of mosul dam and took territory west of mosul city but i.s.i.l. does come back and do launch counter attacks and use suicide bomb ings and boobie require assistance and it's not an easy fight since they control urban centers, the main cit

that would be welcome news to the kurd there is in irbil. >> reporter: that's right, any move to increase pressure on isis will be received very warmly here. people have been shocked by the nature of this latest isis execution. this is a place where people are dealing with the threat of isis daily. and so they will likely also welcome the swift response from jordan seeking its revenge, by executing these two prisoners there, as well. sajida al rishawi and another prisoner are linked to what is considered to be an earlier incarnation to what eventually became isis. in the case of al rishawi, she was in custody in relation to a coordinated suicide attack that killed around 60 people in 2005. she is someone whose release isis demanded. they said if she had been handed open isis would have spared the life of kenji goto and would not have executed moath al kasasbeh. jordan said it was willing to take part in that trade but would not proceed until isis produced some evidence showing his well-being. it did not receive that. we have some understanding of why that was not possible. the jordanian a

northern iraq now confirming a battle between isis fighters and peshmerga units just southwest of irbil. now, this battle did not end well for isis. we are told at least 34 militants were killed and kurdish forces now fully control the city and the surrounding area as well. elsewhere in iraq isis is parading its trophies after overtaking a military base that was supplied and equipped with u.s. military weapons and vehicles. this video emerged just a few hours ago showing american-made armored transports humvees, and automatic weapons in the hands of isis fighters. u.s. military officials are not yet sure when or where that video was shot. >>> also this weekend the u.s. military is discussing strategy and how they're going to support an iraqi military mission to liberate the iraqi city of mosul where between 1,000 and 2,000 isis fighters are believed to be dug in. the new u.s. defense secretary isn't committing to a timetable, but iraq's prime minister said this week they expect to launch an assault on mosul in the coming months. michael weiss is joining us here. he wrote the book "isis:

in the north, we saw firsthand last week how kurdish forces have been under attack near the city of irbil. they turned back a major i.s.i.s. assault. >> that's richard engel. >>> and the papers across the country, reporting on the president's summit at the white house. "the new york post," not positive saying the president doesn't seem to see the threat from islamic terror. obviously, this debate raged. and president obama tried to get off the defensive by taking on those criticizing his administration by refusing to call islamic terrorists well islamic terrorists. he jumped into the debate during the second day of the summit on violent extremism. and mr. obama urged political and religious leaders from around the world to come together in efforts to stop young people from joining the islamic state. and he defended his choice of rhetoric, claiming i.s.i.s. is lying when they say the west is at war with islam. and when they do that to gain new muslim recruits. >> we must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. nor should we grant these terrorists the religious l

. >> reporter: we are in the city of irbill and they want more help from the international coalition,sort of help does he need? >> well we heard the prime minister say they are facing an enemy which is well trained and developing quality weapons and really that is the case we have seen that for ourselves on the ground. the kurdish forces here in the north, the iraqi forces which are led by shia malitias in the south and when they recapture territory i.s.i.l. comes back and launches counter offensive and this is a well trained, equipped cites force and iraq needs help and even here in the north there is a 1,000 kilometer gront line and the kurds are unable to hold that line just a few days ago i.s.i.l. tried to capture the city of kirkuk and launched offensive on all directions and one of the men occupied an empty high rise building to cause chaos and the fight continues even though the united states said i.s.i.l. is in a defensive position yes, but they are adapting and using and they camouflage their vehicles and manage to melt in with the local population and went to one village whi

ben wedeman has more from us from irbil, iraq. >> yes, christi, another video put out by isis. this one seems to show 21 peshmerga fighters, kurdish fighters. it appears they're south of kirkuk itself. you see them in the orange jump suits. their hands are chained. they're being led by what appear to be isis fighters. they are in cages at one point being interviewed by a militant -- a bearded militant who's holding a microphone with an isis logo on it. they're asking what their names are, where they're from. they're basically prompted to say that they regret fighting for the peshmerga and they call upon their comrades to put down their arms and switch sides. now obviously these are statements made under duress. we don't know the faith of these fighters. later in the 9-minute video we see them in cages on the back of pickup trucks being paraded through we believe the towns of hawiga. now at one point in the video you see flashes showing the beheading of egyptian christians in libya last week but there's no indication that these fighters are actually killed. now the question is,

today, near the city of irbil they turned back a major isis assault. in central iraq where isis captured the town of al baghdadi iraqi officials claim as many as 48 of their fighters were burned alive by militants. it's unconfirmed by u.s. officials, but it reportedly happened just five miles from a base where hundreds of u.s. marines are deployed as advisers. but why the spread? isis is moving into all the cracks in the middle east the unresolved conflicts in iraq libya, the sinai, syria and gaza. this is not a problem that can be droned away. the isis virus is consuming the middle east infecting europe and showing no sign of stopping there. richard engel, nbc news. >> the threat from this type of violent extremism has prompted officials from 60 countries to gather at the white house for a three-day summit. and in his remarks today president obama appeared to choose his words very carefully. our chris jansing is at the white house for us tonight. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. late today the president announced an extensive de

irbil is the major kurdish city where the kurdish fighters are based. they are low on weapons and supplies than is a fear that if isis pushes through these defensive lines it will open upper bill to isis. we saw where isis fighters pushed into the town of al-baghdadi. a major town near a military base where there are u.s. marines. in doing so they have taken over al-baghdadi and they burned 30 people to death. maybe as many as 45 or so. sighs * is able to break through defensive lines and get close to key population areas. without kurdish fighters there there is a chance irbil could fall to isis. martha: as you say the kurdish fighters don't have the supplies they need. the conditions in libya appear to be deteriorating as well. >> reporter: libya has been divided since qaddafi fell in 2011. one of the main islamic militias managed to get their hands on some planes and bombed a city linked to the internationally linked is government. the islamic groups in libya are not necessarily tied to isis yet. but if they were to gain a foothold in libya. many of t

they were also within miles of irbil and, again my timeline is off here but a few months before with allied support and with support for the kurds they were pushed back. so we have to keep this in a realistic perspective, because i think our greatest strength and possibility here is what you said. these guys can't govern. they cannot deliver for the muslim population. and in mosul right now, it's falling apart. electricity is off pretty much every day. nobody's picking up the garbage. they can't govern. the people there are only staying with them out of fear. so i do believe that isil's momentum has been blunted, and it's really interesting. it's been blunted in part with the help of the u.s. tear, but it's -- military, but it's been blunted more by their open weaknesses and that's what we have to remember. that's what i want to ask general flynn about. it is an existential threat i agree with you and therefore, we have to amass all our forces and figure out how to defeat them. fundamentally, do you disagree with the statement that u.s. military might is simply not in a position to d

just a day isis's advance came to a screeching halt near irbil. calling in u.s. air strikes to finish the job. is ben there? let me know. for months we have been see seeing the u.s.-backed peshmerga fighters pushing back in iraq. they are the u.s.'s eyes and ears on the ground. in syria, by comparison the united states has been practically fighting blind. now we are learning the u.s. is planning to introduce a new syrian force to the battle ground. let me bring in david lesh to talk about the pov to get the syrian rebel it is ability to identity targets for air strikes. he's a professor at trinity university in san antonio. also the author of "syria the fall of the house of assad." welcome back. >> my pleasure brooke. >> it's pertinent to remind viewers you regularly met with baer shar al assad before 2009. you have returned from visiting jordan and lebanon. let me begin with the fact you met with the commanders of the syrian opposition. there is a difference in motive here. while the u.s. is clearly focused on destroying and dismantling isis the syrian rebels ar

just outside irbil, italian, german and dutch troops training front line peshmerga forces. it's still unclear whether the next big battle will be to retake mosul, iraq's second largest city. amid worry iraqi forces still are not ready. >> if you go in there, it's going to be tough fighting and if you lose, or even if you have a stalemate, it looks like a victory for isis. >> reporter: iraqi forces could first take on isis in western iraq, which is less populated. but still an area with isis threats. a crucial hurdle for iraqi success, the need to include shia sunni and peshmerga fighters. >> it's going to be important that baghdad get its act together that the iraqi army get its act together as a multisectarian force. >> reporter: iraqi forces say they blew up these isis tunnels fighters were using to reach government buildings in the western city of ramadi. elsewhere, isis still on a brutal offensive. activists are reporting in northern syria, 150 christians kidnapped and threatened with execution after isis swept through several villages. secretary of state john kerry say

just today an isis advance in northern iraq came to a screeching halt near the town of irbil. kurdish fighters fought back the militants calling in u.s. air strikes to finish the job. bob mcfadden, senior vice president of the soofan group and the naval investigative service. good to see you, bob. >> thank you. >> let me begin with -- before the logistics offer war here, information from the single source. this is claims by iraq's u.n. ambassador that bodies of isis victims are being found cut up,erup, organs missing. one would deduce it's to sell organs on the black market. no proof of this. if it were true, would it surprise you? >> it wouldn't. hardly anything surprises us about the islamic state. you know when we heard the ambassador say this today, i mean some eyebrows raised of course. it's a shocking thing about the group that may be true, according to the ambassador. but if it is for organ harvesting it's another source of revenue. >> if this would be one source of revenue, how are the militants getting money to continue? there's been a lot of talk about isis as the ri

so the iraqi city of kirkuk to the sergeant of irbill where i am standing is where isis tried to seizeory over the last week suddenly opening a you in front in this conflict. it has done so at the same time as i say, as kurdish fighters are putting pressure on them surrounding mosul. the occur issue strategy, if you like is to try and cut mosul off from isis-controlled territory in syria. to effectively cut mosul and the isis territory off from syria, to control the iraqi/syrian border, to prevent resupply that sort of thing. they've had significant success really to some degree. it's not -- hasn't been achieved entirely but they are making headway. putting isis under pressure and suddenly you have isis launching attacks around kirkuk. a significant city because of its oil reserves. it could be a diversion. it could be a new tampa to claim new territory. either way, it shows that this oregon despite being under pressure is still able to lash out and go on the offensive. >> a very scary prospect considering the brutal execution of the jordanian pile and jordan executing two -- pilot and

and we have more from irbil. >> reporter: another masked grave found in the sinjar area in the northwestaq along the syrian border peshmerga fighters they were clearing the area from explosives bomb -- boobie trapped and at least 25 bodies have been found believed to be from the community of men, women and children and some of the officials some of the bodies had gunshot wounds other people were slaughtered. now, we have to remember that isil the islamic state of iraq and lavonte took over the sinjar area last august and they were accused of killing hundreds of yaziti men, women and children and the fate of them are still unknown but in december with the help of u.s. led coalition strikes pushed in the sinjar mountains to clear the able but unable to take sinjar city where isil is held up and putting up a fierce battle because it's such an important area for isil a main supply line between iraq and syria crosses the line and another masked grave and conflict continues and there is a 1,000 kilometer front line here and the community did pay a heavy price over recent months. >>> an explosi

northern iraq now confirming a battle between isis fighters and peshmerga units just southwest of irbilid not end well for isis. we are told at least 34 militants were killed and kurdish forces now fully control the city and the surrounding area as well. elsewhere in iraq

cnn, irbil. >> absolutely. isis has a new target now in its sight, talking about europe, and specifically italy. isis forces are in libya, which is just a short boat ride across the mediterranean. the country's a big problem now with refugees making their way on to share shores to seek asylum making it easy for isis to actually slip in. in a video purportedly from isis this week the islamic state warned they are south of rome and this is what they say, rome will be conquered. we want insight from our guests here the contributor for the daily beast and former u.n. and state department official. starting with you, jamie, you're in italy. we are talking about authorities looking at warnings here and i wonder how seriously they are taking it. are they making preparations? beefing up security here? potentially rounding up isis sympathizers where you are? >> they are taking precautions and taking it seriously. the problem in libya is taken seriously, and as you know the foreign minister and defense minister talked ab

today, near the city of irbil, they turned back a major isis assault.n central iraq, where isis captured the town of al baghdadi, iraqi officials claim as many as 48 of their fighters were burned alive by militants. it's unconfirmed by u.s. officials, but it reportedly happened just five miles from a base where hundreds of u.s. marines are deployed as advisers. but why the spread? isis is moving into all the cracks in the middle east. the unresolved conflicts in iraq, libya, the sinai, syria, and gaza. this is not a problem that can be droned away. the isis virus is consuming the middle east, infecting europe, and showing no sign of stopping there. richard engel, nbc news. >> i just don't see what the plan is. >> well, i think -- >> a military plan, i just don't see it. >> we know from american military officers who are publicly stated there is no military end to this operation. this is not going to be won on a battlefield. the u.s. militarily can contain isis and degrade its leadership and destroy weapons depots. but when you're fighting an ideology, b

the assault from several different directions and targeted two towns near the toured issue capital irbil. commanders inflicted heavy casualties on the isis attackers. >>> the ukrainian military and pro-russian separatists refuse to back down from heavy fighting in bada$$.rief -- in debaltseve. >>> the u.n. says syria's government is willing to stop bombing and shelling aleppo for six weeks. it would be part of a test of a local cease-fire. a u.n. mediator says for the test to work rebel forces will also have to stop mortar and rocket fire there. >>> for now, egypt's air strikes against isis in libya have ended. they were of course a response to those ghastly murders of 21 egyptian christians by isis. people in one egyptian village are cry out for more vengeance. >> the area is home to a large christian population. one village lost 13 young men in that latest massacre. ian lee has more. >> reporter: a grieving mother and son turned martyr. 24-year-old mina didn't have much. a strong back but no real education. with marriage on his mind and empty pockets, he left for libya. "he was a worke

backed kurdish forces known as the peshmerga pushed back the assault on irbil.ys of egyptian aircraft pounding suspected targets in libya, in retaliation for a video released this weekend showing the beheading of 21 individuals the terrorist groups said were egyptian christians. >>> and two unconfirmed allegations by iraqi officials. two local iraqi officials say isis has burned alive several dozen iraqi soldiers in a town near the air base where u.s. sources trained iraqi forces. >>> and it is said on that online isis is selling human organs. and nbc news has not confirmed

ben wedeman has more from us from irbil, iraq. >> yes, christi, another video put out by isis.w 21 peshmerga fighters, kurdish fighters. it appears they're south of kirkuk itself. you see them in the orange jump suits. their hands are chained. they're being led by what appear to be isis fighters. they are in cages at one point being interviewedy

let's move on to them i spent the last week in baghdad and an irbil, in kurdistan talking to officials along with hours. you have sent a request for an authorization for use of military force, the president has. but it's your believe today that the administration has the legal authority to conduct operations against isis with existing authorities, is that correct? >> yes. >> that is correct? >> that we -- we are looking for a separate authority under the speedy but you believe -- >> we believe we have the authority under 2001 to that's because when i did into simcoe absolutely. and we do believe that. >> i know people will be looking for if you're asking for a separate authorization, i know there's some debate among the committee here as to whether you do or do not have the legal authority, you believe you do but one of the things that people are going to be looking to is is there a real commitment by this administration to deal with isis? and i have to tell you as i look at the authorization and i visit turkey and understand what's happening in syria, i have to ask this question. do y

this is an area though that's roughly 25 miles from irbil.e been able to push through there wouldn't really be anything to stop them from going there, although it didn't look like that was their plan. what it seems more like is as the peshmerga start to choke off mosul, that isis-controlled city it seems like the militants are trying to probe personshmerga lines. it has come at a cost. the peshmerga said that several of their fighters died in that advance and we're expecting more fighting to pick up as the sun sets alisyn. >> ian lee, thank you for that update. >>> also new information this morning about the suspected gunman in the deadly shootings in cope ben haggan. also, there's new information that the paris attacks at "charlie hebdo" and the kosher market were in fact coordinated. cnn international correspondent nic robertson has the latest. nic. >> reporter: what we're learning here in denmark is that the death toll at the cafe at the freedom of speech venue could have been far higher. they say the gunman tried the back doors, the side

is he outside of irbil.rter: brianna, what we do know is the kurdish forces have the will to fight isis. they have been feeding them now since last summer. in fact isis launched a major assault just 30 miles to the west of irbil, the kurdish capitol. it happened just up the river -- rather down the river from here. they were able to repulse them but only after the coalition airstrikes airstrikes. there have been more coalition airstrikes we understand on positions from which the isis assaults were launched. kurdish officials telling us somewhere between 7 and 8 isis fighters were hit, but of course this underscores two things on the one hand it's now over six months that these coalition airstrikes have been taking place but isis is still able to operate and challenge the kurdish forces. the kurdish forces will quickly tell you that isis outguns them because of all the weaponry they were able to loot from the retreating iraqi army last summer. the kurds for their part have much less in terms of fire power and

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holly williams is in irbil. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.a, a land recently recaptured in isis militants. the peshmerga are the foot soldiers in the fight against isis facing off with the extremists on a 600-mile-long front line. they're kurdish soldiers and in iraq they have the best track record of defeating the militants, but they're massively outgunned. the kurdish forces say they've clawed back 1,500 square miles of territory from isis since december. and they've done nearly all of their fighting relying on small caliber weapons like these. >> we have lost more than 1,000 peshmergas, and somewhere around 5,000 wounded. >> reporter: this man, the kurdish national security adviser, told us 70% of those deaths could have been prevented, if the u.s. would give the peshmerga the hundreds of armored vehicles they want. so far, they've received just 25. >> thank the peshmerga. that is not enough. we need the equipment. this is a war. the enemy doesn't wait wait for us or allies to provide the right equipment. >> reporter: the amered car would

equipping kurdish forces in iraq and germany is preparing to lead the training of local forces in irbilany is a close partner in combating foreign terrorist fighters and under angela's leadership, germany is moving ahead with new legislation to prevent fighters from traveling to and from syria and iraq. at the same time, both angela and i recognize that young people in both our countries, especially in muslim communities are threatened and targeted for recruitment by terrorists like al qaeda and isil and protecting young people from the hateful ideology so they're not vulnerable to such recruitment. first and foremost a task for local communities families neighbors, faith leaders who know their communities best but we could help those communities, starting with the tone and the example we set in our own countries. so i want to commented angela for her leadership. her leadership speaking out forcefully against xenophobia and prejudice. she made it clear all have a place in germany just as they do in the united states. i'm grateful our friends will counter violent extremism, this is a cha

. >> senior international correspondent, ben wedeman, is in irbil, iraq.cerns about the ability of isis to get hands on the u.s.-made heavy artillery. >> reporter: yes, it certainly does. but this is really the latest installment going back to last july, when mosul -- when isil -- isis took over the city of mosul, and the iraqi army simply threw down their arms, and left their tanks and humvees and heavy artillery behind. we have seen time after time isis forces have been able to drive the iraqi army away and pick up all this booty along the way. and, of course if you look at that -- this latest video and we do understand that an incident paralleling what you're seeing in that video took place in early february. they have got their hands on some very good-looking american-made m-16s. i counted 35 piles of ak-47 assault rifles. mortars, ammunition ammunition clips. humvees and armored personnel carriers. and all of this clearly indicates that the iraqi army which is supposed to play the lead role in liberating mosul from isis sometime in late april and earl

guest: i visited irbil which is in the kurdish region. believe we should recognize the kurds as an independent country. many of our problems stem from the fact that we have british colonialists, these imperialist of 150 years ago responsible for drawing a lot of these lines. and a lot of these countries were not countries. they were just the creation of some british imperialists 150 years ago. the kurds deserve their own country. they are a national entity. we have been trying to bend over backwards and placate groups of people who are not necessarily our friends. we are trying to calm in a people -- to accommodate people who we don't know if they are friends. stick with your friends. find out who they are. give them as much support as you can, and let's forget about baghdad. let's deal with the kurds. host: and that includes military legal aid to -- guest: the kurds? absolutely. host: what about arming syrian rebels will stop at the place you have expressed concern in the past. -- what about arming syrian rebels? it is a place you have e

let's move on to -- i spent the last week in baghdad and inner irbill talking with turkish officials along with ours. you sent request for authorization for use of military force, the president has. but it's your belief today that the administration has the legal authority to conduct operations against isis with existing authorities, is that correct? >> yes. >> that is correct? >> that we -- we're looking for a separate authority under the ama. >> you believe -- >> we believe we have the testimony under 2001. that's the testimony i gave you in december. and we do believe that. >> one thing people are going to be looking for f you're asking for a separate authorization, i know there's some debate among the committee here as to whether you do or do not have the legal authority, you believe you do, but one of the things that people are going to be looking to is, is there a real commitment by this administration to deal with isis. and i have to tell you, as i look at the authorization and i visit turkey and understand what's happening in syria i have to ask this question -- do you believ