the rise of isis. why did al-qaeda in iraq mutate into isis? and here, to come back to your important question, we have to take other factors into equation. other variables. and here comes the deepening sectarianism in iraq after 2010, the president nouri al-maliki as prime minister, the arab spring uprising and derailment of the arab spring uprising, the civil war in syria and, basically, here you have al-qaeda in iraq was able to basically embed and blend itself within rebellious sunni communities in iraq and syria. you have a security vacuum, you have sunni rebellions against the shia-dominated and the ally-dominated orders in iraq and syria. so the spectacular surge of isis was a direct result of the creeping sectarianism, the deepening sectarianism, the civil wars in al-nusra in the arab east, the security vacuum that exists in iraq and syria and other states and the perception that somehow the arab spring, the peaceful, collective action could naturally change the existing order. that is the, al-baghdadi, the leader of isis who, basically

you can still see isis graffiti, a painted-over isis flag. in this traffic circle, residents have erected a monument memorializing the day that isis executed 11 town officials. isis was still in the area. i was taken out to this oilfield. oil wells were still burning, set on fire by retreating isis fighters. and i snapped a picture of the isis flag flying in the distance. i wanted to know about reports of sectarian violence by shia militia forces after isis was pushed out of the area. videos like this had surfaced on the internet-- sunni residents dragged out of their homes and shot, accused of being isis collaborators. >> smith: their houses blown up. (explosion) in tikrit, i visited this sunni neighborhood. house after house demolished. human rights watch has reported that scores of sunni homes were leveled by shia militia. i went back to baghdad to speak to officials about what i'd seen. the capital of iraq supposedly represents all iraqis, but militia propaganda is overwhelming here. are these martyrs? >> yeah. >> smith: their heroes cele

is when you read black flags, the rights of isis isis you'll see why. there's a seriousness of purpose, the relentless reporting and how he embraces nuance while never losing his wing complexity. there is his eye for revelatory detail and his talent for committing your attention with the finest techniques of storytelling. this is such a good story that hbo has a movie in development. and with bradley cooper as executive producer. were hoping it will be may.he ms this is, as the new york times wrote in its review a gripping book of novelistic energy in the most revealing portrait yet of abu was sad i -- as our country aims to destroy isis and as isis seeks to metastasize beyond irau and syria there cannot be a more urgent and timely treatment of the subject. as isis and terrorism takes center stage in a presidential race this book offers a refuge in actual facts. imagine that. in an absorbing history of ouros times and a sober assessment of failures across the politicall and governmental landscape, for good reason "black flags "was offered the nonfiction

because on sunday isis did actually have its battle in dabiq and now isis no longer controls dabiq. they lost it. turkish forces and a syrian rebel group took dabiq from isis control this weekend. and you know what? the world did not end. and so since then, it's been tholoically awkward. isis reportedly published a do not worry message to their followers in their arabic language newsletter telling their followers that the great battle of dabiq that will start the end of the world, they're still expecting that, that's still going to happen, they're still promising it will kick off the end of the world when that battle happens but this just wasn't it yet. hmm, minor setback, but we promise dabiq will still be really important some day. so now there's this question of what this does to isis' whole propaganda message, right? people are angry when they're asked to sacrifice a lot on your promises. but one thing when you're promising them jobs or election win or the return you get in a ponzi scheme. another thing if you literally promise them the world, the end of the world and you go to

used by isis. there is no doubt that it has an enormous impact on the fight against isis. earlier this week, we were in a village. isis had built a network of tunnels under that village, where they were hiding out. the u.s. coalition had intelligence that was the case, and they managed to hit those tunnels with four different airstrikes. they are enormously useful. interestingly, today, the peshmerga, the kurdish forces, put out a statement saying the u.s. coalition airstrikes had not been as useful as they hoped in the fight against isis to the north of mosul. charlie: how many directions are they advancing on mosul? certainly from the north, i assume from the east? holly: most of the fighting is from the north, east, and south. so we have iraqi forces closing in from the south. on the east, a mixture of iraqi and kurdish forces. from the north, mainly kurdish forces. charlie: is there any conflict between the forces who are opposing isis in mosul, in terms of they come from different strategic in

what happens post an isis victory? -- victory against isis? >> i think you're asking a very important question, paula. i think there are major differences. to constituencies, as soon as they have a major -- in this particular deficit, trust has not been -- failed so far. even though both sides realize that isis is the enemy of all iraqis, the kurds and the iraqi government now seem to be walking together and both sides are coordinating their efforts. there's a major probable plem between the turkish government and the -- the obama administration has been working hard to -- all in all, the morning after, it seems to me, the morning after the fall of mosul will tell us a great deal about whether the differences -- >> we seem to have lost him -- >> to be able to -- >> there's technical difficulty. but i think we understand what he's saying. the morning after, winning that peace is just as important as winning this battle against isis. >>> turning to syria. syrian rebel fighters backed by turkey are advancing on the isis-held town in northern syri

because it's not just about defeating isis in mosul and pushing the isis fighters out of mosul. what comes next is arguably even more important if we're going to be talking about establishing long-term stability in iraq. what does that mean? long-term stability in iraq means that organizations like isis will not be able to exploit the divisions that exist here and then reemerge once again. >> incredibly important point, arwa. stay with me. it is the top of the hour. i'm poppy harlow. i want to welcome my viewers here in the united states and around the world. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we begin with breaking news. we are following out of iraq tonight. it is 2:00 in the morning in mosul, iraq, and that's where we're focused at this hour. the offensive to liberate mosul from isis control is now underway. that word from iraq's prime minister, al abadi, in a televised statement moments ago. to give you a sense of the importance of mosul in the fight, mosul has been in isis hands for the last two years. it is the terror group's last stronghold within iraq. militia g

now it's isis on the run. tonight, iraqi forces have taken bartella, putting them within striking distance of mosul. lester? >> richard engel in iraq tonight, thank you. >>> in arizona, this evening, police have released 911 calls connected to an unsolved serial killing spree that is still baffling investigators. after at least nine separate shootings, seven people, including a child, have been killed in the phoenix area. there have been thousands of new leads, but no arrests. we get the latest from nbc's migue >> phoenix 911, where is your emergency? >> um, he's shot on the floor. yes, it's my brother. he's been shot. >> reporter: the heart breaking call for help from one family targeted by arizona's serial killer. >> they pulled up in front of our house, i guess, and they shot him when he got out of the car. i'm inside with my kids. i have two babies. >> reporter: afterseven people were 12-year-old girl, phoenix police now releasing chilling 911 calls, hoping to generate new leads in a case gone cold. nancy

; this is an attack that was actually being directed at a degree of specificity by isis central, isisdership. >> narrator: in march, after a four-month hunt, belgian police finally discovered a series of apartments rented using false identities and finally closed in on the cell. they shot dead one of the suspects and captured another: salah abdeslam. but the bomb maker and others were hiding elsewhere. >> (translated): i thought we were reaching the end point and that there were only a few left. i have to admit that we had no idea there was still an operational unit in belgium. >> breaking news right now: to explosions rocking the main terminal at brussels airport. there are reports of another attack, an explosion at a subway, a metro station. >> we should underscore that this appears to be a coordinated-type attack. >> narrator: 32 people died in the brussels bombings. isis has vowed more attacks in europe even as they lose ground in syria and iraq. >> (translated): now we realize the extent of the phenomenon, that it's no longer one, two, three dozen individuals, but there are thous

this was the largest city that isis controlled.hate. if you look at what has happened in iraq in the last two and a half years, isis in early 2015 reached the high point in terms of its control of territory. since then it's lost 50% of the territory it once controlled and only controls about 10% of iraq unlike before when they controlled cities like ramada, falluja. they are on their last they are on their last legs in terms of control in iraq. in syria, isis has steadily been losing ground. today, it was announced by turkish-backed free syrian army fighters that they had taken the town of dabiq in northern syria. of course, that town figures highly in a saying of the prophet muhammad. there, the armies of rome and the muslim world would meet for a battle that would mark the beginning of the end of days. certainly, what we see in syria and even in libya, as well as iraq, is that steadily, slowly perhaps, today perhaps, the beginning of a more dramatic move, isis is being pushed back perhaps to the point, months down the line, to th

in most places isis pulled back. but not always, sending at least seven car bombs to attack iraqi and kurdish forces. this is the defining battle of president obama's war on isis, and it's being coordinated here in this joint operations room. iraqi officers on one side, their american advisers on the other. 5,000 troops in country, and have been launching artillery and air strikes to back up the iraqi advance. while the americans weren't authorized to talk to us, the iraqi ground commander says so far coordination is working well. >> the american and the iraqi, one team. >> reporter: this base, keyara west, is now home to hundreds of american troops. they're working hard to fix the runway dug up by isis back hoes are filled in, american planes will land here, to support iraqi troops in mosul. taking mosul is such a high priority because mosul is isis's last stand in iraq, the biggest city it holds. a symbol of isis power, attractive to would-be terrorists. we will liberate mosul, god willing, a soldier told us. but t

seeing isis leaders leaving mosul. >> isis moving? >> we've gotten indications of foreign fighter presence that will stay. >> that's because unlike locally recruited isis fighters, the foreigners will have a hard time mixing in with the stream of civilians already escaping from the war zone. the big question now is how many isis militants will actually stand and fight in mosul and how they'll do it. beside the tunnels and bobby traps, there are concerns isis could use crude chemical webs. american commanders tell us they're prepared for that, too. lester? >> all right. richard thank you. still ahead tonight, refunds for delayed bags, one of the major changes the white house wants to make to address some of the most common complaints among airline passengers. >>> also, a major wireless carrier was doing to customers >>> we're back now from las vegas. hard to believe but it's already booking those airline tickets for the holidays. today the obama administration announced a series of proposed new rules designed to offer more protections

-led coalition, say they have driven isis fighters out of ten villages near mosul, but isis is dug in and the actual battle for the city has yet to begin. holly williams reports from iraq. >> reporter: the village of tajvilo was recaptured from isis yesterday. left behind behind the battle are clues how isis will defend mosul. the extremists dug a network of tunnels here to protect lieutenant colonel shaled expects the same in mosul as well as more sued bombers. the battle for mosul began in villages on the eastern side of the city where kurdish fighters went house-to-house, hunting down the isis gunmen holding out there. u.s. coalition air strikes demolished the tunnels in taj ella which was residents three years ago. three air strikes, three u.s. air strikes target is the tunnel. >> four. >> targeting the tunnels. but in mosul home to around a million civilians who are effectively human shields, air strikes will be difficult without massive casualties. isis released this propaganda video today claiming that life in the city is normal, showing but normal life in mosul also includes t

to crushing the isis narrative./sot - frfile wmperry/perry 10:29 "that is a very important way of going after isila& keep them from getting the resources they need to carry out their mission." 10:37/vo/defense officials say isis lost roughly 50% of it's territory in iraq and 20% in syriaa&. /isis related.mov/and since fleeing ?those? battlefieldsa& experts say isis soldiers and those ?inspired? by the islamic state a& staged attacks in battlefield, isis says -- they say isis staged attacks in nearly 30 countries in 2015. >> the islamic state is failing to live up to its divine mission in establishing and building this caliphate. so it has an incentive to change the conversation by conducting attacks outside of iraq and syria. >> experts say it is not a matter of when but if isis -- not a matter of if, but when isis will be defeated. >> jeff byrne reporting. >>> and the city council does not want to follow the linn county ordinance rick it looks like other towns are ready to follow suit. in september, the board of su

bur efforts to defeat isis. i produced a program that aired in 2014 not long after the circus came onto everybody's radar. this was to be a follow-up program on all of that. i was interested in the regional coalition that was tilted as evidence everyone was pulling with us in this fight so we went off to the middle east and visited saudi arabia, turkey, and it was clear this was a bigger project than i had originally envisioned in each of the cases where you dig into what those are you find none ofg them share defeating isis as the number one property. they don't share that priority with us. they have other concerns, so that became the focus of the documentary going through these talking to officials and otherst to get out what was their perspective on this because any time you have one of theseention coalitions, you have to pay attention to just what, how much are they going to contribute and are they on board with us so it became a two-hour program that unraveled a lot of the complexity and anyone that thinks

left behind behind the battle are clues how isis will defend mosul. the extremists dug a network of lieutenant colonel shaled expects the same in mosul as well as more sued bombers. the battle for mosul began in villages on the eastern side of the city where kurdish fighters went house-to-house, hunting down the isis gunmen holding out there. u.s. coalition air strikes demolished the tunnels in taj ella which was abandoned by its residents three years ago. three air strikes, three u.s. air strikes target is the tunnel. >> four. >> targeting the tunnels. but in mosul home to around a million civilians who are effectively human shields, air strikes will be difficult without massive casualties. isis released this propaganda video today claiming that life in the city is normal, showing offensive. but normal life in mosul also includes this morning another brutal execution of a man they claim is a spy. isis is hungerering down, preparing to defend the biggest city in its so-called islamic state. there are also fears that isis could use chemical weapons in

defeating isis is a short term goal.nce they have been pushed out of the city, keeping those who have fought them from turning on each other will be the next challenge. their hatred of isis is the only thing that binds many of iraq's fighting forces together. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson, in qayarrah, iraq. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour, vice presidential politics. a look at the candidates' journeys to the national stage and a preview of the v.p. debate with our politics monday duo. but first, we head to new hampshire, where a tight race between republican senator kelly ayotte and her democratic challenger, the current governor, maggie hassan could determine which party controls the u.s. senate. lisa desjardins has the story. >> reporter: the start of fall in new hampshire, along with the changing leaves this year, the granite state is home to something else special, a contest between two respected and popular senate candidates. republican u.s. senator kelly ayotte, out gathering votes a

the critical cross roads in the war against isis. we will go live to iraq when "early start" continues. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. that's what it means to go long™. call now and request this free decision guide. it's full of information on medicare and the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. all plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients, and there ar

efforts to defeat isis. produced a program that aired in october 2014 not long after isis sort of came on everybody's radar called "the rise of isis. ." this was to be a follow-up program on that. i was interested in the regional coalition that was greatly touted as evidence that everyone was pulling with us in this fight, so we went up to the middle east and visited saudi arabia, jordan, iraq, iraqi , and it wasurkey immediately clear this was a much bigger project i had originally envisioned, in that in each of those cases when you really dig into what those regional partners are oftributing, you find none them really shared the feeding isis as their number one priority. they don't share that priority with us. they have other concerns. focus of thehe documentary going through these countries, talking to officials howothers to really get at do they see this war, what was their perspective on this? any time you have one of these regional coalitions, you have to howparticular attention to much and they will c

operatives ang tiff with isis. the turkish authorities have been trying to crackdown on them. one was a suspected isis operative in turkey in last tuesday weeks who then detonated himself and killed several turkish security officers. so the isis war across borders is something that has very much been ex poured to turkey and taken root here and presumably, that's part of why u.s. diplomats are worried here in istanb istanbul. >>> ivan watson reporting from istanbul. thank you for the reporting. >>> moving to australia where refugees arriving in boats could be banned from ever settling in that country. that is the new legislation being proposed by australia's prime minister, malcolm turn bull. he wants to send an unflinching message to people. smuggers, you prey on migrants and refugees. >>> still ahead on newsroom, another powerful earthquake strikes central italy. breaking news continues this hour with the latest on the damage. stay with us. your own plays a. want some? i'm on a cleanse. it's four days of vegetable

isis positions. our ben wedeman is inn you are bale. >> ben, you've been following this story for years. what seems different to you this time? is it this coalition of forces that's now gathering? >> reporter: really, paula, it's the scale of the operation. we've seen iraqi forces drive isis out of other cities, fallujah, tikrit, ramadi, and others. but mosul is iraq's second largest city. used to have a population of about 2 million. now there's 700,000 to a million people still there. but this is in a sense, the final battle to drive isis out of iraq. and so what we see assembled is a huge number of men and equipment for in operation. tens of thousands of members of the iraqi army. the counterterrorism force, the federal police. so-called paramilitaries, both sunni and shia. christians as well as kurdish pesh murg a fighters. there are u.s. troops on the ground to provide support, advice and there's also an american artillery battery and there are u.s.-led coalition in the air hitting isis targets

that the isis forces are launching. it's horrendous saying it's designed to prevent, make it more difficult for these u.s. air strikes. is that your understanding? >> well, wolf, they may be trying to prevent those air strikes and may be trying to if you will cloud the battle space, but you can be sure that our forces and our -- our air campaign will continue uninterrupted. we have ways to deal with some of those, those efforts to obscure the battle space and i'll leave it at that. doing more harm than good to the environment, to the people of iraq. they certainly aren't doing much to help the infrastructure of iraq. we'll continue our air campaign no matter what they do peter cook, thanks very much for joining us. >> you bet. >>> an coming up, looking into hacked transcripts, stolen transcripts, from hillary clinton's paid wall street speeches, and our private message differs from her public one. details and more, when we come ba back. totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the

another brutal execution of a isis is hunkering down, isis is hunkering down, preparing embarrassed by a prostate exam? imagine how your doctor feels. as a urologist, i have performed 9,421 and a half prostate exams. so why do i do it? because i get paid. und... on this side of the glove i know prostate exams can save lives. so, if you are a man over 50, talk to you doctor to see if a prostate exam is right for you. if we can do it, so can you. >>> this year we have been following one man's struggle to overcome his addict tugs heroin. each day in this country, 78 people die from an opioid related overdose. so, jason amaral is fight his life. demarco morgan continues his series, in the shadow of death, jason's journey. >> real quick. is this good enough, dude? >> your dwrieyes open you think heroin. nothing else. any addict that is watching this, will attest to that. >> reporter: we met jason amaral, march 22nd, the day before he started rehab. roaming the city of boston on a there. i'm going over there. not how i want to live. it's been 12 years. >> that morning we watched as he crushe

. >>> coming up, the war against isis.rrespondent benjamin hall is on the front lines in iraq with people who have just escaped the isis-controlled c m. how they made it out alive, and the horrors they left behind. their dramatic stories, next. member has died fighting the war against the islamic state in iraq. it happened today north of the isis stronghold of mosul. that service member ran over a bomb while driving an all terrain vehicle. the official said he was embedded with kurdish peshmerga forces. it's requested fox news withhold with branch he was serving in. >> american forces are helping forces to take back mosul. a senior commander says iraqi special forces have taken control of an important town less than ten miles from the city. aide groups have reported that more than a million innocent civilians were living in mosul. they're trying a life of torture under the islamic state's brutal rule. some said isis fighters burned their grandchildren to death on a hot plate while others said they were forced to be sex sla

isis held.or the last few weeks, if not the last few months, isis would have been living in these tunnels. you can see they brought in electricity. you can see the food down here and the water. it is incredible hot. they would have here for months. the kurdish peshmerga have cleared the tunnel but told us not to touch anything because it may be boobytrapped. you can tell how they started. they dug straight down for 7.5 meters before cutting their way through the bedrock. it's those tunnels which are the greatest concern as forces move towards mosul. that city is said to be covered with them. uma? >> benjamin, thank you very much. joining us now with more on what's happening right now at this time in this hot spot, we've got lieutenant colonel schaeffer a senior fellow at the london center for policy research and retired intelligence operative. good to see you again. >> thanks for having me. >> do you think the strategy that is under way is on target? >> i think this is a best possible strategy b

the isis capital in iraq. the biggest battle was for control of the town of a town on their doorstep. isis fought back with suicide bombers. but all this was news to the iraqi soldier's ears. the wind god will be will be most of its days the soldiers showed us a tunnel and bunker complex they discovered. the corridor stretched for about half a mile. at the far end we came out into an isis headquarters. food still in the kitchen area. half made bombs, chemicals for more. on the wall what has become one of the most infamous symbols anywhere, the isis logo. more often than not when americans are standing in front beheaded. isis brutally killed many more iraqis. today it was their turn to have isis on the run. reaching mosul the isis strong hold may just be the easy part. today the u.n. warned that isis has gathered about 600 civilian families from the mosul area, brought them to isis locations to use as human shields. richard engel, nbc news, near mosul, northern iraq. >> kyndell: one very swanky new york charity