. >> bret: john huddy in the middle eastern newsroom. in other foreign headlines, u.s. backed forces in syria have breached the wall around raqqa's old city.ia senior pentagon officialsnd tell us that r the major advance in the weeks old battle to drive isis militants from their i self-declared capital. in iraq, that countries forces with u.s. backing are continuing their steady advance against the last isis stronghold in mosul. the prime minister says the civilians have rejected terrorists. the remaining militants trapped in the old city are now in a fight to the death. in caracas, venezuela, the supreme court has taken another step in undermining the country's chief prosecutor.

john huddy is in the middle east prayed >> armored vehicles kicked up dirt. it is where isis launched a failed counteroffensive on friday. the heavily armed u.s. bacteria forces and kurdish units regained control of the eastern section of the city after an intense fight. they have surrounded the self-proclaimed capital. perhaps as many as 2500 fighters hunkered down in the city. >> translator: they are only firing mortar shells and rockets. they don't have forces. the battle for mosul any indication, the battle for raqqa may take weeks if not longer. much of the fighting is close quarters, street to street, building to building, house to house. retaking raqqa would be a crushing blow to isis and a major victory for the u.s.-led coalition. as the battle for raqqa rages on, so does violence in other parts of syria. 20 people killed, dozens wounded sunday when a suicide bomber attacked square in damascus. the violence comes as another round of cease-fire talks begin tomorrow. the syrian military announced a cease-fire in the southern part of the country in advan

. >> heather: john huddy is telling the story for us in jerusalem with more. john?her, not only are british fighters on the front lines, but america volunteers are being seen increasing more on the front lines in the fight to retake raqqa, isis is de facto capital. it was described going to the heart of darkness and fighting isis, grabbing it and getting control over the heart of darkness. we're seeing hundreds of volunteers and we have seen hundreds of british and american volunteers on the front lines, not only in syria, but as we've seen and in iraq as well. some have even lost their lives. in fact, last month, to american and one british fighter were killed in battle. that said, as the fight to retake raqqa, let's pivot to that. u.s. backed fighters have encircled the city and have made advances. they make advances along the euphrates river boarding raqqa. this is a fight that's been going on for weeks. it will likely take several more weeks, if not longer. as an indication, if mozilla is an indication, fighting iraq. a vicious fight that continues as we speak.

john huddy has more. ohn. >> yeah, elizabeth, this is the fifth attempt at a cease-fire in serious since february of last year. there is the obvious concern whether or not this one will last or collapse like the others after just a couple days. the hope this time is that this will be long-lasting. this will lead to something broader in syria and ultimately in the long run and the brutal, vicious civil war that caused so much carnage and humanitarian issues and crisis there in syria for such a while. the cease-fire was announced friday at the g20 summit as we know after president trump met with russian president vladimir putin was brokered by the u.s., russia and jordan and really affect southern syria along the borders of jordan and israel in the golan heights in israel. read the cease-fire agreement calls for three quote, unquote de-escalation zones. this is basically where the fighting has halted, where they're supposed to be calm. that is in that thar am so why do along the border with jordan and the co

our correspondent john huddy is live where police are opening parts of the old city where the attack > that's right. they shut down nine entrances leading to the old city. this is one of them, this is the damascus gate entrance. throughout the aftermath of the attack, police were restricting the number of people and who was going in there. they don't like the light on them. they're restricting who goes in, who goes out. they continue to do that. it's unusual that they shut down all the entrances. it's also unusual, rare, that they shut down the entire temple and mosque compound because of the severity of today's attack. police released video. it's disturbing. it shows one of the attackers shooting a police officer from behind. we know two officers died because of their wounds. we know police shot and killed the three arab israeli attackers. that's worth noting, that they're israeli citizens. there's palestinians that get across the border into israel illegally or smuggled across. >> john huddy on scene for news jerusalem tonight. thanks. we'll be right back. autoglass, you get time fo

john huddy reports from the israeli controlled section of the golan heights. >> this is a village inn syria back in 2011. this is what's left of it today. a mosque and holmes, now rubble. the u.n. estimates more than 400,000 people have been killed in syria since 2011. quneitra province, 1 of 3 de-escalation zones. daraa and another province along the border of jordan. we went to see if the cease-fire is holding. this is the border fence. on the other side is syria. we have heard sporadic gunfire. it remains quiet. 48 hours ago, civil war was raging. this is the fifth attempt at a cease-fire in syria since february 2016. the others crumbled within days. u.s., russia, jordan brokered this effort. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said today despite the cease-fire starting at noon on sunday, it has yet to be he says consolidated, meaning in short the details are still being ironed out. >> translator: looking for approaches in which this can be solved, we have to be reminded the position of a large number of players appeared >> the challenge of enforcing the cease-fire, details wor

john huddy has more from jerusalem. >> julie, the u.s.avy says that one of the helicopters fired warning flares at a group of iranian vessels that were approaching american ships at a high rate of speed after the chopper could not establish communications with the iranians. the navy says that it was done safely and professionally. while iran's revolutionary guard calls a provocative and unprofessional move. this of the us ships were close to an iranian platform in the middle of the gulf. they said that they were conducting an exercise away from american ships. both ships went their separate ways after establishing communication. this is the second such incident in a week. on tuesday the uss thunderbolt, a navy patrol vessel, fired warning shots off the bow of an iranian patrol boat that navy officials they came within 150 yards of the thunderbolt in the northern part of the persian gulf. the u.s. navy official said the shots were fired to avoid a potential collision. there is no damage. both incidents come as the us has more sanctions by

john huddy has the latest. >> the clock is ticking and qatar still hasn't accepted a list of demandsrom four major arab countries accusing the energy-rich nation of supporting terrorism. today qatar announced its producing more liquefied natural gas. 30% more in the coming years. perhaps the message that qatar is preparing for more energy o independence if the fight with saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, bahrain and egypt continues. asked if it means shutting off natural gas to the uae, the head of qatar state owned petroleum said.e >> translator: it's a decision that would not only be made by qatar petroleum but also the government and of course depends on the situation in the country. >> the gulf states and egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with qatar june 5, accused it of supporting islamic militant associations. providing asylum to their leaders. on june 22nd, the countries gave qatar ten days to comply with the demands, including closing a turkish army base, shutting down al jazeera, cutting back on ties with iran. the deadline was extended 48 hours early monday. if

john huddy has the latest. speak at the clock is ticking and qatar still hasn't accepted a list of demands from four major arab countries accusing the energy-rich nation of supporting terrorism. today qatar announced its producing more liquefied natural gas. 30% more of the coming years. perhaps the message that qatar is preparing for more energy independence if the fight with saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, bahrain and egypt continues. asked if it means shutting off natural gas to the uae, the head of qatar state aum petroleum said. >> translator: it's a decision that would not only be made by qatar petroleum but also the government and of course depends on the situation in the country. >> the gulf states and egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with qatar june 5, accused it of supporting islamic militant associations. providing asylum to their leaders. on june 22nd, the countries gave qatar ten days to comply with the demands, including closing a turkish army base, shutting down al jazeera, cutting

these are touching moments and appeared john huddy live right across the border from syria.ase-fire holding from your advantage points? >> overall, it seems to be. i should mention that throughout the afternoon, we have heard sporadic gunfire right on the border of the fence. we heard machine-gun fire, and then, sporadic gunshots, but at this point, it does seem to be holding overall. again, to set the scene for you. behind me is the connector border crossing. the compound there and on the other side as i mentioned is the petro province. this is 1 of 3 de-escalation zones as part of the cease-fire agreement in southern syria. the darra province along the border with jordan are also part of this agreement, it seems to be holding and thus be 24 province, but there's also been reports of citing and other provinces, and while the hope, bill, this remains. the cease-fire remains, and that is a big if, the hope is that this will lead to something more long-lasting, something broader perhaps. a countrywide cease-fire. again, it seems to be holding, but as i said, seems to be sporad

john huddy is live near israel. john course mark >> hello, mostly holding. that's a key point.he province behind me. the lights that you see that. best the u.s. compound on the border crossing. between israel and syria. and while the cease-fire overall seems to be holding, at least from our advantage points, i should say, earlier today, we did hear and heard gunfire. in fact, a couple minutes ago, i heard some gunshots on the syrian side. the province is one of the three provinces in the de-escalation zone. as part of the cease-fire agreement. the other ones, the daraa, are along the border with jordan. one of the issues is really, how to ensure that the cease-fire will last. rather than collapsing after just a few days if that is the case with the other cap. keep in mind, these are the fifth attempt at a cease-fire in syria since february of last year. there is lot of apprehension about this one if it will last. russia's foreign minister said, despite the cease-fire starting at noon on sunday, it had you have to be -- consolidated in short, all the details being worked on alon

john huddy there in jerusalem, thank you. >> julie: the president's troubled band losing another courtattle. the federal judge who is against the ban, we'll have that straight ahead. plus today marks two years since the iran nuclear deal was signed. why our next guest says the agreement isn't working with the way president obama had hoped. >> this deal makes our country and the world safer and more secure. (baby crying) (slow jazz music) ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ and let me play (bell ringing) (audience cheering) >> leland: president trump expected to certify on monday that iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal as we mark the second anniversary of the agreement. this comes, despite a strongly worded letter by four u.s. senators saying iran isn't living up to its end of the bargain. speaking of that bargain, here's what president obama promised two years ago. >> the bottom line is this, this nuclear deal meets the national security interest of the united states and its allies. it prevents the most serious threat, iran attaining a nuclear weapon which would only make you late problems

john huddy is live with more on this from our middle east newsroom.eporter: as has bent case in other attacks children as well. take a look at the scene. it started with the police chase during the morning rush hour on the south skirts of today 345s mass discuss. syrian police -- on the outskirts of damascus. they cut off and blew up two of the cars. but the others made it to the center of the city where the driver detonated his devices. the holiday marks the end of ramadan and the first day today back to work. it's unclear if this was the work of isis as was the case in another attack back in march, or a rebel faction. also the case in another attack in northern damascus back in march that killed dozens of people. despite this, syrian authorities had a tight grimm on damascus in the heart of the city like this one today it's certainly rare. but this clearly sends a message that these attacks will continue and that damascus remains a target as the fight against isis continues and the long running brutal and bloody civil war. reporter: thanks for that

in jeruseleum, john huddy, fox news. >> switching gears to the weather and it was a very nice weekendhumidity has been the topic. definitely the sunshine, but the low humidity makes the low humidit perfect. the humidity is going to come back with a vengeance. it's not going to feel like it did today next week. a little bit more humid out there. this means we have to break out the hair spray again. there why you ing. accuweather forecast time. it's been a beautiful evening and temperatures have been dropping off. still a little warm here in town, but out in the suburbs it's pretty cool and comfortable in most locations. here's where we are today, 86 for reagan national. reagan was one of the hot spots around the area but dulles was only 83. bwi was 84. there was a lot of other 80s. heat and humidity comes back. it does look like we're in for a little bit of a heatwave coming our way . you've got the big three, the hazy, the hot and the huh my . for tuesday, wednesday, thursday that looks like we're going to be the hottest and most humid. the heat index on tuesday, will be close to 100,

let's go to john huddy in the middle east bureau with more. >> reporter: this is the second such incidentin a week. the us naval vessel as you mentioned firing warning shots at any rainy and naval vessel. there are no hits or injuries or damage but a dangerous situation. the latest encounter happened friday in the persian gulf, this according to iran's revolutionary guard. the revolutionary guard said the uss nimitz aircraft carrier and another us naval vessel fired warning flares any rainy and ships close to an oil and gas platform in the gulf while a us helicopter according to the revolutionary guard hovered overhead. iran calls it a provocative and unprofessional move. on tuesday i mentioned the second such incident, the uss thunderbolt, navy patrol vessel fired warning shots off of any rainy patrol book of the navy official said came between 150 yards of the thunderbolt in the northern part of the persian gulf and navy official said shots were fired to avoid potential collision. he rainy and naval vessels coming at high speed towards the thunderbolt but both incidents come as the us h

. >> okay john huddy, thank you very much. eric? >> and we will have analysis on this syrian deal half elf now in the newscast. you will want to hear that. meanwhile, some good news and apparent victory over isis iraqi forces working with the last militants in the center of mosul. airstrikes hitting iraq's second-largest city says troops there were neighborhoods to force out the remaining radical islamic terrorists. isis controlled mosul, three years ago was the summer of 2014.iraq launching the separation more than eight months ago to finally retake the city. the country's prime minister arrived in mosul today to declare victory off of isis even though what appears to be the final battle is continuing. as you can see, there is celebration over isis tonight. >> meanwhile, north korea now raising the prospect of nuclear war after the us and south korea conducted a practice air raid. that showed military might in response to pyongyang's first successful test of icbm. we have details from washington. >> north korean state when media is

>> john huddy in jerusalem, thank you. eric?s be the end of democracy in venezuela tomorrow?protest in the country can socialist president over the chronic shortages and basic goods and goods and other items. demonstrators have been in the streets angrily protesting against the huge vote scheduled for tomorrow. a vote that could let him rewrite the country's constitution. some tonight are saying that it could lead to a complete dictatorship in the country. steve is live in miami with the troubling details. hi steve.>> eric, the stakes certainly are high and it is clear that both sides are preparing for what could be a violent battle of course venezuela tomorrow.already, government security forces are guarding several polling stations. there have been reports of voting machines being burned by the protesters. this is an attempt by the president of venezuela, a socialist harassing the economy fall and the lowest levels and decades trying to run through and rewriting the constitution. the opposition says it is simply a power grab a

john huddy, thank you. >> syria is widely expected to be a topic on the table with the president's face-to-facemeeting with the russian president, vladimir putin. the white house says the two leaders will meet this week. the president is now under immense pressure to the russian interference in the us general election. while also trying to hammer out some pretty significant differences with the kremlin the homeland security advisors talk about the balance earlier today. >> the president would recognize that we have extremely low point relationship based on distrust right now. while we should conduct their cybersecurity behavior. and in the ukraine. the president has said as much. he should also take opportunities to partner with them in ways that help us defeat isis and prevent the syrians from using chemical weapons. >> trimming out for more on this with tom, foreign policy columnist for national review and a domestic policy calmest opportunity lives. good afternoon tom. >> good afternoon jillian. good to be with you. >> this highly anticipated meeting is coming at a time when there is a wide-

arthel: john huddy, thank you very much.esident mike pence is set to the speak to the ohio republican state party dinner. you know, the white house is looking forward to its first week with that revamped communications staff. republicans in the senate want to bring obamacare repeal to a vote, so there's a lot ahead in the coming week. we'll take the vice president's remarks in ohio as soon as he steps up to that podium. >>> john mccain, an icon, an american hero now facing a tough battle, an aggressive form of cancer. coming up, we'll talk about the type of cancer he has, the diagnosis for this great american. >> hi, everybody. we demand a lot from our eyes every day. i should know. i have chronic dry eye caused by reduced tear production due to inflammation. so i use restasis multidose. it helps me make more of my own tears, with continued use, twice a day, every day. restasis multidose helps increase your eyes' natural ability to produce tears, which may be reduced by inflammation due to chronic dry eye. restasis multidose

. >> bret: john huddy in the middle eastern newsroom. in other foreign headlines, u.s. backed forces in syria have breached the wall around raqqa's old city.ia senior pentagon officialsnd tell us that r the major advance in the weeks old battle to drive isis militants from their i self-declared capital. in iraq, that countries forces with u.s. backing are continuing their steady advance against the last isis stronghold in mosul. the prime minister says the civilians have rejected terrorists. the remaining militants trapped in the old city are now in a fight to the death. in caracas, venezuela, the supreme court has taken another step in undermining the country's chief prosecutor. the panel has named a prosecutor once sanctioned by the u.s. to be the nation's number two law enforcement official. venezuelan president nicolas maduro's government has stripped congress of its powers. massive demonstrations against the government continue. a lot to cover across the world let's talk about theor president's foreign policy challenges, the most pressing of course north korea. ell

john huddy has more details from jerusalem. >> reporter: eric, this is the fifth attempt at ceasefirece february of 2016, but the hope this time is rather than crumbling after just a couple of days, it will lead to something broader and long-lasting, perhaps each ending syria's -- even ending syria's vicious civil war. the ceasefire was announced friday after president trump met with russian president vladimir putin at the g20 summit. it was brokeredded by the u.s., russia and jordan, and it calls for three deescalation zones in syria along the border with jordan and a province on the border with israel and the golan heights. under the agreement, syria's government stop its airstrikes on rebel positions, and both sides will hold their fire. the u.s., russia and jordan will monitor the region for any violations, and israel will also be watching closely. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said that israel would welcome a genuine ceasefire in syria, but added that it must not open the way for iran's military entrenchment or that of its satellites in syria. both iran and hezbollah

john huddy has more from our jerusalem bureau. >> rob, israeli officials are calling last night's deadly attack in the west bank settlement a massacre. there are crime scene photos just too graphic to show, but in one, the kitchen floor of the home where an israeli family was eating their meal is stained with blood. the attack happened in the west bank settlement, where police say a 20-year-old palestinian man snuck into a home through an open back door and stabbed to death a father and his two grown children. the mother who was also stabbed was rushed to the hospital. she survived. the son's wife managed to hide her children in a room. they were unharmed. a neighbor who heard the screaming rushed to the family's home and shot the attacker, who also survived. before his assault, he posted on facebook what he called a last will, writing, quote, i'm going to die for the -- [inaudible]. he's referring to the temple compound where israeli police installed metal-detectors at the entrances following a deadly attack last friday in which two police officers were killed. since then rioters have c

. >> shannon: john huddy live on the scene for their us in jerusalem. thank you very much. >> bill: touching moment there especially there on a friday and knowing the history of the part that world there. >> shannon: there is a delicate balance. >> bill: 12 minutes passed now, a cease-fire broker with russia after this. >> five days seems like a long period of time in terms of a cease-fire in syria. that's a very long period of time. that was a result of having communication with a country. >> bill: the country he is talking about is russia. is this where putin and trump can cooperate the most? we will check it out. >> shannon: former obama national security advisor, susan rice, is about to be in the hot seat with the house intelligence committee has for her next week. >> bill: the media having a field day over donald trump, jr., and russia. are they going overboard and then some? our panel takes on that next. >> people are saying oh gosh this is how the russians operate. that's baloney! if this had been a set up by the soviets or the russians, they wou

john huddy is live in our middle east bureau with the very latest. hi, jon. >> yeah. elizabeth.w lies in ruin after isis militants blew it up earlier this week. they were in retreat. there is a final holdout as iraqi forces were pushing deeper into mosul's old city and the city center. the battle for mosul is really in its final stages, according to iraqi commanders. as iraqi troops really root out the final isis hold jowfts and estimated 350 to 400 isis militants remain packed my city. it's a tough fight because they are emp hiding among the civilian population as hundreds of people, if not more, continue to flee this city center. women and children, many that have been used by isiss is a human shield. u.n. warns of agreeing humanitarian crisis because they say thousands more remain trapped in the city center. it's last for several months. i declared victory over isis in mosul earlier this week. again, iraqi forces still have to recapture several key districts. u.s. army advisors are on the ground. they have been helping, advising, and sharing intelligence information with thos