and that's an accurate term, soundly defeated, beyond kobani. across a long stretch of the syrian border, neighboring and across the border of syria and turkey two thirds of that border has been rested from the control of daesh in the last six weeks. in tikrit our fires permitted iraqi security forces to push daesh out of tikrit and recover the city. today, less than three months later, hundreds of displaced families have now made a peaceful return to the city. this process gives us reason to be cautiously optimistic about the iraqi led efforts for stabilization and the stabilized support to liberate populations and communities as they seek prevent sectarian reprisal. the coalition has played a vital role in improving their cape abilities as well. 15 partners are helping to build the iraqi forces at six training camps eight nations have participated in air strikes over iraq and five over syria. among the more than 8,000 iraqi fighters that the coalition has trained, many are helping to secure the attack in the effort to recover ramadi. in a shor

they impaled themselves on the defenses of kobani.ain, if you listen to telephone and tactical traffic they were terrified of being sent to kobani because they knew there was only one outcome being killed. events along the border in syria have rendered a similar, clear message. there are many places where morale is not good. as we strangle the defenses and finances, as it becomes more difficult to maintain operations and to pay their fighters, that will create additional morale problems. >> general allen serves as a presidential envoy in the global coalition to counter isis. you can watch the entire program with him tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> this month, c-span radio takes you to the movies. court cases that have played a part in popular movies from "woman in gold." >> the can of worms argument. we are extracting one little worm with a pair of tweezers and quickly closing it shut again. >> to the free speech case from the movie "the people versus larry flynt." >> we have a long tradition of satiric commentary. if jerry falwell c

. >> kurdish fighters and kobani have defended the city for weeks against attempted i.s. advances. many view them as heroes. together with pkk fighters, curtis peshmerga fighters have repelled i.s. invaders. at the moment, they are the only groups to have formed a functional democratic community. could the turkish air attacks cost the kurds, the staunchest partner in the fight against i.s. to turn their backs on the west? peter: so how much credit should we be giving to the kurds. for having established a very plausible and functioning state. a viable state at a time when in the region there are so many failed and failing states. >> i think we should consider that it is a big success but it's also a success because turkey has lately been very close to resigning who is the leader of the iraqi kurdistan regional government. i think this shows us how we can achieve stability in the region. this means consensus and regional powers, global powers. they need to sit and talk and have common interests which the kurds and turks have. it is an enormous amount -- they are very good close rela

daesh impaled itself on the kobani. of co-bonnie -- recent activities along the border rendered other similar clear messages that there are many places within the daesh infrastructure where morale is not good. as we strangle the defenses, finances, that is going to create additional morale problems. in relation to many extreme islam is losing the battle. , in the senseam of focus messaging, that is an issue we all have to work on to make sure that vulnerable people are not attracted to it. that is a global thing we have to live with. the other aspect is any rack -- in iraq, there is a coalition focus on it. centralized,s more the brand devices will not diminish. toc: i will turn it over questions. if you can identify yourselves. >> thank you. a question for general allen. discussionsribe the with the turkish government about the possibility of instituting some air exclusion zone. it has been well known the turks have asked for that and would like to see some kind of regime .ut in place by our assets was that in any way

central demand says over the past ten months kobani and tikrit in iraq. >> instead of waving black flags and traversing big swaths of the country, capturing large swaths of new territory you see an adversary that is losing ground steadily on nearly every front. >> but president obama's critics including many of the republicans who seek to replace him, insist that i.s.i.l. could be defeated swiftly if u.s. changed its approach. >> to destroy i.s.i.s. it is necessary. >> we've got a president who instead says we're going to change hearts and minds. sometimes you win a war by killing murderous evil terrorists. >> if you are running for president of the united states and you don't understand that we need more american ground forces in iraq, and that america has to be part of a regional ground force that will go into syria and destroyed i.s.i.l. in syria then you're not ready to be commander in chief and you're not serious about the destroying i.s.i.l. >> reporter: there are now about 3500 american personnel in iraq but only providing advice and support. the pentagon concedes that the full fo

but during the time of kobani there was a time when everyone said we're going to lose that. if you listen to the telephone and tactical traffic, daesh was terrified about being sent to kobani because they knew there was only one outcome, being killed. along the border in syria, there have been similar very clear messages, that there are many places within the daesh infrastructure where the morale is not good. as we began to strangle the defenses or finances, as it becomes more difficult to sustain operations with fighters, that will create additional morale problems. mr. faily: in relation -- [indiscernible] mainstream islam in the sense of population. in the sense of focused messaging, that is an issue we all have to work on. there is a global message we have to put and. in the sense of iraq, that is more manageable. the coalition focuses on it. syria is a different issue. until syria is a just, this will not diminish. -- until syria is addressed, this will not diminish. eric: i will take your questions. right down here. >> thank you. i am with cbs news. general allen, can

central command says over the last ten months centers have been retain from i.s.i.l, including kobani in syria and in iraq. >> like we saw last year capturing large swaths of new territory. you see an adversary that's losing territory steadily on every front. >> president obama's critics insist i.s.i.l. could be defeated quickly if the president would do an about-face on his refusal to put american combat troops back in the fight. >> i would not place one american life at risk unless it was absolutely necessary. but to destroy i.s.i.s. it is necessary. >> we got a president instead who says we are going to change hearts and minds. you know what? sometimes you win a war by killing murderous evil terrorists. we are going to take political handcuffs off the military. >> if you are running for president of the united states and you don't understand that we need more ground forces in iraq and that america has to be part of a regional ground force that will go into syria and destroy i.s.i.l. in syria you are not ready to be commander in chief and not serious about destroying i.s.i.l. >> the

there was during the period of time kobani a moment in the campaign when everyone said that we're going to lose that and it's going to be a quick victory for daesh. daesh impaled itself on the defense of kobani and if they can you listen to the telephone traffic, they were terrified about being sent to comply because they knew there was only one outcome, either killed by the defenders or killed by coalition air. recent activities along the border in syria have rendered other similar very clear messages that there many places within the daesh infrastructure within morale is not good. and as we we begin to strangle the defenses or the finances, it becomes more difficult to sustain their operations and to pay their fighters. that's what a great addition for all problems. >> to follow on what general allen talk about the in relation to mainstream islam, it's confusing the battle. mainstream islam and dozens of countries and population. in the sense of focused messaging that's an issue which we all have to work on. make sure the vulnerable people are not attracted to it. at the global messag

the coalition is enhancing our cooperation to capitalize on such successes as kobani and are working to organize elements so we can create reliable partners on the ground in syria, which is essential ultimately to our coalition outcomes. at the same time, centcom is looking for ways to streamline our train and equipment programs vetting process so we can get more recruits into the training pipeline. we can plainly see the number of fighters currently enrolled is smaller than we anticipated. because we will continue to require capable partners on the ground in syria to ensure isil's lasting defeat, we must find ways to improve this aspect of our strategy. and we are. more generally we cannot afford to become desensitized to the level of violence in syria or the belief that nothing can be done for these people. we will continue to work this very hard. while it is not the place of the united states or coalition to dictate the future for the syrian people, each of us has a profound stake in creating the conditions where syria's people can begin to determine their own future. a future tha

an example is when isis was surrounding kobani.s surrounded by thousands of isil fighters. we made a decision to give those fighters a chance. those fighters with syrian kurds and those from the free syrian army expanded and took it away from isil. bottom line, i want to be clear about this, this is something we've never seen before, the extent of isil. 25,000 foreign fighters coming from all around the world, it will take years. we have to be honest and sober about how difficult this is going to be. >> brett mcgurk, ambassador, thanks for coming in. i'm sure we'll check in again soon. >> thanks for having me. >>> a quick reminder f you can't be in front of your tv on sundays, no problem. watch us on demand, hit the dvr, hit the season pass. even if it's not sunday, it's still "meet the press." >>> we'll be back in 45 swekdz our "end game" seven segment. >> announcer: stay tuned for >> announcer: stay tuned for "en [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse. britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, admini

there was during the time of kobani a moment in the c ampaign whenever but he said we would lose.hei they knew that there was only

undeniably it has been successful in rolling daesh back and in the course of doing that, kobani has been stabilized. and while there was a large kurdish population there and there was a large free syrian population that fought in kobani which motivates free syrians to be a credible sunni-air abe partner in the future and we've taken away the support points for daesh which is tallyab and now that has increased pressure on raqqa and forces have moved toward raqqa that has created pressure on the capital of daesh and that is an important outcome for this and we're beginning to see the capacity to regionally synchronize activities that can create a comprehensive pressure across daesh not just in tikrit or mosul or the syrian border, it is a comprehensive sonk ronnized strategy or sonk ronization and that is taking place. >> can i squeeze in one more. >> one more, for an old friend. >> thank you. you mentioned commitments to the territorial integrity of syria and policy in iraq is in major question and in this report it is important not to give up on the iraqi state that we need to see -- as

resting in the shade we found a family of 20 from kobani.along with children and grandparents. they left weeks ago and it's not over yet and hungary is about to slam the door shut. their solution erecting a fence topped with razor wire, 15 miles along its border. the hungarian government has been working to finish this by tend of the month and they're just about there. the message couldn't be clearer. they've already hat to fight to get this far. smuggled from turkey to greece, beaten back at the border of ma macedonia. for these people the risks of staying in syria are far worse. >> syria, no life, no -- >> food? >> -- food, no water. >> and he shows me the scar from a barrel bomb. they're risking everything they've got, which is now not very much at all. >> reporter: they estimate about 150,000 refugees have crossed into hungary this year but hardly anyone wants to stay here. they want to go to germany, holland, and great britain, and they're asking us what to do. charl charlie? >> charlie d'agata in roszke. >>> the writer of "nightmare on

turkey is quite uncomfortable with a just decision to airdrop weapons and kobani. turkey decided -- in return that asked for the u.s. to establish a safe zone within syria. that is a way of common it is right in the middle of, there are three enclave in northern syria, and with the foremost, the kurds managed to link up those too. turkey has been worried that the kurds are now forming a corridor which could have access to mentoring and that's a nightmare for turkey. so turkey decided that if it can convince the americans to establish a safe zone in between those two kurdish enclaves, then it could prevent the kurds, linking up those enclave. that was the deal. that was the condition. that's a turkey decided to open the airbase. a short answer, yes, turkey has realized it is vulnerable, but on the other hand, the kurdish question i think played a larger role in turkey's decision. >> in response to ambassador max question but relations between saudi arabia and iraq, always hesitant to get into this in a roomful of people who know more about this than i do. but for th

they're most famous for their battle of kobani where international air power helped push isis out ofhe key town by the turkish border and since continued to make significant gains through the region. these men say there are currently around 50 people from western countries fighting with the kurds and they're grateful. >> when it is someone that is not even from that community that was willing to come and paid the ultimate price, that's not something they're going to forget neither will i. >> reporter: costa's grave, his parent's grief, are proof of the risks these men have taken. but they say his death makes them more determined to return to syria soon and rejoin the fight against isis. phil black, cnn, london. >>> you're watching "cnn newsroom." ahead, in one of the world's wealthiest countries, the number of children growing up in poverty is staggering. we'll look into that story. >>> plus three dozen u.s. marines missing in action since world war ii are finally home. how they were found still ahead. does your makeup remover take it all off? every kiss-proof cry-proof, stay-proof l

decision to airdrop weapons to the pyd in kobani and turkey decided to open incirlik air base and inreturn it asked for the u.s. to to establish a safe zone within syria. the safe zone is right in the middle of, there are three different kurdish enclaves in northern syria and with the fall of tabilat, the kurds managed to link up those two. the turkey is worried that the kurds are forming a kurdish corridor which could have access to the mediterranean. that is a nightmare for turkey. so turkey decided that that if it can convince the americans to establish a safe zone between the two kurdish enclaves, it could prevent the kurds from linking up those enclaves. that is how, that is the condition. that is how the condition turkey decided to open incirlik air base. in short answer, yes, turkey realized it is vulnerable but on the other hand, the kurdish question, i think played a large irrole in turkey's decision. >> thanks. tom? >> in response to ambassador mack's question about relations between saudi arabia and iraq, always hesitant to get into this in a room full of people who know m

atime within kobani, moment in the campaign where it was said we would lose that, but they impaled themselves on terrified about being sent there because they knew that there was only one outcome. recent activities along the border in syria have led to other, similar messages. there are many places within the dutch infrastructure where the morale is not good. as we begin to strangle the defenses and finances, it becomes more difficult for them to sustain their operations and pay their fighters. >> general allen, currently the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter isis. you can watch that entire conversation tonight at 8:00 eastern time. also from the aspen forum a discussion about a nuclear iran from the former acting cia director, john mclaughlin, and panel of experts to recently held an agreement -- panel on what an agreement might hold. >> good afternoon. my name is claire york and i'm a phd student in the war studies department at king's college in london, and i am also a 2015 aspirin security firms caller -- aspen security firm scholar. this month, we witnessed t