they are still in control in mosul, very large city in iraq. e have seen atrocities we never imagined. what ought to be -- and we see in boko haram in africa terrible things with children. what ought to be the policy of this government to try to combat those kinds of terror and those kind of ex trooichl? >> the two-pronged approach. the first is clearly we have to have every intelligence teal at our disposal that's effectniv identifying potential plots both in the homeland and around the world and to try to disrupt them. we could not afford to diminish any intelligence gathering abilities. rose: you think the reaction went too far to snowden in terms of nas? >> absolutely. you have leading american policy makers and others telling people their phones are being listened to. it's not true and they know that it's not true. rose: so you would be -- in other words, you were perfectly satisfied with all of the things that snowden disclosed about america? >> some of the things snowden said are not true. some of the things snowden said are simply not tr

still participating, the growing influence of the houthi movement triggered large protests in the port city of aiden. iraq'sinister al-abadi has a summit in baghdad and the meeting's main goal is to unite them against i.s.i.l. supporters of the spanish far left party are gathering for a rally in the capitol madrid and the spanish movement wants to end austerity measures imposed by international creditors. african union are meeting for the final day of summit in ethiopia and the string of problems with ebola and conflicts across the continent dominated the talks and we have the latest. >> reporter: the heads of states are expected to issue decorations on major issues that have been the subject of the summit they are considering a proposal by the african union, peace and security council for boko haram and council called for 7500 strong regional forces troops from nigeria and cameroon and chad and also very high on the agenda is a conflict in south sudan and the pace of peace talks that started in january last year both sudan's president and rebel leader have been holding direct talks to move forward, the pea

city of mosul. islamic state gained control of mosul last june. a u.s.-led coalition is launching air strikes against islamic militants who seek large swaths of territory in iraq and syria. >>> russian president vladimir putin has seen his trade bloc of old soviet neighbors realized the economic union including belarus, kazakhstan and armenia has come into effect. the new union is expected to allow freer movement of goods, services, and workers. leaders from member nations will put in coordinated policies in chi sectors of the economy such as energy and agricultural. putin said the union will create a huge market with 170 million people. he added it has 20% of the world's natural gases, and 15% of the oil. experts say russia is planning to use the union to strengthen political ties with countries taking part in it. however, kazakhstan's president nursultan nazarbayev reiterated the partnership will not undermine the sovereignty of any member nation. analysts say it is not clear what the countries will be able to build cooperative relationships. russia's economy is likely to slow down due to falling prices for crude oil, one of the country's key exports. >>> a

. >> warner: islamic state fighters continue to hold a large swath of iraq and syria with strongholds that include the key city of mosul in northern iraq. earlier this week, iraqi prime minister haider al-abadi complained his troops are not receiving weapons and ammunition quickly enough. today, in london, he struck a more conciliatory tone. >> ( translated ): the international coalition which we attended today will strengthen our resolution to fight daesh. i've asked before for more support and i think my call didn't go unnoticed. >> warner: in turn, british foreign secretary, philip hammond, a former defense minister, sought to reassure the iraqis. >> this campaign is not going to fail for the want of some guns or some bullets in the hands of the iraqi security forces. >> warner: the conference on the heels of jihadist terror attacks in coalition member countries, france, canada and australia. and islamic state threats to kill two japanese hostages. all have intensified public pressure to go after the militants at home and abroad. i sat down with foreign secretary hammond earlier today here in london. for having us. the

half of 2014 was a story of how isis took a lot of territory in iraq up to about a third of the country, including some very important large citiess the end of 2014 isis' advance stopped essentially and that's good news. but in 2015 the big question is can they be pushed back can some of that territory be regained. >> yeah that is a very big question and i guess we'll be talking this time next year to see the answer to that. thank you so much. that is it for me. i'll be back at 5:00 eastern on "the situation room". for our international viewers christiane amanpour is next for our viewers in north america "newsroom" with ana cabrera starts right now. >>> hello on this friday. i'm ana cabrera. we'll get to new developments in the search for flight 8501. president obama just authorizing new sanctions on kim jong-un and the north partly in response to that cyber attack on sony. you'll remember the theater chains pulled the movie "the interview" over the threats by hackers. the film of course depicts assassination of kim jong-un. u.s. standing firm that north korea is indeed to blame for this attack. let's bring in

isis captured the city back in june and controls large parts of northern and southern iraq still.l the military be in the middle of it? steve nash is here. despite what the commander and chief said it looks like woo are going back to war in iraq. >> the commander and chief is saying one thing but he is hedging his bets. and general austin who is the central command commander, has never given testimony or in the press taken ground troops off the table. so troops let me specify, he doesn't mean laying a combat team, what he is talking about is advisors to go along with to advise the iraq force this is going to be an iraqi force supported by the united states and other allies not the united states military. >> you have to train the iraqi forces and that is what is happening now and why they are waiting until spring or summer. do we always signal as to when before we go in captain? what is that all about? >> we don't. when i saw that it raised an eyebrow and then i started thinking about it. this isn't an enemy city we are trying to capture. this is a city of iraqis where they are goi

city of erbil. the kurds reportedly killed 60 of the militants in the same battle. officials say western airstrikes have put isis fighters on the defensive but they remain in control in large parts of iraq. indonesian search teams believe they've located the black box flight recorders from the air asia plane that crashed into the java sea two weeks ago today with 162 people on board. searchers heard pings two miles from where the plane's tail was found yesterday. an indonesian official said that the black boxes are under layers of aircraft debris. they will try to recover them tomorrow. back in the u.s., attorney general eric holder today defended his handling of an investigation into former four star general david patraeus. the "new york times" reported yesterday, federal prosecutors have recommended that criminal charges be brought against patraeus for allegedly sharing classified information with his lover in 2012-- a charge patraeus denies. >> we have done this investigation in, i think, an appropriate way. an appropriate determination will be done and it will be done in an a way that i think the american people will ultimately decide was fair to everyone who was involved. >> sreeni

al jazeera has gained a rare in sight for people living inside the city which is under the control of isil. mosul is considered iraq's second large evident city and home to an estimated 3 million people. tens of thousands have fled the violence there. it's of strategic importance because of the nearby dam which supplies most of the countries power and water. right now kurdish fighters have control of that dam. the city is predominantly soon any nee many who became resentful of the shia dominated central government. many initially welcomed isil fighters when the group took control of the city in june of last year. as we report, not everyone is happy living under isil rule. >> mosul iraq's second largest city is under the control which islamic state of iraq and the levant. it has become almost impossible for resident to say leave isil now demands they provide a guarantor to assure they return. >> we cannot leave. they refuse anyone to depart. >> really? >> they want us as human shields. >> for security reasons, this person has to remain anonymous. he has been communicating from inside mosul to his friends in the kurdish regional ca

delivered a dozen air strikes in iraq and syria near the city of kobani along the turkish border with syria. nine of the attacks reportedly did major damage striking a largectical unit and destroying four isis buildings and ten fighting positions according to joint task force officials. u.s. troops have suffered no casualties, but can this battle remain a war waged only from the air? today's "washington post" reported u.s. advisers are staying out of the combat but seeing fighting closer and closer to them. that violence underscores the risk troops on the ground are facing as this mission expands. peter newman is a professor at kings college in bond on and the collector of the international center for the study of radicalization. good afternoon to you there. i want to put up a quote from "the washington post" article and it reads this. in a sign of the risks, military officials said american soldiers have been transported to the base under the cover the night by helicopter partly to maintain a low profile for the renewed u.s. operation in iraq. also to protect personnel amid fierce fighting west of the capital of baghdad. what are the risks on the ground

kurdish forces in northern iraq launched a large-scale offensive against islamic state fighters today. the target was an extensive area east of mosul. the cityeen held by the militant group since june. u.s. and coalition planes conducted a series of air strikes in advance of the kurdish assault. new year's celebrations turned deadly this evening in china. state news reports said 35 people were killed in a stampede in downtown shanghai, shortly before midnight. elsewhere, sydney, australia was one of the first major cities to welcome 2015. more than a million spectators turned out for a lavish fireworks display in the city's famed harbor. and crowds in new york city lined up early and braved the cold, to secure a prime viewing spot when the ball drops in times square at midnight. >> i'm really cold already and i have four jackets on and four pairs of pants and i have four blankets and leg-warmers. so i'm hoping that i don't freeze or get too hungry, but i think i'm good! >> ifill: security in new york was especially tight in the wake of weeks of protests, and the killing of two officers. back in this country outgoing maryland governor martin

iraq's latest battle ground. good morning. >> this was a coordinated large surprise assault on a crucially important city in the north. isis fighters advancing undercover of fog, killing the most senior kurdish commander and several guards in the center of the city and sparking running gun battles through the city. it is a powerful demonstration of their ability to pro jebljec power on multiple fronts at one time. a new front in the war against isis. isis militants launching a coordinated surprise attack on the oil rich iraqi city of kirkuk. a hail of gunfire as they fight back against isis fighters hold up in this abandoned hotel in the center of town. here kurdish fighter raid the building to retake control. >> it's no surprise to us that they contain or can demonstrate the ability to continue to reek violence. >> reporter: on the other side of town, however, isis advanced here seeing burning tents belonging to kurdish fighters. among the dead there, the kurdish commander shown here in an interview with cnn last summer. he was the highest ranking commander in kirkuk. representative adam shift wranking member on the