michael holmes here in atlanta. >>> hello, everyone. welcome, i'm michael holmes. welcome viewers right around the world this hour as we talk about iraq and the battle for who controls it. a vicious militant group fighting its way towards baghdad, ever closer, and today, new and disturbing images posted online apparently by those isis militants and appearing to show captured iraqi troops being corralled in trucks and then marched to their own executions. cnn not able to independently authenticate the images but the buildings, the sign and and uniforms seem to indicate the photos taken in iraq. now, these militants are moving closer to the capital hour by hour. iraqi troops far from united. those fighting do so with the country's future on the line and the u.s. waiting on the sidelines but for how long? well, in just the last hour, the state department announced new security precautions for staffers at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. extra security personnel being sent to protect the embassy. some embassy staffers are going to be relocated out of baghdad to what are co

earlier this year, our michael holmes visited iraq and met up with one family who lost three sons. >>r: a father's unimaginable grief. a mother's endless tears. and three children who barely comprehend what has happened to their family. abu wale is a visceral portrait of iraq's grinding violence. >> translator: we don't work with the government. we're simple people. we have nothing. we sell watermelons. >> reporter: their descent into agony began on july 23, 2007, when a bomb exploded at the family's humble watermelon store barely 50 meter was their home. son a hi, 19 years old -- ali, 19 years old and about to get married, was killed instantly. "i was a week away from marrying him off," he says. "instead i buried him." life went on such as it was until july 20 last year. two other sons, alalah and abbas, on duty at the stand, when another bomb went off. a l allah, a father of three, and a aabbas, just 17, killed in the shrapnel. evidence of its power etched in nearby walls today. the funeral turnout was huge. no one could believe what had happened to this family. allah and abbas take

cnn international anchor michael holmes looks at what's happening now and how we got here. >> reporter: question one -- why is everyone fighting? there are a lot of reasons but here's a big one. sunnis are a minority in iraq and they are fed up. mainly because prime minister nuri al maliki, a shiite, promised to open up his government to both ethnic groups. since the u.s. left in 2011 he's worked instead to strengthen shiite control of ministries and the military. that made him popular in iran where shiites are also a majority. not so much in parts of iraq. isis is exploiting that anger to fuel its rebellion. so, it's sunnis versus shiites. or more or less with some politics thrown in. and here's a wild card as well -- the kurds in the north. they are mainly sunni, but rule and autonomous region kurdistan which is iraq's most stable area right now. many kurds have wanted their own nation for years. if there is a winner so far in all of this it is them. they've got turf, they've got oil and they've got muscle. so, who is isis? well, they used to be known as al qaeda. in iraq. in 2006 th

i'm michael holmes here at cnn world headquarters in atlanta.for the next 60 minutes here on cnn, no newscast or not as you know it anyway. what we've got is a plain language discussion about a part of the world that american and coalition forces worked, fought and died to rebuild and stabilize. we're talking about iraq, of course, and it is falling apart again. happening so fast the rest of the world can barely keep up.

michael holmes here in atlanta. >>> hello, everyone. welcome, i'm michael holmes.rld this hour as we talk about iraq and the battle for who controls it. a vicious militant group fighting its w

certainly your michael holm ses setup piece argued that the didn't like sunni. there's not a single sunni start in the arab at least likes having shias in iraq. so i think it's going to be very difficult even if you push maliki out and get another shia, i think it's going to be difficult to get support from the sunnis, especially if there's this perception that they've already established sunni-stan. the real issue is what are these -- i'll call them moderate sunnis -- what are their attitudes to isis that so far i think they're a little intimidated by them. and so they make -- they make that into an argument that they can never deal with the shia even though i think their real concerns is that the isis people will cut their heads off. >> so is it reasonable to even think or believe that while secretary kerry is visiting some of the neighbors, jordan, saudi arabia coming up, emirates, he'll be asking these leaders if they can help support or help push for a government in iraq that's more representative equally of sunni, shia, and kurds. is that realistic that th

i'm michael holmes here at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. now, for the next 60 minutes here on cnn, no newscast or not as you know it anyway. what we've got is a plain language discussion about a part of the world that american and coalition forces worked, fought and died to rebuild and stabilize. we're talking about iraq, of course, and it is falling apart again. happening so fast the rest of the world can barely keep up. and it is not just iraq we're talking about. what is happening there has effect way beyond iraq's borders. you're going to hear this word a lot this hour, extremists, islamist extremists, thousands well organized and well funded and led by a man they call the new osama bin laden, but to many people he's more brutal, more ruthless. the isis fighters as they're known are plowing south from the syrian border taking towns, overrunning iraqi army units pushing ever closer to baghdad. nothing is stopping them yet. eight years of hard, deadly international work to fix a post-saddam hussein iraq has just about been set back to squ

. >> i'm michael holmes. >> a group of radical islamic extremists leaving death and violence behind it in iraq. >> this is tikrit, iraq. saddam hussein's hometown but fighting like this is raging now in a lot of cities and towns between baghdad and the syrian border. so far in iraq, not much is stopping the group isis. >> the u.s. watching carefully but, so far no involvement. this aircraft carrier group is moving into the persian orders with orders to get close to iraq and wait. president obama says he is considering options but he promises the u.s. won't be dragged back in. nic robertson, cnn senior international correspondent is there in baghdad. al maliki says this is the end for the extremist group isis. confident words when the extremists seem to be on the outskirts of baghdad. >> reporter: i think is that is why he is using language like that. he really wants to get people to come out and support the fight against isis. he is one of those leaders right now who is telling young iraqis that it's time to get their houses and pick up a weapon and come join the fight. north of baghda

michael holmes, the co found over twitter said you have to take the good with the bad.e companies have a responsibility not to post these videos on youtube? >> that good the bad comment is total bs. i see big red lights going off. there are editorial boards that exist everywhere and stuff hits the floor all the time because it doesn't pass muster. it doesn't have the intellectual content or match the story line they provide. you is to be kidding me that the co-founder of twitter thinks there is a good with the bad. he's got some moral dilemma. are you kidding me? he has to do his level best to cut that out and make it absolutely not available to be used. clearly, it's not going to be a complete panacea. but they need to work at this. i just -- i don't get it. i don't get this editorial freedom that he is speaking about. where else does that exist in medi media. >> you have google with do no evil and -- >> thanks, erin. >> the deal to swap five taliban commanders for sergeant bowe bergdahl may not have been the only option that the white house was considering. the "wall

i'm michael holmes in atlanta. >> i'm monica cabrera in new york. we'll talk about all the stories you'll ta talk about and here about this week. our five questions for the week ahead, the iraq edition. question number one, will the u.s. get involved in iraq? president obama said no to the use of combat troops on friday, but we do know the state department has just announced that some u.s. embassy personnel will be leaving baghdad and a u.s. aircraft carrier is now headed for the persian gulf. >> question number two, what do the iraqis want? prime minister nuri al maliki in a tough spot without a lot of places to turn for help. a lot of people think he's put himself in that spot. the united states has no interest in gulf war number three. american naval resources are moving into the persian gulf in case they are needed. then, of course, there is iran. an iraqi official tells cnn hundreds of iranian troops have deployed to help the fight alongside iraqi forces. a very bizarre development. given the two countries' history, by the way. that's not been

michael holmes, you've spent a lot of time covering the situation in iraq over the years.uess the key question now is, is nuri al maliki going to do the right thing that would in fact open the door for a renewed u.s. military involvement, no troops on the ground, but other u.s. military involvement to try to help the iraqis deal with this threat from these islamist in-sur sgepgepts? >> mallory has concentrated power around himself. he controlled the interior men industry, defense ministry, all the key ministries. so not only shutting sunnis out of the political process, he's surrounded power around himself. it's not in his makeup to say now i'll reach out to them and try to bring them in the way he promised to do years ago and failed to do. the question -- two questions there. he has no currency with sunnis now. so they might not even trust him now. the other question, it's probably time to have a discussion, i'm sure there are discussions understand way in iraq, about how long he can last. now, he was reelected of course to a controversial third term. he has yet on form a

michael holmes, cnn, atlanta. >> all right. potentially more deadly than al qaeda.rterrorism analyst, former deputy director, you spent a lot of time dpaeling with alcade why and al qaeda funding. it is impossible to confirm, a number gets thrown around, they robbed a bank, they have half a billion dollars. people keep repeating it. not all of that is absolutely true, but how wealthy are they? >> they have a lot of money, not because they can take it from people. but a truck going through, they will charge money for that truck. the interesting question is not how they spend that money, it is how they support people. things like food and medicine so people start to say, isis isn't just a terror group that looks better than al-maliki, it is a group delivering governance. >> how likely it is that you think they doll that? groups come in where the governments have been unable to do that, and they've done that. basic education. basic services. basic food. and they get the hearts and minds. >> i think the real story is not whether isis takes land. there is one group, most

also joining us jim sciutto and michael holmes.oke to a sunni tribal leader who represents a lot of those fighters involved in the battles right now. what are you hearing? >> he's a political representative from the council of tribal sheikhs in iraq. the reason that's s isis fighte made such a gain is that there was an agreement and plan that they would get the support from the sunni tribes. they have completely different agendas. isis wants a counter faith. the fry balance leader what they want is a more representative government in baghdad that they want to take the fight to baghdad, they're confident that they can take the fight to baghdad, baghdad is their aim. they don't want to storm into the city, they say they want to negotiate, they want a government of national unity to be formed. but they are doing this side by side with these isis fighters. the tribal leader said we've been capturing and letting go many, many iraqi army forces. he said this is not the way that al qaeda operates. this is the way the tribes operate. he sa

because there is no refereeing like in '06-'07. >> michael holmes, thank you so much. waiting for word from this meeting, top brass in congress and the president of the united states in the oval office. >>> just ahead, how is the u.s. interrogating the suspect in the benghazi attack who, by the way, is on board a navy ship as i speak? we'll talk about that. also ahead, rumblings the pope is sick. after scrapping a couple of appearances. we'll hear how the vatican is responding to that. >>> and an olympic swimmer breaks her silence after a devastating injury. >> yes, this injury sucks. and yes, things hurt. but i'm alive. and i'm so thankful to be alive. bill have you seen my keys anywhere? i'll help you look. maybe you left them in the bathroom again. it's just the strangest thing... the warning signs of alzheimer's disease, may be right in front of you. it's alright baby. for help and information, call the alzheimer's association or visit alz.org/10signs listen up, thunder dragons, it's time to get a hotel. hey, razor. check this out. we can save big with priceline ex

michael holmes joins me now. we've been talking all week long. you were in iraq every year of the war. been there 14 times. i so appreciated you e-mailing me after we were on tv one day this week. because you said, brooke, we need to focus -- we talk so much about military and figure heads and leaders. the people of iraq are suffering. >> yeah. it's something i think we need to remind ourselves every now and then. i think you can look at something like iraq and say a bunch of iraqis fighting each other and killing each other. why should we care? and we do. we talk about armies and militants and attacks and things like that. and i'll tell you, in 30 years of going to conflicts from rwanda to libya to afghanistan to the west bank to gaza to iraq, the one thing i always come home most impacted by is the regular people. you know, the vast majority of people in iraq and all these other places, even the west bank or gaza, they want nothing of the nonsense of war. they want what you and i want. we want to go to work. want to take the kids to school. wan

michael holmes. how many times have you been to iraq now? >> 14 in all. went up at the beginning, and was there when the last u.s. troops came out in 2011 on the border there. and most recently there in january. >> cnn international anchor, you were there as recent as january. and just quickly, before we get into the q & a, let's take a look at the lay of the land. as we look at iraq heading toward baghdad, syria here, moving southward. >> yes. they basically -- their head quarter is here. this is syria, the border runs this way here, and that's where they were and based and doing damage to bashar al assad. now they have crossed over and heading south and gone through mosul. i've been there many times, a huge city. and for them to take that is extraordinary. tikrit, saddam hussein's birthpla birthplace. they're in fallujah, and other places like that, knocking on the door. they're in a place that's a 45-minute drive. >> 9 million people versus what, some couple thousand militants. but the eye is on the prize, being baghdad. if you were isis, if you were t

michael holmes is joining me. you are our go-to guy on everything iraq.been there 14 times. you were there every single year of the war. you have literally seen baghdad burning. when you see paul bremer coming on national television, what was your reaction to the interview? >> you know, you can't lay the whole blame at paul bremer's feet. a lot of people are responsible for what's going on in iraq right now. but i can tell you what, what was obvious when we got off the air was the americans did a great battle plan to win the war. they didn't know what to do when they got there. within two or three days of me getting to baghdad, buildings were on fire, the whole city had a smoke haze from the looters. the big mistake that he made was firing the army, sent home a couple hundred thousand guys. >> he, bremer. >> yeah, with no pay and guns. sent them home. they were a bit annoyed by that. >> his pushback with erin burnett last night, he said listen, iraq was on the road to success, albeit this whole situation clearly with isis, he said iraq was a success. he s

. >> and i'm michael holmes here at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. >>> well, it's been a while, a u.s. aircraft carrier headed to the persian gulf and it is not an exercise. the "u scht scht jorss george h carrier group steaming to iraq in case military power is needed to help protect american people and interests. that's what the pentagon is saying about this deployment and this is why. this red area we'll show you there the areas marked in red that's where the extremist islamic group called isis has been fighting, bombing, killing and in intimidating its way to control every major city and town from the syrian border south. you can see them there close to baghdad. as well iraq's second largest city has fallen to the group as we've been reporting all week, and, yeah, the capital not far away. iraq on a major military recruiting drive this weekend. not just the government recruiting either. militias are recruiting. they all need people, lots of them, to quickly pump up the number of those who can hold a weapon and potentially fight. the prime minister said thousands of iraqis h

joining me now to tackle the complicated politics in the region are michael holmes and fareed zakariakely is it that they might team up and fight together? >> it does but they both are keenly angling isis. iran has been behind the government since the americans left. you have an iranian backed government to militarily intervene against a common enemy but what that is also fighting the assad regime in neighboring syria. what's going to be the reaction of america's allies in the region? israel would not like to see that. they have their own issues with iran on the nuclear program and the saudis. >> that's iran. let's talk about the other side of the coin. explain the interest of saudi arab arabia. >> saudi arabia has been fueling the sunni opposition. they have been at the heart of a sunni revolt. i they are a majority in the region, a large majority in the region. it's saudi arabia. they have generally speaking supported sunni groups that are pretty nasty. quite violent, quite radical. they famously supported the recursors to al qaeda in the 1980s. the saudis have always been part of t

ike oo i'm michael holmes. set to record our special about the life and legacy of george h.w. bush that premieres tonight 9:00 eastern and pacific. first, though, don't miss our cnn special report. o.j.'s wild ride begins now. >> 911, what are you reporting? >> i have o.j. simpson in the car. >> o.j. simpson on the run. >> the los angeles police department right now is searching for mr. simpson. >> and on the edge. >> he's still alive, but he's got a gun to his head. >> was that gun loaded? >> oh, yeah. it was a real gun, real bullets. >> and real drama. >> they're going through orange county. >> news helicopters hovering above as the bronco drives past stunned onlookers. >> people were jamming on their brakes, jumping out of their cars, sometimes in the middle of the freeway. >> think about everybody else, all right? >> i can do it in the freeway, i can do it at a field. i can do it at a grave. i can do it at my house. >> you're not going to do anything. too many people love you, you got to whole world. don't throw it away. >> two bodies butchered, one of them o.j.'s ex-wife.

. >> i'm michael holmes in atlanta at the cnn world headquarters. >> thank you for spending time with us. >>> the supreme national effort will be needed to move this country safely through the 1960s. >> across the world, soviet missiles are aimed at the united states. whatever the president does, he risks nuclear war. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn. >> 25 russian ships en route to cuba what may be a collision course. >> no way of knowing whether western civilization will live or die. >> i think, unless something is done, humanity will destroy itself. ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> early on in the '60s, you have this backdrop of tension. you have capitalism versus communism and it was palpable fear. in the united states and in the soviet union, that the two sides were going to get into a nuclear war. >> the temper of the world is crisis. architect of the crisis, khrushchev. >> as they headed the soviet union, he was very ideological. he believed that the future belonged to communism. he said, america needs to be contained and the only way to do it is to create cris

at 5:00 eastern, michael holmes will be talking to the prime minister.ou want to tune in for that. >>> the crisis in iraq has caused a political fight in washington. e athena, what has been the reaction in washington today after the violence taking place in baghdad and these new images? >> reporter: well, good afternoon, fredricka. i can tell you that there's a lot of republican criticism, generally speaking, about the overall situation in iraq. republicans have been blasting the president, blasting his national security team and the entire administration for days. and one of the loudest voices in those criticisms has been south carolina senator lindsey graham. he said on "the state of the union," that this crisis in iraq was as predictable as the sun rising in the east and he blames president obama. let's hear some more of what lindsey graham had to say. >> we were well on our way, this stubborn-headed president we have who thinks he knows better than everybody else who withdrew troops and exposed this country to the inevitable needs to change his polic

international"" editor, a former baghdad bureau chief and also joining us cnn national anchor, michael holmes who spent a lot of time covering the conflict in iraq. a lot of people blaming nuri al maliki, so predictable, he never reached out to the iraqis and sunnis and this vacuum created and isis now moving in. what do you say about the theory? >> he not only didn't reach in, did exactly the opposite, going into power promising he would be inclusive and share power with sunnis and kurds and he's done precisely the opposite. sunnis see him as a sectarian shiite saddam lite, if you like. he has not only arrested them in the political process, not sh e shared oil revenues with them. that anger and resentment. let's talk about anbar province and others not even familiar with americans. i was there in january when isis took over that area. why were they able to do that? because the tribal leaders saw their enni's emy's enemy as the friend. they don't like him. they're mad at him. disenfranchised. when the extremists wanted to put a foothold there, they said, why not. they don't like isis. they d

skydiving instructor michael holmes is on his fifth jump of the day.s a camera built into his helmet to capture first-time skydivers as they make their descent. >> it was beautiful conditions and just felt like any other day. >> but you wouldn't be watching this on "caught on camera" if it were any other day. >> things started to go around very soon after i activated my main parachute, like, almost immediately. >> holmes' parachute fails to open properly. >> immediately, i started spinning out of control. >> for holmes, this actually isn't causing for concern. it's happened to him eight times before. yes, eight. like all skydivers, he has a reserve parachute. >> i thought, oh, no big deal, the main parachute is not functioning right, i'll get rid of it. so i pulled the cutaway handle, and that's meant to release me from that parachute. >> it's crucial to get rid of the main chute before opening up the backup. otherwise, the two can get tangled, causing the second chute to malfunction as well. but when holmes pulls the release cord, the main parachute d

michael holmes is joining us.wait the president of the united states, the microphones have already been set up in front of marine one, he's leaving town with the first lady on a previously scheduled weekend trip, but the president is meeting with his will national security advisers, trying to come up with some sort of formula. yesterday he said all positions, military options, were on the table. his spokesman later said no u.s. boots on the ground. here is the question. there are hundreds of thousands of iraqi trained military personnel, postally tra lall lm by u.s. forces, funded by the under, you spent a lot of time in iraq, why aren't they taking their uniforms off handing over the weapons to the insurgents moving in? a rag tag army, if you will. why are they giving up so quickly? >> i think one of the issues is isis isn't as rag tag as people think. they are are's fairly well organized. as we've seen in the last few days, they have been able to take enormous swathes of land without too much trouble. as far as

michael holmes, cnn, atlanta. >> and you just heard it, no simple answers for iraq.advisers will arrive to assess iraq's military forces. talk about deja vu. the u.s. military spent years training the iraqi armed forces giving them advice and millions of dollars of high-tech equipment. i want to bring in rick francona. former ncis special agent rick fontana and colonel, i want to start with you the u.s. is sending in 300 advisers, you have called this equivalent to stepping into a hornet's nest. how come? >> well, 300 advisers, the first cadre is going to in there, probably three or four dozen. they're going to go in there. and the first job is to assess the status, not of isis, but the iraqi military. how much has this combat eroded for three years. without us there providing assistance, we've seen all the sunni talent is now gone. it's shia. and it's very political now. these guys have not proven themselves able to fight. they collapsed in the face of the isis forces coming down the euphrates valley. >> the sunni forces basically got kicked out because of nuri al m

michael holmes, thank you very much. >> some new developments with new information today.about a month before being discharged. we're going to have more on that in just a moment. we saw defense secretary defend the white house deal to exchange five afghan detainees for bergdahl. >> we have come plied with the law. we did what we believed was in the best interest of our country, our military and sergeant bergdahl. the president has constitutional responsibilities and constitutional authorityies to protect american citizens. >> the washington post reporting today that he was discharged for psychological reasons. if you would, tell us what the screening process is before join i ing. if he was discharged from the coast guard how was he able to get into the army? >> to get into the military you have to go through a history and physical at what is called a meps station and questions are always asked about your past medical history and your past psychological history. >> what i don't know is how much the army knew about his past history with the coast guard. >> but isn't there a

here now is michael holmes. >> while isis fighters continue their military offensive, supporters of theube with their extremist message. their latest sal voe, a slickly produced recruitment video shot in high definition with camera work and editing to rival professional production. the video purports to show a group of isis fighters, five young men who claim to be from britain and australia, speaking english and urging western muslims to join their cause. >> all my brothers living in the west, i know how you feel, the heart, you feel depressed. the cure for the depression is jihadist. >> the footage, which cnn cannot independently verify appears to have been shot recently in syria as the circle of men talk about waging war in iraq. there are other videos of support, too. some in different languages like this french speaking militant, who calls on muslims in france to join the jihad. experts say while isis isn't the first extremist group to build support online, they may be the most savvy to date as social media has become an important tool for extremists groups. >> over 95% of terrorist