nic, let's put the same question to you. how brutal are they?e their methods changed from perhaps how al qaeda used to operate? >> well, zarqawi really got into a lot of trouble with al qaeda for beheading and that kind of stuff. but really, isis is the most brutal of all the jihadist groups at the moment. zawahiri, took over from bin laden, has been telling -- has been calling on other islamist groups in syria, rebel groups had a falling out with isis because of isis' extreme tendencies to bring them to heel. isis have thumbed their nose at zarqawi. they are not only fighting the iraqi government in iraq but they're also fighting a handful of other islamist groups inside -- inside syria as well. they're fighting at their back door and their front door and their neighbor's door as well. and that is because they are so radical and so extreme. they're fallen out of control of mainstream al qaeda now. and are sort of picking up the banner, really. al qaeda, who leads al qaeda who is the most popular, who is the strongest. who has the biggest follow

nic will know that better -- >> let me turn to nic right now.irst of all, nic, can you tell us how close isis is to bagdad where you are right now? >> reporter: they're about three-quarters of an hour drive to the northeast of the city. overnight, the iraqi army was told to pull out of the main base. i spent a lot of time on the base with u.s. troops, covering the first elections in iraq. a big base, an important town. that's now fallen to isis. the government told the army to pull out of there. this is significant. they bypassed the line in the sand that the prime minister drew in samara, that's about two hours north of the city. they're close in fallujah. i want to flip this conversation back, if i may briefly. the threat to the west, think of isis as the new al qaeda when al qaeda was in afghanistan and pakistan. it straddled the border, made it hard to tackle them. isis straddled the border. four weeks ago, an islamist gunman went into the jewish museum in brussels, shot and killed four people. when he was captured in france, the prosecutor

joining us now is nic robertson here in baghdad. acosta at the white house, jim sciutto also in washington, and arwa damon is in the north in erbil in kurdish controlled areas. nic, let's start with you. let's talk about this chemical plant. you have actually been there. what is it like? >> with the weapons inspectors 2002, and i was just looking back at my notes, bearing in mind that what we're hearing from state department officials now who say that the stockpiles that the isis are coming across there are the old, degraded, have probably no chemical weapons value, could be dangerous if moved. looking back at my opening lines from when i visited there, the first impressions you have, rows of rusting chemical warfare equipment rotting in a warehouse. and the last line was this is a sight that the weapons inspectors probably won't have to come back to. it was bombed in 1991. it's a large site, 15 square miles roughly out in the desert. a lot of bunker-type warehouses, the birthplace of saddam hussein's biological weapons production.

they might have been slow but seem to be on their way. >> nic robertson in baghdad, nic, thank you so much. >>> as we said here at the top, aircraft carrier the "uss george h.w. bush" is in the persian gulf near the coast of iraq. >> defense secretary chuck hagel ordered it moved to that location. cnn's athena jones joins us by phone. are we getting any insight into the decision-making process into what to do next? >> reporter: well, this is what the president and his national security team have been discussing all weekend. we know that the president has been spending father's day weekend out in california but getting updates on the situation in iraq from his national security adviser, susan rice, and others. of course he's asked his team his national security team to come up with a range of options to help iraq fight off these swiftly advancing insurgents. those options don't include sending in ground troops, but they could include air strikes and we know that this ship, the "uss george h.w. bush" can be use fod are aused for air strikes. they can conduct reconnaissance and surveilla

nic, what do we know?bergdahl arrived here at the landstuhl

nic, stick around. elise, you know, the baghdad, the embassy in baghdad has got to be the most fortifiefortifiee building in the country but concerned there? >> reporter: michael, i don't think they're real concerns they can't hold the embassy. there's contractors and diplomatic security personnel and the state department said they're adding additional personnel. we're told it's mostly additional marines. about 100 there now and they will be beefing that up. what this move does is it eases the burden on the embassy. we've talked about the thousands of employee that is are there right now. the embassy has a lot of food, a lot of water to hunker down and ride this crisis out. but officials tell me if they can move some of those employees out to the north, to basra in the south, across to amman in jordan with a support office, this will ease some of the burden on the staff in baghdad if they need to, you know, ride this out for a while. additional additionally, if things take a turn for the worse and there

nic, what's the latest?en hearing, we've been told if nuri al maliki has to go as every western leader wants him to and many iraqis want him to go, the move will come from the religious leaders dropping heavy hints that he should go. literally friday prayers, the spokesman for the top

what can you tell us, nic?ell, those five senior taliban figures are still here in doha. the government here has promised the united states to keep a close eye on them. what we're hearing from a taliban source who's had accurate information in the past on westerners held by the same taliban faction in the pakistan/afghan border region, he said that after initial phase of captivity, in a house that wasn't very secure, bergdahl actually escaped and was on the run for three whole days. now, he says the only reason that bergdahl was captured was because the taliban controlled the whole area, there was no way for him to get away from there. when they did get him, they put him in a much more secure location. they say, however, that they allowed him to practice his christian faith, celebrate christmas and easter. they provided him reading materials that he requested. some of it was islamic literature that they gave him. he stayed true to his christian faith, however. they say that he learned the local language, pashto

nic robertson. and the overriding concern of the american government at this point was we bring our guys home. that's why they did this. nic robertson, thank you. >> what about the other side of the equation, the five taliban suspects who were swapped for sergeant bergdahl? they are in qatar this morning. these pictures released by the taliban, reportedly showing their arrival. under the terms of this prisoner exchange, they will have to spend the next year living there with their movement and activities restricted. this morning we are getting a clearer picture of who these former detainees are and the threat that they still may pose. let's go back two years right now. listen to national intelligence director james clapper warning congress that these five men were too dangerous to release ever. >> i don't think anyone harbors any illusions about these five taliban members and what they might do if they were transferred. >> becky anderson is on the phone live from qatar this morning. good morning, be

nic what can you tell us about sergeant bowe bergdahl's condition? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, christine. i think really, the headline from here has to be that his recovery's going to go at a pace that he's comfortable with. doctors here are saying that they are sympathetic, they're sensitive to everything that he's been through. and what u.s. defense officials have just told us right now is that there is no, no set timeline for when he will be returning to the united states. he will be going to san antonio medical center and take the military base medical center in texas. that is the plan, but no precise idea when. he is in stable condition is what we understand, but he is being treated for symptoms that require hospitalization with special focus on his dietary and nutritional needs. so, that does give an indication, it certainly gives the impression that during his captivity, he wasn't eating well. and certainly, we've heard officials say they were concerned about how he looks and his general health was deteriorating in the last weeks of capti

nic, what's the latest this morning?reporter: john, right now we understand that the iraqi government is deciding whether or not to declare this a state of emergency. it does seem like a foregone conclusion. key among their decision-making will be actually getting agreement. we heard from iraq's foreign minister yesterday, saying that it was important for the parliamentarians to agree to unite to form a government of national unity. what he is talking about there are the deep sectarian divisions that underpin the fighting, the fact that the prime minister, nuri al maliki, has not been able to inspire large parts of the sunni population to support the government, and we've seen that in videos released by isis on to youtube, unconfirmed videos, but videos, nevertheless, released by isis that appear to show isis is actually getting broad support from lots of young men in the towns that they go into. in one city, it appeared to be mosul, dozens, if not hundreds, of young men crowded around a man from isis giving a speech and

athena jones is in washington with us and nic robertson is in baghdad. >> nic, we want to start withwhat is the situation? how are they going to prevent the isis fighters from taking over the capitol. >> reporter: you bet they are ramping up security here. there have been appeals that came from the most senior of religious leaders on friday. this is a man whose never gotten into politics before over the past several decades, never once gotten into politics. now he says young men should help stop this advancement of sunni terrorists, as they see it. i was talking to somebody who was driving south of baghdad a few hours ago and he saw bus loads of young men filling up buses to be driven to the battle north of baghdad. the volunteers are coming from the community fighting under the guidance of the army and responding to their religious leaders. there is a deep concern that don't do that. the isis fighters could bring the fight to the capitol in baghdad. >> nic, we have reports that 500 revolutionary guard troops from iron are there. the iranian president tweeted out and actually in a sp

nic robertson in landstuhl for us. thank you very much. >> of course, the reason sergeant bergdahl is free now is because the white house agreed to an unusual prisoner swap with the taliban, sending these five fighters to qatar from guantanamo bay. the senate intelligence committee is set to hear from administration officials today in a closed-door briefing, as some question whether qatar will hold up its end of this bargain. stopping these men from rejoining the fight in afghanistan and elsewhere. former defense secretary leon panetta says he had similar concerns when he had a chance to okay a prisoner swap years ago. >> i had to ensure that the greatest security would be established so that none of them would re-enter the battlefield. and that was my obligation under the law. there were very strict conditions to maintain security on each of these individuals, and those were not acceptable, either to the taliban or to the qatarees at the time, and it was for that reason that i did not support doing it at that point be

let's get to nic robertson live in baghdad.nse of the situation on the ground. >> reporter: john, i think we can learn a lot from the fact isis has taken a town in the north. to get to the big sweep they did, they bypassed it. they knew the army would stand and figtd. they did stand and fight, so they sent a force after the rapid advance to take care of it. they have reached a town 45 minutes northeast of baghdad. they were told to pull out and evacuate. isi s moved in to take over. north of the city now, there are many contested parts of that province. the government says it is fighting back against isis and released video of helicopter air strikes against isis targets. we don't see people that are being targeted here, just buildings and the fact that these images are taken from helicopters and on the ground does tell a story, if you will, about the lack of control the army has here on the ground. the prime minister is telling his countrymen that he will take the country back. the facts on the ground seem to indicate it's very

senior international correspondent nic robertson is in brussels. and nic, this is the story.e want to hear about from the administration, even as he's trying to press on with a much bigger, sort of economic story in europe. >> reporter: yeah, sure. we've had a few ideas of what the administration is thinking about this this morning as the g-7 meeting gets under way again. administration officials telling us that they say they always knew winning the freedom of sergeant bergdahl was going to be complicated. the questions about how he came to be captured were going to be an issue. they always expected there would be some blowback. they expected the criticism to be about the nature of the trade, the five taliban leaders for sergeant bergdahl. they didn't expect the harsh criticism of sergeant bergdahl and his family. and the assessment is that this is mostly about political point-scoring in washington, that this is par for the course in washington, and the president really expects that the issue of bringing home a captured soldier, not leaving somebody out on the battlefield, is

>> nic robertson, be safe. thank you. the crisis in iraq has set off a very different battle in washington over exactly what the u.s. should do about it, if anything athena, what have we heard? >> reporter: there are a lot of opinions about what the u.s. should be doing right now but this is pretty anything. the former ambassador was on fareed zakaria and he talks about what is lacking in the u.s. response to this so far. let's listen to that. >> we have lacked that high level of engagement with the iraqis. that was so crucial during my team in office. we need the secretary of state out there in baghdad right now. we need the president on the phone to the iraqi leadership. we are the essential middle men among sunnis, shia, and kurds. as bass dor can just go so far. >> we know vice president joe biden spoke with nouri al maliki on thursday. we also know that secretary of state john kerry spoke with iraq's foreign minister just yesterday. some of these high-level talks are certainly happening but i asked the white house sp

nic robertson. thanks very much. >>> general motors ceo mary barra heads back to capitol hill, testifying in a house investigation the company's handling of an ignition switch defect now linked to at least 13 deaths. gm knew of the problem for over a decade before issuing a recall in february. barra's testimony will focus on corporate culture that discouraged the flow of bad news and treated the problem with no sense of urgency. gm has already recalled 20 million vehicles so far this year. >> yeah, it will be interesting to see what mary barra can say today. >>> time for an early start. european stocks up, asian stocks mixed. stocks rose for the third day in a reyesterday on higher inflation data. fed officials previously expressed concern that inflation was too low. the sent travel bank is expected to continue tinkering its bond buying program. the fed is not expected to raise rates until sometime next year as the economy continues to strengthen. >> so mark your calendars. >> that's right. >>> 11 m

. >> let's get the latest now from cnn senior international correspondent nic robertson. >> nic, it's being described as a car bombing and a suicide bomb? >> reporter: it has. it's still not clear. the strongest indication we have is it may have been a suicide bombing. the details are unclear. it went off in tahrir square at 8:30 in the morning this morning. initial reports that we have indicated one person killed, four wounded. those numbers appear to be climbing. the latest that we have now been able to get in the last few minutes is that nine people were killed, 21 wounded in that blast. sad to say this is not unusual or atypical for bagdad. last week on saturday alone there were six car bombs, more than 30 people killed, dozens and dozens more wounded. but it is an indication of the tensions. this is in the heart of the city, and what we understand, the prime minister had drawn this line in the sand saying he was going to stop the isis advance in bagdad anti an hour and a half's drive north of the city. guess what? we found out the army had ordered a retreat from a base three-quar

live to baghdad, and nic robertson in a minute. i want to talk to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in jordan. a man who commanded the marine division during the iraq war, james williams. general williams, you're a straight talking man. what is the first element of american advisers? what are they going into? they've got to assess the situation but now you have shias who are marching in baghdad and they're ready to confront isis, the sunnis. >> well, you know, first of all, they're going to have to make contact with the military government in terms of working with the ministry of defense. they'll have to be assigned to various units of the iraqi army and make an assessment of the situation. remember, they're in an advisement role. in this advisement role, they're not going to be in direct combat but they're going to direct the individual iraqi army elements on how to resolve their issues from a military perspective. >> you know, general, you talk about the iraqi army. but now you've got the shiite forces and als

nic, a lot of fighting in iraq today on a lot of different fronts.bombed iraq in the anbar province. what the latest you're hearing? >> 57 dead. some of the dead women and children. three places, mostly along the board were syria. alwaleed, two of the places believed to be syrian aircraft flying. the syrian government denies it. the iraqi army spokesman says here not at all. they're monitoring their airspace. they can see that nothing came into it. so they don't believe that it was syrian aircraft. but those bombs falling on a sunni population, believed to be syrian, causing a lot of outrage and heartbreak. women and children among the dead. and western officials saying that they believe that these were indeed syrian aircraft. they just don't know how much of a tie-up there would have been between the syrian government and the iraqi government. of course, iraq is denying anything there, anderson. >> and nic, you went to iraqi defenses outside of baghdad today. if isis tries to move into baghdad, i mean, how prepare ready they there? >> you know, they

nic robertson live in baghdad. >>> just ahead. sawyer announcing she is leaving "world news." why? we'll discuss that. >>> also, luis suarez, soccer player from uruguay, appears to bite a player in yesterday's world cup match. could he be banned from soccer? that's where the conversation is today. you're watching cnn. [ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. sometimes, life trips us up. sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? >>> a

nic makes a good point. they did eventually work with general petraeus and other u.s. officials to ease the crisis over there as part of that u.s.-led surge, but a lot of it involved cash. u.s. taxpayer dollars. the u.s. paid off these sunni leaders thousands, millions of dollars in fact in hard cash. and once that cash dried up, the support for the u.s. seemed to dry up, as well. explain what happened there. >> and nic's point all incredibly valid. back in those days, al qaeda was in sort of the beginnings if you like, the genesis of isis, as well. when the u.s. went in and engaged these tribal leaders, did bring them into the fold if you like and, yes, they did pay them, too. you had the sons of iraq, the awakening as it was known. they turned their guns on al qaeda and that chankd aged and impacted greatly the course of the insurgency. enter nuri al maliki. the shiite sectarian leader who within days literally hours of the u.s. leaving iraq back in 2011 started rounding up his sunni political opponents, p

we'll have a live report from our senior international correspondent nic robertson. later, hillary clinton's new book hits the book shelves. she's out there on the tour circuit. what she's now saying about benghazi, her health, lots other issues. full coverage coming up. most. it's important to know the difference. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. and that i had to take action. so he talked to me about xarelto®. [ male announcer ] xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe that doesn't require regular blood monitoring or changes to your diet. [ brian ] for a prior dvt i took warfarin, which required routine blood testing and dietary restrictions. not this time. ♪ while i was taking xarelto®, i still had to stop racing, but i didn't have to deal with that blood monitoring routine. ♪ you made great time. i found another way. [ male announcer ] don't stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to

information to the committee on the background on this, and we will work with the dni and the rest of the nic to provide additional information spent when like an answer to the question. it's a very specific question. the director admitted to me in a letter that befor these were but searches are taking place and going to next and see how many of them? will i get a letter telling me how many of them have taken place? i would like to within two weeks because it is obviously relevant to making this part of the senate bill because it would be submitted in the house. can we have it within two weeks? >> we will work on that, sir. we will get you a response within two weeks. >> thank you. making some progress. now, the only other question i have for today is, at this

fareed. >> nic, the iraqi government on paper has 800,000 troops between the internal security forces and the actual army. what are they doing? what happens in these circumstances, and why do they fl flee? there's multiple reasons why they flee. some, certainly troops based in sunni areas, feel afraid from behind because they know that the sunnis in the area, the tribesman are against maliki and will acquiesce to the arrival of isis. some of the people in the army themselves are sun nice and are med up with nuri al maliki. the tribesman that's fighting along isis right now told me there was a deal with senior iraqi military commanders to convince them to put down weapons, to take their uniforms off and they would be treated fairly. that was something they passed down to their supplement bobord. they're well trained by u.s. forces, i've been told, that they are very capable of taking on isis, but these younger soldiers, junior soldiers diseffective with more senior officers who have been hand-picked by maliki and his cronies for prestige for their families. they don't respect their com

nic, thank you for your reporting today. and from what you shared with us from 2002. >>> now, the outlines of the president's newly announced plan to send those military personnel, those advisers, back into iraq are firming up today. we have just learned that these first so-called advisers will come from u.s. contingents in iraq already. and they will be a boost to what amounts to an intelligence surge. they want to find out where isis fighters are lurking and where they hope to strike next. eventually they would be guiding iraqi forces toward militaryl l ground work for u.s. air strikes. spider marks is with me from phoenix, arizona. he was a senior intel officer during the second iraq war. general, nice to see you. >> good to see you, brooke. >> when we talk about these special operators, what is their training? what is their m.o. here? >> well, these are exceptionally talented, very senior trained soldiers. what they bring is a level of maturity that can be placed at the very lowest levels. great judgment. incredible expe

nic robertson is in baghdad this morning.a sense of the latest on the isis advancement here. is the government correct in holding off the advance for now? >> reporter: it seems to be slow. the confrontations we hear about, two-thirds of them go in favor of isis. there have been three major battles in the last three days. the oil refinery, there was a battle raging yesterday. that's the most important and largest oil refinery in iraq. that seems to be mostly, not entirely, but mostly in the hands of isis. it's unclear, but seems isis and the iraqi government control parts of it. what the iraqi government hasn't been able to do is roll the advance toward the city back. that's significant and why the situation is ongoing. that's why, potentially, isis could achieve their own to encircle the capital. >> give me a sense of whether there's confidence in the country of whether nuri al maliki can bring them together so it doesn't evolve into sectarian conflict. the white house has serious concerns about who is running the country. >>

nic, have the militants advanced or has this advance stalled? >> reporter: it's slowed down, suddenly that's the case. the iraqi prime minister says he was drawing a line in the sand in the town called mara, about an hour and a half drive north of baghdad. yesterday, just while we were walking in baghdad, young men volunteered to join up the new militias, just as we were watching that, an order was issued to the iraqi army in a town called baqaba, three hours drive north of baghdad, they were told to evacuate their base, take all their weapons with them, because within an hour the isis fighters moved in. the iraqi government had drawn a line in the sand. isi is now taking control of the base, that is about 45 minutes' drive north of baghdad. that is a significant move. also this morning, a car bomb in the center of baghdad killing one person, wounding four others. victor, christ ? >> do you know if that was somebody from isis with the car bomb and how secure do you feel baghdad to be this morning? >> reporter: christi, this is a very bad line an

nic robertson is in baghdad and joins me live. nic, it feels like on the ground washington may be talking about supporting an iraqi government, they're talking about national unity, but it sounds to me on the ground out there, this has turned into a sectarian war. is that your impression? >> reporter: the gun feels loaded for it at the moment, fareed. it's very hard to see as somebody stopping the momentum towards pulling the trigger, if you will. a few years ago when u.s. forces were here the city was happier with u.s. diplomats. they can hold more sway and hold the sides apart than looking at that against the militia and the city of baz ra in the south and many other shia militias that have been activated. it's very clear that the potential for a sectarian war is there. what we're seeing, a taking of territory by the -- essentially by the sunnis backed by isis or prompted by isis is another dimension of that, fareed. >> nic, does it feel like in this context american military advisors or even strikes could make a difference? >>

nic, first to you, the iraqis say they're able to effectively carry out air strikes. do we really know what the government is saying is true in this complete mess that seems to have developed? >> reporter: they say they carried out an air strike overnight that targeted the largest military base outside of mosul. they say that's where isis forces were. we don't know what was actually hit. were they trying to take out ammunition dumps so they couldn't fall out of militant hands and isis said they had taken over the town of tikrit. today, the state government said, no, they have taken control back again. they offered no video graphic or picture. but guess what, isis offered video of what they said was tikrit. it was stunning what they said was iraqi security forces, policemen all being lined up marched down the road by just a handful of isis fighters. the iraqi government today was supposed to get together, the parliament get together on a state of emergency. they couldn't do it. why? because the parliament was boycotted by parliamentarians, apparently a lack of faith in

nic, what do we know? >> reporter: yeah, chris, 27 hours ago, sergeant bergdahl arrived here at the landstuhl facility behind me which is installation of physical welfare taken care of. what he learned what he saw while held captive. but all of this began such a long time ago. after almost five years of captivity in afghanistan -- >> scared i won't be able to go home. >> reporter: army sergeant bowe bergdahl is free and safe. now, new details emerging about the secret recovery effort three years in the making. according to u.s. defense officials a so-called proof of life video sent of the now 28-year-old last december incited them to broker a secret deal. officials say the soldier's sickly appearance putting them on an advance timetable. the deal, swap these five taliban detainees from guantanamo bay in exchange for bergdahl. >> release me, please. i'm begging you. bring me home. >> reporter: according to "the wall street journal," after days of waiting, the taliban's call to meet finally came. u.s. defens

cnn's nic robertson has more on what life was like in the grip of the taliban. hi, nic. >> reporter: details include how bergdahl was able to celebrate easter and christmas while in captivity. more on the other side of the break. are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team are constantly monitored for threats. outside and in. that's why hp reports and helps neutralize more intrusions than anyone... in the world. if hp security solutions can help keep the world's largest organizations safe, they can keep yours safe, too. make it matter. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? i'm d-a-v-e and i have copd. i'm k-a-t-e and i have copd, but i don't want my breathing problems to g

i want to bring in our nic robertson now and arwa damon.nic, i want to start with you, that vice president biden had a phone call information with nuri al maliki. you've been talking to a lot of sources here on the ground. what are you hearing about the confidence people within the government and elsewhere have in nuri al maliki? >> confidence is low. there are politicians here really don't believe in his own party we're told by people or in conversation with them, they don't think that nuri al maliki is the man to make the compromises. he hasn't shown that so far. the decisions he has taken some people consider will have further alienated sunni politicians here. there are politicians that just don't feel that they can work with him. therefore, how can he really be the man to make concessions and move the country forward. a new prime minister is needed. now the election results from the last couple of months should have been ratified, and therefore that should begin a process towards the end of this month that would determine a new prime mi

thanks so much to general mark kimmitt and nic robertson and also bob bair.own anderson cooper is on the ground in iraq. he's in baghdad. he's going to have extensive reporting on what he's finding there tonight, beginning at 8:00 eastern time. and also in other news, there haven't been any executions in the united states since april. all because of of that botched attempt in oklahoma. but is that about to change? will these men be executed this week? and if so, what mode will be used? find out right after the break. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are no branches? 24/7 i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally. are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber securi

let's begin with nic robertson in baghdad. nic, what is the significance of these new issue sis victories? >> reporter: yeah, the significance is they now link safe havens in syria all the way to the outskirt of baghdad, quite literally the suburbs of baghdad now linked to those weapons piles to fighters by a main highway. they now control the euphrates river valley. and as we're seeing, they're using in to sweep through al anbar province. i've traveled through rutba many times over the past 20-plus years. the next stop, 45-minute drive, is the jordanian border. a tiny iraqi outpost on the border there. that could fall any time soon. this is, you know, spreading the isis fighters closer to countries that have been outside of the fate until now. jordan and saudi arabia. also strengthening their hand in the country. they're solidifying their gain here. fredricka? >> then i understand there's a new development involving isis action in the northern town of mosul. what are we learning there about what's taken place? >> reporter: su

nic robertson live for us this morning.to dig a little deeper into the kries and the stakes involved and the options available. jim sciutto is our security correspondent and from london, charlie cooper, a middle east researcher for a think tank formed to combat extremism. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> so jim, you just heard nic robertson. this is disturbing, to say the least. and also, these terrorists, you know, now taking over iraqi cities are so vile. these are the people who tweeted out images of crucifixions in syria. should the united states get involved? >> let me tell you, the other thing about isis is that they're also the most popular group to join for foreign fighters partly because their requirements are so low. you can just kind of come in on a kind of jihadi vacation and join up for a bit and then return home. and this is a real concern because u.s. intelligence officials have been telling me and others for months that they are concerned about how syria has attracted these foreign fighters. what hap

nic, what can you tell us this morning?well, it certainly appears that they underestimated the amount of the backlash. president obama who, who said i from the beginning, that he knew this would create some amount of discussion, some amount of debate, that in part, this was something he wanted to do to encourage the debate about the end of the war in afghanistan, encourage the debate about closing down guantanamo bay. but this is going to absorb his time and thinking again today. he will have a press conference following a bilateral meeting with the british prime minister, david cameron. whatever is on the agenda of that meeting, and it's unlikely to be bowe bergdahl, is going to be in the questions following. so, he's going to have to be ready for those questions. the whole day with the g-7 is supposed to be talking about the global economy, about energy security for europe, finding other places to get their gas, other than russia, but the issue of sergeant bergdahl, that exchange for the five taliban prisoners from guanta

nic, what do we know about these latest moves by isis and where they might be heading now as a group?> reporter: sure. i mean, the video of the still pictures that they claim -- the images do appear to be in iraq and do appear to show iraqi-type buildings and the men that you see bunched in a truck, crowded in a truck then made to walk somewhere, their heads are forced down, then they are lying on the ground and there is very clear execution, it's all branded isis, their flags in the background there. you know, this is imagery that is going to fuel the sectarian nature of the fight here and at the same time we heard the prime minister drawing the line in the sand saying that isis was not going to pass that, was not going to come any further south. we've seen the government, they put out video of attack helicopters targeting buildings that they contain isis. if you look carefully, you don't see any fighters around the buildings but at the same time that that is happening, isis has gotten closer to baghdad. they took over parts of a town which is only a 45 minutes drive northeast of bag

we'll see how it plays out. >> candy crowley and nic robertson, thank you so much. "state of the union" with candy crowley is coming up next hour 9:00 a.m. eastern as she talks with national security adviser susan rice about the release of sergeant bergdahl. let's talk about the guantanamo bay detainees released. the group has tried to free them for more than a decade. here are their pictures. i do need to put a disclaimer up here. these pictures of photos obtained by wikileaks that matched the names released by the department of defense. the department of defense would neither confirm or deny their accuracy. all these men held important positions with the taliban ranging from interior minister to chief of army staff. >> other stories breaking overnight, all seven people on board a private jet were killed in a fiery crash, pictures here. this is in the boston area late last night. officials say the plane apparently caught fire. you can see this is a photo from social media purporting to be of the crash site. there are flames there. the victims have not been identifi

good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, carol. he's now into his second day of treatment. we're not being given updates specifically on how he is faring with that treatment. we are being told the type of treatment. there will be a psychological analysis, a physical analysis. there will be, as well, an effort to see if he has any actionable current military intelligence and anything he has learned that could be useful for troops in the future in this situation. it is going to be a long process is what we're told, going at the pace that he can cope with. it's down to his level of comfort, how quickly this reintegration goes. all this coming after almost five years in captivity. >> after almost five years in captivity in afghanistan -- >> scared i won't be able to go home. >> reporter: aeshl sergeant bowe bergdahl is free and safe. now new details emerging about the secret recovery effort three years in the making. according to u.s. se fence officials, a so-called proof of life video sent of the now 28-year-old last december, incited

what's the very latest, nic?hat they're pushing isis back. they released video that purports to show that. the reality is isis continues to make gains across the country. this morning, isis gaining more ground, moving closer to baghdad. the u.s. embassy there fortified security. more u.s. marines being brought in. some staffers being evacuated. taken into other safer iraqi cities. the imminent threat from the north leaves the iraqi government desperate for soldiers, calling on volunteers. hundreds of civilians, young and old, marching through the streets of baghdad, now having to defend their country. and in the north, isis taking the town of talafr. the terrorists gaining control over its army base, which would mean more armored vehicles and ammunition up for grabs, some provided by the u.s. asking his identity be concealed, cnn's arwa damon interviewing an iraqi colonel, who says his unit alone left behind 25 humvees, 80 other vehicles and trucks, ten sniper rifles and ten rocket launchers when they fled. >> if

. >> nic, the iraqi army on paper has -- the iraqi government, on paper, has 800,000 troops between the internal security forces and the actual army. what are they doing in these circumstance and why do they feel? >> reporter: multiple reasons they flee. troops in sunni areas feel afraid from behind, know the soup nist, the tribesmen are against maliki and acquiesce to the arrival of eye sis. some of the people in the army themselves are sunnis and are fed up with nuri al malaki.isis some of the people in the army themselves are sunnis and are fed up with nuri al malaki. i was told there was a deal with senior iraqi military commanders to convince them to put down weapons, to take their uniforms off and they would be treated fairly. that was something they passed down to their subordinates. there's another strand in this as well, that these well-trained iraqi troops, well-trained and equipped by u.s. forces, i've been told by people who trained them, that they are -- that they are very capable of taking on isis, but these younger soldiers, junior soldiers, disaffected with more senior o

nic robertson joins us live from baghdad. nic, isis gaining ground in western iraq.ow much territory are we talking about being under the control of that militant group? >> reporter: fredricka, it's growing. al anbar province, they have over 70% control, they've just, we're told, taken control of a tribe supporting isis, of taking control of the tiny little border outpost right next to the jordanian border. talking about the syrian board, we're talking about the jordanian border. they've taken a large town, about 70 miles from the jordanian border and the saudi border, a town i've passed through many times. they are able to link up by a highway their strong holds inside syria with the outskirts of baghdad. this is an important, strategic gain for them. this has happened in the last 24 hours. the army's put down its weapons and run away, though the government says the army is merely making a tactical withdrawal so they can be redeployed and refocus on other parts of the country. what this results in, isis is just much stronger and embedding itself much more firmly int

. >> nic robertson joins us from the iraqi capital. now and how is the city reacting to news that the militants are getting so close? >> reporter: christi, it made the city more nervous and on greater edge, al-qaim has fallen allows the isis rebels to essentially link their safe havens inside syria with about a 4-hour drive down highways to the western outskirts of baghdad. that's what it does. the military here is saying the army in al anbar which is 70% under isis control, they say the army went through a strategic withdrawal, what we're hearing from security, iraqi security officials inside al anbar province is that the tribes fighting with isis went to the army and said put down your weapons, take off your uniforms and go home. that's the only way we can make you safe. so really, the army is on the back foot in al anbar retreating from there, still they hold a tiny part but it seems that isis intent on taking the whole of that province, and therefore advancing much closer in a stronger way to baghdad. >> so nic, what are the expect

>> nic robertson, thank you very much. "outfront" military analyst, executive director to general petraeus during the surge in iraq and colonel francona. colonel monsure, you are hear isis advances. do you still feel with a that way? >> i do. i think putting 300 advisors or so on the ground, the only good that will come of that is it many give us good situational awareness or bet are situational awareness of the state of the iraqi parmy. that's that information we need going forward. but politically we don't need that. we need a comprehensive solution to the government in baghdad. once they form a government that has the support of the iraqi people, then we can think about those stronger military measures that nic robertson and baghdad discussed. >> and colonel francona, they were talking about anbar, bull dozing overtowns, and when i was there, i remember it being a deserted empty part of the country. what does that mean in terms of how significant the gains are? ? >> they are reeling into the towns that the iraqi governm

appreciate the update and staying up late for us there, nic. thank you.y next guest said the deal is ugly. aaron david miller writes and quoting some of it from him. the united states undercut almost every principle we claim to adhere to on negotiating with terrorists and let out some very bad guys who are almost certain to to attack americans and weaken u.s. efforts in afghanistan. however, he goes on to write, quote, however, distasteful the deal, it was both a moral and a necessary one. former middle east negotiator aaron david miller joins me now. thank you for being here. >> pleasure, poppy. >> you are a distinguished scholar and written "the end of greatness, why america can't have and doesn't want another great president." let's talk about that. i was fascinated reading your op-ed this weekend and spend a first bit of it saying how bad of a deal this was and we had to do it. you are in line with the president, secretary kerry. why do you think this was the right move right now? >> let's set the frame of reference here. there are no good deals in ir

our senior international correspondent nic robertson is joining us from baghdad. we're hearing conflicting reports on who's actually in control of this hugely important refinery. what do you know? >> well, without this refinery online, the country is getting short of cooking gas. the prices have gone up fivefold we're told in some cities. fuel for cars. there are lines three or four hours at some of the gas stations now. people just don't have the gas. because this refinery is continually being fought over. just last night, we were being told by three independent sources that isis had, in fact, taken control of the refinery. this is a large facility. a 35-mile perimeter fence around it. four different refinery complexes within it. but today the government, the army spokesman said, once again, that the military was fighting for control of it. indeed, had control over parts of it. we're also hearing the same narrative about talafar, that important air base and town north of the country. again, not clear who controls it, fighting continuing there. the government also

nic robertson reporting live for us from landstuhl, thank you. reporting to then private bowe bergdahl, a senior official tells us we don't have any understanding of why he left his camp the night he disappeared in june 2009. sadly, we do know all too clearly the monumental cost of trying to find bowe bergdahl. from june of that september, that year, six u.s. soldiers were killed in ied attacks or firefights while directly involved in searching for bowe bergdahl, who, some say, had actually abandoned his post. a facebook page entitled bowe bergdahl is not a hero is filled with resentful claims that bergdahl betrayed both his comrades and his duty. cnn's barbara starr joins me now live from the pentagon. obviously, this is a very significant part of this story, although so far, barbara, it seems a very unclear part of this story. we do know that those who are very close to bergdahl, members of his platoon, have been very critical, but what is the government saying? >> well, ashleigh, here at the pentagon what they are saying is they need to hear f

nic robertson in baghdad, arwa damon in erbil. where are iraqi troops fighting right now and how high is the concern that baghdad could potentially fall to this militant group? >> reporter: deb, i don't think there's a concern that baghdad is about to fall. but the development today is hugely significant and cannot be underestimated. the border town of the iraqi to syria border town after three days of fighting has fallen. the iraqi brigade there has been overrun. this is coming from an iraqi security source in the western town of ramadi. what this means is, it's not just al qaeda that's fallen. it is the -- it is the town of rawa, the town of heat, the town of husaba. this means that isis now has a direct highway link from its strongholds in syria to the western outskirts of baghdad. we're talking about a four-hour drive for those strongholds in syria now direct to the western outskirts of baghdad. isis has control over the major parts of the euphrates river valley. strategically this will allow them if they so choose to surge th