raqqah is something else. if you want to take raqqah, again, you can't send shia militias to take raqqah and to slaughter the sunni population and keep it away. one will have to take order and to put order in that region and to govern it. we're talking here about goff governance. this is what i was employing in my probably very quick remark. >> mike, do you want to take the first part?russia-iranian condominium. >> right. >> i could just give my own view on the relationship between the two. i liken them to same he's twins that don't like each other. they same the share organs and they share the same lens -- limbs and they can't get away from it. but which i mean, the russians and the iranians, they both have a strategic interest. it is not a tactical interest, it is a strategic interest in maintaining the assad regime in place. they've been entirely consistent about this all along. and that is what allows them to work -- to work together. i'm sure if i was reading the top secret intelligence on the iranian-rus

we'd like to do that with raqqah as well. chairman, do you want to add? >> if i can just clarify a point. when you're talking about local forces, are you talking about sunni forces in the area? >> yes. arab forces. they're the ones who live there in that area. >> and either you, mr. secretary, or general, how many sunni forces do you believe are going to be required for this operation to be successful and for us to reach this goal? >> senator, if i just want to go back to the purpose of the special operations forces. the increase of u.s. forces on the ground in syria is to do two things. to your original question, it's to grow the size of our partners on the ground and to increase their effectiveness. we assess right now that there are about 6,000 syrian arab coalition members. we perhaps have as many as twice that number that are currently in the vetting process as a result of our forces on the ground, and we expect those numbers to increase. with regard to forces in raqqah, that will be a combination of syrian arab coalition members but supported also b

he is believed to be in and around raqqah. one military option, additional u.s.orces inside syria to help local fighters take more ground back including raqqah. >> the big focus would be in syria particularly as we -- as you look toward raqqah is doing what we can to enable those local forces to make them even more effective and to be able to provide even more pressure on isil as those forces isolate raqqah. >> reporter: there is also a new u.s. military training program for moderate syrian rebels. the last program failed in a spectacular fashion. this time of course they hope it works. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> cnn's intelligence and security analyst and former cia operative bob baer joins us now from newport beach in cole cal. so bob, given the thousands of homegrown jihadis in belgium right now, is it surprising that at least eight others directly connected to last month's attack are still on the run? >> well, it's probably more than eight, john. i mean, a lot of these people are using alias documentation. they're renting apartments. they're part of

on paper, the isis fighters defending their capital of raqqah are outmanned and outgunned. it will be the job of american special forces to make sure they are outfought as well. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," technology that scans fruits and vegetables to help customers learn about the freshness of their food. plus, we'll meet a man who can make rum that tastes 20 years old in just six days. and speaker of the house paul ryan joins us in the studio. that is the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. . >>> it's 4:30, a cool and wet start to the day >>> we begin with breaking news, reports of a slashing on a 6 train near grand central after 3:00 a.m., a man was slashed in the hand after a fight broke out. the victim was taken to bellview hospital. we are gathering information. a live report coming up. >>> arrest of a man accused of attacking an elderly man in brooklyn. >> not his first time targeting vulnerable seniors. >> i hope he is done, i hope hi don't let him out again. >> reporter: 83

on paper, the isis fighters defending their capital of raqqah are outmanned and outgunned.of american special forces to make sure they are outfought as well. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," technology that scans fruits and vegetables to help customers learn about the freshness of their food. plus, we'll meet a man who can make rum that tastes 20 years old in just six days. and speaker of the house paul ryan joins us in the studio. that is the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -marie green. have a great day. >>> good morning, everyone. this is a live look out at the bay bridge from atop kpix 5 studios. it's tuesday, april 26. i'm michelle griego. >> and i'm kenny choi. >> where did april go? >> right? >> and as far as weather is concerned, we have beneficial rain and more rain coming, and we have clear skys sky -- sky in a due east direction. good morning, everybody. we are 42 in livermore and 51 in san francisco. these winds are under 10 with a co

on paper, the isis fighters defending their capital of raqqah are outmanned and outgunned.of american special forces to make sure they are outfought as well. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," technology that scans fruits and vegetables to help customers learn about the freshness of their food. plus, we'll meet a man who can make rum that tastes 20 years old in just six days. and speaker of the house paul ryan joins us in the studio. that is the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. >>> this is cbs-3 "eyewitness news" this morning. >>> the candidates converge on pennsylvania for primary day. promise hillary clinton made to voters last night, and what donald trump is calling on his opponents to do. >> the only thing stormier than the campaign may be the skies overnight. "eyewitness news" in south jersey overnight where we saw flashes of lightning. katie has your primary day forecast. she will tell us what time we could see some severe wetter. >> hours aft

he is believed to be in and around raqqah. one military option, additional u.s. special forces inside syria to help local fighters take more ground back, including raqqah. >> the big focus would be in syria, particularly as we -- as you look towards raqqah, is doing what we can to enable those local forces to make them even more effective and provide even more pressure on isil as those forces isolate raqqah. >> now, another effort in the works is a new u.s. military training program for moderate syrian rebels. you'll recall the last one failed spectacularly. this time they have revamped it, they hope this time it actually works. >> barbara starr, thank you so much. >>> in our money lead today, some of the world's most powerful leaders exposed, thanks to the biggest leak ever. will any of these leaders face jail time for allegedly hiding billions of dollars? >>> plus a tough choice for two parents about whom they should root for when their sons face off against one another this evening. that story ahead. whoa. what's going on here? oh hey allison. i'm val, the ora

. >> the russians are now bombing a town between palmyra and raqqah. >> nobody will get to raqqah any time soon. neither the russians nor the sbf. >> even more important than retaking raqqah, the penn and white house are focusing on killing the leader of isis, baghdadi. >> i want him to know we are hunting him and we will find him. just like we found his mentor. >> they have a training program that costs $500 million and produced a handful of trained rebels before being halted last fall. >> what we did the first time was try to pull full units. this time they promise not to fight the assad regime. >> jennifer griffin. thank you. >> he is there presumed dead. the son was targeted yesterday in somalia. he is being blame for planning and overseeing attacks resulting in the deaths of at least three american citizens. on the economic front, the unemployment rate increased from 4.3 to 5%. the work force participation rate increased to 63%. the dow closed at near a four-month high today after gaining 108. the s&p 500 was up 13. the nasdaq finished ahead 45. for the week. the dow was up 1.6.

where are you on getting them booted out of raqqah? i can say is the president provided -- asked the secretary of defense and the chairman to work on accelerants in the -- to accelerate the campaign against isil. and those options of being -- are being discussed and being plan planned with the leadership and the department. and what -- those options haven't been brought -- you know, they are being discussed also with the president. and giving him options to address that. and those specific -- obviously, those options are being addressed with our coalition partners in iraq and, of course, our partners in syria. because ultimately, our overall strategy of fighting is support to those fighting those on the ground. >> do you -- do you have an operational plan yet to get isis out of raqqah? >> i can't answer that question. i'm not qualified to answer. yes, ma'am. >> one last qualifying -- >> last question. >> do we know why the base was renamed? >> you know, i have -- i do flow why but i can't remember why right now. i'm sorry. i will take

are they going to be able to take raqqah and syria away from isil and hold it? gen. dunford: they will not in and of themselves. >> on behalf of the chairman let me recognize senator cane. >> if i could defer to senator king and a trade places? >> certainly. >> several observations based upon this excellent hearing. number one i want to associate myself with the chairman's comments about afghanistan. i think i -- the concern is that a decision has to be made in the next several months, i don't think we're going to learn anything in the next several months we don't know now because the draw down, scheduled draw down is going to have to start late this summer early fall to make the january deadline. i sincerely hope thalgiven where -- hope site given where we are, given the level of violence, given the really i think surprising -- i shouldn't say surprising, but the effectiveness of the afghan forces we ought to provide the support necessary including the authorities to maintain what we've gained there, which has been considerable. that's number one. number two, a lot

kurds are not the right people to take and govern raqqah. we know that. we are looking to identify forces that would be the appropriate people to take and govern. the people have to accept their liberators and can't just say you're the liberator. they have to believe that. so the saudis and others in the region u understand that dynamic. we're looking for their help finally. not only in terms of military help, but this is where their economic and stabilization assistance can be so important. so if the gulf states would help the sunni lands being taken back, that would help the state of iraq. as i mentioned earlier bs it's a counterweight to what is clearly iranian influence in iraq and think it ought not to be an iranian place. >> further refine the question. what i'm more concerned with, general, is you as a war fighter is the level of capability. they seem to have good ca capabilities in the air, not really that good capability bis our standards on the ground. so to put them in a situation where they are partners with iraq or put them in a situation whe

the goal to retake raqqah and mosul to deny isis a base of operations for planning external attacks.ing word this morning on the radical islamists linked to the paris and brussels attacks still on the loose. this is raising security concerns in europe. a dozen fugitives wanted in the attacks or tried in abstention. let's bring in cnn's alexandra field for the big search right now, alex. >> reporter: john, the number keeps getting bigger. authorities are looking for a dozen who are still at large who were tried in belgium in absentia. they are looking for links to the paris or brussels cells. related to the paris and brussels attacks, authorities are looking for eight more people who they believe were closely tied to the attacks. seven of the eight people are believed to have direct connections to abdelhamid abaaoud. the ringleader of the attacks or salah abdeslam. he was the remaining suspected paris suspect found in belgium just last month hiding out in brussels. at the same time, we know that in brussels, this hunt continues for the two outstanding potential suspected bombers in th

raqqah to be the capital of isis.e important because of the oil in that area. >> i just have to mention nick paton walsh's report. the simple fact that people not aware of the situation that's been happening for so many years in syria. for people to be afraid to go to the hospital and see the images of children dealing with such a hellish situation. is there anything being done to revive the cessation of hostilities? >> reporter: there is an effort under way. the special envoy is putting pressure on the united states, on russia, to get the sides back together. the negotiations had been suspended because the western-backed rebels are saying that the syrian regime isn't abiding by them. but they're also not able to get aid into these areas that are under siege. but there is a push to bring these sides together to get that -- get that cessation of hostilities back in action. but the human toll also. hospitals and medical centers have been targeted dozens of times over the past two years. so this isn't just an unusual occ

he is believed to be in and around raqqah. u.s. local fighters take more ground back, including raqqah. >> the big focus would be in syria, particularly as you look towards raqqah, is doing what we can to enable those local forces to make them more effective and provide even more pressure on isil as those forces isolate raqqah. >> reporter: another new effort tonight. a u.s. military training program restarting to train syrian rebels. wolf? >> very important stuff going on right now. barbara, thank you very much. that's it for me. thanks so much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >>> outfront next, duelling rallies in wisconsin tonight. trump and sanders. new details emerged from a leak within the trump campaign tonight. and the paul ryan rumor that just will not go away. let's go "outfront." >> good monday evening. i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the battle for wisconsin. at this moment, we're awaiting duelling rallies in milwaukee. donald trump and bernie sanders

. >> reporter: the goal now, raqqah.declared capital, the center of its so-called caliphate. the special operations forces will try to bring more sunni arab fighters into the mix who would be willing to help fight to get raqqah back. the u.s. will train arabs and kurds to spot targets for coalition air strikes. it will also accompany them onto the battlefield to offer realtime advice, but not go all the way to the front lines. and they will be able to gather critical intelligence, something james clapper, the director of national intelligence, welcomes. >> at any time you get ears and eyes on the ground, that's a good thing. >> reporter: and in iraq, another 200 u.s. troops, military advisers are also going in. they are going to help get the iraqi troops ready to retake the city of mosul there. also look for u.s. apache gunship helicopters and army long-range ground-based h howitzers to get involved. >>> they are considered by many to be the most critical weapon of retaliation in the worst case scenario of nuclear war. m

we can slowly shrink the environment in which they operate and take on strong holds like mosul and raqqah. >> president obama is making the announcement today in germany, he's wrapping up a weeklong trip that focused a lot on energy and defeats isis >>> the world may get a glimpse from a chapter of the 9/11 investigation. the white house could release some pages of the inquiry into the 9/11 attack. the documents have been kept in a secure room in the capital. >>> a teenager has been charged with plotting a terror attack in australia the 16-year-old boy was arrested in his home in sydney accused of trying to target a veteranser is knowny expected to take place today. five teens were arrested in 2015 for plotting an isis-inspired attack on the same event. >>> mental health officials are seeking a repeal of the so-called bathroom law. they have signed a letter to the governor over a law that bans transgender people from using the bathroom that they identify with. >>> we're getting our first look at the new official logo of the 2020 tokyo olympics. >> organizers have chosen a simple indigo an

abu mustafa explained his brother-in-law, a senior isis member in raqqah, got him into the business of smuggling artifacts out of syria. now he's on the run and hiding his identity. we altered his voice. and what is this? this is the god of the sun, he said he was told. and where is this from? [000:11:58;00] once they leave isis territory the artifacts end up here, just over the syrian bord border. smugglers will come to small turkish towns like this one looking to make a discreet sale, often for tens of thousand of dollars. what was the first piece that you sold? this one, he says. he also said some of the more than ten other pieces he smuggled out sold for up to $60,000. abu mustafa's cut, 15% of each sale. he's talking now because he claims his isis brother-in-law cheated him out of his percentage. >> just one endless bit of pain. >> reporter: we showed the video of the artifact to a former syrian antiquities official who now teach eds at shawnee state university in ohio. >> oh, they broke it. >> reporter: he consulted other experts and books before determining that the artifact was

who develop relationships with local tribes, with people who may be going in and out of places like raqqah, between those who we can work and those we can't. >> you can see more of charlie rose's interview with president obama coming up a little later on "cbs this morning." >>> severe weather is expected to batter parts of the central united states today. meteorologists warn powerful tornadoes and softball sized hail could strike the central and southern plains. the area at greatest risk stretches from northern oklahoma all the way to southern nebraska. hail pummelled parts of texas yesterday. this amateur video shows it falling in san antonio. other parts of the state saw hail that measured nearly three inches. >>> and the manhunt continues today for the killer or possibly killers of eight family members executed in their homes in southern rural ohio. police found extensive marijuana grow operations at three of the four crime scenes. a law enforcement source tells cbs news iti considering several possible motives, including whether there could be a mexican drug cartel connection, a drug t

develop relationships with local tribes, with people o who may be going in and out of places like raqqah. us being able to distinguish between those who we can work and those -- >> skipping to a potential future president. donald trump has called the new alliance between senator cruz and governor john kasich pathetic and weak. meanwhile hillary clinton has criticized trump's luxurious lifestyle, saying he's out of touch. >> he says wages are too high and he doesn't support raising the minimum wage. and i've said come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people. you know at some point if you want to be president of the united states you got to get familiar with the united states. you got to spend time with americans. of all sorts and backgrounds in every part of our country. >> nbc's tracy potts is in washington. hi. i guess the question is is he effectively out of touch with the american people enough that they decide to vote tactically for two diametrically opposed candidates? what do you think. >> when you look at donald trump's numbers in key states l

in syria, the next target is raqqah, where isis has been using shades like this to hide movements froman't verify the photo, but say they have seen the shades for months, and it has had some impact on targeting air strikes. some say defense secretary ash carter's plan foremost you will, iraq, may be too optimistic. >> the thing we're focused on is collecting and positioning before ramadan commences. the forces for the envelopment of mosul. >> reporter: the islamic hole month of ram tan just five weeks away. it may take more than 25,000 troops to liberate mosul, many who still need to be trained. the good news, the number of new foreign fighters in syria and iraq is down to about 200. a 90% drop on average from last year. some isis fighters are not getting paid, some even deserting u.s. officials say. one reason the u.s. continues to bomb, isis cache storage sites. in a strike against a cache site in mosul, for the first time the u.s. used a israeli tactic called a knock on the roof used to get civilians out of the way. seen here in gaza in 2014, first a missile is exploded on a roof. a

the goal to lay the ground work for local forces to retake raqqah and mosul.y access for the base or isis to plan future external attacks. >>> chilling word this morning that a number of radical islamists linked to paris and brussels terror attacks are still on the loose. that is raising security concerns throughout europe. a wide search under way in europe for more than a dozen fugitives wanted in the paris and brussels attacks or tried in absentia. let's bring in cnn's alexandra field for the latest. how are the searches going, alexandra? >> reporter: cristina, we though authorities are trying to root out any members of the network that could be attached to the attacks or other attacks. what you have in the case is a growing number of suspects the authorities are looking at. a dozen people tried in absentia in the cases in belgium. it is not clear what connection they could have to the paris or brussels terror cells. there is a small group authorities are linking to the paris and brussels attacks. we know they are looking for at least eight people who have c

about to give up raqqah, its self-declared capital easily.is something very symbolic, something isis very much wants to hold on to. so this will not be easy going. these u.s. special operations forces that will advise, assist and help train these arab fighters, they will not be in combat. they will not be looking for combat, but they will are heavily armed, prepared to defend themselves in what is going to be a very tough neighborhood. >> hmm. >> alisyn? >> barbara, thanks for flushing out the breaking news in this morning. >>> more tributes to tell you about for the late music legend prince. his remained cremated in a small private ceremony over the weekend as questions still swirl about his estate and what killed him. live at prince's estate outside of minneapolis, stephanie elam. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. yes, we are in chanhassen, minnesota where prince lived at paisley park. the memorial that's become the fence here, it wraps around the front of the building continuing grow. people coming to remember prince. seeing

obama's anti-isis envoy says abu bakr al baghdadi is most likely hiding in the isis stronghold of raqqah, syria. could u.s. intelligence just picked up crucial information on al baghdadi from his ex-wife? saja al dulaimi has just given a videotaped interview to the cnn swedish affiliates suppressen. >> why did you leave? >> translator: i wasn't happy. >> did you love him? >> translator: no. >> reporter: al dulaimi says it was an arranged marriage. she was married for a few months in 2008. at that time he was a university lecturer who went by mohamud. she said she didn't know he had terror connections at the time, even though baghdadi had been held by the americans earlier. >> it is conceivable he had been living a double life and the fact he didn't tell her anything and was mysterious was because she was not privy to the real side of him. >> reporter: saja al dulaimi says she was shocked when she later found out her ex-husband is the most wanted man in the world. baghdadi is said to have sexually assaulted american captive kayla mueller repeatedly according to u.s. officials. but in her

if you look at the coalition air power targets, you can see where they're trying to isolate raqqah, the two cities. that's a start. for the iraqis to retake mosul, they have to take four major cities before they get to mosul. taking mosul, a city that large, remember isis had over a year to put defenses in. when they go into that city, it will be very difficult, house to house, street by street, very ugly. it will take a long time. by end of the year maybe. >> all right. rick francona, good to see you. appreciate it. >> take care, fred. >>> as we have been mentioning, i am live in houston. you're hearing the sound check behind me for the tip-off tailgate that will take place because of these four teams in the ncaa final coming up. we have a preview of one of the players surely becoming a star already. plus, what you can expect from the all access report that i am co-anchoring there with steve smith. all of that next. ♪ the bud light party wasn't invited to the debates. but we don't need them. we have debates of our own every night. a hotdog is a sandwich. over bud lights, of course. it'

. >> reporter: the goal now, raqqah, isis' self-declared capital, the center of its so-called caliphate sunni arab fighters into the mix who would be willing to help fight to get raqqah back. the u.s. will train arabs and kurds to spot targets for coalition air strikes. it will also accompanying th ii all the way to the battlefield but not go all the way to the front lines. and they will will able to gather critical intelligence, something james clapper, the director of national intelligence, welcomes. >> any time you get ears and eyes on the ground, that's a good thing. >> reporter: in iraq, the u.s. also getting ready to send in another 200 military advisors closer to the front lines. wolf. >> all right, barbara, thank you. >>> just ahead, a medical emergency forcing an emergency landing. we're learning new details of prince's final days. here's the plan. you grow up wanting to be a lawyer, because your dad's a lawyer. and you land a job with a 401k and meet your wife. you're surprised how much you both want kids, and equally surprised you can't have them. so together, you adopt a lit

how many operatives who have been trained up in raqqah by isis high command have been dispatched backis defectors who say the number is much higher than anything they've seen reported by european newspapers. when the paris attacks happened last november, i had just got back from istanbul where i was interviewing a defector from one of isis's spy services who told me in october that he trained up two french foreign fighters who went back to france. and after paris, i said were any of those killed in this operation your guys? so, he said no. so, there's two still at large. this also goes to the larger point, though, of what isis is becoming. so, you have this caliphate project in iraq, still held by al bakr al baghdadi, has been taken off with parades, but it's bifurcating into two organizations. one is focused almost exclusively on these foreign terror attacks. and what i find most interesting and what is unprecedented for this group is that european nationals, some of them, in fact, not even of arab or muslim or north african dissent, are now rising up the ladder and gaining security

will serve as a base for upcoming operations, including an offensive to try to retake, recapture, raqqah. the military continues to clear land mines, and, again, as mentioned at the top, made this grisly, gruesome discovery. this mass grave. at least 46 bodies have been found so far, including many women and children, leland. back to you. >> john huddy, live in jerusalem. thanks, john. >>> you're looking at two towns in wisconsin where voters are waiting to hear two very different campaign messages. donald trump about to take the stage, and bernie sanders on deck. and the m & m moment found around the world. chris christie in trouble again. sweet fodder for late night hosts. details, coming up. that's why you drink ensure you don't let anything keep you sidelined. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. come on grandma! for the strength and energy to get back to doing... what you love. ensure. always stay you. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like social media equals anti-social. hey guys, i want you to meet my fiancÉe, denise. hey. good to

horrors of isis, part of which you've documented, you've done amazing reporting someone who lived in raqqahrule, those have been well documented in the west, partly because isis enjoys publicizing and videotaping. this kind of thing that just daily brutality of at sad regime, the children it continues to murder has been less publicized because they're less interested in having the world see. we're seeing a picture now. >> while assad is the greatest threat to syrian lives, he's not interested in killing people with first world passports. >> less of a sense he's a threatt here in the way that isis is. there was something, something like a cease-fire that had been put in place. there had been this kind of endless series of feints thwarts existence of peace talks that are going to happen. it's hard to see that as any reality when you see footage of a msf hospital bombed. >> there was a sort of cease-fire in late february. large schwarwathed weren't incl however, there was actually a slowing in deaths, you know, briefly, and at the same time, there was there is amazing thing, a blossoming of pr

back the front lines there, they want to double-down, keep the pressure up and take direct aim at raqqah. george. >> okay, terry, thanks very much. on top of more than 4,000 troops in iraq. >>> severe weather overnight, tornadoes storms tearing through the heartland. now, more severe weather could be headed for the mraps. rob marciano is here with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, robin. active pattern over the next week. over 70 reports of severe weather. 7 tornadoes reported. some of which doing damage. no major injuries to report. last night we got off to a fast start. overnight, hail hammering the visibility, near impossible. drivers pulling over, finding shelter wherever they could. lightning igniting the plains. in minnesota, this house taking a direct hit, sparking into a sides catching fire. this one, with eight kids inside, having a sleepover, miraculously everyone escaping unharmed. >> no one anticipates a crack of thunder and everything gone. >> in iowa -- >> smoke starting pouring in miss room. >> reporter: this hotel spark by a bolt. guests scrambling to get out and war

provide intelligence, support and logistics to kurdish and arab forces who are fight to go recapture raqqah the islamic state. the u.s. insists these forces will not be in combat but admit they will be in harm's way. the announcement comes just days after the president deployed another 200 advisers to help fight isis in iraq. european allies still reeling from recent terror attacks urged the u.s. to do more, specifically create a military protected safe zone inside syria to stem the flood of refugees. but the president said yesterday that would require a large number of ground troops, a commitment he's still unwilling to make. >> it is very difficult to see how it would operate short of us essentially being willing to militarily take over a big chunk of that country. >> reporter: now the decision to send more troops comes as the president's attempt to broker a ceasefire in syria has collapse ed. gayle, he blames russia and the assad regime for that failure which has complicated his efforts to ebbed the war. >> all right, margaret brennan reporting from germany, we thank you. we mentioned ch

. >> do you think -- how soon do you think we'll liberate raqqah? president putin: the problem with aleppo, it's a strategic area in syria. this is the second biggest city. it may actually be the industrial capital of syria, and you have armed opposition groups there and you have niece are a, internationally recognized terrorist organization, and it's very difficult to differentiate between them. o currently they are trying to improve their position. the syrian army doesn't need to improve their position because before the cease-fire, their objective, they don't need to improve their positions. and the opposition wants to retake some of the areas they lost and it's actually up to the syrian army fighting there. it's kurdish and some other armed groups. and they're fighting between themselves and the fight against kurds. we have been following this situation very closely, and, of course, we will do all we can to make sure that the situation doesn't deteriorate. >> ok. let's go back to the call center. thank you. >> they tell us one of the most releva

we haven't been told that there was any evidence of communications from this cell back to isis in raqqahhey are operating with a great deal of autonomy. they have the skills, they have the weapons. they choose the target of their choice. so when it was too hot for them to attack paris, they find another soft target in brussels. that means there could be other cells and the belgian interior minister talked this yesterday, that there could be other cells out there operating with the same independence working at will just waiting for this police pressure to die down. >> general, we saw this before. that as investigators closed in there was another attack. prompted. had to happen in brussels they say. not paris. do we worry about that again happening? >> these attacks in and of themselves are not that complex. it is the build up to the attacks that is critically important. getting the money there, getting the bombs made, getting the weaponry there. but you can turn on a dime. the thing that i'd be looking for is first of all the connections between the cells. and there is now indicators that

there are of course a number of actors on the ground, and the move towards raqqah and mosul, the isisin one sense, it has also been successful. we've seen a defense analysis review saying that isis has lost some 20% of its territory in the last year. so it could be that bringing in these special operations forces is really an attempt to sort of bolster and consolidate those gains to try and hold the territory that has been gained so far. but who exactly they will be assisting, how they will be helping, those are details we are hoping to get from the president's remarks later on today. >> and, atika, president obama is meeting with european leaders today. he's calling them friends. what can we expect to come out of those discussions, and what topics will be covered? >> reporter: yeah, well, it's interesting because in the original schedule, he didn't have these extended meetings with european leaders. but he's actually taken some extra time now, calling on the leaders of not only germany, of course, german chancellor angela merkel here, but also france, italy, and the u.k. will be join

will now serve as a base of operations for future offenses including a ground offensive to retake raqqahyria's military. but that said, as mentioned, the military continues to clear the city of land mines, and as i mentioned at the top, syria's military confirmed that it found a mass grave, kelly weather at least 46 bodies found at this point, including women and children, some of the bodies beheaded, others show signs, according to officials, of torture. kelly, back to you. >> john huddy, thank you for that. >>> the british prime minister is warning about the dangers of nuclear terror. david cameron taking part in this week's nuclear summit in washington says isis could deploy drone to spray nuclear material over western cities. such worries are growing around the world. in fact, isis is thought to have seized low-grade uranium for from mosul university after capturing that iraqi city two years ago. retired navy captain chuck nash is a fox news military analyst. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> there is a difference between a nuclear weapon and a so-called dirty bomb. nonethele

they were doing, how important it was for them to be there because of people coming in and out of raqqah. when i said to him, do they have -- are they given the right to search and destroy? he said, i won't talk about that. but in iraq, the secretary of defense has said specifically rules of engagement. >> that's an important point. very important point. >> in our next hour, you'll hear president obama talk about the threat posed by russia and vladimir putin. you can see the full interview tonight on my pbs program. >> yesterday you were in germany. today you're back at the table. >> as i was leaving, it was sort of raining in germany. i could see out my window air force one. it's a huge plane. >> now you're back here. that's good. more in the 8:00 as charlie said. >>> parts of the midwest this morning are bracing for dangerous severe weather that could include tornadoes and a little bit of hail. hailstones the size of golf balls hammered san antonio yesterday. chief weather caster lonnie quinn of our station at wcbs is tracking today's forecast. >> good morning, gayle. the weather story

what they are doing, how important it was for them to be there, because people coming in and out of raqqah. he also when i said to him, do they have -- are they given the right to certainly and destroy? he said, i don't want to talk about that. in iraq, the secretary of defense has said specifically special forces do have that right. >> that's an important point, very important point. >> in our next hour you'll hear president obama talk about the threat posed by russia and vladimir putin and you can see the full interview tonight on my pbs program. >> i'm thinking yesterday you were in germany, today back at the table. >> quickly, as i was leaving it was sort of raining in germany, i could see out my window "air force one" and they were beginning to load. it's a huge plane. >> now you're back here. that's good. >>> a series of storms lining up to bring wet weather to the west. winds 65 miles an hour blasted parts of southern california yesterday. knocked over kfc sign and tossed an awning on top of cars. chief weather caster from cbs tracking our severe weather. lonnie, what do you see? go

time, but i just want to mention again, that in syria you know as we're trying to move isis out of raqqah, trying to accomplish that at the same time that alepo seems to be going into deeper problems, greater flames, more trouble, that whatever secretary kerry is working on the stage seems to be getting -- heading in the other direction instead of moving forward. and then just finally, as an aside, we still hope you can make it to crane. we know how busy you are. in syria, most recent developments, seem to be heading more against our goals than for our goals. thank you, mr. chairman. >> i want to begin with a compliment, mr. secretary, to you and the president for the quality of the generals you are nominating and asking to lead or military, many have come to -- they've all come to this committee. and a very impressive -- general dunford, on march 19th, there was a marine corp staff sergeant part of blt 26 artillery marine who was killed in iraq. was he killed in action? killed in combat? >> he was killed in combat, senator. >> we had a -- in january, a staff sergeant from the 19th specia

we can no longer tolerate the kinds of positioning that is enabled by them having headquarters in raqqaheep on putting the pressure on them. >> reporter: while individual nato member nations have undertaken military actions against isis, there are questions about whether the alliance itself should jump in. great britain, france and turkey making some of the biggest contributions in personnel, aircraft and intelligence. but republican presidential front-runner donald trump says the u.s. is not getting nato to shoulder its fair share. >> the people that study nato, they're so close to it. they don't understand it's obsolete. >> reporter: telling wolf blitzer the u.s. pays a disproportionate amount to nato to ensure the security of allies. >> frankly, they have to put up more money. they'll have to put some up also. we're paying dispropurportionately. it's too much and it's a different world than it was when we originally conceived of the idea. >> reporter: nato remains central to u.s. security policy, though many small member nation are unable or unwilling to spend as much on defense as th

equipped to hold territory in arab area that is taken from isis with the focus being in and around raqqahronghold there. why now? president obama says to keep the momentum up, that isis is losing some ground. the u.s., of course, has been doing the bulk of the work, and president obama took this opportunity here to, again, urge other countries to put in more. listen. >> europe, including nato, can still do more. in syria and iraq we need more nations contributing to their campaign. we need more nations contributing trainers to build up local forces in iraq. we need more nations to contribute economic asentence to ir iraq so it can stabilize liberated areas. >> reporter: so total number of u.s. forces in iraq and syria when all is said and done is going to be right around 4,000, carol. >> all right. michelle kosinski reporting live from germany this morning. thank you. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," we're still awaiting senator ted cruz. he's expected to speak at any moment at this campaign rally in indiana. >>> also, we heard from john kasich clearing the way for this partnership. h