whereas raqqah, raqqah, the battle really hasn't actually begun there. it's really the beginning of the beginning of them going into raqqah. so these thousands of syrian democratic forces, syrian arab coalitions, syrian kurds, they're moving south from the north toward raqqah, but they have miles and miles to go, 30 to 40 miles. it's going to be a very slow march to raqqah to actually retake the city. >> courtney, do u.s. officials believe that the size of these offensives, the way they are structured are likely to be successful in terms of how dug in isis is in these places, how they might tdefend these places? will two nig >> isis created booby traps everywhere, booby trapped everything they could in that city and saw ramadi was virtually destroyed. much of the city by air strikes, by fighting. i think we will see something similar to that in fallujah. they are very dug in there. there are civilians still in the area. one of the reasons, though, that i think there's been some, a little bit of early warning on this is they're hoping isis will flee as th

raqqah is the capital in syria. did we expect that both of them would have major military offensives against them to try to take them back at the same time? >> no. that's somewhat surprising. there's been a different impetus for each other. fallujah, you've seen recently, a number of high-profile, deadly attacks against baghdad in recent weeks. the iraqis believe those have been planned and carried out from fallujah. it's a new incentive for them to go in and root out. they've not entered fallujah yet. they are continuing to strike it from outside the city. raqqah, the battle really hasn't actually begun there. it's the beginning of the beginning of them going into raqqah. so, these thousands of syrian democratic forces, syrian-arab coalitions and syrian-kurds, they have miles to go. it will be a slow march to raqqah to take the city. >> do u.s. officials believe that the size of the offensives and the way they are structured, are likely to be successful, in terms of how dug in isis is and how they might defend the

it's time to leave raqqah." raqqah is the city in syria that was captured by isis three years ago.s isis' stronghold, de facto capital for the islamic state in that part of the middle east. when the u.s. started dropping leaflets in raqqah we got a look at those leaflets quickly. we knew the u.s. was dropping these but we didn't know why. obviously they're telling civilians to flee that city, telling them it's time to go. was that a legitimate warning of a big military offensive that was about to happen against raqqah? or was this just a psy-op, psychological propaganda operation to worry isis, to unsettle them and get them nervous? in the press anonymous pentagon officials said it was just propaganda, they said they were messing with isis, and no big operation was actually planned. but now today it's apparently on. rebel groups including the ones supported ostensibly by u.s. military training, they've apparently joined up with a huge number of cuedish forces, 25,000 to 30,000 kurdish troops, to start what appears to be a large-scale military offensive against isis' capital city in

once you start bombing in raqqah. and raqqah is a very compact, dense city.t to know what you're going. we've started using the smaller diameter bomb. it was developed just for this kind of a fight. whereas the russians, when they bomb, they've been using high-altitude bombers and opening up the bombay and just letting it lose. much akin to the carpet bombing we did in vietnam. >> lieutenant colonel rick francona, always good to see you. thanks so much. all right, coming up, it's math versus momentum when it comes to bernie sanders campaign. but house steep is the senator's uphill climb when it comes to pledged delegates? the story behind the numbers, next. what's with him? he's happy. your family's finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. and they only take 15 minutes to make. ahh! birds eye voila so veggie good what are you doing? sara, i love you, and... [phone rings] ah, it's my brother. keep going... sara, will you marry... [phone rings again] what do you want, todd???? [crowd cheering] keep it going!!!! if you sit on your p

so it is a state of emergency in raqqah as well as in iraq.going to get worse for them as well as the military strategy continues to choke them off. there's been success there, which is going to create more change in tactics as they melt back into the cities. >> so before i let you go, captain wells, are you intimating that there needs to be more ground control or support, i should say, from the u.s. and allies? >> i think looking at our total strategy, we've incrementally gotten to the point where we're having more special operations forces, more u.s. marines and also army in support of the iraqi security forces. as our commander recently said, we're waiting for the iraqi security forces and the political leadership in baghdad to ask for additional capability, but i think, yes, we're going to need to have more u.s. capability to really nip this in the bud. the same thing happened to us back in 2005 and 2006 and 2007 in the insurgency. that may be where we're going with regard to an insurgency inside cities. >> but is it important -- we're tig

raqqah. the u.s. also is trying to train and equip. >> very quickly, u.s. backed groups in syria have launched an offensive to try to take t territo territory. what can you tell us. >> reporter: we were with them a few days ago. they are young and inexperienced and they are highly motivated. they're announcing they're making their move. i don't think anybody thinks they're going to go all the way to raqqah, that's a very tall order, but clearly they are getting ready to try to extend their reach and move through some of those towns and villages in northern syria where isis still it trying to push that front line out there. >> barbara starr doing exclusive reporting for us. >>> donald trump goes after hillary clinton and her husband on scannedles going back a decade. is that a risky campaign strategy? ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicar

this is now photographic evidence that they were far south, about 30, 35 miles north of raqqah but muchad ever -- the u.s. press corps ever realized they were. they were in a fountain called fatisa which had just been cleard of isis. what that means is they were right there at the forward line of troops, right there at the forward line of syrian democratic forces who are pushing south and pushing around raqqah to clear it of isis. >> there's also, to go back to the first thing you said, it's been pretty clear that the u.s. has allied closely with the ypg. they have been probably arguably the most effective fighting force against isis. they have dealt isis some of their most significant losses. but the geopolitics of that are extremely, extremely loaded. >> yeah, absolutely. so the ypg is essentially the syrian arm of -- a syrian kurdish group. there is a kurdish group that the turks, that turkey believes -- called the pkk that turkey believes is a terrorist organization and the u.s. considers a terrorist organization as well. turkey sees the ypg as just the syrian arm of the pkk. sorry

this first part of the video shows the strike in raqqah destroying a da'ish weapons carb with guided munitions. strikes.ne of many the second part of the video hows a strike by u.s. f-16's to destroy da'ish defensive planning position. they employed three precision guided munitions to successfully destroy the target. the strike was conducted to disrupt da'ish's defenses as the iraq forces moved to retake rupah. it is strikes like these that are my perspective put more on da'ish, decreases their ability to place i.e.d.'s. the air component, we're actively to keep da'ish on the defense, naval ground forces to maneuver against as little resistance as possible. while there is consistent progress and positive momentum, now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. there's still work to be done. as air coalition, we will do our part to persistently strike each target in the deep fight and we'll continue to integrate coalition airpower with ground forces. regardless of the operation on the ground, we'll use the operational reach and flexibility, the precision, constant presence and resp

and we understand from the activist group in raqqah, a group called raqqah has been slaughtered silentlye city as well as coalition airstrikes. but they're also saying, this group, raqqah is being slaughtered silently, that because this is a kurdish-dominated force and, of course, raqqah is a predominantly sunni arab city, that many of the residents are in a sense caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. they don't particularly like isis, but they're very worried about the repercussions of a kurdish-led offensive in an area that's predominantly arab sunni. and therefore many of the residents of raqqah, despite their problems, their qualms, their objections to many aspects of isis' rule are, in fact, more worried about a kurdish offensive. and therefore isis in a sense may benefit from their support in this case. rosemary. >> and, ben, i want to go back to the big concern of the thousands of civilians who were caught up, not able to get out of falluja because isis won't let them leave. what are you hearing about the situation confronting those people trying to escape? >> reporter:

now, the raqqah offensive, i'm told, potentially limited in scope.y yesterday. there seems to have been a slight ebb in fighting so far today but the big concern is for the people trapped inside. 10,000 families trapped inside fallujah. 80 of them got out in the past four days. three, in fact, dying as they tried to flee. the fear being that as the artillery being used by many of the shia militia helping the iraqi army gets into full effect, with he could see more civilian lives lost and potentially a horrifying scene in that city, and one more complex scene evolving in syria around raqqah. >>. >> your heart goes out to those families. the next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins after a quick break. doesn't it seem like the wireless world today could use a smile? families. the next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins after a quick break. that's why, prices for plans are all in, taxes and fees included. and we've got more 4g lte coverage nationwide than t-mobile or sprint. that's a whote lotta network for not a lot a dough. it's what makes cricket the happiest p

it will be important for us ultimately to take them out of mosul and take them out of raqqah and make sure they don't have the safe havens where they can pretend they're a state in some fashion. >> and the ac-360 special, "we got him:osama bin laden." the president said like sending troops to afghanistan and iraq has current candidates suggesting in his words make the fight against extremism harder. >>> president obama visits flint on wednesday and michigan governor rick snyder will not only be there to greet him, he is asking for a private meeting insisting he wants to work together to fix the crisis and improve the quality of life. >>> and detroit public schools could be closed again. the teachers union urging members to call out sick for a second straight day. the district warned the union it won't meet payroll past june. union leaders calling on state lawmakers to pass a $715 million bailout plan to keep teacher paychecks flowing through the summer. >>> a special administrator appointed by the courts to handle the estate of prince. the singer's family was in court monday trying to

. >>> isis declaring a state of emergency in its de facto capital of raqqah, syria in the belief it's about to come under siege. the pentagon says it's monitoring the situation. isis reportedly began bolstering supplies. this comes after a syrian rebel group said this week it's planning to launch a final operation to liberate raqqah. >>> at least six people are dead following an attack by more than a dozen suicide bombers just outside baghdad. officials say 14 bombers attacked a complex containing homes and government buildings just before dawn. the violence is the latest in the string of attacks since wednesday that's killed more than 100 people. john huddy live from our middle east bureau. >> this has been the most violent week as far as isis attacks in baghdad and the surrounding vicinity and outskirts of baghdad this year. so far this year with more than 100 people killed since wednesday as you mentioned. take a look at some of the aftermath. again all of this started on wednesday with double suicide attacks at a police station in baghdad killing three police officers there. thurs

it's gone so far as that the sources will tell you that they think there's a building in downtown raqqahthat u.s. air strikes can't get to him. the question now is will he get nervous and move around because the issue, of course, is if these guys start moving around, it makes it easier for u.s. air strikes to locate them, pinpoint them and target them. john? >> barbara, if you think back a few years, the entire battle was predicated on the iraqi government getting it is act together. there have been horrific attacks inside baghdad, bombings and all sorts of chaos there. does the u.s. believe the iraqi government is handling this in the right way now? >> you know, what we have learned today that is that the iraqis are still devoting half of all their military forces to the defense of baghdad amidst all of these horrific attacks. look, this is a massive city. you can't really zip it up. nobody is saying that the attacks won't continue. very sad business, john. >> it is tragic. barbara starr live at the pentagon, thanks so much. >>> all right. this just in, in the health lead, an alarming h

it's going to be important for us ultimately to take them out of mosul and out of raqqah and make sureave the safe havens to prevent they're a state in some fashion. >> in the ac-360 special, the president says large scale military operations like acceptsending troops to afghanistan and iraq would make the fight against extremism harder. >>> the president visits flint, michigan. governor rick snyder will greet him and insist he wants a meeting to solve the crisis and improve the quality of life there. the white house is not saying if the president will make time for the governor. >>> detroit public schools could be closed again today. the teachers union urging all of its members to call out sick for a second straight day. the district has warned the union it won't be able to meet payroll past june. union leaders calling on the state lawmakers to pass a $715 million bailout program. >>> a special administrator appointed to handle the estate of prince. the singer's family was in court on monday to determine the fate of the $300 million estate and a vault rumored to contain thousands of u

has also said that the isis capital city of raqqah is preparing for a u.s. coalition invasion and declaring a state of emergency. others have discredited this report. there is a feeling in both raqqah and mosul and other isis-held towns that the coalition is beginning to make a move on some of these towns and cities. and that isis is beginning to lose significant and important territory. but, elizabeth, make no mistake that isis, as we're seeing this week, is still a very, very deadly organization that can target and cause a lot of problems in the middle east. >> absolutely. deadly violence. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >>> a fox news alert now out of the united kingdom. we told you about a soccer stadium, major stadium, that had been evacuated because of a suspicious package. that package was then blown up right before game time of the british premier league. crossing the wires right now, police are saying the device wasn't viable and a full search of that stadium, which as you can see is an enormous stadium, is ongoing. the question is, what does t

forces work to help syrians in their fight to relame areas like raqqah, isis' declared capital.as the only television network to travel overseas with general joe votel. he's the top u.s. commander in the middle east, and he was on a secret mission to syria. cnn's barbara starr joins us now with the exclusive report. barbara, what a trip to be on. >> reporter: it was extraordinary, chris. general votel, of course, four-star general, highest ranking u.s. military officer to enter syria. joe votel, a longtime special operations expert himself. this time he had one more mission and cnn was with him. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: these are the first images ever shown publicly from a u.s. special operations training camp in northern steyr. from here and other nearby secret locations, the u.s. military is racing time to train enough local syrian forces so they can push south towards raqqah, isis' declared capital. cnn was the only television network with general joseph votel on a secret day-long trip to syria. votel oversees the war against isis. >> my principle purpose, meet with some of t

isis may in fact be getting nervous in raqqah.ovements move closer and closer. some of the areas surrounding raqq raqqah, now necessarily under control. all of this for the first time making them very nervous about being able to hold on to the city that they consider their capital. barbara starr, cnn, the pent john. >>> in southeast china, a small crowd gathered to remember those who died in a landslide a week ago. firefighters and police officers were among those paying respects. at least 30 construction workers died in the disaster. and one is still missing. east asia's rainy season is beginning with that comes more of a threat of landslides. our meteorologist derek van dam is here. >> george, during that landslide, there was 20 centimeters of rain or 8 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, and that caused ultimately the ground to fail. slide right over this particular construction site. it was a terrifying moment and a sta terrifying stay for those residents there. you can see the graphics coming from that fateful scene on sund

-backed fighters in syria have launched a major offensive to retake the city of raqqahing from isis. battle is being led primarily by kurdish force with air support from the u.s.-led coalition. stoois has controlled the northern city city for the past 2 1/2 years. egyption authorities are taking steps to begin identifying the remains of those on board egyptair 804. relatives of victims are givingd na samples that will be compared with remains found in the sea. there was some confusion yesterday when one egyptian official said body parts that were recovered suggest the jet was brought down by an explosion. later, that suggestion was dismissed. >>> the justice department is seeking the death penalty against the man accused of killing nine black parishioners in north carolina. dylann roof is awaiting trial in connection with the attack in charleston. this is an unusual move from the justice department. federal executions are extremely rare. still attorney general loretta lynch says in this case it's warranted. >>> the bodies of a missing washington state been found buried not far from t

one around raqqah, yes, about shaping the space around the city than getting into it.onger term, much messier potential project and it shows a sense of cohesion against isis. we may see results potentially in the months ahead but this is a phenomenally complex messy process with so many i can and syrian civilians caught in between. brooke? >> thank you so much. by the way, we'll be talking to pentagon correspondent barbara starr in a similar part of the world. her exclusive reporting next hour. do not miss that. coming up next, though, politics, bernie sanders says things could be messy. his word. at the democratic convention in july. what did he mean by that? all of this as we get word that bernie sanders is sauling for a recount in a recent primary in the south and discuss with carl bernstein. stay here. live in paris. when you airbnb, you have your own home. so, live there. even if it's just for a night. you wouldn't take medicine without checking the side effects. hey honey. huh. the good news is my hypertension is gone. so why would you invest without checking bro

they're doing all sorts of things in raqqah, which shows to us they're increasingly nervous. and they should be nervous. >> these comments came the same day a string of isis attacks killed at least 29 people, 15 near baghdad and another 14 at a coordinated assault at a natural gas plant near baghdad. more than 141 people have been killed during five straight days of attacks around the iraqi capital. >>> federal aviation officials are investigating a deadly stunt plane crash at an atlanta air show saturday that was caught on camera. a warning -- some viewers may find this video disturbing. it shows the plane rising high in the air in what appears to be a loop. the plane descends and seems to lose control, crashing to the ground and killing the pilot. authorities say the weather was clear at the time. still no word yet on what caused that crash. fortunately, no one on the ground was hurt. >>> rescue crews who responded to a florida shark attack on sunday say they have never seen anything like this. a two-foot-long nurse shark clamped down on a woman's arm and would not let go,

according to thes military that they heard that isis declared a state of emergency in their capital raqqah. there's also other signs that they prepared for a larger fight in mosul fearing that the iraqi troops are going to begin pushing in there in significant numbers. today the chief envoy, american chief envoy to the middle east for this fight against isis said that the perverse call fate is in fact shrinking and that the the tide is turning against extremists. arthel, it's important to understand that as isis is losing ground in both iraq and syria, they are still a very capable and effective fighting force, and they are very capable in launching these sort of traditional bombings and attacks that we've seen across the middle east for years now. so they are losing ground. a number of jihadists that are moving in and trying to join the ranks is increasing significantly because of the air strikes and the overall efforts by the united states and the coalition. make no mistake, isis is still a very powerful group and able to launch these attacks. >> very important point to highlight, conor.

. >>> and overseas tonight, there are new reports of a military operation around the city of raqqah, syria, the self-proclaimed capital of the isis state. kurdish forces and allies launching the ground assault today. isis took over the city two years ago. >>> back here now, and the white house warning that mosquitos infected with zika will be here within weeks. tonight, a new report from consumer reports that reveals that not all mosquito sprays are equal. abc's gio benitez with the results tonight. >> reporter: maria lora is 37 weeks pregnant, and tonight, she's one of the millions with fears about zika. she's already staying indoors as much as possible. >> i don't even go to the park. >> reporter: with the warning that mosquitoes carrying zika will be in the u.s. in just weeks, the question -- which repellants last the longest? tonight, consumer reports with answers testing both natural and check bug strays. 5 out of 6 natural brands lasted no more than 90 minutes, including popular brands like burt's bees and all terrain. does that concern you? >> oh, for sure. >> reporter: in a s

they're shutting down access to internet cafes, doing all sorts of things in raqqah which just shows us to that they're increasingly nervous, and they should be vs in. >> these comments came the same day that a string of isis attacks killed at least 29 people. 15 people near baghdad and another 14 at a coordinated assault on a natural gas plant north of baghdad. more than 140 people in total have been killed during five straight days of attacks around the iraqi capital. >>> federal aviation officials are investigating a deadly stunt plane crash at an atlanta area air show saturday that was caught on camera. and we do have a warning for you today because some viewers may find this video disturbing. it shows the plane rising high into the air in what appears to be a loop. the plane descends and seems to lose control, crashing into the ground and killing the pilot. authorities say the weather was clear at the time. there's still no word yet on what caused that crash. fortunately, though, no one on the ground was hurt. >>> rescue crews who responded to a florida shark attack on sunday sa

forces operating north of raqqah.ngaged in combat. >> they are not on the forward heine. they are providing advice assistance. and, again, i'm not going to get into details, but that mission has not changed. their role has not change the. they are not leading this fight. they are supporting those forces that are at the leading edge. >> questions were also raised, because the u.s. forces appear to be wearing the insignia of the main kurdish force in syria. iraqi forces battling isis around fallujah are celebrating their first significant victory. [ shouting and gunfire ] the troops and their militia allies have retaken the town of parma 16 kilometers from fallujah. this map shows how the offensive is unfolding. iraqi forces are pushing toward fallujah from the south, the east and the west. hundreds of family are fleeing and heading to territory controlled by iraqi forces. >>> we want to update you on a boy named youssif. he was doused in gasoline by masked men and set on fire during the iraq war, and he has shown extra

military is racing time to train enough local syrian forces so they can push south toward raqqah, isis to reveals on details how we got here, but he considers this part of the war top priority. he is here to meet with the u.s. military advisers that are helping some of the local troops that you see work to defeat isis. this spokesman is critical. he says his group urgently needs ammunition and weapons beyond what the u.s. delivered. the u.s. is working to possibly provide more. >> translator: we have been given a limited number of old rifles. >> reporter: due to security concerns, we are not allowed to show details of the base, our cameras are restricted. security is so high here the u.s. advisers want their faces shielded, but they do want to talk about the training. you're a military adviser here. what do you do here? >> we are here training the syrian democratic forces, when i say training, generally that's consisting of basic level weapons training, shooting ak-47s and shooting charger machine guns. >> female fighters train alongside the men, even as lookouts patrol surrounding fie

backed forces are fighting 15 to 20 mines north of raqqah, effective isis capital. pentagon says u.s. military advisors are only aiding those forces. however pictures taken by an international news agency, afp, appear to show american troops operating near the front line. the report cites democratic forces field commander claiming u.s. forces were presents at all positions along the front. the pentagon denies the u.s. has a primary combat role. >> before they go somewhere they ensure that wherever they go enemy contact is not likely. or that it's unlikely. since world war i we knew where the front line was. >> several u.s. personnel wearing the insignia of the kurdish people's protection unit. turkey used them as a terrorist organization. following turkish objections the pentagon says wearing those patches is untowards ainsproept. iraq announced a plan to retake fallujah. iraqi forces have not entered fallujah. recent coalition air strikes killed an isis commander and 70 fighters there. >> thanks. we'll follow that. up next, it's arrived in america. a superbug that

in 2014 they released their report "isis in america from retweets to raqqah," shaima hughes is one of authors. >> they run the gamut. they're old, they're young, rich, poor, black, white. there is no typical isis. we looket at a count of them. what we found was twitter was the platform of choice. >> here are some of the images they found on social media. >> they have generational ones where they're posting out quotes from anwar awlaki. the image is an avatar they use online. it's a symbol of bravery. >> i think one of the most interesting things is how brash everything is. >> sara jokes is a researcher. >> this is a foreign fighter from i believe somewhere in europe and he's been with isis. it comes from tumblr. there's a girl who posts even and over again she's in love with this guy. and it's totally bizarre to see this in the frame of a terrorist organization. >> isis has taken it to a whole new level. this is an engaged social media platform that can bring together like-minded individuals in the far-fung corners of the internet and the deep web. >> they're able to reach out to radi

raqqah has been an isis stronghold for much of the war in syria. the terror group controls more than half of syria. >>> now to the intense backlash over the extremely long security lines at our nation's airports. frustrated passengers have waited in tlients have snaked -- lines that have snaked through airports that seem to barely budget. this one friday was especially impressive. there passengers reported wait times of an hour and a half. as we report, now the secretary of homeland security is promising to speed things up. >> reporter: the long lines at airport checkpoints stretch from coast to coast. about as long as the line at midway must have felt. >> we've been in this line since st. louis. >> reporter: many frustrated flyers are using the hash tag #ihatetowait to complain about the problem. >> i've never had to do this before. >> reporter: yesterday in phoenix, it was checked lug the gentleman got waylaid. a glitch in the tsa's automated screening process left thousands of bags sitting in a hot parking lot. the tsa says the checkpoint delays

next to some newspaper reporter, some dude, and he will lecture you loudly about the situation in raqqah, and then in the next breath he will ask you how much of my neck fat is hanging over? does this look bad, does this look bad? it's not a place you want to be. >> the worst thing about it, i was a smoker in 2012. it is so hard to get out of that building. it takes you 45 minutes to go out of the building, and it just tells you how awesome smoking it. it's going to take you 45 minutes to get out there, you're like yeah, it's a cigarette. i think i missed the whole thing when i was there because i was enjoying a marlboro lite. i don't know if there was a message there. kids don't smoke. by the way, that little thing there with john boehner, that was cute. >> the rule of show business, everything can be shorter. the hosts can be shorter, everything can be shorter. >> this thing has a red carpet. for a press dinner. and also it illustrates kind of the pecking order, that is the fun thing, you want to be the butt of a joke, if you're not the butt of a joke you're nobody. >> we got to take a

these two are said to be alive and well and working in a hospital in raqqah. ten months ago, they had a baby girl they named miriam. jaffrey's former neighbors in palo alto say agos a teen he struggled in school and had a tough time fitting in. >> his cousin says before he left for syria, jaffrey grew a beard and began researching conflicts in the muslim world. his father says he has not seen his son in two years, and that's what he told the fbi. marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> to read more about nbc's exclusive investigation into isis recruits, just go to our website. >>> it is a dangerous problem facing east bay drivers and technology could help keep them safe. they will vote on whether to install security cameras along a stretch of highway 4 that has seen several recent shootings. christie smith has the details. there have been 20 shootings just since november. >> reporter: they have stepped up enforcement operations on the freeways, but oftentimes the victims or witnesses just don't want to cooperate with the investigation. but here in pittsburg they

but zakia and jaffrey are said to be alive and well, working at this well-equipped hospital in raqqahthe capital of the so called islamic state. ten months ago they had a baby girl and named her miriam. >> you know what isis does. >> yes. >> the beheadings and brutality. >> very extreme. >> ahmed heard that jaffrey was present at a mass beheading of christians. >> do you think the boy you grew up with, who became this man is capable, was capable of doing that kind of thing? >> yes. if he talked about people that are killing muslims, he will do it in an instant. >> you don't think that somebody, you or others, had a duty to pick up the phone and say this guy is talking about killing americans, they deserve to die? no alarms went off. >> at the time, no. >> if not you, why didn't anyone else in the family pick up this phone? >> i believe they were either scared oar didn't care too much about him. >> reporter: in a written statement, the family said his actions and decisions have been heart breaking, and that we do not support his personal choices. off camera,s jaffrey's mother told us s

supporting arab and kurdish fighters, drive them out of iraq, drive them out of their strong hold in raqqah we are going to intensify cooperation among nations with a direct stake, which i argue is just about every nation now, principally european, arab, middle eastern. we will take them online, and we're going to intensify intelligence and law enforcement cooperation. >> how do you fight the perception that we look weak? trump this morning was out hot and early on twitter when this happened saying looks like another act of terror. more proof that we're weak. we have to be strong. there's a lot of hate and anger out there. he is channeling the perception that a situation like this fuels, which is that we are weak. the russians, chinese can scare our military, and america does nothing. how do you answer that. >> first of all he says a lot of things, he says a lot of things that are provocative that actually make the important task of building this coalition, bringing everybody to the table and defeating terrorism more difficult. >> why? >> for example, when he says bar all muslims from comin

and iraqi government forces ready to take mosul and on the syrian side, get the peshmerga to retake raqqahorder. >> i know you've been saying that, but i know uniform troops say that. i meant when do we call them boots on the ground, when does the obama administration acknowledge that we have boots on the ground. barbara starr. >>> jeffrey, play a clip here, u.s. strategy to defeat isis, sure to be a top general election issue, right? i want to play a clip of donald trump and hillary clinton reacting to donald trump. play the tape. >> there's isis, i have a simple message for them -- their days are numbered. i won't tell them where and i won't tell them how. >> his idea that he, quote, has a secret plan to get rid of isis, that he's not going to tell anybody, i found it disturbing. >> now, without referencing richard nixon's secret plan to end the vietnam war -- >> that's very good. >> you know the historical illusion. >> let me scratch that off. >> doesn't he need to be more specific? >> to some degree, i'm sure he will be, as time moves on. look, you are about communicating a message her

how do you deal with raqqah from which they're plotting westward? so it creating right challenges for u.s. policy make makerspoli. whether kinetics or things like the tools we use to deal with terrorist financing. >> and i want to pick up on would be point that you raised. and you and i have had many discussions about looking at countering violent islamic extremism and looking not just to parra friz bill clinton, it's the economy, stupid, but it is the ideology stupid. what more can we, should we, i think is this the the missing dimension of our state craft because we need to use military instruments, yes. we need to see territory. we need it use all sorts of instruments, but we've never fully used this instrument. what could that look like? >> we often thing of these issues as separate, and the reality is they're highly dependent on each other. from the ideological perspective, part of the annual lure of isis is the fact that they hold territory.annuallure that they hold territory. voos majori varies majority of their videos is demonstrating that t

but zakia and jaffrey are said to be alive and well, working at this well-equipped hospital in raqqah, the capital of the so-called islamic state. ten months ago, they had this baby girl and named her miriam. >> you know what isis does. >> yeah. >> the beheadings and brutality. >> yeah, extreme. >> he heard jaffrey was present at a mass beheading of christians. do you think the boy you grew up with who became this man, is capable, was capable of doing that kind of thing? >> yes. if he talked about people who are killing muslims, he'll do it in an instant. >> you don't think someone had a duty, you or others, had a duty to pick up the phone and tell someone this guy is talking about killing people, killing americans, that they deserve to die? no alarms went off? >> at the time, no. >> why didn't anyone else in the family pick up the phone? >> i personally believe they were scared or didn't care too much about him. >> in a written state, the family said jaffrey's actions and decisions have been heartbreaking and that we do not support his personal choices. off camera, jaffrey's mother t

they have to isolate it from raqqah. right now there's a supply line from syria to iraq.ds have been very effective of cutting most of that but they have to encycle before they make a move on it. they're battling a tough road with that. they have had over a year and a half to defend that city. they have got all of the kill zones laid out and everything so it's very, very difficult and what we are seeing are kurds and isis battling for the control of the suburbs of mosul. it is very, very important. i think we're seeing the initial movement toward the battle of mosul but i don't think it's going to happen this year, wolf. >> yeah. a lot of people agree with you, colonel. thank you very much. rick francona, cnn military analyst joining us. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for the international viewers, amanpour is next. for our north america viewers, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. >>> mr. blitzer, thank you very much. great to be with you on this tuesday. i'm brooke baldwin. you're wat

the offensives we're seeing around mosul and raqqah, that's part of the territorial fight. what my organization is very focused on is what's they're doing online. their recruitment and propaganda. this is how they're able to inspire people all over the world. the third front there's the law enforcement intelligence side at home inspired individuals that may or may not have direct ties to isis but are fighting or planning attacks on the homefront either domestically or abroad. that is one part of the equation. >> that makes sense. we see the threats online and hear about the intelligence here at home and we saw what happened in san bernardino. and so it is isn't just a situation where it's happening over there. this is what i want to ask you, too. are we seeing a situation where it's command and control where isis is telling people in the united states or else where, france, and belgium are these people affiliated in some way and feel motivated? >> we've seen a mix. some individuals that we've seen have been in contact with members of isis. some individuals on radar screens

but zachia and geoffrey are said to be alive and well, working at this well equipped hospital in raqqah, the capital of the so-called islamic state. about ten months ago, they had this baby girl and named her miriam. >> you know what isis does? >> yeah. >> the beheadings, the brutality. >> yeah, very extreme. >> ahmed heard that geoffrey was present at a mass beheading of christians. do you think the boy you grew up with, who became this man is capable, was capable of doing that kind of thing? >> yes. because if you talked about people that are killing muslims, he would do it in an instant. >> you don't think somebody, you or others, had a duty to pick up the phone and say, this guy is talking about killing people, killing americans, that they deserve to die? >> yes. >> no alarms went off? >> at the time, no. >> if not you, why didn't anyone else in the family pick up the phone? >> i personally believe they were scared or they just didn't care too much about him. >> in a written statement, the family said geoffrey's actions and decisions have been heartbreaking and we do not support thi

training and supporting the arab are and kurdish fighters to drive them out of their stronghold in raqqahon among the nations which have a direct stake which i argue is just about every nation right now, but principally the european and middle eastern and take them online and intensify our intelligence and law enforcement cooperation. >> okay. so they are very different responses, mark. >> very different responses, and at the core they believe it is terrorism, but it is the timing. and what it does, is that it is not so egregious that donald trump did it today, but it gives the enemies an opportunity to come out to question his judgment, and hillary clinton did that today. >> are and yes, you said that the timing is the timing of this is important. >> no fe kw, he came out immediately before we had any idea what is going on, but again, it allowing the detractors to use it against him. >> and bob beckle, the back and forth did not end there, and let's listen to more of the interview of hillary clinton with chris cuomo. >> when you run for president of the united states, the entire world is

supporting arab and kurdish fighters, drive them out of iraq, drive them out of their strong hold in raqqahescription and little specifics. >> i would say knock the hell out of isis. >> reporter: may run up against what critics call his isolationist world view as he continues to blast the obama administration decision to send some u.s. forces into syria. >> i would have stayed out of syria and i wouldn't have fought so much for assad, against assad because that was a whole thing. >> reporter: that puts him to the left of many in his party. >> sarah murray joins us. has the clinton campaign responded to trump's latest claims? >> reporter: they're hitting back. not only call his foreign policy unhinged, hillary clinton took to twitter to talk guns saying you're wrong, donald trump. we can uphold second amendment rights while preventing senseless gun violence. john, in election year, it is unlikely to see hillary clinton and donald trump finding harmony on this issue. >> probably. thank you so much. joining us, democratic strategist paul begala, advises a hillary clinton super pack, was advise

and kurdish fighters, we're going to drive them out of iraq, drive them out of their stronghold in raqqah >> reaction first from you, michael. >> well, the irony, you know, of trump's stance on this is that he's vowing to destroy isis and rebuild the military, but at the same time, he's preaching a kind of neo isolationism. doesn't quite square. hillary will probably end up running somewhat to the right of him in terms of u.s. intervention around the world. she has vulnerabilities in her record. it may well be that when -- if she continues to advocate strong action against isis, stronger, frankly, than her former boss, barack obama, has deployed, then she might be okay. it might be a wash in terms of the rhetoric of trump versus the policies that she's advocating. but it is a vulnerability because she spent four years as secretary of state, obama administration was involved in the intervention in libya, which trump never tires of saying contributed to the rise of isis and, of course, you know, if this terrible incident is linked to isis that will be a weakness on her part. >> i think this

military is racing time to train enough local syrian forces so they can push south towards raqqah, isishern syria under extraordinary security conditions. in fact, we have been asked not to reveal a number of details on how we all got here. but votel considers this part of the war a top priority. this sdf spokesman is critical. he says his group urgently needs more ammunition and weapons, beyond the few supplies he says the u.s. has delivered. u.s. officials say they are warning to possibly provide more. >> translator: we've been given a limited number of old rifles. >> reporter: due to security concerns, we are not allowed to show details of the base. our cameras are restricted. security is so high here, the u.s. advisers want their faces shielded, but they do want to talk about the training. you're a military adviser here. what do you guys do here? >> we are here training the syrian democratic forces. now when i say training, generally that's consisting of basic level weapons training, shooting ak-47s and shooting larger machine guns. >> reporter: so will all of this work? general vot