this is a moment where you find no many shiite militias involved in fighting -- so many shiite militias involved in fighting a sunni military force. kathy: describe to me whose command they are under and where they are getting their intelligence and instructions from. robin: they are in the city that was the birthplace of saddam hussein. it involves about one third of the forces. two thirds are shiite militias aligned with the government in baghdad who do not always cooperate with their sunni counterparts. then you have sunni tribal leaders. all of them are largely under the command or strategic advice of iranian generals from the revolutionary guards in iran. kathy: and america is nowhere to be seen. robin: that is what makes it so interesting. the united states has been a major player from the air, but has been unwilling, like most of its allies, to engage on the ground. the iranians have come in and done the most. kathy: you said that tikrit is like ground zero between the terrorists and washington. robin: the united states -- between iran and washington. robin: the united states has

a victory over isis by iran's shiite militias would be a victory for iran. victory for the united states and as you say, u.s. officials are monitoring very closely what those shiite militias are doing. when isis took over tikrit, they massacred about 1,700 recruits all heights from camp spiker. there's real concerns they will try to avenge that massacre and concerns already that they are burning houses and killing sunni civilians who they have sympathized with isis. there's real u.s. concerns on both fronts and what this means both for iran and for u.s. interests in iraq. >>> jurors in the boston bombing trial are getting a break from emotional testimony. chinese businessman testified about being carjacked by the tsarnaev brothers calling it the most terrifying moemgt inging moment of his life. pete williams has the account of his harrowing ordeal. >> reporter: that's him on this surveillance video running to a nearby mobile station. leaps out of car to tell his brother what happened. he dumps what he meant to buy and the two leave. he crawls down low in the

that. >> just to give you a sense of the magnitude brett, the reports are there are 20 to 25,000 shiite militiaroups which are advancing on tikrit. >> about 3,000 iraqi soldersiersoldiers. >> so it's really a shiite force. >> you have to look back ten years ago, one of the principal criticisms is we handed the iraq over to iranians -- >> by removing saddam. >> by removing saddam we would increase iranian influence. that's not true. there are many reasons why iraqis including the sheiites don't want to be dominated by iran. but when we withdrew completely and when they discovered it was either iranian help or increasing inroads from isis they turned to the iranians in a big way. so it's our withdrawal from iraq that has in fact handed over so much of iraq. >> but the president said, president obama said we'll put together a coalition and that coalition of neighboring states and that would have been in particular a coalition of ground forces from sunni neighboring states, like the gulf states, turkey in particular which has a very potent military. and egypt and jordan. we haven't seen anything li

long-term stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the islamic state; rather, it is shiite militiasany backed by -- and some guided by -- iran," petraeus said. he went on to say -- "longer term, iranian-backed shia militia could emerge as the preeminent power in the country, one that is outside the control of the government and instead answerable to tehran." your response to this? >> i think that is a correct valuation, unfortunately, of where iraq is headed. so even though in iraq right now we're a new government with a reformist prime minister and his allies are also definitely keen to rein in these militias, to undo some of the very abusive legislation and practices the former prime minister put in place, unfortunately, the power on the ground that is the strong is trying a is the militias and they're not answerable to the government. there is no account ability -- accountability that we document on the part of militias. this is going back even before mosul fell. once mosul fell, that relationship flipped in the militias became the leading force on the ground and secured to force

the iraqi military's reliance on shiite militias to take tikrit has complicated the prospects of political reconciliation, experts say. human rights watch said in a march 4 report it has documented numerous atrocities against sunni civilians by the shiite militias. they see it as a persian invasion of the soupy heartland says a former case officer with long middle east experience who travels frequently to iraq. and then my friends, i would be interested in my friend from south carolina's reaction to this. after meeting with demps -- the body, dempsey told reporters he was given firm assurances that the shiite government is committed to reconciling. asked whether they were credible defensive said they seemed credible today. dempsey noted during his helicopter flight over baghdad he saw worrisome signs of iranian influence. he spotted a plethora of flags at check points and elsewhere in the capital. only one of which happened to be the iraqi flag, he said, alluding to the banners of iranian-backed shiite militias. can we get real, i ask my friend from south carolina, as to what is taking pla

what has happen the shiite militia backed by the iranians tried to move twice in tikrit.e isis and jihaddists are hundreds and thousands or more. it is a military failure backed by iran. and now they need an argument and demand united states destroy isis and then they will move in f and take over. but the mostly shiite army can't occupy the sunni area. we should have sunni forces engaged with isis. >> egyptian state tv said the task of wrapping military force would be military intervention to deal with security threats with arab nations. what about al-qaeda and the terrorist that are out there upon wanting to harm the united states and using these countries as their basis are we less safe now. >> we have united arab force. it may be requested or used in libia. and of course, jordan would like to have it, but syria and iraq is much more complicated. we'll wait a few weeks. >> and what our role will be. the administration said we are sending advisors and folks advising saudi arabia. we'll talk lottery numbers as well. it seems like a pretty good week you are doing in a chao

and fears the iranian-backed shiite militias could go on the rampage against its sunni population.sis may lose tikrit, iran intends to win the bigger battle for iraq. and that would be no gain at all for the u.s. bill neely nbc news erbil, iraq. >>> there's a lot more to tell you about here tonight including a booster shot that may have helped this cancer patient live to see her grandchildren. it's fascinating. >>> also news about that baby who survived a terrible car crash and waters of a frigid river. we'll be back. >>> a promising development to report tonight in battling one of the hardest forms of cancer to treat. nearly 23,000 americans are diagnosed with brain cancer each year. now researchers have found that a simple tetanus shot might boost the chances of some patients living years longer than they expected. nbc's stephanie gosk explains. >> reporter: every day sandy walks and walks. nine years ago, a doctor told her she had just two to three months to live. how many miles you walk every day? >> nothing, just two to four. >> reporter: nothing just two to four. that's a lot

shiite militias are on the frontline. the capabilities of the professional iraqi military still leave an enormous amount to be desired. .. the same fate. america's loyalty and support. >> interesting. another neighbor, turkey. take us through turkey's performance, strategy, objectives throughout this whole prices, the multiple constituencies and how you view the turkish role. >> turkey is proven to be a false friend of the united states. it has betrayed the interest of other strategic partnerships. >> also? >> establish the church's -- the strategic partnership and 2,011. the pipeline is built on the eastern mediterranean. oil would be exported and spoiled. in 2013 $50 billion worth of turkish good sold. there was an additional $30 billion worth of construction. there was a lot of economic cooperation. what happened in 2012 was a shift in the country's approach. felt deeply offended. he turned against the sun with him he had whom he had worked to establish friendly relations. he felt that the us would lead an effort to su

. >> the folks we're supporting -- >> are the shiite militia still in the fight? >> no, sir, they are not part of the clearing operations in tikrit. >> so the airstrikes we are carrying on our only in support of iraqi military activities? >> that is correct, sir. precondition for us to provide support was the iraqi government had to be in charge of this operation. they had -- we had to know exactly who was on the ground. amy: german authorities are searching for evidence to explain why the copilot of a germanwings airplane deliberately crashed in the french alps, killing himself and all 149 others on board. recovered audio shows the 27-year-old copilot, andreas lubitz, breathing in the cockpit alone while the plane's captain is locked out, pounding on the door to get in. earlier today, the german newspaper bild reported lubitz had suffered a "serious depressive episode" six years ago. in a rare bipartisan move, house lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed a bill to overhaul medicare's payment system. the measure would increase payments to doctors, passing higher cos

. >> the shiite militia and sunni tribes have come together to fight islamic state versus. >> but they have not been able to make a major advance since the campaign began sunday. >> it's the iraqi forces' biggest offense of so far against i.s. these pictures are sent to shown in advance by enforcement up of iraqi army troops, shiite militias and sunni tribal fighters. the government and air force say they have recaptured some territory from i.s. and destroyed several jihadist positions, but there has been no independent confirmation of the claims. >> they were able to pound the hideouts of islamic state militants with rockets and artillery. our attacking force was backed by jet fighters. god willing, we will defeat i.s. militants from this district and other areas and we will continue chasing them. >> but that could take a long time because fighters are mounting a determined resistance. using guerrilla tactics such as snipers, roadside bombs and suicide attacks, they have managed to halt the offensive according to the iraqi military. ikrit has been in the hands of i.s. since last summe

reports are that it was intentionally destroyed by shiite-backed militias.shows soldiers celebrating, directly addressing and taunting saddam. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> firing into the rubble, revenge, revenge, revenge. saddam hussein's actual body is not there anymore. his actual body was reportedly moved out of that mausoleum last year to an unknown location. i wonder what would have happened to it now had they left it there. the forces spearheading in tikrit comprise about 20,000 shiite militia men and members of muqtada's brigade. it's awkward for the united states, the muqtada side, the shiite militia side, that side is the one that we are technically also on the side of in the fight against isis. and they do not necessarily see this as a fight to defeat isis like we do, but rather a centuries-long sectarian war in which this is just the latest battle. this video today from the tomb of saddam in tikrit. yet another reminder of that. if you can clear a table without lifting a finger... you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powe

and fears the iranian-backed shiite militias could go on th rampage against its sunni population. isis may lose tikrit, iran intends to win the bigger batt for iraq. and that would be no gain at a for the u.s. bill neely, nbc news, irbil, iraq. >>> there's a lot more to tell you about here tonight includi the story of a simple booster shot one that many of us have had that may have helped this cancer patient live to see her grandchildren. it's fascinating. >>> also news abou who survived a terrible car crash and waters of a frigid river. we'll be back. crash and waters of a frigid river. we doug. you've been staring at that for awhile, huh? listen, td ameritrade has former floor traders to help walk you through that complex trade. so you'll be confident enough to do what you want. i'll pull up their number. blammo. let's get those guys on the horn. oooo looks like it is time to upgrade your phone, douglass. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. fact. when you take advil you get relief right at the site of pain. wherever it is. advil stops pain right where i

the shiite militia said that they will stand down. it is far from clear who inside any of this is achieving some kind of unity between arab sunni and shiite or between arab and kurds. so this is an area where the islamic state is a problem. the el nusra front is a problem the assad regime is a problem and you have this constant battle between factions in iraq. >> rose: anthony cordesman, thank you very much for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> rose: anthony cordesman c.i.s. in warrant washington. >> hunt: barney frank achieved a first dream in his 20s starting as top aid to boston mayor kevin white, serving in the massachusetts general court and 32 years in congress culminating as chairman of the financial services committee during the financial crisis. during that time he proudly paraded as a progressive a liberal champion of affective government but hid the fact that he was gay. he has written a memoir aptly entitled "frank" by barney frank in which he tells about these experiences. barney it's great to have you here. >> thank you. >>

but without these shiite militias backed by iran in tikirit the united states does not a strong reliablen the ground partner capable of moving in and really liberating it from islamic state. >> srennivasan: matt bradley of "the wall street journal," thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: quick check, are you watching this program on a tv, are you watching it at its regularly scheduled time? if you're of a "certain age" you might be watching this next story on a phone or a tablet, time-shifting it through a dvr to watch it when you want, you might not even own a television or have a connection to a cable or satellite service. in fact, cutting the cord is an attractive alternative to paying a monthly cable bill for a growing number of people. it's a way to save up to $60 or $80 a month. but what happens to the definition of television as our viewing patterns change? that's the topic of our signature segment tonight, special correspondent jeff greenfield reports. >> reporter: this was the american cityscape when television was new: forests of rooftop antennas, capturing signals over

shiite militias and iraqi troops closed in today on islamic state militants in saddam hussein's hometownranslated ): our security troops have started advancing towards the centre of tikrit. we started clearing the neighborhoods close to the city center. >> ifill: just 80 miles north of baghdad, tikrit lies on the main road to iraq's second-largest city, mosul, still held by isis, or isil. in their largest offensive yet, iraqi forces have been advancing on tikrit and surrounding villages for more than a week. american air power has played no role because the shiite militias dominate the attacking force, and they're backed by iran. >> they're going to run isil out of tikrit. >> ifill: u.s. military leaders welcome the advance, but they also warn of possible shiite reprisals against sunnis. general martin dempsey chairs the joint chiefs. >> the question is what comes after in terms of their willingness to let sunni families move back into their neighborhoods, whether they work to restore the basic services that are going to be necessary or whether it results in atrocities and retribution. >

will they carry out human rights atrocities like shiite militias did in other sunni towns?offensive in tikrit is something of a test case for other major offensives in iraq particularly what could even be a more challenging one against the city of mosul. richard engel, nbc news, istanbul istanbul. >>> another week another looming homeland security deadline. that temporary funding that congress approved last week to avert a shutdown is about to run out. so today the senate will hold a procedural vote on substantive talks with house lawmakers, but senate democrats are wary because house republicans vow no deal without taking president obama's immigration order off the table. >>> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is in washington, d.c. this morning. he addressed the american israel public affairs committee, where he urged the world not to allow iran to get nuclear weapons. prime minister netanyahu speaks to congress tomorrow at the invitation of the gop. he's expected to criticize a looming nuclear deal between the west and iran. >>> a robbery call turned into a deadly

officials believe those fighters, iraqi forces shiite militia fighters will retake tikrit in the coming days and this jenna, is a test of those fighters, once they take tikrit and effort as i said to move northward to mosul which probably will be as many people are saying, jenna, really the main event in all this fighting. back to you. jenna: john huddy live in jerusalem, thank you. >> police searching for a mystery woman who may have been hitchhiking on the side of the road after car trouble. >>> republican senators warning iran that any deal limiting its nuclear program can be easily you know done without congressional approval but the letter has democrats in congress and the white house steaming. >>> america is asking do you think the email controversy will affect america or hillary clinton's chances of winning the democratic nomination for president? check it out. ♪ grind virtually any kind of food waste into an unending source of electrical power for a city? when emerson takes up the challenge it's never been done before simply becomes consider it solved. emerson. jenna: a group of

the remaining 83%, approximately 20,000 men are members of shiite militias backed by iran.t ice ice, iran's already strong influence in iraq increased and iran's influence is now out in the open. last week the head of iran's notorious quds force general suleimani was seen walking in tikrit. it's one of a handful appearances in recent weeks on the front lines. joining me is zanaib salbi, thank you for joining me. i just want to get your initial reaction to the notion that iran is operating so plainly in the battle for tikrit and whether you have concern about the power of these shiite militias. >> alex it's good to be here. when i talk to iraqis friends and families all over iraq they are not seeing it as a big threat as it's been described in america. iraq feels there is a threat from isis shia population generally are really worryied for their lives. isis has killed a lot of shia. from a shia population the majority of iraqis they see eye iranian help or assistance as real politics we need all the help we can take to get rid of isis. it is not seen as iranian intervention

and these mostly shiite militias that the iraqi military is fighting with. so these shiite groups are coming into this sunni area and they are having some success fighting against the sunni terrorist groups isis. if that is making the people on the ground this these towns sing, shiites and sunnis are brothers, if that is making the sunni towns people liberated from the terrible sunni terrorists, if it's making them give coffee to the shiite soldiers who rescued them, to thank them, that progress across the sectarian divide in a place where that sectarian divide can be everything in the whole world, that progress is both fascinating to see, and heartening. amazing as that footage is today, and it got wide play today, here's the thing. here's the thing that is tricky specifically for americans who are, you know, understandably psyched about seeing isis get their butts kicked in this one part of iraq, what's tricky about that even though it is heartening, is that, yeah, it's the iraqi military kicking isis' butt in this part of iraq, but honestly, the only reaso

working with allied shiite militia backed by iran have tried to take a major city back from isis.s a big city saddam hussein's hometown. nearby the town of el dour is where saddam hussein was hiding shortly after the u.s. military invasion and according to iraqi officials, the security forces have retake enthat village, including that farm house where saddam hussein was hiding in what came to be known famously as the spider hole. this is potentially a positive development for iraq. the iraqi government is excited about publicizing the advance on tikrit but there are enormous challenges. as i said earlier, several different groups are working within iraq that are part of the offensive. you have the iraqi military which is backed by the united states, you have shiite militias who are loyal to shiite leaders and loyal to iran working side by side in this offensive, and you have a couple thousand sunni tribesmen who are allied with the other two groups simply because they want to see isis destroyed and kicked out of their area. will this be a success? what will happen to tikrit? will

we say iraqi security forces and shiite militias that are iranian shiite militias and we hear backed militias are taking iraqi cities under control. is that good news? >> that is extra teggic defeat it. like the soviets take cities from the germany? we know for a fact that the iraqi army is moving and guided by the head of the force. and supplied and back by militias all controlled by the iranian. every inch of land liberated from isis is occupied by iran. >> you have a terrorist group fighting the number one state sponsor of terror. and that is like two terrorist organizations fighting each other. and what about the sunnies. who can we trust in the middle east? and we know we have trusted certain groups before for example, the u.s. military worked closely in the awaken with certain sewny groups that did not want to live under al-qaeda and they didn't want to live under the baghdad that was backed by the iranians. they are trusted agents and we worked with them before. what about them in all of this? >> we trust we rebandon. and retrust and abandon and that is the story of the foreign

martha: you mentioned there is a iranian shiite militia force fighting beside them. we have a coalition put together to peel back isis but does that complicate factors that iran is involved in this? >> reporter: iran has been involved in this from the start. they have had shiia militias backed by iran fighting isis long before the u.s. international coalition began. it was a question officials had to answer, whether they were willing to coordinate with iran in fighting isis. the administration and the european leaders said they don't have a choice. in order to defeat isis they will have to be on the same side as iran and bashar al-assad in syria. a complicated trend in this crisis. bill: the islamic state has released at least 19 christians. they were among the christians abducted in cyril yeah last week. no word on why they were released. still a lot of concern over the fate of the hundreds still being held captive by isis. martha: new surveillance video possibly capturing three teenaged girls traveling to join up with the terror group. plus this. bill: shots ring o

the single biggest threat to an iraq that holds together are the shiite militia. >> okay. colonel jack thank you very much, as always sir. >>> louisiana police say a man who was shot several times by authorities during attack at new orleans international airport is being treated for his wounds this morning. officials say it all started when the man approached a security check point. nbc stephanie gosk is in new york with all the details. good morning stephanie. >> reporter: hey there. the airport is back up and running. but that was not the scene last night. it was just a normal friday. people getting ready for their weekend when they heard the gunfire. one of the witnesses described it as bam, bam, bam. and then complete chaos. people running for cover. they say they saw richard white with a machete in his hand over his head swinging at the tsa officers. a female tsa officer confronted him and shot him. that tsa officer is injured and in the hospital this morning as is white. this was a terrifying scene. it really could have been a lot worse. terrifying moments overnight

we're hearing from a shiite militia that they just took the hospital there known as saddam hospital.the city center and the presidential palace. but despite having a force of roughly 30,000 including the iraqi army, shiite militias and sunni fighters, it has been slow go. isis is very good at these ieds, improvised explosive devices. they've had suicide bombers. it has been a slow push. but the iraqi government says that they will be able to take the city within the few days, christine. >> tell me how does this all play into retaking mosul? that's another huge priority for the iraqis. >> reporter: this is a huge test for the iraqi army. they were demoralized after last summer when isis swept most of -- or large parts of iraq. they've had new training from u.s. advisers. they also have new equipment. so we'll see how effective they are in helping take this city. although shiite militias with iranian advisers are spearheading the main fight, but this is just down the road from mosul. it's a city -- tikrit is -- or mosul is about ten times the size of tick creedkrittikrit, so it really

but the shiite militias are commanded by iran a. the general who heads up the revolutionary guard in iran is personally in iraq working with the iraqi military to coordinate this giant ground offensive that just started in tikrit. so that's the war against isis right now. there's this huge controversy in washington tonight over the israeli prime minister addressing congress tomorrow. basically he is here to try to undermine president obama's policy and strategy toward iran. prime minister netanyahu is doing that trying to undermine president obama on u.s. soil at the u.s. capitol because he's here at the invitation of congressional republicans. so if that was not fraught enough, the fight against isis the physical flesh and blood bullets flying fight waged tonight is being fought to a significant extent by iran. iran, who is supposedly our great enemy, but who in this case is if not an ally at least they are a friend of a friend. and there are other things going on right now with isis in the fight against them. supporters of the gro

a country continued over the weekend as the backers of the present came face-to-face with the shiite militia. sonam: thousands of supporters for the shiite rebels, the booties. -- hooties. >> we are here together to reject the presence of this militia, who are surrounding this can't and will not leave and get out of this region. sonam: this neighborhood is already peppered with the iranian backed group but not without a fight. >> it is our supporters who were initially attacked. they were clashes and many were left wounded. sonam: if they hold onto the fight, it could affect the president. defined he remains. -- defiant, he remains. >> i urge all houthi to withdraw from government institutions. lastly, i urge them to return all light, medium, and heavy weapons which were looted densities from the military. sonam: with security risks they were ordered to evacuate yemen on saturday. it could play a part in pushing the country into a civil war. genie: the un security council did meet this sunday where they did confirm their backing of the hard-line president. let's bring in armen georgian. how

the shiite militias in iraq and rebels in yemen. iran may be helping to fight isis, but in this case, quote, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy. turning to the u.s.-iran nuclear negotiations he said he would be dealing classified details -- he would not talk about the details of the negotiations, but talk about what is out there. he added quote, you can google it. >> thank you america. thank you. >> he continues to thank the applause there wrapping up his speech. i'm pretty sure he is done. yes, he is. netanyahu says it doesn't block iran's path to the nuclear bomb, it paves the path. no deal is better han this deal. iran already plays a game of, quote, hide and cheat with inspectors. he brought up the holocaust and mentioned the survivor in the chamber. he said never again. and he promised israel would stand alone if it has to in this case. we've heard from the israeli leader and we will hear from the panel about what he said and how he said it and if it will achieve its stated goal. a special look back at the netanyahu address

the big concern in front of the senate foreign relations committee is what those shiite militias and iran will do next in the sunni dominated region. >> the militias, they call themselves the popular mobilization forces. when they recapture lost territory or engage in acts of rest or be shouldn't -- acts of retribution, there's no question that is a widespread event at this point but we are watching closely. >> sectarian violence or a return to that would be a big concern for the u.s.. he did say the iranian support was a positive thing from a military standpoint, but they are watching it very closely. >> what does the obama administration think of the developments into crete? >> again, they think it is a positive move at this point, but they still have a ways to go on other fronts, including the u.s. role in iraq going forward. getting new op -- getting new authorization for the use of force in iraq and syria -- that was a big focus of the hearing today. he faces skeptical democrats who think the authorization is too broad, especially when it comes to the use of u.s. forces. republic

fighting alongside the iraqi troops are shiite militias backed by iran. the u.s. is not involved.ly williams reports on the fight from inside iraq. >> reporter: as iraqi forces try to encircle tikrit, they're being rapelled in the city's outskirts by isis suicide bombers and roadside mines. the iraqi troops are not a disciplined military but instead a patched together ragtag army made up of government soldiers, local tribesmen and shiite muslim militias. >> tikrit is important -- >> reporter: retired colonel harry schute took part in the u.s. invasion of iraq and told us tikrit lies on a key supply route that the iraqi government must retake in order to defeat isis. and then perhaps taking mosul iraq's second biggest city. >> exactly. >> reporter: isis seized tikrit in june, massacring more than 1,000 government soldiers, mostly shiite muslims. but tikrit is a mainly sunni muslim city and many residents support isis. now, on the front lines around tikrit, iraqi forces are fighting alongside troops from iran, the region's shiite power. why do the iranians want to get involved in th

we should certainly not funnel our military aid through them so it can help support shiite militias.we need to help sunnies in particular on our own if necessary, even if the government in baghdad is not in support of that. but, so i think we should, certainly should not, it is a complicated answer. we should not wrap ourselves around this totem pole of iraqi sovereignty and refuse to do anything that undermines, quote unquote, iraqi sovereignty which is not real at the moment. at the same time we should not realize that there is some magic partition solution that would make all the problems go away. >> yes, ma'am. >> i'm penny star, cbs news. give iran and all the domination in this chaos what kind of impact with the deal with iran which the obama administration is trying to broker very moment, today is the deadline, what impact will that have if they come to a deal on this whole scenario you've spoken about? thank you. >> what if there is a deal tonight, audrey? >> i think this is where that multilevel game comes into play. i think a deal at that global level is better than the alt

as we have seen inside iraq, tikrit did not produce this quick, sudden victory by the shiite militias and the shiite portions of the iraqi army. it is far from clear who inside any of this is achieving some kind of unity between arab sunni and shiite or between arab and kurds. this is an area where the islamic state is a problem, the eldest front is a problem, assad regime is a problem, and you have a constant battle between factions in iraq. charlie: we thank you very much for joining us. tony: a pleasure. charlie: anthony cordesman. as a follow-up, a footnote on "60 minutes" on sunday. my conversation in damascus with bashar al-assad. 90% of the civilian casualties 90% come from the syrian army. president assad: how did you get that result? charlie: that was a report issued in the last six months. president assad: war is not about capturing land and gaining land. it is about winning the hearts and minds of the serious. we cannot win the hearts and the minds of the syrians what we are killing syrians. we cannot sustain four years of that. it is impossible. this is not realistic. this

shiite militias see things differently. they have been fighting alongside since the beginning of the campaign. behind the conflicting alliances is iran. they get weapons and training from the islamic republic and the u.s. sees that relationship as suspect. a rocky forces have less support on the ground now. militia men played a huge role in the battle for tikrit making up two thirds of the fighting forces. it's becoming more and more clear that the government has to choose only one ally. anchor: this comes after three months of palestinian statehood. anchor: it has pushed the palestinian economy close to collapse. and israel meets to be held accountable. it has destroyed the headquarters of the boko haram rom terrorist group in the northeast of that country as the country votes for a new parliament and president. anchor: the military presented these photos of the aftermath of the operation. it says it has retaking control of the whole town. anchor: it comes on the eve of those highly anticipated elections in nigeria. let's

is fighting in support of the iran-backed shiite militias in iraq. but now fighting against iran, the iran-backed hutsi rebels. this is days away from a deadline on critical talks. former c.i.a. analyst, senior fellow for center for security policy is joining us. let me break this down and we'll start first with iraq. i spoke with a form u.s. commander in the region who said look a key to fighting isis is that kurdish peshmerga. so is president obama making a serious mistake aligning with iran to fight isis in iraq? >> it's great to be here. i think that's exactly right. the rise of isis is because of the abuses of the shiite government under president maliki and his use of iranian trained shiite militias. the more iran is involved in iraq, the more we drive sunnies to isis. so first we have to say get iran out of iraq and as you said, we should be training the kurdish peshmerga forces and right now they're grossly underarmed. unless we do those two things, i don't think there is going to be stability in iraq. >> let me turn to yemen now. iran has ar

that is to say they have left the shiite militias without air cover. only operating in support of regular iraqi units. that's actually a smart move. not by the administration but by the u.s. military to say we are not going to give our air power and our air support to the shiite militias if they get attacked by the isis they are on their own. they are going to help the iraqi units, i thought that's a pretty smart move again not by the white house i suspect but by the military saying we don't want to be seen in any way, shape, or form as helping the allies of the iranians, namely the shia militias. >> are you suggesting things aren't getting a whole lot worse in that region. >> no, they are dreadful. no, they are dreadful. no don't get me wrong. we are very bad shape there. president obama has no strategy, can he not think ahead. national security council and the entire government security apparatus has utterly failed to comprehend what the situation is and develop a strategy to respond to it focused on one thing. he wants that nobel peace prize by gett

as iraqi forces draw closer to the city, they're helped not by the u.s., but by iraqi shiite militiasiranian backing. some of the militia have been previously accused of atrocities against sunnis on land re- captured from islamic state all this has renewed hard questions about iran's influence in iraq and it's put the u.s. on the spot, as the leader of the coalition against the islamic state. joint chiefs chair general martin dempsey spoke tuesday: >> iran and its proxies have >> this is the most overt conduct of iranian support in the form of artillery and other things. frankly, it will only be a problem if it results in sectarianism. of the size of the force going if they perform in a credible way, rid the city of tikrit turn it back over to its inhabitants, then it will, in the main, have been a positive thing in terms of the counter isil campaign. >> brown: the matter is further complicated by unconfirmed reports that general qassem soleimani was seen on the battlefield this week. he commands iran's elite quds force, which washington considers a terrorist organization. he also orc

these are sunni jihaddests at war with shiite militias controlled and supported by iran. is isis would be an iranian backed government or rebels element that took over a few months ago under attack now from the isis element in yemen. so you have this continuation of shiite extremists shiite jihad jihaddist jihaddistjihad jihaddest jihaddests. it is particularly a disaster in yemen because there is another element there which is al qaeda and iraq which has targeted the united states almost successfully blew up an airplane over detroit. the most active of all al qaeda affiliates. it's a multi sided war and we have no role here whatsoever. it's chaos and civil war. >> juan? >> what i think is kind of hard to find who you want to root for because this is bad guy and bad guy. obviously you have a situation where it's the isis group attacking the iranian backed rebels. you have had the rebels in power for about six months. in the segment you played on tape of president obama speaking he was speaking about what he considers the legitimate president of yemen at the time backed by

afraid isis will still have some popular support among certain sunnies who view the iranian backed shiite militiasno less of an offense against them as the isil forces. >> thank you. elsewhere the army has gained ground on the outskirts of falujjah. kurdish forces have blown off truck, they say was full of isil fighters on a suicide mission. these appear to show the truck exploding before it reames it's target. isil fighters trying to recapture the curds that held the city since june of last year. hundreds of police have been fighting near myanmar. the security forces moves in wielding bat arms. almost 230 people have been arrested. morris lee reports from myanmar's biggest city. >> a tense stand off between protestors and police, turns into a confrontation. >> for more than one week the protestors have been catching in a town three hours drive north. they are unhappy with the newly elected education law which they say restricts freedom, and pans them from forming unions. on tuesday local officials say they would allow students to march. when they were told they couldn't hold banner and chant loga

fighters in the city are surrounded and shiite militias have joined in the struggle. the iraqi army is ill-equipped a. the irani and-backed militias are an important source of manpower and -- the iranian-backed militias are an important source of manpower. the relationship between militia fighters and regulars is strained but necessary. the majority of iraqis are shiite. an alliance comes naturally to one of iraq's most important clerics, an influential politician. >> iran was the first country to support us unconditionally. without ulterior motives. there are around 100 iranian military advisers in iraq. we have thousands of american advisers. reporter: iraq needs all the help it can get, especially when it comes to specialized recruits such as snipers. i.s. is prepared for the house-to-house fighting to come into greek and other cities across northern iraq -- in tikrit and other cities across northern iraq. ben: the people rebuilding after cyclone pam caused catastrophic damage. sarah: 65,000 people left homeless. there is an acute shortage of food and water. intern

at the shiite militias are not that different.re carrying out -- they are -- when they say the iraqi army is attacking, it is probably mostly the shiite militias with the iraqi army in the background. the way the iraqi army collapsed is an astonishing military fact. this is an army of i think 350,000 people heavily armed by the united states and trained by the united states for 10 years. a couple thousand guerrillas showed up and they all ran away. the generals when roy first. -- ran away first. the shoulders did know to do. they ran away after them. amy: we have 20 seconds. >> the -- it is hard to see how iraq could even be held together at this point. it has been devastated by u.s. sanctions. the war, the atrocities that followed from it. the current policy, whatever it is, is not very likely to even put band-aids on the cancer. amy: we have to leave it there but will continue this discussion tomorrow on democracy now! our guest, noam chomsky. i am amy goodman with aaron