the godfather of isis. in 2004 he swore allegiance to osama bin laden and became the leader of al qaeda in iraq. >> the u.s. has described him as one of the world's most dangerous terrorists. >> his ultimate goal was to create an islamic state. and events in iraq were going to give him the chance to realize his dream. >> the old military needed to be formally disbanded. >> saddam hussein's military was out on the street. and then american sold yourself captured saddam himself. >> we got him. >> sunnis were out of favor and out of jobs, but they had guns and organizational prowess. al zarqawi began recruiting them. >> he was a major celebrity in 2004, he became a rock star. >> some of the worst violence americans saw on their tv screens during the iraq war came courtesy of al zarqawi. >> he was like a terrorist psychopath. >> sunni insurgents inspired by al zarqawi blew up a holy shiite shrine. >> the murders of innocent civilians, indiscriminate bombings, even beheadings, the focus not just on foreigners but

the kurdish, fierce fighters standing against isis. >> the peshawar. >> isis propaganda calls for attacks in europe and in american. >> the threat is growing in terms of scale and scope. >> can isis be stopped? it can be defeated and it will be defeated. >> that's next on "war stories." >>> live from america's election headquarters, an american couple from tennessee now confirmed to be among the 31 people killed in the brussels attacks. stephanie and justin schultz who lived in belgium were listed as missing after the suicide bombing at the airport. they were dropping off stephanie's mother who was returning back home to the u.s., watching her walk through security when the bombs exploded. >>> and there is new deadly violence in pakistan. an explosion ripping through a crowded park where christians were celebrating the holiday. at least 60 people killed and 300 others injured. these numbers could rise. one official saying most of the victims are women and children. a suicide bomber is suspected of being responsible. we'll see you at 4:00 alongside eric shawn. >>> welcome to this special e

this is the story of what we knew about isis and when we knew it. it is a story that has not been told before, not in its entirety, told by the people who have made the journey into the mind and heart of isis. >> we begin with an extraordinary chance to look into the islamic state. not a single reporter has dared to venture there. since the gruesome beheadings of journalist began last year, imagine seeing this. and this. >> these could be my last hours in this world. and then heading straight into the heart of darkness. that's exactly what this man did. >> every night i felt a knife on my throat. i felt it physically. >> he's a german journalist. last year he crossed the boarder into isis territory. >> i think you must know your enemy if you want to defeat him. >> he went to an iraqi city about the size of philadelphia. population around 1.5 million. it's the biggest prize isis has captured. this extraordinary video gives us a rare look into every day life under isis. it brings to mind the constant, the evil. trafficking cops who give parking tickets

they take care of the poor. >> bizarrely, isis even reaches out to the disabled. this is a recruitment video for deaf jihadis who wish to join isis. tottenhoffer's isis minders kept him away from only one group. he was not permitted to speak to, or even go near, a single woman. >> and you think you would win the war. >> perhaps the most astonishing thing tottenhoffer heard is this. >> they want to provoke the united states to bring ground troops to the country. it's a clear target. they want the americans to bring their boots on the ground. they want to fight the americans. that's their dream. the ultimate fight against the americans. that's what they want. that's what they hope. >> they do want to fight the americans on their own turf. in this regard, isis has a different dream than al qaeda. osama bin laden wanted to perpetrate large-scale terror attacks against the west. isis may do this but to further its aim of building a state. a caliphate. still, you cannot understand isis without going back to al qaeda and its signature moment. it's most spectacular attack.

geographically in control of the entire area. isis positions are. >> enemy, daesh, yes. >> the smoke that's out there on the horizon? >> yes. >> from an air strike? >> yes. >> the coalition forces. >> do you have any friendly troops, any peshmerga forward west of that line right here? >> you see the line over there. that's the defensive trench. there are no civilians in this place anymore. >> as seen in the photos, the peshmerga have proof that isis is using chemical weapons against the kurds just as saddam hussein did when he was in power. this is one enormous refugee camp. >> nice to see you. >> thank you very much. heland sal is program manager of the refugee camp sheltering thousands of syrians. how many live in this camp, just this one camp? >> yeah. the number of the families, there are about 5,500 families and the individuals around 30, 30,000 individuals, why. >> everything we have seen so far, there's an enormous burden on the government of kurg stan, the regional government. >> on the shoulders of the kri government, why. >>

geographically in control of the entire area. isistions are. >> enemy, daesh, yes. >> the smoke that's out there on the horizon? >> yes. >> from an air strike? >> yes. >> the coalition forces. >> do you have any friendly troops, any peshmerga forward west of that line right here? >> you see the line over there. that's the defensive trench. there are no civilians in this place anymore. >> as seen in the photos, the peshmerga have proof that isis is using chemical weapons against the kurds just as saddam hussein did when he was in power. this is one enormous refugee camp. >> nice to see you. >> thank you very much. heland sal is program manager of the refugee camp sheltering thousands of syrians. how many live in this camp, just this one camp? >> yeah. the number of the families, there are about 5,500 families and the individuals around 30, 30,000 individuals, why. >> everything we have seen so far, there's an enormous burden on the government of kurg stan, the regional government. >> on the shoulders of the kri government, why. >> amer

geographically in control of the entire area. isis positions are. >> enemy, daesh, yes. >> the smoke that's out there on the horizon? >> yes. >> from an air strike? >> yes. >> the coalition forces. >> do you have any friendly troops, any peshmerga forward west of that line right here? >> you see the line over there. that's the defensive trench. there are no civilians in this place anymore. >> as seen in the photos, the peshmerga have proof that isis is using chemical weapons against the kurds just as saddam hussein did when he was in power. this is one enormous refugee camp. >> nice to see you. >> thank you very much. heland sal is program manager of the refugee camp sheltering thousands of syrians. how many live in this camp, just this one camp? >> yeah. the number of the families, there are about 5,500 families and the individuals around 30, 30,000 individuals, why. >> everything we have seen so far, there's an enormous burden on the government of kurg stan, the regional government. >> on the shoulders of the kri government, why. >>

when the black-clad isis army suddenly charged out of the stronghold in raqqah, syria. isis rapidly seized thousands of square miles of territory including mosul, the second largest city in iraq. iraqi government forces fled before the onslaught and within weeks isis overran ninevah and anbar province. capturing weapons, vehicles and military equipment the u.s. provided to the baghdad government. as their forces advanced, isis released brutal videos showing the beheadings of the scores of captives including american journalist james foley and steven sot love. finally, the president addressed the nation. >> our objective is clear. we will degrade and ultimately destroy isil. through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. >> the obama administration's declared strategy included u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria and special operatiors on the ground in circumstance. many in congress see it as inadequate. >> the efforts militarily have been anemic so far. we could have been using special operations and air power in a much stronger way in order to roll back

the briefing. they'll talk about isis. they'll also talk about the breaking news in the last hour, about the second in command leader in isis killed in a raid yesterday. much more ahead. stick with me. we've created a new company. one totally focused on what's next for your business. accelerating innovation. accelerating next. hewlett packard enterprise. ...another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works... ...in one week. with the... fastest retinol formula. ...to visibly reduce wrinkles. neutrogena®. or if you're young or old.are if you run everyday, no matter who you are a heart attack can happen without warning. if you've had a heart attack, a bayer aspirin regimen can help prevent another one. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. bayer aspirin. atand that in a new house,tee a fyou probably don't sharece, the same tastes as the previous owner. ♪ [ dolphin chatters ] so when you need a little house painting or a complete remodel, we'll

then, nato needs to declare war on the isis group. every muslim nation in the world needs to be asked to pledge troops to help nato fight isis. no moreí6 dithers, no moreÑzy sloganeering, because, and mark my words here, a weapon of mass destruction will be used by the isis savages. it is just a matter of time. and that's the memo. now for the top story tonight, reaction. joining us here in new york city the former mayor of new york, rudy giuliani. i don't think any of the presidential contenders have a clear vision to take this isis group out. do you? >> she has got the least. i mean,. >> bernie sanders, he has got the least. >> i don't consider bernie sanders. >> he is still a contender. >> for her to say that, you know, they stood with us the day after september 11th. and we should stand with them. well, her president was sitting at a baseball game doing the wave and laughing instead of trying to rally the west against isis on the date that this killing took place. what he did yesterday embarrassed me as an american. >> i wasn't sur

we are live with who is behind the deadly attack. >>> isis pushed out of a key historic city. is the caliphate losing ground? good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm alison kosik. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. new terror arrests across europe. many of them connected to the brussels and paris attacks suggesting the network is bigger than we knew. the manhunt for two suspects were still on the run. tension rising in belgium. protesters storming the memorial site for brussels victims clashing with riot police who pushed them back with water cannons. we are learning more about the four americans killed in the brussels attacks, including justin and stephanie shults. cnn's michael holmes is in brussels with the latest on the investigation and who was arrested where and what led authorities to them. good morning, michael. >> reporter: alison, you make a good point. it's hard to keep up now with who is getting picked up and where. a number of countries involved in europe in arrests. i can tell you here in brussels on sunday, there were 13 new raids. here alo

what could his death mean to the war against isis mean, richard? >> if anything, the defense secretary was being very cautious in his description of how important this figure is. but make no mistake, haji imam was a very senior leader inside isis. was by many experts considered to be the not only second in command, but the operational commander of isis. the amir al baghdadi is like a fugitive, almost like the way osama bin laden was in the later years. very little communications coming from him. his movements very secretive. he knows he's a hunted man. that left his deputy, haji imam, to run operations, to be in contact with baghdadi, to run the divisions of isis and be in contact with local leaders down to the syria amir, the iraq amir, the libya leader. a very influential figure. killed by u.s. special operations forces in a raid yesterday morning early inside syria. at the press conference, the defense secretary didn't want to get into details. he said he would not describe the circumstances in which haji imam was killed. but he said that he was

the finance minister, qaduli from isis, gone. secretary ash carter says it goes a long way into putting a crimp in their finances. >> barbara starr, at the pentagon, thank you very much. >>> and the killing of isis' finance minister is a significant break through in the war against isis in syria. i want to talk about it with colonel steve warren. thank you for being on with us. >> it's a pleasure to be here. thank you. >> first, colonel, i want to get your general reaction to this news about the killing of the man who many consider as the number two in the isis chain of command. how significant is this? >> well, abu imam, what we call him, was their finance minister. he was also an external operations planner. in fact, we know that he was actively planning external attacks presumably in the west or even in the united states. this is a significant strike that we took to kill this enemy. and it follows right on the heels of us killing omar the chechen. abu sashani. their top military leader. we're chipping away at their leadership.

the slaughter in paris, and the downing of a russian airliner. isis also came to america with a largest terror attack since 9/11. these are some of the faces of people arrested on u.s. soil for helping to support or plot terrorism in the name of isis. since 2014, more than 80 have been arrested. a teenage girl trying to leave colorado to join isis in syria. a man who ambushed a philadelphia police officer. and a man who's now under investigation for his role in an isis-inspired mass shooting. >> we are not doing enough on the home front to defeat isis. >> if you look at the history of this city, we're largely a blue collar town. we're on the suburbs of los angeles. we are about 215,000 people and, you know, we're kind of a poor town. >> the chief of police in san bernardino, california. >> this city of many ways struggled for many, many years. the primary employer in town is government. we don't have a target like new york city and the world trade center. >> although no one knew it, there was a target. and on december 2nd, 2015, terror came to san ber

now, of course, you see the flip to isis. the problem is, this will all continue as long as the pakistani government continues to see india as a primacy of threat rather than these terrorist groups. >> really, the isis thing, this really is a cancer that has metastasized out of syria, into iraq, into libya, into south northwest nigeria. it really is, gathering recruits all over. it doesn't really right now have the capacity to take over a country but it's sort of getting closer, i think, whereas it's diminishing in iraq and syria. i think it's getting closer in libya. >> it almost feels like pakistan knows how to deal with this, but i would look at libya as a prime area for a radical takeover. >> you might get an intervention in libya. >> i think also one of the reasons -- siraj makes that point -- that the level of islam, which i think is the big issue, the use of islam into an extremist political mentality, that allows isis the ability to come in there and to build. but hopefully what i think you'll see in coming years is if

but they play right into the hands of isis. d they alienate the people who would be out there trying to stop these acts of terror. >> and larry korb, malcolm makes an excellent point, but you also have groups who are accumulating power. we know le pen of the national front in france, running for leadership of that country, and you see some of these groups actually gathering political power. how much of a threat is that to the efforts of western countries to fight groups like isis? >> it's a very big threat because it plays into the isis narrative. and remember, we're not going to beat these people militarily. we have to underline the nar receive, but they can use these events and say, see, they are against muslims. that's why we have to establish a caliphate. that's why we have to wipe them out. so it is very, very, very important that we win this struggle idealogically and also using social media. but i'm afraid this incident we saw today in brussels is going to be all over social media, that isis uses to help recruit people, t

you saw kind of smoke, you know. >> reporter: and then an hour later another explosion at the isis has claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attacks that left at least 31 dead and at least 250 injured. tonight, 15 local hospitals are treating the victims. this nail was recovered from a victim's body, possibly indicating a nail bomb was cuesed cues used in these attacks. the terror started at 8:00 a.m. in the departures terminal of brussels airport. >> there have been explosions in the terminal hall. >> reporter: two bombs exploding just minutes apart. one near airline baggage counters and another by a starbucks counter. law enforcement later found a third bomb in a suitcase that never detonated, leading them to believe the first two bombs may also have been in suitcases. >> you just feel like a wave, a wave go through your body. >> smashed windows. we didn't get any information. >> reporter: the with smoke and the sound of screams. travelers lying on top of each other on the floor. this man holding a little girl. >> stay down. stay down. >> reporter: people huddled in fear and t

do you think the american people have the will to fight isis? polls show that most favor ground troops but an entire political party, the democratic party is against any kind of meaningful confrontation. what about the folks in general? what do you think? >> well, i think the american people certainly could summon the will to key feet isis, -- defeat isis, destroy isis if properly led. we are not properly led. i'm concerned looking at the political landscape we may not be properly led.+ generalities won't defeat isis. i'm not hearing the kind of expertise depth and strength of character it will take. worse, bill, worse, we now have two generations of military officers educated, trained, convinced that it's more important to prevent casualties and collateral damage than to win. honestly, i don't know if our military leaders have the character, the wherewithal to do what it takes to key feet -- defeat isis. it's not about winning hearts and minds it's about splark heir hearts and brains all over the landscape. >> if the next president and if it's

the new level of isis' bomb-making skill. gly apparent in the devastation at the brussels airport. belgian investigators believe this man on the far left, najim laachraoui, blew himself up inside the terminal. laachraoui was an isis bomb maker. officials have told cnn he was a key figure in the paris attacks last november. laachraoui's dna was found in the bomb factory which produced the paris explosives and he helped coordinate the assault. >> investigators believe laachraoui was on the phone with the attackers in realtime in paris, the three attack teams, the night of the attack. >> reporter: cnn is told gentleman nenajim laachraoui studied electrical engineering in college. none of his family had any contact with him since he went to syria in 2013. that's where he may have first received explosive training. he's likely to have been skilled in making bombs with tatp. the volatile, deadly peroxide-based explosive believed to have been used in brussels and paris. tonight cnn has learned important new clues on how isis trains i

here is eight years between the start of ic and isis. l this time, this group has been raping, torturing, and murdering, particularly targeting christians as a main civilian target. one of the biggest ways that they attack christians is by taking hostages for ransom. this is a silent one-by-one genocide. thousands of christians have been taken for ransom. many of them have been tortured and killed. bishops have been killed while trying to redeem priests. priests have been killed while trying to redeem their congregation that has been taken hostage. wives have been killed as they bring ransom money for their husbands. hostages have been killed after the ransom has been paid. this has been going on all this time. one of my close friends from iraq, he has been featured in knights of columbus ads on television and was in town last week, he was taken hostage, tortured, beaten, shot in the leg, they broke his teeth, nose, back with hammers. he was finally released with ransom. entire towns have been taken captive. there are 200 christians now c

in the meantime isis -- the commander in chief also doesn't speak arabic and seems to have a pretty goodis clearly still maintaining enough of its territory it's able to act as a launchpad of jihadist attacks, it's only matter of time before it comes here. i'm just trying to stop them and hoping others will do that as well. >> hang on, rula. the optics of what we showed -- >> i think what president obama did looked horrible. it looked very distant from what's a much more important issue, which is the fight against terrorism in europe. i think the president is trying to hand that off to the next administration. most people i know who are middle east, foreign policy u.s. strategy defeating terrorist experts feel that there is a half-hearted campaign. >> i have a negative minute left. can you do it quickly? >> i can do it very quickly. what matters is what we are doing. and basically what government has been doing, especially in syria or in iraq and other places. it's try to build this large coalition made basically by allies. our allies are not helping us, especially arab allies pup need t

the danger now that isis could seek revenge here or in paris or in the u.s. thomas. >> bill neely, thank you. >>> three days after the attacks in brussels, we're learning more about the victims, those who survived and those who did not. an american couple from kentucky remain unaccounted for tonight, and there's grim news for the family of two new yorkers. erica hill has more tonight from brussels. >> reporter: when the blast hit, 19-year-old mason wells estimates he was less than 50 feet from the explosion that left him with second and third-degree burns on his face and hands and shrapnel had his leg. >> my body was kind of lifted off the ground during the first blast. it was very loud. i started running towards the exit. the second blast went off, and it went off to my right, and i could feel the blast. i feel very lucky. >> reporter: at the airport with him that morning, fellow missionaries richard norby and joseph empey, both remain in the hospital. karen northshield is an american trainer living in belgium, who was also injured in the airport attack. she

the so-called islamic state. belgian and french isis fighters have appeared in lots of videos, threatening gun and bomb attacks in belgium. exactly the kind of attack that you saw play out today. there's really been a steady drum beat of terror in belgium going back to may of 2014 when you had a french isis operative carry out a gun attack on the jewish museum in brussels killing four. fast forward to 2014, a bomb plot was thwarted when belgium fighters fwen a safe house in belgium. that plot w there was also an attempt on a passenger train traveling from amsterdam through belgium to paris by another isis-linked recruit. so there's been a steady drum beat of terror in belgium. the terrorist attacks were staged and organized from that, wolf. >> we are getting tweets from isis supporters out there. very chilling words, as you know, paul. they say "what will be coming is worse." . stand by. paul cruickshank is standing by. we will speak to hillary clinton, the democratic presidential nominee when we come back. once again, these are live pi

watching the war on isis. at is right here on the fox news channel. >>> the republican so- called establishment growing concerned about the candidacy of donald trump. he might be seen as the republican's party obama care. a liability with many voters. we debate fair and balanced. new details in the investigation of hillary clinton's handling of state department e-mails and the secretary did not attend the cyber briefing set up for her, but was that absence on purpose? with hydrogenated oil... ...but real joyful moments are shared over the real cream in reddi-wip. ♪ reddi-wip. share the joy. in new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state, the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in buffalo, where the largest solar gigafactory in the western hemisphere will soon energize the world. and in syracuse, where imagination is in production. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - tod

over the last year hoping to establish sleeper cells across europe and the u.s. >> we know that isis created an external attack division last year that they created within that division units for each country. people who were from germany. people who were from england. people who were from the united states. >> reporter: and of course from france and belgium. >> unfortunately, there are probably more cells in belgium. maybe cells that were kept separate intentionally from this unit. cells that the first cell did not even know about may still be out there. >> reporter: and belgian authorities fear that the capture last friday in brussels the paris attacks salah abdeslam may have triggered tuesday's attacks. >> as soon as members of the cell knew that abdeslam had been captured, they knew he would be going under interrogation. they knew the papers and the computers with him were being analyzed. that probably told them immediately go to ground, hide, get ready to do an attack. >> reporter: members of congress say they were told much the same thing about abdeslam's arrest at a classified

they are all the hallmarks of a isis inspired or coordinated attack. the attackers would go forward even when brussels was under constant vigilance for just this kind of assault shows how difficult and dangerous isis remains. the us intelligence community is doing a second review of the information gathered over the last 96 hours to assess the specific credible warnings about brussels and whether in light of today's attack the threat level in this country will change. since early this morning the secretary of homeland security jay johnson, the attorney general loretta lynch and fbi director james call me have been receiving updates. the fbi has maintained heightened security posture after the isis driven attacks in garland texas last may. the fbi is keeping a close eye on individuals who may be inspired to carry out violent acts following what's happened in brussels. agencies in washington dc are expecting a law enforcement presence around the metro area in ways that are seen and unseen. we are told we can expect at the airport at least in the washingto

>> well, i think it's the second strategic defeat for isis in the past year.ber kovani, the kurds with the u.s.-led coalition inflicted a major defeat on isis and now palmyra. palmyra, isis lost about 400 skilled fighters and almost 1,000 injured. it opens the way, all the way, to the syrian army and its allies to the syrian-iraqi borders, to al raqqah, the de facto capital of isis. and your question is a very intelligent question, because it's a major strategic victory for assad. assad is celebrating this particular moment. in fact, the russian president just called his counterpart, syria counterpart, and congratulated him on this particular victory in palmyra, because basically the syrians and the russians are trying to say to the world, in particular the americans, the obama administration, look, you need the syrian army and government and the fight against the jihadists, the so-called islamic state and other extremists, as well, in syria. >> so that isis was trying to erase palmyra by destroying the historical and cultural artifa t artifacts, as well as th

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let's talk about the claim from isis. we have not confirmed that, obviously, but what are the basic signatures that would lead one to think it could indeed be isis and the same cell related to the paris attackers? >> reporter: we can begin, actually, with the claim of responsibility that came in. it was posted a short while ago on the amek news agency. isis affiliated web site that has in the past put out claims of responsibility shortly after attacks. u.s. officials tell nbc they believe that claim of responsibility to be credible. now, what we will see in the coming days if this does follow a similar pattern that isis has done in the past, more isis-affiliated or credible news agencies particularly following the media group will put out more details about the attack. the announcement that came out a short while ago did not provide a lot of information about the nature of the attack but what we see about significant attacks carried out by isis. you'll see the news agency described as the organization's wire service, if yo

we begin with breaking news in the fight against isis killed by u.s. special forces in an operation inside syria. secretary of defense, ash carter, confirmed the killing in a briefing a short while ago. >> the u.s. military killed several key isil terrorists this week, including, we believe, haji iman, serving as a finance minister and who also is responsible for some external affairs and plots. >> this is the other isis leader in u.s. air strikes in syria earlier this month. two major scores for u.s.-led forces for taking out biggest names on the u.s. terror hit list. it comes on the heels of the attack in brussels where the large police raid just ended. three people were arrested. one eyewitness described what he saw in one of the raids. >> the police shoot one time and they take his doctor. they take the kids and security, safe. he was not dying. he was moving. and the police asked him to put the bag far from him. that's what he do. he put the bag far from him. and after, i just watched then tried to move. what did he look like? i can not tell you be

they said the isis fighters also dressed up as women to avoid capture. the nearby town of al shaddadi was liberated last week. the isis slogans are still there, but the town's now under the control of the syrian democratic forces, an arab-kurdish alliance that is supported by the u.s. so this was an american air strike? commander media kobane told us that u.s. coalition air strikes helped her fighters win the battle here. connecting raqqa, the so-called isis capital in syria, with mosul, iraq's second biggest city, also controlled by isis. but now the road has been recaptured by the syrian democratic forces. colonel tala selo told us his fighters have been given over 100 tons of ammunition by the u.s.-led coalition in the last six months, all of it dropped by parachute. but america's most effective partner in syria has some murky alliances. it's accused of coordinating with russia, which backing the syrian regime and is also allegedly fought against other u.s.-backed groups. colonel selo denied both those claims, but admitted his group enjoys a long-stand

the city. there have been many concerned about potential damages done by isis to the historic ruins. we do know that isis did blow up and damage some millennia-old temples. the u.n. coming out and expressing its desire to see what is existing and standing of palmyra preserved by the assad regime. the regime is using it to push forward the point that its strategy, along with russia's strategy inside of syria is proving to be significantly more successful than that of the u.s. coalition. this certainly is going to provide a much-needed moral boosts to assad's forces, though not necessarily a decisive blow to isis. arwa damon, cnn, istanbul. >> let's talk about this with our military panel. joining us retired lieutenant general, cnn military analyst, former commanding general in the u.s. army and retired admiral, dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university. how important is the recapture of palmyra? is it largely symbolic or is thereny strategic value in it? >> i think is strategic value. anytime you take a significant city like this. but we are far from the end

and yet the attacks get more sophisticated. not only that, you've seen isis that is able to respond within days to what seemed to be major etbacks for the group. there was an arrest four days before belgium and we've seen this pattern where isis is able to respond very quickly to setbacks. they are able to control the narrative and say that what seems like a setback to you is us strategically and smartly evolving and adapting. >> they may even have been able to after the arrest last friday, they may have thought we need to accelerate the attacks. they just moved quickly and were able to and have had successful bomb makers carry outat tack, send out a video the next day, proclaim great victory. it is a fairly agile organization. >> briefly, san bernadino, which was isis inspired but not necessarily isis directed, should we be domestically more worried about that type of attack than the kinds of net works we're seeing in europe? >> the challenge is it's both in a way. there is not the kind of network in the united states that there is in europe. it is clear thi

i want to ask you, you said it was -- you praised the secret service, but then you said the man had ties to isis. turned out to be a hoax. did you go over the top there on that? where did you -- >> no, no. he was -- if you look on the internet, if you look into clips -- >> turned out to be a hoax. somebody made that up, sir. >> he had talk -- well, i don't know what they made up. all i can do is play what's there. he was walking dragging the american flag on the ground. is that a correct statement? was that a hoax too? >> well, that -- >> was he just dragging it along? >> i'm talking about the isis tweet. >> you didn't see the clip. >> we're playing the clip right now. >> you didn't see the clip. he was playing arabic music. he was dragging the flag along the ground and he had internet chatter with isis and about

this happened right as the world was focused on the attacks at brussels and isis members around the worldbrating, handing out candies but as those celebrations among isis members were taking place american special operations force rs were on ground in syria killing the number two leader. >>> let's go to more breaking news that we're also following right now in belgium. msnbc's ayman mohyeldin is . a raid is currently under way. >> reporter: this operation began a short time ago, it's been ongoing for a while. you can see this is a major boulevard here in brussels. off to my right further down perhaps you can see we know that belgian explosives experts are on this scene. we saw one of the members of the police force putting on his explosives vest as we've seen throughout the course of the past power police continue this ongoing operation. some witnesses have described the sounds of controlled explosions, we know that as we mentioned this is still very much an active operation that is taking place here. we are getting some reports initially still not conformed by the federal prosecutor's of

isis wants to attack the u.s. that's why we have to make sure we double down in iraq and syria, that we stop isis from having the ability to plot, plan, and train -- >> you think isis headquarters in raqqah, abu al baghdadi? >> we have to make sure we keep these guys on the run. this is connected to bashar al assad, the president in syria. the reason you have 4 million refugees that are impacting the borders of our european partners is because the situation that bashar is creating. you know, that's making things a ripe environment for isis to plan and train. all this is connected. >> you used to work at the cia, now you're a member of congress. i want you to listen to what donald trump just told me in the last hour about waterboarding and torture to try to elicit information from terrorists. >> i think we have to change our law on, you know,s the waterboarding thing where they can chop off heads and they can drown people in cages and heavy steel cages, and we can't waterboard. so we have to change our law and we ha

the u.s. role in destroying isis. pe from joining the terrorist group. >> how can the united states armed services prevent something like that from happening, though? can it as far as the people in iraq and in syria? >> well, we make a necessary contribution. it's not sufficient. it's not the whole thing. it's a necessary contribution. that contribution is to enable, provide the critical capabilities that allow in iraq, the iraqi government to take back territory and to reseize control of their country, and then govern it and keep security in it, and in syria to assist syrian forces which we work with, to particularly collapse isil's control of what they call their capital, which is raqqa, a city in syria. we'll do that. that will remove the parent tumor, but it won't of this cancer called isil. it's not going to remove all the problems. there will be people and lone wolves everywhere, and so forth, and we'll need to combat them not just in a military dimension but law enforcement and homeland security. i'm confident w