isis was still nonexistent at the time. isi. but a lot of money was going through saudi arabia kuwait not from the government and not meant to go to jihadists, meant to go to mars group. because of the lack of knowledge sometimes the money goes to someone you trust, and that person gives it to someone he trusts and then goes to groups. so there is that looseness that exists in these parts of the world. but government, on a government level golf states support isis. even if iran does. they see it as a threat. two sections within the society. the idea of the caliphate invigorating ideology of isis but also islamists who do not like isis sympathizers, but they do not like isis but they see it as a way to kind of break the region. i spoke to a lot of people who do not like the violence but they would say, you know what that this group were around and exist for a while. at least we will break this. so isis thrives in this climate. i think the problem is really not theology but credibility and legitimacy. most of the clerical establis

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's military was out on the street. and then american soldiers captured saddam himself. sunnis were out of favor and out of jobs but they had guns and organizational prowess. 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 zarqawi. >> he was like a terrorist psychopath. >> sunni insurgents inspired by al qaeda's leader in iraq blew up a holy shiite shrine. >> the murders of innocent civilians, indiscriminate bombings, even beheadings, the focus not just on foreigners but on shiites. other mu

isis hates it. many americans may not realize that iraq and syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures, with deep roots. these communities, syrian and caldian christians, yazidis and others are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. and the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, the destruction of religious sites is part of the isis effort to destroy these communities, to destroy all evidence of the preexistence of these communities. in fact, isis maintains a special battalion, and they call it the demolition battalion. and that battalion is charged with going after art and going after artifacts, religious and historic sites that it considers heretical and its job is to simply destroy history. the situation for some of these groups was precarious even br before isis. according to some estimates, more than half of the ethnic and religious minorities have fled the country over the last dozen years, but what they face today is ann

this time it's isis. just a few days after fallujah fell, the president talked about the threat from the terror group in an interview with the new yorker magazine. he said the analogy we use around here sometimes. and i think is accurate, is if a jv team puts on lakers uniforms, that doesn't make them kobe bryant. >> i was disappointed. i was disappointed that he said that. i don't think he was well served. >> the need for intelligence surveillance. >> michael flynn had a front row seat to the rise of isis. he led the defense intelligence agency until late last year. >> we failed to understand the enemy that we faced. >> flynn says intelligence officials had warned the administration that isis was growing more dangerous before the president made his infamous jv comment. the president has said the intelligence on isis was inadequate. here he is on "60 minutes." >> how did they end up where they are in control of so much territory. was that a complete surprise to you? >> well, i think our head of the intell

this time it's isis. just a few days after fallujah fell, the president talked about the threat from the terror group in an interview can "the new yorker" magazine. >> he said, "the analogy we use around here sometimes. and i think is accurate, is if a jv team puts on lakers uniforms, that doesn't make them kobe bryant." >> i was disappointed. i was disappointed that he said that. i don't think he was well served. >> the need for intelligence surveillance. >> lieutenant general michael flynn had a front-row seat to the rise of isis. he led the defense intelligence agency until late last year. >> we failed to understand the enemy that we faced. >> flynn says intelligence officials had warned the administration that isis was growing more dangerous before the president made his infamous jv comment. but the president has said the intelligence on isis was inadequate. here he is on "60 minutes." >> how did they end up where they are in control of so much territory? was that a complete surprise to you? >> well,

this is deep into isis country an area largely controlled by isis there in syria. they attacked a building where syaff and his wife were holed up he's isis' cfon charge of the terror organization's financial organizations, the sale of oil and gas on the black market and the revenue made from that. isis guards outside the building opened fire on those u.s. commandos, but then took those guards out. we're hearing as many as dozen were killed. then those commandos stormed the building separating the women and children that were being used as human shields according to u.s. officials killing abu syaf ask capturing his wife. the commandos said amid all this rescued a young you woman who was enslaved. isis has been in involved in human trafficking and this guy's wife is said to have been deeply involved in these human trafficking and sex slaves operations. senior u.s. defense official also told fox news that a treasure trove of information was taken by those commandos. we're talking about cell phones, laptops, basically anything that could lead to more intelligence gathe

isis? you know -- >> -- yes. >> are you? okay. so you are worried about them right? are you disappointed that president obama is kind has kind of diminished the threat and really practicing a void dance on it? are you disappointed? >> i don't think that he has done that. this idea that somehow he is not aware that isis exists and once again for the 100th time i have to have a conversation with both of you about this idea that barack obama fears american power which is a completely made-up talking point. it is not true. he is not afraid of american power. the reason that we can't send ground troops is because american people are tired of ground troops after two wars that george bush started. >> we can get into that in a minute. it's obvious that the bombing campaign that the commander and chief has initiated isn't working. not working. let's go over to miss monica now. i know that you agree with me correct? >> correct. >> all right. but surely, i said something wrong in seven minutes. did i

isis hates it. many americans may not realize that iraq and syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures, with deep roots. these communities, syrian and caldian christians, yazidis and others are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. and the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, the destruction of religious sites is part of the isis effort to destroy these communities, to destroy all evidence of the preexistence of these communities. in fact, isis maintains a special battalion, and they call it the demolition battalion. and that battalion is charged with going after art and going after artifacts, religious and historic sites that it considers heretical and its job is to simply destroy history. the situation for some of these groups was precarious even br isis. according to some estimates, more than half of the ethnic and religious minorities have fled the country over the last dozen years, but what they face today is ie nilelat

that he was increasingly involved in isis command and control. and isis operations. and u.s. officials are beginning to indicate there may have been a reason to believe he might have been in contact at some point, with abu bakr al-baghdadi, the very reclusive leader of isis. the guy the u.s. of course wants to get. he put that whole picture together what we're beginning to understand including from our sources on the ground this man had been very heavily involved in isis communications. so if they could have captured him, they hoped to interrogate him and learn a good deal about the communications of isis leading to potentially be able to track down other leaders. but they did capture communications equipment at the site and other intelligence that they will now go through. they can interrogate his wife. so they do believe they got a good intelligence haul if you will. from this raid. all u.s. forces returning safely. not to put a light note on it. but we're told one u.s. commando killing back with bloody knuckles from the hand-to-hand combat. >> nick paton walsh, i want to g

isis hates it. many americans may not realize that iraq and syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures, with deep roots. these communities, syrian and caldian christians, yazidis and others are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. and the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, the destruction of religious sites is part of the isis effort to destroy these communities, to destroy all evidence of the preexistence of these communities. in fact, isis maintains a special battalion, and they call it the demolition battalion. and that battalion is charged with going after art and going after artifacts, religious and historic sites that it considers heretical and its job is to simply destroy history. the situation for some of these groups was precarious even br isis. according to some estimates, more than half of the ethnic and religious minorities have fled the country over the last dozen years, but what they face today is annihilati

extending isis' influence. and does it demonstrate that isis after all of this time can field a large offense force and the iraqis cannot fight back against it. >> as you know the u.s. formally released the real name of the isis commander killed in the weekend raid. how key was this terrorist? >> well look. they are saying again still, as they have since the weekend here in washington that this man was a top money man. he was involved in oil, gas and financing operations. his role in military affairs in isis in operations his contacts with top leaders had grown in the last six months. but when you come back to that key word, money operations. they are looking for intelligence about his involvement, his wife's involvement in hostages and even potentially american hostages being held there. and the congressman who chairs the foreign affairs committee going a step further, mentioning the ceased at tajs, mule her foley and sotloff by name. no word from the military about the conditions or what happened to those thr

if isis is able to take that area, it creates a corridor between the two isis controlled cities of ramadi and falluja, from there it is only, 35 kilometers in a straight line from falluja to the airport of baghdad. so this is, we're not talking about a very vast area. these are less than 100 kilometers, isis will be if successful connecting ramadi and falluja, just outside of baghdad. >> ian, the fighting has sent a fresh wave of tens of thousand of people running for their lives. is there anybody there to help them? as we have seen from arwa damon's reports, there are this stream of people. yesterday she was reporting that the iraqi government closed the bridge, stranding refugees on the other side of the river. unable to make it to baghdad. the iraqi government is afraid that there are isis militants hiding in these refugees trying to infiltrate the other side, the government side of control. we have seen tens of thousand of refugees, 25,000 as the u.n. has put it. they're in desperate need of care, of food, water, medical care, shelter. and, that's going to be a, put a burden on the ir

the military mission that killed a isis official deep within the area of isis in syria. and they killed the man who controls the isis flow of money and funding. and also in terror group, we are told that the isis command ser identified as a tunisian and he was killed when he resisted capture and about a dozen isis fighters were killed, and no americans were killed. and now joining us is the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman thank you for joining me. >> yes, thank you for having me, poppy. >> we are getting the details trickling in, and the white house is talking about this as well. and in your position what do you know in term ss of the intelligence for the president to personally green light the mission, and what factors made him, and made the call that it was the right move to risk american lives to do this and carry it out? >> well, it was the unanimous request or the e decision made by the national security team on this. and especially with the individual that we are talking about abu sayyaf and this is an individual who was involved in kid

. >>> the war against isis intensifies. terrorist gaining new ground in syria and new isis victories across the middle east leaving the president's war on terror questioned. team coverage of the big story ahead. >>> and rand paul speaking for nearly 11 hours. he controlled the senate floor for 11 hours. what he had to say. >>> and the end of an era. david letterman hosting his last "late night" show. his hilarious and heartwarming good-bye ahead. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. john berman is taking the day off. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. isis on the rampage seizing control of the ancient city of palmyra. the two stunning victories forcing the government to reassess the terror strategy. the focus is securing the province went of baghdad. i want to bring in senior correspondent arwa damon. i want to talk about the history and the city which was taken by isis. how important was it and what is happening? >> reporter: palmyra is stunning. syrian government saying prior to the victory by isis they managed to mo

let's start with the latest on isis. the second critical con quest in five days for isis. over the weekend, the fighters took over the iraqi city of ramadi. two stunning victories forcing the pentagon to reassess the isis strategy. the focus now in iraq securing the province west of baghdad. i want to bring in senior correspondent arwa damon live from baghdad. staggering how quickly that town was taken. now in syria, the historical cultural city. you have been there. tell us what is the importance of the city and what it shows of isis' strength. >> reporter: i think what we have been seeing over the last week or so is a clear indication of how capable isis continues to be despite the fact there were those highly tout victories in iraq when it was finally pushed out of tikrit. managing to launch attacks against two key locations in iraq and neighboring syria. isis has a stable of fighters at disposal that seems to be growing. the capture of palmyra. you have the battles taking place with isis and the syrian army. the syrian government not acknowledging that palmyra has fall

a major victory for isis in iraq. ramadi falls to isis fighters. for months of flashclashes, forces burst into the city with armored bulldozers and ten suicide bombings. government forces have pulled out of a military base there. iraqi and u.s. officials say the fight for ramadi is not over. for the latest, let's bring in ian lee. >> reporter: good morning, john. isis is in control of ramadi. we are hearing of pockets of resistance. we know isis does not treat their captives well. for the most part, iraqi forces have pulled out following some very heavy fighting. 500 people have been killed in the final moments of the fall of ramadi. isis storming in and taking control of the area and seizing heavy weapons. they seized weapons and missiles and tanks. a big victory with the material and politically propaganda for them. also opens up a el salvadordoppler radar corridor. they are in control of fallujah. it is a fortified city but it puts them at the gates there. secretary of state john kerry traveling and commented on the latest developments. take a l

isis hates it. many americans may not realize that iraq and syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures, with deep roots. these communities, assyrian and chaldean christians, yazidis and others are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. and the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, the destruction of religious sites is part of the isis effort to destroy these communities, to destroy all evidence of the pre-existence of these communities. in fact, isis maintains a special battalion, they call it the demolition battalion. and that battalion is charged with going after art and going after artifacts, religious and historic sites that it considers heretical or idolatrous, and their job simply is to destroy history. the situation for some of these groups was precarious even before isis. according to some estimates, more than half of iraq's religious and ethnic minorities have fled the country over the last dozen years. but what they

syria is isis' sanctuary. we cannot succeed in iraq if isis is allowed to maintain that sanctuary in syria. we need a strategy now to defeat isis in syria. as you can see on the map that deals with the global rings, take a look at that, many isis -- on that isis map, isis is expanding beyond iraq and syria into sinai, yemen, libya, and afghanistan. this is where they actually have people on the ground and they have actually provided resources and they have actually have a contract, written and signed with the people on the ground who are affiliated with them. and they are also inspiring and motivating radical sympathizers throughout the world which are depicted in that map on yellow as we are painfully aware of in europe and the united states and australia. yet there is no strategy with our allies to counter that expansion. i would go further to say there is no strategy to counter the destabilization of the middle east. as to iraq, it certainly makes sense to assist iraq in reclaiming lost territory and avoid

isis has declared war on christians. isis wants genocide now. they want to eradicate christians from the middle east and africa. christian kids have been beheaded, their mothers raped, and their fathers crucified literally. isis believes christians are standing in the way of their world conquest, anything pre-islamic they want to destroy and want to prepare the world for the coming of the islamic heldly fate. -- caliphate. christians in the middle east and africa are losing communities that have lived peacefully for 2000 years. 500,000 christian arabs driven out of syria during the last three years of civil war. christians have been persecuted and killed, from lebanon to sudan, now south sudan. civil wars lasted decades. in iraq, mosul is a christian city, the second largest city in iraq, christians have been living there for 1700 years. as you know better than anybody. after the fall of saddam, the numbers in -- of christians in iraq were estimated christians about 45,000. today, how many christians are living in mosul? donna momeka: very few.

the father of isis. so maybe begin with you, general keane, because i don't think that americans are fully aware of this contradiction here. mr. keane: i agree in principle with what you're saying. just so our audience and the committee can understand, we may forget that early on in the move against assad, the momentum was on the opposition force's side. many in this town were predicting the regime would fall. senator mccain: there was testimony before this committee by the secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff. general keane: they needed arms specifically antiaircraft weapons to deal with conventional military, they were stuck with rifles, machine gun r.p.g.'s and the like. that early encount for the 2012 was denied, late 2011, early 012, and then the c.i.a. became convinced that we could actually vet the free syrian army and i will say that the institute for the study of war had some impact on provide them information that assisted them with that conclusion, and general petraeus would admit th

following isis takeover. this is just a short picture, a picture into the wider view and wider chaos and wider brutality that is isis. >> so ian, what is the assad regime's plan to retake palmyra? >> reporter: what we're hearing are the reports that the forces loyal to the regime and regime forces are gathering outside palmyra waiting for the go ahead to start their counter offensive and try to retake the city. although no date or time has been given. we're also hearing from the lebanese shi'ite militia and political group hezbollah who has been supporting the syrian government. we heard from their leader hasan rasolla. they are no longer focusing on the border and al qaeda nusra front. we are seeing an escalation of the fighting there as well. >> ian lee for us in cairo. disturbing news out of syria. >>> a deadly weekend of flooding in texas and oklahoma. the severe weather leaving three people dead and several others missing with hundreds forced to evacuate their homes. emergency crews trying to get a handl

this time it's isis. just a few days after fallujah fell, the president talked about the threat from the terror group in an interview with the new yorker magazine. he said the analogy we use around here sometimes. and i think is accurate, is if a jv team puts on lakers uniforms, that doesn't make them kobe bryant. >> i was disappointed. i was disappointed that he said that. i don't think he was well served. >> the need for intelligence surveillance. >> michael flynn had a front row seat to the rise of isis. he led the defense intelligence agency until late last year. >> we failed to understand the enemy that we faced. >> flynn says intelligence officials had warned the administration that isis was growing more dangerous before the president made his infamous jv comment. the president has said the intelligence on isis was inadequate. here he is on "60 minutes." >> how did they end up where they are in control of so much territory. was that a complete surprise to you? >> well, i think our head of the intell

isis commander. how valuable is the intelligence u.s. commandos gathered and how much did he know about u.s. hostages? >>> and plane hack. a cyber security consultant tells the fbi he broke into the computer systems aboard airlines and took control of an engine during a flight. >>> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hours after a victory over isis a major setback. the black flag flying over ramadi as the terror group tightens its group, thousands fleeing the city fearing a bloodbath. iraqi troops led first in the face of a stunning isis military offensive. now as the u.s.-led coalition targets isis from the air, the iraqi government is calling on iranian-backed shiite militias for a push to try to retake ramadi capital of the sunni heartland. meantime learning new detailance a the special ops raid deep into an isis corner of syria. u.s. troops fought hand to hand with isis terrorists killed a senior commander. made off with what officials say i

. >>> overseas now into syria, isis on the move. those militants are waging a campaign of terror in the city of palmyra. they are hunting down troops and executing them in public. the warning to anybody who tries to fight back against their power grab. this news is another sign that syrian president bashar al assad's regime is getting weaker and it's another victory for isis just days after the fall of ramadi. we are hearing that iraqi security forces there are trying to oust isis from some of the small towns surrounding ramadi but it's tough going. joining us with the very latest on the situation, john huddy standing by in the mideast bureau. john? >> reporter: yeah iraqi forces regained control of a town just outside of ramadi possibly showing the start of a major ground offensive that we have been waiting for or at least those iraqi forces trying to stop isis' momentum. now, take a look at the map to show you the town isis militants stormed the area yesterday, about three and a half miles east of ramadi. iraqi forces with the hel

the father of isis. so maybe begin with you, general keane, because i don't think that americans are fully aware of this contradiction here. mr. keane: i agree in principle with what you're saying. just so our audience and the committee can understand, we may forget that early on in the move -- rebellion against assad, the momentum was on the opposition force's side. many in this town were predicting the regime would fall. i think we can all recall that. senator mccain: there was testimony before this committee by the secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff. general keane: they needed arms specifically, antiaircraft weapons to deal with mitchell military. they were stuck with rifles, machine gun, r.p.g.'s and the like. that early encounter for the 2012 was denied, late 2011 early 2012, and then the c.i.a. became convinced that we could actually vet the free syrian army and i will say that the institute for the study of war had some impact on provide them information that assisted them with that co

she's believed to be still with isis. as the campaign so effective it's insidiously reaching in to the most unexpected corners. this u.s.-born air force vet is accused of trying to travel to syria to fight with isis. the fbi said it found 180 isis propaganda videos on his laptop. >> i absolutely felt like my son was brainwashed. >> reporter: this woman says her son was recruited by isis in 2012 and used social media to plan his way to syria. >> i was desperate to get him home. i was frustrated. >> reporter: he never came home. damian was killed in 2014. >> i collapsed and started to shake. i had no idea how to tell my family. >> reporter: she started a non-profit to help other families and says that isis is selling a lie. >> they speak out to these disconnected youth and say, here you will belong. you will be one of us. >> reporter: sources acknowledge privately the u.s. government is struggling to meet this new threat. >> face it we invented the internet the social network sites. we have hollywood, the capabilities as mr

oil fields controlled by isis. they got into a firefight with isis militants, including abu sayyaf. they killed him, they captured his wife umm, and also what we're hearing at this point is that there was hand-to-hand combat between those delta force commandos and isis militants. we are hearing at least a dozen isis militants were killed and those commandos, along with capturing umm, the guy's wife they also rescued a young yazidi woman who was apparently taken as a slave. remember isis has been involved in human trafficking and also sex slavery. this woman is said to have been part of those overall isis operations, having to do with that. all the u.s. commandos incredibly got out safely. while this was a success, albeit a very dangerous and risky one, it was a success. however, in other parts of the region including iraq isis continues to gain more ground. >> specifically in the city of ramadi what are you hearing right now in terms of where isis is and the strategy of the security forces there trying to hold on t

they're inspired by isis but this does not look like an isis ait can. it's like giving me a baseball bat and saying i'm a member of the new york yankees. >> i agree completely. we're talking about a force that's communicating and inspired by the ideology but has not been trainedary not part of a formation. this is very different and it's going to continue. >> you wrote a major piece on cnn.com in which you say is shooting in texas was inevitable. what do you mean? >> if you look at the record of americans who have been convicted of trying to kill cartoonist we wef another three of them and we've got other americans who have been indicted for inciting sirens against people who have drawn cartoons of the prophet muhammad. this was an accident waiting to happen. we've got a cartoonist in hiding for four years now at the advice of the fbi because she was doing some of the drawings herself. i think most of the americans would be surprised this would happen here in this country. but the fact is this was less of a surprise than it should have been. >> was it a

in the fight against isis. president obama spoke earlier this week in a newspaper interview about the fight against isis in syria. he said we will remain relentless in our campaign to degrade isis safe haven within syria as part of our broader campaign to destroy isol. this is the same sort of operation that took down osama bin laden and we know from that operation president obama then watched in realtime from the situation room watched every step as it happened in realtime. the big question was, was president obama in the situation as this mission happened overnight and waiting for confirmation from the white house on that point. >> will the president, himself, make remarks on this subject today if. >> at this time we don't expect that. that could always change. we likely will not see president obama come out. of course this could be a good time for him to do that. this was a relatively success fall mission. of course they did not capture abu sayyaf himself back alive, which would have of course provided a sig

isis hates it. many americans may not realize that iraq and syria are home to dozens of ethnic and religious minorities with ancient cultures, with deep roots. these communities syrian and caldian christians, yazidis and others are under mortal threat in their ancestral homelands. and the mass execution of men, the enslavement of women and children, the destruction of religious sites is part of the isis effort to destroy these communities, to destroy all evidence of the preexistence of these communities. in fact, isis maintains a special battalion, and they call it the demolition battalion. and that battalion is charged with going after art and going after artifacts, religious and historic sites that it considers heretical and its job is to simply destroy history. the situation for some of these groups was precarious even br isis. according to some estimates, more than half of the ethnic and religious minorities have fled the country over the last dozen years, but what they face today is ie nilelati

post-isis defeat. without having -- without institutionalization of security forces you will find everyone who is getting weapons who doesn't belong to the government will not be capable of controlling him. now some of the militias are outside totally the control of the central government. without the institutionalization of the security forces to trust the people who commit to fight isis and to bring back or restore back the state of law, there is much more tragedy. institutionalization, i talked about it. million of displaced people need to be compensated. i don't think the central government capable to do it alone. help people. reconciliation is needed. iraq institution comes into the federal region. i mentioned when they declare a region on a level, sunni ask, what's the solution? the -- fighting -- that's not accepted. training national guard, national guard is very important. by the way, we agreed upon the national guard with the america, and central government, but it's been change and it's wait

isis. after the terror group seizes control of a strategic city in iraq. >> plus a deadly shootout between rival biker gangs in the u.s. state of texas. >> several u.s. marines are rushed to the hospital after their helicopter makes a hard landing in hawaii. >> hello, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. good to be with you, rosie. back together. this is "cnn newsroom." we want to begin this hour with a huge development in iraq. isis fighters there have taken control of the city of ramadi. >> the city fell after days of heavy fighting. ramadi is the capital of iraq's anbar province. one of the last remaining cities in the province that was still under government control. now this is footage of iraqi soldiers pulling out as the city fell. >> large groups of civilians fled ramadi as last troops pulled out as you see here. iraqi officials estimate 500 people died in the final clashes before city fell. >> want to g

on the official isis radio channel, an isis announcer said two soldiers attacked the event. al khilafa is a term they use to describe their fighters. the two brothers died in the exchange of gunfire. isis claiming responsibility. whether they directed this attack remains to be seen. i want to bring in nick paton walsh. nick i suppose it was only a matter of time before isis tried to claim some kind much direct connection to these attacks. >> reporter: absolutely. john what is clear here they do not have those kind of key details investigators would expect some details to have in planning of the particular attack. that doesn't preclude them of having knowledge of it. this is one of the factors about isis in the modern age of social media. they can simply never been in contact with the texas gunman before the attack. once that pledge of allegiance or claim to work on isis behalf is out there from the attackers in recordings or tweets beforehand they can say yes, that was one of our operations. chillingly in this they say there are potentially future attacks. i quote, we say fo

isis onslaught. the terrorists seized more land in iraq and syria, beheading opponents along the way. why is president obama defending his isis strategy instead of changing it. >>> after the fiery and mysterious slaughter of a prominent washington, d.c. family police may be closing in on a suspect just because he had a taste for pizza. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is on assignment. ie brianna keilar. you're in "the situation room." >>> a grand jury in baltimore returning criminal indictments against all six police officers accused in the death of freddie gray. and that includes a second degree murder charge against the driver of the police van. the officers are now scheduled to be arraigned on july 2nd. also breaking stunning new gains by isis. terrorists just seized the last border crossing between iraq and syria. a monitoring group estimates that isis now controls more than half of syria, and that includes the city of pal myra that was conqu

. >> plus -- fighting back against isis. iraqi forces launch a major operation in anbar province. >>> this hour more than 1,000 deaths blamed on a scorching heat wave in india. >>> hello, welcome to our viewers in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. this is "cnn newsroom." >>> fifa has been at the center of corruption investigations for years. but now up to 14 officials with the world's futbol governing body are likely to face charges. swiss officials confirmed six arrests were made overnight in zurich at the request of u.s. officials. >> now in a statement the swiss federal office of justice wrote the following -- quote. it is quite explosive. amanda davis joins us from london with more on the still-developing story. surely this comes as a shock, or considering fifa's reputation, amanda, maybe not. >> no, i think the timing is, perhaps a surprise. we were expecting this to be a fairly sedate couple of days in terms of the fifa presidential election, of course. eve

this is deep into isis territory. they still control large sections of eastern and northeastern syria and also northern iraq. the commandos attacked a building where a man and his wife were holed up. syaff has been described as isis' cfo. basically in charge of the terror organization's a financial operations. the sale of gas and oil on the black market and the revenue stream coming in from that. isis guards outside this building where these pool were holed up opened fire on the commands doughs. the gland doughs fought become. then the delta force stormed the building separating the women and children attention killing abu syaaf and capturing his wife and amid this, delta force also rescued a woman who was enslaved by them. remember isis has been involved in human trafficking and sex slavery. this guy's wife, who was captured, is said to have been deeply involved in the human trafficking operation. so this was a significant i operation a. defense secretary ashton carter says it was a significant blow to isis. that sai

oil and gas but he had taken on an increasing role in operations isis operations isis planning isis communications and the u.s. believed he may have been in some sort of communication with the leader of isis. so when they went to the president and wanted to get his approval to do this operation, it was very much about this trade-off, the risk of sending u.s. troops in on the ground deep inside syria and the payoff, the intelligence that they might be able to get out of this. clearly the president signed off on it feeling it was worth it. there were some issues. they were able to reassure they could minimize civilian casualties. indeed when they went to the residential site there were a number of women and children there, the u.s. special forces ensured that none of them were hurt. but make no mistake, this was a firefight of the first order between isis and the u.s. army delta force. we know it even got to the point of hand-to-hand combat at one point in the firefight on the ground. fred. >> and in terms of this information that was extrapolated extrapolated at what point will offic

the father of isis. so maybe begin with you, general keane, because i don't think that americans are fully aware of this contradiction here. mr. keane: i agree in principle with what you're saying. just so our audience and the committee can understand, we may forget that early on in the move -- rebellion against assad, the momentum was on the opposition force's side. many in this town were predicting the regime would fall. i think we can all recall that. senator mccain: there was testimony before this committee by the secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff. general keane: they needed arms specifically, antiaircraft weapons to deal with mitchell military. they were stuck with rifles, machine gun, r.p.g.'s and the like. that early encounter for the 2012 was denied, late 2011

they're scared to death of isis after what happened in mosul when isis took it over in june of last year almost exactly a year ago, iraq's second largest city still under the control of isis. congressman mun yez who you had on a moment ago is exactly right. isis is spreading all across south africa as well. there are successes here and there to be sure largely because of the united states but they're sporadic and in my view they do not constitute unfortunately, an effective strategy against isis globally. >> and in terms of the mission, it was pretty rare to have boots on the ground ozas opposed to -- do you think there was a new aggression or was this just a one time shot? >> it was boots on the ground. there are other american boots on the ground in iraq. 3,000 pairs of them babyy the latest estimate. politicians may not want to talk about it but to destroy the isis head quarters and to destroy central operations is going to require american leadership and extensive american involvement on the ground. that's not to say that others don't need to have a major, maybe the dominant role but

isis. leon davis iii was arrested as he attempted to check in to a flight for turkey. this is the first american citizen to be arrested in georgia for trying to join isis. so what is it going to take for the united states to get rid of home grown isis terror threats? joining us here now is tom fuentes, former fbi assistant director we just heard how the fbi's asking police local police for help in tracking isis sympathizers with hundreds maybe thousands in the u.s. being pulled in by isis on social media and elsewhere. how can u.s. law enforcement possibly keep track of all of them? >> well the problem, wolf, i ran surveillance operations in chicago back in the '80s when most of our resources were dedicated to following mafia members. i could tell you, i had a squad of 28 ground agents each with undercover vehicles and assortments of equipment and vehicles photography equipment night vision goggles, and eight full-time pilots and to follow one mafia member took the entire squad. so when you

i call them isis zombies. these are the self-activating, might have mental health issues, low level of competencies and then you can have directed attackers who are syria returnees who have a level of competence who one person can pull off a quite effective attack. in pairs, of course. only two guys did what they did. you could easily have a cell of six people, three two-man teams to do simultaneous attacks and cause great disruption. they're again a number of threats in that spectrum. >> back to the community for a second. you were making the point that we need to do the best practices community by community. local face was important. i said the somali community in ohio has been very involved and i think in a productive dialogue. the federal government where we have responsibility coordinating between the three agencies i mentioned and perhaps some other agencies that are more on the intelligent side. is that working or should there be more accountability that comes from more definitive responsibility? >> it

how does isis make the money? >> isis is very smart about this. to give them strangely, credit where it is due, they are charging the money you front. allowing looters to have sort after monopoly on certain areas or issuing official looking licenses to loot and they collect 20% of the value of the antiquities found, for the items that the looters sell out of the country. we think they are going through turkey, lebanon, a number of other surrounding countries. some are seized. a lot more slow out and go under ground. it is extremely hard to track these but we know all around the world there are p em who want to hold a piece of the past and it is hard it prevent them from getting their hands on it. >> our thanks to erin thompson from john j. college in new york. once they are gone, natalie, they are gone. >> yes, they are. and as we know, they are selling them to make money. even they they don't believe in it, they are fine make money on. >>> police have arrested the man wanted in connection with the quadruple murder in washington, d.c. daron wint w

and he's saying look i was fighting isis before anyone knew about isis. i've been singled out by isis. i was on the senate armed services committee, i have the most foreign policy experience and the toughest credentials of any candidate in the republican field. so first blue collar second national security and third, the values candidate where it's a little crowdeded. >> he said being president is not an entry level. is that going after president obama or some of his potential republican opponents? >> i think both. clearly going after the president but also you have first-term senators running like marco rubio, rand paul ted cruz. and what he is saying is no on-the-job training for commander in chief. and he's going to try and break out of the pack with this kind of experience that he says he has from the senate. one other thing he has which we also ought to point out is his big backer foster freese is sticking with him, going to continue to be with him. he's there with him today for this announcement speech. and do not underestimate that because that eng

a victory for isis in iraq. ramadi fell to isis fighters. after months of clashes with iraqi forces and isis militants. isis forces burst into the city with armored bulldozers and ten suicide bombings. government forces now pulled out of the military base there. iraqi officials and u.s. officials say the fight for ramadi is not over. that may not be the fact on the ground. let's bring in our correspondent nick paton walsh. >> reporter: john, frankly devastating setback for the iraqi government. a third of the territory was in the sights. quite the opposite has now occurred. the attack started sunday morning. 13 suicide bombers forced their way in. and the fighting that proceeded the final onslaught were not enough warning for the iraqi government to reinforce the forces there. pictures of the military in retreat saying they were unable to hold positions. some say they lacked ammunition and the golden decision part of the withdraw here. 500 said to have been killed in the fighting. fears in the 24 to 48 hours ahead that ramadi will be purged

and control, isis planning, potentially even being in communication with the top isis leader. now, abu saief was killed in the raid when he engaged with those u.s. military commandos. his wife wasp captured, undergoing interrogation now in iraq. she is said to have been involved in isis hostage taking operations. now, the u.s. looking at all of this, interrogating her and going through all the captured communications gear that the delta force commandos got on the raid. cell phones, laptops, any gear that they could capture that may give them more information about hostage taking, about isis command, control organizations, even potential ly, they hope, about what isis may be planning next. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> now, will sayyaf's death leave a void in isis? let's ask. jamana, tell us more about what we know about this abu sayyaf and what it would mean that he no longer, apparently, is leading these operations of isis. how significant is it? >> well, that's the big question. up until yesterday, people who have covered isis for a very long time, isis experts in the

this was showing isis the u.s. has the intelligence -- and certainly with the special operations forces, the wherewithal to penetrate their best defenses and grab one of their top people. if nothing else this is a huge psychological victory for the u.s. psychological blow for isis. >> again for those just joining us, u.s. forces killing abu sayyaf, an isis leader who was intimately involved in the financing of that operation. also capturing his wife, umm sayyaf. we are told that she may potentially also have been critical in a role she made. where do you know where the wife is now? what's going to be happening to her now? >> well obviously she'll be taken -- she's in custody. she'll be secluded. she's not going to be mingled with any other prisoners that the u.s. iraq orther the coalition will hold. this is considered a pretty good get when you're talking about capturing those from the battlefield. and she will undergo some intense interrogation over any period of time to extract as much information as they can. >>

involved with isis. this is seems to be happening almost every week. how big of a deal is this right now that more and more people are being arrested in the united states for collaborating with isis? >> well it is a big deal and it's something we have to watch. now it's less of a problem in the united states than it is in let's say europe. but it's still a problem. you know we have to try to wonder what is the allure for these people who want to come and fight with a crazy group like isis that destroys people destroys everything? it's not simply a matter of people growing up in poverty who have no place to turn. these are by and large people who grow up in middle class families who leave to want to fight. i don't understand it it is a problem. >> you want the nsa to continue the bulk data collection because that's going to be voted on in the coming days. >> it's like anything else do you throw the baby out with the bathwater? we have to be careful, we're suspicious of it. but on the other hand we want to

as far as the isis commander his name is abu saed and being described as isisce isis's cfo. basically in charge of the financial operations oil and gas. and it was a dramatic raid. force members were air dropped deep into isis territory in eastern syria near an area the al amar oil fields one of the biggest in syria again under isis control. they got into a fire fight. they tried to fight back and were killed along with at least a dozen other isis militants according to our sources on the ground. and we're also hearing there may have been hand to hand combat. so this was a very dramatic and intense operation. they also captured his wife unsayaf. and they rescued that young woman who had apparently been taking as a trade. and they were able to get that woman out of there. and his wife is said to have been involved heavily involved in isis's human trafficking operations. so intelligence officials are hoping to glean information from her. spite this being called -- albeit a dangerous and risky operation, despite it being called a success at this point isis continues to gain gro