bush picked to run iraq, l. paul bremer, gave him one. >> and those who were on high before, in particular the baathists... >> narrator: he promised to purge the iraqi government. >> ...will be removed from office. >> narrator: he also issued an order that disbanded the entire iraqi military. >> you had something on the order of 250,000 iraqi men, military age, all trained in using weapons. suddenly, they were all out of a job. >> narrator: the powerful message: saddam and his sunni-controlled army were no longer in charge. >> army was the central instrument of saddam's repression of the kurds and the shia. i think the decision not to recall saddam's army, from a political point of view, is the single most important correct decision that we made in the 14 months we were there. >> narrator: but on the ground, the american military commanders could feel the effects. >> the effect, frankly, was devastating. i think that's where the seeds of what became the sunni insurgency were largely planted. >> we had, you know,

they both came from al qaeda in iraq. was -- happened when back down he said he wanted to establish a caliphate. a debate in jihadi circles. osama bin laden was always supposed to that. brett: when sue do that, it won't be popular. you cannot really government like us day. they said it's a great idea. i have to say that i was hdadi wasd it when bag there. what it has done is it supercharged this global recruiting. i hear this when i travel all around the world. what is driving so many young people to isis? is thison denominator notion of a caliphate, this historic movement. come be a part of it. it has this genetic effects on their recruiting. it is constantly expanding. is retain andase expand. used to shownda his wife taking over the middle east. they cannot make the case anymore. it is now shrinking. now they are saying come join this movement. we're are under attack but that is why you have to come and join us. it is actually shrinking. it will continue to shrink. charlie: do we know they're getting any support from w

i was ambassador to iraq at the time, yes. from the person .ho was our charge she had left behind margaret, prime had said the inister had called her and wanted us to turn over saddam to enforce the judgment of that he , which was hanged.e i was concerned about the time, or use the islamic haj , the n of the visits to mecca, was imminent, let me talk to maliki. so i called him and said, are you sure, mr. prime minister, it that want to do quickly, because the islamic place and there to hange of festivities someone at that time. usually, you part -- as as part of the estivities, you pardon them, it's not a time you hang, based on islamic traditions. with me about exactly when this festivities begin because it's different one day shia celebrating versus the sunnis celebrating it. and he also said that he had terrorists that the or extremists were going to take schools to bargain sooner we and the got dealt with this problem, the better. and so i said, let me talk to my washington and get back to you, prime minister. and i talked

so there's a core in iraq and syria. there is then the global networks, the foreign fighter network, the propaganda, recruiting and financing networks, and then they have eight self declared affiliates around the world. >> rose: we conclude with maggie haberman who covers politics for the "new york times" and cnn. >> paul ryan is a very conservative figure. yet at this moment in the conservative party which has lurched so far right, he is not treated that way anymore. he's seen as a moderate. >> rose: instead of establishment. >> absolutely. and the party base is deeply suspicious. many americans are deeply suspicious of government and of an establishment. so i think that we're not going to know whether the republican party looks anything like what we resemble. you certainly see people like paul ryan and ted cruz banking on the idea that it basically will form wack toward what it was in some version or another but it's a collection of different tribes with different interests now. >> rose: brett mcgurk and maggie haberma

theeeded iraq because of composition of iraq, because of the shia, but the sunnis as well, that it would make the task of reconciliation profitable. they, at the end, told me that we should defer to the prime minister of iraq, that he was -- thecountry was over and -- country was sovereign. he judges at the end that if he described to him the potential risks, and he wants to go ahead, let him do it. i told the folks in baghdad to turn them over. just a turn over saddam, in other words. host: how long did it take to execute him? mr. khalilzad: a few hours. host: you are a sunni, and maliki is a shia. mr. khalilzad: right. host: what is the difference? i have asked that question to a lot of guests. no one has really defined difference between a sunni and shia. 97%, 98%, they are the same. the fundamental difference is who was the legitimate successor to the prophet. when the prophet died, mohammed, who should have succeeded him e -- the shiaev who was the ali, son-in-law of the prophet, -- host: mohammed ali? mr. khalilzad: he was the first imam to the shia's, he was there to the prophet's

so there's a core in iraq and syria. there is then the global networks, the foreign fighter network, the propaganda, recruiting and financing networks, and then they have eight self declared affiliates around the world. >> rose: we conclude with maggie haberman who covers politics for the "new york times" and cnn. >> paul ryan is a very conservative figure. yet at this moment in the conservative party which has lurched so far right, he is not treated that way anymore. he's seen as a moderate. >> rose: instead of establishment. >> absolutely. and the party base is deeply suspicious. many americans are deeply suspicious of government and of an establishment. so i think that we're not going to know whether the republican party looks anything like what we resemble. you certainly see people like paul ryan and ted cruz banking on the idea that it basically will form wack toward what it was in some version or another, but it's a collection of different tribes with different interests now. >> rose: brett mcgurk and maggie haberm

where is iraq today? >> charlie, i have been in and out of iraq now the last month, kind of going back and forth to baghdad and beil. not yet in mosul. iraq faces tremendous challenges. let me try it break it down. the president came into office in september of 2014 after eight years of rule by prime minister maliki, his predecessor. it was a democratic transition arcs peaceful transition in the heart of the middle east. at the time the price of oil per barrel was about $100. every single drop of the price per barrel of oil, iraq loses about $1 billion a year. last month it went down to about $30. you got a sense that the tools with which he had to work were not what he expected. he is trying to implement some strong reforms, electricity tariff, purging the roles of ghost soldiers and employees. it has generated quite a bit of resistance among the political elite. what you have in the country right now in addition to the fight against isil, which we can talk about, is upheaval against the status quo from

we made it sunnis support for iraq because of the composition of the population of iraq which was majority shia but a significant number of sunnis as well. that would make the task of more difficult. they told me we should defer to the prime minister of iraq because the country was sovereign. hey said at the end if described -- if i described to them the potential risks and he wants to go ahead, let him do it. i told the folks in baghdad to turn them over. just a turn over saddam, in other words. brian: how long did it take to execute him? mr. khalilzad: a few hours. brian: you are a sunni, and maliki is a shia. mr. khalilzad: right. brian: what is the difference? i have asked that question to a lot of guests. no one has really defined the difference between a sunni and shia. mr. khalilzad: 97%, 98%, they are the same. the fundamental difference is that who was the legitimate successor to the prophet. when the prophet died, mohammed, who should have succeeded him ? the shia believe that ali, who was the son-in-law of the prophet -- brian: mohammed ali? mr. khalilzad: he was the first imam

manus: we will bring this up, iraq's debt. uae, andre iraq, kuwait. will worryt the imf about, the nonoil risk. >> they have given greece a hard time. debtaq, you see the projected to reach 100%. the reason this is key is because we had the deputy finance minister tell us, we cannot go to market. they are offering 13%. with the imf agreement, we can borrow 4%. things might get back on track. manus: let's bring in our guest from cornerstone. great to have you with us. when we look at this situation, abadi'ss it mean for government? what does he had to do to bring stability about? >> what we have seen is that it has added political flavor to the technocratic government. it is going to be easy for him to translate this into impunity, purely because of political interference. manus: one of the parts of the story we wrote up yesterday, the u.s. reaction, the rumored suggestion the u.s. might be pulling back. we are in an election year. g and is in his swan son needs to make his last moment in terms of the iraq story. how does that fit together? >> it would

why did iraq inavoid kuwait? because it had been involved in a lengthy war with iran, had gone broke, and it wanted to get kuwait to relieve its debt and also wanted to take over its oil. and so oil has been in the background of all of the major things that have happened in the various war wes have had in iraq. the question is always -- it's like a long marriage. we have had this weird obsession and fixation with iraq for 25 years, and now after so much time, it's difficult to unspool everything. it's like if you have an argument with your wife that goes on for a couple years do you remember how it started in you don't really. >> you made some good points about how we have not fought the war on terror the way that it should have been done. i'll wait for the train. train -- [whistle] >> could you talk some about what you think the signs of the risk is that posed to the west and to the u.s. by terror right now that we have to think about, are these long tsa check-in lines and airports that there have been -- some o

>> there are two principal fronts in iraq -- three actually, in iraq alone. forces are onrity axes both of the euphrates and tigris river valley, and also the kurdish regional government, in terms of stabilizing its frontlines. it's also threatening mosul from the north, east, and northeast, and it is perfectly feasible for the security forces to manage that degree of simultaneity. at the same time, across the border in syria, daesh is having to absorb the coalition air campaign against it, and the prospect of having their main supply routes through to turkey being cut by syrian democratic forces. >> i was going to ask about the supply routes. how successful is the coalition at disrupting the supply lines to daesh? are we being very successful? >> we are being very successful on the principle mainlines of communication. edadi, which sh sits on the main route between mosul and raqqa, was recaptured by syrian democratic forces/ it looks like they are maneuvering to cut the main route north into turkey that runs to raqqa. on thursday and friday of last week, the

i embedded in iraq and afghanistan with them. and also to spend time with veterans of my era, of the vietnam war. they have had -- it's hard to say this, since the wars were equally silly. they have had an easier time than you guys had. they were all volunteers. many of them volunteered on september 12th, 2001. they went over as units, and came back as units. vietnam veterans went offer alone and came back alone. because of the experience of vietnam veterans, the doctors and the -- and many of the clinics at the v.a. and elsewhere knew what post-traumatic stress disorder -- actually i've kind of dropped the "disorder" part of it because it's not disorderly to respond to the experience of combat by having some troubles reintegrating into a society that knows nothing of combat. they -- and they've treated each other differently from the vietnam generation. they formed their own organizations to help each other, to help us. 90% of them, according to polls, want to continue service in their communities because they are a generation o

is iraq lost? >> i think iraq may have been lost in 2011 when president obama wit troops. troops were leveraged. troops were balanced twoon the competing interests. troops were our ability to control iraqi politic and to surprise shiite militias and sunni militia, most of all, the islamic state. so, now, you have president flying the kind of incrementalist strategy that's of the vietnam war in its early stanls you should president kennedy. it hasn't so far dislodgeded isis from iraq. it hasn't present a political crisis from unfolding in baghdad. and it's very unlikely that anything like that is going to happen unless you have a commander in chief who's willing to be serious about the stakes of yet another middle east earn state that becomes a home or a big e home for isis. >> barack obama, does he want basically to leave, to get out? does he want to do that? >> he never, he wanted to leave, and never wanted to be there. i think it is a fundamental goal of barack obama's presidency not to commit himself to the middle east. not with standing the fact he now has over 4,000 t

iraq, most of all. one of obama's big goals -- charlie: you mean about the nationbuilding and all of that? jonathan: all of that. one of his key priorities has been to get the united states out of iraq, yet there we are again with 4000 troops on the ground. we had just sent apache helicopters and more special operations. we have had three of the top four u.s. officials visiting the country in the past month. what's the reason for this re-engagement with iraqi politics? it's all about isis. the purpose of biden strip is too short -- biden's trick is to tore up -- biden's trip is shore up iraqi politicians, to get them focused on fighting isis and not each other, and trying to make sure the battlefield gains are held. what we've seen over the last eight years and more, the iraqis, with american help, are pretty good at taking territory, but they are terrible at holding territory. whenever they do make gains, the governance -- and politics that follow are terrible. .ectarian tensions intensify shiite milit

iraq, most of all. one of obama's big goals -- charlie: you mean about the nationbuilding and all of that? jonathan: all of that. one of his key priorities has been to get the united states out of iraq, yet there we are again with 4000 troops on the ground. we had just sent apache helicopters and more special operations. we have had three of the top four u.s. officials visiting the country in the past month. what's the reason for this re-engagement with iraqi politics? it's all about isis. the purpose of biden's trip is to shore up iraqi politicians, to get them focused on fighting isis and not each other, and trying to make sure the battlefield gains are held. what we've seen over the last eight years and more, the iraqis, with american help, are pretty good at taking territory, but they are terrible at holding territory. whenever they do make gains, the governance and politics that follow are terrible. sectarian tensions intensify. shiite militias, as they taken sunni areas back from isis, have conduc

now whole parts of iraq are in danger. isis is holding parts of iraq, building bases to attack from. >> senator, let's look forward. >> this was a colossal disaster. one of the greatest errors in my view. >> let's look forward. let's talk specifics. what would trump do differently from what hillary clinton's proposed? >> we have to step it up. use whatever forces we have, in every way we can, to defeat this isis threat and try to put back together this disaster that has occurred since we had a reasonably stable government in 2011. we -- you've got to be smart about the utilization of force. you just have to be smart about it. you have to get the best advice. i'm not going to how to do it. i think donald trump would say to the military, what do you need? what can we do to increase the pressure on them? i'll back you up. we're going to destroy isis. i think that's kind of leadership we need. >> is there anything you would like to see donald trump do differently? >> well, i think he's going to need to learn. going to need to

congress blew it on the iraq resolution. but are you suggesting to me that there is not ultimate responsibility for making the decision and evaluating the recommendations of the intelligence community on the matter of sending our troops to war, of spending trillions of dollars, throwing the mideast up into upheaval, and he is not the one who ultimately bears the responsibility for that decision? >> the president made the decision to go to war. i'm not willing to put the broad instability in the middle east on his shoulders. the middle east needs to be accountable for the middle east. >> second thing. so, we went into this war in iraq. we toppled saddam hussein. we were promised we'd make money on the war. that was testimony from some of the president's advisers. said it'd be over in 60 days and the troops would be greeted with flowers in the street. didn't work out that way. afghanistan. the longest war in the history of this country. we still have troops there. the place is a mess. nation-building. an of ganarrogant policy

iraq was not a mistake. and i remember just sitting there saying, finally, at least somebody won't cave in to, i think, that narrative. hopefully, the reality is that whoever the next commander in chief is whether it's trump or cruz is willing to truly unleash total war on the islamic state. and so what i do take issue with is the way people characterize ted cruz and donald trump's whether it's carpet bombing or the willingness to unhandcuff the enemy, is their focus is on doing whatever it takes to focus the islamic state, not we want to find a way to kill civilians. carpet bombing is not targeting civilians. carpet bombing is if we know where the headquarters of isis is in raqqa, we're going to bomb it even if there happen to be some homes nearby. or when we're looking at the fuel trucks leaving to turkey to sell on the black market we're not going to drop leaflets. we're going to bomb the oil trucks. i think it's a difference of disposition, for sure. mr. sean reilly. right there in the back. sorry. >> ho

long deployments in iraq. lieutenant colonel rick francona flying recon missions there in the vietnam war, later assigned as military attache in the middle east and including syria. thank you for your service and thank you for joining me today. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >> general hurtling, you said that the major challenges facing the u.s. military, certainly include personnel issues, the strain on forces, but primarily now, funding in the age of sequestration. >> yeah. the 2011 budget control act, jim, really affected the military significantly. and i tell you, i was still on active duty 2011 through '13 when that first went into place and many of my colleagues said this cannot last. we took a real hard look at what we were doing to try to improve our efficiencies and our effectiveness and i think it was very good and as that lasted through '15, '16, '17 and '18 we'll see a deter ration of the force that will be significant and i think the service chiefs, army, navy, air force, marine corps h

we simply decided that we were over iraq. and that's because today we have, as roosevelt warns about in his speech, the first president of the united states who considers himself, first, a citizen of the world. and roosevelt talked about that in 1910, warning against those who see themselves first as citizens of the world, whose international feeling for humanity swamps national feeling. in fact, he said those -- citizens of the world are usually the worst citizens of their own country because they point out a humanity and the amorphous things we can do for them without focusing on what makes, in the republic's case, their country great and why it's worth fighting for. i call this a coexist foreign policy. another bumper sticker, you guys have seen that coexist. does it make you throw up in your mouth a little bit too when you see it? [laughter] yeah. that is an example of his mindset. it's not that coexisting is bad. coexisting is good. but coexisting is a means, not an ends. just like engagement is a means, not an ends. but

reporter: i wanted to ask you about iraq. there's been three car bombings in the last 24 hours or so. over 90 people killed. daiish is claiming responsibility. are you worried that daiish is trying to claim baghdad again for a possible assault as we saw 1 months ago? -- 18 months ago? mr. earnest: the united states strongly condemns the multiple attacks in and around baghdad today. initial estimates project more than 80 iraqi citizens have been killed in those attacks. many more have been injured. these attacks demonstrate that terrorists carry out these abominable attacks without regard to innocent civilian life and in order to stoke tensions between these communities even further. we reiterate our solidarity with the iraqi people against the threat from isil. isil is a common enemy to all iraqis, americans and the 65 nations who are part of our counter-isil coalition. by working together the iraqi people have made important gains against isil since 2014. and every step the united states has taken is to support the iraqi gov

gregg. >> >> the growing turmoil in iraq could have major implications for the u.s. strategy in fighting isis in the region. that's because the white house leans on the iraqi prime minister al abadi in battling the terror group and his political viability could be a huge factor in whether our plans could succeed or fail. joining us to talk about it is ambassador john bolton and senior at the american enterprise institute and ambassador, it's good to see you. stated goal of the protesters is to bring down the government of the prime minister and that's a government, as we say, the united states supports. vice president biden was just there. where do you think this is heading? >> well, this is a clash among shia iraqis, the muqtada al sadr who leads essentially a populist group of militias against al abadi under the control of the ayatollahs in tehran so the impact of this really calls into question whether what steps iran will have to take to reassert control. middle eastern news sources today are reporting that other shia militia more supportive of iran are moving in

i embedded in iraq and afghanistan with them. and to spend time with veterans of my era of the vietnam war. they have had, hard to say this since the wars were equally silly, they have had an easier time than you guys had. they were all volunteers. many of them volunteered on september 12, 2001. they went over as units and came back as units. vietnam veterans went over alone and came back alone. because of the experience of vietnam veterans the doctors and many clinicians at the v.a. and elsewhere knew what post traumatic stress disorder -- i have dropped the disorder part of it because it is not disorderly to respond to the experience of combat by having some troubles reintegrating into a society that knows nothing of combat. and they have treated each other differently from the vietnam generation. they formed their own organizations to help each other and help us. 90% of them according to polls want to continue service in their communities because they are a generation of volunteers. and they have looked now more recently to th

isis in northern iraq. isis in northern iraq. that's just ahead working my canister off to clean and shine... and give proven protection... against fading and aging. he won't use those copycat wipes. hi...doing anything later? the quiet type. i like that. armor all original protectant. don't be dull. if time is infinite, why is ta john deere 1 family tractor can give you more time for what you love. because with our quick-attach features, it takes less work to do more work. nothing runs like a deere. kurdistan is about the size of texas located the northeast corner of iraq, it shares borders with turkey, syria, and iran, and is rich in oil, natural gas, and extraordinary history. >> the kurds are the largest group of people in the world that don't have their own state. >> today much of kurdistan has been devastated thanks to the syrian civil war and isis. against all odds the kurdish peshmerga are the only military force to consistently beat isis. >> the peshmerga are an in credible fighting force with very

the public did not support by and large the war in iraq. no one took it out on the veterans and that is what the anon veterans did. a lot of them were our kids. in --host: in terms of your generation of veterans, there were some that became activists. the vast majority went on to live their lives. the stereotype began to develop a vietnam veterans as half crazy when they came home. it is a stereotype that has continued on to this generation of veterans. i would like both of you to talk about that stereotype. how real is it? a vietnam veteran invented. internet. >> if you look at some of the great entrepreneurs of this country, there are a lot of really successful people including people who have themselves struggled with ptsd. it does not have to destroy you. one of the great experts is sitting next to me. >> post-traumatic stress is why i got this lovely little dog care. the best way that i can tell anyone of you guys out there who has pts is to give back to your community. what we have is survivor's guilt. how can i lived and my friends d

that's not where iraq's oil is in the western and northwestern parts of iraq. it's not where syria's historical strengths of its great cities are out in the center and east, and, so, you have now a sunni arab state that is economically destitute and dysfunctional, and that can only be a recipe for more violence down the road. so that's my practical reason against partition. i could still imagine confederation working and that gets to the mosul question. so my second point would be the real risk here at this point is not so much whether or not mosul will be liberated. it's already been held by the bad guys a long time so a lot of damage has been done and a few more months presumably won't change that a lot, but the question is who will stabilize mosul after i.s.i.s. is driven out and as just mentioned which sectarian group, which foreign power may have the greatest influence? i don't think we have a great answer to this. we have been foundering between shall we create a national guard or help the iraqis create a national guard that can locally recruited and stab

iraq is -- iraq is in -- i'm like tom, very seriously concerned about the situation in iraq today. and i think what you saw with m m muktada al sadr's -- >> do you see it as an extension of -- >> i don't think there's any doubt in the world that iran is the most important player, foreign nation player in iraq today, not the united states, nobody else, iran. they have an influence on the shia government and have had since that government came to power. of course, iraq is a shia majority state. so, yeah, i see -- i see a lot of iranian influence. >> so what -- so what, from your perspective, should the united states be saying, doing building, you know, a coalition of other countries that have a stake in long-term iraqi stability in order to make sure that this shia perspective, this radical shia perspective, does not poison any ability to bring the pseu-- >> i don't know anything we can do other than continue to work with the iraqi government. president obama is incrementally increasing the presence of u.s. forces there. tom probably knows the extent and degree of that better than i

the most interesting thing i found in iraq -- we'll talk more about syria, but in iraq, i have been focused -- i was just in iraq on my own three weeks ago and looking at the campaign in mosul and saw a lot of setbacks in the north, but on this trip i was able to see in the euphrates valley that stretches from fallujah through ramadi up towards the jordanian border, there really has been a lot of progress made, and there was evidence that i found that the tribal sheiks were very pragmatic, opportunistic, to be blunt, are beginning to think i.s.i.s. may not be the winning bet. >> rose: wow. so in classic fashion, tribal leaders are beginning, in cases our experts listed for me, and i know some of these tribes over the last 15 years, are beginning to flip. so i thought that story in the euphrates valley was interesting. the battle for fallujah that's now been launched in some ways is the trickiest part of this war because it's going to involve shiite militias, the sunnis who were -- who the sunnis who are the primary residents of fallujah hate, but it will involve the sunni, popular militia f

they determine that iraq, they went into arak, everybody thinks i'm saying iraq. but arak heavy water research reactors. al they determined iran was not pursuing the construction of the kpa existing reactor. they had removed the existing one from that reactor they had rendered it inoperable by filling with concrete which is part of the agreement. they had stored monitoring uranium pellets and fuel. they modified the fuel process line at the fuel manufacturing plant. so that it cannot be used for the fabrication of fuel. iran was not accumulatediing uranium through his activities. it goes on. i got 27 seconds left. a lot of good stuff in here. these are people who have actually been in iran doing the inspections. m iran was not conducting any uranium enrichment. had removed all of its nuclear material. this was all pursuant to the agreement. so and -- i'm getting to eight seconds. completed the modalities and facility inspection arrangements to allow the agency to implement all transparency measures provided in the agreement. so that's what the iaea is doing. you k

in the iraq case there are not special forces. we have thousands of americans doing all kinds of things necessary, logistics because remember this iraq army needs to be rebuilt and wrist-- sustained and have its line of communications sustained. there's a lot of pieces to this. the reason again without going into detail for the special port-- forces present in syria is not the numbers themselves, but their ability to go in, identify groups that are willing to go after isil and bring down like a funnel, a tornado the great weight of the american military power through those forces and amplify and enable their fax. that's what they are so good at. that's why they are there and that's why we are increasing the numbers. >> the point would be that those operations, special operations have been supported by adjacent countries. is there indication they would support a land force, mobilizing on the territory? >> i don't have any indication from that turks they would do that, no. >> lets me shift gears. many on the committee have been urgi

we haven't in combat operations in iraq. that may be thecase and the numbers are down by comparison to 2009 but the facts remain , there are still thousands of americans fighting overseas and even in and advise and assist role as you well know, that could mean being within a couple of miles of the front lines and they are obviously very well-equipped because they do often engage in battle and as you pointed out leland, americans continue to be lost in the battle against isis and other foes overseas so this will be a delicate balance for this white house as they continue to shape the notion, this narrative of this legacy if you will , that this is a president who did what he could do to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan and to a lesser extent manage what has obviously become a growing problem in syria and yet understanding clearly as americans do, leland, that the battle continues and that is something that continues to happen on this presidents want. leland: we keep hearing from the white house this talking point about th

did you imagine you would be back in iraq? >> not iraq, ma'am. >> it's been very busy. very dynamic. much different than it was in previous times. >> reporter: dynamic to say the least. >> fire! >> reporter: we saw for the first time, up close, american troops on the ground, taking direct aim at the terrorist group. backing up iraqi forces outside the base and they certainly don't stop for general volesky to give interviews. >> the change now is they're out of a fight. [ gunfire ] that's the sound of freedom right there. >> reporter: freedom from the threat of isis remains a challenge nearly two years after the militants overran large swaths of iraq and syria. but general volesky says, with the help of u.s. forces, the iraqis have isis on defense. >> every day they lose terrain. they're not regaining anything. that's really what is different. >> reporter: and the iraqi security forces did score a major victory against isis in ramadi, the capital of iraq's largest province. as we drove toward the region, we saw the cost of the fight. we can see all of the destruction as

how security battle describes iraq's against isis. "the current descriptor is, quote, country-wise strategic stalemate, unquote. trying toment is mount an offensive to retake but political turmoil in baghdad is interfering. what are your impressions? pat: the mosul, not fallujah. if you can't take fallujah, to takeot be able mosul, the second largest city in the country and you need more troops. the kurds are not anxious to go far outside of kurdish territory, what they'll have for state and fight for it. tom: but they're trying to take territory, as well, now. of americance relationships, people know a lot about coker, theyan ambassador. that's what we need. need the intangible presence on the ground to form that compromise. many american troops would you send? tom: i would send probably two, talk about two more squadrons in terms of direct guys, and i would probably send 5,000 troops. with asul is a city million people. tom: to embed them with the iraqis. send an american marine battalion into mosul. eleanor: real easy to decide the

i don't >>> iraq on edge. as sunni extremists bring more carnage. >>> a voyage four decades in the making. we will bring you the view from hava havana, cuba as the first u.s. cruise ship docks there since diplomatic relations resumed. >>> plus. >> i was pleased when senator sanders said he was going to work tirelessly to make sure that donald trump is not president, and i really welcome that because that has to be our primary objective. >> hillary clinton tells cnn why she's ready to make amends with bernie sanders and focus her efforts on securing the keys to the white house. hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. thanks for joining us. this is "cnn newsroom." >>> isis is claiming responsibility for yet another mass bombing, this time in southern iraq. at least 30 people were reportedly killed and dozens wounded in two suicide bombings in samawah. the terror group says one attacker blew up his car at a gathering of shiite special forces. the s

mosul, the second largest city in iraq. a city that used to have 2 million people controlled now for two years by isis. are u.s. combat forces now actively engaged in this war against isis? >> well, again, wolf, these are advise and assist soldiers conducting that mission. these are white seals. these are individuals much like the army green berets. they have the same thing in the force and they were in a town called taleska. it's a beautiful little christian town that isis took over in august of 2014 and i would anticipate what you're seeing is the attempts to take those cities that are circled in mosul and continuing to conduct a movement where they're sieging mosul and cut off from all isis resupply or efforts to reinforce their soldiers. this is one of the many towns that are right on the border between the kurdish area and the peshmerga try to conduct further operations into mosul and trying to attack in the major city. >> the number of u.s. troops on the ground in iraq has clearly risen. it's been 4,000, 5,000. it sou

they have training camps waiting inside iraq and syria. they look at the women, they have a purpose for young unmarried women. they can go to be sex slaves for their fighters. you know, so there is a system to what they did, and the difference is that they wanted to erase the yazidis -- >> and how many people were estimated to have been killed and enslaved. >> the numbers are very, very difficult to confirm. we did a lot of work on this. what you can establish is some 5,000 ya i dzi what you can establish is some 5,000 ya i dzdis are known to h been killed at this point. the mass graves are still being excavated, still being found, and that number is expected to rise. there were some 5,000 to 6,000 moria i didd -- more yazidis we kidnapped. >> and in the meantime the world watches, you know, as i said. this could have been taken care of a while back if the whole world would come together but i think the importance of your report is the comparison between the third reich and their systematic extermination of jews and gypsies and other peopl

we simply decided we were over iraq. that's because today we have, as roosevelt warns about in his speech, the first president of the united states who considers himself first a citizen of the worlds. and roosevelt talked about that in 1910. warning against those who see themselves first as citizens of the world, whose international feeling swamps national feeling. citizens of the world are the worst citizens of their own country because they point out a humanity in the amorphous things we can do for them withouts focusing on what makes in the republics case. i call the forepolicy of barack obama a coexisting important policy. another bumper sticker. doesn't it make you throw up a little built, too when you see it? that is an example of his mindset. it's not the coexisting is bad. it's good. but it's a means, not an ends, just like engage. is a means, not an end. but for this administration ex-when asked about this doctrine he said it is to engage. engaging is not a doctrine. engaging doesn't mean you necessary lip under

final point on what's happening in iraq. the reason why this is very important, the challenge to the system, george, is coming from within the dominant elite. this is not a sunni uprising against a shy i can't government. most of the protesters are shy i can't and they want a different system. this gives us hope. it's about iraqis imagining a different future, a better future for iraq and hopefully this particular future would be sooner rather than later because is it if the system is not overhauled, we could see the end of iraq as a unified state. >> wow. thank you so much for your analysis. >> thank you. >>> we move on now to southeastern turkey. that is where a blast outside of a police headquarters has killed one officer there and injured 13 other people, including civilians. state media reports that a car bomb caused that explosion. our senior international correspondent nick peyton walsh is following this story and joins us on the phone from istanbul. what more do we know about this attack, this explosion? >> reporter:

that would be my goal for iraq. ran, iran, i would hope we would get other kinds of cooperation from them. we will just have to do with .hat in the next years it's a difficult relationship. thank you for joining us today. coming up next we will be , theng to timothy cama energy environment reporter for the hill. first, this memorial day weekend c-span will have an interview with admiral john richardson on newsmakers. ons weekend at 6:00 p.m. sunday. he was asked about a resurgence of completion among great powers like russia and china, with the u.s.. the u.s. navy had freedom of navigation for the last 25 years. now it will see some pushback and some challenges from stronger chinese and russian navy, in iranian navy and some important strategic waters. broadly speaking and the years ahead, how do you see that changing? one of the things that defines a great power is they can be a player, if you will, across a wide spectrum of national power. great powers about , russia and china, they are ,ble to participate and com

intervention in iraq. i am a fan of international pressure on iraq that includes the u.s. but it includes europe and russia and others of calling for a new election in iraq. reform smfg the laws and making i actually much more accountable for anti-corruption and sort of creating incentives for iraqi government. >> yeah, it's an uphill battle. we have to leave it at. that thank you for your time very much. founderer of women for women international. thank you for joining us. >>> in the wake of recent attacks around the world, there is a few myths shattered on how young arabs view the terror organization. the annual arab youth survey found 78% reject isis and think it would fail. the foundings were that lack of jobs was believed tore the maybe driver of isis' recruitment, not extremist views of islam. joining me is a former senior adviser to bill clinton a. thank you for joining us. >> happy mother's day. >> this is now the eighth year you have done this survey. but this year i guess it has a little bit more of a greater significance to particularly what is happening with is

about what he thought happened at iraq. and what they actually thought of the ability of this agreement to stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon. those are the people we also listened to. it was not ben rhodes in some political spin. but if we are trying to measure this agreement, we are all rehashing this agreement. i think the best way would be to go to the i.a.e.a. because they are the ones we put on the ground and ask them to do these inspections. i would just like to come up for the record, i'm going to ask to have admitted the first two reports by the i.a.e.a., the verification for the islamic republic and iran in light of the united nations security council resolution 2231. this is an inspection done because of the agreement. i will tell you what they report. i will give you the greatest hits. they determined that iraq, heavy water research reactor. they determined iran was not pursuing the construction of the reactor. they had removed the existing from that reactor and filled it with concrete. they had stored u

iraq and the kurdistan region. they are at present in terms of governance energy sector reform efforts that i couldn't really glom them together. so i guess just throw water at me if i start to go on too long. so at the outset, iraq is in the headlines in d.c. because of the isis crisis and the ongoing fighting in anbar and mosul, in the western and north of the country and also the chaos in baghdad. if people are following the news, protesters affiliated with the old friend al sadr recently stormed into the green zone and occupied parliament. so i'm not going to get into the weeds on that exciting stuff. i'll sort of only touch on that as it relates to some of this reform effort stuff. so certainly as the other folks on the stage here have said iraq is struggling with a lot of the same problems that sounds like algeria and nigeria and other oil producers are. namely in the time of high oil prices they didn't do a lot to inoculate themselves against a potential crash. in fact, certainly in baghdad and kurdistan, i

sent to iraq? that is a very serious question. interestingly, one of the people who signed up to be in the military who wasn't ultimately, was edward snowden. one the great whistleblowers of our time. he ended up having -- his leg broken in training. he didn't go into the military. ended up working for the nsa. had a deep commitment to the united states and ended up showing it in a different way. brian: from your perspective, why do you think -- was don rumsfeld and george w. bush, were they evil people? amy: when you look at the actions they engaged in, were they evil actions, committing so many lives leading to loss of not only american lives but lives in iraq and afghanistan, it's horrific. brian: why do you think -- what motivated them to do it? that's the question that never been answered. obviously you were against it from the beginning. you demonstrated before it started. what's the reason? amy: that was a matter of saying, what would be the reason after the september 11th attacks when harme

time it was veterans of the iraq and afghanistan wars. called recent book was charlie mike which means continue the mission. about the veterans of those wars. to spendy interesting time with them as they have over the last four years. to spend time with veterans of my era. the vietnam war. the words were equally silly. time you guyssier head. they were all volunteers. ony of them volunteered september 12, 2001. units andover as quebec as units. alonenveterans went over and came back alone. because of the experience of vietnam veterans the doctors known all the posttraumatic stress disorders. it's not disorderly to respond to the experience of combat. having some troubles reintegrating into a society that knows nothing of combat. they treated each other differently. they are generation of volunteers. they've looked more recently organizations like team rubicon. disaster relief internationally and nationally. know thatrtant to when you see this horrifying statistic the 22 veterans of day commit suicide. which i had veterans of all wars and

president bush came twice for iraq and 9/11. in determining what's in our national interest we can get to what's in the national interest. that means congress has to retain some authority and that we should ask. particularly before libya. he should have asked. my guess is the debate would have been messy but gadhafi might be there still, we might have problems but not chaos. >> i agree with that, senator paul. it is always best if the legislative and executive branches are on the same wavelength when you're talking about sending our young men and women into harm's way. president should come to congress and seek approval. we had a democratic senate. it was unpopular to do what we were continuing to do. the only way we got approval of congress was to go first to the security council of the u.n. and get a use of force resolution by them. still, president bush took the matter to the congress -- president bush 41. had congress turned him down i think he would have done what he did. i don't think we'll ever resolve that issue of who h

iraq war by misleading the american people. and i'm quoting from president bush's press secretary. he said the white house iraq group had been set up in the summer of 2002 to coordinate the marketing of the war to the public. and mr. hannah, wasn't scooter libby your boss? and dick cheney's chief of staff, weren't they part of the iraq group? >> the vice president was, and i think scooter libby was. i'm not 100% sure, but i think you're right. >> well, scott mcclellan further wrote, he explained exactly how you and others misled the american people, and he said this, and i quote. as the campaign accelerated, qualifications were downplayed or dropped all together. contradictory intelligence was largely ignored or simply disregarded. so mr. hannah, why did you ignore and disregard evidence that contradicted your political narrative for the war? >> congress woman, i would just say that, you know, to the extent that i got it wrong in believing that saddam had weapons of mass destruction, an awful lot of people got it wrong. it was