because it's not just about defeating isis in mosul and pushing the isis fighters out of mosul. what comes next is arguably even more important if we're going to be talking about establishing long-term stability in iraq. what does that mean? long-term stability in iraq means that organizations like isis will not be able to exploit the divisions that exist here and then reemerge once again. >> incredibly important point, arwa. stay with me. it is the top of the hour. i'm poppy harlow. i want to welcome my viewers here in the united states and around the world. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we begin with breaking news. we are following out of iraq tonight. it is 2:00 in the morning in mosul, iraq, and that's where we're focused at this hour. the offensive to liberate mosul from isis control is now underway. that word from iraq's prime minister, al abadi, in a televised statement moments ago. to give you a sense of the importance of mosul in the fight, mosul has been in isis hands for the last two years. it is the terror group's last stronghold within iraq. militia g

melinda: alan posener why mosul and why now? alan: why mosul? because it is basically iraq's aleppo. it is the mercantile city, a huge city. whoever controls mosul controls the region, whether it be called iraq or the syrian empire or the eastern part of the ottoman empire, this was always the prize, the change between the north, the kurdish part, and the shiite part in the southeast and the sunni part in the south. so this holds iraq together. and therefore, anyone with an ambition to control the whole of iraq needs that city. so that's why -- if you ask why now, i think the time is right. they have been moving, the iraqis have been moving should -- slowly but surely up the river tigris toward mosul, and they have to do it. it's a question of credibility, isn't it? if you say you are going to do whatever daesh, isil, you want to call them, you have to act on your promise, and now is the time. melinda: there is of course an echo chamber on the internet that says it has everything to do with the u.s. election, which is now entering its final stag

troops inside of mosul? >> you know, that's so mysterious, and al-baghdadi's whereabouts are also mysterious. you know, the u.s. military told us that they have intelligence that some i.s.i.s. leaders and their families are fleeing mosul already ahead of this offensive and heading west toward syria, toward some of the strong holds that i.s.i.s. has there. raqqa, de facto capital in syria whether that includes al-baghdadi and his family, we just don't know. >> rose: but we can tell whether they have closed the route from mosul which has been a primary route from mosul to raqqa. that is still open for them to flee? >> they still have territory that connects those two cities. that's correct. >> rose: holly williams, cbs news. back in a moment. stay with us. >> rose: zeid ra'ad al hussein is here, u.n. high commissioner for human rights. he addressed the human rights council in a special session friday about the ongoing crisis in aleppo calling the city a slaughter house. with coalition forces advancing in mosul

charlie: what do you worry about in mosul? the battle for mosul? zeid ra'ad al hussein: we have been very clear, and i'm sure you discussed this earlier today , that the use of human shields by isil his deeply worrisome. we have heard they have kept certain communities close to their places of concentration. we have heard they have been moving populations from villages toward mosul. ,f there is any resistance there have been allegations of on the spot executions, which we're looking at. and finally, what we are worried about is that those parts of the outer parts of mosul and as you move in, the iraqi security forces, the military, won't be alone, that you will have these other armed groups. fallujah, they exacted their retribution on those who had surrendered. these places, the people of fallujah in a very difficult situation. you would assume they would want to flee from isil, but if they flee into the path of an oncoming armed group representing one of the militia and are exposed to atrocities from that site as well, they are placed before an im

mosul to raqqa? that is still open for them to flee? holly: they still have territory that connects those cities. charlie: thank you so much for joining us. holly williams, cbs news. back in a moment, stay with us. ♪ ♪ charlie: zeid ra'ad al hussein is here. he is a member of the u.n. commission for human rights. he addressed this in a special session, calling aleppo a slaughterhouse. he also warned of the possible use of human shields. i'm pleased to have him back on this program. welcome. zeid ra'ad al hussein: thank you so much. charlie: i think this is the first time you have been here since your election to the u.n. high commission for human rights. you said that the bombardment of aleppo constitutes crimes of a historic proportion. tell me what is happening, and why it brings such strong language? zeid ra'ad al hussein: even on the scale of the atrocities that we have witnessed in syria -- not just in syria, also in iraq, it is almost one battle space. the fact that you have 275,000 or so p

i think the mosul battle will be successful. it will take will beyond the inauguration before it is over. but the real question is what happens afterwards? will the united states say that the fighting is over so our participation is done, isis has been ejected, and leave and set conditions for another denigration of the real strategic importance, the political reconciliation and governance and reconstruction necessary? i don't know. i would like to believe that the next administration will learn from our own past and say we have to stick with our iraqi partners. katty: how do the kurds, shia iraqis, and the sunnis, who are the majority in city of mosul, sort this out afterwards? >> they are going to need help talking it through and that is where we can come in. the iranians are very interested in how this comes out. they are already heavily involved in baghdad. we have to be equally if not more involved in baghdad after the fighting is over, not just to eject the islamic state. katty: ok, general, thanks for coming in. european

north of mosul, kurdish peshmerga fighters will block escape routes but not enter mosul itself. foreign troops will also be involved. the u.s.-led international coalition has carried out airstrikes and there are more personnel,ilitary including 5000 u.s. special forces, deployed on the ground. france is part of the fight with fighter jets taking off of an aircraft carrier. she had militants have played a key role fighting alongside coalition troops and iranian forces have provided advice and funding for various forces fighting in iraq. kurdish forces have carried out artillery strikes on mosul. whether it is unclear they will take part in the operation to recapture mosul. laura: turkey's president erdogan has been insisting his country will also play a role in the offensive, that not -- but not according to the iraqi prime minister. there is quite a spat between the two leaders. we go to new york. director at the global strategy project to thanks for being with us. why is turkey being left out of this offensive at the last minute? turkishasically, from a perspective, it is stran

the operation to liberate mosul has begun. the forces leading the operation are the brave iraqi army and police forces. they and no one else will be entering mosul to liberate it. they are there for your sake. >> iraqi forces have spent months pairing for the operation. troops have been deployed around the city, along with tanks and heavy artillery. they are backed up by kurdish peshmerga to the north and east. signs that the offensive was imminent came out earlier when the iraq he army showered mosul with leaflets, warning residents to stay indoors. their fate is now a top concern for a groups. -- for aid groups. more than one million people live inside the sprawling city, and there are fears that they could be used as human shields by jihadi fighters desperate to hold onto the last stronghold. genie: for more on the situation, let's bring in doug herbert. we are talking about tens of thousands of troops moving in to try to take the city back from the islamic state group three who are they and where are they coming from? dove

to plan and the attempted drive the islamic state out of mosul. kurdish peshmerga fighter say they're captured territory. also coming up, the long wait is over for some of them at least. emotional scenes in nigeria as schoolgirls held captive for militants -- by militants from more than two years are reunited with their families. and an explosion at one of the world's biggest chemical plants here in germany. two people lose their lives. several others are still missing. ♪ brent: it is good to have you with us. the sun has set one day one of the battle for mosul and the iraqis's say they are pleased with their progress. one military commanders said all is going to plan and he praised the role of the international coalition. iraqi army units, kurdish fighters and militia have -- reporter: iraq's kurdish fighters heaven waiting for this. -- have been waiting for this. >> soon we will be together in mosul and we will raise the flag of triumph in their no place for the islamic state group among us in among the true iraqi families. we came to rescue y

they also see parts of mosul as rightly theirs. this young kurdish fighter told us what motivates him... >> ( translated ): we are fighting for our land, for our nation. this is for our future. for the future of kurdistan. it is an honor and we will give our lives for this cause." >> reporter: but the kurdish fighters also trained by and allied with the u.s.-led coalition, don't want the shia militias joining the fight. their spokesman told pbs newshour plainly, the kurds do not approve. >> ( translated ): the shia militias are foreigners to the people of that area. they have no relations with the land, and the people. and if they participate, they will create conflict. >> reporter: this is where the battle for mosul will begin. qayarrah, a small town just 35 miles south of mosul, was occupied by isis until they were pushed out just over a month ago. now, some signs of life are returning. at the entrance to the town a hand painted sign reads: here is qayarrah, the key to liberating mosul. isis set fire to qayarrah oil wells in retr

there are still 1.2 million civilians left in mosul and human shields. matt bradley, nbc news, erbil." hundreds of families who have been caught in the crossfire of the wars in mosul, tikrit and other areas.. are flocking to a refugee camp near mosul. they're arriving by the busloads. volunteers have been giving them water and some supplies. the syrian military has announced a ceasefire to let trapped civilians leave aleppo. syrian state t-v has shown buses waiting for them.but rebels say it's a psychological campaign to get them to surrender.the rebels have offensive to break the takeover of aleppo. tonight, you're invited to a ceremony to honor the 25th anniversary of the vietnam memorial in veterans park on milwaukee's lakefront.it's the first celebration since the memorial was built back in 1991.the ceremony starts at five with an after party at on the northside the war king memorial. for your health now- the center for disease control now says pre-teens only need ?two? two does is enough to protect against the human papillomavirus.. which causes a v

"mosul is so sad. we had mosul. but when she left, when she took everybody out, we lost mosul. now we're fighting again to get mosul. i'm just amazed that he seems to think that the iraqi government and our allies and everybody else launched the attack on mosul to help me with this election, but of course that's how donald conspiracy..." the fight for mosul, which began sunday. iraqi security forces, kurdish peshmerga allies and thousands of irregulars are taking part of the fight in mosul. the us is advising on the effort. the battle is expected to take months. chicago parks shut off hundreds of drinking fountains because of high levels of lead. lead levels standard for drinking water were found in 459 water fixtures -- 445 were outdoor fountains and 14 were indoors. in a statement, the chicago park district said: "ensuring the health and safety of all park patrons and staff is a top priority." park officials say the fountains will be removed, replaced or repaired as needed. butler is making a different kind of leap.. how he's working to empower young people. a game changer fr

it looks like they will at some iso--- mosul. the western strategy against the islamic state has focused on syria and iraq. that is like playing a game of chess and only focusing on two squares on the chest toward because the islamic state is in 30 different questions. we need to worry about libya, egypt, but it will be a lot easier to, if you will, eradicate islamic state control, but it is another thing to eradicate the islamic state. they will look like every other person in mosul. whoever has the job of occupying will be in for a long haul. the initial invasion of iraq went quickly. we were in baghdad in a few weeks. the insurgency started afterwards and without political consensus, it is deja vu all over again. laura: they got mosul pretty quickly. will this go down as a foreign-policy win for obama? it certainly will. everything will be caught in the vortex of election-year rhetoric , so people will say, obama should not have allowed it to get this way. that was the theme of donald trump in the debate. they will sort it out

those 232 men, that was near mosul. we also heard from our own sources inside mosul of a particularly gruesome execution of 20 men accused of being spies. they were taken to mosul university, they were tied together and all electelectrocu their bodies left lying in the street as a warning to others. this fear tactic increasing inside of massively. people have been asked to move into the city, for example, tens of thousands of civilians being forced in from the outskirts of mosul into the city as human shields. and if they refuse to go, being shot on the spot. you know, this all sort of adding to this -- almost a million, million and a half civilians there. so these others being brought in just to add to the hewlett-packard an shields. and it really does beg -- human shields. and it really does beg the question how the assault on mosul, how it aep's handled. iraqi forces will will have to worry about civilians. >> can't help but see the images we're showing as you explain these horrific details. you know, the children --

we'll continue to be critical in mosul specifically. they're all doing a variety of responsibilities carrying out a variety of responsibilities, but what's important here, wolf is that it's the iraqis in the lead. we're in a support role doing all we can to help them along with other members of the international coalition. >> i take it, though, there are at least 200 or so u.s. special operation forces on the front lines right now along the combat with these isis forces subpoena that right? >> wolf, we should be very careful, first, i won't talk about our special force where is they may be located either in iraq or syria. even our special operations forces are performing and advice an assist mission. helping and advising forces. counterterrorism services in particular as well as the kurdish peshmerga forces taking the fight to eisele. special operators serving carefully in this advisory role because that's the role carved out for us in iraq. this is the iraqi's fight. we're doing everything we can to support them to be sure this is a da

support launches an offensive to retake mosul. we are live on the ground for what could be a defining moment in the battle against isis. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is monday, october 17th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. up first, donald trump declaring the fix is in. three weeks before america votes. with his hopes fading and list of women growing. he is waging a war on the media. insisting the media is rigging the race for hillary clinton. here is a possible explanation for the battle cry. clinton has opened an 11--point lead in all four candidates. we get more from chris frates in washington. >> reporter: good morning, john and christine. donald trump continues to push the idea that the election is somehow rigged despite not providing evidence to support his charges. on sunday, he tweeted the election is absolutely being rigged by the media, but also at many polling places. the facts don't bear this out. a 2012 investigative project news 21 looked at a decade of data and fo

the target is largest city, mosul. kurdish forces and iraqi troops are surrounding mosul to force its liberation after two years of occupation. hundreds of thousand of civilians are in the cross fire. war correspondent holly williams was outside mosul today when the first shots were fired. >> over the last few days we have seen video emerging from inside mosul of what appeared to inside the city. holly and her crew were fine. but it was the start of an eventful day. >> just after dawn they broke through the front line. a column of tanks and armored vehicles rolling into isis territory. these men are kurdish fighters, who have joined with the iraqi army and local militiamen to push isis out o a combined force thought to be more than 20,000 strong. these kurdish fighters are trying to move in that direction and retake the main road to mosul. but isis has lit fires in villages there and there. to try to shield themselves from air strikes. it didn't work. u.s. coalition strikes pounded isis today and the extremists lost mo

the battle for mosul started east of the city. hunting down the handful of isis fighters holding out. entrance to the tunnel. in tarjelo they showed the tunnels isis built to defend itself and the aftermath of four u.s. coalition air strikes that destroyed them. colonel told us the extremists fought to the death. >> do you think isis dug tunnels underneath mosul as well. for sure, he told us. suicide car bombs and tunnels, that's how isifi these used to be farming communities. but the residents fled isis two years ago and now it's an apocalyptic landscape. in the days before the offensive began the u.s. coalition softened the ground with air strikes inside the city of mcht osul. these are strikes on isis weapons facilities according to the coalition. there are thought to be fewer than 5,000 isis fighters left in civilians. isis is preventing them from leaving. using them as human shield. but some are managing to get out and coming to overcrowded camps like this one. hussein abdullah is an english teacher who fled a town south of m

enemy in mosul now. reporter: there are 5000 u.s. troops in iraq, not directly joining the fight. nor, general townsend tells me, is the offensive an american-imposed plan. but he is in close contact with iraqi commanders. at his next meeting with the chief of defense staff, he looks for reassurances that have enough equipment and men. defeating i.s. in mosul won't be easy. >> they are a very resilient and challenging foe. they are very adaptable, creative, cunning. we have seen all kinds of examples of that. it is a challenging opponent. they saw people's heads off on tv, they drown people and video it, they burn people alive in cages, they crucify people, and they drive over people on the street with the bulldozers. are they using human shields in there? yeah, they are probably using human shields. this is a brutal opponent that has to be stopped. jonathan: he won't be drawn on how long it will take, but as we leave, with mosul in the distance, any victory looks some way off. jonathan beale, bbc news.

the operation to retake the iraqi city of mosul is gaining pace. the u.s. is saying up to 900 jihadists have been killed. if they went back territory held by the islamic state. fighting has broken out in the syrian city of aleppo as rebels announce a large scale offensive. a historic agreement to create the world's biggest ever marine reserve in antarctica. annette: we begin in northern iraq as the operation to retake the city of mosul from the islamic state, where it continues to make progress. washington is saying up to 900 jihadists have been killed. peshmerga fighters and the iraqi army has seized several villages in and around mosul. defensive tunnels and bomb factories have been discovered. officials are saying islamic state group have killed some 232 people near mosul, including civilians and former iraqi forces. they refused to comply with orders. they have also been talking about civilians being used as human shields. james andre has just returned from the campaign in northern iraq. forcesi do not think the will enter mosul straightaway because at

i'm sure there are tunnels in mosul. when you take a city, you have nemy out block by block and house by house. can take manyl civilians as shields. they can kill them in the process. it can set up barriers to the forces taking them out. this is what the president has been saying and everyone knows. this is going to be tough. it is going to be bloody and a lot of civilians will lose their lives. katty: how well equipped are the isil forces inside mosul? william: we don't know. the isil forces may decide to merge with the locals and wait. we know that the coalition forces can fight together. the question is, can they live and govern together? is canne is -- part one we take the city back? next is can we govern? iraq,as been a problem in whether people are willing to allow all grievances -- old defenses to heal and form a coalition-type government. katty: in your opinion, should the political aftermath have been thought out more thoroughly the for the push for mosul took? are we being premature? william: we have thought ab

new advances in the bat tool recapture mosul. an elite army is on the eastern edge of the saty waiting for reinforcements before going in and there's word of isis fighters on the move. michael holmes is live on the ground near mosul. what can you tell us this -- >> of course we've been saying for some time isis has had mosul for more than two years. plentee of time to prepare a defense. and just a couple of hours agegewe herd from witnesses insides mosul, most of them foreign fighters have been pouring in to mosul from raqqa wear dg stingtdive uniforms and suicide belts. they're carrying light weapons pm these are apparently suicide squads dispatched to mosul. they will night death. and speculation that isis may pull back from the eastern side of the city to the more denseply packed western old city pack ofmosisal where it's harder to have the urban khan compat. and so what we're hearing is that indeed steams be to happening. inal to the western parshz of the city. and they've been mined with exhoegzives. the plan for that is it

artillery of areas in and around mosul in preparation for this battle. the inhabitants of that city, which ones had a population of 2 million, now perhaps 700,000 to a million. they are preparing for this battle. some are digging bomb shelters in their basements. others are stocking up food. because everybody knows what's coming. isis knows what's coming as well. they've made it clear that anybody who tries to abandon the city without permission will be executed. 14 isis members were executed yesterday. however, they have told wounded isis fighters that they can leave and we understand early yesterday morning, six bus loads full of isis members, women and children left mosul presumably for iraq a. paula. >> in terms of what's going on now, a couple of questions. what defense does isis have against all of this and how will that end up in sparing the civilians? a lot of people commented even a victory for the iraqi military could mean a lot of suffering for the civilians still caught up there. >> no question about it. we've seen time and time again, for in

who are in and around mosul. of course, part of talking about it is to try to get them out of the way. but our supporters said there could be more than a million people, civilians, trying to get out of the way and it will lead to this humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. what is the plan for that? >> of course, there are real concerns about the humanitarian situation. but, alisyn, i have to point out we had concerned in mosul since isol first moved in there. they have brutalized the population of mosul and trying to get isol out of there. supported by the international community, led by the united nations to try and, again, be prepared for civilians who will want to leave the battle space there. there is also an effort to reach out to civilians in mosul itself. just in the last 48 hours, for example, thousands of leaflets dropped over mosul by the government of iraq. more than 7 million leaflets dispersed over the next 48 hours. again, providing guidance and advice to the people of mosul how to conduct themsel

that is about nine miles to the east of mosul. so far, they have killed at least 50 militants and have raised st iraqi flag. the u.s. secretary of defense, ash carter, is also in baghdad for a surprise visit and getting an update about the battles that are taking place. we get the latest this hour from cnn's arwa damon live in iraq following the story. good to have you with us. what can you tell us about these new pushes by the iraq-led forces? >> well, it certainly is bringing them closer to, of course, what is going to be the main and most difficult battlefield, iraq's second largest city of mosul. and they have been encountering the closer they've been getting to the city itself on the different.fronts an even stronger resistance from isis. the organization's best weapon are these suicide car bombs that are sometimes laying in wait when they think they've cleared the city, all of a sudden a vehicle comes careening to their positions they've set up and isis has shown abilities to launch attacks elsewhere, citing the city of kirk

that will be affected by what is happening in mosul. amy: what about the humanitarian situation, a city of 2 million, what this means? is lefty knows what there. it is probably over one million. the thing is, all of these sieges have a certain amount in have, whetherouou it is the various districts in damascus, aleppo, ramadi, fallujah, mosul. government forces want to separate the f fhters fromom the civilian population. they do that by bombarding these places. those defending the places, in this case, isis, don't want to lose the civilian population, so they prevent them leaving and they are described as human shields. basically, who is -- whoever is on thehe defenending side has te interest to keep the civilian population there. amy: don't they have to be desperate to flee into syria? has been the way out. it may seem that way. out, itho have gotten seems to be easier before this happened, it is about $600 per person to get out. you would cross into the kurdish controlled area of northeast .yria they would move to camps they are and

. >>> and the fight for mosul. we have new clues on the tactics isis is using to defend the iraqi city and it involves tunnels. >>> good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. i'm anne-marie green. >>> well, tonight in las vegas, donald trump and hillary clinton debate for the third and final time. since their last face-off, trump has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault and declining poll numbers, while clinton is dealing with almost daily revelations about her use of private e-mail. weijia jiang is in las vegas. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. and to everybody. donald trump is trailing in polls, but going into tonight, he is telling sporters to ignore the numbers. hillary clinton has been laying low without a campaign rally in a week. and with both candidates on the defensive from those controversies, debate experts predict this could be the dirtiest one yet. donald trump spent the evening before the final debate, vowing to bring term limits to congress as

left behind behind the battle are clues how isis will defend mosul. the extremists dug a network of themselves from attack. lieutenant colonel shaled expects the same in mosul as well as more sued bombers. the battle for mosul began in villages on the eastern side of the city where kurdish fighters went house-to-house, hunting down the isis gunmen holding out there. u.s. coalition air strikes demolished the ella which was abandoned by its residents three years ago. three air strikes, three u.s. air strikes target is the tunnel. >> four. >> targeting the tunnels. but in mosul home to around a million civilians who are effectively human shields, air strikes will be difficult without massive casualties. isis released this propaganda video today claiming that life in the city is normal, showing offensive. but normal life in mosul also includes this morning another brutal execution of a man they claim is a spy. isis is hungerering down, preparing to defend the biggest city in its so-called islamic state. there are also fears that isis could use chemical we

. >> michael holmes near mosul. stay safe. >>> authorities are urged to probe a hate crime at the mississippi high school. authorities did not follow protocol after a white student threw a noose around the neck of the black student. the school's superintendent released a statement saying in part district officials make sure all policies and procedures were followed. >>> a potentially major development in the death investigation of eric garner. the justice department is replacing the team investigating. the fbi agents have been replaced to the case. federal authorities were looking into the civil rights being violated. a police officer was seen using a prohibitive chokehold. a grand jury refused to indict. >>> a terrifying ordeal for a civilian on a police ride along in madeira, california. the driver of the white mazda sped away from the traffic stop. watch this. >> shots fired. >> three rounds hit the police car hitting the tire and back windo windows. the suspects got away. police say they do have leads. >>> time

northern iraqi city of mosul today-the united states is accusing isis of human shields... as iraqi forces try to retake the city. richard engel reports from iraq. iraqi forces are closing in on mosul, pushing toward the city today from three sides.the american ground commander assistant with airstrikes, artillery and advisors told us mosul will fall, and with it isis's so called "caliphate" in iraq. "when they lose mosul and when they lose the territory they have in syria, i think that really puts a knife in the heart of volesky said some leaders from isis, also know as daesh, have been fleeing the city."there are a lot fewer daesh today than there were yesterday. there will be fewer tomorrow than today"but isis leaders aren't the only ones trying to escape this offensive. we saw an entire village south of mosul up and leave. all the families.. their animals too. they walked for miles through the war they want no part of. the un said it expects an initial 200,000 people to be displaced once fighting reaches mosul... and perhaps more waves after that. "europeans officials s

and of course, we always try to meet our plan as we have in mosul. >> in mosul, u.s. forces will get closer and closer to the city center. riding alongside iraqi and kurdish troops, but raqqah will be a far different challenge. fewer local forces with less training. the focus in paris? working wi a prevent a cornered islamic state from desperate attacks against the west. but confidence that the enemy's ranks are thinning. >> remember, we took out the successive military commanders of mosul so we're extremely effective at eliminating the leadership of isil. >> a united offense soon on two fronts. hans nichols, nbc news, brussels. >> in italy today, a pair of powerful earthquakes struck the central part of the country, in ancient towns near the epicenter, knocking out power and shutting down a major highway. officials say the aftershock was felt as far south as rome. it comes less than two months after a deadly quake in august killed hundreds of people in italy. a lot of panic there tonight. but as of now, no reports of widespread deaths or injuries. >>> still ahead, sh

. >> reporter: no mosul, no more caliphate? >> not in iraq, clearly. >> reporter: this battle is just beginning, and these are just the first of what aid agencies warn would be more than a million people driven from their homes. they suffered under isis, now they're paying the price for yet another fight for mosul. while u.s.-backed iraqi troops are advancing toward mosul, isis is saying that nothing is wrong. its propaganda today putting out images of people at work, eating kebab in the city, life as normal. lester? >> richard engel, thank you. >>> back home, much of the eastern half of the country remains in the middle of a fall heat wave this evening. while new york was one degree short of a record new high for this date, highs for this date were set throughout the northeast and down to texas, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. more of the same is predicted for tomorrow when dozens of records could be shattered yet again. indian summer in full swing. >>> now to the brutal and shocking execution caught on camera in me

i want to go to irbil to nearby mosul and bring in michael holmes. michael, what is the latest in the fighting? >> reporter: john, i can tell you in the last couple hours, the iraqi military told us a number of suicide car bombs, major weapon of isis, were directed at their forces. they say they repelled the attack, but in the process of doing so, they lost one soldier and two others were wounded. they say ten isis members were killed in the exchange. showing how often this tool is used. the suicide car bomb and likely continue to be used increasingly as the forces get ever closer to mosul. now you mentioned iraqi forces feel they are doing well. kurdish forces say they are ahead of schedule too. methodically taking 200 square kilometers of land. that is sparsely populated. many or most of the villages they are taking are empty, but it is a process that they are going through. they say they know what they're doing and they will get to mosul soon enough and the real fighting will begin. we are being told that the river that runs through mosul, the g t

orla guerin, bbc news, north of mosul. laura: for more on the battle against islamic state in iraq, i spoke our brief time ago with robin wright, a journalist at "the new yorker." robin, as we saw there, islamic state has hit back hard in kirkuk following this offensive against them in mosul. are they still a formidable enemy? robin: absolutely. remember kirkuk is 100 miles , southeast of mosul. this is a long way. this is a surprise attack and the kind of thing that isis has proved over and over it is good at, thinking imaginatively come and out-of-the-box, surprising even a mighty power like the united states. laura: robin, you have been in and out of the region the past year and a half and you know this fight against islamic state, you have observed this at close hand. how much of a role have u.s. airstrikes played in weakening islamic state? robin: oh, huge role. many of the strategic gains in both syria and iraq has been in large part because the united states has been able to take off equipment, key personnel, in a p

city.holly willams is with troops who are taking on isis militants north of mosul. mosul. (cbs)i'm about 12 miles north of mosul where these kurdish forces have launched a new attack against isis today. (reuters)they are trying to recapture 27 villages and then get within 5 miles of mosul. there are two villages, just over here that are (cbs) controlled by the extremists and this morning we have seen the kurdish forces pummel them with artillery. (reuters)nats up....we have also seen two isis drones in the air this morning, very small, we do not know whether they were armed. but certainly the kurdish troops shot them down very quickly. (holly on cam)earlier this month, two kurdish fighters were killed by an isis drone that was loaded seen iraq's elite special forces move into position east of mosul. (cbs)they are trying certainly the curtis -- the kurdish troops shut them down quickly. earlier this month to kurdish fighters were killed by an isis drones loaded with explosives. we have also seen a rocks elite special forces move into the division east of mosul. they are try

to get mosul. the problem with mosul and what they wanted to do, they wanted to get the leaders of isis who they felt were in mosul and about three months ago i started reading they want to get the leaders, and they are going to attack mosul. whatever happened to the element of surprise? >> trump's comments on the push into mosul led one reporter to write this article, and it shows how little he knows. and a foreign affairs reporter from the washington post, good to see you and have you with us. >> good to see you. >> let's see what donald trump got right about iraq in the debate? what do you think he got right in the debate? >> well, not very much. he began his whole response on mosul on relatively solid footing, this argument he and other republicans make about clinton and the obama administration's premature with draw from iraq has a bit of validity, but then he goes on from there to take all sorts of interesting tangents, including the whole conversation about a surprise attack which is laughab

the offensive to retake mosul has begun. overnight, iraqi forces move in on the second largest city in iraq under isis occupation for two years. we have a live report from the frontlines. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. three weeks left before america votes. donald trump keeps saying the fix is in. insisting the press is rigging the race for hillary clinton and this could be why. a new nbc news wall street journal poll shows hillary clinton with an 11-point lead in the match up of four candidates. a washington post poll released this weekend has clinton leading by four points. we get more from chris frates in washington. >> reporter: good morning, john and christine. donald trump continues to push the idea the election is rigged despite not providing evidence to support his charges. in fact, on sunday, he tweeted the election is absolutely being rigged by dishonest and distorted media, but also many polling places. the facts don't bear that out. a 2012 investigative reporting project

and retake the main road to mosul. but isis has lit fires in to shield themselves from air strikes. >> and a high school team takes a page from the kaepernick playbook. >> it is like institutionalized racism. what i am taking a knee for. ? ? >> announcer: this is the cbs "overnight news." >>> hillary clinton's private e-mail server has come back to bite her again. the fbi has released more notes from its now cse investigation of the former secretary of state. and those notes reveal that a senior state department official tried to strike a deal with the bureau over one of the e-mails. the notes suggest there would be something in that deal for the fbi nancy cordes is covering the clinton campaign. >> the controversy surrounds one e-mail about the benghazi attacks, the very first of clinton's e-mails to be retroactively classified as early claims. >> there is no classified materials. >> according to fbi interviews, clinton's undersecretary, patrick kennedy began pushing security officials to see their way clear to markin

felt were in mosul. about three months ago, i started reading that they want to get the leaders and they're going to attack mosul. whatever happened to the element of surprise? you know who the big winner in mosul is going to be after we eventually get it? and the only reason they did it because she's running for the office of president. they want to look tough. they want to look good. >> i'm just amazed that he seems to think that the iraqi government and our allies and everybody else launched the attack on mosul to help me in this election. but that's how donald thinks. you know, he always -- he's looking for -- >> chris, we don't gain anything. iran is taking over iraq. >> secretary clinton -- >> it's conspiracy theories he's been spewing out for quite some time. >> secretary clinton. >> still ahead, new jersey governor chris christie is heading to court next month over bridgegate. those details coming up. >>> plus, much more from last night's heated presidential debate. those stories and a check on w

again, mosul not surrounded. that is an outlet to syria and some have been fleeing to mosul in numbers. john. >> rabid developments on the ground. michael holmes, thank you. >>> lawmakers tangling with the pentagon for trying to recover enlistment bonuses improperly paid to california national guard soldiers a decade ago. nearly 10,000 soldiers are asked to return $15,000 each or more. house leader kevin mccarthy demanding the pentagon waive this debt. he calls demand for repayment disgraceful and threatening to launch an investigation. >>> one of the strongest voices in the peace movement has died. tom hayden. a life long activist passed away after a long illness in los angeles. he was among the chicago 7 prosecuted after the riots at the 1968 democratic national convention. he was married to jane fonda for a time in 1970s. he was a member of the california state legislature for 18 years. always an activist fighting for the causes he believed in. liberal causes. tom hayden was 76 years old. >>> new jersey bridge

. >> we are from mosul, from the ba rd area. we are refugees and we came here because of the humanitarian situation there. >> when mosul is liberated, well return to our city, our houses, to your lands. >> but it may be some time before their city is liberated. if the battle runs into the winter, many refugees could be left with limit shelter to weather out the freezing desert nights. on monday the u.n. said it feared up to 100,000 team from mosul would flee to syria. aid workers have already noticed an influx of refugee arrivals. >> the movement of refugees was not strong in the beginning. the numbers were liberal. but now with the beginning of the liberation of mosul, there are big waves of displaced people. we are ready for them. in cooperation with the united nations we have brought tents and things. >> funding is a major problem. information g.a.'s on the ground say they don't have enough supplies to look after all the refugees who have arrived from mosul. >> from iraq to syria now. some respite for civilians held in aleppo

we announce we're going after mosul. i've been reading about going after mosul now for about -- how long is it, hillary, three months? these people have all left. they've all left. >> so holly, is trump right? >> well, scott, i think that secrecy would have been very, very difficult. this is a multinational effort, not just the u.s., and most of the thousands of fighters on the front lines here are from iraq, from different factions, ethnic and religious groups. remember also that making it public that the offensive was about to begin gave the residents of mosul, who are being used as human shields, a chance to try to escape or perhaps to prepare to rise up against isis. >> holly, trump also said advance warning gave the leaders of isis a chance to escape mosul. what of that? >> well, scott, we were on the front line today, and isis was definitely firing back. they are laying roadside bombs. they're sending out suicide bombers. now, it's true that the u.s. military told us that some isis leaders may have fled the city, b