isis is lashing out as it continually loses ground in its' strongholds of raqqa, in syria, and mosul in iraq. david martin is traveling with the top u.s. commander in the region. >> reporter: isis released a video purporting to show a dead hit by a drone on an iraqi armored personnel carrier. but that did not stop iraqi forces in their battle to retake mosul. they seized control of mosul's airport and entered the western half of the city, having already liberated the eastern half. after mosul, the next major objective in the war against isis is across the border in syria. we're inside syria, and an american special operations base, which is used as a hub for the campaign to liberate the isis capital of raqqa. syrian fighters being trained here are part of a force of qqout 15,000 being assembled to assault raqqa. but general joseph votel, commander of u.s. forces in the middle east, told cbs news they need more than the ak-47s they'll be issued after 20 days of training. >> anti-tank weapons systems to address vehicle-borne i.e.d.s. certainly mortars would be something that would help

it remains to be seen what comes now with raqqa. my own view, charlie is that it ought to be pursued. it ought to be done with the only capable force that we believe is there to do that work, the kurds. and we have to provide them the arms and capability to take raqqa. why is that so important? because it is the seat of isis's external operations. charlie: do they believe they've been given all that they can, that the united states can provide them to do that? lisa: we're talking about the kurds? charlie: yes. lisa: i don't know. charlie: because there are active reports that they don't feel they've gotten as much as they needed. lisa: i take there are active discussions, as i think you know, that has been reported about the next step in trying to go to raqqa. what is the force? we assessed the only capable force is the kurdish military that we have been working with, and providing assistance to. the problem with that, of course, is the reaction of the turks. charlie: right. lisa our nato ally. : but we're really on the horns of a d

can to the western side, and i assume also that they are going to be able to get more support from raqqa. so this is why it was quite interesting to hear the us commander say that. is it becoming politically difficult for the iraqi government? there was a stage when we were following this day by day but clearly mosul‘s not about to fall any time soon. no, i think the suggestion that mosul and raqqa both are going to fall, i don't think that's very realistic. they are fighting with a very strong group of fighters, they have a lot of weapons, they are trained well, and i don't think... it took them three months just to take the eastern side of mosul, six months to take the western side and, as well as raqqa, it's completely unrealistic. back to rakhine state in myanmar and the treatment of rohinga muslims. un officials have told reuters that the death toll in a recent security crackdown there could be over 1,000. the un also recently released a report describing widespread human rights abuses. the bbc‘s @jonahfisherbbc called that report a game changer. he said the burmese government w

after that, we can take back raqqa together. some of the allies can put boots on the ground, special forces, to support the local groups. we should not actually put the raqqa tobs in choose between daesh and shia groups. in this case, they will prefer because they know what happens when the shia groups come to raqqa. and the process in our fight. se: the region should try to avoid. just briefly, you say you want the partners, do you suggest to the united states they should send more special forces the ground? > we have to discuss these issues. and the united states to put the special forces on the ground to support the moderate local forces. lyse: we have one question from an m.e.p. who is the person who is asking that question and briefly, please. >> you said in introducing your remarks, that peace at home was one of the goals of your foreign policy, could you give us maybe a vivid description of peace as you are administering it in the kurdish parts of turkey. >> i'll get you a moment to answer the question. you have a questio

his top field commander already has predicted both mosul and raqqa will be liberated within six months. anthony. >> mason: david martin in amman tonight. thanks, david. there's a new strange twist in the airport murder of the half-brother of north korean dictator kim jong-un. investigators in malaysia say the female suspects used their bare hands to deliver a fatal dose of toxic chemicals. adriana diaz is following this. >> reporter: airport security footage shows how kim jong-nam's female assassin attacked him from behind, wiping his face with poison before rushing to the bathroom. inspector general khalid abu bakar: >> she knew very well that it is toxic, and she needed to wash her hands. >> reporter: police don't know what kind of chemical was used but say the woman and her accomplice practiced the attack in local shopping malls. >> we strongly believe they are being trained to do that. see this is not something just shooting movies. >> reporter: the women were likely trained by these four men, all north koreans, who police believe have fled the country. today, police announced they

-backed fighters are preparing an offensive to retake raqqa, the other self-proclaimed capital of isis. >> the forces that we're operating with in syria are much more indigenous. they're much lighter. they don't have as good a mobility. they don't have as much firepower. so, you know, we have to be prepared to fill in some of the, some of those gaps for them, and that may involve, you know, additional fire support capability to help offset some of those gaps that they have and we would take the burden on ourselves to provide that aspect of the fighting. >> reporter: that sounds like more boots on the ground in syria. >> perhaps that is what we're doing. we may do that, but right now i haven't made that determination. >> reporter: votel said the basic strategy, begun by the obama administration, of letting local forces do the fighting mell not change. but in iraq, 450 american advisers are moving forward with iraqi forces into the city of mosul, getting closer to the front lines than ever before. general votel is in jordan tonight as he makes one last tour of the battlefield before reco

questions, too, over what happens over the border in syria, where is is in control of raqqa. we heard calls in munich for american special forces to go in and be on the ground, others saying that will just inflame tensions. but one us official told me that if president trump has an america—first policy, it has to be raqqa—first. there's said to be is gunmen holed up there in front of their computers, plotting 9/ii—style attacks. so here in munich, a lot of talk about accelerating the fight against is, but a lot of worry that the right strategies are not in place. in other news: police and protestors have clashed in the ukrainian capital kiev ahead of a ceasefire between russian—backed rebels and government forces which comes into effect on monday. at least seven protestors were detained after ultra—nationalists gathered to back a blockade between the coal—producing separatist east and the rest of ukraine, which kiev has warned could cause nationwide power cuts and job losses. the international arms trade is now bigger that at any time since since the end of the co

civil war today, american-backed militias launched a new phase in their siege of the northern city of raqqa, the de facto capital of islamic state militants. supported by american airstrikes and special forces soldiers, the syrian democratic forces group aims to completely encircle raqqa. and in romania, bowing to massive protests all week outside the country's parliament building, romania's prime minister says he'll scrap a decree that would shield officials from prosecution for corruption. the protests are the country's biggest since communist rule ended in 1989. that's all for this edition of "pbs newshour weekend." i'm alison stewart. thanks for watching. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designi

. —— raqqa. we heard calls in munich for american special forces to go in and be on the ground, others saying that will just inflame tensions. but one us official told me that, if president trump has an america—first policy, it has to be raqqa—first. there are said to be is gunmen holed up in front of their computers, plotting 9/ii—style attacks. so here in munich, a lot of talk about accelerating the fight against is, but a lot of worry that the right strategies are not in place. the white house has been trying to clarify remarks by president trump, in which he appeared to suggest sweden had suffered a recent security incident. none had actually taken place. mr trump himself has tweeted that he based his comments on a fox news report about rising crime and immigration. the confusion came from a rally he held in florida — where he spoke about security issues and terror attacks in germany and france. 0ur correspondent, laura bicker, reports. this is a us holiday weekend to celebrate past p

i will be joined by the former wales international martyn williams, to preview a raqqa preview all this we can's six nations action. yes we'll be back with lizzie in cardiff a little later in the programme. tonight though, can anyone stop chelsea 7 the premier legaue leaders are nine points clear at the top, a lead which could be reduced to six points, should second—placed tottenham win tomorrow. they lead the chasing pack, but travel to anfield to face liverpool, who themselves have not given up their feint title hopes, despite having failed to win in therl last five league matches. strong opponent. until yesterday, not a flying situation for us. if we play like we played in the first half against hull, no chance. if we play like we played in the second half, but a chance. but we should play better. we should be ready to fight because it will be a very, very difficult game. they are not on a good run, but liverpool have very good players and for me it is one of the best squads, not only in england, if not in europe. i am sure they will be motivated and tottenham and liverpool is alwa

-backed fighters are preparing an offensive to retake raqqa, the other self-proclaimed capital of isis. >> the forces that we're operating with in syria are much more indigenous. they're much lighter. they don't have as good a mobility. they don't have as much firepower. so, you know, we have to be prepared to fill in some of the, some of those gaps for them, and that may involve, you know, additional fire support capability to help offset some of those gaps that they have and we would take the burden on ourselves to provide that aspect of the fighting. >> reporter: that sounds like more boots on the ground in syria. >> perhaps that is what we're doing. we may do that, but right now i haven't made that determination. >> reporter: votel said the basic strategy, begun by the obama administration, of letting local forces do the fighting will not change. but in iraq, 450 american advisers are moving forward with iraqi forces into the city of mosul, getting closer to the front lines than ever before. general votel is in jordan tonight as he makes one last tour of the battlefield before reco

forthey have the groundwork an eventual assault on rocco -- raqqa. officials, soldiers are now looking for pockets of militants. jihadist may have struck a deal with the turkey-backed rebels to abandon al-bab after five months of fighting. meanwhile, syrian peace talks have resumed in geneva for the first time in 10 months. the future of president assad remains a sticking point for russia. he says it is absurd. forces are continuing to bomb civilian areas despite agreeing to several cease-fires. expectations of a breakthrough at these u.n. talks are low. >> i am not expecting miracles. task.e an uphill it will not be easy. and ais a lot of tension lot of suffering that everyone has been bearing. but we must apply ourselves to this task. laura: i am joined in the studio by a professor for the university here in paris. think you for being here on france 24 tonight. six years on, half a million people killed, many more displaced. we heard that the u.n. response, they are not expecting miracles. is anyone expecting anything from this meeting at all? >> n

artillery units into syria for long-range support for local units moving on the city of raqqa and putting u.s. troops near the front lines to look for isis targets. it's already happening inside iraq. >> if we bring out the smoke, they can take it now, move up and try to mark the location. >> the plan also includes diplomatic and financial options. but the pentagon leaves stepping up the military campaign something president trump has long advocated. >> i know more about the isis than the generals do, believe me. i would bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. >> top u.s. generals warn, even with more than 50,000 isis operatives killed, the international reach of the threat is a worry. >> we estimate probably over 100, 120 countries have provided 45,000 foreign fighters just to syria and iraq alone. that's one element that makes it a trans-regional threat. >> national security adviser lieutenant general h.r. mcmaster breaking with his boss, cautioning the term "radical islamic terrorism" is not helpful for u.s. goals. president trump seemingly, with a vote of no confidence so far on the military

in fact i think russian troops or american troops would be equally bad in taking back of raqqa but i think if you didn't have assad's forces also battling whoever comes into the region, we had people here on committee just recently saying oh, well, the kurds will take raqqa. well, yeah, i think there will be a lot of people unhappy about the kurds taking raqqa, including assad's forces. i continue to believe there needs to be some kind of arrangement and some of it is regional autonomy to where people are within syria as of today. but i think you continue to need that to have a final outcome of any sort there. but maybe you could expand a little bit upon what you think the odds of or whether the reasonability of actually discussing whether or not we don't have precondition that assad goes. >> so senator, thank you. if i said that i supported talking to syria in my remarks, i misstated. i see a lot of problems with working with russia and syria and i will talk about those in a moment. i still believe that in syria russia has a hierarchy of what they are trying to do and getting after

artillery units into syria for long-range support for local units moving on the city of raqqa. and putting u.s. spotters near the front lines to look for isis targets. it is already happening inside iraq. >> if we go ahead and bring up the smoke, they can take it now, and move up and try to mark that location. >> reporter: the plan also includes diplomatic and financial options. but the pentagon leads stepping up the military campaign something president trump has long advocated. >> i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me. i would bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. >> reporter: top u.s. generals warn even with more than 50,000 isis operatives killed, the international reach of the threat is a worry. >> we estimate probably over 100, 120 countries have provided 45 a,000 foreign fighters to syria and iraq alone. that's one element that makes it a transregional threat. >> reporter: national security adviser, lieutenant general h.r. mcmaster, breaking his his boss, cautioning the term, radical islamic terrorism isn't helpful for u.s. goals. president trump seemingly wi

american special operations base, which is used as a hub for the campaign to liberate the isis capital of raqqa. >> pelley: it's party time in g w orleans. what the city is planning to do to keep mardi gras under control. urd a restaurant steve hartman took us to, burns to the ground. >> this fire destroyed everything i worked for, for 30 years.

kurdish and arab fighters say they're launching a new phase in their effort to encircle the city of raqqa. the city is the so called islamic state's main stronghold in northern syria. the syrian democratic forces — as they're known — say they plan to capture areas east of the city. meanwhile the jordanian air force says it has carried out attacks on islamic state group targets across the border in southern syria. a military statement said a number of militants were killed or wounded. the targets included an arms depot and a warehouse where is made car bombs. jordan is a member of the us—led coalition fighting the militants. peruvian investigators have raided the home of the former president, alejandro toledo, aspart, , ., . . hasjenledjllongdoingz the new us defence secretary is on his first official visit to asia. in japan, on saturday, james mattis confirmed america's commitment to the two countries' alliance. he also criticised china for building artificial islands in disputed territory. here's rupert wingfield—hayes, in tokyo. only two weeks ago, general mattis was moving into

cigampan to liberate the isis capital of raqqa. >> pelley: it's party time in new orleans. what the city is planning to do to keep mardi gras under control. and a restaurant steve hartman took us to burns to the ground. >> this fire destroyed everything i worked for, for 30

he left a message on his phone that he would head to isil's stronghold, raqqa. soon after, islamic state militants held him as a hostage and announced his execution on kurimoto says that goto made a conscious decision not to cover the front line of wars and he often tried to give help to those who fell victim to conflict, sometimes even with his own money. >> translator: he hated to be called a war correspondent. he used to say he would not go to cover fighting in wars. he wanted to depict the ordinary lives behind the front line. he felt responsible for people whom he got to know and wanted to do everything he could for them. >> translator: there are others who are remembering goto too. last saturday a play based on his life was presented at a church in tokyo. kurimoto was asked to give a talk about his friend's life there. >> translator: it makes me think that goto probably had a lot >> reporter: kurimoto says that the image of goto's quiet gaze while taken during his time as a hostage left a lasting impression on him. >> translator: at the end i believe goto

right now we're encircling raqqa. this plan i think -- we don't have resolution of the plan and i don't think we should. that's one thing i totally agree with the president about here is that let's not talk about the details of what this plan is going to be and tell our enemy everything that we're going to do with it. i suspect he will be somewhat circumspect about what we're actually going to do. >> bill: want to squeeze in one last question. $54 billion in defense spending will be the request. will congress give it to him? >> they'll find the $54 billion someplace else. congress will probably vote that. i do believe -- i think it has to be greater than that, frankly. i sort of agree with senator mccain, the chairman of the senate armed services committee and his white paper he prepared. it's a pretty authoritative paper. they call for a $91 billion spending in the first year. the president mentioned this morning that he may have to add more money to the $54 billion. i think that's absolutely necessary. i mean, our v

he left a message on his phone that he would head t to isil's stronghold raqqa. since after militants held him at hostage and announced his death in 2011. he often tried to give help to thosose who fell victim to conflict, sometimes even with his own money. >> translator: he hated to be called a warar correspondent. he used to say he would not go to cover fighting in wars. he wanted to depict the ordinary lives behind the front line. he felt responsible for people whom he got to know. he wanted to do everything he everything he could for them. >> there are others who are remembering him, too. last saturday, a play based on his life was presented at a church in tokyo. he was asked to give a talk about his friend's life there. >> translator: it makes me think that he probably had a lot more he wanted to tell us. >> reporter: he says the image his quiet gaze during his time as a hostage left a lasting impression on him. >> traranslator:r: in the end, i believe goto accepted his fate and even though his life was going to end soon, he was ready to face it. i think he

american special operations base, which is used as a hub for the campaign to liberate the isis capital of raqqa. >> pelley: it's party time in new orleans. what the city is planning to do to keep mardi gras under control. and a restaurant steve hartman took us to burns to the ground. >> this fire destroyed everything i worked for, for 30

. >> reporter: with all that firepower, it's only a matter of time between mosul and raqqa are liberated. but thatee u.s. military operations since 9/11-- win all the battles without ever winning the war against trump. scott. >> pelley: david martin on the battlefield. david, thank you. we have an update now on dr. jon lapook's "60 minutes" story about the sports medicine doctor charged with sexually assaulting nine women gymnasts. today in michigan, larry nassar pleaded not guilty to 22 criminal counts. dozens of former athletes are suing him in civil court. coming up next on the "cbs evening news," a young murder victim may have recorded her killer's voice. bllz from k-y ultragel. 48 hours of protection. ♪ i don't have to reapply this... not once! it's really soft and almost velvety... as you put it on. it's like reaaally soft. try dove advance care. for softer, smoother underarms. it's league night!? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. bowl without me. frank.' i'm going to get nachos. snack bar's closed. gah! ah, ah ah. ♪ ♪ i'm goin'