death penalty. hello, everyone. i m kate bolduan. i m john berman. we have breaking news for you this morning. word that one of the most infamous killers in iraq is dead. iraqi tv is reporting that izzat ibrahim al douri was killed in a military operation near tikrit. al douri was a key aide to saddam hussein. you can see him there. a serious player. the king of clubs in the u.s. military s deck of cards of most wanted iraqis. he was part of the insurgency during the occupation and more recently he had been connected to isis. he could have been a crucial player in helping isis take over huge chunks of iraq. he s the last of saddam hussein s top men to be captured. let s go to london for more on this. iraqis are calling this a huge moment. we re still waiting for dna test results to confirm with 100% certainty that this is izzat ibrahim al douri but a family face to many viewers
if al douri is captured or killed or does it have an impact on the organization on the ground? it will have an impact. every time you kill a leader of one of these terrorists organizations, they are replaced. they have a deep bench. the replacement generally isn t as competent as the one that s been removed. it impacts the organization. paul brings up good points about the actual relationship between al douri and isis. this will impact a lot of sunnis that are supporting isis as we know this is a as paul says, this is a marriage of convenience. it may impact that a little bit. is it going to impact isis capability on the battlefield, i don t think so. wait to see if we get confirmation about whether this man was actually killed and more confirmation about the military operation that may have taken him out. that would be very interesting as well. paul cruickshank, lieutenant
for results to come to us. and to confirm his identity. if it s the case that this man has been killed, he was 72 years old. it would be quite a victory as iraqi forces and shiite militia allies are battling for key cities from isis. so this comes at a crucial time in that particular battle and you mentioned izzat ibrahim al douri was thought to be operationally important within isis and believed he had some role as well in the establishment of al qaeda in iraq. the precursor of isis. back to you. we ll continue to explore that throughout the hour. thank you so much. big news out of iraq. the tulsa reserve deputy charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed man is speaking publicly for the first time. it was earlier this month that robert bates says he mistook his gun for his taser when he
breaking news out of iraq right now, we just learned there s been an explosion in the city of erbil not far from the u.s. consulate there. you can see erbil on the map in the north in the kurdish region of that country. the explosion happened on the same road that houses the u.s. consulate and kurdish regional government. we do not know the size of this blast yet or the range of injuries suffered there. we ll keep on following that for you and bring you more information as soon as we get it. we are also getting new information on the death of the last of saddam hussein s top lieutenants. izzat ibrahim al douri was killed in an operation near tikrit. important to this conversation, you were once a liaison officer in baghdad.
recruiter and adviser. he ll be missed certainly. i don t think it s going to really temper what isis is doing. they have their own leadership. he s one of many. this guy was a serious player for a long, long time. one of the most wanted people on earth. certainly during the u.s. occupation there. there were rumors there before that he had been killed or captured. we don t have confirmation yet. i have to say we need that confirmation because timing would be convenient for the iraqi government as they battle the isis insurgency to be able to say that we got al douri. explain to me what role he s played the last year or two. the help that perhaps the sunni former insurgents have given to isis as isis has rampaged through that country. during the iraqi insurgency, he created this group that was a group of former saddam hussein loyalists, regime loyalists, who