Breaking news this hour. Up to 7500 curdish troops are on the move in northern iraq, on a mission dubbed operation free sinjah. Theyre fighting to retake this town right here, seized be isis in august of last year. U. S. Coalitions are providing Close Air Support. Nick peyton walsh joins us now from outside of sinjar. Whats the very latest on the offensive, as youve been able to work out. How long do you think this will all take . How long it will take is the key question, john. We simply dont know. What were hearing about the pp peshmerga, that i ear saying it could be over in the hours of hours or days is misplaced. What we do know and can say, theres restriction placed on what i can tell you about our exact movements. What we can tell you is the offensive is headed from the north from there are horrifying of images of people fleeing for their live last year. And also from the east and west, along a key road. Its strategically important. The coalition pummeled areas last night but also previously according to press reports. Through that city runs a vital road, known by many as route 47, which heads from the capital through to mosul, the city they seized last year. Many saying their twostate selfdeclared caliphate. If the peshmerga are unsuccessful, that could affect their ability to move resources around. Were in the early hours here, though. The peshmerga said 9 00 in the morning is when this offensive got under way. The last few hours, they announced sts moving slowly where we are. But they are an overwhelming numbers. They are deeply concerned about the booby traps around them, particularly in the builtup areas. All sorts of rumors about what isis may be doing to prepare for their arrival. But i think i sense optimism. Do we know if the syrian kurds are fighting along the iraqi kurd . And what about the military advisers, are they on the ground as well as best you can tell. We havent seen them themselves themselves but theyre known to be operating in the particular area. When it comes to the exact makeup of the Kurdish Forces, thats complicated in some degree. The peshmerga are very clear this is an operation led by them and other kurdish groups are involved in the trail end of that operation. They could move in once major clearing is done. Here, we have seen evidence of one [ no audio ] looks like we have lost our connection there to Nick Peyton Walsh reporting on a military operation which has been ongoing now for a number of hours as Kurdish Forces move in on the town of sinjar. Joining us now with more on all of this, Lieutenant Colonel rick francona. Great to have you with us once again. Youve described this offensive, which is being launched on three fronts as sophisticated. But what are the challenges here to retaking sinjar . Well, it is sophisticated. Of course, nick was talking about the air power. That would have required quite a period of reconnaissance to actually determine what to strike. When you launch these operations, you want to make sure that the air power is hitting specific targets and youre having the intended effect. Then you move this threepronged attack in. So the kurds are capable of doing this and they have the western military adviser to help do this. I think were seeing the realization of what weve been going forrer for the last year. The challenges here are going to be difficult once they get into that city. Remember, isis has had a year to prepare the battlefield, just like they did tikrit before, they set uh up offenses, booby traps and land mines. Their latest weapon is a car bomb, driven by a lot of these foreign fighters they bring in from outside. The overwhelming numbers are certainly on the kurds side, but remember, a small number of isis fighters held off a large number of iraqis in tikrit for a long period of time. I hope theyre successful. The kurds are very, very capable fighter, but they need to go about this deliberately and slowly. Colonel francona, you mentioned the capabilities of the kurds. We know that this is an operation that involves syrian kurds, the ypg alongside of iraqi kurds of peshmerga. Do you worry about coordination here . They get along when they need to, but theyve had difficulties over the years. The iraqi kurds have not always soup supported what the syrian kurds are doing. Especially when it comes to the pkk. I think were going to see much more coordination, because that whole kurdish area up there, they regard as the future krudistan which is an anthema to the turks. How does retaking sinjar, if indeed they are successful, how does that impact the broader coalition battle against isis . This is very important. Sinjar is a key city on that route. As nick said, its the main supply route between raka and syria and mosul in iraq. Mosul is the key target down the road. The iraqis have to retake mosul. Its been in isis hands since july of 2014. The iraqis have talked about going back up there since september of 2014. They are nowhere near going after it. Sinjar might be the first step of doing it. Sinjar is a great target. It cuts mosul off and forces isis to either retake it and spend a lot of resources doing that, or theyre going to have to find a different way to resupply mosul. This is really a smart thing for the kurds to do. Lieutenant colonel rick francona, always great to get your perspective. We move on now to russiaer where there are denials about a rueters report which says that russia has put forth a draft plan to try and end the conflict in syria. It comes as Government Forces have recaptured an air base near aleppo. The Syrian Government hails this as a victory. Forces manage to break through to an air base each of aleppo. It was under siege i isis militants for almost two years. Media congratulated the soldiers involved. I salute the heros who remained steadfast for years, he said. In a Statement Read on syrian state tv. And i salute the heros who contributed to ending the siege. And i salute every soldier in the syrian arab army, for he is a brother and son to us, and their life and safety is always the first of priorities. The news comes as Syrian Forces claim they are inflicting, quote, huge losses on their enemies, which include islamists but also more moderate rebel factions. As russia and iran bolster assads forces, International Leaders continue their efforts to find a diplomatic solution to a civil war thats left more than 250,000 people dead according to the syrian observatory for human rights, and has turned millions into refugees. The head of the second round of international talks in vienna, the rueters News Agency Reports that russia has floated a peace proposal. One that reportedly calls for an 18month transition period, a counsel to outline political reforms that Bashar Al Assad should not be a member of, and finally, early president ial elections. According to media reports, the plan would not exclude assad from running in those elections, something the opposition and its backers demand as a precondition for any peace talks. Moscow vehemently denies putting forward such a proposal. The russians saying, first, they want clarity on which opposition groups should be part of the diplomatic process and which ones shouldnt. I mean, first of all, a necessity to agree on a list of terrorist organizations, russias foreign minister said, so that no one has any doubts or hesitation to an affiliation of this or that armed group. As syrian Government Forces display their perceived momentum on the battlefield, the International Community is trying to maintain the diplomatic momentum on the quest to finally end this bloody conflict. Cnn, london. A researcher at the International Research center for defense and security and also a longtime Moscow Bureau chief at this network. Always great to speak with you. This proposal that the russians put forward, theyre denying its out there. The russians and the americans have pretty much confirmed that it is. Maybe one reason theyre denying it is not getting a lot of traction, at least now we know where the russians stand politically and at least theyre involved tip m involved diplomatically here. Yes, a lot of this we already knew. Its not that different from some proposals or ideas that have been out there. But in Something Like this, when they really want to make a proposal, the devil is in the lack of details and thats one of the problems here. Essentially what theyre saying is its 18 months, their would be this political transition period. You write a new constitution, you would have a referendum. And then you would have an election. But the real question is, what happens in the interim to Bashar Al Assad . Because russians, according to the news thats out there, they dont want to be specific, but it looks as if what theyre saying is assad would not be the president would not be the head of this group that tries to work out a new constitution. But it raises the question of what exactly exactly does he do . How long does he stay in power . Where does he go, et cetera . And as we all know and have been reporting for quite a long time, every country has a different view on that. The United States is a little bit more moderate, saying eventually he has to go. But maybe not right now. Other countries are a lot more vehement about having him step down immediately. So thats, i think, the biggest question mark of all. Back in 2003, before the iraq war, putin went to baghdad with a message for Saddam Hussein, which is essentially step down as president but you can remain as the leader of the baath party. We know how that ended. Could something similar happen here . Assad, hes president , hes the leader of the baath party in syria, could the russians play that now, especially since they have more leverage with assad than Saddam Hussein . Remember which is it . A month ago perhaps when assad came to moscow, met with president putin. And that was one of the ideas that was floated at that time, perhaps russia was speaking with him specifically about that. Now, it was never confirmed that was the conversation, but youre absolutely right, john, that russia has a lot more leverage with assad. After all, they are rescuing him from corruption by sending in their air force to protect the Syrian Forces on the ground. So in a sense, he owes them something. But the russians, mr. Putin, especially, do not want to tell an elected leader to step down. Even if it is an elected leader who has attacked his own people many times. So thats where we have this problem, and it all boils down to assad. Yeah. I guess now you mention russias heavy military involvement there, propping up the Syrian Government. Putin has essentially made it very clear now that any peace deal for syria, the road to that has to go through moscow. Oh, absolutely. And that was probably one of the main reasons that he wanted to get involved and send in his air force. Russia wants to be a major player in the middle east, but more specifically it wants to be there to define what happens after the assad regime, or maybe not, but the next government, whatever that should be, is in place. Russia wants to be at the table defining that, and it really has done a very, i would say, a good job at inserting itself into the debate, into the discussion. And is now one of the leaders in defining what will happen next. Jill, well have to leave it there. One of the issue, though, is how far are the russians prepared to go . When will they throw assad under the bus . Jill dougherty, we appreciate it. Thank you. U. S. Leards are hoping a possible deal with africa will help slow the flow of migrants to the region. That story is just ahead. Also, donald trump plans for what he calls a Deportation Force to round up undocumented migrants in the United States. It takes technology, engineering and coordination for pga tour professional Rickie Fowler to hit the perfect shot. At quicken loans, technology, engineering and coordination come together to deliver a customized mortgage experience. Quicken loans home buy. Refi. Power. Official mortgage sponsor of the pga tour. We all know that directvs better at this whole tv thing. So, to beat them, were gonna get bigger. Were gonna merge with cableworld. exec 1 cableworld . I cant stand those guys. exec 2 theyre the worst. exec 3 theyre totally incompetent. exec 4 that company stinks and i mean they smell. I used to work there. I had to breathe through my mouth the whole time. cole shh, shh, shh, theyre here. newhart this is gonna be fun, firing everyone. vo get rid of cable and switch to directv. Call 1800directv. Just serve classy snacks and bew a gracious host,iday party. No matter who shows up. [cricket sound] richard. Didnt think you were going to make it. Hey sorry about last weekend, i dont know what got into me. Well forgive and forget. Kind of. I dont think so do you like nuts . Two very different approaches to illegal immigration in europe and in the United States. Eu leaders are considering almost 2 billion for incentives in african countries to help them deal with the economic and Security Issues which are driving a flood of migrants to leave the worlds poorest continent, seeking a better life in europe. In u. S. , the frontrunner for the president ial nomination, donald trump, has been surging in the polls, partly because of his hard line on illegal immigration. On the campaign trail on wednesday, he is talking up his plan to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and build a wall along long the southern border with mexico. You know, my biggest hand last night and the biggest hand of the evening was when i said at the border, at the border, were going to create a border and build a wall. Were going to build a wall. And the place went crazy. Not all republican president ial candidates agree with mr. Trump. During tuesdays debate, john kasich said it was not an adult argument. While jeb bush said it would tear families apart. We should note both candidates are polling in the single digits. But Donald Trumps plan goes even further. He says he would create what he calls a Deportation Force to humanely round up undocumented immigrants and send them back to where they came from. Trump said it worked in the u. S. In the past and it will work again. Heres tom foreman. Rear spiking in the poll number, tough talk about illegal immigration put donald trump on the election map. I that ear bringing drug, theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists. Reporter and now hes praising a program whose official name is whats currently considered an offensive clur, operation wetback. In 1954, this massive roundup of undocumented workers came after years of growing tension between u. S. And mexico, about competition for worker, the effect on wage, and border security. My fellow citizens and while the Eisenhower Administration considered the program a success due to a sharp spike in apprehensions of mexicans, many modern historians, like Douglas Brinkley do not. It was inhumane, it was abusive to mexicans that had come into the United States, at our request to work, during world war ii. For starter, Immigration Enforcement claimed over a million deportations, while later analysis suggested maybe only a quarter million. Even as farm jobs in the southwest continued drawing tens of thousands of new immigrants. Humanitarian complaints were raised as some deportees were sent back to mexico aboard what a congressional investigation described as a slave ship. Many of the mexicans that were rounded up had their heads shaved. Many were beaten and abused. Theres incidents in 1955 of mexicans that died in the desert because they were pushed out of the United States. Reporter indeed that summer, 88 people died of heat stroke in a single episode. No wonder the blowback to trumps ideas is strong. For the 11 million people, come on, folks, we all know you cant pick them up and ship them back across the border. Its a silly argumentment. Its not an adult argument. Reporter despite claims at the time that ikes Deportation Program was working, in less than a year out of funding and shutting down. Although the debate about it rages on more than half a century later. Tom foreman, cnn, washington. Now, thursday is the sixth Time European Union leaders will meet to discuss solutions to try to deal with the migrant crisis. The president and prime ministers of 28 countries have tried to tackle this issue, but previous meetings have produced few concrete results. The german chancellor Angela Merkel wants a united response. Translator the meeting is about agreeing to an action plan. This action plan will fight illegal immigration and it will do more for legal possibilities to work in europe. Well, cnns Senior International correspondent has the latest on the crisis from greece. Youre there in greece, which is one of the frontlines in this story of mass migration. Give our viewers some perspective on are the situation where you are. Well, just take a look at this scene right here. And this is a fraction of the remnants, the life vests that you will find all across the island of lesbos, at least the part of it that is facing turkey. Beach upon beach is just littered with all sorts of things that the various different refugees and migrants have left behind, continuing to make the treacherous journey right across these waters. In fact, in the first ten months of 2015, 540,000 people crossed these waters, and that is 13 times the number that tried to make this crossing back in 2014. And with those increasing numbers are the increasing deaths and the increasing necessity for people who are act schully helping out. And over here, we do have a volun