5 00 a. M. On the u. S. East coast. First to iraq, the battle to retake that nations second largest city from isis. The Iraqi Military now advancesing on a town just north of mosul. This is believed to be the closest that Security Forces have gotten to that city. Within the past hour, weve learned that the military has launched a large scale offensive to retake the city of qaraqosh. 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 cnns 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 iraqled forces . Well, it certainly is bringing them closer to, of course, what is going to be the main and most difficult battlefield, iraqs second largest city of mosul. And they have been encountering the closer theyve been getting to the city itself on the different. Fronts an Even Stronger resistance from isis. The organizations best weapon are these suicide car bombs that are sometimes laying in wait when they think theyve cleared the city, all of a sudden a vehicle comes careening to their positions theyve set up and isis has shown abilities to launch attacks elsewhere, citing the city of kirkuk. There were fierce battles there yesterday and still fierce clashes going on. But to give you an idea of what the front line looks like, we were down with the Iraqi Special forces who are with the counterterrorism unit as they advanced on the christian town of batalah. Attack helicopters swoop overhead and fire. A truck bomb is dead nated by forces on the ground. Thats whats left of it. 25yearold Corporal Mohammed yasser says as we push forward. His humvee has been hit so many times, he can barely see through the bullet proof glass. When we finish lebraiding mosul, im going to ask for me sweethea sweethearts hand in marriage. He dreams of the future, but now has to focus on surviving the present. A bulldozer barricades side roads. To defense against one of the biggest ongoing threats, suicide car bombers. Its one of the ways that isis was mounting its weapons, firing at troops as they were coming down. Were with the Counter Terrorism divisions special forces. The men are tired. They have been fightinging nonstop since isis swept through iraq more than two years ago. But morale is high. Theyre now just 20 kilometers from mosul. The forces have been pounding this area. This is the front line and being this close to the fightinging, one cant help but to think, but to wonder about the fate of the civilians who potentially might be trapped inside. Thankfully, it seems there are none. The vast majority fled this peaceful christian enclave two years ago. Thats when we were last here, just after isis captured mosul when yusef and his friend tried to pretend that everything was normal. When 22yearold mariana swore that she would stay even if she was the only one left. It was a tranquil sanctuary. This shattered community, this shattered country has already suffered so much. Staff sergeant d can ahran doesnt tell his wife and four children hes at the front. He does not call them to say goodbye before heading into the fight. What would you tell your wife and children if you could call them now, i ask . God willing, i will return home when we have liberated all of iraq families, he responds. But lebraiding the land is only the first part of the battle. And, george, part of the challenge, of course, of liberating the land is part of the civilian population. Upwards of 1. 2 Million People still believed to be trapped inside mosul and the United Nation reporting about 550 families were taken from villages outside of mosul, positioned in areas in the city where there may potentially be Coalition Air strikes. We are hearing from an iraqi intelligence source that around 248 men and boys were executed for trying to resist isis efforts to force them and their families to be human shields, george. Its terrifying to hear about this news of these excuses happening. These civilians also are caught up in the middle and obviously the efforts to try to have supplies in place for them as they try to escape mosul. Arwa damon live for us in irbil, iraq. Thank you for the reporting. We wish you safety and those teams and well stay in touch with you. And when it comes to iraqi and peshmerga fighters, they arent just battling forces on the ground, they are also up against bomb dropping drones in the skies as our own Nick Paton Walsh reports. 30 militants sustained attack against key security and government buildings. Seven of them dead, many casualties. Sort of a way i think of suggesting isis will strike where it was. The violence continuing around mosul itself. As we saw ourselves yesterday, isis able to use drones both to spot the positions on of those attack them but deliver explosives of tense, bloody times on those front lines. Day four and perhaps the biggest push yet. From the north into the plains around mosul. Trying to dislodge the determined and deranged remnants of isis. The peschmerga back with staggering air power. But our common sight of American Special forces through the pentagon says are advising, not assaulting position on the front of the attack. The work was slow. Destructive. Begging the question what becomes of the wreckage under new masters. Suddenly, in the sky, a hail of bullets. Theyve spotted a drone. Tracer rounds dance around it and finally take off its nose. Isis used them to spot target for artillery, even drop small bombs. This one tumbles down. Its wreckage picked over. Its still unclear whose it is. Yet progress down the road is agonizingly slow. This is the source of so much fighting this morning, but still full of isis and, in fact, weve heard the peschmerga listened to those militants this morning discussing how they should wait with and only launch a counterattack once the peshmerga are inside. They were killed by a mine and others injured by clashes when they flank the town heading left across bare b farmland. Isis still here, haunting the dust, pushed back moments earlier. We reached one unit penned down on a hill. They say the drones observing them, but also dropping tiny bombs on them. Like grenades. Rocket after rocket lands. Over the hill, there is fiercer fighting. And still, the rockets come in. Exposed, trudging through land turned arid. The United States identifying the casualty there reported yesterday as chief petty officer jason c thats basically a dmining squad. Weve seen ourselves, so many American Special forces and Armored Vehicles often going in with the first group of peshmerga in territory. The white house admits they are in harms way. But it is clear that this will be long and bloody. Nick paton walsh fort us report. Thank you for that. As major fighting continues in both iraq and syria, one neighbor is watching and worrying. Turkey has accepted hundreds of thousands of rev ewe dwees for iraq and syria. The government has been demanding a seat at the table when it comes to military operations that are taking place against isis. Following the story this hour, ivan watson is with us. Lets talk about turkey sharing a border with those demanding a voice in this fight. Thats right. There was a very public disagreement, argument, basically, between the turkish and Iraqi Governments after turkey insisted that it might be part of this operation in mosul. And then the Iraqi Government fightinging back saying this would be an infringement on iraqi sovereignty. What we saw on friday unfold here is that the u. S. Defense secretary paid a meeting here to try and shore up support to help resolve some of these differences between different American Allies in the region in the middle of this critical and deadly battle taking place in mosul. After that meeting, carter told journalists that it appeared that there was an agreement in principal for turkeys future participation in the mosul operation but that the practicalities still had to get sorted out. Now, why would turkey be so concerned . Part of it is that it has taken in millions of refugees, mostly from syria, but also from hundreds of thousands of refugees from iraq. Mosul is considered to be a largely sunni muslim city in the north of iraq that turkey has long standing historical and cultural ties with. The turkish president , air due want sees himself as a protector even though the Iraqi Government, the see use it dominated government has vowed that will not take place. So these are part of the tensions here and some of the concerns that the u. S. Defense secretary was trying to address this who. And he has since made a surprise visit to bath to then talk to iraqi counterparts as this mosul battle unfolds. George. So thats the situation with turkey. Ivan, id also like to talk to you about whats happening in aleppo. The civilians that are caught in the middle of all this. Id like to show our viewers here and around the world this map of aleppo. This is a city that is surrounded by various forces. You see rebel hd controlled areas around that you see Regime Forces and kurdish forces, humanitarian situation in the middle of that city has got to be dire for people who are just unable to escape. What can you tell us, ivan, from your discussions about people, about whats happening in aleppo, about the people in the middle, and why many of them havent used humanitarian corridors to escape. The siege of aleppo and those just punishing deadly air strikes that the russian military, that the Syrian Government has been carrying out over the course of the last two months, it has, fortunately, calmed over the the course of the last four or five days since the russians and defined a unilateral ceasefire and allowed populations trapped inside to come out. The United Nations has declared that its simply not safe to evacuate wounded civilians through these humanitarian corridors, no matter what the russians and the Syrian Government may say. And the residents weve talked to inside have indicated the same, some saying they would like to leave, but they simply dont trust the Syrian Government to escape to Syrian Governmentcontrolled areas. So youve got a standoff there. But fortunately, at least for four or five days, that part of the city has not been bombarded by the russian and Syrian Government aircraft. There is fear that any hour now, the air strikes could begin again and weve also talked to civilians inside saying that even though theres been this unilateral ceasefire, there have been no deliveries of humanitarian aid into this besieged area so that there are still Major Concerns about just access to food with, again, after this twomonth siege. The george. Ivan watson, live for us in istanbul, turkey. We appreciate the reporting today. Thank you. Still ahead here on cnn newsroom, the race for the white house and the republican candidate for president , donald trump, facing serious competition in a state with a long tradition of voting republican. Now theyre looking toward this man. That story, ahead. What . Is he gone . . Finally, i thought hed never leave. Tv character why are you texting my man at 2 a. M. . No. If you want someone to leave you alone, you pretend like youre sleeping. Its what you do. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Tv character taking selfies in the kitchen does not make you a model. Two, please. man it was his turn to buy the next round. It just happened to be during. crowd cheers . A huge pick six. A play so big, years from now it will be known as simply the pick. Its a shame, but its also a badge of honor all true fans must endure. So sprint proudly, my friend, because we get you. And like you, courtyard is all about the game. 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Welcome back to cnn. Im here with meteorologist derek van dam to talk about this typhoon that slammed into eastern china and continues to move inland. This is a serious situation. It began in the philippines as a category 4 and then slammed into china as a category 1. But it created a monstrous scene there, which youll see with this video coming up. There have been 22 named storms so far this season in the western pacific. The season lasts basically from may to october and over 7 billion u. S. Dollars in damages from these 22 collective storms. And here is one of them. Typhoon heima making landfall in the guangdong province. Coming up over the costal barrier and those cranes getting whipped around ferociously. Look at this, as well, the image behind me. If youve traveled to hong kong, you know this is a scare sight to see. Very few pedestrians, very few cars traversing the roadways on friday in the Central Business district. It looks like thats good news because people really did heed the warnings ahead of typhoon haima. That versed the South China Sea before making its second landfall as a strong category 1. About 100 kilometers to the east of hong kong, but hong kong felt the effects of this storm. In fact, they saw so much rain in the month of october, we nearly, in fact, surpassed quadrupling our monthly climate logical average rainfall totals. Were at 550 right now. We typically see about 100 millimeters of rainfall throughout the month of october and we see that sharp decline and typically in rainfall totals as we head into october, november and december as they classify that as the dry season. Now, you can actually see the remnants of typhoon haima, which is a depression can, by the way, really starting to on disburse rainfall further and further to the east including shanghai. By the way, there are over 750 Flights Canceled at the Hong Kong International airport. You can imagine the Snowball Effect that has into the weekend. So doublecheck your plans. Take a look at this. Climate Prediction Center and noaa issued their temperature outlook. Below average for the north and above average precipitation for the northern rockies, as well. Ill leave you with this image because i am a snowboarder myself. Youll appreciate this, i think, fwornlg. The First North American ski resort is open in the u. S. And that is rapahoe basin in colorado. Those are the first people on the chairlifts. Those guys are happy, too. It will be a little warmer in those places that we like to go and ski. Thats right. Which is not good news for skiers and snowboarders. We can only cross our fingers. Thank you so much, derek van d dam. Americas choice 2016 hacked emails posted by wikileaks show bad blood between Hillary Clinton and the former u. S. Vice president al gore. In the emails dated last november, top clinton aides discuss gores refusal to endorse her campaign. This marks the latest batch of hacked emails that u. S. Officials say most likely comes from russia in an attempt to influence the u. S. Election results. Wikileaks says it will continue also to are release emails. Donald Trumps Campaign team says he will reveal what they call his Closing Argument on saturday, a blueprint for his first 100 days in the white house if he is elected to be put of the u. S. The republican president ial candidate said friday that he would lay out his plan during a speech in gettysburg, pennsylvania. Trump didnt offer specifics, but Campaign Aides say he will present the key ten principals driving his candidacy and will share more details about his policies. Trump has some unexpected competition in a u. S. State that has a deep tradition of voting republican. Its the state of utah where republicans hold the governors office, both senate seats and every congressional district. So the question is this. Why is donald trump in daker of losing utah . And were not talking about losing it to Hillary Clinton. Cnns Phil Mattingly has more. Donald trump has a very real utah problem, largely because of this man, evan mcmullen. Our campaign is a threemonth president ial campaign. Havent heard of him . Youre not alone. In a year where candidates like jill stein and Gary Sullivan have made waves, hes a campaign stop. Hes in position to win utah. People like to say that utah is a republican state. Or a deep red state. I say that its a principled conservative state. For trump, trailing in the polls and with an extremely limited path to 270 electoral votes to begin with, its a major headache, but its one that has been percolating for months, now appears to be peaking. A drive through Salt Lake City produces political yard sign