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harvesting that they participate in. how valuable will these documents be in further military operations? >> i think they'll be incredible valuable. that's the thing to remember, ultimately al qaeda in iraq fell apart in the first place because not only -- they're uncapable of governor earning and govern in a way incredibly punitive to the population. the people who live under the rule for a day or two say we don't like this, we don't want these guys to be governor earning us, give them any kind of reasonable alternative, if the baghdad government would open its arms even a little bit to the sunni population, they don't want to be with isis. these guys are violent psychopaths. they don't know how to govern, even the territories they control. we've got to make that clear. this is what's going on in the terror controlled by isis, just incredibly violent behavior against the population. this is not good for anyone who
this concern over terror around the new year's holiday extents beyond europe. >> it does. the holidays a nervous time for authorities, people in the counterterror field and this is no exception, particularly as isis has shown its ability not to only to plan and orchestrate attacks abroad but inspire people to carry out their attacks on their own. all of this happening as the u.s. militarien creasingite pressure on isis and killing several senior isis leaders in iraq and syria. >> reporter: with new year's fast approaching, authorities across the world on alert for terror from belgium to bangladesh, to new york city. >> people should feel safe this new year's eve because we're there. you're going to have one of the most well-policed, best-protected events in one of the safest venues in the world. >> reporter: police arrested two men in connection with a plot to attack historic sighs in the
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attacks against the west. >> to facilitate the activities, your ability to conduct activities goes down. we haven't receivsevered the he the snake yet. we have to be clear about that. >> reporter: they have helped secure a hydroelectric dam there isis grip, located near the eastern city, it chokes off a key supply group. but despite the battlefield losses, one retired general warns isis is growing as a worldwide threat. >> while they may not be doing ground military offenses, they're still controlling the social media, they're still attracting a significant number of recruits and i think their new strategy for inspiring attacks worldwide is approach very effective for them. >> and this just in, we're learning about what could have
know all that much. the biographical details are sketchy, 27-year-old french national, apparently had been in touch with the paris attacks so-called mastermind abboud. according to cnn's paul cruickshank, who did a very good report, witnesses during the massacre recount a gunman take a cell phone and calling souliman an alias. the pentagon said he was a high ranking or senior official. i'm skeptical of that claim. number one, his age 27, is a tender year to be that high up in the echelons of isis. two nationality. if he's french chances of him having a he ranking position within the isis sort of constellation is slim. they tend to be iraq c.s who run the show there. i don't know. i'm waiting to see what more information and news reports come out about him.
lewinsky and other women involved in bill clinton's past. we have analysts and newsmakers standing by to cover all of the news breaking. and i'll be talking to the mayor of new york city about any potential new year's eve terror threats in time's square. but first i want to get to elise labott, she has the latest on the battle against isis in iraq. the terror group is still a threat in are a mramadi. this isn't over. >> and it comes on the announcement of ten isis leaders killed. we aren't sure how senior any of them really are, but the direct ties to the paris attacks with at the least one of the killings very symbolic. and today the coalition made a direct thing between the killing of isis leaders to the losses the group is suffering on the battlefield including ramadi. >> reporter: as iraqi forces evacuated civilians from ramadi city center and swept for explosives left behind, pockets
the baghdad government is a sectarian government that is against them, it will be hard to get those sunnis to fight with the iraqi government. that's going to be the key. whether the next step is fallujah or mosul or wherever, the key is to get the sunnis in iraq to believe that fighting with the iraqi government is a better choice than fighting with isis. it's still yet to be proven that's the case. >> you talk about the importance of being able to clear the quarter of the city under isis control. what are the challenges in doing that? >> i imagine it would be very, very difficult because you're up against a terrorist group, they're not trying to hold territory as simply trying to commit acts of terror against the occupying forces. i think it's going to be very, very difficult to clear the city in that regard. completely eliminate the enemy forces. it's going to take some time and it's going to be difficult because also not clearly identified. you have to move in amongst the population and figure out who's with isis, who isn't. i think it's going to be a
each individual represents a vulnerable, phone, e-mail address, friend who talks about what they were doing, how they traveled. intelligence analysts pull together technical information they'll find the mode of operations if syria and target people as we've seen in the past week. second and final thing i'd say, isis, unlike al qaeda, does not have a lot of experience, not only running these operations but getting out of these operations with security practices. in this case, my guess they didn't know well enough how to cover their tracks and they paid a price, brianna. >> what do you think, peter? do you think the coalition is overstating, that's the question that michael's raising, overstating the importance of this target that they've taken out? do you think it's any sign they're able to do a about thor job in terms of intel and tracking these guys down. >> on the latter question, things have gone from a poor record, recall the attempt to free american hostages july 4, 2014, intelligence too late, and
the islamic state is attempting to target for recruitment. >> reporter: underscoring the homegrown dangers, a british couple both convicted today of preparing for acts of terrorism as investigators seized stockpiles of chemical and bomb making materials at one of their homes and this video, showing them testing an explosive device. >> it's clear that radical and violent extremist ideology was motivated for these offenses. >> reporter: on the battlefield in syria, the coalition announced that air strikes killed isis leader charaffe al mouadan, who officials say had direct links to mastermind of the paris attacks and actively plotting more terror. over the last month the coalition says it has killed some ten isis leaders and operatives on the ground in iraq and syria. some of them senior, some continuing to plot attacks overseas the question is whether killing high value targets, as
>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news. deadly flooding that's about to get much worse. the national weather service warning of potentially history ex-high water in missouri. mandatory evacuations under way. the governor called in the national guard. one levee along the mississippi river has been breached. following the terror threat around new year's eve celebrations. arrest of two people accused of plotting an attack in historic belgian square. the plot appears to have been inspired by isis. we're covering all of that and more with guests including the ranking member of the house armed services committee, adam smith. correspondents and expert analysts standing by. let's begin now with cnn chief national security correspondent jim sciutto.