Raq Raqqa News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Leland vittert. isis could be on the verge of total defeat in the capital of raq raqqa. around 100 have surrendered to the u.s. coalition and civilians and local fighters there, but it does not include any foreign militants. and dignataries are gathering in connecticut to help launch a new submarine today. the u.s.s. south dakota will be christened at the ship yard, making this 17th virginia class submarine commissioned by the u.s. navy. i'm leland vittert. i'll see you at the top of the hour with elizabeth prann, on health care, and backing out of the iran deal and trump's announcement. and w...

And encouraging the other allies to reach that 2% target. britain hits that 2% target. we think america is right to encourage the rest of europe to do so, too. >> clearly speaking with mattis, the advance against isis in iraq and syria, top of the agenda, u.s. and the u.k. of course partners there. you have really commendable progress in the last several weeks. mosul effectively fallen. u.s. forces now inside raqqa, the self-declared caliphate. do you see isis losing its caliphate in the near term? >> well, it's certainly beginning to lose its cal i fate certainly in iraq. some 4 million peopl...

Frankly, the forces moving their way through, they pushed through about three or four hundred meters into that part of the old city itself. it is pretty intense fighting, but most of that occurs at night because during the daytime isis snipers hold those forces down. now, we ourselves have heard where these forces have the big advantage, and that's coalition power. if you are near the city at night you hear endless planes flying around. as we currently understand from some of the maps we've seen, there's only one-and-a-half miles between the west and the eastern flanks of isis. they haven't go...

Even crumble. but the real road, jim, is what happens to civilians trapped in their midst. >> most isis senior leadership has already fled, is that your understanding? >> reporter: the thought is that those left in raqqa are about 2,500 die hard fighters. and that, yes, the majority of the isis leadership has fled down east towards other towns in the east of syria. that makes them a target. well, they're on the run as well. but potentially made them staying behind house they had months and weeks to prepare, but they are considered to be cannon fodder at some degree, too. but let's say again th...

Injured now, more than 80 people arrested. also, new details of the first face-to-face meeting between trump and putin. it ran more than 90 minutes over schedule and began with mr. trump raising concern over russian cyber meddling in his u.s. presidential campaign. russia's foreign minister said mr. putin denied interference and mr. trump accepted his word. that account is denied. we have exclusive cnn reporting tonight on the fight against isis. our nick payton walsh and his crew gained rare dangerous access inside the self-proclaimed capital of raqqa, syria. u.s.-backed forces are tighteni...