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Battle to Retake ISIS Stronghold Mosul Underway; Choice for President; WikiLeaks Releases More Hacked Clinton Emails; Desperate Iraqis Escape ISIS in Mosul; CNN aboard French Carrier in Battle for Mosul; China Launches its Longest Space Mission. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 17, 2016 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:16] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles with breaking news from Iraq this hour.

An Iraqi-led coalition is now hours into an offensive to oust ISIS from its last remaining stronghold in Iraq, the city of Mosul. The terror group has held the northern Iraqi city for more than two years but now they're facing around 30,000 troops -- a culmination of Iraqi soldiers, Peshmerga fighters and Shiite paramilitary groups.

As many as a million civilians are caught in the crossfire but the Iraqi prime minister had a message of hope for Mosul saying the time for victory has finally come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAIDER AL-ABADI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Our dearest people in Nineveh Province. The victory bell has rang and the operations to liberate Mosul have begun. I'm announcing today the beginning of these heroic operations to liberate you from the brutality and terrorism of ISIS. God willing, we will meet soon on the ground of Mosul and we will all celebrate the liberation and your freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is with a Peshmerga convoy near Mosul. He joins us on the line. So Nick -- what's the very latest from where you are?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well John -- about 45 minutes ago, Peshmerga bulldozers began demolishing the barriers, two of them, berms, long sandy berms that have for months if not years separated the territory they hold with that which ISIS holds.

We've since advanced with the column of armor. I can't give you our exact location (inaudible) and we've got (inaudible) with security but we're hearing distant heavy machine gun fire and the skyline around us is thick often with black smoke -- a sign perhaps as far as we can ascertain that ISIS may have been able to make good on their threat to set fire to supplies of crude oil. There's a sound of machine gunfire intensifying actually down the convoy as we slowly move in the general direction of Mosul. It's still very distant from here now, obscured by morning dust.

Peshmerga have a task to take some of the area in the direction of Mosul and then we understand there will be an Iraqi military move as well to move in a further direction. The point here though is the scene which many have waited for, for weeks, which there's been intense anticipation and preparation is now under way. And in front of me are dozens of Iraqi Peshmerga vehicles rolling out into the desert leaving a dusty trail behind them. As the (inaudible) what sounded like mortar landing far from us but also shell fire being returned.

And during the night when we slept on a roof nearby we were constantly awoken by the loud explosions of what must have been air strikes in the distance here. That's one of the key questions that will be answered in the hours ahead as this convoy moves forward.

What kind of fight are ISIS able to put back up against these advancing forces? They have had a lot of time to prepare. We've seen the fires clearly along the horizon here. But they've also ha a long time to be hit by coalition air strikes to have their positions ascertained and targeted by their air power.

I have to tell you, in the convoy we're in there is certainly a foreign presence. So there's been meticulous planning here certainly in clearing this area. From the machine gunfire we're hearing, there may well be some elements of ISIS presence still in these villages but it's a long drive frankly towards the urban sprawl of Mosul where everyone accepts the fighting will be much uglier. The question really is, how easy is this first stage of the offensive we're seeing -- John?

VAUSE: And with that in mind, Nick, what are the Peshmerga fighters expecting as they make their way closer to the city of Mosul?

WALSH: Well, I think it will get tougher. The Peshmerga are not supposed to get much closer to the urban sprawl under the broad official plan, so to speak, which everybody talks about.

Let me recap on that for you. That is supposed to be the Iraqi military moving into the city itself, the Peshmerga assisting in clearing areas around it, and also some Sunni paramilitary forces potentially going into that predominantly Sunni city, too, to make sure the population, the sectarian concerns are certainly met and addressed.

Many are concerned though that the loud rhetoric we've heard from the Iranian-backed Shia militia, the Hashd al-Shaabi (ph) and also from Turkey, too, about them both feeling the need to join this battle to protect the sectarian interests and Turkey deeming itself the protector of the Sunni populations in Northern Syria and Iraq to some degree.

But this could upset the so-called Plan A which has been agreed upon and certainly people will be looking in the days ahead to see if those external forces do keep the distance they're supposed to.

[00:04:53] We've just seen a loud air strike go right in front of us here. That kind of explosive power only happens from some kind of coalition device. We're seeing -- just to interrupt myself there -- John, I'm sorry but that's a sign this fighters were certainly continuing. But right in front of us here, a very loud explosion (inaudible) right now in the sky.

VAUSE: Sorry, that was an incoming or outgoing explosion? Was this from a coalition aircraft -- Nick?

WALSH: I didn't hear the aircraft, John, almost certainly beforehand. But that kind of explosion in front of us (inaudible) the care we were on and it is just over the brow (ph) -- the hill in front of me but it's given a very large mushroom cloud in the front of us.

VAUSE: Ok. You mentioned there was a foreign presence with the Peshmerga fighters. Specifically can you --

WALSH: I don't want to give too much more details about that in terms of sort of the security, all the forces we're with. But it's quite clear from what we've been seeing the past 24 hours that this is an assault which has had an awful lot of coalition. It's fair to say that American and other western nations and others as well assisting in its preparation and it's fair to say in its execution, too. The Pentagon is clear that their troops are here in purely in an advise- and-assist capacity. They are not involved in the assault. They're not involved on the front line.

We have seen some U.S. forces in areas which you might when you see them think, well, that's a lot closer to the front than I thought they might actually be but at this stage we've not seen them actually involved in combat themselves but that large mushroom cloud that is still hanging in the sky over a village where it may have been possibly the source of some of the gunfire being responded to or the direction from which gunfire was being pointed. It's certainly where a small smoke is emerging from that has been hit by an enormous strike here. I can only presume that kind of firepower unless it's a suicide bomber gone wrong or tried to detonate something else that must have been from a coalition aircraft.

VAUSE: Ok. Nick, we will leave it at that. Clearly, obviously, this operation is well under way. Nick Paton Walsh reporting a very loud explosion there and most likely from a coalition aircraft in an area where there was some kind of similar weapon fire just a short time ago.

Let's get Arwa Damon. She is also near the front lines close to Mosul. So Arwa, it is now early morning there. This operation has been under way for many, many hours. What has been the progress as best you can tell of those coalition forces?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're in something of an over-watch to the southeast of Mosul and from this position the Peshmerga fighters have been launching mortar rounds as well as a series of rockets into the villages down below. We have also from this vantage point seen one fairly large explosion, as well as a lot of other smaller ones.

There was a building that had caught fire it would seem from the rockets that were launched from this particular position. There has been quite a concerted effort to soften the territory as it is called before these various different forces do move in their advance towards the city in and of itself.

And speaking of the city of Mosul, there are around 1.5 million civilians still believed to be there. And, of course, their fate is of utmost concern at this stage. The Iraqi government did drop leaflets on the city trying to tell people how to keep themselves safe, giving them details on exactly how they should be taping up their windows, advising them to disconnect the gas cylinders, take them outside if they possibly can, to stay away from explosion sites, and to try to stay indoors and always keep a wet cloth with them.

The handful of civilians that we have been able to speak to over the course of the last few days, bearing in mind that it's incredibly difficult for anyone to make contact with someone inside Mosul because just to be caught with a cell phone can potentially be a death sentence as ISIS views just about anyone who is trying to place a call as being an informant, have told us about shortages and basic food supplies saying that they've also noticed a different posture when it comes to the ISIS fighters.

We do know from a series of sources within the city that it would appear that ISIS had released some of its own detainees from prisons, people that it had detained for things like smoking or shaving or wearing western clothing and had ordered them to begin digging underground tunnels.

We also have a series of reports from witnesses saying that ISIS had executed dozens of its own for allegedly attempting to flee the city. This is, though, as we have been reporting, very much the initial stages of what promises to be a very difficult and very long battle especially as these various forces do get close to the city itself.

VAUSE: Are there a lot of questions about the particular timing? Specifically do you know, was there one reason why the prime minister decided now was the time, that this was zero hour to begin this offensive on Mosul?

[00:10:03] DAMON: Look, the Iraqi Security Forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, the various different paramilitary forces -- this has been their main focus. This has been their goal. And it would seem that the Iraqi government at least deemed them ready at this point in time.

Over the last few weeks you've been seeing troops massing around the various front lines that exist around the city of Mosul itself. The distance between these various different points that are controlled by the different groups and the city itself does, in fact, vary. But they have been building up to this. They have been clearing these various different villages and towns, terrain to reach this point.

They've gained a lot of experience over the last year in dealing with ISIS. They have noticed ISIS changing its tactics. They used to launch wave upon wave of suicide bombers but with the backing of coalition airstrikes, with the expertise that the Iraqi Security Forces have been able to gain, they have been able to slowly push forward and reach this point in time. There's been a lot of build-up, a lot of anticipation.

Don't forget that the prime minister promised to clear all Iraqi territory of ISIS by the end of the year. And it would seem that in working alongside the coalition and the various different forces that are on the ground here, they did decide that it was finally time to declare zero hour and begin that push towards the city.

This is a battle that is not just significant for Iraq. It's not just significant in the battle against ISIS inside Iraq. It also has broader implications for the region as well -- John.

VAUSE: Ok. Arwa -- thank you. Arwa Damon there not from the front lines of Mosul. Arwa -- thank you. Stay safe.

The United Nations is warning the battle for Mosul could cause a humanitarian crisis. More than a million people may be forced out of the city. More than 60,000 have fled just since March nationwide and more than three million Iraqis have been forced from their homes since the start of 2014. Millions more are in need of humanitarian assistance.

CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona joins us now for more on this. Colonel -- thank you for being with us.

As far as you can look at how this will play out, the Iraqi prime minister believes that they'll be in control of Mosul by year's end. Do you think that's fairly realistic at this point?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Possibly, but I'm very skeptical. I know that he had made that promise and that might be driving what is the -- the selection of now to kick this off. But it's going to be a long, drawn-out fight. It's a huge area. There's a lot of people there. ISIS has had two and a half years to put together the defenses.

And the Iraqis are going to approach this methodically. And they're only going to use the Iraqi army and Iraqi Security Forces to actually go into Mosul. That limits the number of fighters they're going to be able to take in there. So this is going to be slow going. But in the end, I think the Iraqis have the force to do this.

VAUSE: How big a role will U.S. forces play in all of this?

FRANCONA: That's a big question. U.S. forces have been involved. A lot of the artillery fires in preparation for this have been done by U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps units. As you know, the coalition, U.S.- led coalition has been providing a lot of air strikes, a lot of reconnaissance of Mosul for well over a year. So we're very aware of what's in that city and where everything is. So this has all been provided to the Iraqis.

Now we don't know the presence of U.S. advisers, where they actually are. I suspect they are at the forward headquarters down at the battalion level, providing advice and assistance. But, you know, as the President said, they're not going to be in a direct combat role.

VAUSE: How much has been done ahead of time to try to win over the population of Mosul, try and get them on side to actually try and create some kind of resistance if you like, inside the city?

FRANCONA: There is a resistance inside the city. And I think Arwa is referring to them earlier. But it's very, very dangerous. ISIS counts (ph) -- there's no dissension whatsoever. So anyone that's caught doing this is immediately executed. It's very difficult to get people to do this.

The residents of Mosul are very concerned about what's going to happen not only during the fighting but what happens after the fighting. Are the Shia militias going to be allowed to come into the city? We saw what they did in Fallujah. We saw what they did in Ramadi. They are very concerned about that.

And of course, ISIS has been feeding this steady diet of propaganda. So they're very wary. And so I'm not sure we're going to see any help for the Iraqi forces as they go in there.

So I think the Iraqis -- go ahead.

VAUSE: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just going to ask you though, in terms of actually ridding Mosul of ISIS that doesn't necessarily mean that Iraq will be rid of ISIS because there are still other areas under ISIS control -- Tal Afar, Hawija -- just to name a few small places.

[00:14:59] FRANCONA: Well, those two areas are very interesting. And the Iraqis chose to ignore that and go into Mosul first. That Hawija pocket presents a risk to the Iraqi supply line because that's a very, very tenuous supply line from Baghdad all the way up to the southern outskirts of Mosul and you have this force of ISIS to the east of that. If you look at Tal Afar -- that's that western supply route to Syria that could be resupplied there. It's also an escape route for ISIS out of the city. That's where the Shia militias are supposed to go.

So I'm surprised that they didn't put those militia in their first. I'm surprised they didn't clean out that Hawija pocket first but for whatever reason the Iraqis have made the decision and we're in this now.

VAUSE: And very quickly, what can these coalition forces expect? Chemical weapons a realistic possibility here? Because there was, you know, talk that they're using some kind of mustard agent in the past. There's also, of course, the suicide truck bombs as well. But I guess the chemical component is possibly the most terrifying.

FRANCONA: Well, everybody is concerned about that. As you know, ISIS had a chemical warfare effort. And it was centered, of course, in Mosul at the university there. The coalition bombed as many labs as they could find but there's always a possibility that they've got some or they could use industrial strength chlorine. So, you know, there's always a possibility of that. And, you know, ISIS is in this to the death. They'll use whatever they have.

VAUSE: Yes. And that's terrifying.

Colonel -- thank you for being with us. We'll check in with you again for more as this battle continues. Obviously, this is the early stages. Colonel Rick Francona -- thank you.

Coming up here on CNN -- the stakes could not be higher as Iraq begins the battle for Mosul. What it could mean for the government in Baghdad -- in just a moment.

Also, Donald Trump falls far behind Hillary Clinton in a new poll. We'll have reaction from the Trump campaign after the break.

[00:16:46] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A long-awaited offensive to drive ISIS from Mosul is under way. The country's prime minister announced the offensive just a few hours ago. In a televised statement, the Iraqi prime minister directly addressed Mosul's residents and said God willing, they'll soon be liberated.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city was seized by ISIS in 2014. The terror group is believed to have several thousand fighters there. A 30,000-strong task force is assembled now to retake it.

The fight for Mosul could take weeks, maybe months. We'll have much more on the offensive later this hour.

Two new polls show Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump heading into Wednesday's third and final U.S. presidential debate. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls has Clinton 11 points ahead nationally -- 48 percent to 37 percent. And ABC News/Washington Post shows a much closer race. Clinton has a four-point lead within the margin of error.

And Trump now appears to be preparing his supporters for a loss come November -- again claiming the system is rigged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect Hillary Clinton president. But we are going to stop it. We are not going to back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There's been an angry reaction on Twitter from Donald Trump after a Republican campaign office was firebombed in North Carolina overnight. He's blaming the vandalism on Hillary Clinton supporters calling them "animals". Investigators have not publicly identified any suspect. The Clinton campaign called the attack horrific and unacceptable. No one was hurt. WikiLeaks has released yet more hacked emails from the Clinton campaign. We get details from Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: WikiLeaks today releasing thousands more of the hacked emails from the account of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta. This weekend, the batches of emails have included everything from apparent texts of Hillary Clinton's speeches addressing Goldman Sachs, debate over what types of campaign donations to accept, the inner workings of the campaign, discussion over allegations concerning Bill Clinton and the controversy that erupted over Hillary Clinton's private email server.

One campaign adviser Neera Tanden writing to Podesta in August of last year urging Clinton to apologize for it -- something she would only do the next month. Quote, "She always sees herself bending to their will when she hands over information, et cetera. But the way she has to bend here is in the remorse. Not in the 'if I had to do it all again, I wouldn't do it. A real feeling of this decision I made created a mess, and I'm sorry I did that.'"

No one thinks she doesn't have the judgment to be president. She's not reaffirming a negative characteristic in saying sorry. According to the email, Podesta essentially replied, agreeing that he was frustrated, too, and suggesting they were trying to get her to apologize.

The Clinton campaign has been put on the defensive in light of the hacking and has tried to deflect attention by blaming Russia. Here's what Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There does need to be a consequence when a foreign nation tries to destabilize an American election, which is what Donald Trump encouraged back in late July. He said, hey, Russia, go see if you can cyber hack and find things that will help me win.

When a foreign government tries to do this, there has to be a consequence. There will be time for figuring what that consequence is but you can't let it go unchallenged because if you do, you just -- could encourage more of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Russia has not officially been blamed for this hack but has been fingered by the U.S. for other WikiLeaks releases. For its part, Republicans are trying to put more attention on the hacked emails, for example, once again bringing attention to the cozy relationship some Clinton Foundation donors had with the State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think what Donald Trump is talking about is, frankly, what appears to be the monolithic support of the national media for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Their willful ignorance about the avalanche of hard evidence -- not allegations, John -- but hard evidence now coming out in these emails of collusion and pay for play politics and the American people are just tired of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:03] JOHNS: The State Department and the campaign have denied any pay for play allegations. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the emails. And the Clinton campaign has neither confirmed nor denied whether they are authentic.

Back to you.

VAUSE: Joe Johns -- thank you. We'll take a short break.

When we come back the largest ever offensive against ISIS is under way in Iraq. We'll have the very latest on the fight for Mosul in just a moment.

Also ahead, a giant leap forward for China. Details on its longest manned space mission -- that's also ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles. You're watching our breaking news coverage.

The battle to liberate the last ISIS stronghold in Iraq is under way. Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite paramilitary forces are now hours into their fight to retake Mosul. Those forces number around 30,000 compared to an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS troops.

Sources say ISIS has an elaborate tunnel network which militants could use to flee the city. There are also about one million civilians left in Mosul. They've been warned to stay indoors but ISIS has been known to use human shields in the past which obviously raises a lot more concerns.

Mosul is an important fight for a number of reasons. It was Iraq's second largest city before ISIS took over with more than two million residents. The city is located near oil fields and a major pipeline to Turkey. Mosul was a vital trade hub between Iraq, Syria and Turkey. And finally it's the terror group's largest stronghold within Iraq.

[00:30:02] The U.N. refugee agency says the Mosul offensive could create a humanitarian crisis as the remaining residents try to escape the fighting.

But as Ben Wedeman shows us in his exclusive report, families have already been risking their lives to flee the brutality of the terror group.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They emerge from the darkness, some unable to walk, others completely exhausted. These people are fleeing ISIS rule reaching Kurdish lines northeast of Mosul.

Night after night they risk minefields, snipers and mortar fire. Risks worth taking, they say, to escape a reign of terror.

"They kill you if you don't fast," recounts one man. "They kill you if you don't pray. No prison, no fines, their only punishment they have is to kill, kill and kill."

Many of these people are Shabak, a religious and ethnic minority that has felt much of the brunt of ISIS's draconian rule.

These Kurdish positions are just around sixteen kilometers, or ten miles from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and under ISIS control since June 2014.

The lights in the distance are Mosul.

Wary of ISIS infiltrators, soldiers order all adult men to remove their shirts and get down on their knees, while others search the few belongings they could carry to confirm, as this soldier says, their identity and determine if they are with ISIS or not.

For children, the experience is terrifying and traumatic.

John is a volunteer medic from the United States. "The kids were dehydrated. They were exhausted. You could tell they were travelling for a very long time, it was very, very stressful on children those kind of situations so you could tell it really took a toll on them."

At a nearby base, the children sleep, while their parents recount what they left behind. "Our life was very hard," says this woman. "There is no work. There's nothing to buy. It was really bad."

From the base, they will be moved to camps further away from the front lines. They've escaped the darkness of ISIS rule, to a limbo of life as refugees.

Ben Wedeman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm joined now by Christopher Hill. He's a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Ambassador Hill, thank you for being with us.

Most people seem to agree that this is now a question of when, not if, Mosul actually falls. But the bigger concern is what happens in the follow-up after the offensive ends. And is the Iraqi government up to the task of ensuring that there's not an eruption, if you like, of sectarian violence?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: You know, I mean, it's going to be a huge challenge. And it's one of the reasons they've delayed so long in taking Mosul.

I think from a military point of view, it could have been done earlier, but I don't think any of the political agreements were in place. So, at this point, we have to see how this goes. And then I think they -- you know, there are a lot of people telling the Iraqi government what to do on the political issues. And let's hope they follow some of the advice if it becomes a sort of Sunni stand. That will be unacceptable to the Shia majority.

If the Kurds kind of stake out, you know, move their so-called green line further toward Mosul or toward center of Mosul and claim it as theirs, that will be a problem. So all of these issues are really tough issues for either al Abadi. But if this succeeds, and if the follow-up goes well, this will be a huge feather in his cap and really help him stabilize the situation in Baghdad.

VAUSE: Ambassador Hill, please stay with us. Because I need to go back to CNN's Nick Payton Walsh. He is on the front lines not far from Mosul.

And Nick, I understand that right now, you have some news to report in particular about a fire fight which is under way?

NICK PAYTON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Peshmerga Forces we were advancing with. John, I have to explain, obviously. We can't give you precisely where we are.

The first village that they have come across here on the road -- you can hear in the background some of the shots being fired by the Peshmerga that we're with.

The first village that come across is putting up pretty fierce resistance. We've had rounds going off over our head. In fact, we spoke about half an hour ago, we seemed to see an air strike. That hasn't stopped the resistance inside it. And in fact, we've seen heavy weapons being fired by the Peshmerga towards it.

And in fact, the period of deep panic here because they saw a car approaching towards their front line. A common ISIS tactic. So then, in fact, the vehicle-borne explosive device, the car-borne basically hit their enemy's front lines. That caused great panic amongst the Peshmerga who then fired all they possibly could in that particular direction and then some form of explosive device took that car out causing itself to explode.

[00:35:20] We don't quite know who was behind it. We couldn't hear anything in the line. But at this stage, the Peshmerga are gathering in number and we are waiting to see, of course, what exactly happens next.

VAUSE: OK. Nick, thank you.

Nick Payton Walsh, thank you for that update with the situation where he is with the Peshmerga convoy.

I want to turn back now to Ambassador Hill for more on this. Ambassador, I hope you just heard Nick Payton Walsh's report from the front lines there in Mosul. And, you know, from what you can tell and your experience, you know, looking at how this is going now with the Peshmerga fighters and other coalition forces moving slowly towards these villages, this will be, by all accounts, by all indications, you know, a very stiff fight being put up by ISIS.

HILL: That's correct. I think, first of all, it's a very spread out area. There is kind of heavy urban center, but there are a lot of villages, a lot of places where ISIS fighters will hold up and will presumably give a lot of resistance.

The question is, of course, how many ISIS fighters have remained there. As you said earlier, this has been a question of when, not if for some time. So it may have been that maybe that the ISIS has kind of thinned themselves out. We really won't know.

What we do know is this is a big effort by the Iraqis and if Haider al-Abadi succeeds with this, it's huge. If he fails, it's even bigger.

VAUSE: And in terms of ISIS losing Mosul, it's not just the symbolism. We know that they declared their caliphate there back in 2014 there in Mosul, when they made that announcement. But there's also a financial component to this. If they lose this part of territory, they lose a lot of financial resources.

HILL: That's absolutely true. Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq. It's enormous. It's far bigger than Raqqah, which is the so called ISIS capital in Syria.

So they have actually been able to use ISIS -- use Mosul as a bit of a cash cow. And, of course, that will come to an end. So I suspect that the timing of this, it means that a number of entities, including the United States, have said, you know, we believe, we're confident that this is going to work.

So I think it's really going to be the beginning of the end for ISIS. Now this doesn't really affect the hideous civil war in Syria. You know, what goes on in Aleppo every day. That's a whole different dynamic with various Sunni groups pitted against this Alewite leadership in Damascus.

But this could actually bring to an end the ISIS presence in Iraq and return Iraq to, you know, kind of nasty politics as usual.

VAUSE: I'm just curious what you made of the announcement a few hours ago by the Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi on national television surrounded by generals, essentially saying help is on the way. The victory hour is here.

HILL: Yes. Well, he's betting his whole prime ministership on this. This is -- this is not something he hasn't done before. This is how he does it.

He stands there with a group of military and tries to, you know, reach for this kind of national solidarity that they need. Of course, that's quite motley crew that's now descending on ISIS.

You have regular Iraqi military, Iraqi police. But then you have Shiite militia groups. You have some Sunni militia groups, and of course, you have the Peshmerga. So the issue is, how are they all going to meet and is it all going to go well when they do meet?

VAUSE: How reliant is the Iraqi coalition on those Shiite militia forces?

HILL: Well, I suspect that a major part of what the U.S. has been trying to do with the Iraqis is kind of work on this kind of on-the- scene alliances, but I don't think you'll really know until the shooting really starts. But I think there is -- you know, I don't think any Sunni wants to live under ISIS and I know that Shia want them out. So there's an absolutely solid tactical alliance there.

But certainly Sunnis have never really accepted the advent of Shia rule in Baghdad. At the same time Shia, as many people have noted, did not do a very good job of reaching out to the Sunni. I mean, any diplomat, as I was, stationed in Baghdad, spent a lot of time introducing Shia to Sunni and trying to, you know, get them to calm down one another.

So the real issue is, you know, can they achieve some reconciliation there? Can they have some central government presence in a place like Mosul or are we going to descend into some sort of can't-tell-on-type system where essentially Iraq has a centralized authority is gone.

[00:40:00] VAUSE: OK. Ambassador Hill with some insight there. Spent a lot of years there as the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad. Thank you very much again for being with us. It's very much appreciated.

HILL: Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, still ahead this hour, two Chinese astronauts have embarked on their country's longest manned space mission. How long they'll be spending their time in orbit? Just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The long awaited offensive to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS is under way. It is early morning there now. Air strikes and artillery fire can be heard and seen in villages around the city.

Iraq's prime minister announced the launch of the operation in a televised statement. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are part of the task force assembled to retake the city. Coalition warplanes are providing air support, but the U.S. military says all the ground troops are Iraqis.

France has been one of the United States' most staunchest allies in the fight against ISIS. French warplanes are in the skies over Mosul carrying out airstrikes. And CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports from on board the aircraft carrier the "Charles De Gaulle."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Takeoff to a combat mission over Iraq and Syria. France is one of America's closest allies in the fight against ISIS. But the aircraft carrier "Charles De Gaulle," the country is drastically increasing its strikes against the terror group.

The 24 Rafale jets carry four 500-pound laser-guided bombs each, a squadron commander tells me. We can only identify him by his first name in accordance with French military regulations.

COMMANDER MARC, FRENCH NAVY PILOT: The Rafale is a fourth generation aircraft capable of doing interdiction mission to give fire power to the people on the ground. The aim is to help the Iraqi forces on the ground to fight against Daesh.

[00:45:00] PLEITGEN: France has been hit hard by ISIS' terror. Fighters sent by the group killing more than 130 people in Paris last November. That prompted France to unleash its military, flying missions over Iraq and Syria, and deploying some ground forces as well.

The squadron commander says his men and women are determined to destroy ISIS.

MARC: It's to have to prevent anymore terrorist attack in France. We leave our families and relatives so that's very important for all the people on the "Charles De Gaulle" and my squadron.

PLEITGEN: The "Charles De Gaulle" operates almost exactly the same way as American aircraft carriers allowing the French to operate seamlessly alongside U.S. forces in the area.

(on-camera): The Charles De Gaulle is France's most powerful weapon in the fight against ISIS and its jets play a major role in the effort to liberate Mosul from the terror group.

(voice-over): And French fighters are already flying bombing missions over Mosul, the commander of the carrier strike group tells me.

OLIVIER LEBAS, ADMIRAL OF CHARLES DE GAULLE (through translator): This intensification of French efforts around Mosul come at a key moment as the efforts of the coalition are bearing fruit, he says. ISIS is retreating on the ground and has lost big cities like Ramadi, Fallujah and Manbij.

The fall of ISIS is our ultimate goal. And this goes with the liberation of Mosul and Raqqah. And France has vowed to keep its forces in the region until the goal of ultimately eliminating ISIS is achieved.

Fred Pleitgen on the aircraft carrier of "Charles De Gaulle" in the Mediterranean Sea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the relentless attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo is the greatest humanitarian disaster since World War II. Kerry was at talks on the Syrian crisis with European and Middle Eastern allies in London on Sunday.

He says Russia has made the conflict worse by backing Syrian President Bashar al Assad. The diplomats are calling on Syria and Russia to stop the bombardment and honor their commitments to the U.N.

They're also calling for immediate cease-fire in Yemen after a deadly air strike on a funeral. The Saudi-led coalition claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 150 people a week ago.

The fighting has gone on since last March after Houthi rebels drove ought the government. On Sunday, the U.S., the U.K. and the U.N. urged both sides to find a political solution.

China has launched its most ambitious space mission yet. We'll look at what the country hopes to achieve. A live report from Beijing in just a moment.

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[00:51:35] VAUSE: Our breaking news this hour.

Iraqi forces are now several hours into what could be a very long fight to retake Mosul from ISIS. It's the largest operation yet against the terror group. 30,000 soldiers are taking part including Iraqi forces, Peshmerga fighters and Shiite paramilitary troops.

Iraq's prime minister says he's confident the city will fall. Mosul was Iraq's second largest city before ISIS took control two years ago. It's estimated one million people still live there and they could be used as human shields. A tactic ISIS has used before.

We'll continue to update the situation in Iraq and bring you the very latest.

In the meantime, we want to go to China, which has now launched its longest space mission.

The Shenzhou 11 is carrying two astronauts to a new space line, where they'll spend more than a month in orbit.

CNN's Matt Rivers joins us now live from Beijing with more on this.

So, Matt, two taikonauts that will stay for the next 30 days in space? How do they plan to spend the time?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they tell us they plan to spend their time conducting scientific experiments mainly in the fields of medicine, physics and biology. This is the fifth manned space mission that China has conducted since October of 2003, but as you mentioned, John, this is going to be the longest one ever. 33 days in total. 30 of those days will be actively engaged in those experiments, I just mentioned. The fifth time since 2013, taikonauts will be spending time in space and this time they'll be heading up to a new space station. This time they're going to a newly launched space station that the Chinese sent up into orbit last month called the Tiangong 2.

And that particular space station really is just a precursor to the Chinese's ultimate goal when it comes to space. And that would be launching a permanent space station. A 20-ton space station they hope to achieve in 2022.

John?

VAUSE: So, Matt, how does this launch play into China's bigger ambitions here for maybe a possible moon shot or even a manned mission to Mars?

RIVERS: Well, there's no doubt that they are putting a ton of money. Now because this is China, we're not exactly sure how much funding the Chinese government is putting into all this. But there's no doubt they are spending a lot of money. And what a lot of people are calling the 21st century space race.

China a little late to the game, but they are really making a huge effort to try and become a power in space.

They are sending probe to the dark side of the moon, planned in 2018. That would be the first time ever. They became the third country recently to soft land a spacecraft on the moon. As you mentioned, they do hope to send taikonauts to the moon so they can touch down there as well. So they're putting a lot of money there.

And the interesting thing here, too, is that the international space station is set to retire in 2024 or as early as 2024. And so if this Chinese space station, the permanent space station in 2022 is a success, then China would be the only country come, let's say, 2025, to have a permanent space station in orbit.

And as of right now, countries like the United States don't work with China in a bilateral way in space exploration. Could that change moving forward, give China more leverage in space? Certainly would appear that way if plans that China has for space go ahead and move forward.

[00:55:06] VAUSE: Is there much regional concern about China's space ambitions, in particular from, say, India which has its own space program as well as Japan?

RIVERS: Sure, I think that any time China goes forward and does something unilaterally like this, I do think that there is a healthy amount of suspicion. I mean, look at what the U.S. says about China. They refuse to work with the Chinese when it comes to space because of national security concerns.

They say that they are concerned that the Chinese would steal some of the technology that they have. And so as these other countries like India and Japan, as you mentioned, try and further their own space programs, they do keep a wary eye on China in terms of what are its end goals here. And don't forget the technology that can be learned from increased space exploration. Something that other countries are certainly a little bit nervous about.

VAUSE: OK, Matt, thank you.

Matt Rivers giving us the very latest there from china. Those guys are up there right now. Going to be there for a long time.

Thanks, Matt.

That's all for this hour. I'm John Vause at CNN Los Angeles. I'll be back with more on the Mosul offensive and the rest of the day's news after a short break.

You're watching CNN.

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