now in a very rare and candid piece today syrian president assad said syrian troops are losing territory to rebel fighters including isis. assad also acknowledged that the syrian army is under a lot of strain due to power and equipment but he said his government is not collapsing and vowed to defeat syria's enemies. he also said he expects greater support from iran one of syria's key allies now that economic sanctions have been lifted as a result of the international nuclear agreement between the international community and iran. what we're seeing here is a shifting in the battlefield. but so far we haven't much seen a change in isis' strength which is still very, very strong in both iraq and syria. most analysts say that until turkey shuts off the flow of foreign fighters coming through istanbul and in to syria, isis is likely not going to suffer much because of these air strikes no matter who is flying these bombing runs. leland? >> good questions for sure in terms of which side of the battle the turks are on in this