fighting there is still ongoing, erin. all right, arwa damon, thank you very much. ar arwa and her fearless reporting on the ground. i want to go to jim sciutto in washington. dempsey spoke at his first press conference. you heard arwa in iraq give a very different readout of the situation on the ground right? she said they have made significant gains in al anbar province, she is talking about isis how important ramadi is a very different message than we are getting today from the defense department and the president. no question jeep dempsey secretary carter said today is that the trend line is positive. they will cite successes like taking back tikrit say they are making a big effort in concentrating forces to preserve the baiji oil field, which is critical, where ramadi is not. it is difficult to gloss over the loss of the largest city in the anbar province ramadi, and particularly in impression and to echo arwa s point of a
exporting produce and goods between the two countries. the lack of iraqi government control around ramadi has created a lot of other difficulties and challenges when it comes to moving towards other areas of al anbar province. the entire terrain around ramadi is a patchwork of different front lines and battle zones. historically speaking ramadi was the old capital of what was then al qaeda s empire the predecessor to the islamic state. so to go back to jim s point, it may not seem to be strategic, but it is significant. and it is important. losing ramadi is going to be if it does happen a big blow to the iraqi government and to the iraqi security forces because it is the capital of the country s sunni heartland. and if iraqi government and the u.s.-led coalition are not going to be putting in the effort to try to help save ramadi what kind of a message is that going to send at this critical point to the country s sunni
canvassing washington. haider al abadi met with president obama but the iraqi leader said he needs billions to battle isis and for his country. he will meet with the monetary fund the president the world bank. and iraq facing a budget deficit of $22 billion this year. falling oil prices a major problem there. there are fears that isis may take control of the key iraqi city of ramadi within hours. an official in al anbar province where ramadi is tell sources that they now have ramadi surrounded. they re calling for reinforcement and air support from u.s. coalition. it has been three weeks since saudi arabia launched its first air strike against iranian-backed houthi rebels. the u.n. is stepping in voting
falling oil price. there are fears this morning that isis may take control of the key iraqi city of ramadi within hours. an official from al anbar province tells cnn that isis may have ramadi surrounded. they re not sure how long they can hold the front line. it has been three weeks since saudi arabia launched its first air strike against iranian-backed houthi rebels in yemen, a bloody campaign. the united states nations now stepping in to ban arm sales to the houthis. this as iranians are calling for a cease-fire. the conflict has triggered a huge humanitarian crisis with more than 120,000 yemenis forced to leave their homes. nic peyton walsh is there.
the vice president, vice president biden, dealt with iraq for a long time more so during the previous prime minister s term. and the president took direct issues with president obama, to direct issue with iraq twice thereafter. a constant communication between our prime minister and president. next week the prime minister will be here and will you have discussion with the vice president and the president. we think that vice president biden s support is important. we will welcome that and we are already dealing with the white house as a collective and watching when that address is given at 12:30 eastern time here. i want to also ask you about the pentagon reported for mour u.s. and coalition air strikes against isis targets including near al anbar province. how effective of these strikes in helping the iraqi s military s efforts there? they are they have been a game-changer more so in anbar