they re saying that they hope that they can announce the full liberation of the city from isis in about two to three days, but meanwhile, some exclusive drone footage that cnn has obtained from inside raqqa shows the scale of the devastation, the destruction, but also shows some of those sdf fighters celebrating their victory and just being able to get this far. you see them in some of these images driving their vehicles around a round-about. you see a number of them piled on top of armored personnel carriers spinning them around. this is the very same roundabout, jake, where isis carried out some of their most horrendous atrocities. the public beheadings, the executions, the crucifixes, and this is such a moment for those fighters that have really made a very direct and distinctive effort to try to get this far.
like and views as terrorists. there s obviously a lot. it s a very complex picture. but i think we have a very clear and well-defined policy. number one, we are in the stages of defeating isis and really annihilating isis. that s the direction from president trump which we are now executing on the ground. when it comes to raqqa the syrian democratic force wiz we re working with and the force inside raqqa is about 70% local arabs, sunni arabs from the area. about 40% of raqqa now has already been cleared of isis terrorists. this is very much on plan. this has a long ways to go. it s a very tough battle. the battle began on june 6th. so we re about six weeks into it. but it s going quite well so far. about 40% of raqqa is cleared. we of course finished mosul a couple weeks ago. and as you just mentioned, general dunford, we have a very clear now plan, step by step for the final areas that isis continues to hold. this will take time, but the plan is very well defined and coming together
inside raqqa. they are the foot soldiers in a global fight against isis. fueled by hope of u.s. support for a kurdish homeland nearby afterwards. donald trump? trump. reporter: he didn t vote trump here, but the white house hazlet them gather pace, whisking through three miles of raqqa s outskirts in as many weeks to here. it is merely empty. the one we see further out unable to speak, although the story is in her bloodshot eyes. at least 50,000 other stories of loss and horror are now encircled inside raqqa, hostage to the question when does isis resolve to die finally break? nick paton walsh, cnn, raqqa, syria. finally on our world
fighters and marking potentially the last time isis can say they hold a city in syria. nick paton walsh, cnn inside the old city of raqqa, syria. remarkable exclusive cnn report, nick paton walsh inside raqqa. de facto capital of isis. i want to bring you an update. as we speak, senior administration official it s are briefing the media about the putin/trump meeting. update, discussed the general u.s./russia reses. headline news, that the jordan r a cease-fire between regime forces and u.s.-backed rebels. more details. please stay with us. we ll be right back after this break. these days families want to be connected 24/7.
into a disadvantageous position with respect to north korea. ambassador max baucus. thanks for joining us. thanks, jim. all the best. we re going to be back very soon and i want to give you an update that right now senior administration officials are briefing reporters on that very long meeting between american president trump and russian president putin went nearly two hours. an update what exactly was discussed and will bring it to you as soon as it happens. as we speak, u.s.-backed rebels are fighting to retake the group s de facto capital of raqqa in syria. cnn correspondent nick paton walsh on the front line inside raqqa with this exclusive report. reporter: we are now inside the city walls of raqqa. the capital of isis, self-declared caliphate territory in which they will make their final stand in syria and, really, the middle east. that wall, a key milestone to