w way. while syrian president bashar al assad celebrates what he s calling the liberation of the city. plus it s been months since u.s.-backed forces began the battle to liberate mosul, iraq, hoping to free the city from isis control. latest on both fronts right after this.
air strikes and believe isis only has between 12,000 to 15,000 battle-ready fighters adding the terror group is no longer able to replenish its ranks. for more on this fight, fwling our senior international correspondent ben wedeman joining us from erbil in iraq now. ben, you re not far away from mosul, second largest city in iraq under isis control now since 2014. what are you hearing about the battle to try to liberate the city? reporter: certainly initially there were quite dramatic advances by the iraqi army, but now that they are actually within the city limits of mosul itself, on the eastern side, what is proving to be quite a difficult battle, in fact. today isis taking advantage of the bad weather, the heavy rain that was going on for much of the day, a counter attack in three separate neighborhoods in eastern mosul, and what we saw
meltdowns. iraq, the battle to liberate mosul from isis control continues. nbc news foreign correspondent lucy cavenaugh is in iraq about 25 miles north of mosul. there are reports this is the only functioning hospital that s not under isis control in the area. reporter: that s right, ali. inside mosul the battle is raging. here at the hospital civilians and soldiers are literally fighting for their lives. as you say, this is the only non-i.s. controlled hospital. it used to be a tiny clinic under 100 beds, now transformed into a frontline facility struggling to cope with some of the worst things that war can do to a human body. we ve seen injuries from car bombs here, gunfire, shrapnel wounds, and of course ieds some of the favorite weapons used by isis. a lot of soldiers have been taken casualties, many of them
all right. governor and susan, thank you both for joining us today. happening now in iraq, a new challenge in the fight to take back mosul from isis control. coming up in the next hour, congressman adam schiff, he will weigh in on donald trump s picks for national security advisor and cia director. when you find something worth waiting for, we ll help you invest to protect it for the future. financial guidance while you re mastering life. from chase, so you can.
angry citizens gathered outside trump tower as he and his wife melania return from their trip to washington, d.c. trump tweeted last night, just had an open and successful presidential election, now professional protesters incited by the media are protesting. very unfair. a much different story for the markets, another record day for the dow, inside of 19,000 as investors seem to warm up to the idea of a trump presidency. more on that coming up in business. and iraqi and peshmerga forces continue to make slow and steady process liberating mosul from isis control. the advance in part has slowed to a heavy civilian presence. in the recently liberated town they went store to store. two suicide bombers blew themselves up during those searches. back to the big news yesterday, a moment many thought unthinkable, donald trump and barack obama together in the same room in the white house. halle jackson on the first ever meeting between the 44th and