around and attack the more fixed positions that the iraqis have been setting i up. reporter: iraqi forces are constantly trading fire with isis. another few hundred meters and the iraqis will be inside the city itself. u.s. military advisors are close behind. the pentagon has not said if u.s. troops will enter mosul right away. american forces anywhere near the field of battle right now and this is in an urban field of battle, will become at risk of snu sniper shooting. suicide attacks. reporter: while u.s. troops help pinpoint isis target, victory may come neighborhood by neighborhood for iraqi units but shroud down perhaps by the presence of people being used as human shields by isis. what they are trying to do is leverage the local population.
vote operation both in iowa and other battleground states, and it uses, wolf, an app with the latest technology. people go around on their phones. the question is whether or not the democratic grassroots organization really is as vaunt as it was. and we re going to look at that later in the week as both campaigns prepare for their last 96 hours before election day. everybody stay with us. just ahead there is breaking news of a critical battle against isis right now. iraqi troops backed by u.s. forces are winnithin yards of terrorist stronghold. when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren t prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it s going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we ll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges.
in mosul. to mobilize and rise up eventually against the islamic state. reporter: once government centers are under iraqi control it is more likely u.s. forces would move in to advise directly. as the mosul offensive moves forward, in syria, planning is under way for military operations against isis s declared capital raqqah. we know because raqqah holds such importance to them and the citizens there, those that remain are in every day in great danger. we know that something is going to have to be done about their presence in raqqah. for anti-isis fighters like these we visited in northern syria, getting to raqqah and holding on may be tough and there is no agreement who would govern if isis is defeated. and what is the cost of all this now? $9.5 billion since the war against isis began in tow 14.
teams test computer networks trying to hack them. to essentially look for vulnerabilities hackers could exploit. these cyber units are not yet in every state. there are 23 units and the plan is to have these cyber teams in 34 states. thank you rene marsh. and new news in the battle to retake iraq s second largest city. reporter: the obama administration is saying the fight for mosul is actually ahead of schedule. a brutal sand storm challenging the iraqi advance. arwa damon is there. reporter: we re less than a kilometer away from its outskirts. but what isis has been doing and what we saw them do on this day is seemingly send small groups of fighters to try to circle
u.s. coalition forces are moving forward in iraq. they have killed up to 900 isis fighters. they have started to send suicide squads to mosul from raqqah, syria. raqqah is the next isis stronghold coalition forces will be targeting. we are joined live via skooip skype. thank you for joining us. why are isis fighters launching such fierce defense of areas to the south of mosul, opposed to retreating to take a stand there in the city? what s the group s strategy? they are being pretty effective. they have blunted the momentum of the iraqi army.