They have rapidly gained control of key areas. Those thats where isis is in control in the red area. And iraqs neighbors, the Iraqi Government says thousands of volunteers have stepped up to defend their homeland. Even irans president said it will consider helping if iraq requests it. A u. S. Official sells a top iranian general has been in iraq this week. Were covering this story from multiple angles. And cnns arwa damon is in the Northern Iraqi city of erbil. And cnns jones in the white house. Arwa, tell us how far isis has advanced. The question is, will they make it to baghdad . Will they take over the city . Where are they now . Right now in diyala province just to the north of baghdad, theyre about 60 kilometers away from the capital, battling with Iraqi Security forces, who in one town in that area made a gruesome discovery, saying they found the bodies of 12 Police Officers who had been shot and then burned. Those bodies were found in an orchard. They suspect that isis was behi
Police say theyve narrowed down the search but theyve not found the two remaining passengers. Weve also found kind of a debris field. We found different items that would have been inside the hotair balloon. This is very helpful for us in our search efforts, because now we have an area of concentration. And that appears to be the moment when youre seeing here what appears to be the moment when the burning basket fell away from the balloon. Weve got more on the accident now that happened just before 8 00 last night. Authorities say that hotair balloon participating in the midatlantic Balloon Festival near richmond drifted into power lines and caused the basket to burst into flames. The balloon then continued to fly away and that basket, as we saw, right here looking like a fireball in the night sky. The pictures are unbelievable. One witness reported hearing two people screaming as they jumped from that burning basket. And you could hear them screaming, please, dear god, sweet jeez sujes
Im victor blackwell. We do have breaking news we need to tell you about this hour. The crisis in ukraine, it is intensifying by the hour it seems. The countrys Prime Minister accusi accusing russia of crossing air space multiple time sfwls they are ready to release a round of additional sanctions. Were live in the ukraine with the latest. Reporter well, as youre saying, the situation here does grow more tense by the moment. The government in kiev continues to say they are launching what theyre calling their antiterrorism operation. Just an indication of how chaotic the situation is, the organization for security and cooperation in europe had mandated a military Verification Mission here. 13 people were taken hostage, detained by these pro russian groups. Amongst them are eight europeans, five ukrainians. The mayor saying they dont believe they are part of the osce, that they are in fact spies. Placing the onus of responsibility on the government in kiev saying it took place within ukra
Thats the vow from ukraine as it battles prorussian militants from the street and air. You see the violence is exploding. Now a real fear of an allout civil war. And this woman is at the center of the Donald Sterling firestorm. Now his alleged girlfriend is breaking her silence. She has a lot to say. Hear what she said about that Audio Exchange and what sterling is saying about her. And poking fun at president obama to his face. Believe it or not. That is one mans job tonight. I feel nervous with that job. I think most people would. Dont you think . I wonder if you would be up for it. Im christi paul. Im victor blackwell. Always a pleasure to be with you. 10 00 on the east coast. 7 00 out west in the cnn newsroom. She has been dodging cameras and that odd visor ever since her recordings of the clippers owner Donald Sterling went public one week ago. Now v. Stiviano is sitting down with Barbara Walters. She is defending sterling. The man who was heard telling her do not bring black peop
Oh, a busy morning. Were so glad that you just took a couple of seconds to spend 2 with us and sit down and relax. Im christi paul. Im victor blackwell. Were starting this morning in california. The fires there are raging. Firefighters are working around the clock. Theyre trying to get six wildfires under control. At least four other fires are now fully contained. Good news there. Thats the good news, right. More than 1,000 firefighters, though, are battling all of the blazes around san diego. Police have now charged heres big news overnight one of three people arrested for alleged arson. They have brought a charge here. So far, though, more than 27,000 acres have been scorched. This morning, firefighters are making some progress, but theyre not in the clear yet, because strong winds and dry temperatures, they could fuel the fires even further. Officials say this is unprecedented. In some cases, worlds of flames have the potential to spit out winds as strong as tornadoes. Watch this on