[Banfield:] Turning now to the war on ISIS, Iraqi forces are now doubling down the efforts to retake the city of Tikrit from the hands of ISIS. You'll probably remember that ISIS took Tikrit back in June and that was shortly after they captured Mosul, which is Iraq's second largest city. About 30,000 fighters are now making the push to take back Saddam Hussein's hometown. Australia is also helping more, they're sending more troops into this war zone. That country already has an air presence but the prime minister says this country is sending an additional 300 troops to Iraq so that they can help to train the Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS. And back here at the United States, one of the so-called Brooklyn three is due in Federal Court but in Jacksonville, down in Florida. That's set to happen this afternoon and here is. His name is Abror Habibov, his 30 years old. And make no mistake, it's a nice picture that he was among the three men arrested and charged last week of conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS. Again the accusation, the charges to follow and perhaps the litigation, I want to get the very latest on what's happening in the fight against ISIS from senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman who is live with me now in Baghdad. Ben, what I find so remarkable is that we have these troops going after ISIS forces in the birthplace of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit to try to retake that city. The rumor mill, the talking points is that Mosul is next. But what's different about these Iraqi forces now than the ones who threw their weapons down and ran and let ISIS take these places in the first place.
[Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, it just seem that the Iraqi army has made a real effort to upgrade itself, so to speak. They've received a more training from the United States and what we have here is not just the Iraqi army which was the force that fled from Mosul last June, but they're joined by Shia militias and Sunni tribesmen. And what's also important here is that there's a significant Iran involvement in the operation. Qasem Soleimani, the head of the elite Iranian al-Quds force is on the ground apparently, helping supervise the operation. And according to Pentagon officials, Iranian troops are also there manning heavy artillery and rocket launchers. So, this definitely is a change from the past. Iran clearly is the investing a lot of efforts and manpower and resources to try to bolster the Iraqi army here and make this operation a success. What's also significant about this operation is that it was launched with very little consultation with the United States. And there have been no coalition air crafts making strikes on ISIS targets in the area. Ashleigh?
[Banfield:] I always say, sure, I mean little consultation with the U.S. that we know of because there are so many advisors on the ground who are calling in these locations. It's just hard to believe that there's no coordination at all between these Iranians and these Americans. But so far the word is not officially, anyway. Ben Wedeman excellent work in Baghdad for us, thank you for that. The Los Angeles Police Department, defending the officers' actions in that shooting death of a homeless man, now seen on television screens across the country over and over and over again. But some people including witnesses, say they're not buying that story that he tried to grab a policeman's gun. They've released pictures of it, but do the pictures, do the video, do these things support either side. We're breaking into it, next.