Trump's ISIS Challenge As U.S. Troops Face New Danger
SCIUTTO: Donald Trump will take charge of the U.S. war on ISIS in just a few weeks. And there are many unanswered questions about his strategy, even as dozens of additional U.S. troops prepare to deploy on the ground. Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, we heard tough talk from Trump about ISIS. But what do we expect in the days ahead, and particularly after inauguration?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you are right, Jim. You remember during the campaign, he said he had a plan to fight ISIS. After the inauguration, once he is the president, what will he do? Will he go all in with more U.S. firepower? Or might he turn the ISIS fight over to somebody else?</s>STARR (voice-over): U.S.-backed fighters near Raqqah, Syria, preparing to attack, hoping to drive ISIS out. CNN cannot independently verify this new video. Getting to Raqqah has been a tough U.S. military priority. Now, Donald Trump is inheriting an ISIS war that just got even more dangerous for U.S. troops since his tough campaign talk.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We got to get rid of ISIS, quickly. Quickly.</s>STARR: The first of two hundred additional U.S. troops authorized by President Obama to go into northern Syria will begin moving in and out of Syria in the coming days, a U.S. official tells CNN. But the region is so perilous American troops will only stay for a few days at a time. Training local forces no longer a main focus. U.S. troops will have orders to help Turkish and Kurdish troops who are close to outright war between themselves, focus on ISIS. The Pentagon is concerned that as the Turks approach the town of al Bab, they fight Kurds instead of ISIS and may turn towards Manbij, a hard fought victory for the U.S. backed forces. It is Raqqah to the south that the U.S. wants everyone to head for. The Turks want U.S. support, even air strikes. The U.S. ground forces could call those strikes in for Turkish President Erdogan.</s>MARK TONER, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: We're talking to them about how we can help them in their efforts.</s>STARR: One U.S. official tells CNN the U.S. troops "will not initiate combat but may well find themselves in a combat situation." The Pentagon believes the risk is vital to stop future ISIS attacks in the West.</s>LT. GEN. STEPHEN TOWNSEND, COMMANDER, COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE: We know that central to external operations plotting is the city of Raqqah. And that's why we need to get down there and isolate that city as fast as we can.</s>STARR: U.S. officials say there are specific buildings where they believe top ISIS operatives may be hiding. U.S. drones and communications intercepts are gathering intelligence on those targets, waiting to strike them when civilians are not there. The big unknown, will Trump hand over the Raqqah fight to Russia and the Syrian regime?</s>LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If you pull completely out you watch focus drift away from defeating ISIS and recapturing Raqqah and eliminating the terrorist threat that emanates from that city.</s>STARR: And so, if you turn the Raqqah fight, the ISIS fight in Syria over to the Russians, there is a lot of concern at the Pentagon that they will not have the same focus about the danger there and the threat that the U.S. believes ISIS inside Raqqah poses to the United States -- Jim.</s>SCIUTTO: Barbara Starr, thank you very much. Just ahead, a day after the death of Carrie Fisher, disturbing news about her mother Debbie Reynolds. The details just after this.