Fight Against ISIS; U.S. To Send 200 More Troops To Syria
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. More on our world lead now. German police say they have detained a man who might be linked to the Berlin Christmas market attack that left 12 dead. A prosecutor says the 40-year-old Tunisian's phone number was found an the attacker's cell phone. Meanwhile, Dutch police say it's likely that the terrorist, Anis Amri, traveled through the Netherlands before finally reaching Italy, where police killed him in that shoot-out in Milan. ISIS claimed it inspired the Berlin attack, prompting the ISIS-related Web site to release video of Amri pledging his allegiance to the terrorist group. But, on the battlefield, ISIS might be suffering major losses in Syria and in Iraq. A senior military official telling CNN as many as 50,000 ISIS fighters have been killed since the war against the terrorist group began. Just days before leaving office, President Obama is trying to make a final push against ISIS by sending more than 200 additional U.S. troops into Syria. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr filed this report.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S.-backed fighters near Raqqa, Syria, preparing to attack, hoping to drive ISIS out. CNN cannot independently verify this new video. Getting to Raqqa has been a top 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 200 additional U.S. troops authorized by President Obama to go into northern Syria will begin moving in and out of the area 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 down of al- Bab, they fight Kurds instead of ISIS and they 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>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are talking to them about how to 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>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 in Raqqah 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>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you pull completely out, you watch focus drift away from defeating ISIS and capturing -- recapturing Raqqah and eliminating the terrorist threat that emanates from that city.</s>STARR: So what could President Donald Trump do differently about ISIS than President Obama? Well, he could, in fact, turn some of this fight, if you will, over to Moscow, but it is not clear that Moscow shares the same priority about getting to Raqqah, and the U.S. intelligence community believes Raqqah is a threat to U.S. national security because of the ISIS plotters. Jake --</s>TAPPER: It's a big question. Barbara Starr, thank you so much. Republicans may have the White House and a majority in Congress come January 20, but that doesn't mean it will be smooth sailing. We'll look at the battles awaiting lawmakers in 2017 next.