ISIS Suffers Key Setbacks in Raqqa
VANIER: In Syria, ISIS appears close to losing its de facto capital Raqqah.</s>ALLEN: Syrian defense forces say now, 90 percent of the city has been liberated, and there are reports ISIS fighters are surrendering. For the latest, our Jomana Karadsheh joins us from Amman, Jordan. This has got to be welcome news, certainly especially for the citizens of Raqqah, Jomana.</s>JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course it is, Natalie. But the fighting is not over. The latest that we're hearing from activists who are in the area is that fighting is still ongoing in those areas, several neighborhoods remain under the control of ISIS militants. And there have been a lot of questions, Natalie, about that evacuation deal that we heard announced by the coalition, the U.S.-led coalition that distanced itself from that evacuation deal, saying that it was brokered by the local council in Raqqah and tribal leaders in an arrangement between them and ISIS militants for the evacuation of civilians and local ISIS militants. Now, what we are hearing from the Syrian Democratic Forces, that umbrella group that is primarily made up of Kurdish militias and some Arab militias, they are saying that they have just launched what they are describing as a new phase to recapture those several neighborhoods that are left under ISIS control, they say those are the ISIS militants who have refused to surrender. And according to the statement that we received a short time ago that was posted by the SDF, they say that this new phase is aimed at recapturing those neighborhoods where those ISIS militants, foreign and local, who refused to surrender, remain, and they say that that evacuation deal that it had been completed, they say that civilians have been -- the remaining civilians had been evacuated. Of course, we cannot verify that ourselves if there are any civilians left in that city. It's very hard to tell at this point. And they say that 275 ISIS militants and their family members have surrendered. Of course, we need to wait and see, but it would seem at this point, Natalie, yes, the battle might be nearing an end at some point, but the fighting is really not over. The U.S.-led coalition in their statements on Saturday refusing to put a timeline on how long they think that fighting is going to take -- go on for. We're talking about some really hard core fighters who remain holed up in these areas and they're expected to fight until the death.</s>ALLEN: Goodness. As you talk, we're seeing video of Raqqah and certainly it has been a vicious fight, just from looking at the video. Let's move to Iraq, Jomana. Two allies in the war against ISIS there might be headed to a conflict of their own. What's that about?</s>KARADSHEH: Well, it's a very volatile and very tense situation, Natalie. As you recall, that Kurdistan regional government held a referendum on independence last month, despite so much opposition from the international community and from the central government in Baghdad. They went ahead with that, that really raised tensions and also after that, they refused to annul the results of that referendum as they were asked to do by the central government in Baghdad. And there have been some punitive measures that have been put in place by the government in Baghdad to isolate that region of northern Iraq. But at the same time, we're seeing tensions building when it comes to the forces on the ground. You've got the Kurdish Peshmerga on one hand and on the other hand, you've got Iraqi forces and that includes those paramilitary forces that are backed by Iran and also Iraqi forces, especially in disputed areas like the oil rich city of Kirkuk. And we have seen some really conflicting reports over the last several days, Natalie, coming from the Kurdistan regional government. On Thursday into Friday, late at night, they announced that they had received information that there was an attack that is going to take place by the Iraqi forces on Kirkuk to recapture the city that was denied by the Iraqi government by the joint operations command of the Iraqi military. So, we've had these conflicting reports again, re-emerging last night, more reports coming from the KRG of another attack, some sort of a deadline that was given to them by Iraqi forces, but we have seen denials in the past. No matter what the situation is on the ground, Natalie, this is a very dangerous situation and there is always been the concern that as the battle against ISIS winds down, that you would see these forces end up in some sort of a conflict. One little incident could spark an all- out conflict. That has been a concern for a very long time. But what we are hearing is that senior Kurdish leadership are meeting today in the Kurdistan region to try and de-escalate the tensions.</s>ALLEN: Hope they can achieve that. Jomana Karadsheh for us there in Amman, thank you.</s>VANIER: A landmark general election is under way in Austria, that may push the country much further to the right than it has been in many years. The outcome could send shockwaves across Europe. Anti- immigrant sentiment allowed the far right Freedom Party and the center right people's party to make significant gains. And the charismatic Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz is widely anticipated to become the next chancellor. He would also be the youngest national leader in Austria's history. Atika Shubert joins us live from Vienna where polling stations have opened. Atika, it is hard to overstate just how young and how surprising that is, how young the foreign minister is. He's 31. How did he achieve this level of success in Austrian politics at this age?</s>ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's 31, and he seems very young, but, remember, he's been in Austrian politics for a while now. You know, we're at the polling stations here and we have seen people trickling in. And he's revamped of the party, and he's taken, you know, what was really a pasty, old fashioned conservative party and completely revamped it. And we had a chance to speak to his campaign manager yesterday and she explained why the party made these changes. Take a listen.</s>ELISABETH KOESLINGER, AUSTRIA IV OVP: We felt that the people lost their trust, especially in us, and we really tried hard with Sebastian Kurz as our leading candidate, to get the trust back from the people.</s>SHUBERT: So, it's not just that he's a young fresh face, but it is also that they changed the party colors from black to turquoise, and they fielded a list of independent candidates. They totally structurally changed the party and they reached out to voter and said tell us what's important to you. And perhaps most importantly, what he's done is he's switched the party from being very conservative, center right, a little further to the right, and that seems to have worked, gaining him a lot of support. But, of course, the ultimate test will be today in the polls.</s>VANIER: All right. We'll see what happens. You'll be tracking the results for us. Atika Shubert reporting live from Vienna, the Austrian capital -- thank you very much.</s>ALLEN: U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are struggling to survive a humanitarian crisis now, 48 people are confirmed dead after hurricane Maria devastated the island three weeks ago.</s>VANIER: And now, following a CNN report, a top U.S. congressman is asking federal officials to investigate the potentially toxic drinking water in Puerto Rico. Our Ed Lavandera has more on this.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some Puerto Ricans are so desperate to find water here on the island that they have started tapping into wells on what is described as a superfund site. This is an official designation issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. Superfund sites exist all over the country. They are considered some of the most toxic sites and ground areas in the United States. Here in Puerto Rico alone, there is 18 of these designated superfund sites. The focus is just on one of them, near -- in the town of -- around the town of Dorado, Puerto Rico, which is just west of San Juan, the capital here of this island. We were with an EPA team as they were taking water samples. And as I mentioned a few days ago, reports started emerging that people were lining up at some of these wells getting drinking water or water that was being used for cleaning or other purposes in their homes, in the toilet system and that sort of thing. So, a great deal of concern about just how much exposure some residents here might have had to this water and there is now testing being done on these water wells to determine if, at all, this water is, indeed toxic. Just because the superfund site is around there and that there are toxic chemicals in the ground, EPA officials say it doesn't necessarily mean those chemicals have reached the water there. But nonetheless, over the course of this next week, they will be testing this water to determine whether or not these wells should be turned off or controlled in some sort of way. We have seen long lines of people getting into these water wells, using them either for drinking, some people have told us, or as I mentioned, cleaning purposes around their homes, just kind of goes to show you just how desperate the situation for many people still remains here in Puerto Rico when it comes to water. EPA officials say they are really more concerned about long-term exposure to this water that it would require residents to be drinking this water for long periods of time, months, if not years, for them to see the effects of that -- of those toxic chemicals in that water. But nonetheless, it is still very much a dangerous situation and they are trying to spread the word out there. In the meantime, this really does just show how desperate the situation is for many people and EPA officials are urging these residents to stay away from these water wells around the town of Dorado, Puerto Rico, until these test results come back. So, that work will continue and we're told that it will take at least the better part of this week for a full understanding of exactly what is in that water. Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Juan, Puerto Rico.</s>VANIER: Well, one of President Donald Trump's former advisers is back out on the war path. Coming up, who Steve Bannon is attacking as he addresses conservative voters in Washington? Stay with us.