Delta Force Commandos Capture ISIS Operative
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Topping our World Lead today, the Pentagon claiming a victory in the fight against ISIS in Iraq. Delta Force Commandos recently captured someone the United States considers to be a significant ISIS operative the Pentagon says. The mission part of a dramatic escalation in the American-led effort to decimate ISIS leadership and gather more intelligence on the inner workings of the terrorist group. Let's get right to CNN's Barbara Starr. She is live at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, what do we know about this captive and how the operation went down?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This is somebody, Jake, that they had been watching. They believed from the beginning he had information they urgently wanted. They sent their best to go get him.</s>STARR (voice-over): U.S. special operations forces have secretly held an ISIS operative in Iraq for days after capturing him on a raid. The Pentagon's new targeting force commandos with orders to capture or kill top ISIS personnel carrying it out.</s>JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: At this point, I can't discuss the details of any missions particularly when it comes to risking operational security.</s>STARR: U.S. officials tell CNN additional operations are in the works. The man whose identity has not been disclosed is being held in Erbil, in Northern Iraq. The mission to get him led by the Army's elite, Delta Force. He is talking to U.S. interrogators, officials say, and has unique information about ISIS personnel and networks, but officials will not reveal whether the interrogation has yielded specific intelligence about ISIS operations or attack plots. The head of U.S. military intelligence choice his words carefully describing operations on the ground.</s>LT. GENERAL VINCENT STEWART, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: You may have noticed an uptick in special operations intended to capture, interrogate, and gather materials that will give us greater insights into the network.</s>STARR: The new effort puts the military back into the business of holding and interrogating suspected terrorists. U.S. officials say there will be no water boarding or so-called enhanced interrogation and no detainees will be sent to Guantanamo Bay. The plan, instead, is to turn them over to the Iraqis eventually.</s>EARNEST: Any detention of ISIL leaders in Iraq would be short term and coordinated with Iraqi authorities.</s>STARR: So this person according to U.S. officials had skills and intent that deeply worried the United States. But officials right now will not say what those skills and intent were all about -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon, thanks so much. Could it be the piece of the puzzle that provides answers finally to those hundreds of families whose loved ones died when their plane vanished without a trace? The new piece of debris that might be from MH370. Back after this quick break.