Biggest Day Of Airstrikes In Fight Against ISIS; Hong Kong Protesters Brace For Showdown
COOPER: Britain added its firepower to the fight against ISIS, carrying out its airstrikes in the country. British planes help Kurdish troops fighting ISIS in the country's north western corner. Farther south about 50 miles North West of Baghdad, ISIS militants have taken over a base. The extremist group released these images showing the takeover the base where roughly 180 Iraqi troops were stationed. Now over the past 48 hours, the U.S. military has launched 22 airstrikes at ISIS targets both in Iraq and in Syria. Chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, joins me with the latest. So this latest Iraqi base to fall to ISIS, how big a deal is that? How significant? Because it's happening as administration officials try to reassure people the Iraqi military under this new prime minister can and eventually will be up to the task of defeating</s>ISIS. JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, it is alarming. It shows the complete collapse of the command structure of at least certain units in the Iraqi army. You have soldiers abandoning their post commanders, abandoning their soldiers. And what military officials say is that this is the result of what the former Prime Minister Al Maliki, did to the military. He removed a lot of the commanders that the U.S. trained at great cost and great risk, replaced them with commanders who were either Shiites or cronies of him or ones that he could rely on. And destroy the structure of the military and by the judgment of U.S. military advisers there, about half of the fighting brigades. But it also gets to a bigger question is what are these soldiers fighting for? Do they have a country to fight for that they're willing to put their lives on the line for. It doesn't appear that you see that with a great deal of the Iraqi army units.</s>COOPER: And without any leadership, I mean, why would they fight? The U.S. government has made clear that defeating ISIS would take a long time. Again, when you have these Iraqi bases falling, the Peshmerga leaders saying they need closer air support. Huge concern about ISIS advancing along the border of Syria and Turkey, are these coalition airstrikes, are they working?</s>SCIUTTO: Well, not yet, and what military officials will say that they said from the beginning that you can't win this by air power alone. I mean, as it is, we are 53 days into the air campaign in Iraq and eight days to the air campaign in Syria and really not a square mile of ground gained back from ISIS except some victories here and there, and holding back their advances. So the military is saying if we pushed them today, this is just the beginning. We know that we need a ground component to this. But as you say, Anderson, and you highlighted there. The ground component, the one country where you have it, which is Iraq. Because you're miles away from having it in Syria before we train these rebel groups, the Iraqi military -- and even there, that ground component is not performing. It is just a reminder to us, to our viewers that this is going to be a long gain here and will be a real challenge to win this.</s>COOPER: And I mean, the end is not in sight and certainly in question. Jim Sciutto, appreciate it. Now that we go to Hong Kong where it is already Wednesday, Wednesday morning. You're looking at live pictures outside the government complex where the pro-democracy protesters have gathered all week. It is a public holiday there. Many people have the day off for China's National Day. It looked like -- going to show you pictures of what it looked like overnight. You can now see the crowds are there, protesters waving their cell phones to create patterns of light. Today is the deadline they have set for the Chinese government to meet their demands for more freedom and the right to elect their own leader. Ivan Watson joins me now with the latest. What are the crowds like there this morning?</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we spoke at this time yesterday, Anderson, and there were far fewer people. In fact, more people and kids spent the night out here under torrential rains overnight. They -- the rain, the thunder, the lightning did not dampen their enthusiasm and neither did statements coming from the Hong Kong government, which repeated the fact that it believes that these protests are illegal, stating that China will not compromise with these illegal demands and that the protesters must disband immediately. And despite that and despite the inclement weather there are more people out here in part possibly because it is a national holiday today. A holiday that is supposed to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China under communist party rule. But instead of those official celebrations, what you have here is an ongoing mass civil disobedience movement calling for more democracy from the Communist Party in Mainland China and from the authorities here in this home of British colony.</s>COOPER: And today is the deadline that protesters set for the Mainland to meet their demands. Now, if the government in China doesn't bend, which seems highly unlikely, what happens next?</s>WATSON: Well, some of the opposition groups have threatened to expand their occupy movement to some government buildings. They have also expanded some of their demands. They demand that the top man here in Hong Kong, the chief executive, that he step down. He has been digging in his heels, again as I mentioned saying he is not going to compromise and that these people need to leave immediately. So both camps digging in their heels as this sit-in continues now. A third night that people have been camped out here. So it is hard to see where there is a way out right now.</s>COOPER: All right, Ivan, thanks very much. Coming up, police say pipe bombs they found in Pennsylvania are proof that they're looking in the right place for Eric Frein, who is wanted in the shooting death of a state trooper and has been alluding them now for weeks. The latest on that search next.