New ISIS Attacks Syria Ahead of Agreed Ceasefire
ROMANS: Welcome back. New developments this morning in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry says a ceasefire there could begin in a few days. The truce put together by more than a dozen nations including the U.S. It was supposed to go into effect Friday. But that didn't happen. Meantime, the violence has raged on. ISIS has claimed responsibility for several attacks over the weekend that left more than 120 people dead. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is for us in Oman, Jordan this morning with more details. And again it's a very urgent situation on the ground even as the diplomacy grinds forward here, Jomana.</s>JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. A day of devastating violence first on Sunday morning in the city of Homs. Two cars packed with explosives striking a busy commercial and residential area in that city, killing more than 30 people. This is an area that is from the Alawite sect, that is the sect of President Bashar al- Assad. As you mentioned claimed by ISIS. This is the fourth such attack by the group in the same area in three months. Later on in the day, we saw a triple bombing in southern Damascus in a predominantly Shia area there in the capital. First a car bomb detonating and as first responders and crowds gathered at the scene two suicide bombers struck killing more than 80 people and wounding more than 100 others. And this coming, as you mentioned, as Secretary of State John Kerry speaking here in the Jordanian capital on Sunday, said that U.S. and Russian officials have reached a provisional agreement on the cessation of hostilities agreement. Of course they have been trying to iron out the details of this agreement over the past few days. And Secretary Kerry saying it is not a done deal yet, but they have some sort of an agreement and in the coming days, we would see President Obama speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree on the details of this agreement. But again, a more cautious optimism there, Christine, from Secretary Kerry after we heard that that agreement was supposed to go into effect last Friday and it did not. And of course the kind of violence that we saw unfold in Syria on Sunday is unlikely to cease anytime soon. This sort of violence that is carried out by ISIS, of course the terrorist organization in Syria, ISIS and the al Qaeda affiliate, Jabbath al-Nusra, are not part of any peace talks or cessation of hostilities agreement -- Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Jomana Karadsheh, again with the very urgent situation even as they are trying to get that cessation of hostilities in place. Thank you so much for that, Jomana.</s>BERMAN: The Pentagon now increasingly concerned about the growing ISIS threat in Libya. The "New York Times" reports that ISIS commanders have been sent from Syria to Libya to establish what they call a new caliphate. The terror group has an estimated 6500 fighters inside Libya. Late last week, U.S. officials said air strikes killed dozens of suspected jihadists believed to be training for new attacks there against Western targets.</s>ROMANS: All right. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, they emerge as frontrunners, but the race for president, it's only about to begin. We've got probably the most exciting 10 days in politics ahead of us. Brand new challenges that those frontrunners face ahead.