juul. no on big tobacco. no on prop c. this is cnn breaking news. >> i'm paula newton at cnn center in atlanta, with stunning news from northwest syria. it's been breaking in the last few hours. abu bakr al baghdadi has been killed in a u.s. raid. al baghdadi apparently detonated a suicide vest, as u.s. special operation commandos closed in on his location. final confirmation is pending dna analysis and other positive

identifiers. al baghdadi has been in hiding for five years and locating him was based on crucial cia intelligence. donald trump is going to make a statement about 9:00 p.m. eastern, saying something big has just happened. nick paton walsh has been following this over the last couple of hours. the reper cushicussions will be far and wide. but what does it mean for the savagery that was isis? >> reporter: this is an ideological blow to isis. its author that enabled it to get thousands behind it, creates so-called caliphate across the borders of syria and iraq. something sophisticated enough that has its own police and its own currency. that man is now dead. that is an extraordinary

victory. there's no other way even america's critics can deny the fact. an extraordinary victory for u.s. intelligence gathering and the military reach here. bear in mind because this occurred at the weakest part of the campaign, where president trump's own orders had them pulled back when the job had yet to be finished. it does appear with the death of al baghdadi, that this is not finished, but its chapter has come to a close. they will have to find new leadership, a new guise, and will have to explain this to occ occurs. they possibly know an evacuation plan. the leader of isis appears to be death. he gave birth to and promoted the sickening creed that cast so many innocent lives. his face in public, only once.

even then, in the presence of a small number. this is the moment at friday prayers and a freshly conquered mosul, al baghdadi, creator of one of the most successful and inhuman terrorist networks in human history, chose to reveal himself. before the infamy of this pulpit, he spent a decade rising quietly. a ph.d. student said to like football, his records show a capture of forces in 2004, near fallujah. and held for years at u.s. camp bucca. it was there, one expert that knew him, that he turned. >> al baghdadi was not cruel or radical at the time. he wanted to fight the americans. he leaned towards sectarian violence in bucca, a school where he met such iraqis that filled his head with ideas.

>> his words as he was released -- >> he knew my unit was from long island, new york. he looked over to us. as we left, he said, see you in new york. here we are a few years hence, i look at those words in a different context. >> then, there is silence, a long stretch in the long savage civil war before hitting the sanctions list in 2011. here, he led the islamic state of iraq, the franchise, who previous leader, zarqawi, the u.s. killed. the increasingly sectarian violence became a magnet for the blood thirsty. baghdadi, behind on isis brutality so extreme, leading the groups to split in february 2014. and months later, the group showing its fighters, breaking the borders of syria and iraq,

declaring the caliphate. with baghdadi at its helm, claiming lineage from mohammed. this was baghdadi's moment, and isis rose fast. and then, can the attack and occupation of mosul. the deheadings of western hostages. the besieging of kabani. horrors, marked by an obscene worship of violence. all this is visible and doubtless, the key decisionmaker. one of more terrifying things about isis he created, is his obsession of acts of murder, but its harnessing of social media, to create a global franchise amongst people, that it often never met. in libya, afghanistan, paris,

brussels, atrocities committed by people, to commit atrocities and even die for it. but in november 2014, rumors of an air strike hitting him, and within a week, a recording of his speech. it became a pattern. no public appearances, mixed with randomly released audio statements. officials believe he was injured in may of 2017, and had to take five months away from his leadership duties. from that moment onwards, what was left of isis' caliphate collapsed in on itself. mosul, freed from their grip in july, raqqah, that october. isis reduced to a tiny slip of land on the iraqi and syrian border. and an idea, infectious, hateful, capable of inspiring barbaric insanity.

now, without its figurehead, a man willing to lead its followers to death, but only from the shadows. >> a startling moment where isis has received a body blow in their ideology. make no mistake, the grievances, the sense of disenfranchisement of brutalized life that allowed them to grow in the first place, and in iraq, where many of the sunnis feel disenfranchised. these people are aggrieved. something like isis will continue to regroup, possibly thrive, despite the death of its leader. but a seismic blow. let me talk a little bit about what we know about this instant. we know the special forces commandos. and that's a ground raid. it was an idlib province. that's enormously significant for the story.

that means the leader of isis was hiding in an area, where they have sway. idlib is often bombarded. herded there, frankly, after the violence all around them, trying to find a safe place. also, too, it is a strong hold of al qaeda. that many militants who have a serious ideology and look to the west, is what do they do about the idlib situation. did the leader of isis compete in the stronghold. turkey said it's been at the forefront of the ice against

isis. it's critics are allowing it to be creative. i saw myself arriving and crossing over the border in areas that would become the isis so-called caliphate. these questions about development and how they inserted themselves into the area. this is a victory for donald trump. he will make the most of it he possibly can and exceed our expectations. at the same time, you cannot take away from any of this the extraordinary feat of u.s. military objections. pulled off the most important goal in the fight against isis. >> as you just indicated, the where and the how is highly significant. we have new video we want to

bring in. these are videos that appear to show a major operation, involving several helicopters and warplanes. it is in idlib province. close to the turkish border. activists believe it is part of the u.s. raid targeting al baghdadi. cnn cannot confirm its authenticity. but let's take a look.

[ speaking foreign language ] you were watching nighttime video there of images that syrian activists claim is part

of that u.s. raid targeting leader al baghdadi. it was in the cover of padarkne, as you would expect. important to note, if it had gone on in the last few hours, this would be something that president trump would have been following in real-time, similar to how barack obama would have been following the raid with osama bin laden. i want to bring nick paton wa h walsh, into insights what you just saw. not much to see. i want to go back to the location and how significant it is so close to the turkish border. we don't know this is where it occ occurred. but there is something different over that video. strikes in idlib, they tend to be broad onslaughts of jet-dropped musiciouunition gro.

this is targeted on a certain area. and repeated blasts suggesting that whoever is firing the going for a target. so, suddenly something different is happening there. it's hard to tell from that video, who the target is. you can hear jets and the multiple difficult aircraft are doing the firing. if it is modern idlib province, that doesn't increase or decrease their involvement in that. if turkey could have done more. turkey has been consistent that

it's been a major contributor in the fighting with isis. this is a daring raid, it seems. u.s. special forces commanders were involved in the raid. they got the man they were looking for. the detail we're hearing that ail baghdad di blew himself up with a suicide best. there may have been a ground force in there at some point. and, perhaps, the aftermath of the scene was obliterated. in background talk, a friend over the phone or trying to pass on the information of what's happening. it's rare to see that fire unless it's the coalition going after people, al qaeda and syria, they hit in the past. we'll hear more detail in the

hours ahead. and the key issue is, if it was idlib, that is an area controlled by a pro-turkish militia. but mostly, it is al qaeda there. that's been little doubt. it mixes millions of civilians who have been running to idlib for shelter. how did the leader of a competing franchise, al baghdadi, seek shelter in the territorial homeland? we don't know. how the u.s. came to find him there and how this was planned and how it came together in a matter of days. >> nick, stand by for us, as we go to bob baer as we analyze this, as well.

bob, of course, the video we just saw and what nick was saying there. someone was eye balling him in some way, shape or form. we saw the russians be confused in years prior, hoping they had killed al baghdadi in an air strike, that turned out not to be true. does this surprise you? one is the location, right? this would have had to have been dema commandos, boots on the ground doing this. >> it doesn't surprise me at all, paula. in a raid like this, it's uniform. maxim maximum violence. they came in with a lot of forces. they came in with total

intelligence, what the neighborhood was like. who was armed. if there's any machine guns, armor, positions of it. when they come in, they take it all out. nothing moves. anything moves, it's shot and killed. going in to get baghdadi, it was definitely -- they probably wanted to know it was him. they come with so much force. and going back to be the intelligence. the troops have to know where baghdadi is. they cannot take the risk of his being moved at the last minute. it's happened in tehran and the rest of it. they know their lesson. there's no force that will take them on.

the only way to conduct a raid of this size, is from turkey. whether the turks located baghdadi, there's a possibility, and he didn't know. he had to hide, that tells us he was on the run and was desperate. it was a matter of time before he would be found. >> was it intelligence help from turkey that helped locate him? perhaps yes. perhaps not. and what repuercussions, that had, when we saw the united states allow turkey to move into that area of syria. speculation? go ahead, bob. >> we should speculate. the turks at this point, donald trump, a big favor. and this might be it. go get baghdad di. a lot of pro-turkish militias out there.

islamist groups, that would have been able to collect intelligence and install cameras on baghdadi's place. all sorts of possibilities here. this couldn't have been done by american forces in iraq or by sea. you would need support, radar jammers, everything else. >> understood. turkey is a nato ally. about the location. that's significant here, as well. we've been hearing for years, those fighters for isis knew where to go. turkey, still, has a huge problem on that border. even now that baghdadi may be dead. >> they have a huge problem.

syria will be a mess for a long time. there's going to be new islamic groups rising there. and sealing that border is very difficult. turkey is playing a dangerous game. turkey knows that getting rid of baghdadi isn't the end of this war. that's one of the reasons they insisted on going in. they had airports attacked. they lost a lot of people. they are sitting on a volcano. so, one of the reasons they convinced trump to pull out of syria. they stepped in and did it themselves. >> reporter: in the process of getting that buffer zone. saying, if you can't get out of the buffer zone, we'll do it ourselves. bob, we'll leave it there. stand by us, as we follow a u.s. military raid that's believed to have killed the leader of isis. chevy's the only brand...

to earn j.d. power dependability awards... across cars... trucks... and suvs. four years in a row. since more than 32,000 real people... just like me. and me.

and me. took the survey that decided these awards. it was only right that you hear the good news from real people... like us. i'm daniel. i'm casey. i'm julio. only chevy has earned j.d. power dependability awards across cars, trucks and suvs. four years in a row. full of tasty, good for you ingredients. fresh and filling. so that you too will be full of good. try our new warm grain bowls today. order now on doordash.

welcome back. we continue to follow major

breaking news concerning isis. the head of isis was reportedly killed in a raid. apparently, officials de s raidd al baghdadi detonated a suicide vest during the raid. donald trump is going to make an announcement on foreign policy. that's all we know right now. i want to explain what we're looking at. that's video just in to cnn. it's being circulated by syrian activists. we cannot authenticate this. it does appear to show an air operation in northern idlib province. that's close to the turkish border. activists believe it is part of the raid targeting al baghdadi. we cannot confirm that's what you're looking at.

but this is the video making the rounds by the syrian activists. want to go to kyle sam on the turkish/syria border. the location is shocking. in that context, we've heard from the last few hours, this is a very populated area there. talking about hundreds of thousands of civilians. >> yeah. of course, there's been hundreds of thousands of refugees driven out of cities like aleppo, forced into this one area, outside of the control of the syrian government. and its russian allies, they remain victims of air strikes by russian and syrian aircraft, and artillery attack. it is an area, in part, that has turkish troops on the ground as part of the deal to try to

de-escalate that area. now, within that context, we've got, what was known as the al qaeda franchise that is the dominant group, really, throughout that region. they are staunch enemies, with the so-called islamic state. in some respect, it might be the last place you would want to go and i'd, if you were al baghdadi. the man who declared himself in the view of al qaeda, the caliphate, and now, heighting just five or six miles inside the syrian territory, close to the turkish border, vulnerable to exposure. not only to al qaeda, but other groups there. one element that's not there in any significant number, are the kurds of the democratic forces.

alongside the united states and other allies, the united states, crushing their ability to hold territory. forcing into his rivals. they are united in their hatred among the west. that's how he was able to covertly embed himself in that environment. he was there, as a guest, if you like, of the related groups. he was, nonetheless, forced out. he had never been occupied in any significant way by his followers. great complexity, involving aircraft and has to involve some kind of ground element to retrieve the bodies there, in

order to conduct the dna an analys analysis, to find out if the man targeted, believed to be al baghdadi was killed in this raid. officials telling cnn they are conducting those tests. they would have had troops on the ground to get that prime evidence. in all probability, it was in part by turkey. not very far away from where this operation was conducted. it was conducted in a very confused space. not only in the environment where you have al qaeda elements on the ground, but the turkish forces and militia in that area. many of them east. amidst all of the complexity to carry out the operations, is quite remarkable. it represents, paula, the i

idolation of the king. not the end of the idea. in a sense, back in april, when baghdadi released an audiotape, where people were breaking out of the camps, from lock and key, and conduct operations and a sense of resurgence, and re-ignite the brand that had been so magnetic in the territory, of syria and iraq. he has a great number of followers still in this region, and around the world. many will see this moment, not of defeat, but of a celebration, of martyrdom of their caliphate. nick paton walsh was saying

earlier on, that it's in the hands of these extremist groups. >> yeah. they haven't gone anywhere. that's why nations are in a titaned state of alert, wondering if there there be attacks. we'll continue to check in with you. you're watching cnn breaking news coverage, of the military raid that appears to have killed the leader of isis. stay with us. ..on lil jon. little johns, yeah! $3, what?! but dad, you've got allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. are you in good hands? some farms grow food. this one grows fuel.

♪ exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. that could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks... and cut their greenhouse gas emissions in half. algae. its potential just keeps growing. ♪

i'm paula newton at cnn center in atlanta. we continue to follow the news that isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi is believed to have been killed in the northwest province of idlib. that nighttime video that we're all looking at right now, was apparently shot by syrian activists, of a military operation, as it got under way near the turkish border. cnn cannot confirm that it was part of that raid targeting al baghdadi. a u.s. defense official tells cnn that al baghdadi apparently detonated a suicide vest, as

u.s. special forces closed in. dna analysis will confirm whether or not it was al baghdadi. the islamic cleric has been in hiding for five years. locating him was based on cia intelligence. donald trump is expected to make an announcement at 9:00 a.m. eastern. earlier, he tweeted significantly, quote, something very big has just happened. we want to go to nick paton walsh, in northern iraq. really trying to pors all of this with us. if he says that something big happened, it is an understatement at this point. if it is true, that u.s. forces have killed baghdadi, to decapitated that isis caliphate.

>> reporter: i think for the isis fighters, we've seen the caliphate deteriorate over a lengthy and successful u.s.-backed campaign for the syrian kurds. the syrian kurds, are the ones who kicked isis out of the territory, and put al baghdadi, in this position, where he seemed to have sought shelter in his rival, really, al qaeda. they have similar ideas but they're not bedfellows in that fight. it's a startling blow for isis. long expected to some degree because of the nature of how the u.s. fought its groups like that. taking out leadership. at times they're successful, they weren't sure who to negotiate with. baghdadi was so isolated, he found himself in this part of

northwestern syria. the broader question is how he came to be there and exactly where he was when this occurred. the limited details we have, suggest some kind of scenario. and a big caveat that we have yet to hear officially, from the white house, from the united states, that abu bakr al baghdadi, dead. that's where everything is pointing. if that is the case, it appears that special forces commandos did insert themselves, and may have been the initiation. if he did kill himself with a suicide vest, that would suggest that a ground assault was in the mix. an air strike would have come upon him too fast for that to have happened. it is rare to see a raid targeted so intensely on an area like that, that may be the

aftermath where firefighters are accompanying him or the scene, after the forces were destroyed. a lot of this is speculation. some of it well-informed. idlib does appear to be where it did occur. that brings other questions. turkey has, in some ways, fought hard against isis. also, too, being criticized for being so lax on the arrival of jihadists in 2013 and 2014, that it allowed the creation of islamist groups. some of the fighters have been accused of being close to al qaeda. fighting against the durds, a str separate part of this campaign. that's how one u.s. official describes the forces. a lot of questions will be asked about how involved in this raid

turkey was. one is that turkey knew nothing about this. the sensitivity and special forces prosecuted it. it's so close to turkish air space. if it's the area that these were pointing towards, it would have been precarious to attempt something like that. they may not have said the entirety of the target. but they wanted to do something there. you could argue that facilities in turkey could have been used, as well. these are the things that will be used ahead. officials are mindful of what happened with pakistan, after osama bin laden was killed and not to repeat the same stern statements they had in 2011. if you recall what happened then, osama bin laden was hiding under the nose of west point in a villa, barely leaving that, if not at all. forces came in and snuck him and

killed him and left before pakistan knew anything about it. there was somests that pakistan officials may have been prewarned. they weren't. the relationship between islamabad and washington never recovered after that blow. many saying why should we consider pakistan an ally, if our worst-wanted man is hiding that close to him. that's how the u.s. will have to manage its relationship with turkey. turkey probably had to know something. there was firepower and aircraft close to the u.s. border. a lot of questions have to be answered here. people, i'm sure, making sure that everything has been scoured from that scene, what remained of al baghdadi's body if it was him. all things point to that being the case at that point. i put the caveat in because we haven't heard the official announcement. they will be looking at that for future targets to make sure how

al baghdadi was able to hide there so long. and the questions of who sheltered him and supported those groups and how did he end up quite so far away from what used to be isis' caliphate. >> you're in northern react. what will be the uniform reaction to this? >> reporter: there are small parts of the sunni population that gave isis the foothold. that's where isis began. it's born into the islamic state of iraq and syria. they used bulldozers to break down the borders. a small part of the population will feel some sense of loss, the author of that leadership. but the overwhelming majority of iraqis will feel relief this man is gone. possibly intrepidation of what

it means for isis next. a sense of happiness that this chatter of isis has passed. we look at the attacks in paris and london and the united states and the philippines, and link them back to isis. no country has lost more people in the fight, i think it's fair to say, than iraq, where isis took over mosul, where iraqi forces fought tooth and nail in the rubble there. isis continued to take civilian lives in the country here. it's been a brutal chapter again for iraq's people. bear no mistake at all, the normal iraqis will consider today to be a great day of relief, and possibly happiness. here in northern iraq and iraqi kurdistan, there will be war crimes by isis, who enshovlaved

their women and took their hands. almost on the outskirts of where i'm standing here, irbil, in 2014, ensured they wouldn't get into a population center this size. this isn't the end of theish. we look at the moments, let's move on to the next thing. it would be unwise to do that. isis will work out who to put in its place. not because ideology is the online virus, as opposed to ooh corporate structure. because, too, the reasons that isis got krax in this part of the world, simply haven't gone away. the sunnis in syria, after years of bombardment, oddly found isis

a way to run their society. there were communities that isis' way of life, was similar to what they had around them. and a similar narrative in iraq, too. the american presence here, after the civil war between tuneny and shia, presented for some iraqis a way to feel protected or at least getting order in life. you can't forget that. those grievances have not gone away. there's family members of isis awaiting help, too. the underlying reasons there, too. >> right, nick. it's startling to see the defiance. if they have the opportunity, they want the caliphate back. nick paton walsh standing by. we continue to cover this

breaking news. a u.s. military raid is believed to have killed the leard of isis. we'll have more in a moment. se. but i realized something was missing... me. the thought of my symptoms returning was keeping me from being there for the people and things i love most. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira can help get, and keep, uc under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. and it helps people achieve control that lasts so you could experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira.

with humira, control is possible. but she wanted someone who loves with the cats.ng. so, we got griswalda. dinner's almost ready. but one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with our renters insurance. yeah, switching and saving was really easy! drink it all up. good! could have used a little salt.

visit geico.com and see how easy saving on renters insurance can be.

we want to bring you up to speed on the major breaking news we're following. cnn is following reports that aal baghdadi appeared to have died in a military raid. it was carried out by command does in syria. al baghdadi apparently detonated a suicide vest during the raid. officials are kuki iconducting

testing. donald trump is expected to make a major announcement on foreign policy. we have just received new footage. it's been circulated by syrian activists online. let's take a listen. it appears to show, as you see there, under the cover of darkness, an air operation in northern idlib province. that's close to the turkish border. it's part of theo bring in our a former cia operative and cnn analyst. bob, we saw the one video there. i want to get to the other audio we have in a moment. from the video you see there, a

few things, right? under cover of darkness. obviously, that would be when you would expect this to happen. what does any firepower that you see there tell you, if anything? >> it was more -- it was at least a regiment probability went into the area. you have the rangers go in, something like s.e.a.l.s, delta force, f-16s, and russian air force in the area. any attack by the russians, intentional or not, we wouldn't be able to defend our force. it's amazing the amount of thousands and thousands of people involved in a raid like this. as nick has been saying this took months to prepare. confirm the intelligence, get the forces in position, absolute secrecy. and know you could go in there and not fail. the last thing, by the way, on a political level, this president would need, is to go into a raid

like this and lose a lot of people. they went in, well prepared and >> well armed and taking no chances when you have to have that kind of firepower, and as you already mentioned to us, having to have the boots on the ground. i believe we also have that audio that's come in as well, and bob, if you'll listen to it with me, it is interesting. take a listen for a moment.

now a lot of what we heard there might sound random to viewers or i, but what does it sound like to you, bob, when you hear that? >> well, i mean, having been with these guys before and watched them use gatling guns, for instance. these little helicopters called "little birds." they'll take snow shovels and feed a hopper with ammunition and a gallon gun will cut down a wall. this is starting to look like to me more like an invasion, a very quick invasion and a commando raid. >> so literally a flash invasion, you go in very quickly, but with awesome

firepower, boots on the ground in order to obviously get to your target, al baghdadi. >> yeah, as they say, extreme violence would be the objective. they simply can't afford to have -- it's not like the movies where you're sending in people quietly with night-vision goggles and they're signaling each other and they have small arms. no, you go in, and you get to the objective, whether he's alive or dead, to get his body for dna. and the rules for doing entry like this, a dynamic entry is what we call a quarter second rule. anybody who moves you shoot and kill because they have suicide vests on. they'll shoot back, and these things happen very quickly. and the chances of anybody getting out of an entry like this alive, except our own forces are close to zero. >> yeah. so many details to come, and i have to point out, right, bob, the president would have been

able to monitor this and even see some of this happening, right, in real time? >> he'll see it with cameras, live. >> extraordinary what we're about to hear likely in the next few hours. bob bair, continue to stay with us. and stay with cnn as we continue to follow the breaking news of a u.s. military raid that is believed to have killed the leader of isis. panera's new warm grain bowls are full of good. full of flavor. color. full of... woo! full of good. so you can be too. try our new warm grain bowls today.

order now on grubhub. this is a jimmy john's sandwich, try our new warm grain bowls today. made with all-natural meats, hand-sliced veggies, and fresh-baked bread. and this is the new little john, available for only $3. they're almost identical. almost. ♪ good job. okay.

(food sizzling) get the perfectly grilled flavors of an outdoor grill indoors. a superheated grill and 500 degree cyclonic air

gives all the sizzling, char-grilled flavors, but without the smoke. and because it's a ninja foodi, it can do things no other grill can, like transform into an air fryer. so now make burgers and a side of guilt-free fries. the ninja foodi grill, the grill that sears, sizzles and air fry crisps. and new at cnn, we are following break being news on the apparent news of the death of abu bakr al baghdadi. cia intelligence led to the suspected hiding place of the

elusive cleric. he apparently debt nighttonated suicide vest as forces closed in on him. president trump is expected to make a statement sunday morning 9:00 a.m. we have to remember al baghdadi inspired several attacks, including on the ariana grande consefrmt i wa c concert. natalie allen picks up with our special coverage after a quick break. but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer. and that can lower your cost now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? some farms grow food.

this one grows fuel. ♪ exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. that could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks... and cut their greenhouse gas emissions in half. algae. its potential just keeps growing. ♪

this is cnn, breaking news. and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world, we're live coming from atlanta, georgia. i'm natalie allen. of course we ten to follcontinu follow the breaking news that isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi is believed to have been killed in a u.s.-led military raid in northwest syria.