>> welcome to al jazeera america. we are starting this morning with live pictures nowrom the united nations where we are awaiting the start of the general assembly. it is a jampacked morning. president obama will be one of the first speakers, but the list is long of world leaders that we will be addressing the united nations today. this is aljazeera america live from new york city, and i am richelle carey. let's give you a flavor of what you can expect in the coming days, some topics that will be

addressed. of course the refugee crise in europe, the fight against isil and a topic that was top of the agenda last year, the on going war in syria will be high on the agenda. the president is expected to sit down with russia's leader for the first meeting in two years. vladimir putin has not been to the unga in 10 years. other speakers, china's president xi will be speaking, france's president hollande, russia's president vladimir putin, iran's president rouhani. that's just a few of the leaders that will get to the podium this morning. today's gathering of word leaders is actually one of the biggest in years. we are live in the unit nations.

a big year, john, tell us more about it. >> well, it's always a big year here. you know that. there's always a news headline to come out of the leaders week of the united nation emassembly of which today is the first day in the 70th session and this year round, it appears to be syria and the reason is that president obama is going to sit down with president putin of russia for the first time in more than a year, sit down together and they're going to have talks initially about ukraine, we were told, but now we think more likely to be about syria. here's the background. the president and other western leaders, such as david cameron in the united kingdom, the prime minister there have been calling now since 2012 for president bashar al assad of syria -- this is the secretary walking in live at the moment to the united nations, that's john kerry, the secretary of state walking into

the building. this is the entrance where all the key leaders come in ahead of the general assembly. western leaders led by president obama have been calling now since 2012 for the leader of syria, bashar al assad, to go and they've been doing that since long before there was an isil. when you do that, it's kind of difficult to row back from that. you can't uncall for a leader to stand down, although there is some thinking that maybe these western countries led by obama and david cameron over in london are softening their stance now and are prepared to accept that bashar al assad will stay as the leader in damascus at least in the short term. now, you add to that president putin who has been ostracized for the best part of the last year by key countries like the united for his involvement in ukraine, the annexing of crimea and war going on in the eastern frontier of to country with that

president putin has sent troops into western syria. i believe they are marines, also some attack aircraft and tanks. he set up a military russian base in the west of the country there, and this is spooking western nations, they are very concerned. president putin was telling 60 minutes only last night that he is doing this by law, using legitimate international contracts and at the request of the syrian leader, bashar al assad. so today, when they meet at about 5:00 this afternoon, we'll be looking for any kind of common ground. i suspect that president putin is looking for some kind of get out here. he's putting all the emphasis on syria, the word is looking at syria at the moment, but all the while, he knows that his economy's in a very, very poor state. he can't afford to get bogged down in syria in the way that the russians did between 1979 and 1989 in afghanistan. he knows that, the russian

people won't tolerate body bags coming home. i think that what is going to happen today is that obama and putin will try to look for some common ground. now i don't know how much common ground there's going to be when it comes to sorting out syria, but they're at least going to sit down and start trying. if you look now on your screen, this is the syrian ambassador to the united nation arriving in the united nation general assembly ahead of the opening of the speeches today. by the way, just as a sidebar, president obama will address the assembly, and he will be the second major speaker of the day, by tradition at the u.n., it's always the brazilian president who opens leaders week and so it will be today. president obama will speak after that, and i'm expecting him to speak somewhere in the region of 10:00 this morning. >> let's talk about what common ground there could possibly be, john. it would seem that isil,

perhaps, might be the common ground, wanting to get rid of isil, but who the pin has been very clear that he thinks perhaps the key to stabilizing syria is keeping assad in power, and so many other powers, particularly president obama has said that they have don't think that is the key. how much common ground could there possibly be? what actionable items could possibly come out of this meeting? >> it is a risk, because the west is calling for assad to go. they're been doing that for the last three years and there is a risk of course that if assad were to go, that his place would be taken either by isil itself, or al-nusra, which is basically al-qaeda, so you could have a situation in theory, where the caliphate moves deeper into syria, and the capital becomes damascus. i don't think anyone wants that. as for president putin, he

appears to be trying to he can near a place back on the international stage. he's been as stray sized for the last year because of crimea, because of eastern ukraine and he's very -- you have to admire him in some respects, he's very cleverly maneuvered, forced the obama administration to talk to him at the sidelines of this this general assembly meeting today. for the obama adding it's a huge risk. they've been goofing up on this one all along and now forced to meet with the russian president, and you're right, the issue of what common ground there might be is very difficult to see. one of the things you have to remember as well is that there -- and i suspect president putin is using this as cover, the enormous refugee crisis going on at the moment stems in very large part from syria, so the need to try and sort that may be at least a starting point. >> ok, live in the u.n., you are going to get us through today

and the next few days, as well and wee appreciate it, john. >> foreign diplomat founder and director of the advisory group, we appreciate you coming in. john was talking about syria top of the agenda, it was last year, as well, in addition to syria, what other agenda items do you see as important. >> the main controversy is the e.u. countries. you will hear many calls for people to accommodate the refugees and deal with the sources of the refugee crisis, which is not just syria. syria is of course amongst the major ones, but it's not only syria. it's the crisis across north africa where we have instability in libya and elsewhere. that's contributing to it. it's also an economic crisis of

people leaving deprivation and suffering to have better lives. the causes of migration are complex. terrorism will be another theme. it always is. it has been since the late 1990's for obvious reasons. >> in particular isil this time. >> yes and no. i mean, isil, you have to remember, even in the syrian context, the syrian regime is responsible for far more deaths than isil itself. isil has become this kind of owe over. >> it's the hot button issue, but you're saying not necessarily deservedly so, that there are other issues. >> it deserves enormous attention. i mean, it's a very frightening and worrying phenomenon causing instability and syria, iraq and potentially beyond. the origins life with the regime and the regime is responsible for far more deaths than isil. until there is solution to what happens to the regime and transition to a better

dispensation, ideally democratic dispensation, there will not be an end to the war. just fixing isil in isolation is no kind of solution. >> so compare where world leaders were last year with the u.n. and this particular topic to where they are this year. has anything changed? >> it has. as your correspondent was saying, russia has now interend. >> directly militarily in syria. it was supporting the regime actively, it is now actually furnishing them more directly with weapons. they always did. one obviously important thing that has changed is the iran deal. the americans and iran talking, which in the syrian context is immensely important. ran and russia are the main supporters of the assad regime. until they can be pushed to some kind of solution, agreement to some kind of transition, then again, there won't be a solution. i think the ran deal opened the doors to regional cooperation on

a whole host of issues, which is positive. it's not the answer to everything, and i don't adhere of the impact, iran is playing a negative role in places like syria and that has not changed through the deal. >> this is a jampacked morning of world leaders that are going to be seeking an president xi is also going to be talking. what do you think he is going to be trying to get across during his time? >> chinese diplomatic speeches are not no one fore vigor and expression of original policy ideas. you struggle to hear that at any -- >> if i can have you stop for just a moment, right there, you are seeing the king of jordan coming in now. we think the meeting is going to be called to order there, technically called to order. you can see the word leaders are still arriving. i may interrupt you again in a moment if that is ok, but if you could pick up your thoughts on

china. >> the real business of general assembly is done behind the scenes, coming off a state visit to the u.s. is really, really important, everybody's looking to china for signals on a whole host of issues, their intention in the south china sea, a u.n. specific one is china's increasing engagement in u.s. peace keeping, climate, the chinese have set the pace, by saying they are going to introduce a cap and trade system inside china, which really puts them ahead of the americans and to an extent, the europeans, who try to implement cap and trade but unsuccessfully. the chinese are becoming much more dynamic diplomatically, causing concerns, but there's also room for cooperation. that cooperation will be hammered out behind the scenes. i'm not frankly anticipating much from the peach itself. >> all right. and right now, ban ki-moon, secretary general of the u.n. is actually offering his opening remarks, i think we're going to pause and listen in for just a

moment. >> we owe this and much more to the vulnerable, the oppressed that is placed and for other people in our world. we owe this to a word where inequality is growing, trust is fading, and impatience with the leadership can be seen and felt far and wide. we owe this to succeeding generations in the memorable words of the charter. in this year, we mark the 70t 70th anniversary of the united nations. we must adhere to the call and hear the voices of we the peoples. this is how we can overcome the

keen receipts of the present and seize the remarkable opportunities of our era. the millennium development goals for sustainable development has made it possible to lift hundreds of thousands of millions of people from poverty. now we are poised to continue the job while reaching higher, broader, and deeper. >> and again, that is ban ki-moon with opening remarks with the coming together of the u.n. general assembly. on sunday, president obama delivered the first of two speeches at the united nations. we expect to hear from him again

shortly. the pat called for a new joint effort to tackle issues of poverty, and inequality around the world. >> development works, ingesting in public health works. we can break the cycle of poverty. people and nations can rise into prosperity. despite the cruelties of our world and the ravaging of disease, millions of lives can be saved, if we are focused and if we work together. >> just a moment ago, ban ki-moon also referenced inequality. today's speech will focus on other world issues, including the wars in syria and ukraine. the president will also hold a meeting with russian president vladimir putin, the syrian conflict will be on the agenda for that meeting. mike viqueira is live at the u.n. this morning, so mike, president obama, president putin will have to cop front several tensions. this is their first meeting in

two years and syria clearly is going to be the focus of this meeting. tell us more about that. >> there is no question about it. first about the speech that president obama gave yesterday, sunday the sound bite we just heard, the president coming up a day early to give that speech at the global development conference, this is really the penalty's last time here at the united nations. this is an annual trip, the speech to the general assembly, his last time to put other issues to the forefront. if you think a year from now we're going to be in the midst of a presidential election, the president will be a lame duck with just a couple of months left in his term. this year is really president obama's sort of swan song here. on the tail, vladimir putin now trying to play king maker in syria, making bashar al assad, slid filing his political and military position. no one needs to be reminded that it is the official policy of the united states and president obama that bashar al assad must go. obviously, we know it's been a

tricky situation, the results of u.s. policy have not been good, some 10 million displaced people both within and without syria, the refugee crisis now in full swings, the coalition and the president's efforts to build and train a fighting force among many of the dissidents, the so-called opposition, the vetted opposition in syria has really been a debacle by most people's estimations. there is criticism from the usual quarter here domestically, john mccain and others. the president's just announced a plan to meet with vladimir putin today, viewed as an admission that vladimir putin cannot be isolated. what's going on here is vladimir putin has had the situation in ukraine, the international community, particularly united states and europe hand-in-hand in imposing sanctions, trying to enact an economic vice, still a stalemate in eastern ukraine as russian backed forces continue to hold that territory there, to

say nothing of crime may i can't, fully under russian control now, having been annexed. many say this is an effort by vladimir putin to force himself on the world stage. don't look at what's happening in ukraine, i'm making this bold move in syria and i want to talk to you, because we think russia has a role to play in beating back the isil forces. the white house emphasized this meeting pooh is taking this afternoon with vladimir putin, the first in more than a year, any way, if you count the meeting they had off camera with no photo op, still a sit down and very extensive meeting that president obama had with vladimir putin at the height of the ukraine crise last year, but vladimir putin has been isolate, no longer part of the g-8, it's now the g7, in addition total sanctions we have already talked about. a very significant development here, the white house caught flat-footed trying to determine how to react to this play by

putin and russia in getting heavily involved politically and militarily within syria. >> you say caught flatfooted, would the president's critics say this happened because a vacuum of leadership when it comes to syria? >> i think a lot of people will say that. people have already said that. the president's policy in syria has been criticized roundly, obviously the results are catastrophic at this point, when you consider everything that's going on now, including the refugee crisis, including more than 200,000 dead in a civil war that's now in its fifth year, a lot of people have looked at the situation and though the white house enunciated their desire to see assad go, they were somewhat late to that after many world leaders called for assad to go. do they really want him to go? many have doubts. in addition, you have this problem with russia active militarily, of a possibly inadvertent clash between coalition assets led by the united states, the on going

bombing campaign, more than a year into it now and russian forces now actively engaged in fighter runs not only against isil but against all force that is oppose assad, so a real potential here for serious problems. john kerry, the secretary of state, his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov who just walked past us here on his way into the united nations have met three times over the past three days, trying to meet in preparation for this head of state meeting that's bilateral between penalties obama and putin today, a lot at stake, a lot on the table. >> all right, mike viqueira live for us in the united nations. we expect to be hearing from president obama within the hour, actually probably within maybe 45 minutes. in the meantime, we're going to take a short break as world leaders continue to arrive at the united nations.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et >> welcome to al jazeera america. wewe bring you live coverage ths morning of the united nations general assembly. we expect to hear fromany world leaders this morning, always traditionally starts with brazil, actually right now, the secretary general ban ki-moon has started, called the meeting to order. president obama will be speaking shortly, as well. there's the secretary general, ban ki-moon. it's going to be a very busy

morning. we can show you some leaders we expect to hear from this morning, president obama, also the president of china, who's already been in the country for the last few days for important meetings, including an official state visit, as well. president xi jingping. we'll talk about more of what we expect to hear from him. this is an area of expertise for you. tell you also more about the significance of what he'll be saying this morning. >> what we saw and you have the state visit in terms of concrete action probably gives clues about what he's going to talk about, climate change. there was a major announcement that china is going to create cap and trade system to limit carbon emissions within china. this is an area where president xi can shine, where china is starting to take the lead in lead up to the big climate conference scheduled for paris this december. on other issues, we probably

won't see that much. we don't really get big major changes in dynamic announcements from chinese officials. official speeches. that it's also low hanging fruit diplomatically. the environment is a big issue in china. in terms of common ground between china and other major powers, including the united states, that's why we saw movement on this issue. on areas of contention between the united states and china, such as china's intentions in the south china sea, we didn't see any progress on that issue during president xi's visit. probably what we're going to see is a pretty big focus on climate. >> did we see progress as it pertains to cyber security?

>> well, basically what you have had was an official acknowledgment that neither government will support cyber spying and cyber theft, but it should be point out that before this state visit took place, both governments denied that their governments ever supported or engaged in the pros, so we got an announcement which looked good and made great headlines but didn't make any headway. >> let's talk about this important meeting this afternoon between president vladimir putin and u.s. president barack obama. a lot of people are looking forward to that to see what's going to come out of it. we should be paying attention to syria, but what else, patty? >> this was a stunning diplomatic double play by putin. not only is making his first speech before the general assembly in 10 years, but calling timeout on the white house's year out effort to isolate russia over crane,

specifically policies in ukraine, the annexation of crimea, also the support of pro-russian separatist in eastern ukraine. i have spoken with analysts and experts. there seems to be a feeling here that what is really going on, so we've got to double down by russia in syria, sending fighter aircraft, sending tanks, sending troops. what this has really given is given putin leverage on the diplomatic stage. right now what putin really needs is some sort of sanctions relief, some sort of way to get a face saving expert full from those sanctions without bowing to the demands of the united states. >> all right, patricia sobga, stay close, we'll be calling on you again shortly. we'll bring back in our founder of the advisory group independent diplomat. whoo has something toain from

these meetings this week from the unga? some safe it's just a lot of pomp and circumstance, nothing actionable comes out of it. is there anyone coming with something to prove this week? >> that's a really good question. sometimes i feel, this is my 16th time, there are so many meetings, everybody's also rushing, india, we've got to do nine in a, blah blah b blah. on the other hand, there's an intensity and informality where things can happen. unfortunately, we won't see them. it is a chance for outside groups sometimes to make headway with the major powers, for instance, the syrian coalition are here, the umbrella group of democratic pro constitutionalist forces in syria. they will be meeting a number of different countries, pushing for

a no fly zone in syria, an argument increasingly heard under the surface in diplomacy as a potential solution, it's not really a solution, but perhaps a step towards it in syria. >> let's talk about raul castro. this will be his first time at this meeting, obviously a big deal now that there's beginning the pros of normalizing relations between the u.s. and cuba. what's the significance of that? >> i think it's got very -- >> more symbolism? >> it's symbolism, of course. symbolism matter, signs matter, the fact that he's speaking here and people will be listening, world states will be listening. i think that carries significance. it's not only about cuba itself, which has extraordinary potential for change, but also across hat tin america, the fact that the u.s. i also now in my view being sensible about cuba, having been rather silly about it for a very, very long time,

isolating cuba without any positive result exempt alienating an awful lot of people in latin america. that alienation now has no cause. you have the opportunity for rein engagement in north and south america in a way we have not seen before and that has potential on a whole host of issues, for instance, drug policy where the latin americans want real reform in the way that the world looks at legal drugs and perhaps legalization of certain drugs, because these countries are suffering so much from the war on drugs, for instance in mexico, but elsewhere. i think there's also potential knock on effects to various issues that have bedeviled latin america and north america relations for so long. >> you think all of that can happen simply by normalizing relations with cuba? i do, because it's been a thorn between the u.s. and its

southern neighbors. it's really been an obstacle. it's the u.s. at its worse, most demanding, most ideological, most unyielding to the continuing pressure that there's been for many years from latin american countries for a more realistic policy towards cuba. it's not the latin america countries which have over the last couple of decades considerably democratized, they saw the embargo as really a real blockage toward progress in cuba. >> we're going to get in another quick break, as -- i thought we were going to stay on live pictures. there we go, the diplomats and world leaders continue to file in, as the session has technically begun, because it has been called to order, but everyone has not quite arrived yet. this is the beginning of the assembly of the united nation here in new york, the seventh session. we're going to take a quick

break. you are not missing anything. world leaders have not begun to speak yet, but they will shortly. we'll bring that live on aljazeera america when it happens. >> i've been asked to keep my voice down cause we are so close

>> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live...

>> welcome to al jazeera america. about half past the hour, as the crowds continue to file into the unga, the u.n. general assembly for the 70th meeting of this robust body that has been technically called oh order. the first speaker will be brazil as is tradition, then president obama will be off oh the races as there are many important speakers this morning. we will bring them to you here on aljazeera america. there we go, president obama this morning, president xi of china, president hollande, vladimir putin, president rouhani and the president of qatar. we will bring them all to you

and many more, as well. >> you know so much bit and having said that, just explain to our viewers, it may seem an obvious question, but just paint a picture for us of the importance, the significance of the unga. >> well, there's so much to say about this organization, first of all, rewarding the general assembly, it's actually weeks long. i think it was gaveled in a couple of weeks ago and they're going to be going on right through to the end of the month and well into october. it's a very, very long event, but what we all get excited about is this, the first day of what's known here as leaders week. it's this week, when world

leaders item from all over the world to speak and have their say. we are told there's around 160 leaders who will be commenting on behalf of their countries over the course of the next days, saturday into sunday. what is worth bearing in mind is that a lot of americans don't really think the united nations is particularly good value for money and obviously understandably, they put a lot more store in what happens on capitol hill in the house and the senate. united nations really not so much. it is true that it's very, very easy to criticize the united nations. for example, the security council, which is the single most important body in the world when it comes to international law, is dominated by pretty much five country that is won the second world war. that is years ago. a lot of the 193 member countries feel the security council doesn't deal with their issues well, doesn't really even care particularly about the

issues that they care about. you could also argue that the security council is used very often to settle old scores. we've seen this time and time again, where there have been votes rewarding the middle east, other parts of the world, you know, russia and china lumped together and they will veto a bill and so it goes on. so those are good reasons not to support the united nation. yet, and yet, you come to the general assembly and we have all these people in town from all over the world and they are here, and they are discussing every topic under the sun, from syria to crane, to women's issues, to children's rights, to climate change. it's all taking place as we learned a few minutes ago with our guest in studio, so many meetings. i think the way to think about the united nation and in particular the general assembly is were this body not here, and

it's been here 70 years, survived into old age, probably the world would be a poorer place, because there wouldn't be a forum for people to come and at least have discussions about it. >> great, so these people that are there obviously and incredibly important. what is going on security-wise when we're talking about 160 world leaders? it was difficult enough, not difficult, challenging enough, let me put it that way, for the pope to have been here for a couple of days. what must it be like to protect all these world leaders, john? >> if you are a new yorker, then you have double reason to hate the united nations quite frankly, because every september, your city gets locked down and you can't go places and there are frozen zones as diplomats flock buy. it's doubly worse because we had the pope in town last week. he has been replaced by roughly

160, 170 world leaders who will be appearing here at one time or another over the course of five or six days. security, as you can imagine is very, very be, very tight. there are helicopters in the air, periodically votes on the east river behind the united nation. this whole first avenue, you can't see it just at the moment, but i'm standing on a pretty much deserted first avenue in new york city. it's closed. it was closed at the weekend, it will be closed until next weekend. there is a major thorough fair here and there are just diplomats walking. the classic lights are changing from red to orange to green, and no traffic to be controlling today, so, you know, security obviously has to be a priority, and the diplomat who come are brought in from their various hotels or their embassies where they're he staying. embassies in washington, missions here in new york and they are brought in in convey,

surrounded by security, particularly obama and rouhani and president hollande and castro, and they're whisked straight into the area where we've seen diplomats and other dignitaries entering. leaders are taken around the back, they are within minutes on the platform, making their speeches and then whisked away again. >> thank you for that perspective. we appreciate it. for another perspective, let's bring back in our former british diplomatic helping you guess out today. you've been to these things a number of times. how many posturing is involved in these things, who arrives at what time and hoop can't arrive before the next person. >> it's a very big deal, in particular active of some of the silliness of diplomacy, that world leaders care about who's first. i was noting who is speaking this morning. david cameron is not there,

he'll be speaking this afternoon, which is kind of a fail for the british diplomats. the order matters. there's a bit of puffing up their chest. you notice a large majority of them are men, of course. >> yes, i did. >> there's a pomposity of the big guy showing up and saying their peels to the world. >> with their entourage. >> and facing up to each other if the corridors. i think it is kind of pretty ridiculous. the more serious people, actually interestingly, a lot of the business is done by the senior diplomats around the word leaders, they'll be the ones cutting the deals, handing over the piece of paper anyone diplomacy that sets out your position. of course, the relationship between the two leaders really matters and if there's some chemistry there, that really helps. >> they set the tone. >> the execution of business. absolutely, but the sort of

esthetic of the whole thing is rather revealing of what's wrong with diplomacy, a lot of senior people posturing and in public saying very little, the real business done in private, but still, you know, who's really affected here? where are the syrian people, where are the palestinians, the libyan people. they are the people that are the point here. >> we look back at legendary speeches. in one of the longest speeches in u.n. history during the 1960 general assembly, fidel castro spoke non-stop for our four hours. the brunt of his attack was

directed at the u.s. that same year in true cold war style, soviet leader nikita khrushchev was denouncing the philippine delegate as a toedy of american imperialism. there is stuff have legend. there are no documented pictures. >> in 1970 our, yasser arafat arafat, the leader of the p.l.o. spoke for 80 minutes, while wearing an empty holster. he thanked the general assembly leadership and in his final line said he was willing to embrace peace in the middle east and said today i come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighters gun. do not let the olive branch fall

from my hand. >> in famous worst top hugo chavez, speaking a day after george w. bush. yesterday, the devil was here in this very place. he claimed the general assembly hall smelled of sulfur. he attributed that smell to president bush. libyan leader muammar gaddafi made his first u.n. appearance in 2009, but his ram blinks were less memorable than his colorful antics outside the u.n., his female bodyguards and his insistence on pitching his tent on grounds. it was erected in a suburb of new york. >> in 2010, the j delegation walked out by ahmadinejad when he said the speculation that some segments within the u.s. government were behind the 9/11

attacks. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu made an impression in 2012 with the prop, drawing a red line on a cartoonish looking bomb, netanyahu warned that iran was on the verge of making nuclear weapons. the record for longest u.n. speech doesn't go to fidel castro. it belongs to india. he spoke for over two hours, collapsing at one point for exhaustion, he was hospitalized, then came back to finish while a doctor monitored his blood pressure. >> eight hours over two days. who knew? ok, for a little bit of reaction to some of those speeches, and perhaps some stories, let's bring back in our former british diplomatic and we'll bring in mike viqueira as well. the rules are 15 minutes and then that little light goes off,

but that clearly does not always happen. the story that courtney did brought back memories for you, as well. >> yeah. eight hours, that's pretty bad, but none of them stick to the 15 minutes. heads of state, how dare they be limited in handgun they speak. the thing you don't see that is fun eye and interesting, actually after the americans have spoken, all the other heads of government clear out of the audience, so it's only often junior diplomats left listening to the days and days of speeches by the 193 member states of the united nation, so you'll have a third secretary or somebody looking at their cell phone, taking a few notes, all right, this one, a great series of tell grams go back to your capitol. i have to say, i genuinely wonder who reads most of these things. you're trying to pick out some of the main points. even the pope, the pope's speech became a series of headlines,

migrants, who actually read his speech? i'm not showing off, but i read it. it was actually an extraordinary interesting and subtle disposition on the state of the world, but i bet virtually nobody read it. >> mike, does that sound about right to you? >> yes. you know, if it hasn't been for the very unique nature of the speech the other day before congress, i don't think anyone would have read that. oftentimes, they'll fill in the back rows with pages so the cameras don't catch an empty chamber and embarrass anyone. i was disappointed to learn khrushchev did not bang his shoe on the lectern there. i thought it was one of the hallmark moments was j speeches. look, i think the american public and this is no secret to anyone, perhaps not as focused on the united nation and international news in general, for years that was reflected in

the congress when the republicans took over congress in 1995, they tried to cut funding to the u.n., the american remittance to the u.s. annually. the u.n. arrears payment it became known, because the united states was in hock to the u.n. i think it's a reflection the american public may roll their eyes and yawn to the extent their aware of them at all, but here, you realize how vitally important this is to the rest of the world on the focus on the u.n. general assembly about that you look at the roster of people speaking today, everyone from president obama to president putin to general al sisi, it's really a significant development, not just a question of empty rhetoric by any means especially considering all the issues on the table today. >> i think mike made a wonderful point to compare contrast the

way that many americans quite frankly viewed the united nations compared to the way the rest of the world used the u.n. there is this big gap. is that not the case? >> i think it's true, but i think the u.n. suffers an image problem worldwide at the moment. it feels like a tired institution. it desperately needs reform, needs to be brutally honest, stronger, more dynamic leadership. we may be heading into a phase where some of that could happen. the secretary general will be elected over the next year. we don't exactly know when ban ki-moon will end his current term, but that's a possibility to bring in somebody really new and treasure who would bring real leadership. leadership really matters in a rather very rottic leadership at

the u.n. >> in addition to obvious leaders, president obama, for example and putin, who else is the rest of the world looking forward to hearing from? >> well, today, we will hear from penalt president xi of chil castro. >> os you're talking, president rouhani is walking in. i wanted to point that out to our viewers. >> he will be addressing the general assembly later today and everybody going to be very eager to hear what he has to say. we'll hear from president xi, president putin, we mentioned president al sisi of egypt, so no shortage of heads of state who are at the center of world anniversary right now. most of it unfortunately having to do with conflict and resolutions that have been lacking so far. >> it doesn't seem it's because

ban ki-moon is not trying to also make the focus on the refugee crisis, and climate change. how effective can he really be at setting the agenda with those two topics, mike? >> when we talk about the profile or lack there of of the united nations worldwide, the united nations is doing things on the ground in sort of a granular level that we aren't aware of every day. you mentioned the refugee crisis, obviously an instrumental force in trying to coordinate a world white response on the crisis, obviously it's been lacking right now as the e.u. scrambles and series back and forth between allowing people in and shutting the gates. when the united states considers whether to allow an individual who applies as a refugee to come into this country, still relatively small compared to the overall problem, the united states looks to the u.n. to determine who exactly is a refugee and how they are classified as such. the world food program, a whole

number of programs and initiatives undertaken by the u.n. on an on the ground basis that we aren't necessarily aware of here in the united states or perhaps wor worldwide. >> we turn to patricia sobga. we saw president rouhani walking in. i know you've got some information you wanted to bring in just to talk about what we can expect to hear from him. i'm sure a lot of people are going to be paying attention to that because of what has happened with the iran nuclear deal. >> absolutely. this is going to be a very, very closely watched speech. really it's an opportunity for rouhani coming off the heels of the iran nuclear deal, but also with syria, so very high on the agenda and the fight against isil, so very high on the agenda. don't forget, there is iran insinuating itself in the fight against isil, both in syria and

iraq, and if you combine that with the iran nuclear deal, rouhani really has an opportunity here to get the message out that really that iran can be a partner in the fight against isil, that really it's in the interests of the west and rest of the world to bring iran back into the fold of nations to work with iran and to help work with iran to advance other goals, even the u.s. can work with iran perhaps to advance goals against isil, even if not working directly, but basically the message being iran on the outside can be very productive. you can have both opponents and proponents going through that peach line by line, looking for things to support their arguments for or against it. >> absolutely. as you were talking, patty, a moment ago, we saw the penalty of brazil, president rousseff. that means we're basically off f to the races, because brazil

starts this event and president obama will be speaking right after her. we're going to pause and listen, guys? ok, we are not going to pause and listen. we just wanted to let you know that that means that we are getting started, so in the meantime, so, just a little bit of trivia that i think everyone wants to brag that they know about the reason brazil starts this is because the foreign minister of brazil, 70 years ago, when the u.n. first started, chaired the first u.n., so as tradition, brazil always starts this event. you can use that at a cocktail party if you like. president rousseff is starting off the event. we'll get to president obama in a moment. president rousseff has had a difficult time as of late if you wanted to speak on that. >> root receive will be thinking much more about back home than the world outside. her leadership is in enormous trouble, thanks to a widening corruption scandal, which is lapping at her feet, some of her

very close associates indicted for corruption, real question marks over the future of her leadership. brazil has stepped back from this quiet assertive role saying we need to be at the table, we want a permanent seat at the u.n. security council. they had a very foreign minister, very imaginative, assertive guy and unfortunately, you've seen brazil step back from that, which is a pity, because they were a real voice for latin america in world he affairs. >> an issue at the very origin of the organization and at the very center of its concerns. the proliferation of regional conflicts, some of which have a highly destructive potential, as well as the spread of terrorism, killing men, women and children, destroying human heritage, and

expelling millions of people from their long established communities show all too well that the united nations currently finds itself before a great challenge. one cannot be complacent with acts of the islamic state and by other associated groups, barbaric acts. the situation today to a large extent explains the refugee crisis currently facing human kind. a substantial portion of men, women and children, who dangerously venture the waters of the mediterranean and who painfully wander along the roads of europe come from the middle east and from northern africa, where countries, state institutions have been destruct you aral by actions contrary to international law, thus making

room for the proliferation of terrorism. the deep sense of indignation caused by the picture of a dead syrian boy on the beaches of turkey, and by the news on the 71 persons asphyxiated inside a truck should lead to acts of practical solidarity. in the world where goods, capital, information and ideas circulate freely, it is absurd to prevent the free movement of people, brazil is a hosting, a welcoming country, a country ultimately made up by refugees. we have received syrians, haitian men and women from all over the world. that we for more than a century now have provided shelter to miles of europeans, arabs and asian citizens. we remain open. we have our arms open to welcome

refugees. we are a multi-ethnic nation. we are a multi-ethnic country that coexists with differences and knows all too well the importance of differences to ultimately make us stronger, richer and more diverse, both culturally and socially as well as economically. >> the first speaker today at the unga is president rousseff of brass still and one of the first topics she addressed is terrorism, which we do expect other leaders to address, as well. brazil i guess always the first leader to. he at this event. we also expect to hear from many important leaders today, the next leader up to be president barack obama and we'll bring that to you as soon as it happens on aljazeera america. do keep it here.

>> welcome back. you're watching the president of brazil address the unite united nations general assembly. she's the first speaker. pup when she's done president barack obama will address the unga. and in the meantime, we'll bring you other news. shell is suspendings its quest drilling oil in the arctic.