at the united nations. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. hello there, welcome to the news hour. i'm shiulie ghosh live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next 60 opinions. turkey calls on russia to end air strikes in syria, accusing moscow of escalating the conflict. >> this is small town america. it's not supposed to happen here, but it happens. >> mourning the victims of the latest mass shooting in the u.s. forced into wedlock, we're in niger, the country with the

highest rate of child marriage in the world. i'm wayne haye reporting from northern malaysia where woe talk to separatists fighters from southern thailand about their hopes for a peaceful return home. russian air strikes inside syria are continuing for a third day. syrian monitoring groups say overnight air raids on isil positions killed 12 fighters in one province. opposition groups are also said to have been targeted. turkey has asked russia to stop attacking syrian anti-assad forces that are largely supported by the west. it says moscow's military intervention will escalate the fighting on the ground. france which has also started air strikes against isil this week, says russia shouldn't

target groups other than isil. [ inaudible ] u.s. assistant secretary of state under george w. bush . >> i certainly think that they have larger strategic interests in reinserting themselves back into the middle east and becoming a power broker in this region, but within syria itself it's not simply an issue of propping up assad, as secretary lavrov said they certainly have an interest in maintaining a contiguous and unitary syria, they don't have the same feeling that turkey and france does, that assad must go. they see the alternatives as being far more destabilizing than the presence of assad through the transitional process. at this point i think there's a third choice and that is to accept the presence of the russians and their rur shan activities and work closely with

them to ensure that even though we may have somewhat divergent goals, at least we deconflict the situation, so we don't have an the russians and americans bumping into each other over the skies of syria. the ultimately outcome that russia and the united states seek which is the dpeet and destruction of isil can be done jointly and together. but there will have to be some diplomatic work between the russians, americans, and the entire coalition to ensure that that can be done either with the presence or eventual stepping down or off ramp of assad from syria, because the worst possible outcome would be assad gone, an unstable syria, a somalia on the mediterranean. as we said the french president has met with president putin in paris. the two leaders will also be

discussing ukraine, along with the german chancellor, angela merkel and the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko. let's speak to neave barker live for us in paris. and let's start with syria, neave, and france, of course, an outspoken critic of those russian air strikes. >> reporter: he is in indeed. and the french president has made it very clear, we believe, that the french position on it is that russia must certainly only stick to targeting isil positions within syria, and not to set its sights on any other groups at all, particularly when it comes to groups that are supported and helped by the alliance. in the last 24 hours, the relations between the west and russia have really taken a slight turn for the worst.

there are deep concerns from the united states that u.s.-backed syrian rebel positions may be on a list of legitimate targets for the russians to hit, and they are coming three or four month campaign of aerial bombardment within syria. we gather here, the russian president, vladimir putin, has held bilateral talks with the french president and with germany's angela merkel. the message from the west, we believe, is that the west strongly feels that the continued air strikes by russia would only worsen the situation; that they are indiscriminate. the response we believe from the russian side is that only by throwing weight and support behind assad, and essentially helping assad to get the job done, will there be any meaningful solution, any real end to the conflict in syria. >> and another -- another crisis

they are talking about, of course, in eastern ukraine. four leaders there talking about that. what is likely to come out of that meeting? >> reporter: before the syria situation somewhat eclipsed the normandy four meeting about the future of finding a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict and tense situation in eastern ukraine, normandy four had pretty much been focused on implementing the minsk two agreement. now that a month long ceasefire appears to be holding, they can with all of the weight in the world, hopefully bring some of those elements into play. the minsk two agreement was signed earlier in the year, but was largely fell by the wayside purely because fighting resumed on a massive scale on both sides of the divide, both on the side of the separatists, and on the

ukrainian central government side. it includes 13 different points to require both sides to withdraw heavy weapons, remove foreign fighters from the conflict zone and introduce regional elections in separatists-held parts of the con try. reconciliation, though, is somewhat a more distant aim, but in terms of the road ahead, this is what it means for people living in eastern ukraine. the latest ceasefire in eastern ukraine has opened up vital space for diplomacy, and when the normandy four feet here, they are looking for lasting peace. when the leaders met in minsk in february, they spent more than 15 hours locked in talks before announcing a break through. but the trust collapsed almost immediately amid further fighting. last month, both sides agreed to try again.

offering thousands of people trapped by the conflict the hope of a return to normal life. so far the ceasefire appears to be holing. for now the normandy four has a chance to give the minsk protocol another go. it includes 13 key points, including the withdrawal of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters from the conflict zone. the control of the russian, ukrainian border, and regional elections in parts of the country controlled by the separatists, but with tennings as they currently are, the road ahead is challenging. >> the key issue here is the contract of the ukrainian, russian border, because ukraine believes that once they have control over this border, then really they are controlling what is going in and out so they are controlling the supply lines from russia into the rebel-held reupon. >> reporter: in return for signing up to the minsk agreement, russia is expected to

ask for an easing of international sanctions that have hit the country's economy hard. since the conflict began last april, 8,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed. towns and villages have been laid waist by indiscriminate shelling. the fact that either side wants to continue fighting is an important first step. lasting recovery and reconciliation may be harder to reach. so as talks continue here, on the table are now discussions about two conflicts, first, ukraine, and now syria, after the russian government decided to pursue the bombardment of specific targets within the country. but what is the relationship between these two conflicts? there are some serious questions currently being asked in eastern ukraine, now that russia has turned its foreign policy gaze from one conflict to the other,

what will that mean for peace in eastern europe. >> neave thank you for that. neave barker in paris there. nine people have been killed in the u.s. state of oregon after a gunman walked into a community college and opened fire. president obama has made a please to the american public to help stop gun violence. ♪ amazing graze >> a candlelight vigil was held for the victims outside umpqua community college in roseburg. at least 7 people were killed. let's go to our correspondent allen schauffler who is in roseburg for us. allen are getting any more details about the shooter or the investigation? >> reporter: yeah, we're finding out more about that man. he was 26 years old. he was not a student at the

school. the sheriff of douglas county described him to us as having several weapons that have been recovered. they searched both at the school where the shooting took place, and at his apartment, so they are saying a number of weapons of different types and plenty of ammunition. we know that, again, he wasn't a student. he had moved here several years ago from california, and that his family -- his father contacted in california said he was absolutely stunned, shocked at what had happened. we also understand from the sheriff of the county here that the investigation of course goes on, and they are still in some cases working to identify victims, even, you know, a full day after about 20 hours after that shooting. so they still have considerable work to do. we don't expect to hear the names of the victims to have them identified until all have been identified and all families

have been notified. >> this tragedy, you know, a huge shock to the residence of the community where you are. how are people coming to terms with this? >> reporter: yeah. well, you ransom video of the vigil last night, and that is one of the ways that people are goeping with this. getting together, doing something, just connecting with each other and feeling as if they are doing something in response to this shooting. we understand that there were long lines at the local blood bank, when the call went out for blood dones or. local merchants turned out to give out food and water and candles for that candle vigil last night. the governor of oregon was here is. she spoke.

she said, we here to ban fare and affirm love. it's not a big place, shiulie, figure about 21,000 people. so you either nobody somebody who was on cam must or you know somebody who knows somebody who was on campus yesterday. >> allen thank you very much indeed for that. well the shootings have again raised questions over gun violence and ownership in the u.s. statistics show that gun-related deaths are increasing. thursday's attack brings the number of moosz shootings to 294. that's more than one a day. since president obama was elected for a second term in 2012, nearly 1,000 mass shootings have happened in the u.s. but these figures don't include

every day incidents of gun violence which resulted in the death of around 10,000 people this year. well, i'm joined now by john lot from philadelphia. he is president of crime-prevention research center and the author of "more guns, less crime, understanding crime and gun-control laws." good to have you with us. your book says that u.s. states where gun ownership increases sees the largest drops in violent crime. now that seems totally counter intuitive. how do you explain that? >> well, just as you can [ inaudible ] criminals are higher arrest rates or higher conviction rates, the fact that would-be victims to defend themselves can prevent crimes from happening. if students or faculty had a

water pistol or a bibi gun or firearm with them yesterday, they -- students would be expelled and faculty would be fired. and the problem is, is that the people who are intent on killing people, don't mind breaking the law. they are likely to die anyway. they don't worry about the penalties later on. it's the law-abiding good citizens who obey it, and rather than making its safer for the citizens, you make it unintentionally safer for the criminals. you can find many cases where these killers leave diaries indicating that they had other targets in mind, but they turned them down, because they were worried that people with guns might stop them there, and instead chose these gun-free zones to attack. >> but the u.s. is the only country that sees these types of

mass shootings -- >> that's not true. >> -- far stricter gun laws in place, do not see the headlines of mass shootings in the u.s. >> norway, and nine countries in europe have higher rates of pass public shootings than we have here in the united states. both in terms the rate of number per capita and also deaths per capita. the thing you have to take into account is we're a country of over 320 million people. a lot of individual countries in europe may have 4 million or 10 million, or 30 million, or 40 million people, and you have to adjust for population sizes. if you look as europe as a whole, surely you can see without trying these types of attacks on a very regular basis. it's just that people don't put

them together and think about them on a per capita basis as we have here in the united states. >> can i just can you, are you saying that president obama is wrong when he is urging more gun controls especially in the wake of highly motive gun shootings where children have been the victims as we have seen in the u.s.? >> reporter: right. let me ask you a question. can you name me one of the attacks that the president has talked about where his gun-control laws would have stopped it if they had been in place? how these exbanded background checks would have stopped -- we don't know about this case yet, even though oregon has the type of law that he has been pushing, and it didn't stop it there. >> so what are you saying that everybody should carry a gun, and then there wouldn't be these kind of mass killings? >> no, the -- first of all what

i am saying is that the presidents laws have nothing to do with the cases he talks about. it couldn't have stopped one of them. the second thing that i'm saying is i don't think everybody has to carry, just the fact that you allow some to carry. the problem is these attacks keep on occurring in places where we ban guns. don't let anybody carry legally as far as civilians go, and since 1950, with just two exceptions, all of the other mass public shootings in the united states have taken place where guns are banned, and it's not by accident. i mean you go -- just take the diary from james holmes the shooter that was released this summer during his trial. his original target was going to be the denver international airport, but he was worried that security would stop him before he could kill people. there were seven theaters near

his home, and the one he went to was the only one where weapons were banned. you see that time after time. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us. live from philadelphia. coming up here on the proom, as turkey's election looms, political parties complete for the all-important kurdish vote. i'm john holman on mexico's south pacific coast where hundreds of thousands of turtles arrive each year, but the imagine yourty of their eggs are being stolen. taliban fighters are managing to hold off afghan troops as they continue an offense if to retake the northern city of kunduz. the strategic city was taken by

taliban forces earlier this week. let's speak to our correspondent who is near kunduz. and the afghan army made any advances? what is the latest on the fighting? >> reporter: shiulie we are hearing heavy fighting going on right now. afghan security forces confirming to us that they have received their reinforcement from kabul and tonight they are going to launch their biggest attack on kunduz to retake kunduz city. but the residents tell us that more than half of kunduz is still under control of taliban. taliban seems they are splitting the war in the neighbor provinces in the north of the country. just few hours ago, taliban got control of another district in a province, afghan government

confirms that too. in the past three days that's the fourth district that taliban are capturing from afghan government. residence of kunduz province are now leaving, because we talked with a couple of them. they are telling them that life is impossible to survive in kunduz city anymore. it is not only the heavy bombardment and artillery, it's also the shortage of food, water, lack of electricity. that's why -- all of the residences are leaving the province. >> thank you for that. yemen's government says it is breaking diplomatic ties with iran. the saudi-backed government made the announcement on state-owned aden television. he returned to aden last week. government forces have made significant gains over the houthis in the last couple of

days. the houthis thought be backed by iran, took over the capitol sana'a, last september. israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu says palestinian incitement was to blame for a shooting in the occupied west bank. police say an israeli couple was killed when a palestinian gunman opened fire on their car. four children in the car were unharmed. the shooting comes as tension continue over the al aqsa mosque in east jerusalem. hundreds of demonstrators in malaysia have shown their solidarity with the palestinians. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] organizers a coalition of several non-government groups are calling this a day of

anger. >> we must give total condemnation. we will join the community to condemn the intrusion and trampling of rights of the palestinian people. >> reporter: hundreds have joined in this protest, carrying banners and chanting slogans. their plan is to hand over a memorandum to the u.s. ambassador to malaysia. strife has risen over what has been happening at the al aqsa mosque. the clashes have spread throughout the west bank. hurricane joaquin has hit the bahamas canned withes of 210

kilometers an hour has brought severe flooding. there has also been severe flooding in charleston, in the u.s. state of south carolina. t still to come here on al jazeera, hit hard by drought. protesting indian sugar cane farmers want action from the government. and the new york yankees look to secure a wild-card space in the mlb post season. details net.

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good morning and welcome to al jazeera america's continuing coverage of the 70th united nations general assembly meeting happening right here in new york city. you are looking at live pictures from the u.n. where albania's prime minister has just spoke, but we are now expecting to hear any moment now from syria's deputy prime minister who is speaking right now. let's take a listen.

>> translator: -- and wish you success in leading the work of this session. i would also like to thank your predecessor for his presidency of the previous session. ladies and gentlemen, i greed you from this great international edifice that was originally established with all its agencies in order for peace and security to prevail in the world. i greet you as i come from a country where security has been disrupted and peace has departed. a country that lives a fierce war for more than four years. i greet you from a land baptized by the blood of its people who fight terrorism and defend their fellow citizens against terrorism.

while waiting for the international organization to fulfill its promises and implement its resolutions related to combatting terrorism, resolutions adopted by the security council under chapter 7, are still only ink on paper. mentioned only in press releases and media statements. while own the ground, the country's funding, sponsoring, and supporting terrorism are still fuelling extremism in the region. those countries continue arming, training, and sending terrorists to syria, while being indifferent and unconcerned for the implementation of those resolutions. ladies and gentlemen, i ask you, along with the resistant people

of syria when will the powerful member states remain to intimidate other member states committed to international law while ignoring those states that disregard security council resolutions? what have you done, i ask, to stop these states from executing criminal acts against the syrian people? why all the silence? you are witnessing these countries as they spread this extremist ideology until it reached europe, where it hit as it is hitting the middle east, while the sleeper cells are waking up, bombings and assassinations have returned once again in the west. what is the guilt, i can of the innocent people of your

countries who started paying the price of sup poring terrorism by some of your politicians? you know better than anyone else that terrorism is an ideology that recognizes no boundaries. you know that when this monster comes out, it cannot be limited to certain countries. the terrorism of isis, al-nusra, and other al-qaeda-affiliated terrorist organizations is killing the innocent, capturing women, and launching mortar shells on civilians. the terrorism is cutting dunking water and destroying history and civilization land marks, including those inscribed on the world heritage list, which is a heritage of all mankind, the last of such crimes was the

destruction of the temple of [ inaudible ] and the brutal killing of archeologists. why do some of your governments support countries that are used to export their crises outside of their borders? why do you support them while they -- while knowing that they have only produced destruction? how can developed countries governed by elections, ally with countries that do not have parliaments and do not recognize an active half of the society? being women. how can your countries accept the ideas of sexual jihad, slaughtering, hand cutting, burning, and systematic destruction of history, monuments and culture? ladies and gentlemen, based on

the above, i say, syria will continue to fight terrorism in word and in deed, and the arab syrian army is capable of cleansing the country of those terrorists. despite all of the sacrifices and high prices paid and -- that we are still paying, along with the syrian people from all backgrounds who paid in life and all other forms in security, economy, and livelihood. i hope that for once you stand for honesty and truth the duty of the international committee is to stop this flow of terrorists coming to syria from 100 countries, according to united nations data, in order to create a caliphate state, which as you all know will not be

limited to syria or iraq. the caliphate leaders have frequently stated that their goal stretches from mecca to all of europe in order to restore the glory of the caliphate according to their own interpretation. if you do not stop those member states that support terrorism, along with the terrorists, they are sending, the fire that has broken out in syria, iraq, and libya, will continue to spread beyond. mr. president, syria has not stopped advocating to political dialogue and practicing what we preach based on our vision, which proved to be correct that the fight against terrorism is a priority to move on in other

tracks. syria cannot implement any democratic political measure related to elections or constitution or the like, while terrorism is striking at home and threatening innocent civilians in the country. how can we ask the syrian people to head to the ballot box while they are not safe in the streets and inside their homes, while they are under missiles and mortar shells launched by terrorist groups supported by well-known countries? nevertheless, we were and still are believers in the political choice, the political dialogue, according to the parameters known to all, namely, preservation of national sovereignty, the unity of syria east territory and people, maintaining the state

institutions, developing them and improving their performance, that the only way to a political solution is through syrian-lead national dialogue without any foreign interference. based on this, syria agreed to participate in geneva two, moscow one and two. i would like to announce here that syria agrees to participate in the four brain-storming committees of experts proposed by the special envoy. he has repeatedly confirmed that these committee's role is mainly to exchange ideas, and that they will conduct unbinding preliminary consultations who's agreed upon output can be used to prepare for the launching of

geneva three. in the light of this, some imagined that syria's approval of the political track regardless of its form, initiative and names, has a connection to what that portray as the weakness of syria's army and people on the ground. i want to say that syria is strong and continues to fight terrorism, and that the syrian army and the syrian people are united in the face of terrorism. let no one think whoever they may be that after all of these sacrifices and steadfastness for more than four years, they could obtain through politics what they could not win in the field? or that they will achieve at the negotiating table what they

failed to achieve on the ground. the decision of the syrian people lies in the syrian people's hand alone, and no one can deny this right. i repeat, the syrian people's decision lies in the syrian people's hand alone, and no one can strip the syrian people of this right. the syrian arab army astonished the world with its power, and faith, and persist importance. mr. president, the important invitation of his excellency, president vladimir putin for the establishment of an international regional coalition to counter terrorism received the attention of the syrian government and its support. terrorism cannot be fought only from the air, and all of the previous operations to combat it, have only lead to its spread

and outbreak. air strikes are useless unless they are conducted in cooperation with the syrian arab army. the only force in syria that is combatting terrorism. the announcement of the beginning of the russian air strikes in syria, which came upon the request from the syrian government, and in coordination with the government, is an effective participation in the support of the syria efforts in combatting terrorism. the so-called arab spring was a spring only for israel and itself undercover and known allies. israel continues to attack syria, while the world is watching. israel is arming the terrorists and treating them in its hospitals and helping them with its intelligence services a

and -- supporting them to stand between it and the arab syrian army across the border. while those terrorists weaken, it intervenes directly through air strikes or artillery shelling just as turkey did and is still doing, whether in aleppo or in idlib, and as saudi arabia and qatar are doing. and who are racing to shed syrian blood through their different instruments. we continue to [ inaudible ] for terrorists and the escalation on their attacks on citizens in most regions and cities in syria, lead to an increase in citizen's need for the basic commodities and services in many areas.

the inhuman sanctions imposed by the european union and the united states exacerbated the living conditions of syrian civilians. at the same time, my government is cooperating with the united nations and its humanitarian agencies within the framework of response plans agreed upon with the syrian government to meet the basic needs of the citizens, especially those forced by the terrorist act to flee their homes. and many of whom have resorted to some neighboring countries. some of those countries accommodated them in camps for training on weapons, or what resembles places of detention and isolation.

i stress that the syrian state guarantees the safe return and decent life for the citizens who are willing to return. at the same time, syria continues to exert all efforts to deliver aid from international organizations to all syrian citizens without discrimination, wherever they are. mr. president, the syrian arab republic confirms its adherence to the full restoration of occupied syrian goland heights until the line of june 4th, 1967. it also emphasizes its rejection of all actions taken by israel, the occupying power to changes its natural, geographical, and demographic characteristics in clear violation of relative security council resolutions, in particular resolutions 497 of 1981, and 465 of 1980.

syria also confirms that the palestinian issue is the central issue of the syrian people, which supports the legitimate rights of the brotherly palestinian people, particularly the right of return and self determination and establishment of an independent state on its land with jerusalem as its capitol. mr. president at the end of 2013, syria accepted the initiative of the president of the russian federation, mr. vladimir putin, and joined the convention of the prohibition of chemical weapons, based on the need to establish in the middle east a free zone of nuclear weapons, and all weapons of mass destruction. it also wanted to prove to the whole world its commitment to stand against any use of chemical weapons.

syria, fulfilled its obligations, resulting from its accession to the convention, and completed its commitments, despite the prevailing difficult situation. were it not for the syrian cooperation with the u.n. opcw joint mission, it would not have been possible to complete the tasks of the mission. mr. president, the syrian arab republic would like to congratulate the islamic republic of iran on its steadfastness and victory in achieving the historic agreement that fulfilled the aspirations of the brotherly people of iran, and recognizes the right of iran to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and lift the sanctions imposed against iran

as well as lift the freeze on its assets and leads to opening up the international arena on this brotherly country. this agreement proves that the serious diplomatic approach is able to overcome all obstacles and result in peaceful and fair solutions for difficult issues. syria stresses that establishing a zone free from all weapons of mass destruction in the middle east is unachievable without the accession of israel to all treaties banning such weapons and to put its nuclear facilities under the supervision of the international atomic energy agency. we acknowledge the right of all country to develop nuclear

energy for peaceful purposes. imposing unethical unilateral, coercive economic measures by the united states and the e.u. contradicts the rules of international law and the principals of free trade. on the basis, we congratulate cuba by reaching an agreement with the united states that lifts the blockade imposed on it. we also renew our call to lift and stop all unilateral coercive measures imposed on syria and the peoples of other countries such as the democratic people's republic of korea, venezuela, and d-- belarus. mr. president, finally, i would like to see to all of those that claim their keenness for the security and safety of the syrian people, the following, if

you want to gain victory over terrorism, and achieve economic and political reforms, you have to honestly implement the resolutions. only thing can we begin the count down to the engineer of the war in syria. until we get to the final quarter hour and open the doors to implement what is agreed upon in the political dialogue. thank you mr. president. >> you have been listening to live continuing coverage of the united nations general assembly here in new york city. that was syria's deputy prime minister speaking. he is the voice many have been waiting to here, especially since the topic of the syrian war has been the number one topic of discussion at the u.n. that war in its fourth year now. and taking an unexpected twist with russia entering the conflict this week by launching air strikes inside syria. the deputy prime minister saying

syria welcomed the russian help, and went on to scold many of the world powers for standing by, basically, and accepting the carnage and horror inflicted by terrorists inside syria, he says. joining us is al jazeera america national security contributor. doug, what did you take away from this? >> reporter: what we had was an argument for the prosecution or argument for the defense. like any good lawyer, he took all of the facts that were convene yenth for his case and tied them into a narrative. they are fighting terrorism. the sanctions that are put on syria, doubtlessly do strike the common people first. you know, the air strikes conducted by the u.s.-lead coalition are of interesting international legality. all of those parts are true.

of course he left out the part of the syrian regime using incredibly violent force to put down what was initially a peaceful protest. and then let's distract from the syria case by talking about israel and iran. >> can russia not entering this conflict, how does this complicate the narrative and possibly change the battlefield there for syria? >> reporter: well, it certainly does change the narrative. in these four states who have formed this coalition in the region, russia, iraq, iran, and syria, you have a group that has a remarkably simple view of what the problem is. or at least in their public case they think it's sample view. they think the problem is sunni terrorism. and that you need to go find

them and kill them wherever you find them, whether it be in anbar, or raqqa or in chechnya in russia and they are able to make this case rather convincingly. the russians are saying they are going to come invited by syria, they are going to conduct these operations in syria. and -- with the aim of supporting the assad regime, so that it can be used as a tool to fight isil, which they will probably get around to eventually, although as we have noted over the last couple of days, that's not what they are doing first. >> doug, thank you for your time. stay with us. we're coming right back after a very short break right here on al jazeera america.

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welcome back to al jazeera america. we have been watching the united nations general assembly over the last couple of days, including this morning when we heard from syria's deputy prime minister. on sweat me here is courtney ki keeley who has spent a lot of time in syria and covering the issues there. what were you most struck by

here? >> the message has always been the same with syria, it's just under different circumstances. this is another and very rare glimpse we have of how the assad regime views the world. he was there in the 60s, he was the u.n. ambassador to the u.s. -- the syrian ambassador to the u.s. between 1990 and 2000, he has been the foreign minister since 2006. a real regimist survivor who speaks the rhetoric. israel bad, but it's -- the -- the language now echos the russia language too, we're fighting terrorism, we're fighting terrorism. >> buzz words that resinate with a lot of people especially in the united states that try to frame this as good guy versus bad guy. good guy being the syrian government against the bad guys isil and other terrorists.

do you get the impression that syria is now a little bit more emboldened now that russia is very clearly coming up to back assad? >> absolutely. russia is clearing the routes north on the coast. this is the interior corridor where most of the population is. and they are alawite strong holds. that's where they get the support. it does support the regime. it does support the regime forces. and russia is going in and hitting places that have been -- has had this bunker down mentality of this new coalition of fighters, army of conquest, has been fighting and wearing down assad's forces. you come in with air strikes and open that up again. they are opening up these areas for assads forces.

they are giving them a real strategic advantage, but they are also fighting under the vail of terrorism, because these groups, even some of the moderate syrian free army forces are now fighting under an umbrella that includes al-qaeda affiliated -- >> we keep mentioning this is a very, very come complplicated b. we have other news to get to today, one of the longest serving secretaries in obama administration's cabinet is leaving the white house. he announced he will step down in december. he says he will return to chicago where he used to run the public school system. hurricane joaquin is still pounding the bahamas today as a powerful category 4 storm. it unleashed heavy rain with waters battering ocean-front

homes. 130 mile an hour winds bent palm trees. the latest track could have it going out to sea. nicole mitchell has more on that. >> yes, still a potent storm and still slowly moving through the bahamas. that actually has been good news for the united states, but definitely causing major problems for this island nation. we have a number of warnings up for this region, but as i said, some good news for the united states. it sat here long enough that there is a developing low, and the steering from that is looking more and more like it will go out to sea. only a couple of outliers bring it to the united states. most are picking up that a tough bringing it more away from the u.s. coastline. so the official track is going to bring it off to sea, again, something we'll have to monitor, and we could still have impacts

like high waves and some moisture making it to u.s. land. we have already been dealing with this system along the coastline. a frontal boundary. it's into the southeast, so the next couple of days will be very wet here, flooding rain. i'm actually more concerned about the flooding from this, tlan right now the potential with roy queen, which we'll be watching, but places like north and south carolina, just said we could get 5 to 6 inches of rain. and the ground is already saturated so that will cause more problems. the northern tier of the country as a result has been kept pretty cool. thank you, nicole. many governors say they are better prepared for this storm because of lessons learned from

sandy. that's it for us. stray right here, though, because the news continues next live from doha. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et

>> the cops is a legalized gang... it makes me scared for everybody >> fear and distrust in baltimore... >> they've just been pepper spraying people at very close range... >> years of tension between the community and police erupt... >> she was on her way home to her kid, and she never made it... >> a former cop speaks out... >> if you had taken steps when a man was assaulted, maybe freddie gray didn't have to die. >> is there still a blue wall of silence in american cities? >> did somebody get shot? fault lines baltimore rising only on al jazeera america

as war rages on in his country, syria's deputy prime minister addresses the u.n. thanking the government's allies. ♪ hello, i'm julie mcdonald, this is al jazeera, live from london, also coming up. days into its syrian bombing campaign, russia says it has hit and killed isil fighters. >> this is a political choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in america. >> reporter: u.s. pde