>> isil set to speak on national security soon as he tries to ease the nation's fears over potential threats. closing arguments in baltimore, the jury could soon have the case of the first officer tried in the death of freddie gray. new restrictions on operating drones. and the shake up ahead of tomorrow night's g.o.p. debate. >> you're looking live right now. that's the pentagon briefing room. that's where president obama will speak shortly after meeting

all morning along with officials this morning. that is the latest effort to calm the nation's fears over any potential attacks. meanwhile european leaders are meeting in belgium today focusing on ending the war in syria. that diplomatic effort coming ahead of a major u.n. meeting in new york later this week. also leaders are meeting with secretary of state john kerry in paris. the meetings coming on the heels of stepped up airstrikes by the syrian government. al jazeera reports. >> in this moment of sheer panic and desperation, talk of a truce is irrelevant, bloodied bodies clutter the floor of a temporary basement clinic. in this rebel stronghold outside

of damascus, lifeless infants are checked for vital signs. on another table a doctor tries to save another child who has lost his legs. the streets of duma are littered with debris and shards of glass making it difficult to reach those in need. most of the victims were children and women at a market and a school. syrian and russian jets were targeting rebels, who shelled damascus from the area. this latest exchange of fire between rebels and the government comes as united nations humanitarian chief stephen o'brien toured government-held areas including damascus and homs. o'brien is trying to assess the needs of millions of beleaguered syrians. the u.s. is proposing a cease-fire deal. they are hoping that it will lead to a nationwide truce. this follows the saudi-sponsored

initiative to unify the political opposition and hold direct talks with the regime, but the leader of one of the most prominent armed groups al nusra front, is criticizing that propose saying syria's government is no long centeer in charge. >> the regime has lost the power. the army has turned into groups of factions. this is not an army. now the armored groups have more weapons than the regime has. >> the u.s. said that 220,000 people have been killed since the start of the war in marc march 2011. and for the millions of syrians living in this devastation there appears to be no end in sight. al jazeera. >> again, we're watching this scene, the pentagon briefing room.

the president making a couple of high profile briefings. al jazeera's national security supports "o" correspondent jamie mcintyre is in washington. jamie, what do you think that the president's message will be? >> you have to wonder if there is any work done in these meetings. the president has assembled his entire national security team, also law enforcement from the state department, everyone, a total of three dozen officials in that room at the pentagon. but the point, of course, is that the pentagon is that the president came to the pentagon supposedly to get a briefing on the latest of isil, something that he gets every day, pretty much. and if you're looking for what he might say afterwards, i think if you look back to what he said five months ago the last time he

visited the pentagon and held a similar event, he made some of the kind of talking points that you would expect to hear today. that the fight against isil is not going to be a quick one. it's going to take time and patience. he's going to make the point that isil has lost ground since the last time he got a briefing. he'll again make the argument that in the end it's going to take local ground forces not u.s. troops to inflict lasting defeat on isil, and he's going to welcome the addition of new partners and new contributions from some of the allies. but we don't expect any major change in policy or any big pronouncements. >> with that being the case, as we mentioned, the president talking last week about that strategy to protect the u.s. from any future attacks, why more talks this week? is this just a mulligan? >> well, it's just--it really is just part--it's part of the ongoing process. the president has a tough sale to make.

because there is a lot of frustration in washington. we certainly have seen that among members of congress that this strategy is not producing more dramatic results more quickly. the president is trying to make the case for the long gain in this case. it's very unsatisfying strategy in that respect. you know last time the president went to the pentagon it was right after the july 4th holiday. there had been an attack in garland, texas, and the president spoke of the difficulty encountering lone wolf attacks where they were flying under the radar until they launch the attack. now they'll be speaking about the san bernardino attacks, which 14 people were killed, and again, u.s. law enforcement bell against had no inkling of the attacks before they happened. we'll see very similar themes. the president, we are told, is not going to take questions. but that's what we were told last time, and he did take a question or two last time he did this. we'll just have to see if he's

pushed on any issues today. >> and jimmy, there are always concerns about any domestic attacks about the holidays. 11 days to go until christmas. are those concerns more acute this year? >> well, i think they are as acute as they've ever been. you'll recall before thanksgiving there were pronouncements from senior officials that the americans should go about their lives, not live in fear. then we saw over the holidays that there were attacks. the attacks on the planned parenthood facility in colorado and the san bernardino attacks in that same time frame. which under scores the unpredictability of these attacks. and of course that's part of the point is to make the population fearful. it's hard to reassure everybody when you have to say in the same breath there is no way to guarantee or protect against every kind of attack. >> jamie mcintyre live for us in washington. the president is scheduled to speak at 1220 east coast time.

there is confusion in northern iraq. turkish forces are on the move. there are reports that they're being pulled out of the country all together. turkish media say that the forces are repositioned to other bases. the troops are training in the fight against isil. baghdad has been asked t ask them to pull troops ought all together. reports out today saying there was no indication of foul play in the down thed russian plane over egypt. the l.a. county sheriff department promising a full investigation into the shooting death of a black man there. a cell phone video showing two officers shooting and killing the 28-year-old over the weekend. it happened over the busy l.a.

intersection. the 28-year-old was waving his gun. they open fired. the suspect was shot 33 times. the police say it was justified. >> we have six 911 calls that were received from other businesses and residences in the immediate area. not only was he armed, but he had discharged the firearm several times. >> you could see that he was crawling away and they're still shooting. >> activists and the ma colophon investigation. >> they don't know if the gun was loaded. all they know is that a gun. guns kill. they kill. they maim. they hurt. so for an officer to say maybe the gun is not loaded, maybe it is loaded. they had no idea. they had a 911 call of a man with a gun. they acted accordingly to

policy, training, police are trained to eliminate the threat. now it does not mean that the threat is down. that means the threat has stopped. when you're dealing with an armed suspect that has a loaded gun that has been fired at people and could be fired at the officers at any time. they don't want the next chicago, next baltimore or next ferguson, so transparency is key when dealing in cases like this. >> police want public to comply with new evidence of that shooting. authorities were searching for evidence in a mass shooting that left 14 people dead. there have been reports that they were looking for a missing hard drive that belonged to the two suspects. the police working with haw police in hawthorne, california,

in graffiti that was left on a mosque and islamic center. i wants have been on the rise since the attack in san bernardino. the faa is calling for drone owners to register their aircraft before march of next year. that process mandatory for all unarmed unmanned aircraft. they expect the drone sales to be high this season, and they say owners must learn about drone owner use and responsibility. tell us about this new registration process. >> del, this is for recreational users of drones. anything from a half pound to 55 pounds will need to be registered through an online registration program with the

faa which is suspected to begin next monday. here are some of the details. if you bought your drone before next monday, before december 21st, you have to register it by february 19th. if you buy it after december 21st you have to register it before your first flight. the faa is going to charge you $5 for that registration. but if you do it within the first 30 days of when that online registration is open they'll give it to you for free, pushing people to do it early and as soon as possible. registration is good for three years. you'll get an unique registration number and some how you have to affix that to your drone. that's if there is an incident or crash they can trace it back to you. there are stiff penalties potentially if you don't register. up to $27,000 in civil penalties up to $250,000 and three years in jail for criminal penalties. those would obviously be for the egregious violations. but the faa wants you to know

that they are serious. right now if you fly a drone, you're not allow to fly it over 400 feet within an airport, and you have to be able to see it at all times. a lot of drone owners are violating those rules, that's why this has become such a problem. >> lisa, they say timing is everything. why did the faa decide to do it just now? >> let's see, i think we have the holidays coming up, and a lot of people are buying these drones, hundreds of thousands. that's one of the reasons they wanted to get this in during the holiday season. but also because there have been so many problems. there was a drone that ended up on the white house lawn. there was a drone that ended up in the stands of the u.s. open. another drone stops aerial firefighting efforts in california, and, in fact, the faa tells me this morning there have been more than 1100 reports by pilots of drone sightings this year. that's a phenomenal increase over the previous years and a new report out friday found that

over 300 of those were pretty close misses, and 90 involved commercial jets. so you know, it may seem like fun, buy this drone, fly it out there, but it could have serious consequences if it gets in the ways of commercial airliners, and drone owners needs to be responsible. there has been one group that has criticized these rules and i wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in court. >> thank you very much. world leaders trying to sell that climate change agreement to governments at home. >> we're going to continue to be pumping gas and using gas and oil for years to come. but what it does is it signals that there is a transformation taking place, and people need to diversify. people need to look for cleaner ways of doing this. >> that deal which was signed off on saturday is the first global consensus of cutting

greenhouse gas emotions. it promises to help poor countries to build their economies in an environmentally friendly way. we look at how the paris massacre has change security all across europe. and president obama is at the pentagon, where he's expected to make comments shortly. we'll bring you those comments live when we come back. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

>> closing arguments are going on right now in baltimore. the first of six trials concerning the death of freddie gray. just 25 he died from injuries suffered from the back of a police van. william porter is one of the officers charged in that case. john terrett is live in

baltimore, what did the prosecution have to say this morning? >> well, good afternoon to you, del. i just come straight from the courthouse now. the prosecution rested an hour or so ago a and they're in the middle of the defense closing arguments at the moment. jan bledsoe speaking for the prosecution asking the jury to look at the officer's criminal liability. while they see real inconsistencies between what he told police in the initial interview, and what he said in the courtroom when he testified. in other words trying to make it clear that the prosecution thinks that officer william porter died under oath on the witness stand. the prosecutor jan bledsoe said that you have to look at this from the perspective of whatnot you and i might have done in a similar circumstance, but what a police officer in a similar situation would do. regarding officer william porter

he showed complete disregard for human life that day, april 12th, when he was asked to check on freddie gray, and quoting, with great power comes great responsibility making the point that officer porter had great responsibility that he actually walked away from. that's the opening argument, and the closing argument. >> there are two sides to every story. what is the defense saying? >> well, the defense is underway and they're making a methodical going through of each piece of evidence presented in this case. it is very, very detailed and quite hard to understand when you haven't been in the courtroom for the entire hearing. but there are two main points that they're putting forward. one is that there is an

abundance of reasonable doubt in this case. there is an absence of evidence, and the defense has reminded jurors that they're tasked to reviewing evidence dispassionately. the defense biggest point so far is that no state witness, no witness offered up by the state has testified that officer porter acted unreasonbly. that's the position of the defense. next the jury gets the case. >> john, also the city has a position. gray's death sparking riots is there thoughts of any future unrest if the officer is cleared? >> well, i would counter when i was here at the time of freddie gray's death and there was riots, there was tension. and to me it doesn't feel quite as tense today. but we'll have to wait and see. this may have a lot to do with the fact that people have had their day in court.

remember, this is an african-american city with an african-american judge and african-american defendant and african-american jury weighted females to males. but it does not feel too tense at the moment. the police commissioner is suspending all leave, officers will work 12-hour shifts and they're preparing for a variety of videos, and everybody is very concerned of a repeat of last happened last springtime, and the city's stance is don't judge us by the outcome of one case. remember there are six cases here. six officers, six individual trials. judge us but the outcome of all of them, and will take us into next year. >> a reminder president obama set to speak shortly after meeting throughout the morning with defense intelligence and law enforcement officials. we're going to have those remarks for you live as soon as

he walks through those doors. meanwhile there were somber tributes to the weekend in paris where attacks left 140 dead. >> the isil attacks in paris that targeted sports fans, concertgoers and diners happened a month ago. a month in which life from the banks has changed dramatically. >> i think in the short to medium term the world is only going to become more dangerous as a result of the things happening. that's the consequence of the fact that the islamic state has become so strong and global jihaddism has become so strong. >> it was friday 13th where eight attackers open fired randomly with several detonating suicide vests.

all were european citizens. some having returned with battle experience from syria while others had lived as social outcasts in the suburbs of paris and bruce else. >> there is an umbilical cord between the wars that are being waged to iraq and syria where they have radicalized networks in the heart of europe. isis could not have carried out this massive attack in paris without having local--local recruits. >> paris followed a string of isil attacks on civilian targets including the bombing of a russian passenger jet over egypt that killed 224 people exactly a fort night earlier. western capitals have responded with the rhetoric of war with the expanded bombing campaign against isil and syria amid the creeping fear of attack at home. >> the western powers will not

send boots on the ground. this means that the response is in terms of rhetoric basically vocal. we're at war. the reality is airstrikes along with supporting local forces on the ground. it means that it's a long gradual strategy that could take years. >> it's been a bad month for refugees still filing into europe by the thousands each day. with perhaps two of the paris attackers believed to have ent entered europe among the refugee influx border controls have been tightened, and support has grown for anti-immigrant parties on the far right. it's arguebly been a good month, offer, for this man bashar al-assad whose army is the dominant force on the ground in syria with the spotlight now on irradicating isil, he may benefit from the ancient proverb the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

>> above all the emerging coalition between western countries and assad ally russia against isil in the wake of the paris attacks have signaled a new reality. a constant threat to innocent life from washington to moscow. possibly for years to come. jonah hull, al jazeera, london. >> the warm welcome for refugees in germany may be turning frosty. chancellor angela merkel saying she'll slow the number of refugees coming to the country. she has been facing pressure from her own party to take a toughing stand on the issue of migrants. that's not the case for refugees arriving in canada. take a look. [singing] >> that's a children's choir singing a song of welcome and hope. it's in arabic to a group of refugees when they landed in toronto last week. the song is significant for many

of muslim faith. it was also sung to the prophet muhammad when he, too, sought refuge. an hollywood actor using his fame to help a syrian family. edward norton launching a fundraiser for this man, a scientist from syria who suffers from cancer and lost his wife and daughter from a missile attack. he and his surviving children are heading to michigan to start their new life. so far $400,000 has been raised. history in saudi arabia, holding elections open to women. >> the doors have opened to a new era in saudi public life with two milestones reached. women gaining the right to vote, and to stand as candidates in local elections. >> i feel very happy that king

salman has given us the opportunity to vote. now we're equal to men. >> the journey to gender equality has been a slow one, so has the over all pace of political reform. it implies a literal interprettation of islamic law, and so far saudis have voted in three elections. >> i want to see the woman involved to be more involved in every institution in the government and the public sector. to be part of the planning, part of the excuse, part of the performance, part of the evaluation, she has to be always there. >> behind the scenes saudi women do already have powerful positions. they sit with the top advisory body and most university graduates are female. yet even with such strides women still didn't drive themselves to

the polls on saturday. the freedom women elsewhere enjoy. >> the leader of the far right party in france said that it was lies who cost her regional contest. marie la pen drop to go third praise despite leading just a week ago. the center right in that voting. [ protesting ] >> and in brazil protesters filled the streets of more than 100 cities this weekend all demanding that president dilma rousseff be impeached. she was elected less than a year ago. since then there has been growing frustration over the economy and the expanding corruption probe that has been rock the government there. thousands of cubans trying to get to the u.s. find themselves in costa rica because nicaragua will not let them

cross the border. the number of cubans coming to the u.s. has gone up 30,000. but warming cuban-american relations may be effecting that trend. >> police stand on the border. the country is refusing allow 5,000 cubans pass through on their way to the u.s. >> we don't have any other motivation other than getting to the united states. but we don't have passage through nicaragua. >> cuba will not accept us if we return. there will be retaliation against us. >> since 1966 cubans who reach the u.s. have been eligible for more or less automatic residency. but as relations with the u.s. than this, au.s. thaw, many worry that will change.

now cubans can travel to ecuador without visas, and that has created a new route to the united states. more than 17,000 cubans arrived in the u.s. through the mexican border. this year that number has nearly doubled until the borders were closed. at a recent summit the nicaraguan government closed the borders. and countries have refused to let them in. >> the argued reason is that this should be resolved through a regional treaty. >> central american countries have been under pressure to crackdown on migration sinc since 2014 when tens of thousands of children arrived in the u.s.