isis and north korea's quest for a nuclear weapon are not entirely unconnected. because the greatest threat of all would-be terrorists getting their hands on nuclear material. it is vital we bring the world together to stop north korea dangerous game. in discussions of national security, it can be easy to get mired in the tactics and focused on the threats. let's not lose sight of what this larger project of american leadership is all about. it is about creating more peace in our world, more prosperity, more human dignity. and that is what we also have to be focused on every day. there were a number of very excellent suggestions about what we can and should be doing here at home. -- to try to bring our

american-muslim community much more closely and welcomed against the struggle of radicalization and recruitment. i am anxious to follow up on the ideas and model programs that are currently underway. i am humbled to be supported in this race by a growing number of retired military leaders. earlier this week, 95 retired generals and admirals endorsed me for president. and in the past 48 hours, another 15 have joined them. so have people on both sides of the debate that have defined our foreign-policy for the last 30 years. their support is an honor. i am grateful for it but it is also a signal that this election is different. i do not want to rehash everything my opponent has said in this campaign but no conversation about our national security would be complete unless we acknowledge that the nominee of the other side

promises to do things that will make us less safe. national security experts on both sides of the aisle are chilled by what they are hearing from the republican nominee. that may be the number one reason my selection is the most important in our lifetime. so i am not waiting until november. i am bringing democrats and republicans together now because i plan to get right down to work on day one. the stakes are too high and the too serious for anything less than that level of preparedness. americans should be able to count on their president and commander in chief. to provide rational, confident, and even-keeled leadership. especially in times like these. i am very grateful to the men

and women i met with today, experts with a broad range of understanding and willingness to share their insights. and i look forward to continuing to receive their advice in the days and weeks ahead. we will take one or two got questions. >> north korea since the start of the obama administration. something that is -- has clearly failed. how would you approach the problem if elected, what obama has pursued for the last four years? mrs. clinton: i think it is clear that the increasing threat posed by north korea requires not only a rethinking of the strategy, but an urgent effort to convince the neighbors, most particularly china, that this is not just a u.s. issue.

and i think we have an opening here that we have not had for the last several years that i intend to do everything i can to take advantage of. but we're also going to support and equip our allies in the region with the missile-defense systems that they require to protect themselves. that is not something even the north koreans, chinese, or russians in the region are particularly pleased about. but what is the alternative? we're not going to let anyone who is a treaty ally and partner of ours be threatened. and we are not going to let north korea pursue a nuclear weapon with ballistic missile capacity to deliver to the united states territory. that is absolutely a bottom line and if others countries want to assist us in this effort, we

welcome that and we will engage in discussions as soon as possible. >> you put out a statement today saying you support president obama's call for sanctions on north korea. but they have faced sanctions for years. how will a few more help and would you consider the kind of can negotiations you push for in iran? mrs. clinton: the answer to the second question is yes. because we face a similar problem in 2009. as a senator, i voted for a re-sanction against iran. in our efforts to prevent iran from moving forward on its nuclear program. it did not stop them. they built covert facilities, mastered the nuclear fuel cycle, were able to acquire and put

into operation a significant number of centrifuges. so our sanctions, despite our best efforts, or not enough. and although we have international sanctions against north korea, some of which i helped negotiate when i was there, they are not enough either. and they are not enough for the same reason i was responding to amy about. they are not enough because china has not yet made the decision that it needs to make. north korea poses a threat to the region and poses a threat to the kind of stable border relationship that china has always valued with north korea, so we are going to continue to look at how we tighten sanctions. because i do think there is a role for sanctions. the regime in north korea works -- lives off of goods and materials that can be smuggled in to keep their lifestyle and their love of luxury going.

so, i think there is more we can do. it would be at the top of my list in dealing with china on how we're going to prevent what could very well be a serious conflict with north korea. [indiscernible] mrs. clinton: you do not talk about leverage until you produce leverage. i do believe we have leverage with china and based on my extensive discussions while secretary of state, there is even a conversation starting in china about how to handle the changes in the north korean regime. china has no interest in seeing the kind of buildup, which we are going to be doing. i will stress this and underline

it, we will not leave our friends and allies unprotected. we will do everything we can to put in the most effective missile defense system against anything that north korea does. the chinese are not happy about that. we have a lot of leverage and we are going to exercise that leverage. and we're going to put together the kind of negotiations that i think can lead to a beginning of containing and controlling the behavior of the north korean government, which has the danger of affecting everyone, including china. thank you all. thank you all. >> do you have a response to donald appearing on russian funded television? [laughter] mrs. clinton: every day that goes by, this becomes more and more of a reality television

show. it is not a serious presidential campaign and it is beyond one's imagination to have a candidate for president praising a russian autocrat like vladimir putin. and throwing his lot in with him in the way that he has approved of his wish list and not even really understanding what putin has already done like invading and occupying crimea. we are living in challenging times. and that was certainly reinforced by the excellent discussion we had today. no one who wants to assume the responsibility of being the president and commander in chief should be making the kind of reckless and dangerous statements and identifying with

a regime that has some aggressive tendencies towards our interests, values, friends and allies. so, can i say what i was surprised? i'm not sure anything surprises us anymore, but i was certainly disappointed that someone running for the president of the united states would continue this unseemly identification with and praise of the russian president, including on russian television. >> this sunday night, david k johnston discusses his book, the making of donald trump, which takes a critical look at the presidential nominee. recognize thaty he is pt barnum. he is selling tickets to the amazing two headed woman. the dominants

force in atlantic city, i started asking about him. his competitors and people who worked for him and big gamblers all said to me, donald does not know anything about the casino business. easterny night at 8:00 on q and a. >> after a 12 hour meeting in geneva, john kerry and serge lavrov discussed a cease-fire agreement for syria at a news conference with the cease-fire is set to go into effect at sundown on monday, september 12. this is about one hour. mr. kerry: thank you all for tremendous patience during the course of a very long day which obviously has required a lot of detail work and we appreciate everybody's patience. and hanging in there. today, the united states and

russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in syria. and we believe that the plan as it is set forth, if implemented, if followed, as -- has the ability to provide a turning point. the suffering that we have witnessed in syria over the course of more than five years now is really beyond inhumane. people have all seen the pictures. women, children, tortured. barrel bombs, gas. and the world has been shocked on a constant basis by what we have witnessed.

and we are -- i say we. the obama administration, the united states, is going the extra mile here because we believe that russia and my colleague have the capability to press the assad regime to stop this conflict and to come to the table and make peace. working together, russia and the united states and our teams have devised what we think is a more prescriptive and far-reaching approach than we have been able to put together to date. and if, and i want to emphasize the if, if the plan's implementation in good faith, if the stakeholders do the things that are available to them in -- and are being called on to

do, this can be a moment where the multilateral efforts at the diplomatic table, the negotiations could take hold and you could really provide the people of syria with a transition. now, foreign minister lavrov and i have had frequent conversations and meetings most recently in moscow and here geneva. as each time we have worked together to try to build a consensus on the broad steps and then to develop specific ideas on how those steps could be implemented. as we have both stated several times, we did not publicly spell out these measures earlier because the details of how they would be carried out were crucial to be finalized and because each had an impact on

the other end -- and we know that especially in syria plans do not implement themselves. so today, we are announcing an arrangement that we think has the capability of sticking but is dependent on people's choices. it has the ability to stick providing the regime and the opposition both meet their obligations. which we, and we expect other supporting countries will strongly encourage them to do. obviously, the russians have an ability to be able to encourage assad and we have the ability together with other countries to encourage the opposition. so what specifically have to agree to? first, we agreed on the steps through which the regime will

come to a place where it will not fly combat missions anywhere where the opposition is present in an area we have agreed on with very real specificity. once this arrangement takes full effect, the regime would no longer be able to do in the future what it has done in the past which is go out there and hit moderate opposition. and mask attacks against the legitimate application -- opposition by claiming it is going after nisra. this step is essential. it is a bedrock of this agreement. by all accounts, the assad era -- air attack have been the main of the hostilities in halting all the regime's

military activities in key areas that are defined. not all flights, because there is still isil. that will be managed in a different way also. that should put an end to the barrel bombs, indiscriminate bombing of civilian neighborhoods and has the potential to change the nature of the conflict. whether it does or not depends on compliance. second, the united states and russia have agreed on steps which we will take providing there is a sustained period of reduced violence and after that sustained. of violence, we have agreed that we will then work together providing both access and reduce violence have been provided the. -- period of time, we

would then work together to develop military strikes against nisra. i want to be clear about one thing on this as i have seen reporting that somehow suggests otherwise. going after nisra is not a confession to anybody. -- concession to anybody. it is in the interest of the united states to target al qaeda, to target their affiliate in syria. an organization opposed to a peaceful transition. an organization that is the enemy of the legitimate opposition. an organization that is currently plotting attacks beyond the syria's borders, including against the united states. so we must go after these terrorists. not indiscriminately, but in a strategic, precise and judicious manner. so that they cannot continue to

use the regime's indiscriminate bombing in order to rally people to their hateful crimes. it is our belief that nisra and isil have grown stronger because of the bombing. now some might disagree but that is our belief. and third, in moscow we also said before we could move forward with the steps that we have identified, we would need seven days of adherence to the cessation of hostilities in order to convince the people of syria and the opposition that the actions of the regime will -- and its supporters will be consistent with the words that we put on paper. i've talked to previously about the words on paper not meaning anything unless the actions follow them up. now of course, the opposition will also be expected to adhere to the cessation of hostilities. and that is why today the united states and russia together are

calling on all sides to recommit to a nationwide cessation of hostilities and to honor its previous terms. this will be effective at sundown on september 12. now this, i might add also is the beginning of the holiday. and we can think of nothing more appropriate than for all the parties to come together and make it a more meaningful holiday to the people of syria. this includes halting all attacks, including aerial bombardment. any attempts to gain additional territory at the expense of the parties to the cessation requires unimpeded commander -- humanitarian access to all of

the besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including aleppo. as we stand here, we know that aleppo continues to be the besieged and bombarded city taken on by the regime and its allies. and if aleppo is in peace, we believe that the prospects for a diplomatic solution will brighten. if aleppo continues to be torn apart, the prospects of syria and its people are grim. now that is why this arrangement also requires forces from both sides to pull back from the road. we have agreed on that pullback. costello road is a major artery into aleppo. what this pullback will do is create a demilitarized zone around it. permitting as quickly as possible the resumption of humanitarian and civilian traffic along that road. that will be achieved over a period of time by monitoring.

which is essential to the compliance. meanwhile, in the gap area in southwest aleppo, both pro government and opposition groups will be required to provide safe unhindered and sustainable humanitarian, commercial and civilian access. two eastern and western aleppo. neither the opposition or the government will be permitted to attack or to take territory held by the other. or, i might add, to obstruct the delivery of humanitarian goods. now finally, beginning september 12, we will then commence preparatory work for a joint implementation center. and these preparations will include initial discussions that -- and some sharing of information necessary for the delineation of territories controlled by the groups in the area active hostilities.

and then the more comprehensive process of delineation will be conducted by experts once the joint implication group center, once it is established. now once it is established after seven continuous days of adherence to cessation of hostilities, then the u.s. and russian experts will work together to defeat daesh and nisra. i want to emphasize that these measures can only be implemented effectively if all of the parties live up to their obligations. if groups within the legitimate opposition want to retain their legitimacy, they need to distance themselves in every way possible way from nisra and daesh. we expect that russia will make

sure the syrian government adheres to its requirements. about its air activities and access for humanitarian deliveries. no one is building this based on trust. it is based on a way of providing oversight and compliance through mutual interests and other things. and we are determined to explore possible foravenue progress. if this arrangement holds, then we will see a significant reduction in violence across syria. we will see humanitarian aid go forward in aleppo. after a period of reduced violence, then we will see the united states and russia taking corrugated steps to isolate and defeat the terrorist groups that have added immeasurably to

's suffering and misery. we will facilitate a political transition which is the only way to bring about a durable and to -- and to this work. i want to emphasize that the crisis in syria is enormously complex. it is still relatively simple at the same time. it is complex for reasons that we all understand. the number of stakeholders with different agendas. the wounds that haven't inflicted by years of fighting. the ideological divides. the urban and suburban war zones. the brutality of extremists. and the honorable actions of -- unwelcome actions of some outside powers. let me be clear, out of all of this complexity, there is a simple choice between war and peace. between human agony and

humanitarian relief. between the continued disintegration of an ancient society and the rebirth of a modern nation. i want to thank the special envoy, who will hear from later in many governments from the -- and the many governments from the middle east and elsewhere who have been supportive. the religious and advocacy groups that have been working for years to aid victims and halt the fighting. i, on serge lavrov and behalf of our president and country, we call on every stakeholder to support our plan the united states and russia to bringing the

catastrophic conflict the quickest end through the political process. our goal is to find the day when this round the clock diplomacy is not necessary. i would like to thank survey lavrov. he has been particularly patient patient as we work through a very long day to make sure everything was done well. i'm grateful to him for his effort in trying to help provide for this opportunity. it is an opportunity and not more than that until becomes a reality. thank you. serge. mr. lavrov: good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i understand how you can feel at this time of night. but as john has said we are

--teful for your patient patients. we are official to each other and we hope that this was not in vain. we have concluded a huge piece of for that began on direct instruction from our president in february of this year and has been going on without in treatment. it hasn't taken on by experts has been taken on by experts and ministers. a year ago, our proposal to organize a coordination met a cool response from our american colleagues who were ready to --age in a deep complexion

allowing to avoid incidents. this of your, the president and the conversation called for an initiative to make additional efforts to ensure sustainable cessation of hostilities. and after that, on this basis, a number of meetings took place. which culminated today. this long work is justified and explained by many factors of difficulty on the ground. a lot of stakeholders involved. inside and outside of syria. us, as well aslp the distrust between the russians and americans.

and the syrian matter particularly. i have to say that some distrust people would like our arrangement to be undermined, it is an arrogant announcement of sanctions on the verge of the meeting of our president in china and another announcement of additional things met. but we are not offended. we are sticking our position. we believe the settlement is not a topic we can speculate on. we believe this is the primary responsibility of leading powers , both russia and u.s., who are cochairing the syrian support group.

it is our responsibility and obligation together with our international partners to do everything to reach the necessary conditions to settle this very difficult conflict. despite all the problems that have arisen, despite the distrust that has arisen, despite all of the attempts to undermine today's arrangement, we have managed to develop a package of documents. today's document is not the only one. there are five documents in total. it is a package of documents that allows to organize and expand the humanitarian access to the population in aleppo and which allows the ability to enhance the cessation of hostilities.

it creates the conditions which has been stalling. the main thing about these arrangements is that the first the reconfirmation of the cessation of hostilities by the for the parties u.s. and russia to confirm and , itnfirm their commitment will be extended for another 48 hours in order to achieve the permanent cessation of hostilities regime. regime has fully punctual -- functional for seven days. a joint to create be engagede we will

in practical matters of separation from terrorism from the moderate opposition. and there will be strikes agreed against terrorists. the strikes of the air force in russia and the u.s.. we have agreed on the areas where such coordinated strikes will be taking place. in those areas, all neutral agreements -- mutual agreements shared by the syrian government as well. only the air forces of u.s. and russia will be functional. syria will be functional in areas outside of areas singled out for russian-american military cooperation. i would like to highlight that the task of separating terrorists and moderate

opposition and physical separation of them on the ground is enshrined in the document which we have agreed upon today as a key priority. another topic is humanitarian assistance and the document we should have agreed upon today, have enshrined the mechanism humanitarian assistance, delivery, in cooperation with -- that u.n. and also in aleppo. we have the procedures of response on the cessation of hostilities. the day, as john said, is the 12 of september. that moment, number of steps

will be taken and antiterrorist context and the humanitarian assistance concepts -- context and enhancement of cessation of hostilities. john has mentioned that the most important thing is not only the paper, but how it is implemented. how the agreements are fulfilled. we and the united states take the obligation to do our best to engage and make the stakeholders comply with the arrangements. as i said, the syrian government has been informed by us about these arrangements and is ready of theill its support initiative we have agreed on. we will do everything, which depends on us. it's understandable that not everything depends on us.

and some leaks in the mass media about which is the real views of , from some groups who call themselves supreme committees, there have been ultimatums, the refusal to cooperate as well as threats for humanitarian convoys that we have received from the opposition. i would like to remind you that the humanitarian convoy was the last time we met. the opposition said any convoy going along the road would be shot at. -- costello road would be shot at. many groups need to be influenced.

this process has had a lot of situations where someone could just slip away from the commitments and look for reasons -- explanations why it was impossible to fulfill the obligations. today, we had developed a significant and concrete package of documents. and due to the reasons mentioned by john's, we cannot make these documents public because they contain rather sensitive information and we do not want this information to come to the hands of those who would try to undermine the implementation of measures with regard to humanitarian access and other parts of the arrangement. but those documents are already entering enforce position. officially the 12th of

september. i'm very glad that john had an important thing he said. that the u.s. is aimed to fight nisra and those who believe the fighting with russia are wrong. that is important. a lot of people suppose the united states are really not very desirable to fight with nisra. b. just keeping them as plan so today's statement from john is greatly welcomed by me. this is not the end of the road, it is just the beginning of our new relation and new hope that all of those who deal with

value peace and the integrity of states will support the arrangement. we expect to have close cooperation with our friends on the u.n. because we are convinced that since the beginning of implementation of these arrangements, there will be favorable conditions as it as it -- has been said to resume the negotiations on the political settlement. and we will of course use this moment. thank you. thank you, very much. appreciate your underscoring that russia has already talked to president assad. we're going to hear a word, he will not take questions. but we do want, as you have heard tonight, the u.n. is a

critical partner in all of this. we are grateful for their many efforts with respect to syria. and i would like to introduce the u.n. special envoy. >> thank you very much. it has been a long day. and good results. i will read a statement which is representing the position of the u.n. with your permission rather than talking off-the-cuff. the u.n. welcomes the understanding and announced today by survey lavrov and secretary of state john kerry. this understanding regards the cessation of hostilities in syria so that the departed can

return to talks with humanitarian acts and the cessation of hostilities against -- again. we also welcome the fact that the russian federation and the united states of america are prepared to work together to defeat daesh. the united nation's hopes and believes that the political will that led to this understanding is sustained. it creates a real window of opportunity which all relevant actors in the region and beyond should face to put the crisis on -- in syria on a different path and reduce the violence. let me be clear, you have been asking me and i'm ready to say that the united nations stands ready to deliver and to do what

ever it can to resume the cessation of hostilities. it is expected that all parties will facilitate u.n. efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance to the population in need deceased deceased -- andeiged hard-to-reach areas. the u.n. will continue to exert all effort to that end. it is vital that the real change is felt by the ground of the syrian people. lastly, the u.n. hopes that implementation of this understanding will facilitate renewed efforts to reach a syrian owned, syrian led political sentiment of the conflict as called for in the geneva communique. i will personally proceed to

to york in the coming days consult general ban ki-moon. this will be on the 21st of september with a few to advancing this objective and discuss the date for the renewal of the next round of it or syrian talks. let me say thank you to both of you for allowing us to reach out to work. thank you. mr. kerry: i was just going to say, we both have flights that have been delayed. we're going to take one question. we apologize. >> first question from cnn. >> thank you. you talk about implementation as being the most important thing about the agreement, the entire

iss g along with the syrians and opposition agree to a cease-fire in february and was endorsed by the un security council. how is this different? how can you make sure the respective allies in syria or -- and others are ready to respect any agreement you adhere to? and secretary kerry, i have to ask you about north korea. for seven years in administration has attempted the same policy of increasing sanctions and strategic patience with north korea, this security council and russia past the most biting sanctions ever and for three has only increased its -- north korea has only increased its weapons program, why is it not time to try the harder embargo or new negotiations? mr. lavrov: as part the implementation of the

arrangement, no one can give 100% guarantees. there are a lot of stakeholders involved in this puzzle. quite opposite interests of a whole number of them. the fact that we have managed to create the issg by the joint russian-american efforts, other countries influenced our represented included the saudi arabian and iran. this is a great achievement. another thing is that the capabilities of this group must be used in a responsible manner. thewhen we gather all of participants, an emotional

discussion should be avoided. everything should be prepared in advance. the documents we have approved today, we will have to inform the issg and the un security council on the essence and the nature if we want to receive these organizations. but there is no other way except organizing and inclusive dialogue. this inclusiveness must be inter-syrian talks and the circle that needs to be closely involved in assisting the talks. about korea, an official statement has been made by russia. expressing our nonacceptance of the actions that violate the

resolutions of the u.n. security council and we consider this actions as neglect of international law. we cannot allow them to undermine the nonproliferation regime which threatens the peace and security. on the other hand, you are right that the current situation shows that maybe diplomats should be more creative than just responding by sanctions and anytions again on escalation of a situation. i'm convinced that by condemning those dangerous exploits of the korean government, we must refrain from steps that could lead to further escalation. -- escalation of tensions.

and put the region on the verge of armed opposition. -- in a similar iran and syria, which have been very creative in approaches used by all the participants. i'm convinced that here in north korea, the opportunity to have a creative understanding of the development of a manner. , it isworking on that too early to bury talks. look for ways to resume the talks. thank you. mr. kerry: the question was

asked, what is different about the situation relative to the previous announced cease-fire. hardusly, we worked very to make sure that you were not just repeating the same thing. that does not mean it is going to automatically succeed. we are created an entirely different structure at this time. what happened in the past was that, first of all, the assad regime continue to fly and bomb indiscriminately. everybody knows the record of barrel bombs and hospitals and schools, children, so forth. what happened was because of that continued bombing, those others who had signed up to the cease-fire felt compelled to fight to save their countrymen. number two, there was always a confusion with nisra versus

a legitimate opposition group. in some ways, they became melded together so that the assad regime said they were going after nusra but at the same time they would be attacking those who had signed up for the cessation of hostilities. that confusion lent itself to a complete fraying of the cease-fire structure. and so, the second thing, you have the combination of the flights, the bonds -- bombs and the confusion with nusra. we have told you, if it is implemented, the initial seven days of a genuine reduction in violence and seriousness of

purpose, when that is happened, with attractive women taking group is set up as a consequence of the increased mentoring access and reduction in violence, then we will be working together to beat delineating and separating nisra -- nusra and finding where they are and and working together using our knowledge and technology and assets to be able to do a more pinpoint/strategic set of operations to deal with nisra and/or isil. the warning we give to opposition groups who have up until now found it convenient to work with them is, it would not be wise to do this. it is wise to separate oneself. indeed, that's will be different.

there is a deterrence and that. there is also a deterrence that russia holding us accountable to his problems. this is a new equation. we believe this new equation offers an opportunity, not a certainty, an opportunity for people to be able to find a peaceful solution because we do not believe there is a military solution. the current trend is simply creating more terrorists, more extremists and destroy the country in the process. as i said earlier, president obama has gone the extra mile. to try and find a way, if possible, to end the carnage on the ground in syria. honestly, i think it is a courageous decision. it is the right decision. i hope president putin has made a decision to commit the resources of russia to make sure

the assad regime lives up to its obligations and to work with us. so, hopefully this can turn some things around. that is what we are working towards. with respect to north korea, we have made overtures after overture to the dictator of north korea. we have made it very clear to him that we are prepared to talk about peace, peace on the peninsula, about food assistance, normal relationships with the world, about a nonaggression pact. a host of different ingredients if he will simply acknowledge he is prepared to come to the table and talk about denuclearization and his responsibilities to the world. he has refused to do that again and again.

yes indeed, the last round of sanctions was the most biting sanctions to date. as you recall, it took a number of years and a fair number of rushing up the sanctions to bring iran to the table. ultimately, iran came to the table and negotiated because of realized it was the response will thing to do. our hope is that we can get back to the talks. we are prepared to go back. all he has to do is say i am prepared to talk about demilitarization. unfortunately, he takes the opposite path, commits to this program and against all u.n. security council resolutions, continues to shoot missiles and continues to threaten and be provocative in the region. this is why every country in the region, every neighbor of his in the region and outside the region are opposed to what he is doing. he stands alone and he invites even greater isolation.

>> a question from a russian journalist. good evening, a question for mr. kerry. the launching of the political data coalition. today, we have difficult issues. will washington be able to fulfill its commitments to influence the opposition and return it to the negotiation table? mr. kerry: thank you for your question. we have had discussions with the opposition. the opposition has indicated they are prepared providing the regime is serious and there are days of reduced violence to meet the standards that we have established. and if that happens and they are given access for humanitarian goods as we have been discussing

here today, then i know, who has had conversations with them is prepared to issue an invitation at the appropriate time for them to be able to return. i've had personal conversations with the foreign ministers of each of the stakeholder countries. they have all indicated a readiness and willingness to go back to the table and encourage the opposition to go back to the table. and i spoke with him by videoconference from washington just the other day. he was in london. and i talked to my fellow foreign ministers who had gathered there. they all agreed that this idea of the cease-fire, if it could be implemented, would be extremely helpful, very welcome and they are committed to urge all of the interested parties to be back at the table for the first really serious negotiation since this concept has existed. mr. lavrov: i would like to add

a couple of words. the beginning of negotiations as soon as possible is not a matter that russia and the united states can solve. that is a demand by the u.n. council. the negotiations must be inclusive with participation of all the sides in syria including -- in particular the groups that were formed in the meetings in moscow, cairo and other places. thus, all the mandate from the u.n. security council is quite clear. u.n. mustrse, the implement this mandate by providing the inclusiveness of the talks which we hope will resume in the near future in geneva. attempts by several

countries to engage in provocations and represent or show one of those groups as the only opposition group that present the whole position. -- opposition. there have been attempts to legalize such a group by inviting it to the secretariat. we have been witnessing such attitudes. they fully contradict the agreements achieved within the issg cochaired by the u.s. and russia. and the agreements enshrined. in the u n security council. the sponsor countries of the opposition groups should fully understand the responsibility to think about their own -- think about the unity of the syrian -- people and state. mr. kerry: thank you. >> washington journal is live,

after that, we will hear from retired general john allen on security and politics in afghanistan. that is followed by the news conference by secretary of state on carrie and russian foreign minister lavrov. they talk about the obama presidency. coming up in 45 minutes, washington examiner commentary carpenter, will join

campaign developments. then, from the center of strategic and international studies will talk about the united states's payments to iran. washington general is live. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] ♪ host: good saturday morning, today is september the 10th. united states and russia have negotiated plans to stem the violence in syria. u.s. and russia also agreed to coordinate on the bombing of the islamic state inside syria. there is plenty of skepticism over the deal. a previous agreement quickly fell apart. we want to get your thoughts and reactions to this new plan. do you think it will work? how do you view our relationship with russia? be involved should the u.s. in syr