secretary of state rex tillerson. ♪

anchor: we begin in syria with what appears to be a major blow for the islamic state group, turkish-backed syrian fighters say they are in control of the town of al-bab following weeks of fierce fighting. this is expected to pave the way for turkish-backed assault on islamists. we have the story. for the: a breakthrough strike to wipe out the islamic state group in northern syria. pouring in, and the sounds of gunfire. these at the-backed rebels seized full control of the town of al-bab on thursday. as soon after, they were flying their flag, as is seen in this

amateur footage. ,> we gained ground in al-bab and the islamic militants are in a difficult situation. , it isr: julia: --al-bab south of the turkish border. it was once a stronghold for the militants. forthey have the groundwork an eventual assault on rocco -- raqqa. officials, soldiers are now looking for pockets of militants. jihadist may have struck a deal with the turkey-backed rebels to abandon al-bab after five months of fighting. meanwhile, syrian peace talks have resumed in geneva for the first time in 10 months. the future of president assad remains a sticking point for russia. he says it is absurd. forces are continuing to bomb civilian areas despite agreeing

to several cease-fires. expectations of a breakthrough at these u.n. talks are low. >> i am not expecting miracles. task.e an uphill it will not be easy. and ais a lot of tension lot of suffering that everyone has been bearing. but we must apply ourselves to this task. laura: i am joined in the studio by a professor for the university here in paris. think you for being here on france 24 tonight. six years on, half a million people killed, many more displaced. we heard that the u.n. response, they are not expecting miracles. is anyone expecting anything from this meeting at all? >> now. -- no. they do not expect to be in the same room to lead the negotiations. we are not sure about that, usually it is two different

rooms. there are lots of problems regarding who is in the position. the main group, it was not the case in afghanistan. it is the high negotiation committee. there are also two other groups, like the terror group and moscow groups. there is already an opposition group and they are not always in contact with the field. that is one of the main problems. of the other, the fact that these talks do not help, regarding political transition. why start? thathe very simple reason there is some agreements, but they are not applied on the field. continuehe fight does and there is no transition. laura: the rebels are just playing for time, while these meetings are continuing to carry on with warfare on the ground. what about the united states?

there was a new administration, donald trump is the president. he has come up with ideas, pushing for safe of own -- safe zones for civilians in syria. might this make some difference? there was animosity between president obama and vladimir putin of russia. julien: the u.s. position today is not defined yet. they were saying a few days ago, it is not known, the u.s. position, because the u.s. has not taken any position at the moment. is moredonald trump keen to work with the russians. but on the other side, we know there are signs showing they might actually back and reinforce even the current -- and at the same time, they proposed some safe zones. sinceis a very old idea, the beginning of this enterprise. it was an idea on the table.

some do not like the syrian regime. idea, but be a good we have these positions. at the turks and french, we need air cover. there should be ground soldiers and aircraft in the air. meaning, the breach and that force, -- in that force. that is a great question. in afghanistan, russians occupyd to the u.s. to at the last moment, to be present in the talks. and they just sent that ambassador. it was not a huge move it from the u.s.. laura: thank you. another defeat for the islamic state group, this time in iraq. iraqi forces every taken the airport in mosul. the jihadist lost -- last urban

strongholds. they were under the control of the islamic state for over two years. security forces turn their attention to recapture the western, more densely populated part of mosul. owen, how much resistance did the islamic state put up in the battle for the airport? reporter: not that much. isiscurrently with the forces at the second part of the operation. this is northwest of the airport. , it secured in this airport airport. the [indiscernible] owen: airport. they will not bring up too much resistance. there were car bombings, and they are overwhelmed by the isil

forces. they have considerably push them back. laura: what about the situation for civilians? i understand leaflets have been dropped over the city 200 -- warned civilians and offensive is going on. undern muzzle is now government control. what is the situation for people there? forces havealition dropped the leaflets. [indiscernible] they want to lay down arms and not fight. is military situation particularly dire, particularly for the children. they have a lack of food, .anitation, water the situation is very bad.

to 750,000timates up are trapped. laura: thank you very much indeed. been another bombing in pakistan, waves of militant violence of claims dozens of lives in recent weeks. the last explosion hit an upscale shopping center. at least 10 people were killed. no group has claimed responsibility for today's attack. we have more. reporter: scenes of chaos in lahore. rescue teams and police rushed to the blast after a bomb ripped through pakistan's provincial capital. shops andth upscale cafes, was quickly evacuated by security forces, leaving residents and witnesses in a state of shock. 25 people lying on the ground. reporter: it was the second monthto hit lahore this

and the latest in a series of attacks that has left pakistan on edge. seven people were killed monday after three taliban militants opened fire in the north of the country. a devastating blast at a sufi shrine left 90 people dead last week. it was the country's deadliest attack in months. says it has killed and arrested dozens of militants in recent days and seems intent on continuing the crackdown. announced military wednesday it launched a nationwide antiterrorism operation. rex tillerson is in mexico trying to smooth relations with america's southern neighbor as they reach an all-time low on president donald trump. mexico is angry at comes plan to deport illegal immigrants to mexico, regardless of their nationality. around 11 million unmet --

undocumented migrants in the via, most reaching the u.s. mexico. john kelly and his comments seem to contradict official trump policy. take a listen. >> let me be very, very clear. there will be no repeat, no mass deportations. everything we do in dhs will be done legally and according to human rights and the legal justice system of the united states. will bertations according to our legal justice system, which is extensive, and includes multiple appeals. the focus of deportations will be on the criminal element that have made it into the united states. laura: let's go to mexico city. our correspondent natasha is there. , ajust heard from john kelly direct contradiction to what

donald trump has been saying today. he says a military operation is underway to deport anyone who does not have papers, back to mexico. natasha: yes, it does not yet feel like there is clarity on how this will shape up. but i think people here are breathing a tentative sigh of comments.er kelly's from the beginning of trump's campaign he has been using -- as a punching bag, plans to deport large numbers of mexican immigrants. people here have been very concerned. on a practical level, many groups have trying -- been trying to prepare mexican immigrants being deported back. comments were music too many people's ears. but there seems to be contradiction within the white house. when trump was here on his visit, after the meeting, there was back-and-forth on twitter between him and the mexican president on exactly what had

been agreed. it was about the border wall. we will have to see exactly what happens over the next few days on that point. laura: people in mexico are pretty worried. donald trump appears to have it in for mexico and mexicans. going right back to when he was campaigning to be president. what do people today say about this meeting from america's top diplomat, rex tillerson? natasha: these are uncertain times in the era of twitter diplomacy to read we will see what comes. it did seem to market break from the way the relationship between the two countries had really been deteriorating. a crisis point. we saw leaders from both countries standing together and saying positive things about each other and talking about the need for cooperation and a dialogue. it was a change from the status quo. on the mexican side, the

secretary of the interior spoke about the irritation and worry mexicans have been feeling over the last few months in the face of negative comments and perhaps threats coming from their northern neighbor. thething that became clear, priority would be immigration and security between the two countries. trade talks and economic talks are on the agenda, but it looks like they will be pushed further down the line, to be carried out the next few months. there was conversation between all the leaders at a need to immigration from central america, which has increased over the last few years. int is a bit more nuanced understanding than we have seen from donald trump in the way he talks about immigration. mexico really is no longer the one sending immigrants to the u.s.. it has become a transit country to tens of thousands of central americans reaching the u.s. it looks like there will be more unity and dialogue to look at that issue. laura: thank you very much.

we are staying with u.s. policy. lgbt activists are outraged after donald trump tore up guidelines on transgender rights in schools. the obama administration had instructed schools to let transgender students choose the bathroom that corresponds to their chosen gender. trump says it should be up to individual states to decide. we have reports on what is already a very controversial issue. >> shame on trump. protesters gathered outside the white house to make their voices heard. after the trump administration revoked guidelines wednesday to accommodate transgender students in public schools with single bathrooms.x text color, diversity, and the love. last may, president obama issued nationwide

guidelines over what is called the bathroom debate. they wanted transgender students to use bathrooms of their chosen gender identity. for the trump administration, such rules overstretched that of the federal government. >> the president has made it clear he is a firm believer in states rights and a certain issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level. reporter: four game and lesbian and lesbian and transgender's -- transgendered individuals they think it should be taken care of at the federal level. >> they are sending some of the most vulnerable young people in our country today. reporter: the trump administration says they decided to revoke the guidelines now until the supreme court hears a pending case on the issue. years,for eight protesters targeted democrats at town hall meetings. now the left is happy to return

the favor, questioning contentious policies. some republican senators are avoiding town halls altogether to dodge the shouting matches. we have more. >> my question is, if we are so concerned about the deficit, why are we building a wall? [cheering] , becoming anfronted regular occurrence of constituents that want answers on republicans plans. senator tom cotton was the latest to be faced with angry crowds on wednesday as the backlash continues. country, discussions the mexican wall, obamacare, and ties to russia. [indiscernible]

[overlapping voices] reporter: some republicans are the voices of opposition before they enter the town hall. >> i believe, i believe, that when the president's mistake, for example -- [booing] reporter: the u.s. president took to twitter to say these a campaign more than bankrolled by democrats. are planned by liberal activist. his sentiments echoed by his press secretary.

>> there is a bit of professional protester-manufactured basin there. but there are people that are upset. you look at some of these districts and some of these things, it is not a representation of a member's district. it is a loud group, small group of people disrupting something. in many cases, for media attention. reporter: the tensions between republican and democrat members highlight the increasing division in the country. but they are also a mirror image of the conservative the session that rattled president obama during his eight years in office. laura: staying with u.s. policy for now, kate has the business news. you will talk about donald trump's tax plans. you have a bit more clarity on how he plans to do tax cuts. reporter: and when he is planning to do it, the white have planning to quote --

a very significant tax overall. steve mnuchin said he would focus on cutting taxes for middle income families and simple find the corporate tax structure. he appeared to back away from some of donald trump's more inflammatory statements. in particular, a campaign pledge to designate china as a currency manipulator. he appeared to back away from some of donald trump's more the -- he said he had yet to make a judgment about the yuan. confidence in the trump administration. he said he lowered -- hoped to lower the value of the greenback. those remarks have had a mixed result on wall street, the dow backing away from a record close at the end of wednesday's session. investors have welcomed the administrations plans to cut regulations and boost government standards. the dow jones and s&p 500 trading just above the flat line. european markets into the red.

nasdaq moving 4%. business confidence here in france remained steady in february despite the uncertainty of the looming presidential election. french automaker is hoping to expand global reach. workers thinkn the deal would jeopardize their jobs. british and german governments have been seeking reassurances that their workforce will be a priority if the takeover goes ahead. into the weighing discussion on psa's takeover of general motors european operation. needs germany psa quality. could bids

result in 2 billion euros a year. but the economy minister insisted this could not come at the expense of thousands of employees whose jobs could be put at risk. >> our top priorities have to be on production and agreements on jobs in general. as you know, 7000 engineers are employed, developing new models. attaining jobs it remains key for the government, which owns a percent of psa and rescued the company from bankruptcy in 2014. gett year, the makers of peu and citroen vehicles want to expand.

>> we believe there is an opportunity to create a champion. reporter: it would take a matter of weeks and make psa europe's second-biggest automaker after volkswagen. changes our efforts. he defined his role as ceo of nissan. he will turn his focus instead to a new alliance with mitsubishi motors. mitsubishi admitted it had cheated fuel economy data. today in nissan, when i see how much i am engaged within the alliance, i think it was the time to pass the baton to somebody i had been grooming for many years to take the job.

airbus called for a special meeting of european union defense ministers. reuters, to reports by the day after they took a write-down of $2 billion link to the models, they experienced technical delays. airbus set its own viability was at stake and it remains committed. they urged seven nato members to begin their own investments. canceled 67% of its flights come out there were strikes and a major restructuring plan of the italian carrier. they had an effort to keep up with a low-cost rivals. the airline said it was working on a solution to ensure as many passengers as possible could fly as scheduled. the european commission is in talks with the italian government to rescue the world's oldest bank.

they failed to raise 5 billion euros. assurancemore taxpayer money will not go to waste. new york stock exchange is preparing for one of the biggest stocks locations of the year. snapchat issued its ipo in march for $20 billion. the nasdaq is leaving nothing to chance. the stock exchange is set to host a trial run for snapchat's debut this weekend. they encourage a sample orders to make sure technology is up to the job. they were harshly criticized in 2012 for botching facebook's ipo. they were not prepared for the level of demand and facebook shares. there were glitches as the social network began trading. to be the biggest one to hit wall street since then. they want to do their part smoothly and be prepared for any circumstance.

not a bad motto. laura: we have a short break, stay with us. ♪

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democracynow.org 02/23/17 02/23/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> worried all the time about being bullied by kids commit even being bullied by educators, and other have to worry about the attorney general of the night is eight and the president bullying them? it is not ok. amy: the trump administration has rescinded president obama's landmark decision to order public schools to let transgender students use the bathroom matching their chosen gender identity. we will get