lindsey graham says you have to replace assad. others are more realists who say, you know what, assad is a horrible person but he stays there. our job is getting rid of isis. >> that's where i am. lindsey graham call ed me up th other day. he was very nice. that was a very surprising call. but i disagree with him on this. we have iran and we have russia totally on the side of assad. and that's not the reason i stay out necessarily, but certainly it's a complicating factor. we have them totally on the side of assad. we have to knock the hel lrl ouf isis. they are fighting each other people are going to say what are we doing. >> one more foreign policy e question. for not being good friends with our friends but leaning over backwards to help our enemies whether it's iran or cuba. this past week a lot of people confused because you're talking about obama saying he would go to north korea and you talk to the north koreans. >> i wouldn't go to north korea. >> you would talk to them. >> the last thing i would do is go there. i don't kno

russia and iran have doubled down for assad.d do is look at isil as germany and assad as japan. i would get the arab world to do most of the fighting because it's in your interest to destroy eye isil as well as ours but we'll have to put military pressure on the assad regime. i don't thinkussia will go to war to keep assad in power. the big mistake obama made was drawing a red line against assad. he crossed it, he used chemical weapons, he's still standing. the russians saw that as weakness and when they intervened, it made syria much more complicated. you will never end the war in syria if you leave assad in power. the syrian people won't accept it. the arabs won't accept it and isil is a direct threat to our homeland. >> this is why i'm pushing you on this because i look back at things you said in the debates and what you said when you came out and you said you will not vote for him as president. you said that -- you've said he clearly doesn't understand the war against isis and how to win it. he said reagan would be rolling o

do you have a plan b for assad?>> i'm going to let secretary kerry that. >> he has the state department, the state department is not going to go take assad out. is there a military component to plan b? >> i think what. >> for his plan b just bs? >> i'm sure it's not bs. >> have you talked to the secretary of state. >> of course and without speaking for him, senator i think what he's saying is. >> my question is have you had a discussion with the secretary of state about the change in military strategy if the cease-fire falls apart regarding assad in russia, have you had that discussion. >> we have had many discussions about strategy. >> is there a plan b? >> i wouldn't call it a plan b but i'm going to let him speak. >> outline the change in military strategy. >> we have discussed alternative strategies. >> what are they? >> with respect to syria. some of them i'm prepared to discuss it here, some of them i'm not. [overlapping conversation] as you well know, the entirety of what goes on in syria is not something we

without that i think assad would have fallen long ago, and from iran's perspective assad or his regime are critical to maintaining the arc of power that they would like to -- to protect throughout the middle east from iran itself, through the baghdad regime which is now entirely controlled by the ayatollahs, assad in syria and hezbollah in lebanon. so for those who wonder why barack obama never really did much of anything in syria despite a lot of sometimes tough rhetoric, i think that gives you the answer, because to have gone after assad in a really profound way would have tanked any possibility of the nuclear deal with iran that the president signed last summer. that's always been his biggest objective, as we know, from any number of controversial interviews. >> in your way who would be a profound way? calls in the past to bond market airfields. what about taking out soft of the barracks if the iranian forces are in there? >> well, i think that under an obama administration that's next to improbable. i just think that iran is emboldened by the weakness they see in washington. i thin

the weather says is urging the russians to put pressure on president assad.stop hitting civilians. majority ofast civilian to of been killed have been killed by the assad regime. probably no success. if you look at the most recent efforts. the white house imploring russians to do something and not seeing any success. that is a big flaw in the strategy. winning so heavily on the russians when they are not willing to cooperate. katty: this battle is taking place in falluja. we don't know exactly how many civilians but somewhere between 50000 and 100,000. brian: that would be a difficult battle. falluja was the first city to fall to and one half years ago. it fell after the iraqi army attacked sunni protesters. it is not fertile ground for a shiite led military force. they may retake the city but the bigger question is will they be able to stabilize it and create the sort of political consensus. katty: is it looking more likely that islamic state gets moved out of iraq over the course of the next few months? brian: the trend is breaking against the islamic state

you had interviewed bashar al-assad. how strong is he today? his forces are trying to retake aleppo. crucial effort for them. we look at the human destruction, the pictures every day. who is helping him? who is in charge of the fight taking place there now? >> assad is stronger than when i spoke to him and when you spoke to him a few years ago. the russians have stepped in. the russians have supposedly ended or reduced their engagement, but they have withdrawn very little of their equipment and material. their troops and, more importantly, their planes are still engaged. the last few days, reports from aleppo are that the rebel held areas are being hit, mostly civilian areas, i should say, are being hit not just by helicopters and barrel bombs, which typically means aside forces, but -- means assad forces, but by fighter planes and missiles, which strongly suggests russian forces, not assad. charlie: will the cease-fire hold or not? are we looking at the unraveling of it? >> we are not even supposed to call it a "cease-fire." di mistura, the u.

>> i would have stayed out of syria and wouldn't have fought so much for assad, against assad becauseu have iran which we made into a power. u ran is a power because of us because of some of the deals i've ever seen. so now you have -- so now you have iran and russia in favor of assad and we're supposed to fight the two of them. and at the same time we're supposed to fight isis who is fighting assad. >> a lot of people say you have an inconsistent foreign policy. sounds pretty consistent. you wouldn't have gone into libya. you've said you wouldn't go into iraq. you wouldn't go into syria. you wouldn't have fought assad. >> but i would go after isis big league. >> but you'll go after isis -- >> joe, isis is fighting. isis is fighting syria. so you have some people, most people, that want to fight syria and isis at the same time they're fighting each other. >> so assad can stay in power. that's not your interest -- >> no, i'm saying we have bigger problems than assad. >> militarily, you'd tell the generals, go after isis, but we're not interested in replacing assad. >> i would say knock

i would like your comments with assad also. it is the same situation. the only other thing i would mix in is ultimately the solution in syria is not saying well, russia can be no part of it. probably engaging russia on a solution to syria. >> they have to be part of it and so does iran. the idea that we could come to accommodation or agreement without having those players is ridiculous. tom, you would probably agree with that. they have to be at the table. that's what secretary kerry is trying to bring about. an agreement or negotiation that would tend to improve the situation. you're quite right in your comment about selective engagement. that's why i like the paradigm. you look at each one of these discrete, specific foreign policy problems through the prism of the national interests and our principles and values and say to yourself, okay, if we take this action what's it going to lead to? that's the way a president should approach these things. look at where the vital national interests of the country are at stake. you might decide to go as far as th

iran in fact recently doubled down on its support for assad by sending soldiers from the regular army, from the regular iranian army to join the troops on the ground in syria and there's rumors they are even mobilizing and deploying afghans and other from the region to join militias in support of assad. although it remains clear that a lasting resolution to the syrian conflict will be impossible until assad leaves power, ali akbar said in a recent televised interview "the removal assad a red line for us." as long as iran continues to increasing its support, its military support, financial support for assad, it will bear direct responsibility for the carnage in syria.. extremism on all sides of the conflict and humanitarian exodus from syria causing massive suffering on three continents. this behavior from iran is a clear sign the regime is not to be trusted, does not intend to comply with international norms and deserves close scrutiny and constant push back from the united states and our allies. briefly noting another colleague who stands to speak soon, there is a number of steps the

resolution and we continue to remain committed to working toward a political transition away from assad because only if you transition away can you actually and this more. topic, if important can take a moment, as i think many of you know, today is world press freedom day. while i hope and believe we at the state department honor and respect members of the present all times and certainly the freedom of the press and we have . healthy dialogue john kirby stands appear every day or someone from our public affairs department and there's question after westjet engagement, but i wanted to take a moment today because it is world press freedom day, i wanted to pay special respect to what this really means and what it is all about. it is no secret we live in a turbulent era and at the heart of a lot of that turbulence is a truth versusd over outright lies or obfuscation and denial of truth. you look behind the conflict or thea, iraq or ukraine tensions on the korean peninsula for the south china sea or the terrorist propaganda that degrades our social media or the campaigns by civil society to

you interviewed bashar al-assad. how strong is he today? his forces are trying to retake aleppo, crucial effort for them, and we're looking at the human destruction and pictures every day. who is helping him? who is part of the fight that's taking place there now? >> well, the first answer is that assad is stronger than when i spoke to him a year ago and stronger than when you spoke to him a few years ago and the big reason is, of course, because not only are the iranians there but they have been there all along but, as everybody knows, the russians have stepped in. now, the russians is supposedly ended or reduced their engagement, but they've withdrawn very little of their equipment and material, and their troops and more importantly their planes are still engaged. so in the last few days, reports from aleppo are that the city, rebel-held areas are being hit, mostly civilian areas, by the way, hit not by just helicopters and barrel bombs, typically assad's air force, but fixed winged fighter aircraft shooting missiles strongly suggesting t

that has been the critical s.fference in boosting assad' -- assad's forces. i don't know how many times we go back to the well and think the russians can assist in creating a diplomatic process. that has broken down several times. ssad government has not stopped its bombing activities. i think we are seeing an end to the dramatic process. -- to the diplomatic process. what should we do? this is about the most difficult problem in american foreign-policy right now. 7 million homeless inside the country, 5 million syrian refugees outside the country. we are the largest contributor efugee relief, in terms of dollars spent, and we should continue that. i don't think we should give up on the idea that, at some point, the united states, turkey, and the sunni arab states should create safe havens, no-fly zones, perhaps on the jordanian and turkish borders. very difficult to do, but the consequence of not doing that might contribute to further erosion of the refugee crisis. i still think that we should be, of course, trying to support moderate syrian rebel groups, so

who is stopping assad? the special forces, moderate forces? >> there's a lot happening here. you know, the lines are fairly static. >> al-nusra is trying to -- you take aleppo. there's three parts of aleppo. there's in the southwest, what makes it very complicated, also, is in the southwest, a lot of the fighting in the last two weeks was an offensive in which the opposition was very interwoven with al-nusra fronts and that's what the russians say to us, hey, nusra is not part of the opposition so what about this? we tell them -- >> rose: let me understand this -- al-nusra is frying with free syrian army moderate forces against assad. >> from time to time. >> rose: on the battleground in syria? >> from time to time, that's happening, certainly. they would say if we're being attacked by the regime, we need help. >> rose: they being the syrian moderate forces? >> right. >> rose: so al-nusra says we'll help you? >> we all want to unravel this -- separate the opposition forces from al-nusra. we started seeing it happen. very important after the cessation of hostilities when you b

, so they were caught between all these different groups that are against the assad regime, anti-assad groups and i.s.i.s. and all kinds of different individuals, and they have a two-year-old son, so, clearly thairvetle very un-- clearly, they felt very unsafe on a daily basis and because people who worked for the government would think they were sympathetic to assad which they were not at all. meanwhile the other couple, sahila and rami, he's a teacher and she's a tailor, and they lived in a city close to the iraqi border surrounded by i.s.i.s. there was a lot of hunger, people dying from starvation, people stranded there and, again, they were caught between these two different worlds, the pro assad forces and the anti-assad forces, specifically i.s.i.s. so they feared for their lives and decided they should leave with their children, who are 18, 16 and 7. plus, i should mention, hari, both hasan and the 18-year-old son of suhila and rami were being drafted to fight in the war and that's another reason they wanted to leave the country because they thought that would lead to certain de

>> if assad used chemical weapons, that would be a huge story. did they say isis did or assad did?ing that isis did but we know -- that assad has but we know from human rights groups that isis has been using it on the battlefield. chemical weapons not totally eliminated from syria. >> i thought that was supposedly the big victory from the red line incident. >>> the sound you're hearing in havana is the sound of fanny packs and history made in cuba today when an american cruise ship docked for the first time there in half a century. hundreds of passengers aboard the carnival ship were greeted with a band and applause. the maiden voyage almost did not happen because of cuban law, one that forbids exiles from traveling back to their birth country by boat. carnival threatened to pull the plug on the venture forcing the cuban government forcing them to overturn the ban allowing cuban-americans to finally set sail and come back home. several cruise lines have announced plans to run trips to cuba bringing much needed tourism dollars to the communist nation. >>> coming up, they lost hundre

they want to see bashar al assad step down at some point. syrian government not surprisingly says that will not happen. it is not up for negotiation. it seems there is a deadlock on that issue. that's why the goals of the negotiators in vienna are humble than trying to move a political process forward. they want to remove the cessation of hostilities in aleppo. the centerpiece, christine, trying to get aid to the besieged areas. i was talking to the red cross. they were trying to deliver aid to the besieged area. they were held up for seven hours at a checkpoint. it is a problem that happens both sides of the equation. >> it is hard to imagine the suffering for five years. the people who are just trying to survive as the political process so slowly grinds. thank you, fred. >>> the u.s. and allies agreed to provide weapons to the libyan government to fight isis. officials are submitting requests from the u.n. arms embar embargo. the lack of a working central government has allowed isis to gain foothold with 6,000 fighters. >>> bowe bergdahl i

i think president assad needs to take stock of reality. laura: "now to our correspondent. anthony mills is covering those talks for us. anthony, there was never a great deal of hope pinned on these talks, was there? no, there wasn't, and in effect at their conclusion, the united states, secretary of state kerry and his russian counterpart lavrov, putting a s toe face on what continue be a deep divergence of views and approaches to this now years-long syrian conflict. as they met there were reports from syria indicating that violence continued on the fragile patchwork cease-fires that had been in place for a number of weeks now were not really holding, and putting on start display the disparity between the show of unity, the show of physical unity at that post conference talk and the reality on the ground, where we see entrenched positions on both sides. , ofhe one hand, the regime course, president bashar digging its heels in, with hezbollah fighting to prop up bashar al-assad. other, countries, the united states, saudi arabia, turkey, saying there can be no stable future

they are also home to president bashar al-assad's halloween minority. the islamic state group has-- alawite minority. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility. this is by far the worst violence to hit these 2 cities. the latest report saying almost 150 people killed. what more can you tell us? reporter: according to a monitor, the latest fertility figures 40 -- fatality figures, 48 people killed. will also go dead up. the percent either of these 2 -- first time either of these 2 cities have been attacked like this. 2 locations themselves, the same city where the russians have a naval base, and that in the southern part of the province, also where the russians have an airbase. that could be reason come part of the reason these 2 cities were targeted. of the onlyis part province in syria that has a , theity of alawites religious group, minority religious group, that bashar al-assad comes from himself. part of the reason he has such strong support in these areas. they wanted to hit bashar al-assad from his own religious group on their home territ

charlie: who is stopped on -- assad. brett: if you take aleppo, in the southwest, what makes it complicated also. charlie: he is fighting against the side? brett: what they would say is if we were being attacked by the regime, we need help. we started to see that happening. we said to the russians. let's work together to deescalate the situation. you can see the separation. obviously, we are not the area. charlie, it is the most complicated and important problem on earth. where we are right now is trying to reestablish in these three areas and take it from there. we have aleppo fighting in the southwest. that is a concern. there's this conflict that the kurds are fighting some of the areas. charlie: back in a moment. stay with us. ♪ charlie: we turn to politics. donald trump was the last man standing. here with that and more is maggie a permit of the new york times and cnn. let me begin with what happened today. paul ryan said the following, i think we need a standardbearer and he cannot at this time support donald trump

. >> and a new wave of protests against bashar al-assad... >> narrator: civil unrest was breaking out. >> it was an ideal set of circumstances for abu bakr al-baghdadi to capitalize on. >> (chanting) >> narrator: protests against syrian president bashar al-assad had been met with force. (gunfire) >> there were peaceful demonstrations. these were put down violently, and that then sparked this cycle of violence. >> narrator: as the unrest grew, baghdadi secretly sent agents into syria to help fuel civil war. >> he wanted to establish the caliphate now. he wanted to take over towns, villages, and then cities. the border between iraq and syria could disappear if his organization controlled both sides of the border. >> narrator: in damascus, baghdadi's men used the bloody methods of zarqawi's insurgency to announce their presence. >> i was sitting in my ambaador's residence in the upstairs den, reading, when the two bombs went off. immediately, from my time in iraq, knew those are car bombs. that's not a normal sound here in damascus. >> narrator: ambassador ford dispatched a reconnaissanc

regime for forces operating under control of the assad regime are making a concerted effort to prevent the kind of humanitarian access that's needed for syrian populations that are caught in the crossfire of the conflict and we've expressed our concerns on a variety of occasions about the tendency of the assad regime forces to either prevent convoys of humanitarian goods from moving into needed areas , in some cases there actually are reports of syrian forces essentially raiding those convoys for the supplies they would like to have or at least prevent those supplies from reaching the intended audience. so that is a source of significant concern and one of the reasons that the administration has worked aggressively to hold the assad regime accountable for living up to the commitments they made in the cessation of hostilities is to make it easier for those kind of humanitarians supplies to get to those areas that badly need it. so humanitarian access for humanitarian relief workers and for humanitarian assistance continues to be a critical concern not only for the united states but the

they are the main backer of bashar al assad.hn kerry said he expects the russians to be constructive in the process. he expects them to put pressure on the assad government to stop the air bombardments in aleppo. the situation is devastating. 250 people have died in the past couple days. they have been using surface-to-surface missiles. many believe if the cease-fire falls apart in aleppo, it could fall apart in the country and you could have full-scale war. the russians have said that they didn't want to put pressure on the assad government. they say the assad government is bombing nusra. the offshoot of al qaeda. the russians say they are in negotiations for the cease-fire in aleppo. we have to wait and see how it goes. a lot on the secretary of state's plate to make sure the cease-fire doesn't completely fall apart. >> thank you, fred. >>> we have a look at the market. last week, stocks suffered the worst week since the february freakout. wall street is coping with the worst stretch for corporate profits since the crisis. the

scott: she contends russia's attacks on assad's opponents is further destabilizing the crisis affecting much of europe. janine: that is kind of maybe the bottom line, that russia is a geopolitical presence. it is never going to go away. there is no decline and then they go away. i think that is a mistake that the world makes if they ignore russia. scott: she points out that putin does not just pose problems and was seen as a cooperative partner in the iran nuclear deal, adding that there is room for reasoning, but how much, no one knows. crossing between mexico and the u.s. many on ♪ every year, hundreds of thousands of people attempt crossing the mexican border to enter the u.s. illegally. some never make it. there remains are found in remote desert areas where their journeys and stories and. cheryl attkisson visitedne identify the missing -- one forensicesert where science is being used to identify the missing. correct the problem is they are unidentified so we don't know who they are. 125 also hasbout remains in our indoor cooler. : howdy you mark or designate the ones who may be und

earnest: too often, the assad regime are making a concerted effort to prevent the ccess that's needed for syrian populations that are caught in the cross five fire and we have expressed about the tendency to ither prevent convoys of humanitarian goods from moving into needed areas and in some cases there are reports of syrian forces raiding those convoys for the supplies they would like to have or prevent the supplies from reaching the intinded audience. so that is the source. and one of the reasons that the administration has worked gressively to hold the assad regime accountable is to make it easier for those humanitarian supplies to get to those areas that are badly needed. so humanitarian access for relief workers and assistance continues to be a critical concern not just for the united states but the rest of the international community and that includes the assad regime and the commitment they have made to abide by the cessation of hostilities and aid workers to et access that they have spent years in the crossfire. inaudible question] mr. earnest: the department of labor has bee

bashar al-assad goes. perhaps even leaves the country and lives happily ever after that we don't hear from. and there is a new government that contains the remnants of -- old regime charlie: some of them are moderate forces. jihadists or not? richard: probably. moderate jihadists. not isis, let's say. once you have removed bashar al-assad in a smooth transition that the russians can say it wasn't libya once over, the iranians can say it was a smooth transition of power that looked like a process everyone can accept, that once bashar al-assad and his inner circle are removed, then you can have a new government that looks a lot like the old government, but a new government that everyone can agree upon to and is kind of like world war ii. you blame hitler, goring and a couple of top nazis and you let everyone else get off. you say hitler, everything was his fault and the rest of the regime gets a pass. charlie: this was amazing. thank you. richard engel "on assignment" sunday night. check your local time. ♪ c

that bashar al-assad gets to stay temporarily. he stays in power in syria. the russians allow him or establishes authority. charlie: within a certain portion of the country. richard: they've been making some progress. and then there is a transition that come over the next 18 months or so, there is a transition phase to a new garment -- government. goes. al-assad perhaps even leaves the country and lives somewhere ever after that we don't hear from. and we remove the remnants of the old regime -- charlie: some of them are moderate forces. jihadists or not? richard: probably. moderate jihadists. not isis, let's say. basharu have removed al-assad in a smooth transition that the russians can say it wasn't libya once over, the iranians can say it was a smooth transition of power that looked like a process everyone can bashar that once al-assad and his and her circle are removed, then you can have a new government that looks a lot like the old government, but a new government that everyone can agree upon to and is kind of like world war ii. you blame hitler, gorin

in syria, we know that the assad regime does not represent all the people. as a result, we have breeding grounds for isil. a common thread is written through the world. i really look forward to the conversation we are having today with two of the champions in the history of america foreign policy. sen. corker: we are all very thrilled to have you. secretary baker is a model of public service, someone i have lived up to for a long time and i appreciate him taking his time to be with us today. i know he served in the public arena often done multiple times with the great -- tom donilon is someone i have gotten to know over the course of the first years of the obama administration in what i do not know him as well i know he is highly esteemed and we could not be more fortunate than to have the two of you today. if you could, if he would summarize your comments in about five minutes. we are certainly not going to cut you off. i have read your written testimony in without objection will be entered into the record -- and west summarize look forward to asking questi

it's important also and i'd like to hear your comments with assad also because it's the same sort of situation. the only other thing i would mix into that have you comment on it i think ultimately the solution is in syria is saying russia can be no part in it. russia has a base there and has been there for 50 years and probably engaging russia on syria is part of the answer. >> they absolutely have to be a part of it and so does iran. the idea that we can come to come to some sort of acomedation or agreement with respect to syria you got having those two players is ridiculous. i think, tom, you'd probably agree with that. so i think we can have bipartisan agreement on that. that would be -- they got to be at the table. if you're going to have a -- and that's i think what secretary kerry is now trying to bring about. some sort of an agreement or negotiation that would -- that would tend to improve the situation. but you're quite right in your comment about selective engagement. that's why i like the paradigm. because you look at each one of these discrete specific foreign policy probl

activists say assad air force fired the missiles.urkey's president tightens its grip on power as his prime minister steps down. because trees opposition says it is effectively a coup by the president. and outward it declares a state of emergency as wildfire and goes for mcmurray. emergency services battle to keep the flames away from the city center. 1600 buildings are already in ashes. ♪ sarah: welcome to the program. syrian activists say that airstrikes on a can't housing displaced people have claimed at least 28 lives. the dead reportedly included women and children and many more people also suffered serious injuries. local sources say that for missiles were fired at the camp, setting tents there on fire. the attacks hit the camp in northern syria. where joined now by nicholas connolly from the newsroom committee has been following the story. this camp is essentially for refugees. what more do we know about the attack? nicholas: they say at least 28 people dead, 50 wounded. this is very close to the turkish border, about 1500 and

obviously russia once a sad -- wants assad to stay in power. getting both sides to agree on what post-conflict syria will look like is improving give -- is proving difficult. you have a massive problem if you cannot agree on where to go. you can't agree how to get there. close in massive problem. simon mabon, thank you for your insight. the syrian conflict is having an impact far beyond the country's borders. a young german jihadist has gone on trial for posing for photographs with the severed heads of two victims in syria. those photos were then posted on facebook. the child is the first in germany charged with war crimes during the conflict. >> he claims he was only there to help but now he's on trial in germany after photos came to light showing him posing next to two decapitated heads. >> anybody who let themselves be photographed in a war zone with two's goals -- skulls commits a war crime, not a foolish prank. aria's childhood was trouble. he dropped out of school and abused drugs but that changed when he converted to islam. during court

al assad created and incubates isis, fact. he brutalizes his people and you cannot fix the situation in syria with assad remaining in existence. it may not be popular to say, people may say, you want to intervene another middle eastern war? no, i don't want to. but i'll tell you, mr. speaker, america has a mission, and if we forget that mission, if we wake up, if the president someday in an interview says my greatest regret was inaction in syria, that's on all of us, too. these children, they want to be teachers, they want to be police officers, they want to have kids of their own someday. don't forget their voices. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from nebraska, mr. ashford, five minutes. mr. ashford: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today in honor of the retirement of dr. phil smith of nebraska medicine at the university of nebraska medical center. over 35 years ago dr. smith established the nebraskan infection control network to educate health care professionals regarding

on august 20th, 2012, after the syrian regime led by bashar al assad threatened to use chemical weaponsgainst its enemies in the country's civil war, president obama put him on notice. >> a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. >> the president ordered the military to prepare to strike if assad did, indeed, cross that red line. on august 21st, 2013, the assad regime used the chemical weapons to kill hundreds of men, women and children. how would america respond? president obama ordered his military to stand down. >> they used chemical weapons against their own people and we did nothing. we demonstrated weakness instead of strength. >> we'll have more on the results of president obama's foreign policy later. but when we return, we look at how he's transforming our military from the ground up. >>> if our military is going through a transformation in how it relates to the rest of the world, it's going through a revolution in how it deals with itself. >> when you're standing side by side in life or death situations next to othe

and the way they seem to see the way out of this is the following, that bashar al-assad gets to stay temporarily. he stays in power in syria. the russians help him reestablish his authority, which has already been happening. >> rose: within a certain portion of the country. >> and they have been making some progress. then there is a transition phase that, over the next 18 months or so, there's a transition phase to a new government. bashar al-assad goes and perhaps even leaves the country and lives happily ever after and is in a villa somewhere that we don't hear from, and there is a new government that contains many of the remnants of the old regime, and -- >> rose: and some of the moderate forces. >> yes. >> rose: and jihadists or not. probably. moderate j jihadists. but not i.s.i.s., let's say. once you've removed bashar al-assad in a smooth transition, that the russians can say it wasn't libya once over, the iranians can say there was a smooth transition of power that looked like a process they weren't going to accept, that once bashar al-assad and his inner circumstance are remo

bashar al-assad leans to live up to his commitment with these hostilities.ighting has intensified in the real parts of syria. last week, a hospital in aleppo was destroyed by bombing. the u.s. serious it was in geneva today -- secretary of state was in geneva today. we have more with the latest dramatic efforts -- diplomatic efforts. >> with ongoing violence in syria, renewed peace talks in geneva. secretary of state john kerry is trying to wave the fragile cease-fire and extended to aleppo. weeks,rry: in the last the frustration of hostilities has been put to the test, and it has frayed in certain areas and fallen completely in a few areas. aleppo is particularly disturbing to everybody for what has happened there. reporter: over the past week, hundreds were killed in aleppo. the u.s. and allies have long maintained the syrian jets aided by russia had been carrying out airstrikes on areas not controlled by extremists. >> what is happening in aleppo is a crime. it is a tragedy, a violation of humanitarian law for which we regimeshar and the responsible and t

for a political transition in syria, but they still disagree on the future of president bashar al-assad. they still have not set a date for new peace talks. >> despite their differences, there is common goal, and a growing consensus among members of the international syria's support group that action must be taken to end the five-year conflict. >> we agreed that if a party to the cessation of hostilities engages with a pattern of consistent noncompliance, the task force can referred that behavior to the iisg, ministers, or those designated by the ministers to determine appropriate action. >> in syria, those living amid the fighting are still suffering. unverified footage posted on social media purports to show government airstrikes your homes in damascus. it's the recent surge in violence that has the international community worried. the cease-fire brokered by the u.s. and russia is repeatedly broken and president bashar al-assad's government is accused of stopping vital eight surprise being delivered to rebel held areas under siege. >> we're still -- vital aid supplies not being delive

the violence in syria, and hoping they will use those cease-fires to draw the opposing parties, the assad regime on the one side, and the militants who oppose him on the other toward some kind of dialogue, something that can manage this peace process, if that is one could call it, forward in the direction of the ofe durable absence violence. that is something proving because of the entrenched positions on both sides. on one hand, you have the regime of the syrian president digging his heels and with the backing neighboring lebanon fighting in syria to prop up the president. on the other side, you have an countries, notably saudi arabia, the united states and others, who say the president assad has to go. with support on the one hand that the answer russia and iran and opposition on the other, there is no indication of any concrete way forward that may move syria out of this orbit of violence. annette: what exactly is at stake? anthony: syria is seen as a source of an enormous refugee the that has really tested political unity of the european union. just last summer, we saw the flow of ref

the assad government claims it's fighting terrorist organizations across syria, making it difficult tomplement a nationwide truce. >>> japanese pop culture has a lot of fans in indonesia. japanese style idol groups who have fans with a unique way of showing their support. nhk has their story. >> in indonesia, a band was sister group of a famous all-girl pop group in japan. they took the country by storm. sparking a boom for idol. >> they were super-cute and i liked how they acted on stage. >> along with this boom, another form of japanese pop culture has established itself. known as a particular style of dancing and cheering performed by the fans. eye-catching pen lights are an essential element. dedicated otagi teams have sprung up across the country. in the evening, they gather at a park. they practice hard and hone their skills in the darkness. it seems like it is not -- that easy to play watagi. but if i continue doing this, i might lose some weight. ♪ >> reporter: some of the otagi fans have formed units in the hope of appearing on stage themselves. this is the leader of his team.

syrian state-run tv carried a statement by president bashar al assad saying he would not accept anythingless than final victory in aleppo and elsewhere in the country. the assad government claims that it is fighting terrorist organizations across syria, making it difficult to implement a nationwide truce. >>> brazil's political turmoil intensified with removal of a key member of congress. the country's top court ordered the speaker of the lower house be stripped of his post. he had led the impeachment drive against president dilma rousseff. brazil's supreme court approved a request by prosecutors to remove him from office. his status as a lawmaker was also suspended amid allegations he obstructed investigation. >>> the speaker's departure comes as the senate prepares for a vote next week on putting president rousseff on trail over the alleged manipulation of government accounts. observers say the moves against rousseff are politically motivated. the president has vowed to fight the allegations against her. >>> in singapore trading has begun on the world's first online diamond exchange. d

world war ii where the imperial great britain and the totalitarian from the soviet union will set assad their differences. >> we have time for one more question. >> tavis use of private contractors in afghanistan inhibit the success of nation-building? >> the question should be how did it come to be? that windy iraq and afghanistan wars the number of private security contractors outnumbered the u.s. troops? how does that come to be? looking at the unintended consequences to rely on the all volunteer force then the conditions of permanent war we ended up two more years as a policy makers and the pentagon turned to the notion of defense contractors to fill the gap at a very high cost and i argue with little evidence that they were worth the money. >> i know you will sign books. thanks. [applause] we barely scratched the surface i encourage you to pick up a copy will have an "in-depth" and somewhat pessimistic understanding of the war in the middle east. [inaudible conversations] >> dash is thereby explaining myself how life began to write this book was set to mexico in 2010 i thought i wo

so assad's days are numbered, that was said five years ago.emical women's now the new red line is if you move against aleppo which clearly is in the cards, that's what they've been prepping for for the last several months. martha: we've seen hundreds of thousands of people killed in this situation and as you point out, the first said was there was a red line that was put down if these chemical weapons, we all know what happened with that red line that did not exist as far as the united states was concerned then we heard from hillary clinton and the president, assad must go. within a heartbeat, this whole situation is going to change in course assad is dug in and still killing people and in this case dropping bombs and exploding in areas where we have people that have been trained by the us. >> well, and that's the thing. assad's forces and the russians who are supporting him are mostly attacking the forces that the united states has stood up and trained and is equipping so those are our guys so as to speak. the moderates if you will, moderate