bashar assad's regime so no no no we cannot. i don't think so it's bashar assad it is. it is not this working in it is like one hundred. people so. i thought what this british. serious national team don't live in syria. for example a place in the lebanese premier league. we have many many of his was union guys for outside this you know we have in the germany in the oil and. when something in the in my not the you looking all game how many people sponsor you coming aboard the national team the national team here for twenty three million . of the quad you. know he is famous for clearing the ball like a volleyball player goalkeeper eba him. he's one of just six national team players who play in. the syrian premier league in spite of their still a professional football league how did she handle lobbying and how it got there for the use of off. and. i wouldn't have believed would be. under bob. rudd you cannot look at. the start of this sort of and know. if you're watching. a major wash before. i let a store have i last so you had the and he had to be powered off and he had

countless acts of atrocities from the assad regime. clearly it is time for this congress to act and this bill would do that. it would bring much-needed accountability to the assad regime, which is responsible for horrific crimes, crimes against its own people. it would do so by allowing sanctions to be imposed on people that contribute to these cold-hearted and merciless acts. it would require the treasury department to determine whether to target syria's central bank with money laundering countermeasures. quite simply, i agree with chairman engel. we need a political solution that ends assad's crimes, removes him from power, and allows the syrian people to develop their own future for their own country. assad must be held accountable for the massacre of his own people and this bill will begin to do just that. additionally, russia and assad must stop standing by and systemically allowing isis to attack minority populations in syria. including certain people. we cannot expect much from these actors, but it is incumbent upon them to prot

solid and the arab nations, the arab governments, are restoring their relations with assad.arab emirates has reopened its embassy, bahrain is doing the same, bashir from sudan, his isolation is broken. could we see him welcomed back publicly formally into the family of arab nations? yes. there are a lot of preparations for that, the reopening of embassies first, second. there is an arab summit in march next year. already, algeria, tunisia and other countries are working to break the isolation of syria and invite assad to the coming arab summit. so it will be different because he was kicked out in november 2011. so it could be a turning point here. what i find interesting is that a lot of speculation is from western commentators, is that because assad was propped up in the bad days by iran and now you have all these arab nations, what does this mean? the turks immediately after trump said he was pulling out, did not consult with his secretary of defense which is why he resigned. the kurds, who did the heavy lifting turning back isis, are suddenly now threatened by the turks.

troops rebuilding diplomatic relations with bashar al assad and how displaced syrians are coping with harsh winter conditions with us to talk about all of this in istanbul turkey me an architect and activist also in istanbul. vice president of the national coalition or syrian revolution and opposition forces. a journalist and activist really good to have you with us everybody or we begin with the u.s. troop withdrawal last month president donald trump made a surprise announcement that u.s. troops will begin leaving from syria have a listen to what turkey's president said during a meeting with russian president vladimir putin wednesday in moscow i mean if you believe. what is critically important is to prevent a power vacuum after the pullout of the american troops. our country's only goal is to clear the territory of syria of terrorist groups. and i just remind everybody of at best how story started with a tweet and a showing of a tweet here on my laptop and donald j. trump after historic victories against i says it's time to bring our great young people home or what has happened sinc

wants assad back that is what we should do. here in doha they're trying to find a solution of course for one part of syria right now the text and the americans but what about the rest of syria the conflicts in the rest of syria exactly i mean the question of that with all of the absence of the or the presence of the u.s. forces in syria is not only about isis it's not only about iran although i mean these two key factors are very important for the for u.s. policy and u.s. thought that here in the region but it's also about finding a political solution to the conflict in syria. not a son to former secretary of state he put to what's most people actually believe as the most comprehensive clear us syria policy. last year in january last year during his famous speech before the hoover institution in stanford university when he when he actually identified the key objectives of u.s. policy actually in syria and why the united states should actually stay in syria with its military presence number one is but a venting. from coming back

project syria and bashar only it's an infamous phrase in support of president bashar assad these guys are fans of the dictator. and they use football and stage for blunt propaganda but. now kuwait versa syria the last warm up game before the asian cup time for the pre-match press conference within the gulf region coup why does regard it as liberal it's a monarchy where only one family rules but journalists who criticize the king can go to prison for up to five years. for me it feels like a different planet but for my fellow country men she's totally relaxed she's down to deliver us faces we hear from football coaches all over the world we have no reason to answer in the world here which i think we're going to stick to tom ridge . as a fellow journalist and experienced sports reporter for whites public sports channel. was there a discussion within quiet at that the syrian team comes to quite here because the. government always. be good with. years is like a lot of what. other countries they wouldn't invite the syrian national team because of of the politics of the of the obvious no no

troops rebuilding diplomatic relations with bashar al assad and how displaced syrians are coping with harsh winter conditions with us to talk about all of this in istanbul turkey me an architect and activist also in istanbul dillema missa vice president of the national coalition or syrian revolution and opposition forces. a journalist and activist really good to have you with us everybody or we begin with the u.s. troop withdrawal last month president donald trump made a surprise announcement that u.s. troops will begin leaving from syria have a listen to what turkey's president said during a meeting with russian president vladimir putin wednesday in moscow i mean. what is critically important is to prevent a power vacuum after the pullout of the american troops. our country's only goal is to clear the territory of syria of terrorist groups. well and i just remind everybody that mrs howe story started with a tweet and a showing of a tweet here on my laptop and donald j. trump after historic victories against i says it's time to bring our great young people home or what has happened si

logic syria and bashar only it's an unfinished phrase in support of president bashar assad but these guys are fans of the dictator. and they use football that stage for blunt propaganda but. now cool white versus syria the last warm up game before the asian cup time for the pre-match press conference within the gulf region cool wives is regarded as liberal it's a monarchy where only one family rules but journalists who criticize the king can go to prison for up to five years. for me it feels like a different planet but for my fellow countrymen and totally relaxed down the delivers phrases we hear from football cultures all over the world we have no reason to wonder in britain the world here but you going to tell which. is a fellow journalist an experienced sports reporter focal white's public sports channel . was there a discussion within quiet that the syrian team comes to quite yet because the. government always. the good with. syria's is like a lot of those. other countries they wouldn't invite the syrian national team because of the politics of the of the obvious no no sidewards

strong allies, israel and jordan, and to impose the gross gainst human rights abuses of the bashar assad regime in syria. ally in the ronger middle east than the state of israel. israel has proven itself to be a resilient beacon of democratic facing threats daily since its founding in 1948. ur two nations have worked closely to stop terrorism, to spread of terrorism and chemical weapons proliferation regimes like syria and iran. the legislation today will support for strong israel including $3.3 billion securityin annual u.s. assistance. that's consistent with the understanding which was signed by, in 2016, president obama. and the 115th congress, 72 senators, 72 senators, democrats, and co-sponsored this legislation. t passed in the senate unanimously on august 1 of 2018. there is no reason why my the aisle across should not support this legislation today. o reason, in order to show our strong bipartisan support to our at a and ally, israel, time of great need. this package also includes rovision supporting state governmentes that have taken action against the anti-israel nd anti-semiti

they know what is right to oppose assad. it is a pretty simple vote on this. motion to proceed, vote yes, support the underlying legislation. bipartisan members supported this legislation and voted for it. i hope they will not let person politics get in the way of doing what is right. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> mr. president. we are now in day 18 of an unnecessary and shameful partial government shut down. with myud to be joined colleague and partner, the senior senator from maryland, ben cardin. with senator tim kaine, to be joined by senator warner. for genia tofrom say loud and clear the first from of business in this virginia to say loud and clear the first order of business in is tonited states senate reopen the federal government. more and more americans are losing access to government services. 800,000 employees are going without pay and facing mounting monthly bills. are working without pay. to help protect our country. another 300,000 are forcibly for load. small businesses are getting clobbered, as our the employees who work for them. we ha

assad. i think the same is true for russia. neither iran nor russia wanted to accept. the notion of regime change that people in the middle east could write don't rise up and get rid of their leader you know russia has a real allergic reaction to that and iran. in september two thousand and fifteen russia began large scale intervention on the iranian side to defend bashar assad. but meanwhile another protagonist appeared in the middle eastern theater. on june the twelfth two thousand and fourteen islamic state forces took control of iraq's second city mosul a few days later in syria fell into jihad is towns and became the capital of the self-styled islamic caliphate. protests around the advances made by ass and extremist sunni terrorist movement that sees the shia as one of its principal enemies radically change their stakes while continuing to defend the damascus regime the islamic republic was now fighting for its survival as much in syria as in iraq. but the steel. of the shoes your frien

troops on from syria and also levy sanctions against the assad government. here is some of this week's debate. >>

if i rap becomes less of a problem, and my opinion, it becomes a problem assad. he has to deal with iran instead of manage the iranian management in syria. the second debate was what could 2,000 troops or soldiers, american troops inside syria do against isis as if these two people would fight in isis. they are sort of the spear head of the fight against isis. you could fight isis, you can control and manage ma your presence inside syria without these these 2,000 troops. they could leave and they could still side with other countries with the fate of this which is one third of syria. and i think this whole debate, patching it closely from day one has been flawed from day one. it was worsened by the administration, so this is a -- both take blame for this. and it was a flawed in beginning and i think kind of the original center of this sort of campaign is that we criticized on this idea that you could ignore the syrian conflict and fight isis which is really just a symptom of this whole concept. so you ignore what others aspire to do and decide what their objects

the kurds and to the wipe egypt and then america which had been helping the arab militias against assad hoping to overthrow the regime put in a pro-american regime that would make peace with israel. this completely collapsed and so the united states was left siding with the kurds to fight isis these this very reliant sunni kayleigh full group that was trying to build this big caillat and that that caused in a sense the united states to side with allies of us if you would but now that they're withdrawing everybody is no none of the regional powers want there to be an independent or autonomy as kurdish entity with its own military and that is a very difficult problem for the united states to get out because they want to make sure that their allies don't get completely smashed in the process and ok says an embarrassing let me say well he did it because they're always going to make joshua let me stay with you here but it i understand that the various kurdish groups are in negotiations with damascus right now to come to some kind of resolution as if and when the united states leaves go ahead

wants assad back that is what we should do. here in doha they're trying to find a solution of course for one part of syria right now that takes in the americans but what about the rest of syria the conflicts in the rest of syria exactly i mean the question of that with all of the absence of the or the presence of the u.s. forces in syria is not only about isis it's not only about iran although i mean these two key factors are very important for for u.s. policy and u.s. thought that he and the region but it's also about finding a political solution to the conflict in syria and a son the former secretary of state he put to what most people actually believe as the most comprehensive clear us syria policy. last year in january last year during his famous speech before the hoover institution in stanford university when he when he actually identified the key objectives of u.s. policy actually in syria and why the united states should actually stay in syria with its military presence number one is but a venting. from coming back numbe

in my opinion, it becomes a problem for assad, not for us. because if assad wants autonomy in syria, he has to deal with iran and manage. the second argument that i think hijacked the debate was also how -- what could 2,000 troops or soldiers, american troops inside syria do against isis? as if these 2,000 people were fighting isis. or they are the sort of -- the spearhead of the fight against isis. i think that's also irrelevant. you could fight isis, you could stay in syria, you could have presence in syria. you could control and manage what your presence inside syria, without having these 2,000 troops. they could leave, and he could still decide with other countries the fate of this zone in eastern syria, which is one-third of syria. and i think this whole debate, you know -- watching it closely from day one, has been flawed from day one. and it was under the previous administration -- it was worsened by this administration. so both -- this is -- you know, both take blame for this. and it was flawed in the beginning, and i think kind of th

is a team for twenty three million syrians or a propaganda tool for the country's president bashar assad a men accused of committing war crimes is this his team the dictators team as some have suggested. millions of syrians are refugees because of the civil war and still there is something called the syrian national football team who do they represent how does it feel to play for so no one speaks about politics because everyone the so focused on that job here. but. can we really separate politics from football. it's what it's. a long way for but it's all presidents a new world even. is joining the changing room is success. it's everywhere around the world it looks like the same procedure when political leaders like. me german football champions. sat chance with the syrian squad but the difference is that former players of the syrian national football team are reportedly missing such as defend their jihad for example. syrian regime. program. at play and prison for being on the right or wrong side in. white the syrians prepare for the asian cup they have a new coach. a german like me his n

but i am sympathetic to the idea that trump pulled the wool off and, hey, assad won, and assad won thisnot because of trump. assad won this war because at no point did the americans have the interest on the ground that the iranians and turks have had. >> there are 213 international rescue committee staff on the ground in northeast syria, another 200 or 3 hundr00 in ita which is a province of 3.5 million people now. the u.s. presence on the ground was undoubtedly up holing an uneasy balance of power. and it's a five, six-way balance of power, but the battle against isis is not over in northeast syria. we shouldn't believe that. and the danger, obviously, is either that you have more in the northeast or there's a deal where the northeast is given over to the assad forces, but then in idlib, where you have these 3.5 million people and there are isis presence as well as the vast predominance of civilians, that you have some trade-off that allows for a fight there. and that creates the danger of refugee crisis going into turkey or worse. so, i think this was a decision that does bring greate

iran is aligned with assad, the dictator.ing the jihadists, it made it easier for assad to consolidate the control over the areas that were under his control. so removing these 2,000 forces doesn't really change that much on the ground as far as iran is concerned in syria. charles: you know, when i look at the images of these cities or former cities in syria, and, you know, the rubble -- they're rubble. they're nothing but holded-out shells -- hollowed out shells of rubble. and our presence there didn't necessarily stop that from happening, didn't stop the gassing of children from happening, and you have to wonder, i know one of the central issues particularly for conservatives are the kurds. how to we protect the kurds who have fought valiantly by our side. >> well, the kurds are good at real politic themselves, and they are finding common ground with assad. assad is a horrible person, he's a murderer. but in the same way we were able toking frankly, put our differences aside with, for example, franco, a fascist who nonethel

this provision would hold accountable the individuals responsible for the senseless evils of the assad regime, and a pose severe on the entities that support them. so a vote later today on whether or not members of his body believe that these issues should be addressed. it's my sincere hope that the senate will approve the bipartisan proposals and send a strong message of support that our friends and partners in the middle east deserve. during the last congress, there was broad agreement on both sides of the aisle on need for action. i expect today's action to be a big bipartisan vote, not some partisan showdown. but over the last few days, mr. president, some things have happened. the democratic leader and several of his colleagues have stood upbl and said they want to block the senate from even considering this legislation. now, never mind that includes legislation cosponsored by the d senate democrats last congress. nevermind that senate democrats mention the syria crisis literally dozens of times last month here on the senate floor. despite of all that some democrats have not threa

syrian president bashar al assad strengthened in recent months by support from powerful allies and that we opening up their embassies in damascus by some arab countries is vowing to launch an invasion. it live with its cinder block thomson villages could soon be subject to rockets bottle bombs and even class the bombs. that rebels are putting more debris face while. today we are all gathered here and ready to fight until the last drop of our blood we are the songs of this territory and we know it very well and so do the people displaced from all over syria are now living in this small geographic area which is just ninety square kilometer nothing will make us lose our resolve to fight on what to me are. in the middle of it leaps of rolling olive groves the displaced live in some of the most desperate conditions possible with no proper housing they are the must see of the elements. i mean. we lack everything there is no food no money we have nothing that winter and floods are making life even more difficult when it gets a little windy our dance just fly away. humanitarian workers want a f

rest assured assad has not pressed the pause button on the syrian civil war simply because it doesn't suit the democratic leader's political strategy this week. israel's enemies haven't stopped, either, and until democrats prioritize the public interest ahead of political spite, our border will not be secured and the federal government will remain partially closed. i cannot urge my democratic colleagues more strongly to get past this purely partisan spite, rediscover their own past positions on border security and negotiate a fair solution with the president to secure our nation and reopen all of the federal government. >> now, mr. president, last night, president trump tried to convince congress and the american people that there's a crisis at our southern border. it was a little more than

of congress wants to make a strong statement against the bashar al-assad regime and sanction businessand people who sell oil or aircraft parts, these are sanctions we want to see in place and they should go in and they won't because of the democrats position. >> interesting democrats would do that because with all talk about russia, russia being a key ally with bashar al-assad. >> one of the big ongoing tragedies in the middle east, the obama policies about vladimir putin and opening. he took that chance and we see russia having propped up aside's regime and russia has two permanent long-term military bases in syria as a result and not getting rid of them anytime soon. >> what would happen next in terms of any movement on this? >> this will have to be looked at, senator lindsey graham mentioned they will come back to it. another key point is jordan, an important ally. mike pompeo was just there. we want to get that security cooperation past, congress is holding up that cooperation with a key regional ally. >> mike on pao is going to be in egypt where he is expected to speak and also e

rest assured, assad has not pressed the pause button on their war simply because of this week. israel's enemies have not stopped either. and until democrats prioritize the public interest ahead of political spite, our border will not be secure. and the federal government will remain partially closed. i cannot urge my democratic colleagues more strongly to get past this purely partisan spite. rediscover their own past positions on border security and negotiate a fair solution with the president to secure our nation and reopen all of the federal government. >> no mr. president, last night president trump try to convince the congress and the american people that there is a crisis at our southern border. it was a little more than a rehash of arguments and misleading statistics that the president has been using for weeks. president trump once again, try to claim there was a crisis at the border. the fact is, migrant border crossings have been declining for nearly two decades. the president invade against

there's a reason that syrian american counsel calls her a puppet of assad.t right wing propaganda, she has a singular, controversial indefensible position when it comes to assad. >> she'll have to defend that. >> if you want to know more, can you tune in to my show tonight. here's a deal, people don't like her position on assad, they would like her position on everything else. economically she's progressive, she's smart when it comes to a lot of the issues that pull people apart. she's been a bridge builder, someone who's reachable together. this one issue, i think can tend to overshadow. watch my interview, you may like more. >> i also encourage people to watch the interview. >> watch both of their shows tonight. it's like a double whammy, double punch. first s.e. at 6:00 live right here on cnn, and then van jones at 7:00 p.m., we look forward to seeing more of that interview, thank you both. we'll be right back. every day, visionaries are creating the future. ( ♪ ) so, every day, we put our latest technology and vast expertise to work. ( ♪ ) the united sta

you can agree maybe assad is the best of bad alternatives. i don't agree with any of that, but to go and meet with the guy is a pretty big deal. so, you know, i think, look, once you step in the arena, it's fair game. i think people need to understand what her foreign policy, that includes sitting down with a guy like assad, and some democrats have already pointed that out. i actually asked someone at the syrian/american council yesterday for a response. that body's board member sid she's a vital puppet for the assad regime and we shouldn't be fooled. okay. i want to turn back to the shutdown. would you support declaring a national emergency using taxpayer dollars and perhaps even the military to get trump's wall funded and up and running? >> not really. i want to see if he does it. i would want to see the details of that, if it's something massive that's different that's something like when president trump declared swine flu a national emergency. it's different levels. i do want to get this ball built. i'm disgusted that we're at a shutdown

syrian president bashar al assad strengthened in recent months by support from powerful allies and the reopening of their embassies in damascus by some arab countries is vowing to launch an invasion. it live with its cinder block thomson villages could soon be subject to rockets bombs and even class the bombs. the rebels are putting on a brave face. today we are all gathered here and ready to fight until the last drop of our blood we are the songs of this territory and we know it very well and so do the people displaced from all over syria are now living in this small geographic area which is just ninety square kilometer nothing will make us lose our resolve to fight on what. you know. in the middle of it lives the ruling or live groups the displaced live in some of the most desperate conditions possible with no proper housing there. the musci of the elements. i mean. we lack everything there's no food no money we have nothing that winter and floods are making life even more difficult when it gets a little windy our tents just fly away. humanitarian workers warn a full assault on it li

syrian president bashar al assad strengthened in recent months by support from powerful allies on theopening of the embassies in damascus by some arab countries is vowing to launch an invasion. it live with its cinder block thompson villages could soon be subject to rockets bottle bombs and even class the bombs. the rebels are putting more debris face. today we are all gathered here and ready to fight until the last drop of our blood we are the sons of this territory and we know it very well and so do the people displaced from all over syria are now living in this small geographic area which is just ninety square kilometer nothing will make us lose our resolve to fight on. in the middle of it lips of rolling olive groves the displaced live in some of the most desperate conditions possible with no proper housing there are the must see of the elements. we lack everything there is no food no money we have nothing that winter and floods are making life even more difficult when it gets a little windy our dance just fly away. humanitarian workers want a full assault on it live could spark a

at least one or two times or several times and not want to, but twice with assad in syria when they fought to gas their own people including babies babies struggling for the last

the assad regime is stretched pretty thin. we will have to see. this will buy some time. it won't, i think, solve the problem. we will have to wait and see what the moves of the y.p.g. with the regime in the coming days. that is the thing to really watch. mr. ustun: you think it could hamper whether general was talking about? >> the syrian regime's objective is to get the united states out of syria posthaste. because it have the ability monetarily to seriously constrain them. not push out iranian forces, but a really concerted long-term effort. we have the ability to turn things around. this is what we have seen u.s. military activity against the shia militia and other forces. they are indicative of this. they are very aware of that. >> a quick response, i don't think there's any comparison between de-escalation zones, and syria, where he actually had warring parties fighting hard to a lot of de-escalation zone. i don't think it is what we are contemplating here. >> i saw that firsthand in the results. even forces of the syrian regime, when decided to see iranians, they b

assad is going to have his, if you will, final solution, and the largest massacre is going to happenhin the next 24, 48 hours. >> you said it like that? >> i said it like that. >> and how did he respond to that? >> he said, "that can't happen. the world is watching, that can't happen. we will not let this happen." and i said, "it's happening. they are ready to launch a massive strike and probably chemical attack against the 3 million in idlib under the context of 10,000, 20,000 nusra fighters." >> the terrorist group? >> the terrorist group. and wiping out the whole city. and this is the final solution. assad will then declare victory and...that's what's gonna happen. >> so, when you finished making this presentation, then what happened? >> well, he said -- it -- he did not really believe it maybe that much. i don't know because i heard him in the news conference... >> that's right. and -- >> ...as he went back to the white house, and he picked up a new york times, and he read about the same subject. >> let me play what he actually said. >> i came back to new york, and i picked up th

rekrur reconstruction for areas held by assad until iran and its proxy forces withdraw. until we see irreversible progress toward a political resolution. in lebanon, the united states will work to reduce the threat of hezbollah's missile arsenal, which is aimed as israel, and can reach all points inside of that country. many of these rockets are equipped with advanced guided systems courtesy of iran, and that's unacceptable. iran may think it owns lebanon. iran is wrong. in iraq, the united states will help our partners build a nation free of iranian influence. this past may, iraqis rejected sectarianism in the national election and we will support that wholeheartedly. the people there refused to be cowered by iranian-backed thugs. iraqis peacefully resumed peace between the kurdish region in baghdad and renewed their focus on fighting corruption. and in yemen, we will continue to work for a lasting peace. and i think this is clear, but it is worth reiterating. the united states fully supports israel's right to defend itself against the iranianregime's agresive adventuri

and co went overboard overboard about how assad and russia would turn the lives of ordinary citizens there into a living hell to get to a handful of al-qaeda fighters when russia and the assad regime say they want to counterterrorism they actually mean they want to bomb schools hospitals and homes there are more babies in italy and there are terrorists think of the children well now it turns out terrorists remain terrorists wherever they go and the children and adults of a global like are learning this the hard way this month. a un designated terrorist alliance subjugated the other rebel factions and seized power across the province any attempt of dissent big crush in its cradle the new human rights watch report details just some cases we have documented eleven cases in which a. detained residents of. because they were either documenting abuses or were testing. six of those that we have documented have apparently been tortured including minors human rights watch isn't the first organization to produce such a report either as well as arbitrary detention and brutal beatings thieving lo

and mr podesta e-mail account they used mr assad and wiki leaks as the publication vehicle and we know from the if the allegations the diamant are true that mr stone was working as at least a middleman or a cut out from the campaign to coordinate and be apprised of the timing of the publication of the e-mails to maximize the political use now one thing that's critical to remember is that mr assad in wiki leaks is he's not a u.s. citizen he's australian so foreign entity that under u.s. laws would be criminally prohibited from doing anything to influence the outcome of the presidential election so there are serious to be a vulnerability on mr stone even though it wasn't alleged that he was receiving are collaborating with the use of foreign valuable material to influence the outcome of the election i believe that mr stone is not only it was instrumental in the campaign but he's been with mr trump for decades going back to mr trump's effort to get compared to competition from indian gambling quassia the state level federal level or otherwise and he is the closest one to trump now who is

regime the assad government have been strongly against a turkish controlled safe zone they have come out and said that is categorically not ok with them and putin has previously proposed a sort of compromise where syrian government could truly could be in charge of that safe zone and we heard in the report as well that love rauf said this month that that is the only solution for those territories to be kind of passed over to to syrian control and he also welcomed the fact that the syrian government has been holding talks with kurdish forces so that could perhaps be a sort of compromise on the table today turkey get some kind of a safe zone and russia. keeps the syrian government in charge of that area that could be a possible solution today ok we'll see what these talks come up was sure one for us in moscow thanks very much. off look at some of the other stories making news this hour u.s. aviation authorities briefly halted flights in and out of newark international after suspected drone sightings officials say it received two reports from arriving flights of a drone about a thousand

issue with calling this normalization this is actually what it should be called is re imposing the assad regime and the international community on the syrian people first and foremost half of whom have been displaced internally or to neighboring and countries and beyond and this is about impunity so this is an ethical issue and it's not normalization gives it this sort of. legal term but this is really all about showing where we are ethically and in terms of. legitimacy you know and right of all the crimes that as a team has committed and in today's world impunity i want to share a comment with you from someone who i think would agree with what you're saying there this is a political organizer in the u.s. in brooklyn here's what she told the story i read headlines the international community making moves to normalize ties of the exeter cian the first thing that comes to my mind is what about the political and civil and human rights of the syrian people what about accountability for crimes against humanity for war crimes and for human rights abuses not just over the past seven years where

when bashar al-assad unleashed terror on ordinary syrians and used saron gas, we condemned his actions but in our hesitation to wield power we did nothing. our eagerness to address only muslims and not nations ignored the rich diversity of the middle east and frayed all -- frayed old bonds. it undermined the concept of a nation state, the building block of international stability. and the desire for peace at any coslet us to strike a deal with iran, our common enemy. so today, what did we learn from all of this? we learned that when america retreat, chaos often follows. when we neglect our friends, rezentment builds. when we partner with our enemy, they advance. the good news, the good news is this. the age of self-inflicted american shame is over. and so are the policies that produced so much needless suffering. now comes the real new beginning. in just 24 months, actually, less than two years, the united states under president trump has reasserted its traditional role as the force for good in this region. we have learned from our mistakes. we rediscovered our voice. we've rebuilt our

war is not runl by assad in the traditional way that a leader would win back his territory. the way the war has the escalated until now is the military intervention. you can see this on the maps. the problem is the complexity. there are a number of outfits around town that will put out some maps. institute, the institute for the study of war, a whole host of others. he gets down to the realm of which all then other parties are involved. of that war was unacceptable to to neighboring countries and remain so. and israel. israel, the outcome is something they have recently talked and acted to interdict. other aspect, turkey regards the pkk as an existential threat. the united states presents a challenge. the trouble administration inherited a policy that it did not make. we are democracy and we shift every ford eight years. we inherited the policy for the , thed states back to ypg ypg is the military wing of the pyd which is the syrian wing of the pkk. leaders went to pyd litter and the ypg and said if you want to spin off the pkk and not antagonize the turks, you have to do it

without football now when cut is held territory in or from syria admit remains the missing plug in assad's plan to reclaim the whole of syria it's just a matter of time. before him. mohammad i know well does it or doesn't. the united nations is accusing both sides in the war in yemen of stealing and selling food aid meant for millions of starving people the un food agency is threatening to suspend aid shipments unless the fact stops the world food program says about two thirds of relief supplies delivered to areas controlled by the rebels is being taken says haiti press also so documents suggesting that aid intended for families in ties is being stolen by armed units working with the saudi and erotic coalition davidoff from the world food program says attempts to investigate the theft have been a fine of a forces. were extremely concerned by what we've discovered in the course of our inquiries we noticed in recent months there were increasing volumes of food for sale in the markets in the capital sanaa this obviously happens occasionally in war zones where people are desperate and they wil

been effectively troubled it is serious last remaining opposition enclave controlled by a kill to assad but the rebels. syrian president bashar the loss of strength and in recent months by support from powerful allies on the reopening of the embassies in damascus by some arab countries is vowing to launch an invasion. it live with its cinder block thompson villages could soon be subject to rockets bottle bombs and even class the pumps. the rebels are putting more debris face while. today we are all gathered here and ready to fight until the last drop of our blood we are the songs of this territory and we know it very well and so do the people displaced from all over syria are now living in this small geographic area which is just ninety square kilometer nothing will make us lose our resolve to fight on what general. in the middle of it lives of rolling olive groves the displaced live in some of the most desperate conditions possible with no proper housing there are the must see of the elements. we lack everything there is no food no money we have nothing that winter and floods are makin