about 250 gathered at an arab league conference in cairo. he syrian opposition living outside the country joined ministers across the arab world. arab league secretary-general told the delegates they must setz t seize the opportunity before them. they called on dissident groups to come together to bring down al-assad. representatives at a u.n.-backed conference in geneva agreed on saturday to call for a transition to a democratic government. they said such an administration would include members of the assad government and the opposition. but russian representatives blocked a clause that would have called for the president to step down. >> translator: we are disappointed with the agreement reached at the geneva conference. >> members of the group want to give top priority to bringing down assad. >> that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. thank you very much for watching.

for a decade how then do you explain the arab league's stance on syria which has surprised many look at the situation in syria is different than the solution if you and the arab league played an important or maybe a little debate that wait for change and see the civilians. it was supported by almost everybody in syria it is different because of the subject situation of syria and that none of the countries surrounding syria now that it would usually be a had egypt and tunisia to the east and west both in a suitable solution so that the neighborhood was already there really to support the evolution in there and be. as for syria many countries around it out and you can see. that things will get out of hand. but that does this put to change this is that heat of change and change is very good for getting all of the west an expression out of spain. already had that expression of that kind it is the script of change and change is that in the end change is a historical development it is not just is for if it so is a myth of time in my opinion that change would take place in syria especially

about 250 delegates gathered at the arab league conference in cairo. opposition members called on all disdent groups to bring a different asset. they said such a government would include assad. they blocked a cause that would have called for the president to step down. >> translator: we are disappointed with the agreement reached at the geneva conference. >> chida said members of his group want to bring priority to bringing down assad. >>> secretary general anders fogh rasmussen says that they have no intention to step in. >> i think that the right way forward is to find a political solution. >> rasmussen called on the u.n. security council to speak with "one voice" to pressure syria . this demonstrates an urgent need for an international treaty on weapons. they had to delay the meetings because members couldn't agree on whether to allow the palestinians to participate. nhk reports from new york. >> reporter: this gun sculpture at the u.n. headquarters represents peace as they talk about how to regulate global arms trade. they have come to new york to

observers mishra paul which was initially commissioned by the arab league at washington's behest confirms that the free syrian army supported directly by washington is committing the trustees and not surprisingly that arab league of mission report was subsequently shelved because it actually revealed the forbidden truth namely that the us it was sponsored rebels the government were behind the massacres and the vatican has also come up. and that the western backed opposition forces. sponsible for countless atrocities i just want to quickly ask you about turkey's involvement here in turkey's interest reports are surfacing that the turkish army has started to closely monitor weather conditions there in syria made into speculation they could possibly be preparing to launch a strike how likely is that what would they hope to achieve by that. circuit is a member of nato it's a heavyweight in nato it is already encroaching on syria's northern border it is providing safe havens to the rebels it has training camps it's collaborating with the qataris at the saudi is it is supporting the muslim brot

security council plus qatar kuwait and other representatives of the arab league all agreed to take a more vigorous final stand and getting the cease fire and moving towards some kind of government transition and quite frankly there really is no viable alternative to the non-playing alternately working with the cooperation of all of those countries that were signatories unfortunately qatar saudi arabia turkey continue to provide financing and significant weapons to the opposition u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton continues to insist as a non-negotiable demand that our side steps down and of course these are all violations of the very document that was signed in geneva just two weeks ago show. the proposal for the formation of this possible constitutional government as cold as was proposed as you say. your position of course. you've got to go nothing else to be discussed the stronger hand. well i think russia and china are both backing the positions taken by kofi anon the arab league and by president assad and you have a number of countries that are still adamantly committed to i

the arab league pledges to provide a sawed and his family with safe exit to stop the bloodshed in syria. the faster we act, the better. >> with continuing pressure from both the international community and rebel groups, some fear that president assad might resort to using nonconventional weapons in a last-ditch effort to stay in power. >> that international pressure includes new efforts from the european union. >> foreign ministers in brussels have double arc -- have delivered a new round of sanctions on damascus, including an arms embargo. >> the lot of diplomats are starting to wonder how long assad will cling to power. >> good syrian rebels be close to victory? a growing number of the eu diplomats meeting in brussels say assad's time is running out. he is fighting to survive, but he certainly cannot win anymore. that is why we're working to increase the pressure on assad. and the pressure is growing. on monday, eu foreign ministers agreed to fresh sanctions on damascus and more aid for refugees. >> we can agree a further round of european union's sanctions on the assad regime, includ

the arab league has supported this. assad's only friends are moscow and tehran. >> what if more countries say we have had enough of you? >> russia claims it is concerned with its long-term, strategic position. -- position in the middle east. it does not want to face the prospect of a hot style regime. secondly, the russians claim to be concerned about -- of a hostile regime. secondly, the russians claim to be concerned about a vacuum. i do the same concern expressed by the obama white house. there is a desire to have a transition that does not knock down the syrian state structure and open the way for chaos. the american argument is, look, the longer assad stays, the more chaotic that transition is. you need to get on board now, but the russians are resisting. >> we have talked about the possibility of chemical weapons. how would that change the conflict? >> the worry is not that he would use chemical weapons externally, but that he would use them in syria. it is hard to use chemical weapons. syrian chemical weapons are

sanctions on the syrian administration of bashar al-assad. >> we will intensify our efforts with the arab league and with the neighbors and friends of syria and with the justice and accountability unit we're starting with the u.n. commission of inquiry and the sanctions working group. all of the other elements that are not affected by the failure to act in the security council. that is what we're doing. >> the violence in syria is growing worse. fighter jets and helicopter gun ships joined the fighting in the second largest city and world heritage site. the british-based syrian observatory says more than 100 people were killed on tuesday. >>> finance ministry officials say problems at home and abroad combine to widen japan's trade balance. they posted a record-trade deficit for the first half of this year. the sluggish global economy is one factor and the other is utilities need to import more gas to make up for lack of nuclear power. finance ministers say the japan trade deficit in the first six months of 2012 stood at $37 billion. that is the largest deficit ever in the january-to-june period.

the syrian administration of president bashar al assad. >> we will intensify our efforts with the arab league, with the neighbors, with the friends of syria, with all of the other elements that are not affected by the failure to act in the security council. >> the violence in syria is growing worse. fighter jets and helicopter gun ships joined the fighting in aleppo, syria's second largest city and world heritage site. a human rights group says more than 100 people were killed on tuesday. syrians are at war as the majority of them are supposed to be marking one of the holiest periods, ramadan started last week. the faithful fast during daylight hours then they gather with family and friends in the evening to break their fast. some muslims who have moved away from home returned for ramadan. but this year, the situation in syria and political uncertainty and other countries is staging that -- changing rather that annual ritual. nhk world reports from dubai. ♪ >> reporter: this is a mosque in dubai. at sunrise, people begin a month of daytime fasting for ramadan. ramadan starts about ten days ea

morocco is a member of the arab league and currently is the only arab country with a seat on the united nations security council. mr. minister, thank you interest being with us. >> thank you very much. it's a pleasure. >> woodruff: what is your understanding right now of where the conflict in syria stands, who has the upper hand? >> today i think the situation is worsening. we are witnessing humanitarian crisis, and if nothing is done right away, the country will go into civil war. we have tried, morocco as a member of the security council, we have tried. we have taken the lead in the security council, but we were vetoed by and china. now the priority must be given to save the civilians, to stop the violence against the civilians and to prepare the... conditions for political and democratic transition. >> woodruff: and how should that be done? you're here in washington today. you met with congressional leaders. you were at the white house, meeting with white house officials. what are you looking for? what are you asking? >> we're looking for the strengthening of the opposition, which wo

in syrian infighting syrian patriots have lost faith in the arab league's impartiality and we regard it as a western policy tool used against syria with the west has sought to interfere in syria's domestic affairs willing to go as far as a military intervention in order to impose its will upon our country the way they have already done in iraq and libya any efforts to consolidate opposition groups are bound to fail whether it is the istanbul or any other pointless conference if a major national opposition party misperceived the actual situation in the country it will not be able to play a leading role in resolving the crisis in syria instead it will only aggravates the split in society. you've mentioned the conference in geneva what do you think of its result. for the stores of the i believe the geneva conference has demonstrated a new alignment of powers whereby known opposes russian and chinese initiatives anymore in my opinion the conference has come up with a positive solution for syria primarily because it does not provide for military intervention and it only focuses on a polit

in syrian infighting syrian patriots have lost faith in the arab league's impartiality and we regard it as a western policy tool used against syria without the west has sought to interfere in syria's domestic affairs willing to go as far as a military intervention in order to impose its will upon our country the way they have already done in iraq and libya will show you any efforts to consolidate opposition groups are bound to fail whether it is the istanbul to or any other point was a conference. greece is furious at the british prime minister over his remarks that the u.k. could restrict greeks from entering the country the move could also read other eurozone citizens coming to britain to escape recession at home grace says london should be focusing on its own financial troubles though the store smith explains. there's been speculation about massive waves of immigration from not just greece but from other economies that are struggling at the moment david cameron in response to that said that britain could potentially close its doors to immigration from these struggling eurozone cou

allowed to pass the security council resolution on libya was because this was requested by the arab leaguend was sensitive to the opinion that this is simply ended that they seem to not care anymore about what the arabs think and this is shocking that in many respects russian policy has become very bloody minded with regard to syria, and i think some of us that actually do care about russia this is something we ought to talk about privately but on the other hand go forward with our policies through the friends of syria. >> okay. >> thank you very much for the presentation. my question is about the opposition. it seems that you just want to tell the media what is going on in the evolution the question is like we know that the parties are uprising in the middle east during come before and the arab spring. what we do but the question and how much we are engaged in the transformation that the islamic parties are going through? what happened for example? nobody expected it to rise because the use political islam as a means. look at the brotherhood position they changed. so it isn't a static iss

so many layers of player on the show i mean plenty of talks on the go throughout the month the arab league's in cairo now and then there's more to follow of course between moscow the un envoy kofi annan and the opposition but all these meetings going to convince the rebels to compromise about ousting assad that is one of the big crux is here isn't it. yes it is and i don't think we have to look at the rebels we really need to move away from looking at the rebels who are largely foreign backed . as as the only opposition in town there is a dynamic and diverse domestic opposition and i think it's incumbent upon the media and different players to pull out these voices certainly many of them have travel to moscow and other capitals in in the last six months or so to to let their voices be heard and we have to we have to pull them out of obscurity so to speak right now let's just focus a bit on president assad for a moment president has been able let's face it to end the hostilities him selve on to his regime. he's still again the solutions imposed from outside but you kind of off at this stage w

we're not sure all the arab league partners are cooperating together. a bit of a crisis of leadership here. this is the opportunity for the united states to help with our arab league partners in trying to get a handle on what is a national security interest to the united states. chemical and biological weapons are a disaster and the sophistication of the weapons available to bad guys if the regime implodes in syria makes libya look like an technique gun show. >> chairman mike rogers, thank you. >>> president obama is still being haunted by a comment made almost two weeks ago. you didn't build that. tonight ed henry tells us mitt romney is still hammering for it and the president is still trying to get past it. at one of his nine fundraisers this week, president obama again found himself on defense over his you didn't build that comment. clarifying to democratic donors i want to promote success, and releasing a new ad charging republicans took him out of context. >> hard-working people sacrifice today meet payroll, create jobs and make our economy run. i

. >>> the arab league says war crimes are being committed in syria. the syrian government battling rebels to control the largest city. the u.n. estimates roughly 200,000 syrians have fled the city. they say the government is stopping supplies of fuel and food from reaching neighborhoods controlled by rebel fighters. >>> a memorial service held today for the 15 victims of a rollover crash in texas. the truck was filled with undocumented immigrants. customs, enforcement agents say they were from guatemala, honduras and mexico. a damaged front right tire is blamed for the cause. this man and this woman trieded to get married in their own church. the answer, no. the reason, because they're black. it happened in mississippi. they are angry and are doing something about it. stay with cnn. they will be with me live right here later this evening. and it's becoming a very long, hot summer for a big chunk of the country. extreme heat is making life miserable for folks in the southern plains. heat advisories and heat warnings blanket parts of oklahoma and arkans

the arab league lead meeting follows international conference in geneva that accepted kofi annan's plan the country's crisis. estimates say 800 people were killed in fighting last week alone. the newly elected egyptian president mohammed morsi indicated he will honor the country's international treaty. there are still concerns, however, about other members of his government. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler explains. >> reporter: after thousands of years of land of the pharaohs and decades under dictators they worry it could be brief. >> with the islamist party, because they're revolutionary, that is they seek to change society, as they have been governed, the fear you will get one man, one vote, one time. >> dr. shockey feels that mohammed morsi and muslim brotherhood rise owes much to the candidate aligned with hosni mubarak and the military. but the result is that the second largest recipient of u.s. foreign aid is led by a group with past ties to the terrorist group hamas and may need to adjust the peace treaty with israel and has members that support s

arab league foreign ministers have called on the syrian president, president bashar al- assad, to resign as soon as possible. they have also offered his family safe passage out of syria. the european union foreign ministers also discussed syria. they are understood to be considering more sanctions, including checking ships and planes suspected of carrying weapons. the syrian army appears to have pushed back the rebel groups, which have launched an assault on the capital of damascus. government forces have recaptured two districts. state tv says a number of foreign mercenaries were killed. a spokesman for the rebels said they had seized control of an army college north of the city of aleppo. ian joins me on the phone. why don't you give me a background to what you have been doing there? >> thank you, george. we are on the outskirts of aleppo city. parts of the city came under a fairly sustained bombardment by government artillery. we are to the south of the city, one of the areas. we have seen hundreds of rebel fighters moving toward what is syria's largest city, its economic capital, rat

and arab league omni kofi annan is in syria to meet with president bashar al assad. annan admits his six-point plan for peace failed to end the conflict between the syrian government and rebel forces. syria's president blames western countries including the united states for destabilizing the situation by providing support to what he calls terrorist forces. >>> speaking from an international conference in tokyo, secretary of state hillary clinton warned the violence in syria could easily spread across that country's borders. >> the sooner there can be an end to the violence and a beginning of a political transition process, not only will fewer people die, but there's a chance to save the syrian state from a catastrophic assault that would be very dangerous, not only to syria but to the region. >> senator john mccain criticized the obama administration for not taking enough action against the assad regime. >> the fact is the united states has played no leadership role. now 14,000 people have been massacred by bashar al assad. the united states of america's performance

. >> from the very beginning, since you were appointed united nations and arab league special envoy, we have been supporting your efforts aimed at restoring peace in syria. >> russian state television often provides detailed coverage and that's the line that kofi annan's peace plan is the best way to stop the fighting. annan told putin that it is important for the security council to reach consensus on drafting a resolution for syria. >> i have to come back when i am not carrying such a heavy load, and i hope i will have the opportunity to. the serious crisis is at a critical time. >> russia's foreign minister says he sees no reason why the council cannot come to an agreement but still does not want assad to be forced to step down. -- the serious crisis is at a critical time. >> -- the syria crisis is at a critical time. >> president putin has vowed to support the united nations. >> putin obviously does not mean what he says. the russians are supporting the assad regime, and that has led to the situation on the ground where both sides had decided to fight until the end. the russians

the arab league offered assad safe exit if he steps down. >>> both president obama and mitt romney are on the campaign trail today. the president in oregon and seattle. romney in nevada where the economy is the main topic in particular the issue was helping small business, something that romney said was a priority of his speaking in california yesterday. >> if you're employing people and hiring people, i want to see you do better because i want more people having good wages and better benefits. >> romney begins an overseas trip tomorrow with stops in britain, israel and poland. >>> penn state's pretigious football program has been sacked. the university agreed to a crushing list of penalties imposed by the ncaa for failing to act in the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal. the "sports illustrated" cover sums it up. we were penn state. once a football powerhouse, the school will be crippled on the gridiron for years to come. >> reporter: the late joe paterno is no longer the winningest coach in football history. one day after his campus statue came down, the ncaa took away all of his victo

the arab league is calling on syrian opposition figures to you night as another 85 soldiers including general and 14 officers defected to turkey. syrian about said he regrets the shooting down of the turkish plane but will not allow tension to turkey to result in open warfare. >>> two kids got beyond security and grabbed the torch flame. police intervened and escorted them away. >>> in london, the gold, silver and bronze medals for the olympic games have been taken to the tower of london for safe keeping. tower has been used for over 600 years to store england's crown jewels and store the medals until the 2012 games end in august. >>> so which state consumes the most beer per person? a new beer institute report on consumption found that residents in new hampshire drink more per capita than any other state fold by north dakota, montana, south dakota and nevada. utah with its large nondrinking mormon population was last in beer consumption. >>> and the sun shot out a flare yesterday that was big enough to disrupt radio communications in europe. the eruption of electrically charged parti

the arab league is calling on exxon syrian opposition figures to unite as another 85 soldiers including a general and 14 other officers defected across the boarder to turkey. and syrian president bashar al assad says he regrets the shooting down of a turkish plane but will not allow tension with turkey to turn into open warfare. >>> two boys in england managed to get past security and tried to grab the olympic flame as it was being carried by torch bearers in coventry yesterday. police were able to intervene and escort them away. >>> and in london, the gold, silver, and bronze medals for the olympic games have been taken to the tower of london for safekeeping. the tower has been used for over 600 years to store england's crowned jewels, and it will hold the 4,700 medals until the 2012 games end in august. >> okay. so which state consumes the most beer per person? a new beer institute report on consumption found that residents in new hampshire drink more per capita than any other state, followed by north dakota, montana, south dakota, and nevada. utah with its large nondrinking mormon po

. >> the two-day meeting in the egyptian capitol was organized by the arab league and turkey.than 250 opposition activists from rival groups are taking part. the talks are designed to get them to unite and form a credible alternative to the current syrian regime. >> it is about unity, no distinct differences and different perceptions. sensitive topics have been brought up. i hope this will bring us together. >> syrian opposition groups of roughly objected the u.s.- brokered plan, hammered out at an international conference in geneva on saturday. that game plan for sees the formation of an interim government. that does not exclude the potential participation of president assad. >> what was decided in geneva was shameful, a slap in the face of the syrian people. after 18 months of bloodshed, and makes no sense to talk about constitution reformer anything like that. >> while the political wrangling over syria's future continues, so does the violence. >> computer giant apple can now sell its talbots and computers in china under the ipad name. but the firm has to pay nearly 50 mill

-arab league envoy kofi annan has briefed the council on efforts to gain support for his revised plan. >> he urged the council to make it clear to both sides that failure to reach a cease-fire will mean a serious consequences. his new plan calls for a halt to all violence in syria before peace talks even began. >> russia and china still have veto rights on the security council. the opposition national council has held talks with the russian foreign minister. it accuses russia of prolonging the 0-- the violence has continued. >> the hostilities in syria s how no sign of easing. diplomatic efforts are being stepped up. so far, they have proved fruitless. in russia, foreign minister -- the foreign minister has been trying to persuade members of the opposition syrian national council to change their position on speaking to syrian president al-assad. >> we want to understand how realistic the prospect is of uniting all of the opposition groups so that a dialogue with the government can happen on the basis of kofi enron's un- approved plan. -- kofi annnan's u.n.- approved plan. this is not