that assad's days are numbered. >> i'm confident that assad will go.s not a question of if, it's when. >> the only way to bring stability and peace to syria is going to be for assad to step down. >> assad needs to go. >> we would have preferred assad go two years ago, last year, six months ago, two months ago. >> i have called for assad to leave. >> a leader who slaughters his citizens and gases children to death, cannot regain the legitimacy to lead a badly fractured country. >> but as we all know president assad remains in power and does syria expose president obama's weakness in the region? ambassador, also say one thing, that first sound is from the third presidential debate where he says i'm confident assad's days are numbered. it's more than a year and a half ago. and now it looks like assad has won. >> look, this is classic obama. this is a man who lives in a world of words. who thinks his rhetoric really affects reality. it's a classic mark of the legislature who thinks that his principle responsibility is to give speeches. it's not the mark of

that means assad in theory could remain in power i 2028. in governor controlled neighbo s election preparations are under way. people are asking for at least that is the message from those who take part in rallies held by government supporters. but there are those who do not want assad as their leader. the war is a consequence of an up rising against his rule. >> who should i vote for, a man who killed many people? >> many left their country or are internally displaced won't be able to cast their ballot. >> reporter: the syrian government said the vote will be different. over the past four decades they could only choose to support or oppose assad, and before him, his father. now parliament has approved laws to allow candidates to run for the post. but not anyone can stand for election. one of the conditions is they must have lived in syria for the past ten years. that means most of assad's opponents, even the officially tolerated ones, are excluded from the race. some of them have formed a government in exile. it's members are not intereste

the assad regime discriminated systematically against them. they have since seized their rights. kurdish lessons were unthinkable in syria before 2011. >> here with my comrades, i am happy. but i'm even happier at the front when i'm fighting. >> when we see our comrades fall embattled next to us, it makes us stronger. we are not afraid. >> they never forget their fallen comrades like roxanne, who gave the core its name will stop she was here until a few weeks ago and a fateful battle. >> roxanne was the only one left holding the post. we had to withdraw. she took a grenade in her hand and pull the pin and blew herself up to cover her comrades retreat. >> they tell us 50,000 syrian kurds are willing to take up arms. admittedly, we cannot verify that. a male soldier told us it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman, both fight side-by-side. roxanne sacrificed her life in the ideology of modernism. it is a morally superior deed. almost all the young women carry a lot with them for their final day. being taken prisoner is out of the question.

has bashar al-assad all but won the war? >> why did federal agents use major weapons to close in on a rancher over grazing fines for the cattle? >> chicago's drop in murder rates does not add up. >> are parents hurting kids by helping with school work? >> i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this". here is more of what is ahead. >> a standoff between federal land managers and hundreds of armed protesters in nevada. >> around 400 head of cattle were released for failing to pay grazing fears. >> the grazing fears are minimal. the battle is who owns the land. >> an escalation in what is arguably the biggest east-west crisis. forces. >> pro-russian acts visits seized several buildings. >> russia denies responsibility. >> the asaad government hands over another bass of weapons. >> another gas attack. >> the war is at a turning point, says bashar al-assad. >> parents believe the more involved they are with children's education, the better their kids will perform. true. >> sometimes failures help you to succeed the next time arou

they refused any negotiations until assad's stepping down from power. it's like the lebanese civil war, same story, it can only be solved with an agreement forcing the parties to relinquish the war and victor and vanquish which won't lead to anything but complete destruction of the country. >> and many want assad out of the picture by holding this election by properly taking part, is it a very clear interesthat hethinks he's ahead. >> certainly, but there is the chemical weapons issue, and if there is pressure he will yield. it was negotiated that we have this negotiated settlement rather than a military solution which has been fomented by outside powers. i think it's a dangerous enterprise, and yes of course he wants to hold on to pow. that goes without saying, but again international pressure, serious pressure could bring a peaceful solution. >> thank you very much. speaking to us from georgetown, university. >> now in pakistan gambling has been illegal since it's creation since 1947 but it has not stopped the creation of thousands of gambling shops,

there are people who don't want bashar al-assad as their leader. the war was a consequence of an uprising against his rule. >> translation: who should i vote for? the man that killed many. >> if millions of syrians who left their country and are displaced want to cast their ballot. they are not able to. the government can't hold a ballot in territories outside their control. raising credibility issues. >> reporter: the syrian government said the vote would be different. syrians can only choose to support bashar al-assad, and his father. now parliament approved laws to allow candidates to run for the post. >> not anyone can stand for elections, one of the companies is that they must have lived in syria for the past 10 years. most of bashar al-assad's opponents, even officially tolerated ones are excluded from the race. some formed a government in exile. members are not interested in competing with a man they want out of power. they are not able to prevent the vote. >> the mistake of the position was that they had no executive body, like government,

president assad has already shown that u.n. resolutions mean nothing to him and he has no intention of negotiating his departure through the geneva process. it is clear that military pressure is the only lever that will convince assad that a political solution is in his favor. we must be ready to prove to assad that not achieving a diplomatic solution will cost his regime dearly. and there are meaningful actions we can take to help in syria that will not require us to re-run the war in iraq. it is not a question of options or capabilities. it is a question of will. there's a famous quote that states, "all tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain sile silent." as we sit back and place our hopes on negotiations and meaningless guarantees of protection, we watch as hundreds of innocent men, women and children are brutally slaughtered every day, very invigorated al qaeda affiliates operate with more freedom than ever before, terrorist groups loyal to iran proliferate and threaten our allies, and t

a major victory for president assad? >> it is, indeed. it is something that was expected, the longer the war has been going on the balance was tilting towards assad. i think the fourth coming presidential elections in syria in june it was very, very important for assad to claim victory, which he has done stay. done today. if things have gone done as it has been going of late i think the conflict may be over in 18 months from now. >> can you identify what the turning point was in favor of president assad's forces? >> well, the variety of forces it seems like the option of a political solution is no longer on the table. basically the opposition is divided, and they don't want to get into taken talks. >> i don't suppose it was ever on the table in the first place in theory. >> yes, what they say is that the opposition has made continue for negotiating so on and so forth in assad goes. this was never an option. the second is the events taking place far from syria, which is crimea with the situation between bashar and the united states. >> let

president bashar al-assad's troops made gains around aleppo, and near the border of lebanon. the rebels have been pushing into what was considered bashar al-assad's best-protected strong hold of latakia. there were rumours on social media of mass abbingers against ar -- mass abbingers against armenian christians. >> some of the save kessab ads insinuated that turkey, which has been accused of turkey 100 years ago is aiding syrian rebels in order to commit similar crimes. the accusations are denied by the rebels. they say they coordinated with the red crescent. >> in order to take you to latakia we need to make sure you'll be safe on the road. the last thing we wish is for you to be hit by a tanker. >> 18 people, mostly elderly, have been taken by bus to the board are. the armenians say they've been treated well by the rebels. the sarian poiption -- syrian opposition accused bashar al-assad's government to promote itself as a protector of minorities. save aleppo is a response by activists to draw attention to the fact that they say all syrians are suffering in the war. the lea

no one has ever won an election except an assad. your question is a really good one about what can the moderate opposition due to reassure. let me throw out some comments. i mentioned they put forward a proposal in geneva, and by the way, we did not see it in advance. we learn about it after they put it on the table. so much for iran's ties fo with the opposition. it is a starting point for the negotiation, and they need to highlight that. it is actually not as important what the national coalition says as what the armed groups say. there is a real need to tie together the political opposition and the armed opposition behind a political vision at least for the short transition period, and after that there should be and there must be real competition between different political forces inside syria him up but hopefully political competition onhin boundaries negotiated some kind of transition towards a more representative system. the armed interest is opposition and its political attitudes, and can those be tied back to the political o

someone said assad has now got the word that he wanted. it's a war in which his enemies are described by some people in terms of making him as bad as them. he used the example of somalia and other people have talked about lebanon station. i think it's almost more serious than that. the afghan is a shin of the center of the country and the afghan is a shin in the sense that it's no-man's land and government terms and it becomes becomes -- a piece in the "london review of books" by a professor talks about a craving for surgeons and that is why think the notion of african station is appropriate. let me just finish on the following reflection. sometimes we in the humanitarian or talk about campaigning for more access and we talk about access issues that are making it difficult to get humanitarian aid through and makes the problems seem like some kind of unfortunate accident. it's almost as if the example i give someone is being strangled you don't say they have problems accessing air. if you are being strangled it's in active process. the huma

what is in it for president assad?ll, i mean, it's not just the u.s., widespread condemnation of the decision, the u.n., the european union, the americans, basically question the rationality and the wisdom of the holding of presidential elections, first what do you do with almost 9 million syrians who are refugees or displaced? how do you basically account for the votes? holding presidential elections would mean the end of any political process would mean the end of geneva two and even though geneva two now is basically almost paralyzed. i think that the decision itself reflects the mindset of the syrian leadership. president assad believes he is winning, that basically they could win this particular conflict and it's only president assad who could really basically put syria back together and that's why probably it's the main, the only presidential candidate on the third of june, probably syrians inside syria but it's a third presidential term for president assad. >> so if this is as you say a sign that he is no longer

policy that we want assad out? >> assad has forfeited any right he has to leading his country. it's clear that there is no way that syria can find peace and stability with assad in power. >> so u.s. policy is we want him gone? >> we're working with other countries, we're working with the moderate opposition in syria to build the pressure on assad as we speak. >> i want to move you to ukraine. all western allies are on board with new sanctions, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> as a result of those phone calls. >> that's correct. >> what is the thing that's going to hurt president putin the most? >> look, step back and look at what's already happened as a result of the actions russia has taken and the steps we've taken in response led by president obama. the economic isolation of russia is growing every single day. its financial markets are down 22% since the beginning of the year. >> you don't want to punish the people of russia. you want putin to move away from the ukraine border and he's still there. >> he has a very hard choice to make, candy. he had a compact with his

. >> ifill: in syria, president bashar al-assad is now seeking re-election, ignoring repeated u.s. calls for him to step down. more than 150,000 are now dead in that civil war, and peace talks in geneva fizzled earlier this year. on monday, while traveling in manila, the president offered a pointed response to critics who say he has been too slow to act forcefully. >> my job as commander-in-chief is to deploy military force as a last resort, and to deploy it wisely. and, frankly, most of the foreign policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong into a bunch of military adventures that the american people had no interest in participating in and would not advance our core security interests. >> ifill: the administration has been able to score some victories, including the destruction of much of syria's chemical weapons arsenal. and last november, iran agreed to a six-month deal to freeze parts of its nuclear program. negotiations for a longer-term agreement continue. >> ifill: we dive right into the debate about the successes and setbacks, with nicholas burn

the attack came a day after president assad nominated himself to stand for reelection.er very violent day there in syria, including large attack in the capitol. >> yes, we just spoke to the governor and he told us that 45 people have been killed in any twin attacks that took place. two car bombs exploded one after another 300 meters away from each other, and that more than 100 people have been injured. according to the governor and other officials they believe this is an attempt by the opposition to try to undermine the government's efforts to bring some normalcy to the areas they have regained control of. the governor told us that today a main road has been reopened after it has been closed for three years. the government controls most of the area, and that's why the opposition is trying to carry out these attacks to bring back -- to be undermine the government's eh forth to organize these presidential elections. the government is trying to show that things are normal and these elections could be carried out and they do have legitimacy. >> yes, it does seem that presid

troops loyal to bashar al-assad are accused of dropping the gas bomb. the french president francois hollande said there was no proof that the regime has used chlorine weapons. but washington and its partners are investigating claims over poison gas attacks. last august, the steering government was accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in a suburb of damascus. surrender their chemical weapons. they had handed in almost two thirds of its arsenal so far. >> and another important development on syria, the turkish government has confirmed it is now host to -- it is host to now almost 100 -- one million refugees from syria. an anti-jihad he plan will atempt to grab -- to tackle growing number of young people from france heading to syria. womenng french men and continue to make their way to syria every month, to join the militants. french government has drafted a new 20 point plan aimed at stopping them. the top of the list, reinforcing surveillance of online extremists, an entry point for many young people who have become radicalized and gone on

bashar al-assad is pointing the finger at what it calls terrorists. the opposition is denying it's responsible and demands the international community investigates. >> it looks like the usual bombing campaign in syria. according to activists the barrel bombs dropped from helicopters contained toxic chemicals. according to witness accounts those chemicals went airborne after the bombs fell. as people were ferried in ambulances, the person recording this video is coughing and others are covering their mounteds. we cannot independently verify the videos, but syrian tv said there was an attack and blamed the fighters. >> trial judge in the -- >> translation: in the hamad suburbs a group was attacked using gas we are aware that the group are prepared to carry out more attacks. >> act visits said many -- activists said many died. children and adults appeared to have difficulty breathing, as if they had inhaled something toxic. it was not the only reported chemical attack. poison gas and concentrated pesticides were dropped on the outskirts of damascus. seve

the saudis want the president bashar al-assad out of power. >> translation: bashar al-assad and his associates have a place in the future of syria. >> with the war in syria showing no signs of letting up, the concern that sectarian violence could spread to neighbouring countries, and that could leave iraq more isolated. >>> chemical weapons inspectors are being sent to syria to investigate allegations of gas attacks. the syrian government denies it has been using chlorine on civilians. it's not listed as a banned agent but is outlawed. kath turner has the details from the united nations in new york. >> reporter: in recent weeks there has been a spate of incidents believed to involve chlorine. these youtube pictures show the aftermath of a barrel bomb. they claimed chlorine in cannisters was packed into the bar so the gas would spread on impact. now an investigative team is being dispatched to syria. news welcomed by the u.n. ambassador. we welcomed the announcement that a mission is being sent to syria. syria must immediately and fully cooperate with such fact-finding and anybody responsible f

this one blamed on forces fighting against president bashar al assad's regime. the conflict in syria has been going on for three years now, and it's been grinding on as world leaders grapple with the situation in ukraine. with u.s. and russian officials at odds over the state of things in that country, the urgency to push the warring sides to negotiate peace seems to have faded somewhat. >> syria remains a humanitarian catastrophe. >> reporter: u.s. secretary of state john kerry says he and his russian counterpart are still working on it. >> i was talking to partners with lavrov. we were talking about the need for movement in syria. and the ability to complete the task. >> reporter: in the meantime, more syrians die every day. u.n. officials say more than 100,000 have died since the conflict began. >> killings, cruelty, persons in detention, disappearances. >> reporter: the high commissioner for human rights puts the bulk of blame on the assad regime. >> it's a government that is mostly responsible for the violations. and all these perpetrators should be identif

at that point in time, president assad was not faring so well. there was a great sense of insecurity. russians agreed we needed to try to negotiate this. subsequently, after agreeing to the concept of the geneva two meeting where you would try to have a negotiation, the opposition began to have its own infighting. nothing we could control. just the nature of the beast. while they began to have their infighting, large numbers of jihadists, again to be attracted to the effort to get rid of assad because he was killing sunni. many of them are of sunni base. >> all which everyone said was going to happen on the front end. very predictive. >> but what was the plan to not have that happen? i didn't notice congress racing to the barriers saying we are going to do something. i don't think the american people were going to send american troops. >> do you agree with the president's comments on cbs recently that the authorization force that you asked for, had we done that would have no effect in syria? do you agree, they would have no effect after you told

but assad is doing it. i think there's a good chance that putin is encouraging in as a distractor from ukraine. but as a minimum, assad, putin, all of our enemies sense that the united states is weak and they're chickens pecking the bleeding chicken to death. >> analysis by retired colonel ralph peters, thanks much. >>> the supreme court upholds a ban on affirmative action in michigan allowing public colleges and universities so offer admissions without taking race into consideration. shannon bream has the latest from washington. what's the takeaway from the ruling? >> the ruling upholds what michigan voters passed in 2006, an amendment to their state constitution that abandons considering race or gender. to decide that voters were unable to make that kind of decision, justice kennedy said, quote, that would be an unprecedented restriction on the exercise of a fundamental right held not just by one person but aall in common. it is the right to speak and debate and learn and then, as a matter of political wi

president bashar al assad is expected to run for a third term. parliamentary speaker mohammed jihad al aham announced that candidacies will be able to register starting later on tuesday. syria law states that anyone running for president must have lived in the country for the ten years before the elections. that disqualifies many of assad's opponents, who are living in exile. assad is widely expected to win. opposition leaders say the vote is a farce. they say it will hamper prospects for a political solution to the conflict. >>> let's now bring in our meteorologist robert speta. robert, pretty depressing weather here in tokyo today. dark and wet. how long will this rain last? >> yes, shery. it's been very gloomy the last several days. also relatively cooler. the last four days tokyo hasn't even reached up to the 20 degree mark. at least it does look like going into wednesday we are going to be seeing some improving conditions. it's all been due to this cloud cover. the stationary boundary which has been lingering across much of japan. that's goi

more to make syria amanda for terrorists them bashar al-assad.he is the single greatest magnet for terrorism that there is in the region. he has long since, because of his choice of weapons, because of what he has done, lost any legitimacy. i will say to you lots of different avenues will be pursued, including continued support to the opposition and augmented support to the opposition. >> that was john kerry. seymour hersh, your response? >> by this time they knew from the joint chiefs of staff, they knew the british had come to us with sarin that had been analyzed at their laboratories. and we share laboratory on biological warfare issues with britain. we americans share that in terms of analyzing international problems when it comes to chemical and biological warfare. we have a lot of confidence in the british confidence. the brits came to us with samples of sarin, and they were very clear there was a real problem with the samples because they did not reflect what the brits know and we know in the russians knew, everybody knew is inside the syr

at that point in time, president assad was not faring so well. there was a great sense of insecurity. russians agreed we needed to try to negotiate this. subsequently, after agreeing to the concept of the geneva two meeting where you would try to have a negotiation, the opposition began to have its own infighting. nothing we could control. just the nature of the beast. while they began to have their infighting, large numbers of jihadists, again to be attracted to the effort to get rid of assad because he was killing sunni. many of them are of sunni base. >> all which everyone said was going to happen on the front end. very predictive. >> but what was the plan to not have that happen? i didn't notice congress racing to the barriers saying we are going to do something. i don't think the american people were going to send american troops. >> do you agree with the president's comments on cbs recently that the authorization force that you asked for, had we done that would have no effect in syria? do you agree, they would have no effect after you told

these images were posted on assad's facebook and instagram pages. >>> for the second time in two days there's been an american drone attack in yemen against suspected members of al qaeda. u.s. officials had no comment but security officials in yemen say about 25 suspected terrorists were killed today. approximately ten others were killed yesterday. this video which started appearing on jihadist websites recently reportedly shows a gathering of more than 100 al qaeda fighters in yemen. the branch, known as al qaeda in the arabian pen minutes lashes is considered among the most dangerous in the world. >>> newly released government documents show general motors waited seven years before recalling more than 300,000 saturn ions. this despite thousands of complaints that the car's power steering system was not working properly. the problem reportedly contributed to at least 12 crashes, nonfate. the cars were finally recalled three weeks ago. the government once again will start mailing benefit statements to workers informing them what to expect when they qualify for social security benefits

clear to assad and those under his command the world is watching. use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. >> and assad did use the weapons but there were no consequences. and he has not been held accountable. that's weakness. finally, putin's aggression in ukraine. >> what i have said consistently is that each time russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilize ukraine and violate their sovereignty that there are going to be consequences. >> but, again, there have been few consequences for putin and the situation could erupt into war at any time. >> the truth is that at this point in history, president obama is powerless, powerless to stop evil aggression. it's not his fault alone. his party, the democrats want no part of confrontation and some republicans are isolationists as well. generally speaking, there is no will in america to fight evil unless we're directly attacked. the result is d

. >> the united states calls the elections in syria a parody of democracy, bashar al-assad is seekinghird 7-year term, the country is mired in civil war. opponents are poking fun at the bashar al-assad campaign in social media. >> campaign signs are starting to pop up in syria. signs like this saying: >> or this one - it's a billboard: >> but those opposed to bashar al-assad are sending out parody ads and slogans like that that says: >> take a look at this one - it says: >> and it shows bashar al-assad with a moustache, a hat, a beard, and sun glasses - all the same person. let me switch back to my graph. this is a cartoon that has been sent out, that says: >> take a look at this... . >> what is that. >> this says - asaad campaign slogans: >> yes. over 100,000 dead in that civil war. ridiculous. thank you. nobel laureate gabriel garcia marquez left behind a book that he chose not to print whilst alive. his family has not decided whether to allow the book to come out posthumously. the author died last thursday. powdered alcohol will go on sale. not so fast. the alcohol and tobacco tax

assad has recently emphasized the regime's strength in the ongoing war. assad's opponents have been trying to gather international support against him. syrian opposition leaders met with chinese foreign minister who said the situation in syria has now reached a critical moment. >> we know progress isn't easy and it's full of difficulties. but certain that both sides are willing to continue talking. >> saudi arabia's chief has resigned. he voluntarily stepped down and has been succeeded by his dip. he recently criticized u.s. president barack obama's decision not to use strikes against the syrian government. >>> we have plenty more ahead including healthcare in venezuela, but it's doctor who is are paying the prize. we'll have that story for you straight ahead. >>> find out why one of the wealthiest countries in the world has the poorest littericy rate. and coming up in sports, spani spanish's football's first piece of silverware as two spanish giants face each other in the copa del rey. >> but first the compound in occupied east jerusalem has become the s

footage of bashar al-assad inspecting damage in the christian town of malula. troops retook the town from opposition fighters a week ago. bashar al-assad is trying to persuade minorities that the government is their best protection against rebels. presidential elections are scheduled for later this year. >> 50 rebel fighters have been killed in a military operation in central babil. the 3-day offensive was carried out against the islamic state of iraq and levant. in a town. the iraqi government has been battling i.s.i.l. fighters who seized towns in anbar province. we have more from baghdad >> reporter: as the anbar operation commence, many are moving south into babil province, where they regroup go back into anbar. the iranie army says they -- iraqi army says it mounts ground troops to kill 50 i.s.i.l. fighters in babil. saying they are the hard core elements of the i.s.i.l. this is coming from the iraqi army. we have no other sources confirming it. and it's being poured scorn over in parts of baghdad. amongst opposition politicians, who say this is yet anothe

today assad feels fairly secure in damascus, and in some of the corridors going north to the ports. and that has been his strategy. but in the south, east, and north there is not that kind of security. in fact the opposition has made some gains recently. so the key is how do you get the parties to a place where they both understand that there isn't going to be a military solution, but ultimately could be negotiated. there has to be a recognition by both of the ripeness of that moment. it's not now. so can you do something to create that? and that's a legitimate question for the congress and the administration, and we talked about that. but there is no difference in our policy. i support the decision the president has made, we need to have a classified briefing, and i look forward to having that hearing. >> you are listening to secretary of state john kerry, he has been talking now for approximately 45 minutes on a number of topics concerning the crisis in ukraine. he accused the russian government of putting paid operatives on the ground, saying, quote, no one is being fooled. and r

>> well, first of all the second term of the syrian president bashar assad will take place and shoulde 30-60 days prior to the date but this is a message from syria telling the world there is still a state, it's functioning and its people want bashar al-ashadow -- a to stay and people are displaced and how will they reach voting centers and the government does not control the whole country and they lost a lot of territory but government officials are saying this time it's going to be an election in the sense that in the past there was only one candidate on the ballot paper. this is what it is like in rebel areas in syria. it's not clear how an election can be held here. but in government-controlled neighborhoods a campaign to reelect bashar assad is underway and he has not nominated himself but he said he will if the people want him and that is what people are asking for, at least that is the message from those who take part in rallies organized by suppoers but there are some people who do not want him as a leader and it's up rising against the rule. >> translator: who should i vote f

it is also the homeland of the assad regime. it is peopled by a lot of minorities. it is seen as very important in that way. it is also being seen as a morale boost after the rebels lost an important town on the lebanese border. but the regime is still largely in control and it does seem they are tracking back fiercely with this victory today. >> the other headline of the day regarding syria is the announcement by the syrian observatory for human rights which has been keeping this toll going on what has been happening inside syria. the toll they give today, 150,000 people have been killed since the start of the civil war for years ago. the ngo almost immediately says that in fact the toll could be much higher than that. >> absolutely. in fact, it's very difficult to keep track of the events in syria. the artist nation said in january there were no longer going to keep the toll because it was too hard to verify. it is unlikely the toll is more likely to be accurate. it is more likely to be closer to two hundred 20,000 people, relying on a network of informants on the

president obama writing a bicycle in short pants then backing away from assad.d assad's military air fields he should have done that and never gotten the dopey helmet and short pants. those are the two things. >> on the assad thing, remember, he wanted to do it the congress and some democrats >> he has power to do what he wants to. >> there is no public support for it. then, saying he was ineffective in doing it >> a leader leads. >> the military was dead set against this. probably for a lot of good reasons there is no appetite in the united states armed forces to go to war. >> five hour sortie over syria taken out their air force would not affected our military one iota. we have ed henry coming up the chinese want to take a bunch of island as way from the japanese and away from the filipinos, okay? you know they're about most likely going to do that now. going to seize the islands to control the shipping lanes and again, president obama not going to be able to stop them. >> well, you know, what i noticed, historic, to put it mildly animosity between japanese an

there are nine candidates already including bashar assad and it's the first time as i said in modernry there is more than one candidate and people get to vote. usually in the past and during the time and during bashar assad's term it was referendum and one candidate is a president and people don't have much say. the west and opposition say this election has no legitimacy whatsoever and 6 million syrians have been displaced in the country and 2.5 million are outside the country and a refugees and the government saying they can vote in the different countries they are in there are many obstacles and no chance to run against assad and this election will be fraud. >> live for us from beirut and thanks very much. now over to south korea and the president has formally apologized for the ferry disaster. the government is criticized for the mishandled response to the crisis. 205 people are confirmed dead. 97 still missing. harry faucet has more front seoul. >> reporter: on tuesday morning south korea president was at the newly opened memorial to the victims of the tragedy. and they paid a pe

does assad goo or -- good or not? reasonsly iran said they were willing to let assad go. the deal didn't have to be he would stay. all of this in some ways we're blocked on moving on this until we resolve the nuclear question. doesn't necessarily have to be that way but just practically it is. i have to make a caveat, by the way. might as well do it now. i'm honored to serve on the international security advisory board for the secretary of state but all my comments are personal and don't reflect the opinion of the secretary of state, the department, or the government, and there's always happy when i say that. but i do want to say, john kerry's come in for a lot of flak lately, and i personally think -- this is independent of my advisory role -- we're lucking to have him in this position at this time. this guy is almost idealie suited for the challenges. he is tenacious. knowledgeable. he knows the players. he is rich. so he can deal with these people on kind of a equal level. that's a nice tent you have. want to see my house over here? [laughter] >> and he is interesting

assad go.the rebels thought that we were behind them and they look behind and we were not there. i think it would be a mistake to raise the expectations of the ukrainians that we are with them and then they find as the fighting takes place that we are not there with them. we have to be very careful with that. if we say we are prepared to provide weaponry, intelligence, special forces activity, western forces, nato forces, i think you could make a case for providing weaponry. then you will have an excuse to say that we were arming the government to resist the lawful protesters that he's been aspiring. >> you have spent time with vladimir putin. describing a chilling scene at the munich security conference when he was invited right out of the cold war. how do you read him today? >> from his perspective, it is quite rational. we are in a unique decision right now. the europeans and the gulf states think that we are leaving. they think that we are not coming and the chinese think we are trying to c