troops in largen number are the russians who are upporting assad, hezbollah who are supporting assad, and iranian republican guard troops ing assad, really assad roops supportive of from the outside to fight. host: south bend, indiana, line democrats, go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. east, we've been squabeling over that for years, oil supply wants over there. how would you respond with n tax ons of america dollars involved in the u.s. military and 150 countries for god's sake, how would you respond to the bible's james 4:2, the cause and source of all covetness and corruption? not too difficult to see what is going on here in a biblical way. love of money is the root of all evil and u.s. military, trillions of dollars in iraq, trillions in afghanistan, contractors efense the taxpayer troth and james 4:2, the cause of all war is greed. host: got it, james. happening what is with iraqi oil in the places isis? been liberated from guest: right. iraqi state. the interest has never been in oil. i'll tell a quick anecdote. 1981, u.s. fought first war, i was covering that and ameri

iran is also a backer of assad.emoving assad is not a priority for us anymore, does that mean we're also giving iran an entree to stay in syria for a long time? >> there is criticism of this coming from capitol hill. members of congress. looking at john mccain, lindsey graham. mccain saying, ultimaly, the administration's statements could lead the true allies and partners of the united states in the fight against isis to fear the worst. a faustian bargain with assad and putin. lindsey graham saying, it is a great reward for russia and iran. >> you hear this talk from john mccain and lindsey graham. they're a little more bellicose in the way they'd choose to deal with assad. well, both of them ran for president. they're not president. donald trump is. >> sure. >> fact check, correct. >> they may disagree but they're not setting the policy here. you also have to look at this in the context of what is happening militarily with the change in the rules of engagement. and the loosening of restrictions on the military in t

president assad denied it.the sale of helicopters to syria and imposed further sanctions, but russia and china blocked it. syria and imposed further sanctions, but russia and china blocked itm isa but russia and china blocked itm is a sad day on the security council when members start making excuses or other member states killing their own people. the world is definitely a more dangerous place. today the international community can look no further than the security council for contributing to that. this was the kremlin's seventh security council bito in defence of bashar al—assad and on a visit to kyrgyzsta n, bashar al—assad and on a visit to kyrgyzstan, vladimir putin reinforced his argument that punishing the syrian government would harm diplomatic efforts to stop the war —— veto. translation: would harm diplomatic efforts to stop the war —— veto. translationzlj think it's absolutely inappropriate because it doesn't help. it wouldn't help the negotiation process, it would only hinder it. it would undermine t

assad was tracing us activists to silence us.an army started to liberate some parts of syria, almost 90% of syria was free. this is the end of 2012-2013. then we started have isis. those people who fled damascus, the capital, or any capital where the regime exists, they fled to the opposition-held areas and now they are killed by isis. activists who were lucky to flee assad were killed by isis. isis is taking over from the free syrian army, handing it over to the regime, and the regime taking it over, back and forth, like what happened in palmyra. it's very obvious that this is a filthy game. roger: "a filthy game"? kholoud: between assad and his partners. we are losing everything. roger: evgeny, you have some amazing footage involving children. i found some of the most powerful images in the movie involve children. perhaps we could roll a segment about a child describing the war in syria, and then we could talk about that? ♪ roger: why do you focus on children so much? evgeny: you know, i think, despite if you hate or like the r

demand for regime change. >> the status and the longer term status of president assad will be decided by the syrian people. >> plus as the president stokes a republican family feud on twitter, some not so friendly advice here from a top democrat. >> grow up. stop tweeting. and start focusing. the words of a president matter. they have enormous, enormous, enormous reverberating sounds around the world. >> this just in. joe biden still doesn't like donald trump. with us to share the reporting and their insights cnn malika henderson, manu raju. in a moment the president's message on trade. but first spy games. there are a million careful cliches about organized around the idea that loose talk might come back to bite you tomorrow. >> very last thing that john just said is no individual too big to jail, that should include people like hillary clinton. i mean, five people around her have had -- have been given immunity to include her former chief of staff. when you are given immunity t, that means you've probably committed a crime. >> president trump echoing that same message. that was mike

basher al assad presses on with his brutal campaign.et's be honest, we all know that assad's continued grip on power is in thanks in large part to his allies in moscow and his friends in tehran. russia is prolonging this conflict. all for the purposes of trying to maintain one friendly government in the middle east who will stand by its own brutal leader. meanwhile, as russian bombs rain down on syria and hospitals, as russian bombs rain down on syrian homes and on humanitarian aid convoys, putin is content to sit back and watch western europe struggle with the displacement of millions of people. all while spreading white nationalist and anti-semitic propaganda aimed at swaying elections and undermining the post world war ii international order. simultaneously, the iranian regime is emboldened by sanctions relief and invested in assad's grip on power. iran continues to funnel cash and weapons to its pro assad terrorist proxy hezbollah weapons that could be turned on israel. israel has every right to be concerned and every right to defen

assad in lebanon. it's fine to eliminate isis the sooner the better. but we have to look at in effect what the next conflict in the region is going to be. >> what is that conflict and how do we achieve the goals you just laid out? >> the second conflict is under way. a struggle in the region between a coalition on the one side led by iran with the baghdad government which sadly they substantially dominate, the al-assad regime in syria and russia as a key component. jordan, egypt and others on the other side. this is not a fight we wanted to get into, but a fight that does involve our vital interests. i think the iran nuclear deal us such a debacle. i think iran continuing action as the world's leading banker for terrorism is another part of that threat. eric: what do we do? russia, they are expanding their base in syria, their naval base, and they are growing, taking moaferg it over and getting stronger. >> they built from scratch during the obama administration. russian influence over the past several

the iranian regime is emboldened and invested in assad's grip on power.continues to funnel cash and weapons to its pro-assad terrorist proxy, hezbollah, weapons that at a moment's notice could be turned on israel. israel has every right to be concerned and every right to defend itself against any and all threats. throughout this harrowing conflict in syria, israel has shown extraordinary restraint and a laser-like focus. no country can endure this kind of provocation for long. and we may be facing a change in calculus. we saw syria launch missiles at israeli air forces as they returned from destroying a convoy of weapons headed to the terrorists in hezbollah. those missiles triggered israel's missile defense system for the first time since the conflict began. so, my friends, this is not a time to be naÏve. iran's motives are no mystery. its goal to extend the influence of its government throughout the region remains unchanged. iran continues to support terrorist proxies like hezbollah. it continues its provocative testing of ballistic missiles, and contin

>> stop assad from bombing syrians, and our first agreement, in 2012, when assad had jets, have a. >>:. >a no-fly zone, nobody flies. if anyone started to have a no-fly zone, hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved at that time. >> cohen: thank you very much, truth is important, facts are important. remembering is important. really powerful movie. thank you very much evgeny and kholoud. thank you. to learn more about this program and early episodes visit us online at pbs.org and charlierose.com. >> captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. >> you're watching pbs.

>> stop assad from bombing syrians, and our first agreement, in 2012, when assad had jets, have a. >>:. >a no-fly zone, nobody flies. if anyone started to have a no-fly zone, hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved at that time. >> cohen: thank you very much, truth is important, facts are important. remembering is important. really powerful movie. thank you very much evgeny and kholoud. thank you. to learn more about this program and early episodes visit us online at pbs.org and charlierose.com. >> captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. >> you're watching pbs. kacyra: it kind of was like the bang that set off the night. rogers: that is the funkiest restaurant. man: the honey walnut prawns will make your insides smile. klugman: more tortillas, please. khazar: what is comfort food if it isn't gluten and grease? man #3: i love crème brûlée. woman: the octopus should've been, like

said that, i can hardly see how a long-termed ustainable political solution can be found with the assad and power. because he's done things to his own people that i don't think he own peopleted by his and of course he's saying that the syrian people should decide destiny of assad, but how it'so you that in syria in democracy. in theory it sounds good but in we can , i don't think find a long-term solution as ong as assad is president of syria. host: okay. you are, in addition to being former nato secretary general, you are the founder of rasmussen global. what is your nd relationship with european governments? stepped downwhen i s secretary general of nato, i decided to start my own consultancy business. didn't know whether there was has ket for that, but it turned out to be very successful. and now we have just opened a office in brussels. work as external foreign policy advisor to the president i have very good governmentsill with in europe. built can say that i've i business on the network terms in through my denmark and as secretary of ato, and i'm still working on so i did it very

now would be okay with assad remaining in power, at least through a transition.he state department, does the u.s. still believe that president assad has lost legitimacy as the leader of syria, the state department says, yes, the u.s. does still believe that, that's our opinion, but moving forward, this has to be in the hands of the syrian people. and that sparked really strong statements from people like senators mccain and graham. i mean, mccain saying, you know, you can make a statement like that, but you're not taking into account the fact that the syrian people can't make decisions about their future because they're being slaughtered by president assad. and senator graham calling this not only a grave mistake but a big reward for russia and iran, kate. >> seems like there's more clarification still needed on that and you're pushing for it. michelle, great to see you. thank you so much. keeping an eye there. >>> and also, keeping an eye on capitol hill right now, calling them out by name. president trump putting his clear frustration with the house freedom cau

when assad played the card.ay assad is going to say, thanks, i'll name a street after you, but bye. he may be a bad guy and a dictator s.o.b. but it's a sovereign state. there isn't and u.n. resolution saying we can do this. kennedy: aren't those lessons we learned from iraq? >> there were loads of declarations that took his sovereign tough way. but this has not been dealt with. kennedy: it won't happen as long as russia is on the security council. >> until it's time to evict the grinning goes. -- the gringoes. by the end of this week we'll have north of a thousand marines and soldiers east euphrates along the turkish border poigs for an assault on raqqa. we have two active helicopter bases physically in syria. it's going to be embarrassing if assad checks the deed on syria and sees he's still on the owner there. kennedy: syria and russia have destroyed aleppo and caused so many civilian casualties. do we want to go in there and make a horrible situation that much worse? and who are we fighting? >> luckily there

they're leaving as part of a deal brokered by russia, which backs president assad. as the syrian civil war entered its seventh year this week, the american military presence is higher than ever before, with the trump administration sending 400 more troops to join 500 already deployed. for more perspective on what's happening on the ground and the role of the u.s. military, i am joined from washington by doug ollivant of the new america foundation. doug, half a million people dead, getting into seven years now, millions more displaced. any end in sight? >> unfortunately, no. it doesn't appear that we really do have an end in sight. we see talks of cease fires and talks of truces, and, you know, the occasional peace talk, but nothing seems to have come from this. the russians are very much vested in the survival of the assad regime, so that seems to be a simple fact on the ground. and yet the rebellion hasn't gone away, and neither have either al qaeda or isis. it's complicated >> sreenivasan: and he has time on his side. he doesn't seem to feel any pressure to try to

what does it mean for the next on his aswren da and backing assad. the u.s. navy may tuberculosis dramatically changing its policy toward syria's brutal strong man. what secretary of state is now saying during a pivotal trip overseas. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation ro"situ >> this is cnn breaking news. >> bragz news tonight on the house intelligence committee mysterious trip to the white house grounds to view secret reports about alleged surveillance of the trump team. reporting that two senior wte house officials helped provide representative devin nunes with the information that nunes later shared with the president. it's adding more fuel to concerns that knew necessities has been trying to give political cover to the president for his debunked claim that he was wiretapped by president obama. the trump administration is refusing to confirm or deny the "the new york times'" report or discuss where nunes may have received his information. the white house has invited leaders t

. >> you mention bashar al assad.sey graham and john mccain both blasting the secretary of state tillerson for suggesting that bashar al assad can stay, basically. why is this such a controversial thing for him to have said? >> it's controversial for a couple of reasons. primarily, when we talk about isis, and we talk about extremism, particularly in the context of syria, we have to understand that isis was born in the vacuum of syria's civil war. and the hideous outpouring of grotesque violence that we have seen as a result of isis has come from the crackdown of the dictatorship of bashar al assad which has killed hundreds of thousands of people. many more people than isis has even killed. so when you talk about trying to eliminate isis, you can't really do that without trying to find some peaceful resolution to the syrian civil war. to be fair to the trump administration, while the obama administration had talked about the fact that they thought that bashar al assad should go, they did not actually really take many

people know how i feel about assad. i used to get e-mails saying, look at these phenomenal things happening in aleppo in these, quote unquote, liberated areas. apart of the rebel forces, many of whom are criminals themselves, the reality of the suffering of the people that had nothing to do with either side. they just happened to live in this area. they happened to be families and children going about their lives not involved in the internal politics of any nation, including their own. but somehow were targeted. tell us the reality, if you were someone who happened to live in one of these areas, i think you touched on it, but the reality of the notion of liberation, this notion that somehow these benevolent forces have come in and now liberated and are now helping to reconstruct a part of the city, how would you characterize the way this was conducted by assad, by russia, and even by some of the rebel elements as they left? >> i can tell you that in the eastern part of aleppo now, the u.n. maps decide that about a fourt

nicki haleey says its knock move forward without the fight with a sad -- assad is resolve. >> i think on the cove how to carry forward with the defeat of daesh, isis, in syria let there be no mistake. just so we can be clear. there is no space between turkey and the united states and our commitment to defeat daesh to defeat isis, not u.s. >> syria and iraq but as members of the greater coalition to defeat daesh in. anywhere dash -- daesh show us its face they will be confronted by the coalition to defeat them. on the battlefield and in cyberspace and social media space. so, in terms of the tactics that are necessary to achieve that outside, that is why we meet wither important partners here and other important coalition members engaged directly in the military activities in iraq and syria. so, there's more discussion yet to be had regarding the way forward. what we discussed today were optionses that are available to us. they're difficult options. let me be very frank. these are not easy decisions. they're difficult choices that have to be made. this has been very good, the conversati

policy insisted that assad must go.mer is in ankara. >> reporter: this is one of the first official visits that secretary of state tillerson has made. turkey is a priority not only because it's a fellow member of nato but it is a crucial ally in the fight against isis in syria. there's a lot riding on this visit, and the turks lost no time. the secretary of state plunged right into a whole day of meetings with top turkish officials. then the secretary of state headed for closed-door talks with president recep tayyip erdogan. and there is a lot to talk about. top of the list the war against isis in syria on turkey's southern border. with few soldiers of its own on the ground, the u.s. has teamed up with local armed groups including a kurdish force called the ypg. but turkey sees the ypg as a bitter enemy. in fact, it calls them terrorists. >> how can with rely on a terrorist organization -- >> reporter: last week in washington turkey's foreign minister mevlet sobocolu told cbs news cooperating with ypg crosses a red line

turkey and erdogan -- >> by the assad regime spirit by the assad regime against the rebels, rebel stronghold around damascus. erdogan rightly felt that the u.s. would respond. he had received such assurances. when he start to go wildly on the red line, erdogan made a decision of the u.s. couldn't be relied upon to enforce our goal of regime change in syria. and turkey started its wholesale assistance to jihadi groups, including groups that became the islamic state. through the jihadi highway that ran from the border to rocker -- raqqa, there were weapons that were transferred, money, logistical support, wounded warriors from syria appeared in hospitals in turkey for medical care i have a friend who's a doctor in one of those hospitals and she explained how isis fighters would simply be brought to them through representatives of turkey's national intelligence agency, and medical services demanded. in my view, this wasn't something that was happening occasionally. this was a systematic policy decision that was cooked up in erdogan's executive office, that was managed and administered by the na

people know how i feel about assad. i see a lot of these emails tell machine gun he -- telling me, what are you talking about? look at all these things happening in aleppo in these quote-unquote liberated areas. in context of all this, what is lost is apart from the rebel forces, many of whom are criminals themselves, is the reality of the suffering of the people that had nothing to do with either side. they just happened to live in this area. they happen to be families and children that were going about their lives, not involved in the internal politics of any nation, including their own. and somehow were targeted. which is what you've noun now described. tell us -- what you've now described. tell us the reality. if you happened to live in one of these areas, the reality of this notion of liberation, this notion that somehow these benevolent forces have come in and now liberated and are helping to reconstruct a part of the city. how would you characterize the way this was conducted by assad, by russia, and even by some

apparently, assad has not. general jack keane saying the success of the u.s. defeat isis comes down to syrians defending their own territory. >> what is the end state, certainly. we have the capability to deteat any enemy that's holding onto territory, certainly. the united states of america and the united states military will do that in conjunction with our allies on the ground this, to be sure. but the united states is not going to occupy portions of syria. we may maintain a base there, but we need syrian arabs to occupy their own territory, and that is part of the challenge that we're facing here. julie: meanwhile, dozens killed this twin explosions near shrines in damascus. so far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. john huddy has more from jerusalem. >> reporter: julie, it was a bloody and vicious day in damascus after 40 people were killed and more than 120 others injured in twin bombings in a city that has already seen so much violence and a country that's been ripped apart by it. the attacks happened near a cemetery in damascus, officials

assad, when the president speaks to allies, nato partners? obviously, assad is not going to retire somewhere in the south of france. something's gotta give. what is the disposition, the conversation in terms of assad, who is very close, who would like to have a warm water port in the mediterranean? >> i think we believe there is a need to de-escalate violence, their own political future consistent with the principles enshrined in u.n. security council resolution 2254, but there's a bit of, as i mentioned a second ago, there's a bit of reality on the ground in terms of what the options are. >> reporter: during the presidential campaign, the president said he was with the state north carolina banning people from using certain rest rooms. the democratic governor yesterday signed a deal to replace the law with a new measure that they say is discriminatory. >> i would say during the campaign cycle, he believes in states' rights. >> reporter: different issue, what is the president's personal view on [inaudible]. >> i think the president made it cle

>> the assad regime right now, there are approximately 16 million people who are living in safety. universities, hospitals. it is not switzerland, is not a perfect society. they themselves recognize this but anybody who wants peace in syria, will acknowledge and respect the peace that they have in the moment and not try to degrade it or damage it somehow which the obama administration was doing that by sending missiles and all kinds of weaponry to the rebels. i thought it was disgraceful because it destroyed such peace as there was. >> tucker: the piece that was secured by the assad regime which is as you know denounced here is monstrous? >> hold on, there was a situation in which a rebel on cloth are not peaceful. of course not. they are being destroyed. it is a civil war. it is a civil war. a minority of the population there, the majority of syrians are living in relative peace under the assad regime. yes, it is preferable to bombing and crucifixions in the street that we are seeing. the murdering and torturing and imprisoning of random people which is what they are doing. >> tuc

what would be the alternatives to assad?dhafi must go. assad crossed a red line and he did nothing. so, just realistically, what would america's options be, other than saying we're going to fight isis and leave assad where he is? >> our options in syria today are bad and worse. the challenge to assad for real on the ground is jihadist fighters from the al qaeda group. principally also some elements of isis. there have been rebel attacks on damascus that have been threatening the assad regime. i think the u.s. knows it doesn't have a good alternative to provide a stable, nonassad government in damascus now and that explains the policy. the question is whether there's a real diplomatic idea for the future that pulls syria back together and prevents it from becoming isis 2.0, isis 3.0. >>> every 5-4 supreme court decision that follows a neil gorsuch confirmation illegitimate. senator jeff merkley joins us on set. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working ha

assad when the president speaks to his allies as nato partners? obviously, assad is not going to retire somewhere in the south of france. something has got to give. what is the thought there? what is the disposition, the conversation in tes of assad, who is very close. we would like to have a warm water port in the mediterranean. >> i think we believe there is a need to deescalate violence and have a political process. the syrians will decide their own political future including the u.n. security council resolution 2254. but there is a bit of, as i mentioned just a second ago, there is a bit of reality on the ground in terms of what the options are. >> during the presidential campaign, the president said he was with the state on north carolina's law abandoning transgender people from using certain restrooms. the democratic governor yesterday signed a deal to replace that law with a new measure that many say is still discriminato discriminatory. does the president support this law? >> he believes in state's rights, so -- >> what is the president's

it is worth saying that you met and interviewed president assad in october.nown. how important is it in the war of the future in the country? not an much. it has been a hot potato exchange between isis on the regime since 2013. the key cities here are raqqa, the self proclaimed capital of isis. and a border town on the iraqi town. and a border town on the iraqi town. and the gas fields in the basin that the regime needs to generate electricity. those are the big three places that the regime really needs to run isis. i think this is more a symbolic victory for the regime. we have been reporting on the huge setbacks for isis, but it does seem that the coalition has been supporting the rebels and this is being chipped away. we are told that these talks in geneva edging forward. what hope you see from them? where do you see the country, ultimately? the regime has always been very strong in its your negotiations. with a weak or strong, it refuses to negotiate. it wants to negotiate a complete and utter surrender of the opposition. and at this point, with the suppo

when they are being slaughtered by assad's barrel bombs. >>> another issue, the u.s. debt is likely to double over the next 30 years. right now it amounts to 77% of g.d.p, the highest level since the post world war ii era. if current law remains in effect it will jump to 150% by the year 2047. the interest on the debt which will more than quadruple, the problem is that revenue and spending projected to grow, spending will far out weigh revenue. if he achieves his goal of 4% economic growth, the gdp will grow. economists say it will be difficult to reach. the latest number on the fourth quarter they were increased 1.2% for the fourth quarter but this math should be at the forefront of every discussion that happens in washington. when you have a debt the size of our economy, at some point you don't have the wiggle room to spend on education or on the military or anything else when you are just spending so much to service your debt. >> and when you have pledged not to touch entitlements and a trillion dollars spending package. >> when he said he could get rid of the nati

she went on to say, "we can't necessarily focus on assad the way the previous administration did."his really mean? senior international correspondent clarissa ward is here with more on this in her special report "isis behind the mask," which airs tonight. we'll get to that in a moment. yes, the obama administration used different words when it came to assad, but they didn't use different actions. >> well, exactly. i think the rhetoric of the obama administration never actually really matched the reality on the ground. what you're hearing from the trump administration is significant only because does it potentially portend the possibility that the u.s. is now considering working with the russians together in syria to fight isis? could that even mean they would work with the russians and the syrian regime to fight isis? and i think a lot of people would be very concerned that that might be a very short-sighted strategy, because the very reason that isis and extremist groups like it have continued to thrive in syria and iraq is because they tell people, america doesn't care about you,

will no longer insist on the removal of syria's dictator, bashar al-assad. assad's war on his own people has killed 400,000 and triggered a global refugee crisis. secretary tillerson spoke today after meeting with turkey's president and elizabeth palmer is in ankara. >> reporter: in a brief photo op, secretary of state tillerson wore his best diplomatic smile, and so did president recep tayyip erdogan. but behind closed doors, turkey has some serious bones to pick with the united states. top of the list, the war against isis in syria, right on turkey's border. with few soldiers of its own on the ground, the u.s. has teamed up with a battle-hardened kurdish force called the y.p.g. but to turkey, the y.p.g. is a bitter enemy and a terrorist group. it is demanding the u.s. cut off its support, something mr. tillerson would not promise to do. >> what we discussed today were options that are available to us. they are difficult options. let me be very frank. these are not easy decisions. >> reporter: that didn't satisfy the turkish foreign minister, who accused th

do assad's mission complicate? >> she is a dictator who was losing until russia stepped in to assist. the interview aired on state television, he is being interviewed by a chinese news network, one of the strategic competitors in china, mostly for the people watching or forced to watch in his own country and allies watching, he has to sound like a strong tough guy. gregg: troops including the united states are operating in syria against isis, correct? >> we are uninvited guests, turkey has lost dozens of soldiers in the fight. we have almost 1000 for soldiers and marines, and european allies who are much more reticent to discuss who they have on the ground then we are but a few countries in syria now working against isis. gregg: is there an opportunity for coordination on the ground? >> yes there is. assad made a hint towards this. and a rate around rocca. it is of great concern. and he may have forces attack the province and leave rocca to us and our kurdish and local allies. we will see how this pans out, possibl

us ambassador to the un nicky haydon the accused russia and china of putting their friends in the assadead of global security. russia and china made an outrageous and indefensible choice today, they refused to hold bashar al—assad's regime accountable for the use of chemical weapons. they turned away from defenceless men, women and children who died grasping for breath when assad's forces dropped their poisonous gas. also making the news: the french president francois hollande was giving a speech in france when this happened. mr hollande looks a bit concerned, brea ks mr hollande looks a bit concerned, breaks off his speech and what happened was his police sharp shooter on the route accidentally fired his weapon. it passed through the five of a waiter and lodged in a colleague's leg. he carried on with his speech. south africa's ports minister said durban may not be able to stage the 2022 commonwealth games because of financial pressure. —— sports minister. south africa have been unable to agree the operational budget. from some stunning pictures to show you from mount etna in sicily, i

. >> do you clear up where the president stapds on whether bashar al assad is a legitimate president of syria? >> i think with respect to assad, there's a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now. we lost a lot of opportunity the last administration with respect to assad and i think that the statement that nikki haley gave yesterday and rex tillerson, we have an opportunity and need to f focus on defeating isis. the u.s. has profound priorities in syria and iraq and made it clear that counterterrorism, particularly the defeat of isis, is foremost of the priorities. but i think there's a bit of a political reality to where we are now compared to the last administration in terms of -- there is not the opposition that existed last time and the opportunities that existed last time. >> so you're telling me that you're saying whether or not he's legitimate, if you were to declare him illegitimate, there's nothing that the united states could do about that? >> i think there's a bit of a reality that has to be addressed with respect to the opportunity and t

obama administration blew great chance to get rid of assad.e first eight to six months, assad was doomed. we did nothing. we didn't give it that extra push. as a result of which half million people died. syria is not going to be restored. isis grew up in the vacuum. now it's up to the trump administration. bottom line is this, can the trump administration look forward instead of backward and forge a working pragmatic realistic policy that works to the advantage of the united states and the middle east? >> heather: it is complicated for sure. thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. thanks. >> jon: the fight over the president' revised executive order on travel and immigration what several state states are dg just days before the ban goes into effect. we're live after this. z28cnz zwtz y28cny ywty nosy neighbor with a glad bag, full of trash. what happens next? nothing. only glad has febreze to neutralize odors for 5 days. guaranteed. even the most perceptive noses won't notice the trash. be happy. it's glad. >> jon: six minutes away fr

there cannot be a focus on assad's removal from syria?k it is right to focus on fighting. we also believe that resolution 2254 is very important and for the long-term good of the syrian people there must be a transition away from the assad regime that dealt so much death and destruction to the people of syria. >>> joining me now is the former supreme command ally leader. and richard stangle. an msnbc political analyst. welcome to you both. first of all here at nato, how important is it for the u.s. to reassure the alliance to be part of nato. did tillerson do that job today? >> it is critical. our strongest pool of partners in the world, andrea, bar none are nato al llies. i characterize it has better than nothing. nato had a shift the dates of the meeting. he parachuted in, he is leaving almost immediately, but it is better than nothing. it at least sends a signal of solidarity. whether or not that gains real traction in the alliance will commend on how much more investment this administration makes and indeed in the summit coming up at

we aiding assad. as russian bombs rain down on syrian hospitals and russian bombs rain down on syrian homes, as russian bombs rain down on humanitarian aid convoys, putin is content to sit back and watch western europe struggle with the displacement of millions of people. all the while spreading white nationalist and anti-semitic propaganda. simultaneously, the iranian regime is um bold -- emboldened by the reliefs and iran funnels cash and weapons to hezbollah, weapons that at a moment residents notice could be turned on israel. israel has every right to be concerned, and every right to defend itself against any and all threats. throughout this conflict in syria, israel has shown extraordinary restraint and a laser-like focus on defending the security of it people. but as this conflict spills over its borders no counsel true can endure this propagation for long and we saw syria launch missiles as israel air forces as they return from destroying a convoy of weapons that was headed to the terrorists in

assad? when the president speaks to his allies, his nato partners. obviously assad is not going to retire somewhere in the south of france. something's got to give. what's the thought, the conversation in terms of assad, who would like to have a warm port in the mediterranean. >> i think we believe there's a need to deescalate violence and to have a political process to where the syrians will decide their own political future, consistent with the principles that have been enshrined in u.n. council resolution. there's a bit of reality on the ground in terms of what the options are. >> during the presidential campaign, the president said he was with the state on north carolina's law banning transgender people from using certain rest rooms. the democratic governor signed a deal to replace that law with a measure that some groups still say is discriminatory. >> i have not asked the president. i would stay consistent with what he said during the campaign cycle. he believes in states' rights. >> what is the president's personal view on bathrooms and what a

i think the status of the longer-term status of president assad will be decided by the syrian people.[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] c-span2 of congressional forum on police relations in minority communities with testimony from players from the nfl. then a panel on the rise of populism in the u.s. latin america and europe. and later hhs secretary tom price testifying on his 2018 budget requests. c-span's "washington journal" by it every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning former nato secretary-general anders rasmussen joins us to discuss u.s. relations with nato and russia. environmental and energy reporters max coleman will talk about the trump administration effort to reverse obama era climate policies. then foreign affairs can jupiter tom nichols discusses how americans have lost faith in experts and why that's a problem. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" beginning live at 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. join the discussion. former secretary of state and presidential candidate hillary clinton speaks about the

because iran and hezbollah, the assad regime is in effect their proxy. for them the linchpin in the path you are describing between yemen and iraq and syria and lebanon. so recognizing this, some in the trump administration have already said oh, well, the part of the deal will be we will wean russia from iran in syria. unit, good luck with that. i don't think that there's any chance the russians will turn against the iranians in syria, because they know the consequences of that. firebrand, it's of poor interest before everybody else it's just good to have, but syria is critical to the iranians. so they're not about to give it up in this kind of way, so if the russians were prepared to go down that road, fuel the confrontation, but i think there's a fundamental misconception. what we need to be doing in syria is weaning turkey away from russia, not russia away from iran. turkey and nato allies can and want to play a more assertive role in syria, and we need to concern our approach within a special in the east if we are to succeed in defeating isis. >> rob