how do we know assad's talking points?ause in the interview that i did two weeks later it's exactly what he said almost in identical language, but more importantly, she did a video, a youtube video that was essentially a propaganda video for the assad regime depicting all of the victims of civilian victims who had been displaced as people who were victimized by the terrorists and not the assad regime when the estimates are that 90% of the civilians killed, more than 200,000 were by the syrian army and its russian and iranian allies and number two, something even more astonishing in our congressional blog post she describes syria as a terroristic-free society. this is a country that freedom house who ranks the level of freedom in the world puts syria below north korea, below iran and below china and it is an oppressive regime marked by torture and disappearances and military show trials and it is -- that was an astounding comment by gabbard, and i can't imagine that senators won't have some pretty questions -- >> senator la

this is the most serious challenge to president assad in years.nto the city after assad's army forced them out at the height of the war. translation: after hard worki and patience from the fighters, the city of aleppo has been completely liberated. thank god. and by god's will, we will reach horns and damascus too. the rebels are led by the islamist group hayat tahrir al—sham, or hts. it used to be linked to al-qaeda, but cut ties from the group years ago. hts is listed as a terrorist organisation by the us and others. it controls most of the north—western province of idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold after more than a decade of civil war. that war began in 2011, triggered by popular protests against assad's rule. russia intervened in 2015, turning the tide against the advancing rebels. the battle for aleppo in 2016 was a crucial point. syrian and russian forces gained control after a gruelling siege. the war has mostly gone quiet since, with occasional eruptions, the last major one in 2020 when syria and its russian allies attacked

that war began in 2011, triggered by popular protests against assad's rule.n 2016 was a crucial point. syrian and russian forces gained control after a gruelling siege. the war�*s mostly gone quiet since, with occasional eruptions. the last major one in 2020 when syria and its russian allies attacked idlib. now, again, russian warplanes are bombing aleppo. the syrian army says it has made a tactical retreat to prepare a counteroffensive. the kremlin is assad's most important ally, but it is now also fighting a war in ukraine. it used to be linked to al-qaeda but cut ties from the group years ago. hts is listed as a terrorist organisation by the us and others. it controls most of the north—western province of idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold after more than a decade of civil war. that war began in 2011, triggered by popular protests against assad's rule. russia intervened in 2015, turning the tide against the advancing rebels. the battle for aleppo in 2016 was a crucial point. syrian and russian forces gained control after a gruelling siege. the

that war began in 2011, triggered by popular protests against assad's rule.the tide against the advancing rebels. the battle for aleppo in 2016 was a crucial point. syrian and russian forces gained control after a gruelling siege. the war�*s mostly gone quiet since, with occasional eruptions. the last major one in 2020 when syria and its russian allies attacked idlib. now again, russian warplanes are bombing aleppo. the syrian army says it has made a tactical retreat to prepare a counteroffensive. the kremlin is assad's most important ally, but it is now also fighting a war in ukraine. iran and the lebanese hezbollah are also sending fighters to syria, but they have been weakened by israeli attacks in the region. that is one reason the rebels were able to advance so quickly. reviving a simmering conflict at a time when the middle east is in turmoil. as we heard from barbara there, the events in syria can be directly linked with israel's attacks on hezbollah in lebanon. the iran—backed militia group has had a strong presence in syria — notably aleppo — since t

could assad be toppled and what will russia do? assad could be toppled.we've seen, and nothing can change for years. and then the basis of the regime can kind of suddenly implode. but having said that, i think it's clear russia is committed to saving assad. they've been launching air strikes, ithink their first airstrikes in aleppo for something like eight years. they haven't got very much manpower to spare to help assad. but the other thing to bear in mind is that it isn't clear to me that other countries in the region necessarily want to see assad fall. they will not be egging on their various proxy factions inside syria. for instance, in the south, jordan is very influential. jordan is probably not necessarily enthusiastic about a dramatic collapse of syria at this point. the americans are probably not very keen on that. and if you look at a number of gulf arab states, these are the countries that were at the vanguard of the anti—assad rebel movement ten, 15 years ago. as your listeners might recall, they are now reaching out to assad in many cases, pa

so, 'ust to clari , assad regime. so, 'ust to clarify, they fl assad regime.hey were displaced and were not able to get back into aleppo but they now can because the rebels are controlling it?- because the rebels are controllin: it? . , , controlling it? that is exactly what is happening. _ controlling it? that is exactly what is happening. and - controlling it? that is exactly what is happening. and on i controlling it? that is exactly | what is happening. and on the other side, there are millions in the city of aleppo, they are now also trying to get back to their normal life in these days and the humanitarian relief and teams are trying to help those people because there is no government any more in the city, and then the services need to be done by the organisations and humanitarian teams are doing the work in the north—west, before getting to aleppo. north-west, before getting to ale 0. �* ., , north-west, before getting to aleuo. �* . , ., , north-west, before getting to aleuo. . , ., aleppo. and that is teams such as ours aleppo. and that is teams such

a moment for assad it's a vulnerable moment for assad because his allies have been weakened and they're unable to come to his defense but the reason, you know, and you mentioned it about the arab outreach to to assad the main problem with assad and the turks have made this pretty clear recently. >> and many are saying with this offensive and allowing the syrian national army units that turkey supports to support this offensive is that the the turks, in many parties are sick of assad going into negotiations and making no concessions. and so the arabs have been pouring money and effort into this rehabilitation of us. and bringing him back to the arab fold. but he hasn't cracked down on captagon a narcotic that's been flowing out of the country. he hasn't been allowing people to return to the country. he's just been doing nothing and maintaining his position and really i think there was a lot of frustration that sort of stasis has caused many of assad's allies who are overstretched themselves, to simply throw him to the wolves and to and to wait and see how things turn out. and in around a

russia is an ally of president bashar al—assad's regime.he rebels�* offensive has made rapid progress since it began on wednesday, capturing numerous towns and villages. the syrian military says troops have been temporarily withdrawn from aleppo to prepare a counteroffensive. a reminder of the recent history of aleppo — the city was the scene of one of the bloodiest sieges of syria's civil war, which first broke out in 2011. this week's offensive is the largest against the syrian government in years. our correspondent, barbara plett usher, is monitoring developments from neighbouring lebanon. a stunning victory for the rebels. even they overcome with its swiftness and success. just three days after launching a surprise offensive from their stronghold in north—west syria. this is the most serious challenge to president assad in years. they stormed back into the city after assad's army force them out at the height of the war. translation: after hard worki and patience from the fighters, the city of aleppo has been completely liberated. thank

they have taken control of several districts, despite efforts by president assad's army to hold themff. around 20 towns and villages in the region are also reported to have captured. —— have been. monitoring group the syrian observatory for human rights says half of aleppo is now under rebel control. a civil war has been grinding on since government forces put down pro—democracy protests in 2011, but it's the first time in eight years the city hasn't been under the control of the syrian government, which is backed by russia. in the city of idlib, which is an opposition stronghold, people set off fireworks to celebrate the advance of rebel groups. syria and russia launched intense air strikes on the city and other areas controlled by the islamist group, hts, hayat tahriral—sham, and other opposition groups. sources in the syrian military have told the reuters news agency that the army has closed the main roads in and out of the city, as well as the airport. they've also told the news agency that moscow has promised bashar al—assad's forces extra military aid to thwart the attempted ta

and assad regime.xactly what's happening. and the other side is there is like around a million also in the city of aleppo. they are now also trying to get back to the normal life in these days. and the humanitarian relief and humanitarian teams are trying to help those people because there is no government any more in the city. and then the services need to be run by the organisation and the humanitarian teams that are doing the work in northwest before, i mean, getting to aleppo. and that's of course, teams such as yours, with violet coming in and just helping people who are within aleppo. when it comes to this rebel group. just help us to understand what kind of parts are they made up with, because of course, it's never clear cut, is it? i mean, there is many groups whojoined this, war to today, and i think that they now are getting the control on the most of the city. we got a photo from aleppo castle from many areas today, from our team where they were helping the people and how the things going in

they are focusing on the assad regime.cupy an important area along the border with turkiye, in the northwest of the country. there are 3.5 million refugees from assad there. they have provided them with some help from turkiye, enough sustenance, shelter and other things to keep them from fleeing into turkiye. they are a major player in this struggle. carl: really interesting stuff, the former u.s. representative to syria, thank you. a cease-fire between israel and hezbollah seems to be holding although both sides accuse each other of minor violations. the military has returned -- has ordered lebanese residents to return home. the leader of hezbollah said that the group is ready to help the lebanese army build up its defenses. army troops are set to deploy as part of that deal and in his first televised address on wednesday, he said that hezbollah had won a divine victory over israel. >> we will work to strengthen them in on -- lebanon's capabilities and resistance will be ready to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of

the shift is being from a patriotic american to an american who is supporting putin, assad, erdogan,nd our adversaries. these are judgment jobs. these will be a small number of people advising the president in critically important times. if she has shown such terrible judgment if she has sided with putin days after the invasion of the ukraine, if she is saying all these kinds of crazy things, senator romney said that she was spreading treasonous lies about u.s. activities , bio weapons factories in ukraine. if these are the kinds of people who are surrounding president trump we are really in trouble. and the question now is, will the senate do its job? because if president trump is able to force through all of these nominations, some of whom are really great, impressive people. i mentioned john radcliffe, arco rubio i think is a solid choice. if tulsi gabbard and these others are forced through the message will be delivered this is a republican party that is just kneeling before assad. superman reference . >> all roads lead to donald trump . the common denominator between the two of

congresswoman tulsi gabbard, when she was in office, went to syria and met with when assad himself.hen publicly, she came out and questioned u.s. intelligence assessments of his chemical weapons attacks that were carried out on civilian areas, not just once, multiple times. these were high-confidence assessments by the intelligence community. would you feel comfortable with her at the helm of all 18 of t them? >> well, i serve on the house intelligence committee during this past congress, and i know the important job that the d&i performs in coordinating, collecting, and reporting on our intelligence. and i think should tulsi gabbard be confirmed, she would know with high confidence as to precisely how we collect intelligence, how we coordinate and collaborate on it, and how we then report it to the president of the united states and to the two intelligence committees. so again, this is an important assessment for the senate to make, but i remind you, margaret, donald trump won the election. he wants people that he has a good relationship with, that he trusts, that he believes can d

i've led the charge against the assad regime. do not support that the arab league put him back into diplomatic standing and i think america has a lot to do to limit assad's influence in the region, which is a partner with the russians and the iranians, and that's not in the interests of the united states, iraq, israel, or peace in the region. >> you have also been a supporter of ukraine and you've been trying to find some creative ways to help allow them to gain access to continued u.s. support. there was a tremendous attack just overnight there by russia. the biden administration wants to provide a $20 billion loan backed up by frozen russian assets. will the congress give them permission to use that money for military assistance? >> well, the repo act that was included in the national securityn very closely with chairman mike mccall, the foreign affairs committee, gives the united states the authority to not only take frozen assets but confiscate them and use them for the benefit of ukraine. the loan you're referring to has bee

we begin with the biggest challenge in years to the regime of syrian president bashar assad. thousands of rebel is list 5 has of taken out of a much of the 2nd city, a level. also facing control of the airport in thousands of towns and villages, syria and its l. i. russia has carried out a strikes against the rebels. assad has vowed to defeat the insurgents. rebel fighters celebrate in the central town square in the heart of a level the fire of victory shots some even get down on their knees and kissed the ground upon them for the hosp, the happiness as indescribable. the happiness of liberating the city of an echo. but we're now in the main square, we've been waiting for this for 10 years. it's an indescribable feeling. while the brother was mounted here and the left boat, 13 years ago, praise to go to bed. praise to god, allow me to go, hunt, allow me to go home. this video reportedly shows armed gunman in trucks seizing control of the cities. civilian airport. the syrian army admit sits loss control of much of a level which had held for 8 years. and dozens of its soldiers were kille

i would say bashar al-assad is weak right now and it is amazing what's going on.han: attorney the events with rebels taking over aleppo and adding to the tensions of the big picture of the region between lebanon and hezbollah, i want to listen to what mike pompeo had to say about it, let's listen. >> i'm not surprised the cease-fire hasn't held for a couple days, the conflict has been going on a long time. and the goal is the destruction of israel and and israeli citizens live in the northern part. >> they go back to their neighborhoods, some finding their homes, some not finding homes. for the ones finding homes are they going to have to pack out and get out again? what do you think? >> made the. a lot of people need to have a little context. there was a cease-fire. it was hezbollah that broke it on october 8th. it is important for everybody to know that israel was fine with not having conflicts with lebanon or hezbollah. hezbollah attacked israel and for the last year they would fire rockets into israel, kill israelis, israel would respond and fire rockets back

russia, president assad's main ally, has been bombing rebel—held areas in response.t's the first time in eight years that the rebels have reached aleppo, which was the scene of one of bloodiest sieges of syria's civil war. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. it is one of the most serious challenges and years. tell us about the situation on the ground. about the situation on the round. , ., , ground. hundreds of fighters o- osina ground. hundreds of fighters opposing the _ ground. hundreds of fighters opposing the government - ground. hundreds of fighters opposing the government in | opposing the government in syria are now controlling parts of aleppo. aleppo is 70 kilometres away northeast of the stronghold city of the opposition and part of the deal between the syrian government brokered by turkey and other forces. the opposition were not allowed to stay there as a stronghold for them, not to anywhere else. —— were. now turkey is saying that agreement in 2020 was a little bit not respected by the syrian government by not attacking aleppo, the stronghold, so tha

the pressure on the regime of bashar al assad is mounting dramatically jessica. >> all right. ben wedeman reporting for us. thank you so much. and joining us now to talk more about this former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, william taylor, and cnn military analyst, retired u.s. air force colonel cedric leighton. good to have both of you here. thanks for being here. >> thank you. jessica. yeah. >> you bet. >> colonel leighton, let's start first with you. this advance by the rebel forces seems to have been met with little resistance by the syrian army. we heard there in ben's report both russian and hezbollah forces have aided al-assad in the past. so i'm curious militarily, do you think his regime is now in a weakened state to respond because those two groups have a lot going on with their with their own, in their own situation yeah, they certainly do, jessica. >> and yes, i think the assad regime is incredibly weakened right now. and what you see is one of these classic moves in the middle east and especially in the arab world, where all of a sudden, out of seemingly nowhere, you

>> assad is not the enemy of the united states. >> now, gabbard also met secretly with assad, and after u.s. intelligence determined that bashar al assad's regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in which dozens of people were killed in 2017, she had this exchange. >> you say you have doubts about these generals providing that kind of proof to the president? >> yes. i'm skeptical. >> now, all of that republican, to issue this warning. just days ago about gabbard this is not a place for a russian iranian, syrian, chinese real threats are we comfortable with someone like that at the top of our national intelligence agencies? now, for her part, gabbard says she was placed on this government list because she spoke out against kamala harris my own government has placed me on a secret terror watch list targeting me as a potential domestic terror threat. >> why political retaliation well that saying it's about political retaliation could be part of why trump has pushed her nomination, despite her history because that sort of speaks to the way he sees things he wants that retaliati

they're toppling statues of syria's leader, bashar al assad . so this is bashar al assad.s is i mean, this is serious stuff. here's here's more of them. the syrian army has been routed and has abandoned quite a lot of equipment and scenes reminiscent of the fall of afghanistan. look at this ginger one. how come every group of islamists always has a ginger one, no matter where they are ? afghanistan, where they are? afghanistan, islington, anywhere . and here islington, anywhere. and here are rebels in what looks like a captured russian bmp infantry vehicle, doing some doughnuts there. i'm not sure that's good for carbon emissions or for the tarmac, but i don't think they're worried about that . so they're worried about that. so they're worried about that. so they're capturing a lot of weaponry, a lot of vehicles. and the syrian dictator bashar al assad has been propped up over the last decade by russian military support. but russia's a little bit distracted with another war at the moment. you might have heard of it. it's in ukraine and the rebels have seized plenty of weap

, the strongman of syria. >> do you think assad is our enemy?sad is not the enemy of the united states because the -- syria poses a direct threat to the united states. my point is that whether it is syria or any of these other countries, we need to look at how their interests are counter to or aligned with ours. >> how their interests could be aligned with ours. all right. so, tom, tell me a little bit about why you think that is such a problem from somebody like tulsi gabbard to lead the dni. >> it is not a problem if you're a private citizen. it is a free country. and if you think that poor bashar al assad and vladimir putin have merely misunderstood and not listened to enough, you're free to hold that view. but, these regimes are enemies of the united states. and if you're going to be sitting atop the crown jewels of the united states intelligence community, someone who holds those views is worrisome. i think people need to understand that dni is not just another aspect of the intelligence community, but dni sits on top of all of the rest of

as said before, russia is weak right now, the syrian regime is also weak, reportedly assad is not inountry but right now in moscow. also we have a lot of, no clarity about what the us interests in the region will be with a second tramp presidency. these are all factors which are weakening the situation —— second trump. we also have a situation where turkey has tried to broker something with assad and the last month and it hasn't worked out, assad was not doing or accepting the conditions that turkey were setting out. this is also a revenge. the other thing it is directed to turkish domestic policy and politics towards the kurdish people. there are great neighbourhoods in aleppo which are by majority kurdish population, these are also the only areas of aleppo that are right now resisting against this attack of islamist forces. this is also a way of began clearing the table regarding the kurdish question and turkey, iraq and syria. this advance shocked a lot of people, what do you think will happen next? this is a very dangerous situation because we do not only have forces of the syria

what happens now, assad, we believe is going up asking putin, i need more help, and as you know, putinhed thin and hezbollah can't do much. and not clear irgc, the iranian revolutionary guard corps can. and it reminds something kissinger once said, wouldn't it be nice-- something like this, wouldn't it be nice if both sides could lose? both sides could lose here with little assistance from a clever united states. griff: it's quite something when someone like you can put in context how it's intertwined between hezbollah and saving assad, and putin behind the car t curtain and had a lot to pack in and watch. thank you for being here this weekend. >> a pleasure. alicia: riot police clashed with demonstrators outside of the department in georgia, all over suspension in the european union. following the disputed victory in the parliamentary elections. griff: in the first law of its kind world-wide, a democratic can't bans social media for anyone under 16 years old. could that happen in the u.s.? that's next. christians and j , and this hanukkah holiday is of urgent importance. this is our l

it's a complicated coalition, but what does unify them is their opposition to syria liter busha assad? government has been displaced for 5 years. but thank god, i'm not fighting to re claim on land from the grip of the criminal regime. we will persevere on this policy and call on young people to join us in the struggle to take back our country. i don't show a lot of agenda since 2020 the h t. and signs of a ripple groups have been mostly paced and the blood province. the area was subject to a turkey and rush, it broke a truce, but outside of it live, there are large pots of syria still controlled by rebels, opposed to assets, government, including along the border with the rock. you aspect. curtis forces maintain large parts of the north and turkey, along with the syrian national army control a so called buffers on along the turkish border with the offensive. the rebels may be trying to capitalize on the of the complex current free writing elsewhere with assets. highlight iran, reeling from israel, defensive on hezbollah and 11 on and with rushes resources stretched with its war and u

take a look do you think assad is our enemy? the enemy of the united states because the united syria does not pose a direct threat to the united states. >> now, of course why that comment and framing is noteworthy, especially in this context, is because of the ties between assad and the russians and the realities of where we are now. is there a world where there is a national security contingent in the senate that starts to take this nomination more seriously? >> yes, because she is one of the greatest, biggest critics of the current, not just national security state, but sort of american foreign policy establishment that you've had in many, many decades for perhaps, you know, ever like the only thing i can even think close to is in the 70s post-church committee stuff. and that's why you're going to see people like mitch mcconnell take a very, very close look at her record. but, you know, for trump's base, you know, the fact that she's getting criticized by nikki haley is a feature, not a bug. this is why people like tucker carl

dictator bashar al assad and vlad meier putin.19 gabbard traveled to meet with assad even though his atrocities with his own people were well documented at that point. after that she thought syria was behind the chemical attacks in aleppo, which they were, by the way, and the other is after ukraine, she was echoing propaganda about the war. is it any wonder why russian state tv talked about her this week? [ speaking in a global language ] >>> they are aren't friends of russia except for tulsi gabbard. quite a statement from russian propaganda tv. joining me is former cia director john brennan. great to see you, director brennan. we are trying to get to the bottom of it, helping viewers understand what these jobs actually are and let me start with tulsi gabbard because you served as cia director for four years and what would having her in the role of director of national intelligence mean for the intelligence apparatus of the u.s. >> there's uncertainty. as you pointed out, she's been apologist for vladimir putin and bashar al assa

russia, president assad's main ally, has been bombing rebel—held areas in response.ppo, which was the scene of one of bloodiest sieges of syria's civil war.

here's some of what she said. >> do you think -- >> assad is not the enemy of the united states because syria does not pose a direct threat to the united states. >> here's something you're not going to hear on the main stream media. what you do hear is war mongers saying we must protect crane because it is a democracy. they're lying. ukraine isn't actually a democracy. >> joining us now, columnist for the "washington post" and author of chaos under heaven, josh rogan. thank you for sharing part of your afternoon with us. what would this mean for gabbard to be dni and what kind of power she would have and how she would wield it, considering what you've heard her say? >> right. as you've pointed out, intelligence community members across the board are shocked and worried, concerned because she has a long history of siding with the analysis of russian- state propaganda, syrian state propaganda, above the u.s. intelligence community. when the u.s. intelligence community said assad used chemical weapons against his own people, she said she didn't believe it. when the russian propaganda said

she paid a visit to assad not so long ago. so big concerns about her directing national intelligence. and then matt gaetz shook democrats and republicans. we will play some of the reaction in a moment from people who have utterly stunned not just on the other hand well liked in the united states congress and not just democrats but by republican colleagues as well. he is someone like a lot of republicans who talked about the weaponization of the justice department and using the legal system to attack people personally. here you have a lot of that was invented of course but matt gaetz is chosen for the very reason that donald trump will tell you, he will go after donald trump's opponents and perceived enemies as well. david rowe, let's swing over to you for reaction, what you are hearing from sources across the justice department and people who have worked in our legal community for years. what are they saying? >> so yesterday i was in the justice department before this announcement was made. and afterwards, there was shock from

uh shia militias in iraq, bashar al assad's regime, hezbollah, hamas and the houthis. for hezbollah, for instance, syria, the syrian regime is critical for its continued existence because that is part of the strategic depth upon which hezbollah depends if the syrian regime is going to be paralyzed by fighting with the a renewed rebel push against their forces, hezbollah is going to be further weakened after being battered by the israelis, going back to october of last year and in the broader picture, we are seeing that the axis of resistance, led by iran has taken, you know blow after blow in recent months. and this certainly does represent another weakening of its forces around the region. so in terms of the sort of the broader geopolitical picture, this is a very significant development. and, of course, keep in mind that syria is a country that has been a playground for foreign forces. you have turkish forces, american forces, russian forces israel operating in the air over syria as well iran has forces hezbollah still has some forces in syria. so really it is a tind

anti-arregime syrian posing the biggest threat to the regime of bashar al-assad in years.arplanes had been sent to help the war effort in ukraine, creating a vacuum for syrian rebels to challenge the assad regime. they took control of aleppo's intelligence headquarters earlier today and have basically taken over the city. gillian? >> jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us. >> coming up tonight we are getting our first look inside a gloriously renovated notre dame cathedral. the landmark was severely damaged in 2019 during a fire. correspondent stephanie bennett shows us the results of the restoration tonight from london. >> rising from the ashes, it's been five and a half years since the iconic notre dame he would cathedral went up in flames. after thousands of hours cost of $750 million, funded by donations from 150 countries, according to frenchland, today its restored interior was revealed to the world. >> it feels like it was built yesterday, like it's just been born. even though notre dame is very old. it looks really extraordinary. >> bright winter sunshine lit up t

this is the syrian torture prison outside of damascus, where political prisoners were held by the assady deprivation. they were held in darkness. whenever the guards entered into the room, they had to be blindfolded or press their eyes against their... their hands against their eyes. and then what was activated was their sense of hearing. and the sense of hearing is also spatial. a small room would echo, and the sounds would reverberate in a different way than a corridor or a room with a high ceiling. so through partial visual memories — the number of tiles, through the audio analysis which we've done with a very close collaborator of us, the organisation called earshot — we were able to estimate the architecture of that secret torture prison. you end up with what you would say is a credible picture, a creation, a representation of the prison. what is it for, what use will it be? so, you know, we understand the term forensics maybe slightly differently than the way it is commonly used. in fact, we want to go back to the roman or latin origin of the term — forensics is the art of the for

. >> her fondness for bashar al assad calls for judgment into question. >> she met with bashar al assad want to know the purpose. >> reporter: meanwhile, the president-elect discussing global concerns with nato's secretary general this weekend, trump's incoming national security advisor mike waltz with a warning after meeting with out going counterpart jake sullivan. >> for adversaries who think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, they are wrong. we are one team with the united states in this transition. >> aaron joins us from west palm beach. we have seen some of mr. trump's pick meet with senators already and we know that process will pick up after the holiday. >> reporter: yeah, they will spend a month whipping up support on the hill. pete hegseth did it last week. tulsi gabbard is expected to meet with senators after thanksgiving. hallie. >> aaron gilchrist, thank you. >>> breaking news overseas. an israeli rabbi murdered traveling outside the country in what's called a terrorist attack. we're just learning about some arrests in that c

interesting and probably crucial to follow in the coming days, the development of that offensive, to see if assadthe rebels, and if the rebels actually can lead to another breakthrough, which would mean you have another let's say wave, another round in the conflict. forsure wave, another round in the conflict. for sure it tells us this is nowhere near the end of a conflict in syria.— a conflict in syria. thank you so much _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking - a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking it - a conflict in syria. thank you| so much for breaking it down a conflict in syria. thank you i so much for breaking it down to us. john lucas a man from the national university of singapore. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. and around back militias. going to be interesting and probably crucial to follow in the coming days, the development of that offensive, to see if assad is able to retaliate against the rebels, and if the rebels actually can lead to another breakthrough, which would mean you have anoth

sources in the syrian military have told reuters that moscow has promised bashar al—assad's forces extraaid to thwart the attempted takeover — which they say will arrive in the next few days. merlyn thomas and our bbc verify team have been tracking the situation. at bbc verify, we've been tracking the advance of rebel forces towards the city of aleppo in northern syria by looking at footage posted on social media. this is a video we verified which shows military vehicles moving along a road. it was shared by a media outlet affiliated with a rebel group which appears to be leading the advance. it was posted on telegram with a caption, "starting to enter the city of aleppo." and we have confirmed the location to be on the western edge of the city. you can see some of the vehicles here. another video we verified appears to show men in military fatigues running through the streets. and we have geo—located these videos to a western suburb of the city of aleppo but can't confirm the identity of the individuals seen. about two km away from here, we've also verified another video which appears t

i want to ask you about tulsi gabbard who is somebody who has -- she met with bashar al assad. been sympathetic and kind of applauded him in some ways, as well as putin. when you talk to your constituents where you stand on a nomination like that or whether you might be concerned about her overseeing intelligence agencies of worlds you've lived in, what do you tell them? >> first and foremost what i want to do assess the? new senator of new jersey is do my due diligence as someone who particular who was worked in the situation room and has spent time in that for hundreds of meetings, seeing the cabinet around the table, giving their best advice to the commander in chief so i can talk about it before that personal lens. what do i want to see in a leader that is sitting at that table of 13 chairs in the situation room with the president of the united states and be able to say, this is why this person is unqualified. this is why this is not a voice that we want to have in that place. that we recognize they all swear the same oath i swear in the capitol building which is as to the

and the assad government controls 2 thirds of the country with support from iran and russia. the syrian army responded to wednesdays incursions with intensive air strikes, hoping to hold the fighters to advance opposition groups say of russian aircraft were involved. the military says, armed groups have targeted villages, townsend military installations. but the timing of the operation, these raising questions, the sides key allies, the ron and has paul are under attack from israel, which is backed by the united states and russia. it's vacant. we're in ukraine. simon says the new fighting is not related to events outside the country, the ceiling review every now and then sometimes the directory by its forces sometimes by its allies in the russian shell, the people um, you know, uh absolutely for no reason. um and uh, so this, this uh uh, this operation is both defensive and, and, and defensive. nearly 3000000 displays. people live in northwest syria and to renew friday to, to force in a growing humanitarian crisis. their recent months have seen arab states and to, to keep mov

and there is a likelihood that the assad regime for the 1st time in a long time is under great track. now, what this means will be worked out the next couple of days, but you already have the crisis and casa, perhaps the, as will. our truth with israel has been put in place for the time being iran, his book, the book party here. what's gonna happen between the foreign minister of turkey and the foreign minister rusher, remained to be seen the soonest of the situation is at best flexible. but there's a real chance here that the assad administration is under great, great difficulty and the supporting parties, namely russia really do not have enough military equipment to be fully supported, simply because you're locked in and then you create the . now within the last hour, we're getting reports that are at least 40 palestinians have been killed in northern guys after these really striking a residential building. official say the attack happen in the tell as con, neighborhood as the latest in a series of relentless is really attacks across this trip since don, which of kills thousands of

assad government has been displaced for 5 years. but thank god i'm now fighting to re claim on land from the crypt with the criminal regime. we will persevere on this policy and call on young people to join us in the struggle to take back our country as long as i don't own shallow. since 2020 the h t and signed up. a ripple groups have been mostly based in the blood province. the area was subject to a turkey and rush. it broke a truce. but outside of it lived, there were large parts of syria, still controlled by rebels, opposed to assets, government, including along the border with the rock. us spect curtis forces maintain large parts of the north and turkey, along with the syrian national army control, a so called buffalo zone, along the turkish border with the offensive. the rebels may be trying to capitalize on the of the complex, currently writing elsewhere with assets. highlight your run reeling from israel's defensive on hezbollah and 11 on and with rushes resources stretched with its war and ukraine. but the offensive and the

c. w's own investigators. questioning the results, questioning the finding that the assad government was guilty of using poison gas, yet those controversies were suppressed by the office leadership. and they, uh, in order to present a bland pro us statements, essentially indicting the, the syrian government. so if the, if the o p c, w, cooperated with the u. s. i n s. and i in indicting a damascus. don't we can be reasonably sure it will cooperate with us in dieting moscow. so it seems almost pointless for russia to it's a sudden these notes, so total, even though it will continue to do so. i don't blame russia for doing it because i think it's, it's a useful exercise because it exposes the uh, the, the places ation of the office. but i think that any hope the turnaround in the near future is extremely unlikely of russia as also being warning about the existence of us funded bio labs and new cravens and tulsa golf was actually has been nominated by president elect. donald trump's, the us national intelligence direct sounds you know, has previously also tried to raise awareness about