. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting isis and they accuse their forces of indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. we saw russian troops loading so-called dumb bombs, unguided munitions, very inaccurate, lots of potential for collateral damage. scornfully dismissed the charge. what civilian facilities are you talking about, he says? these are powerful groups of terrorists. one thing is clear, there is a new reality in the syrian war, and it speaks russian. terry moran, abc news, salma, syria. >> so fascinating, huh? >> it is. i remember the white house officials when the russians first launched this offensive about five weeks ago, as terry mentioned, saying good luck. and things have turned around 180 degrees since they launched this offensive, at least for president assad's regime there. >> there's been such talk is he going to step down, and tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov had to fight off talk from reporters, saying, no, there was a former chief of intelligenc

massive air strikes have pulverized rebels and bolstered the assad regime. a close moscow ali.went to sea on board a russian destroyers, sailed out into the mediterranean and saw how much firepower moscow committed to the effort. cruise missiles on board, it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria, it's sending a signal to the rest of the world about the russian navy's modern capabilities. at the main russian air base in syria, jets are roorg day and night. the perimeter bristling with helicopter gun ships. this is the tip of the spear of russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've thrown more than 5,000 sorties from this base striking 10,000 targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shape add the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of caution. even after declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting isis and they accuse their forces of is diskrim nat attacks that killed hundreds of civil

and helping the assad regime fight its enemies. and that seems to take priority over fighting isis. >> translator: if you cut off the head, you get chaos. there's chaos in libya, chaos essentially in iraq. half the country is under isil. and the head was chopped off there, you see? so if you want to so stubbornly remove the leaders of syria, >> i'm just wondering you believe that assad has a role in the future of syria? >> translator: the problem is that he's lost some of his authority. the people themselves must follow and how to build their lives, which has been essentially ruined in syria. >> reporter: ruined in l lge part by president assad's own military. we got the sense the admiral is not crazy about the syrian president, who has dropped bombs on his own people. the admiral used a derogatory term to describe assad, then asked that we not repeat it on tv. >> translator: we know why the opposition was formed. it was formed due to the mistakes of the president of syria himself. >> reporter: when they launched russians said it w

and helping the assad regime fight its enemies. and that seems to take priority over fighting isis. >> translator: if you cut off the head, you get chaos. there's chaos in libya, chaos essentially in iraq. half the country is under isil. and the head was chopped off there, you see? so if you want to so stubbornly it's an enormous mistake. >> i'm just wondering if you believe that assad has a role in the future of syria? >> translator: the problem is that he's lost some of his authority. the people themselves must figure out in elections who to follow and how to build their lives, which has been essentially ruined in syria. >> reporter: ruined in large part by president assad's own military. we got the sense the admiral is not crazy about the syrian president, who has dropped bombs on his own people. the admiral used a derogatory term to describe assad, then asked that we not repeat it on tv. >> translator: we know why the opposition was formed. it was formed due to the mistakes of the president of syria himself. >> reporter: when t

and russia seems to have other priorities-- supporting the assad regime and helping the assad regime fight its enemies, and that seems to take priority over fighting isis. >> komoyedov: if you cut off the head, you get chaos. there's chaos in libya, chaos essentially in iraq. half the country is under isil. and the head was chopped off there, you see. so, if you want to so stubbornly remove the leaders of syria, it's an enormous mistake. >> whitaker: i'm just wondering if you believe that assad has a role in the future of syria? >> komoyedov: the problem is that he has lost some of his authority. figure out, in elections, whom to follow and how to build their lives, which have been essentially ruined in syria. >> whitaker: ruined, in large part, by president assad's own military. we got the sense admiral komoyedov is not crazy about the syrian president, who has dropped bombs on his own people. the admiral used a derogatory term to describe assad, then asked that we not repeat it on tv. >> komoyedov: we know why the opposition was formed. it was formed due to the mistakes of the pres

that is moving in support of the assad regime against the u.s. back saudi arabia and other interests. what's the role of saudi arabia's rise to isis and have they been part of this jihad that is increasingly being spread globally throughout africa and even in asia now? >> host: bob, we are going to get him to answer the question, how long have you beening there the -- been following in the institute? >> caller: i was dealing with people that were coming and going, communicating back and forth from afghanistan and iraq like some people do from kansas city to chicago on a daily basis >> host: thank you, sir. >> guest: one of the great places to live. what's complicated with this fight, geopolitical blocks are against one another. the fact that you have russians and iranians and saudis and americans on the other side. how do you come up with a new government in syria that would be acceptable to both sides or even have the un resolution for goodness sake which seems to be impossible to do now. you know, there's meetings under way where government are

india's position in the un security council has been tilted in favor of the assad regime. not supported any moves to remove him. india has some competing interests in the middle east doesn't want to unsettle those. it gets a lot of oil from saudi arabia. it is looking to extend transport links in huron -- in iran to get access to resources and central asia. given the tensions, that just makes the whole syria question trickier. on another level, china and india have concerns about the growing ranks of jihadi's in the syrian conflict. there are religious tensions at home that could be inflamed. in that sense, there is a level of support for the assad regime to try and keep those types of ranks of jihadi fighters in check. angie: thank you. eyes are on us in asia, but let's see what is making headlines on social media. talking about the recapture of el chapo. dominating headlines right now. this is the second time he has escaped from prison. it was the lead up to the arrest that is really making headlines interning at to be like a real hollywood john the. penn! starring sean

massive air strikes and cruise verized rebels and bolstered the assad regime. for decades a close moscow sea on board a russian destroyer, sailed out into the mediterranean, and saw just how much firepower moscow has committed to this effort. the russian missile cruiser ot cruise missiles on board. and it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria. it's sending a signal to the rest of the world about the capabilities. russian air base in syria the jets are roaring day and night. the perimeter bristling with helicopter gunships.e spear of russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've flown more than 5,000 sorties targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shaped the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of er declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain, and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting hey accuse their forces of indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. we saw russian troops loading so-call

. >> well, it all boils down to the point what should be done with the current assad regime and personally how president assad should either remain in power during the transition period or that he should leave immediately when the political process begins. now, having said that the russians and the united states are moving closely as they used to be now that they understand, especially for the united states and the europeans, that they have understand -- they have understood that the islamic state threat and also the civil war in syria is a top priority that they have to deal with and for that to happen, to achieve a ceasefire in syria they have to have some sort of understanding with the russians and also with the assad regime for the moment. at least it's better to have sort of a negotiation on going rather than all parties just fighting against each other and accusing the other's parties of not fulfilling their commitments. it's better to have a deal, it's better -- but at least it should be better to have at least a negotiation, ongoing negotiation, so that the in the future there coul

. >> direction in terror vention help the bashar al-assad regime very much to survive because the regime was collapsed, fully collapsed, and also had them to protect the area through latakia which bashar al-assad bring. >> reporter: the army and its allies have also turned their attention to what is known as the southern front, the army recaptured one of the most important towns there. it lies on the road between damascus and deraa, the birth place of the revolution. south syria is also one of the remaining rebel strong holds and one where the rebels are considered moderate by the international community. further north many of the rebel strong holds around damascus are under siege. this has forced fighters on either abandon their position or agree to truces under negotiated deals. >> sometimes free syria army withdrew from the place and the heavy shelling of the fighters, but it's easy to go back to that place. >> reporter: the army and its allies have made strategic and tactical gains but the war is far from over. the battle for aleppo will be the tipping point. syria's commercial capit

anyone who opposes the bashar al-assad regime is a terrorist. the approved list of opposition figures are those who are willing to acquiesce to bashar al-assad's attaining of power. i think this highlights the fundamental facade that is called a peace process. the entire premise of this peace process that is being advanced by the u.s. and russia is based on this faulty assumption that somehow after five years of a near genocidal war they're suddenly going to show around a peace table and kiss and make up. what is being ignored is not just the facts on the grounds, the horrific violence, but we've seen this movie before two years ago in geneva. a similar initiative was started and down under the special services and the two sides showed up at the peace talks. they had nothing in common and nothing to talk about. i suspect that's exactly what's going to happen with this so-called vienna peace process >>> while the diplomacy becomes more can complex games on the grounds. syrian forces have held the last town held by i.s.i.l. in latakia. rob matheson

massive air strikes and cruise missile attacks have pulverized rebels and bolstered the assad regime. for decades a close moscow ally. we also went to sea on board a russian destroyer, sailed out into the mediterranean, and saw just how much firepower moscow has committed to this effortrt. the russian missile cruiser varyag. it's got cruise missiles on board. and it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria. it's nding a signal to the rest of the world about the ssian navy's modern capabilities. and at the main russian air base in syria the jets are roaring day and night. e perimeter bristling with helicopter gunships. this is the tip of the spear of russian air power in syria. flownore than 5,000 sorties from this base, striking 10,000 targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shaped the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of caution. even after declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain, and others say russia is helping the assad regim a lot more thann they' fighting isis. and they accu

the assad regime hasn't allowed aid in since october 18. >>> tonight an unprecedented look inside syria. "60 minute" correspondent bill whitaker takes us to the main russian air base in syria where strikes are being launched against enemies of bashar al assad. >> reporter: it was almost midnight when our plane took off from a russian air base outside moscow. as we started to take pictures out the window, we were told nyet, no. something we heard often during the next three days. >> no, no, no, no. >> reporter: this was the first face we saw after landing. that's syrian president bashar al assad. this once was a syrian airport. since the summer, the russians have built barracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions. heart of assad-controlled syria. this is mostly friendly territory. at least 20 miles from the closest front lines. but the russians aren't taking any chances. helicopter gunships constantly patrolled the perimeter. they took us out along newly extended runways to watch a steady series of planes taking off. the roar was deaf

obviously, the bashar al-assad regime have been helped by the last four months, even if you've seen events like andrew simons was reporting on, of syrians dying, the russian aerial bombardment has helped the assad regime. i think in the face of these proximity talks, without the sides sitting around the table, they believe two years they brought the talks together too quickly. they will deal with the issues of humanitarian access because they want to try and get more access to people who are besieged across syria. in fact, the humanitarian chief of the u.n. in syria, the man who led that convoy into madaya i'm told, will be in geneva from monday. i think that says to me there is likely to be a humanitarian dimension to the early part of the talks, trying to show some benefit to the two sides and to the population in syria if they continue these talks >>> thank you very much for that. afghanistan's taliban says it will resume talks with the afghan government only if it is removed from a u.n. black list. the armed group was urged to return to the negotiating table last week. a senior member