>> no, i don't think the threat comes from the assad regime. i think it comes from iran. as you say, assad has his hands more full with the rebels, but hezbollah is a possibility or the iranian guard units are already inside syria. it torques the gravity of the crisis up considerably and why it's so dangerous. >> eric: the president had warned of the red line concerning chemical weapons. what do you make of that? >> i think that the obama administration miscalculated very badly here saying as long as ago as august of last year, that chemical would be a red line. publicly in a very embarrassing almost humiliating way last week backed off of it. this sends a signal to assad that he has gotten away with it and even as far as north korea that when barack obama draws a red line he doesn't mean it. it hitters the president's credibility and hurts the country as well. >> eric: there is a stunning headline in the "new york times" the lead headline, says, quote, off the cuff obama line put the u.s. in bind in syria. wording of the warning of chemical came as a surprise advisors sa

hoping that this will weaken hezbollah in fact it will likely strengthen his bottom line if the assad regime remains there will be no greater power i'll side of israel than hezbollah in the region as the americans withdraw so it's a fundamental broad expanse of relevance to all of the surrounding countries as well from iraq to turkey and jordan ok dan in washington would you agree or disagree with that i tend to know what your answer is go ahead. of course i would disagree with. is. a very tense moment in the region of course. is flexing a muscle. and israel is obviously watching the situation closely monitoring the closely but nobody's under the illusion of hizbollah can actually become the second most powerful force in the region hizbollah is actually being weakened as we speak suffering casualties and i think that the lebanese people in the lebanese government are realizing that this perhaps is their chance for the first time in a very very long time to diminish his bowlers and strengthen activities ok martin where do you come in and all this here let me let me go to martin had to get all

by russia and others in the international community to the assad regime don't could. on the contrary they services destabilize i disagree with you to state the state of this regime has to be other protect itself every country has a right to protect itself franklin go ahead in beirut. yeah and we've got it we've got a concert of the. syrian people to the fact of matter and i have spent the last of basically most of the last five months in syria i don't think that this syrian people are all it revolved because of all the hardship from the u.s. led sanctions to the brutality of the of the rebels and the brutality of the regime people are exhausted they want peace i don't rule out the russian plan i think that what this was not done at the you and i think has been mischaracterized they didn't only for sanctions the sanctions are going to expire on friday they didn't have the votes to lift the sanctions and i think the community the international community going to watch every arms shipment the only game in town may be. john kerry and sergey lavrov and i think that brahimi

their role seems to have been important to the success of president assad's regime . regaining control of qusayr would secure territory that connects damascus to the mediterranean coast, home to at president assad's alawite sect. anti-regime groups say that the town is surrounded. >> after the destruction of the field hospital, more than 1200 interests are waiting to be treated. 200 of them are in serious condition dr.. is are running out of oxygen. we are calling for an immediate evacuation of the injured. >> the u.s. government is condemning's involvement. >> this is an unacceptable and it's extremely dangerous explanations --escalation . we demand that hezbollah would draw its fighters immediately. >> pixar saw has had weeks of counteroffensive. still much of the north and east of syria is beyond his control. however, the syrian president may be emboldened by the arrival of a russian air defense system. lebanese media are reporting that he has said he has received the first shipment of missiles. these are weapons israel pills are a threat to its-securityits- .iare a

trying to encourage both rebel groups and bashar al assad's regime to have talks together to try and resolve that crisis iran and saudi arabia are also planning to attend that conference the big question is whether the rebel groups and bashar al assad's regime can both sit down at the table at that conference there are indications at the moment that both parties in principle want to sit down however divisions within the rebels' ranks and their their main demand that bashar al assad should step down may cause a lot of problems for that for that conference and their participation in it the u.s. has tried to press rebel leaders to attend that conference and russia for its part has tried to persuade bashar al assad and his regime to do the same with more than eighty thousand dead in the two year civil war and more than one point three million refugees having fled syria according to the u.n. the u.n. official say that something really has to be done or. about this situation and they've stated that sentiment multiple times there are a number of ongoing initiatives not just in syria but als

but it does show to those around the region that assad's regime is weak.cisive to knock him out. >> john: let me bring rachel kleinfeld. you wrote that the u.s. should tape in tostep in to aid the syrian rebels. >> no one wants war in this region but how do you keep the war from spilling over to allies like israel, and into weak states like lebanon and allies like turkey. the best way to keep the violence contained is to shape the option rather than to let the options shape themselves. that requires some show of force, but not with american boots on the ground. that needs to be quite limited and we need to understand the end game before we get involved. >> john: do you mean by that airstrikes or merely arming the insurgents. >> the best possible option would be arming the insurgents. that would require some level of special forces on the ground to make sure that it's going to the right insurgents, not folks working with al-qaida, but the secular insurgentses that we're willing to work with. it would be air defenses that would be flown from missiles offshor

this is a strong signal to the assad regime, that it needs to engage in the political process, and as i have always said and as i said to our parliament last week, we would only take the step of sending arms in company with other nations in carefully controlled circumstances. >> moscow was unhappy with the decision. the kremlin says more weapons will only mean more killing. >> it is a rather obvious double standard in a policy of our european partners. you cannot on one hand declare your intention to stop the bloodshed and on the other hand move in the direction of pumping more weapons into syria. >> but russia says it will deliver missiles to the assad regime due to existing contracts. it is unclear what the latest moves mean for the international peace talks planned for next month. >> we are joined now in the studio by a middle east expert. very warm welcome. russia says it is delivering anti-aircraft missiles to syria to help deter hotheads. who are they talking about? >> basically, russia is saying should the western world even think about sending troops to syria in order to toppl

this is a strong signal to the assad regime, that it needs to engage in the political process, and as i have always said and as i said to our parliament last week, we would only take the step of sending arms in company with other nations in carefully controlled circumstances. >> moscow was unhappy with the decision. the kremlin says more weapons will only mean more killing. >> it is a rather obvious double standard in a policy of our european partners. you cannot on one hand declare your intention to stop the bloodshed and on the other hand move in the direction of pumping more weapons into syria. >> but russia says it will deliver missiles to the assad regime due to existing contracts. it is unclear what the latest moves mean for the international peace talks planned for next month. >> we are joined now in the studio by a middle east expert. very warm welcome. russia says it is delivering anti-aircraft missiles to syria to help deter hotheads. who are they talking about? >> basically, russia is saying should the western world even think about sending troops to syria in order to toppl

the chief on stek sell russia which is course with the assad regime, as well as iran. how does it change the news we get about israeli news strikes in syria which have been confirmed now. how does that change the diplomat diplomatic calculus to persuade the russians to come on board. >> it may be more difficult, in fact, kerry is heading to moscow. he will go there on monday. monday and tuesday. and he will be meeting on tuesday, we're told, with vladimir putin and with the foreign minister. the murussians have been blocki action by the united nations. they have been a serious chief ally other than iran. russians have set repeatedly, as of the last couple days, they do not believe the allegations about chemical weapons or the evidence. so as long as russia is going to prop up assad and as long as the iranians are in there as well, it is very difficult to change the balance of power. it is difficult to find and make sure you secure the chemical weapons, make sure they don't get into the hands of terrorist. israel has said they would not permit hezbollah to get their han

used to have some kind of influence over the assad regime. right now, it's not only about what he thinks will work, but also about what he is willing to do. let's not forget, a large majority of americans is against any form of military intervention in syria, especially boots on the ground. it was about 10 years ago, arch -- march, when a different prime minister from the uk and a different president here in the u.s. stood in front of the press in the white house, explaining why they were intervening in iraq, said it was going to be a rapid intervention. then there was afghanistan. americans are very wary. they have war fatigue. >> americans might be leery of a new military strategy against syria in some form, but politicians in washington are also very suspicious of vladimir putin. is this initiative finding support in the capital? >> exactly. the consensus, nevertheless, here in washington is that the new initiative is better than nothing, but, like you said, there is suspicion. the russians have not done anything significant in the last tw

rebels fighting the assad regime ask john mccain for help when the republican senator slips into the civil war-torn nation. >>> crane collapse. a piece of construction equipment toppled over in russia and caught on camera slicing through an apartment building. >>> workers save an infant trapped in a sewage pipe. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, may 28th, 2013. >>> good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. this morning firefighters in southern california are battling a fast moving wildfire that forced up to 6,000 memorial day campers to evacuate. the fire broke out yesterday afternoon in the los padres national forest. about 50 homes are threatened, many of them vacation rentals. so far just one building has actually been damaged. >> it was a u.s. forest service building. the fire was put out so only a certain portion of the building was destroyed. we had two vehicles that were burned. one was a u.s. forest service whiteface mountain. the weather was so bad that part of the highway had to be closed. >>> and president obama takes a post-memorial day tour of th

john mccain made a quick trip to the war in torn country meeting with rebel fighters with the assad regime so will the u.s. soon arm the rebels look at this issue later. well it's tuesday may twenty eighth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm margaret how are you watching r t. and information content used to emerge regarding the department of justice keeping tabs on journalist and just who approved of those investigations into who journalists communicate with via phone and email well more than three weeks ago news broke that the department of justice seized phone records of the associated press reporters to find out who had leaked national security information then it came to light that fox white house correspondent james rosen was facing charges as a coconspirator under the espionage act for obtaining classified information from a state department source back in two thousand and nine president obama said that

european union has lifted arms emrgo as new repor of chemical weapon use by assad regime emerge. a u.s. senator is freelancing with we rebel leaders over the memorial day weekend, we turn to fox news chief white house correspondentd hry. >> reporter: obama administration tried to put the be face on e.'s decision to end its arms open barringo on syria. >>t sends a message to assad regime that support for oppositi will increase. >> reporter: john mccain kept the heat on the white house after aecret memorial day trip to syria, tweeting it was an opinion visit with -- important visit with brave fighters in ria. with military analysts declaring pressure is building to presiddnt obama to arm the rebels, after mccain's high profile vis. >> the second thing is a bit of a poke in the eye to the obama administration. by saying, look, i am here, imwilling to support the army of the rubbles, time to -- rebels time to get onboaoard >> reporter: otter expert ne some rebels a tied to al qaeda and mccain seems too eager to to war. >> we can't let go of afghanistan, now he wants to us actively su

the assad regime points the finger at israel. the syrian government calling the attacks a dollaration of war. fox reports fears of escalating violence in the region and new questions about what the u.s. should do now. also, a vicious attack on a soccer field ends in tragedy. a referee left in a coma has died. all of this after a player, angry over a call, allegedly punched that referee in the head. in minutes, the charges that teenager faces. >>> and nothing out of the ordinary here. a guy gets pulled over for a routine traffic stop. that's one of the officers yelling before a barrage of bullets hits her squad car. they say they didn't see it coming. >>> i'm harris faulkner. we begin tonight with syria and the civil war that's claimed more than 70,000 lives and made a million refugees and shown instability in an area already volatile. right next door, our friend and ally israel. new developments. israel playing a much more active role now in trying to protect itself from the chaos over the border. we can show you what is believed

deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war shattering washington's earlier accusations it was the assad regime which had resorted to using illegal chemicals. in the cold economic despair drives tens of thousands of former supporters of france to turn their backs on the french president. and. dozens of young protesters behind bars for taking part in antigovernment. claims that defendants confessed that. it is a pleasure to have you with us here on this monday. with your news from all around the world. now u.n. investigators are saying they have strong grounds to believe that the rebels in syria used chemical weapons against civilians according to the testimonies of both victims and witnesses opposition fighters sprayed the deadly nerve gas sarin an agent that's banned internationally and that's amid widespread allegations backed by the us that it was the syrian regime that have resorted to chemicals in the long lasting civil war inside the state just over a week ago washington declared the assad government had used such and therefore had crossed obama's red line opening the possibility of a gre

, we that i in any use of chemical weapons in syria is almost certain to have been done by the assad regime. but any use would be a red line crossed. >> brown: all of this as the "new york times" reported the u.s., britain and france have been secretly discussing the use of air strikes in syria. to some, including arizona republican senator john mccain, the weekend's developments suggested syrian defenses would not be much of an obstacle. >> in fact is we are capable of taking out their air on the ground with cruise missiles, cratering their runways. to allege that the united states of america can't do that means we've wasted a hell of a lot of tax payers dollars. >> brown: now it is unclear what happens next. the israelis deployed iron dome rocket batteries to the north of the country in case the syrians try to retaliate. but a top israeli commander played down the possibility saying there are no winds of war. for more, we're joined by: michele dunne, director of the atlantic council's center for the middle east. she previously served in the state department and the national security counc

used a deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war confusing washington's earlier accusations the assad regime had been the one resorting to illegal chemical weapons . according. to taking part in government violence although made claims that defendants confessed only after torture. and socialist. in the whole economic despair drives tens of thousands of former supporters. to turn their backs on the french president. with a worldwide news live from moscow this is r.t. with me i thank you for being with us today. u.n. investigators say they have strong grounds to believe that rebels in syria have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war while no evidence was found that the government has ever released any such deadly agents now this flies in the face of washington's previous statement it was the assad regime which had apparently resorted to illegal weapons i discussed the latest developments with. you want human rights investigators say based on the evidence that they have the rebels in syria have used the nerve agent sorry this is a major development which comes at a time when the assa

deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war shattering washington's earlier accusations it was the assad regime which has resorted to illegal chemical weapons . according throws dozens of young pro-reform protesters behind bars for taking part in government violence all amid claims the defendants confessed to torture. and socialist i call in the polls economic despair drives tens of thousands of form of supporters of francois hollande to turn their backs on the french president. it is a monday morning here in moscow. with the worldwide news live on r t u n investigators now say they have strong grounds to believe rebels in syria have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war while no evidence was found the government has ever released any of the deadly now those challenges washington's previous statement it was the assad regime which had apparently resorted to the illegal weapons but earlier i discussed the latest developments with. you want human rights investigators say based on the evidence that they have the rebels in syria have used the nerve agent sorry this is a major development

the assad regime will not give up like that.lly lob a few cruise missiles in and kind of hope and see what happens. we would be fully engaged and we would have to insure the right outcome. >> yep. good point, fareed. thanks very much, christiane, of course, thanks to you. we'll check back with both of you, hopefully, tomorrow. >>> you can get much more from christiane amanpour monday through friday, 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. eastern. also, fareed zakaria airs here on cnn sundays 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. eastern. >>> coming up, a powerful fire kills five people on a bachelorette party, including the bride-to-be. now the limo driver who escaped with his life is speaking to cnn. i work for 47 different companies. well, technically i work for one. that company, the united states postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. because at usps.com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. i can even drop off free boxes. i wear a lot of hats. well, technically i wear one. the u.s. postal service®, no business too sma

likely used a deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war confusing washington accusations the assad regime had been the one resorting to illegal chemical weapons. according to dozens of young pro-reform protesters behind bars for taking part in antigovernment violence all of it claims the defendants confessed but only after torture. and from the socialist i call in the polls economic despair drives tens of thousands of former supporters. to turn their backs on the french president. worldwide news live from the heart of the russian capital t with me rule received thank you for joining us today. investigators say they have strong grounds to believe that rebels in syria have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war and while no evidence was found the government has ever released any deadly agents now this does a fly in the face of washington's previous statement it was the assad regime which had apparently resorted to the use of illegal weapons do you tell us now to watch these guy in a church you can. you want human rights investigators say based on the evidence that they have the re

they have to persuade russia that the assad regime did use deadly sarin gas against its own people. >> jon: we are [bleep]. so intervention in syria relies on the united states convincing vladimir putin that it's bad to poison people. ( cheers and applause ). yeah, that will work. sarin gas, hmmm. yes, yes. i remember it well. a little more complicated than the good old days, isn't it, fellows? when you could just invade a country. it's as though the misadventure made us a little more conscious as to what constitutes the crossing of a red line. even the ring leader that proud chapter in black-and-white no nuance american policy has learned to see red lines with a little more shading. >> i'm sitting here analyzing that tie you have and trying to figure out if i can mix paint. a little permanent rose and maybe a touch of white. and on the other side maybe a little raw umber to darken it up so it can reflect the light properly. >> jon: yeah. you do ( cheers and applause ). >> jon: welcome back. as you probably know if you follow the world of sports and/or homosexuality, yesterday brought

air strikes to weaken t assad air defenses and military regime.e all that happen. they're under consideration in washington. but this is going to be happen in a very i think thoughtful and cautious way so the president knowns when we do something it's based on fact. >> we have to look at the regional aspect and how it ties in. it's a web really. syria, in many ways, already a bit a proxy war for the varying competing sides. iran and iraq, they don't want to see a majority rule in syria, because it's going to be sunni and they're not going to be too pleased with that. you've got hezbollah who might lose their funding and their friends. and you've got israel who doesn't want iran being involved. iran running shipments into syria. you've got to be careful how we play this, don't we? >> certainly. i think the greater danger here from an american perspective is the risk of a wider war. a war that would destabilize lebanon and perhaps jordan and iraq. i think that's what the argument is for intervention. for some type of intervention. not of american tr

past several months we have the capacity, we have the capacity to significantly weaken both the assad regime'sair power and its increasing use of ballistic missiles which pose significant risks as delivery vehicles for chemical weapons. to address this threat, we should use our precision strike capabilities to target assad's aircraft and scud missile launchers on the ground without our pilots having to fly into the teeth of syria's air defenses. similar weapons could be used to selectively destroy artillery pieces and make assad's forces think twice about remaining at their post. we could use the patriot missile batteries outside of syria to help protect safe zones inside of syria from assad's aerial bombing and missile attacks. would any of these options immediately end the conflict? probably not, but they could save innocent lives in syria. they could give the moderate opposition a better chance to succeed in marginalizing radical actors and eventually provide security and responsible governance in syria after assad falls. however, the longer we wait, the worse the situation gets and the tou

forms a kind of axis along with china in terms of support for the assad regime and political clout thats the international community's ability to act with fwraeter sanctions. >> they really think they benefit with identifying themselves with a regime at this point? >> the irony of this is that for russians, it is a domestic issue and it particularly doesn't like the idea of the international community being able to say if there were protests, that they back the protests because russia facing its own. >> so, the muslims in russia are pro rebel. >> some, but they're anti putin. they want independence or whatever. >> this is a hard thing for me to sort out from this end, richard. what side is the arab world on? what side is the islamic world or is it a sunni versus shia area fight? >> very much a sectarian fight and you'll see lined up hezbollah, iran and the bashar al assad regime and many elements of the iraqi government fighting on the shia side. if you watch al jazeera or follow what's beginning on in social media, the people are overwhelmingly with the uprising going on in syria. they

by drawing a red line on chemical weapons, the president actually gave the assad regime a green light to use every other weapon in his arsenal with impunity. more than 70,000 syrians have been killed indiscriminately, with snipers,rtillery, fighter jets and even ballistic missiles. according to a recent human ghts watch report,ore than 3,300 civilians have been killed by assad's airstrikes alone since july 2012. at the same time iran and hezbollah is bill ago front. according to estimates that have been published in the media some believe there were no more than a few hundred fighters in syria last year. but today it is widely believed there could be thousands of extremist fighters inside of sear yavment they are gaining strength by the day because they are the best, most experienced fighters. they are well-funded and are providing humanitarian nance in the parts of syria where people need is most. at the same time, this conflict is having increasingly devastating consequences to the security and stability of our allies and partners in israel, jordan, turkey, iraq, and lebanon much th

past several months we have the capacity, we have the capacity to significantly weaken both the assad regime'sair power and its increasing use of ballistic missiles which pose significant risks as delivery vehicles for chemical weapons. to address this threat, we should use our precision strike capabilities to target assad's aircraft and scud missile launchers on the ground without our pilots having to fly into the teeth of syria's air defenses. similar weapons could be used to selectively destroy artillery pieces and make assad's forces think twice about remaining at their post. we could use the patriot missile batteries outside of syria to help protect safe zones inside of syria from assad's aerial bombing and missile attacks. would any of these options immediately end the conflict? probably not, but they could save innocent lives in syria. they could give the moderate opposition a better chance to succeed in marginalizing radical actors and eventually provide security and responsible governance in syria after assad falls. however, the longer we wait, the worse the situation gets and the tou

ahead of a possible collapse of assad's regime. zoom in tighter, and you find concerns about al qaeda infiltration of syrian rebel groups. with every day of the conflict only adding to the desperation and vulnerability of the people living there. and, of course, the body count continues to rise. more than 70,000 and counting. for more, i want to bring in michael o'halon of the brookings institution. and here in new york, ayman, nbc correspondent. mike, in a column published a couple days ago, you wrote the following. "president assad has already killed tens of thousands of his own people with the most prbrut and indiscriminate attacks. the fact he might have harmed a few dozen more with sarin gas, while horrible, does not radically change the complexion of the conflict." i thought it was the president of the united states who said the use of chemical weapons would absolutely change the complexion of this conflict. >> hi, martin. well, in that piece, i argued for now trying to think of a way we should do more. so i actually acknowle

says it is rethinking its position on arming the rebels as chemical weapons why were used by the assad regimetrategy when we come back. mom always got good nutrition to taste great. she was a picky eater. well now i'm her dietitian and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and our great taste is guaranteed or your money back. learn more at boost.com [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves... being my mom. >> what we now have is evidence that chemical weapons were used but we don't know how they were used when they were used or who used them. we don't have a chain of custody that establishes exactly what happened. >> paul: president obama says his administration needs more time to gather the facts before acting on the assad regime's reported use of sari

spokesman jay carney says the obama administration still believes it is highly likely president assad's regime is behind any chemical weapons use. starts ourdall coverage. >> there are an increasingly disparate array of rubble groups in syria. firefights like this one, in aleppo, are part of everyday life. now, a senior un official says testimony gathered from vic ends by her human rights team suggests that some rebel groups may also have got hold of and used sarah and nerve gas. thatwas a bit stupefied the best indication we got about the use of nerve gas by the opposition. haser investigating team not been allowed inside syria. their evidence is gathered ,econdhand from victims doctors, and crowded refugee camps across the border, where so many have fled. this afternoon, the un stressed the latest findings are not conclusive. there is no proof yet that chemical weapons have been used by either side. but pictures of victims clearly in distress suggests there may have been instances were chemical agents have been used. one attack, it is alleged, took part in a section of aleppo inhabited by sy

all of this will be triggered by the fact that the assad regime will have these advanced weapons.ador said, i heard and read the speech in arabic. he did not say that he received a nymph. he was very vague. he said that these contrac are being implented. the more imptant point here is that assad now accounts and the fact that thrussians will be providin an umbrella, meaning his area within syria will b provided with an anti-aircraft syst, radar system, and the most concerning situation would be as was the case before, the russians will see in the teens ofdvisers to man the weapons. lori: but why would russia want to get involved in this way? es not threan its already tenuous relationship with us, the u.s.? >> they have a lot of problems. communicating concerns. they don't toee a post assad regime that would be islamist and in alliance with those were fighting them in the chechnya ar and pakistan. number two they have basis. number three, they are the allies of the iranians. for all these reasons, they're not going to let go of assad thatasily unless they're is a real deal, and tha

and russia. >> there's no sign that moscow was backing down from its firm support for the assad regime. the syrian opposition's insistence on assad's departure and other departures was holding up peace efforts. >> one gets the impression that the national coalition and its regional allies are doing everything they can to prevent a political process from getting under way, and that includes manipulating public opinion in the west in order to bring about a military intervention in syria. >> russia oppose the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles seen here is aimed at helping the damascus government defend itself against any foreign attack. the united nations has criticized weapons shipments to either side and believes that only a negotiated settlement can end the conflict. >> there is no such military solution in this case. i think only a political process can resolve this issue in a sustainable way. >> but the opposition have announced that they will not enter talks as long as massacres are continuing on the ground. the opposition also claimed fighters from hezbollah and iran are involved

there's probably not a lot of assad regime can do. at the same time israel doesn't want to provoke syria into acting or acknowledging to, so i'm a little surprised they have taken responsibility so quickly so certainly they have a strong interest in depriving hezbollah of those kind of weapons they could later use against israel. >> the president has talked about a red line, a so-called red line. does the u.s. share israel's attitude that any mass weapons transfer between syria and hezbollah would constitute that red line. >> the united states has a great concern about that and probably although maybe not publicly, is privately applauding what israel has done. we have a great concern with not only hezbollah getting these weapons, but this al qaeda in iraq merged with this organization in syria, that's a great concern to the united states because, you know, once the assad regime falls, and ultimately it will fall, there's going to be a fight for who controls syria in the aftermath and that fight may go on for years, and right now one o

and russia. >> there's no sign that moscow was backing down from its firm support for the assad regime. the syrian opposition's insistence on assad's departure and other departures was holding up peace efforts. >> one gets the impression that the national coalition and its regional allies are doing everything they can to prevent a political process from getting under way, and that includes manipulating public opinion in the west in order to bring about a military intervention in syria. >> russia oppose the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles seen here is aimed at helping the damascus government defend itself against any foreign attack. the united nations has criticized weapons shipments to either side and believes that only a negotiated settlement can end the conflict. >> there is no such military solution in this case. i think only a political process can resolve this issue in a sustainable way. >> but the opposition have announced that they will not enter talks as long as massacres are continuing on the ground. the opposition also claimed fighters from hezbollah and iran are involved

what's happening is the russians keep providing more and more advanced weaponry to the assad regime. d i was told by a senior russian parliamentary member very close to president putin that these missiles that the anti-ship cruise missiles russia's sending to assad are the patrolling with more ships of the port there all designed as strong messages to the west not to get involved in any kind of intervention on behalf of the opposition whether no-fly zone or whatever. >> all right. christiane amanpour, thank you so much. appreciate it. michael, we know, she mentions israel's role in this but also lebanon. you have the lebanese organization hezbollah, which is supporting the syrian government could also be drawn into this conflict. so we're potentially looking at a really all-out war, a conflict in that region. >> exactly. hezbollah are the main fighters in the battle taking place near the lebanese border and the rebels fire missiles into lebanon with a town already spilling over. it's very, very worrying. coming up here on "around the world," the taliban's number two guy in pakistan is