place but secretary kerry had harsh words for russia monday saying its military support for the assad regime has enabled assad to double down which is creating an enormous problem. alid almoalem said it created a negative atmosphere for the talks. >> we are saying that the way the regime is negotiating is negative for the talks. this is a conflict now that the negotiations aren't going in any direction. >> more than 140,000 syrians have died since the beginning of the war, according to the london-based association of syrian rights. 7,000 were children. with the bleak humanitarian situation the u.n. emergency relief agency was able to evacuate over a thousand people from the ancient city of homs, after 18 months of fighting that's ruined the old city, a feeble cease fire allowed peace keepers to physically guide out of the city, women, children, and disabled residents caught in the middle of the brutal battle, while thousands remain behind. the united nations is requesting a continuation of the cease fire in order to get supplies to a city under siege. opposition are still fighting against th

the negotiating table in the first place, but secretary kerry said the military support for the assad regime has enabled assad to double down, creating a a an enormous problem. syria pushed back stating it was a negative climate for the talks. the opposition blamed the regime. >> we're saying the way the regime is negotiate something not lead to go a result, this is not only a conviction from our side. this is a conviction that these negotiations are not going in any direction. [ sirens ] >> reporter: more than 140,000 syrians have died since the beginning of the civil war. nearly half of those killed were civilians, 7,000 were children. with the bleak humanitarian situation the rehumanitarian relief agency was able to evacuate over a thousand people from the ancient city of homs after 18 months of fighting that has ruined the old city, allowing peace keepers to guide out of the city women, children, and disabled residents caught in the middle of the brutal battle. while thousands more remain behind the united nations is requesting a continuation of the cease-fire in order to get much needed

everybody agrees more pressure needs to be brought to bare on this assad regime to change this deadly equation. so beyond the general statements you made, what additional tangible steps did you discuss in your meetings today to help the moderate opposition to try to change that equation on the ground? and secondly for mr. president [ speaking french ] i'm going to ask it in english. how it is okay for a trade delegation with 100 french ceos to travel to tehran to explore business opportunities when the e-3 have committed to maintaining the strength of the situation. >> let me take a stab first at the syria question. we still have a horrendous situation on the ground in syria. i don't think anybody disputes that, and what is absolutely clear is that with each passing day, more people inside of syria are suffering. the state of syria itself is crumbling. that is bad for syria. it is bad for the region. it is bad for global national security, because what we know is, is that there are extremists who have moved into the vacuum in certain portions of syria in a way that could threaten us o

there is had never going to be a negotiations that results in the assad regime leaving as long as russia and iran continue to back assad as they have done for the last three years. as the obama administration doesn't understand three years ago and doesn't understand today. >> you say the administration doesn't understand that, but he called for the red line on the use of chemical weapons. where does it go off the tracks with the white house and dealing with assad? >> they made a lot of mistakes. if they were serious they should have moved much earlier to back the ap sigz militarily. that was never going to happen because obama knew that if you crossed iran in syria, he would never get negotiations. as a result we had three years of confusion and e 85tation and contradiction and indecision that leaves us where we are today as we started out with a human tragedy that grinds along. >> the people are cutoff from humanitarian aid. they are dropping barrel bombs from helicopters, killing people. how can this stop? >> it's just to show how bad the negotiations are and why it's unlikely it will

or russia wanted the rebels to be called the terrorists or the certainly assad regime did. and that sort of rhetoric and that sort of negotiation which in some ways you could call a traditional negotiation a traditional power base diplomacy is not the same as conflict resolution conflict resolution means getting representatives of the key groups in syrian civil society together not necessarily the political leaders. they may be included in getting them to talk about the the real problems of the syrian people the sorts of things that caused the civil war to begin with those problems were never surfaced never talked about never even mentioned in these as so far as i know in these diplomatic negotiations i mean we're talking about things like the relationship between the religious minority and minority in syria we're talking about things like. who controls the oil revenues and what they what kind of development they should be used for to talk about things like who should be allen who should syria's allies and be. the kind of essential questions that. that that posed questions

change, and you know, the message from geneva was the most important thing is that assad has to step down. we need regime changes here assad is not going to step down. this is going to be done over his dead body. and that, you know, that's-- this is what this civil war is about. and that is where we are once again he thought there was an opening for that the west was falling out of love with the syrian opposition, they're worry about the jihadist. they're willing to pauk about assad remaining. as you remember the ex-head said maybe assad is better than the opposition and ryan crocker, important ambassador and spokesperson for the state department now retired had said the same thing, roughly. that he expects assad to win. so assad i think had begun to feel that perhaps theres with a changing mood in the west. he discovered in geneva there is no change in the west. kerry was very dramatic, this is about regime change. he said that assad is the reason for the jihadists there, he is the magnet. and until he goes, jihadists will not go. >> okay. >> and that was his assertion. >> let me ask you very briefly, a

government even as russia works with us to remove the assad regime's chemical weapons, a truly orwellian situation. the conflict in syria is devastating its neighbors. lebanon is suffering from increased bombings in crossborder attacks by both the syrian government and opposition fighters in response to hezbollah's role in the fighting. unofficial estimates suggest that half of lebanon's population will soon be syrian refugees. similar estimates suggests that syrian refugees now represent 15% of the population in jordan, which is straining to manage the social instability this entails. turkey has been destabilized. and perhaps most worrisome of all, the conflict in syria is largely to blame for the resurgence of al qaeda in iraq, which has grown into the larger and more lethal islamic state of iraq and syria, which now possesses a safe haven that spans large portions of both countries. nowhere is this more threatening or more heart breaking than in fallujah. iraqi city, where hundreds of u.s. troops were killed and wounded, fighting to rid it of terror

now, the regime -- assad's regime wasn't particularly responsible.hink even some of their patrons were disturbed by their belligerence. but we are going to continue to commit to not just pressure the assad regime, but also to get countries like russia and iran to recognize that it is in nobody's interests to see the continuing bloodshed and collapse that's taking place inside that country. now, you asked tangible steps we can take. both france and the united states continue to support a moderate opposition. we are continuing to provide enormous amounts of humanitarian aid. one of the problems we have right now is humanitarian access to deliver that aid. and as we speak, today the u.n. security council, we will be debating a resolution that would permit much greater access for humanitarian aid workers to get food, water, shelter, clothing, fuel to people who need it. now, there is great unanimity among most of the security council on this resolution. russia is a hold-out. and secretary kerry and others have delivered a very direct message to the russi

russia can cause the assad regime, just as it did in august, to open access so that these people can have food and medicine. russia can finally agree -- russia has finally agreed to words on paper at the u.n., but the world will watch the actions of this nation. mr. president, one final thought: when senator king and i were traveling last week in the middle east, we went to other countries as well. one country that we're engaged in a back-and-forth with over the provision of u.s. military assistance, what we are raising are legitimate questions about some democracy reforms that this nation needs to undertake if we're to be better and better partners. a leader of that nation said to me, if the united states won't provide assistance, then we'll find a way to make russia our partner. well, to anyone thinking that making russia your partner is a good thing, you a tout look at this photo, too, because this is what has come of syria choosing russia as its principal partner. is this the kind of partner you want? we must keep the spotlight on these atrocities. we must keep the spotlight on a

and so long as the assad regime is able to be strengthened, this vicious cycle is going to go on. he iraqis have signed up to the geneva #-r communique to try to put pressure on assad, and the overflight issue, i've raised this issue specifically to get inspections increased again. and the next time i'm here, i hope to report some progress. >> thank you mr. chairman, mr. mcgurk. yield back. >> we go to judge holding of north carolina. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. mcgushing, i -- mcgurk, i appreciate your level of knowledge and facility with the facts and your ability to communicate 'em. in numerous answers you've detailed the support that iran is giving to militias in iraq and to al-qaeda-related and successor al-qaeda groups in iraq who are propagating this violence and undoing, i think, a lot of the good work that we were able to do in iraq. many -- in addition to that where the maliki government may be able to disavow it and say, you know, we're not supportive of what iraq -- iran is doing this iraq on that level, there are other areas which are in contravention of the sancti

has removed some weapons but by all accounts it's a small fraction of the overall stockpile the assad regime has and the syrians have missed a couple deadlines. as i don't need to tell you the syrian regime is essentially starving of thousands of syrians in homes and elsewhere. everybody agrees that more pressure needs to be brought to bear on the assad regime to change this deadly equation. and so i wonder, beyond the general statements you made, what additional tangible steps did you discuss in your meetings today to help the moderate opposition to try to change that equation on the ground and, secondly, for mr. president -- [ speaking french ] >> forget my french. i going to ask it in english. >> how is it trade dell situation where 100 french ceos travel to tehran to explore business opportunities when the p5 and e3 plus 3 have committed to maintaining the strength and integrity of the sanctions regime? thank you. >> why not take a stab first at the syria question. we still have a horrendous situation on the ground in syria. i don't think anybody disputes that. what is absolutely clear i

the assad regime has been spinning itself as the ball work against terrorism in the region. there's reporting that the al nusra and iraq and syria are al qaeda linked and control many of syria's oil fields. and there are reports saying the terrorists, the allied groups are selling some of the ibm they are getting to the syrian gost. why is this going on. there's one theory that assad may be ding this in order to weaken the more moderate elements of the paigs, and strengthen the extremists to peaks themselves as an anti-terrorist leader. >> isn't it ironic that the arsonist is chief is trying to bill himself as the firefighter in chief. bashar al-assad, when i read the article, as you reported it, you shake your head and say this can't possibly be. given the diabollical nature of what goes on for plotting and machiavellian politics in the middle east. and assad wants to do is destroy the secular moderates, the political opposition, and in effect power al qaeda. the ball work against sunni extremism. could you create a novel more diabolical than that. >> machiavellian dealings

estimates more than two hundred british based or hardest who went to find the regime of bashar al assad in syria have returned home and now pose a significant terrorist threat south fast takes up the story. it's causing huge concern here amongst the security services the police have said that they've made a number of arrests and they're monitoring the situation closely indeed ingenue it's thought that sixteen arrests have been made of people having returned back the irony here of course is that the british governments want the assad regime to go they've been pushing the transition and they've been supplying non-lethal aid to the rebels technically they are of the same size as the jihadists who are fighting the assad regime and the british fighters who have joined the jihad is the concern the courses that the five terrorist groups the isis. the british citizens that are joining these the real worry is that obviously was there fighting with the again these skills they're becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria they finish fighting there they could return

and they see now, you know, they see the preservation of thes assad regime -- the assad regime as completing that, you know, encirclement of saudi arabia and the region. if my open view -- in my own view, the saudis don't yet have a coherent policy or a vision of the future. in other words, they force the assad regime to leave as many others are, including myself, but they have no vision of how to, you know, build an alternative. they do not want, you know, egypt to fall in the hands of the islamists, but they also don't have the vision of, you know, how the region is going to look like. ironically, the reformist element in saudi arabia, ironically, today is led by the king who is at least 90 years old. and, you know, once that era is over, i think that you will see, you know, some tensions rising in saudi arabia because of these issues. unemployment among the youth in sabia is huge. it's -- saudi arabia is huge. so with all the money the saudis have, they still have to deal with serious problems. >> well, marwan, once again, i have to thank you for being so thoughtful, so insightful, and al

harvests who are fighting the assad regime and the british fighters who will join those d. how does that concern those calls is that the first five terrorists we see itis. the british system instead of joining these the real worry is that obviously was there fighting with the again these skills they're becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria they finish fight they could return home and then the target could become. meanwhile the british minister of immigration and security has responded to the report dreams brokenshire says the saudis are applying this so-called prevent strategy to tackle domestic radicalization and the inflow of foreign pointers it gives police the power to examine and detain individuals and the u.k. border to investigate any concerns of terrorist involvement however critics call this counterproductive caving young british muslims are being the victims. venezuelan president expels three senior u.s. officials are suspecting them of conspiring against him because maduro has accused them of meeting students involved in recen

harvests who are fighting the assad regime and the british fighters who have joined those to harvest that concern that of course is that the prescribed terrorist groups the isis gentleness were of the british system instead of joining these groups that the real worry is that obviously was there fighting with the as we said they gain the skills they're becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria they finish their they could return home and then the target could become. live from london sam many thanks indeed for that object. the pentagon is pumping in cash to boost its military presence in africa the u.s. as by pouring in troops weapons and mercenaries it intends to turn a land of conflict into a land of hope u.s. military bases in are spread across the whole of the horn of africa and drone bases are dotted across the region with the biggest in djibouti hosting over four thousand military personnel and contractors and thousands of u.s. soldiers are reportedly preparing for missions as part of the pentagon's new strategy to train and advise original force

they believe if assad last, the regime would collapse and make the problem worse. his is constant see the same picture we do, we believe very strongly as the secretary said a number of times that bashar al-assad in power is a magnet for foreign fighters coming into syria to fight the jihad. until he was removed from power, we'll continue to see this and this very vicious cycle, which is going to have pernicious effects on serious neighbors, iraq, lebanon and jordan in particular. >> what other tools we have at our disposal to persuade the maliki government that that is the case? otherwise they are going to continue to implicitly or explicitly support the assad regime another effort. >> i think it has to be really candid. particularly of the next heading out to the election, there will be internal issues and internal politics and our hope is after those elections with the new government up, we will work with that government to really get at this problem. >> which leads to my final question. is it clear to president maliki in the iraqi theaters in general that the res

the regime assad's regime wasn't particularly responsive and some of their patrons were disturbed by their belligerent, but we're going to continue to commit not just pressure the assad regime but also to get countries like russia and iran to recognize that it is in nobody's interest to see the continuing bloodshed and collapse that's taking place inside the country. now, you asked tangible steps that we can take, both france and the united states continue to support a moderate opposition. we are continuing to provide enormous amounts of humanitarian aide, one of the problems we have right now is humanitarian access to deliver that aide. and as we speak, today the u.n. security council we will be debating a resolution that would permit much greater access for humanitarian aid workers to get food, water and shelter, clothing, fuel to people who need it. now, there is great u.n. nimty among most of the security council. russia is a holdout and secretary kerry and others delivered a direct message to the russians, that they cannot say they are concerned about the well being of the peopl

people having returned back the irony here of course is that the british governments want the assad regime to go they've been pushing the transition and they've been supplying non-lethal aid to the rebels technically they are on the same side as the jihadists who are fighting the assad regime and the british fighters who were. concerned of course is that the five terrorists we the isis. the british citizen situating these the real worry is that obviously was there fighting with again these skills they're becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria they didn't fight they could return home and then the target could become. meanwhile the british minister of immigration and security has responded to the report james brokenshire says the authorities are applying the so-called prevent strategy to tackle domestic radicalization and the inflow of foreign fighters gives police the power to examine and detain individuals or you could border to investigate any concerns of terrorist involvement however critics call the program counter productive young british muslims are

harvests who are fighting the assad regime and the british fighters who will join those jihad is the concern those calls is that the supply terrorists the isis. of the british system instead of joining these the real worry is that obviously was there fighting with the they gained the skills they're becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria they finish fight they could return home and then the target could become. and our online team has plenty of stories lined up for you on our website including a report revealing that drug alcohol and sexual abuse in the u.s. military has been getting a while so with the last three years why the trend going down all to dot com. and obama of bam as a restriction is under fire again this time already and president a number of diplomatic posed to be hundred to campaign contributors instead of career diplomats more details on that story i just. there's been a string of bizarre deaths in the globe's financial circles in the past few weeks five high profile bankers have died all from apparent so sides are. better to gauge

the jihadists are more ruthless than assad's regime. they attack villages with artillery and shells. in that village they just killed 15 civilians, including women and children. they use mines and car bombs as if we are their main enemy. but they are the enemy of the revolution and for syria as a whole. >> narrator: the most radical of the jihadist factions to turn against the other rebels is the islamic state of iraq and syria: isis. (machine gun fire) the group wants to establish an islamic state in syria. (loud cannonfire) it claims an alliance with al qaeda, but even al qaeda has severed ties with them. isis has been capturing towns all over the north, including the town of al-atareb, a crucial location in the war. >> if the jihadists control al-atareb town, the fsa will be stuck in the south between the jihadists in the north and the regime troops in the south. so it was a very important moment. >> narrator: in november 2013, isis staged a show of strength in the town, parading a group of rebels captured in battle, including an fsa

but we are going to continue to commit to not just pressure the assad regime but also to get countries like russia and iran to recognize that it is in nobody's interest to see the continuing bloodshed and collapse that's taking place inside that country. now, you ask tangible steps that we can take. both france and the trend continue to support a moderate opposition. we are continuing to provide enormous amounts of humanitarian aid. one of the problems we have right now is humanitarian access to deliver that aid, and as we speak today, u.n. security council, we will be debating a resolution that would permit much greater access for humanitarian aid workers to get food, water, shelter, clothing, fuel to people who need it. now, there is great unanimity among most of the security council on this resolution. russia is a holdout, and secretary kerry and others have delivered a very direct message to the russians that they cannot say that they're concerned about the well being of the syrian people when they are starting civilians. and that it is not just the syrian so responsible. the russi

and many syrian opposition members are now accusing them of collaborating with the assad regime. erience, they know what they are doing, abu says, there were a lot of regime locations we could have taken without sustaining losses of our fighters, and we would receive orders to retreat. in early january, islamists and moderate rebels banded together to drive isis out of syria. abu says he and his group have sleeper cells within isis, to bring the organization down from inside. defeating isis now is crucial, as defeating the regime. >> and arwa joining us now from beirut. you've been doing an amazing job with this series this week. where are the isis rebels right now? >> reporter: well, they're still scattered throughout the country. they most certainly have not been kicked out of syria entirely. they're consolidating in their strong holds, mostly to the northern and eastern part along the border with iraq. they have around 7 to 11,000 fighters, wolf. the mass majority are, in fact, nonsyrians. >> amazing story. i know you'll have a lot more throughout this week, arwa damon reportin

. >> first of all there's no question that the assad regime has loaned some deadlines on the transport and delivery of its chemical weapons supplies. the regime is still committed to ridding itself of those supplies and russia is on the hook for making sure that as the regimes significant ally that those chemical weapons and the supplies are delivered and the regime is fully rid of chemical weapons as part of that agreement. now, the fact is the president said that was a red line and he threatened the use of force in response to that and because the threat was real, we saw the assad regime go from refusing to acknowledge he even had chemical weapons stock piles two of knowledge in that it had them and to reaching an agreement that they would give up those weapons. we are going to in the international community is going to hold both syria and russia responsible for the fulfillment. >> how can you hold them responsible when this has been going on for years and in answering john's question you said the review is ongoing and if the review is always ongoing does not suggest you are spinning

. >> together we need to all keep the pressure on the assad regime to stop making excuses and fulfill syria's promises and obligations and meet the u.n. deadlines. >> the syrian peace talks are supposed to resume february 10th in the u.s. so far the assad regime has not committed to sending a delegation. >>> jennifer griffin live from d.c., thanks. >>> a big blow to opponents of the keystone xl pipeline this week when a state department review finds no major environmental concerns with its construction. it has been five years and the project is still awaiting president obama's go ahead. does the new finding in this report mean work can finally get started on the pipeline to bring oil to the u.s. from canada? let's ask peter doocy live in washington with the latest on this. >> it is ultimately going to be up to president owe bammo to decide whether or not to build the keystone xl pipeline which would transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day out of canada and montana. the state department's environmental study found building this pipeline is not going to harm the environment any mor

way it could and is if russia recognizes that in its own interest, not to keep supporting the assad regime. >> you see no indication the calculation is starting to be made in moscow. you only look at the geneva conference and the public debate around the issue, you will not see much help. the fact that russia has agreed for the conference to be held in the first place is a sign that there is likelihood that the situation will change in the future. the political steps seem to be incremental at best. the united nations, we have russia blocking humanitarian access in the country. what, from your point of view, is going to be the thing that pushes this conflict in some ?irection or another echo we needve to trust that to work on short-term and small and work to achieving bigger names. stepse to start with baby and eventually hope to reach a resolution in the future. for example, having cease-fires in place. the larger debates about transition and one big step that should happen is the attaching assad himself from the regime. meaning, i don't see why russia would not accept the scenario whereby

the assad regime it's a good day to be pushing the transition and they've been supplying we slaves to the rebels i think technically they are on the same side as the chinese artists who are fighting the assad regime and the british fight is you would join those jihad is the concern those courses that the five terrorists we see this is a list of the criticisms that is joining these leaks that the real worry is that obviously was the fighting with the they gained the skills of becoming indoctrinated and the real worry is that once the fights in syria that that is fight they could return home and then the target could become which the students. that was artie's sarah firth. and we turn to florida where a verdict was reached in the trial of michael dunn the forty seven year old who shot and killed teenager jordan davis on saturday the jury in jacksonville found michael dunn guilty of attempted second degree murder for opening fire on three teens who were in the same as you vs jordan davis however they could not come to a consensus on whether to can. victor a quick done of the most serious

homs, the city he lives in, was one of the first to rise up against the assad regime. today's uvacueees around 80 people, have been promised medical treatment and shelter but western diplomats say it should not have taken several weeks to negotiate a step as small as this. >> woodruff: and hari sreenivasan has more on this from new york. >> sreenivasan: joining me now to discuss the humanitarian ceasefire is former british foreign secretary, and current president and c.e.o. of the international rescue committee, david miliband. do you think this sort of an agreement will hold. i think it will hold for three days. it's in everyone's interest that it does. people talk already about the propagand value, and it is a crumb of comfort for the poor 2.5,000 people trapped in the middle of homes. the rest in sirria, four million in aleppo are, asking what about us? when is the world going to show it cares about our situation. >> tiffany: how do they ensure that this many people can get out safely? the report i saw talked about two dozen. and they're coming out in buses. we have

rebel fighters then focusing on the front lines with the assad regime entrusted the protection of addanasis, and that is when the organization really began carrying out its draconian and brutal tactics. public executions became the norm. one rebel fighter describing how they would leave the bodies of people they had executed at checkpoints so that every single vehicle driving by would be forced to slow down and look at them. there were also a number of mass graves that rebel fighters uncovered when they managed to recapture addana. we were at the scene of one of them, where volunteers were digging up a grave that they had, in fact, already dug up before. a family was waiting on the sidelines looking for closure. one man believed that his two brothers, perhaps, may be buried there. and the day after we left, he discovered that it was, in fact, not two, but three of his brothers that had been murdered by isis. now, various radical and moderate rebel groups did ban together in early january to launch an offensive against isis. this was a decision that a lot of fighters were telling us they

. >> i'll say quickly one thing i think is going on is the assad regime is doing a lot lest to fight extremist factions than other factions. i think this is been a very deliberate machiavellian strategy. the pror extremist factions come to represent the factions, try to support any faction within this conflict. >> shift gears a little bit. shahad, i want to bring you into the conversation. talk about the level of sophistication of al qaeda in terms of social media. >> you keep in mind, this isn't your big brother's al qaeda, not where social media has been at the forefront. what al qaeda is doing is morphing into something more anonymous. i think the statement from al zawahiri is, i think you're seeing on the ground in terms of you know what's coming out over social media, we've seen this before, we see them putting harsh measures in and local populations upset. you're going to see things fall apart that way. while the nature has changed it's more broad, but it's more shallow i think. >> social media, eric says, al qaeda has been very effective, first engage with them vee social medi

, and as a result, only 5% has been transferred out of syria and that is because the bashar al-assad regime is making excuses. >> february 5 was a deadline for chemicalall of syria's weapons with the goal to dismantle all production facilities by mid-march and destroy the stockpile by june. the u.s. urged the regime to facilitate the transfers and france is following suit. >> the syrian government is slowing down the process of destroying chemical weapons. bashar al-assad's government must respect its commitments. >> syria's number one ally, russia, blames the delay on security issues but insists they will get rid of the stockpile by march. all of itsys chemical weapons have been destroyed, 10 years after muammar gaddafi sign the chemical weapons convention. it was completed with help from western countries to make sure it was kept out of the hands of militants. there is still much left to do. officials from the organization for the propagation of chemical weapons went to southern libya to see for themselves. they confirmed a large stockpile from the muammar gaddafi era had been destroyed,

they agree that if assad left, the regime would collapse and make the problem worse. eing the same picture we do, we believe very strongly in the secretary has said a number of times that bashar al-assad in power is a magnet for these foreign fighters coming into syria to fight the jihad. until he's removed from power we will be in this very vicious cycle which will have pernicious effects on all of the syrian neighbors -- iraq, lebanon, and jordan. >> what tools do we have in our disposal that it is the case? we will be left in a position where they will continue to implicitly or explicitly support the assad regime's with a flyover or other efforts. >> i need to be candid. particularly heading up to the election, iraqis will be increasingly focused inward on their internal issues and internal politics. our hope is that after those elections with the new government up, we will work with that government to really get at those problems. >> that leads to my final question. is it clear to president maliki and to the iraq leaders in general that the responsibility to defend

. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around were being utilized. >> since that threat was issued, the violence in syria has escalated significantly in one of the most humanitarian cris crisises on this president's watch has grown worse. 2,000 people have been killed by barrel bombs since january 1st. the death toll has climbed to over 140,000 and over 9 million syrians have been forced from their homes. iran continues to boost its military support for the assad regime and the second round of peace talks has ended in failure. what makes the president's warnings of consequences in the ukraine any different? if this american president won't bomb damascus airfields to stop chemical weapons, why would mr. putin think mr. obama would do anything in eastern europe? he added, vladimir putin has played us so incredibly. this afternoon president obama was set to speak with president putin to discuss the situation as jay carney told reporters the two leaders sh

after all, does anyone seriously believe the assad regime does not have the means, motive and opportunity to murder 11,000 people in its prisons? indeed, this kind of inhuman cruelty is a pattern of behavior within the syrian government. according to a detailed u.n. report issued at the end of january, assad's forces have systemically as part of their dock strin -- doctrine used children as human shields and thred threatened to kill the children of opposition leaders if they did not surrender. the u.n. detailed the torture and sexual abuse of thousands of children by government forces. i will spare you the remaining details as they are unspeakable, but again i urge you to read the entire report which can be found on the united nations' web site. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i would ask my friend if he would allow me to do a unanimous consent request, just to get us through the day. as usual, i very much appreciate his courtesy and his stunning delivery on this horrible situation going on in syria. and i ask this report not -- record not ap