. -- bashar al-assad regime. the u.s. trying to do four or five things at once with the factor of russia, russia playing its own game and iran playing yet another game >> this is more complex. again to make an analogy with the bosnian situation in the 1990s, many more external regional players as well as great players on the outside. it is very hard to do. the united states is not going to be putting a lot of force into syria, whether it's this administration or the next administration >>> no matter who wins? >> no matter who wins. this is because syria is not a close high strategic priority for the u.s. >>> the next-door neighbor israeli >> arming the rebels is one step it can take. even the democratic president might do that, but for the united states it is important to try to find a political solution in part because it's not going to put a lot of force in the situation. the united states is aware, as my colleague pointed out in the wall street journal this morning, two-thirds of the insurgency since world war

says focused on rebel groups that are opposed to be assad regime. aleppo where i.s.i.l. isn't operating. so a lot rides on who is labeled a terrorist. >> translator: well, if liberation of the city that has been taken by legal armed groups can be qualified as aggression well then, probably. >> reporter: russia says it welcomes cooperation by the united states, while the pentagon continues to accuse russia of bombing and then lying about it. jamie mcintire, al jazeera, the pentagon. >> correspondent jamie mcintire joins us now from the pentagon. jamie, the u.s. is portraying this as a big victory for diplomacy, is it? >> the u.s. is focusing on the humanitarian aid aspect of this. the fact that even before they conclude any sort of cessation of hostilities agreement the lines of humanitarian aid is supposed to open up both from the air and also from the ground. and there are areas of syria that are very -- in very, very desperate straits where people are -- they don't have food, they don't have medicine. and that the aid is supposed to go to these places right away. and t

it wants to be sure the bashar al-assad regime captures aleppo. russia would like to be a major factor in whatever international political solution is developed for syria, wants to be a major player, but in terms of the cessation of hostilities, it is not a particular russian goal right now >>> but they just went through weeks of high-level diplomacy.

nvestigators who accuse assad and his regime of crimes against humanity. >> it is a very interesting tory getting a lot of attention. we will look at the front page paper that anese talks about how the u.n. is ccusing the assad regime of ex-terminating civilians and evidence of lected widespread murder, rape, imprisonment, forced disappearances and other inhumane acts. of is getting a lot attention. the u.n. as well is in the a tlight if we look at cartoon in a jordanian paper you general .n. secretary giving a press conference and he ays we are preoccupied or worried about the swaeuituation and taped on the podium hidi hiding behind the podium catch ing that the tpraeuls he throws around when addressing the crisis. in syria the nd troops backed by russian air major are staging a every against aleppo the biggest bastion yria a rebel and looks like it is going to be choked off. talks l street journal" about how syrian forces are queezing rebels out of there and it has to do with the fact ussia is using air strikes and instrumental in helping the regime turn the tide against the rebels

that means intervening against assad regime.he opposite side of the coin, if you will, the brutality of the assad regime helped give life to groups like isis, who are saying "we're the last line of defense against this repression." to this day, we do not have a strategy against the assad regime. as the assad regime is still in the driver seat, thinking it can win, it may not be called isis, but there will be other groups that fill the vacuum. we could have a long time debating syria. this is the moment to talk. he is clearly calling on that point. he is calling on only on american muslims to get involved, but muslims around the world with respect to isis. --ernments foundations governments, foundations, everybody else. shadi: that gets me nervous. he said this in previous speeches. there's an implication that we, as muslims, by virtue of the muslim,- of being means we have a special responsibility to condemn. nobody should have to condense something just because they happen to be born muslim. charlie: but if you also believe the

all we are trying to do remove assad regime the same we remove ed gaddafi, it's the same playu book, can you let me know if i'm wrong? >> guest: syria is a complicated issue. i'm not quite sure i understand the point of the call. i think they factor a position for some period of time is not being the immediate removal of assad because if you look at two of the most powerful players in syria are isis and affiliate. russia's main goal is preservation of assad. there are a lot of different players here and unfortunately the -- the syrian civil war was a lot of academic literature the war is going for, typically 10-15 years on average since world war ii, we are in year five. thes. syrians say we can go on more more than a decade, the civil war in colombia with la farc went on for five decades and the people who could put the brakes on him don't seem incline to do so. the iranians, gulf states, russia, i mean, they're all sort of for a formenting this. going back to foreign fighters and westerners going to syria, the engine in the syrian war and, i think, we are going to continue seeingg

we don't have a strategy against assad regime and as long as that regime is still in the drivers seat and the thinks we can win maybe it won't be called isis but there will be other groups that fill that vacuum. charlie rose: we could have a long debate about syria and iraq. not onlyling on muslims in america to get involved but also muslims around the world to get involved with respect to isis. both governments and foundations and everybody else. shadi: this part of the gets a little bit nervous. he is said this in previous speeches as well. almost the implication that we as muslims by virtue of being muslims that means we have a special responsibility to fight extremism or to speak out. or to condemn. no one should feel that they have to condemn something just because they happen to be born muslim. charlie rose: but if they are hijacking your religion that you clearly want to speak out and say this is not islam? shadi: if muslims want to take the initiative as they are doing throughout the world, that is something that is great and should be encouraged. this idea of communal respons

so it's very clear risk that this aid could end up in the hands of the assad regime. ey: ashley: they say they're going after isis, but, of course, they're also targeting those forces opposed to assad. what is the long game here? how is this thing going to get resolved? >> i see kind of a 2016 scenario and a longer term. 2016, there seems to be no chance the obama administration's going to take a significantly different approach to this. and with that drift in place, we still have a lot of pressure on refugee flows out of syria. we still have some fairly aggressive moves by both moscow and tehran to shift this to a decisive point. with isis as their named target but really it's about winning the civil war for assad. it really could get pushed to a conclusion in 2016 by the forces backing assad, and it leaves a bad set of options for the next president of the united states. ashley: well, very quickly, almost out of time, russia's involvement in all of this. how much does that complicate it? >> it's greatly complicated so it's very cheer they're operating you are -- clea

and still to this day, we don't have a strategy against the assad regime, and as long as the assad regime is still in if driver's seat thinking it can win, maybe it won't be called i.s.i.s., but we will have other groups that fill in the vacuum. >> rose: we could have a long time debating what happened in syria and iraq and this is a moment to talk about what the president is trying to do here, and clearly he is calling on that point, though. he is calling on not only muslims in america to get involved but also muslims around the world to get involved with respect to i.s.i.s., both governments and foundations and everybody else, correct? >> that's correct, and actually this part of it gets me a little nervous. he said this in previous speeches as well, almost the implication that we as muslims by virtue of being muslim, that means we have a special responsibility to fight extremism or to speak out or to condemn. no one should feel that they have to condemn something just because they happen to be born muslim. >> rose: well, but if you also believe they're hijacking your religion, you clea

but by russian objectives, which is to rescue the assad regime, they have gained ground. and because of those gains you now have u.s. allies on the ground that were fighting isis being drawn into this other conflict to fight the regime. that's having a direct effect on the u.s. strategy there. >> there's no question. and i'm not going to refute a bit that assad is feeling more support now and he's been emboldened but russia's activities. that's not the answer to the long-term solutions here in syria which has got to be achieved but peaceful means. while it is certainly true that the regime has benefitted from russian support, russian support is not going to be to the benefit of syria writ large. that's why we continue to pursue a political solution. i would remind you that the russians themselves, including last night, agreed that a political solution needs to be found. what we want is for russian and everybody else to meet the commitments they've signed up to four times kn s now that we've o get to a political solution. supporting assad is not going to work in the long-te

they are beginning to attack the assad military regime supply line. the rebels not only moderate but isis fighters are trying to slow down the the assad push in to aleppo. even though the u.s. and russia agreed to the ceasefire and allow the u.n. aid to get to people in need of food and medicine, it is not chlor that everybody is on board. one of the largest rebel groups backed by saudi arabia said they have not agreed to the ceasefire. rebels believe the assad regime will bomb areas where there is isis and al-qaeda fighters because p the regime will not stop fighting isis. there is concern that they will get pounded by russian air strikes and the assad regime. there is not a lot of optimism for the sees fire that is supposed to go into effect on saturday. we hope according to the obama administration that the sees fire will go into effect and pave the way for larger peace talks. the concerns in the obama administration and watching syria will the ceasefire even go into effect at all. >> and how many people get killed waiting for that to happen. >>> mo

raising concerns that bashar al- assad's regime will use that as an excuse to keep attacking rebel forces. in jerusalem, john huddy, fox news. al-nusra now says it rejects the cease- fire plan, and is urging militants to ramp up attacks against assad and his allies. the questions raised over the f-b- i's fight with apple over opening up the san bernardino shooter's cell phone -- could make it's way up to the supreme court. but one presidential candidate said it could be handled with just one meeting at the white house. kevin corke has more. we are a staunch advocate of privacy! those were the words of apple ceo tim cook, who today told company shareholders that the tech titan would resist the government's demand that it unlock the iphone of one of the san bernardino shooters so the fbi could access its data. mehlman says: "tim is the problem isn't breaking into one phone. the problem is the precedent." delgaudio says: "no, i don't necessarily agree that apple made the right decision, ok?" while shareholders strongly debate the company's strategy, others have been equally vocal in their cr

assad regime has executed, tortured to death, or fatally maltreated prisoners. it includes testimony and accusations of opponents of the regime. the regime has been engaged in extermination of civilian populations in detention and crimes against humanity. the words of a u.n. report. >> detainees are subjected to violence on a mass scale involved that the detention centers. prisoners are routinely tortured and beaten. forced to live in unsanitary and overcrowded cells with little food or care. many parish and attention. many conclude it amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes. report washe established from 600 interviews with more than 200 former prisoners. commissionersorts said the findings are in line with what the u.n. commission has been saying since the conflict in 2011. and the syrian regime was not the one responsible. >> the involved groups have committed violations. similarly, the designated terrorist groups isis have used makeshift cots to execute prisoners. tortured and killed journalists and activists. they also said investigators have diffi

against the assad regime. they want to knock it out for pretty good reasons, and also, the rest of us seem to be focused on killing isis. can we do both and how does this lead to doing both or should we focus on one of the two enemies. >> a combination of the two, right. you have leader who is bombing his own people and that's essentially what started this, a civil war, over the course of five years, the vacuum of power and the vacuum of stability led to growth by isis. russians are packing up the assad regime, u evidence, they're bombing civilians. bombing against isis would continue from both sides, but the -- there bob cessation of hostilities allowing humanitarian access and the challenge. >> we stop bombing assad's regime and they stop bombing what we consider the good guys and the opposition, right. >> that's the theory of the case. we weren't talking directly with the assad regime, so the two parties weren't at the table. u.s., russia and iran. it's up to russia and iran to deliver on what they've promi

make no doubt about it, though assad regime is winning this war.ve just been impounded more moderate u.s. and arab back rubbles. it cannot begin on saturday. having the potential to lead to wider talks. no one right now things that that is very likely to happen. >> thank you very much for that report. pushing a cease-fire agreement as a diplomatic agreement for russia and himself. a transformation into a lyrical force. here with me now is four-star general and fox news military analyst. knowing the area very well. two things going on here. a potential cease-fire. america's influence was in the middle east. it will be dwindling. >> it will not hold. it is not even a cease-fire. some of the major players are not participating. what they improved on ukraine solidified the positions. the territory at the expense of their opponents. what the russians are doing overall, it really is quite remarkable. beginning september 30 into syria, the russians tactically, and operation we have succeeded, pushing back all the gains by and large, made in 2015, put this

they are worried because of russia's actions in supporting the assad regime. we are hearing not only the aerial bombardment continuing, but frankly seems as though militarily at least right now, that some of the balance has been tipped in favor of the assad regime with the backing of russia. what's happening in aleppo today, more and more towns are being taken by the syrian regime, the opposition is feeling more and more encircled and that really is going to weigh heavily on how and if these talks continue. right now, we don't even know if the delegations that are here consider these talks to have officially started. certainly today, the u.n. is frustrated. yesterday, it seemed as though momentum had been building. it seemed as though there was a little bit of a positive outcome, some kind of of a sense of achievement. today, you have a situation whereby the opposition is now attending a meeting that they said they were going to. in aleppo, the regime is making gains. the syrian regime here basically feel emboldened that they are not going to do anything until

all we are trying to do is remove the assad regime like we did cudoffy, sadan. it is the same playbook. >> guest: syria is a complicated issue. i am not sure it is the immediate removal of assad. the two most powerful players in syria other than assad it is isis and the al-qaeda affiliate there. our main goal now is mostly trying to attack isis. rusa's main goal is the preservation of assad. i think the syria war would be going on for more than a decade. the people who could put the brakes in don't seem to do so. i think we will continue seeing thousands of foreign fighters from around the arab world. and many many hundreds continue to go for training. >> host: director and vice president mark is in lake geneva, florida. mark, turn down the volume. we will move on to another. we will move on. this is mark. hello, mark. >> caller: i wanted to disagree with the premise about peter bergen's book especially the subtitle. homegrown terrorism stems from radical right wing christianity. it is far greater than any muslim jihadist terrorism in the country. i just wonder i

they're backing the assad regime and they're working with the pyd. they have started to go after moderate levels. some of which are supported by the united states and turkey. and i think they have been shelling the targets to prevent the fall of rebel-controlled territory, and assad regime both of those groups are supported by russian airstrikes. we're going to see a strengthening of ties as the pyd becomes more of that perfect climate of russian ambition. that's very dangerous because it suggests that they'll promote it. the pkk was established by the soviet union during the cold war, so it's an historic memory that may be awakened easily. >> turkey analyst at the washington institute of near east affairs. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> now libyans are marking five years since the revolution began. there have been several rallies in several major cities. but the country remains divided between militias and two rival governments. we have more now from the libyan capital. >> many people have come here in the capital of tripoli

of the world, as he said, and putting down weapons was just going to give the advantage to the assad regime, and its allies to essentially bury what is left of the ref lugs, julie. >> and what is the situation currently on the ground in terms of fighting? >> reporter: well, in the past 24 hours there has been significant attacks conducted by the russian air force in several parts of syria, particularly, again, in and around aleppo, and why this is important and we have been stressing this in our reporting over the past few days is that ever since the syrian army was given this boost with the introduction of the russians in the military equation in syria, they have been trying to push as far north as possible towards the turkey border, because it was through turkey that aid was being sent to the besieged area, and logistics, and weapons, and support were being sent to groups that are signed up to this deal that government considers, quote unquote, legitimate or moderate. so they have been trying to make as much gains as possible to possibly see what happens afterwards? and people say if ther

john kerry are accusing the bashar al-assad regime of using food as a weapon in this war which would amount to war crimes. people will be hopeful that this ceasefire does come into effect sooner rather than later, that it is not another shallow promise, as we've seen in the past few weeks and months, but only the coming hours and day will be able to tell us whether this will be the case or not >>> in an interview with a spanish newspaper, al-assad said national leaders cannot be removed from power through force. >> if you want to change the president or prime minister or any assistant in any country, you only have the political process to move through, not - you cannot use argument as an excuse to say you want to change the system. it wouldn't happen through the armament >>> thousands of troops have been deployed in india to calm protests by the jaat community. at least people have died in the unrest. the protesters have also cut off water supplies leading to a crisis in the capital. >> reporter: these protesters are trying to cause as much disruption as possible. strategically place

the assad regime could very well see this as something that will bolster fighting on the ground. the sadaam regime is being seen as using starvation as a war. there is no independent verify case on the ground. they need to assure aid is being reached by those people. the u.n. tried to air drop and that went horribly wrong. air drop doesn't provide near the amount needed the in these places. it's just too dangerous for aid agencies to go by ground. they risk kidnap or whisk being bombed from the sky by barrel bombs or the russian air force. that's where the sticking point is in terms of aid. >> it's still a very complex situation on the ground. for now, the truce appears to be holding. >>> there have been accusations of truce violations really on both sides by government forces and by rebel groups. let's get more now on exactly what's been happening on the ground in syria. >> day two of the truce in syria got off to a bad start. a war plane believed to be russian hit a number of villages and towns in the country side of aleppo province. people here in the town thought they were sa

by the assad regime and russian jetses in a hospital near the syrian and turkish boarder and that kill would 12 people. eric, it is important to ponent out, the ah sawed regime is making progress and pushing to aleppo and consolidating territory and isis is beginning to lose ground because of the u.s. air strikes in iraq and kurdish fighters in syria. you are see issing an effort to defeat isis and assad regime is effective against isis, but the ah sawed and russian and iranian backers. they are having progress on the ground much to the concern of u.s. and western officials. versus the opposition forces. >> and the tragic humanitarian catastrophe still continues. >>> we are monitoring a wide- spread winter storm hitting americans. who is in the path p of the storms and what it is packing. and the supreme court is set to hear several case cans this year and so what happens after the unexpected deaths of justice scalia? do you think that nominating a replacement for justice scalia should wait for after the election? go to foxnews.com/happeningnow to join the conversation. only flonase is

us they are fearful the arab sunnis are being expelled to pave the way for those loyal to the assad regime. lost his left leg 18 months ago, when the syrian air force bombed his home. he sought refuge but the russians bombed civilians there, to too. >> they are trying to empty our towns of the indigenous people. >> rebel groups and the government of turkey have also accused russia of ethnic cleansi cleansing. turkish aid agencies are delivering food and blankets. the prime minister has said accepting refugees would be contributing to what his government says is the goal of changing the demographics of syria. there isn't a city in syria that hasn't been affected by the civil war. there isn't a child here who doesn't seem that you wanted by all of the death and destruction. these children are too young to differentiate between sunni, arab and kurd. unfortunately for them was they have been born into a war that appears to be cashing up their homeland along those lines. al jazeera. northern syria. >>> 30 people have died in the predominantly shia neighborhood north of the iraqi capitol. 60 oth

provide supply and only 13 have been granted by the bashar al-assad regime. starvation is a tackic of-- as a tactic of war is against the law, but it is being used every day by the bashar al-assad regime. so we need to speak out powerfully about the urgent need of geneva to deliver a ceasefire, to deliver humanitarian assistance and to get civilians from stop being bombed on a daily basis by those with airplanes who are dropping bombs. so i hope everybody here will join in calling for an immediate halt to the indiscriminate use of weapons and attacks on civilians, an end to the sieges and for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to every area designated by the u.n. as besieged or hard to reach, and the rirn regime has a responsibility, in fact all parties to the conflict have the duty to give access to syrians in desperate needs. this should not be happening in one or two months. it ought to happen in the next few days and it ought to be helped to happen. so with sufficient effort by everything, with continued military financial and humanitarian contrib

said are rebel groups fighting the assad regime. >> are people there at the pentagon optimistic that we will see a cessation of the fighting and that this can actually be implemented on the ground among the various opposition groups? >> here at the pentagon, they are sort of focused on sell rating the campaign against isil. defense carter was in brussels yesterday, saying that he has won concessions from many nato members to up their contribution. the cessation of hostilities agreement does not affect the u.s. operation, as for whether this will actually stop the civil war or at least have a pause in the civil war, there is a high degree of skepticism. we've seen these promises before and they haven't come to fruition. what secretary kerry said what we have is words on paper and what we need to see is action on the ground. >>> the fighting in syria has had a profound humanitarian impact. the red cross says at least 50,000 syrians have flaw fled the fighting in aleppo. the u.k. based syrian observatory for human rights says at least 500 people have been killed since the syrian governm

tactic of war is against the laws of war and is being used every single day as a tactic by the assad regimewe need to speak out powerfully about the urgent need of geneva to deliver a ceasefire, to deliver humanitarian assistance and to get civilians from stopping being bombed on a daily basis. >> let's go now to hashem live for us in rome where the coalition talks are taking place and kerry was highlighting the suffering of civilians under threat and what is the strategy when it comes to taking on iraq and syria hashem? >> from the face of secretary of state john kerry you can tell that the international coalition is now determined to find a way out of the crisis in syria and iraq and take on i.s.i.l. but their biggest problem i think they are facing right now is to balance two things, take on i.s.i.l. on one hand and at the same time find a permanent solution to the crisis in syria and why he is putting more emphasis on the need to put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe and allow aid to civilians trapped on the outskirts of the capitol damascus because the international coalition is w

and put in place a population more sympathetic toward the assad regime. >>> the camp is home to tens of thousands of syrians who have been recently displaced as a direct result of russian airstrikes. this piece of land not far from the at your iraq border used to be empty. now thousands are tents cramped together, separated by winding foot paths and narrow streets. boys and girls have had their childhoods robbed from them by war. while others go to school, they are stuck here, traumatized by war and abandoned by the international community. this child is two weeks old, his father and pregnant mother fled aleppo when russian airstrikes targeted their town. >> we left our homes because of the russian air strikes. they were non-stop and relentless. they didn't spare anybody. >> they slept in a car for a week before the mother went into labor. it was only after he was born that they were given a tent. his father says russia's claim that it is simply defending the assad government is force. >> no, no, no, it is not true. they are not targeting isil. they are targets civilians, especially

fighting in north aleppo, which is clear evidence that they are coordinating with the bashar al-assad regime, i can tell you that they are for years now fighting not just against i.s.i.s. but also against al-nusra and another because they besieged cobani and other areas, that's many other places and they captured a lot of civilians on their way from aleppo to kobini. so these groups, the sdf and the y.p.g. are fighting against them for years. nothing changed now, just what changed that is this forces, they are trying to make progress against these forces around the area to in the siege >>> can you clarify what the end game is here for the y.p.g.? is it to fight i.s.i.l. or is it to expand control on the border with turkey as turkey seems to think? >> of course fighting against i.s.i.s. is part of the y.p.g. strategy in north syria and also they're trying to push all the extremist groups that they treat the community in these regions, so it is not just fighting against i.s.i.s. it is part of the general battle of these forces. of course, they tried to liberate north syria from all these group

right now they continue to prop up the assad regime. meantime, moscow is denying involvement in the deadly bombing of a syrian hospital monday, calling it another example of unfounded accusations. russian and u-s officials blaming each other for attacks on syrian medical facilities, last week. the u-s and russia agreed to a temporary cessation of fighting in the syrian civil war, but, syrian president bashar al-assad said no cease-fire can be reached with quote "terrorists." in jerusalem, john huddy, fox news. the world is in mourning following the passing of former united nations secretary-general boutros boutros-ghali. he passed away earlier today at he was 93 years old. boutros-ghali served as the u-n chief from 19-92 until 19-96 -- dealing with war in the former yugoslavia, famine and genocide in africa. u-n secretary general ban ki-moon remembered his predecessor today. as secretary-general, he presided over a dramatic rise in un peacekeeping. he also presided over a time when the world increasingly turned to the united nations for

leaves aside all the issues of the kurds and the turks which are complicated even further. >> the assad regime, some opposition leaders say they will not talk about a resolution until the resolution does not include assad. >> maybe assad will go some day but only when the russians say he will. >> what do you predict? i'll put be in the position of predicting what's going to happen. >> i think it depends on what unfolds on the battlefield in the coming three weeks. if the regime and the russians have a good three weeks we may have to see the rebels come to the table three weeks from now. >> and the talks were part of a process outlined in a u.n. resolution including a drafting of a new constitution and elections. more wishful thinking? >> i think anyone who thinks there's going to be elections in syria in the next three to five years is probably much more optimistic than i am. >> i think than most people. but in the meantime, people are fetting killed angetting killedf suffering. doug always good to see you. >> absolutely. >> the eu has agreed to pay more than $3 billion for refugees in turkey.

however, on the military front, the assad regime backed and covered by the russian air force from thenaged to recapture several towns and villages in the aleppo area. what makes it important is that it shows that they are on the offensive trying to gain more and more ground reach being the northern parts of syria to try to close off the border between turkey and syria. essentially cutting off any supply routes to the armed rebel forces that continue to fight the assad regime. also cutting supply routes for aid and foot to reach several towns and cities. we heard from u.s. secretary of state john kerry saying aura cougs the assad regime of using food and starvation as a weapon in this war something that would amount to war crimes. people will be hopeful, particularly the civilians in those areas that this ceasefire does come in to effect sooner rather than later. that it is not another shallow promise, as we have seen in the past few weeks and months. but only the coming hours and days will be able to tell us whether this will be the case or not. >>> in an interview with the spanish ne

the conflict within syria so that we can focus on isil without the fighting going on between the assad regime and the opposition. you did it it in a way that does not compromise our position in regards to president assad's position position and his accountability for war crimes he has committed. i also want to thank your staff, they have been incredibly assessable to us in providing information that is vital to our need. so we think the entire team for what you have been able to do. i generally support the president's budget, they think it speaks to the right priorities in regards to the state department. it deals with the threats emanating from iso-in the middle east, and north, and north africa, $4 million to fight violent extremism, it supports the rebalance to asia and recognizes the challenges we have in asia relative to china's provocative actions in the south china sea and north korea's nuclear ambitions. i was pleased to see that we have enacted, as he chairman pointed out, the north korea sanction build. the president signed it into law and we are all stronger when the congress in a

was still negotiating from the assad regime. air strikes on schools and hospitals and territories that the u.s. is blaming on russia. for the latest we turn to international correspondent matthew chance who's live in moscow. do we have any better sense of the bombings on the doctors without borders as to what happened? >> certainly not in terms of what information we're getting from the russians. i mean the russians have deployed their strategy of denial time and again whenever they're constructed with it. they've cat gore it lick said that's not the case. they don't target the case and they say they terrible check their targeting, their targets before they carry out their strikes. they've used exactly that same strategy when it comes to these latestgations about the attacks on the hospital on the other hospital as well which was in the turkish border where numerous people were reportedly killed. this was not them according to the kremlin. the kremlin spokesman yesterday issuing a statement. the defense ministry of russia came o

syria has continued to flee the assad regime in droves.ime. assad has been given another nte lifeline by russia's bombardmenn of civilian lalg areas attacks that continue to kill women andb children. on to these deplorable actions to use for n recruitment and propaganda. mi iraq has also had to rely on shi'ite militants loyal -- shia milltions loyal to iran.s as a result iraq remains divide along sectarian lines as iran gains greater influence in iraqs this allowed isis to thrive in , the first tplace.erm si if we don't address the political void and sectarian me tensions there will be no long term stability. same themes are playing out in l libya andik yemen. terrorists love a vacuum. in the absence of real stability rule of law and effective government, isis will fill the void. focusing in on long running tensions in this country will gn a long way in denying isis safe-haven. i hope we can have a good hr discussion on how the united states should respond to the threat. how cananho wew stem the growth isis.s.s how doom we stay one step aheads

syrians continue to flee the assad regime in droves. assad has been given another lifeline by russia's bombardment of civilian areas, attacks that continue to kill women and children. and isis latches on to the deplorable actions to use for recruitment and propaganda. iraq has also had to rely on shia militants, shia militias loyal to iran. as a result, iraq remains divided along sectarian lines. this could leave the region with the same cleavages that allowed isis to thrive in the first place. the same themes are already playing out in libya and yemen. terrorists love a vacuum. in the absence of real stability, rule of law and effective government, isis will fill the void. focusing on long-running tensions in these countries will go a long way toward denying isis safe haven. so, today i hope we can have a good discussion on how the united states should continue responding to the threat. how can we stem the growth of isis. how do we stay one step ahead of them. sometimes unfortunately it seems as if we're only halfheartedly going after i

russian intervention me if -- reinforced the assad regime and the entire world has seen those images of children reduced to skeletons. it is a tough situation and as a consequence thank you to john for his tireless efforts for those hostilities of the civil war. we are all aware of the skepticism but to judge us harshly if at least we did not try to end this diplomacy. if it could reduce the violence would is suffering in desperately needed. to save lives. potentially it could also lead to negotiations on a political settlement to end the civil wars everybody can focus their attention on destroying isil and that is why did it is states will do everything we can to maximize the chances of success for but the same time want to make totally clear that there will be absolutely no cease-fire and we will remain relentless. about two months ago to make him a harder for the killers to pump up propaganda to the rest of the world. and over the last two months we have done exactly that. continuing to intensify our efforts today i directed my 18 into secretary carter's good work they have agreed

only isis and assad regime. rather than try to eradicate any sort of third pillar structure that could be used as an assad'sive source to government and isis, and he is going to. there even achieves that, is the problem of who will then leave the war in the east against isis? -- lead the war in the east against isis? that americans are not in favor of that, and syria does not have the capacity. that would practically be the eastern syrian territory coming from isis and still undecided upon,. i think the americans would rather go for northern iraq, and ,he fronts are clear, and putin you are earned syria. that is the last thing he wanted. he opt in tohe ideal scenar, that the westerly champion intervention, and join russia thi -- to fight the war. he has been disappointed by american reluctance to do anything. melinda: let's briefly, before we come back, take a look at putin's motives and talk about the humanitarian situaon. fd, of thousands have they are mesng on thborder to turkey. turkey so far has not opened

the assad regime has been surviving. they're no longer on the retreat.ussia is targeting opposition groups that turkey supports. so turkey's maneuver really in syria has been eliminated especially the downing of the russian jets because they deployed missiles on the ground, so russia controls the skies. we heard them say that for them azaz is the red line and we will not allow it to fall. and russia is saying no, this is not a red line. the advances near the turkish border is not made by the russian government but by the ypg. a group that ankara considers opposition and they will consider this provocation. >> we have the latest now from moscow. >> the last few days of intensified fighting in syria i think demonstrate that as we push up to the supposed cessation of hostilities, the regional powers involved here are going to try to push home their objectives and their advances. russia has been very critical of shelling of kurdish positions in the north of syria, calling these aggressive acts, they run counter to the pledges made to the international suppor

people that have been displaced from their homes as a consequence of the intragedience of assad and his regime, and the rise of extremists who have taken advantage of the vacuum that has come with that. thank you. [ speaking italian ] >> translator: some questions from the "washington post." >> thanks. the [ technical difficulties ] >> for the stabilization fund you said is no necessary? >> so as you know, we leave here to go to london -- tomorrow i leave to go to london, and there will be a major meeting in london in which we will be contributing all of the countryings coming, some heads of government to make announcements about their contributions to the ongoing effort to rebuild syria and help support syria going forward. and that basically is the stabilization, and i believe in the very -- in a very significant way, it's up to the government tomorrow and the countries to make their announcements, but i can tell you we will be announcing an additional contribution from the united states, and other countries will announce it likewise on thursday. but in addition to that, we made additional c

report accuses the assad regime of inhumane actions against civilians. syrian civilians. want to bring in correspondent arwa damon live along the turkey/syrian border. >> reporter: good morning. another issue highlighted in the u.n. report is more people, civilians, have been killed by the assad regime than by isis or opposition groups or coalition air strikes. tens of thousands already gathered here on the other side of the border crossing awaiting for turkey to decide that the condition will allow them to cross through. what does this mean? well put, turkey says it cannot take anymore refugees. it already has more than 2.5 million. it is providing shelter, food, water for them on the other side. those who are stuck are really just begging with the authorities to have mercy and let them through. they don't necessarily care about having a tent over their heads. what they want so desperately is the sense of security in the face of what many are describing as the most intense bombardment of the syrian civil war. the bombardment by russian jets that are providing significant

the regime, the regular government, the assad regime, they control all this stuff here.or right here, this orangey, ready color that's correct what the government of the whole country controls. isis controls all the dark blue back. looks like amoebas. al qaeda controls the little brown speckness the northwest. the kurds control that stuff up there in the north. the kurds on both side of the turkish border and isis and the rebels have control of the parted that look like an old new york city cab. that's why it's so confusing and difficult. andrew is with us, fellow at the d.c. think tank where he focuses on syria. he has made bash shall al-assad and author of "in the lion's' den. "the this battle appears not to be going well and isn't our >> certainly is. russia's intervention starting on september 30th has been a game-changer in many ways and allowed the assad regime, which has very limited manpower and was losing the war, to go on the offensive and take large swaths parts of southern syria and turn the tables, at least for now, on the opposition. >> what do you make hof