the absolute commitment we have to block any reconstruction assistance to the criminal callous assad regime until that regime starts contributing to the political process. and then thirdly, to play a much stronger role in the diplomacy designed to achieve that. and i will cite a success that we had, and that is idlib, the last of the deconfliction zones which the turks had originally negotiated with the iranians and the russian, almost a year ago, in the 7th of september, putin humiliated president erdogan by saying there would be no ceasefire. ten days later, erdogan got a ceasefire agreement in writing from putin, in idlib, that is still holding. one reason for the change was, president trump's direct and dramatic intervention in that not only by saying we would take very strong action if chem cam weapons were used in any offensive and he made that very, very clear and we worked with our allies to ensure that this would not be america alone, and secondly, the president stated publicly, that this would be a wreckless escalation of the conflict and he kept a drum beat of pressure on russia,

lebanese hezbollah, the assad regime. so the saudis have made a lot of promises to their partners, now it's time to pay up. i think they'll struggle to manage that coalition. finally, just dealing with the other players in the conflict, primarily the u.s., israel and turkey. that have the potential to frustrate russia's ambitions, i think they'll struggle, i think they'll struggle to deal with those three players and i think you saw that, it was fairly clear recently when the syrian regime accidentally shot down the russian io 20 and although the ministry of defense and the general staff continue to blame israel, putin after a talk with netanyahu was very quick to say this was a tragic, a tragic series of events that no one was really at fault for. i think the reason is that this is while the idlib confrontation with turkey was going on. the last thing russia needed was a confrontation with turkey and israel at the same time. tried to defuse at least the political leadership has, i'm not sure about the general staff. the

the assad regime was terrible. it begins, you're right, it begins with the assad regime. they would rather see half their population either killed or flee the country rather than give up political power. that's a matter of national identity. the assad regime is loyal to the alawite sect. it is loyal to the sect rather than to any notion that all of these other sunnis and kurds and other people should be part of a greater thing called syria. they don't care about that. all they care about is the survival of the alawites and then that sets up every other sectarian group in the country to simply defend only their sect and not an entity called syria. that was the basic problem. >> they also tortured and killed many alawites. >> they did, of course, of course. >> in 2012 the republican party had this speeders can you link and? >> the republican party family had this autopsy where they said, concluded that they were too racist basically come to at the immigration of that they needed to change. they obviously didn't, and it turns out that was the right thing to do for them elect

the tyrannical assad regime has played the international community for a fool. by hiding behind the so-called de-escalation zone that allow him to dedicate military resources to one front before breaking the agreement to bond civilian targets and other zones. we havein satellite watching ase continues to use chemical weapons, barrel bonds, starvation and other endless legal measures to break civilian enclaves and crush opposition parties. humanitarian crisis in syria continues to be wrought with uncertainty [inaudible] a large number of displaced civilians where else to go. a full regime with assault threatens to cause largest military crisis of this entire conflict. in june i wrote to the secretary of state asking him to prepare to mitigate such a disaster into account for why the demonstration rose to $9 and stabilization funds which included funding for radio fresh, independent radio station which countered the extremist propaganda right in northwestern syria. last week founder of radio fresh was killed. efstriking a blow to those of us who support counter ex

it's usually green from opposition groups to the assad regime. the reason it's a problem is the united states was there. there's two groups that the russians were bombing regularly in 2016. to protect the groups, declare a security zone around and it threaten to strike any vehicle that entered the security zone and has a coupletimes since then. they want us in the assad regime wants the u.s. and groups out. the u.s. has stayed partially because that's where the camp sits and they are somewhere around 65,000 displaced persons there. the russians claim regularly that it's full of terrorists and fighters and so the fear i think is that if the united states withdraws, there will be a bo bombing. there will be consistent, deliberate bombing of the refugee camp. that will cause a crisis. they were letting people come over and processing them as refugees. then some militants came over with them. killed the security forces. now this camp is hemmed in. they can't leave the security zone. then the final area i think russia has been frustrated in president

by i said as the legitimate government so i i wonder how come you know mr pompei uses the term assad regime as if it was an illegitimate god government whereas you know converse lead the illegitimate action of these sanctions these sanctions are illegitimate they are illegitimate against syria they are illegitimate against iran they are illegitimate against hezbollah because they are baseless they are not based on a decision made by the united nations or by some actions that are proven to be illegal actions or by direct support for any terrorist organization. more than a million people worldwide to join a petition against palm oil production which recent years has become a cheap versatile alternative to other vegetable oils it's huge in everything from food to cosmetics to fuel but now there's big concern about the massive environmental cost in countries which produce it like indonesia. we need to press on with battery research for plug in hybrid vehicles and expand the use of clean diesel to diesel fuel and these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment and they will

government in syria today is the regime where there is a president of the syrian republic president assad who was been elected by his people now this is a legitimate government because it's represented in the united nations with mr schaffel he was the ambassador of syria for the international community recognizes syrian government led by i said as the legitimate government so i i wonder how come you know mr pompei will use the term assad regime as if it was an illegitimate government whereas you know converse lead the illegitimate action of these sanctions these sanctions are illegitimate they are illegitimate they consider they are illegitimate against iran they are illegitimate against hezbollah because they are baseless they are not based on the decision made by the united nations over by some actions that are proven to be illegal actions or by direct support for any terrorist organizations this could be allegations against you know some western forces coincidence or not to these sanctions all companies are russian to rainy and just try to work the russian foreign ministry is doing thi

>> unfortunately there will not be a way to do this safely if the assad regime has anything to do about it. there's no way you can guarantee them even if we give them opportunity to express their opinion and there's still a security state -- is the most dominant part of the syrian government and allowing the refugees to go back there with the apparatus unless that is addressed which is completely intertwined with their faith so the refugees cannot be guaranteed and leave aside all of the other inhumane situation. >> would you like them to [inaudible]. >> yeah, i'm not advocating for their return and that is not willing and there are families who have family the day that are returning that trickling back but these are not people who were on the mentally against their thoughts necessarily. there's a small number like 7 million people outside of the syrian border. >> i love to bring you in here. [inaudible] refugees to come back and being a part of a new opposition. >> this is the discussions about the constitutional committee and in the election and political process in regards to syria.

the sawed assad regime denied it. >> reporter: dozens of patients, including children flooded a hospital treated for trouble breathing, skin rashes and inflamed eyes, symptoms consistent with warfare. it's still unclear who launched this attack and what chemical was used. doctors on the scene say they support chlorine. the attack took place saturday night in the now government-controlled city of aleppo, which has been the site of some of the fiercest battles in syria's civil war. both sides have denied responsibility for this most recent attack and blamed each other in what has become a familiar back and forth throughout the nation's brutal seven-year fight. while the assad regime denies using chemical weapons, the international intelligence committee has found them responsible for some of the worst offensives, including an attack in duma earlier this year. the horrific scenes of that attack prompted military action from the u.s., uk, and france who carried out missile attacks on three sites they said were associated with the regime's chemical weapons program. >>> unlike duma, there has

more than a hundred people were taken to hospitals after a suspected poison gas attack, a as the assad regimend antigovernment rebels blamed each other, russian warplanes hammered rebel targets. >> here's jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: dozens of patients including children flooded a hospital where they were treated for troubled breathing, skin rashes and inflamed eyesk symptoms doctors said were consistent with chemical warfare. it is still unclear who launched this attack and what chemical was used. doctors on the scene said they suspect color even. -- chlorine. the attack took place saturday night in the now government-controlled city of aleppo which has been the site of some of the fiercest battles in syria's civil war. both sides have denied responsibility for this most recent attack and blamed each other in what has become a familiar back and forth throughout the nation's brutal sevennier fight. while the assad regime has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons, the international intelligence community has found the syrian government responsible for some of the worst offenses. includi

part of the reason well first of all the only reason why the assad regime is still fighting is because of iranian support hezbollah and lebanon which iran is bankrolled iran bangalore and again that is going on because of saudi arabia. terror groups all across terror groups has a lot of running a century the drug and human trafficking trade across europe bankrolled by iran iranian money is much more detrimental to the region look i don't i was i suppose well it doesn't it doesn't have to be either or that was what i'm asking at i'm not saying that that some of the criticisms that you have against iran are not things that many analysts agree with that i'm not saying that i'm simply saying why the different policies why the either or is what i'm asking well look i think that the u.s. does we do need to evaluate especially what happened with jamal khashoggi and turkey those very deplorable action i think some of these things do need to be looked into like in the same gratz all across the region we have allies and enemies which. have committed terrible acts for instance like with jamal kha

fighting alongside president bashar assad secretary of state mike compares says the iranian and assad regime's undermine the legitimate processes to resolve the war in syria the united states today sanctions and international network that the iranian regime and russia are using to provide millions of barrels of oil to the assad regime this is in exchange for the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars to the fire g.c. could force that money is then passed on to terrorist organizations like hezbollah and hamas the united states in its continued efforts will not allow these dirty dealings to flourish donald trump's lawyer says the us president has also submitted written on says to questions by special counsel robert muller his investigation of trump's campaign concluded with russia to influence the twenty sixteen presidential election trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt and says he would not stop his acting attorney general if he moved to curtail the inquiry the us president says it's fake news to compare hillary clinton's use of personal e-mail during her time as secr

part of the reason well first of all the only reason why the assad regime is still fighting is because of iranian support hezbollah and lebanon which iran is bankrolled iran bangalore and again that is going on because of saudi arabia. terror groups all across terror groups has a lot of running a century the drug and human trafficking trade across europe bankrolled by iran iranian money is much more detrimental to the region look i don't i was my question was well it doesn't it doesn't have to be either or though is what i'm asking at i'm not saying that that some of the criticisms that you have against iran are not things that many analysts agree with that i'm not saying that i'm simply saying why the different policies why the either or is what i'm asking well look i think that the u.s. does we do need to evaluate especially what happened with jamal khashoggi and turkey those very deplorable action i think some of these things do need to be looked into like in the same gratz all across the region we have allies and enemies which ships which have committed terrible acts for instance l

network that the israeli regime in russia are using to provide millions of barrels of oil to the assad regime area this is an exchange for the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars force.irgc that is passed on to terrorist organizations like hezbollah and hamas. allow thesel not dirty dealings to flourish. iran will not be a will to explore the financial system to fund terrorist activity. you have seen that interpol's electing a new president. that is an important organization. we strongly endorse kim jong-un yang. he is acting as president. we encourage all nations that are part of interpol and respect the rule of law to choose a leader with integrity. kim will be just that. third, our special representative for afghanistan reconciliation just got back from mr. to afghanistan. his first and last stop was kabul. during his visit, the ambassador met with men and women, members of the media, and other organizations. in every one of his meetings, he stressed that all afghans must have a say we will continue to work with all parties to facilitate a peace process. our special representative

network that the iranian regime and russia are using to provide millions of barrels of oil to the assad regime this is in exchange for a little bit of hundreds of millions of dollars to the i r g c could force that money is then passed on to terrorist organizations like hezbollah and hamas the united states in its continued efforts will not allow these dirty dealings to flourish. trita parsi is a professor at georgetown university and he says the u.s. is trying to deflect attention away from saudi arabia. it shows the desperation and which trumpet ministration is trying to deflect and move on to the next issue and essentially trying to scare the american public into thinking that iran is such a major threat to the united states so that the united states has no choice but to keep business as usual with the saudi government despite the murder on him off actually it shows that this obsession with iran has now reached a level in the us government on the trunk it's always existed but it's not reached a level that is beyond anything we've seen in the past and i think we've reached a point in which e

network that the iranian regime and russia are using to provide millions of barrels of oil to the assad regime. this is in exchange for the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars to the irgc quds force. that money is then passed on to terrorist organizations like hezboallah and hamas. the united states in its continued efforts will not allow these dirty dealings to flourish. iran will not be allowed to exploit the international financial system, to hide revenue streams it uses to fund terrorist activity, support sectarian militias, abusing civilian populations, or to destabilize the region. second, you've seen that interpol is electing a new president. it's an important organization. we strongly endorse kim jong yang, who is serving as its acting president. we encourage all nations and organizations that are part of interpol and that respect the rule of law to choose a leader with credibility and integrity that reflects one of the world's most critical law enforcement bodies. we believe mr. kim will be just that. third, our special representative for afghanistan reconciliation zalmay khal

with the assad regime providing zero information on the whereabouts of the bars brother and nephew witness testimony is vital. claim aspect our contacted human rights organizations to find people who had been in the same prison at the same time. bill forat is in syria denying to all accusations of kidnapping. and while bruni in berlin informed her that there was one witness in germany he had likewise been in the prison run by the air force intelligence service for them in the. law and according to alba named on the witness was able to provide detailed testimony. is one which officers serve there. how interrogations were conducted. and how the general conditions were about. to get. well. and the fact that a dictatorial regime makes people disappear and provides no information for the family is a form of terror it is political terror that is us deliberately it's an organized set up the fact that obeyed the whole family are in the dark about the fate of patrick and mars then is the decision of the bash al asad regime and that's what we're trying to say it's organized and it's had. me say ther

going into this they were more concerned about the assad regime. because of the position they have taken, they see that as an asset to iran. i do not think they are going to relinquish it. is it possible the u.s. could accomplish different goals secretary held laid out? absolutely. they are reasonable goals. but, it's going to be very difficult. what i see out there as the potential clash, what we consistently heard from this president, which is he is not interested in syria, he wants syria to be vladimir putin's problem. with this desire to do things like drive iran out of syria, that is a big deal. that is going to require a much bigger commitment than we have seen so far. i do not see the trump administration being willing to make that commitment. there is a tremendous amount more i could say about this. i'm going to cede my time. >> a bigger commitment militarily? financially? >> yes. >> i agree. first, thanks for having me. can has saidwhat about -- ken has said about iran's goals. i also agree with the fundamental dissonance we see coming out

going into this they're more concerned about the assad regime. i think because of the position they've taken it, they see it itself as an asset to iran. i don't think they're going to easily relinquish it. is it possible the united states could accomplish the different goals undersecretary hale laid out? absolutely. they're reasonable goals. but, of course, it's the middle east. they're nothing but big butts. it's going to be difficult, in particular, what i see out there as the potential clash between what we've consistently heard from this president, which is that he's not interested in syria. he wants syria to be putin's problem, as he reportedly has said many times. with this desire to do thing like drive iran out of syria. you want to drive iran out of syria, that's a big deal that will require a bigger commitment from the united states than we've seen so far. and i don't yet see the trump administration being willing to make that kind of commitment. there was a tremendous amount more than i could say about this but i'm going to seed my time

people were treated at hospitals in nearby aleppo following a suspected poison gas attack the assad regime as well as moscow blamed the chemical attack on an anti-government rebels based in it live a charge the rebels deny. these people most of them women and children are allegedly victims of a poison gas attack that's according to syrian state television which claimed anti-government rebels the victims were treated in clinics in aleppo the syrian observatory for human rights reports that it smelled like chlorine gas in the city . when i drove back home after work i suddenly realized that my eyes had started to want to that my nose was running i smelled a disgusting smell i didn't know what it was. he had been a man not officially a partnership. i suddenly heard a big explosion smelt something and then had shortness of breath and felt losing he wanted me of several injured civilians were brought in and they smelled strange. syria's government said that three neighborhoods of aleppo were hit damascus blames insurgents in and around it and as a consequence russian fighter jets bombed several

the assad regime, iranians, russians, have the upper hand. they're looking to culminate their victory and we're trying hard to stave that off and force them into a power-sharing arrangement by holding on to a certain amount of territory and holding out the prospect of reconstruction aid. could that work? maybe. maybe if we had jeff in there to handle the diplomacy but that's going to be really, really tricky, because it means shifting from one model, the victory of one side, to that more negotiated solution, and historically, you don't get to that negotiated solution unless you have much more military pressure, which is what i was referring to when courtney asked the original question. unless we're going to threaten the awe said regime and then its kole of the vast majorout of syria's population they don't have much incentive and while i think it's possible, what i fear is that we get ourselves into a lebanon situation which jeff had to live through as at ambassador there where we and many other countries are providing assistance and trying t

russian intervention in syria saved the assad regime from near defeat. we do seek common ground with russia to end the conflict and advance the goal of a syria freed from the presence of iranian proxies, security forces. those forces destabilize the entire region and serve only the interest of iran, not those of people.ian we must engage russia while assessing the actions and follow-through of its commitments, starting with russia's commitment to implement un security council resolution 2254. afghanistan, russia continues to disrupt of gun-led peaceful negotiations. we have also seen in libya how russia is encouraging parties to keep fighting just when the rest of us are urging them to come to the negotiating table. china is also seeking to expand its influence in the region primarily through investment, deals.nd infrastructure while its belt and broad initiative is focused on east and south asia, it does extend into some parts of the middle east. china is already the largest customer for saudi arabia oil. they pledged a record $1 billion in investments

as the assad regime and anti-government rebels blamed each other, russian warplanes hammered rebel targets. here's jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: dozens of patients including children flooded a hospital where they were treated for trouble breathing, skin rashes, and inflamed eyes, symptoms doctors said were consistent with chemical warfare. it's still unclear who launched this attack and what chemical was used. doctors on the scene say they suspect chlorine. the attack took place saturday night on the now government-controlled city of aleppo. which has been the sight of some of the fiercest battles in syria's system war. be both sides have denied responsibility for this most recent attack and blamed each other in what has become a familiar back and forth throughout the nation's brutal seven-year fight. while the assad regime has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons the international intelligence community has found the syrian government responsible for some of the war's worst offenses. including an attack in duma earlier this year that killed more than 40 people. the horrific scenes

they say that syria is in cahoots with russia helping the assad regime. this is something the united states does not like. since may of 2018, they have worked on rolling out those sanctions on november 5, monday. phil: how effective were those sanctions be? all of these countries say that they will work together to get around them. >> it is hard to tell. they will be effective to some degree. having said that, there are plenty of countries that won't be impacted by this. they are still dealing with iran. they say they want to pay iran for the oil. having said that, mike pompeo and steve mnuchin mentioned that a jurisdictions -- this is what -- eight jurisdictions are getting waivers. there is reporting that they are iraq, turkey and south korea. they are getting waivers and trying to do oil trays with iran. the money that iran would get from this has to be imposed in a specific bank account. phil: the u.s. midterm elections are on tuesday, november 6. the time seems more than coincidental. >> yes. of course, this can be alleged that the timing is geared t

i very much chastened by what am we've seen in syria as the assad regime neared collapse, the russians moved in and the iranians moved in. to say that i think that if the iranian regime nears collapse we will see the chinese and the russians move in to say that i don't think we are going to be -- go in directly and challenge it, but we should be aware of that possibility. i also agree, and i think it's the most important thing to remember is what patrick ended with that this regime, this revolutionary regime, is inveteratly hostile to us. the hostility to the united states and to the west is at its core of its identity. any deal we make with it we have to recognize we are making with it with a regime that sees us as , an enemy and always will. and that's one of the things that was profoundly wrong with jcpoa because there was -- embedded in the jcpoa was the notion that we are going to transform these guys from devils into angels, and that's not going to happen. patrick: mike, i would say this. we may not be committed to a regime change policy, but i don't think there's anything wrong

russia's intervention in syria saved the assad regime from certain defeat, although american and russian objectives in syria are by no stretch, wholly aligned we do see common ground in russia to end the conflict and advance the world of a syria free of the proxy and syrian security forces. >> those forces serve only it is interest of tehran and not those of the syrian people and its neighbors. despite the low level of trust and followed through to implement the u.n. security council, and run r continues, rather than allow meaningful discussions and how russia will continue fighting just as the rest of us are urging them come to the negotiating table. china is also seeking to expand its influence in the region primarily through investment, trade and infrastructure deals. while the road initiative is foc focused on east and south asia, already china is the largest cut of for for saudi arabian oil. saudi pledged a record $1 billion in the khalifa port free trade zone. as we've seen elsewhere, chinese trade and investment comes with strings and can produce a death trap. a deliberate strateg

and russia are using to provide millions of barrels of oil to the assad regime this is in exchange for the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars to the i.r.g.c. could force that money is then passed on to terrorist organizations like hezbollah and hamas well this is what we know the new sanctions focus on want to remain company into russia based oil companies while the six individuals targeted are from various countries including iran and russia moscow is condemned washington's latest move saying it will only strengthen the terrorist position. the effort to charge others with providing oil to syria which is back to terrorist aggression for seven years looks like a statement of support for terrorists and similar changes lee an effort to hamper the reconstruction of the war torn country much of its population is deprived of electricity and heating does the u.s. really want this. based political allies to. the us is effectively giving aid to the remnants of islamic state. how ironic that the united states that claims claims to be fighting terrorism and is imp

powerful like the united states we believe it is highly likely that attack was carried out by the assad regime but. it looks a lot like this attack was done by the side regime that's truly an evil person this is an animal well the difference is aleppo is under the control of the syrian government has been for years now slowly but surely clearing out its streets of rubble trying to piece back together the normality the chances that animal assad gave orders to slaughter the innocent is let's say slim hence it's worth a mention maybe but not much more i want to read to rate here is that france does condemned the use of chemical weapons whatever. the uses are they don't care because the attack is coming from the wrong side as it were if you check the mainstream media coverage globally it's a nonevent in if you also check the so-called opposition media in syria course they are saying that well that it could be a plot by the regime no surprise there before how easy and convenient in two wars to instantly pin the blame on the baddest of the bad guys now when the alleged hit potentially just potential