." >> a call for global sanctions against the i air role of president bashar al-assad -- the iron role of president bashar al-assad. >> russia and china will pay a price, because they are holding up process. it is no longer tolerable. >> welcome to gmt. also coming up in the program -- two chinese baby trafficking rings are smashed with more than 800 arrests. the new oath for girl guides in australia. hello. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 1:00 in the afternoon in paris, where u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has demanded russia and china and their support for president bashar al-assad. the united states and others are threatening new sanctions on assad. the british foreign secretary says countries who did not impose sanctions were effectively allowing killings to continue. the syrian opposition wants military action instead. >> from their fathers, they inherited syria's now vulnerable dictatorship. on the left, president bashar al-assad refusing to step down. a commander, manaf tlas, has now abandoned him and left the country. i'm less tense times, they wer

the battle for damascus rages on the day after three members of president bashar al-assad's top brass were killed in a bomb blast. we will speak with reporter david enders. speak with davidk a lesch, author of "the new lion of damascus: bashar al-asad and modern syria." and matt taibbi, author of, "the scam wall street learned from the mafia: how america's biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy -- until they were caught on tape." and also we will speak about libor. >> their artificially repress in libor as to not pay out as much to any investor who has a libor- based instrument. 350 trillion dollars worth of investments are based on libor. they have been gaining the game, essentially. there's really nothing these guys have not been involved with. >> all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. intense clashes are reported across the syrian capital of damascus in one day after the bombing that killed three members of president bashar al- assad's inner circle, including his defense secretar

true or false it is a bashar al assad ready to step down as president of syria i'm sure thomas in moscow and coming up with sort out all of the details. police great angry crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets on the streets of spain as the public rages against the latest wave of a stir he imposed on the country in return for a bank rescue by the e.u. . live from our new center here in the russian capital this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day where we start with our breaking news story this hour all members of the u.n. security council have voted in favor of a resolution extending the observer mission to syria the mandates being given a final thirty days but could be renewed if certain conditions on that. has the latest now from new york what's the russians reaction to this motion does moscow feel its concerns have been taken into account. the level of violence must be. one question of course is why then did the u.k. put another resolution to the vote on thursday knowing it would get vetoed. well many believe that it was purposely done because when russia and china did strike there

he is not even ruling out, suzanne, the possibility that bashar al assad could use chemical weapons againstat is eye opening to hear king abdullah say that for all practical purposes a huge, huge game-changer in this. he wants bashar al assad to leave and quickly as possible. >> did he mention at all about his own country's party pags with the others when you talk about lebanon and iraq and saudi arabia and providing weapons to the rebels and whether the arab league would support them? >> he is worried about the weapons getting into the rebels and he is talk about the pockets of al qaeda there and the last thing he wants to see the weapons winding up in the hands of al qaeda which is a further complicating factor. and you can send the weapons in but do you have the right address of where they will wind up. he is concerned about that and he did say to me when i asked him if there were any serious differences of the position of his government and jordan, and the position of the united states, the obama administration, and he basically said that the u.s. and jordan were on the same page, and a

a key member of president bashar al assad's inner circle has defected. 're talking about the brigadier general manaf tlass. he's a friend of the syrian leader. his father served as defense minister to al assad's father for three decades. just recently, the israeli deputy prime minister told me right here in "the situation room" that bashar al assad simply can't hang on for much longer, especially if he starts losing his officer core. he says when the military starts to desert in large numbers, it will be, and i'm quoting him now, the end of bashar al assad. last year's mass uprisings in tunisia, libya, and egypt led to the ouster of their longtime leaders. we saw moammar gadhafi dragged through the streets and hosni mubarak caged in a courtroom. after a brutal and bloody conflict, could bashar al assad now be next? let's go to cnn's ivan watson. he's watching all of this unfold. give us some perspective, ivan. the defection of this general, general tlass, i sense it's a big deal, but what are the folks where you are saying? >> reporter: well, he comes fro

. >> you in on what kofi annan is with president bashar al-assad. we will stick with activist rafif jouejati. the justice department goes to blocks the texas' voter id law. >> according to the state of texas' own analysis, anywhere from 600,000 to nearly 800,000 registered voters did not have the required id and those were disproportionately hispanic. >> we will speak with nation reporter ari berman about the texas' voter id law and such laws around the country, and with the naacp attorney robert havingor the group as havinis its annual meeting in houston. a >> there should be no sympathy for goldman sachs. we should be doing everything to try to bring this matter forward. >> what is the matter? oakland city council votes to end its contract with goldman sachs that locked into a financial deal that cost the city millions. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a record-setting heat wave in the eastern u.s. is starting to ease after two weeks of scorching temperatures. th

true or false is a bashar al assad ready to step down as president of syria i'm sean thomas in moscow and coming up we sort out all of the details. police greet angry crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets on the streets of spain as the public rages against the latest wave of a stir he imposed on the country in return for a bank rescue by the e.u. . live from our new center here in the russian capital this is r.t. with you twenty four hours a day all members of the u.n. security council a vote in favor of a resolution extending the observer mission to syria the mandates been given the final thirty days but could be renewed if certain conditions are met. has the latest from new york. brush ambassadors of the united nations vitaly churkin says he's a very pleased with the way the vote out friday with his security council unanimously approving a u.k. draft resolution that extends the u.n. supervision mission in syria for a final thirty days investor churkin said this is what russia was hoping for from the very beginning and the vote that took place on thursday of course put a lot of con

year during the holy revolution, all the killing, the massacres and the declaration of war by bashar al assad against the syrian people stopped any kind of hope towards real change which had been promised by bashar al assad. of course, the regime will try and destroy my reputation. this is a well-known tactic. i may be the defection that hurts the regime the most. >> reporter: does the syrian president and supports, do they believe they'll win in the end? >> they're trapped. they entered into a war of blood. and they are aware that they're going to pay for it. they're just buying time. maybe they will get a chance to escape. >> reporter: do you want a military intervention into syria from foreign powers? >> this regime will not go without force. the suffering of the syrian people is very great and they want it to end by any way possible. i support military intervention because i know the nature of this regime. this regime will only go with force. >> reporter: what message would you like to send to bashar al assad and to your former colleagues in the syrian government right now? >> my former c

true or false is a bashar al assad ready to step down as president of syria and john thomas in moscow and coming up we sort out all of the details. police greed angry crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets in the streets of spain as the public rages against the latest wave of austerity imposed on the country in return for a bank rescue by the e.u. . it's a pleasure to have you with us here on our to today. live in moscow the u.n. observer mission to syria expires later on friday but the security council still split over a resolution to extend it another vote is expected any moment now after russia and china yesterday vetoed a western backed draft which they considered simply put is unacceptable and with more from new york. now joins us live here on the program good to see you so so what's russia claiming is at stake if indeed the observer mission is not extended today. well of russia and i have to say add to that the secretary general of the un and joint special envoy kofi annan all say that there's a lot at stake if this mandate is not extended because we have to remember these as t

his father served as the defense minister to bashar al assad's father over three decades. y the deputy prime minister told me here in the situation room if bashar al assad starts losing his officer corps, he can't hold on for long. a top general says when the military starts to desert in large numbers it will be, and i'm quoting the israeli deputy prime minister, quote, the end of bashar al assad. last year mass uprisings in tunisia, egypt and libya led to the ouster of their leaders. we saw moammar gadhafi dragged through the streets, we saw hosni mubarak caged in a courtroom after a long and bloody conflict. could bashar al assad be next in line? let's talk about it with fran townsend, a former homeland security adviser to president george w. bush. if this report is true, that he has now defected, a huge guy in syria and the syrian military, fran, this would be huge. >> absolutely, wolf. not only is he in the republican guard, which is a very close -- it's meant to protect assad and the senior members of the regime. it's meant to sort of enforce regime stability, but this

should we seek a last minute help from the united nations or will bashar al-assad will able to rallyis own troops? and what will russia do? are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. >>shepard: this is "studio b" at bottom hour and time for the tonight news. the syrian civil war that is resulted in the deaths of more than 17,000 men and women and children, escalated today with a bombing that killed three very high ranking syrian officials. and the united nations security council has responded, now, with a delay on a vote on a possible security council resolution. russia and china have not once but twice free vetoed the resolutions designed to stop the blood shed. the white h

if russia could replace bashar al-assad tomorrow, with bashar al-assad, the clone, they would do it.t is not a matter of individuals, it is a question of the regime itself. and, as long as the united states doesn't face up to that reality, you could have negotiation after negotiation and nothing will change. >> eric: ambassador, finally your prediction, stalemate, continues as-is? >> as far that's eyes can see, the civilian deaths continue and hostilities continue and the stand-off continues. >> eric: ambassador john bolton, always terrific to have your in sight every sunday morning, thanks for your in sight. as always. >> the ballot counting underway in la in libya after the first free election and we expect results by tuesday and more than 1.5 libyans took part in the vote and the leaders will make up a 200 seat parliament, and it is seen as a key milestone after the end of a bloody civil war that ousted dictator muammar al-gadhafi. >> dave: coal miners are underground and four were pulled to the surface yesterday and they spent three days in a flooded pit in a mine in china. and c

there's lots of different sources of information and misinformation as it were we've heard that bashar al assad has fled to damascus we've also heard that assad has been injured and just immediately after those reports came out there were pictures of assad perfectly fine having not been injured also reports of assad's wife coming here to moscow and about those rumors the foreign ministry here in russia has said on the general idea of rumors that the world is usually awash with rumors these rumors tend to game some information ground and spread very fast i would not like to comment on any rumors today i think that it is a very honest information trap and that we should be careful not to fall into it so basically a lot of information out there lots of misinformation out there and telling people to be careful what they believe what it's going to be to try and clear it up for so much there in moscow thank you. well at the u.n. observer mission to syria expires later on friday with the security council still split over a resolution to extend it another vote expected shortly after russia and china ve

alliance are here in moscow and have reiterated their main aim is to oust the current leader bashar al assad. reports. no dialogue though with the government of president bashar al assad that was the main message from syria's main opposition group which is convened here on the eve of talks between the head of the syrian national council and the russian foreign minister on wednesday now for with the violence in syria essentially entering its sixteenth months all sides do agree on the need for some sort of a transitional government in syria some sort of a transition in that country the divisions however are over what role if any president bashar al assad should play in this transition now for the s.n.c. again this is the main opposition group for syria there negotiating position there precondition is that assad is removed from power before any negotiations over a new government take place this kind of a demand a precondition for the removal of the syrian president for him from office goes against what was set out in the geneva talks last month which were world powers effectively decided or agr

an asian free of bashar al-assad is a nation -- a nation free of bashar al-assad is a nation we can do business with. >> the regime says they have chemical weapons and they are. -- and they are prepared to use them against outside aggressors. do you believe them? >> i do not believe there -- i do not believe a word the regime says. they are demonstrating the in the main tactics they are using now. people are asking their government in israel for gas masks now. he should understand that one use of any type of poison gas would be the end of the line for him. >> people keep saying, it is the end of the line. he is continuing to do exactly what he wants. he clearly does not care what you or anybody else in the international community says. >> he has disregarded the international community and he has been enabled by the iranians, the russians, and the chinese. we have to continue to put pressure on the chinese and the russians. we have to bring together coalitions outside the un and within the region to bring to bear pressure on the regime and support for the resistance. the resistance has

where help that they agreed to allow for a transition of power to a more democratic regime but bashar al assad was apt that meeting he agreed to this communicate even he even appointed a person to work with the opposition and negotiate with the opposition and agreed to to leave and do so in a cordial manner now what we have now confirmed with the russian diplomatic mission in paris which is where ambassador all of his a station he says that these words were taken out of context and it says the meaning of the ambassador's words were that bashar al assad can stay in power and he could go but this is a decision they can be made not by the u.n. security council not by anyone else but only by the president himself and by the syrian people certainly there's always rumors in fact it's hard to believe anything that comes out of syria unless you can that he personally see it for yourself because there's lots of different sources of information and misinformation as a word we've heard that bashar al assad has fled to damascus we've also heard that assad has been injured and that just immediately after t

at its core is president bashar al-assad and his brother, a military commander. the president's sister, her husband was killed today. assef shawkat has been called the power behind the scenes and the architect behind much of the crackdown of the syrian uprising. his death is a major blow to the inner circle. the government has vowed to defeat the rebels. >> this is a decisive battle, this is a decisive battle not only in damascus but in syria as a whole. they are wrong to underestimate us. >> these street fighting pictures and damascus were not filled by rebels, they are from state television. a tacit admission by the regime of house serious situation has become. -- of how serious the situation has become. the violence has crept in from outlying districts like these. last night, the barracks of the presidential palace were set ablaze. this morning's blast was a place presume to be a secure stronghold. >> this sent a message to the regime that the hands of the syrian people can reach any one side of damascus and even bashar al-assad. he is not safe anymore. >> but

he's planning to meet with bashar al assad. assad says annan's plan is good and should not be allowed to fail. according to one human rights group more than 30 people were killed yesterday. in clashes between syrian government and rebel troops. susan mcginnis has more this morning. susan, good morning to you. >> terrell, good morning. an estimated 14,000 people are now dead in this conflict that's about 16 months old now. kofi annan heads back to damascus to try again. kofi annan's convoy pulled into a secured hotel in damascus. he will meet with bashar al assad today to try to revive the failed peace plan he first brokered. >> the government of syria and all parties on the ground must recommit to the six-point plan in its entirety. >> the annan plan called for a cease-fire and for the government to withdraw its troops from populated areas. but in the three months since the plan was agreed to, the fighting has only worsened. >> a violation of human rights continue to take place. >> assad blames the u.s. >> they give -- they offe

sort of a transition in that country the divisions however are over what role if any president bashar al assad should play in this transition now for the s.n.c. again this is the main opposition group for syria they're negotiating position there precondition is that assad is removed from power before any negotiations over a new government take place this kind of a demand a precondition for the removal of the syrian president for him from office goes against what was set out in the geneva talks last month which were world powers effectively decided or agreed that syrian factions the syrian people will have to negotiate this kind of process not outside powers based on what we heard from the syrian opposition today it really is unlikely that tehran is going to hold much sway over the situation at least when it comes to the opposition groups the delegate again told reporters that iran was basically accused of supporting the assad government she said that quote the way wrong played a destructive role in syria that it participated in the crimes of the all saud regime that was in the delegates words

well no dialogue with the government of president bashar al assad that was the main message from syria's main opposition group which is convened here on the eve of topps between the. head of the syrian national council and the russian foreign minister on an un tuesday answer when say now for it with the violence in syria essentially entering its sixteen months all sides do agree on the need for some sort of a transitional government in syria some sort of a transition in that country the divisions however are over what role if any president bashar al assad should play in this transition now for the s.n.c. again this is the main opposition group for syria there negotiating position there precondition is that assad is removed from power before any negotiations over a new government take place in fact that statement was reiterated today when the s.n.c. delegate told reporters quote there could be no dialogue with the ruling regime there can only be talks on how to switch to a quote new political system effectively they want action before any sort of talks take place so you see as you say the

. >> and we will be taking a closer look at the television interview with bashar al-assad later on in program. but, first, eurozone finance ministers are meeting in brussels with the aim of agreeing on a plan to reinforce the euro. a key issue is how to use the european stability mechanism to recapitalized banks directly, rather than funneling financial aid through governments. >> the meeting on monday is also expected to discuss who should succeed luxembourg's jean-claude juncker as head of the eurogroup. juncker is due to step down on july 17. >> and spain is high on the agenda. on monday, the interest spain has to offer on 10-year bonds rose back above 7%. that level is considered unsustainable. >> spain's economy minister got a warm welcome on a rival in brussels. but the meeting with his eu colleagues is bound to involve tough bargaining. >> we will be talking about two main issues, the memorandum of understanding setting up the bailout conditions and the level of prevacid that we are permitted. >> france's finance minister said he was confident. >> i am optimistic that we will m

his father with us a butcher, bashar al-assad himself is a butcher. hands in the middle east than bashar al-assad. he's a well-known quantity. for some reason this current administration thought somehow he would be reasonable and peaceably step down. he hasn't, it's been 14 months and he's still killing his own citizens. bill: as we sit here today 14 months later there is no end to that. mike baker, thank you for your time. here is martha. martha: a stunning piece of information where the economy is concerned, more workers joined the federal disability ranks in june than got new jobs. that is a sorry situation. take a look at this graph. the economy created only 80,000 jobs last month, okay. but 85,000 people left the workforce entirely to enroll in the disability program. what is going on here? liz joins us now with the details. liz, you know, why are so many more people disabled than were 20 years ago, for example? >> reporter: well, maybe it's easier to say, why are so many more people disabled, martha, than since the financial crisis started. it do

enjoys the support of a significant portion of the people however russia does say that bashar al assad is not in power because of russia's support of the regime rather because of that support of people and in fact russia has stated repeatedly that they do not support the assad regime rather they are not taking sides they support more of an open dialogue of all parties involved russia also would like for kofi annan to engage more with the opposition and to try and change their mind so that there can be more open talks between the assad government who's already appointed a representative for talks so basically we're what we're looking for today russia here those talks underway right now as we speak and we're looking to see if there's any movement from any of the sides in this conflict resolution all right he's live in central moscow thank you. well meantime a syrian opposition fighters have taken their battle right to the neighborhoods of damascus with reports that the city has witnessed explosions and intense daylight shootouts. she's in the capital she says the real picture though desp

to support kofi annan peace plan they do not support however the forcing of regime change with bashar al assad is saying that bashar al assad the president actually supports enjoys the support of a majority of the people in his country so trying to force him out just would not be a legitimate move and that is something that russia says the west is trying to force through using the u.n. as a backdrop for that however russia does want kofi annan to work more closely with the opposition saying that syria has actually the government put forward a representative to work with the opposition it to promote dialogue with the opposition but the opposition. even coming here to moscow has said that is something that they are not willing to do they only want bashar al assad out so today the president vladimir putin expected to try and work through these sticking points to come to some sort of resolution rochelle hoping to back that peace plan. all right while we certainly will be bringing updates to you live as the day progresses with what happens in the meeting thank you for that. brian becker who is a na

a lot of questions as to how tenuous the grip that bashar al assad has on power remains.o, one other thing -- last week you had an stloeexplosion damascus that killed four of the top syrian officials. all those signs put together, people asking just how much power does bashar al assad hold in the country. >> speaking of damascus, we're getting conflicting reports about what exactly is happening there. can you tell us what you know about the fighting there? >> reporter: it's interesting. you know, oftentimes we see in the syrian conflict, we hear from opposition activists because we're not able to report from inside syria, the syrian government will not give us visas. but we have reports today of fierce fighting in the capital. several days that intense fighting has been going on. there's one neighborhood in particular, the passion activi t activists telling us it's been shelling by helicopter. there are heavy casualties. the syrian regime for its part on state television, they were saying that although the syrian regime was going after armed terrorist groups in the capita

he said, they don't like bashar al-assad therbgbashar assad, they don't care about bashar al-assad. same kind relationship that they've had with syria nor all the strategic points that you have stated. what does that leave in terms of the dynamic that emerges. let's assume for the moment that bashar al-assad gets pushed aside is there an opening no or an opposition that might be more helpful. >> it's a whole lot of different groups. some of them may be islamists, extremists. some of them may be well-meaning democrats who want to establish a democracy. we don't really know, we know some of them but we don't know who emerges at the end of us. i think that's why it's important to work with the russians, not to shame or scold them but to say you have interests here, you are the only country in a position to get rid of bashar al-assad. you are the only country who can pick who comes next you can have your interests guaranteed. get rid of bashar al-assad and start the civil war and stop the killing. martha: that's the art of diplomacy that needs to be put in place. thank you so much. bill

lavrov here in moscow and at that time they said they were not willing to deal with president bashar al assad since then they have launched what they are calling operation the damascus of volcano and earthquakes of syria the stated goal of that operation is to bring in syria and i'm quoting here bring it syria into a state of complete and total civil disobedience now of course this puts kofi annan in a very difficult situation he is charged with finding a peaceful solution to the conflict there on the ground in syria now in doing this he must meet with all sides that means the west china russia and of course the opposition and president bashar al assad russia says that the west is not living up to the geneva agreement that was agreed on just a short time ago and in fact they're using this as an opportunity to impose sanctions and possibly even military intervention of a foreign kind this is something that russia does not absolutely does not want russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said the west is trying to blackmail russia to swing over to their side also lavrov says that hillary clinton