something that cannot be achieved while bashar al-assad is still in power. wantssin al-haj saleh, to ask you about your own history. you mentioned being a dissident in syria. you are arrested and imprisoned under bashar al-assad's father. can you talk about where you fit into the resistance today? and also talk about the terrible loss of your wife, who was kidnapped several l years ago along with the prominent syrian activistd human rights . >> what i want to say is our struggle hasn't begun five or six years ago. because going for two generations now. we were young -- i was less than 21 when i was arrested and stayed in prison for 16 years. my colleagues [indiscernible] i'm sorry, tens of thousands were killed and tortured. it was -- i found myself naturally part of this second wave of struggle for democracy, for freedom, and for justice in my country. i lived in hiding in damascus for years from the beginning of the revolution, and i participated in many activities. i tried to be part of this uprising -- great struggle of syrians for change, for real change

they are not there to save the secular baathist regime of bashar al—assad. ashar al—assad because he has been a critical ally for iranians. and bashar al—assad relies on syria to further enhance his agenda. furthermore, they have the largest power in the region and believe they have an obligation to serve and support all those in iraq to lebanon, syria, even the houthis in yemen. but they do have a political interest and a national security interest and a national security interest to support the shias there. that was the red line for the iranians. if they are going to let this evacuation happen and allow the syrian government to allow safe passage for the militants, they wa nted passage for the militants, they wanted to see their clients, there shi'ite bretheren also receive the same passage. but as far as the un security council is concerned, anything that will have any language, like the blue helmets on the ground, it will most likely be vetoed by the russians. all you need is one country. all you need isjust the russians to veto any un security council re

it is the last of the rebel neighborhoods to fall to forces loyal to bashar al-assad. another is leaving with a different angle. tankan see a syrian army rolling through what was a rebel controlled zone. al-assad bashar triumph in the ruins of aleppo, reads the headline. headline, the desire to act, it is a damning piece about the consequences of western action in syria. obama's redline turned out to be not much of a redline at all. powerly international choosing to act in any meaningful way in the civil war was russia. and of course, to devastating effect. cartoon on that theme. we see bashar al-assad sitting on vladimir putin's shoulders as he wades through streets flooding with blood and corpses. long live free of aleppo, says bashar al-assad. to the u.s., where donald trump is trying to shore up support for his choice of secretary, rex tillerson. >> amid growing concerns that rex tillerson is to close the-- o cozy to vladimir putin. the interesting thing is a lot of these people, like jeb bush and robert gates have been critical of donald trump's decisions, but thei

russian state television is broadcasting the news that bashar al-assad will soon visit aleppo and start rebuilding. syrian journalist bassar el ysef says the reporting on russian television is extremely one-sided. >> bashar al-assad is depicted as a educated ruler and the rest are depicted as radical fundamentalist. >> he says of the opposition is being ignored completely and russia's making a huge mistake giving all in support to bashar al-assad 11. >> once it stops, it will be clear that russia has supported a criminal that murders his own people. >> russia has been using the war in syria to prove it is a major player, but the price is high. the military operation is already lasting longer than a russia had forecast, and a time when the russian economy is very weak. >> police in turkey have detained more than 200 people. mainly officials of the pro-kurdish officials in the credit party. today's arrest follow the bombing outside of a soccer stadium in is simple where people were killed and injured. a radical offshoot of the pkk has claimed responsibility for the attack. >> demonstrator

it is a huge victory for president bashar al-assad. almost six years of war and aleppo, it is commercial center has now fallen completely to bashar al-assad's forces. the four biggest city in syria, damascus and aleppo, they're all in his hands as well as the coastal regions. what's been called useful syria is all in the hahnds of the regime. what comes next are two things. number one, an assault on roka. that attack will happen next. after that, there will be an assault on in land province. that's a place where all the people evacuated aleppo in the last few days and weeks have gone. so even in the last few days, more than 30,000 people, left aleppo in desperate condition. kate, it was snowing and minus 4 when i left. the conditions were appalling. those people were in a threat full stage. they were hungry and traumatized. in a few months, they'll face from bashar al-assad's forces as he goes out in an attempt to win complete victory. today is a big day in the syrian war, kate. >> bill neely, live with us on the phone. thank you very m

has been peace and the removal of bashar al assad. would the goal change with a new presidency? stated goal has been the removal of the bashar al assad. the actual policy has been put a little pressure on him, that is what the cia was doing with their program and then force him to the negotiating table. the problem is his allies, namely iran and russia, went all in on his behalf and really intervened to smash whatever remaining u.s. interests there are. now, those interests are almost non existent in the country. as rick said, america has become irrelevant. there was a report about them sitting around a table trying to carve up syria and do a new deal and then eventually they'll present it to the united states. >> what does it eventually look like, who is there, who is left? >> as rick was saying, the opposition from aleppo is going into idlib province and that is run by the jihadi groups. this is beautiful for putin because they can say there is a jihadist especially rate in the northest and they can go after them like you and in iraq and fallujah. they will do that under the g

the fall of aleppo into the hands of bashar al-assad forces who are backed by russia and iran is his biggest in the american proxy war there and the civil war that began six years ago. assad has murdered and thousands of his own people, many of them women children. where does this stand, ab? >> it's a -- -- the cease fire and refugees are being evacuated but the criticism is we're well into the siege, too many people have dried or become sick or starving or freezing and this is kind of u.n. coming in to monitor what has already happened, as you reported, the buses taking people out have been attack educement you have this agreement that is on eggshells with the assassination of the russian ambassador in turkey today, meeting between representatives of the government of russia and assad's government and the iranians regime, set for tomorrow, in

bashar al—assad and his allies have won themselves some options.l fighters have been bussed out to idlib, a neighbouring province. they regime will want it back. the question is where. they made decide to make eastern guta their military priority. it is part of damascus and is vulnerable because rebel groups have weakened themselves by infighting. foreign powers are shaping the battlefield. turkey has troops fighting in syria, and back some of the rebel groups in aleppo. but it watched while russia and its allies destroyed them. that is because turkey needs russia to stand aside while it hits the kurds, now its main target. while eastern aleppo fell, the west was a bystander. that is because the searing policy of the west, never coherent, has now failed completely. aleppo, though, looks to be a turning point. tonight, the foreign secretary of britain said that bashar al—assad must go again. but the downfall of the president looks like a hollow tree it. the president has not done it. earlier in the war there was a chance to do it, but that chance is

>> the president-elect has said he's willing to defer to the russians when it comes to bashar al assad, this is the lesser of two evils. and you have an effort going on by the russians, by the iranians and by the syrians to profile bashar al assad as the man who is fighting terror. when the truth is, bashar al assad probably gave rise to a lot of the terrorist groups in syria. so the question, is the path of least resistance not going to come back on the united states, on donald trump, or will our sort of implicit support of the russians be seen as implicit support for bashar al assad. something so many people in syria are not okay with. >> in the meantime, you have officials from turkey, iran and russia meeting. they already met this morning, today, to try to resolve this whole thing. >> yeah, they are trying to address two separatie issues. one is the short-term issue of aleppo, how to get the people of aleppo a safe passage and various safe zones in syria not to be subject to the kind of violence we have seen. that obviously is conditional on the forces on the ground which are repre

go sour, if the equation changes, this is a very, very delicate situation, russia is backing bashar al-assad in syria and bashar al-assad in syria is allies with iranian and hezbollah so it's a delicate balance. if something changes and if that cooperative relationship goes away, then these stealth fighters will become very, very useful in allowing israel to retain its freedom of operation in the skies of syria. why is it so important for israel to operate occasionally in syria? they have a policy, a clear will not allow the advanced syrian weaponry to be sent across the border into the hands of hezbollah in lebanon. this month there's been reports from the syrian media they waged air strikes against convoys so -- and arms depot, so israel has a interest in preserving the red line and let's hope it doesn't involve friction. >>> what has to happen in israel now between now and when these actually become operational? >> that's an excellent question because there is a long process. we got to remember, it took about 10 years for israel to reach this stage where it has its first pair of f35's. th

. >> and, nic, just a word about bashar al assad. you know, he's the president of syria.ned the liberation of eastern aleppo to the birth of christ. he released this video of himself and i hope we have this. he was dressed in a very nice -- oh, we don't have it. but anyway he's dressed in a very nice suit and just the juxtaposition of bashar al assad saying that, and people continuing, his people, continuing to die in aleppo, is just sort of jarring. >> he called it a moment in history. and if you ask people, anyone coming out of the eastern side of aleppo, it's not the moment in history that bashar al assad describes as some heroic triumph to the nation. this is being described as, you know, the blemish on the conscience of the international community, equivalent to the genocide in rwanda. equivalent to what we witnessed in srebrenica in the summer of 19 the 5 in bosnia where the bosnian serbs massacred 7,000 people. it is for the people a sense of utter betrayal by the international community of being let down. so, it's historic. i don't think anyone doubts that at all.

never developed a significantly coherent strategy or policy towards the syrian war or to the bashar al-assad regime. and it has left a vacuum in which russia decided to intervene, and one must say, deplorable though russia's actions have been, they have been decided and seemed to have fulfilled the strategic requirements vladimir putin wants fulfilled. what should the west have done differently? >> this is a deeply difficult question. think, given not the will of western public, that there was anything actually that the west could significantly have done. of course, barack obama drew back from his attempted bombing campaign. you remember in 2013 with the red line crossed with the kind of weapons, he drew back from that, having the u.k. parliament denying permission to use military action in that situation. given the lack of will on the part of the populations of government, there was a very limited window, a very limited opportunity in which western policy could really be enacted in western syria. the no-fly zone, and that certainly would have prevented russia bombing large parts of aleppo.

syrian president bashar al-assad -- opposition fighters have rejected any decision. molly: in neighboring iraq, fierce back and forth writing -- fierce back-and-forth fighting rages on in mosul. it is thought to be used as an islamic state base. they were forced to his draw from the site when they came under sustained attack. rebel forces say they have taken back in neighborhood from i.s. fighters. our correspondent has the details. >> one building after the other, these homes are being secured and cleared of any sign of the islamic state group. after coming up against stiff resistance, iraqi special oppositions forces -- eric a special operations forces helped capture the neighborhood from -- iraqi special operations forces helped capture the neighborhood from islamic state group. >> they have left weapons behind, so we're looking for them. we also have word that some of the fighters are wearing civilian clothes and are in these houses. >> tens of thousands of mosul residents have left the city to escape the military offensive. iraqi security forces are being backed

two of the main rebel groups, islamist groups that are fighting bashar al assad in syria.amic state and the group formerly known as the al nusra front, the al qaeda affiliate, they're not included in this cease-fire. and frankly, victor, they're the ones that are doing the majority of the fighting against the assad regime at the moment. and so, look, the fighting is not going to be stopped. but it certainly is a step in that direction. but, in no sense is this an end at this early stage, to the long-running, and brutally, you know, blood-soaked syrian war. >> which we've all watched. again, as you raise here the point that the u.s. not involved in this deal at all. we'll continue to watch it, matthew chance for us from moscow. thank you so much. let's turn to the obama administration, and the preparations to strike back at russia soon as soon as today really for meddling in the u.s. election. it's expected to retaliate with expanded sanctions, diplomatic measures, and later, covert actions. the upcoming announcement already putting the kremlin on defense. a spokesperson sa

its president bashar al assad's biggest victory since the rebellion to end his family's rule started nearly six years ago. >>> coming up on the "morning news." the arrest of a texas mother caught on cell phone. we will tell you how the arrest posted on facebook has triggered protests. >>> and the world's first solar road powers up. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ when it comes to heartburn... trust the brand doctors trust. nexium 24hr is the #1 choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. for all day and all night protection... banish the burn... with nexium 24hr. so basically we have two production options... hey guys, i gotta call you back. (phone ringing) hello? hi mom! oh, hi sweetie! how are you? give a keurig brewer this holiday and they will think of you everyday. you're so cold, come in! what's wrong? it's dry... your scalp? mine gets dry in the winter too. try head and shoulders' dry scalp care it nourishes the scalp and... ...keeps you up to 100% flake free head and shoulders' dry scalp care same nose. same toughness. and since he's had moderate alz

she argued the case where these people could not get together to condemn and bashar al-assad and a lotings that's going on in the world and she was not allowed to and we are not sure she is not allowed to veto this thing. >> she's laying down a tough message to cover a retreat, essentially a retreat from what had been for many years, u.s. policy, which was to veto this kind of resolutions. barack obama is leaving office and laying down a marker -- >> that's the importance of the marker? >> israelis think that the united nation is unfriendly ground and they are there and continue to participate. i think it reflects the fact that the united states has been upset by the settlements over the years. obama are free from any elected presence. >> lets listen to more and we'll get your comments. >> it will permanently destroy the hope of the two-state solutions. the united states is not taking or taken the steps of voting in support of this resolution because the resolution is too narrowly focused onset settleme when many factors contribute to this conflict. let it be clear. peace still would n

syrians took to the streets to protest the oppressive rule of bashar al-assad. of stepping down, assad crushed the peaceful uprising with tanks and gunships. many protesters responded by arming themselves. that is when the conflict took on a sectarian nature. sunnis from other parts of the middle east, like the saudis, through backing behind the rebels. shiites, like the iranians, gave their support to the regime. the jihadists of the islamic state attacked both sides. then there are superpowers like the u.s. and russia, who are frequently at odds over the war. some liquid, the u.s. is against assad, russia supports him. russia used its un security council veto repeatedly to protect the regime. both countries are actively fighting against the islamic state and the al qaeda spinoff in the name of combating terrorism. --ssure uses terrorism tag pressure uses the terrorism type two bomb other groups. in december, the biggest victory against rebels in the six years of the civil war. syrians were able to escape the bloodshed by fleeing by millions into neighboring co

they praise to god, syria and bashar al-assad. the most desperate were the first to leave. the fear and the anxiety showed. their rebellion is over, but before they reached relative safety, there was one final journey across enemy lines. the ambulance didn't get far. >> the ambulance convoy was shot by the regime forces. we have to move so we don't get shelled or vomited. -- bombed. quentin: and then panic as syrian government jets flew overhead. people feared an attack. in the first convoy, the ambulance driver was badly wounded. one of his passengers was killed. hope is precarious here. the cease-fire had already collapsed once, but more buses set off and made it through. ,n the rebel-held countryside they chanted "aleppo, we will be back." >> the road was full of russian, iranian, and hezbollah fighters. there was no syrian army at all. we left with honor and dignity. aleppo was completely burned. yesterday they bombed us with all kinds of weapons. quentin: here there was relief. young and old, almost 3000 made it out. among them rebel fighters, the defeat all too appare

more breaking news with syrian president bashar al assad. what he just said about the future of the trump presidency. >>> welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. breaking news. syrian president bashar al assad reacting to the future of a trump presidency. in an interview with an italian news outlet, assad says he is optimistic with caution. i want to bring in mohammad lila in istanbul. more on this. >> we have the full transcript that syria's president bernie sanders -- syria's president bashar al assad was asked what he thought the incoming trump presidency would mean for syria. and it's optimistic not that trump would solve the syrian crisis overnight but because it would lead to better relations with russia and the united states. and russia has been a key backer of the syrian government since this conflict began. it will have a closer relationship, it would help solve many problem in the world specifically, specifically the syrian crisis. this comes as there are peace talks set to get under way. peace talks brokered without the united state

and the russians have seized upon that impotence, they have doubled down on the regime of bashar al assad, to devastating effect in terms of the effect on civilians. i mean, you heard nic outlining whether thousand, tens you thousand, frankly, doesn't matter anymore. the reality, an eagreeigregious humanitarian outrage. no access to basic medicine and food. it's been going on for months. the international community is paralyzed by it and something of a myopic sense we approach it as a syrian civil war a self-contained irish were y eedo anything about. what's happening is the most powerful cry to jihadists akrot the world. and many flooding into europe, syria will continue to be the major national security danger and question of our time, wolf. >> certainly will be. claris clarissa, thanks. nick paton walsh, thanks to you as well. more on this breaking story developments coming up later in the hour. >>> let's get to the trump transition here in the united states. the president-elect meets next our with executives of major technology companies. the meeting includes the ceos from tesla and i

calling for a change in syria, calling for it the removal of president besar asyad —— president bashar al—assadu have the government supported opposition who are not real opposition because they are not real opposition because they are calling for change within the government under the leadership of president bashar al—assad. they will most likely be talking to them rather than the other sites. thank you. rescue teams have recovered one of the flight recorders from a russian military plane that crashed into the black sea shortly after ta ke—off on sunday. the russian defence ministry said an engine, landing gearand parts of the fuselage had also been found. all 92 people on board the aircraft are thought to have died when it came down near the resort of sochi. angus crawford reports. recovered from the sea bed, twisted and broken, part of the plane's fuselage. thousands of people are still involved in the search, scouring the area where the tupolev 15a came down. sonar traces show part of the aircraft in shallow water a mile out to sea. specialist teams have found one of the plane's black boxes

. >> and of course some of this bombing is coming at the hands of the syrian regime and bashar al assadmany of the injured children we're seeing in america, bashar al assad says it's all propaganda it's fake including that heartwrenching picture of that little boy covered with dirt and blood after a bombing on his village. not that one but we'll get to that. but, but, how, how does the world -- there's the picture. bashar al assad says it's fake. >> yeah. i mean we have seen, you know, hours and hours of footage in making the documentary, and there are many, many journalists that have done the same. the content that is coming out both from aleppo and from all over syria is myriad and much of it from the white helmets. it's certainly true that the world needs to respond. the world has not done enough as yet to protect civilians, and in particular children, and certainly in this stage now when aleppo is almost fallen, the geneva convention, more than ever must be used specifically workers must be protected. >> so orlando why isn't the world helping more? >> you know, it's -- it's really d

russia, instrumental in president bashar al assad bsh'sh to include syria and aleppo.yesterday, talks held on syria and the united states left out of the conversation. a spokesman for the kremlin says that nearly all dialogue between russia and the u.s. has been "frozen." we do not talk to each other. let's talk about the u.s. and russia's tense relationship now with christopher hill, the former ambassador to iraq. he was also the assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs and now is the dean of the joseph korbel school, university of denver. thank you so much, ambassador, for being with us. we appreciate it. i want to get your read on something. let's talk about a statement, response, we got from the state department spokesman john kirby who says it's difficult to know exactly what is known about this comment of being "frozen." this continues across a white range of issues. significant differences with moscow on some issues well known but not a break in dialogue. we noted secretary kerry spoke with foreign minister lavrov just yesterday about the

the syrian president bashar al assad is calling it the liberation of aleppo.n iraq, the battle to regain control of the second largest city reaches the two-month mark. let's get the very latest on both stories from two of our international correspondents. fred pleitgen is following the situation in syria from across the border in beirut, lebanon. ben wedeman join us from erbil in iraq, not far away from mosul. update us on this operation, the dire situation in aleppo right now. >> wolf, it certainly is dire for folks in the last rebel enclave there in aleppo. you're absolutely right, this operation began early this morning to evacuate all the fighters and all the civilians from that area and it really started very badly. when the first convoy that was supposed to leave came under fire at a checkpoint right on the border between rebel and government-held territory. one person was killed in that attack. several others were wounded. after that, all of these convoys were suspected for a while. but then everybody got back together and said looks, we have to get thi

putin welcoming happily bashar al assad into his office, someone you say is responsible and his troops now responsible for the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children, these are the kind of people we should be condemning, not someone we should be praising and mr. tillerson, if he can't come before the senate and say that, yes, mr. putin might have been fine in the area of oil where i worked with him, but his behavior on syria in supporting mr. assad, his behavior in ukraine has been against everything we believe in, then i don't think he would get through to senate foreign relations or the senate. >> as you wisely point out, if the syrian government backed by russia wanted to fight isis, palmyra would not have fallen to isis. always a pleasure to talk to you. thanks for being with us, jamie reuben. >>> we'll keep a close eye on the stock market. stocks are in record territory. just a stone's throw away from 20,000. that's where we are right now. won't take much to push us over that limit. i remember when it was just 10,000. hair back then, big afro. investors keeping an eye on

but russian officials say that removal of bashar al assad from power will not be part of the discussionicials, including johnÑgíqá ( while the battle for aleppo is over, it does not mark the end of syrian civil war as the rebel commanders vow to continue fightingç bashar al assad's regime. >>> developing tonight, president obama raising eyebrows for some edd ed advice he has president-elect trump on the use of executive power. watch this. >> should president-elect trump once she's inaugurated use his executive powers in the same way that you have? >> i think that he is entirely within his lawful power to do so. keep in mind, though, that my strong preference has always been to legislate when i can get legislation done. so my suggestion to the president-elect is going through the legislative process is always better in part because it's harder to undo. >> as you might imagine, many critics are crying foul as mr. obama has made it no secret of his love for his pen and phone. listen to this. >> i've told my administration to keep looking every single day for actions we can take without co

the government of bashar al assad will control the entire city and this also means that bashar al assad will likely outlast -- imagine that -- president obama. something we thought wouldn't have been possible a few years ago but this has been possible because red cross teams on the ground have been supervising the last wave of these evacuations. most civilians were evacuated and all that left were fighters and their families on the ground. those evacuations taking place, the red cross gave us a statement where they described the process and they said during wednesday and thursday overnight in one of the last stages of evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated from private cars, vans to eastern aleppo to western rural aleppo as per the agreement reached between the parties. normally brianna the red cross didn't involve itself with trvring fighters, that i focus on civilians but it seems they were there to guarantee those fighters would be a taken to safety because if you've been fighting the regime of bashar al assad for that long you need guarantees you can exit that place saf

syria's president, bashar al assad, calls the rebels terrorists, and in an interview yesterday with russian tv, he castigated the west for trying to protect them. >> it doesn't matter what they ask. the translation of their statement is for russia, please stop the advancement of the syrian army against the terrorists. condemned the regime and its friendin russia and iran, but in five years of civil war, america has avoided a direct confrontation with the syrian regime. fearing a dangerous escalation and perhaps conflict with russia, the price of that policy has been paid by syrian civilians with their lives. e united nations human rights chief said today that the bombardment of civilians in aleppo by the syrian regime and violation of international law, and, scott, he said it may be a war crime. >> holly williams for us in istanbul. >>> today, one of the three survivors of the charleston church massacre told the jury she came face to face with the murderer. and he could face the death penalty. ma strassmann is in charleston. >> reporter: that 911 call from the night of the massacre was play

members of the army deserted and rebel groups formed, all with the common aim -- removing president bashar al-assadm

president bashar al—assad and his allies have won themselves some options, their victory in aleppo doesits allies will want to win it back. the question is when. they might decide to make a military priority of eastern ghouta, part of the suburbs of damascus, rebel control has been weakened by rebels fighting among themselves. foreign powers are shaping the battlefield. turkey has troops fighting in syria, and back some of the rebel groups in aleppo but it watched while russia and its allies destroyed them, because turkey needs russia to stand aside while it hits the kurdish. they are now the main target. while east aleppo fell, the west was also a bystander, that is because the syrian policy of the americans, british and their friends, never coherent, has now failed completely. last week, the british and american defence secretary ‘s fell back on old slogans. not credible. the syrian regime is god its biggest victory of the war so far. we don't see a future for president assad in syria, even if he defeats the opposition in aleppo. aleppo looks to bea opposition in aleppo. aleppo looks

i led the first congressional delegation to meet with bashar al-assad in 2001. ere was a promise of reform, it didn't happen. there was engagement, it didn't work. is bashar al-assad the right person to reform his government? it's doubtful. but finding a way to have, if you will, a lebanese-style sharing of power in governments like iraq and syria has to be parts of what we facilitate. if we allow a minority to dominate over a majority, that won't work. we allow a majority to negate any rights to the minority. the one man, one vote and only one time, that doesn't work. if you look at president el-sisi in egypt you see you the beginning of and reaching out for both majority and minority to make a government work. charles: we have less than a minute and i would like you to switch gears. the dow is on the cusp of a major record, 20,000. years ago you and your wife took your life's savings, you sold your minnesota cycle and bonn borrowed money. you are the poster boy from the american dream. you pulled yourself you have by the boot straps. is that environment coming

month and obviously the russian government and putin has a hand in terms of that alliance with bashar al assado obama has done what he's done, some people criticize him and say he hasn't done enough and he blinked, right? this whole idea of setting a red line when there were -- a sense that there was chemical warfare being used there but it's trump's problem now so it will be up to him to figure out what a solution is. >> the thing is, there was an option short of 50,000 troops on the ground, right? that's a no-fly zone. that's not a low investment problem, the u.s. military made very clear the syrians, unlike, say, iraq, had sophisticated anti-aircraft systems. it wouldn't have been a small job but certainly something short of putting 50,000 troops on the ground and one of the justifications for not doing that that the president cites now, which is igniting a war with russia because you have loads of russian assets, that didn't exist a couple years ago, yes russia was backing assad but you didn't have russian planes on the ground there, forces, et cetera so there were steps he could have take

sidings, including president of turkey, which backs the rebels, and russia and iran, which backs bashar al assad. not involved in this -- might be key -- isis and the al qaeda affiliate in syria and could cause problems. >> the u.s. was not involved in the deal at all? not involved in this del at all. the administration of barack bak obama not part of this. the united states has been very active backing the rebels which are part of the deal, also been involved in u.n. backed peace talks in geneva and elsewhere for the past several years. russia has managed to push u.s. out of the picture for the moment. russian foreign minister lavrov said, once president-elect donald trump gets into office the united states be allowed back in. as our viewers will. , trump has been pretty supportive of the russian role in syria, also he has been against obama backing the rebels. one final note, john, there are reports tonight of an outline of a long-term settlement that will be hashed out in talks beginning next month. it could divide up syria to some degree, where the rebels are, where the government and is mig

la oposicion siria anuncio hoy un nuevo acuerdo con el regimen del presidente bashar al-assad para completardes afirmo que el convenio permitiria la evacuacion completa de todos los lugares asediados por tropas leales al gobierno y que todavia se hallan en poder de los grupos armados opositores. el papa francisco se convirtio hoy en octogenrio y comenzo su celebracion con un grupo de desamparados a quienes invito a desayunar.en circulos religiosos se intensificaron los comentarios sobre si a esa edad, un pontifice puede afrontar las dificiles tareas que tiene por delante. pablo monalvo nos explica cuales fueron las principales consideraciones que hizo el pontifice al entrar en esta nueva etapa de su vida. reportero:fue un dÍa muy especial, el primer papa latinoamericano,cumpliÓ 80 aÑos. "la vejez es tranquila y religiosa, pero tambiÉn es fecunda. presiÓn para que la mÍa sea así", le pidiÓ al mandatario. dijo esperar que la suya, sea llena de sabidurÍa. " desde hace unos dÍas una palabra me estÁ dando vueltas en la cabeza y parece feo: "vejez". desayunar acompaÑado por algunos desamparados se

the rebels are begging for a truce according to bashar al assad. cnn's jomana karadsheh has the latest for us. secretary of state kerry and foreign minister lavrov. where do they stand? >> reporter: on wednesday, john, kerry and lavrov met in germany for 45 minutes. they are scheduled to meet again today. it is unlikely we will see a cease-fire coming out of the talks. we heard the russian position on this. we heard the syrian regime's position on this from president assad himself yesterday. the syrian regime and allies are on the verge of recapturing most of aleppo. they won't agree to a truce. what we may see is agreement on the humanitarian on eastern aleppo with medical evacuations and aid. the idea that the united states floated last week that would allow for the safe passage providing that option to the rebels in eastern aleppo to have passage to other parts of the country that are rebel held. we hear from state media russia agrees to the idea. what seems right now, john, the rebels are on the verge of defeat, but how will this defeat look li

clear he feels that he could possibly work with russia and possibly even work with president bashar al-assad which seems unthinkable, when you talk about unthinkable things that the united states or this president incoming would think of working with bashar al-assad to fight terrorism. and that's the way donald trump looks at it. very black and white. he feels that the russians have taken the fight to the terrorists. he wants to fight with the terrorists and defeat them. that means that he can ally himself with russia. when he comes into office, the details of that, how that would be done and precisely what would happen, would russia be leading charge and americans following? none of those details are clear. but overall picture seems to be that russia is defining what is going on in syria. >> and donald trump in a way with his overtures to russia opened the way for countries like turkey to have closer relationships and build bridges with russia? >> well, yes. although i think that this rapprochement between turkey and russia in train before donald trump entered the picture. but certainly if

syr syria's bashar al assad is no long near control. something that many people thought was unthinkable when the revolution got under way. even more now is the fact that syria's president bashar al assad is proving he may outlast america's president barack obama. this was unthinkable a few months or years ago. the question is being asked. what happens to the revolution? we know the fighters who have been evacuated from eastern aleppo have been taken to idlib. the problem with that province, there are other groups there. a strong isis presence there. a strong presence of al nusra and as well as the moderate opposition. the problem is these groups have been fighting each other the last several years. it remains to be seen how strong that sovereign is there. once again, all of eastern aleppo now belongs to the syrian government and syrian government is celebrating it as a major victory. muhammad lila, cnn, from the syrian/turkey border. >>> one lesuspect left a big pie of evidence on that truck in berlin. a live report straight ahead. why a

russia backing president bashar al-assad's forces, and turkey backing rebel fighters. from the russian president, and this is what his turkish counterpart had to say. we know that this is a aimed specifically at deteriorating the normalization of the process of the relationship between turkey and russia. the turkish and russian governments have a will that will not rise to the bait. president erdogan said the relationship was also crucial to the region. are assuming a united stance. rebels werec defeated in aleppo by russian backed troops here it i would russia and turkey be so keen on working together here? timeind: for turkey, last things went bad with the downing of that russian plane, the economy took a hit, russia imposed sanctions and targeted turkish businesses. this time around, it is in their interest to work together. it's focuses have shifted in terms of this war and the fight in syria. the racial group president has been saying that both sides have terrorist organizations they are targeting. turkey is now focusing more on kurdish separatist groups and islam

up until this point, the united nations has a firm position with syria and bashar al assad. russia and syria are hoping under a trump administration there will be more wiggle room and flexibility. also with trump signals he will have a closer relationship with russia which can help as well. russia has said once donald trump does become president, he is welcome to become part of the negotiating process. until then, the united states and barack obama have been sidelined. >> ian lee, thank you. >>> alison, new this morning, the united kingdom criticizing secretary of state john kerry for his comments on israel this week. a spokeswoman for theresa may said it was not appropriate to go after the political composition of the democratly elected government of the ally. may's office says it considers the construction of settlements illegal, it is far from the only problem with the conflict with the palestinians. kerry on wednesday went after israel's government as the most right wing in the state's history and portrayed the settlements as the biggest obstacle in the way of peace. >>>

who made clear he feels he can possibly work with russia and possibly even work with president bashar al assad, which seems unthinkable when you talk about unthinkable things, that certainly is, that the united states or of this president incoming would think of working with bashar al assad to fight terrorism, and that's the way donald trump looks at it, very black and white. he feels that the russians have taken the fight to the terrorists. he wants to fight with the terrorists and defeat them. and that means that he can align himself with russia. when he comes into office, the details of that, how that would be done and precisely what would happen, would russia will leading the like turkey to have closer relationships? >> well, yes, although i think that this thing between turkey and russia really was in train before donald trump entered the picture, but certainly if the person president is friendly with russia, then it gives encouragement to other countries who see which way the wind is blowing to move in that direction. i think you might see it most significantly on the issue of sanctions,

it is a huge victory for president bashar al-assad. it is a huge defeat for the rebels. it marks the end of the official revolution. it is important and cannot be you shou under stated. more than 34,000 people have left in the last few days. among them will be rebels. they have really two choices. they can go to western aleppo, the government controls that area. it was not much of an option. the important thing about that, ali, is that there are two targets next for president bashar al-assad. isis had their syrian capitol and strongholds. the second target is the province itself. the unfortunate thing for all civilians -- they have gone out of the frying pans and into the fire. in a few month's time they may find themselves under air strikes and shelling again. the retaking of aleppo is such a significant development. it is the beginning of the revolution that started almost 6 years ago. >> it is important for people to remember, damascus was the capitol of aleppo and syria's biggest issue and it is now a ghost town. thank you very much for that, bill. much more on donal