is, with russia backing bashar al-assad, it's harder for bashar al-assad to beoverthrown and some pd kind of negotiated solution with the alawites, with bashar al-assad's people is going to be the only possible solution. one thing that you made a point is some are saying they are taking a lead on something. they decided they do not share the goal of regime change. the problem is they seem to target the american backed moderate rebels. who you say we should have been involved with in 2023 and 13. that is -- 2012 and "13. we are arming and training bombing. >> and we have remarkably little leverage against russia in that scenario. there is some hope that russia will be bogged down in this fight, that it's going to be another afghanistan for russia, but there's no guarantee of that. right now the russians are putting just enough forces on the ground. mostly air power, mechanics and specialists to keep bashar al-assad alive. not enough. they understand there's a line they can't cross and are making sure they don't do enough to get the united states involved against them. >> and not create

al-assad -- coordinate with bashar al-assad, get rid of i.s.i.l., and go after bashar al-assad later. . >> the coalition just can't include bashar al-assad. >> senator mccain said the administration has been outmanoeuvred by russia. are they setting the agenda? >> i don't think at all that that is the case. what you are seeing russia do inside syria is largery reactive, responding to their concerns about the fragility of the bashar al-assad regime. they are moving forces in there and are us them, purportedly to alu bashar al-assad to remain in bour and potentially to brutalize their own people. it's not what we want to see. we want them to have a constructive role. >> they are going after al-qaeda linked nusra and other groups. doesn't that help i.s.i.l., because they oppose i.s.i.l. >> it could. >> it remains to be seen what targets they are going after. we want to see i.s.i.l. degraded and tweeted inside iraq and syria, there's a coalition designed to go after the threat. if russia plays a constructive role, it's a conversation we are willing to have. >> admiral john

bashar al-assad, which they will. will we fight with them to replace bashar al-assad. >> i can't answer that question, senator. >> if i'm bashar al-assad, this is a good day for me, because the american government said, without saying it, that they are not going to fight to replace nee. the russians and the iranians and hezbollah, this is a good day for them, their guy has no military credible threat. so, now you tell me what kind of deal we'll get, folks. >> friday, secretary of state john kerry will meet with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and others. on the table. the future of bashar al-assad, with no consensus that he should stay or go. the gamble for vladimir putin is he can wish a settlement that he can support bashar al-assad or someone else like him in power and do it quickly. >> what makes this a problem is no one knows how to put the border or states back together. into that will not be possible. >> the u.s. mourns the loss of the first uggs soldiers. josh wheeler. he died in a firefight with i.s.i.l., as they fought to release prisoners, as the u.s. considers increasing the numbers of boots on the gr

it will not accept bashar bashar al-assad's removal from power as a condition of the talks. demanding its international allies show seriousness. >> we need to have a mission through arab camp, turkey and the international community to stand up to this aggression. >> reporter: the u.s. and western countries have voiced concern that russian air strikes are weakening the opponents of the government, words that seem to have little effect on the ground. zeina khodr, al jazeera, beirut. >>> hungary says russia is key to ending the war in syria and stemming the flow of refugees into europe. it's foreign minister has told the u.n. russian's cooperation is necessary to fight i.s.i.l. meanwhile, as jonah hull reports, the refugees are still flowing into europe. >> this is the last train station in macedonia on the serbia border. nothing's changed, day in, day out, they keep coming. the weary, relieved, hopeful. >> we have around eight trains per day. depending, sometimes we have more, sometimes less in 24 hours. >> reporter: and do you see any sign at all of this flow of people slowin

for russia these are all enemies of president bashar al-assad and bashar al-assad is russia's ally. and russia is in syria for moment to shore up bashar al-assad's assets to protect him, essentially. so it's going after any of these groups that it sees as oparticular threat to bashar al-assad, whoever they may be. not just going after i.s.i.l, that's what irritated moscow so much. >> thank you rory. >>> regional states to forge an alliance against russian and iran in the country. including the free syrian army, zeina khodr reports. >> the syrians army says this is part of the military campaign to recapture the region. syrian military forces say the air strikes are weakening forces before a ground strike begins. i.s.i.l. is not flent this press part of the country. changing the balance of power on the ground. >> translator: we are the free syrian army, the closest syrian base is 60 cloments from here. >> the allegiance has been used. by syrian and russian governments ojustify their attacks. >> nusra is all over syria not just homs. the group has good relations with other brigades an t

al-assad -- coordinate with bashar al-assad, get rid of i.s.i.l., and go after bashar al-assad later. >> there are many things, but it can't include bashar al-assad. >> senator mccain said the administration has been outmoored again by russia. are they setting the agenda. >> i don't think at all that's the case. they are responding to their conexperience about the fragility of the bashar al-assad regime. they moved forces in there, and are using the forces purportedly now to allow bashar al-assad to remain in power and brutalize his people. it's not what we want to see, we want an instructive role against i.s.i.l., but it's not the case. >> they are going after the army of conquest, extremist groups, does that, in fact, help i.s.i.l., because they oppose i.s.i.l. >> potentially it could. it remains to be seen what targets they are going after after a period of time. what we want to see is i.s.i.l. degraded and tweeted inside iraq and syria. there is a big, successful coalition to go after the threat. >> the russian deputy for instance said that they are open to helping

president asses future that he may be part of any political transition. >> the problem, not bashar al assad, bashar al assad is one man, but we have to be on the side of people of syria and russia, other countries, like egypt before, they worry about that terrorists will be expand if bashar al assad come out of the power in syria, but now the problem not bashar al assad, but the system. we have to maintain the system, that the system can stand against terrorists to expand like daish or other. for that reason, they will discuss about that how can manage that problem to solve in this meeting. >> how do you then see saudi helping the syrian people? >> saudi arabia, the main goal for saudi arabia, to stop the war in syria, and the unity and maintain the unity of syria. just that, and they don't like any other power or country or like that interfere inside of syria. >> ok, we will leave it there for now. thank you for taking the time to join us from amman there in jordan. >> thank you. >>> agrees's prime minister said he feels ashamed by europe's response to the refugee crise. alexis tsipras spoke after

bashar al-assad regime and increased role in the syrian conference. at the u.n. is weak, putin continued -- at the u.n. this continued to support a thought. -- bashar al-assad. this directly contradicts with u.s. diplomatic roles. bashar al-assad transition out of power. it is unclear whether russia's motives are self-serving or stem over hering concern those fighting in north syria who could pose a serious problem to moscow should they return to russia. to hearing from our esteemed panel of witnesses on the possible outcomes and solutions to the current challenges. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. mr. brooks has no opening statement. how about mr. weber? weber: no, let's go. [laughter] chairman: he's great. witnesses tok the summarize your prepared hopefully, and then we can have a dialogue and have s.estions and answer first, i am going to introduce the witnesses. dr. leon aron is a resident scholar and director of russian studies at the american .nterprise institute he joined the organization that oversees operations of international broadcasting, such as voice of america, and he is a widely published author who earned his phd at columbia university.

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your determine. >> permanent ambassador for >> this week on talk to al jazeera nicholas negroponte - a visionary in the field of computer-aided design and the founder of one laptop per child. >> let's make $100 laptop. that was so implausible. >> negroponte co-founded the mit media laboratory - which is credited with driving the multimedia revolution. the research center brings together hundreds of leading thinkers in design, science and technology. >> we had license to do things, which, you know, i can be a little revisionist and tell

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your viewers to determine. >> permanent ambassador for saudi arabia in the united nations. >> that's our show, i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us. >>> holding back the flood. 11 dams failed in south carolina, and emergency crews are frantically trying to prevent more being overwhelmed >>> desperate search... >> hoping for the best. we have not given up. >> time is running out as the search offense for any possible survivors of the cargo ship elpharaoh which disappeared in the fury of

bashar al-assad regime and the syrian army, of course. >> the majority force is the islamic state, or the al nusra front, which is essentially an al qaeda group. bashar al-assad would lose, they would win. the challenges between russia and the west have been bashar al-assad must go. russia can't effect bashar al-assad going, russia is not in power to make him leave. with a direct military intervention, russia is in a better position to determine the fate of syria, and it changes things a bit. russia is not all personally attached. that's clear. russia believes that the syrian army and the syrian - whoever leaves it, is the way forward. that is the core of their position. but in the long term, yes, russia is now in a place where it could affect regime changes. it could agree to a transition away from bashar al-assad, and force them to do it. before, frankly, it couldn't. >> various syrian rebel groups are forming an alliance after six days of strikes. various groups labelled russian actions in syria as an act of occupation. they are calling on regional states to support a united front against russian and iranian forces fighting on behalf of the bashar

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your determine. >> permanent ambassador for >>> the millennium development goals have run their course. the plan to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty. now the nations of the world are embarking on an ambitious new sort of targets hoping to make the world healthier and wealthier in a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable way. get rich, not dirty. it's the inside story.

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your determine. >> permanent ambassador for ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, welcome to the news hour from al jazeera in doha and i'm adrian and our top stories israeli security forces shoot dead a palestinian man in jerusalem as it goes across the occupied bank and west gaza. the bombing and the government says that i.s.i.l. is the prime suspect. at a court iran convicts a washington post journalist in an espionage caseis

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your determine. >> permanent ambassador for >> >>> announcer: this is al jazeera. >>> welcome to the newshour from doha. merkel and hollande prepare for an historic address to the european parliament. doctors without borders demands a u.n. backed investigation into the u.s. bombing of a hospital in kunduz, which killed 22 people. [ singing ] >>> trade unions across south

bashar al-assad. and president bashar al-assad is not going to be able to leave syria in the future. 's inconceivable that after the number of victims that fall pray to a government machine, a killing and bombing that bashar al-assad can expect to conduct business as usual. and for russia to help that process move along, i think they are betting on the wrong horse, and i think they are getting stuck in a situation that is not going to be pleasant for them. neither in russia or syria. >> i hope we sorted out some questions >> i hope so too. i leave it to your determine. >> permanent ambassador for inside these walls, teenage thieves and arsonists, gang-bangers, drug abusers even kids who kill. >> my anger was pretty bad. >> but, this once notorious juvenile lock-up is trying something new. >> what does playing the piano do for you? >> it's therapy, a hobby, an interest.

fully empowered transitional governing body that would marginalize bashar al-assad, there would be a national unity government in which bashar al-assad would more or less remain in control. nevertheless, syria's talks have been seen as less than cooperative. this would be seen by vladimir putin as an opportunity to speak directly to bashar al-assad, to ensure his commitment to this russian sponsored process. the question is whether russia has successfully managed to take the lead on diplomatic efforts to resolve the syria crisis or whether, to the contrary, because of its intervention, it's now going to get less cooperation from other syrians, and other parties in the region with whom it has improved relations, but it is going to be counterescalations from the other parties. >> you get the feeling that syria and president bashar al-assad can't afford too much. because without russian support, syria would be in a whole lot of trouble. >> that's precisely correct. but it is also true that russia has no alternative within syria to president bashar al-assad, this is not a one-party state in the sense that you can remove the part

russia says they are all terrorists and they are all enemies of bashar al-assad, bashar al-assad is our friend, our ally and we will defend him and we will go after all of the groups, whoever they are. >> thank you rory, same line coming from the kremlin as a couple of days ago, but we appreciate you bringing us up to speed. thank you. >>> alliance against russia and iran inside syria, this consists of 41 groups including the free syrian army. from beirut, zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: the russian military has been targeting the northern country side of homs since the first day of its intervention in syria. the syrian army says this is a part of a military campaign to recapture the region. syrian military forces say the air strikes are weakening offenses before a ground fight begins. i.s.i.l. is not present in this area of syria. that's why the opposition believes russia's objective is to help the government change the balance of power on the ground. >> translator: we are the free syrian army, the closest i.s.i.l. base is 60 kilometers from here. we are people from the area and not

bashar al assad as well as isis. one of the classic failures in recent history was they were training -- dod was training these young men to go in and fight only against basharme, against isis, and not bashar al assad, while they're being barrel bombed by bashar al assad. the degree of immorality that i have hardly ever seen. and of course, we need to understand that the russians are trying to achieve a goal of a major role in the middle east, protecting their base, and also now bringing iranians in to fight on behalf of bashar al assad as well. it's escalating, and the united states secretary of state says it's an opportunity. the secretary of defense says it's unprofessional. and the beat goes on and the deaths go on. it's unbelievable. >> do you support this no-fly zone over all of syria or over parts of syria? >> i would start with parts of syria in order to maintain a buffer zone and a place where refugees could be and all that. i would certainly start with a no-fly zone and take down -- i would also, as general petraeus recommended, wherever they are, i'd take out the barrel bombing. it is horrible what the barrel bombs have done, as you know. >> would

bashar al-assad. -- those against president bashar al-assad. they said they would respond to any future issue.eport: two stray russian jets that caused a diplomatic standoff between turkey and russia. on saturday and sunday, jets in theissue with jets turkish airspace before being turned away, a simple error, says moscow. border,the turkey syria three kilometers away. depending on the weather conditions, you have to have the base from the north. caused by bad weather conditions in the area. reporter: the turkish prime minister warned that his country would not hesitate to attack back if their airspace is breached again, with mounting tensions between ankara and moscow. russian airstrikes are bolstering the regime. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says it was a perilously close call, and the nato secretary-general warned russia against the stabilizing the middle east. >> they were strong with turkey. they contend the violations of nature airspace. i call on russia to avoid escalating tensions with the alliance. itsia must de-conflict military activities in syria. reporter: the u.s. and russia

group that wants to kill us. >> don't you think puten is teaming up with bashar al assad right now? >> it's okay with me. bashars the lesser of the two evils between bashar al assad, the shiite leader in damascus and isis, the sunni extremist, i'll take assad any day. >> the problem is we're in this position now of having to be subservient, wow, the u.s. subservient to russia and now we're going to ask papa putin if we can get back and play in our house in our theater. this is the problem. we've already made such a tremendous investment in all of these different areas. now it's become wait a second, is the obama administration being dishonest. well they haven't had any kind of strategy to begin with. so this is what happens, right? because power hates a vacuum. now we've got putin in play. i don't quarrel with the president continuing by the way to have special ops and special forces on the ground. but we've been doing that in iraq. we just don't telegraph and broadcast it. >> greg, i love the video of that raid, seeing those guys, i lament the loss of our hero, the special operator who fell. but i love seeing

what putin and bashar al-assad are trained to do is faces with a choice. isis or bashar al-assad. and then obviously would have to make an accommodation with the charlotte side. charlie: that's exactly what latimer putin said to me -- vladimir putin said to me. i'm coming to defend bashar al-assad because that's the only government. senator mccain: i say with great respect, i understand putin's point of view, but what about syrians that have been butchered by the charlotte side? what about the millions of refugees? are we going to pursue accommodation with this guy? right now we are training and equipping young men to go into ofia to fight -- in the case the one program run by dod, it has been a complete collapse. why did that collapse? because they made these young men swear they were only going to fight against isis when these young men think their enemy is the guy who has butchered ierybody and their family -- and her family. now we see the dod sponsored program, which has some viability -- excuse me, the cia-backed program. guess what? them.ir putin is killing so, what is the m

days or so, we have seen russian war planes, russia cruise missiles supporting the army of bashar al assad, as basharl assad's army launches the first proper offensive it has been able to muster in quite some time. he wouldn't have been able to do that without russian air support. clearly bashar al assad was thankful to president putin for the military assistance. president putin is advocating, trying to push for some sort of diplomatic, some political resolution to the conflict in syria. there is a big question that remains here. is the resolution that putin would accept, does that come with or does that come without assad. there are those that believe bashar al assad's transition out of power as long as assets in syria were protected and as long as the pepper who replaced assad was someone that russia could deal with and deal with properly. putin has doubled down and moved further to prop up his long standing ally in syria. >> rory, many thanks, live from moscow. >> stricken riot police have fought with students in cape town, protestors tried to storm parliament, while the finance minister delivere

bashar al-assad groups. could the assets turn it into a biggest regional conflict? >> it could. that is what happens when the russians intervene, they drop opposition. it comes from opposition that bashar al-assad faces. russians are trying to support bashar al-assad. and all the enemies are rallying behind the opposition to bashar al-assad. >> because of that support, a gulf nation official says russia has created a frankenstein, inspiring more fighters to head to syria. that's what happened when the russians invaded afghanistan. that led to the soviet invasion, it lead to the demise of the soviet union. this could be the same kind of thing when sending military into syria, they draw a lot of opposition and fighting. >> the missiles landing in iran, is the risk growing. planes colliding, missile landing, that would pressure n.a.t.o. to confront russia. >> accidents happen, weapons malfunction, we saw this in ukraine, when the russian backed separatists struck down an airliner. many europeans. this can happen in syria or as we have seen in the countries between the caspian, and the parent targets in syria. >> do you think this will prolong the war. russia says it's attacking i.s.i.l. a

bashar al-assad regime and increased role in the syrian conference. at the u.n. is weak, putin continued -- at the u.n. this week, putin continued to support a thought. -- bashar al-assad. this directly contradicts with u.s. diplomatic roles. to have bashar al-assad transition out of power. it is unclear whether russia's motives are self-serving or stem from growing concern over her those fighting in north syria who could pose a serious problem to moscow should they return to russia. i look forward to hearing from our esteemed panel of witnesses on the possible outcomes and solutions to the current challenges. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. mr. brooks has no opening statement. how about mr. weber? mr. weber: no, let's go. [laughter] chairman: he's great. so, i will ask the witnesses to summarize your prepared statements, and then hopefully, we can have a dialogue and have questions and answers. first, i am going to introduce the witnesses. dr. leon aron is a resident scholar and director of russian studies at the american enterprise institute. he joined the organization that oversees operations of international broadcasting, such as voice of america, a

. >> you can both save bashar al-assad and fight "ultimate 8." you can save bashar al-assad and fight the civil war in syria. it's hard to see a long-term sustainable solution in syria, that includes bashar al-assad as part of that solution. if the russians really fight the islamic state, i would welcome it. the problem is that the russians, apparently, are also bombing what i would call the moderate opposition. and that is exactly why the russian presence in syria will not stop. but on the contrary will prolong the conflict. >> the u.s. says it is ready to provide aid to afghanistan and pakistan after they were struck by the most powerful earthquake in a decade. the earthquake was sendered in the hindu kooush mountains in north-eastern afghanistan. 388 were killed. richelle carey has more on the quake and the aftermath. >> the earthquake struck during the afghan news cast, forcing the anger to flee. >> outside ambulances race to streets. they carry the windowed into the hospital. inside chaos. in the province, a heart-breaking scene as this man carries the body of

bashar al-assad. probably going to hear that bashar al-assad is the good guy, and the rest of the world, aside from theans has it all wrong. and there may be a call as there was last year for some kind of security council resolution on terrorism. jonathan. >> syria has been the topic all week, john. give us an idea what some of the other major players have been saying? >> reporter: syria has totally dominated the general assembly. we saw major portions of all of the key speeches devoted to that issue from president obama, to president putin, to president ah dhani of iran. and i think the take away is for the last 18 months there has been no serious talking about what to do about the syrian situation. two things changed that, one was russians moving their planes and troops, and protecting bashar al-assad and his regime, and the other was the refugee crisis what was in part prompted by syria. >> thank you john. >>> we'll bring you continuing coverage of the u.n. general assembly including the syrian address throughout the day today. >>> the pentagon says for now two more u.s.-trained rebels are being sen

missiles seeking out targets of forces loyal to bashar al-assad, free syrian army call them bashar al-assad tamers, as they drive rebels gains in the north-west. posted online, it purports to show weapons smashing into russian made tanks on the ground in syria. it's beginning to feel like a cold war era proxy war, two great powers facing off, without facing each other in combat. >> vladimir putin began a proxy war with the united states. when russian aircraft struck, moderate forces trained by the central intelligence agency. this was no accident. targets were provided by the syrian regime, they were accurate. >> reporter: retired army general making his point to congress. not everyone agrees. >> weapons, quite frankly, may have impact in the near term, but in terms of being the basis of a proxy war between russia and the united states, i believe that pretty far overthrown. >> these so-called bashar al-assad tamers are reported to have been delivered to opposition forces as part of a 2-year covert operation to stablilize. president obama told 60 minutes that plans to train opposition fighte

turkey demands change in damascus. >> would iran be accused of keeping bashar al-assad in power at any cost. turkey rich to get rid of bashar al-assad. what room is there to find middle ground? >> at the moment little indeed. turkey and iran are on opposing sides. turkey supports sunni-armed groups. iran provides support to maintain bashar al-assad in office. >> do you think we'll see all the powers sitting around one table? >> it's likely that we'll see images showing that the broadening of the group that is the foray to the forum to resolve the syrian quagmire. i think expectations for a breakthrough is low. >> we shouldn't expect to see more than a family photograph, if you call it that. >> the conclusion of iran in this forum to resolve the conflict is perceived by european diplomats in the united states as a breakthrough. turkey has been supportive of iraq's conclusion, but the sides are so far apart the likelihood of any kind looks remote. >> do you take as much risk of the country growing isolated over the conflict. you see it after upsetting the u.s. as it targets kurdish fighters on syrian soil. >> not only is ther

bashar al-assad's role. saudi arabia is hoping to convince other countries that bashar al-assad cannot be part of a solution. bashar al-assad's closest ally. it has been ruled up for attending. it's spoken in favour of iran. here is what the russian dmitri sergeev had to say about cooperation with the jordanians on syria >>> an agreement has been reach in forming a mechanism in ayman to coordinate actions in fighting terrorism in the skies over syria on a day to day professional basis. >>> let's bring in a syrian analyst and academic from the doha institute. thanks for being with us. when it comes to the role of jordanians, and the coordination of strikes with moscow, why is it happening now, does this mean they are moving away from the u.s.-turkish saudi alliance and to a russian alliance. >> they have been very concerned from the beginning about the presence of islam fighters in the northern border with syria, and it's not a police for me, actually that the jordanians are coordinating with the russians in terms of air strikes, that the russians saw in the south. so far they focused on the north-west part.

program that they could only fight against isis and not bashar al assad. it is bashar killed 422,000 men, women and children in their country in this so-called covert program according to published reports both isis and bashar al assad are the enemy and that has been a fairly viable program. those thousands are now being attacked from russian air and being killed and maimed. and i promise you because i have heard from them really almost directly, they feel we have abandoned them. >> i'm not surprised that they feel that way. let me turn to politics. you have to run for re-election next year. the house republican chaos, do you think it puts the republican party's ability to make the case that they should run the white house in jeopardy? >> i don't know how you could assume anything else. if we can get this tension resolved we still have 13 or month months left before the election and then we can put it behind us. if this turmoil continues i can surely understand why people would wonder what is going on in the republican party. >> who do you want to see? and if you say t

not interested in fighting each other and at least one of them is interested in fighting bashar al-assad, and bashar al-assad will then focus on, if we help him only on that group, on isil, so you are saying i y the way, i voted against arming that third force. i thought it would turn out the way things did in iraq. you are suggesting that group now is indeed leading the fight against bashar al-assad. dr. katz: it's many, many groups. it's not even as complicated as a three cornered conflict. dr. katz: it's many, many groups. it's not even as complicated as a three cornered conflict. there are loads of actors involved here. but what it does seem is that at the moment the opposition groups that are not isis that are most threatening to bashar al-assad, therefore, it is not surprising that he is concentrating his efforts on these particular -- chairman: but we have seen reports of defections by that reports of defections by that third force, supposedly, to isis. in fact, one of the major leaders of that group defected, and the report i read is that he now commands a force that has made up -- half of w

. >> don't you think putin is teaming up with bashar al assad right now? >> it's okay with me. basharassad is the lesser of the two evils, between bashar al assad and isis, i'll take assad -- >> the problem is, we're in this position now of having to be subservient while the u.s., subservient to russia. and now we'll have to ask papa putin if we can get it back in play in our house, in our theater. this is the problem, we've already made such a tremendous investment in all these different areas. and now it's become, oh, wait a second, is the obama administration being dishonest and are they doing -- well, they haven't had any kind of strategy to begin with, so, this is what happens. power abhors a vacuum. listen, i don't quarrel with the president continuing, by the way, to have special ops and special forces on the ground, but guess what, we've been doing that in iraq. we just don't telegraph and broadcast it. >> greg, i love the video of that raid, seeing those guys. i lament the loss of our hero, the special operator who fell. but i love seeing people who are about to get their hea

the fight in syria to bolster president bashar al-assad to make his position a bit more secure, but that it would sol ra -- tolerate a transition away from bashar al-assad, if the person that replaced him was the right sort of person for moscow. >> whenever the west believed in the past that russia may give up on bashar al-assad, it has, in fact, done the opposite and seems to have doubled down on the man that has been moscow's ally for so long. >> thank you for that. the u.n. chief, ban ki-moon, is due to meet palestinian leader mahmoud abbas now, in the occupied west bank. he held talks with a prime minister on tuesday, and requested an urgent video conference with the u.n. security council in new york. he called for calm across the region, it appears to have little affect. a palestinian was shot and injured by the israeli army on wednesday, near the a jewish segment of nablus. the u.n. said the girl was carrying two knives. the u.n. chiefs is calling for both to step back from a deaning abyss. stephanie dekker -- from a dangerous abyss. stephanie dekker joins us now, talk about the effect of ban ki-moon and the impact it's likely to have on

bashar al assad fighters. some are softening their approach on bashar al assad. seeing the framework for a real political breakthrough? >> there's definitely been a softening of tone toward bashar al assad and what role he might play in the future of syria, particularly from the the western countries represented here. we'd heard indications of this from statements that have been coming from the u.s. over the course of the past week. just today, french foreign minister spoke to the press earlier, and he was saying that it wasn't clear what role, if any, the syrian president bashar al assad will have in the future of syria. that's a big change. it's subtle, but in diplomatic speak a big change from where many of the western countries involved were in the past when several countries demanded outright that there was no role for bashar al assad when it came to the transition in syria. with rewards to iran, they've not specified where they are yet when it comes to bashar al assad. clearly they have a huge role to play in syria, and they want to make sure that bashar al

bashar al-assad government is in danger of falling. the reaction has been to help that out. charlie: they have changed. margaret, help me understand where john kerry is on the question of bashard. he has had a long relationship with him. >> he has. he has negotiated with bashar al-assad directly. he is the one who has this assignment of figuring out what to do put on his desk and has been pushed hard to get more done. a lot of what is being done here in new york can be called small ball. limiting some of the instruments of death, so to speak, that bashar al-assad uses, specifically barrel bombs. they are not at the place of talking bashar al-assad out of power. in fact the united states has , been sitting down with the saudi foreign minister and the russian foreign minister. when they say transition, they are not talking about him exiting on day one. in fact, you have heard some say that bashar al-assad would not exist until isis is defeated. as you know, we are years off possibly from that happening. niall: i have been an outspoken critic to vladimir putin. if this had been a debating contest, he would have won it hands-down. what did president obama say? spent his speech cr

assad for a long time. there's a concern on russia's part this regime could fall. >> russia does not want that to happen. i don't think putin is bosom buddies with bashar, but bashar alted since assad's father was in offense. the russians have a naval base in syria. it's in that sense a close relationship. it's one that russia wants to keep and therefore they're going to prop up the syrian state. they can do it. assad still has a military force and with russian backing, h he can fight off the rebels, i think. >> as you're speak on the screen, we're showing some of the footage from the russian ministry, that is to say, howard, this is part of their messaging or propaganda. if this gets real and stays real, then russia is going to pay its price. take a listen. they have initiated a joint ground offensive, shattering the facade that they're there to fight isil. this will have consequences for russia itself. which is rightfully fearful of attack upon russia. i also suspect in the coming days the russians will suffer casualties in syria. >> governor? >> this is the first time in a very long time, having anything to do with the middle east that i agreed with john mccain. i

bashar al-assad, but there has been a vacuum and isis grew in that space. i was one of the leading voices in 2013 saying to the president even though bashar al-assad is evil dictator, evil person in charge of syria, and didn't want to bomb hidden because my fear was isis would be in charge of all of syria. isn't any solution. >> we talk about this on the

bashar al-assad in power but the russians have also indicated they may have some flexibility, they're probably looking for other alternatives of someone who is stronger. because remember, the russians came in because the bashar al-assad regime was losing ground so quibltion. quickly. >> well i guess the question is can russia with its military might shift it so bashar al-assad is the strong president he used to be? >> that's a big question. clearly, the russians with some help from iran and hezbollah, are doing more to bolster the regime. they're carrying out some offensives, the kind of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters that the russians have in latakia are mostly oriented towards ground support. they clearly want to support the syrian army. but whether that will work or not is unclear. the russians are telling their own people that their forces will be out in a couple of months. but that's probably not realistic, if bashar al-assad's regime is losing so much group before. if russians pull out, bashar al-assad regime may be in trouble. >> with the economy in russian suffering, so how long will the russians be willing to pay for a military exercise like this? >> that's ah that's still to be determined. sti

bashar al-assad in the long-term future of syria. that leaves the question is there a place for bashar al-assad in the short-term in syria? d it seems now to be accepted by this administration as by many of its allies that the presence of bashar al-assad at least in the short term is possibly the only way that they could come around to a peaceful settlement to the crisis in syria. >> some kind of transition. >> some kind of transition. >> they said that if russia is getting involved in order to protect its interests in bashar al-assad, that this will lead to the complete destruction of syria, which has already been, as we know, laid waste here. what did he say about that? >> well, he basically, you know, he goes against the logic of the images that we've all seen coming out of syria in terms of the scale of the destruction. there are, as you know, people who say that even within the damascus, if you're in downtown damascus it looks like is happening, but you step out of the capital of damascus, and it looks like third world war zone. so basically the message from john kerry is that if the russians are coming here to help w

bashar al-assad to step down. >> mr vladimir putin had to go into syria, not out of strength, but out of weakness, because his client, mr bashar al-assad, was crumbling and it was insufficient for him simply to send arms and money. now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots. and the notion that he put forward plan and that somehow the international community see it it as viable because there's a vacuum there, i didn't see after he made the speech in the united nations, the 60 nation coalition lining up behind him. iran and bashar al-assad make up vladimir putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world make ours. the top-line message i want everyone to understand is we are going to continue to go after i.s.i.l., we are going to continue to reach out to a moderate opposition. we rejected russia's theory that everybody opposed to bashar al-assad is a terrorist. we think it's self-defeating. it will be used as a further recruitment tool for foreign fighters. >> meanwhile, it's day four of the russian air strikes in syria. i.s.i.l. positions in their main stronghold of raqqa province were targeted overnight. z

bashar al-assad in power? if isis a defeated, is getting bashar al-assad out of power the goal here? th what he has done to his country, yes, he needs to be out of power as well. friends with vladimir putin, take him home with you. host: that is tennessee. mark is up next, ohio, on the line for those who oppose u.s. military efforts in syria. go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i think our military for my lifetime has been overextended and over financed. we need to take care of business here. israel and saudi arabia, let them go after these people. that include isis in iraq, and not just syria, or should we let the iraqis take care of the isis threat in their country? , let the bigi say powers over there take care of them. we have enough problems in our country. we should never have gone to iraq under the lies that were told to us. host: you think the united states needs to be a check to buffalo mayor -- check the vladimir putin in that region? there: i don't think that is that much of a threat. everybody knows that nobody is going to use the bomb. for not going t

bashar al-assad. earlier this week as you may know, bashar al-assad made a surprise visit to moscow to thank vladimir utin for those airstrikes and what appears to be a show of defiance to the west and russia's everett to become an e essential power broker in the region, have we lost our mojo? has russia and the rest of the world taking this seriously? >> the most important thing we have to debate, presidential candidates and others, should we be diplomatically engaged or should we diplomatically isolate ourselves? many of a people when i was debating with other republicans were saying we shouldn't talk to vladimir putin, we shouldn't talk to china. that is a form of diplomatic isolationism and i don't think that is what we should be doing. we should engage. does that mean russia will always do what we want? no. i think it is important. i don't know if john kerry will get it right but it is important for him to talk to russia and we should not stop that. >> a lot of people are dying today whether it is the civil war that is happening in syria or the people isis is taking out, we don't have a lot of ti

are backing bashar al-assad's forces and say damascus must be helped militarily before a political process can begin, on the other side turkey and saudi arabia support groups fighting bashar al-assad, and insist he must go. every day, of course, the humanitarian situation worsens, more than 250,000 have been killed, 10 million displaced by four years of war. saudi arabia's foreign minister says the involvement of bashar al-assad's allies reveal whether they are committed to peace. >> the view of the partners in this was that we past the intentions of the iranians and the russians about their seriousness in arriving at a political solution in syria, which we all prefer. >> well, let's talk to mohammed jamjoom who is in vienna. you couldn't get more opposing sides if you tried sitting at the same table. how will this work. what are they expecting? >> i think that everybody is wondering how this will work. today we are expecting more bilateral meetings taking place. we are told that the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has arrived in austria and should be here at the location, the imperial hotel within the next half hour. the saudis, i'm told, will arrive later this evenin

thank you >>> syrian president bashar al-assad says he's ready to take part in elections, and that a political solution to the end of the war is possible. bashar al-assad made the comments to a delegation of russian lawmakers in damascus. but he says a political deal depends on eliminating what he called terrorist organizations. bashar al-assad travelled to moscow to meet vladimir putin, who has been helping with air strikes. there was a discussion with secretary of state john kerry, and the saudi arabia foreign minister on saturday. >> translation: we discussed a way forward for syria. we need a political solution, we need to get all parties around the table and create national decisions. that is preserving the unity of syria. bashar al-assad cannot play alone in the war on syria. >> the war in syria driving the crisis. countries at the heart of it are due to meet in brussels. 690,000 arrived in europe. this time this year. the the majority coming via greece and europe. there are three countries, bulgaria, romania and serbia. they say they'll shut their borders if the countries stop with the arrivals. slovenia is struggling to cope. his presi