joining me is brenton easter, senior special agent with the homeland security department's immigration customs enforcement and michael danti, an archaeologist at boston university who's worked in the region for many years and advises the state department. let me start with you, michael. help us to understand a lit moral about what has been lost. tell us about palmyra and the specific temple. >> palmyra is the site that dates back to the bronze age several thousand years b.c., but what it's most known for is standing greco roman remains that date to first and second centuries a.d., essentially an antiquity where east met west in the desert linking up with caravan traffic with the immediate trainian and east asia. so it's an incredible fusion of cultures and antiquity. it was known in antiquity for multicultural diversity. >> brown: you and i talked about this issue after the destruction of sites in iraq. when you look at something like this, is there a pattern to discern about why specific sites are being targeted at this point? >> yes, in many ways, palmyra serves as a microcosm for th

bottleneck and since it is not possible to land there except in several parties, one would never reach brenton point. it is here in this kind of code that the town of newport is situated sheltered by two islands. -- islands." he also talked about new construction made north of newport to fortify the town. this manuscript is one of two narratives acquired this past year by french officers who witnessed the yorktown campaign. after arriving in july 1780, the french forces remained at newport for a year before beginning their marched south. during this time, french officers had ample time to explore the country here at the narratives provide the very personal perspectives of highly skilled aristocratic officers accustomed to a certain way of life and a certain way of conducting warfare. the two authors example five he experienced french officer they came to america. one was born in avenue -- avignon in 1745. he wrote to lieutenant in the same regiment -- rose to lieutenant in the same regiment. he became part of the staff of the corps of engineers in the army of rochambeau. he became a marshall d

ukraine and president obama says the two leaders will talk about that and i want to bring in sir tony brentonformer british ambassador to russia. we appreciate you being here, sir. with your unique perspective, the white house saying mr. putin requested this meeting. do you see that as a genuine outreach on his part? do you think it's for show? what do you make of it? >> first of all, the russians are saying it's by agreement. mr. obama, up until a mere few months ago, was talking about isolating rusch and putin. because they are together says they have a lot of business to do. a good time for the meeting because u.s. policy has moved significantly in the russian direction in regards syria and the talk on ukraine. actually, inside the meeting there is lots of scope for progress. >> what do you think it would take for russia to back away from assad as we know the u.s. would prefer? >> russia isn't going to back away from assad. russia's key concern in the region is prevent the rise of fundamentalists. they see the choice in syria as assad on the one hand who is nasty and they know it and isis