isis all the wait through the euphrates river valley where the last remnants of the fiscal fate were defeated earlier inner i do not. they were not only fighting for themselves, they were also fighting for us. they were fighting to help ensure that there were no more isis-directed or inspired attacks like those carried out in paris, brussels, istanbul, orlando and san bernardino. after the s.d.f. successfully liberated the territory formerly controlled by isis, they also maintained -- including more than 2,000 foreign fighters, even when many of their home countries refused to take them back. beaver given the sacrifices of the s.d.f. and the fight against isis, it was particularly insulting for president trump to imply that the s.d.f. may not now be releasing isis detainees to get us involved, in his words, in the ongoing violence in northern syria. as our military leaders will

border between turkey and syria can essentially be divided now into 3 parts on the east of the euphrates river return he now holds most of it and its fighters hold most of control and then there is the west's flank of the euphrates river all the way to the city of commissioning in chunks of that parts turkey has gone in and tried to establish this so-called safe zone 30 kilometers deep all the way running along its borders to its syrian border to iraq now turkey has halted that operation after taking some parts of it. and russia 9 and west of that is still with kurdish fighters now the agreement between syria between russia and turkey on the syrian border is that these kurdish fighters believe turkey essentially see these fighters as terrorists as it calls them because it sees them as an offshoot of the goodstein workers party or p.k. k. many of them have been inducted into the syrian democratic forces which are american allies although the united states has they call it a massive betrayal and have left them to their own function but they're still working with the u.s. forces on the western fl

group is warning of all out war if turkey launches an assault on or over an area east of the euphrates river river turkey's president of the hun says the military operation would clear the region of what he called terrorists those are the top stories rewind is next more news in half an hour a see you tomorrow thanks for watching but by. and counting the cost germany's heading for recession well i'm going to put aside their concerns about that to stimulate the economy promising brazil's amazon fear their livelihoods are under threat and the billions of dollars in black gold locked away in power to go you. can see the cost on i'll just see. hello and welcome again to remind i'm elizabeth purana since we don't want to al-jazeera english over a decade ago we haven't been afraid of tackling difficult and sensitive stories through powerful award winning documentaries today we rewinding to 2 $1010.00 and a film that examines an unintended consequence of the continuing israeli blockade of gaza is growing opioid problem the gaza strip at points just 10 kilometers wide is a narrow piece of land along

that is in the vicinity of the euphrates river valley and the purpose to secure those is to deny access to isis in order to prevent isis from resurgence because we have committed to the counter isis campaign. >> as i consistent with what you want to do in the oilfields? are they denying access to prevent russian or syrian force forces. >> the short answer is yes. in that case because we do have access to resources in order for the prisons for their own troops and assist us with the isis mission. that is our mission. >> general milley president trump said yesterday he was begging and crying before he died can you elaborate quick. >> the secretary was asked the same question. i know the president had planned i assume that was topped directly to the unit but i don't know. >> i have not talked to unit members i've talked to commanders and centcom the commander said there was one part of the raid talking about the intelligence provided can you confirm those details? also with the oil field can you talk about after these last couple weeks protecting the oil field will though will there be mor

troops remain in the area of the euphrates river in the vicinity of the characters of the bridge almost all the international organizations in the north east of syria have started to flee as their presence there has not been authorized by damascus co-chair of the syrian northeastern governance stated that the structure of local authorities remain the same from technical and administrative standpoints the only change is the signing of the memorandum. you have strongly condemned the operation against the kurds calling on turkey to hold its offensive in northeast inferior france germany and several of the e.u. states have also temporarily stopped on that exports to the nato partner as a guarantee of political analysts we spoke to says there's still room for diplomacy despite the tension. the syrian government considers itself the actual sovereign power in all of syria so therefore it doesn't need any agreement with the turks to actually step in and defend its border against any. attacks i think it is possible to reach an agreement to give the turks what they are asking for formally they ar

part of a new day of the taking according to russian news agency is a convoy has crossed the euphrates river and is heading to the border town of combining under the date agreed by presidents as they want and putin by p.g. fire has have 150 hours to withdrawal at least 30 kilometers deep into syrian territory shall stress and reports from jack lay on the to a case of he avoided. with only hours left of the u.s. brokered cease fire in syria russia stepped in. president putin offered help to remove and disarm kurdish fighters at the turkish syrian border together with syrian border troops but it's delayed we share turkey's concern about the growing threats of terrorism and the growth of ethnic tensions in the region the stenches and the separatists moved in recent times where in our opinion artificially created by outsiders. kurdish fighters have until tuesday evening local time to clear turkey's 30 kilometer deep so-called safe zone along the syria turkey border russian military police will then start joint patrols with turkish forces along almost the entire northeast and syrian border. what

syria as part of a new deal with turkey according to russian news agency a convoy has crossed the euphrates river and is heading to the border town of bani under this deal agreed to by presidents are won and why p.g. fighters have 150 hours to withdraw at least 30 kilometers deeper into syrian territory trust rapid reports. with only hours left of the u.s. brokered cease fire in syria russia stepped in. president putin offered help to remove and disarm kurdish fighters at the turkish syrian border together with syrian border troops but it's delayed we share turkey's concern about the growing threats of terrorism and the growth of ethnic tensions in the region the stenches and the separatists moved in recent times where in our opinion artificially created by outsiders. kurdish fighters have until tuesday evening local time to clear turkey's 30 kilometer deep so-called safe zone along the syria turkey border russian military police will then start joint patrols with turkish forces along almost the entire north east and syrian border. what to go on is on the by removing threats posed by a terrorist

interesting that these patrols will go all the way up to the western flank of beslan flank of the euphrates river to the town of commission which is kurdish majority and now held by the syrian government it is a fluid situation on the ground because it is not just russia and turkey who are involved in this turkey has sent thousands and thousands of arab fighters in this area to retake villages where arab arabs were pull out when syrian democratic forces moved in syrian democratic forces have been asking for god in teasin to pull out of their positions as well as syrian government forces who have been coming into these areas fortifying their position and clashes with these rebels as been as turkish forces and i will leave you back thanks so much for salah binge of aid. a meeting about syria's constitution is beginning in geneva later on wednesday aims to repair the fractures that many believe led to the civil war jane space is in geneva. the constitutional committee which will have its 1st meeting here in a matter of hours was 1st proposed in sochi as a meeting between russia turkey and iran the u

as part of a new deal with turkey russian news agencies are reporting a convoy has crossed the euphrates river and is heading to the border town of combat any under the deal agreed by presidents and the one and putin y p g fighters have 150 hours to withdraw at least 30 kilometers deep and to syrian territory protesters in lebanon out on the streets for the 7th day they're blocking roads across the country but the army is trying to reopen it main routes and they have made a number of arrests there are protests taking place across bolivia after the main opposition candidate carlos mesa rejected sunday's provisional election result president evil model is being accused of trying to manipulate the results of that he can avoid a runoff in december what al is appears to have a 9 percent lead over mitt. now one of the world's largest oil and gas firms is pulling out of a deal with saudi arabia russia's new cordless to transfer its 80 percent stake in a gas exploration project. to the state owned cell the aramco lukoil says the government of saudi arabia hasn't been able to make the project economica

syria as part of a new deal with turkey according to russian news agency a convoy has crossed the euphrates river and is heading to the border town of bani under this deal agreed.

against the kurdish forces this particular east of the euphrates river against the kurdish forces that sees as terrorists there right now there are no more bombs that sees as terrorists there right now there are no more bombs dropped from the turkish airplanes there are no more turkish tanks firing from the turkish planes there are no more turkish tanks firing but rather patrols joint patrols by russian forces to kish forces it's rather patrols joint patrols by russian forces to kish forces how syrians are also involved in that process so in such a way syrians are also involved in that process so in such a way one of 2 troubled regions in syria is north is a one off to troubled regions in syria's north is right now being secured to make it possible for millions of refugees to right now being. secured to make it possible for millions of refugees to come back there and also have lightened up with management tapered down they become back there and also have lightened up with management tapered down the greed to continue joint patrols along the border to every to continue joint patrol

forces when it comes to the war in the rural areas but here in the eastern side of the euphrates river where is the idea control and the land is more flat so many experts warn that the y.p. g. forces will probably like to drag this war to the residential areas so that they can fight better. and they are better in urban fights compared to the turkish military turkish military when you speak to the military experts so there are challenges ahead we don't know how the mother to how this operation is going to unfold but of course the deal between onkar washington and moscow will be binding and one of the questions a sin and that has come up is what turkey does with the eisel fighters and some of the families of eisel members that are in that area earlier on in his tweets he said that the operation peace spring has been launched against the p.k. caseless y p g and terrorists in northern syria. well yes you know when turkey conduct of these previous operations euphrates field and operation all of branch they fought against eisel as well the casualties or the amount of the fighters they killed

we see that on the map now by the euphrates river is now under attack by turkish forces after the s.d.f. made a deal with syrian government forces to enter the syrian army has already taken control of public from kodesh fighters and moved into which is also on the m 4 highway and also it's troops have also entered and raise the syrian government flag in the province and the border town of the missionary so let's try to bring all this together now what they know what our correspondent in a chuckle is on that turkish border with syria the presence of syrian troops now and the turks or president one self saying the escalation is coming feel that we're really building to something. well a new front has been opened an hour ago the opposition syrian national army announced the start of the operation to capture the northern city of mumbai that's in the northern aleppo countryside they have started to advance towards the city under the cover of turkish airstrikes so the turkish military is supporting this offensive they've taken some ground they still have not faced resistance but they haven't

that are so crucial for a serious economic well being also this is prime agricultural land the euphrates river flows down here the dam that top the dam it which is so important to the flow of the euphrates which america and the kurds have held the syrian government's going to want to take that back as well so what we're going to see is a scramble for resources in the area and and turkey is going to be come under intense pressure we'll see what air to one and assad can negotiate in a way to deescalate so that there isn't war between turkey and syria. in the wake of violent protests in ecuador talks have started between indigenous protest leaders and the government while at negotiations are under way of the ecuadorians and those cuts into oil subsidies continue to show their discontent on the streets of the countryside capital quito the death toll has reached 7 people the local ombudsman office says. earlier some of the professors protesters attacked government buildings and a t.v. channels office demonstrators have been seen picking their way through burnt tires and the debris cluttering the ro

that are so crucial for a serious economic well being also this is prime agricultural land the euphrates river flows down here the dam that the dam it which is so important to the flow of the euphrates which america and the kurds have held the syrian government's going to want to take that back as well so what we're going to see is a scramble for resources in the area and and turkey is going to be come under intense pressure we'll see what air to one and assad can negotiate in a way to deescalate so that there isn't war between turkey and syria. talks between indigenous protest leaders in ecuador and the government scheduled for sunday are now postponed that is according to the united nations office in the country and austerity protests in ecuador are now in their 12 day the death toll has increased to 7 people the local ombudsman office says now earlier the country's military lifted a curfew in the capital quito but for now it could dorian's continue to show their discontent on the streets. earlier some of the protesters attacked government buildings and a t.v. channels office demonstrators h

that are so crucial for a serious economic well being also this is prime agricultural land the euphrates river flows down here the dam that the dam it which is so important to the flow of the euphrates which america and the kurds have held the syrian government's going to want to take that back as well so what we're going to see is a scramble for resources in the area and and turkey is going to be come under intense pressure will see what aired on and on assad can negotiate in a way to deescalate so that there isn't war between turkey and syria. the offensive spot rallies around the world people in the u.s. france germany have joined protests the operations also be condemned by the international community germany france and of this so far is to hold arms exports to present dead around the thread and to send refugees currently into to the e.u. if it continues to condemn microseconds. but really we have 3600000 syrian refugees in our country waiting to go back home hey european union come to your senses i'll say it again at the moment of our operation you cannot define it as an invasion our job

tension, president trump spoke to the turkish president about establishing a safe zone east of the euphrates river. the two leaders are set to meet next month in d.c. >>> the impeachment inquiry is coming forward with information about president trump's phone call with ukraine's leader the difference this person claims to have firsthand knowledge which would punch a hole in a key defense for mr. trump. the white house responding in part it doesn't change the fact the president has done nothing wrong. meanwhile, president trump is targeting top democrats on twitter, claiming that house speaker nancy pelosi and intelligence committee chairman adam schiff are guilty of treason and calling for them to be impeached we should point out the competition does not alu for a member of congress to be impeached. nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest from d.c. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. the whistle-blower who launched the impeachment story is getting some backup. lawyers tell me they are now representing multiple whistle-blowers. they would not provide a specific number, saying only

that are so crucial for a serious economic well being also this is prime agricultural land the euphrates river flows down here the dam that the dam it which is so important to the flow of the euphrates which america and the kurds have held the syrian government's going to want to take that back as well so what we're going to see is a scramble for resources in the area and and turkey is going to be come under intense pressure we'll see what air go on and on assad can negotiate in a way to deescalate so that there isn't war between turkey and syria. after several hours of negotiations indigenous a protest leaders in ecuador have struck a deal with the country's government to cancel a controversial austerity plan reportedly under the deal the country's president lyndon more than no promise to to withdraw international monetary fund a package that includes a sharp fuel price increase in the protests in ecuador have left 7 people dead this according to the local. indigenous leaders in turn will call on their followers to leave the streets and protests earlier some of the protesters attacked governm

money around about 1015 kilometers away there are reports of bridges being set up across the euphrates river very much an indication that president or the one he's sticking to his word and that money will indeed be taken mr with a plan to as he says send arabs back their arab refugees now whether this is a reference to the fighting forces of the free syrian army that been enlisted to take part in this campaign the free syrian army of course backed by turkey for many years in syria that remains to be seen big questions also over the town of cope bonnie which is on the similar kind of close to further north on the border there are the one saying that negotiations were still going on with the russians as to want to do their the end of the day. the circs have made serious gains in recent days and that is why the s.t. if what with the announcement of the departure of those u.s. forces has reached out to the syrian government and the syrian government and the syrian army have been seemingly very quick to respond just a little reports that u.s. forces who were supposed to withdrawn from the area ha

for the turkish military to conduct operation but this is a re are on the it's inside of the euphrates river well under estefan for this is a this is a more kind of a flat area that's why turkish military experts warn that the wife would you forces will go into towns or settlements which can which is going to be more like an orbit urban warfare so when it comes to urban areas it is more important to everyone civilian casualties because they're going to be involved with the civilians and it will continue to monitor events with you insert the word that comes out from turkey sit in consider the correspondence course over to the russian capital where venison joins a sense that we're seeing at the moment pictures of the odd fighter flying across through the clear skies in northern syria at the moment it seems pretty quiet from what with the pictures the city that we're seeing had obviously been talk from the russians in the day we have been waiting for russian comment these past 48 hours what do you think the reaction will be if any at the moment to this news that the military operation by the tu

as part of a new deal with turkey russian news agencies are reporting a convoy has crossed the euphrates river and is heading to the border town of kabbani under the deal agreed by president edwin and putin y p g fighters have 150 hours to withdraw at least 30 kilometers deeper into syrian territory. now u.s. defense secretary marcus for has arrived in baghdad to discuss the presence of u.s. troops in iraq as the says all u.s. troops leaving syria will go to western iraq and will continue to fight eisel the iraqi military says the u.s. doesn't have permission to stay there the soldiers withdrew from northern syria just before the turkish operation against kurdish fighters began now protesters in lebanon are out on the streets for the 7th day they're blocking roads across the country but the army is trying to reopen main roads they have made a number of arrests and u.k. government sources barres johnson will try to call a general election if he's forced to accept a long breaks that delay ministers rejected the prime minister's proposed timetable for ratifying his record deal on tuesday johnson

us forces are now stationed at a bridge that connects northeast and northwest syria across the euphrates river the bridge is part of the main and for highway which links man beach and. come to that the middle east for vehicles and spotted there it is believe they're trying to prevent syrian government forces from crossing. now president of trumpets suggested the kurdish led forces may be freeing eisel fighters as a way to draw the us into the battle in northern syria this is his tweet kurds may be releasing some to get us involved easily recaptured by turkey or european nations from where many came but they should move quickly big sanctions on turkey coming to people really think we would go we should go to war with nato member turkey never ending wars will end and we've all said the e.u.'s foreign policy chief federica condemning it turkey's advance into syria and raising concerns about the rise of eisel in the region their conclusions we call for a ministerial meeting. of the global coalition because we see as one of the most immediate consequences of this military to it is in the northeast

crisis in syria unless full control is restored by damascus so this is one thing 2nd east of the euphrates river is one of science areas and if you look at the map that's a big part of syria and now off to the american decision to leave this area it is controlled by the kurdish forces different groups different names but equally viewed by and as terry's and we've been hearing for ages that turkey will not tolerate. along its southern border and turkey has been pushing the idea of so-called safe zone 440 kilometers along the turkish syrian border 30 kilometers deep into the syrian. territory to protect its national security and for a claimed end to ensure a safe return of millions of refugees to these areas but at the end of the day that would mean that turkey would have control over these territories and that contradicts the idea of territorial integrity and damascus in control over syrian territories so the memorandum signed on tuesday in. decides the fate of these areas so that damascus and more are all happy so what is this decision both sides agree that the area and for a wanted to be a same

action would be destabilizing now turkey has announced a ground an air offensive east of the euphrates river ankara says it's to create a safe zone between its border and territory controlled by the white b.g. which it sees as an existential threat but those kurdish fighters are the main component of the syrian democratic forces which the u.s. has leaned on to fight i saw on the ground and there around 2000 so-called advisers from the u.s. military stationed with them in the region earlier the white house had seen to greenlight turkey's plans it said american troops would pull back in return for turkey taking over responsibility for captured eisel fighters now some of president donald trump staunchest allies have criticized that saying it would be a disaster and abandoning the yes the f. could create a vacuum for eisel to return joining us from washington to discuss all of this is kimberly houk it so clearly the president seems to be defending his decision on twitter how is it all playing out in washington. well there is a line up on both sides of the aisle and capitol hill who have been cri

war should turkey go through with the threat to strike a government controlled area east of the euphrates river turkey's president said earlier that the military operation would clear the region of what he calls terrorists and that an air and ground assault was imminent the kurdish group the syrian democratic forces responded by saying it will defend the area from any unprovoked attack. we have made our preparations we've completed our operation plans we have given the necessary orders the decision has been made and the process has begun for the springs of peace and now opening up their path is as near as may be today maybe tomorrow we will conduct this from the ground and from the air officials from north korea and the u.s. arrived in sweden to resume talks on denuclearization north korea's nuclear negotiator the u.s. president's special envoy or among teams meeting on an island off stockholm washington wants pyongyang to end its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions saturday's formal talks of the 1st since donald trump a north korean leader kim jong un mess in june danger mot

they were beginning to amass their proxies on the west side of the euphrates river. ey were going to go across that river and seize those oil fields. develop them and use that money to reduce the economic sanctions the president is imposing on them. that's one of the things that helped revise the plan. trish: are we safer tonight? >> yes. this is a major setback for isis. this guy al-baghdadi formed a terrorist army and got on to the world stage by invading iraq. he had a safe haven in syria. in addition to establishing a caliphate, none of his predecessors had done. he developed sad worldwide movement in less than a year. he attacked or inspired attacks in dozens of countries. he attacked 9 nato countries with inspires or directed attacks. his reach went beyond obama's global reach. a setback for the organization. it will affect morale and recruiting and financing as well. trish: good news. general keane, good to see you. trish: the liberal media running to the defense of alexander vindman. >> how do iraq war veterans feel about the president's allies attacking lieut

troops may stay in northeast syria to protect the oil fields the facilities are mostly east of the euphrates river and resort and near the syrian border with iraq areas controlled by u.s. and kurdish forces before the war started in 2011 syria was producing 400000 barrels of war a day ranking it 32nd in the world that's and gas production made up about a 3rd of its export earnings and a 5th of state revenue as i saw took control of the eastern oil fields the u.s. treasury estimated the armed group made up to $500000000.00 from oil revenues one cup alarm is the director of the arab center for research and the doha institute for graduate studies good to have you with us so 1st of all these oil fields that american troops are going to stay back to control currently are they operational. no they are not but they can be restored actually easily. i'm not really surprised that this issue has emerged because we were expecting that after. after the us leaves syria most of the parties that right now are competing for the north east of the country will be actually fighting for the continental of the oil and

need that is turned kurdish majority town and on the eastern flank it will go all the way to the euphrates river there is a lot of questions about the modalities of what will be the rules of engagement once these joint patrols begin because turkey wants to see that all of these good fighters have been rooted out and president out of the one in the last print 12 hours has said that he would want to see these patrols happen and can negotiations with the russian officials will continue it is also interesting to note that the united states which pulled out off number and the refractive error a kurdish fighters according to russia have also been pulled out has warned about restarting any sort of escalation and have warned of also that it would repose economic sanctions if there is another flare up of violence so it is going to be the next few hours are going to be very interesting to watch and we will see when these joint patrols begin and who will take part in them how how strong is the force going to be and what is going to be the more discipline on the. and a meeting about syria's constitution is

should turkey carry through with the threat to strike a government controlled area east of the euphrates river a turkish president. says the military operation would clear the region of what he calls terrorists he says a ground assault is imminent the u.s. backed syrian democratic forces have responded by saying they'll defend the area from any unprovoked attack. we have made our preparations we've completed our operation plans we have given the necessary orders the decision has been made and the process has begun for the springs of peace and now opening up their path is as near as may be today maybe tomorrow we will conduct this from the ground and from the air. at least 7 people have been injured in a grenade attack in southern kashmir and it was carried out never government office in the city of anon like police are blaming separatists and people in pakistani administered kashmir are marking 2 months since india ended the special status of kashmir that it administers. people are marching towards the unofficial border indian administered kashmir has been under a complete lockdown since new d

commitment they would get an ambitious safe zone that goes 20 miles into syria and extends from the euphrates river all the way to the iraqi border. an agreement is one thing and how things are going to unfold on the ground, how this is going to play out, it's very complex. we have heard from the kurds, the top military commander, they agreed to the cease-fire. they were part of the negotiations with the united states. they have not said if they will be withdrawing from these areas. and what areas are they talking about? for them, they're saying the areas covered in this agreement is the active combat zone right now. and another complicating factor in all of this is we have not heard from, at least publicly the other key players here, the syrian regime and russians. you have a fragile cease-fire agreement at this point. what happens in the next five days is going to be critical. and what happens after those five days, is this going to move into the next phase of a permanent cease-fire, where turkey says it will stop its offensive if the kurdish forces move out. and the way things are unfolding on t

they may look at the southern part of the euphrates river, closer to the border with iraq.s would represent a significant increase in firepower, if the americans send tanks into that area. whether or not there would be a particular battlefield use would be open to questions. they are extremely vulnerable to manpowered -- man-carried tankers and rockets. nonetheless, it would be a significant gesture and a gesture they want to protect the oil fields. not only from being recapture by the so-called islamic state, where the islamic state used them to generate income. but also, and donald trump said this, from being captured by the assad regime itself. were the oil fields be able to return, it would be a cash cow for a cash-strapped nation. >>> mike pence taking a horde line with china. he backed protesters and taiwan's economy. pence's speech closely watched as president trump works to complete a partial trade deal. the u.s. wants to engage and not fight with china, pence cited several examples of china's bad behavior, including fentanyl in the opioid crisis and the chinese exp

goes all the way from the euphrates river to the iraqi border.t the turks are saying is they want to create this zone 18 to 25 miles deep inside syria. interesting they talked about the prison. the prison camp is down here well outside the zone. >> okay. so you heard what senator graham said there. he said let's change course while there is still time to go back. is there really time to go back? at this point in time the kurds are feeling quite betrayed by the departure of u.s. forces. >> never say never, but it would be really difficult now for the trump administration to reverse course and try to fore stall this turkish incursion. they've created civilian casualties. they've already damaged and destroyed parts of two different cities along that border. and we don't have the capacity right now to stop that. not to mention our syrian democratic forces just in the last hour or so announced that they were suspending all operations against isis to focus on the turkish incursion. good luck getting them back on side with you to stop this. >>> a ugs of

they're in the main sunni arabs west of the euphrates river. not kurds.t's significant about what's been said at the united nations is they want to take the sunni arabs and put them in syria. that raises issues about local tension and fighting between kurds and turks and this would be a deportation effectively against the will of the people, against u.n. and other regulations. >> and what's extraordinary to me is that this is -- this had been such an example of the limited but effective use of american power. few hundred american troops seemed to have been able to maintain the peace. >> that is a great point. we at the international rescue committee can see the situation in the kurdish area whether a few american troops were delivering our services. we helped half a million people with health care last year and we can see the contrast between the situation in the northeast of syria and northwest. in the northwest, it's a total war zone. 3.5 million people there. 1 million fled into that area from other parts of syrisyria. you have russian bombing. you hav

absolute recognition that we not let the iranians who by the way are massing on west side of th euphrate riverre going to move in and seize will out fields we're not going to permit that to happen, keep our air power in place, maintain control over the skies in eastern syria and keep a residual force in syria, also to contain isis from resurging. according to a pentagon report today they have 14, 18,000 fighters between iraq and syria, and 10,000 in detention have centers, there is still plenty of potential for isis to return. elizabeth: thank you for your insights, senator lindsey graham opposed the president's decision here but now supports it saying that policy could succeed your reaction? >> i just said that -- i agree with that,. that is what i just enumerated, senator graham spoke to the president over the weekend. i have spoken with senator graham a number of times myself, i think we're in a better place, it makes the most sense the strategic implications in sir iasyriaare real in terms of thro american people from isis, certainly iran, running the table gets all of syria to encroach on

they are in the euphrates river. >> not kurds. >> and not kurds. and what the president has said is he wants to take the sunni arabs that are in turkey and plop them in the kurdish area of syria. that obviously raises immediate issues about local tension as well as the fighting between the kurds and the turks. this would be a deportation, effectively, against the will of the people, against the u.n. and other regulations. >> what's extraordinary to me is that this had been such an example of the limited but effective use of american power. a few hundred american troops seem to have been able to maintain the peace. >> that is a great point. of course, we at the international rescue community can see the situation in the kurdish area. where we were delivering our services, we helped about half a million people with health kaca last year, and we can see the contrast between syria and the northwest. in the northwest, it's a total war zone. you have 3.5 million people there, you have russian bombing, you have syrian government pushing in, and you have b

a safe zones, a buffer zone, 20 miles from the euphrates river and east.ded refugee camp? endgame forthe turkish policymakers led by erdogan. a buffer zone or a safe zone inside syria will be about 20 miles deep and will stretch from the euphrates river north of syria all the way to the iraqi border. we a talking about 400 kilometers. that is about 300 miles. when and if that buffer zone is created, turkey wants to resettle one million refugees, syrian refugees. context,ut things into turkey is home to about 3.6 million syrian refugees that have fled the war that has been going on eight years. tom: what is extraordinary, the show theportant but camps that hold the family members and the actuality of islamic state members. to dote seems to be what with the islamic state camps. we have any idea what will happen to those? and people camps being held in them, isis family members or militants themselves, oflly makeup the focal point kurdish lead syrian democratic forces claim there are about 12,000 militants in the prison and tens and thousands of family member

and it stretches from the euphrates river all the way to the iraqi border.ow, while they do have this pause in fighting over the next five days, at least there's this agreement that the kurdish syrian fighters say they've agreed to. there's so many questions that are out there. we do not know the details of this agreement. the kurds greeed to the cease fair. but they have not withdrawn from the areas. they are giving the pause to allow the kurdish fighters to get out of this zone. otherwise, they will continue with this operation. what happens after these five days is not up to the united states, really. it will be decided in a meeting between the turkish president and vladimir putin at the end of those five days. because, as we've seen, it is now russia, that's moved into the area. they do have leverage and the ability to call the shots on the ground, dave. >> all paths lead to putin. jomana, live for us in turkey this morning. thanks. >>> next year's g7 summit of world leaders will be hosted by president trump at his own doral resort in miami. that decisio

warning of all out war should turkey go through with the threat to strike an area east of the euphrates river turkey's president tried to topple the one said earlier that the military operation would clear the region of what he called terrorists and that an air and ground assault was imminent the mostly kurdish group the syrian democratic forces responded saying that they will defend the area from any unprovoked attack. after we have made our preparations we've competed our operation plans we have given the necessary orders the decision has been made and the process has begun for the springs of peace and now opening up their path is as near as may be today maybe tomorrow we will conduct this from the ground and from the air 8 people have been killed and 18 injured by unknown assailants in rwanda it happened at a tourist a popular national park in the northern district 6 people were killed with traditional weapons and 2 were shot according to local police. we're going to weather update next here on out here at 10 prepares to vote in its 2nd election since the revolution but a daunting task awa

raqqah on the banks of the euphrates river. mosul and an old field in iraq.i, flaunallujah, tikrit. they all fell to isis. united states and its allies seemed powerless to stop them. but then in the summer of 2014, something extraordinary happened when isis reached one little town called kobani, northern syria. kobani was right on the border separating turkey and syria. the world media and hundreds of syrian refugees watched helplessly from the turkish side as black-clad isis fighters advanced on the town. i couldn't believe what i was witnessing. right in front of me, isis fighters were move unopposed and completely out in the open. these people are extremely frustrated by what's happening here. they see isis fighters in their villages, and they say, if the americans really want to bomb isis, they're not hard to fight. >> at the time the u.s. government said, kobani just wasn't worth saving. >> what's happening in kobani, as horrific as hittiit is, you to step back and understand the strategic objective. >> but the people of kobani had their own objectives.

turkish jets and artillery have reportedly hitit at leleast 81 targets east of the euphrates river. the trump administrationon has faced d widespread criticism frm both republican and democratic lawmakers for abanandoning the stateless kurds who had helped the u.s. f fight isis. turkey is claimingng the assault is neededed to estabablish a "se zone" inin northern syria whe turkey could relocate syrian refugees who fled over the past eight years of fighting. but the kurds see the offensive as part of a decades-long attack by turkey to crush their attempts at greater autonomy. amy: fear is also growing the turkish assault could lead to the mass release of isis fighters. up until now, the kurds has been responsible for holding over 10,000 isis fighters and their families in detention. while president trump has claimed turkey will take control of the makeshift jails, there is growing concern many former isis fighters will be able to escape during the turkish assault. at least one kurdish prison has already been shelled. "the new york times" is reporting the u.s. military has moved as ma

and that area spans some 18 miles into syria and then goes from the euphrates river hundreds of mileshe way to the border with iraq and turkey basically is saying, as long as a ypg gets out of that zone by tuesday night, then they will continue with this suspension and hostilities. if they don't, they are vowing that they will resume this operation with even more determination than before. >> it's basically an enforced retreat by america's allies there on the ground. arwa damon, good to have you there and thank you for being close to the fighting for us. after an absolute whirlwind of a week it can be easy to lose track of all the chaos unfolding in washington. so we're going to take a step back now to absorb everything that's happened here. to take a breath. starting sunday when defense secretary mark esper announced president trump was ordering the remaining 1,000 u.s. troops out of northern syria, this even after turkey had launched a military offensive into the country. threatening america's allies on the ground. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle slammed the move claiming the

for turkey the safe zone is that line that runs 18 miles into syria and then to the euphrates river on side and then all the way up to iraq on the other. that is what turkey wants cleared of these turkish fighters. of course, it's a if phenomenal complicated situation since the u.s. has left and the kurds have turned to damascus. so along this stretch of border, you also have the syrian troops and you have the russians. and there's something we should actually also begin refocusing our attention on. those camps that house the isis wives, widows and children and the prisons that have isis detainees in them currently under the control of the kurds. with the regime moving in, a lot of experts are saying the regime could take over those isis prisons and isis camps. and that could potentially be used as leverage against the west. so there are a lot of moving parts. and nothing in this war zone is black or white. >> indeed. arwa damon, thank you so much for that excellent report from the syrian border. as arwa just said, this is a complicated conflict we're witnessing, but president trump co

to listen to what he's dens 450 kilometers by 30 kilometers, which is the entire -- from the euphrates river all the way to iraq he will then repopulate that zone with 2 million people and claims that that has been agreed to with the united states. u.s. officials describe it as a much more narrow area. and i think kurdish fighters will probably begin to pull out of that much more narrow area. but then to be replaced by these turkish extremist groups who are responsible for war crimes and other sorts oftr strategic debacle, within 48 hours the cease fire ends. also in 48 hours, president erdogan will be meeting with president putin in soc, particui that are majority kurd there are other areas in this strip that are majority christian. the fate of those areas, unfortunately, as we are seeding all our influence, will be decided by president putin of russia. >> richard engel, the defense secretary announced earlier today on his way to -- i believe we found out he's in afghanistan. he announced these troops are not coming home. they're going to be moved from syria to iraq, which actually already