i remember -- in lebanon, hezbollah was just a small group in the early '80s. orchestrating terror attacks but not really claiming them. and here we are at a point where hezbollah is actually now publicly -- it's involved in syria and yemen and to a lesser extent and bahrain and iraq. what does it say about the iranian policy in the region and has actually the hezbollah model succeeded so that they could republican plinth -- replicate it in other places. >> guest: that's a really important question because as part of the divide that is escalating between the shia and sunni, what is interesting is that if you look at speeches from, say, the beginning of the arab uprisings he didn't play the shia card and neither did iran. automatic knee holm knee was talking about these were arab uprighting to fight colonialism and imperialism but as of 2014 when he made a big speech in july, he basically said, hezbollah now is a shia militia and that -- i'm si my fight it but that what's message when he acknowledged they that boots on the ground in syria. but round has done see

what does it say about the iranian policy in the region and has hezbollah model succeeded so they could replicate it in other places? guest: that's a really important to question because as part of this divide that is escalating between the shia and sunni with interesting is that if you look at the speeches he did not play the shia card and neither did iran. they were talking about the islamic awakening and that these were arab uprising to fight colonialism, imperialism, but as of 2014, when he made this big speech in july he basically said hezbollah is now-- that's-- i'm simplifying it, but that's my message, when he acknowledged they had boots on the ground in syria after there was overwhelming evidence of the case, but iran has done the same thing, basically. because of their military activity in arab countries that you mentioned, they can no longer talk about islam is in them or being a state that represents all muslims against the west and so this, i think, and this is what i talk about in the book , the reason that these speeches are important and the reasons these developments ar

i mean just last week after the fall of aleppo, he said the hezbollah rhetoric was extreme sectarians video of hezbollah journalists going with the flag and climbing up to the citadel of aleppo and essentially declaring victory. just yesterday, after the bombing in egypt use of people celebrating the killing of christians and these are mostly tweets in arabic that you know maybe we do not get translated much here in washington but you talk at length about this. about the role of social media in fueling the sectarian war and what worries me is that we don't have the tools for the oversight to address it. i mean how big is this problem and your direct engagement with clerics that fuel this hate speech. what did he teach you? >> i think it is a huge problem and because a lot of this is being articulated in arabic it is difficult for people in the us to understand the magnitude. >> right. >> the reason i went to twitter is that i was trying to à everyone always asks how do you know this anti- shi'a sentiment exists? you know how can you prove this? so i thought well, okay twitter seems l

forthe first time, i think, lebanese, hezbollah.ew of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they‘ve been since it started. jermey bowen, bbc news, aleppo. let‘s return to an important story from washington. this is a picture of chelsea manning. this is copy telling us that president obama has commuted the sentence of chelsea manning who leaked the army documents and is serving 35 years. chelsea manning was the person behind a huge leak to wikileaks that gave wikileaks a global profile, this caused a huge amount of diplomatic tension between the us and some of its closest partners. well, she had been serving or is serving a 35—year sentence. we understand she‘ll now be released in may. twice last year she tried to commit suicide and there were lots and lots of question marks about her future incarceration as a transgender woman future incarceration as a tra nsgender woman currently serving time ina tra nsgender woman currently serving time in a men‘s prison. we‘ll bring you more information as we get that. as we understand it

second, this would be a victory for the coalition of russia, iran, assad, and hezbollah. bad for israel. assad are tried to establish itself in southern syria and to extend the line of confrontation with israel from the -- interest the golan heights and that's where they would go. more concretely, if the current grant continues with russian and iranian and focusing opposition and push southward, eventually south of syria would become an arena of fighting between regime and insurgent and possibly embroil both. it is one area in which the united states and moderator of state and israel could very well collaborate. >> so, back there, and then we'll take few in a row because we might get close to the last round. so, right next to -- and okay. >> thanks very much for all your remarks. the question is wanted to raise stems from a remark that ambassador rabinovich made concerning an interim settlement or solution with palestinians. one question is i take it from that suggestion that you agree with mr. hanegbi that the obama approach was fatal to any reasonable negotiations but t

this is why thousands of hezbollah fighters are spilling their blood. many of them were killed and wounded and crippled to achieve this goal. this is why iran, they didn't put boots on the ground, but they send thousands of militia people. many are the iranian commanders were killed already. but they invest in it because they understand the ramifications of syria not being led by a supporter of the radical front headed by iran. so i think this is if it will happen, it will be great news for the world, for the west, for israel, for the lebanese. for the real people, the peaceful, wishful people of syria who would love i think a leadership representing the people, not a segment or minority. but this is practically virtual. and my friend itamar thinks more about it maybe. it's interesting to hear. >> itamar, could you weigh in what you studied your whole life? >> sure. briefly about martin's idea, part of the problem with trying to negotiate israeli-palestinian issue, the issue is that we've been at it for a very long time. and almost everything has been t

of the more radical youth groups that dold as a result of the bahrainy ghost-accepting aid from hezbollah. some located in lebanon so, to answer your question, i think that a lot of these conflicts don't -- the way they have end up today isn't the way they began and i think yemen is a perfect example of that. >> since we're short on time -- >> we have ten more minutes. >> okay, yes. so we'll take two questions at a time. actually the gentleman here. >> yes.

hezbollah create a second front. so as you look at this regional context, security context, iran is not a single problem. it is a multiple, complex problem that israeli decision makers face. and in some ways, it does account for the very often hyperbolic way in which israel talks about iran and the concerns, at least the israeli government expresses. that said, as we saw during the jcpoa negotiations themselves and we've seen now even more publicly there has been and remains a split between what i call the political decision makers in israel and a large part of the security establishment. it was mentioned little bit earlier in the first panel. i don't want to make it a bindery, because obviously there's large parts of security establishment whose job it is to protect the state of israel who are very worried about iran. but there's also a large part of that establishment including former officials who make the argument that we may not have wanted the way the jcpoa came out, we would have wanted a tougher agreement or

i see this big blow to iran and hezbollah in the region.hey think so which is why they fight for years to make assad survive. this is like thousands of hezbollah fighters feeling the brunt, many were killed and wounded and crippled to achieve this goal, this is why he ran put some many of this, they say houses of the tribulations staples for why the country was there, many of the iran were killed. but they invest in it because they understand the reunification of syria not being led by a supporter of the radical front headed by iran so i think it would happen it would be great news for the world, for israel, for thelebanese, for the real people , the peaceful people of syria, who would love to take a leadership helping the people in order to segment of the minority but this is virtually and i'm sure, they think more about it and maybe it's interesting. >> could you weigh in and study syria your whole life? >> sure. these things about syria, part of the problem with trying to negotiate the issue of it is that we've been at it for a very long

what they are interested in is curbing the other behavior in the neighborhood with hezbollah and other terrorist groups that it supports. . a mass, for instance, i think there's a desire for two leaders to feel that they are working closer together. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the u.s. didn't have my back on the iran deal. you remember this controversial vote at the u.n. a few weeks ago where the u.s. abstained and let it pass resoundingly. president trump said he would never do that to israel. i think it's about tone. >> to that point, as you well recall during that, that was the week between christmas and new year's. i remember that representatives for benjamin netanyahu came on our air and said we have evidence that president obama colluded with arab nations. we will present that it evidence to president trump. are we going to hear anything about that? >> i think we could, but i don't think the actual act is water under the bridge. i think both leaders are looking forward to their it relationship. the president promised to protect israel at the united nations. the

the three men were of shiite origins. , which isse newspaper close to hezbollah, has penned a really angry article accusing emirate leaders have being behind the decision are using it as a puppet. they allege that the men confessed under torture. annette: there is another round of fires in brazil. in this case, 26 people were killed. in prison.riot the brazilian daily says the prisoners were once again probably members of rival gangs, and their deaths occurred as a result of fights between the two of them. but the paper reminds us that 134 people have been killed in just the first fortnight of 2017 in civilian prisons. and it has really prompted the a radicalall reorientation of brazil's criminal politics. i quote, "it is shameful that we need to wait for a massacre of over 100 prisoners to urgently bring into question the medieval nature of brazilian prisons, and that world is set up in this cartoon." you see a no-name person there doing the shopping with inmates at the prison, calling over the barb wire fence, get me some disposable cell phones, and condoms. annette: finally come s

now you have russia more involved in this assad or iran hezbollah access has been strengthened. yet complicated, it is over there. an enemy of that axis would be isis. one of my questions for you, would you under any circumstance advise any cooperation with iran where we might have a confluence of interest, namely in confronting isis? >> that is an an area that requires exploration. i think earlier i indicated that that's where we've got to find a way to engage in the overall peace process or the cease fire process that's been agreed by russia, turkey, syria and with iran's involvement as well. can we get engaged in that? can we at least stabilize the situation regarding the rebel activity with the syrian government and turn all our attention on isis? that remains to be seen, and that will involve, obviously, the engagement of others as well and input from others as well. >> do you think russia has an interest or desire in this counsel inflict to push back against isis or do you think they are simply in syria to help assad's regime? >> i think it has provided a convenient open d

except remember that we're also -- they also have so much money now and they're funding groups like hezbollah. in other words -- >> okay. >> -- it's not just as simple as the iran nuclear deal or as simple as the $100 million per, for people in ransom, what it was, even though they lied at the beginning. look, i'm not going to make foreign policy, national security pronouncements on your show tonight. the president-elect is not doing that until he is sworn into office. >> okay. >> but clearly, this is, you know, this is -- this is a roiling part of the obama legacy. i'd be curious to see what president obama says in his, quote, farewell address in chicago about issues like this. maybe he won't even address them. when you say the world is a dangerous place, it didn't just happen, and it's because of a lot of action and inaction and i appreciate the fact that president-elect trump through his very powerful social media platform, in just the last hour, chris, is telling 44 million people on twitter, facebook and instagram combined then the whole media that has to pick up these comments that he i

russia wants its military base, iran wants to maintain its corridor to lebanon and hezbollah, it wantsump enters the mix. he seems to want to work with president putin, but he also wants to undermine iran's influence. if you're going to work in syria, it's hard to square that circle. how do you see president trump's relations, potential relations, with mr putin? do you see that as a worry that britain should be concerned about? one should be alive to some of these concerns. there are people who have been in the trump entourage who have said things about putin that give me cause for concern. there are others in the trump transition team who have been quite robust towards russia. it is an area of concern. but we should take one step back. many of the gains president putin has made which cause me concern and heartache are as a consequence of the weakness shown by president obama. we had an opportunity to intervene in syria in 2013. the british parliament, much to my regret, chose not to. president obama said that was the reason they didn't do it. the president of the united states could h

was the vital moment for the regime and its allies, the russians and iranians, the lebanese and hezbollahnt assad camp nou sense victory. the war is in a new phase, it isn't over. from the point of view of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they have been since it started. president xi jinping has told a gathering of elites from across the world that china wants to be a champion of free trade and stability. he made no direct reference to donald trump, but his comments are in stark contrast to mr trump's ‘america first‘ vision. addressing the world economic forum meeting in davos, switzerland, the chinese leader warned against a trade war with the us, saying there would be no winners. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed has this report. he arrived with full security detail, the president of china, here to speak to an eager audience of political and business leaders. mr xi didn't actually mention president—elect donald j trump. he didn't need to. the message was clear. translation: pursuing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room. while wind and rain may be kept ou

was the vital moment for the regime and its allies, the russians and iranians, the lebanese and hezbollahe victory. the war is in a new phase, it isn't over. from the point of view of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they have been since it started. australia's transport minister has said he is willing to restart the search for flight mh370 if new information comes to light. but until then the underwater effort is being suspended. the malaysia airlines plane went missing, with 239 on board, in march 2014. it was flying from kuala lumpur. debris has been retrieved, but not the boeing 777 itself. it's an extraordinary aviation mystery, as it stands today. i am hopeful that we'll have a breakthrough in the future. we need to prepare ourselves for the sad and tragic reality that in the foreseeable future we may not find mh370, but that doesn't rule out future endeavours, orfuture breakthroughs in terms of data and technology, that help us solve this extraordinaire puzzle. tokyo's legendary tsukiji fish market is the biggest in the world. it supplies the city's finest sushi restau

in that regard, we are concerned at reports of a regime offensive, supported by hezbollah militia inof this text should be seen as a strong signal that such activities must seize. members of what used to be the called the nusra front, who had connections with al-anda, are among the rebel groups that the syrian regime is accused of pursuing. they are not signatories to the ceasefire. nevertheless, rebel forces who have signed up to the deal, say daily bombardment of the regime has crushed the spirit of the agreement. if they carry out their threat to withdraw from talks, negotiations for a lasting peace appear, for the time being, improbable. the syrian army has denied the allegations made against it. protests have been taking place at railway stations across britain in response to yesterday's average fare increase of 2.3%. singing the organisers, action for rail, say they want the service returned to public ownership. the rail delivery group, which represents train operators, says the increases are all about investing in the railways. daniel boettecher is at london's king's cross sta

capturing aleppo was a vital moment for the regime and its allies, the russians and iranians, lebanese hezbollah can now sense victory. the war is in a new phase, it is not over, but from the point of view of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they have been since it started. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: out with the old, in with the new. why the world's biggest fish market is moving, and why some are not happy about it. the people of saigon have just heard there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i'm going home! demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with teargas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity which is believed by offi

except, when you look at the link between hezbollah, lebanon, going out to syria, and how they're connectingat ideas of how to attack people, and here we've just seen the latest incarnation of those attacks. that's it, bbc papers light. we will get the full version at 1130 ppm. in a few minutes, michal hussain will be here with a full round—up of today's news, but first it's the weather. hello there. after some fairly benign weather this weekend, we get a bit ofa benign weather this weekend, we get a bit of a shake of the weekend. it will be a colder weak compared to the weekend. a mild spell, and afterwards some of you will see some snow. high pressure in this south, wings of the atlantic, messy over england and wales. this area of low pressure will eventually bring low— pressure pressure will eventually bring low—pressure overnight. we finished the night with outbreaks of rain. a touch of frost across eastern england. a mild start, temperatures dropping in scotland already however. still lingering in the east, the rain. northern ireland, after rain first thing, by sam, most will see dry sp

over the next couple of years; the collapse of jordan, some problems with iran, another war with hezbollahtwo governments together, i would say that would be good. in terms of the israeli—palestinian "peace process", quite honestly i don't think it much matters who works on it. i think the prospects for advancing that, at the moment, are close to nil. the parties are so far apart and the essential prerequisites... i've been involved in northern ireland, i've been involved in cyprus, i've been involved in middle east peacemaking, and you've got to have protagonists that are both willing and able to make serious compromises. i simply don't see that between israelis and palestinians right now. so i wouldn't think this is an area that deserves an awful lot of focus. we're out of time, so it's a brief one. on the eve of the trump presidency, are you optimistic about the next four years of foreign policy—making, yes or no? in a word i am worried, given what the inheritance is. i think anyone has got to be worried. richard haass, thank you very much indeed forjoining me on hardtalk. thanks for ha

poe: it funds and controls terrorists like hezbollah and it stretches far beyond the middle east. many of its activities are done through the iranian revolutionary guard corps, which is funded, planned and executed terrorist attacks in the united states and elsewhere for decades. the i.r.g.c. is the organization that is responsible for its terrorist activities worldwide. but somehow this group has managed to escape repercussions and the united states has never recognized it as a terrorist organization. i'm working to change that. this week, i introduced the irgc terrorist sanctions act. this bill would require the president to designate the irgc for its terrorist activity and levy the relevant statutory sanctions against it. it's time to close loopholes like these to allow terrorist reign o continue their of terror. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: with

russia and iran, hezbollah are winning the game. they have limitations.long can assad continue the domination of five large sunni cities. how long can russia sustain having its forces in syria. the russians are gaining but would like to see a solution. the solution for everybody is the dismantledment of isis and moving in with moderate forces. >> the russians and iranians have been suffering losses in syria they don't talk about. we're right. we'll see how long it can last. happy new year, hope this year is a better one than what we've seen in the past, of course. >> we hope. >> president-elect trump is set to take office less than three weeks from now. what democrats might do to slow down confirmation hearings for cabinet members. >> a little girl dies in a car crash. pacs safe and your child safer. align, press and unzip. >> sadly 2017 beginning much the way 2016 in the city of chicago. two men were shot and killed following an argument between the two following one of the most violent years in the city's history. police reported 762 homicides. that mor

hezbollah is supported by assad. if they dominate damascus and put their puppet aside in power, they're never going to accept that and israel is in a world of -- >> tucker: no offense, but the assad has been empowered for a long time. the assad family. now it's a disaster. is the free syrian army and the answer? >> it was four years ago, it isn't now. the people of syria rose up and it said we want a better government, a country without the assad family controlling everybody and everything. they did the same in egypt. the arab spring isn't real. >> tucker: the arab spring? >> i think was mismanaged by obama. when the iranian people rose up in 2009, and the young lady without in the streets, obama, are you with us or them? he said, i don't want to disturbed the relationship. what would ronald reagan have done? he would have sided with that young girl. run them out of this country, obama gave him a pass. you know what i fear more than the russians? the iranians with an eco-weapon. his own people stood up to him and we

i don't hear anyone squeaming and yelling about hezbollah, which is a dedicated and noted terrorist organizationhat is operating in syria, committing atrocities against women and children there. so why aren't we protesting about that? so iran is not a good actor nation and should be consequences for the actions they have taken. >> neil: thanks very much. good seeing you. >> thank you i. >> neil: you've probably heard by now the long wait before president obama would say something about his successor, it lasted ten days. i've been on diets longer than that. after this. en i was too busy wie kids to get a repair estimate. i just snapped a photo and got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance ...as a combination of see products.. and customers. every on-time arrival is backed by thousands of od employees, ...who make sure the millions of products we ship arrive without damages. because od employees treat customer service... ...like our most important delivery. od. helping the worl

iran also backs president assad and is providing an array of militias, including lebanese hezbollah fighterstheir real enemy is iran. ending this destructive more isn't any easier. even if the great game has changed. and, in the end, it is syrians who will have the final say. thank you both forjoining us. let's talk about syria for a second. the very fa ct talk about syria for a second. the very fact these talks are in a former soviet republic, rather than geneva, says a lot about the new world order? it doesn't say that what's new. i'm not sure anything much has changed because of the american election. what it does indicate is how complicated the syrian situation is going to be for trump because on the one hand he said he would like to be closer to russia. in syria, he faces a coalition of russia and iran who are backing a totalitarian dictator. you will have to make some decisions about which side he is on. 0n the issue of iran, that will be the sticky subject. president putin has a close ally in iran? yes, and there are close on a number of issues. trump changes his rhetoric from day to

operational and financial relationships between a lot of these terrorists organizations particularly hezbollahtogether. he realizes that. that is why the southern border is so important, not just because of undocumented workers that is a big problem but terrorists attacking schools and movie theaters. that is bigger problem. we need a wall to stop terrorism. liz: we've seen all kinds of issues in this country. close calls with law enforcement stretched, trying to figure out the best way to protect the homeland. there are a couple of issues. makes you wonder whether this hearing, separate from jeff sessions, very much about jeff sessions and his history and people accusing him of racism and all things like that. with general kelly, seems more about donald trump than about general kelly, and more whether general kelly is going to want to build the wall. is he going to want mass deportations, is he wanting extreme vetting? >> what is good about general kelly, he is not partisan, he is a marine. marines are problem solvers. there for 45 years. they are problem solvers. as far as president trump ab

russia's allies fighting isis in syria are hezbollah, iran, and jihadists from central asia.d it's why, stephen, when i listen to him, you always feel like there's no second paragraph. there's always just the first paragraph. but he hasn't thought around the corner, you know ( applause ). ( cheers ). >> stephen: what did you think of the press conference today? what did you think of the press conference today? because isn't it the press' job to get to that second paragraph, to say okay what is the implication of what you just said? how can you support it with any action or any plan? i heard a lot of first paragraphs but no plans beyond anything. he was asked how do you replace obamacare? "it's going to be great. people will love it." >> "we're going to get rid of the lines" i think i recall, between the states. this is what i worried about him from the very dping because all we've heard from him now-- trump tweet expawlg of thieves things-- it has one character before you're president, but beginning on january 20, that's the president of the united states tweeting, tweeting a

couldn't name leaders of hezbollah, hamas. >> george w. bush didn't know the name of the president of pakistan. >> president obama has been reading these things every day and the world is a mess. >> if you want to debate president obama this goes back -- >> something that kellyann did, a lot of people in the position of wanting to defend donald trump you divert and deflect and put it on obama's failures. i'm no fan of the current president but you can only do that for like ten more days and then it is on you. >> day one it becomes his responsibility. >> you say donald trump makes decisions based on facts. i'm not sure if we know that. i'm not saying this in a d disparaging way. he does things by gut. he has a gut instinct which i think has served him very well in the election. if he had been listening to facts there were people saying there is no way you can win. he had a gut feeling and he went with it. when to turn on one of the other gop candidates. a lot of it was done by instinct. one thing i think is very important to understand here

we have hezbollah. they played a big role at a time when assad was down and played a major role when the momentum was against him. you have militias in the country but regular iranian folks at a minimum, they got to get out. at a minimum, you have to get the regular r.g.c. and others hat are direct iranian combattives, you have to get them out, to me, when you say that president-elect trump's policy that assad is going to face, is that any different from our current president. you can say things, but it's very evident. as i said nine months ago when russia stepped into the vacuum that we left this will be decided on russia's terms and now the turks have joined in. what putin has done an excellent job of and not to say i like him, but saying he has done an excellent job of showing people that you can trust him in the context and in the backdrop of us demonstrating that you cannot trust us on some of these issues. that's what he has done and he is continuing to do it and built it for himself on a world st

smuggling of advanced weapons, military equipment, and weapons of mass destruction from syria to hezbollahin the past, similar promises of retaliation have not materialized. the ability of the assad regime to retaliate and target against israel is extremely limited right now given that the syrian military and its allies, as below, are tidy on fighting syria's rebels. bret? >> conor powell, connor, thank you as much as 130 tons of uranium according to iranian media, u.s. state department officials say this is not violate the presidents nuclear deal with iran because the uranium cannot be used for a weapon and its original form. critics say the substance could eventually be enriched enough to provide fuel for several simple nuclear bombs. a civil rights icon questions donald trump's legitimacy as president as the man a week away from the oval office says he is fine with disagreements in his cabinet. cabinet. the panel breaks down sfx: loud poorly played electric guitar that sounds awful but a lot better than last week ♪rock guitar music ♪we weren't born to follow you won't see these folks th

the iran nuclear deal, the violence in syria and the civil war and how that affects israel with hezbollah and other groups, and also improving israel's group with his neighbors, and yes, they want donald trump to move the embassy and they welcomed it, but this is not the most important issue, and i bet when the prime minister comes here and he's expected to come early next month, that's not going to top the agenda, poppy. >> what changes now? i know the relationship between president obama and netanyahu, not good on a personal level, but it didn't affect the amount of financial aid that the united states gave to israel whatsoever. what changes do you think materially in the relationship between the united states and israel under president trump? >> the tone will be different, and president trump and his adviser, and the u.s. ambassador, if he is confirmed, very pro israel, no daylight between the u.s. and israel, and they are going to take their cues from israel -- >> you say better, but better from the israelis' point of view? >> the palestinians are very concerned they are going to get

yes, together with iran and hezbollah and the entities that basically overwhelmed some of the force available to the opposition. but that doesn't end the war. nothing that he has done is going to obviate the need to get to geneva, wherever it's going to be and are have a real negotiation that involves the political differences between the people assad oppressed, killed and tortured and driven out of their homes and the possibility of a future of syria that is united and hopefully stable and peaceful. that's a hard road to get to still, no matter what putin has done and he's going to need the international community not only to achieve that, but ultimately to figure out how you're going to rebuild this country. there's been absolutely devastated by this war. >> to be continued. i know we're out of time. is there more public service in your future? >> it's in my blood. it's in my blood. i don't intend to pull back. i'm going to do a lot of different things which i'm sort of thinking about still, but i look forward to continuing very much, i'm committed to these issues. i'm going to continue to

they cannot fight assad, hezbollah, russia, iran. the pentagon is backing him for that purpose.id, we already have a target on our back because we're seen as american proxy. we used to go on the media and say, at least we can defend america because they're helping us liberate our country from extremists. now, how can we go on the media and defend them when they're not even invited there, when we're held under suspicion of being the kind of terrorist that wants to kill us and americans? so the hypocrisy, is it making us safe? no. it's making the world much more dangerous. and it's alienating the sunni islamists that we need. >> so you think we're less safe with this ban? >> yeah, this is what the brits call an own goal. shooting our ourselves in the foot. self-destructive ultimately. >> donald trump's chief strategist was behind the executive order. along with steven miller. this is steve bannon, speaking to a christian conference in rome, saying we're at the international atomic energy agency -- we're at the beginning stages of a war. >> we're at the beginning stages of a confli

we lost officers in murders by lebanese hezbollah in the 1980s and killings by al qaeda in the 2000shis is the thanks you get. this is it. let me tell you something, wolf. melania trump said to cnn, i live with two boys sometimes. my hope is that she's not referring to two boys who are now moving to the white house. unacceptable. he can question the intelligence, he cannot humiliate the people who have offered their lives to collect that intelligence. that's it, wolf. >> he's going to be briefed, gloria bornger, by the leaders f the intelligence community including james comey and general clapper, the director of national intelligence, brennan of the cia, all sorts of others. it's a major report that they've just concluded. do you think that and public pressure will convince him to change his public statements? >> you know, i do not know what convinces donald trump to do anything, to tweet or to question this in the first place. what i do think he's going to have to do is once this declassified report is made public, he will have to defend his stance. he will have to say this is why

the violence how that threatens them with hezbollah and bashar al assad and improving with arab neighbors. this is really important -- >> this will not do that president trump wants to defeat isis, he's going to need his friends and our friends in the arab world and arab coalition right by his side. i want to get to the other top story tonight obviously which is the tax returns. let's just take a moment and listen to exactly what kellyanne conway said this morning on "meet the press". >> the white house response is he's not going to release his tax returns, we litigated this all through the election. people didn't care. they voted for him. and let me make this very clear. most americans are very focussed on what their tax returns will look like while president trump is in office, not what his look like. and you know full well that president trump and his family are complying with all of the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a full-time president. >> conway walked back those statements saying now to cnn that the president's position has not c

their priority is dealing with syria and hezbollah. also they want to improve their relationship with gulf allies. so we're focused on some of these, you know, kind of really hot button issue, but there's a lot of issues in the relationship with israel that i think they're going to be discussed and i think we could see an early visit from the prime minister next month. >> why is this potentially such a tenuous issue on moving the u.s. embassy? >> well obviously the u.s. right now does not recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. it feels that this is one issue that needs toy about discussed in a context of a comprehensive peace deal between israelis and palestinians, but you know, president trump throughout the campaign has said i'm ready to move the embassy and to recognize israel as the capital. now, will that be in the context of talks with the palestinians? will this be a unilateral move? what is the timeline, how specific will he get? i'm not sure the administration has the answers right now. it's very early. the secretary of

they have been fighting hezbollah as well as the russian military.so the odds were stacked against them. but the russians decided that they were not going to allow the free syrian army, the opposition, that have legitimate grievances against the assad regime to prevail. usly, the russians painted the entire opposition as terrorists, and that's why they undertook this very bold and nmy mind, in many respects, reckless military action to mow down so many syrians. >> woodruff: but could the situation in syria have been better by any degree had the u.s. gotten more involved? >> 20/20 hindside is illuminating, looking in the rearview mirror in terms of what could have happened basis based on what did happen. there has been an unfortunate turn of events over the last years. when the syrian revolution started, the arab spring, there was no such thing as isil. isil was al qaeda and iraq and less than 1,000 individuals. there was a wave then of developments inside syria and iraq that resulted in current-day syria. no one could have envisioned that in terms of

ukraine, illegal annexation of crimea, interference in syria where russian forces partnered with iran, hezbollah and shia militia toward a dictator guilty of war crimes. russia itself is cull able of war crimes for its backing of bashar al assad who has barrel bombed and tortured the syrian people into submission. yet president-elect trump make take quick steps to make putin a close ally of the united states of america. there's serious discussions to be had here today about russia and the president-elect's plans for putin. we need to know and understand your views, as the chairman has said, on these critical issues of national security. in addition, if we take seriously that your tenure and experience at exxon serves as qualifications for secretary of state, there's likewise a serious discussion this committee needs to have about the potential for conflicts of interest that arise from your long corporate tenure. for far too long, in miestation, u.s. foreign policy has treated core governance issues as secondary considerations. if you become our nation's top diplomat, i want to know if governance

lebanese, hezbollah. is not over, but from the point of view of the regime in damascus, this is the strongest they have been since it started. jeremy bowen, bbc news, aleppo. in three days' time — donald trump takes over the white house, becoming the a5th president of the united states. it marks the end of barack obama's eight years in the oval office. this week our correspondentjon kay is travelling along highway a5 — gauging the country's mood. today, he's in chicago, illinois, where barack obama began his political career, and where people have been reflecting on the legacy he leaves behind. right through the middle of donald trump's america. to get a sense of the country he is taking over. but our next stop is not trump territory. chicago. i could do with some breakfast. this is barack obama's favourite diner. he lived round the corner before he was president and he still comes back. what does he eat. he likes the brea kfast. he is humble, he is strong. taihitia is an obama fan. as a nurse, she likes