but what about these syrian refugees in lebanon million syrian refugees in lebanon what are their status now because from what i understand lebanon wasn't even able to give them a camp like jordan did are they in a free flow where are they going how are they. going to be where. many of them. the first you know wave. is thrown. where they wouldn't. put a very big problem. because according to the article that i represent the unemployment rate in lebanon doubled in just one year because of the syrian refugee exodus to lebanon where looters moved up to us to do drug you know for them we need the help of the. united nations. to come back to syria. because as a team. our territory but syria is not going to be functional anytime soon even if the war ends it's a country that's devastated by war so if you can't go back if you're in lebanon already so it looks like this refugees will be staying in lebanon what are you going to do with them to do this they ahd many safe areas in syria. rice spoke of space and syria. has said eighteen is more liberal. many safe places and they cannot. build. up som

has offered lebanon to set up refugee camps that lebanon has rejected i mean all these refugees are in free flow right now it can't be too good can it do you think by dissing the region said this is a mistake that was committed. at the present government and we have already. advised i mean we are we are part of the of of the of the opposition now for the time being and we have expressed our opinion so many times and we proposed that at the news. the net they should help in the setting up of number of. camps for that if you do for this unit if you g.'s near the lebanese syrian lebanese border it helps lebanon in presenting its problem to the world by showing . what it is undergoing and downs of a burden that such a number of what you say refuse it in a first time first place actually there are two reasons one is that the good it is going on time. during these past three years was very much influenced by. the syrian government and this it invasion and in this respect this invasion has been adopting the policy of denial of what's happening there were denying that there is a problem going

or any attack that is made in lebanon by any group that is. said that acted towards eleven is group the syrian regime has issued a warrant arrest warrant for some of your top officials your party's officials including saad hariri saying that you guys are financing the opposition do you deny those charges our position vis a vis the. the opposition in syria because this thing has nothing to do with you all it i mean this once that was should has nothing to do with the with. the syrian uprising it was much longer before that you see so that has nothing to do i mean this ones that were made against thirty thirty people december twelfth two thousand and twelve was made before and it was new that time but what i really want to say is that. the. syrian regime has been resorting to such types of of if words in order to destabilize lebanon and that's that's the opposition is a v the this is the uprising. is that we have mentioned clearly is that politically we sympathize with the syrian uprising but are you financing from a humanitarian point of view w

lebanon because he won't leave lebanon was at the epicenter of a massive criminal enterprise here in the united states and the philadelphia area that started with malkoff and quds and astelin itself owns and police stations. by the way, i don't know why but every case i've seen with hezbollah the have stolen police stations. that's why you have a wii. [laughter] and from these stolen goods and stolen cars and phones to the weapons procurement and much more, at the same time the one brother was involved in this plot the other brother is involved in what became an extremely effective fbi sting operation not only here in the united states but abroad with cooperating witnesses and others to beirut where they were told in private about the satellites hezbollah gets access to for the targeting with its rockets and the lecture they got on the nature and the number of hours a day of the counterfeit machinery that produces counterfeit currency around the world and at the very same time these two things are going on there were multiple plots one of them was in turkey and woman of the canadian

lebanon. at the very epicenter of a massive criminal of rice here in the united states from the philadelphia area that started with knockoff goods and silence -- stolen cell phones. every case is a knockoff forestall when play stations. judge joe, that is why you have a week. from the stolen goods, weapons procurement. in baltimore became an extremely effective fbi sting operation sending to five cooperating witnesses and others to beirut. told in private about the sidelines, the arian satellites for its targeting of israeli cities, a collection they got on the nature and the number of hours a day of the counterfeit machinery that produces counterfeit currency around the world. and that the very same time these two things are going on there were multiple plots. one was in turkey, one involved a kuwaiti and a canadian citizen. the circles around today because now we know that the bombing in bulgaria involved at least two dual nationals, one of lebanese australian koala lebanese canadian, and it

they say 700 to 750,000 refugees from lebanon to s from syria the lebanon. those are just registered. it's very difficult to keep track of this. >> then there's the fear of additional chemical weapons to be used. there's video of syrians making these homemade gas masks to protect themselves in the case of another attack. here they are. what about these masks? would they help? >> reporter: i think it shows the desperation. you can inhale it or just get it on your skin and it could also cause the devastating symptoms that way as well. it's odorless. it's tasteless. you don't know you've been exposed until you start to develop symptoms. to your question, that mask there that we showed the video of would not work. let me show you the type of mask could offer benefit. this is a military grade mask. it covers the skin on large part of your face. you have to cover the skin on other parts of your body as well. best advice, if you think there's been a release you have to run out of area. it tends to a heavy gas. it settles close to the ground. get out of there. get y

embassy in beirut, lebanon. he joins us live on the phone. when last we spoke, robert, you described a lot of security outside the embassy. how are things looking now? robert, are you there? >> reporter: i am here, yes. hello. sorry about that. things outside of the u.s. embassy right now are quiet. there was a protest that just wrapped up, about 200 people that are pro-assad, lebanese pro-assad that is. they were very peaceful in their protest, but very clear in what they wanted. they do not want the u.s. to strike syria, absolutely not. that was their message. they think this is a regional conflict and no one should come in here and strike their territory. although some of the protesters did tell us that if, indeed, there was something to happen they wanted the u.s. to sit down at the table with russia, the u.n. and even assad and figure something out instead of doing war. that was the message here. some of them with red paint with their hands and holding it up to the camera saying the u.s. will have blood on their hands, blood on america i

we have many will lebanons insi lebanon. every community thinks of itself as a nation. those nations fighting each other >> reporter: across the capitol, various neighborhoods have sharp divisions. flags and signs show who is in control and who is not welcome. lebanon's 15 year civil war ended in 1990 and syria was left in charge. but, syria withdrew its military occupation in 2005. and since then, lebanon sectarian lines have become much clearer >> reporter: during the long civil war for lebanon that ended in 1990, this was the frontline of battle. the muslims on the west side, the christians on the east, both fighting for control of the country. >> since then, downtown beirut went through a sort of rebirth but many of the country's other deeply reported problems have gone unresolved. today, dozens of rival complicparties compete with one another. each has itsina gentry a. at any moment, tensions can return to the surface and violence can erupt. >> in the country, everybody is waiting to get rid of the other. >> in receipt months, car bombings have been on the rise, al

there are no official refugee camps in lebanon. there are unofficial camps close to the border, but most of the syrians integrate into society. they become part of the population. as you can see here, this poor i am prove ri impoverished neighborhood t they can't afford and they are getting little help. the problem is that this is causing tensions. talk to any lebanese here, for example, and they will tell you that the syrians are taking our jobs. they expect to work for less. so there is this resentment. and then you talk to a syrian, and then they say, yes, we totally understand. we know we don't feel welcome but we have no other choice. there is no where else to go. the government is saying over a million syrians are in lebanon. we have to remember even before the crisis began in syria, hundreds of thousands of syrians were working here, but now, they have got their families and, of course, avoiding violence. the lebanese government is worried because of the possibility of strikes against the syrian regime, they are going to see

but that's just 700,000 alone in lebanon.'s obviously many more in jordan and iraq and in the surrounding countries. what did you see in that camp there? >> well, it's just complete heartache and grief everywhere we went. there were just incredible stories. lebanon is in a unique position with its syrian refugees. the lebanese government here does not officially allow the united nations to set up refugee camps like the ones we've seen in jordan and in turkey. so as a result, the syrians that come to lebanon are really surviving on their own. so when you go to the tent cities that we went to yesterday all along the border, about 1400 of them all along that border, these are people that are literally surviving on their own. they are sometimes collecting garbage, sifting through whatever scrap metal they can get their hands on, just to try to sell it to earn a few dollars a day so they can buy food for their families. many of them still suffering the symptoms of the war, psychological stress for those children. a lot of them sti

cbn heart for lebanon learned about his struggles. we caught up with heart for lebanon workers as they distributed food to syrian christian refugees in zallai. and cbn news accompanied them as they visited a number of refugee homes. so as an escalating crisis is expected to cause more syrians to flee their countries, and as host countries struggle to assist them, cbn and heart for lebanon are working together to alleviate some of the suffering. >> the help is making life easier for us. and i'm now reading the bible more and attending church regularly here. my faith in jesus is stronger. >> reporter: partners sharing the love of christ with those who don't know him, and bringing help and encouragement to strengthen the faith of those who do. gary lane, cbn news, zallai, lebanon. >> wendy: muslim background believers in the nation of morocco are on edge. that after a judge sentenced a former muslim for 30 months in prison just for becoming a christian. that's according to a christian ministry. and a moroccan newspaper is reporting that

he's in beirut, lebanon. david, how closely are the neighbors in the region following what's going on and what will happen in just minutes here in the senate? >> well, everybody following the developments pretty closely, tony. the indications are that we get out of syria. there is a movement of chemical weapons supplies themselves these are in retention areas or near residential areas. and there has been military movement of those. they hold according to intelligence estimates 2 million pounds of chemical weapons and supplies, and they're scattered around the country. that is supposed to be expected with this kind of delay in place, and for them to have the time necessary to do that. the indications out of syria any way that are coming to us is that that's going on. bear in mind there is still fighting going on, and the civil war continues to rage through all of that. it isn't easy, necessarily, to get things moved because there is a rebel force still fighting against them. but that's what the syrians are att

people in lebanon could be a refugee, so the sheer scale of this crisis is the biggest challenge.g funding to respond to the challenge is the main concern for organizations like world vision. and it shows the need, the huge need that is out there. and really to impress upon people this is a massive crisis, this is one of the biggest humanitarian crisis we have seen from my personal experience being in jordan a family i met to flee syria when the house was destroyed the family traveled for days to get into jordan and the mother was 9 months pregnant and gave birth as she arrived in jordan and it's these stories we hear day after day that we try and get out there to the world so people understand that while the numbers are huge behind the 2 million figure there are 2 million stories and each person is having their lives destroyed by the crisis. >> reporter: egypt shun ho helicopters have carried it out and dozens of fighters have been killed after they fired 13 rockets and this happened in two locations near the border town and violence escalated after mohamed morsi was deposed by t

inside lebanon. every community feels, thinks of itself as the nation. those nations fighting each other. >> reporter: across the capitol, various neighborhoods have sharp divisions. flags and signs show who is in control and who is not welcome. lebanon's 15 year civil war ended in 1990 and syria was left in charge. but syria withdrew its military occupation in 2005 and since then the lines have become much clearer. during the long civil war for lebanon that ended in 1990, this was the front line of battle. the muslims on the west side the christians on the east. both fighting for control of the country. since then, downtown beirut went through a sort of rebirth but many of the country' deeply rooted problems have gone unresolved. dozens political parties compete with one other. each has their own agenda. tensions can return to the surface. violence can erupt. >> poefrd has weapons in the country and everybody is waiting to get rid of the other. >> reporter: in resent months car bombings have been on

lebanon is divided. its people have taken sides in the conflict across the boarder. >> translation: we don't want to make problems. but many lebanese parties are creating problems and blame the syrians. >> some believe the presence of the syrians contribute to the problem. lebanon has imposed tighter controls, not just to manage the number of refugees, but syrians are looked upon as a security problem in a county under threat. >> joining me from washington to talk about the refugee crisis is a senior official with the unrefugee agency. when were you last in the region, and where specifically were you? >> i was there two months ago in jordan and lebanon - in the camps and urban areas. >> what did you see? >> i saw a lot of misery. >> i went to the largest refugee camp hosting syrians. it's the sc second-largest camp in the world after a camp in kenya. i was in ayman. in lebanon there are no camps. refugees in lebanon are in 1400 individual locations. i visited a number of those. >> what's the impact on an

. >> in lebanon the u.s.orders diplomates to leave the country as congress debates military action in syria. the order applies to nonemergency personnel stationed at the u.s. embassy in beirut. the state department is also urging all u.s. citizens to avoided travel to lebanon siting current safety and security concerns. our own david jackson al jazeera reporting life from beirut, telling us more about what is going on here. and david, also making the point earlier, you made this earlier, it is important to stress this, the embassy itself is not closing down. so tell us what is happening many. >> the embassy will be functioning somewhat normally, it will be something of a skeleton that will be in there, but it will function as a normal u.s. embassy. that means that the friends and families rule, will take effect. and the friends and families of the people that work there, and the nonemergency staff as they call it will be asked to leave. it's all in an effort, really, to reduce the number of americans that are

and for lebanon that means one person in seven is a syrian refugee.t ray looks at the polite of those who have fled. >> reporter: a few miles from syria, this is in a beautiful part of the lebanon valley. >> translator: the sadness is so deep, i just pray to god. we are fed up. >> reporter: he was a taxi driver in damascus. he says the syrian regime had him arrested twice and threatened his wife and five children. seven months ago they left. today they live in this make-shift tent city along with dozens of other families. there is no electricity here. food, water, and clothing is scarce. health services virtually non-exist important. and they are not alone. these small children with from the suburbs of damascus, here because of the war. deplorable conditions here. this was a hole that was dug so that all of the people here can have a toilet to go in. after months of heavy bombing and fire fights this woman and her husband left the suburbs of damascus, she says the children were so scared all they did was cry all day long. >> translator: i never imagin

embassy in lebanon. congress is debating possible military strikes against syria, telling everyone if you don't need to be at the embassy, they want you to leave. >> the relationship between vladamir putin and president obama is far from cordial. the russian leader is an opposite to obama publicly and deliberately a dominating force in russia. in modern russia, it's either putin said way or the highway. >> hosting the g20 is just the latest way for vladamir putin to say that it is he who has returned russia to a leadership on the global stage after a humbling collapse of the soviet union. in many ways, he is the strong man called for during the chaos of post soviet russia. his famous photo ops as burly finish err man, he appropriates a vision of russia more in line with its traditional orthodox values. his russia is one where liberal western ideals are foreign and dangerous. for example, the controversial new russian law against promoting homosexuality has proved to be a plash point for the coming olympi

there are many other places like this year lebanon's border with syria.hey are fleeing the country just on the border because of the war. deplorable conditions here. this was a hole that was dug so that all of the people here can have a toilet to go in. after months of heavy bombing and fire fights, this woman and her husband left the suburbs of damascus. she says the children were so scared that all they did was cry all day long. >> translator: i never imagined i would ever be in this situation. because i built a new house. all of the money we saved we built the house. immaterial was a beautiful house, and we had to leave and come. so i don't know what will happen to us. >> reporter: lebanese relief workers are trying to help the refugees here. but she worries without more help from the international community, there is little hope for these families to survive in these conditions, and a return to syria seems years away. >> some people come they have nothing to wear, no money to spending, nothing to eat. they have some -- some people come with very sick

americans have been warned not to travel to lebanon or southeastern turkey. while that is where we're going to start this news bulletin with another sign that the tension is growing around syria. before we move on to what was discussed today at the g20. the united states has warned americans today to avoid all travel to lebanon and to defer nonessential trips to turkey, citing the potential for violence. warn warning all threats. the state department's travel warning came as as u.s. embassy, nonessential staff members were there. we can speak to adam there. the personnel in the american embassy there in beirut has been reduced town to its minimum levels. >> yes, no better indication whether there's a specific threat with the americans are aware of as led to this drawdown in numbers. but i think it's fair to say it's probably related to the anticipated strikes on syria by american, possibly french forces. also, of course, those are not -- it's not even sure those will go ahead pending votes in congress and u.n. reports and the like, kind of advice they have gi

on lebanon, there are two elements to the appeal from lebanon. one is an appeal for funds for the government of lebanon itself is making, which we are including in our appeal document, and the other is the element which is unhcr and our partner organizations for working with the refugee communities and the host communities in lebanon. i will ask robert watkins to say little bit more about how much money we have raised in relation to that. on the issue of the flow of refugees into lebanon, i have a meeting with prime minister today. he expressed concern that one in every five people in lebanon, 20% of the population, is now from syria, and that this was having an impact on the social services in the country, health and education. on the economy of the country, and there is an exercise which is currently being done to look at the impact on the economy of the syria crisis here in lebanon. he also expressed concern that the number of refugees could continue to rise, and that his national support was not there. i reminded the prime minister that mysel

to help the ref you a jeez in lebanon half of which are children. but more is needed, and lebanon is hoping for more international assistance . with hundreds of thousands of more refugees expected in the next couple of months, lebanon knows it cannot keep up with the pace of people. and the influx will sooner affect the economy of the state itself. >> egypt is extending its nationwide state of emergency for two more months. the government announced this today. it happened after hundreds of people were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president mohamed morsi. >>> bowrl-- bowbledder county colorado, the passengers fortunately only suffered minor injuries. over 400 students had to be veamed from the university of colorado. some of the deaths happened, in a collapsed building. let's go to the hardest hit county of boulder. tamera are people getting a little bit of a break right now? >> no, actually, richelle there is no break. this rain has been coming down steadily for several hours now. these are deadly torrential rains. th

almost 3 quarters of a million have crossed into neighboring lebanon.will be speaking to zana in a moment. there are nearly half a million refugees in turkey and anita is there for us and iraq has 170,000 at the border at taradosk and let's go first to the refugee camp in lebanon and many syrians are seeking shelter and also home to thousands of palestinian refugees, most of the refugees dana have come across to lebanon. i suppose the lucky ones are moving with their families, but the others in camps and on the streets. >> well, yes, that is true. most of the people who have fled syria and fled the silence are poor and unable to make ends meet and find rooms in over crowded neighbors like this one. over a million syrians in lebanon according to the lebanese government, united nations says more than 700,000 have been registered, the lebanese government really finding it very difficult to cope. it has put a lot of strain on the country's resources and it has caused a lot of tensions in this country. just walk around, when you talk to a lebanese here they

lebanon's 15 year civil war ended in 1990 and syria was left in charge. but syria withdrew military occupation in 2005 and since then, lebanon's sectarian lines have become much clearer. >> during the long civil war from lebanon that ended in 1990, this was the front line of battle. the muslims on the west side, the christians on the east, both fighting for control of the country. >> since then, downtown beirut went through a sort of rebirth, but many of the country's other deeply rooted problems have gone unresolved. today, dozens of rival political parties compete with one another. each has itsina gentry a and at any moment, tensions can return to the surface. violence can e wapiti. >> everybody in the country is waiting to get rid of the other. >> in recent months, car bombings have been on the rise along with kidnappings and extremely street battles. that blames leaves some blaming from the sectarian spillover in syria. >> the people are divided. >> jihad habi has been a taxi driver in beirut for 20 years. he believes the war in syria and any u.s. str

to lebanon's ex chief commander. in another major breakthrough at the un general assembly us on the reigning officials held one of the highest level meetings in more than thirty years of frozen relations american secretary of state and his iranian counterpart that face to face as part of seven nation talks on reviving stalled negotiations over tyrone's nuclear ambitions the iranian foreign minister said his country is hoping a deal on the contested issue can be made within a year the u.s. and british diplomats praising the tone and spirit of the meeting never he said sanctions against tehran that counterproductive and expressed hope they would be lifted in the future the u.s. warned there be no major concessions on sanctions until taiwan makes its nuclear program completely transparent but despite this apparent clash of opinions experts say the newly adopted approach of reconciliation is bearing fruit. around feared in a fairly comfortable position and they felt that the policy of. the previous i thought of mr rouhan

he said for 15 years here in lebanon, they had a civil war.e fought in it, he lost his right eye fighting in that war. he said it was brutal and thousands lost their lives. he said at the end of that war, never theless, everybody can sit down and talk and work things out and reach a truce. his feeling is if that can be accomplished after that kind of a civil war, it certainly can be accomplished now. >> that peace does not seem close. hezbollah believes a u.s. military strikes elevates the scale of the fighting, possibly causing hezbollah to strike at israel or cause iran to pour more weapons into hezbollah's arsenal. people may want peace, but say it's more likely the warfare will continue. >> that is david jackson coming to us from beirut, lebanon. >> as congress prepares to debate military strikes against syria, the risk and memories of wars past are on the minds of decision makers. the administration continues its aggressive push so far action. with us this morning is the former new york law school professor and published author on interna

lebanon is in a unique position.ot of the violence in syria has spilled over into lebanon over the past two years. there have been car bombings here, assassinations. a lot of the violence runs into lebanon. that's why they're so afraid. more importantly, already 700,000 refugees and that's on the low end of the estimate according to u.n. officials. that why lebanon is buckling under the pressure of humanitarian crisis. also, not just lebanon. jordan and elsewhere. you were talking about reactions from different parts of the region, countries like turkey very much wanting u.s. involvement but not only as a punitive measure. they actually want the u.s. and its allies to topple the regime of president bashar al assad. meanwhile, other countries very much concerned it could enflame with more retaliatory strikes with iran or syria's allies. >> ayman mohyeldin live in beirut, lebanon. thank you very much. that senate hearing on syria is expected to start in about 15 minutes. we will certainly go to it live on capitol hill

not only lebanon has to deal with the syrian issue. this country has not been able to stay out of the conflict. lebanon is divided and its people have taken sides in the conflict across the border. >> we don't want to make any problems but many lebanese parties are already causing problems and they always blame the syrians. >> some people believe that the presence of the syrians have contributed to the problems here. lebanon has imposed tighter controls, but syrians are increasingly being looked upon as a security problem in a country already under threat. >> lebanon is reacting to the refugee crisis by looking outside it's borders for help. >> the lebanese government has asked the world bank to possession for funds because they fear this will be a situation that will grow even more out of control than it is. the lebanese need this money because the syrian refugees that have come over because of the conflict are causing many issues from health to education to trade to tourism. unclear as to what to do and if in fact there is a strike b

lebanon is a perfect example. we're providing support to landlords who are hosting syrian refugees on their property. we're helping them to improve electricity and plumbing on their poverty so the syrian refugees will benefit and when the syrians go only, the landlords have that improvement on their property, so it's a win-win. >> in the meantime it's a tremendous challenge. thank you. our top story, secretary of state john kerry said the world is watching to see what action the u.s. will take on syria. kerry warned the consequences of doing nothing will be far greater than the risks of taking action. defense secretary chuck hagel and general chuck dempsey testified before a hearing that lasts four hours. >> i think it is the purpose that allows us to say with some confidence that our intent is to limit it. that's not to say that i discount the risk of escalation, which i can never discount, but i can tell you that we've mitigated it as low as possible. >> we're not dealing with a president who is hungering to inv

that is a high number for a tiny nation like lebanon. it has caused tensions in this country because as you can see behind me syrians live among the local population. the lebanese are complaining that syrians are taking their jobs. they're also complaining that the apartment rent has sky-rocketed. some people really exploiting the situation. so there is tension and there's also the security aspect of this crisis. lebanon hasn't been able to stay out of the syrian conflict . >>> if it does decide, take a look. now it stretches all the way as far as i can . >> in the funding crisis here. if tlsz any potential military strike, those refugees continue to stream across the border leading to even more pressure here in northern iraq. >> we turn to peter kessler, the senior regional spokesperson for the u.n. refugee agency in the middle east and north africa. he's joining us live from amman, jordan. the u.n. is working nonstop, but there's not enough money to go around, as we heard in that report. >> that's correct. we face enormous challenging

and more than 700,000 have fled to neighboring lebanon.eport from beirut. >> reporter: one in every five people in lebanon is a syrian. many of them have settled in poor, overcrowded neighborhoods like this one, they live among the lollipop layings but can't help escape the feeling of not being welcome. >> the lebanese feel that we have taken away their opportunities. they feel we are doing jobs that should be theirs. >> reporter: even before the turmoil in their country began, thousands of syrians used to work in menial jobs, but the new arrivals have created competition in an already weak labor market. syrians have opened shops and accept lower salaries. it is something that many lebanese resentment he says the lollipop layings needs help too. >> their presence has changed our lives for the worse. most of them are not refugees but workers who brought their families here, the help knees government is not taking care of us. >> reporter: but not all syrian refugees are able to make end meet and rental prices have increased. a small room in

sparks out rage in lebanon. >> and looking into unemployment numbers. signs that look to more rough times ahead. >> the g20 summit has wrapped up, but there is still no consensus on what to do about the syrian crisis. his big opponent is still a russia. vladimir putin said they have not produced evidence that president bashar al-assad has used chemical weapons. randall pinkston joins us, there is a resolution that has reached the senate, but i wonder if it has the votes to pass both chambers? >> that is the question, tony, whether or not it will, indeed, get the ainvolve that the president is seeking in the senate chambers. the house of representatives was always a question mark, and even a bigger one today. senator harry read took steps to place the use of force on the calendar. that will start the clock ticking today that will clear the vote in the senate as early as next wednesday. however, expect amendments, except some attempts among others senator paul to filibuster, s so we'll have to wait to see what happens in the senate. and no word on when th

lebanon is already seen its share of violence. and syria also said it was knot behind that chemical weapon attack last month. now we talked to a syrian on the border with lebanon to get his opinion. he certainly feels that the regime was responsible for the attack and he knows what should be done. take a listen. >> translator: there must be a military hit. he killed people with chemical weapons, bashar assad did. it was on tv. women and children were killed. there must be a military response by the americans or the european union. they have to make a move. >> melissa, we're also getting more indications of a possible major blow to the assad regime. a good source of mine in the free syrian army, that is the opposition force against bashar assad, claims that a former syrian defense minister, a real assad insider, has defected last night. has gone into turkey. syria is denying it. we don't have independent confirmation but if that is true, it could be the highest level secession yet from a very troubled regime. melissa? melissa: greg

. >> arwa damon is monitoring the syrianen crisis from neighboring lebanon. first of all, you don't hear a lot about what is taking place on the ground anymore. we hear about the chemical weapons. tell us about the civil war that continues. >> reporter: you know, you have these pockets of very intense fighting. you were just showing video there from ma lula, both the government and the rebels want try to regain control of it because it does lie along not necessarily a major route but a route that both sides want to control leading to the capital damascus. this is a war that has been relentless from the very beginning. you have big pockets where civilians have been living under siege. simply put, they do not have enough food, enough medicine. so the big cry we're hearing from inside syria right now is that part of this whole negotiation, given that this is possibly an opportunity has to be the opening of humanitarian corridors. if the u.s. wants to take the moorl high ground with the syrians and russians at the table, this could be something to test the syrian

al jazeera david jackson joins us from beirut, lebanon.what do we know about bashar al-assad going on the offensive? >> reporter: we have heard a little bit about it over the last couple of days, john. and there are indications that a lot of equipment and personnel are being moved away from any of the military facilities there. we heard a comment from the syrian national committee, the rebels fighting against assad who said, if and when a strike comes, there may not be any casualties simply because everybody will have had such time to get out of the way, including a lot of sensitive equipment out of the way that the result in that instance might be minor. we certainly don't know, but i mean there has been shirk y of time for them to do these kind of maneuvers. >> that's what is indicated is going on right now. >> david, how is assad responding from what he is hearing from around the world on possible military strikes from the u.s.? >> reporter: well, most of the official statements have come from u.n. am babassado bass dar affari. there ha

al jazeera's david jackson joins us from beirut lebanon. what is the story, the line i'm reading about the assad - president assad going on the offensive? >> well that's what it feels like a little bit. we heard through the last couple of days that they have been moving equipment and personnel and men into different locations that were in residential areas, taking them away from the military bases and taking equipment from the bases and putting them in closer to what amounts to residential areas, areas far away from the military bases that they expect to have targeted if and when the strike occurs. it stands to reason that they would have considered something like that along the way because they had time on their hands, and that time was being put to use. that being said, the syrian national coalition, the sunni rebels fighting against assad's forces say they are taking advantage and they don't move things with impugn itty in the nation, they come under fire from the rebels. both sides are taking advantage of this to their own advantage. th

but the largest number of syrian refugees fled to lebanon. and for lebanon that means one person in seven is a syrian refugee. robert gray is there looking at the plight of syrians. >> reporter: a few miles from syria, anjar, lebanon is a beautiful part of the valley. but many who cross the border to live here are living in desperation. >> abo was a taxi driver in damascus. he said the syrian regime arrested him twice and threatened his wife and five children. seven months ago they left. today they live in this makeshift tent city along with dozens of other families. there is no electricity here, food, water and clothing is scarce. resources are non-existent and they're not alone. there are many in places like this on the border of syria. >> they're fleeing the country, just here on the border because of the war. this is a hole dug so all the people here can have a toilet to go in. >> after months of heavy bomb, and fire fights, they left damascus. they said the children were so scared that all they do is cry all day long. >> i never thought

lebanon, there are two elements to the appeal from lebanon.one is an appeal for funds for the government of lebanon itself is making, which we are including in our appeal document, and the other is the cr and ourich is unh partner organizations for working with the refugee communities and the host communities in lebanon. i will ask robert watkins to say little bit more about how much money we have raised in relation to that. on the issue of the flow of red shoes into lebanon, -- of refugees into lebanon, i have a meeting with prime minister today. he expressed concern that one in every five people in lebanon, 20% of the population, is now from syria, and that this was socialan impact on the services in the country, health and education. on the economy of the country, and there is an exercise which is currently being done to look ofthe impact on the economy the syria crisis here in lebanon. he also expressed concern that the number of refugees could continue to rise, and that his national support was not there. i was reminded -- i reminded prim

live from beirut, lebanon. robert, what is the mood in beirut right now? i know you were at a pro-syria protest yesterday. tell us allegations about that >> reporter: yeah, pro-syria protests right outside the u.s. embassy here in beirut yesterday, another one planned again for this evening. mostly peaceful. these were people from lebanon in support of the asad regime. basically, they came out to say no to the united states and other countries thinking about a potential strike on syria. they believe that no one should get involved in this but their own people, that it's a regional v conflict and that enough damage, in their words, has been done by the u.s. in iraq and afghanis n afghanistan. they believe that america should stand back and be out of the situation. >> that's the word from the protesters yesterday. we expect that to be the word again today. >> why are americans specifically being asked to leave lebanon? tell us specificallied what the risks are. is it just a precautionary thing? >> >> >> reporter:

we have many syrians in lebanon. those nation fighting each other. >> across the capital, various neighborhoods have sharp divisions. flags and signs show who is in control. and who is not welcome. lebanon's 15 year civil war ended in 1990, and syria was left in charge. but syria withdrew its military occupation in 2005, and since then lebanon's sectarian lines have become much clearer. during the long civil war, this was the front line of battle. the muslims on the west side, the christians on the east both fighting for control of the country. since then downtown beirut went through a sort of rebirth. but many of the country's problems have gone unresolved. ing dozens of political parties compete with one another. each has its own agenda and at any moment, tensions can come back to the surface and violence erupt. >> everybody is waiting to get rid of the other. >> in recent months, car bombings have been open the rise, along with -- on the rise along with street battles. >> the people are divided. >> jihad habi has

what is happening in lebanon? >> reporter: yeah. we are in tripoli, north of beirut, about 50 or 60 miles from the syrian border. this is a primarily a sunni town. it is a very poor town. we spent the entire day basically talking to people on the ground here opposition forces that are in lebanon that support the forces in syria. some of these people go in and out syria to fight assad's regime. we spoke to a group today right on a borderline between assad's regime and the opposition forces. they told us that they wished, they wished very much, that yesterday the president would not have tossed this over to congress. they wanted to see action here they are in desperate need, they tell us. it's pto the point, also, where if we are walking through some of these neighborhoods here at tripoli, assad's register e-mail is one side and the sunnis are on the other side, the opposition forces. if you cross that line, there are snippers up in these buildings that will fire on us and will kill us. we were told that exactly by the folks we talked

embassy in lebanon. staff members are ordered to lead. >>> the g-20 ends up,ing president obama returns home to face an uncertain future and a wary congress. randall pinkston joins us. randall. >>> syria use of chemical weapons, 11 of the g-20 member states said that they condemned and also demand he a strong international response but did not specify military action. now that he's back at home the president rejoins efforts to persuade the american public and congress. >> i now ask unanimous consent that a letter of notification relating to section 2 congress 22 be printed in the record. >> senate majority leader harry reed took a step putting the resolution on the senate calendar. the resolution including amendments could be up for a vote in the senate as early as next week but the outcome is uncertain. even president obama admits it will be a hard sell. but before leaving the g-20 summit in russia he pressed his case again. >> failing orespond to this breach of -- failing to respond to this breach of i

they've told most of their diplomats in lebanon to pull out, and they're urging u.s. citizens not to travel there. >>> turkey is taking steps to tighten security along its southern border with syria. this comes ahead of a possible u.s. military strike targeting the administration of syrian president bashar al assad. the country's military leadership has dispatched several dozen military vehicles to at least two border areas and opened six field hospitals. local media quote the governor of a province in the border area as saying that shells fired from syria have recently landed on the turkish side. they also say militants have been found hiding among syrian refugees and that the border area is no longer controllable. turkey had already deployed 20 fighter jets to the southeast and special vehicles to seven border sites to test if chemical weapons have been used. the country has been helping rebel forces against the administration of syrian president bashar al assad and is in favor of u.s. military strikes. >>> the u.s. unemployment dropped last month to the lowest leve

and one hundred to one hundred others that i wanted to invade lebanon and then. the shiites the shiites in lebanon had been very pro israeli up until the one nine hundred eighty two invasion of the rise of the hizbollah all right gentlemen excellent debate we had two great sides here many thanks to my guest in washington and in new york and thanks to our viewers for watching us here at the see you next time and remember hospitals. so now we have a hole poking toxin in the blood of our fetuses which gets in your brain because there's no blood brain barrier developed at that stage. to speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about seventy i p interviews intriguing stories for you to. see in trying. to find out more visit our big teeth dog called. the bible says many times the goat is the father of all films. i'm sure he told me to see if these children. and those i escaped from the orphanage that you know in times. still nobody needed me that. my fellow pilgrims past. my dad is probably the kindest s