germany helped to broker the minsk agreement in the first place.ermany also holds a rotating presidency of the organization for security and cooperation in europe, which monitors the situation in eastern ukraine. out of all the conflicts that germany is trying to help find a solution for, there's no doubt that finding a solution to the crisis in ukraine is definitely one of the most important for the german government. brent: articles correspondent on the story force tonight in berlin. thank you for i much. tonight in the syrian city of aleppo, russian and syrian forces have stopped their bombing two days ahead of a planned pause in airstrikes. originally russia announced an eight hour truce for thursday to allow civilians in rebels to leave the devastating city. but aid groups describe the plan as inadequate, criticizing it for allowing insufficient time for aid to reach areas. they say they do not yet have enough security assurances to begin aid deliveries or medical evacuations. in iraq, just two days into the campaign to retake the city of mosu

that attack happened last night after the minsk out of the area for an upcoming hunting trip. officials say the bear knock them into the ground but the hunter managed to escape. he has scratches but is expected to be okay. wildlife officers took dna samples from his clothing to try to track the bear but they say that there likely attack because it was startled. >> latest on the dunker dustin can fire in custer county and sophia has destroyed nine homes all about reasonable locality were allowed back in their home but some of the custer county still have to wait. so for the fire is about 40% contained and it has been about 18,000 acres. >> thousands of pounds of prescription drugs are in the hands of denver police tonight. they were all collected in denver's annual drug takeback day. denver police department collected roughly 1400 pounds of leftover medications and people lined up a police stations to dump their prescription meds. the goal is to fight >> better than just fleshing them down the toilet are throwing them in the trash and putting them in the landfill. unfortunately

russiaian-backed separatists continue to shell government troop positions in violation of last year's minsk agreement. will the european union with its 28 member states ever be able to agree on a common foreign policy? melinda: andreas kluth we all know that famous rather disparageb -- disparaging sentence uttered by henry kissinger, "europe? who do i call if i want to talk to europe?" is it a reliable partner in an increasingly turbulent world? >> for america, you mean. wewe just watched that piece about the russian situation. putin is the primary beneficiary of the european disunity we're discussing here. that is absolutely true and very tragic because putin has been observing this trend of centrifugal forces in europe for years now and he's exploiting it. we know his strategy is to aim dividing the at e.u. states one from another and dividing public opinion. there was recently a notorious spectacular case about a made up rape allegation trumped up of a russian girl that was trumped up to the highest level in russian -- russia and became a, an international incident. the german spy servic

the meeting on ukraine and the implementation of the minsk agreement and what the next steps could bebut we are not heard whether that meeting has already finished or whether it is still ongoing. that is only the first meeting. afterwards we have a three-way weeding -- meeting without the ukrainian president. that will discuss the situation in syria. afterwards, merkel and hollande will meet the press and say if there has been any results of the series of meetings. we can only say it will be a very long night for all of us. brent: we know this is the first time that vladimir putin, that he is actually set foot in berlin since 2013. he was greeted by protesters as he arrived at the chancellery earlier. let's take a listen to what they had to tell the russian president. >> where here today with a clear paleppo's children.bombing of we have laid out over 100 teddy bears to represent the alledge and children who have been bomb to death. we are hoping today that angela merkel says enough is enough and we as international community can no longer stand by. demand that putin starts working to

they take a skeptical view of the latest agreements to come out of minsk. >> according to the new provisionswe have to withdraw from one of three zones. but the whole time, the ceasefire's being broken in other places. even during the day. >> the women of the camouflage batallion rarely watch television. they spend most evenings sewing in the workshop. the state of emergency has long become routine, but that doesn't mean they will ever get used to it. >> this conflict really ought to be resolved diplomatically. but we always have to be on the lookout for another escalation and be ready to show our teeth. we have to defend our country's independence by military means. >> the next evening, they're back in the musty basement , making more nets, this time in subdued winter colors. they don't anticipate peace any time soon. michelle: they may not believe that peace is possible, but i'd like to think that theyre still -- they are still hopeful it will happen one day. until next time, thank you for watching. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

we are working on the minsk application and implementation right now even as we sit here.rogress. i hope we can further that. on yemen, we've put a peace proposal forward. the parties are talking about it. we're on the verge maybe of a cease-fire there. libya -- we've been able to build the gna, the government of national accord. we're working with the egyptians, with the emiratis. we are able to try to grow the capacity, the sustainability of the government. it is strictly, it is tribal, it is complicated. there are extremists they are. we have made very aggressive efforts. boko haram in nigeria, we're pushing them back. we're working with buhari. al-shabaab in somalia -- we're pushing them back. we've got a major planned offensive to really sort of, i hope, terminate the al-shabaab challenge in somalia. steven: so maybe we need a bumper sticker or something like, "there's a lot going on. more going on than you think." it sounds like a marketing problem, right? [applause] secretary kerry: yes. i like that. it is a marketing problem. but-- steven: you'll call your folks. w

the 2014 minsk agreement brokered by germany and france scaleelped and large battles between ukrainians and pro-russian forces, however attempt a political settlement have failed. british consumers are starting to feel the bite of brexit. rising as oil prices at the weaker pound stoke inflation's. andsure set to intensify price gains by as much as 3% are predicted by next year. ran intoice van protesters at the american embassy in manila. there are reports three activists were hospitalized. protesters are demanding an end to the presence of u.s. troops in the country and backing a call by the president for an independent foreign policy. into theyphoon slammed northeastern philippines on wednesday. winds were gusting up to 145 miles an hour. many villages lost power and intends wins lou the roofs off houses. people were urged to move to higher ground. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. it's just after 6:30 in new york. my colleague paul allen in sydney has a look at the markets. paul: good morning. a mixed morning today. the index off a fifth of 1%. we are expecting modest gains here

about weakening sanctions, rather than adding sanctions, when russia violates on a daily basis the minsk agreement, we're sending the wrong message. >> ok. we have another question. and -- in the back there. >> hi. ben perkins. my question is how do countries that are not directly engaged in what the u.s. and russia doing, how do they view this sort of stalemate that we've had? and not really any movement in the last three years and my worry is that people like the chinese look at this and we just look like morons and that's my question. >> david and alena, let me turn to you first. because -- and phrase the question this way. other countries are getting on with business. isn't that leaving us out? and isn't an approach where we say we're containing but we're really just keeping ourselves out actually going to help russia make the problem worse? >> it depends on which countries we're talking about. i don't think a lot of countries like the idea that the united states and russia are in a state of relations that we are right now. i don't like the fact that we're in the state of relations w

russia could take the steps, and for example, abide by the minsk agreement, and pulling the so soldiers out of eastern ukraine, and so that could give crimea back to ukraine, and they could stop ruthlessly murdering syria, and propping up a dictator, and stop threatening the world with a nuclear power. and talk about ramped up rhetoric. it is not us who needs to tone it down, by it is russia. it could do all of those things, but it chooses not to. >> and let me look at it first to look at tom and paul. paul gave the example about engaging rush sharks and wesrus of the chemical weapons, but then us looking at syria would say, yes, but they used other weapons in the civil war and it got worse. so can you give me an example of how engaging russia and when it work ad and when it has produced a good result. >> how much time, two minutes? >> yes. two minutes. >> it is not about trust, but it is when interests align. if you go back to the bush administration, afghanistan in the first three months against al quay da and the taliban, and with e e -- we had superb cooperation to overthrow the tol

including eu sanctions in place until russia and ukraine are both implementing commitments under the minske are determined to work the politically -- diplomatically with the normative group to achieve that goal. i thank italy very strongly for his leading role in the coalition against isis. after the united states, italy is the second largest contributor of forces in iraq, tying forces are helping to stabilize cities through its training of police after they are liberated from title -- isil. the start of operations to major stepsul, is a forward, it is iraq's second-largest city. perhaps a million civilians are still living there. in addition to rooting out isil, our focus jointly is on the safety and humanitarian aid or civilians escaping the fight. that will be a top priority for both our governments. l will be a difficult fight and there will be advances and setbacks but i'm confident that just that -- just as they have been defeated and communities around iraq, they will be defeated in mosul. one of ournues to be strongest counterterrorism partners as we prevent terrorist attacks in ou

. >> i'm afraid it needs both sides in ukraine to make progress and i do think the minsk -- i went to he so for myself what was going on. members of the committee mustn't underestimate the psychological affect on the people of ukraine of this war. i mean, they have lost lots of people and they feel very, very -- >> we're going next week. >> i'm delighted to hear that. they feel very deeply and bitterly about what russia is doing, but it is also true that -- and it's incredibly difficult as a result for ukrainian politicians but it's also true that they have to try to take the thing forward. there needs at some stage to be a democratic process in the dombas region, the minsk process has got to get going. that means that there must be form in -- in ukraine and progress is perhaps not as fast as ukrainian leadership would like. >> but my question was picking up your widest strategic point about the need to have a constructive relationship with interest and all the interests we actually do have in common, and yet at the same time you are using rhetoric about russia becoming a pariah state

and even there we've tried to broker and work with the europeans to broker a minsk agreement that would peacefully resolve those issues. in syria, one of my earliest meetings with putin was to suggest to him that if assad stayed in power, given the brutality with which he had treated his own people, you would see a civil war that would not be good for the syrians certainly, but not be good for the world anywhere. rather than to work with us to try to solve the problem, he doubled down on his support for assad, and we know the situation that exists there. so any characterization that somehow we have improperly challenged russian aggression or have somehow -- tried to encroach on their legitimate interests is just wrong. and mr. trump's continued flattery of mr. putin and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approach to politics on mr. putin is unprecedented in american politics. and is out of step with not just what democrats think but out of step with what, up until the last few months, almost every republican thought, including some of the ones who are now e

including eu sanctions in place until russia and ukraine are both implementing commitments under the minskare determined to work with the normandy group in order to achieve that goal. i thanked italy very strongly for its leading role in the coalition against isil. after the united states, italy is the second largest contributor of forces in iraq. italian foerrces are helping to stabilize cities through its training of police after they're liberated from isil. the start iraqi operation tossing liberate mosul is another major step forward. mosul, as many of you know, is iraq's second largest city and i isil has been entrenched there. perhaps 1 million civilians are still living there. in addition to rooting out isil, our focus jointly is on the safety and humanitarian aid for civilians who are escaping the fighting. that's going and a top priority for both out of gfts. there will be setbacks. i am confident as isil has been defeated, it is another step in their ultimate destruction. meanwhile, italy continues to be one of our strongest counterterrorist allies and more broadly we continue to

for example, they could abide by the minsk agreement by pulling soldiers out of eastern ukraine.uld give crimea to ukraine. it could stop ruthlessly murdering civilians in syria. it could stop threatening the world with a nuclear war. it is not us the needs to tone the rhetoric down. it is russia. it could do all those things, but the point is that it chooses not to. amb. volker: let me pose a few questions. first back to tom and paul. paul gave an example about engaging russia -- well, it got rid of syrian chemical weapons. i think a lot of us looking at syria would say, but yeah, the used other chemical weapons against assembly only in populations, and the borders have gotten worse. so can you give me examples of when engaging russia and how that engagement worked, give examples of when it has produced a good result. mr. graham: how much time do i have, two minutes? look, it is an interest of time. in the bush administration, afghanistan, first three month's against al qaeda and the taliban, we had superb cooperation with the russians. it was instrumental in our ability to get

and even there, we have tried to broker and work with the europeans to broker a minsk agreement that would peacefully resolve those issues. in syria, one of my earliest things with prudent was suggesting that if a sod stayed d stayed in assa power, given the brutality in which he treated his own people, you would see a civil war that would not be good for the syrians and the world anywhere. us to than to work with try to solve the problem, he doubled down on his support for assad and we know the situation that exists there. any characterization that improperlyhave challenged russian aggression or tried to encroach on their legitimate interests is just wrong. continued flattery andr. payton -- mr. putin the degree a -- he appears to model his policies and approaches to politics on mr. putin is unprecedented in american politics. it is out of step with, not just what democrats think, but out of step with what of until the last few months, almost every republican thought, including some of the ones not endorsing mr. trump -- including the ones now a dorsey mr. trump -- endorsing mr. tru

we are working on the minsk application and implementation right now, even as we sit here we have been making progress. i hope that we can further that. on yemen, we put ap's proposal forward. the parties are talking about it. we are on the verge of a cease-fire. thea, we have built government of national accord. we are working with the egyptians and the varieties -- emiratis. it is complicated. there are extremists there, daesh in places. we have eliminated that. in nigeria, we are pushing them back. al-shabaab in somalia, pushing them back. we have major plans to hopefully terminate the al-shabaab challenge in somalia. mr. clemons: maybe we need a bumper sticker, like, there's more going on than you think. it sounds like a marketing problem. secretary kerry: i like that. it is a marketing problem. mr. clemons: we have a couple minutes. i know you have some more stops, but you are going to israel for a funeral. i will combine two things. number one, i would like to know quickly, what you think about iran today? is it becoming more comfortable for us, or does it remain very uncomfortab