. >>> and in neighboring syria, syrian democratic forces are slowly retaking one of isis's major holdouts in that country. near 1,000 new troops have joined the fight as their kurdish-led alliance has been liberating the city, neighborhood by neighborhood. to the south, however, the heart of syria's capital, damascus suffered a rare but deadly suicide bombing. security forces had been chasing three cars loaded with explosives and managed to intercept and destroy two of them. but as they closed in on the third, the bomber detonated. at least 18 were killed and dozens more wounded. >>> inned midst of the fighting, syria's central bank is releasing a new note. bashar al assad's face will appear on the currency. the value has plummeted 90%. it is equal to about $3.90. >>> doctors in colombia say the top commander of the nation's largest rebel group is expected to recover from a stroke he suffered over the weekend. just last week he oversaw the disarmament. >>> a pennsylvania man is behind bars this morning arrested and charged in the road rage murder of a teenager. investigators received doze

. >>> and isis militants are putting up a fierce fight in neighboring syria one day after u.s.-backed syrian opposition forces breached the 1300-year-old city wall in raqqah. isis forces have been digging in even booby trapping portions of the old wall to hang on to their de facto capital. >>> an extreme heat wave and 30 large wildfires burning there in 14 states. nearly a quarter of a million acres consumed overnight. a brush fire is threatening homes in the section of los california. two of the biggest fires in the west are in northern nevada, one of those doubled in size just yesterday afternoon. >>> now for a look at your weather. >>> good morning, fire hazards in the west still a big priority and kern. silver dollar fire, brian head, schaefer fire and truckee fire. afternoon and evening breezes combined with near record heat from wednesday going into saturday, the fire threat rises and abnormally hot conditions in idaho. 100-degree temperatures there and one teens in the southwest. i'm paul williams with your accuweather forecast. >>> and the fireworks show at hershey park

. >> sreenivasan: in neighboring syria, a cease-fire appears to be holding today in the southwesternt of the country, according to the syrian observatory for human rights and rebel leaders. it was brokered by the united states, russia, and jordan. the sides report no significant fighting in the cease-fire zone. russia says the zone covers three syrian provinces near jordan, but does not include the areas around raqqa in the north, where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place. the deal was announced during the g-20 summit in germany, and in a tweet today, president trump said, "we negotiated a cease-fire in parts of syria which will save lives. now it is time to move forward in working constructively with russia!" the cease-fire represents the first joint peacekeeping effort in syria by the u.s. and russia, which have supported opposing sides in the six-year civil war. secretary of state rex tillerson pressed russia today to stop the violence in eastern ukraine. while visiting ukrainian president petro poroshenko in the country's capital of kiev, tillerson said ukraine must reg

. >>> and isis militants are putting up a fierce fight in neighboring syria just one day after u.s.-backed syrian opposition forces breached the 1,300-year-old city wall in raqqah. isis forces have been digging in even booby-trapping portions of that old wall to hang on to their de facto capital. >>> the western u.s. is experiencing an extreme heat wave, and that's just one reason there are at least 30 large wildfires burning there in 14 states. nearly 250,000 acres have been consumed overnight. a brush fire is threatening homes in a section of los angeles, one of several fires burning in california. two of the biggest fires in the west are in northern nevada. one of those doubled in size just yesterday afternoon. >>> now for a look at your weather. >> good morning. fire hazards in the west still a big priority and concern. silver dollar fire, brian head fire, frye fire, schaeffer fire and truckee fire because of low humidity and we're looking for afternoon and evening breezes combined with near record heat from wednesday going into saturday, the fire threat rises and abnormally hot

and in neighboring syria, u.s. backed forces continue to make gains in raka, the so called isis capital. small ground troops are in the city. the problem is most of the isis leadership and bureaucracy has already moved over 100 miles south east to syria. u.s. special operations forces are operating closer to the front line in raka in support of the arab and kurdish fighters. the coalition expects they will have to chase those isis fighters down to that capital. >> harris: we've been scrolling on the bottom, some of the facts. isis iraq territory, 70% less than it was in 2014 right now. so 4 million people liberated from the islamic state savages. so those are some of the facts. more details that they can read on the bottom of the screen. jennifer griffin, thank you very much. we covered it for hours today, the grilling on capitol hill, shedding new light on president trump's pick to head the fbi. a live report from washington now as we break it all down. and then our political panel will take it up. that will be an

i have repeatedly emphasized that syria's neighbors in the middle east must take responsibility for helping syrian refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way, accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and the lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis, the assad regime, and their supporters and sponsors, and pledge our continued support to lebanon. since the start of the syrian crisis, the united states has helped lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter, and health care. our approach, supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens as close to their home country as possible, is the best way to help most people. america is proud to stand with those who have the courage to stand up to terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region. the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. we honor the citizens of lebanon who are working to se

. >>> and in neighboring syria, u.s. made advances into the most heavily fortified portions of raqqah. the forces have spent months closing in on that isis stronghold which is reportedly defended by up to 4,000 fighters, up to 100,000 civilians are also believed trapped in that city by the fighting. >>> and at least 18 people are dead after a horrific bus crash in germany. a tour bus carrying senior citizens slammed into the back of a tractor trailer in bavaria. the bus burst into flames. only the steel frame remained. more than two dozen were hurt. the truck had slowed down for a traffic jam. the driver was not hurt, but the bus driver was among the dead. the truck was reportedly carrying pillows and mattresses. >>> a man described as a far-right nationalist is charged in an assassination plot against french president emmanuel macron. authorities say the 23-year-old suspect was arrested last wednesday. he reportedly told police he wanted to kill macron on bastille day to make a political statement. reports also say he w

pieces of iraq outof iraq is through neighboring countries like syria and jordan. are s'posed if the region hadn't been destabilized by the foreign invasion so much for security crisis the problem would be nowhere near as big right. believe i can see you but you can't hear me that's a pity iraqi jenison continent is abraham that we're trying to get but it's a bit late to maybe recorded the scenes of the gremlins i'm playing out it's twenty two minutes past nine in the morning a lot more to come you know it's international with me cavanagh and we are unified solution be found to the north korea crisis is fun if it's any closer after the short break. manufactured. public will. when the ruling classes protect themselves. in the final. we can all middle of the room see. income inequality wage stagnation gerrymandering of political districts polarization you know the lack of effectiveness in congress there are these are well documented trends going back decades and now they're really acute unmanifest to the point where people describe the system is being seized with a k

and he has neighbors in syria and they took him to my mother mitchell. my measure said when i met your father isensed immediate attraction because he looks like -- i was young and foolish. my cousin, the oldest cousin on my mother's side, only 11 years younger than my mother, claimed to know the ultimate story. don't listen to any of them. know the story. he loved women. that is why she never got married. when your father asked for your mother's hand, her love was living in the south and asked your mother to marry your father so she could visit south more often. oh, this is a big secret. don't tell anyone, she said. she made us put our hands on the -- and say i swear we i will never tell. so, whatever the story about my parents getting married, don't know, but i know my mother -- she is from damascus, going to live in this small town and she said, your father expected me to live in south. the house was smaller. the whole house was smaller than the upper part on my father's house. so, she ultimately -- my father found a job in jerusalem, and he was the he

stabilization efforts in , iraq this follows on our , commitment last year of $220 million to syria and neighboringountries for humanitarian needs and that's in addition to contributions we are making in somalia, in sudan, and in myanmar. 90% of our budget will continue to be based in our region to add to regional stability, prosperity, and security. >> thank you, master. senator reynolds. senator reynolds: thank you, mr. president. can the minister also explain the importance of australia providing overseas assistance to countries in our region? >> minister. >> thank you. our budget stands for fairness, opportunity, and security. responsibly supports a strong and prosperous and secure region especially in our , indospecific area. we know providing good aid , particularly in our region is , good for australia's national security interests. and oda contributes to poverty reduction and stability. and australia will benefit if citizens in our region are healthy, they are well-educated, and are making an economic contribution in our own countries. and if our neighboring countries are stable, they are w

this follows on our commitment last year of $220 million to syria and neighboring countries for humanitarian needs and that's in addition to contrabugs we're making in sedan and miramar. >> thank you, minister. senator reynolds. >> thank you, mr. president. can the minister also explain the importance of australia providing overseas assistance to countries in our region? >> thank you. our budget stands for fairness, opportunity, and security. and it also supports a strong and prosperous region especially in our indospecific area. we know providing good aid particularly in our region is good for australia's national interest. and oda contributes to poverty reduction and stability. and australia will benefit if citizens in our region are healthy, well-educated and making an economic contribution in our own countries. and if our neighboring countries are stable, they were well governed and opened to trading tunlts. and over seas development assistance complements the other steps the government is taking to ensure we live in a safe and propporous region. >> thank you. fine final supplementary qu

i have repeatedly emphasized that syria's neighbors in the middle east must take responsibility for helping syrian refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and the lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis and the assad regime and pledged support to lebanon. since the start of the syrian crisis, the united states has help lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter and healthcare. our approach, supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens as close to their home country as possible is the best way to help most people. america is proud to stand with those that have the courage to stand up to terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region. the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. we honor the citizens of lebanon working to secure a future of peace, stability and prosperity for their

i repeatedly emphasize that syria's neighbors in the middle east must take responsibility for helping syrian refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and the lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis. the assad regime, and their supporters and sponsors. and pledge our continued support to lebanon. since the state of the syrian crisis, the united states has helped lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter, and health care. our approach supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens as close to their home country as possible is the best way to help most people. america's proud to stand with this who have the courage to stand up to terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region. the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. we honor the citizens of lebanon who are working to secure

i have repeatedly emphasized that syria's neighbors in the middle east must take responsibility for helping syrian refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way, accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and the lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis. the assad regime and their supporters and sponsors and pledge our continued support to lebanon. since the start of the syrian crisis, the united states has helped lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter, and health care. our approach, supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens, as close to their home country as possible, is the best way to help most people. america's proud to stand with those who have the courage to stand up to terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region. the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. we honor the citizens of lebanon who are working to secu

i have emphasized that syria's neighbors must take responsibility for helping refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way, accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis, the assad regime, and their supporters and sponsors, and pledge our continued support to lebanon. since the start of the syrian crisis, the united states has helped lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter, and health care. our approach, supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens, as close to their home country as possible, is the best way to help most people. america is proud to stand with courage toave the terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region. the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people terrorism ae responsibility for in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. mr. prime minister, i'm grateful that you are here today. it's a big day for our

i have emphasized that syria's neighbors must take responsibility for helping refugees until they canurn home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way, accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation. it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis, the assad regime, and their supporters and sponsors, and pledge our continued

president and neighboring country he can go to syria and kick americans from here and there and challenge europe. he violates all the rules. and he's still in the game. >> we'll hear more from gary later in the show. a lot has changed in russia since soviet days but much has stayed the same. the might of the state ones at the service of a political party serve as one man and a circle of very powerful and wealthy people around him. >> the russian mafia is the government of russia. it's a mafia that's running a sovereign state with nuclear weapons. >> we've spent months investigating a single case and multiple murders in russia and around the world. the story, that story is ahead. we're live in hamburg. ♪ if you could book a flight, then add a hotel, or car, or activity in one place and save, where would you go? ♪ expedia gives you the world in your hand, so you can see more of it. ♪ expedia. ...better than a manual, and my hygienist says it does. but... ...they're not all the same. turns out, they're really... ...different. who knew? i had no idea. so, she said look for... ...one that's sh

its true interests are those of itself and its sponsor, iran i've repeatedly emphasized that syria's neighbors in the middle east must take responsibility for helping syrian refugees until they can return home and rebuild their country. the lebanese people have led the way, accepting more syrian refugees per capita than any other nation it's not even close. i want to thank the prime minister and the lebanese people for giving shelter to those victimized by isis the assad regime and their supporters and sponsors. and pledge our continued support to lebanon since the start of the syrian crisis, the united states has helped lebanon support syrian refugees with clean water, food, shelter and health care. our approach supporting the humanitarian needs of displaced syrian citizens as close to their home country as possible is the best way to help most people america is proud to stand with those who have the courage to stand up to terrorism and take responsibility for affairs in their own region the reliance and resilience of the lebanese people in the face of war and terror is extraordinary. we hono

neighbors in the east. >> we order russia to stop their destabilizing efforts and support of hostile regimes including syria and iran. and then hours earlier a different tone. when asked if russia interfered if the election he skirts around the answer. >> it could have been russia and it could have been other countries. >> and comparing it to chemical weapons, everybody was 100% sure that iraq had weapons of mass destruction that led to one big mess nobody really knows for sure. >> but 17 u.s. intelligence agencies concluded that russia meddled in the 2016 election with the hopes of giving president trump a boost. he will have his chance to ask the question in his face-to-face with vladimir putin at the g-20 summit but he is unlikely to confront him with the hacking. >> he said the main focus is russia's involvement with syria. in washington maggie ruly, channel 6 "action news." >> back here senator john mccain is the recipient of this year's liberty medal. the national constitution center says the nevada republican is honor ford his service and success fice. he served as a soldier and pow. former president

neighbors to the east. >> we urge russia to cease its destabilizing activities in ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes, including syria and iran. >> reporter: but just hours earlier, a different tone when asked point blank if he believes russia interfered in the u.s. election, he skirts around the answer. >> i think it could very well have been, are but i think it could we will have been other countries. >> reporter: even comparing the intelligence on russia's hacking to the reports of weapons of mass destruction in the lead up to the iraq war. >> how everybody was 100% sure that iraq had weapons of mass destruction. guess what, that led to one big mess. nobody really knows. nobody really knows for sure. >> reporter: butch 17 u.s. intelligence agencies have concluded that russia meddled in the 2016 election with the hopes of giving president trump a boost. the president will have his chance to question russia on friday during his first face-to-face with russian president vladimir putin at the g-20 summit, but sources tell abc news that he's unlikely to confront him about the hacking. secretary of state rex tillerson i

neighbors is not good for the region and it's not good for american interests. it is a distraction from today's more pressing challenges i ran, the conflict in syria and the spread of terrorism. for most americans who expect complex in the middle east to wallow along sectarian lines or between competing regional hegemon's it is confusing to see sunni-arab neighbors and complex this is a dispute over long-standing agreements over qatar's support financially and through a state-owned al-jazeera news that act as qatar's neighbors and in many cases the united states is deeply problematic. this is a nuanced and deeply complex matter as our relationship with qatar is no less complex. the tiny but immensely wealthy nation has close relations with all actors in the region could unfortunately it includes terror groups like hamas and the afghan taliban. qatar is served as a financial political lifeline for hamas' dedicated rowing and gaza for over a decade now. qatar has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of the gaza strip including haven for hamas leader khaled bashar and helped legitimize the rule when he became the first national leader to visit to moscow territory.

neighbors ukraine their engulfed by corruption. of course these children are just any old children they hear of the serious some account but in their. syria camp where children from all over the country the brightest in science sports the most talented ones come here to spend time together for a month work on projects and receive master classes from the top experts in their field of course this q. and a session with the president was something that they will be looking forward to the highlight of the whole event here perhaps for most of the children and certainly this three hour q. and a session has been a very interesting one to see no doubt something to look forward to again perhaps next year if they're lucky. well they certainly looked like they were enjoying. thanks very much. the first ever joint russia china drills and european war to start today in the baltic sea a military exercise between the two countries will last for a week however even before it takes place the event is sparking a strong reaction. western media is in a spin over the joint the twenty seven thousand naval drills starting today between russia and china headlines

neighbors. if you can do those two things, maybe we can talk about cooperating on syria and a whole host of other >> h.r. mcmaster has said there is no trump agenda in this meeting, none. >> i think there's a clear russian agenda. the russian agenda is the old policy of linkage. they'd like to link cooperation on the middle east and fighting terrorism with a carte blanche to menace their east european neighbors. i have to say when trump was on script, and i assume this was prepared by the national security team, some of the messages he had were right. he even talked about cyber terrorism. he talked about russian destabilization in ukraine and russian alliances with unworthy regimes like syria and iran. but off script, he is completely unpredictable and the weakest link in the current ann entourage of is rex tillerson. >> evelyn, are we going to have any accurate sense of what was said in that room? >> i'm afraid that we won't. i mean that's exactly the point i was trying to make earlierment . i would agree with adrian that some of the things that were said in the speech in poland today were good.

neighbors is not good for the region and it's not good for american interests. it is a distraction from today's more pressing challenges i ran, the conflict in syria and the spread of terrorism. for most americans who expect complex in the middle east to wallow along sectarian lines or between competing regional hegemon's it is confusing to see sunni-arab neighbors and complex this is a dispute over long-standing agreements over qatar's support financially and through a state-owned al-jazeera news that act as qatar's neighbors and in many cases the united states is deeply problematic. this is a nuanced and deeply complex matter as our relationship with qatar is no less complex. the tiny but immensely wealthy nation has close relations with all actors in the region could unfortunately it includes terror groups like hamas and the afghan taliban. qatar is served as a financial political lifeline for hamas' dedicated rowing and gaza for over a decade now. qatar has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of the gaza strip including haven for hamas leader khaled bashar and helped legitimize the rule when he became the first national leader to visit to moscow territory.

like iran like syria i think russia is a big player here that might be able to help us russia has not given much of a role with north korea but they trade with north korea their neighbors they have a good relationship president should explore that with president putin maybe president putin can help they vote with us on the security council on sanctions issues but maybe putin can play a more prominent role and cooling north korea down by either pushing china or getting involved more themselves anything is needed right now things are not going well you know they're not how do you view this meeting with putin and trump how important is it. well it's very important we shouldn't expect too much out of it i think both sides are kind of locked in i think the president it's going to be very difficult for him to make any concessions on the compound's on trade issues and i think president putin recognizes that the relationship on syria is not well now where i think there can be some progress as maybe a process on syria where they reach an understanding at least not to mess with each other militarily on some of those overflights military flights zone of activity that each respect

neighbors, they've occupied parts of ukraine, annexed crimea. we have had a lot of other challenges there. we see them in syria.same time, we need to be able to work together with russia. we need to try to change this relationship from where we are to something that was going to be more stable, more secure and more constructive for everybody. that should not involve unilateral concessions from the u.s. to russia which is what some people have feared and has not materialized, and at the same time you don't want to see this escalate into a conflict with russia which, again, nobody wants. so it's very important that we start this dialogue about how to get to a different place. but when you talk about how important this meeting is and the first time they're meeting face-to-face, these are two men, frankly, ambassador, who have shown a propensity to being that sort of machismo kind of person. you know, they go in and they want to dominate, they want to -- maybe bully is not a word you would use. but at least maybe a certain swagger is part of their stock in trade. and there's optics involved in that, as well, photog

neighboring countries in europe. and you have to make piece this ukraine. and by the way, you have to stop the cyber attacks. then you get to syria and north korea. >> so lawrence, one of the things we've seen, it has been a very clear theme. we've seen in it china and other places. the president will hear something new for the first time and turn around and take it as fact. you would imagine a lot of potential for putin to introduce a whole bunch of things that donald trump maybe hasn't heard before that might make him that much more sympathetic. >> no doubt about it. and trump is a very imus thattive person. he is likely to rein fact way his advisers would tell him not. to it is not just a question of not being prepared. he does not understand international politics. that's very, very year when the statements he's making, for example about, north korea. the chinese should do it. the chinese have different interests. they're not worried about a north korean missile attack because they don't think it will come against them. they're worried that refugees pouring into their country. if north korea should collapse. or the united sta

neighbors are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy. we urge russia to seize its destabilizing activities in ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes, including syria and iran. the united states has demonstrated not merely with words but with its actions that we stand firmly behind article 5. spew on trump in warsaw, poland, delivering a speech about 37 minutes long to a lot of applause from the polish crowd. lofty rhetoric, some pointed lines about russia and as you heard a commitment article five. some pundits, mainstream media included are calling it one of the best speeches of trump's presidency so far. what about this and his trip that will take him to president putin tomorrow. charles hurt, opinion editor for "the washington "the washington times." a.b. stoddard, syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charlie, there were a lot of lines in there that really struck a chord as far as painting a picture of a region that includes what's now called the three seas initiative. trying to change the dynamic in the region. >> i thought it was a tremendous speech. there were a lot of great reagan esque lines. if you think about eight years ago, this i

of its neighbors and in some instances neighbored has infuriated them and been a reason for the recent actions. from an american perspective, the policy in syria and. when the syrian civil war erupted qatar was on the forefront of providing aid and weaponry to the syrian opposition groups with little control or oversight. they were far from alone in committing this mistake as a number of other gulf actors pursued an anybody but assad policy without vetting some of these anybodies. certainly the united states made its own mistakes in this period. qatar and turkey were funding some of the more ideologic groups. and we are still living with these mistakeses in syria and will be for years to come. qatar has been a useful participant on some issues. it hosts a critical u.s. air base. the air base is a central node from which the united states conducts air operations in iraq, syria and afghanistan as well as other operations across the middle east. they hosted military aircraft over 15 years and has been a reliable partner allowing access for a broad array of military operations. qatar's flexible approach to provematic actors has at times made it a

syria. >>> 4:10. coming up next on "good day philadelphia" talk bay major mess here concern growing over a large hole opening up in the street in kingsessing, why neighbors well, you can see why they are worried, and this situation will only get worse. >>> plus we had a devastating tragic nair took the life of the couple almost 100 years old, how so many people that loved them so much, there they are, they are remembering them >>> but first we have to talk about that weather this morning, the sky, it is all lit up, rain coming and look at that radar. >> yes, we have severe thunderstorm warning for burlington, ocean counties until 4:45. so for a little while longer. if you are planning on leaving right now and if you can probably delay your trip please do so because, this may be the beginning of the end, for the war of it, we will examine our radar a little bit more closely when we come right back. >>> rainy days, and mondays. >> this only add to the misery this morning. it is horrible outside. first of all, it is monday morning, then we have music that wants to push you back into bed. then we have to deal with all this rain out there sue serio. >> that i

on some of the gulf neighbors and in some instances they have viewed this relationship which has been infuriating them and has been a reason for their major actions. the policy in syria and its slow response were probably most problematic. when the syrian civil war erupted qatar was on the forefront to pro spride sources with little control or oversight. they are far from aloud committing this mistake as a number of other state actors as well as turkey pursued in anybody but assad policy without fully vetting any of these anybodies. certainly the united states made its own mistakes. but qatar in particular was the most aggressive in funding al-qaeda. and we are still living with these mistakes in syria and will be for years to come. but on some issues, qatar has been a u.s.ful partner. they host a u.s. air base from which the united states conducts ir operations in iraq, syria and afghanistan. they have hosted u.s. military for 15 years an during that time has been a reliable partner allowing access for a broad away of military operations. reover, qatar has at times made a connector. take for example qatar's relationship with hamas and the aid it provides in gaza. th

neighbors is intended to be rejected. he's urging dialogue at monday's deadline approaches. saudi arabia, egypt, bahrain and the uae all cut diplomatic ties with qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. qatar denies that. >>> capital of syriar escaped authorities who were chasing him. syrian state tv said he blew himself up at the square in central damascus, killing and wounding several people there. authorities also chased two other suicide car bombers. they intercepted them and destroyed the bombs at an entrance to the city. >>> we are learning more. four more people have been killed in venezuela as outrage grows against that government. it's been almost three months since demonstrations, demanding that president maduro step down. the rallies are becoming dangerous. the death toll stands at 86 people. >> that is as the country continues to face a devastating economic crisis. people are standing in lines for hours as grocery stores run out of food and water and medicine is scarce. the latest protest involved ortega, a well-known critic of president maduro. she's been banned from leaving the country and her assets have been frozen. many venezuelans are turning to its neighbor, columbia, for basic needs. >> cnn has the repo

neighbors in challenging new rules based world order. russia in particular continues to occupy crimea, destabilize ukraine, threaten our nato allies, bolster the murderous assad regime in syria and pursue a campaign of active measures to undermine the very integrity of western democracies. the thousands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines deployed in harm's way around the globe, those of us who are charged with the awesome responsibility of providing for the common defense must ask ourselves if we are doing everything possible to support our brave men and women in uniform to meet the challenges of an increasingly dangerous world and succeed in their mission. i'm sad to say that we are not. in response to rising threats, we've asked our military to do more and give more but have given less and less to them. our witnesses' opening statements are a harsh indictment to this failure, but they are right. i implore my colleagues to listen carefully to their testimony and heed their admonition to us. since 2011 spending caps mandated by the budget control act have led to a 23% cut to the defense budget. these reductions compounded by fiscal uncertainty and continued resolut