this cooperation, of course, is now -- not only is the united states bombing in northern syria, but theussians have moved attack aircraft into western syria and they are preparing to bomb as well in the same region in northern syria. so this is now the situation of both countries will be, i guess, in parallel fighting against the islamic state. now the question is, what is the politics of this new military, you know, intensification? amy: i want to turn to comments made by russian president vladimir putin during his address to the un's general assembly monday. he said it was a mistake not to work with assad's forces against islamic state militants. >> we support the legitimate government of syria and it is my deep believe any actions to the contrary in order to destroy the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now and the other countries of the region or in other regions. for instance, in libya. where all the state institutions are disintegrated. we see a similar situation in iraq. and there is no other solution to the syrian crisis in strengthening the eff

the coalition really is just glad that turkey is a, helping in northern syria, even there it is complicated because when turkey is trying to strike the goals ise of to create a safe zone, which has not been officially signed off by the u.s. or the rest of the west. but it would presumably repel kurdish militants aligned with the pkk, the ones you are talking about, who are the targets of these strikes, and push them back and remove a perceived threat from them. very complicated for turkey, and you have those elections coming up, elections in which they want to restore its majority. annette: while president francois hollande has ruled out sending ground troops from france and britain, they are considering joining the us-led bombing range -- bombing raids on the jihadists in syria. david cameron is facing questions on the decision to carry out a drone strike in syria which killed two islamic state jihadists. month in thet first ever targeted u.k. drone attacks. the prime minister says the act of self-defense was lawful, despite mp's previously ruling militaryame -- u.k. action in syria. a rem

when i was in northern syria and i went to the homes of people, ordinary people, what i saw on the walls were pictures of their children who have died fighting for the pkk but also fighting for the ypg against isis. so i think what we now have before us, actually another opportunity. the fact of american engagement with the ypg can be turned into an opportunity. the united states can use its leverage with the kurds now to somehow revived peace process that is not completely shelved. and it needs to get turkey and the kurds back to the negotiating table because endless it does so, this isn't come it's going to be very destabilizing for turkey obviously, but also for the region. you cannot have this situation where you have turkey fighting the kurds, and not just the pkk. if you've been following what's been happening inside turkey in places like -- it's not just the pkk or the youth wing that had once described are being targeted, but ordinary citizens as well. this is having repercussions. it's having repercussions among kurds across the region. and so what needs to be done is for someho

planes stop flying in northern syria. the russian general said if you have forces in the area we request they leave. the russian general was from the military cell we first reported on that russia had established with syria and iran last week. another, that was another surprise for the u.s. embassy in baghdad, melissa. melissa: wow. how did the military respond this morning? >> it sent them scrambling. it was unexpected to say the least. i got woken upat 4:15 a.m. with the tip just occurred. washington was caught off guard. centcom said u.s. warplanes will not comply with the russian demarsh. they continued operating in northern syria carrying out one airstrike near aleppo. quoting, today's demarsh will no, no way change our operation. >> i take the russians at their word. they're exceptionally clear about what they're saying and their actions now seem to reflect what they were going to do. my problem it isn't i don't understand they're doing. my problem i think what they're doing is going to backfire and is counterproduct

those were celebrating russia shanna starting with what was a turning point when the kurds in northern syria those who are closely linked that support the pkk that took control over several areas of the border that had been expanding our control ever since because of lusby understand that dynamic we cannot properly assess what is happening between turkey and the kurds. for happened then was a great opportunity for turkey to advance the peace process but what they needed to do with that point was extent the hand of help to do what they did which used to develop political relations but church he chose to view this as a threat but because in that area they happen to be closely affiliated with the pkk as a national security threat so what they needed to you was to keep the kurds in check in this underpins the 2012 yes it was part of that equation but above and beyond that was the fact that turkey perceive this as a huge national security threat and what they did juror do is somehow get to keep the kurds of syria in check. that is what they were talking about and as the sauce subsequently that di

war planes continued out missions in northern syria today. they said quote we would welcome a constructive role by russia but today's demarche hardly seems indicative of that role and will in no way alter or hamper our actions there. the russians actions made the work of the military more difficult. senior officials were caught off guard when the officials demarched them requesting them to leave. >> jennifer, thoank you. a lot of news coming out of the white house. putin asking the white house for cooperation and the president saying no. so what does he do? >> this president will not do much of anything. what we should be doing is reasserting america's role in the middle east. i think putin is playing a long game here. he is bidding for dominance in the middle east against the united states and thinks he can prevail because he as a weak occupant in the white house who has written one red line after another on syria and iran with and you name it. this provocation today is not the real issue. the real provocation is any additional russian milit

warplanes continue carrying out strike missions in northern syria. quote, there is nothing to indicate we are changing actions over syria. the russi actions have made the work of the u.s. military much more difficult. a seen oriole official says this reinforces the need for good of relations between the u.s. and russia. bill: let's be clear where they are hitting. it's near damascus, is isis in this town or others who defy assad. >> p. >> reporter: this is not where isis is located. so they are hitting what we know is basically the home to the free syrian army. it's not clear. we are told by pentagon sources that nun of th -- that none of . trained military are in that area. but there are no isis targets in homs. bill: did putin tell president obama this will happen when they met earlier in the weeker. >> not? the. >> reporter: clearly not. the officials who woke up with this news this morning were caught unawares. the message was delivered by this three-star general in baghdad. bill: this latest international conflict making its way into the presiden

war planes continued carrying out strike missions in northern syria today. secretary of state john kerry meets his russian counterpart at the un today. >> i could not disagree more. i think it opens up more options. i think it is an opportunity to be honest with you. >> reporter: the russian actions made the work of the u.s. military much more difficult i am told. senior officials were caught off guard when they were approached requesting to be removed. this is not now nations to do business according to an official. >> there are indications this is not about getting rid of isis but propping up assad. >> reporter: exactly. isis is not in the area of where the violence took place. we are seeing the children being dragged from the rebel and that is the area where the free syrian army is located. >> peter brooks is joining us, now. a form cia operative who speaks russian and few on missions during soviet times. so peter is particular with the russian mindset. what is your reaction to the news this morning? how do you see this? >> it is clear president obama did

the same groups fighting i.s.i.l., known as daesh, in northern syria, in the aleppo countryside. the other day we saw a series of international coalition air strikes in an area where the rebel forces are fighting i.s.i.l., that has had an impact because when you talk to rebels. they are squeezed i.s.i.s. on one hand and the regime. relieving the pressure on the rebels forces allows them to concentrate resources and personal in the fight against the bashar al-assad regime. >> talking to us live from dube eye. thank you >>> -- dubai. thank you very much >>> malaysia is cracking down on illegal workers - coming up, the story of those that come with dreams and the hope of a better life, only to be exploited and used. singapore's opposition mounts a challenge to the ruling party's 50-year-old electoral dominance. >> in sport. find out if there's any topping n.b.a. star pal gaffol at the european basket bag championships. -- basketball championships. bsh >>> hello again. these are the top stories here at al jazeera. the european commission president announced a mandatory plan to resett

if we were able to attack isil across its theater of operation from northern syria through eastern syria into iraq. it is is possible to defeat isil in that theater as a separate issue from the broader syrian civil war. >> can you paint that scenario, though, if the syrian civil war still continued, how that could happen? >> i mean, obviously, we've already talked about the possibility of coalition airstrikes of the uk perhaps, in the future deciding to join in coalition airstrikes in syria. we will only defeat isil in iraq when there is a ground force that is able to pursue them and inflict serious damage on them. and it is possible to envisage a situation where that dispute and destruction will go into syria. i'm not saying it's the ideal situation or the most likely situation. but i don't think it is a necessary condition of destroying isil in syria, the civil war in syria. >> yesterday we took evidence from some of the country's most distinction wish the academics and journalists who have followed this crisis. their conclusion was that isil won't be defeated until turkey, iran, saudi

and northern syria have been working together. northern syria have had some success. it doesn't create some of its own challenges. on the syrian side it struck me as odd trying to get turkey more engaged in the battle against isil. it was when we started to do work with the kurds and achieve some success. turkey then decide, ok. now it's time we want to really participate in this. and obviously there's been tension between turkey and some of the very elements that the kurdish elements an northern syria are having some success against isil. i would be interested in your thoughts on the turkish role and how we maintain that nato alliance and get them involved with isil without cutting the legs off from under the curtains to be effective partners. >> turkey has been a very, very important country in the dedefense first against the warsaw pact and the soviet union. i think it's very significant that general allen and others did great work to get pledges by turkey to certainly to make the movement of isil through their country into syria. much more difficult. but clearly t

in syria, we have seen opportunities emerge we did not see a year ago. particularly in the northern part of the country where kurds and arabs have successfully pressured isil along the border. over a year ago the president outlined a government strategy to degrade and defeat isil, he emphasized he emphasized it would be a multiyear campaign. when sec. carter was here he outlined the nine lines of effort that comprise our strategies so i won't go over them again a detail. i will emphasize it would take more than the military campaign to be successful. we also need to dry up isil's finances, stop the flow of foreign fighters, protect the united states from potential attacks from isil, provide humanitarian assistance in areas we are taking back from isil, and find a way to more effectively counter isil's very successful messaging campaign. as secretary carter said to the committee the administration believes we have the right strategy in place. we are focused on implementing the strategy as effectively as possible. this is an interagency effort across all of the departments and agencie

. >> we've seen the pictures of rebels swearing off against isil and northern syria. what we haven't seen are fighters to join that fight. it might be because so few have been trained. just 54 compared to the goal of more than 5,000 by the end of this year. they were captured by al nusra. on wednesday u.s. senators told military leaders their train andy assist program is not working. >> can you tell us the number of trained fighters remains. >> it's a small number, the ones that are in the fight, we're talking four or five. >> as i see it right now, this four or five, let's not kid ourselves. that's a joke. >> we're counting on our fingers and toes at this point when we envisioned 5400 by the end of the year. >> senators also demanded confirmation of reports that the u.s. will now train syrians to call in coalition airstrikes against isil targets instead of trying to create a full-fledged opposition army. >> i'm not asking you to come through on this committee. i'm asking a direct question. are you looking at that option? >> we're looking at that option, in the meanti

in northern syria. what we haven't seen is the fighters the u.s. military floonplanned to train ojoin that fight. perhaps because there are so few. 54 men deployed inside syria mid year they were captured by el nusra. on monday, they told the u.s. that the that there are a few remaining. >> it is a small number, the ones in the fight is we're talking four or five. >> as i see it right now this four or five u.s. trained fighters let's not kid owrs ourselves, that is a joke. >> we are counting on our fingers and toes, when we imagined 5400 by the end of the year. >> coalition air strikes against i.s.i.l. targets instead of trying to create a full fledged opposition army. >> i'm not asking you to come before this committee and obfuscate. i'm asking you a direct question, is the pentagon looking at that option yes or no? >> we are looking at that option as well as others. >> thank you very much. >> meantime, amid uncertainty surrounding russia's military buildup in syria foreign minister sergey lavrov has proposed military to military contact between r

on alitary jets are part runway in northern syria. according to russian media, moscow has deployed over 7000 men to fight along bashar al-assad's troops. that is what the organization's secretary-general told "france 24." a substantial russian buildup in syria with different kinds of capabilities -- some fighter planes, air defenses. is responsible for the atrocities, killing his own people. >> wednesday, damascus announced it had used for the first time russian and fighting rebels. the following day, moscow conducted drills in the eastern mediterranean, involving several ships. vladimir putin is calling for the creation of a new coalition that would include bashar al-assad's army fighting the islamic state group. >> to pursue the to fight -- the defeat of isil, without pursuing a political transition, is to fuel the very kind of extremism that underlies isil. and if that is the russian view, it is a logical contradiction. >> monday, president putin and his american counterpart, barack obama, will hold their first bilateral meetings si

warplanes stop flying in northern syria. the russian general said, quote, if you have forces in the area, we request they leave. the russian general was from that military cell that we first reported last week that russia established with syria and iran. another surprise for the u.s. embassy in baghdad, frenchen. >> so how did the u.s. mailtary respond to that sort of request or a demand this morning? >> well, it sent them scrambling. it was unexpected to say the least. i got weeksen up at 4:15 a.m. with the tip that occurred. walk was caught off guard, needless to say. u.s. warplanes will not comply. they continue operating in northern syria carrying out at least one airstrike here aleppo, quote, today demarche will in no way alter our operations. >> what we should be saying to vladmir putin is you fly but we fly anywhere we want to, when and how we want to and you better stay out of the way. that's the message that should be sent as to vladmir putin. >> at least one russian airstrike occurred north of homs. 25 civilians dea

the french president says he is discussing a turkish proposal to create a no fly zone in northern syria. the taliban have seized control of a major city in afghanistan for the first time since the u.s.-led invasion 14 years ago. hundreds of fighters took part on the raid in the north of the country. and spain's prime minister says 'll talk to the new regional government in catalonia but any discussions of independence in the region remain out of the question. separatist parties won a convincing victory at elections on the weekend. well, let's turn our attentions to the world of business and finance now. we have all of the top stories. we're going to start over in germany with the latest on volkswagen. >> good evening, prosecutors in germany have opened up an investigation into former boss martin winterkorn. he quit his position last wednesday after nine years as the head of europe's largest carmaker. 2 million of its vehicles were fitted with deceit devices, a million of its cars have emissions cheating software. both companies have not said whether the vehicles will be recalled and ref

. >> reporter: this is homs in northern syria during a sand storm. bad weather meant war planes and helicopters carried out fewer air strikes, and rebels held areas bombarded on a daily basis are quiet. while the sandstorm led to a pause in the fight, refugees living in flimsy tents struggled to cope. large parts of the area have been have roweded in a thick crowd of dust. in the beqaa valley, doctors see a rise in the number of people admitted to hospital with breathing problems much since yesterday 50 patients entered the hospital. all were admitted because of dust entering the lungs. >> the meteorological department scribed the storm as unprecedented. residents say they had never seen anything like it. >> it's the first time such a storm hit the area. i cannot work without a mask. my throat is hurting me. the bad weather is an as a result of a bad weather system, and sand blowing in from the east. governments warned people suffering from health problems, and the elderly and pregnant women to stay indoors >>> hillary clinton has apologised for her

the family had fled fighting in northern syria. the boy's father said he just wants to sit next to the graves of his wife and children and rest. >> translator: they were such good boys. every morning they wanted to play with me. but now they're gone. >> the boys' aunt lives in canada, and has made a plea of support for syrian refugees. >> they were going for a better life. this shouldn't happen. it shouldn't happen to them. >> she said she cannot imagine what her brother is going through, and doesn't want to lose any more relatives. so far this year, an estimated 360,000 refugees and migrants have reached europe or attempted the journey. many are fleeing violence in the middle east or africa. numbers surged over the summer. >>> more and more refugees are fleeing syria because their nation is convulsed by a three-way civil war. the combatants are the syrian army anti-government rebels and the islamic state group. america's arming and training the rebels to fight the islamic state militants but the strategy has run into trouble. nhk

why not a safe zone in northern syria? press chairman john mccain. >> it's in our best interest to help civilians but i would not recommend a buffer zone at this point in time. >> so everything is really going well? >> no, sir that's not -- >> general austin's overall argument that progress was being made in syria despite what he called slow movement at the tactical level was met with dereiteration. since the general was forced to admit that of the 54 trained fighters only a handful remains. >> can you tell us what the total number of fighters remains? >> it's a small number and the ones in the fight are -- we're talking four or five. >> reporter: four or five fighters after $40 million that was supposed to train more than 5,000. but it's really good training, says the pentagon and another 120 are in the pipeline. >> the forces that we are training while right now are small in number and clearly are not going to reach the numbers that we had planned for, are nevertheless getting terrific training and very good equipment an

exchange talking about the need, why didn't the united states do more to create a safe zone in northern syria so we all have don't have this refugee flow in europe. just to give a flavor of it of the exchange between chairman senator john mccain and general austin. >> would you support a buffer zone, which would then protect some of these refugees who are being barreled bombed and slaughtered by bashar al-assad. >> i don't see the reports available to protect them currently. i would not recommend it at this point in time. >> we wouldn't be able to shoot down bashar al-assad aircraft as they slaughter innocent men, women and children, is that correct? we don't have the capability to protect them. >> we clearly have the capability, we do. >> but you wouldn't recommend such action. >> i would not recommend a buffer zone at this point, sir. >> i see. general, what you're telling us is that everything is fine as we see hundreds of thousands of refugees leave and flood europe, as we're seeing now, 250,000 syrians slaughtered. >> so the reaction from members of the committee was quite dramatic. thje

again,again, what our special operations forces have done in northern syria is, they did not wait for the knew syrian force program or train and equip program to fully develop. at the outset they began to engage elements like the why pg and enable those elements and are making a difference on the battlefield. and there are tens of thousands out there right now fighting isil. .. >> you have to say it started in december that's when it authorized >> they are not or able to organize well. there's divisions within iraq that make it very difficult. i just wish it weren't so. i'm afraid that is the reality we are dealing with. i believe the un has 4 million refugee, 7 million displaced person. it is obvious to me this is a humanitarian catastrophe. we need to to deal with it in an honest way. the most effective and honest way is to keep people as close to home as possible. if they they can't stay in their home because of violence and war than they ought to be as close to home as possible. i talked to a senior official recently and he told me on this refugee crisis is the greatest threat to

or at least that's what was conveyed and what we saw was a steady progression of the kurds in northern syria. so, when that plan failed, what he chose to do as then to get the support of other armed groups inside syria to fight the white pg and we first saw the very clearly in the summer of 2013 when there was this data for the control of this area as the kurds called it and it was very obvious that certain factions of the free syrian army and others were being supported by turkey-- sorry. of course, we saw also that did not work out terribly well because the kurds ended up taking control of that town as well. so, that policy was obviously not working, but turkey persisted in it and we saw that most recently. that was another turning point in the very big shock for turkey when the americans air got weapons and other supplies to the ypg and that is what propelled turkey, in fact, to open that core door and, of course, with was digested. they decided that what they needed to do then was to open because they needed to somehow get the americans on their site because they became very very nervous

these are the same groups, the same rebel groups are also fighting isil, also known as daesh in northern syriaifically in the aleppo countryside. we saw a injuries of air strikes in an area where the rebel forces are fighting isil. when you talk to rebels they will tell you that they are squeezed between isis on one hand and the assad regime on another flank. so certainly relieving that pressure allows them to concentra concentrate more of their resources. >> protesters in lebanon are demonstrating outside of parliament, the country's mp's are meeting to try to address the issues that have lead to a protest movement called you stink. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: like thousands of young lebanese, this man blames the government accusing officials of trying to get rich rather than serve the people. he is one of several activists who started a hunger strike last wednesday. they are part of a larger protest movement that has been demanding the resignation of the minister, initially over the rubbish crisis, but now with wider themes of corruption and incompetence. six days into the hunger

again,again, what our special operations forces have done in northern syria is, they did not wait for the knew syrian force program or train and equip program to fully develop. at the outset they began to engage elements like the why pg and enable those elements and are making a difference on the battlefield. and there are tens of thousands out there right now fighting isil. .. right now, small in number and clearly will not reach the numbers we have time for. nevertheless, getting very good to reallywill be able afford multipliers of other groups on the ground that happened very effective, like the coalition. >> the in the end of year with us bragging about 120 the new plan. it is a serious allegation of our government in terms of ability to oversee and make decisions around the use of our military. end of theay at the investigation, when you can discuss it, i want to put on the record that i will watch very carefully about any potential it is important iistleblowers be protected understand maybe there are things i am not aware of, but i want upon the record i will be paying close at

he says the united states should set up a no-fly zone in northern syria and should consider putting special forces on the ground in iraq to help win the fight against isis. >>> talk of a possible plea deal today during a hearing in the dennis hastert hush money case. the former house speaker has pleaded not guilty to violating banking laws and lying to the fbi. prosecutors say he gave $3.5 million to somebody to hide past misconducts. the payments were reportedly to conceal claims of sexual misconduct when he was a teacher and wrestling coach decades ago. >>> virginia is preparing to execute a prison inmate for the first time in three years. he's been on death row the past five years. his execution is set for thursday. death penalty opponents have asked governor terry mcauliffe to intervene saying prieto should be exempt from the death penalty because he's had intellectual disabilities. >>> virginia state nor mark obenshain -- senator mark obenshain will not run for personal reasons. he nearly lost a 2013 attorney general's race to democrat mark herring. other possible gop candidates includ

. >> people could have gone to northern sear wra to northern syria and rather than having the mass exodus. >> some of our liberal friends are picking up on this idea too. 200,000 later. we welcome their -- >> let's move to russian news, which is big and troubling because they're saying that the u.s. intelligence officials are now saying it looks like not only are russian troops on the ground, but they're preparing for air strikes on behalf of bashar assad. that compliments it for us there. >> since 1947 since we announced the president truman announced the doctrine, it has been our policy to try to keep the russians out of the middle east and in particular out of the eastern mediterranean. >> now they're establishing a basis especially on the city. they're shoring up. they're trying to shore up and trying to enhance their prestige in the region. again, it's a natural result. those vacuums get filled by willful and violent people, and that is the moral of the syria abdication. >> so far with the president yielding strategic gains for the right. >> look how this is turning out. refugees flo

or at least that is what was conveyed and what we saw was a steady progression of the kurds in northern syria. and so when that plan failed, what turkey chose to do was then to get the support of other armed groups inside syria to fight the ypg. and we first saw that very clearly in the summer of 2013 when there was this battle of control where the kurds would call it and it was very clear that certain factions of the free syrian army and others were being supported by turkey. and that -- sorry. and that of course we saw also that that didn't work out tearally well because the curds ended up taking control of that town as well. so that policy was, obviously, not working. but turkey persists in it. and we saw that in kobani most recently. that was a turning point and a shock for turkey when the americans airdropped weapons and other supplies to the ypg. that is what propelled turkey, in fact, to open the corridor to kobani. and, of course, once that was sort of digested in ankara, they decided what they needed to do then was open it. they needed to somehow get americans on their side because t

and what we saw was a steady progression of the kurds in northern syria. and so when that plan failed, what turkey chose to do was then to get the support of other armed groups inside syria to fight the ypg. and we first saw that very clearly in the summer of 2013 when there was this battle of control of serakyin, where it was very obvious that certain factions of the free syrian army and others as well were being supported by turkey and that -- sorry. and that of course we saw also that that didn't work out terribly well, because the kurds ended up taking control of that town as well. so that policy was obviously not working. but turkey persists in it. and we saw that in kobani most recently. that was a turning point and a shock for turkey when the americans airdropped weapons and other supplies to the ypg. that is what propelled turkey in fact, to open that corridor to kobani. and of course once that was sort of digested in ankara, they decided what they needed to do then was open it. they needed to somehow get americans on their side because they became

and again, what our special operations forces have done in northern syria is they didn't wait for the new syrian force program or train and equip program to fully develop. at the very outset, they began to engage elements like the y.p.g. and enable those elements, and they are making a difference on the battlefield. and there are tens of thousands of the y.p.g. out there. they're right now fighting isil. so because the syria train and equip program is slower getting started than we'd like for it to be, it doesn't mean we're not creating effects on the battlefield. senator mccaskill: i want to make sure, general austin, i know they feel strongly about the surge and there are a lot of incredible american heroes that were part of that surge, but the other part of the surge we don't talk about as frequently is we paid a lot of people. we paid a lot of people to help us during the surge. is this money that we're setting aside for train and equip, would it be better off in direct compensation to some f that y.p.g. force? ms. wormuth: senator mccaskill, can i address this a little bit? as ge

could have a negative impact on how the coalition is going after isil fighters particularly in northern syria. that they also say that if there is something that the russians want to offer in the fight against isil, they say that they are willing to listen but they say that so far, they have not gotten any such message from the russians. >> thank you. >> rockets fired by rebel fighters have killed at least 38 people in syria's northern city of aleppo. three neighborhoods were heavily bombarded. 14 children were among the dead and the 150 people were wounded. >> dozens of palestinians have been injured after israeli security forces stormed the mosque in jerusalem. it's the third straight day of violence at the compound. palestinians now fear that israel wants to change the rules which allow jews to visit the site but not pray there. paul brennan has the latest. >>reporter: for a third day the mosque compound echoed to the sound of stun gre nayeds. fireworks and confrontation. israeli security forces inside the at least two dozen palestinians were injured. five personnel also needed treatment.

. >> reporter: we have seen the picture of rebels squaring off against isil in northern syria, what we haven't seen are the fighters the u.s. military plan today train to join that fight. it might be because so few have been trained. just 54 compared to the plan of 5,000. when they were deployed at midyear they were captured by al-nusra. on wednesday u.s. senators told military leaders their train and assist program is not working. >> can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remain? >> it's a small number. and -- the ones that are in the fight is -- is -- is -- we are talking four or five. >> as i see it right now in four or five u.s.-trained fighters, let's not kid ourselves that's a joke. >> we are count on the ground our fingers and toes at this point when we had envisioned 5400 by the end of the year. >> reporter: senators also demanded confirmation of reports that the u.s. will now train syrians to call in coalition air strikes against isil targets. instead of trying to create a full-fledged opposition army. >> i am not asking you to come before this committee obj

if we were able to attack isil across its theater of operation from northern syria through eastern syria into iraq, it is possible to defeat isil in that theater. theater. as a separate issue from the broader serious civil war. >> can you paint that scenario for us? >> the -- obviously we already talked about the possibility of coalition airstrikes in the uk perhaps deciding to join coalition airstrikes in syria. we will only defeat isil and in a rack when there is a ground force that is then called to inflict serious damage on the, and it is possible to envision a situation without pursuit and destruction would go on into syria. i'm not saying it's the ideal situation or the most likely. i don't think it is a necessary condition of destroying isil syria. >> yesterday from some of the country's most distinguished academics and journalists who follow this. their conclusion was they won't be defeated, share our priority. and was the coalition uses its airpower to contain and restrain isil is able to focus on other national priorities. so isn't the coalition, western powers from our policy

able to fly over northern syria, unless there's a serious decon flix. if the russians choose to start triking in northern syria, for example, some of those targets could be in areas where the coalition flies and that would force the united states to react to it in some way or maybe it would simply acquiesce. the united states -- depending on how well decon flix goes the united states michigan have to change the tactic the way it operates and supports flights over syria, the environment with russian aircraft in it would be much more dangerous or potentially dangerous, doesn't mean they would be fight but something the u.s. has to think about. on the ground, if russian forces become involved on the ground, there is the risk, depending on what happens, of course, buff its in aleppo or some other places, say, around in dara or southwest or indianapolis discuss, then you have a situation where russian forces could be fighting against u.s. supported forces. cia supported forces primarily. if the russian are striking under their broads def notification who is

in syria, the northern part of the country, syrian kurds, arabs have h syrian successful pushed them along the turkish border. they want to degrade and defeat isil and he emphasized it would multi-year campaign. secretary carter was here, the nine strategies. need to dry up isil's finances and stop them. humanitarian assistance in areas we are taking back from more nd find a way to affectively counter isil's very campaign. messages as secretary carter said to the believe in july, they we have the right strategy in place. on implementing the strategy. interagency effort, across all of the departments that are involved. secretary carter and secretary kerry have been meeting together with their senior staff to in tor and identify issues the campaign and they're meeting foreign to focus on fighters. they are responsible for two of effort inside the strategy, denying isil safe i would like to speak the ly to those areas. coalition has removed some of its key leaders in iraq and syria. regained of them and partners have taken the key border town, which of isil's key lines of communication

i would be focusing the problem on the border of turkey and syria and northern syria and whatever is left handle it with international policy. >> appreciate your thoughts as always. thank you so much. >> right now, pope francis is heading toward america and inspiring a new generation of believers and right now in cuba and will be traveling soon to the u.s. the pontiff known for reaching out to those who feel the catholic church alienated them. and warren green is live in our newsroom. >> the throngs are expected to greet pope francis here in the u.s. and a possible sign of the francis affect. >> many people have felt for the last hundred or 200 years, the catholic church had a sign members only. under francis there is a new sign that said come on in, open for business. >> but the francis affect means going back to vatican two, the historic meeting when bishops grappled with how to make catholicism more approachable. would you have married laymen talking to fox news, probably not. >> those popes attended and jorge was not an ordained priest. now they can express the intentions of the

if we were able to attack isil across its theater of operation from northern syria through eastern syrianto iraq. it is is possible to defeat isil in that theater as a separate issue from the broader syrian civil war. >> the air strikes of the uk perhaps in the future to join in air strikes in syria, we will only defeat isil in iraq when there is ground force to inflict serious damage on them. and it is possible to envision a where that destruction of sighs ill will go on into syria. i'm not saying it's the ideal situation or the most likely situation. but i don't think it is a necessary condition of destroying isil in syria, the civil war in syria. >> yesterday we took evidence from some country's most distinguished academics and journalists who have followed this crisis. their confusion was isil won't be defeated until turkey, iran, saudi arabia hair in its power. it enables those states to focus other national priorities. in canada and the western powers. isn't our policy is and our action having the unsuspended consequence of relieving those of the need to cooperate in order to prior

. >> meanwhile, the bloody conflict raging on in northern syria today, at least 32 people killed after assad forces bombed a market in eastern aleppo. the syrian observatory for human rights said it was osurfacing to surface missile. some people are still trapped under the rubble. right now that city is divided against government control in the west and east. >>> giving 400 million in humanitarian aid to syria this year, that brings the total u.s. funding in 2015 to more than $1.6 billion. that money will assist all u.n. operations inside the country, shelter, medical aid, food, since the war u.s. has given $4.5 billion alone. >>> pope francis is at the religious shrine outside santiago, that is the final stop on his busy cuban itinerary, he will celebrate mass in the morning and then fly for washington. david ariosto, has the pope's visit been a success so far? >> reporter: well, success is hard to define when it comes to these papal visits. he still has one more mass to give after which time he will head to the united states. that mass is in el cobre, outside santiago de cuba, where