amna: when it comes to the pkk and kurdish minorities it is the u.s.' closest ally.appen to the u.s. policy towards them now? will they be abandoned? >> jake sullivan made it clear that when this came up we have a deep and resolute position on continuing to work with them as long as there is no effective central government and army in syria and that we need to fight against the islamic state. beyond that we never signed up and i was the guy delivering the message to the kurds, we never signed up for a kurdish state beholden to the pkk. they would have to work this out with the rest of syria and turkey on their own. we will help them. amna: it is notable that secretary antony blinken made a surprise visit to iraq. he met with the iraqi prime minister. he stressed that syria should not become what he called a platform for terrorism. is there a model for syria's future when you look at iraq? >> there is a u.n. resolution that john kerry negotiated with lavrov in 2015 and it lays out what antony blinken is saying. a hopefully democratic, inclusive, reconciled syria with

groups including hds to topple assad, but he has long viewed the kurdish sdf as an extension of the pkky, both are listed as terrorist organizations. until the negotiated cease-fire, the turkish-backed groups were bombing near the border and in the oil-rich cities on the euphrates. hts quickly took control, a move the u.s. did not oppose. it is not clear whether washington will withdraw the 900 troops it has in syria and abandon the kurds altogether. maybe that is part of secretary blinken's discussions tonight but he does have major implications for europe because there are thousands of isis fighters and their families still being held in northeast syria under the guard of the kurdish sdf and u.s. forces. we will talk about the kurds in a second. with us tonight is national security reporter for the washington post. he has written two books on syria and the downfall of assad. you are very welcome to the program. >> thank you. christian: the unknown factor in all of this is that we don't know what donald trump will do with the residents of the u.s. force in syria. is there a very seriou

turkey's priority has been to contain and repress the pkk, the kurdistan workers party which is alliedthe us and the west are not really involved in this except the us has a small contingent of special forces. has a small contingent of specialforces. in the has a small contingent of special forces. in the east of the country, they are there to keep an eye on isis. they had a five year reign of terror, at one point they owned and controlled at area the size of belgium. 8 million people, they were defeated. but there is always a fear they could be resurgent and they will be looking to take advantage of this current situation. the us has a big ally in the region and that is the syrian kurds. the syrian democratic forces. turkey does not like them. it sees them as an analogy oh ally of it. stay with me, it is complicated. turkey, a nato country bombs the kurds on occasion. yet those same curves that come under attack from turkey are allies of the united states. the us will not be particularly comfortable with anything that weakens the kurds because the big risk here is that the syrian kurd

the us is working to fight against islamic state, members of that group have been affiliated with the pkk terrorist organisation so it is awkward but because of the situation it is the reality. d0 because of the situation it is the reali . ,, because of the situation it is the reali . ., . ,, reality. do you anticipate the us ma be reality. do you anticipate the us may be making _ reality. do you anticipate the us may be making some _ reality. do you anticipate the us may be making some moves - reality. do you anticipate the us may be making some moves to | reality. do you anticipate the us i may be making some moves to try reality. do you anticipate the us - may be making some moves to try to take this group of that place? i don't think we will see anything in their real term but we will see any moves that hts might make. fighting isis, the chemical weapons, the foreign fighters that might be in its mix as well is working out that after this transition there is an inclusive government that women as well and not sectarian in nature. it is a wait—and—see approach but the united states lay

the pkk uh, so it is a very complex situation.y the anti-assad rebels, the a coalition of these rebels. these are very different groups that all had one goal in mind and in common, getting rid of bashar al-assad. what's important of course, is, is what comes next, whether there can be a smooth transition and whether there can be a working together between these these different groups. what we're seeing on the ground in damascus at this point appears fairly promising. we're seeing no violence. we are seeing for example, people going into the presidential palace. we're seeing families going in with children you also see gunmen within these presidential palaces that there has been some looting as well seeing people walking out with with the with palace chairs, for example uh, but at this point it appears as though the it's fairly peaceful. the prime minister for example, of the regime saying that he wants this peaceful transition, that he is willing to work with any government that the people choose. he has been seen to be escorted b

the us is working to fight against islamic state, members of that group have been affiliated with the pkkeign terrorist organisation so it is awkward but because of the situation it is the reality. do you anticipate the us may be making some moves to try to take this group off that list? i don't think we'll see anything in their real term but we will see any moves that hts might make. fighting isis, the chemical weapons that remain in syria, the foreign fighters in the mix, that might be is working out that after this transition there is an inclusive government that women as well and not sectarian in nature. it is a wait—and—see approach but the united states lay down the gauntlet on what they can happen if hts break these guidelines. south korea's president yoon suk yeol has vowed to fight for his politicalfuture — after parliament impeached him over his short—lived attempt to impose martial law 11 days ago. president yoon says he will never give up — describing the impeachment vote — as a temporary pause in his presidency. early on saturday, crowds celebrated outside the national assemb

but turkey sees them as an extension of the outlawed pkk — kurdistan worker's party. who is the director of the istanbul—based think tank edam which focuses on turkey's foreign, security and economic policy. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. how do you think this message from the new defector leader of syria will go down with those kurdish forces? ~ , , ., ., forces? well, they should have been essentially _ forces? well, they should have been essentially prepared - been essentially prepared because, ultimately, with this new transitional government, the aim is to set up a fully functional state unlike the assad error in the fully functional state means that the damascus is to have monopoly over the use of power, which means the disarmament of different groups within syria, including the stf. d0 different groups within syria, including the stf.— different groups within syria, including the stf. do you think the are including the stf. do you think they are likely _ including the stf. do you think they are likely to _ including the stf. do you think they ar

isis prisoners, how concerned president erdogan goes after them as he has other kurdish figures, the pkkit appears there's a temporary ceasefire that's been put back in place until the end of the week. there's been an extraordinary amount of posturing, not just by the turkish military but by the syrian national army and supported around the town of kobani which is an ideological center and really one of the main population centers for the syrian kurds. and it's right up against the turkish borders. reports of dismantling the border wall. these are not great signs, so i think if there's an area of the united states and others ought to be pressing on, it is on this one making sure that we don't allow our kurdish partners to be overwhelmed by the turks or by their partners on the ground. >> financing me, we have only 20 seconds left. how hopeful are you of getting a ceasefire in gaza and release of the hostages given that burns is in doha and israel is saying they've agreed? >> most of the reporting is saying they're positive. keeping forces on the ground and that's a good thing. so i'm mod

a large kurdish population and this involves groups including the syrian democratic forces and the pkktion in the united states so what syria —— turkey worries about the most is potentially the kurds being used against them inside turkey and this is something that is played out throughout the years and it shows you the complicated mosaic that syria truly is and how many powers and interests are involved in this one country. the fact of the matter is turkey had links to hts, the question is to what extent hasn't known about this offensive or to what extent does hts acting on its own and thatis does hts acting on its own and that is unclear. abs, that is unclear. a complicated mosaic is _ that is unclear. a complicated mosaic is absolutely - that is unclear. a complicated mosaic is absolutely such - that is unclear. a complicated mosaic is absolutely such an i mosaic is absolutely such an elegant way of describing what is an absolutely impossible situation. seniorfellow is an absolutely impossible situation. senior fellow of the washington institute, really get to your expertise and anal

turkey has interests in syria because they are concerned about the kurds, pkk and how we work with turkey to make sure they don't disrupt what's going on there, make them a positive player instead of a negative player, it's a real complicated diplomatic picture and yes, the experience of the u.s. and our intel background could be enormously helpful. >> it would be good to have highly experienced members of the cabinet, for example, at a time like that. >> yes, it would. not just people who promise not to drink anymore. >> yeah. promising not to drink. representative adam smith, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> donald trump said yesterday he wants all of the members of the january 6th committee to go to jail. there is no chance of that, of course, because unlike donald trump, none of them have committed any crimes. that's next with andrew weissmann. can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. when i was diagnosed

this country would not be tolerated, that if any kurdish factions inside syria were connected to the pkkh the turks consider terrorists, then they would be not working with them and they would not tolerate them having a role in in the future. so that's going to raise an interesting issue with the united states and it also raises the question of what turkey will do to the the kurdish minority who are here in in syria. one last thing. the turkish foreign minister said, and this also allows now for all those millions of syrian refugees who have taken refuge inside turkey and of course, in refugee camps still in neighboring countries like jordan and elsewhere, to allow them to come home. so there's a big agenda. there's a big table being laid. we will see how it all falls out in the next few weeks, obviously, and certainly the next days. becky i think you talk to people around this region. >> this table has been being laid for some time we are seeing the evidence of that playing out in front of our eyes. so, christiane, thank you christiane amanpour is in doha today. well, in the coming hour

concerned about the kurds that we are working with and the degree to which those kurds are part of the pkk that threatens turkey. so continuing to navigate that problem is the big challenge. but look, if the government falls and if you have a radical islamist government in its place, what will they do with the situation in the east and those isis fighters? it is something we definitely need to be worried about. and again, we've got to work with some partners in the region to contain that threat. >> and i want to ask you just lastly, you are, of course, as i noted at the reagan national defense forum, a lot of national security officials there and others, elected officials like yourself. what are you hearing? if what is the buzz about trump's choice for dni tulsi gabbard, of course her ties to assad and syria and russia. have you heard anything about that? what are your thoughts absolutely. >> i mean there's multiple different pieces to this. i mean, first of all, nobody knows exactly what's going to happen after january 20th. president-elect trump made a whole lot of promises and a whole l

you have the pkk, the ypg, also terrorist organizations and that turkey has long been in war with and in battle because they are a terrorist, marxist leninist organization. you have israel now with the golan heights seeing a threat along the border. so israel has moved to secure that area. and in the midst of this, it's almost a throwback to lawrence of arabia marching on damascus, as you have multiple coalition groups with different interests. most of them are on a terrorist list somewhere. but what we do know is now russia and iran's influence is waning as as the influence builds up and you see a government come in of some sort. the u.s. does have an interest in ensuring, number one, it doesn't spill out. and then our allies, particularly turkey in the north and israel in the south, their interests need to be protected as well. >> all right, congressman ryan zinke, thanks very much for being with us this morning. i appreciate it very much. nice to see you. all right. 54 minutes past the hour. here is your morning roundup. we're going to go live to malibu california, where the frankl

said, well, they are connected to a group that turkey and other countries designate as terrorists, the pkkg up at the top of the hour, michael steele will join me to continue our breaking news coverage on the weekend. we'll talk to aaron david miller, eric swalwell, hugo lowell and sophia nelson. don't go anywhere. hugo lowell and sophia nelson don't go anywhere. that let you manage every sale from every channel. and sell more with the best converting checkout on the planet. a lot more. take your business to the next stage when you switch to shopify. known for pursuing your passions. no one wants to be known for cancer but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer. fda-approved for 17 types of cancer, including certain early-stage and advanced cancers. one of those cancers is early-stage non—small cell lung cancer. keytruda may be used with certain chemotherapies before surgery when you have early-stage lung cancer, which can be removed by surgery, and then continued alone after surgery to help prevent your lung cancer from coming back. keytruda can cause your immune system to

happening in the northeast, look, turkey has a real ann coulter enters particularly when it comes to the pkk and terrorism, which is an enduring threat to turkey. at the same time again we want to avoid sparking any kind of additional conflict in syria at a time when want to see the transition to an interim government into a better way forward for syria. and part of that also has to be ensuring that isis doesn't rear its ugly head again. and critical to making sure that doesn't happen is the so-called stf, the syrian democratic forces, that we've been supporting for they have been critical in making sure isis is kept at bay, critical also to guarding the pretension that in detention facilities were fighters had been detained for years, , keeping them off the battlefield, cuban boy from rejoining isis. that's a critical mission ander it's one we have to see pursued with ford. >> will that be the message or to was purpose one of the things but again on of these conversations are looking to bring all the countries in the region to give as a look beyond the region in a unified approach to suppor

and terrorism _ when it comes to the pkk and terrorism which is an enduring threat — terrorism whichthreat to— terrorism which is an enduring threat to turkey. at the same time, — threat to turkey. at the same time, we _ threat to turkey. at the same time, we want to avoid sparking any kinds — time, we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside of syria at a time — conflicts inside of syria at a time when we want to see this transition _ time when we want to see this transition to an interim government, into a better way forward — government, into a better way forward for syria and part of that — forward for syria and part of that also _ forward for syria and part of that also has to be ensuring isis that also has to be ensuring isis does— that also has to be ensuring isis does not rear its ugly head _ isis does not rear its ugly head again and critical to making _ head again and critical to making sure that does not happen— making sure that does not happen is the so—called syrians democratic forces that we have been _ democratic forces that we have been supporti

the kurdistan workers party, known as pkk , banned in the uk known as pkk, banned in the uk since 2001ged an armed separatist campaign in turkey since the 1980s. officers have thanked the kurdish community in london for their patience during their ongoing inquiries. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is set to begin testifying today in a trial over charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. it's taking place today after a court rejected a request to postpone it until march 2025, despite the ongoing war in gaza. he's expected to arrive very shortly in court. netanyahu is facing charges in three cases, known as case 1000 2000 and case 4000. the trial venue has been moved from jerusalem to tel aviv for added security, with his testimony to be heard in a fortified underground hall . and fortified underground hall. and back here at home, hundreds of tractors are set to roll into westminster this week as farmers protest changes to agricultural inheritance tax. rally organisers say that october's budget proposal is a death knell for british farming , limiting for british farming

feels that this kurdish militia is closely allied, if not indistinguishable from, their own domestic pkkausing trouble and killing people in turkey for decades. so they are hugely sensitive about that element on the southern border and america got involved because the kurds need to be supported. also, let's remember, overthe to be supported. also, let's remember, over the last few years at the kurdish groups had done the most effective fighting against the psychopaths of isis, much more effective than the other groups. america understandably has supported them and felt they were the most effective an