and now the russians are here. and they are all in.e than 200 russian air strikes boosted the syrian troops here and the battle continues. it's only been a few days since the is sir s troops took this town and we can still hear mortar fire small arms fire. those are the front lines a few miles away. in the three-months since russia joined the fighting their forces have turned the tide of battle. massive air strikes have pulverized rebels and bolstered the assad regime. a close moscow ali. we went to sea on board a russian destroyers, sailed out into the mediterranean and saw how much firepower moscow committed to the effort. cruise missiles on board, it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria, it's sending a signal to the rest of the world about the russian navy's modern capabilities. at the main russian air base in syria, jets are roorg day and night. the perimeter bristling with helicopter gun ships. this is the tip of the spear of russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've thrown more than 5,000 sorties fr

things there some russian -- signs the russians are tired -- starting to dig us more seriously. it is my hope that we could start taking off the sanctions. we are not sanctioning for its own sake. the first part of your question was, we have lots of objectives towards the russians. how do sanctions figure? we imposed sanctions because of of what russia did in ukraine. if we had not imposed sanctions, i don't know what the situation would be like on the ground, but i am pretty confident it would be a whole lot worse. a -- theover a see russian claim to about one third of ukraine, and their extravagant ideas that were being floated? they have vanished. russia seems more oriented towards a diplomatic solution. we welcome it. we hope we can get there this year. >> i should mention, we will have plenty of time for questions from you, so if you want to follow up further on the russian issue, we welcome that. i wanted to turn to a different country, north korea. i have been in the news recently. with respect to russia, you had identifiable targets to sanction close to the president, im

until russian air power arrived. >> so you came in on the ground, and the russians were in the >> yes. >> and now this is syria. >> yes. >> salma is yours. >> reporter: the nightmarish fifth year. been killed here. homes. millions of refugees. and in this chaos isis was born. and now the russians are here. and they are all in. more than 200 russian air strikes boosted the syrian troops here. and the battle continues. it's only been a few days since the syrian government troops took this town, and we can still hear in the hills and villages beyond, mortar fire, small arms fire. those are the front license anes a few miles away. in the three months since russia joined the fighting their air forces have turned the tide of battle. massive air strikes and cruise missile attacks have pulverized for decades a close moscow ally. we also went to sea on board a russian destroyer, sailed out into the mediterranean, and saw just how much firepower moscow has committed to this effort. the russian missile cruiser varyag. it's got cruise missiles on board. and it not only is supporting the russian c

russian ministry of defense, then taken on a russian military transport on a circuitous five- hour flight over territory friendly to russia- the caspian sea, iran, iraq, beforfinally landing in syria. it was almost midnight when our plane took off from a russian airbase outside moscow. as we started to take pictures out the window, we were told ny-- "no"-- something we heard often during the next three days. >> no, no, no. >> whitaker: this was the first face we saw after landing. that's syrian president bashar al-assad. this once was a syrian airport. since the summer, the russians have built b bracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions, ererting a bit of russia in the heart of assad-controlled syria. this is mostly friendly from the closest frontlines, but the russians aren't taking any chances. helicopter gun ships constantly patrolled the perimeter. they took us out along newly extended runways to watch a steady series of planes taking off. the roar was deafening. the russians invited about a dozen news organizations on this tour o

he was a russian jew. a theater actor who went on to stardom in abc's "barney miller," as the curmudgeonly detective fish. >> in an emergency you would be the first one i would call. >> you should call me first. i need time to put my teeth in. >> reporter: oddly, vigoda spent years fighting an urban legend he had already died. >> well, the rumors are that he died. >> abe is there in the control room? he is. >> reporter: that's him on david letterman's show in 1988. like his character in "the godfather" -- >> tell mike it was only business. >> reporter: -- he knew the end was coming. >> tom, can you get me off the for old time's sake? >> can't do it. >> reporter: abe vigoda was 94. david wright, abc news, new york. >> quite a legend. >> he also performed on and off broadway. just a really, really incredible man. >>> all right. coming up, the countdown to valentine's day. >> oh. so if you've been looking for love in all the wrong places, could one of those places be the workplace? >> really? >> yeah. >> like

a british inquiry says it is likely the russian president gave the ok for the murder of a former russians by. alexander was poisoned by radioactive polonium. his family is welcome to the findings in the kremlin says they are bogus. leaders debate the approach for dealing with the migration crisis. and how to tackle the root causes of the problem. in the third day of rioting in tunisia, the third day he reps into violence after the revolution that sparked the arab spring. i'm sarah kelly. welcome to the program. explosive findings after a british inquiry into the death of a former russians by in london. the killing of alexander 10 years ago by radiation poisoning was probably signed off by russian president vladimir putin himself. chilly relations between russia and england and have just become colder. >> britain's royal court of inquiry's supporting the claim her husband made as he lay dying on a hospital bed. >> and of course, the words my husband spoke on his deathbed. he accused to mr. putin of his murder. it is a standard of independence and fairness. >> he fled with his family to lon

russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've flown more than 5,000 sorties targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shaped the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of caution. even after declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain, and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting isis. and they accuse their forces of indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. we saw russian troops loading so-called dumb bombs, unguided munitions. very inaccurate. lots of potential for collateral damage. but when i spoke with russian general igor kornoshenkov, he scornfully dismissed the charge. "what civilian facilities are you talking about," he says. "these are powerful groups of terrorists." one thing is clear. there is a new reality in the for "nightline" i'm terry moran, salma, syria. >>> thank you for watching. tune in to "gma" tomorrow, and as always we're online on our "nightline" facebook page and on abcnews.com. good night, america. >>

things there some russian -- signs the russians are tired -- starting to dig us more seriously. it is my hope that we could start taking off the sanctions. we are not sanctioning for its own sake. the first part of your question was, we have lots of objectives towards the russians. how do sanctions figure? we imposed sanctions because of of what russia did in ukraine. if we had not imposed sanctions, i don't know what the situation would be like on the ground, but i am pretty confident it would be a whole lot worse. a -- theover a see russian claim to about one third of ukraine, and their extravagant ideas that were being floated? they have vanished. russia seems more oriented towards a diplomatic solution. we welcome it. we hope we can get there this year. >> i should mention, we will have plenty of time for questions from you, so if you want to follow up further on the russian issue, we welcome that. i wanted to turn to a different country, north korea. i have been in the news recently. with respect to russia, you had identifiable targets to sanction close to the president, im

we wanted to see the russian base, so we asked and they agreed. we set out on the road to syria, which took us on a detour we didn't expect. to get to the russian airbase in latakia, syria, you have to start here in moscow. you don't just show up at the you have to be invited by the russian ministry of defense, then taken on a russian military transport on a circuitous five- hour flight over territory friendly to russia- the caspian sea, iran, iraq, before finally landing in syria. it was almost midnight when our plane took off from a russian airbase outside moscow. as we started to take pictures nyet-- "no"-- something we heard often during the next three days. >> no, no, no. >> whitaker: this was the first face we saw after landing. that's syrian president bashar al-assad. this once was a syrian airport. since the summer, the russians have built barracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions, erecting a bit of russia in the heart of assad-controlled syria. territory, at least 20 miles from the

the russians have stepped up. they have brought to the table a limited russian capability. they haven't been out of the region in 35 years since they went to afghanistan. that was a failed military operation, as we are all aware of. they know that. they know it. they have selected capability that is very good. and i think if we establish a no-fly zone and we are going to put people in there to protect them, i don't see russians coming in to bomb it. they would be a pariah on the world stage for doing something like that. the more likely protecting a safe zone would be from ill filtration, suicide bombers, something like that where you would need a ground force to protect it or fire a missile or rocket at it. which means you have to bring up from jordan and turkey, missile defense systems to help protect the no-fly zone. i don't think the fear of russian intervention and no-fly zone should paralyze us from establishing that very thing. >> i share your analysis. going back to the soviet union the best analogy is they are like a hotel thief. they try all the doors until they f

he says that russian action in syria drastically altered the situation.his is after we heard in the last few on hours that the russian hair strikes helped force $retake sheikh maskin in the south. dad. >> plane crashes. one-year-old. disorder. >> what is the number one cause of death for police officers in the country? >> suicide. >> it's policy with most departments workers comp to deny any kind of a stress claim. >> post-traumatic stress disorder drove me to become a mental case. >> what is the reluctance to rtionz this.

but when i spoke with russian

i trust the russian justice system. for president vladimir putin, his ambassador called sir robert's report of provocation. his spokesman said it will for their poison his words and relations between russia and britain. katty: syrian government troops have made gains against insurgents. russian airstrikes are playing a critical role in their campaign. russian forces took reporters to see a town which had been out of government control for more than three years. our correspondent sent us this report. mountains,n the there has been heavy fighting. the syrian army has been on the offensive area it is russia's military which is driving us here. one of -- in one of its armored vehicles. they are taking us to this town. the russians told us that the syrian army retook this town a few days ago but we can only spend a short time because there were buildings that were booby-trapped and security is a major concern. in the town you can see thh scars of war and to can feel the tension. there were battles raging here only days ago.

of all russian intelligence operatives whether from the s.s.b. who murdered sasha or from other russian agencies based in the london embassy. i'm also calling for the imposition of targeted economy sanctions and travel bans against named individuals, including mr. putin. >> the british government will freeze the assets of those suspected of the killing. >> the conclusion that the russian state was probably involved in the murder of mr. litvinenko is deeply disturbing. >> it was a murder straight out of a cold war spy novel, the former russian agent litvinenko defected to the west to become a british citizen only to be hunted down and appraised on british soil by his former colleagues. there was antagonism bren litvinenko and putin back to the 1990's. the public inquiry has no legal base but could influence what the government does next. with putin's cooperation need when it comes to defeating isil in syria, a full blown diplomatic row is the last thing the government wants. nate barker, al jazeera, london. >> rory challands has more. >> the russi

the complex battlefield in syria includes the russian air force. bill whittaker was invited to visit russia's main air base there for "60 minutes." >> reporter: this was the first face we saw after landing. that's syrian president bashar al assad. this once was a syrian airport. have built barracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions, erecting a bit of russia in the heart of assad controlled syria. this is mostly friendly territory. but the russians aren't taking any chances. helicopter gunships constantly patrolled the perimeter. they took us out along newly extended runways to watch a steady series of planes taking off. the roar was deafening. the russians invited about a dozen news organizations on this tour of the air base. they especially wanted us to take note of their newest fighter bomber, the su-34. our russian guide in syria, major general igor kanashankov, ministry of defense. over the previous 4 hours, he said, 320 furthers and 34 armored vehicles were destroyed. independent monitori

of all russian intelligence operators. i'm also calling for the imposition of targeted economic sanctions and travel bans against named individuals, including mr putin. >> reporter: russia's ambassador to the u.k., moscow says the findings are basis >> we consider the case and the way it was disposed of, provocation of the british authorities >> reporter: the british government says it will freeze the assets of those suspected of the killing. it was a murder straight out of a cold war spy novel. the former russian agent had defected to the west becoming a british citizen only to be hunted down and poisoned on british soil apparently by his former colleagues. the report suggests there was personal antagonism between him and vladimir putin. he had made attacks on vladimir putin accusing him of paedophilia. >> reporter: it could influence what step the government takes next, but with vladimir putin's cooperation needed when it comes to defeating i.s.i.l. in syria, a full-blown dip la mattic row is the last-- lip low mattic ro

rory challands is in the russian capital moscow. has there been reaction from any of those involved. there certainly has, there has been a wealth of reaction from people. i have not seen gig that relates to vladimir putin, that the russian president might be involved in the death of alexander litvinenko. we heard from the two men at the heart of the place, andrei lugovoy, and dmitri kovtun. he has been brief. he said he had nos comment. he needs a look through the report. andrei lugovoy has been more verbose saying it's nonsense, absurd and once against shows russia's anti-muslim position, and looks like london's pathetic attempt to use a skeleton in the closet. >> the politicize eyeings is something that the russian government has been hammering home too. this is what the ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson. she said that moscow had no expectation that london's report would all of a sudden become impartial, and after analysing the document, we'll issue our own detailed review. there has been a couple of unnamed sources that ha

on a more russian resolution, because 2254 was a draft russian resolution that by the way was rejected by saudi arabia, rejected by turkey, as well as qatar and others, but the united states insisted on goingual with the russians, who already have a huge military presence there if that and the seasoned diplomatic speaking out of that sort of realignment between washington and moscow. >> the russians had a point, saying there were too many fighters in the opposition at the talks, there weren't enough secularists for example, the kurds there. they were excluded. >>> in riyadh, the success of riyadh, because in america, the sense of considering the very tough conditions in syria, the dealts of hundreds of thousands, to of people come to riyadh, there are kurds, communists, secularists, women, men, islamists, liberals and fighters on the ground, so we have the two main fighting groups that are not considered terrorists by the international committee or the european geneva and vienna the government is the government. the government still rules in damascus. the war basically continues, and i

the russian missile cruiser ot cruise missiles on board. and it not only is supporting the russian campaign in syria. it's sending a signal to the rest of the world about the capabilities. russian air base in syria the jets are roaring day and night. the perimeter bristling with helicopter gunships.e spear of russian air power in syria. the russians tell us they've flown more than 5,000 sorties targets. the massive russian commitment here and the way it's rapidly shaped the battlefield stand in sharp contrast to president obama's years of er declaring -- >> that assad needs to go. >> reporter: but the u.s., britain, and others say russia is helping the assad regime a lot more than they're fighting hey accuse their forces of indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. we saw russian troops loading so-called dumb bombs, unguided very inaccurate. lots of potential for collateral damage. but when i spoke with russian general igor kornoshenkov, he issed the charge. "what civilian facilities are "these are powerful groups of te

we worked well with the russians and we worked well with the russians despite the fact that we were also beginning to sanction them at the same time. europe deserves, however, a lot of credit, because when europe joined us in the energy -- the energy sanctions, that was -- that was a game changer. and it was not clear that they would be willing to do it, you know, in the early days. this started under the -- this whole process started under the bush administration. but under the obama administration, it took off. let's hope that we can succeed, but we've come a long way. >> so, moving from sanctions to a totally different issue. given your role and the effort to close guantanamo, i wanted to ask you a few thoughts on that. the president has made clear from the moment he took the oath of office that closing that facility is a major priority for him, and we're now in his final year in office, and so he's got a little less -- a little more than a year, almost a year exactly, to try to carry this out. and, of course, there's a lot of discussion about the role that that facility plays in our