he is pressing sergei lavrov during a meeting in moscow.is also expected to discuss the future of president assad during talks later with president putin. hoda abdel hamid is following the story there. how much can he press the russians when it comes to this political transition in syria? >> reporter: well, we still don't have any details about what happened during that meeting. if not for the words of the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry, and she just said it was a very long meeting that lasted about four hours. she said they went through details about a transitional goc government. details about a new constitution, but she did say in the end all of the details will emerge, once the two men, john kerry, and sergei lavrov will hold a press conference. that should happen in a couple of hours. in the meantime they are heading to the kremlin where there is a meeting with vladimir putin. but john kerry is seeking for russia to put pressure on the government in syria, for the government to tackle seriously the core issue of these geneva talks

tell us what has come out of that meeting between sergei lavrov and john kerry, hoda. >> reporter: we don't have much details except for the words of the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry who said it was a very long meeting, one that lasted about four hours, in which they did discuss syria, and she underlined they discussed ukraine and north africa, and it's all we know at this stage. except also we know one more detail is it was the birthday of sergei lavrov on monday, and john kerry wished him happy birthday. other than that, both men are now heading towards the kremlin. they should be meeting with vladimir putin very shortly and after that, they will hold a press conference, and that's why we don't have much detail so far, the spokeswoman did say she was not going to elaborate on that long meeting, but she said that also she can say is that they went through the details about how to come to this -- how to bring about this transitional government. they talked about the constitution, and again, how to make sure that the syrian government delegation stops procrastinati procrastinati

he told lavrov the current pause in fighting isn't enough. >> many people are very hopeful, sergei, ourounterparts, our hopeful that these meetings here in moscow here today have an ability to be able to further define and chart the road ahead so that we can bring this conflict in syria to a close, as fast as possible. >>> and in syrian today russian air strikes have helped syrian government forces re-enter the ancient city of palmyra. hoda abdel hamid has more. >> reporter: the russians have been saying that they were carrying out air strikes in and around palmyra, we also saw on russian television reporters reporting from the hills surrounding palmyra. they have been announcing for a few days that soon the syrian government forces will be able to enter palmyra. now that news broke out to us a few hours ago. however, it is very possible that when john kerry met with sergei lavrov earlier today, they -- the two men already knew that piece of information. probably john kerry would want -- would want to see more involvement from the russians in the sense they would like to see russia put

steinmeyer -- steinmeier met with their gay lab rob, discussing -- met with sergey lavrov, and they wereing about the fate of nadiya savchenko. the minsk cease-fire agreement contains a phrase about soldiers, but relations between kiev and moscow are at rock-bottom, and savchenko's conviction could prove to be a diplomatic nightmare for both nations. reporter: she is hailed as a hero. the government says they will do all they can to free her. the court sentenced her to 22 years in prison. within minutes of the announcement, a message from the president left janco -- president lepchenko appeared. they were detained in 2015. soldiers from both sides are frequently captured by the opposition along the ukrainian front. last year, the red cross was able to visit more than 600 detainees from pro-russian separatist areas. they were denied access to soldiers in jails run by the rebels. meanwhile, the gradual process of prisoner exchange is underway. last week, the ukrainian soldier and two other prisoners were freed after hundreds of days jailed by pro-russian rebels. >> it was a nightmare. the

secretary of state john kerry and his russian counter part sergei lavrov. it's clear that i think they're doing a bit of arm twisting because they want something from secretary kerry. i can't tell you what that something is. clearly i think there is something behind the scenes, a concession they're trying to get from the u.s. side. i think also after that russian military pullout that they're announced and started in syria, maybe this is a signal to the assad regime we're not abandoning you all together. >> and our diplomatic editor james bays there in geneva. twitter turned ten years old today. a tech giant that struggles to lead an industry that it helped to pioneer. >> a group of millionaires has written to governor andrew cuomo asking him to raise taxes on the state's wealthiest residents to help with the poor and aging infrastructure. they had plans to increase taxes on millionaires, but the republican controlled senate opposes that idea. > today marks the major milestone for today's popular social media site. it was ten years ago that the first-ever t

why the coming hours, the meeting between the russians, vladimir putin, and his foreign minister sergei lavrov and secretary of state john kerry will be so important. >> the israeli military has cut access to the west bank. it the closure will continue until midnight saturday. authorities say exceptions will be made for humanitarian and medical cases. israel believe palestinian attacks are more likely during the jewish holidays. a british judge has decided that a london based trader who is accused of contributing to the u.s. wall street crash should be extr extradited to the u.s. authorities say that they would scoop markets and let a trillion dollars be wiped from the dow jones in 2010. he's facing 22 charges of fraud and market manipulation. >>> in south africa police are reported to have launcheed a you corruption investigation into the president's son and the powerful gupta family. a south africa radio station said that the investigation of his son follows a contemplate made by the opposition party the democratic alliance. three years ago underground water reserves were discovered in one o

however, it is very possible that when john kerry met with sergei lavrov earlier today, they -- these men already new that piece of information. probably john kerry would want -- would want to see more involvement from the russians in the sense they would like to see russian put its weight again, putting pressure on president bashar al-assad. >> hoda abdel hamid in moscow there for us. courtney kealy joins us live to break this down a little bit more on the talks. who has the upper hand? >> i would say russia. russia has had the upper hand for quite a while now. they really do help negotiate anything that bashar al-assad is willing to do. they have had the military on the ground. they are still backing syria with air strikes in palmyra right now with air support. secretary of state john kerry has the patience of a saint. he is going back and forth. he is -- i mean to be a fly on the wall would be interesting, but it would be long. >> uh-huh. >> they both need each other. russia and the u.s. are really the only two countries that will be able to help continue to try to find peace in sy

in the coming hours, the meeting between the russians, vladimir putin, and his foreign minister sergei lavrovd the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry who is starting a trip to moscow will be so important. >>> hundreds of syrian refugees are still arriving in greece every day. the u.n. refugee agency says the refugee camps have become detention centers and is no longer prepared to work there. >> reporter: for weary refugees arriving in greece, the blue tabs of the united nations have been a welcome sight. staff have been guiding people to the camps, which have become known as hot spots. not anymore. >> under the new provisions, these so-called hot spots have now become detention facilities, so with line with our policy, we have suspended some of our activities at all of these closed centers on the island. >> reporter: they say the deal when the e.u. and turkey which is meant to stop the flow of refugees through europe is being prematurely implemented and without proper safeguards. the new arrivals are meant to be able to apply for asylum, but it also means people are confined to the camps unt

at a joint press conference, sergey lavrov said there is a main stumbling block in eastern ukraine.00 people have killed, with large portions of land under rebel control. gone -- the -- the tester finds flaws in the f-35. they say they are onhe right track. powered by our 2400 journalists in more than 150 news bureaus around the world. i am mark crumpton. david? looking at some of the day's big movers, oil has plunged. strong u.s. crude oil, coupled with throughput only intensified record domestic oversupply. oil dragged copper down, $2.24 a pound, and gold futures the lowest in almost a month. investors were not as keen. the dollar was strengthened, and james bullard says policymakers should consider raising interest rates at their next meeting. he made that comment during an exclusive interview with bloomberg this morning, and he said they depend on progress and data. i want to get out of the game of how many rate increases this year, and we will take a reasonable policy that will get inflation that to target and get the economy on a good recovery path. now a professor at the colu

he spoke to his russian counterpart sergey lavrov today about maintaining the fragile truce. >>> the american release of an american student is being demanded in north korea. the university of virginia student has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda banner from a hoe tell as a souvenir. >> meeting with democratic senators who backed his nomination, the chief judge of the federal appeals court faces an uphill battle being confirmed. judge garland spending nearly 20 years on that appeals court. >> many consider his background impeccable. david shuster takes a closer look at his career on the bench. >> mr. president, it's a great privilege to be nominated by a fellow chicagoan. >> born and raised in the midwest, emit have emerged from central casting, graduating from harvard law school then after clerking for two esteemed federal judge, practiced corporate law at arnold and porter, one of the nation's most respected firms. he became a partner after only four years, and four years after that, he ditched the wealth and prestige to join the justice department

. >> this is coming from the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. it is interesting that is coming hours before the talks are supposed to start, saying the y.p.g. should be here and should be invited to the talks. this has been a problem for sometime. last time everyone gathered here a few weeks ago, this was an issue. russia saying they should be part, russia saying they should not be invited to the talks. currently they don't have an invitation and the invitees last time when people gathered here in geneva, but when i pressed staffan de mistura on this issue in a recent interview, he said it is a subject that will be revisited later. >> all right, thanks so much. our diplomatic editor james bays. >>> five years of war in syria has left the country literally in ruins. a truce is in place, but airstrikes and fighting continue and thousands of syrians are starving. the u.n. estimates that more than 250,000 people have been killed since the start of the war, but it stopped counting back in 2014, so the syrian observatory for human rights for example s

and asked his foreign minister sergey lavrov to intensify the russian role in the peace process. a lot of questions b at this stage because russia has been absolutely key, the trump card in many ways for assad regime as we come very close to the fifth anniversary of the war in syria. russia played a ski role particularly in new york at the u.n. security council. those vetoes that russia cost back by china very important for the assad regime and then the big game change are and that was in september last year as world leaders were gathering. russia sent in their military support, sood was o assad was ok burner. russia has achieved a change of the balance of power on the ground in syria certainly boosted assad and in fact boosted russia, an outcast, back at the international tom -- top table. what's not clear is why is president putin doing this now? has he just decide that he's done enough to hypothesis president assad and the odds are stacked in his favor, and they can lock in the games militarily or is it something bigger? is he thinking it is time to change horses and no longer

kerry told sergey lavrov the current pause isn't enough. >> many are very hopeful, sergei, our counterpartsith whom you and i have both talked in the last days, are hopeful that these meetings here in moscow today have an ability to be able to further define and chart the road ahead so that we can bring this conflict in syria to a close as fast as possible. >> kerry is expected to discuss the future of bashar al assad during talks with russian president vladimir putin. al jazeera is live in moscow. you heard the secretary of state saying he's focused on charting a path healed to end the syrian conflict. are there details coming out of his meeting with lavrov about what that exactly means? >> not yet, and i don't think there will be any details until much later on in the day after actually john kerry and sergey lavrov head to the kremlin to meet with vladimir putin and then they will hold their press conference. one can imagine what they're talking about. the geneva talks have reached some sort of a stumbling block at this point. the u.n. envoy, staffan de mistura complaining about the fact

. >>> russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, say they are optimistic about the cease-fire in syria. robert amsterdam is an international lawyer with amsterdam & partners. why should we be optimistic about this cease-fire agreement when you still havections on thd in syria that probably won't be putting their weapons down. >> i'm not sure we should be optimistic. i think this is a difficult moment. the fact is the russians have not stopped bombing. they have a list of groups they feel they can deal with with impunity. this may, in fact, weaken the situation relative to turkey and that could escalate matters. i don't think there's a large cause for optimism just yet. >> isn't putin heading in the right direction on at least getting leaders to speak together? he picked up the phone personally and called a number of global leaders to try to move somewhere towards finding some type of resolution. mr. putin is an expert at exacerbating a crisis and then pretending to be a peacemaker as he has recently d

why the coming hours, the meeting between the russians, vladimir putin and his foreign minister sergei lavrov, and the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, who is starting a trip to moscow, will be so important. >> syrian government forces meanwhile have reportedly fought their way to the outskirts of the historic city of palmyra. the syrian state news agency said that the military has cleared the hills outside of the city of isil fighters. they're trying to capture palmyra, which includes the unesco world heritage site. it wases captured in may. >>> president hopeful jeb bush has backed ted cruz saying that he's the best choice to take the white house. we go to--quite frankly if you're endorsing another candidate at this stage of the republican race means that you did not win a huge support. but it is suggesting that part of the republican establishment is now comfortable with ted cruz. there are two reasons why jeb bush has done what he has done. first, he dislikes donald trump intensely. they do not get on. he's aware that donald trump in the early days of his campaign fought against jeb bu

in the coming hours, the meeting between the russians, vladimir putin, and his foreign minister sergei lavrove u.s. secretary of state john kerry who is starting a trip to moscow will be so important. >>> the underup's refugee agency has withdrawn its staff from camps receiving refugees and migrants on lesvos and other greek islands. >> we have been working in greece for several years now, and since the beginning of this crisis, we have been on the island of lesvos, and the island of kios, and some of the other islands receiving most of the refugees and migrants. one of the activities was to transport people once they land to centers where they are being registered, and where they are provided with assistance, and give them the document that allows them to continue with their travel to the mainland of greece. now since sunday, under the new e.u.-turkey agreement, the policy has changed, and these centers are no longer reception centers, but closed centers, in fact detention centers. people are being -- are not allowed to leave these places and to move on to the mainland. therefore, we have de

however, it is very possible that when john kerry met with sergey lavrov earlier today, they viewed two men that already knew that piece of information. we don't know what they were discussing during that meeting. what we do know from the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry the meeting lasted for hours as they discussed also ukraine, a very important issue for the rigses, at least. probably john kerry would want to see more involvement from the russians in the sense they would like to see russia put its weight again, putting pressure on president bashar al assad. we know that the two sides are at adds on the future of bashar al assad in that transitional government, but at the moment, his frustration that the syrian part and the government side is procrastinating in tackling the core issue of these geneva talks. i think also probably, john kerry would like to understand really how much pressure or much protection would i say is vladimir putin giving bashar al assad. the announcement of the draw down of the russian troops came as a surprise to absolutely everyone. this is a draw down, it

kerry met his russian counterpart sergei lavrov and called for unity in the fight against isil saying attacks in brussels. >>> forcing their way for palma roo. isil fighters took it in may last year and its recapture would be a significant victory for president assad's forces. mohamed jamjoon reports. >> reporter: the pictures broadcast on syrian state television are said to show a significant advance. syrian government troops fighting to retake historic palmyra from isil. state media also showed war plainplanes and helicopters helg overhead as soldier soldiers apd on the ground. fighting continued outside the city on thursday after the syrian army moved to the city outskirts on wednesday. isil captured the city which includes a unesco world heritage site last may and began a campaign of mass executions and destroying an she want sites. strategically situated between duh mass russ and dare sewer, the location makes it an extremely important one for the syrian armed forces and its allies. while russia recently withdrew most of its source forces from syria. the government of president b

secretary of state john kerry and his russian counter part, sergey lavrov. it's clear, i think they're doing a bit of arm twisting because they want something from secretary kerry. i can't tell you what that something is. clearly i think there is something behind the scenes, a concession they are trying to get from the u.s. side. i think also after that russian military mull out that they announced and certainly started in syria, maybe this is a signal to the assad regime we're not abandoning you altogether. >> al jazeera's diplomaticette door james boys in geneva. the syrian opposition said it will decide by the end of the week whether it will continue taking partly in the peace talks. >>> the pentagon is deploying more marines into iraq after the death of a u.s. service member there. staff sergeant louis war don is the first marine to die in iraq in five months. he was killed at a base outside of mosul by rocket fire. several other troops were injured. that city is an isil stronghold. the anti isil coalition is going after troops in iraq. anbar has been un

. >>> secretary of state john kerry meeting with his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov, in moscow.ing cessation of violence in syria, the ukrainian crisis as well as the international fight against isis. >>> and iraqi military spokesmen says the long-awaited operation to recapture the northern city of mosul from the islamic state has begun. iraqi forces retook several villages east of the city. >>> at a state dinner in buenos aires last night, two tango dancers approached president obama and the first lady and coaxed the two of them on to the dance floor. each did a few twirls before sitting back down. good sports. that's your cnbc news update for this hour. for now, back to you and "squawk on the street." >> that video is everywhere today. courtney, thank you. >>> a big call from ubs this morning, initiating wells fargo with a accelerating, citing risks to the company's revenue growth and credit performance. the analyst behind that call, brendan hawkin of ubs, joins us now to discuss it. we should note, the financials are the worst performers right now, wells fargo getting hit. th