do you think the are including the stf. do you think they are likely _ including the stf.o you think they are likely to _ including the stf. do you think they are likely to give - including the stf. do you think they are likely to give up - including the stf. do you think they are likely to give up the l they are likely to give up the control of the area that they have carved out syria that easily? have carved out syria that easil ? ~ , ., ., easily? well, they are not auoin easily? well, they are not going to _ easily? well, they are not going to give _ easily? well, they are not going to give uo _ easily? well, they are not going to give up control. easily? well, they are notj going to give up control of easily? well, they are not - going to give up control of the area because, ultimately, it is going to be dependent on constitutional order of syria,

do you think the are including the stf. do you think they are likely _ including the stf.e likely to give - including the stf. do you think they are likely to give up - including the stf. do you think they are likely to give up the l they are likely to give up the control of the area that they have carved out syria that easily? have carved out syria that easil ? ~ , ., ., easily? well, they are not auoin easily? well, they are not going to _ easily? well, they are not going to give _ easily? well, they are not going to give uo _ easily? well, they are not going to give up control. easily? well, they are notj going to give up control of easily? well, they are not - going to give up control of the area because, ultimately, it is going to be dependent on constitutional order of syria, whatever constitutional setup is decided by the syrians it might also involve a degree of autonomy for the kurdish entity. but they will need to give up their arms, but is certainly true.— certainly true. what is turkey's _ certainly true. what is turkey's long-term i certainly true. what is l t

, which has its own — working with the stf, which has its own set _ working with the stf, which has itshaving a long, long, long time of hostility toward assad while at the — of hostility toward assad while at the same time hoping to be able _ at the same time hoping to be able to— at the same time hoping to be able to bring him to a peace table — able to bring him to a peace table so— able to bring him to a peace table. so there is that history. _ table. so there is that history, but looking at a donald _ history, but looking at a donald trump administration, i was working on syrian issues in northeast— was working on syrian issues in northeast syria in the coalition against isis when president trump was in his first— president trump was in his first administration. and his demand _ first administration. and his demand that we draw down the troops — demand that we draw down the troops that we had in northeast svria _ troops that we had in northeast svria to — troops that we had in northeast syria to support the stf resulted in bases being handed over to — resulted in bases being handed

this is between hts and stf.general command through some channels, mostly about negotiations between the two neighbourhoods in aleppo where the kurds are still based in this neighbourhood. still based in this nei . hbourhood. . still based in this neiuhbourhood. ., ,., neighbourhood. there are so talks between _ neighbourhood. there are so talks between hts _ neighbourhood. there are so talks between hts and - neighbourhood. there are so talks between hts and the i neighbourhood. there are so i talks between hts and the sdf, the force that includes the kurdish groups. that is very interesting to know. my next question for you is, given the half also been fighting turkish backed forces in the north of syria, and turkey would be seen as closer to hts, the rebel forces who have taken damascus and toppled assad, how much scope is there therefor for hts and the kurds to work together, perhaps to be some sort of broader coalition government in perhaps to be some sort of broader coalit hts >vernment in perhaps to be som

his demand we drilled down the troops we had in northeast syria to support the stf resulted in basesded over to the russians which was a huge pr coup for russia. we need to think about how that is going to play. at the same time, in the same truth tweet, he also said president obama suit -- president obama should have taken a stand on his redline but is the united states supposed intervene or is it not supposed to intervene? president trump does not seem to know where he stands. >> where do you see the future of syria? my last guest was saying she was kind of hopeful but also anxious and a bit nervous. i suppose the world is waiting to see. do you think it can stabilize, it can pivot to some sort of democracy and stability? >> i think syria absolutely can. invasions from the south and turkish pressure on the north and demands for divisions within the country all hurt that process to -- that process. i was in damascus. our member talking to people in the opposition about how is this going to work out in a way that does not involve civil war. i remember them saying to me with utmost se

. >> there has been no change in our posture with respect to support to the stf they continue to be afight against isis mac and they will continue to be so. >>. >> there's been no change with respect to anything and i will defer to my colleagues at the pentagon for that. >> is anyone checked in on the status of the embassy connecting. >> a couple things with respect to that question the checks were still protecting power but the checks have last there embassy in damascus. so that's beyond my grasp unfortunately. we have taken steps to our embassy and we believe our embassy, which of course we are not stopping at the time but that the embassy is still secure. >> what steps? >> it's a security matter so i don't think i should get into it from here but obviously æ >> there are no u.s. personnel or forces but we are at times able to engage with local partner dominic parties to make sure that it's not breached and we have taken steps. [inaudible] >> our stance on this with all the relevant parties has been clear that we don't want to see escalation we don't want to see anyone take advanta

there have been clashes between the syrian national army, the opposition group and the stf.so in this area.

first, to support the stf and to continue their fight against isis, and another important factor, a diplomaticrawing the map that properly they can reach the political level without going through some bloodshed and brutal fightings on the ground.— fightings on the ground. senior federal- -- _ fightings on the ground. senior federal... fellow _ fightings on the ground. senior federal... fellow at _ fightings on the ground. senior federal... fellow at

the stf is a separatist movement that wants to destroy syria. these men call on the rebel leader to push the sdf out. >> we demand the syrian army to head there. we don't want more but if we are forced, all these none will wear military fatigues, and we will march. our job will not be complete until there is complete liberation of syria. we want one state, one syrian state only. simona: but who will rule this one syria? and how? the leading rebel faction turned governing body is from a islamic group. they used to be affiliated with al qaeda, and many here are skeptical whether these men have shed their radical past. hds has taken control of the streets and administrative buildings. this fighter he would not give his full name said that it is building an inclusive transitional government. >> a syrian is syrian. no matter his religion. we are all the sons of this country. now we are providing security. and there is big acceptance, and joy, from the population. and there is an understanding that this is a period of laying the foundations. simona: w

well, - beyond the isis or the counter isis operation, they are supporting the stf watch over these campssis fighters and even children are, and they are in the tens of thousands. the other part is, they are providing determines thatis they are providing determines that is defending the syrian democrat in forces and their civil administration in orth east syria. should they withdraw not only will we have less of an ability to respond to any re—emergence of isis and it let alone figure out what to do with all these families that are in these camps, we are risking an outright confrontation between turkey, the syrian opposition, the syrian arab opposition, as well, other groups, versus kurdish militias, and i hope that can be avoided. there obviously needs to be a resolution. this is not sustainable. i want to be very clear about this. you cannot have different groups running different parts of the country, controlling different resources, but there's either the political process which i do think the us has a role to play, orsomething do think the us has a role to play, or something else, an

at the time, you have the stf, the syrian democratic forces, led primarily by kurds, what's really criticaltaining thousands of isis fighters and territory of 70% of syria's energy reserves and also agricultural wealth, so there is going to be a fight for these resources in the future, and that could cause clashes between all of these various umbrella groups. figs these various umbrella groups. as quick as this movement was by these rebels, this next step really could take some time stub sounds like a complicated stuff. natasha hall, great to get your perspective, thank you. great to get your perspective, thank ou. . ~' great to get your perspective, thank ou. . ~ , ., earlier, i spoke to wa'el alzayat, the ceo for emgage and former state department official, who immigrated to the us from syria when he was younger. first of all, as a syrian american, i would love to get your reaction to what we have seen over the past few days and the rapid fall of the asad regime in syria. days and the rapid fall of the asad regime in syria-— regime in syria. yeah, i grew up in s ria, we regime in syria. ye

obviously we do not want to see fighting between stf and turkish back forces in syria. security and stability are incredibly important particularly at this fragile time right now in syria. so again we would encourage all parties to preserve that peace and stability in support of the people of syria. and let me just go to the phone again real quick. sure these people are not in the room. jeff? >> thank you. regarding syria safeway sense, felt it needed an extra 1000 troops albeit on a temporary basis? you also mention if congress does not pass a spending bill u.s. troops and civilians will not get paid over the holidays. this is not a great time to go without a paycheck although there's never a good time. do u.s. troops and civilians have any recourse to protest that or can they built congress directly for all their expenses until congress passes a spending bill? >> thanks jeff. on your first question centcom for specifics. we have forces in syria again as isnot primarily all focused on what u.s. troops get paid what i would tell you much of that depends active duty incl

and then the stf which has been our key line of defence was very successful as well.d to taking care of a lot of the problems there but we have to be very careful that isis does not fill any type of the back end. that is something we have to be aware of. israel i think comes out way ahead of the steal because they had an opportunity to make their presence known and to literally step into some areas that had been handed by the united nations before on that western area. so i think israel came out way ahead on this thing. i think our ally tÜrkiye has an opportunity now to get there his own on the south side of their country when they want to get kind of a no man's land established. a safe zone to protect against insurgents coming into tÜrkiye. so the rest of it we have some real challenges. we have over 900 men and women who are in harm's way in syria. but they play a very important role in keeping isis at bay. >> sandra: got it. i know that is a big concern for so many in the wake of all of this. meanwhile, senator, more on president trump's picks as he works his way t

so this is a stf some of carter's policy priorities. it reads like a chart atheye doctor. it starts big. it small. so many, so many policy. and if wthk about these a little bit of detail, we can also see how they might relate or not relate to the main priorities of the democratic party thatheas now leader of we've got energy that's sothing we often associated with carter now this sort of an environmental orientation we've got foreign policy we've got all this other stuff right? health care, the economy, which is almost always forront in peopl's minds and especially in the seventies, is forefront people's minds. cart ia big advocate of nser protection, deregulation of industries which he thought would be better for for consumers. we've got urban politics. we have all of these things that carter to be and wants to who's who's in the photo recognize the person with carter and the photo you got across that is joe biden a new new senator joe biden. yes so they were in a sort of close relationship early on. biden was an early endorser. so, yeah. so one of the things that we take

domestic policy council chief of stf office for the georg w. bush administration. in015 c-span interviewed representative elise stefanik to learn more about her family in her path to becoming a lawmaker. >> representative elise stefanik from 21st congressional district includes the north country the youngest woman ever elected to congress what is that like? >> i did not know is over the youngest woman ever elected until after i won my primary. not only about the historic nature and after i want my primary which was a very competitive that media started covering the race track and how i will be the youngest woman ever elected was interesting for me was at campaign rallies particularly towards the end parents are bringing their elementary school age daughters to events these are nonpolitical families republicans, democrats, unaffiliated voters to show their daughters an example of a role model of what they could achieve. it is something that i take very seriously as a role model in this country. not just for republican women but for all women who want to whatever rol

. >>> you can get the stf be o quarter squawk pod on your favorite podcast app and listen anytime.r old, we've got you. with verizon, trade in any phone, any condition. it's your last chance to get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence. get four, on us. on any unlimited plan. only on verizon. ♪ (animatronic santa) ho, ho, ho! (vo) time to move? make it easy with opendoor. sell your home in any season, for any reason. (animatronic santa) look at me! i am festive! (vo) start your move at opendoor.com hive digital technologies is embracing the ai boom by supercharging its data centers with nvidia gpu chips, a move that diversifies hive's revenue streams and solidifies its position as a leader in the digital economy. hive digital technologies. >>> welcome back to "squawk box." as the country pre-pares for trump to take office, we have others preparing for the tariffs. we have the professor at yale law school. oren kass is here. executive director of american compass. good morning to you both. i want to understand what companies should be doing and can be doing to get ahead of this to t

talking about the stf health care and why it is so expensive.e said one of the main reasons for this increasing cost and ucti choic the health insurance industry consolidation that occurred in the wake of obamacare and similartate level initiatives around the country. a major component l with theitioof expanded coverage mandate, a list of procedures known as essential health benefits that insurers offering plans were required to cover regardless of individual circums. the impact of these mandates and a the others that have piled on at ate level in the ensuing years has been to crea cost on insurers who then pass those costs along to consumers. that was in the washington examiner. what you were just describing as allowing you to have coverage, this former representatives is saying is one of the things that is contributing to the higher cost of coverage overall. what do you think of that? caller: i don't agree at all because i think the essential things that they are requiring them to pay for our largely prevented. colonoscopies, mammograms and so

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 supporting the same people as they emerge from dictatorship. thanks. thanks everyone. the clerk: ms. ernst, aye. >> thank you. thank you very much. this is an honor, tremendous honor. brought some our compatriots along with us. they're going to do beautiful jump 40 for the the next four years, and it's really been something very special and i have to say "time" magazine getting this honor for the second time, i think i'm like it better this