syria. and there's a very, very high risk of actual military confrontation. the russians have a deconflict shun line. israel notifies them when they're going to strike inside of syria. i, so the russians are very keen to avoid an escalation with the israelis. i don't think the iranians, are either that professional or that, they're more risk-tolerant i think than the russians are in terms of what they're willing to do to or with the israelis. into conflicts that they would rather not get into. >> at the risk of tell me how this ends question, care to hazard a quick guess on the prediction and how you think idlib is ultimately going to be resolved. >> i agree in general terms with michael that the russians are not in a huge hurry to resolve it. it does -- parts of idlib are uncomfortably close to lataquia province. when i was -- my first kind of stint or dealing with the russians over syria was in the summer of 2016 in geneva at the syrian support group and this was when there were a couple of rocket attacks and things like that on their air base. they claim emanated out o

constitutional committee should begin early next year kicking off a political peace process in syria russian foreign minister sergey lavrov made the comments in a joint statement after a meeting with un special envoy. in geneva. belgian prime minister charles michel has announced his resignation michel was forced to set up a minority government last week his right wing coalition partners have quit in protest over belgium backing a new win pact on migration and inquiry into zimbabwe's july presidential election has found the army's use of live bullets to stop violence was disproportionate and unjustified six protesters were killed and dozens injured in the unrest emmerson in gone became the first elected head of state in zimbabwe in thirty seven years america's top public health officer has called for action to curb the use of electronic cigarettes by teenagers and adolescents surgeon general jerome adams said young people's use of the devices at. exploded to epidemic proportions he urged adults to educate youth about the dangers of they. were now to china it has been forty years since china

constitutional committee should begin early next year kicking off a political peace process in syria russian foreign minister sergey lavrov made the announcement in a joint statement after a meeting with un special envoy stuff under mr and geneva. america's top a public health officer has called for action to curb the use of elec tronics cigarettes by teenagers and adolescents surgeon general droom adams said young people's use of the devices had exploded to epidemic proportions he urged adults to educate youth about the dangers of the. japan's government has approved a major increase in defense spending and weapons capability in the coming years the country will get its first aircraft carrier since world war two and it will place a large order for advanced fighters from the us took us says it's a meeting to counter chinese moves to expand its military presence in the area which is so obvious government said it's also aims to address continuing tensions with north korea. while this comes at the end of a year that saw john yang make moves to improve ties with its other arch enemies the united

constitutional committee should begin early next year kicking off a political peace process in syria russian foreign minister sergey lavrov made that announcement in a joint statement after a meeting with un special envoy stuff on demist in geneva. japan has approved a major increase in defense spending the country will get its first aircraft carriers since the second world war and it will upgrade submarines and air defenses . government says it's aiming to counter chinese moves to expand military presence in the air question president vladimir putin says that his country can easily make and deploy land based intermediate range missiles if the united states quits a key arms control agreement and u.s. accuses russia of violating the treaty and warns that it will tear it up if washer does not return to comply it's america's top public health officer has called for action to curb the use of electronic cigarettes by teenagers and adolescents surgeon general jerome adams said that young people's use of the devices had exploded to epidemic proportions he urged adults to educate me about the danger

airstrike but he said israel would never allow iran to establish a permanent military presence in syria. russian president vladimir putin says russia will begin to deploy a new hypersonic weapon next year this follows final tests of the new intercontinental off on guard system called a success he says the nuclear capable missile could fly it twenty times the speed of sound and maneuver up and down and they bring it to breach defense systems. opposition supporters in the democratic republic of congo are angered by new election delays authorities say sunday's presidential vote will be postponed until march in three congolese cities known to be opposition strongholds election is intended to pave the way to a democratic transfer of power from president joseph kabila. indonesian authorities are issuing extreme weather warnings in areas where saturday's tsunami killed at least four hundred thirty people heavy rains have caused reverse to burst their banks flooding streets and submerging some villages up to the rooftops here's more from our correspondent on a piece. of all. of these villages thought th

minority in syria historically syria was never a part of russian empire so we don't want to force anything on syrians what we want to avoid is that syria become said base for some kind of a islamist terrorist organization or islamist terrorist state. like isis tried to be let me remind you of that thousands of russian citizens unfortunately who became militant islamists they. emigrated to syria and they took part in the fighting against. the syrian government russia condemns these people. of course ok so all of what russia wants is that the syrians should rebuild their own country the syrian government should control the territory that is the unite here they want and we and we see now that the darker side doesn't object if if if there is no terrorist state or that there are two of syria was russia and turkey are great ally as you leave syria is and he joined us that you can see mali thank you elias is the fellas let me bring you into this the turds the kurds pardon me say that they feel betrayed. by donald trump should they be are they. yes they are betrayed from a s

troops prepare to withdraw from syria russian and turkish officials are meeting to see what comes next. this was planned after president trump announced the withdrawal. kurtish -- kurdish soldiers feel vulnerable. >>> yellow vest demonstrations in france as thousands marched in the streets. the protest turned violent as people clashed with police. this is the 7th win week of protests in response to taxes. >>> cars burned outside of a newspaper building in paris. several vehicles were set on fire. police are looking into if the incident is tied to the yellow vest protest. >> demonstrators showing support for antigovernment protesters. the people who gas irsay they are standing in solidarity with family who are protesting. the demonstrations are on the 10th consecutive days. more than 30 protesters have been killed and 300 wounded. >>> fremont police are searching for a missing man considered at risk. gerald medina was last seen this morning leaving a care facility. he's an amputee. he's 5'5". weighs 160 pounds. he suffers from medical and mental health conditions. >>> a bay area man is

troops prepare to withdraw from syria russian and turkish officials are meeting to discuss what is next. the meeting comes after president donald j. trump announced plans to pull all troops currently in syria. they are no longer needed since isis has lost most of its territory . kurdish soldiers who have fought isis are worried a departure of u.s. troops could leave them vulnerable to attack by turkey . details of the withdrawal are steel still being discussed. >>> yellow this demonstrations continued in france, the protest turned violent as people clash with police. officers fired tear gas and stun grenades in response. several people were injured. this is the seventh week of yellow vest protest in response to taxes, living costs and the presidents policies. >>> the shark score a was a one blowout. find out who advances to the championship game, next in sports. we have sports we have the coverage of the bowl games. >> a lot of people have been waiting for this day because of two semi final games have been kind of lopsided. it's now set is done a decisive way cotton bowl a bald eagle wa

that should kick off a political peace process in syria. russianoreign minister sergey lavrov made that announcement in a joint statement after a meeting with the u.n. special envoy in geneva. belgian prime minister charles michel has announced his resignation. michel was forced to set up a minority government last week. his right-wing coalition partners had quit in protest over belgium backing a u.n. pact on migration. an inquiry into zimbabwe's july presidential election has found the army's use of live bullets to stop violence was disproportionate and unjustified. six protesters were killed and dozens injured in the unrest. emmerson mnangagwa became the first elected into state in zimbabwe in 37 years. japan's government has increased, or approved a major increase in defense spending in weapons capability for the next coming years. the country will get its first aircraft carriers since the second world war and it will place a large order for advanced stealth fighters from the united states. tokyo says that it is aiming to counter chinese moves t

committee should begin early next year and that should kick off the political peace process in syria russian foreign minister sergei lavrov made that announcement in a joint statement after a meeting with the u.n. special envoy stuff on de mistura in geneva belgian prime minister charles michel has announced his resignation the show was forced to set up a minority government last week his right wing coalition partners had quit in protest over belgium backing a u. win pact on migration. and inquiry into zimbabwe's july presidential election has found the army's use of live bullets to stop violence was disproportionate and unjustified six protesters were killed and dozens injured in the unrest emerson. became the first elected head of state in zimbabwe in thirty seven years. japan's government has increased or approves a major increase in defense spending in weapons capability for the next coming years the country will get its first aircraft carriers since the second world war and it will plays a large order for advanced stealth fighters from the united states tokyo says that it is aiming to c

syria or the presence of a venue and troops in syria and we will do what every with every the portent our people regardless if you have american troops russian troops or any other nations so while the u.s. is our allies are dismayed by the trunk decision those with very different views about the future of syria the so-called a stana group turkey russia and iran will benefit with more freedom to act inside the country jamesburg days. of the united nations are sami handy is the editor in chief of the current affairs magazine international interests he joins us now from london thanks very much for being with us a president trump says u.s. troops are needed there any more he says eisel has been defeated is it accurate to say that. i think the problem with determining whether isis have been defeated is that isis is more than just a military term it's a political term it's directed at anybody who is against a particular nation russia will point at certain groups and say these isis us will disagree that these particular groups are isis so i think with regards to this cover of fighting isis is true that there are remnants but they are not a major fo

minority in syria historically syria was never a part of russian empire so we don't want to force anything on syrians what we want to avoid is that syria become said base for some kind of a islamist terrorist organization or islamist terrorist state. like isis tried to be let me remind you that thousands of russian citizens unfortunately who became militant islamists they. emigrated to syria and they took part in the fighting against. the syrian government russia condemns these people. of course ok so all of what russia wants is that the syrians should rebuild their own country the syrian government should control the territory that is the unite here they want and we and we see now that the darker side doesn't object if if if there is no terrorist state or that there are two of syria war through our share in turkey our great ally as you leave syria is a major illness that you can see military thank you elias is a phyllis let me bring you into this the turd the kurds pardon me say that they feel betrayed. by donald trump should they be are they. yes they are betrayed

troops out of syria jordan on facebook life facebook dot com slash al-jazeera has said the russians defeated i saw in syria months ago why is trump only removing troops now and claiming victory well you could really argue that russia didn't defeat eisel so much in syria as much as it helped the syrian government to defeat the rebel movement which should that battle of course cause into civil war for seven or eight years now so and as you heard earlier we saw in the what's trending section of the website. vladimir putin is quite happy about this u.s. withdrawal because it makes more room for him why is trump only removing troops from syria and not iraq or afghanistan well who knows maybe there is more to come syria is one he did always campaign on and as we were saying earlier would she have it is always a strong move by any of us president or any president anywhere probably to bring troops home and that's it's a positive move i would think for him so that's just some of your questions actually one more here the us said they do a better job in syria than the russians did in afghanistan do you

in fact, he has always said that america's presence in syria was illegal because the russians support assad government in syria and say anyone who's there shouldn't be there. he says it's right to pull out. you know, the thing about president putin and people like president putin is that the message they try and send around the world is you can't trust the americans, but you can rely on us to support you no matter what. you know, hell or high water. the problem with the kurds with what's happened with the kurds is it sends that message if you're allied with the americans, eventually you'll lose that support. there are -- i mean, there is another political issue here, which is interesting. there are some isis prisoners from a group who notoriously killed a group of hostages including americans, who are being held by the kurds. the kurds are threatening to release those prisoners. that could cause a big political issue for president trump if the consequences of that killers or group from a gang of killers are released and american families are left without justice for their murdered lov

syria. into that vacuum are going to step the russians, assad, particularly isis and the iranians.was a disastrous foreign policy decision made based upon a disastrous process, as near as i could tell. >> you mentioned russia there. vladimir putin came out this morning and praised this decision by president trump. what do you make of that? >> well, what does that tell you? the people who praise the decision, russia, turkey has said it's a good idea. by the way, one of the worst things about this, hallie, is that we've basically left the kurds to the tender mercy of the turks and it's a betrayal. these are people who stepped up, they were our staunchest allies, the kurds, in fighting isis. they literally took bullets for us and we're walking way from them. and what happens over the next several weeks or month in terms of turkish retribution on the kurds, i think, could be a real catastrophe. who is going to help us next time if you ask people to come in and join a coalition and then you walk away from them when they're in danger? is this going to have long-term ramifications? >> you

we're we're conducting combat operations in syria when the russians in a very limited airspace. what happens when if a russian kills an american or american kills a russian what will the clamor be can we really trust all these fail safe radar systems when both sides now claim they have undetectable faster more lethal nuclear missiles we're walking on the edge of a racer but as i'm that's the end we've got guys you've got two guys two guys for now who need to keep us away from danger that's putin and trump hate on him all you want but in this we have to encourage him so would trump does something wise in this regard we need to stop the noun singing and clap and when putin does something wise in this regard we need to do the same we don't have a choice larry we don't have any other leaders at the moment if there's an accident that's the end the oral law goes once one throws it the other throws its and what that interact so let me worry you a little more but i think you know that but that the people who follow you might not know radars are supposed to te

syria want to see political progress. this month the foreign ministers of iran, russia and turkey met in geneva with retiring u.n. envoy steffan de mistura. russian foreign miniergey lavrov said the countries were determined to set up a new committee to re-write syria's constitution. the u.s. has tried to pressure russia and the syrian regime by withholding reconstruction aidd ocking refugee repatriation, as top u.s. envoy james jeffrey confirmed earlier this month.of >> nonhose things are happening, and they're not going to happen unl the political ocess makes progress, as far as i can see. and i don't see a change in that, and i think that's dawning on least the russians. >> schifrin: but there is still no political progres and until there is the residents of idlib will likely continue tr beted, despite the de- escalation zone. >> ( translated ): for us, nothing has really changed. for us, there is no difference in the end. life has not become better, quite the opposite! now, tension has increased. we feel that there is literally no one left in jarganaz. the town is completely demolished. >> schifrin: residents with no where else to flee, have

see a solution we don't see any potential donors and even russian companies can't cannot operate in syria freely because of the severe international sanctions which are still in place the sanctions against the regime so even russian companies can't go to syria to rebuild the oil wells the oil fields we can't help the syrian city in rebuilding their gym for structure electricity so this is a huge problem only several small steps are being taken small sometimes russian. engineers can help rebuild to restore electricity supplies sometimes we can help in rebuilding a hospital or a school but this is the only thing you know we can do at the current stage and clearly russia wants to engage other international donors for the reconstruction of syria because russia cannot do it on its own richard a one point this past year it was reported that president trump. had an idea that perhaps saudi arabia and other arab countries could send their troops into syria to help secure it obviously there's a lot more questions than answers right now when it comes to his tweets but do you think that he might stil

syria. the year-end address from vladimir putin this thursday and strong words from the russian president, callinghe u.s. presences -- the u.s. in syria illegitimate. a democratic republic of congo to vote on the new president after the resignation of joseph kabila. it is time for business news. french parliament has approved year's budget. >> a final vote at the national assembly. 100 82 lawmakers are voting in favor of the proposal. the revised budget proposal takes into account recent promises by emmanuel macron those include tax breaks and an increase in income. the government insists next year spending plan will be exceptional. >> the state is no farther -- is no father christmas. it might not be the mostt pressing issue, but we need to understand the debt is at 100% of the national wealth. >> i work with the president and the prime minister every day. they are aware of the concerns. let's turn our attention to japan where the former nissan chief could be released on bail. >> a court has rejected the detention extend the of the nissan chief. avestigators may not have solid case. investigators

well, look, syria has always been a russian puppet regime and the russians have an absolute desire to keep bashar al assad if power. the issue has always been what exactly is the role of the american military in syria. i've always advocated we should not have boots on the ground unless it is for one reason and one reason only, that is to combat and completes the job against isis. the president's declaration to withdraw troops from syria in my judgment is totally premature and that's why i'm sure that my views are shared by most of the people on the ground in syria as well as in the pentagon. the fact of the matter is, is that it's funny to watch putin discuss this role against isis and terrorism. it was his cronies that launched a military offensive against u.s. troops in syria, instead of fighting terrorism, they're supporting the number one terrorist in syria and that's bashar al assad. >> let's get to your phone calls. fred is first up. good morning from st. paul, minnesota. go ahead, please. fred, are you with us? we'll go on to joe in east point, michigan. good morning. >> caller

division at human rights watch his words and as you can imagine the way the russians a most partial to the conflict in syria in which the russian military takes a very active role which the russian diplomacy is trying to mediate how do you assess the process the ongoing process is in syria where are we in the syrian war. unfortunately where we are in the syrian war is where we've been for the last seven years which is very little focus on the needs and protection of the syrian civilian population and very great focus on various international and regional power dynamics. treated syria as a chessboard as a carving board for zones of influence for various states which is very sad i'm glad that there are peace negotiations and they continue to be under way i'm glad there's a process to discuss a new constitution new elections that will hopefully result in a political transition but unfortunately. russia's role in the syrian conflict has been very akin to america's role in the yemen conflict except much worse because russia has actually been actively engaged in the bombardment of syria and supporting the syrian

comes a turkish delegation is said to visit moscow this saturday to discuss the situation with syria's ally russian foreign minister sergey lavrov is also commented on the situation in the region warning that allied forces will have to bear the brunt of the u.s. withdrawal. so. it seems like washington wants to shift responsibility to its coalition partners in syria and put additional financial burden on its allies in the region. the co-founder of the online networking site linked in has apologized for funding a discredited pro democratic party operation it created more than a thousand fake russian language twitter account designed to look like they backed a republican rival last year the operation was tasked in the us with tracking fake russian occams but to be the very one creating them instead one against the of report. well that was embarrassing to say the least and here i thought you could get away with blaming russia for anything nowadays apparently not but it does set a new low for democrats making think russian boughts to win elections is the irony i find the tactics that have been recently

time take a has put on hold a planned cross border offensive against kurdish how in northeast syria french russian iranian israeli and kurdish eyes it will trained on the region that can send a vacuum created by the us could worsen instability because on the ground there are other concerns they know how to report so much a cat a only syrian border. these syrian refugees have been living in this turkish border town for three years they say they can't return home as long as their towns and villages are controlled by the syrian armed group the why peachey while fighting eisel the why p.g. backed by the u.s. had taken control of predominantly arab and mixed areas across northern syria their residents say those territorial gains are about creating a kurdish state an accusation denied by the white peachy. in two thousand and fifteen the white b.g. enter tel aviv under the pretext of fighting isis but they forcibly displaced the autopen looted their homes they started to impose the kurdish language and what they call democracy close like preventing us from practicing religion. the y.p. she could lose the

ok briefly if you could president trump says a islamic state has been in syria is that the russian opinion or does moscow still consider islamic state a threat inside syria well i suppose that there is intelligence pointing that that robin and some of the sonic stage although it is pretty much weakened i suppose that russia never really worried that much about isis then that because we're doing most of the fight think what it was carrying about is this safety of the regime of president assad and here i think for now at least we can get to say that the goal is not accomplished is very close to being accomplished ok constantine agroforestry who survived for those comments joining us today from villainess thanks very much. some of the other stories making the news today hungary's president has signed a controversy over labor reform dubbed the slave law by its opponents thousands of taking part in demonstrations against punished or victory or bonds government since parliamentarians passed a law last week that hikes the over time that employers can demand and allows payment to be delayed by up

is put on hold a planned cross border offensive against kurdish held territory in northeast syria french russian iranian israeli and kurdish eyes are all trained on the region concerned a vacuum created by the u.s. could worsen instability the people on the ground there are other concerns in what it reports from cali on the turkish syrian border these syrian refugees have been living in this turkish border town for three years they say they can't return home as long as their towns and villages are controlled by the syrian armed group the why peachey while fighting eisel the why p.g. backed by the u.s. had taken control of predominantly arab and mixed areas across northern syria their residents say those territorial gains are about creating a kurdish state an accusation denied by the y. p.g. . field. in two thousand and fifteen the white b.g. enter tel aviv under the pretext of fighting eisel but they forcibly displaced the autopen looted their homes they started to impose the kurdish language and what they call democracy close like preventing us from practicing religion. the y.p. she could lose

syria? while the u.s. was there for the reason of fighting isis, it very much was a hedge against russian and iranian expansion inside syria. that was just one of the consequences of the u.s. presence there and the u.s. had wanted, they had been very much aware of that and felt was a good thing to be a hedge against the expansion if it wasn't their formal reason for being there. the u.s. could still conduct air strikes, could launch artillery attacks from outside syria against isis. we'll have to see if some of that happens. the president saying isis is defeated. i think you will be hard pressed to see a u.s. military official saying that that is the case. >> that says a lot. thank you very much. let's go to our cnn international correspondent nick paton walsh who has reported on the ground there. your read on this. >> reporter: i'm flabbergasted. they thought they were there more or less indefinitely because they were sort of fulfilling three pretty important roles. the bases they built there suggested they were not going anywhere. these were solid, permanent structures. many felt the pentagon was getting the

it's up to the russian as to what the future of that country is going to be. ne ha they have relations, obviously, with syriastruggless pulls out would be russian-be backed government forces and turkish forces who both want to move into that area. there are signs both those areas are amassing forces. for the russians, it's going to be highly interesting to see. they're going to be watching very closely the words that they hear from president trump. it's so interesting because remember one of the things that president trump used to say is that he believed that president obama was telegraphing some of the moves that the u.s. was making in syria to america's adversaries, but a lot of the things that we're hearing now is exactly that, it's telegraphing to the decision, it's trum's decision, it's not going to be reversed and that's going to open a key door to latch on to, the syrian government forces possibly move into those areas where the u.s. and its allies used to hold sway, ryan. >> let's talk about the optics of this, fred. you said vladimir putin was concerned he might not follow through on this promise. l

he wants to send turkish troops into the northeastern syria, .lobber the ypg russia is opposed to this. the spokeswoman for the russian foreign ministry told the press that when america leaves northern syria, the syrian government shows to inherit control. that i is according to international law. the syrianargue government has lost its legitimacy. arepoint is the russians rooting for the syrian government to take control. the turkish defense f foreign ministerer a and chief of intelligence are flying to moscscow to disiscuss with ee russians, to negegiate whether they can go into northern syria or not. mortimer reporting. thank you. ofthe democratic republic congo, opposition leaders are calling for a general strike. they are furious at plans to postpone voting in the presidential election in three areas. a move would affect over one million people. it would not be safe for some people to vote on sunday, citing security and health concerns. the opposition believes it is an attempt by the government to cling to power. i spoke to our correspondent in city therere.in a than was slslightly calmemer usual. most o of the s

counterparts decision to withdraw american withdraw america's troops from syria speaking at his annual press conference the russian leader says the u.s. military presence in syria is it legitimate he added his forces have not seen any sign of a withdrawal yet. look assertive might be than an evil is for defeat an ocelot i generally agree with the president of the united states with the chief some major advances when it comes to defeating the terrorists and we've struck major blows against terrorists in syria there is a danger that those terrorist groups may now infiltrate the neighboring regions for example afghanistan and other countries for example the countries of origin that is a great risk for all of us including russia and the us asian and seadrill asian countries still ahead on al-jazeera letting its underway in togo in violence what have the latest on the election and in our latest special report from to me like it too rampant trends that are taking a toll on families and when a central interest course nations. code has settled in and but it's not extreme the clouds coming up from the south from china thro

defense ministry says that israeli air strikes in syria that injured three on tuesday night also endangered two passenger jets policy has the details the russian defense ministry criticized the israeli operations in syria overnight israel launched a number of rockets against targets in the damascus area it injured three syrian soldiers and it also destroyed or extensively damaged an arms depot now the russian defense ministry pointing out that the israeli operations came as two passenger flights were coming into land in both beirut and damascus and that the civilian lives were potentially endangered we've heard from the syrian side that they were forced to activate their ground to air defense missile systems after the rockets were fired from israel and we're hearing from israel that they were forced to activate their is a defense missile systems after rockets were fired from syria. now all of this comes as the situation particularly in northern syria the latest reports suggest that as many as forty pickup trucks two tanks alawi's an armored personnel vehicles belonging to the syrian army have entered the northern syrian province of man bridge

stage will we don't see a solution we don't see any potential donors and even russian companies cannot cannot operate in syria freely because of the sivia international sanctions which are still in place the sanctions against the regime so even russian companies can't go to syria to rebuild the oil wells the oil fields we can't help the syrians see in rebuilding their gene for straw. electricity so this is a huge problem only several small steps are being taken so sometimes russian. engineers can help rebuild to restore electricity supplies sometimes we can help in rebuilding a hospital or a school but this is the only thing you know we can do at the current stage and clearly russia wants to engage other international donors for the reconstruction of syria because russia cannot do it on it so richard a one point this past year it was reported that president trump. had an idea that perhaps saudi arabia and other arab countries could send their troops into syria to help secure it obviously there's a lot more questions than answers right now when it comes to his tweets but do you think that he might still be of

trump's declaration that he's pulling american troops out of syria and the russian president was skeptical. yesterday president. announced the withdrawal of american troops from syria he also announced. in his opinion the united states to fear isis in syria he made that very clear. concerning the defeat of i so overall i agree with the president we have made significant progress in the fight against terrorism in this region and conducted serious strikes against eisel in syria concerning the us withdrawal from syria i don't really know what that means for example because the us has been present in afghanistan for the past seventeen years and almost every year. they are withdrawing the troops are still there now is the presence of american troops needed in syria i don't think so and let's not forget that their president is illegitimate does not agree either with the un security council nor the syrian government if the us plans to withdraw that is the right decision. sanctions but also of course boarded up as they are almost every year now and to me a putin was asked what next it was he said

syria. we can already see that happening as well. overnight, the russiansannounce a high level meeting with the two sides about the future of syria. that, of course, means the forces on the ground that are currently allied with the united states have a very tough choice to make. they can try to cut a deal with the syrian government and russians or face possibly an assault from the turks. pretty dire circumstances going on there. all of this happening, joe, as the russians announce they tested a hyper sonic missile they say is capable of defeating u.s. air systems. joe. >> fred live in moscow. thank you. >>> we are lucky to have ron brownstein here. good morning. the president's trip, i hope wanted to gi wanted to get your reaction. the president is ticking off a box. he visited a war zone. >> it is striking how tu mumults this presidency is for him. this is better than not for a president to visit troops in a war zone. we see the pattern going back to the cia of the president polire politicizing this event than previous commander in chis. better late than n

action inside syria this is being seen as a concession to turkey it's seen as efforts by the united states to improve improve relations with turkey to try to pull it away from the russian and iranian camp in syria. over to our panel in london. at logan burg a specialist in kurdish politics he was in syria recently in washington d.c. general mark kimmitt former assistant secretary for political military affairs under president george w. bush and in moscow alexy klebnikov a middle east analyst at russia international affairs council welcome to you all i'd like to begin with you general mark kimmitt in d.c. has the white house simply abandoned the very people that helped defeat. no i don't think so i think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what this announcement means this just says that we're pulling the two thousand ground troops out of syria it will not stop our air support it will not stop our intelligence support it does not stop us from training and equipping troops outside of syria this is very similar to the strategy that we've used inside of iraq the local forces in that case iraqi security forces have been giving a lot of support by the americans but not g

russia, the implication in syria is out of necessity because in syria there was a brief moment of expectation. if you want to limit russian growth in syria, this was the perfect opportunity, but they did not. earlier on when president obama said that he is not a legitimate leader, up till this point turkey did not feel it with the assad regime but they kept with the assad regime. there was an expectation that the u.s. would do something but it turned into -- it was an intellectual declaration and it did not happen. to prevent this wider pkk state -- it was mostly out of necessity but in turkey, iran, and russia, turkey has a different perspective. but turkey considers iran part of the solution. they still believe there is room for diplomacy. him there should be a more complicated, multilevel approach. the iranian role should be limited and iran should appreciate it and have the responsibility in syria. >> do you want to comment on this thisn american/russian involvement? >> yes. the fact that everything worth listening to has been said won't stop me from saying it again. this theme touches on a core issue. what is the rol