a flotilla of warships to the base in tartus. four ships en route right now.sia says it's no big deal even though it comes a day after they suspended arms sales to syria. a lot of analysts are wondering what russia is really up to. russia has been a staunch supporter of syria in the face of international opposition and is reportedly its biggest arms supplier, according to the congressional research service, russia sold syria $4.7 billion in arms from 2007 to 2010. russia's influence is, of course, key to any resolution. joining me, former homeland security adviser frances townsend. what do you think is going on here? >> a couple things going on. let's talk about the ships going to the port of tartus, the only mediterranean port the russians have access to, a critically important one. those ships are really a message to the west to stay out of the problems in syria. not to intervene. let's remember, you know, recently we've seen senior-level military defections away from assad. and a weakening of the military support for the assad regime inside syria. you know,

which is a russian base in tartus of importance to the russians.fact a report on the russian news agency interfax of flotilla of four ships going to syria, ultimate destination tartus, nothing to do with the syrian conflict, that simply these ships were there to supply that port of theirs in tartus. it's coming at a time when there are so many questions about what russia plans to do with regards to syria and if they're still supporting the syrian regime as much as they have in the past. >> i have another question for you. on the murky factor, why doesn't russia come forward with all this moupting pressure globally and say, here's what we're doing and why. >> well, brooke, there have been signs in the last few days that perhaps, russian support of the assad regime may be starting to crumble a bit. yesterday you had a report in the state media in russia in which a russian official said that there would be no new arms shipments to syria. that's very significant because syria -- >> it's huge -- >> syria is a major buyer of russia. that's huge. that's a

the here are the groups minute tartus that insists it's an e.u. wide problem which hardpressed greece ends up paying for twice with a double into agreement. what happens is once one illegal immigrant is been caught . you know in another place in europe he's going back to the country but here to europe and. the means end up in greece well athens pleads for more support the refugees just keep on coming but danger for them is not the trouble they're fleeing from the extremism the entering thank you greece for its. politically active nonprofit groups working here in russia and funded from abroad most in come under tough scrutiny a bill that forces such organizations to register as foreign agents has passed its first stage of approval of the country's lower house of parliament the groups who have to undergo financial or it's now and submit reports of their activities if it goes through otherwise they will face heavy fines or even jail terms or critics immediately labeled the move an attack on civil liberties while supporters say it'll help boost transp

the here are the groups minute tartus that insists it's an e.u. wide problem which hardpressed greece ends up paying for twice with a doubling to our agreement what happens is once one illegal immigrant has been caught. you know in another place in europe he's going back to the country that he entered europe and upset that means the end up in greece. pleads for more e.u. support of refugees just keep on coming the danger for them is not the trouble they're fleeing from the extremism but entering j.q. greece athens. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is on a tour of southeast asia this week hoping to make some friends and some money and on wednesday she'll make the highest profile visit in fifty seven years to a nation suffering the legacy of america's presence in the region is gone and she can has the details. the u.s. secretary of state is on a busy eight nation tour in asia it's seen as part of the obama administration's asia pacific pivot policy and for the first time since one thousand nine hundred fifty five a us secretary of state visit

good here are the groups minute tartus that insists it's an e.u. wide problem which hardpressed greece ends up paying for twice with a dublin two agreement what happens is once one. has been caught in there in another place in europe he's going back to the country that he entered europe with and absent that means they end up in greece while athens pleads for more e.u. support the refugees just keep on coming the danger for them is not the trouble they're fleeing from the fire of extremism they're entering j.q. griese r.t. athens. and a greek economist at yanis varoufakis believes that racial hostility is being spurred on by nationalist rhetoric that is coming from the very top we've seen it in the thirty seventh when there were people lose hope. this begins the acts and out of it nothing good can it should act as a warning for all of us that whenever that social economy loads as opposed to just going through a recession. scapegoating becomes the order of the problem is that the authorities themselves are being infiltrated by these them in fact that

commercial contracts business while sites of course are going both sides and the russian naval base in tartus was just very or there's a russian military naval base in de mint each iranian. luba he really knows for sure what it's like to be a putting is thinking at that moment it's very possible that he already saw the writing on the wall that maybe this is the last days of assad but not necessarily of the reach and there it seems because they have nowhere to go they may be sinking look if we do. here we preserve the system for the head of this think may be gone he can hold ixil anywhere it wants but we preserve the region what we hear any we can sell this to the people who want to destabilize our and i not now for the moment now for the moment if i may because if overshadowing had gotten quoting to plan the u.n. security council at this moment would be voting on a possible trough resolution this whole possibility of extending the observer mission possibly the implementation of article seven with a fine print maybe talking about some type of intervention it's been delayed again why has the vo

russia's naval base at tartus is often described as highly strategic, yet it is rarely used. it's been allowed to crumble, no russian ship is based there. russia is the main arms exporter to syria, though its deliveries to syria are marginal, less than .1 what is sends to india every year. but its ties to the syrian army could be very useful. moscow could reach out and make syria's generals understand that they could preserve the military if they assisted in dislodging the regime and moving to a democratic framework. that's essentially what the egyptian military has done and while the revolution is not perfect, it's been preferable to a long and bloody civil war. russia might be unmovable. its officials are paranoid about western interventions that topple unpopular regimes. we've seen kosovo, afghanistan, iraq, and elizabeth as parts of a pattern, but they're also concerned about what would come after assad in a country, syria, where 40% are minorities, especially if some long, sectarian war would energize jihadi groups. russia has had and continues to have struggles with suc

two russian warships with mar e marines on board heading to the syrian port of tartus. u.s.ficials have been keeping a close eye on these ships for the past couple weeks. the russians say any weapons and personnel on board are to reinforce the facility at tartous. >>> meanwhile, there are more attacks under way in syria. opposition group says 37 people have been killed already today. >>> and out of egypt, kind of hard to believe this picture we're about to show you here. i want you to take a close look. this is actually a baby in a handbag. an egyptian couple tried to smuggle their baby past airport security in the united arab emirates. an x-ray revealed the 5-month-old was on the screening belt. police say the baby did not have a visa so the parents tried to smuggle the infant in the carry on luggage. those parents, of course, being questioned. thankfully the baby is in good condition. >>> in england that is the olympic torch being greeted by queen elizabeth and prince philip at windsor castle. that happened earlier today. the torch has been making its way across the uk. th