first in the city of tartus, in the town of tartus, there were clashes between hts and former operativeshat, also, they've been ambushed by former regime operatives as they were trying to raid one apartment to arrest former regime operatives. but then there were protests in many cities and towns, especially in homs, in response to a video released of vandalising an alawite shrine in the city of aleppo. that incident happened nearly ten days ago, but it was released again and although there have been reconciliation with the leaders of the alawite religious leaders. however it was released today, provoking tension and protest in many cities and towns, even here in damascus, in the mezzeh 86 district, which is predominantly alawite supporters of assad's power. there were reports of some shooting in homs. we can't confirm who are the ones who opened fire at protesters. we've seen videos of hts fighters trying to calm down the situation and just now there was a statement coming out from hts confirming that those who opened fire are also regime operatives. there are many questions about the si

we also know that the russian naval fleet has been leaving tartus over the last several days. so as you said earlier, it is a major withdrawal. they are trying to get out of syria because they're concerned about security in those two bases. >> and tartus, though i know you've been clear, tartus is is where any kind of front with nato would be for him. >> yeah, well, tartus is a critical naval base because it gives russia access to the mediterranean. it gives them their only access to the mediterranean. they have lost some of their capability in the black sea with the black sea fleet. and now they're losing their ability to continue to conduct patrols and operations in the mediterranean sea. in addition to that, you've got potential damage to some of the russian ships in a place called kaliningrad, which is in the baltic sea. so russia is quickly losing some of their footholds in key locations and key bases throughout europe and the mediterranean and the levant. >> and obviously, one of the people that putin may see responsible for that is bashar al-assad. right. who putin just

first in the city of tartus, in the town of tartus, there were clashes between hts and former operativesrned that, also, they've been ambushed by former regime operatives as they were trying to raid one apartment to arrest former regime operatives. but then there were protests in many cities and towns, especially in homs, in response to a video released of vandalising an alawite shrine in the city of aleppo. that incident happened nearly ten days ago, but it was released again and although there have been reconciliation with the leaders of the alawite religious leaders. however it was released today, provoking tension and protest in many cities and towns, even here in damascus, in the mezzeh 86 district, which is predominantly alawite supporters of assad's power. in the mezzeh 86 district, which is predominantly alawite supporters of assad's power. there were reports of some shooting in homs. we can't confirm who are the ones who opened fire at protesters. we've seen videos of hts fighters trying to calm down the situation and just now there was a statement coming out from hts confirming

which i think also shows a good sign —— naval base at tartus.ut we certainly can hel. �* syria but we certainly can hel., �* [iii syria but we certainly can hel. [iii , , , help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to _ help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch _ help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch on _ help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch on the - i wanted to touch on the situation between israel and hamas right now. it looks like both incoming trump administration and the current white house really want to get a deal done before january 20. do you see that happening? i think it's a real populate —— possibility. limited exchange, women, the elderly, the infirm, 3445-60 women, the elderly, the infirm, 3445—60 day ceasefire and an asymmetrical number of palestinian prisoners. i think timing is everything and frankly we've been close another we have ever been at least to a partial deal to free the hostages and bring solace to their families and to relieve hopefully some of the suffering of the 2.3 million palestin

i5 mountains overlooking that and tartus is part of that area.he streets of another main town on the coast in the region demonstrating against the regime, including people from his own alawite community in latakia. there is massive confusion about what is ma55ive confusion about what is going on there right now at the moment. , , ., moment. jeremy, our international - moment. jeremy, our international edited i international edited jeremy bowen, thank you. we haveju5t had a line coming in from the turkish foreign minister saying that bashar al—a55ad i5 that bashar al—a55ad is probably outside of syria. thi5 probably outside of syria. this comes with continued report5 he had fled the country to an unknown destination. caroline hawley look5 unknown destination. caroline hawley looks back on his rule. bashar al—a55ad took power in the year 2000, inheriting syria's police state from his father, hafez. the new young president, ju5t 3a at the time, promised reform. and after his inauguration, there was a brief period of greater political openne55. but t

they also have the tartus naval base very important for the russia. the future of those very much in question right now wolf. >> yeah, lots of dramatic historic developments unfolding right now. fred pleitgen reporting from moscow. we will clearly stay in very close touch with you as well. thank you very, very much and to our viewers, our special breaking news coverage will continue. stay with us. newsroom will continue right after a quick break we'll stop luther. >> never too much new year's day at eight on slow down honey, a new driver. >> you need new insurance. >> zebra compares over 100 insurance companies to find savings no one else can. up to $400 a year. trapper. oh look. it's my stop. the zebra we do the searching, you do the saving hey. >> who's beetlejuice? >> don't ever say that name not ever. beetlejuice beetlejuice the juice is loose shake, shake, shake up shake, shake i'm going to make you so happy lessons from the heart beetlejuice beetlejuice. >> rated pg 13. now streaming exclusively on max precise designs. >> subtle curves curated u

russian forces were seen heading to the city of tartus.ean union's foreign policy chief is calling on syria's new leadership to expel russia's influence in the country. our russia editor steve rosenberg has more from moscow. steve: where is bashar al-assad? he has not been seen since he fled syria. today, a statement purporting to be from him appeared on the social media accounts of the former syrian president. dateline moscow. it is unclear who controls the accounts and whether assad wrote this. "my departure from syria was neither planned, nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles. i remained in damascus carrying out my duties until the early hours of december 8. at no point did i consider stepping down or seeking refuge." president putin, who met army chiefs today, has were poorly granted -- reportedly granted assad asylum. most of this speech was about the war in ukraine, not a word about syria. ♪ despite having this naval base in syria in tartus, and a major airbase, events have seemed to taken moscow by surprise. was rus

there's also been activity at the tartus port, too. let me show you.ime. and if you have a look there and there and there, you can see large warships, but they're not there anymore. this picture is from yesterday. and if you focus in on here, that's where they were. they're not there anymore. they've now been moved out at sea. and there's other activity at this naval base as well. have a look at all of these vehicles here, here, here, here. we've counted more than 100 of them parked around the base. 0ne expert pointed out we can't see any cranes or loading ramps, so that could suggest that they're being stored here rather than being prepared for an immediate evacuation. but again, we're seeing signs that russia is at least ready for a withdrawal of significant resources. i just want to show you this map, too. we can focus in on a major highway between damascus and homs. this area here, we've geolocated this video to there, and in this you can see lengthy columns of russian vehicles heading north. that is the journey the military would be expected to ta

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takencow by surprise. was russia too distracted by its war in ukraine? if you think that we focused on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. his

the one in damascus, the one in latakia, and the one in tartus, while the latakia and tartus provinces are the ones where the russians have their bases i, or at least the large bases and damascus of course, being the capital. and now that that is being impacted by the rebel movements, it's pretty clear that there is really no place for the government of bashar al assad. whatever is left of it, to turn and it is only, i think, a matter of hours if that before the final collapse of that government occurs, at least in damascus. >> yeah. and david, i just i want to go back to you for a second to talk about what's at stake for the u.s. here, because you were talking about these are not freedom fighters. this isn't the u.s. so excited to see this group of rebels come to power it seems to be we heard from jake sullivan earlier today that their main concern is making sure there's not a resurgence of isis in that country and and protecting that, making sure that doesn't happen. we also need to note that there are some troops, american troops there in syria, though they are not in the area where

think we heard reports that some of the russian ships that some of the russian ships that are in tartus air defences somewhere else that are responsible for 300 as 400s. they were deployed somewhere else. so i'm not 100% sure if russia is really willing to defend the assad government militarily. but from what we can see there is definitely the political momentum. they are participating in thejoe hart talks. they are participating, they are talking all the time with iran and turkey —— doha. and they are willing that the situation in syria will not descend into chaos and they will find a situation in syria where there is some compromise, some peaceful solution somehow. because now in syria you can see that the syrian territories are now split between many forces, the kurds in the north, hts is massively controlling and will control very soon damascus, and we have other troops that are affiliated to turkey and different areas. we heard news that hezbollah also sent some troops to a city or two around damascus, to have some presence there. we're not sure what the situation of the iranian tr

we've seen statues actually come down in some of those regime strongholds in latakia and in tartus on the coast but we do continue to see clashes between the kurdish dominated sdf and some of the turkish backed rebel groups. and as you mentioned, there are other spoilers. spoilers potentially here, including isis fighters that remain and natasha, do you think that jelani is going to try and militarily sweep through the area? >> because what's interesting is he seems to have learned a lesson from the american occupation of iraq. he's not getting rid of regime loyalists as long as they flip sides. there is no purge that seems to be taking place it seems like maybe what he's trying to say is if you surrender that's fine. and you know we're trying to keep peace here yeah, it seems like jelani has actually learned quite quite a few lessons from the u.s. >> war in iraq, including to prevent looting protect institutions, including government employees. and so we've actually seen rebels enter places like tartus and latakia and essentially say that they will protect minorities regardless if th

russia operates an air base at khmeimim and a naval base in the port city of tartus.le, social media video from homs shows a syrian waving a shoe as russian troops pass. the gesture is considered an insult in middle eastern culture we're just learning about an overnight russian attack on ukraine. the ukrainian air force says it shot down dozens of drones targeting areas across the country, including in the capital, kyiv. authorities say at least three people were injured. meanwhile, russia claims it's developed a new system that can track ukraine's starlink terminals, which are used to run their fleet of drones. russian state media reports that it can identify and destroy drones in the sea and air, and that they're already producing and testing the system. ukraine's military says it's replacing the commander of the nation's eastern donetsk group. he faced heavy criticism for failing to stop recent russian advances on the key city of pokrovsk. the area has seen some of the most intense fighting on the eastern front for months, as russian forces inch closer to the city

um russia, for its own interests, had interests in the port city of tartus and a military air base. latakia in the in the mediterranean this is all sort of in the alawite heartland, if you will of, of syria which is on the mediterranean coast so again, this was uh, in russia's interest to exert its influence. an old client, assad's father hafez al-assad, was a client, if you will, during the soviet union of the soviets you know, that's where a lot of their military equipment was purchased from. so those alliances were sort of old alliances but they were what shored up assad. but what he saw arrayed against him were islamist groups were western interests in terms of the united states backing kurdish groups and of course, a plethora of other smaller, uh regional groups. but what his leader was able to do significantly, what gilani was able to do significantly, was over the past number of years while their grouping had been cornered in the northwest of syria, was rekindled relationships with smaller rebel factional commanders and bring them back on board under an umbrella and get some

the man who had children gassed in a ghouta basement 11 years ago, toppled in the eastern city of tartus. his image torn down from buildings in damascus. and on top of the gates of homs city center, symbolically, where protesters tore apart his image more than a decade ago in a scene that defined the civil war's early days. inspired by the seismic shifts of the arab spring syrians rose up in 2011, demanding democracy but were met with live rounds and eventually jet planes chemical weapons and mass executions and torture. hundreds of thousands were killed millions displaced as rebels swept through the capital on sunday. images surfaced of prisoners being released from the notorious saydnaya prison from which so few emerged. dubbed the human slaughterhouse by amnesty international, the militant figure leading this rebel offensive is abu mohammad al jolani seen here prostrating in prayer upon entering damascus once affiliated with al qaeda. jilani has been suggesting he has matured from his extremist roots though there are deep concerns about what kind of new syria may now emerge. at one of

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takencow by surprise. was russia too distracted by its war in ukraine? if you think that we focussed on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. hi

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takena too distracted by its war in ukraine? if you think that we focussed on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. his exact whereabouts now re

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takenif you think that we focussed on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. his exact whereabouts now remain a mystery. steve rosenberg, bbc new

offensive against militias loyal to the deposed president, bashar al—assad in the western province of tartusperation has already neutralised — as they put it — a number of people involved in clashes on wednesday. ia fighters from the group that now controls most of syria, hts, were killed. it's being seen as the first big test for the country's islamist leader, ahmad al—sharaa, who has threatened to crack down on anyone attempting to undermine syria's security. from damascus, lina sinjab reports. on high alert. security reenforcement is under way. the government has launched an operation against former members of the assad regime from the alawite community. the majority of them supported him and many are blamed for syria's bloodbath. while assad sought asylum in russia with his family, his followers are left to face prosecution here. many refuse to give up arms and could pose threats to the country's security. these protests erupted on wednesday in many alawite cities and towns. they are chanting about their alawite religious shrine that was vandalised in november. although there had since b

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takenas russia too distracted by its war in ukraine? if you think that we focused on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. his exact whereabouts

despite having this naval base in syria, in tartus, and a major airbase, events there seem to have takenukraine? if you think that we focussed on ukraine and lost syria, no, we didn't lost syria. we still have bases in syria. but you don't know what the future of those bases will be? of course, and you don't know. for moscow, the issue of the bases is urgent. a kremlin spokesman said moscow was in contact with what he referred to as "representatives of those forces who now control the situation in syria". it is a dialogue that will decide the fate of russia's military presence there. if russia loses its bases, it will lose its foothold in the eastern mediterranean. president putin had invested heavily in syria. what might the russian elite be thinking about the fall of assad? i think they understand that this is putin's failure. they can't be vocal, they can't say it openly. but this is a precedent, this is an example how the autocratic regime could fail, could fall. as president, bashar al—assad was a regular visitor to moscow. his exact whereabouts now remain a mystery. steve rosenberg

in, in syria, iran in particular russia, as well, which has a very important naval port to them in tartus, up in the north and west of the country. and so the question is, what will those two countries do? will they, you know, obviously russia is busy with its war in ukraine. iran has lost some some fighters in hezbollah with the with the significant attacks that the iranians that the israelis have successfully conducted there in lebanon. and yet both of these powers care a lot about what happens in syria and spent a lot of time and money and resources to support the assad regime. it's unlikely they're going to sit by and watch this happen. so the question is when and how will they respond, and what form will that take? >> and, you know, can you speak of the timing of this? you know, maybe there's a new administration coming in, you know, here in the united state, and you just mentioned the countries that that had always supported the assad regime that are now unwilling to or unable to do that anymore. you know, what is the if there is any significance to the timing of this happening now?

they have that naval base at tartus, which they've had for many years. it's an important part of their power projection into the middle east. they've spent a lot of time and a lot of money backing bashar assad, but of course they're quite distracted with the fight in ukraine and the fight within on their own russian territory as well that ukraine has taken. so they're distracted by that. iran, for its part, is, is has been had significant setbacks with the with the fighting against hezbollah by israel in the north, the loss of significant numbers of hezbollah leaders in the past, iran has tasked hezbollah with going to syria to fight on behalf of assad. that's not happening this time around. so the question is, though, will iran and russia come together to try and make a pitch or try and make a push with these traditional syrian armed forces to come back and try to retake syria and retake damascus? they haven't put up a fight for now, which means those fighters are still alive and operating. will they ultimately try to make a run back? that's hard to see

and, remember, tartus is the only russian navy base in the whole of the mediterranean and it looks likeing to get pushed back here quite -- in quite a big way, and the iranians, of course, have had bad news on every front since the 7th of october. >> michael, we have a couple more minutes left. you scaled it up to the widest geopolitical stage if it is possible to call it that, mentioning russia. we have to bring in the u.s. as well given the situation in ukraine. we already had response this morning from president-elect donald trump, effectively saying russia lost interest in syria. it seems to be the case without his backers bashar al assad has fled and we don't know where. how do you see this playing out next in terms of u.s. and russian involvement? >> yeah, i mean, the russians, i think, you know, are -- this is a setback for them. i don't see how he'll bet get b into syria. we'll see what happens internally in syria, but it probably won't be good for the russians. i think there will be a lot of resentment because all the help they gave to assad was essentially air power. they bomb

but also the important port of tartus. and it seems in some way, shape or form, becky, that russia is coming to terms with this seismic change in the balance of power that will now happen in the region. and it's interesting because sergey lavrov, as you were just saying, was at the doha forum. certainly he met with his colleagues from both, um, from turkey as well to discuss exactly what was going on. and yet he seemed to have only words and very little else in terms of support for syria. in fact, he said that at this point in time, he thought that using terrorists to in his words, achieve geopolitical purposes was not the way to do this. and he said that russia did not care how it looked, as if they were suffering a loss in syria and that their concern was for the russian people but it is crucial that even at a time think about it, becky, even this week russia was carrying out military exercises from both that air base and from that key port off the coast. there in the mediterranean coast. and yet did not come to the aid

heights, and then also bombing military assets and chemical sites, most recently in the coastal city of tartusit's really putting syrians on edge and creating a lot of bad will, ill will towards israel very early on, which is something that i worry about. >> okay, jasmine el-gamal, thank you so much for your insights today. as ever. now in central gaza and al jazeera, photojournalist was amongst five killed after an israeli airstrike targeted a civil defense service office. that was on sunday. al jazeera is condemning the attack and says ahmad al lu was killed whilst covering rescue efforts after an earlier bombing. the israeli defense forces alleges the 39 year old was a terrorist who had previously served with the islamic jihad. however, they did not provide any proof of these allegations. the idf also claims the site was being used as a command center by hamas and islamic jihad terrorists. israeli authorities say an unprecedented number of israelis have been spying for iran. dozens have been arrested over the past year, accused of carrying out missions like photographing military bases and

between latakia and tartus, there are multiple russian bases, so it's an area where the russians haved and, of course, supported the assad family and the regime for many years now. it's also where the assad family comes from. they come from a little village called qardaha, and we went there today in latakia district. and, in fact people there weren't mourning the family at all. the tomb of bashar al-assad's father, hafez, has been burnt to the ground and it's covered in graffiti from rebel fighters, and there were people asset-stripping the assad's family house, simply taking what they had to get them through the winter. because what people there say is, we are incredibly poor. the alawite minority that he says he supported actually, other than his immediate family and supporters, he left us all to rot here, incredible poverty that we saw. he put us against the other syrian people, so we couldn't support them, and said that the sunnis would come and kill us like isis had, and yet actually he did nothing for us and we're glad to be rid of him and we want syria to be reunited again. amn

the man who had children gassed in a ghouta basement 11 years ago, toppled in the eastern city of tartus. his image torn down from buildings in damascus. and on top of the gates of homs city center. symbolically, where protesters tore apart his image more than a decade ago in a scene that defined the civil war's early days. inspired by the seismic shifts of the arab spring syrians rose up in 2011, demanding democracy but were met with live rounds and eventually jet planes chemical weapons and mass executions and torture. hundreds of thousands were killed millions displaced as rebels swept through the capital. on sunday, images surfaced of prisoners being released from the notorious saydnaya prison from which so few emerged. dubbed the human slaughterhouse by amnesty international, the militant figure leading this rebel offensive is abu mohammad al-jolani seen here prostrating in prayer upon entering damascus once affiliated with al qaeda. jilani has been suggesting he has matured from his extremist roots though there are deep concerns about what kind of new syria may now emerge. at one o

russia's only mediterranean port is in the port town of tartus.t last week, there was a big naval exercise that the russians conducted. also firing nuclear capable missiles in that exercise as well. and then, of course there is the airbase at khmeimim, which is near latakia, where the russians have already said that for now the safety of their military assets have been guaranteed by the armed groups. but they are also saying that their forces on the ground in syria are also on high alert and of course, one of the things right now is that the status of those bases, the future of those very much in doubt, wolf and clearly, russia has been preoccupied with its war against ukraine. >> and that's why its military capabilities in the middle east especially in syria, have been reduced. one of the reasons why this rebel group was able to succeed until recently, the russian government was very much aligned with the bashar al-assad regime. fred pleitgen in moscow for us. thank you very, very much. at the same time, the u.s. is conducting strikes on isis tar

before the country is not back to normal they are still, for example on the in the coastal areas of tartus and latakia uh, some problems of law and order. and as long as security will not prevail, it will be very difficult for the population to go back to some kind of normalcy, let alone for the humanitarians to try to deliver on their mission. if we look at the north and the northeast of the country, there are still ongoing hostilities between different groups and it will be difficult in such conditions for the people, for example, to go back home a lot of people are willing to go back home or to move from one region to another, and it is not safe yet to do so um, there is, of course another problem, which is, as i said, the resumption of the public services. we need to ensure that public services essential and critical infrastructures are not only spared but can function so all this will require the different parties to the conflict to find some arrangements to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and to, of course, let humanitarian organizations work, which

, assad gave moscow a 49 year lease on both its main air base near latakia and a military port in tartus, allowing vladimir putin to project power throughout the middle east. the fact that russia has its military assets in syria also makes moscow a key player in the middle east. but now the russians acknowledge that that status is in jeopardy. once a key ally for the russian leader, putin now allowed assad and some of his family members to flee to moscow, a decision folks in moscow told us they support naim qassem. we don't abandon our men, he says. he is our man. it was the right decision. he has nowhere to go. he would have been killed. but even here, syrians living in russia telling me they're happy assad's been ousted. we will be able to live in calm and peace and be able to safely visit our country, he says. we don't have to worry that someone can throw us in prison because they don't like what we said. we're happy that the dictatorship is over. moscow hopes the end of assad's rule will not spell the end of its military engagement in the middle east. while acknowledging it's still t

certainly is an important asset for the russians and then also they have a major port in the city of tartusast week, the russians conducted a huge military naval exercise from that port where they fired missiles that are nuclear capable from ships within the mediterranean sea. and that was also certainly something where the russians projected power into the mediterranean area and into a lot of conflicts that were going on in the mediterranean area from that, that port town as well for the for the russians. so this syria is very, very important for the russians. was very important. bashar al-assad was very important so for them, really is unclear what will happen next for their forces on the ground. and of course, also for russia's standing inside the middle east. >> max, obviously this happened very quickly, but i'm just wondering how the state media in russia are framing this yeah, yeah. >> so that's something that we actually kept an eye on a lot yesterday and in the beginning of the day yesterday, when it was clear that assad had fallen and there was a big transition taking place there,

they have a big base, a big in the port of tartus and he's an important ally strategically interesting what will happen with iran with hezbollah, and how deeply they will get involved with all that is going on across this region and more broadly. i would just say, anderson, that while there are a lot of people who are somewhat jubilant at seeing this offensive because there is such animosity towards assad, who has committed so many egregious war crimes against the syrian people there's also a lot of unease about this rebel offensive, about the makeup of these rebel groups. and there's broader concern that this region simply can't take any more instability. anderson. >> clarissa ward, thank you so much now, russia's war in ukraine, the u.s. state department announced today more military assistance for kyiv, a package worth $725 million. tonight we take you to the front lines, where ukrainian troops must act quickly to try to stop a russian drone attack. here's nick paton walsh reporter they have a three second window rushing out with the us. >> supplied. stinger and an aging anti-aircra

is the air base that they have in khmeimim near latakia, but also the naval port that they have in tartusunclear whether all of that is permanent, but the kremlin was actually asked about all of this again today, and the kremlin spokesman saying, the russians at this point in time, have no idea whether they're going to be able to keep their assets in syria. jake. >> all right. fred pleitgen in moscow for us. thanks so much. new details confirmed this hour about today's deadly school shooting in madison, wisconsin. a law enforcement source says the shooter was a female student at the school. cnn teams are on the scene. we're going to go live to madison next. >> kind of needs to be more squiggly. perfect. >> so now do you have a driver's license? >> oh. >> what did you get us with a click of a pen? >> you can get a new volkswagen at the sign, then drive event. lisa 2024 tiguan for zero down zero deposit, zero first one payment and zero due at signing. >> limited inventory available. >> transform your website into an immersive 3-d experience with infinite reality. you can tap the power of th

make a right turn and head toward the coast, they threaten the naval, the russian naval bases at tartusery dangerous area. and what might happen next is very confusing to people who don't understand the history and the religion of the people that are fighting there. >> all right. retired lieutenant general mark hertling, thank you so much. appreciate it. next, after more than a year after his mysterious hospitalization, actor jamie foxx is revealing more about what he calls a near-death experience and why he's talking about it now. stay with us whoa. >> how'd you get your teeth? so white? >> you got to use the right toothpaste. >> doctor. see not all toothpastes whiten the same crest. 3-d white removes 100% more stains for a noticeably whiter smile new personal best crest hey. >> who's beetlejuice? >> don't ever say that name. >> not ever. beetlejuice. >> beetlejuice beetlejuice. >> beetlejuice is loose. shake, shake, shake. >> shake, shake. >> i'm going to make you so happy this one's from the heart beetlejuice beetlejuice. >> rated pg 13. now streaming exclusively on max. >> you want

he has a major naval base at tartus.he has a major air force base at a place called jenin and both of those bases give him access to the mediterranean once he loses that because of a potential overthrow of assad, he has lost his capability to influence in the med. he is somewhat lost his influence to influence and the influence in the black sea based on the war with ukraine and his naval bases in the baltics. at kaliningrad, are also threatened so you're seeing putin really being tossed into a corner. these bases are all critical for their military presence in these areas. and increased rebel activity in northern syria and turkish and the turkish incursions have heightened concerns about the russian supply routes, even into the area. assad is saying russian is. russia is bombing in the area, and they're helping counter the rebels. yeah, they're not bombing with much because they don't have much to bomb with. they've lost a lot of aircraft in ukraine and they're like, i said a minute ago, they're in very bad states and gi

both the airbase near latakia and also a port that they use for eir warships near the town of tartus.f all right. >> fred pleitgen in moscow for us. fred, thank you very much. let's get some more now on the breaking news coming out of syria. rebel fighters liberating the capital of damascus and abruptly ending the long and brutal rule of president bashar al assad. cnn's chief international security correspondent, nick paton walsh, is joining us right now. nick, we know who this rebel group is designated that this rebel group is designated a terror organization by the u.s., the u.n. and many western countries. and a senior u.s. official says the u.s. believes a significant portion of this group, as it's called, still has strong ties to isis. what more can you tell us about the group's ideology and the potential links a major cause becoming. and are there are these potential links? a major cause for concern look, we simply don't know at this stage. >> and i think it's entirely fair to permit agents who have come to this position saying they wish to be inclusive. they wish to represent a

now as far as russia is concerned, they've got those two bases, one, a naval base at tartus, the other in air force, air force base, the russian air force base near latakia and those two bases gave gave russia continue to give russia a powerful position on the eastern mediterranean. on the shores of the eastern mediterranean but if the if a government formed by or under the auspices of rts i it moves forward with their desire to rid syria of all foreign influence, that logically would indicate it would also get rid of the russian presence there, and whether or not that happens, of course, is is another question. but they certainly based on their public statements, wanting to get rid of the iranians, they see them as the rts and jilani himself see the iranians as a force for bad in syria. and it's been one of the driving forces for them. and if they move forward with that, then the iranians will have one less foothold and become far less powerful in the middle east, especially with the northern middle east. >> now, beth, we you know, we have not heard from president biden yet on this. w

interest in syria comes down to is its naval station at tardis and its air base north of north of tartus and latakia province. if the russians can make a deal with a new syrian regime and keep those bases i don't think they care that much about assad for iran, it's very different if assad and his alawite regime are replaced by sunni islamist iran is in deep trouble and its ability to support whatever's left of hezbollah, whatever the israelis haven't destroyed, and this whole opportunity for the rebels in syria, we owe to israel and we owe to israel's destruction, ongoing destruction of hamas in the gaza strip and its ongoing dismemberment of hezbollah in lebanon, the middle east is definitely changing to iran's detriment. but let's also be clear these syrian rebels, by and large, are islamists themselves. many are al qaeda isis fighters and a terrorist regime in damascus is in lieu of the assad regime. is like potentially jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. the u.s. shouldn't get involved militarily but it is dead wrong to say we don't have real interest in the outcome of this

know russia has two main bases in syria, an air base in latakia and his only mediterranean port in tartus. putin has so far been silent about what's happening in syria, but we can see the troop and equipment movements. and tonight, the man who was running syria as putin's protected dictator, bashar al assad, is apparently speaking out for the first time since he fled to moscow. fred pleitgen is out front for moscow tonight. >> as syrians celebrate the demise of the assad regime. the deposed dictator, seemingly delusional, apparently speaking out for the first time since fleeing to russia his statement on the social media page of the former syrian presidency, appearing to be from assad himself, datelined moscow. i have never sought positions for personal gain, but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, the statement says this after syrians ransacking assad's palace discovered the luxury, the dictator and his family were living in. including a garage with dozens of luxury cars, including ferraris and a lamborghini. assad's wife asma, also known for her lavish ou