it's general assembly. u.n. and we have. no idea. well come on. it's the end of the u.n. general assembly opens this week so there's. a lot of presidents and foreign ministers and stuff and some of them trip through here to receive people here is that customer yeah yeah it's pretty typical in there in town with some of them invite themselves and some of them we invite to come over and meet with the editorial writers and things. and how does it seem to work out. and roasting them are pretty predictable but every once in a while one of the makes news but it's you know it's good to just give them a chance to come over and share their views that. we kind of makes you into an embassy or a for their the embassy of the new york times or a basically right. and i think you know you may have discovered this yourself or a news organizations don't always get the kind of access they would like to officials in washington and if you want to go ask the military or the white house to respond to classified information. you know. it can be difficult if you're if you're a representative of a

it so it's general assembly at the u.n. and we. want to come. and see if the u.n. general assembly opens this week so there's. a lot of presidents and foreign ministers and stuff and some of them trip through here to receive people here is that customer yeah yeah it's pretty typical in there in town with some of them invite themselves and some of them we invite to come over and meet with the. editorial writers and things. and how does it seem to work out. and rest in the pretty predictable that every once in a while one of the makes news but it's you know it's good to just give them a chance to come over and hear their views. kind of makes you into an embassy or. they're the embassy of the new york times right basically right. and i think you know you may have discovered this yourself or a news organizations don't always get the kind of access they would like to officials in washington and if you want to go ask the military or the white house to respond to classified information. you know. it can be difficult if you're if you're a representative of a foreign news or

it's out it's general assembly. the u.n. and we. really. want to come to. the u.n. general assembly opens this week so there's. a lot of presidents and foreign ministers and stuff and some of them trip through here to brazil is that customer yeah yeah it's pretty typical in there in town with some of them invite themselves and some of them we invite to come over and meet with the. editorial writers and things. and how does it seem to work out. and released in the pretty predictable that every once in a while one of the makes news but it's you know it's good to just give them a chance to come over and hear their views that. kind of makes you into an embassy or. they're the embassy of the new york times or a basically right. and i think you know you may have discovered this yourself or a news organizations don't always get the kind of access they would like to officials to wash. and if you want to go ask the military or the white house to respond to classified information. you know. it can be difficult if you're if you're a representative of a foreign news organization

it's out it's general assembly at the u.n. and we have. no idea what coming. it's the u.n. general assembly opens this week so there's. a lot of presidents and foreign ministers and stuff and some of them trip through here it really is a customer yeah yeah it's pretty typical i mean when they're in town with some of them invite themselves and some of them we invite to come over and meet with the. editorial writers and things. and how does it seem to work out your. risk in the. pretty predictable but every once in a while one of the makes news but it's you know it's good to just give them a chance to come over and share their views yeah. we kind of makes you into an embassy or a friend there the embassy of the new york times or a basically right. and i think you know you may have discovered this yourself or a news organizations don't always get the kind of access they would like to officials in washington and if you want to go ask the military or the white house to respond to classified information. you know. it can be difficult if you're if you're a representative of a forei

related issues, an international forum, whether it be unicef's general assembly in paris, or whether it be in the third committee at the u.ngeneral a summit, by second committee of the u.n. general assembly where resolutions related to disclosures have been presented, the united states in brazil, along with our other partners who are interested in things like the internet governance, privacy as a human right, and the role of espionage within the structures of international law and regulation. we've been able to fashion tax that the united states has joined consensus on. and this i think is a significant and important step because it realizes that both of our governments have the capability of understanding the concerns of the other and addressing them with their larger international and private with our many equities at play. and so just yesterday, the u.n. general assembly voted on a resolution that came out of the third committee in which again were able to join consensus. and i believe that is a very positive sign. we are also appreciative of the way in which the brazilian government has handled the most recent communic

u.n. general assembly that doesn't reflect the actual situation on the ground start only ideology this initiative has no future and. we buy the d.v.d.'s of such spoilers. with the geneva two conference in the offing just. now you just heard the minister say spoilers some people some players but in general said go out of says that the position of the west has changed shifted towards syria with a more balanced approach turning up the. western countries see this problem differently they're becoming more realistic in their approach to the syrian settlement regardless of what they are official spokesman say the threat of terrorism in syria the threat of coming to power in syria and setting out to kill a feat of violating their rights and maybe even exterminating minorities in syria this is the number one problem and the realisation of the fact that the regime change is not the way to solve this problem. become increasingly clear above that. also spoke about the relationship between russia and nato there is a russian nato council which works with an aim to create more trust more transparency in the rel

u.n. general assembly next fall and in that same op ed emerson also took the opportunity to call out the prominent political voices who have suggested that the guardian face a criminal investigation for its publishing multiple multiple edward snowden leaks he said quote these issues are at the apex of public interest concerns the astonishing suggestion that this sort of journalism can be equated with aiding and abetting terrorism needs to be scotched decisively it's the role of a free press to hold governments to account the guardian's editor alan rusbridger defended the publication in a parliamentarian hearing today in which members of parliament attempted to blame the guardian for national security breach artie's sarah firth has more. well what the hearing it was it was lively at times it got quite heavy handed i think it's fair to say the editor of the guardian newspaper managing to answer all those questions but some of the questions i think will of raised some eyebrows certainly we heard at one point and then p. i asked alan rusbridger do you love your country now that wasn't the only questio

u.n. general assembly, diplomats paused. former u.n. secretary-general kofi annan caused nelson mandela a courageous voice. the uk prime minister called him a hero of all-time, as a predecessor stressed his practicality. >> he understood politics. this is something important to stress. i always thought he was a very shrewd politician. >> reporter: the body of mandela was transported to a military morgue. there will be a national day of prayer on sunday. a memorial at a huge soccer stadium on tuesday. and buried the following sunday in his home village. in attendance will be president obama and first lady michelle obama. former president george bush and laura and former president clinton and hillary. clinton sat down today and recalled mandela's long years in prison. >> i said, tell me how this changed you. how did you give up 27 of the best years of your life and come out a better than than you went in. he said i realized they could take everything from me except my mind and my heart. those things i would have to give them. he said, i de

u.n. general assembly elected jordan to the council to replace saudi arabia. jordan was chosen after saudi arabia rejected the seat in october. it was a protest against the council's failure to end the syrian and israeli conflicts. conciliatory moves towards iran, chuck hagel made the comment during a dialogue, saying the u.s. would discuss steps to bolster security in the renaling jog. hagel says that the u.s. must continue diplomatic engagement in the middle east, maintain planes, ships, tanks and 35,000 troops. >> for decades iran has exported instability and violence across the region and beyond as it developed its nuclear program. iran has been a profoundly destabilising influence in a nuclear armed iran would pose an unaccee threat to regional and global facility. we brought time for meaning negotiation, not for perception. all of us are clear eyed about the challenges that remain to achieving a comprehensive nuclear solution with iran. >> chuck hagel at the bali conference. he warned the conflict in syria threatened to tear the country party unless a so

u.n. general assembly, she basically blasted the u.s. he then cancel add state dinner in washington. she also instructed her government to relay the fiberoptics in this country. to devert them. to disconnect them from the u.s., but whether or not she would actually take that risk in granting him asylum, and really weaken -- i should say cause even more tension, between a relationship between the united states and the brazil is something that remains to be seen. she is someone that is a fragmentus is not that aggressive, but we will have to wait and see if there is any official response the next coming days. >> the national security agency collection of phone records could be unconstitutional. eight leading companies last week called on obama the curb natural. >> staying in the u.s., the cold case tyranny launched several years ago, brought hope to families killed during the civil rights. most of the cases have since been closed leaving some relatives disappointed in angry. >> and today is an opportunity to say, daddy, we still seeking the truth. >> in 1964, kathryn and shirley's fath

u.n. general assembly condemned syria's government for widespread and systematic growth violations and expressed concerns about what it calls extremist groups. it will not take part in peace talks in switzerland. the leader spoke to al jazeera in his first television interview, abu mohammed al-joulani. >> these men are members of nusra front. it's a powerful group fighting against forces loyal to syrian president bashar al-assad. it was created almost two years ago. it's affiliated organization than the u.s., u.k. and unconsider a terrorist group. >> nusra wants to establish a syrian state known as syria. not much is known about its leader. he joins al qaeda to fight u.s. forces in iraq. >> in his first ever interview al jazeera's abu mohammed al-joulani is speaking. he says his fighters have the upper hand in syria. >> translation: the battle is almost over. we have covered about 70%. what is left is small, we will achieve victory soon. we pray to god to culminate the efforts with victory. >> the numbers of fighters are kept secret. estimates suggest it could be anywhere from 5,000 up to 20,000

u.n. general assembly. you'll recall that rouhani was engaging in what was termed a charm offensive, right, and he was going around talking to folks. and at that point, it made sense for us to see, all right, how serious are you potentially about having these conversations. they did not get highly substantive in the first several meetings but were much more exploring how much room, in fact, did they have to get something done. and then as soon as they began to get more technical, at that point, they converged with the p5-plus-1 discussions. i will say this -- the fact of rhouhani's election -- it's been said that there's no difference between him and ahmadinejad except that he's more charming. i think that understates the shift in politics that took place in this election. obviously, rouhani is part of the iranian establishment and i think we have to assume that his ideology is one that is hostile to the united states and to israel. but what he also represents is the desire on the part of the iranian people

u.n. general assembly. you recall that he was engaging in what was termed charm offensive.was going around talking to folks. and at that point, it made sense for us to see, all right, how serious are you potentially about having these conversations. they did not get highly substantive in first several meetings but were much more exploring how much room, in fact, did they have to get something done. and then as soon as they began to get more technical at that point they converged with the p5 plus 1 discussions. i will say this. the fact of his election, it's han said that there's no difference between him and ahmadinejad except that he's more charming. i think under states, the shift in politics that took place in this election, obviously he is part of the iranian establishment and i think we have to assume that his ideology is one that is hostile to the united states and to israel. but what he also represents is the desire on the part of the iranian people for a change of direction. and we should not underestimator entirely dismiss a shift in how the iranian people want to

u.n. general assembly next fall and in that same op ed emerson also took the opportunity to call out the prominent political voices who have suggested that the guardian face a criminal investigation for its publishing of multiple edward snowden leaks he said quote these issues are at the apex of public interest concerns the astonishing suggestion that this sort of journalism can be equated with aiding and abetting terrorism needs to be scotched decisively is the role of a free press to hold governments to account the guardian's editor alan rusbridger defended the publication and a parliamentarian hearing today in which members of the parliament attempted to blame the guardian for a national security breach r t sarah firth has more. well was the hearing it was it was lively at times it got quite heavy handed i think it's fair to say the editor of the guardian newspaper managing to answer all these questions but some of the questions i think all of raised some eyebrows certainly we heard at one point and then p. i asked alan rusbridger do you love your country now that wasn't the only question that

u.n. general assembly he thought this interim deal could be done in three months. it was done even more quickly, i thought at the time it couldn't possibly be so. so i think he sees that ending sanctions, getting iran out from under this cloud is in the country's interest. whether he can pull the hard-liners and the revolutionary guard with him we don't know. >> what about popular opinion and how easy or difficult it is to gauge. you write about what you call a fat agency in the country. >> again, i was there for a short time. i don't want to overstate what i know. but certainly you sense a kind of shadow hanging over iran. this is a country that is on the verge of being china like developing economy, growing very rapidly. i talked to four different economists who talked about 10% growth rates being possible in the future. i met iranian scientists who had ideas for new companies and products. >> if the sanctions -- >> if the sanctions are off. >> this is impossible unless sanctions are lifted. so there is a country that sees this incredibly promising future but won

u.n. general assembly in 1948. this is 25 minutes. >> please come on in and make your way to your seats. one of the things you will learn about human rights at this summit is what an amazing board we are blessed with and it is my pleasure to introduce another of its members, james ziglar who has had four decades' experience in public policy, management, finance, law and academia. no stranger to historic moments. he started his law career as a clerk to supreme court justice harry blackman in the 1972 term. when he rode the landmark roe vs. wade decision. 30 years later president george w. bush appointed jim commissioner of the imf. that was weeks before the attacks on the timber eleventh. he served as assistant secretary of the interior in the reagan administration and as a sergeant in on that the united states senate. he was president and ceo of cross match technologies and currently a senior fellow at the migration policy institute where he focuses on u.s. immigration policy, border patrol and security initiatives. as a board member of human-rights first we have been incredibly blessed

u.n. general assembly. you'll recall that rouhani was engaging in what was termed a charm offensive, right, and he was going around talking to folks. and at that point, it made sense for us to see, all right, how serious are you potentially about having these conversations. they did not get highly substantive in the first several meetings but were much more exploring how much room, in fact, did they have to get something done. and then as soon as they began to get more technical, at that point, they converged with the p5-plus-1 discussions. i will say this -- the fact of rouhani's election -- it's been said that there's no difference between him and ahmadinejad except that he's more charming. i think that understates the shift in politics that took place in this election. obviously, rouhani is part of the iranian establishment, and i think we have to assume that his ideology is one that is hostile to the united states and to israel. but what he also represents is the desire on the part of the iranian people

u.n. general assembly. but also its sons to snowden's -- its response to snowden's request for asylum. so in that regard i feel pretty good about where we are right now. oh, i'm sorry. listen, this is an ongoing discussion we're having, and, you know, we've made it very clear that, you know, that we're prepared to reschedule. and so i still hi our conversation -- think our conversation with the brazilians have to ripen a little bit before we can get a response from them. >> yes. julia. >> thank you. hello, julia -- [inaudible] with the council on foreign relations. hello, ambassador shannon. i think your opening address and your comments have made an effort to answer the question that i'm going to ask you again, if you don't mind. i think if we go back, and i'd like to ask you how do you address the skeptics in this town? some of them are here, some of them are floating about who would point to the going back just most recently to before your tenure down there to the 2010 tehran agreement, then to the reaction even, let's say, to the nsa disclosures which germany sort of was greeted, g

u.n. general assembly is now accusing the syrian government of widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights. the long conflict in syria has claimed more than 100,000 lives and having a profound impablct children. >> good morning, natalie. both sides in this war are increasingly ruthless. today a report by amnesty international says one extremist group is torturing people and imprisoning children as young as 8. whole families to flee here to damascus. at this soccer stadium, children play while parents register for food. gunfire rings out. this man waits for help an explosion. his sons hardly notice. soccer coach is trying to give these children hope, but it's not easy. an explosion, just as we're talking. he says mortars have landed here before. thiss where it landed. one 10-year-old boy tells me his family fled terrorists. yes, he says, very. and nearby these children wait to be given food to their family. 4-year-old helps his family carry away basic provisions from this distribution center. the u.n. is trying to feed more than 4 million syrians. >> the humanitarian crisis

u.n.'s general assembly, but also its response to snowden's request for asylum.i feel good about where we are right now. this is an ongoing discussion we are having. we have made it very clear that we are prepared to reschedule. i think our conversation with the brazilians have to write them a little bit before we get a response from them. -- have to right them a little bit before we get a response from them. >> hello, ambassador shannon. i think your opening address and comments have made an effort to answer the question that i'm going to ask you again. i think if we go back, i would like to ask you, how do you address the skeptics in this town question mark some of them -- in this town? some of them are here, some of them are floating about. who would point to the going back, before your tenure, then to the reaction to the msa disclosures, -- the nsa disclosures, germans reaction was greeted with greater understanding and perhaps brazil. i think we still have a tendency to understand brazil's reaction jerk, anti-knee- american reaction. that is pointing to braz

u.n. solution of a general assembly taken yesterday presented by germany and also by many other countries on the right of digital privacy related to human rights. how do you see the implementation of every solution, something that brazil has fought a lot for, a direct impact in the state of the relationship? >> as i noted, we'd turn consensus on that which means we are fine with it. and the joint consensus is the original text proposed by by the initial convene ears or those who offered the text which included brazil had to change some aspects of the text to broadly address our concerns but recognize as the revolution does the importance of privacy, and the importance of an internet which is seen as a global public good and one that needs to be protected. like the un resolutions, these are designed to capture a sense of the members of the un and to help provide protection but not binding and have aspects that implemented. and the critical moments, a purpose that needs to be understood and respected, and the we were able to work with other partners and also with brazil to fashion a text th

and other press freedom organization, managed to get the security council and also the general assembly in the u.n. to adopt a new resolution of protection of journalists and impunity. for the first time we managed to assign a date in november, a daily -- an annual day against impunity. and that would be an opportunity to pressure local authorities and all the governments to persecute attacks against journalists, especially in death situation. otherwise we are working -- >> i'm sorry, i thought you'd finished. i apologize for interrupting you. i want to thank you very much for coming on al jazeera news hour. sharif mansour. >>> according to the government the people of adra were trapped there by rebels. the town's an important road leading to the capital. rula amin has more. >> syria says its army has managed to evacuate 5,000 5,000 residents of adra, which was under attack. >> it's been very hard for us, no food, no water or electricity. the children were cold and starving. >> reporter: adra is an industrial town. most of its residents are allowite or jews. on december the 16th, some of the rebel

u.n. security council and the general assembly in the coming days, but the report provides no proof of who responsible. protestor's mandate was limited to discovering the chemical weapons used and not who used them. they will focus on the team that has been operating in syria and they now have a list of all of the syrian government's chemical arsenal and the chemical weapons secured in a number of sites and now the difficult part trying to get the weapons in convoys through the battlefield that is syria to the port of latakia and taken out of the country, i'm with al jazeera, u.n. >> the governing party and opposition reached a deal on a new prime minister to lead the caretaker government and the current government will step down later this month ending months of political deadlock. the current crisis was triggered by the assassinations of two opposition leaders earlier this year. the u.s. secretary of state met israeli prime minister benjamin betanau and they will resume talks in july after three years and little sign of any progress. and a snowstorm has swept through the middle east and

u.n. security council and the five members or are you talking about the general assembly so i think there are also different categories i think we have to you can say different discourse here is which is why i am ok my. point i completely agree with you on that point but george it isn't the general assembly that goes to war and it doesn't have a private army called nato does it. you know that's that's exactly right and. what's happened is that after the cold war there could have been at the margins of a genuine international community they could have emerged some kind of a. consensus among the great powers and and much of the general assembly could have here instead we have. a an aggressive policy of going to present the world domination by nato led by the united states and this is really sabotage any real hope of emergence of an international community i mean what you would really need to have it for a genuine international community is to respect. you know on the one hand you have to respect the interests of other great powers. and not just go off by expanding nato right up into russia'

u.n. solution of a [inaudible] general assembly taken yesterday presented by brazil and germany and also sponsored by many other countries. on the right of privacy and receipted to human rights. how do you see the implementation of that resolution? it's something that has fought a lot for. we can have an direct impact in this action state of the relationship. [inaudible] as noted the join consensus on that. the reason we were to be join consensus the original text proposed be by the initial conveners or those who offered it which included brazil have to change some aspect of that text to broadly address our concerns. recognize the importance of privacy and the importance of an internet which is seen as a global public good. and one that needs to be protected. like some of the u.n. resolutions. these are designed to capture a sense of the u.n. and to help provide direction -- was important and i think it showed that whenever brazil's intention might have been when it started the process. it recognized early on it wasn't going achieve erg it wanted to in the process. it had to make concessions that

a couple of times that the you in resolution of a general assembly , represented by brazil and shannon-- ambassador mentioned a couple of times of a u.n resolution. will it have a direct impact on the state of the relationship? noted, we joined consensus on that, which means we are fine with it. the reason we were able to join consensus is that the original text opposed by the initial conveners or those who altered the text, which included brazil, had to change some aspects of the text to broadly address our concerns. we recognize, as the resolution does, the importance of privacy and the importance of an internet, which is seen as a global public good and one that needs to be protect did. like so many u.n. resolutions, these are designed to capture a sense of the members of the u.n. and to help provide direction. they are not binding. rarely do they have aspects to them that are implemented. but that does not mean they are important. are not they capture a political moment and a purpose that needs to be understood and respect did. we think the fact that we were able to work with our other partners and with brazil to fashion a text th

that's the amount of money the united nations general assembly approved for its budget next year, the second year in a row that u.n. members states voted to slash spending. the cut welcomed by the u.s. government contributing 22% of the world body's funding. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. just ahead an american diplomat called in to ease unrest. let's see what temperatures will see with meteorologist eboni deon. >> it will stale on the cold side. -- it will stay on the cold side. temperatures falling colder. as you step outside in bargo it feels like minus 35 and minus 14 in rapid city. minus six in biz mark. definitely another day to dress in the layers. into the north-east mild. 40s as you head out at the hour. it will turn colder. milledest air in place. >> thank you so much. >> anti-government protests continue in turkey. protesters are calling on the prime minister to step down. on saturday the prime minister accused a us-based muslim cleric of issuingest rating the corruption flow. here to weigh in is james jeffrey a former ambassador for turkey and visiting f