u.s. leaves these two hundred troops there which they say they are now you can be sure that the u.s. is going to go back to france and to the u.k. and say we're keeping two hundred soldiers there we'd like you guys to stay as well i don't know if that'll be the case but we'll see how does. that for us in washington d.c. thank you kate. well the iraqi military is on high alert for failing. its members can try to regroup in areas once controlled by isis and north and west iraq that has. iraqi forces far mortars at meisel targets across the syrian border the village of bug who's the last i still controlled territory in syria isn't far from here the mainly kurdish u.s. backed syrian democratic forces or s.d.f. estimate there are around three hundred eisel fight is still inside the iraqi military and pro iran armed groups are determined to stop them escaping across into iraq. they've set up cameras around ten kilometers inside syrian territory to monitor eisel fighters as the s.d.f. offensive goes on while the iraqi military operation against iso across the border in syria continue we on

did that as well but now with these two hundred u.s. troops remaining remains to be seen if the u.k. and france remain in syria as well david does russia is an associate professor at the near east south asia center for security studies and previously sabs at the pentagon he says keeping a small number of u.s. troops in syria is a political gesture. it's not a large number of forces so it's too small to be militarily significant so when you look at it has to be political politically significant and i think there's two possible messages one to the turks is that yes we are serious about protecting your interests as you see it and so we're willing to keep our forces here in order to restrain the kurdish elements of the syrian democratic forces from align themselves with the p k k attack in turkey and i think the second message will be to the y.p. g. forces which is that you're not going to be abandoned we will have a presence on the ground here to restrain the turks from attacking you so in extent and in practice it looks as though these guys will

have no idea what it's going to say. >> reporter: the president also made news in talking about u.s. troopsn iraq and a dual purpose he says they're serving. >> i want to be looking a little bit at iran because iran is a real problem -- >> whoa, that's news. you're keeping troops in iraq because you want to be able to strike in iran? >> no, because i want to be able to watch iran. all i want to be able to do is watch. >> reporter: iraq's president responded saying u.s. troops are there as part of a specific mission to combat terrorism. he said president trump never asked for permission to watch iran. and president trump was also asked about how much he trusted his own intelligence chiefs. he said he does, but he doesn't always agree with them. the president will make his annual state of the union address tomorrow night. anne-marie? >> marc liverman here in new york. thanks a lot, mark. >>> virginia governor ralph northam is resisting calls for his resignation this morning amid a controversy over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. northam first apologized for the 1984 photo but l

that he wants to u.s. troops in iraq to quote watch iran obviously that's caused an uproar in baghdad was iraqi politicians condemning trump in unison but can you act really do anything about it can they dictate terms to washington. who well is this is a very unfortunate because there is an understanding and agreement that they exist since of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help the iraqi government fight terrorism its no i job or foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or who is iraq a springboard against our neighbors this is not in our constitution iraqi constitution this is not part of the whole of this operation the number of u.s. troops in iraq are limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have for their own they don't control the sky and if light in iraq or outside iraq should be given to figure out of the government so i think the whole thing is outside the scope of that issue should be true to do two countri

forces withdraw the white house now says it's keeping two hundred u.s. troops in syria as peacekeepers but trump denies it's a huge and has decision came after a phone call with turkish president twenty five editor wants to if he wants to set up a safe zone and northeastern syria which is cleared off the u.s. . asked kurdish fighters mr gifford i'll come to you because you've actually fought with the kurdish y p g in syria against eisel what are your thoughts on the u.s. troop withdrawal keeping these two hundred so-called peacekeepers in the country what are they going to do well i think put themselves really between the turkish army and the kurdish y.p. gee. i was very disturbed to hear don't trump's initial suggestion that all troops are going to be removed i think donald trump is very much a short term politician he was he was only there to fight isis he wanted to pull all the troops out but after some advice from his own generals and realizing that if he were to do that then it would actually start another round of violence in syria has actually taken the

so what happens to the approximately six thousand u.s. troops still in iraq u.s. presidents donald trump a seen here visiting american soldiers at the assad air base in december says he wants some troops to remain in iraq to as he puts it keep an eye on neighboring iran the comment has angered many of iraq's shia politicians pricilla cazaly is leader of the powerful pro iran group assad will talk and withouten with the had any chance recent statement had nothing to do with the welfare of iraq the targeting of iran from here is totally unacceptable that iran is iraq's biggest and most powerful ally in the region pro iran armed groups have been highly effective in the fight against eisel. well. there is a clash among iraqi politicians many of whom don't want iraq to be potentially a launching pad for u.s. policies against neighboring countries primarily iran kurdish peshmerga forces have been stationed at this position since two thousand and fourteen but commanders here tell us that i still sleep purcell's a still operate in the surrounding countryside and villages c

the white house says a small group of u.s. troops will remain in syria after the rest of the american forces withdraw donald trump announced the pullout in december surprising allies both in the west and on the ground u.s. troops have been training supplying and advise in the kurdish dominated city and democratic forces in the fight against elizondo is joining me now live from washington d.c. given i understand that this is being part of a conversation between donald trump and the turkish president of egypt and do we know any more about what was discussed. yeah it was a phone conversation they've been talking for a while now since you mentioned spent over eight weeks since donald trump made that surprise announcement about pulling out two thousand u.s. troops from syria this conversation they had over the phone on thursday we're told by the white house from a readout that both presidents agreed that the pullout of u.s. troops should not damage any mutual goals of and or washington and then we later heard from white house spokesperson

the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria will be a blow for kurdish forces which are closely allied with the us of a fair an all out offensive from turkey once and us is out of the way turkey regards the kurdish militia in syria as terrorists we have this report from the kurdish city of karbala on the border with turkey. layla visits this grave and every thursday to pray and honor the memory of her only son rody he died fighting the so-called islamic state in twenty thirteen as did thousands more kurds leila hopes her sons commitment to freedom wasn't in vain it's a hope that unites many mothers who have lost their sons in this region. home and i'll never forget them it is truly a tremendous loss that we're keeping our composure by remembering our sons and our hometown god forbid that blood has been shed in vain them and not a hail high levels but many kurds in northern syria have misgivings this is where the kurdish militia the y.p. g force the i asked to retreat in a major offensive in late two thousand and four

> i heard from her their concerns about turkey's threats, knowing that if there is a pullout of u.s. troops overnight and it's too heavieasty then th kurds will be left to turkey's slaughter. she referred to what has already happened in places in syria to know what would lie ahead if there is not an opportunity for the kurds in the northern part of syria to broker some form of security agreement that will allow them to, frankly, protect their homes and protect their families going forward. she also said we never expected the united states to keep soldiers there forever. they always knew it would be a temporary situation focused on fighting against isis. all she's saying is, give us the space to be able to make sure that we are able to secure ourselves before the united states pulls out all of our troops. >> did she ask you why you met with assad? >> no, she didn't, but we had a discussion about that and she recognized why i met with him and agreed with that meeting because she knows how important it is that we be willing to meet with adversaries or potential adversaries not only our friends

forces withdraw the white house now says it's keeping two hundred u.s. troops in syria as peacekeepers but trump denies it's a huge and his decision came after a phone call with turkish president friendships i've added the one to if you want to set up a safe zone and northeastern syria which is cleared off the u.s. . asked kurdish fighters mr gifford i'll come to you because you've actually fought with the kurdish y p g in syria against eisel what are your thoughts on the u.s. troop withdrawal keeping these two hundred so-called peacekeepers in the country what are they going to do well i think put themselves really between the turkish army and the kurdish y.p. gee. i was very disturbed to hear don't trump's initial suggestion that all troops are going to be removed i think donald trump is very much a short term politician he was he was only there to fight isis he wanted to pull all the troops out but after some advice from his own generals and realizing that if he were to do that then it would actually start another round of violence in syria has actually take

> yeah, he's supposedly in iraq but let me ask you this so i wasn't clear, dan are you for this u.s. troopat i believe is that the relatively modest number of troops we have in syria at this time, 2,000 troops if it were up to me i would leave them there so that they could continue to take the fight to isis and continue to provide the important train and assist to the syrian democratic forces who would otherwise be at risk from turkey and others in that region , and then also of importance is the intelligence collection. it's not like turning on or off a faucet. we need to have our military and intelligence assets in place to track isis, and without them i'm concerned that we won't be able to do that as effectively. >> that means you agree with military and security experts on this, so again, let's talk about that because this is what's really crucial in the wake of u.s. troop pullout. you're going to have how many people would stay behind to do what you just did to monitor, surveil syria on the ground what's the counterterrorism plan here? >> right i think we're waiting to hear what that

the president speaking about u.s. troop presence in syria.said loosely that he wants to put troops that he might put more u.s. troops in iraq to counter iran. you think he's just speaking loosely. >> he's not talking about anything that would be a military strike against iran. he's not happy with the fact the iranians continue to engage in ballistic missile development, support for hezbollah and other organizations we consider to be terrorists in the region. but the fact is the u.s. military has done about as much as the u.s. military can do against isis on the ground in syria and iraq. that does not mean that we have destroyed and defeated isis. or terrorism in these countries. but as you see, you know, the american presumption, whether or not it's trump or previous presidents is the way you fight terrorism is almost exclusively militarily. and in terms of real policy. and you look at iraq right now, mosul, where everyone that is thought to be not only former isis but a first cousin, a lawyer supporting them, getting rounded up, thrown in ca

absolutely. >> reporter: there have been reports that the president would like to see a drawdown of u.s. troops here in afghanistan. has there been any order to do that yet? >> no. i -- first off, i have the authorities, i have the capabilities that i need, from the u.s. and the coalition standpoint, to work with our afghan partners. at the same time, as a commander, i'm always trying to bring the footprint down, bring our force structure down. >> reporter: and the u.s. commander made it clear, he's a general, not a policy-maker, and says he'll follow his chain of command and the president. we're flying over kabul here in afghanistan, of course, america's longest war. and they'll tell you here that part of any end-game for u.s. forces here, making sure that the afghan forces are prepared to fight the insurgency. and that insurgency now includes isis. you are looking at images they captured of afghan special forces just weeks ago, with help from the americans, the coalition. they are fighting isis, not in syria, but in afghanistan, supported with u.s. air strikes. and unlike the taliban, isis ha

and security policy since the moment trump took office he of course when he announces that the u.s. troops will leave is being consistent with his own manifesto that he was elected upon to actually withdraw u.s. forces from these what he calls endless wars and of course he's encountered strong resistance in that aim from what might be called the u.s. security establishment what some of its eight states they don't want that leverage taken away because after all it's as indeed the stockmen today makes clear there are a number of aims from syria in respect of syria that the u.s. has not only to defeat isis but they mention four other main aims amongst those are still it would appear the removal of assad and also of course maintaining leverage against. iran those two thousand troops that america has currently and it should be added of course very strongly arguably unlawfully in syria after all they're not there at the invitation of the syrian government unlike iranian or hezbollah or russian forces but the presence of those two thousand people that does of course give the u.s. some strategic l

of menace and as reassuring allies that the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria does not mean it is the end of america's fight there or in iraq in december president trump had declared been defeated at least in syria. the u.s. senate's passed a bill that allows states to penalize businesses that boycott israel the senate also backed strengthening america's security in the middle east act by a seventy seven to twenty three vote but that was hours before donald trump was due to deliver his annual state of the union speech we reaffirmed his promise to bring troops from syria bring back troops in syria and afghanistan to become law the bill would need to pass the democratic controlled house of representatives you must several israeli ministers have signed a declaration supporting the settlement of two million israelis in the occupied west bank the plan goes back to the time of former prime minister it's actually here who served back in the one nine hundred eighty s. more on this from harry falls that and western islam. well this pledge coming in the form o

unfortunate because there is an understanding and agreement that they distance of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help the iraqi government fight terrorism its no i job or foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or use iraq a springboard against our neighbors this is not in our constitution iraqi constitution this is not part of the whole of this operation the number of u.s. troops in iraq are limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have for their own they don't control the sky and if light in iraq or outside iraq should be given to figure out a key government so i think the whole thing is outside the scope of that issue because to do two countries is very unfortunate kin iraqi forces maintain security on their own if i diot shows america the door. well iraq is giving up of sacrifices to fight die should the people who fought on the ground are all iraqis yes we receive support to see so far from our allies from international coalition and from the rest of our friends in terms of just take in ter

an agreement that existence of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help the iraqi government fight terrorism. it's no i job or foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or he was a springboard i guess i would never this is. not in our constitution. to sion this is not part of the whole of this operation the number of u.s. troops in iraq are limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have.

. >> you're going to keep u.s. troops there in south korea. >> yeah. we haven't talked about anything else. maybe some days who knows. it's expensive to keep troops there, you do know that. we have 40,000 troops in south

if this risks a lesson unlearned from isis in iraq because, of course, president obama withdrew u.s. troopss to return there and, of course, the u.s. had to return. do you -- are you concerned that that same mistake is repeated here? >> i think it's very possible that the same mistake could be repeated because when president obama left iraq, that really opened up the vacuum. and just like nature abhors a vacuum, geopolitics is also a situation where if you are not there, somebody else is going to take your place. so when it comes to syria and withdrawing our troops from syria, we really run the risk of actually going in and really negating all the gains we've made during this period. and to the president's comment that they were the ones -- his administration were the ones to actually do this, that's not exactly accurate. they continued policies that were started in the obama administration. obama took awhile to learn what was going on and had made some mistakes along the way. but the tide was beginning to turn before the election in 2016. >> right. >> the president sparked some controversy

u.s. has confirmed two hundred troops will remain in syria after the majority of them allows in december president donald trump announced the withdrawal surprising u.s. allies the rescue missions been called off to fire tore through several buildings and bangladesh's capital dhaka at least seventy people have died and forty others have been injured. the nader of the roman catholic church says concrete measures are needed to fight sexual abuse of children by priests francis has opened a historic meeting by saying it's time to heal the wings caused by pedophilia challenge reports the vatican now acknowledges that catholicism has an existential crisis it's described this sexual abuse meeting as an attempt to restore the very credibility of the church opening the unprecedented event on thursday pope francis said action was necessary. basing the plague of sexual abuse by the churches many against minors i thought to consult you because all together to hear the holy spirit and listen to the cry of the young justice the way to pastor an ecclesiastical sponsibility which forces us to discuss this together

the white house says a small group of u.s. troops will remain in syria after the rest of the american forces withdraw trump announced the pullout in december surprising allies both in the west and on the ground u.s. troops have been training supplying and advise in the kurdish dominated democratic forces in the fight against. those joins me now from washington d.c. what more do we know about this phone call that appears to have taken place between president donald trump and the turkish president. yeah it was a call that happened on thursday and it's part of these ongoing negotiations between ankara and washington on how this troop pullout was going to happen and it has been increasingly impatient with washington in recent weeks after trump made that announcement more than two months ago that he would pull two thousand troops out now we're starting to get a better indication of what this is going to look like according to what we're hearing from the readout and from white house officials after this call between the two leaders it's no

so what happens to the approximately six thousand u.s. troops still in iraq u.s. presidents donald trump a seen here visiting american soldiers at the assad air base in december says he wants some troops to remain in iraq to as he puts it keep an eye on neighboring iraq the comment has angered many of iraq's shia politicians. is leader of the powerful pro iran group. and with that and with the had any chance recent statement had nothing to do with the welfare of iraq the targeting of iran from here is totally unacceptable that iran is iraq's biggest and most powerful ally in the region pro iran armed groups have been highly effective in the fight against eisel. well. there is a clash among iraqi politicians many of whom don't want iraq to be potentially a launching pad for u.s. policies against neighboring countries primarily iran kurdish peshmerga forces have been stationed at this position since two thousand and fourteen but commanders here tell us that i still sleep purcell's a still operate in the surrounding countryside and villages close by so it's probably n

or u.s. troops to remain in iraq has concerned baghdad and anger tehran how will balance out ever in say interests here without forgetting its own i ask former iraqi prime minister. as a rock the rubble after the bloody war with isis the countries american and iranian allies are locked in a confrontation with each other each pressuring baghdad to join this side of the internally divided and unstable iraq a food to join another fight libya able to preserve the hard won internal peace with the quarrel between washington and to run the country apart. hi there are led by the former iraqi prime minister welcome to the show it's great to have you with us on our program today so mr i love it donald trump has recently said that he wants to u.s. troops in iraq to quote watch iran obviously that's caused an uproar in baghdad was iraqi politicians condemning trump in unison the direct really do anything about it can they dictate terms to washington. well is this is a very unfortunate because there is standing

just this afternoon, senior defense officials said that 1,000 additional u.s. troopsorder next week. that's in addition to the 5,000 already there. tonight we conclude our weeklong series on the green new deal by focusing on its primary sponsor. some are drawing parallels between the communication style and attention new york democratic congress home in alexandria because he a court has is getting and the politicians she and her colleagues most despise. correspondent peter doocy takes a look. >> one of them is all about the green new deal. the other is all about the art of the deal. but alexandria me too and donald trump might not be so different after all. >> new york is a great place, great people. >> and it's on for the president him a congresswoman, who both ds establishments. while engineering primary upsides and eventual elections. they both believe they started something. >> we meet a machine with a movement. >> ours is the greatest political movement. >> the recent d.c. transplants also share a strong dislike for amazon founder jeff bezos. ocasio-cortez protes

an agreement that existence of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help it. iraqi government fight terrorism it's no a job of foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or use iraq as a springboard against our neighbors this is not in our constitution iraqi constitution and this is not part of the whole of this operation the number of u.s. troops in iraq are limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have for their own they don't control the sky and if light in iraq or outside iraq should be given to figure out a government so i think the whole thing is outside the scope of that issue because to do two countries is very unfortunate. rocky forces maintain security on their own if america the door well iraq is given over.

he made a surprise announcement in december that the militant group had been defeated and that u.s. troops would be withdrawn from syria. and the u.s. and iran traded verbal blows as the munich security conference draws to an end iran's foreign minister can bend american policy on iran accusing washington of ignoring his country's right to self-determination he made the comment after u.s. president vice president mike pence demanded that europe take a tougher stance against tehran. and german president frank poulter shot on minor follows in the footsteps of one of the country's most famous explorers to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the galapagos islands. welcome to the program next by sir. u.s. president donald trump called on european states to take back their citizens if they are among the captured fighters from the so-called islamic state in a tweet that mentioned britain france germany and other countries threatened to release captured fighters if their home countries refused to allow them back this comes after his shock december announcement that the militant group had be

mismanaged that place, he's eviscerated democratic institutions, but the fact of the matter is u.s. troops going into venezuela is only going to make the situation worse. there is no basis for it. it's not like congress has authorized the use of military action ensiinside of venezuela. what i see, chris, is what you see. what is the common thread? this is a president who does not speak up for democracy or human rights in saudi arabia when there is a brutal murder of a "washington post" journalist. he speaks up for it in venezuela because he thinks it serves his political interests here at home. he thinks it serves his political interests in florida. >> exactly. >> the reality is they made this big play in recognizing alternative government and they look feckless because maduro is still there, the military is still backing him. the question is what are they going to do about it? there is no military option,

an agreement that is a sense of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help the iraqi government fight terrorism it's not a job of foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or he was a springboard i guess i would never this is not out in our constitution iraqi constitution this is not part of the whole of this operation number of u.s. troops in. a limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have for their own they don't control the sky and if light in iraq or outside iraq should be given to figure out the government so i think the whole thing is outside the scope of that issue between the two countries is very unfortunate qin iraqi forces maintain security on their own shows america the door well iraq is giving up of sacrifices to fight darawshe of the people who fought on the ground are all iraqis yes we receive support to suffer from our allies from international coalition and from the rest of our friends in terms of just take in terms of training and in term

it will be on foreign policy, national security, north korea, china, iran, u.s. troops u.s. troops in afghanistan and iraq. that's going to be a big chunk of the speech. what are you listening for? >> we will hear the president try and claim a lot of vehic victories. we will hear him make stuff up. it took many months after his prior state of the union through freedom of information act to nail down some of the claims he made about federal agencies making representations to him. it might be more of a fact checking challenge because he has less good news on the foreign policy news. north korea nuclear program is continuing. isis is not defeated. nato allies are incredibly spooked. usually whenever we look at the -- a coherent foreign policy vision from a president, unusual thing about donald trump is he doesn't you'lly ta lyusually ta policy, he talks about himself. when we have seen him discuss foreign policy, it's through the lens of who is nice to him, who is fair, who is unfair. it isn't about policy. >> he really wants to get the troops out of syria and afghanistan.

five thousand two hundred u.s. troops are also training iraqi military both in the air and on the ground there like most other countries in the world iraq is very conscious so what happened in afghanistan when american troops were pulled out of afghanistan under the obama regime there was enormous immediate resulting upsurge in violence from the taliban but also from iraq does not want that to happen its country it wants its own troops to be trained well enough to be able to secure the country and only at that point in practical terms is it one the foreign troops to leave in terms of this bill that's being put forward by the shia bloc in parliament that can only happen once parliament comes back into session pollens not going to be back in session until the start of march the president has deferred the decision to the prime minister the lucky who is also commander of the military so no decision on this is likely to be taken if i told until the parliament resumes back at the start of march all right rob matheson with an up

forces withdraw the white house now says it's keeping two hundred u.s. troops in syria as peacekeepers but trump denies it's a huge and his decision came after a phone call with turkish president friendships i've added the one to if you want to set up a safe zone and ne in syria which is cleared off the u.s. . asked kurdish fighters mr gifford i'll come to you because you've actually fought with the kurdish y p g in syria against i saw what are your thoughts on the u.s. troop withdrawal keeping these two hundred so-called peacekeepers in the country what are they going to do well i think put themselves really between the turkish army and the kurdish y.p. gee. i was very disturbed to hear don't trump's initial suggestion that all troops are going to be removed i think donald trump is very much a short term politician he was he was only there to fight isis he wanted to pull all the troops out but after some advice from his own generals and realizing that if he were to do that then it would actually start another round of violence in syria has actually taken the s

he said that he was going to pull all 2500 u.s. troops out of northeastern syria right away. take a look. >> we have won against isis. we've beaten them and we've been them badly. our boys, our young women, our men, they are all coming back. and they're coming back now. >> now it turns out they're not coming back now. he announced on friday that he is going to keep 400 troops there including 200 on the border with turkey. two questions really, how is he now accepted the prevailing view in the military even if they lose all their territory, that isis will remain a threat? and secondly, have you gotten any buy-in now that we are staying there from britain or france that they will keep troops there on the border to protect our kurdish allies? >> the predicate of your question i think is wrong. let me try and address the policy there. presidents made very clear that the achievement of destroying the caliphate in syria and iraq, we forget most people forgot that rocco, this is an enormous accomplishment. we are very proud of that. lanes of people liberated from the terror of isis.

significant loyalty to and links to iran and iran does not want to have u.s. troops or foreign troops but particularly u.s. troops on its doorstep and in fact there's a move to put a bill before parliament when it comes back to session in early march that they will only be allowed to another year in the country before they get moved out so the government has to take that view into consideration but at the same time it's well aware that the american troops and other foreign troops in iraq are helping to contain the security situation helping to deal with the sporadic attacks that are being attributed to our assault there also of course training iraqi troops so eventually when those foreign troops do leave the iraqi troops are going to be able to deal with the situation on their own but it's a very difficult situation for the government to be in at the moment having said all of that life is beginning to gradually return to normal in iraq we're seeing it in mosul there's a big plan at the moment that the government's put in place to try to remove a lot of the rubble fro

issues on the table one of them is a nationwide ceasefire another a timetable for the withdrawal of u.s. troops the u.s. maintains around fourteen thousand troops inside the country another issue at stake the taliban needing to talk to the afghan government they so far have refused to do that and also crucially for the americans they want to ensure that groups like isis and al qaida do not use afghanistan as a staging ground for any further attacks so these are complicated negotiations there is some hope in afghanistan certainly from the people that perhaps there will be some change we're going to have to wait and see what is agreed upon here but people do remain skeptical at the taliban what form they're going to return the talks are to have them involved in some kind of unity government people do not want to see the group return in the capacity with the rules that they had toward the end of the nine hundred ninety s. i think most important of course is to try and restore some form of stability security to the country this is what afghans want they want to be able to live in some point of secu

david, even if u.s. troops do withdraw from here, peace may be far from won. many fleeing jihadists often pose as civilians and the u.s. state department says isis fighters could be in the thousands, waiting for another chance to fight. david? >> james longman in eastern syria for us. james, thank you. >>> next tonight, to the growing outrage back here at home over a tasing incident in glendale, arizona. a passenger in a car is tased repeatedly after he says he does not have his i.d. as his wife and children begged police to stop. here's abc's chief national correspondent matt gutman, and we warn you, this is difficult. >> reporter: the newly-released body cam video begins with a request. >> what's your name? >> reporter: and it ends in a spasm of violence. minutes earlier, glendale arizona police officers stop this car for a turn signal violation. officer matthew schneider almost immediately putting hands on that passenger, johnny wheatcroft. >> relax. >> i am, dude, stop. >> reporter: officers tasering him, struggling to cuff wheatcroft, who is tangled in the

so the number of u.s. troops3,000, which is the highest number we've seen or known about, they haven't always been transparent about the total force there but that's the highest we've seen since they went into syria several years ago. thing about question now is will the u.s. continue an air presence there after troops are gone on the ground. that's been a huge part of this campaign. the syrian democratic forces, which is a largely kurdish fighting force on the ground, they're the ones who are really pushing, slogging out the miles they're in syria, they are reliant on a u.s. air presence to help them, you know, break way, to help them forge a path against isis, especially in these last few miles. isis is really down to this tiny little triangle in the middle euphrates river valley of land they're holding, but they're really reliant on u.s. air power. if there's no u.s. presence on the ground there, it really opens up the u.s. to a lot of liability to conduct air strikes if they're relying on a partner force on t

did that as well but now with these two hundred u.s. troops remaining remains to be seen if the u.k. and france remain in syria as well there are concerns all week long delay in nigeria's presidential election and fears of ethnic violence voter turnout people will cast their ballots on saturday last weekend that was postponed just five hours before the polls were due to open reports for. the stars of nigeria's film and dance world in a video promoting a peaceful election. commission. there are concerns about the country's ability to hold a successful presidential poll this weekend after last saturday's surprise delay and some fear a return of ethnic violence triggered in the past by disputed results with the background that we already have. misgivings and so on. about security agencies about the government itself and so on and so forth but it's a high risk that results will be disputed. the results in some places and of the high risk. in a crowded field of candidates to stand out president. whose critics say he's failed on the economy fighting

forced regime change going in venezuela a few snags a few bumps in the road and can we believe some u.s. troops will leave the middle east and much much more on this edition of crossfire. cross talking some real news i'm joined by my guest here in moscow exactly in morrow he is the founder of the center for political strategic analysis poll we also have victrola bitch he is a political analyst as well as a leading expert at the center for actual politics and we have dimitri bobby she's a political analyst with sputnik international or a german cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate picture let me go to you first let's talk about venezuela we have the pretender president backed by the united states the united states mr cardew he's come out in public saying that he may because of his power whatever that may be mean in venezuela asked for foreign intervention which of course would be the use of the middle american military in venezuela as we've seen many many times in the hemisphere is this going in a very bad place or is this telling us that

how many of them are out there and what is their capability of regrouping once u.s. troops leave syria? >> seems like the unknowns are only getting greater and growing when it comes to syria and isis. i want to ask you, what did he say about the possible draw down of u.s. troops from afghanistan? >> it's another country the president would like to get on the path towards having u.s. troops move out of. questioned very closely because these negotiations with the taliban right now are not including the afghan government. and that afghan government needs to be part of it. he is saying eventually it will be and also saying that the u.s. is still going to have to provide military and possibly financial support to afghanistan for many years to come. >> see how that translates when we hear more from the president on that very issue. if we hear more about it tonight especially. great to see you, thank you so much. >>> coming up, the new investigation into president trump's inner circle. federal prosecutors hitting the trump inaugural committee with a subpoena in a criminal investig

there are one hundred eighty thousand u.s. troops in iraq and afghanistan when we took office there are fifteen thousand and when we left so we did begin and make significant progress in the work of extricating united states from those wars but pretty kind to yourselves and you when it comes to legacy a bomber put it on leaving office almost every country on earth sees america as stronger and more respect today than they did eight years ago really yes that was a big china with its new fortress islands in the south china sea russia backing separatists in crimea ukraine and packing into everything it could get israel israel so use move respected i don't think so they didn't israel didn't if you look at what he's referring to there if you look at any public opinion survey it shows the enormous majority of countries have. in an entirely different view the united states under president obama than they did under president bush let's talk about this one for a moment though ok but we have requested because there are two hundred but wait a se

the withdrawal of u.s. troops or the reduction of u.s. russia. >> yes, i would agree with that. >> reporter: barbara starr, cnn, oman. >>> and still ahead, is colin kaepernick on the verge of returning to the nfl? his attorney predicts it's only a matter of weeks before he is back on a team. kaepernick's attorney joins me next. if i built a van, it would do more than haul. if i built a van, it would carry my entire business. i'd make it available in dozens, make that thousands of configurations. it would keep an eye on my fleet. [ beeping ] and an eye out for danger. with active brake assist. if i built a van, i'd make it available in diesel and gas. and i'd build it right here, in south carolina. introducing the all new sprinter starting at $33,790. built in the usa. mercedes-benz. vans. born to run. takes more mathan just investment advice. from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan. brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to wor

eat this he even dammed or the even the intention of withdrawing all u.s. troops from syria probably not he already has already been stated in the south of syria of the border with jordan that is the peace those troops will be there is unlikely that they will be withdrawn i mean you can the forces are very rarely with their own completely from. before very rarely and so to me questions here first to war. but even that he wanted to do it does he have the power within the american foreign policy and defense or perhaps to implement his decision and second question is he has stated on a number of occasions that he does not want to deal he is the other cities are his enemies what he really intends to do and all of these statements when you see something like that they don't have much credence because i think it's a cycle our population is perfectly insane sions which is very real or do you know where to call to what trump said about this deal with the oil ultimately some of them will be coming home but we're going to be there and we're going to stay he but they will be

against isis could go on for a very long time and that battle could be prolonged in the absence of u.s. troops, u.s. airpower and other coalition forces. so there's not going to be any victory parades here in syria when isis is defeated. people are bracing for the possibility of a wave of terror once isis loses its final ground. brooke? >> ben wedeman, thank you in syria. i want to analyze much of what we just heard from ben and what we've been hearing from the president. i have global affairs analyst max boot. he's a senior fellow and ha garks ar, i want to start with you. to ben's point about power vacuum and, you know, yes the reduction in the caliphate which is obviously a massive step -- positive step in the right direction, but i also remember talking to clarissa ward, one of our chief correspondents in syria is saying the problem is ideology. you may physically, you know, kill off some of these isis soldiers but it's like if you have this mentality in the hearts and minds of so many villagers across this country and how do you battle with that? >> that's the age old question. we'll be d