>>shepard: thank you from the united nations in new york. and now, former spokesman for the state department and senior director for policy affairs for the united states national security council, a former senior there. p.j., where are we on this crisis? >>guest: well, part of what you just reported is trying to raise the costs of russian sport to its client state, syria, to the point that russia begins to envision a syria without assad and there is some hint coming from mexico in the president's conversation with putin at least they got to that point. well, what happens the day after assad goes? as we go forward if russia believes their national interests are protected in syria a wider range of options become possible that do not exist at the moment. >>shepard: from what we have her it sounds our president was appealing to the russian president's ego say youing can still have influence, you need to act like a super bowl if you are a super bowl but the body language from the two of them afterward suggested they did not get much done. >>guest:

there was, however, no mention of a united nations ceasefire. be the united states says mr. assad must go. for that, secretary of state hillary clinton leads russia's agreements. coordinating with the russians would be difficult. despite what the russian foreign minister says, so far, moscow is continuing to give president assad material support. if so, that is bad news for the united nations peace plan and its offer, kofi annan. he is meeting the permanent members of the security council in geneva tomorrow. it is starting to look like a last-a ditch effort to save the plan. there is no plan b, an alternative to the united nations process. in truth, the violence in syria has steadily escalated throughout the series of international initiatives, and president assad himself has made clear he is prepared for a fight to the finish and is expecting a long war. >> we have seen a lot of drop in cairo over the past year, and today, we saw something quite different yet again. for the first time ever, and egyptian president went before his people and effectively set -- i am one of you

jonathan hunt at the united nations here in new york. course, talk about what the president is about to say and the situation with europe. but i think it's important that we give you an update on a story we reported on earlier that jonathan hunt is covering from the united nations and to get that i'm going to read from that this computer. jonathan we just gotten a dispatch from the reuters news agency that indicates the russian president vladimir putin said a short time ago that syrians should be the ones to decide whether president bashar assad remains in power. apparently contradicting reports that he no longer backs the syrian leader. you and i reporting what david cammeron's folks said to reuters. putin made the comment shortly after the british prime minister david cammeron and russian leader made it clear he doesn't want assad to remain in power. all hopes that the russian president had backed off that appear now dashed. backed him into a corner there has been a diplomatic effort by the u.s. and by the u.k. to put the russian presi

we have reported to the united nations in keeping with the established rules. >> secretary-general, a question about the common funding. the purchase of the ags, as we all know, was achieved with some political difficulty. the financial mechanism, and that is a group of 17, now 18 nations are buying the equipment and a large part of the operating costs will come out of nato's common funding. however, this model is not a rule. it's an exception so far to the way sip works. and my question to you is for smart defense to move ahead if you're going to pursue more of these multinational models, don't you need to reform or do the 28 intend to reform the way that funding is used within the common -- the sip fund? thank you. >> yes, definitely, and that is also one of the follow-up works we adopted in chicago. we will look -- we will look closer into how our funding mechanisms work to make sure that they are fit for purpose, that they work efficiently, that we make the most efficient use of resources, that they are completed transparent. so, yes, in order to promote multinational projects, we

and others who believe in greater international law to say that we should have the united nations set up an agency to regulate the internet. i think that is a horrible idea and we should resist it at all costs. i very much agree on that point. you know what? there are very active forces at work trying to do that. we have set up an international independent entity -- it is really a private company called the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers, which has some supervision from the u.s. support of farmers sort of as a traffic cop to make sure that it all works -- from the u.s. department of commerce. there are many who are not satisfied with that and what the united nations to take over that responsibility. we do not want countries like china and iran and many others who do not have anything close to the first amendment that we have in our constitution -- we do not want them to be setting the standards for how their citizens or anyone else's citizens communicate internationally on the internet. >> they launched a controversial program at the beginning of the year that all

at the united nations, wjz eyewitness news. >> and u.n. forces say serious forces have killed about 10,000 people in a crackdown on protests. >>> voters increase heading to the polls this morning in an election that could affect us here in the u.s. the two leaders contending are the conservative new democracy party and the radical left wing party named stories up. the major difference between the two is whether or not to continue strict authority measures designed to save the economy. if the vote swings left, that would mean that greece would not accept bail out throwing the world financial system into chaos areas in mac front and center the oil's take on the braves. last night jason hamill picked the best -- pitched the best game of his career. braves pitcher brandon bj left came in the fourth inning after some elbow pain. that opened the door for those bringing in two runs, a lead that eventually grew to five in a 5-nothing victory over the bridge. the orioles wrap up their series today in atlanta. this afternoon it on wjz. see the birds

are continuously suffer, as you mentioned in your eloquent state that the credibility of the united nations. >> i think the excellency, the general as the united arab states for his briefing and now get the floor to the special joint envoy of the united nations and the league of arab states, his excellency, mr. kofi annan. >> mr. president, mr. secretary general of the united nations, secretary-general of the leak of the arab states, assistant secretary-general for human rights, distinguished delegates, excellencies, three months ago, after a year of deepening crisis in days and your guidance, secretary-general ban and secretary of iraqi gave me a tough job. they asked me to lead a united effort on behalf of the united nations and the league of arab states to stop the violence and killing in syria and launch a political process for a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the syrian people. today, despite the accent and set the six-point plan and the deployment of the courageous mission of united nation observers to syria, i must be frank and confirm another plan not been imple

nation of israel does. israel targets terrorists. the united states, we're too politically correct to do that so instead, we look for weapons and that means we do a body cavity search of a 90-year-old nun which doesn't make any sense. we need to defend our liberty and defend the constitution and i'll point out, this issue is a great illustration of a critical difference between my opponent and me. in the texas legislature, there was a strong bill to ban tsa groping. the obama administration threatened the state of texas and lieutenant governor dewhurst backed down. he asked a liberal democrat to round up the votes on the floor against the bill and he killed the bill because he didn't want to stand and fight obama. >> thanks. lieutenant governor dewhurst? >> let me tell you what the truth is. the truth is that i'm opposed to the groping by the tsa as much as anyone. i've gone back, taken a look at all of the different federal cases and the facts are awful what have happened to passengers. if that happened to my wife or little girl or it happened

the united nations peacekeeping chief has finally confirmed what many observers have said for months: the syrian uprising has grown into a full-scale civil war. the u.n. undersecretary for peacekeeping said the syrian government is now attempting to re-capture areas that it lost to the opposition. and secretary of state, hillary clinton said syria's soviet era ally russia is now lying when they claim the weapons shipped to syria are unrelated to the uprising. remember a ship they found last week full of weapons? russian. the u.n. reports that syrian troops are torturing and sexually abusing and murdering children. jonathan hunt has a live report on the horrifying details of the story coming up. a republican senator calling on attorney general holder to resign saying that holder violated the public trust. but the attorney general didn't take that compensate lying down. the growing political fight on capitol hill next. plus, cops say a driver turned the wheel and ran right into a guy walking down the street. and the police say this was no accident. the rest of the video. the rest of the

same rules united nations founding charter close upon us to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security a founding member and biggest financial contributor america ratified inside the u.n. treaty in one thousand nine hundred five which prohibits unprovoked attacks or military interventions in sovereign countries unless authorized by the un security council but. my fellow americans today our armed forces joined our nato allies in air strikes against serbian forces responsible for the brutality in kosovo in recent decades the us has been seen violating the very international laws it helped create we have acted with resolve the u.s. and its allies also acted without authorization from the un security council when it launched a seventy eight day aerial attack on yugoslavia in one thousand nine hundred nine nato starts war against the federal republic of yugoslavia serbia and montenegro. serbia for seventy eight days. and this doesn't have you an authorization until the very end the us again disregarded international law in two thousand and three after the security council

to another troubled nation now -- the united nations chief monitor in syria warns the situation there could be getting worse. in a press conference, he has told all parties in the conflict to give the piece missing a chance. >> that appeal comes amid unconfirmed reports that russian support for president assad is waning, and simultaneous denials from moscow that it is in -- involved in what it calls the new regime change. >> the fighting goes between rebels and loyalist to the president. >> this video is said to show shelling in homs, part of the country-wide offensive to take back -- held areas. the russian foreign minister denied that moscow was maneuvering to oust the syrian president. >> he said the state of the we're conducting talks about syria's state after assad is not true. we are not looking at regime change, either through supporting unilateral actions of the united nations security council or through some political conspiracy or other. this is not our way of doing things. >> the united nations observer team in syria has said its task is increasingly risky, and the head of

approval the united nations security council has not lived up to its responsibilities. so we will rise to ours is not in conformity with the u.n. charter from our point of view and from the charter point of view it was in the by circumventing international law for geo political interests experts say the us has systematically damage the confidence and credibility of the un it's been used by the united states i think as a fig leaf to to get. proven from the policies that the u.s. wants to do but if the u.n. doesn't agree with the united states as you know the case of iraq or kosovo the united states is just regard in the case of syria we're kofi annan fragile peace plan has showed slow progress washington is prepared to once again bypass the u.n. if the security council fails to impose more pressure on damascus and members of this council and members of the international community are left with the option only of having to consider whether they're prepared to take actions outside of the annan plan and the authority of this council romans had known for diplomacy they had t

the process of involvement in the united nations has one unfortunate property that it politicizes everything. all the considerations that are made, whether it's in the itu or elsewhere, are taken and colored by national interests as a long-standing participant in the internet board and internet task force where we check our guns at the door and we have technical discussions about how best to improve the operation of the internet, to color that with other national disputes, which are not relevant to the technology is a very dangerous precedent and that's one of the reasons i worry so much about the itus intervention in this space. >> there are press reports out of this hearing already that would tend top say that

violence erupting around the world and what is the united nations doing?oing after the tv you are watching it on. is the u.n. right or unreal next. with all the opinions about stocks out there, how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. u.n. official said western nations don't need more cars and tvs. they need to help the poor. >> and supreme court ruling >> washington. escalating tenses between syria and turkey. turkey is promising to disclose whatever is necessary in response of syria shooting down the fighter jet. both sides said the navy is searching for mediterranean for the pilots. syria said it was in its air space when it was shot down. extreme weather as the storm cluster in t

at the united nations in new york. >> you're watching "bbc world news." with me, david eades, and these are the headlines. >> the final day of campaigning in greece before sunday's parliamentary elections and at stake, the country's future in the euro zone. and the presidential runoff this weekend. there's turmoil after a court ruled last year's parliamentary elections were illegitimate. >> coming up in sports today in half an hour's time there's no luck of the irish as torres dumps ireland out of euro 2012. and after a win -- and tiger gets off to a roaring start at the u.s. open in san francisco. >> police in japan have caught the last remaining suspect obtained deadly nerve gas attack back in 1995 which killed 13 people, japanese people are saying the man aum shinrikyo was arrested in a cafe in tokyo. we report. >> in police custody, after 17 years on the run, tack hashy here wearing glasses was one of japan's most wanted men, the last fugitive at large expected in the gas attack on the tokyo subaway. warning russia -- in morning rush hour in 1995 and

we hope he is laying low. >> reporter: the united nations sounds a cry for help, asking the world to extend a hand. people in eight west africa can nations are on the brink of starvation, and at least 3 million of them are children. >> reporter: this tiny village in niger is a stark example of the crisis that hits eight countries. here families depend on farming, but this hut, normally used to store the grain, is dried out by the drought. leaving mothers like mariama struggling to feet feed their families. today she is left to pick wild leaves from trees. >> i don't think any of us can accept this mother must pick wild food ford her children to eat. >> reporter: eight agencies are doing what they can to deliver food to the region. so far they have not been able to raise even half the money needed to help the millions in need, and even more people could run out of food before next fall's harvest. >> these people, these women, these children, they deserve our attention. they deserve our time. >> reporter: little nafisa is a 1-year-old who ways just eight pounds. >>> that's about the siz

. >> that is the latest from the united nations. as the debate continues, u.s. lawmakers are also grappling with what they should do next when it comes to syria. john mccain advocates providing arms to the syrian opposition and he made this impassioned statement on the senate floor. >> how many more have to die? how many more have to die? how many more young women have to be raped? how many more young syrians are going to be tortured and killed? how many more? how many more? before we will act? >> for more on how far the u.s. should go, i spoke with democratic senator mark warner from virginia, who was recently returned from a trip to the middle east. >> you have just returned from the region and use it on the senate intelligence committee. what is your feeling about the kofi annan peace plan? is it now over? >> we have given this plan some time. we have not seen any results. we continue to see the assad regime deny responsibility. we see additional massacre was just within the last 24 hours. i think it is time for the west, and across the world frankly, to ratc

climate justice. [ applause ] and on my far left and on your far right, the administrator of the united nations development program, administrator helen clark, the former prime minister of new zealand. [ applause ] so it is an extraordinary group. i want to begin with an unconventional question before we get into the very important topic that we're discussing this morning. i want to ask each one of these leaders to just give us the heads of state to give us a fact or two about your country, the people of your country, that maybe many of us don't know because we haven't been there. president ellen johnson surleaf,

. >> after the break, we will be getting an update from the united nations conference on sustainable development, which is open in the brazilian city of rio de janeiro. >> doing a bit of some hopping. there has already been some controversy. we'll talk about it a bit more after the break. >> stay with us. >> welcome back, everyone. protecting the environment and reducing poverty -- those are the goals of the rio +20 some of that is under way in brazil. >> at the opening ceremony, the united nations secretary general said time was not on our side. ahead of the summit, negotiators agreed to a draft communique, which focuses on encouraging grain economic growth and boosting united nations efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainable growth, but many environmentalists say the statement does not go far enough. >> the summit in rio de janeiro is expected to produce a huge document on protecting the environment and reducing poverty, but it is what is not in that document that is worth considering. i talked about that with our correspondent at the summit. >> the final document

plan now this is quite interesting talking about the political resolution to the conflict in the united nations sort of a way to do this because the nation specifically the united states have already said that they are not excluding the possibility of foreign military intervention into the situation there in syria even if it means going around the united nations now also by doing which and once again stress that russia does not support president assad's regime and standing for a balanced approach where pressure has to be applied on both science. dicta good at the time start i see it but with the new bill in russia is not supporting any kind of regime you know that's really like that the acid regime those who claim it should be all wrong when we have a very good and longstanding relationship with syria but we are not supporting either of the parties. here is there is a threat of civil war. involved i agree with mr chancellor our common objective is to prevent it but i think he you know the development of this kind of unfavorable scenario what we're witnessing to date him but you know he's the be

ambassador to the united nations. >> sometimes you just have to believe a candidate understands what the rest of the country knows for sure, some surrogates are destined to go off the rails. >> there's a lot of questions as to the authenticity of the birth certificate. there are many people that do not believe that birth certificate is authentic. if you're born in a born country, you're not allowed to be president so, you know, this is a minor detail. >> for our machiavellian

the united nations accuses the syrian government of using children as human shields. marching in moscow. tens of thousands take to the streets, pressing for fresso -- fresh elections and demanding democracy. >> we have to be here. this is the only way. >> and singing the blues at the new orleans newspaper. after 175 years, they are stopping the prices on the daily edition. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and elsewhere around the globe. there are signs the fighting is intensifying in syria tonight, where the united nations has accused the syrian government of torturing children. the obama administration says russia is sending attack helicopters to the assad regime, and that could escalate violence further. not surprisingly, the u.n. is now calling this a civil war, which refugees are fleeing from. we have more from a refugee camp in jordan tonight. >> these children, now in the safety of a jordanian refugee camp, have all seen and heard a terrible things. in some ways, it is difficult to imagine the situation inside syria could get even worse, given the grueso

so i respect and admire the united nations security council. and the things that they do. but the fact is the united states national security should not be governed by whether russia will veto resolutions in the security -- united nations security council. you've been overlooked four times. please go ahead. >> my name is tyler o'neill with the washington freebie con. my question is about turkey. with the act party successful last year in 2011, they seem to have a shift toward islamist. do you think that their interests being coincidental with the united states would change in that situation? >> no, i believe that turkey is one of our strongest allies in the world much less the region. but i have voiced concerns as recently as last week at a breakfast with the u.s. turkey society that i am continued to be worried about the jailing of journalists. turkey now has more journalists in prison than any country in the world, i believe. i've been worried about intimidation of opposition parties. i've been worried about consolidation of power in the hands of the prime minister. a man

officials from united nations said that syria granted access to workers from the world food program and seven ngos. wo will arrive at several cities. >> whether this is a breakthrough or not will be evident in the coming days and weeks and be measured not in rhetoric, not agreements but in action on the ground. >> the officials say at least 1 million people in syria are in urgent need of assistance as food and medicine are in short supply. human rights activists in syria say that government forces are continuing attacks. 56 people were killed in the country in the past two days. >>> the presidents will meet up later in the day. they are taking part in a two-day security summit with the leaders of four central asian nations. they are trying to combat terrorism and keep secessionist movements in check. they will lead the discussions of the shanghai cooperation organization. hu regards stability at home as the top priority ahead of a leadership change later this year. putin is expected to urge other members to rally behind russian in opposing a missile defense system that nato plans to dep