after that ash carter spoke to his russian counterpart, they talked about what was going on in western syriawhere the russians are pouring men and material into that area. he assured carter that the russian military deployment was quote defensive in nature and were to honor commitments that russia had made to the regime of bashar al-assad and the discussion then progressed to the need to discuss what is called deconfliction. there is no indication of when russian military activity will start, but the fact that they have deployed these strike aircraft, indicates they probably will start flying missions soon. and the nature that it is quote, defensive in nature, really underscores that what this is about is shoring up the regime and not so much about combatting isil. adam. >> all right. some fast-moving developments. jamie mcintyre reporting from the pentagon for us. >> reporter: the obama administration has further eased travel and commerce restrictions on cuba. these new regulations will allow u.s. companies to open offices there, and also make it easier for americans to visit that island na

the russian president's recently in western syria seen in images blindsided officials which feared bloodshed. >> the risk of having russia involved in syria not justbecomes a regional problem but a great power. >>> the president says he is willing to -- in the meanwhile the secretary general called for the situation in syria to be referred to the international criminal court he claims innocent syrians are and there should be no impunity time. >>> and expect gridlocks and delays around manhattan what streets to avoid, janelle live on the east side, janelle. >> reporter: yeah, mary. we are just above street level from the united nations but even up here you can see the police barricades here behind me. those secret service agents blocking access to the path way down to the u.n. people who live in this area are used to this level of security during the meeting of the general assembly, this year it is some of the tightest they've ever seen. >>> diplomats motorcades taking over lanes of an already- congested second avenue. as they chauffeur world leaders around the united nations, with officers a

russia also has eight military helicopters at the base in western syria which this satellite image from the intelligence firm strat-4 are rapidly deploig. eight ground troops armed with guns rockets and sometimes even bombs. the.state department say this is limited to deconfliction. translation, the state department wants to know what russia is up to so one side doesn't mistakenly attack the other. >> we want to see a deconfliction mechanism put in place if russia moves forward, at a much more operational level to deconflict in that space. >> the fact that russia describes its buildup in syria as defensive would seem to validate a pentagon opinion last week. >> i think part of what may be happening part of putin's calculus may be assad's regime has been under greater threat in the next several months. >> at that senate armed services committee this week, john mccain. >> he perceived the administration's inaction and caution as weakness and he is taking advantage. >> jamie mcintire, al jazeera, the pentagon. >> now to our special coverage of the refugee crisis stretching from the middle

>>reporter: it appears russia is building a guard operating base in western syria. how does it know that? it has a lot of aerial surveillance flying over syria and they can see the russian tanks, antiaircraft missiles and artillery being put in place to protect the base. not to mention the almost nonstop flow of massive russian cargo planes flying over iraq and iran to get to the base in syria but the main way the u.s. knows is that russia is not hiding it. russian news agencies have quoted saying the build up is not just weapons and equipment but also russian military specialists to train the syrians how to use the equipment. the state department seems willing to take him at his word. >> we have no reason to doubt what he's saying in terms of the acknowledgment that they're continuing to provide military support and equipment. so that i think we're taking on face value their claims about what they're doing. the ultimate intent and goal i think still is a little uncertai >>reporter: on capitol hill john mccaine said that russian president putin is capitalizing on u.s

because there isn't any idea really why the russians are building up their military presence this western syria. the situation is this, the u.s. says if the russians are trying to support the government of president bashar al-assad, the u.s. is very much opposed to that. why the spokesperson john kirby was asked whether russia would face any more penalties or action he because of its ongoing actions in syria he said he could not l comment, to do so would be speculation. why are understanding from my court participant patty culhane, usually code language for some sort of economic or travel sanctions against persons inside the russian government or any other government for that matter. so it's really not clear why it is this buildup is happening, according to the obama administration, we have heard from the foreign minister, sergey lavrov suggesting this is part of simply providing the equipment which the syrians had bought from the russians you would need military personnel to help them set it up. and you have the syrians saying no such thing is happening at all. it is not really clear just what

armed personnel carriers russian marines and housing for up to 1500 military personnel in bases in western syria surveillance shows lots of construction, new runways being built, heli-pads a few helicopter gun ships but no strike aircraft yet. christine warmouth says the u.s. figures that putin is worried that syrian president bashar al-assad may be under greater threat from i.s.i.l. which has scored some advances on the ground in syria and the military buildup appears to reflect putin's nervesnesputin's nervoue buildup. russia is not going to be leaving soon. >> part of putin's calculus, as i.s.i.l. has advanced in places like palmyra and padmore. putin may be more nervous of the regime an trying to shore it up. >> given that how do we assess that the assadding regime may fall? >> -- assad regimes may fall? >> certainly there have been battlefield losses, and we are planning and thinking about the potential for a significant retrerchmenretrenchment but thet is the regime is not in imminent danger of falling. >> fighting i.s.i.l, russia's presence props up the assad regime which the u.s. says is

reporter: a short time ago a senior defense spokesman said that four fighter planes have now rived in western syriare the u.s. has been observing the buildup. they also spotted four additional helicopters this morning. that brings the number to eight. they are a mix of transport and some helicopter gun ships. the addition of these strike aircraft, and flanker, which is the nato name for it, that deployment comes as moscow asked the united states for military to military coordination, and this morning ash carter spoke by phone with his russian counter part. we're told by a senior pentagon official that he assured secretary carter that the russian military deployment was defensive in nature and was designed to fulfill commitments to they had already made to the regime of bashar al-assad. that seems to show it's really more about shoring up the assad regime, rather than targeting isil. although they said that russia and the u.s. do have a common purpose in defeating isil. >> all right. jamie mcintyre live for us on the phone. thank you so much. >>> many of the millions of refugees fleeing syria are pr

united states koim out saying yes, it appears russia is building a forward-operating air base in western syria, near latakia. how does the u.s. know this, it has a lot of surveillance and other equipment put in place to protect the base, and the nonstop flow of cargo planes flying over iraq and iran to get to syria, the main way the u.s. nose is that russia is not denying it. russian newsagencies quoted foreign minister sergey lavrov saying the build-up not only include weapons and supplies, but russian specialists to teach the syrians to use the weapons. at the state department they seem willing to take sergey lavrov at his word. >> we have no reason to doubt sergey lavrov about what he says, in terms of supplying military support and equipment. so that i think we are taking on face value their claims about what they are doing. the ultimate intent in goal, i think, still, is a little uncertain. >> on capitol hill, senate armed services committee john mccain said that russian vladimir putin is capitalizing on u.s. inaction, issuing a statement saying:. >> the russians are going to have to star

putin says he wants a political solution yet sent troops and combat aircraft to a base in western syria. he is defending his presence in syria. >> as of today, it has taken the form of supplying weapons to the syrian government, training personnel and providing humanitarian assistance to the syrian people. in this case, we act based on a request from the syrian government to provide military and technical assistance, which we are delivering under entirely legal international contracts. >> al jazeera asked the european union's foreign policy chief if she knows what putin is planning through her regular contact with russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov. >> last time i talked to him about this, his fear was that on the complete collapse of the state structures in syria, this could be one of the reasons why russia is acting in this way, but it could also be a willingness to show the fact that russia is an important substantial player in this crise. >> meanwhile, expect iran's president rouhani to bring up the recent nuclear deal with the five permanent members of the security counsel, i

russia sent military equipment including combat aircraft and commandos to a new hub in latakia in western syria. putin inspected some of the hardware at a major exercise near the border with kazakhstan last weekend. moscow says it's concerned about isil, but the kremlin along with the iranians backed president bashar al assad. if he's forced from power they might want more influence over who takes over. the human rights investigator says only a political solution will bring peace. >> we have an example to reach peace. you remember in former yug slave ra yugoslavia and it was a pews negotiation. milosevich was still pressed, president but at the end justice could be done. >> reporter: 240,000 people have been killed in syria's four-year civil war. the u.s. says this time of indiscripple nature bombing is fueling support for isil. so if you can find a political route that eventually leads to ass assad's removal, the white house believes isil would then be weakened. bernard smith, al jazeera, turkey. >>> the french far right politician la pen is to face trial for compares muslim street to nazi occ

that russia is conducting its airstrikes in western syria. xactly a stronghold of isis terrorists. but i just got this urgent, and it quotes a russian defense ministry spokesman who said that russian warplanes conducted a strike in syria against isis military equipment, communications center, vehicles and ammunitions. do you think that's true? >> ain't buying it. truthfully, i'm not buying it. isis does not have any strength in homs itself, and their strength is in other places of the country. and they would not have done some of the things they did in terms of last-minute notification of both elements in baghdad and the u.s. embassy there. so this is truthfully a support for assad. they are trying to keep him in power. they have bases in syria that are critically important to their mediterranean strategy. so i anticipate more things like this happening, and frankly, i think the military and state department officials on the ground believe that this will continue as well. >> okay. so the other concern is before these airstrikes began, a russia

. >> reporter: the pentagon counted eight russian aircraft attacking two areas in western syria, well away from where u.s. aircraft normally operate, but also well away from territory controlled by isis. the targets, which russia said were weapons, ammunition and belonging to terrorists, were in areas controlled by groups fighting to overthrow the regime of bashar al assad. in other words, russia is not joining the u.s. in the fight against isis but instead intervening on the side of assad, a brutal dictator president obama has repeatedly said must go. defense secretary carter said it amounts to throwing gasoline on a fire. >> the result of this kind of action will inevitably simply be to inflame the civil war in syria. >> reporter: carter was also miffed by the way russia notified the u.s. of the strikes, one hour ahead of time, a russian general walked up to the u.s. embassy in baghdad and announced russian aircraft were about to begin flying over syria and american warplanes should stay away. >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally. >> reporter: the

what it's doing is it's increasing its military presence at latakia base at western syria and they sayse of i.s.i.l. a threat that russia sees as much as the americans see but there is also the belief that russia is not going to allow assad regime to fall if there is the slightest risk it might russia wants to have a presence in the region so it can be involved in the political future of syria. now the last thing the americans wanted was a russian presence there. it's going to have to now start talking to the russians to make sure there is not competition in the limited air space above syria and a risk that the conflict could escalate but the americans at least might hope having the russians further engaged would perhaps help bring along the political solution to the crisis in syria, one that most parties agree the only way the civil war is going to end is if there is a political solution to that. >> indeed and thank you very much for that overview of the war in syria one year on, thank you. four palestinian school children detained by israeli soldiers in occupied east jerusalem and st

the middle of the battle for syria with a sudden and unexpected establishment of an air base in western syria. pentagon officials say it is the largest russian military deployment ever outside the borders of the old soviet union. hiding from radar in the wake of large transport planes, a total of 28 fighter jets have flown into the base where the russians have also stationed 16 helicopters along with surveillance drones. putin claims they are ready to join the fight against isis, but he seems to make no distinction between isis and other groups trying to overthrow the regime of bashar al assad, some of which are supported by the u.s. although the jets have not flown any combat missions yet, the drones have been conducting surveillance flights to the east of the base, where opposition groups, but not isis, are located. scott, not since last year when isis swept across iraq have the facts on the ground changed so dramatically as in the past month. >> pelley: david martin at the peg. david, thank you. those new facts on the ground raise the stakes of today's meeting between presidents obama and

the united states bombing in northern syria, but the russians have moved attack aircraft into western syriand they are preparing to bomb as well in the same region in northern syria. so this is now the situation of both countries will be, i guess, in parallel fighting against the islamic state. now the question is, what is the politics of this new military, you know, intensification? amy: i want to turn to comments made by russian president vladimir putin during his address to the un's general assembly monday. he said it was a mistake not to work with assad's forces against islamic state militants. >> we support the legitimate government of syria and it is my deep believe any actions to the contrary in order to destroy the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now and the other countries of the region or in other regions. for instance, in libya. where all the state institutions are disintegrated. we see a similar situation in iraq. and there is no other solution to the syrian crisis in strengthening the effectiveness and rendering them help in fighting terroris

. >> rebels in syria capture a north-western air base from the government after a 2-year battle >>> rwanda's supreme court says it will hear a case that will affect the president's political future. >> and i'll have all the sport including serena williams. a star-spangled ninth at the us open >>> we start the newshour with the latest on the europe eeng refugee crisis. they announced plans to tackle the matter. 160,000 asylum seekers will be distributed among e.u. member countries with binding quotas, the number of refugees to be resettled depends on the nations wealth, unemployment rate and asylum applicants processed. countries refusing to take in refugees could face penalties. germany welcomed syrian refugees waving e.u. rules saying it expects to deal with 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone. sweden is also in favour. it's taken the highest number of refugees in relation to its population. the czech republic, poland and romania opposed the idea of mandatory quotas, so has hungary. the check prime minister responded saying europe does not need a new plan to deal with migration. >> now w

stationing of those marines and those attack aircraft and those helicopters and those tanks, in western syria. that is really worrying the international community. and so those two things have prompted massive behind-the-scenes talks here. everybody is talking about syria. it's the number one topic of this year's general assembly. i don't think we're going to end this general assembly by the end of the week with any firm conclusions. these are what you might call talks about talks. nobody has any idea what to do but you know what richelle, they are talking. >> better to be talking about it than not talking about it that's for sure. maybe it will get us closer to some sorts of resolution. let's go ahead and take a quick break. this is just the beginning of sessions, there's an afternoon of sessions as well, there are a few people we'd like to highlight that, we'd like to discuss with my colleagues, let's get that break here sand keep it on al jazeera america. >> mdma helps with the therapeutic connection. >> exclusive access to the experimental tests. >> our fears are dancing between us. >> te

you can see from this map the area the assad regime controls, mostly in western syria now. s. led coalition to fight isis in syria is doing no good and that isis is still expanding. >> they cannot accept the reality that we are the only power fighting isis on the ground. for them, maybe, they cooperate with the syrian army. this is like a recognition of our effectiveness in fighting. this is part of the willness blindness of the administration. >> he blamed west for the entire problem of the migrants going to europe now, the refugees. >> thank you. >>> seconds ago we learned that searchers in utah have found a sixth person who did not survive after flash flooding ripped through a narrow canyon and overwhelmed a group of hikers. another hiker is still missing. that's according to officials at the zion national park, which is in the southern part of the state of utah. those officials say the group had a permit to go hiking in the canyon on monday morning, before it closed because the flood warnings. and rangers say they told the hikers about the danger before they went into th

russia has eight military helicopters in western syria which the satellite image shows is rapidly expanding. four of mi-24 gun ships, carrying eight ground troops, guns rockets and sometimes even bombs. the state department says the u.s. russia talks are limited to what is called deconfliction. so neither side mistakenly takes the other. >> we want a deconfliction to take place if russia moves forward with some kind of new effort in syria again at a more operational level to deconflict in that space. >> that russia describes its position as defensive, seems more that vladimir putin is concerned with propping up bashar al-assad than battling i.s.i.l. >> i think part of what may be happening, part of putin's calculus is that assad's regime has been under greater threat in the past months. >> chairman john mccain is another example of putin out maneuvering the u.s. >> into this vacuum has now stepped vladimir putin, as in ukraine and elsewhere he perceives the u.s. administration's inaction as weakness and is taking advantage. >> the big question is how will russia flex this muscle? against an

russia has sent military equipment to a new hub in western syria.ladimir putin inspected some of the hardware at a major exercise at the border near kazakhstan last weekend. thputin said that he's concerned about isil. but i the u.n. human rights investigator said that only a political solution will bring peace. >> you remember yugoslavia, and they reached an agreement. but in the end justice could be done. >> 240,000 people have been killed in syria's four-year-long civil war. they say indiscriminate bombing is leading to isil. but if they can strengthen the government, then isil will be weakened. >> the tough conditions that are threatening the gentle giants of california. and in sport we'll have news of a five-star performance and munich's latest win. >> welcome back. let's take you to to the story of burkina faso. as they try to reinstate the ousted president arch the rebel's refusal to back down. >> returning to aden after six months in exile. >> now in a release in the past half hour a leading human rights charity has criticized australia for

syria. here is what we know. the bombs hit in the westerns which is not considered an isis strong thehold. an obama administration official is telling cnn that isis was not the target, and this as rus

syria. here's the background. the president and other western leaders, such as david cameron in the united kingdom, the prime minister there have been calling now since 2012 for president bashar al assad of syria -- this is the secretary walking in live at the moment to the united nations, that's john kerry, the secretary of state walking into the building. this is the entrance where all the key leaders come in ahead of the general assembly. western leaders led by president obama have been calling now since 2012 for the leader of syria, bashar al assad, to go and they've been doing that since long before there was an isil. when you do that, it's kind of difficult to row back from that. you can't uncall for a leader to stand down, although there is some thinking that maybe these western countries led by obama and david cameron over in london are softening their stance now and are prepared to accept that bashar al assad will stay as the leader in damascus at least in the short term. now, you add to that president putin who has been ostracized for

over the past few weeks, vladimer putin has been engaged in a significant military buildup in western syria, deploying strike aircraft and by the way, he is deploying aircraft that is air to air, not air to ground. isis has no air force, my friends. significant buildup of bombers, tanks and russian military personal. meanwhile, our secretary of state calls frantically and asks what is going on, not once, or twice, but three times. my friends, it was obvious what vladimer putin is doing and these airstrikes are logical follow on to his ambition which he is realizing is to play a role in syria, prop up bashar al-assad, and play a major role in the middle east. all of this is not lost. it is not lost on countries in the region. today vladimer putin escalated involvement as russian pilots carried out their first airstrikes in syria and initial reports are they are hitting targets which are not controlled by isil. that should fool no one because vladimer putin's primary authority and responsibility and ambition is to prop up bashar al-assad against all of his enemies. the white house has said qu

where the russians currently are flying they are in western syria. again, where anti-regime forces are very strong. the u.s. focusing on isis, that's northern and essentially eastern syria trying to strike those isis supply lines into iraq. but small comfort there because what the u.s. doesn't know is where the russians may strike next. >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you. let's go to our global affairs correspondent elise labott. elise, just yet secretary told you just yesterday represented an opportunity to the united states. how does that look now in light of what has happened today? >> well, wolf, you heard secretary carter and i think he wasn't willing to say that explicitly, but he was saying that that was the hope clearly russian actions on the ground are not showing that. i mean, what u.s. officials are saying there is no ambiguity what russia is doing that's really to control the air space and really be the force setting the agenda on the ground. secretary kerry is meeting with foreign minister -- russian foreign minister lavrov as we

over the past few weeks, vladimir putin has been engaged in a significant military buildup in western syriaand d deploying strike aircraft, and by the way, he is deploying aircraft that are air-to-air and not air-to-ground. my friend, isis has no air force. the white house has said it is unclear exactly what russia's intentions are. if the white house is confused about russia's plans in syria, then the united states is even in worse trouble than many fear, because it is not hard, it is not hard to discern what vladimir putin wants. in fact, from russia's build up militarily in syria, and the military intelligence with syria, iran and iraq, and remember that iraq is the country where we lost thousands of american lives, and now the iraqi government announces sharing intelligence with syria and iran. amazing. amazing. putin's ambitions are clear, he wants to prop up assad, and play kingmaker, and prop up any operations, and ultimately expand russian power to the middle east to the degree that i mentioned unseen since 1973. >>> and this is just coming in, the russian president vladimir putin m

russia has sent equipment and new commandos to western syria. vladimir putin inspected some of the hardware at a major exercise near the border in kazakhstan last weekend. moscow said that it'ser concerned about isil, but the kremlin, along with the iranian backed troops, they want more influence over who takes over. the u.n.'s human rights said that only a political solution will bring peace. >> you remember. >> it was a peace negotiation, and they achieved an agreement. and we know that millovitch was still president, but -- >> 240,000 people have been killed in syria's four-year long civil war, and the u.s. said this time, indiscriminant bombing is fueling support for isil. so if you can find a political route that eventually leads to their removal, the white house believe thes that it would then be weak. angelic, turkey. >> our national security contributor, we call on you at times like this, so five years is how long this war has been going on. and no one really seems to have a plan, and now the u.s. says they want to, and are considering b

month suggest russia is trying to establish what's being described as a forward operating base in western syria satellite images show early construction on a russian base that may be used to assistant the syrian president in the country's ongoing civil war. let's go to our correspondent barbara starr. . she has more information on what's going on. barbara, do officials think is the reason behind the build. up? what's going on? >> wolf, in the latest developments u.s. officials are seeing tanks, artillery pieces and nearly three dozen armored. personnel carriers. this now puts an armored russian force mobile force on the ground inside syria in this fashion associated with this area field right now. and these developments. that gives capability to move around, conduct offensive operations on the ground. if they bring in aircraft to this airfield, that also gives them the ability to fly bombing runs. if it is to keep bashar al assad in power, that is a a big problem for the united states because he in the u.s. view is the big problem here. he is the one that is killing his own people with his barr

. >> the first russian strikes began near homes about halfway between damascus and aleppo in western syria. according to reports, children were pulled from the rubble. the pentagon says there are no isis targets in the cities where russia is striking. >> everything was set by the russian minister of defense. don't listen to pentagon about the russian strikes. >> russia's parliament authorized airstrikes this morning. >> translator: the support will be from the air without participation in ground operations. >> but satellite images showed temporary housing has been built for more than 1500 russian troops, hundreds of those troops have already begun arriving in syria. centcom says u.s. war planes will not comply with the russia request. u.s. war planes continued carrying out missions today. >> what we should say to vladimir putin, you fly, but we fly anywhere we want to, when and who we want to and you better stay out of the way. >> the russian general, brett, was from that military cell that we first reported russia established with syria and iran last week in baghdad. another surprise for

at least ten people were killed and scores injured by a car bomb blast in western syria. coastal stronghold of president bashar al assad. footage shows burning vehicles in an area littered with the wreckage of numerous cars demolished by the force of that blast. another tough day for new york city commuters. signal problems calling major delays on the long island rail road, affecting thousands. one woman said she simply gave up and went home after waiting for two hours. it's still an 80-minute delay on mass transit in new york city. that's your cnbc news update this hour. let's hope that gets better. back to "squawk alley." >>> if you're looking for a sign of a tech bubble, just read this, a new piece for "vanity fair," nick bilton asks, is silicon valley in another bubble and what could burst it? nick writes the bubble signs are out there and are, quote, increasingly ubiquitous. here to explain it all is nick bilton, also a cnbc contributor. good morning. good to see you again. >> good to see you. >> you come at this from a number of angles. you look at the competition,

coalition if it wants to conduct, let's say a airstrike over western syria or isis or any other militants, will it be hampered? >> that is a big concern for the pentagon. what it appears, one of our concerns they're bringing in russian fighter jets. means they could encounter american fighter jets in the sky. this would be obviously a huge concern for the u.s. are we going to fight against each other eventually? is that where this is going? for russia to team up with assad is not the way to go about defeating isis. we welcome the defeat of isis. what they're doing is trying to defend assad who admitted in july he was losing this battle in his own civil war. deirdre: let me ask you this, sergeant, as we've seen with russia's actions in crimea and ukraine, once a presence is established it is very difficult to remove without an outright war. what you just described sounds like a proxy war? >> oh, well, essentially they will send over approximately looking housing being built right now for 1500 troops. they're sending in tanks. they're sending in the aircraft. what we're looking at is going

russian warplanes struck near the city of homs in western syria, an area where anti-government forcesthe terrorist group russia claimed it was going after. defense secretary ash carter had been assembling a military team to talk to the russians about how to keep u.s. and russian pilots safe when they fly near each other. but earlier wednesday, the u.s. embassy in baghdad got a sudden visit from a russian general. >> so a russian general shows up at the embassy in baghdad and apparently reads you -- your people a note saying air strikes are going to begin in one hour. is this not a little bizarre? >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from russian military professionally and that's one reason why i think. >> giving one-hour notice, strikes were to begin and telling the americans to keep their aircraft out of syrian skies. >> the russian ares using this opportunity to basically do their best to shove the u.s. out of the middle east and they are doing it literally and figuratively right in front of our noses. >> reporter: one of the areas the russians h

supporter, major supporter of bashar al-assad and it is sending material and soldiers to a base in western syriaays that is to continue to strengthen the fight against i.s.i.l. which it sees as a threat and u.s. sees as a threat and suspensions that they will not allow bashir el assad to fall and that makes it a challenge for the u.s. and its coalition because it doesn't want to get involved with the u.s. military in that confined air space before syria and means the u.s. and russians will have to talk and and militarys will have to talk so they can make sure there is not an ex escalation in this part of the world and moscow said there is a belief should the regime of bashar el assad fall it wants to be involved in the political settlement of syria after he falls so it might believe it needs a presence in this region to make sure it is involved somehow in that political settlement and i think all parties agree the only way this conflict in syria will end is if there is some sort of political settlement. >> speaking to us in turkey, thank you, let's go back to one of our top stories, four palesti

they have a foothold in western syria near the mediterranean that they want to keep in intact, and theyave been, and they and iran have been the major protectors over the past four years. >> any preliminary numbers of how many russian troops have been deployed to syria? >> well, i have not heard specific numbers, but if you have tankers and tanks and, and helicopters, you lu have troops. >> and now, there is to be some troops to deal with baer shar is al assad, and $400 million for that group -- >> and it is not working. >> and lloyd austin says you know how many pro u.s. rebels are actually trained and operating? four or five or six for a half a billion dollars. >> i was in that hearing, wolf, and it is shocking that everybody, and you could hear the intake of breath. now, there is a lot that we are doing in syria, in terms of the humanitarian aid and nonlethal aid, but this train and equip program was a long shot to begin with, and part of the leadership is backing up, and saying, hey sh, if it is not working, you have to change the tactics and play the hand that is dealt with you, an

they are looking at what has happened or not happened in syria and seen the basically tepid western reaction to what is going on in the syrian civil war, and they're taking that as a cue that this gives them free reap in syria, certainly over syrian air space. when they do this, they are able to basically -- their analysis indicates that they can move in without any major western response to their move, and so far, they've been proven correct. what they're doing is moving in, trying to leverage as much as they possibly can and when they do this, they believe that they will not only gain the ability to control movements on the ground in syria, but also be able to affect a political solution to the syrian crisis. >> of course, for its part, russia says it is not doing any of this, that it is doing business as usual, supplying arms to the assad regime. thank you for your expertise this morning. >> my pleasure. >> >> for a third day in a row, israeli police clashed with palestinian protestors at jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. 17 palestinians were injured at the mosque this morning. office

these are pictures of russian jets parked in western syria taken a few days ago. from the state department that russia had asked the u.s. to stay out of syrian airspace. but spokesman john kirby says the united states will continue flying its own missions over syria as planned. we'll have the latest from the white house in the next hour. >>> developing now, we are just moments away from a senate vote to fund the government and beat the midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown. >>> we're also keeping an eye on another deadline. tomorrow is the day u.s. credit card companies and merchants are supposed to switch over to smart cards, credit cards that use chip technology. it is a major move to combat credit card fraud. cnbc's senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson explains how these cards actually work. >> reporter: the computer chip on your credit or debit card is designed to give you an added layer of protection against fraud. >> it's harder to make an actual replica of that credit card and it creates a unique transaction code that's passed to

defense minister said the russians have dispatched an active force and are building an air base in western syrialaunch strikes against islamic state targets. and in washington yesterday, secretary of state john kerry raised the issues in a phone call with lavrov. >> he reiterated our concern about these reports of russian military activities-- or buildup, if you will-- in syria and made very clear our view that if true, and if borne out, those reports could lead to greater violence and even more instability in syria. >> ifill: u.s. officials say russian air strikes could interfere with a year-old american air campaign against isis, which is also designed to help moderate syrian rebels. so, what are the russians up to in syria, and what's the impact on the ground? for some answers, we turn to: pavel baev, a russian military scholar and the research director at the peace research institute in oslo; and steven simon, a visiting lecturer at dartmouth college. he served on the national security council staff during the obama and clinton administrations. pavel baev, what do we know of the extent of th

russian war planes struck near the city of homs in western syria, an area where anti-government forces are operating, not isis, the terrorist group russia claimed it was going after. defense secretary ash carter had been assembling a military team to talk to the russians about how to keep u.s. and russian pilots safe when they fly near each other. but earlier wednesday the u.s. embassy in baghdad got a sudden visit from a russian general. so a russian general shows up this morning at the embassy in baghdad and apparently reads you -- your people a note saying air strikes are going to begin in one hour. is this not a little bizarre? >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the russian military professionally. and that's one reason why i think it's a good thing to have an avenue of communication that is less unprofessional than a drop-in where we can talk about professional defense matters. >> the russian general giving just one hour notice strikes were to begin. and telling the americans to keep their aircraft out of syrian skies. >> the russians are

syria this week in what officials say amounts to an attempt to set up a russian military base in western syria. the two countries have long been at odds in their response to the syrian conflict, with russia backing syrian president bashar al-assad and the u.s. calling on him to step down. meanwhile, australia has launched its first air strikes inside syria monday targeting isil. france says it will also begin airstrikes inside syria against isil in the coming weeks. pentagon officials say that senior military officers may have manipulated the conclusions of reports on the war against the self-proclaimed islamic state in order to present a more positive picture to the white house. the investigation focuses on allegations that high-level officials within the united states central command may have revised reports on the preparedness of the iraqi security forces and the success of the bombing campaigns in iraq and syria. the pentagon's inspector general is examining the claims. in news from the campaign trail, a new poll shows nearly 40% of republican primary voters view candidate donald trump as

syria this week in what officials say amounts to an attempt to set up a russian military base in western syria. the two countries have long been at odds in their response to the syrian conflict, with russia backing syrian president bashar al-assad and the u.s. calling on him to step down. meanwhile, australia has launched its first air strikes inside syria monday targeting isil. france says it will also begin airstrikes inside syria against isil in the coming weeks. pentagon officials say that senior military officers may have manipulated the conclusions of reports on the war against the self-proclaimed islamic state in order to present a more positive picture to the white house. the investigation focuses on allegations that high-level officials within the united states central command may have revised reports on the preparedness of the iraqi security forces and the success of the bombing campaigns in iraq and syria. the pentagon's inspector general is examining the claims. in news from the campaign trail, a new poll shows nearly 40% of republican primary voters view candidate donald trump as