joining me from aleppo is a white helmets volunteer.ening in that prison?— in that prison? good morning. the specialised _ in that prison? good morning. the specialised five _ in that prison? good morning. the specialised five teams, i in that prison? good morning. | the specialised five teams, the they are asking everyone and calling on the whole world, to go to the prison, or anyone who was working in there. we need to see if there are detainees or bodies in there, underground or bodies in there, underground or anywhere else. h0??? or bodies in there, underground or anywhere else.— or anywhere else. how many --eole or anywhere else. how many peeple are — or anywhere else. how many people are likely _ or anywhere else. how many people are likely to - or anywhere else. how many people are likely to be - or anywhere else. how many people are likely to be held i or anywhere else. how many| people are likely to be held in those underground cells, do you know? , , ., ., ., know? this question no one can answer because _ know? this question

the white helmets, which is the — prisoners? the white helmets, which is the rescue _ prisoners?e group - prisoners? the white helmets, which is the rescue group thatl which is the rescue group that has been involved in the search operation along with many experts i made a statement that they have halted their search operation, mainly in sednaya prison, and they haven't found any more prisoners. at the same time, the rebels have announced they have found at least a0 bodies and body bags in a morgue in a hospital with gruesome marks of torture on their bodies. we believe these bodies belong to prisoners who were in sednaya prison. however, there are statements coming out with rewards for people who have information about any secret prisons they have not discovered yet, and still searching for people who are missing. 0ver still searching for people who are missing. over the past decade, with the rule of the former president bashar al—assad, he used detention and torture to silence people and human rights activists documented over 100,000 forcibly disappeared that the families do no

the syrian civil defence group known as the white helmets says it's investigating reports that there saydnaya prison. the prison — in the capital damascus — was one of several that saw political detainees freed as rebels took control of the country. posting on social media, the white helmets said they had deployed five specialised emergency teams to the prison, who are being helped by a guide familiar with the building's layout. ismail alab—dullah is a white helmets volunteer in aleppo and explained what is happening in the prison. after the deploying the teams the specialised find teams and the specialised find teams and the search and rescue and asking everyone and calling for people who were in the prison before, orsomeone people who were in the prison before, or someone who was working in there. now now we don't have any news about there are detainees in that prison. underground or anywhere else. until now, we don't have concrete information. how many eo - le concrete information. how many peeple are _ concrete information. how many people are likely _ concrete information. how m

the rescue group white helmets isjoining ongoing. rescue group white helmets isjoining forces in professional searching for prisoners inside saydnaya. they have maps of the present based on witnesses, former prisoners. the search is still ongoing. the search is still ongoing. the big question now is what happens next. the rebel group that has seized power saying it will work to transfer power to a transitional government. do you have any idea how that would work? 50 you have any idea how that would work?— you have any idea how that would work? ., ., ., would work? so far what we have seen was really _ would work? so far what we have seen was really incredible - would work? so far what we have seen was really incredible in - seen was really incredible in the smooth handover of power. for years many people people thought that toppling the assad regime would bring a bloody battle to damascus and it would be a messy turnover. but what we have seen it it was a smooth and peaceful handover of power. of and peaceful handover of power. of co

again, syria that began in 2011 the white helmets emerged in 2013. they were established in turkey and jordan and, and then made use of, let's say, a proxies inside syria to increase their infiltration into syria and then the able them then to provide birds white bushing for the terrorist on groups dominated by isis. ok, and produce the majority of the propaganda to criminalize the syrian government and their allies, of course, including russia. and by that i'm talking predominately about the alleged chemical, the types that we know have been defunct, and discredited. all right, now, fast forwarding 10 years after, how do you have feeling the wide helmets will be used in this new escalation? or i think we'll see a similar m o from them. i don't think we're going to see any change. we're already seeing videos of them rescuing children, and i do have to put that into quotation marks. the kids having worked extensively on the grounds in the areas that were occupied by the white helmets alongside this were front as it was then now hyatt, tardy ocean. and

the us currently chairs the un security council and has invited a controversial speaker of the white helmet representative to address the group. well, the white homeless is a syrian volunteer group alleged to have links to terrorist organizations such as on news. right. and it's not presented as have been seen working alongside the military. they have been out for training, fake reports, and staging, rescue operations. background footage from one post has surface online the, the, the little despite evidence of his falls flag operations. the white helmets director has suggested the organization would better represent syria in the un instead of the government. the amount of to come home in general, i say to you, is that the syrian people deserve to be represented by someone at this table. because the representatives of the chemical regime, the do not deserve the security council at they deserve the court rooms of the i, c, j and i c. c, to be tried for the crimes against syrian people for the past 14 years. what of it? a russian thanks to your inept actions. we have seen how a meeting on an e

cool time for the offense in syria, washington to invite to the director of the controversial white helmets group to address the chamber. i was going into a group is alleged to have links to terrorist organizations, such as our most trust and its representatives have been seen walking alongside militants. they have also previously been pulled out, creating fake reports of staging, rescue operations. the the dr. tells the white helmets has suggested that the organization would best uh, rep, present throughout the us. and then the government itself, the amount of the couple of them in general. i say to you is that the syrian people deserve to be represented by someone at this table. because the representatives of the chemical regime do not deserve the security council. they deserve the court rooms of the i, c, j and i. c. c, to be tried for the crimes against syrian people for the past 14 years, with a bit of russian. thanks to your inept actions, we have seen how a meeting on an extremely serious issue can be turned into a shameful political forest by inviting a completely inappropriate spea

are presenting this impression that the white helmets were these grazing military ends. and that's how they are packaging or to the public. you know, they're intervention in the country like syria, that it was some kind of humanitarian intervention. and they've been using this rather action. so 900 since the cold war ended, they needed an excuse to intervene and foreign country. so they claimed that they had to go out and promote the issue military interventions, and they build, you know, groups like white helmets as an body in that humanitarian spirit. but actually they were exposed for supporting terrorism. all kyla and syria. um, and that, that kind of fits a pattern that, you know, if it punctures the illusion that these interventions are somehow humanitarian interventions and more and more people see through that m u. s. has less and less credibility, and that they have no success and their military interventions. and they're often on the losing side as we see in ukraine or syria. i mean, they can maybe prolong the fight, but in the end the, the assad government wil

khaled al khateb of the white helmets, thank you. and other western countries for this rebel offensive. he has been holding a phone conversation with the iranian president as well, and accused western nations of trying to redraw the map of the middle east. we will keep you across all of these developments coming to us from syria at a very dangerous point in the civil war. coming up... we'll be live in paris, where the french prime minister michel barnierfaces a crucal budget vote. if rejected, it could lead to the collapse of his minority government. more chaos in terms of french politics. we are live from there in a moment, stay with us. georgian authorities say 21 police officers have been injured in pro—eu demonstrations on sunday. the unrest was triggered by the prime minister's announcement on thursday that he would suspend georgia's bid tojoin the eu. on sunday, he rowed back on those comments. steve rosenberg sent this report from the capital tbilisi. fireworks explode in tbilisi, now, every night is fireworks night. a fourth

as white helmets, we start our programmes in the aleppo city.re trying to recover from the bombings that have been over the last three days helping the city... if the last three days helping the ci . ., , , city... ifi could 'ust “ump in... i i city... ifi could 'ust “ump me i city... ifi couldjust “ump in... i do apologise h city... ifi couldjustjump in... i do apologise for i in... i do apologise for interrupting. this latest offensive has been a real surprise to many. did you think the rebels had this much firepower left? we /* taste the rebels had this much firepower left? we /" we didn't know - firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it _ firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was _ firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was overnight - firepower left? we /* we didn't know - it was overnight so, . know — it was overnight so, somehow, we were surprised by the scale of bombing and the first day after the clashes, they were bombing everywhere in they were bombing everywhere in the countryside. all the countryside in idlib — many locations

and they build, you know, groups like white helmets as in volume, that humanitarian spirits. but actually they were exposed for supporting terrorism . all kyla and syria. um and that, that kind of fits a pattern that, you know, if it punctures the illusion that these interventions are somehow humanitarian interventions and more and more people see through that m u. s. has less and less credibility, and then no success and their military interventions. and they're often on the losing side as we see in ukraine or syria. i mean, they can maybe prolong the fight, but in the end, the, the assad government will prevail, the ramble they're backing. don't have the support of the majority of syrian population. while that's close, i live to security as about joining from the fact that high some oak sally, great to have you on the program. so i'm the 1st thing i want to ask you specifically about a syria. i mean, washington has denied at the supporting terrorist cells, but of course we remember jake sullivan's own revelation that i'll call you the cited with the us in 2012. so how convi

the white helmets is a syrian volunteer group known 1st things to terrorist organizations, namely only as well as representatives have been seen working alongside the military. they were called, called out for creating fake reports and staging. rest of the operations as of representative, had to say in the when the world has started to forget the tragedy of the syrians. and today i address you with the same demands. i renew my call upon you to put an end to these crimes into which you must piece the thanks to your inept actions. we have seen how a meeting on an extremely serious issue can be turned into a shameful political forest by inviting a completely inappropriate speaker and then playing along with him. we do not quite understand why you gave him the floor again. you did not even say that he would answer questions from the delegation. we considered this to be gross disregard for your duties chairman. we regret this very much. a managing editor of covert action magazine, jeremy cruz more obviously is says the u. s. as using fake humanitarian organizations as an excuse to intervene

let us take a quick look at the socket side of the white helmets. the hell that's got some a reaction to all this now and speak to form of pentagon contract to kevin, we collect c capital. welcome. thanks for joining us. with costing, let's talk about the white helmets because, you know, they've won a war saying, hey, rose, have a netflix talk to you about an sri everyone sees them. is this, you know, shiny by student of health, and i'm so this, this is that the truth absolutely. not, i mean it's been proven over and over again that their attacks in syria blame means syria for making chemical attacks of open fate. we have it on video, you just displayed it yourself. and you know, we know that they're just the fate film crew if nothing else. and you know, what's interesting, i want to get kind of your american perspective on this. i mean, the pen took in a said that it is carried out strikes the gates quite imminent threats and syria, but no terrorist info struck, jot in the noise was hit when it happened. also to be american troops, though they do n

cold have uh the events in syria, washington invited the director of the birth control partial white helmets group to address the chain. but well, the voluntary group is alleged to have links to terrorist organizations like homeless trust. and his representatives have seen, seen walking alongside millison. they have also been previously caught out creating a report on stage of rescue operation the the well, the director of the white helmets has suggested that the organization would best to represent syria at the un. and the government itself limits a couple of them in general. i say to you is that the syrian people deserve to be represented by someone at this table. because the representatives of the chemical regime do not deserve the security council. they deserve the court rooms of the i, c, j, n i c c, to be tried for the crimes against syrian people for the past 14 years. what of it? a russian, thanks to your inept actions. we've seen how a meeting on an extremely serious issue can be turned into a shameful political forest by inviting a completely inappropriate speaker and then playing

the white helmets is the surround volunteer group alleged to have links to terrorist organizations such as on news. right. and it's representatives have been seen working alongside the militants. they have been caught out for creating fake reports and staging rescue operations. background footage from one post has surface online, the despite evidence of its false flag operations, the white helmet director has suggested the organization would better represent syria in the un instead of the government. a limit, it's a couple of them in general. i say to you is that the syrian people deserve to be represented by someone at this table because the representatives of the chemical regime do not deserve the security council at they deserve the court rooms of the i, c, j and i c. c, to be tried for the crimes against the syrian people for the past 14 years, with a bit of russian. thanks to your inept actions. we have seen how a meeting on an extremely serious issue can be turned into a shameful political forest by inviting a completely inappropriate speaker and then playing along with him. we do

the syrian civil defence group, the white helmets, hasjoined the civil defence group, the white helmets translation: we helmets, has joined the search. translation:— helmets, has joined the search. translation: we believe there is network of cells _ translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath _ translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath the - translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath the jail i network of cells beneath the jail but we haven't found the entrance. we have no details on how many people underground.— we have no details on how many people underground. family members had reached the _ people underground. family members had reached the present building, - had reached the present building, pushing at the gates to get in. we squeezed through on a surge of excitement. fora moment squeezed through on a surge of excitement. for a moment but they thought they'd made a discovery. they are searching the bowels of the present, looking for tunnels leading to hidden cells. we went down to see for ourselves. frantic efforts to break through to

this is the white helmet organisation who brought here. provinces to help to find any hidden cells under this building. translation: we cannot confirm the presence of more detainees. i we are doing what we can, through the help of search translation: we cannot confirm the presence of more detainees. i dogs, available tools and previous detainees. our correspondent, yogita limaye, arrived in damascus this morning and told us more about the situation there. we've heard some massive explosions, massive airstrikes believed to be carried out by the israeli air force. we don't have confirmation yet, but this is a city that feels very chaotic as of now. politically, there's a vacuum. we know that the leader of hayat tahrir al—sham, mohammed abu al—julani, has met with interim prime minister aljalali. but so far, there are no clear details about what the way forward exactly will be. in the day, we went to some government buildings, some police stations in the city to see what exactly was happening there. and outside we found members of hts fighter

let's discuss that with for root of the deputy general manager of the store in white helmets. you're joining us from homes, your hometown in syria. so you've returned there after a decade, i'm told of being a way of being forced to be away. how do you feel? a man license mix of feeling happiness indeed excites, finds a soul. we are a bit towards that because the pie is very, very expensive. i marched in the streets of my beloved city and in every corner i remember uh full incl leak. all that the teeny, i see the distorted homes us. we are filled with hulk beds. we will hopefully be able to leave the country, get difficulties back and rebuild annual screen democratic speeds. about half of serious population was displaced by the civil war. or most people going back home like yourself know, honestly, they will have, you know, of thousands and thousands of people who are trying to get back home. you'll see the crossing points at the borders, but they've been on the enter key. i called it was people who tried to come, but to be honest, once people arrived back the day of homes, man

that was ismail alabdullah of the white helmets in syria.across the uk, this is bbc news. here are live with bbc news. the masterchef presenter, gregg wallace, has been criticised for saying the complaints about his alleged misconduct have come from a "handful of middle—class women of a certain age". gregg wallace stepped aside from presenting masterchef last week after a bbc news investigation revealed allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and behaviour, which he denies. here's our culture correspondent, noor nanji. the comments by gregg wallace over the weekend that the allegations came from a handful of middle—class women of a certain age have provoked a very big response. some of his accusers have criticised his response. one said, "the comment showed he clearly hasn't learned his lesson." while another said, "he wrongly seems to be saying he is the victim of classism." wallace has also posted on social media screenshots of supportive messages from people who say they have worked with him or been contestants with him in the past.

this is the white helmet organisation who brought here..., through the help of search dogs, available tools and previous detainees. back to our panellists. leslie vinjamuri, director of the us and americas programme at chatham house and lord peter ricketts, former uk national security advisor. lord ricketts, it is worth, giving the images we have just seen, reflecting a bit on the history of the assad regime, and maybe reminding us of some of the details.— of the details. this has been a brutal dictatorship, _ of the details. this has been a brutal dictatorship, over - of the details. this has been a brutal dictatorship, over 50 i brutal dictatorship, over 50 years, with the father who ran a very dictatorial regime, and his son used to be a eye doctor in west london, but he took overfrom him 2a in west london, but he took over from him 2a years ago, in west london, but he took overfrom him 2a years ago, and has maintained that family tradition, and when the uprising started, after the uprisings in egypt and tunisia, it was a brutal crackdown

and they build, you know, groups like white helmets as in body and that humanitarian spirit. but actually they were exposed for supporting terrorism on kyla and syria. and that, that kind of fits a pattern that, you know, if it punches the illusion that these interventions are somehow humanitarian interventions and more and more people see through that m u. s. has less and less credibility and that they have no success in their military interventions. and they're often on the losing side as we see in ukraine or syria. i mean, they can maybe prolong the fight, but in the end, the, the assad government will prevail, that the rebel, they're backing, don't have the support of the majority of the syrian population. a change of scale headset takes to fort tucker miles cus folk. so who is bought? didn't most go hit bull start plenty of control. does he already have this here? when he sat down with the president states and now it's a foreign minister. so okay, not a problem who's in line to face a threat? i can read more on that by heading over to our website. auto pump the see to ba

prison may damascus when many himself in years of torture and to be a specialized teen is from the white helmets, organization of ins and nice subjects, but detainees, snow the eyes of sola is the head of the syrian civil defense known as the white helmet stay, be working to free. people still trapped inside the prison. he spoke to us on the phone about what he's witnessed. nature. when we went inside the prisons of the former syrian raising, they did not seem like prisms. they looked like human slow to houses where human beings was slow to it and tortured what we witnessed and said now uh other prisons was devastating. words cannot describe the reality, it was hell on the show, a sad, he has done a lot against this theory and people. and today a big achievement has been accomplished and syria and mothers and now feeling happy . so the 1st time ever that was widespread, physical torture under the supervision of intelligence offices instead nyah and other similar prisons that would daily execution inside dead bodies and ovens. it was ridiculous. what we have seen this behavior was a gang to magni

last week we gave a further £300,000 to the white helmets.oday the prime minister has announced an additional £11 million of humanitarian support for syrians. second, securing an inclusive, negotiated political settlement, as i discussed with the un special envoy for syria yesterday, this is how the syrian people can begin to chart a path to a united and peaceful syria. and finally, providing escalation into the wider region. for more than a year, the middle east has been in the grip of a series of interlocking conflicts, which threaten to become an ever more catastrophic war, and in syria itself, russia and iran have kept the assad regime on life support. if we are to achieve a better future for syrians, we should let the syrians themselves determine their future. madam deputy speaker, we must learn from this process another lesson also. illicit finance was a fundamental part of assad's playbook, and it is a part of vladimir putin's playbook, linked to criminals around the world. this hurts the ordinary people in syria, drives up crime and i

the syrian white helmets, a group offered assistance throughout the war and has dispatched teams. they are expected to focus on the rebuilding and recovery for root cubby, but is deputy general manager of the store in white helmets. i spoke to him earlier and he says, syrian refugees returning to their homeland, facing the uncertain future. as there may not be much for them to go on to the off thousands and thousands of people who are trying to get back home. you'll see the crossing points at the borders, but they've been on entered keion called it was people who tried to come, but to be honest, once people arrived back to their homes, many of them a big disappointment because there is a lot of destruction in many neighborhoods in many finishes the lives here is livable mind i solve my own discharge and uh they were uh, he was about a few where the situation warrants are and then it goes to the systems are actually uh, damaged. so we have a lot of work ahead who cleared the unexplored in the ordinance. you know, a lot of millions may be a flat mines and explosives and also munitio

we will take a break now but in a moment we will speak to the head of the white helmets, the civil defence with new responsibilities and tasks here in syria as a new order takes place. you are watching bbc world in the united kingdom and around the world. studio: lyse doucet, live in damascus, thank you. with hugo bachega in aleppo and our teams across syria. we will be back with them at the top of the next hour. a report has revealed that a85 children died or were seriously injured by suspected abuse or neglect in england in the year to the end of march. in the previous 12 months, the number stood at 538. the findings by the child safeguarding practice review panel have been released a day after the authorities were accused of failing to prevent the murder of ten—year—old sara sharif at herfamily home in woking in surrey. yesterday her father, urfan, and stepmother, beinash batool, were found guilty of her murder. a warning, you might find some of the details in helena wilkinson's report upsetting. singing. sara sharif, in her happy place, singing and playing the guitar. she was kind and

so the white helmets, which have been a rescue workers working with the off position. they've been deployed, they're, they're spend special units. they're working with ex military, people would know, you know, where the stores are, where these entrances are, and still there is no news of know anybody being found. so they're still looking and it's still a tense moment, but the families have gathered. there's crowds around the prison and they're just waiting to hear about the fate of their loved ones. the rebels that ended up toppling the assault regime. they're not all one group, right? and, and the situation in syria is notoriously fragmented and complicated. now that the common goal of getting a side out of the way out of the country has been achieved. how big do think the dangers of them turning on each other? right? they have a common enemy and now he's no longer there to unite these groups. you're right about that, but a lot of these groups now have the same common goal of trying to rebuild syria and make sure it's a functional country. that being said, there's sti

the syrian civil defense, also known as the white helmets, have been collecting bags of skeletal remains on 60, if we receive more than a 100 calls about most graves. people believed that at every minute to cite the out, the number of people who came out to be present is very low and the number of people missing is very large for the categories. for some families of victims, there is a glimmer of hope that they might find closer, but people involved in the 3rd se, the task is too difficult for locals. so i'm inside the white calling on international and human rights organizations to come and open these grades. so we can find our children and it's, i mean, whether they opted for the wherever. all they may do suddenly, jason who studies outside. we don't know why they've been in the united nations has stressed that preserving mass graves and documentation is critical for any attempts of bringing those accountable to justice. advocacy groups believe tens of thousands of missing syrians could be buried in mass graves across the country. smell. the democratic republic of congo has filed a cri

this is the white helmet organisation who brought here...eppo and idlib provinces to help to find any hidden cells under this building. translation: we cannot confirm the presence of more detainees. i we are doing what we can, through the help of search dogs, available tools and previous detainees. our correspondent, yogita limaye, arrived in damascus this morning and told us more about the situation there. this is a city that feels very chaotic as of now, and politically there is a vacuum and we note the leader mohammed ghazi al—jalali has met with the interim prime minister, but there are no clear details about what the way for what exactly will be. in the day, we went to a government building to see what was happening. but so far, there are no clear details about what the way forward exactly will be in the day. we went to some government buildings, some police stations in the city to see what exactly was happening there. and outside we found members of hts fighters. they said they'd been deployed there this morning, that they'd come in fr

the syrian civil defence group the white helmets has joined the search.ieve there's a network of cells. with prisoners beneath the jail, but we haven't yet been able to find the entrance. we do not have any details on how many people are underground. family members have reached the prison building, pushing at the gates to get in. we squeezed through on a surge of excitement. for a moment, they thought they'd made a discovery. they're searching the bowels of the prison, looking for tunnels that lead to hidden cells. we went down to see for ourselves the frantic efforts to break through to anyone who might still be alive. this is where they think they may have found an entrance to an underground prison. they've been looking for more than a day, but they haven't found anything so far. nobody knows exactly what they might find or who might be underneath the ground, but many, many people are hoping that some of their loved ones will be found. sifting through a litter of documents for any evidence of their loved ones or clues to an underground prison — no sign

there have been lots of pictures, sing a few of them now, circulate by the white helmet civil defence that were horribly familiar for years and years scenes that were horribly familiarfor years and years in syria and have once again become familiar in the last year and a bit since those hamas attacks in gaza, this started this process of essentially absolutely upending the status quo in the middle east, plunging the whole region into turmoil with consequences that people didn't necessarily see, which including this lightning offensive. what are the conditions _ lightning offensive. what are the conditions do _ lightning offensive. what are the conditions do you - lightning offensive. what are the conditions do you think l the conditions do you think that specifically allowed them to make this decision and make this progress?— this progress? well, i think they saw — this progress? well, i think they saw an _ this progress? well, i think they saw an opportunity, i this progress? well, i think. they saw an opportunity, the reason assad survived the first decade or more of the war in syri

public that this was to look us that we had to address and allowed for resources to flow into the white helmetsand other civilian capacities on the ground to protect individuals. so while additional uses happened, the only way to destroy 1300 tonnes of chemical weapons and to keep the international spotlight on the international spotlight on the assad regime's chemical arsenal was to allow the 0ecpw and the international unity the in there under the convention. it is clearly a serious concern for all their neighbours and i'm pretty sure it was part of the conversation that secretary antony blinken has had with some of the leaders in those countries in recent days. use it within the national security framework. has there been any discussion about tying aided money for the new interim government to access for the inspectors? government to access for the tweeters?— government to access for the insectors? . , . , inspectors? certainly there has been discussion _ inspectors? certainly there has been discussion of— inspectors? certainly there has been discussion of working - inspectors? certainly the

footage posted by the syrian civil defence group, the white helmets, shows the aftermath of an attackf idlib, southwest of aleppo. the regime is fighting back. thousands of people have been displaced, fleeing aleppo and areas around idlib. their lives suddenly upended by this escalation in syria's civil war. translation: we are i following the battle news and god willing the regime will fall. we count night and day to return as the kids are tired and shocked. we left and came here in our clothes and nothing else. the speedy capture of aleppo took everyone by surprise. a devastating blow to the assad regime. the rebels continue their advance, but here, the city is coming to terms with a new normal. some are fearful of the anti—government rebels, but so far, people continue with their daily lives. and for those driven out by previous battles, a chance to come home. translation: | returned to| aleppo after it was liberated, after we were driven out. i came back to experience this joy, to witness its greatness, its old neighbourhoods cleaned up after being desecrated by the assad regime a

well, the white helmets, which is the rescue group that has been involved in the search operation, alongut a statement that they've halted their search operation, mainly in saydnaya prison and that they haven't found any more prisoners. and at the same time, the rebels have announced that they found at least a0 bodies in body bags in a morgue, in a hospitalwith, you know, gruesome marks of torture on their bodies. we believe that these bodies belong to prisoners who were in saydnaya prison. however, many groups are still in the search. there are statements coming out with rewards for people who have information about any secret prisons that they haven't discovered yet, and still searching for people who are missing. over the past decade, with the rule of former president bashar al—assad, he used detention and torture to silence people. and human rights activists documented over 100,000 forcibly disappeared, that their families don't know their whereabouts, and they're still looking for them. while the syrian observatory for human rights also documented at least 60,000 people have been to

two days ago the white helmet rescue group carried out excavations but found nothing. the syrian observatory for human rights estimates the regime had imprisoned over 100,000 people since 2011. were these really for executions? the nooses were found in the cells, he said, where countless people died. the evidence may be here in official prison documents, now ransacked and scattered. so this was the monitoring station. muhammad al ajadi, desperate to find out what happened to his brother and dad, is devastated. >> we have to find out because we don't know where our prisoners -- my father and brother, have been arrested for no charge. >> reporter: such raw grief shared by so many who are now trying to accept that they will simply never know. elizabeth werner, cbs news, damascus. -- elizabeth palmer, cbs news, damascus. >>> a new internal watchdog report slams the department of justice during the first trump administration. the office of inspector general report out yesterday focused on leak investigations launched by doj and the fbi between 2017 and 2020. those investiga

broader public this was still a concern we had to address and allowed for resources to flow into the white helmets civilian capacity on the ground to protect individuals. while additional use has happened, the only way to destroy 1300 tons of chemical weapons and to keep the spotlight on the assad regime's chemical arsenal was to allow the community to get in under the chemical weapons convention. >> it is a big concern for all syria's neighbors and it was part of the conversation secretary blinken has had with some of the leaders in those countries in recent days. you sit within the national security framework. has there been any discussion about tying aid to access for the inspectors? >> there has been discussion of working with the organizations and our partners and regional allies and partners to help provide resources to address the challenge of the remaining stockpile and that is something that is ongoing and is the highest priority to the u.s. government. we are continuing these discussions. we will work closely with the opcw. that is very much at the top of our discussion topics. >> good t

. >> this is the white helmet organization who rode here from aleppo and other provinces to help the we cannot confirm the presence of more detainees. we are doing what we can through the help of search dogs, available tools, and previous detainees. lewis: our correspondent is also in damascus and she gave us the latest on the situation there. >> we hurts some massive explosions, airstrikes believed to be carried out by the israeli air force. we don't have confirmation yet but this is a city that feels very chaotic as of now. politically there is a vacuum. we know the leader of hayat tahrir al-sham, abu mohammed al-jolani has met with the interim prime minister but there are no clear details about the way forward exactly. in the day, we went to some government buildings, police stations in the city to see what was exactly happening there. outside we found members of hts, who said they were deployed this morning, that they had come in from idlib, a region that has long been secured by hts, to secure the city, to ensure there is no looting or vandalism, some of which we saw on sunday.

city of deed lived in north western syria. volunteers with the syrian civil defense known as the white helmets are helping the injured russian and syrian war planes are targeting the rebel health, strong willed. after thousands of opposition fighters launched a surprise assault a few days ago, sweeping through several towns and villages, including a leveled to the north. thousands are fleeing the sudden escalation and fighting and many for ending up in camps for the displaced like this one in northern italy province. so i'm a holler about came here with her children. she's from a town just east of good live. hi, i saw you guys know we had a hard life in the village because of the escalating attack. the real kids, the shedding and asteroids from the plains on one side and the drones on the other side. the children were terrified, lucky as possible to even before this latest round of attacks encounter airstrikes, syria was grappling with one of the largest refugee crises in the world. according to the un, more than 7000000 people remain internally displaced because of the civil war. us much more

there have been lots of pictures -- we are seeing a few of them now -- circulated by the white helmetense group which show the aftermath of -- immediate aftermath of bomb attacks. seems that were horribly -- scenes that were horribly familiar for years and years in syria and similar ones that become familiar in the last year since the hamas attacks in gaza started this pcess, which this is part of, of essentially absolutely appending the status quo in the middle east, plunging the region into turmoil, with consequences that people didn't necessarily see, cluding this lightning offensive against the assad regime. lewis: what are the conditions that specifically allowed them to make this decision, make this progress? jeremy: well, i think they saw an opportunity f the reason assad survived the first decade or more of the war in syria, multiple insurrections, armed insurrections against him, which at one point controlled the majority of sections of the country. the reason he survived was because of military intervention by russia in 2011 an5-- in 2015 and also by iran, which is always su

hope was something they didn't let themselves feel until now rescue workers with syria's white helmets break through the concrete, looking for a way in. no one is certain where this red section is, or if it even exists inside the prison family members are searching too. you can see people everywhere just combing through all the papers and records they can find looking for names, seeing if maybe their loved ones are there tens of thousands of syrians were forcibly disappeared in saidnaya lost in the abyss of a prison that was known as a slaughterhouse. industrial scale, arbitrary detention and torture all to keep one man in power they call this the white area of the prison because they say the conditions here are much better than in other areas but you can see it's still miserable in the center of the prison, another frantic rush. someone thinks they have found a tunnel. they desperately try to get a look inside others look on helpless, not knowing is agony. assad may be gone but the legacy of his cruelty remains. after we returned from our trip to saydnaya, a group called the associati

and the white helmets that group of rescue workers who you saw desperately clawing through the rubbleed section have now come out and said that the search is effectively over. it has concluded, but i think what this really speaks to anderson is the total chaos and confusion as people are trying to work out what is real, what is not what is rumor, what is fact? i spoke to one woman who was looking for her brother, a man called abdul malek, and she said, all we want to know is if he is alive or not that's all we want to know. it should be such a simple question with a simple answer. but as many are finding here right now anderson, it is far from that yeah. >> clarissa ward, thank you. be careful joined now by joby warrick, a national security reporter for the washington post, author of the fascinating book red line. the unraveling of syria and america's race to destroy the most dangerous arsenal in the world. um, let's talk about the syrian militia that has has claimed power in damascus. their leader, abu mohammad al-julani who are these people? >> yeah, well jelani, we know very well b

the syrian white helmets, a group offered assistance throughout the war, and has dispatched teams. they are expected to focus on rebuilding and recovery going forward. well, earlier i spoke to for real cub, he's the deputy general manager for the syrian white helmets. he says, story and refugees returning to their homeland facing the uncertain future as there may not be much for them to come home to the off, thousands and thousands of people who are fine to get back home. you'll see the crossing points at the borders, but they've been on the enter key are called it was people who tried to come. but to be honest, once people revive back to the day of homes, many of them a big disappointment because there is a lot of destruction in many but most and many finishes the lives there is livable . my, i fall, my own discharge. and uh they were uh, he was about a few where the situation warrants are and then it goes to the systems are hopefully damaged. so we have a lot of work ahead to clean and explore the ordinance. you know, a lot of millions may be a flat mines and explosives and also

the seller is had all the city and the civil defense known as the white helmets. they've been working to free people still trapped inside said, and i a prison. and he joins us on the phone and he's talking to us through a translator. and also we don't disclosing his location within damascus. mr. outside. thank you for joining us. i'll just say era. when you walked into the prison and so on, witnessed the environment of the card goals and the passages, what were your initial impressions of the southern students? thank you very much for having me. and the nice i had to be very honest with you. when we went inside the prisons, the prisons within the former syrian review doesn't give the impression that it's a prison. it's a human slow. the house with a human being is out of being slowed goods. and being sold goods, what we have seen the impressions, we're really sad and said by a prism and then of the prisons as well. we took words cannot describe the reality. it was a hell of live inside the is present the show. the last a has gotten the log again, is the page with

hope was something they didn't let themselves feel until now rescue workers with syria's white helmets break through the concrete, looking for a way in. no one is certain where this red section is, or if it even exists inside the prison. family members are searching too. you can see people everywhere just combing through all the papers and records they can find, looking for names seeing if maybe their loved ones are there. tens of thousands of syrians were forcibly disappeared in saidnaya lost in the abyss of a prison that was known as a slaughterhouse. industrial scale, arbitrary detention and torture, all to keep one man in power they call this the white area of the prison because they say the conditions here are much better than in other areas but you can see it's still miserable in the center of the prison. another frantic rush someone thinks they have found a tunnel. they desperately try to get a look inside others look on helpless, not knowing is agony. assad may be gone but the legacy of his cruelty remains. after we returned from our trip to saidnaya, a group called the associa