in syria. and -- in syria. and why are these europeans preoccupied with the palestinian problem and not with what's going on in syria. you find that mood among israelis but on the whole, there's a wedge. now, israel also has some new friends in europe, quote unquote, because there is a right wing backlash to terrorism and to the ways of immigration in countries like denmark, holland and so forth. some of these right wing movements not critical of israel and willing to hug us in ways that sometimes are embarrassing. so it's a bit more complex than just tension. >> thank you. irv chapman with there's some right wingers in this country that are hugging israel also. you mentioned mistakes of the early obama period with regard to negotiations promoting negotiations, mistakes unspecified and the later obama period holding back from participation in the middle eastern mess to the extent possible. there's been some writing in this country suggesting that the president's decision to settle for the withdrawal of chemical

of syria. keeping our focus, as we have in recent the, on battle hardened anti-isil leaders whom we can make more capable as enablers and amplifiers of our effects. in this context, the section 1209 program is central to our ground campaign in syria, and are carrying out a different approach than before. instead, one that we have used to train and enable local elements that have proven themselves against isil on the battlefield. we need your support to fully overcome them. focus on the program as it is now, and in particular release 1209 funding currently blocked by congress. mr. chairman, i understand you elp to intend to clear these funds with the committee, and i hope other committees will follow suit. the fact is, for our commanders to be agile in accelerating our campaign against isil, we need a similarly agile funding process. we are required to submit reprogramming requests as you all know to the for congressional defense committees. so far, we have received differing responses on differ

of syria. forces continue to degrade isis in iraq and syria. aree gains are real and useful to our troops on the ground. more importantly, this can put them into some strategic context. too often, it seems, politicians and the media all want to engage at the operational level. i understand. military operations are important and interesting, but i worry that they are disturbing our challenges in the middle east. we need to lift our sites. at a more strategic level, it is descending into chaos. in the words of henry kissinger, and i quote, "there is a struggle for power in states, a conflict between states, a conflict between ethnic and religious groups, and an assault on the international system, but at the epicenter for this struggle of power and identity is iraq and syria where isis will establish its caliphate." this affects libya, it just, yemen, parts of east and west africa, afghanistan, and beyond. we have seen from paris to san brussels, they have the ability to target us as many of us p

who who will become the syria of syria tomorrow? i don't know. i mean, iraq? of course not. the gulf? of course not. turkey? of course not. so the contenders are probably iran and others. so this is also something that we have to keep in mind when we go very quickly and simply or simplistically this comparison between lebanon and syria. >> thanks. that's great. jomana, i'm going to ask you to wrap up this part before we go to questions and answers. i can ask you, we've been talking about the region, we've been talking about the view from washington. if you can. i have to say, by the way, it was very moving when you just mentioned about your friend being killed by, you know, by isis. but if you can, give us -- if you can give us a view of how the syrians are looking at it, how the siege syrian communities are perceived, you know, just what's going on now and what's it likely to look like? >> sure. obviously i'm speaking in my own personal capacity on this. from the people i've talked to, i'm sure you're not going to be shocked to know that syrians are incredibly disappointed

syria and around syria, not only syria, because this will affect everyone . samar: as we discussed. i think if we don't do everything as the preventive measures i talked about or creating the ecosystem that i talked about, or addressing the injustices that have been committed on all sides, not just from the regime to the opposition, but on all sides, and you never address that, the anger is going to increase. we're going to see an increase in anger. we are going to see an increase in poverty. we are going to see an increase in a lack of trust. we're going to see an increase in a lack of cooperation across nation states. the world in which kofi annan highlighted for the reason of his resignation in the beginning of 2012 is going to magnify by 10 times as much, and i think by just what i just said, i think we can imagine where that will go and what will happen with that. but we shouldn't let that happen, because we have tools in our tool box to change that course, and that's what i want to get across today, and that is many people throw up their hands and say,

and they have expanded their area of autonomy in syria. and then you have the chunk of isis, is it likely to be an al mall gum of groups that have support from the saudis and the united states, and it's not as if isis should rinks, it's going to be more coherent. >> if you look at the layup there, and look at for instance russia's continue involvement, even if you beat isil, you still have a lot of unsolved problems there. >> yeah, i agree, for example, the most dangerous thing right now is -- it's not better, it's al qaeda. and they are local, they don't have foreign fighters, they were known for not taking foreign fighters, meaning that they probably have less intelligence from inside compare to isis and then they are homegrown, a syrian group, and they are a main recruiting strategy. for a long time, they had way more people that wanted to join than they could take. getting to el nostra was harder than getting to -- so it didn't decrease. it increased after what a lot of syrians disagree with. so i think that al nostra could potentially

syria discussion of this person? mark: other than to express appreciation for russia's assistance, i do not want to characterize their role. i can say we have been indirect periodic contact with the syrian government. >> that means not to the czechs. mark: i cannot qualify that. i apologize. >> would you be able to describe this person as a freelance photographer? mark: i cannot speak to his identity or i'm sorry it we can confirm u.s. citizen but i cannot go beyond that in identifying. >> and fbi missing persons report about the individual identify online, are you able to confirm that? that he is no longer missing? mark: i would say that the reporting we have seen thus far is not in accurate in describing the individual release, but i cannot really go beyond that. that is as far as i will go. i'm sorry. >> does this release mean you feel more positive? >> good question. we continue to work on the ground to get information on the welfare and whereabouts of austin. it is something we raised all the time. we cannot pro

-- owe iraq and syria going forward? is it state building? is it something more grand in terms of the agreement? what should they look forward to? mr. fontaine: these are very small questions. [laughter] we will try to rip all of this of in teedo minutes -- wrap all of this up into two minutes. they would have given the sanctions relief to iran and then have to release iraq from their obligations. i do not think anybody would do that. on isis there are a number of steps that they should intensify in the military operation we have been doing this incrementally a year and a half now there are still areas that we could do more, particularly if the cease-fire breaks down and the geneva process does not take effect in a meaningful conversation. ofhink the establishment safe zones is going to be an important next step. finally, on what we syria and iraq and i would not put it that way. i would say what are our interest in what animates our values? we have given a lot to the effort in iraq as a country. for models oflook sustai

we did not intervene in syria, that failed, too. but what ties all of this together is that we left. we left. where we never engaged in the first place. we pulled away and stood back and tried to convince ourselves that everything would be all right and look at the result. no new order is emerged in the middle east, only chaos. and the vacuum we left behind has been filled by the most extreme and anti-american of forces, isil, al qaeda, iran and its terrorist proxies and now russia. we cannot afford to believe that this is not our problem, it is our problem. as general david portre -- petr wrote last week, rather in the case of syria, the actions of the extremist groups are likely to spill instability extremism, violence and refugees far beyond their immediate surrounding we cannot go on pretending that we can avoid these problems or that the current approach of trying to treat the symptoms of the disease rather than its cause will work if only we give it more time. it will not. we need to stop fixating on military details and look

that's the vision for syria. these people have a role is the point. >> you think that's a realistic vision? one we could realistically achieve within the necessary time? >> i think it's a necessary one to achieve. because i think assad can't be part of the future of that country. >> what if he doesn't go? what if he doesn't leave? sec. carter: the -- this is why it's so important that the russians keep their commitment, which is to political transition there. they're the ones that have the most leverage over assad. it's very important they do that. as the chairman indicated, they're the ones that have the most leverage over assad. there's no resolution of the syrian civil war until that occurs. >> thank you. well thank you both for being here. secretary carter and general dunford and for your service and for dealing with what is a very big challenge for this country and for most of the civilized world. i want to follow up on senator mccaskill's comments about jordan and the number of refugees that they have taken

is different from the congo, why is syria different from sudan. >> rose: why is syria different from rwanda. >> well, no, even with respect to rwanda, i think it would be hard to argue that, in rwanda there were a whole bunch of folks who were shooting back and well-armed jihadists, and we hadn't just invaded and were still trying to hold together a country right next door. but my point is, though, that at least has coherence, right? you can make an argument that that's what we should do. i think that would be a bad decision for the united states to get into the business of unilaterally imposing militarily our will around the world. >> rose: but -- no, charlie, it would have been unilateral because nobody would have signed up for that. i know that for a fact because i could not even get the europeans or i couldn't even get the u.s. congress to authorize -- >> rose: but you raise an interesting question -- >> -- but let me finish this thought -- you couldn't even get those folks to support a very modest action much the less a notion of invasion and the american people certainly should

they lost 20 participant of the territory they held in syria. we are increasingly moving now, the russians, together with assad, took back palmyra and we have liberated ka about a any and liberated sintar and liberated other communities. >> rose: when will we liberate mosul? >> i hope soon. >> rose: during the obama administration? >> the process has already begun, charlie. this is an operation where certain things are being done now to lay the groundwork for it yavment tell you when the sort of main event will be engaged. that is up to the military folks and the iraqi government and so for but that is an effort and we will succeed. >> rose: are you getting what you need from the iraqi government? >> the prime minister has enormous pressures and the answer is, for the most part, he is really working unbelievably hard to deliver. he has a very difficult hand. there are shy a, shia militia there that put enormous pressures and hurdles in the way, the politics is complicated. the old ex-prime minister continues to maneuver behind the scenes and mak

syria discussion of this person? mark: other than to express appreciation for russia's assistance, i do not want to characterize their role. i can say we have been indirect periodic contact with the syrian government. >> that means not to the czechs. mark: i cannot qualify that. i apologize. >> would you be able to describe this person as a freelance photographer? mark: i cannot speak to his identity or i'm sorry it we can confirm u.s. citizen but i cannot go beyond that in identifying. >> and fbi missing persons report about the individual identify online, are you able to confirm that? that he is no longer missing? mark: i would say that the reporting we have seen thus far is is not in accurate in describing the individual release, but i cannot really go beyond that. that is as far as i will go. i'm sorry. >> does this release mean you feel more positive? >> good question. we continue to work on the ground to get information on the welfare and whereabouts of tice. it is something we raised all the time. we cannot pr

five years later, syria is no more syria. i mean we're talking about something much wider than syria. it is a regional, international conflict at one point, and in some shades it is a planetary conflict. i think that syria will really define the order, the international order, for the days to come. it is an enormous tragedy. i'm not saying it emotively. it is a real geopolitical acknowledgement. it is no more syria. second, i think it is still open to a lot of surprises and bad surprises, and at least -- i'll close on that -- at least as long as the local reality, the regional conundrum, this tension between iran, saudi arabia, turkey, et cetera, is not squared off, and as long as there is no real parity between the u.s. and russia on that issue with a stronger leverage for u.s. diplomacy to stand on its own words on political software to stop syria, as long as these three levels don't coincide i'm afraid syria will remain an open wound and i fear in five years from now we'll have something of the same talking about syria ten

the result was the beginning of the tearing apart of syria. i not see how even if united , states or someone else said go ahead, you try to make a government. which we don't. you could make it happen. -- not make it happen. he could help an orderly transition. charlie: how long does he have? john kerry: that is part of the negotiating process. the russians say they are not wedded to a solid -- assad. they want stability. they want a united syria. they want the institutions of the government to hold together. they worry that a sudden the parser of assad could shatter the country and you have problems with the military and problems with others. we are happen to agree with that view, but that is their worry. assad hasm is that gassed his own people. that is against the laws of war. he has tortured his own people. that is against the laws of life and war. starved his own people. ofattractive -- as a tactic war, that is a war crime. whether it is dropping barrel bombs on civilians or gassing your people and putting 12 million of them into displaced

that is a much simpler -- simplerthan syria proposition then syria. last severalthe years leads me to believe that had i authorized additional arms to the free syrian army -- charlie: incremental? president obama: what is? charlie: authorizing additional arms? obama: you cannot have it both ways. either you are making an argument that we should have invaded syria and taken assad out. keep in mind, there was no basis was not ad assad threat to the united states. we would have been saying to ourselves as a matter of policy, where we see there is a big problem in a country where things are getting torn apart, we should impose military order. that is a coherent argument. if that is what we are going to do we have to figure out why syria is different from the congo. why syria is different from sudan. charlie: rwanda? president obama: even in respect to rwanda, it would be hard to argue that in rwanda there were a whole bunch of folks shooting jihadist and armed we had not just invaded and still trying to hold together a country right next-door. my point is

forces will be heading to syria. a bignot very many, but increase, only six people are currently there. they are military trainers for those battling the islamic state. it comes at a fragile time. the cease-fire seems to have broken down in syria, and not much hope of a political solution. richard gallup has more. correspondent: these kurdish are likely to be helped by the new contingents of american personnel to be deployed soon in the country. and aim to ensu the kurds their allies can keep pushing back the militants of islamic state. since october, 2014, the kurds, along with christian arab fighters have made significant advances in the northeast of the country. , theg toward dhaka headquarters. this morning, president obama made a formal announcement of america's involvement in syria. haveven the success, i approved the deployment of 250 additional forces in syria to keep up this momentum. they will not be leading the fight on the ground, but, they in providingtial the training and assisting local forces as they

president obama: syria caved. with the help of the russians, they, for the first time, a -- acknowledged chemical weapons, signed up for the international treaty saying they did not have chemical weapons and systematically removed them. the notion that, even if they are willing to do what we have asked, we should still send bombs to kill people, so they know we are serious. that is precisely the kind of conventional with -- wisdom that i think it is important for me or anyone who occupies this office to test. if the notion is that i have been hesitant to use military force, and the people doubt my willingness to do so, i think, as i have said before, they should ask bin laden. charlie: could we have done more in syria early on to support the free syrian army and rebel forces. if we had done that, and if a sawed -- assad had been thrown out of power. president obama: this is why i think it is important for us to learn the right lessons. the notion that somehow, had we provided some cash -- caches of arms to a very

s capital in iraq and in syria these forces are going to be going in the northeast corner of syria where kurdish forces have been able to move toward raqqa and mill tairlt you're seeing a focus on the defeat of t islamic state and not the assad regime. that may be russia's focus butut there is been an effort by the pentagon to keep the focus onus the defeat of that terror groupe >> sreenivasan: when you talk about the peace talks that aren't going well or the cessation that isn't going wellh the tension between the unitedee states and russia now on trying to go on these multiple fronts and get cooperation from the russians. >> that's right, it's strange, i you know, in syria we're negotiating with russia, and also trying -- the russians desperately want military cooperation in syria as well ate the same time that planes are buzzing our battleships in the baltic sea. >> sreenivasan: andrew tabler from moscow and nancy youseff from the daily beast, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: tomorrow, voters will go to the polls in five east coast states to choose their party's nominee t

both in syria and iraq. we have seen the momentum in recent weeks and have seen what has been successful and these actions reflect the decisions made based on success on the ground. we want to build on that success. >> you mention medical personnel and logistics. could one of her that the u.s. is contemplating setting up some sort of field hospital or a medical support for fighters into syria? >> i think you want to incur that will provide support that these forces deed to succeed. and then we put into place the e theirf setup to enhanc safety and security and to do everything we can to make sure the forces who will be in harm's way that everything is being done to make sure they are as safe as possible. >> so the medical personnel is to support the u.s. forces, not to provide medical assistance to local fighters in syria? >> i'm not getting into details but again, the idea here is to support u.s. forces who are going to work with local partners. we are taking every step we can to make sure that u.s. forces

citizens who have gone missing in syria. obviously, we take all of those , as is seriously and said, try to get as much information as we can on their welfare and whereabouts. i do not have a specific number other than obviously the austan case. >> more than one? mark: yes. would it be best to describe this individual, a hostage, detainee? a detainee. he would not describe him as a hostage. mark: no. >> where he was held, or where he was released from? damascus? i believe released in damascus. i do not have that level of detail. >> a signature feature of book tv on c-span2 is taking you to festivals across the country. this weekend, we traveled to the diversity of southern california for the toy first annual los angeles times festival of books, one of the most celebrated in the u.s. our live coverage features thieves security with of the state author, policing with joe dominic, author of the lapd and the battle to redeem american policing, and women in politics with nancy:, author of "breakthrough." up sunday, more on the fe

frontline's "children of syria" is available on dvd. to order, visit shoppbs.org or call 1-800-play-pbs. frontline is also available for download on itunes. mother: "what are you doing?" possibilities, your day is filled with them. dance instructor: "reach up, energy in the finger tips. collapse." woman: "t.v., play downton abbey." and pbs helps everyone discover theirs. anytime, anywhere. father: "up in the sky, you might see it." pbs, we're with you, for life. ♪ >> each california channel island has its own heartbeat. each island has its own dynamic, it's own size, it's own orientation, its own very intimate personal history. >> well, this is the final frontier of our continent at any rate. >> there's eight islands off the coast of california. the four northerly ones are kind of in a line just off of santa barbara here. >> the southern four islands are more widely scattered, but to just say that they're a group of islands is to completely misrepresent what they are. they are the trace of a vanished world. >> i do this interview with

>> jordan: whoa, whoa, whoa, "committing troops to syria?" not sure i follow. >> larry: well, he's sending 250 u.s. soldiers into syria. >> jordan: no. i don't know why this is so confusing for everyone. let me be direct. the president isn't sending troops. he's initiating a non-combat expeditionary force to threat assess and empower solutions as they relate to observable benchmarks in the global struggle against violent extremism. (laughter) >> larry: can you do me a favor and just "say" that obama is sending our military into a war zone?! >> jordan: "war... zone?" not sure what that is, to be quite honest. do you mean an "unpacified hot-spot within a series of perpetually shifting conflict arenas"? >> larry: no, i mean "war zones"! where obama is placing soldiers in harm's way! >> jordan: okay, larry, this isn't middle earth. stop making up words like "harm" and "soldiers," when what you mean is that obama is setting up a systemic infrastructure by which enemy fire power "may" liaise with our peace coordinators' anatomies. >> larry: you're

presence in the -- in syria. this comes just days after the obama administration announced 217 more troops would be sent to iraq to help in the fight against isis. earlier today president obama , addressed the wars in syria and iraq during a speech in germany. >> right now the most urgent threat to our nation's isil, and that is why we are united in our determination to destroy it. and all 28 nato allies are contributing to our coalition, whether it is striking in syria or iraq or supporting their campaign or training local forces in iraq are providing critical human a cherry and eight. we continue to make progress. pushing i file back from territory that it controls. and just as i have approved additional support for iraqi forces against i file, i decided to increase u.s. support for local forces fighting isil in syria, a small number of american special operations forces are are the underground in syria and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven isil out of key areas. given the success, i

it was the mandate given from the west of syria. who who will become the syria of syria tomorrow? i don't know. iraq? of course not. the gulf? yosk not. turkey? of course not. so the contenders are probably iran and otherothers. this is something you have to keep in mind when we go very quickly and simply or simplistically this comparison between lebanon and syria. >> thanks. that's great. jomana, i'm going the ask you to wrap up this part before we go to questions and answers. i can ask you, we've been talking about the region, we've been talking about the view from washington. if you can. i have to say, very moving when u just mentioned about your friend being killed by, you know, by isis. but if you can, give us -- if you can give us a view of how the syrians are looking at it, how the siege syrian communities are perceived, you know, just watts going on now and what's it likely to look like? >> sure. obviously i'm speaking of my own personal capacity on this. from the people i've talked to i'm sure you're not going to be shocked to know that syrians are incredibly disappointed

not just the announcement of syria. on climate change and for instance, the irey iran nuclear and deal with the conflicts raging not just in the middle east, but in ukraine where we have seen russian aggression in ukraine. a lot on the table. as i mentioned, he is meeting with european leaders. the prime minister of the u.k., david cameron and leaders of france and italy and germany. back to you. >> athena jones with the well traveled president. thank you. >>> overnight, ted cruz and john kasich joining forces to block donald trump from declining the nomination. the two campaigns releasing statements they are dividing the primaries in order to keep trump from gaining the nomination on the first ballot. cruz campaign will cede oregon and new mexico and kasich's will cede in indiana. >>> now all of this comes with just one day to go now until

., a question about syria. as you know the president announced today that he has approved the deployment of 250 additional troops on the ground in syria. this comes after several years in which the assessment of most of the intelligence community was that the arab opposition forces have very little capability in terms of organization and military impact and staying power. anything you wanted. has that assessment changed? and is it possible yet to set out any plausible timelines if there capability increases if pressure on isis continues? the answer to the last question is no, i certainly can't project a timeline. i do think that the deployment, as announced of the special forces additional troops is a manifestation of the need to and the effectiveness of advising and assisting and being on the ground with not just the arabs but the others who are there and various factions of the kurds. the complexity of the situation in syria is unbelievable. to the extent that we can promote proxies who have interest in their

and they have expanded their area of autonomy in syria. and then you have the chunk of isis, is it likely to be an al mall gum of groups that have support from the saudis and the united states, and it's not as if isis should rinks, it's going to be more coherent. >> if you look at the layup there, and look at for instance russia's continue involvement, even if you beat isil, you still have a lot of unsolved problems there. >> yeah, i agree, for example, the most dangerous thing right now is -- it's not better, it's al qaeda. and they are local, they don't have foreign fighters, they were known for not taking foreign fighters, meaning that they probably have less intelligence from inside compare to isis and then they are homegrown, a syrian group, and they are a main recruiting strategy. for a long time, they had way more people that wanted to join than they could take. getting to el nostra was harder than getting to -- so it didn't decrease. it increased after what a lot of syrians disagree with. so i think that al nostra could potentially

forces will be heading to syria. a bignot very many, but increase, only six people are currently there. they are military trainers for those battling the islamic state. it comes at a fragile time. the cease-fire seems to have broken down in syria, and not much hope of a political solution. richard gallup has more. correspondent: these kurdish are likely to be helped by the new contingents of american personnel to be deployed soon in the country. and aim to ensure the kurds their allies can keep pushing back the militants of islamic state. since october, 2014, the kurds, along with christian arab fighters have made significant advances in the northeast of the country. , theg toward dhaka headquarters. this morning, president obama made a formal announcement of america's involvement in syria. haveven the success, i approved the deployment of 250 additional forces in syria to keep up this momentum. they will not be leading the fight on the ground, but, they in providingtial the training and assisting local forces as the

of syria. >> you're correct. just to address a couple pointhouse made, first of all, i'm more hasten to say i'm no lawyer, but we do have lawyers. with respect to the aumf, i agree with you. i testified in favor of being such an aumf. importantly, because it would signify to the troops that the country is behind them. your visits to the region attest to that. i think they feel that. but that would have been another way of attesting to that. i am told by the lawyers and i believe this that the legal basis for what we are doing exists in both domestic law and international law for everything we're doing. but again, i'm not the expert on that and couldn't explain to you the ins and outs of it. i u will say that if there's a a difference between what we're doing, we are trying to fight real terrorists. we're not trying to destabilize a stable situation. not the other way around. i don't know what a lawyer would say, but common sense answer is there's a big difference. >> of course, there is. and i completely agree wi

forces since november when troops were first sent to syria. >> local forces fighting isis in syria, small amount of special operations forces are on the ground in syria. expertise has been critical as local forces have driven isil out of key areas. given the success i've approved the deployment of up to 250 additional u.s. personnel to keep up this momentum. they won't be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces that continue to drive isil back. >> the 250 additional troop also join the troops on the ground to try to retake key territories from isis. the president's decision comes as he asks leaders worldwide to do all they can to assist in the fight against isis. joining me from hanover, germany, is nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: good morning, dara. the news today is about the president's announcement that he is sending 250 more special operations troops to syria, to back up the small contingent of forces already there. he announced he was sending 250 troops to iraq. now is he beefing up troops in that part of the wor

inside of syria. i live with this every day, i read about this thisevery day, we talk to people who are experiencing suffering or are witnessing the suffering going on there. we are in constant communications with turkey, our nato ally, in finding ways which we can resolve the situation. as you know, i spoke to president putin early last week to try to make sure that we could reinstate our facilities and make sure that the political process does not unwind. having said all that, the issues of having a safezone is not a matter of an ideological objection on my part, it is not a matter of me not wishing i could help and protect a whole bunch of people. it is a very practical issue about how do you do it, and who is going to put a bunch of ground troops inside of syria, and how do you let people in, and who do you let in and who do let out. and how is it monitored? the truth of the matter is, that when i go through with my defense department, and we have done it multiple times, how a proposal like that m

because the russians are in southern syria. so in exchange for that, in looking the other way, they weren't supposed to support iranian forces, but then they did. and this is a big concern for israel going forward. and i honestly don't know how they're going to deal with it. i would expect with more strikes. >> only a couple minutes left. so a quick question from there. >> hi, jeff smith, center for public integrity. the overall impression i get from the conversation so far, which has been excellent, is, of a lot of players who are stuck. we're stuck. assad is stuck. the russians are stuck. so in a very unfair way, could you please open your crystal ball and tell us what you think will be present five years from now in damascus. just look forward. you've given us a sense of where things are right now, but project forward from where we are right now. it's an unfair question, i know it's difficult, but i'd still like to hear what you have to say. >> if i could start, i'll complete the painting i started out with. if the united st

be afraid to , come back to syria. poignantsen: on your anecdote about talking to the syrian refugees, it is true, of course, that many of them would like to return to their homeland, but to a homeland that's at peace. however we characterize your description of what's needed in syria, i think that that stability, everyone agrees, is not close at hand. in light of that, can you share with us a little bit the attitudes of the people of the czech republic? there has been some strong resistance to welcoming refugees. can you reflect on that a little bit? explain where that is coming from and share your perspective, please? prime minister sobotka: [speaking czech] translator: well, if you're in a situation in which the borders of europe you have a very active terrorist infrastructure which is represented by daesh. today, you can't really be enough cautious about your security and defense. even if we deal with the refugee humanitarian crisis. so, in fact, we are basically fighting on both fronts. we have to provide humanita

why limit this to syria? why don't we ban the importation of cultural treasures from other countries? how do we determine that these are recent versus something that has provenance and is out in the marketplace? aren't we hurting a legitimate antiquities trade? and finally, aren't we enabling the assad regime, which you have testified here today is just as destructive of these cultural treasures as isis ever was, and why are we therefore institutionalizing their control of these icons? they may sell them themselves, right? >> right. i'm not sure how institutionalizing or helping the assad regime, those objects would also be unsaleable in the united states. if they were seized and forfeited at the border, maybe that's what you're thinking. >> me go back to syria, do they not? >> they done go back -- first of all, title gets transferred to the united states government. and then the u.s. government would decide when to return them. and i don't think that will happen as long as assad is in power. so who knows wha

and syria. and syria. what are these europeans preoccupied with the palestinian problem and not with what's going on in syria? you find that mood among israelis, but on the whole, there's the wage. israel also has some new friends in europe quote-unquote because they're either right wing backlash today risen into the ways of -- countries like denmark, holland and so forth. some of these right wing movements are not critical of israel, sometimes are embarrassing. so it's a bit more complex than just tension. >> thank you. with regard to american policy, there some right wingers in this country better hugging israel also. you mentioned mistakes of the early obama period with regard to negotiations promoting negotiations, mistakes and specify. and the later obama period holding back from participation in middle eastern mess, to the extent possible. there's been some writing in this country suggesting that president's decision to settle for the withdrawal of chemical weapons from syria and not go further in su

also the position in syria both turkey and syria have always held the same position they believe the conflict would only come to an end when president assad is removed but the one other sticking point that will be talked about is the question of egypt, relations with turkey and egypt on a wicket and didn't realize president sisi and i think that will be the message the saudi king will come with is they have to hand really united in this fight against terrorism and the turkish and egyptian relations must improve. >> so this is a thorn if you like in their relationship they hope will be carried on at the meeting of the organization of islamic cooperation. >> it's quite significant really that the saudi king has really come to ankara just on the eve of the summit just to show they are a sort of joint power force going in the summit and was clear really how grateful maybe is too strong of a word but pleased that president erdogan is pleased to see the saudi come here and even went to the airport to greet him yesterday with protocol to meet him on the protocol and very much to say an lavi

. >> finally, the russians are clearly in a very strongs position in syria. the russians and the white house said they're polede -- holding talks. secretary of state john kerry spoke to minister lavrov today. do you think the us russians are now fully on board with resuming military activities in syria? >> well, the russians would be interested in a cease-fire if there is sufficient international pressure on them because of the humanitarian consequences of the bombing but ultimately i think they are following what is the strategy of the necessity of control of aleppo by the assad government. anything lets -- anything less, they're not likely to support a cease-fire. the decision to resume the war at this point in time is a deliberate decision which means there is a strategy behind it. i think that strategy to break the back of the resistance in aleppo and to once and far -- for all, at whatever humanitarian cost, put aleppo in the hands ever the assad government. and then i think they will be ready to talk bay cease-fire. in thanks so much for coming in. well

it managed to less involved and least affected than syria, the four other neighbors that syria has. i was critical of the current government in israel recently, earlier in this conversation. this is where i can give you the compliment. it has kept itself well out of the syrian civil war, and for reasons that i can elaborate on, israel chose not to, not to try to intervene, and stayed on the sidelines. it presented red lines, primarily the transfer of sophisticated weapon systems to terrorist groups like hezbollah and interdicted that several times. but, and of course it has offered humanitarian aid to both refugees in, outside of syria and to wounded syrians looking to be treated in israeli hospitals but on the whole compared to lebanon, iraq, turkey and jordan, we have been least affected and least involved. >> but how do you see the russian involvement in syria? has it been, i mean would you, what would have happened if russia had not intervened, would the regime have collapsed? what have been the consequences? >> possibly. because the rebel groups began to penetrate the hardcore

personnel in syria to keep up this momentum.

the country, around a third of syria posterity. some 3500 government approved cabinets are finding seats in parliament. the vote is not recognized by the u.s.. different government has called it a sham. several have criticized the procedure great fighting has intensified in several areas of syria on the ground. wednesday, the thought of another round of peace talks in syria. they are beginning again in damascushere the delegation will not be arriving for at least another 24 hours. the cease-fire agreed in february is under increasing pressure amid infighting for the past few days. formid a surge of fighting the past few days. >> the latest attempt for a roadmap to peace. negotiations aimed at stopping syria's five-year civil war, a power struggle to prevent the breakdown in the country's cease-fire. >> we agreed that what is important is that the decision of austerity continues, that humanitarian aid reaches every syrian. and, three, that the political process leading to a political transition is now crucially urgent. >> the u.s. e

the result was the beginning of the tearing apart of syria. even if united states or someone go ahead you try to make a government. you could make it happen. not make it happen. he could help an orderly transition. long does he have? john kerry: that is part of the negotiating process. the russians say they are not wedded to a side. they want stability. they want a united syria. they want the institutions of the government to hold together. they worry that a sudden departure of a side could country and you have problems with the military and problems with others. the problem is that a side has assad has gassed his own people. that is against the laws of war. he has tortured his own people. he has started his own people e. whether it is dropping barrel bombs on civilians or gassing euro and people and putting 12 million of them into displaced person status. either refugees were in that country. how can you turn around and say i am the guy to unite this country. it is not going to happen. saudi's whod the are the principal supporters of members