it's to go to syria. and syria is right next door. going to syria is very cheap. and it's very easy. >> narrator: thousands of young european muslims joined up. unlike recruits to al qaeda, aspiring isis militants often knew little about islam. >> (translated): it was open bar: anyone who wanted to join the islamic state could do so. it was well known that al qaeda had created filters; you had to show you were trustworthy, there were a series of tests and an apprenticeship. it was not all that easy. in this case, anyone can join. even crazy people, very violent people, petty criminals. i even saw young people who were not yet radicalized going to syria. it was just a trend, a need to have fun and escape their boring lives. i'd never experienced anything like it before. >> narrator: one country, belgium, provided more isis militants for its size than any other in europe. among them was a petty criminal named abdelhamid abaaoud. the son of a shopkeeper from brussels, abaaoud had spent time in prison for assault and minor crimes. as isis was emerging in syria, abaaou

the first document establishing a deescalation zone in syria has been signed between russia and syria's moderate opposition. in the studio with the latest on the development. it finally is the first deal that's been signed as a deescalation zone in the key strategic area which is fifteen kilometers east of damascus and its key strategic area or one time population of two million people prior to the syrian conflict key point strategic importance of signed a document it's the first time it sets out also how people are going to behave and also how they can keep the peace and what is the deal mean in practice what in practice it's been a bit of a military free for all there so you have the government forces fighting against the rebel forces nor so you have the rebel forces fighting amongst themselves as well and you've you've had the reports of even the terror group al shabab which is for me as you know now known as our nose or that was fighting there as well so now of course this sets out a peace process that is going to be no more fighting there we're going to have humanitarian and medica

because turkey is vfed in syria. turkey has had to-- the more authoritarian regime. >> turkey is playing a much more influential role in the region. but in certain areas like syria, i think that role has actually helped empower radical browps. and so what does turkey want in syria, i'm not sure i'm qualified to answer that. but supporting islamist groups, in syria they want to overthrow assad immediately. >> there are a lot of people that want that. what are the means you want to use to utilize that. >> rose: includes also the saudis. >> i think it is very typical. >> at the end of the day what we want in syria is to have a syrian government that can actually deliver for its people and that is not dominated by ises lambists and not dominated by iran. how we get there has been a struggle for the last six years. >> it is all finding a peaceful ceasefire agreement that would work, with the russians, has failed because the russians clearly are a major player now. >> and because frankly even before the russians test in, e

i haven't been able to get back into syria since 2014. that was partly because of the threat from isis. but now their territory's being diminished. the fight is being taken to them. and finally we're able to go back and report on what's going on in the country. >> reporter: the syrian desert is a vast desolate landscape untouched by time where bedouin tribesmen tend their flocks as they've done forever. a land worn down by sand, scrub, and now this war. this land and its people is steeped in tales of sacrifice. and every day the country bears witness to the suffering the war on isis has unleashed. they cry "shaheed." that means martyr. on this day four soldiers were buried in one town alone. arab and kurd all killed on the fr front line in raqqa against isis. these scenes have been repeated day after day across the north of the country. it underlines the amount of sacrifice people are having to make. this community of kurds and arabs and ethnic christian groups has done most of the fighting and most of the dying here. the flags of their f

enough to get involved in syria one of the interesting things here is there being. live who is if we have a scorecard here who's come out on top in this conflict here because you know the the great boogie man in the west particularly in the united states is iran ok it ran his amazingly benefited from this year in support of the legitimate legal government in damascus and the the west washington and the israelis have themselves to blame for this because of course and russia as well why because supported a legal government in syria and so it's an example for every kind of rebellion want to be supported by west in a i don't know kind of country but systems that would see that when you have such an ally like your russia or like iran you're not sure to win it's a complete change if you compare words up in kosovo or it's open. in libya or in during the spring so in my opinion for the place of the russian diplomacy it's a very strong state because not everybody and you can look at it. in libya or in. fricken countries everybody wants to be a layer of russia saw for show th

has the united states has several objectives in syria one is to prevent chemical weapons use to is to defeat isis and take territory back from isis and then third is you know dimon how assad's behaved recently i think the united states would prefer a different government in syria one that can control the country without saying. their own people but that's a third priority from a u.s. point of view number one is the feeling isis number two is stopping chemical weapons attacks and so i think trump's recent changes is something of a nod to reality that for some time the forces that the united states was supporting against assad under obama weren't receiving adequate support weren't performing very well but then mr craning don't you think that in addition to being a not to reality this is also an indication that the american public was perhaps misled about the root causes of the syrian conflict from the very beginning because . you can say all you want about the change in the terms of policy but it is quite clear that the rebel force that the americans supported was one of the in any case

the international community is not going to accept a syria led by the assad regime. and so, if syria is to be accepted and have a secure economic future, it really requires that they find new leadership. we think that it will be difficult for them to attract both the humanitarian aid as well as the reconstruction assistance going to be required because there just will be a low level of confidence in the assad government. so that continues to be the view, and as we said, how assad leaves is yet to be determined, but our view is that somewhere in that process there will be a transition away from the assad family. >> thank you. on north korea, did president putin agree to do anything to put more pressure on north korea? and, secondly, you seemed to have reached somewhat of an impasse with china in terms of getting them to put more pressure on north korea. how are you going to get them to go beyond that already, and what will president trump say to president xi on that tomorrow? secretary tillerson: we will continue those discussions and ask them to do more. russia does

they won it in a war from syria. so they're trying to get this thing tamped down because the longer this goes on, the more chance it has to spill over these borders, and the israelis are not going to put up with hezbollah on their border, let alone the iranians. they a hate the iranians, for good reason. and the same thing with the george jordanians. they want to seal this thing off, so it's going to take the major powers -- the adults in the room, the russians and the americans -- to come to some political solution acceptable to all of those contingent groups as well as the president of the united states is going to have to explain to the american people why he's cutting the deal, and the russian president a little less so have to explain to the russian people why he's cutting the the deal. arthel: and before i let you go, captain nash, apart from the temporary ceasefire in syria, potential military options as it pertains to north korea surfaced during the g20. should a military response to north korea many be consi

russian president vladimir putin at their first in person meeting agree to a regional think fire in syria at the g. twenty summit. and protests from the g. twenty raged on injuring as many as one hundred sixty officers as police used water cannons to disperse rowdy protesters for a second day in a row. and after months of reporting on alleged russian meddling in the u.s. election using unnamed sources they don't seem to be changing its attitude towards anonymity. it's friday july seventh four pm in washington d.c. i'm a military man here watching r t america. russia and the u.s. have agreed to establish a ceasefire in three areas now of syria the announcement was made by russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov following a two hour long meeting between vladimir putin and donald trump on the sidelines of the g. twenty. well russia the us and have reached a ceasefire agreement for syria the ceasefire will come into effect in three areas there are. unswayed or it will come into force when there's not. so much time the u.s. and russia have committed to monitoring the cease fire and ensuring hu

on syria, again, we need to find out more about syria. but the initial reporting was that it was a cease-fire in southwest syria. now, southwest syria is significant, because that's where the assad regime is. that's not where the chemical weapons attacks are taking place. that's not where the vast majority of civilians are dying. a cease-fire in that area would effectively be a cease-fire that props up the assad regime, which is allied to putin. >> richard -- >> reporter: you want to hear more about the syria deal, the devil is in the details. >> absolutely. thank you for bringing that up. much-needed context. ambassador festanovich, stay with us for a moment, if you can. we have just gotten the playback from that briefing between reporters and rex tillerson and sean spicer. it starts off with rex tillerson. let's listen. >> president trump and president putin met this afternoon for two hours and fifteen minutes here on the sidelines of the g20. the two leaders exchanged views on the current nature of the u.s.-russia relationship, and the

. >> in syria? x by the invitation of -- -- >> we were in syria because of the invitation of the government in damascus. that had it not -- iran iran and russia rushing to the assistance in iraqi kurdistan, today you would've had, instead of being forced to liberate mosul from you would've had to fight for erbir and baghdad. there responding to written we have had a consistent policy of supporting those who are fighting terrorism and extremists. in+++aid, the people who became the government of palestine. the iranians rid -- we are the ones supporting terrorism and extremism in syria. we are not involved in saudi arabia. this accusation from the crown prince of saudi arabia is trying to take the fight to iranian territory. >> that is what they have said. that you are coming after us, and that is why we must bring the fight to iran. we would rather fight in iran and saudi arabia. cannot neglect his own admission that he is trying to instigate terror inside iranian territory. they say they want to sto

situation in syria. tension in southern city and used in syria because the current balance of power doesn't favor them so that's why i don't believe that there would be any breakthrough in the near future or whether or in geneva. well although there was no final day along the serious deescalation zones the u.n. special envoy to syria stephan de mistura said that progress had indeed been made enough to know what kind of progress was that. well i believe the escalation zones such approach progress. mending fences with a key which was considered as one of the basic players in the city in crisis since the onset of this crisis so this was another progress of course to progress by the syrian army on ground. against terrorist groups whether in the south or in the east and north is only byproduct of the us to not talks but still i believe that the us cannot books should be complemented with talks in geneva with the willingness of the united states to really set the solution a political solution for the sitting c

the legal basis for america to be in syria. is really not very valid it's all. another front against i saw it was opened at the end of may that was when u.s. backed kurdish forces reached the terrorists' defunct capital the battle to retake the city rages on but as already resulted in enormous civilian casualties many more people remain displaced some of those who fled the cold life between liberation forces and terrorists. i came from rucker nothing is left in iraq except for destruction because of the coalition and i saw but the strength of the coalition will worsen some villages were wiped out some neighborhoods were demolished houses families children women all were headed by the random strikes. i left my neighbors at home in the evening and went to sleep outside i came back in the morning just to find twelve of the date the children the mother and the man i buried them they died because of the shelling and i can cut the grass suffer i studied it was great but kalish walkley still less than an a team manager they carried out in their strike on high school an

secretary of state invites russia to cooperate on a no fly zones in syria. hello there you're watching r.t. international start this hour with breaking news to you because violence has broken out on the streets of hamburg during a mass demonstration against the g. twenty summit police deployed water cannon and to gas against protesters who were throwing bottles and reportedly refused to remove six. i. was i think leon i was. i. was pleased because i was i was i was. losing i do sleep. ok well as for scenes from the last hour or so i would get the latest now from peter oliver he's in hamburg force to what is the situation like in the mine. and i'm. right i've just come back to the end of the report on the one of the main nightlife district seen on days the demonstrators that had been only fish market down by the quay side where the scenes that you've just seen took place where water and we used pepper spray and it was clashes between the police and demonstrators some of those have made their way up here and we now see a new police line it's been for around th

it is hard to know once they go into syria. but we have seen qatari funds going into syria and libya. charlie: al-nusra has been considered different than al qaeda, and my right? michael: it is the al qaeda affiliate in syria. charlie: it has gone through name changes. michael: yes. think of them as the al qaeda group and syria. there is a third piece of this, we talked about the terrorist organizations, the muslim brotherhood, and then there is al jazeera. in the american media, what you often see on this issue is, freedom of the press. al jazeera do its job as a journalistic organization. the american people need to think of it this way, what if a canadian broadcasting company was trying to incite individuals to conduct attacks in the united states? the united states would get upset about that and have a conversation with the canadian government about that. that is what is happening here. yousef: they are not mutually exclusive. you can support freedom of the press and be against incitement at the same time. this is not a pri

to face to iran iraq and syria it's true that they could rely on a proxy. in iraq but this has limit because of supporting the kurds. and here i mean you can understand the position of secretary of state who try to. set the bridges with russia because washington needs russia to pressure on iran to limit on iran at least in syria so because of obama administration policy. is that all would from. lack of clarity. washington lost a lot of tools and a lot of leverage it's true that now it's increasing its presence in terms of. presence on the ground and there are investing more but it's not easy to get back. to all the situation where they were the major force prevailing today their primary focus is to face up to iran but they need partners saudi arabia is deafening partner but they need other partners to this is where their son is trying to engage with the russian. it's very interesting is because i absolutely agree with sami i think it's the there are fewer and fewer tools of influence but there are more and more troops and troops are not a very good instrume

more than 100 million people coming from syria 01’ 100 million people coming from syria or anywhere in the world, imagine the scale, coming to europe. this is the scale, coming to europe. this is the largest refugees per population situation in the world so norms, as the world applies, cannot be applied there. the world has to work first on making sure that the right secure areas in syria for them to go back. it is notjulie a lebanese problem it isa it is notjulie a lebanese problem it is a european and international problem. presumably you are not wildly happy that donald trump decided syrians are nationality it is not what allowed in the us. what we're saying here is it is important for the international community to ta ke for the international community to take this step and make sure there are safe areas in syria, because we have seen evidence of people going back to syria safely and in the refugee convention will tell you that any individual that can go safely back home is not considered a refugee any more in the country where they are plied refugee status from. let's also talk ab

the first document establishing a deescalation zone in syria has been signed between russia and syria's moderate opposition parties kate partridge i'm in the studio earlier with the latest on the development is finally is that the first deal that's been signed is a deescalation zone in the key strategic area which is fifteen kilometers east of damascus and its key strategic area or one time population of two million people prior to the syrian conflict key point strategic importance they've signed a document it's the first time it sets out also how people are going to behave and also how they can keep the peace what is the deal mean in practice what in practice it's been a bit of a military free for all there so you have the government forces fighting against the rebel forces north so you have the rebel forces fighting amongst themselves as well and you've you've had the reports of even the terror group al shabab just for me as you know now known as our nose or that was fighting there as well so now of course this sets out a peace process that is going to be no more fighting there we're

including syria. we have engaged more closely probably with turkey on syria than any other country because we feel these issues should be dealt with through dialogue and multilateral discussions. iran, turkey and russia i said are parts of the process and we've been able to do some good. >> rose: that's part one of a two-part series of a conversation with the foreign minister of iran javad zarif. tomorrow night, part two. for more about this program and early episodes visit us on-line at pbs.org and charlierose.com. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh cess.wgbh.org >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. >> you're watching pbs. [water rushing] >>zeffirelli: >>narrator: it was a historic and cataclysmic flood which threated lives and some of mankind's most precious masterpieces. >>linda falcone: the whole world really felt that it had been damaged in s

bases in northern syria in a comment to r.t. the u.s. central command said that the sources which contributed to this story cannot be independently verified adding that it would be very concerned if officials from its nato ally would purposefully endanger forces by releasing such sensitive information with more here's nick earring. this is how america's military presence in northern syria allegedly looks that's according to turkish state news agency on the dollar it claims to have detected america's hidden outposts scattered across kurdish held areas the agency reports there are as many as ten including two air bases one in army leon which is large enough for cargo planes and used to supply kurdish forces and another inherent hit which is slightly smaller reportedly used by military helicopters there's also said to be eight more military points which it's claimed are used to house military consultants operational planning offices and units to engage in active conflicts plus the equipment cap that allegedly includes artillery batteries ro

has the united states has several objectives in syria one is to prevent chemical weapons use to is to defeat isis and take territory back from isis and then third is you know dimon how assad's behaved recently i think the united states would prefer a different government in syria one that can control the country without gassing their own people but that's a third priority from a u.s. point of view number one is the feeling isis number two is stopping chemical weapons attacks and so i think trump's recent changes is something of a nod to reality that for some time the forces that the united states was supporting against assad under obama weren't receiving adequate support weren't performing very well but then mr craning don't you think that in addition to being a nod to reality this is also an indication that the american public was perhaps misled about the root causes of the syrian conflict from the very beginning because . you can say all you want about the change in the terms of policy but it is quite clear that the rebel force that the americans supported was one of the in any case

syria was somewhat misaligned to the reality on the ground to begin with so first you know russia and the united states have very different domestic political systems and i think there are advantages and disadvantages one of the advantages of the u.s. system is it is very open and transparent the russian system less so so you know when there's. agreement among the intelligence agencies about an assessment again i have high confidence in that i think of the reason to doubt it there'd be leaks and other things russian intelligence i have less confidence and it's a more close system i think it's easier to keep secrets and spin spin. in analyses but on the on the point of the changing policy in syria i think you're right you know us has the united states has several objectives in syria one is to prevent chemical weapons use two is to defeat isis and take territory back from isis and then third is you know dimon how assad's behaved recently i think the united states would prefer a different government in syria one that can control the country without gassing their own people but that's a t

, and have started acting in syria, this is a legitimate opposition. so if those people do not feel safe going back to the regime areas, how can we actually talk to the regime about sending them back to them? they might be persecuted. they might be put in danger. and the international community is not even ready to share their names with the syrian regime. will the unhcr share their names with the syrian regime? if the unhcr cannot do that, why should we be doing that? we're saying, we are being very logical and very practical about this. there are safe areas, they can choose to go back to them... they can choose, no one will be forced out of lebanon? lebanon has actually... that is a yes or no question. lebanon has agreed to the non—refoulement principle — so people will not be forced out, but we have to be also logical... there is always a but... let me explain the difference. if you are actually incentivising them, giving them a big cash and financial... are you going to bribe them to go home? no, no, you're giving them an incentive to stay in l

and syria's on theth big movement. i haven't been able to get back into syria since 2014. that was partly because of the threat from isis. but now their territory's being diminished. the fight is being taken to them. and finally we're able to go back and report on what's going on in the country. >> reporter: the syrian desert is a vast desolate landscape untouched by time where bedouin tribesmen tend their flocks as they've done forever. a land worn down by sand, scrub, and now this war. this land and its people is steeped in tales of sacrifice. and every day the country bears witness to the suffering the war on isis has unleashed. they cry "shaheed." that means martyr. on this day four soldiers were buried in one town alone. arab and kurd all killed on the fr front line in raqqa against day after day across the north of the country. it underlines the amount of sacrifice people are having to make. this community of kurds and arabs and ethnic christian groups has done most of the fighting and most of the dying here. the flags of their forces are held aloft as symbols of pri

they discussed important topics like syria. i think many of you have seen some of the news that just broke regarding the escalation agreement, the memoranda that was agreed between the u.s., regardingd jordan southwest syria that affects the security of jordan but is also a very complicated part of the syrian battlefield. -escalation area was agreed. a cease-fire has been entered into. this is our first indication of the u.s. and russia being able to work together in syria. as a result, we had a lengthy discussion regarding other areas in syria where we can continue to work together on the area.ing and to work together towards a political process that will secure the future of the syrian people. ofa result, at the request vladimir putin, the u.s. has appointed a special representative for ukraine. ambassador kurt volker. he will draw on his decades of experience in the u.s. diplomatic corps, both as a representative to nato and also his time as a permanent political of treatment. the leaders also acknowledged the challenges of

, there was nothing except syria; it was all about syria. there were so many cases related to syria that people who should have been watched just could not be. cleary we can't do everything, and we didn't have the means-- we still don't-- to monitor all of this. >> (translated): that brings up the issue of having to make choices. that is, among all the possibilities of targets to monitor, thousands of targets to monitor, it's necessary to make choices. >> narrator: in june 2014, french spy chiefs made a fateful decision. for the last three years, they had been monitoring al qaeda veterans of the buttes-chaumont gang: cherif kouachi, and his brother said. meanwhile, kouachi's old associate amedy coulibaly had just been released from prison. french domestic intelligence now decided to stop watching them and shift surveillance resources onto the growing threat from isis. >> (translated): for more than three years the surveillance and wiretappings had yielded nothing, so it was stopped at that time. this was mid-2014, which means that for six mo

enough to get involved in syria one of the interesting things here being. who is if we have a score card here who's come out on top in this conflict here because you know the the great boogie man in the west particularly in the united states is iran ok it ran his amazingly benefited from this you're right support of the legitimate legal government in damascus and the the west washington and the israelis have themselves to blame for this because of course and russia as well why because a supported a legal government in syria and so it's an example for every kind of a rebellion want to be supported by west in a i don't know kind of country but systems i would say that when you have such an ally like you russia or like iran you're not sure to win it's a complete change if you compare what's up in kosovo it's open. in libya or in during the spring so in my opinion for the for the place of the. diplomacy it's a very strong state because not everybody and you can look at it. in libya or any. fricken countries everybody wants to be a russia saw for show they have

so why is hezbollah being more brazen in syria all of a sudden raising the flag. might be an attempt to assure the supporters of hezbollah that the fire will go on against the terrorist groups till the end looks like hezbollah those waving its flags openly in syria as is feeling confident it's on the winning side. while one of america's most senior generals has admitted that the u.s. presence in syria has little legitimacy saying that if russia played the little cards washington could be obliged to leave the country here's the conundrum we are operating in the sovereign country of syria. the russians they're there they're stalwarts they're they're back stoppers have already uninvited the turks from syria were a bad day away from the russians saying why are you still in syria us and it's it is come up in the form of some some close calls there but it'll be hard i defer to the lawyers in the crowd and others in terms international law on the basis for us staying there other than our c.t. writ we went there for all the righteous reasons but if the russians play that

and syria especially in the last two years iran united states of america and. to lesser extent saudi arabia so this is a new order. by the. powers and of course i forgot turkey that is a compact of the regional powers on the. road and the name of the game today is fighting the. core issue is who will be policing. this the areas of influence that will be controlled by each of the. we have already mentioned so what's at stake today. you. define the balance of power for years. to come in joe it's very interesting in looking at syria here with the end of dash eisel islamic state it seems to me that there's a lot of jockeying position for what could possibly be could be some kind of peace settlement. in your mind here is you know we had tillerson the secretary of state saying if i can quote foreign policy tillerson ready to let russia decide assad's feat i mean that is a remarkable statement considering the flip flop flip flop flip flop that we keep hearing from washington on syria i mean do you take taylor since words at face value because i mean i thought it was i

now into the history of as belongs presence in syria. lebanon's hezbollah has long been fighting alongside assad government forces throughout the six year syrian civil war but for the first time the armed group is making it official. hezbollah claims it's driving and isis terrorists as well as rebels out of the last foothold on the syrian lebanese border a mountainous region seen here on the map the green part here is controlled by al nusra and rebels and the black here by isis so far it sounds like just another development in the ongoing fight against terrorism in syria right so what's the big deal let's break it down. as well as presence in syria has always been a bone of contention as israel the u.s. and the arab league all view the group as a terrorist organization and levanon hezbollah a terrorist organization you just towns to shield itself of tens of thousands of illegal rockets its militias stand side by side with syrian troops as they slaughter the syrian people. iran continues to support terrorism including palestinian terroris

declarative ject in syria is to write and state. this is not a legal objective since the united states military has not been invited into syria for this fight by the the central syrian government who is the only authority that can that can allow foreign troops to fight in their country there are despite this stated objective there are clearly hidden objectives that we've been able to identify as the fight continues because the u.s. has on many occasions looked the other way let me just say the u.s. led coalition is look the other way when isis has has taken territory inside syria most prominently when isis troops just marched across from over the iraqi border into syria and occupied palmira a few years ago so some of these objectives that we're identifying and are becoming more clear are such one is to create a sort of buffer area between syria and israel and jordan which is in the interests of the israeli state the second would be i think to support their allies in the north and the north east of syria the kurds who have been funde

the legal basis for america to be in syria. is really not very valid it's all. over one hundred i saw suicide bombers could be preparing to strike europe more details on the story coming up right after the break. the solar industry is a job in california generates says of thousands of jobs new york tens of thousands of california is going to have a lot of jobs on the side or nobody is on this but they got a lot of desert obviously if they go solar they get a lot of job in texas and folks in texas going to say your ideology sucks we want to job this solar jobs you're out of office we're going to bring the folks to do it california still isn't that the way democracy works in america. but i do think that archie is propaganda arm of the russian government and helps to spread. information that helps advance russia's interests and so that's why i think it's important for people like me to come on if it were me i would be somebody who is less capable who would maybe not do as good a job presenting the american point of view. welcome back into pool has released a list o

here's the conundrum we are operating in the sovereign country of syria. the russians they're there they're stalwarts they're they're back stoppers have already uninvited the turks from syria we're a bad day away from the russians saying why are you still in syria us and it's it is come up in the form of some some close calls there but it'll be hard i defer to the lawyers in the crowd and others in terms international all on the basis for us staying there other than r.c.t. rich we went there for all the righteous reasons but if the russians play that card we may want to stay and have no. ability to do it they could play out here in the us martin jay says several more people are coming round to the idea that america's presence and say we have violates international law. it's interesting that senior military officials are now sort of going renegade beginning to. show some disenchantment with donald trump policy in the actually legal basis of america being in syria is a very shaky one it's based on u.n. rules that were adopted in two thousand and five which a

on syria, with a great amount of detail exchanged on the agreement we made today that was announced, but also where we go and trying to get much greater clarity around -- we see this playing out until russia sees applying out, and where do we share a common view, and where do we have a difference? and do we have the same objectives in mind? and i would tell you that by and large, our objectives are exactly the same, how we get there, we each have a view, but there is a more commonality to that then there are differences, so we want to build on the commonalities, we spent a lot of time talking about the next steps, and then where there are differences, we will work together to understand, maybe they have the right approach and we have the wrong approach, so there was a substantial amount of time spent on syria, just because we have had so much activity going on there. >> can you say if the president was unequivocal in his view that russia did interfere in the election? did he offer to produce any evidence? >> the russians have asked for proof and evidence, i will leave that to the int

we have a clear with our discussions with russia that we do not syria -- think syria can achieve international recognition in the future, even if they work through a successful political process. the international community is not going to accept a serious led by the assad regime. so if syria is to be accepted both secureecure, and economic future, it really requires they find new leadership. we think it will be difficult for them to attract both the humanitarian aid as well as the reconstruction assistance going to be required because there just will be a low level of confidence in the assad government. so that continues to be the view, and as we said, how ssad leaves is yet to be determined, but hardly is somewhere in that process there will be a transition away from the assad family. >> thank you. korea, did president putin agreed to do anything to put more pressure on north korea, and an impasse with china in terms of getting them to put more pressure on north korea. how are you going to get them to go beyond that already, and what will president trump sega president x -- say to president

it was syria, and that did turn out to be the case. the idea but adjudicating the meddling in the 2016 election was always going to be farcical. pruden is a kgb agent. he is a liar. he would never admit to anythin anything. that was not going to go anywhere. i think what was important is that our president would say we know what you did, don't do it again or you -- you are going to suffer. that's the message, that could take a minute and half. so i don't know how long was spent on that. and i don't believe a word of the russian recap. that was never going to be a resolvable issue. the only issue that is on the table between russia and the u.s., there is one that has any promise, is syria. the reason is mrs. like europe 1945, the enemy in this case isis, is essentially defeated. it's only a matter of time. u.s. and russia, they have to decide what are going to be the postwar boundaries. what are going to be the dividing lines. what are going to be the spheres of influence. i think it's a good thing that they started with the southwest r

in southern syria also in eastern syria this put the jordanians and israeli is. in front of a complete where the syrian army supporters maybe the. fighters and iranian fighters got close to the demilitarized. zone in heights which would present a threat for israeli security promise the israeli point of view later on during the summit i believe that the russians in concerted. effort with the syrians presented this. as a trophy to the president to the american president to prove to him to prove to his opponents that. the united states could get something out of cooperation with the with russia and that's why i believe that the russians and the americans were able to get to this. zone. because we know that washington really is still sending those contradictory messages on the future of the syrian government it does beg the question how possible is any real progress. well this could be the first step to woods talks to food what's for the dogs. to teach. in order to a peaceful resolution for the sitting crisis but this is still a first step should be tested it's a lon

firstly syria. where we are facing a common enemy terrorism. and we share the same objective of peace is the question of international security for both france and russia. we may have different. aspects as we accept them. for example on the use of chemical weapons we all strictly opposed to just in terms of complete destruction of the chemical weapons stockpiles. of muscles to work to a station of facilities. for to bring together the syrians. and above will not forget the tragedy being witnessed by the people on the ground and i'm sure that through this frank dialogue we can help guarantee axxess safe access to humanitarian aid wherever it's necessary. with my russian colleague we've also spoken of ukraine. i reminded him of the need to result of this crosses to. improve relations in the form of the normandy formats in the framework of the normandy format to allow progress. on the minsk agreement with security because the security situation has deteriorated. z. both in terms of the line of contacts and they don't territories. naturally for mr

delves into the history of has brought us presence and syria. lebanon's hezbollah has long been fighting alongside assad government forces throughout the six year syrian civil war but for the first time the armed group is making it official. hezbollah claims it's driving isis terrorists as well as rebels out of the last foothold on the syrian lebanese border a mountainous region seen here on the map the green part here is controlled by al nusra rebels and the black here by isis so far it sounds like just another development in the ongoing fight against terrorism in syria right so what's the big deal let's break it down. as well as presence in syria has always been a bone of contention as israel the u.s. and the arab league all view the group as a terrorist organization and levanon hizbullah a terrorist organization you just towns to shield itself of tens of thousands of illegal rockets its militias stand side by side with syrian troops as they slaughter the the syrian people. iran continues to support terrorism including palestinian terrorists h

we've seen in aleppo in the north of syria we've seen russia allowing syria to go on booming their own civilians and hospitals after cease-fire has been declared. now this one has got to be enforced, it's got to be an actual cease-fire. >> woodruff: what do you look for. what's the evidence of that? you want to see when it takes effect and what the ground rules are. >> yes. we want to sate applie see it ao those on the grounds so we can get humanitarian aid to those cut off on the fighting. we need to get aid there and be absolutely sure it really is a cease-fire. but let's hope this one sticks and bring some peace to that part of syria down in the southwestern corner. >> woodruff: can a cease-fire make a difference though when the two sides disagree about whether president assad should stay in power. the u.s. has said it wants them removed the russians are still saying they want him to stay. >> we don't see any long term future for assad in syria. this is a man whose attacked his own people. he's barrel bombed his own people, used chemical weapons against his own people. we don't thin

syria, north korea. waymore tangible results, from the meeting -- can more tangible results come away from the meeting on friday? caller: i think the two most pragmatic issues on the minds of russian officials and the populace in general is one, whether the u.s. was going to reduce or rescind any of its sanctions against russia, and secondly, whether the u.s. is going to get back the diplomatic compounds that the obama administration took away from the russians in late december. on the second issue on the compounds, that is an issue that seems to have disappeared from russian coverage of the meeting, just because it is as yet unresolved. putin and trump discussed it, but there was no resolution. as far as sanctions, the appointment of kurt voelker as special envoy for your grain, -- for ukraine, which was announced as part of the trump-putin meeting, that is seen as a step toward possibly getting rid of the sanctions connected with the war in ukraine's east. to the extent that kurt voelker succeeds in pu

for in a sense your have russia getting a big order in syria especially in the law. this is a weekly test of the no weather radio all hazards warning device for station k h twenty eight in philadelphia pennsylvania during potentially dangerous weather situations specially built receivers are automatically activated to warn of the impending hazard test of the signal or normally conducted by the national weather service in mount holly new jersey every wednesday between eleven am and noon if there is a threat of severe weather during the normal test time the test will be postponed to the next good weather day reception of this broadcast and especially the warning alarm tone will vary any given location this variable be normally more noticeable and greater distances from the transmitter can occur even if you are using good quality receiver in perfect working order the warning alarm tone will be activated for hazardous weather watches and warnings for the following counties and marine areas near the city of philadelphia in pennsylvania birds books chester delaware montgom

for now, the fighting continues in syria, but u.s.-backed forces have punched a hole in isis defenses. cnn's senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is the first journalist to go inside the breached wall around raqqa. here is his exclusive reporting. >> reporter: we are now inside the old city walls of raqqa, the capital of isis's self-declared caliphate and the territory in which they will make their final stand in syria and really the middle east. that wall, a key milestone for coalition forces and the syrian kurds and arabs who now control fully inside. down that way, 200 meters are isis's positions. the forces here don't move around much in the daylight because of the risk of isis snipers, less so in these streets but it's at night where the majority of the movement forward is, in fact, made. we've seen u.s. forces here, not far from these positions, anxious not to be filmed or even noticed, frankly, but who understand it's them calling in the air strikes and often the artillery that's allowing these forces to move for

russia and syria. china with north korea. and so far, i don't think those bets have panned out yet, but this one might. and we are just going to have to wait and see. this would be the one deliverable that trump got out of this meeting, if, in fact, there was a cease-fire and it sticks. >> bret: jonah? >> picking on something more that michael said. secretary's peter navarro came out and said that secretary bret came out and said that they have the same interest. we have a different agenda in syria. we have a different agenda in the middle east. one of the things that concerns me about all of this is that it feels like the third round, now, this russian reset mentality. george w. bush came in, said he conceded to vladimir putin's goals. the obama white house had a disastrous attempt to reset things because they didn't believe that russia had interest that were different from their agenda. and donald trump, perhaps because he thinks he has his personal relationship with putin, they think they can, again, use personal diplomacy

from syria i like you still and. this. is really low. poll. you. joined by. the chief correspondent for gold dot com peter great to have you in the studio now first of all just explain to us what are you doing here in russia well obviously it's the big tournament next year the world cup and a lot of our team we haven't been to russia before for work to visit so they've sent me on almost an exploratory mission here it's going to be a proper world cup next year i know a lot of people in the u.k. and ireland in the united states might have certain fears or preconceptions about what it's going to be like on the ground here next year but you know this sort of you know should really anybody's fears about coming here i found great stadiums for a straight stadiums great infrastructure great help from the volunteers free transport between the cities and around the cities for all the found and i just find that the people you know they can't do enough for your people that are warm there. and like i said the country will for you if we got a bit of weather for the world c

well for now the white house has warned syria's president he will pay a heavy price if he goes through with a chemical attack which the u.s. claims he's preparing however no evidence was provided to support the allegations so i'm one of the guys dia of investigations but sha allah saad has one really bad habit and that habit is and you need does this when he's winning he ruins everything by doing something really stupid for no reason at all. take acids army now they're crushing slavek state liberating vast swaths of syria and out of the blue comes this the united states has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the saddam regime as sad knows the probable consequences of a chemical attack it's the only thing really right now that could ruin him by giving his enemies the opportunity of a pretext to attack him why would he do it because he's evil the murderous syrian dictator bashar assad has been a brutal dictator bashar al assad's a murderous regime in syria assad is the worst kind of brutal war criminal a classic super villain booth stupid and evil th

envoy special envoy for syria. on the agreed cease fire deal over an important area in the south of syria is a positive development the implementation of these arrangements towards a nationwide cissie sion of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access is key to facilitate the interest syrian talks under u.n. auspices in geneva while this is no doubt an important step forward in relations between the u.s. and russia shows the two sides can work in agreement they can come together and make some positive developments in terms of fighting terrorism let's not forget that we've been here before there have been numerous cease fires brokered numerous deescalation zones set up since the syrian war broke out six years ago and they've all broken down with the two sides accusing each other of violating the terms of these agreements so it would be top to mystic to say that this is a major breakthrough for the syrian conflict as a whole and actually when there are still a huge question still on. the major stumbling block bei