hello and welcome to. the foreign minister of iran is in russia had of the next round of syria peace talks one thing nuclear negotiations finally progress inc tehran is seeing diplomatic doors open can't help solve the syria question what is being discussed with moscow and we'll hear read name in richmond continue caught up with mr to find out the answer first hand. drawn is on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough. nuclear program may be over. crippling sanctions seems closer than ever and world powers are even asking for ending the war in syria on top of that there is a new billion dollar trade deal with moscow in the works. is the islamic republic on its way back into the international scene. into a lasting spring. for a minister it's really great to have the on our program today. so you just came back from damascus you've spoken to president bashar have you talked about inside concrete have you come up with any concrete solutions. really i just come from the middle east. i was in lebanon i was in jordan i was in iraq and i see a common thread among everybody. concerned abo

politics in iran. a weekend deal was reached on a six month interim agreement. hosted by the u.s. institute of peace and the woodrow wilson center, this is 90 minutes. >> we're very pleased to have two people who have written books about iran do we have -- there was going to be covers of two books that are represented by the authors right here and they have also just returned from iran. so what we thought would be very useful and interesting for you and for us is to get a picture a sense of what's going on inside. for all the reasons that we all know, this is the time to try to understand what's going on there. maybe there are changes there. and that is what i hope we will get from this discussion. without anything further robin is going to say a couple -- make some observations about her trip, david's going to make some observations about his trip. we will have a conversation open to you very quickly, and i'll look forward to your questions. so this will be an interactive easy discussion. so robin? >> thanks, bill, very much. four headlines as an old journalist, four things that

commissioner on "the communicators." >> next is the latest on iran's nuclear program and the next debts in international deals to curb the country's ability to produce nuclear weapons. this is 40 minutes. host: we want to welcome back michael singh, a veteran of the george w. bush administration and now managing director of the washington institute for near east policy. let me begin with some news from the associated press. inspectors now in iran, led by the international atomic energy, and the u.s. looking at what iran has in terms of nuclear capacity. how much access to the have and what is their mission? guest: this is not a 1990's iraq-style inspection mission, show up wherever you want and get unannounced access to any place you want. there is a very defined list of facilities to which inspectors will have access in a very specified schedule as to when they will have access. many of these are facilities they have had access to before. their mission continues as it was before. they will have access to new facilities. these inspectors are verifying that iran is carrying out their obliga

considered on people the interim agreement with iran is now in effect what are its prospects are all sides honestly committed to resolving the whole spectrum of issues that have separated washington around for decades can't israel and its congressional allies specifically the senate kill the deal and if for some miraculous reason all sides agree to keep to the agreement what can we expect next. to cross the interim agreement with iran i'm joined by my guest richard whites in washington he is a senior fellow and director of the center for political military analysis at the hudson institute and in new york we cross to urban abrahamian he is an author and a distinguished professor of history at the city university of new york all right gentlemen cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it richard if i go to you first the interim agreement with the international community in iran is in effect of this week here there was a lot of discussion coming out of the u.s. senate and we're there obviously lobbyist groups in washington that we'

hello and welcome to. the foreign minister of iran is in russia had of the next round of syria peace talks one thing nuclear negotiations finally progress inc tehran is seeing diplomatic doors open can't help solve the syria question what is being discussed with moscow and we'll hear read name in richmond continue we caught up with mr to find out the answers first hand. drawn is on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough. decades of deadlock nuclear program may be over. the grip of crippling sanctions seems closer than ever and world powers are even asking for help with ending the war in syria on top of that there is a new billion dollar trade deal with moscow in the works. is the islamic republic into the international seat. for a minister it's really great to have the on our program today. so you just came back from damascus you've spoken to president bashar have you talked about and see concrete have you come up with any concrete solutions. i just come from the middle east. i was in jordan i was in iraq and i see a common thread among everybody speak. spread of widens spread

strongly that iran needs to be part of the solution to the syrian crisis. >> iran gets the invite but just days before the syrian peace talks fears they might fall apart. >> a dangerous turn in the koran. ukraine. >> i'm jessica taff where the shawks havseahawks have just pur ticket to super bowl 48. we'll have later in sports. >> tonight the syrian peace talks are in danger of ending before they even get started. just hours ago the united nations invited iran to the conference in switzerland but that upset syrian rebels who are threatening to pull out. the united nations wants the invitation suspended until it agrees that syria's president steps down. >>> shuttled diplomacy over syria. this was moscow last thursday. a meeting of friends and allies. russian hosting the iranian and syrian foreign ministers. the man from teheran that his -- making clear that his country was ready to go. the u.n. secretary-general made this announce. >> pledged that iran would play a positive and constructive roll in montreul. therefore as convenor and host of the conference i have issued an invitation f

geneva peace talks for syria. the decision to invite iran has angered western traditions. president of the troubled central african republic is urging christian and muslim militias to lay down their arms. coming up in the program, a busy update for you. why economic growth has ground to a 14 year low. the un's nuclear watchdog has said that iran has started to dismantle some of its nuclear power plants. the united states and the european union will lift sanctions for six months. >> officials from the atomic energy association says they toe suspect -- suspended nuclear sites. they have taken measures according to commitments made in the geneva agreement. up enriched uranium fills their side in november. in return, partial trade sanctions had been lifted. western powers accuse iran of developing nuclear energy for military courses -- purposes. israel is not convinced. agreement,s supposedly to go into effect with iran leaves with iran the option to develop nuclear capabilities at will. dangerous.ly >> the deal said iran must stop enriching uranium and above five percent. worth billion

sticking point is that iran is not taking part it was supposed to but opposition was completely against that and while this position was supported by washington which ended up asking the united nations to cancel rounds invitation and according to a city a lot of this is not a catastrophe that iran is not taking part but it is a key hour in that region is definitely with a lot of influence on the situation in syria and while not having it participating in the conference would definitely not help uniting the muslim community in the fight against terror which is also one of the key issues on the table here for more i'm joined by a german journalist kareen. thank you very much for joining me so you are based in syria they're now talking about terrorism. in one of the key threats and that is being agreed by all sides present here in the sky of france how how real is that threat did you feel it yourself can you tell us more about that. it's definitely to be felt inside syria and i'm based in damascus but i travel around a lot as much as possible. you can feel it on a daily basis by grenades b

parents immigrated from iran, and i just think about if they couldn't come and there would be no drop box. there are -- we have all -- our company is full of people who are either immigrants or children of immigrants and sort of a drop box standpoint we try to hire the best people from all over the world and obviously i think everybody in here agrees that situation is ridiculous we bring in the smartest people from everywhere and we educate them only to kick them out to compete with us. i think it's crazy. we know that. but, you know, personally, i think also the broader issue is also important -- >> you said sent them to m.i.t. they came to m.i.t. to learn great things, and we don't want them to take it wack to their home country or other country that importing talent and compete with us. better to keep them here. >> yeah. and we spend so much time recruiting the best people and having conversation earlier that we have a bunch of -- we put out a bunch of applications. we know that not all of them are going to be accepted. a lot of people are waiting on pins and needles we have to turn th

security, and that is how to prevent a nuclear armed iran. i was thinking about our troubled history with iran, and whether more sanctions at this time make sense for our national security interests. and i asked these questions of myself: can, in fact, a country like iran change? is it possible for an isolated regime to rejoin the community of nations and change its behavior after several decades? must a country and its people be held captive because of the behavior of previous leaders in earlier times? so i thought back on history. i was a young girl during world war ii. i remember when imperial japan killed millions in southeast asia and particularly china during its brutal wars of expansion. today, japan is a peaceful democracy and one of this nation's strongest allies in asia. i remember when hitler and the german third reich committed unspeakable atrocities across europe including the murder of six million jewish citizens. germany is now a close ally, a leader in the european union, an institution created to ensure a war never again occurs in europe. i remember general franco of

u.n. resolution says remove it from iran. it can be left from iran and diluted but it's possible to reconvert it. you can go to 90% to create a weapon. the idea of the congress not acting really does offend me because the purpose of the sanctions is to deter them falling apart at a time we still need them. sanctions is to determ falling apart at a time we still need them. the number of countries sending delegations to iran is growing by the day. beginning to fall apart. if congress voted to pass new sanctions that could only be imposed if this agreement fell apart, it would reinforce to the western world, stop doing business with iran. michael singh, the politics behind all this, what's going on? guest: to the extent we have made progress on iran that led , ithe stage we're at now was as a result of cooperation between congress and the president, perhaps unspoken cooperation. it was that combination of very tough sanctions as well as this diplomacy which has taken place as well as other factors that led to the place we're at now. the disagreement that you hear is really about the en

for secretary of state john kerry, they are iran and the israeli-palestinian conversations, we start with iran and their ambassador to the united nations, mohammed khazaee. it is a possibility for cooperation between the two countries or not? this is something that can be sneen the future. it depends on many other issue but we are not relying on cooperating with the united states on this particular matter or another country, this is the principle of foreign policy to try to achieve the region iraq in particular secure and stable and we are offering on the iraqi government to do it. >> and for perspective on the israeli paisraeli-palestinian ns a second item on secretary kerry's agenda we ten to riyad mansour, the permanent representative of the palestinians to the united nations. >> it is up to them to decide what kind of a state they want to be, do they want to be a democratic state where i see ail will be the state for all of its citizens or do they want to be a state for the jewish people and, therefore, excluding 1.6 million palestinian arabs who are israelis from their society.

same time iran will do what we believe it's in our best interest to clarify and to show to the national community that the purpose of our nuclear program is nothing but peaceful so we will do these two things. as the sort of final comprehensive settlement and we believe that provided that the good real good faith and political will in fact. we can reach out equipment but but that requires all sides to come to the negotiating table with an open mind with the understanding that they have to address the concerns of iran that they have to gain the trust of the iranian people who have a lot of concerns and misgivings about their worst the way the west has dealt with the iranian nuclear program and other iranian activities in general so in fact this this is basically a staging ground this is not an end in itself this is just a beginning and i hope that as of the twenty first of january iran is ready to engage with five plus one collectively and individually in order to move the process for despite president obama's calls all congress to hold off on sanctions there are many american l

is long and getting longer the saudis are furious over western dealings with iran disappointed that obama didn't bomb syria and determined to export its radical form of islam and one of its only real friends in the region is israel given all of this can the house of saud afford what it calls an independent foreign policy. crosstalk saudi arabia i'm joined by my guest brian becker in washington he is the national coordinator of the answer coalition and in nashville we cross to mark levine he is a senior fellow with the truman national security project and a radio show host or a gentleman cross talk rules in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage you brian is it time for washington to tell saudi arabia to pound sand. well i think it's been long established that the u.s. government considers the saudi government to be an indispensable ally not its only ally and perhaps now not its principal ally but certainly an important one ronald reagan made it clear more than thirty years ago that there would be quote no revolution in saudi arabia because the us

after the latest killing of civilians by american forces. moscow pushes for an equal role for iran at this month's international peace conference on syria as the russian foreign minister hosts meetings with his iranian and syrian counterparts. and as the n.s.a.'s mass surveillance antics draw unwelcome comparisons with this sea of east germany r.t. talks to veterans of a feared and revered cold war spy service to find out just how much the two have in common. you're watching r t international live from our moscow studios where it's just after one pm i'm lindsey france thanks for joining me relations between the u.s. and afghanistan are in jeopardy after the latest killings of civilians by american troops in the war zone the afghan president says seven children and a woman died in a u.s. airstrike on wednesday and nato claims the incident took place during a counter terror operation and admits that it least two civilians were killed by mistake it's the latest in a series of collateral damage scandals that have shaken u.s. afghan relations kabul has repeatedly demanded an end to night r

york city. i'm ricialg. iran disinvited from peace talks otalkson syria. >>> asked the governor of west virginia if he is drinking the water in his state, he says occasionally so. is there still a health concern there? >>> the syrian peace is talks saved after iran is disinvited. after u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon invited iran to the geneva 2 peace talks, just a couple of hours ago, the u.n. withdrew that invite to iran. >> the secretary-general is deeply disappointed by iranian public statements today that are not at all consistent with that stated commitment. he continues to urge iran to join the global consensus, behind the geneva communique. given that it has chose be to remain outside of that basic understanding he has decided that the one-day montreux gathering will proceed without iran's participation. john terrett is at the u.n. why the about-face? >> it was a rather quick about face but not for the reasons you might believe. the syrian peace talks in geneva, the syrians are coming, he's very pleased. britney is unhappy, gulf states are unhappy because iran will not o

moments, washington post columnist david ignatius wright onlist robert continuing talks over cap iran's nuclear program. then, more about the fighting in iraq. after that, we will re-air new jersey governor chris christie's news conference. -- forum onim continuing talks over iran's nuclear program. the u.s. institute of peace and the woodrow wilson center for an hour and a half. >> good morning. i am the president of the united states institute of peace. i want to welcome you to what promises to be a good event. i am often asked what the institute does. simplified version of what we do is we stop fights. we do it working with governmental and nongovernmental organizations. successful most of the time but when we are, it is a big deal. we cost less than fielding one pollution -- one platoon in afghanistan. my partner in crime here today is jane harman. she directs the wilson center. thewilson center is one of governmental/nongovernmental organizations that we do partner with. relationship,long a very fruitful relationship. jane, if you would like to -- >> thank you, jim. there are no fi

for the latest. news the u.n. will have to withdraw an invitation for iran to take part in peace talks on syria all the country's main opposition group says it will drop out of the negotiations. syria's president says the upcoming conference must focus on tackling terrorism above all else look at how mercenaries from europe contribute to the spread of jihadist violence. from our studio center here in moscow which just turned eleven pm this is r.t. international. now these are not images from a disaster zone these are actual scenes from the ukrainian capital the pictures show protesters running amok angry over plans for laws they say are aimed at punishing them for holding rallies the response has been fierce mix of molotov cocktails clubs and bombs and reports of pepper spray all thrown at the police trying to stave off a revolution when alexian is in kiev for the international. like a battlefield doesn't it after this extreme violence just. all of the protesters prepared to go in all of this. well the word unprecedented fits very well to the situation of kiev right now it is unp

have decided to issue an invitation for iran to participate. >> syrian peace talks on the verge of collapse after leaders asked iran to attend. >>> intervening. central african republic. >>> and a nuclear deal comes to iran after the halt of production of higher grade of uranium. >> we have the latest from europe. the stand off in ukraine, tenses high after clashes in kiev. >> but first just two days after syrian peace talks are due to take place in switzerland the whole process appears to be on the edge of collapse. an invitation for the united und nations to attend. it appears that the u.s. is trying to apply conditions. we have reports from tehran. >> ban ki-moon has finally invited iran to the party. a year and a half after the first syrian meeting in geneva. >> as convener as host of the conference i have decided to issue an invitation for iran to participate. >> reporter: russia' >> australia, indonesia, and many others. if there is no iran in this list then i think the peace talks will resemble a hypocrisy. >> reporter: but will iran attend? only if there are no pre-conditio

weeks, cnn has record three things that should alarm every american. first, iran's president tweeted the world's powers surrendered to iran's will. second, iran's foreign minister declared his country isn't dismantling any of its centrifuges. and then you have iran's president today explaining to cnn's fareed zakaria what the chants of "death to america" really mean. >> what they mean to say relates to the aggressive policies of the u.s. and intervention and meddling boy the u.s. we don't want those to continue. >> well, i would just suggest that you that if an american leader was wandering around chanting death to iran, it would be hard to explain we meant that it symbolic. and they have had a long tradition now of over 30 years of behaving as though they mean it. >> you're right, newt, they have a long tradition of saying things exactly like that. but what matters here is that for the first time in decades we have an agreement in place that has halted iran's nuclear weapons program. it's a temporary agreement that dpi gives us space to negotiate a broader deal. this is real progress th

with michaeltion singh about the next that's in iran's nuclear deal with the international community. ♪ ♪ good morning, the president will be spending this week in washington to commemorate the holiday with a community service project. on thursday he will meet with a number of the nation's mayors in town this week. that meeting will take place at the white house. congress is in recess for the mlk holiday. at theo show will be washington convention center on saturday. ofcome to the sunday edition "washington journal." we continue our series on america's first ladies. the next focus will be barbara bush. next 45tion for the minutes is the issue of presidency and family dynasty. is it time for some new faces? the area code is 202. you can also join in on twitter or facebook or send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org . from "usa today" -- in the interview, the former first lady and wife fo the 41st president opens up why shey doesn't want her son jeb to run for the white house. jeb bush is a two-term florida governor. decide this year whether he will run in 2016. this tweet

otherwisein iran's undisturbed nuclear trajectory. want to get to the final steps, it is suggested that the joint that whatever the final deal is agreed upon in the next six months to one year, that final deal will have an expiration clause. at the conclusion expiration of that clause, iran will be treated as any other member. in essence, that means that if the letter of the agreement is followed through, that iran after a keyword of time and that period is being negotiated, they tol have the right indigenously enriched uranium and do so on an industrial scale. of the interimt agreement, which i think is characteristic of most arms control agreements to be fair, is that there is no provision for enforcement after the final agreement is signed. it is suggested by the agreement that all sanctions are to be lifted. i think the language it uses is comprehensively lifting of sanctions. if most of the agreement is it will be difficult to reconstitute the sanctions regime which has taken 10 years to build across two administrations. no arms control agreement has provisions for enforcement afte

do you think the iran relationship with this country has had on this country in the last 10 years? >> guest: oh, i think it's had not only an immediate impact of the trauma of the hostage ordeal -- the impact of the confrontation between the us and iran in the persian gulf, the shooting down of the iranian aircraft i think it's had a much broader impact, and that is it, along with vietnam, proved that the united states was not invincible; was, indeed, very vulnerable, and that third world powers could not only stand up to us and defy us, but occasionally could even defeat us. and so i think it's had an impact on our national psyche and on our policymaking apparatus. c-span: did they laugh at us behind the scenes over there? >> guest: no. i think they've always been a little bit frightened of us. they've always given us credit for having more power and more planning, more conspiracies than we deserve. i think that they were proud and pleased that they were able to stand up to us, but i don't think they were laughing at us. c-span: why did you write this book? >> guest: i wrote it b

>> welcome to the news our in doha with our top stairs. back on the global scene, iran's president reaches out to the international community in a new spirit of cooperation. >> on the streets, the deteriorating situation as a new interim leader is sworn in in the central african republic. >> all the news from europe, including ukraine's president calls for an emergency session of parliament following heavy clashes between police and protestors. >> spain prepares to end its eeliance and bailout loans. is the country ready for recovery? now it's seen as the world's largest business forum, but politics has taken the center stage in davos at the world economic forum. iran's president rouhani vowed to improve his countries relationship with the world. trade sanctions have been partially lifted for six months, all part of a deal restricting its nuclear program. here we have israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, saying iran's change of tone is not fooling anyone in the middle east. we report now from davos. >> it's described by some as the most important speech that the world econom

terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands of being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al-qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places there ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and its exporting its jihadi oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of any good ryan but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the u.s. is supporting people that are against his own national interest brian first and we'll go to a mark go ahead ron. you know mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said shah you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the us premise that's foreign policy based on being connected to joint with the with the shah at that time that was two years before the government was overthrown by a popular people's rev

bamboozle the united states in believing that iran is committed to reform or that the supreme leader is allowing rouhani an opportunity to negotiate a deal. but we do not know if it is a deal we can live with or that the international community can live with. there's three generations of nuclear proliferation in iran. the first one was basically a glorified national science project. iran 10 years ago had 164 centrifuges, which is basically uraniuminery that spins at supersonic speeds to reduce weapons grade fuel. 19,000iran has centrifuges. it has a multibillion-dollar atomic infrastructure. it has given iran breakout capability, which means that iran can produce now weapons grade material before we can detect it and act against it which is in fundamental conflict with the objective of the united states. that is iran will not get nuclear weapons, not the containment of a nuclear weapon once they get it. preventionctive of may be lost. and in addition to 19,000 centrifuges, iran also constructed the first heavywater reactor for newtonian enrichment, another bomb -- four plutoni

and china and the other israel and iran and let's ask ourselves imagine a situation where the united states wasn't involved united states hadn't made alliance commitments to either of those two countries would the risk of a greater or lesser in in those situations and i would argue that in certainly in the case of the tensions between japan and china which we've seen lately the east china sea that it's precisely because of america's commitment to japan that the japanese have have been restrained in fact i would argue that japan's post-war pacifism has been as a result of course of its ability to rely upon the united states for its security and the united states is a moderating influence in the relationship between china and japan and similarly if we turn to the tension longstanding tension but particularly over iran's nuclear program between israel and iran i mean it's quite apparent that israel may well have taken military action against iran's nuclear program were it not for the restraining influence of the united states so i think john is right that in some cases small coun

thinks it is time to lift sanctions on iran. the ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the globe. going home with a golden globe. the stars came out to shine and we will have all the highlights. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. new restrictions on iran's nuclear program will be put into place. this comes after striking a that mightdeal actually be implemented. it is seen as an encouraging sign and a comprehensive deal could be reached. president obama warned that there are still many steps ahead. will be difficult and challenging but this is how diplomacy should work. if iran is willing to walk , and ifthe opportunity they fail, we are in a position to reverse any interim agreement. putting in place additional pressure to make sure iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. exclusive interview with cnbc, dubai's roller has made his most outspoken remarks yet. >> do you believe the time is right to lift sanctions against iran? >> i think so. really, it is our neighbor. if they left sanctions, everybody will benefit. enough, tha

world powers have agreed on a date to begin implementing an interim deal to curb iran's nuclear program. that set to start on january 20. >> jon: a nuclear deal with iran. peace in our time! [cheers and applause] think about it. [cheers and applause] on the downside it's about what it's going to do to season four of "homeland" but still that show could end up completely untethered from reality. [laughter] that is story one. our second top story. >> los angeles county sheriff's deputies in full force today at the home of pop superstar justin bieber searching for evidence involving the egging of his neighbor's home. [ laughter ] [cheers and applause] >> jon: the only thing to say there is dun-dun-dun. the stories have nothing in common, don't they? two warring nations, two warring nations turning swords in ploughshares where a small incredibly smooth chested boy man terrorizes his neighbors with gross riz. coincidence? no i read the bible. god that chest is smooth. i just want to wrap him around your self a kimono. [ laughter ] listen to you breathe. [ laughter ] anyway, thank you

diplomatic front it's not better as iran told it's not welcome at peace talks. >> you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up anti-government protesters and police battle on the streets of ukraine's capital for the second night in a row. >> africa has its first female head of state. can she stop the violence? >> and a new study that says half of the world's wealth is in the hands of just 85 people. >> after nearly three years of war, the syrian government and the opposition will hold face-to-face talks. opponents of bashar al-assad threatened a boycott of the summit in switzerland, because the u.s. invited its ally to attend. that invitation has been withdrawn. >> iran went back on its word, and that is why the united nations says it's not welcome. >> the secretary-general is disappointed by iranian public statements that are not at all consistent with the stated commitment. he urges iran to join the global consensus behind the geneva communique. >> 24 hours earlier secretly bank ki bank ki mooninvited russian to attend. >> when it comes to iran, it must be clear to eve

iran will go into effect at deal is the best chance yet perhaps the last chance to boyd yet another war in the middle east so why are fifty nine senators democrats and republicans trying to sabotage one that incites bigger picture discussion later on in the show. you need to know that this this morning in a highly anticipated speech president obama announced a package of reforms for the n.s.a. and america's increasingly invasive surveillance state his reforms include new privacy protections on non-u.s. citizens whose data is collected by the n.s.a. and end to eavesdropping on foreign leaders as as well. creation of a public advocate who represent the people and privacy interests before the foreign intelligence surveillance or face according to the centerpiece of president obama's announcement however involved changes to the n.s.a.'s bulk telephone data collection program. i believe critics are right to point out that without proper safeguards this type of program could be used to yield more information about our private ones and open the door to more intrusive bulk collection progra

york. >> i believe strongly that iran needs to be a part of the solution to the syrian crisis. >> less than two hours after the u.n. unvit iran to peace talks syria's main opposition group threatens to back out. >> united states pushes for peace in ukraine, bloody battles. tens of thousands defying a government ban on protests >> growing security concerns at the sochi winter olympics. video threats appear on the internet. >> and trying to convince people in west virginia the water is safe, but there are lingering concerns. >> a major development tonight in the upcoming syria talks in switzerland. united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon announced the edition of iran to join the conference. it sparked reactions from the syrian opposition who said they will not attend unless iran's invitation is retracted. they say that it is essential for iran to bring an end to the violence. >> i believe strongly that iran needs to be a part of the solution to the syrian crisis. >> iran is an important ally to syrian president bashar al-assad. now, a group called the islamic front, an alli

coalition is threatening to pull out after iran was invited to attend in switzerland but bashir say it must focus on ridding the country of what he calls terrorists. >> translator: the most basic element which we continuously refer to is that the conference should have clear results to fight terrorism in syria and pressure on countries and sending terrorists money and weapon and saudi arabia and turkey and countries that have political cover for terrorist organizations. any solution not reached without fighting terrorism has no value. it's possible for them to contribute to the battle between syria and there has to be a syrian process in syria and georgia th georgia -- geneva can support it. >> reporter: this is hanging over the geneva peace talks. >> the last few days had diplomacy over syria. this was moscow last thursday, a meeting of friends and allies. russia hosting the iranian and syrian foreign ministers. iran making clear that his country is ready and willing to go to switzerland if invited. and on sunday evening after a round of last-minute telephone calls, the u.n. secret

." the u.n. secretary general says iran is no longer invited to participate. in syria peace talks after a day of diplomatic drama our team witnesses scenes of devastation and south sudan, but even a hospital wasn't spared from this brutal assault. spacecraft is, a brought out of hibernation. now let the hunt begin. >> if all goes well, it will close in for the first ever attempt to touchdown on one of these bizarre objects. >> welcome to our viewers in public television in america and around the globe. tonight, the united nations has withdrawn an invitation to iran to attend the syria peace talks. it comes less than 24 hours after the offer was extended. it follows a statement by tehran that it was unwilling to accept a deal involving a political transition in syria. >> 100 thousand dead. half the population needing humanitarian aid. the regime and opposition accepted the un's plea for talks. then it all nearly unraveled. the u.n. invited iran, and the opposition threatened to boycott. showirst, iran needs to good faith. i believe in the political process. i believe in peace. >> t

. robin has called the sanctions bill a war bill. david has some advice on integrating iran into a regional structure. how would you like to conclude, what final thoughts about the way forward? robin, why don't you -- >> let david. >> you have to start. >> what is next? i do think a deal is possible. i think that they will compromise more than we think they will to get it. they're really ready to move on. for a lot of reasons, for things that we don't recognize. the environmental problems are horrific. as david knows, the pollution, you wonder that half the population doesn't have lung disease. three of the four most polluted cities in the world are in iran. they are running out of water. we have a great piece about these environmental challenges. some of the rivers have gone totally dry. this is a reality. again, we keep thinking about crippling sanctions. there are a lot of much more basic questions they are really interested in. they want to move on. i'm really worried that 34 years of tension and making them the enemy -- there is a postcard i remember from the time of the hosta

could be launched at russia and china because they're led by infidels, iran's way of thinking, just like the u.s. and israel are to their way of thinking. and so january 7, an article in "the blaze," sharona schwartz says, an iranian official says his country needs a nuclear bomb in order to, quote, put israel in its place, unquote. quote, we don't aspire to obtain a nuclear bomb but it is necessary so we can put israel in its place, unquote. of course, there are plenty of quotes from their leaders that the proper place for israel is wiped off the map. after arriving in new york, the article points out, rouhani, the new president, was contacted by an unspecified white house official. and this is from the parliament member in iran, muhammed nabavian. quote, i assembled the delegation accompanying me and we decided not to meet with obama. on tuesday afternoon after the press conference, they said to me, why did you humiliate obama in america? and i said, there was no humiliation. here i recall the words of khomeini is one must humiliate the infidel leaders, recalling his description o

before they begin. united nations has now invited iran to the conference set for geneva in switzerland. opposition groups say that is a none starter and they're threatening to pull out. secretary general ban ki-moon he addressing the situation. >> i will have more to say about this situation in a day. for a moment let my appear again for all involved to keep the needs of the syrian people foremost in mind. >> meanwhile it will day one in the newell deal o nuclear deal t the deal overshadowed over the late breaking developments regarding syria. >> reporter: ban ki-moon has finally invited iran to the party. >> that iran would play a positive and constructive role. therefore, as convener and host of the process i have invited iran to participate. >> reporter: a year and a half after the first syrian meeting in geneva, a country in which many analyses say could help bring the crisis to an end. >> the best has realized that without taking iran on board you cannot seriously talk of resolving regions problems. >> reporter: but the question remains will iran attend? iran has said all along it

book tv. >> now, a florham -- forum on the iran program. david ignatius just returned from the middle east. >> we are very pleased to have two people who have written books about iran. there is going to be covers of two books that are represented by authors write here. they have also just returned from iran. what we thought would be very useful and interesting for you and for us is to get a picture of what is going on inside. for reasons that we all know, this is a time to try to understand what is going on. maybe there are changes there. that is what i hope we will get from this discussion. -- make aoing to say couple of observations about her trip. david is going to make some observations about his trip. we will have a conversation. i look forward to your questions. this will be an interactive, easy discussion. >> thanks, bill, very much. , four things that i think are particularly interesting. one is the fact that david and i were allowed to go at all. i went to see a grand ayatollah, one of only 12 in the world and i said, what has changed? he said, the fact that you are here. thi

collection program is illegal and should be shut down. a critical speech from iran today, the president say it is country negotiating a long term is rekindle a friendship with the united states. deadly violence between protestors and the government in ukraine, and now the u.s. considering sanctions against the consider. and it is the brazen robbery that inspired the movie good fellas, nearly $6 million in cash and jewels stolen from jfk airport in 1978, today a big arrest. ♪ . >> a new report calls the national security agencies massive data collection program illegal. the independent privacy and civil liberties board criticized president obama's decision not the end the program. we simply disagree with the board's analysis, consistent with the ice strict court for the southern district of new york, and southern district of california as well as the finding of 15 judges of the foreign intelligence surveillance court on 36 separate occasions over the past seven years the administration believes that the program is lawful. as the president has said, however, he believes we can

israeli-palestinian conflict and broker a non-proliferation deal with iran has been pushing hard to the end of the fighting in syria. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is not taking no for an answer on his trip to europe and the middle east this week. an in fact, he told the syrian national coalition leaders if they don't attend peace talks in switzerland on january 22nd the u.s. will pull its support. >> i'm counting on both parties as well as the 30 or so plus other nations to come together in an effort to try to end this violence. >> reporter: syrian president bashar al-assad's government has said it will attend the geneva 2 summit, but opposition factions are still fighting over whether they should engage. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the opposition coalition is made up of various armed militias united in fighting against the state, including the free syrian arm, andy hadists and islamists from neighboring countries and kurdish groups. targeting the isil, over 700 people have died in the last ten days. >> if disorder is allowed to continue to grow, it is extremists who will be

stay away from the iran negotiations and syria because they're divisive d problematic. what you focus on is domestic policy in the beginning of his speech and you start off and say the american economy is recovering. our growth is one of the fastest in the western world. however, we've got problems and one of the main problems is income and wealth and equality and here's how we're going to deal with it. we're going extend unemployment benefits. we're going to deal with the hispanics in this country who are undocumented. bring them out of the shadows. we want to raise the minimum wage and i want to work with you in congress on these things, but i have to tell you that if you don't work with me, i have a pen, and i have a phone and i'm going to do my best by executive order to keep this economy moving and keep it going forward but i want your support. >> that will win a lot of support. >> clarence is going crazy over there. >> eleanor. >> pat's an old presidential speech writer and that was actually right on the mark. >> so was i. >> well. >> believe me, that's not the way to win friend

of accommodation only in iran but across the entire region i'm going to lebanon back rain to afghanistan and yemen these two sides have their hands in the local conflict particularly in syria and until the iranians in the saudis can come to some accommodation this war is not going to and unless the two parties and finally realize that neither side is going to win and we're long way from that and i don't think that taking sides and there are sides being drawn up russia of course is also on the side of the. syrian government and the counties and other gulf powers are helping the rebels so the this is a proxy war this is an international war being fought out in syria very awful war and i don't see any any solution to this until those outside powers come together and by the way that first day of the conference is truly symbolic there was a big thing about whether iran was invited and i guess they were and then they were disinvited it was only a one day speech symbolic when they got in the room nothing happened nothing's really happened it dantley it let's get we just heard about