it is not only about syria. it is not about having a huge interest in syria. they can have it anywhere else. they want to be a great power that has their own say in the future of this world. charlie: what do they want in syria? president assad: a political solution. charlie: what is your obligation to both of them? what do you them? president assad: they did not ask us for anything. nothing at all. they don't do that for syria, they do it for the region and for the world. civility is very in -- important to them. if you have conflict here, it will burn someone there. terrorism has no boundaries. it sees no borders. it is much more difficult to take any procedure -- when you have terrorism anywhere, it could reach russia. it could reach anywhere. russia, iran, many other entry support syria and not because they support the president or the government, but because they want to help themselves. charlie: let me present an alternative argument that the united states may very well believe. that they support you because of a long standing relationship. they want acce

and ideas of how to get to syria. i applaud the parents and relatives who are trying to keep young men safe from this activity. but as this case demonstrates, it is difficult to do it on your own. i urge anyone who is concerned about their young son or brother to seek help in the community. reach out to a trusted friend, a teacher, a professional counselor, a religious leader. ultimately unless we stop it from happening the planning and seaming that takes place among those committed to joining isil and to participating in isil's violent ideology leads to fighting for terrorists in syria or to arrests here in minnesota. the information we now have about peer-to-peer recruiting and the lengths these conspirators would go in order to join isil has been made clear in recent months. one member of the conspiracy decided to change course. one friend in this group decided to leave and cooperate with the fbi. that cooperating witness agreed to record meetings of the coconspirators and some of the information gathered in these

in syria. in iraq in yemen, and the middle east. >> daesh or islamic state, they have committed unspeakable crimes against humanity. and the level of brutality is just unspeakable. i cannot describe it enough. my anger. they must stop. whatever grievances they may have all of these should be resolved through dialogue not through killing people in such a horrific brutal way. i strongly condemn again, they must give up their arms and discuss all of this through peaceful means. this is not what human being are -- to do. this is unacceptable. unacceptable yeah. >> mr. secretary general on yamuk first, who is talking to daesh so that you would have the safe passage that you have been calling for, the u.n. has been trying to do this? and who do you have in find when you say there is a massive assault being prepared that you are calling already a war crime? and on yemen there's movement by iran there are iranian warships in aden are you worried this is going to ignite larger conflict. what do you want

communities outside syria. another - and we forget about these - probably over 3.5 million kids are living in the communities in surrounding countries, that are having to try to take care of the syrian kids. that means they are suffering hardships also. and then we have over 2.5 million kids in iraq now. and these numbers are growing very rapidly. >> just across the board the biggest problem, at least numerically, is with the kids who have remained inside syria many of whom are displaced many of whom are facing war constantly... as you said, 5.6 million. >> yes. and very hard to reach. we have to struggle to reach them when they are in the government controlled areas. >> and the government has not been that helpful at times. >> not sometimes no, that's true. and so we work with the government to try to get them to be as helpful as they can. and of course it's not u.n.i.c.e.f. kids or young u.n.i.c.e.f. people in t-shirts going out and doing this but we work through partners to do this. local n.g.o.s, the red cr

but if you ask the syrian people who have fled from syria what do you want, they don't want to flee syria because of the war. they want to end that war. that is their aim. that's our aim. so i think if we have people -- if you give people a few years ago the best is to have them going back to their country. >> so the president suggesting, at least referring to the millions of people who have left the country. not mentioning those displaced within the country but suggest that go they actually want an end to the war and that looks pretty unlikely at this point doesn't it? >> reporter: it certainly looks very unlikely. the situation in syria is growing more tire by the day. as you mentioned a few moments scag in james' report. you have these allegationses from human rights watch and other bodies saying the syrian regime has possibly used chlorine gas and chemical attacks in the past few weeks and the fighting escalating in the idlib province and the refugees situations spiraling out of control. so many refugees trying to cross the mediterranean on boats that are cap sides and so few opportun

in syria and the kde pim iran. the kurds are factionalized and there are deep divisions but when they are under duress they come together to defend their collective national interest. by the end of the 20th century we started to see a little bit of a turn in fortune. the u.s. established a no-fly zone over iraqi kurdistan in the kurds were able to govern their own affairs and that experiments in grassroots democracy inspired kurds throughout the region to seek something similar, federal arrangement where power was decentralized. >> it is an extraordinary tale these dispersal against the four states in the struggle of the four states with their own challenges and parameters of regimes. you hinted at some turning points there in your last comments but how have kurdish movements and political organizations networked with each other? has the relationship also had some tensions? has it evolved? give us a sense of how in resistance to kurds have managed to find political expression or not in various points of history? >>

have called for immediate access to a camp in syria to deliver humanitarian aid. thousands of refugees have been trapped there since isil fighters stormed the camp on the outskirts of damascus. water, food and medication are all scarce. >>> suicide bombers from islamic state of iraq and the levant have targeted syrian opposition fighters in aleppo. a number of people were kill interested in the attacks. charles stratford reports. >> reporter: this is all that remains of the syrian headquarters in northern ep leapt poe province. a suicide bomber from the islamic state of iraq and the levant rammed his vehicle into the building and detonated the explosive device. dozens were reportedly killed in the attack. >> translator: god's willing, the northern countryside of aleppo will remain steadfast. we'll never allow isil to advance. >> reporter: the war in syria involves various groups all trying to remove president bashar al-assad. there are reports of occasional cooperation between some isil fighters and certain opposition groups isil wants control of all of syria, and

they operated the jihadi highway through turkey to syria. they provided weapons and financing and logistics. when jihadis were injured on the battlefield, they were transported by turkey's ministry of health and given health care in turkish hospitals without having to declare their name or cup of origin. or country of origin. so so let me elaborate a little bit on the ideology. when the deputy prime minister of turkey said that women shouldn't smile or laugh because it's un-islamic and they shouldn't draw attention to themselves, this is no different an ideology than baghdadi's ideology with the islamic state. the difference is that turkey doesn't chop off people's heads that they use other forms of coercion to advance their perceived strategic goals. finish -- so i really put isis and turkey in the same category. when we launched the multi-national coalition, turkey agreed to sign on, but they signed on in name only. there was no agreement no implementation of the agreement to allow an air force base in southern turkey to be used as a stagi

and ideas how to get to syria. i be a applaud the parents and relatives who are trying to keep young men safe from this activity but as this case demonstrates it is difficult to do it on your own. i urge anyone concerned about their young son or brother to seek help in the community. reach out to a trusted friend, a teacher, a professional counselor, a religious leader. ultimately unless we stop it from happening, the planning and screaming that takes place among those committed to joining isil and participating in isil's violent ideology, leads either to fighting for terrorists in syria, or to arrest here in minnesota. the information we now have peer-to-peer recruiting and the lengths these conspirators would go in order to join isil was made clearer in recent months. one member of the conspiracy decided to change course, one friend in this group decided to leave and to cooperate with the fbi. that cooperating witness agreed to record meetings of the corespond spurtores. some of the information gathered in these

. >>> syria's defense minister is visiting iran to discuss military cooperation. the two-day trip comes as the syrian military is losing territory to an alliance of rebel fighters. the rebels are taking ground in parts of idlib province. karla marlon reports. >> reporter: this activist video of what appears to be large numbers of syrian government forces on their way out of idlib province. it's the latest sign that the government is losing control of this part of syria. most rebel groups fighting here have joined together to make up what they are calling the army of conquest. they have taken control of the second largest military base in idlib province. nusra front fighters sent suicide bombers into the camps in trucks. >> translator: the last suicide attacker has just left and will deal them a heavy blow. he will be followed by command does and then fighters. >> reporter: as the fighters took control of the camp there were air strikes from government jets. the rebels have already taken much of the province including the main city of idlib. fighting continues for

the situation in syria is growing more dire by the day. as you mentioned a few moments ago and in james' report, you have the allegations from human rights watch and other u.n. bodies saying the syrian regime has possibly used chlorine gas and chemical attacks in the past several weeks. you have the fighting which is really escalated in idlib province. the refugees situation is really spiraling out of control. you have so many refugees that are trying to cross the mediterranean on boats that are capsizing and you have so many refugees with so few opportunities in countries like lebanon where we are where over a quarter of the population is now comprised of syrian refugees so it's only getting worse. and one of the counter points to what president assad said in that sound bite is the fact that when you speak to syrian refugees here in lebanon who were suffering so mightily these past few years they say that they are afraid to go back. evening if they get assurances from the regime, they are afraid to go back in to syria they don't believe t

according to the indictment muhammad travelled to syria, and he was trained. we are joined by our reporter with this story. this is remarkable. they caught this person and it's exactly what they feared all along, people are going to train, and instead of fighting over there they are going to take everything they know and come back here. >> that's what makes this case so significant. it's the first time a u.s. citizen has been charged with not just traveling there but specifically coming back to carry out attacks. take a look at what he was planning. back from syria, radicalized, and according to authorities, with intent to kill. this 23-year-old american is in custody this morning and the fbi said he was planning to do something big in the u.s. muhammad left his hometown of columbus ohio in april of last year according to an indictment on a one-way ticket to athens greece but muhammad never boarded his connecting flight after stopping in turkey and instead, authorities say, an accomplice picked him up and drove him to a border town where he crossed over into s

stormed the camp five miles from syria's capital damascus. other armed groups are also fighting and contributing to the chaos. stefanie dekker has the latest. >> the syrian national news agency aired these pictures. thoag shoag how theyshowing how they got to safety. >> in a matter of 30 minutes they could have knowledge killed all in this picture. all with the government they will cut our heads off. they have no mercy. >> reporter: for the first time video of i.s.i.l. has been posted online showing the inside of the palestinian refugee camp. they have been fighting palestinians and others here for the past six days. this camp has been besieged for more than two years because of the syrian government, people starving no running water no electricity. now i.s.i.l.'s presence and syrian regime bombardment in what used to be a densely densely pt densely populated camp are amaking situations worse. >> translator: we cannot pay for nig we are not on anyone's side. we want the whole camp to be safe. >> reporter: the palestine liberation organization

syria as well big parts of syria. yemen now big parts, as well. but then in east asia you have the rise of china. great event for the maybe the most significant event of the 2 1s century as we look back. great for the chinese people in terms of lifting many of them out of poverty. great for the global economy. but history teaches us that when you have rising powers and in an international system you have to manage it carefully. so those three challenges occurring simultaneously are the big strategic problems. >> rose: since russia, sunni extremism and china. >> and other factors that bring instability to the middle east and competition. but sunni extremism in terms of reordering. then if you look at just near and present dangers what do i worry about every night, it's terrorist attack on the united states or a cyberattack on the united states. so those are the clear and present dangers. but not necessarily the longer term strategic geo political. so that's why i was saying it depends kind of on your time frame which one will be more significant wh

in syria, these young people we are training and we send them back into syria, if they are attacked by assad, we're not going to protect them? >> sir -- >> are we going to protect them. >>ny my thought, my recommendation is we probably protect them no what's who is attacking them. we have to protect these forces once we put them on the ground. >> are we going to have a provision to protect them? >> we currently don't that that policy decision sir. >> so we are going to train them to go back into syria and if bashar assad barrel bombs them we are don't have a policy yet as to whether we protect them or not? >> currently, sir that decision has not been the taken. >> then why are we training them if we can't tell them whether or not we will protect them or not. >> i am very hopeful we will be able to tell them that. >> i am very hopeful too, but hope doesn't stop barrel bombing. could i ask you again, when it is that the saudis notified you that they were going to begin attacks in yemen? >>. >> sir, i had a discussion with saudi the day of the attacks, so it was not much before they actua

and syria for example, when this revolution started, there were certain families in syria who joined from the beginling and wanted to own this valor ideal. that are pro revolution there. is a social status. they found isis convenient to reverse the situation. and i this i that the other factors. with sun a political project. a lot of people don't agree with isis. you know. they agree with the political project. and they will drift towards isis because they find it to be a viable force to change a situation. and in these parts of the world. like i told you the long standing radicals. they believe next act you know. the ideology of isis and all of the details. this is the most dangerous and important category. young people as young as 13 and even younger, drifted towards isis because they find ideology invigorating and elect identifying. they listen to these clerics on the ground. and telling them all about what isis is. and how they could be apart of this type of project that will restore the glory of islam. and people who do not advise lamb i can training will drift to isis through t

and one can add with regard to syria. saudi arabia's long-standing relationship with syria before the recent troubles has been with a government headed by an offshoot of the shia face. so these are four examples of reaching out beyond ethnicity, beyond religion, beyond sectarian dynamics and divides to cooperate on interest and strategic commonalities and identicality. with regard to saleh, what is he into? i subscribe to what dave roches and some others have said. here you have the situation with an vid who feels that he was ditched or not supported when the arab spring came about and did not want to see yemen devolve into what happened in iraq when you got rid of a strong person but did not replace the strong person with another strong person. and the same thing in libya. that situation is in shambles. one has to ask with regard to syria what after bashar al assad? it is most of the 17 christian sects in syria happen to be beholden to the al assad family. this doesn't come out in the media, but it's on one of the questi

they were able to attract recruits in syria. syria came into it than ever went into iraq for the u.s. forces and the iraqi government. charlie: it includes isil. michael: the rate of flow was to do three times. of it is from 90 countries all over the world. fighters come from everywhere and they will join whatever group is there. they tend to be more of the extremist group. they were in an area where the regime didn't have a lot of control historically and they were able to build up their forces with a lot of these recruits. and then peel off other opposition groups to them and the combination has gotten them quite big. to have increased in size between syria and iraq from where they were. charlie: partly because social media. michael: social media is a way to attract a lot. charlie: did they have great health from former saddam hussein generals and colonels who never made their peace with what happened? michael: they did. the first thing they did when they went back to iraq was western iraq. that took some time. that took some

accused of training in syria. >>> isis making advances in iraq this morning. a new city on the brink of collapse. >>> al qaeda using yemen civil war to its advantage. making alarming advances in what was once a key u.s. ally. team coverage breaking down the terror threat here at home and around the world. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is 30 minutes past the hour. developing right now, a naturalized citizen back from terror training with plans to attack on u.s. soil. now in custody. charged with providing support to terrorists and lying to the fbi. evan perez is in washington with the latest. >> reporter: john and christine, mohamud is the threat the u.s. has warned us about for months. an american who traveled overseas to fight for the al qaeda group and coming home to plotting terror. the fbi says mohamud became a u.s. citizen last year. in 2014 in april, he flew to greece with plans to make his way to turkey and syria. he got training in guns and explosives and combat. he came back in june days after his brother

they control human beirut, lebanon, damascus, syria baghdad, iraq. these these are becoming iranian satellites increasing influence across the region and are close to a nuclear weapon a nuclear weapon and we are bending over backwards to cut a deal to the.where it is shameful as an american. i we will i we will be honest, to see our government kowtow to a terrorist regime. you know that you know that we live in a world turned upside down when our administration reportedly is talking about sanctioning israel it wants to lift sanctions on iran. we are in a world today where everything that is good is evil and everything that is evil is good. iran is driving for a nuclear weapon. upper apparently the west is going to accept. accept. why should every american care? my should've room watching at home care about a nuclear armed iran? again, it is over they're. why why should we worry. it is thousands of miles away. well, in addition to working on developing nuclear weapons they are developing intercontinental ballistic missiles icbms that could reach the e

syria as well big parts of syria. yemen as well, it parts of it as well. and then in east asia and you have the rise of china. may be the most significant event for the 20th century as we look back great for the , chinese people. lifting many of them out of poverty. great for the local economy. but history teaches us when you have rising powers in an international system you have to manage it carefully. so, those three challenges happening simultaneously are the big strategic problems. and other factors bring instability to the middle east and competition, but sunni extremism in terms of reorganizing the world. if you look at near and present dangers, it is a terrorist attack on the united states or a cyber attack on the united states. those are clear and present dangers. but not necessarily the longer term, geopolitical. so that's why i was saying it depends on your time frame. which one will be more significant? we have all three to deal with. their associated delivery systems and particularly states that may use them is another factor as well complicate

going to syria, getting training, then coming back as committed terrorists. prosecutors today accused a 23-year-old somali-born man from columbus, ohio. abdirahman sheik mohamud of buying a one-way ticket to athens greece last year getting to istanbul and making his way into syria. for two months they say they got training in weapons, explosives and hand-to-hand combat following his brother who had gone there in 2013 to join al qaeda in syria and was killed in a battle last year. court documents say when he returned to his family's house in columbus he talked to others saying he wanted to target the military, police or anyone in uniform and wanted, to quote, kill three or four american soldiers execution style. his arrest is a first since isis began recruiting. >> this is the first case of an american traveling, you know, overseas to syria, training with terrorist groups there, then returning home to be arrested and indicted. >> reporter: he was arrested on state charges in february and had been under surveillance for months. tracing americans who have been t

back from syria radicalized. and according to authorities with intent to kill. this man, a 23-year-old american, is in custody this morning. the fbi says he was hoping to do something big in the u.s. he left his hometown of columbus ohio in april of last year according to an indictment on a one-way ticket to athens greece. but he mefr boarded his connecting flight after stopping in istanbul turkey. instead, authorities say, an accomplice picked him up and drove him to a border town where he crossed over into syria. mohamud allegedly trained with terrorists in shooting weapons, breaking into houses using explosives and hand-to-hand combat. officials did not say which group he trained with. two months into the military-type camp a cleric told mohamud to "return to the united states and carry out an act of terrorism" according to the indictment. in june now back at ohio the 23-year-old allegedly told others that he wanted to kill american soldiers execution-style at a military base in texas. and his backup plan was to attack a prison, specifically wanting to target

pictures of the new chemical weapons attack in syria. >>> back to earth with a bang the latest mission fails to land on target >>> yemen's new vice president called on the warring factions to stop destroying the country. he asked renegade army units to support the government instead of houthi rebels. here is hashem ahelbarra with more. >> reporter: this is the man likely to be yemen's next president. he is currently vice president and prime minister. his task is to paul together a nation on the brink of civil war. he says he's willing to work with his houthi opponents and forces loyal to the former president ali abdullah saleh, but only if they disarm. >> translation: we must give a chance united behind the project. and to achieve that militia's loyal to the houthis. yemen's challenge is the deteriorating humanitarian situation. hundreds of yemenis have been killed since the start of the the city of aden is bearing the brunt of heavy fighting. >> translation: yemen faces a tough situation shortage in food, water and food. it repairs international intervention to prevent a catastrophe i

michael: ok, let's tackle syria. we've got about five minutes and then we're going to do something quite novel. we're going to handle syria in five minutes. we're going to do something quite novel for a national security council meeting. in about 15 minutes, we're going to take questions from the audience, so please get your questions ready. let's talk a little bit about syria. max, is it absolutely necessary that assad be deposed for us to have a successful mideast strategy? max: yes. michael: why? what is, what is it that today the isis have to get rid of assad? max: it's because of this, a come as is that i don't think defeating isis should there only is your only objective. we need to defeat iran as well. but also the point i made earlier there's a dynamic where the more that iranian backed shiite extremists are soon to be in control of these countries, more that sunnis will flock to groups like isis. there is no way to get the isis with that also defeating assad. what we are trying to do right now there's no way

which controls growing territory in syria. is the ugly truth here, the basher al assad is better than any other alternative? >> i don't think you make that false choice. i think the issue, really comes down to the administration once again, committing itself to the area. when the president committed to withdrawal from iraq he vowed to hold terrorists at bay. when he failed to do that the void was filled by isis that went into syria and retook territory in iraq. now we're seeing as you reported today, they're coordinated assassinations of christians and killings in libya. >> yes. >> this is all an area that needs united states leadership. when you look at 9/11 commission report. chapter 12 said if america looks at this as an issue of al qaeda and osama bin laden and walks away we're going to have this type of chaos we have today, the president needs to step up with a coordinated global response for this level of terrorism and certainly post planning for the regimes regimes. >> thank you for your time. i appreciate it. >>> next

yet, we continue to see the administration make the same mistakes it made in syria. and just like in syria today yemen is an utter chaos in large part due to iran's antagonism and meddling. but we must learn our lesson from syria and engage in the yemeni crisis head on with a comprehensive strategy before it spirals further out of control. there will be no political solution in yemen based on the gcc initiative or restarting the national dialogue conference that collapsed in early 2014 without addressing the underlying issues. they were reluctant participants in the national dialogue in yemen but it was clear that they had no interest in seeding power over to a centralized government. as a result, they withdrew from the national dialogue. it collapsed and they took control over sana and now other areas. so why would the administration think that the circumstances have changed that would allow for reconciliation to occur? it is naive and dangerous to believe that a political solution is achievable as long as the hoojys are unwilling to see their power and as long as i

we know their de facto capital is in syria. crush them. they are evil, and if they had the way they would take all of our heads off, and they would take our kids and grandkids with them. that's not hyperbole. when someone tells you they want to kill you, you should believe them and take them at their word. i believe isis when they say they want to kill me and cause chaos and havoc and bloodshed in my country. crush them now before it gets bigger because ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you right now, not only is isis recruited from around the world but they are establishing satellites throughout the middle east and north africa. pakistan and afghanistan, we see isis presents. in algeria libya, in egypt's sinai peninsula. in nigeria, in the former boko haram, a vicious, savage terrorist organization which has pledged allegiance to isis. this thing is growing, ladies and gentlemen. geographically its growing. the movement is gaining momentum. crush it now. crush it. and when you crush it, you will demoralize the global movement. you will st

. >> i cannot go back to syria. if i go back i will die. i don't want to die. damian: it is that fear driving people long. as long as it does the rollcall of the drowned will grow. katty: in italy officials say the boat killed hundreds and collided with a merchant vessel which was trying to rescue those on board. james rendell has the latest on what the u.n. is calling the deadliest migrant disaster and the mediterranean ever. james: the survivors walked in single file onto dry land. no one celebrated. this man, for him a handshake was enough. >> they are under shock. they passed through a huge trial. their eyes are empty. james: the survivor awaits a different fate. 27-year-old mohammed from tunisia was the ship's skipper. investigators believe he may have caused the wreck by colliding with a merchant ship which had come to the rescue. the skipper on the left and his fellow crewmember from syria have both been detained. the chief prosecutor is investigating the captain, the shipwreck, and homicide. he said why just

they allegedly planned to travel to syria to join isis. the u.s. attorney for minnesota says the suspects kept trying to get to syria even after their plans were disrupted. >> but what is remarkable about this case is that nothing stopped these defendants from pursuing their goal. they never stopped plotting another way to get to syria to join isil. they were not confused young men, they were not easily influenced. these are focused men who are intent on joining a terrorist means possible. >> cnn's ryan young is joining us live from minneapolis. what more can you tell us about the investigation and the arrests? >> well this investigation was very detailed. so far what we've been able to read someone on the inside of this group decided to give evidence to the fbi and actually start recording bits of conversation as these people started to meet together. this was a peer to peer network where everyone was working to get to syria to join the group and once that one individual decided to start giving evidence to the fbi, they had details you never could

and ideas for how to get to syria. i applaud the parents and relatives who are trying to keep young men safe from this activity. as this case demonstrates it is difficult to do it on your own. i urge anyone who is concerned about their young son or brother to seek help in the community. reach out to a trusted friend. a teacher. a professional counselor. a religious lead. ultimately unless we stop it from happening, the planning and scheming that takes place amongst those committed to joining isil and to participate in isil's violent ideology leads to fighting for terrorists in syria or to arrests here in minnesota. the information we now have about peer to peer recruiting and the lengths that these conspirators would go in order to join isil was made clearer in recent months. one member of the conspiracy decided to change course. one friend in this group decided to leave and to cooperate with the fbi. that cooperating witness agreed to record meetings of the co-consco- co-conspirators and some information gathered thro

>> in syria, northern syria the bombing campaign is very sparse, mr. hannity. we get one every other week or so. nato's focus is more or less in iraq itself. we don't see much of anything in syria. >> doesn't it sound a little bit odd to you that america is now serving as the air force ostensibly, doesn't it seem simultaneously fighting the iranian people in yemen, the iranian rebels there? >> yeah. it does quite surprise me considering iran's involvement against us for ten years in iraq. and now we're helping the same militias that supplied men that fought us. >> assad couldn't really spell out the amount of territory that isis has taken over in syria. you're on the ground. how much territory has isis taken? >> in syria they own most of northern syria and pushing down the western -- i should say the eastern desert. so they own almost a third of the country. but they are losing pieces of it in the north slowly. >> yeah. and how are things on a daily basis for you? i mean you signed up for this. you think that america should be involved in the battle there excep

going to syria and getting training and coming back as committed terrorists. prosecutors accused a 23-year-old somali born man of ohio of buying a one-way ticket to athens grease a year ago, getting off the plane and making his way into syria. for two months they say he got training in weapons, and hand to hand combat following his brother who had gone there in 2013 to join al qaeda in syria and was killed in a battle last year. court documents say when he returned in columbus he talked to others saying he wanted to target the military, police or anyone in uniform and wanted to quote, kill three or four american soldiers execution style. his arrest is a first since isis began recruiting. >> this is the first case of an american traveling overseas to syria, training with terrorist groups there and then returning home to be arrested and indicted. >> reporter: he was arrested on state charges in february and had been under surveillance for months. tracing americans who have been to syria is an urgent priority for the fabzbi. >> we probably have hundreds under som

it was syria's top u.n. diplomat who put the best spin on things. >> the second meeting is positive. we managed to find a common denominator and secure our common approach to a number of key issues. >> reporter: but the opposition troubled by its own internal disagreements was damning. >> he talked about terrorism and what can you do with terrorism and et cetera. this was very disappointing. diswrr the possibilities >> reporter: the possibilities of more negotiations in moscow or geneva was disappointing. ends of january, middle east is currently going through tush lents changes changesturbulent changes. the detenente in northern syria and iraq means syria's unyielding president is no longer the west answer milk enemy number 1. it is all playing very well for bashar al-assad and very badly for syria's opposition. >> iran could help syrian forces who are loyal to bashar al-assad government to fight off this islamic mill tans. militants. one thing is sure that bashar al-assad is quite stable and he is actually

in the valley with the syrian refugees on this syria national day, thank you. now the u.n. security council members have been moved to tears by graphic images of suspected chlorine gas attacks in syria and accounts from syria doctors that treated many of the victims, a lot of those were children the u.n. says it will try to identify and prosecute the attackers. and a warning this report by the diplomatic editor james base contains disturbing images. >> reporter: this shocking video filmed in the aftermath of a chemical attack this syria last year. the pictures of doctors trying to revive young children was shown to security council ambassadors, they were shocked, many were moved to tears. >> the video in particular of the attempts to resuscitate the children, i mean if there was a dry eye in the room i didn't see it. it was -- it's just devastating to see the facts of what this regime is doing. so people were visibly moved. >> some of the worst stuff i ever had to watch i'd have to say. there were moments when all i wanted to do was look away and i realized tha

more than 4 million people who fled syria over the past four years and we go to james live at the u.n. with us and james good afternoon to you and we know this meeting comes on the heels of a new report on syria but what else do we really know at this point? >> how bad the situation is getting because these reports come out every single month and every single month the figures of those that are in need in humanitarian need go up they now have figures they think of 220,000 people who have been killed, over a million injured and 7.6 million people displaced, quite observe these meetings are behind closed doors and really trying to get the world to listen and having an open meeting and listen to the words of the u.n. humanitarian coordinator. >> the government arms and terrorists groups continue to kill maim rape, torture and take syria to new lows that seem unimaginable a few years ago. people have become numb to figures that should every day shock our collective conscious and infer urgent action. >> you heard her there say people have become numb and i think one of the problems the u.n

program, the united nations secretary-general describes the situation in the yarmouk refugee camp in syria, a circle of hell >>> i'll be looking into why kenyan-somalis in northeastern kenya feel alienated by the government. alienate >>> it was a week ago they celebrated in switzerland over the deal in iran's nuclear program but it's already evident the next level is going to be harder. the president of iran warned they would not sign anything in june also sanctions against his country were lifted at the same time. >>reporter: the president is a savvy political operator. he knows he must convince skeptics of the nuclear deal at home that iran isn't bowing to western pressure. so many say it's important to talk tough. that's exactly what he did when he addressed this nuclear technology ceremony in at the ran. >> we will not sign any agreement unless all economic sanctions are lifted at once on the very first day of the implementation of the agreement. >>reporter: iran wants a deal to go ahead but the conditions must satisfy this man. ayatollah, iran's supreme leader. he insists the deal is

the countries are decided on syria and remmen. iran supports the houthi rebels and bashar al-assad in syria, turkey neither. bernard smith reports on the public side of the meeting, focus on shared interest. >> reporter: all smiles as turkey's president calls on his iranian counterpart. recep tayyip erdogan accused iran of trying to dominate the region with involvement in yemen, syria and iraq. on this visit he chose to focus on strong economic ties between the two countries. agreements from signed and it was left to the iranian president to talk about yemen. >> translation: both parties are of the same view, that this ability, conflict should come to an end in this region. both think we should end the conflict in yemen, and there should be a ceasefire. the attacks from neighbouring countries should come to an end, and we should have the situation where we can provide humanitarian support. >> reporter: before flying to iran, recep tayyip erdogan met the interior minister. turkey suggested that it may offer support to saudi arabia

i think the same is true in syria. is there a way to frame a political outcome through negotiations with leaders from those countries -- very difficult relationships in some cases -- to include turkey, to include possibly iran, to include hezbollah. charlie: in order to stop the killing, you need to negotiate a political outcome and if you negotiate a political outcome, you need to include all these countries who have a reason to sit at the table. adm. mullen: and generate a strategic view of ok, this is how we will get at it and then deploy the diplomacy and, if necessary, deploy the military inside a strategy. charlie: deploy what military? adm. mullen: i think that becomes a question of how it is going. i think from a standpoint of let's say the 40,000 arab force, putting that together. certainly, i believe and i think many people believe they need to lead on this. there is support that we could provide. we have the best, the most capable force in the world right now. we have been through a lot. there are a lot of t

with syria's president bashar al-assad. russia is hosting talks with the syrian government and some opposition figures this week. the main opposition group is boycotting the meeting. rory challands has more from moscow. >> for the first two days of 4-day talks the opposition groups discussed things among themselves. the government's representative turned up on wednesday when he did, he was handed a document formulates by the pois and it includes discuss of humanitarian issues and fights against terrorism. it doesn't discuss the fate of bashar al-assad syria's leader. that is important. remember the syrian national coalition, the main opposition group in syria has been boycotting the talks, seeing the removal of bashar al-assad as a main precondition for any kind of negotiations. but the landscape shifted since the war began nearly five years ago. recently we have seen the rise of islamic state and this replaced bashar al-assad as the main bogey man in the region for the western government. we have detected a noticeable soft

security council is briefed about the humanitarian situation in syria every month. and every month things get worse. it was told that more than 220,000 people are dead. 7.6 million forced from their homes. this was the last briefing buyout going humanitarian chief valerie amos. and she used it to criticize the divisions within the council itself. >> the failure to stop the violence has undermined the credibility of this council and eroded confidence in the international community to take its responsibility seriously. >> reporter: she called for an arms embargo targeted sanks and a referral of the situation in syria to the international criminal court. invited to the meeting the u.n. refugees agency's special envoy the actress angelina jolie. >> i wish that some of the syrians i have met could be here today. >> reporter: officials hoped presence would force the vice us back in to the international limelight. she and all of the other briefers stress that ultimately the only solution in syria can be a political one. the man charged with finding that stefan seemed unhap

. >>> syria's president is speaking out today highlighting syrian national day. it is meant to be a day of unity, but there is no end to the civil war in cite. thousands living in lebanon say bashar al-assad's words mean nothing to them. mohammed reports. >> reporter: today we have spoken to all of the refugees here who say that they are not marking syrian national day in any way whatsoever. there is not any sense of any kind of pride in syrian national day. what we have encountered here are people who's lives have been devastated who have children here who are just trying to get the most basic fundamental medical care. if you look behind us there is a line there. those are mothers and their children. many children born since they have been here trying to get vaccinations so that they don't get sick. now you have a huge refugee community here in lebanon. in fact one quarter of this tiny country's population is comprised of syrian refugees because of the political situation here you can't have official encampment that's why you have makeshift camps like this. and

in syria and iraq. why? not because iran is suddenly some friend to the united states and the west, not because iran has reformed its ideology, not because the mullahs have changed their spots, because iran and isis want the same thing. they both want to dominate the region and lead the global jihad. it's that simple. yes, there's a shia/sunni divide. of course, shias and sunnis are killing each other across the middle east. but when it comes to killing christians and jews, shia and sunni terrorist groups get along just find. isis and iran right now are battling each other more regional supremacy. -- each other for regional supremacy. iran controls four arab capitals. iran and its proxies control sana'a in yemen beirut in lebanon, damascus in syria baghdad in iraq. these are becoming iranian satellites. they're ins creasing their influence -- increasing their influence across the region and they're very close to a nuclear weapon. and we're bending over backwards to cut a deal to the point where it's shameful