footed as they have over the course of this military buildup in syria with the aim of backing al assad. three reasons why these officials are upset, why the who, and the when. the why, the essential conflict between the u.s. and its allies and vladimir putin. putin wants to back assad. the president obviously sticking by his policy that assad has to go. there's no future for him. you cannot go to the status quo before the civil war which is now in its fifth year. as for the who, a question as to who was under those bombs dropped by 20 russian war planes. putin told the president obama that he wanted to fight against isil. but today secretary of defense ash carter said those bombs dropped where isil fighters are simply not known to be. as it happened, secretary of state john kerry was at the united nations and issued a stark warning. >> we have also made clear that we would have grave concerns should russia strike areas where isil and al quaeda affiliated targets are not operating. strikes of that kind would question russia's real intentions fighting isil or protecting the assad regime.

death, an old ally, russia, is showing renewed support for the country's leader, bashar al-assad. putin and obama hasn't seen much in common, but the eventually defeat of i.s.i.l, a future syria with assad still in charge? russia jumps in, it's the "inside story." ♪ ♪ >> welcome to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. russia is now openly sending military aid to the syrian government of bashar al-assad. it may be sending military personnel as well, how many and where is not yet clear. this represents the latest complication in an ever-more complex war. pitting assad's government against a multinational force and various militias and the islamic state of iraq and the levant, i.s.i.l. saudi arabia, gulf states, and the united states are lined up against both i.s.i.l. and assad. iran is fighting i.s.i.l. in iraq and supporting assad in syria. and now russia, a strong syrian ally during the cold war is back in the fight on the side of assad. we'll look at russia jumping into this fight with a report of al jazeera's jamie mcintire. >> ray, there last always been russian military presen

and ultimately stamp out isis. realism requires a managed transition, away from assad and to a new leader. >> rose: president obama's speech was followed later by the speech of president putin. >> it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed forces fighting terrorism face to face. we should find a way that no one about president assad forces truly fighting the islamic state and other terrorists organizations in syria. >> rose: this afternoon the two men met at the united nations to talk about their differences and their common purpose. >> the expansion military invention in syria left president obama little choice but to sit down with vladimir putin for the first time in more than two years. >> rose: as i mentioned the interview with president putin was for one hour 40 minutes, a remarkable amount of time for a conversation with the head of state. here is part one of the unedited conversation recorded on sunday afternoon at a building near his residents outside moscow. part two will air tomorrow night. our conversation with 60 60 mis wil

about realism requires a .ransition away from assad his speech was followed by president putin. we should find: one butrward, but no president assad are truly fighting isil. charlie: the two men met to talk about their differences and their common purpose. expanding military intervention left resident obama little choice but to sit down with vladimir putin for the first time in two years. charlie: the interview with president putin's was for one hour and 40 minutes. a remarkable amount of time for a conversation with the head of state. here is part one of the unedited conversation. part two will air tomorrow night. charlie: our conversation will be recorded and broadcast on sunday. the next a you will speak to the united nations in a much-anticipated address. the first time you've been there in a number of years. what will you say to the u.n., to america, to the world. president putin: i believe it is not wise to speak about everything i'm going to say but i will give you the general outline. i will recall the history of the united nations. the decision to create this organization

have an isis presence but are home to the free syrian army, allies to bashar al-assad. senator john mccain didn't hold back on the senate floor moment moments ago. >> it was one year ago when the president said our strategy is to degrade and destroy isis. a report yesterday, 28,000 european and some american had come into the fight on the side of isis. mosul and ramadi remain in the hands of isis and of course the continued advances of isis in syria are well known. in short, a year ago after the president made that statement. there is no strategy, there is no success. >> jennifer griffin is life from the pentagon. >> here is what we know. a senior u.s. military source described the russian demarche as an awkward meeting through a translat translator. a russian three star general came from the cell established by russia, iran and afghanistan last week came in and delivered the speech. the russian general said russian airstrikes would begin soon. according to the transcript of the verbal exchange the russian general requested u.s. war planes not fly in northern syria because they were

syria. then he was very clear. he said that the syrian president bashar al-assad was a tyrant. quite the competing view then from syria's ally, russia's perspective vladimir putin saying it would be an enormous mistake not to work with the syrian leader. so should be an interesting meeting between those two men. our north american editor john is in new york at the united nations and that's -- has this report. >> a the u.s. president's motorcade is an exercise in the projection of power but barack obama's syrian policy has been anything but so arriving at the u.n. today, a new drive to make progress, and it's needed. in a letter last week, a government attack and another reminder of the cost of four and a half years of civil war. millions fleeing, creating the worst refugee crisis since the second world war and so-called islamic state fighters making big territorial gains. today delegates arriving at the u.n. would hear president obama restate that while the syrian leader was a tyrant, it was no longer realistic to demand his immediate removal at the name of progress. a ut realism als

al qaeda on one side, the two terrorists, on the other side, assad, the russians and the iranians -- iranians. the great threat to the united states is the terrorists. the idea that we should send an army into syria. the turks haven't done a thing. tom: they're waiting. pat: look, they have an army that can walk in and kill i sills in three weeks and they've done nothing. tom: you've seen it with iran, the kid nappings. the tush iraq -- turkish construction. pat: the turks are fighting the kurds now. eleanor: it's their fight, not our fight. pat: exactly. jim: t.b.d. to be determined. issue two -- who does syria gamble? in foreign language] john: russian president vladimir putin is reinforcing assad. he's sent an array of military personnel and advanced equipment to syria, for skirt purposes, president putin says but the obama administration believes these deploifments will fuel the syrian civil war and are meant to ensure president assad stays in power and russia retains itzhak says to syrian ports on the medicine train sea. and commander in chief obama has asked greece to reache

like bashar al assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children because the alternative is surely worse. nowhere is our commitment to international order more tested than in syria. when a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation's internal affairs. it breeds human suffering on an order and magnitude that affects us all. like wise when a terrorist group beheads captive thousands, slaughters the innocent and enslaves women, that's not a single nation's national security problem, that is an assault on all our humanity. i said before and i will repeat, there is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like isil, the united states makes no apology for using our military as part of a broad co-lgs alition to go afte them. we do so with determination that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes. and we have demonstrated over more than a decade of pursuit of al qaeda, we will not be outlasted by extremists. but while military power is necessary, it is not sufficient to resolve the situati

which is u.n. talk for let's get rid of assad. then putin in his speech says quote, we think it is an enormous mistake to retuesday to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed force. we're fighting terrorism face to face. the russians and syrians want to double down on bashar al assad. the russian's iranians are going to get a chance to do it there way. >> let me ask you, given the present situation of the moment, which of those views would you consider to be more realistic in terms of combatting and defeating isis? >> neither one is going to work. assad is the best recruiter for isis and only controls a quarter of a territory. they will try that with the iranians. the american view is great in principle but won't happen in practice. and putin makes a really good point. he basically said if you get rid of these guys how do you know you're not going to have a collapse of authority like we had in libya and the last thing we want is for isis to waltz into damascus and establish a caliphate. start thinking local. with the kurds or this or that tribes. that's the only way to do i

president bashar al assad, a very close ally of president vladimir putin of russia and a man known to the united states for barrel-bombing his own citizens, something that president obama brought up to the u.n. general assembly days ago. russia even admitting these strikes were ordered by assad. i have elise labott and major general james spider marks cnn military analyst. great to have you both on. we're waiting in anticipation of what the sec def might say. what isn't being said specifically is who are what the russians are targeting. what are your sources telling you? >> well, they're telling me that this is not a target for strategic enforcement if you were toing going after isis. if you look where the strikes started in homs, this is not an area that isis is really on the ground. these are more areas for the free syrian army, even al nuthra, which to be fair is considered a terrorist group by the united states. again, these are groups against bashar al assad. this is not an isis campaign. this is to shore up the syrian military which has been very weakened over the last many months o

are at odds over how to stop it. mr. obama insists syria's leader, bashar al assad must go. and has the support of prime minister cameron. who sat down for an interview on "cbs this morning." >> mr. prime minister. welcome to "cbs mithis morning." >> good morning. good to be with you. >> can we talk about syria. you said bashar al assad is a war criminal and should be prosecuted? >> yes. he has done appalling things, massacred citizens, millions have fled. and so in my view, you know, he has brokn international law. he has to go. i know there are some people who are thinking, well, look, isil is even worse than assad, shouldn't we cut a deal with assad to team up and take on isil. sounds enticing. even if you thought it was the right thing to do which it isn't. it wouldn't work. because assad -- >> -- before you continue the attack? >> you need to do both. we need a syria free of isil and assad. the point i am making, assad is one of the recruiting sergeants for isil. because of what he has done to his people, that is one of the reasons people are flocking to isil to fight for isil.

assad is a war criminal and should be prosecuted? >> yes. he has done appalling things, massacred citizens, millions have fled. and so in my view, you know, he has broken international law. he has to go. i know there are some people who are thinking, well, look, isil is even worse than assad, shouldn't we cut a deal with assad to team up and take on isil. sounds enticing. even if you thought it was the right thing to do whi i the attack? >> you need to do both. we need a syria free of isil an. the point i am making, assad is one of the recruiting sergeants for isil. because of what he has done to his people, that is one of the reasons people are flocking to isil to fight for isil. so that method that some put forward wouldn't work. we need a syria free of both. >> do you believe president putin when he says that he is involved in syria because he wants to help take out isil? >> i think putin understands that islamist extremist terrorism is against russia's president just as america's interest or britain's interest. he knows that is a threat to him. he has been up to now willing to

spoke to president rouhani. they're clear that assad is going to stay for awhile and the united states and the rest of the west have to buy on to this. this is a difficult moment for the west who several years ago said assad has to go. putin is really using all his leverage and, frankly, throwing ukraine out the door. no one wants to talk about y ukraine anymore. he's diverted the attention to syria. >> it'll be on the agenda in the speeches, but a lot of cynical u.s. officials would argue what putin is trying to do in syria is trying to change the discussion away from ukraine. these bilateral meetings, where we know the real business takes place, that's not on the agenda. it's all, diplomats tell me, syria. it's the crisis now. if you listen to what president rouhani told you and what president putin said on cbs news the other night, it's clear even though there is lip service paid to phasing assad out, he's not going anywhere soon. take a listen to president putin. >>. >> translator: we support the legitimate government of syria and any actions to the contrary to destroy the l

russirus foreign minister says that the strike came at request of bashar al assad. >> and this after hundreds of people were running from can dews -- ckanduz, and a shortage of ground troops are here. more than 43 people have been killed and more than 300 others wounded. i want to bring in the experts to bring in the breaking stories, pentagon correspondent barbara starr, and start with syria and the russian strike, and what is the reaction of the russian officials, barbara? >> hello, ashleigh. a lot of consternation are from the pentagon, and our own orren li lieberman in israel is reporting that the israeli government was notify ed notified by the russians shortly before the air strikes, and the israelis were told by the russians that they were about to conduct bombing runs inside of syria, and of course, the israelis keep close watch over that portion of the eastern mediterranean and the israelis wants to know everything in the air for their own security. we are now told that it was eight russian warplanes that took off bombing a number of targets in western central syria. this is

russian foreign minister said the decision to launch airstrikes came after bashar al-assad asked moscow for help. >> in response to a letter from the president of syria, the president of russia requested the use of the armed forces of the russian federation in the syrian air republic. reporter: u.s. sources say that russia, the regime's longtime ally, is also targeting syrian rebels, who have been fighting to topple assad for four years. >> as you know, russian forces have launched airstrikes in area . this is now public knowledge. interestingly enough, they did not strike the islamic state group. i will let you come to your own conclusions. reporter: russia has always insisted bashar al-assad retain power. hisimir putin called on counterpart to come to the table with all parties in syria. laura: armen georgian told us why russia is intervening in syria now. armen: in terms of the overall timing, i think it is a very different environment from this time last year. the last u.n. general assembly, u.n. and -- ukraine and crimea were important issues. now they have receded a little

assad's ally, russia has sophisticated air war capabilities in syria, leaving nato's defense chief to wonder what they'll be used for at the same time. a u.s. official says russia's poised to strike in syria at the any time. the question is, against whom? i'll speak with the homeland security committee chairman, mike mccaul standing by. correspondents, analysts and guests have full coverage of all of the day's top stories. account united states and russia find common ground when it comes to fighting isis? let's begin with the senior white house correspondent, jim acosta. he's joining us from the white house with the lateest. >> that is the question. president obama is back at the white house, after a tense 48 hour of clashing with russian president vladimir putin over syria and isis. if there's one big takeaway in the president's trip to the u.n., his plan for isis got a lot more complicated. >> reporter: with a strategy for defeating isis coming unfire from russia, president obama conceded at u.n. his approach will take time. >> this is not an easy task. >> reporter: leading a sum

the assad regime. and in light of the continuing weakness of the assad regime, in terms of their ability to control territory inside that country, the russians felt that they need to ramp up their efforts. and the reason that i think the second datapoint that i would remind you of is that there's also a reason that both president putin and president obama have prioritized and agreed on the need for operational, tactical level conversations to de-conflict military operations inside of syria. you would need to have conversations to de-conflict military activities inside of syria if you didn't have plans for military operations inside of syria. so the point is that u.s. military officials have been in touch with their russian counterparts to set up those conversations, and i would expect that those conversations will take place in short order. >> reporter: so yes, president obama and president putin discussed the need for conversations to de-conflict, but during that hour and a half conversation they had at the united nations, did anything, did president obama get any kind of indica

military capabilities particularly in light of their longstanding efforts to prop up the assad regime. and in light of the continuing weakness of the assad regime in terms of the ability to control territory inside of that country, the russians felt that they needed to ramp up the efforts, and the reason that i think that the second data point that i would that i would remind you of is that the reason that president obama and president putin prioritized and age greed upon the need for operational tactical level conversations to deconflict military operations inside of syria, you would need to have conversations to deconflict military operations inside of syria if you didn't have plans for military operations inside of syria, and so the point is that u.s. military officials have been in touch with the russian counterparts to set up the conversations, and i would expect that the conversations will take place in short order. >> yes. president obama, and president putin discussed the the need for conversations to deconflict, but in the hour and a half conversation that they had at

syrian president bashar al-assad asked for help. russia has been building up military presence. the involvement is limited to air strikes. peter sharp has more from moscow. >> reporter: the decision to authorise use of russian jets, vladimir putin saying he was considering the strikes, 40 and 60 aircraft are being deployed to the bashar al-assad air base near latakia. and they'll be joined by two battalions of support troops, 1600 men, who will secure the region and the base from i.s.i.l. attack. vladimir putin's press secretary said basically that the targets would solely be i.s.i.l. fighters. and the attacks themselves will be coordinated by an intelligence committee that's been set up in baghdad, drawing on intelligence specialists in syria, iran, and, of course, in russia, and at the same time a large detachment, deployment from the black sea fleet is on its way to waters off syria to carry out a week of live fire tests in the area. the russians warned away civilian airplanes, and n.a.t.o. is concerned that, of course, this is more armed vessels coming into a highly militarized

the assad regime will retaliate against their family members still stuck in the war. >> 82-year-old woman is too afraid to be on camera. she wished she could be back in syria. >> i have my family and sisters there. i just have my children here. >> she prays that nothing will happen to them. is her 50-year-old son took the same precaution. he knows people who are fighting to topple the assad regime. >> so many people have left. the people who are fighting, are they done? >> the ones who are fighting for justice for their own honor, for family, for god, those kind of people will never stop fighting ever. >> mohammed's hometown lies in ruins. one sister was killed and the rest of the family salte scattered. >> and while the question asked over and over in private homes, on public streets, off camera or on, was why doesn't the u.s. or the united nations do more? mohammed said at least he can tell his children that they don't need to be scared any mo more. >> the ghost of fear that was following us in syria does not exhibit any more. thank god. >> i also heard over and over again is that

assad. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us thousand with t now with the very latest. barbara. >> reporter: hi, john and kate. the u.s. military are looking to see if the russians are conducting additional airstrikes. the ones they know about in homz. this simply is not an area where isis is located no matter what the russians say. this is an area where anti-assad, anti-regime militias have been fighting the assad government. this, by all indications, is a military strike to prop up the assad regime. but that may be the least of it right now. one u.s. official is saying to me a short time ago this is not how militaries in this day and age conduct relations. one general banging on the door of the u.s. embassy in baghdad and saying "don't fly your planes." right now what the russians have done is create an exquisite military problem for u.s. pilots. what has to happen now, officials say, there are going to have to be so-called rules of engagement. if u.s. pilots flying in syrian airspace, and they will continue to fly, if they encounter russian aircraft, what are the ru

going to lead. they have a profound disagreement about the role of assad in syria, whether as vladimir putin believes, he is really the one who is going to help us fight isis or the united states' position, he is the key part of the problem to lay the groundwork for important and very provocative discussions. >> great to see you chuck todd. there th alliance, syria, russia, iran, unexpected as far as the americans are concerned. kind of caught us by surprise on this. >> when you look at the president and you look at his foreign policy legacy, putin and syria hats has and it always seems as if putin always figures out how to get the last would when the president was ready to go in and build an international coalition, we were in st. petersburg, there was a meeting at the g 20 and and there was almost this dinner debate that took place and essentially putin got the president to back down on bombing syria smt now they're about to back down. and the timing of this, the president and senior administration officials say, look, you also have to psh put frfrmt -- can you get rid of is

countenance the forced removal of assad. so isn't british and american policy actually contributing to that stalemate, and the uncomfortable -- >> how is that contributing? >> because our position as expressed by the prime minister indeed this afternoon from the questions is to equate assad and isil and the removal of assad is the start point of the united kingdom's position. that the rather uncomfortable truth is that while iran and russia therefore are not prepared to contemplate the forced removal is that we bear a share of the responsibility for that stalemate, and therefore, the continuing blood should, the current migrant crisis, and the inability for the international coalition to actually put together a strategy to defeat isil in both syria and iraq. >> i think the responsibility for the bloodshed lies squarely with those who are perpetrating it, and we need to be clear about that. it's isil in the areas that they control, and it's the assad regime in the areas that they control and that they are bombing from the air indiscriminately. but you've put your finger on, of course

to an official. >> there are indications this is not about getting rid of isis but propping up assad. >> reporter: exactly. isis is not in the area of where the violence took place. we are seeing the children being dragged from the rebel and that is the area where the free syrian army is located. >> peter brooks is joining us, now. a form cia operative who speaks russian and few on missions during soviet times. so peter is particular with the russian mindset. what is your reaction to the news this morning? how do you see this? >> it is clear president obama didn't deter president putin at their meeting. this is opening up another unfortunate chapter in syria. this is making it more difficult and risky for our military types operating. we cannot outsource getting rid of isis to the russians. this is a huge problem. >> in the immediate, what is our next move? >> i think we have to push back against russia and let them know we are going to pursue our national interest which includes dealing with the islamic state and al-qaeda. what we really want to do is deconflict air operations but i

still clash over the future of syrian president bashar al-assad. migrantsord 522,000 have now come into europe this year alone, but after perilous journeys over land and sea, many of them are now suffering as the weather grows cold. also coming up for you, in bossess, volkswagen's new unveils the start of his plan to overhaul the company and restore trust in the brand after the emissions cheating scandal. and could there be life on mars? scientists say they have discovered flowing water on the red planet. they are finding that that boosts the odds of life. those are top stories. first, the u.s. has carried out an airstrike in northern afghanistan one day after the provincial capital of kunduz was captured by the telegram. it is the first time taliban insurgents have seized a major urban area in afghanistan in over 10 years. afghan special forces are also on the ground and moving in as part of the counterattack. for more on what is happening there, i am joined by catherine jamie in kabul. what is the latest you have been hearing about the counteroffensive? >> as you mentioned, the f

. obama insists syria's leader, bashar al assad must go. and has the support of prime minister cameron. who sat down for an interview on "cbs this morning." >> mr. prime minister. welcome to "cbs missthis morning." >> good morning. good to be with you. >> can we talk about syria. you said bashar al assad is a war criminal and should be prosecuted? >> yes. he has done appalling things, massacred citizens, millions have fled. and so in my view, you know, he has brokn international law. he has to go. i know there are some people who are thinking, well, look, isil is even worse than assad, shouldn't we cut a deal with assad to team up and take on isil. sounds enticing. even if you thought it was the right thing to do which it isn't. it wouldn't work. because assad -- >> -- before you continue the attack? >> you need to do both. we need a syria free of isil and assad. the point i am making, assad is one of the recruiting sergeants for isil. because of what he has done to his people, that is one of the reasons people are flocking to isil to fight for isil. so that method that some put forwar

syria's president bashar al-assad. >> let's remember how this started. bashar al-assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repress and killing and, in turn, created the environment for the current strife >>> john terrett joins us now. vladimir putin spoke later, and there was an intense back and forth between the two. >> literally the two titans essentially agreed to fight i.s.i.l., but disagreed on almost everything else about the entire day at the united nations. president obama had choice words for vladimir putin today, but the russian leader managed to get in his own jab. bashar al-assad, at the center of the clash, president obama said bashar al-assad must go. vladimir putin says there's no alternative to him. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin was not in the room when he heard president obama call him out over his annexation of crimea and involvement in eastern ukraine. but he did have a message for president barack obama when it comes to who should remain in power in syria. >> translation: we think it's an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the s

development of a tremendous military operations by the assad regime to the rise of extremist groups, but also to the tremendous deteriorating social economic situation in syria, which makes life unsustainable for people who would cross outside to find some ways to sustain themselves. however, when you talk to refugees in southern turkey, in jordan, on what is the primary reason why they move, they all have the same answers. it is the barrel bombings over markets, over schools, over medical facilities. another ngo has reported that the month of august saw the largest number of medical personnel killed by these shellings and barrel bombs. the response to the crisis in neighboring countries has been, i must say, remarkable. we've seen very few crises in the world where borders have remained open so long, where governments have accepted the refugees spread out amongst the population. most refugees are living in an urban setting mixing with the local population. services have been accessible to refugees. national services, medical and school have been to refugees. quite remarkably, in all the inte

partners want to see president assad go first before they will support. >> i'd like to recommend to them the following. they should send this message to the syrian people, it's only the syrian people who are entitled to decide who should govern their country and how. >> meanwhile, the president of france, francois hollande has been addressing the media at the u.n. he said the future of syria can't include bashar al assad. >> i am here in new york, together with my minister of foreign affairs. i will be meeting with all of the partners and stake holders on what is called the syrian conflict, a conflict that led to some 250,000 deaths and for which bashar al assad is the main person responsible. even though now and the for the past few months, isil has been responsible for terrible atropicaatrocities. >> a solution requires all be involved without excluding anyone. that being said, france considers that the future of syria cannot be with bashar al assad. >> there certainly be talks taking place. there are no negotiations at this stage and that's because i think it's very clear that di

meddling. in accordance with this logic we should support tyrants like bashar al assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children because the alternative is surely worse. nowhere is our commitment to international order more tested than in syria. when a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation's internal affairs. it breeds human suffering on an order and magnitude that affects us all. like wise when a terrorist group beheads captive thousands, slaughters the innocent and enslaves women, that's not a single nation's national security problem, that is an assault on all our humanity. i said before and i will repeat, there is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like isil, the united states makes no apology for using our military as part of a broad coalition to go after them. we do so with determination that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes. and we have demonstrated over more than a decade of pursuit of al qaeda, we will not be outlasted by extremists. but while military powe

trying to overthrow the regime of bashar al assad, some of which are supported by the u.s. although the jets have not flown any combat missions yet, the drones have been conducting surveillance flights to the east of the base, where opposition groups, but not isis, are located. scott, not since last year when isis swept across iraq have the facts on the ground changed so dramatically as in the past month. >> pelley: david martin at the peg. david, thank you. those new facts on the ground raise the stakes of today's meeting between presidents obama and putin. margaret brennan is at the u.n. where both men addressed the general assembly. >> reporter: russia's expanding military intervention in syria left president obama little choice but to sit down with vladimir putin for the first time in more than two years. the biggest disagreement on syria has been over the future of bashar al assad. today the president softened his stance,htelling the united nations assad no longer has to immediately leave power, yet he must still go. mr. obama offered to work with russia and iran, another unlik

fight to isil. his priority is to defend and bolster the assad regime, that is the conflict here diplomac diplomatly and politically, that they stay consistent that bashar al-assad has to go if there is going to be any resolution to the war in syria now if it's fifth year. the other question is who are they hitting? they talked about the targets that are going on here. the targets that russia is sending its warplanes out again. now earlier today we heard john kerry at the united nations saying on there in a conference on anti-terrorism, as it happens, chaired by russia and their foreign minister sergei lavrov. kerry made no bones about it saying this is an alarming development. here is more of what he had to say. >> we also made clear that we would have grave concerns should russia strike areas where isil and al qaeda affiliated targets are now operating, are not operating. strikes that have kind would question russia's real intentions fighting isil or protecting the assad regime. >> the other problem, deconfriction, insuring that u.s.-led warplanes, coalition warplanes do not co

anti-assad rebels. >> we are seeing the true intentions of vladimir putin, which is to maintain a strong position in syria, his foothold in the middle east, and his proper up of bashar al assad. >> coming up, we'll speak to the chairman of the senate armed services committee, john mccain, right here. >>> hurricane alert. joaquin gains strength in the atlantic and will head to the east coast with record rainfall already drenching the midatlantic. brace yourselves, it will be a big one. >> now the cone of uncertainty, 520 miles. but it's still a category 1 storm off the new jersey coast right now. will it make landfall as a hurricane? we have to wait and see. but no matter what happens, we've got a lot of rain to talk about. >>> and papal blessing. the kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to issue same sex marriage licenses meets the pope in d.c. kim davis says the pontiff gave her a message of support. >> he told me before he left, he said, stay strong. and that was a great encouragement. just knowing that the pope is on track, you know, with what we're doing and agreeing,

forces with the syrian regime led by bashar al-assad. president obama blamed their own brutality for feeding isis. >> tyrants like bashar al-assad who drops barrel bombs to mass children because the alternative is surely worse. >> reporter: mr. obama told leaders at the u.n. he is willing to work with russia and iran. but making that happen seems next to impossible since tehran and moscow support bashar al assad the u.s. blames for the rise if isis, a war that killed 250,000 people. u.s. officials said monday's meeting tested how far putin will go to protect assad. in an interview with charlie rose on "60 minutes" putin gave an elusive answer. >> are you prepared to put combat troops on the ground in syria if it's necessary to southeast isis? >> russia will not participate in any troop operations in the territory of syria or in any other states. well, at least we don't plan on it right now. >> both presidents putin and obama share a common fear, neither want isis to seize control of syria. >> that led to a shift in u.s. policy saying assad can stay in power short term, but ultimately

on the one hand and to support assad regime on the other. fighting isil without pursuing a parallel political transition only risks escalating the civil war in syria. and with it, the very extremism and instability that moscow claims to be concerned about and aspire to fighting. so that approach is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire. in contrast, our position is clear that a lasting defeat of isil and extremism in this syria can only be achieved in parallel with a political transition in syria and we will continue to insist on fur pursuing these two objectives. i would hope riussia would join us which they claim to share rather than a sequence which that cannot succeed. i also told him i was prepared to send a d.o.d. team to meet with counterparts to ensure that we avoid any in-edvertinvertent. there are goals for this meeting are the following. to facilitate the flow of information between coalition forces and russian elements that will help us maintain the safety of our personnel in the region. which is critical. to ensure that any additional russian actions do not interfe

had some tough words today about president bashar al-assad. >> let's remember how this started. assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing, and in turn, created the environment for the current strife. >> let's go to mike viqueira at the u.n. mike, president obama called out russia over its position on syria, and ukraine in front of the entire general assembly. what if anything do we know about what happened hah in sideline meeting with president putin. >> reporter: i have to tell you, as i stand here on 1st avenue on new york city's east side, the president's limousine just went by, an hour earlier than we expected it to go, because that meeting went an hour longer than expected. so we don't know exactly what happened, but we're anticipating perhaps a briefing from officials that were involved. it comes after a day of acrimony, and very awkward to say the least photo opportunity between president obama and vladimir putin. they met inside the u.n. all of 15 seconds a very stiff handshake and then walking out, it represents the first face-to-face meet

are now giving them. in a sense what we're seeing the russians are putting assad in a stronger negotiating situation clearly not allowing him fall. unless assad were to fall, i don't think we'll see a solution ultimately. >> if he were to fall that would create a vacuum. what would happen if he did fall? >> in the current circumstances yes, it would cause a vacuum. but the international communities that agreed we need an inclusive transitional government, even russia and iran agree to that. what we're seeing under the circus here is intensified diplomacy between the americans, russians and iranians and others to talk about what that might look like. this is long overdue. president obama has talked about the need for diplomacy, and really there has been far too little diplomacy over syria. >> what is happening now, as we were talking, russian president vladimir putin being introduced. >> i have the honor to welcome to the united nations he's excellency vladimir putin, president of russian federation and to invite him to address the assembly. >> your excellency, mr. president, yo

parliament gave putin approval to use military force in syria in support of president bashar al assad. msnbc's brian williams will have much more for us in just a few minutes on that ongoing breaking news. >>> another breaking news story we are following, this one the weather here at home. we just received a new advisory from the national hurricane center with the latest update on hurricane joaquin. joaquin was upgraded from a tropical storm just a few hours ago and people along the east coast are being told to prepare for the possibility of it making landfall along the mid-atlantic states. msnbc meteorologist bill karins joins us now with the latest on this new update and what we should be watching. bill. >> no huge surprises but the forecast has trended more towards the mid-atlantic and a stronger storm now up to 80-mile-per-hour winds. you can see the picture of the storm. starting to look more like a classic hurricane. the bright red colors is the high cloed cirrus clouds, they are startsing to expand to the north of it. that means the wind shear is weakening. this could easily do

aggression in ukraine and moscow support for bashar al assad in syria are on the agenda. obama will discuss these issues with mr. putin on the sidelines. putin is on a whistle stop trip, spending less than a day in new york to attended the u.n. general assembly. world leaders including president obama want to know russia's true intentions rewarding syria. putin says he wants a political solution yet sent troops and combat aircraft to a base in western syria. he is defending his presence in syria. >> as of today, it has taken the form of supplying weapons to the syrian government, training personnel and providing humanitarian assistance to the syrian people. in this case, we act based on a request from the syrian government to provide military and technical assistance, which we are delivering under entirely legal international contracts. >> al jazeera asked the european union's foreign policy chief if she knows what putin is planning through her regular contact with russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov. >> last time i talked to him about this, his fear was that on the complete collapse o

immediately fired by her employer. >>> defeating isil may need the help of president bashar al-assad. the u.s. and allies should involve assad in the fight of the islamic state. he insisted he does not support the syrian leader and his government but said reaching out to him might be a necessary step to achieving peace. >>> russia is demanding answers from bulgaria over a terrorist of banned flights. they refuse to allow russian jets to use its air space. officials asked bulgaria to block the fights amid reports moscow was stepping up its military aid to damascus. russia said that the planes that were turned away from carrying humanitarian supplies. >>> and russia is now responding to an u.s. warning on providing military assistance to the syrian government. the kremlin said it has been consistent with its policy towards syria and will provide equipment to the assad regime. let's go now to jamie mcintyre. he's at the pentagon tonight. jamie a lot of reports about russia getting involved in syria. >> well, the united states has been watching wearily, antonio, as russia has been in rec

assad, this is a potential nightmare scenario for our partners in the middle east and for us. at the same time, the united states effort to train and equip syrian rebels to fight isil is clearly and unfortunately failing. the goal was 3,000 fighters in the first year. instead, this program has trained and equipped only 54 fighters, some of whom were killed or captured by al qaeda as soon as they returned to syria. this program the administration promised would result in a viable indigenous ground force in veeria has yet to produce any significant effects on the battlefield. to be sure, the fixation with perfect vetting, both in the congress and the administration, is contributing to this failure. but far worse has been the administration's requirement that this new syrian force could only fight isil, not the assad regime, which has killed far more syrians than isil, and the president's refusal until just weeks ago to authorize the close air support and other military assistance to ensure our syrian partners would be successful. unfortunately, these contradictions were clear from the