, that maintains cohesion, but that is inclusive and the only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition, because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i'm making. it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. and i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him, if he's willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran a political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution, but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran to problem up assad and try to pacify 9 population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. and they will be there for a while, if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isis, but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said, was that he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, they are all ter

accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition. because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i'm making. it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. and i said to mr. putin that i'd be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners mr. assad and iran a political transition, we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. and they will be there for a while. if they don't take a different course. i also said it is true the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil. but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said was that he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they're all terrorists. and that's a recipe for disaster. and it's one that i reject. so where we are now

only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i'm making. it is judgment that the overall whelming majority of syrians make. and i said to mr. putin i'd be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad, and iran, political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution. but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the population, is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. and they will be there for a while. if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil. but what was very clear, and regardless of what mr. putin said, was he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they're all terrorists. and that's a recipe for disaster and one if reject. so, --

. putin that i'd be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran, a political transition. we can blame the rest of the world community to a brokered solution, but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran, to prop up assad and try to pacify the population, is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire, and it won't work. and they will be there for a while. if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil. what was very clear, and regardless of what mr. putin said, was that he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, they're all terrorists and that's a recipe for disaster and it's one that i reject. so, where we are now is that we are having technical conversations about decon flikz, so that we're not seeing u.s. and american fire fights in the air. but, beyond that, we're very clear in sticking to our belief and our policy th

that is inclusive, and the only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition. because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i'm making. it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. and i said to mr. putin that i'd be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran, a political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution, but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the population, is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire, and it won't work. and they will be there for a while if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil. but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said, was that he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, they're all territories, and that's a recipe

cohesion but is inclusive. the only way to in cop wish that -- to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition. this is not a judgment i am making, it is judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his ad and iran, aass political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution. , anlitary solution alone attempt by russia and iran to and pacify the population, is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and, it won't work. they will be there for a while. if, they don't take a different course. i also said to him, that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil. regardlessry clear of what mr. putin said is that he does not establish between the moderate sunni opposition that was to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, they are all terrorists. that's a recipe for disaster, and when i reject. is that we arew having technical conversations so that wenfliction are not seeing u.s.

his and iran,mr. assad a political transition. we could bring to the -- the rest of the world to a solution but an attempt by russia and and try top up assad pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it will not work. and they will build -- be there for a while if they do not take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and havea and the entire world a common interest in destroying isil, but what was very clear, regardless of what mr. pridgen notutin said if he does discriminate between iso-and a moderate group that wants to see assad go. that is a recipe for disaster and it is one that i reject. we have a technical conversation about the confliction -- deconfliction so we are not americanssian and firefights in the air. we are clear in sticking to our belief and our policy that the problem here is a son -- assad and the brutality he has inflicted on the syrian people, and that it has to stop and in order for it to stop, we are prepared to work with all the parties concerned, but we are at going to cooperate with

mr. assad to transition, you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this not a judgment that i am making issue this is a judgment that overwhelming majority of syrians make. i said to mr. putin, i would be prepared to work with him, if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad, and iran, a political transition, we with bridge thbridge bring the rest d community to a brokered solution, but a military solution alone to prop up assad and try to pacify the population, is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it will not work. they will be there for a while. if they don't take a different course. i also said to him, it is true that the united states and russia and the world have a common interest in destroying isil. but what was clear, and regardless of what mr. putin said, he does not distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. acad go. from their perspective they are all terrorists, that is a recipe for disaster, that is one they reject. so, with we are now is that we're having technical conversations about deconflicti

work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran, a political transition. mr. put-to go into syria. not out of strength, but out of weakness. because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling iran and assad make up mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. >> i thought he was talking about bad guys, right? it sounds like some kind of wutherring heights novel. the way he refers to mr. assad, mr. putin, heathcliff. this isn't wutherring heights, it's the middle east where we have been compromised. >> the president tends to go on for a long time when answering questions, at a press conference. he said wait, what was the question again. the question is, what are we doing? what's happening and i think, i don't think his answer was as reassuring to the americans as they would like. but i understand also that having gotten themselves into this position, they don't have a lot of room. i think one thing to watch over the weekend was any action by turkey. turkey is now also fighting against assad. but they're fighting assad alon

cohesion, but that is inclusive and the only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i'm making, it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. and i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran, a political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution, but that a military solution alone, an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire and it won't work and they will be there for a while if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil, but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said was that he doesn't distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they are all terrorists and that's a reci

and is inclusive, and the only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i am making. it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians are making. i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and iran, a political transition. we can bring the rest of the world to a broker solution. but a military solution alone an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the situation is going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. and they will be there for a while if they do not take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil, but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said, is that he does not distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, they are all terrorists and that is a recipe for disaster and

the middle were libya and syria, mr. gaddafi and mr. assad, and those countries are falling apart, and he has now just had to send in troops and aircraft in order to prop up his regime at the risk of alienating the entire sunni world. so what was the question again? [laughter] no,ident obama: i mean -- but i think it is really interesting to understand. is not stronger as a consequence of what they have been doing. they get attention. the sanctions against ukraine and what in place, have consistently offered from a position of strength because the united states is not subject to sanctions, and we are not -- what ig 4% a year have offered as a pathway whereby they can get back onto a path of growth and do right by their people. 's actions have been successful only insofar as it has boosted his poll ratings inside of russia, which may be impressed.tway is so because that tends to be the measure of success. of course, it's easier to do when you have a state-controlled .edia but this is not a smart, strategic move on russia's part. what russia has now done is not only committed its ow

only way to commerce that is for mr. assad to transition because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians. this is not a judgment i am making. is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians make. i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, mr. assad and ron a political transition. we can bring the rest of the world community to a broker solution. but, a military solution alone and an attempt by russia and iran to prop up assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck. it won't work. they will be there for a while. if they don't take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying isil, but what was very clear and regardless of what mr. putin said was that he doesn't distinguish between iso- and a moderate sunni opposition at once to see mr. assad zero. from their perspective, they are all terrorists and that's a recipe for disaster and it's one that i reject. so, where we are now

. the best way to achieve peace is for the syrian president assad to step down. >> mr. putin had to go into syria not out of strength, but out of weakness. because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling and it was insufficient for him to send them arms and money. now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots. and the notion that he put forward a plan and that somehow the international community sees that as viable because there's a vacuum there, i didn't see after he made that speech in the united nations the 60 nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. iran and assad make up mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. the top line message i want everybody to understand is we are going to continue to go after isil. we are going to continue to reach out to a moderate opposition. we reject russia's theory that everybody opposed to assad is a terrorist. we think that is self-defeating. it will get them into a quagmire, it will be used as a further recruitment tool for foreign fighters. >> we have more on moscow's air campaign in sy

distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they're all terrorists. that's a recipe for disaster. and it's one that i reject. we're not going to make syria into a proxy war between the united states and russia. that would be bad strategy on our part. this is a battle between russia, iran, and assad defense the overwhelming majority of the syrian people. well, earlier they said that airstrikes against isil are useless unless coordinated with his government's forces. only russia is having an impact against isil because it was invited to intervene. the u.s. and it's allies are bombing the armed group but without president assad's permission. >> terrorism cannot be fought only from the air, and it has only led to its present outbreaks. airstrikes are useless. the only force in syria that is combating terrorism. >> we have more from the united nations president assad does not come to the gathering of world leaders. instead, he said that he fully supports the airstrikes and it's supported by the military. a military that

may be a very long and slow process of stops and starts, he wants someone who is either mr. assad or looks a lot like mr. assad. >> so sheila, talk about the ground, and how does russia's entry koch kate matters? >> well, it was already a difficult process, and russia has complicated matters. so you have the u.s. and it's coalition partners fighting against isis and now you have the russians coming in with the irrannians, who are fighting in support of the assad regime. the americans and their allies are not fighting the assad regime, but they want assad to go. and so what we have seen over the course of the last month, the last weeks, with russia carrying out combat sorties, we have seen them working in it concert with the syrian regime, with forces on the ground retaking some of the territory. >> so you have the u.s.-led coalition, and what's the impact? >> great question. 14 months, more than 7,000 combat sorties taking place, and when you look at the map from a year ago, and you look at the map now, and not much has changed. it is known that isil has lost between 10 and 15,000 fi

opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they're all terrorists. and that's a recipe for disaster. and it's one that i reject. mr. putin had to go in to syria not out of strength but out of we weakness. because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling and it was insufficient for him simply to send them arms and money. now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots. >> joining the panel is alexander clement, director of eurasia practice. alex, i want to ask you about the two different visions that president obama and president putin have. is there any middle ground here? >> it's very difficult to see middle ground at the moment. the big -- everyone agrees that isis is abhorrent and is a regional threat with global implications. the point of disagreement is how do you deal with that. the russians say in order to deal with isis you need first to secure and stabilize the assad regime, then maybe go after isis. the americans say, no, actually you need to weaken and remove assad, then you can go after isis. both reasonable arguments on both sides. the differenc

backing mr. assad and opposes the islamic state which thousand young russians join. militants blowback of attacks.ack to launch has long supplied arms to syria but they carried out their wednesday es on dropping bombs near the central city. despite russia's stated goal of now under he state, the control of militant group. turkey is backing the and d states coalition pposes principally the assad government and kurdish groups p.k.k., anomaly also state.lamic allow out the american coalition to use turkish air bases. backing mr. assad and syrian government. militarybeen providing upport and financial aid since start of the civil war. audi arabia is a number of groups and opposes mr. assad and the foreign minister on tuesday new york said there were no circumstances in which his russian ould accept a effort to keep mr. assad in power. britain are part of the not fighting because of strong opposition to in syria. france also part of the u.s. led recently are just expanded its air strikes against and other state iraq. in syria as well as so there's all the players and what they're d

-assad. unverifiedres also are said to show the aftermath by one attack by mr. assad's forces on the outskirts of damascus. the russians have been accused in a joint western statement today of bombing civilians rather than concentrating on islamic state. president obama: regardless of what mr. putin said, he does not distinguish between isil and a moderate sunni opposition that wants to see assad go. from their perspective, they are all terrorists, and that is a recipe for disaster. john: david cameron seemed a lot more guarded. david cameron: the u.s. are saying this is indiscriminate striking. we need to examine. we need to examine very carefully the evidence for what has happened. i believe looking at the evidence first and making a comment afterward. there wasr the summit the same apparent reluctance to condemn russia to strongly. angela merkel and france while hollande talked about the need for russia to concentrate on attacking islamic state, but the german leader also stressed that any solution to the syrian problem had to involve russia. it had to be music to mr. putin 's ear

into syria in and out out of strength but out of weakness because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling and insufficient for him simply to send them arms money and now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots. and the notion that he put forward a plan and that somehow the international community sees that as viable because there is vacuum there, i didn't see after he made that speech in the united nations suddenly the 60-nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. iran and assad make up mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. >> let's go to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. i'm sure military personnel where you were at the pentagon listened carefully. what's the la test your herarin? >> they were watching closely as president obama delivered a message, warning to putin that the united states will not be operating on russia's agenda in syria, there will not be a proxy war between washington and moscow and listen to a little more of what the president had to say. >> an attempt by russia and iran to proper to pr

. fabius: no, moderate opposition. they consider everyone who is against mr. bashir assad a terrorist. no. france is concerned and other countries as well, say , that if it is against daesh and al qaeda, it is ok. we have to quit and it are action because we ourselves are against daesh and al qaeda. but if it is, how can i put it, some sort of pretense to fight against the opposition and reinforce assad, that is another story. that is the point. charlie: who said assad has to be the future of syria? charlie: iran. f.m. fabius: when you discuss that with russia, they say, we will see. what are they doing today? reinforcing him. charlie: they say that. the russians say that. they say they are there to prevent assad from being overthrown because they think they need him. f.m. fabius: the argument is very good. to avoid that is not to maintain assad for eternity. it is not a matter of person, i have to be clear. you cannot have a contradiction. imagine you are a syrian. your family has been destroyed by assad. it is the situation of more than 50% of the population, and you say to this family,

groups. isis is one. al mr. up is one. the moderate opposition is another. in order to prop up assad, to keep him in control, to make sure you don't have more instability, he wants to attack all of those groups. the fundamental focus is on isis. charlie: so we should believe his fundamental opponent is isis, and the reason is there to prop up a sod because he believes that they are needed to defeat isis. mike: i believe that. russia has had its own islamic extremists problem in the caucuses, dagestan. there were times where there were terrorist attacks throughout russia, including in moscow. isis and al nusra are on his continent. they can go more northward easier than to the united states. i think that is the primary reason he is there, but he will attack these other groups because he needs to prop up assad. reason number two is because at some point, the syrian situation will turn towards negotiation, and having forces on the ground, being a bigger player there, will give putin a bigger say around that negotiating table. the third reason he is there, and i think you saw this clearl

opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective they're all terrorists. that's a recipe for disaster. >> while the war rages on a political solution is a long way off. still syria says it is ready to participate in fresh talks led by the u.n. a so-called geneva three that might hammer out a freedom work for peace. >> the last round of piece talks broke down because the syrian delegation, which was led then by wasn't prepared to talk about transition of power even slowly for presiden bashar al-assad. >> the u.s. coast guard is searching for a cargo shiv ships that was on its way to puerto rico when it radioed it had taken on water and was listing 15 degrees. it lost propulsion and has not been heard from since yesterday. the now category 3 storm is now expected to affect the weather. a mandatory evacuation order was issued for. north carolina. and kevin corriveau joins us now. even if doesn't make landfall, it will have a significant impact. >> meteorologist: we'll see the circulation, it will bring moisture towards the east coast, and you can see some of it happening rig

, we'll be on mr. assad's side, we'll also work with iranians and with other shias, saying in effect you want to work together to deal with the terrorist question. you can't keep us at bay. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has ordered police to prevent government ministers and knesset members from entering al-aqsa compound. 5 marin plnian palestinians andr israelis killed since saturday. hashehoda abdel hamid has the s. >> one of the protestors died in jerusalem and then, own day of rage. now, the clashes lasted for several hours with israeli forces using once again live ammunition to push back the protesters. now, this has been going on for several days and there's one figure that really stands out at this state and that's the number of wounded. according to both the red crescent and the palestinian health ministry since october 3rd acknowledge 1642 palestinians were wounded and among them you have about 260 that were hit by live ammunition and about 650 that were wounded because of rubber-coated steel bullets. that just gives you an idea of the amount of force israeli soldi

out his wife without seeming creepy. mrs. assad -- you you can find asylum in my heart. still creepy, sorry. got a little personal there. but it turns out the russians weren't doing us a favor. >> all indications in the u.s. view that the russian air strijs were an effort to prop up assad, not to fight isis. >> the real target appears to be opponents of syrian president assad, russia's ally, a direct challenge to the u.s. which wants assad out. >> larry: okay. let me break that down for you. aaahhh! yup, putin is stirring up trouble, bombing the very people we're supporting. we all thought the cold war was over but now russia has once again become our biggest problem. man. obama did not see that coming. in fact, you know what, he was so blind to this threat, he actually mocked mitt romney in 2012 for suggesting that russia might be a threat. >> a few months ago when you were asked what the biggest geo political threat facing america, you said russia. not al qaeda, you said russia. in the 1980s or now, calling that for their foreign policy banks. >> larry: the 1980s called, a bit of n

players in syria have no choice but to accept the realities there. mr. assad and the syrian government are ready for talks with insurgents who are committed to a political path. reporter: the iranian deputy foreign minister will travel to vienna on friday. his german counterpart hopes that having all of the relevant partners at the table will bring progress. >> starting a political process is what matters. i think this could pave the way for a political process that takes us further on the path of a solution and that above all brings us closer to the end of the suffering of the people in syria. reporter: but it is still unclear what role do syrian president, bashar al-assad, should play. he was visited by a french delegation headed by a parliamentarian his message was there could be no political solution without assad. paris wants to have a political change that outlines his resignation in a clear amount of time. the russian line, like iran, always supported keeping assad. with a meeting, vladimir putin reiterated his stance of the kremlin. no one can effectively fight terrorism on the

clients, mr. assad was crumbling. >> russia insists they are only after terrorist. they say the us-led strikes have not been effective. j.c.: arne duncan will retire in december after seven years in the obama administration. in a letter to staffers he says he is heading home to chicago to be with his family. education department deputy john king jr. will serve as acting secretary through the end of his term. j.c.: a new york city high school teacher who accidentally crashed his drone at the u.s. open tennis tournament has been disciplined. daniel verley has been sentenced to five days of community service. verley had gone to photograph a park sculpture on september 3, when his drone lost signal and ended up at the nearby louis armstrong stadium. the drone plummeted into an unoccupied part of the stadium during the next-last game of a second-round match. no one was injured. phil: 50 degrees. we are looking at hurricane walking. it was a category four. it is still a monster storm. if you look up and down the east coast, we have people in new jersey in the carolinas, none of this is a

, we'll be on the side of mr. assad and also work with iran and other shiites saying in effect you want to work together to deal with the eh terrorist question, you can't keep us at bay. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has ordered police to prevent government ministers to enter the mosque compound in a move to reduce tension. fighting across the west bank has seen five palestinians and four israelis killed since sunday. the palestinian driver was also shot and wounded by israeli soldiers. officials say he tried to run over a policeman at a checkpoint. >>reporter: there were clashes in several areas around the west bank in jericho, bethlehem, and here in ramalla. israeli forces once again used live ammunition to push back the protesters. one figure stands out at this stage and that's the number of wounded. according to both the red crescent and the palestinian health ministry since october 3rd, 1642, palestinians were wounded and among them, you have about 260 hit by live ammunition and about 650 that were wounded because of rubber coated steel bullets. that just gives

russia's theory that everybody opposed to assad is a terrorist. >> mr. obama rejected critics who accuse him of leading a leadership vacuum in syria for putin to exploit. >> i didn't see the 60-nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. iran and assad makeup mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. >> the president conceded his program to train and equip the moderate syrian opposition had not worked, but he vowed to continue to seek out syria to pick up the pieces when and if assad is forced out, and dismissed calls for an u.s.-military ex-canalation in syria. >> and we will find ourselves either doing just a little bit and not making a difference and losing credibility that way or drawing--finding ourselves drawn in deeper and deeper into a situation that we can't sustain. >> and paul, talks continue about how to insure that russian and american coalition warplanes don't end up shooting at each other over syria, but despite it all, president obama is open to speaking with russia concerning a post-war deal that does not involve bashar al-as

. assad is safe in power for a very long time. >> mr. assad is safe in power. and take a listen to what one rebel commander who has been backed by the united states said to a cbs reporter. >> translator: i don't think president obama is sincere, he told us. the americans let us down and i don't trust them. >> we can argue whether syria matters in the grand scheme of the world but when you have that kind of message about the u.s. letting down what was its all is, what does it mean to the u.s. when it comes to china, when it comes to relations with every other country around the world? >> i think you nailed it, leland. literally, no one trusts the united states military to be able to put together a regional strategy or use force. oh, by the way, how about israel? i mean, mr. netanyahu going to russia to ask for military favors is just another indication that our allies, all of our allies no longer treat us as the serious military power in the region or anywhere for that matter as long as the american military doesn't have the ability to influence the situation on the ground. we have a ban

, mr. assad was crumbling. >> and kremlin fighter jets take aim at more targets, this time hitting isil. the u.s. reels from another mass shooting, a look at why there are more here than in other countries, and why switzerland, one of the top countries in gun ownership has a much lower rate of violent crime. >>> thailand's government tries a softer approach in the war against separatists on its border with malaysia. >> the peace efforts from the government are not bad, but when they are talking extremists, there's no confidence of them. >> how jungles of southeast asia are playing into the fights of terrorism. >>> and choosing a successor to ban kim moon, secretary general united nations. why this is one of the hardest glass ceilings for women to crack. ♪ >> good evening, i'm antonio mora. president obama today made a scathing statement on russia's military involvement in syria, saying russian president putin is trying to prop up the weakening regime and warning russia will get caught in a quagmire. he told reporters the only solution in syria is a political transition, that incl

happen with mr. assad, which is for him to either step down or, as secretary kerry said recently, let's form a partner government with some of the opposition. you have to remember, chris, the large persian of the population do not want mr. assad in. do you continue to attempt to help them or go after a major enemy which is isis and see what transpires with, perhaps, this safe zone that will be created. >> you let russia do what it wants, shore up assad and you focus on isis. >> you do to a degree. i think we have to keep russia in a little bit of a box. they are threatening the rest of syria at this point. because as they continue to back up assad, it's still causing problems in the rest of syria. this is not going to stop the refugee crisis. it is not going to stop the -- in fact, i would suggest that russia doesn't really care what happens isis and the rest of syria. in fact, it could cause continued embarrassment to the other gulf cooperation council, to europe and to the united states and it also draws attention away from what they've been doing in ukraine. i think we also mu

had to go into syria not out of strength but out of weakness, because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling. so mr. putin's actions have been successful only insofar as it's boosted his poll ratings inside of russia, which may be why the beltway is so impressed because that tends to the measure of success. lou: russia today bombed syria for a third day mainly hitting areas held by rebels opposing the assad regime not the islamic state fighters russia claims it is targeting. president putin faced western leaders for the first time since the start of the bombing campaign holding bilateral meetings with french president francois hollande and german chancellor angela merkel, on the same day that the u.s.-led coalition waged war against the islamic state and on the same day it called on russia to immediately cease its attacks against the syrian opposition forces and focus on fighting the islamic state. at the united nations, however, syria's foreign minister welcomed the russian airstrikes. >> airstrikes are useless unless they are conducted in cooperation with the syrian army, the onl

and assad make up mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. >> is president obama right? but first millions bracing for hurricane joaquin. getting a bit of a break. it will avoid making landfall in the u.s. that doesn't mean the threat to the east coast is over. heavy rains causing massive flooding from the carolinas all the way to new jersey. we have fox team coverage from the fox news weather center. live on virginia beach with more details, garrett, what can you tell us? what's it like down there? >> reporter: kelly, flooding is a major concern on virginia beach. tidal flooding is a major concern. we have been seeing near constant rainfall. it has been building up rivers, streams, and lakes here. you can see as the wind and waves the last to weeks had been building and coming on shore. it has been pounding the beach, eating away at the sand. this is the beach erosion. this is where it normally would be. we're looking at three to four feet of sand that has been eaten away, getting closer to the homes and businesses all along here. it's been heatin

. you don't think mr. putin would have preferred having mr. assad solve this problem without him having to send a bunch of pilots >> did you know he was going to do all this when you met with him in new york? >> yeah, we have seen, pretty good intelligence the we watch. >> you knew he was planning to do it? >> we knew he was planning to provide the military assistance that assad was needing because they were nervous about a potential imminent collapse of the regime. >> you say he is doing this out of weakness. there is a perception in the middle east among our adversaries, certainly and even among allies that the united states is in retreat that we pulled our troops out of iraq and isis has moved in and taken over much of that territory, the situation in afghanistan is very precarious, the taliban is on the march again. and isis controls a large part of syria. >> i think it is fair to say, steve. >> they said, let me just finish the thought. >> okay. >> they say you are projecting weakness not strength? >> you are saying they. but you are not citing to many folks. >> i will cite for us

bashar al assad. but years later, those calls remain unanswered. two years ago, mr. obama said this. >> we both agree, that assad needs to go. >> and on numerous occasions again this year, he said virtually the same thing. >> it will not be possible to fully stabilize that country, until mr. assad who has lost legitimacy in the country, is transitioned out. >> but analysts argue assad's not going anywhere any time soon. they say that's because under this commander-in-chief, the u.s. has given up its leadership role in the region. and vladimir putin, who backs assad, has eagerly filled the power vacuum. >> he's bidding for dominance in the middle east against the united states. and he thinks he can prevail. because he has a weak and feckless occupant in the white house. >> the debate over what to do about syria has hit the 2016 campaign trail. we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, wounded warriors all over and putin is now taking over what we started. and he's going into syria. and he frankly wants to fight isis. and i think that's a wonderful thing. >> white house officials, mea