ambassador to syria robert ford discuss humanitarian efforts in syria. the washington institute host this event. it's about one hour 10 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is andrew stigler, i'm a senior fellow here with the washington institute for near east policy where i work on mostly syria among other things, or series and everything that it affects in the region. the discussion today is about the serious conflict and where strategic interest in human and -- imaging interest intersect it with over 160,000 killed, countless thousands injured, missing or detained, the syrian uprising continues to make a grizzly and double mark not only on syria but on the middle east as a whole with over 40% of serious 23 million population displaced internally, or as refugees during over three years of a bloody uprising, syria recently overtook afghanistan as the world's leader in forcibly displaced persons. a dramatic attempt to bring about a settlement have yielded very little to the syrian people. indeed, during the recent geneva ii peace talks, were amb

those kids will know syria. they are out of school and away om education and all these needy things for us, that means the future of syria is not going to be as bright as we dreamed of. >> you were telling me earlier that it's a sunny days that you dread. those are the days the planes can fly. the cloudy days you think there is a break in the shelling. >> yes. >> if i may just add one thing. currently the percentage of illiteracy in syria is over 20%. children over 6 years old have not gone to school for three years in a row. there are two reasons for that. the first reason is when they actually go to school, the schools get shelled and targeted. we have seen many horrific events of schools being targeted while the kids are in school. it happened in two places. >> there are u.n. charges that children are being targeted in syria specifically. you're a witness to that? >> a lot of kids who died in my town were killed by snipers and those snipers are knowing that those, they are killing kids. they are killing child

that syria has become a well oiled hostage factory. one thing that shocked the french journalist was how professional these hostage takers were. and also, they were surprised that there were some french citizens among them. and this is one aspect that a lot of other papers are focusing on. they're looking into how the government is reacting to all of this. they are talking about the plan that rant has against its french inadists that are fighting syria or other areas of the globe as well. about 700 french citizens are currently fighting in jihad across the world. will lay out a plan at the cabinet meeting tomorrow. morerticle goes into detail about the plan to stop young people from fighting in jihadist armies. this is something you would not experience on the streets of french cities. can you tell us more? >> that is right, an opportunity to experience harassment on the street. this is the front page. that translates as "tired of jerks." i have been asking other women they havesroom if experienced this. it starts out as complex, or wh

weak, feckless, syria, obama's fault. weak, feckless, whatever goes on in the world, he is weak, naive, dangerous, doesn't care about american security, he might not even be an american. [whispering] >> you have to understand a lot of what passes for a policy dispute is really politics. and when these guys were attacking and blaming obama for everything, they never talk about the inheritance. i was on a bipartisan panel in 2007 and we were doing a study at georgetown university before the the inhair dib inheritance, what the president comes in and gets, and the debate was whether the next president would have worse inheritance than roosevelt and lincoln. and that was the scale we were talking about you have to understand how deep a hole we dug for ourselves previously, and give the guy a little slack here, a little credit for getting us out of that hole, and understand that his levers of power, the things he is able to do have been weakened because of the money and lives and squandered international credibility that we sp

inside syria and the image of the u.n. cars coming out of the middle with civilians between them being shot at and the bullets being taken by the u.n. lorries is an extraordinary tribute to the bravery of the u.n. and the centrality but they need to be supported in the work that they are doing. just to finish on the following note if we had been having this meeting three years ago and i had said to you my fear is that in three years time there would be 160,000 dead and 3 million displaced next door 1500 kids assassinated large numbers of people in government torture chambers. if i had said that i think we would have said mike goodness we have the responsibility to do something. i think it's worth having that perspective because otherwise our senses are going to be doled to what is an extraordinary crisis to be contained within the boundaries of one country. thank you very much. [applause] >> good afternoon. andrew let me thank you and patrick claussen is here somewhere in this large group. i am very flattered david miliban

ambassador to syria robert ford. they will be talking about humanitarian efforts in syria at the washington institute for near east policy. scheduled to get underway at 12:30 eastern on c-span. discussion on medicare payouts to doctors from washington journal. host: joining us from new york city is reed abelson on the health care beat for the new york times. guest: thank you and good morning. host: much of your reporting in recent days shows how much doctors have been getting in the cure payments. did you get, how this data, how difficult was to get released, and what did you learn? guest: it is very interesting, i ate to credit my colleagues dow jones and the wall street journal. they fought the good fight to the americandata medical association had spent decades blocking the release of this data. they are arguing that it would be misinterpreted there were privacy concerns for physicians. a federal judge ruled recently that the public right to know our way of these concerns and ordered medicare to release the data.

>> yes, it originated in pakistan and then it came to syria from there, and the reason why polio has reemerged is because of the complex. we're talking about a vicious civil strife that has been going on in syria for more than three years, that resulted in massive disruption of populations and also in neighboring countries. people have fled into neighboring countries. the violence, the displacement, having a refugee cries, lack of access to humanitarian aid workers to vaccinate children, all these combined were a terrific recipe for the reemergence of polio back into syria. >> given the at-risk children that you mentioned, how you are distributing the vaccine? are you working with local parties on the ground for those children that are displaced from syria. >> we have a plan. we responded a week after we announced the outbreak toward end of october, and according to this plan, we basically send the vaccination to local partners on the ground inside syria who will themselves vaccinate the children, doctors, volunteers and it is available in local clinics. the problem is that we were n

coming into us into syria. their approach to disease in august which is for the hostages forces rather than being a trusted with much larger responsibilities. the deer fur of british few hobbies is it the same experience. look up to wish a wish. coleman issues and it's no different it crosses under. it's the same issue the week. we face an experience he knows well. of like the same consider a number of different practices. let talk about connecting to the us election giving parents the option to call. mickey situations. parents can access. talk about that and then all their work the launch at all. the courts young men and women going over there in the trials and i were to say that. i agree with that with the point where the judges for every young mum to buy every new moment of june not sure which all you know about that number will be attracted to go to syria. emotionally young men and women in our communities with a wooden cross with a win to reach the cinema. the young people young people across the world so

syria the u.s. will investigate the allegations and do you think anything will come of that? >> absolutely. i think, first of all, western and american officials say they have allegations and they have indications. they have to be verified and basically the allegations, in fact, in the past month several incidents whereby toxic gasses have been used in several towns inside syria. i think the obama administration, if the evidence is verified, i would argue the obama administration will come under tremendous pressure from inside the united states to take a strong action. there is a big debate unfolding within the obama administration about what to do if the evidence concludes that basically toxic gasses even though they are not under the russian, american chemicals deal in syria the administration would have to be pressed very hard in order to take strong actions even though there is not consensus with the american administration of what to do at this particular moment. >> good to get your thoughts an

those kids will know syria. they are out of school and away from education and all these needy things for us, that means the future of syria is not going to be as bright as we dreamed of. >> you were telling me earlier that it's a sunny days that you dread. those are the days the planes can fly. the cloudy days you think there is a break in the shelling. >> yes. >> if i may just add one thing. currently the percentage of illiteracy in syria is over 20%. children over 6 years old have not gone to school for three years in a row. there are two reasons for that. the first reason is when they actually go to school, the schools get shelled and targeted. we have seen many horrific events of schools being targeted while the kids are in school. it happened in two places. >> there are u.n. charges that children are being targeted in syria specifically. you're a witness to that? >> a lot of kids who died in my town were killed by snipers and those snipers are knowing that those, they are killing kids. they are killing chi

we welcomed the announcement that a mission is being sent to syria. syria must immediately and fully cooperate with such fact-finding and anybody responsible for such attacks must be held accountable. the syrian ambassador to the u.n. have made it clear, and does not believe there has been chlorine attacks. >> the aim of these allegations emanating from washington is to overshadow the successful preservations for elections in syria. they will not spare effort or argument to overshadow the successful preparations. >> investigators arrive in the country as a separate joint u.n. opcd continues its work to remove the chemical arsenal. that team says 92.5% of weapons have been removed or destroyed. >> the issue has been distrounded by controversy is the the start. some western diplomats hint that bashar al-assad did not declare his chemical stock and may have hidden some of the deadly agents. >> while the syria government is accused of indiscriminately attacking civilians in aleppo with unguided barrel bombs, a human rights watch report says hundreds of pe

those kids will know syria. they are out of school and away from education and all these needy things for us, that means the future of syria is not going to be as bright as we dreamed of. >> you were telling me earlier that it's a sunny days that you dread. those are the days the planes can fly. the cloudy days you think there is a break in the shelling. >> yes. >> if i may just add one thing. currently the percentage of illiteracy in syria is over 20%. children over 6 years old have not gone to school for three years in a row. there are two reasons for that. the first reason is when they actually go to school, the schools get shelled and targeted. we have seen many horrific events of schools being targeted while the kids are in school. it happened in two places. >> there are u.n. charges that children are being targeted in syria specifically. you're a witness to that? >> a lot of kids who died in my town were killed by snipers and those snipers are knowing that those, they are killing kids. they are killing chi

in syria the u.n.'s role is critical, both in the laminating the chemical stockpile and getting humanitarian aid to people in dire need. general assembly adopted a resolution that confirms its commitment to ukraine's sovereignty. the u.n. has not been able to send a more powerful message because of russia's of the toe in the security council. on the palestinian peace process just yesterday, resident -- announced the palestinians intend to be a party to 15 international conventions. this could jeopardize the peace process and possibly u.s. assistance. the ramifications are unclear. the administration must send a clear message to the palestinians that the only path to statehood is through and the notion -- through a negotiated agreement with israel. i hope you'll update the subcommittee on these other policy challenges that you face. there are a few other issues i want to mention. the first is a u.n. reform. during her confirmation hearing you said you would aggressively pursue efforts to eliminate waste,

syria, same thing. young people were looking for a future, and when their parents came out to protest the way they were put down, assad started shooting, and that has brought us to where we are today. you know, the united states has power, emorms power, but we can't necessarily always dictate every outcome the way we want, particularly in this world. we have rising economic powers. you know, china, india, mexico, korea, brazil. many other people who are players. you know, 11 of the 15 people who used to receive aid from imf are donor countries. we're living in a changed world, and governance is not doing very well in many places. might i add either here, refwretably. we need to do a job of looking into the future and try to figure out how we're going to stand up for america's interests and promote them more effectively, and that includes in the budget for foreign policy and in the option that is we can put on the table. now, one final word, if you permit me. on syria, where we hear this notion that some

like syria. we have to realize that we are on the side of a government that has got to go after its own people with tactics that, when you look at the world through the eyes of a jihadist, those tactics are brutal and deadly against the yemeni people. this war is going on a long time. the syrian conflict will plan -- fan the war in yemen. we will be on the side of the yemeni government as it fights his own people. host: this video got a lot of attention this past week. many wondering what this is all about. what is your explanation? going a couple of things on. if you are a visionary leader of yemen, onegrouping of the things you want to do is to tell the local extremists, look, we've been under a lot of pressure from the government, but we are here to stay. the americans are after us, but we are not going to back down. this is a video about ideology and recruitment for local yemenis who might see the government security operations against the extremists and say, hey, the extremists are under a l

there will still be a war. >> a tenuous situation in syria could get more complicated. security and boston, one year after the bombing that killed three people and left hundreds of injured. we are there. i am so sorry that you had to work week as i know that you were hoping to join the people who ran the marathon. dayy aspiration is to one late tennis. -- play tennis. i may never run a marathon. i am in awe of the people. aroundompletely turned from the last time i was here one year ago in the aftermath of the bombing during the dramatic manhunt. it was festive and there were families lining the street. the mood was of reconciliation and recovery. of remembrance and resilience. they were reclaiming the finish line. you could feel it in the air this morning. people were excited and now that the race has been run successfully, it is palatable. the feeling is that boston is back and boston strong is back. the man who won the race is an american. a man with an extraordinary american story. he came here to run to be boston strong. of the threemes victims tilde at the finish

that was in syria and june. moon in june two thousand and seven and i met with an effigy of him there was outright and avoid technology and the board and neglect the effigies and the eu is a need them. nope no common shopping that's not true. that's not true. i mean and that's where shot by snipers and in the area when due and proper thing i mentioned with this. i was waking with two hundred nl has entered the people who died in prison and torture so keith who may not be nine years. are you going to the east and the attendant rome sent us on the mound on a coat from last night from the side and not from the other side as a documentary that were long time. they want that to the create the globe but the sheets and down and got saved in the end they succeeded with a friend this is exactly this theme see maddie you in your name today so advanced. that's as bad as fast as i doubt that i sold twenty two kind of manipulation going on across syria and the cinnamon pointing to a completely different situation you've gone

we are engaged in syria. leading nation in terms of humanitarian assistance and we are doing more than any other country with respect to what's happening on the ground now with the opposition. in the middle east peace we are leading the effort. in the gulf we are leading the effort. i just don't agree with you. we are living in a complicated world where there is more sectarianism, more religious extremism, more young people. 65% of countries are under the age of 30. 50% are under the age of 21. what is the american policy for being able to help them to be able to develop jobs in the future and not go be extremists? there's so much we need to do that depends on the budget, on the congress and our engagement in the world and we are more engaged than ever before. which is why my travel schedule is what it is. >> secretary kerry, the one thing i really agree with you is the results of foreign policy are not speeches. it is the results. it's the perception of the american people. you heard the list we've gone thro

so we've had to do work on syria. on chemical weapons and recently on humanitarian issues, we did manage to get two resolutions finally through the security council and on chemical weapons we have seen, as you know, just 50% of the weapons removed. the deadline for the overall removal operation is not until june 30, but the syrians are missing a number of milestones along the way. so we're very concerned about the pace of removal and elimination. there i would say russia has worked more constructively clearly because it sees its interest as imperiled, first, because of the threat of force that hung over the -- hung over syria back in august and september. but also because of their concern that chemical weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists and so forth. so we can still see russia a la carte can see its interests engage that coincide with ours but the humanitarian situation, though we got a resolution recently, there's not the same energy put into enforcing that resolution and we're seeing very disappointing r

>> i think he did the wrong thing in syria. and i don't think it was ever an issue of going to war in syria. i think what the president did is overlook the fact that moving towards diplomacy and saying there's no military solution doesn't mean that you sometimes have to take tough steps in order to convince some of the player, in this case assad and vladmir putin, that they had no choice but to go to diplomacy. john kerry was much more outspoken about this. he said back then in 2012 quite bluntly that in order to get assad to the table and he could have said in order to get putin to accept it, you would have to work hard at organizing the opposition, and you might have to give lethal arms. having covered this from the beginning, there were forces who could have been trusted, who could have been vetted and in order to get assad to the table especially as this thing develops with all the casualties, you had to take a lead role in organizing and making sure that weapons went to the right people. instead by basically hanging back t

we are getting chemical weapons out of syria without a strike. what else do you want. and at that point it trails off. >> after failures seen of his predecessors war in iraq. >> the point is that for some reason many who were proponent of what i consider to be a disastrous decision to go into iraq haven't really learned the lesson of the last decade. they keep playing the same note over and over again. why, i don't know. >> and the president ended his thoughts on the foreign policy legacy on this note. >> that may not always be sexy. that may not always attract a lot of attention, and it doesn't make for good argument on sunday morning shows, but it avoids errors. you hit singles, you hit doubles. every onc once in a while you my hit a home run, but we steadily advance the interest of the american people and our partnership with folks around the world. >> american foreign policy at a turbulent time in the world. fighting the domestic battle over healthcare, over the reluctant republican party president obama could not let the world wait until he could get to it. joinin

once they gain access-- you see what they've done in syria. they have their own agenda and establish control by threw brutality, murder, and intimidation. some force has to lift that pall of fear, lift the intimidation -- >> but we have no force doing that, other than the force of the syrian army today, and they have their own fear element and alls of-- >> that's absolute right. i'm not saying we should do this. that's a policy decision, certainly. but we don't want to be delusional about the ability to achieve or help the syrian people achieve some sort of sustainable outcome there in syria that does anything less than establish security under some sort of political control. >> rose: then where is it going to come from in syria? >> that's the real problem. >> rose: that's not a policy question. >> the society is becoming more fractious and fragmented as the cycle of sectarian violence continues. >> rose: and even elementes of people within fighting each other. >> that's right. >> rose: with levels of violence. >> right. what's i think is impo

he said he never felt suicidal until he left syria four months ago. he is receiving medical treatment, and his parents are divorced and he and his siblings have been separated. the death of his youngest and only sister in homs shattered him and he has started drinking. >> it's no big deal in i die. death is better than if i live now. >> reporter: there are many children who need specialized help. there are children who need psychological support are attending a group counseling session where they share their fears, war experiences and worries about their future with psychologicals. unicef estimates that 2 million syrian children need psychological support or treatment. but more severe cases require individual sessions. she has not said a word for over a year. she has been silent since her street in damascus was heavily shelled. this is common among children. she was mute for a year and now has spoken but now has speech impediment and needs speech therapy which the family cannot afford. >> the girl is living in fear. >> thousands of syrian children are

we'll report on hardships faced by christians in syria. that's with our special correspondent there. stay with us. scott: appears buster's been busy. man: yeah, scott. i was just about to use the uh... scott: that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed uses the finest seed, fertilizer, and natural mulch that holds water so you can grow grass anywhere. looking good, lad! man: thanks, scott. ez seed really works! scott: get scotts ez seed. it's guaranteed. seed your lawn. seed it! anncr: visit scotts.com/goyard for the chance to win a $25,000 backyard makeover. find yourself. in an accomodation... where you get to do... whatever it is that you love to do! booking.com booking.yeah! but i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care, i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile, not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still gonna give me a heart attack. innovations that work for y

once they are in syria from the media. there'll be a lot of difficulties and problems in the application of this strategy underground in france. >> what should france do to prevent the french muslims wanting to fight in places like syria. >> it's about seeria. the diplomacy should be concurrence to what the people see. the young people in france see the war as a fair war, and see themselves fighting as revolutionaries against the dictatorship and a regime who is killing its people. so as lock as this perception lasts, they will be very difficult for the french government and the authorities to count the trend. >> interesting stuff. good to get your thoughts. thank you for joining us. matthew speaking life from paris. >> now, there has been violent pr fests in two cities. after the death of a tv performer. police are accused of deliberately killing the the man, something denied. >> this is what happened in brazil's second-largest city, rio de janeiro. scenes of violence and chaos in its famous copa cobana neighbourhood. pro

time is running out for syria to turn over its chemical weapons. the un security council votes unanimously to send 12,000 peacekeepers to the central african republic. months of violence ripped the country apart. tonight, the cartoon editor of the new yorker tells us the winning formula for making readers laugh. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. time is running out for syria to hand over the remaining stock of chemical weapons before a deadline at the end of this month. that is the warning from the international body in charge of taking the materials. onto these will be destroyed aboard a specially adapted american ship. >> below deck, practicing for the moment they take on board the entire onslaught of chemical weapons. the process is called hydrolysis. the chemicals are still on land and the deadline is just 17 days away. isis this machinery that right at the heart of the operation to destroy the chemical weapons. they expect to be pushing through these mustard gas and hundreds of tons to make su

involvement in syria. but in so doing, we have again failed the legacy of rwanda -- stopping the slaughter in syria 6 will requirwill require diffil action. but it's not only profoundly in our national interest to act but also our moral obligation to do so. in his remarks on sunday, president obama said that we should be reminded of -- quote -- "our obligations to our fellow man." and as president, he is the one who should be showing to the american people why it is so vital to our national interest to carry out our moral obligations to our fellow man. our policies should be determined by the realities of the moment, not by today's isolationism dictated by the past. the war in afghanistan -- the wars in afghanistan and iraq has nothing to do with how we carry out our responsibilities today. and let there be no mistake, we have a responsibility to stop genocide when we see it happening, as in syria. "never again" should mean something. whether or not we are paralyzed by war weariness. of course we'd all lik

. >> i'm on board a vessel to be used to destroy syria's chemical weapons. >> welcome back. the top storieson al jazeera. a deadline ordering activists outside of buildings in donetsk has lapsed. >> the prime minister is in the region to discuss the crisis. >> talks to end the unrest in venezuela have been held in caracas and broadcast on state tv. president nicolas maduro is hosting headers, but not the groups. in south korea, the united states has launched a joint air defense exercise. they condemn the two-week long drugs. fighting between rival factions of the taliban left 12 dead in waziristan. there are meetings in north waziristan. a previous ceasefire agreement expired on thursday. we go live to islamabad, and there's a lot of descension within the taliban at the moment. what is the main source of disagreement? >> well as you correctly mentioned, there was a ceasefire which was a precondition for the talks to get underway with the taliban, pakistan, the pakistan taliban extended it by 10 days, making it a month and 10 days, that has expired. it comes at a time when th

cuts food rations to syria because donors haven't delivered on their promises. plus... >> i'm tania paige reporting from kenya on a marriage bill that damages women's rights when it comes to pal iing amy, aopponents. >> ukraine's government launched what it's calling on anti-terrorist operation in the eastern si of carr active. 70 people who seized a regional building have been arrested. ukraine's presidential candidate yulia tymoschenko accused activists who seized the parliament as working for russia's secret service. we have more. >> ukrainian's official forces moved in on the regional government building in carr kif in the past few hours. 70 people have been arrested. there were dramatic scenes overnight. pro-russian protesters set fire to the building. it was extinguished some hours later. so-called anti-terrorism operation in carr active is still ongoing, the city metro services have been shut down and will reopen when the operation finishes. >> the administration government building here is in the control, in the hands of pro-russian protesters. people ar

the children inside syria are unreachable. our aid our services cannot reach them so we really do not know and the statistics we get today are conservative. we fear there is much more and that are in need of psychiatric and psychological help and not to mention, also, more basic medical aid and food that are not reaching them. so when we speak about the situation inside syria, it's dire. most of our agencies, save the children and many others, are unable to access where it is most needed. those who are still inside syria are the most vulnerable, those who couldn't make it through t. >> these children are not just traumatized by hearing bombs or witnessing a family member being killed. some of these children have also been abused and tortured, i understand. tell united states, carl, about some of the stories you have heard from these children. >> well, there are untold as tros at this happening inside syria. the kind of stories that are coming across are stories no human being, let alone children, should be witness,000, from ra

>> what we are seeing here is a spread from syria into iraq. now, the polio outbreaks in syria has been described as complex. it's as a result of denial of vaccinations. it's the result of a health care system, and targetting civilians in brutal ways, forcing millions of them to live the countries and live in squalid and appalling conditions. now we are seeing it in baghdad. it's miles from where the outbreak first appeared. we are seeing it in a little 6-month-old child that has been vaccinated and was vulnerable in spite of a few, following the outbreak in syria. i can understand that syria has problems vac sippating children. what about iraq, are many vaccinations being handed out? >> it's hard to say. the vaccination rate was 70-75%. in some areas as low as 50%. the little child, he had - you know, his family had been asked to go to the health facility. it's not how you vaccinate, you have to zo door to do. it's not okay to say come to the health facilitiesy between 10 and 2. you need to do it door to door, five to six times. it's not like

see recent chemical attacks taking place in syria earlier this month. he had indications of these toxic industrial chemical probably chlorine in syria this month than the opposition dominated villages. here they have we're examining allegations that the government was responsible. i'm with stupid to turn to them knowing that it should be since the chemical attacks in pa site up on the eleventh and twelveth of april. dozens of civilians in keeping your children reported to suffer from suffocation. what is the key syrian troops loyal to back tournaments that the dropping against ball state on syrian television reported the ok to affiliated al masri front was beyond the attack french president was going on said there was no clear proof the regime accused of killing weapons reports is so far unsubstantiated according to samantha power the us ambassador to the united nations. but washington and its partners who investigates complaints of the poison gas attack. gospel is the syrian government was accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in a suburb

go to bbc.com/syria. apologies for the very poor quality sound coming out of beirut. >>> within the past few minutes, ukraine's interim security chief blames yanukovych of organizing mass murder. it comes as the interim government publishes the first finding of its inquiry into the deaths of 100 protesters of kiev in february. several members of the riot police squad have been arrested. let's go to the bbc's david stern who joins me from kiev. david, the details coming out suggest really a level of planning and opportunism using pro vac ters to shoot. >> that's right. it was a wide-ranging press conference. obviously this reaches all the way to the top of the government. mr. yanukovych but also some of his top ministers. we heard against russia. the russia secret service is providing weapons and also helping with the planning. this can be very inflammatory. ministers have said they have the evidence to back this up. they have extensive evidence, including phone calls and paper trail, other things includin

currently 54% of the chemical weapons are out of syria. and we have major shipments that are planned at two sites near damascus. they should take place in the next days, but there's a general sense that we are concerned about the slowdown, but we still believe we could be close to schedule -- on schedule or close to schedule, and we're pushing for that. and the russians have indicated they are prepared to continue to push and try to achieve that. they have an interest in trying to achieve it. so there are pluses and yes, there are minuses obviously. we don't have the luxury as a country of being you know -- you have got to deal at this point at one time or not. reagan dealt with go gore bah chov, it's the reality of the world -- >> i understand that. but such a deal would clearly violate the regime of the -- that has been set up, and i assume we need to make it very clear to the iranians and the russians that such a deal would be sanctionable -- >> we have made it clear to both sides our deep concerns about the reported oil for goods deal.

they won't go back to syria. it's a terrible situation. >> are we talking adventurers instead of people with ideal logical reasons to go? >> if they want to do something positive, we're saying support the charities here who are registered with the charity commission and doing work in syria. you can do things in the united kingdom to support syria and humanitarian relief. there are some going there to fight. >> briefly, are local communities doing enough to express the risks to these people who are going off to fight? do you think there's enough of a blanket saying don't go? >> i don't think there's enough of a blanket. i think there's a lot more work groups can do and must do. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us on the program. that is it from me and the team for today. but i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care, i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile, not random statistics. they even reward me for addr

one of the conditions is that they must have lived in syria for the past ten years. that means most of assad's opponents and even the officially tolerated ones are excluded from the race and some formed a government in exile and members are not interested in competing with a man they want out of power but they are not able to prevent the vote. >> the mistake of the opposition was that they have not an executive body like a government that is actually providing a service for the syrian people. and where he actually controls some militarys as they are functioning and that has been his advantage. >> reporter: he may remain in power but opposition and allies will not accept the election as legitimate or free and fair. whatever happens one things is certain the poll wants the divided country and it won't end the war. >> a lot of people won't be able to vote, most of the main opposition figures will not be able to stand and how will the election have any credibility? >> well, that is exactly what the syrian government's opponents are saying how can this be credible. syrian

dimitri daunting even traveled to syria to get his boy back. even though his son was arrested on his protect all the stops. i don't think it won't work on does this he was truly awful in overdoses with another one of the earth and every image over then go home. like so near us these children have been for ten whole being killed are still holding out hope. though she knows without softening all the government's towns the chances of a young daughter coming home from a sling. jack caught on cctv brussels. regions. to me. aw it. she's human. i was thinking of the country's international trip before. in two weeks. i do. ah crap sixteen seconds. stick to it shoot you. she's cute nineteen eighteen i know. i do. ch. i am. each. gd the show he means business from all across the americas stories of people. her hopes and aspirations. part of the investigation. cultural and social into. amanda's house. michael vaughan's cctv about a weekly news magazine called it. there are too tough the eye. interior minister are some out of that has just announced the st

and its agencies working if and around syria -- in and around syria are making to safeguard syrian minority communities? many of them are resistant to seeking refuge in ngo facilities out of fear for their safety and ,, thus, more likely to be internally displaced persons. minority issues generally on the agenda in new york with reference to syria? and finally, is there any diplomatic movement at all in resolving the syrian conflict, or is assad so confident of his military advantage now that any hope of a diplomat you can resolution -- diplomatic resolution is, essentially, gone? >> thank you, congressman. first, on the peacekeeping response mechanism, thank you for raising it, and met me just say a -- let me just say a word on that knowing that not all may think it's the best idea right from the beginning. this mechanism comes about because what we have gone through in the last few budget cycles where real world exigencies like that in mali are now potentially in the central african republic after we've submitted our budget. the bad guys in the world are not responsive to our budget cycle

look at what we are seeing in relation to children in syria. we heard another report of the bombing of the school. this is reprehensible and outrageous behavior. >> those are the people on the ground. what about the people within your organization. >> as i said the security council has the security of global peace and security. they passed two months ago resolution to insure humanitarian access into syria. i have reported to them in my second monthly briefing that the resolution is not working. >> you might be aware where i'm going with this because there was a letter written by 30-plus international lawyers saying that the united nations can go into syria. it's not a legal matter where the u.n. was saying it was. it had to be invited in by the syrian authorities. these authorities are saying because of the situation the united nations can go in. i would like you to listen, valerie amos, to this we got earlier today. john jackson from the free syria campaign talking about what these lawyers have written. >> we know that the u.n. and it's agenci

>> the united nations says syria faces a severe drought, even if syria was not in the grip of civil war, this would be a problem. the impact that has on drainage tractors seed supplies access to supplies, coupled with drought, means syria's ability to grow its own food, its ability has been seriously hurt. >> you mentioned the connection to the tow weapons, the connection to the united states, that is not necessarily the case clearly. >> you can't make the pedigree totally, those that have tow missiles in their arsenals have them there because they have been sold by the united states. if these weapons came from saudi arabia there is a very good likelihood that the saudis would ask for permission and the united states would have grafted. >> on this business of use of chemicals again, we've been through this so recently and somehow thought this was going to be under control. >> syria agreed to surrender their weapons, and that process has largely although it's been delayed it's largely gone ahead. we're about 80% of the way there and they think they will have that piece of it done by june

our headquarters in doha - also ahead - less than a day after presidential elections are announced in syria, some are declaring the vote a farce. the al jazeera three get ready to go back to court in egypt. the network demands its journalists are released immediately. >>> and the final chapter in the life of a literary icon. thousands pay their respects to gabriel garcia marquez. >>> the united nations has accused south sudanese rebels of massacring hundreds of people. piles of bodies littered the streets in bentiu since the killings last week. south sudan's government has been battling forces loyal to riek machar. he told al jazeera that the troops were not behind the attack. the exclusive report contains disturbing images. >> reporter: the things that could be seen along the road from the airport to the mosque were horrific. there were so many dead bodies, construction equipment was used to move them. outside the gate there was another pile of bodies - dragged there or killed together. the stench of death was overwhelming. even for the rebel guards standing guard. the rebels say many were

. >>> there are ominous reports tonight of yet another chemical attack in syria. syrian opposition activists who posted this video online, unconfirmed as of yet by nbc news, claim chlorine gas was recently used by syrian government forces on towns held by the rebels, and the scores of people were left coughing and choking and gasping for breath. the government denies these reports. members of the u.n. security council are calling for an investigation. chlorine, obviously, highly toxic, is of concern here because it is not covered by the chemical weapons ban because of its other civilian uses. the situation in syria and the ongoing crisis in ukraine will be part of the conversational backdrop as president obama tonight begins a four-nation