order after 25 years of constant regime changes inside syria and had the prerequisite order in order to start creating a civil society in did not do that. and therefore, serious disarray really has its roots in the unenlightened authoritarianism whereas if you look at a country like tunisia, which had very of might and authoritarianism from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, where more money was spent on women's education and things like that in rural agriculture than on the military. one of the many reasons that tunisia had a happier post air in spring history in syria is because of the difference between enlightened authoritarianism in one case and unenlightened authoritarianism in another case. that today's issue of regime change. i have a rule that i've learned the hard way, which is if you intend to topple or invade coming you better be ready to govern. by toppling and invading, you heed moral responsibility upon yourself. once you remove authority, it is up to you to re-create another authority. and because that is such an onerous enterprise, you better have public support at home

nermeen shaikh. amy goodman is on assignment and will return on monday. we begin today in syria, where the united nations is warning nearly 1 million syrians are living under siege, double the numbmber last year. the vast majority, 850,000 people, are being blockaded by the syrian government. on monday, the u.n. human rights agency said civilians trapped in eastern aleppo, where the final hospitals have been destroyed by syrian government bombing, are facing annihilation. on tuesdsday, the u.n. spokespeperson rupert t colville said the attacks on hospitals, if proven deliberate and as part of a systematic pattern, could amount to war crimes. >> the situation in eastern aleppo is really so her rent is, i mean, it is beyond words. i think we are struggling to say anything new about it he cut it is so unremittingly awful, despite the occasional let up, overall, it is a rent us. the factories hospitals and clinics are continuously hit is a matter of very, very grave concern. nermeen: the world health organization says the syrian government's intense bombing campaign against eastern

and al-baghdadi. and just to give you a sense, we're going to be talking about iraq and syria after isis. we're looking forward, so there's great uncertainty. in 2006, 2007, 2008, what was the uncertainty? the big uncertainty was we didn't even know if al-baghdadi existed and who was in charge. it was assumed that al-masri was in charge. but we have the surge. the surge started late '06, actually, it started 2007, but the uprising, the pushback by the sunni forces in anbar started in 2006. and we then see the violence migrating through iraq. the peak of violence in anbar was around 2006. it dose -- it goes to diyala, and the peak there is sometime in june 2007. and it migrates finally up to mosul which is a key node for bringing foreign fighters in and for raising money. and the peak of combat violence in mosul was early 2008. i believe. so that's the first element of the importance of mosul. the second part of the importance of mosul was in the 2008-2010 period al-qaeda in iraq renamed islamic state of iraq in 2006 never went away. so they had sleeper cells all around the country,

going to be talking about iraq after isis and syria after isis. in 2006, 2007, 2008, the big uncertainty was we didn't know if al baghdadi existed and who was in charge. we had the surge. the surge started late 06. the actual surge started 2007. but the uprising, the pushback by the sunni forces started in 2006. and we then see the violence migrating through iraq. the peak of violence was around october 2006. the peak of violence there is sometime in june 2007. it migrates finally up to mosul which is a key node for bringing foreign fighters in and for raising money. and the peak of combat violence in mosul was early 2008, i believe. so that's the first almost of the importance of mosul. the second part of the importance of mosul was in the 2008/2010 period al qaeda and iraq renamed islamic state of iraq in 2006 never went away, so they had sleeper cells all around the country. and there was again the same kind of financing that i talked about. the local areas would send their money up to mosul, send 20% up, mosul would reallocate. at that time, 2008 certainly, mosul and the

damascus, syria, and a conversation with bashar al-assad. >> we were sitting together in this small room. i asked him about being a war criminal, and he said, i don't cake it personally. you know, the west is against me. i've become a headline for them. this is how they paint the conflict in black and white, so i'm the bad guy and the rebels are the good guys. >> rose: we continue with jonathan karl and mike allen in conversation about politics 2016. >> if you're in trump tower, you suddenly feel like you have new oxygen. what the comey letter did was let trump off the mat and republican senate candidates off the mat. so the fact that republicans are still very skeptical about trump, they're suddenly quite optimistic about their senate a candidates. >> rose: we conclude this evening with jon bon jovi. his new album is called "this house is not for sale." >> three iterations of boy band conversations has come and gone. rap has come and gone. grunge music has come and gone and what i never did was jump on those bandwagons when they were becoming increasingly more popular. so as i grew

between iraq and syria and the surrounding region and coalition troops numbers. host: take us through one of the main ways the u.s. services participating in this fight. how close are they getting to the front lines? especially this fight we see so much about in the news headlines? guest: usually more dance to training, they do that on their own. then we assisted him with onisers who accompany them operations. then we provide them enabling capabilities. some examples are the intelligence reconnaissance asset. >> we talk about retaking most soul. artillery gets tougher to use those things. can we talk about how that effort is going in most soul and what the main u.s. role is there . guest: i think the security is going well. if you think about this two years ago, it was a defeated army. bay --ding the barricading the gates of baghdad. they have recovered their army,g, retrained their liberated about half of the isil controlled territory in iraq and they have now attacked to liberate most soul, the largest city held by the -- held by isil. pretty remarkable turnaround. our coalition forces

. and kale perry. thank you both for being here. start in syria. the russians have put an aircraft carrier off the coast of syria. actually control, a lot of people don't know this, a naval base in syria. they had said some time ago, vladimir putin said the mission is accomplished in syria, clearly it's not. this is important. russian strategic presence in syria. >> and a virtual no-fly zone when you look to the surface-to-air fly zones put in place. when you look at specifically where the u.s. and russia differ. >> hold on a second. fix your audio issue. got an audio issue. going to p.j. while we fix that. >> p.j., donald trump vowed to suspend the syrian refugee program and talked how whoa approach the crisis. listen to this. >> we all have a heart, and we'll build safe zones in syria. get the gulf states to pay for them, because we owes 20ds trillion. we don't need to pay anymore. we have to fix our own country, but we'll help them, and we'll get people that, frankly, have plenty of money to pay. and they'll be happy to do it. >> so there are some people who think this is a majo

that -- i think we have reached a point in the fight against isis in both iraq and syria and we're going to get into syria in a little bit. where politics matters more than the military challenge against isis. and mosul is a perfect example because there are so many -- so many stakeholders are involved in mosul and many people want a piece of the pie in mosul. unlike fallujah. fallujah was a military challenge. a political challenge but more of a military challenge then. it was up to the iraqi government and the americans to sort out what's the best formula in fallujah. but in mosul it's not up to the iraqi government or up to the americans to sort out what's best there. there are the kurds there and different kurds involved in there. the krg, the regional government doesn't have the support of everyone inside kurdistan to back certain political agendas in mosul. for example, you know, you're an expert in this. the turkish involvement inside iraq is a perfect -- is a good example because while president supported it, others opposed it. and you have also that pkk is a major concern

left in syria. so many people have left. charlie: what is happening in aleppo? the russians said that he would have some kind of cease-fire. dexter: all of that is a prelude to what is medieval fight to the death. eastern aleppo is cut off, under siege by assad's government. they have been bombing it relentlessly, bombing hospitals. it is horrible. essentially in the few days of cease-fire announced by the russians was the view a few days. anyone in the ones to leave, get out. after that, we are going in. charlie: retaking all of it? dexter: yeah, i think we should stand back for a second and look at what happened. the goal for assad and the russians is to capture all of aleppo which was the largest city in syria. essentially you have most of the population under government control. you have this long strip of cities going from aleppo to damascus over to the mediterranean. then, isis is relentlessly being crushed and squeezed in the east. raqqa will probably fall soon. liver becomes president of the united states is essentially we nowo be faced with control most of the country. g

whether that's happening in syria or libya or china. the challenge for a president and those who are advising the president. to have an overall strategy not just to worry about how we fix uplift particular problem. when it fits with what our goals are also around the world. he is playing a long game. he often talks about decisions to turning an aircraft carrier. we have to do to set a new course is to do great turns which means over a long distance or overtime nothing to be quite a shift. it often demands for much starker more severe term. it might be something that could capsize the ship. i think obama has the long game strategy and has tried to put america on the course for leadership over time not just today which i think is markedly improved today but also in the years and decades to come. >> eastman a specific and amount of time. with them particularly in egypt. an invasion of ukraine and also iran. this is some complex stuff. it's like sitting down and playing a game of war. which do you think in many ways gave obama the most headache. whether it is what is happening in lib

he'll choose wrong. >> thank you all so much. >>> next, an american service member killed in syria marks the first combat death for u.s. special forces in the war-torn country, not in that theater, though. details, after the break. >>> a u.s. service member has been killed in northern syria. this happened yesterday on thanksgiving day after an ied blast. still trying to work out details, but defense officials say the service member was part of the multi-national force fighting isis in syria. the service member's name has not been released but this is theers u.s. service member to be killed in syria, though not in the iraq-syria theater. one of the many conflicts facing the new trump administration. to talk about it, joined by global affairs analyst kimberly dozier along with cnn intelligence and security analyst and former cia analyst bob bair. to you first, kimberly. a lot we don't know about this casualty we've seen in syria and you know, i think we feel it, too, because it happened on thanksgiving. this -- they're going through that process right now i think. we think about that

and they want to close the borders first. syria's have suffered very much. why should they close the border in our faces? they should help us because we have gone through a lot of suffering and lost everything. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from marrakesh, morocco, from the u.n. climate summit. back in the united states, donald trump has chosen alabama jeff sessions. inwas elected the the senate 1990 six. as an alabama senator, he has consistently supported anti-immigration legislation. in 2010, he was a leading proponent of the effort to repeal the 14th amendment, which grant citizenship to everyone born in the united states. jeff sessions is also been a vocal opponent of the voting rights act. in 1986, president ronald reagan nominated sessions for a federal judgeship, but he was denied confirmation because of his history of racist comments, including reportedly saying he thought the ku klux klan was "ok, until i found out they smoked pot." he is also called the naacp an

ongoing civil war in syria, the irop nuclear deal, what policy positions can he favor or per sue to end the war in syria, and can he rip up the iran nuclear deal? >> the war in syria, please rr very much limited because much of it, when the uprising began in early 2011, much of what the russians have filled. whether aleppo will fall, that remains to be seen. trump is looking beyond syria. there will be continuity on the fight on isis in eastern syria and western iraq, but what he's looking at is cutting deals, for example, with mr. putin to reach an accommodation on syria and other places. regarding your point on iran, remember, the iran deal was a deal, which is legally binding, but he has space in terms of the sanctions against iran. he can make them stronger, upgrade them, but the problem he may run into is if he's going to hit european firms, he's back to where he was several years ago in terms of destabilizing relations with european partners. >> the chance of doing something against iran bilaterally is much more difficult. let me ask you about syria. do you see more military i

-elect trump's strategy for ending the war in syria. >>> later we'll be joined by a muslim-american woman who supports donald trump. we'll ask her if she would still support the president-elect if he implements a national registry for muslims, something else civil rights organizations are concerned about. stay with us. the medicare enrollment deadline is just a few weeks away. changes to medicare plans could impact your healthcare costs. are you getting all the benefits available to you? new plans are now available that could increase your benefits and lower how much you pay out of pocket. to update your coverage- or enroll for the first time -- call healthmarkets. we'll help you make sure you have the right medicare plan. hi, i'm doctor martin gizzi. it's a new medicare year. that means more changes... and more confusion. here's what i tell my patients... start by asking ... what kind of care is best for your current situation? have there been changes in your health or medications? the key question is: what can you do now, to ensure you get the care you need in the coming year? to

president-elect, we look at how donald trump may deal with syria. >>> we say good-bye to this lovely lady. tv's florence henderson has died. >>> thanks for joining us. i'm maxwell foster in london. this is "cnn newsroom." >>> we are learning of what is the thanksgiving table, president-elect is spending time with his family at mar-a-lago in florida. he said he is working hard trying to get the a.c. company, carrier, to stay in the u.s. and not move 1,400 jobs to mexico. the company became a flashpoint in the campaign when a worker said the company is moving to mexico. kellyanne conway highlighted the anger with mitt romney. a leading contender for secretary of state with this tweet. she told cnn she was only tweeting the same message she has been telling mike pence and donald trump in private. sources say trump will likely pick todd ricketts as deputy secretary of the commerce department. he comes from a family of major conservative donors. he and his team are busy filling cabinet posts. they are downplaying the fact that trump has been skipping the intelligence meetings. he h

presidential ones. laura: to syria now where at least 32 people have been killed after airstrikes hit a children's hospital and school in rebel held eastern aleppo, according to activists and medics in the besieged eastern part of that city. it's the second day of renewed bombing by either regime or russian forces. moscow is denying responsibility and claims it is still observing a cease-fire. meanwhile the syrian president says he hopes to work together with donald trump to combat terrorism in syria. the obama administration has vigorously opposed ass and his regimead, but comments during the campaign suggest the president-elect and be open to siding with russia and damascus. bethe united states could syria's natural ally in the fight against terrorism. stateng on portugal television, bashar al-assad said he would be ready to cooperate with donald trump's administration to combat the islamic state group. >> if the have the will and the ability, we have suffered more than anyone in the world from terrorists. what about the contravening forces? the mainstream media were against him. how

suspects had been guided from islamic state from iraq and syria via encrypted messages. and close to 100,000 people are forced from their homes as fire threatens-in israel. it is suggested that terrorists are behind the blame. coming up, we will take a look at business news, black friday in the united states. we will also see what happens in the "press review," with news from colombia about the renegotiated peace accord. nanticoke we begin in france with a final debate he held last night in the runoff french election. alain juppe and francois fillon squared off to become the conservative candidate and perhaps the president of france. delano desousa gives us a look at the intense point of the debate. >> a handshake to mark the start of a heated clash. alain juppe wasted no time in calling his rival too extreme, over a plan to pay public-sector for 37 hours for working 39 instead. workinge public sector, 39 hours for 37. it cannot be done. >> it is not fair. >> he accused alain juppe for being timid on reform. >> it shows alain juppe does not want real change. >> the two candidates are

against isis. why one aircraft is taking to the fight in syria. >>> and how will president-elect trump's foreign policy team take on the islamic state? we'll talk about it coming up. former army special forces captain benecolens will weigh in on the trump current cabinet picks. we'll be back. beneful is really excellent. the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i feel like when he eats beneful, he turns into a puppy again. you love it, don't you? you love it so much! (vo) try new beneful healthy weight with chicken. now with real chicken as the number one ingredient. [and her new business: i do, to jeanetgo. jeanette was excellent at marrying people. but had trouble getting paid. not a good time, jeanette. even worse. now i'm uncomfortable. but here's the good news, jeanette got quickbooks. send that invoice, jeanette. looks like they viewed it. and, ta-da! paid twice as fast. oh, she's an efficient officiant. way to grow, jeanette. get paid twice as fast. visit quickbooks-dot-com. >>> israeli fighters say they were defending a border r

member has been killed in syria. this is the first u.s. casualty in that country. the first u.s. death in that country in the fight against isis. we'll tell you what happened next on "new day." every tv doctor knows scrubbing is serious business. they also know you need to get your annual check-up. now with one touch using the mycigna app you can find a doctor in your plan's network to save money. need to be thorough. >>> welcome back to "new day." the u.s. military suffering its first combat day in syria on thanksgiving in an i.e.d. blast. underscores the dangers that u.s. soldiers face each and every day. joe johns is live at the white house with the very latest. joe, good morning. >> good morning, brooke. not a lot of information on this at this time from central command. we do know, as you say, a u.s. service member in northern iraq near raqqa northern syria was killed. this apparently was caused by an improvised explosive device. there are at any one time as many as 300 u.s. troops operating in syria. working in an advising role but we don't know precisely what they were do

their ideas. >> carpet bombing iraq and syria to try to get isis of course won't solve the problem. >> reporter: so fixing iraq isn't just about fighting. it's about strong ideas and ideals. and many here in the united states are questioning america's roam in providing them. >> you don't find thinking we can turn to the u.s. as being leader of the free world that will support human rights and the people against oppressive governments. that has shifted. >> reporter: so for an american president who talks so much about putting america first, many iraqis are have to keep watching and waiting to see what a trump presidency means for them. becky anderanderson, cnn. >> let's bring in our panel. michael weiss and kimberly dozier. good to see both of you. so trump has said that he is going to give his generals 30 days to come up with a plan to fight isis for starters. so kim, will a challenge like that involve potentially troops on the ground inside iraq or syria? >> well, remember, we already do have troops on the ground in iraq and syria, a small special operations force of roughly 300 p

on america, and some analysts have said this opens the door for russia, particularly in syria. maybe we just step away and say, well, our partners russia, they're going to help deal with this mess now. do you not think that that's plausible? >> absolutely. let me talk about syria because it's a good example. on the surface, american policy has been to overthrow the assad regime but in practice it actually hasn't been that at all. the united states blocked anti-aircraft weaponry and anti-tank weaponry until 2013 to the rebels. i was in syria talking to people resisting against the assad regime at the time, and they're desperate for weapons to defend themselves against the genocidal onslaught from bashar al assad. and what changed the calculus in 2013 was the rise of isis. then the u.s. started , in fits and starts, to send weapons or allow weapons from qatar and saudi to the syrian rebels. but to fight isis mostly. and even to this day, in fact today, president obama -- it was in "the washington post" today, i believe, that obama directed the pentagon to increase the targeting

. we're going to take threw, take you there live. h.r. 5732. s the caesar syria civilian rotection act. the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman -- >> as amended, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5732, a bill to halt the wholesale slauth over the syrian people, encourage a negotiated political settlement and hold syrian civil rights abusers accountable for their crime. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. royce, and the gentleman from new york, mr. engel, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the swrelt from california. mr. royce: i'm going to ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to enter any extraneous material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. royce: i'm also going to ask unanimous consent to put into the record letters regarding this bill. the speaker pro tempore: so ordered. mr. royce: i yield myself such time as i i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

positions like that because we have active american military that work in afghanistan, iraq, and syria. >> well, what the president-elect and the vice president-elect know exactly how serious this is. the magnitude of which we have to go and get this right. and that's part of the reason why they're making sure we get it right before we rush to judgment. and it's also important to keep in mind that president obama didn't have his entire cabinet name within that first week after he was elected in 2008 -- >> so we shouldn't expect announcements from the transition team on any more appointments today? >> i'm not going to go and qualify it as far as today but i'm going to say when they're going to announce it is when -- >> i ask you that because eric trump just came out and said that more appointments are expected to be announced today. >> it's when the president-elect is ready to pull the trigger and to make these people formal and finalize it. and he's not going to do it until he's ready with that decision. he's going to a process and i spoke with him this morning walking through some of

with the situation in syria is to cut a deal with russia, use their influence with assad to some how find our way to creating a state there. my belief is you'll have to do something like biden proposed in iraq, some kind of sectarian break up of the country. you have to do something like that and give them some little canton where they can free the rest of the country. maybe that's too complicated but maybe the russians can make that happen and end the blood bath. it can be done. >> this is absurd. that is what president obama has been trying to do. it doesn't work. these people do not have the interest. >> maybe there has to be a more so fist kated -- sophisticated approach. oddly enough the sitting president goes over to europe to reassure that the incoming president is okay with nato. yeah, nato but what about the eastern flank? putin knows something about the art of the deal too. >> what does he want? >> he wants freedom to do what he wants in the baltic and eastern europe. >>> when it comes to syria let's watch. >> if putin wants to go knock the hell out of isis i am all for

putin will be chief among them. with the ongoing conflicts in ukraine in syria, a rise of far right political parties in europe and the ideological affiliation with the kremlin, and alleged russian interference into the u.s. presidential election itself, the next u.s. president will need a clear and definitive strategy for addressing putin's russia. so today's conference convened top russian experts to bring a plurality of views and dialogue and i suspect a bit of debate with each other on these issues. here at the council we understand our series challenges posed by putin's russia which informed our work. these are challenges that could not only threatening global stability and security also undermine a rules-based international order. there are differing views over the next administrations russia policy should be. should the u.s. engage russia, or should we pursue more policy of containment, or even disruption? doubling down on our security commitments in europe and elsewhere deter or provoke russia? this'll be a difficult path for the next president to strike. it's striking that

syria. that tougher policy will be a mix of. includes ramping up sanctions which we have in place. reinvesting in our relationship with our allies. standing up to russia's human rights abuses, and of course, investigating russia's best export to the west. which is corruption. russia needs to clean up it's own act. and it's not about telling them what to do, it's our way or the highway, that is absolutely not what this is. but the point is that the russian people and people in any country should have the choice as to the path their country takes and the russian people do not have that choice. so containment has worked before and it can work again. >> and i'll just add because we have a little time and you said don't waste time, but let me explain. i think it's critically important that we bolster russia's neighbors. that we support democratic economic security development in all of these countries. whether they are nato members with article 5 guarantees which i think does put them on a different level or aspiring countries and having countries in the gray zone. countries like ukrai

troops in comb battle for the first time. with u.s. forces fighting and advising in syria and iraq. we asked war correspondent, holly williams to compare the campaign rhetoric with the campaign against isis. >> this new isis propaganda video shows the the treacherous urban battlefield in the fight for mosul. narrow streets that isis car bombs can slip down unnoticed. surprising the iraqi army with deadly blasted. president elect trump threatened to bomb the hell out of isis. but with around a million civilians in mosul, indiscriminately air strikes are impossible. >> i know more about isis than, than the generals do. believe me. >> during his campaign, mr. trump said he would send in up to 30,000 u.s. troops to take on isis. he would pressure other countries to fight instead. >> i would hit them so hard your head would spin. there is nobody bigger or better at the military than i am. >> reporter: on the ground in iraq, the u.s. spent two years of careful diplomacy, building a fragile co-legislation to fight isis. which the trump administration will now inherit. across the border in

another, iraq, libya, syria. naming john bolton, mr. neocon hawk as his secretary of state. how does that fit with you? sit with you? donald trump was that i liked the fact that he saw the iraq war as a mistake. he thought regime change was a mistake and the unintended consequences of regime change were basically that the world was less safe and that our national security was more endangered by regime change, so i like that about donald trump's campaign. him. that actually understands and has learned from the lessons of the middle east and i guess i worry that people like john bolton and, frankly, mayor giuliani, they have -- i would call them unrepenitent advocates for the iraq war. they don't seem to have learned anything the iraq war, they still defend it and both have advocated a bomb first ask questions later for iran and i don't think you want your chief diplomat to be an advocate for war. they might be good for that position but i want someone realist, that sees the world as it is. that person may not agree with me but i want someone who is an even keel who thinks about things

killed in syria in the fight against isis. what happened and what are military officials saying about this death? >>> and found alive. a missing mother of two reunited with her family three weeks after vanishing while jogging near her home in california. what authorities say about the search for her abductors. and let's start with the breaking news regarding the trump transition. we just learned within the past few minutes we will, meaning the public, will be getting new additions to the team trump later today. kristen welker is at mar-a-lago in palm beach. so crikristen, these are not bi names or positions but nevertheless, sounds as if the president-elect wants people to know he's working while away in florida. >> reporter: i think that's absolutely right, tamron. look. we're going to get the names of two more staff level members of his team later on today. so his administration coming into clear focus as you point out, these are not positions that require senate confirmation. these are folks who will be in the west wing with him and still we know he's working on trying to shape his

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struggle to survive in syria, casualties are non-non stop air strikes devastating aleppo. >>> we begin this amp with full steam ahead already today the president-elect trump met with former massachusetts senator scott brown and governor mary fallon and former texas governor, rick perry. >> i think i am the best person. there is some tremendous people out there. >> we got a wide range of issues and his plan and agenda for america and how i maybe able to help. >> he has all these different people to interview and consult with. until it is done, he's not in a rush to make this announcement. >> this is after a revolving door of a potential cabinet pick. you can call a parade even making his way to his home. questions about conflicts of interests posed by trump's businesses. we are covering all of these developments. we got cal perry and halie jackson and mark murray and kristen welker here to me in the st studio. run us to the latest, who is donald trump considering and who are the front runners? >> one of the front runners he met over the weekend, governor mitt romney and of course, what

emergency care. president obama says he's not optimistic about syria. as long as bashar al assad stays in power. >> this is a man who has decided that destroying his country, turning it into rubble, and seeing its population scattered or killed was worth it for him to cling to power. >> cnn correspondent will ripley live in turkey, istanbul, with more. hi, will. >> reporter: hi, carol. syria's president bashar al assad said in an interview just last week that he believed the u.s. president-elect donald trump could be a natural ally in his fight against terrorism. he promised to target terrorist targets in eastern aleppo yet what we have seen over the last week is a systemic destruction of the city's capability to care for the increasing number of injured patients and that's not even counting the routine medical needs of a quarter million people, people who have cancer, diabetes, other illnesses. they can't even get to see a doctor right now. all of the trauma hospitals are knocked out of service. any hospitals that are functional are at just a fraction of their capacity. the bloo

the face of war. a little girl in syria with more than 100,000 twitterer fa efoll but now without a home. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. >> from cnn world head quarters in atlanta. newsroom starts right now. ♪ >>> cuba is mourning its long-time leader fidel castro this week. 21-gun salutes will be fired at the beginning and end of the mourning period with his funeral next sunday. canons will be firing several time as day through most of the week as well. >> starting wednesday castro's ashes will take a ceremonial journey across the country, retracing in reverse the same route the former leader and his rebels took inward to seize power in 1959. >> but the grief in cuba is being matched buyout wide celebrations elsewhere at home. castro is considered a hero a father figure to a nation. >> it is a very different story in the cuban exile community. castro is a hated figure. described as a brutal dictator responsible for pain and suffering. the world may never agree on the man that castro was but the mark he leaves behind is undeniable. >> here

of his open views and the syria regime? you talked passionately about it and you ran against the killings of civilians. manypl the violence in syria. how do you act to president elect trump's statement that he want to support the syrian opposition, thank you. >> iran is a good example of the g gap. there was a robust debate of the merits of the iran deal before it was complete. and i actually was proud of how our democracy process that. it was a serious debate and people of goodwill on both sides of the issues. ultimately, we were able to persuade members of the politublic at least enough support him. at the time, the main argument is iran would not abide by the deal that they were cheap. we now have over a year of evidence that they have abide by the president. that's not just my opinion or my administration. they'll look at facts cause to unravel a deal that's keep in mind this was not an agreement between us and the iran people. it is between other countries. some are closest allies. for us to pull out would then require us to start sanctioning or china or russia that were sti

trying to do there is developed a crescent road from iran to syria to the assad regime in the mediterranean. -- and the mediterranean. >> that is part of what erdogan is doing, but the chessboard runs all the way to syria. in restraining us as he is in restraining the iranians, and he is very interested in restraining the kurds. he has established positions inside syria so that he can control kurdish desires for advancement and independence. there is a tendency to want to see turkey as a generally pursuing a lot of objectives that are antithetical to american interest and to stability in both syria and iraq. i think we need to be clear about what the turks are doing. >> just a follow on that point, if you look at what are no one one in the kurds have done in -- what erdogan and the kurds have done in northern iraq, it would be the equivalent of the mexican army sending and having the governor of texas say, you are free to stay here and the american army say no, you have kurds. to get out. this is a real black mark and blow to an iraqi sovereignty and the american project in ir

? >> well, i know you all saw the pictures of the mesh hostages -- the american hostages in syria in the orange jump suits who were beheaded by isis. and when i ran into this story, ali safan was working with david bradley. i had seen -- jim foley was the first to be killed, and that had already happened. and i was talking to ali in new york, and he told me that he was working with dade bradley -- david bradley to free other american hostages. and i just had to do that story. because i'd been so upset. jim foley was a reporter -- >> right. >> you know, part of our fraternity. so there's a bit of a logistics problem. david bradley is the publisher of the atlantic, and i work for the new yorker. [laughter] so i, i had to do a little negotiating. i called atlantic, and i said i'd like to write -- do this profile. and they said, we're going to do it. i said, you can't, you can't write about your publisher like that, you know? i defy you. and then i called my editor, and, you know, i want to write about david bradley. well, why would we want to do that? [laughter] so it took a little convinci

just said about the strong differences that you and president pugin have on the future of syria and the conflict there, can you talk about how you see that unfolding, both at the end of your tenure and at the beginning of donald trump's, and if your concerns that even if we eliminate the islamic state and eastern syria and westernthe cok about how you see that iraq, we may be allowing a permanent al qaeda safe haven around aleppo? you can you say to what extent the united states has fulfilled its responsibility to protect in that instance? in terms of finishing your job, last week you have exercised your executive authority on multiple fronts, finalizing oil and gas leasing rules on public lands as well as banninga five-year plan chilling in the arctic and atlantic great many republicans say you should hold off finalizing anymore rules as you are headed out the door because they oppose many of them and will seek to overturn them when they control both executive and legislative branches next year. what do you say to that suggestion? pres. obama: on the second these are the same repub

years. now to our top story line from paris -- live from paris. our top straight to story now in syria where airstrikes are once again pounding rebel held district in aleppo and elsewhere. the bombardment months and and to a positive clad the syrian government and russia four weeks ago. the story foring us from beirut and joins us now live from their. the launchannounced of a new major operation. what more can you tell us? inia: since russia announced operation yesterday, there has been an upswing in aerial attacks. long-range missiles. practicing it is targeting spots. they did not mention bombing the city of aleppo. yesterday for the first time, bombs had almost a good million from the city. a very intense wave of attacks yesterday and last night and this morning. those in the east of aleppo were largely expected over the weekend. they received warning before the bombing began. i think that timing of this new russian offensive is significant. the blitz began hours after vladimir putin spoke to president-elect donald trump and other coordination to combat international terrorism, leav

american killed in syria. the first american casualty in syria against isis. tom roussey has what we know. . new area where there is a strong islamic state presence, this part of northern syria, on thanksgiving day, the military says. a bomb went off and the injuries to scott deighton from the bomb ultimately led to his death. according to the defense department, scott deighton was from woodbridge. it's not clear how recently he had lived in woodbridge. he was most recently stationed in virginia beach. he soldier to die in combat against the islamic state in the nation of syria. he had a very long career in the military, since 1993. had been awarded 19 medals, including the bronze star. he was assigned to a unit whose job it was to dispose of bombs, and it was a bomb going off that ultimately led to his death yesterday in northern syria. reporting live in the newsroom, tom roussey, abc 7 news. the police have identified the 16-year-old girl shot to death in broad daylight in southeast washington. it happened near the corner of 12th and i street, right in front of the potomac garde

? >> well, i know you all saw the pictures of the mesh hostages -- the american hostages in syria in the orange jump suits who were beheaded by isis. and when i ran into this story, ali safan was working with david bradley. i had seen -- jim foley was the first to be killed, and that had already happened. and i was talking to ali in new york, and he told me that he was working with dade bradley -- david bradley to free other american hostages. and i just had to do that story. because i'd been so upset. jim foley was a reporter -- >> right. >> you know, part of our fraternity. so there's a bit of a logistics problem. david bradley is the publisher of the atlantic, and i work for the new yorker. [laughter] so i, i had to do a little negotiating. i called atlantic, and i said i'd like to write -- do this profile. and they said, we're going to do it. i said, you can't, you can't write about your publisher like that, you know? i defy you. and then i called my editor, and, you know, i want to write about david bradley. well, why would we want to do that? [laughter] so it took a little convinci

syria regime? you talked passionately about it and you ran against the killings of civilians. many people the violence in syria. how do you act to president elect trump's statement that he want to support the syrian opposition, thank you. >> iran is a good example of the g gap. there was a robust debate of the merits of the iran deal before it was complete. and i actually was proud of how our democracy process that. it was a serious debate and people of goodwill on both sides of the issues. ultimately, we were able to persuade members of the politublic at least enough support him. at the time, the main argument is iran would not abide by the deal that they were cheap. we now have over a year of evidence that they have abide by the president. that's not just my opinion or my administration. they'll look at the facts because to unravel a deal that's working. keep in mind this was not an agreement between us and the iran people. it is between other countries. some are closest allies. for us to pull out would then require us to start sanctioning or china or russia that were still abidi