or fight for syria or help the revolution in syria were supporting the regime of syria. nermeen: before we talk about the role of the u.s. in syria, i would like to ask dr. sahloul about comment that some have made the groups like al nusra another extreme islamist groups operating in east aleppo are keeping people hostage and using them as human shields in east aleppo. there have been reports that people in east aleppo fear leaving for the western part of the city because they are likely to be detained there as terrorists. dr. sahloul, could you comment on that and what you know of the situation of people attempting to flee east aleppo? >> when i was in aleppo just before the siege, i was there with two physicians from chicago . we frankly did not see al nusra. we visited all hospitals in aleppo. it is dangerous for me as an american doctor to be in a situation where you have an encounter with these terrorists. but we have not seen any signs for them, at least in the neighborhoods of the hospitals we visited. there might be a few fighters of al nusra in and around aleppo

>> iraq and syria? >> iraq and syria. >> easy. i'll start from the segue, the previous one, because i think your phrase stabilizing force makes sense. i don't think syria is ready for the demise of isis yet. i don't think we should talk about the day after yet because there are two things happening here. isis is a threat to the west and the way it operates in syria. there's no question about that. so that's a consideration. do you keep isis as a governing body in syria or not? and i think that has to be weighed against something else, and i think it's a very important one. if you expel isis today from raqqah and elsewhere, it's going to open a new conflict in syria. many low intensity, but very dangers conflicts in these areas. that's not to say keep isis, but to say that the necessary forces unfortunately washington was not ready to engage and work with are the right forces. these forces are the only forces are if they expel isis and if they're trained well to fill the void, i think this is a phrase that i will keep repeating. fi

it's similar with the russians in syria. >> you asked about syria and europe, first on syria, one other point to bare in mind, who are our closest allies on that part of the world, israel and jordan. the israelis have been quiet and the reason is they all want stability. old man assad gave them stability. unstable syria is a threat to jordan and their biggest worry is who crosses the border from syria and what kind of people are they and they undermine the delicate and from those prospectives getting rid of assad is not a guaranty at all unless you can guaranty stability. the american interest may not as be strong as syria as the russian interest is, but the american interest, if you believe that jordan and israel are america's allies is for a stable syria which is why i think our policy has been counterproductive because we have not supported the stable syria. >> and also i would add that assad keeps southern syria to a limited relative degree more stable than northern syria and that's the part of syria that's close to jordanian and israeli borders. i think one of the most important po

isil in syria and in northern syria. had to be figure out with a rifle owners are? we ask them, we ask the locals. it is our effort, and a lot of time and energy goes into recruiting folks from the local areas. for example, our local partner force will go to great lengths to recruit folks from the raqqa area to make sure that that forces representative of the local citizenry, and looks like them and is from them. you'll ask them -- we will ask them to govern themselves and secure themselves. the liberation force, which could come all over syria, will move on, but the force left behind will be folks from raqqa. an example of that, there are other towns and cities in northern syria turned back over to local people to govern and secure. host: back to the phones. barnett is waiting in marshall, north carolina. the line for democrats. marshall, good morning. caller: good morning. i have one question for the general. would you go please tell me -- would she -- would he tell me how many people are left over from blackwater? gue

one is syria and the other is iraq. we've kind of -- charlie: this was about syria. dexter: we are preserving the iraqi state and holding that together. charlie: or was the president right? dexter: i think president obama has made it clear that he thinks if we try to do more in syria, we are just going to make it worse. you get yourself involved down in the weeds in the middle east and you are just going to get tangled up and make it worse, but president obama has been very clear assad must go. that is the overall objective of american policy and has been. charlie: since the airstrikes again. began. dexter: i think he believes the assad government is the root of the problem. assad has not gone anywhere. clearlyed states has failed in that objective, i think. charlie: the second paragraph of your piece -- in the 5.5 years since the uprising began, it has been the most catastrophic war of our young century and assad is the most vilified national leader in the world. as many as 400,000 syrians are dead and nearly half the country's population has been driven from their

because of the dramatic tragedy that is occurring every day in syria. the mass migration that has been sparked. the way the conflict is in many ways what were seen in the world. that's not to say that there's a bunch of easy answers that the president and those of us who are advising that we decide not to take the easy way out. just like a dr. sometimes need to deal with the disease that there's no single cure for. on the best the dr. can do is mitigate and buy time into try to extend the life of the patient it's applicable to foreign policy foreign-policy as well. there are problems that defy easy solutions. they have that. it's not doing something or doing nothing if the in between. we've seen things that we can bring to try to affect an outcome but it's all been very difficult. >> in the book you talk about obama was big on that. he encouraged it that is not do this or do that. it's about finding some kind of compromise in the middle. you also point out that obama's critics call and say it makes the u.s. look weak in the eyes of the world. it is a bi

a province in syria. how did you come from syria to morocco? i came from syria, then i crossed into lebanon and i stayed for one year in lebanon. and i have prepared my passport before the war. when the war waged, it became very tough for me. and i have six daughters and three youths. i had to flee from there to .orocco i came from beirut, then came to algeria, then i crossed into morocco. >> what did you come to morocco? is this your final destination or do you hope to go elsewhere afterwards? i have never left syria, and this is the first i've had to leave the country. we came here to morocco and we thought we would stay four or five months and then make it back to syria, but now i'm here for more than two years. we never thought we would be staying in morocco for so long. >> how is your life in syria -- how did it change? what is the situation there right now? >> my life in syria was very good. as a poor person, i had a very good life in syria i was working with people. but because of the war, i had to leave. now i came with no money and i'm

get to syria. so one of the ways through was exactly the routes that are now being leveraged, although less so, which is to move through southeastern turkey to smuggle yourself across the boarder and to go across. so this brings us back into how, you know, isis should not be thought of as simply, and a lot of howard's work as well and both hasan and jessica as sort of a boots on the ground military force that can be beaten back, but it has these tentacles of bureaucracies that have outlived significant pressure being put upon them, and they ebbs tend out into the region -- extend out into the region. it's not just a battle in mosul and telefar on the road. that road stops someplace, and in this town, in washington, there's a lot of talk now of putting simultaneous pressure on the islamic sate. so we have -- state. so we have the pressure on mosul, put pressure on them at the same point in raqqa. but a lot of -- and i would say whereas the coalition in iraq is stitched together, and i would say it's

are going to go into syria. i mean, a lot of them came from syria to fight in mosul. so, essentially, that battle going to move into syria. assad actually talked about that. >> rose: what did he say? that's what's going to happen? >> yeah, essentially, again, it was a conspiracy, but he said, look, he said, this whole -- you know, the americans fighting i.s.i.s., that's all theater. he said, what they're really going to do is push i.s.i.s. into syria, so we have to fight him here. >> rose: they've retaken mosul and the iraqis are in that fight, aren't they? >> yeah, they are, but the americans are in the sky dropping bombs. i think what's really problematic about what's happening in mosul is that you have this really large number of shiite militias fighting there on the side of the iraqi government and the united states, supported and trained and directed by the iranians. the republican guard, the i.r.g.c. are on the ground in iraq. >> rose: and in syria. absolutely. so i think what is likely to happen, you know, mosul will probably fall, i.s.i.s. will be pushed out,

let me ask you about syria. do you see more military involvement in syria for the united states under trump? >> no, i think if you're looking at eastern syria and the war against isis, yes, the potential upgrade of it, strengthening of it, but it's important to see. if you look at the initial appointments, for example, national security adviser, flynn. also you have the cia director, representative congressman pompeo. people are thinking this is going to be -- it's heart starting to form to be a hawkish nati s key thing, i don't think it's a neocon time that's going to want to redesign the middle east and the region, but it's going to be mostly one that says on a limited basis, when you mess with america, we'll hit you and hit you hard. >> unless they get john bolton, no neocon in the state department. >> remains to be seen. >> all right, well, let's take a quick look at the weather, but a live report from japan on the powerful earthquake that rocked the northern part of the country process. >> meanwhile, parts

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 major global issue and a lot of amer

out of syria's civil war. joining me now is former u.s. ambassador to syria ted ka tctu. the last remaining children's hospital in aleppo was bombed last week. we didn't hear a word or a tweet from president-elect trump, who seems to be more preoccupied with "the new york times" and the "hamilton" crowd last night at that play in new york. i'm curious to get your take on the silence from president-elect trump on syria. >> if you look back over the course of the presidential campaign, ayman, i don't recall that human rights was discussed by trump or his surrogates at all. so i don't find it surprising. as you noted, he wants to have his own reset of relations with putin's russia and wants to focus on the terrorist groups such as isis and what used to be called the nusra front, groups of that ilk. that's the reason we've seen people like president sisi in egypt welcoming the election of donald trump because they won't get the lectures from president obama and hillary clinton's department of state. >> let me ask you about that reset, ambassador. donald trump appears to be pu

we'll do it in syria. we'll get the gulf states to put up the money. >> reporter: they there have be calls for arab states to do more to help the refugees. so far, they have gone unanswered. they would rather keep this messy web of a patch work of fighters and jihadi forces and others. all armed to the teeth fighting in syria. what president-elect trump can do to untangle it remains to be seen. becky anderson, cnn, abu dhabi. >>> police in france searching for a suspect after a woman found dead in the retirement home. the masked man forced his way into the home and tied up a staff member and she was able to free herself and call police. the knife was used to kill the victim and it appears she was the intended target. police do not think the attack was terror related. >>> police in the uk look looking into the deaths of a few men. steven port was found guilty of murdering four gay men and sexually assaulting seven more. now deaths previously thought drug overdoses are reviewed after concern and criticize fo

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. this is not the first death in iraq and syria, and this may not be the last. i think we can say that, because this is certainly an ongoing situation, but what do we know and what don't we know? >> we know that there are roughly 300 u.s. special operators and also the people who support them. eod, pbomb technicians. >> just in syria? >> just inside syria who go in and out fromatic, mostly based in that area. doing a couple missions. helping the defense, including kurdish forces really taking the brunt of the fight to isis in the outskirts

israel says this isn't a direct involvement in to syria. they have no plans of getting deeper involved there. they want to maintain the quiet along the border there. and this was a one offing. larger question, though, is, does this represent any type of shift on the part of isis and other mill grants groups? they try to stage a larger presence along the israeli/syrian border, that's sort of a larger question. as this unfolded this morning, there's a large battle going on for aleppo. regime troops continue to push deeper and deeper into rebel-held area of the large syrian city of aleppo. this is the big fight we are seeing day in and day out in syria these days, elizabeth. the russian-backed troops or regime backed by assad push deeper into aleppo and increasingly rebels are pushed out of allotted territory that they held just a few weeks ago. and the assad regime is asserting much more control over places like aleppo, damascus and other places across syria. elizabeth? >> very tense. connor powell reporting live, thank you. >>> let's bring i

talk in the more recent syria. the security council in russia has blocked efforts of the security council to actually investigate as war crimes actions right now. the infrastructure, the hospital, the schools. it's able to block investigations by the icc. basicallyked goods -- a slap in the face to the icc. saying you're not going to lord it over us and say things about us we don't like. at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. in eastern ukraine, they're looking into russia's possible alleged use of russian forces in helping separatists in fomenting that conflict in eastern ukraine. russia clearly did not like it. dispute divided the art world. it could either be one of the most important discoveries in recent years are a very well-crafted fate. experts cannot agree on the authenticity of 65 drawings that could have been the work of vincent van gogh. it's been hailed as the biggest art discovery in years. unsigned drawings that are said to be the work of vincent van gogh. a sketchbook with an unusual f

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 united nations security council 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. he's talked about a tougher military strategy. do you see more military involvement in syria for the united states under trump? >> no, i think if you're looking at eastern syria and the war against isis, yes, the potential upgrade of it, strengthening of it, but it's important to see.

i don't think they can regain all of syria. but the danger here, it's an excellent question, is all of these -- some of them are moderate rebels. it's a very complex situation with a very splintered syrian resistance to assad. but any semblance of moderate rebel who believed in the west, if the u.s. walks away very clearly under trump, that will push them towards radicalism. many of them have turned radical. doing nothing to help aleppo will lead more young syrians to join isis and other radical groups. they will use this, radical groups will use the lack of action in aleppo as 250,000 civilians face this onslaught as an effort, as proof that there's a double standard. the west cares about western lives but not the lives of innocent civilians in syria. >> david rohde, thanks so much. >>> still to come, airports are already crowded with the holiday time. now a strike at chicago's airport could make things even worse. pany won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no,

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

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 iraq. >> turkey is a nato ally. what does it say to you that a nato ally is saying iraqi us as our interests. >> turkey is now functioning as an empire. this is not the behavior of a good ally. turkey is not in iraq in order to help us. that is not what is happening. as we pursue approaches antithetical to turkish interests, like backing

somewhere in northern syria not far from raqqah, the self-proclaimed capital of isis. that the united states and allies try to encircle and cut off to try to essentially destroy the battle with isis. secretary carter issued, saying yesterday on thursday, i am deeply saddened by the news on this thanksgiving day that one of our brave service members has been killed in syria while prekting us from the evil that is isil. it is a painful reminder of the dangers our men and women face throughout the world to keep us safe. remember, during the past month or so, two major operations have been launched to defeat isis throughout iraq and mosul and in raqqah. the two cities about 200 miles apart and these are major operations that the united states is trying to execute during the waiting days of the obama administration and try to really destroy and deliver a devastating blow to isis before president obama leaves office. so one service member has been killed in syria, so far, there have been four who have been killed in iraq. these are relatively small numbers and we're taking a

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 against one of the -- the al qaeda franchise in syria whom is an integral in the rebel movement. it's also a major opponent to assad. objectively what's happened is that the united states has given a few weapons to t

the airspace is limited so now what are we going to start world war iii over syria? >> joining me, senator bob corker of tennessee, chairman of the foreign relations committee and possible pick to be the next secretary of state. what do you make about what you've been hearing. trump says he's oppose to the iraq war, he supports russia in being our partner with syria. he opposes the nuclear deal with iran. those positions? >> syria has two efforts under way as i know you know well and one is the effort against isis but there's a whole other conflict under way and that's the civil war that's taking place between "moderate syrians" kurds and others against the assad regime so you have two efforts under way so i think we could, in fact, coordinate with russia as it relates to isis but we're on different sides as it relates to the civil war taking much more complicated than just for me to just nantz a patent way as you well know. and the territory has gotten interwoven and overlapped and even if we deal with isis, if we exterminate isis, we still have this raging civil wa

three out of the five user went to syria or tried to go to syria. it is believed they were not in direct contact with the other man who was arrested in but investigators believe it both of these groups were separately in contact with who is guidinga them toward carrying out a spectacular attack of some sort on december 1. nancy: can we listen just a moment to what the prosecutor had to say? the antiterrorist prosecution begins today. an investigation on charges of involvement in a criminal terrorist cell with plans for attacks on civilians, of acquiring, storing, and transporting illegal arms and munitions, category a and all with ties to a terrorist organization. bethe five individuals will presented before a specialist magistrate before being investigated and placed in temporary custody. nancy: given all this new information, what is the terrorist threat to france at the moment? the prosecutor told us at the beginning of this press conference that the threat level remains extremely high. this attack was slated for the first of december. we are app

now hillary clinton has called for a no-fly zone over syria. incredibly, that would be a mistake even more reckless than invading iraq. since most of the plain planes flying over syria today or russian planes. would do worse than involve us in a messy civil war. it would risk a direct nuclear conflict. what explains this eagerness to escalate a dangerous situation? how can hillary clinton be so wildly overoptimistic about the varieties of war. i would suggest that it comes from a lot of practice from a lock time our elites have been in the habit of denying difficult realities. that's how bubbles form. the hard problem, but people want to believe in an easy solution. they'll be tempted to deny reality and inflate a bubble. something about experience of the baby boomers whose lives have been so much easier and their parents or their childrens has led them to buy into bubbles again and again. the trade bubble says even's a winner, the war bubble says victory is just around the corner. but these overoptimistic stories simply haven't been true, and

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

with respect to syria. in benghazi, we had an international mandate and un secu coalition and we are able to carry out support submission that achieved the initial goal of preventing benghazi from being slaughter fairly quickly. it is no secret. you know this region well that syria is a much more messy situation with proxies coming from every direction. and, so i wish that i could halt immediately. we have made every effort to bring about a political resolution to this challenge, john kerry, have spent an infinite amount of time trying to negotiate are russian and other pa do we have the capacity to carry out that same kind of military action in syria than we did in libya, the situation is different. we don't have that option easily available to us. we are going to have to continue to try to pursue as best we can and a political solution and in the interim putting as much pressure to the party to arrive fire that is alleviate the suffer that's on the ground. i recognize that has not worked. and, it is somet

except when terrorists from syria leave syria to go kill someone outside. historians might judge president obama's foreign policy in syria. >> what about where the united states is as a country? our place in the globe. sort of things that you worry about and fret about every day and think about and write about. what does it say about the united states that we've sat on our hands over the past six years and watched syria dissolve and millions of refugees flood out. is that the new standard for the united states of america? if it is, how trouble is that? >> i don't necessarily think it's the new standard for the united states. i would say what it says is that we're a traumatized country. after 15 years of engagement, really difficult engagement in wars in two muslim countries, the president was merely responding, i think, in some ways. he led this in some ways but responded in other ways to the america's public general fatigue with the middle east, with going into muslim countries and trying to reorder them. i think maybe we're at the bottom of a curve here.

so back inside syria, if you've got the u.s. and russia and turkey all working together to defeat isis, you at least diminish one player on the board. the problem with that is in the aftermath al qaeda has been predicted to grow in strength if isis is weakened. and we don't seem to have a plan for that having more forces on the ground if syria be they russian american or turkish doesn't diminish the fact that these are in some cases local forces, they will be able to go underground and commit to a wrong term insurgency campaign that syria will be fighting for some time to come. >> so do you see this trump administration being able to work with these neighboring countries, those who are committed thus far in this fight so that like kimberly was laying out iraq doesn't have to increase or come up with a new agreement that would allow more troops, more u.s. troops on iraqi soil? >> well, technically the iraqi armed forces and the shia militia groups have the manpower to retake the terrain. but it's the post-isis conditions you have

troops operating in syria. working in an advising role but we don't know precisely what they were doing. the defense secretary ash carter did release a statement yesterday that said in part, i'm deeply saddened by the news on this thanksgiving day that one of our brave service members has been killed in syria while protecting the u.s. from the evil of isil. as you say, brooke, it points up the danger in syria, even though these people are supposed to be working in an advisory capacity. back to you. >> all right, joe johns at the white house. thanks so much. our hearts go out to that family. >>> a california mother has been found alive on the side of the road three weeks after she went jogging and never came home. she was bound and dumped on the side of interstate 5 and managed to flag down a passing car. this is about nearly 150 miles from her home. police are now looking for two armed women who allegedly abducted her. >>> federal investigators are now leading the manhunt for the gunman who killed two people an

as you know syria and russia are working to the in syria, and mr. trump admired vladimir putin, senator john mccain worries about trump's desire to improve relations with vladimir putin and russia. he said quote at the very least the price of another reset would be complicity if putin and assad butcher the syrian people. that is an unacceptable price for a great nation. when america has been at its greatest is when we have stood on the side of those fighting tyranny. this is where we must stand again. so what do you see happening colonel francona? >> well, syria is a basket case. our policy in syria unfortunately hasn't changed since 2011. we're still demanding the removal of bashar al assad, and of course that's been complicated by the rise of isis. and now we've had to shift our focus from supporting the opposition to going after isis. and now, with the interference, and the intervention by the russians and the iranians and hezbollah and all the other forces you've got a -- a really mixed playing field there. and that we haven't adapted our policy

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 gardens apartmen

rush has to be done with syria. this can't go on like this forever and it's going to involve a solution with russia i think in the end. and so have a sit down and navigate that, do they compartmentalize it the way that john kerry seems to be trying to do? and then you get into ukraine and nato and all the other issues. one other thing i would say is what often focus on our policy here, but to a great degree you can blame the deterioration of relationships in the bush administration and the obama administration on russian actions. the invasion of georgia in 2008, the invasion of ukraine in 2014. we can manage a relationship. i think we have to but we can't assume it's all in our hands to fix. >> michael, did you want to jump in? >> i'm wondering if we can blame it all on russia. i was in a meeting with russian foreign minister andrei in 1996, and he was very concerned about the effect of nato expansion on the prospects for further democratization of russia. his argument was what i you guys doing? if you care about re

and meanwhile in syria that they resume the rebels over syria. as the regime will continue to press for the control of aleppo that the humanitarian crisis there is only getting worse. the food and water in short supply. injuries from connor powell fox news. >>> iraqi special forces will continue their offense from the thousands of isis fighters in mosul as civilians flee. the u.n. office plans to open 11 refugee camps for as many as 120,000 mosul residents as they also say that they are holding some civilians hostage using them as human shields. this is day 20 of the mosul offenses. >>> authorities in south carolina found another body at rural property where a woman was found chained in a shipping container. the spartanburg county sheriff said that her remains were uncovered at one of two places that the suspect said were grave sights. authorities say that he has not said who was buried in either location. he's a convicted sex offender who was found guilty of kidnapping and raping a 14-year- old girl in arizona back in 1987. deputies say he has c

syria has much more broad-reaching goals about expansion. so i don't, i don't think that the syrians want to divide it, but practically speaking some solution has to be reached. my feeling is that we have to understand the russians if we want to have some way of resolve toking this question -- resolving this question. the russian border is 600 miles from syria. that's a distance from here to el paso. and, you know, they have a far finish there are so many russians that have been going to fight in syria and so many isis recruiters in moscow that, you know, we have to acknowledge that they have a much more driving interest in that part of the world than we do. and if we're not going to get into it and really stay, then we should try to make some kind of political accommodation with the parties that are going to be there. >> we have time for one last question. we're under fife minutes, please -- five minutes, please. >> mr. wright, i want to go back to "the looming tower" and to the beginning of "the looming tower." .. ÷÷÷÷ am i right, what

the 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,

syria has much more broad-reaching goals about expansion. so i don't, i don't think that the syrians want to divide it, but practically speaking some solution has to be reached. my feeling is that we have to understand the russians if we want to have some way of resolve toking this question -- resolving this question. the russian border is 600 miles from syria. that's a distance from here to el paso. and, you know, they have a far finish there are so many russians that have been going to fight in syria and so many isis recruiters in moscow that, you know, we have to acknowledge that they have a much more driving interest in that part of the world than we do. and if we're not going to get into it and really stay, then we should try to make some kind of political accommodation with the parties that are going to be there. >> we have time for one last question. we're under fife minutes, please -- five minutes, please. >> mr. wright, i want to go back to "the looming tower" and to the beginning of "the looming tower." ..

prospects in syria. iran made aand acision to back assad in andal air campaign, essentially a pacification of aleppo regardless of the potential for civilian casualties, children being killed or wounded, schools or hospitals being destroyed, then it was very hard to see a way in which even a ttrained and committed moderate opposition his ground for long periods of time. and, the issue that obviously i've wrestled with for the last five years, how involved should whethered states be, our legal constraints in such involvement, what are our strategic interests? those haven't changed. i continue to believe that we basis forve a legal military intervention there, that it would have been a strategic mistake given the work we still had to do in iraq, counter-isil campaign, ongoing thattions in afghanistan, we have worked tirelessly to arrive at political transition of some sort, and they could alleviate the suffering and provide humanitarian access. and, we will continue to do that until the lasty day that man

with respect to syria. in benghazi, we had an international mandate coalition and we are able to carry out support submission that achieved the initial goal of preventing benghazi from being slaughter fairly quickly. it is no secret. you know this region well that syria is a much more messy situation with proxies coming from every direction. halt immediately. we have made every effort to bring about a political resolution to this challenge, john kerry, have spent an infinite amount of time trying to negotiate are russian and othe do we have the capacity to carry out that same kind of military action in syria than we did in libya, the situation is different. we don't have that option easily available to us. we are going to have to continue to try to pursue as best we can and a political solution and in the interim putting as much pressure to the party to arrive fire that is alleviate the suffer that's on the ground. i recognize that has not worked. and, it is something that i continue to think about everyday

we have seen this in other parts of syria. the united nations estimates there are nearly a million people living under siege in eastern aleppo and other parts of the country. the vast majority are in rebel held areas and we are seeing the siege take its toll and when you talk to people there and we have been talking to so many residents over the past few weeks and there has always been this fear that what happens in aleppo happens in other places. where it is going to be the starve or surrender where people will have no optioning but to surrender. there was a feeling that this was a mat of time before we saw this playing out. >> there is a statement from unicef that points out an estimated half a million children trapped in war torn parts of syria and of that, 100,000 possibly in aleppo itself. children who are trapped in what is just a hellish situation and we saw this image, if we could take it full screen. i'm sure you've seen this image of the little girl who has gained traction online, on twitterer as 100,000 followers bu

service member killed in the battle against isis in syria. the first to die in combat there. the service member, whose name has not been released, died from wounds sustained in an ied blast in northern syria. he was one of some special operations forces on an advise and assist mission in syria. >>> and from iraq, a horrific suicide bombing near bag dad, killing scores of shiite muslims on a religious pilgrimage. it comes as isis is losing ground in the battle for mosul, and there's fear that loss could cause them to lash out elsewhere. here's alex marquardt. >> reporter: the massive blast from a suicide truck bomb, just scene, and at least 60 people dead. many of those killed in the attack, which was quickly claimed by isis, were religious pilgrims from iran. in iraq, for a religious holiday, which has been seen as a potential isis target. isis has been under assault in mosul. their last foothold in iraq. as their so-called caliphate crumbles, they have lashed out to distract and weaken the u.s.-backed effort to root them out. there is serious concern that as isis loses groun

if you look at syria, for example, is he going to get more involved in syria or agree with russia that what bashar al assad is doing right now is in fact a counterterrorism campaign, joint alliance with russia? frankly, there are a lot of concerns and some are legitimate. >> nbc news chief foreign correspondent. gentlemen, thank you, we appreciate it. >>> breaking news right now from capitol hill. vice president-elect mike pence is holding meetings at the transition office and finished up a closed door visit a short time ago and talked with our colleague kasie hunt as he walked out and kasie joining us live. give me a sense about those meet l l ings right now and give a little bait to get him talking. what did he have to say to you and what do we know about what he did privately? >> reporter: i think this was really the first celebratory moment for elections. there's uncertainty about what it will mean. i think republicans expected hillary clinton to win this election and a lot of looking around and thinking, okay, how are we going to go forward from here? i think mike pence gave them