syria is a sanctuary. pakistan for 14 years has provided two sanctuaries and has unnecessarily protracted hat war. as to iran, in 1980 iran declared the united states as a strategic enemy with its stated goal to drive the united states out of the region, achieve regional hegemony, and destroy the state of israel. it uses proxies, primarily as the world's number one state sponsoring terrorism, and to fight proxy wars. beginning in the early 1980's, it began jihad against the united states by bombing the marine barracks, united states embassy, and the annex in lebanon, something our ambassadors intimately familiar with, united states embassy in kuwait, the air force towers in saudi arabia, and attacking the united states military in iraq using shia militias trained in iran with advanced engineers. during the 1980's, iran began an aggressive kidnapping and assassination campaign which resulted in numerous american hostages and the death of cia station chief buckley. a policy of hostage-taking for political ga

russia and syria have taken sides. we need to be clear that we stand against them and that we stand with our allies. saudi arabia, yes, we have differences, no doubt. but saudi arabia has been kind of the bedrock of our regional security policies since fdr met siloed on the deck of the quincy on the decket saud of the quincy in 1945. the saudis went into yemen without consulting us. they told us a little bit in advance, but they didn't consult us. we have to shore up some of these relationships. you start with your traditional yourds, then you move to adversaries, not the other way around. >> it's an important question. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and then queue for bringing a tremendous amount -- and thank you for bringing a tremendous amount of wisdom and experience to the table. i think we have learned a tremendous amount about how we approach this. i am concerned basically since 9/11, basically, when most people in america think we started our gauge min in that area. i am sure it started many years before that and

strategy for iraq, syria, syria, and the global jihadist threat. my former colleague and your friend michael who described the threat that isis poses, phthisis threat is nested in several other conflicts that are raging across the middle east. civil war in secretary and conflict, the global jihad and the proxy row between saudi arabia and its allies in iran. my opening statement i would like to put a few thoughts on how you a strategy needs to be intensified and accelerated to deal with these challenges. >> the aims of this regimen middle east should be threefold. want to prevent a major attack on the u.s. homeland and defeat the jihadist threat, too to reassure allies and partners can taint iran, and three to restore a favorable of power across the middle east. i will discuss in turn what i believe are needed adjustments to our strategy in syria and iraq against the global jihadist and iraq. beginning with syria, seriousness center of gravity for the middle eastern conflict. it is where the battle of the middle east is being waged. the coalition t

let's start with syria and go to iraq. because syria is isis' center of gravity. what they're doing in iraq is occupying sunni lands. but in syria, it's from syria that they have expanded into those affiliates i have described on the maps and it's from syria that they are creating a worldwide following to kill their fellow citizens to forement disagreement between muslim and non-muslim populations. so syria truly matters as a center of gravity but it's a more complex problem. when you talk to leaders, sunni leaders unequivocally they will tell you that iran is their number one problem. that is their issue. and that's why that -- i put that map up there, because sometimes a visual picture tells an incredible story of what their concern is. that is their number one existential threat to the stability and security of their nation. isis is a threat. make no mistake about it. but it is second. so when you enter into a discussion with them about we want to do something about isis in syria and we're going to need your forces to do it, they said what they will do is defer

they have no relationship with these troops, fighters in syria. they need to get people on the ground, look people in the eye, try to figure out who is worth supporting, who should we drop ammunition to, who is actually effective on the ground and who might not be changing sides >>> when these critics are out there saying we don't know who we're giving the stuff to, these are what these troops do. you talk about 50. is there a likelihood that more will be sent? >> if they're able to find the troops that the u.s. can support and they are having success and the u.s. give them ammunition and help them along and they can find more, the u.s. could very well send in more special operations forces. in the future they could do in syria what they are doing in iraq, partner with those troops on essential raids. right now the u.s. is not at the level of come tort with them in syria as they are in iraq >>> what about the cost. the pentagon says we have spent more than 5.3 billion dollars since the operations began in august of 2014. that comes out to about 11

and for the health workers in syria? it is access, access to the people in need and also to send supplies. what we have seen is that and we have reported on this consistently is that surgical supplies and this is how they define surgical supplies and it's not only surgical supplies and they are being removed when they get approval from the central level i'm constantly facing for example in homs that the national security forces are removing therapy for children with diarrhea and going to send this and they are removing needles and they are removing syringes and appealing for immobilization to take place across syria. there are many areas where this is not happening. this should be the right of every child and every family. before the crisis as we reported over 90% of the children were vaccinated routinely in syria. today this has dropped to less than 50% and in many areas for example in pockets in idlib it's less than 10% and also we have areas in the besieged and not vaccinated for two years and we have outbreaks of mea

let's start with syria and then go to iraq because syria is isis center of gravity. what they are doing in iraq is occupying sunni lands but in syria gets from syria that they have expanded into those affiliates i have described on the maps and it's from syria they are creating a worldwide following to foment disagreement between muslim and non-muslim populations. so syria truly matters and the military is the center gravity but it's also complex problem. when you talk to leaders, sunni leaders unequivocally they will tell you that iran is the number one problem. that is their issue. and that's why put that map up there because sometimes a visuae story of what their concern is. that is my number one existential threat to the stability of the nation. isis is a threat, make no mistake about it that it is second so when you enter into a discussion with them about me want to do something about isis in syria and we are going to need your forces to do it, they said what they will do is differ about and come back with we have to do something about assad first. we have to do

in syria in 2014. director brian oaks was a close friend of foley's since their childhood. >> he was not there, you know, to be the story. he was trying to tell the stories of the syrians. i wanted this film to help jim bring those stories back to the surface and show people like what he was doing over there. >> reporter: the story of an rap music loving teenage girl from afghanistan growing up as an illegal immigrant in iran when director learned the girl's family planned to sell her as a child bride, she stepped in. >> her mom came to take her back to afghanistan my film maker was very excited and happy but then my human side was like oh, i'm not going to see sonita any more and her life will be ruined so i entered the movie myself. >> she now attends school in the u.s. and campaigns against child marriage. >> the movie has changed my life and now i'm able to change the life of other girls. >> reporter: it's a good time to be a documentary film maker thanks to new platforms for distribution. televisi

. >>> syria is probably the most dangerous applies on earth now to be a child. >> an appeal for syria's most vulnerable humanitarian agencies warn an entire generation could be lost. >>> welcome live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up, the syrian army retakes the key town, gaining leverage ahead of a new round of talks. >>> stock market panic in china, investors sell their shares, causing the market to foul by more than 6%. >> praying for a new life by thousands of ethiopia jews calling on israel to open its doors. >> if the current momentum is lost, all syrian parties will regret it. that's the stark warning given by the u.n.'s humanitarian coordinator in direct talks on the syrian crisis are due to get underway in geneva on friday. the war is described as probably the most devastating crisis in the 21st century. saying half of the population that lived in syria in 2010 has been displaced by the conflict. the june receive representative in syria says more than 250,000 people died in the fighting with children, bearing the brunt of the war. >> syria is probably the most dange

let me start with syria and go to iraq because syria is isis's center of gravity. what they are doing in iraq is occupying senior land but in syria, it is from syria that they have expanded into those of the elites are described on those maps and it is from c areas they are killing fellow citizens to foment this agreement between muslim and non muslim populations. so cereus tremendous as a center of gravity but it is much much more complex problem. when you talk to leaders, sunni leaders unequivocally they will tell you that iran is their number-1 problem. that is their issue. that is why i put that map up because sometimes a visual picture tells an incredible story of what their concern is and that is their number-1 existential threat to the stability and security of their nation. isis is a threat make no mistake but it is second. when you enter into discussion with them about we want to do something about isis in syria and we are going to need your forces to do it, they said what they will do is defer that and come back with we have to do something about bashar a

>> isis in syria as much as syria -- isis in iraq is a bit of simulated. in with the kurds on, the kurds have effectively we claimed in syria as well as in iraq. and by the way, we should use that as evidence the isis certainly isn't 10-foot tall. we put together a fairly decent representative ground force supported by effective airpower can we can do the isis. >> that thing that happened in ramadi. >> yes. the problem we have is the ground forces fighting assad and that is essentially the largest force fighting assad are sunni, syrian arabs. >> and, therefore, getting rid of assad should be a priority. >> that is what the ambassador and i have been saying, that assad remains a priority but for those, certainly to get off the status quo in this humanitarian catastrophe that we are facing, which is contributing to migration challenges but it also enables isis to thrive, because the sunni arabs are not going to cross that border and fight isis while the iranians are propping up the assad regime. >> you would have the syrian army post the moderate opposition

that's because they back opposing sides in syria's civil war. in fact, in almost every contentious area and issue facing the middle east today, syria, israel, yemen, and the flow of oil to the world, iran and the u.s. are on opposite sides. nowhere is that more apparent than in the straight of hormuz, a narrow waterway that connects oil tanker traffic between the waters of the gulf and the indian ocean. at its narrowest point just 21 miles separates iran from the countries of the aarabian peninsula on the other side. let me give you a sense of how much a choke point it is. across the strait, there are nuclear facilities, iran considers that a threat and says it will mine this strait if it field a threat. it has done it before. doing it for other vessels too. besides military force iran has many ways of wielding power and influence in the middle east. it also uses its soft power to win the hearts and minds of people living in the region. >> iran has a natural soft power in the hearts and minds of the shia populations in this part of the world an

his family is from syria, the hamas section of syria. he feels so strongly about the war that is killing these innocent people in syria that dr. muhammad salul literally risks his life every few months to go to syria and to treat the victims of that war and violence. his wife, suzanne salul, works with the syrian refugees who come to chicago. the two of them have made this a personal commitment to syria, which was the birthplace of their parents. dr. salul returns from his visits to syria and asks to meet me regularly, and i always say yes. as painful as it is, i sit there, as i did yesterday, at a restaurant in downtown chicago as dr. salul brought out his ipad and went through the photos one after the other of the children that he treated in syria, the victims of barrel bombs by president assad, the victims now of russian bombing, children. he goes to communities where people are literally starving to death, starving to death in the year 2016 in syria, and he shows me their emaciated bodies until i turn away and i can't look at it anym

but certainly in parts of syria. if you're going to put a ceasefire in place, that freezes the military situation. clearly before that happens, people want to gain as much ground as they can and that's why moves are being taken in these final hours before the talks. in this case moves by the syrian government to take territory that when there's a ceasefire will stay theirs >>> an invitation for those talks on friday are due to be sent out later today. do we know who is going to be invited? does each side want to be there? >> reporter: i think it's a question of who is invited and who accepts the invitations. let me take you back to where the controversy here is. that's that this process, the current talks process, was started, in effect, by the u.s. and russia who felt it was time for a new initiative. they pulled together all the international players, all the regional players, a series of meetings in vienna that has become known as the vienna process. under that process they said saudi arabia you can decide on the

the invitations to the talks to try to end the conflict in syria have been sent out. >>> syria is probably the most dangerous place on earth to be a child. >>> an appeal for the most vulnerable. >>> stock market panic in china, investors sell their shares causing markets to fall by more than 6%. >>> and the bolivian lake that has dried up, and with it, a way of life. ♪ >>> we begin with those upcoming talks on syria, which are scheduled for friday. for weeks now there has been speculation about who will be invited and who will attend. within the last hour, the invites for those crucial talks in geneva have been sent out. let's go to james bayes in geneva. who got the invite. who is coming, james. >> we don't know. we simply know that the invites have been sent out, jane. it was a very short news release by the united nations, telling us that those invites have been sent out to the talks, again, saying that the talks start on the 29th of january. that was the date that was set 24 hours ago, it hasn't slipped yet, and they were set out in accordance with security resolution 2254. the proce

gave a suggestion on what we might look at doing in syria. in iraq, i would like to see not ryan crocker but john kerry go out. and anybody but me go out and spend a prolonged period of time out there. >> don't ask us because we're going want to send you. >> condi rice did this when i was out there. i think there have been two secretary of state visits, one by secretary clinton and one bisect kerry. i think that's right. i'm not sure. >> that's telling. >> the space we vacated, the iranians filled. they are not seeking a unified iraqi state that is friendly with iran. they are seeking basically the destruction of an iraqi state. it is division into a kurdistan where they have heavy influence, shia stan, and jihadist stan of whoever cares. i would start by making a major push. there is a prime minister we can work w. he hasn't had many options beyond tehran. i would like to see us give him one. those would be a couple of things. when the secretary needed a break from baghdad, he could move around to amman, to tel aviv, to ankara, riyadh. repea

if they knew i worked here, i'd get penalized and sent back to syria. we are not supporting any side in the war. we just want to survive. >> many others can't afford the $200 needed for official documentation. syrians such as mow ma'am whose been living here since the start of the war. >> i don't have residency. the residency issue broke us. i don't have the means to renew may papers or a sponsor. >> with the older resigned to working illegally or younger and taking on the breadwinner's role as a child, most syrians in lebanon are just trying to earn enough to live off a struggle made harder by lebanese law. al jazeera in lebanon. >>> the german government wants to be able to deport foreign born people more easily when they're convicted of criminal offenses. let's go live now to the german capital berlin and our correspondent there dominic cain. tell us more about these new measures and why they are being put into place. >> we heard this afternoon from the interior minister and the justice minister basically that they want to toughen the measures, they

. >>> top diplomats try to iron out their differences and keep the syria talks alive. >>> we've live in doff volunteers where world leaders and shakers are talking about the challenges for the global economy. ♪ >>> chinese investments grow, some african schools begin teaching mandarin. not everyone is happy. >>> the head of the pakistan taliban is strongly condemning an attack on a university following an earlier claim of responsibility by a taliban splitter group. at least 19 people were killed including a professor and several students. the attack took place not far from peshawar in the northwest. marian has hon reports. >> security forces now patrol the fields alongside the university. gunmen had earlier taken advantage of thick winter fog to scale the walls, storm buildings, and open fire on students and teachers. >> we heard firing from the back of the cam pugs. we thought some people were fighting. then the gunfire increased. we said stay in the rooms, don't go out, then the security forces came. >> classes at university had begun for the day. 3,000 students study here. there

she cannot stop the war in syria and it is the war in syria that is driving people here they are not coming because what is being called an open-door policy but coming -- they think their lives are better off trying to cross the sea than to spend to stay back home and unless that's going to change, i don't see how we can change the refugee policy in europe or in germany and i think the rest of europe would do well to follow suit and not blame everything on the german chancellor. anchor: sounds like you are talking about a moral obligation. would you agree with that moral obligation and how can that be balanced? >> a legal obligation and only to the extent that this is feasible and germany has some capacities, but not unlimited capacities and germany cannot take in the whole population of syria. this is impossible. and won't be accepted by democratic institutions. and we have legal opinions by former judges of the constitutional court saying that legal obligation to protect the borders of germany. >> that opinion is being rightly criticized and we have a current head of the constituti

in syria which the international coalition led by the united states. those attacks aim at destroying the capacities of the syrian people. and preventing development and reconstruction. they are also a continuation of the attacks that have been committed against many vital economic installations and have caused great economic and material losses. on january 3rd, 2016, the coalition targeted a water plant in the plains of raqqa government, which led to the destruction of the plant that used to provide about 650 cubic meters of clean drinking water for the neighboring towns and villages, before that and on october 10th, 2015, aircraft belonging to the -- to that same coalition bombed the radwanea area east of the city targeting two power plants. the bombardment caused severe damage to the stations and took them out of service cutting off electricity to the area, the whole western area of aleppo, the losses amounted to $1.2 billion euros, in addition to such attacks on services fracture, thinfrastructure, thes infrastructures in the country were also targe

first, to destroy the isil parent tumor in iraq and syria. and collapse its two power centers in raqqa and mosul. second, to combat the isil tumor worldwide. and third, to protect the homeland. i also laid out the operational concept behind our campaign, to enable local, motivated forces to defeat isil and sustain the defeat and to do that enabling by providing on our part a clear plan, american leadership, a global coalition, and the wielding of the incredible sweep of capabilities we have, ranging from air power, special forces, cybertools, intelligence, equipment, mobility, logistics, training, advice and assistance. i described the coalition military campaign plan at some length yesterday, but also the fact that it must be accompanied by equally strong and integrated efforts from the diplomatic, intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security and other parts of our government. these two are necessary -- too are necessary. i and the rest of the national security team will be updating the president soon on the progress of the overall st

of which they are 51% at least of them in syria. the agenda will be already set up is the governance, 2250 or resolution, about a new governance, a no constitution and new elections. however, here comes a major point that i think you should be aware of. the first priority will be the focus of the talks of what most syrians, if not all want to hear. the possibility of a broad ceasefire, and the possibility of stopping the threat of isil, and therefore thanks to the broader ceasefire, an increase of humanitarian aid. you will hear tomorrow, you will have official press conference which we have been supporting very much, of my colleagues from the humanitarian side, in order to be able to explain to you, how urgent, how important and what needs to be done in order to make sure that they are getting hear at a talk about the future of syria. every day lost is a day lost for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid. there will be no opening ceremony. i regret from the common point of view, i know from the photo point of view, you will not have

it is mainly in eastern syria. instead this area is dominated by rebel groups that oppose bashar al-assad, a russian ally. volunteers search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings. they're from a group called the syrian civil defense. it was formed two years ago and now has more than 3,000 volunteers. in the absence of a functioning state, these volunteers take the injured to hospital and clear the dead from the streets. they keep working despite russian bombs dropping around them. saudi arabia has criticise the the russian air strikes and demanded that moscow stop them. western governments, including the u.k. and the u.s., also questioned president putin's intentions. the russian government has dismissed those concerns as part of a propaganda war. it says i.s.i.l. positioned the targets along with other groups. it has added layers of confusion to an already complex civil war >>> we're going to go back to another main story. that, of course, of the crisis ongoing in tunisia where a curfew has just been

syria is a sanctuary. pakistan for 14 years has provided two sanctuaries and has unnecessarily protracted hat war. as to iran, in 1980 iran declared the united states as a strategic enemy with its stated goal to drive the united states out of the region, achieve regional hegemony, and destroy the state of israel. it uses proxies, primarily as the world's number one state sponsoring terrorism, and to fight proxy wars. beginning in the early 1980's, it began jihad against the united states by bombing the marine barracks, united states embassy, and the annex in lebanon, something our ambassadors intimately familiar with, united states embassy in kuwait, the air force towers in saudi arabia, and attacking the united states military in iraq using shia militias trained in iran with advanced engineers. during the 1980's, iran began an aggressive kidnapping and assassination campaign which resulted in numerous american hostages and the death of cia station chief buckley. a policy of hostage-taking for political ga

i think the long-term in syria will take decades. syria is a failed state. what's left of the government is propped up by foreign militias, mainly out of iraq, organized by iran as well. rebuilding all that is going to take years and years. it should not be and cannot be something that only americans do. i think part of a political strategy is to get an agreement among all of the regional states as well as russia and china to stop promoting individual clients that in turn then degrade the ability of the central state to operate and we've seen that historically in iraq, in lebanon, we've seen it in syria. we see it in libya where different regional countries are taking different sides. that's one part. sec part is reeconstruction. should not be an american responsibility solely. but i don't think any country can lead an international effort to rebuild in places like syria or libya better than the united states. we have the diplomatic heft. but that means bringing a a lot of regional states to the table. it means bringing organizations like the world bank to t

what are people in syria tell you? do they support you or do they say yet more negotiation that's not going to go anywhere? >> the truth is what can i tell the people who are starving to death, what can i tell the people that daughters and kids are in prisons. they need a solution and we need to give them something. if we don't get anything from this process, we're going to be all of us finished. we need to give the people something. the people in syria are suffering. we are here to serving them and help them. we're not leaders. we are the servant of those people in syria who are suffering a lot. so, yes, we want to end their suffering and they understand this. >> reporter: i know you haven't heard it because he has been speaking while you've been in your meeting, but the syrian ambassador to the u.n. said you turned up late, you're amateurs not professionals and the attack today shows that you're also terrorists >> if this terrorists you just. i'm sorry, it is not about the negotiation, it's about ending the war. also

strategy has treated syria as a secondary theater of war in the iraq syria war. we need to in my judgment shift to a syria first strategy and reinvigorate our efforts to remove assad from power. second, we need to significantly intensify our operations. strike sorties in the weight of strikes need to be significantly increased as does coalition support both quantitative a qualitative for the moderate syrian opposition. it's not too late to support the opposition. we did not develop a war winning strategy for example, until the sixth year of our covert war against the soviet occupation of afghanistan or in reagan's second term. let me briefly turn to iraq and make four points. first is the retaking of ramadi, more air power and use of combat advisors is a good strategy in iraq. second, the key to a sunni tribal uprising is decisive u.s. engagement. the key to sustaining that uprising is the deevolution of political power. third, we are in a competition with iran for influence in iraq. it will shape the future of iraq and syria. our competition for influence with i

raqqa has other provinces in syria. this is really unpopulated areas, we're looking at mostly populated areas to get those numbers. hopefully that helps. ramadi, there are no significant numbers moving in, but there will be some flow as the isf continued to clear these remaining pockets. they will brush out these little nests of fighters. we certainly expect, or plan for the possibility that there are some trying to infiltrate back in. particularly to help their fellow terrorists. but it is not a significant factor. we're not seeing the numbers of troops that will make any difference. > he said that you killed 60 isis fighters in the last 24 hours, there's that guy you to reassess how money with there to begin with? yeah, wee martin: .aven't gotten to that yet that will be one for the history books, i think. the iraqis have it now. they have some estimates that they have to clear. we will have to sort out the story. >> happy new year, i saw a report of an ice is called a proceeded unmolested to a camp last week. i was w

syria in october. we had a very difficult time with that because, i mean, thing, but the question is, where was the common sense or -- not to say as brian was saying he was reckless, but i mean, i'm not a hero. i guess my point is, i could not see why -- how somebody could go to a place where he or she could be captured, tortured, and killed. again, i'm going to express my .owardice no story was worth that to me. amy: what did jim say when he would raise those issues? hei think he listened, but -- i think he had made commitments with people in a country that he was coming back. i don't know what they were. either that, or hit is deep, deep conviction that he had to be there to tell the story. because if he wasn't going to do it, nobody else was and he could see the destruction and the need -- this whole thing, you know? amy: and a moment, we will continue our conversation with dr. john foley, his wife diane, the parents of slain journalist jim foley, as well as brian oakes, jim's friend and the directo

there is some from their own basis within syria and outside it. but more importantly, from the united states and russia, in order to join the political process, a political process that in so many ways has been framed not to their favor in -- on december 17th when washington realigned its position with moscow accepting a rationed resolution that frames the geneva 3 talks. >> his assessment of those talks in geneva. thanks so. >> it was once a nazi show pi e piece. now it has been drafted in action to house some of the thousands of refugees pouring in to germany. dominic kane reports. >> this was once a point of departure for germans looking to travel to foreign parts. now, it is a point of arrival for a growing number of refugees. the hangars that housed aircraft now house people. most have come to germany from syria with their families. >> abu hassan says the conditions here are cramped. >> first of all, i want to thank the german government and the german population for the helpfulness. in reality, the situation that's a refugee camp here is bad

syria has a lot of engineers. syria has a lot of planners. they may be able to use help in some of the planning. that's a third thing for the united states. >>> thank you, mr. chairman for the time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i do agree with your assessment of isis. but i don't think al qaeda is out of the game. my fear is not being number two, they will strike in a larger way because they are in a battle for influence. i would like to turn the attention to iran. since congress failed to stop the president's iranian deal, we have watched iran launch two icbms, missile strikes in camp liberty, emboldin and to a degree influence the shia militia. to your point about reconciliation between the sunnis and the shia, as iranian influence began to be emboldined, i don't see how a sunni reconciliation can-can occur without checking iran. there are reports, and i believe they're valid, as anti-sunni rallying cries and battle cries. and my fear in ramadi, i think we are wise to put the iraqi military in charge rather than the shia militia, as that ter

allow access to humanitarian workers so they can help the people of syria. now meanwhile inside syria the syrian army has been striking hard at rebel positions and they are gaining ground and leverage ahead of these proposed talks between the warring parties in geneva later this week. activists saying that government helicopters have been pounding the city of aleppo while russian air strikes have been focusing on the southern city of hama while they recaptured the town on the southern providence of deraa and it's a very significant victory for damascus because it helps the supply routes from the capitol to the south and russia air strikes are key to gains and moscow has admitted that its intervention in syria has helped reverse the situation on the ground. here is al jazeera's gerald tan now with more on the syrian government's recent advances. >> the syrian flag flies again in sheikh maskin and it has taken the army weeks of intense fighting with rebels to retake this town in the southwest providence of deraa and state television showed military forces ente

we are intensifying airstrikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daesh's remaining strongholds in mosul and raqqa, and we are opening the aperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile, we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daesh and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in terrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebut terrorist propaganda, to dry up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a global basis one in the emirates, another opening before long elsewhere - that will help deal with the challenge of social media management, in an effort to be able to take away the recruitment and the lone-wolf challenge. we know more than ever about daesh's sources of income, and that has allowed us to be more strategic in our efforts, with greater impact on daesh's ability to be able to sustain itself. there is no question that we have significantly degraded daesh's ability to profit from th

looking for an end to syria's war. vice president joe biden is in turkey. >> that none of us or any other -- are under any illusions that obstacles don't still exist. >> secretary of state john kerry meets foreign ministers in the gulf region. you are watching al-jazerra live from head quarterbacks. also ahead, the grim fallout of zika, the mosquitos-borne virus calls for travel warnings. >>> the u.s. braces for a massive storm with record snowfalls predicted. hello, the u.s. is making ing a diplomatic push to end the war in syria. the secretary of state, john kerry is in soughted e arabia t meeting with leaders from the gulf. kerry says he is confident peace talks scheduled for next week will go ahead but did not confirm the exact day it starts. the u.s. vice president joe biden is in istanbul meeting with turkey's prime minister. the war in syria is in its 5th year, forced millions of people from their homes. turkey has taken many of those escaping from the fighting. our number of countries including the u.s., france

syria. and you say okay, how is he doing in terms of getting to his objectives. i think realistically charlie, he's losing all of this. >> rose: in the end. >> in the end. >> rose: because he does not have a dynamic economy and because he's gotten involved himself in things on the surface it looks like he's exerting a strong leadership, in the end it's a very difficult place to have your will. >> right. so just take for example, just take for example ukraine. the result of ukraine was sanctions that were put on him that really hurt his economy. and probably any hope of bringing together integrating the russian economy with the west any time for the next 10-15 years, right. 8,000 russian soldiers, russians who are fighting in ukraine died. he's kept that from his people but it's going to leak out slowly. what syria is costing him is, you know, millions of dollars. he can't afford that. and so the loser at the end of the at the end of the day here is the russian economy and the russian middle

we are intensifying air strikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daesh's remaining strong holds in mosul and raqqa, and we are opening the aperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daesh, and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in rrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebutter ris propaganda, to try up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a global basis, one in the emirates, another opening before long elsewhere, that will help deal with the challenge of social media management in an effort to be able to take away the recruitment and the loan wolf challenge. we know more than ever about daesh's sources of income, and that has allowed us to be more strategic in our efforts with greater impact on daesh's ability to be able to sustain itself. there is no question that we have significantly degraded daesh's ability to profit from the oil

president to address his strategy on syria? >> the first thing that has to happen is assad must go. we have seen at the end of december and what will be happening at the end of january, talks about syrian peace talks involving russia, iran, saudi arabia and secretary of state john kerry an the deal on the table isn't necessarily that the first and the only, that they have to say assad has to go. he might remain as these peace talks continue. the state of the union this evening will be a syrian. he is a scientist who recently came here with his family and he will be featured tonight in the state of the union. >> al jazeera's courtney keely leaf with a preview. al jazeera america will bring you complete coverage of the state of the union beginning tonight at 7:00 eastern. t the u.s. navy released video of what it says is a highly provocative act by iranian forces. it happened last 3409 when iran fired rockets near a u.s. air craft carrier as part of a test. but the tape was kept under wraps until al jazeera america requested it u

we have a funding short fall in iraq and syria. although the u.n. said we need this $900 million to help iraq out of this humanitarian crisis, that many needs to be raised. also, we haven't seen the fall of fallujah yet which will spark an international crisis. little still under occupation by isil. we will be seeing perhaps a liberation that have city or at least operation against that city some point this year, according to iraqi sources that will spark another humanitarian crisis and the u.n. will have to reas their physician. >>> still ahead on the program, we're going to tell you why monday's caucus vote in iowa is so important in the race for the white house. >>> i'm in india's capital. one third of all people have reduced lung function because of air pollution this winter. >> isil carried out an attack during talks aimed at ending syria's war. >>> in nigeria, boko haram is said to be responsible for an attack. >>> more than 6,000 people in el salvador are thought to have the zika virus. the government's advising women not to get pregnant p.m.

in a city isis controls in eastern syria. the alleged attack on civilians happened in deir al-zour. a province adjacent to the isis stronghold of raqqa. syrian state-run news agency says isis executed 300 elderly people, women, and children in deir al-zour yesterday. the britain-based syrian observatory for human rights said isis shot or beheaded at least 135 people, and more than half were government soldiers. the human rights group said isis also kidnapped 400 people in the city. the syrian civil war has claimed more than 250,000 lives and caused more than four million syrians to become refugees. a pair of rare, winter tornadoes cut through central florida before dawn today. one twister touched down in the sarasota area, 50 miles southeast of tampa, and two people died when their mobile home was destroyed. the national weather service says the deadly tornado had winds of up to 135 miles an hour. >> sreenivasan: over the past year, we've heard and seen the images of syrian refugees make the treacherous crossing to europe, bu

it's not difficult to travel from france to syria, from western europe to syria. and also it's probably a problem of sociology. it's probably also the result of social problems that we can have in france. it's also probably, to some extent, the result of bad policies with indeed, some , marginalization of muslims. and there have been likely some failures as well from the security services. amy: what would you say to young europeans who want to join, who what to become jihadists? >> this is a very important message. basically, isis will recruit you telling you jihad is cool, because, yes, it's cool, if you have no life, no girlfriend, no job, no money, nothing in your home country, and isis promises you, what, adventure, engagement, a girl, a car, a weapon, power, money, whatever. so they all play like jihad is cool. -- isis is a is scam because isis does not really fight assad, does not protect the muslims in syria, but kills, to wide extent, a number of muslims in syria. isis is a disaster for the syrian people. so for those who want to join isis, i tell them, "i

we want to put an end to this isis, to terrorism in syria, we want to see a new syria. >> they want to see measures put in place but no longer does it seem that is a condition for the start of talks. i understand that the opposition delegation is likely, and i have this from a number of diplomatic sources, likely to see steffen dimasora. not clear where the meeting will take place. some sources telling me it will be at the u.n. some say it will be away from the u.n. i think it's then a parallel meeting in many ways of the one we saw on friday with the syrian government. once those two meetings have taken place, i think there will be a little bit more discussion. but it's just possible we could actually see both sides in the same place. not the same room because that won't happen for some considerable time but maybe both in the u.n. and geneva on monday. i think that will be the best hope of the u.n. team trying to mediate these talks. >> let's look at what's happening in syria. another 15 are reported to have died. dozens injured by russian airstrikes that have targeted rebel positions

we are intensifying air strikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daiish's remaining strong holds in mosul and we are opening the apperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile, we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daiish, and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in terrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebut terrorist propaganda, to dry up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a global basis, one in the emirate, another opening before long elsewhere, that will help deal with the challenge of social media management. in an effort to be able to take away the recruitment and the lone wolf challenge. we know more than ever about daiish's sources of income and that has allowed us to be more strategic in our efforts, with greater impact on daiish's ability to be able to sustain itself. there is no question that we have significantly degraded daiish's ability to profit from the oil

. >> this is the reality in syria. the government is on the offensive. they are focused on damascus. opposition rebels reject and ultimatum to withdraw from the area. the strategy is to isolate it from an area under a government blockade. >> when the regime can enter the area, their strategy is to blockade and starve the people and fighters into submission. even while geneva is happening, they are tightening sieges and the airstrikes of increasing. >> many syrians opposed to the government support the high negotiation committee's decision not to engage in talks with the government. the committee wants an end to the bombardments and blockades, as well as the release of detainees before it agrees to negotiations. >> we are against the meeting in geneva. the regime is not serious about the talks. while it is present in geneva, it is bombarding us. >> people in rebel held territories are concerned. they believe washington is cooperating with the government's main backer, russia. the two powers are behind a u.n. peace plan

but in an iraq and syria. and as president obama said we're not moving the troops under ground for girl. >> there are reports that the saudi reserves is ill and there is rivalry to be the next king. day you have inside information about the struggle? >> yes. i know somebody. and he told me he has some type of dementia. and actually he told me this two years ago. some said yes and some said no. in to they are not reacting quickly. but when you look at the river's -- the rulers, is taking over and he is young. to be the of a prominent university in the west. to have that delicacy'' dash is actually has resentment with the grandchildren so guess there is a huge resentment. >> the second question. >> i take you very much for your comments with a comparison from al qaeda basically the average juror one-man show as opposed to the organized isis as we'll understand and when you have any enemy to deal with you have to understand that very well. thank you for that. when we compare world war i or world war ii we had a v

i want to make a special plea for those in besieged areas of syria. outside they are being held hostage, but it is even worse, hostages get fed. these children and women and men are struggling to survive without food or medicine. it has never been easy for the united nations and its partners to reach these in such desperate need. but the situation is getting worse. today almost 400,000 people are besieged in syria, roughly half in areas controlled by daesh. 180,000 in areas controlled by the syrian government and its allies, and some 12,000 in areas controlled by opposition armed groups. in 2014 the u.n. partners were able to deliver food to about 5% of people in besieged areas. today we are reaching less than 1%. this is utterly unconscionable. along with food, the people we have encountered want answers. who cares our lives? where is the international community? who will speak for us? let me be clear, the use of starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime. all sides, including syrian government, which has the primary responsibility to protect syria