and the same argument could al-assad. that he was able to contain islamists and that therefore you lose him, what comes in. >> and especially his father. >> exactly. >> there is also the question of the chemical weapons. there was a flurry when they thought perhaps that bashar al-assad was going to move them there was some activity and i think that everybody, including the russians sent a strong message, don't play around with the chemical weapons, what is the thinking inside about how safety these chemical weapons are, b, somebody might fall into the wrong hands even though they are rebels, and b whether assad would use them in the end? >> i think there are two schools of thought there is the school of thought that like this is a man who is, who is evil. who has actively, actively bombarded and sought to kill civilians en masse as a tactic to frighten them away from supporting the rebels. so you know, of course what would stop him from using chemical weapons. he's clearly -- >> he crossed every red line. it's line-- but

and you know -- >> including assad's brorbl. >> exactly. but you look at aleppo, for example, all the money, resources, manpower, the bloodshed that has gone into this operation which makes very little sense from a strategic point of view. and every day they take three more streets. and then the next day they lose the three strits. and the effect of the rebel attack on aleppo has been devastating, for every one in the country. for rebels and for regime supporters. and for the hundreds of thousands of people who aren't necessarily interested inic thatting sides at this stage. but who know longer have access to bread, to running water to electricity. and at this stage, it's hard to see where aleppo is going. i mean the rebels have managed to gain a lot of ground but they don't. they haven't been able to take the whole city and they're not always able to hold on to the bits that they do have. >> and how many people from the syrian army are going over to the rebels which was a factor and the defections they had among generals. >> well, it's int

it was connected to assad. the bigger chemical weapon worries is that if the rebels take over that government, they will have the possible usage of chemical weapons if an uprising rises against them. you follow me? is that a more likely scenario, scenario two? what am i trying to say? is it more justification for worry, number two, as opposed to number one? >> the issue is, if we're going to stand by and do nothing, okay, the chances are that a rebel group will take over, and who knows what they will do. >> who wants them to have -- >> we don't want them to have chemical weapons. we don't want assad to have chemical wessments and the whole world has warned assad against the use of chemical weapons. if he does use it he will be over. >> but is there now a lessening of the worry that assad will use the chemical weapons? >> i think we never know what assad will do to. answer your question, does the civil war justify it, if we want to justify it, >>> out of time. sorry. bye-bye. >>> right now for the next four year

will not talk to the assad regime as long as assad is in power. my fear is that at the end of this conflict, syria will most likely be destroyed and syria, assad will go. but in the meantime, in the meantime, 2013 will most likely be very violent and more syrians will die in the country. >> you still feel that it would be a mistake for the west to intervene? >> well the west has intervened. the west is wamging a war by other means. against the assad regime. economic war, financial war, intelligence war. but the reality is the west is very reluctant to provide arms to the opposition. here is the irony. the west supports the opposition. in particular, the syrian national coalition. yet also the united states has put the so-called jihad, a radical jihadist group. >> and it is -- >> they branded them a terrorist organization. >> absolutely. yet, they are one of the most important potent and skilled fighting machines, inside syria. here is the irony, what do you do? how do you provide the opposition with arms. in order to expedite the end of the confli

president assad of syria is an alawite. the fear in antakya is that if assad is overthrown, his opponents will target all alawites, everywhere. >> turkey is predominantly muslim but residents of the southern hatay region like to tout its rich, historic, religious mosaic. christ's apostles, peter and paul, spent time in hatay's main city antakya, the biblical antioch, which is often called the cradle of christianity. >> antakya is a city of tolerance. we have tolerance for every different culture and religion. >> we have been living in antakya with arabs, with sunnis, with armenian people, with kurdish people all together. >> but beneath the appearance of business as usual, there's deep anxiety here as events unfold a few miles across the border in syria. in furniture shops and truck repair shops, business has actually been terrible since the syrian conflict began. >> of course there was a friendship. there were organic ties between antakya and syria. people were coming and going between the two countries. >> the syrians use

it is time for assad to go, but is he making any push to go? >> i think is going to be very difficult for him to be -- to make progress in light of what president assad had to say a few days ago in the damascus opera house. i think that mr. beldini -- mr. bohimi at this point is placing an emphasis on getting support from americans and others. the transitional government of national unity, so to speak, that the united states and russia would try to then sell to the u.n. security council. >> is there any indication that moscow is prepared, or moving toward the decision of putting its eggs in assad's basket is not the thing to do? are you seeing any shift in russia's position? >> i do not detect a shift in the position exactly. but what i do think what we're seeing is a change in the russian and of a court judgment as to whether or not president bashar al-assad is going to survive politically. until recently cannot -- until recently, the russian conclusion is that he would survive. i think they have come to a different conclusion of together. now

>> i think they very much want to keep assad in power. i think they are prepared to see this conflict go on for as long as it takes. this is part of their campaign in the middle east. i think folks in the west and in the arab world people see assad's fall as something that could hurt iran very substantially and one asks in that case why hasn't the obama administration done more to help achieve that? i think the answer is because the obama administration is still desperate to find a way to negotiate with iran over the nuclear weapons program. i know if we were to get involved in the conflict against sa assad there would be no way the iranians would negotiate. >> what can the administration do? >> i don't think there's much they can do as long as they are not willing to take on russia and iran. the reset button has worked out well as we can see here. the administration is hosted by fat tar. >> good to see you. seems our fighting with continue with assad in place. >>> eric, thanks. there are growing concerns the deadly flu outbreak is sweepi

countr that president assad step down. russia and china have close ties with his administration. >>> gas street lights are an important part of the capital for over 200 years but this old tradition is facing a turning point. nhk world's correspondent has more. >> reporter: filming you the streets with a soft yellow light. their design is typical of the 19th century. the earliest models are nearly 200 years old. more than 40,000 units are still in use. >> translator: the atmosphere of gaslighting is fantastic. it is an essential part of berlin. >> translator: just seeing the lamps gives me peace. >> reporter: in the days of the cold war, west berlin was surrounded by east germany. updating the city's infrastructure was no easy task. and the old gas lamps survived. however, something's changing. the tear-down of the lanterns has begun. last year, authorities began replacing the gaslights with electric models. one of the motives is an effort to cut costs. but the aging lamps are also prop to malfunctions. many stay lit during

assad made it quite clear today unequivocally he's going to stay in power. so we're talking about a situation where nobody is going to be able to bring about a genuine change in syria unless the international community and particularly the americans and russians, step in. >> and that brings me to russia and china. do you think this will make them more or less defiant in their current stance? >> well, assad still faces a delicate task, which is basically if he shuns most of the calls by the international community to step aside, we will have only one option, which is to defend major cities and to reserve the tide of the gains made by rebels in different parts of the country, particularly in the north and the east. in this particular scenario, both parties will be trapped in a cycle of violence and killings, which could not only destabilize the whole of the country but also spread to regional countries, something which is rejected by the whole of the international communities. so no party is left with different options. there's only one option for everybody. i

the syrian opposition offers president assad a way to the negotiating table but only after the government fulfills a long list of demands. the third week of france's military campaign in mali sees more accusations of civilian deaths in a strikes on human rights activists say they have evidence of multiple uninvestigated killings of a million army. virtual kidnappings a ransom a new idea and cyber terrorism that's only a quick glimpse into the internet to find future from my top boss at google. reeses labor ministry headquarters turns into a battleground as hundreds of protesters brawl with police is what eminent mission . twenty four hours a day seven days a week and this is our team the leader of the syrian opposition has agreed to start talks with president assad but has set a high price for opening negotiations as met was once a long list of conditions met and given the release of one hundred sixty thousand detainees artie's policy it brings them all on the story now we should warn you that the following images are very graphic and could be disturbing. that's a complete turnaround beca

the assad regime is increasingly relying on its air force. to reduce its effectiveness, opposition forces attacked a military airport. the un now says over 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict. some 15,000 more than previously estimated. the un has expressed concern at the number of atrocities committed by both the government and rebel forces. >> german police launched an inquiry into whether a hospital in leipzig helped dozens of patients jump the queue for liver transplants. the clinic has a suspended three senior doctors on suspicion of exaggerating patient records to improve their chances of receiving a new organ quickly. >> a german patients rights group says this is undermining public trust in the transplant system. >> people who come in are suspicious. they ask more questions than they used to. organ donations used to be more positive. today, people are more likely to ask whether everything is being done correctly. >> more than 12,000 people are on germany's transplant waiting list. around three of them die each day. the scan

they said in order to start any kind of process, that assad must step down. we spoke to george subright, with the syrian national coalition, the opposition bloc. he told that assad repeated the same words and concepts from the past two years of the syrian revolution. unfortunately he didn't tell the truth about what happened in syria. who bombed the bakeries? who bombed the petrol stations. he said his government can deal with the political solution in syria. if this kind of government can deal with the political solution, why did he wait for two years to announce this solution? we also heard from british secretary william hague and he struck a note of skepticism in triter he so-called assad's speech hypocritical. death, violence and depression engulfing syria of his own making. this fools no one. this is very much like what we're hearing from the rest of the international community we must add one more thing. during his remarks, we heard from opposition activists that shelling was still going on in various parts of syria. since then we've heard 55 people kil

and i president assad has outlined a political solution to the syrian conflict in a rare address to the nation he proposed a reconciliation conference aimed at forming a constitution holding free elections with a new government and an. he said he will not only hold talks with quote those who have not betrayed syria he said the first stage of the syrian solution should be the end of funding of rebel groups from abroad. also that any government makes will come through a referendum not a government decision from president assad speech we talk live to our correspondent in the region in just. a rock obama has given the green light to a law increasing taxes on wealthy americans and a move to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff it follows months of political bickering among us lawmakers right up until the january first deadline and no deal option could have meant billions of dollars of tax hikes and spending cuts which were due to automatically come into effect artie's economics expert max kaiser says that although an immediate crisis has been avoided the main underlying problems remain result. t

you want al assad to leave to give up power? do you believe he should be tried by the international criminal court for war crimes? >> it is not i who want this but the syrian people who want this. this phase is the phase of the people, similar to what the egyptian president wanted, the syrian people wanted. and we support the syrian people. and they are going to win and they have the will to win. >> you say the syrian president want bashar al assad to be tried for war crimes? >> translator: the syrian people, through their revolution, and through the movement will, when the bloodshed stops, move to a new stage where they will have an independent parliament and the government of their choosing. and nen they will decide what they want to do against those who committed crimes against them. it is the syrian people who decide. >> it's clear that president morsi feels that time is running out for the syrian leader, that the sir issian leader can either do it the easy way or the hard way but he wants him gone. he wants him gone right a

the syrian opposition office president assad away g.'s negotiating table but only after the government fulfills a long list of demands. the third week of france's military campaign in mali sees more accusations of civilian deaths and eight strikes human rights activists say they have evidence of multiple uninvestigated killings by the money and on the. virtual kidnappings ransom a new idea and cyber terrorism that's only a quick glimpse into the internet to find future from a top boss at google. this is labor ministry headquarters turns into a battleground as hundreds of protesters brawl with police over eminent tension kept. us in our life from moscow with me to bomb and say. the leader of the syrian opposition has agreed to start talks with president assad but has set a high price for opening negotiations. once a whole list of conditions met including the release of one hundred and sixty thousand detainees arches policia brings us more on this story right now paula what do we know about the conditions that mr cutted has said. well as y

years of continued civil conflict one of the key conditions for peace according to president bashar assad is regional and international powers to stop supporting the groups. well there has certainly been rather interesting quotes coming from the syrian president he in fact called to hold an international reconciliation conference to end of the violence and the military conflict which is going on be going on for almost two years now in syria and this initiative according to assad will lead to a national wide referendum and fair election which is the only way according to the syrian president that the political landscape in this country can be changed but this initiative can only be possible according to assad if the western countries and some regional countries as he put it stop investing into terrorist groups which are fighting to overthrow his his regime has been again pretty much a defining tone saying that the only way that syria will listen to the outside world is through a device not through a dictating well this speech of the syrian president comes amid very serious concerns about t

the end of foreign backing for terrorism and the formation of a new government president assad lines his views on how syria could finally be paid . no fall from the fiscal cliff president obama pushes up taxes at the eleventh hour striking a deal with congress that now really prevented a nationwide financial disaster critics say there is still no long term solution in sight. for us yes the island itself in hot water after choosing not to hold the leaders of the occupy wall street movement to assassinate the. u.k.'s prime minister says he's ready to order the armed forces to war over the four clones after the argentinean president publicly demanded the return of the island's . film i come here our deputy juices to france as he gets a russian passport after a dramatic falling out with his native land over a fierce new tax hike on the wealthy. but they look back at the top stories of the last seven days and the latest developments this is the weekly here. the syrian leader has outlined his vision on how to end almost two years of continued civil conflict one of the key conditions for th

assad must go. >> you repeatedly said that president assad needs to go. >> right. >> starting two years ago. >> right. >> and yet, 60,000 syrians are dead and he is still in office. >> right. >> what does it take for america to intervene? >> well, i think we have been very actively involved. until recently, there was no credible opposition coalition, and i cannot stress strongly enough how important that is. you cannot even attempt a political solution if you don't have a recognized force to counter the assad regime. >> secretary panetta recently said that president assad had chemical weapons ready to go, locked and loaded, ready to go. the red line used to be when he moved those chemical weapons, and now would the u.s. actually permit him to use them? >> no, no. and president obama has been very clear about that. we laid down the red line on chemical weapons, because that could have far-reaching effects beyond even the street-to-street fighting that is so terrible to watch. and it could also affect other countries. >> the administration has been criticized by some for having what has b

president assad has shown and uncanny ability to hold on to power. when you saw him speaking, he didn't appear to be a man under great threat or a man about to lose power. he appeared to be defiant, thinner than we've seen before but firmly in control of his country or at least the part of the country that those loyal to hill maintain. >> leland, thank you very much. >>> back to washington now and president obama facing another fiscal fight. putting pressure on congress to raise the nation's debt limit. the gop says they'll only consider it if spending cuts are part of the deal. what political capital does the president have left for his next battle and those that lie ahead? schirra is a staff writer, thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> raising the debt ceiling is non-negotiable. how is that going to go over with republicans? >> this is very much the first opening for ray on both sides. the president is non-negotiable, he wants to raise the debt ceiling. you have conservatives in congress saying we're not afraid to let the government sh

arab league mediator left or brahimi told the united nations security council that assad may be able to hold on to power for now he also warned that syria was breaking up before everyone's eyes and also admitted that there had been no progress made in efforts to establish talks over eight political transition now we're hearing the same kind of message come from example. from the french foreign minister who has warned that syria risks falling into the hands of islamised militant groups last week france also said that there was no sign that the syrian president assad was about to be overthrown so we certainly witnessing this kind of concern being expressed by the international community it does reverse previous statements where we heard numerous people saying that assad could hold on to power for a long time jordan's king abdullah for example has also said that assad is consolidating his grip for now so what we're witnessing is wasted concern over the growing strength of jihadist militants who are fighting autonomously in the disorganized ranks of the anti assad rebel forces and that t

president bashar al assad has refused to negotiate. assad addressed his supporters on sunday. he proposed a new constitution and a national referendum to approve it. he branded his opponents puppets of the west. brahimi met with assad last month telling the bbc the president's proposals are no different from ones he's put forward before. >> i think that what people are saying is that family ruling for 40 years is a little bit wrong. so the change has to be real. >> opposition leaders welcomed the remarks. brahimi is set to meet with russian diplomats with close ties to the assad government on friday. >>> rebel commanders have freed dozens of iranians in a prison exchange or prisoner exchange deal with the syrian government. the assad regime agreed to release more than 2,000 captives in return. it's the largest prisoner swap since the uprising against assad's government began nearly two years ago. iran's state-run media said 48 iranians held for five months arrived at a damascus hotel after their release. opposition fighters seized the iranians near the city in august and initi

that is an audience in syria cheering for their president assad. he made a rare speech in damascus and at one point the crowd was cheering blood ask sacrifice must be for you, assad. tens of thousands of syrians have been killed and even more have fled their homeland. cnn's mohammed jamjoon is watching things from beirut. break down for us what he had to say. >> well, randi, assad remained defiant and he gave a rambling speech in which he blamed a conspiracy for what was going on in syria and he denied his military was the cause of the violence that has engulfed the country for 21 months. he called the opposition there terrorists and traitors. any solution for any kind of peace or political solution in syria must come from within syria and must be the solution that he delivers. he stood firm against calls by the international community and the syrian opposition for him to step down. and, by the end of it, he did offer what he was calling an initiative in which there would be a national dialogue, a conference, a new charter for a new constitution. t

president assad has said that his government is not willing to negotiate with aides opposition groups which he considers to be puppets of the west earlier my colleague bill dodd spoke to political analyst marcus papadopoulos who believes that assad will have a hard job finding any that aren't when president assad says he's not going to talk to the opposition he's rushed into the armed opposition the so-called free syrian army and its political wing of the syrian national council which is a foreign based opposition movement and it's very important to make this clear in particular to western audiences who are unfortunately not read the full picture when it comes to syria the free syrian army is a lethal cocktail or various groups including many islamist groups and many groups linked to al qaida and the free syrian army or the f.s.a. it's more commonly referred to has been responsible for heinous dry all terrorist acts in the last couple of years in syria so it's it's it's pretty clear why president assad will not talk to the armed opposition and its political wing and the political wing

the end of foreign backing for terrorism and the formation of a new government president assad. over the fiscal cliff. preventing a nationwide financial disaster. forced into revealing it knew about. the leaders of occupy wall street but chose not to. move. to russian passport after falling out with the government in france. with the top stories of the week today this is their weekly. live in moscow the syrian leader has outlined his vision. of continued civil conflict i want of the key conditions for peace according to president bashar al assad is for a regional and international powers to stop supporting the groups. he was following exactly what he had to say. well there has certainly been rather interesting quotes coming from the syrian president he in fact called to hold an international reconciliation conference. and the violence and the military conflict which is going on it's been going on for almost two years now in syria and this initiative according to assad will lead to a national wide referendum and fair election which is the only way according to the syrian presiden

we need this some new weapons against players you know because bashar assad says. airplanes to damage villages and cities and the civilians we need to protect ourselves our children from killing every day we have more than sixteen thousand children were dead for at least twenty two months ago something unbelievably it's our right so to help syrian people and to help and the syrian crisis you need weapons and money is that is that correct yeah sure sure and we need. support also who can cooperate with a man killed more than sixty thousand people we are concerned but we are not afraid you know because of majority of fighter groups in syria is not extreme is not dearest all live fighting for freedom and dignity and what a loss or group from iraq are these people fighting for freedom and democracy is why they're fighting for freedom and democracy but maybe we will face some problem with them anyway they are just a small part of the evolution is here. but these people recognized even by french president as extremists and terrorists all over the word you can find extremi

>> translator: i personally a few times called assad and said, you need to start reforms. you need to sit down at the negotiating table. i repeat one more time. in my view, unfortunately, the syrian authorities turned out not to be ready for this. >> can assad survive? >> translator: i think that with every day, with every week, with every month, the chances of him surviving are becoming less and less. but, once again, it should be decided by the syrian people, not russia, not the u.s., not any other country. the most important thing right now is to support the process of national reconciliation. >> but you agree with me what is happening in syria, the current situation is bad for russia because it is becoming more and more islamic and becoming more jihadi and you will, we are 8,000 miles away in the united states. you will face this in your backyard. so, it is an urgency for you to do something. >> translator: it's hard for me to disagree with you. but i believe the situation is so troublesome for everyone because the representative of radical jihad, they're not only pene

it is time for assad to go, but is he making any push to go? >> i think is going to be very difficult for him to be -- to make progress in light of what president assad had to say a few days ago in the damascus opera house. i think that mr. beldini -- mr. bohimi at this point is placing an emphasis on getting support from americans and others. the transitional government of national unity, so to speak, that the united states and russia would try to then sell to the u.n. security council. >> is there any indication that moscow is prepared, or moving toward the decision of putting its eggs in assad's basket is not the thing to do? are you seeing any shift in russia's position? >> i do not detect a shift in the position exactly. but what i do think what we're seeing is a change in the russian and of a court judgment as to whether or not president bashar al-assad is going to survive politically. until recently cannot -- until recently, the russian conclusion is that he would survive. i think they have come to a different conclusion of together. now

today, assad blamed all of his country's hardships on the opposition. he gave no sign he will ever leave syria. and when the speech ended, the resolute president was swarmed. his security team forced to push adoring supporters away. the leadership of the opposition say they won't negotiate as long as assad is in power. and this evening, the u.s. state department responded to the speech, saying this was just another attempt by the regime to hold on to that power. lester? >> stephanie gosk in cairo tonight. thanks. >>> tonight, crews searching off the coast of venezuela are entering the third night with no sign of a plane carrying italian fashion executive vittorio missoni, his wife and four others, missing after the plane disappeared during a flight on friday. missoni is ceo of his family's iconic fashion house. venezuela's government says it will continue the search until the airplane is found. >>> in a small ohio town, where the local high school football team is a very big deal, the accusation that two of its players raped a teenaged girl has sparked

those who are with assad live a normal life. those who oppose him have been devastated. opposition fighters glide downey's lanes. so do civilians contract in the middle. >> record profits for one stock while apple takes a plunge. what is shaking the world of tech? welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. in cities across egypt today, thousands clashed violently with police. protesting the lack of change since the revolution began two years ago. the tear gas, street battles, and slogans are the same. the demonstrators say the politics are the same, too. we go to our correspondent in tahrir square tonight. >> a short while ago, the entire area behind me was shrouded in tear gas. the thousands of protesters have thinned out because of that. there are still hundreds in the square behind me. a lot of the protests across the country have turned violent. we have had confirmation from the health ministry the over 200 people have been injured in protests. we have had confirmation of five people having been killed in a demonstration. all this on