agreed a short and first of all condemning the assad regime's hold eral plan to illegitimate presidential elections on the 3rd of june. e say in our kphraoupb communique' this mocks the lives contradicts the geneva communique' and many millions of syrians will be unable to participate in such a so-called election and we call on the entire international community to reject these illegitimate elections as the arab league, united nations, united states, and the european union have done. we've also agreed to take steps together through a coordinated strategy to increase the moderate r opposition national coalition nd for its supreme military council and associated moderate syrians will armed groups to do everything we assad regime e accountable for the terror it is through ing including security council referral it the international criminal court to to counter the extremism and f complete the removal of syrian chemical weapons and step up our deliver humanitarian aid across the borders and lines irrespective of the consent of the regime. we say at the end of the ourunique' we have directed o

their camp is in an area that has been under attack from the assad regime. the commander of this group, who only agreed to talk if we didn't use his name, says his is one of a few moderate rebel factions that have been getting covert support from the united states. >> american agents got in touch with us. they had researched us from the beginning. they had intelligence on us about all our work. they wanted to know our political leanings or whether we had any connections with extremist groups. >> narrator: the fighters get word there will be a nighttime meeting with their american contacts. muhammad rides with ahmed, the battalion's supply officer. >> narrator: ahmed won't let muhammad come all the way to the meeting. he says he doesn't want the american contacts to see him. >> narrator: for most of the war, the rebels have had to rely on capturing weapons from the battlefield itself. they had shown muhammad something they'd captured. >> narrator: the rebels are lucky. the fighter jet didn't spot them this time. >> narrator: muhammad has now heard from ahmed,

otherwise, syrians face a choice between the between -- between the assad regime and extremists. it is a credit to the coalition they are able to take on extremists and continue their opposition to the -- to the regime. and so we see ourselves as acting in order to make that possible. and in order to make it even clearer to the regime. there is no military victory available to them. that is the -- that's the extra dimension if you like to our strategy on what we've discussed today. next question. microphone is on its way. >> you say that now there remains a political solution but the way everybody is seeing at the moment, with resigning his position and his successor and elections going on in syria what's new in the dynamic that can get a little process there? is there anything you can add come out of the talks today? and if i ask a second question about safe havens. there's fear the opposition will be run out of the little space that they control. as the regime continues to win battles. so is there any possibility of trying to impose the safe havens even though it is a difficult

so while there may be a fluid situation on the ground while the assad regime may gain some territory you can only do so by implementing a scorched earth policy. at the end of the day, you cannot owes a policy that has risen up for its rights, for an ability to take back their country. and so while there may be some setbacks, revolutionary forces have made clear that the fight will go on. >> ubay shabandar, good to have you on the show to let us know what's going on in syria. >>> so much for thank you for your service. the va all but told him, thank you for being expendable. >>> busted in mississippi for sneaking into a nursing home, shows a deep division in the major senate race for republican party. what do you think? join us on twitter and our facebook and google plus pages. pages. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something serio

the assad regime has been an important conduit between iran and hezbollah. as such, they're fighting side by side with the regime forces in syria and providing the regime much-needed supplies and financial assistance. it's also abundantly clear that russia simply does not share our interests in the region. i guess that's an understatement. russia has continued to back the regime. it has consistently blocked u.s. actions at the u.n. security council, including efforts to invoke chapter 7 authorization to enforce existing security council resolutions 2118 and 2139. russia continues to provide the regime material assistance, including ammunition, weapons, airplanes, and spare parts that are keeping the regime afloat. from syria to ukraine, it is clear that president putin's approach to foreign policy is rooted in old cold war regrets. madam president, the administration has taken steps to respond to the protracted conflict in syria. let me outline a few. first, on chemical weapons: the agreement negotiated last fall has led to the vast majority of the syrian re

it is going through one entry and going toyway assad regime. that is unacceptable. we need to get in more directly and we are going to work to do that. in addition to that, we are , in the united nations security council, challenge the appropriate level of follow-through that is necessary what wase to fulfill passed in the resolution previously, a few months ago, in order to guarantee delivery of aid. it is not being fulfilled. it has to be fulfilled. we are going to join with other countries in an effort to try to guarantee accountability through the u.n. and making that happen. we are determined that people will be able to get aid. the people who left their homes, for instance, did so because they were literally under siege. they were being starved to death. civilians and others. that is against the rules of war. not to mention anybody's fundamental values and decency, but obviously not assad's. we intend to press this issue in every way possible. weapons, i amf not going to discuss what specific weapons, what country may or may not be providing or not providing -

so while there may be a fluid situation on the ground while the assad regime may gain some territory you can only do so by policy. at the end of the day, you cannot owes a policy that has risen up for its rights, for an ability to take back their country. and so while there may be some setbacks, revolutionary forces have made clear that the fight will go on. >> ubay shabandar, good to have you on the show to let us know what's going on in syria. >>> so much for thank you for your service. the va all but told him, thank you for being expendable. >>> busted in mississippi for sneaking into a nursing home, shows a deep division in the major senate race for republican party. what do you think? join us on twitter and our facebook and google plus pages. >> al jazeera america presents the system with joe burlinger >> the dna testing shows that these are not his hairs >> unreliable forensics >> the problem the bureaus got is they fail, it's a big, big deal... >> convicted of unspeakable crimes did flawed lab work take away their freedom? >> i was 18 when i went in... when i came out i was 50

. >>> chemical weapons attacks by the assad regime continue. opposition leaders say there have been more than 60 attacks in 15 different towns. they made those allegations in istanbul displaying videos as evidence. last august the u.s. and european union concluded the assad regime did use sarin gas in an attack. nearly a thousand people were killed. >>> history made today in south africa with all eyes on those who were casting their ballots. so-called "born frees" are voting for the first time. they were born after the apartheid rule. today all races were eligible to vote and did. >> many of these voters families have worked on this land for generations, but they don't own it. 20 years after the end of apartheid and most of the land is still in white hands despite promises of reform. >> last year they protested and won a promise that the government will bring in a minimum wage. there is still no sign of it. landownership are key issues here. >> the demographics are most are mixed race. an anc supporter while he votes democratic alliance. >> loo

it is going through one gate, one entryway, and it is going controlled byus the assad regime. that is unacceptable. we are, in addition to that, we are going to, in the united nations security council, challenge the appropriate level of follow-through that is necessary to be able to fulfill what was passed in the resolution previously a few months ago in order to guarantee that delivery of aid. it is not being fulfilled. it has to be fulfilled. our patience is gone. we are going to join with other countries in an effort to try to guarantee accountability through the u.n. and making that happen. we are determined that people will be able to get aid. forle who left homs, instance, did so because they were literally under siege. they were being starved to death, civilians and others, and that is against the laws of war, not to mention anybody's fundamental values of decency. obviously not a sound's -- a ssad's. we intend to pursue this issue in the days ahead. on the issue of weapons, i'm not going to discuss what specific weapons, what country may or may not be providing or not

we want the assad regime to know that there are very powerful nations in the world, very powerful forces in the world that are determined to see justice done one day. if we are frustrated now, if we are prevented now from referring the situation to the international criminal court, it is something we will return to and the people of syria may wish to return to in the future. yes, sometimes these things take a long time, but it is a very clear statement of what -- of where we intend to end up. thank you very much. i don't want to keep you waiting too long for secretary kerry. i know you want to reject the room a little bit, and we will make space for him. thank you very much indeed. >> good afternoon, everybody. first of all, let me just think foreign secretary william hague for his terrific posting today, convening all of us together to be able to talk about a number of challenging issues we are facing together. after today, we have an even better sense of direction. we gathered here, i think it is safe to say, frankly more united than we have been in some time. all of us remain committe

it started in 2011 when demonstrations against the assad regime took hold in syria's third largest city. government forces moved violently against them, but an increasing number of defectors from the syrian army began protecting the demonstrators. they formed small units and called themselves the free syrian army. >> i had sworn to protect civilians but when i saw what the government forces were doing to the people, i defected on june 2nd. >> reporter: the rebels held homs and it was the epicenter of the uprising against bashar al assad. regime forces launched a brutal assault including artillery shooting and snipers killing scores of people. marcelle was one of the western journalists to make it to homs. in reports to krp cnn he spoke people who risked their life. >> translator: the snipers have surrounded the area. it's a huge danger. >> reporter: the regime slowly gained the upper hand winning back neighborhoods which was totally destroyed in the process. there's not many places in the world where you can feel how fierce and intense fighting was if you go there after the fact, but th

as long as the assad regime continues to stay in power as long as he continues to kill sunni muslims is wall is known to chemical attacks against civilian populations there will be the motivation for individuals to go and as a result even if states don't want them to go i think that individuals will continue to go. but perhaps only food would be for weston. when thor seas to make a much clearer case that if you go out to syria jordan and the point in all these sad regime but a rifle extremist group will that's one of the things that could be potentially done by governments in the us or western europe. in that they can have a lot more information campaigns whether it's on tv through on line media talking about how you know you're going over there necessarily fighting against these suckers even mean if you look at isis for example they barely fight the regime there pretty much fighting against double to loose or other islamist forces. and there's also the factor of some individuals have over there and they become completely disillusioned cuz it's not as nice as is it's been a triangle

that red line that he drew against the assad regime's use of chemical weapons which they then did. that's come up recently. in regard to the situation in ukraine, people are asking questions asking will there be another red line? should we draw one and then how do you draw one and not acting? from reading these remarks just now, the president said he would betray his duty to the country that we love if he worried about the critics who feel that the only way for america to not look weak is to use military intervention. he did say no american boots on the ground in syria. we now know there's not going to be an announcement in that sense. he's now saying and as we heard secretary of state kerry say earlier, his own administration, that there is going to be this expanded support for that moderate syrian opposition fighting the assad regime. what exact shape that's going to take we're not sure just yet. he's making another announcement he wants this counterterrorism partnership fund. it would be up to $5 billion. it would need to be approved by congress. it would involve the u.s. in par

assad regime has lost all legitimacy. but he holds the upper hand. he has called an election. his military seems to have the upper hand. on the outside, including the administration, due to change the situation on the ground in syria? >> we had a very productive meeting yesterday with the syrian opposition. the leader oft the military side of the opposition. over twong lasted hours. we had an opportunity to hear from them what they most want from the united states and the international community. it was a very interesting discussion in several respects. explicitly do not want his u.s. military intervention. what they do want is increased support, which is exactly what we are doing. the discussion focused on their desire to be able to stand up hospitals and schools, and the institutions of civil authority in the areas they control. they're very concerned, obviously, as we are, about the humanitarian situation. the united states is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance, 1.7 billion dollars worth, which they are ve

the regime, the assad regime is a terrible, brutal regime backed by our economy, iran. and the other side are a bunch mixed groups fighting amongst themselves if we give them weapons such as antiaircraft weapons, we don't know where that's going to end up. maybe shooting down the american orel-al plan. i think we dropped the ball. obama dropped the ball when this started. we could have helped the opposition which was a little more clear on who we were dealing with. and now it's too late. when we had the opportunity to attack, which i really wasn't for, when we say we're it.g to do it we should do that's the only thing they respect in that part of the world, power and force. my question is, aren't we better off as bad as assad is to in power because we know what we have there and he does stick to agreements -- what's your response? host: thanks for the call. on that-up from randy same note saying is the guest suggesting that the u.s. matter then syria no economic costs to this country? these points youre response response? guest: i think the -- by the i'm glad to get a c

from the beginning we have ressed the assad regime. adds a result of its own inl action. than it is today. the u.s. and our partners remain ready for if tast couple of months. we also call on the other side we are eject that continuing to press on this and fully expect the assad regime d its sponsor in russian roughly eight% of chemical weapons and. >> i heard you say it could have been done earlier. we didn't get a chance to ask you question about how the economy contracted. obviously he was looked at and said he was a huge mart of my ife. it can fall into a bad month scenario. >> i will probably bore you down by reading from the statement of the chairman of the capital's economic advicors. he noticed that as you just did . e notable, i said in ut him in a historically severe. the report also show as positive impact of the implementation of the afford nl care about. oday will help strengthen your committee. the president will do everything he can. they would push for accepts that would access brate it. and key e said, tchs -- were to eses conducted on the long-term and w

regime but also on the rebel groups to make sure that they abide by the norms and laws of international humanitarian help to make sure that civilians are able to get the basic food, medicine that they need because at the moment we have a refugee crisis in the countries andng unspeakable her in serious -- horror in serious doubt. >> on tuesday assad held elections that will possibly keep him in power. you think anything is changing? situation is extremely severe. 9 million syrians have been displaced from their homes. 3 million are now in neighboring countries. the attorney millions of children are no longer in school inside the country. the short-term prospects of this war continues, a war without law, and a war with an and. the short-term prospects are extremely bad and neither side is giving way. that puts a significant onus on the international community, nations with an interest, whether because of their position on the security council or in the region to put maximum pressure on the regime and on the rebels to abide by international humanitarian law, which is what organizations lik

starting to say that assad regime may be in they for a long time, could come to vote but not if they want to return to syria in the near future. >> is the victory of assad a foregone conclusion? >> very few people even among his supporters think that he there are two-- candidates here and that is the first time it has been a semblance of a multiparty election in 40 years. but the poll is only going to be able to be held in government controlled areas, this is outside government control, and those who vote will be those who want to provide assistance. for thosestrictions who have been living in syria for the last 10 years, this excluded many of the exiles in opposition, and i have candidates who can only be to some degree with the regime, with votes that can take place yes,vernment areas, so many believe that this is a foregone conclusion. >> thank you for that, reporting from beirut. military leaders met in brussels to talk about the rise of the far right. antiestablishment parties in the presidente -- french francois hollande went against his normal colleagues for a stronger at larg

the assad regime in syria. what is the impact of all of this, do you think, both in syria and the u.s. overall foreign policy? >> i just, in march, chris, traveled the area. i covered a lot of places in the area where i have long-term relationships back in the days where we were doing desert storm. everyone is very concerned with u.s. policy. they hold up the syrian situation as a classic example. the u.s. can't be trusted. the president gave a lot of talk, drew a red line. said he was going to act and in the end didn't act and left them high and dry. the syrian situation has significantly undermined our credibility in the region. i think it's also the kind of thing that leads putin and others to believe this is the time for adventurism on their part. >> mrs. cheney, "the new york times," of all newspapers, said in a review of your book, it was one of the best biographies of james madison that's ever been written. you say that madison has been underappreciated for a long time as one of the main writers of the c

president bashar al-assad's regime has until 30 june to surrender all of it. >>> three al jazeera journalists have been held in an egyptian prison for 132 days, peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed is accused of conspiring with the muslim brotherhood, declared a terrorist organization. our colleague, abdullah al-shami, has been on hunger strike for 10 # days. al jazeera rejects all the charges and is demanding their immediate release. >>> now, the fill peeps military -- philippines military objective replaced thousands of members of a last indigenous tribe. we have this report. >> these are the last remaining indigenous tribes of the philippines whose culture remains intact. they are considered the keepers of the southern rainforest. they are homeless. driven from their homes after the philippine military launched an offensive more than a month ago against communist rebels hiding in their area. over 1,000 are forced to live in evacuation camps, and they are angry. military forgave the villages. there are no communists here. what we want it the to go back to our homes, plough ou

regime? >> i think undoubtedly there is a lot of support, but we were must remember that about 40,000 to vote,re registered so lines may be longer tomorrow, but there were a million refugees in lebanon and also some workers that do not count in that sticker, so it is hard to measure the real degree of support. there were also some people perhaps -- feared that they were being monitored, feared they would not be able to return to syria if they were not able to vote. the majority of people seemed to genuinely support the regime. as far as you could tell. there were some allegations of intimidation and former refugee camps around lebanon. those cannot be confirmed, but i withpeak to a lebanese mp the ruling party in syria, and he confirmed laying on 40 buses to take people to the polling station. he said that did not constitute pressure. they were poor, and they needed a way to get there, but many opposition refugees sought that as pressure, and sausage measures and attempts to register them and

regime. >>> all right, let's get an "early start" on your money today. here's a look at what markets are doing around the world. futures up slightly here in the u.s. after sort of a blah day for stocks yesterday. treasuries, on the other hand, very big day yesterday. yields on the ten-year note hit 2.44%. look at that. that's the lowest since june last year. people tend to buy treasuries when they're worried about the economy, and there might be reason to worry. the government set to revise its gdp number later this morning. economists expect it to show the economy actually contracted last quarter by about half a percentage point. that would be the first contraction since the first quarter of 2011. don't freak out just yet. most economists think the first quarter was a fluke, tied mainly to bad weather. remember, gdp is in the rear view. when you're looking out the front, things look a little bit better. >> still, it's kind of a blow. you don't like to see the economy contracting ever. >> whatever john hears me say don't freak out, he freaks out. >> i fr

up and just go back to be loyal servant to the assad regime and we will not give up and we will continue sacrificing until we managed to accomplish or goal which is building a free syria. >> reporter: three times formula one champion jock has died aged 88. and no one had ever done before or unlikely to and andrew thomas explains. >> he was australia's first formula one champion and won the individual grand prix in 1959 and securing the title that year by pushing his car over the finish line in the united states race and he ran out of fuel in the final straight and fourth place there was enough >> i'm pleased what i did today and certainly have a lot to do and thank the keebler and the mechanics who helped me. >> reporter: before racing cars he had been a mechanic in australia airforce and he came in the 50s to race he kept up engineering skills and he is the only person to win a championship in the car he personally helped design and build and which bore his name. >> a man that changed formula one forever. and putting the engine in the rear and win the drivers championship in his name. n

one accused the other of taking bribes from the assad regime. look like a fluffy teddy bear compared to those guys and their show. >>> this video has gone vier. see if you can figure out why. [ speaking french ] >> in case you missed it, be sure to listen to the sound of the impact. [ speaking french ] >> that poor kitty. that's so sad. the show is called the best bakery in france. i don't think kitty thinks so. is this what lewis does, this kind of stuff? boom! let's check in. you can go sit down. go ahead. no, go ahead. >>> with stephen --! with stephen colbert keeping an eye on one particular race in florida. >> florida's third congressional district, the fighting third, off-brand chocolate drinks ted yoho against fellow republican jake rush, running on a platform of traditional marriage, strict constitutionalism, strong national defense and repealing obamacare, everything you could want in a congressman and maybe more than you do. >> rush running for third congressional district in north florida. >> conservative straight shooter. guess what,

i'm deeply concerned that if we oust president bashar al-assad, we'll install a jihadist regime, since al qaeda attacked and murdered 3,000 americans on 9/11, it's foolish to me that we'd align ourselves with their forces. the syrian rebel yap is dominated by -- rebellion is dom nitted by radical jihadists. >> what do you say to people that suggest that the bashar al-assad regime has been killing its own people with chemical weapons? >> i would say this - we are at a fork in the road. we can go in one of two directions. either bashar al-assad will remain in power in syria, or the rebels who are dominated by al qaeda will seize control, they'll raise the dread black and white flag of al qaeda over damascus. >> what's the difference between a regime that gases women and children, and al qaeda? >> my concern is al qaeda - you may have forgotten, but al qaeda... >> no, senator, i have not forgotten. >> al qaeda flew jet aircrafts. >> i remember that, senator, what's the difference between a regime. >>..there were 200 americans who actually jumped from the twin towers to escape the planes.

mccain: so it appears that we are faced with a situation in which the assad regime has agreed to give up chemical weapons after using them to murder nearly 1,400 civilians last year but it's using other chemicals, less lethal but nonetheless effective to continue gassing civilians to death and the world does nothing about it. why? because technically this is permitted under the chemical weapons agreement, that a shameful and is outrageous. what's more, months after the deadline for removing all of its chemical weapon stockpiles, the stearn government has yet to fulfill its obligations under the treaty and using remaining stockpiles to bargain over the terms of the original agreement in hopes of retaining its storage and production facilities. as we were once again faced with images of men, women, and children writhing on the ground gasping for brelt, assad continues to commit mass atrocities. again, red lines are tested and crossed and the united states of america and the world do nothing. these are just some of the many reasons why our director of national intelligence referred to th

regime. i think we need to reassess our policy in syria. host: we thank you very much for being with us on this sunday and giving us your perspective on the situation in syria. appreciate your time. guest: thank you very much. host: and by the way, we'll continue the conversation tomorrow morning. c-span's "washington journal," congress is back both the house and the senate. a busy week here in washington d.c. we hope you tyne in at 7:00 am -- tune in. "newsmakers" is next. i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead. captioning performed by the national captioning institute. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> coming up today on c-span, "newsmakers" with mel watt. after that, va secretary eric shinseki testifying before the senate veterans' affairs committee about his department's efforts in providing healthcare to veterans. and later a senate foreign relations hearing on what's being done to address the abduction of nearly 300 school girls in n

regime, and include efforts to monitor the movements of and identify al qaeda- inspired fighters in that syrian conflict. >> o'donnell: major garrett, thank you. there is a memorial service tonight on the campus of the university of california at santa barbara for the six students killed in friday night's rampage. danielle nottingham has new information about the man police say stabbed or shot the victims before taking his own life. >> reporter: it was an emotional filled day on the uc santa barbara campus. thousands gather to remember fellow students killed in last friday's rampage, three stabbed inside elliot rodger's apartment, two others gunned down in front of this sorority house. another student shot and killed inside this deli. janet napolitano is president of the university o university of . >> we grieve together today as a family and we will get through this. >> reporter: ali guffie had been student body president for just two days. her first teach r speech to her fellow students was at the memorial service. how do you move forward? business as usual? >> i don't think this

it appears there were chemical weapons the assad regime did not appear and there are chlorine attacks in the country. there's a u.n. team investigating them now. looks like administration officials will come back and say chemical attacks are still going on. gwen: and next week, an election in which assad clearly will walk back into office for another term. but on this end, you touched on this, and carrie talked about this, too, congress -- for instance, the president as part of his plan this week said i'd like to be able to aid and arm the rebels, which a lot of people have been asking to do in syria. but it requires congressional agreement. is there any room for congressional agreement anymore on anything? >> i can't imagine that there is. every effort to produce it fails. so it's hard to imagine that. and i didn't hear anything. i was really looking in this speech for some sign that the president might open a door to more action in syria, because it does seem like there's a debate taking place within his administration. so actually, i was going to direct this question to you and see

. >>> now to syria, where rebels are stepping up their attacks on president assad's regime ahead of the presidential elections on june 3rd. their camera was rolling when they set off a massive bomb not far from the turkish border, blowing a hillside army base to bits. rebels had dug a half-mile-long tunnel under the base and packed it with more than 130,000 pounds of explosives. >>> and ecuador's government has declared an emergency in the galapagos islands. saying an oil ship that ran aground poses an environmental threat. most of the 19,000 gallons of fuel was offloaded. but other pollutants on the boat are a threat to the island's fragile ecosystem. >>> this morning, abc is in fever pitch for barbara walters' last official day. >> capping off a nearly 50-year career of nearly four decades at abc. her final episode of "the view" airs this morning. yesterday during the taping, she was joined by all ten of her "view" co-hosts. meredith, whoopi, lisa, star, elisabeth, joy, rosie, debbie, sherri and jenny. wow. >> wow. another special photo from today's episode, barbara surrounded by othe

that american joined the islamic terrorists trying to overthrow the assad regime, al qaeda's official branch in syria. the front reportedly posted a picture of an american on twitter and made the claim saying the american did it in conjunction with attacks by three other bombers. so we'll see. >>> the u.s. meantime could get more involved in the civil war in syria. president obama apparently wants to train rebels. officials telling the associated press that the president may soon sign off on a project to train and equip moderate syrian rebels. the opposition forces have been asking for military help over the last three years in their effort to oust president bashar assad. the mission would instruct members of the free syrian army on attacks including counterterrorism operations. >> the military is developing a brain shot to treat mental illness. darpa announcing a $26 million project to develop technology that would treat things like ptsd, anxiety and depression. the goal is to create an implant that can rewire the brain. >>> check out this new technology that will help our brave men

regime. and then heavy shelling and a siege that cut off residents from food and water. finally, both sides agree to a truce and the rebels withdrew from homs last week, a deal that they say they endorse. i think it was the best thing to do, he says. it gives the people a chance to come back and start rebuilding their lives. with so many killed and wounded and so much of the historic town destroyed, there are no winners in homs. but many people now returning back here are still optimistic that maybe there is a chance for a new beginning. fred pleitgen, homs, syria. >> and joining us is the foreign minister. thank you for coming in. you've seen the heartbreaking pictures coming in. a parliament member just said assad has won in syria. the regime will stay, the americans have lost. it certainly looks like assad at least for now has won. >> well, i don't think so. in fact, everything started in homs and it's because of the reaction of assad, a foolish reaction, very violent, that everything has

regime. we will enough give up. we will continue sacrificing until we manage to accomplish our goal, which is building a free syria for all. >> gunmen have shot dead two egyptian policemen as they were heading home. it happened in the central city. interrer ministry said they were riding on a motorbike when they were attacked. al jazeera's demanding the immediate release of its journalists who now have been in prison in egypt for 142 days. their trial was adjourned been on thursday. they're falsely accused of conspiring with the outlaws muslim brotherhood. al jazeera rejects the charges against them. they're due back in court on the 22nd of may. the fourth journalist abdullah elshamy has been held on since last august. he said he has been put in solitary confinement where attempts to force feed him. >>> the. >> reporter: south korea's president cried openly as she talk about those who gave lives to save others. >> i apologize to the nation for the pain and suffering that everyone felt. as pre

. >> reporter: but by yo 2008 feaf the assad regime led him to leave. >> his books, are collections of very short stories. parables. sometimes only a sentence long. they're sly and wry and take a subtle dig at political power. >> we cannot express our opinions freely there. so i decided to make it more--to hide the idea. >> with life in damascus permanently in his rear view mirror he drives a cab to survive and hates it. >> it keeps me from my writing. but now it's paying off. as a guest of a new york literary conference, he sold his first book in english, but like cinderella after the ball, he is back in chicago still eking out a living and thinking about a smoother road ahead. >> maybe it takes two or three years from now, but i'm working on it. this is my goal. this is my life. >> now joining us is osama. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for the invitation. >> what is it like here in the united states and see area country back home at war, and your home was also destroyed, correct. >> exactly. actually, i left syria before the up rising at the end o of 2008. my goal to come he

regime. that is unacceptable. we need to get it in more directly and we are working to do that. that is a certainty. karen,addition to that, we are going to in the united nations security council challenge the appropriate level of follow-through that is necessary to be able to fulfill what was passed in the rebels -- resolution previously a few months ago in order to guarantee the delivery of aid. it is not being fulfilled. it has to be fulfilled, and our patience is gone. we will join with other countries in an effort to try to guarantee accountability to make that happen. we are determined that people will be able to get aid. that people who left their homes, for instance, did so because they were literally under siege. they were being starved to death. civilians and others, and that is against the laws of war, and not to mention anybody's levels of values and decency, but obviously not a thought -- assad. we will press this issue in any way possible in the days ahead. on the issue of weapo

regime. the failure to coordinate aid and weapons fob rebels set back ep forts in bringing down that regime. nearly 150,000 have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. >>> coming up next, patient number 2. a second case of the potentially lethal mers virus is confirmed here in the united states. >>> the wildfire in the texas panhandle as forced more than 2,000 people from their homes tonight. strong shifting winds helped spread the fire quickly. >>> it's a mysterious virus that has sickened and kills hundreds of people in the middle east, mers causing flu like system toms and can lead to pneumonia and even death. natasha ghoneim has the story. >> reporter: the new patient in an orlando hospital is a healthcare worker from saudi arabia, who may have exposed more than 500 passengers while heading to florida. cdc officials say the patient felt sick when boarding the first flight. >> this virus can get on a plane and travel around the world wherever it wants. the right person ge

. >> reporter: fear of the assad regime drove him to chicago with virtually nothing. he writes now in his suburban chicago apartment spurred on by the rave reviews he's receiving. his books of sh very short stor. like aesop's fables they're sly and wry and poke fun of political power. >> i decided to make it more--to hide the idea of my stories. >> reporter: with life in damascus now permanently in his rear view mirror he drives a cab to survive. he hates it. >> it takes me away from my writing. i'm isolated. >> reporter: but in between fares he keeps on writing. even in his cab, and now it's paying off. as a guest at a new york literary conference this month he showed signed copies of his first published book in english. >> i was very happy. >> reporter: but like cinderella after the ball he is back in chicago eking out a living and thinking about a smoother road ahead. >> make it takes two or three years from now, but i'm working on it. this is my goal. this is my life. >> reporter: al jazeera, chicago. >> coming up on al jazeera america. is college worth the price

. >> but by interstate, fear of the assad regime drove him to chicago with virtually nothing. he writes now in his apartment, spurred on by the rave reviews that he's getting in the new york times and magazines. >> his books, like tongue tied, are collections of very short stories, parables, only a sentence long, but like aesop's fables, they are sly and write, and take a subtle dig at political power. >> if we cannot express our feelings freely, so i decided to hide that idea. >> with life in damascus now personally in his rear-view mirror, he drives a cab to survive. he hates it. >> it takes me away from my writing. >> but in between fares, osama keeps on writing, even in his cab, and now it's paying off. as a guest at a literary conference this month, he sold signed copies of his first book in english, full blooded arabian, but osama is back in chicago, eeking out a living, and thinking about a smoother road ahead. >> maybe it takes two or three years from now, but i'm working on it. this is my goal. this is my life. >> aljazeera, chicago. >> president obama announced new p

iranian troops are also in serious supporting the assad regime. in syria itself we saw its use of chemical weapons, even though we have this bargain if you will to try to get rid of the syrian chemical weapons program can we've seen assad is more than going to find loopholes in it to hide chemical weapons, use chlorine that was used in world war i, to use it again to really crossed a red line. and still we are struggling for our response to the cost of the red line. they are, russia and china, congressman thornbury spoke about it, they are both returning in many ways, returning great powers. russia has a lot of systemic problems but they do see, vladimir putin does want to restore in effect to the russian empire but if you look at his rhetoric, you know that's what he's looking at. what's wars, what troubles me also is vladimir putin and nationalistic you look at the eu mess, if you will, that the russian parliament passed, to authorize putin's activities in ukraine, it's not aimed specifically at ukraine. it is protecting russian nationals or eth

obviously it's a policy of the obama administration they want the assad regime to end but it seems with the terrorist threat it's become almost less of an imperative. >> we certainly don't know who would come after assad. we're clearly more in favor of the managed transition where all parties get to influence who in fact takes its place. but we certainly would not want to sigh chaos come to the country beyond what we've already seen and have a flip-flopping of who runs the country. i think we'd see a mess there. >> so 70 americans over there. the same report claims as many as 3,000 westerners in general. are we able -- is the u.s. government able to track these people? do we know who they are? would we be able to prevent them from coming back to the united states? >> i think it's very difficult to prevent anyone from going over there. they're free to travel there as they see fit, prevepting their return is something we can do if we have evidence to prove that they're in the fight. we could pick them up at the border. these are coming back on american passports or european passports or t

and apparently show people who have been tortured by the assad regime. some starved. some have had their eyes gouged out, and some are children. but amnesty international's new report said that torture has taken place in 141 countries in recent years. these are british soldiers. amnesty said democracies as well as dictatorships ignore the u.n. convention against torture. >> we have a convention and a legal system to prohibit torture which is probably the most comprehensive despite that what we have on the ground is complete double standard and hipcally. simply people can get away with it. >> reporter: amnesty's global survey found that people in many countries thought it was possible to be tortured if taken into custody. and in some countries many people believe that torture can be justified when it comes to protect the public. but for most, the majority believe that torture is always wrong. >> the victim has blood coming from his nose. >> reporter: i met a human rights activist in nigeria, a place where police and army use fotorture as a matter of routin. >> he held

the assad regime is drag and dropping barrel bombs on civilians, killing hundreds of people every day we dent have any weapons to confront them. again, we don't want the united states to send its sons or its war planes to fight in syria just want prepare ons to defend ourselves. >> reporter: obama administration secretary kerry putting great stock in these geneva peace talks between the two sides. and they failed. is that track essentially dead? >> geneva failed because of the regime's noncooperation. maybe you can say that it is dead. especially after assad announced overs go fog hold presidential election to top the skulls of the syrian dead. j where is the chance for a political resolution here? or isn't there one? >> i believe, yes. for sure. there is a political solution. we have to find a political solution. if the pressure on the ground is not there, assad will not cooperate rate for political solution. >> reporter: meanwhile, humanitarian disaster goes on, you have 200 people on average dying every day. if you step back and look at this region, 15 year civil war, iraq you can