our message is that the longer that bashar al-assad stays in power, the more syria will syria will be destabilized and the region face destabilization, and syria will become a failed state, a magnet for terrorism. we have reiterated that message that asaad and his regime are the primary magnet for terrorism and destabilization in the region, it is in the interests of the syrian people to be empowered with the stoles protect themselves against bashar al-assad to conduct mass atrocities, and is in the interests of the united states and the western governments to ensure that syria is not a failed state or a black hole where extremists can thrive and grow at the behest of ass add. >> it doesn't seem like he has miscalculated. he is winning, happening on to power. he has the army, air superiority from which he can rain down terrible ordnance on your forces in the field. how do you convince people waiting on the side lines to see a sign that you can be a future government. how do you convince them to come in on your side? >> what we have told - what the potential delegation in washington co

the situation getting worse in syria. we have always been of the view that there will not be a military victory for either side. for any side. and that remains our view. including by the regime. and there may be some who believe they can win a military victory. but that is not available to any side. that is why it's always been clear that it has to be a political solution in the end. and so that -- that analysis remains the same. but in the meantime, many more people are being displaced. many more people are being killed. we have to step up our efforts to make sure a moderate opposition stays in being. and that it is able to function. they have done a good job, i congratulate president aljava of the national coalition how they conducted themselves in the geneva negotiations. and all the steps they have taken to be cluff -- inclusive among the people of syria and particularly among different religious groups and different communities. they have done a good job. but they have to be kept in being. they have to be given addit

. >> syria has become as bad a situation. journalists are a commodity and kidnapping - it's not possible for them to not operate. >> most of the freelancers know what it means to work in a war zone, but tell us that syria is difficult because it's become so volatile, and it's become so difficult to find who to trust. there are so many parties there, it's become so fragmented and it's difficult to find a safe haven in between, you know, inside the conflict. >> what i think happened as a result of arab spring has been great number of young journalists going to the middle east. the problem we found is that a lot of these guys are fairly experienced, haven't been to cop flilent zones before -- conflict zones before and lack the skills, adjournisticly and -- journalistically and survival skills. >> i heard that some younger freelancers go into conference zones and dangerous situations for the wrong reasons. don't think that many are jumping into something as violent as syria without thinking about it. it's not a comfortable lifest

11.syria or detailed talks including the syrian national coalition. are of course united in our disgust and anger at what is syria and the regime's utter disregard for human life. the deaths of over 150,000 syrians. 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 c

the new syria that will be different from the syria of the past, but it will be the syria we have loved and admired for many, many years. and i'm extremely grateful to you secretary general, and especially that -- i know you are traveling in a few minutes, but you have taken time to come down for this occasion personally. thank you very much. >> thank you for your great service. >> we'll take a few questions. >> reporter: dr. brahimi and secretary general how much is the security council to blame? and the divisions in the security council in the fact that you have been unable to bring peace? >> i'm go be at the council at 3:00, so perhaps you can ask me this question after i speak to them. not before. >> reporter: mr. brahimi are you leaving the security council with a plan -- >> i'm going to speak to them at 3:00. after that you will see -- >> reporter: are you leaving your post with a plan behind, or are you just saying that mission as you perceived it has failed? >> i'll answer questions after -- >> reporter: but i'm sorry -- >> but i think -- [overlapping speakers] >> you will have

all of us remain committed to changing the dynamics on the ground in syria. since we last met, the opposition has itself taken some significant steps forward to expand their leadership, to expand their reach into syria, to become more effective. we know, as you know, we just hosted the president and his delegation in washington for a number of days with a series of meetings, including meetings with the state department, the white house, and the president. the truth is, we all know that the grave humanitarian crisis is growing more dire. the bloodshed and the suffering in one unified voice, we need it clear that we remain committed even more so to taking steps that could in fact make a difference. most importantly, we start in one unified voice that rejects any notion whatsoever that that regimens that the assad waycaused -- there is no for a legitimate effort for this impossible set of circumstances for an election to somehow give legitimacy where there is none. together, we are unified in saying that his staged elections are a farce and an insult. they are a

envoy to syria. he was tafshged with an end to the conflict, but there were reports he was increasingly frustrated over the lack of progress. in a moment we'll speak to an ambassador. first this report. >> reporter: from the very beginning when he was first given the job to try to bring peace to syria, brahimi admitted it was a very tough task. he didn't want to raise the hopes of syrians. >> i'm not in the habit of making grand promises and raising expectations. >> reporter: in a long career, the veteran diplomat has helped solve problems. he brokered the agreement in 1989 after the civil war and he was there when a new afghan government was created after the fall of the taliban. after all these efforts in syria, a period of nearly two years, there's been little progress. the death toll continues to rise. they believe it's over 150,000. the number of refugees has increased greatly to now over 2.5 million. as the fighting continued, international and regional players were slow to react. the momentum

and we all of us unanimously changing theted to dynamics on the ground in syria. last met the opposition has itself taken some steps forward to expand their leadership, to xpand their reach into syria, to become more effective. know, we justs you host hosted the president and his in washington for a number of days in a series of meetings including the meetings the state department, white house and president. know that s we all the grave humanitarian crisis is greg more dire -- growing more dire by the day notwithstanding the best efforts of people to date. the bloodshed and suffering the have not sopped. we y in one unified voice made it clear that we remain committed to taking .teps most importantly, we start with rejecting any notion whatsoever that the elections that the assad regime has called have any legitimacy whatsoever. there is no way that this illegitimate effort for this possible set of circumstances for an election can somehow give legitimacy where there is none. together, we are unified in saying that aside -- assad's staged elections are a farce, an

the new syria that will be different from the syria of the past. it will be the syria that we have loved. >> mr lakhdar brahimi long been recognised as a brilliant diplomat, as well as outstanding proponent of the principles of the charter of the united nations. >> a man of such achievement and experience who, himself, took over the job from former secretary-general kofi annan and begs the question is there anyone that can bring peace to syria. dr lakhdar brahimi arrived to brief the security council behind closed doors. in that briefing dr lakhdar brahimi told ambassadors that there'd been a new proposal from the iranians suggesting they could arrange an interim government and may be prepared to talk with saudi arabia to create a regional solution. after the meeting dr lakhdar brahimi spoke to reporters. >> on this sad day for you, what is your message to the syrian people? >> apologies once more, that we haven't been able to have - help them as much as they deserve, as much as we should have. and also to tell them that the tragedy in their countr

the decent of syria into growing instability, the use of syria as a training ground for al qaeda affiliates and other terrorist organizations is, the ceding of regional leadership to our adversaries and thele tolerance for crimes against humanity, in short all of the awful things that crings said would happen if we got more involved in syria have happened because we have not gotten more involved. we continue to hear from the administration that there are no good options in syria, as if there ever were good options in the real world and the only alternative to our current disengagement is a full-scale ground invasion and war without end. the president has frequently said as much recently stating it is very difficult to imagine a scenario in which our involvement in syria would have led to a better outcome short of us being willing to undertake an effort in size and scope similar to what we did in iraq. but this claim has been directly contradicted by other administration officials who recognize that our inaction in syria is not because we lack options or capability but, rather, the will. in

jarv anchts the president of the syria national coalition, while we discussed the situation in syria and while we know this issue is terribly complicated, his bottom-line message to me -- and he'll, i'm sure, be saying this to other american officials well -- here's what his message was. "without significant support from the united states of america, the fighting will continue i and a potential solution will not be reached." we must act to change the battle's momentum and to fundamentally shift mr. assad's calculus. as long as he believes that there are no real consequences for his actions, he will continue to defy the u.n. security council? as such, and because of this, i've sent a letter to president obama today which asked him to consider some next steps. madam president, i would ask consent that my letter to the president dated today be added to the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. let me outline some of the things that i set forth in the letter. first, i asked that the president seriously consider allowing the deployment of

it's not as though the talks tore effort in syria have been -- or effort in syria have been gaining much real traction. >> with the genuine efforts put into the geneva talks and so on, you know, you have to admit that both sides on the ground never took it seriously. i mean certainly the syrian government never took it seriously. then you have the rebels in syria that felt disconnected. no one expected much to come out of it. now that he's resigning, it's hardly noticeable in syria, in light of the ongoing presidential elections and the campaigns and what is going on. >> are talks hopeless at this point. sorry to put it that way, i have to ask it that way. >> i think for months many people on the ground in syria said that. that talks are, indeed, hopeless. the only solution is a military solution, or if it's going to be a diplomatic solution, moscow needs to get on board, and iran. moscow - that's how the chemical weapons - you know, the bashar al-assad government agreed to give up the chemical weapons, because moscow pressured president bashar al-assad. if moscow put pressure on bashar

is that what may lie ahead for syria? >> the syrians took to the streets for freedom to build the lureistic state. now, the only solution should start by assad family stepping down from ruling syria. >> reporter: they're unwilling to do that. >> syria is abused country. christian, muslims, jews, living together for thousands of years. our friends had not brought down war would not be dragged for all these years. i am not afraid their's more. and stay and support us and real pressure to accept the political solution. i can confirm now when assad goes, 85% syria's problems will be over. >> reporter: thank you, president jarba. >> thank you. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. the chair of the federal reserve, janet yellen, told congress the u.s. economy is on track for solid growth this quarter, but the job market is still far from satisfactory. russian president vladimir putin called for separatists in eastern ukraine to postpone a planned secession vote. he also said russian forces have pulled back from

that is not a unique situation to syria. we have seen it in the congo, sudan, and many other places. it is getting worse, not better. secondly, as the conflict has evolved and a sought has -- assad has continued to prosecute the war, he has lost control of significant swaths of his territory and in that would have come increasingly very extreme terrorist groups. called -- , which is active in syria and iraq is so radical that al qaeda had a split from it. >> they go to zoo far in terms of their tactics. >> according to al qaeda. there are al qaeda elements that we worry about a great deal as well. >> would they have been there in the numbers they are if we had done more? >> charlie, i think the answer to that is there is not a degree of military involvement or military support for the u.s.ition short of direct military involvement, which the in terms of boots on the ground, has excluded. that could have necessarily countered the investment that , russia, andan others have made on behalf of assad. my own view is that the answ

the situation getting worse in syria. we have always been of the view that there will not be a military victory for either side. for any side. and that remains our view. including by the regime. and there may be some who believe they can win a military victory. but that is not available to any side. that is why it's always been clear that it has to be a political solution in the end. and so that -- that analysis remains the same. but in the meantime, many more people are being displaced. many more people are being killed. we have to step up our efforts to make sure a moderate opposition stays in being. and that it is able to function. they have done a good job, i congratulate president aljava of the national coalition how they conducted themselves in the geneva negotiations. and all the steps they have inclusive cluff -- among the people of syria and particularly among different religious groups and different communities. they have done a good job. but they have to be kept in being. they have to be given additional help.

we will start in syria. let's start with our panel, george will, juan williams, and charles kraut krauthammer. >> syria is a training ground. it makes you wonder whether it should still be u.s. policy that asad has to go because it gives you some clarity about the kind of people who are going to win if asad loses, and it could be, although it sounds callus to say that some of them who went there to fight die there fighting. >> our policy has not worked. many people are saying that on all sides, juan. as you take a look at the death toll, 162,000 deaths in syria since this began, 10,000 in less than two months, and about 54 rrks,000 civilians, 8,600 children. those are staggering numbers. >> it is staggering numbers and again the policy -- the thought was on the part of administration that they can get bashir assad out in months and that was years ago. we don't know who the rebels are, who the opposition is, and for the longest time we've wanted to support the osu ter of as sad. we were unsure who we were sup

that's where isle -- >> charlie: go into syria and come back. >> they started in syria and moved back into iraq. now, there were some remnants within iraq, i don't want to say there were none. so the syria conflict has been a large factor in fueling what has arisen in iraq. i think the united states has maintained an advisory presence in iraq in our embassy, almost hundreds if not up to 1,000 personnel, which is roughly the sort of arrangement we would have in afghanistan after 2016. that advisory role has been valued by the iraqis since they've had to step up and deal with the threat. the question you pose is really one for the iraqis. what do think think would have been a wiser choice? we were not ever going to be doing the fighting for them. it would have been all been them and we are still able to offer support and advice and indeed doing so today. what the president said yesterday as part of this counterterrorism partnership initiative is we're going to ramp up our support not only to the opposition in syria but to the neighbors of syria who are battling this challenge. >> charli

inside syria. first we didn't do anything for a few hours then went to do some easy stuff like he's drop and walk around alive or something but we're really looking after this whole situation with a negotiation say and in the end we thought that it was just like that's it it was screwed up it was a disaster but then all of a sudden it all changed again went to ron who had this chaotic moments when we didn't know who was doing the lives we had to do as lives just in case nobody knew what was going on my phone died and in the end everything just worked out well and i really did feel this in these situations you feel the. second energy burst or something and you just do this life and you feel like this is why you're here i have to report on this sort of stuff and i know i'm not in syria right now and i know i'm not definitely not he a friend. this is a really big part of the story and i'm really glad we did it i think it's a great day really satisfied with myself and the crew and i just hope that. now

>>> the war in syria hits home with an american suicide bomber. we'll consider what it says on headed. >>> also, a meal replacement drink some are calling the end of food. >>> plus, is it possible to predict a genocide. work. >> i'm lisa fletcher in for antonio mora - welcome to "consider this," and here is more on what's ahead. >> in syria an american citizen reportedly blew himself up in a suicide attack. >> a truck allegedly packed with 17 tonnes of explosives. >> if confirmed it's the first time an american has been a suicide bomber. >> this man's deadly rampage chrome. >> california has some of the strict lawyers, it didn't help. role. >> google is developing a fleet of stars without steering wheels. market. >> it's a nerdy vehicle. >> i love this. >> pbs series launched a kick starter campaign to revamp the series for the web. it raised a million dollars in under a day. >> we are changing the world one children's book at a time. >>> the carnage in syria costing more than so,000 lives - will it come home to america. for the first time, three

fighters going to syria. in brussels today, there's a conference on ways to tackle the problem. in britain, officials say there are signs those fighting in syria are returning home to launch attacks. the number of foreign fighters estimated to have joined rebel groups fight in syria is around 8500. that's according to a study. around 2,000 just under a quarter are believed from europe including belgium, britain, france, netherlands and germany. most of the foreign fighters are said to join the nusra front and iraq, two groups seen by the west as most dangerous. we will be getting the latest from our correspondent covering that meeting, second meeting by european home ministers on the threat back in europe. also, we'll be speaking to some about the radicalization of young fighter who is move to syria. >>> now six months since the biggest typhoon ever to lhit lad in the southeast philippines. a four meter high storm surge destroyed everything in its path and killed 6,000 people. our correspondent witnessed the

. >> the situation in syria has gotten worse. it's not gotten better, and it's hard for the president to ignore the deteriorating situation. he's right to say that it's a complex and difficult problem. >> reporter: the president pushed back against critics say that the partnerships are holdovers from the cold war. >> there are a lot of folks and skeptics who down play the effectiveness of multi lateral action. to work through constitutions like the u.n. or respecting international law is a sign of weakness. i think they are wrong. >> reporter: mark jacobs agrees the international response to violence in ukraine sets the model for the future. >> what the president did was a balanced diplomacy and action. >> reporter: but just how effective president obama's foreign policy may have more food with shifting international politics. >> the events from bengahzi, syria, ukraine, south china sea, the like, have put in question the administration's foreign policies or effectiveness. >> reporter: with his political elections behind him mr.

syria's election is happening in the middle of a civil war. that's forced at least two and a half million people out of the country. egypt's comes less than a year after the military overthrew the country's first freely elected president, mohamed morsi. the leader of that coup, the former army chief, abdel fatah al-sisi is virtually guaranteed to win. trying to boost low voter turnout, the vote is extended to another day. >> the people think these votes are illegal, five elections before, all had gone in vain. >> sisi's critics say he needs a high turnout to legitimize the results. the vote in syria nearly assures that bashar al-assad will have another term. yrnz outside the -- syrians outside the country, one fifth of that population in lebanon, half of them have been displaced because of the war. thousands of syrian refugees are voting in lebanon, most of them for saud. they worry if they -- assad. they worry if they don't vote they won't be allowed to return to syria or that relatives stiff living there will be punished. have to deal with t

in terms of who wanted to use military in syria, initially that was the president's idea. i did the interview with him where he was calling for caution. three days later he was ready to use military strikes that you now say would have been ill advised and it was only because congress didn't come up and support him. >> chris, please don't -- please don't make up language. i did not say ill advised. i said it would have done damage but only a certain amount. it would not have removed the weapons. so don't put words in my mouth. i said it would not have accomplished the task of removing all of the weapons, so the simple reality is the president did announce publicly what he was prepared to do. congress was not prepared to support it. and before we even got to the final vote in congress, i reached an agreement in geneva with the russians and sergei lab r lap rof so instead of a partial solution we're getting a whole solution to the chemical weapons. it's remarkable to me that people simply want to refuse to accept that we're better off getting all of the weapons out than strik

citizen in syria. he took his orders from a l portion of l many al qaeda. >>> a bomb slams into a maternity hospital. hole, malawi's new president just sworn in the day after he was declared the winner of an outgoing president. >> some people in malowi some people say he's not happy he's president. people who are unhappy with the fact he's now leading the country, let's foregive and forget. his party rigged this particular election they say, it was fraudulent and they say he shouldn't be the head of malowi's l country, his country. >> security forces in malawi try to, president elect. >> it is a field day of celebration. there is an extent of celebration. people sore happy. it has been a long day. no mistake about it. >> officials are overcome with emotion. protesting over the disputed lks. as the leader of malawi's disputed election. >> mr. cyrus klaus gemi of the social democraticking party as if the elect and vice president elect respectively. >> reporter: supporters, find a way to be joyous but bel

let's use iraq's syria policy as an example. iran is not there, and the ocean comes up on the other side of iraq. note eastern boundary. would iraq be any more excited about an unstable neighbor to its west, the instruction of its theets on that side, humanitarian disaster of refugees coming into its country, the uncertainty of not knowing what government you are going to deal with, not to mention the very real reality of a large jihadist group that is now in dating into your previously unhappy but somewhat minority no sectarian -- s no sectarian minority. have a still going to certain view of the civil war in syria put it at odds with the foreign policy of the united states, simply because of geography and its own interest independent of iran. which is not to say iran does not put pressure on iraq, but their interests are very much aligned. >> if you could make your way to the microphone -- >> thank you very much. it is so good to see the three of you on the podium. the question i have is about the formation of the government,

there are those who are already inside syria on the menu than their northern syria. therefore they are able to get up there next actions via turkey on the many delights twitter facebook there's also this website called ask of them were in the vigils can ask in the vigil questions about what's going on and then the person will respond and therefore people get connected to each other over over these ways but then you also have more of these in a face to face type of potential recruitment within the context of western europe cee of different types of grassroots movements for example newquay you have a home lies your own group or indulge in new hampshire ia for belgium any of similar types of smaller organizations in other western european countries ball and therefore they have memberships in there and within that then people get recruited and two that are connected to logistics and facilitation networks and most people are going to syria through turkey and a don't need a visa to get to turkey from europe and also it's very cheaply enough like theirs will and therefore a

had not bombed syria as its where all of this war toff. amid the u.s. and europe saying that they want to find a political solution to the crisis in syria we say there is no military victory meaning we being the united states there can be no military solution and every step that we're taking is a military step. and so obviously what we're setting up is a longer term conflict more conflict the u.n. envoy for syria lakhdar brahimi has announced his resignation expressing regret for his inability to forge a coherent international response to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in syria the geneva talks have not led to a deal between the syrian government and the opposition although the syrian opposition has been largely unwilling to cut deals with the government of bashar assad nonetheless there have been instances of progress most recently thousands of syrians were turned to war battered parts of the central city of homs after the rebels left under an evacuation deal with the government but washington seems keen to prompt the syrian rebels to continue

what's going on in syria. what happened in syria. >> unfortunately in syria today or yesterday in the bahrain resigned and i admired the guy and he should resign one year ago because i know that the regem in syria going to play with everybody and they will not give power. and we know six or eight months after the revolution there was a solution to build the new syria. >> rose: when was there an opportunity. >> six or eight months after the revolution. >> rose: why didn't it happen? >> why didn't happen? you put red lines and we crossed the syrian government cross it in chemicals. you put a red line and they cross it. you tell them not to use the airlines, the planes the war planes they used the helicopter they used the plane and they fire their people. there is other help and we cannot get the right help from the united states. >> rose: so in other words you're saying the reason there's been a change in the near term prospect in syria is because the united states did not step forward. >> did not step forward a

but the other building they went waso spread graffiti syria-tel, which was the cell company of syria. now, this is very interesting. why did these kids, these young kids, target that building? the cellia-tel is phone monopoly in syria. owned by the m aclu ,bashir's in-laws family, knew.ese kids one of the great challenges they faced in syrian society was not repression but and a rulinguption and itsnd its in-laws faithful were controlling the stifling the growth of the syrian economy to produce jobs and opportunities for the general population. this is very significant. up.tarted from the bottom there was no political leadership, no single leader, no groups. demonstrations took on a life of their own. it got to the point where his they wouldded that fire on these protests. bloodywhen the confrontation began. a downward spiral began where so bad now tha that 160,000 syrians have lost their lives. i mentioned how many have been displaced internally and externally. how islamicibed radical groups have come into the country from iraq, from afghanistan, from other parts of world and even is

especially syria. there is consideration being given that the president may approve the eyed to train and equipment moderate fighters inside that country. this has been debated for more than a year. is this something you would support? >> it's five days and five dollars short. we have been sending non-lethal aid and red lines we have advocated and ignores and in the process the situation as only gotten worse. you have a civil war with more islamists on the ground. you have to vet those rebels, determine which are less radical and try to assist them while they are on the homes because assad has been able to push them back. i welcome the fact he's taking a serious approach in acknowledging just sending food and non-lethal aid isn't enough. the question is can what he turn the tide. does assad believe we are committed to seeing this through? if he receives this as an incremental small step there is nothing this president's rhetoric that sound or seems like strength which is important. bill: you see the ri

by fighters from syria. >> we're seeing training complexes in syria to train people to go pack to their countries and of cures conduct more terrorist acts. >> reporter: and now a new revelation. >> the al qaeda presence in syria, do you agree with director clapper that it represents a direct threat to the homeland, the al qaeda safe haven in syria? >> yes. >> do we have a plan to deal with that as a nation? >> yes. >> is that classified? >> yes. >> okay. i'd like for you to brief me about that because i think one of the likely next attacks is going to come from somebody who's trained in syria. >> reporter: the fbi director reminds everyone that al qaeda emerged as a result of the war in that country with the soviets. al qaeda directly traced to 9/11 and the director vow sz there will not be another 9/11. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> an egyptian court has sentenced hosni mubarak to three years in prison. all three were convicted of stealing $18 million. they've been ordered to pay more than $20 million in penalties. the elder mubarak is being retried of protesters during the 201

. >>> russia and china have vetoed a attempt to end the syria war. the two members of the security council have used their visa over the syria conflict. moscow is a close ally of bashar al-assad government's. the un expressed outrage at the russian and chinese veto. >> today is about accountability for syria, but it is also about accountability for this security council. it is this council's responsibility to stop atrocities, if we can, and at a minimum to ensure that the perpetrators of atrocities are held accountable. it was towards that minimum that we sought to make progress today. my government applauds the vast majority of members of this council who voted to support and the some 64 countries who joined us in cosponsoring this effort. >> translator: is it just a try once again to create a pretext for armed intervention in the syrian conflict? one could not overlook that the head of french diplomacy took his recent visit to washington to publicly criticize the us. this damage to the p-5 unity is inflicted at a critical point in the efforts to fi

. >> syria as well? is there something the united states can do they have not been doing to make the potential on the ground different? >> let's briefly examine the complications of this. in syria today, you have a sectarian war going on, a civil war going on, islam extremist terrorists of different varieties. you have the iranians sponsoring hezbollah in there. you have a number of dynamics in play plus opposition forces against assad. they are not all on the same page that they were on. a moderate opposition, that we support and we are trying to help, working with our allies in jordan and turkey, working with the gcc countries. i just came back from bringing all the gcc defense ministers together for the conference at saudi arabia, jordan, israel. the syria was the main topic. >> what was the assessment? >> everyone has this issue at the top of their agenda. there may be variations as to why, but this extremism, this sectarian war, sunni versus shia, which cuts into the western part of iraq in the huma

the armed lebanese syria group is fueling tensions in a war-ravaged country. the civil war has come to cannes. a film that includes more than a thousand internet clips is premiering at the famous film festival. silver water is directed by a syrian film maker in exile live in paris shot by citizen journalists. phil lazell has more. >> these images emerged from syria on a daily basis, on the news, on t.v. screens and now on the big screen here at the cannes film festival. "silver water" was directed from afar. it's syria maker, ossama cut together a thousand internet videos from exile in paris. one day, he got talking to sima olbermann in homs. she asked: what would you film if you were here? >> he told her, and this is the result. >> i start to feel that i am back into syria, that this virtual window became very real, deep, beautiful one. she became, you know, my homeland. and after i discover that, yes, for me, she is the metaphor of syr syria. >> this is a movie that brings the viewer closer to the dailihorse of life in a war -- hor errors of life in a war hi

>> in syria three years ago go into syria. >> and do what? >> when the terrorists and the rebels numbered in the dozened. >> and do what? >> instead, now they number in the thousand. >> go in and do what? >> we certainly could have armed the rebels. >> of course we could have. when we're in the dozens we could have armed the right people, peter. now we don't know who they are. >> i think one of the lessons, there may well be that there was a case for arming the rebels early on. one thing we have learned from afghanistan in iraq is we should have a little more humility about america's ability to decide who among the syrian rebels are the moderates and -- >> obama's humility in announcing a red line, in involving us in that conflict in syria and abandoning. >> the red line was a mistake. >> okay. >> i'm not going to defend everything obama has done. but 90% of the chemical weapons are out of syria today, which was more effective than what would have 457ed -- >> but peter, assad used them and recently used bleach on his own people. what responsi

the first american suicide bomber in syria. that he carried out a suicide operation on sunday. you see video there, this is a still that's been making the round on jihadist forums. this allegedly is a picture of the american. there you see him holding a cat. there's a video that's also been posted on many jihadist forums that alleges to show the operation as it happened. it was a massive explosion. a truck that allegedly was packed with at least 17 tons of explosives. here, you're seeing another portion of the video where these insurgents are packing artillery shells into one of the trucks that we believe was part of this operation that targeted a government checkpoint in idlib, sere wra, this past sunday. later on in the video, you see one of the trucks approaching the check point, then a massive explosion occurs. there you go. there's the video. huge shockwaves. now, american officials, one law enforcement official telling cnn this was a u.s. person. they're not going as far as to call this person a u.s. citizen. they're sayi

he announced a major policy shift with the on going conflict in syria. >> yes, del, it was almost a 50 minute speech and comprehensive and expansive and exhaustive and walking a fine line between the tendencies with isolationism and what is described as the role as the leader of the free world, if intersection doesn't lead, no one else will. he was conciliatory and a rebutted the critics and saying that american leader ship is necessary and calling for a multilateral approach when necessary and use of force is sometimes necessary and diplomacy should be used and military used as a last option and al qaeda is decimated in afghanistan. but saying that terrorism and the affiliates have spread to the central african republic. it was a worldwide tour, burma, egypt and ukraine and syria, and announcing a fund going there to help some of the countries we mentioned and training them in counter terrorism techniques and working with congress to assist with the moderate elements with syria and working with on congress that as well and how far that is going to go and how much that is going to cost