al-assad, but bashar al-assad is by no means america's friend, he's an enemy. forget the proverb, but you may assume a variation of the proverb is true. an enemy of america's friend is america's enemy. this being the middle east. it's more complicated than that. here is what i mean, turkey agreed to help the united states knock i.s.i.l. out of a 60 mile protected scene of northern syria. the move following a suicide bombing turkey blamed on i.s.i.l., and is allowing the united states to use its air bases to attack i.s.i.l. friends helping each other battle a common enemy. turkey started bombing forces of the kurdistan workers party, known by its acronym p.k.k. they have been fighting for an autonomous region, the pst kk, and the y.p.g. have become america's strongest partners fighting i.s.i.l., they are the ones that stayed and fought when the iraqi army cut and ran. u.s. and its allies listed the p.k.k. as a terrorist group. zeina khodr is in turkey and has the latest on the campaign against the p.k.k. >> for the first time turkish fighters jets targeted the p

problem until the bashar al-assad problem is solved. >> if bashar al-assad is toppled tomorrow, it will be a nightmare. >> that is true, those that seek to fill the vacuum... >> fundamentalists. >> if we want to eliminate i.s.i.s., we'll have to deal with people we don't like >>> we have ambassador robert ford, ambass do to syria from 2010 to 2014. and amall, a syrian political activist that supports the syrian government. thank you for joining u gentlemen. ambassador ford, in an interview with a daily paper you asked if bashar al-assad was evil. >> i recall. >> and you said yes. >> yes. >> is he the nastiest evil right now in this conflict? >> there are many evils in this conflict. there are a lot of innocent people getting killed. i certainly would not, for an significant, suggest that the islamic state has good qualities, redeeming qualities. from where a great many syrians sit, they look at a regime this killed tens of thousands. you mentioned the nerve gas and barrel bombs, et cetera. they say they have lost 100,000, 250,000 to bashar al-assad. the islamic state killed four to 5,00

or assad goes first? >> well, it's certain that president obama will leave. >> no i know that there so that's an easy question, but then it's turning on whether assad will be in power then. >> who leaves first, obama or assad? >> well, i certainly hope it's assad. >> yeah, i do but i don't think so. >> so the bottom line, if assad stays in power, do you worry about jordan and lebanon being a victim of a war on sir 82 if it continues the way it's going, that jordan and lebanon will become a casualty of a war in syria? >> i think jordan and lebanon are already suffering from the effects of war? >> it could even get worse? >> that's exactly the concern we should all have about, one of the concerns we should have about what is going on in syria. it's not just the syrian people. it's the neighbors as well. >> do you agree that no arab force is going to go in and fight isil alone unless you put assad on the table? >> i see what you're getting at. it gets back to our train and equip program. we are finding peopl

., nusra and others, is bashar al-assad the lesser evil. later - police wear body cameras when dealing with suspects. should school principals have body cams dealing with students. could a simple yes stop rape. i'm imran garda, and this is "third rail." >> bashar al-assad will go down history as one of the worst tyrants of his era. >> if the regime goes down, there'll be caso in syria. >> you have two extremes, the government of bashar al-assad, and i.s.i.s., and nusra and other groups. >> what is the more serious group in this hell hole? >> he's killed 200,000 of his own people. >> i can avoid i.s.i.s., but not a regime barrel bomb. >> the number of syrian refugees exceeded 4 million. >> i have not seen anything like this for a quarter of a century yip. >> the only way the syria war will end is without a government of bashar al-assad. >> you will not deal with the i.s.i.l. problem until the solved. >> if bashar al-assad is toppled nightmare. >> that is true, those that seek to fill the vacuum... >> fundamentalists. >> if we want to elimina

whether assad will be in power then -- senator graham: who leaves first? obama or assad? secretary carter: i certainly hope it's assad. senator graham: i do, but i don't think so. the bottom line, if assad stays in power, do you worry about jordan and lebanon being a victim of the war in syria? if it continues. that jordan and lebanon will become a casualty of the war in syria? secretary carter: i think jordan and lebanon are already suffering from the effects of war. senator graham: it could even get worse. secretary carter: that's exactly the concern we should all have about -- one of the concerns we should have about what's going on in syria. it's not just the syria people, it's the neighbors as well. senator graham: do you agree with me no arab force will go in and fight isil alone unless you put assad on the table? secretary carter: i see what you're getting at. it gets back to our train and equip program. we are finding people whose principal security fear for their own people, this is really for their own villages, is isil. so they are willing to go and fight again

but then it ends up turning on whether assad will be in power then. >> who leaves first, obama or assad? >> well i certainly hope it's assad. >> yeah, i do. but i don't think so. so the bottom line, if assad stays in power do you worry about jordan and lebanon being a victim of the war in syria if it continues the way it's going, that jordan and lebanon will become a casualty of the war in syria? >> i think jordan and lebanon are already suffering from the effects of war in syria. >> it could even get worse tharjts's exactly the concern we should all have about -- one of the concerns we should have about what's going on in syria. it's not just the syrian people. it's the neighbor as well. >> do you agree with me that no arab force is going to go in and fight isis alone unless you put assad on the table? >> i see what you're getting at and it gets back to our train and equip program. and we are finding people whose principle security fear for their own people. and this is really for their own villages is isil. so they're willing to go and fight against ice. there are others who want to f

. -- assad is still in power. if we do not put pressure on him, a political solution will never be in reach in the -- and the conflict will run on an isis will thrive. the lack of strategy has resulted in the spread of isis around the world to libya, egypt, nigeria, and even to afghanistan, where i visited last weekend. afghanistan is certainly not iraq, but the parallels are eagerly familiar. as in iraq, the united states is thinking a drastic reduction of forces that places at risk the hard-won gains in the last decade. while they are improving quality, they are still missing the key capabilities the iraqis were missing when the u.s. withdrew in 2011, including intelligence, aviation, special operations, and logistic capabilities. at the current pace, our military commanders know these capabilities will remain critically undeveloped at the end of 2016, what president obama has announced that u.s. and coalition forces will dramatically downsized to a presence solely in kabul we have seen this movie before. . if w

syria is all who are fighting for assad's regime. syria is for who would keep assad in power controlling the whole country, even destroying the rest of the whole country. the only thing assessed was to stay in power, to stay on his to keep his own. >>> >>> nato will hold an emergency meeting about the air strikes. turkey blamed the pkk for a road side bombing that killed two soldiers and launched more air strikes against the group. the latest hit the pk k's headquarters in northern iraq. they say turkish jets hit the fighters from the islamic state of fighters and levant in aleppo as well as a town close to the turkish border. the complex political landscape in turkey adds to already rising tensions. >> reporter: in turkey another attack. this time a car bomb targeted a military convoy in the predominantly kurdish southeastern province. two soldiers were killed and another four were wounded. no group has claimed responsibility, turkish officials believe the pkk is behind it. it's the latest jolt in a volatile 48 hours full of fundame

syria is all who are fighting for assad's regime, syria is for who would cope assad in power controlling the whole country even destroying the rest of the whole country but the only thing assad wants to is to stay in power to stay on, keep his own chair. >> does it indicate that he is on the back foot, that he's under pressure? >> yeah, he is under huge pressure, because as we all know, without this intervention by iranian militias and hezbollah militia and some other iraqi militia to support assad and back him up, assad's regime would have collapsed from the middle of 2012, but what we are seeing now with days recently on the ground is that like assad's regime forceles are suffering to much, there is a lack of manpower to fight for him. that's why assad's regime lost the whole provision of idlib. they are losing other areas, as well. even so close to damascus, it's not that big area, they are losing, as well. they are unable to take control or overcome the tree syrian army at any point or any piece of land in syria on the syrian ground. >> it's quite arable, basically he's ceded control

bashar al-assad says the country is struggling to retain. he said his troops were tired lacking manpower after almost 4 and a half years of conflict. u.s. president barack obama has arrived in ethiopia the next stage of his africa visit. he will be first u.s. leader to address the african union. >> a 5-day pause in the saudi-led coalition bombing due to come into effect in a few hours. the coalition said it would cause for aid to remove houthi leaders. turkish government is asking for an emergency meeting 2000 died in a roadside bombing. the turkish government is blaming kurdish fighters for the bombing. the soldiers were attacked following air raids in northern syria. attacks against the kurdish pkk group in iraq have also been launched. meanwhile,tie launched more air airstrikes airstrikes. the latest airstrikes in the mountains of worth earn iraq. activists say they have hit fighters from the islamic state of iraq in the laugh ant. close to the turkish border. the turkey within turkey files this update. >> the people in southern towns are

assad's speech? >> well, i think it's a piece of realism on his part. he has to be a little bit frank with his people. it's clear he's lost palmyra he has lost idlib he may lose dira in the south. on the other hand it was a call to arms. he wants people to volunteer. >> were you surprised aat his candor? he says we are lacking in human resources, loosely translated, future soldiers. >> i think the candor is intended to produce a sense of alarm. there's fighting now at la takia which is the center of the alloite shia sect from which he springs. he needs people there to join up or form militias or join the army. they're not doing that, they're tired of war but i think he's trying to put pressure. >> as turkey launches strikes in the area for the first time, do you think assad trying to rally his nation against quote unquote foreign invaders will that work? >> so far nothing turkey is doing in syria really is a threat to assad and his regime. turkey is finally stepping up to take some action against i.s.i.l, which is assad's enemy. i think turkey is not ha

they alleged that they have links with the assad government. they should not disturb turkey and they should cooperate with syrian opposition groups. so far the kurds have been acting independently yes some rebel forces fight alongside the kurds, but the main syrian opposition they do not couldn't both militarily and politically. so turkey making it's a conditions clear and really the public here in turkey increasingly uneasy about turkish policies. as mohamed my colleague explains. >> reporter: in turkey, another attack. this time a car bomb targeted a military convoy in the predominantly kurdish southeastern province. two soldiers were killed and another four were wounded. while no group has yet claimed responsibility turkish officials believe the outlawed kurdistan workers party or p.k.k., to be behind it. it's the latest jolt in a volatile 48 hours full of fundamental shifts in military strategy. a country that for so long has been wary of interveneing in any conflict now find itself involved in two. bombing boat both isil in syria and the p

there are no compromise solutions. >> assad is trying to put a brave face. in order to win and succeed in anything everybody gets tired. it is quite normal that the state, the army get tired but the word "defeat" does not exist in our dictionary or in the language of the syrian armed forces. for four years, assad has relied on the military backing of iran and fighters from the shia muslim group hezbollah in lebanon. he enjoys the backing of russia and china where the syrian army is under huge pressure. it once had around 300,000 members but according to some estimates, it has been roughly halved in size by decktion did hefection and draft dodging. >> we have everything we need. there is a lack of human resources. isil fighters and position rebel groups have seized more territory than recent months. they took control room in the north. and pushed toward the strong hold on the coast. various areas close to the capitol damascus are battle grounds. >> damascus is the center power and he is trying. he wants and strength to protect the main highway. they are very

it's all who are fighting for assad's regime. sear cuss is -- would keep a set in power controlling the whole country, evening destroying the rest of the whole country. the obl thing is to stay in power, to stay on his to keep his own. >>> nato is to hold an emergency meeting on tuesday to discuss turkey's air strikes against isil and the kurdish rebel group pkk. they blamed the pkk for a roadside bombing that killed two soldiers and has launched more air strikes against the roof. the latest hit in the condo mountains of northern iraq. turkish jets hit fighter from the rate of it. aleppo and the town of jarbulis close to the border. as we report from istanbul the complex political landscape is adding to lur rising tensions. >> in turkey another attack. this time a car bomb targeted a military convoy in the southeastern province. two soldiers were killed and another four were wounded. while no group yet claimed responsibility turk ishg officials believe the outlaned party pkk to be behind it. it's the latest jolt in a volatile 48

syria is all who are fighting for bashar al-assad's regime. syria is for who would keep bashar al-assad in power, controlling the whole country, destroying the rest of the whole country, but the only thing is to stay in power, to stay and keep his own chair. >> joining me now is the middle east analyst. thank you for coming in. in the past, they are reluctant to admit problems with the military or anyone else how significant is it that he's admitting the problems and some areas need to be ceded. >> for bashar al-assad the word victory doesn't mean controlling the whole of the country. the survival of the regime and his clan in control over what is left of syria. the significance of the speech is preparing his people for a compromise, if some kind of solution there and transitional government to come or indeed because inevitably now turkey called an n.a.t.o. meeting, and article 51, turkey has the right to intervene to stop the kat as rof rofy -- catastrophe. they want to create a safe zone in northern syria, ie they'll lose part. but preferrin

bashar al assad described an army spriest thin following deaths and draft dodging. the army has now half the ranks i have the had when the war began in 2011. however, assad still vows victory. >> intensifying cross border violence prompted turkey to queen an emergency meeting with nato officials. in recent days, turkish airstrikes targeted isil fighters and kurdish militias in iraq. turkey says it is trying to secure its southern border. >> president obama is in ethiopia on the second leg of his trip to east africa. today he became the first sitting u.s. penalty to visit the country. the president is expected to focus on security initiatives during his stay. we have more on the president's agenda. >> during his two day visit to ethiopia, president obama is expected to hold talks with the prime minister and senior officials of the ethiopian government on issues relating to trade between ethiopia and the united states. ethiopia is one of africa's fastest growing economies. they will talk about the collaboration between ethiopia and the united states in the so-called w

we need to do more against assad. all of these forces are threats to the entire fabric of the middle east and it is coming apart. katty: do you hear anything from your former colleagues that that is likely to happen? there's not much indication from the white house they are interested in dealing with assad right now. guest: that is true, but having signed the iran deal neck gives the administration more flexibility and freedom to take a tougher position against iran's ally if the white house wants to do so. they just lost one of their excuses not to ask and they are -- to act, and they are under pressure to start getting serious about assad. katty: thank you for joining me. speaking of the enron deal, the united nations security council has unanimously endorsed the nuclear deal reached in vienna. it calls for full implementation of the deal which imposes limits on iran's nuclear activity in return for the lifting of crippling sanctions. in afghanistan, a u.s. airstrike killed almost a dozen afghan soldiers in an area

>> hi. >> iran strongly supports assad and the u.s. has made it clear that the nuclear negotiations were focused on just nuclear activities from iran not on the americans detained in iran or the syrian crisis. so is this wishful thinking on his part? >> no. i don't think it's wishful thinking at all. let us remember wrssments iran,: iran supports assad, sure, but iran wants hegemony, some sort of hegemony over syria and it can maintain all of this without assad by maintaining some semblance of a regime that is friendly to iran moving forward. so it's not wishful thinking at all. >> now u.n. special envoy for syria announced he wants to retort the peace talks. but really, what peace talks? they never took off at all some parties refused to sit at the table with each other. >> yes exactly. i mean the trouble with the syria war today is that there are so many conflicting interests and various parties that are involved. but right now the main parties iran russia, turkey and of course, saudi arabia and, of course syrian opposition, and the

as a symptom but assad was the disease. i.s.i.s. was a creation, reacting to assad. and they were always trying, they the turks were always trying to get the united states and others to realize that i.s.i.s. isn't the probe that assad is the problem. but -- isn't the problem assad is the problem. after we saw the attack in suruc where 32 turks were killed, and there is a belief that there is an internal threat from i.s.i.s that be i.s.i.s. may be a problem from the other side of the border and now a problem within their own borders and an be beand an existential threat. i think what turkey is finally realizing is this policy they had of assad first i.s.i.s. second has now got to be reversed. they have got to go against i.s.i.s. first and worry about assad second. >> one of their concerns for the turks, their own kurdish opposition, allowing i.s.i.l. to fight kurds in syria and iraq looking at i.s.i.l. as an enemy of my enemy situation but they bombed some pkk kurdish positions in northern iraq. it's a confusing and complicated situation there. >> again, the problem i

charlie: turkey has been vigorous in denunciation of assad. the united states has said they are looking for a transition out for him. there seem to be dual objectives in syria. what might be possible in terms of a pathway to ending this awful thing? where is it today, in your judgments? henri: i think the question of moderate forces is a nonstarter. i do not see moderate forces to much. looking at syria today, you have three groups other than the government. isis. the kurds. third is a patchwork of battle hardened al qaeda and al qaeda-look-alikes not being supported by turkey and saudi arabia, who have done a sawed a great deal of damage. assad essentially admitted aleppo may fall to them. i do not see the moderates playing a role. i think it is too late for the moderates. this is a dilemma the united states faces. charlie: where are we with respect to syria? steven: we are in for a longer period of violence, a vortex taking in surrounding countries. the united states has a different perspective from turkish allies. the turks believe if you b

we should think assad is better or isis? iranians believe assad is better than isis. iranians leave a should support assad to fight isis. this is exactly what they are doing in iraq. there helping iraq government to fight isis. i believe the u.s. international community, they should join iran to help assad to fight isis, then find a peaceful transitional solution for resolving the syrian crisis. amy: ambassador, we only have -- >> free election. amy: i want to ask one question it seems to be a major misunderstanding in the u.s. it is about the money iran gets with the lifting of the sanctions. it is often referred to, why should we give them this money? explain what the money is. >> the money definitely would go for iranian economy. iran desperately needs the money . amy: but where's the money coming from? >> the money is, first from the blocked iranian assets. amy: so this is the sale, for example, of iranian oil. >> iranian oil would, after six months, they would be able to increase, definitely, the deal would help iranian economy, no doubt. but believe me, iranians

the assad family has ruled syria for 44 years. the last four bashar al assad has fought a ruthless civil war that has killed more than 300,000 of his own people, 11,000 children. liz palmer has managed to reach the assad's hometown, a place where fealty defies the facts. >> reporter: in rolling hills above lake safraqieyh qardaha its native son president bashar al assad british and his father hafez, the previous strong man and president. he's now buried above the town in this elaborate tomb. "we glorify him," they tell me, "because he built modern syria." qardaha's loyalty to the assad's is based in their sharedling john. hundreds of young men from here volunteered the fight in syria's grinding war. four years, in these are the faces of those who won't come back. syrian television occasionally broadcasts emotional coverage of soldiers' funerals. and this choreographed meeting between first lady asma assad and dead men's mothers. but how many have fallen? the government won't say. so we asked the people of qardaha. are there any ma

i think there has to be a political solution to bashar al assad assad. end of the day he's going to be gone, he'll never gain control of syria again, at least all of syria. and i think we have to really focus on him. >> he's a part of the iran nuclear deal. all the money iran is now going to get, the froedsn assets unfrozen and presumably iran could give some of that money, there's no restrictions iran could give some of that money or provide military equipment to help bashar al assad's regime. >> and iran will do that. keep in mind al nusra, isis you have people who hate bashar al assad so much he killed their father their family their children -- >> 300,000 people have been killed over these past few years. in syria. they're all syrians. >> that's right. in war it's innocents who die. 300,000, the vast majority of innocents, men, women and children. many children who want to be teachers firemen, problem, thatolicemen have their dreams cut short. >> barbara starr says in the last year u.s. taxpayers have shelled out $3 billion in this war against isis.

after assad goes, if assad goes, the chaos killing and blood letting will continue for quite some time, likely. >> rose: with that, i have to stop. thank you so much. henri, steven, mr. ambassador, david. thank you for joining us. see you next time. for more about this program and earlier episodes, visit us online at pbs.org and charlierose.com. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>> the following production was produced in high definition. and their buns are something i've yet to find anywhere else. >> cause i'm not inviting you to my house for dinner -- >> -- breaded and fried and gooey and lovely. >> in the words of arnold schwarzenegger - i'll be back! >> you've heard of connoisseur -- i'm a common-sewer! >> they knew i had to ward off some vampires or something. >> let's talk desserts gentlemen, cause i see you

they also hate the assad regime. for a time they were unwilling to crack down on the islamic state because they perceived that the islamic state was fighting effectively against the assad regime. i think this event will turn that into a different attitude. katty: do you think the turks will want some kind of guarantee? so far washington has been reluctant to give one, that they will want an attack on a solid? -- on assad? >> that is the right point to raise. i think this washington administration has worked into do convincing not only turkey, but jordan, the sunni arab states that we are serious about going after assad. there is a growing realization that problem number one is the islamic state given their viciousness, ability to hold territory, their ability to raise funds, and the ideological appeal that they have. katty: thank you for joining me. iran's foreign minister has been defending the nuclear deal that he negotiated with world powers. in a speech to parliament he said that compromise was necessary, but teh

after assad goes, if assad goes, the chaos killing and blood letting will continue for quite some time, likely. >> rose: with that, i have to stop. thank you so much. henri, steven, mr. ambassador, david. thank you for joining us. see you next time. for more about this program and earlier episodes, visit us online at pbs.org and charlierose.com. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>> this is "nightly business report." >> yearning for earnings. investors get more of the profit score cards they crave. yelp? ouch. >> the great rate debate. why fewer top street wall street strategist think the federal reserve will hike rates in september. >> why fewer and fewer americans are buying their own home. that and more for the "nightly business report." >> a rebound on wall street. stocks halt their slide since the start of a two-day federal reserve policy meeting

. >> palestinian bashar al assad vowed to win the war in syria but admits his troops be struggling to hold territory due to a lack of man power. >> president bashar al assad admits his forces are abandoning some areas. >> we do have new recruits every day. the military is carrying out this mission but the syrian army is sometimes required to give up areas in order to hold on into more important areas. we are in a fateful period, and there are no compromised solutions. >> assad is trying to put on a brave face. >> in order to win everybody gets tired. it is quite normal that the state, the army get tired but the word defeat does not exist in our dictionary or in the language of the syrian armed forces. >> for four years he relied on the military back having iran and fighters from the shia muslim group hezbollah in lebanon. he enjoys the backing of russia and china but the syrian army is under huge pressure. it once had 300,000 members, but according to estimates it has been ruffle halved in size by deaths defections, and the rise in draft dodging a fact that assad publicly acknowledged

assad because if they get any capability at all in fighting isil assad would assume that cap ability would be turned on him one day and he is not going to sit on the sidelines and watch a force developed without hitting them. does that make sense to? gen. dunford: i agree with that assessment. >> the most logical consequence of training a forced to train in syria is assad will see them as a threat and most likely attack. gen. dunford: i agree. >> it would be immoral to put someone in a position knowing that is coming their way without some capability to defend themselves. make sense to you? gen. dunford: if we train moderate syrian forces and syrian army, then we ought to provide them with the wherewithal to be successful. >> if this war in syria continues the way it's going for another year, do you worry about stability in jordan? gen. dunford: i do senator. >> do you worry about stability in lebanon? gen. dunford: i do, senator. >> so the consequences of going into syria with a regional force and all the problems associated with it have to be balanced against the consequences of is

we cannot only blame the assad government for killings in syria. i think both sides are responsible for the deaths that you see in syria. in order to stop that type of killing, a serious change in u.s. policy needs to happen. instead of invading countries in yemen they are killing 200 civilians every day is not really a good idea. as long as these wrong policies continue, i think you have difficulty iran is not going to sit idly. it's going to use its influence to fight back. this agreement will help iran to do that. >> thank you very much for your time. thank you. >> thank you. >>> the nuclear deal tsunami enabling iran to restore normal trade with countries one is germany. a delegation is due to arrive in tehran in hopes of securing new business. we look at what opportunities might now exist in iran as western sanctions are gradually lifted. >> reporter: there is a flip side to years of economic isolation and that happens when you finally emerge from it. with its population of 80 million people waiting for foreign input businesses are keen to eng

du think assad is? >> senator as you know, his position on the battlefield is more tenuous to day then it has been for a long time. >> but the point is is our effort designed to take care not militarily? >> our approach has been as we have stated clearly, to try to find a political exit rather than the u.s.-led military exit. that is the approach. >> thank you. and thinks for your decades of service and that includes you mr. secretary. i want to follow-up on the line of questioning. what would be the likely strategy? >> and the structures of the government of damascus not directly associated with assad or his deplorable behavior the structures of government are in place to identify which is reflective of those aspirations then in terni and the rest of the international coalition they would be pleased to support them in that. >> does is it assad exiting sooner rather than later, does that create conditions setter so chaotic for the interest of the united states or is the interest in him leaving sooner? >

how do we deal with assad now? >> that's extraordinarily difficult question, as you know. i will now sound like what i am, a former cia officer. cia officers, in my belief believe in engagement with people. we learned early on, if you're not engaged physically f you're not engaged eye to eye, you have little to no chance of influencing their behavior. you were kind enough to refer to the libyan experience. if you hope to influence them and change them, you have to stay engaged. in many roonz that's why intelligence organizations are built to do that sort of thing. i do not know if there's engagement with the syrians. i would hope that in some form or another there is some discussion being taken place to show bashar al assad that he has only two choices. to figure out an exit roll of some kind or die in syria. maybe like mr. gadhafi, that's been his plan all along. i don't know, but he doesn't strike me as the same type of person. i would think we have to use whatever tools are available to try to engage syria. to engage them in a fashion that tries to prevent this from cre

in syria, president bashar al- assad is vowing to win his country's devastating civil war. in his first public speech in a year, assad acknowledged his government troops have surrendered control of some towns and cities to rebel groups, he said, in order to defend other territory. >> ( translated ): we must define the important regions that the armed forces hold on to so it doesn't allow the collapse of the rest of the areas. >> sreenivasan: after four years of fighting, assad-allied forces are thought to control less than half of the country. one of assad's strongest allies iran, is hoping to convince its persian gulf neighbors to support the nuclear deal approved last week by the u.n. security council. in kuwait, iranian foreign minister mohammad zarif called for arab unity and said no country can solve regional problems without the help of others. zarif is also visiting qatar and iraq. some gulf states worry lifting economic sanctions on iran will free up money for iran to fund militant groups that pose a threat to the region. the boy scouts of america are expected to li

. >> syrian president bashar al assad is speaking out for the first time in a year. what he has to say about the war on the isis terrorists trying to take over his country, and there was a bizarre scene in paris where a driver tried to crash into a barricade right in the heart of paris at the tour de france. what police believe the driver may have been doing just before this happened. why are all these people so asleep yet i'm so awake? did you know your brain has two systems? one helps keep you awake- the other helps you sleep. science suggests when you have insomnia, the wake system in your brain may be too strong and your neurotransmitters remain too active as you try to sleep, which could be leading to your insomnia. ohh...maybe that's what's preventing me from getting the sleep i need! talk to your doctor about ways to manage your insomnia. you know when you book a fabulous vacation cause the photos look amazing? but you get there and find out it's far from amazing. it's almost like it was too good to be true? first time in a year. this happened. e when you swit

will we defend them against assad's barrel bombing? >> i think we have an obligation. >> will we tell them that. >> we have not told them that. >> so you are recruiting people and not telling them that you are going to defend them because you haven't made the decision yet and yet you want to train them quickly and send them in. now there is success on the part of an outfit called the -- the army of conquest which is funded and trained and equipped generally -- mostly by saudi arabia qatar and perhaps others. they are succeeding and they have -- if there is battlefield games, they are achieving them. does the united states have any relationship with that out fight because they are fighting against bashir assad as well as isis? >> i'll have to get to you on the answer of that question because who has that contact is something would have to discuss separate separately. can i just go back to -- >> go ahead. >> can i go back, mr. chairman. you mentioned the question of air sortees and which fraction of them result in strikes and i would lik

they want to fight bashar al assad. >> i think there's some truth to that. when it comes to having a moderate opposition, the key will be holding territory. in some cases that may be holding territory from assad forces or holding territory from isis forces. the purpose is to take back the country of syria. and you know look. you can't say that these folks that were raised let's say you're 30 years old. your dad may have been killed by bashar al assad. your family has been brutalized by him. no western power will come in and say, you can't fight him. the only people you can fight are the people we are an enemy with. they hate isis. they don't like isis. they also don't like bashar al assad who is the incubator of this problem in the first place. >> let me ask you, the president reiterates that it has to be local ground forces in iraq. the kurds, syrian rebels who have taken hold territory. we don't see that in iraq. the maps look largely the same. some progress in the northern part of syria by local kurds there. in your view since the local forces, since it i

against assad. so while assad is still leading syria, they feel like isis is not a threat to them personally. isis is a threat to assad, so they're going to ignore it. we need individuals in all these different groups focused on taking out isis. they're a worldwide threat. but that also means that assad needs to be gone and have a transitional leadership in syria to help get that. >> we have much more to discuss, senator, including the heightened security at u.s. military bases here in the united states and around the world. much more with senator hanklankford when we come back. >>> senator james lank ford member of the senate homeland security and intelligence committees talking about the fourth of july terror threat. the unprecedented holiday security being put into place right now. senator, we learned today that one of the isis leaders, a guy by the name of tariq al harzi, was killed in a coalition air strike he was known as the amir of suicide bombing, the state department had a $3 million bount

that will 'em power an embolden the assad regime. these countries cannot live with an extremist sanctuary next door and the spillover affects of terror including refugee flows and suicide attacks. some are helped to stabilize syria by committing their own ground troops, especially if it means the end of assad. this is, after all, their backyard. it is their mess and i think it's incouple bent upon them to clean it up under american leadership and for us not to have to carry their water. but there is no substitute for american leadership and right now, there is no other nation capable of rallying a coalition to this cause other than the united states of america. i was pleased earlier this year to see arab leaders propose the consideration of a regional military force to tackle the spread of violent extremism. but such an organization is years away from reality. regional partners are not ready to do this alone and we cannot afford to wait the president's piecemeal strategy to play out a strategy he admits will take years. we need to ta

you do not have the authority too go after assad? >> senator that's my understanding that we don't have the legal authority at this time to go after the assad regime and it's also policy of the administration not to go after assad regime militarily. >> i think for the record i would like to to have you expand a little bit on that. as to whether or not it would be desirable for you to have that authority authority. we've been talking for a long time and with you also at these hearings about where we are right now. you see commanders facing increasing risk. we talk about the risk out there. risk equals lives. we talk about these hearings. how do you define too much risk? are we there yet? >> senator, i believe today we are capable of providing adequate security to protect our national interest. i also believe we're at the razor's edge and that's been the subject of testimony several times before this committee is that our radeadiness level is where we would have to adjust ends of our strategy and no longer able to support our strategy.

the iranians are on the side of assad inside syria. we passively aggressivelily stay aggressively stay out of the fray. >> the kurds will once again end up on the short end of the stick. without the support of the united states they could be massacred. the kurds these countries don't envision the separate kurdistan as much as they have mass they have natural resources it could be a country but they just -- it would take too much out of four different countries. iraq around owners-iraq iran, syria and turkey. >> mike lyons thank you. >>> prom incidents nations had their positions changed on the list of state sponsoring terrorism. the rankings could have tangible consequences for those with bad records. >> not only is this a fight that we have to attempt not only do we have a responsibility to bring every aspect of our institutions of our government together, in order to push back and to jeaft and to educate and to make people aware of this but it's a fight we absolutely have to win. it is a modern day human rights challenge of enormous