they saved assad the first time. they're still doing not all of that, in syria any more but still some of it. the second time assad was to therring, the russians came in to support him, largely with air strikes. and in iraq, they are probably the most effective fighting force. the shia militias that they trained. >> why is that. >> and they equipped. because the iranians are really good at. this the iranians are really good at training yowk men and providing weapons and money to fight. and with a lot of guidance from soanier officers including-- . >> rose: so there is also change, i mean in terms of where are we in terms of the saudis and the emirateis and being so very much mesmerize by the conflict with iran? which reflects a sunni-shia thing as well as a very different view of who ought to have primacy in the region? >> i would say that our sunni gulf arab partners are deeply concerned about two, what they view as existential threats. the first is what we have been talking about, that is the extremeists, that very

. -- assad. james: you can weaken him and have him pulled from power, but it until someone can show me what is the plan after that for the stability of the syrian state, the syrian government to look out after all of the syrian people not just a certain sect, i will not necessarily be terribly wild about it. charlie: that will happen in negotiations, where the russians be-- where the russians will a big player as well as ukraine. what am i missing here? mike: those people who are pulling for ukraine, including the 50's some state department who are calling for a much greater military application in the military -- charlie: in order to give leverage to the negotiating track. that,but i think, i think that, the goal, the focus, what we are doing in iraq and syria is on isis. that is the threat to us. i know the humanitarian toll in syria is huge, and it is heartbreaking. but the threat to u.s. interests iraq,s, and the power in the power in iraq that is doing the most damage to isis is a side -- is

james: where is the assad plan? mike: i believe that just as sandy said, at the end of the day, it is all the parties to this conflict sitting down and figuring out, but it will only work if the united states walks in the room with a plan. it will only work that way. i have an idea what the plan is. i'm running it by people. charlie: in your own minds from your own experience what it ought to be. tell us what it is. mike: don't laugh, seriously. i think in both syria and iraq, the fundamental problem is that you have got this multitude of growth. nobody, nobody trusts anybody else, right coder the shia don't trust the shiites, sunnis -- so the solution in both places is lebanon-style political solution. so this means -- charlie: lots of parties. mike: the different sectarian groups, they all have a guaranteed, they all have a guaranteed set of authorities inside the government, guaranteed jobs they will get it will not be taken away by the vote. what happened in iraq was it was straight up democracy. not surprising

charlie: what is the strategy to take out assad? is it to take him out militarily, is it to have some leverage to negotiate with him? within the last 10 days, he said, i want to regain all of syria. >> i don't think we can be kingmakers in syria when we don't have any embassy there were people on the ground. but what we can do -- and this was plausible in 2014 -- targeted airstrikes to take a way assad's ability to use his air force to terrify civilians and to drive them out of major cities. that was the purpose, as i understood it, of the red line in 2013. but we should have done is not go after assad -- because then you have responsibility for the chaos. but take away his most lethal weapon, you weaken him. we never will get back to effective the home of the if we don't build up the opposition and also go after assad's air force. charlie: but let me ask this question. these are seasoned diplomat who feel the u.s. is not using diplomacy like it has in its history. fair enough? and using it to gain leverage. where is the military in

is intended to overthrow assad. now, nominally both the united states and russia are opposed to isis, but the priority is completely different. that's really our top priority for the russians. going after isis is an incidental aspect of keeping assad in power, so i -- i really am very worried about what the russians have done here. there was every risk that american advisers were with those opposition forces that the russians bombed, and it's just so typical of the way the russians operate. is it undertaking military action where americans could be in jeopardy? they blame us for not keeping us updated. this is something i think the russians think they can do and get away with. >> speaking of getting away with, president obama's strategy appears not to have worked for the longest period of time. now you've got 51 u.s. diplomats within the department of state, and they are calling for a change in strategy by the president, targeted military strikes against assad. what do you make of this? does it represent a deepening

strikes against the assad regime, even as he has said for five years that assad's days are numbered. the kremlin which has propped up the assad regime, warned that such strikes could plunge the region into total chaos. >> translator: the most important thing is to prevent the collapse of the country. >> at the same time pentagon officials confirmed russian sukoy strike fighters bombed syrian rebels trained by the central intelligence agency near the southern syrian city of al tanf. with a second strike occurring after the u.s. had used an emergency hotline to demand that russia halt the operation. defense secretary ash carter said the hotline hadn't been used professionally and called the russian strikes in the mildest of rebukes, problematic. >> the russians said they came in to fight isil. that's not what they did. >> experts say it's unprecedented for so many signatories to file such a dissent. hannah gurman is the author of the "diplomat papers". >> the dissent channel has had little to no direct impact on foreign policy. and that's what some critics have argued this is is a way

strikes against the assad regime, even as he has said for five years that assad's days are numbered. the kremlin which has propped up the assad regime, warned that such strikes could plunge the region into total chaos. >> translator: the most important thing is to prevent the collapse of the country. >> at the same time pentagon officials confirmed russian sukoy strike fighters bombed syrian rebels trained by the central intelligence agency near the southern syrian city of al tanf. with a second strike occurring after the u.s. had used an emergency hotline to demand that russia halt the operation. defense secretary ash carter said the hotline hadn't been used professionally and called the russian strikes in the mildest of rebukes, problematic. >> the russians said they came in to fight isil. that's not what they did. >> experts say it's unprecedented for so many signatories to file such a dissent. hannah gurman is the author of the "diplomat papers". >> the dissent channel has had little to no direct impact on foreign policy. and that's what some critics have argued this is is a way

the assad regime, assad has been exerting a genocide of almost half a million against the sunnis. that method of dealing with terrorism. they allow radical islam to grow to legitimize the military dictatorship. and they don't want to see their alternative is also a form of fascisim that the turks are dealing with internally. the only solution to that is to find a third pathway in the middle east. until we have leadership out of the white house, state department and d.o.d. that's started to work on that third pathway. yopathway. tunisia has found a third path way. lou: you describe a mission that if not impossible, sounds like one of the most difficult ever for the west. it raises the question whether it is a mission that we should be on, that is the united states and europe. can you give us your thought on that as we wrap up? >> the mission without america's presence will befilled filled by the russias of the world, the rawns, saucedy arain yaz. isolationism will allow them to grow. and they will come attack us because the greatest threat to their theocracies is freedommite were t

assad's air force, aye-aye, sir, we can do that. here's what it will take and here's the cost and so forth. that's the sort of thing that i believe that we should be doing and, again, it seems to me it stabilizes the situation on the ground, it may actually tee-up diplomacy to go forth and move people against assad at some point. we want to change the political calculations ideally of some people in damascus where they see assad as a liability. >> rose: but there is also this -- putin expressed this to me with his conversation with him in moscow, let's assume you get rid of assad. what do you have there and what are the possibilities and are we going to look at i.s.i.s. roaring down the main street of damascus? >> well, that was the argument nt assad to go without andn't aftermath prepared for. we learn the hard way in iraq, libya and other places that you need a day-after plan. but we've had lots of time and we have lots of time. assad is not going to disappear in an afternoon. you're not going to talk about a strike to "take him o

senator isakson: are they the assad right now? of mcgurk: the level influence is something we look at. the russians were seen as the , and moreencer recently, we have started to see the armenians eclipse them a little bit, and both of them are backing the assad regime, and we say to the russians, look at this. you guys are in bed with the assad regime, with hezbollah, with the quds force. you guys, what is your long-term strategy here, and, friendly, i do not think they have one, so they came in to try to bolster up the assad regime, and i thought they would find a path out of syria, but that is not the case. the only way to have a sustainable solution is where our forces can organize against these extremist threats. myator isakson: and that is point. given the fact that there is not one, given the fact that syria has been decimated with a civil war over four or five years, given that the armenians are backing assad pretty steadily all of the way through, there assad's to be no end on ability to stay in place. am i correct? i thin

assad will be in power when obama is gone. russia and iran have come to assad's aid. the biggest winners have been russia, syria and assad. the biggest losers have been our allies, the arab allies in particular. about our willingness to help, i was in a multi-person primary back in 2014. the president basically reached out to senator mccain and myself after assad crossed the red line the president drew regarding chemical weapons. it was labor day. i'll never forget it as long as i live. i flew up with senator mccain. we met with president obama in the oval office and susan rice and he informed us of what assad did and was seeking our support to basically hit him militarily as punishment for crossing the red line. the goal was to degrade assad's capability on the battlefield, upgrade the ability of the opposition to fight him, and change momentum on the battlefield. senator mccain and i went out in front of the oval who was in the driveway and said, we stand with the president and his efforts to deal with assad crossing the red line, to upgrade the opposition, degrade

is it to take assad out militarily? is it to have some leverage to negotiate with him that he doesn't have now? in the last 10 days, he said i want to regain all of syria. nicholas: i don't think we can be kingmakers in syria. but i think what we can do, as richard suggests -- this was possible in 2013 and 2014 -- you can come back to it -- reduce assad's ability to use his air force. that was the purpose as i understood it of the redline in 2012 and 2013. that is what we should have done . not going after assad and try to take them down, because then you have some responsibility to the chaos that ensues. but weaken him -- bu him. then we can build up diplomacy. charlie: let me ask this question. .his is the state department these are seasoned diplomats who feel the u.s. is not using diplomacy like it has in its history. fair enough? and using it to gain leverage. where is the military in this? is their opinion the same as these diplomats? richard: the most important thing to say about diplomacy in this administration i

use that influence to get the assad regime to abide by the cessation of hostilities. and in the last few weeks, we have seen concerning pattern of violation to that cessation of hostilities. and that's why we continue to urge the russian government to live up to the commitment they made to use that influence to get the assad regime to abide by the cessation of hostilities. [inaudible question] >> the un has kind of turned on the nuclear ... you think that us air drops, unilaterally is that something you would consider? >> at this point i don't

what assad is doing, he is spending these big barrel bombs. a big cluster bomb, into civilian areas. he is killing civilians. dragging them -- driving them out there. are 7 million syrians homeless because of what assad is doing. we have to take some responsibility on a humanitarian basis to help those people. >> if we were to engage in, as you point out, tactical military strikes, not troops on the ground, and put assad out of business, wouldn't they syrian forces fighting assad then turn their attention to fighting isis? >> hard to know. it's hard to know what's going to happen. this condition tariff has been blown apart by this war and there's four of fire big factions ralphing for power. one thing is we have to be careful that we separate what we do against assad from the russians. we don't want to been the russian air force or create a crisis with russia. this is a difficult problem. not easy. for president obama. >> how unusual is it for secretary kerry to be at odds with president obama over this? he reportedly has been urging, also ver

is allowing assad and moscow to walk over what had been an established policy that assad needs to come to sort of diplomatic solution, cannot continue to bomb cities the way he has been with moscow's help. >> obviously, president obama, who had drawn that red line, and has shown significant reluctance to doing anything more in syria has been the end of the road for these calls for change there. the iraqis, richard, have said they have taken back key parts of fallujah right now. that's isis' longest held base. is this a sign that isis is on its heels finally in some form in iraq? >> in parts of iraq. the iraqi prime minister said a short time ago said most of the city of fallujah, which is west of baghdad, has been taken over by iraqi forces. iraqi forces were seen on television raising a flag in the center of the city. there were still isis pockets in fallujah, but they have effectively been surrounded with shiite militias and sunni militi militias. it is a significant loss for isis. there is no doubt. it is a symbolic lost. fallujah was also the place with a hundred americans lost the

imprisoned by assad and tortured by assad, just as there have been for generations. >> we have a simple reality check after the arab string of 2011. stability means you have civility. lack of security, i hate to say this, democracy means instability. religious divides worsen, ethnic divides worsen. if you want to enforce our idea, a western idea of democracy, that almost guarantees stability. so i would say you want security, you can eliminate isis but you get dictators. you want democracy, you get instability. that for some time may mean isis. >> we tend to focus too much sometimes on isis. they're not the bad guys out there. al qaeda, they stand to gain enormously if isis gets defeated. and isis 2.0, we haven't seen what at that looks like. sunni arabs still feel this enormous sense of dejection and dillusionment. >> and we scene escalated attacks inside turkey. >> and we're going to continue to see them. essentially president bashar al assad is the oxygen that allows isis to breathe. as long as assad is in power and dropping barrel bombs on people in punity, you will have the likes o

is not pressuring assad, is not pressuring moscow. that those two are not abiding by a cease-fire and these people in the state department wanted to plant a flag and say an atrocity is under way and unless military pressure is put on assad, that the assad government backed with moscow will continue to take territory and continue to kill civilians while the u.s. remains quite narrowly focused on the fight against isis. >> richard, you have this regime, this dictatorship, that continues almost on a daily basis to kill civilians when they're supposedly a cease-fire that the world kind of turned a page on once that was reported, and yet every single day because of that dictatorship people are dying. >> reporter: so there's two very divergent strategies that are being discussed right now for syria. the one strategy that the u.s. seems to be pursuing is to focus narrowly on isis and to turn a blind eye while assad and the -- and moscow regain territory. there was a big offensive against the city of idlib not very long ago. the assad forces

is there any discussion between the government and basher al assad? do you think they are sort of cooling down on supporting military as a strong as before? >> if you allow me to correct one word. they are not fighting opposition, they are fighting terrorists on the ground. again, our relationship with iran is a historic relation. i would like to remind you also that when the war on iran started by saddam hussein, syria was the only country who stood by hussein. when he was fed with weapons and armaments from the united states of america, we knew that saddam was wrong and that he's attacking southern country which he has no right to. our relationship with iran is based on principle. human rights, sovereignty, international legitimacy and it's not a by chance that the iranians and hezbollah are supporting us. they're supporting us as friends and also on a point of principle in the small global alliance against isis and against al qaeda. i go back to the wonderful title to this lovely meeting. >> please introduce yourself again. >> is it working? dr. sh

just look at cost benefit analysis, if you're going to send a group of suicide bombers to attack an assad checkpoint or kurdish patrol, no one will notice it, really. maybe a youtube video can be generated that gets barely any attention. but if they are able to carry out an attack in paris or brussels or istanbul the world takes notice. and as they lose territory at home, those kind of attacks become more and more important. >> and we close this evening with the remember ans and preeshes of the great pat summitt, a coach of the lady balls at the university of tennessee who died at age 64. >> charlie, the thing that i like so much about coaching is that i get to teach on a daily basis. i get to influence. i get to listen. no two days are ever alike. so i love the fact that i am working with different individuals and personalities and now i'm trying to mold them into a team. it's a challenge but what great rewards when you see little girls become young women. when you see them go from being shy, nonaggressive to being really strong and aggressive and just really, they gain a lot of self-res

and president assad is aware of that. and the question is not about gaining control over various territories. although it is very important. the question is to ensure trust on sides of all the society, confidence on the side of various parts of the society to each other. and based on this confidence and trust, to shape inefficient management, and administration that would be trusted by the whole population of the country. and there is no other way but the way of political negotiations. we have been calling upon that on many occasions. president assad keeps mentioning it, as well. he is committed to this process. what is to be done? we need to be actively involved in the process for development of the new constitution, and based on, reach new elections, provincial elections and parliamentary elections ought to be organized. when president assad visited moscow, we talked about that. and he agreed to that. and i would agree to the proposal put forth by our partners, including the american partners, according to which, maybe

proposal for opposition members to join the assad government or government in which assad remains in power. >> no. >> do have any idea what he is talking about? >> no. nothe secretary has embraced or broached any policy? >> no. the toppling of the assad benefits isis? i will not speculate what will or will not benefit daesh. the secretaries talked about this. between a symbiotic th the assad regime and daesh. it is through his recounted that daesh has been able to grow. we have not talked about it weently, but while understand the future of syria cannot include assad, as a work through the process for a traditional governing body we , recognize that some institutions of government, this force, and some form of fashion have to stay intact. >> if the syrian government was to fall, what would happen? >> i will not engage in hypotheticals about the situation that we are trying to avoid. it is not about the fall of the regime. a are trying to get to traditional process of governance that preserves some of the existing infrastructure going forward. at the end of the process, gets us to a g

the call for radical change comes as assad ignored a u.s.-brokered cease-fire and continues to bomb u.s.-backed rebels, and he has deified agreements to permit food and medicine deliveries to starving civilians. frustration has been building among dip lomats since 2012 when mr. obama threatened air strikes if assad used chemical weapons. >> we have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that, that's a red line for us. >> reporter: only to change his mind, even though more than 1,000 were sild in a sarin gas attack outside damascus. the memo doesn't address what would happen if assad was forced from power. kerry promised to meet with the diplomats and discuss their ideas. but with just seven months left in office, it's unlikely that president obama will change course. margaret brennan, cbs news, the white house. >> ninan: well, still ahead, president obama goes sight seeing to shed light on america's national treasures. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from c

a lot of people said, bashar al assad is part of the problem. russia and iran, is anchored by almost a superpower like russia and iran. okay. if assad goes, who is going to take over isis and al qaeda? not the moderate opposition. the moderate opposition not even three person, four person on the ground. okay? so what we suggest, we have in gafta our vision. our vision coincides with rand paul and richard black, the senator richard black, the senator rand paul and congressman rand paul, and also we agree with chuck hagel who resigned as secretary of defense. i saw on cnn news he resigned because of the issue of syria. so another question asked, why syria? because isis came to iraq from syria. within minutes a second attack to mosul, the city of my mother, by the way, people are suffering right now in mosul. the city of my mother, and i'm in touch with them, they said they would rather to die than to live under isis. they need help. they need help. they need the whole world to wake up and please come and help us and save us. so we have the status

russia is controlling assad. a new syrian regime. syria isn't going to -- fixing syria isn't going to fix our american terrorism problem. >> i think it would help a lot. it would take away the ground for isis to operate and what greg was talking about. >> they don't need ground, do they? >> you go to those two cities, part of their whole dream, their desire. if you do that, we win. >> next juan thinks the gop is wrong when it comes to gun control. he's going to make another case for why republicans should get on board. and still ahead, facebook friday, plus our big announcement, a hint. we'll soon be embarking on a journey like we've never been on before. ♪ ♪ he has a sharp wit. a winning smile. and no chance of getting an athletic scholarship. and that is why you invest. the best returns aren't just measured in dollars. they keep telling me "drink more water." "exercise more." i know that. "try laxatives..." i know. believe me. it's like i've. tried. everything! my chronic constipation keeps coming back. i know that. tell me som

assad does not feel enough pressure and he is getting protected by russia and iran. that is not to say that using standoff airpower is going to achieve the objectives they laid out. they spoke of three potential benefits. one is forcing assad to accept a transitional government but that nub of the problem for five years now. they want him to stop using barrel bombs and they want him to respect the cease-fire. the dilemma is that to do those last two things you need to establish a no-fly zone in syria and that is not necessarily using air power, that is taking control. lord: and the remaining seven months that president obama has an office do you see any new thinking or will be the status quote? pj: the process is saying i will not get the u.s. in the middle of a conflict. he is generally right although i do nothing he has managed the politics properly but notwithstanding what these diplomats are suggesting the see syria, the want to defeat the islamic state but they do not want to go to war with bashar al-assad. laura: do you see republicans using it to push for hard

to you andvisor bishara al-assad and he was in your office all the time. and you verify your relationship with this guy who has an in prison -- [all talking at once] rumorsaban: to circulate that tell your prejudices. i said that at the beginning of to zero was a out major tool in initiating this war against syria. expect any do not contribution from you. thank you. i need everyone to ask one question. we have so many people to ask. we only have one half-hour left. this gives everybody a chance to ask. go ahead. bernstein, with sputnik international news. i've a question about the peace process and under the u.n. security council resolution -- i just forgot the number. the roadmap, the timeline set august as a deadline for a new constitution, transitional government, bodies to be formed. do you think you can meet that , and given the number is aayers in the country, unified syria a foregone conclusion at this time. i think the question should be addressed to -- whether there is a deadline. the syrian government position has been absolutely cooperative on e

after assad repeatedly violated a cease-fire put in place in february. >> it's unusual for to have as many signatories as this one. i think it tells us several things. i think it tells us that we have a unique process in place here through which employees of the state department can offer candid and unvarnished views. all the way to the top. i think it tells us clearly that syria matters a lot to the people who work at the state department, as it should. and i think it says we need to keep on working as hard as we can for better outcomes. as the secretary and so many others are doing. >> joining me now from washington the former u.s. ambassador to syria and kuwait. good to have you with us, mr. ambassador. >> my pleasure. >> 51 diplomats, mid-level diplomats questioning or asking for the change in policy. is it significant? is it going to make a difference? >> well, it's significant. it's unprecedented that the channel has been around approximately 50 years and i'm sure there's never been a any dissent channel message that has gone up with that many people endorsing it. >> let's talk

instead, russia intervened last fall on assad's behalf, bolstering him. today, russian air attacks hit anti-assad rebels battling isis in southern syria. a spokesman for russian president vladimir putin warned today any u.s. move targeting assad's forces would "plunge the region into total chaos". andrew tabler's response: >> if you look at this over time, whether it's the united states and the threat of use of military force in 2013 or israel's continued use of strikes inside of syria, this is something that the assad regime is known to respond to. >> warner: all of this comes as a february cease-fire has largely dissolved. it did let humanitarian aid reach some syrian communities, but others remain cut off by assad loyalists. and peace talks backed by secretary of state kerry and the russians have shown no progress. an august 1 deadline for a political transition won't be met. plans now are only to resume talks then. >> woodruff: and margaret joins me now. margaret, how unusual is this to have so many diplomats weigh in like this? >> you put your finger

-- assad remains in power. embracedtary has not -- impress any policy -- and broached any policy? >> no. the assadng of benefit directly to us -- benefits isis? speculate what will or will not benefit daesh. there is a symbiotic between the assad regime and daesh. it is through his recounted that adesh has been able to grow -- daesh has been able to grow. we cannot talk about it recently, we understand -- we have not talked about it recently, we understand the future can include a solid, -- thed, as a work through process, we recognize that some institutions of government, this attorney forces, and some form of fashion have to stay intact. the cannot be a complete collapse. government were to fall, what would happen to steering christians -- syrian christians? i will not engage in hypotheticals about a situation we are trying to avoid. it is not about the fall of the regime. we are trying to get to a transitional process of government that preserves even some of the existing and prospective going forward. at th

assad has faced no consequence for his brutality, continuing to ignore assad while fighting isis is dragging out the five-year war. and they believe it is creating new extremists. but president obama has long been hesitant to intervene in another middle east war. in 2012 he threatened military action if assad used chemical weapons. >> we have communicated in no uncertain terms to every player in the region that's a red line for us. >> but backed off when he kald 1,000 people in a sarin gas attack a year later. isis has thrived inside the war zone. while mr. obama has committed teams of special operators to target isis leaders, he told charlie rose u.s. military involvement would be sharply limited. >> that does not mean that we should be deploying troops everywhere where a crisis is taking place. we have to be judicious about how we use military power. >> reporter: on thursday senator john mccain blamed president obama's policies in iraq and syria for the isis inspired attack in orlando. >> he pulled everybody out of iraq, and i predicted at the time that isis would go unchecked and there wo

if assad goes, who is going to take over? the moderate opposition not even three persons are four-person on the ground. we haven't got our vision. our vision inside with ron paul and richard black, senator black congressman ron paul. and also we agree with chuck hagel who resigned from security and defense. i saw on the news. so another question asked by syria? i says -- bashar isis came fromq through syria. the city of my mother, by the way. people are suffering right now and most wealthy at the city of my mother and i am in touch with them. they said they would rather die than live under isis. they need help. they need the whole world to wake up then please come help us. so we have the status quo. today in iraq we will finish isis. after one week, two weeks, one month, they come back. you terminate the termite. isis and al qaeda, if you want to destroy them in iraq come you have to destroy them as syria. you cannot do half the job. you have to do a complete job. it has to be a package, totally. i am limited in time. i know

a lot of people say that bashar al-assad is part of the problem. but you believe that is it , anchored by russia and iran? qaddhafi is not saddam. he is anchored by a super power by russia and iran. if assad goes, who is going to take over? isis and al qaeda. not the moderate opposition. not even 3-4 persons on the ground. so what we said, we have a vision. we have a vision to go inside with rand paul and with richard black the senator, ok, and the senator rand paul and congressman rand paul. and also, we agree with chuck hagel who resigned. it is not because of the issue of syria. another question asked why , syria? because isis came to iraq from syria. within minutes, a second attack to mosul, the city of my mother, by the way. people are suffering right now in mosul. and i'm in touch with them. they said they would rather to die than to live under isis. they need help. they need the whole world to wake up and please come and help us. so we have the status quo. say today in iraq we terminated isis, we finish isis. what do we see in we see in one

the don't think now that the goal of the united states is to overthrew -- throw bashar al-assad. i think the attitude of the united states government now has developed a great deed from the crisis because they can see that what is happening in syria is very dangerous to the safety and security of iraq, of the region, and of the world at large. and therefore, we are cooperating with very good intention with our russian partners on the russian partners are cooperating with the united states and talking to the united states, hoping to find a to undermine terrorism and to restore peace and security to syria. >> there are a lot of people -- went out on the street demanding regime change. that led to the situation. >> i think the diagnosis you gave is the wrong one. putink it's a syrian people hundreds of all materials -- turkish and serial orders. diagnose that. i don't for the moment regret being part of the student government because we are standing for our people. we are standing against .errorism we are here because you're under these people because we believe in our country. >> c

as for assad, assad must go. 400,000 dead. there's no other choice. by the way, i have moved on that. if we have to replace him the same way we replaced hitler in 1945, that's how it is. >> the other side of the argument, every time we take one of these guys out, there's a vacuum that's worse than the monster. >> i understand, but what saddam hussein was doing was internal for the most part. what assad has done has brought a great unbalance to the middle east and to the world. has helped create and there's a void u. you can't keep fighting the last war. we have been fighting the last war like generals always fight the war. 400,000 people are dead. the middle east is in chaos. other governments may topple because of the chaos. europe is in chaos. we are seeing europe's government change radically under the pressure of the refugees. we are seeing the entire face of europe changing politically because of this. this is a crisis, unlike iraq, which was contained in iraq. we screwed up going in. this is a crisis that is infecting the entire globe. yet we si

must be dealt with first. >> there is a recommendation about assad. how real of a possibility is that? >> at this point, there is no indication the administration is changing its thinking on syria. a lot of diplomates have come out, i believe there were dozens, saying until bashar al assad goes, you will not have peace. >> it is such a complex problem as we talk about the geopolitical efforts here. we are talking about, obviously, what individuals can do. we're looking ahead here to a big travel weekend. what would you tell americans to do? >> well, i'll tell you what they told us in the cia, stay out of crowded places on the fourth of july. i know that doesn't sound reasonable. i think the chances of a major terrorist attack in this country is very, very difficult for the islamic state. it is not enough to change your patterns but if you are absolutely determined to avoid anything, do not go to crowded places, a subway, an airport or a fourth of july parade. >> juliette, people are not going to heed that. >> bob and i agree on a lot. if you think tha

assad is a lesser evil than isis. we have to come up with a strategy, game plan, that includes everybody in the middle east who has -- who is against isis and get it done, and maybe this horrible incident in istanbul may be the catalyst that allow us to get it done. >> we have had strange bed bed fellows before. when you have a common enemy sometimes calls for pretty surprising things. >> right. here's the thing. this is in putin's best interests as well. putin has a far larger islamic terrorist problem than the united states does because they live within its borders. it would be in his best interests to join with us to take isis on. destroy raqqa and isis falls. >> general, so good to see you. general scales. >>> fox finishing out a rocky month inch the green, some good news. brexit not holding stocks back. the dow up 235 points as though brexit never happened. lori has a look how we finish ode out the month. >>o i this is mind boggling how far we have come in the last week. we have made up in termed of the dow and t

war when assad continues to break the ceasefire unless we have more airstrikes against assad to try to force him to the negotiating table to try to get a settlement. if you get a settlement, if you get a unified non-isis government in syria, they'd be more effective in fighting isis. there are a lot of people who don't think that's true, so you're right, bill, it is extremely complicated. one more point i want to make which is, you're exactly right when it comes to john brennan, the cia director. he gave a very different readout of the situation in isis and what isis' goals are than we've been hearing from the administration. one of the things he said specifically is that as isis is losing territory and losing people on the ground in iraq and syria, that they are making more of a global effort. and he even talked specifically about using the flow of refugees from syria, from iran to try to the get terrorists into this country which tracks with what donald trump has been saying. bill: looking forward to your show, chris. >> you bet. bill: attorney general loretta lynch is one of chri

proposal for opposition members to join the assad government or a government in which assad remains in power? >> no. >> okay. do you have any idea what he's talking about? >> no. >> the secretary has not broached any such possibility in his many conversations with foreign minister lavrov? >> no means no. >> thank you. >> wouldn't the violent toppling of the syrian government directly benefit isis? >> the toppling of the assad government benefit isis? >> that would be directly to the benefit of isis. >> look, i -- i'm not going to speculate about what would or wouldn't benefit da'esh. to some degree -- the secretary has talked about this -- there is a symbiosis between the assad regime and da'esh. he said that many times. it's through assad's brutality that da'esh has been able to fester and grow into ungoverned spaces. one of the things that we have talked about routinely, although we haven't talked about it recently, is we understand that, while the future of syria cannot include bashar al assad, as we work through the -- as we work through this political process to a transitional gov