bombed an airfield in syria believed to be associated with a chemical attack syria's ally the russians question the u.n. source of information saying syria continues to act within its rights going to do is teach the counterterrorism operation which has continued by the syrian military is not in contradiction with resolution twenty four i want the government of syria has every right to try and remove the threat to the safety of its citizens the cease fire resolution proposed by the united states would take effect immediately with no exceptions for groups on the un's terrorist list it would require russian support to pass highlighting yet again the limits the border divided security council can do for the people of syria christian salumi al-jazeera the united nations. russia has one of the us a very serious consequences if there's any u.s. strike on syria foreign minister sergey lavrov said it's one thing to is possibly exploit the microphone in the u.n. security council and it's another thing when both the russian and american history is of communication channels it's clearly stated by

president obama's policy in syria. namely an effort to expel isis from its territorial control raqqa and eastern syria. a backing of the syrian kurdish groups that have fought with us against isis. an effort at international diplomacy that was actually begun under president obama. and so, in fact, i see an extraordinary amount of continuity between president trump and president obama and i think neither had a robust enough humanitarian or civil society or military approach. >> nancy lindborg, let me put that question for you, the balance between hard power and soft power today under the trump administration compared to what we tend to see in how america deals with fragile states. how do you see it? >> well, i think the most important answer to that lies actually with a lot of our military personnel. and as you hear from retired four-stars, what happens after the fight is as important as what happens during the fight, and we need to be sure that the balance remains such that we can continue to have the development and d

step back from syria for just a second. how similar or different is this from what america typically does? any fragile state how does america usually deal with the balance between using hard power and software? >> hard power and soft power are both necessary in many circumstances. in order to help a fragile state, recovery itself and in order to set conditions whereby governments and civil society can return. and, unfortunately, the solutions that, one, michael to see in syria can neither be exclusively military or exclusively soft power lead. each has its role, and it is vitally important that the united states have a robust budget for its institutions like the state department, like foreign aid which are critical components for us to achieve our mission of helping keep the people in the world secure and free. but it is also actually incredibly important to recognize that in conditions on the ground such as those that we see in syria, the underlying violence and oppression of human beings is not part and parcel of a stable

there are their views are also going to weigh heavily as to the future of syria so my own .

should not use syria as a battlefield against iran or or whether as a battlefield to try to stop iran or to block iran that should not be the goal the goal today and i believe this for some time early on should be to end the violence and the conflict and that for the political issues a to the side for now but you know you have hundreds of thousands of syrians who died as a result of this conflict they should be the ones who are thinking. ok rob we're going to take a short break right now and when we're back we'll continue talking to robert malley obama administration's advisor on the middle east and present their actual crisis group about the situation in syria stay with us. a plate for many clubs over the years so i know the guy even so i got. the ball isn't only about what happens on the pitch to the final school it's about the passion from the families it's the age of the super mom each of billionaire owners and spending two to twenty million at one player. it's an experience like nothing else going to because i want to share what i think from what i know about the beautiful guy li

whether they would like to remain in syria, whether they would like to have their bases in syria. here we also have to take into consideration the concerns of israel. you know that we have a very good relations with israel nowadays, despite the fact that we agree to disagree on certain issues. still, the relations are very good and personable relations as well. what is real is saying and what they are doing -- israel is saying and what they are doing. i just mentioned several players. we can of course mention -- also. if we come back to the russian american relations, i would say that the results of our coordination was a bit ambiguous and ambivalent. on the one side we cannot deny that we managed to work out together at the security conference the resolution to fight, which is very important. it is a resolution for the solution of the syrian conflict. of map whichsort shows out by stages what should be done. provisionals periods, including elections, new constitutions, and things like that. --also have very effective policy in syria. it seems now that it is not ,nough, because wi

just in syria. i have to warn you, the story does contain disturbing images. >> justice, they say is just another name for victory. and the dictator is winning, he has bombed, and gassed his own people. and getting away with mass murder. asad buried his own people under a pile of rubble. the evidence. >> in the heat of battle, piles of documents and government buildings, police stalgzs, military out posts, left unguarded. a small group of syrian activists, swooped in and stole them away. we joined them. they cross the the board with a trunk full of stolen document, it is the first time a television camera was allowed in the process. the leader asked to be called adam. >> this is the most dangerous job in the world. why do you do it? >> because i want to see an end to the cycle of revenge. >> he had close calls, some of his teammates arrested, killed. high said it is worth it. >> we witness crimes against humanity. the killings. i am a lawyer. i believe in criminal justice. delivered by the bag full

military objectives in syria. you talked about how you're working to defeat isis and bring that campaign to a responsible close. later you mentioned that countering iran is not a coalition mission in syria. last month we heard from secretary tillerson about how u.s. military presence in syria will remain for an indefinite period of time and he went on to list a very expensive list of strategic objectives of the u.s. military to include ensuring the defeat of isis, to include diminishing the influence of iran, advancing a u.n.-led political resolution, et cetera, etc. so my question is what is the objective of our u.s. forces in syria and under what legal basis is this indefinite presence in syria planned under? >> thank you, so the principal reason we are in syria is to defeat isis and that remains our sole and single task that we are principally oriented on. part of defeating isis, though, is removing their control of the physical caliphate, the physical terrain, as you're well aware and in ensuring they can't re

soldiers are deployed in syria to prevent an eyesore resurgence but the u.s. is just one combatant in a complex proxy war washington has worked alongside saudi arabia qatar and israel against the syrian government the main reason is to curb iran which along with russia is heavily backing president bashar assad turkey opposed the syrian government but maintains relations with both russia and iran turkey's main aim is to defeat kurdish forces which the u.s. has supported in the fight against i saw. let's bring in our panel we have here in doha marwan cover line is director of policy analysis at the arab center for research and policy and alice's from washington d.c. mark kimmitt former assistant secretary for political move three affairs under george w. bush and from moscow dmitry babich political analyst at the state owned voice of russia good to have you all with also start here in the studio with a bit of a surprise this announcement because in fact i've been observing and. so the english foreign policy for many years now i haven't seen something like this be

the last time i spoke to him he told me he was thinking of going to syria the world wants to see syria's fighters up close and personal but those behind the camera pay the price filmmaker. intimate footage and behind the front lines cost him his life his body was riddled with bullets and exclusive documentary syria the last assignment at this time on al-jazeera. still struggling to push our wintry weather out of the way for the u.s. space in places the right and snow making their way across the plains easing over towards the middle antic states this area of low pressure will try to bring in some mahler bumps into the cold and then we have the snow in the forecast and that's going to the case as we go on through the next but the snow should weaken it'll slide is where a little further southeast was further north no great shakes on the top which is considering it is now spring six or seven celsius there for new york and also for washington d.c. further west it's not too bad in terms of bright and dry weather snow flurries there over the rockies for a time but the snow does gather as it pus

should not use syria as a battlefield against iran or or whether it's a battlefield to try to stop iran or to block iran that should not be the goal the goal today and i believe this for some time early on should be to end the violence and the conflict and for the political issues to the side for now but you know you have hundreds of thousands of syrians who died as a result of this conflict they should be the ones who are thinking. ok rob we're going to take a short break right now and when we're back we'll continue talking to robert malley obama administration's advisor on the middle east and president all their reaction to a crisis group about the situation in syria at state with us. join me every thursday on the alex salmond and i'll be speaking to get us through the world of politics small business i'm show business i'll see you then. putin tells the u.s. to come back to earth challenging washington's you know polar ambitions also calls to end the illegal war against yemen and why arming the champ regime is a recipe for disaster as well as the return to trade wars. shows seemed wro

presence and troops in both iraq and syria still supposedly to fight isis. that's an interesting question the justification for fighting or for staying in syria has been changing regularly it was initially to fight isis then it became more a question of of supporting the shall we say revolutionaries or rebels who are against the al assad regime with the justification be that al assad was quote killing his own people and more recently it has become i think a push for the united states to have rebel relevancy in the peace talks that will eventually decide what syria is going to look like and of course but will also include regime change and getting rid of al assad so the the the just because you keep shifting and we have nikki haley at the u.n. saying horrific things like we don't care what the rest of the world says but we have a right as americans to do whatever we want in syria i mean that's a ridiculous faves. yes syria reminds me a mixture it's a mixture of vietnam and afghanistan where on one hand you have the u.s. advisers that are on the ground as the

two children all the sole civilians to a humanitarian corridor a week ago in syria. the fate of their parents still. in the mood to settle for. something in the famous meticulous little navy history of the art of. change. with counting on the way in italy's general election anti establishment and you're a skeptic parties are predicted to make the figures showing handing a major blow to the ruling center left democrats. russian families learned their daughters were switched at birth forty years ago a mistake that almost led to tragic consequences. because privacy concerns are rise after revelations that the u.s. government is funding the anonymous war web browser used to access the controversial web. it's two o'clock here in moscow and you're watching r.t. international live from our studio with me nidia today welcome to the program the first humanitarian convoy has entered the rebel held syrian enclave of eastern guta a total of forty six trucks will deliver aid and supplies to those stranded inside the city this is the first humanitarian help to reach the area since

might do next in syria but they are involved they have troops there. the state department is that for quite some time it's important for u.s. troops to remain in syria so this really just adding more chaos in the mix at a time when it is very chaotic in syria when the conflict is getting drawn out more and more there are more international players involved and we're just really have to see in the days ahead what exactly donald trump meant and if others in the u.s. administration donald trump will clarify his remarks rasho ok mohammed jim jim live for us and there are thank you. it. was a senior syria advisor to samantha power who is washington's u.n. ambassador touring the obama administration he doesn't believe trump's comments on the troop withdrawal represent an actual policy change. i was literally just speaking with some colleagues of mine former colleagues of mine at the state department who are getting ready to deploy to syria to to do their work out there in the northern part of the syria where the u.s. military station so i really think this c

if you look of the trump administration policy in syria, with president obama's policy in syria -- mainly the effort to expel isis from its territorial syria, an eastern backing of syrian groups that because -- with us against isis. international diplomacy that begun under president obama. in fact, i see and extraordinary amount of continuity between president trump and president neither had ahink robust enough humanitarian or civil society or military -- question tot that you. the balance between hard power and soft power. today, under the trump administration compared to see in how america deals with fragile states. >> i think the most important answer to that with a lot of our military personnel -- as you hear from retired four-star therals, what happens after fight is as important as what happens during the fight. we need to be sure that the balance remains such that we can continue to have the development and diplomacy tools fully available, especially with syria's neighbor iraq, where we just included yet another campaign. now is when some of the really important hard work happens f

bombed an airfield in syria believed to be associated with a chemical attack syria's ally the russians question the u.n. source of information saying syria continues to act within its rights going to do is teach the counterterrorism operation which has continued by the syrian military is not in contradiction with resolution twenty four i want the government of syria has every right to try and remove the threat to the safety of its citizens the cease fire resolution proposed by the united states would take effect immediately with no exceptions for groups on the un's terrorist list it would require russian support to pass highlighting yet again the limits the border divided security council can do for the people of syria christian salumi al-jazeera the united nations. the u.s. has also called for an urgent meeting in jordan following reports of syrian government airstrikes on the first in months their eyes in southwest's in syria near the jordanian border some of the provinces still under opposition control but their eyes also part of the so-called deescalation zone negotiated last year

our partners on the ground in syria have gotten us a long way in syria, and toward our objectives, and we must stick with them through the completion of this fight. in iraq, the iraqi security orces are consolidateding gain in preparing the support to continue our efforts against elections later this spring. the second goal is to prior -- prioritize the implementation of the south asia strategy in afghanistan, reaffirming our commitment to afghanistan by reinforcing the two complementary military plitions, -- missions, the nate kwlow-led train and advise and the u.s. counter terrorism mission. with our support, the afghan national defense and security forces are well-postured to begin operations to seize the initiative, expand population control, and secure credible elections. part and parcel of this effort is our regionalized approach to engage all countries with a stake in afghanistan stability, especially pakistan where we seek a more productive and trustful relationship that benefits our mutual objectives in the region. the third goal is to ensure that we have aligned our military

al-qaeda forces in syria do you actually think that's even possible. for the syrian government in the long term to reconcile with legitimate. opposition groups as you can see russia since its military involvement in the town is they started to launch this reconciliation process within syria secondly we witnessed this launch of a new. negotiation track which was not an alternative. as many argue but the additional track which was aimed at settling down like. more nuanced. things on the ground which made it happen when real field commanders from the ground who have actual influence were able to meet and sit together and talk so i wouldn't put all blame for syria's destruction along the russian. we wrote evidence i've let me put them all that he was going to get you basically. ok let me let me put the point about america laura what you think troops and the game is we know we talk about obama's failure in syria wouldn't trumps you know that's the million dollar question maybe at a minimum i do think the trump administration's priority has been to deal with

the last time i spoke to him he told me he was thinking of going to syria the world wants to see syria's fighters up close and personal but those behind the camera pay the price filmmaker yes it is you made these chilling intimate footage and behind the front lines cost him his life his body was riddled with bullets and exclusive documentary syria the last assignment at this time on al-jazeera. how the weather squatting down nicely now across northern parts of the middle east a fair amount of cloud spinning out of the black sea the caspian sea moving east was and as this cat bumps into the high ground expect to see it clouding over it was had increased the wet sand at times wintry for most as you can see it's fine and dry by a rate of around twenty three degrees celsius it was a good deal hotter than that on friday close to be getting to thirty seven degrees twenty three don't see a bad hair warm sunshine to iraq into iran and that is that the weather towards afghanistan took many expect to stand it turns increasingly wintry as we go on through tuesday price guys come back in behind me p

in cells in syria well. at this collation moment you better try to convince me that this is exactly this collision all what we're seeing on the map looks actually do opposite it's collation. let me room for the size result lucian twenty four zero one cannot be applied to peace my is not manual. it applies to all non-security council listed terrorist groups across all of syria let me also reinforce size in a quote from sacred general that even efforts to combat terrorist groups identified by this council do not supersede the real big agents and international law. on the humanitarian side i'm sure you will be having an opportunity of hearing a briefing from mark log i mean right seems i having did not put you need today let me give you have some sketchy information on the you want to jam front on this thirteenth of march the u.n. observer did but question of one hundred forty seven civilians among them ten critical medical cases finally mostly women and children from duma to the collective in rural damascus on

did accountability die in syria? >> accountability was dealt a body blow in syria. i mean, i think it's on life support. >> next we're going to look at the bets putin made over the years. he has perfected a trick that allows him to win when he's holding a bad hand. how? by bluffing and then doubling down. stay with us. i no wondering, "what if?" uncertainties of hep c. i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. and is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who've have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if you've ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. tell your doctor if you've ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and

syria right now? >> well, the biggest threat in syria is all the other instability that is taking place that is preventing the country from moving forward. so we still have isis that we are dressing. i would tell you that while we don't have a specific task to do something against iran in this particular area, our strong relationships with the iraqi security forces put us in a position where we can have influence and do things that are in the interest of their countries as opposed to other parties in the area we know in the 2004, 2005, 2006 time frame that the iranians were supplying iraqi shi'a militias some of the most sophisticated deadly ieds on the battlefield that ended up killing and maiming thousands of american troops. the iraniansed that blood of american soldiers on their hand. they deny it but it's a fact we know now. i want to make sure in terms of our rules of engagement, if there's any threat posed by any iranian or iranian-backed proxies, do our troops have the full authority to respon

to iran and syria. -- it goes from iraq down to iran and syria. mani has his arm around every single one, so when he puts them in training, and you have spoken to this specifically, do you think it is possible to extract iran or with what is happening in syria? they are dug in deeply. gen. votel: i think certainly there is an opportunity in iraq through the strong relationships we are developing here. one of the things i have observed about iraq is their outreach to their partners across the region, whether it is jordan, saudi arabia, kuwait, or key nations in the area, they are very much emerging trying to be much more involved but then in the region, which i think is a very positive thing. connotes the fact that iraq is for iraqis command while they live in a difficult neighborhood with difficult neighbors and they have to do with that, they are principally concerned. rep. hunter: what is the background? right now we are playing the enemy of the enemy is our friend friend. if those power players with

draft resolution on a syria ceasefire kristen salumi will tell us more about when the q. haley had to say on the draft resolution kristen. well yes a threat coming from the united states directed at the syrian regime and some strong words for russia the united states saying that clearly the resolution twenty four a one passed fifteen days ago has not been implemented she faulted russia for continuing to bomb areas of eastern ghouta for the first four days sometimes twenty times a day after that resolution was passed she said that there had been ongoing allegations of chlorine gas attacks in that time and went on to say that if the united nations security council didn't back up the resolution then it would come down to the united states to act and she referred to an air strike that u.s. forces made on an air base in retaliation for a chemical attack in concert croon as an example of the united states being willing to step up and take action if the international community was not going to follow through and make good on this resolution passed by the united nations calling f

turkey's president is rejecting france's offer to mediate between ankara kurdish groups in syria. says he is served by francis approach to the syrian conflict a delegation from the white p.g. met france's president of money on thursday and said that from sort of agreed to support the serious and of course the earlier reports from istanbul. turkey and france seem to have very different approaches when it comes to the kurdish issue not only in northern syria but also in turkey ancora hasn't welcomed france being walang teared for maybe a thing between why p.g. and turkey because president are dons that turkey would never sit around the table with a terrorist organization because turkey sees y p g as an option though the out both criticise the workers' party which is recognized as a terror group by the turks but on the other hand france they swipe e g n p k k are totally different today present are gone has slammed. being willing to for this medication also has accused france for dealing with groups like p k k and being in solidarity with them also other turkish officials have been r

from their weapons can be funneled to syria. this ng the largest pentagon supply of weapons for syrian rebels is bulgaria to the e use poorest country that's a change in fortune. big areas arms factories fell quiet after the end of the cold war but the wars in iraq afghanistan and syria brought new demand. factories where we opened a new production lines added to supply weapons to the world's most fragile regions . we have come to bulgaria to find out more about the weapons the us government by syrian allies. what is home to state arms manufacturers that. it is also where france is no we was killed in june twenty fifteen. that has been struggling to modernize and the fatal accident was in its first incident. a series of explosions rocked one of the company's plans in the time before the contract as a rival there were no casualties but production shut down for over two months. when we contacted v.m. set to find out more if management declined to speak to us. two leading trade unionists did agree to meet but did not want to go on

dead is doing in eastern syria fell to eisele. did nothing fickle in the dash on that one can tell him what i can and leave off the actual middle of the ball on w.e.d. a lot and often because even in such human judgement to fix the image on its own we have we are a lot more aware i didn't doesn't want to let those who don't know as also dilating about what i mean didn't develop solid in the end of our journey was at the walsall night and don't need one. from turkey mohamed collects information that reflects the reality of those living under ice all. the documents that he found so that's men were banned from shaving their beards and that internet users must register. this man accused of rape. was secretly filmed by sound and pictures an organization which also records witness statements from prisoners held by i thought medical reports and court decisions the members of sound and pictures have been targeted by i saw. today that if he is on his feet the most that is about and i know said it all solution on the trees will call to talk

and syria. these fighters from the syrian democratic forces seized vast territory from i asked militants last year with american backing. that includes russia from where the forces announce that they're moving troops to a different battleground. as. we have taken the difficult decision to redeploy our fighters stationed against islamic states in the areas east of the euphrates in their also province. and send them to africa to face the turkish aggression i'd want to see. the kurdish allied militias will relocate almost two thousand flights following hundreds that have already gone taff free in . the us has warned that the turkish offensive that has led to an operational pause in the fight against i.a.s. . but tacky has rejected western demands for a cease fire on a visit to germany the turkish foreign minister said his country was fighting terrorism. because arsene there. were fighting enough in against the p.y.t. in the y.p. ji those are terrorist organizations. and the operations there are in

would soon withdraw from syria is being met with a growing sense of skepticism by activists in syria we've been speaking with now many of them are saying that this once again the highlights that the u.s. policy toward syria is inconsistent at best and always very chaotic one activist we spoke with says these are just words for the media this is a message that donald trump wants to send to the american people because a decision like this would need a long debate from the pentagon and they believe that that decision would take at least two years to come to another one saying we have no idea about this they've not heard anything another activists saying surely the americans will not withdraw from syria especially in the presence of their interests on the ground they say that they will continue that activists are saying that they believe the u.s. will continue to face off against iran on the ground in syria and another activists stating that america essentially always is the opposite of what its president declares clearly this once again underscores how difficult it is to assess what exa

look, i think the reality is that erdogan and turkey have to -- it that kurds in syria mean, syria is humpty dumpty. " ind may have "won the war the sense that he is still there, but i don't think, at least as long as u.s. forces are there, that they are going to completely reassert their control over the entire country, and as a result, the kurdish population is going to have a great deal more autonomy in syria no matter what. that is just a reality. they are not going away. so the question is, how can that be moderated and how can that be regulated in a way that takes into account legitimate security concerns about its own border, etc. on the other hand, one can also be a little cynical about turkey's concern with the syrian border, since it was something that for about six or seven years they didn't take seriously either going the other way. >> absolutely. i wanted to move on to amanda, and incorporate in answer to that question and the next steps communicate with turkey vi s-a-vis the ypg in syria and other questions. >> i will address the syria issues and let others do with eu is

the last time i spoke to him he told me i was thinking to go into syria the world wants to see syria's fighters up close and personal but those behind the camera pay the price filmmaker. chillingly intimate footage on and behind the front lines cost him his life his body was riddled with bullets an exclusive documentary syria the last assignments at this time on al-jazeera. from the clear blue sky of the doha mooning. to the fresh fruits and breeze in the city of enough. got plenty a thundery downpours across the amazon basin they are extending in sioux part of paraguayan down towards europe why i read a lot of the show is coming in here in the wet weather really in place for the next couple of days ago with that very heavy rain it stretches its way into northern parts of argentina asensio and hot one here hot sticky thirty four degrees celsius twenty five celsius and want to say there is little to notice that the cold is to go on through the next couple of days so something like a fourteen fifteen degree drop there for us and twenty one degrees celsius on sunday heavy showers continue

decides to back the the kurdish groups in syria then we could very easily have two nato allies going head to head in a new form of standoff or open house even conflict now i don't think that's particularly likely but i think that that it is a really important time right now to see how things will play forward and what the u.s. will do simon talk to us a little bit about the civilians said that the people the residents of what will happen to those who have been displaced by fighting. well we've heard rumors and and on it go to reports that around one hundred fifty thousand have been displaced from three in and they're obviously going to struggle to find somewhere with with safety and shelter and protection from this fighting because we've also heard that the kurdish fighters aren't just going to give up after in without a fight and that whilst this is not necessarily going to be a conventional form of military battle it will involve. fighting and and more improvised insurgent tactics and they of course have how real humanitarian impacts as well so in addition to the struggle for healt

between ankara and kurdish op groups in syria the television from the y.p. g. mess france's president about. some of the france agreed to support them. russia is expelling more diplomats ambassadors from twenty three countries were summoned to the kremlin but accused of taking unfriendly steps some twenty four hours after one hundred fifty diplomats including sixty americans were expelled that's in retaliation to the expulsion of russian diplomats in a coordinated response by britain's allies to the poisoning of a former russian spy at his doorstep or a challenge support from moscow. well one after another black ambassadorial cause of be pulling up here. around outside the rather ornate silver gray doors of the russian foreign ministry and the ambassadors have been walking into essentially get a dressing down from the foreign ministry staff air and be told how many of their personnel has to be packing their bags to leave from what we've seen so far it seems to be broadly tit for tat in line numbers wise with the explosions that we have heard from western countr

presence in syria northern part of syria is illegal and it is against international law he scored different from the russian collaboration with the syrian government which is based on mutual acceptance reliance. americans want one get and they think by bombardment selective targets they favor is better to manage to failure rather than to advance their i gresham but mr larijani what i'm asking you about is not so much about the american actions but about what actions should russia take in response to this potential act of aggression you you mentioned that you believe and i think again this assessment is shared by many in moscow that the american strategy in syria has failed but that an argument could be made that that would make the united states even more predisposed to desperate actions or. actions that could attract the attention of the world because i think we would both agree that donald trump has a propensity towards showing off so if indeed he proceeds with delivering and not a strike on syria how do you think russia should respond why. none of us knew iran or russia they have interes

turkey's president issues a warning to france about getting involved in syria's war. and giving a speech in ohio president trump changes course on issues from syria to south korea . and in sport a new look australian cricket team looks to put a week of scandal behind them they've begun the final test again south africa but out from there. israeli forces have killed seven palestinians during protests in gaza. palestinian ministry of health says that at least five hundred fifty people have been injured the demonstrators are marking the land day an annual protest against israel's occupation and seizure of palestinian territory we'll have more on those deaths in gaza in just a few moments i was there was one of the how he joins us now live from out of beirut in northern israel which has great significance doesn't it order to these protests that are underway today. yes absolutely this is actually where it all started now on this day some forty two years ago back in one nine hundred seventy s. sake it's. israel had announced the confiscation of five thousand hectares of lan

receive next hour with a complete look at today's top stories well up next we have placed korea on syria at a crossroads cross-talk ways that president obama's policies toward his country's. hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things considered i'm peter lavelle from north korea to syria's president donald trump's foreign policy is literally all over the map north korea says it is open to direct talks with washington only to be met with preconditions in syria where the u.s. has no legal right to be in the first place peace is within view but this is not what the trumpet ministration want. cross talking missing diplomacy i'm joined by my guest in washington he is the executive vice president of the eurasia center in new york we have daniel is our he is an author and freelance journalist who writes frequently about the middle east eastern europe and the us constitution and in fort lauderdale we have ivan eland he's a senior fellow and director of the center on peace and liberty at the independent institute or the gentleman crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime

in syria that have pictures of the leader of the pkk, which the turks arrested with usdi help in syria. there is clearly connections between those groups, and i think in response to your question, the u.s. has not been as sensitive as it should have been to some of the legitimate security concerns that the turks have. the turks have suffered more deaths over the years at the hands of pkk terrorist attacks than they have by some of these other isis-related groups. there also has been very mixed messaging coming out of the administration on this. the obama administration had been clear to the turks that the ypg would be able to clear isis forces and then would move east of the euphrates, which was one of erdogan's red lines from the beginning of this, because he did not want ypg forces to connect all of them into a single autonomous kurdish region, which would have run the length of the turkish border and blocked off any other turkish access. there are ypg forces and that is part of what is driving erdogan's continued desire now that they have captured afrin to move 60 miles to the east.

challenges remain in syria. officials are at a loss for what the president meant. >>> and fox news host facing backlash from advertisers after a comment from a parkland survivor. laura ingraham is apologizing, but the student is not satisfied. welcome to "early start." i'm michelle kosinski. >> i'm dave briggs. looks like you might stab me with that pen. >> my security pen. >> it is 4:31 eastern time on good friday. we start with the russia investigation. a lower aide in the trump campaign, but rick gates could play a role helping with the special counsel investigation. how they pushed for gates help for the collusion case. >> the court filing this week claims gates was in contact with someone who was working with the russian intelligence agency. the investigation has been focused since the president took office. it appears collusion remains a focal point of the russia probe. more now from justice correspondent evan perez in washington. >> reporter: dave and michelle, the special counsel prosecutors told rick ga