APR listeners heard NPR's "live" coverage of President Barack Obama and Francois Hollande of France speaking at the White House, following ISIL's terrorist attacks in Paris. Mr. Obama says Russia's airstrikes against moderate opposition groups in Syria are bolstering the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. He's calling on Russia to play a more constructive role by shifting the focus of its airstrikes to defeating the Islamic State. Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande after the two met to discuss the global response to the Islamic State group, Obama said ISIL cannot be tolerated and must be destroyed. Calling it a "barbaric terrorist group," he said this is an important moment for the U.S. and France as well as the rest of the world. Hollande's trip to Washington is part of a diplomatic push to get the international community to bolster the campaign against the Islamic State extremists. But he's likely to leave Washington without firm backing for his call to bring Russia into a new coalition to fight the extremists.
Be sure to tune in for "All Things Considered" on Alabama Public Radio for analysis of today's press conference on these issues, as well as reports that the Turkish military shot down a Russian fighter jet.