southern syria. it comes also in light of the ongoing tension over the u.s.'s downing of the syrian fighter jet on sunday and the ongoing fallout from that and what has become a crowded battlefield in syria with russia, u.s., syria, iran all involved in the fight not only against isis but also in the ongoing civil war, the bloody and brutal civil war. all this as syria's government has launched a new offensive against isis today in northern syria and against rebel forces as well. some backed by the u.s. in the central part of the country, shannon. >> shannon: so what do we know about what's being done to de-escalate the situation between russia and the u.s. now? >> well, u.s. officials, shannon, say that communication lines between both countries and military operation centers are open online despite the tough talk from russia's foreign minister said that communication channels have been suspended, well, u.s. military officials say that the