Sanders says he opposes no-fly zone in Syria

President Barack Obama is accusing White House hopefuls of concocting “half-baked” ideas for stemming the crisis in Syria.

Bernie Sanders said Saturday that he opposes an U.S.-implemented no-fly zone in Syria, contrasting himself with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on the issue.

The White House has so far resisted the calls, saying it would be hard to enforce. The head of Syria’s main opposition group said that a few children were among the civilian casualties, while the United States raised concerns Russia’s purported bombardment of IS was a pretext to instead attack rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – both claims Moscow has denied.

Obama, in his remarks Friday, was especially blunt.

“If and when she’s president, then she’ll make those judgments, and she has been there enough that she knows that these are tough calls”, he added.

“We’re not interested in military cooperation in Syria with Russian Federation”, Kasich said.

MAJOR GARRETT: To what degree did Hillary Clinton’s endorsement just yesterday of a no-fly zone put her in a category of embracing a half-baked answer in Syria that borders on mumbo-jumbo?

Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich walks through the back door before speaking to voters at a town hall meeting during a campaign stop, Friday, October 2, 2015, in Goffstown, N.H.

Obama was also asked about Vice President Joe Biden, and whether it’s too late for his number two to get into the race against Clinton, as he has been considering.

That’s a split from the Obama administration, which earlier this week said no-fly zones weren’t on the table. “No more red lines, no more looking the other way”. Marco Rubio, and former business executive Carly Fiorina.

US officials confirmed on Wednesday that Russian planes began bombing anti-Assad forces in Syria.

“Russia’s recent military build-up and intervention in Syria are neither meant to defeat ISIS nor to relieve the suffering of Syrian refugees”, Kasich said in a statement released Friday. However, Support for a no fly zone remains very weak among the U.S. public.