he said two years ago that bashar al-assad must go. that didn't enter his statement last night, and i'm very saddened by that because the blow to the morale of the free syrian army is very significant. >> rose: do you believe even though the plan isn't developed that there's a compromise here which is number one for the president to make sure that bashar al-assad didn't use chemical weapons again that that objective could be achieved by this compromise and is likely to be achieved. >> i hope it would but i think it's very unlikely. i'm extremely skeptical. already we're seeing john kerry having to travel to geneva to negotiate with labroff. why doesn't he come to new york and work out a resolution with the security council. the french has a completely reasonable proposal. putin said it was, quote, unacceptable and putin has also said the united states has to renounce the use of force. something that no great nation could agree to. so the early signs are is that this is rope-a-dope. again, this is a country that putin has supplied with

syrian president bashar al assad. th is the "cbs morning news." at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors, where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, honey. don't punish yourself, it's my fault.over. of course it's your fault and i'm not punishing myself. i'm having dannon oikos zero per cent fat yogurt; twice the protein of regular low fat yogurt. that's what makes it so thick, rich. oh,.. this is kate... already? my sister... and that was my mother. dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt, too delicious to be so nutritious. and try new rich creamy dannon oikos dips. ♪ dannon. >>> a woman in alabama has found a way to turn around the local econ

bashar al assad is drawing his own red line. he'll only agree to dismantle his country's chemical weapons if the u.s. stops arming rebels and takes the threat of force off the table. >> this bilateral process is based first of all on the united states stopping its policy of threatening syria. >> reporter: the obama administration is showing no signs of making its military stand down. >> force might be necessary. >> reporter: and a u.s. official says the cia has begun sending actual weapons to syrian rebels. >> we are getting now a lot of of support from our american friends. >> reporter: but a defense official tells cnn, general salim idriss is more coordinator than commander and there are concerns about the opposition's makeup. a u.s. official tells cnn, only a minority of rebels are extremists. but if you expand beyond those directly affiliated with terrorist groups, the majority of all the fighting forces are somewhere between moderate and conservative islamists. and the official says the opposition's criminal element cannot

just begin with how did bashar al assad seem? is he celebrating? is he breathing a sigh of relief that at least for now the u.s. has put off any kind of military action? >> bashar al assad looked calm. he didn't show any sign apparently of worriness. but he is very concerned about the seriousness of the situation. and, as you said, he was -- he was quite tough against president obama, saying that he's weak because he was facing pressures from inside united states. and he was -- he was warning, he was advising the member of the congress to think twice before -- to say yes to the u.s. strike. i think that the u.s. don't need more instability in the middle east. that the war in iraq, the war in libya, it didn't bring any stability to the country. brought more instability. and he was extremely tough against france, saying that france became -- is now enemy for his country, syria. >> the u.s. says it has proof that it was bashar al assad's regime who specifically we learned over the weekend it was sarin gas on his own people back on august 21st. did you

al-assad and his father, haffas al assad. we have scheduled a number of these interviews even before the latest development. hereis what we told abc news diane sawyer, if bashar al-assad actually gave up his chemical weapons stockpile. judge absolutely if in fact that happened. and so i consider this a modestly positive development. i don't think that we would have gotten to this point unless we had maintained a credible possibility of a military strike. and i don't think now is the time for us to let up on that. >> ambassador do you agree with the president om both of those -- on both of those points that a modestly decent proposal3 and it wouldn't have happened without the threat of a strike? >> do i in general. the russians have not been, put it this way, the soul of consistency in recent days. lavrov jumped at this. let us see if he can produce something. it's an opening and it has to be obviously followed up but i also agree with the president, now is not the time to back off. as difficult as it is, if he's made progress

why would bashar al assad do that? he may conclude that that would be his only way to remain in power, give up the chemical weapons, or follow in the foot steps of libya's gadhafi. jim acosta begins our special coverage of the crisis in syria. he is at the white house. jim, what is the very latest. ? >> today press secretary jay carneys said it is on the line when it comes to dealing with syria's chemical weapons but says the u.s. has seen more corporation from russia in the last two takes lan the last two years. the white house is hardly brimming with confidence that diplomacy will work. with president obama out of the white house at a volunteer event on this 9/11 anniversary, administration officials were fielding questions on syria and offering few answers. there is no timeline yet for the still developing russian proposal to rid syria of its chemical weapons. >> i don't want to suggest that all of this could possibly be wrapped up by friday. >> white house press secretary jay carney repeatedly raised doubts about w

condemnation of the bashar al-assad was taken out. the original resolution at chapter vii resolution is what it is called. it is complicated, but the chapter vii resolution is a device the un uses when it draws up a resolution for action against a member country. this is not a chapter vii resolution, it's a security council resolution, and the only teeth that it has is a reference towards the end when they say if bashar al-assad and the syrian regime do not do what they promised to do, we'll threaten you with another resolution - not a military strike. that remains on the table in the eyes of the president. but the legal body, the security council threatens syria only with another resolution. >> while the leaders may later on be patting themselves on the back, we heard from rawya near the syrian border who hears inside syria that many are concerned not just about chemical weapons, but conventional weapons, hunger, and how this will take place, how chemical weapons will be eliminated in syria which is in the middle of a civil war. >> t

it's bashar al assad. as he looked on, his father many believe envisioned a dynasty and wouldn't have imagined it taking the turn it has. is this a design city and crumbling right now is. >> it's a mafia dynasty and definitely crumbling. >> reporter: experts say to understand what's happening in syria now it helps to know about the strange regime built by the current dictator cease father. >> he was the most mock velian leader. >> reporter: from a poor backgrou background, he rose through the ranks of the syrian air force, but it was hardly that straightforward. the man thrived in the back rooms of syrian palace intrigue where according to most accounts betraying friends, killing and banishing enemies put you on the fast track. in syria, there's more than 20 successful and unsuccessful coups when he took power. he was involved in three of them. through the '70s, '80s and '90s he played the mideast power game like a fiddle. that was the contradiction. he stayed in power torturing and killing his enemies fro

al-assad. that's the facts on the ground. this chemical attack shows that there was an area that bashar al-assad felt was so important in the grand scheme of his strategy that he was willing to use large amounts of chemical weapons. he used small amounts before. so now enter the russians, only by accident because john kerry in answer to a question, as you know, said they could get rid of all the chemical weapons and that could prevent a u.s. attack but they won't do it. clearly indicating that it had not been the subject of negotiations before. one thing you have to give him credit for, he's a wiley fox. he grabs ahold and now the russians are supposed to be the ones who are telling us that they would be in charge, disarming the guy they're arming? that is a very difficult one to rationalize. here we are with members of congress unconvinced, unconvinced when the secretary of state said any attack would be unbelievably small? what does that mean? you know, we bombed kosovo 78 days before we fina

now we want to go in syria. >> syria is sick and bashar al-assad is cancer. he needs to be stopped at all costs. >> this is a very complicated situation. i think we would be better to think more about it and not be so certain. [applause] >> mcdermott said he will likely vote against an airstrike. >> sending people to war to die or to kill other people is probably the most difficult thing--it is the most difficult thing i do. >> although thinks constituents are clear on his past record of voting on war, his crowd urged him to weigh all of the factors. >> i want him to really think it through because i think it's so very, very complex. there is n no good way to go forward. >> several iraqis and several service men and women lost their lives. we're done. >> he said he will take all these opinions back with him to washington. al jazeera, seattle. >> now the story of diana nyad winning worldwide praise is being criticized. now members of the marathon swimmers community are debating whether she got help from the boat that traveled along side her and they question w

bashar al assad knows this. he knows this, and he sort of uses that to sort of drive this message home saying, look, if you've got this evidence against me, show it. >> chris lawrence reporting live from the pentagon today. thank you very much. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," the president's push to punish syria. is he winning the p.r. campaign? can he win it? well, i'll pose that question to the host of "crossfire." [announcer] there's no hiding the goodness of the latest from beneful baked delights. new heartfuls are made with real bacon... ...and oven-baked to crisp perfection. new heartfuls from beneful baked delights. ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. you feel...squeezed. congested. beat down. crushed. as if the weight of the world is resting on your face. but sudafed gives you maximum strength sinus pressure and pain relief. so you feel free. liberated. released. decongested.

bashar al assad may have beaten him to the punch. on cbs this morning, president assad issued a new and very blunt warning against any kind of united states attack against his country. >> will the attacks against american bases in the middle east if there's an air strike? >> should expect everything. should expect everything. not necessarily for the government. the governments are not the only player in this region. you have different parties. you have different factions. you have different ideologies. you have everything in decision. so you have to expect that. >> and -- tell me what you mean by "expect everything." >> expect every action. >> including chemical warfare? >> that depends if the -- if the rebels or the terrorists in this region or any other group have it, it could happen. i don't know. >> such a delicate balance. that depends and then saying potentially the rebels, not necessarily admitting his part in any kind of chemical assault or retaliation. so at times president assad seemed to come across as a teacher, lecturing

russia vetoed three previous welcomes backing bashar al-assad in damascus. it will do nothing to stop the war that so far claimed more than 100,000 lives, left millions homeless, as well as displaced. and causing a huge humanitarian crisis right now with a thousand people a week killed. that continuing despite the vote that should occur about 3 hours from now. melissa: all right. thank you. >> from u.s. to every cner of the globe money has been flying around the world today first in sudan, mass protests, unrest began after the government removed subsidies on gas line. price of fuel has doubled as a result, more than 50 people have been killed in the clashes according to amnesty international. >> on stockholm, sweden, a 95% chance, humans are behind climate change. that is according to a new report by 869tivities working for -- 800 scientists working for the u.n., but also confirmed that earth stopped warming over the last 15 years. >> and finally to france, government is threatening to fine and take legal action against google. france has demanded it dispose

>>e> l gobierno de bashar al-assad es acusado de usar armas químicas, bashar al-assad lo ha desmentido y en entrevista en un diario francés, retó a estados unidos que demuestre las pruebas. >>> john kerry presentó evidencia con supuestos resultados de exámenes de cabello. >>> este ataque no tiene que ser iumpune,. >>d> ijo el mandatario. >>>e l gobierno de vladimir putin enviaria una delegación a washington para reunirse con el presidente barack obama, pero desde mañana se llevarán a cabo audiencias en el comité de relaciones exteriores del senado para determinar un ataque. >>> mientras que el presidente barack obama consigue autorización para atacar al gobierno de siria, la organización de naciones unidas está reportando que 7 millones de sirios han perdido sus hogares, al menos 2 millones habrían cruzado las fronteras buscando refugio y más de 6 mil personas perdieron la vida. >>> hoy es el día del trabajo pero en estados unidos muchos lo celebran a medias, veremos por qué la mayoría de los inmigrantes forja su trabajo en los campos ,pero la fuerza laboral va mucho m�

al-assad? >> bueno, creo que siempre hay que darle una oportunidad a la diplomacia, pero hay que ser escÉpticos, especialmente en una situaciÓn como Ésta, los comentarios de vladimir putin, diciendo que tenemos que renunciar a la violencia que tenemos a un bashar al-assad, diciendo que hay que esperar 30 dÍas y hay una serie de condiciones para desactivar a los rebeldes, lo Único que se puede hacer es darle respaldo a los rebeldes, tener una presencia de darle marcha atrÁs a la situaciÓn, y presionar a bashar al-assad, es lo Único que funciona. >> ¿cree usted en el presidente vladimir putin como mediador, como negociador? usted sabe, recientemente escribiÓ en el diario de new york times que es alarmante que los estados unidos intervengan militarmente los asuntos internos de otros paÍses, y que esto sea un hecho cada vez mÁs comÚn, ocurriÓ en irak, afganistÁn, en livia y ahora quizÁs en siria, ¿tiene razÓn Él? >> bueno, libia desde mi punto de vista, fue algo positivo habernos

al-assad's regime. where do the russians stand on this now though? >> i don't see any change whatsoever that the russian position will alter in any way. if we take president putin's words at the end of the g20 in context, he said russia would carry on supporting the regime in syria. there are too many reasons why this is important to the russians to swap course now, if you like, to change course. they distrust the rebels in syria, they don't like them. they fear an islamist - the spread of extremist islamist groups. they see this to a certain extent as a proxy struggle with the united states influence in the middle east. also of importance is the principle of non-inference into sovereign affairs of another country. the relationship they have is important economically, not least through the sale of military hardware. for all of those reasons i imagine that foreign minister wallim will get reassurances from the russians that they stand by him. >> you mentioned the importance of the allies. in that sense c

character to the assad family. >> reporter: bashar al assad was different. growing up he was a polite boy who never lorded his status over his friends. >> the family growing up live in a very sort of typical, modest three-story home in damascus, residential building where they lived on one floor of that building. for most of his childhood, he still lives on one floor of that very same building to this day. >> reporter: assad ended up studying ophthalmology in london and was known more for his love of ross music. in london he met a glamorous investment banker who would later become his wife. in 1994 assad was suddenly called back to syria after his older brother was killed in a car accident. he was now next in line to rule, and took over in 2000 after his father died. but the hopes of the damascus spring didn't last long. >> many from the so-called olgar that had been in syria under their father, been in leadership positions basically came to him and said, listen, son, this isn't how we do things here. this is going to undermine our legitimacy that we've work

you can see a sign with bashar al assad's face on it. right now this protest taking place live, as many protesters not just in washington, d.c., over the course of the weekend and today have been protesting the potential for a u.s. strike on syria. we've heard those people. they have been chanting things like "don't bomb syria," just one of many moving parts taking place today, even as just a short distance away from them, thomas, the president will sit down later this afternoon with the network anchors, including savannah guthrie from nbc. >> peter, i'm so glad you did that because i was curious to know exactly what those voices were because we could hear those in the background. thank you for that. as you talk about these moving parts, not only is the president going to be sitting down with those six networks, also there are a lot of surrogates showing up today to make the case. >> reporter: yeah, no, that's exactly right. you mentioned susan rice, you talked about hillary clinton who's expected to speak not just today during an event

the syrian president bashar al assad is making his case against the u.s. military strike on his country and is making that case directly to the american people. he's speaking out on u.s. television network, but what he's saying, the question is, is it credible at all. cnn's brian todd is working the story for us. brian, what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, john kerry says flat out he is without credibility. analysts say bashar al assad appeared nervous in this interview, he came close to outright threats against the u.s., and when pressed about the august 21st chemical attack, he pulled a classic denial. we have this warning. some viewers may find some images in this story disturbing. he was asked what the reality on the ground was that awful day, when u.s. officials say more than 1400 civilians were gassed to death in a chemical weapons attack. syrian president bashar al assad, in an interview with cbs's charlie rose, said not only did his forces not launch that attack, they weren't anywhere near it. >> in the area where they said the government used chemi

who has seen the surveillance video is questioning if syrian president bashar al-assad did this, now we must respond. military action taken by the u.s. and a small group of allies, would divert attention guns the war crimes, and give our adversaries the opportunity to attacking that action, we should be assembling the coalition of the willing, strong were condemnation about the global red line that we all want response to. >> are you concerned that if congress votes no on the president's request, you are undermining president barack obama's authority not just here in the united states, but around the globe. >> that's the risk. the problem is that president barack obama has been silent about the disaster in syria in the last 2 1/2 years. now that chemical weapons have been used. he drew the red line, that undermines his credibility, that is a huge concern, it is up to president barack obama to make the case to gal viennese against the syrian president bashar al-assad regime, and garner action that he might be considering taking here, and the problem he has not garnered that support. t

bashar al-assad cannot deny the weapons. they are talking about disclosing locations, joining a treaty banning them and giving them up. things changed so drastically and quickly in the last day and a half, it can be hard to keep up. as we wait to hear from president obama, we'll walk you through the russian proposal to put the arsenal under global control and look at the potential snags, whether to keep the force on the table and whether the world can trust a dishonest regime and up until now destruction with the ally. we start with nick paton walsh on the deal making. nick, what's the latest there? >> reporter: all eyes on the meeting in geneva after frankly a bewildering day of closed door da plom see starting out with the french in the morning who held closed-door meetings. there were a lot of things they bundled in there to try, i think, perhaps and put the russians off in someway they wanted to see out right condemnation of the regime on the 21st of august and wanted to see the serious consequences on the table, if syri

this depends on bashar al assad's cooperation. how will you know he's a willing and responsible participant? the first step is how forthcoming he is with all of the details about syria's chemical weapons sites. that will be a first step to move this from the 30,000-foot level to nitty-gritty how to collect the weapons, catalog them, and destroy them. >> did you get a sense they were encouraged, upbeat, still skeptical, that this diplomatic arrangement might bear some serious fruit? give us a little flavor behind the scenes. >> reporter: i wouldn't say upbeat. look at this team, we saw secretary kerry on the flight as well, in the last ten days, really, he was giving a speech last friday, a week ago friday, preparing for an imminent military strike, then spending a week on the hill pushing congress to give authorization for force. now plan c in effect, this peaceful diplomatic solution to it. they're in a show-me mood, show me the money mood, they want to see immediate proof that the russians are serious and the syrians are serious

you know bashar al-assad, you met his father. you understand what is going through his mind right now. when he sees this debate unfolding in the united states, how worried should he really be that he's about to get crushed, if you will, by u.s. tomahawk cruise missiles? >> well, i'm not sure i completely understand what he's thinking right now. he's somewhat of a changed person from when i knew him. i don't think he's panicking. he's obviously quite concerned, and i think in the immediate term thinking about three things like the colonel said, getting assets out of the way and secondly seems to have launched something of a public relations campaign, which they don't do very well, by the way. they see the open debate. they see what happened in britain. they see the polls in the united states that shows the american public doesn't want to intervene in syria in a meaningful way. they think they can influence that and thirdly, we must not forget he's fighting an active civil war and trying not to focus on the u.s. -- on a u.s. strike

and yes, they can pin it squarely on the bashar al-assad regime and here is why. they are trying to make that case. in britain, it did not work. it was not enough to sway parliament as you have the so- called iraq hangover. they said no. britain is not taking part. it has really left this duopoly, that of the u.s. and france. here is where the interesting situation arises. obama is now going to congress. it was a shocking move to many. very few people were expecting that. it has left france in this very weird, almost twilight zone-ish situation. you have the u.s. saying it is going to parliament, delaying any timetable for prospective action. france, which has said it will not put any military action to a vote, it will consult with parliament this wednesday, but it is not putting it to a vote. france has to stand by the words that francois hollande spoke last week, saying france is ready. ready to do what? in other words, to punish those who gassed innocent civilians. what has changed is that he has lost one solid ally, britain, and now he is left in a position be

, isn't this is critical window for bashar al assad? if he actually is planning to engage in this plan? wouldn't this be the moment, if he didn't want to be 100% honest, to start doing a better job of hiding some of the things he has? >> i think a lot of the stuff is already hidden. we talked about this the other day. i just find it inconceivable no matter what he or his foreign minister says they're going to give up what they believe is their strategic deterrence against israel. and those would be the missile warheads that fit on the scud. the long-range missiles he has. those are probably locked away somewhere. i don't know if we know where they are, but i don't trust the syrians to give up everything they have, and, of course, the answer is, well, maybe the russians will force them to, and i'm not trusting them either. so i think that we've got a real tough problem on our hands. the verification will be a real problem. as far as the military goes, they will be able to deliver whatever the president wants, but pinprick isn't it. >> so

al assad. putin is helping assad. i don't want to help assad. as andy card said, there's no to end this. u.n. dance will go on forever. no time tables. there'no nothing out there. so we're all just going to forget about this at some point and go home and meanwhile assad and his chemical warfare continues. how can the president let that happen? >> i think the president made a big mistake by asking congress to authorize a military action of the sort the united states has done dozens of times over the past 40, 50 yea witho ngressional thorizion. havi donehat he was in a tit fix bause itooked like as you said, larry, he wasn't going to get such envotes. so, therefore, with this offer that had been discussed behind the scenes bubbling up on monday the president decided he would hold off to see if there was any possibility of actually pulling the chemical weapons out. now he has several possibilities, several options right now that i hope he chooses. one is to allow this negotiation to go on for a bi

it is expected as a response of hezbollah's support of bashar al assad. people are tired of the cycle of violence. >> many men and women died. many died. many people have died. about what they died in? >> hezbollah's secret leadership continues to drive their shiite fighters to fight across the border. some aligned with al-qaeda, lebanon's former ambassador to the u.s., opposed to syrian involvement within lebanon said there is no secret to what hezbollah really wants. >> what is their aim and strategy in syria? >> continued war. that's their victory scenario. syria at war is a syria in which they can play. >> he maintains that peace is the enemy of hezbollah and they fear a u.s. military strike could threaten the surviving of the assad regime, the worst possible outcome for hezbollah. their leadership has been ominously quiet. >> hezbollah has been very silent. when they're silent, you have to waworry about it. they will not stand down when an attack happens against syria. >> in the streets of south beirut, even strong hezbollah supporters are growing we

weakendi's see it as, to iran, they have to get rid of bashar al-assad. host: with all of these issues and all of your questions on framingday morning,, the debate as lawmakers return. we will have coverage on c-span. bring youso congressional hearings as they develop. there were two key hearings last week, as well is a number of speeches and think tanks related to the situation. you can follow all of this online at www.c-span.org. we have set aside a special page. documents, member statements, clips and related videos. you can also keep track of tweets from members of the house and senate. #cspanchat. check out our special page at www.c-span.org. dave is joining us from ohio on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. you have some great guests there. with the whole thing is, i think obama should not have waited as long as he did to react. 100,000 people -- it should have started than -- then. i think we should have some kind of attack on syria. unfortunately, we are not in a standshere everybody hand-in-hand. i would like for it to be that way, b

que los estados unidos debe tomar acciÓn militar contra blancos del rÉgimen de bashar al-assad por haber r usado armas que quÍmicas, diciendo que lo hizo despuÉs de considerarlo cuidadosomente y que la intervenciÓn serÍa limitada en duraciÓn y alcance. >>> luego el mandatario dejÓ caer el otro zapato en lo que dijo. >>> buscarÉ la autorizaciÓn de los representantes del pueblo americano en el congreso. no lanzarÁ un ataque sin la aprobaciÓn del capitolio, y lo que dijo el presidente despuÉs de consultas esta maÑana con principales asesor y el leeds noed partidos de ambas cÁmaras de congreso. >>> lagos decisiones del presidente r se dan despuÉs de que otros amo liados rehusorÁn apoyar una acciÓn militar. >>> y ademÁs una oposiciÓn en el congreso lleno entre el pÚblico estadounidense. y fuerte oposiciÓn tambiÉn de china y rusia. >>> acusÓ a estados unidos de simplemente buscar apoyo internacional para succiÓn accion acciones. >>> y asesor militares dicen estar listos para lanzar un ataque contra siria en cualquier momento. >>> y se podrÁ lanzar maÑana o en una seman

that bashar al-assad wants to make peace with israel. >> israel maintains it can take care of itself if syria decides to wage a strike against them and the interior minister also saying, wait, we can keep a close watch on verification to see if they are moving those chemical weapons around to places they are not supposed to. >>guest: some of the initial reports about the movements are coming from israeli sources. john kerry is very dependent on israeli intelligence in terms of caring out the deal he made with putin. even in the best of times it would be hard for any country to disarm itself of a thousand tons of muses toward gas, sarin gas but they going to do this in the middle of a war. from another standpoint the israelis are worried about this being perceived as a win-win for bashar al-assad the he gets to say and obama initially said he has to go; second, he can go on killing his own people with conventional weapons, if not chemicals; finally, he is the one who this all depends. the rebels, then, would have been fighting bashar al-assad, are disspirited by this agreement. >> let

al assad. that has always been the goal. at least certainly stated by the president of the united states. now there is no comment about that. now he is able to have killed 1400 people and he has killed over 100,000. where is the u.s.' response to that? and up until a few days ago, not one single weapon had reached the hands of the free syrian army except for some mres whose time was about to expire. >> your goal is the president's goal ultimately -- >> that bashar al assad -- >> should go. should be out of power. >> yes. >> what should the us sacrifice in order to achieve that goal? >> sacrifice some of our weapons that are viable like anti-tank and anti-air weapons which we have not given them. ak-47s don't do very well against tanks and give them the support that they need to succeed. look -- >> do you have a partner on the other side on the opposition that you are prepared to say is going to lead syria in a democratic future. >> then we'll have to help the syrian national council get rid of

>> well, fredericka, the problem is that we can't tie this to bashar al assad. we don't know if rogue officers fired this. we don't know exactly what happened. if you see a lot of people on, you know, up on the air saying who did this, you know, i think this unit did. that's not enough. it is not a smoking gun and i think everybody would like to see that smoking gun before we launch an attack. >> and your sources are telling you something very interesting. your syrian sources are telling you about the potential consequences if, indeed there were a military strike. government sources? citizens? what are they saying? >> these are people in the regime. they have called me up. they come across the border and call me on skype and said on monday bashar al assad made a statement inside the regime that if there's an attack on syria he will respond by hitting israel. i asked them would that be with chemical weapons? they said, no. conventional and expect it to escalate from there. >> and is there a feeling that evidence, the intelligence community, would be able to colle

we'll bring you an exclusive interview with bashar al assad shortly. first, you can add two more voices to the chorus of critics of president obama's approach it the syrian crisis. national security correspondent jennifer griffin tells us tonight these voice from former pentagon chiefs robert gates and leon panetta come with consider reply more credibility than most. >> reporter: in a rare appearance together, the two most recent defense secretaries offered an unusual rebuke and withering criticism of their former boss, the commander in chief and his handling of the syria crisis. though they differed about what they would have done. >> when the president of the united states draws a red line, the credibility of this country is dependent on him backing up his word. when we draw a line and we give our word, damn it, we back it up. >> my bottom line is that i believe to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple of days to underscore or validate a point or a principle is not a strategy. >> reporter: gates argued a limited tomahawk missile strike or any milita

al-assad. have an international body monitor them, and threat averted. is it really? >> we'll see what market says tomorrow. i think he spend so much time making a case for going forward with the attack that actually markets may reaction differently. neil: you know, i -- you are right, argument for an attack but he spend time what the attack would not be not involve you know american boots on ground, would not be beyond what mission statement to get weapons knocked out, not a regime change, he spoke more about what it was not than what it was. in the end did he really move any doubting thomases? i wonder? >> that is one thing that republicans ask in our conference today, it seems that president wants to attack the the assad's regime in just the right way, not enough to topple it, believing it would cause chaos, but enough to punish the regime, and try to make them not do this again,. i just don't think assad will give us his chemical weapons we'll see. and you know to extent he tried to make a

syrian president bashar al-assad is warning of retall nation if the u.s. attacks the country, stating that it would only help al-qaeda. >>> a priceless work of art hidden in an attic for years ye. that is a van gogh. it's been stored away because it was once thought to be painted by somebody else, a fake. >>> a swim that won a 64-year-old woman worldwide praise is facing criticism. diana nyad made headlines after swimming from cuba to florida. yes, she does like that van gogh, but now members of the swimming community are debating whether she got help from the boat that was follower her, and if she violated the english channel rules by using a suit to protect her from jelly fish stings. she said she did not use a boat to help her and she never claimed she would follow the english channel rules. >>> a goal to photograph all endangered species in the state of illinois. she's been at it for ten years and still she's not halfway through. >> i'm carol free man a nature photographer, and my quest is to photograph all 483 threatened and endangered species in illi

what does that mean for bashar al-assad? what might he be doing? i'm going to bring in cnn's barbara starr who gets a lot of advance knowledge on some of this intelligence. my friend, i don't know how you get it but you do know of some dispersal of his assets inside syria. can you break down for me what you found out? >> ashleigh, you know, what u.s. officials are telling us is that they are seeing this, they call it a lot of dispersal of syrian assets by the assad regime. what are we talking about? troops, weapons, artillery, mortars, rockets, aircraft, that sort of thing. and why is that so important? because, of course, you would expect them to do that. if he thinks he's going to get attacked he's going to move things around to try and keep them hidden or make it tougher for the u.s. to target him. the reason it's so important is now it, in fact, does put the u.s. in the position of having to continuously retarget. those tomahawk missiles that the u.s. has, of course, are guided to their targets by satellite coordinates, gps coordinates, just li

bashar al assad is desperate. this interview, he didn't give any interview for the last year or so, but now he's talking over and over and he's really desperate and really concerned. >> we've seen videos that dianne feinstein insisted get put together and i tell you, all you had to do was go on the internet and click over the weekend or watch the news and you saw these horrible scenes of the dead, including the children obviously, david. is the president missing a chance perhaps not to make a stronger case on humanitarian grounds? >> i think he is. robert ford, who's the u.s. ambassador to syria and a very well respected diplomat talked about a dissent in the middle east where people are using chemical arms against each other. he's not making a broad enough case. israel wants a strike. apac will be flooding the hill saying this should happen. the israelis have said don't worry about retaliation, he wants to say iraq, iraq, iraq. he's saying we can handle whatever retaliation comes towards us. >> simple strikes, th

they may not have agreed with bashar al-assad's dictatorship but at least it kept them safe. now they think what's coming will be a bloodbath, jeff. >> jeff: liz palmer in damascus, thank you. scott pelley interviews president obama on his syria politics tomorrow am you can see that tomorrow night during the broadcast of the men's u.s. open final and later on the "cbs evening news." a crushing heat wave continues in california this weekend. temperatures hit the hundreds again this weekend in the san fernando valley. the yosemite rim fire is now the third worst in california history. officials say it is 80% contained but nearly 400 square miles have burned. in utah heavy rains caused more flooding and mudslides in alpine, the same spot for the third time in three weeks. ibm announced it is losing its medicare eligible retirees off its company health insurance and will give them money to buy insurance on private health care exchanges. late this afternoon we learn time warner will do the same. for more on the story we are joined by cbs news contributor med-- lod hobson. is this

al assad regime. hello. i'm greg. welcome to the news headquarters. >> i'm heather childers. we are waiting for the outcome of the briefing and the president's call to take military action. >> nobody wants to have a slippery slope. i'm not for boots on the ground. i'm not leading to the war. i think for us to stand by and be silent when the acts are being committed. >> we have live team coverage. leland vittert is standing by in the mid east bureau. first let's go to peter. what is the latest on the hill. they just wrapped up. >> they did, heather. lawmakers did just receive the first briefing since they found out yesterday that they are going to have a chance to vote on whether or not they should authorize the use of military force against the assad regime. since it is a holiday weekend, only 60 or 70 lawmakers showed up. it was mostly house members and senators. some wore suits. some were wearing jeans for presentations by officials from the white house and pentagon and the state department. the oba

al assad. they acknowledge clearly behind the scenes they expect russia would veto that and block such action. harris? >> critics say they are stressing so much doubt about syria's sticking to deadlines. i mention add week to talk about their stock piles there. what other deadlines do they have to had it? >> reporter: well, if bashar al assad meets that first deadline, the first litmus test of the entire chemical weapons arsenal by next friday, it's expected the chemical weapons inspectors from the international community it had the ground in syria to start inspections by november. once again, the aim, daunting but doable, destroy the entire arsenal by next july. >> james rosen in geneva. thank you. >>> a terrifying bus ride this weekend. it wend flying off the side of a highway in ohio. 35 people hurt in this. the bus apparently went through a fence, then struck a tree before coming to a stop on its side, as you see there. the driver was trapped in that bus until emergency crews could get him

bashar al assad's regime did it. i remember iraq, and secretary hagel, who will soon be here, and general dempsey also remember it very well. secretary hagel and i both voted in the united states senate. so both of us are especially sensitive to never again asking any member of congress to vote on faulty intelligence. that is why our intelligence community took time. that's why the president took time, to make certain of the facts and make certain of this case and to declassify unprecedented amounts of information in order to scrub and rescrub the evidence and present the facts to the american people and especially to the congress. through you to the american people. we have declassified unprecedented amounts of information, some of it, i might add, not because initially that might have been the instinct in the sense of protecting sources and methods, but some leaked. after its leaking, we thought it was important to verify whether it was true or not. so by now you've heard a great deal from me and others in the admi

bashar al-assad was speaking to an u.s. tv network. he also demanded that the united states prove it's use of chemical weapons. >>> no. the philippines 220 people are being held hostage by muslim rebels. at least six people have been killed so far. >>> let's go back to our top story and that's the conflict in syria. u.s. politicians are going to begin debating on monday. it will be a busy day in washington, d.c. and here's what it looks like. in less than two hours 1500 gmt will rally on capitol hill in support of strikes. at 1800 gmt, u.s. senate will continue debate against those strikes. polls show that they would be evenly divided on military action. and at 1900 gmt the u.s. house of republicans will meet as washingto"washington post" survy suggest. let'let's go to washington, d.c. kimberly, the senate is due to debate on this. tell us what you think it's going to look like. >> well, i can tell you what it's going to look like as a lot of passionate argument before and against the president's request for authorization. this will be