media from itself. thanks for watching this edition of "reliable sources" i'm eric daggens, i'll be chatting after the show on twitter, so tweet me. and if you missed anything, you can catch all of today's conversations on cnn.com or go to itunes and check out our padcast. join us next sunday at 11:00 a.m. eastern. "state of the union" with candy crowley begins right now. i'm dana bash in for candy crowley with breaking news we're following out of syria. a u.s. official tells cnn there's very little doubt that the assad government used chemical weapons against civilians. syria's government today said it will allow u.n. weapons inspectors to investigate the site where the alleged attack occurred on wednesday. the syrian government denies responsibility and is blaming rebels for the attack that reportedly killed 1300 people. now the incident is testing

already-frayed relations between the united states and russia, which is warning the u.s. not to jump to conclusions about the syrian government. meanwhile, the pentagon has prepositioned four warships armed with cruise missiles in the region. joining me now is cnn's pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, and cnn international correspondent, phil black live in moscow and cnn's fred platkin in damascus. fred, to you first. >> hi, dana. i had an interview earlier today with the deputy foreign minister of syria, who told me that the u.n. weapons inspectors would have immediate and unrestricted access to all of those places where is chemical weapons were allegedly used on wednesday. the only thing that needs to be sorted is the logistics, when they can go down there. they have to cross the front line towards rebel-controlled territories. so they also have to go into negotiations with the rebels. the u.n. for their part is saying they want to begin that

negotiation starting tomorrow. i want you to listen to a portion of what the deputy foreign minister told me. >> they can start immediately. >> what sort of agreement have you made with him? >> we worked for two days, i never doubted the possibility of reaching an agreement. >> so they have complete access and they can go anywhere they want, any time they want? >> yes. is that the case? in all of these areas? >> yes. >> and that can start immediately? >> yes. >> so there's the deputy foreign minister. he also warned the united states, saying that if the u.s. decided to take military action here in syria, it would kill a lot of civilians and also, the syrian government would fight back. however, when i asked him what fighting back exactly meant, he said that he wouldn't say that on cnn television, dana? >> fred, thank you very much. stand by for a second. i want to go to moscow to our phil black. because this is obviously a very important subplot or maybe even more than a subplot of this story. and that is, the russian government and how they're reacting. phil, tell us about that.

>> we've had a couple 6 statements from the russian foreign ministry, dana and they boil down to this. they're telling the united states and its allies to use discretion and to not repeat the tragic mistakes of the past. when they talk about using discretion, they're saying wait for this united nations investigation. to run its course. to determine objectively on the ground, precisely what happened with this alleged chemical weapons incident. when they talk about not repeating the mistakes of the past, they're saying you should not even be thinking about taking military action, that does not follow international law. that does not have the blessing of the united nations security council. now we know that the u.n. security council is never going to give that blessing, because russia will use its veto. but the message from the russian government today very strongly is do not consider going this alone as you've done in the past. and that's why we're hearing russian officials today talking about iraq as an example where unilaterally military action didn't go so well according to russia and they would argue the

impact in syria would be just as severe. dana? >> phil, thank you. stand by to you, too. chris, i want to talk to you about what ear hearing outside the administration. the president met with his national security team yesterday, very rare and telling he did so on a saturday. why is this time the planning inside the administration, different than in the past? >> well i think you hit the nail on the head. for the president to be working on a saturday, not only working, but to call in his entire national security team. the director of the c.i.a., the national intelligence, the entire apparatus. i think what really hits home this time is the fact that secretary hagen is traveling overseas in asia. had to phone in on a teleconference call during that trip. and last time, the pentagon updated its military options for the president. it very much felt like it was coming or being driven by pressure from the outside. republicans in congress. this time feels differently. this is more internally driven

by the administration realizing they may have to do something. >> very interesting. i want to bring into our discussion, democratic congressman adam shift of california, a senior member of the house intelligence committee. you've been very reluctant to arm the syrian rebels. is this time different? >> it is different. i have been reluctant, you're right, because i felt the mission wasn't clear, we weren't going to provide enough weapons to make a difference on the battlefield, but we could very much be drawn into this civil war. here, i think we've always had a national security interest in deterring the use of chemical weapons and taking strong action against the use of chemical weapons. if this is confirmed, the i think the white house will have to act in concert with our allies, with nato, with our regional friends. i don't think we can allow repeated use of chemical weapons and escalated use of chemical weapons to stand. if we do, it encourages the broader use of chemical weapons in other conflicts and we have a core national security interest in making sure that doesn't happen. >> i want to bring you in,

chris, in one second. i want to play for you to sort of set the table for this discussion, something that two of your congressional colleagues said this morning, a democrat and a republican said about this. >> what we've seen indicates that this is clearly a big event. of grave concern. i think it is fair to say, that as difficult as the problem is, this is something that is going to require america's attention, hopefully the entire international community's attention. >> well that was obviously, an important one, the president. breaking news here. >> a former colleague of yours. >> what i was going to play, is democrat elliott engel, the top democrat on the foreign affairs committee and bob corker, senator, republican. both of them saying that we can't wait. we can't wait for congress to come bang and authorize this. there has to be action. and corker said he's talked to the white house and he thinks that action could happen relatively soon. what are you hearing and do you agree with that? >> i think it very well could

happen soon and i think that's the message that the assad regime already has, my suspicion they're now willing to allow u.n. inspectors in, they think in the absence of doing that, that action could be imminent. and this helps them buy some time. i think you know the white house has drawn a red line. and in terms of the credibility of the white house, the cost of not acting now i think exceeds the cost of acting. but they have to be careful to do this in concert with our allies. they have to be careful to limit the scope of ha they're trying to achieve. they have to make sure they make it clear, this does not determine design to bring the regime down. that's too big a mission. it's designed to deter any use of chemical weapons by assad or others. think there will be bipartisan support for that. and i think that the cost of inaction now is too high if this is confirmed. >> we've already heard from administration officials saying too little, too late. they think that any evidence that would be collected five days later, you know, has been criminal sexual conducted. that there's been intense shelling in that area.

other intentional acts by the assad regime. and that they're not going to put all of that much stock in what comes out six to seven days after the fact. >> and both of you, i want you to listen to fred pleitgen, who has a question for you, congressman, from the field. fred? >> yeah, congressman, i was wondering, what sort of action you have in mind. because if you say that you don't think that changing the regime or bringing down the regime what should be going on and the real aim has to be deterring the use of chemical weapons, how do you do that? how do you make sure that you hit the assad regime hart enough to get them to stop using chemical weapons and without weakening them to a point where islamist rebels get the upper hand on the battlefield in places like ahelp 0o. it seems like an difficult thing to do. i can confirm from the ground that there has indeed been indense shelling going on over the past two or three days, that seems to be directed at exactly

those neighborhoods where those chemical weapons claims were made. >> well i don't think the white house is going to want to risk american lives by sending pilots over syria. so that limits our options to cruise strikes and think that's probably where the white house is going to go. i think there's little danger that targeted cruise strikes are going to so destabilize the assad regime that it would fall quickly. that would probably be too much to expect of that kind of strike. the bigger risk is actually that the strike will be significant enough to deter him. but i think it works i think it could be very punishing. you wouldn't go after the stockpiles which would only disperse the chemical weapons, but go after his miss being stock and his ability to deliver the weapons in the future. >> and congressman, how important is it that there is international consensus here? and to follow on that, how problematic is it that russia is so reluctant, no the just reluctant, but very much against this? >> i think it's very important. that this be a strong, international coalition. if we're going to make a

statement about the prohibition, the taboo on the use of chemical weapons, it can't just be the united states. this is where our leadership is going to have to come in. i agree with those who have said, we can't wait on the united nations to act. the russians will never allow that to take place, their national security interests are very different than ours. they will seek to make murky who was responsible for this. but i think we do have to act in concert with others and i think we can. >> you think it's time to move ahead, don't even bother with the united nations security council and start to take steps to go forward? >> i think we ought to quickly, as possible get those inspectors in to do their investigation. think we ought to also gather our intelligence and outside sources to make the case. i think the president will need to go before the american people. and explain exactly what action we're taking in concert with others and why. >> congressman, thank you very much. appreciate your time, coming in on short notice, chris lawrence, fred pleitgen from damascus.

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with me now, cnn commentator ross dalfit and president and ceo for the center for american progress and carly belcher and carly fiorina. i want to talk about the pickle that president obama is in with regard to syria. you two in the middle, the democrats know, especially you, cornell, that president obama beat hillary clinton, who was unbeatable, everyone thought, in 2008 in part because of the fact that he was an anti-war candidate against iraq. now he finds himself in a

position where this could be a really serious situation with chemical weapons in syria. and there could be mounting pressure, internationally, to get involved. >> it is a pickle. because on the one side, your sort of the basically the democratic party and not just the democratic party, but americans broadly do not want troops on the ground and bombing in syria. once we start bombing, we kind of own part of the situation there. so there's a tough place. but at the same time, when, if they are using chemical weapons against their own people, the president is going to have to make the case against the american people that they have to decide their own fate. however, there's got to be rules of engagement and they've crossed the line. >> talk to me about the left. if the president does have to go further, whether or not he's going to have support, or he's going to have the kind of opposition that the former president had for people like president obama. >> well, look, the differences between iraq and syria are huge.

you know, the, even back then, the president obama said he wasn't opposed to all wars, he was opposed to stupid wars and the iraq war was a stupid war. the issue with syria is whether the heinous act of using chemical weapons against your own people requires international action. and i think progressives, i hope conservatives, the country would unite if the president chooses to take action. the country, the country would unite to support that. >> i can remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism. why does the country have to unite? >> well mccain will be on the president's side. >> the country doesn't have to unite. they wouldn't look at it as a political issue, opposition to the president, they would look at it as to whether it was the right thing to do. >> you mentioned mccain, i followed you around on the mccain presidential campaign, carly. and talking about president obama would not be effective on the world stage. do you think he has handled the

situation thus far in an effective way? >> well certainly i completely understand president obama's reluctance get involved in sirria i think president obama's problem has been his inconsistency. on the one hand, we throw over mubarak in two weeks. but president obama is actually supportive of ahmadinejad, when there were protests in the street during that election. he talked about bashar al assad as a partner for progress for a long time before he started talking about bashar al assad has to go. the problem is president obama has been inconsistent in his policy in the middle east. indecipherable in some of our allies' beliefs. when you have the united arab emirates, jordan, israel, saudi arabia, our most important allies in the region, all telling us, you guys are getting this wrong on almost everything, you have a problem. i think on syria, whatever the president chooses to do and whatever the u.n. inspectors find out. there's no denying now, that

somebody is using chemical weapons. the only thing to be figured out now is who. and i think the international community suspects that the government. but that means that chemical weapons are moving around. chemical weapons are proliferating. so now i think the community at large has a big problem. >> but the issue is i mean we all saw this obviously at the end of the bush administration, now it's even more so, this is a war-weary country. no matter how big the threat may be. >> i mean the last serious polling we have on intervention in syria, and it is from four to six months ago, before as carly says, the proliferation of chemical weapons is basically nobody, not democrats, not republicans, not independents, wants us to get involved in syria's civil war and it's clear that the president doesn't want us to get involved, either and he has good reasons for feeling that way. specifically the fact that the most powerful faction within the anti-bashar al assad opposition is a group with strong links to al qaeda. so it's, you know you can bomb

assad on behalf of sort of you know, islamist terrorism or you can you know, support assad, and support a brutal dictator. so it's a nearly impossible problem and it hasn't gotten any easier to solve. just because we have this evidence on chemical weapons. i mean, i agree with carly, that a line has been crossed and president obama was very clear that this would be a red line and so on. but it doesn't, having that happen doesn't tell you what to do about it. >> and certainly people, look at what, russia thinks we're insane, to your point. to sort of you know, bomb him out. because the alternative to him, could in fact be even worse for us internationally. if the islamist radicals get in power. which could very well happen. >> look, i think that the real issue is also, though that if we allow in the middle east, of all places, if we allow a regime to use chemical weapons, that sets a precedent going forward that threatens not just world security, but in the long run,

american security. i appreciate that it's not an easy issue. obviously -- >> those are the kind of arguments, you'll recall, that president obama used to justify the invasion of iraq. >> i think this tells us -- this tells us -- that one thing to be candidate, it's another thing to sit in the oval office to sit in the situation room and have these problems and have to be the one to deal with them. carly, cornell, myra and ross, thanks very much. the fight over obama care and what it means for republicans who won't vote to defund it ted cruz, former senator jim demint and former governor howard dean are next. >> every day we're working to be an even better company and to keep our commitments, we've made a big commitment to america. the bp supports 250,000 jobs here. throughout all of our operations, we invest more in the u.s. than anywhere else in the world, we've invested $55

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president obama hit the road this week, finding himself among friendly audiences at northeastern colleges where he criticized republicans who want to block his signature legislation. >> they're threatening not, to shut down the government and have another financial crisis unless for example we get rid of the health care reform that we fought to pass and that is going to provide millions of people health care security for the

first time. that won't create jobs. that's not going to help our economy. that doesn't strengthen the middle class. >> one republican determined to defund obama care as freshman senator ted cruz. >> we have all seen this movie before. what happens next is president obama and harry reid are going to scream and yell those mean, nasty republicans are threatening to shut down the federal government. one side or the other has to blink. how do we win this fight? don't blink. >> joining me now, howard dean, the former vermont governor and chairman of the democratic national committee. and jim demet, former republican south carolina senator and currently the president of the conservative heritage foundation. gentlemen, the clock is ticking on the fight over health care. some of the provisions kick in october 1st. candy crowley sat down with senator ted cruz to talk all that. i want to talk about the fact that it started with another

interesting political controversy. and that is a question about ted cruz's birthplace. >> i have to get this birth certificate off the table. i think it's fairly cool that you had dual citizenship. you could go run for the canadian parliament. you could go run for president. what's wrong with that? >> well, i think it's the silly season in politics. i was born in 1970. in calgary, canada, my parents were working there in the oil and gas business. my mother was a u.s. citizen by birth, born in wilmington, delaware, so under u.s. law i'm an american citizen by birth so when i was four, we grew up in houston is texas always been my home. when i was a kid, my mom told me if i ever wanted to, i could affirmatively choose to claim canadian citizenship. i got a u.s. passport when i was in high school. i thought that was the end of the matter. and then the "dallas morning news" ran a headline where they

talked with some immigration lawyers that said technically the immigration lawyers said i still had dual citizenship. so the question was raised, if you do, would you renounce your canadian citizenship. i said look, if that's right. then sure. because serving as a u.s. senator, i was an american by birth. serving as a u.s. senator, i think it be appropriate that i be only american. >> you know how it's being interpreted, is oh, clearing the way for a 2016 presidential run. you want to get this issue off the table, first? >> listen, there's a lot of silliness, i thought it was a reasonable question when the "dallas morning news" asked for my birth certificate, so i gave it to them. >> let me move you to health care, texas has the highest percentage of uninsured citizens of any state. let's say you're successful in defunding bott ining obama admi obama care, what do you tell those 6.2 million texans? >> number one, obama care is the

biggest job-killer in this country and there's bipartisan agreement that it isn't working, killing jobs, forcibly having people's hours to be reduced to 29 hours a week. driving up the cost of health insurance, causing people to lose their health insurance, because businesses are dropping it. the first thing i would say, the single biggest thing we can do to expand growth is to defund obama care. >> if you keep say employers dropping health insurance, you'll see more and more people unable to afford health care, more people losing their health care. look, once obama care is defunded or repealed, there's a great deal we can do on health care reform. think three reforms are most important. number one, we should allow people to purchase health insurance in all 50 states, right now it's illegal to do that. >> cross-state purchase. >> the biggest barrier do getting health insurance right now is cost.

because many people can't afford health insurance. >> do you think it's right that so many people in this country cannot afford health care? and therefore, do not have it? >> well, no and that's why i want to fix that secondly, i think we need to expand health savings accounts. make it easier it save in a tax-advantaged way to take care of peru vengs, take care of routine medical needs and third i think we need to delink health insurance from employment. in you or i get fired, you don't lose your car insurance, house insurance, life insurance, there's no reason you should lose your health insurance. above all of them, it's the worst one. we should have health insurance policies that are personal, portable. >> are you getting calls in your office from people seeking direction on how to sign up in these health exchange? will you or have you helped those people? >> you know, we have no been getting significant calls in that regard. we have been getting calls from

people saying, please, stop obama care. please stop this train wreck. >> would you help someone who called and said, i want to sign up? >> we have a major constituent service operation that helps anyone dealing with the government. >> including signing up for something you don't believe in? >> sure. it's the job of someone representing -- i'm honored to represent 26 million texans and dealing with the government is inherently frustrating, it's inherently confusing. and one of the things that our office takes very seriously is trying to help americans deal with the government. >> would you agree with the fact that if someone actually does not support defunding obama care, if they're a republican, that they ought to be replaced? >> what i agree with is i think now is the single best time to stop obama care. because there's bipartisan agreement that it's not working. the wheels are coming off. and because defunding it, if it doesn't happen now, it's likely never to happen. >> the president is never going to sign a bill that defunds

obama care. >> you may be convinced of that. >> i'm not convinced of that. >> this is what they consider his signature achievement so far of his administration, in its fifth year. >> here's what i think should happen. the house of representatives should pass a continuing resolution. that funds the federal government in its entirety. every aspect of the federal government. except obama care. and it should explicitly prohibit any funding for obama care, mandatory or discretionary. and i filed legislative language in the senate to do that. the next stanl, we know how this play goes forward, president obama, harry reid, will scream and holler that the mean, nasty republicans are threatening to shut down the government. and that point, the republicans have to do something we haven't done in a long time, stand up and win the argument. we have it stand up and say no, we want to keep the government open. we have voted to keep the government open, to fund the government. why is president obama threatening to shut the

government down, to force obama care down the throats of the american people. >> you'll need 41 republicans, how close are you? >> we do not have the votes right now. we need 41 republicans in the senate or 218 republicans in the house. and that will only happen -- you know what, this fight is likely to heat up in the month of september. that's going to be when the battle is engaged. and i'm convinced there's a new paradigm in politics. that actually has washington very uncomfortable. it has politicians in both parties very uncomfortable. and that new paradigm is the rise of the grassroots. the ability of grassroots activists to demand of their elected officials, they do the right thing. and i believe, if we see a grassroots tsunami, that is going to cause republicans and democrats to listen to the people. but it's going to take a tsunami? >> it is going to take a tsunami and i'm going to do everything i can to encourage that tsunami.

>> what about you lost. you lost, this has been put into law. this is the argument on the other side, it's already law. why not just get on board and try it. >> because it's not working and it's hurting americans. and by the way, the people it's hurting the most? are the most vulnerable among us. the people who are losing their jobs are young people, hispanics or african-americans or single moms. i don't think that's fair, i don't think that's right. >> let me move you on to a couple of political issues. one of them is do you see yourself supporting incumbents during primary challenges? or would you entertain supporting a challenger? >> i have not made a definite decision on that, i think it is likely that i'll stay out of all incumbent races on either side. >> would you support mitch mcconnell versus a tea party candidate? would you support a lindsay graham versus a tea party candidate? would you support a lamar alexander versus a tea party

candidate? >> think it is likely i'll stay out of all incumbent races. now listen i intend to be very involved in 2014 in open seats and working to help support strong conservative candidates. i think 2014 is a very favorable environment for republicans to retake the senate. >> chris christie, one of his latest moves as new jersey governor has outlawed therapy designed to turn gay people straight. for children 18 and under. what do you think of that decision? >> i like chris christie. i think he is a straightforward, brash sometimes blunt speaker. i think he's someone who has managed to stand up and defend his principles in a state that is historically not very friendly to republicans. and i'm glad for that. the decisions that states make, locally about health care, i think are best left to the states. >> could you see yourself on a

ticket with chris christie? >> i am not going to speculate about the future. i can tell you my focus is 100% on the u.s. senate. because the senate right now is the battleground. >> so if it says, if i read and i did, that you were quote seriously muscling running in 2016, that's incorrect? >> you know, i find it amusing. these stories that speculate about, i don't even know what seriously muscling means. what i can tell you -- >> it means that you're thinking about it. >> i understand in the media it's fun to cover the game. it's fun to cover politics all the time. but we've got huge challenges in this country. i am a big, big believer that good policy makes good politics. that if you stand up, you do the right thing, you roll up your sleeves, you try to work with republicans, with democrats, with anyone who will work together to get our economy moving to bring jobs back. that the rest of it, the politics will take care of itself. >> politics will take care of itself.

we'll see about that, joining us again is democrat howard dean and republican jim demet, i want to start with the issue at hand, the big issue that we're talking about which is obama care. governor dean, i talked to lot of democrats who say ted cruz is able to gain traction because their constituents are concerned because the obama administration didn't handle the implementation well. as a politician, governor and as a doctor who knows the angst of patients, not just voters, did the white house mess this up? >> no. allky say is that i thought that was a very long interview with a very little content in it. ted cruz may be a very good politician, but he certainly doesn't know anything about health care. first of all, obama care is in fact as john mccain suggested in 2008, going to separate eventually going to separate health care from employment. that's a good idea, which john mccain put forward and that's going to happen gradually and carefully. second of all, i don't want the texas insurance commissioner

being the commissioner up here in vermont. so buying insurance across state lines is a terrible idea. we've had universal health insurance for all our kids for 20 years. they have 22% of their children uninsured in texas. i don't want anything to do with tex texas's health care system in vermont. and i don't want our people buying texas health insurance, these are crazy ideas from the far right. he's a slick spokesman and god help us if he ever does get to be anything other than the senator from texas. >> senator demet, you are a friend of senator cruz, i'll let you speak to that, not to mention that you agree with senator cruz with regards to obama care. >> good morning to you. the real issue here is that obama care was passed under false pretenses. american people were lied to and they have every right to demand that their representatives stop this unfair and unamerican law.

as you know, we're traveling around the country, getting people more informed about what this bill is really doing to their jobs and our economy. getting them inspired to be involved. jackson is taking the lead on this. to tell them how they can get involved as senator cruz was talking about. but federal health care is not going to provide good health care to americans. you can't find a federal program that's working effectively. we need to make health insurance more affordable and available, to every american. but it's not going to happen with a cash for clunkers style health care plan that's going to come out of washington. >> all right. well governor -- >> i disagree -- jim, i disagree with that. i think medicare works pretty darn well and people like it and that's a federal program that works very well for people. >> well, howard, it's tens of trillions of dollars in debt because it's been mismanaged at the federal level. it's going to leave huge debt on our children and more and more

doctors won't even see a medicare-insured patient. so it is not going to work for the future. and it has not been designed well. and as we put more people on medicare and medicaid, and that's what obama care is going to do, is push more people into medicaid-style plans, fewer and fewer doctors are going to see these folks. so we need to make sure people get health insurance that doctors will actually take. >> gentlemen, i know governor, you want to jump in. >> i disagree with that. >> i'm so shocked. we'll be able to talk a little bit more about that on the other side of the break. stay with us. i want to ask you, particularly senator demint, which republicans out to be replaced. who are talking about obama care. maybe not talking about obama care and joe biden, was he president obama's best political decision? [ male announcer ] what's important to you?

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learn more at purinaone.com the battle over obama care has conservative activist groups going after one of their own. >> take senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, on the issue of obama care. he says -- >> this law is a disaster i want you to know we're not backing down from this fight. >> but when he has the chance to defund obama care -- some say, he is chickening out. senator mcconnell, conservatives don't need a chicken when it comes to obama care. leaders lead. but, if you fund it, you own it. >> more with democrat howard dean, and republican jim demint, next. [ female announcer ] birdhouse plans. nacho pans.

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we're back with howard dean and jim demint, senator demint, i want to start with you about the kind of fracture that the whole question that you're pushing out there on the tour about shutting down the government, if obama care is funded. the fracture that it's causing within your party. i want to read our viewers a quote from you earlier this week. you said, i think president obama knows that republicans are afraid and if they are, they need to be replaced. well, fellow conservative group is actually going further than that you can see the visual, with chickens on the screen talking about mitch mcconnell who was your former leader in the senate, the republican leader. he is not signing on to your idea of demand being obama care be defunded or shut down the government. do you think he needs to be replaced as leader or even

senator? >> well the heritage foundation doesn't get involved with elections, i've said on several occasions that if someone runs for office, making a promise, such as many did to stop obama care and then they say they're afraid to do that because they might lose the next election, my personal opinion is they should be replaced, regardless of what party they're in. i can't speak for republicans. but i can speak for millions of conservatives across the country. that know that this not going to help the uninsured in america, it's going to diminish the quality of health care for all americans. see that in every country around the world where national health care has been instituted. >> just to follow up on that you can't talk about elections, but you can talk about your party, that's what you do at the heritage foundation, and specifically the house. the only branch of government run by republicans, house speaker john boehner isn't too enthralled with your idea to shut down the government if obama care isn't defunded. should he be replaced as speaker, if he doesn't do that?

>> the heritage foundation doesn't represent republicans or democrats. >> you personally, senator, what do you think? >> what we think is that obama care is clearly law that's going to hurt the american people. the president is not implementing it fairly. he's giving em emgss for congress, big businesses. we're saying it this should be defunded. we need to stop it and this is the time that it needs to be to be stopped. >> since we're talking politics, to politics on the other side of the aisle. governor dean, democratic politics, i want to play for you something that president obama said about his vice president. >> it was the best decision that i ever made politically because i love this guy and he's got heart and he cares about people. and he's willing to fight for what he believes in. and he's got some scranton in him. >> that sounded, governor, like

a little bit of a soft endorsement. looking ahead to 2016. i know you told jake tapper earlier this week that you would support hillary clinton if she ran. but you're leaving the door open. would the door still be open if joe biden were to run and not hillary clinton? >> well before we get to that, let me get a little equal time on health care. i was not a supporter of obama care when it passed, i am now. i think it awed to be implemented, in our little medical office in burlington, vermont, we've discovered that premiums are going to be cut in half for the five people who work for my wife and her partners this is going to make a big difference, i disagree with jim and senator cruz, and it's going to help a lot of people and i think it's going to improve health care significantly in this country. in terms of politics on the democratic side. there's one thing jim demint and i can certainly agree on. this is much too early to be talking about this kind of stuff. i would expect president obama to say something good about joe biden.

and joe biden has been a great vice president. so this is all politics, this is all moving around. we'll see what happens, but it's a little early. >> it's a little early. but as you well know, it's never too early to be thinking about it behind the scenes, even if you don't want to talk about it in public. when we come back, a virtual tour of the 2013 march on washington and the only surviving keynote speaker at the 1963 march, congressman john lewis, next. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour three. zyrtec®. love the air.

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>> wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march on washington. thousands will commemorate the event with a march for jobs and justice beginning at the labor department with a call for more government action to address high unemployment and a stop at the justice department, urging a federal civil rights suit against george zimmerman, who was acquitted of the killing of trayvon martin. the march will pass the washington monument and the world ward ii memorial before ending at the lincoln memorial. thousands gathered on the national mall saturday to mark the anniversary. the only surviving keynote speaker of the original march 50 years ago, congressman john lewis, spoke at that event. >> i stood right here at this spot -- >> he's just written a graphic novel to coincide with this week's event. candy spoke with senator lewis. >> president kennedy didn't like the idea of a march on woe washington. he said there will be violence, chaos, disorder.

there will never be a civil rights before before congress. and but when the march was over and dr. king delivered that magnificent "i have a dream" speech, the president welcomed us down to the white house. he stood in the door of the oval office, beaming like a proud father, greeting each one of us. he shook our hands and said, you did a good job. you did a good job. >> you can find more of candy's interview with john lewis on our website, cnn.com/sotu. and when we return, the man who helped shape senator ted cruz's politics, his father, rafael. use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster. neosporin.

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he fled cuba in 1957, after being tortured and imprisoned. now a pastor in texas, rafael cruz talked to candy about what inspired his son's politics and a possible presidential run. >> it's not often i get to interview the dad and the son together. i'm going to run through the questions he wouldn't answer. is he running for president? >> i don't see him running for president. he is standing up for principle in the senate and i'm very proud of him doing that. >> and would you like him to? >> i think that is the future, nobody knows what the future brings. >> did you want him get into politics? >> i think politics has been a part of our lives ever since he was eight, nine years old. 1979, 1980, i was very much involved in the grassroots level, in helping ronald reagan get elected. our conversation around the

dinner table was all about politics. >> for more of candy's interview with senator ted cruz and his father, can you go to cnn.com/sotu, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief.

and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour three. zyrtec®. love the air. claritin® doesn't start working until hour three. russrebecca: the law works.going tsomebody's looking out for the. little guyyice. they're the days to take care of business.. when possibilities become reality. with centurylink as your trusted partner, our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and responsive, dedicated support, we constantly evolve to meet your needs.

every day of the week. centurylink® your link to what's next. glass on floors. daily chores. for the little mishaps you feel use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster. neosporin. use with band-aid brand bandages. stay with cnn throughout the day for continuing coverage of the crisis on syria. thanks for watching state of the union. gps with fareed zakaria is next. tough odor solutions. two trusted names, one amazing product.

this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. we is a great show for you today. first up, we will talk about women's undergarments. seriously. spanx founder sarah blakely is the world's richest self--made billionaire. her story is an only in america story and it is an amazing tale of entrepreneurship. you don't want to miss this. then a big question that affects us all, for the first time in history, a majority of human beings now live in cities. what does that mean? more sk