international newspapers and internet and it opened syrian's minds, but how do you control this system and basically perpetuate authoritarian and tie rannic rule. >> bashar al assad was apparently warned he couldn't do that. analysts say when he brought the internet into syria, it was against the advice of the security staff. they told him it would be dangerous, they'd have trouble controlling it. they were right. >> and of course, we have much more in the news room. more in the news room. it all starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome to the third hour this afternoon. a look at our top stories. president obama is working the phones this weekend hoping to persuade members of congress they should vote yes on military action in syria. and a new twist in the bizarre death of a georgia teenager. a second autopsy indicates the boy may have been murdered.

but police say the case is closed. the growing controversy coming up. an a medical mystery in denver. dozens of people are getting sick from synthetic marijuana, but officials can't find where the drug is coming from. we begin in washington where president obama is working throughout the weekend, trying to win over lawmakers who were not convinced that attacking syria is the right response for alleged chemical weapons attacks. brian todd is live from washington. so, i understand we just learned the president has lost yet one more potential supporter. who's that? >> that's right. he has just lost another democrat. senator mark pryor of arkansas has just issue d a statement saying he cannot support military action against syria at this time. he said some of the criteria he was looking for had not been met, so the balance tips further

away now from the president. in the senate, updated numbers. 25 members said they will vote yes to authorize a strike. 20 will vote no and you've got 55 undecided. in the house, this is looking a lot worse. 24, yes, 119 will vote no. 270 are undecided and 20 unknowns, so the president and his team making calls to weekend to members of congress, trying to sell this. they've just ticked toward another reminder this is an uphill battle. >> and so, i wonder, do we know whether senator prior has said anything about getting, being in the intelligence briefings and based on that information is still not persuaded? what's changed his mind? >> he said he's read some of the classified material. he has observed some of the sbel where she knows. he said he's basically been briefed on this and you know, compiled together. this just does not meet his own criteri

criteria. he said he's listened to concerns of thousands of arkansas as he's traveled the state. in his own mind with the intelligence he has received in briefings and written material, this does not meet his standard to agree to a strike. >> brian todd in washington, thanks so much. as congress makes up its mind on whether to take military action against syria, antiwar groups are getting ready to stage protests in times square today. rosa flores joining me live from new york. so tell us more about the protests unfolding there in new york. >> reporter: yeah, those protesters are making their way here to times square and i'm here with one of the organizers. caleb from the international actions center. i know you guys are expecting hundreds of people here, but first of all, explain what is your mission. why are you guys here? >> the last thing we need now is a new war against syria. right now, they're cutting nood stamps, hospitals are closing, there's a budget crisis this this country.

we do not need more money for a new war against syria. instead, it's blowing up and killing people in another country and that's not right. >> reporter: let me ask you about the support you're getting. lots of organizations are coming out and asking to be involved. tell us about the insolvement of other organizations. >> well, 89% of the u.s. public is opposed to this war. people in this country overwhelmingly oppose an attack on syria, but that won't mean anything unless people are doing something about it and making clear to the government they will not let this war pass, they won't mean anything. we've seen so many times, the government not listen to people and going to the war. i don't believe this chemical weapons attack. there are a lot of facts not adding up. we've heard about weapons of mass destruction before. there's so many lies to take us into war. we need jobs, schools, education

and not a new war against the syrian people and these rebels our tax dollars are paying for, they're not good folks. it's not just assad who's doing bad things. >> thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and caleb was also telling me that protesters are not only going on here in new york city, but at least 24 other cities arndt the country. so, fredricka, we will say here, hopefully see more of these protesters here shortly and we will bring you those pictures as they become available. >> thank you so much. well, among the many protests taking place, protests right outside the white house as the president continuings to make phone calls trying to win support. all he has to do is look out the window. ordinarily sh he's going to see protesters outside the white house because it happens all time, but this time, the it's different. a large crowd gathering to say they don't want any strikes in syria. emily, how aggressive is this

crowd in making their point? >> reporter: this crowd gathered in front of president obama's front door basically in front of the white house for more than an hour talking. now, when he looks out, he will not see them. that's because they have started marching down pennsylvania avenue on their way to capitol hill where they're going to try to continue to spread their message. but one of the people here, margaret clark and her 9-year-old daughter, they came from virginia. why did you come here today? >> because we don't want for obama to have a military intervention in syria. we'd like a peaceful negotiation. >> reporter: were you an obama supporter? >> we voted for a change. if he does a surgical strike or anything else with syria, i don't feel it's a change. i feel it's a con tinuation of the bush administration. i think the u.s. public does not want a military intervention and i think that world leaders are

not endorsing this proposal. i think there is still a chance and even in our church, the pope called for a day of fasting today, for a peaceful negotiation in syria and that's what we'd like to support. >> reporter: margaret clark and her daughter here, it is symbolic in a way that crowd is no longer here. they're making their way to capitol hill. last week, they had a similar march. they stopped at the white house, but now that president obama has called upon congress, the march is continuing down pennsylvania avenue to capitol hill. the story continues and we'll keep you posted throughout the afternoon. >> thanks so much for that. former pro basketball star, dennis rodman, he's wrapped up his second trip to north korea this year. he hasn't said why he returned, but north korea's reclusive dictator is known to be a big basketball fan. there was some speculation rodman would help secure the release of kenneth bay, an

american being held in a north korean prison, but rodman left the country empty handed. if you live on the east coast and you're looking through the sky last night, you may have seen a nasa rocket on its way to the moon. the unmanned rocket was launcheded from virginia at 11:27 p.m. eastern time and it is expected to reach the moon next month. october 6th. to study the lunar atmosphere and environment. and russia. it's supplying weapons to syria and more apparently are on the way. so, just what will the russians do if the u.s. were to strike syria? and then, it first was ruled and accident. a georgia teen found dead, rolled up in a gym mat. but now, a new autopsy shows that his parents, what his parents have believed all along. it was murder. ♪

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joining me from washington, a senior fellow with the brookings institution, specialist in russian studies. co-author of mr. putin operative in the kremlin. good to see you. >> thank you. >> so, what is mr. putin's motivation here for supporting syria? is it simple? >> it's not simple. there are a list of interests that russia has in syria, but there are two main reasons why putin regards what's happening there in the threat of a strike as particularly risky for russia. >> what are they? >> it's all about russia. russia first and russia last. the first is the fact that the u.s. seems to be a serial interventionist for putin, going around toppling regimes and not thinking about the consequences. none of these iraq, libya, even attributing what happened in libya in the united states has ended up well. it creates instability and leetds to a strengthening of

radical islam. the second risk that putin sees is more to him personally and that is the precedent for interference in the domestic affairs of other could countrie. he is a project for russia. he wants to create a unique russian identity with russian values. he feels that the united states proclaiming so-called universal values and defending universal values and human rights, democracy and the american version and so forth, is setting a precedent for undermining his own attempt to create a specific russian identity and russian values and hemts as he put it in an interview just a couple of days ago, to build up an immunity in the russian population to this sort of thing. >> so, given all of that, he doesn't want to interfere with other country's business. he doesn't necessarily like the idea that the u.s. is getting involved in other country's

business. does he lack an opinion altogether about these reported atrocities taking place in syria and whether the world sees russia has come police it in what's taking place? >> he has a very definite opinion about the chemical ta tacks. he said i'm absolutely certain, i have no doubt what happened. it was the rebel, he says, that used the chemical weapons. they were about to be completely destroyed. they had no ability to stand up to assad, he said. their only hope was to get active military intervention on their side from as he put it, they patrons from the beginning. this was the way to do it. >> so, he is claiming it was the rebels, which means -- >> absolutely. >> which means russia would in in way want to ever get involved here. >> russia doesn't want to get actively involved in any way, no matter what. his whole idea is to protect russia from the spillover from

the fallout of blowback of what happens in the middle east in general and especially here in syria. so, he will not get involved militarily, for or against either side in this conflict. >> so, then perhaps you can help us understand what is the plan? russia says it has a plan if the u.s. were to get involved militarily. what would that plan be? >> he's explained there's no plan. he said we will do two things. we will give syria military support. and we will engage with them economically on humanitarian aid, then said in a second sentence, these are things we are already doing, which is true. russia is the major only supplier to syria, selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms to syria every year. >> so, do nothing different. >> no. there's really nothing he can do. it's going to cause russia some real problems.

there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of russian citizens in syria and if there's major military action from the outside in syria, these people will be in dak danger and russia has sent ships already to the area to be able to extract more of them. >> okay. thank you so much for your perspective. appreciate that. a teen's death was first ruled and accident, but his parents just couldn't accept it. now, new information that confirms their fears that it was murder. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too.

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it was at first ruled an accident. a georgia teen found dead rolled up in a gym mat, but now, a new

independent autopsy shows what the parents believe all along. that their son was murdered. victor blackwell sat down with the parents to find out what they've learned and how far they'll go to get answers! kenne . >> they say science supports what they thought all along. that their 17-year-old son was murdered at school in valdosta, georgia. >> a accident, we just didn't believe. >> soon after kendrick's body was discovered upside down in the center of this gym mat, investigators determined there was no foul play and that kendrick accidentally got stuck while reaching for this shoe. that kendrick was suffocated by his own body weight. >> when i went and viewed his body that sunday, you can see something happened. >> so could the first responders. in the report written the day his body was discovered, paramedics considered the gym a crime scene and after a closer

look at kendrick, there was bruising noted to right side jaw. at the johnson's expense, kendrick's body kuz exhumed and bill anderson performed a second autopsy and checked the right side jaw and found something surprising. >> that area had not be affected, it was still in tact. it had never been opened at the time of the first autopsy. >> and there's no mention of those bruises. >> there was hemorrhage, i indicates trauma to the area and that trauma basically causes blood to come out of the blood vessels into the soft tissues. by looking at that, we were able to diagnose the fact there was blunt force trauma to that area. >> so, he took blows to the neck. >> at least one blow to the neck. >> so, just to be clear, you're calling this a homicide. >> yes. >> a spokeswoman for the georgia

bureau of investigation tells cnn we have complete confidence in our medical examiners and stand by our autopsy report. >> i have never had a case that i can recall where the prosecution was told this may well be a homicide and the prosecution being the state, the police and so forth and then didn't bother prosecuting. it's mystifying. >> this is the first time you've called a case a homicide and everyone's backed away. >> pretty much so. the only time where there was a deliberate cover up of the case by people involved in the investigation or associated with people who just didn't want the facts to come out. >> the u.s. justice department is considering whether to get involved. >> if they don't come in, that will send a message to the world, you can kill as long as you can get away with it. >> do you still talk to kendrick? >> yeah. >> and what do you say? >> i ask him sometimes what

happened. i wonder. sometimes, i blame myself for not being there. >> how long are you willing to fight? >> till i die. if it take me till i die, i will fight till i die. >> and that was victor blackwell reporting. the u.s. justice department says it is aware of the concerns regarding kendrick johnson's death and the different autopsy findings, but they say they will not conduct a civil rights investigation. coming up, a montana judge has become the target of national outrage after he sentenced a rapist to just a month in jail. he's now responding on the record. hear what he has to say, straight ahead. ready to run your lines? okay, who helps you focus on your recovery? yo, yo, yo. aflac. wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible. pays you cash when you're sick or hurt? [ japanese accent ] aflac. love it. [ under his breath ] hate it. helps you focus on getting back to normal? [ as a southern belle ] aflac.

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bottom of the hour now. welcome back. five things crossing the cnn news desk right now. number one, john kerry is in europe seeking international support for military action in syria. kerry met with european union leaders in lithuania today and afterwards, e.u. ministers insisted there is strong evidence the syrian regime used chemical weapons. they also called for a quote, clear and strong respond, end quote, but they stopped short of supporting a u.s. military strike. and number two, a montana judge admits he bungled when he sentence

sentenced a rapist to just 30 days in jail. the minimum sentence he now knows the two years. he says the error could have been avoided, quote, if i had been more alert, end quote. a higher court stopped him from reviewing the case friday saying an appeal will move forward. the rapist's underage victim committed suicide. number three, missouri police say two more men are seeking to press charges against this man, who confessed that he may have exposed more than 300 men to hiv. david magnum is already charged with exposing his former partner to the virus that causes aids. he told police that he didn't tell his sexual partners about his status because of his quote fear of rejection. and number four, johnson & johnson is voluntarily recalling 200,000 bottles of motrin for babie babies. the company is worried tiny specks of plastic may be inside. the product is labeled concentrated motrin infants

drops original berry flavor. they say the plastic likely came from one of its suppliers and finally, the host city of the 2020 summer olympic games will be announced before the afternoon is over on the east coast. tokyo, madrid and istanbul are the candidates with betters favoring tokyo and joining me in the 3:00 eastern hour, i'll have two olympians with me. i'll speak with gail devers and jackie joiner kerrsy. all that and more straight ahead.

the president will speak to the nation tuesday to make his case on syria and it's turning

out right now, it's not congress, but constituents who are stalling the president's momentum as he tries to gather the votes for a strike. cnn's athena jones reports on the public backlash lawmakers are facing. >> this is the last weekend members of congress will be in their home districts before they head back here to washington to debate whether to attack syria and boy, are they hearing from their constituents on this. >> if we shoot a quote shot over the bough and aren't willing to finish the battle, we're worse off than we started. >> across america, people are showing up to have their voices heard on syria. >> i think we should stay the hell out of there. >> and by and large, they're not happy. >> from arizona to missouri to alabama, senators got an earful from their constituents about whether missi ining strikes are good idea.

>> we put missiles in there, it's not going to do anything. >> this is what i think of congress. they are a bunch of marshmallows. >> it's their last chance to go face to face with the people who voted them into office before they head back to washington and decide the country's course of action. republican senator jeff sessions says he hasn't decided whether he'll support missile strikes. on the one hand -- >> we cannot as a nation, take it upon ourselves to take military action or declare war anytime any dictator in the war violates some u.n. some treaty. it's not a matter of being likely done. >> some in his audience near montgomery, alabama, question the rationaler. >> i'm not sure it was a chemical weapons attack.

i think it's a pesticide attack. i think it was set up to get the united states to come in there and do al-qaeda's dirty work. >> it got more heated in arizona while republican senator john mccain, who supports strikes, faced a skeptical crowd. >> people like me have to come to the people we represent and have a conversation with them and try to get all the facts out in front of them. >> in kansas city, missouri, democratic congressman emanuel cleaver, who's against u.s. action in syria, also heard from strike supporters. >> this is not just the first red line that we have drawn that he has crossed. he has been crossing red lines for two and a half years. >> but they were outnumbered by opponents. >> i say we bail out, guy, you're on your own. >> and both sides say the word they're getting is a very loud no on military action. >> the people i represent said not just no, but something like

heck, no. >> my constituents overwhelmingly are saying absolutely no to dragging us into another foreign war. >> it's my job to represent the people of utah and right now, we're just not convinced. >> now, the senate could vote as soon as wednesday, but it's not yet clear when the house could take it up. >> thanks so much. so, while we wait to see how congress will vote on president obama's syria plan, we're hearing all kinds of opinions about what the president should or shouldn't do. i'm joined now by david frum, contributor editor for the daily beast and hilary rosen, who is also a cnn commentator. good to see both of you. david, you recently wrote an article for cnn.com where you said those who support taking military action in syria need to ask these four questions. what will it accomplish? what comes next?

what will it cost and is there another way? and those are some of the questions we're hearing from lawmakers -- >> the answers we've heard have been not very reassuring or convincing. the administration does not seem to have a strategic plan. it is engaged in a symbolic demonstration. they hope this will weaken the syrian government. but they're not sure they like the obvious and most likely alternatives to the syrian government any better than they like the syrian government. so there's a lack of thought. and there's now we see a real lack of thought to the president's political strategy, that he's gone to congress and he's now heading toward a dynamic where at least one house of congress, maybe both, are very likely to tell him no. which turns a foreign policy problem into a domestic political crisis, entirely unnecessarily by the way because the president says, i think he's probably right, that head the authority to do it all along.

>> is it a lack of thought? is it just the case that perhaps, this president really doesn't want to militarily engage and so, he is leaving it up to congress and he is leaving it up to the american people. and he feels like this really is going to be the safest route you know, in which to proceed. >> there's nothing safe and going to congress. i don't think this is about a lack of thought. i think it's about a lack of good options and what the president is essentially saying is the only option we have is to show the world that using chemical weapons is just unacceptable. so i actually think that what the president needs to do this week is convince the united states, convince the people about why getting involved in syria at all is in our national interest. what is the threat here if a head of state uses chemical weapons? what happens if you know, terrorist state becomes an actual government.

and that's what people are not convinced about. the president's really going to be unable to convince us this won't get worse or that there's, that they are going to be able to control the ground troops. you know, in essence, they're not going to know what their results of their actions going to be, so i think the first thing he has to do is convince the american people that we have a national interest in taking an action because i don't think that we've crossed that threshold yet and i think we see that with the constituents. >> david, in your view, how does the president go about that? he can't just reiterate what he told people at the g20, what he said from the rose garden. there has to be more, right? >> well, he's stuck. the president, policy of the president's proposing is really foolish. it's hard to come up with good arguments for foolish policies. the policy the president wants to do is to hit syria once and then see what happens.

and hope things will get better afterwards. that's a foolish policy. you have to have -- you don't have a plan, it's hard to have a coherent argument. >> a lot is going to happen before that, for that date in the week. david frum and hilary rosen, thank you so much. appreciate that. we're going to have much more right after this. you have time to shop for car insurance today? yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah.

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we have been breaking news involving the crisis in syria.

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and didn't know where to start. a contractor before 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. we have breaking news on an important development in the debate over what the u.s. should do about syria. jake tapper joining me now. what do you have?

>> cnn has obtained videos shown to the members of the senate intelligence committee on thursday in a classified briefing. these videos that the senators were told had been verified by the sbel where she knows community as authentic and they show the victims of a chemical weapons attack, specifically, sarin gas. cnn could not independently verify the authenticity of these videos. we're reporting on them because we have verified the obama administration is showing them to members of congress in classified briefings in hopes of building a case to support military strikes against the assad regime. we are going to show you the videos, but i want to caution viewers that some of the images if not all are disturbing. if you have children, i would ask them to leave the room. these are disturbing images and they are images that members of the senate who have seen these say they were moved by.

they were briefed on the videos on thursday. they were told they were just a representative samples, but able to verify in a few ways. again, i want to caution our viewers that some of the images are disturbing. this first video is from jabar, outside damascus. runs about 60 seconds and focuses on a little boy who looks about 7 or 8 years old in a room full of individuals who are look at though they are dying or dead. many of them are children. about a 60 second video. i want to go to video two now. the second video of these 13 videos, if we could go to the second video now, is filmed, the intelligence community says, filmed in eastern guta, outside damascus, uploaded on august

21st. it shows a man having a reaction apparently to some sort of chemical weapon. there's also a little girl in a yellow shirt that we'll see in a second. she's alive, but she, too, is having a reaction. to what appears to be a chemical weapon attack and the intelligence community told the is that rights that they can verify these videos are in fact legitimate. let's go to video throw. video three. is shown a little girl from video two that i told you about, still alive, but appears to be suffering from a weapon attack. video three appears to be shot at night. it's a night vision filmed outside damascus. a night vision. members of the intelligence committee rather, senate intelligence committee members were told the outdoor images that they were able to verify,

the intelligence committee was able to verify that by comparing those outdoor images to overhead imagery verifying the terrain. video four of the 13, if we could go to that in a second. video four is about 51 seconds long. it was shot in a place called daria. shows a close up of the eyes of syrians who appear to have been hurt, wounded. perhaps even killed ultimately, in this chemical weapons attack. but no one is disputed took place on august 21st. just a question of who carried it out. video 5 of the 13 videos shown to members of the senate intelligence committee on thursday. video 5 shows this little boy in the midst of some sort of convulsions. it was shot in eastern guta outside damascus.

he appears to be having some chemical reaction of some sort. the intelligence committee members, the senators, were told by the intelligence community members who were briefing them that the symptoms shown in the video are not just consistent with a chemical attack but specifically with a sarin gas attack. we're now going to go to video 6 of the 13 that were shown to members of the senate intelligence committee. video 6 is approximately two minutes long. it shows -- i'm sorry, this is video 7 -- shows a bearded man con as a ruv convulsing on the ground. these are just some of the videos shown to senate members and their staffs on thursday by members of the intelligence community as the obama administration attempts to build its case for a strike against the assad regime. a few things i want to note about why the intelligence community felt that these videos

were verified, i'm going to talk to you about this while we show some of these videos. first of all, the videos, they say, were shot from many different angles. there was much overlap not just of what you saw in the videos but also what you were able to hear. some of the arabic translations of what they were shown on thursday included many, many prayers with references to the dogs of assad, the leader of syria, of course, and comments along the lines of look what they have done to innocent people. in addition, as i told you, for the videos that were shot outdoors, and there are a few of them, this intelligence community says, told the senators, that they were able to compare those videos with overhead imagery and authenticate that those videos were shot at that time, at that moment. third, of course, senators were also told that survivors of these chemical weapons attacks

on august 21st, that survivors shared information, much of which was validated in the videos. and then fourth, senators were specifically told that the intelligence community was able to verify that the stated locations in the videos, eastern guta, for example, were legitimate as were the moments when these videos were uploaded onto youtube. usually when incidents like this are staged, there is a lot of videos coming from one place uploaded at one time. this was not the case in this instance. senators were told in that briefing. of course, none of this essentially ties the assad regime to that attack outside damascus on august 21st, but this is some of what was called compelling evidence of a chemical attack shown.

and we're going to show more videos later as we continue to authenticate them with them, fredricka. >> you're saying the intelligence community members have seen this, but is there a feeling that this video ultimately will change other minds on the hill? >> well, that obviously is the hope of the obama administration and the intelligence community showing this video, that it will change minds. as of right now, i'm told that only the senate select committee on intelligence and their staffs have been able to see these 13 videos that we were able to obtain. members of the house have not yet seen them and, of course, the obama administration is hoping that when members of the house come back to washington and reconvene on monday that showing this video will change tom minds, because obviously some of the images are very, very disturbing, especially when it comes to children and the

elderly who have been hurt. and what no one disputes as a chemical weapons attack, just the question, of course, who carried out that chemical weapons attack. there is the hope this will change some of the people's minds as to the abhorrence of what happened outside damascus, and that's why these videos are being shown, of course. we're showing them to you because we feel like the viewers should know what their elected representatives are being shown as they make this very momentous decision whether or not the u.s. should strike syria, whether or not that would have a positive effect on stopping the kind of b barbarism that we're seeing in these videos. that's up to the voters, that's up to the viewers, that's up to the voted representatives, but we thought it important to show the public what their elected representatives are seeing in this debate, fredricka. >> of course, monday members on the hill will be having these

classified intelligence meetings. unclear whether this video will be part of that or if there is other information. jake, stand by, if you would, please. a former u.n. inspector back from delaware. david, based on what we were seeing, those seven images or pieces of video that jake was presenting to us, in your view, is it very clear the white house has been authenticated, but is it, in your view, evidence of chemical weapons, the use of sarin as well? >> it certainly appears to be, as much as you can observe on this video, and these have been, at least if my memory is correct, similar to the ones i've seen on youtube, so they've been around. what is new, and jake reported it, is that the intelligence community has authenticated them as real. they do bear all the hall marks of a sarin attack. look, chemical attacks and

particularly sarin or other nerve agents is horrendous. it's barbaric, it's uncivilized as it can be and it's revolting to civilized standards. quite frankly, i don't think that's been in doubt at least since the 21st of august since it was used. i think members of congress and the american public understand that about chemical weapons and this particular use. what is in dispute is our response, what it means, what it will cost and whether we should do it. and these videos don't address that issue. >> and that, of course, is what the congress is tasked with right now. so in your view, back to the verification, though, you mentioned the white house intelligence community has verified this. besides visually looking at this video, how does it go about verifying the use of chemicals? >> well, right now you have a group of u.n. inspectors who are working as hard as they can in two labs, one in sweden and one

in helsinki using physical evidence to verify there was a chemical attack and the name of the agent. what's very hard to understand, for me at least, about the administration's position, is they could have waited 7 days, 10 days, whatever and had confirmed evidence that didn't depend on us believing the administration or the u.s. intelligence community but was authenticated by a group of very professional, hard-working inspectors and two analytical labs that are certainly not under u.s. control and which have great respectability in the scientific community. >> and so in your view, david, and this is a question, of course, being posed to congress, now what? you have this information, you have this intelligence gathering, you have this evidence, whether it be by videotape or even interviews or even forensic evidence, now what? how is it that military action is an option, is a viable option? >> i think that's what the administration has to explain. why is a unilateral, almost,

u.s. military response without the sanction of the u.n., why is that the appropriate or only response, and what will it achieve not just in terms of blowing up buildings, as therapeutic as that might be to some people, looking at this evidence of these attacks? what will happen afterwards? we often forget with regard to military force the other side also gets a move. so, really, what's the second, what's the third, what's the fourth move? and do we really like all those options? are the rebels likely to be more civilized than assad? >> and david, if i could get your take, your interpretation of what you're seeing in this videotape. you mentioned it does bear the hall marks of conde hallmarks of chemical weapons. is this a familiar image to you? >> absolutely. if i had to look on this just on this basis and say, what was it? i would say clearly a nerve agent, really looks like sarin.

the closer you are to the agent, the stronger the agent is. the quicker you will die, usually from asphyxiation, particularly if you're young or elderly. the further away from the agents, the eyes become the way they are in some of this video, and on whi and often you die there, but it's a slower and more horrific death. although the death from chemicals is not something i would like to do. i think it does bear the clear hallmarks of a sarin attack. i also much prefer to rely on physical, analytical evidence as opposed to looking at video when you do have the option of looking at that hard evidence. >> all right. david kay, if you could stand by, our washington correspondent brian todd also with us now. so, brian, select members of the senate intelligence committee have seen this videotape. we understand that house members have not. we do know that monday will be another meeting of classified

information on capitol hill involving the obama administration and national security. why now? why would this videotape be afforded to us, be revealed publicly like this when so many members of congress have not seen it behind closed doors? >> fredricka, that's a very good question, and the timing is of clear significance here as the president and his team make the case. not sure why it would be revealed now, but i can build on what david kaye said a moment ago. in our reports over the past few weeks on the release of sarin gas and its effects and the effects of chemical weapons. i also interviewed a chemical expert from the proliferation of chemical studies. the images we're seeing here, and the use of sarin gas, she also reiterated that, because we talked about chemicals she has seen and others, and she told me, quote, if you don't have a gas mask on in an incident suc