jake, thanks very much. happening now, a "situation room" special report, crisis in syria. president obama takes his case for military action directly to the american people tonight, even as he asks congress to delay a vote. a stunning turn-around. syria now reportedly saying it's willing to come clean on its chemical weapons. and amid a flurry of huge developments, has the obama administration stumbled on an accidental solution to the syria crisis, or is it all on the verge of unraveling? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're just hours away from president obama's address to the nation about syria, and no doubt his speech is undergoing multiple revisions, fast changing developments unfolding right now. as the president was asking lawmakers on capitol hill to delay a vote authorizing a u.s. military strike on syria, the damascus regime is reportedly

ready to come clean and disclose the location of its chemical weapons and stop production, and join the international community in banning chemical weapons. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta begins our coverage this hour. what is the very latest at the white house at this delicate moment? >> reporter: wolf, administration officials say president obama will be delivering a very different speech than he might have given just 48 hours ago all because of that russian proposal prompted by secretary of state john kerry's comments that just might avoid a military strike against syria, at least for the time being. after a fast-paced 24 hours on syria, administration officials say president obama's big speech to the nation tonight will put diplomacy back on the table. so today, he was up on capitol hill, telling lawmakers what administration officials told cnn, that there is now less pressure for congress to authorize military force against syria. >> it's important we do this well, not quickly.

>> reporter: that's because the world has changed, since secretary of state john kerry seemingly impromptu comments calling on syrian president bashar al assad to give up his chemical weapons, a remark russia found too tempting to pass up. >> turn it over, all of it. without delay. >> reporter: according to a senior administration official, after kerry opened the door to a diplomatic solution, he hopped on the phone with russian's foreign minister, who came back with a proposal for syria to allow its chemical weapons to be destroyed. the russian plan was then batted back and forth between the white house and state department before the president decided to give it a chance. >> it is a potentially positive development. >> reporter: that official said the u.s. and russia have been quietly discussing syria's stockpiles for nearly a year, adding that it even came up between presidents obama and putin at the g-20 summit last week. >> we challenged the regime to turn them over to the secure control of the international community so that they could be destroyed. >> reporter: after kerry's

comments were initially described yesterday as off the cuff, he is now owning his remarks, and warning members of congress the plan to disarm syria only works if the threat of military action is real. >> lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. >> reporter: according to the russian news agency, syria is now willing to discuss the location of its stockpiles and join international agreements barring chemical weapon use. but at a hearing, defense secretary chuck hagel cautioned what could happen if assad blows this opportunity. >> we will be back here revisiting this issue at some point. and the next time we revisit this, it may well be about direct american casualties and the potential security of this country. >> reporter: now, president obama did talk about this russian plan to take the syria issue to the united nations with the leaders of france and britain today. administration officials cautioned that their goal all along was to rid bashar al assad of his chemical weapons.

they still believe this russian plan could do that, but they also add this caveat, wolf, and that is if assad strikes again, they believe the u.s. could hit syria in retaliation and nobody here in washington will bat an eye. >> if he were to strike again. for all practical purposes, assuming that the bashar al assad regime does not use chemical weapons any time soon, the prospect of u.s. military action, military strikes, that's on hold at least for the time being. >> reporter: that's right. administration officials i talked to earlier today, wolf, say that the pressure is now off of congress to authorize military action. when the president was up on capitol hill, according to people who were in the room, the president was talking about diplomacy, about giving this russian proposal a chance, and that is what we're going to be hearing from the president later on tonight. >> we certainly will. jim acosta, thank you. senior state department official has just told cnn the secretary of state john kerry will travel to geneva switzerland on thursday, thursday of this week,

to discuss the syria crisis with russia's foreign minister. the united nations security council was supposed to hold an emergency meeting on syria at russia's request this afternoon, but a u.n. diplomat tells cnn the russians later dropped their request. let's go the our senior international correspondent, nick paton walsh, at the united nations right now. i suspect we will see a lot of activity at the security council in the coming days and probably weeks, but what's the latest? >> reporter: it's been a phenomenally confusing day of back door diplomacy here. the french starting it off with their bid for a resolution. there are a whole load of things the russians clearly weren't going to like, but at the heart of it, that syria hand over its weapons to international inspectors but also saying the resolution would condemn the regime for the attacks on the 21st of august, the perpetrators would be taken to international court and threatens syria with consequences if they didn't go along with it fast enough. that obviously got a bad reception from the russians who

called an emergency consultation with the security council and then according to one u.n. diplomat, withdrew that request as well. so the question is, where are we heading now? clearly this geneva meeting which i understand from a senior state department official will be about a plan for chemical weapons and probably just have kerry at it at this stage, that that may be where this is now heading. you have to bear in mind, too, the possibility that russia is simply seeing what the security council might have on offer in terms of resolutions, not like the idea of implicit threats if syria doesn't move fast enough, and just decided to let the syrians go ahead and unilaterally join this convention and allow inspectors in. if it's possible that can effectively happen. let me just read to you something breaking, the exact words we're getting from pool reports in moscow from the syrian foreign minister. we're ready to disclose the facilities storing chemical weapons and this continued production of chemical weapons to grant access to experts from russia and other countries like the u.n., we're aimed at the

complete surrender of all chemical weapons. implicit within that, i think, that they do have chemical weapons. >> the foreign minister of syria, former syrian ambassador to the united states, well known to a lot of officials here in washington. my assumption is, nick, you have been in the region, you know a lot about what's going on. if let's say on thursday, when john kerry meets with the foreign minister of russia in geneva, switzerland, let's say the two of them basically reach a compromise, an agreement, i assume the russians will be able to bring the syrians along, i assume the u.s. will be able to bring britain and france and all the other allies along, and that would set the stage for a serious u.n. security council resolution that potentially could get unanimous support. >> reporter: that's a possibility, but if you look at what's happening today, those talks about attacks seem to have been scuppered in many ways, according to one diplomat i spoke to early on. the ground between the french and russian positions pretty

vast in many ways. the french wanting to bar potential for sanctions if it doesn't move fast enough and the russians seemingly much less keen on that. this could simply be about getting the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons into syria to dismantle the stockpiles. but it appears the bigger problem, this is not a normal country. this is about moving hundreds, if not thousands, of toxic nerve gas through while brutal battles are waging, storing them somewhere and dismantling them. so huge problems there and then of course, there's the trust issue. is the u.s. and uk, france, going to really believe the regime surrendered everything. >> trust but verify as ronald reagan obviously used to say. nick paton walsh, thanks very much. let's talk more about these major developments with our chief political analyst, gloria borger. my sense is that the french came up with their opening bargaining position, the russians have their opening barrigaining position. now let the bargaining begin. to make the u.s. look more credible, the threat of military

action presumably has to keep hovering over all this. >> right. i think that's what you will hear from the president this evening, wolf. he's going to say look, we have to try and go down this path of diplomacy, because we have to give it a chance to work. but we have to be skeptical about it and we have to keep the threat of force real. it can't be imaginary. it's got to be real. now, what he's got is a very skeptical american public and he has a congress that has paused and that's in everyone's interest, because as you know, they don't have the votes for this authorization of the use of force, but he's got to convince the public that while this is a moving story and it's very muddled by both politics and diplomacy, that he has a clear vision for how this will play out. people like to know their commander in chief has thought about the consequences of actions. >> listen to the secretary of state john kerry as he testified today before the house

foreign -- the house armed services committee. i don't think we have this sound bite. but i'll read it to you. he said a lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well, it's the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these past weeks that for the first time brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. he's got a good point there. >> he does. and he has said if it weren't for this threat, that they wouldn't be at the bargaining table, and this is something again, wolf, that the president, it's a case he's got to make to the american people. i will tell you this. he has a problem right now. let's take a look at this poll. the question is, how did the president handle foreign affairs. you'll see, wolf, that in january, it was 54%, now 40%. that has gone down 14 points for this president. so a tough case to make. don't forget, the american

public doesn't follow every daily minute development of this. he's got to make the moral case against chemical weapons and then he has to tell the american public why this matters to our national security interests. and that's the tougher sell. >> gloria will be with us throughout our coverage over the next several hours. gloria, thanks very much. our special coverage of president obama's address to the nation begins tonight, 7:00 p.m. eastern with erin burnett "outfront." "ac 360" continues at 8:00 p.m. eastern. i'll be back at 9:00 eastern around the president's speech. up next, president obama tells lawmakers he needs authorization to strike syria, but not today or tomorrow. we have details of his lobbying trip today to capitol hill. and we'll talk about the fast-changing developments with republican senator rand paul. have any of them changed his mind about backing the president?

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senator joe manchin of west virginia, they're debating on the senate floor the pros and cons of u.s. authorization of military strikes into syria. manchin strongly opposed to these strikes. he is in favor of some sort of diplomatic solution. very encouraged by this latest russian proposal. we'll monitor what's happening on the senate floor. despite all the new potential for a diplomatic solution to the syria crisis, president obama still wants the authority to launch a u.s. strike and he was lobbying senators from both parties up on capitol hill earlier in the day, even as he asked for an actual delay in the vote. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is up on capitol hill right now. what are you hearing, dana, about what happened inside those meetings? >> reporter: it really indicates how quickly things have changed. the whole reason the president came up here, the reason the

white house asked for him to attend both of these meetings with democratic senators and republican senators was initially to lobby them to vote for the use of military force against syria and what he ended up doing because of the change in the situation is coming up here and making clear in both meetings that he doesn't want a vote in the near future, because he wants to let things move on the diplomatic front. i was told that he was much more explicit with asking for the delay in the democratic meeting than he was in the republican meeting, and there, i'm told it was much more sort of implied and kind of the big picture reason that he was saying at least in the republican lunch, without saying it explicitly, wolf, is he understands especially as we saw the movement this morning with senator after senator after senator coming out against military authorization, that if there were a vote, it would not pass. and so what his message was, i need the threat of military action to go along with and push forward the diplomatic progress,

and if something was voted on and failed, it would pull the rug out from under him. so listen to what the senate majority leader harry reid said when asked about the prospect for any vote. >> i'm not guaranteeing anything. i do know this. our schedule is being driven by developments that are taking place, not by some artificial timeline. >> reporter: so now here's what is happening behind the scenes at this point. there is a group, a pretty broad group of bipartisan senators, john mccain, chuck schumer and others, who are working on a potential fall-back authorization that includes and incorporates the diplomatic movement. the general gist of it we are told it would make clear that syria would have to give up its chemical weapons, it would be done through a u.n. process, and it would hold out the threat of military force if that didn't happen. but i'm told that that is very much on the slow track, not on

the fast track at all, as you just heard harry reid say, they watch and see what if anything does pan out, particularly at the u.n. >> dana will be up on capitol hill getting reaction to what we hear from the president in a few hours. thanks very much. coming up, here in "the situation room" on our special report, he's one of president obama's biggest opponents in the push for military action against syria, but could this possible new diplomatic alternative change republican senator rand paul's mind? i'll ask him. he's standing by live. plus, new signs the weapons used in that horrifying chemical attack may have been much larger than anyone first thought. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪

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back to our special report, crisis in syria, in just a moment. first, let's take a quick look at some of the other stories we're monitoring in "the situation room" right now. two ohio correctional officers have been placed on leave amid an investigation into the suicide of the cleveland kidnapper, ariel castro. castro, who apparently hanged himself with a bed sheet last week, was serving a life sentence plus 1,000 years on a number of charges after holding three women captive for a decade. the fda now says as of monday, it's received at least 89 reports of people getting sick after eating chobani greek yogurt manufactured in twin falls, idaho, although those reports have not been confirmed. the company voluntarily recalled some yogurts last week after customer complaints about swollen or bloated packages. the office of the director of national intelligence has released approximately 1800 pages of documents which indicate the national security

agency violated some of its own phone record rules and it presented false information to the foreign intelligence surveillance board about the violation. the papers were released to comply with an aclu request. and if you have been waiting the arrival of a brand new iphone, you will soon have two to choose from. apple unveiled its iphone 5s today along with the 5c, a lower cost plastic alternative. the 5s is expected to be faster and will come in three different colors, silver, gray and gold. it also has special features including a fingerprint sensor to replace passwords. the 5c comes in a range of colors and starts at about $99. both devices will be available september 20th. preorders begin on friday. coming up in our special report, russia's connection to syria's chemical weapons. how moscow may have helped syria build its stockpile.

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plus, new signs the weapons used in that horrifying chemical attack may have been even larger than anyone first thought. we have the chilling new information coming in. and how much credit does the president deserve for the possibility of a new diplomatic solution? the "crossfire" hosts are here to debate. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." russia now says it will offer what it calls a clear and specific plan to put syria's chemical weapons under international control. it says it will give details in the near future and refine them with the united nations security council and the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. let's talk about what's going on with republican senator rand paul of kentucky. he's a member of the senate foreign relations committee. he is strongly opposed to any u.s. military action against targets in syria. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> sure. glad to be with you, wolf.

>> let's talk about the context of this russian proposal. from your perspective, would it now be appropriate to vote yes for some sort of senate resolution authorizing the use of force, if that could be a credible threat to use over the syrians to come up with that kind of diplomatic solution the russians are now proposing? >> i'm happy that we are headed hopefully towards a diplomatic solution. i hope this will come to fruition. i've said all along that my concern about attacking assad is that we could so destabilize him that the chemical weapons could fall into the hands of al qaeda. i still worry about that, but if we are able to get the weapons out of syria and into international control, i think that would be a huge step forward, and i think part of the reason we're here may be the threat of force, but part of the reason we're here is also because people like me prevented force from being used about three weeks ago when they wanted to bomb. >> so you acknowledge part of the reason the syrians are now acknowledging really almost for

the first time that they do have these chemical weapon stockpiles, their foreign minister said today that he's ready to see them even destroyed under certain circumstances, listen to secretary kerry as he testified today before the house. >> lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well, it's the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has, for the first time, brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. >> i'll repeat the question. since you now acknowledge that maybe the threat of force played a significant role in moving this situation towards some sort of peaceful resolution, wouldn't you be ready to vote for some sort of resolution authorizing at least the threat of force to hover over these negotiations? >> no, and i'm not convinced that we wouldn't have gotten to these negotiations otherwise. i also think that part of the

reason we are here and we are getting to negotiate is because of an off-hand comment secretary kerry frankly, i don't believe, ever thought that the russians would respond to. so i think the russians have played an excellent gambit or a game of geopolitical chess with us, but it may be to our benefit to see if we can get a negotiated settlement. i think that does have to include russia. >> the president in the interview he granted me yesterday, he suggested this was by no means some sort of off-hand comment. he said they had been talking about it for awhile, including last week when he was at the g-20 summit in st. petersburg, russia. listen to the president, what he told me. >> the fact that the u.s. administration and i have said we are serious about this, i think has prompted some interesting conversations and these are conversations that i've had directly with mr. putin. when i was at the g-20, we had some time to discuss this, and i

believe that mr. putin does not see the use of chemical weapons as a good thing inside of syria or anyplace else. >> so does the president deserve at least some credit for moving the situation potentially towards this diplomatic breakthrough? >> yeah, i don't see this in partisan way where i've got to say oh, the president doesn't get credit. give credit where credit is due, and if we get a diplomatic solution, absolutely. i still don't think it's a good idea to bomb assad or destabilize the middle east or to embolden al qaeda or the islamic rebels. however, i have no problem with saying yeah, the president would get credit if we got a diplomatic solution. i will say, though, that many people have been advocating a bombing for weeks and weeks now, and those of us who have tried to slow this down, including the american public, may have inadvertently gotten to this diplomatic solution if it comes to fruition by slowing down the process. >> do you believe that they are

trustworthy, let's put it this way, the syrians, even though their foreign minister now says they're ready to do what the russians are suggesting, identify all their chemical weapon stockpiles, let international inspectors go in and control them, and eventually dismantle and destroy them? do you think they're trustworthy, the syrian regime, of president bashar al assad, to do what they are indicating now they might do under certain circumstances? >> you know, i think any diplomatic solution with people who have used chemical weapons has to be taken with a certain amount of dubiousness. but i would say that any time you have diplomacy with other nations, there is trust, there is distrust, there's watchfulness, and there's what ronald reagan said, trust but verify. so really, a lot of details have to be worked out here. i'm not convinced that it will happen. i think it may be 50/50, but i think there is a potential that this would actually do some good, whereas the bombing campaign doesn't get rid of any chemical weapons and may well allow the chemical weapons to

get into the hands of terrorists which could actually even be worse than assad. >> your republican colleague, senator john mccain, he says he's now ready to go for some sort of senate resolution that would give the united nations security council a date certain to come up with a plan during which the syrians would have to begin this process of destroying their chemical weapons. he wants a date certain in that authorizing legislation in the senate. would you be ready to go along with senator mccain on that? >> it may not surprise people but i am sometimes on the opposite side of things from senator mccain. i think he is a big believer that the use of force in syria will have a positive outcome. i'm a big believer that the use of force has no compelling american interest in syria and could lead to an adverse outcome such as an attack on israel, more refugees flowing in to jordan, more instability and possibly, worst case scenario, the chemical weapons, control of

them, could be lost by assad and gained by terrorists. so i don't see a good outcome to -- i still don't see a good outcome to us becoming involved in a war in the syrian civil war. >> senator rand paul of kentucky, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. just ahead, can the united nations get syria under control? look at this. the "crossfire" hosts, van jones and s.e. cupp, are walking into "the situation room." hihing, helicopters buzzing, and truck engine humming. sfx: birds chirping sfx: birds chirping

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sfx: oil gushing out of pipe. sfx: birds chirping. president obama set to make his case for potential u.s. military action against syria to the american people, just a little bit more than three hours from now. what he needs to do, whether he can change any minds, the hosts of cnn's new "crossfire," van jones and s.e. cupp. guys, thanks very much. does the president deserve some credit, s.e., seemingly there could poe teptentially there coe a breakthrough in avoiding military action. >> the president stumbled very conspicuously into some accidental diplomacy here, and so the president i think in my

opinion, not surprising, deserves no credit. he has not been a leader on this issue. john kerry said something sort of off the cuff, also by the way said it's not something assad would ever consider or that we could do, and now suddenly not only is it the brilliant strategy and escape hatch we had in mind all along, it is the thing that is going to end this conflict peacefully. >> first of all, i would rather for him to stumble into peace than blunder into war. >> i didn't say peace. i said diplomacy. >> even the peace process but blunder into war. but give credit where credit's due. both aspects of president obama brought this about, the morally outraged president obama that moved in the warships but also the cautious obama who said i need more time, let me talk to congress. it created a space where there was pressure but not war. i think you got to give credit where credit's due. >> van just articulated exactly why the american people are confused. because on the one hand, he was cautious and on the other was morally outraged. that is impossible. you cannot be part pregnant.

that is a stance that no one understands. >> but here's the thing. it worked. the weird thing, i have been criticizing him. i have been saying he's half -- >> this is working? >> listen, we are not at war and the syrians are saying they will give up their gas. you got poison gas -- >> so you believe them? >> i believe we now have a situation where a regime that before said that they had what poison gas, now they say not only do we have it -- >> we will give it but only to our friends, the russians. that makes a lot of sense. >> tell you what -- >> it's a false start. >> let me say a couple things. number one, this poison gas, the more you look at this stuff, this is horrible and it turned out they got tons and tons of it aimed at not their own people but israel. if we can get the poison gas away from being pointed at israel, that's a good thing. if we can do it -- >> that's a great thing. >> you should be happy. for two reasons. we're taking syria seriously. you want us to take it seriously. and we may avoid a war which you're happy about. and no poison gas. why are you so upset?

>> no poison gas. poof, no poison gas. i don't trust russia. the world does not trust russia on this issue. and the default actors that we'll have to trust on this is the u.n. and i really don't trust the u.n. >> hold on. you say you don't trust russia. this is geopolitics. russia exists. reagan worked with russia. we have a treaty right now -- >> reagan worked with a different russia. >> we have a treaty with russia, they will disarm themselves on nuclear weapons. >> they just canceled the u.n. meeting that they called for. russia is not a good actor on this conflict. >> russia is not a good actor on any conflict. this is geopolitics. and here on planet earth, we can't just bomb our way out when there is now a peace process. we should take advantage of it. >> there is not a peace process. it's a process that will take months, months to craft. >> during which time we can build a global coalition. >> -- assad to continue using bombs and bullets while we try to take away his chemical weapons? >> you think air strikes would

stop him from using bombs and bullets? >> sure, if we destroy his arsenals and striking capability. sure. >> then we'll be pulled into a war. here's the good thing i have to say. this president is one of the luckiest human beings on earth. he's been incredibly fortunate in terms of his career, the people he went up against early on were people he was able to get past and beat. he fought his way through hillary clinton and once again, that obama good luck charm, i think we should be happy. i don't know why we should be upset. >> even you're admitting he lucked into it. >> i would say i would rather stumble into peace than stumble into war. >> is there anything he could say, s.e., tonight and he'll be speaking at 9:00 p.m. eastern, anything he can say tonight that will reassure you he's on top of this situation, he knows what's going on, and he's all over it? >> and i want him to. i want him to do well tonight, because i don't think there is a more important geopolitical conflict right now than syria for all of the implications that we've discussed. chemical weapons, al qaeda in the area, hezbollah and iran

watching, north korea watching. the president needs to be clear. his moral outrage needs to be unqualified and that means he can't disown his red line. you're damn right i've got a red line against a dictator gassing his people, that is mine, that is mine and i'll go it alone. and that's why there's a lot at stake. >> this is the right wing talking point that drives me crazy. he did not disown the red line. he invited the world to own his red line. >> he's ducking the red line. it was absurd that the white house has to come out immediately and explain the contradiction. >> only because right wing pundits jumped in, said he was ducking. he said the world owns this red line and he's right on that. look, the president has been right on two things, wrong on one, from my point of view. >> he hasn't just been getting grief from right wing pundits. he's been getting grief from left wing pundits as well. >> guilty as charged. >> this is bipartisan amount of grief he's getting. >> fair enough. fair enough. the president has done two things right, one thing wrong. what he did right, he was

outraged and did say we are going to do something about it. what he did wrong was he tried to rush into this war without congress, without the u.n., without building the case. what he did right, went to congress and bought more time and it's paying off. give credit where credit's due. >> it's not paying off. believe me, let me just end there. i really want the president to sell this to the american people tonight, because it's important. i'm rooting for him. >> he will speak to all of us from the east room of the white house. we'll have live coverage. thanks very much for coming in. in the "crossfire" tonight, 6:30 p.m. eastern, van and s.e. square off and guess who their guest will be? rick santorum and joe lieberman. you can jump into the debate, respond on twitter with the hash tag "crossfire" or in the live blog at cnn.com/crossfire. coming up, that chemical weapons attack was bigger than anyone knew. we're learning new information about just how deadly that sarin gas was. plus, dramatic dash cam

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p we're learning chilling new details of that chemical weapons attack. one expert now believes there's much more sarin gas used than originally thought. what are you finding out?

>> this is a one liter bottle. this was originally reported that each bottle may have carried this much. now it's estimated it may have carried 50 times this amount. some of this may be disturbing. >> reporter: part of what's shocking is the casualties. more than 1400 killed. two analysts now believe those numbers could be the result of a toxic payload on those rockets, much larger than what was first estimated. >> some reports reported as little as one liter of sarin. the container that was actually used carried 50 liters of sarin. >> reporter: mit professor and another expert draw that conclusion based on photos on the internet. it was first believed the thin tubes in some pictures were the payload canisters. >> the munition that people were

seeing had this rocket motor attached to this, and then this front end, the central core extension bent up on the ground. and what people were not seeing was this larger canister that had broken into many pieces when the munition hit the ground. >> reporter: he says the rockets with the large payload chamber at the top looked something like this. cnn cannot verify the information. he says he can't rule out that the rockets could have come from the rebel side but -- >> my best guess though, was that it was the assad government because the amounts of sarin you need, the design of the munition, the cleverness with which it was put together, sort of implies a state actor. >> reporter: the syrian government has repeatedly denied launching the august 21st attack. now russia's proposal a to put syria's stockpile under international control is being

met with skepticism. >> their hands may not be clean. >> reporter: chemical weapons expert says decades ago the russians in the soviet era and afterward provided syria with come of the foundation for its chemical weapons. a document says both check owe low vaak yeah. >> syria has had for quite some time the ability to do this on its own. >> contacted by cnn, an official flatly denied this. he said some chemical precursors, he said neither the ussr nor russia provided precursors to syria. all the facilities were built with the help of western

european countries. we have to say it is not just the russians who have been accused of helping syria, some western nations have been as well, including at least one american company whose executives pleaded guilty several years ago. >> the august attack killed 1400 people. the weather, there were other factors that resulted in these heavy casualties? >> the fact that it happened at night was crucial. it made it more lethal. it was colder at night. once the canisters hit the ground, the gas would not rise up with the heat that it would in the daytime. so the gas stayed near to the ground, flattened out like a pancake, and that made it much more lethal. >> brutal stuff. thanks very much for that report. when our special report continues, we're going inside the preparations for one of the most important speeches of the obama presidency. plus we have dramatic new dash cam video from george

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all right. this just in to the situation room. police dash cam video, their confrontation with george zimmerman yesterday in lake mary florida. you can see him being ordered to the ground and an officer walks up and handcuffs him. zimmerman's estranged wife called 911 and said zimmerman threatened her father and her. he was acquitted in july in the death of trayvon martin. we'll get back to our special report, crisis in syria in a moment. but first, a pretty shocking

realization for a man just waking up from surgery. he's married. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: he seemed to be waking up after a hernia operation eating a cracker when his eyes focused on the woman beside the bed. >> did the doctor send you? man, you are eye candy. >> reporter: the prettiest woman he has ever seen, he says. >> my name's candace. i'm your wife. >> you're my wife? holy [ bleep ]. >> reporter: the video has women gasping. >> do we have children yet? >> not yet. >> man, have we kissed yet? >> reporter: even female co-hosts were smitten over how

smi smitten was. some skeptics cried fake. when we got hold of the love struck husband on the phone, and he assured it us it was all true. he gave us the name and number of his doctor to verify the surgery. american fork hospital in utah confirmed they performed surgery on jason back on august 21st. jason says his wife candace has been through his side through five surgeries in the six years they've been married, but who's counting. >> how long have we been married? >> a long time. >> oh, my god. i hit the jackpot. >> reporter: not since the youtube video david after the dentist surfaced has a sedated person aweakenakened such intern the web. jason told me on the phone he was a little reluctant to post the video, because for one thing he didn't like that he swore.

>> holy [ bleep ]. >> reporter: something he doesn't normally do. blame it on the anesthesia. might as well blame this on it too. >> turn around. >> no. rar reported one poster, turn around, men are all the same even when they're doped up, lol. not many men get to experience love at first sight. >> you're my wife? >> reporter: cnn, new york. crisis in syria. president obama will walk a careful line in a speech to the nation tonight, and trying to keep the door open to a possible deal. we're seeing the first cracks in that potential breakthrough. u.s. officials fear the syrian and russian leaders can't be trusted to follow through. and behind the scenes of the president's address, i'll ask his former speechwriter about any last minute tweaks in this

fast minute crcrisis. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, and you're in the situation room. president obama speaks to the nation in about three hours from now under very different circumstances than he faced yesterday. he will still make the case for military action against syria, even as a possible diplomatic deal unfolds that could prevent an attack. the syrian regime now says it accepts a russian proposal to give up control of its chemical weapons to the international community. but u.s. are official that they may simply be stalling for time. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is here. this is a delicate moment right now. >> no question. a white house official tells me the president will continue to work with congress on language authorizing the use of force, that that will strengthen any diplomatic efforts, but still,

this proposal has become the world's de facto plan a for syria, radically changing the debate. >> reporter: just hours ago, kerry dismissed the plan the minute the words left his mouth. >> turn it over, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that, but he isn't about it do it. and it can't be done, obviously. >> reporter: but now his hypothetical is a full-fledged proposal, embraced by the unlikely alliance of syria, russia, and china. and britain, germany, the u.n. and now secretary kerry himself. >> president obama will take a hard look at it, but it has to be swift. it has to be real. it has to be verifiable. it cannot be a delaying tactic. >> reporter: today the administration claimed that the discussion of the stockpiles had been a discussion for a year.

and that it was only the looming threat of force that finally pushed russia and syria to act. so, in the administration's version, yesterday's goof was actually part of the plan all along. >> you did not miss speak, did you? >> no i didn't miss speak. >> and you meant to say what you said at that time, isn't that correct? >> i did. >> reporter: looking ahead, the practical obstacles to ridding syria of weapons at sites like this one may be more imposing than the diplomatic. syria has an estimated 1,000 tons of chemical weapons in six known sites and many unknown. now likely disbursed as the u.s. has considered striking them. all this in the midst of a civil war. >> this is one of the largest chemical stockpiles in the world at a number of sites and

disbursed already from those sites. reason bring time frame to put them all in one place and get rid of them. >> it will take weeks to get inspectors there, to conduct an initial inventory. to secure the site will take several months. destroying the weapons will take years. >> i'm hearing real doubts from those inside the administration. one u.s. official says there's grudging recognition. we have a long way to go before this chain reaction leads to a result that's in our national interest, quote. i think you could say there's a healthy dose of skepticism. >> even the secretary of state, he's going to geneva to meet with the russians to discuss this issue. that could be very important. >> it shows that they are pursuing this. and they have to show that they are pursuing it, that they're exhausting all diplomatic options. >>en a they'll be able to tell

the world and the u.s. people we tried everything. >> and likely build a stronger, wider, broader coalition. >> thanks very much. it's important to remember that in the midst of all the talk of a possible u.s. attack or a possible deal, there's still a very deadly civil war going on in syria, even as we speak right now. rebels and government forces fought new battles across syria today. if the regime in damascus were to surrender their weapons, it would happen in the middle of this. she's joining us from beirut right now, this would be an enormous struggle to isolate, control, and eventually destroy all of syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. if there were a peaceful environment. but there's a brutal civil war going on with no end in sight. give us some perspective on

what's going on. >> reporter: look. we're talking about a phenomenal undertaking that might not be entirely realistic. syria's believed to have one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. prior, or while all this was breaking out, the syrian regime actually moved those stockpiles, according to western intelligence from kilo cations into smaller, more isolated ones. any sort of effort to actually put an investigation team in country would highly likely require individuals around that team to pre tekt them. look at what happened to the u.n. inspectors when they were already on the ground. their vehicles got shot at. they were caught up in crossfire. hypothetically speaking a safeguarding force could number in the hundreds of thousands according to one diplomat. an expert was also saying that just securing syria's chemical weapons, that means going around to every single site in the

midst of this incredible violence that's taking place. they're bringing them into one location. that could possibly take months. actually destroying those chemical weapons, that could take years. you also are going to have to somehow bring in the technology to even destroy them. let's assume that a cease-fire was on the table and that would enable the inspector does safely move around the country. very difficult with how that would be implemented in that the opposition does not speak in one voice. so this is lodgistically speaking a complete nightmare. >> i remember after saddam hussein was removed in baghdad and you were there on the scene for us. the libyan leader, gaddafi, he agreed to international teams coming in to destroy his nuclear capabilities he seemed to be developing, because he was afraid the u.s. would put together a coalition to remove him at the time.

so there are international inspectors, international teams that could go in and at least begin the process if there's a willingness on the part of the syrian regime to allow them to do it. >> reporter: right, but let's look at the conditions under which inspectors were in saddam hussein's iraq. it was saddam hussein's iraq. they did not have a security issue con fronting them. same with gaddafi. that security did not necessarily exist for those u.n. inspections teams. we're talking about different dynamics. we're talking about a civil war raging in syria with no clear front lines, with battle lines that are constantly drawn and redrawn and dynamics that can change within a fraction of a minute. so that adds an entirely new and novel layer for these inspectors

that they're going to have who handle if they do choose to go under syria and try to undertake this massive effort of securing its chemical weapons. >> it would be an enormous challenge as you point out. thanks very much. she's in beirut. coming up next. insights into the president's prime time address this evening, given everything that's happened, why didn't he just cancel the speech? i'll ask his former speechwri r speechwriter. he's standing by live. and syria denies it, but what would they gain from a chemical weapons attack? i think farmers care more about the land

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coming up, syria denies it was behind a deadly chemical attack last month. this is a situation room special report. crisis in syria. and you need it now. ladies, let's go to vegas.

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stay with cnn for special coverage of the president's address to the nation. we'll have special coverage coming up all the way until 9:00 eastern. i'll be back to bring you the

president's speech live. certainly while syria's sounding open to the idea of surrendering their chemical weapons, the regime has denied using poison gas against its own people claiming it doesn't need to because it's winning the war against the rebels. we're taking a closer look at what's going on. what are you guys seeing? >> you know, what we're seeing here is that maybe there could have been a reason for all of this as the colonel has pointed out here. this is an aerial view of damascus. look at the areas there. this is where the regime generally holds sway in that area. this is where the rebels generally hold sway. and right down through here is a major roadway which is basically the dividing line. >> it's the dividing line between the rebels to the east and the regime to the west. and that's a four-lane highway. and it's very strategic. they try to control it, but

they're having trouble. >> so there are some incursions on either side. and this is where the attacks took place. well, if you look at this, and you listen to the government's argument, you would say why would they hit this area out here, this suburb area with no clear reason. but let's move in a little closer and talk about that. for these to be hit right in this area, you believe would have something to do with this. >> yeah. there's a military reason to do this. this military line, this road is very strategic. they've written in their literature if you can great into that line and get into that square you have pretty much free rein of damascus. these two areas are key to taking that road. and they had numerous air strikes, artillery, but they've never cleared it. they've cleared it now with chemicals. >> so even if the war overall was going well, you get the point here. there may have been a key,

critical area that needed to be backed off. let's move down to this region. if i get rid of all these things, you can see the attacks. rebel area over here. this is the regime over here. what's this? >> this is a strategic air base, it's probably the most important air base in the damascus area. this is where the regime leaves from if they have to bug out. >> you get the point. these hay tacks which may have seemed a bit random to us, to those in the know in fact were very close to very important targets. >> thanks guys. very good explanation. up next in our special reports, we have some special insights into the president's address to the nation. why didn't he just cancel his speech? i'll ask his former speechwriter. i didn't think it was anything. i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause.

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crisis in syria. it's coming up in a moment. also stand by for cnn's complete prime time coverage leading up to the president's address to the nation just at 9:00 eastern. we'll be right back. ♪

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tonight, president obama takes advantage of an important tool at the president's disposal, a tool he hasn't used all that much, prime time speeches from the white house. certainly, they get a lot of attention, but they don't always get the results a president wants. let's bring in our chief domestic affairs correspondent. you've been reviewing the history of these speeches. what do you see? >> usually a president has already taken action by the time these speeches are delivered. or at the very least has a clear path forward. in this speech, you don't really have either. i don't envy the president's speechwriter tonight. the prime time address -- >> my fellow americans. >> today our armed forces. >> are in the early stages of military operations.

>> reporter: are in the early stages of military power, one this president has not frequently used. he's addressed the people from the oval office only twice, both times sounding like professor obama, on the oil spill, and the withdrawal of troops from iraq. >> we have met our responsibilities. >> reporter: but when he's pro jektding american force, this president is on his feet, joining the fight in libya. >> i authorized military action toston the killing. >> reporter: pressing his case against syria. >> assad must go, and i believe he will go. >> reporter: announcing the killing of owe sau osama bin la. >> he's got to hit that big point. what is so important about this. syria's always a mess. why does this matter to the

people of america. >> reporter: president ease usually deliver the war speech after they've initiated military action. president reagan's invasion of grenada. >> we got there just in time. >> reporter: president obama toppling manuel noreaga. >> last night i ordered military forces to panama. >> reporter: the bombing in kosovo. >> today we joined our nato allies in air strikes. >> reporter: president george w. bush in iraq. tonight president obama will make the case for war before the first missile has flown. >> i think it's become a stopgap speech instead of a leadership speech. it seems like the white house is hemorrhaging right now and they need to tourniquet it. >> reporter: or a diplomacy speak. one thing the president could gain tonight after a few weeks

of muddled messaging and zigzagged policy-making, some clarity could solidify his ability to lead in this brewing crisis, and i should point out he will be giving the speech not in the oval office but on his feet. >> that's the same location he gave the bin laden speech? >> reporter: yes. >> let's dig a little deeper now. jon favreau is joining us. you've been talking to some of the speechwriters. what's going on? >> i check in on my colleagues once in a while. they're still tinkering, but it's just about ready. >> it's a lot different than it would have been before the last 24 hours of diplomacy.

speechwrite speechwriters like you have to be ready to rewrite. >> we assume the speech was going to be here's why the congress needs to authorize the use of military force. but now it's going to be a more different message shall we say? >> i think the heart of the speech remains, which is the president wants to tell the american people tonight why what's happening in syria matters to them. why a dictator using chemical weapons to gas his own people should matter to the american people. and that's what he'll do tonight. >> is this the kind of speech that there are one or two speechwriters like you, the president starts rewriting, he comes up with his own ideas. or are there teams of people you have to run it through the intelligence committee. >> certainly he has to run it by several people. the more he gets involved the more he does more of the writing himself, but he'll work with the whole team. >> who took over for you?

>> coty keenan took over for me. now he's doing a fantastic job. >> this is going to be a ten or 12 minute speech, is that right? >> usually a prime time address runs around 15 minutes. >> could be as long as 15 minutes? >> probably. >> when you say the president gets involved, does he have a little meeting, does he meet with the team and say here's some of the points i want to make and they continue to meet throughout? >> yeah. there's plenty of meetings throughout the speech. i've gotten pages and pages of writing from him back the next day. he'll be fine tuning and tweaking it right up until he deliver it is. >> was there any consideration as far as you know, should there have been consideration given to postponing the speech given the fluidity of the diplomacy right now? >> i don't think so. you or i know exactly what's going on because we're political geeks and read all the stuff.

but i think american people are very busy, and this is an opportunity for him to hay out for the american people what exactly is going on in syria. it's an opportunity for him to educate the public and an opportunity for him to tell people why this matters. >> the american public doesn't want to get involved in this. so how do you craft a speech, telling them it's going to be very limited. >> the president doesn't want to get into another war. he'll mention that tonight as well. this is a special case where a dictator has flooded international law and gassed his own people and children. >> i believe the president laid this out when he accepted the peace prize that sometimes military intervention is necessary. >> how would you describe the tone? >> it will be firm. he'll make the case and be passion al at about what's at

stake here. >> is it the most important speech so far in his second team, a think a speech or two in his first team, speeches you worked on like health care, this is an important speech. >> i think it's certainly an important speech. he wouldn't be giving it otherwise. but history will judge which are the most important speeches. >> a lot of pressure on guys like you and on the president himself. thanks for coming in. >> appreciate it. >> you can always follow what's going on here in the situation room on twitter. go ahead and tweet me. tweet the show. i'll be back later tonight, 9:00 eastern to cover the president's address to the nation. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. crossfire starts right now. tonight on crossfire, as

president obama addresses the nation, he hits the pause button. >> nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. >> on the left, van jones. on the right, s.e. cupp, in the crossfire. joe lieberman and rick santorum. is russia's diplomacy real? or should the u.s. strike assad now? tonight on crossfire. welcome to crossfire. i'm van jones on the left. >> i'm s.e. cupp on the right. tonight the world is giddy at the prospect of getting out of the military strike on syria. it's all based on russia's offer of a diplomatic solution. >> well, it's the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has, for the first time, brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal.

>> this is a victory for president obama, if it is real. >> van, it seems like nancy pelosi is ready to order the mission accomplished banner. but the russians have offered us not a parachute but a knapsack. a knapsack that will never open. >> i think the world is happy we are off the path to war. everybody is giving john kerry a hard time. i would rather us to blunder on the path to peace than to stumble onto the path of war. >> if this were from real, good actors i would be happy to consider it. >> we've got two former presidential candidates and two former senators -- both the