spin off starring bob odenkirk's character. doesn't necessarily mean saul will survive the end of "breaking bad." the one hour show is billed as a prequel to the series. that's it for the lead. i am jake tapper and i will be back later tonight for one hour live special crisis in syria decision point and i now turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." thanks very much. the effort to solve the crisis in syria not clearly focusing in on diplomacy as russia submits an actual plan to the united states. can vladimir putin be trusted to make it work? why so many in washington say the answer is no. plus jimmy carter's surprising remark undermining president obama. i am wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the drum beat of war has now been replaced with the hushed

tones of diplomacy. russia has submitted a plan to the united states that would place syria's chemical weapons under international control. the top american and russian diplomats, they're getting ready to try to hammer out the details. the meeting tomorrow in geneva, switzerland, between the secretary of state and the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov will give all of us an important indication of whether or not the proposal is really serious and here is what i learned. top u.s. officials tell me they believe if the united states and russia actually were to work out a deal it would have very solid chance of being implemented. they believe the russians have enormous leverage over bashar al assad given the significant military and political support moscow provides. they also insist that the threat of u.s. military strikes certainly has forced the russians and the syrians to at least consider this deal which if implemented and that's the huge if, would not only deter and degrade syria's chemical

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

all of this could possibly be wrapped up by friday. >> white house press secretary jay carney repeatedly raised doubts about whether the russians can even be trusted. >> russia has been assad's closest ally. trust but verify. >> until a reporter noted the plan for moscow grew out of discussions between president obamas and putin. >> i take your point and i accept that. >> i will not put american boots on the ground in syria. >> despite the president's words of caution, the white house conceded it has yet to win over congress. >> i cannot support an operation that is so poorly conceived, so foolishly telegraphed, and virtually guaranteed to fail. >> carney was pressed on whether the president asked for a delay in the vote for military force due to a lack of congressional support. >> the president asked for delay in that vote because we were engaged in diplomatic avenues. >> as for the other skeptics, the white house was punching back on twitter when journalist

jeffrey goldberg tweeted we heard this case before. nothing new so far. white house senior adviser dan pfeiffer tweeted back they don't ask for time to address columnist that is follow every minute of the news. another sign for the president the barrage of questions are leer to stay. >> seems to me he has put himself in a real box. if diplomacy fails, he only really has one option. that is the least undesirable military option. >> even as he was paying tribute to the victims of the september 11th attacks, mr. obama seemed to touch on the dilemma facing him now. when to strike and when to hold back. >> let us have the wisdom to know while force is at times necessary, force alone cannot build the world we seek. >> john kerry is heading to geneva to meet with his russian counterpart to work on how to get rid of syria's chemical weapons. a state department spokeswoman

says the goal is to test the seriousness at this point of the russian proposal and that spokesman went on to say that kerry and other officials from the state department would be going into those meetings with their eyes wide open. >> a lot is at stake obviously. thank you very much. the former president jimmy carter is raising eyebrows with his remarks about the crisis in syria. he says it has taken a serious toll on president obama's standing and he revealed he is opposed to any u.s. military strike. >> if the vote is no in congress, it will not be a catastrophe as far as the credibility of the president of our country is concerned. a lot of people think if it is a no vote it is a terrible blow to our country and president and i don't think that's true. congress has not yet decided what to do. the united states public is heavily against any military strike i am also concerned about

what president obama can do now to bring back his stature and to make sure we have a successful conclusion of rapidly changing events in washington, in the united nations, new york, and in syria and obviously in russia. >> let's dig deeper with gloria borger and candy crowley. the president's speech last night, did it make him stronger or weak sner. >> or none of the above? i think it is none of the above. i think what the public heard from the president was not surprising, that he is somebody that doesn't want to go to war. he decided he wants to pursue diplomacy and keep the threat of the use of force out there because he believes that's what brought the syrians and the russians to the table so if there are persuadable people out there, i am not sure how many there were, i don't think it really shifted the balance for him one way or another. >> and insofar as we saw on the

flash poll that people agreed with the president's position, it would be interesting to ask them what if was. you can argue both sides. we will try the diplomacy and if not, we'll have to go ahead and do this. the fact is i think what people are reacting to was, oh, okay, we're not going to send the missiles right now, and thus the positive reaction and in terms of helping him and his argument, it did nothing for him on capitol hill. >> the moral case, the chemical weapons, international norms, talking about american exceptionalism and why we are different from other countries. we cannot let this go unnoticed. the question i have is did he box himself in and now if this all breaks down at the u.n. and if kerry's talks don't go well,

did he box himself in into using force even without a congressional vote. >> he made the argument and he made it over here, and in some ways i think i can argue maybe at least around the origins that he helped himself in that some of those congressman and senators taking i think we should try another way. if he says i will stop this and pursue this last option. if this last option goes nowhere, he can come back and say he tried. it may have helped him in congress. >> i have exhausted every opportunity. now we have no choice but to do this. speech no matter how powerful, how the speech he gave after the elementary school massacre in newtown, connecticut, a lot of us remember that speech, did it result in new legislation improving gun control when was one of the objectives and right now he gave a powerful speech

last night. will it result in yay votes in the senate and house of representatives if this russian initiative collapses and he wants to go back and ask for authorization? >> it could help him to a certain degree. i don't see any huge bump in public opinion, wolf, at all. i would argue maybe he doesn't go back to congress. why would he put himself in a position he doesn't get a no vote. >> i think he boxed himself in there, too. you can't go once and then go ahead and do it and say i didn't think i needed the vote actually, i have changed my mind. again, it may have helped around the margins. is it enough? i have to tell you that the feeling out there is so anti, even what they described as targeted and i think it is very difficult for him to overcome and that makes it difficult for congress to vote with him. i do have it in my head this idea if the president of the

united states comes to you, which is arguably his most important ask of this congress in foreign policy matters, and they say no to him, that's a huge blow to him here at home, even if as jimmy carter argues, it doesn't hurt us overseas. >> the only way i see the president of the united states ordering military strikes in syria without congressional authorization, not even asking for another vote, if there were evidence that the bashar al assad regime did it again. >> right. >> if they slaughtered a whole bunch of people with sarin gas one more time, i would say all bets are off and the president gives the command the execute order. >> and don't for get, also -- >> that is the only way i would see that happening. >> this isn't the only thing he has on his plate. this is, you know, we have the end of the fiscal year coming up? i was going to get to that. we have a lot of issues. he is the president of the united states. thanks very much. coming up, can vladimir putin be

trusted to eliminate syria's stock piles? why some in washington say he is part of the problem and not the solution. bashar al assad staying in power minus the chemical stock pile, congressman peter king joins us live. we'll talk about that and more. of getting something "new."

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as the push more the military strike cools off for now, diplomacy heating up. the next chapters are being played out in geneva switzerland where kerry will meet with his russian counterpart tomorrow. at the united nations with a meeting of the five permanent members of the security council, that's taking place today, discussing the french resolution on syria with russia and china.

our senior international correspondent dick peyton wahl much is over there for us. what do we know about what happened at this meeting of the five permanent members of the u.n. security council? >> we know little about when actually was discussed but we do know it has just ended according to a diplomat with moj of what was going on. some refer to the u.k., u.s. and france met just before hand at the french mission and this meeting didn't last long. within an hour it was over. you can take judgment for sure. bear in mind this is about trying to find wording that the russians can swallow at this point and the frerchl put out a strong text early yesterday and leaked to reuters something slightly softer and it is really about the level of stick within that resolution as potential sanction for syria if they don't

get rid of the chemical weapons fast enough. people were thinking perhaps the meeting was about trying to set the stage for tomorrow in geneva and the u.s. wants the security council resolution to tie up whatever protocol they put in place for syria handing over the chemical weapons. we don't know at this point how well the meeting went. judging by how short it was, perhaps not that well. >> when do we expect the final report from the u.n. weapons inspector who are actually in syria, who went to that location, and outside of damascus where the chemical weapons were used august 21st, 1,400 people killed according to the u.s. when will that report finally be released. >> in the kind of chaos of the past couple days here, the massive turn around we have seen in diplomacy, people have almost fore gotten about that u.n. inspectors reports and many will say it had contain a narrative that may in some way cast the finger of blame. the u.n. refused to give a

timeline for when it will be delivered. i am understanding from a number of diplomatic sources we are looking at early next week, potentially monday or tuesday. that of course would inject a potentially serious set of facts from what the u.n. say is their independent credible source here into the diplomatic discussion about how to put syria's weapons under international control unless of course we do see some roadblock putting itself between that and the release and kicking that can further down the road. potentially early next week that pretty illuminating piece of report will bey americaning, we understand. >> we'll see how far they go in the report. thank you very much. coming up in our special coverage of the crisis in syria, it may be the united states best hope for diplomacy, but can the russian president vladimir putin be trusted? that's coming up also. at&t scrambling to apologize after a 9/11 anniversary tweet goes viral. stay with us. you're in "the situation room."

here is a quick look at the stories we're monitoring in "the situation room." a car bomb exploded in benghazi today, exactly one year since the assault on the u.s. consulate there that left four americans dead including the u.s. ambassador, chris stevens. the blast blew away large parts of the front of the building and there were no casualties. police say it may take months to recover ipad video that could determine whether charges will be filed in a reported confrontation between george zimmerman and his estranged

wife. according to police shellie zimmerman says she used the tablet to record monday's incident. george zimmerman was seen here on police dash cameras. the video surrenders, this is just the latest in the string of encounters he has had with police since being adwited in trayvon martin he's shooting death. apple's two new iphone models aren't gaining much traction. the stock plunged for a second straight day despite tuesday's unveiling of the iphone 5s and 5c. the combined dropped erased nearly 35 billion dollars in market value and is it rare rolling the iphone debut. the dow overall finished up again. 135 points up today. at&t now apologizing for a now deleted tweet that says it was intended to commemorate today's 9/11 anniversary but instead triggered lots of backlash online. the original tweet shows a hand holding up a smartphone with the words never forget and the

tribute in light memorial on the screen. the company says the tweet was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the tragedy at this and apologizes to anyone who found it in poor taste. up next the special coverage of the crisis in syria. u.s. lawmakers stressed to the vladimir putin when it comes to syria. peter ding is here to talk about that and more. the daunting reality, how do you find secure and remove destroy chemical weapons from a country in the middle of a devastating civil war? tom foreman and spider marks will break it all down. ♪ ♪ unh ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ or you can choose to blend out.

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peter king a member of the intelligence committee and even if the u.s. and the international partner agree on a plan to secure syria's chemical weapons, could it turn out to be mission impossible? ununprecedented recall revives the national debate over gun control. you're in "the situation room." hope foreheading off a military strike in syria now pinned on eye russian plan to place bashar al assad chemical weapons under international control. the success or failure of the plan sits squarely on his most powerful ally. we're talking about the russian president vladimir putin, a man many here in washington simply do not trust.

brian todd has been looking into there part of the story and what are you hearing about president putin, his role in this, what officials fear are saying. >> a lot of talk in washington. john mccain says he is skeptical of the russians and john cornyn says there is little reason to believe putin is a reliable dip ploe mat i can partner and there is a fundamental mistrust of vladimir putin here in washington, and it starts with his tight relationship with bashar al assad. he says he hopes his friends in syria bring their chemical weapons under control and also have them destroyed. vladimir putin's role as the last best hope for diplomacy in this crisis isn't winning believers in washington. >> the russians are part of the problem in syria. they're not credibly part of the solution. >> senators john cornyn and john mccain and others have been ticking through laundry lists of why they believe putin will not

follow through on having the syrians give up alleged chemical weapons. putin's government does too much business with the syrians. they cite plane loads of weapons sent to the syrian regime for hefty profits. there is a russian naval base in syria, and putin does business with another u.s. antagonist, iran, a russian newspaper reporting putin is about to offer an advanced air defense missile system to the iranians and help with a nuclear power plant. then there is putin's sense of personal rivalry. >> putin's view of his role in the world is to be a counter weight to america. >> and an obsession according to julia yaffe who spent three years as a journalist in russia. analysts say that is part of what fueled putin's decision to grant asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden. with the syrian crisis, they say, putin could nix a u.n. deal at any time if they are punishing bashar al assad for

not holding to it. >> or another deal breaker is if there is insistence that the assad government assumed guilt for the august 21st use of chemical weapons, that those in the government, the responsible for that, would be put to trial. >> still, senator diane feinstein and others believe putin does want to reach a deal to end this crisis, that he doesn't want to syria to have chemical weapons. yaffe says putin wants to show president obama he has the ability to end this peacefully if mr. obama can't, and there is another motivation. >> to be center stage, to be somebody that you reckon with and somebody that you have to come to and seek his approval and you have to come and kiss his ring, the world has to kiss his ring, i think that's part of it. >> what is frustrating to american leaders, putin's ties to syria could kill any effort to punish bashar al assad or they could be the only way to avoid a military strike.

va vladimir putin may not only world leader to give him to give up the chemical weapons. >> they think the russians and the syrians are seeking to stall and play all of this out for time. >> that's a lot of people believe that is what the real motivation for vladimir putin here is. stall everything, keep his friend bashar al assad in power, and that's a key point of difference here also between him and the americans. the americans, the obama administration has called for assad to go. putin does not want him thrown out. >> brian todd reporting for us. thanks very much. let's get more right now on the crisis in syria with republican congressman peter king of new york, a member of the house intelligence committee also and the house homeland security committee and, congressman, thank you very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf, thank you very much. >> we're just getting a statement from brigadier general solon edris, the opposition to bashar al assad and he doesn't like this diplomatic initiative the republicans have put forward. he says he rejects the russian initiative to put chemical

weapons under international control and he says the perpetrators of the crime in his words have to be brought before the international criminal court. that's referring to bashar al assad, and he is begging for more ammunition to help his fighters. what's your reaction? what do you think? does this russian initiative havea averting u.s. military action. >> i have multiple concerns. assume russia is successful. we have now made russia a major player in the middle east. anwar sadat through them out 40 years ago and now he is injecting himself back into the middle east which will have real consequences. >> aren't they already a major player? they're the principle ally, the backer of military support, political support, financial support, for the syrian regime, so aren't they already a player? >> they're a player only one-on-one with syria. now they will have influence over the region, and that will

have i think a major impact, could have a major impact as we go forward with iran and israel. rather than just beingy on one-on-one relationship with syria, now we're in effect making them a player in the middle east and we will be almost indebted to them if you will. >> let me interrupt. on the other hand, if they do succeed, and it is a big if, but if they do succeed, in controlling, isolating, identifying all of syria's chemical weapons, arsenal, and then the u.n. inspectors, international inspectors come in and start destroying it, wouldn't it be worth it to get rid of all of those chemical weapons in a country like syria? >> and at the price of given russia such a large stake in the middle east to me is troubling because iran is more of the threat and as far as the chemical weapons obviously, it will be very good to get rid of the chemical weapons. also by having russia there, we pretty much have given immunity to assad as far as him staying in power and it is our policy assad must go and we'll support the free syrian army.

now to me the only way any hope assuming russia is honest and assad is being honest, the only way to find these weapons and secure the weapons, so get them out of the country would be if there is no war going on. that would require a cease-fire on both sides, and in effect that would give assad a victory over the rebels and certainly weaken the rebels and give him a -- secure him in power for as long as assad is. >> i would like you to be precise. you don't think the president should have sent the secretary of state john kerry to geneva for tomorrow's meetings to meet with sergei lavarov, the russian foreign minister, you think that is a blunder. >> i am saying once to me the mistake was made of putting the offer out there and unintentionally and the russians accepted, we really have no choice. at that stage we had to do it. i am saying now that we are locked into doing it, we should be extremely skeptical and weary and not making more concessions. again, even if this works

optimally, it won't be great for us. we certainly shouldn't make concessions like saying we're not going to take action against assad and giving any more deference to putin than we have to. once the offer was out there, whether john kerry intended it or not and the russians said they wanted to take him up on it, we had to go along with. john mccain has said that. having said this, we're boxed in so we have to take i think a tough line with russia as we go forward and because they are not really doing us a favor. giving politicians on capitol hill a favor, doing them a favor by saying now we won't have to vote, and maybe they're giving president obama a way out on this in the short-term. the bottom line, putin is doing this for putin and russia and doing that he strengthens syria and iran's position in the middle east. >> i come back to the point tested, see what they can do, if in fact they can do what they say they can do, namely destroy syria's chemical weapons, stock pile, and that's a big if, i

acknowledge it can take a long time, very complicated, especially in the middle of a civil war going on, but if they were to do that, so many countries, especially israel, i can tell you, would issue a sigh of relief because they are so worried about that enormous chemical weapons stock pile in syria. i don't know if you have seen the israeli government distribute gas masks to a lot of their citizens over the past few weeks. >> obviously in the past israel has taken action against syria when it comes to nuclear weapons. having said that, because this will be so difficult, listen, the process is started. if it is going to start, we should cooperate but in doing so be very strict in doing it and not be giving the benefit of the doubt to putin and don't let them drag it out. even if it does work, there is not great consequences in the end. now that it started we have to try to make it work and not in any way by making more concessions and keeping in mind putin wants to re-establish russia and at minimal cost to russia and assert himself in a

powerful way, so knowing that we have to be very, very leery how we go forward on this. we have no choice right now. once john kerry let the cat out of the bag. >> and now that the process has begun we'll play it out and see what happens and if the russians were to succeed in convincing bashar al assad to destroy the chemical weapons stock pile in syria, russia's prestige in the region would be enhanced. that might be a negative but on the positive side no more chemical weapons in syria, that would be extremely positive development for so much of the region, and thanks very much, congressman, for joining us. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> just ahead, eliminating chemical weapons in a war zone, why it could be potentially some say a mission impossible. we're taking a look at the daurchti daunting realities when we take a look at our coverage as the crisis in syria continues. [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing.

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and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. if the united states and its world partners can't agree on a diplomatic plan to place syria's chemical weapons under international control, how will that mission actually be executed? is there a chance it could turn out to be mission impossible? tom foreman is in the virtual room along with a military analyst, former commander of the u.s. army intelligence center, retired major general spider marks. tom, plain how difficult a mission this will be. >> let's explain by looking at a map. we'll show you all the places that intelligence forces believe that the syrians have comprised or put together or stored large amounts of chemical weapons. now let me show you many of the

cities in which there is fierce fighting in this civil war. it is all right on top of each other. that's why, general, you say if you're going to have any hope of grappling with this stuff, will you have to have ground rules. what do you mean? >> first and foremost there has to be a cease-fire. there can be no expectation these inspectors have to fight their way in. we're in the midst of three-year civil war. the warring parties have to agree to separate to get these inspectors in. >> what else beyond that would you require from the syrian government? >> at a minimum, tom, what you need to have is the syrians have to declare that they have. this is the stuff they have and this is where it is located. that has to be validated and it will take a very long time in order to get that done. >> that's all very complicated and including the fact we don't know if we will destroy weapons or the military destroy the labs or let's say you get past all of that and all of that is settled. then you move to the second

part, the actual search, and this can also be complicated. here is one reason why. you go into some facility where there is supposed to be all of these barrels of chemicals, and you find only a fraction of that much. what happens? >> you immediately throw into question the validity of the inventory that the syrians gave you. that now goes out the window. the good news, maybe we have found some of this stuff. the bad news, where is the rest of it? we have to go find it. it can be in 1,000 different locations. it grew legs as we said and now you have to have this very large expanding role, mission to go get it. >> bear in mind there could be hundreds of inspectors involved that could multiply over and over again. that only gets you to the last part, the idea of control and disposal. even if you get past the first two hurdles, you have to figure out what to do with it. here is one idea floated out there, the idea of saying the u.n. would simply put troops on the ground and cameras around the sites and secure everything where it is, keeps it away from

the syrian government and the insurgents and it is safe. what is wrong with that plan? >> here is the challenge. the potential military action didn't include boots on the ground. here is a diplomatic solution. you have to protect the sites. you have to provide persistent stare on the sites so the chemical weapons don't grow legs and disappear. you can put electronic surveillance in place but it is going to take a lot of time, this is a very large and very expansive task and months at minimum. >> and your suggestion is based on your experience in iraq the best plan would be if you can get to this point, if you can get there, to destroy it where it is. >> to blow it up in place. s exactlyig render that location safe, take it off the list. >> still, an incredibly complicated procedure, wolf. mission impossible may be too much for people so say. mission i am probable, it is absolutely the case and the facts just stack up that way over and over again.

wolf. >> absolutely. very difficult. very difficult assignment. let's see if they even get to start trying to implement it. tomorrow will be critical in gen neve a thanks, guys, very much. the bloodshed certainly continues to escalate. the civil war still going on as much of the world works to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. every 15 seconds a syrian becomes a refugee, and according to the united nations refugee agency, there is absolutely no end in sight. to find out how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact for a list of organizations working in the region. coming up, an unprecedented recall revives the national debate over gun control and leaves two state lawmakers out of a job. plus, anthony weiner's bizarre farewell to the news media after a disgraced campaign. jeannie moosz standing by. [ male announcer ] pepcid® presents: the burns family bbq.

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an unprecedented state recall puts the national debate over gun control back in the spotlight. joe johns has been working this story for us. for the viewers who haven't been following what's going on in colorado, this is dramatic stuff. >> very true. before now, colorado democrats john morris and angela harone were anything but household names. but what happened last night is likely to be remembered as a

huge moment in the battle over gun control. just a year after the movie massacre in aurora, 14 years after the mass shooting in columbine, the colorado recall vote shows gun rights still has muscle, especially in the west. what two state senators had in common was voting for gun control, limiting firearm ammunition magazines to 14 rounds. but voters recalled them tuesday night. they were defiant. >> what we did was the right thing. i said months ago, if doing this costs me my political career, that's a very small price to pay. >> we can all really be proud of the work that we did. it appears we have a little more work to do. >> reporter: it was a huge blow for gun control advocates who outspent the competition and still lost.

new york mayor michael bloomberg has pledged a fight against the nra. the independence institute advocates for second amendment rights. >> i don't think you can underestimate the national impact of what happened here in colorado. let's remember that michael bloomberg has been on a tear to take away gun rights across america and or exploiting these tragic shootings, he was able to make some movement in the states in places like connecticut and new york but he has to make it in the west. >> reporter: bloomberg essentially downplayed the national impact, suggesting it was a local phenomenon, calling it a reflection of a small, carefully selected population of voters' views on the legislature's overall agenda this session. and colorado isn't the only state where gun control is under attack. in missouri, the legislature there debating a bill already vetoed by the governor that would make federal gun laws meaningless. it would have a tough time surviving a challenge in the courts but it could help get

voters' energized approaching the midterm elections next year. >> it's going to excite the base. it's going to excite folks who think that gun rights are very important, whether that being able to own a machine gun or a hunting rifle. >> by the way, several states have tried to nullify federal laws they didn't like. the latest involved arizona's voter registration law that required federal ownership. >> those two recalls is going to spend a pretty powerful political signal out there to other lawmakers, state and federal, who may be wavering from the nra on this issue. >> absolutely. it's the kind of thing that makes a politician think twice, especially during an election year. >> thanks very much. we'll have more of our special coverage on syria coming up right at the top of the hour,

including a harsh charge against president obama from a key republican senator who was known for actually wanting to work with the president. but first, coming up next, anthony weiner's bizarre farewell to a rather bizarre campaign. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat,

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two new york city campaigns come to an end both potentially undone by sex scandals. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: it's not hard to put your finger on why the finger would be anthony weiner's farewell gesture to reporters chasing them. >> show it to me again. >> reporter: it was a rough ride to defeat for both weiner and eliot spitzer. but weiner got if short end of the stick, more hecklers, more drama with opponents like the one he called grandpa. or jokes about his sexting nickname. >> carlos dangler. >> reporter: spitzer's confession seemed dignified compared to the circus over at

weiner headquarters where she showed up to celebrate his loss. weiner cut through a mcdonald's to get to a back door with the press giving chase, then with sydney leathers giving chase and finally retreating. weiner's celticsing partner was there for his confession, but his wife wasn't. eliot spitzer's sex scandal led to some tough questions. >> how could you be this stupid. >> reporter: but there was an interview so nasty that you actually felt the stirrings of sympathy for weiner. msnbc's lawrence o'donnell zeroed in on one question. >> what is wrong with you? anthony, i think there is something wrong with you -- >> you just said that. repeating it doesn't make it any more interesting. >> anthony, i mean it from a psychiatric -- >> just chillax, buddy.

>> reporter: it was a campaign of laughter without mirth. >> the ever-delusional anthony weiner. >> reporter: so it ended with shoving between reporters and weiner handlers. >> do you like the fact that they've been pushing you. >> reporter: and instead of a flamboyant nixonian waving good-bye -- >> the question is what do you plan on doing after you lose? >> i don't plan on losing. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. happening now, the future of a deal to avoid u.s. military strikes against syria, now in the hands of the top u.s. and russian diplomats. why john kerry's urgent mission potentially could fall apart. stand by. the day after the president's big speech, a republican ally on syria lashing out saying the president of the united states is not comfortable being commander in chief. and the nightmare of finding chemical weapons in a war zone. the former chief u.n. weapons

inspector in iraq tells me it could take years. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." at the white house, the united nations and the kremlin, the hard work is just beginning to try to get a deal on removing syria's chemical weapons. russia reportedly has sent the u.s. a plan to put bashar al assad poison gas stockpiles under international control. president obama's told the nation that air-strikes against syria are on hold while he gives diplomacy a chance. now he's sending the secretary of state, john kerry, to geneva, switzerland, for urgent talks with his russian counterparts. jim sciutto will travel with the secretary. he joins us tonight. what's the latest? >> reporter: secretary kerry and foreign minister lavrov have spoken and more details emerges,

syria giving up its chemical weapons to international control but syria signing onto an international chemical weapons ban. these talks in geneva, very key, as the administration puts it, the last thing standing in the way of u.s. military action in syria. with secretary kerry on his way to geneva, the administration's word of the day was time, as in any deal will take more of it. >> i'm not going to place a date or a time limit on it. i don't have a time line to give to you. so i expect this will take some time. >> reporter: the administration's made the basics of a deal clear, syria's chemical weapons must be secured, removed from president bashar al assad's control and destroyed. however, achieving those goals now relies on a negotiating partner in russia with a gaping trust deficit in washington. a point raised by cnn's elyse labott at the state department. >> you think the russians are

doing this in complete faith. >> we have a long and winding history with the russians. we're going into this eyes wide open. >> reporter: in fact, even before negotiations begin, the u.s. and russia already have stark differences. on how long assad would have to give up his weapons, whether a u.n. resolution would be binding and crucially whether a deal would include the threat of force, which russian president vladimir putin has publicly ruled out. >> we can't give up that right. if we give up that right, in the cynical, bitter world of middle east politics, assad will not comply with this agreement. >> reporter: president obama himself has not set any red lines on the negotiations in public. that may be intentional to give secretary kerry some negotiating room. but on that key issue of force, the administration says there is no wiggle room. one u.s. official saying to me just now that the president would never agree to something that would limit his ability to use force if he believed that it was in the interest of the united states. so lots to discuss in geneva.

we're leaving in a few minutes. >> heading out to joint base andrews to fly out with the secretary of state. we'll talk tomorrow. have a safe flight. thanks for that report, jim sciutto. harsh criticism of president obama from a republican senator who's been supporting the use of force. dana bash interviewed bob corker, the ranking member of the foreign relations committee. he was surprisingly candid and brutally tough. dana, tell our viewers what he told you. >> reporter: i set out to do a story on whether how the president handled the issue of syria will affect his potential agenda here on capitol hill. i went to bob corker because he works with him perhaps more than any other republican on domestic and international issues. the fact that corker came back to me with such blunt language, was so exasperated was a shocker. it was even more shocking when he questioned the president's abilities as commander in chief.

>> i really do think they've hurt our credibility around the world, just in the muddled way that they have dealt with this syrian issue. it's just a complete muddlement, if you will. and i don't know -- the president just seems to be very uncomfortable being commander in chief of this nation. >> reporter: he's uncomfortable as commander in chief. >> very. >> reporter: you're speaking not just as somebody who's watched him on television or give speeches in person, but had dinner with him recently, had lunch with him yesterday. what makes you say that? >> it's just the results. we have these conversations. it appears that it has an impact. i would think that most republicans who were at the luncheon yesterday would have believed last night he was going to make the greater case, the strategic case for us in syria. i heard no word, not one word of it. he's very good in an

interpersonal setting. he just cannot follow through. he cannot speak to the nation as a commander in chief. he cannot speak to the world as a commander in chief. he just cannot do it. and i don't know what it is. when i sent an e-mail over this morning to denis mcdonough, his chief of staff, i said i could not be more disappointed in what happened last night. i just think so much -- he doesn't make the case for why this is important to u.s. credibility and why u.s. credibility in the region is so important to our own safety and to the world's safety. >> reporter: has he hurt his credibility with you, specifically, as one of the few republicans, frankly, who is really eager to work with him on domestic fiscal issues? >> well, there's no question. i probably shouldn't be saying everything i'm saying right now, but i guess as a result of last night, my temperature level is

up slightly today. he's a diminished figure here on capitol hill. i can assure you of that. >> reporter: corker said despite feeling like he feels now, he would still drop everything if the phone rang and it were the president or anybody from the white house. he wants to work on the issues like immigration, the debt, deficit and others but he said he is very discouraged. he's actually played golf with the president which the president rarely does. this is not just a republican who's a firebrand saying this. this is somebody who reports him, particularly on syria. >> certainly on these foreign policy issues. amazing words from senator corker. dana, thanks very much. more controversy today for an analyst whose assessment of the syrian rebels was publicly quoted by two high-level u.s. officials as our chris lawrence reported last week. >> there is a real moderate opposition that exists. >> reporter: kerry and republican john mccain both

cited reporting from an analyst who's traveled to syria. >> she works with the -- >> let's bring in barbara starr. what's the latest on elizabeth obage? >> reporter: cnn's interviewed this woman. she last her job with this organization, the institute for the study of war, because the organization says she said she had a ph.d. and she did not. that's why she was fired. but the controversy in the twitterosphere, on blogs is over an op ed she wrote for "the wall street journal" where she has made the case that there is a moderate opposition in syria that can be worked with. what she didn't say publicly quite as much -- what "the wall street journal" did not say in publishing that op ed was she had an affiliation with a group

that supported the syrian rebels, the syrian emergency task force. it was known to her employer. they'd approved it but it didn't make it into that "wall street journal" op ed. "the wall street journal" issued a statement saying they didn't know about it, that they're looking at it. so far they don't see any false opinion in her piece. she's tweeted out that, quote, i'm not trying to trick america here, i'm just trying to show a different side to the conflict that few people have the chance to see. this little piece of controversy goes on. >> certainly does. thanks very much, barbara starr at the pentagon. more of our special syria coverage is coming up. if a chemical weapons deal is possible, would bashar al assad become a sort of partner of the united states. and america marks 12 years since the 9/11 attacks. ray kelly sounds as worried as ever about terrorism. home. home. something you can be proud of. home. safe.

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it would take a huge army of inspect eshz to track down syria's chemical weapons in the middle of a civil war. david kay and our own christiane amanpour are both standing by. we'll be right back. pipe. sfx: birds chirping.

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top u.s. officials tell me there's a solid chance of carrying out a plan for syria to surrender its chemical weapons if the u.s. and russia can actually work out a deal. that's a big, big "if." and joining us now, christiane amanpour, our chief international correspondent, the anchor of "cnn amanpour." and joining us also is david kay, the former u.n. weapons inspectors. christiane, could a breakthrough be achieved in leading towards the destruction of syria's chemical weapons stockpiles? >> it's really possible. obviously the white house is putting all the onus now on russia. they want russia to own this thing, to step up to the plate and if it doesn't work, then it's russia's fault. that's the message we're getting out of the white house. what we know is the russians are

in the process of presenting a plan to the americans. that's going to be reviewed between lavrov and kerry in geneva and we understand they're also going to be having their technical experts with them to discuss the nuts and bolts of what needs to be done. you never know what the syrians are going to say or what anybody is going to say about the actual end game and the end objective. but i spoke to a russian ambassador to the eu today. and he said the end game, the goal of this is to eventually destroy syria's chemical weapons. so they're saying that publicly. >> that would be pretty good. that's a lot better than degrading and deterring. actually destroying those chemical weapons stockpiles would be ideal. but in the middle of a civil war, how complicated would be even assuming the russians and syrians are on board? how many people would be required? >> it would be extraordinarily

complicated. first of all, you have to assume the syrians tell you exactly where the weapons are and all the weapons and all the information about the weapons. and that you don't have to play cat and mouse. but making that assumption, you've still got the fact that the rebels have a game going on, too. it's called their side of the civil war. they're not a unified command. i can't believe that they would agree to a cease-fire. in fact, some of the rebels have lusted after chemical weapons for years, the al qaeda elements. so i think this is something that if he were to do it and the syrians provide the security so that the inspectors do not have to bring their security with them, you're probably still talking well over 1,000 people. and if you want to do it faster, it requires more people. >> more than 1,000 people, over how long of a period of time, realistically? assuming the best case scenario from the syrian regime of bashar al assad has agreed and will

cooperate in the destruction of its own chemical weapons? >> the hard thing in answering that, wolf, is that we really don't know how large their stockpile is. their production facility was capability of producing 100 tons a year. i don't think they ran it. no one thinks they ran it at that capacity. but the estimates are wildly all over the place, from 1,000 tons up to 10,000 tons and less responsible people are higher than that. i just don't know. i would guess it's going to take well over ten years in the midst of the civil war to do this. you've got to do it in syria. it is, quite frankly, idiotic to think you're going to take the weapons someplace else. the road structure, the fact there's a civil war, the fact that these are in many cases aging weapons, you're just not going to put them in a truck and truck them anyplace else to do it. you have to build the facilities there. in the u.s. case, most people don't realize, we've spent $35

billion so far and still haven't gotten rid of our chemical weapons. >> that's a huge, huge number. christiane, assuming this works -- and that's a big """if but the russian/u.s. relationship has deteriorated. but this could potentially turn things around. >> it could. what's so interesting, i put to the russian ambassador, don't you think that president putin was duly influenced by the massive show of force that the united states was talking about, the credible threat of force to back up their diplomacy? and he said, well, you know, perhaps putin was rescuing obama because he was isolated in congress and looking at a defeat in congress. so both sides are playing that little bit of political game. but i think there's no doubt that if this does work, it will go a long way to repairing the real poisonous relationship that exists between russia and the

united states right now. but it's not the end of the story because the war won't be over -- the conventional war in syria will go on. nobody quite knows what's going to happen to assad. does he now become partner of russia and the united states because he's going to be the one with whom you have to deal to get these weapons controlled, observed, monitored, destroyed. what happens to the conventional war that's killed 100,000 people. as you know, the syrian opposition today feel like they've been sold down the river. interestingly, though, look, it's a development, syria has admitted that it has chemical weapons. and even today, another cabinet minister -- seems they're falling all over themselves to give details about their chemical weapons. he said to a.p., look, we had chemical weapons as an attempt to create a strategic balance with israel, who everybody knows but nobody's declared has nuclear weapons. they keep giving little details about what's going on. and they fully expect, they

said, to put them under international supervision. >> christiane, david, thanks to both of you for joining us. >> thank you. up next, painful tributes and new fears on this september 11th. stand by. the new york city police commissioner joins me. he has a very disturbing assessment of the terror threat 12 years later. i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away.thing. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer,

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be sure to stick around for "crossfire" at the bottom of the hour. the show is making an impression over at the white house. listen to what white house press secretary jay carney said today. >> we can debate on "crossfire" when we're both out of our current jobs. >> we can arrange that. >> we'll talk to stephanie and newt.

bells at ground zero in new york to mark the day and hour 12

years ago when nearly 3,000 americans were killed by terrorists. on this september 11th, the loss and the pain felt fresh as the names of the dead were read once again. >> steven patrick driscoll. >> charles a. drows iii. >> christopher michael duffy. >> gerard j. duffy. >> michael joseph duffy. >> as always, tributes were held at other sites as well where the hijacked planes crashed, a field in shanksville, pennsylvania, and over at the pentagon. president obama laid a wreath there and reminded the nation that the terror threat is still very real. from the new york right now, joining me is the police commissioner, ray kelly. commissioner, thanks very much for coming in on this very important day.

>> good to be with you, wolf. >> you recently said, commissioner, that the threat of terrorism is, in your words, as great if not greater today than it was before the 9/11 attacks. explain what you mean, because that raised a lot of eyebrows. it raised a lot of concern when i heard you say that. >> well, obviously core al qaeda has been diminished somewhat in pakistan and in the fatah. but we see the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, in yemen, in maghreb, gaining strength, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has had several plots against the united states. al qaeda in iraq, which was basically defunct in 2008, they have emerged. we have the front in syria that is in many ways supplied .

we have al shabaab. in the last ten months in new york city, we have had several threats against the city. we had an individual five blocks away from where i stand thought that he was exploding a bomb that was going to blow up the federal reverse bank. obviously that was a sting well put together by the fbi. we had two other individuals who came here last november, the fazi brothers, who were plotting to have bombs go off in iconic ladies in new york city. we just had a young man a few months ago, based on some significant undercover work, he was arrested, going to yemen to learn about terrorism and terrorism training. and we're sure he would have come back here. we had another plot where individuals were arrested and one of the things they were

going to do was to attack a train going from new york city to canada. we had the boston bombers who were coming back here to new york. so these are some things that are not necessarily in the public eye. i think they should be. but that's the life that we live here. we've had at least 16 plots directed at new york city since 9/11. so that doesn't look to me like a significant reduction of the threat. >> the new york city police commissioner ray kelly. he's even more worried now than he was before 9/11. he says that threat is still very, very real. remember, you can always follow what's going on here in "the situation room" on twitter. tweet me, @wolfblitzer. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "crossfire" starts right now. tonight on "crossfire," is obama losing the syria fight at home but winning on the world stage?

>> we've seen some encouraging signs. in part because of the credible threat of u.s. military action. >> should congress force a deadline or keep waiting for the russians? on the left, stephanie cutter, on the right, newt gingrich. in the "crossfire," steve israel, who supports the president's solutions in syria, and marsha blackburn, who's opposed. syria, how long should we wait? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt gingrich on the right. >> and i'm stephanie cutter on the left. later tonight, secretary of state john kerry takes off for negotiations with the russians on eliminating chemical weapons in syria. let's review what's happened in just the last 48 hours. as a result of president obama's threat of military force, assad finally admitted syria has chemical weapons. syria offered to sign a treaty that it's resisted for decades and russia finally got involved

in the peace process after obstructing us for two years. newt, sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. this is progress. the president's use of force worked and you should admit that. i know you're a critic -- >> or this is a very clever maneuver by putin to guarantee that assad survives. time will tell which of those two versions is accurate. but at the moment we have two members of the house in the crossfire tonight. new york democrat steve israel supports president obama's syria plan. tennessee republican marsha blackburn is against it. we're dlited both of you are here. let me start with you, congressman israel. how much do you trust the russians to take the leadership in finding a path when it's their ally who's in the middle of this? >> you will be happy to know, newt, that i agree with ronald reagan's assessment, trust but verify. and we need to spend the next several days verifying. that's exactly what's happening. secretary kerry is en route to geneva to meet with lavrov.