olive oil. while supplies laughs. it's given the restaurant a nice boost. >> juicy and dlirs. >> no juicier than the scandal itself. >> this was a very dumb thing to do. >> jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> that does it for me and thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." john king usa starts right now. >> thanks, wolf and good evening. a stunning admission from democratic congressman anthony wiener of new york. hours after new embarrassing photographs of wiener were posted by a conservative website, he said he lied when he said a hacker sent a suggestive photo on his twitter account to a young woman in washington state. >> it's clear the picture was of me and i sent it. i am deeply sorry for the pain this caused my wife and our

family and my constituents and friends, supporters and staff. in addition over the past few years, i have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over twitter, facebook, e-mail and occasionally on the phone with women i met online. i exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with six women over three years. for the most part these communications to place before my marriage though some sadly took place after. to be clear, i never met any of these women or had physical relationships at any time. >> the congressman said he has no plans to resign his house seelt and did not answer directly when he was abandoning hope of being new york city's next mayor. >> i don't believe i violated any law. what i did was something that demonstrated a failing and that's why i'm here. >> whether he keeps his

congressional senate seat are in question tonight. they are furious for lying and nancy pelosi is asking for an ethics committee investigation to determine whether the congressman used government resources or whether he violated any house rules. kate baldwin is tracking the fog and kate, we knew the leadership was mad at the congressman then. what about now? >> i think you are spot on in saying the democratic leadership was furious with what they were hearing for anthony wiener. worth noting as you said, a short time ago, the leader nancy pelosi called for a house ethics committee investigation into all of this. democrats are noting they are take the situation very, very seriously. two things she said to determine if government resources were used and if any house rules were violated. more fallout on capitol hill. the man in charge of getting democrats elected to the house

for israel, he released a statement agreeing that an investigation should occur saying that ultimately anthony wiener's constituentsville to decide on what the future is. they are underscoring this is serious and the democratic leader is calling for the investigation. on the flip side, republicans call this hollow and that it's noteworthy that nancy pelosi is calling for an investigation to step down. we should know that anthony wiener released a statement saying he will cooperate with and welcome any investigation from the house. >> this unfolding in recent hours. bringing the committeeing to to get to work. >> it's not a short process as you well know, but you can also note that during that press conference, you can see that anthony wiener was already

lining up his defense for what you can anticipate would be an ethics committee investigation. he was making the case that this was not a blackberry. he did this on his own time. he did not think he used any government resources. noteworthy also, he received this from one source saying that two questions were left unanswered after we heard today. whether he used government resources and whether the women involved were underage. the process continues >> the process continues and questions will continue despite the long appearance today. with the breaking news, thanks. >> the congressman's tone was apologetic, a far cry of how he handled the dram a. listen to a more combative congressman wiener with cnn's wolf blitzer the other day. >> did you send that picture to the college student in washington state? >> i did not. she said she never got it and doesn't know me i certainly don't know her. this seems like a prank to make fun of my name. when you are named wiener, that

happens a lot. 45,000 some ought twitter followers. this seems like a prank that got an enormous amount of attention. >> this was the picture and i'm sure you have seen this by now. is it you? >> we have a firm we hired -- i have seen it. a firm we hired to get to the bottom of it. i can tell you this. photos can be manipulate and of one thing changed to look like something else. we will get to the bomb of what happened. maybe john stewart had it right. we will find out. this is turned into an international whodunit. whoa it was was a prank. i am treating it like a prank and trying to get back to the work i am trying to do. >> we want to resolve it. this is your under pants? >> i appreciate you continuing to flash that at me.

i said the best i can that we will try to get to the bottom of what happened here. i want to caution you and you understand this that photographs can be manipulated and taken from one place and put in another and photos can be doctored. i want to make sure we know for sure what happened here. it doesn't look familiar to me, but i don't want to say with cert tud. i didn't send any twitter picture. >> tonight the congressman said he did send the photo and more. >> i have made terrible mistakes and i hurt the people i care about the most and am deeply sorry. i have not been honest with myself, my family and my constituents and my friends and supporters and the media. >> what about his higher political aspirations. they are with us and both democratic strategists and also

with us is marshall cramer of w cbs tv. to you first. you and paul have the experience of helping a president through a crisis that was both a personal failing and professional and political challenge. grade congressman wiener today. >> can you get anything below an f? he set himself up and denied that the guy had the computer. the only thing i can think of and thank god he doesn't have any children. his wife is literally one of the best people i know and they're livid for putting her through that. he is not a popular man. he knew that the stuff was out there and it's hard to believe he went out and so aggressively lied about it. he would have been better not to comment. >> leader pelosi called before

the news conference and knew going into the conference he was not going to resign. she quickly called for an ethics investigation. do you believe he can survive this? >> can, yes. we don't know -- i hate to sound like donald rumsfeld, but we don't know what we don't know. he cannot survive any further lies he lies to the ethics committee, she through. i hope he understands that. he can't lie to colleagues or the media any longer. he has to come clean with the ethics process. if so, then he can. there is three to me. three circles here. first is his wife. he was a friend of mine and my heart breaks for her. second are the colleagues. they can't expel him from the house. the third, he has 17 months to work on it and has to do all three. god help him if he lies more. he's threw. >> covering new york city

politics, you have also tried to cover the story in recent days and not getting answers over several days now, you get the answers today. your take on today? >> i think thatthere is a lot of things going on here. when he said he has a lot of work to do with constituents, he does. when i went to the district last week, i found only one person out of about 25 or 30 that i interviewed that said that this should be put to rest. everybody else said they didn't believe him and thought they were lying. now he admitted he lie and he has a lot of work to do to repair the relationship. remember, new york is a very difficult place to run for elected office. he has vulnerabilities and a lot of people would like to represent the ninth district and think if he runs again in november of 2012, he will have a number of people who are going to run against him on the democratic side and on the republican side. i also think you have something else at play that affects the national political scene.

in 2012, the house republicans are going to be trying desper e desperately to hold on to their roll of the house. if anthony wiener is running and does not resign, the democrats will have a problem. the republicans are going to use him as the poster boy in all of the districts for everything thaw don't want to have at a democratic representative. i think that maybe the action by nancy pelosi today speaks to that fear and the concern that he may be damaging in the 2012 elections when they are trying desperately to recapture the house. that's something that has to play out and maybe the threat of that. this woman whether we believe her or not from radar online said that she had a compromising conversation with him on his house phone. she may be using house facilities in a way that was inappropriate and may come back to haunt him. >> those are questions the

ethics committee will deal with and that would be a trip wire. i'm sure you agree if government resources were used. does it matter that this is a guy who has challenged the leadership and said i don't like the messaging. you are not tough enough. he does not have a reservoir of good will in his own caucus among the republicans. does that matter? >> it might. i don't speak of pelosi well. this is the kind that frankly would not sit very well with her. even if it were someone -- >> why didn't she come out and say quit? >> i don't know. why didn't david viter quit? i don't know. what are the possible criminal ramifications? she certainly called for the ethics investigations and i'm not sure she asked him to quit.

maybe she asked him personally and they were just in the first afternoon of the story. we will have to see where it goes. >> we are in the first afternoon of this startling turn in this story anyway. marcia james and paul. the power in yemen could benefit the terrorist group and president obama said kept him up most at night. next, more on congressman's wiener's dramatic about-face. we will hear his answer to this question. it s microparticles, enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief to the site of pain. it's clinically proven to relieve pain twice as fast. new bayer advanced aspirin.

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the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >> after 10 days of blaming a hacker and 10 days of staying silent, they accused a website of smearing him. he stepped up to a microphone and changed everything. >> this is not anyone else's fault. anyone else didn't demonstrate their mistakes i did it and i take responsibility for that and i'm not looking to point blame or share responsibility with anyone.

i will try to convince them that this is a personal failing and learn. i can keep doing what i have done. work hard every day. there was not anything about this i would say that changes my ability or my record of filling potholes or community service. this was a personal failing and i hope they see it that way. if they see it as a personal failing and they wouldn't vote for me, that's their decision. i will have to work very hard. >> cnn's mary snow was in the room. take us in that remarkable event today. wow. >> what a drama it was. not only the stunning about-face from congressman wiener after being so defined and saying he lied, but emotional at several times. his voice started quivering and it sounded like he was going to cry when he talked about his wife and family and letting them down.

less than two hours before he was supposed to take the podium and as they rushed to the scene waiting for him to enter not knowing what he was going to say, they entered the room. he had a big group around him. pictures posted as congressman weaner and at one point they said go up to the podium. he did and he took over the press conference. when congressman wiener was supposed to be up there, people were hearing from him and he said he wanted apologies and he was accused of hacking the congressman's twitter account and he said he wanted vindication. congressman wiener said he showed up about 25 minutes after 4:00. he answered questions for about a half hour. it was only because somebody had

gotten into the room and clearly it wasn't a reporter and trying to goat him that he ended the press conference. >> a media event. some will say circus. mary, thanks for the excellent reporting. they called this a personal failing. it is for the most part. there professional and political questions. that's the committee being asked to determine whether the congressman broke any rules of conduct. whether his constituents forgive him for lying. today's apology a former cry from the cnn correspondent and our producer. >> this was a thank that i have now talked to decide what i talk about for the next week or two weeks. i will not be doing anything

more than in the past. >> we appreciate that, but you are not answering the questions. can you say what you asked them to investigate what you are alleging? >> if i was giving a speech to 45,000 people and someone in the back of a room threw a pie or yld an insult, would i spend two hours responding to that? no. i would get back. >> this is not that situation. >> i would get back. >> you want to do the briefing? you want to do the briefing, sir? >> from your twitter account, the lewd photograph was sent to a college student. answer the question. it was from you? >> sir -- do you guys want me to finish my answer? >> yes, this answer. did you send it or not? >> if i were giving a speech to 45,000 people and someone in the back threw a pie or yelled out an insult, i would not spend the next two hours of my speech responding to that pie or that

insult. i would return to the things i want to talk about to the audience. >> all you have to do is say no. >> that are is what i intend to do. >> still with us as is w cbs correspondent. to you first. some of what the congressman was saying was reminiscent to the days. when bill clinton would say when questioned about things like this, you are trying to make this about me and i want to make it about you, the american people whether they have jobs or health care. it's a classic deflection out of the playbook. again, i asked you to grade him beforehand and i want to ask you to give him advice. what does he need to do? >> shut up. that's the first thing. now he is in the ethics committee where all he can do is go into full apology and hope for the best. i don't know that there is any kind of a magical political

advice to give a guy who is in this circumstance. a very good thing is whatever the house ethics committee asks you, tell the truth. just resign. this guy in upstate new york did. he got out. they are going to subpoena yourself. the colleagues and leader pelosi. he is not a popular guy in this caucus to say the least. >> candidate clinton and then governor and president clinton had remarkable skills, but during the lewinsky scandal, he had what i call the political good fortune of republicans in the view of many. i will be criticized for this,

but what they do by ken star, they gave president clinton a foil that he used to his advantage to keep his base on his side. i don't have in the array of statements anything from any republican. talking about anthony wiener. >> very smart. you are absolutely right. our viewers don't need to inunidate you. the american people thought the republicans and especially ken starr were way out of line and what clinton did was terrible. one of the reasons he survived is because his enemies and adversaries were so out of line, especially ken starr. no republican has done this. i give john boehner a lot of credit. he is apparently and sources inside his conference, i believe he is exerting real leadership in sitting on his people. if your enemies is destroying himself, don't interrupt. this is to their credit.

he didn't say this is a vast right wing experience and at least to his credit, he said this is all my fault, which it is. >> you work in the countries most rock em sock em environment. you tried to talk to the congressman and wiener calls cops on cbs. >> that's absolutely true. >> where are we going here? does he have a chance of being the next mayor? >> i don't think so, but stranger things have happened. i think the first question is whether he gets any chance of being reelected to congress and after that if he gets reelected, you can talk about whether he has hopes. i think at this point there is a feeling that that race may have passed him by and the best chance is to get elected to congress again and stay in congress. that's certainly not a certainty. he is vulnerable and a lot of bright politicians will take him

out. it's too soon to tell and too soon to see what he will try to be. what he can say after he said i lied. >> appreciate your insight and thanks for coming in in the middle of this breaking news. congressman wiener stood alone at the podium today and said he believes his marriage will survive. next, the day's other big headlines including an assessment of japan's post earthquake nuclear crisis.

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welcome back. here's the latest news you need to know. japan acknowledged the crisis at the plant was worse than we have been told. the government more than doubled its estimate of how much radiation was released and also the country's nuclear response headquarters said three of the plants for reactors experienced full melt downs. president obama having dinner at a georgetown restaurant tonight. earlier today the president and top advisers met to discuss afghanistan and whether to speed up withdrawal of forces. no decisions were made, but hamid karzai will be there on wednesday. santorum heads to iowa after being in his home state of pennsylvania. >> i'm ready to do what has to be done. with the courage to fight for freedom.

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>> congressman anthony wiener was by himself as he admitted that he sent a lewd photograph to a college student over twitter 10 days ago and he acknowledged more. >> for the past few years i engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over twitter, facebook, e-mail and occasionally on the phone with women i had met online. i exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with women over the past three years. for the most part these communications took place before my marriage though some have sadly took place after. i think it is more inappropriate things i have done since i married my primary sense of regret and my primary apology goes to my wife. i should not have done this. i should note have done this

particularly when i was married. that's why i'm apologizing. >> why would you do this after you are married. the question is -- [inaudible] . what were you thinking? >> i don't know what i was thinking. this was a destructive thing to do. i am apologetic for doing it. it was deeply hurtful to the people i care about the most. it was something that i did that was just wrong. i regret it. >> congressman, are you going to split up with your wife because of this? >> i love my wife very much. you going to split? >> i love my wife very much. we have no intention of splitting up over this. we have been through a great deal together. we will weather this. i love her very much and she loves me. >> dr. drew pinsky was among those watching the apology and

his explanation today. dr. drew with us live. let me ask you up front. he was talking about the personal toll of this and the personal test of this. what did you make of it? >> he's at least being honest finally. you can just imagine the magnitude of the shame that comes rushing in when somebody has to speak up publicly and admit to something as huh mailiating as this and will have a profound impact on his personal live and professional career. my biggest fear is that this sometimes, the crushing nature of this public scrutiny and the shame that goes along with it can precipitate severe depression and some people will be suicidal. i caution everyone to remind ourselves that there is a man behind this, even though we are outrage and angry he lie and trying to understand this behavior, there is real potential for this to go to a very, very bad place. i hope people who care about

this man are watching him carefully. >> you make that point and it's important. there is a human price here and a human story here. that part deserves to be respected. i want you to listen when he talks, he was trying to protect himself and he was embarrassed. he said he was trying to protect his wife. i want you to listen to a bit of his interview where he hints at that at the end. listen to this. >> you protecting anyone? >> yes. >> who? >> i'm protecting my wife. who every day is waking up to insane stories that are getting so far from reality. we have been married less than a year. to watch her watch these stories gets crazier and crazier about what is a prank and a hoax. we knew what when we went to bed not batting an eye. she married a congressman and she knows something about living in public life and with that goes a certain amount of aggravation.

i don't think she imagined that it would be this and stories connected about social media. i am protecting her as best i can. it comes across in a different context. >> it sure does. i'm sure he was protecting her, but mostly himself from the deep shame that he was likely to be exposed to. an interesting thing about the interviews, i know everyone was trying to figure out and know you heard the reporters ask this, what were you thinking? when you talk to them after the fact, they usually can't tell you what they were thinking. they weren't thinking. in those certain moment where is they are trying to evoke these experiences, they don't contemplate consequences and they aren't thinking the fact is that very often guys that need this sort of stimulation, they go off line and start to make what we call face-to-face or flesh contact. he was heading in that direction with the phone calls.

that's rather disturbing. my hope is that this couple will stay together. these people came down as a couple, the wieners can end up in a good place with treatment. >> how much of this is exploding and touch more difficult is it in the place we are. it was one set of photographs that got them in trouble. he had some inappropriate communications over the years. they interviewed one of them and he is from texas. listen to this exchange. >> which was the first one? >> that one right there. this one. >> first this one. >> uh-huh. >> then this one second? >> scary. i'm watching his face. >> when does this come? >> i'm not sure when that came, the exact date. >> why did this come? >> i have no idea. i guess to show me it's really me. >> when you see the sequence,

the woman explaining. she was involved in a back and forth and pictures of her we will not put on television she was sending him. what does that tell us? >> you know, it's hard to conclude much. it's so inappropriate. i imagine that was the exchange that happened before he was married. frankly old guys like me certainly and maybe john, you are in this camp with me. it's hard to make sense of what people are attempting to get out of these sorts of exchanging. what are they hoping to evoke? it's certainly something that has been pervasive and it is a problem. it got to the point where people abuse these sorts of things. let's keep it back to the personal facts. it's very common for people with these sorts of compulsions to end up progressing to the point that they have consequences. i know a lot of people shake their heads and say oh, my goodness. what if they hadn't gotten caught? i would remind you that to some extent their sense of

specialness and entitlement does insulate them from thinking about the consequences, but more often than not, it's like any other addiction where they don't feel that there consequences until they come to bear. until the family brings them in and the courts bring them in. that's when they feel the consequences and things have to change. >> if the congressman asks for your help, would you say stay and fight to save yourself politically and personally or quit your job and save your life? >> boy. i would have to talk to him. that's a great question. i would say and hope that he would put his personal life as the priority. that marriage can be salvage and they can end up in a very good place. often time when is people engage in treatment of an intense nature with these disorders, they make different career plans anyway. often times it is the people important in our lives that should be the priority. not our career. when people take on this much responsibility and this much of a public life, it's hard for them to let go.

he may decide that's more important or equally as his personal life. as such, he is in for a difficult battle. >> appreciate your insight. >> tonight yemen's president is in a hospital in saudi arabia. could that end yemen's chaos and will it get worse if he tries to come home? i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different.

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>> today u.s. officials told cnn the country's president is more severely hurt than reported. the president is in a saudi arabiian hospital and the vice president is the country's acting ruler. the u.s. official said some tribes are honoring the vice president's call for a ceasefire. senior international correspondent is monitoring the situation. let's start there. how important is this ceasefire and how fragile is it? >> reporter: incredibly fragile and hugely important because the security forces have the potential to be destructive. it's incredibly fragile because overnight we are getting reports in the district that are close to the presidential palace and that area having fun fire from the city where there have been demonstrations against the government tonight. the can't government gunmen facing off in gun battles with

security forces. government killed 50 protesters there last week under much condemn nation. according to a government security source, islamist gunmen have been engaged in battles killing five civilians, four government soldiers and wounding 17 civilians. that's the picture that we are getting tonight and we are not able to get the accurate information on the ground. that gives an indication of it was calm during the day. it's an incredibly fragile ceasefire. >> closest at play. how important and what role they are taking in trying to broker peace. >> they are playing a leading role. they were behind the ceasefire that was broken on friday and managed to pressure the president to leave the country.

at the same time saudi arabia can really influence both sides and can influence the president and can influence the opposition. the family leading the main tribe can play a significant role, but can they convince the president not to go back to yemen? that's the big question the vice president today said he will be back in a few days. >> have to keep our eye on that one and we'll do so. thanks. joining us now from yemen's capital, the yemen times political reporter. let's start with this word today that the president may come back from saudi arabia. would that be acceptable you think or cause an outbreak in violence? >> if he came back, it means a bloody civil war. there is no other choice he is coming back and doing his jobs as a president again. >> what are is the sense now

with the temporary government? will it be a temporary government or transitional government? is there a possibility the ceasefire will hold or is that too uncertain? >> the first president to be the acting president so far. the protesters themselves didn't want him to be the acting president saying that he is part of the regime and he has to be gone too. he is not a character that can fill the position. he is ruled by the president's son from behind the scenes. they know they are holding more discussion and trying to plan for the coming dates. >> whether it's a government official or american citizen who has the fear today that because of the chaos in yemen, it could become the pre9-11 afghanistan and a country in which

terrorists are free to organize. is that a possibility or is that an exaggeration? >> an exaggeration for sure. they are a minority for sure and few members so they are dangerous. that's it. it's everything here that is carried out. they believe they have to fight them. it's exaggerating actually. >> the political reporter, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> today secretary of state hillary clinton. whether that transition will give terrorists and could be more of a free reign than they have. with us to discuss this issue is president bush's homeland security adviser and the differently homeland security.

a defense of near eastern studies at princeton university. you heard the assessment of the yemen times political correspondent saying we have a problem, but don't have support. they are a distinct minority and wouldn't be a huge problem. >> it's too early to say that. wouldn't become a huge problem, do you agree? >> i think it's too early to really say that, john. al qaeda has been able to thrive inside yemen and forge this very strong al qaeda in the arabian peninsula because they had the protection of tribes. some of those tribes are part of saleh's opposition right now. and the question is, how do you bring these tribes and groups together to form a transitional, the next government. islamists have been a real problem inside the yemen parliament. so it is by no means certain that al qaeda and the arabian peninsula would not try to take advantage of the chaos and insert themselves into the power structure that follows saleh. >> and professor, come into the conversation, as you do, i'll

walk into the map to help our viewers understand yemen a little bit better. you bring it up, like many countries of the region, it is more tribal-based than provinces or anything like that. you have tribes and see some al qaeda influence. i'm saying influence in the light orange. when you look at this, and understand the tribes, as you know them well, a, how much influence does the united states have? >> i think the united states has influence throughout saudi arabia. the saudis are as invested as not having al qaeda in yemen as we are. so it's crucial that the saudis help bring about a national unity government that will prevent al qaeda from forming. the other thing that we have to keep in mind is that president saleh has constantly used the al qaeda threat to extract concessions and money and military equipment from the united states, and from saudi arabia. so his relationship to al qaeda is not one of enmitty. he has in the past collaborated

with them and found it convenient to have them on the ground. >> you hear the professor say that, saleh's convenient to have on the ground. if you're an american citizen, and i know firsthand the president says this is the country and organization that keeps him up most late at night. links to the ft. hood shooter, links to the times square bombing attempt. al qaeda in arabian peninsula has not been able to pull off a huge full-scale attack, with the exceptions of the links to the ft. hood shooter, what would you say? >> it's true to say they haven't pulled off a successful attack, but they survived with the protection of the tribes and the acquiescence of the saleh government. it was maddening to me when i was in the white house, we pushed him very hard, but having him there, it was like a bad child, he got attention and money and resources as a result of that. we too relied on the government of saudi arabia because of their relationship and proximity to

yemen, but also because of this same group was responsible for the attempted assassination of the head of the saudi security service, their version of the fbi. the saudis have a real interest here. remember, this is the same group, john that launched an attack with guns from yemen against our consulate when i was in the white house. this is a shared national security interest between the united states and saudi arabia. >> and we to in the united states don't like these -- normally, we go along with them a lot, but it's your reflex to not like these strong arm regimes, but in your view, how likely is a civil war? >> i think if president saleh comes back to yemen, the likelihood of a civil war is very high, because he wants to sow chaos to prove he's the one man who can bring stability to the country. allowing him to come back, and i'm getting conflicting signals from the saudis whether they will allow him to return or not, but his returning is a very bad

omen for the future of yemen. professor bernard haykel, and our fran townsend, thank you both for coming in tonight. and this has also been a very bloody day in syria. with a new and potentially dangerous twist. the regime admits more than 100 of its own soldiers are dead. is syria closer to civil war? but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

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another bloody day in syria. state television says 120 members of the regime security forces were killed by what the regime calls armed gangs. reports from both the government and opposition groups indicate this time the heavy violence is in the northwestern part of the country. cnn's arwa damon joins us now from beirut. arwa, state tv in syria reporting 120 security forces killed by what they call an ambush by armed gangs. obviously, we're not there independently. can we verify this or do we believe it's propaganda from the regime? >> reporter: well, it's difficult to tell at this stage, john. according to what state tv is saying, the bulk of those casualties happened today in the combination of an ambush and a firefight that took place with a number of other clashes with individuals they're calling armed gangs. they're saying they entered this area in northwestern syria at the request of residents, claiming that the residents said that these armed individuals were holding them hostage in their homes.

what we had been hearing from eyewitnesss and activists over the weekend is that the military laid siege to this part of northwestern syria, entering it using tanks, armored personnel carriers, even according to activists, using attack helicopters to indiscriminately strike at residents. and today we have this news coming out on syrian state television that some sort of clashes had erupted, resulting in great casualties to syrian security forces. now, we did get in touch with one activist who's a resident in the area. he said that some people were trying to fight back using their hunting rifles. another activist saying that it did appear that in this case, individuals had, in fact, armed themselves and were quite certainly, or it would appear to this activist that they were fighting back. but this a very disturbing development, and activists growing increasingly worried that these types of possibly extremist armed elements are going to try to hijack what activists were really trying to make sure remained a peaceful uprising at this stage, john. >>wa