premier of "anthony bourdain parts unknown." he will take his taste buds to jerusalem, gaza and the west bank sunday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern and 9:00 p.m. pacific. that's it for "the lead." i now turn you over to wolf blitzer. he's right next door in "the situation room." jake, thank you very much. happening now, we have breaking news. there are new details emerging of a possible u.n. resolution on syria, and a sticking point on the use of force. also, the search for syria's chemical weapons. does anyone outside the bashar al assad regime know where they are right now? plus, joe biden's latest off the cuff zinger. what the vice president and possible presidential candidate said about republicans. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." let's get right to the breaking news on syria. senior obama administration officials are now saying they do not expect russia to agree to include anything in a u.n.

security council resolution that would trigger the use of military force in syria. that comes as talks between the secretary of state john kerry and the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in geneva, switzerland are kicking into overdrive. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is traveling with the secretary. he's joining us live from geneva right now with the very latest. jim, what is the latest? >> reporter: well, wolf, this u.n. security council resolution development is significant because if true, it would remove the major disagreement between secretary kerry and foreign minister lavrov. they say here they're not negotiating the u.n. security council resolution here in geneva and that's true, but it's been hanging over these talks since the beginning and some has bubbled up in public with kerry and lavrov saying in public that they have a real disagreement there. kerry saying that force is the only thing that brought the syrians to the table. lavrov saying he wants force off the table. now, the meetings are continuing tonight and they are going to continue into tomorrow, involving kerry and lavrov as

well. i spoke to an administration official who said that if there was no opening in these talks, we wouldn't still be here. and this administration official went on to say that they have made their first step in progress and that the two sides coming closer to agreement on the scope of syria's chemical weapons stockpile, this significant as well because from the very beginning of this trip, u.s. officials have been telling us that the first test of syria's and russia's, for that matter, seriousness about moving forward on chemical weapons is how forthcoming they are going to be about all the details of these chemical weapons supplies. 48 hours into these crucial u.s./russia talks, the only certainty is that the talks will go on. >> i think we would both agree that we had a constructive conversation regarding that, that those conversations are continuing and both of us want to get back to them now. >> reporter: already, the timeline has been extended until the u.n. general assembly meets in new york at the end of the

month. stretching the meetings out at least 15 more days. state department officials say they are aware of the possibility of diplomacy is worth it. >> are we naive about the fact these may not go anywhere? no. but the progress we've seen just in 72 hours is such a stark contrast to where we were just a week or two ago. >> reporter: the growing timeline shows the immense challenges facing the obama administration as it attempts to balance the desire for quick resolution against hopes to avoid military action. all this depending on cooperation from the less than ideal partners in russia and syria. >> i think we'll see delaying tactics by the syrian government. we'll see a very tough negotiating position by the russian government. so the united states has got to be very tough-minded, skeptical, and demanding as we go through this process. i would think this is going to take several weeks. >> reporter: bashar al assad may have one more reason to delay, as the u.n. chief revealed today that at the conclusion of any diplomatic resolution, assad may end up in a courtroom for war

crimes. >> he has committed many crimes against humanity and therefore, i'm sure that there will be surely the process of accountability when everything is over. >> reporter: from here, secretary kerry will go on to jerusalem to meet with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, to talk about peace talks there but also certainly the chemical weapons agreement. then he goes on to paris to meet with the french foreign minister and the british foreign minister, again to talk about this chemical weapons agreement. you can see here how the timeline of these negotiations can stretch out when we begin earlier in the week, we were talking about days. now it's going into weeks. u.s. officials talking about a u.n. security council resolution in weeks. this timeline is not over. we're just at the beginning. but we are at least here in geneva seeing the beginning of some progress, at least on the issue of chemical weapons. >> that's what the secretary and his aides keep saying. they keep saying to you, jim, if

they weren't making progress, they wouldn't continue these talks, these negotiations. i guess the secretary's going to be a pretty busy guy. so are you, over the next several days. thank you very much. jim sciutto reporting from geneva. president obama was asked today about a timeline for resolving the syrian crisis. he didn't give an answer, but he did say this. >> but i repeated what i've said publicly, which is that any agreement needs to be verifiable and enforceable. we agreed that ultimately what's needed for the underlying conflict is a political settlement that allows ordinary syrians to get back to their homes to rebuild and to relieve the enormous suffering that's taking place. >> the president was meeting with the visiting emir of kuwait. let's dig deeper with gloria borger and jessica yellin.

why isn't there a deadline on all of this? >> look, he doesn't want to handcuff john kerry right now. they're in the middle of negotiations. but i do think that the united states needs to show a sense of impatience, because after all, they want to get this resolved. they want to put these obligations on the syrians. they want to make sure the chemical weapons are not used and after the president made the case to the country that this is a moral issue for us, that i think he can't let this kind of drag on for a very long time. >> because white house officials are saying the president is showing real leadership right now, he's carefully thinking everything through, he's not rushing into anything that could potentially be horrible for the united states. a lot of critics, though, say this is just a mess. >> right. that's their argument is he's actually showing intellectual flexibility by adapting to changing circumstances, by being willing to strike and then being willing to negotiate. and this is part of their psyche

that goes back to actually the campaign days, when they argue everybody thought he didn't have a chance to win, conventional wisdom was against him, and he disproved all the elites and actually pulled out a win. but you know, the difference is in this case, he's working out his thinking in public, and as the leader of the nation, sometimes you just have to act and not show us your cards as you're making your decisions. so there's a little bit of, you know, a discomfort in the nation right now because we're seeing too much of his internal machinations. woonchlg >> we had the swagger with george w. bush. the public didn't like the swagger. i don't think they like the zigzag any more and they don't like a president to play out his private ambivalence in public. we don't need to be, you know, he's a very thoughtful guy, everybody understands that. but that doesn't always work when you're a leader. you don't need to let the public in on your entire thought process. >> history is written by the victors and if he does get a success and the chemical weapons

are given up, none of this process will matter and he'll be seen -- >> all the serious chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed, that would be a huge success not only for the u.s., for the entire region. >> let me say, this right now has turned out working out pretty well for the congress, because those folks didn't want to take a vote. they know it's unpopular in the country. so if this plays out in the united nations for a little bit of while and they can get back to the domestic agenda and do what they need to do and not take this tough vote, not have to vote against their constituent, they just as soon have that as well. >> it will play out for another two weeks. they have the united nations general assembly coming up not next week but the week after in new york, world leaders will be coming there. obviously there's not going to be a u.s. military strike over the next two or three weeks, at least, unless the syrian regime were to launch some sort of chemical weapons attack, obviously. in the meantime, there's only a

few days left this month, the united states will run out of money unless congress passes legislation to continue funding the government. there could be a government shutdown. >> there could, and you know, that controversy has been kind of percolating now, and the saving grace there for the president, i think, is that republicans can't decide whether they should try shutting down the government to repealing obama care and so since there's a division in the republican party, maybe the president can take advantage of that, because this will come to some kind of showdown. >> there are two quick fights, one after the other. there's the government running out of money at the beginning of october, then the government shutdown over the debt ceiling, the potential of losing that fight. >> the credit rating, the creditworthiness of the united states. >> the president has said, you might remember this, he will not negotiate over that. i believe they really mean this. he will not go through that back and forth where john boehner is coming over to the white house and they were having this fight again.

he's just not going to negotiate. >> here's the interesting thing. people don't care about the debt ceiling being raised. the "wall street journal" just said, the people say don't raise the debt ceiling so the president has to turn around public opinion on that. >> this one, i bet he can turn around. because this one, people are so frustrated with the washington process, so frustrated with the discussion of a shutdown, if he can go out and argue that it's just a broken system, maybe he can win over a little bit of good will, although he has hurt himself as a leader, wouldn't you say, by the way he has conducted this syria discussion with the nation. >> spillover. >> he might be able to do it again and i think people are capable of kind of a right brain, left brain. we talked about this on foreign policy. >> thank you to you both. syria has been moving its chemical weapons. now u.s. intelligence apparently at odds over where the stockpiles are. plus the vice president, joe biden's latest jaw-dropper.

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the vice president joe biden may have done it again, putting his political foot in his mouth as he's been known to do once or twice. this time, he's slamming the house republicans as neanderthals, a charge that comes amid looming speculation about 2016. >> this is the kind of thing we have come to expect from the

vice president, for better or for worse, he is infinitely quotable. last night was no different. >> but you know, to be honest with you, i'm going to say something outrageous. >> reporter: it was vintage joe biden, outspoken as ever at an event marking the 19th anniversary of the violence against women act. blasting republicans for trying to block reauthorization of the law last year. >> surprisingly last year, we ran into this sort of neanderthal crowd, you know. when you think about it, did you ever think we would be fighting over, you know, 17 or 18 years later to reauthorize this? >> reporter: the vice president and possible presidential contender is known for speaking his mind. sometimes raising eyebrows. >> you cannot go to a 7-eleven or dunkin' donuts unless you have a slight indian accent.

>> reporter: at thursday's event before a crowd that included advocates for women, he talked about getting ahead of president obama last year, when he went off-script to announce his support for same sex marriage. comments that later prompted the president to do the same. >> certain things i promised i wasn't going to keep my mouth closed. so i make no apologies for jumping ahead on the issue of marriage. >> reporter: his latest remarks come as speculation about the 2016 race heats up. this weekend, biden heads to iowa, the crucial early battleground that dashed his presidential ambitions in 2008. he'll speak at a steak fry hosted by senator tom harkin, an event considered an important stop for any democrat aiming for the highest office in the land. biden hasn't yet said he's running. he was supposed to headline last year's fry, but couldn't make it. aides say he's just honoring his previous commitment but what if

he is a contender? how he stacks up will depend a lot on whether another also-ran, former secretary of state hillary clinton, decides to give it another shot. >> i have a very hard time imagining joe biden running against hillary clinton for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it's very difficult for i think a candidate starting from where he does to beat her. >> reporter: one thing i can tell you is that we will be keeping a close eye on vice president biden while he's in iowa this weekend. i should add that on monday, he's set to visit the port of charleston in south carolina. south carolina, as you know, is also an early voting state. make of that what you will. >> usually iowa, new hampshire, then south carolina. a lot of us who cover politics are very familiar. good report. when the diplomatic spotlight is on syria's chemical weapons right now, where are they? do we really know where they are? we have details just ahead. plus, 20 people reported missing in those devastating

colorado floods. just ahead, the very latest on what now is being called a very large disaster. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." sfx: oil gushing out of pipe. sfx: birds chirping.

hihing, helicopters buzzing, and truck engine humming.

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here's a quick look at some of the other top stories we're monitoring here in "the situation room." a very large disaster in colorado, where 20 people are now reported missing in those devastating flood waters that have already left three people dead. officials say there are hundreds of thousands of people who may be trapped because roads are washed out. the national guard is evacuating an entire town near boulder where thousands of residents were entirely cut off without

water or sewer service. emergency alerts have been issued cautioning people to stay off the roads. some have already been simply washed away. authorities warn more rain and potential flooding could be on the way. the al qaeda leader zawahiri is issuing new threats against the united states, shortly after americans marked the 12th anniversary of 9/11. in an audio message posted online, al zawahiri calls for more terror attacks like the one at this year's boston marathon and encourages more spending on security so the country will quote, bleed economically. he wants the u.s. to spend more money on security. he has headed al qaeda since the 2011 death of osama bin laden. some lucky united airlines passengers now have the chance to fly for close to nothing. the airline announced just a little while ago it will honor zero dollar fares booked thursday during a brief glitch.

only the $5 to $10 cost of airport security fees were charged to the tickets. united says the error was human, not technical. the airline is not saying at least for now how many people managed to buy these bargain fares. a government accountability office report reveals the social security administration has paid an estimated, get this, $1.3 billion in disability insurance payments to thousands of people who are simply not eligible for these benefits. the agency says 36,000 people received what are called potential overpayments from the agency since the beginning of this year. the social security administration says its accuracy rate for paying the benefits exceeds 99%. it also says it will now look into this gao report. prince william is sitting down with cnn for the first time since becoming a parent, in a new special airing sunday, "prince william's passion, new father, new hope."

in it he shares his passion for africa and conservation with max foster and explains how these feelings have only intensified since the birth of his son. >> for me, it's the sense of freedom, being out in the middle of nowhere in africa, just seeing the beauty of nature and the natural world is just phenomenal. it's fantastic. >> when the young prince arrived in africa for the first time, the splendor of an african sunset, the deep quiet of the bush, and the majesty of the animals captured his heart. >> i had no real idea that i would feel that way but i never realized how much emotionally [ inaudible ]. you want to stand up for what is very vulnerable and what needs protecting. >> those same feelings have become more intense for william

since the birth of his son, prince george. >> i think the last few weeks for me have been just a very different emotional experience, something i never thought i would feel myself, and i find again, it's only been a short period, but a lot of things affect me differently now. >> the prince also shares stories about his late mother, princess diana. it airs sunday night, 10:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. i think you will want to watch it. up next, how can the world disarm syria of its chemical weapons if no one outside the regime knows precisely where they are? it may seem like diplomacy has won when it comes to syria, but is that path actually poised to trigger war? there may be some clues in the buildup to the iraq war. we will talk about it. my asthma's under control.

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happening now, syria's chemical weapons at center stage in the push for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. but where exactly are they? also, could this crisis end up leading the united states into war? i'll ask a serious writer who is raising some serious questions about the risks of diplomacy. and a new jersey boardwalk makes a comeback after a super storm sandy only to go up in flames. we'll have the latest from the scene including from governor chris christie who says what he saw there made him want to throw up. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the world's attention now focused on syria's chemical weapons, but does anyone outside the bashar al assad regime even know where they are? any diplomatic or military solution to the crisis certainly

depends on the answer to that question. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has been digging into this subject for us. i know you have done a lot of reporting. what are you learning about the location of syria's chemical weapons? >> reporter: well, look, wolf, some senior administration officials are saying they're very confident that the u.s. knows where the weapons are, but other administration officials are telling me not so fast. there's one big problem in the u.s./russia talks on syria's chemical weapons stockpile. where exactly is it. u.s. intelligence analysts are at odds, cnn has learned. some estimate the u.s. only knows the location of half of syria's suspected 1,000 tons of chemical agents. others believe the picture is not so grim. >> the majority if not all of it is in an area controlled by the assad forces. >> reporter: with more than a dozen suspected chemical weapons storage sites around syria, u.s. intelligence believes the assad

regime moved a significant amount of chemical weapons around about two weeks ago, when it feared a u.s. military strike. how much was moved and where it is is what u.s. intelligence needs to know. >> they're worried that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands. they're worried that these weapons might be used. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence is using satellites, communications intercepts and spies on the ground to try to track the weapons, officials say. the urgency? if syria gives up the weapons, the u.s. must be able to verify it's got it all. but if there is an air strike, the u.s. has to know where the chemicals are to avoid hitting them. >> we make sure of two things, one, that we didn't create a chemical hazard ourselves and secondly, that we wouldn't degrade the ability of the regime to secure it. >> reporter: opposing views and different interpretations in the intelligence community are not uncommon. when the cia went after osama bin laden, there was no photo, no certainty he was at the

compound. some officials even recommended against the raid by navy s.e.a.l.s. now, a spokesman for the tre director of national intelligence says there will be disagreements about these matters but the only thing that really matters is the formal assessment that would be delivered to the white house. however, another senior administration official a short time ago told me the confidence level in being able to track the chemical weapons in his words, is going down. wolf? >> that is not encouraging. thanks very much, barbara starr at the pentagon. the specter of the iraq war certainly looms over this crisis in syria, especially for those opposed to a u.s. military strike. cnn political commentator, the "new yorker" correspondent ryan lizza suggests president obama is in the same situation roughly as president bush was back in 2002. ryan is joining us here in "the situation room." a fascinating article you wrote in the new "new yorker," could

obama's syria diplomacy lead to war. some of your bottom line conclusions are sort of depressing. >> well, if you think about the red line before we started talking to the russians about completely disarming syria of chemical weapons, the red line for obama was if assad used these weapons, right? that's what led to obama talking about military force and we know the story from there, the russians intervened with this last minute plan after john kerry's statements and now the u.s. is in this conversation with russia and syria about completely disarming the country of its chemical weapons. >> that's good, right? >> that's great. who would not want that. >> if we could accomplish that. >> you look at the u.n. resolution the french, the uk and the u.s. drafted earlier in the week, it basically calls for the complete declaration of these chemical weapons and disarmament under the threat of serious consequences. so it seems to me the red line has now moved from assad using these chemical weapons to if you look at the u.n. resolution, to assad possessing weapons.

so who is -- if we get assad to sign the chemical weapons treaty, if we get him to declare all of his weapons and start the disarmament process, what happens when he starts doing what saddam did, picking fights with the inspectors over what sites they can visit, not fully declaring everything. someone is going to have to enforce, police this compliance regime. that will be the u.s., the uk and the french. that's going to push us into a place where we are going to be talking about military action for simple noncompliance, simple possession of chemical weapons, not used. i think that's one part of the debate that's gotten overlooked. >> you wrote that powerful article a couple years ago all of us remember in which you quote a white house official as saying this president is quote, leading from behind. >> yeah. >> it's generated a huge amount of buzz, as you well know, ever since. in this particular crisis with syria, as far as you can tell, is the president leading from behind? >> well, look, just to be clear,

what that expression was about was about the run-up to the intervention in libya and it was used to explain how the obama administration was advancing its goals at the u.n. the argument was that people were tired of war, it was very, very difficult to get a u.n. resolution to authorize the strike in libya and the way to do it was if the u.s. hung back and pushed other actors forward, especially arab countries and the phrase was if we lead from behind here, it's a lot easier for us to get that u.n. resolution than if the u.s. is out in front. now, that became a pretty big talking point to obama's critics. is he leading from behind here on syria? look, i think he's very, very reluctant to use force in syria for a lot of good reasons. and i think -- i can't see how you can criticize him for taking this last opportunity to see if you could peacefully disarm assad, but i do think that this point of does that bring us down

the road, does putting in place a disarmament regime that's backed up by the threat of force, does that put us on the road to war in syria anyway. remember, that's what happened in iraq. the reason we -- >> bush got authorization from congress, he got the resolution of the security council, the iraqis played games -- >> exactly. and he said, he was going in. the russians and chinese are not going to go for a resolution that is linked to the use of force if assad doesn't comply. then obama will be in this difficult situation of does he do it anyway. >> good article in "the new yorker." i recommend it to our viewers. just ahead, two democratic lawmakers recalled over their votes for gun control. despite strong public support for stricter laws. van jones, s.e. cupp are both here for a "crossfire" debate in "the situation room." after finally recovering from hurricane sandy, another devastating blow for one stretch of the jersey shore. ♪

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big week for the political battle over gun control, which was revived in two key states across the country. in colorado, an unprecedented state recall kicked two democratic law makers out of office for supporting tougher new gun restrictions. and in missouri, the state legislature came within one vote of overturning federal gun laws. joining us now, two new co-hosts of the new "crossfire," van jones and s.e. cupp. guys, thanks very much. guns, big losses, lot of democrats must be so depressed

with colorado, and missouri and chicago right now. so many people say right now -- why are losing all these battles? >> i think this is much ado about basically nothing. if you look at colorado, just to take one of the half dozen states that has strengthened gun laws, you have 50 legislators who went with the majority of coloradoans who said we want stronger gun laws. 50. they get two out of 50 and now we're supposed to imagine that the sky is falling. this is incredibly popular stuff. most of the legislators who supported this stuff are stronger, not weaker. this is much ado about nothing. >> i think the president would disagree. i think president obama thought that after sandy hook when he gave that speech and asked congress for a vote, and they did not vote with him, that maybe sort of similar uprisings

at the local level would change the course of the gun control debate. he has been proven wrong and this is a big deal to him. not just this, but the mayors against illegal guns coalition that mayor michael bloomberg has put together is falling apart. mayors are dropping out of it like flies because it's got no credibility. it's not working. voters don't want the carpetbagger billionaire coming into their state to tell them what they can and cannot do with their guns. >> let me just respond to that. the nra has been around since moses, okay? they kind of know how to do this stuff. they can cherry pick, they can find a few places they can be successful. they do have a better strategy because they are building bottom up. i think right now bloomberg's making a mistake by coming in top down, but these are new organizations and those organizations are actually growing faster than the nra. >> the anti-gun lobby outspent the pro recall lobby in colorado -- >> in these tiny little cherry picked districts but they went after five, they only got two.

i don't understand why we aren't saying that the colorado -- the gun forces have won, they passed legislation, three out of the five survived, 48 out of 50 survived. >> you know politics. it will send a message out there to support gun control. >> with tricks. >> in the south, in the west, in the midwest, maybe not in the northeast, a lot of politicians are going to say i don't think we're going to get anywhere near that. >> they already have. prior, begich, schumer, they've said enough, stop going into red states and talking about guns, it isn't working. we're not working, we're not putting our reputations and our futures and elections on the line over this issue. >> fair enough. here's the deal. i'm southern, born in tennessee. even i as a southerner can do math. if 48 survive and two go down, those are pretty good odds. >> don't get in the way of calling this a victory. it's fine. we'll let him call this a victory. >> let me tell you what it's a

victory for. in colorado, this incredibly popular legislation, the legislation will not be repealed and nobody else will lose their job. two dozen people who are prohibited from buying guns were caught, were stopped, they do not have guns. it only takes one, as people in colorado know, to create a disaster. two dozen have already been stopped by this law. it's a good law. >> the legislation is so popular that these two state senators were recalled over it. >> it is actually, if you look at the polls -- >> it does send a powerful message, whether or not you see it as victory, politicians are politicians and they will learn a lesson from this recall. >> they certainly will. >> what gun control legislation would be acceptable, could be passed, new gun control legislation? >> i wish that the good people at the table, and these are conversations that need to be had, would look at history. the nra helped craft the act in 2007 which strengthened background checks. the nra wants more prosecutions on background checks. we need to be having conversations about laws that

don't just apply to waffle gun owners but actually criminals, and most criminals don't follow the law. >> can i tell you what i do think democrats have to take, i mean, we'll fight about this forever, but i do think that democrats handled this issue badly and handled it in a way that offends the sensibilities of the folks who are passionate about this. i think there's a way that big city elites, coastal elites, come across -- >> final question. why couldn't the president deliver after newtown? >> well, look, because i think he's up against a very entrenched -- >> he's president of the united states. >> obviously he can't do everything. listen, i think he was shocked and disappointed that when he put his chips on the table, he wasn't able to get it done. i think it speaks more to the strength of the gun lobby than it speaks to the weakness of the president. >> you guys will have a lot more on this coming up right after "the situation room," 6:30 p.m. eastern. the new "crossfire" only here on cnn. van, s.e., thanks very much.

here's a quick look at what else is coming up tonight on cnn. >> cnn tonight. at 7:00 on "outfront," is the university of alabama sorority rejecting some students because they are black? "outfront" investigates. at 8:00 on "anderson cooper 360" disturbing stories of dogs forced to fight for bets. and now, how love and care is healing them back into loving pets. and at 9:00 on "piers morgan live" he's back. what will ricky gervais say to piers this time? it's all on cnn tonight starting with "outfront" at 7:00, "ac 360" at 8:00, and "piers morgan live" at 9:00. tonight on cnn. >> coming up here in "the situation room" a new jersey boardwalk makes a comeback after super storm sandy, only to go up in flames. the latest from the scene. the governor chris christie has been there. he says when he saw what was going on, it sort of made him want to throw up. i think farmers care more about the land

than probably anyone else. we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. people should make up their own mind what's best for them.

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vo:remember to changew that oil is the it on schedule toy car. keep your car healthy. to enjoy all of these years. show your car a little love with an oil change starting at $19.95. less than a year since super storm sandy, the jersey shore is reeling once again. a devastating fire destroying part of famous boardwalk. >> when i first was advise at

what was going on, i was actually in my weekly sandy rebuilding meeting with members of the sandy rebuilding team when i got passed the information about the fire. and i said to my staff, i really feel like i'm going to throw up. just how much more are people going to be expected to take? and it's an emotional toll that it puts on everyone. the people who live here, the business owners, the local officials and those of us in state government who have dedicated most of our lives over the last ten months to the rebuilding of the jersey shore. >> let's go to the conley is st with the very latest. what is the very latest? >> reporter: if you can see the devastation on the boardwalk behind me. the residents, the business owners are in disbelief that this has happened again. seaside heights was rebuilt with the optimism that the boardwalk was stronger than the storm. less than a year later,

livelihoods have been destroyed again. residents are in shock after they watched their businesses burn to ash. >> there was nothing i could do. there was no other option just to sit there and watch it happen. >> reporter: chris dennis, owner of shoot the geek that opened on the boardwalk in 1992 lost at least $40,000 in merchandise from hurricane sandy. he'll have to start from scratch to rebuild and estimates damages from the fire are at least another $30,000. seeing the damage up close for the first time since the fire, he says this time the damage will take longer to repair. >> sandy wasn't bad. we were able to get back in business as soon as we had a boardwalk in front of us. the cleanup wasn't nearly as bad. this, well, you look at my building right now, clearly it's going to have to be cleaned up a lot. there is nothing left except for a shell. and it's not even a whole shell in its entirety.

>> reporter: chris's shell was a few feet away from where firefighters built the trench that stopped the fire from spreading. the fire was traveling underneath the boardwalk? >> the fire traveled under the boardwalk. they got it contained to a certain point. but once it was in my building, they couldn't get down to the basement to put the fire out in the building because it would have been up safe for them. >> and what was in the basement? >> my plush merchandise and everything else. a lot of valuable stuff that, you know, was conducive for me to run my business. >> reporter: now, that's just one example of a life that's been affected. over 50 businesses have been impacted by this fire. and investigators are on the scene. they're going through the evidence. that's right behind us, and it may be days before we can figure out what happened here. >> what a heartbreaking story this one. margaret, thanks very much. margaret conley reporting for us. still ahead, we're learning about a report from united nations weapons inspectors on

the syrian chemical weapons attack. plus, outrage over a deal that saved the co-founders of google millions of dollars. i describe myself as a mother, a writer and a performer. i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick... and then i got better. this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. congestion, for the smog.

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two google billionaires with

a fleet of private jets were saving millions of dollars thanks to a deal with the government. cnn's silicon valley correspondent dan simon has details. >> reporter: google's founders larry page and sergey brin are each worth are reported $23 billion. that's why some are awfully puzzled why the feds would cut them a substantial break on the jet fuel used on the duo's fleet of private planes which include a boeing 66, a boeing 76 and four gulfstreams. they're country here at moffet airfield near san francisco, only a few miles from google's silicon valley headquarters, and easy way to catch a flight. the arrangement has been controversial and has been investigated by senator charles grassley's office and watchdog groups, among others. >> it's a sweetheart deal that benefits google's executives. they get special access, and the public should be outraged. >> reporter: nasa signed the lease in 2007 in exchange for the use of google's planes to conduct climate change research

according to government documents. as part of that agreement, they also got government prices on fuel, paying an average of $3.19 a gallon according to "the wall street journal." that's at least $1 below average, saving them millions over the past few years. john simpson is part of consumer watchdog, which has been investigating the arrangement. he says part of the issue is the discounted fuel went towards personal flights brin and page took all around the globe. >> this is exactly the kind of favoritism that ultimately causes people to lose faith both in corporate america and in government. >> reporter: brin and page formed an llc to handle there planes. in an e-mail to cnn, an executive says the bottom line is we pay full retail for hangar space. that includes none of the ground support typically included at business aircraft hangars. the statement also says that, quote, we conduct a robust research flight schedule that is

the most consistently reliable airborne science program at any nasa facility. and that between rent, capital improvements and science flying, nasa and the taxpayers are $2 million per year to the good from our tenancy at moffet. nonetheless, the google executives no longer get the cheap fuel after critics turned up the heat on the partnership. well, wolf, nasa also defended itself saying the money they get from private partners helps defray the cost of the airfield. they say the google founders have been good partners in advancing their core science mission. but guess what? they'll be paying full retail market from now on for their jet fuel. back to you. >> all right, dan, thank you. happening now, new information about a highly anticipated united nations report on syria. what will it say about chemical weapons and how could it affect a high-stakes deal that may be in the works? plus, fighting, suffering, and starvation.

thousands of syrian children cut off from aid and food and in danger of dying. and vladimir putin's public relations machine. we'll go inside the powerful american firm that is promoting the russian leader right here in the united states. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're told those urgent u.s./russian talks on syria's chemical weapons right now at a pivotal point. a u.s. official saying the two sides are coming to an agreement on the size of bashar al assad's poison gas stockpiles. secretary of state john kerry and his russian counterpart have extended their talks in geneva on a deal for syria to give up its chemical weapons, but hurdles, serious ones remain. senior obama administration officials acknowledge they don't expect russia to agree to anything in the u.n. security council resolution that would automatically trigger the use of u.s. military force in syria.

let's go live to the united nations. our senior international correspondent nick payton walsh, who is standing by with the very latest. what are you learning, nick? >> reporter: wolf, it was always going to be a bit of a long shot to get the russians to sign on to any resolution that authorizes force because of the veto they have on the security council. but here there are a lot of moving parts. we are looking to see if syria will voluntarily give up its chemical weapons program, as it says it might, and many looking forward likely to monday when the u.n. inspectors will release their findings from the long-awaited report. we got an inadvertent glimpse perhaps from ban ki-moon what that might say. it's perhaps a misspeak that suddenly the tone for a very busy week ahead. the chief wasn't on camera, but still said this of the vital looming u.n. inspectors report on syria. >> i believe that the report will be a overwhelming --

overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used, even though i cannot publicly say at this time. >> reporter: his spokesman tried to reel it back. >> the report is not released. i'm not privy to the information yet. >> reporter: but ban ki-moon added that bashar al assad had committed many crimes against humanity, and would face a process of accountability. the u.n. inspectors report into the 21st august gas attacks will i'm told come out on monday and be detailed enough for others to work out who was behind the attacks that was not the inspectors' job to do so. many are asking if syria's sudden move to join the chemical weapons convention unconditionally unveiled here on thursday is trying to repeat that report. the u.n.'s lawyers are checking syria's letter to them about joining the convention to be sure that it says the right things. now if it does, in 30 days, u.n. inspectors could be inside syria. and in 60 days, syria will have

to declare all of its chemical weapons and facilities. then the nightmare begins of finding maybe thousands more of these inspectors to brave a vicious war zone and dismantle tons of the world's deadliest substances. but this timeline isn't fast enough for the british, french, and americans. they want the security council resolution that will make syria tell all in just two weeks. again, eyes back on this building. weeks ago dismissed as paralyzed and irrelevant. wolf, just look at the turnaround we've seen in the three weeks since those attacks. obama had called the u.n. paralyzed but is now depending on its mechanisms to try and get the syrian government to hand over its chemical weapons. and many people are really asking themselveses if we're going to see anything outside of the talk of the three weeks, much talk, little action with the exception of the syrian government finally admitting now it has chemical weapons. the big choice, are we actually going to see them give up their arsenal, or are they simply

stalling for time. >> do we know that ban ki-moon knew there were tv cameras inside when he said bashar al assad's regime had committed crimes against humanity? it certainly sets up for war crimes, some kind of tribunal. >> he did say he wasn't supposed to say there were chemical weapons publicly because he hadn't seen it. the information being he may not have known he was on camera. but it was broadcast by the telephone channel. a bit of a drawback. that's going to politicize next week's agenda certainly. the critic of the report if there end up being any will perhaps seize upon the remarks as a suggestion that he already thinks bashar al assad is guilty of crimes against humanity anyway. wolf? >> thank you very much. now to the bigger war in syria that has dragged on for more than two years, killed more than 100,000 people. we have a report on truly horrible conditions for so many children that many of you will find disturbing. our senior international correspondent has been doing some amazing reporting on the

humanitarian crisis that continues. joining us from beirut. arwa, what are you seeing and learning? >> wolf, these images certainly are very difficult to look at. but this is yet another devastating, heartbreaking reality that is a by-product of the war in syria. amid the utter devastation caused by weapons of war, there is another killer working silently amid the chaos. its first victims the most vulnerable. in this video uploaded to youtube by opposition activists, 2 1/2-year-old ibrahim struggles for life. his body can't take solid food. it can only digest milk. but there isn't any for him. through skype we reached a doctor in syria, the pediatrician who treated ibrahim.

there are many illnesses we are confronting because of an absolute absence of food the doctor explains. "we've depleted all of our food reserves. even animal products that could act as alternatives, because there are no animals left." most of the residents just to the southwest of damascus have long fled. but among the 15,000 who remain, an estimated 5,000 are children. under siege now for months by regime forces, cut off from all aid. >> for us, the fact that reports keep coming in from the area indicating the people are dying because they don't have medical supplies, people are dying because, you know, they don't have food supplies, they don't have as we mentioned the necessary staples as well is a serious cause for concern. >> reporter: the icrc's request for access have repeatedly been denied, and there are hundreds of thousands of people living

under a similar siege across the country. >> you know, arwa, it's an amazing situation. there is a u.s. red line preventing syria from using chemical weapons against its own people, but apparently no red line as far as all the other disasters that have been unfolding, including the starvation and death of these children. >> and that's exactly why the opposition at this point is really so dismayed with how the u.s. has handled all of this. there is a sense that if america was able to threaten the use of force, and that's what brought the russians to bring the syrians to the negotiating table when it came to chemical weapons, well, why is that same kind of pressure not being applied to create humanitarian corridors to reach neighborhoods like the one you just saw in that report? the child that you saw at the top of that piece, the 2 1/2-year-old, he died 24 hours after that video was shot, along with three other children suffering from similar conditions in just a week. and wolf, we spoke to the doctor

from that neighborhood in the field click nick there. there are at least another five to six children also suffering the doctor says from acute malnutrition. this is a problem that has to be dealt with now, and the u.s. has this opportunity to be able to pressure the syrian regime to actually do something about this situation. at least that's what people do believe. wolf? >> arwa damon on the scene for news beirut, right next door to syria. thank you. up next, we're joined by the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, the former director of national intelligence john negroponte. he is here in "the situation room." he has concerns about a possible deal on syria's chemical weapons, serious concerns about u.s. intelligence. we'll talk with him about that. but first, we're looking at ways to impact your world. >> hi, i'm j.j. abrams, and we can make an impact helping veterans acclimate back into society. it is incredibly important that we are welcoming them when they are done with their service, looking to them not as charity

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vladimir putin's controversial op-ed in "the new york times" insulted the united states. but it turns out a huge american firm was behind the russian leader's open letter to america. putin's pr machine. we have details. that's coming up. i'm tony siragusa and i'm training guys who leak a little, to guard their manhood with new depend shields and guards. the discreet protection that's just for guys. now, it's your turn. get my training tips at guardyourmanhood.com bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort,

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shaq 1, pain 0. [ male announcer ] icy hot advanced patch with 50% more medicine. pain over. some former members of the bush administration who played a role in the buildup to the war in iraq now are voicing some serious concerns about president obama's syria strategy. let's bring in john negroponte. he served in a number of positions in the bush administration throughout his distinguished career, including the united states ambassador to the united nations and director of national intelligence. ambassador, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> i saw some place you were quoted as saying you're not 100% sure all this intelligence about syria's chemical weapons is necessarily 100% accurate. >> i said that early in the situation. but i was pretty convinced by the report that the administration released a week or so ago about what was available. i think i take that on its face. >> you compared it at least

early on to the intelligence blunders leading to the iraq war in 2003. >> correct, and the fact that there was a buildup of several days and the location and where these rocket -- the rocket fire came from. i think the analysis sounded pretty good to me. and i also have heard some of the -- some of the classified materials. >> so are you with the administration, that the threat of u.s. military force should be maintained, that if necessary the u.s. should launch air strikes at a minimum against targets in syria? >> well, i certainly share the analysis that that's what brought the syrian government and the russians to the table. >> that threat. >> on the question of bringing the chemical weapons under control. >> because you've dealt with the russians for a logistic time, including sergey lavrov. you know him. you know president putin of russia. you think this is all serious, this diplomacy that is going on? can there be a diplomatic way of eliminating all of syria's chemical weapons? >> well, i think the russians

drive a hard bargain. they always do. i think there is a way. but i think it's going to be a tough negotiation. it's going to take maybe a little more time. we're going to get frustrated at the pace of things. and the thing that really concerns me is that syria and russia may introduce some conditionality into this. >> like what kind of conditionality? >> well, commitments to no regime change or desisting from the threat of violence before we've even got a good resolution, that kind of thing. but i think the good and take of the negotiating process over the next several weeks, and i believe it will be weeks, will have its frustrations. >> but if there is a possibility of achieving the elimination of syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, it's worth waiting a few weeks. >> well, if you can get a good resolution that allows inspectors to get around the country, we will also have our own independent means of intelligence collection. so i think we may get some sense of how forth coming the syrians are being. >> but you think that there is a

possible u.n. security council resolution that at a minimum, the russians would not veto, that they might just go along with and allow that to be passed? >> if that resolution is essentially limited to the question of bringing those weapons under control, yes. if we get into a debate about other forms of conditionality, politics, nonviolence and so forth, it could get complicated. >> well, it's very complicated already. we'll see what happens. thank , john negroponte. we're taking you behind the scenes of putin's pr machine. ♪ ♪ hey! ♪ ♪ let's go! ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ ♪ yeah! yeah! yeah! or you can choose to blend out. ♪ oh, yeah-eah! ♪

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ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. cnn's anthony bourdain takes us to the middle east this coming sunday on his first trip ever to israel to the west bank and gaza. anthony bourdain, parts unknown premiers sunday night. here is a taste of his tour of jerusalem.

>> the old city is divided into four quarters there is muslim quarter, there is a jewish quarter, there is a christian quarter, and there is an armenian quarter. each one functions independently, but the people that live in the certain area are all from that religion. >> right. >> now we're walking in the steps of jesus christ, right? >> as i so often do. >> so this is via de larosa, which is the last trip jesus did before he was crucified. so people feel very emotional. they come here and oh my god, i'm walking in the steps of mohamud, david, or jesus. it's like jesus was here. >> i feel like i should be more something. >> a little bit more pious? >> a little bit. well, it's too late for me. >> all you anthony bourdain fans are going to like this, parts unknown. this sunday night please watch, 9:00 p.m. eastern, only here on

cnn. when we come back, we'll go inside vladimir putin's american public relations firm. stay with us.

if anyone came out a winner of the syria crisis, at least in the short-term it would be the russian president vladimir putin. he proved once again he is very, very skilled at turning a situation to his advantage. whether he is posing for rugged photos, giving asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden, floating a chemical weapons deal or writing a controversial open letter to americans, he certainly knows how to promote himself. he has been doing it for years in russia. often at the expense of his on again, off again friend, the president of the united states. putin certainly has had some major help in the public relevances department. he is represented by a powerful public relations firm here in washington that was in part behind that "new york times" controversial op-ed article. brian todd is taking a closer look into this. brian, tell us what you have learned. because there is a lot of money at stake here. >> a lot of money. >> he is getting some expert pr

advice from this american public relations firm. >> and it's raising eyebrows now, wolf, because this is an american firm that is doing a lot to promote interests in the united states that really kind of clash with america's interests, namely that op-ed piece from putin in the "new york times" that so many americans got riled up over. senator menendez said it made him want to vomit. but this pr firm, ketcham operates in a lot of countries and gets money from governments like the russian government to promote interests in the united states. ketcham in washington and elsewhere have told us they did help facilitate his column getting into "the new york times." some watchdog groups are saying well, maybe they wrote it for him. they said no, they did not write it for him. he wrote it, but they were instrumental in submitting to it "the new york times." what is interesting also is how much money they get. the russian government paid ketcham $1.9 million between november and the end of may of this year. and that's just kind of a

section, a cross section of the time and the effort that they put in for entities like the russian government. but it kind of opens people's eyes to the fact that there are u.s.-based firms, pr firms, and this isn't the only one that does this kind of thing that actually act on behalf of governments that may not be so friendly to the u.s. there have been pr firms in this country that have made money off the likes of moammar gadhafi and saddam hussein, promoting their interests in the united states. so that's why this firm ketcham is raising interests. >> there is nothing illegal about it. >> right. >> they have to registered a foreign agents with the u.s. justice department. >> that's rightful and they have done that. and there is nothing illegal at all with what they are doing. and we also have to say that cnn has worked with them to try to gain interviews with russian officials and to work with them on presidential trips that russian leaders have made. >> you know what was intriguing to me, brian, is this proposal that the russians came up, or maybe ketcham came up with to send a celebration of russian experts to congress to brief members of congress on the syrian chemicals dispute.

harry reid, the senate majority rejected that proposal. john boehner, the speaker of the house said he didn't want the meet with these russian dignitaries who were going to come over. have you learned anything than proposal? >> you know, we've been pressing officials at ketcham all day, was that your idea? was it your idea for the russian lawmakers and others to com over here and meet with american lawmakers? we have not gotten an answer from them on that. this is certainly the kind of thing they would do, they would advocate for this, they would push for it, they would make calls. but again, we have not gotten a solid confirmation from them that they were behind this idea, which as you mentioned, john boehner rejected it. harry reid rejected it. they want no part of this. what is also interesting is john mccain is going to write an op-ed coming up soon. we don't know when, to counter putin's op-ed. he is going to do it on putin's home turf. he is going to write an op-ed for pravda. his office told "the washington post" that today. it's point/counterpoint on each other's turf. >> let him do it. nothing wrong with any of this.

thanks, brian todd for that excellent report. let's wrap it up with a quick look at some of the hotshots coming in from around the world. in england, dancers performed for an exhibit at the tate modern museum in london. in the netherlands, cavalry guards trained for the next week opening of the parliamentary year. and in indonesia, drummers perform at a festival. and in wales, check it out, a young girl plays on a human chessboard. hotshots, pictures coming in from around the world. remember, you can always follow what is 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," vote for gun control, lose your job. it just happened, twice. >> if doing this costs me my political career, that's a very small price to pay.

>> a veto fight in missouri. is it the will of the voters or special interests butting in? on the left, van jones. on the right, s.e. cupp. and in the crossfire, john morris, who lost a recall election this week because of his gun vote. and will cane, a gun rights advocate. the fight over guns. is your state next? tonight on "crossfire." >> welcome to "crossfire." i'm s.e. cupp on the right. >> and i'm van jones on the left. tonight we're debating guns. but i want to tell you right up front, both sides' arguments make zero sense to me. i go to a lot of funerals for the victims of gun violence, and everything the right is saying, guns for everybody, is going to make america less safe, but it's worse. everything the left is pushing, background checks for everybody might make us maybe 1% more safe. either way, i'm still going to too many funerals. and there is massive misunderstanding, massive miscommunication going on, and