for the white house. in fact, vi have an idea. if jeb bush becomes secretary of state, figures out how to inspire an entire generation of young leaders around the world, maybe then he can restore the bush legacy. on second thought, maybe he should just call him jeb rodham clinton. >> oh. >> that does it for "the cycle." martin bashir, it's all yours. >> thank you, krystal. gove good afternoon. it's thursday april the 25th. every living president has gathered in texas. events at home and overseas shows how heavy the burden of that office really is. >> for eight years you gave me the honor of serving as your president. today i'm proud to dedicate this center to the american people. >> the presidency is not just about one person. >> when future generations come to this library and study this administration, they're going to find out that we stayed true to

our convictions. >> he takes his job seriously but he doesn't take himself too seriously. he is a good man. >> i'm filled with admiration for you. >> it's very special for barbara and me. >> i want to thank you for your efforts when president to reform our immigration system. >> the compassion that he showed by leading the global fight against hiv/aids. >> whatever challenges come before us, i will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead. god bless. the full scope and weight of this great nation's presidency is on display today. a day of divergent events and developments of critical importance both here and overseas. in syria, the obama administration now says it believes it's likely that the

syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own people. defense secretary chuck hagel raised the issue while traveling in the region earlier today. >> the u.s. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria. specifically the chemical agent sarin. >> so has syria crossed a red line? >> the white house says it's seeking more definitive proof, but the president was clear about where that red line is drawn back in august of last year. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculous. that would change my question. >> if that line is rossed, the

white house says all option are on the table in terms of a response. the flashpoint comes as we're learning more about the deadly agenda of the boston bombing suspects. senior law enforcement officials tell nbc news that the boston marathon suspects discussed coming to new york to detonate the balance of their explosives in times square. if ever there was a day to illustrate the full plate of the presidency, this is it. at this moment, we're awaiting remarks from the president who is in waco, texas, at a memorial for victims of that fertilizer plant explosion that claimed 14 lives including 10 first responders, and will will bring you those remarks live. and all of this comes after a morning of presidential history. with the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center in dallas. with all five living presidents on one stage, president obama said they are part of an exclusive club but one that

bears an incredible responsibility. >> the truth is, our club's more like a support group. last time we all got together was just before i took office, and i needed that because as each of these leaders will tell you, no matter how much you may think you're ready to assume the office of the presidency, it's impossible to truly understand the nature of the job until it's yours. >> and no doubt the president is relying on some of that empathy today with all that lies urgently before him. with us now from the george w. bush presidential center in dallas, texas, is the host of msnbc's "hardball," my friend and colleague, chris matthews. and in los angeles, democratic strategist bob shrum, a columnist for the "daily beast." chris, former president clinton tweeted a remarkable photo of all five former presidents together today. and the president, himself, spoke about not being able to understand truly the nature of

the presidency until you're actually in the job. and we are getting a view of the vast scope today, aren't we, with everything from consoling those killed in boston and texas, to confronting the possibility of chemical weapons in syria? >> well certainly, and i think -- i was just writing something the other night looking at the -- something we've all forgotten. remember we put the marines into lebanon to try to stable ice that country when it was under the assault from the syrians and the israelis were working their way out of their invasion and it was chaotic hell. we put a bunch of marines in there, several hundred to stabilize or at least to nail down a diplomatic effort and they became a symbol of that diplomatic effort but became a target and were blown to kingdom come in their sleep. reagan, he said, in the end when you're the military commander, you're the commander in chief, your head's on the line, your morality, your conscience

carries the weight of every decision. whether that was a good decision by reagan or not, he knew when the soldiers died, those marines were killed, it was on him. that's the power of this president, just by being president. i don't know the solution. the ideal solution would be if the syrian people overthrew a dictatorship then we'd all cheer. a second best effort would be if a multilateral force went in there truly representing the community of nations including the arab world and overthrew that dictatorship. if that's not going to happen, then what do we do? if we can't get a community of nations, can't get the russians to stand down, the chinese to stand down and allow the world to move in there as a world, then we might have to do it which is the worst possible way to do it. then you have to balance that with doing nothing like in rwanda. these are terribly difficult decisions. i don't think there's an easy guide post. i don't think there is. >> indeed. bob shrum, as president obama was sharing that stage honoring former president bush, we were getting word from chuck hagel that it's now believed, as i've said, chemical weapons were used

in syria. the white house is hedging on whether the red line has now been crossed. but is there any consensus about what to do if the line, indeed, has been crossed to the satisfaction of the administration? >> no, martin. i think chris is right. i don't think there is a consensus at this point. i don't know what the administration's contingency plans are. i don't think any of us do. but one thing, in speaking at the dedication of the bush library, our experience in iraq should be at least a flashing yellow light here because some of the dumbest intelligence in history led us into a war we never should have fought and we're increasingly seeing iraq, now that we're gone, descending back into chaos. so i think the president is going to have to be very careful here. you know, that line you played earlier from him talking about no one understands what it's like until you get there, reminds me of a line from president kennedy at the time of the berlin crisis. he was giving a speech to the nation and he actually ex-tempt the ending and said no one not

in this position can understand fully the burdens of the presidency. now, he was happy to be there. he was the right person to be there. i think barack obama is the right person to be there now. but we're going to have to deal with some very complicated realities if this turns out to be the situation in syria. chris is right an that. >> chris, to bob shrum's point, the administration is desperate to avoid the mistakes of 2003. mistakes that have cost what elegantly danced around at the ceremony earlier today that you were commentating on. the british, the french and the israelis all believe, already, that assad has been using chemical weapons. how important is the building of a coalition before this president decides to take any kind of actions in syria? >> i don't think the united states can go into that country. i don't think it's part of the mandate of this administration. i think one of the -- i'll just say this. >> that's not the view of people like john mccain, my friend. >> fair enough. i don't agree with mccain often.

i do think that the american people when they voted for barack obama voted for prudence, for probably a penchant not to go in. when in doubt, stay out. think about how hard you could avoid going in. when you do go in, go in only when you can go in unilaterally. do we go in then and have a trial for the assad family? is that what we do? we take over? have a war of annihilation like we did in world war ii? what kind of war would it be? this thing about going to war is so thrown around. there's limited war when you go to a dmz line, korea. there are wars of annihilation, japan/berlin. iraq? i don't know what that was. you go and turn it over to people who are basely the shia who get to dominate the sunni instead of the other way around. is that profoundly democratic? >> you have to deal with -- >> i've never understood, and i know this sounds perhaps too

sympathetic, what are these dictators supposed to do? what that was mubarak supposed to do? do we give him an exit strategy? are the russians going accept assad? the ideal solution is assad goes to russia, this thing's over. that's the deal. go in the summertime when it's nice at least. hen go somewhere else. get them out of the country to bring the regime down unless you annihilate them. i don't know if the u.s. wants to go in there and bring down that regime by force of our arms which is troops on the ground. >> the truth is assad has given absolutely zero indication of a willingness to go anywhere. this is a man who 70,000 of his own people have already been killed. >> well, what's your solution? >> thankfully, i'm not in a position to offer that. i think i'm in agreement with you. >> as they say, throw it back to new york. to you. i think this is -- >> thanks, chris. >> take moral responsibility for the country. and what happens -- we watched

this gory hanging, this absurd hanging of saddam hussein while these thugs went about this thing on television. we watched it. on our watch. it happened because of us. we gave them the power to do that to the guy. okay. you start making moral decisions like the that sat saying these good guys, these are the bad guys. it's dangerous. i have to admit i'm a vietnam era guy. i'm suspicious of foreign involvement. nine out of ten times say the best move is to let them solve their own problems. in the end as hard as it may be, syrians fighting syrians, that's better than us. if we don't stop killing arabs on national television, we don't fig -- i think that might have something to do with jihad. just guessing. don't you? >> it may well. bob? bob shrum? >> yes? >> do you agree with what chris

just said? >> well, look, some of these guys whether you're talking about mubarak, whether you're talking about gadhafi in libya, whether you're talking about assad. i think they could get on a plane. i think there would be people who take them, but they're so used to power they probably are so much prisoners of their own illusions that they simply won't give up. mubarak could be in paris right knew or somewhere like that or in switzerland instead of in egyptian jail. i don't think assad's going to leave. i also think this is a very complicated situation because if the syrian government starts using poison gas on a wide scale, the world is going to have to find a way to respond. i don't think we would send ground troops into syria. i think we might try to organize some kind of makeshift coalition. it might rely on air power which is what happened in libya. and the u.s. would probably have to be involved at the beginning of it. but i want to emphasize what i said before. you look at that bush library today. you know this guy is a lot

better painter than he was president. so what you have to do if you're barack obama and step back and ask really hard questions of the intelligence community before you move forward and then you got to figure out how you're going to deal with the russians and the chinese. one thing for sure, i don't think you're getting a resolution to intervene through the u.n. security council. >> chris -- >> because you'll get vetoes by the russians. >> sure. >> and they have a right to veto. they have that right under the treaty that ended world war ii. the u.n. organization treaty. they have the right to veto. and i think that's a serious thing we have to deal with. i think bob's right on it. they have this, perhaps, understandable loyalty to their own world war ally, the government of syria, their old ally. they are somewhat sentimental about it, perhaps. they're sticking with him. that's a real problem for us. >> chris, i have got to say, the word sentimental and assad i've never heard in the same sentence before. >> indeed. you just have from chris

matthews. chris, chris, just -- >> how about putin being sentiment sentimental? >> chris, just going back to the event that you just witnessed. everybody talks about george bush being a decent man, a good man. do you think that his problem was, frankly, the company he kept? is that what corrupted his character? i'm thinking specifically of people like john bolten, karl rove, dick cheney? >> yeah, i've said that. i've avoided saying it today, but i've said it enough that people know what i think. i think he fell into bad company. what i think george bush's problem was, having gone to school and put down people like bob shrum who read books and thinking they're all a bunch of intellectuals and basically mocking that kind of a life where you really are a life of ideas. then he got into the white house and all of a sudden fell in love with people with ideas. these neoconservatives. all their ideas of strauss and all that stuff and that whatever it is, some form of -- whatever

the tradition those neocons come from. he fell into believing all that stuff. and he started to believe in this freedom agenda. and all this stuff came from them. it came from bookish people. the same bookish people he put down in college. we would be better off if he studied in college and then came to the presidency educated so he wouldn't be a hermit crab. that's the problem. >> okay. >> he had to assume an identity once he was there. you got me to do it. i know you wanted me to do it, martin. >> i was going to say, chris, that was -- >> a hermit crab. >> that was a really gentle verdict. >> chris matthews and bob shrum, gentlemen, thank you. >> i tried for seven hours today not to do that, but thank you. >> thank you. >> look, martin, putting the disasters aside, the guy was a mediocre president. how's that? >> that's great. bob shrum, chris matthews, thank you, both. of course, catch much more of chris on "hardball" tonight at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. eastern.

coming up, president obama addresses mourners gathered to remember the fallen from the disaster in west, texas. and an exclusive from boston. new information from a witness in dzhokhar tsarnaev's hospital room. stay with us. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen,

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in addition to breaking news on syria, we're also following new developments on the boston bombers and their possible plans for an attack on new york city. on a day when one of the survivors of the bombing 38-year-old heather abbott announced she would elect to amputate her left foot rather than face a lifetime of pain, authorities have conducted more interviewed with dzhokhar tsarnaev, seen here in times square with friends in what is believed to be 2011.

investigators indicate tsarnaev is now saying that he and his brother were, indeed, discussing a trip to new york city with unused explosives after the marathon bombing. this contradicts previous reports that they were considering coming to new york only to party. according to new york mayor michael bloomberg and police chief ray kelly who were briefed by investigators, the two brothers had at their disposal up to six devices including a pressure cooker and pipe bombs. however, senior law enforcement officials tell nbc news that the idea of an attack was undeveloped and aspirational at most. as to why the contradiction in stories, bloomberg had this to say. >> the information we received was that he was a lot more lucid and gave much more detailed information in the second questioning period. >> and regardless, whether we

believe it or not, this is the information we get and we're going to take everything seriously. >> also, the brothers' mother has spoken to press in russia where she continues to blame the united states for what has happened to her sons. >> i thought, america, was, like going to protect us, our kids. it's going to be safe for any reason. but it happened. >> let's bring in roger cressey, a former white house counterterrorism official and nbc news analyst. and nbc national investigative correspondent michael isikoff, with us from boston. mike, we understand you have some new information about the interactions with the suspect after he was apprehended. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well exactly, martin. as you know, there's a huge controversy this afternoon because of the comments. mike rogers, chairman of the house intelligence committee made on andrea mitchell's show saying that the judge intervened

and forced that initial court appearance at the hospital room over the objections of the fbi. what we're being told, first of all, getting strong pushback from that from the justice department, saying, look, there are local rules in place that say once tsarnaev was charged, the -- he had to be read his rights and have an initial court appearance without unnecessary -- without undue delay. and that means here as interpreted by the courts here, the next day. he was charged under seal sunday so the wheels were set in motion. the federal public defenders office was appointed to represent him, so he had a lawyer by monday morning. and the court appearance took place in the hospital room with the judge on monday afternoon. now, we have some new details about what took place during that monday afternoon hospital

room court appearance. first of all, we're told that he seemed completely with it. aware of what was going on. but looked pretty rough. swollen face. tube through his nose. bandage on his hand. and most importantly, when he was asked by the judge, was her aware of the charges? by the way, couldn't talk. even mouthed the word no. that's the only word that is shown saying in the transcript, he mouthed the word. couldn't talk. when he was asked, are you aware the charges against him could bring him the death penalty, all eyes were on the heart monitor. he nodded in the affirmative, the heart monitor did not register. >> do you think, though, mike, that would be because he was on various intravenous drugs that were regulating the function and rhythm of his heart? or was this indicative of a man who had no sense of -- no sensitivity for what he'd done.

>> reporter: it's open to interpretation. i'm told the heart monitor will not always necessarily register an emotional response. i do know it was being looked at very closely by people in the room who were very interested to see, was there a sense of remorse, was there a sense of contrition? was he, or was he boastful? from what i'm told, he showed no sign either way. completely calm. complete -- looked very rough, looked like he'd been through a lot, but showed no emotional response whatsoever to having the charges read against him. >> remarkable. roger, the story of the bombings is one where reports appear to have changed at times. there have been conflicting reports about the brothers having guns. now we're learning there may have been an attack planned in new york and so on. how are we to process this information as it leaks out in the way that's happening? >> by remembering the cardinal rule, martin, which is the first

reports are often wrong. and so we need to be careful not to draw any conclusions based on these dribs and drabs, these secondhand reports. i mean, what we need to look at are primary sources of information and facts and data, and that process is still very, very early in the -- in its infancy, i should say. >> yeah. mike, it does seem slightly confusing. on the one hand, we hear that dzhokhar tsarnaev goes back to his student accommodation and even discusses the who risk bombing at the marathon finish. and yet we also then hear there is an individual who has access to multiple explosives and was planning on coming to new york. it seems confused at best. >> martin, nothing about this case makes sense. if, in fact, they were planning to drive to new york to blow up a bomb in times square, the last thing you would expect them to do to start that out is by

shooting a police officer that night. a sure way of calling more attention to themselves of getting, of putting themselves more at risk. so there are so many inconsistencies and incongruities about the accounts we've gotten. i think as roger said, we got to sort of take a step back and wait to see if we can get all the pieces together and try to put together this puzzle. and at the end of the day, it may not make any sense. these were two kids. one 26, one 19. from what now seems to be the case, they weren't hardcore terrorists. they may not have been through a lot of training. the fbi is still obviously trying to check that out. but it may be that they didn't plan this very well. it may be they didn't think this through very well. and that explains some of these contradictions in the accounts we're getting. >> roger, does this all add up and increase your satisfaction that these individuals really did have no relationship with

any international nexus of terror, given how chaotic they appeared to be, notwithstanding, of course, they pulled off a horrific attack? >> you can have people who have had strong ties to al qaeda and are darwin award candidates. we sometimes say these are sophisticated people or it's a sophisticated operation. nothing sophisticated about it, they can still be deadly. as we delve into the why component of this, there's always, what's the method to their madness? there may be no particular method here. based on what we've seen so far in the body of evidence coming out, it's increasingly likely they did not have direct ties. i believe the russian travel of tamerlan is a key question we need an answer to because ill tell you what, if he wasn't trained, if he didn't have people there helping him out and really did this in the self-contained grouping of the two of them and were able to build these bombs and detonate them without outside assistance, if i was still in government

doing counterterrorism, i would be really chilled by that and i actually would hope they did have assistance because that creates a whole new dynamic because people like that can hide in broad daylight and the counterterrorism community may not be able to find them. >> indeed. it is chilling. roger cressey and michael isi krn koff, gentlemen, thank you so much. >> thanks, martin. >> stay with us. we'll be right bang. [ phil ] when you have joint pain and stiffness... accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. you should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

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endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. and right at this moment we are awaiting the president who is about to speak from baylor university in waco, texas. he and the first lady are attending a memorial service for the victims of the west, texas, fertilizer plant explosion. of course, we'll bring you the president's remarks live in just a moment. but first, a gaffe according to the classical definition is when you tell the truth by accident. for not, example, see conservative messaging expert frank luntz who was secret lly

recorded saying this about the influence of rush limbaugh and right wing radio on the republican party. >> get great ratings and drive the message and it's really problematic and this is not on the democratic side. it's only on the republican side. >> there is something delicious, of course, about a celebrated word smith committing a verbal lapse. don't worry, my friends. today's feast of republican foley includes a lot more than just luntz a la mode. joy reid, managing editor of the grio.com. and dana milbank, political columnist for the "washington post." david, you will recall mr. luntz was the author of "politifact's" lie of the year in 2009, which is the claim obama care was a government takeover of the health system. now we've got him telling the truth but had to be secretly recorded in order for anyone to hear it, didn't he? >> right. he tells the truth when he thinks nobody's listening.

>> isn't that brilliant? fantastic. i lie when you're listening, but when you're not listening, i'll tell you the truth. >> it's absolutely brilliant. you have to admire frank luntz. he's been at this for a quarter century since he launched newt gingrich. so he's really up for sort of a lifetime achievement award here. but, you know what, what he was saying was factually on the mark. it's something nobody dares to say when you're a conservative now because they're terrified of the right wing craziness that's out there on the airwaves that's dominating the party. they've got to do something about it, though, sooner or later somebody's going to have to just stand up and say it, even we he knows people are listening. >> but, joy, are major politicians, people who are hoping to win a presidential election in 2016, do they literally cower in fear of rush limbaugh and all these other characters? >> yes. particularly rush limbaugh. it is a fact of life they are

afraid of him, that he'll call them out on their radio show. there's a belief he has 20 million listeners. the irony is he has power without having the interest of the republican party at heart. what rush limbaugh is doing, for entertainment and for money, is to get ratings. he has no interest in necessarily the republican party succeeding and yet republican politicians feel absolutely beholden to him. >> it's incredible. dana, mr. luntz was surreptitiously recorded while giving a talk to college students in philadelphia. here's what we said about marco rubio and lurush limbaugh. take a listen to this. >> if you take marco rubio's getting his -- kicked. who's my rubio fan here? we talked about it. he's getting destroyed by mark levin and by rush limbaugh and a few others. >> what's the right wing radio's

fear's response to that been like? >> it's been savage from the very beginning, and poor marco rubio's been going twice now, at least, before on rush limbaugh's show to try to talk him down from this. it's very difficult because they had been allies. marco rubio is a tea party favorite or at least he was until this very moment. it is correct that these guys are not republicans as much as they are ideologues. they don't really care about how well the party does in an electoral sense. so, indeed, it's better for rush limbaugh, for mark levin, for glenn beck to be in opposition. so they'd be perfectly happy sending the republican party into oblivion, and at some point there's got to be some leadership in the party that's going to be brave enough to take this on. those who do are just getting knocked down before they get out of the gate. >> martin, i'll just say mart of what the rush limbaughs and mark

levins of the world is what they pitch is victimhood. their base is an older white male they've been preaching for something like 30 years. this idea you are a victim. >> we heard last year, didn't we, this notion of taking back your nation. the nation is changing. let's go back to the '50s. >> exactly. that the country is being stolen from you, the other people are doing it. it is in their interest to pitch this message. immigration reform, it plays right into it, the idea these people are taking over the country and coming in and stealing welfare benefits. i have to tell you the suspicion in florida among tea partyers before rubio became their darling, because he is, himself, latino, hispanic, that he might be soft on immigration. he went to great lengths to show he didn't. supported the sb-1070 act in arizona. he came out against the dream act. he did a lot to get his bone fee bona fides up with them. >> marco rubio, a kind of double

mindedness? he can't be a conviction politician because all the time he's listening to the critique of what he's trying to say. >> and the irony is if republicans were to go into the hea ether, fail at immigration reform, marco rubio, and take the party down with him in 2016 or 2020, that would feed into the same sense of victimhood, see, we told you the country is on a road to hell in hand basket so in a way their interests are diametrically opposed to rubios yet we have a spekctacle of him going hat in hand to them. >> dana, are you still there? >> i am. >> we're going from bad to work. this is mark sanford giving his rendition of the clint eastwood rnc speech. this is his performance of it. take a listen. >> let's have that conversation that i think is so vital to, again, not only the discussion of ideas, but ultimately finding conclusions. i mean, if at the end of the day you have an idea and i have an idea, but at the end of the day,

we can't -- how you doing? appreciate it. thank you. >> now, that was a magnificent moment captured for us on video where mr. sanford appeared to be having a debate with a cardboard cutout of former house speaker nancy pelosi. now, the congressional seat mr. sanford is running for hasn't been held by the democrats for 32 years. what would it mean to the republicans to lose a seat, and is that now inevitable when you have a man speaking to a lifeless piece of cardboard? >> well, let's give mark sanford some credit. he finally got a woman to stand on the stage with him. >> actually that's not true because when he won the primary, his argentinian lover did actually stand on the stage with him so this was the second occasion. albeit, lifeless and cardboard. >> he's come a long way since he got off the appalachian trail there. this is a seat that democrats have no business winning. polls show that stephen colbert's sister is, indeed, the

favorite to win that seat. still hard to believe, but the republican party even has said, fine, we're not going to get on board behind this guy. it's just been a tremendous boone to our line of work. i mean, even, you know, tresp s trespassing at the ex-wife's house. it doesn't get a lot better than this. i wish this election could go on forever. >> it could get better. he should have thrown his voice and done a little voice for the cardboard box. that would have been awesome. >> this is a man so confident in his masculinity he thinks he can actually seduce a cardboard -- that is impressive. joy reid, dana milbank. thank you both. coming up, more on the swiftly changing developments in syria. stay with us. i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin.

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memorial service for the victims of the west, texas, fertilizer plant explosion. but first, from protecting the homeland and breathing life into conspiracy theories, to stoking fear on the right. here are today's top lines. >> i was deeply concerned that this could have been another highly organized attack on the country. >> from 9/12/01, the man kept us safe. you certainly can't say that since president obama. >> those who want to do harm only have to be right one time. >> between benghazi and boston, we're going backward in national security. >> "talking points" does not believe the lone wolf theory. >> i'm angry on a lot of dimp s different levels we can't admit it's terrorism. >> two cowardly knockoff jihadis. >> some are getting leery of all the muslim students in america. >> look, i don't like profiling anybody. on the other hand, student visas

are not a right. >> there's one amendment exempt from statistical analysis or emotional freak-out-itude. it's the second. god help us if the muslims decide to form a well regulated militia. >> this woman needs her own reality tv show. this is jihad mom. >> those same people are also trying to sell the idea that the boston marathon bombing did not happen. or if the boston marathon bombing did happen, it was done by the government. >> political correctness has always been the hand maiden of terrorism. >> that part of the conservative media has decided to essentially give up all pretensive restraint, calling for americans to blame all muslims, suspect all muslims. >> one of these days somebody's going to trigger one of those home made bombs with an obama phone. >> the doctrine of hate and oppression they found out cannot defeat the values of openness and inclusiveness. >> well said, mr. vice president. stay with us. much more ahead.

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you're looking live at the memorial services for the victims of the west, texas, fertilizer plant explosion. the president is expected to speak at any moment now, and we will bring you the president's remarks as soon as he takes the stage. but first with news that the administration now believes syria may have used chemical weapons on its people, the question comes how does the president intend to respond? for we go to nbc's kristen

welkwelk er live at the white house. kristen, the president has said on several occasions that if assad were to use chemical weapons, then a red line will have been crossed. now, the british, the french and the israelis all believe that that's already happened. so is the administration now falling in line with their assessment? >> reporter: they are, martin. here's what the administration said today. they said the intelligence community believes with, quote, varying degrees of confidence, that chemical weapons have been used in syria. the language is very important because it gives president obama some space to actually determine whether a red line has been crossed. and what the administration is saying is there are still outlying questions that they want answered to before the president can actually make that determination, so they are calling on the united nations to help them corroborate the intelligence community's assessment that chemical weapons have actually been used.

but there's another part of this, martin, which it really ramps up the pressure on russia to get engaged, to get involved, to join the united states and its allies to not only call for assad to step down, but actually get more engaged. i was speaking to one former intelligence official to said that, quote, this puts putin in a box. so you can think about it in that context to some extent, martin. but the pressure is mounting. you have senator john mccain who says this is a clear indication syria crossed a redline and democratic senator dianne feinstein is saying that as well, martin. >> right. as i should say, the president is in a moment about to speak in waco in texas. eamon, as i understand it, the united nations team that wants to investigate is stuck in cyprus and hasn't been able to get into syria. there are reports that refugees who fled from syria have had sarin detected in their hair. is that right? >> that's correct. in fact, there have been a lot of anecdotal evidence so far gathered through various names

that substantiated the claims chemical weapons have been used including interviews with field hospital doctors who have seen these things, as you mentioned as well, evidence popping up among the refugees fleeing some of these areas. there is substantial claims being made and that is being also confirmed by the various intelligence gatherings. >> kristen, the white house's office of legislative affairs sent a letter to senators. it reads as follows. "given the stakes involved and what we've learned from our recent experiences intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient. only credible, corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making." that's a direct reference, is it not, to 2003 and iraq? >> reporter: it is. and a senior administration official, today, martin, directly referenced the faulty intelligence over weapons of mass destruction which, of course, did lead to the iraq war, as a reason for why this administration wants to be absolutely certain before

declaring that a red line has actually been crossed. i was talking to one intelligence official today, though, martin, who said time is really of the essence. that this administration should look back to george h.w. bush who really got the u.n. involved in a matter of days. not weeks, not months. before making his determination when it came to kuwait and iraq back in the 1990s. so time certainly is of the essence here, but you're absolutely right. this administration aware of the evidence over wmd and wanting to avoid that. martin? >> kristen, we're watching the president who is seated with the first lady and is about to speak. it's been a fairly harrowing week for him. he's been performing this week as consoler in chief right across the breadth of this country, isn't he? >> reporter: he really has been. he was just in boston, as you will recall, and a short while before that, he was in newtown. and, of course, he has spoken at

a number of these tragedies. also in tucson, arizona, aurora, colorado, where he has had to assume this role of comforter in chief. it's almost becoming an all too familiar sign in this country, really. people becoming accustomed to him playing this role. we can tell you that today, martin, after the president makes his remarks, he will meet with the victims' family members. he will spend some time with them. he was, in fact, supposed to speak tonight at an event for planned parenthood. that has been pushed back to tomorrow morning so he can have extra time with the family members. of course, this is something that he does. he spends time with the family members once one of these tragedies has occurred and that is going to happen again this evening. martin? >> if i can go back to syria for a moment, a group of arab foreign ministers is due to meet with secretary of state john kerry on monday. what will they be seeking from this administration? >> one word, intervention. they're pushing the united states to do more, to get involved in syria.

the qatari prime minister spoke and said it's time for the united states now that the red line has been crossed that the u.s. cannot sit by idly and watch as syrians are slaughtered. they're going to come here to urge the u.s. to do more, impose a no-fly zone or go through the united nations. the bottom line is the policy of the arab countries including the united states is to get president assad out of power. >> thank you so much. the president of the united states is now speaking. >> thank you so much. thank you. please. thank you, senator cornyn, governor perry, president starr. gathered dignitaries. the community of baylor and waco. most of all, the family and the friends and neighbors of west,

texas. i cannot match the power of the voices you just heard on that video. and no words adequately describe the courage that was displayed on that deadly night. what i can do is offer the love and support and prayers of the nation. the book of psalms tells us, for you, oh god, have tested us. you have tried us. we went through fire and through

water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. we went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. for this state, and for our country, these have been trying and difficult days. we gather here in texas to mourn brave men who went through fire and all those who have been taken from us. we remain mindful of our fellow americans in flooded states to the north who endure the high waters. we pray for those in boston who have been tested. and the wounded whose greatest

tests still lie ahead. but know this. while the eyes of the world may have been fixed on places far away, our hearts have also been here. in your time of tribulation. and even amidst such sorrow, and so much pain, we recognize god's abundance. we give thanks for the courage and the compassion and incredible grace of the people of west. we're grateful for mayor muschka and mayor duncan and all those who have shown such leadership during this tragedy and to the families and neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are

here to say you are not alone. you are not forgotten. we may not all live here in texas, but we're neighbors, too. we're americans, too. and we stand with you and we do not forget. and we'll be there even after the cameras leave and after the attention turns elsewhere. your country will remain ever ready to help you recover and rebuild and reclaim your community. [ applause ] now, until last week, i think it's fair to say that few outside this state had ever heard of west.

and i suspect that's the way most people in west like it. now, it is true that wary travelers and now the wider world know they can rely on the check stop for a brief respite in the middle of a long stretch of highway. i want to say, by the way, all the former presidents in dallas sent their thoughts and prayers and george w. and laura bush spoke longingly about the even better company, as they have driven through west. and what they understood, and what all of you understand, is what makes west special is not the attention coming from

far-flung places. what makes west special, what puts it on the map, is what makes it familiar. the people who live there. neighbors you can count on. places that haven't changed. things that are solid and true and lasting. most of the people in west know everybody in west. many of you are probably descendant from some of those first settlers. immigrants who crossed an ocean and kept on going. so for you, there's no such thing as a stranger. when someone's in need, you reach out to them and you support them. you do what it takes to help them carry on. that's what happened last wednesday when a fire alarm sounded across a quiet tex