syria or around the world is a tragedy, whether by bullet or land mine or poisonous gas. but chemical weapons are different. they are wholly indiscriminate. gas plumes shift and spread without warning. the masses of people they can fell are immense. the torturous death they bring is indescribable. chemical weapons like other weapons of mass destruction kill on a scope and scale that is entirely different from conventional weapons. opening the door to their use anywhere threatens u.s. -- the united states and our personnel

everywhere. there's no doubt about who is responsible for this attack. the syrian regime possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. assad has been struggling to clear these very neighborhoods in damascus and drive out the opposition but his conventional arsenal was not working well enough or fast enough. only the syrian regime has the capacity to deliver chemical weapons on a scale to cause the devastation we saw in damascus. the opposition does not. the rockets are fired from territory control by the regime. the rockets landed in territory controlled or contested by the opposition. and the intelligence we've gathered reveals senior officials planning the attack

and then afterwards plotting to cover up the evidence by destroying the area with shelling. of course, this not the first time assad has used chemical weapons in this conflict. we assess he's used them on a small scale multiple times since march. but august 21st was very different. whereas previous attacks each killed relatively few people, this one murdered well over 1,000 in one fell swoop. assad is lowering his threshold for use while increasing exponentially the lethality of his attacks. besides escalating use of chemical weapons threatens the national security of the united states. the likelihood that left

unchecked assad will continue to use these weapons again and again takes the syrian conflict to an entirely different level. by terrorizing civilians, creating even greater refugee flows and raising the risk that deadly chemicals would spill across borders into neighboring turkey, jordan, lebanon and iraq. obviously the use of chemical weapons also directly threatens our closest ally in the region is real where people once again have readied gas masks. every time chemical weapons are moved, unloaded, and used on the battle field, it raises the likelihood that these weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists active in syria. including assad's ally hezbollah

and al qaeda affiliates. this prospect puts americans at risk of chemical attacks, targeted at our soldiers and diplomats in the region and even potentially our citizens at home. equal every attack serves to unravel the long established commitment of nations to renounce chemical weapons use. 189 countries representing 90% of the world's pop lalgs aulati party to chemical weapons which prohibits the use of these reps. the united states senate approved that convention by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, binding america to the global consensus and determining we do not tolerate the use or

possession of chemical weapons. so the assad regime's attack is not only a direct affront to that norm but also a threat to global security including the security of the united states. failing to respond to this outrage also threatens our national security. failing to respond means more and more syrians will die from assad's poisonous stockpiles. failing to respond makes our allies and partners in the region tempting targets of assad's future attacks. failing to respond increases the risk of violence and instability as citizens across the middle east and north africa continue to struggle for their universal rights. failing to respond brings us closer to the day when terrorists might gain and use chemical weapons against

americans abroad and at home. failing to respond damages the international principal reflected in two multi-lateral treaties and basic human decency that such weapons should never be used anywhere in the world. failing to respond to the use of chemical reps risks opening the door to other weapons of mass destruction and emboldening the mad men who would use them. we cannot allow terrorists bent on destruction or nuclear north korea or an aspiring nuclear iran to believe for one minute that we are shying away from our determination to back up our long-standing warnings. if we begin to erode the moral

outrage of gassing children in their bed, we open ourselves up to even more fear some consequences. moreover, failing to respond to this brazen attack could indicate that the united states is not prepared to use the full range of tools necessary to keep our nation secure. any nation, republican or democrat, must have recourse to all elements of american power to design and implement our national security policy whether diplomatic, economic, or military. rejecting the limited military action that president obama strongly supports would raise questions around the world as to whether the united states is truly prepared to employ the

full range of its power to defend our national interest. america's ability to rally coalitions and lead internationally could be undermined. other global hot spots might flair up if belligerents believe the united states cannot be counted on to enforce the most basic -- >> good day, i'm kristen welker in washington in for andrea mitchell traveling with isn't of state john kerry. you were just watching susan rice making the case for limited strikes on syria as president obama launches a full-court press from dropping in on dinners with republicans to dispatching top officials to help make the case including former secretary of state hillary clinton. today the syrian foreign minister said assad regime welcomed an initiative first kboed by lavrov calling to surrender all chemical weapons to international control. in an interview with cbs news

bashar al assad remained defiant. >> the government is not the only player in this region. you can different parties, different factions. you have everything in this region. you have to expect that. >> tell me what you mean by expect everything. >> expect every action. >> ben rhodes serves as deputy security adviser for strategic for president obama. >> good to talk with you, kristen. >> i want to start with the latest reports on russia pressuring assad regime to put the stockpile of chemical weapons under international control. what is your reaction? is this a realistic course it take? >> kristen, i just made a few points. we'd have to take a hard look. any transfer of chemical weapons to international control would be a positive development. we've been highly skeptical to

date. they have not even declared their chemical weapons stockpiles. they have used chemical weapons in violation of international prohibitions, so we'd be very skeptical and we want to make sure there's a verification mechanism to make sure they are following through on any commitment they make. the last i make is an important one. we are only having this discussion around the russian proposal in the context of the threat of u.s. action. what's clear is the threat of u.s. action, credible threat of u.s. military action is what is bringing forward these types of ideas. that makes it all the more important that we don't let the pressure off, continue to make clear there are consequences for assad for his i don't of chemical weapons. >> then secretary kerry made comments today to the effect of syria turning over their chemical weapons. the state department has said those comments were rhetorical. i hear you say you're going to take a hard look at this. does not mean behind the scenes there are discussions going on about this possibility? >> we'll have to have discussions with russians and others, of course. again, for a long time we said

we'd like to see syria's chemical weapons declared and of course we'd like to see them transferred to international control. the problem is syrian government has been uncooperative. they haven't declared stockpiles, used chemical weapons. we would take with scepticism any statements on this matter. again, we will look at this proposal. i just make clear, kristen, it's a very important point, the fact is this hasn't been put forward for over a year now. the russians have not been a constructive partner trying to deal with chemical weapons in syria over the last year. only now faced with the threat of u.s. military action that we're even having this discussion. i think that makes it all the more important we continue to move forward, continue to seek this authorization from congress and continue to send a message to assad that there will be consequences for his use of chemical weapons. if we don't do, that you can be certain he will take a green light to continue to use these weapons and certainly won't be likely to transfer them to international control. >> ben, just to put a fine point on this, you say you will have discussions. have discussions already begun

behind the scenes between the united states and russia between the possibility of having syria turn over chemical weapons. have there been any discussion toss date? >> look, there have been discussions on the issue of chemical weapons for some time now. an ongoing diplomatic subject for americans and russia. on this point the russians came out with it today. we'll have to follow up with them and other countries going forward to discuss the seriousness of the proposal and assess whether or not the syrian government will follow through on any commitment they make in this regard. again, at the same time it's going to be important we don't take the pressure off. you can be assured if the united states removes the threat of military action that the syrian government will never follow through on any commitment they make to the international community. >> i want you to take a listen to something ban ki-moon said this morning and have you respond on the other side. take a listen. >> i have already been considering certain proposals that i could make to the security council when i present

the investigation report. i'm considering urging the security council to demand the immediate transfer of syria's chemical weapons and chemical precursors to places inside syria where they can be safely toward and destroyed. >> so ben there seems to be a drum beat here. could this be a better alternative to a military strike, and how does that president view this alternative? >> again, only if it's a credible proposal and only if it's clear the syrian government will have to follow through on any commitment they make. what we don't want to have is a stalling exercise where the syrians don't follow through on commitments. we'll take a look at this. we're the ones raising the issue of chemical weapons, calling for controlling by the international community over chemical weapons. we'll follow up with the russians on their idea as well. as we do, we'll continue to make

clear we believe there needs to be consequences for assad's use of chemical weapons and make the case to congress this is in the national security interest of the united states pt failure to take, a saends green light to assad he doesn't have to cooperate with international proposal and green lights syria. >> the president is going to speak to the nation. you have seen polls, the vast majority are opposed to a military strike. you are fighting an uphill battle in congress. what is he going to say tonight that americans have not already heard that can sway them to get on board with the military strike? >> well, i think he'll make the case first of all that if you take a look at those videos we saw over the weekend, we don't want to live in a world where hundreds of children can be gassed to death by a dictator and have him face no consequences. that poses a threat not just to syrian people but a ban on the weapons, introduces the worst

weapons of war that could be a rick to us and others. serious national implications are implicated. we all need to step back and take a hard look at those videos and wonder whether we want to listen in a world where we can look at that evidence, children gassed by a debate and decide not to act. at the end of the day the american people understand as difficult as it is, we have an interest in acting particularly given it's limited without any u.s. boots on the ground, time limited in scope as well. a compelling case to make in terms of national interest and types of military action we're contemplating as it's different from iraq and afghanistan. >> ben rhodes at the white house, thank you for your time this afternoon. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> nbc's kyra symmon-- symmonds

did you hear? >> we heard from russian foreign minister, the syrian and russian foreign minister had their news conference, made their announcements, seemed like this was it. something clearly happened. suddenly tonight local time we get called to rushed news conferences where sergey lavrov said russia is encouraging syria to put chemical weapons under international control. he said in that news conchs we do not know if syria agrees with this. but if placing them under military control helps avoid military strikes we'll immediately get to work on this. we then saw syrian foreign minister say in another very short news conference that he welcomed the proposal. the question, of course, is what exactly does that mean. people will be in a holding pattern where syria figures for themselves what it means or

diplomatic wheels are turning in the sense what they are trying to do is slow things down. we know the russian foreign minister is meeting with the iranian deputy foreign minister tomorrow, clearly iranians have a big stake in this. they are part, to some extent, this russian, syrian alliance. there could be more developments through the next 24 hours. really the crucial question is what did the syrian foreign minister mean by saying that he welcomed this proposal. >> keir, you have u.s. officials saying russia is potentially trying to buy syria more time to this. have you gotten any reaction to that? is russia being clear they want to be honest brokers? >> reporter: to be honest, the statement from the foreign minister sergey lavrov was brief. really simply sets out what he said they proposed to do. i think one crucial part of his statement was that he said if it stops military -- if it helps

avoid military strikes. so even in that statement, if you like, there was a balance. you give us something, we'll give you something. even with that you didn't see the syrians come out and say, yes, we accept this. we'll do it. now clearly the syrian foreign minister is here in moscow. you doubt anything he says won't first have to be checked with president assad in damascus and syria. so it could be that the syrians are taking some time to think about it. as you rightly point out others will be saying this looks more like a delaying tactic, the timing being crucial. just on the face of it, the russians are saying they are honest about this that they would like to see this happen. that's what they are saying on face value anyway. >> all right. keir simmons reporting from moscow. we appreciate you reporting here. >> my pleasure. >> when we come back we're moments away from hearing former secretary of state hillary

clinton who will speak out about syria for the first time at any moment. we'll have that for you live when we come right back. stay with us. having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'.

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welcome back. one of bashar al assaded message was directed at congress members here at home. >> the congress is going to vote. i think the congress is directed by the people and to present the people and vote for their interest. so the question they should ask themselves, what for america, nothing. >> congressman matt cartwright joins us live. thanks for joining us this

afternoon, congressman. >> my pleasure, kristen. how are you? >> fine. you said yesterday you were undecided. what do you need to hear in will the all member briefing to make undecided turn to a yes. is there anything you can hear? >> i'm undecided on purpose. i have resolved to remain undecided until wee seen all the evidence. since august 21st, we've been hearing a lot of persuasion. i think i've been on four or five different conference calls with top administration officials, top military leaders listening to them make the case for why striking now makes sense. i'm listening to all that. but that's persuasion and that's different from proof. so the work we have cut out for us now -- members of congress have been in their districts since august 21st and before. we've been hearing from our constituents in person, over the phone, on social media to be

sure. they button hole us on the street. we get a lot from constituents and hearing what's borne out in the polls you've been talking about. now we're making our way to capitol hill. that's where the classified information is available for review. i intend to do my homework. i believe americans and certainlily my constituents are very much entitled to a completely informed decision whichever way i come out on it. tonight at 5:00 there will be a classified briefing on capitol hill for the members of the congress. i have reserved one of the evidence rooms of the house intelligence committee between 9:00 tonight at midnight. i expect i'll be burning the candle at both ends all week reviewing the evidence. i think as members of congress, we owe that to our constituents to make sure we have all of the

facts before us when we cast our votes. >> congressman you say what you've been hearing is divfferet from proof. does that mean you're not sold on the intelligence yet? >> kristen, look, my entire adult life i made my hearing as a courtroom lawyer. when you're in a jury trial, that's a deliberative body and the judge constantly admonishes don't make your mind until the end of the case that makes sense. congress is a deliberative body and i intend to carry out my function in that fashion. i want to hear all of the facts and i want to see all of the evidence with my own eyes before i come to a decision. so the question is -- >> i hear you say you're not yet convinced by the intelligence. is there something president obama can say when he addresses the nation that can convince

you, something missing in the intelligence you need to hear. >> kristen, what we're hearing from constituents is don't do it. 80% don't want us to do a strike. that sets out the burden of proof to the administration. they need to prove without a doubt this is the correct course. what do i need them to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, i need to prove not striking is more dangerous to america than going ahead with a strike. i need them to prove we do have -- we were just hearing about international coalitions. i need to hear we do have strong international support for it. i really need to hear a diplomatic peaceful negotiated settlement is not possible. i want to look into the feasibility of what the russian proposal is and whether there's any chance the syrians will go along with it. absolutely, prove to me there's no possibility of american boots

on the ground. >> okay. congressman cartwright, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. we will be right back with more on the debate about syria and also an update on the new york mayor's race. stay with us. she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards.

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joining me now for our fix oyou're looking, by the way, live at the white house briefing room. we're going to co-host of post tv, washington diplomatic ann garrin, steve, senior fellow at the american foundation and kate taylor. thanks all for joining us. before we get started we're going to listen. >> as we're doing that, we're working to build international support. the president at the g-20 worked

on a state to reinforce prohibition of chemical weapons. at that time 11 countries, including the united states, signed on. we now have an additional 15 who joined that. secretary kerry in europe as well working with europeans and arabs. we've been working every day in the united states and country by country. in terms of what we have provided congress, let me just describe top lines of briefings. i won't get into the classified part. the bottom line, as we told congress, we concluded with high confidence the syrian regime used chemical weapons august 21st with rockets and artillery against its own civilians. we told them we concluded well over 1,000 people had been killed including hundreds of children. we ran through in details the intelligence we have, intelligence that shows preparation for the attack, intelligence that shows the attack itself and effects, post attack observations by key participants and more recently various physiological samples, blood, skin, as well as soil that show that sarin was used.

there's also been, as you know, an extraordinary body of contemporaneous public information that's come out about this incident. videos, social media, much of which has been shown on television, eyewitness, reports from ngos, reports from doctors, hospitals from other countries. all this taken together we told congress led us to believe beyond a reasonable doubt assad poisoned his people with sarin gas august 21st. we made the case to stand up with the prohibition against chemical weapons, a prohibition that's been in place since world war i. we saw terrible effects on gas used in war i, geneva protocol emerged, you can't do that again. positive since world war i not a single soldier on the u.s. ballots field has been exposed to sarin gas. we noted strong stances in the

recent past on this strong prohibition. overwhelmingly passing the chemical weapons convention in 1977. both houses passing syrian accountability act, that was motivated in part by certain syria had chemical weapons. now syria used them. we made the case enforcing this prohibition and norm profoundly in the national interest. first and foremost to deter assad from using these weapons again and making it more difficult to do so. to prevent threshold from dropping lower, lower, lower, and lower to where our own citizens could be exposed. to make a political settlement in syria more likely not less likely. and of course to stop the threat to the neighbors including israel, jordan, turkey, lebanon and iraq, which, as secretary kerry said about a week ago, are just a stiff breeze away from syria. finally we made the case because others are watching. iran is watching what we're doing, north korea is watching what we're doing, hezbollah is

watching what we're doing. if we don't stand up and enforce this prohibition, they will take the wrong lesson from it. many members asked how what we proposed to do fit into our larger strategy for syria. and we explained as we act to deal with the chemical weapons problem, it's in the context of a broader strategy we've been purr seeing for sometime to try and bring the civil war in syria to an end, negotiated political transition. we believe that's the best way to do it because it offers the greatest prospect for their not being a vacuum. after assad leaves they could be filled by things as bad if not worse and best prospect for keeping the country and institutions together. that broader strategy to deal with underlying conflict deals with pressure on the assad regime, isolating it, denying it resources, involved building up opposition, involved humanitarian program, the largest in the world by any single country and diplomatic track to get agreement on

basically what the principles for political transition would look like. what we're proposing to do to deal with the use of chemical weapons on august 21st is taking place in the context of that larger strategy, separate from it but happening simultaneous toyota. the primary objective of the force we propose to use is to deter assad from using weapons again is to degrade his ability to do so. it could also have the additional benefit of advancing broader strategy of ending the civil war by making it clear to assad that we can hold to rick things he holds very dear. the last two points we made in our briefings to congress, details of intelligence and military plan we're looking at is we thought it was very important to say -- >> you have been listening to deputy national security adviser at the white house making the case continuing to press for military action in syria. i want to start with you, this is part of the white house's

full-court press to pressure congress to get things done. "washington post" numbers as of early this afternoon looks like a serious political climb for the white house. do they have the political tools to get the votes they need to get this passed through congress? >> kristen, right now it's a really heavy lift. we have been keeping tabs on this through statements and those sorts of things and members of congress. right now we have 237 people who are either no or leaning no. now, leaning no certainly can change. but i think the problem, polling data suggests you have a majority close to two-thirds of american public saying we don't want this. what's hard from the white house's perspective, you have a lot of members inclined to be against it, then their constituents don't want it so the sell is difficult. for democrats it's, look, the

president nodes this, he wants this, you're a democrat, you need to be with them. maybe. today they are nowhere near where they need to be. but they have time, they do. >> secretary kerry overseas making the case to united states international allies. they touted just today the fact more are on board. how crucial is this moving it through congress and getting americans on board. the vast majority don't support a military strike. >> the idea is international support will make it easier to collect additional congressional support. one thing makes the other easier absolutely. he was making that argument today in britain which already decided at least no for now if not no forever. so it was a bit of an odd venue in which to be making that case. they are. you saw three administration officials stretched across the screen there making the argument simultaneously, then they have

another one in hillary clinton, former administration official make egg that argument today as well. it's clear they know they have a difficult path ahead. >> i just want to get your reaction, both of your reactions to this latest reporting. russia has floated thissey-of- idea of syria turning over chemical weapons as a way to resolve this. is that realistic? is russia being an honest broker here? >> the administration is trying to figure out whether this is a real possibility, proposal or delaying tactic. it followed kerry saying rhetorically today in london, sure there's a way assad could avoid a military strike. that's if he follows international protocols and turns over chemical weapons but he's never going to do that. you could kind of see sergey lavrov, long time foreign minister and the guy that's been around the block, huh, maybe that's the way to do this. from the administrative's perspective, it couldn't come at

a worse time. it's a new idea that has nothing to do with the case you just heard him making. >> how tough is this the white house makes the full-court press. >> russian proposal is a game changer not just because of what that lavrov pointed out, "you have joe manchin and another who asks obama to give syrians an opportunity to be part of the chemical weapons convention. also whether classified or in public tell about the process of escalation. doesn't mean can't strike but delay why you try to achieve other outcomes. like ben said on your show a short while ago, the potential use of force may be the driver in all of this. you may actually see some net gains oddly come out of this without necessarily striking. so this could happen. securing the vote right now in the house looks nearly

impossible given the way the numbers are falling. you have a lot of receiticent i the senate but the administration, marie hart from the state department tony lincoln, new foundation my organization speaking, susan rice speaking, giving it all they have. one key thing today they haven't done in a week, which i'm shocked by, them saying they don't want to see the assad state disappear. they want to keep it whole. this is not about regime change or giving the opposition a knockout blow against assad. they want a negotiated solution. they are all making the point this is a way to get a shot bank into the geneva process which would give us an opportunity to reembrace the russians. i think that's been an important message they should have been saying from day one. >> okay. i wan to shift gears and talk about the new york mayor's race. voters go to the polls. kate taylor, what are your

predictions, bill de blasio in the polls, some showing 40%. do you think you'll he'll get that 40% for the runoff frf that's the big question, if he gets 40% he'll go straight to the general election. if he doesn't get 40 pours he'll be in a runoff with christine quinn or tompgs, both trying to prevent him from getting that 40% and trying to be the person in second place who gets to compete with him in the runoff. they are working hard today. christine quinn has something like 2,000 volunteers who are going to be making phone calls, knocking on doors today and tomorrow. bill thompson really hoping to turn out his supporters in black and latino communities. and they are just fighting for their lives to try to get into the runoff. >> kate, anthony weiner today on the "today" show says he's not giving up. he has about 7% in the polls. he says he still thinks he has a shot. is that realistic based on what you're hearing on the ground there? >> i think anthony weiner is

probably the only person who thinks that. anthony weiner is ending this mayoral race pretty much irrelevant to the debate. the one important role that he played, his entry into the race was what showed people for the first time that christine quinn's front-runner status was really a very weak position. she had weak support and there were a lot of people who didn't like her or didn't like just a continuation of bloomberg and wanted something different. so anthony weiner offered that for a moment and you saw him surge to the front of the polls. when it was revealed he continued his sexting after he resigned from congress, bill de blasio was poised to pick up those voters and surge to his own front-runner status. >> all right. kate taylor, thank you so much. thanks to our whole panel today. it was a robust discussion. we appreciate it. new york city mayoral candidate anthony weiner will be joining us coming up. you won't want to miss it. stay right here. and that's why we use angie's list.

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on the eve of the new york primary election mayoral candidates are making their final campaign push despite polls showing former new york congressman candidate anthony weiner has fallen to fourth place among likely democratic voters. can he still win tomorrow? joining me now is democratic new york mayoral candidate anthony weiner. thank you so much for joining us this afternoon, mr. weiner. >> thank you. >> you told "today" show's savannah guthrie you still believe you have a shot at winning. you've seen the polls. some of them show you running at 7%. is this realistic? do you believe the polls? >> we'll find out tomorrow. >> what do you do over the next several hours to try to bump up that number. what's your strategy? >> it's the same thing i've done throughout the campaign. combination of meeting as many citizens as possible, talking about issues right up to the very last moment. unlike the other candidates i've been focused on issue driven campaign, two books of ideas,

125 ideas in all creating a single payer health care system in new york is one of the signature things in my proposal and i talked about that. wherever there are three people that need a fourth for bridge, i'll be there today. >> we've noted you have 13 events scheduled today interviews, five of which are national media outlets. can you say you care most about new yorkers? how does this fit into your overall strategy? >> it's the everything in the kitchen sink strategy here at the end. even msnbc made the cut. >> ouch. by your own admission, you were not truthful with voters when you launched your campaign as mayor of new york. you didn't tell them your inappropriate texting continued after you resigned from congress. my question is why should new yorkers believe you now when eye your own admission you weren't truthful initially. >> i was true. i said it had been going on for a long time, things in my

background, all in the past. all of that is true. >> mr. wooerner, you did withhold information, is that accurate? >> no, it didn't. people wanted a specific date when things began and ended. i was clear the moment i got in the race i had several interviews including with nbc affiliates i said these things were in my background, wasn't far, they had gone on over an extended period of time. i said all these things. some of the people made fun of me, big headline stories, said there's more to come, i said those things to citizens of the city i was clear with. i apologize if i was not clear enough with you exactly when things began and ended. i think i was pretty honest about it. frankly i've been talking about issues important to middle class and those struggling to make it in new york city. i'm committed to talk about those things right to the end of the campaign. >> i want to ask you about something making headlines. mayor bloomberg accused the front-runner bill de blasio of running a racist campaign. i'm going to air the ad --

>> you're not going to run the ad during my interview. you're killing me. >> then i'm going to let you listen to what bloomberg had to say and get your reaction on the other side. take a listen. >> i want to tell you a little bit about bill de blasio. he's the only democrat with the guts to break from the bloomberg years, only one to raise taxes on rich for childhood, boldest plan for affordable housing, the only one who will end a stop and risk era that unfairly starts people of color. bill de blasio will be for every american no matter where they live or what they look like. >> now what mayor bloomberg had to say in response to that ad. then there's bill de blasio, who's become front-runner. has he in some way running a class warfare campaign. class warfare, racist. racist? >> well, no. i mean he's using his family to

make an appeal for support. it's fairly obvious what reese doing. i do not think he's racist. it's comparable to me pointing out i'm jewish and attracting the jewish vote. your reaction and do you reject those comments i do. i think he's wrong. >> do you want to elaborate? >> nope. >> look, according to new york police commissioner ray kelly, as we approach the anniversary of september 11th, no may dsz oral candidate has asked for a briefing on terrorism. is this true and why haven't you if it is true? >> frankly the police commissioner and mayor have plit sized a lot of issues in this race. they say that the whole congregation of muslims represent terrorist threats and we are less safe because hundreds and thousands of young men of color are stopped for doing absolutely nothing wrong. i'm not sure how much credibility they have right now, given how eager they are to

influence the campaign. >> what does that have to do with why you haven't reached out to them to get a briefing, especially given all that's going on internationally, the debate overse syria. this would seem to be an important issue if you're running for new york mayor? >> i'm saying why haven't i turned to them for briefings. it's because the administration made it clear throughout this campaign that i don't think they have a good handle themselves on what a real threat is. they said hundreds and thousands of young men being stopped who they admit have done nothing wrong makes us more safe. i'm not sure how much credibility they have. >> you have been asked about your wife and what role she is playing in your campaign. you've been a bit evasive. can you here this afternoon tell me specifically, what is your role in your campaign? >> on the "today" show and "meet the press," i was asked nine or ten questions and they are role is to be supportive and help out

any way she's been asked. this campaign is not about her. it is about the citizens of the people and city of the new york, those in the middle class struggling to make it who want more affordable housing. i think to say i was evasive is not fair. >> she's still engaged in the campaign as much as they has been in the past? >> she's a very important advocate. to some degree we're caught in a catch 22. reporters say where is she not on the campaign trail and why are you rolling her out so much when she is? this is not about her. it's not even about the candidates, it's about the future of our city and issues important to them. >> if you don't come out ahead tomorrow, will you have any regrets about having put your family through this time what you have admitted has been difficult and at times embarrassing? >> it's been difficult and at times embarrassing. i do have series of things i wish i would have done differently. obviously i wish i would have talk about the things in my past that was more satisfactory to

yourself and others. at the end of the day, i believe if you separate -- i'm a flawed messenger for the best issues in this race. i think i would be the best mayor. if you have that belief and believe deeply in the things you're fighting for, you don't have a lot of regrets because you're doing it for the right reasons. and i certainly am, if i'm the democratic nominee and get elected, i'm going to do a very good job fighting for new yorkers every single day. >> anthony weiner, thanks so much for sitting down and talking with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> shifting gears now. it is a very special day here at msnbc, five years ago the rachael maddow show made its debut. >> happy firth anniversary, this is a big deal we put together a small tribute. some of our favorite rachel

maddow moments. >> it's great to see you during the day. >> thanks for having me. >> you have the opportunity to say john mccain, george bush you're wrong and conservatism has been bad for america but you haven't gone there either. >> i tell you what, rachel, we're winning right now so maybe i'm doing something right. >> the people who were beating f for trying to desegregate, weren't asking to be beaten -- for private businesses to be deseg gated by the government. >> you seem like a very nice person but that's a hip critical substance to take. >> everyone is paying so much attention to this part of afghanistan because everyone wants to know if what the general is trying to do is going to work. >> can you imagine it not going back to bribes and corruption? you have a sense equally how hard and how committed the forces are to trying to make it work despite what an uphill

climb it is. >> as the last combat troops have left, 50,000 american troops remain in a training and assistance role. it is no longer going to be operation iraqi freedom. it was going to be operation new dawn. >> as if we can identify this as a tidal wave, people don't know how many stories tall it is. >> with this call in ohio, it is a done deal. president barack obama wins a second term as 45th president of the united states. 16 hours after it began, the democrats filibuster worked and allowed the hundreds of texans in the gallery worked and democrats won and wendy davis is a household name. >> congratulations on the show. >> thank you. it's very exciting. >> just a few examples why so many of us here think that rachel simply is the best. a huge congratulations from all of us here, rachel. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." andrea is back tomorrow and

tamron hall has a look at what's next on "news nation". coming up next, congress minutes away from reconvening as the white house goes on an all out blitz to convince lawmakers and you at home that u.s. intervention in syria is necessary we'll talk with a republican congressman why he is opposed to military action and member of the black caucus still undecided. and former u.n. ambassador bill richardson joins us to talk about russia's surprise move this afternoon floating a diplomatic solution. students back in class across the country. there's a controversy at one school after this 7-year-old little girl had to transfer from her school because her dread locks violate the school's code. she will join us with her dad. [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was.

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hall. following breaking news from washington. right now congress returns to work after a month-long summer recess. congress's return come in the midst of an extraordinary day in the debate over what to do regarding syria. here is the latest, where things stand right now. in the last two hours, in a surprise move, russia, syria's key ally floated a diplomatic solution to the crisis calling on the syrian government to hand over its chemical weapons to international control in an attempt to avert a u.s. strike. united nations secretary ban ki-moon made a similar proposal saying he may ask the security council to demand the transfer of chemical weapons to a place inside syria where they can be stored and destroyed. those developments coming shortly after secretary of state john kerry speaking in london said syria could avoid an attack by giving up those c