regime to even acknowledge they have a chemical arsenal. >> laying out a hard line from the administration after word of a possible deal that could bring the u.s. back from the brink of a possible strike on syria. hi, everybody, good morning. breaking news, with the ap reporting that the president has accepted the proposal for syria to give up its commhemical weap arsenal. the president will speak to the american people tonight at 9:00 p.m. and he's got a lot of ground to cover with this. >> he will go forward tonight and make the case to the american people as well as to congress as he has been that what happened on august 21st was a chemical weapons attack with tear acrrible consequences. that it is undeniable. the responsibility for that attack rests with the assad

regime. >> the president sat down for six network tv interviews, including nbc. the president expressing cautious optimism. >> this represents a positive development. we're going to run this to ground. we're going to see how serious these proposals are. >> does this feel like a ploy? >> this potentially could be a breakthrough. we've not seen how they operate over the last couple of years. >> the president's red line was crossed by an august chemical weapons attack against civilians in damascus but the red line the american people might be any american involvement period. and new nbc news "wall street journal" poll showing the majority of americans disapprove of the president's handling of the syria situation and that nearly 60% do not want members of congress to vote to authorize a strike. with syria signaling a willingness to give up its stockpile, the senate has delayed a vote on whether to

give up use force. >> i'm very skeptical. we should be since bashar assad has refused to acknowledge he even has chemical weapons. >> joining me now from washington, nbc news correspondent kear simmons. pe peter, let's start with the white house and how exactly they are responding to the ap report. do we have could be fir mation? >> we have confirmed that. we're getting new information even as you are introducing the segment. i want to read to you a statement i'm getting from a white house official, if i can quickly are saying the president spoke separately with the french president hollande as well as with french prime minister cameron today. they agreed to work closely together and in consultation with russia and with china to explore seriously. the note goes on to say the viability of the russian proposal to put all the weapons and related materials fully

under international control in order to enforce -- in order to assure they're very fireable and enforceable destruction. will include a discussion on elements of a potential u.n. security council resolution. the white house now agreeing that it will try to pursue this as best it can in hopes that syria is serious in what it is offering as well as russia and they're going to play this out a little further. at the same time, you can expect the president to communicate to the american people there is the need for military action to be taken against syria, to ask for american support for that, and he'll very likely say that his calls for military action to this point have succeeded, that they're working, and that's why we're in this position. >> okay, let's speak about that new information. because not only is syria willing to hand over its weapons stockpiles, it's actually confirming it has any to begin

with. which we haven't been able to confirm in the past. >> that's what the white house is seizing on today. in conversations i had with the white house press secretary, sort of echoing some of the points the president had in his conversations with network anchors. he communicated that it's only the creditable threat of military force that brought syria to this place. where in the words of jay carney, acknowledged for the first time they have chemical weapons. you could say this is a life raft for the white house. it's a way out of the situation where it became increasingly clear they were not going to get congressional support for a call for military action. >> peter alex ander at the whit house, thank you. we're going to turn now to the wake of this russian plan. a gap of senators working as we speak on an alternative resolution to teal with syria's use of chemical weapons. bob casey of pennsylvania is

part of that group. sir, it's good to have you with us. you're part of this group that's coming up with a new resolution. we're hearing that the new resolution will replace the one that was authorizing force that came from the senate foreign relations committee last week. what can you tell us about it? also what is your reaction to hearing about this plan? the proposition of syria handing over its stockpile of chemical weapons to russia? >> thomas, let me say first, when i heard the news yesterday, i was skeptical. the two players in this, both the regime in syria and the russian federation, tonigdon't a lot of credibility when it comes to this incident, the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons against hundreds and hundreds of syrians and over 400 children. so my skepticism, i agree with what john mccain said in your piece earlier, that's number one. number two, we did have good discussions, though, yesterday in the senate, bipartisan group

talking about this. but it's in the early stages. we're having good discussions. my hope, i speak only for myself on this, i'm not speaking for any group, but my hope is we can come up with a resolution that would still have the use of force in it, which i support, but would also make it very clear that if the syrian regime were to meet a series of very specific goals here, and meet them in a very ex- ppeditious a very short time frame, then maybe that could be the breakthrough that we need that would not require the use of force. we have a long way to go on this. i'm still, still skeptical. >> the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon warned yesterday of doing anything in reference to a military strike until they have concluded their investigation, saying anything would be premature. doesn't that -- doesn't that

mean anything to what's going on in the process in washington, d.c. right now, especially if syria is looking at this russian proposal and this more international proposal from the u.n. as well, saying yesterday it would encourage this type of move. doesn't this signal that we are maybe moving too quickly? >> certainly, think we should consider this proposal. this administration has epbraced it as an idea that is worthy of some work. but on a separate track, we have to get back to the main issue here, which is i think irrefutable evidence that this happened, that the syrian regime was responsible, and i think the certainty of of that evidence, plus the gravity of the crime, compels us to keep moving in the direction of getting authorization for the use of force. that doesn't foreclose the possibility of having a breakthrough here. but let's not kid ourselves.

this happened. it was the regime that did it. they must pay a price for this. unless we put -- unless we want to put our own troops in the region at risk and put our larger national security at risk because of the bad message this would send of weakness, i would argue, to both the iranian regime and give a green light to iran and hezbollah to continue two things. their daily commitment to terrorism against us and, secondly, the iran nuclear capability. it would give, unfortunately, a bad message to both. >> as we speak, secretaries kerry and haggle, they're testifying for military action. you said it truly is within the u.s. national security interest to respond to the chemical attack. and as you reference this, the gravity of the crime that took place in damascus, so your first strike, no matter what. so if they turn over these stockpiles of weapons and the u.n. overseas their safeguarding as well as their destruction,

you still want a plan to attack syria? >> i think if this happened and they were able to turn over those stockpiles and verified and we had confidence what was promised was actually delivered. it's kind of a -- to use street language, put up or shut up. it's really wiabout what when i comes to syria and russia. if they can prove this and get it done in a short time frame, i think that changes the approach many of us would take. because the threat, the ongoing use of chemical weapons, would be -- would be removed. >> what's the consequence for the gravity of the crime? what should be the consequence for the gravity of the crime if they're able to avoid -- >> that's why we're having this discussion now. that's why you have a national debate about whether we should use force. i said from the beginning that you can't simply con depp somethi condemn something. you have to condemn it and back it up with action. >> no matter what, you're for a military strike. even if they go ahead and they give up their chemical weapons

stockpile over to russia and they're safeguarded and then destroyed properly, you still want to see a military strike against syria? >>ive iv've been very clear if nothing changed, i think a strike makes sense for our national security interest without a doubt. this proposal could change that determination that i make and that others make. we have to see -- we have to see what the syrians and the russians do. it's really all in their court. they're either going to deliver on this and do it completely and thorough thoroughly, a very short time frame, or not. and any failure to deliver keep us on the track of focusing on making them pay the price for this attack. >> we're going to wait to see exactly what they do. we're going to get back to work. senator, thank you. we want to go now to moscow where it appears russia is leading the charge, the effort to find a diplomatic solution here.

i understand you just spoke with russia's foreign minister, so break down the time line. so many people are depending on russia to be an honest broker in all of this. >> yes, people are. in fact, thomas, i just spoke to syria's foreign minister who is here in moscow, and as i understand it, he was just heading back to syria, to damascus. he's been here during the negotiations, the talks with the russians over the last few days. and i want to quote him exactly, because it is so important. waleed all walum tol me they accept the russian proposal, ready to fulfill it according to the agreed plan between us and russia. now, i pressed him on exactly what that plan meant, and he talked about u.n. procedures for doing something like this. but i think one of the issues is we don't know what the agreed plan is between the syrians and the russians who are in an

alliance together. the syrian foreign minister then went on in the same interview to tell me about his concerns about what he said were words of war emanating from the west. he was speaking exclusively to nbc news. even while saying, i accept this proposal to put chemical weapons under the international control, appearing to begin to criticize the west again. >> thanks so much. keep us posted for any developments you see from there. a programming note coming up, i'll be joined by dnc chair debby watt zerman shultz. tune in to nbc this evening for special coverage of the president's speech. we're also going to carry that speech live when it begins at 9:00 p.m. tonight's presidential address is also the topic. do you trust the president's judgment on a strike on syria? if so, why? if not, why? explain to us.

we'll get your thoughts on the air. and the world watching for the potential escape hatch in syria. news bashar al assad could be ready to give up the stockpile. joining me next, former ambassador and governor bill richardson. this hour, we're also going to get latest develop meants in the domestic dispute involving george zimmerman and his wife shellie. will police file charges against either? [ male announcer ] we all deserve a good night's sleep. thankfully, there's zzzquil. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. ♪ because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil. the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil®. zzzquil. a writer and a performer. ther, i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers.

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want to take you back inside the ongoing house armed soimpss services committee. that's the congressman from virginia asking questions of kerry and hagel. >> -- would do think that's a valid question for us to have been asking. it comes down to this. this administration loves to use the military.

use it, want to use it in syria, libya, resource to asia, balance that pitvot. the afghanistan surge. you just don't want to pay the price it takes to have a strong military. our final question, mr. secretary, you can answer after that, are you officially withdrawing your request for us to take action on a military response immediately and do you want us to delay that response? >> i'm not officially asking you to withdraw it, no, and i'm not asking you to delay. i've been inrm toed the president of the united states, while we've been sitting here, which i knew was going to take place this morning, has completed a conversation with president hollande and with prime minister cameron. i had an earlier conversation this morning with foreign minister fabbious and we talked about where we are with respect to the russian proposal, and they agreed to work closely together in consultation with

russia and china, to explore the viability of the russian proposal, and to put all of the syrian -- under the control of -- verifiable mechanism, efforts are going to begin today to do that. i don't know if that affects it, but i'm not here to ask you, no. i think we need to, as said in my opening statement as forcefully as i can, what's brought us to this discussion at the u.n. now is the potential of this force and we don't want to take it off the table. it would be dangerous to do that. it would be sucked into something that may not have any capacity to be able to be affected. with respect to the budget, point of personal privilege here, please. we're all concerned. i'm concerned. i'm not in politics now. i'm out of politics. but i spent 28 years up here and i know what's going on. we're all concerned about the readiness our military. and i hear it in different places. everybody knows this nation is

wealthy enough and has the capacity of congress will make its decision on the budget as a broad basis to fund what we need to fund. >> mr. secretary, you voted to cut that $580 billion. with that i yield. >> i voted to put in place a reasonable mechanism that would wind up with us solving our budget and deficit problems and it was never put in place. that's what i voted for. >> okay, i'm going to -- go back to what i said. i'm going to enforce the five minutes. so if you want the question answered, leave enough time for the answer. >> so it's full steam ahead as this committee hearing, the testimony there from hagel and kerry continues. even as secretary kerry points out, the president has spoken separately with president hollande of france and prime minister cameron in england and they agreed to work closely on the consultation with russia and china to explore the viability

of the chemical weapons stockpile in syria being turned over to russia, the u.n. and said they would approve to safeguard that material. this is the hearing that's still going on. as you heard the secretary saying they're not asking for any type of what the secretary means. he's also the former ambassador to the united nations here. meanwhile, he has secretary kerry and secretary hagel out doing the testimony to get congress on board to move forward with any type of strike, resolution. you know what it's like to deal with regimes like we're seeing in syria. we know you've met with north

korea's top nuclear negotiator. so ways your first reaction to hearing assad is, one, admitting, and, two, hearing that russia can take it away and that will ease the tensions? >> well, i have extreme skepticism. russia and syria have blunted every diplomatic effort through the united nations, special envoys, through political settlement. assad and russia are client states. they make money off each other. political support. so i'm skeptical. however, i liked what the secretary said, keep the military air strikes on the table. and you see what the russians are going to offer. but my real concern, thomas, the u.n. security council. russia and china can veto anything. and what i would be sure of, is

this be airtight. there be international inspectors. technical people. not political people. no syrians, no russians. total transparency. i would go one step further. i want syria to pay a price. not just to get rid of its chemical weapons. i'd hope, and i hope i'm not trying to get greedy here. the goal, one step further. say to the russians, all right, get rid of the chemical weapons, but let's look at a solution in the future where assad goes out. there's a transition government. i'm getting a little greedy because i just don't trust what the syrians are doing. and the russians have blocked us at every turn. >> i just want to say, when you're talking about the u.n. security council, a lot of people say there is paralysis.

and now we have this movement where the secretary-general ban ki-moon warned yesterday any type of military force used against syria would be premature until their investigation concluded. as you talk about consequences, what if one of the consequences, not only seeing bashar al assad go, but seeing syria join the international weapons convention and make sure something like this never happens again inside that country. >> well, okay, i'm fine with that. i think syria has to pay a price. i don't think they're paying a price by just exiting those chemical weapons. i want them to pay more of a price. i worry that -- who's going to be the enforcer? is it going to be russia? i mentioned sergey lavrov. he's the foreign minister now. he's in charge of this. i trust him. but i don't trust president putin. i think there's too much of a

collusion between syria and russia. but this needs to be played out. the administration and the french and the brits, our allies, need to see if there's a verifiable transparent effort that would work. but i'd like to see syria pay more of a price. i do like what the senate is doing. senator casey. those enforceable mechanisms. a time certain. get the chemical weapons out in the a day. well, that's going to be hard. in a week. international inspectors. technical people. there be total verification of their destruction and there being taken out. but i would go one step further. maybe this is the time you revise that proposal that the u.n. envoy had, brahimi, of a political settlement, where eventually assad goes out. >> if assad goes out, you still want to see a military strike before that? >> well, you keep the military

strike on the table. you can't take off the table. i was for the military strike, if the president had chosen to go that route, because i think it was targeted. i think it had an objective. and i think it was a punishable effort at assad. so you keep that on the table. but if there's a deal ultimately that gets assad out, i think that's the best of all worlds. >> governor bill richardson, thanks for your time this morning, i appreciate it. we shift gears to talk about a story back at home with this domestic dispute at the home of shellie zimmerman's father. she made a frantic call to police, saying she needed help. during the call, she told the dispatcher george zimmerman punched her father in the nose and was threatening them with what she believed was a gun. >> is he inside now? >> no, he's in his car and he continually has his hand on his gun and he keeps saying, keep step closer.

he's just threatening all of us. >> step closer -- >> -- a firearm. and he's going to shoot us. i don't know what he's capable of. i'm really scared. >> police are determining whether any charges should be filed against zimmerman who was let go after briefly being detailed. this after shellie zimmerman fileded for divorce. joining me now, attorney faith jenkins. the fire department says shellie's father had no apparent injuries. mark o'mara was on the scene confirming that zimmerman did have a begun. police confirm they confiscated no weapon. then we have shellie and her father making no formal charges and police made no formal arrest. if he had been arrested and charges were made, would police have automatically taken away his concealed weapons permit? >> yes. it's a domestic incident.

shellie zimmerman said in the 911 call he was threatening her and her family with a gun so that gun would have been taken away. and it's interesting because in many domestic violence cases, it's really not up to the victim to make a decision about whether or not they want to press charges. the prosecutors and the police will look at any objective emd once a 911 call has been made and decide whether to move forward with a case because it is common. we're taught as prosecutors it's common for domestic violence reported victims to recant their stories at some point. you look for objective evidence. >> police are reviewing security cameras that are basically in the father-in-law's house there. theme taken and confiscated those. we know shellie has pled guilty to perjury. and that's -- in the case against trayvon martin, basically, she lied about the finances that they had amassed. >> right. >> is her credibility really on the line here, knowing that she

can call police, drop the zimmerman name and know they're going to come running? because we've seen hip have run-s in. he was pulled over in texas. florida, pulled over, didn't have his registration. he showed up at the gun manufacturers. i mean this guy can't stay away from the cameras. >> oh, i think this acquittal has emboldened him. and in his mind, ratified his completely irresponsible behavior. look at the number contacts he's had with the police since this -- since the acquittal in the case. obviously this appears to be a very contentious divorce. shellie zimmerman came out last week and gave an interview on national television. so she's going through great lengths right now to distance herself from george zimmerman. she made this 911 call yesterday knowing it would be recorded. knowing it would be released at some point to the public. i think she's making a record

here about him and what is going on. she wants to completely distance herself from this man and this divorce is appearing to be very contentious. as they try to divide and separate property which is the reason why they were at the house at the same time together yesterday. >> this is the type of stay tuned kind of story. we'll probably see more from this. back right after this.

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before he could even think about planning for his daughters' future... mike opened a merrill edge investment account and linked it to his bank of america bank account to help free up plenty of time for the here and now. that's the wonder of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. if you ask michelle, do we want to be involved in another war, the answer's no. people are wary about it. understandably. they have seen the consequences of this last decade. >> this was president obama speaking with nbc's sam vana guthrie on monday. we have new video. a lot of detail going into the draft of the speech the president will be making at 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight from the east room of the white house on any potential syrian strike. one hour from now, president

obama will make a trip to capitol hill to reset his case for any type of military action. this is vladimir putin, of all people, negotiates a possible way out for the president. a deal that would have syria give up its chemical weapons stockpile. one group not happy, the rebels. nbc is in beirut. the rebels are blasting at this proposal. they were anxious to see something done to bashar al assad's regime. >> that's correct. in an op-ed in the "washington post," both the leaders of the free syrian army and the syrian national council made the argument why the united states congress needs to authorize president obama to use military strikes. they say president assad only knows green lights and red lights. for the past 2 1/2 years, the commus international community's indifference has allowed him to kill his own people. some syria opposition members we've been speaking to here in

the region, they say the regime cannot be trusted. along with russia, they're simply trying to manipulate global public opinion. they keep saying the syrian regime has signed many previous agreements. there was that kofi annan plan th that called for the regime to withdraw from certain areas. they didn't live up to that either. so no belief the syrian government will allow the international community full control over its chemical weapons. they say this is a stall tactic which the united states and other countries should not fall for. >> joining me now is florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. great to have you here. a lot of fast moving parts. you have come out publicly supporting any strikes on syria. what do you make of the, now, proposal of syria saying it will

agree to russia's idea to put their chemical weapons under international control? >> well, as the expression goes, trust but verify. we have to make sure we reverse it and say let's verify, then trust. then what president obama has always said throughout this conflict is that our first priority and our strong preference is to make sure we facilitate a diplomatic solution. the credible threat of a limited military strike has brought syria and russia to the point where they for the first time have, one, acknowledged that syria used chemical weapons and, essentially, and, two, they would be willing to turn them over to international control. and so it's a positive development. but that credible threat, because of the abhorrent,

immoral attack that killed 1,500 of his own people still has to row main in place because that's the only thing i think that's going to keep the actors honest here, to make sure that goal is achieved. >> it is posh to make sure who is going to be the best honest broker in all of this. as we see what the aprpetite is in america. we have the new poll showing when asked if a strike would be in our international interest, 24% said yes. 29% said they didn't know enough. what are your florida constituents saying to your directly? because everyone in congress is going to be held accountable for any vote on this resolution for any type of military strike. so what are you hearing? >> like our whole country and me, quite frankly, my constituents are weary of war and they're wary of war. but that's why it's important to note that president obama's proposal is not war. is not, like iraq, not like afghanistan. not even like libya.

what we're proposing here is a limited strike to address the immoral abhorrent conduct by assad, who has murdered almost including hundreds of children. now we've seen the video of that. the classified intelligence i've seen confirms that for me. i have to tell you, as a mother, thomas, this is something that just -- i mean, my heartaches and i feel a moral responsibility to make sure that there is -- you talk about red lights and green lights, that assad understands there is a firm red light, that if he doesn't -- if he isn't deterred from this conduct, that there's going to be action taken and it's going to be certain and severe from the united states. >> when we think about the connective tissue of what that means, we think of israel.

senator kerry was testifying in front of the house armed services committee and said consequences for the region around syria could be truly dire. take a listen. >> failure to act now will make this already volatile neighborhood even more combustible and will almost certainly pave the way for a more serious challenge in the future. and you can just ask our friends in israel or elsewhere. in israel, they can't get enough gas masks. >> so bashar all assad said no matter what, we can expect everything, and certainly that means for military bases, certainly for our allies which is israel in that area. secretary kerry went on to say the risk of not acting is much greateren that the risk of acting, so regardless of this proposal, under u.n. supervision, do you still want to see a military strike consequence for bashar al assad and syria? >> i think we need to make sure that the president has the

authorization from congress to do that. because it is clear that our national security interests are in jeopardy. theme been threatened. without the understanding by assad that the united states will give them a response to the conduct of murdering their own people in cold blood, then we know iran will believe that they can act with impunity. we know turkey and jordan and israel, our our allies in the region, will be in potential jeopardy. if assad doesn't believe there will be a certain and severe response from the united states and that we have it there, ready, if he doesn't actually go through with the political and diplomatic solution of securing those chemical weapons, then he's not only not likely to make sure they're secured but he's likely to commit that abhorrent act again.

and that's unacceptable. the united states has to exercise our leadership to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> as always, great to have you on the show. thank you. >> thanks, thomas, thank you. the out. do signs of trouble in congress give the president more incentive to find a diplomatic solution to syria? i'm a careful investor. when you do what i do, you think about risk. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash. i want to be prepared for the long haul. ishares minimum volatility etfs. investments designed for a smoother ride. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one.

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-- have faith that you will do this? >> there are procedures. not only between syria and the soviet, russia. there are official procedures through united nations agency of -- >> thank you very much. >> so that was the syrian foreign minister talking about his country's agreement to the russian plan to put its chemical weapons under its control. there are a lot moving developments and fast parts to this. our panel is here to tackle it all. joanne reed is the manager editor of the grio. and david corn is the washington bureau chief for mother jones and msnbc political analyst. gang, it's great to have you all here. i want to start with you. you have a piece up today entitled getting behind the russian plan. what's your reaction to the latest development that syria is

accepting that plan? can we trust russia to be, and i use this term again, the honest broker, to be able to oversee this? >> we have to be secokeptical at that. the speed with which lavrov jumped on kerry's remarks indicates to me maybe they are serious. they have an interest in not seeing syria blow up into some huge international conflagrat n conflagration. they would be drawn into it, just as the united states. we also know that maybe kerry wasn't just speaking off the cuff. we know obama and putin discussed this last week at the g-20. so this may be something in the works here. so yes, we should be skeptical. but i think we should be also on the other hand a little bit hopeful that this can avert certainly a calamitous political situation here in the united states and a difficult military situation in syria. >> yeah, i really don't think, you know, that all the options

haven't been well thought out by all of the players involved in this in washington, d.c. that secretary kerry just pivoted off his feet to come up with that option. david, let me ask you. the president obviously, as michael brought up, had put this out there privately to vladimir putin during the g-20. so this is a concentrated option. something that has been thought of and not just something that was williahim cy cally thrown o there as an option. >> i assume we'll get an account. what was weird yesterday, the seemed to be off the cuff matter, and the russians and syrians said there's something to this, at the end of the day, kerry said i was just speaking rhetorically. i think there's something falling between the "we had a plan" and "we just said stuff and it happened" two polls.

in all the instant analysis, remember, we're not saying, as we did to hussein, that you have to show us you have no weapons of mass destruction and get rid of everything. here, the goal is to make sure assad doesn't use this in the ongoing civil war. and so if russia comes in and says we're going to be in control, now russia is buying in. if anything should happen again with the use of chemical weapons on the part of the regime, where russia's on the hook as well. there's reason to believe, well, you may not get rid of everything totally. it may go pretty far towards the goal of preventing him from using anything in this ongoing civil war. >> you bring up public -- or you bring up, you know, saddam hussein. what i've worked up is john kerry talking about public hearings. that's got to get his attention. right now, we understand we do have his attention, minus what that charlie rose interview told all of us. this is really about him try to stay in power. for people out there who don't

recognize that, you know, al assad family has been in power for 43 years. bashar al assad was the second son. open that mally school son. his older brother died. he took over the family dictatorship basically after his father. so this guy has gotten to like the power. but do you think that he will ultimately be taken out of power and this is his death nell? >> by the way, his father, phasal assad, put down a revolt by flattening towns. there's a brutality. also bashar al assad is looking across the world. he saw true naunisia fall. he saw the regime of barrack fall. he does not want to be the fourth country in that chab of t chain of the arab spring.

so i think at the end of the day, this will -- if this deal works, i think the administration hopes it does, the senate is now building a plan. if that happens, for a time, he will stay in place. >> this really is getting to the escalation area of not doing something is the bigger risk. we heard that from secretary kerry today. i want to get his words, saying the risk is not acting much greater than the risk of acting. they feel the power needs to be in the president's hand for the resolution to act in a military manner, if necessary. and regardless of whether or not they go through with the proposal that is syria turning over its weapons program to russia. what do you think the president needs to do? that is not on his side and that doesn't change overnight. >> no, it doesn't. me still needs to do tonight i think two main things irresponsive of this russian

plan. he needs to explain to people those dangers of not acting. i personally think they are potentially quite real. if assad used chemical weapons and chemical weapons and then goes completely unpunished by the international community, there's every reason to think, i believe, that that sends him the signal he can do this again. and then it also strengthens iran and hezbollah in the region. i know it's hard to make many americans care about this kind of thing. they are war weary and all that. strengthening around hezbollah in the region does have serious consequences and he really needs to spell that out. second, he also needs to say, thomas, every military intervention doesn't become vietnam. kosovo is a good example, great example of a recent one that lasted 90 days, basically achieved its ends. not a single american life was lost. he needs to put both of those things on the table. i do think this deal, if it goes through, obviously buys him

time. as david pointed out very crucially puts russia on the hook right now with us in working to limit assad, the damage he can do. >> odd couple leading the top. thanks so much. i appreciate it. as always you can check out our website, more from the agenda panel guests and the topics on the show today. we'll be back with more answers to the big question we pitched to you about trusting the president's judgment on this. [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor. guess it was. and didn't know where to start. a contractor before at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors, where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list.

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do you want to play politics here or do you want to get a post policy in place. the policy that can be put in place is to try to get this particular option of getting control of chemical weapons in place. now, if you want to undermine that, then play the politics. >> how about this, mr. secretary -- explain, mr. secretary. reclaiming my time. >> secretary of state john kerry sparring with republican john miller of florida at the house armed services here.

back and forth there going on. our big question for you today was do you trust the president's judgment on a strike on syria. if so, why? if not, why? we've got jeff weighing in saying, yes, i do. i also think he may not have to strike to get the same results. it looks like the end result will ab great out come. from tom we get, hell, no. anyone who thinks we should invade another middle east country needs their judgment checked. john wrote in, yes, as he's not given me reasons to doubt him like previous presidents. the conversation continues, keep comments coming in on twitter and facebook. that's going to wrap things up for me. a quick reminder, tune in to msnbc 8:00 p.m. eastern for the president's speech. we'll carry that speech when it against, slated at 9:00 p.m. don't go anywhere. alex wagner next. [ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect.

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case to the american people tonight. exactly what that case will be remains to be determined. it's tuesday september 10th and this is "now." in less than 24 hours, a russian proposal to transfer control to chemicals weapons arsenal to the international community has emerged as a broadly supported alternative to u.s. military intervention. yesterday morning this was the position on the diplomatic option that might stave off use of force. >> he could turn over all his weapons to the international community in the next week, turn it over, all of it, without delay, but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done. >> hours later in a stunning series of diplomatic twists and turns, president obama said this -- >> syria's foreign minister said today that syria would consider placing international inspections around its chemical

arsenal. do you believe it? >> i think you have to take it with a grain of salt initially. but between the statements that we saw from the russians, the statement today from the syrians, this represents a potentially positive development. this could potentially be a significant breakthrough. >> hours ago secretary of state john kerry came forward with his own sort of endorsement. >> this cannot be a process of delay. this cannot be a process of avoidance. we're waiting for that proposal. but we're not waiting for long. >> and in the last hour, nbc news has confirmed that president obama has agreed to the united states's discussion on russia's proposal. the dramatic shift began yesterday afternoon when backing of former secretary of state hillary clinton who called it an important step. it subsequently won the support of the chinese who said they welcomed the propos