joining me now is andrew tabler, where he just came from meetings where he briefed officials on syria. he is also author of the upcoming book "in the lion's den." mr. tabler, thanks for joining us. >> not at all. >> as the chaos and horrific stories of torture and beatings and shootings get worse and worse from syria, what should the united states be doing that we're not doing right now? >> the united states needs to plan for the eventuality of the assad regime simply not being there. while it's not clear exactly what the tipping point of the assad regime is in terms of the fall of the regime like in egypt or in tunisia, it's very clear that the regime's increasingly brutal crackdown is not working. protesters continue to come out. and that the regime itself is on a downward trajectory. although when exactly it will collapse is anyone's guess. >> well, let me ask you the question i think many of us have been asking. we see the assad regime day by day increasingly violent, using increasing shows of force, and yet from a distance it is hard to see that even with the protesters' continue

joining me now is andrew tabler, where he just came from meetings where he briefed officials on syria. he is also author of the upcoming book "in the lion's den." mr. tabler, thanks for joining us. >> not at all. >> as the chaos and horrific stories of torture and beatings and shootings get worse and worse from syria, what should the united states be doing that we're not doing right now? >> the united states needs to plan for the eventuality of the assad regime simply not being there. while it's not clear exactly what the tipping point of the assad regime is in terms of the fall of the regime like in egypt or in tunisia, it's very clear that the regime's increasingly brutal crackdown is not working. protesters continue to come out. and that the regime itself is on a downward trajectory. although when exactly it will collapse is anyone's guess. >> well, let me ask you the question i think many of us have been asking. we see the assad regime day by day increasingly violent, using increasing shows of force, and yet from a distance it is hard to see that even with the protesters' continue