assad family and yet he's the one who. it's calling for a political dialogue but what do you do with those who would rather die than see any sort of political dialogue with president bashar al assad you have people who are desperate to get any gain from their what they perceive as their legitimate struggle over the past two years in order to justify the destruction the blood. and everything that they have taken the country towards that's why they insist on for example president assad stepping down that would be for them again that would legitimize their struggle however there are rational people people who are you know experienced enough and know that the government is not going to for any soon and that the only. way forward if this is going to continue is more destruction and more bloodshed what do you do with the minority that will continue fighting and. messing with the society no matter what yes we've seen that time and time again throughout the past two years for example the u.n. have successfully brokered a couple of cease fires between the government and between the government forces and the rebels but that didn't last because you have so many small warlords all o

elements who fuel based violence in syria they would agree to not thing last and then getting rid of bashar assad so sooner or later you will have to agree to that demand in order to avoid that and even the bigger evil i guess what would be the god in t. that if president assad is forced to leave office and i stress on the work force if he chooses to leave that's fine but he is forced what would be the go on t.v. for his supporters not to carry arms against the new government mr barak i'm not arguing for processing him to leave office what i'm arguing for is that as a leader as somebody who or obviously loves his country i think here his should really take into consideration whether or not he's wrong is indeed pacifying or dividing in syria and i would argue that maybe it would not be the bast option for him to run in those elections even if he finds that the level of support is enormous simply because again the the influence that he has both on domestic and international affairs is highly polarizing but it would be up to him as a president of the republic to assess the situation and choose what

overthrow the dictatorship of bashar al-assad. the obama administration has been avoiding this step, but the president made the decision after u.s. intelligence informed him that assad's forces have used nerve gas against the rebels. this war began two years ago. tens of thousands of people are dead and the entire region has been destabilized. major garrett has just come from a briefing at the white house. major? >> reporter: scott, the obama white house has for the first time declared that the syrian regime of bashar al-assad has used chemical weapons to kill opposition fighters. u.s. intelligence communities say the syrian regime of bashar al-assad, as i said, has used a chemical weapon sarin multiple times, it says, in its war against the syrian rebels. now, the estimates are between 100 and 150 people have died. the administration says this "crosses clear red lines." the administration announced it was approving military shipments to the rebels. now, scott, it's important to

orchestrated training and tactics to intimidate and you you the population from the bashar as sadr, bashar el-assad side, so it is dramatically different, horrible things are happening on both sides but but bashar el-assad's forces it is a tactic they use to intimidate and you you the population and if we could talk for a second about what has happened, we have seen it spill over now into lebanon and we have seen it in jordan, being overwhelmed by refugees, now ten to 15 percent of the population of jordan is refugees, can you imagine if ten percent of our population, that would be 30 million people as refugees. king abdullah cannot stand if this continues. he now has a situation where the hezbollah is really all in, they have sent in thousands of fighters into the fight. >> rose: the way they have staked their future on survival of bashar el-assad? >> because if syria goes, they lose their link to iran. i was in yemen, the president of yemen said to me the greatest fear is not al qaeda, iran, the iranians are trying to do their mischief in yemen as well, but back to the battlefield situation and t

democracy and may be long an and difficult but there is no doubt of the relationship between bashar el-assad and iran and hezbollah, that is what hezbollah is in, because bashar el-assad is their lifeline. >> rose: from iran. >> yes, from iran. so from a pure national security interest the president should not ignore that fact, second of all why did we go to bosnia and kosovo because there was a moral issue, exactly and we didn't go to the united nations security council to go to kosovo and we did it in bosnia and we stopped the genocide and the killing. everybody refers to afghanistan and iraq, understandably for good reason but there have been times when we have intervened with air powers and others have taken care of -- >> rose: you think that is the model? >> i know that is the model. if we put american boots on the ground you would see a reaction which would help bashar el-assad immensely, we all know that then americans would be intervening in a way that would, we would have a great propaganda tool. >> rose: you know, you sit on the senate committee and talk to people from the secretar

>> well, it is in our strategic interest to see bashar al-assad go. gonzales madis, who is the head of our central command, said the fall of bashar al-assad would be the greatest blow to iran in the last 25 years. it would cut off their connection with hezbollah. the reason why hezbollah is now all in there, because they know if syria goes they lose their connection with iran, and that would have very serious consequences for them. so we want a syria that can have a very long and difficult path to a democracy and governing themselves without being massacred by bashar al-assad. and that's going to be more and more difficult every day. i admit that. sloos there's jihadists from all over the the middle east pouring in there, and it's going to make it extremely difficult. but compare that to the status quo. the status quo, the nas kerr good gz on, and bashar al-assad stays in power, and the spillover in the region turns it into a regional conflict. there's no good options here. the options were better a year to two years ago than they are now. and every da

on one side, a young rebel soldier fighting to the death to bring down the regime of president bashar al-assad. >> (translated): my greatest joy will be to become a martyr, and for syria to be liberated. >> narrator: facing him, a career soldier, determined to preserve the assad regime. >> (translated): we are all martyrs in the marking, to keep our country safe. >> narrator: two countrymen, now enemies, in a conflict increasingly driven by hatred. (explosion) >> narrator: with unprecedented access to both sides, frontline journeys deep inside syria to reveal a war that is reshaping the middle east, in "syria behind the lines." frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support ffrontline is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by tfrontline jou

on "face the nation" today, mccain told bob schieffer the forces of president bashar al- assad are gaining momentum. >> hezbollah has now invaded, the iranians are there, russia is pouring weapons in. and anybody that believes that bashar assad is going to go to a conference in geneva when he is prevailing on the battlefield, it's just silly to assume that. >> so you think he is now has the upper hand. >> we are seeing, unfortunately, a battlefield situation where bashar assad now has the upper hand and it's tragic. >> reporter: what can we do, senator? some people say there's not much including boxúates, the former secretary of defense. is there just not much we can do about this right now? >> well, we need to give them a no-fly zone. we can crater their runways, take out their air assets. we can provide them we a safe zone. >> so you are talking about u.s. air power, using u.s. bombers to go in there and bomb these runways and so forth. >> no, no, i would use standoff cruise missiles to crater the runways, i would use the patriot missiles down near, close to the border to protect the saf

the bashar al-assad regime using chemical weapons. more than 90,000 have died since the uprising began and now besides providing military ailed the white house says press has not made a decision about enforcing a no-fly zone over syria. some think more needs to be done. >> the president has stated in a red line has been crossed. i would observe that red lines are meaningless unless they are backed pie action. the underlying bill reflects a sense of congress that any red line should be backed with substantive measures. martha: doug mckelway joins us live from the white house. doug, the timing on all of this. when did the administration decide that yes, indeed, syria had crossed over that red line? >> that's a key question, martha. you know, france and britain had already come to that conclusion weeks ago and it has led many to criticize the administration for wasting valuable time. last night at a conference call with reporters, ben rose explained the administration's decision making saying in effect that new developments on the ground

supplying assad with weapons how does moscow justify this let's a complex issue russia's plan to ship as three hundred anti-aircraft systems to syria caused a stir this week after president bashar al assad in an interview said that russia will be honoring its defense contracts further complicating things that the israeli elements the israelis have said that they are strongly opposed to this that they are prepared to use force if those weapons are delivered but we have to keep in mind these are contracts were signed roughly a year before the syrian civil war broke out in twenty eleven russians are not prepared to console the contracts although the deputy foreign minister has said that this is seen as a stabilizing factor that will deter quote what he called some hotheads from considering to send in foreign forces to intervene in the syrian conflict i do think that russian made s. three hundred i myself i reserve supposed to be for defensive which is not offensive but what about the issue of the use of chemical weapons it came up again this week can you tell us more about the. it's a bit murky but according to local turkish media reports the turkish government has rounded up abou

the most powerful opposition group is essentially al qaeda. >> rose: right. >> we don't like bashar al-assad. the president is -- i think genuinely bothered morally by this problem but, you know, in this situation there's something that's actually worse than bashar al-assad which is the possibility that you -- we will see a safe haven created for an al qaeda affiliate. not in the remote regions of afghanistan-- which is bad enough, as we know from 9/11-- but very close to israel and jordan and the mediterranean. so, you know, they are flummox bid this one. >> rose: would be that be a possibility today if there had been intervention earlier? >> my understanding is that the president feels no. there are a lot of people like john mccain and people like john mccain that say absolutely yes. if we had stepped in two years ago and tried to shape the opposition into something other than what it's become then there's a stronger likelihood that al qaeda could have been kept at bay. but, you know, what's done is done and we're here at this situation right now. there's another point which is that, you k

bashar al assad has a strategy of rape, torture, and murder.re are mass graves that have been found all over syria. so it is -- his people and hezbollah and others are trained to inflict torture and to indulge, engage in mass rapes in order to cow the population and commit mass murder. that's the difference. we're talking about 93,000 people dead. the president said now we know chemical weapons killed a hundred people. what about the other 92,800 and whatever it is? look, this is an unfair fight. it's shameful. if bashar assad stays in power and the iranians are able to make sure that happens, imagine the position of power that iran has in the region and look what happens if bashar assad fails. it is a great blow to iran the greatest in 25 years and they're cut off from hezbollah which means hezbollah would die on the vine. that's why they're all in this conflict. now we're talking about giving them light weapons. light weapons do not do well against scud missiles and tanks. it's just shameful. >> senator mccain we know where you stand on this

speaking yesterday after talks with a lot of athletes and downing street well he also called for bashar assadto step down he said that britain will continue to provide support to the syrian opposition we know that russian president vladimir putin well he his view is somewhat different he questions what will happen once these weapons are provided to the syrian opposition and he spoke about it in the press conference in downing street yesterday we can have a listen to that now as well. the work i don't think you'll deny that both sides are responsible for the blood including of children there's always the question of who's to blame i don't think you'll deny that we shouldn't support people opening up other people's bodies and eating the entrails on camera do you want to support these people do you want them now paul it looks like the g. eight leaders just can't get to terms with each other on this but how is the general public's reaction to this been at the gathering. well there has been an unprecedented amount of security at the summit had just driving through from belfast to dhaka and last ni

if bashar assad goes, hezbollah is disconnected from iran. the whole equation in the middle east dramatically changes. if iran and bashar assad succeed, you're going to see a direct threat of the state of israel, which the israelis understand coming from the golan heights. so this is not only a humanitarian issue, it is a national security issue. if iran succeeds in keeping bashar assad in power, that will send a message throughout the middle east about iranian power, iranian ability and iranian ability to change governments throughout the middle east. so there is a lot at stake here. i hope the president will go to a no-fly zone and give these people the weapons with which they defend themselves as russian arms and iranian arms pour into the country on the side of bashar assad. my friends, it's not a fair fight. and we know in that kind of climate and terrain, air power is the deciding factor. so i thank my colleague from south carolina. mr. president, i appreciate the patience of the senator from texas, and i yield the floor. mr. cruz: mr.

bashar assad helped us win the war over israel.ll our weapons were entering from there. >> warner: grandmother fatima shared nasrallah's fear of the extremists in the syrian opposition. >> if they are not stopped in syria, they are coming after us. we don't slaughter people. we are not savages like them. >> the main element of hezbollah's narrative is that the fight in syria is a preemptive war. >> warner: randa slim of the new america foundation, author of a forthcoming book on hezbollah, says nasrallah is casting this as a necessary war of prevention. >> it's better for us shi'as and hezbollah to fight them inside syria instead of waiting for them to come to our back doors. >> warner: and are shi'a here buying that? >> so far the majority of the shi'as and the core constituency of hezbollah has bought lock, stock, and barrel into this narrative. >> warner: not all, however. one of hezbollah's founders, sheikh subhi al tufayli, says nasrullah is simply doing the bidding of his patron iran. >> the truth is, hezbollah is ordered to

that bashar assad and the syrian butchers have. used chemical weapons senator john mccain speaking on the senate floor at four fifty nine pm on thursday he just scooped the white house which is schedule a press call with reporters at five pm to make a big announcement one regarding the united states is role in the ongoing syrian civil war and mccain made clear that see what the announcement was going to be the president also. and now well now said that we will be assisting the syrian rebels in. in syria by providing them with weapons and other assistance senator mccain has long called for direct military assistance to the syrian opposition in fact he spearheaded an effort in the senate foreign relations committee last month to pass legislation to arm the syrian rebels and at the end of may he secretly dropped into syria to meet with top rebel commanders becoming the highest ranking u.s. official to visit that country since the civil war broke out there more than two years ago and so when the white house officially announced on thur

that the people have been -- have been killed by the use of chemical weapons at the hands of bashar al assadieve it, so until he can cross over to believe that there is that problem that exists with bashar al assad, i think the president is up against a rock and a hard place. >> i'm not sure he's a man who wants to be convinced. thomas, thanks so much. >> absolutely. >> just ahead on essigns, the real story about all the ring talk, plus a blockbuster blowout this weekend as "man of steel" proves to be made of teflon. we'll be right back. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don

. >>> with the white house confirming president bashar al assad's use of chemical weapons in syria it is now clear assad has crossed the so-called red line. president obama warned him to avoid. u.s. officials say president obama has authorized sending military support to syrian rebels. this as the u.n. estimates upwards of 93,000 people have been killed in the two-year civil war. but an nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds just 15% of americans favor u.s. military action. 24% believe the u.s. should not take any action at all. some u.s. officials say steps need to be made to prevent the proliferation of chemical weapons. >> my goal is to make sure they're not used against us or israel, our allies throughout the world. >> all this comes amid growing public pressure on the white house to do more from john mccain on the right to bill clinton on the left, nbc's chuck todd has the latest. >> reporter: for months, president obama has said bashar al assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people would be a red line and would lead to a change of u.s. policy. the white house confi

president pieten is on the side of bashar al assad. he's been helping bashar al assad with arms shipments and he's been quite critical of what the west has done with opposition. in fact yesterday, putin had a one-on-one with british prime minister david cameron. that didn't go so well. he seemed to lecture the allies on what they planned to do with syria. that is going to be the question is there consensus, veronica, between the u.s., the brits, the french and what to do next on the syrian opposition. >>> let's get you to another stories making news this morning. a man described as a moderate conservative claimed victory over the weekend in iran's election. hassan rouhani took over half a vote to succeed mahmoud ahmadinejad. the 64-year-old campaigning on personal rights, gender equality and artistic freedom. >>> the obama administration is expected to put a washington lawyer in charge of shutting down the u.s. prison at guantanamo bay. officials say cliff sloan also a confidante to secretary of state john kerry will be a new diplomatic

y también las reacciones ante la situación que estados unidos dará armas a quienes combaten a bashar al-assadesidente está en contacto con miembros de los dos partidos. >>> tenemos las caras de quienes se beneficiarían por la reforma. >>> uno lo vive. >>> se vale espiar en celulares y computadoras para que no haya otros ataques terrrts. >>> somos libres. >>> no, el que no la debe, no la teme. >>> de verdad ha bajado el crimen con enrique peña nieto en méxico. >>> hay mucha corrupción. >>> y tenemos >>> líderes de todo el mundo reaccioanron ante el anuncio que los estados unidos proveerá armas a los rebeldes sirios, rusia dice que no está convencido que el gobierno de bashar al-assad use armas químicas, el presidente barack obama conversará el tema con el g8 en irlanda. >>> es que la ubicación de siria, genera intereses de otrods países, como turquía, rusia, para más información conéctese al sitio univisionnoticias.com con la información. >>> a continuación teresa rodríguez con el adelanto de aquí y ahora a las 7, 6 centro el próximo domingo. >>> masacre de una familia y el único sobreviviente

russia is currently supplying weapons to the bashar al-assad regime and remains one of its strongest lies. western leaders including the obama administration insists bashar al-assad must go and they have said that for two years now. martha: wendell goler is live there. what is the white house's real goal when the president meets with vladimir putin? >> reporter: martha the president would like to get vladimir putin to persuade bashar al-assad to agree to peace talks in geneva. the problem is and the pre-condition for the rebels to attend the talks is bashar al-assad must go. it's an arms race, the u.s. threatening to arm the rebels with more sophisticated weapons and russia sending more sophisticated missile defenses. the european leaders are not essentially on the same page as mr. obama. britain and france forced the eu to end its arms embargo. >> they are studying what you are doing. and they are wondering perhaps if northern ireland could achieve peace, we can too. so you're their blueprint to follow, you're proof of what is possible, because hope is contagious, they are watching t

fundamentally because of chemical weapons but i do believe unstated is the clear momentum that bashar al-assad and his forces have gained in recent months. jenna: they are winning essentially. >> they can see, there is an end in sight now and it favors bashar al-assad. jenna: is it too late then? >> no i don't believe it's too late at all. if all we do is arm the rebels, even with antitank and antiaircraft weapons that in and of itself now would not be decisive. two years it probably could have been. what we must do if wii want to tur turn around is we have to shut down his air power which is what he uses to have hrefrpl oveleverage over the rebels. we have the capacity to do that. jenna: that means we intervene directly. >> that is direct military intervention which i'm confident the white house has been discussing. whether they are going to do that or not has not been announced, but clearly that is a major option and i think they are moving much closer to it than what they have in the past. jenna: already there's been comparisons made -- it's not even been 24 hours since this announcement, c

white house officials say forces loyal to president bashar al assad used the weapons on a small scale. they say the chemicals used include the nerve agent sarin. they estimate that 100 to 150 people are likely to have been killed. they say they'll share their information with their allies and with analysts at the united nations. white house officials say president obama will consider whether to provide more support to syrian opposition forces including military assistance. >>> the crisis in syria will be one of the main items on the agenda next week at the g-8 summit. japanese government officials say prime minister shinzo abe will announce aid for syrians displaced by the civil war.

7,000 hezbollah fighters, iranian trained hezbollah fighters from lebanon fighting on the side of bashar al-assad already. ful these are the most experienced -- among the most experienced fighters in the middle east, terrorists, militant, however you want to describe them. >> rose: so hezbollah against al nusra? >> you've got the makings of a -- it's become a shi'a/sunni war. i mean, people -- people keep talking about, oh, we're heading into a period when we're going to have a shi'a/sunni war in five or six different places. we already have it. >> rose: on the shi'a side you have iran and hezbollah-- both shi'a-- supporting the syrians.

assad. that is what the united states is hoping will happen. they're hoping that russia will really ramp up the pressure and be sort of the final thing that causes president bashar al assad to step down. chris? >> okay. thank you much, kristen welker for the hot news. let's go to capitol hill. we have chris coons of delaware and jim mcdermott of washington, both democrats. john mccain, perhaps the senate's strongest hawk, pushing for u.s. intervention in syria broke the news tonight about the white house escalation before the white house did. this was mccain tonight on the senate floor. let's listen. >> just a couple of minutes, the president of the united states will be announcing that it is now conclusive that bashar al assad and the syrian butchers have used chemical weapons. the president also will announce that we will be assisting the syrian rebels in syria by providing them with weapons and other assistance. >> according to nbc's kelly o'donnell up on the hill, sources on the hill say sources began advising congressional offices earlier today. the president would acknowledging assad's use of chemical weapons and would help armed rebels. mccain said he was

reporter: scott, the obama white house has for the first time declared that the syrian regime of bashar al-assad has used chemical weapons to kill opposition fighters. u.s. intelligence communities say the syrian regime of bashar al-assad, as i said, has used a chemical weapon sarin multiple times, it says, in its war against the syrian rebels. now, the estimates are between 100 and 150 people have died. the administration says this "crosses clear red lines." the administration announced it was approving military shipments to the rebels. now, scott, it's important to point out the administration has not described the quantity or the quality of the military support it will provide or when it will arrive but it will say that this support is designed to help the rebels defend against "a repressive regime." one other note, no decision has been made about whether to attempt to impose a no-fly zone. that option, though, remains on the table. >> pelley: and no word on exactly what kind of weapons. major, thank you very much. this military support comes at the moment that the rebels have lost a key town