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joining me now is the washington editor at large for "the atlantic" steve clemens. , i want to go to the discussion of the possibility that the chemical weapons could have devastating effects, could be directed at us. the chemical weapons that he thinks exist in syria, how would that happen? how would the chemical weapons get from syria to go directed at us? >> well, the most obvious possibility would be that the controls that syria has traditionally held on the chemical weapons, were enormously distributed throughout the country, with groups such as hezbollah. there were concerns that extreme islamist groups that were holding the journalists. it is the worry that any one of these groups could end up with those kind of weapons and use them against either the united states or its allies. and that possibility still exists even after the potential attacks against syria. so these weapons are a real problem -- >> but steve, can i ask you technically, what would be the transport method of those -- that kind of weapon from syria to the united states? >> well, i think that -

. >> joining me, steve clemens, washington editor at large.ve predictions from john mccain, saying now is the time to fundamentally rethink our relationship with russia. lindsey graham, something similar. but this is not coming from the republican side of the aisle. chuck schumer says that russia has stabbed us in the back. and each day that mr. snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife. given russia's decision today, the president should recommend moving the g-20 summit. now steve, that is very harsh language coming from a liberal democratic senator and his reaction today. >> well, i think that we're going to see a number of reactions along those lines. but the fundamental reality is that russia is a member of the permanent five in the nations. it is a nation with a lot of nuclear weapons. it is a nation that has a significant share of oil and natural gas reserves. we have to continue to deal with russia, and russia will continue to be a consequential relationship. it is a nation we have to deal with. and i think that one

i call it the power of steve clemens. what should he say at this point? something is coming roughly in 30 minutes. what should he say going forward to sort quiet the situation if that's possible? >> the president should come out and say i think what he has been saying is we're deeply concerned about what's going on. we support a completely inclusive political process that brings in all facets of egyptian society. that is not happening. because our concern about that and the events that have transpired and the brutal crackdown, we are suspending our military and even our nonmilitary assistance for the time being. pending events. there should be a suspension pending what goes forward that maintains a bit of leverage. then should be communicated our desire and hope to keep u.s./egyptian relation, get this back on track, look at this as a terrible hiccup in that process but to try to bring us back together. that's what he should say. >> i know domestic politics in this country and words matter in domestic politics. i assume that's same when we deal with forei

. >>> joining me now, mark ginsburg, and steve clemens, washington editor at large for "the atlantic." steve, what was your reaction to the statement today by president obama? >> well, i think finally it was a small step, a very meager step, but nonetheless in the right direction of at least sending a message to the generals that what was under way was unacceptable. i have offered a stronger signal, offered much earlier than the president did. so i give him credit for finally moving. but i suspect it was not nearly soon enough. given what we saw in these last days. >> i want to read a statement that rand paul issued today. he is a member of the senate foreign relations committee. he said while president obama condemns the violence in egypt, his administration continues to send taxpayer dollars to help it. the law is very clear when a coup takes place, the aid must stop. with thousands injured and some dead this week. the chaos continues to grow, the president needs to stop skirting the issue, follow the law and stop sending aid to egypt. ambassador, how would you respond to that? >> w

. >>> i want to bring in host at "huff post live" mark ginsburg and steve clemens, washington editor at large for "atlantic" magazine and a at the truman project. i'll start with you. we had ahman mentioning the idea now being circulated that the military leaders will try to dissolve the muslim brotherhood. the question is, what would that mean, practically speaking? it has been around for 80 something years. can you dissolve something like that? >> no, that's why it's laughable they're taking that strategy. i don't want to poke fun at what the military is doing. what you have is a military that slaughtered hundreds of its people. obviously, blame on both sides but this is all the products of political failures. they weren't able to mobilize into a political group and morsi in his political failures and now, again, an interim government that is appointed by the military that is completely failed to protect egyptians and keep egyptians secure. when we talk about cracking down on the muslim brotherhood, dissolving them. this is 2013. sure, for decades they were marginalized and pushed

us now is special assistant to president obama, msnbc mid-east diplomacy analyst dennis ross, steve clemensnd ann girin. thanks to you all. and you heard very different ideas about whether or not we should pull the aid or not pull the aid. clearly it's a more complicated question. there are some -- our own richard engel was reporting today that that some may see that as a symbolic walk away, if we were to pull that aid from the camp david accords, other suggest it may be some sort of support for the muslim brotherhood if we pulled that aid. give me your perspective on what kind of level this aid really is. >> well, i think there's some leverage. i wouldn't, exaggerate it. the saudis will clearly fill in. so it's not as if the aid we can't be replaced. but it is -- it does have some leverage because it creates legitimacy for the rest of the world. we cut it off and others will follow. the egyptians don't want that, clearly the saudis and emirates don't want that. we shouldn't exaggerate it. obviously to this point, every effort we've made to get the egyptian military to pull back has not wor

for our daily fix is chris dalizza and also here in the studio, editor at large for the atlantic steve clemens and washington post associate editor eugene robinson. let's start with you guys in the studio. thank you for being here. >> great to be with you. >> gene, i know you were at the white house on this road trip getting the briefing on the affordable college and jobs and you have this erupting. how important is this for the president and everybody saying does he know what he's going to do next in syria? >> you know, on one level it's called being president, right? because you can't control when these things happen and this is the president's focus right now. he wants to turn the conversation to jobs, specifically to higher education, affordability of higher education. the white house has some ideas about essentially grading colleges and eventually tying federal student aid to what sort of value do they deliver. do they keep costs down? do they graduate a certain percentage -- >> a government u.s. news and world report. >> exactly. you wonder about duplication. >> "consumer reports." >> me

. >> steve clemens, p.j.wley, thank you both. >>> coming up, a summer of self-inflicted wounds for the gop. we'll look at the party's vote today and how it might impact the presidential debates for 2016. stay with us. it's back to school time and we're talking with maria about the walmart low price guarantee. got your list? let's go. why after school snacks? because my kids are starving when they get home from school and hot pockets are perfect. look at that price. wow! now all your back to school meals are covered. thank you. ok, ready? what?! that's the walmart low price guarantee backed by ad match. save time and money getting your kids ready for school. bring in receipts from your local stores and see for yourself. save more this back to school on convenient after school snacks with low prices on gushers value packs and hot pockets sandwiches with our low price guarantee backed by ad match. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer

joining u steve clemens, senior fellow at the new american foundation and washington editor at large for "the atlantic" magazine. thank you for being here. >> my pleasure, rachel. >> secretary kerry says there's evidence the syrian government is responsible for that chemical weapons attack that the u.n. inspectors are investigating. do we have any indication what that evidence might be? >> i've spent much of my day today talking on background, various parts of the u.s. government. you know from our previous encounters i tend to be skeptical of many of these assessments. in this particular case, i believe we have signals intelligence that tells us who did what to whom, who ordered these commands, and the kind of intelligence that we have today is very different in nature than what was happening with lower level chemical weapons incidents documented before, in which there was some ongoing confusion about whether the regime or the opposition used those chemical weapons. i think the administration has evidence they're not sharing with us publicly, which i believe is is compelling, where

clemens never could've been mark twain. >> now, more from carson city, nevada. booktv sat down with conrad buedel and steveouchard to tell the start of his family, that dan burks. >> h. f. dangberg is one of the most prominent settlers in early western nevada. he came to the united states in 1848, his first job came to new orleans from germany and his first job was rapid loss on the mississippi, which he found was not quite as good as mark twain portrayed in this book, but after doing that for about a year he teamed up with another american of german descent, and together they went to work in a flour mill in st. louis. they did that for about a year, then they move to illinois where they worked on a farm for three years. and in 1853 after hearing all of the great stories about the gold rush and california, they decided to make the move west. and they did this by buying 200 head of livestock and driving themrom st. louis to california. it turn turned out that could ba very profitable venture because even back then, things are more expensive in california than they were in st. louis. you to buy a cow or an o

steve phillips, welcome back. this trend of losing popularity and credibility was in place before but now steroids makes it much worse. charles: the stars have tested positive, barry bonds, roger clemensn baseball tested positive or are linked to steroids. alex rodriguez who many thought would be the best wherever linked to steroids and that is the issue, the credibility is shot, the best testing system, strongest and most disciplined of any professional sport the time there is any should people be up on baseball. stuart: does management of the fall, the authorities in baseball do they truly wanted out, gone, finished? >> absolutely. it has been there way forever. is not about bud selig and the commission is, they want a clean, level playing field, the unions corps ever fought drug-testing and finally got in place and the unions come along and players are throwing other players under the bus, they wanted as well. prayers a guys who test positive get what they deserve and should be punished. stuart: you are general manager from 97 until 2003, that was the height -- not the height but part of the steroids stuart: didn't you know? >> no question. yet i thought during last six years as ge