struggle between the assad regime and the the people who began the resistance to the assad regime in two thousand and ten but rather you have a three sided struggle i mean it's becoming clear all the time i agree with that i know rififi has pointed that out but the implications of that of course are a very significant because it means that if you do attempt to try to use military force from outside to overthrow the present regime you are going to set up a situation where there will be a civil war in which the jihadist have a very very strong hand arguably a stronger hand today than the non jihadist resistance to assad and so this is obviously a factor in the thinking of the obama administration that's one of the reasons not the only one why they are committed to a very limited strike and by the way why the president the united states in an unprecedented statement some days ago i can't remember where there was ten days ago or so made it a a plea to to the american public that said you know there are downsides to the use of force by the united states in this situation i cannot recall i

pact on degrading the assad regime's capability we are worried about the assad regime seeking revenge against civilian populations we are already hearing anecdotes from average civilians saying regime soldiers are coming in saying you want a foreign strike here's your foreign strike and then shooting so we're already seeing some acts of vengeance from regime soldiers so yes we are very concerned that an extremely limited strike would have the the opposite desired effect gareth do you think it will be limited because once it gets started these things tend to be limited if you know what i mean because obama has no. credibility his legacy and ten years of american failed foreign policy in the middle east go ahead . there's there is no doubt that there is a a real risk that the administration could get caught up in a dynamic that takes it much farther into the syrian conflict then i think the president wants to go or the u.s. military and the pentagon want to go that is certainly a risk of that but i think is is inherent in the situation but i do believe that the intention at this point i

is that we would support airstrikes if they were to fundamentally degrade the capability of the assad regime we have two primary goals one is regime ouster and the other is to put an end to the massacres that we're experiencing daily ok refuse how many syrians have to be killed for that to happen by the united states well that's that's well the question we've been asking is how many syrians does the assad regime need to kill before the world pays attention we have more than one hundred thousand dead already and that's only what's been verified our question is how much weaponry will russia continue to supply to the assad regime how many hezbollah soldiers need to come in and kill syrians how much iranian people it's to be are you going to say when saudi arabia. are you interested in the jihad is to go there is that interest you whatsoever oh absolutely absolutely peter we are extremely concerned about the jihadists who flock to chaos and that would be chaos perpetrated by the assad regime we are absolutely concerned about all the foreign agendas that have entered the fray what we started with

struggle between the assad regime and the the people who began the resistance to the assad regime in two thousand and ten but rather you have a three sided struggle i mean it's becoming clear all the time i agree with that i know rififi has pointed that out but the implications of that of course are a very significant because it means that if you do attempt to try to use military force from outside to overthrow the present regime you are going to set up a situation where there will be a civil war in which the jihadist have a very very strong hand arguably a stronger hand today than the non jihadist resistance to assad and so this is obviously a factor in the thinking of the obama administration that's one of the reasons not the only one why they are committed to a very limited strike and by the way why the president of the united states in an unprecedented statement some days ago i can't remember where there was ten days ago or so made it a a play to to the american public that said you know there are downsides to the use of force by the united states in this situation i cannot recal

bashar al assad's regime did it. i remember iraq, and secretary hagel, who will soon be here, and general dempsey also remember it very well. secretary hagel and i both voted in the united states senate. so both of us are especially sensitive to never again asking any member of congress to vote on faulty intelligence. that is why our intelligence community took time. that's why the president took time, to make certain of the facts and make certain of this case and to declassify unprecedented amounts of information in order to scrub and rescrub the evidence and present the facts to

bashar al assad's regime did it. i remember iraq, and secretary hagel, who will soon be here, and general dempsey also remember it very well. secretary hagel and i both voted in the united states senate. so both of us are especially sensitive to never again asking any member of congress to vote on faulty intelligence. that is why our intelligence community took time. that's why the president took time, to make certain of the facts and make certain of this case and to declassify unprecedented amounts of information in order to scrub and rescrub the evidence and present the facts to the american people and especially to the congress. through you to the american people. we have declassified unprecedented amounts of information, some of it, i might add, not because initially that might have been the instinct in the sense of protecting sources and methods, but some leaked. after its leaking, we thought it was important to verify whether it was true or not. so by now you've heard a great deal from me and others in the admi

not whether assad's regime did this. the world is wondering whether the united states of america will concept through silent. sto stand asaid while this kind of brutality is allowed to happen without consequences. in the nearly 100 years since this commitment was made, only two tyrants have dared to cross the world's brightest line. bashar al-assad has now become the third. in ift everyone knows holds nothing but infamy for those criminals and history reserves very little sympathy for their enablers. that's the gravity of this moment. that's really what's at stake. syria, bottom line is important to america and our security if many reasons. first, you can't other look the danger that the wes had pose to the middle east. if they fall into the wrong hands or if they are used with impuni impunity. since president obama's policy is assad must go. it's our significant to deprive or degrade assad's chemical weapons. deprived him of a weapon. in addition we have important methods. to avoid the creation of a safe haven or a base

we don't dismiss any threats, but the assad regime does not have the ability to seriously threaten ourmilitary. any other retaliation they might seek is in line with threats we face every day. neither assad, nor his allies, have any interest in escalation that would lead to his demise. our ally israel can defend itself with force, along with the support of the u.s. many of you have asked a broader question. why should we get involved at all in a place that is so complicated? and where those who come after assad may be enemies of human rights. that is true. some of assad's opponents are extremists. but al qaeda will only draw strength in a more chaotic syria if people there see the world doing nothing to prevent innocent civilians from being -- being gassed to death. the majority want to live in peace with dignity and freedom. the day after any military action, we would redouble our efforts to achieve a political solution that strengthens those who reject the forces of tyranny and extremism. finally, many of you have asked why not leave this to other countries or seek solutions as sever

more over, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21st, we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas and distributed gas masks for troops and fired rockets into 11 neighborhoods the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after the rockets landed, the gas spread and hospitals filled with dying and wounded. we know senior figures in assad's military machine reviewed the results of the attack, and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods of the days that followed. we've also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. when dictators commit atrocities, they depend on the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory, but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states of america and the international community is prepared to do about it because what happened to those people,

however that the assad regime is very sensitive to russian influence it relies a law. russia for problem and maybe in terms of financial support i don't know if as well certainly it's a national political support it receives russia is absolutely critical that if putin president putin were therefore to say you need to do this you need to start to moderate your attacks on the rebels and to start to take part as it were geneva two and get the iranians in there as well then i think we may be in a more optimistic situation all right unfortunately that's all the time we have for today this was jack straw former u.k. foreign secretary thank you for being with us here and we'll see you next time. the main competitor girl on the market is mother nature. may customers struggle with to. fight for each drop from an interview supply. let people think i hear prices pure want to. live. they use it up there and wash their hands. and flush their toilets with the same. mysteries is selling and spring water. it looks like. we're going to go digital the price is the only industry specific

moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21st, we know assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas. they distributed gas masks to their troops. then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhood that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread. and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. we know senior figures in assad's military regime reviewed the results of the attack. the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhood in the days that followed. we have also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. when dictators commit atrocities they depend upon the world to look the other way and until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied. the question now is, what the united states of america and the international community is prepar

does not comply. >> we will not tolerate avoidance, or anything less than full compliance by the assad regime for the core principles of what has been achieved here. if assad fails to comply with the terms of this framework, make no mistake, we are all agreed, and that includes russia, that there will be consequences. >> for the latest on the plan to strip syria of its chemical weapons, let's go to phil litner in paris. why have the meeting take place in paris? >> >> it's making place in paris because the french have been all along one of the proponents of a military strike in syria, and that has been a huge boost to the white house in their efforts to force the assad regime to the negotiating tables. an interesting shift. normally the british are the first to step up alongside the americans with military support, but because the government of david cameron lost that vote in the house of commons, the british are not in any way, shape or form going to contributing military asset to say anything in syria. interesting to see william hague here, the british foreign secretary, but nevertheless, it

we've been very happy with it. >> tom, you're saying you support the assad regime? >> 100%? k it's our right to decide our future and our regime. it's no one's business to decide. >> tom, it is an important point is the assumption that everybody wants change. >> if president assad thought the majority of people would support him, he would have an election. [ applause ] >> the egyptian president fell down after a month and a half. the libyan president after a couple of months. certainly tunisia and all the other countries. the syrian president has been almost three years after what's happening. it's not the arabic spring, it's arabic fall that's falling on us because of all the negative impact. >> tom, thank you very much for that perspective. >> there is no doubt that there are significant communities within syria that support the president. a great portion of the christian community supports president assad. there's also no doubt that the majority of the country is sunni and is very unhappy with assad. and he would lose an election. >> i'm sunni, and my whole family lives in

who was responsible however as i say is that the larger question even if it is the assad regime. does launching tomahawk missiles on parts of damascus and elsewhere in syria what does that help or hinder the chances of peace and a reduction in the number of casualties you know you've said that cameron's presentation of the case to parliament was actually quite convincing what you want to see the vote go differently. we voted for our resolution our resolution was not ruling out military action in respect of syria our resolution was laying down a clear process not least based on the lessons that all of us learnt from iraq and that process included waiting for the reports of the weapons inspectors because although they're not allocating blame those reports i'm sure will be very important in terms of others making an assessment about responsibility and then having the matter discussed and brought to a vote in the security council ok on current predictions it may well be that a resolution put to the security council by for example us here in front of us would fail as a result it would

any agreement must verify that the assad regime keeps its commitments. but this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force. particularly because russia is one of assad's strongest allies. >> president obama wants the un security council resolution forcing assad to give up his chemical weapons and ultimately destroy them. for this, he is relying on russia that wants any question of u.s. military intervention to be shelved. >> all of this will only work if we hear that the american side and all those that support them will choose not to use force. it is difficult to force any country, be that syria or any other state, to engage in unilateral disarmament if military action is on the horizon. >> that is in contrast with the draft resolution announced by france on tuesday which allows for military action if damascus doesn't keep its promises within 15 days. it also blames the assad regime for the chemical attack on the 21st of august, a charge rejected by the syrian president and moscow. another stumbling blo

we don't dismiss any threats, but the assad regime does not have the ability to seriously threaten our military. any other retaliation they might seek is in line with threats we might face every day. neither assad nor his allies have any interest in escalation that would lead to his demise and our ally, israel, can defend itself with overwhelming force, as well as the unshakable support of the united states of america. many of you have asked a broader question. why should we get involved at all in a place that's so complicated and where as one person wrote to me, those who come after assad may be enemies of human rights. it's true. that some of assad's opponents are extremists, but al qaeda will only draw strength in a more chaotic syria if people there see the world doing nothing to prevent innocent civilians from being gassed to death. the majority of the syrian people and the syrian opposition we work with just want to live in peace. with dignity and freedom. and the day after any military action, we would redouble our efforts to achieve a political solution that strengthens those w

told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas moreover we know the assad regime was responsible in the days leading up to august twenty first we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas they distributed gas masks to their troops then they fired rockets from a regime controlled area into eleven neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces shortly after those rockets landed the gas spread and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded we know senior figures in assad's military machine reviewed the results of the attack in the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed we've also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sara when dictators commit atrocities they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied the question now is what the united states of america and the international

the world will now expect the assad regime to live up to its public commitments. as i said at the outset of these negotiations, there can be no games, no room for avoidance, or anything less than full compliance by the assad regime. i thank sergei lavrov for his efforts to try and guarantee the genuine aspects of this framework. so let me just outline specifically where we are and the steps that the united states and russia have agreed to take under this framework. first, the scope. we have reached a shared assessment of the amount and type of chemical weapons poss s possessed by the assad regime. we are committed to the rapid assumption of control by the international community of those weapons. second, specific time lines. the united states and russia are committed to the elimination of syrian chemical weapons in the sooner and safest manner. we agreed that syria must submit within a week, not in 30 days, but in one week a comprehensive listing and additional details will be addressed regarding that in the coming days. third, the unprecedented use of chemical we

more over, we know the assad regime was responsible. we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas. they distributed gas masks to their troops and fired rockets into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. we know senior figures in assad's military machine reviewed the results of the attack and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that fold. we've also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. when dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states of america and the international community is prepared to do about it. because what happened to those people, to those children,

however, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21, we know assad's chemical weapons personnel repaired for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas. gas masks toted their troops. into 11y fired rockets neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread, and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. we know senior figures reviewed the results of the attack, and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed. we have also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. commitctators atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. but these things happened. the fact cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states and the international community is prepared to do about it. because what happened to those children, thise not only a violation of internatio

moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21 we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an year where they mix sir a -- san gas, they distributed gas masks to their troops and fired rockets from a regime controlled area to 11 neighborhoods that regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after the rockets landed the grass spread, hospitalled filled with the dies and wounded. we know senior figures in bashar al-assad's resulttary regime reviewed the results of the attack, and regime increased their shelling of same neighborhoods in the days that followed. we have studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested president for sarin. -- that tested positive for sarin. whether dictator commit atrocity they depend on the world to look the other way until the pictures fade. these things happen, the facts cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states of america and the international community is prepared to do

moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21 we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an year where they mix sir a -- san gas, they distributed gas masks to their troopsnd fired rockets from a regime controlled area to 11 neighborhoods that regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after the rockets landed the grass spread, hospitalled filled with the dies and wounded. we know senior figures in bashar al-assad's resulttary regime reviewed the results o the attack, and regime increased their shelling of same neighborhoods in the days that followed. we have studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested president for sarin. -- that tested positive for sarin. whether dictator commit atrocity they depend on the world to look the other way until the pictures fade. these things happen, the facts cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states of america and the international community is prepared to do abo

finally, greta, we are getting more indications of a possible big blow against the assad regime. a contact at the free syrian army, the rebel force fighting the regime, has confirmed to us a report earlier on wednesday that says a former syrian defense minister, a real insider in the bashar al assad regime, has defected to turkey. now, syria is denying this. we do not have independent confirmation but if true that would be the highest level yet from a government truly, truly under the spotlight right now. back to you, greta. >> greg, do you know if syria is making lots of preparations in anticipation of a u.s. military strike? are they moving their air force? are they moving things underground where we can't get them? >> in the last several days, there have been strong and verifiable reports, greta, that that's exactly what they are doing. they are moving their soldiers out of barracks, out of military installations. they are emptying government buildings of officials and more worryingly, they are moving civilians or civilians on their own steam in sort of a protest movement are g

the president has made clear that our military objectives in syria would be to hold the assad regime accountable, degrade its ability to carry out these kinds of attacks, and deter the regime from further use of chemical weapons. the department of defense has developed military options to achieve these objectives, and we have positioned u.s. assets throughout the region to successfully execute this mission. we believe we can achieve them with military action that would be limited in duration and scope. general dempsey and i have assured the president that u.s. forces will be ready to act whenever the president gives the order. we are also working with our allies and our partners in this effort. key partners, including france, turkey, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and friends in the region have assured us of their strong support of u.s. action. in defining our military objectives, we made clear that we are not seeking to resolve the underlying conflict in syria through direct military force. instead, we are contemplating actions that are tailored to respond to the use of chemi

and the bashar al-assad regime did it. i remember iraq.secretary hagel and general density both were member it. secretary hagel and i both voted in the united states senate. both of us are especially sensitive to never again asking any member of congress to vote on faulty intelligence. that is why our intelligence community took time. that is why the president took time, to make certain of the facts in this case and to declassify unprecedented amount of information in order to scrub and re-scrub the evidence and present the facts to the american people, and especially to the congress. and through you to the american people. we have declassified unprecedented amount of information. some of it, i might add, because that might have been the instinct in protecting sources, and some of it leaked. after it leaked, we thought it was born to verify whether it was true or not. by now you have heard a great deal from me and others in the administration about the comprehensive evidence we have gathered. i am not going to go into it all right now. i'm

scratching their head and thinking why was any chemical weapons attack in the interests of the assad regime given the fact that in recent months they've been making advances rather than retreating and why would you by all accounts of the extremely pleasant and so his regime but it's not irrational why would he decide to risk the role of the united states when he was making progress in any event however stranger things have happened in warfare what we have syria is warfare it could've been. a commander down the line who took this action but moreover there is i think very little evidence that the rebels would have any capacity to launch a chemical weapons attack so let's just assume for a moment this was a chemical weapons attack launched by the asset regime and the question then arises what do you do about it and one of the reasons why there was such hesitation in the british house of commons when we debated this the end of august was because no one was clear and we will suppose it spells out to us what the consequence would be we were told that there were going to be. some tomahawk missile

moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21st, we know assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas. they distributed gas masks to their troops. then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhood that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread. and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. we know senior figures in assad's military regime reviewed the results of the attack. the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhood in the days that followed. we have also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. when dictators commit atrocities they depend upon the world to look the other way and until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied. the question now is, what the united states of america and the international community is prepar

though some in the videos can be heard blaming the assad regime, these videos do not prove the assad regime carried out these chemical weapons attacks, those claims by president obama and others in the administration come from other information not shared with the public and not confirmed by cnn. and while the president is confident in his case to the public, he says he recognizes why some, even after viewing these images, still have questions. >> i think people are rightly going to be pretty skeptical about the system and whether it can work to protect those children that we saw on those videos. and sometimes the further we get from the horrors of that, the easier it is to rationalize not making tough choices. >> reporter: these upsetting videos are being used to convince a skeptical congress that military action is needed against assad and his regime. however horrific the images are, they do not prove or disprove that a military strike would not result in any even more horror. jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> jake, thank you very much. president obama will give a few interviews on m

to make a move. >> melissa, we're also getting more indications of a possible major blow to the assad regime. a good source of mine in the free syrian army, that is the opposition force against bashar assad, claims that a former syrian defense minister, a real assad insider, has defected last night. has gone into turkey. syria is denying it. we don't have independent confirmation but if that is true, it could be the highest level secession yet from a very troubled regime. melissa? melissa: greg, thank you so much for that report, wow. the debate whether or not to attack syria is still raging in washington. secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary chuck hagel, and chairman of the joint chiefs martin dempsey all testified in front of the house foreign affairs committee to argue for action but many in congress still disagree. congresswoman anne wagner does not think we should strike syria. she joins me now in a fox business exclusive to explain why. welcome. thank you for joining us and let's get to it. why do you think this would be a mistake. >> thanks, melissa. i don't think the pres

escalate the carnage on the ground are the western powers truly interested in negotiations with the assad regime or are they biding their time while arming rebels and searching for a new opportunity to bring about regime change in damascus. cross-talk the war in syria i'm joined by elizabeth ferrous in washington she is a senior fellow at the brookings institution in new york we have eric draitser he is founder of stop improve dot org and in moscow we cross to erich krauss he's an independent asset manager right gentlemen and lady crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i'm very much encouraged if i go to you eric in new york first. about a week ago there was a lot of this few no optimism diplomacy the russians and the americans are talking to each other and then in the last day or so obama signed waives a executive order to arm the rebels in syria so where are we at right now is to is it only about chemical weapons and then regime change that's still in the cards that's still part of the obama agenda and what nato allies to overthrow the government in syria. we

moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. in the days leading up to august 21st, we know that assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area they distributed sarin gas. they distributed masks to their troops, then fired the controlled gas to neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. shortly after those rockets lands, the gas spread and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. we know senior figures in assad's military regime reviewed the results of the attack. and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed. we've also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin. when dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. but these things happened. the facts cannot be denied. the question now is what the united states of america and the international community is prepared to do about it. because w

and the bashar al-assad regime did it. i remember iraq. secretary hagel and general density both were member it. secretary hagel and i both voted in the united states senate. both of us are especially sensitive to never again asking any member of congress to vote on faulty intelligence. that is why our intelligence community took time. that is why the president took time, to make certain of the facts in this case and to declassify unprecedented amount of information in order to scrub and re-scrub the evidence and present the facts to the american people, and especially to the congress. and through you to the american people. we have declassified unprecedented amount of information. some of it, i might add, because that might have been the instinct in protecting sources, and some of it leaked. after it leaked, we thought it was born to verify whether it was true or not. by now you have heard a great deal from me and others in the administration about the comprehensive evidence we have gathered. i am not going to go into it all right now. i'

the vigilance and the investment of the international community and full accountability of the assad regime presents a hard road ahead ensuring that a dictator's wanton use of chemical weapons never again comes to pass we believe is worth pursuing and achieving and president obama is determined that we work hard in the days ahead to travel a path of conscience and to achieve our goals and we know that president putin and sergei lavrov are committed to that endeavor thank you. was it with the mega splenda. that should be. over to you because not in this to run so that's good news but it isn't gentle it will like to just resist migrating issued for your station just so i will not comment. on here they will be available to you so i will only mention that these documents are based on the consensus and their professional and it's a compromise we have achieved the objective that all presidents have agreed on when they talked on the friday september fifth on the margins of the sing pittsburgh g twenty summit. this subject to boards. publicly announced. just recently we could go. this objective is

have stated publicly or privately that the assad regime is responsible for this attack, and that was before our evidence package was put together and 34 countries or organizations have indicated that if the allegations prove to be true, they would support some form of action against syria. >> thank you, chairman. perhaps you can answer this. i know secretary kerry referred to it in his opening remarks. i believe like you, mr. secretary, that american credibility on the international stage hangs in the balance. while it's crucial to make sure that assad never uses chemical weapons again, i think there is something even greater at steak. and that is the message we send to iran as they pursue nuclear weapons capability. they see the syrian crossing of the president's red line and the world red line, and the supreme leader is also aware that mr. mr. obama keeps options on the table to keep iran from possessing weapons. what will iran's position be if we don't act now. if they see the stop of new nucr program hallow, and how do you think their nuclear program will change as to what we do

the president has made clear that our military objectives in syria would be to hold the assad regime accountable, degrade its ability to carry out these kinds of attacks, and deter the regime from further use of chemical weapons. the department of defense has developed military options to achieve these objectives, and we have positioned u.s. assets throughout the region to successfully execute this mission. we believe we can achieve them with a military action that would be limited in duration and scope. general dempsey and i have assured the president that u.s. forces will be ready to act whenever the president gives the order. we're also work with our allies and our partners in this effort. key partners, including france, turkey, saudi arabia, united arab emirates and friends in the region assured us of their strong support of u.s. action. in defining our military objectives, we made clear that we are not seeking to resolve the underlying conflict in syria through direct military force. instead, we are contemplating actions that are tailored to respond to the use of chemical weapons

but under any circumstances, the assad regime is the assad regime. and the regime issues orders and we have high-level regime that have been caught giving these instructions and engaging in these preparations with results going directly to president assad and we are aware of that. so we have no issue about the question here of responsibility. there is none. the asaid regime is the assad regime and they control the weapons and have a huge stock of these weapons, very threatening level stock that remains. and that is why this issue is of such grateful and so important. and there is no issue whatsoever in the mind of the intelligence community or the administration or certainly in the minds of all those people like senator feinstein and saxby chambliss the ranking member and others who came to the conclusion that the regime engaged in this activity. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> appreciate it. >> keep your hands off chemical weapons which kill people, the message which the u.s. secretary of state says the world needs to send to the a

if the assad regime fails to comply, the sanctions could cut in. allows for punitive action but the u.s. acknowledges they are not seeking military authorization from the u.n. which russia says it would vee to you. weapons inspectors will be dps entire chemical weapons arsenal to be secured or destroyed by the middle of 2014. for more we are joined by phil litner who is in geneva. phil this is the beginning of a very long process while they seem to arrive at this fairly quickly, implementation is something completely different. we have to still dissect what this means, what the implications of this agreement are. >> well, yeah, richelle. i mean as you say, this is just the beginning of a very long process. this is not the end. it may have been three days and after a couple of weeks of crisis but we are now looking at a lengthy process of trying to secure a large stock people, perhaps the world's largest stockpile of chemical weapons, inside a country that's in the midst of a bloody civil war so you know how do we achieve that? that's been one of th

put in his often come under fire for what is thought to be a strong alliance with a bashar al assad regime he had this to say he said that we do not defend assad or his regime and stead russia defends international law he also went on to say that it is dangerous when you start entertaining questions about the use of force when it comes to not going through un convention so a lot said today on the subject of syria from russia's president shaun but syria is certainly not be only point of disagreement between russia and the u.s. so won't get peyton have to say about other pressing issues well a lot of has been made about the relationship between president obama from the united states and bloody. putin saying that the two have sort of a rivalry but the president talked about how the two of them really actually share a lot of common goals and he even praised the president as being a direct and constructive negotiating partner he's optimistic about the upcoming g twenty saying that he's looking forward to communications with him on that subject and he didn't take any personal offense from some c