there is talk now that bashar al-assad may try to seek asylum. should the u.s. position be no, you must be held to account for what you've done, or let's just get him out of here? >> well, i don't think the international criminal court is a legitimate organization under any circumstances, but in this case i think it posts the hard question whether this determination to prosecute somebody doesn't cause more death and destruction than giving somebody like bashar al-assad immunity, getting them out of the country and trying to end this conflict. the problem is it's hard to see who can give him that real grant, maybe the russians and that's why there is reporting that they are talking to bashar al-assad. but one reason i think he and other dictators tend to stay to the end is they don't think there is any real immunity and i think that is too bad. gregg: and the u.s. position should be? >> i think if somebody like russia would grant him asylum that we ought to accept it and see if we can't get this conflict over with before 10,000 more civilians are killed. gregg: b

he was killed along with eight other people in bashar saturday. he was known for being an outspoken critic of the pakistani taliban. in deposit from minister appealed for calm after two days of violent protest in new delhi. roads leading to the heart of the capital have been shut down to prevent more demonstrations. it did not stop when a group taking to the streets for the eighth straight day. they are calling for the death penalty for those accused of a rape of a medical student last week. people have been rallying and other indian cities over the issue as well. >> and believe -- a turn of events leading to clashes between protesters and police forces. anger that this crime is justified but violence will serve no purses -- purpose. i appeal to all concerned citizens to remain at peace and calm. i will assure you that we will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety of women in this country. >> staying in india, five policemen have been suspended and northeast after a journalist was shot dead. protesters took to the streets in the

the problem really lies in bashar al-assad's stand. he continues to blame awful his attacks on his own country coming from terrorism. >> reporter: well, he may have a point at some level in that sense, kelly. you have the rebels who are based there inside of syria, a number of them are hard-line islamists. th*epb you also have a jihadi group that is operating in the latest reports that we have from inside syria are saying that an al-qaida offshoot group has taken up a significant amount of the fight, so the thought that radical islam is behind many of these attacks and behind the syrian revolution is certainly one that holds a lot of water and it's one of the things that the united states and other western intelligence sources are so concerned about, is the fact that just because president bashar al-assad leaves office or is deposed in some way certainly does not mean syria turns into a democracy. you have a lot of people in there some that are more anti-western than president bashar al-assad ever was that will be vying for that power,

they are waiting for orders from bashar al-assad. only 60 days before the gas expires and needs to be destroyed. all this comes as secretary of state hillary clinton gets ready for a rare meeting with her russian counterpart on the crisis rocking syria. that could be a sign that russia might now be ready to shift its position and support stronger u.n. action against syria. molly henneberg is live at the pentagon keeping an eye on all of these developments. why is russia so important here, molly. >> reporter: russia is one of syria's allies, in fact one of sear kwras onl syria as only allies. and that is why it is thought they may have some sway over syria and bashar al-assad. hillary clinton is in a meeting this afternoon at a security conference in dublin, ireland. they will be meeting today specifically on syria. at the same time the secretary general of the united nations says he also is pressing syria not to use chemical weapons. >> i'm just very much concerned, and i have warned that in any case if chemical weapons is used then

military is making contingency plans should be soon president bashar assad siding with the u.s. sources saying that they all know where that assad has received numerous asylum offers at the same time the united states has the quarter he deployed the u.s. eisenhower start straw. group which went through the suez canal from the persian gulf over the weekend and we understand according to reports that it is making its way to the syrian coast and it has been throughout this week now what this does indicate this latest development is that the united states now stands ready for direct military intervention in the syrian conflict so that is what we're hearing from various sources and various commentators who have been following this story closely there is at the same time some evidence emerging that rebel fighters might be allegedly planning some kind of chemical attack on syrian president bashar assad's supporters there is a video that has been posted online on thursday now it does show what is thought to be a rebel fighter feeding a chemical weaponry to rabbits and within a minute th

intimidation just like you know yesterday when obama said so but iraqi going directly to the bashar al assad government our red lines the chemical weapons it's intermediation because they know that even a desperate assad double would he never used chemical weapons because the response would be overwhelming so you sink your client patriot missiles at the border it's intimidation to say look if we had was three bullets crossing the border in the next few days we're going to start by being intimidation and not not to terror because nato said look this would be used as a deterrent and russia saying this would actually escalate the conflict but it's throughout without taking sides the russians the rats are in the ideological position that it's not at beach or a missile is an attack weapon it's not a deterrent arrow at all especially considering that this you know that this syrian army would never launch missiles across the border against their kids because the know they will be attacking our nato allies so while there is missiles going across the border then into turkey. this is this story

or the extreme likelihood in the post bashar period?ritten about is the difference between iranians and the united states they have contingencies whether assad falls or not. they have looked to build up the paramilitary the militia that used to be like a gang now it is like a storm trooper for the regime. and hezbollah to turn the grou and hezbollah to turn the group's into a much more established militia of. they have done that but then they look at other possibilities. with various regions they look into the alliance of convenience and used the pkk to pressure turkey with interference of syria but this relationship opens the door for future collaboration with a number of militia up. so to have the iranian and russian support. census started thinking, the rebels have been able to make inroads to the strip on the western coast of syria from the north where the rebels were strong and able to make inroads into the villages. there wasn't anybody there. they were abandoned with the from the north where the rebels were strong and able to mak

if rebels do take that airport it would be a major defeat for the bashar al-assad. it would cut off an important supply line for the bashar al-assad regime which relies on that airport to get supplies in and out. there are reports the rebels have gained access to heavy syrian tanks and other heavy weapons. much of the fighting is street to street, block to block, house to house, urban combat at its worst. hillary clinton says the events in syria are accelerating, and both sides are talking about some way to try to find some type of resolution to this war in syria that has lasted nearly two years long. russia a big supporter of the bashar al-assad, the russian foreign minister met with secretary clinton in bu dublin. she felt the meeting upbeat thinking there may be a come proeu myself in th compromise in the future. right now there is nothing concrete and syrians continue to die. >> reporter: with every step forward the opposition makes in syria it raises concerns that a cornered president bashar al-assad could be more likely to use those chemical weapons that are a

u-s officials are warning presidenn bashar al-assad against the use of weapons of mass estruction. 3 &psyria rages on, secretary of &pdefenseeleon panetta says the latest intelligence reports raise serious conccrns that syrian president bashar weapons on his own citizens. panetta isued thhs warning to world is watthing, the hole world is watching very closell and the president of the united states has made it very clear that there will bb consequences, there will bb consequences if the assad mistake by using ttese - chemical weapons on their wn people. diplomatic effoots to end the 21-month conflict in syria have failed. 42-thouuann peoole hhae been killed so activists. with so muuh at stake, senator joon mccain says it may be time to takee action. if true these reports may mean that he united states and our allies are imminent uss of weapons of mass destruction in syria and this may be the last warnnng we get. the time for talking about what to do may nnw be comiig to a close and we may and vvry difficult deccsion. syrian refugee camp at the jordan-syria border thursday. for the uni

one thing about bashar, he knows what the red lines are. a free hand in dealing with his own population. and he wishes to keep the powers at bay and the powers away. so i think the use of chemical weapons, he'll have to think hard about it. it's pretty much opted for the samson strategy, if you will. he's wrecked the country, he's destroyed it. he's destroyed aleppo and the battle for damascus as begun. >> i noticed a nuance, a difference in what the president said about syria and its chemical weapons stockpiles back in august during the campaign and what he said today at the national defense university here in washington today. as you just heard, he said, if you make the tragic mistake, referring to bashar al assad, of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. listen to how he phrased that back in august. >> sure. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being uti

long live syria, free and europe. >> he also defected from the bashar al-assad government. before that he held several high-ranking posts including the ambassador to sweden. i asked him how significant it is. >> it is very significant because one of the highest- ranking officers that have affected so far, and this man is the head of the military police and he must know a lot of things that have been going on by the army, invading the cities and killing civilians and bombarding the area with chemical weapons. he has said homs was bombed with chemical weapons. this is his statement. i think he was in a position to do this because you have all the reports coming to him. >> is it really that significant given that bashar al-assad still can count the military in multiples of tens of thousands? he is getting help from the russians, the iranians, and also has fallen out of lebanon. he looks pretty secure and appears to be acting with impunity. >> you are right. we cannot forget the fact this person has a lot of information about the use of prohibited weapons, especially this thing

is bashar al-assad sensing that he's up against anything this that regard? where i think the administration is talking about a red line lacks credibility. the administration, the president in particular has said if bashar al-assad uses chemical weapons there will be consequences. well, what consequences? indictment by the international criminal court? for somebody in bashar al-assad's situation that is a pretty thin deterrent. and yet we also have to remember, these are very dangerous substances. so we cannot be casual about talking about inserting american or other nato forces as if we're just going to pick these things up like aloof of bread and take them out of the country or destroy them in place. the risk to our personnel i think also has to be taken into account. martha: it seems like two basic scenarios exist right now, either bashar al-assad decides he wants to stay in power and he decides to go ahead and use the chemical weapons to beat the people back, and to make them lose their will to fight him and then he would stay. the other one is that he co

this week, president obama warned president bashar al-assad against chemical weapons, about an unspecified consequences. speaking to leaders in brussels, hillary clinton followed suit. >> our concerns are that an increasingly desperate assad regime may turn to chemical weapons, or may lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria. so as part of the absolute unity we have on this issue, we have

brahim talk being with bashar al-assad.d to get his way in there because of a threat of violence. he said there were no positive results. what can the western world do and should the united states be doing more to stop the blood head? >> well i think the bashar al-assad regime clearly believes that it has no alternative but to continue to fight. it fears that if it gives up "there will be blood" baths against its supporters, allo i think the near term answer is to find some place where bashar al-assad, ace family and other top regime people can go to get a saoeu asylum without the threat of prosecution. that doesn't sound very april tieing given the crimes the bashar al-assad regime has committed. the other propect sadly is this tragedy just continues and more civilians, now over 40,000, many maybe as many as 50,000 will just continue. kelly: those are staggering numbers, and to have the world just idly watching die as some people would say -- there is as you know a great deal of concern and even suspicion that syrian gover

never include the syrian president bashar al-assad. that today from our secretary of state, hillary clinton, after holding talks on the future of the nation's fighting with the civil war. she met with her russian counterpart and the united nations special envoy to syria over how to stop the violence that has killed more than 40,000. russia has blocked u.n. security council efforts to remove the syrian president. that did not stop secretary clinton from saying any plan for syria's future must not involve the man with the blood of so many of his men, women and children. >> the issue stands with the syrian people in insisting that any transition process result in a unifyied democrat syria in which all citizens are represented, a future of this kind cannot possibly we include assad. >> this comes amid reports the syrians have mixed components for the deadly chemical weapon

bashar al-assad is a key link. efforts to support moderate forces opposing him within syria should be considered now and considered seriously. i have recently called for a more robust u.s. response to the crisis in syria. i believe that a political transition to a government that reflects the will of the syrian people is also in the core security interest of united states and the region. moreover, this change would align with our values of supporting the democratic process and the basic rights and freedom that should be enjoyed by all people, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or gender. over the course of the past 20 months, the aside regime has unleashed a barrage of unspeakable -- assad regime has unleashed a barrage of unspeakable terror across the country. more than 40,000 syrians have been killed, countless have been injured. refugees have surged into neighboring turkey, jordan, lebanon, and iraq, taxing the limits of those countries. assad's escalation of violence has reached a point where fighter jets have

president obama sent a sharp warning today to bashar al-assad the syrian dictator who is fighting a rebellion by his own people. assad has not used his chemical weapons, including nerve gas, but the possibility that he might threatens to pull the united states into that middle east conflict. here's how mr. obama put it. >> i want to make it absolutely clear to assad and those under his command. the world is watching. the use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. >> pelley: so why did the president say it today? david martin hat the pentagon has been talking to his sources. >> reporter: this is a commercial satellite photo of a syrian chemical weapons base. u.s. monitoring of roughly two dozen bases like this indicates the assad regime has begun preparing its chemical weapons for use.

bashar al-assad continues to massacre his own people. now we are supposed to believe, as things continue spiraling downward in the nation, what we are supposed to trust him? his grip on power is loosening? >> i think it is entirely possible that bashar al-assad would use chemical weapons. especially due to the collapse of his regime. there are other less threatening explanations. he is just moving the weapons were the agents out of range or preparing for an enclave strategy if the country falls apart. you know, the united states and western options are kind of difficult here. if assad does begin to use the chemical agent, are people on the ground would be at risk. it's hard to see exactly what the administration is planning. whether this threat actually moved assad to change the policy is hard to judge at this point. megyn: look at this. look at these children. running for their lives. we have seen this. i am just disgusted at how many times we have seen us. if i get one more report about a child being tortured by this regime, and now we

your destiny will be like them because you are supporters of bashar al assad god is great god is great way to see we are from the our real sons battalion we will kill you with our chemical weapons. the video has not been verified this is an important point to make but certainly the message it sends out is ominous. washington says president assad could result to using chemical weapons out of despair as his government is on the verge of collapse but dr mohammed i spoke to a little earlier he's the editor in chief of the syria tribune magazine believes these concerns are exaggerated they have been saying for the past drug. use so far . as. the syrian army is going to work. out the. damascus airport basle not that we could go. again and again why would. i give a pretext for the us to intervene why it doesn't even mean it's all the syria has something that is scary it's. the idea is this thing was built and. to face the massive nuclear power nuclear bomb power that is very happy and it works of this it made it bringing out. the syrian conflict again spills over into lebanon head to our team

vladimir putin visited istanbul on monday where he said that's once again russian doesn't support bashar al assad or his regime but putting pressure just one side of the conflict is not going to resolve it and it's a biased solution and sending patriots suits erkki is going to do exactly that is going to put pressure on president bashar al assad and not see all the opposition groups in syria and what needs to be done really is all sides of the conflict should be. added negotiation table and discuss the future of the country without international interferences. and inside syria state media reports as a rebel mortar attack on a school in the damascus suburbs has killed twenty nine students and a teacher is the latest incident of collateral damage in the conflict that has allegedly claimed hundreds of lives in the past few days alone the syrian government maintains its fighting terrorists and controlled let's get some reaction now from historian gerald horne. joining me live from new york once again civilians are being caught in the crossfire what reaction coming from the international comm

headed by bashar assad both. leaderships have committed atrocities against their own people none from their sect but through other sects remember in one thousand nine hundred two or. the father of the short of the former syrian president have executed more than fifty thousand people in how much you third largest city in syria. said the current that said the regime they are now playing a very dangerous game and the reports emerging from syria that he's gonna is preparing to use chemical weapons it's only indicative indication that bashar last night in his last days and this is his just have his his back to the wall and he's willing to commit any crime imaginable and unimaginable to remain in power but shuttle as must go there were initiatives presented on the table to have a person like farrukh ashara the former vice president and long term foreign minister to head it transitional administration in syria till they hold elections and they can transfer into a democratic phase this initiative we don't hear about it t

weapons into bombs that they are making them apparently in preparation should the syrian president bashar assad decide to use them against his own people at a later stage now the reports also do say its own forces have been loading bombs with components of sarin gas which is a deadly nerve gas and that they have sixty days to use these bombs until the chemical mixture expires and has to be destroyed we have in the past heard from countries like the united states that has said that the use of chemical weaponry would be crossing a red line with certain hearing this again from the united states which does seem to see the ground for some kind of possible excuse for foreign intervention the united states has also said it is making contingency plans should aside leave aside imune at the same time that they are aware that he has received asylum offers and now the united states has reportedly also deployed the u s s eisenhower strike group that went through the suez canal from the persian gulf earlier this week and is making its way to the syrian coast on board our eight fighter bomber squads as

is condemning syria's president bashar al assad for what he is doing to his people and trying to keep control of of his country but on the other hand we have these human rights abuses that are happening up behind and the u.s. is ignoring it and possibly even arming the country's leader so what is with this this double standard when it comes to human rights a lot of people would tell you about the u.s. is actually talking to speaking out against the issue of the violations and beheading but if you look at what exactly they're saying it's not the same tone it's not the same accusations it's not it's it's completely different from what they would accuse the syrian regime of. what they're doing people would tell you you know what because the syrian regime is doing a lot well our you know far more damage to the cities to the people than what. a new regime and. a newly valid i mean the country is a lot smaller the kingdom is a lot smaller the book relation is not as big as the one in syria so you can't compare casualties in these two countries but it's a strategic importance. part of the ar

he also said bashar al-assad will never, ever, leave his country.tate hillary clinton as you mentioned as arrived in dublin, ireland, that was late yesterday and that is ahead of today's meeting of the foreign ministers of the organization for security in cooperation in europe. western diplomats are preparing for a friends of syria session in morocco next week where they'll plot out how to stand up a new government in the event that the bashar al-assad regime falls swiftly. bill: we watch this story by the hour. james rosen at the state department. martha: there is a new government push to warn elderly homeowners about the dangers of taking out reverse mortgages. right now in america according to the department of housing and urban development some 57,000 seniors are looking at risking their own homes through these programs. fox business network cheryl casoni joins us now. 57,000 seems like a very high number. the commercials of course that we all see seem to make this a very safe way to sor sort of draw on the equity of your home when you need it.

president bashar al-assad wants do and indeed has to hang on to the capital if he is to stay in power. there are many experts who believe either way, he has decided to fight to the death. either if he tries to flow he will be killed by his own supporters who will feel betrayed him him or ultimately he will be killed by the rebels. this, while it does seem to be the end days for the bashar al-assad regime, it could yet stretch on for some days or even weeks. that because the rebels simply are not strong enough to defeat the syrian security forces in one battle. what we are seeing is an intense battle of attrition. most experts will tell you, his days are numbered. >> the big question on the international stage now, jonathan, will he use the chemical weapons at the last moment. >>jonathan: there are real concerns. a lot of people call him a cornered rat fighting to the death and therefore use every weapon in his arsenal. there are others, though, who think that assad is highly unlikely to do that, he has been wanted by everyone, including his allies, the russians, that it would be a gra

is it possible at all that this man, this mad man, bashar al assad, is bluffing? >> oh, i don't think he's bluffing. we have to consider what he represents and that's a very small community, which feels under threat. it thinks it will be destroyed by sunni fundamentalists if it loses damascus or any other big cities. they have their backs to the wall. they say among themselves that when it comes to their lives or killing the rebels they will kill the rebels. in other words, yes, they will use the sarin, i've been dealing with the people for 30 years, they're almost a cult. what seems to us completely irrational decision, they're capable of. i don't know whether they have reached this point or not, but if things get bad enough in syria, i have no dowd they'll use it. >> on this sarin gas, i was reading about it, apparently there are two key components that make this gas and they're held separately, kept separately. you mix them together, it makes for a very potent formula. what kind of damage can sarin gas inflict? >> well, if it was artillery shell were dropped in

russia today -- from the deputy foreign minister, basically saying that they have acknowledged that bashar al-assad has been losing power and that his departure is a foregone conclusion. suddenly they are talking about stng support for bashar al-assad and making it very clear that they firmly support his regime. >> the russians cannot let go. he is an allied to iran and some are anti-american. what i see now is that the civil war in syria is going to grow, unfortunntely. an opposition that cannot bring him down very fast. lou: as always, thank you for being with us. thank you. lou:much more on the obama administration's foreign-policy in the middle middle east. the "a-team" towards us coming up. federal workers are thriving in the obama economy with record paid benefits. far outpacing government workers. it seems that government workers still unhappy. unions upset with the new reality of coworker reform. alan wilson joins us and tells us why they should be cheering you right to work lou: michele obama saying that voter suppression was in full force. in so many states around the country. th

well, this week president obama put syrian leader bashar al assad on notice specifically about the use of chemical weapons, and now we know why. pentagon sources tell nbc news syria is preparing chemical weapons for their possible use against the syrian people in the form of aerial bombs. >> reporter: as the fighting grows more intense and syrian rebels close in on damascus, the syrian regime has turned increasingly desperate. u.s. officials tell nbc news the syrian military has now loaded the precursor chemicals for seron nerve gas into aerial bombs that could be dropped from dozens of syrian fighter bombers. this week u.s. intelligence detected a flurry of activity at chemical weapons site, like this one near homs. while u.s. officials confirmed the precursor chemicals are loaded and they must be mixed together to get the sarin gas. president obama and hillary clinton issued strong warning to syria's president bashar al assad. >> it's the point of no return. they're going to lose any sort of backing they had in terms of the chinese and russians. it's a suicide mission. >> reporter: t

for europe it's that food paves the way for sanctions and i've responded to these two claims for bashar assad's history he himself publicly and also behind the behind the scenes the especially the meeting with. me. he will stay conscious in syria defends the syrian sovereignty as he said personally to the kids and there is no opportunity to change his position as for the other second claim to us and to china that we block. resolution based on article seven of the charter yes we believe that this is not acceptable because any resolutions based on article seven of the u.n. charter. and so that's would of course provide for in the foreign interventions and seems to all of the external players both the u.s. and turkey and arab countries in europe are against any foreign intervention was serious then you are why do you criticize it. we will not do that because we have the responsibility and we will keep this with this responsibility. to protect you completely within the people who do still we should let. you know the main hurdle is that the syrians themselves disagree violently literally vio

how do we know that bashar al assad isn't doing the same thing right now? intelligence that the u.s., the international community is getting is really accurate that there are wmd stockpiles, weapons of mass destruction, sarin gas, mustard gas, in syrian? >> wolf, the key thing right now is that if assad is putting up a front, we're not going to know that unless we have good solid human intelligence on the ground. and that begins with interrogations of the key personnel that are involved, the scientists, research and development community, the military leaders, the commanders, that as fran indicated would give the directives to pull the triggers. those guys have to be rounded up. and you have to conduct interrogations. that's very tough. that's kind of basic intelligence work. and it doesn't start until you get on the ground and you start interrogating those guys. >> there's always concern. i remember there was a guy named curve ball providing the u.s. information supposedly about saddam hussein's wmd. >> it was one source. >> but he was an important one. pe

one of the big questions in washington right now is whether russia could deliver bashar al assad even if they were to accept a process of negotiation that envisioned his removal from power. >> woodruff: what do you mean deliver him? >> because it isn't entirely clear that russia has the kind of flu over assad that would persuade or compel him to accept a negotiation approved by the russians and endorsed by the russians. >> woodruff: before you go any further, let me turn back to dmitri simes. what's your sense of how much influence the russians have? >> i completely agree with steve. the russian influence on assad is real but limited. there is another country which has more influence on assad and it is iran. the real dilemma for the russians would be if we say, okay, let's have this netiation. let's have russia disabled but iran should be excluded. assad says, well, i am willing to be a part of the negotiations but not without iran. to accept the exclusion of iran would be a difficult concession for putin. my impression is that it is not quite there yet. >> woodruff: given that, again

would bashar al assad use them? >> it's an important question. wondering, erin, whether this was a regime decision. you know, this activity surrounding chemical weapons, or they saw a local commander, perhaps, doing some things. and the international community wanted to send a message to everybody, including the assad regime, saying that one of your local commanders may be getting out of line here and may use these weapons. you better crack down on it. so it's not quite clear. the government knows more than we do but outside, it's not quite clear exactly what they were trying to get at here. obviously, stop the use of chemical weapons, but who was going to use them? what their intent was, we still don't know that outside. >> right. and certainly he i would imagine how secure they are considering that rebels have links to al qaeda or extremist groups. there's lots of risks. and sources are saying that his mood may be at this point, look, i'm going to end up being killed anyway. if i try to leave, i'm going to be killed by my own people and they so

russia says the transitional government should be put in place, with bashar al-assad staying in power. >> we have already had dialogue in cairo. we expressed readiness to meet with them, and are still ready. as we understand, they do not have any objection regarding the offer to leave. we are against interference from outside parties in syria. we understand we need a ceasefire. we agreed the geneva convention contains the elements to move forward for political settlement. >> in the caesarian title, schilling has devastated large parts of the city, including a large suburbs. the rebels say they have also made gains in eastern syria. fighters say they have captured this oil field. tens of thousands of mainly sunni iraqis turned out to protest the government. they are accusing maliki of marginalizing sunni leaders. >> a sea of people gathering in the provincial capital. and there is mounting a, and mistrust of the government is -- anger is mounting, and protest of the government is deep. they have been protesting a week and are not going anywhere. >> our enemy once this gathering to be d