. >> so let's bring in cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence for more. so chris, assad sounded like, what, like he's taunting the united states? threatening? and what did he mean by "terrorist attacking" if the american government means to attack his government, not the rebels? >> carol, what he's saying basically is that he himself does not have to retaliate in order to hit back against any u.s. air strike, and what he's talking about first and foremost is iran and hezbollah. u.s. intelligence officials have picked up some information that iran may be planning a retaliation strike against the u.s. embassy in baghdad if the u.s. were to hit syria. also hezbollah, they can mobilize tens of thousands of fighters, they probably already have targets picked out in israel. there are also indications that they could go after american interests, consulates, embassies, things like that. i think it's one of the reasons why you saw the u.s. evacuate a lot of its folks from the embassy in beirut, just on friday. in addition, mixed in with some of those threats were a

you heard chris lawrence earlier, the pentagon couldn't possibly device a plan where it would happene a history of a cat and mouse game going on in iraq. you were there with saddam hussein. do we have to put a deadline on this? is it even plausible? >> what you can do in a week, have an agreed binding security council resolution. laying out the security council regime and right of the u.n. inspectors that will go in. you ought to have a second set of deadlines, which is a week to two weeks at max that the syrians hand over the identification of all of the chemical weapons they have, the mix of what they are. their locations, and they agree not to move them any further from where they are, and that date certain. that allows you to build a baseline to think about, indeed, how you would take control of them. now, the difficulty, and we should not forget, this is in the midst of a civil war. the sites you had listed earlier, which were ones we've known about for about ten years, they are all in almost -- every one of them are now in areas that are contested by the rebels. this is somethi

our chris lawrence is joining us and a former military in syria is live with us in washington. to you, chris, this is such a critical issue. it's the cia's job usually to get the weapons to where they need to go and to make that happen but the pentagon has to be involved in some way because we have history showing those weapons have often ended up turned on american soldiers. >> and i think that's one of the reasons you saw the holdup. back in april they started sending things like body armor and night vision goggles to the rebels but the actual light weapons, the ammunition, the actual weapons that you would use for actual fighting has been held up first by lawmakers who were unsure if this was the right thing to do and then by making sure they could get some secure pipelines. in other words, to make sure that the weapons that they wanted to get if there were not going to end up in the hands of nusra or some of the other extreme elements of the opposition. that's why you saw the holdup. now it looks like the weapons are just now starting to flow to some of the rebel groups. >>

our chris lawrence, pentagon correspondent, joining me now.o, this is getting very ugly, very complicated and when early on people began to say the middle east and central asia is comply kay complicated, it's std to bear out with actual evidence and actual evidence. >> it's actual words at this point more than evidence, at this point, ashleigh, from "the journal's" report this threat would be in retaliation, in other words, only if the u.s. were to actually carry out a strike on syria. but, you're right, it has put the embassy and its staff on very high alert. i've been to the baghdad embassy while it was getting shelled and attacked by mortars, it happens actually quite often. the place is like a huge city. it's like a fortress, but the state department has issued new warnings to americans living and working outside that compound to be especially cautious at this point. i know from speaking with officials here that that has been a recurring theme. they have told us over and over again that one of the ways in which syria might retaliate agains

cnn's chris lawrence explains why the nerve agent is particularly toxic. and we warn you, the pictures you are about to see are disturbing. >> reporter: describing this video as disturbing doesn't do it justice. but some attach a different word. proof. >> i have absolutely no doubt this was a chemical weapons attack. >> reporter: amy smithson is studied chemical weapons for 20 years and said it was the child in this video that erased all doubt. >> maybe 5 years old and the twitching of the eyes and the mouth and the arms were all going in different directions at different times. that simply cannot be coached in a child of that age. >> reporter: and here's another. with white foam pouring out of his nose. what is that and what does it mean? >> well, it's one of the hallmark symptoms of exposure to a nerve agent. it could have been a cocktail of chemicals, not just classic warfare agents like sarin or vx. >> reporter: victims can die within ten minutes of breathing sarin gas. in liquid form a fraction of an ounce can be fatal. even contaminated clothes can h

chris lawrence will have that report straight from the pentagon. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. >>> president obama surprising and stunk weekend announcement that he will first seek congressional approval is dr drawing mixed reaction especially since he says it doesn't have to happen right away. not everyone sees it that way. >> reporter: right now u.s. military officials are refining their targets in syria looking see what has been moved and where. >> it's much harder. >> reporter: senator john mccain agrees with some officials who say u.s. intelligence and targeting technologies can overcome anything syrian president bashar assad tries to hide. >> i

it is extremely deadly and cnn's chris lawrence reminds us why the international community banned thewarning this report contains many graphic and disturbing images. >> reporter: describing this video as disturbing doesn't do it justice. but some attach a different word. proof. >> i have absolutely no doubt this was a chemical weapons attack. >> reporter: amy smithson is studying the use and affects of chemical weapons for years and it was the child in this video that erased all doubt. >> maybe 5 years old and the twitching of the eyes and the mouth and the arms were all going in different directions at different times. that simply cannot be coached in a child of that age. >> reporter: here's another. with white foam pouring out of his nose. what is that and what does it mean? >> well, it's one of the hallmark symptoms of exposure to a nerve agent. it could have been a cocktail of chemicals, not just classic warfare agents like saran or vx. >> reporter: victims can die within ten minutes of saran gas. even contaminated clothes can hurt you. iraq used saran in the 1980s killing thousan

but it's fate in the house is quite uncertaintop chris lawrence is live now. good morning, chris. >> good morning, carol. while the president travels overseas, his top officials are still here in washington trying to make the case to congress to authorize that military action in syria. in just about 20, 25 minutes from now, there will be the start of one of the last behind the closed doors classified briefing for members of congress, sort of a last-ditch attempt to try to close the deal among those who may be on the fence. this is coming just one day after the secretaries of defense and state faced a very tough crowd at the house. this is the hard sell from the inner circle to take action. >> this is not the time to be spectators to slaughter. >> reporter: laying out the price of not acting -- >> there is absolutely a risk of escalation in the use of chemical weapons. if we do nothing. >> reporter: and the cost of air strikes to america. >> it would be in the tens of millions of dollars. that kind of range. >> reporter: one explosive confrontation shows the har

chris lawrence at the pentagon. thank you for the report. pretty interesting right there. ll right. as chris said, for the record here, the kind of military operation being discussed now, a limited air strike most likely missiles. the president made it clear he doesn't want boots on the ground. that would mean marines. i want to talk about the military strategy now in syria. joining me is cnn military analyst lieutenant colonel rick francona. thanks for joining us. one thing people have been discussing since the president put the pause on what people thought would be imminent military operation is what does this nine days do for the assad regime? what could he do with this time? >> he has warning. he knows there will be a limited strike. that gives time to survive it. we have seen movements of what he believes high value targets, things the united states might attack. they are being moved to more secure locations. the syrians have a network of underground storage areas. they are dug into the side of mountains. they have taken lessons well from the iranians, north kore korea

chris lawrence has the latest on those fighting for their lives.are the doctors saying about them tonight? >> they have good news. the police officers, the washington, d.c. police officer who was shot in the leg and had to have major complicated surgery on his legs he is out of surgery now. they will assess him in the morning to see if they were able to save the use of his legs. his name is scott williams. he has been on the force over 20 years and is a canine officer. he had a direct confrontation with the shooter. he had major damage to his legs, bone, blood vessel damage. there was a woman shot in the should whoever is in very good spirits, with her family here. and a third woman who was shot in the head. it turns out the bullet grazed her. it didn't penetrate her skull. she did not have to have surgery. she may be one of the first to go home. from the d.c. police officer to the two civilian women who work for the navy it's all good news. >> we heard from the police chief seven of the names who lost their lives today. we don't know the other fiv

chris lawrence takes a look at the tough fight to win over the skeptical house lawmakers. >> this isrom the inner circle to take action. >> this is not the same to be spectators to slaughter. >> laying out the price of not acting. >> there is absolutely a risk of escalation in the use of chemical weapons. if we do nothing. >> and the cost of air strikes to america. >> it would be in the tens of millions of dollars, that kind of range. >> one explosive confrontation shows the hard work ahead to win over the house. >> mr. kerry, you have never been one that advocated for anything other than caution when that you would abandon past caution in favor for pulling the trigger on a military response so quickly? >> because i volunteered to fight for my country. and that wasn't a cautious thing to do when i did it. >> we're talking about people being killed by gas, and you want to go talk about benghazi and fast and furious. >> two u.s. navy ships have left the med. leaving four destroyers. questions remain not about the strike itself, but what comes next. >> what do we do if they shoot back a

chris lawrence, a crucial question.n if the chemical weapons are all found which doesn't seem to be likely, given this reporting. getting rid of a thousand tons of toxic chemical is hard. almost impossibly hard. barbara starr is out front with the investigation. >> reporter: nearly 30 years ago, congress ordered the u.s. military to destroy its 31,000 ton of deadly chemical weapons. it's not done yet. >> the material aware destroying are very, very dangerous. and they need to be destroyed in a certain way. >> reporter: there are more than 3,000 tons of chemical women's still on hand. according to the army. 90% of the u.s. stoll stockpile already has been destroyed at seven sites around the country. much of it incinerated. the army runs two chemical weapons destruction plants at highly secure facilities in pueblo, colorado, and richmond, kentucky. in kentucky alone, there are 523 tons of nerve agents, including sxarn mustard agent in projectiles, war heads and rockets. and the russians behind schedule. since joining the

>> chris lawrence, thank you.rting from the hospital tonight. >>> and our eighth story is the fear on capitol hill. the navy yard is blocks away. as you've shown from the maps, there was panic on capitol hill when this happened. dana, you were there all day, there was a lockdown at the senate, and i know you were talking about how that felt, what it was reminiscent of, but it was only the senate. >> reporter: that's right. and it happened hours after the incident at the navy yard, but it was about an hour and a half after the d.c. police chief announced that there could be two suspects at large. so what happened was this door and the doors around it on the senate side, they were closed. people couldn't come in and out. but the issue was that on this side of the capitol, of course it's the same building and the house, they didn't close it off. so there was some confusion as to what people should be doing. an abundance of caution, the sergeant at arms decided to have a partial lockdown here. >> they tried to pass gu

pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is "outfront." hese are the kinds of things where you think there's no way this could be true because it's just so -- it's just so shocking it's almost like a parody. but what can you tell us about usis and this development? >> reporter: erin, just a couple days ago usis said we didn't do his background check. now the company is saying oh, we did. it's not surprising because usis conducts about half of all the background checks for the federal government. now, they say they are not allowed to retain any of the records about that background check. but federal officials have told us that some of aaron alexis' run-ins with the law as well as his serious mental health issues occurred after that initial background check. aaron alexis told police he was hallucinating and hearing voices. he once got so mad he shot out the tires on someone's car. alexis' family also claims he suffered from ptsd after being a first responder on 9/11. and still he kept his security clearance. >> i mean, the political correctne

chris lawrence is following that side of the story tonight from the pentagon. how big is this disagreement, chris, among the intelligence officials and what does it mean for any action the u.s. might have to take against syria? >> reporter: it gets pretty wide, anderson. on one end of the spectrum, some analysts have looked at the intelligence and say they know where most of the chemical weapons are. on the other hand, other analysts have looked at it and say, the united states may not be able to verify the location of up to half of syria's chemical weapons. so we're talking about 1,000 tons, this is a lot of chemical weapons. what they all agree on is that there was siff significant movement of these chemical materials in that time frame when the president seemed to be ramping up the united states foreign air strike. in fact, the "wall street journal" is reporting that an elite unit of the syrian army moved some of these chemical stockpiles to up to 50 sites. and it's important no matter how this shakes out, if this all works out with the u.n. and russia, how a

chris lawrence at the pentagon.or that. >>> also coming up, that notion of limited and proportional. is that kind of a strike even possible, or is this a pipe dream? lieutenant colonel rick francona will join me in 15 minutes to talk about whether we can do something limited and proportional and have it really work. >>> and that brings me it this -- if the united states attacks syria, what is the legal justification? can you make the case that assad gassed his own people using strong, direct or circumstantial evidence. the administration says it can. it's just not telling us exactly what it's got. want to bring in our legal team to talk about this. this is a critical question. we are hearing echos of "it's just a circumstantial case." danny savalos, get me off the ledge. there are -- most criminal cases that find circumstantial evidence stronger than direct evidence. >> oftentimes circumstantial evidence is stronger. that's a public misconception that hasn't been remedied. direct evidence is saying, i saw professor

chris lawrence is "outfront." he's outside the gun store. he's the one who broke this news.ell us what you learned. what he tried to buy or was not able to buy, the test practices that he did at the range in the days before this are crucial. >> exactly right, erin. basically on saturday afternoon, about a day and a half before he went to the navy yard, aaron alexis spent a couple hours, i'm told, here. he walked in, he went to the gun range here on site. he used a rifle, and ammunition from the actual shop. when he was done he came out, and he bought a shotgun. it was that remington, the remington model that you just mentioned, the express tactical model, a .12 gauge. he also bought two boxes of ammunition, about 24 shells total. and law enforcement sources say this is the same shotgun and same two boxes of ammunition that he found on him while -- when he was found dead after that shoot-out. >> so now as people try to figure out where things went wrong and obviously, chris, as you know we're focusing in on the navy security clearance in terms of classified data and on the ba

i want to get to our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, who is live outside a gun store in virginiarecently visited the store. chris, explain where you are and what you've learned. >> reporter: yeah, jake, basically we're learning some very new information about what aaron alexis was doing in the hours before he allegedly came on to the navy yard and started shooting. exactly one day before that, he came right here to the sharpshooters gun shop in lorton, virginia, a suburb of washington, d.c. he was here a few hours and basically what he did was, he paid the store to use one of their rifles. he also bought some ammunition for that rifle and he stayed here at the gun shop, at the target range. he did some target practice with that rifle and then he bought a remington 870 12 gauge shotgun. we're also told he bought about two cases of ammunition, about 24 shells, with that. now, while he was here, they ran his name through the federal background check database. it took a couple hours. he was here a couple hours. but basically, there was no problem in that background check. he had a va

i want to bring in cnn's chris lawrence.hington hospital center where moments ago a news conference took place on the updates of the conditions of some of the victims, including the metropolitan police department officer. how many victims are there and how are they doing? >> reporter: yeah, jake, three victims are here, two of them are civilians who work for the navy at the navy yard. the third is that washington, d.c. police officer that you mentioned. right now, he's in the middle of what's being called a very complex surgery to try to repair the damage to his legs. it's said that surgery is going to last several hours. basically what happened is he came into direct confrontation with the shooter, he was shot several times in the leg. the bullets literally ripping right through his legs, damaging both bones and blood vessels, and i'm told that there is some concern about whether he will be able to walk again. that is something they are going to look at in the next 24 hours after he comes out of surgery and they're able to

so -- chris lawrence -- will the u.s. military, will the u.s.nt obama, be willing to do that? >> reporter: not if you believe the public statements, which is, the president basically coming out and saying that it's the military pressure, threat of military action that has brought this to the table right now, and got these parties interested in trying to come up with some kind of deal. but, you're right. there does need to be some sort of decision made in the next few weeks. some defensive officials are telling us there's only so long you can stand in sort of a three-point stance. cheap high level of readiness, and they would need some sort of clarity as to what's going to happen with certain ship deployments. two of the destroyers in the med arrived in the last four weeks. they can stay for a long time, but the other two deployed since february. so at some point in the next few weeks, in the next month or so, you're going to have to come up with some sort of plan to perhaps rotate them out, rotate others in, and i've been speaking to ish tos her

and before we bring in our guests, let's bring in cnn's chris lawrence who is at the gun store where aaron alexis purchased the shotgun. >> reporter: just a day and a half before aaron alexis went to the navy yard, he came here to this gun shop in suburban d.c., here in virginia. the store owners now tell us that he came in, and he used one of the store's rifles and their ammunition to take target practice at the gun range right here on site. then when he was done, he bought a shotgun. it was a remington .870. they ran his background information through the system. it's done right there on site. and what happened was while he was there no, nothing popped up in that background check. he had a valid driver's license from texas. and in the state of virginia, you cannot legally buy a handgun with an out of state license, but if the law allows it in your home state, you can buy a shotgun n this case, aaron alexis, legal in tex a legal in virginia. nothing popped up. no convictions on his record that would flag him so that they would deny him the gun. so he walked out of here with the remi

cnn's chris lawrence following it for us. good morning, chris. >> reporter: hey, good morning, chris. yeah, "the wall street journal" is reporting that the u.s. has intercepted communications from iran directing militants in iraq to attack the u.s. embassy in baghdad and other americans there. i've been at that embassy when it has been shelled by mortars and weapons. it is a fortress but the state department put out a warning to workers living and working in iraq. also, new information from officials about the scope of any potential air strike in syria. we are told that aircraft may be used, in fact, it may be bombers, long-range bombers flown by pilots right here in the united states. but these bombers, i'm told, would stay out of syrian airspace and use what's called standoff weapons to trike targets within syria. kate? >> a lot of developments on this story. thanks for starting us off. >>> the big question also this morning, do u.s. lawmakers and the american people have the stomach to stand behind a mission right now? righ

let's go to our correspondent chris lawrence. what are you picking up, chris? >> wolf, imagine being blind in the middle of all of that chaos in a part of the building you are not familiar with and without the escort who normally guides you around. that's what happened to one man until one of his co-workers decided not to run. guns firing and glass shattering and people screaming. one blind worker left exposed in the atrium of building 197. >> in the cafeteria we heard three more shots. really people running then and getting basically getting out of there. i looked around and we were the only two there. >> instead of running he went back for his blind colleague. >> i took him by the arm and told him every step of the way what we were doing. >> another eyewitness told abc he was close enough to see the face as aaron alexis shot a woman he worked with. >> when he looked at her, he looked straight at her and clenched the jaw and boom. >> barbara was in the atrium as she saw bullets breaking glass around her. >> first it sounded like a grenade and then we hear the

our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, is joining us now. aide going to some of those syrian rebels. chris, what are you learning? >> reporter: a u.s. official now confirms to cnn that the cia has started to funnel light weapons and ammunition to some of the syrian rebels while at the same time, some u.s. officials are telling us about their deep concerns about the criminals and conservative islamists within that opposition. bashar al assad is drawing his own red line. he'll only agree to dismantle his country's chemical weapons if the u.s. stops arming rebels and takes the threat of force off the table. >> this bilateral process is based first of all on the united states stopping its policy of threatening syria. >> reporter: the obama administration is showing no signs of making its military stand down. >> force might be necessary. >> reporter: and a u.s. official says the cia has begun sending actual weapons to syrian rebels. >> we are getting now a lot of of support from our american friends. >> reporter: but a defense official tells cnn,

our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is joining us from lorton, virginia, in northern virginia, shington, d.c. what are you learning over there, chris? >> reporter: yeah, we're getting new information about what aaron alexis was doing less than 24 hours before he walked on the base at the navy yard. on sunday, the day before that shooting, he came right here to the sharpshooters gun shop and target range here in lorton, virginia, a suburb of washington, d.c. we have confirmed now through the shop's owners that he came in and that he took target practice. he used one of the guns, one of the rifles, that the store owns and their ammunition, and he took target practice with that rifle. and then when he was done, he purchased a shotgun. it was a remington 870 express tactical model, a 12 gauge shotgun. he also bought two boxes of ammunition, about 24 shells total. while he was here, he waited as the store ran the national criminal background check. it's an instant background check that's done on site. they ran it, he didn't have any sort of convictions that would prevent him from get

our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is there with an update on their conditions. chris, first of all, tell us where you are and what you're learning. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, we're at the med-star washington national hospital and basically, there are three patients here. two of them were women who worked for the navy as civilians at the navy yard. the third was that washington, d.c. police officer. right now, wolf, he is in the middle of what's being called a very complex surgery to try to save the use of his legs. he came into direct confrontation with the shooter, took multiple gunshots to the legs that basically ripped right through both bone and blood tissue. he is in surgery now. it's going to be another few hours until he gets out. when he gets out, in about 24 hours, that's when they will have to assess the damage to see if he will be able to retain the use of those legs. another young woman is also in surgery. she was shot in the shoulder. but a third woman who you may have thought suffered the most traumatic injuries after being shot in the head, she may b

here's our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence. hey, chris. >> reporter: hey, joe.ould react to this video, but you may feel it is very graphic, something that you don't want children to see. we just want to give you that warning now ahead of time and also tell you that this was -- that "the new york times" is reporting that this video was given to them by a former rebel who was disgusted at what he saw. the men are stripped to their shirts and kneeling. "the new york times" says this video was just smuggled out of syria and shows a rebel commander executing captured syrian soldiers in april. it's shocking, but some lawmakers say they've seen classified reports that suggest half of the rebels are extremists. >> the briefings i've received, unless i've gotten different ones or inaccurate briefings, is 50%. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry argues it's as low as 15%. >> there is a real moderate opposition that exists. >> reporter: kerry and republican john mccain both cited reporting from an analyst who's traveled to syria. >> dr. elizabeth o'bagy. >> she wor

we want to go to cnn's chris lawrence. inneapolis, which is the lo custer that the authorities are looking at right now. chris, what itself the latest? >> reporter: that's right. federal agents are running down leads trying to determine if any of those attackers are american. >> that is what a group claiming to be al-shabaab posted on the twitter account. we knowths one of the only al qaeda affiliates actively recruiting here in the united states. this area is the home to the country's largest somali population. >> that community has been fighting off al-shabaab recruitment. they haven't always been successful. over the last several years, 40 young men have journeyed overseas to fight for al-shab b al-shabaab. most of them are from this minneapolis area. in fact, there was a recruiting video put out last month in which a man from minnesota compared fighting in somalia to disneyland for jihadists and urged other muslims to come there. fbi source is telling cnn the fbi has been working with the somali american community here

chris lawrence is live in washington with more on this angle this morning. chris? administration officials will begin to make their final push on congress to authorize that force in syria, but this meeting is behind closed doors and coming just a day after that key vote in the senate and a very, very tough reception for both the secretary of state and defense. >> reporter: this is the hard sell from the inner circle to take action. >> this is not the time to be spectators to slaughter. >> there is absolutely a risk in chemical weapons, if we do nothing. >> reporter: and the cost of air strikes to america. >> in the tens of millions of dollars. that kind of range. >> reporter: chose the hard work ahead to win over the house. >> mr. kerry, you have never been one as advocated for anything other than caution when involving u.s. forces in past conflicts. is the power of the executive branch so intoxicating that you abandoned past caution in favor for pulling the trigger on a military response so quickly? >> because i volunteered to fight for my country and that wasn't

chris lawrence is following that side of the story. what can you tell us, chris? >> well, carol, right now federal agents here and u.s. officials overseas are rubbing down leads trying to determine if any of those attackers are american. that is what a group claiming to be al shabab claimed on its twitter account posting that one of the attackers was from kansas city, two more from right here in minneapolis. this is home to the largest somali-american community. families have been fighting off recruitments from al shabab for years. sometimes they have not been successful. >> chris, i don't believe your story is -- we didn't have it. you said their efforts have not been successful. what do you mean by that? >> reporter: basically what that means is al shabab has reached out into the community, carol. we've been speaking with people last night who said they have heard accounts of that, and there have been actual convictions. earlier this year six men were convicted of funneling about 20 people overseas, young men from this area, two women were also convicted of send

chris lawrence is at the pentagon. explain to us what is behind the concern here. do they have hard evidence that suggests that some people could retaliate? >> reporter: there's a wall street journal report that says the u.s. intercepted a communication that iran has ordered militants in iraq to go after and troo toy to attack americans at the embassy in baghdad. this would be in retaliation if the u.s. were to conduct a strike on syria. i can tell you from talking to officials here it is one of their concerns. they have said that one of the ways in which syria could retaliate is to go after u.s. interest in the region or to have their allies like hezbollah go after u.s. interests in the region. we do know that the state department has issued a warning for americans who are working, living in iraq. it's something to keep an eye on, high alert in that part of the world now. >> i know you've been working your sources and talking about scenarios about how the u.s. might launch a target. what have we learned today? >> reporter: officials have been fielding daily calls

chris lawrence shows us why this gas does what it does and why this is so terrible. >> reporter: describing this video as disturbing doesn't do it justice. some attach a different word. proof. >> i have no doubt this was a chemical weapons attack. >> reporter: amy has been studying be use and effect of chemical weapons for 20 years and says it was this child in this video that erased all doubt. >> maybe five years old and the twitching of the eyes and the mouth and arms were all going in different directions at different times. that cannot be coached in a child of that age. >> reporter: here is another with white foam pouring out of his nose. >> what is that and what does it mean? >> it's one of the hallmark symptoms of exposure to a nerve agent. it could have been a cocktail of chemicals. not just classic warfare agents like sarin. >> reporter: victims can die within ten minutes. in liquid form, a fraction of an ounce can be fatal. even contaminated clothes can hurt you. iraq used it in 1980s killing thousands. the japanese cult used it in sarin attacks in the mid-90s. >> the people treati

chris lawrence from pentagon. thank you.reciate it. >>> samantha power is expected to speak about syria and her concerns over the inaction at the united nations. we'll have live remarks at 2:00 p.m. eastern. >>> a look at bashar's father, next. [ male announcer ] it's the adt end of summer sale. labor day is here, and getting back to a predictable routine can leave your home vulnerable when you're not there. help protect it with adt security starting at just $49 installed, a savings of $250. but hurry. this offer ends september 9th. call right now or visit adt.com. this is a fire that didn't destroy a home. this is a break-in that didn't devastate a family. this is the reason why. adt. you can't predict when bad things will happen, but you can help protect yourself with the fast alarm response of adt, with 24/7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide starting at just over $1 a day. this is the computer that didn't get stolen, keeping priceless photos and financial records safe. this is the reaso

>> chris lawrence at the pentagon for us, thank you. the way syria may be preparing right now for a potential u.s. attack. tom foreman is in our virtual studio with colonel rick francona. what are you guys seeing over there? >> we're looking at the varying information chris was talking about a minute ago. the syrians are trying to discount the idea that the u.s. was ever really going to bring warships in here and start firing cruise missiles in at them. and yet, every day that that discussion goes on, it's more time for them to prepare and to get help. one of the areas helping them out right now are the russians, because another russian ship has shown up here, and this one's important. why? >> this is an intelligence collector. it's pretty much state of the art. detached it from the black sea fleet. it's got the complete outfit of censors. it's got ability to monitor radars, communications. it's got its own sonar system. it can effectively track the u.s. movements in the eastern mediterranean. >> it would know the moment a missile launc

chris lawrence joins me now. this reporting from abc that a u.s. strike could be much larger than anticipated. what do we know about it? >> i'm getting push back from sources here. they are saying long-range bombers could be options considered or used in any air strike on syria. so it is part of the planning process. they say that does not fund mentally change the overall parameters of the mission. in other words, this official was telling me that yes, targets on the ground are continuously changing. they are adapting some of the options to fit those new targets but he predicted that a lot of these options would continue to change because they see continued movement on the ground, but he does not see this fund mentally changing what the parameters of this mission have sort of been established as. >> it's interesting, though, the secretary of defense yesterday said this could cost in the tens of millions of dollars, but the abc report is saying they are talking about using all the tomahawk missiles that they have, which is hundreds, which would obvi

pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us now. there's now new talk about the possibility of long-range bombers being used for strikes against assad's forces in syria. tell us about that. >> i was talking to some sources here who say they have been fielding calls from the white house daily. multiple many, many calls asking them for different options. one of the things under discussion is the use of long-range bombers. be flown directly from the united states. but the official that i spoke with said, look, it doesn't change the overall parameters of the mission. he said we'd still be looking at what's called a standoff capability. in other words, when you think of american pilots, he said, don't think of them buzzing over syrian air space. these bombers still likely kept out of syrian air space and using these long-range missiles to strike from a distance out of the range of those syrian air defenses. much the way that the submarines and the ships that are already positioned in the mediterranean can do right now. >> chris, i want t

chris lawrence is following that from the pentagon.agreement among officials and what does it mean for any action the u.s. might have to take against syria? >> it gets wide, anderson. on one end of the spectrum some look and say they know where most of the chemical weapons are. on the other hand, other analysts looked at it and said the united states may not be able to verify the location of up to half of syria's chemical weapons. so we're talking about a thousand tons. this is a lot of clhemical weapons. there was significant movement of these chemical materials in that time frame when the president ramped up the united states foreign air strike. in fact, the wall street journal said an elite unit of the syrian army moved some stockpiles to up to 50 sites, and it's important no matter how this shakes out, if this all works out with the u.n. and russia, how are you going to have accountability for the international community to sort of take control if you don't know where all of the stockpiles are, and if it comes down to a u.s. air st

chris lawrence was told by the marines there was no evidence that confidential or personal informationompromised. this is consistent with the other high profile attacks by this group. you can see the pictures there of uniform marines. we've not been a i believe to identify if those are actual marines holding actual signs. >> you mentioned about whether or not information was compromised. how can we be so sure? >> that's one of the things they look at. the way these attacks happened. the past have been routine phishing attacks. i spoke with a cyber security expert who has investigated the syrian electronic army. he tells me the hackers could be doing a lot more damage. they are able to control what people see and where they go. it seems the intention of this group is to spread pro-syrian information as opposed to spreading malware or a virus which is so much more dangerous. this group was hacked in april with somebody gaining access to its information. the group says no, that didn't happen. clearly any claims of responsibility are incon clk in at best. >>> ahead, she's almost at her goa

chris lawrence is "outfront" with this investigation. >> reporter: ed snowden, aaron alexis.ne thing in common. they were both vetted by this company. in fact, usis performs more than half the government's checks. >> the problem is they're doing so many background investigations that they have a lot of young people who work for them. >> the attorney does a lot of work intelligence officials, representing them in the clearance process. while usis out thes its highly experienced team doing in depth investigations, he said the investigators he's dealing with have virtually no military or intelligence background. unlike the form he fbi agents who used to do the work. >> they were a state trooper for 20 plus years. they had knowledge of the process. they know what the government was looking for. they knew what questions to ask. >> that was before the number of americans holding clearances ballooned to 5 million. but the issues don't rest with contractors alone. the navy was aware alexis shot up someone's tires in 2004 and they made the call to still give him a clearance. when alex

pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us with more on the military maneuver that we should knowut. there are reports that assad is hiding military assets in civilian populations. the military leaders have assured him strikes would be effective a month from now. how confident are officials at the pentagon that you're hearing from, the president isn't waiting too long? >> very. one official told us that if the syrian regime thinks it's going to get benefit out of this delay, they're sorely mistaken. the confidence comes from the fact that they feel they have 24 hour surveillance over syria, the technology to hit precise locations, and they feel that assad cannot hide some of his major assets. they say he does not have the fortified underground bunkers to stash attack helicopters and planes and you can't position and park many of those next to an urban school or a mosque. on the other hand, i spoke with the former general who commanded the air operation over kosovo who says the delay is making it more likely you're getting a cruse missile strike that will destroy the defense minist

chris lawrence joins me now. this reporting from abc that a u.s.pated. what do we know about it? >> i'm getting push back from sources here. they are