first let's go to eric shawn take a look back at the day 12 years ago. >> astounding so much time has zero. but in the subway it says the world trade center. this is one of the reasons why. let's look at the new building number one world trade center soaring into the early morning sky in lower manhattan. this building will open by next year a sign of the rebirth and renewal at this site. it will be full of artifacts from that day including the last beam the survivor staircase,able to flee and other artifacts. human sotories photos with each victim with the biographies for many to see. 10 million people have visited the site of the memorial where the footprint has the cascading water fall. again in a few hours there will be the 11th time the commemoration, the reading of the names as you recall what happened here 12 years ago. back to you. >> all of this so hard to remember that day. eric shawn, thank you so much. >>> meantime, there has been an explosion to tell you about in benghazi this morning. the blast coinciding with the one year anniversary of the terror attack in benghazi that

eric shawn has the news. is he live in ourng new york city newsroom. eric? >> hello, jon.human organs and chopping off arms and legs. that's what the syrian minister charged. he said the rebels are doing that and committing he called sexual jihad. during his address of the general assembly he said syria is just like new york city was on 9/11. attacked by islamist terrorists who he said are bent on destroying a secular state as for those chemical weapons he claimed it was the government who attacked in aleppo and says what's going on there is not a civil war but a war against terror committed by the assad regime's opponents schemes of murder, manslaughter and eating human hearts were seen on tv. but the conscience of the world has been blind to this in my country there are innocent civilians whose heads are put on the grill just because they violated extremist ideology and deviate the abuse of al qaeda. >> response syrian opposition slammed that saying the war is clearly the government's fault. he attempted to quote hide from the world totalitarian regime systematic attacks

eric shawn is live at the united nations. so what else did president obama say about syria, eric? really was a call for the united nations to act, and criticism of the united states that the world body does not. and the president addressed the issue of syria, as you just heard. he did not mince words about the delay here at the security council resolution, delay because russia has blocked it, refusing to support any resolution that would call for the use of force. the president in his speech said there must be consequences if assad does not comply with the deal that was hammered out in the framework between the u.s. and russia, that he get rid of chemical weapon by the middle of next year, although he did not say what those consequences exactly would be. but the president did tell the diplomats here that if the security council cannot agree on a vital humanitarian crisis like syria, what can it do? >> if we cannot agree even on this, then it will show that the united nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws. >> reporter: tonight there was another meet

eric shawn is live for us with the news tonight at the u.n. eric?, something has occurred that has not happened in three decades, not since before the islamic revolution in iran in 1979. first high level meeting between our government and tehran here at the u.n. that's when secretary of state john kerry will sit down with four other members of the security council plus germany with iran's foreign minister. they will be discussing iran's disputed nuclear program. iran's foreign minister is very well known here. iranian ambassador for 10 years. this could be the first possible opening of dialogue and diplomacy between iran and the west comes after the iranian president united nations openness trying to deal with the sanctions. he vows iran does not want nuclear weapons but does want the right to enrich uranium as other nations do to make electricity. president obama has said in his speech that concilla tore words are important. what is important and what is needed needed are variable actions that can show that the iranian also truly cooperate with the

our eric shawn is at the united nations.e will give us a live update in just minutes. ♪ ♪ unh ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ or you can choose to blend out. the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there. female announcer: female announcer: save up to 35% on a huge selection of clearance mattresses. get two years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. sleep train's inventory clearance sale is on now. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >> harris: team of united nations inspectors is on the ground inside syria and they plan to investigate more sites of alleged chemical wea

i'm eric shawn. president obama faces a critical test this week of his strength this week and of his policy calling for military strikes. he will be pressing his case for what he calls limited air strikes against assad's regime. before the american public, he will press that case to congress and, of course, to the international community. but with support seemingly eroding even among some democrats and liberal groups, the numbers right now show that the president is facing an uphill climb. what does he have to do tod con coming week? that process is already now in first gear this morning. peter duesy has the very latest from washington. good morning, peter. >> good morning, eric. beginning this weekend the obama administration is doing everything they can to get the public on the president's side in favor of an attack on the assad regime in syria. that's why the white house chief of staff is on all the sunday showing this morning. that's why president obama is giving six national network interviews t

i'm eric shawn. as least four people have been killed in this horrific fury, but that number, sadly, expected to rise. emergency responders now warning people in some isolated towns to get out while they can. the crisis understandably takes an emotional toll on all the victims. >> he went to work yesterday morning. about 4:30 in the morning, and we haven't heard anything from him. and he hasn't called us or anything. we're wondering if he's okay. >> my greatest fear when we moved here was fires. i just -- i never thought this river would do this. it's just amazing. >> and what's not helping matters is more rain is forecast to be on the way. we're live in the fox extreme weather center with the latest. rick, say it ain't so. >> the rain we're going to see today is going to be more of a nuisance because the cloud cover is low, making it hard to see for the helicopters. any rain is maybane inch or two in spots that won't cause rapid flash flooding but a few isolated areas could see additional flooding.

i'm eric shawn. >> hi, everyone. i'm jamie colby. interesting to note the u.n. and their mandate to go check out what happened with the inspectors was to find out whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them. i know you'll talk about this with ambassador bolton. there's new reaction now in the u.s. and around the world to president obama's delaying his decision on a potential strike on syria. he's decided to ask congress to first authorize any military action. france saying it will wait for the u.s. decision on how to act. and israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his country is ready for any possible scenario. first to connor powell who joins us live from our mideast bureau. what's the reaction there? >> reporter: this move by president obama generating anger, confusion and even some just, you know -- confusion across the entire area of the middle east. particularly in israel. prime minister netanyahu said the country is, quote, calm and self-assured and the country really is prepared for any scenario. president obama's decision to postpone a

senior correspondent eric shawn outside the u.n. live with us now. what is happening today, eric?yeah, good morning, bill. within the hour president rouhani will have that news conference, and while we wait for that, the spirit here this morning being called constructive, but the iranians are cautioning against any quick breakthrough. yesterday afternoon john kerry met with his iranian counterpart, the iranian foreign spinster, and we're -- minister, and we're told that for about 20 minutes he laid out the iranian position in what's called a thoughtful presentation, he hopes there will be a nuclear deal within the year. we will know if iran is sincere if they meet certain benchmarks. meanwhile, the president continues to speak out before he heads back to tehran today. he sent the same message last night at the council of foreign relations claiming iran does not want a nuclear bam. >> translator: we do not wish to ignore the interests of any other country. we do not seek to go to war with any country, we conot seek to produce any weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapon

eric shawn is keeping an eye on this live from the united nations. c. >> reporter: some of those chemical weapons attacks may have happened after the big one on august 21st. right you are, critics say there is a huge loophole in the resolution, likely voted on later on today. for 2 1/2 years the security council has not been able to deal with the syrian war as the humanitarian crisis has only increased because russia has supported the assad regime. this new agreement is based on russian american framework to rid the regime of its chemical weapons by the middle of next year. it does not include the threat of force which the u.s. had wanted because russia refused to back that. it calls for unnamed consequences if assad does not hold up his side of the bargain, a second resolution would be voted on. russia would not likely approve that. despite short comings, u.s. ambassador samantha power praised it. >> this resolution will require the destruction of a category of weapons that the syrian government has used ruthlessly and repeatedly against its own peop

. >> eric shawn live for us. thank you. more now, the former u.s.assador to bahrain good to see you. >> good to see you. >> trace: nobody has really explained to me, at least in any terms i understand. why exactly are we dealing with iran? why are we negotiating with iran? you tell your kid, don't do your homework. there's no dessert, doesn't do his homework and is negotiating for dessert. they haven't done what they were told to do and yet they want to come back to the table and renegotiate. >> yeah. i guess it must be a pretty sweet pie. but anyway, here's the interesting thing. we're talking about this as if it's something new. the fact of the matter is we have been negotiating at a very senior level with iran for the past ten years, since 2003. in the form of the eu-plus three framework. united states is being represented by the undersecretary of state for policy, which is the number three official in the state department so even though kerry is meeting with the iranian foreign minister and it sounds like a big deal, it's important but i wouldn'

. >> i am eric shawn. take care. >>> i can't contemplate that the congress would turn its back on all of that responsibility and the fact that we would have in fact granted impunity to a ruthless dictator to continue to gas his people. >> i think it is going to be difficult to get the vote through in congress, especially when there is time over the next nine days for opposition to build up to it. the president has not made the case. many members of congress will vote no and i intend to vote yes. >> as the white house weighs a military strike against syria the ball appears to be in congress' court. lawmakers are being to stake out their positions just one day after president obama abruptly changes course

eric shawn is live for us at the united nations. what does this mean?human rights activists say every minute one person around the world is killed by gun violence. that's why they have this treaty, as you said. secretary of state john kerry today signed it, the u.n. arms trades treaty aimed to prevent gun violence and deal with small arms trafficking around the globe. it specifically deals with trying to stop national export controls of different countries in troubled hotspots and conflicts, dealing with small weapons and arms. the secretary of state did address the american concerns that this treaty would violate our second amendment or impinge on gun rights. he said that's not the case, that the treaty imposes standards on other governments to make the world safer. >> this is about keeping weapons out of the hands of terrorists and rogue actors. this is about reducing the risk of international transfers of conventional arms that will be used to carry out the world's worst crimes. this is about keeping americans safe. >> reporter: it impact everything

on that story tonight, eric shawn post at the u.n. right now. with the top rebel commander in is syria and again live from new york good evening to you. geographic his name was aseem. he one of the top generals big deer general until he defected last summer. now is he comearched the free syrian army. now fighting his former colleagues, the islamist and demanding that the united nations act i interviewed him via skype. warning the international community in his words not to trust bashar al assad even though assad has claimed that he will cooperate with the united nations chemical weapons inspectors as for the united nations security council resolutions still beyond going relations here. russia continues its defiance demanding that the u.n. resolution does not include the threat of force about that he had in this message for the security council diplomats. if the resolution does not include the threat of force, the russians are fighting that as you know, is that acceptable to you or must it have the threat of force? >> it must have the threat of f

bill: eric shawn was heading to work on september 11, 2001 when he noticed a jetliner flowing over his head and over the manhattan skyline. eric begins our coverage from there. >> reporter: i was walking to work. i looked up, there was this loud noise. the engines of the jetliner that was unusually loud. i looked up and said, man, he's really low. it turned out to be american airlines flight 11. we now know it was mohammed atta piloting the plane toward the world trade center. it seems as if not one day has gone by as we look live at this emotional and stirring ceremony that continues and has every year since the one after that. every morning it's a morning of tears and tributes for these people. a somber and solemn ceremony as they remember their loved ones, the feeling of loss tinged by loss and sorrow and defined anger over what happened here over al qaeda and terrorism that hit our country. they have had the moments of silence. there were others when they hit the pentagon, and of course the two moments when the towers crumbled. they will be reading these names until 12:30. 3,000 na

eric shawn live at u.n. the syrian situation, chemical warfare there and attacks, very much on center stage. will the u.n. do something about it this week. >> reporter: they were potentially to have a vote in the security council on the resolution this week but now that vote is apparently in trouble. that is because russia continues to insist of there is no threat of force in the resolution if bashar al-assad does not come buy. as for the syrian president himself he is saying russia and china will protect him. in a interview quoted by reuters, assad said he is not concerned at all about the resolution and criticized obama administration for bringing it. it is based on the framework between russia and the u.s. to get rid of its chemical weapons stocks piles by middle of next year a leader of syrian opposition, through fox news and diplomats they should not trust assad. in an exclusive interview from within syria, the head of the free syrian army, general idriss, accuses of has assad and putin playing games wi

eric shawn is outside the united nations t should be a very interesting day ahead for u.s.n diplomacy either way, right, eric? >> reporter: absolutely, martha. three decades of diplomatic isolation could end with a handshake. white house says there is no formal meeting planned for president and iranian counterpart, hassan rouhani. both men could be in the same room at that time. all eyes are on the their speeches today as they address the general assembly and the iranian nuclear program. president obama expected to lay out his vision of global problems including the situation in syria with chemical weapons but he is also expected to say, that he is willing to signal diplomatic efforts to engage the iranians on that nuclear program of as for rouhani, we should look for the opportunity for him to offer conciliatory steps about that program, that his nation, they claim does not want to seek nuclear weapons. on thursday there will be a major step. that is when secretary of state john kerry will meet with his iranian counterpart, iranian former minister along with some other for

i'm eric shawn.

eric kantor, they know it's wrong. all the republican leadership knows they are doing this as a disaster and they are not strong enough to resist the tea party. >> we had shawnway not at conservative ted cruz, but cynical ted cruz. >> this is a great issue for them to raise money and be the leader and come out as the tea party guy or president. he knows it's a disaster. he took this hot potato that he created. he heated up the potato and threw it over the house. he said not me. you guys do it. that got them furious, as it should. when there is disunity as amongst republicans, there was among democrats two years ago, you almost always lose. >> there was unity and one week ago regarding the president's foreign policy. are you concerned and a long time supporter of israel. >> yes. >>. >> you concerned with assad and putin have been in power in a way that can only make the leaders of iran feel more confident? >> it's interesting on the putin side. i don't trust putin. what he did with snowden was despicable and cheap. he wants to be a world leader and as much as he fears the u.s., he has rebels and chechnyan rebels. he will move to get rid of the weapons. here's