it is rosh hashanah. and it somehow became the first of the jewish new year. >> gordon: when the israelites were exiled in babylon. >> in babylon, the beginning of the new year was in september. they also had a lunar calendar, like the jewish people, so the first day of the seventh month was the babylonian new year. and over time, the jewish people took it and made it our new year. >> gordon: with the new year, comes the holiday traditions. >> when you talk about the jewish traditions, you are always talking about food. you can summarize almost every jewish holiday, they tried to kill us, god rescued us, let's eat. >> gordon: people eat po pomegranates and hope their good deeds will be multiplied like the seeds. and apples dipped in honey symbol a sweet new year. >> another tradition in certain circles of judaism is to eat a fish head on rosh hashanah. i know it sounds yummy, right. but a fish head symbolizes the head of the year, the new year. >> gordon: the hebrew greeting is shanatoba, a shorter versio

this year, they are sending the best happy rosh hashanah wishes.out there, but sometimes in unexpected places, you find it to be different, happy new year, the best new thing you were not >>> good morning. right now on "first look," did president obama sway any foreign leaders to support a u.s.-led military strike in syria? >>> peyton manning lights up the season nfl with a bang. >>> a shocking confession is geing a lot of buzz this morning. >> my name is matthew cordel and on june 22nd, 2013, i killed vincent canzoni. >>> is it legal to play fantty football for money?

this year, they are sending the best happy rosh hashanah wishes. find it to be different, happy new year, the best new thing you were not expecting today. that does it for us today, "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >>> the shocking video of syrian rebels executing the syrian soldiers could change the

this year, they are sending the best happy rosh hashanah wishes.find it to be different, happy new year, the best new thing you were not expecting today. that does it for us today, "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >>> the shocking video of syrian rebels executing the syrian soldiers could change the terms of the debate in washington. >> president obama is facing two distinct challenges in series. vladimir putin and the united states congress. >> president obama arrives in russia. >> right now the president is abroad. >> all eyes are on him and vladimir putin. >> in the middle of the g 20 meeting, they don't even pretend they have a good meeting. >> pressing members of the international communities to support a military strike on syria. >> they're not the ones voting on capitol hill.

anthony weiner in an epic war of words at this brooklyn bakery after he paid for some traditional rosh hashanah baked goods. >> really scum bag. >> very nice. >> weiner begins to leave the bakery but then, listen closely. >> this man saul kessler makes a racial slur about weiner's wife puma abadine. >> jon: ah. well then [bleep] that guy. i didn't know that. (cheers and applause) of course, it does raise an interesting possibility. what if everything anthony weiner has done makes sense if you look at it a larger context. what if there is one piece of information that makes each incident okay. like what if at that west indian phrase he didn't

rosh hashanah is the start of the jewish holy days. it's followed ten days later by yom kippur. >>> meanwhile, south carolina governor nickly haley is getting plenty of attention for showing her human side. >> she posted, what not to do, getting locked out of the governor's mansion in your robe, while sending the kids off to school. and with a sigh. and #adayinthelife. no word how haley got back inside. >> she's just a regular person. she happens to be governor. she's also a mom and stuff happens. >> it happens. yes, it does. >>> time, now, to check the weather across our nation. it will feel like fall in the northeast. severe storms are a threat for the west coast and northern florida. flash flooding and an isolated tornado possible from eastern washington to western idaho. >>> hot and dry in dallas, with temperatures approaching 100. seattle and portland are in the mid-70s. pleasant around the great lakes, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. >>> the hot, new gadget is finally revealed. the first impression on samsung's smartwatch.

happy rosh hashanah, which we all know is the jewish holiday of i have no idea.y riders all left early. this is the colbert report. (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) (cheers and applause) >> stephen: hey, welcome to the report. thank you for joining us ladies and gentlemen, i've got to say -- >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: what can i say. thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. folks, folks, i want to thank you and thank you for letting me latch on to you like an emotional lamprey an suck the joy from your young vital bodies until they are as dry as a crouton. (laughter) >> stephen: because folks, there's a lot of depressing news out there. chemical weapons in syria, radiation in fukushima, breaking bad is ending. even worse, i'm starting to think that hank and walt may not end up together. (laughter) well, folks, you know when i need a little pick me up, i always di

altering the oscar speech, photoshopping michelle obama's arms, the rosh hashanah tweeter, now they'rethe heels of the iranian president's maybe happy new year's wish to the jewish people, yesterday the new iranian president gave an interview and said, basically, yes, i acknowledge that the holocaust happened. he described the holocaust as a crime that the nazis committed towards the jews. he called it reprehensible, and condemnable and proceeded to repeat those comments in meetings with news media executives and reporters later in the day. okay, that is a huge deal given his predecessor's career of denying the holocaust. a big deal unless you work for the news agency in which case it never happened. look. see the "exclusive" there, fars reporting exclusively, they say, that cnn fabricated the iranian president's remarks about the holocaust. they even came up with a color-coded transcript system to explain what they meant. see, red means the president's words were completely altered. yellow means they were partially altered. and the underlined parts are the worst parts of the fabricati

at least according to in touch weekly, she attended rosh hashanah services and was introducing her boyfriends her fiance.

. >>> tonight marks the first night of rosh hashanah. the jewish new year. >> my living not just for myself, but for others. am i doing my part to repair the world? >> president obama was not the only world leader to use social media to send out a rosh hashanah greeting. notably, iran's new president tweeted out a message as well. this is in contrast to his predecessor, mahmoud ahmadinejad. >>> a coast to coast light for hundreds of hens, and ringing the bell later. the push to allow students to sleep longer. >> what's going on in syria is a crime, and should be punished. >> in three minutes, bay area voices speaking out on whether to take action in syria. >> and a reminder, you can get unbelievable. shhhhh! in our day, we didn't have u-verse high speed internet. yeah, our babysitter didn't have a million ways to serve mom up on a silver platter. we had to count sheep to fall asleep. and i always worried that i was creating an overcrowded sheep farm. in my head... never looked like that farmer took proper care of those sheep. too much? a

happy rosh hashanah, which we all know is the jewish holiday of i have no idea. my riders all left early. this is the colbert report. (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) (cheers and applause) >> stephen: hey, welcome to the report. thank you for joining us ladies and gentlemen, i've got to say -- >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: what can i say. thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. folks, folks, i want to thank you and thank you for letting me latch on to you like an emotional lamprey an suck the joy from your young vital bodies until they are as dry as a crouton. (laughter) >> stephen: because folks, there's a lot of depressing news out there. chemical weapons in syria, radiation in fukushima, breaking bad is ending. even worse, i'm starting to think that hank and walt may not end up together. (laughter) well, folks, you know when i need a little pick me up, i always

. >>> tonight marks the first night of rosh hashanah. the jewish new year. >> my living not just for myself, but for others. am i doing my part to repair the world? >> president obama was not the only world leader to use social media to send out a rosh hashanah greeting. notably, iran's new president tweeted out a message as well. > pra coast to coast light for hundreds of hens, and ringing the bell later. the push to allow students to sleep longer. >> what's going on in syria is a crime, and should be punished. >> in three minutes, bay area voices speaking out on whether to take action in syria. >> and a reminder, you can get ktvu news to go. just download the ktvu app, click the live icon, and watch all of our newscasts live on your mobile device. >>> continuing coverage on the debate over u.s. involvement in syria. nancy pelosi said she believes the evidence clearly shows that syria used chemical weapons against civilians, and says the u.s. needs to respond with force. >> this isn't about going to war. it's about not ignoring the use

rosh hashanah began yesterday, continues tomorrow until nightfall.eople prepare by going to the market for traditional food like pomegranates, honey cakes. >> artifacts like floppy disks and v.h.s. tapes are being saved, along with the information on them. >> rare rock on the block. the dimemands for sale that are expected to fetch millions, that's coming up. ç] >> we have the latest from the u.s. open. i had the privilege of going for the first time ever in my life. it's as awesome as you think it is. >> it's one of my favorite times of the year. it's the first thing i did here when i moved here six, february years ago. last year, rafael had to skip the u.s. open because of a bum knee, but nobody questions how it's holding up now, especially his opponent, tommy. grand slam champion roger federer was a previous opponent. moving on to the semis, he's 20-0 on the hard court this year. meanwhile, on the women's side, second ranked victoria looks to be on track to get to her second straight final. she made short work wednesday of unseated daniel la, 6-2,

anthony weiner in an epic war of words at this brooklyn bakery after he paid for some traditional rosh hashanah baked goods. >> really scum bag. >> very nice. >> weiner begins to leave the bakery but then, listen closely. >> this man saul kessler makes a racial slur about weiner's wife puma abadine. >> jon: ah. well then [bleep] that guy. i didn't know that. (cheers and applause) of course, it does raise an interesting possibility. what if everything anthony weiner has done makes sense if you look at it a larger context. what if there is one piece of information that makes each incident okay. like what if at that west indian phrase he didn't realize his microphone had been set to jamaican ago sent auto tune. now you may say all right, fine what about that text messagement he sent to his fwhichb lady where he said he wanted to quote-- [bleep] (laughter) maybe she had something on her face and he tried to get her attention by going like, you know-- (laughter) but she wasn't, you know, and then he thought oh, i know what could get that off. (laughter) an maybe instead of sending a picture he pent

and saying as the sun is about to set i wish all jews an especially iranian views a blessed rosh hashanah>> a couple of reports show slow but steady improvement in the economy. in the jobs market. the labor department said weekly job else claims fell, and private companies added 176,000 workers in august. most of those jobs came in the service sector. the economists say the numbers are encouraging but the job recovery still has a long way to go. >>> walmart workers are protesting across the u.s. demanding higher salaries and better jobs. they're calling on walmart to undo the firings of 20 employees who took part in a previous strike. the company has not responded. here is a look at the numbers. walmart ceo took only over $23 million last year compared to the retail giant's median worker pay of $22,500, below poverty level for a family of four. that's a ratio of 1034:1. let's go to john who is reporting live from new york. >> the protests here at valley stream in new york is getting under way at this hour. but protesters have been busy in manhattan. they went to the board member of walmar

unprecedented outreach that began with another tweet two weeks ago wishing the world's jews a happy rosh hashanah holiday. (laughter) >> jon: did not see that coming. well that is different, finally iran has reached the same level of tolerance as your local ford dealership. not that rouhani's wiped the whole slate clean. >> let me ask you, president ahmadinejad said the holocaust is a myth. do you agree? >> he's a historian, i'm a politician. >> jon: missed it by that much. here's a tip on the playing of the i'm not a historian card. if someone asking you, president rouhani, do you think the smooth hawley tariff contributed to the depression. you can bring out ot i'm not a historian. but when the question is was the holocaust real, i believe the proper response to that would be [bleep] yeah, yeah, it was real. you know what, forget the holocaust, that came out wrong. (laughter) all right, what i mean to say is perhaps what rouhani and obama both in town for the u.n. general assembly our nations can reach some sort of detant, a percentia-stroika, if you-- (laughter) president obama, would you like

that is the grave of their avot, of their ancestor, it's done during these ten days, because rosh hashanahates the beginning of the world, it's a time more of joy and discovery of wonder and then you move gradually and self-examination to the deep contemplation of yom kippur. >> the shofar is kind of an alarm clock for the soul. ♪ >> we in particular blow it at this service because death is a very important theme in terms of the zest and goodness with which we live our lives. the kever avot service reminds everyone, you don't have forever, either. one day someone will come here and be mourning for you. so knowing that your time is limited in this world, use it wisely and well, and with a certain amount of sanctity and holiness. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the greatest gift that those whom we have lost, those who have died have given us, is a chance to understand their lives so that ours might be better. how we will be remembered is in our hands, as long as we are here, because not only can you change your future, you can change your past. >> please rise for the mourner's kaddish. >> the kaddish is the jewish

hoping to get a school district to change school calendars to observe two holidays, unlike rosh hashanah and easter and christmas, they hold classes for their two holidays. >> my family is jewish, i would not want my children to have to choose between keeping their attendance record, missing an important lecture in school, or observing our high holy days. >> back in 2005, the maryland state board of education took up a very similar issue and ruled against observing muslim holidays. the montgomery county school district said in part, quote, state law makes it clear that we cannot close schools for religious purposes but only for operational reasons like high absenteeism among staff and among students. >>> today, it will be the first look inside the horseshoe casino in baltimore being built on russell street just south of m&t bank bank stadium and developers hoping to open by next year and once it is complete, it will be the second largest in maryland, complete with restaurants and bars and a world series poker rooms. >>> and a look inside the dine for the proposed casino in the nation's c

our calendar this week, the holiest time on the jewish calendar begins wednesday evening with rosh hashanahjewish new year. it ends ten days later with yom kippur, the day of atonement. >>> that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. you can follow us on twitter and facebook and watch full programs anytime on the pbs app for iphones and ipads. and visit our website, where there is always much more, including audio and video podcasts of this program. join us at pbs.org. >>> as we leave you, music from this week's kmem ecommemoratione 50th anniversary of the march on washington. ♪ jesus i know he is my all ♪ forever and ever, ah ♪ next time, president obama has pledged to close the guantanamo >>> major funding for "religion & ethics" is provided by indianapolis based private family foundation, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america. designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. and the corporation for public broadcasting. barry kibrick: today on "between the lines," one of our co

. >> and thank you so much for watching and for everyone celebrating rosh hashanah, happy new year tos.com with the latest. "nightline" will be here later and i'll see right back here tomorrow night. good night. st. "nightline" will be here later and i'll e you right back here tomorrow night. >>> tonight a sentencing of a serial killer. he murdered four weather now, their families are speaking out. >> we'll be live in traffic tonight. how drivers are trying to adjust to commuting across the new bay bridge. >> and home video of a burglary in pro gress what. to do, and say, if something like that happens to you. >> a remarkable 3 d game helping keep your brain functioning like you're 20 years old again. he in orkland there has been a fatal accident. it appears a pickup truck hit and killed a person here in this parking lot. >> this is taking place on embarcadero cove and 16th avenue. that happened around 4:15 this afternoon. we'll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available. and breaking news coverage continues right now on twitter. >> good evening, everybody, i'm larry b

. >> jimmy: but thank you, though, happy rosh hashanah, are you jewish? you don't want to offend anyone, thank you, guillermo. >> you're welcome. >> jimmy: you know, there are a lot of big stories as we just heard going on right now. unfortunately, we don't have time to cover all of them. so to remedy that, we went out on hollywood boulevard today and asked pedestrians a bunch of different things at once. we asked pedestrians, do you agree with president obama's decision to seek approval for military action against miley syria in response to twerking of civilians, using vmas? now, would you have an answer to that question? i don't think i would. but some people did. and here is our confusing question of the day. [ cheers and applause ] >> do you agree with president obama's decision to seek congressional approval for military action against miley syria in response to twerking of civilians using vma? >> you know, i have mixed feelings on that. i believe we need to do something and don't need to wait too long. but i think we all need to be in this together

just as the jewish new year rosh hashanah began, president rouhani who is the brand-new president ofout to set here in tehran, i wish all jews especially iranian jews a blessed rosh hashanah and then it includes this picture of an observant jew praying in iran. for jews that's just a striking image where jews are known to be oppressed historically recently in iran. and given the power of twitter, christine pelosi tweeted back saying, thanks, the new year would be even sweeter if you would end iran's denial of the holocaust, sir. and the foreign minister i mentioned earlier tweeted back at miss pelosi saying iran never denied it, the man who is perceived to be denying it is now gone. he's referring to ahmadinejad who is no longer the president and he ended by saying happy new year. clearly what matters is actions not words, but a change in tone, joe. >> that is just remarkable. really appreciate that reporting. remember, you can follow us what's going in "the situation room" on twitter tweet me and tweet the show. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next who are t

sending rosh hashanah greetings to israel via twitter, releasing some political prisoners, somethings, and now a series of statements by iran's new president, hassan rowhani and even the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei. rich, how seriously do you take all this? >> well, he's a major pr upgrade over ahmadinejad because he speaks like a reasonable person. but he's a khomeini loyalist going way back. there's no reason to believe he's not a faithful son of his regime or he wouldn't be in the position he is now. and i would take this to be a play to kind of string us along, perhaps, to ease the sanctions, perhaps. and also perhaps because our red lines are now obliterated, to get into negotiations that would forestall an attack by israel, a country whose red line still means something in the world. >> now, this gets interesting, because president obama and president rowhani are both going to be in new york next week, they're both speaking to the u.n. general assembly, in fact, next tuesday, and the question, maura, is should president obama agree, if president rowhani suggested through

we should mention this nights begins rosh hashanah from our jewish viewers. blocking an ohio hospital for forcing an amish girl to resume chemotherapy. her parents stopped the treatment because they said the daughter was only getting more sick. they want to put this in god's hands. last week an piles court ruled in favor of the hospital but this judge says not allowing the girl's parents to make medical decisions for their daughter would take away the parent's rights. >> the obama administration clears the way to same sex spouses of mill tear veet trans to be eligible for federal benefits. the justice department announcing it will no longer enforce a section of the law that only allows benefits to ho heterosexual couples. this announcement comes a week after a california judge rules a lesbian army veteran and her spouse should be entitled to disability benefits. it should only apply in states where it is illegal. >> are you left brained or right brained? the correct answer may be neither one. the left brain is with logic and right side kree taiftity. there's

but celebrating rosh hashanah and happy and safe here in israel and cannot think always what will happenth our neighbors. the only stable thing in the region is instability, unfortunately but we are worried if nothing happens after what assad did in syria, the leaders will understand they can use weapons of mass destruction against civilians and nothing will happen to them, as well. >> i know that israel has not had exactly a warm and fuzzy relationship with syria and with assad. but if assad were to be deposed from power, whether by the united states or by the rebels, do you have any indication of what kind of leadership would replace assad in syria and whether or not it would be better than assad?assad? >> frankly speaking we can't anticipate the outc >> frankly, we cannot anticipate what will happen. egypt and other countries, we don't determine or dictate to the neighbor what happens there. we are monitor our border and capable of defending our people. but we can't get involved in the internal issues of our neighbors. >> danny, there is widespread distribution of gas mask in israel.

then on wednesday came this tweet for rosh hashanah, the russian new year. later, they spoke to the tweet. basically saying, wishing a happy new year to all jews, especially all iranian jews. later, a government spokesman insisted it was not him but fans who had been tweeting. later in the day, the ayatollah calling allegations of an august 21 chemical weapons attack i the regime, a pretext to launch strikes against the country and pledging support for damascus until the end. we know there is a tug-of-war going on inside iran between moderates and conservatives and syria is part of it. we are seeing how iranian student like the idea of chemical weapons and the experience the full brunt of it during the iran-iraq war. could tehran review its view of assad? >> i don't think publicly or on the surface. i think these things suggest that this is a more troublesome issue than we sometimes seem to give credit both for russia and iran. again, russia has also said that it is a crime. they don't have this compelling evidence that assad did not do it. in both cases of

and ken pollack -- who is celebrating rosh hashanah today and is not on the panel -- this is the regional focus that will have to be determined. within its borders, you could argue that syria, perhaps is something that we could have ignored and it ignore for many years. michael the ran predicted that we would be heading for trouble and it would not stay within its borders. this is where the u.s. strategic interests are engaged. >> i would like to add a bit to that. since the assad dynasty took power in 1970, we have had a hostile relationship with syria. every president from nixon until now has maintained sanctions. we have lived with that. this is a problem, but this is a manageable problem. but the spillover from syria spills over into the things that matter to us. my own view is that israel and turkey are pretty kick goal of taking care of themselves, especially the israelis. that is why i think one thing the president has done over the last two years, that everyone will agree with, is to try to strengthen jordan to handle the spillover from syria. but now this is almost a flood. degra

this year, they are sending the best happy rosh hashanah wishes. it is still a bad world out there, but sometimes in unexpected places, you find it to be different, happy new year, the best new thing you were not expecting today. that does it for us today, "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >>> the shocking video of syrian rebels executing the syrian soldiers could change the terms of the debate in washington. >> president obama is facing two distinct challenges in series. vladimir putin and the united states congress. >> president obama arrives in russia. >> right now the president is abroad. >> all eyes are on him and vladimir putin. >> in the middle of the g 20 meeting, they don't even pretend they have a good meeting. >> pressing members of the international communities to support a military strike on syria. >> they're not the ones voting on capitol hill. >> let's talk about the house, the numbers are not looking so good right now. members of congress challenging the policy. >> is this a new day for foreign policy where we're going to sta

president rouhani sent a new year's greeting worldwide to the jewish community on rosh hashan hashanah, which people thought was significant. >> i've been there a number of times as well. clearly the most significant outreach from iran since the 1979 revolution. what does that lead to -- that is concrete and that's something that capitol hill is watching too. the president received a letter from senators menendez and lindsey graham saying we urge you to make clear achieving the solution but our resolve to take whatever action is necessary from preventing iran from having nuclear weapons. that remains the position here. military remains on the table while they are open to a diplomatic resolution. >> henry kissinger was ee alluding to this. there hasn't been a meeting since the takeover of the embassy in tehran. lesser officials, shall we say, lower ranking official, even henry kissinger thinking of china when he opened the doors to china, there were contacts going when president nixon. nixon went to china. i assume that's what he's referring to. >> no question. the stakes have been rais

happy rosh hashanah. finally, again, iran never denied it. the man who did is now gone. they have already been in contact with rowhani about nuclear talks. >> i sent him a letter after his election indicating the u.s.'s interest in resolving this nuclear issue in a way that would allow iran to re-join the international community. but it it's going to have to show the international community that it is not trying to weaponize the nuclear power. >> in the interview, ann curry sat down with the leader face to face, and held him to his decision not to develop nuclear weapons. >> can you say that iran will not build a nuclear weapon under any circumstances whatsoever? >> he has clearly said we are not seeking nuclear weapons. and we are not going to do so. quite obviously, we have repeatedly said that under no circumstances we are seeking any forms of mass destruction weapons. and nuclear weapon is not an excuse or an exception. >> so the answer is no. >> yes, it is quite obvious. >> i want to make sure, i understand. so that the american public, so that the world understands

the sun is about to set here inter and, i wish all jews especially iranian jews, a blessed rosh hashanahe pope is planning a day of fasting and prayer for peace saturday. francis condemned use of chemical weapons but said, quote, never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. >>> the president says it is not his red line, while his advisers take not so friendly fire on capitol hill. we'll talk about it all with the fox all stars when we come back. [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ [ susan ] i hate that the reason we're always stopping

and who's already made changes in tone as well as some substance -- >> we tweeting out about rosh hashanah. >> and he's come together u.n. and he's probably going to show a much different face for sure. >> i want to bring you back to this conversation. want to bring in ramul garek in the cia. currently he writes for the weekly standard and is a senior fellow the foundation for defense of democrat says. andrew was just saying he doesn't believe there is a national interest in arming the rebels. do you agree with that? and if not why? >> no, i think there are many interests with arming the rebels. i would be a little bit more aggressive than that. i think that one, bashar al assad should pay for what he did in iraq. he aided and abetted and sent jihadis over to kill american civilians and soldiers. i think we should recall the hobart towers event in 1996 the saudi shiites directed by the iranians, where did they go? they went to syria. there's a reason for that. syria has aided and abetted terrorism in that region, particularly terrorism by the hezbollah and the iranians for decades. so i th

and who's already made changes in tone as well as some substance -- >> we tweeting out about rosh hashanah. >> and he's come together u.n. and he's probably going to show a much different face for sure. >> i want to bring you back to this conversation. want to bring in ramul garek in the cia. currently he writes for the weekly standard and is a senior fellow the foundation for defense of democrat says. andrew was just saying he doesn't believe there is a national interest in arming the rebels. do you agree with that? and if not why? >> no, i think there are many interests with arming the rebels. i would be a little bit more aggressive than that. i think that one, bashar al assad should pay for what he did in iraq. he aided and abetted and sent jihadis over to kill american civilians and soldiers. i think we should recall the hobart towers event in 1996 the saudi shiites directed by the iranians, where did they go? they went to syria. there's a reason for that. syria has aided and abetted terrorism in that region, particularly terrorism by the hezbollah and the iranians for decades. so i th

and earlier this month, in a tweet, rouhani wished the world's jews a happy rosh hashanah.hani's change in tone, at least, stands in stark contrast to the heated rhetoric of mahmoud ahmadiniejad, the previous president, who routinely attacked the west and denied the holocaust. but israeli government leaders remain deeply skeptical about rouhani's nuclear plans. >> ifill: although rouhani will attend the u.n. general assembly next week, there are no announced plans for him to meet with president obama. so, what do president rouhani's overtures to the united states mean? and how much change is actually happening inside iran? for those answers, i'm joined by haleh esfandiari, director of the middle east program at the wilson center. and karim sadjadpour, a senior associate at the carnegie endowment's middle east program. what is rouhani up to, karim sadjadpour. >> as you said, queen, this is the most significant event they have launched since 1979 and it has been significant. i think the big question is whether this is merely a tactical compromise in order to stave off economi