americans were told by the chairman of the house intelligence committee that there were zero privacy violations, and we know that's not true. americans were assured by the president and others that the fisa court had significant oversight, and we've heard from the chief judge of the fisa court who says that's not true.

we have both the senate and house intelligence committee. we have the justice department. we have checks and balances here to make sure that nsa does not violate the law in what they're doing and, you know, since these two programs have come into effect, especially the metadata there's not been one incident of the nsa breaking any law

house members looking for more information about vice accords were turned down by the house intelligence committee repeatedly now according to these reports the house intel committee also considered censuring congressman alan grayson of florida for distributing guardian reports of n.s.a. slides now this is information that's already published in major international newspapers now to house members representative morgan griffith of virginia and representative alan grayson repeatedly requested information about the n.s.a. from the house intelligence committee both congressman's were both congressmen and were denied access by the committee which turned down their requests for the secret voice with a secret voice vote which they also were not allowed to see now the two congressmen sent their attempts to get more information to the guardian meanwhile as lawmakers are seeking more information about the intelligence community's actions the introduction of legislation intended to create more transparency around surveillance continues friday congresswoman and zoe loftier and of california introduced the sur

informed votes and it's not just the white house and the intelligence community that's holding back they say what also their fellow members in the intelligence committees now the house and senate intel committees here on capitol hill are entrusted with overseeing the federal government's intelligence activities but apparently their oversight role has morphed into being the gatekeeper for the n.s.a. these secrets congressman justin amash who's led efforts to defund the n.s.a.'s domestic spying programs describes how difficult it is getting needed information from the intelligence committee we did not get the briefings that were required when you say we've had congressional briefings or when they allege that they put a stack of documents in front of that or two hundred pages long and they say go ahead and read it if you don't know the terms of art they're using if you don't know the specific definition definitions they're using you don't even know what it means the problem is when you go to these briefings you ask questions unless and unless you phrase it in exactly the right way you don't get the answer you need and this is coming from both the administ

. >> because he's a member of the house intelligence committee. >> stephanie: you and i -- >> much bettere house herp derp committee. >> michele bachmann. [ laughter ] >> stephanie: until she leaves then it will be taken over by louie gohmert. >> or marsha blackburn. >> stephanie: exactly. and their friends in the doi professional caucus. >> which we did he go? which way did he go? >> stephanie: okay. our point is chris, you and i were talking about this. jim, you and i have talked about this. i admit to some partisan bias. when adam schiff says something, i tend to trust him, not just because he's on my side of the aisle and he's my congressman from right there in burbank. >> throw a rock. and hit his office. >> stephanie: you hear saxby chambliss on "meet the press" and he's a republican. he said that chatter is as bad as before 9-11. >> you know, when he says something like that, to me, that's a big tummy rub for the nsa program. >> stephanie: i know. but then i can't help when i hear people that i trust whethe% it is al franken or dianne feinstein, if we get hit again because of that

. >> reporter: the chairman of the house intelligence committee says about this leak, quote, disclosures of our capabilities andm pras jeopardize the efforts of the meant and women in the intelligence community. the budget document also reveals new details about the intelligence community tracking of osama bin laden. the raid it says was guided by a group of satellites in space which pointed dozens of separate receivers of pakistan to collect a vast amount of data as the mission took place. it noticed the united states watches allies and enemies. counter intelligence operations are strategically focused against targets of china, russia, iran, cuba and israel. >> i don't think that would surprise anybody who we are collecting against and also what we think our major concerns are in the world. it makes sense to have that in the budget. it would be better for it nout to be out in the public domain. >> reporter: north korea says what are described as five critical gaps in u.s. intelligence about nuclear and missile programs and analysts knowing almost nothing about the intentions of new lead

now part two of my interview with the chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike rogers.tary strike to deal with this, to punish the regime of president bashar al assad, off a the use of these chemical weapons? >> i believe when the president called for a red line, and by the way, that red line has been crossed numerous times, the full credibility of the united states was put on the line. some 60 years of walk softly and carry a big stick is at stalk sheer. and one of the reasons the world behaves in so many places is because of the strength of the united states and its conviction we will do things when we say we're going to do things. i think all of that's at stake. so the very fact that you said that we're not going to use chemical weapons, that's our threshold, that we won't tolerate. and what chemical weapons were used, we're going to do something. >> you know if the u.s. were to launch strikes against weapons depots, command and control facilities, the al qaeda elements in syria, al nusra and other islamist terrorist groups, they would be cheering the united states o

we have the court, senate and house intelligence committee, checks and balances to make sure the nsas not violate the law and what they're doing. since these two programs have come into effect, there's not been one incident of any member of the nsa breaking any law whatsoever. but we can do better. educate my caucus more. we are trying to declassify as much as we can. >> glenn greenwald, your response? takes a much more prominent role in the political debate because he basically is the embodiment of the brought and sold it is become the democratic party. not only does his district encompassed the nsa, which explains in part why he is the stalwart, steadfast nsa is drowningt obama in cash from the defense and intelligence industries. money from those industries. he then gets placed on the very committee that the church committee created in mid-1970s to exercise oversight over the agency and the community that basically ensures that his coffers are stuffed full of cash. of course he becomes a leading spokesperson for that agency and goes around offending everything they have done that

the white house holding an unclassified conference call and the chairman of the house intelligence committee says the president may need to call back congress for debate. >> this 90 a one time event and you sail away. this has real consequences and we need a thorough discussion. >> the white house says some intelligence will be made public trying to sure up support for military action that most americans oppose. experts say united states credibility is at stake. >> you cannot dither and wait three months. now is the time to act, to act in a deliberate way. >> syria's president bashar al-assad is still defiant as the u.n. investigation continues for at least another day. >> u.n. investigators are expected to leave syria on saturday clearing the way for a possible american attack. >> happening today a bill aim at making limousines safer face as critical vote before a state committee after the deaths of five women that died when a let seen burst into flames on the san mateo bridge back in may. state senator hill of san mateo sponsored the bill calling for all limousines to carry two fire exting

help out the environment. >>> joining me now, congressman adam schiff, a democrat on the house intelligence committeehank you for joining me. i want to talk about something that people must be mulling over in their head. from what you have seen from the intelligence reports and what you can tell us, which i understand is limited, how imminent is this threat, and how great is this threat? >> i think we know a lot more about the when than the where. you can tell that from the breadth of the closures from north africa and the arabian peninsula. the when was very specific in terms of a sunday. obviously, that may continue and the closures may continue. the travel warning is more extensive. but this is not the usual kind of chatter, not the more generalized death to americans or death to great satan, but had to be corroborated or come from very reliable sources to take this kind of action. so i think we're doing what's necessary to protect our people. we're also protecting our sources. i think that's exactly the right step. >> there are also reports that a team of terrorists is already in place. from what

we have both the senate and house intelligence committee. we have the justice department. we have checks and balances here to make sure that nsa does not violate the law in what they're doing and, you know, since these two programs have come into effect, especially the metadata there's not been one incident of the nsa breaking any law whatsoever but we can do better. i have to educate my caucus more, the democratic caucus and we're trying to declassify as much as we can. we -- >> representative king, i want a very quick response from you, if you will. thank you, representative ruppersberger. >> okay, fine. >> just a quick response. >> over the last several weeks general alexander, all these top people have come in and subjected themselves to questioning from any member of congress at all including those most critical and found those who are most critical publicly ask the least amount of questions in private. but he's answered every question. they get the information, they sit there and they go -- they just -- >> so they're just not telling the truth? >> with the members of

face the nation, maryland's representative dutch ruppersberger, the top democrat on the house intelligence committeetrong word about snowden. >> he turned his back on his country. he went to china and russia, that speaks for itself. >> reporter: snowden is accused of leaking classified information. his revelation sparked debate about u.s. surveillance practices. and president obama said he'll make practices more transparent and accountable. ruppersbergerer says those programs are needed. >> we need this program and the president understands that. >> did you feel the agency invaded anyone's privacy. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: lon snowden said much of what the president said is superficial. snowden's father says he has not spoken with his son since he left the u.s. >>> more than a dozen embassies are back open tonight after security concerns shut them down earlier this month. u.s. officials say it was the most serious terror threat in years. even comparing the threat to the 9/11 attacks. today the u.s. embassy in tripoli and cairo reopened. but the embassy in yemen remains closed. >>> back in the

now there has been briefing on tonight, to house and senate intelligence committee members. and we heard from republican representative mike rogers who is the chair of the house intelligence committee, he has described what he heard in his briefing as convincing if not compelling, given the history. the history of course is that the syrian government has been accused and at least in the past on add least 10 different occasions of using chemical weapons against the webles. >> don't you believe president obama is trying to give himself an out, a way to walk back from this? >> it is clear there are many options on the table. i don't think the options that's there is the option of doing nothing. we didn't hear that language from the president. he has not -- he has said this deserves a response, has been very successful, secretary kerry has been extremely forceful within his language. the vice president yesterday. the administration is looking across the atlantic, and prime minister cameron was faced with a mutiny within his own party, where his party members said they would not v

the chairman of the house intelligence committee says he agrees, but wants more consultation with congress before the president acts. >> this is as serious as it gets. you're going to engage the u.s. military. there are consequences for doing that and there are also consequences for not doing it. >> reporter: as part of that effort to connect with congress, the president did call speaker boehner himself today and as far as that late development involving britain, obama aides tell abc news the president is willing to act with or without britain and the united states will, in fact, respond. even if that means using the military, the president is willing to use it alone. diane? >> it is a big and complicated vote from the british tonight. thank you so much, jim. >>> now, what about the man who has placed his country right in the bull's eye. tonight we have more about the leader of syria, educated in the west, who once told me he didn't believe in violence. so what changed? abc's terry moran covering the region from beirut tonight. >> reporter: today in damascus, while u.n. inspectors made ano

it's working in the intelligence community and what's ironic to me is the chairman of the house intelligence committee who said mr snowden should have worked through proper channels he is the kind of tension who sabotaged those free speech rights for anybody who tries to work with them proper channels the hypocrisy couldn't be cleaner and we're going to we're going to the man to fight so that there are safe options for the checks and balances of the government to work without engaging in professional suicide we have about thirty seconds left but is this the worst you've seen in terms of a crackdown with lawyers in your thirty years experience in order to always be released their job rights of never been stronger but they've never been more vulnerable to being put under criminal investigation and prosecuted in quite frankly i pushed on the struggle rights but it's a lot more chilling to try and put a whistle blower in prison than it is to fire them which is why we need this organization more than ever before tom devine thank you so much for coming on talking about the government accountability project

on abc's "this week," house intelligence committee member dutch ruppersberger told me americans need to take this threat seriously. >> there's operatives that are in place, because we've received information that high level people from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula are talking about a major attack. >> reporter: at the white house, the president called together his entire national security staff for an hours-long meeting saturday to coordinate the latest intelligence. the greatest fear, said one official, "we are concerned about surgically implanted devices." bombs placed inside terrorists bodies. a method used before by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and, quote, these are guys who are have dropped the techniques to defeat our detention methods. >> this is a wakeup call. al qaeda is, in my ways, stronger than it was before 9/11. >> reporter: and the vulnerabilities still clear. a u.s. official saying, we don't know whether the terrorists are aiming for an embassy, an air base, an aircraft or trains. what officials are hoping is that by talking about this threat and taking preca

and on sunday on "face the nation" bob's guest include peter king from the house intelligence committee as well as former n.s.a. director michael hayden. a wildfire in the mountains east of los angeles continues to burn out of control tonight. firefighters were very surprised at how quickly it spread in just two days. they're attacking it from the ground and the air tonight but it's still just 25% contained. 16,000 acres have burned. ben tracy is in twin pines, california. ben? >> reporter: jeff, nearly 450 homes have been threatened by this fire. this is one of the 26 that burned down. it's hard to believe this was ever really a house or that this perhaps was the family car. now, these massive wildfires are happening more often out here in the west and when they do they're more destructive than ever. the silver fire is still lurking in the mountains near palm springs. 1, 600 firefighters are working the fire lines. >> it's not over. it's going to be a very long, hot summer. >> reporter: julie hutchinson is a cal fire battalion chief. >> this year has been amazing. since may first we ha

acknowledged this so called x key score program, calling it lawful and the head of the house intelligence committee said the program does not target americans, george? >>> now to new trouble for anthony weiner, refusing to quit his campaign for mayor of new york despite new and embarrassing outbursts from his team. today a new move from his wife, a close aid to hillary clinton. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila has the latest. >> reporter: anthony weiner brushing by reporters this morning, letting his campaign ad speak for him. >> quit isn't the way we roll in new york city. >> reporter: his wedding picture strategically behind him as weiner again vows to stay in. >> we fight through tough things. we are a tough city. >> reporter: some of that toughness on embarrassing display from weiner's young press aid as she lashed out profanely at a former intern who penned a tell all front page story claiming the weiner campaign is amateurish. the aid, barbara morgan firing back, calling the intern a fame hungry expletive, terrible at her job and much worse. today apologizing on twitter. not my b

that is going on within the agency and the obama administration as well as the senate and house intelligence committees just keep telling the public to trust them in the meantime president obama also announced that he will be bringing in a panel of quote outside experts to review intelligence operations and to provide recommendations but the panel the president and i say director james clapper picked out might not provide as much of an objective perspective as civil liberties advocates were hoping for political commentator sam sachs explains so we know when congress wants to pretend to solve the problem they created the convening of six are doing a twelve or something like that well when the white house wants to pretend to solve a problem they create a panel or some sort of independent review board case in point the white house's recent problems with the n.s.a. . we're forming a high level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies i'm tasking this independent group to step back and review our capabilities particularly our surveillance technologies and th

it's working in the intelligence community and what's ironic to me is the chairman of the house intelligence committee who said mr snowden should have worked through proper channels he is the kind of tension who sabotaged those free speech rights for anybody who tries to work with them proper channels he had they couldn't be cleaner and. we're going to we're going to the man to fight so that there are safe options for the checks and balances of the government to work without engaging in professional suicide we have about thirty seconds left but is this the worst you've seen in terms of a crackdown with the voters in your thirty years experience in order to always be released their job rights of never been stronger but they've never been more vulnerable to being put under criminal investigation and prosecuted in quite frankly i pushed on the struggle rights but it's a lot more chilling to try and put a whistle blower in prison than it is to fire them which is why we need this organization more than ever before tom devine thank you so much for coming on talking about the governor kind of building projec

i served over four years on the house intelligence committee. i have been heavily involved in the intelligence business a good part of my career. and i know how dangerous a world we live in, how difficult it is oftentimes to collect the intelligence we need to make sure we get it right, and it is not a perfect business. it just is not. it is very hard. after the secrets that are being kept by the worst regimes are the ones more than anything else they want to protect. sometimes the intelligence community makes mistakes. but as a general proposition, i would argue that for the most part, what we have done with our intelligence community, especially since the 9/11 period, has been by the book, well managed, not perfect, nobody is perfect, but they do have in place for procedures to make corrections. the last thing i want to do is be in a position to say now we need to shut it down or we need to significantly limit their capacity and their capability, so we will be confident they are not abusing their authority. and we will only reduce their capabi

. >> on capitol hill, the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike rogers, put out a statement saying, this is, quote, a sober reminder of al-qaeda's determination and ongoing intention to commit acts of violence on western and u.s. targets. the threats against american interests are real and serious and we must not let our guard down. president obama was briefed this morning on the al-qaeda terror threat and the white house says he'll be getting updates all weekend at camp david. arthel? >> arthel: tell us why it seems that they're focusing on yemen? >> that's where al-qaeda is based. the plot could be planned there or could be carried out there. but according to one fox news military analyst, if al-qaeda groups have been linking up, let's say, the threat then isn't limited to that area. >> they can threaten wide areas of the world. american interests and wide areas of the world and do it with impunity. so we learned at benghazi what happens when you don't send out threat alerts and surely this is a prudent thing to do, but also shows how america's influence is wan

agent and chair of the house intelligence committee, do you have the ability to listen to all phone calls and read all emails? answer, no, sir, we don't have that authority. he was asked about ability. he responded about authority because he does have the ability. can they listen to everybody's phone calls. with the constitution written to prevent the government from engaging in like that. they are looking for 30 people, they need to surveil 130 million people? the only way they can pull this off is in secret. congress didn't agree with it. fewer than 20 members in congress in secret and saying those members of congress, it's against the law for you to tell anybody what we just told you. that is not a representative form of government. that is not what the constitution requires. the president knows that. >> neil: you seem you are particularly angry is your birthplace, new jersey is most inhospitable city on the planet? >> i did practice law there for a couple of years, and it's not the most inhospitable place in the united states. >> neil: over islamabad? >> i don't believe that. with she

republican congressman peter king, he sits on both the house homeland security and the house intelligence committees. congressman king, thanks for being with us. the white house said today that president obama has not yet made a decision on how to respond to the use of chemical weapons in syria buts so of john kerry seemed to be sending a pretty clear signal that action could be on the horizon. take a moment to listen to how he painted the picture of chemical weapons use in syria. >> the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the large-scale indiscriminate use of weapons. this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons. >> congressman, do you think it's now time for the u.s. to act? >> especially after what secretary kerry said, we have to act. i'm not certain where this is going to lead but once that red line is crossed, once chemical weapons has been used, i believe the president has to take action, not just because of syria but the region. iran is looking at how we respond going forward with the nuclear weapons program. allies and adversaries in the region look. we have to take action. i believe crui

republican congressman pete king, a member of the house intelligence committee, said this. that he called it a monumental failure of war time leadership. senator mccain was right. >> i think it's pretty clear that there's been failures throughout that have led to mr. snowden now being granted asylum in russia. there is now a large percentage of americans, particularly young americans, who view mr. snowden as some kind of a whistleblower when we know he betrayed his oath of office. there is some young that believe he is some kind of jason bourn. we need to ask questions, like why did mr. snowden have access to what he had access to. it couldn't have been his job. what about congressional oversight. have we had a failure there? and clearly, mr. snowden granted asylum in russia is a signal of incredibly bad relations between the united states and russia and mr. putin putting his thumb right in america's eye. >> let's talk about some of the specific reforms that president obama suggested. let's put them up on the screen. have a privacy advocate argue against government. tighten

earlier today, house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers told my colleague that he believes the president needs to engage congress in a thorough consultation, but stopped short calling for a vote. >> we have to have that more robust discussion to get against not only members of congress and the representatives of the country involved, but also to be by and by the american people. this is a serious step in a very complicated problem set in syria. >> meanwhile, across the pond, british prime minister david cameron faced similar problems. >> the well many public opinion was well and truly poisoned by the iraq episode, and we need to understand the public skepticism. >> and in another sign of slowing momentum, britain delayed a vote on military action until next week. let's get to ayman mohyeldin, and this drive we felt was inecrachellely going -- really appears to be slowing down. how is that being perceived in the region? >> it has been somewhat echoed by the -- -- for example, if you look at countries here in the middle east that are close allies, including egypt and jordan, jord

house and the senate. future -- a the nsa tale of two committees. the house and senate, the judiciary and intelligence committees will fight over the survival of surveillance. they will determine whether america's most prominent dissident will achieve his stated goal of dismantling the national securities architecture of oppression, as he called it. from thatressure nation's most powerful tech companies. battle lines are being formed between the judiciary and intelligence communities in both the house and senate. firebrand defenders are seeking to shut down or fundamentally overhaul surveillance. intelligence committee members who tend to stand behind the nsa are trying to preserve as much as they can of what they consider an essential program. from the national journal last week. let's go to calls. democrat line. what do you think? do you support the nsa program? caller: i do not. i voted for obama. i amazed of all of the laws that are being passed that are constitutionally questionable. i am wondering why from a media -- ective it seems like one of the -- it should be a debate. where is the limit? i

the new information, but i'm very interested in seeing the two intelligence committees now, specifically mike rogers, the chairman and the houseianne feinstein, what they're going to have to say. is it going to be more misdirection. we talk about james clapper, but i think the leadership of the two intelligence committees at this point is quite suspect. congressman amash i believe t k talked about it when he talked about how people answer questions. much of how you answer questions is framed by what questions are asked. so i would say that mike rogers, peter king, dianne feinstein, and some of the other members and those leaders who put them there really need to take a hard look at that leadership. i believe it's deficient. any prior career, when you have problems with oversight and there's a loss of confidence, you change the leadership. i believe it's time for that. >> i also would volunteer, it shows that sunshine is the best disinfecttant. one of the things that was very apparent when we attended the senate judiciary committee hearing today contacted by senator pat leahy that everyone was eager to discuss ways to reform th

obscure and as technically vibrant as signals intelligence is, but it really does require a great deal of work. chairman rogers, chairman of the house intel committee said, "hey, look, if you don't have time to be a member of the intelligence committee and dedicate your time to it, then you shouldn't be a member of the committee." >> schieffer: some people say the president was just being preemptory here, that the congress was getting ready to take away some of the ability that the n.s.a. has to do some of the things it does. what if they did do that? >> you're referring to the vote, a 12-vote margin a couple of weeks back. bob, that wasn't regular order. that wasn't thoughtful procedure. let me be a little critical here, all right. that looked a lot like mob action. people acting out of emotion with a false sense of urgency, and with a great deal of misinformation. >> schieffer: but would the national security be damaged if that happened? >> oh, absolute, absolutely. >> schieffer: all right, well, general, it's always good to have you. and thank you for being with us this morning. we'll be back to stalk to two members of congress who have that ove

it is scrutinized by the house intelligence committee and senate intelligence committee. i realize by going to the american people and saying, congress is taking a look at it, that is not a vote of confidence. people on that committee, and people on the intelligence they take very seriously. mike rogers is conscientious. dutch ruppersberger is as well. the stuff is looked at very carefully. i do not see any significant violation of civil liberties. i do not see any significant -- -- in 2009, balance i, i was at mayor bloomberg's home sunday night in september of 2009, entertained the lord , rupert murdoch was there, all these partial people, and even tina brown -- you know how powerful it was. kelly -- we go over to the corners are talking, -- corner and start talking, and i was not aware of the attack that was going to happen that night or the next day. it was the only time i've ever seen ray kelly so concerned. we knew he was coming from colorado. we didn't know who else who was involved in new york in this. this was a plot that would've killed hundreds if not thousands

so-called ex-key score program after it was revealed calling it lawful and the head of the house intelligence committeeaid the program does not target americans. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> o.j. simpson will be getting out of prison earlier than expected. today nevada's parole board granted simpson parole on some of his convictions stemming from a 2007 holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers at a las vegas hotel. commissioners credited simpson for good behavior and a clean record while locked up. despite this, he faces four more years related to his original 33-year sentence. >>> a lightning strike late today hit 12 soldiers in colorado, one in critical condition. the soldiers were performing drills at ft. carson. they had just gotten word of the storm when the cell overcame them quickly before they got to shelter. the 11 other soldiers are in stable condition, which is very scary the storms pop up very quickly. got to get out of the way. spencer christian is here. our atmosphere doesn't produce that kind of weather very often. >> we're thankful for that. things are quite calm and will r

the chairman of the house intelligence committee says he agrees but wants more consultation with congresse the president acts. >> this is serious as it gets. you will engagement u.s. military. consequences for doing that. consequences for not doing it. >> the president saying 90 million tear option will be limited and targeted. this is abc news the white house. >> federal government announced today it will not block law in colonel republican and democrat 0and washington that legalize marijuana. memo sent today to federal prosecutors the department of justice outlined 8 priority areas for enforcing marijuana law in all 50 states. they include keeping pot out of the hands of my nor preventing profit from going to criminal open rigs and keeping marijuana out of states where it is currently illegal. hundreds of south bay educator learn a lesson they hope they never have to use. what to do if theyen counter intruder with a gun. police from the city of san jose and the university join together to train them in new response program. vick lee has the story. >> staples bad people do bad things. >>

the head of the house intelligence committee immediately called him a liar and said that wasn't true.sterday's to hearing, some of the interactions were quite remarkable and important at wednesday's hearing. oughtk leahy a firm accused the obama administration officials of overstating the excess -- access. this is him questioning john inglis. >> how many cases of section 215 bulk phone records collection reticle to preventing a terrorist plot? >> i might answer in open session then offer to provide details and classified session. the administration has disclosed there were 54 plots that were disrupted over the life of these to do programs. >> section 215 was critical in preventing -- >> of those plots, 13 had a homeland nexus, others had essentially plots that it come to fruition coming europe, asia, other places -- plots were were americans? crux of the 13 that had a homeland nexus, 12 of those, 215 made a contribution. the question you asked is more pres precise. but for 250 does plots would've been disrupted. that is a difficult question to answer. it is not necessarily how these p

that being said, i talked to the chairman of the house intelligence committee today.said the chatter they feel exceeded what they saw at benghazi. >> you can't deny the level of intelligence here, they have intercepted messages from al zawahiri, the head of al qaeda ordered them to do something, these are the two top players in al qaeda, directly in contact planning something big. >> and that's what intelligence sources are saying, this was more specific, this is not just a general, we're angry, we're upset, ween watt people motivated to our cause. they feel that it was -- and some people speculated this could mean there's a chemical attack or an unconventional attack, that's why they had to shut everything down. it wouldn't be caught by dogs that could sniff bombs or machines, they're saying they don't think it was chemical, but obviously at this point it's classified. so we don't know. >> let's get to the benghazi investigation. have you an interview with jeff porter, he was the man who briefed ambassador steve and was killed that night on security. let's watch a cl

but congressman mike rogers, republican chairman of the house intelligence committee in an upcoming interview in "the situation room" with wolf blitzer tells wolf that at least the sense of it is assad may have given his generals permission to use chemical weapons in a broad sense and this was the case in which they decided to use them. so you begin to see the shape taking place of what may have happened here. >> key information. thank you so much, barbara starr, at the pentagon. we appreciate it. >> as we mentioned, two hours from now, some congressional members will pick up their phones and finally get some answers from what they've been demanding on syria. the administration sounds so certain that chemical weapons were used yet the president told pbs last night that he is still pondering action. >> well, first of all, i have not made a decision. i have gotten options from our military, had extension discussions with the national security team. >> all we've heard from proxies is they did it, we know they did it and they should be punished for doing it now. three full days ago secretary of s

. >>> this past hour, the president has met with both leaders of the senate and house intelligence committeessh critics of the administration's national security policies. this on the heels of news from earlier today that after the longest layover in recent airline history, nsa leaker edward snowden was today granted temporary asylum in russia. this means that he's allowed to finally leave the moscow airport terminal that's been his home sing arriving from hong kong on june 23rd. snowden left the airport with temporary refugee at that time tuesday for one year, allowing him to move freely within that country. his exact whereabouts are being kept secret, but needless to say the reaction from many in washington is one anger and disappointment. >> mr. snowden's actions have hurt the ability of our country to protect our citizens. i would hope that president obama would engage president putin on this issue and resolve it in a way that's satisfactory to the american people. >>> joining us is representative jim moran, a democrat from virginia. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> your colleag