. >> joining me now, joel ruben. thank you for joining me.ave they already crossed the red line that the president put out for intervention? should the u.s. intervene, as senator mccain is asking for? >> the situation in syria is something we've never seen before. we have a country collapsing and this country has significant weapons of mass destruction. syria has not signed a chemical weapons convention. they have not, however, moved to use these weapons but they are, according to what we know from the reporting, they are beginning to move these out of storage and the question is, what options do we have and right now the primary option is to ensure that the message is clear to assad and those around him that he cannot use these weapons in any form whatsoever and it seems to have heightened international diplomatic activity, particularly with russia in terms of getting that message out that that's a red line that can't be passed. >> how essential is russia being involved? >> russia is key. russia has been backing assad diplomatically at the u

joining me now is former state department egypt officer joel ruben. good to have you here. long-awaited independent report on the attack that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three others in benghazi is going to be presented to the state department today. secretary clinton is not going to be there. is it crucial that she testify at some point in all of this, because this is another example of where she's not appearing before these meetings, before these committees. >> well, thomas, this is a very important week for the accountability review board. the results are coming out today to the state department. they'll be in open session later in the week with the two top deputies to secretary clinton. it is unfortunate that she's ill and certainly to have her forcefully communicate the results of the report would be excellent. she is the best at this, the best that the administration has to offer, but her deputies are very strong and they will make the arguments that need to be made. >> all right. so the senate committee, headed by john kerry, who is expected to succeed c

ruben ramirez reports. >> reporter: billy joel, the who and bruce springsteen are just a few of the headliners at tonight's 12-12-12 sandy relief concert. the sole beneficiary will be the robin hood foundation. the organization provides funds to about 200 non-profits in the new york area which work directly with sandy relief. bob ottenhoff is the president and c.e.o. of the center for disaster philanthropy. >> most giving to disasters occurs in the first month, but as we now know with sandy the challenges to relief to disasters go on for a long period of time. so we're still going to need lots of charitable contributions for the recovery and rebuilding period. >> reporter: the red cross has already raised $188 million for sandy relief and expects to use more than half of that by the end of the month. but with every disaster, there are always some bad actors. new york state has been at the forefront of holding non-profits accountable. the state attorney general has asked more than 75 charities to show where their sandy relief donations are going. >> these scammers tend to take advantage of peop