katherine ashton said that a clear and strong response is crucial in syria, and kerry is headed to france where he will meet with the french foreign minister. >>> president obama has returned to russia and will convince congress the need of syrian strike. has the president gained any more support since returning froreturningfrom europe? >> tough sliding for the president in russia. we heard a lot of push back from vladimir putin. right away recorded the weekly address where he addressed syria again. let's hear a little bit of that. >> we are the united states of america. we cannot turn a blind eye to images we've seen out of syria. failing to response would increase the risk that chemical weapons could be use again. that they would fall into the hans of terrorists who would use them against us, and sending a signal to other nations that there would be no consequences to their use of these weapons. all of which would pose a threat to our national security. >> the president ended that address for a call of congress to come together, rally hyped him on action against syria. uncertain whether

katherine ashton who is head of the eu delegation which has been leading talks between the permanent five members of the security council and germany with iran on their nuclear program, did meet with iran's foreign minister earlier today. she announced there would be a meeting of foreign ministers from those countries later this week and iranian foreign minister hassan zarif will take part in those talks along with john kerry. i can't stress how significant that is, for countries who haven't had relations for over 35 years to have diplomats as high as john kerry and minister zarif. will president obama and president rouhani actually meet and shake hands on the sidelines. there is speculation on that as well, nothing confirmed at this point. >> so much hanging on a handshake. kristin, so many people felt that syria would be the main topic, is there a fear that that will be overshadowed by this meeting between the united states and the iranian delegation? >> expect syria to still figure very highly in president obama's speech here on tuesday. the president is expected to push for a res

european union's foreign policy chief katherine ashton described the talks at substantive. >> having the foreign minister of iran come and openly talk changed the dynamic. all had an opportunity to put their point of view and the atmosphere was a very positive one. >> reporter: the group discussed an ambitious timetable to reach an agreement over iran's controversial nuclear program. ashton said she would like to see proof that iran is not working toward a nuclear weapon within a year. the iranians said they would like to move even faster and he eliminate the sanctions that have crippled their economy. >> we believe that sanctions are counselor productivcounter prodn to not being founded in international law, as we move forward there has to be removal the sanctions in the end game there has to be a total lifting of al all sanctions. u.n. sanctions and all sanctions whole to move in that direction within a short santiago span of immaterial. >> reporter: they both describe the meeting as positive, did you kerry remained cautious. >> we have agreed to try to continue the process that wi

apparently the people union foreign policy baronnes katherine ashton said the eu 28-member body agrees it looks like it was assad who purpose traded those attacks on the 21st of august which precipitated this crisis. so at least some form of consensus coming out of the vism lneus but the question remains: what's the response? richele? >> exactly. now, if this, then what? absolutely. but france, who almost from the beginning was one of the staunchest allies for the united states, while it will seems that other people are starting to get on board, france seems to be dialling it back a little bit. >> yeah. the french are now saying they will wait for not only congress but a u.s. report, and that is a step back from their hawkish posture that we have heard in the past. but it is interesting to note, also, that we are hearing from the germans that they are asking the u.n. report is sped up, that it won't take weeks to get some sort of result from those reports, but the u.n. is saying that they won't be looking into who was behind these attacks, simply whether or not sarin gas was used. if y

foreign policy department, baroness katherine ashton. she went on to say that there must be consequences for the regime's actions. >> in the face of the cynical use of chemical weapons, the international community cannot remain idle. a clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity. >>. >> what the reaction will be is still unclear. this is not an add -- they are not advocating directly some sort of military strike. there are other options that many e.u. member states would like to see pursued. perhaps a political move and certainly there is still strong calls for this to be played out properly in the u.n. by firstly a report being released and then possibly a vote. but it is interesting to note that the e. u. foreign ministers have gotten on to one page, one unified page by saying yes, it was assad and, yes, there needs to be consequences. >> it will be interesting to see what comes out of the meetings in france now because france has been a a allie. but now the sec

in mid-october, their diplomats are going to meet with katherine ashton, the europeans, john kerry will probably be there. they have already put these confidence building measures out. they're inviting proposals back. we're going to see pretty soon whether this is serious or not. and it sure looks serious to me. >> they can use the energy for civilian purposes and cardiac equipment and they want to sell their oil and they want to generate their own electricity over there and for the helm. >> i think that they ran the calculations. can i say one thing? they've made a calculation that if they go nuclear, they set off the arm's race in that area that they cannot win. >> and so they want to sell their oil. >> the number one difference this week compared to past year is israel is not sitting in between teheran and washington and a possible conversation about anything, including iran's nuclear ambitions. last year if you roll it back one year, the united states, when the general assembly met a year ago, the united states was engaged in its presidential election, completely preoccupied. and th

what's come out of the meeting with katherine ashton today? >> very, very important developments i think. the iranian president hassan rouhani is in his way to new york, still in the air. but his foreign minister has been having initial meetings with western leaders, with the eastern european leaders, further meetings in geneva, but i think the most important development is that meeting that's going to take place in new york here on thursday. is because around the table yes, you have that p-5 plus one, the permanent members of the security council and germany meeting with iran. among those seven foreign ministers though, we're getting the news that the u.s. will be sending the secretary of state john kerry, the iranian foreign minister and his u.s. counterpart. that is the miest meeting from anyone in iran and the united states for 40 years, a very, very important development. >> quite significant indeed. so world leaders will be in new york all week. and the crisis is atop the agenda. what can we expect on that? >> well, this is the third yea

katherine ashton met with the foreign minister from iran.er in the day, william hague also met with the iranian foreign minister, and he too was very positive, but he said it was very important that iran follow through with its words. now what is going to be happening is the permanent five of the security council, plus germany, because they are involved in the process of trying to wean iran away from nuclear enrichment, they are be meeting on the sidelines, and john kerry, the secretary of state will take the american chair at that meeting. that will be the highest-level meeting that there has ever been between any u.s. administration and the iranians since the iranian revolution back in 1979. there was something in 1998 involving madeline albright, but that involved a deputy foreign minister. so we really do have history in the making tonight. and people are looking forward to seeing what the outcome is. >> all right. john what else can we expect? >> well, i think the real headline is going to come tomorrow, because the newly elected irania

katherine ashton said she thought a 12-month time frame was realistic, that it would take that long.> all right. kristin, thank you. and now to our other major story in washington, just five days to go, congress is closing in on a critical deadline, october 1st. if lawmakers don't reach a deal, federal agencies will shut down. but republicans say they will only agree to extend speeding if they defund the health care plan. then later in the month a bigger fiscal deadline, on october 17th, if congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, the government faces default. the last time washington went to the brink of default was in 2011. as a result the credit rating was downgraded. mike viqueira any deal in sight? >> reporter: john, the nation and congress are heading for what all sides say they do not want, a government shutdown, but with republicans in disarray, they were arguing with each other on the senate floor today, that shutdown is looking more and more likely. >> four days, 11 hours, 22 minutes, and 15 seconds -- >> reporter: with the clock ticking, democrats say despite talkathons re

all 28 members of the eu, katherine ashton saying clearly where the europeans stand. the syrian government used the banned weapons and there will be consequences. >> in the face of this the international community cannot remain idle. a clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity. >> no just what that response -- though just what that response will be is not clear. public opinion in europe is against a military strike. ministers also say the u.n. inspectors should finish their report before any action. none of this will make moscow happy. crÈme lynn watchers say vladimir putin said he did serious damage to the obama plan in st. petersburg. >>> secretary kerry says support for punishment of the assad ray jean is growing not waning. >> in addition to what was just said, seven of the 8 of the g-8 have specifically supported action being taken such as we are contemplating and 12 out of the 20, that's a majority in a democracy that's pretty strong when you consider some of the others and what their i

as katherine ashton, the chief of security policy at the european union, met with the foreign minister face to face. >> we had a good and constructive discussion. >> reporter: while the white house has left the door wide open to a potential obama/ruyani meeting critics warn that should not go forward without iran making a concrete proposal on its nuclear program. >> they haven't changed anything except the rhetoric. old wine, new bottle. >> reporter: even a top democrat sounded a note of caution. senate foreign relations president bob menendez declared, quote, we have taken note of recent diplomatic overtures by iran. however, whatever nice words we may hear from mr. rouhani, it's iranian action that matters. we'd welcome a credible and verifiable agreement with iran there. have also been some early cracks in the tentative deal cut with the russians on syria turning over its chemical weapons. the former u.n. inspector charles delfer he's cautiously optimistic it will stick. >> we have to worry about syrian cheating but the russians will be hurt as well if bashar al assad is caught chea

over the weekend, katherine ashton issued a statement labeling the august 21 attack a blatant violation of international law, a war crime, and a crime against humanity. calling for a quote clear and strong response to ensure there's no impunity. every day, more and more nation s are coming to the same conclusion. of all of the attention given to the prospect of limited military strikes against syrian regime targets, i want to underscore such action is by no means the sum total of our policy towards syria. on the contrary, any such strikes would complement and reenforce the broader syrian strategy which we continue to pursue with allies and partners. our overarching goal is to end the conflict through a political transition in which assad leaves power. the best way to achieve this is to deep can country and its institutions intact. but all parties have to be willing to negotiate. ours a multifaceted strategy to put pressure on the regime by isolating them and denying the resources, builds up the civilian and military opposition and secures diplomatic opinion with other key countries on t