terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons on their own people. >> reporter: earlier this year the pentagon estimated it would take 75,000 ground troops to secure the tons of chemical weapons in assad's possession. that is it more than the number of u.s. troops in afghanistan right now. in the meantime, the administration's public statements appear designed to at least deter the assad regime from using them. next week in an international conference of the friends syria meets in morocco to decide what to do. heather? heather: the question, what will those consequences be. thanks very much, jennifer griffin live from the pentagon. jon? jon: right now there is lots of speculation, heather, over who will fill senator jim demint's senate seat. the republican tea party leader making a surprise announcement yesterday that he is leave being the senate at the end of the year to head up the heritage foundation. it is up to south carolina governor nikki haley to appoint his successor until