0 i think this is going to be a topic of discusion that will now move to the very top of the agenda. it was going to be syria, and the use of possible use of chemical weapons there was going to be on the agenda anyway. but now it's taken on more urgency. this has always been a pressing issue for israel because it shares a border with syria. and there are many challenges there. but you have to remember because of this nation's deep concern about the iranian nuclear threat for them that will always be a burning question right now. and so while the syrian chemical weapons is important to them they're not going to let the question of iran get overshadowed by the troubles in syria. so -- but now they'll have two issues competing for dominance. and you know what ends up getting lost in all this is the press for peace talks between israel and the palestinians. that sort of could get pushed down on the agenda even further than it already was. >> we're looking at pictures of the president getting into his car. benjamin netanyahu will be driving off. there were a lot of smiles there. there was a lot of touching. a lot of glad handing right there. it seems as if these two men want to send a message that they are getting along. there's been a lot of questions about that over the last couple of years. >> well you know they're bffs all of a sudden. you get re-elected everybody loves each other. you know. absolutely. and i think that you have to remember that the prime minister of israel just formed a very fragile coalition government, and so the president, it's very shaky ground in israel, as well, in terms of his approval among israeli jews. many of them are sort of neutral about president obama. they don't dislike him but they don't adore him. and so for each man there is a big reason to show that they are in good for the other guy, to get some credit here in israel. and so, yes, there is good reason for each to show that all those old wounds are well on their way toward healing. nobody here is going to pretent that they don't have troubles. but they are showing that they can get along. >> keep looking for those smiles. thanks to jessica yellin in tel aviv this morning. we will come back to you over the course of the morning. this went from what was going to be a symbolic visit to one where all of a sudden there are urgent matters to discuss with the specter of chemical weapons possibly being used in syria. we want to go to our senior international correspondent ivan watson in amman, jordan, this morning. and ivan, yesterday syrian state media claimed that opposition forces launched a chemical attack in aleppo province. killing at least two dozen people, injuring more than 100. the rebels deny that charge and they actually accuse regime forces of shelling a town near damascus with chemical rockets. there are these dueling charges of chemical weapon use. what are you hearing this morning? >> some more finger pointing. the syrian government saying that 9 rebels, as they call terrorists, may have used chemical weapons that were smuggled in by supporters like turkey or qatar against this town which is largely a government loyalist town populated by shiites, and killing 25 people, wounding doz dozens and syrian state tv airing interviews with some of the survivors saying that they smelled chlorine. the rebels quickly accusing the regime of carrying out this attack and pointing to the fact that the syrian government has used dozens of scud surface-to-surface missiles against its own cities and towns throughout just the last couple of months. some chemical weapons experts say there is very little evidence that we've seen thus far from the syrian state tv reports really conclusively showing that any chemical weapons were used here. >> we have these dueling charges there. a lot of people wondering whether the regime is charging the rebels with using chemical weapons as a pretext so that they can then go use chemical weapons as a sort of response. right, ivan? that is one of the many conspiracy theories out there. we have to remember that just two days ago the syrian government carried out air strikes deep into neighboring lebanon to the west. it has ramped up consistently over the course of the last two years its use of force not only against rebels, and civilian population centers, but also against neighboring governments. now if you ask syrian people what they think about the threat of chemical weapons, john, many of them will just say, we're getting killed as it is. day to day, more than 70,000 people killed in the last two years, i don't care whether it's bullets or bombs or air strikes or chemical weapons that kill us, something is killing us day after day and it needs to stop. >> a dire situation no matter how you slice it. ivan watson our thanks to you. >> of course the movement of chemical weapons is one of the red lines for this white house and what they're watching so closely after u.s. engagement. the white house pentagon officials closely monitoring these developments. president obama's chief of staff dennis mcdonough told jake tapper they take the use of chemical weapons, quote, very seriously. >> we are going to be very clear to the syrian regime, as we have been throughout, and to all the syrian supporters throughout the world, and then obviously to our partners in the region, that if this is substantiated obviously it does suggest that the president's just said that this is a game changer and we'll act accordingly. >> game changer. so does that mean the united states would take some kind of military action? chris lawrence live at the pentagon for us. good morning, chris. >> good morning, christine. u.s. officials are telling us that they have seen the regime moving the chemical weapons away from some of the urban fighting areas over the last month or two. and the pentagon has been updating its military options so that if president obama requests them, they're ready to go. these sources are telling us that the u.s. has plenty of firepower in the area, including fighter jets on board aircraft carriers, as well as other ships that have precision guided tomahawk missiles. the danger is that striking chemical weapons, you know, runs the risk of disbursing this agent out into the civilian population, so some of the other options that they're looking at are trying to perhaps, if they had to, bomb runways to prevent planes from taking off, or even cutting the lines of communication between the regime commander, and those troops on the ground, who would actually have to push the button. bottom line, u.s. officials are saying that the more desperate bashar al assad becomes, the more dangerous he also becomes. >> we've been very clear about our concerns that the assad regime is increasingly beleaguered, that it finds that the violence that it is using by conventional means is inadequate, including its barbaric use of scuds so we are quite concerned that they will resort to other weapons. we've made clear that this would constitute a red line for the united states. the president could not have been clearer about it. >> there are no plans right now to put any boots on the ground. but last year, the pentagon did do a report analyzing what it would take to secure those chemical weapons. they concluded it may take up to 70,000 troops on the ground. >> all right, chris lawrence at the pentagon, thanks. in just a few minutes we're going to talk to israeli government spokesman mark regev about the latest in syria and the president's trip to israel. a disturbing story from colorado. zoraida sambolin has that. >> this just in to cnn the executive director of colorado's corrections department shot and killed last night in his monument, colorado, home. 5-year-old tom clements was appointed to that post two years ago after serving in the missouri corrections department for over three decades. he is survived by a wife and two daughters. and according to a local affiliate police do not have a suspect or a motive for the killing. you know, we will continue to follow this story for you and bring you the latest developments. in other news, police in orlando releasing new evidence of what could have been a massacre on the university of central florida campus. a 911 call from the suspect's roommate may have put an end to a potentially deadly attack inside a ucf dormitory. police have released images of suspect james oliver seevakumaran detailed get a detailed checklist. they have also put out a video showing the moment the officer discovered the suspect's body. cnn's ed lavandera is live in orlando. good morning to you, ed. >> reporter: good morning, zoraida. well we've heard from that roommate who first stared down the would-be killer in this case who lived in this dorm room on the third floor. and what he describes was extremely chilling. >> reporter: the fire alarm is blaring as arobo babahkani calls 911. his roommate and would-be killer james oliver seevakumaran has just pointed a gun right at him. >> my roommate just pulled a fire alarm and he's got a gun out. >> where are you at? >> in the university of central florida orlando. the fire alarm went off, i opened the door to see what was going on and he's there with like some sort of like gun like large assault gun. >> i was definitely scared. but i was scared but calm. i was just taking cover, like in my room behind objects. >> campus police released this dramatic helmet camera video of officers making their way inside the gunman's dorm room. this might be disturbing for some to watch but this is the moment police find the 30-year-old lying dead on the floor. they also found that he apparently was planning a massacre, with an arsenal of weapons and explosives. >> i don't think that you acquire two 110-round magazines and numerous .22 capacity magazines, and that you purchase 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and that you purchase 45 ammunition. i don't think you just do that as a joke. >> reporter: investigators say they also found a bizarre handwritten timeline for the attack. in seevakumaran's words he would visit this bar called the mad hatter, get drunk, then go back to his dorm, take a shower, shave up, and then get equipped. scratching off items as he went down the list. the last item read, good luck and give them hell. the would-be killer's roommate had lived with him for the last seven months. >> i tried to get to know him and stuff but, you know, we're not friends. he's just very anti-social. he doesn't -- he doesn't want to know me. he doesn't want to make friends. just keeps to himself. >> you know, the question that remains that many people around here are still asking themselves is why did this would-be killer eventually turn the gun on himself and not carry out what appears to have been a planned massacre? many people grateful that that didn't happen. but that question still remains out there. the roommate says that he had been suffering from -- struggling with money problems and those types of things and perhaps he felt cornered. >> wow. >> dard? >> that roommate is a hero and so composed even throughout that 911 call just incredible. thank you, ed lavandera reporting live for us. coming up later this hour we'll hear from university of central florida police chief richard beary. a gas explosion in grand junction, colorado, has injured at least three people, and it's forced authorities to evacuate the neighborhood. mesa county sheriff's office says a natural gas leak caused the house to explode on tuesday afternoon. the house next door also caught fire. that explosion forced the evacuation of two nearby schools, and all the homes within a ten block radius, as well. mark sanford's political career is officially revived. the former south carolina governor finishing first last night in a special election advancing to a runoff election in two weeks. in his attempt to win a house seat, sanford had to step down as governor as you know after lying about an extramarital affair that was back in 2009. he picked up 37% of the vote last night, well short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. still, sanford says it was a humbling victory. >> what the voters hopefully care about is not my personal journey, what they care about is what am i going to do, if elected, to watch out for their pocketbook or their wallet. so sanford wins the runoff election in two weeks he'll face democrat elizabeth colbert busch in may. she is the sister of tv comedian stephen colbert. the next hour we'll be joined by teddy turner the son of cnn's founder ted turner. he ran last night against sanford. didn't fare too well. >> yeah. >> what a family story, stephen colbert's sister, who is colbert. ted turner's son teddy. >> you know why? >> his name is colbert. he changed it for the tv. >> what i was told was that the parents offered up to the kids the decision, you could say colbert, you could say colbert. so there we have it. >> all right. thanks, zoraida. >> so next on "starting point" the fight to put disturbing pictures on cigarette packaging comes to an end. we'll tell you why the government is giving up. >> and more on our top story this morning. we're talking to israel's government spokesperson mark regev about the reports of chemical attacks in syria, and what these concerns could mean for the region. 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[ laughter ] [ male announcer ] earn points with the citi thankyou card and redeem them for just about anything. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. welcome back to "starting point" everyone. president obama arriving in tel aviv just in this past hour. this is his first trip to israel as president and as we've been saying it really is taking on even more significance this morning because of syria's possible use of chemical weapons. >> israeli government spokesman mark regev joins us now from jerusalem. good morning. i want to first talk to you about these troubling reports -- >> good morning >> from, from a couple of members of congress talking about people in washington talking about their concerns about chemical weapons in syria, that syria has used chemical weapons against its own people let's listen to what dianne feinstein said yesterday to wolf blitzer. >> the white house has to make some decisions in this. i think the days are becoming more desperate. the regime is more desperate. we know where the chemical weapons are. it's not a secret that they're there. and i think the probabilities are very high that we're going into some very dark times and i think the white house needs to be prepared. >> and you were seeing there the house intelligence chair mike rogers also in that interview echoing those concerns about where we're headed and israeli newspapers this morning are citing security forces there saying that chemical weapons have been used. what can you tell us about this at this moment? >> well obviously we share the concerns of people in washington. and it's not only the syrian regime that has those chemical weapons but as syria fragments, as the conflict there continues and we see syria break up we are very concerned about the possibility that those sorts of very dangerous weapons, chemical weapons and others, will fall into the hands of extremist groups like hezbollah or al qaeda. imagine if those sort of hard-line terrorist groups were to get their hands on chemical weapons. >> well, do you feel, though, at this point, that they have been used based on what we're hearing yesterday and does your intelligence tell you that they are now in play? >> we're being cautious like the u.s. government. we haven't addressed that issue publicly yet. we might soon. but the concern has been there for a very long time. you have a regime that is falling apart. a brutal regime which is apparently on its last leg, that is fighting for its life. you have on the ground in syria, on the side supporting assad you have groups like the iranian revolutionary guard on the ground with the assad regime. you have lebanese hezbollah on the ground with the assad regime. on the opposition side, you've got some actors that are also very problematic groups affiliated with al qaeda. and as we see syria fragment if we're going to see the linkup between these sort of extremist groups and weapons of that nature, chemical weapons, specifically, that's a problem with a capital "p." >> what are you going to do about it, then, sir, if it is that big of a problem, what will israel do? >> well, to be frank, i can assure you that when my prime minister sits down later on today with president obama in their working meetings, that will be a very high item on the agenda, because this is an issue that we have to discuss. it's clear that we don't want to see the use of chemical weapons and we don't want to see chemical weapons fall into the hands of dangerous terrorists that are all over syria, unfortunately. and that is one of the items on the agenda. it's very clear that's at the very top of the agenda. >> but i'm not hearing confirmation that those have been used at this point. you're not confirming that. mark regev, thank you so much. >> yes, that's correct. >> okay, thank you. thank you, and of course we'll be following developments in israel all day as the president is on his first trip there as president of the united states. >> ahead on "starting point" it is the return of the twinkie. the iconic snack cake coming soon to a store shelf near you. we have the blessed details. >> and don't forget to watch cnn's new show "the lead" hosted by there he is -- >> the blessed jake tapper. >> dashing jake tapper today at 4:00 p.m. eastern. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,