this is not his critical inner circle. they have closed ranks, they have determined to fight, they have talked themselves into it, one of the officials says that they are fighting an insurgency and they believe right now they will win and sadly, anderson, the opposition remains fractured and unable to really mount an effective counter offensive according to these officials. does this surprise you? i m not really sure about the quality of the american intelligence around syria. who s the inner circle? is it his brother? yes, his inner circle will be with him throughout, they will flee with him, they will fight with him and most likely they will die with him. he hears what the american officials are saying, he hears general dempsey saying their defense system in syria is robust. and president clinton rebuking the syrian people. you know, this has been a good run. and in homes now, basically they won. they were able to decimate and move in with their forces. do you feel t
85 lives today alone. in addition those same sources outlined the help assaad is getting from iran. in other words help in targeting its own people. also with us tonight, former cia officer and time.com intelligence columnist robert baer. barbara, even though we have word today of more defections from the syrian army, you re seeing that assaad has a firm grip on syria. the assessment is all in agreement. assad remains in control, in charge, commanding his forces. there is no break, they believe in the inner circle around him. this is not his critical inner circle. they have closed ranks, they have determined to fight, they have talked themselves into it, one of the officials says that they are fighting an insurgency and they believe right now they will win and sadly, anderson, the opposition remains fractured and unable to really mount an effective counter offensive according to these officials. does this surprise you? i m not really sure about the quality of the amer