0 syrian state tv blamed the attack on israel, said that israel was working in alliance with the opposition, an opposition it calls terrorists. steve? nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel. right now i m joined by political analyst joan walsh, the author of a book and editor for salon.com. professor of middle eastern history and a member of the day-after project, a coalition of syrian opposition groups planning for a post-war transition. andrew tabler, author of in the lion s den. senior fellow with the washington institute for near east model. and senior fellow at the progress think tank the century foundation. so we re all just sort of digesting the latest overnight. you hear that report from richard engel there, fireballs, ash raining down on damascus. i know we ve had israeli air strikes earlier this year, i think back in february, but now we re talking about damascus. we re talking about something that to me seems like at least it feels like wow, are we entering
0 speak building and again insisting that the u.s. government has been in close contact with israel, as well. mike rogers says given what he described as the administration s sort of slow calculus in this situation, he said we now face the best worst situation, the best of the worst case situations right now. so what will the u.s. do going forward? the president has insisted he s trying to be prudent and deliberative about his decision making process. but interestingly, today the new york times noted that red line that has drawn the u.s. to this moment was an unscripted moment, that the president went further when he made that statement. so what does the administration do, what does the u.s. do going forward among the potential options right now obviously the effort to try to mobilize the international community with the arab league, with leaders in that region already helping out in their efforts with rebel groups, one of concerns is the radical islamist within that community and th
0 syrian retaliation. israel has mutualed two iron-dome anti-missile systems to the northern part of the system. in november, the iron dome system knocked out hundreds of rockets fired from gauza. the hope today is that they will do the same, if needed. the syrian government says that the strike represented a declaration of war and syria would respond in a time and manner of its chuting. israeli officials fear that syria or iran may launch a retaliatory attack. for president assad tmay be crucial to prove that he s strong and in control of syria. shannon? shannon: all right, conorpowell, live on the scene, thank you. back here, the debate continues over what, if any concrete action our government should take with syria. no one seems to want boots on the ground, but many lawmakers are arguing for some type of intervention. steve centanni is here. reporter: as he weighs the options for possible u.s. i think you are going to hear testimony that says we did have some military options.
0 he s on a six-day tour to meet with hurricane sandy victims. and on friday rand paul will headline the iowa gop s lincoln day dinner in cedar rapids. that s coming up this week. more just weeks away. don le mop, have a great week. thank you. underway right now a new search of the apartment belonging to tamerlan tsarnaev. syria calls an air strike a declaration of war. are the two countries on the brink of war? if you shop on the internet, do it quick. congress is looking to tax your purchases. a shocking story out of utah. a soccer referee punched in the face by a team player. he s dead now. and a fun night out takes a tragic turn. fire rips through a lim sooen. most didn t make it it out alive. i m don lemon, you re in the cnn newsroom. the fbi is searching the home of the boston marathon bombing suspects. they saw people in hazmat suits going in and out of the apartment of tamerlan tsarnaev tod today. dzhokhar tsarnaev tells police he and his brother built the bombs the
he will not be running for democratic senator tom harkin s seat. king tweeting, i will not run for senate in 2014 a senate race takes me out of urgent battles in congress that can t wait until 2015. thank many thanks to all w that, he is out. south carolina is a political hotspot this weekend, two potential 2016 candidates spent their friday evening there. there is, of course, that big race coming up in a few days. vice president joe biden addressed the south carolina democratic party in columbia last night in texas under ted cruise spoke at a republican dinner about two miles away. voters will go to the polls tuesday to vote on south carolina s open house seat in the first district. that s the battle, of course, between former governor mark sanford and elizabeth colbert bush. ed o keefe, congressional reporter at the washington post, elizabeth very back at the hill and christina bell antonio, the pbs news hour. good to see you all on a saturday. good to see you, craig.