chemical weapons? you re not going to let those go on for months? no. i think we should be able to get a fairly rapid sense of how serious they are. we have the u.n. inspectors are going to be issuing a report fairly soon i think in parallel with some of the debate that s taking place in congress. we re going to be talking to the russians and looking for actual language that they might be proposing. the u.n. secretary general has expressed an interest in working with us this. we ll put this on a fast track. i m in part confident about our ability to thoroughly examine this because in consultation with the joint chiefs of staffs, they ve assured me that when i make a decision to launch a strike, they can do it and still be effective whether it s today, tomorrow or a month from now. finally, sir, i want to talk about you talk about the hole
international support for military action which was less than mr. obama had hoped for at the g-20 summit in russia. the president s critics say he squandered time he could have used to draw domestic support, first drawing red lines and denying syria crossed them. assad used them almost a year ago and we didn t get involved then. probably should have done something sooner. reporter: the president heads back to capitol hill on tuesday for separate lunches with the democratic and republican caucuses in the senate. there are more than enough undecided votes in both the house and the senate to swing the vote either way. bret? thank you. please join us tomorrow night for the president s primetime address. we ll start our coverage at 8:55 p.m. eastern time with the president beginning at 9:00 eastern. still ahead, what the u.s. can expect in retaliation if it hits syria. first, running the numbers, counting the heads for the president s syria authorization in congress.
gives him a little more time to turn the situation around in congress, which at this moment was going heavily against him. i just don t see any prospect for this to actually happen. doctor? this story is moving so fast, there may be developments by the end of this show. keep it here. keep it here. one is the administration s policy in syria is ad hoc. the president implied this was all in the works, at the g-20, he and president putin works out that s ludicrous. they re making it up as they go along. this strengthens russia and humiliates the united states. putin is riding to president obama s rescue. he s depending on the goodwill of vladimir putin. america is weaker in the eyes of the world. that has real consequences, not just in the potential of terror attac attacks.
or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tonguer throat, or diffilty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. the administration is trying to keep the focus off the dissension in congress and on the big picture in the syria crisis that the world is watching the u.s. for a sign of weakness. here s senior white house foreign affairs correspondent. reporter: president obama and his advisers lobbied lawmakers and opinion shapers to punish syria for the august 21st chemical weapons attack, warning it threatens to unravel a nearly 100-year ban on the use of such weapons. iran is watching what we re doing. north korea is watching what we re doing. hezbollah is watching what we re
have to have a cease-fire or not. i don t think you can pretend that the weapons are turned over if they are not. there is an element of reality here and there is a civil war raging in this country and i don t see how do you it. to the extent this proposal has moved the needle at all. further evidence that diplomacy backed by the potential use of force is what gets things to happen. this wouldn t have happened if there hadn t been this possibility of a bombing campaign in the offing. the president will make an argument tomorrow night, i m sure, in which he will say we need to keep this threat, this possibility real in order for this process to go forward. he will make the argument. but the reality is everything is on hold, i think, for now, including action in congress. bret: but to get a lawmaker to take a risk with a vote when constituents are 80/20 upside down against this for something that may never transpire. that s why i say everything is despite what he argues tomorrow ni