Its economy is growing. Crime is at historic lows. And the citys 8 million residents are healthier and living longer than a decade ago. Ifill Margaret Warner sits down with egypts Prime Minister, as the country is divided by yet another political crisis. Woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruff. Ifill and im gwen ifill. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill our lead story tonight the furious pace of developments surrounding syria gave way today to the more deliberate tempo of diplomacy. President obamas call for military action was on hold, as the wait began to see if syrias patron, russia, can deliver on putting syrias poison gas beyond use. I dont have a timeline to give to you. It will obviously take some time to develop a plan to secure and verifying the location of chemical weapons. Ifill the white house message today shifting syrias chemical arsenal to International Control wont be easy, but the u. S. Wont tolerate delaying tactics, either. By making this proposal, russia has, i think, to its credit, put its prestige on the line when it comes to its close ally and the activities of its close ally. Ifill negotiating began in earnest at the United Nations, where the permanent members of the Security Council the u. S. , russia, france, britain and china met to discuss what comes next. The french government wants any u. N. Resolution enforced by military action, but russia says thats a non starter. In moscow today, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament declared the United States should not resort to force. translated the military strike on syria can lead to most negative consequences. It will lead to more deaths among civilian population, but this time caused by american missiles. It will lead to destruction of it will lead to extremist radical forces seizing power, so it is no accident that even in the United States people say that in case of the strike the United States will act as Al Qaedas Air force. Ifill in his televised address last night, president obama called once again for a limited strike. But he said he plans to pursue the russian proposal to take control of syrias weapons cache. Its too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because russia is one of assads strongest allies. Ifill the president also asked congress to delay voting on military action, for now. Lawmakers today were both relieved and skeptical. I hope that the russian proposal works. I hope that diplomacy is operative. But weve go to dot the is and cross the ts, vet it out and make sure it is a viable solution. After years of trying diplomacy, after years of using sanctions and economic tools to try to get the Syrian Government to change and trying to get the russians from blocking progress to all of a sudden see this last moment diplomatic effort by the russians theres reason to have pause, be skeptical. Ifill left unmentioned in the president ial address support for the rebels challenging the Syrian Government. And a spokesman for the Syrian Coalition that represents a number of opposition factions, suggested it was a lost opportunity. One area that we felt was missing and is an area we get asked about is who is the ideas that people have, thinking that the opposition is filled with al queda affiliated organizations and we were hoping to see mr. Obama answer some of those. Ifill but the spokesman also questioned whether the russian plan is serious, or just a ploy. Now were supposed to trust him because the russians say so. At the same time, were supposed to trust the russians to actually force assad to implement this agreement and we all remember what mr. Putin called secretary kerry, calling him a liar less than a week ago. It seems that the russians are doing all they can to buy assad more time and more time means killing more syrians. Ifill tomorrow, secretary of state john kerry gets to size up russian intentions for himself, when he meets with Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in geneva. Well have more on syria right after the other news of this day. Woodruff americans today marked the 12th anniversary of the 9 11 attacks and honored the nearly 3,000 victims. At ground zero in new york, reflecting pools now occupy the space where the twin towers once stood. Today, family members and friends again read out the names of all who perished there. Elsewhere, separate ceremonies remembered those killed when another hijacked jetliner smashed into the pentagon. President obama emphasized it takes more than military measures to fight terror. Let us have the wisdom to know that while force is at times necessary, force alone cannot build the world we seek. So we recommit to the partnerships and progress that builds Mutual Respect and deepens trust and allows more people to live in dignity, prosperity and freedom. Woodruff there were also remembrances at the united flight 93 National Memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania. Officials broke ground on a new Visitor Center yesterday. In benghazi, libya, a car bombing marked the First Anniversary of the attack that killed the u. S. Ambassador and three other americans. It tore through a wall of a Libyan Foreign ministry building, scattering desks and filing cabinets amid the debris. There was no word of any serious casualties. Meanwhile, the investigation of last years attack continues. The Washington Post reported this week that key suspects have been identified, but none are in custody. A double bombing hit a shiite mosque in baghdad today, killing at least 35 iraqis. Police said more than 50 people were wounded. They said a suicide bomber blew himself up, and then a car exploded nearby. Iraq has suffered mounting bloodshed since april, with 800 People Killed in august alone. North korea may be restarting a Nuclear Reactor and fueling a new round of nuclear tensions. The Johns Hopkins school of advanced International Studies reported the finding today, based on a new satellite image. Researchers said a building at the nyongbyon nuclear site is putting out steam, that suggests the reactor itself is ready to resume operations after six years. The reactor produces plutonium, used in nuclear bombs. Theres major news out of east africa today, where scientists have discovered enormous underground water reservoirs in northern kenya. The government says the aquifers could supply the countrys needs for 70 years. We have a report from Martin Geissler of independent television news. Reporter a thousand feet below this parched african plain there is water. A lot of water. Potentially enough water to solve kenyas water problems forever. Scientists have suspected it has been there for some time but now using a new mapping system they have found it they are measuring it and bringing it out of the ground we already change the economy of this area but we can change the economy progressively of all kenya. And if we can do it in kenya, we can do it everywhere. Reporter this is the man that made the discovery but the science he used is not new, he simply collected existing radar, satellite and geological charts and combined them to give one complete picture. He has used this method to find oil in africa in the past this is really one of the major discoveries in africa from these last years. Reporter the kenyan government share his enthusiasm. They announced today that they will use this system to map the country in search of more hidden reserves. The United Nations are backing the plan but there is a note of caution dont expect miracles overnight. We need to have investment, we need to put in place infrastructure and so and so on. Reporter unesco is going to roll this out not only across kenya but in ethipoia and somalia, too. Its a huge stretch to suggest this is a panacea for africa, but in time they think the system could help to reduce the numbers on this continent who rely on these mountains of food aid to stay alive. I want to thank god and the people who brought us this water. In times, millions more like her could be doing the same. Woodruff currently, nearly half of the 41 Million People living in kenya lack access to clean drinking water. Gun rights advocates claimed victory tuesday in colorado in a pair of recall elections. They ousted state Senate President john morse and another democrat who has backed tougher gun laws. Morse said he had absolutely no regrets about his stance. In the new york city mayors race, it appeared Democrat Bill de blasio avoided a runoff by a whisker, pending a count of absentee ballots. Republicans nominated joe lhota. On wall street, blue chip stocks shot up again, as jitters over syria eased. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 135 points to close at 15,326. The nasdaq slid four points to close at 3,725, after apple dropped 5 . The tech giants loss came as investors registered disappointment with the new iphone lineup announced yesterday. Woodruff still ahead on the newshour, mccain and brzezinski on syria; how mayor bloomberg transformed new york; egypts Prime Minister on calming a political crisis and the evolving role of the internet in international adoptions. Ifill the president s speech has delayed but not diminished the syria debate on the International Stage and on capitol hill. Even some who support pursuing both military action and diplomacy still have more questions than answers. One of those is republican senator john mccain of arizona. Senator mccain, thank you for joining us. So assuming that the president last night tried to do two things sell diplomacy, and sell military action did he accomplish either . I think he was able to appeal to the emotions of the american people, and i think he was very eloquent in talking about the tragedies that have been caused by this war and by Bashar Alassad. I dont think he made a strong case because i think he was trying to sell the idea of attacks but at the same time saying that we have to pause. I think that perhaps it might have been more effective if he had waited a couple of days to see how this whole russia option plays out. Finally, i was saddened that he didnt mention of our need to support the Free Syrian Army because he himself two years ago said that Bashar Alassad had to leave office, and we know the only way hes going to leave is if he believes that hes not going to win in the battlefield. Ifill i want to get back to you on the Free Syrian Army question, but first i want to ask you about what you just said about the russia option. Do you believe that the russia option can succeed, that the meeting between secretary of state john kerry and his counterpart hirkz russian counterpart is going to yield something . I dont quite understand why john kerry has to go to germany nevy to meade lazaroh. Remember, the russians have been supplying syria for many, many years. And recently, as of as least a year ago, the Russian Support stepped up dramatically as far as weapons are concerned. And so one has to question whether the russians are really sincere in this effort and it doesnt give you confidence when president putin says, well, the United States has to renounce all iewfs violence. That is, obviously, unacceptable. But this has to be played out, gwen. It has to be, at least for a period of time eye hope a short period of time, but you cannot ignore it. Ifill you are in frequent contact with people in the fee syrian resistance. Do you know how they reacted to last nights speech . Theyre theyre theyre terribly dispirited. Theyre still courageous, and theyll still fight obut they it was a real blow to hir moral. They were hoping that the president would at least make reference to increased assistance to them. He assured people, americans, of no boots on the ground, but he said to senator graham and to me that he would be very favorable to in fact wanted to increase assistance to the Free Syrian Army. Ifill he also assured people last night that america would not be the worlds cop. Is what youre you have been arguing consistently that there be very muscular action taken to basically engage the u. S. In the syrian civil war. Isnt that making the u. S. The worlds cop . First of all, i understand and the president understands that americans are weary, and they really are not going to allow this country to get into another conflict that lead to the risk of american lives. So i dont think i or anyone else rational they know believes that we should in any way put a single american into harms way. What activities we do advocate have to do with standoff weaponry that would cripple his air force, take out some of their capabilities. But having said that, this has turned into a regional conflict. Weve seen the terrible deterioration of events in iraq. Weve seen lebanon destabilized, and weve seen the king of jordan basically jeopardize his position of remaining in power. So this has become a regional conflict, and one which is of a priority that has grown rather dramatically from what was initially just a fight against Bashar Alassad. Ifill if russia does come to the table and says, sure, well take overlet control of the Syrian Chemical Weapons stash, and well be able to control it and we will make syria sign a chemical weapons agreement, but we dont want any threat of military action, is that acceptable to you . No. First of all, i think it would have to be a whole lot more people than just the russians. Its got to be an international u. N. Sponsored effort. It cant be just russians. Thats just not credible, given the fact that the russians have given them so many weapons for so many years. But the United States still cannot renounce the use of force because suppose that Bashar Alassad, even though he is getting rid of his chemical weapons, uses other weapons, commits other atrocities. I mean, you just cant do that. So that would still be not viable for the United States to renounce action when we know that if this if it was progressing in a satisfactory fashion, the removal of those chemical weapons, the United States would not have a reason to use violence. Ifill so if this comes back to congress, if for some reason the diplomatic track peters how, how do you change minds in the senate, even your own party, and how do you change americans means about getting involved . I think its a tough slog. I think you have to identify more with American National security interest, particularly the threat to israel of us doing nothing, and the encouragement of iran of us doing nothing. I think we have to make the case, which i think the president could, if the Russian Initiative turns out to be a false one, that hes tried every possible other option. I think he could also argue that perhaps one of the reasons why the russians sought this, at least this path to go on, was the fear of American Military action. So it will be hard. It will be very difficult to achieve, but then the president s going to be faced with very difficult decision should he act on his own . Ifill senator john mccain of arizona, thanks again for joining us. Thank you, gwen. Woodruff now for a different perspective. For that we turn to zbigniew brzezinski, former National Security adviser to president jimmy carter and the author of Strategic Vision america and the crisis of global power. Dr. , welcome to the program. Its nice to be with you. Woodruff do you share senator mccains skepticism that the russians are sincere in this whole effort . I wouldnt say skepticism. I do have uncertainties. After all, what the russians have proposed is merely a general ides outline of an approach how to deal with the weapons chemical weapons that the syrians are expected to yield. But that, of course, raises a lot of additional questions. And i dont know how far the russians are prepared to go with us. But it opens the door to something that senator mccain mentioned and with which i actually agree even though on some other issues we do not namely, nawhat is needed is really a u. N. Sponsored effort u. N. Sponsored effort. What does that mean . It means, first of all, the principal powers with veto rights in the u. N. That means not only the russians orors you, also the chinese, for example, who can be a very important player here, given their stake in a stable middle east. And i think the senator was correct in saying this will take time, and we have to be patient and persistent. Woodruff but is