>> the broader conflict in syria is a threat to regional stability and security of our allies and partners. as well as a humanitarian catastrophe. >> and let's get right to our panel now. joy reid is with me, editor of the grio.com and msnbc political analyst. and john harwood who covers washington for cnbc and the "new york times." john, can you tell us about this deal that the russians are proposing? is it serious, or do you think it sounds like something that was cooked up between messrs. assad and putin over the course of the last 24 hours? >> very hard to sort that out. and it's also hard to sort out, martin, whether or not secretary kerry's remarks were orchestrated or accidental. certainly given the administration's performance over the next couple weeks, you could see him stumbling into that by accident.