on capitol hill senator are speaking out about whether to authorize strikes on chemical weapons in syria. members of the house heard from the secretary of state behind closed doors, he wants congress to hold syria accountable. as congress considers the options, newly released polls show the u.s. strike against syria is losing ground, but russia has offered up an 11th u.s. military action. and syria is demanding the u.s. prove its chemical weapons acquisition. but we begin with president obama tonight. mike viqueira joins us from the white house. mike? they call it the bully pulpit and wih good reason. the president did a round robin interview today. he laid out his case. many of the themes and points we are likely to hear in that address tomorrow night, we understand it will be the east room. but everything on hold at the time being, john. that after the russian foreign minister put forward the proposal after meeting bilaterally with the syrian prime minister to gather up t
secure the release of dozen of hospital six. hostages. personal is society to address the american people tonight. originally he was expected to push for strikes on syria, but a possible diplomatic solution has surfaced from a very unlikely source. the russians. they are calling on syria to hand overall of its chemical weapons. and just a few minutes ago, an iranian foreign ministry spokeswomen said the country supports the russian offer. president obama says the proposal could be a potential breakthrough but that he also remain skeptical. our white house correspondent has more. i don t think that reporter: this was supposed to be president barack obama s chance to convince the american people that it the u.s. military needed to launch strikes in syria. but instead during interviews with six domestic networks the president announced he would give diplomacy a chance. i have instructed john kerry to talk directly to the russians, and run this to ground. and if w
prbltiomemorial. in his speech to the nation tonight, president obama officially changed course. he asked congress to delay a vote to authorize a military strike against syria and said he ll spend time exploring russia s plan for syria to destroy chemical weapons. military action against the government of liter bashar al-assad is in the core united states interests. if we fail to act, assad will, it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons. but even as he made his way for strikes the president announced that he would ask congress to but aside his request to use them. while brokering a deal with russia. this initiative has the potential of removing chemical weapons without the use of force. to take control of its chemical weapons. we are ready to announce the location of the chemical weapons to stop production of chemical weapons and to show these production facilities to representatives of russia and other united nations member states.
the nation pausing to mark the 12 years since the september 11th attacks. there were ceremonies around the united states. in new york the bell range to mark the exact time the first tower of the world trade center was hit. there were also moments of silence marked at all three sites. the twin towers in new york, pennsylvania, and the pentagon. at the pentagon they remembered those who died when a plane crashed into that building. the names are still being read at the world trade center site. david schuster is there. today they brought tattered flags, they brought tattered photos, but they re still there. four and a half hours it took them to read the 800 names that started this morning. so th the emotional gripping pat of this ceremony is coming to an end. families came to gather, hear their loved one s names mentioned publicly. in addition to reading of the names there were musical interludes. there were several politicians, the governor of new york, the mayor of new yor
today to mark the tragic events from 12 years ago. we will bring you coverage on our network and c-span.org. let s begin with the president s speech in your reaction. send us a tweet by going to http://twitter.com/cspanwj or post your comments on facebook. you can also e-mail us. the front page of the newspapers this morning, courtesy of the new cm, the chicago tribune and their headline about the president speech, obama presses case, syria vote will wait. we will hear from the orange county register in california, i believe we should act, that is what makes america different. from boston globe, the president says he will pursue the diplomatic yield. is from detroit free press, u.s. must keep the pressure on. give up chemical weapons, but not lifting threat of military strike. outhe countries try to work some sort of diplomatic solution, we are joined on the phone by diplomatic correspondent for bloomberg news, joining us from new york. let s begin with what has been happ