Consequences, there will be consequences if the assad regime makes a terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons on their own people. Earlier today, leon panetta. Well have a report from the pentagon on syria in a moment. First, shock waves in washington. A powerful republican senator suddenly calling it quits. South carolina senator jim demint will step down december 31st to lead the heritage foundation. Its a powerful conservative think tank in washington. Demint says he can be more effective outside the senate. A lot of my role in the senate has been stopping bad things and saying no to bad things. But we need to do more than that and tell americans what were for. One of the mistakes i think the Republican Party made the last two years is trying to make obama the issue without sharing with america bold reform ideas that get people inspired to get behind us. Senator demint, huge tea party supporter. Sometimes clashes with his own partys leadership. He is leaving with four years left in his senate term. Earlier, he said hed retire when the term was up in 2017 but gave no previous indication he might quit now. I want to go to dana bash joining me on the phone here. Dana, huge surprise to a lot of people. Whats behind the resignation. Reporter a huge stunner. Nobody saw it coming. I was told by a source close to demint he didnt accept the job until yesterday telling the staff this morning, called the governor in South Carolina who, of course, will have to appoint the successor and told the Republican Leaders here. But look. The reason why its such a surprise is because demint really has been over the past few years somebody who takes pride in his job. And the role that any one senator can do, which is to gum up the works and very much, obviously, an inside job. He said he could be better outside than inside an he said he feels better about leaving because he has been able to get a number really, half a dozen tea partylike conservatives elected. Let me jump in, dana. I want to run through them because, you know, when we think senator demint we think of a tea Party Stronghold within the u. S. Senate and helped and also hurt a number of republican candidates. Who were they . Reporter thats right. Great. Lets start with the senators now. Obviously, who he helped elect. This is the Positive Side of his millions and his work. Marco rubio, pat toomey. Very conservative, antitax, antigovernment purists in the mold of jim demint. However, he also backed in republican primaries a number of republican candidates who simply were not electable according to the republican establishment and the establishment was right. For example, remember christine odonnell, im not a witch, from delaware. Ken buck of colorado. And others. So those are some of the reasons why he definitely has ruffled many afeather with the Party Leaders and i have to tell you first thing i saw when the Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell released a Statement Today was making the point that demint had, quote, uncompromising service. Didnt have to read between the lines too much to see theres a backhanded compliment. Dana, what about Bigger Picture here and talking about the Republican Party aenl just talking about folks like ryan and rubio, lets say, part of maybe the next generation republicans. Do you think that demints brand of republicanism is falling out of favor with sort of the newer version of what the Republican Party is trying to create . I dont think so. I think that demint himself said thefe le ive had easier for him to leave because theres more people like him in the senate. You know, him saying that he can do more on the outside might be true, you know, what hes done on the inside as i said isnt just gumming up the works and making a case even because on party for a more strict antigovernment platform but, you know, now hes going to go out and sort of focus on the whole more of a policy than the politics and i talked to some republican sources when i heard the news, republican sources to not the biggest fans of jim demint because they feel like he really hurt their ability to gain the majority and backing the losing candidates. That there actually is some concern among the quote unquote establishment that demint could do more or be more powerful at the Heritage Society than here at a senator. How about that . A stunner today. Dana bash for me on the phone, senior congressional correspondent. President obama taking the pr on the road to visit with a middle class family in Northern Virginia this afternoon and push to preserve the middle class tax cut if the president and congress cant reach a deal you know the story. Tax rates for the middle class and everyone else will go up the first of next year. Meanwhile, Senate Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell prevented a simple majority vote to give the president unilateral power to raise the u. S. Debt limit. Senator mcconnell is demanding 60 senate votes for passage. President obama pushed for the power transfer in a most recent and main proposal last week on the fiscal cliff. Now no john mcafee. The millionaire Software Guru wanted in questioning in the neighbors murder in belize. Maybe you heard mcafee. Got arrested in guatemala overnight. Shouldnt come as much of a surprise here. The whole time supposedly on the run, he was handing out tv interviews like candy. But listen to this. Now the mcafee is in jail, he is blogging from behind bars. The story just keeps getting more interesting, shall we say . More on the blogging here in a moment. But first, i have to play you this video. This is the video of his arrest. Surprisesurprise. He was with a camera crew from vice. Com when Guatemalan Police took him in. The charge, entering that country illegally. Take a look here. Exclusive video of vice. Com. Theyre trying to arrest me. Guatemalan jails have beds. John, where are you going . To jail. When will you be out . And off he goes. To think, just yesterday, mcafee was telling us he was seeking asylum in guatemala. Been on the run since 10th of november for that murder after the murder of his neighbor, american expat greg fall. This is fall here. Belize police say they just want to talk to mcafee but in guatemala mcafee accused belize of percent kutding him for refusing to pay a bribe to a local politician. The Prime Minister of belize has two words to describe mcafee. Bonkers and paranoid. In guatemala yesterday, he called a News Conference. Listen closely as he tells his girlfriend about the cameras and how theyre a big part of his life in the u. S. Hes a celebrity. Once again, vice media there to catch it all. You never seen this before, have you . No. Never in my life. This is my life in america, sweetie. It is. Thats good. You will see that im quite comfortable with this. This brings me back to the jailhouse blog. He has an official one. He calls it the hinterland. Listen to how he describes the guatemalan jailers here. Quoting the post here. I am using the computer of one of the wardens or whatever the title is used here. He is a sweet man and a gentleman. The world is heavily populated with gentle people. He makes he coffee. I believe i could spend weeks in the desert with him as a sole companion without once becoming irritated. His name is gino ennati. Hear about the request for asylum, request denied. Expect mcafee shipped back to belize and shortly. Stay tuned on this one. Smoking marijuana is legal today in Washington State. So, will federal Law Enforcement look the other way . Im brooke baldwin. The news is now. Tanks roll in to the streets. Protesters target egypts president. What is next for this country in turmoil over a constitutional shutdown . And an iowa Family Holding out hope for two little girl who is disappeared. Now their bodies have been found and the search is on for suspects in their abduction. And might your next computer be made in the usa . After 20 years of manufacturing overseas, apple says mac is mack to being made in america. Marijuana history takes a new turn in the United States. And an improm tu pot party. Take a look. Yep. Pot party at midnight near a seattle landmark. The space needle. Look at the crowds. Marking the moment Washington State became the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for Recreational Use. Washington voters approved it last months election so let me throw this at you. Theres ground rules here. You have to be over the age of 21. You can have up to an ounce in your possession. No more. And despite seattles overnight smoke fest, you are not supposed to light up a joint in public. Heres a big catch. You still have to go underground to get it. Growing and selling pot illegal. At least for now they are. Miguel marquez has the story in seattle. Miguel . Reporter brooke, for pot smokers here in Washington State, it is a day for celebration and partying. The legalization of pot. But proponents of this Initiative Say this is only the first step. This is what you assume the stores will look like . Yeah. Our stores are going to have the feel of a fine cigar shop. Reporter jaman was at microsoft and preparing to open as many as two dozen high end marijuana shops in washington and colorado. Yesterday hed be called a drug dealer. Today, an entrepreneur. Our target market is baby boomers. Folks tried it in college a couple times, maybe they didnt inhale. And but now its actually safe to inhale. Reporter hes already working on packaging and attractive displays for future clients. The state lick cord board has a year to regulate. All of it taxable at a very high 25 . We are looking at the potential of bringing in more than 500 million each year in new tax revenue. Reporter the big question still, what will the federal government do . Pot still illegal federally. Today, a regular legal toke. The federal government is saying that the laws in colorado and washington under review and its l still illegal at the federal level. There will be pot stores on certain areas throughout the state and pot, the processing, the production, and the selling of it will all be licensed by the state of washington. Brooke . Miguel marquez, thank you. Speaking of pot stores and miguel introduced us to one, theres a group of business men and women cashing in on legal marijuana. Theyre actually calling themselves gonchapreneurs. John kerry is firing at santorum orr a treaty. They rejected the ratification of the treaty on tuesday despite appearance on the floor by former majority leader bob dole in his wheelchair all in an effort to draw support. Santorum explained the opposition in a piece published in the daily beast saying in part, let me yoquote, our natio has been the worldwide leader. We suld be telling nato and not the other way how to have dignity. Senator kerry said santorum doesnt know what hes talking about. I have Great Respect for both rick and his wife karen and their daughter and their family. He is a Strong Family man. But he either simply hasnt read the treaty or doesnt understand it or he was just not factual in what he said because the United Nations has absolutely zero, zero, i mean, zero ability to order or to tell or to even i mean, they can suggest but they have no legal capacity to tell the United States to do anything under this treaty. Nothing. Senator kerry referring there to santorums daughter bella born with a rare genetic disorder. He said santorum and othere , ht e tragic ending to a months long search for two missing cousins. Coming up next, the news here today on these iowa girls last seen in july when they left for a bike ride. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the Board Meeting. Annes tablet called my phone. Annes tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney. A desktop in zurich. And a telepresence room in brazil. The secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistants pc in new york. And before i reached the top, the Board Meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. Wait til my wifes phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well. The families of two missing iowa girls preparing for the worst right now. Hunters found two bodies in a wooded area just yesterday afternoon. Near the area where 10yearold lyric cook and 8yearold cousin Elizabeth Collins last seen in july. I can tell you that we do have two bodies that had been found. Right now, its looking that the outcome was not the one that we wanted, yes. Ive been praying for the family, both families. It is heart breaking. The families of the girls asked for privacy as they await for the medical examiners to i. D. These bodies. Lyric and elizabeth last seen by their grandmother on july 13th out on a bike ride. Authorities hope to release more information at a News Conference later this afternoon. And a number of congressmen and women left town but before they left they got rid of the word lunatics. Sounds like a satirical, farfetched article. But they voted to ban the word lunatic of federal law and keeping the word idiot. Lunatic is considered outdated and believes that people would be moon struck by lunar movements. The lone no vote came from texas congressman who believes the word still applies in washington saying we should not eliminate the word lunatic from federal law when the most pressing issue of the day is saving our country from bankruptcy. Continuing on, we should use the word to describe the people who want to continue with business as usual in washington. End quote. The senate by the way passed the bill months ago. Now actually it goes on to president obama for his signature. Prince williams wife is out of the hospital three days after being admitted with severe case of morning sickness. Katherine, the duchess of cambrid cambridge, leaving this morning with a small bouquet of yellow roses and royal Officials Say she is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. No word yet as far as any kind of due date for the baby. Possibility here of chemical weapons in syria. The defense secretary issues a warning to syrias president. We are on the story next. Yeah. One Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. Approved [ female announcer ] live the regular life. Phillips. Then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs. So dont wait. Call now. Whatever your Health Coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. Open enrollment to choose your Medicare Coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. So now is the best time to review your options and enroll in a plan. 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He was responding to a question from our own pentagon correspondent barbara starr. Reporter barbara, without commenting on the specific intelligence that we have with regards to these chemical weapons, i think there is no question that we remain very concerned, very concerned that as the opposition advances, in particular, on damascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons. The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching very closely and the president of the United States has made very clear that there will be consequences. There will be consequences if the assad regime makes a terri