With us. We start with syria and a plan for dealing with the countrys chemical weapons. President obama has threatened action if chemical weapons are used, and now we have learned that the pentagon is updating military options for the president. Well have more on the president s red line and the military options in about ten minutes. Belize will have to wait a little longer to question former internet mogul john mcafee about his neighbors murder. A judge in guatemala says mcafee can remain in the country until his immigration case is heard in court. Well, that could take another month. Mac afee is recovering after be a apparent collapse. He had been on the run for weeks but insists he has nothing to do with his neighbors death. Charlie crist announced friday on twitter hes officially a democrat. Crist spoke at the Democratic National convention in september as an independent. He ran for the u. S. Senate two years ago as an independent but lost to marco rubio and served as governor of florida as a republican. Sum are speculating crist made this latest move in preparation for a run against incumbent Florida Governor rick scott in 2014. Lawmakers want answers about what that deadly depth seventh attack on the u. S. Consulate in benghazi, libya is all about. Soon they may hear from secretary of state Hillary Clinton. She will testify before a House Committee on a state Department Report expected next week. U. S. Ambassador to libya Chris Stevens and three other americans were killed when the consulate was stormed three months ago. In britain, a prank call from an australian Radio Station to the hospital treating the duchess of cambridge has turned tragic. Two deejays called the hospital, tricked a nurse to get information about katherines condition. Well, that nurse was found dead friday of an apparent suicide. She leaves behind a husband and two children. The two deejays are suspended and the ceo of the stations Parent Company says hes confident his company did nothing illegal. And more now on that story. Cnns Matthew Chance joins us live. Matthew, good morning. This story certainly generating outrage not only in britain but around the world. Reporter yeah, it certainly is. A lot of outrage, a lot of anger being expressed on the social media pages of the Radio Station in sydney, australia where the two deejays made their prank call from, also the nurse obviously has been named as jacintha saldanha, a 46yearold mother of two. She was married from the english city of bristol but lived a short distance from here in the week where when she was working here at the edward vii hospital in Central London in the staff quarters there. Thats where her body was found. Yeah, youre right. A lot of anger expressed on the social media about this. Also a lot of sadness and sympathy being expressed with those associated with the death, first and foremost the duke and duchess of cambridge. They have issued a statement expressing their statement saying how wonderfully well in their words they were treated by the hospital staff during the time that katherine, the duchess of cambridge, was treated here for her very severe morning sickness. The hospital has come out as well, the management of the hospital saying that they are very regretful and sad about what happened and paying tribute to a nurse that was with them for the last four years and who they say treated hundreds of patients very well indeed. Also, you mentioned the ceo of the company that owns that Radio Station in sydney that made the prank call. Hes come out and issued his regret as well but also sort of indicating that he doesnt really think that even though it was in bad taste and illjudged that any laws were broken by his two deejays making this prank call, so, again, a lot of sadness and regret being expressed. Hard to imagine that it has taken the turn that it has. Matthew chance, thank you very much. The Supreme Court is stepping right into the middle of the samesex marriage debate. The justices have decided to hear two important cases which will no doubt have major ramifications. Cnns crime and justice correspondent joe johns has a look for us. Reporter randi, after weeks of speculation, the court decided to take up two cases on the issue of samesex marriage. The first one is about the defense of marriage act, windsor against the United States. Edith windsor and her partner were married in toronto, canada in 2007. Spire died in 2009 in new york at a time when new york recognized samesex marriages that had been performed outside the side. When spire died windsor was required to pay 363,000 in federal estate taxes on her inheritance that she would not have had to pay if federal law had given their relationship the same status that opposite sex marriages get, so a pretty clean case here, an even the Obama Administration has already said it doesnt think the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act can withstand a legal attack. The second case the court decided to take on is proposition 8, the California Ballot Initiative adding a state constitutional amendment in 2008 that said only marriage between a man or woman is valid or recognized in california. It overturned a court ruling that said samesex couples have a right to marry. The cases are likely to be heard in march and decided some time in june. Randi . Joe johns, thank you very much for that. Well be right back. Some are calling it the next roe v. Wade or brown versus board of education. The issue the u. S. Supreme court agreed to take on that will make history. All of those who argued for nonintervention because of the things that might happen have now happened because we failed to intervene. When is enough enough . That is the question many are asking about syria as the death toll climbs and concerns mount over chemical weapons. Now some lawmakers are saying it may be too late to stop mass destruction. And could this be the end of gangnam style mania . Why pop sensation psy is apologizing for some antiamerican lyrics. [ telephones ringing ] at chevys yearend event, we have 11 vehicles that offer an epaestimated 30 mpg highway or better. Yeah . Hey. Hey. Wheres your suit . Oh, its casual friday. Oh. [ male announcer ] chevys giving more. This holiday season, get a 2013 malibu ls for around 199 per month, or get 1,000 Holiday Bonus cash. 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In fact, in a recent survey, 95 of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. Visit fastreliefchallenge. Com today for a special trial offer. Good morning, washington. Look at that lovely picture of the nations capitol. Doesnt look like too much action around there. Certainly a quiet morning in washington. Maybe they are thinking about the fiscal cliff. Who knows. Well, our focus today and this morning is syria which is important, not just because more than 40,000 have died in the 21month conflict but because there are new fears that the government may unleash deadly chemical weapons on its own people. That means more lives could be lost, and for americans it means that the u. S. Would probably take action. President obama, secretary of state clinton and defense secretary leon panetta have warned president Bashar Al Assad that using chemical weapons crosses the red line. The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. So the question is what would that action look like . Cnn pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has a look. Reporter randi, for defense secretary leon panetta, the major priority now is to try to determine syrias intent. Does it intend to use chemical weapons . With the u. S. Now believing the Syrian Government has chemical weaponfilled bombs, cnn has learned the pentagon is secretly updating military strike options for president obama in the event he orders action. A senior u. S. Official tells cnn a strike could be carried out with the ships and aircraft already stationed in the region. The planning is being driven by the latest intelligence which u. S. Officials say shows sarin gas has been loaded into aerial bombs in at least two locations. Syria seems to have crossed the line drawn by the president last august. A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. Reporter this week that line seems to have shifted with warnings from the president , secretary of defense panetta and others fousing on what happens if assad uses the weapons. These lines become sort of pink lines, right, you know. They are not drawn with, you know, a fine pencil, and they move around a little. Reporter military options for striking syria spell out the case for why an attack might be called for. U. S. Officials say there are multiple reports, more than just satellite imagery, confirming the aerial bombs. The regime is getting more desperate in recent days as fighting has raged around damascus, leaving to worries al assad could order a Deadly Strike that could kill thousands, and unlike iraq before the u. S. War, syrias Chemical Weapons Program is openly acknowledged by that government. These weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of external aggression against the syrian people. Reporter but the president will also be warned of the risk. Civilians could be killed by a deadly release of gas if the sarin isnt all destroyed. Syrian air defenses could bring down u. S. Pilots if fighter jets are used. The regime could move its chemical weapons even minutes before an attack. And if the weapons start moving around, they become less secure, and that poses another dire consideration. Officials worry terrorist groups could then move in and try and seize control of this deadly arsenal. Randi . Barbara starr, our thanks to you. So lets dig deeper into possible u. S. Action in good morning. This summer on msnbcs morning joe you said the situation in syria is extraordinarily sensitive and, quote, not as horrible or dramatic as it is portrayed, but has the continued violence and the news now of the chemical weapons changed your opinion at all . Well, first of all, the fact that they have chemical weapons has been known for quite some time. I think the hype is that they might use them, but is there any evidence that they are planning to use them and if so, against whom . The fighting is very sporadic. Its in various places. There is doubtless a great deal of social resentment against the regime, but fighting itself is not on a major front. Its not on an organized fashion. It is more like a guerrilla warfare. How do you use chemical weapons against that . Well, cnn has learned that u. S. Military options for potential strike against syria have now been updated after intelligence showed that the regime filled these aerial bombs with the deadly gas sarin. Do you agree, sir, with the Obama Administration that chemical weapons are a red line and should be a red line . They are a perfectly reasonable red line, but they are only a red line if they are used. As of now theres no reporting, no information to the effect that they are being used against anyone, and its hard to envisage how they could be used because if the resistance is scattered, sporadic, then how can you employ these weapons . Its not very likely to me, at least, that the regime will start poisoning itself, particularly in dmamascus which is a big city and which could be the object, but that would make absolutely no sense. Is it simply too dangerous, do you think, for the u. S. To get involved in the region . I mean, you have iran, iraq, israel. They are all right there. I think the more serious issue which goes beyond the slightly hysterical hype is what sort of regime can be created in syria that is stable, and how do we avoid such fragmentation that the conflict in syria spills over into jordan and lebanon and conceivably also activates conflicts in iraq. This is the real danger, and not a lot of hysterical talk about imminent use of some sort of chemical weapons. I hear you saying hysterical talk and hype, but the bottom line is more than 40,000 people there have been killed, women and children. Well, you know, first of all, 40,000 people have been killed probably somewhat on both sides because of acts of violence taking place this damascus as well and so forth. Secondly, no one has counted them. We know historically that all such estimates made during conflict tend to be overstated. Well, we know that our reporters certainly on the ground have seen some of it firsthand. Well, they havent counted them. The fact of the matter is these are estimates, and i can understand how in a serious conflict estimates are made quickly and they are at best an approximation. This week the secretary of state Hillary Clinton, she met with russias foreign minister and the u. N. Special envoy to syria. As you know, russia has blocked action against al assad at the u. N. , but some have speculate that had moscow may be considering a different aprove. I mean, is russia stopping the u. S. , do you think, from going into syria . I think the russians are beginning to realize that this problem simply cannot be ignored, and their passive stance on it simply doesnt provide for any constructive solution, so i hope that they will work with us on this, and i think the more International Consensus we have on what is to be done, the less likely is the danger that the removal of the regime will result in the fragmentation of syria all together and regional conflicts erupting. That is the real danger, and thats what people should be concentrating on. You know, some have made the comparison that getting involved with syria or in syria is similar to us getting involved in libya and taking action against libya. Do you see it that way . Not quite. I supported strongly the position that the United States took on libya because there was an identifiable enemy, and there was also a real sign of an organized Resistance Movement in control of significant territory. When we got engaged in libya, half of libya was already in the hands of the insurgents, and insurgents had the government, had some military leadership that we could deal with. In effect, it was a viable alternative to gadhafi, and even in those good circumstances we still had difficulties in the deal, incidentally, so these things are always very sensitive. In syria its much more fragmented, scattered, and different groups. A lot of the resistance, relatively speaking, a lot of the resistance, is also from groups that we have no contact with and that we strongly suspect are connected with extremist, fanatical fundamentalists or maybe even al qaeda elements. Our thanks to you this morning, sir. Thank you very much for your time. Good to talk with you. Nice to talk with you as well. Thank you very much. Much more on our focus next hour. If not the u. S. , then who should step up in syria . Ill pose that question to former special middle east enjoy George Mitchell coming up at 9 15 eastern time. So what is the future for pop star psy . He may have the most Popular Video in the history of youtube, but an old video surfaced of the rapper calling for the death of american troops serving in iraq. If you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1 , theres big news. Presenting androgel 1. 62 . Both are used to treat men with low testosterone. Androgel 1. 62 is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. It raises your testosterone levels, and. Is concentrated, so you could use less gel. And with androgel 1. 62 , you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. 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