for state hood. this hour, the president is expected to meet with palestinian authority president abbas. he held a separate meeting just a little while ago with benjamin netanyahu. let's bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. she's covering this from new york. the president also delivered a major address before the u.n. general assembly. >> that's rig, wolf. the palestinians continue pressing their case here at the united nations and it was the most dramatic issue the president addressed in his speech today with repeated the theme, peace is hard. the president trumpeted progress -- >> at the end of this year, america's military operation in iraq will be over. osama bin laden is gone. >> and warned of challenges ahead. >> where we stand with the syrian people or their oppressors. >> what so many were listening for was this. >> we seek a future where palestinians live in a sovereign sate of their own. >> how would we explain his opposition to the palestinian push for state hood at the united nations? >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions tat united nations. if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. >> the most striking? >> let us be honest with ourselves. israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against them. a small country of less than 8 million people look out at a world where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off the map. >> words welcome d by those who stand with israel. >> and ultimately, the president said what is most morniponte, ts the only way to achieve peace, palestinian state hood, is through negotiation. >> i think it did give short trip to palestinian concerns. he didn't mention occupation, settlements. this doesn't contribute to helping find a compromise. >> right after the speech, president obama met with benjamin netanyahu. now, the prime minister did not attend the president's speech, but he did read the text and multiple sources tell cnn that when the two leaders met, benjamin netanyahu singled out that section of the speech about israel's security and the persecution of the jews and conveyed to the president he was deeply moved by that language. wolf? >> interesting. so much of this israeli palestinian conflict in the u.s. involvement is symbolic, as you know. netanyahu had a full scale photo opportunity with the president, tv cameras in there. they both spoke, but when he scheduled to meet within the hour within the palestinian president, there's not going to be tv cameras in there. it's going to strictly be still photos. photographers only. no real opportunity for the two of them to speak together. what's the white house rationale avoiding a full scale photo opportunity at least the top of the meeting? >> their meeting with much more about what is ahead. that relationship is a very tricky one and they don't want anything to derail the state of negotiations. right now, wolf, the palestinians have a potential state hood request that comes before the security counsel that could go in as a letter on friday and nothing should get in the way of the delicate state of those discussions. that meeting is not so much about what happens here, but negotiations in the weeks and months to come, so they want a very prooiflt engagement between the two leaders. >> yeah, i know these decisions are not made casually by top white house officials. there's obviously some rationale for this and we'll discuss that more later. stand by. thanks very much. some of the toughest backlash against president obama's policy in the middle east is comeing from a potentia rival out there on the campaign trail. the republican presidential front-runner, rick perry, but some are arguing that governor perry may not be doing himself many favors. let's bring in jim acosta. he's got the latest details. >> wolf, as rick perry attacked the president's handling of israel this week, he walked into the mind field that is the struggle for pes in the middle east. after rick perry accused president obama of purr seeing a policy of appeasement in the middle east at a news conference, he turned the podium over to a conservative israeli politician. who's as blount spoken as the texas governor. >> i want to thank governor perry for taking a bold stand on the issue, writing down and saying what you believe. that's what we need today. we need people who support justice. people who support commitment. and we need leadership. >> as deputy speaker of israel, he is not only against this week's palestinian attempt for state hood at the united nati s nations. he's against a palestinian state altogether. >> to my perspective, it's unacceptable. there's a place for one state under israel. >> naturally, reporters asked perry if he share it is same view. >> i do support a two-state solution only if the nation of israel and the palestinian authorities do sit down and have direct negotiations. >> to one of perry's rivals, rick santorum, the governor' comments seemed amateurish. >> governor perry's now making his first statements about these issues. we're finding out what he believes or what he's being advised to say. >> what do you say to republicans who accuse the president of throwing the country under the bus? but jerry argues citing with his israeli politicians who oppose a two-state situation in the middle east is a dangerous employ for votes. >> to pretend the president's done something extraordinarily out of line is playing politics with people's lives and the throwing israel under the bus. >> i hope most americans realize where there's a part of the world where our children are still being victimized. >> perry, who is seen here on a visit to israel as governor, may have been reminding the crucial block of evangelical voters, he's one of them. >> i also as a christian, have a clear directive to support israel. >> christian conservatives like those at perry's prayer event earlier this year can tell you it's right in the book of genesis. those who blessed the jews will be blessed, those who don't are cursed. >> he is a conviction politics. these are his convictions. i do think that these convictions will play well with evangelicals. >> expect israel to come up at the republican debate tomorrow night not only because of what's happening this week at the u.n., but also because the debate is taking place in florida where the jewish debate could determine who wins the white house next year, wolf. >> thanks very much. we're going to be speaking with israeli and palestinian officials later. let's get to another huge story. the state of georgia. let's go there. time is running out for a convicted death row inmate who's being embraced by some people around the world. we're talking about troy davis. he's scheduled to die by lethal injection less than two hours from now for a crime a lot of people say he did not commit. let's go to david in jackson, georgia outside the prison. what's the latest? >> wolf, his last minute legal appeals continue to work their way through the court. his attorneys filed an appeal in a superior court here in georgia. the judge just a short time ago, denied that. his attorneys are now going to the supreme court of georgia. they say if they're not successful there, they will rush this up again to the u.s. supreme court. but at this hour, troy davis has never been closer to execution. he's been scheduled three times before. his execution had been delayed, called off at one time was two and a half hours before it was supposed to happen. so now, he is closer than ever to his date with lethal injection here on georgia's death row and going according to schedule if everything is going as planned, that he is already said good-bye to his friends and family. had about 25 visitors today according to prison officials and now, he would be being served his final meal. he didn't ask for anything special. it's not even known he will be eating at this time with just less than two hours left. as you can see behind me, several hundred people on the grounds. supporting troy davis, those are some of the same people we've seen marching through the streets of atlanta and demonstrating at the state capital and so far, their voices have not been enough to stop this execution, but wolf, right now, everyone just watching the clock and hoping that last minute legal appeal such as it is, finds some fresh ears and stops this execution. >> if there's something developing over the next nearly go hours, he's schedule d to be executed at 7:00 p.m., let us know. we're also scheduled to speak to jeffrey toobin. there may be some legal maneuverings going on. stand by. more on that story coming up. an emotional reunion more than two years in the making ahead. the dramatic release of two jailed hikers in iran. plus, that critical meeting between president obama and mohamed abbas only moments away from now. we'll have a preview. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." 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post a comment on my blog or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. stunning news, wolf. >> yep. all right. thanks very much. jack will be back shortly, but let's get back to the critical meeting about the get underway between president obama and mohamed abbas. joining us now is a senior adviser to president abbas. you're getting ready for that meeting as well. thanks very much for coming in. walk us through what you want right now. do you want a formal vote in the united nations security counsel that would accomplish full membership at a state for the palestinians? >> that's precisely what we want and precisely what we are preparing to do. met with ban ki-moon and walked through with him what is required and friday will submit a letter asking for membership that lets it go to the security counsel president, then put it to vote. >> that could take weeks, if not month. so, you're not asking for a vote right away. >> we are. if it can, but mr. ban ki-moon said procedure delays. if we feel there is any unexplained delay, we'll get to the general assembly. >> so, you're not going to go to the general assembly while this is been considered because you have plenty of votes at the general assembly to get this passed, but that would not be as memorable. >> we have to deliver what we promised them. full membership. if we can't get full membership, we will head back. >> i'm sure the president, president obama, will tell president abbas in this meeting that's about to take place that the u.s. will veto such a measure. what's the point? >> that we are in procedure to get membership. if we can't get this time, we'll come back again. it took jordan two years. the question is not all countries like south of sudan can get the membership in two day. we understand that, but we want to establish that we have a right to this membership and we will keep after it. >> you heard the president say before the general assembly, president obama today, the best way, he supports a palestinian state living alongside israel as you do. he said the best way to do it is through direct negotiations with the israelis. they say they're ready. so, what's the problem? >> the problem is that these negotiations took 20 years when since the time we went to madrid and 19 years since the time we signed the oslo agreement in the white house. this must be something wrong, but negotiations along have not been able to solve the problem. in the meanwhile, israeli occupation continues and deepens and widens by creating colonies and settlements, there ever, something the wrong. not with the vision, the vision is correct. the method has not succeeded. therefore, we cannot just be left to the israelis. >> sounds like you've given up on the peace process in terms of negotiating a deal with the israeli government. >> israeli government have not shown any real -- mr. netanyahu hees here. he could have announced that without any pressure, unilaterally, i will not build any new settlements. i will freeze all occupational related matters. >> if he were to announce a total freeze on settlement activity, would that be enough to jump-start? a freeze is the one condition you're asking for? >> absolutely. >> because they did have a freeze for about ten months. >> mr. barack told us and i'm saying this in public, that there was at least 200 major violations and it did not cover jerusalem to start with. even that, we went to proximity talks. finally, we went to 19 hours of di elect negotiations between president abbas. >> what did you think of president obama's speech today on the palestinian issue and tell me the truth. >> it was a disappointment. the president eloquently talked about the united nations as the place to get peace and war, but not for the palestinians. that's where we're heading. we're heading to the united nation. then talk really about israel being surrounded by neighbors who want to wipe it off the map. that is not true. not one arab country wants to do that. there is an ab rar peace process that wants to normalize -- >> iran has said israel should be wiped off. ahminedjad. >> he's not an arab state. >> he's a muslim. >> yes, i know, i'm not responsible for all the world. he ignored the fact israel is ok pieing the land. he never talked about the agony of the palestinians. the jewish agony of a holocaust is something we all recognize. the worst genocide in history, but now, who is the agonizer? who's the agonized? the victim and victimized? we are subject to occupation and we want it to end. i think that is really what was missing in president obama's speech. >> i asked you to tell me the truth and you didn't shy away. are we going to leave it there, but i want to stay in close touch with you. tomorrow and friday is a big day that abbas addresses the general assemb assembly. we'll stay in close touch. thank you. we'll have the israeli perspective in our next hour. the prime minister of israel will be joining us live. meanwhile, two america hikers jailed in iran are now free men. they're in oman reuniting with their families as we speak. we're getting new video, new information on this very dramatic story. and pieces of a is the light are about to hit earth. it's unclear where they'll land, but now, we know when. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. [ male announcer ] we went to germany's nurburgring to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. the nightmare is finally over for the two american hikers jailed in iran for more than two years. josh pfattal and shane bauer, they are now safely on the ground in oman after being released from tehran's notorious evin prison. here's what they said just moments ago. >> we are so happy we are free and so relieved we are free. our deepest gratitude goes towards his majesty of oman for obtaining our release. we're sincerely grateful the government of oman are hosting us and our families. >> two years in prison is too long and we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and others imprisoned in america and oman. thank you very much. >> very dramatic moment. let's go to oman. mohamed is on the scene for us and is joining us on the phone. set the scene for us because a lot of people were waiting more than two years for this moment. >> that's right, wolf. it was a 26-month ordeal, a nightmare for the families and loved ones of josh and shawn that finally came to an end today. there was a lot of speculation last week it could come any day. there was a bit of a delay, but it finally happened today when iranian officials released the two hikers into the custody of omani officials and they came here. not a huge surprise because last year, sarah shourd's last stop was in oman because the omanis had arranged to pay her bail, but it was a very, very emotional scene. when josh and shane i merged from that plane, they ran down the steps of that plan to get on the tarmac and greet the families. we were right there behind if families. there were so much emotion. tiers of joy and what made it more poignant was the fact it was a reunion of sarah and shane. they are engaged. they got engaged while in prison in evin prison. that's when shane bauer proposed to her, so it was a reunion for them and everybody was so happy. the families were cheering when the doors of that plane opened. they just couldn't wait to see josh and shane and it played out in the most drama