in the first weeks of the administration s push for a strike on syria, it seemed as though secretary of state john kerry was going to be the point man, out ahead of this. he was the first man out. but now the administration has got all hands on deck. part of their strategy is president obama s address to the nation tomorrow. a direct appeal to the american public from the white house. our coverage is going to start at 8:00 p.m. eastern. i will be here for that along with chris matthews. and all of our prime time anchors will be previewing the speech. it is a big, big night for the country and the world. we hope you will join us to watch it tomorrow. we will be right back. [ tires screech ]
the secretary of state, secretary of state kerry indicated and said, and so has the president and others, that they want to get to a negotiated settlement, that there is no military option. and so, many of us believe that we have to seek and follow some nonmilitary strategies, diplomacy, negotiations, because if not, a military strike could lead us in the opposite direction. it seems like in these fast-moving developments today that started with secretary kerry s comments this morning but then moved very quickly when russia and syria both responded to what he floated as a potential way out of this, it seems like today there is a much more feasible, nonmilitary solution to this chemical weapons problem than there was even 24 hours ago. do you think that congress will play a role in trying to push all parties involved here toward that specific nonmilitary solution of syria giving up its chemical weapons? i hope so, because as part of
as of today there is a credible, possible third way forward, which is not about us bombing and is not about the world doing nothing, but which is specifically about syria s chemical weapons, specifically about the specific problem. it s specifically about syria turning those weapons over, as john kerry proposed today. reporter: russia, perhaps seeking a way out, chose to take him seriously. only three hours later in moscow, foreign minister sergey lavrov said, if the establishment of international control over chemical weapons makes it possible to avoid strikes, then we will immediately get to work with damascus. syria s foreign minister also in moscow said his government welcomes the russian initiative. this is amazing. if anybody told you this was going to happen in advance, you wouldn t have believed them. but that s how this went today. john kerry says, listen, the only way out of this is if syria hands over its chemical weapons stockpiles right away, how likely is that to ha
things are moving so fast now. things moved on this so fast today that you actually have to note that that interview was done before the senate postponed its vote. the senate tonight decided to postpone its vote. they had been due to vote on the syria issue wednesday. that plan changed today after all the options on the table seemed to change. now that russia and syria have unexpectedly pounced on john kerry s remark that syria might avoid a u.s. military strike by handing over and destroying all its chemical weapons, now that that possibility is out there and russia and syria are making positive notions about that, the senate is delaying its vote to see what happens next. and that means that all of the speculation about what happens in our congress on this issue and what happens between our congress and our president on this issue, that all now gets put on hold and potentially gets reset. and here, this is the important part, here is maybe how it gets reset. on thursday last week, thi
interests around the world, that that s not the kind of precedent that i want to set. and i ll evaluate after that whether or not we feel strongly enough about this that we re willing to move forward. and you re confident you re going to get the votes? you know, i wouldn t say i m confident. i m confident that members of congress are taking this issue very seriously and they re doing their homework, and i appreciate that. president obama speaking with msnbc s savannah guthrie tonight. part of a major messaging effort by the administration today and tonight on syria. you saw the president s national security adviser, susan rice. you saw the u.n. ambassador, samantha power speaking there as well, making the case about chemical weapons in particular, how alleged chemical weapons use is a qualitatively different matter for the united states than anything else that has been going on in syria s horrible civil war. the president for his part tonight, you heard savannah ask him about the