美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-08-29（打印版）

What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality. Let me be clear, the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard, it is inexcusable. And despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured, it is undeniable.

Secretary of State Kerry this afternoon, blaming in no uncertain terms the Assad regime for the suspected gas attack that may have killed upwards of 1300 men, women and children. Now over the weekend new video surfaced, it's deeply disturbing to watch, but arguably, deeply necessary for the world to see.

In one utterly heartbreaking clip, a father grieves over the bodies of his two young daughters. His nightmare come to pass.

Doctors Without Borders has already said it has found signs of a poison attack among victims. Today Secretary Kerry said the U.S. has additional evidence it plans to make public soon. Also today a U.N. inspection team gained access to the attack site after initially coming under sniper fire.

Meantime out in the Mediterranean, four American destroyers wait for orders they would be able to launch a cruise missile strike on short notice.

And back home a senior administration official tells us President Obama will be presented with final options in the next few days. While House Speaker John Boehner warns that Congress should be consulted before any action is taken.

We'll talk about the military and diplomatic possibilities and capability shortly. But first let's go straight to Fred Pleitgen, the only Western network correspondent right now in Syria. He's in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

What's the latest, Fred, and has there been any reaction from the Assad regime?

Hi, Anderson. Well, there hasn't been any statement or anything from the Assad regime. However they have reacted and they clearly are hearing the message. The foreign minister of the country, Walid al-Muallem, has called for a press conference for 1:00 p.m. local time.

And Assad himself earlier today did give some sort of a reaction in general to the rhetoric that of course is getting more and more tough towards the Syrians. Assad said in an interview with a Russian newspaper that he denies all the claims of Syrian, the Syrian military using any sort of chemical weapons on the battlefield.

He said, quote, "That it would be ludicrous(可笑的；滑稽的) for the Syrian military to do that, considering that in itself has forces on the front line and they would gas themselves if they use chemical weapons." He also warned the United States about any sort of possible intervention and said the United States had started wars in the past and had never achieved its political objectives.

Of course, the United States by no means buying that. We heard those statements from John Kerry.

One of the other things, Anderson, that's also going on, and this is sort of a serious show of force, they have been absolutely pounding the outskirts of Damascus with artillery all day. And of course those are exactly the areas where the rebels say those chemical attacks took place. Anderson.

And what do we know about the U.N. inspection team? Any sense as to when they'll report their results?

Well, we're not sure when exactly the final report is going to be issued, but clearly they said that they got some good evidence today and they also said that they've been evaluating that evidence. So one of the things that we're hearing from them is they're going to send that team out again tomorrow.

It's unclear whether or not they're going to go to the same area that they visited today or whether they're trying to, they're going to get to some of the other sites where also chemical weapons have allegedly been used.

The place that they went to today in Mouadamiya is a very hot zone. There's been a lot of fighting there in the past couple of months. It was obviously very difficult for them to get there, but they did manage to spend a good couple of hours on the ground getting samples and especially talking to people. That's sometimes, something that's very underrated. Sort of in the public's fear.

But they say it's very important to get the story from people, what exactly happened on that night and what happened to them. What were the effects that they were feeling. So the U.N. says they're actually very happy with the way things went even after that amazingly rocky start that they had.

First of all, the hotel they're in was mortared early in the morning and then their convoy ….

美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-08-29（在线收听）