Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition fighters accuse each other of using chemical weapons in Syria. Fran Townsend and Bob Baer react to the news and discuss what the situation means for the United States.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said "we're going into some very dark times" when asked about the Syrian government possibly unleashing chemical warfare. If they did indeed use chemical weapons, that would be crossing the red line set by Pres. Obama to mark when the U.S. would take action.
Feinstein and Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, are still trying to verify what's happening on the ground in Syria.
Townsend says if the U.S. is going to get involved militarily, airstrikes will not suffice. She also explains the security training and measures in place for President Obama while he is in the Middle East this week visiting neighboring country Israel.
Baer tells Anderson Cooper that evidence will be examined and in a few days it should be evident if chemical weapons were employed. The more difficult challenge is knowing with certainty which side, the government or rebels, used chemicals to attack. "Either side can be to blame, but the point is that once the chemical weapons come out, that's the beginning of the chaos," he says.
For more on Syria, watch Losing a generation of Syrian children