rouhani was elected and they had a new foreign minister. were any conversations with the previous-- >> no. >> rose: none. >> no. therefore, it's a major shift. after the election, i received the ambassador of iran, and the new minister, mr. zarif, called me saying, "well, there has not been a relationship before" and we had an interesting conversation on the phone. it was about syria. i said, "you know we are against chemical weapons because we have suffered with chemical weapons coming from the iraqis, and, therefore, we are against the chemical weapons, and we want to that everybody will abide by the international law." and i said, "mr. minister, i'm very happy to high pressure from you. we want that everyone will abide by international law, and especially in the nuclear field. then there was a silence. and then he said okay. and, you know, this sort of story which enabled us to know who is in front of us. >> rose: where do you stand and has your opinion changedly on the question of iran being a participant in negotiations about syria? >>

president rouhani was. it was someone from the arab press who used the term resistance but we were talking about terrorism. we were talking about hezbollah. he said something, i can't quote him, but he said something like this is not mutually exclusive with the kind of outreach we're doing. so in effect, he's not backing off the support for hezbollah. >> in other words, we're talking to obama and the president today, you know, to be fair to the president, he said it's got to be meaningful, transparent and verifiable. that's what he says about the united nations' agreement. that's what he says about syria. so the question is how can it be transparent and verifiable, because there's not much in iran or syria that's transparent as far as i can tell. >> let's remember that reza also reported that nothing has changed about their nuclear program. it's exactly the same as when ahmadinejad was in power. so this is a new package and no one knows what's inside it. >> although it is an old position of the iranian gove

. >> iran's new president hasan rouhani touched down in new york. >> rouhani was elected in june as a moderate candidate who advocated improving relations with the international community. >> jon: rouhani is a moderate as well as an accomplished mannedi patinkin impersonator. down in the days of ahmadinejad and the hunt for stereotype of the crazy america-hating anti-semitic wearing jacket wearing president. but how different can this rouhani guy be. >> though iran usually blocks iranians from twitter, now rouhani is tweeting. >> the surprising and unprecedented outreach that began with another tweet two weeks ago wishing the world's jews a happy rosh hashanah holiday. (laughter) >> jon: did not see that coming. well that is different, finally iran has reached the same level of tolerance as your local ford dealership. not that rouhani's wiped the whole slate clean. >> let me ask you, president ahmadinejad said the holocaust is a myth. do you agree? >> he's a historian, i'm a politician. >> jon: missed it by that much. here's a tip on the playing of the i'm not a historian card. if som

i reiterated to president rouhani what i said in new york. while there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, i believe we can reach a comprehensive solution. i've directed secretary kerry to continue pursuing this diplomatic effort with the iranian government. we had constructive discussions yesterday in new york with our partners, the european union, the united kingdom, france, germany, russia and china, together with the iranian foreign minister. going forward, president rouhani and i have directed our teams to continue working expeditiously in cooperation with the p-5 plus 1 to pursue an agreement. throughout this process we will stay in touch with our friends and allies in the region, including israel. we're mindful of all the challenges ahead. the very fact that this was the first communication between an american and iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history. >> let's g

president rouhani gave us some details of the conversation. margaret brennan is our state department correspondent. margaret, what do you know? >> reporter: well, scott, the phone call capped off this week- long public relations offensive during the iranian president's visit here in new york and he tried to show he was accessible, very different from past leaders and used social media to reach out to the public. he tweeted this account of the phone call. according to president rouhani, president obama told him that "if we can make progress on the nuclear file, other issues such as syria will certainly be positively affected." president obama then sent president rouhani good wishes for a safe and pleasant journey and apologized if you're experiencing the horrendous traffic in new york city. president rouhani expressed confidence that progress could be made on the nuclear file. "with political will there is a way to rapidly solve the matter." the new talks will begin in two weeks. "i express my gratitude for your hospitality and your phone call.

i think that's why rouhani is now, you know, making these offers. i think they realize how much pressure is on their regime and we're basically giving them a chase to capitulate and compromise on their nuclear weapons program or face an implosion of their economy. >> congressman, what do you make of rouhani's public relations offensive? he's certainly trying to sound and seem different from ahmadinejad and his pred s predecessors. >> very clever fellow and certainly took credit during the negotiations with the europeans. his words were during that process, he was able to stretch out the negotiations and get the centrifuges spinning, get them online. so today, you've got four times as many and they're spinning four times as fast because they're much more advanced, and he takes credit for doing that. so i think -- i think that's been his past policy. what we need to do is make it very clear that we're wise to that. we know he's playing the same playbook that north korea used to get nuclear weapons, to get out from under the sanctions. so we just need

the problem is rouhani doesn't run the iranian republic. the supreme leader does, and unless he says something different, we're going to see more of the same, more of the bait and switch, more of the charlie and the football from rouhani. >> frank and michael, thanks to both of you for the back and forth on what could be and what may not be. >>> now let me take you to washington. back to pictures here of senator cruz, republican senator from texas, speaking, continuing to speak. he's been going for about 20 minutes here on the senate floor, giving his opinion on why obama care is bad for the country. he says that he will keep talking until he can't stand there anymore. take a listen. >> i intend to speak in opposition to obama care. i intend to speak in support of defunding obama care until i am no longer able to stand. to do everything that i can to help americans stand together and recognize this grand experiment 3 1/2 years ago is quite simply not working. >> chief congressional correspondent dana bash there watching. what's happening? i

you know, rouhani, i know there's a lot of hope here. i'm hopeful, but at the same time, here's a man who boasted during his run for presidency that, in fact, look, when i was the negotiator a decade ago, i avoided sanctions and yet we proceeded on our nuclear program. so i think we have to keep that in mind as we deal with him now. >> senator menendez, thank you. i know you've got to go. thanks for much for taking the time today. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> meanwhile, in pakistan, the death toll is rapidly rising after a powerful earthquake struck a remote area near the iranian border yesterday. at least 327 people are confirmed dead. many were killed when their homes collapsed. at least 350 people were injured. the 7.7-magnitude quake also created a solitary island rising from the sea just off the coast. it's about 60 feet high, 100 feet long, and 250 feet wide. meanwhile, rescue efforts continue today to find survivors. the pakistani military has rushed 1,000 troops and helicopters to that area. i do a lot oresearch on a

clearly the supreme leader has given rouhani some rope to play. we need to investigate how far he can play. i think we see already there are limits. this morning in the kahai newspaper, the mouthpiece of the regime, it was said rouhani should not shake the president's hand. then he didn't do it. it is a power game. they sense we are running after them and they are going the to play hard to get. >> david, does it sound like the u.s. had the rug pulled out? does it i make the u.s. look bad for offering? >> i think it made the u.s. look a little clumsy in its diplomacy. it was a little embarrassing when the leader of the most powerful nation on earth was willing to meet and somebody else basically snubs him. you know, that's an embarrassing moment. but i think it's small to go back to the christiane's point compared to the larger picture we see here. ultimately just a footnote. the larger picture is the obama administration deserved credit along with the bush administration in bringing the sanctions to bear. that's what's bringing president rouhani t

clearly the supreme leader has given rouhani some rope to play. and we need to investigate how far he can play. but i think we see already there are limits. this morning in the kahan newspaper, official mouth piece of the regime, it was said that rouhani should not shake the president's hand and he didn't do it. i think it's also a bit of a power game. they sense we're running after them and are going to play hard to get. >> david, does it sound like the u.s. had the rug pulled out from underneath it? does it make the u.s. look bad for offering or good for us? >> i think it made the u.s. look a little clumsy in its diplomacy. i think it was a little embarrassing when the leader of the most powerful nation on earth was willing to meet and somebody else basically snubs him. i think that that's an embarrassing moment. but i think it's small to go back to christiane's point, i think it's small anderson compared to the larger picture we see here may ultimately be just a footnote. the larger picture is that the obama administration deserves credit along

hassan rouhani is speaking right now. rouhani is speaking right now. we are also monitoring three events actually at the same time. president obama reunites with bill and hillary clinton to try to boost his embattled obama care, the health care law. iran's president you just saw. apparently a little bit more moderate, at least there's a charm offensive going on. he's addressing the u.n. general assembly right now. we'll get some hints about where he's going next. also, you can see ted cruz, the senator from texas in a marathon protest against obama care, saying he'll speak until he drops. we will continue to monitor all of this in "the situation room." our coverage continues right after this. [ male announcer ] who loves social networking as much as you? identity thieves. they can find your personal information and do some serious damage. like your birthday or your mother's maiden name. you need a new friend. lifelock. we scour billions of data points every day, and if we discover that any of your personal information is misused... lifelock is there. c

president rouhani blamed the nonmeeting on a lack of time. >> i spoke on the phone with president rouhani, the president of iran. while there will surely be obstacles moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, i believe we can reach a comprehensive solution. >> national security adviser susan rice then came back into the public eye, giving the details of the call. >> can you give as you sense of how this phone call happened? who called whom? >> i think asle people know, we had indicated earlier in the week an openness to a brief informal encounter when president obama was in new york at the general assembly. and while we were open to that, the iranians indicated that it was complicated for them in their context. so it didn't occur. and then today, somewhat surprisingly we were contacted by them to say that president rouhani would lake to speak to president obama by telephone on his way out of town. and we were able to make that call come together. and it did. and it was a constructive discussion. >> how long was the call? >> about 15 minutes. of course with translation. so it w

no sign of rouhani. we do not believe he has rsvp'ed or accepted that lunch. >> i'm sure there would be a seat for him if they need one. >> i'm sure they could find him a chair. that does not mean they will not meet at some point in the corridors. that could still happen and we'll be told that it happened outside of our view. you can see them gathering for the lunch. they haven't sat down. and the president doing the schmoozing and the shaking of hands and that would be the extent probably of a conversation with rouhani if it does take place. >> right. >> how important is it that they actually have an encounter? and even if they don't, if the president's speech laid out a path forward, as it did, and if rouhani's speech is equally conciliatory, then it's up to john kerry and zarif to try and make something happen? >> right. well, you know, what's interesting to me is one of the things we're not thinking about from our viewpoint is how dangerous it might be for rouhani to be seen by hard liners in iran to

certainly, like you said, president rouhani has been tweeting a lot. a lot of this charm offensive aimed at the west has been carried out through twitter. he's only been in office for rough 8 weeks. but consider what he's done. he's been pen pals with obama. he's released scores of political

obama has given every indication that he wants to shake rouhani's hand. there is the situation where the united states walked away from what appeared to be imminent military strike which shows how little appetite there is in the u.s. for as strike on iran. they see an america that is t willing to play. >> but that isn't what the administration says.t is the administration says, look,ed the sanctions are working andnc the iranians are under appreciator and that's why they are doing it. and now the new moderate voice , he has impressed the rest of the iranian leadership with how well he did in theith election. they are willing to say, all right, go see if you can cut a o deal. >> well, look, we have had sanctions for a very longtime.g i keep -- we have been hearing about how the sanctions have gone on for years and years with no change in the iranian -- in the iranian behavior. people forget that more thanrget 600 candidates for president were de selected before they found six acceptable people. cre rouhani has been there going back more than 30 years there

after the call ended, rouhani's twitter account lit up. a picture was posted of rouhani on his plane describing the call as historic and then a message saying obama and rouhani agreed ground should be prepared for solving of other issues including regional matters. foreign ministers tasked with followup to expedite cooperation. after the handshake that didn't happen earlier in the week at the u.n., today's phone call is being scrutinized from every angle tonight. our chief national security correspondent, jim schiudo, joins us now. how did this conversation even come about, first of all? >> reporter: here's how the white house puts it. they say they made it clear to the iranians early in the week that the president, president obama, that is, wanted to have direct contact, particularly this handshake we talked about. but the iranians at the time said, well, diplomacy takes time, this isn't the right time. it wasn't convenient for them. they cited problems back home in tehran. but the white house left the door open, and this morning the whit

so president obama left without seeing president rouhani. in fact, the closest he ever came was when his motorcade passed his hotel across the street. late in the day, he was at the u.n. a far cry from mahmoud ahmadinejad who denied the holocaust and denounced the u.s. but rouhani still criticized the u.s. policy, the wars, calling sanctions against iran violent. still, he pledged iran is still open to talks about the nuclear dispute and says iran does not want nuclear weapons. >> translator: and hoping they will refrain from the short sided interests of war-amongering pressure groups. we can arrive at a framework to manage our differences. >> reporter: the israeli delegation walked out before rouhani even started to speak, saying he could not be trusted. rouhani's speech was tougher in part than some may have expected. and tonight, u.s. officials say that they know overcoming decades of mistrust is not going to be easy even with this iranian leader. but they say they are open to trying. brian? >> andrea mitchell in the fortress new york. th

she is the first western journalist to have access to hassan rouhani. the reaction continues today to what he said, especially concerning what he said about nuclear weapons. in a moment some of the reaction. first tonight ann has more from tehran on what happens when he comes to the u.s. next week. ann, good evening. >> reporter: that's right, brian. good evening to you. the strong statements from iran's new president that he would never build a nuclear weapon and has full authority to negotiate a deal has sparked growing anticipation, especially here in iran about what might happen when he goes before the united nations next week. are you willing to meet with president obama in new york at the united nations? >> translator: i do not have any plan to meet president obama in our agenda. >> reporter: would you be against meeting with president obama in the near future, mr. president? >> translator: well, anything is possible in the world of politics. it depends on the necessary conditions. >> reporter: mr. president, president obama has revealed that you

president rouhani has made it very clear he wants sanctions to end. and it is also important to know he has sent several signals before our interview even saying that the time is short, there won't be a lot of time to reach a nuclear deal. we asked him if that meant weeks, months, or years. he did not answer that question directly, but there is no doubt from talking to his team that they see that the time is now. clearly, i think, andrea, what you're also intimating, which is a very important point, is that there's a political risk for him just as there's a political risk for president obama to step too far into this ring without an assurance that the other is also in the ring with them. i think both sides would have to have a certain amount of political courage to actually make a deal, but there is no question at all, based on every signal that we've seen from iran and president rouhani since his election, that there is an effort to create a new opportunity that did not exist under president ahmadinejad's presidency here in iran. >> ann curry, extrao

rouhani's charm offensive many finds head spinning. the recent diplomat ig overtures, unexpected. and to some in the west, a look at how he got to this point. >> 1979, riots sweep the streets of tehran. iranians are fed up with the roum of the sha roum. the shah. he came into power in 1953. during his quarter century rule, he enjoyed support and good relations with the west. he's the last iranian leader to meet face-to-face with the u.s. president t. revolution sends the shah into exile and brings the return of the ayatollah co khomeni, calling the united states the great satid. in november, 1979, militants stormed the u.s. embassy in tahran. >> the acts of bar barrism, which were perpetrated on our people by iran can never be condoned. >> the u.s. responds by freezing iranian assets in the u.s. it takes 444 days before the hostages are finally free. >> some 30 minutes ago, the planes bearing our prisoners left iranian airspace and are now free. >> direct ties between the two countries are severed. the u.s. even supports iraq in its war against iran in the 1980s the tense relation

but rouhani says it's never been working ton and isn't working on it today. he starts with a double lie and then we tore believe that his next statement it will never construct one is true. i think this is a very shaky basis, looks like we are the supplicant and we will give a lot of way which will give iran in a position to go nuclear in a very short order. >> president rouhani did not want to shake hands with president obama or have that photo at the u.n. but he did do the phone call. kirsten? >> well, look, there is a lot to be skeptical about here. absolutely. there is every reason to believe that the iranians will mislead. and up to no good. the question is we haven't been talking to them and they have been moving closer to building a bomb or so we believe. that's not working. so, trying to talk and start some sort of conversation is a step hopefully in the right direction. it has to be, i think, dealt with with less skepticism. >> i think that's all. >> fair enough. >> i think that's there is something terribly unseemly about, it is sort of like a high

>> there's no question there's a new opportunity with the rouhani administration. the secretary feels that way and president feels that way. the question is whether they can follow their rhetoric and follow their enthusiastic language with action. that's what we're waiting to see. tonight is going to be a first test of that proposition. >> rouhani gave a speech today at the united nations and said we should get rid of all nuclear weapons, a nuclear ban. then perhaps very cleverly tried to put pressure on israel saying israel should join nuclear nonproliferation treaty as iran has. there have, of course, been suggestion iran cheats on it, that israel should join, israel has a secret program no one wants to acknowledge. fair point? >> we've certainly supported all countries joining the npt. what we're talking about here is concern around the world about creation of a nuclear weapon by iran. that's why we're having this conversation. that's why there's so much focus and that's what the focus of the meeting will be with the secretary and other leaders around the world

rouhani himself has lied about the program. he said iran never saw neck webs, our intelligence, american intelligence knows that's not true, wrote a book bragging about how he lied to the west. we have to be careful. we can't fall victim to these words kind as they may seemingly be, we have to test them with deeds. are they willing to stop enrichment of uranium, stop the stockpile, not one but many. will they shut down the nuclear facility under ground. that's not made to create peaceful nuclear energy but secretly build a bomb and plutonium track, end run and get there quickly. let them do all that and then let them sit down and talk. >> to be blunt here, do you have concerns, does israel have concerns about this president, given the fact he, some would say, zigzagged, others would say flip-flopped using military force against syria. do you have concerns his red line against iran would not hold. >> president obama is dealing with rapidly unfolding and fluid situation in the middle east. the bottom line from our perspective is

the two leaders also could have bumped into each other at lunch but rouhani didn't show. joining me now is former governor, bill richardson and former ambassador to the united nations. certainly a big week with the u.n. and cgi going on but let's talk about how risky it would have been for rouhani to be seen with the president of the united states and those images to translate back into iran. what do you think? what do you make? >> well, the atmospherics between the two are a lot better, the rhetoric is better, but the deeds are not there yet. what i suspect happened is the religious clerics said to rouhani, hey, don't overdo this reengagement. be careful about a handshake. be careful about appearing to send symbolism and new diplomacy, so play it cool. now, on the other hand, the atmospherics, as i said, are still better. you know, in the past ahmadinejad went after israel, there's no holocaust, went after the u.s., it's the devil. the two presidents this their talks were more conciliatory. >> so things may have warmed and diplomacy, certainly images matter but words mat

but we should trust to rouhani. he claims he's a moderate trying to outflank the conservatives in his country. let's see if it's true. >> how likely is it the president will have enough political backing to follow his foreign policy objectives while his domestic programs remain under fire? >> well, i think that there are some challenges with the domestic programs. we've been talking about health care because people don't understand them. we have the opposition, the gop, taking advantage of folks' lack of understanding. but i don't think that means that he's going to lack support for a foreign policy agenda. we've seen bipartisan support for his challenges with syria and that, i think, will continue as he decides to see what happens with iran and whether or not this is really just words or if the actions will also match up with the new president's words. but right now, it's just potential. he was only sworn in a little over a month ago. >> we'll pick this conversation up after the break. >>> up next, president obama'

. >> reporter: iran's new president hasan rouhani arrived in the u.s. tonight. tweeting out a picture. his first trip to address the u.n. he turned his departure from tehran into an event. a big sendoff. he said he will try to show the real faith of the iranian nation to the world. and he tweeted ready for constructive engagement with the world. he's already had a warm exchange of letters with president obama telling ann curry -- >> translator: from my point of view, the tone of the letter was positive and constructive. >> reporter: the two presidents will both be speaking at the u.n. tomorrow, but will they meet? if they do, it would be the first meeting between u.s. and iranian leaders in more than three decades. since the iranian revolution. the choreography would be delicate. president obama gives his speech to the u.n. in the morning. they could meet at lunch if rouhani shows up. if so, would it be a casual chat? just a hand shake? even that would be symbolic. but it could be risky for mr. obama. rouhani speaks to the u.n. after lunch. president obama has n

we've seen a charm offensive by president rouhani. he's a very different figure man ahmadinejad but will he be allowed to make the kind of compromises on iran's enrichment program that are going to be necessary to get american, french, british, german and russian support. and that is an open question. it was a very good "new york times" article today casting some doubt on whether or not they are interested in a new relationship with the united states. so i think president obama is right. test this, see if the iranians are willing to make on paper and in negotiations the type of compromises that are necessary in order -- we need to see actions, not just words. >> ambassador ginsburg, for the ayatollah in a lot of ways, this is a win-win. if talks go well, they could see an easing of sanctions. if they don't go well, he can go back to railing against the united states. what are the potential risks and benefits for the united states? >> well, the risks obviously if iran continues its nuclear program and there's verification by outside ag

rouhani wrote back a short time later. the white house will now not rule out a face-to-face meeting next week at the united nations. iran says its nuclear program is all about peaceful electric power, but international inspectors contend iran has technology that goes far beyond that and could produce a nuclear weapon. until iran gives that technology up or allows inspectors unlimited access to it, the white house, scott, will take note of iran's new language but remain suspicious of its motives. >> pelley: thanks, major. the president would probably be happy tonight to hear that it appears syria has met the first deadline set out in that deal to head off a u.s. military strike. you'll recall mr. obama threatened to punish the syrian dictatorship for this nerve gas attack, part of a war against a popular rebellion. the u.s. says more than 1,400 civilians were killed. the deal, worked out last week by russia and the united states, requires syria to give up its chemical arsenal and today on schedule syria submitted an invento

look at where we were two weeks ago before this election by president rouhani. a radically different approach from both sides to u.s. iranian relations. >> we'll see what happens. maybe there have been secret die logs going on that we just don't know about. >> i'll be the first to tell you if i hear. >> he'll be here with us all week. we'll have live coverage of president obama's address before the general assembly, so stay with us for that tomorrow. >>> seven days until the u.s. government runs out of a lot of money. now the ball is clearly in the u.s. senate's court. will they let it pass? will they smash it back to the house of representatives? we're going live to capitol hill. much more of our special coverage coming up right after this. over 20 million drivers are insured with geico. so get a free rate quote today. i love it! how much do you love it? animation is hot...and i think it makes geico's 20 million drivers message very compelling, very compelling. this is some really strong stuff! so you turned me into a cartoon...lovely. geico. fifteen minutes co

this is rouhani's rather enth e enthusiastic return home after history making few days in new york. he said things about the holocaust that his predecessor never would. he told the american people he was all about peace and friendship, oh, yeah, he and president obama spoke on the telephone. first direct contact between iran and the united states at that level in almost 35 years. nick payton walsh is here right now. nick, you're getting to be a regular here. you've been on the u.n. beat all week. iran's president, something of a rock star when he left here. so, what's -- what should we make of all this? >> i think it's a sign that there's a need for some sort of change in iran's policy. a lot of people inside iran, you saw the reception he got there, there was a shoe thrown at him, but that was from the minority in many ways. sanctions are making life there misery. >> is he on board with the u.n.? >> he said he's got the full backing of the supreme council of the ayatollah, he couldn't have made a move like that ringing barack obama without that kind of backing. the real issue now t

what do you think of what rouhani said to christiane today? >> his words aren't terribly reassuring. he basically in the clip you played said we're not going to suspend plutonium enrichment which is the core issue. let's remember instead of focusing so much on sweet words about iranians love americans or whatever they actually do, and by the way, this regime is not entitled to speak for the iranian people. it murders them on a large scale and regularly. but they have also killed americans in iraq. they plotted to assassinate the saudi ambassador in washington, d.c., the man who was charged by -- not by the bush administration but by eric holder's justice department of attempting that crime was just sentenced to 25 years in prison. and secretary of state clinton said this was organized out of tehran and the two men who organized it are designated by the secretary of the treasury. we have a lot of issue ups with iran. and instead of rushing after smiles and nice words, we should be pursuing that whole agenda and not as we did with syria get trap

should president obama sit down with rouhani at the u.n. this week? >> well, i don't know about that. but i do know there are some good signals and we need to celebrate the good signals and we need to make our decisions in consultation with israel. it is, in fact, israel that they have threatened to wipe off the globe and it is posh that we stay locked with israel as we approach these new signals from iran. >> let's turn to domestic affairs. you just heard our interview with senator cruz who is calling for a filibuster which would defund obama care while funding the government. i guess two questions. what do you think of cruz's strategy and how do you think this is going to play out over the next couple of weeks? >> well, it's not brute political force. it's called the american people in elections. i don't think in america we should throw tantrums when we lose elections and threaten to refuse to pay the bills. the american people had a choice between someone who said repeal obama care and president obama and not since ronald reagan has a president bee

impact rouhani's strategy on his own nuclear assets? >> you know, brooke, in fact, president obama came to this encounter, came to this chess game, if you will, with the iranians and rouhani and the foreign minister, he came weakened by the way he handled syria. i think the iranians watched him in syria. we had a proxy war in syria on one side, the opposition forces, the rebellion, and supposedly with the democracies behind them. on one side, the bashar al assad regime. i think the iranians have won this contest. and so we come now, and we want to negotiate with iran when we have seen a weak hand over syria. then you listen to rouhani, and this is really what makes me skeptical of this man, fundmally skeptical of him. in his washington post article he wrote, rouhani says he describes syria as a civilization jewel. and he laments and shed crocodile tears over what's happening to syria. and who is causing the mayhem in syria? the allies of iran, bashar al assad, the guard of iran, and the hezbollah forces will answer to iran. >> thank you

rouhani says he's ready for immediate negotiations over his nuclear program. is it the moment the world has waited for? major garrett has the story. kenya says the terrorists at the shopping mall have been defeated, but not before part of the building collapsed. they're looking for the missing and counting the dead. >> the bodies were stacking up like a pyramid. and we had to do something. >> pelley: charlie d'agata is on the breaking story. who's flying this f-16? no one. david martin on the technology the air force just revealed. and look at what a contractor found in a barn, the lost movie of america's sweetheart. anthony mason on the recovery of a turning point in hollywood history. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. elley. >> pelley: good evening. was it a breakthrough or deception? that is the debate tonight after hearing the words of iran's new president at the u.n. late today. after 34 years of animosity, there is hope that the united states and iran could be on a road to better relations. at the heart of the

rouhani, it's iranian action that matters. we'd welcome a credible and verifiable agreement with iran there. have also been some early cracks in the tentative deal cut with the russians on syria turning over its chemical weapons. the former u.n. inspector charles delfer he's cautiously optimistic it will stick. >> we have to worry about syrian cheating but the russians will be hurt as well if bashar al assad is caught cheating this this case. >> reporter: not surprised prime minister benjamin netanyahu is taking a hard line against iran, stalling for time but netanyahu doesn't get a chance to address the general assembly until next wednesday. >> what's your sense of the iran meeting? is it going to happen? >> reporter: seems more and more likely, but not a formal one-on-one. what seems likely would be sort of an informal hallway bump into each other just as we saw between president obama and putin when they didn't want the formality of a one-on-one. >> as far as chance meetings go, it will be historic, no question. ed henry, t

clearly the supreme leader has given rouhani some rope to play. and we need to investigate how far he can play. but i think we see already there are limits. this morning in the kahan newspaper, official mouth piece of the regime, it was said that rouhani should not shake the president's hand and he didn't do it. i think it's also a bit of a power game. they sense we're running after them and are going to play hard to get. >> david, does it sound like the u.s. had the rug pulled out from underneath it? does it make the u.s. look bad for offering or good for us? >> i think it made the u.s. look a little clumsy in its diplomacy. i think it was a little embarrassing when the leader of the most powerful nation on earth was willing to meet and somebody else basically snubs him. i think that that's an embarrassing moment. but i think it's small to go back to christiane's point, i think it's small anderson compared to the larger picture we see here may ultimately be just a footnote. the larger picture is that the obama administration deserves credit along

we are encouraged that president rouhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course. and given president rouhani's stated commitment to reach an agreement, i am directing john kerry to pursue this effort with the iranian government. the roadblocks may prove to be too great, but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. >> president obama's speech did not include the almost perfunctory phrase of all options are on the table with respect to any military options in preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapon. that was a notable softening of tone. and for his part, iran's president, hassan rouhani said he listened carefully to president obama's speech and president rouhani offered his own fig leaf of sorts. >> translator: hoping that he will refrain from following the short-sighted interest of war mongering groups we can arrive and manage our differences. >> rouhani's tone was noticeably sharper than his very conciliatory op ed from last week, but he, like president obama, had a domestic audience to speak to as much as an international one

why is rouhani doing this? why is the ayatollah giving him this room? because the people in iran, elected this guy without a runoff. remember, they could have messed with the numbers but because the people were saying they found the most moderate guy. they're suffering, they're starving, they don't want the sanctions anymore. they want this. by the way, this is one of the things that proves -- this is a place where the united nations worked. >> yes. >> and syria is a place where the united nations has dropped the ball. there is sort of -- and that was another point that the president was trying to make today. but this is -- iran is suffering. the sanctions have worked. this is why rouhani is at the table. >> there was no meat in that answer whatsoever. >> no meat. but substance. i would say there was some tofu. protein, maybe some black beans. i'm a big legume guy. >> please, twitter, take that up and run with it. "the wall street journal" is specific, to your point, the shift comes after a year in which iran has seen its oil revenue totaled $100 billio

we are encouraged that president rouhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course. and given president rouhani's stated commitment to reach an agreement, i am directing john kerry to pursue this effort with the iranian government. the roadblocks may prove to be too great, but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. >> president obama's speech did not include the almost perfunctory phrase of all options are on the table with respect to any military options in preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapon. that was a notable softening of tone. and for his part, iran's president, hassan rouhani said he listened carefully to president obama's speech and president rouhani offered his own fig leaf of sorts. >> translator: hoping that he will refrain from following the short-sighted interest of war mongering pressure groups we can arrive and manage our differences. >> rouhani's tone was noticeably sharper than his very conciliatory op ed from last week, but he, like president obama, had a domestic audience to speak to as much as an internat

president obama and iran's new president rouhani talked today about their desire to reach an agreement on iran's nuclear program. it was the first contact between the presidents of the two countries since 1979, the year a revolution overthrew the u.s.- backed shah of iran, ayatollah khomeini returned from exile and student radicals seized the u.s. embassy in tehran, holding dozens of americans hostage for 444 days. major garrett is at the white house with more about the historic phone call and these fast-moving developments. major? >> reporter: scott, the iranians called the white house this

how would @hasan rouhani's page look? his skills you list weapons of mass destruction, ballistics and military justice. on one level it is a little funny. i'll be honest with you, it feels a little immature. do you think this is an appropriate way to deal with or presented with what you're presenting to me as a life or death situation? >> we have to keep in mind that for us, this is very much a life and death situation. and that a lot of people out there who are expressing optimism when rouhani stops denying that iran denies the holocaust. and that for us is anything but a joke. that's deadly serious. >> thank you very much. always a pleasure talking to you, sir. >> to you, too. >>> still to come, will you go and he disturbing new footage from the navy yard shooting that we just have tonight. releasing video showing aaron alexis walking through the halls with a sawed off shotgun looking for victim. >>> plus a high school teacher got 31 days for raping a student. he is set to be released. >>> and the u.s. post office is in

hassan rouhani insists iran has no intention of building nuclear weapons. charlie rose also sat down with rouhani today and asked him about iran's relationship with the united states. >> you have made a speech. the president has made a speech. there was no handshake, no bilateral meeting between you and the president. you suggested you didn't have enough time to plan for it. what's necessary for you to have a bilateral meeting with the president? >> ( translated ): well, after all, we're speaking of two countries who have had no relations for 35 years, so it's clear that to begin talks requires some preparation work. and whenever the prep work is completed, i believe that it's possible to have a meeting. perhaps if we had more time here in new york, we may have been able to coordinate what was necessary for that meeting to take place. >> pelley: charlie's complete interview with president rouhani will air tonight on the charlie rose program on pbs, but portions will also be shown tomorrow on "cbs this morning." now to that budget battle in washington and th