“The stakes are high,” said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, “because the stalemate at the U.N|Speculation is rampant as to Assad’s whereabouts, CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward reported on “CBS This Morning” Thursday, though Syrian state TV said Assad attended the swearing-in of his new defense minister|”We simply cannot accept a document under Chapter 7, one which would open the path for the pressure of sanctions and further to external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs,” he said|observer mission in Syria, which was forced to suspend operations because of the intensified fighting|Moscow’s proposal called for the “immediate implementation” of Annan’s plan and guidelines for a political transition approved at a meeting in Geneva last month and would have extended the observer mission for 90 days, but it made no mention of sanctions|The defeat leaves in limbo the future of the 300-strong U.N|ET (CBS/AP) UNITED NATIONS – Russia and China again vetoed a Western-backed U.N|He no longer knows who he can trust, and the rebel Free Syrian Army is touting the deadly bomb attack as a major triumph, even calling it the beginning of the end for the Assad regime}