Democratic senator: Russia played a card on Syria, it could backfire

Best case scenario for the Obama administration is Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Russia, hashes out a solid deal to get Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles put under international control, Syria complies without pulling any funny business, and the U.S. goes back to remembering that looming debt ceiling battle.

If it sounds like a pipe dream, and some, including Republican Senator John McCain, say it is, then what does that mean for the next phase of dealing with this crisis?

"Russia has played a card here, and they think it's going to work out in their advantage, this could be a total backfire for Russia," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey.

"If at the end of the day the sincerity, the transparency ends up being that this was just a ploy, I think the Russians pay a huge consequence for it," said Menendez.

For more of this discussion with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, along with CNN's Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, Jessica Yellin, and Jake Tapper click on the video above.