for something and a car comes crashing through the front of the gas station and missing him by inches. >> if he was leaning back he would have been dead. you can see the force of the impact demolishing the front of the store and he was not hurt. at the end of the video you can see he is annoyed, though. >> next thing you know, this car comes through and in the other than of my eye, this a big bang, and it was like a split second and it just happened. >> if he had been leaning back, did you see at the end of the video going what are you doing? >> what happened? >> all right. >> lucky guy. >> that will do it for us and around the world. i am michael holmes. >> i am carrying on. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. this is "cnn newsroom." i am suzanne malveaux. it is a simple handshake in front of the cameras, but the

relationship between presidents vladimir putin and barack obama still strained. their first face-to-face since the crisis in syria. speaking of strained relationships, lawmakers feeling the heat from the constituents. latest polls show 59% of americans do not want the u.s. to take military action inside syria. how will that sentiment affect the vote? we'll take a closer look. pope francis making a personal plea to the russian president and find a peaceful solution for syria. the g20 summit formally began in russia's second largest city, st. petersburg, designed to bring the top economic powers together and this year's meeting has one main issue hanging over it, what to do about syria. president obama is openly looking for allies to join his call for military strikes on syria. the president is convinced that syrian troops used chemical weapons against civilians there, killing hundreds of men, women

and children. back in the states president obama, rather, obama officials, they are holding closed door briefings with lawmakers today, hoping to secure more votes in favor and even the pope now getting involved in this debate. pope francis wrote a letter to the g20 leaders asking them to seek peace through dialog, not military action. the president speaking in russia and makes his case at the g20 very clear. >> i also look forward to having an extensive conversation about the situation in syria and i think our joint recognition of that, the use of chemical weapons in syria is not only a tragedy but also a violation of international law that must be addressed. >> the g20 of course is the group of 20. it is an international forum that brings finance ministers and central bank governors

together from 19 countries and the european union. the g20 was initially formed after the financial crisis of 1997 which revealed just how vulnerable the international financial system was at the time. it is often now overshadowed by the world's pressing issues and the crises that leaders have to deal with these days. the g20 leaders summit brings together the heads of state for formal meetings and equally important are the side bar meetings that president obama is having with the leaders of china, france, and japan. of course this year the big focus, the side bars, that is the crisis in syria. you can see with this map here what a huge portion of the world the g20 represents. even though it is only 20 countries, two-thirds of the world's population lives here. the countries involved are argentina, australia, brazil, canada, china, france, germany, india, indonesia, italy, japan, mexico, russia, saudi arabia, south africa, south korea, turkey, the u.k. and the united

states. want to go live to st. petersburg fbs where the leaders are gathering and jim acosta following this and we saw the moment that everybody was waiting for when you had presidents obama and putin come together and they shook hands and i think obama slightly disarmed him a little by smiling and laughing a little bit. tell us what this relationship is like now and what do they hope to accomplish in the next 48 hours? >> suzanne, the relationship is pretty apparent to everybody's eyes, on ice in recent weeks not only because of what's happening in syria right now and the obama administration accusations russia is blocking action at the united nations but because of the ns a's surveillance programs and edward snowden being granted temporary asylum and snowden is in russia where we're standing now and he is not the subject of conversation. it is about syria. this has been really on the president's mind and the advisers minds within the obama administration who are with him on this trip and we heard the

president say that in that just a bit of sound that you played a few moments ago with the prime minister of japan and, suzanne, i want to let you know earlier this afternoon the press secretary for russian president vladimir putin held a briefing here in st. petersburg and russia's equivalent of jay carney and i asked him a question about the obama administration claiming that russia is blocking action at the united nations security council. he side stepped that question and went to really the russian default response to these issues about syria and said the world needs to remember the lesson from iraq. here is what he had to say. >> translator: we're well aware that no weapons of mass destruction were discovered in iraq, so not every proof is proof in itself, so russian

encourages to consider this in a responsible manner while not using the fact to justify some reasons of the actions and putin mentioned them. >> do you believe that the united states is fabricating the evidence or lying about the evidence? >> translator: i didn't say that. i said that we all need a convincing and legitimate evidence of proof. we highly appreciate our cooperation with american partners and we would like our relations with the u.s. to be very positive. >> you heard the russian press secretary there dmitry peskov

answering the question and saying this has to be handled at the united nations and russia very much against a unilateral strike on part of the united states and just for the record, suzanne, i did ask him to answer the question in english. he said we are in russia, he is answering in russian. >> fair enough. thank you, jim. appreciate it. let us know if there are any side bar meetings, on the margin between those two leaders and cnn is tallying how congress will vote. so far in the house 18 democrats and 9 republicans are backing president obama. 23 democrats and 60 republicans against him and more than 300 lawmakers are either undecided or feelings are unknown. want to take a look at the senate. 17 democrats and 7 republicans support a strike defense stir a. three democrats and 13 republicans do not with 58 senators still undecided. still quite a bit of a debate left there.

you can see how the lawmakers plan to vote on a strike against the assad regime in syria. go to cnn.com/politics and click on counting votes. you can click through the enter active tally state by state and name, comments, whatever. the tally is running and it is based on public statements, press releases, and these interviews from the lawmakers. of course lawmakers well aware that the american public does not support military action in syria. polls are actually showing that, backing it up, but people very much still divided. they are staying protesters starting to take to the streets to voice their opposition as well. this is a protest held this week in minneapolis. it was just outside a senator's office. want to bring in jessica yellen from washington to talk about that. really the passion and people are becoming aware now. they're paying attention to what is happening and they're taking to the streets and i imagine a lot of lawmakers who are getting

a lot of questions and a lot of backlash as well. >> it is right, suzanne. yesterday we saw that especially in the house committee hearing when republican congressman duncan held up a lot of papers and said this thick wad of papers represents e-mail from constituents who say they fiercely oppose this effort and what we're seeing as you might expect is that republican lawmakers are more openly expressing the criticism they're hearing from their own constituents and democratic lawmakers saying they're hearing from their constituents about war weariness and from concerns over iraq and afghanistan and, you know, there is a natural split there with the president's base more reluck tabt to criticize him and republicans that tent to be more in fare of military action in general willing to speak out because they oppose the president these days. it is hard to read where people really stand on the strike as

opposed to on the politics of supporting an effort by president obama. >> i thought it was interesting this morning chris cuomo was interviewing the former defense second donald rumsfeld and asked if he thought there was any mistakes made from iraq because we are living with the legacy of iraq when you look at whether or not we should go into syria and the one thing that he at least did acknowledge here was that he felt that this whole nation, this whole idea of the notion of nation building was something that the u.s. had to be cautious about, perhaps more cautious than when they went into iraq. i want to you listen to how he put it. >> now, are we capable of nation building, the united states of america? no. i think we're not. i think people in a country have to build their own nation. we don't speak those languages and we ought to be i think modest about any impression we have that we can do nation building in and the idea that the template we have that we

have arrived at after hundreds of years is necessarily the proper template for other countries. >> so, jessica, is that what lawmakers are hearing, maybe somewhat of the acknowledgment from rumsfeld that you have to be really careful before you get involved in trying to completely change a regime, a country, a culture. >> there are two different instances. this white house has been clear and i think you probably agree they're not interested in going in and changing syria. this is about a surgical strike and leaving and if there are consequences dealing with those consequences. iraq was about changing the government. what i found striking with what rumsfeld said there and you covered the administration just as i did, he said the exact same thing before they went into iraq. i found a quote in the early part of 2003 before the u.s. invaded iraq where he said the

goal would not be to impose an american style template on iraq. same words, but create conditions where iraqis can form a government in their own unique way. this was his view before, but they went ahead and proceeded in their own way and he just opposes the president, this president's efforts now sort of striking. >> incompete think you are righ. one of the things people are having a hard time is trust. trust in what the government is saying. trust in the officials, what does it mean when you put out the message and then it turns and goes in a different direction and, you know, that is the fear. >> burned by the experience and people were told one thing and it went from a different direction. >> absolutely. jessica, thank you. really appreciate it. tune into cnn tonight. it is a special town hall on syria hosted by our own new day anchor chris cuomo. he will be talking with a panel of experts and taking questions about evidence, the evidence

we're talking about of a chemical attack in syria and of course the proposed u.s.-led military response. that is tonight at 9 eastern right here on cnn. here is also what we're working on for this hour. john kerry spent 27 years in congress and now he is on the other side of the table as secretary of state and facing his greatest challenges yet. syria. for the last two years florida senator marco rubio has been demanding u.s. intervention in syria. now he is shifting his position. we'll take a look at that as well. eats. and in certain situations it can apply the brakes. introducing the all-new 2014 chevrolet impala with available crash imminent braking. always looking forward. while watching your back. that's american ingenuity to find new roads. and recently the 2013 chevrolet impala received the j.d. power award for highest ranked large car in initial quality.

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there is a bill authorizing i full tear strike to head to the senate. barack obama is expected to lobby for it, of course, when he returns from the g20 summit in russia tomorrow. congress has the summer recess on monday. both the house and the senate are expected to debate and vote on the muir. also next week a russian delegation will come to capitol hill to lobby against a u.s. strike. the u.n. report on syria's

suspected chemical weapons attack, that, too, could also be released. you want to pay attention in the next week as well. john kerry, of course, emerged as the point man to sell the administration syria policy and from a young veteran who lobbied against the vietnam war to the seasoned secretary of state now, pushing back and pushing for an attack in syria, a long road for him but he is blunt on the need for pushing and punishing the assad regime. >> we need to send syria to the world and dictators and allies and to civilians alike the unmistakeable message that when the united states of america and the world say never again, we don't mean sometimes. we don't mean somewhere. never means never. >> we want to go live to st. petersburg, russia for the g20

summit. let's watch as the leaders gather. these are the leaders of the g20 summit emerging from the meeting and you see germany chancellor there with others and british prime minister david cameron and some of the others leaving the main meeting that just wrapped up here. often they love to take photos as well. you see vladimir putin leading the delegation with others behind. what is important about the meetings is clearly it is an economic summit. it really is the side bar meetings that take place between the world leaders where a lot of the business gets done. a lot of the conversations and relationship that is happen between world leaders that make a difference, that will make the

difference between perhaps not support for military strike in syria but perhaps more economic support, economic aid, that's something that president obama was stressing when he was sitting with the japanese leader earlier today and perhaps there are different ways these world leaders can cooperate and it is about those private relationships and private conversations that they have that often provide the breakthroughs. you can see this looks like a solemn and casual occasion as they are walking across it is promenade there. we're being told they're headed for a group dinner and that's just as important and gives the leaders to be a little more relaxed with each other as they share a meal and take in the first meal together. it is a 48-hour summit, and i want to bring in our own elise leverett at the state department to talk about why this is so

important. you and i have covered many, many of these g20 summits and originally it was the g8 summit expanded and now it is about the finance, the trade relationships, and also about those political and the crises that these leaders are faced wi with. >> that's exactly right. you have seen over the course of the arab spring and other international crises that really becomes front and center and obviously they want to talk about the issues always on the agenda and as you said the discussions and the private meetings are all about syria right now and the president is trying to build support. obviously the coalition that the u.s. is trying to put together looks like it will be a limited one and what president obama really needs right now is for countries to support him and say that they support the u.s. will be taking action and the world community should act. you only have about nine countries publicly have spoken

out on this. president obama really trying to shore up political support. >> what's interesting as well we heard from secretary kerry saying they have the support of some 53 countries and leaders regarding a military strike. it is certainly not people that would necessarily be providing any military presence. perhaps things like helping with intelligence or diplomacy if you will or the kinds of things that they wouldn't necessarily talk about publicly and that's where these meetings are so effective and we want to see them seize the momentum and they really want this to weaken assad in the

sense they can maybe push him to some kind of political negotiations and what the u.s. really needs right now is for countries to start speaking out to say this was an outrage, we fully support the international community taking action led by the united states and you don't have 53. you have about nine countries that have come out explicitly in support of military action and what i have heard from secretary kerry's aids and what he will be doing is getting people to speak out as they say say the right thing and voice u.s. support and then they will look for more kind of tangible, technical support and whether it is bases, whether it is support for the opposition, whether it is aid for syria going forward. they have a real case ahead of them now. >> as we play this tape, this is from moments ago and we see the world leaders again leaving the main meeting and going to the dinner. realize the president really does have a lot of work to do. he has his work cut out for him.

some of the allies president bush had when it came to the iraq war, not necessarily the ones going ahead and going forward with this go-round. david cameron very disappointed with the parliament vote that said they would not be supporting a u.s. strike and imagine that meeting will be very important if the british can offer anything, some sort of assistance. you also have france which says it will go ahead and you have other allies as well who are not really this go-round, merkel from germany, supporting the president's initiative here. >> that's exactly right. have you countries like turkey and saudi arabia and united arab emirates and some saying they're willing to support military action in terms of whether it is bases or over flight rights and the administration has a really tough case ahead of them. european countries very divided on what to do and a lot of the countries want the u.s. to seek a u.n. mandate and see that report by the inspectors before

they approve any action and the administration says we don't need the u.n. to tell us what we already know. when he is meeting with the leaders on the sidelines and when secretary kerry travels this weekend to meet with the foreign ministers in europe and arab league, he has a tough case to say everyone says that chemical weapons is abhorrent and the regime needs to be punished and can you stand with us and speak out. he can't be carrying this alone. right now the president has few countries in his court. >> i have to say what was notable is we did not see president obama among the group of leaders. we saw some presidents of other countries but did not see him walking and there is tension between putin and obama, so you did not see him as part of that group of leaders all heading to dinner. i don't know what to make of that. certainly already awkward moments at times when leaders

are meeting each other and greeting each other and we saw the president and putin greeting each other earlier. not necessarily in this opportunity or photo. take a quick break and back with more.

president obama insists no boots on the ground in a u.s. led military action against syria. the military personnel involved in carrying out what the president calls a limited mission. scott holcomb served as an attorney in iraq and afghanistan and the former army captain is a georgia state representative and he joins us now. thank you so much for joining us here. very unique perspective in a way because your experience is such that you followed and you were a part of the lead-in to both iraq and afghanistan. does the president make his case? does he make a sufficient case for a military strike in syria? >> i think it is a work in progress is the honest answer, the united states has compelling reasons to act and also compelling arguments against action. the most compelling argument

towards action is of course the united states standing in the world and everybody agrees there are atrocity that is took place in syria and they're wrong and there needs to be accountability for that. in many ways it is deja vu all over again for the legal basis for going to war and it is an appropriate question and important we're having this debate and discussion. i think the biggest point that needs to be resolved is what is the ultimate outcome of this conflict and i think the president needs to articulate that a little more stronger and for him to garner more support. >> when he talks about no boots on the ground, is that something he can guarantee or is there always that risk of mission creep. >> there is a risk of mission creep. i think the political establishment would keep that from happening. i also think the institutionally the armed forces would very much make it clear of what is capable and what isn't capable and one of the things that is going through my mind, this discussion, is i worked on the

preplanned target sets for iraq in 2002 before we invaded them during the war. it is incredibly difficult to actually match power to targets. so now that syria has this window of opportunity to move and shuffle things around, i have some doubt as to whether or not the application of power will actually result in anything that is meaningful besides just firing weapons >> you think they will be hitting empty targets and assad has had time to move things around. >> i think there is a strong possibility and the question is always what is the intelligence going to show and is it going to be worthwhile and valuable for us to actually strike targets and if we do, what does that lead to? those are the question that is still need to be answered. >> it has been a while since the faulty intelligence regarding iraq came out. do you think we're better equipped when it comes to our own intelligence capabilities? can we rely, trust, our government more in providing accurate intelligence? >> i think we're better equipped, but one of the legacies of the iraq war is very

healthy skepticism about that intelligence, and that's true internationally and also true here domestically as we're going through this, the people just don't know if we can trust the information that we have. >> all right. scott, thank you. sorry we don't have more time. we'll bring you back. >> thank you. my pleasure. >> ahead on newsroom many political insiders believe hillary clinton's iraq vote in 2002 eventually cost her her shot at the presidency. now more than a decade later could supporting a strike against the regime in syria have the same effect? we'll take a look. [ female announcer ] a classic macaroni & cheese from stouffer's

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u.s. military action in syria could be one of the first 230r7b policy tasks those vying for the white house in 2016. marco rubio voted against the strike during a senate panel vote yesterday. former secretary of state hillary clinton says she backs president obama's call for

military action. want to bring in our political analyst john avalon from new york. let's talk about the two who could possibly be looking for a run in 2016, marco rubio. he has previously called for military intervention in syria and saying we didn't act and it is too late right now. how does that benefit him if he decides that he is going to go for the gold? >> he was for it before he was against it. senator rubio is walking a difficult line here. he is criticizing the president from the right. the republican base, he is opposing president obama and saying because he he would like regime change and go further, faster, earlier and it is politically neat and doesn't line up with real life. there is definitely calculation with how this plays the republican base. rubio, you don't live in a perfect world and he has to make an up or down vote when it comes to a full vote in the senate. that won't be easy to explain as a stump speech in iowa or new

hampshire. >> talk about hillary clinton here. a lot of people think her stand when it came to the iraq war, the green light she gave president bush hurt her going up against obama in the primary here. explain it for us here. does it hurt her at all if she says, okay, i support this president, i support what he is trying to do here in syria? >> i think it is a risky game because she is such an obvious front-runner. the more she says this, however, she is the former secretary of state and tied to this administration and part of her hallmark as a presidential candidate was a serious responsibility and aggressiveness when it came to foreign affairs and the whole template for the surgical strike being discussed is kosovo, her husband's war, increasing lysine as the good war so i don't think trying to backtrack would do her any good. the iraq war hangover is after

effecting everybody nationally and internationally and it certainly hurt hillary clinton in 2008. i think she needs to stand up with the administration she served and project a confident face forward which has been the hallmark of her move into the national stage and i don't think there is as much downside as there was in 2008 with iraq >> appreciate it. we'll be watching. the pope is reprimanding world leaders and in a letter criticizes them for standing by and letting a senseless massacre happen in syria. more of the comments ahead. first a look at what you will see this weekend on "the next list." >> this week on "the next list" we talked to two remarkable innovators, ben koffman, the founder and ceo of quirky.com. he is passionate about giving would-be inventors a way to get product ideas to market. >> it is human nature. what stops people is to actually do that and execute on all of those ideas and it is really freaking hard. >> and he is using the talents

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reported just last hour britain says it has taken samples from the alleged chemical weapons attack in the damascus area and that they have tested positive for sar in. there is an interview david cameron granted to the bbc where he is talking about what it is that they found in this chemical attack. listen to this. >> do you now believe there is more evidence than you were able to bring before the country went parliament? >> i think the evidence is growing all the time, and we have just been looking at samples taken from damascus and which further shows the use of chemical weapons in that damascus suburb. >> that would back in fact the obama administration's claim that there was a chemical attack, that it was sarin, that that chemical used, it does not however say who actually delivered that chemical attack.

want to bring in another aspect about the pope. he is delivering a strong message to world leaders at the g20 summit and says he does not want them to launch a military strike against the regime. pope francis, this is a letter addressed to the g20 host, russian president putin that calls any military action a futile pursuit and goes onto say let there be a renewed commitment to seek with courage and determination a peaceful solution and dialog and negotiation of the parties and unanimously supported by the international community. pope francis also plans to follow up the actions, those words with actions on saturday. he will be leading the world's catholics in a day of fasting and prayer to end the violence in syria. joining us from denver, let's talk about the letter that he sent to the g20 group and

specifically to putin here. how impactful do you think this will be? >> as you well know popes like other religious leaders call for peace all the time. there is nothing groundbreaking about it. i think what is unique is the context. normally they speak out after the fact and violence has broken out and they call on everyone to flock it off. the difference here, it is before the fact. there is active debate in the united states and other nations about whether to use force in syria and so in that context and i think the other difference how emphatic they're being, not only has he written a strong letter to putin and the other leaders and not leading a day of prayer and fasting on saturday, but in addition the vatican today called in all of the ambassadors for a special briefing laying out their case against the use of force in syria. it is quite rare.

in addition, rarely does a day go by he doesn't say something against the conflict and even among other things using his twitter account to deliver the messages. they have launched a full court diplomatic press and the last time something like this was ten years ago in an effort to head off the war in iraq. of course they weren't successful then and i suppose the jury is out how much success they will have this time around. >> this pope is very different from previous popes as well. he does see things differently and one of the things in conflicting reports some news reports out of argentina that they say he has spoken on the phone with the syrian president with bashar al assad and the vatican is denying that. do we know the truth here? >> i think you have to go with the vatican's denial. it is understandable and people think he might do that and this is a pope that picks up the phone all the time and calls people out of the blue. with the proven capacity to do the unusual, it is possible he may do something unusual here. what is more likely is that

francis would do what john paul did in 2003 which is dispatch personal emissaries. in that place he dispatched one cardinal to george bush and another to saddam hussein in iraq trying to persuade them to come to a peaceful resolution. it is entirely possible we may see france do something like this this time as well? we'll be being watching. thanks. appreciate it. ahead on newsroom selling syria, not all americans buying the idea and the same true for congress as debate over military action is heating up. [ female announcer ] you tweeted, posted and cheered about yoplait's fall favorites. so we brought pumpkin pie and apple crisp back for a limited time. see? you really do call the shots. ♪ yoplait. it is so good.

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obama administration officials back on capitol hill making their case for military action in syria behind closedes doors. the president won the first battle, a resolution authorizing a limited military response and passed the foreign relations committee by a 10-7 vote. they face uncertain fate in the house. chris lawrence takes a look at the tough fight to win over the skeptical house lawmakers. >> this is the hard sell from the inner circle to take action. >> this is not the same to be spectators to slaughter. >> laying out the price of not acting. >> there is absolutely a risk of escalation in the use of chemical weapons. if we do nothing. >> and the cost of air strikes

to america. >> it would be in the tens of millions of dollars, that kind of range. >> one explosive confrontation shows the hard work ahead to win over the house. >> mr. kerry, you have never been one that advocated for anything other than caution when that you would abandon past caution in favor for pulling the trigger on a military response so quickly? >> because i volunteered to fight for my country. and that wasn't a cautious thing to do when i did it. >> we're talking about people being killed by gas, and you want to go talk about benghazi and fast and furious. >> two u.s. navy ships have left the med. leaving four destroyers. questions remain not about the strike itself, but what comes next. >> what do we do if they shoot back at americans? >> then who's the other side? who are the rebel forces? >> reporter: administration officials say they've kept the

syrian opposition from allying with extremist fighters. but the clock is ticking. >> and people will resort to anybody they can find to help them accomplish their goal and we would have created more extremism and a greater problem down the road. >> reporter: chris lawrence, cnn, washington. ahead on "newsroom," the arab league is not happy with the assad regime. it is offering now to help pay for a military strike against it. we're going to tell you who's on board and who's not, up next. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know some owls aren't that wise? don't forget i'm having brunch with meghan tomorrow. who? meghan, my coworker. who? seriously? you've met her like three times.

already. we are now looking at st. petersburg, russia. g-20 summit. we are just getting these pictures of president obama. he was emerging from the meeting. the group of leaders. you had seen them before heading to the dinner that was next on the official schedule of these leaders, these world leaders. walking confidently. and by himself to the dinner. this is after a series of meetings that had taken place, the whole group of g-20 leaders together. also some important side bar meetings as well with the leader of japan. there are others he'll be talking to in the next 24 to 48 hours. and this comes after what we saw as a friendly greeting, if you will, between the president and the host of the g-20 summit, president -- russian president vladimir putin. and the big question, of course, is whether or not he is going to be able to get the kind of

alliances, the kind of support, whether it's financial, diplomatic or militarily, a strike, support for the u.s. strike on syria. he looks calm and confident. smiling as he goes to the dinner. we're going to take a quick break. we'll follow it on the other end.

secretary of state john kerry says that some arab

nations have offered to help pay for a u.s.-led military strike on syria. he told lawmakers yesterday that the offer is, quote, significant. but not all arab states are onboard. our tom foreman, he's in washington with more on what the arab nations are saying. so, tom, who's on board? who's not? and how do they explain this? >> well, let me put it this way, suzanne. the general sense, there are a lot of nations in the world right now who seem reasonably happy with the idea of the united states doing the dirty work. that's very different than getting involved themselves. saudi arabia also is saying they want to do something about this. some others, for example, egypt is showing some very strong reluctance to something like this. let's talk about the arab league for a moment. there are about 20, a little more than 20 members of it. it started back in 1945. and they have been an important voice in saying that what syria has done is wrong. they actually suspended syria's membership some time back because they don't like the way the syrian government has been managing things there. but there are key reasons why

they're not actually getting involved. which is interesting, because many americans would say if you're concerned, it's in your neighborhood, you have vested interest, why not get involved? first of all, culturely. there's a strong belief in the region despite many difference between regions, many say we're all arab brothers. we should not attack each other. religio religions. and there's overall a reluctance to side with the u.s. even though the u.s. may come in and do something that could be positive for the region and could help them deal with an enemy they don't like, many nations over there have a hard time publicly saying that they're with the u.s. in doing something like this. because the u.s. is a strong ally of israel. which, of course, they don't like. the u.s. is often portrayed as the great satan from the west that they don't want to be involved with. and, this is important, suzanne. in some cases, there may be leaders of some of these arab

league nations who think the idea of an attack is a good idea, who might even want to be part of the attack, but they're fearful enough of their own population, those first two reasons, culturely and religiously, so many of their people could be so angry that they might then be overthrown or pushed out of office. there are a lot of reasons why it seems obvious that they should be involved. and a lot of practical reasons why they're not. >> very complicated region. thank you, tom. i appreciate that. that's it for me. "cnn newsroom" continues with "cnn newsroom" continues with brooke baldwin -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away.thing. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing...

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it's a moment you cannot turn away from. the tense handshake between president obama and vladimir putin. all this comes as putin accuses the obama administration of lying. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. as congress gets ready to debate action in syria, i'll speak live with one congressman about the one reason he's still undecided. plus, graphic new video of executions in syria raise the question, who really are the rebels the u.s. wants to support? >> and -- a celebrity's attempt to get americans interested in