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 what could be america's next

military conflict. here we go. i'm brooke baldwin. breaking news just into us here at cnn. it is the evidence that helps the obama administration's case against syria. britain says samples collected from a victim of that reported chemical weapons attack back in damascus in october, rather august 21st, have tested positive for sarin. atika shubert is live in london. just to be crystal clear, this is not the official testing by those u.n. chemical weapons inspectors who've been in syria. that said, what do we know about these samples? >> reporter: that's right. these are britain's independent testing samples. and what the prime minister's office has confirmed is that these clothing and soil samples have tested positive for sarin. they were taken from a victim of that august 21st attack. they were tested at the porten down facilities here in england.

this is clearly britain's strongest evidence yet of a chemical weapons attack. it really sort of echoes what secretary kerry and the united states have been saying. that this is not a question of if there was a chemical weapons attack. as far as they're concerned, that has already been established. they believe firmly it was the assad regime behind it. what's interesting here is that britain decided to reveal this information on the eve of the g-20 summit. in fact, prime minister cameron said it to a number of reporters as he was going into those talks. clearly trying to put some pressure on russian president vladimir putin. >> eve of the g-20. we talked last week, atika, in terms of timing. the british parliament voted down support of the u.s. in a military fashion. how might this news change things? >> reporter: it is new evidence. i don't think it's going to push them to take a second vote on military action just yet. there is, however, more and more evidence being gathered. so as the case continues, as it gets stronger, there could be

the possibility of that second vote. but really it's going to depend not only on this evidence of sarin gas, but on what other evidence comes out, particularly from those u.n. inspectors. >> okay. atika shubert for us in london. this is obviously a huge, huge deal for the president of the united states. as he is making the case for military strikes on syria. president obama gained some ground in the u.s. but now he has come face to face with his toughest opponent, russia's vladimir putin, in a moment the world was watching very closely. you can see the lips moving. the handshake. we can only assume that some niceties were exchanged here. this photo op at the g-20 summit in st. petersburg, russia, comes

after months of tense diplomatic relations on everything. think about it. from nsa leaker edward snowden to russia's ban on u.s. adoptions to their biggest stalemate, syria. >> i also look forward to having an extensive conversation about the situation in syria. and i think our joint recognition that the use of chemical weapons in syria is not only a tragedy, but also a violation of international law that must be addressed. >> cnn's phil black is live for us right now. phil, we saw that the handshake, is that the only time we know of thus far that putin and obama have seen each other face to face. >> reporter: just a short time ago, brooke, we believe that -- actually, we saw president obama arrive for the working dinner that's taking place tonight. in his opening remarks earlier today president putin had sort of asked that all discussions on syria be put off until that big formal dinner that's taking place tonight.

of course, the summit is an economic one. syria is not on the formal agenda but is expected to dominate a lot of the discussion that's taking place around. on the sideline, on the margins, as they say. tonight president putin invited them to discuss it over this working dinner that's taking place in a palace outside st. petersburg. how friendly a dinner this is going to be given that very serious conversation, particularly between the united states and the u.s., you gave a list of some of the things that have been a real -- have been real irritations in relations between these two countries recently. there are many others as well. that's what inspired president putin -- president obama, i should say, to call off a big summit here in moscow. since then, things have only got a lot more tense over this issue of syria. we know there are differences on how to respond to the use of how to respond to chemical weapons remain very deep. brooke? >> phil black, thank you. phil is in moscow. who's in st. petersburg is our

senior white house correspondent jim acosta. earlier today he talked to and interviewed president putin's press secretary and asked if russia thinks the united states is fabricating evidence of a chemical attack. here's what he told jim. >> reporter: 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 or proof. we disagree with the fact that somebody in the world is trying to impose their will on other country trying to change the regime and power in the country. >> and we will check in with jim acosta, whose voice you just heard. he is in st. pieceetersburg. meantime, cnn has been trying to tally exactly how

members of congress might vote on strikes against syria. i'm going to throw a lot of numbers at you. these are very, very important here. this is the latest estimate. looks like this. first you have the house. 28 members are confirmed as backing the president. that is 18 democrats and 10 republicans. but you see on the right side of your screen a big number. 93. 93 members. you have 24 dems, 69 republicans. they will vote no. more than 300 are still undecided. to the senate we go. there are 24 yes votes for military action in syria. 17 democrats, 7 republicans. the noes in the senate totally 16 includes 3 democrats and 13 republicans. more than half the senate is still undecided as well. and i want to bring in representative bill paskrell. he is a democrat from new jersey. he falls in the undecided

column. congressman, nice to see you. welcome. >> glad to be here. >> let me begin with something said by the secretary of state. this is john kerry. i want to play some sound. he was making the case yesterday during hours of testimony that the syrian government has, indeed, used chemical weapons. his word in terms of the evidence "undeniable." here he was. >> only the most willful desire to avoid reality, only the most devious political purpose, could assert that this did not occur as described or that the reswreem dregime did not do it. >> congressman, secretary kerry is saying it requires a willful departure from reality to deny that bashar al assad has used chemical weapons. what do you say to that? >> well, i studied over the weekend the exact information. i went through all the records myself. read it. then we had a briefing, of course, which i went to on

sunday. i've been working on this for many, many months. i had met just recently, brooke, with both syrians who want us to go in in america here and syrians who do not. i mean, assad had an interesting record with christian syrians in syria. protecting many of the churches. if you listen to the testimony yesterday in the house meeting -- >> i did. >> -- you heard smith -- congressman smith bring out -- which i think is a very important point. smith was recommending that we hold off here and not -- not have a knee jerk reaction. i think we're beyond knee jerk reaction. i believe that john kerry was telling the truth. just as i believe that congressman smith was telling the truth during those hearings. if you listen to those hearings carefully, i know you did, you heard politics interjected into what is a critical issue for us. >> let me -- >> one simply has to look at a

map of syria and the middle east to know that it's very important and very strategic. >> maybe it's naive of me to try to say let's take politics out of it. but i hear you, you know, for months you've been studying this. you came into this meeting, the visitors center on monday. you're talking to your constituents. what do you need to hear, congressman, to convince you that military intervention, force, is the way to go. >> if i was to listen, brooke, it's a great question, fair question. if i was to listen to my constituents who called in either through the washington office or to my office in patterson, new jersey, it's overwhelmingly we do not do this. this is the overwhelming interest of those folks. when i talk to the syrian-american groups as i told you i did yesterday, and the day before, it is a split decision. many of the individual groups in syria who are represented in the united states of america want us

to go in. the christian side of this, which is -- one might say it's only 8% of the total syrian population says no. this is not the right thing to do. what's the greater risk? i'm getting -- here's a picture, brooke, right from syria. one of the villages. the children writing to me and asking me, please come to our assistance. they don't want assad, et cetera, et cetera. there's enough evidence to go around. the question is, how will i vote next week? i have not yet decided? >> what do you do, congressman? >> i'm trying to make a conscious decision. >> i will make a decision. >> when? >> i will make that decision when the time has come for me to vote. next week. that's exactly what i do. i'm going to say a prayer like i usually do on tough decisions. this deals with a lot of people's lives. which is the greater risk. i don't believe the decision is to bomb or do nothing. i don't accept that as the alternative. i think what we need to do is understand that there are other

alternatives. i believe we should ask one more time, perhaps, the assad regime to sit down in geneva, to negotiate this. it would have to be a strong, it would have to be within two weeks. i don't see why we want to do this next week. we've already lost a lot of time, quote, quote, for those who talk about time. i think it's our decision. i think that we should wait for the american people. american people need to know a lot more facts about the proof that we have. i examined that proof. there's no doubt in my mind that assad was behind this and behind the gassing of his own people. there's no doubt in my mind. and there have been other episodes in the past. is that enough for us to move and have a bombing of syria? we don't know what's going to happen the day after we bomb them. and i believe the president. i believe mr. kerry, secretary kerry. and i believe the secretaries and the generals who are supporting this position. >> i hear you, sir. >> but the point is, the point is, the day after, what's going

to happen? >> i know. it was a question that was brought up, house foreign affairs and also senate foreign relations. let me just end with this. you bring up assad. you bring up some of your constituents. specifically the syrian christians. i'm just curious. because they feel -- is friend the right word? do they feel like bashar al assad is a friend of theirs? >> no, they don't. they think that assad has committed pretty, pretty bad, bad deeds. but this is something that exists within the country of syria. they also believe that assad has taken care of and protected their churches. if you notice as we have moved refugees from the south to the north, into turkey, into jordan or the other countries that surround syria, lebanon, you'll see that the churches now are being ripped apart. so there cannot be any guarantee because assad does not control that part of the country any longer. and i can understand that. all minorities need to be protected. but i know that it puts us in a

very precarious situation. there's no either/or here. that's the point i'm trying to make. >> congressman, i hear you loud and clear. good luck with your thinking. good luck with the votes. >> thanks for having me. coming up, graphic new video showing the syrian rebels executing some of the assad regime soldiers. keep in mind, these are the rebels the u.s. wants to help. you will see that video. plus, the pope sending a letter to the g-20 leaders to avoid military action in syria. the vatican warning that a war could break out in the region with christians bearing the brunt of the fallout. coming up. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms

and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before.

so one of the big questions among lawmakers isn't just what the u.s. military will do, might do in syria, but who exactly makes up the opposition, who the u.s. would be backing. it has been understood that syrian president bashar al assad is the bad guy. but are those who oppose him all good guys? just released video from the "new york times" is even more proof that the answer is no. got to warn you thousannow.

get your kids out of the room. warning. roll it. the footage. only tough to see, but tough to listen to. remember, the men holding the guns are from the opposition's side. again, what you are about to see is disturbing. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> "the new york times" reports a former rebel fed up by the killings smuggled the video out. senior international correspondent nick paton walsh joins me from the united states. the brutality depicted in this video, how much of that represents the opposition? how many among these rebels behave this way? >> reporter: it gives you a real good glimpse of how complicated

the question is of what kind of aid do you give to syrian rebels and which ones? i have to say the video you've seen, shocking as it is, is not common place. but i've seen many before actually in the last year. they're in many ways more horrifying. one particularly springs to mind when rebels moved in to a town in the south of idlib but in the north of the country. they got a hold of a lot of men they considered to be pro-regime fighters. executed in cold blood. that was said to be one of the more extremist groups. but it's a very mixed picture. on one extreme, you have these al qaeda affiliated groups prescribed as a terrorist organization by the united states. on the other part of the spectrum are more moderate rebels who the u.s. thinks they could do business with. frankly, we don't know the proportions they represent. we don't know their affiliations. we can't really break up the rebel movement into which particular part is which. because the end of the day, with

actually don't really know how many rebels are fighting on the ground. it's such an unclear picture. >> with the unclear picture, i know americans are concerned. we heard from members of the house foreign affairs committee yesterday grilling administration officials on this issue. here's just one exchange. >> who are the rebel forces? who are they? i ask that in my briefings all the time. every time i get briefed on this, it gets worse and worse. the majority now of these rebel forces, and i say majority now, are radical islamists. >> i just don't agree that a majority are al qaeda and the bad guys. that's not true. there are about 70,000 to 100,000 oppositionists. about -- somewhere, maybe, 15% to 25% might be in one group or another who are what we would deem to be bad guys. >> there are moderates there. the briefings i've received,

50%. and rising. >> this was the back and forth yesterday. i question to you at the end of the day, nick, if the u.s. goes on, ultimately if the u.s. arms the rebels, how does the u.s. keep these weapons from getting in the wrong hands among rebel groups? >> it's extraordinarily tough issue. there is vetting that goes on, i understand, for some of the groups that receive aid from the u.s. at this point. but if the u.s. suddenly decides it wants to up aid and try and assist the moderate groups on the ground, what happens inside syria is often a different picture. the reason why these more extremist radical groups have gained profile is because they're the ones that experience often fighting in iraq or other places around the world, experience in fighting. a year ago when there was a lot of stalemate in the north and the moderate groups weren't finding the progress they wanted, that's when these radicals came in. they got big battlefield victories. that rose their prestige within rebel ranks. their ability to call the shots, forgive the pun, in some ways. now what we're seeing is they

remain very much there. the moderate side hasn't got the assistance. i think if you did suddenly flood rebel ranks with arms, it's the people who've seen victory, it's the people who've seen success on the battlefield who are disciplined, who'll make the most out of those. as it currently stands, that's mostly the extremists, brooke. >> nick paton walsh at the u.n. thank you. i wanted to show you pictures just moments ago. this was taken in russia. president obama walking to a working dinner at the g-20 summit. alone. vladimir putin, on the other hand, well, now we know why the president was by himself. that's next. [ bottle ] okay, listen up! i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies -- you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! 'cause i'm re-workin' the menu, keeping her healthy and you on your toes. [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh!

[ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. the ones that let you call for help. and i said, "that's not for me! that's for some old person!" but we finally talked my mom into calling adt. then, one day, i slipped and broke my hip. the pain was terrible, and i couldn't get to the phone. i needed an ambulance, so i pushed the button. it's okay, mrs. anderson. the paramedics are on their way. it was so good to hear adt at the other end. [ male announcer ] adt home health security services. with one touch of a button, you can summon help from anywhere in your home and talk with adt's trained professionals, who can call for emergency assistance and even stay on the line until help arrives. 1 out of every 3 people over 65 will fall this year. adt helps you maintain your independence starting at just over $1 a day. call now to receive free activation and a free guide to living alone. i'm glad adt could call for help. so am i. [ male announcer ] protect your independence. call today for more information

and ask about special discounts for aarp members. adt. always there.

just into cnn, president obama has canceled a trip to the west coast that was planned for next week. right now he's in russia, particularly st. petersburg at this working dinner, meeting with world leaders talking economy at the g-20 summit. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is there in st. petersburg. two questions. let me begin with this canceled trip next week, yjim. why? >> reporter: yeah. why? because of syria, brooke.

the president was expected, from what we understand, to go out to california early next week for a fundraiser. obviously with congress coming back on september 9th and that potential vote coming up, that is very crucial to what is going to happen with the president's call for action against syria. he wants to be back in washington. that's the reason for that. we can also point out that he's really working both sides of the atlantic here, brooke. he's not only meeting with foreign leaders behind closed doors. he's at a dinner right now here at the g-20 in st. petersburg. he, according to aides, has been calling back to washington. administration officials say he was on the phone yesterday calling a bipartisan group of senators about this congressional authorization he's seeking for syria. he's a busy man right now. >> he's a busy man. he presumably is is eating and working right now. as you mentioned, he's at that dinner. we saw the pictures, jim, of that huge group, guys in ties walking to this dinner. here you have on the left side of the screen president obama. i'm guessing he didn't need some alone time. what was he coming out of, a

meeting? >> reporter: right. right. i mean, people might be drawing the conclusion that there's some sort of metaphorical thing going on. the president walking by himself here at the g-20. no. we understand from talking to aides he was probably meeting with a foreign leader. you know, they come in and out of these meetings. they have a chance here to grab somebody to talk with them. we're trying to get specifically who that leader was that he was talking to. but that's why he was coming in late behind that big group of other g-20 leaders. you saw president putin there with a whole gaggle of foreign leaders prior to the president's walk down that colonnade which was just beautiful and picturesque. i don't know if you saw the pictures, brooke. it is kind of stunning, the show the russians are putting on here. at one point our peter morris, photo journalist at cnn in washington, he was basically the pool camera as we call it, as the president was making his way in the dinner. he asked the president whether or not he progress had been made on syria behind closed doors. the president said, no, he said, we're just talking about the

economy. so interesting that the administration officials we've been talking to all day long have been saying, listen, this is syria, syria, syria. we're talking about syria. i don't want to gloss over the fact that they probably are also saying there are other issues going on behind the scenes. i don't want to min nimize that. but the president when he was asked point-blank a few moments ago, said, no, he's been talking about the economy. he's got a lot on his plate. more than just dinner, brooke. >> jim acosta in beautiful st. petersburg. thank you. speaking of the president, one columnist says he just made a, quote, unquote, history defying decision on action in syria. the bigger question we're posing is, is president obama becoming the president he never wanted to be? that discussion is next.

and didn't know where to start. a contractor before at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors, where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, honey.

[ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. sometimes, life trips us up.

sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

we are just past the bottom of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. a cnn.com columnist says president obama may be turning into the president he never wanted to be. the commander in chief is pushing for u.s. military action in the middle east region. and he waited to the very last minute to seek congressional approval. just last year the president campaigned hard on his work in ending the wars in both iraq and afghanistan. and when barack obama was a u.s. senator, he was a strong supporter of congressional involvement in authorizing military action. with syria, congress was not the president's first move. joining me, former presidential speech writer for jimmy carter and yahoo! news contributing columnist walter shapiro joins me. nice to see you, sir. i know your resume is quite impressive. you've written a lot of things. let me quote you from your most recent column here. you say this. you call obama's history defying

decision to seek congressional approval in syria. history defying. why? >> ever since the korean war more than 60 years ago the balance has shifted from the constitutional balance where the power to declare war and send in the military rests with congress and has been taken by an imperial president. just name three examples from the last 30 years. ronald reagan went into grenada on the idea of endangered american medical students, although no one ever found any. bill clinton defied a congressional vote and launched a bombing campaign in 1999 over kosovo. and barack obama led from behind in libya with no congressional vote whatsoever. so obama going to the congress for a difficult vote really addresses a congressional -- an imbalance that has been going on for 60 years. >> what i'm hearing, that's not new. also what's not new is the use of chemical weapons, sir, being

a catalyst here in involvement. we were sitting and thinking of over the past three years as we've been covering the crisis in syria, the number is 100,000 plus syrians killed. i'm just curious, specifically in this case, why do you think it's the use of chemical weapons, specifically on -- it was on august 21st, that was the trigger for possible intervention here? >> well, without knowing exactly the thought processes of the white house -- >> sure. >> -- there are norms of international law. treatment of prisoners is one. no chemical weapons. no biological weapons. god forbid, no nuclear weapons. and without using the red line analogy, there is a trip wire in life. and that there are some behaviors that even amid the violence of this world, are just too e fwrgregious to stand. >> mr. shapiro, we have to talk russia. we've seen the pictures. presumably some niceties were exchanged, right, when you saw obama and putin shake hands.

who knows? we know the president was meeting with russian guy activists. this is one of several friction points between putin and obama. my question is where did the relationship go so sour? >> i think it's been going so sour for the longest while. i remember ten years ago when john mccain -- ridiculing george w. bush about putin, said, i looked in his eyes and i saw kgb. fundamentally, this is is a russian nationalist with no respect for democratic norms. and, of course, there could be friction point. but friction points are different than the kind of animosity that existed for 44 years from the end of world war ii to 1989. we can exaggerate the points of friction with russia. but it is a long way from the cold war that i grew up with. >> walter shapiro, thank you. make sure you watch cnn's primetime lineup tonight. here's why.

>> cnn tonight at 7:00. erin burnett out front with crossroads gps. how is this organization able to spend millions on political campaigns and still keep its tax exempt status? the truth about the irs. then at 8:00 on anderson cooper 360, president obama meets with vladimir putin. will tensions rise more as the u.s. moves closer to a strike against syria? and at 9:00 on piers morgan live, syria. everything you want to ask. chris cuomo hosts a special town hall event. what should the u.s. do? these stories all ahead on cnn tonight. erin burnett outfront at 7:00, "anderson cooper 360" at 8:00. piers morgan live at 9:00. tonight on cnn. coming up here, pope francis weighing in on the syrian conflict in a letter to the russian president, vladimir putin. what he said, next. to angie's list first. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do

everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? if then schwab is the placeing your trato trade. higher level, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-888-577-5750 or visit schwab.com/trading to tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 learn how you can earn up to 300 commission-free online trades tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 for six months with qualifying net deposits. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 see how easy and intuitive it is to use tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 our most powerful platform, streetsmart edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 we put it in the cloud so you can use it on the web. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade with our most advanced tools tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on whatever computer you're on. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 also, get a dedicated team of schwab trading specialists tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 who will help you customize your platform tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 even from the comfort of your home. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and talk about ideas and strategies, one on one. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 get all this with no trade minimums. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

and only $8.95 a trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-888-577-5750 or visit schwab.com/trading tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to open an account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and learn how you can earn up to 300 commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 online trades for six months with qualifying net deposits. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 our trading specialists are waiting to help you get started. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so call now. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as we talk about the crisis in syria, we have to bring up the pope. pope francis himself is ramping up his opposition to military intervention there. the pope sent a strongly worded letter to the president of russia, vladimir putin, bho who as you know is hosting the g-20 summit in st. petersburg. he wrote in part, it is regrettable that from the very beginning of the conflict in syria one sided interests have prevailed. the pope urged g-20 leaders

to -- i want to bring in our senior vatican analyst, john allen, joining me live from denver. john allen, great to see you. you know all things papacy. we just wanted to bring you on because, listen, this isn't surprising that the pope stands on military intervention as a pacifist. but this idea of pope francis sitting down and writing a letter to vladimir putin, is this something that's been done before? >> hey, brooke. technically, the pope and the catholic church is not committed to pacifism. what they're against is unilateral uses of force that they think is going to make things worse. that apparently is their calculation with syria. this is not unprecedented. ten years ago as the u.s. was getting ready to fwo to war in iraq under president george bush pope john paul ii and the vatican's diplomatic apparatus launched a full court press against it. that's what we're seeing again today. not only did we have this sharply worded letter from francis to president putin of russia, but as you say he's called for a day of prayer and

fasting for peace on saturday. he personally is going to lead a service in st. peter's square. this morning the vatican called in all the diplomats accredited to it. they have diplomatic relations with about 180 countries including all the major western powers to lay out their case against the use of force in syria. i think their concerns are pretty clear. at the humanitarian level, they think this is going to widen the conflict and stoke muslim radicalism. at the more pastoral level, they're also concerned this is going to make life significantly worse for christians. that is precisely what happened in iraq over the last decade. they're worried it's going to happen again in syria. christians represent about 10% of the population there. one of the largest christian communities in the middle east. they're worried they would be the first victims of the fall of assad. i think that's what's behind the press that we're seeing today. >> that's exactly what i also wanted to ask you about. just in my reading, something like 6% to 10% these syrian christians make up, in terms of

the poppopulous. when we talk about fallout from a military strike, what may that look like for these syrian christians? >> the first thing you've got to understand, you're right. the sort of takeaway in the west is that the christian leadership in syria is pro-assad. you have to understand from their point of view is choice is not between a dictatorship and a vibrant democracy. from their point of view the choice is between a dictatorship and islamic thee youghsy in which they're not going to have any place. in that choice i don't think it's much surprise they tend to prefer the devil they know to the one they don't. i think the vatican and catholic leaders around the world are very sensitive to that. look at what's happened in post-war iraq. at the time of the first gulf war in 1991 there were an estimated 1.5 million christians in iraq. today it's 400,000. some people think it's closer to 200,000. most of them got into exile. a large number of them have been killed. the church in iraq has basically been devastated. what we're hearing from christians in syria today is

they don't want to repeat the pattern that was set in iraq. >> john allen. thank you very much. senior vatican analyst joining us with his perspective. coming up next, you are about to hear from donald rumsfeld on why he's not a fan of president obama's strategy against syria. in fact, wait until you hear what the defense secretary during the iraq war, speaking of iraq, what he says about intelligence and facts. stay right there. i'm angela, and i didn't think i could quit smoking but chantix helped me do it. i told my doctor i think i'm... i'm ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. i knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. i knew that i wasn't putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic

or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. if i could describe being a nonsmoker, i would say "awesome." [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. but with advair, i'm breathing better.

so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

former pentagon chief donald rumsfeld knows a thing or two about launching an assault on a middle eastern country because the wars in both afghanistan and iraq both began on his watch. so as a former insider, he says he's not impressed with how president obama is handling the crisis in syria. in fact, rumsfeld spoke this morning with cnn's chris cuomo on "new day" about the wisdom of arming syrian rebels and the confusion over the president's strategy. >> a year or so ago, if chemical weapons were used, that's a red line for me, will make me change my calculus. yesterday we hear the world drew a red line, not me. what is your take on that? >> well, it's a stunning comment. it conjures up the thought of the uncertain trumpet or the trumpet that provides an uncertain sound. who will prepare themselves? it's exactly the reason that there is not a large coalition

wanting to support the president. it's the reason that the congress is confused. because he has spent so much time saying what he would not do and what it would not amount to, that i think people are confused. and the essence of leadership is clarity. and providing a vision. and he has not done that. and i think as a result, it's perfectly understandable that people in the congress are getting arranged to oppose what he's proposing. because they find that it's uncertain and lacks clarity. >> do you think it is the better course right now to use military action in these circumstances, or would you advise the administration to think about going heavier on arming the rebels, letting them fight for themselves, heavier on humanitarian aid, and wait? wait in this situation? >> well, it seemed to me that the time to have helped the rebels would have been a year or two before. before 100,000 people were killed.

and the effect of it might have been greater. where we are today, my personal view is that what he has proposed is not something that will have a sufficient effect that it's worth doing. and i would -- i would personally not be in favor of -- of supporting what he's proposing. >> donald rumsfeld speaking with chris cuomo this morning. coming up, just one tomahawk missile costs the u.s. more than $1 million. just one. so if there are strikes for several days, how much could this entire operation cost? plus, john kerry and bashar al assad once shared dinner with their wives. now the secretary of state is calling the syrian leader a murderous thug. next, a look at how their relationship has so changed. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing.

and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.

this is something else we all need to keep in mind when it comes to possible u.s. intervention in syrian. congress has a huge budget battle looming this fall. we're live at the new york stock exchange. let's talk dollars and cents. can the u.s. afford to undertake this kind of operation? >> brooke, the cost right now, that's a big unknown. the reason is because it involves questions we don't know the answers to. right? like how long will the strike last? how big will it be? with that being said, there are some things you can definitely

count on. a strike involves ships. it involves missiles, bombs, bombers and military personnel needs to be trained on all of that. of course, get paid for their work. that can add up. you mentioned a little bit earlier, one tomahawk missile costs $1.5 million. speaking at yesterday's hearings, defense secretary chuck hagel said he's looked at the cost estimates. >> we have given some ranges of this. it would be in the tens of millions of dollars. that kind of range. >> it sounds big. but the defense budget tops $500 billion annually, brooke. tens of millions is really a small portion. also secretary hagel says a military strike would probably be funded by the existing defense department budget. they wouldn't have to ask congress for more money. brooke? >> thank you. he could soon be facing u.s. missiles. but not that long ago syrian president bashar al assad was seen as a potential partner. brian todd takes a look. >> reporter: this is how syria's president is described by john

kerry these days. >> where a thug and a murderer like bashar al assad -- >> reporter: kerry's also equated assad with saddam hussein and hitler. a far cry from 2009 and this image. an intimate dinner between kerry, assad and their wives in damascus. kerry as chair of the senate foreign relations committee was a key point man for president obama's efforts to engage with syria. meeting with assad several times. just days before the syrian uprising began in 2011, kerry publicly praised him. >> president assad has been very generous with me in terms of the discussions we have had. >> reporter: kerry's now among the four main players in the obama administration making the case to strike syria. but as senators, all four of them, john kerry, joe biden, chuck hagel and barack obama himself, all wanted america to negotiate with the syrian leader. in 2007, biden chastised condoleezza rice after the bush white house had pushed away from assad. >> i do not agree with your statement, madam secretary, that

negotiations with iran and syria would be extortion. >> reporter: but the obama team cannot be singled out. colin powell met with bashar al assad in 2003 when the bush administration reached out. assad's met with powerful republican congressman darrell issa, other members of congress. he's charmed other world leaders. even the queen. why were they all willing to engage with him? >> assad conveyed the image he's a person you can do business with. that his wife is debonair and western looking and has an english passport. he touted his education in england. that he had studied medicine. that he was different from the other generation. >> reporter: a top state department official in the early obama years says u.s. officials also thought they could get intelligence on al qaeda from assad. possible help with arab/israeli peace talks. steven serb, a former american diplomat in syria, says there was another motivation as well. >> i think it was largely an intention to try to get him away from iran, from the influence of

ahmadinejad, the supreme leader, and make him, perhaps, someone who could be an active player in international affairs in a positive sense. >> reporter: none of it worked. i asked them if american leaders had been naive in thinking they could get bashar al assad to help the u.s. they said no. assad and his father had both lent help in stabilizing the middle east in the past, they said. america had to engage bashar al assad, they believe, to try to keep him in check. make sure he wouldn't undermine those efforts. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> brian, thank you. coming up, more on breaking news that britain is now reporting traces of sarin found at the site of the chemical attack in damascus. does that change things? fareed za kkaria joins me in addition to someone who was just on the ground in syria. these two disagree about something pretty key here. something pretty key here. that's next. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com man: 'i'd always like to go to china.' anncr: download the expedia app and your next trip could be on us.

expedia, find yours. 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... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean with tide pods. three chambers. three times the stain removal power. pop in. stand out.

but for all these symptoms, you also take kaopectate. new kaopectate caplets -- soothing relief for all those symptoms. kaopectate. one and done.

♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

this this week's human factor dr. sanjay gupta introduces us to this amazing young man who survived living in 22 different homes. >> and i hated seeing you walk out of the door. >> 20-year-old thomas mcrae knows what it's like to have people walk out of his life. >> my dad took me away from my mom at birth. >> reporter: but his father was ill. had difficulty caring for him. >> i was in 11 homes before i came into the foster care system. >> reporter: he was 10 when his life changed dramatically. >> i was shot. >> reporter: by a 14-year-old who was living in the home where he had been taken in at the time. >> i had to learn how to walk again. >> reporter: fortunately the paralysis was temporary. but mcrae was still suffering from a different kind of pain. >> there was anger. it was rage. it was aggression. >> reporter: and then the nightmares began. >> when i closed my eyes, i remember seeing myself being shot. >> reporter: after the shooting, the sixth grader was moved into

foster care. and was promptly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, adhd. >> i was finally able to get the proper treatment that i needed. >> reporter: he went on to live in 11 different foster homes. as a senior in high school, mcrae asked his best friend's mother, whom he'd known since sixth grade, if she would adopt him. and she did. >> it was the greatest day. >> reporter: mcrae just completed an internship with maryland senator ben carden where he talked to legislators about ageing out of the foster system. he's back at school now studying psychology at cheney university. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. it's a moment you cannot turn away from. the tense handshake between president obama and vladimir putin. and all of this comes as putin accuses the obama administration of lying. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. will congress pass president obama's military plan? the new changes to the vote

board. plus, graphic new video of executions in syria raise the question, who really are these rebels the u.s. wants to support? and -- >> okay. see if i can figure out how to -- >> a celebrity's attempt to get americans interested in what could be america's next military conflict. we roll on. hour two. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks so much for being with me. we are following a huge development this hour which may help the obama administration's case for military strikes in syria. britain now saying it has proof that chemical weapons were, in fact, used in this reported chemical weapons attack in damascus back in august 21st. they said they tested clothing, they tested soil samples, all

taken from a victim from that particular attack. atika shubert has more on this live from london. atika, specifically what did they find and how did they find it? >> reporter: well, the prime minister's office has confirmed that they took these clothing and soil samples from a victim of that attack and they've spent the last seven days testing them at the chemical testing facility here for the ministry of defense. they say they tested positive for sarin. that certainly adds to the case that's been put forward by secretary kerry, by the united states. and it's interesting that this has been unveiled right before -- as the g-20 summit is happening. clearly tries to show that prime minister david cameron is putting some pressure on russian president vladimir putin. >> bringing up the prime minister, we saw what happened in the uk parliament last week, voting down any kind of help in military intervention, u.s. military intervention. might this at all change things, this proof?

>> reporter: i don't think it's really enough to push open that door for a second vote on military action. but if they keep getting an accumulation of evidence, especially if someone comes out of that u.n. inspectors report, then that might happen. at the moment it's just another brick in that wall that they're building to show -- of evidence. but it's not quite enough yet. >> with this brick in the wall, atika, thank you. with this new proof here, president obama now coming face to face with his toughest opponent, russia's vladimir putin at the g-20 summit in russia. watch this with me. you're going to see the handshake. this is the moment. these two men met after months of tension diplomatic relations on everything. nsa leaker edward snowden. russia's ban on u.s. adoptions. but as we've been reporting, the biggest stalemate here, syria. >> i also look forward to having an extensive conversation about the situation in syria. and i think our joint

recognition that the use of chemical weapons in syria is not only a tragedy, but also a violation of international law that must be addressed. >> i want to take you to russia now. jim acosta, senior white house correspondent who is in st. petersburg with a new development this hour. a change in the president's schedule. jim? >> reporter: president obama wrapped up his first day here at the g-20 summit in st. petersburg, russia, with a dinner behind closed doors with foreign leaders from around the world. he is making the case, according to his aides, for military action against syria. but there are other issues, of course, on his plate. namely, economic issues. the president talked about that as he was heading into the dinner. one of our photo journalists at cnn asked the president whether or not he had been making any progress with those foreign leaders behind closed doors on syria. the president said, no, we've been talking about the economy. now, one thing that is going on here is obviously the tense relations between the united states and russia.

that has been playing out obviously very publicly in recent days with president vladimir putin and president obama locking horns over what to do with the situation in syria. earlier in the day, we had a chance to ask the russian press secretary about the united states' claim that russia has been blocking action at the united nations. here's what the press secretary for russia, dimitri peskov had to say. >> do you believe 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 or proof. we disagree with the fact that somebody in the world is trying to impose their will on other country trying to change the

regime and power in the country. >> reporter: even though president obama is here in st. petersburg, russia, he is working both sides of the atlantic when it comes to syria. according to administration officials, the president called a bipartisan group of senators in congress to make that case for congressional authorization for a military strike on syria. also, white house officials say the president has canceled a trip out to california for an expected fundraiser. that was supposed to happen early next week. he wants to be back in washington to continue working on syria. jim acosta, cnn, st. petersburg, russia. >> jim, thank you. in this months long debate over whether or not the u.s. should aid the syrian rebels, the argument quickly comes around exactly who they are. today's "new york times" illustrates this problem concretely. and quite graphically as well. you see this picture. the shirtless men there face down on the ground. they are captured syrian soldiers. seconds away from death. execution by a group of syrian rebels. you won't see the execution here. but you will hear what happens

next. [ gunfire ] >> horrible scene there in northern syria. it illustrates this conondrum. whose hands are clean? joining us from washington, elizabeth obagy. she's made a number of trips to syria. political director of the syrian emergency task force. welcome to you. we are also joined from -- with fareed zakaria of cnn's "fareed zakaria gps." you saw the video from the "new york times." i want to illustrate the problem one more way.

you're going to hear from these two top american officials giving completely different estimates of the percentage of syrian rebels who are the quote, unquote, bad guys here. take a listen. >> we have adapted our approach based on what we know of the opposition. if you recall in the beginning of the year there was a period where it was pretty evident that the extremist groups were prevailing in the opposition. >> i just don't agree that a majority are al qaeda and the bad guys. that's not true. there are about 70,000 to 100,000 oppositionists. about -- somewhere, maybe, 15% to 25% might be in one group or another, who are what we would deem to be bad guys. >> so you hear these two men, joint chiefs chairmen, saying as recently as february the bad guys were prevailing among the opposition. then john kerry saying it's only 15% or 25%. elizabeth, you've been there. you've done all this research. what do you say?

>> i think it really depends on the times at which you're making these assessments. and the situation on the ground in syria is so fluid that things -- conditions do change very quickly. i can say kind of even bag at the beginning of january, february into march, conditions were favoring the extremists. they were on the rise. they were gaining territory and authority. and they were actually making a significant impact in terms of kind of gaining control in different opposition avenues. that being said, there were two significant developments that really shifted the dynamics and helped revive the mainstream insurgency. the first is the fact that the main kind of extremist group operating in syria openly identified with al qaeda. this had a significant impact on their support base and their ability to maneuver inside of syria. the second is the fact that saudi arabia and a number of allied countries actually began to empower the more moderate forces through a train and assist program in which they were providing weapons and

providing assistance that had a significant impact on empowering these groups and giving them the capacity to marginalize the extremists and assert their own authority. that's why you can see kind of some of the difference in opinions between dempsey's statements that were made in the kind of looking at dynamics previously, and kerry who's looking at a more current situation. >> fareed, where do you stand? more bad guys than good? >> i think the truth of the matter, brooke, is that nobody knows. what you see as elizabeth said, the situation is very dynamic. a lot of flux. i was in turkey last week. turkey has a much better sense of what's going on because they share a border with syria. they've been deeply involved to try to help the rebels and insurgents for the last two years. and they will openly admit to you, as far as they can tell, there are hundreds of small insurgent groups in various cities around syria. it's not clear whether these people coordinate with one another. they clearly have no unified

military command or unified political command. so how people can determine what the percentages are of good guys versus bad guys, moderates versus extremists, completely mystifies me. i think frankly everyone is winging it to a certain extent. what we do know is that there is no unified chain of command. there is no central figure either in the military or the opposition. we do know that a large number of these groups tend to be fairly tough or radicalized sunni groups. the reason i say this is because the regime itself is highly sectarian. the regime has always been, for at least 20 years now, very, very tough on islamic fundamentalists, on the muslim brotherhood. they committed a massacre in hamma about 20 years ago. since then the regime has been sectarian. its opposition has been sectarian. it's highly likely a large number of these groups are quite radical in terms of their -- you know, their identification with sunni causes.

that doesn't make them jihaddy. doesn't make them militant. it's important we understand, we want to read this whole narrative as good guys versus bad guys. as democrats versus dictators. violations of international rule. >> it's murky. >> what is going on on the ground in syria is a sectarian battle between a minority alawite regime and some of its allies and a highly radicalized sunni opposition movement. >> so let's just -- >> sorry. >> i was going to say, let's throw the percentages out of this. go ahead, elizabeth. respond to that. >> i was just going to say, i would actually push back on kind of the sectarian nature of the conflict. i think it has taken on an increasingly sectarian dynamic. especially with the involvement of iran and hezbollah. but that being said, what really started and initiated this process was really based on socioeconomic conditions that have continued to today. to the extent that the regime has operated as a sectarian regime, that's simply not true. a large support base for the

syrian government has been a sunni business class that had economic interest in preserving the current governing structures. again, when you really are on the ground talking to people and looking at these dynamics on a very localized, small level, you can see that these socioeconomic dynamics play much more importantly into their calculations than the sectarian narrative does. >> here's what i want to know. if the u.s. ultimately decides to go in, then, and with some sort of military intervention, and i know, i've talked to a lot of experts on this who say that the best fighters over there, as we talk about opposition and groups, is al qaeda. that they're the ones who will get the backing of assad's many enemies in the arab world. is that a fair assessment? to either of you. >> well, it's not entirely clear. obviously, the jihadis tend to be the most motivated. they're the ones willing to die for their cause. i'm not suggesting that these people are all al qaeda

affiliated in any way. many of them are not. large numbers are not. what i'm trying to get at, we heard the same story elizabeth was telling in iraq. another minority regime that was overturned. we were told, oh, there are lots of secularists here. there are moderates. look at the current government in iraq. it is a shia, religious oriented government. hard lined. somewhat allied with iran. supporting bashar al assad's regime. that is systemically persecuted christians, persecuted minorities and persecuted sunnis. remember, 2.5 million sunnis and christians fled iraq. so all i'm saying is that in these highly sectarian situations, the dynamic is always that the nice, moderate, secular guys that we like and who do exist get marginalized. the tough, radical hardliners tend to win out. and because this regime, whatever elizabeth may say, has systemically persecuted the muslim brotherhood, islamic

radicals, has been at war with them for 20 years, those are the most spirited opponents of the regime. yes, there are lots of other people who don't like bashar al assad's handling of the economy. they're not willing to die for that cause. the islamic fundamentalists are willing to die for that cause. >> fareed and elizabeth, thank you both. i appreciate it. coming up, as we continue pushing forward on the crisis in syria, have to take you to russia. vladimir putin is looking at the man you're looking at here, secretary of state john kerry a liar. this as the world watches him. we'll break down john kerry's big moment in the spotlight. plus let's role some new video. many lead rs in russia for the g-20 summit. the president. you see this? actually pulling aside the british prime minister david cameron. this is part of this working dinner. keep in mind, the big news in the last hour. we have just now gotten confirmation from the uk that, in fact, it was sarin gas used in that chemical weapons attack in damascus on august 21st. from a victim. from britain. be right back.

you know throughout history, folks have suffered from frequent heartburn. but getting heartburn and then treating day after day is a thing of the past. block the acid with prilosec otc, and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

secretary of state john kerry is now in the spotlight as he pushes for american military action. and that also makes him a target of more and more critics. including anti-war activists. briefly, you can see, he shook things up when he testified before the house foreign affairs committee yesterday. painting fake blood on their hands. >> we wish we had the old john kerry back. i thought when he came to be secretary of state, we would see a lot of diplomacy. i think we should rename him the secretary of war. >> want to turn to cnn's elise labbott at the state department. the push for u.s. action in syria has really become kerry's moment. is he the front guy? is he the fall guy? >> well, it's a good question, brooke. i mean, as you can see, secretary kerry admitted while he was doing these testimony that when he was young, he was

an opponent of war. but he said that's why it's so important to debate this with the american people and congress. but you've got to feel a little bad for secretary kerry. last week he was out there giving this emotional, really forceful case for quick u.s. action in syria. then he had to walk it back a little bit on sunday on those talk shows saying that he supported the president's decision to go ahead and seek authorization from congress. but what aides are telling me now, brooke, is that he does support the president's decision. and he thinks, in fact, this will help his case when he makes the case to allies. he says it'll strengthen the u.s. resolve. but a lot of allies not so sure right now. >> i want to ask you about former secretary of state. in doing that i want to read a tweet from cnn contributor ari fleischer. tuesday. quote, it's 5:00. does anyone know where hillary clinton is on syria? of course we now know she

supports the president's stance. it's a pretty low key statement. we haven't seen her publicly. what do you make of that? >> she did put out a statement through an aide, an anonymous aide, saying that she supported limited, targeted intervention. you got to remember, secretary clinton is, a lot of people think she's going to run in 2016. she doesn't want to be a lightning rod for criticism if she, in fact, makes that decision. but i also think she doesn't want to get in the way of president's decision making. if she supports it, she doesn't want to speak too loudly because she knows that that will be seized by the right in terms of criticizing the president. so she really has to walk a careful balance. i think as you have seen, she has given some speeches in the past. i think she'll be asked about this and might speak out a little bit more. >> thank you. we're going to take you back to our special cnn coverage of syria in just a moment. coming up next, i want to share this chilling story sparking a lot of outrage similar to the trayvon martin case.

unarmed black teenager shot after trespassing in a white homeown homeowner's yard. for some, this one's not adding up. stay tuned.

on the heels of a trial that divided the nation on race, another case of an unarmed black teenager getting shot has surfaced, causing division in a neighborhood in new orleans. police say merit landry shot 14-year-old marshall coulter late one late in july because he felt threatened after spotting coulter on his property. but there are others in this new orleans community who say landry's actions were uncalled for. they argue a human life should be valued more than control of someone's private property. now they are seeking justice. sarah gannon reports. >> reporter: 14-year-old marshall coulter may never wake up. and if he does, his family says, he will probably never fully recover. >> you know you've been shot in the head. >> reporter: the reverend christiana ford is a family friend. >> the doctor really trying to work with him, really trying to

save him. >> reporter: police say coulter was shot july 26th by a new orleans homeowner. 33-year-old city building inspector merritt landry. according to court documents landry said he was defending his home after discovering the teen in his yard. >> aye known him since he was a toddler. >> reporter: landry declined our request for an interview. long time family friend ron evans says he's a good man. a good man who was afraid of an intruder. protecting his pregnant wife and his 2-year-old. >> i can see that happening to myself very easily. and who knows what reaction you take. if you walk out to inspect a noise in your house and someone jumps at you, you don't know. >> reporter: it was early in the morning when police say 14-year-old marshall coulter hopped this fence. he was in merritt landry's backyard when police say landry shot at the teenager, hitting him in the head. landry was charged with attempted second degree murder and that's when the story moves

into the streets. >> we live here! >> reporter: you can see the protests are heated. the man on the right is the reverend raymond brown. >> the trayvon martin trial had just ended. and it was a national march that saturday. and then a few days later, you got a young man shot in the head. a black man shot in the head. so, you know, the whole issue will arise. >> reporter: police say landry was charged because his story of self-defense at no time add up. he told police he was near his car when the teen made a thwarted move. police say that conflicts with a witness account and with evidence that the shot came from 30 feet away. they say the teen wasn't armed and posed no imminent threat. >> it's terrible to see a kid out that time of morning. but it does not give you a right to shoot someone because they are in your yard. >> reporter: landry's supporters

disagree. >> homeowners should be able to te fend their property and their families, more importantly. the concept of home is just that. it's not yus personal delongings. this man had a pregnant wife and child. >> reporter: the case is now in the hands of prosecutors who will have to decide if it should go to court. >> in most places in the united states, he wouldn't be charged. >> reporter: meanwhile, this community remains divided. sarah ganim. i just heard you in your piece saying it's not hands of prosecutors. they ultimately have to determine whether or not this thing should go forward. >> it's an important distinction. even though merritt landry has been charged with attempted second degree murder, prosecutors still haven't decided if they're going to take this case to court. they have a few options. they have a few weeks to make this decision. they can accept the case. they can go to a grand jury and let the grand jury decide. or they can decline. so this isn't a definite that he is going to go to trial on this yet. >> i understand some of the comparisons with what happened with trayvon martin. but it's not the same. i think it's just important to say that there are similarities, but yet one similarity being the fact that race is playing a

role. >> right. you know, it depends on who you ask. in that community, whether or not race played a factor. i have to say, my own personal observations from being there, from reporting on this, is that there are people from both races on both sides of this issue. there are white folks who are supportive of the charges against merritt landry. then there are people from the black community who are calling for the charges to be dropped. really the question i felt was not more -- was not race. it was more philosophical. more of a question, should this man have used self-defense in this way. it's more a question of self-defense than it is of race. when you talk to these people, when you have the conversation, what they're thinking. >> let us know. let us know if and when this case moves. sara gamin, thank you. i want you to take a look at this now. ha this video which has gone viral online. >> okay. see if i can figure out how to get this up here.

>> oh, wrayeah. that is actress alyssa milano getting creative to get americans interested in syria. and we're getting word from one high-profile senator, speaking of syria here, that she is getting overwhelmingly negative feedback from her constituents on president obama's plan. we will discuss, next. a writer and a performer. ther, i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick... and then i got better. okay, who helps you focus on your recovery? yo, yo, yo. aflac. wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible.

pays you cash when you're sick or hurt? [ japanese accent ] aflac. love it. [ under his breath ] hate it. helps you focus on getting back to normal? [ as a southern belle ] aflac. [ as a cowboy ] aflac. [ sassily ] aflac. uh huh. [ under his breath ] i am so fired. you're on in 5, duck. [ male announcer ] when you're sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. find out more at aflac.com.

okay. question. which would you rather watch? a sex tape with actress alyssa milano or news about syria. don't answer that. it was a rhetorical question. it's precisely the point alyssa milano is trying to make in the video she made were website funny or die. in about 20 seconds from now you'll know what i mean. roll it. >> 2013! i'm going to show you something. >> okay.

>> our nation is on the brink of yet another conflict in the middle east. this time in syria. >> oh, yeah. the old bait and switch. the actress says syria is an important issue that people need to pay attention to. even if it takes a sex tape to lure them in. so be it, i suppose. for those of you who are paying away tension, we got this in a short time ago. her constituents do not want the u.s. to take military action. >> no question. what's coming in is overwhelmingly negative. there's no question about that. but, you see, then they don't know what i know. they haven't heard what i heard. and i like to believe now after 20 years, that i'm -- i have somewhat -- some skill in separating the weak from theat

schaf. >> she shares the senate intelligence committee. the question is, does the president need the nation's backing to launch strikes against the syrian government? that's what i want to talk about. ben ferguson is cnn political commentator. he is a conservative. joins me from dallas. chris cofina is is a democratic strategist joining me live from washington. ben ferguson, do you first. do you have a problem with folks like senator feinstein saying they're willing to buck the will, the opinions of their on constituents, on a matter of war and peace? >> i don't have a problem with it except for the fact that i think her issue is, she's having a really hard time selling it. it shouldn't be so hard to sell this. just saying to your constituents, well i know more than you know, to me seems a little out of touch. if your constituents are this concerned, and they're calling you, you'd better do a better job explaining your viewpoint than saying, i'm smarter than you are. and i think that's going to get a lot of people in trouble if that's their game plan on both sides of the aisle.

whether you're republican or democrat. she should know better since she says with all her experience. that answer apparently is not good enough for the american people right now. >> chris, what do you think? >> i think there's a lot of truth to that. i could tell you about one office, my old office, you know, senator manchin. just the other day he got 1,000 plus phone calls. out of those phone calls, 15 were in favor of action. as we've talked about before, there's a lot of concern and issues the american people have. a lot of questions. i think the onus and responsibility befalls upon senators like senator feinstein, the administration, republicans and democrats, that are in favor of action to lay out clearly what the stakes are here so the american people understand it. i'm not sure, you know, faux sex tapes are going to work. >> i was about to say. >> this is a much more serious issue than that. and i think the american people actually are sincerely perplexed about what the right decision is here.

>> go ahead, ben. >> i think part of this is, this is a -- this has become a big pr nightmare for the obama administration. and dianne feinstein should have used some of her years of expertise to let obama know that if we know things that the american people don't know, then you should go and lead on this issue, and you should get involved without going to congress. because when you punt to congress, the way that barack obama has on this one, then you better be willing to lay out the case to the american people and not just pull the i'm smarter than you are, or we're the smartest people in the room, so trust us. >> this is the stance barack obama as a u.s. senator has taken. pro-congressional involvement when it came to, i.e., iraq and president bush. >> right. that's the weakness in this idea. if you're president of the united states of america and your job is to be commander in chief and lead and you know you're going to lead on this issue, why punt on the issue and let congress pull the trigger instead of you pulling the trigger on this? i think that's where the politics of barack obama are actually hurting him right now. is if you don't have the guts to

do it on your own leadership, then don't act like you're going to sell it on your leadership when he's really saying to congress, i want you to be in charge of this. i'm not willing to do it. but i'm going to sell it on your behalf. it's a bad selling point. >> interesting you bring up politics. here's my next question. even the politics of 2016, i was just talking to our state department correspondent. when you think of the hillary clintons of the world and possibly the marco rubios and how they're voting or not speaking up. we're going to go there. the politics of some of these politicians and syria, next.

let's bring them back. ben ferguson, cnn political commentator, conservative joining us from dallas. chris kofinis joining frus washington. we saw the no vote from marco rubio yesterday in the senate foreign relations committee. we saw the yes from hillary

clinton that she is supportive of possible limited engagement in syria. even throw mitch mcconnell in there. he's skeptical. guys, chris, to you. politics at play here? you laugh. >> well, i mean, either politics at play -- i mean, you want to say no. but that's not the reality. for some, there's always going to be politics at play. did marco rubio all the sudden change his position about whether he was going to support military action to not supporting because he had a revelation or because he realized he was going to have a much more difficult time in that republican primary? i just have to say one more thing. before we entered the break, ben and other republicans like to criticize the president for taking this to congress. and i find that such a disingeneral jous -- >> the word "punt" i believe is used. >> this notion of punting it to congress. you know what? they're the ones that sit there and were screaming, there are a lot of them saying the president had a responsibility to bring it to congress. when he brings it to congress, they all run and, you know, not knowing what to do or what to say. the reality is --

>> here's the thing. >> let me finish. i let you finish. i let you finish. right? it's a smart thing. and the right thing for the president to bring it to congress. now, does the president have a responsibility to go out there and sell this and to explain to the american people? of course he does. but to criticize him for bringing it to congress just is the weakest of arguments. >> okay. ben, we've heard you -- hang on. hang on. ben, we've heard you on that. here's my next question. what if congress says no? what if they don't authorize it and the president pulls the trigger? >> well, i think that shows yet again lack of leadership from barack obama to put this out there and make it even weaker than it was before. he said it yesterday in his own words. i have the authority to do this without going to congress. well, that's exactly what he should have done if he believed in it instead of allowing the politics of all the people that you just mentioned getting involved in an issue that he says is of national security. there are certain issues where i believe the president should lead on without going to

congress because of the politics that you just laid out and described. i mean, so many of the people right now that are looking at this and how they're going to vote on it are going to probably vote on it based on what they think is best for their re-election. if it is an issue of national security, which obviously the president believes it is, then why risk that by going to congress? i think at the core of this is this. barack obama does not want this to be his decision and his legacy. that's why he punted to congress. that's exactly why you're seeing all of these names be involved now which he could have avoided and he chose not to. >> chris, you get the last word. >> i mean, it's just nonsensical. i mean, this argument that you're going to criticize the president for kicking to congress. then if he acts in spite of congress he's wrong there again. i'm not going to sit there and criticize every republican and democrat -- >> i never asked him to go to congress. >> again, i'm not going to -- >> i never asked him to go to congress. >> brother, let me finish. i'm not going to sit there and criticize every republican and democrat who i think sincerely

has an issue about why we should or should not do this. but the reality here is, this is a very difficult issue. and the president is going to go out there, especially when he comes back from the g-20 meeting and make a very passionate case. let's hold off from the farfetched rhetoric about why he did this and why he didn't. >> chris kofinis, ben ferguson, gentlemen, thank you both. back after this. she's always been able to brighten your day. it's just her way. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all

your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. humans. even when we cross our "ts" and dot our "i's", we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness with our auto policies. if you qualify, your rates won't go up due to your first accident. because making mistakes is only human,

and so are we. we also offer new car replacement, so if you total your new car, we'll give you the money for a new one. call liberty mutual insurance at... and ask us all about our auto features, like guaranteed repairs, where if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, the repairs are guaranteed for life. so call... to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? oh, yeah.

i can just about taste the wings and the beer. i don't need to tell you football fans what happens in just a couple hours. you already know. you're anticipating the season opener tonight. the world champion bald mothtim ravens against the denver broncos. rachel nichols is in denver for the big game tonight. this won't be an easy win for either team, right? >> reporter: yeah. absolutely not. you know, i got to tell you, it's expected to be more than 90 degrees at kickoff. anyone out there who jogs probably has an idea what 90 degrees plus temperatures would do to 300-plus pound guys running around. it's also about an 80 degree swing from when these two teams met back in january in the playoffs. sub freezing temperatures. we're going to see a very different game. but peyton manning, looking for a little revenge for his broncos after the ravens broke their heart. manning and the broncos were on their way to the super bowl when the ravens came from behind, won that game and, of course, as we

know, won the super bowl. it's interesting to see this game, brooke, play against the larger issues. we've got so many people around the country so excited to see football back. just to see these guys hitting each other again. but it's seeing these guys hitting each other again that's created so much of the off season controversy. the violence in the game. the concussions. the $765 million settlement payout the nfl had to make. it's going to be interesting to see as we go through tonight how it's all affected, how fans feel as they're watching tonight. i think a lot of fans just want to let go and watch some football. >> they do. but speaking of controversies, tell me about this billboard near the stadium. calling on the nfl to stop punishing players for using marijuana? >> yeah. it's right outside. it's right in front of the sa stadium, brooke. as you probably know, colorado recently legalized recreational marijuana loosuse. vaughn miller is suspended for six games. won't be out here in part

because of his marijuana use. a couple other trug testing issues. it is a hot button topic. there's a group lobbying the nfl to say, hey, if it's legal for use in colorado it should be legal for the players playing in that state to use it. they're making the case on the billboard that you have players involved in drunk driving and other kinds of alcohol related incidents, so their attitude rachel nichols for us in denver, colorado, where, as you point out, recreational smoking legal. coming up. more than 2 million syrian refugees have left their homes behind as the killing continues. but it is putting tremendous pressure on the neighboring countries of syria. we're going to take you to one camp here live next. but going back to school is hard... because you work. now, capella university offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree.

it's called flexpath and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know so you can get a degree at your pace. and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university learn more at capella.edu

the adults, children, travel through the force of night. the fights in syria forcing these people out of their home country and into uncertainty. every 15 seconds a syrian becomes a refugee. more than 2 million people have fled syria since the civil war began just about three years ago. you're looking at a refugee camp, jordan, a country now buckling under the weight of this refugee crisis. we know we're hearing, nick,

from all these u.s. lawmakers. they say there are so many refugees where you are, the word i'm hearing is destabilized this neighboring country. how bad is it? >> reporter: it's bad. the country's population here has swelled by 11%. the fourth largest city of jordan is now a refugee camp. according to the jordanians, they're taking jobs away from them, driving up food prices, driving up fuel prices. this is the second wave of refugees this country has had to endure during a decade. this country is unstable because of the simple number of refugees that are here. many jordanians are afraid that more refugees could come. the government here has built a whole other camp in the middle of the desert capable of holding about 150,000 more refugees.

they're worried, too, there are missile strikes in syria. there could be a wave of a hundred thousand refugees coming. that's what people mean when they say the weight of refugees is hurting the country, bubbcklg the country. not that stable right now, brooke. >> nic robertson, thank you. >> if you're watching our coverage, how can you help? you can. go to cnn.com/impact. there are organizations working in the region, you can help. >> and a war of words over the city of detroit. in fact, the mayor of boston said it should be blown up. i talked to anthony bourdain about that. he went to detroit for this next season. what he said in response to mayor menino, well, you need to hear it for yourself. ?hña @8@x

. a poor choice of words, that's how boston mayor tom menino describes his controversial remarks saying he would blow up the city of detroit. his original comment was that he would love to live in detroit but he would, quote, blow the place up and start over. that got a lot of flak from motor city. detroit mayor david bing said in response i would think the mayor of a city that recently experienced a deadly bombing attack would be more sensitive and not use the phrase "blow

up." i brought this point to anthony bourdain about this whole comment controversy. the reason i asked him is because bourdain spent a lot of time in detroit for this next season of "parts unknown." >> wow. that's, first of all, a shameful, shameful thing to say about a city where just about everything great about marketcommarkeamerica comes from, rock 'n' roll, the car. it's a city with intractable problems but it's a city with a lot of heart, great sense of humor and people in spite of all evidence and sometimes good sense insist on sticking it out, fighting it through, improvising and adapting. >> can't wait to watch the next season of "parts unknown" september 15th, right here on

cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. back here same time tomorrow. in the meantime, let's go to john berman, in for jake tapper. "the lead" starts right now. >> could our cruise missiles be clearing a path for extremists. i'm john berman and this is "the lead." the world lead. barbaric actions of alleged syrian rebels on display in another new execution video and raising the question who would we really be helping if the president ordered a strike? the national lead, the sharp divide over whether to attack. the blurred lines in congress and an american public not eager to ride into the fog of another mideast war. we'll hear passionate voices on both sides. >> and next "the sports lead." he celebrates touchdowns with