murphy's previous singles like "boogie in your butt." that actually happened, too. i turn you over to jessica yellin in "the situation room. president obama comes face to face with vladimir putin. plus a stunning reversal from a key congressman who defended the president in the situation room just 72 hours ago. >> we cannot allow a president of any regime to use chemical weapons. >> he's changed his mind. i'll ask him why.

and until just months ago, hillary clinton was making the administration's case in just about every international crisis. now on syria she's keeping her distance. could 2016 be on her mind. our "crossfire" hosts are here to debate. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jessica yellin. you're in "the situation room." they say a picture is worth a thousand words. well, one of those words could be awkward. president obama arrived in russia today for the g-20 summit, shaking hands with a thorn in his side in the syrian crisis, russian president vladimir putin. despite growing tensions between the two and the not-so-subtle digs russia is take teg united states. all this as the president continues his uphill battle to drum up more support for military action on the world stage and here at home. jim acosta is traveling with the

president and joins us now. hey, jim. >> reporter: hi, jessica. president obama once said president putin looked like the bored kid in the back of the classroom. it looked like a lonely walk as president obama made his way into dinner behind closed doors at the g-20 summit. the president was asked whether he made any progress in his case for military action against syria. >> we were talking about commit this afternoon. >> reporter: but that's not quite the case, as he's chatting up people like british prime minister david cameron and angela merkel. >> i think our joint recommendation of the use --

>> but that is getting a chilly reception from russian president vladimir putin, who was all smiles as he greeted president obama. put ann cust -- putin accused secretary of state john kerry of lying. >> he's not losing sleep after such a preposterous comment that was based on an inaccurate quote and was completely mischaracterized. >> translator: we are all well aware that no weapons of mass destruction were discovered in iraq. so not every proof can be proof in itself. >> do you believe that the

united states is fabricating the evidence or lying about the evidence? >> translator: i did not say that. i said that we all need a convincing or will the evidence or proof. >> reporter: the fiscal issues are supposed to be at the forefront of the g-20 summit. putin did work in a dig about the recovering economic policies. >> this policy of giving away free money can last forever and you understand that all perfectly well. >> reporter: the reaction from president obama and other leaders were plain to see. even though president obama is here in st. petersburg was plain to see. president obama cancelled a trip to california that he planned for next week, early next week, jessica, when congress gets back to business.

jessica? >> thanks, jim. nice job in that q & a with the president. impressive. >> i should point out that time is a cousin property of cnn and syria is one of the many topics you guys cover. we're also here with julia yaffe with the new republic thank you. julia, there has been an enormous amount of international criticism of president obama for frankly not doing enough to reach out to the russians to try to bring together some type of deal to avoid war in syria or a strike in syria. is there something more the president could do to get putin's agreement to find room in syria? >> i highly doubt it. i'm sure they're working it as much as they can but given that

putin has already called secretary kerry a liar, given that he said the evidence is other worldly nonsense. they went to aleppo, even though the attack was in damascus, they won't to aleppo and said the shells were homemade shells -- >> they've done what they can. >> they've publicly closed that option. >> michael, the president is over at the g-20. we know there's a major debateneck week in congress. how important is it the president have some achievement, a compliment at the g-20 in order to get momentum here at home? >> the problem is he has no momentum. his real problem is that every

day now we get more and more no votes on the record in the house. he's making a very complicated case internationally to a group of countries who have already made up their mind. i think one of the problems, you watch the president make the case that he has is on the international stage and domestically, he makes a humanitarian case. he says does the world want to stand by and watch something like this happen, when after you talk to the white house aides and his aides have admitted this, the case in syria is far more than that. more people will die. there is no military solution. it's just this issue of how they died, the issue of chemical weapons. that's where we're drawing the line. >> which feels like a false distinction to many people. >> it's a much more nuanced, more difficult argument than the

clear cut let's save lives, we can do this and get it done. >> is the cold war more present for the russians than it is for the u.s.? is it more present for putin in particular? >> i think for putin it's hard to overstate how that mentality really is. >> and thennimeaning what? >> they still see themselves as a counterweight to the u.s. you hear out of russia that you can't have america dominating the world, they need a counterweight and russia is that counterweight. so when we go after assad, they protect assad and you see that all over the world and other place zpl place. >> speaker boehner turned down an offer to meet with the russians. how meaningful do you think that is in terms of domestic

politics? if he could have made some sort of progress, would that have mattered for him? >> i don't think that was a real outreach from putin. i think what's interesting is the degree to which the russians have gotten into this international propaganda game. they're pliiaying in a much mor sophisticated way. the degree to which the news has been slanted on those stations where they are really sending over their message internationally, the sophistication that the russians have shown in their press conference -- >> i want to add that sending that delegation is not done with aim of moving the diplomatic dialogue forward. it's for domestic consumption. when they have the disputed parliamentary evidentiary election, they said we have the best elections ever, we're going

to send election monitors to the u.s. >> they played political games. >> do you think if the president makes a primetime address next week, we don't know that he will, but if he were to decide to do that before a vote, could that make the difference and get him the yes votes he needs? >> it depends when he makes it and how quickly the house is solidifying. this trip overseas is hurting his case domestically. polls are bad. less than a third of americans are supporting this. >> he's made the situation more complicated by putting his domestic credibility on the line, after his international credibility was put on the line. now he's between a rock and a hard place. if he loses this vote in congress, is he still going to act to maintain his international credibility, given his domestic credibility is

shattered. >> sounds like you're saying he puts himself out on a limb -- >> i spoke with minority leader pelosi and she made clear the president has to go out and sell this. you got to get the american people to turn. >> i like the new glasses. >> thank you very much. >> thanks to both of you. >> coming up, britain reveals more information about syria as you chemical weapons attack. >> and then a lawmaker who defended president obama here in "the situation room." >> it's how we will be perceived not only from our enemies but also from our allies. >> he's changed his mind. i'll ask him why in an exclusive interview. plus real multigrainsreals equals real delicious! quaker real medleys, your on-the-go burst of goodness!

quaker up. ♪ unh ♪ ♪ hey! ♪ ♪ let's go! ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ ♪ yeah! yeah! yeah! or you can choose to blend out. ♪ oh, yeah-eah! ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move.

the all-new 2014 lexus is. license and registration please. what's this? uhh, it's my geico insurance id card, sir. it's digital, uh, pretty cool right? maybe. you know why i pulled you over today? because i'm a pig driving a convertible? tail light's out.. fix it. digital insurance id cards. just a click away with the geico mobile app.

president obama may have cleared one hurdle in the senate, but he still has a very long way to go before he gets

the green light for congress for military strikes in syria. one of those lawmakers who was firmly in his corner when he appeared here in the situation room just 72 hours ago has since changed his mind. republican congressman from new york michael grimm joins me now to explain why. congressman grimm, hi. thanks for being with us. when you were first on "the situation room" with wolf on monday, he asked where you'd stand, if you'd vote to authorize the use of force in syria. i want to play for you what you said. >> i would want the president's strike to be meaningful strike. the president of the united states committed us when he drew the red line. the idea we should or shouldn't strike, i think that ship sailed a long time ago. it's extremely important what -- we cannot allow a precedent of a

regime to use chemical weapons. it's how we will be perceived for the rest of the world, not only from our allies but enemies. it's hard to backtrack without losing complete and utter credibility in all parts of the world from our allies to our enemies. >> after all that we were shocked to hear you changed your mind. you're not withdrawing your support. what happened? >> i think that a strike is no longer going to give us the credibility that we should have been able to get back. if you look at the whole quote, i was very clear i thought it had to be extremely meaningful strike and i also said that the president shouldn't wait, that we should have been called to an immediate session and this should have been done even before the secretary came out. i think at this point the world is looking at the indecisi indecisiveness, how the president has bungled this and now we can no longer get our credibility back. when i weigh everything, the

extreme cost of war and of human life that could be the reality if we strike, we can no longer get our credibility back -- the president and administration has failed to really explain what the plan, is what the goal is and that's a big problem for me. we have to know exactly what we're doing, what -- how we're striking and to what end and we have failed to do that. >> congressman, all of this was true 72 hours ago when you said that congress was, quote, obligated to support our president. none of that has changed in the last three days. >> i disagree. first of all, time is of the essence with things like this. i disagreed with the president saying it doesn't take time. >> what has changed ? >> he back tracked and said it was not his red line, it was the international red line.

when i see he back tracked what i relied on to back him, that is a big concern to him. none of our allies stepped up. i was expecting the president to be build up a coalition on this. secretary kerry gave a speech that i thought captured the heart of america -- >> all of that was before you made your comments to wolf. when you made your comments to wolf, you said the president has drawn a red line and now the -- >> did you hear what i just said? the president has backed off his own words of a red line. the president has backed off that. that is a very difficult thing for me to accept, that the president when this first happened and then he sent out the secretary in such a bold fashion is now backtracking on that and on top of that, has failed to bring allies to the table and has failed to really give as you good plan. on top of all of that, which was a real deal breaker for me, the first resolution that came over

to the senate had a window open for boots on the ground. it's saying even if -- >> which has changed. >> but there's a window open for boots on the ground which i think is absolutely untenable for the united states and i said that from the beginning. but when the resolution came over from the senate, there was a small window, a loophole to put boots on the ground up. >> said it also matters what iran and north korea thinks. has that changed for you now? >> no. what i do think has changed, i think the world is looking at us, including iran, including north korea, they're looking at us, the president looks indecisive. once you lose your credibility, after a certain point you can't get it back. at the juncture we're at now, by the time that congress actually votes on this, i don't think we can get our credibility back even if we strike. that's the problem. >> are you at all concerned that the president at least still wants to strike and so you might look indecisive?

>> no, i'm not -- not at all. i think that the president has handled this incorrectly from the very beginning. number one, the president of the united states reduced his options. he limited his options when he drew a red line. that's first and foremost over a year ago. then when we first heard of the possible use of chemical weapons in syria, he backed off his red line. then we confirmed use of chemical weapons and he came out very boldly, very strongly and said we must strike, we must get involved, this is untenable and i supported that. then he backed off and said we're going to wait for the congress, didn't call us to a special session, wants to wait over a week and has failed in getting allies and everything else that i already said to the table. at the end of the day, my job is to represent the people of the united states and to weigh the pros and cons. i no longer have confidence that this administration can actually do what they needed to do, that, one, the window is closed and i don't have the confidence they'll be able to do it in a way that is not going to hurt the united states more than help

us. in the end it is about the united states of america and what's in our best interest. >> yet he's consistently calling for a strike and you have waivered in your support of that in 72 hours. you did in your statement earlier today mention that constituents may have been part of the reason you changed your mind. what specifically have constituents told you that may have influenced your decision? >> the most -- i would say the most important impact for me personally was last night i went to a vigil for a staff sergeant whose body was just returned from afghanistan, standing there with his mother and father, his father who was a former veteran, reminding me as a veteran the cost of war. when i'm going to sleep at night and i'm weighing the issues -- believe me, these are not easy. i take this very, very serious. this is a profound responsibility, the idea of going to war. when i look at the cost and then i say can we be successful, what is the ultimate end game here

and i don't have an answer for that from the administration and my own confidence, my own confidence in the administration has been dwindling down over the last 72 hours, i just no longer believe that they can do this in a way that the cost will not grotesquely outweigh the benefits. and i can't take a vote in good conscience in those benefits are not going to outweigh the costs. right now they don't and i have seriously lost confidence in the administration to be able to do this in a meaningful way that would benefit the united states. >> i'd like to play for you again something that you said on monday. you warned several times -- let me play this for you. >> the credibility of the entire united states is on the line. it's our credibility, but it's also our future for decades of how we will be perceived by the rest of the world not only from our enemies, but also from our allies. >> i just want to clarify that you said because president obama said it's not, quote, my red line, it's the world's red line,

that nullifies what you said 72 hours ago? >> no, no, no, it's a combination, a totality. let me help you with this one because you seem to be struggling with this. it's a combination of everything. i think there's a window to attack, to get your credibility back. >> which was 72 hours ago? >> i think that window is closing. >> sir, if you made that comment -- if you made that -- you knew that congress wasn't coming back until -- >> i also said prior to the part that you just played. play the part prior to that where i said the part that i don't support the president, we should be called back immediately, this is not something we can wait on, it's something we can do immediately. in that time now that i see that the president hasn't called back to a special session, number one, he hasn't garnered any allies to help us on this and i think the president is losing support --

>> he's overseas doing that right now as we speak. he's trying to build a coalition as we speak right now. >> and he appears to be filling from the intelligence that i'm receiving. that's the point. and the way this was manned han from the beginning, i really do believe the president has not handled this in the best way and that has caused me to lose faith in the administration and their ability to do this in a manner that will benefit the united states. we have to always look at how this will affect the united states of america. now, am i still concerned that this will affect the way iran looks at us, the way our enemies perceive us as weak, as indecisive? absolutely. but i don't think we can get that back now because i think that has already been done by the president. i think we look indecisive, i think it looks like we don't have the resolve to get into another war, which may actually be true. >> it's just unclear why he's more indecisive today than he was 72 hours ago. may i ask you, sir, has anybody

in leadership asked you to change your vote? have you been whipped -- >> absolutely not. no one on either side of the aisle has asked me either way to support or not support. this is totally my decision. this is something i've been thinking about, praying on, struggling with since we've heard about the use of chemical weapons. look, it's a heinous crime against humanity. there's no question about that. my natural instincts as a combat veteran, i want to support my commander in chief. unfortunately my commander in chief has let us down. he has not handled this the way he should have handled it and we've lost credibility. i don't believe a strike in syria will give us back that credibility. if it's not going to give back that credibility and it's going to embolden our enemies anyway, then why are we going to do that? that's what it comes down, i've

lost confidence in the administration and i think the rest of the world has looked at this as we have, you know, lost our resolve and that the president of the united states is really looking for ways to get out of this. in his own words to backtrack, that's evidenced by the fact that he said that's not my red line, that's the world's red line, that's indicative he is losing his resolve. i guess everybody is allowed an opportunity to backtrack and theni itdefend themselves. >> we respect the ability of everybody to change their minds and defend themselves. thanks for being with us. >> coming up new details about syria's chemical weapons attack. and we will debate what the u.s. should do about it. newt gingrich and stephanie cutter are here in the situation room.

i save time, money,st, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare, written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

a dramatic new revelation from the u.k. as soon as parliament's surprise vote opposing military action against syria. british scientists claim to have found a deadly chemical on a syrian, who was treated after last month as attack. atika shubert is live in london. what did they find? >> reporter: the prime minister's office has confirmed they took clothing and soil samples from a victim of that august 21st attack in damascus and the soil samples have now been tested and they tested positive for sarin gas. take a listen to what prime minister david cameron told the

bbc just at the start of the g-20 summit in russia. >> do you now believe there is more evidence than you were able to bring before the country when parliament voted? >> i think the evidence is growing all the time and we have just been looking at some samples taken from damascus in the laboratory of britain which further shows the use of chemical weapons in that damascus suburb. >> so clearly the timing of this is also important, and the fact that prime minister cameron is saying this in russia at the g-20 summit seems to show britain is trying to put pressure on russia and show it's not a question of if there was a chemical weapons attack, it most certainly did happen, according to british evidence. >> any chance that this new development will prompt a new vote in parliament? >> that's what a lot of people are asking here. the door has been left open for another vote. of course last week british lawmakers said absolutely no

british involvement in any military strike in syria, but if new evidence comes to light that, could trigger a new vote. this may not be quite enough yet, but if some more evidence comes to light, particularly from u.n. weapons inspectors, then, yes, ultimately another vote could happen. >> that would certainly be good news for president obama. but i'm sure he's not holding himself breath. thank you for that report. >> ahead in our report, the hillary clinton factor. why she may be keeping her distance from president obama in the middle of this international crisis. our "crossfire" co hosts are ready to debate it.

. happening now, a "situation room" special report, "crisis in syria." the obama administration facing an uphill battle on addressing syria. and hillary clinton is backing the president but from a distance. how will her support factor in? plus john kerry center stage in the debate over syria. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jessica yellin. you're in "the situation room." >> they're among president obama's strongest supporters,

except when it comes to a strike on syria. the administration is facing a very tough sell with the left. here to debate it, two co-hosts of "crossfire," which debuts next week, former speaker of the house newt gingrich and stephanie cutter. and i asked how i should refer to you and you said "newt." that's great. and i can refer to you as stephanie. >> okay. i think i have to put this to you first, stephanie, how bad is it for the president when he has to make his case, stephanie, to the base? >> i think when something big like this is happening, we're

all meeting with progressive bloggers and left-leaning talk show hosts. that's just part of the deal. however, to get to the point you're making the president's base is probably not very keen or going into syria. remember where this base came from. they were against the iraq war. that's what gave president obama his start. he has to make the case to him, just like the rest of the american people about why it is in our security interest. that's part of the deal. >> i think first of all any president making a big decision like this, making the decision to go to the congress, which i think is right, is going to have to convince everybody. i mean, these are -- decisions of war on among the most important things members of congress ever engage in. and so i think you have to expect that all 535 expect to have answers and it doesn't automatically come down to you can take this group for granted. these are my loyalists, they'll vote yes to anything. they will until you get to something like this.

i think, second, the president is in a difficult position, a little like the position reagan was in when he decided to raise taxes at one point and his entire base, of which i was one, rebelled. i think the left wing of the obama base or the obama coalition really got engaged because they were against bush and the war and now here they are having to face a very tough decision and i think there's natural tendency -- >> they were against libya, too. but over the last 24 hours, there have been some pretty big reports of progressives comes out, senator franken. he has not told me personally but there are reports of that. i think people are going to go back and forth until they have to cast a vote. >> with credibility at stake, shouldn't it be the situation that his own supporters are behind him and does it worry you that they aren't lining up? and does it excite you that they might be -- >> you get excited about the

united states losing credibility? >> i think an issue of national security that involves war ought to be beyond politics. i mean, i think it was perfectly appropriate that senator corker, a republican leader on the senate foreign relations committee, voted yet and helped shape the resolution. i don't happen to agree with him, i'm against doing this but it right way is for the 535 elected officials is to approach this as americans and not worry about president obama's prestige, what's the right thing for america in this situation? >> and we saw the beginnings of that yesterday. how many times in this congress have you seen a bipartisan vote? i can barely think of one. but we saw that yesterday when -- or the day before yesterday when the resolution got voted out of the senate foreign relations committee. so i do think that people are looking deep and voting their conscience here, not just putting their finger to the wind. >> one of the more interesting positions lately is hillary

clinton's she had an aide put out a statement saying that former secretary clinton endorses the president's decision to have congress weigh in on this behind his support for a forceful and aggressive action against syria's use of horrible chemical weapons, which seems like a very parsed statement and a way to keep herself at a distance. do you think this is a move to -- >> first of all, she in the end can't be at a distance. sometimes over the next week she's -- i predict she is going to come out and say she supports it. i mean, she was his secretary. she was actually a fairly hawkish secretary of state. it's inconceivable but it must at some level for both she and bill have a little bit of an odd feeling since president obama beat her up so badly in the primaries over her vote in the iraq war, especially a certain amount or kind of thinking that i'll get her on this eventually but maybe not as quick as you might like.

>> i don't think that's part of this calculation. isn't it next week that she's giving a speech in philadelphia? i have a feeling that we're going to hear more of this there. and her position on syria is pretty well known. she was the united states spokesperson pushing the security council to take action to topple assad. she was pushing for more aggressive action behind the scene the president was willing to take many months, a year ago, in terms of supplying weapons to the opposition. >> but if that's true, stephanie, why didn't she just come out and say i'm totally for it, i hope the congress votes yes. >> i think that's what that says. >> no, we can put it up. secretary clinton supports the president's effort to enlist congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the assad regime's horrific use of chemical weapons.

>> she'll speak for herself when she's ready. her position on syria was pretty well known. she was the secretary of state. she was the person going to the security council to get them to take action and i can see by the look on your face that you're not buying it. >> no, no, this is where people in the rest of the country find washington sickening. there is a certain insider game here to the deliciousness of not getting a hard, immediate enthusiastic yes by her. she doesn't have to send an aide out to be slightly oblique. but the clintons have been around a long time, they are very good at this. i agree with stephanie where secretary clinton says in due time i sure hope the congress passes this. by the way, if she didn't say that, we'd be in a very different world the next morning. >> do you think it will be a a problem for her in 2016? >> who knows. >> i agree with that, who knows. it's an eternity between now and 2016 if she decides to run. i think coming down against

using chemical weapons against some of our greatest allies like israel is a problem for somebody running for president. >> i just thought the weight of the machine, the weight of her experience and her husband's abilities. i'm a terrible judge of what's going to happen next. i also thought i might be the nominee in '12. so i've got a pretty bad record of thinking through presidential campaigns. >> so much humility. i love the newt. thank you so much for being with us. and i should say if she runs in 2016. >> correct. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for having us. >> and we are counting down to the debut of cnn's new "crossfire." it starts next monday at 6:30 eastern right here on cnn. be sure to tune in. i know i will be. it is.w beautifl ♪

honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference. so think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. i did a little research. with a medicare supplement plan, you'll be able to stay with your doctor. oh, you know, i love that guy. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] these types of plans let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and there are no networks. is this a one-size-fits-all kind of thing? no. there are lots of plan options. it all depends on what we need and how much we want to spend. [ male announcer ] call now to request your free decision guide.

it could help you find an aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. what happens when we travel? the plans go with us. anywhere in the country. i like that. you know what else? unitedhealthcare insurance company has years and years of experience. what do you say? ♪ i'm in. [ male announcer ] join the millions already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. remember, all medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay and could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. and with these plans, there could be low or no copays. you do your push-ups today? prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] don't wait. call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long.

>> coming up, secretary of state john kerry back in the spotlight. he may have left the white house

but will he win on the world stage? plus, a massive pileup that left dozens injured. and we now now what caused that devastating wildfire burning in and around yosemite park. details just ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪

the cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year. lease this cadillac ats for around $299 per month with premium care maintenance included.

this news just coming into "the situation room." we've just learned the wife of george zimmerman has filed for divorce. her attorney says documents were filed this afternoon in the seminole county, florida, courthouse. george zimmerman was acquitted

back in in july in the shooting death of trayvon martin, an unarmed american teenager. president obama's national security team is recommending the u.s. suspend most of the $1.5 billion in aid the u.s. gives to egypt each year. officials say national security adviser susan rice, secretary of state john kerry and defense secretary chuck hagel reached that conclusion last week at a meeting to discuss the ouster of egypt's first dramatically elected president, mohamed morsi. the devastating wildfire burning in and around yosemite national park was caused by a hunter's illegal fire. that's according to the u.s. forest service, which did not identify that hunter. the rim fire, as it's called, has burned more than 237,000 acres, making it the fifth largest fire in california history. it's now 80% contained. dozens of people are injured, eight of them seriously, in this 100-car pileup on a highway bridge in

southeastern england. it happened in heavy fog. one person says the chain-reaction collision went on for ten minutes. 30 people were taken to hospitals. many more were stranded when the bridge closed in both directions for hours. coming up in our special report, disturbing, new video from inside syria raises the question are the rebels as bad as the regime? ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. thedoes your dog food have? 18 percent?

20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good!

a panda paternity mystery solved. here is cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: ties were wagging, who's your panda daddy?

that's mommy giving birth at the smithsonian national zoo. panda cubs are born so undeveloped, you can't even tell what sex they are, but almost two weeks after the birth, genetic testing has revealed it's a girl! >> it's got a fat, little belly. it's very active. it's very vocal. >> reporter: looking like a lizard with a twitch, but you'd be twitching, too, if everyone were asking, who's your daddy? how could the zoo not know who the father was? i mean, it wasn't as if a female panda was out whooping it up with every panda bear in town. actually, the mama, mei xiang, is pretty much stuck with one suitor. but 16-year-old tian-tian was laying down on the job, but not with her. his big passion is bamboo. but when it comes to sex, well, "the new yorker" did a deliciously detailed article called "bears do it," but pandas in captivity often won't.

the article quotes an expert calling tian-tian and mei xiang reproductively incompetent, saying she gets into the pancake position, flat on her stomach, legs outstretched. and rather than doing what you'd think he'd do naturally, he steps on to her back and stands there like a man who has just opened a large box from ikea and has no idea what to do next. eat the box is our guess. so, what do you do when your panda bear barely performs? you artificially inseminate. but for good measure, two pandas contributed to mei xiang's insemination. ti tian-tian and dow-gow, a romantic romeo who's never had his technique questioned out at the san diego zoo. so, who came through? they swabbed the cub's cheek to check the dna, and just like a paternity edition of "the maury povich show" -- >> you are not the father! >> reporter: -- only with a little more dignity.

>> the sire is tian-tian. >> reporter: no relatives protested. >> you're a lying [ bleep ]! >> reporter: truth be told, when daddy finally gets a look at this little girl, he'll probably just scratch his head or some body part. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> i'm sure he'll be a proud papa. i'm jessica yellin. "the situation room" continues right now with my colleague, joe johns. happening now, a "situation room" special report, crisis in syria. president obama walks a lonely path in russia trying to get world leaders to take his side and support a military strike against syria. there's shocking, new ammunition for people who are worried about helping the syrian rebels. stand by for graphic video. and strongman bashar al assad was taught from childhood to be ruthless and brutal by watching his father rule syria. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer's off.

i'm joe johns. you're in "the situation room." president obama and his team have been playing to two very tough crowds today in their struggle to win support for military action in syria. the president is lobbying world leaders at the g-20 summit in russia, where host vladimir putin is a powerful opponent. back here in washington, the administration is counting votes in congress, and coming up, extremely short. athena jones is covering political pressures here at home. first, to our foreign affairs correspondent, jill doherty, with the president in st. petersburg. >> reporter: joe, there are plenty of official speeches here in st. petersburg, but that's not the news. it's the side conversations that matter. the much-anticipated handshake seemed friendly enough for two men who radically disagree over syria. but then, russian president vladimir putin is the host of

this year's g-20 summit in st. petersburg, and he says syria is one issue he's ready to discuss with his fellow world leaders. so is president barack obama. >> 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. >> reporter: he began with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. >> i certainly look forward to continuously and closely working with you to improve the situation on the ground. >> reporter: but administration officials admit they don't anticipate that every member of the g-20 will agree with obama, particularly given putin's objection to any military action without approval from the united nations security council. case in point, the british prime minister supports military action against the assad regime but failed to get parliament support. obama does have backing from france, saudi arabia and turkey.

germany's prime minister, angela merkel, in the midst of her election campaign, says she wants a green light from the u.n. before any military action. >> translator: we have made clear that we won't take part in the military actions against syria, but we are happy to provide humanitarian aid or political support. >> reporter: obama's deputy national security adviser says the president will explain our current thinking to allies and partners and explore what kinds of political and diplomatic support they can offer. obama isn't looking for any major financial support for military action, aides say, since what's being considered doesn't require significant international participation. but president obama isn't prepared for any endless debates over whether chemical weapons were used in syria, and he doesn't want to entertain what aides call any implausible

theories, if the opposition use them. bottom line, the white house is highly skeptical that russia will change its position at the u.n. security council. joe? >> thanks to jill dougherty for that. members of congress say they're getting negative feedback from voters about a possible strike against syria, and that's making some lawmakers nervous about next year's midterm election and the administration nervous about winning the syria vote. let's bring in cnn's athena jones. athena? >> reporter: hi, joe. that's right, it's looking like a tough road ahead for the white house. while a lot of members of congress say they're undecided, quite a few of them have already said they plan to vote against military action. things got heated at senator john mccain's town hall in phoenix thursday. >> opposed to having a single american boot on the ground -- >> not good enough! >> not a good enough call! >> you don't respect our view! we didn't send you to get war

for us! we send you to stop the wars! >> we cannot afford to shed more syrian blood. >> reporter: as mccain, who supports missile strikes in syria, tried to convince a skeptical audience that taking military action is in america's national interests. the event shows the tough task ahead as the white house push to win over lawmakers kicks into high gear. back in washington, the democratic head of the senate intelligence committee, who also supports strikes, admitted to getting an earful from her constituents. >> there's no question, what's coming in is overwhelmingly negative. there's no question about that. but you know, then they don't know what i know. >> reporter: the white house is lobbying members on the phone demand classified briefings, and national security adviser susan rice tweeted about a new website launched thursday to help make the case to the american public. but right now, it's clear the white house faces an uphill battle, getting enough votes to pass a resolution authorizing missile strikes. public pressure is coming from all sides with pro-israel lobby

apac urging congress to support the reds lucian, saying barbarism on a mass scale must not be given a free pass. meanwhile, the liberal group moveon wants members to vote no and plans to send a petition to congress and the president pushing a more prudent approach than military action. key congressional leaders in both parties support action, but liberal democrats and many republicans are against strikes. and members can still change their minds. here's new york republican congressman michael grimm on monday's "situation room." >> i would want the president's strike to be a very meaningful strike. we cannot allow a precedent of this regime, and a regime anything like the assad regime, to use chemical weapons. >> reporter: he was singing a different tune by thursday. >> the president and the administration has failed to really explain exactly what the plan is, what the goal is, and that's a big problem for me. >> reporter: now, late today, we learned west virginia senator joe manchin, who's a democrat,

will vote against supporting a missile strike. that's a move that could make it much harder to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. joe? >> a very fluid situation. thanks so much for that, athena jones. fareed zakaria is joining me now from new york. fareed, what is the president supposed to do if, for example, the house of representatives says no to what he wants on syria? should the president go forward or should he just forget about it? >> it's a very tough question. i think this is the risk he ran when he took on this course. i would think that he should do something anyway, because he has kept stressing that he has the authority. he has said that he thinks this is in the vital national interests of the united states. whether you agree with it or not, at this point, for him to have to back down in a humiliating fashion because he faced a divided vote in congress would undermine the powers of the president of the united

states, would undermine the president's ability to conduct these kind of operations with or without congressional approval. remember, for the last 30 years, the president of the united states has launched many military strikes against many targets around the world without congressional authorization. so, it would de facto change the rules of the game for the exercise of presidential power, which i think would be a bad thing for america's global leadership. >> you see all of this as ill-planned, and that the president had plenty of time to think about it and perhaps should have taken a different route? >> well, if you think about it, once he laid out this red line, you would have hoped that the administration would have had a game plan on the assumption that assad would violate it, what would they do? what would the first few steps be? how would they gather an international coalition? would they strike first and then present the evidence? would they first present the evidence, then strike? would they go to congress? you know, you would have expected there would have been a

sequence of events that had been planned out. instead when it happened it appears to many of us as if the administration was caught flat-footed and was unsure what to do, and then first decided they were going to act, then decided to go to congress. >> today, former defense secretary donald rumsfeld said this on "new day." >> 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. >> did the president get zero out of the g-20 summit, do you think this would be on the world stage a huge failure for the united states? >> no, it's always a struggle. we're always out there alone, certainly, in the first few rounds of these kind of international negotiations when it comes to the use of force, and it is worth pointing out, the principal reason we are

having so much trouble, both in the united states and around the world, is because of donald rumsfeld's legacy, that is to say, iraq. >> the "washington post" wrote about the fareed zakaria case for why syria is imploding, your theory that it's an inevitable balancing of power along ethnic and religious lines. could you talk to our viewers about what that is? because so many people might not be familiar with it. >> sure. you know, we tend to think of what's going on in any country as good guys and bad guys and democrats and dictators, and there's some of that, but at heart what's going on in syria is you have a minority regime that is the alawites who assad is a member of and that's 14% of syria rule syria and they have ruled it for five decades. what is happening is a lot of the majority sunni population is rebelling against it. we've seen this movie before. there are three such regimes in the middle east. the christians used to rule

lebanon, and it took a 15-year civil war to displace them from power, majority, in effect, took over. the sunnis ruled iraq. we got rid of them, but it still took a ten-year civil war, a battle between the sunnis and the shias, and it's still going on, by the way. iraq is still the second most violent place in the world. the third such place is syria, where you have this minority regime. and my point is, this is a great internal struggle that is going to take probably ten years. it is going to be very messy and very bloody. and the idea that we can from the outside, particularly with limited interventions like no fly zones and cruise missiles, that we can shape the outcome is somewhat arrogant and is likely to be disproved by events. this is going to take its own course, its own internal course. it's almost like a forest fire. we can contain it, we can try to help, but the idea that we can go in there and figure out who the moderate opposition is and

fund them and put in place a new democracy in syria that will respect all minorities strikes me as a fantasy. >> i think a lot of people would say yes and agree with you that we have seen this movie before. thanks so much, fareed zakaria. >> thank you. up next on our special report, president obama would like to have support against syria within the arab world, but how much help can he count on in bashar al assad's backyard? and john kerry's biggest challenge since losing the white house. what he's bringing to the table in the syria crisis. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's endless shrimp.

it's as much as you like, any way you like. try classic garlic shrimp scampi and more. only $15.99, offer ends soon. so come in and sea food differently. now, try seven lunch choices for $7.99.

sandwiches, salads and more. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin dedicated to your eyes, from bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is uniquely formulated to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. and now there's ocuvite eye + multi. an eye vitamin and multivitamin in one. you know, to understand the syria crisis, it helps to understand a man reviled as the most cut-throat leader in a region full of brutal dictators. it's not bashar al assad. it's his dad. more of our special report after this.

secretary of state john kerry says arab countries are offering to pay for a u.s.

strike on syria, but why wouldn't they just do it themselves? cnn's tom foreman and our military analyst, retired major general james "spider" marks are breaking down all the options in the cnn virtual studio. tom? >> hey, joe. when you talk about the arab league, you're talking about just over 20 countries, and they have sent a fairly clear message to afar about what they think should be done. they say that the international community should take the necessary measures to deal with what's going on in this conflict over there, particularly with what's happened with syria. so, if they feel that way, then why don't they get involved? why don't these countries actually get involved with it? there are several reasons to consider here. first of all, there's the issue of culture. there's a question of whether or not arab nations are willing to attack another arab nation. yes, they have a lot of their own disputes between them, but there is much sense that there is an arab brotherhood, and a lot of arabs don't want to see an open attack upon another nation in an official sense.

secondly, there is the matter of the united states. the united states has a long and complex history there. so, if you talk about helping out the united states, some leaders there who might want to do it know they could pay a price because their own people could backlash on them for having made such a deal. they don't want to see their troops alongside u.s. troops. and of course, what goes hand in glove with that is the question of israel. there's a sense in many arab nations that if you're helping the united states, by proxy, you're helping the old enemy of so many arab states, which is israel. so, those are the three key reasons why these nations don't want to get involved in many ways or feel they can't openly. joe? >> but tom, the bottom line really is, if some of these nations actually could be drawn into a coalition attack on syria, the question really is whether they'd make any difference at all. >> yeah, that is a good question. general, come in here, if you would. general marks, when you talk about the military power of these countries, who should we be talking about? for example, if you talk about saudi arabia, what could they bring to the table?

>> saudi arabia has a modern military, great relationship with the united states in terms of training and equipment. their air force is what i'd focus on, a very modern air force, and they could be used in missions that would support no fly zones, humanitarian corridors, those kinds of missions. but if we're talking exclusively about a strike from the sea against syrian chemical capabilities, saudi arabia may not enter into that discussion. >> what about some of the smaller players, like the united arab emirates over there? >> nice military, mostly defensive, primarily focused on iran. then we have some usual players you may think a whole lot about. for example, and this is a unique example, jordan. >> jordan is a great case here. they support united nations peacekeeping missions. they have rather robustly. they have a very robust special operations capability and a very mature intelligence directorate. >> and that could mean even now as we talk, it's possible there could be forces from jordan that are helping direct where missiles would go if a strike were to come.

joe? >> very interesting. thanks so much, tom, general marks, good to see you. a familiar face back on capitol hill this week, but john kerry is no stranger to the spotlight. his long history in the public eye, coming up. and we'll show you some shocking video of rebels executing soldiers. could they be just as bad as the assad regime? sfx: birds chirping sfx: birds chirping

sfx: oil gushing out of pipe. sfx: birds chirping. he went from the vietnam war to a failed 2004 presidential run to those fiery appearances on capitol hill this week. john kerry has truly had one of the most fascinating careers in american political history. we'll examine that next in our special report.

happening now, a "situation room special report," crisis in syria. disturbing video surfaces of rebels executing syrian soldiers. just who are these guys and could they be even worse than

the regime? plus, bashar al assad's bizarre family history. how the syrian strongman learned to be ruthless and brutal from his father. and is iran's president softening his country's stance on nuclear talks? the tweet that has the u.s. hoping a change is in the works. wolf blitzer's off. i'm joe johns. you are in "the situation room." a graphic, new video that's fueling fears that the syrian rebels may be as brutal and dangerous as the government's forces they're fighting and certainly not helping the obama administration make its case that the opposition is made up of mostly good guys. here's our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence. hey, chris. >> reporter: hey, joe. it's not our job to tell you how you should react to this video, but you may feel it is very graphic, something that you don't want children to see. we just want to give you that warning now ahead of time and

also tell you that this was -- that "the new york times" is reporting that this video was given to them by a former rebel who was disgusted at what he saw. the men are stripped to their shirts and kneeling. "the new york times" says this video was just smuggled out of syria and shows a rebel commander executing captured syrian soldiers in april. it's shocking, but some lawmakers say they've seen classified reports that suggest half of the rebels are extremists. >> the briefings i've received, unless i've gotten different ones or inaccurate briefings, is 50%. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry argues it's as low as 15%. >> there is a real moderate opposition that exists. >> reporter: kerry and republican john mccain both cited reporting from an analyst who's traveled to syria. >> dr. elizabeth o'bagy.

>> she works with the institute of war, is fluent in arabic. >> reporter: elizabeth o'bagy says there are distinct areas where moderate rebels are in control and can keep weapons out of the hands of extremists. >> i travel with groups where we actually can kind of identify the more extremist checkpoints and simply move around them into areas where the moderates are in control and have authority. >> reporter: but one u.s. official tells cnn he does not see the clear division between moderates and extremists that kerry and o'bnksagy suggested. both elements are mixed amongst the opposition. another report says most of those fighting ayad are islamist fighters, but only a minority could accurately be characterized as extremists. the way the latest official described it is the way they look at it is, they look at extremists as those tied to terrorist ideology or terrorist groups. he tells me that most of the rebels in syria now are between

moderate and very conservative islamists. but i think what you see in this video, the actual commander who was, you sort of heard his voice on that video in the beginning, you know, giving the sort of narrative of what was happening, he is not someone known to be affiliated with jihadist groups. it may have been that he was simply out for revenge. and so, i think when you start trying to parse this, extremist versus islamist, true, some people may not have an extremist ideology, may not be tied to actual terrorist groups, but this video shows that there are people still very, very capable of extremely brutal acts. >> very hard to figure out what's what there. thanks so much for that report, chris lawrence at the pentagon tonight. president obama insists that any military strike against syria would not lead to all-out war like the ones in iraq or afghanistan, but as members of congress consider whether to give him the green light to attack, they clearly have the lessons of iraq on their minds.

>> many of us have learned how difficult it is based on the iraq experience for the united states to get disengaged once we take a military action. >> a lot of this is the shadow overhanging from the iraq situation, where we both went to war on false pretenses. >> this bitter memory of what happened in iraq when we were misled. >> we cannot afford another iraq. >> the overhang of iraq has many of us chained. iraq was based on faulty and shoddy intelligence that was also misused. >> you really get a feel for the struggle that's going on on capitol hill right now with regard to syria. joining me right now is nicholas kristof of "the new york times." and you write about how difficult it is for some members of congress who remember iraq to

now consider syria. break that down for me. >> sure. well, i think it's not just congress, but in the entire nation is to some degree fighting the last war, and we always do that. the first iraq war, the gulf war went pretty well, and so, people were more likely to endorse the 2003 iraq war, which in retrospect was a disaster. and it seems to me, though, that these really are different, and in my case, i was very much against the 2003 iraq war and i was dismayed at that time that there were so many liberals who were endorsing it. right now i'm equally dismayed that there are so many people who are unwilling to contemplate military action even if it seems to be, in my view, the best way of intervening to stop a conflict that is killing or to reduce the level of the conflict that is killing 5,000 people a month.

>> still, this appears to be a very, very tough sell, particularly to people on the left. what do you think the president needs to do or say to bring some of them on board? >> i think, you know, look, at the end of the day, i think the american people are probably not going to get on board, and you look at the polling and it is pretty dead set against this, but i don't think that public opinion should necessarily be the guide on these issues. public opinion was against intervening in bosnia. it was in favor of intervening in iraq ten years ago. in both cases, i think in retrospect it was wrong. i think president obama can first emphasize that this is not an issue of boots on the ground, this is an issue of cruise missile strikes from outside the country. i think he also needs to emphasize the moral issue that, you know, at the end of the day, there are 5,000 people dying each month, and this is growing,

60,000 a year. it is accelerating. and there isn't really any alternative. i mean, people talk about going to the u.n., going to the international criminal court. in a sense, that means sitting by as these deaths tolls add up. >> i think, though, it is the unintended consequences that a lot of people are very worried about. are you as worried as some others? >> frankly, i think those are legitimate concerns. i think that it's right to be worried about how there might be retaliation for hezbollah in lebanon, for example. that's something that i would worry about. our missile strikes can always go astray and kill innocents. i think those are pretty legitimate things to be concerned about, but there are risks not only of action but also of inaction, and for the last 2 1/2 years, we've essentially tried a policy of hoping that things will get better and not intervening, and that has worked catastrophically in terms of moral terms and in

terms of the entire region. i think that maybe it's time to think about farming some rebel factions, for example, and indeed to try to raise the price on president assad for using chemical weapons. >> you say that people normally see eye to eye with you on so many things are now disagreeing with you. what are you saying to them and what are they saying to you? >> you know, i think that so much of our, of how we view the syria conflict depends on the reference we use. people who were very much shaped by iraq, i think this is a catastrophe, this is something that's going to suck us in, another middle east conflict. and you know, accomplish nothing other than getting a lot of people killed. those who are shaped by bosnia, by kosovo, by sierra leone, by other conflicts, you know, they think of -- or i should say, we think of other civil wars where the reluctance to get involved ended up taking an awful lot of

lives and where in the end a modest investment of military power ended up being the thing that was able to achieve a peace agreement and ended up saving a lot of lives. i don't think that there is any clear ideological answer to whether or not military toolbox works. i think it's a case-by-case basis. it did not work in iraq in 2003. it did work in bosnia in 1995 and 1999. it worked in sierra leone in 2000. i think one has to make a case-by-case decision in each case. >> bosnia seems to be the template at least for now. thanks, nicholas kristof. always a pleasure to talk to you. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me. coming up in our special report, john kerry's high-profile role in promoting military action against syria. he lost the white house, but can he win this one? first, a "crossfire" flashback. >> in 2003, "crossfire" host tucker carlson repeatedly promised that he'd eat his shoes if senator hillary clinton sold a million copies of her

autobiography. well, she did, but he had no idea what was coming on this july day when we reminded him of all those rash promises. >> tucker, my friend, get ready to be munching on a little shoe leather coming up pretty soon, huh? >> actually, paul, i will, in fact, eat my shoes, because i am a man of my word. >> i'm going to be curious as to what sort of shoe he chooses, flip-flop or leather. >> well, today, simon action&shuster announced that senator clinton has passed the million books sales mark in just one month. kind of reminds me of the old prayer, dear, lord, make my words sweet and tender, for i may have to eat them. tucker, you're going to have to eat some shoe, my brother. >> you know, it wouldn't be the first time i'd have to eat my words. oh, my! >> ladies and gentlemen, senator hillary rodham clinton! >> hello, tucker. >> thank you very much! >> you're very welcome! i really want you to notice, tucker, that this is a wing tip. it's a right wing. [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing.

like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new 2014 lexus is. this is your move.

in the middle of the syrian crisis, new surprises by leaders in iran, including an eye-popping tweet. what it could mean for the region and the nuclear standoff. more of our special report coming up after this. uncer ] nobody knows where or when the next powerful storm is going to hit... but it will... that's why there's a new duracell battery. introducing duracell quantum. with its high density core, it's a quantum leap in battery power. the next storm is out there. but so are the heroes. so we're giving a million duracell quantum to first responders everywhere. power. in the hands of the most powerful. duracell. trusted everywhere.

labor day is here, and getting back to a predictable routine can leave your home vulnerable when you're not there. help protect it with adt security starting at just $49 installed, a savings of $250. but hurry. this offer ends september 9th. call right now or visit adt.com. this is a fire that didn't destroy a home. this is a break-in that didn't devastate a family. this is the reason why. adt. you can't predict when bad things will happen, but you can help protect yourself with the fast alarm response of adt, with 24/7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide starting at just over $1 a day. this is the computer that didn't get stolen, keeping priceless photos and financial records safe. this is the reason why. take advantage of the adt end of summer sale. starting at just $49 installed.

adt. always there. call or click today. let's draw the proper distinction here, congressmen. we don't deserve to drag this into yet another benghazi discussion when the real issue here is whether or not the congress is going to stand up for international norms with respect to dictators that have only been broken twice until assad -- hitler and saddam hussein. and if we give license to somebody to continue that, shame on us. >> wow. that's secretary of state john kerry giving one of many fiery answers at a congressional hearing on syria. kerry's back in a big way. this week is the most we've seen of him since his failed 2004 presidential campaign. cnn's chief national security

correspondent jim sciutto is looking at john kerry's return to the spotlight and his long history of tackling issues of war. good evening, jim. >> good evening, joe. good to be on, and fiery is the right word, and you really saw the emotion coming across in that clip you showed and so many moments like that this week. and you know, speaking to people close to kerry, it's clear that he's taken on this assignment as the lead advocate for military action against syria without hesitation. you might even say with some relish. you know, as secretary of state, he now has the job he wanted, and he may in this case for going to war with syria or launching these attacks against syria, he might have the legacy-defining mission he's been looking for. today he's the administration's and the country's advocate in chief for military action against syria. >> are you going to be comfortable when assad, as a result of the united states not doing anything, then gases his people yet again and the world says why didn't the united states act? >> reporter: but for john kerry,

war has defined his public life from the very beginning. his historic senate testimony against the vietnam war in 1971 turned a young, returning veteran into a national figure. >> how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? >> reporter: later, during 28 years in the senate, he was a leading voice on virtually every u.s. military intervention abroad, from panama to iraq and the first gulf war to somalia, bosnia and kosovo. years later, his support for the 2003 iraq invasion -- >> when i vote to give the president of the united states the authority to use force, if necessary -- >> reporter: -- and subsequent opposition -- >> i actually did vote for the $87 billion before i voted against it. >> reporter: -- arguably lost him the 2004 presidential election. >> when he gets his eyre up, when something he finds terribly repugnant occurs, and it could be the mafia in massachusetts or it could be lying during iran

contra affair or it could be assad using chemical weapons, he becomes one of the better prosecutors in the united states. >> reporter: through the years, kerry's relationship with syria is as complicated and convoluted as america's. just four years ago, he served as unofficial envoy, meeting with president bashar al assad in damascus in a friendly setting that seems, at best, uncomfortable, at worst, hypocritical today. more recently, however, kerry has been a firm and vocal supporter of action to bring assad down, including arming the syrian opposition. >> i just don't agree that a majority are al qaeda and the bad guys. that's not true. >> reporter: and last friday, when it appeared that u.s. strikes were imminent, it was john kerry delivering an impassioned case for swift military action. >> the primary question is really no longer what do we know. the question is what are we, collectively, what are we in the world going to do about it? >> to be fair, america's position towards syria has changed as often as kerry's,

remember secretary albright at hafez al assad's funeral in 2000, and then just three years later, syria became the low-hanging fruit, the next target for regime change after iraq, though that thought lasted only as long as the mission accomplished euphoria post-iraq invasion, from the start of the brutal crackdown on protesters in 2011, kerry's been a more consistent advocate for concrete action like these attacks, joe, that he's championing now. >> thanks for that, jim sciutto. and just really great to have you on board here at cnn. >> hey, it's great to be on board. thanks very much, joe. coming up, bashar al assad's family history of brutality. how the syrian strongman learned to be ruthless from none other than his father. and a string of tweets from iranian leaders could signal a major change from one of the most anti-american countries in the world.

ingeniously uses radar to alert you to possible collision threats. 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. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin dedicated to your eyes, from bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is uniquely formulated to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. and now there's ocuvite eye + multi.

an eye vitamin and multivitamin in one. a lot of things get passed down from father to son,

including the ruthless and brutal leadership style within the assad family. that's coming up next.

secretary of state john kerry has called syrian president bashar al assad a thug and a murderer, but assad's father might have been even worse. cnn's brian todd has been exploring their relationship and how it shaped the assad we know today. good evening, brian. >> reporter: good evening, joe. you have to understand, really, where bashar al assad came from, get a handle on how we got to this point in syria. it's a family tale of a son operating in his father's shadow and trying to emulate him. recognize the boy on the swing in it's bashar al assad, as he looked on his father many believe envisioned a dynasty. but he likely wouldn't have imagined it taking the turn its

had. is this a dynasty and is it crumbling right now? >> it's a mafia dynasty and it's definitely crumbling. >> reporter: experts say to understand what's happening in syria now it helps to know about the strange regime built by the current dictator's late father hafez al assad. >> he was the most machiavellian leader in a region full of brutal dictators. >> reporter: he rose through the ranks of the syrian air force but it was hardly that straightforward. the man thrived in the backrooms of syrian palace intrigue where according to most accounts killing and banishing enemies put on the fast track. in syria there were more than 20 successful and unsuccessful coups between 1949 and 1970 when hafez al assad took power, he himself was involved in three of them, through the, 70s, '80s, and '90s he played the middle east power game like a fiddle

ultimately fighting and negotiating peace with israel while keeping america from being a full fledged enemy. that was thecontradiction, he stayed in powers by killing his enemies from within. but in 1990 and 1991 when president george bush needed to build a coalition against saddam hussein, look who was on his side. >> with president assad despite the fact that the u.s. still considers syria a haven for terrorists. >> reporter: how did the dynasty unravel after hafez al assad's death in 2000? analysts say it was partly because the assads ruled so brutally as a minority, part of a muslim sect over majority sunnis who resented them and bashar al assad's had other difficulty changing the old ways of his father. >> hafez al assad stabilized syria through a closed system, people couldn't travel or communicate very well, international news was very limited. when bashar came to power, he lifted restrictions on travel

and allowed people to read newspapers and satellite television and the internet and it opened syrians' minds. how do you control this system and how do you basically perpetuate authoritarianian rule? >> reporter: he was warned he couldn't do that. analysts say when bashar brought the internet into syria it was against the advice of his security staff who were his father's old crone nis. they told him it would be dangerous and he would have trouble controlling it, right. joe? >> what do we know about the personal relationship between father and son? >> very interesting, the people that know the regime and the family say the relationship was distant when bashar was a child. he was shy and modest. the father was closer to bashar's older brother basell and chose him to succeed him and he was much tougher and cruel by all acts, but basell died in a car accident in 1994 and as hafez started to groom bashar to take over, it became a student/master relationship.

>> fascinating reporting. thanks so much for that. >> thank you, joe. a string of tweets from iran's leaders could signal a change. how much protein does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20?

new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good! imagine how they taste. 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. 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. did that really happen? a surprising string of tweets from iran's top leaders including a positive message for jews. that's next. [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing.

hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio.

and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. some stunning developments from one of syria's closest allies, iran. earlier today iranian president hassan rouhani said he may be open to nuclear negotiations. tweeting foreign ministry will be in charge of iran's nuclear negotiations ready for constructive interaction with the world. cnn's jessica yellin is

following that story. what does it mean? >> it's a potentially good sign from the middle east and we could definitely use some good news right now, couldn't we? iran's president is saying that he's taking nuclear negotiations out of the direct control of the ayatollah and putting it in the hands of a western-educated minister in iran who is well known to american leaders and has a history of negotiating with the west. now, the white house responded to this news with what you could call cautious optimism. a spokesman for the national security council told me in a statement that, quote, we have seen these reports and we reiterate our hope that the iranian government will engage substantively with the international community to reach a diplomatic solution to iran's nuclear program. this person added, if iran does that, quote, it will find a willing partner in the united states. so, this sounds to me like the white house is waiting to really see how much freedom this foreign minister really has. but potentially positive good sign for now. >> right. and you mentioned there have

been other signs like this, haven't there? >> yes, there have. and they're quite stunning. just as the jewish new year rosh hashanah began, president rouhani who is the brand-new president of iran sent out this tweet which said, as the sun is about to set here in tehran, i wish all jews especially iranian jews a blessed rosh hashanah and then it includes this picture of an observant jew praying in iran. for jews that's just a striking image where jews are known to be oppressed historically recently in iran. and given the power of twitter, christine pelosi tweeted back saying, thanks, the new year would be even sweeter if you would end iran's denial of the holocaust, sir. and the foreign minister i mentioned earlier tweeted back at miss pelosi saying iran never denied it, the man who is perceived to be denying it is now gone.

he's referring to ahmadinejad who is no longer the president and he ended by saying happy new year. clearly what matters is actions not words, but a change in tone, joe. >> that is just remarkable. really appreciate that reporting. remember, you can follow us what's going in "the situation room" on twitter tweet me and tweet the show. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next who are the good guys in syria in a shocking new video tonight. we're going to show it for you complicates the debate over the president's plans for military action. plus another shocking report tonight, thanks to nsa leaker edward snowden, the nsa spying on the only e-mails you thought were safe literally. and a fren-year-old commits suicide after being raped by a 54-year-old teacher. he was convicted and sentenced to only 30 days in jail. tonight, the mother speaks out. let's go "outfront."