and today's revelaons put the president's team back on defense. >> the president made clear the line was crossed. we expanded the scale and scope of our aid. that's ongoing. we continue to consider all options, all options remain on the table. >> reporter: republican john mccain complained about there being no stick behind the rhetoric, tweet nothing consequence for assad using chemical weapons and crossing red line. we shouldn't be surprised he's using them again. as for the president's red line on egypt, earnest ducked by saying he did not bring a red pen to today's briefing. going back to the start of the crisis of egypt key players like secrary of state john kerry have struggled to get a handle on it. on august 1st after the egyptian military had started killing islamist protesters kerry told news in pakistan the egyptian military was restoring democracy. >> the military did not take over to the best of our judgment so far, so far, to run the country. there's a civilian government in effect, they were restoring democracy. >> reporter: on syria, the u.n. security council was in an