Syria Strike Debate Continues; President to Address the Nation Tuesday; G20 Wraps Up Today; Congress Gears up for Syria Vote
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. President Obama will take his case for military strikes on Syria directly to the American people. The president told reporters he is going to deliver a nationwide address on Tuesday. Now, his statement coming during a news conference. This was at a summit of world economic leaders. The G-20 wrapping up today with leaders divided over how the handle it will crisis in Syria. Now, President Obama and Russian President Vladmir Putin, they did discuss the crisis but they didn't reach any kind of agreement. Now, the two presidents, they remain locked in staunch opposition over how to handle the situation in Syria, the civil war there. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the region around Syria. Today, the State Department ordered all non-essential diplomatic personnel and family members to get out of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Also told nonemergency staff to leave the American consulate in Turkey. President Obama says he knew going in it would be a heavy lift to persuade people to support his plan to attack the regime inside Syria. Well, our Brianna Keilar, she is travelling with the president in St. Petersburg, Russia and she pressed him for answers on whether or not he is prepared to go it alone if Congress votes no to these strikes. Listen.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama downplayed the possibility of this turning into a long, drawn out unilateral war between the U.S. and Syria if the U.S. takes military action. And then, Syria uses chemical weapons yet again saying that would mobilize the international community and create a broader response. Now, as Congress considers a resolution that would authorize a strike, there is a big question that remains about whether President Obama will go ahead even if both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate, don't OK it. (on camera): On the resolution to authorize the use of force, one of the big challenges right now isn't just Republicans, but it's from some of your loyal Democrats. It seems that the more they hear from classified briefings that the less likely they are to support you. If the full Congress doesn't pass this, will you go ahead with the strike? And also, Senator Susan Collins, one of the few Republicans who breaks with her party to give you support at times, she says, what if we execute this strike and then Assad decides to use chemical weapons again? Do we strike again? And many Democrats are asking that as well. How do you answer her question?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, first of all, in terms of the votes and process in Congress. I knew this was going to be a heavy lift. I said that on Saturday when I said we're going to take it to Congress. You know, our polling operations are pretty good. I tend to have a pretty good sense of what current popular opinion is. And for the American people who have been through over a decade of war now with enormous sacrifice of blood and treasure, any hint of further military entanglements in the Middle East are going to be viewed with suspicion and that suspicion will probably be even stronger in my party than in the Republican Party. You know, since a lot of the people who supported me remember that I opposed the war in Iraq. So, I understand skepticism. I think it is very important for, therefore, for us to work through systematically making the case to every senator and every member of Congress. And that's what we're doing. But for the American people at least, the concern really has to do with understanding that what we're describing here would be limited and proportionate and designed to address this problem of chemical weapons use and upholding a norm that helps keep all of us safe. And that is going to be the case that I try to make not just to Congress but to the American people over the coming days. OK?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, Brianna, I think it would be a mistake for me to jump the gun and speculate because right now I'm working to get as much support as possible out of Congress.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to follow up on Brianna's question because it seems these members of Congress are simply responding to their constituents, --</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and you're seeing a lot of these town halls. And it seems as if the more you press your case, the more John Kerry presses the case on your behalf, the more the opposition grows and maybe it's the more the opposition becomes vocal. Why do you think you've struggled with that?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In terms of opposition, Chuck (ph), I expected this. This is hard. And I was under no illusions when I -- when I embarked on this path. But I think it's the right thing to do. I think it's good for our democracy. We will be more effective if we are unified going forward. And, you know, part of what we knew would be -- there would be some politics interjecting --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  (INAUDIBLE.) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I said some. But I -- what I have also said is that the American people have gone through a lot when it comes to the military over the last decade or so.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I still haven't heard a direct response to Brianna's question. If Congress fails to authorize this, will you go forward with an attack on Syria?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, and you're not getting a direct response. Brianna asked the question very well, you know?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's a pretty basic question.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you think that I was I going to give you a different answer, no. The -- what I said, and I will repeat, is that I put this before Congress for a reason. I think we'll be more effective and stronger if, in fact, Congress authorizes this action. I'm not going to engage in</s>KEILAR (on camera): President Obama says he'll address the American people from the White House on Tuesday. And he has a long way to go in convincing Congress and their constituents that this is the right move. A recent NBC News poll shows that four out of five Americans believe that he should not act if there is not Congressional approval for this. Brianna Keilar, CNN, St. Petersburg, Russia.</s>MALVEAUX: And nonessential government staffers -- U.S. staffers in Lebanon, they are out. Same for Americans at the consulate in Turkey. The State Department is now saying it is not safe for them to be there. In fact, all Americans, even tourists, are being strongly advised today to stay away from any place that is close to a border with Syria. U.S. officials are worried about how some groups will react in the event of a possible military strike. Chris Lawrence, he is at the Pentagon. And, Chris, first of all, explain to us, what is behind the concern here? Do they have hard evidence that suggests that some people could retaliate?</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a Wall Street Journal report, Suzanne, that says the U.S. has intercepted a communication that Iran has ordered militants in Iraq to go after and try to attack Americans and the embassy in Baghdad. Now, this would be in retaliation if the U.S. were to conduct a strike on Syria. And I can tell you from talking to officials here, it is one of their concerns. They have said that one of the ways in which Syria could retaliate is to go after U.S. interests in the region or to have their allies like Hezbollah go after U.S. interests in the region. We do know that the State Department has issued a warning for Americans who are working, living in Iraq. So, it is something to keep an eye on, high alert in that part of the world now.</s>MALVEAUX: And, Chris, I know you've been working your sources and talking about possible scenarios about how the U.S. might launch such a strike on targets in Syria. So, give us some details. What have we learned today?</s>LAWRENCE: Yes. Officials say they have been fielding daily calls from the White House, multiple calls every day asking, you know, what can we do? Can we do this? Can we not do this? What would it take to do this? One of the options that they are considering is using aircraft, long-range bombers specifically. Some of which could even be piloting by pilots directly from the United States. These, though, would be standoff. In other words, we're not talking about flights that would be going over Syrian air space. One official told me that these could be used outside Syrian air space using these long-range missiles to hit targets on the ground.</s>MALVEAUX: All right, Chris, thank you. Here is more of what we're working on for this hour. Senator John McCain, he is supporting the president's plan to launch military strikes inside Syria, but voters in his district, well, they are not happy about that plan. McCain, he's not the only lawmaker who is feeling the heat. Look at how many votes the president has and what he doesn't have in terms of a possible military strike on Syria.