Hes going to speak directly to the American People about the potential for limited military action in syria. Hes going to do that at 9 00 tonight. As i said last night, its appropriate to allow other conversations to go on. We now have, as a result of some work done by other countries, france, russia, and we understand syria is involved in this, this is aimed at avoiding military action. Well have to see if this works out. Very important to understand that the only way russia is seeking to avoid military, the president obama has made it clear the its will act if we must. Our credible threat of force has made these diplomatic discussions with syria possible. And the United States should withdraw from the direction were taking as a country. If theres a realistic chance and i hope there is to secure syrias chemical weapons to avoid further atrocities of the assad regime, we should not turn our back. But the regime must quickly prove their offer is real, not a ploy to delay military action
The Alabama Administration went to capitol hill looking for support on an attack on syria. Secretary of state john kerry made apationat plea and said the u. S. Must respond to syrias use of chemical weapons. Not everyone was convinced. Libby casey has more on the story. Libby reporter thanks so much. The president , of course, is bringing some leaders on capitol hill to try to make a case for why the should take action in syria. However, key members of his top team are also heading to capitol hill, and they are trying to get their message across here in the halls of congress. The president s team making the pitch to congress includes two former senators at home in the halls of capital hill. Ta lord to respond to the u. S. Of chemical weapons. We want to come out stronger than we go into reporter democrats generally expressed support for president obamas plan as long as the strikes on syria are limited in scope. Their repeated words, no boots on the ground. I think we are going to have
American people and especially to the congress. Through you to the American People. We have declassified unprecedented amounts of information, some of it, i might add, not because initially that might have been the instinct in the sense of protecting sources and methods, but some leaked. After its leaking, we thought it was important to verify whether it was true or not. So by now youve heard a great deal from me and others in the administration about the comprehensive evidence that we have collected in the days following the attack on august 21st, so im not going to go through all of it again right now. Im happy to discuss it further, if any of you have any questions, but i can tell you beyond a reasonable doubt i used to prosecute cases. I ran one of the largest district attorneys offices in america, and i can tell you beyond a reasonable doubt the evidence proves that the assad regime prepared this attack and that they attacked exclusively oppositioncontrolled or contested territory
Congress. The president saying that wasnt something i made up. I did not pluck it out of thin air. There is a reason for it. He went on to say was far more than his credibility at stake in responding to the chemical weapons attack. A lot going on on capitol hill today. Members getting a closeddoor reefing. Briefing. Members spoke to reporters before they went in. We have the Ranking Member and the chairman for starting with senator bob corker. We will see. Of the things we want to be sure of is that every member has the opportunity to feel like they can affect this outcome in a meaningful way, so i think we have a very good starting point. I have been on the phone until late last night and beginning early this morning. Again, hopefully, we will have a good day today. I do think there is a push for people to have enough time to digest a couple things. Number one, the nuance of the legislation. To hear i think today, a full accounting from the administration as to what they really will a
Photograph that is riveted in my mind as a father and grandfather. Children on the floor in shrouds , victims of the gas attack. What the administration is asking as far as military authority to launch additional attacks, what have you been charged with in terms of the issue of Collateral Damage . As it would affect innocent people and civilians in the nation of syria. Senator, the guidance we received on targeting is to maintain a Collateral Damage estimate of low. Just briefly on how we come up our assessment, it is based on how much we know about a target through intelligence. Its proximity to civilian weaponres, and what against it. I Collateral Damage estimate of low means just that, that it will keep Collateral Damage lower than a certain number which i would rather share in a classified setting. That doesnt mean that we would have the same constraint in what damage could be done to regime personnel. That is a separate issue. Even in that case, i could tell you more in a classifi