In congress the Senate ForeignRelations Committee voted in favor of the limited attack while the secretary of state testified before the House Committee looking for support mr. Syrias neighbors are demanding International Help to deal with 2 million refugees who have flooded across borders. What is called the worst humanitarian crisis in decades. And we begin with the latest from washington, d. C. The Senate Foreign relations city vote. Randall pinkston has been following that story, and he joins us now live. John, it was a successful vote for the Obama Administration in trying to gain congressional support to prescribing in syria, 107. On the hour side it was rough sledding for team obama greated with a cloud of skepticism throughout the day, and at a time when congressional curtsy was tossed aside. As the hearing began, antiwar protesters held up red hands. In this Exchange Republican tomorrow moreno wanted to know who a strike would help. Do you trust these week . Well, thats not my business certainly it has to be the business because youre making decisions to go into war and put american lives at risk. Were not unaware of all the different groups with self interest excuse me sir, i think we are aware congressman let me respond to that. Would you do it quickly. Its the focus is not on good guys, bad guys. The focus is on resolution i dont think good guys would be using the gas. Reporter house members, many of them opponents of the Obama Administration, went on the attack. Here congressman duncan. You never have been one that advocated other than caution when involving u. S. Forces and past conflicts. The same is true of the president or vice president. Excuse me, im going to finish, congressman. Im going to finish. I supported military action in any number of occasions, including grenada, panama, i could run a list of them, and im not going to sit here and be told by you that i dont have a sense of what the adjustment is with respect to this 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 assadhitler and saddam hussein. Reporter but republicans were not the only skeptics. Even Administration Supporters insisted on limits. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting such an authorization, but we should not give the president a blank check. The authorization measure must say the strike should of a limited nature and no boots on the ground. Reporter the Syrian Strike would not be aimed at ending the civil war, and as for cost, it could range in the tens of millions of dollars. The house drafted their own resolution, and nancy pelosi is saying it could take up to two weeks to complete the job. Randall pinkston, tough talk in the house today. Were live in the capitol where weve been following the hearings in the senate, libby . We, thats right. Weve seen a couple of days here of intense questions and answers. The white house really getting its perspective out through senators kerry and hagel, and then an opportunity for members to ask their questions and raise their concerns. And members, john, still have a lot of questions. Theyre not done yet. Well see a lot of Intelligence Briefings over the next few days, tomorrow and on monday. One congressman, gregory meeks, a liberal democrat of new york said he needs to find out more answers. Some of the classified information. His constituents back home have a lot of concerns, and hes still wrestling with what to do. The hardest vote for anyone in congress, and i know it is for me, is to determine whether or not we should authorize the use of military choice, that is a vote of conscience. To vote just because the president happens to be a democrat or republican or, etc. Its a vote of consciousness and what you think is the right thing to do so you can sleep at night. Now you give the president of the United States, you give him a head start because you believei believe that the president of the United States wants to do the right thing for the United States, and hes not one who is trying to hurry in into war. I start at that premise. He has a head start because he is the president of the United States, and he may have more information than i have, but its my job to seek for as much of it as i can get so i can make a decision. Even if my co constituents disae with them, i should be able to explain to them why i voted yes or no. The big concern is whether this is an unilateral effort. The u. S. Cannot go it alone. He wants to see more worldwide support. But the congress has no control over that. Lets talk about the senate vote, any surprises . Well, we didnt see things break down along party lines, nor did we expect to, but some members who had some intense questions today ended up voting no. One of them was tom udall of new mexico, a democrat, he put forward an amendment to the resolution, they were able to pass today that did not make it through. His resolution went a little farther in terms of limiting american involvement. What senator udall wanted to do was make sure that american troops would not be in syrian waters or air space. They said look, at a time youre tying the hands of the white house, and you have to give them some muscle and decisionmaking power. This is an indicator that this is going to get stickier when we get to the house. Thank you very much. The focus of congress is on syria, with me is congressman jim mcdermott. Its good to see you and thank you for being with us. Its good to be here. So what was your reaction today to the vote in the senate . Well, it said one thing that i think people have wondered. This is not going to be a party line vote. This is the toughest vote that any member of the congress that are in the house or the senate has to make. That is acceptin sending people. It is not something that you decide on party or who the president is or anything is or anything else. You think about the 750,000 people you represent, and try to represent what you think is the best thing for them. And you got a split vote in the senate. I think thats what is going to happen in the house. A very split vote. I know youve been opposed to war at times in the past. How do you stand on this . Well, im leaning no, i dont think going inbut im one whoim a physician, and i believe you continue to gather as much information as you can so that you can make the best decision on behalf of your people. I think that the thing that i worry about most is not how do you limit what kind of action you take, and what do you have five days later when its over . If we have a widening of the war because iran has gotten into it or russia or something else, that is going to be a disaster. Im really worried about what we have five or ten days later. You remember when we went into iraq we were supposed to be out in 60 days. So, speaking of information and gathering information, what are the people in Washington State who are your constituents saying . My constituents have been almost unanimous against the war. Our phone calls were Something Like 3004 or 5 who were in support of doing something. Our emails are running much the same. The feeling in the public is that the case has not been made as to how you stop saddam or assad from doing what hes doing by a limited airstrike with no boots on the ground. How does that work . I think people say i just cant believe its going to do any good. Its liable to inflame the situation. You know, its ironic when you slipped up san and said sad, was it because of the actions before that people are so skeptical, do you think . I dont think theres any question. I think many of us who went through the run up to the war in iraq have the same feeling that we have now. People are telling us with very good assurance that they have the best evidence possible, and that there is nothing to worry about. And yet thats what colin powell told us when he went to the United Nations. We come away from it asking ourselves, do we know everything . Do we know enough . Are they doing thisits hard to understand why were doing it now. What if congress doesnt vote to attack syria . What does the president do then . Well, then he has probably the most difficult decision in his whole career because he will have gone against the will of the people. The members of the house, if we vote this down, as they did in the british parliament, he will then have to say im going to do it anyway, and how he explains that, and whatever happens as a result of it could be very difficult for this country. It is not a situationi dont envy him. I really feel for him in the depth of hisbecause hes concerned, and he loves the country, and believes that we should do something. Let me push you a little harder. What else do you need to make up your mind about this . Well, i have to have the feeling that weve exhausted every single diplomatic thing that we can do. We should be, in my viewin fact, i think that if you remember george bush sent colin powell up to the United Nations and gave a speech. As a result of that speech the vote in the house was to support going into iraq. I think that the president has to be willing. He says hes sure. He has to be willing to go to the United Nations, lay his case out in front of the United Nations in the general assembly, and let thatlet the world see. Because right now there is an awful lot of people who dont believe, and dont think weve tried everything. We havent done enough diplomatically and so forth. This is not just bomb or doing nothing. There really ought to be a focus on the issue. Lets play that out. Britain says no, and lets argue that the United States government says no. Then he goes to the United Nations, it says no, what choice does he have . I think he would go to the United Nations first before he went to the congress. I think he would lay his case before the world. And he may decide to lay his case before the world on television in the United States. At some point he has got to layout all the reasons why we are doing it. You see, i didnt know until very recently that there had been a number of small incidents that had gone on before. Nothing was done about them. Finally on this day when there were whatever, 1400 people killed, suddenly now were going to do something. So he has to lay that case for the American People so they understand how diplomatically they try to deal with this, and force saddamexcuse me, assad to the table to come to some sort of agreement. The russians and the United States have the power to end this thing. You speak of the russians, the president is on his way to the g20 summit, and hell run into Vladimir Putin. It doesnt sound like he can convince Vladimir Putin. What does he say to the other leaguers . I think he has to spent time with Vladimir Putin and get him at a table to Start Talking about it. The russians clearly have a very strong tie to syria. They have a port for their navy on the coast of the mediterranean in syria, so they have a lot of reasons that they want to support the assad government. I think the president has to leave with dealing with putin, he has to talk to everybody else, of course, but he really ishis prime object has to be mr. Putten. Congressman mcdermott from Washington State, thank you for talking with us. Putin called secretary john kerry a liar. He made the charge for what kerry had to say about alqaidas presence in syria. I have watched debates in strong. The congressman asked mr. Kerry. Is there alqaida . People say they have got an stronger. Kerry said no. They know about this. It was not pleasant for me to see this. We communicate with them and assume that they are decent people. He lies openly that he knows that he lies. This is sad. Well, that attack on john kerry came hours after president obama arrived at the g20 summit. Al jazeeras Barnaby Phillips has more on the already icy relationship between the two leaders. Well, leaders arrive in st. Petersburg for the summit that might highlight the glaring dinnerses between thedifferencee issues of the day. Putin does not look like a man ready to compromise with the United States over syria. I have watched the debates in congress, and when they asked secretary kerry if there is alqaida in syria, i say no, and they are not there. I dont like see iting this. We communicate with them, but he lies openly. And he knows that he lies. But the american president topping in sweden on route to the summit speak as if it is needed. My credibility is not on the line. The International Communitys credibility is on the line. Congress credibility is on the line. In damascus, syria speeches anspeaks indefiant action. The syrians will never compromise their independence and sovereignty. Syria has a right to react according to the u. N. Charter as such an aggression is not justified in the international law. The former agenda in the at e commit focuses on finance and populous of the largest countries in the world, but those issues are likely to be overshadowed by the syrian crisis. There are many here who believe russia and the western powers could provide vast differences in their approach to syria. It seems to be an impossible challenge in st. Petersburg. Leaders will try to find a consensus that has been so elusive in two long years of fighting in syria. Al jazeera, st. Petersburg. We have much more of our coverage on syria here on al jazeera. A call for International Help as thousands of refugees stream out of syria. Plus what syrians living here in the United States think about the military strike against their homeland. Re a d y fo r Al Jazeera America a new voice in american journalism introduces america tonight. In egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the. A fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the United States. Grounded. Real. Unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. An escape from the expected. Im a cancer survivor. Not only cancer, but brain cancer. Welcome back to al jazeera. Foreign ministers were syrias neighbors are warning the refugee crisis is getting worse if the world doesnt offer more help. The ministers met in geneva to ask for more aid. And if there is an attack, thousands will follow. All actions of refugee flows need to cease. A political solution to end this cycle of horror is urgently needed. There is no humanitarian solution to the syria crisis rather than it needs to be a political solution to end the humanitarian crisis. The situation in lebanon is becoming very alarming, its alarming on the security level, on the social level, on the economic level, and i think that so far the response of the International Community to this crisis is frustrating. If this violence against civilians continues like before and if there is no International Reaction to it, we are scared that all the neighboring countries will be facing much bigger numbers of refugees. The u. N. Said more than 600,000 Syrian Refugees are already in lebanon alone, and al jazeeras reports from beirut, the influx is creating friction between the newcomers and the locals. One in every five people in lebanon is a syrian. Many of them have settled in overcrowded neighborhoods like this one. They live in local population, but they cant help escape the feeling of not being welcome. The lebanese feel we have taken away opportunities. They feel were doing jobs that should be theirs. Even before the turmoil in their country began syrians would work in menial jobs but now there is a competition in an already weak labor market. Syrians have opened shot shops d accept lower salaries. Its something that lebanese resent. Their presence has changed our lives for the worse. Most of them are not refugees but workers who brought their families here. The lebanese government is not taking care of them. But not all refugees are able to make ends meet and rental prices have increased. A small room in this slum cost 300 a month. Those who cannot afford to play live in buildings under construction. It is clear after talking to people here there are tensions between the syrians and the lebanese community. Officials have said those tensions are reach a dangerous level. The government is now worried that there will have to deal with a new influx of they have seen bombings, kidnappings and other incidents linked to the syrian war. This country has not been able to stay out of the conflict. Lebanon is divided and its people have taken sides across their border. We dont want to make any problems, but many are already causing problems and they always blame the syrians. Some feel the presence of the syrian versus contributes have e problem here. Not just manage the number of refugees but syrians are increasingly looked upon as a security problem in a country already under threat. Al jazeera beirut. The fear of an attack is spreading. Were in lebanon, robert, what are you hearing about refugees . Well, john, its a situation that as zenas piece just portrayed is very tense. The lebanese government has asked the world bank to texas the u. N. For funds. They fear this is a situation that will grow even mother out f control than it already has. There are many issues from health, trade, tore unfortunatelytourism. The lebanet know what to do. And if th