Obama meets with GOP senators on Syria
(CNN) - President Barack Obama joined Vice President Joe Biden at a dinner with Republican senators Sunday night to talk about Syria. The dinner took place at the Naval Observatory in Washington.
The GOP dinner comes two days before Obama is slated to go to Capitol Hill and make his case to Senate Democrats as he tries to generate congressional support for military strikes in Syria, a Senate leadership aide confirmed Sunday.
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How the Syria debate in Congress could play out this week
Washington (CNN) - Congress returns to Washington on Monday after a monthlong summer break to jump right into debate and votes on a resolution giving President Barack Obama the authorization to strike Syria.
How this all will unfold over the coming week is far from certain, but here's how things could play out:
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NAACP leader Benjamin Jealous resigns
(CNN) - Benjamin Todd Jealous will step down as president of the NAACP at the end of December, the civil rights organization announced Sunday.
"The NAACP has always been the largest civil rights organization in the streets, and today it is also the largest civil rights organization online, on mobile and at the ballot box too," Jealous said in a statement issued by the group Sunday afternoon. "I am proud to leave the Association financially sound, sustainable, focused, and more powerful than ever."
FULL STORYLawmakers predict rocky future for Syria proposal
(CNN) - Several lawmakers argued Sunday that President Barack Obama has a steep uphill battle ahead in persuading Congress to support U.S. military action in Syria.
Citing concerns about funding, fears of escalated U.S. involvement and skepticism of the president's plan, Republicans and Democrats alike said they're not convinced the U.S. should launch military strikes.
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GOP lawmaker offers to help W.H. on Syria, hears back nearly week later
(CNN) - Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Iraq war veteran and Republican supporter of the president's request for authorization to strike at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, reached out to the White House on September 2 to offer to help the president and didn't hear back until he noted the lack of a response during a Sunday morning TV appearance.
Kinzinger, R-Illinois, tells CNN his chief of staff sent an email Monday to his White House contact in the office of Legislative Affairs, informing the White House that the congressman would be supporting the authorization in the media and on the floor of the House. Kinzinger would also be willing to help "whip" - or drum up support for - the authorization, the email noted.
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Rogers: Obama is losing support on Capitol Hill
(CNN) - Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wants to see Congress approve the president's pitch to take military action in Syria, but he said the administration has failed at wooing Capitol Hill.
"I think it's very clear he's lost support in the last week," the Michigan Republican said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
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Kerry: Saudi Arabia OK with international military strike on Syria
Paris(CNN) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking Sunday from Paris, where he met with Arab League ministers, said Saudi Arabia has approved international military intervention in Syria.
"They support the strike," Kerry said after meeting with Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal.
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Rand Paul lays out demands ahead of potential Syria filibuster
(CNN) – Sen. Rand Paul, who's already said he opposes the limited U.S. military strikes in Syria being pushed by President Barack Obama, said Sunday he was still weighing his options for stalling a vote in the full Senate on the use of force resolution.
The Kentucky Republican said a filibuster - which he used earlier this year to demand more information from the Obama administration on the use of drones - could only delay a vote, but wouldn't "put off a vote forever."
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Dem rep. says Obama should 'withdraw' authorization request
(CNN) – The president should cancel his request for Congress to approve U.S. military strikes in Syria, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern said Sunday.
"If I were the president, I would withdraw my request for the authorization at this particular point," the congressman from Massachusetts said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I don't believe the support is there in Congress."
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WH chief of staff: ‘This is not Iraq or Afghanistan’
(CNN) – White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough argued Sunday that a military strike in Syria would not be a repeat of previous U.S. involvements in the Middle East or North Africa.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” McDonough said it’s “common sense” that the Syrian regime carried out the deadly chemical weapons attack last month that the U.S. government says left more than 1,400 dead in a Damascus suburb. He added the Obama administration feels “very good about the support” it has from other countries, though he wouldn’t say whether any of that support goes beyond moral backing.
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