[Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Hello. Don Lemon here. It is the top of the hour. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Syria's civil war today moved from an international crisis to also a domestic political battle. President Barack Obama announcing that he will delay potential military action against the Syrian government so that he can seek congressional authorization for the use of force.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] For the last several days, we've heard from members of Congress who want their voices to be heard. I absolutely agree. So, this morning, I spoke with all four congressional leaders, and they've agreed to schedule a debate and then a vote as soon as Congress come back into session.
[Lemon:] Well, the president'decision has already opened a vigorous debate even with most lawmakers out of town on recess. They are scheduled to return, by the way, September 9th. But already, many are speaking out.
[Sen. Ted Cruz , Texas:] I am very glad that President Obama has listened to the bipartisan calls for him to go to Congress and seek congressional authorization before any possible use of force in Syria. That was the right thing to do, and many making that decision it seems he agrees that there is no imminent threat requiring action before Congress can consider the issues and make the decision.
[Lemon:] Let's get to Washington now and CNN senior White House correspondent is Jim Acosta, of course. And, Jim, you have new information about how the president decided to pursue congressional authorization. What do you know?
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Well, Don, I have to tell you, the president essentially called a time out in his deliberations over what to do about Syria. This was laid out in detail by senior administration officials earlier this afternoon. Those officials saying that the president essentially was kicking around this decision in his head for several days but not really sharing that with his national security team. They weren't even discussing this during national security meetings. And then around 6:00 yesterday evening, the president came to this remarkable decision, really almost a reversal of course for this administration, which had been really moving steadily toward military action. He decided the go on a 45-minute walk, his administration officials say, with his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, who has very close ties with, of course, where they talked about this idea of seeking congressional authorization, going through the pros and cons of this kind of decision. And then he came back to the White House and announced this to his national security team and then those advisers got into this very heated debate from what senior administration officials are telling us about this course of action this new course of action the president was taking. He then got on the phone and called his vice president, called the Secretary of State John Kerry, called Chuck Hagel, the defense secretary. And then this morning, they all reconvened for what they call the principles meeting at the White House. That's just not the national security team. It's also the intelligence team, people like the director of national intelligence. James Clapper, he was in the room. If you look at that culture, you can tell, people are being brought in from perhaps their Labor Day weekend plans. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, you can see him wearing sort of tan blazer with a pink polo underneath. So, really, I mean, this came as sort of a shock to a lot of administration officials, Don, because this was not something they were really entertaining among their range of options. This is something the president decided to do very late in the game. It's going to buy him some time. But, Don, I have to tell you talking with administration officials, they knowledge that this decision, this course of action, does come with some risks. Obviously, the vote may not go their way in Congress when that goes down. Obviously, there's the risk that Bashar al-Assad could launch more chemical weapons attacks. So, this is a roll of the dice from this president, and it comes with a lot of ramifications if it doesn't go his way, Don.
[Lemon:] Let's go back inside of the Situation Room and talk about what you said. You said this wasn't something considered in their range of options. What was in their range of options, this getting seeking the approval of Congress not in there? So, what was?
[Acosta:] Well, what was in there was the president is seeking to use military force to essentially punish Bashar al-Assad for the alleged use of chemical weapons around Damascus on August 21st. And there's a little bit more to the tick tock in all of this, and that administration officials say it was last Saturday, about one week ago, when people inside the administration had essentially come to the conclusion that Assad was responsible for the use of these chemical weapons. The president was reaching the conclusion he had to take some kind of action to show the world that this kind of use of chemical weapons won't be tolerated. He did not make the final decision to use military force until yesterday, Don. But all week long, the president was very much in favor of doing this sort of thing but in the back of his mind, he was he was wrestling with this notion that perhaps he should have Congress come in and have a vote on this. And that's when he shared with his administration last night to the surprise of a lot of people here at the White House, Don.
[Lemon:] Great detail. Jim Acosta standing on the lawn of the White House Jim, thank you very much for that. We're going to continue now in Washington. And our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, joining us. Dana so, this was a lot of pressure from Congress. You heard a lot of members of Congress saying, we want to have a say in this. Our people at home are demanding that we have a say. Many of them are against this. How much pressure does that put on the president?
[Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Congressional Corresondent:] A fair amount. Look, I mean, I think you just heard from Jim's reporting. The White House says the president kind of had an epiphany late yesterday after he had been knocking it around in his own head. Well, there were a lot of factors that went into this decision. But there's no question that the fact that members of Congress, members of his own party, and I'm told some of the more moderate Democrats who don't tend to be anti-war said to administration officials yesterday afternoon on a conference call, hold on a second. If you're not racing to go ahead and strike militarily like you didn't do it yesterday, then there's no rush then you should come to Congress and get an authorization before going forward. So, absolutely, there was pressure from Congress to do so. The open question, though, now, Don, is whether or not, obviously, the president is going to have an embarrassing vote or set of votes in the Senate or the House, or whether or not he is going to be able to muscle this through, because already talking to Republican sources who run the House, they're not going to really help the president twist arms. They are sort of throwing up their hands and saying this is the president's decision, this is the president's mission, and it's up to him to find the vote.
[Lemon:] Yes, I'm going to ask you this and then another question. So, yes, quickly I mean, it seems like, the president has put a lot, has he backed himself into a corner here?
[Bash:] You know, we'll know the answer to that after we see the votes. I know that sounds like a cop out answer, but that's the truth of the matter. This is very risky. He really has stunned a lot of people. I mean, look, just a couple of days ago I was reporting based on conversations I was having with senior people in Congress that part of the reason they felt the president was not coming to Congress for authorization vote is because it wouldn't pass. That was before what happened in Great Britain, where the prime minister there had a hugely embarrassing vote. So, it really is still an open question. He's putting his faith, in many ways, his credibility, not the U.S. credibility, in the hands of Congress that has not been reluctant to go their own way even when this whole issue of the president saying that there's a moral obligation or anything else is in front of them.
[Lemon:] Listen, I say this, I'm smiling but it's serious. Every time I turn the television on today, you had some new information. I came at you with two questions when I introduced you. So, maybe it should be the stock reporter or anchor question, what new information do you have? Do you have some new details that you wanted to share with us?
[Bash:] At this hour, not anything fresh off the phone or off the e- mail but I have been
[Lemon:] My panel is laughing because they're agreeing. You always have new information. Go ahead.
[Bash:] You caught me. But I will say to maybe the best thing to do at this hour, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, is to wrap up the sort of gist of the conversations I've had with various senators and so forth who have been on conference calls and in briefings is that even those who are kind of at their heart, natural allies of the president and want to be aggressive and want to go after Syria, they simply do not feel comfortable. Never mind the intelligence that Assad really did use chemical weapons.
[Lemon:] Because of the because the people at home don't want them to go, right? Because of the public opinion.
[Bash:] Not just people at home don't want them to go. It's because they still do not feel that they still do not feel that they understand the president's military objectives and military goals and that even just a pinprick strike is going to perhaps do more harm than good. That's what a couple of senators said to me today.
[Lemon:] All right. Dana, I want to talk to you. Will you stick around with us? I want you to be part of my panel. All right? Will you do that?
[Bash:] Sure.
[Lemon:] Because next, we're going to break down the president's entire speech with our amazing panel. Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is here. He's in New York. Also with me is Chris Dickey of "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." Fouad Ajami of the Hoover Institution. And security analyst Rick Francona in Washington. Don't go anywhere. It's going to be interesting.