[Kristie Lu Stout:] And welcome to NEWS STREAM where news and technology meet. Now Syria asks the UN to prevent any aggression against it as world leaders decide on what action to take. A sharp spike in radiation levels has been detected in parts of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. And huge crowds in Spain meet Real Madrid's latest multi-million dollar star Gareth Bale. Now Syria's president has asked the United Nations to prevent aggression against his country, but Washington has already pressed the pause button on U.S. military intervention. President Barack Obama says a strike on Syria is necessary, but he wants approval from congress and that vote is expected next week. But no matter how it goes, Mr. Obama could still decide to go ahead with military action. Now two influential Republicans are to visit the White House to discuss Syria with President Obama. Administration officials were calling other lawmakers to make the case for military action. Now Congress is currently on a break, but some members have returned to Washington. Dana Bash surveys the mood on Capitol Hill.
[Dana Bash, Cnn Correponsdent:] One after another lawmakers emerged from a classified briefing intended to convince them to authorize force in Syria supremely unconvinced. Republicans
[Rep. Michael Burgess , Texas:] Certainly the mood in the district that I represent is, do not do this, and I honestly didn't hear anything that told me I thought to have a different position.
[Unidentified Male:] I'm a no based on the information that I have now.
[Bash:] And many of the president's fellow Democrats.
[Rep. Jim Himes , Connecticut:] I'm still very skeptical about the president's proposal. It's not clear to me that we know what the results of this attack would be meaning will it be effective?
[Bash:] If a vote were taken today, would be a yes or no?
[Unidentified Male:] I honestly cannot say.
[Bash:] Democrat Janice Hahn took the red eye from California seeking answers that left with lots of questions.
[Rep. Janice Hahn , California:] We want there to be some consequences. What is that? Is that just going to war? Is that bombing? Is that killing more people? I'm not there yet. I would not vote for it today
[Bash:] To be short, the president does have some support. [on camera]: Where are you right now, are you a yes or a no?
[Unidentified Male:] I'm a yes.
[Bash:] But to get enough yes to pass, one thing is clear. This version of authorization the White House sent Congress Saturday night must be changed.
[Sen. Roy Blunt , Missouri:] The biggest single concern among the members may very well have been a very broad request for authority with a supposedly very narrow intent to do anything.
[Bash:] That concern is bipartisan. Lawmakers say they want to limit the authority they give to the president, specify a time frame for military strikes that make crystal clear no boots on the ground.
[Unidentified Male:] Blank checks are even partial blank checks.
[Bash:] And this is a blank check.
[Unidentified Male:] Well, this is a partial blank check the way it's currently draft.
[Stout:] Dana Bash reporting there. And Russia also remains unconvinced. Let's bring in Phil Black from Moscow. And Phil, how is Moscow reacting, in particular, to the evidence presented by the U.S. of the reported chemical attack?
[Phil Black, Cnn International Correspondent:] The Russian position, Kristie, is they don't think there is enough evidence to implicate the Syrian government in using chemical weapons. Today, the foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says he's seen information provided by the United States, but it was short on detail. They asked for more information, more details and were told that's a secret, the sources are secret, so therefore that's not possible. So a great deal of disbelief still from the Russian government. Sergei Lavrov speaking today made comparisons between what they're hearing now and the situation 10 years ago when the United States was arguing to go to war in Iraq. And he spoke about how this is part of an ongoing double standard when it comes to U.S. and western policy in the region. Take a look at what he said today.
[Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister:] We can see the double standards. There's a personalized moment when distaste for some dictators leads to the necessity to topple them, but not some other dictators who are allies of our western partners.
[Black:] So while the United States and its allies claims there is conclusive proof implicating the Syrian government, the Russian position is still that actually there's a lot of evidence and logic that suggests the Syrian opposition was responsible for using chemical weapons on this occasion. And the Russian theory goes that the opposition have used chemical weapons against the [inaudible] as part of a plan to manipulate international opinion and trigger some form of foreign intervention D Kristie.
[Stout:] Now, in the United States President Obama is trying to bring lawmakers on side to agree to take military action against Syria. If the U.S. decides to go ahead with that, how is Russia prepared to respond?
[Black:] There's not a lot Russia can do. It's already said that it will not get involved militarily, so that line will not be crossed. Russia says that it will simply continue to try and argue in favor of applying international law. Russia believes that any sort of action that is taken without a mandate from the UN security council will be illegal. Russia believes that the only way to solve this crisis is diplomatically. So before all of this escalated because of the alleged use of chemical weapons, Russia and the United States were working together on bringing together some sort of big, international peace conference involving all parties, no preconditions in the hope of settling this around the table. Russia says it will continue to try and achieve that, but it believes that if military action is taken with the intention of punishing Assad for using chemical weapons or aiming to deter him from using them again in the future, he still thinks that will be enough to delay any chance of a peace process for a long time, perhaps indefinitely, because the Russian minister Sergei Lavrov today said that should that happen it will remove all incentive from the opposition to sit down at a table and talk. He believes they want to push for an outright military win. And that is why they are very keen to see some form of international intervention in Syria Kristie.
[Stout:] All right, Phil Black reporting live for us from Moscow, thank you. Now Russia is not the only country that has blocked the UN security council from action against Syria. China has as well. But Beijing says it supports the UN's chemical weapons investigation. Now China's foreign ministry spokesman says that the international community must wait for those results.
[Hong Lei, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman:] We are gravely concerned that some countries may take unilateral military actions. We believe any action taken by the international community should abide by the purpose and principles of the UN charter as well as basic norms governing international relations.
[Stout:] OK. Now NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, he is giving his monthly briefing in Brussels right now. We expect him to address the situation in Syria. Let's bring in the live video feed and let's listen in.
[Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato Secretary-general:] ...of individuals allies as they consider the way ahead. Make no mistake, NATO is an alliance of democracies and our democracy does not make us weaker, on the contrary it is the essential source of our strengths. But as the situation in Syria demonstrates, we continue to face significant security challenges and it is vital that we are prepared to meet them.
[Stout:] OK, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO chief speaking there live, monthly briefing in Brussels. Earlier on, he condemned the reported chemical attack in Syria. We're still awaiting additional word from the NATO chief on the situation there. On Friday, he said that the alliance had no plans for military action. If there is a change to that, we'll bring that to you right here on NEWS STREAM, but we will continue to monitor that live press event underway in Brussels for you. Now meanwhile, the Arab League says that the international community must do more. Now the senior international correspondent for us Nic Robertson, he joins us now live from Amman, Jordan. And Nic, the Arab League says that action should be taken against Syria. But what action? And what is it prepared to do?
[Nic Robertson, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, that's the interesting thing from looking at the resolution from the Arab League in Cairo in Sunday. They don't specify exactly what, but implicit in this resolution, according to diplomats I talked to who have been close to the process, they say there is the implicit support for U.S. strikes here. Saudi Arabia was leading the way trying to get a strong a resolution as possible from the Arab League. It contains three parts. It contains condemnation of the attack, attribution, blaming Bashar al-Assad's regime for the attack, and then that calls, as you say, for the international community to do something. The Saudi foreign minister said Syria's crossed the line, we cannot continue to watch what is happening there. But why has the Arab League stopped short of explicit support for strikes? Well, the Arab street, if you will, is very much opposed to any kind of western intervention in any Arab nation. And certainly there's an understanding on the Arab street as well that what Bashar al-Assad is doing is wrong and it's the balance of these two things that diplomats I've talked to here say is difficult for the Arab League. But what they've tried to do really under the direction of Saudi Arabia is, if you will, give a strong political signal to Barack Obama, to the U.S. congress, to the French while they debate this issue as well about continuing forward on the track of taking actions, despite the fact the UN is not going to clear that path.
[Stout:] Now they Jordan, where you're reporting from, is a very key U.S. ally in the region. What is its stance on any U.S. led action against Syria?
[Robertson:] Well, right now its position is it's not going to be used as a launching pad. The government here has said that they want to see a diplomatic solution. But it's very clear witness there both at the Arab League and the work they've been doing behind the scenes to bring about a strong as statement as possible is that they do believe strikes are necessary. There is concern, very big concern that the security and stability of Jordan is at stake, not just with the strikes, but there could be potentially a backlash, although they play that down. But the concern that the longer this goes on in Syria, the stronger groups like al-Nusra?
[Stout:] OK. Our apologies for that technical glitch just then, but Nic Robertson just then reporting live from Amman, Jordan. Now you could find more regional reaction right here on our website. This is all part of our complete coverage of the Syrian crisis. Among other things, there's also this piece by CNN's security analyst Peter Bergen. And in it he writes, quote, in going to congress for the Syria authorization, we see not only the former constitutional law processor and pragmatist in Obama, but also the calculated risk taker. You can read the rest at CNN.com. Now you're watching NEWS STREAM. And coming up next, dozens injured after a tornado rips through parts of eastern Japan. We'll go live to the world weather center for more details. Also, the ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, he will stand trial. We'll check in with our correspondent in Cairo. And later, Real Madrid confirmed signing Gareth Bale a reported recordbreaking deal.