Obama Honors Dr. King's Legacy; Boehner Seeks Answers From Obama On Syria; Fifty Years Since "I Have A Dream"
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, the U.S. weighing options for a military strike on Syria, even as the Obama administration continues scrambling for support. Hackers loyal to the Syrian regime take down the "New York Times" Web site. A "Times" correspondent is here with the paper's latest reporting on Syria. Plus, the emotional 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the historic speech that galvanized the civil rights movement. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We begin with an historic moment here in the United States -- the country's first African-American president, President Barack Obama, standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, commemorating the legacy of a man who stood in that very same spot 50 years ago today and delivering an iconic speech that paved the way for what we saw just a little while ago. The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy, a champion of non- violence, comes amid some of the highest stakes for the Obama presidency, as the president weighs imminent military action against Syria for an apparent poison gas attack. CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is over at the White House with the very latest. What's going on --Jim?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Obama did not touch on the situation in Syria during his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, although he did address some domestic political issues. It was a brief diversion for a president who is facing one of the biggest foreign policy challenges of his second term, if only he can overcome some major diplomatic hurdles.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): As the U.S. moved closer to military action, President Obama interrupted his deliberations over Syria to mark an historic milestone, the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His words belonged to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.</s>ACOSTA: The speech was one of only a few public appearances this week for the president, who has little time to spend away from the White House. Any decision to strike Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons is growing more complicated by the day. Over at the U.N., Syria's ambassador sounded the alarm and accused rebels in his country of launching their own gas attacks.</s>BASHAR JAAFARI, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We are in a state of war right now, preparing ourselves for the worst scenario.</s>ACOSTA: A State Department spokeswoman argued Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is responsible for his stockpiles and accused Russia of blocking U.N. action.</s>MARIE HARF, DEPUTY STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We cannot be held up in responding by Russia's intransigence -- continued intransigence at the United Nations.</s>ACOSTA: But in another potential delay, the British may require the U.N. to present its evidence.</s>WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: It is understandable that people want to see what the U.N. inspectors say.</s>ACOSTA: A White House official says the president is spending a lot of time on the decision, calling allies while his national security staff weighs legal justifications for a strike and both military and non-military options. One potential concern, cyber attacks, after hackers based in Syria claimed responsibility for shutting down the "New York Times" online. Up on Capitol Hill, more than 100 House members have signed a letter calling for Congressional authorization before a strike. GOP Senator Rand Paul said, "We should have an open debate in Congress over whether the situation warrants U.S. involvement." To satisfy so many demands, the U.S. and its allies could wait to attack until after President Obama's trip next week to the G20 in Russia.</s>ANTHONY CORDESMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: In many ways, there all right going to be unintended consequences if we do attack. And they may be even worse if we don't.</s>ACOSTA: But first, defense analyst, Anthony Cordesman, says the administration has to make sure it's soon to be released intelligence report on the chemical weapons attack has global credibility.</s>CORDESMAN: If it simply comes across as a piece of propaganda, it is going to do far more harm than good.</s>ACOSTA: Now administration officials say all of this diplomatic maneuvering is not going to impact the decision on whether to strike Syria, a response the White House has said over and over again is coming. But delays are another question. And the United Kingdom, Wolf, the Brits, they are one of those indispensable allies that the United States cannot do without. I talked to a former Obama administration official about this hiccup earlier this afternoon. And that official said this does, indeed, complicate things. On another front here at home, House Speaker John Boehner has just put out a statement, a letter to President Obama, calling for more answers, asking him to explain to the American people what is at stake in Syria and why the United States should commit military resources there. Wolf, there are questions on both sides of the Atlantic for this president this evening -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Yes, this debate intensifying on both sides of the Atlantic, especially here in the nation's capital. Jim Acosta, thanks very much. Let's bring in our political panel right now. Joining us, our chief national correspondent, John King, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, and the host of the new "CROSSFIRE," Van Jones, a former special adviser to President Obama. It's very interesting that when the president was a senator and he was dealing with these kinds of issues, this is what he said back in 2007 about using -- about Congressional authorization being required. "The president does not have power, under "The Constitution"" -- this is Senator Barack Obama -- "to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation." That was then. Vice President Joe Biden, when he was a senator back in 2007, in a different context, going to war against Iran, said this. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM DECEMBER 18, 2007, COURTESY YOUTUBE/CLIFFORD DAY) JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I want I want to make it clear -- and I made it clear to the president -- that if he takes the nation to war in Iran without Congressional approval, I will make it my business to impeach him.</s>BIDEN: And that's a fact. That is a fact.</s>BLITZER: "That is a fact," he said, "that is a fact." If he goes to war against Iran without Congressional approval, I will call for his impeachment -- you know, John, Iran is a major supporter of Syria -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. And the Iranians say they will retaliate if the U.S. were to launch these strikes.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's one of the strategic calculations about how to do the military operation. And one of the great skepticism you get in Congress, you talk to retired diplomats, you talk to retired generals, is that can you deliver that blunt force on Syria, as the president is planning, without causing a domino effect? Look at a map. There's Lebanon. There's Israel. Iran not that far away. The whole, you know, the Gulf Region right there. The administration is trying to come up with a military plan that punishes Syria without having a ripple effect outside of Syria. Wolf, you know the neighborhood very well. That's incredibly small. As for those comments you just played, welcome to the political debate back home. There's a lot of hangover, legacy of the Iraq War debate, in the debate now, whether it's about -- skepticism about the intelligence. The president publicly saying this is not about regime change. That's Saddam Hussein reverberating years later. So the president has got some tough calls to make.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: There's a big hangover, obviously --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>BORGER: -- from the question of Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction. And the letter from the House speaker that Jim Acosta just spoke about is so interesting to me, because what he specifically -- he asked a whole bunch of questions. One of his questions is, what result is the administration seeking from its response? So what -- in other words, what he's saying is, what's your mission statement here? Tell me what you want to do, because you --</s>BLITZER: Van, you worked --</s>BORGER: -- haven't consulted me.</s>BLITZER: You worked for the president.</s>VAN JONES, CNN CO-HOST, CROSSFIRE: Yes.</s>BLITZER: If this were Bush in the White House, and he were still a senator and Bush was about to launch missile strikes against Syria, wouldn't that Senator Barack Obama want Congressional authorization at first?</s>JONES: Well, welcome to checks and balances. Yes, of course. When you're on the legislative part, you want to make sure that you have the role there. But I think the president is very clear. He's trying to do something that's tough to do. He's threading a needle here. He has to react. We can't have a week go by while we talk and while -- and then more people get gassed. If we're sitting here a week from now and more Syrian people get gassed --</s>BLITZER: One hundred thousand have already been killed --</s>JONES: And if they</s>BLITZER: -- through conventional weapons.</s>JONES: That is terrible. But we cannot have a new normal in the world where --</s>BORGER: But it happened in the spring.</s>JONES: -- chemical weapons -- well --</s>BORGER: But it happened last spring, too.</s>JONES: Sure. But there was -- there was dispute and there was discussion about whether it was them, whether it was the rebels. This is now -- we know for sure, according to the U.S. government, that this is -- this is innocent civilians, men, women, children and babies being gassed. This is an emergency. He's got to respond. But he can't tip us over into a situation where we get sucked into a real war. So he's got to try and, send a message, but not topple the regime, create a --</s>BORGER: But the law of unintended consequences says --</s>BORGER: -- And that's what John Boehner is asking and that's what other members of Congress are asking, which is, OK, what does Assad do? We don't know what his response is. Do we get drawn into some kind of a quagmire here that we're not willing to pay for --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>BORGER: -- or that we're not willing to pay for in money, in blood or treasure, right?</s>KING: And, again that's the hangover from Iraq.</s>BORGER: Right.</s>KING: We would be greeted as liberators. It would be a short war. It would be over very quickly --</s>BLITZER: That's what they said.</s>KING: -- it wouldn't cost that much. The Iraqi oil would pay for it. None of that happened. And so have a more assertive --</s>KING: -- Congress now.</s>KING: But if the tide --</s>KING: -- were turned -- if the tide were turned and we had a Republican president --</s>KING: There's a letter circulating now --</s>BLITZER: The difference between --</s>KING: The Republicans --</s>BLITZER: -- the difference then -- between then and now --</s>BLITZER: -- 2003 --</s>BLITZER: -- and now, is there was Congressional authorization to go after Saddam Hussein.</s>BLITZER: The House passed it and the Senate passed it --</s>JONES: Wolf --</s>BLITZER: And the president had that authorization. You don't expect, in the next few days, Congress, which isn't even in session now, to pass a resolution authorizing the use of force in Syria?</s>JONES: I don't. But let me tell you what -- what I think the steps are. I think the president needs to respond to deter further action, respond to degrade the capacity for more innocent men, women and children to be gassed. We cannot have a new normal where that begins to happen. And to your point, since we didn't do it in March, I think that's not an argument not to</s>BLITZER: So you want --</s>BLITZER: I want to move on.</s>BLITZER: I want to move on.</s>BLITZER: I want to move on. But I just want to be clear.</s>JONES: Yes?</s>BLITZER: So you support -- if the president were to --</s>JONES: A limited strike.</s>BLITZER: -- do this, even though there's no Congressional authorization, no NATO vote, no United Nations Security Council vote, no Arab League vote, that he is basically going in with a few allies, you say it's OK for the United States to do that?</s>JONES: I say it's OK for a limited retaliatory strike this week to send a message that you can't keep doing this. Then he's got to stop --</s>BLITZER: For humanitarians reasons.</s>JONES: For humanitarian reasons to send --</s>BLITZER: Because U.S. interests -- U.S. national security is not in danger.</s>JONES: The U.S. has a national security interest in not having a new normal on the world stage where innocent children can be gassed by dictators. That is true. And then you stop after that retaliatory strike and you've got to talk to Congress.</s>BORGER: But there's no guarantees. That's the problem.</s>JONES: Fair enough.</s>BORGER: Because if Assad loses command and control --</s>JONES: But there's</s>BORGER: -- could it -- of chemical weapons --</s>JONES: There is more risk now --</s>BORGER: -- could it go into the wrong hands?</s>JONES: I agree with you. But there is more risk now for not acting than for acting.</s>BLITZER: You know, we heard a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King, appropriately, today. A lot of people don't remember -- I remember, and I'm sure all of you remember -- after that speech 50 years ago, before he was assassinated a few years later, he became one of the principal opponents of the U.S. war in Vietnam. Let me play you a clip of what he said in opposing that kind of warfare.</s>DR.  MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: The world now demands a</s>BLITZER: That was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. in 1967. A quick question. If he were alive today -- I wish he were alive today -- if he were alive today, would he support military operations in Syria?</s>JONES: I'm sure that Dr. King would not. And it's interesting. I actually was born in '68, so I was born the year that he was killed. I'm sure --</s>BORGER: Don't rub it in.</s>JONES: This is a true story, a true story.</s>JONES: So I was born the year that he killed -- that he was killed and Bobby Kennedy was killed. Certainly that generation, the Vietnam generation, in my generation, the Iraq War generation has learned that you do not go into and put troops on the ground recklessly. But this is not what the president is proposing. He's basically saying we're going to do a brush back, tell this guy you can't keep doing this. And then he should come to Congress and we should discuss what's going forward. And we also should build a coalition of forces to move forward here.</s>BLITZER: All right, guys, we'll continue this conversation, but a good start to our program here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks very much. Up next, the new times -- the "New York Times," I should say, knocked offline, apparently Syrian hackers. We've invited the paper's national security correspondent to deliver their latest reporting on Syria right here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Stand by for Mark Mazzetti. Plus, Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama all speaking at this very emotional 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.