By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 00:02 EST, 2 September 2013 | UPDATED: 03:11 EST, 2 September 2013 President Obama and his top aides began a full-scale political offensive on Sunday to persuade a skeptical Congress to approve a military strike against Syria, but faced a struggle to win over lawmakers from both parties and a war-weary American public. The President made calls to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, with more scheduled for Monday, underscoring the task confronting the administration before it can go ahead with using force in response to a deadly chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government.
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Lawmakers cut short vacation to join intelligence briefing
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Most agree regime did use chemical weapons but are split on resolution
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John Kerry likens Assad to Hitler and Hussein for attack that killed 1,400
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Polls show public is mainly opposed to strike
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USS Nimitz and entire strike group redirected to help if needed
Innocents: According to @placeholder estimates, of the 1,429 killed in the attack, 426 were children