france, was arrested early this morning for the alleged sexual assault of a new york city hotel maid. his attorneys tell cnn strauss-khan will plead not guilty to the charges against him. strauss-khan is considered the strongest potential challenger to president nicholas sarkozy in france's 2012 elections. those are cnn's top stories. two months into a vicious and deadly government crackdown against protesters in syria, a bipartisan group of 16 u.s. senators signed a joint resolution ushrging president obama to up the pressure on syria's leadership with stronger sanctions. >> bashar al assad should no longer be treated as the illegitimate ruler of syria. like his father before him, is he a criminal. >> and it is time for the president of the united states to speak up forcefully. >> it is strategic and moral nonsense to say that we should hold back from supporting the