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A satellite cellphone rings for rebel commander Bashar al-Zawi, at home with his family in the Jordanian city of Irbid. It's a rare domestic break for this wealthy businessman turned rebel commander. But he is anxious to get back to his battalion of 5,000 fighters in southern Syria.

They are taking part in a rebel offensive that is squeezing the Syrian army around the city of Dera'a. Military analysts say the fight is one of the most strategically important battles in Syria's civil war, because Dera'a, close to Damascus, is President Bashar Assad's stronghold in the southwest.

What are Zawi's aims when he returns to Dera'a later that night? "Escalation. I'm a leader of a brigade — so my job is not to preach peace," he says with a laugh.

Syrian opposition leaders were deeply disappointed by President Obama's decision to call off threatened military strikes in favor of diplomacy after the Syrian government allegedly used chemical weapons against its own people.

And on the ground in southern Syria, rebel commanders say U.S. promises of lethal aid appear to be on hold as Washington pursues a diplomatic track.

But Zawi shrugs off disappointment with the most recent U.S. policy shift. He is focused on the fight for Dera'a, where, he says, months of quiet preparation have paid off.

Rebel sources say earlier this year Saudi Arabia stepped up arms shipments through Jordan; the CIA vetted the rebel groups that received the arms to make sure none went to Islamist extremists. Zawi says there are no extremists in the south.

"There is a good command between the groups, and hopefully, we will be successful, but there is a shortage of ammunition," he says.

And that's where Zawi and other commanders see a link between the U.S. turn to diplomacy and waning U.S. support for rebels on the ground. The pipeline of weapons, ammunition and nonlethal aid pledged by the U.S. has slowed in recent weeks, just as rebels were inching closer to regime-controlled Dera'a. America's focus, says Zawi, has shifted to destroying chemical weapons, while the rebels insist on destroying the regime.

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An initiative in Los Angeles County is trying to help the homeless by first connecting them with a place to live. The "housing first" model has been used in cities across the country in recent years to combat long-term homelessness.

In L.A. County, the Home For Good project focuses on those who are most at risk, aiming to end chronic homelessness in the area by 2016. Homeless-services providers are gathering information about the population and ranking individuals' vulnerability. Then, the goal is to move the most in need into permanent housing, quickly.

Research has shown that the "housing first" model can save money by keeping the chronically homeless out of emergency rooms, jails and shelters.

The approach has its critics, though, even among advocates. They argue that devoting so many resources to this subpopulation isn't helping to reduce overall homelessness.

Help On The Streets

AmeriCorps members Robert Harper and Charles Miller make daily rounds on Los Angeles' Skid Row, to seek out the most vulnerable people living on the streets. They work with other agencies to find them a permanent place to live — and they try to do it fast, Harper says.

"A person is out here about to die and you tell them, 'Sign a waitlist and wait for a year'? Come on, now," he says. "We're known as the 90-day people."

On a recent day, they visit Billy Ray West, who had agreed to meet them at a nearby fast food joint. West, 53, is an alcoholic and has lived on the streets for more than 30 years. If they can help him track down his birth certificate, he'll be under a roof within the next few months, no strings attached.

West is what these agencies would call "chronically homeless:" people who have been living on the streets for an extended period of time and may suffer from a disabling condition. They make up a quarter of L.A. County's homeless population but use three-quarters of its homeless resources, according to the United Way.

Before meeting Harper and Miller, West says, he hadn't received much help on Skid Row. But he says that's on him. "You know, I've just really been too damn lazy, just sitting ... around doing nothing. You know, just drinking all day," he says. "That's basically my fault, because I wasn't doing nothing to help myself."

Cross-Agency Collaboration

The Two-Way

$64,000 Raised So Far For Homeless Man Who Turned In $42,000

An initiative in Los Angeles County is trying to help the homeless by first connecting them with a place to live. The "housing first" model has been used in cities across the country in recent years to combat long-term homelessness.

In L.A. County, the Home For Good project focuses on those who are most at risk, aiming to end chronic homelessness in the area by 2016. Homeless-services providers are gathering information about the population and ranking individuals' vulnerability. Then, the goal is to move the most in need into permanent housing, quickly.

Research has shown that the "housing first" model can save money by keeping the chronically homeless out of emergency rooms, jails and shelters.

The approach has its critics, though, even among advocates. They argue that devoting so many resources to this subpopulation isn't helping to reduce overall homelessness.

Help On The Streets

AmeriCorps members Robert Harper and Charles Miller make daily rounds on Los Angeles' Skid Row, to seek out the most vulnerable people living on the streets. They work with other agencies to find them a permanent place to live — and they try to do it fast, Harper says.

"A person is out here about to die and you tell them, 'Sign a waitlist and wait for a year'? Come on, now," he says. "We're known as the 90-day people."

On a recent day, they visit Billy Ray West, who had agreed to meet them at a nearby fast food joint. West, 53, is an alcoholic and has lived on the streets for more than 30 years. If they can help him track down his birth certificate, he'll be under a roof within the next few months, no strings attached.

West is what these agencies would call "chronically homeless:" people who have been living on the streets for an extended period of time and may suffer from a disabling condition. They make up a quarter of L.A. County's homeless population but use three-quarters of its homeless resources, according to the United Way.

Before meeting Harper and Miller, West says, he hadn't received much help on Skid Row. But he says that's on him. "You know, I've just really been too damn lazy, just sitting ... around doing nothing. You know, just drinking all day," he says. "That's basically my fault, because I wasn't doing nothing to help myself."

Cross-Agency Collaboration

The Two-Way

$64,000 Raised So Far For Homeless Man Who Turned In $42,000

Circumstance might have led R&B musicians Syleena Johnson and Musiq Soulchild to meet, but it was chemistry that got them to record an entire album together. They sat down recently with Tell Me More host Michel Martin, and talked about the spontaneity of the project and the emotional underpinnings beneath the surface.

Interview Highlights