Also on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia of sending attack helicopters to aid the Assad regime.

A top Senate Democrat on Tuesday challenged Mitt Romney to explain how he would deliver on promises to bolster defense spending while limiting tax increases. 

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GOP Sens. McCain, Graham bash Obama, Biden for hypocrisy; Sen. Feinstein (D) opposes independent investigation on leaks. 

Holder said he and FBI Director Robert Mueller have both been questioned in the probe. 

Holder rebuffed calls for a special counsel, telling lawmakers he had "great faith" in the U.S. attorneys investigating the leaks.

Yemen's embassy in Washington released an unprompted public statement Tuesday claiming a “significant” victory against al Qaeda-linked militants in the restive country, but without mentioning the controversial U.S. role.

The statement follows reports early Tuesday that the U.S.-backed Yemeni army had driven insurgents from two of their main strongholds in the south of the country. Militants from Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) had held the two southern cities for more than a year, Reuters reports.

“Yemen’s military, with the direct support of the patriotic citizens of Abyan, have broken the strength of al Qaeda,” reads the statement from embassy spokesman Mohammed Albasha.

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The United Nations is out with a grisly report on the situation in Syria that documents incidents of torture and the use of children as young as 8 as human shields.

The U.N. report blames the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using children in the violent conflict.

Syrian forces used children from ages 8 to 13 as human shields for a raid, the report says, the army “placing them in front of the windows of buses carrying military personnel into the raid on the village.”

The Topline: Attorney General Eric Holder is headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to testify one day after House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he plans to move forward with a resolution next week placing Holder in contempt of Congress.

While Holder’s fight with Republicans over the "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation will be the main event at Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, the investigation launched by the Justice Department Friday over a series of national security leaks will be provide a very strong undercard.

The Judiciary panel has a number of senators who have taken a particular interest in the leak cases, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman, who says she will be writing legislation to try to clamp down on the intelligence leaks.

The panel also includes several Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), who have questioned whether politics is involved in the leaks and have called for a special counsel to investigate.

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House Republicans want President Obama to explain why war funding was included in the automatic spending cuts facing the Pentagon.