(CNN) -- Woody Allen famously said that 80% of success in life is about just showing up. He's wrong. Success in life -- as in diplomacy -- is about showing up at the right time. So Is John Kerry coming to the Israeli-Hamas crisis too early, too late or just at the right time?

The secretary of state has been eager to get into the middle of this almost since it started. He considered going last weekend from Vienna, Austria, where he had joined five other world powers in negotiations with Iran on the nuclear deal. But he smartly decided -- or was discouraged by the Egyptians who were in the middle of their own cease-fire mediation -- not to go.

Still, the rising number of deaths primarily on the Palestinian side and the real danger of escalation of a ground incursion left him little choice. Regardless of the outcome, after Syria and Iraq, both President Barack Obama and Kerry realized that the United States couldn't sit on the sidelines like a potted plant.

Kerry arrives in Israel

Moreover, Kerry's hot mic comments showing his irritation at Israel's supposed "pinpoint" airstrikes in Gaza revealed a good deal more frustration than simply a desire to collect more frequent flier miles. Kerry is an activist and simply couldn't abide the fact that people were dying and the United States wasn't at least trying to stop it.

But desire and passion won't produce a deal. Kerry proved that in his nine-month effort to negotiate an agreed framework for peace between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. did Kerry make comments on a "hot" mic?
2. how long was his effort to negotiate a framework for peace?
3. who was he trying to broker peace between?
4. who is the leader of Israel?
5. and who is the leader of Palestine?
6. who is the secretary of state?
7. what has he been eager to do?
8. who discouraged him from going?
9. what famous actor is mentioned?
10. how much of life does he think is just showing up?
11. is the death toll rising on the palestinian side?
Answer: 1. yes
2. nine months
3. Israel and Hamas
4. Benjamin Netanyahu
5. Mahmoud Abbas
6. John kerry
7. work on the Israeli-Hamas crisis
8. the Egyptions
9. Woody Allen
10. 80%
11. yes

Two years into the Syrian conflict, President Obama has decided it's finally time to explain it to the American people in a speech he will give from the Oval Office on Tuesday. But from the beginning, President Obama's strategy in Syria -- if he ever had one -- has been confused.

Years of dithering, red lines that went unanswered, and a failure to persuade our international allies and the American public to get on board with the president's nonplan plan, has resulted, not surprisingly, in a confused Congress.

On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain was against the president's plan for limited intervention but on Wednesday changed his mind. Sen. Marco Rubio was for intervention in Syria for the past two years, but he cannot support Obama's plan for military strikes.

On the Democratic side, many who have previously defended Obama's foreign policy as somehow morally superior to his predecessor for its caution and thoughtfulness now seem delighted to support his new war in Syria. Then there are Democrats who seem a little less fuzzy on their long-held principles and do not support intervening in Syria.

Obama's own administration seems confused as well. Secretary of State John Kerry has had to backpedal more than once after contradicting official policy in Syria, which is admittedly hard to discern.

Even Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been an awkward spokesman, spending the better part of the past year telling Congress that Syrian intervention was unwise. As Eli Lake, a correspondent for the Daily Beast puts it, "On Tuesday, Dempsey was not much more helpful for the president's case for war in the Senate. He contradicted President Obama's contention from Saturday that delays would not affect the Syria war plan, confirming the Syrian military was adjusting to press leaks about an early plan." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Has Kerry had to change his story?
2. How many times?
3. What is his title?
4. Under which President?
5. Did any of the opposing party change their opinion?
6. Who?
7. What's his party?
8. And his title?
9. Any other of his party change?
10. Who?
11. And his title?
12. Who will be giving a talk?
13. And his title?
14. Where will he speak from?
15. When?
16. Has he been clear on his strategic plans?
17. Who is Dempsey?
18. Has he been good at clarifying options?
19. Who is the reporter?
20. For what publication?
Answer: 1. Yes
2. More than once
3. Secretary of State
4. Obama
5. Yes
6. John McCain
7. Republican
8. Senator
9. Yes
10. Marco Rubio
11. Senator
12. Obama
13. President
14. Oval Office
15. Tuesday.
16. No
17. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
18. No
19. Eli Lake
20. Daily Beast

New York (CNN) -- A New York man arrested in connection with the stabbing of two children in Brooklyn may be linked to another stabbing in a Manhattan subway, a law enforcement official told CNN Thursday.

Police believe Daniel St. Hubert, 27, was out on parole when he stabbed two young children inside an elevator -- killing one of them.

St. Hubert was arrested by detectives around 8 p.m. Wednesday.

He was arrested around the same time that Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce identified St. Hubert by name for the first time as the suspect in the attack.

Detectives were obtaining evidence Thursday that could link him to a fatal stabbing on the subway in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the official said.

Investigators were executing search warrants to see if he is linked to additional stabbings since his release from prison on May 23, a law enforcement official said.

Law enforcement has been involved with St. Hubert plenty in the past, including nine arrests, though police did not specify all the outcomes.

The most recent instance was May 23, when, Boyce said. St. Hubert was released on parole in connection to a domestic assault case.

Nine days later, police believe he encountered 6-year-old Prince Joshua "PJ" Avitto and 7-year-old Mikayla Capers inside an elevator at a public housing complex in Brooklyn. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the two children were "on their way to get ice cream" at the time.

For reasons authorities haven't yet explained, the two children were stabbed -- both in the torso. PJ Avitto was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who was arrested?
2. When?
3. Was he in prison earlier?
4. before when?
5. How many arrests he had?
6. Who is Boyce?
7. What he identified?
8. For what?
9. For what reason?
10. suspect for what crime?
11. What are their names?
12. How old was Prince?
13. And Mikayla?
14. Where were they killed?
Answer:
1. Daniel St. Hubert, 27
2. around 8 p.m. Wednesday
3. yes
4. May 23
5. nine arrests
6. Chief of Detectives
7. he identified St. Hubert by name
8. for the first time
9. to identify him as the suspect
10. the stabbing of two children
11. Prince Joshua and Mikayla Capers
12. Six
13. Seven
14. inside an elevator