grilled cheese and now cooking everything on the menu. >> the core of it is giving them hope. >> i am going to be successful. >> when that light goes on, what every they do they are on their way to fly. we are back at the top of the hour, but up next, president obama offers a warning on the use of chemical weapons, so now is the red line blurred by red ink? "your money" starts now. >> i am christine romans, and this is "your money." the president has drawn a red line, and there is undeniable evidence syria crossed pb line, but is that red line clouded by red ink? the u.s. is a nation of tired after 12 years of fighting, more than 8,000 coalition deaths in iraq and afghanistan, and 50,000 wounded and the most expensive wars ever, $1.4 trillion spent,

and the biggest bills have not yet come due. a harvard study finds the final price tag will be 4 to $6 trillion, and that's after the long-term costs, and considering who is taken into account. so much blood and treasure spilled in afghanistan, and how does the shadow of wars cloud the president's ability to act in syria? >> i think if he does decide to strike, a decision to take precision, limited strikes, and beyond that it will inform his choice as they have made clear to make sure that this is a narrow and contained action and not something that goes beyond that into a larger conflict in the middle east. remember, he was elected on a promise to get out of the wars in the middle east. he does not want to see this come something bigger. >> and winning a noble peace price, which is something

interesting. here is the run up to iraq. listen. >> the office of management and budget came up with a number with something under $50 billion for the cost. >> and the oil revenues could bring 50 and $100 billion over the next two or three years, and we are dealing with a country that can finance its own reconstruction. >> we know that's not how it went and syria is a different case, it's not iraq, but do those miss calculations fresh in the minds of americans, do they color americans' distrust of doing something here? >> absolutely. it's that and the flawed intelligence, and it's the bad taste of the experience after iraq and afghanistan that makes americans incredibly conflicted about getting involved and it's part of the reason that the administration has not been involved despite the atrocities there to date. so a big reason you are going to see extreme caution even if the president does decide to act.

>> thank you, jessica. so the 2011 budget control act cut $487 billion from the defense department's protected budget, and the question is can the u.s. afford to act? and then a sequester will cut more, and chuck hagel says the united states is ready to go if the president orders a strike in syria, but this is what he said just one month ago. >> the only way to implement an additional abrupt 10% reduction in the defense department is to make nonstrategic cuts, and disrupt operations, and erode our technological edge. >> are we ready or at risk? a former cyst assistant of defense, thank you for joining us. we are looking for your perspective here, because what

would you say to those -- what do you say to those that argue that the belt tightening will hurt the u.s. military's ability to fight and win future wars? >> i think they are way overreacting. as your chart pointed out, the billion-war and projected increases and if you have the 500 billion over years, you will bring the defense spending where it was. you have plenty of money. and sequester is dumb, you have to cut everything equally, and $500 billion, that's exclusive of the war, and you have to add another $100 billion continuing the wars in afghanistan, and that's more than we spent even controlling the inflation during the cold war. >> so it cost about $1 billion for the strike, and what if it's more than a billion dollars and cruise missiles, and it turns into something bigger?

>> you get a war funding budget. i think the best model probably is the first gulf war. you may remember in the first persian gulf war in 1991, we fired 43 patriot missiles and after the war they went back -- they asked for 100, but they wept back to get those funded over and above, and i suspect that if in fact you do fire a lot of them you can go back and ask for some more. but really in terms of, you know, we have already paid for what we will probably use, and those destroyers out there cost us about $1.8 billion, and each of the missiles is about $1.5 million, and that's in a $500 billion budget. another good model is libya. the laboren invasion that lasted 70 days cost us only $1 billion over and above what we had in the regular budget. >> here is the interesting thing about red line and red ink, if you don't get your debt deficits under control in the near term,

this kind of situation, a generation from now is something you can't react to, because you don't have room in the budget because you are paying all the interest, but right now there is plenty of room for the u.s. to do what it wants to do? >> right now there is. over ten years if you see a sequester, the problem is cutting everything equally, and that means your other accounts as chuck hagel was talking about, your training and things like that, that could hurt us because if you stop training in a couple years the forces will not be able to do what they need, or if you can't buy the ships in the numbers you would like because you have to cut ships, planes and tanks and let's say you don't want tanks, you want ships, no, you have to cut them all the same. >> yeah, those are all jobs, and when you cut them unilaterally, it just doesn't make sense. >> thank you. >> thank you for having me. and it may not be the fear of an enemy storming america

shores, but hackers promise to launch more attacks like the one that shut down t"the new york times" this week, and we will tell you what else they are targeting. that's next. [ bottle ] okay, listen up! i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies -- you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! 'cause i'm re-workin' the menu, keeping her healthy and you on your toes. [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh! [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. then you'll love lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love.

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a war half a world away is coming to a server near you. the syrian electronic army is threatening to retaliate against u.s. military strikes by attacking systems that support the u.s. economy and infrastructure. brian todd has the story. >> reporter: server not found. a screen designation that many new york times customers had to deal with for about 20 years, and one of the websites largest newspapers taken down, and a group called the syrian electronic army claimed responsibility. who are they are? >> they are a pro-assad hacking group, and it appears to be a loose collective of a few individuals. there has been some information put out on the internet that it could be even as young as 19-year-olds. >> a former hacker now with the

cyber security firm called beyond trust has followed the group's attacks. this spring the syrian electronic army hacked the associated press twitter feed and put in a message, breaking, two explosions in the white house and obama injured. this is a group that makes plastering proregime propaganda on popular websites, but what they used this time is an exkaulation. the army would go after the direct managers of the websites they were hacking, using a phishing e-mail like this one that would try to give up their log in prudentials. it's called the domain name system and that connects you when you type in a website like cnn.com to the specific address where that content is found. this time the hackers went after the managers of the connections,

and in this case a firm that works with a company called melbourne it, and they tricked them into giving up their passwords. as a result some people trying to go to "the times" website were steered by the army. if the u.s. conducts strikes on syria, will the hacks get worst? homeland security expert says they will likely strike again. >> they did work with some of their allies and iran, if they were to get support from china and russia, then, yes, the game changes quickly, and it escalates in terms of capability. >> the targets for cyber enemies, the u.s. electrical grid, and the syrian electronic army is not sophisticated enough to do damage to the systems right now but with iran's help or with china or russia's, they

could get there. >> just the threat of u.s. strikes in syria is already affecting your money, the worst day for the dow since june as investors rushed out of stocks into the perceived safety of gold and government bonds. oil prices up 15% over the last three months thanks to instability in egypt surging to an 18-month high. sanctions reduced syria's oil experts, and traders worry the violence could spread disrupting supply, and syria has political and economic links to iran, hezbollah and russia. and now a chain reaction for wider instability could push gas prices higher, and an increase at the pump takes $4 million out of the pockets of american consumers every day. >> so the last thing the global economy needs to do is another head wind that would slow what is already a very sluggish

recovery. >> all of this as congress and the president gear up of a battle of a different kind, another budget battle. the chief political strategist for potomac research group joins me today. could military action in syria have calls to replace the budget as a debt ceiling this fall? >> not out of the question. nice to see you. if thises projected and last for more than a day or two and the middle east heats up, it's going to once again focus attention on what a stupid idea sequester is. >> you and i have been saying for months that sequester was a stupid idea, and here is something interesting, the dire predictions about sequester, they are not here, and the pentagon furloughed workers six days and not the 22 that had been advertised and the dow is up 3,000 points since the last

debt debacle. >> it's a head wind for the overall economy. there are many people in the washington, d.c. region laid off and fired or furloughed, whatever, and on a personal level it affected a lot of people, and the problem, christine, in all likelihood without a deal, which is looking pretty unlikely, we are going to have sequester for still another year. >> still another year. and here we are, possibly on the verge of a possible attack on syria, and congress and the president will be fighting over whether we should pay our bills. doesn't it make us look petty in the eyes of the world? >> you would think so. it's going to be a very rocky fall in my opinion for the markets. you have instability in the middle east, and the whole side issue of iran may be getting angry if it's ally is attacked and not having talks on the nuclear program, and you have the federal reserve maybe changing its policy in a very significant way, and you have got a potential debacle on the

debt ceiling. late october is going to be a crucial time for the markets because i don't see a deal right now. >> you have stock fund managers up 14%, and it was an awful august for stock investors, down three and 4% each. >> you know, the government is not going to shut down. we probably will not have a default crisis, but it is headline risk, and i do think there are an awful lot of people in both parties who bizarrely are itching for a fight right now. the democrats seem to think a fight could help them in the fall of 2014, and that's how people think in this town, and the republicans are thinking it could help them with their constituents who wouldn't mind seeing the government shutdown, so it's sort of like a train wreck with the adults not having a very big role right now. >> i will leave it at that, thank you. and the nfl agreeing to put money towards concussion

research and compensating retired players, but clinton portis says the money is not most important. >> i don't think it was about the numbers or money going out. i think the league was making the stride to further the study of this case, and this is warranted. >> it's not a done deal yet, and we'll tell you why next. [ male announcer ] when you have sinus pressure and pain, you feel...squeezed. congested. beat down. crushed. as if the weight of the world is resting on your face.

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big money for concussion research. one small suspension, and nightmare prediction for super bowl sunday. football is back. here is the score. the nfl has reached an agreement with 4,500 former players on concussions. the league will contribute $765 million for medical exams, concussion related expenses, and a research program. critics say that's not even close to enough for a multibillion dollar league that just keeps growing. the deal was reached through a court appointed arbitrator.

a judge still must approve that deal. in the college game, heisman trophy minner johnny manziel's autograph scandal is over. the ncaa found no evidence the quarter took money for signing his name on memorabilia but a less serious violation would cost him a suspension, one half of one football game. finally, this season's super bowl is at metlife stadium in beautiful new jersey. in february. no roof. no dome. no heat. did i mention it's in february. the latest farmer's almanac shows the first intense storm of the area will hit that area the week of the super bowl. new jersey governor chris christie says bring it on. he told boomer and cart i don't know that a blinding snowstorm would be amazing. fantasy football starts next week. if you don't play, here is how it works. you're the team open.

you draft position players from different teams, and you get points based on player performance. 27 million americans will manage a team and the business behind it is thriving. >> reporter: fantasy has become reality for millions of sports fans. the fantasy sports industry says it will bring in an estimated $1.2 billion this year. the most popular game by far, football. 72% of all fantasy players manage an nfl roster online paying the associated fees. >> people in this country really like watching the nfl, and people in this country really like talking to their friends, especially online, going back and forth, giving a little boast here, a little bit of trash talk there. it lets them do both of those things simultaneously. >> reporter: don't expect this fantasy to go away anytime soon. it's forecasted a 7.6% annual growth. it's a crowded playing field. 273 companies host fantasy

lesion. yahoo! sports is the leader. espn and cbs sports are close behind drawing traffic from their tv audience. >> i think for a lot of companies, fantasy has meant one thing, and that is revenue. fans are so interested in getting at that edge against the other players that they're willing to pay for it. >> reporter: it seems the sites benefit from the competition. 7% of users look at just one site for their research. look at this. 44%, they look at four or five different sites to research their teams, and 30% look at six sites or more. all those eyeballs mean more advertising revenue. so who is playing fantasy football? the average team owner is a 41-year-old white male, makes $92,750, a married, owns a home, and he spends $467 per year playing fantasy sports. espn is playing right into that you'd yens. >> tom, you're in the league. >> bill, you're insane. >> reporter: watch out, guys, the ladies are signing up as well, and the nfl knows it. >> touchdown, matt ryan.

>> straight to julio. >> women are becoming increasingly an audience with the nfl. the numbers on that are really impressive. and it's a way for women who do like the nfl who genuinely like football to get involved in the game without having to know or be familiar with some of the more arcane things which we traditionally associate with men. >> reporter: the women in your league may not know the running back for the '78 dolphins but they probably know who to play at running back on sunday. >> obviously people manage their teams at work. if employees spend one hour a week managing on the job, it costs $6.5 billion a year in lost productivity, but it recommends companies embrace fantasy football which could boost employees' sentiment and loyalty. all right. coming up, move over miley, she wasn't the first to shock at the video music awards. remember madonna and that kiss with britney spears? her last album flopped, but guess what? the material girl is laughing all the way to the bank. next.

for more stories that matter to your money, give me 60 seconds on the clock. it's "money time." no more of that if you pay a little extra. scoot airlines, a low cost carrier based in singapore is the latest to offer a no-kid zone on its airplane. miley may be twerking, but madonna is working. the material girl is the highest earning celebrity bringing in an estimated $125 million in the past year. her latest album flopped, but fans flock to her concerts to hear her old hits. walmart is extending its health benefits to same-sex partners. the company will cover married couples and domestic partners starting next year. self-driving cars closer than you think. nissan says it will start offering the technology in its vehicles by 2020. now it's a race to market with several automakers and google also working on self-driving cars.

after sitting on the bench this year, gm is revving up for the 2014 super bowl. it will advertise new chevy models during the game. the company previously said the price tag just too steep. bill abong wiped out. they posted a huge loss and labeled the brand essentially worthless. coming up on a brand new "your money" at 2:00 p.m. eastern -- >> protests like this in new york city happening not just here but across the country in 60 cities. fast food workers asking to be paid more because what they're getting right now, they say, isn't enough to live on. >> we have to sacrifice. either my husband eats today and i eat tomorrow or, you know, just make sure my kids eat at least three times a day. >> what happens when the people who serve us food can't afford food themselves. find out on a brand new "your money" at 2:00 p.m. eastern. up next on cnn "newsroom," as the world waits for the u.s. decision on striking syria, some

lawmakers argue the president is boxing them out. brianna keilar and victor blackwell talk to congressman scott ri gel and elliott angle about who course they would like to see the u.s. military take. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. after a decade of conflict, the american people are tired of war. >> that's the sentiment of many americans as the world awaits a possible u.s. strike on syria. but will president obama bend to public pressure, and will the u.s. military have to go it alone? >> under no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground. >> no boots on the ground. so what are the alternatives? we'll show you what a u.s. military strike on syria might look like and what thss