where are my windows around here? >> you have a window that the tourists can see in. >> that's true. i get to see faces but you get to see the sunshine. >> have a great day. evening. good to see you. >> all right. take care. >> all right. hello, everyone. top of the hour. i'm don lemon. we're continuing our special coverage of the syria crisis. boy, do we have a lot to tell you about following the president's decision to hit pause so congress could vote. we start with the parade of leaders from both parties hitting the sunday talk shows. >> the president really felt very strongly that the congress of the united states weighing in makes our nation stronger in whatever action we take. >> this is a clear failure of

leadership. if you feel so strongly about it and doesn't want to take the action himself, call us back in to session tomorrow. >> i think also, too, his response was in recognition of many republicans and democrats who were calling for congressional participation. so i think he made the right choice. >> but if congress overrules a decision of the president of an issue of national security that could set a catastrophic precedent in the future. it would be very dangerous precedent to be setting. president of the united states is the commander in chief. >> the commander in chief has set up high stakes showdown with his opposition by asking opposition in congress by asking them to authorize the military strike against syria. there's new information about what's been found at the site of those apparent chemical attacks. >> i can share with you today that blood and hair samples that have come to us through an

appropriate chain of custody from east damascus, from first responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin. so, each day that goes by this case is even stronger. >> several hours after kerry's interview, members of congress got a briefing on capitol hill, receiving a classified intelligence briefing from white house, pentagon and state department officials. senior congressional correspondent data bash standing by on capitol hill. what do the lawmakers say after that briefing? >> reporter: there's still a lot of very strong skepticism that this is the right thing to do. first, let me just give you one example. and this i really picked it out. she was articulate and doesn't stand alone. this is janice hahn who took the red eye from california just to be here to get information and then flying right back. listen to what she said where

she stands after hearing from the administration. >> i am hoping to find an answer to the question, is there another way to hold assad accountable? this is what the international community wants to do. we want to hold him accountable. we want there to be consequences. what that? is that just going to war? is that bombing? is that killing more people? i'm not -- i'm not there yet. >> if the vote was held today, do you think it would pass? >> you know, that's a very good question. there was a limited number of members of congress in here. i feel it's evenly divided. >> would you not vote for it today? >> i would not vote for it today. >> and again, she was not alone in saying that even from several members of the president's own party and also from republicans. one other thing that's very clear coming out of this briefing and talking to members of both parties is that the way that the administration drafted the language that you and i first talked about last night on

the air, don, is too broad. it's too broad. in fact, chris van hollen called the way they wrote it a partial blank check saying the way to change sit narrowing it in terms of a timeline on it and does not yet have and also making very clear in writing that there would be no boots on the ground. those are some examples of how they say they want to change it and other members of congress, republicans and democrats said they get it, there needs to be changes because the way it's written right now it simply won't pass. those are things coming out of the briefing lasted over two hours. >> dana bash on capitol hill, thank you for your reporting. straight ahead, i should say ahead of possible u.s. military strikes in syria, the fbi and homeland security are warning americans of an increased risk of cyber attacks. disruptions by hackers have been taking place for months, even bringing down the website of

"the new york times" last week. meantime, u.s. law enforcement officials say an attack on syria could spark retaliation in the form of terrorist attacks on the united states or u.s. interests abroad. and for the time being, it's hurry up and wait with u.s. military action in syria, a real possibility. the pentagon is keeping five warships armed with cruise missiles in the mediterranean sea ready and waiting for president obama's order to strike. that decision waits for congress. and their september 9th return to washington. want to get to the barbara starr live at the pentagon now. barbara, what and where are the syrian targets the u.s. identified? >> well, the general understanding, don, is it's all over the country, certainly a lot of them most likely in and around damascus where some of the chemical activity has taken place according to the administration. you know, look for them when they get the order, if they get the order, to go after regime

targets. installations, command and control. especially the weapons delivery systems. not the chemical weapons themselves. but the artillery, the depots, the things to allow the regime to put those chemical weapons on targets. to fire them. that's what they're going to go after when they get the order, the ships remain in the mediterranean. about 40 tomahawk cruise missiles on each of the five ships. the military says they remain ready to go whenever they get an order from the president. >> barbara, you know, the u.s. military seems to be acting very transparent when it comes to its plans for syria. are they worried at all about the syrian government using this time to move weapons or place human shields next to likely targets? >> reporter: well, u.s. intelligence satellites are over syria 24/7 and have been for sometime. that's very public information, well understood.

and they keep an eye on the movement of syrian troops, installations that sort of thing. the human shields issue is, of course, another problem that is always faced and they, i think, would hope to get information on the ground from opposition groups if that were to take place. but again, the satellites overhead, the intelligence assets will be able they say to give them a very current picture right up until the time of firing but look. there's no mistaking it. there's always a risk here. >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you very much for that. a powerful call for international action on syria from the arab league now. during a meeting today in cairo, the group called for the united nations and the international community to take deterrent and necessary measures against the syrian regime. earlier, saudi arabia's foreign minister used stronger language saying the syrian regime has crossed all the lines with the tyranny, it's time for us to ask international community to carry

its responsibility and put an end to this tragedy. cnn's senior national correspondent nic robertson now in amman, jordan. nic, how significant is this development? >> it is significant. saudi diplomats say the statement is choreographed over the last ten days. jordan, the united arab emirates, bahrain all helping to try to get as strong a statement as possible from the arab league. the saudis believe they have 70% to 80% of support in the arab world. they have been pushing as hard as they can for intervention inside syria. they've been realizing that intervention without a political capability and will. the united states and european countries, not quite capable of doing that right now. they have been pushing hard so the fact that the saudis are weighing in, strongly as they

are, this is the arab nation that's going to carry most weight in the region to carry the issue forward, don. >> so nic, what would arab support of intervention mean? weapons, troops, access to military bases in what does it mean? >> reporter: well, right now the saudis, qataris supplies weapons to the rebels, the saudis here through jordan do it in a low-key way. they don't want to bring retribution. what shape could it take? intervention forces anything between 50 to 200,000. numbers i have heard discussed with diplomats in the region here but nobody really thinks that anyone is close to that. there isn't the political will. there isn't the international political support for that. so at the moment it comes down to weapons and a diplomat told me quite simply the expectation is that this will continue blow for blow that they will -- and qataris and others will support weapons and the russians will

continue and the iranians and others continue to support assad and that the fight will continue, don. >> nic, we have a new development to ask you about. egypt's former president morsi will stand trial for incitement and thug ri, all tied to the clashes of december 2012. what do you make of this? >> reporter: it's perhaps given what we have seen in egypt over the last few weeks, it is not surprising that a military leadership are now taking the ousted president to court. 14 other muslim brotherhood members and will go to court with him. a date isn't set but it's a very clear message of the authoritarian line that this military leadership is taking in egypt right now and harks back if you will, there are many parallels to mubarak when he was

ousted. ended up in court. the charges were similar. behind bars well over two years and then released a barely week or so ago. now the replacement is facing the same scenario, don. >> nic robertson, thank you very much for that. today on cnn, secretary of state kerry grabbed headlines telling us signatures of sarin gas found in syria at the site of the alleged attack. so why are they a red line? what makes them so bad? that's next. also, if you missed that, headline-stealing interview, we'll re-air it just ahead. a g. little carrot. little bit of hummus. lonely wing... well we have got the perfect match for you. of course you can't beat the classics. delish... sabra hummus. dip life to the fullest. sabra hummus. you need a girls' weekend and you need it now. ladies, let's go to vegas. cute! waiter!

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secretary of state john kerry bolstered the push for military action in syria. kerry said evidence collected from a government attack on the syrian people showed signatures of sarin gas. sarin is suspected in the august 21st attack in east damascus that killed more than 1,400 people. cnn's chris lawrence explains why the nerve agent is particularly toxic. and we warn you, the pictures you are about to see are disturbing. >> reporter: describing this video as disturbing doesn't do it justice. but some attach a different word. proof. >> i have absolutely no doubt this was a chemical weapons attack. >> reporter: amy smithson is studied chemical weapons for 20 years and said it was the child

in this video that erased all doubt. >> maybe 5 years old and the twitching of the eyes and the mouth and the arms were all going in different directions at different times. that simply cannot be coached in a child of that age. >> reporter: and here's another. with white foam pouring out of his nose. what is that and what does it mean? >> well, it's one of the hallmark symptoms of exposure to a nerve agent. it could have been a cocktail of chemicals, not just classic warfare agents like sarin or vx. >> reporter: victims can die within ten minutes of breathing sarin gas. in liquid form a fraction of an ounce can be fatal. even contaminated clothes can hurt you. iraq used sarin against the kurdish people in the 1980s killing thousands. the japanese cult used sarin in terrorist attacks in the mid-'90s. the people treating the victims

don't have respirators or protection on. why aren't they getting infected, as well? >> there's been an attack to wet the people down to decontaminate them. that's what decontamination in a rush is all about. making sure that they're doused with water if not soapy water and the clothes are taken off. >> reporter: nerve agents blind victims, causing them to choke and spasm. >> like this. see the twitching in the body? >> reporter: these images of the dead show no signs of a conventional bomb blast. >> there you see bloody bodies, broken bones, gaping wounds. >> reporter: chris lawrence, cnn, washington. >> joining me now to talk about the dangers of sarin gas exposure is senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. my goodness, the pictures, elizabeth, the young faces of the kids -- >> just so awful. >> what is sarin and what does it do? >> as we can see in the story is one of the most dangerous and

toxic chemical warfare agents out there. and it can cause death within minutes as chris mentioned and even when it doesn't cause death, it will cause as we saw in his story paralysis, convulsions and the, you know, whether you die or don't die has to do with the dose, how concentrated it is when you breathe it in or touch it. the way that sarin works is the glands and muscles have an on/off switch. you don't want them constantly stimulated. sarin turns off that off switch so the glands and muscles are constantly working. that's exhausting for the body and that's when you see the con vungss and paralysis and the death. >> yeah. i thought it was fatal. not always, though, you said? >> some people don't get a high enough dose, some people might be able to run away or wash their bodies. we have seen, for example, some of the victims in the hospital so sometimes people, you know,

do manage to get away and treated and even so they're not better like that. they still suffer horrible consequences. >> you can get over it, though, if you have a small exposure, you can get better? >> yeah. i mean, if it's a very, very small exposure and get out of it quickly chances are higher for recovery. >> how do you know? you know because the nerves are constantly stimulated? >> right. the problem is that in the beginning you don't know because it's odorless and colorless and tasteless so you wouldn't know that anything hit you. you would feel fine in that immediate, immediate sense but then you would get headaches, excessive swelling, pupils to a pinpoint and when people know that they have been exposed. >> so if you're hit, do you go to a hospital right away? how do you keep from infecting someone else or can you once you've been exposed to it? >> right. i mean, ideally, if you're exposed to a gas like that, have the gas mask and sadly, of course, these civilians, they're

not walking around with gas masks and sadly we have seen the awful photos of syrians trying to make their own gas mask with homemade gas masks. this is a cup covered in tape and that's not going to do anything but that's how desperate these people are. so, gas masks will help. there is an antidote. there's a drug that's an injection and that works pretty well, quite well. we have to take it within minutes, repeatedly and, of course, again, civilians are not walking around with it in their pocket and we have seen so many deaths and why the population is so vulnerable. these aren't soldiers. these are civilians. >> crazy. thank you. >> awful. >> thank you. we appreciate it. senior medical correspondent. today the world is talking about that interview that john kerry did with cnn. he talked about those sarin gas signatures and we have that sometimes heated interview next.

so let's talk more about this statement from secretary of state john kerry that signatures of sarin use were found in syria. kerry says it was collected from good and hair samples at the site of the attack 11 days ago and the video showing the scenes from that attack, very disturbing. 1,400 people in the attack in eastern damascus. 1,400 people. gloria borger asked kerry about the signatures of sarin. >> we don't contemplate gnat congrethe congress is going to vote no. we believe it's powerful and grows more powerful by the day. i can share with you today blood and hair sample that is have come to us through an appropriate chain of custody from east damascus, from first

responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin. so, each day that goes by this case is ep stroven stronger. we know the regime ordered this attack. we know they prepared for it. we have seen the damage and the horrific scenes all over the social media and we have evidence of it in other ways and we know that the regime tried to cover up afterwards. so the case is really an overwhelming case but the president really felt very strongly that the congress of the united states weighing in makes our nation stronger in whatever action we take. >> but doesn't it worry you you have put this responsibility on a congress that's to tore youly paralyzed and divided? >> we have confidence. there are good people in the congress of the united states. i know they've been politically -- it's been difficult but this is a matter

of national security. it's a matter of the credibility of the united states of america. it's a matter of upholding the interests of our allies and friends in the region. jordan which is threatened by when's happening. israel. turkey. lebanon. all of which as i said the other day or just a stiff breeze away from chemical weapons being used. i mean, there are huge interests here and in the long term, gloria, you know, what we may or may not have to do if we cannot find a peaceful resolution with iran or what we need to do with north korea. all of these things are part of a continuum of decision making that's made in foreign policy and we believe the congress of the united states will recognize that responsibility and do what is right. >> but mr. secretary, the head of the council of foreign relations, for example, says that, in fact, president obama has gone -- these are his words, from leading from behind to not leading by going to congress. he says that it raises doubts

about the united states' reliability and determination. can i get your response on that? >> absolutely. of course you can. the fact is that the president of the united states is leading and he's leading very powerfully and in the right way. if he didn't do this, i can hear all of the critics saying, why didn't the president go to congress? he could have asked. he had time to ask. it didn't make a difference. i mean, all of these -- >> but then they could ask, why didn't he go sooner? >> the president made his decision first. and he announced his decision. his decision is that he believes the united states of america should take military action to deter assad from using these weapons and to degrade his capacity from going so. now, that's the president's decision. but he -- >> no matter what congress does? no matter what congress does? the president -- >> he has the right no matter

what congress does. he has this right and asserted that in the comments yesterday. the president believes and i hope we will prove to the world that we are stronger as a nation. our democracy is stronger when we respect the rights of the congress to also weigh in on this and since it is not an emergency overnight as we saw in a place like libya where people were about to be slaughtered, since we have the right to strike at any time if assad is foolish enough to engage in yet another attack, we believe that it is important before this takes place to have the full investment of the american people and of the congress. >> well, what are you telling the syrian opposition now, who clearly counting on military action sooner rather than later? and now it's been delayed. >> well, sometimes the wheels of democracy require us to take an extra day or two to provide the legitimacy that the founding fathers contemplated in actions that we take and i talked

yesterday with the president of the syrian opposition. i believe he understands that america intends to act. that we are going to continue to support the opposition. that we may even as a result of this be able to provide greater support to the opposition and do a better job of helping the opposition to be able to continue to fight against the assad regime. i think that they will be stronger. we will be stronger in the end and it's amazing to me to see people suddenly standing up and taking such affront at the notion that congress ought to weigh in. i mean, i can hear the complaints that would have taken place if the president proceeded unilaterally and why didn't he take the time to -- >> mr. secretary, it seems -- i think the questions are being raised because it seems that from the onset of this over the last couple of weeks it seems the president was poised the take action sooner rather than

later. you came out and said it matters if nothing is done. >> it does matter. nothing has changed. >> why didn't he decide to go to congress immediately if it was so constitutionally important? >> because the president needed to gather the evidence and have -- ask me and others to make judgments and ultimately to make the case to the american people. >> did he conclude he didn't have enough political support in the country to go it alone that way? >> absolutely not. the president of the united states asserted yesterday, you know, that he has the right and i believe he has that right. but the president made, i think, a very courageous decision. just because he disappointed some people who thought, who thought without any basis that he was setting up to go take a strike doesn't mean that he didn't reserve the right to make the judgment that he made. no decision is made by a president until the decision is

made. and this president did not make the decision until he finally came to the conclusion that he wanted to take this to congress in order to have the greater strength of the american people speaking as a whole. i think it's -- i personally believe at a time when the institutions of governance are doubted by many people, i think this is a very courageous decision. i think it is a big presidential decision. and no one should misinterpret it, particularly assad or the opposition. >> but it's also risky, mr. secretary, isn't it? i mean, the risk is if congress were and i know you don't expect this, but if congress were to vote no and then the president were to strike, wouldn't that set up a constitutional crisis? >> the president has the right and he has asserted that right that he could do what's necessary to protect the

national security of the united states at any point in time. the president believes that we are stronger as a nation when we act together. the branches of government that are designated with powers with respect to foreign policy. and so, the president has made his decision and he courageously went out and announced his decision to the nation and the world. he believes that this outrageous attack by assad merits the united states joining with others to stand up and defend the international norm with respect to the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons. the president announced that decision and now he's asked the congress of the united states representing the american people to join with him in that decision. >> mr. secretary -- >> and we are stronger as a nation when that happens. >> let me ask you about our coalition. when you were running for president in 2004, you said that in iraq we should not have relied on what you called a

coalition of the few. isn't that what we have here right now? >> well, i think we have a coalition of more than a few but this is the situation that's going to grow as the evidence comes out. that's another reason why the president believes there's a value in going through this process. i have talked with a number of nations who have offered to be helpful. no decisions have been made about what shape that will take. but i believe that there are many, the arab league has already spoken out. voices as far away as japan, new zealand, australia, other places, have spoken out. i think the world takes enormous affront at this incredible abuse of power, this attack on decency and incredible crime against humanity. i think voices will grow over the next days as people see the evidence. >> -- >> and that evidence is more

powerful every day. as i mentioned to you, we now have the additional evidence of the is signatures of sarin gas from the first responders. >> is this from the united nations? is this from the united nations? >> no. this is independent. this came to the united states. it's independent. >> okay. >> but it is confirmation of the silg that which you ares of sarin and the case gets stronger by the day and i believe the case for action will grow stronger by the day. >> secretary of state john kerry this morning on cnn's "state of the union." if the u.s. does decide to strike syria, ultimately, who benefits? according to my guest, al qaeda does, next.

obama administration adding evidence to the case for a strike. signature toxic gas sarin have been found. lawmakers are weighing in on the president's request for a vote for authorization of a strike today. they held a classified briefing on capitol hill for members of congress. one house member said afterwards, quote, there was a lot of skepticism in the room. and the decision to -- whether to strike isn't black or white. one reason it isn't as simple as president assad's regime versus the opposition. there are other players in the mix, as well. one of them is al qaeda. and last night a research fellow

with the new america foundation explained why u.s. intervention wouldn't help the fsa or rebels, but instead, play in to the hands of al qaeda. >> don, this american strike is too little too late. the window of opportunity for successful american air strike that could turn the tables in favor of the fsa has passed. last june when the rebels moved in aleppo, coincided with the regime being on the ropes because a member of its senior officials were killed in the bomb strike and the best opportunity for the americans and the west to get involved and shift the battle in favor of the fsa. we didn't get involved. we didn't get involved after the chemical attacks in march. in june, benjamin rose's deputy secretary said we would provide the rebels with weapons. we didn't do that. now we wake up a day after the airstrike and al qaeda's local

affiliate is best positioned to take advantage of that while the fsa is watching them blow by. >> barack, how would a u.s. strike help al qaeda? >> basically, the al qaeda local affiliate known as the islamic state in iraq is the strongest. in the northern provinces of alope alep aleppo, it's the most disciplined fighters, most well equipped, it captures tanks and anti-aircraft missiles of bases and as it does the fsa, the secular led he believe alliance is very weak. most of the units are corrupt and disintegrating and that isa benefits most from any american attack. because what's going to happen is the regime is going to give up isolated bases of united states bombs such as the northern province of aleppo. when it retreats in the coastal

province and around the capital of damascus, issis will be the best placed rebel unit to take over the isolated bases and move in to the central provinces of homs where it's weak and launch its final attack on the capital of damascus. >> all right. that is a very interesting argument. i'm joined by dominic tierney. so you heard what barack just said. do you agree with this, that it helps al qaeda? >> i think there's a real risk of that. the radical jihadists are a growing element in the movement and if assad weakens and makes sense they'll benefit. >> all right. i'm going to ask dominic more about that and much, much more coming up on cnn. ou too," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪

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all right. we are back now and continuing my conversation with dominic tierney. why do you think it is a bad move for the u.s. to intervene in syria? >> the whole case for war is based on the idea that chemical weapons are uniquely evil and a threat but the distinction of chemical weapons and conventional weapons is arbitrary, really. it is not clear that chemical weapons are more brutal than conventional weapons like high explosives are less brutal. conventional weapons killed 100,000 syrias. chemical weapons killed 1,000. if you're a woman in aleppo, say, seeing the family blown up by artillery shelling, you're not going to take solace in the fact they weren't gassed. and it begs the question, what does victory mean with this intervention in syria? >> so why then do we draw a distinction between the united states and the president said it's a red line? why draw a red line with chemical weapons?

>> i think the norm, this rule emerged and driving us in to war but really when you look at it doesn't make a lot of sense. after all, back in the 1980s we didn't enforce the rule when iraq used chemical weapons and are we really saying if assad stops using chemical weapons and goes back to killing his people with conventional weapons that's a victory? i'm certainly not getting the ticker taper out. >> talk about britain. >> sure. >> and the british parliament. the house of commons voted not to intervene. do you think it's different for the president if it has been reversed? >> this is a game-changing moment and a real shock. i think that it led obama to go to congress and seek congressional support. after all, britain is america's closest ally. they're followed the americans in to almost every war including iraq. if they won't come along now, what does it say about the war

effort? the brits would follow the americans to the gates of hell but won't go in to syria. >> okay. that's an interesting way of putting it. well, the french? >> right. >> france and turkey are on board. not big enough? >> the u.s. has its coalition of the willing. >> right. >> but it's not a very large coalition and not very willing. right? >> why. >> the irony is the french to get a lot of bad criticism back in around the time of the iraq war for the opposition to that. so we're not seeing the kind of broad international support that you would want to see before engaging in an extremely risky intervention in sir why. >> arab league saying that this tyranny of syria gone too far and demanding an intervention by the international community now. what do you make of that? >> it's true the arab league offered some support but even its statement was somewhat tepid. it didn't explit sitly say we

should use military force and compared to libya in 2011, there the u.s. had u.n. security council resolution, clear arab league support, clear european support. the u.s. in some ways was a secondary actor. other countries were sharing the burdens of the war and if you compare that to today you see the u.s. is largely isolated and that's not where you want to be waging war in syria. >> the secretary of state on friday made a case for military action in syria. and then saw him today on the interview with cnn's "state of the union." he's making the case saying, you know, there have been the traces. they have found the trace of sarin gas. what do you make of his making of the case? >> well, i had a great deal of john kerry and obama. and i think they have found evidence of a use of chemical

weapons. when's the strategy? right? what are the goals of the mission and how are a handful of cruise missile strikes really going to achieve the goals or really change the situation in syria? >> do you think the goal should be to remove al assad or -- >> well, the goals -- >> is the goal not big enough, not defined enough unless that happens? >> this very limited use of force i think is going to achieve almost nothing. but i also oppose a much broader intervention because that creates its own set of risks and already fighting a war in afghanistan. and so my big suggestion would be why don't we fight one war at a time? >> yeah. all right. mr. dominic tierney, associate professor of political science. say hello to my buddies. >> love to. >> we appreciate it. still a lot more on syria developing and we'll get to that but we're also going to hit a couple other big stories,

headlines. that's next.

welcome back to cnn continuing coverage of the crisis over in syria. i'm don lemon. first, a couple of other headlines you should know about right now. the problem of fukushima power plant, the company leading the cleanup said only a single drop

escaped the holding tank. owners say the radiation exposure can be controlled. another holding tank leaked 300 tons of toxic water last week raising the threat level at the time to serious. >> nelson mandela's release from the hospital after nearly three months of the treatment. the 95-year-old remains in critical condition, but doctors say he can get the same level of intensive care at his home. mandela was hospitalized june 8th with a lung infection. his history of lung and respiratory infections dates from his 27-year imprisonment for fighting against are part hide. apartheid. famed british broadcaster david frost has died. bbc published a statement that frost died of a heart attack aboard the cruise ship "queen elizabeth." frost was a fixture on american and british television, but he was perhaps best known for his revealing interviews with president richard nixon. david frost, 74 years old.

with the threat of a u.s. strike on syria looming, how might that affect americans here at home? that's next. [ male announcer ] when you wear dentures you may not know that your mouth is under attack, from food particles and bacteria. try fixodent. it helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth and kills bacteria for fresh breath. ♪ fixodent, and forget it.

so how could a possible u.s. strike on syria affect you here at home? here is christine romans. >> just the threat of u.s. strikes in syria is 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 already up 15% over the past three months thanks to instability in egypt surging to an 18-month high. now, syria isn't a major oil producer. international sanctions reduced that country's exports. traders worry the violence could spread disrupting supply. syria has political, economic

and military links to iran, hezbollah and russia. the threat of an unintended chain reaction resulting in wider regional instability could push your gas prices higher. just a one cent increase at the pump takes $4 million out of the pockets of american consumers every day. >> the last thing the global economy needs today is here head wind that would slow what is already a very sluggish recovery. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. >> thank you very much for that. we are delving more into syria next hour. especially the potential threats to u.s. infrastructure if there is a military strike. first, today's human factor is about a young man who didn't let a hearing loss interfere with his love of music. dr. sanjay gupta has his story. >> reporter: robby lives in a world of rhythm and beats. he can't hear it. severe ear infections as a child

left him completely deaf in his right ear, 80% deaf in his left. >> my mom was crying. me being the one with the hearing loss and i went up to my mom and i'm like, mom, it's okay. i'm going to be all right. you'll see, i'll be fine. >> reporter: although hearing is the most important sense in a d.j.'s life, weill was determined to make it. he learned the art of turn tablism and relies on a computer to see the music. red is a kick from the base, blue is a snare, greens are vocals. >> i don't want you to see me as a deaf dj or deaf kid trying to deejay. i want you to see me as a great deejay that happens to be deaf. i don't want sympathy or let's give him a gig because he is hearing impaired. >> his skills got noticed by hp and earned him a spot in a

commercial, thrusting him on to the world stage. >> it doesn't matter that i can't hear the music. >> reporter: besides, wilde says, some things are better left unheard. >> there's a lot of sounds out in the world you don't want to hear. i like it muffled. i like where i am. i'm proud of who i am. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪