summer concert series. justin moore performs on the plaza. thanks for being here today. >> peter: wonderful to be here. >> eric: see you on "the five." >> gretchen: we'll see you on the after the show show. have a fantastic day. bill: thank you, everybody, and good morning a fox news alert. the world is on edge as we see new indications now thain international support for the attacks against syria are starting to waiver and still no final decision from the president. good morning. i'm bill hemmer, reporting live from washington, d.c. today on special assignment. a little later on that this morning. good morning to you, martha, in new york. martha: i'm martha maccallum live in "america's newsroom" this morning. several countries are standing against the syrian regime saying they want to take action and now britain and france are saying they may hold off on their decision until the united nations finishes their work.

president obama says is short strike he believes will be effective. >> if we're saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow staying stop doing, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term. bill: molly henneberg leads our coverage live on the north lawn. poly, there will be more meetings today there, but this one is with leaders from congress, and what do we know about that meeting today? >> reporter: the president will two more in depth what the white house is saying all week. that this was a chemical attack they believe, that the u.s. can not let it go unanswered and the president is expected to lay out to congressional leaders his options and classified intelligence behind these options. there may be declassified version of intelligence released to the american public later today. the president will confer with top congressional leaders either in person or teleconference late this afternoon.

sources tell fox the intelligence is not clear whether syrian president bashar al-assad was behind the attack or ordered the attack or some rogue element in his regime. so some members of congress are not convinced the u.s. should intervene including the ranking republican on the senate armed services committee, senator james inhofe who said quote it is vital we don't have shortsighted military action that could have impact on long-term trajectory of the conflict. we can't lawn after few missiles and hope for the best. senator inhofe says the president needs to lay out the strategy and funding behind the strategy before he, senator inhofe could support it. bill, martha. bill: molly, specifically when it comes our allies be it in paris, france or london, england, what do we know from them today? >> reporter: we know the president is consulting with them. he has been in close contact with british prime minister david cameron for example since this reported chemical attack last week.

cameron is facing growing opposition at home to any military strike in syria. cameron's government published intelligence that it was highly likely the syrian government was behind the attack but labour lead remembers not on board. >> i'm determined we learn the lessons of the past including iraq. we can't have the house of commons to be asked to write a blank check to the prime minister for military action. >> reporter: cameron says he promises to hold off on any military action until the u.n. investigative team on the ground in syria finishes its work. that team is expected to finish its work, release the report, be out of the country of syria on saturday. bill: that is something to watch. thank you. molly henneberg leading our coverage there at the white house. martha. martha: bill, arizona senator john mccain has a very different take from the president on the situation in syria. he addresses military action of that kind after single strike capability could possibly end up

helping the enemy there. here he is on the record last night. listen to this. >> the opponents are taking any action in syria despite the fact 100,000 people have been massacred, a million children refugees, are saying if we help the syrian free army, that that will be helping al qaeda. that is a lie. that is not true. we have a viable free syrian army, commanded by general idris they are operating on their own. they are still a majority and to say that it would be al qaeda influenced is not true. martha: well, senator mccain recently returned from a trip to syria where he met with the opposition forces and he has very strong feelings on that. we're going to speak today to an analyst who has made her understanding of syria really her life's work. she actually helped to organize senator mccain's trip. she knows the people there on the ground. she's made five trips back and forth to the country in just

this year alone. she returned from her latest visit this last week. her insight into the various rebel groups that make up the opposition we've heard so much about and we heard it labeled al qaeda but she has a different take on this as well in terms of the situation on the ground there and extensive knowledge as well. we're going to ask her what she believes a u.s. strike would mean for the region and which side we really do need to be on here. she is coming up shortly. bill: all right. in the meantime nidal hasan has been sentenced to death for his crimes. the army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 in a shooting at fort hood in november of 2009 and family members of some of the victims reacting to the sentencing urging the media to focus on the victims rather than the killer. >> like so many military families we will never see our fallen hero again. so even when the cameras are gone and reporters are gone i'm asking you to remember. remember our fallen soldiers,

our wounded warriors and unfortunate growing number we are continuing to lose to military suicide. my father took care of soldiers to the end and i ask that we as americans do the same. so today, a weight has been lifted off of my shoulder. he has been held accountable for his actions and the panel gave him justice and i agree with that justice. >> as a christian i can not say i wish anyone dead for crimes against me or my family but that doesn't mean that i'm opposed to the death penalty or that if the government or the families of the other 13 murder victims want the death penalty that they are not perfectly justified. >> this has been a very long and exhausting process. we are tired. we are hurt. but we are resolved. justice has been served. today's sentencing does not

bring my father home. his laughter to our ears and his smile to our eyes. but justice does not end here. you the media will decide whose voice will be heard and whose face we will remember. our hope it is not the voice of murderers or terrorists but it is the voice of those who stood and those who continue to stand in a true and honorable defense of others. bill: wow. so powerful too. bit later this hour we will talk with a soldier who was wounded at at fort hood on the post there. retired arm staff sergeant sean man something with us live. his reaction coming at the bottom of the hour from his home in the state of washington. what a road he has had to travel. we'll talk to sean coming up here. martha: we're looking forward to that and hearing from all those individuals. so important as the family members point out. in the meantime let's get awe snapshot on the health of the u.s. economy because we got some new numbers this morning. here is the commerce department

number. they say the economy grew at 2.5% from april to june. that is sharply higher than previous estimates but it is not a great number overall. stuart varney joins me now, host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. stuart, good morning to you. >> good morning, martha. martha: what do you make of it? >> you are right but it is not a great number overall but it is an improvement. martha, welcome to the new normal, are you happy with it? new normal means very modest rate of growth and still the worst recovery from any recession since world war ii. that is the new normal. now for a moment project into the future. the last half of the 2013. looks pretty grim. i've got new numbers on the transfer within this economy from full-time to part-time work. each and every month over the past 12 months we have lost 146,000 full-time jobs. at the same time we have gained 119,000 part-time jobs, every month for the past year.

that is a real shift in the economy. mean as whole lot less take-home pay. and that means we're in trouble for the rest of this year. martha: wow. that's a very stunning number, stuart, that you just pointed out. you know what? it reminds me of union leaders who say the 40-hour work week are over and very unhappy what they're getting from obamacare in terms of hiring in this country, a huge disconnect between the administration and what is happening on the ground here. >> we're redefining what is full-time work. full-time work is now 30 hours a week and above. part-time is 30 hours aweek and below. we're rapidly shifting full-time above 30 hours to part time. that can not be a good thing for this economy. welcome to the new normal, martha. martha: yeah. love it. love it. love it. thanks so much. stuart, we will see you later on the business channel. bill: i kind of like the old way. martha: i kind of like the old way too.

bill: we're just getting rolling here in a moment. president obama said it would be a shot across the bow but will strikes against syria do much of anything in the long run and should the president be talking about this? ralph peters with me in washington is up on that next, martha. martha: check this out. dramatic video from inside of a race car that crashes and then bursts into flames. my goodness. how did the driver possibly survive that inferno? we will talk to him live.

martha: boy, disturbing trend here because there are new developments in the bankruptcy crisis in san bernardino, california. the public reemployees retirement system, known as calpers, one of the biggest ones in the country will continue to work with the city despite their objections to the judge's ruling to grant bankruptcy protection. calpers is the city's biggest creditor. officials are concerned that the

city may try to dig out of its 46 million-dollar debt by cutting money promised to public pension system. we heard that before, right? we may hear it again. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that, a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons being moving around and or being utilized. that would change my calculation and calculus. bill: that was president obama a year ago exactly. president says they know assad used chemical weapons last week and now suggesting a limited military strike would be, quote, a shot across the bow. >> what i also said was that that if the assad regime used chemical weapons on his own people, that that would change

some of our calculations and the reason has to do with not only international norms but also america's core self-interest. w very a situation in which you've to the a well-established international norm against the use of chem -- chemical weapons. syria has one of the largest stockpiles in the world of chemical weapons. bill: that from last night. ralph peters now is a fox news strategic analyst and author of "hello or richmond quote. nice to see you in person in washington d.c. i don't know where we are on this today. will it happen or does it not? >> if you asked me 24 hours i would have said and it was debacle. today obama is hedging. arab league is says don't do it. u.n. says don't do it. i have to see obama is looking for a way out. now it is 60 -- 40. bill: you were not in favor of a strike in in the first place and you were on yesterday arguing against just that but what he

said it would be decisive but limited. what do you take from that? >> that is absolute gibberish, reflective of the fact that obama has not one close advisor with military experience. nobody in the military supports this absolute nonsense. even the dictionary doesn't support it. idea something could be decisive but limited, decisive means it decides something. that is the endgame. limited is the opposite, it is limited. obama in his utter naivety talking about a shot across the bow. that is just going to make assad angrier and convince him we're weak and don't really mean it. but, bill, there are three possibilities generally speaking. one is the smart one. stay out of syria. we don't have a dog in that fight. obama can talk about core interests. he hasn't displayed it. the second best and it's a bad one, is to go whole hog and really make a difference. i don't support it but better than what obama is going to do

is is ineffect wall impotence, strikes that will encourage the enemies that we're weak and may well lead as saud to use weapons more generally to teach us a lesson. bill: if he does what you're suggesting and does not hit syria now, what is to stop assad from using chemical weapons against? we could sit here in a month, six months or a year from now. and not a couple hundred who are dead. it might be self thousand. it could be 10,000. as commander-in-chief you have that to live with? >> two things. first of all i think the odds are better assad will use chemical weapons if we do loss an ineffect wall strike that doesn't impress him. second, we're prisoners of our own rhetoric and rhetoric shouldn't get us into a war. what we're saying basically right now, is it is okay to slaughter 100,000 people as long as you use conventional weapons but if you kill 200 using chemical weapons then we're on your case. all of these deaths are war crimes. targeting civilians with any

weapons are war crimes. i just, the, i feel for the suffering people but my first concern is the american people and our troops. show me the core interests for america. show me who else will stand up? we can't be the world's policemen, everywhere, every time and oh by the way attack assad no matter what anybody says on this program, attack assad you strengthen al qaeda. bill: to the point where the attack does not happen. you're of the mind you do not want republicans to use it against the president. you already have 100 members of the house who signed this letter saying you have to come to con first for authority. many of them are republicans. several democrats on the list as well. but your key point is to not humiliate the commander-in-chief. explain that. >> that and also i think you shouldn't back a guy into a corner for doing the right thing however belatedly. if the signs are obama isn't going to do it, you shouldn't pile on, look he is weak oar

indecisive, he said he had a red line and doesn't mean it. when somebody does the right thing there is time to hold the peace. plenty to attack obama on. my god, he has been disasterous in many so many ways, if he does the right thing by the united states of america and backs off his pathetic rhetoric about red lines, republicans should not pile on. bill: come ralph peters in washington. thank you, sir. >> thank you, bill. bill: you have been with us for the last two days and we'll continue to talk to you about the changing dynamics and what we're trying to perceive and pick out from the comments we're getting now. thank you, colonel. >> thank you. bill: martha, back to you in new york. martha: bill, today, a dynamic continues to change and just looking at a story that came into the wires moments ago, that angela merkel of germany and vladmir putin of russia have agreed there needs to be a political solution to the situation in syria and that the united nations needs to be the one to handle it. so a new development on that

front. we'll see where the president goes from here. of make sure to visit our politics page this morning, updating all the time on the story on syria as well, on the political newsletter, the daily political newsletter. go to foxnews.com, enter the email address, and get political headlines as they come through and and every day. meantime there are new developments in the implementation of the president's health care law, as well this morning. the administration has now delayed yet another crucial part. is this going to hold together? what happens next? bill: convicted fort hood shooter major nidal hasan sentenced to death for his crimes after killing 13 and injuring dozens of others. >> saw everybody screaming. i saw the blood all over and the blood on my chest and i couldn't breathe. i tried to to to the ground to take cover. then i started getting shot more. i mean, i felt some bullets. bill: that is sean manning,

reacting to the sentence, live with us next. huh...fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that. well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller? your word is...cow. cow. cow. c...o...w... ...e...i...e...i...o. [buzzer] dangnabbit. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. [ male annouer ] let's go places. but let's be ready. ♪ let's do our homework. ♪ let's look out for each other. let's look both ways before crossing. ♪ let's remember what's important. let's be optimistic.

but just in case -- let's be ready. let'go places, safely.

♪ martha: get all the favorites in there. you may be in for a much longer wait at burger joints. fast-food workers go on strike in dozens of cities nationwide. they are protesting low wages so low that they qualify for food stamps and medicaid. laura, how much money are the workers asking for? >> reporter: martha, there is a lot at stake. fast-food cooks, cashiers and crews say they want an increase would pay them $15 an hour more than double the federal minimum

wage at 7.25. that raise would bring full-time up from 15,000, to $31,000 a year. >> everybody, everybody. >> supersize. >> reporter: the largest nationwide walkout by fast-food workers, and, that is going around the, going around the nation right now. the biggest effort so far was earlier this summer, when about 2200 of the nation's millions of fast-food workers staged a one-day strike in seven cities. now many fast-food workers say they can't live on what they are paid. one of the largest chains, mcdonald's tells fox, mcdonald's aims to offer competitive pay and benefits to our employees. we provide training and professional development for all of those who wish to take advantage of those opportunities. our history is full of examples of individuals who worked their first job with mcdonald's and went on to successful careers both within and outside of

mcdonald's. roughly 3 to 400 striking workers have already been spotted here in midtown manhattan, near the empire state building, making voices heard around the streets. martha: all right. so the question for folks looking at their watch with a couple hours till lunchtime, will customers be able to get food as these places today? >> reporter: sure. you may have to cross a picket line to do so today. it will be your choice. the strike was planned and far enough in advance where managers reportedly had enough time to adjust staffing level. the wave of walkouts comes amid calls from the white house, members of congress and economists to raise the federal minimum wage which was last raised in 2009. most proposals seek a more modest increase with president obama wanting to boost it to $9 an hour. going to be an interesting lunch hour for many around the nation. martha: that is always a controversial issue, whether or not it creates jobs or ends up paying people more. laura, thank you very much. so we'll go down to bill. union station is right around the corner when lunchtime comes, bill.

you should be okay. bill: need to supersize that, right? martha: there you go. bill: thank you, martha. nidal hasan apparently got what he wanted. he got a death sentence and that is what was delivered yesterday. his execution though is likely years away, if it even happens at all. in a moment we'll talk to sean man hog was shot several times on that tragic day at fort hood. >> as i was going out the door too, i know, i saw some, my soldiers on the ground and, i knew i couldn't do anything about it, drag them out or anything like that. you know, without, getting hit again. i mean that's something that stuck in my mind too. [ male announcer ] come to the golden opportunity sales event

and experience the connectivity of the available lexus enform, including the es and rx. ♪ this is the pursuit of perfection. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] ultra rugged phones from sprint. buy one, get four free, and $150 credit when you swih your business line to sprint. the pioneers in push-to-talk. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintcaptel.com

bill: a death sentence now for the verdict on nidal hasan. hasan murdered 13, injured dozens more in texas. today we're learning the battle over his future is far from finished. casey stiegel back on the case in fort hood, texas. tell us, case sir, about the reaction inside the courtroom when the sentence was read? >> reporter: yeah, bill, hasan did what he has done all along. he was emotionless. he sat and stared down at his defense table. through this entire four-week long court-martial i've been in the courtroom misdemeanor times and i had a chance to really sit and watch hasan and study him and he doesn't do much. he sits in his wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down

from injuries he sustained on that day as you know. he never really seemed to make eye contact with a single victim or those of us in the gallery. but he certainly has not shown any kind of a remorse. there were some tears from family members as the death sentence was announced yesterday. some consoling going on. you know, yesterday was really about the family members and the victims t was about finally being able to get some closer nearly four years after the attack on this post, bill. bill: you know, casey, we're looking at the appeals process now. and this is something that could go on for a very, very long time. you look at military's history. what does it suggest about what happens to hasan now? >> i think a lot of people would be shocked to learn this. it goes into an automatic appeals. that is not at the request of hasan by the way. it is sop, standard operating procedure, in a capital case like this. it is a formality and one that could take years, are you ready for this, if not decades.

and a lot of people are frustrated about this. it is just the letter of military law. in the meantime hasan is going to be moved to military death row in the coming days. that is located at for the leavenworth in kansas. he will join five other condemned soldiers awaiting execution there. they have been waiting a long time because the u.s. military has not executed anyone since 1961 and that is mostly because of that lengthy appeals process but hasan will be dismissed from the army. he loses his major rank and all of his pay will finally stop, bill. bill: well, that's a trial that went and wrapped up a lot sooner than many had expected to. casey thank you. casey stiegel at fort hood. back to martha in new york for more on this. martha: bill, joining us now is retired army staff sergeant sean manning who survived that day after being shot six times. sean, welcome back to the program.

good to have you with us this morning and thank you for your service. you were getting your medical exam to go on your third deployment at the time this started. what was your reaction to the sentence yesterday? >> i was relieved. i was happy that to finally, at least a portion of this is over. i mean it's been a long time coming. we've been waiting for over two years for the trial to even start and get underway. to finally have a little bit of closure related to the trial was, you know, great. martha: tell me what you remember about that, about that morning and about what you heard him say, when all of this shooting began? >> yes. so i was sitting there. i was just about completed my processing for the day when i heard somebody yell al "allahu akbar!" i looked up and i saw hasan shooting and firing a weapon essentially as fast as he could fire, sweeping across the room. shortly after that i was shot in the chest so. martha: i can't imagine what

this has been like for you. i know that the past few years have been very difficult and that it is, very, very understandable, but you also talk about how, besides your physical injuries, you were so taken aback by the way the government handled this prosecution and that he was not considered to be, it was not considered to be an act of terror. >> yeah. we've been fighting the government and the army to call it an act of terrorism, because essentially labeling this an act of terrorism make as difference on how they treat us medically. how they apply our benefits, how they take care of the wounded and deceased that day. our wound have never been classified as combat related which, essentially the only key component that's missing is calling the shooting an act of terrorism. martha: so even though you were on the base, you were active duty, you were deploying for the third time, and you were shot

and you could have lost your life. you sustained massive injuries, you actually would have been in better shape if you had been wounded on the battlefield, is that right? >> that's correct. martha: i mean, what do you think about that? i mean having served your country and we thank you by the way for the service you have done for this country and i know you may not feel you get the gratitude you deserve given everything you've been through. >> it was frustrating this is my third deployment i was going on. survived two other deployments and be shot going on my third deployment and then have the government not do the right thing or the army not do the right thing in relation to taking care of the victims. it is like a slap in the face. martha: to add that slap in the face, he continued to be paid during this entire time. and now he has lost his, he has lost his rank and he is no longer in the military but the fact that you've been fighting to get benefits you feel you reserve and he was receiving

those salaries all along, must feel like a pretty rotten deal. >> yeah, it was. after the shooting, my, they actually cut my pay because i had gotten shot and required medical treatment and they had not classified the shooting as act of terrorism, so i wasn't considered wounded in combat. so, yeah to have, they followed the letter of the law and continued to pay him for four years and all, why they cut my pay and, do several other things to other soldiers who were shot and killed that day so. martha: we've listened to a number of family members who were there yesterday, who lost their loved ones and they talked about wanting those people to be remembered. they don't want nidal hasan's face to be remembered. several of them they want the world to forget about them. -- him. they want their loved ones to be remembered. is there any kind of closure for you in what happened yesterday and how are you doing now? what is going on with your life

now? >> i would say there's a little bit of closure finally seeing him sentenced to death but i'm also apprehensive but i know the fight will continue on to get the government to relabel this as an act of terrorism. and, you know, it's a double-edged sword because at one point you don't want to highlight what he did and why he did it but you're almost forced to because, the government's refused to, to actually act and classify it correctly. so. >> so do you think that you will ever goat satisfaction in that regard? i mean as we've been talking about, it has been classified as workplace violence? it is shocking when you see the fact this man was already on the fbi's radar because he had communicated with al-awlaki with so many aspects it seems so clear terrorism was on his mind? >> yeah. i mean, it is definitely been frustrating the entire time. i mean knowing what they knew before the shooting, knowing how

this radicalization process with hasan took, you know, years. this wasn't that something happened overnight and many people were aware of it, is really frustrating. >> what is next for you personally, sean? >> i'm going to con it go back to work and work for the military as mental health counselor to help soldiers coming back from deployments and soldiers with ptsd. i think that's, my experiences i think that is, gives me a little bit after leg up understanding what these guys have gone through. martha: there are going to have a warm ear turned to them in you, shapy, and i think that is wonderful that is what you will dedicate yourself to. we're grateful for your service, we all are. thank you for sharing the tough story in the morning and in the past. take care and we'll speak with you again. thank you, shawn. >> thank you, martha.

martha: shawn manning. bill: martha, i met him at his home two years ago and we did a special on the fort hood shooting. he was deeply it bothered then. this is the best i heard him talk in two years. maybe this is the critical time for him, wow, what a contribution he will give to others returning home from the battlefield and based on his experience and help them through. hang in there man. martha: good guy. bill: there has been another critical part of the health care law that has been delayed, did you hear? >> but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy. bill: so now that we know what's in it, why the delay this time? next meet a congressman who says, he won't even take the sucksy disjust granted to congress. he is next on all that, as we continue live in washington. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals:

help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, whe experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger.

♪ martha: brand new study out this morning on shut-eye, find millions and millions of americans are taking a sleeping pills to go to sleep at night. the study, the first-of-its-kind. according to the cdc most people are using pills. most people are using the pills are white, female, educated and over 50. overall, 4% of adults say they have taken a prescription sleeping pill or sedative in the previous month. experts say a lot of people use over-the-counter medicines and also the cama meal tea works well. kind of surprising. everybody taking stuff, yeah. what's going on out there? bill: there is a pill for everything i think. martha: count the sheep as they jump over the little fence. it works for me. bill: caffeine in the morning. we have yet another delay for obamacare. the administration delayed

signing the final agreement with the insurance companies, plans that are to be sold on federal health insurance exchanges. republican congressman, robert pet inker from north carolina is joining me. good morning to you. see the number of delays. on the screen at home, medicare cuts delayed. employer mandate delayed. subsidy verification delayed. out-of-pocket caps delayed. you have waivers for at least 2000 businesses an unions. you've also got the congressional waiver we'll get to in a moment which turns out to be subsidy in the end. what do you make of all this now, sir? >> well, good morning, bill. sound like to me miss pelosi should have read the bill and the president should have raid the bill. in north carolina, for example, bill, the cost of our health insurance, we're told by blue cross-blue shield is going up 284%. we've lost 240,000 full-time jobs in a report that came out

in the month of june. this is a train wreck as max baucus said. and, we need to get ahold of this and, the american people are understanding what a enormous mess this has become. bill: you say what baucus said. lamar smith quoted, no train wreck this history had this many warning signs. if there are this many warning signs, we found a poll last month, 57% of those surveyed find that obamacare right now, they say it's a joke. if that's the case, how does that practically apply to the american people a year from now when you're looking at election? could this in turn backfire on those who actually passed the bill into law? >> yes, sir, i believe it will. i think as it plays out, the american people v. what a disaster it is. and, you know, it's obamacare. he attaches his name to it. this is what he believes in. pell pell, in all the democrats, voted for this bill. it was totally a partisan vote. they ramrodded it through.

they own it and they're going to have to live up to the impact of what it has had. bill: meantime i mention these subsidies to members of congress. this is you pass a law. you don't like the law. then you change the rules for those who are affected by it. you made news this week because you said officially you will not take the subsidies. explain why. >> yes, sir. well i'm not going to be above the law. the president has decreed as a monarch and that seems to be the new role that he has defined himself, and he has said that members congress should be allowed to take that subsidy. i'm not going to take the subsidy. i will live under the same standards as the american people and abide by the same code of obamacare that they have to live by. bill: even then you probably have staff members that do not make a lot of money but yet they will take the subsidies from the government. >> well -- bill: make sense of that for us. >> sure, i mean they're, their

position is not going to change. won't be any different than any other federal employee. so i'm, my cases about what i believe is right as a member congress. as a member of congress, i don't believe i can live above the law of any other individual in this country. representative shelly capito is writing legislation now. it says no member of congress can accept anything that is different than the american people. i will be a original cosponsor of that bill. bill: we will follow that and we'll see how members of congress follow your lead, sir. thank you for your time. congressman pittenger from north carolina. to our viewers at home, hemmer@foxnews.com. follow me on twitter @billhemmer. just one line with a question mark, because you asked, bya. back to martha now in new york. martha: bill, everybody was there, oprah, jaime foxx, lots of politicians packed the 50th anniversary of the march on washington and to honor

martin luther king. there is the president he walked in yesterday with bill clinton behind him. how about this? the only black united states senator serving today was somehow not invited to this, if you can believe it. hear what tim scott thinks about this. we're going to show you. you will hear about that moments away. is it because he is a republican? bill: also in a moment, a fiery race car crash. this one caught on video. watch it here now, an you wonder how this driver survived. we'll talk to him live only minutes away. [ 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™.

martha: boy, oh, boy, wait until you see this story of terror on the track.

shocking video from a camera mounted inside of a race car this past saturday at the speedway in pennsylvania. watch this. car obviously is on its side right there. this is mike's car. it flipped over and he was scrambling to escape. you can see him in there, as he is trying to get out and crew is trying to figure out a way to get him out. you see the fuel as it starts to drip on the top there. then it pools, inches away from the driver. things got even worse. as rescuers, oof, rocked the car back and forth under four wheels. then that. hard to believe that he made it out of there. the heat from the exhaust pipe ignited fuel. stofflet survived the accident with nothing but a sore neck. amazing the crew fixed up the car. he raced later that night and took a fifth place finish on top

of that. he joins us with his amazing story. mike, good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. martha: boy, that was scary, what were you thinking during this whole ordeal? >> at first i was thinking get this car back up right. i saw the fuel dripping. i went through the normal driver safety things. shut off fuel. shut off the motor. try to get myself out of the car. my seatbelt was jammed up i couldn't get out. when i saw the first fire and flame, i said don't panic, you got to get out as fast as you can get out. martha: how hard was it to get out of the car? you said that the seatbelt jammed. what is the normal procedure for how the car should open up? >> it is very simple. as in, you just release your belts and they slide off the plate. the way i fell, the one slides for the shoulder harness turned sideways on my slide plate and i couldn't pull it off. as soon as he slid the car up it

slid off. and it was easy to go out and i forgot to take the steering wheel off and that slowed me up a little bit. martha: wow. how did you stay calm? >> i don't know. i told myself you will get through this. keep yourself as calm as possible. i've seen guys wreck before, in racing incidents and cars go up in flames and they get out. but i guess i had a lot of faith in myself to be able to get out of there. martha: good for you. how long have you been racing and how did you get into it? >> i've been racing eight years. it is actually a family thing. all my cousins help us with the car and, my grandfather raced for 30 some years and his brother raced and my grandfather's brother-in-law raced. so it has been a big family ordeal. martha: wow. well, mike, we hope this is a one-time event for you and that there's lots of safe racing in your future. thanks so much for talking to us today. >> thank you for having me. martha: amazing what they got on the camera. good to have you here, mike.

bill: what a story he has got. a live look with british prime minister david cameron addressing parliament on possible military action in syria. he has been talking for the better part of 10 minutes making his case. will the strikes happen and if so what is the holdup today? plus meet an american woman who made understanding syria her life's work. wait until you hear her perspective in a moment, martha. martha: watching the back and forth in london. remember this video [bleep] court date for the three teenagers in the brutal bus beatdown. they could learn their punishment today. this is a huge controversial story. nope eeeeh... oh, guys let's leave the deals to hotels.com. nice bear. ooh that one! nice. got it! oh my gosh this is so cool... awesome!

perfect! save up to 30% plus an extra 12% off with coupon... now until labor day. only at hotels.com [ male annouer ] let's go places. but let's be ready. ♪ let's do our homework. ♪ let's look out for each other. let's look both ways before crossing. ♪ let's remember what's important. let's be optimistic. but just in case -- let's be ready. let'go places, safely. we do our banking anytime... we shop anywhere... and stay in touch with friends everywhere. the freedom is great. but, it comes with a risk. every time you use your devices you could be putting your personal information on display for identity thieves to steal.

♪ even a little online shopping... could be a risk. a friend just wishing you a "happy birthday"... might give thieves the information they need to steal money out of your bank accounts... harm your credit, even drain the equity in your home. you can't give up your digital life, and you don't have to. because lifelock offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. lifelock's credit notification service is on the job 24/7. as soon as they detect a threat to your identity within their network, they will alert you, protecting you, before the damage is done. ♪ it doesn't matter which devices you use or who you do business with... you could be at risk. it doesn't matter how old you are or how much money you have -- identity thieves steal from everyone. you have to protect yourself. i protect myself... with lifelock.

[ male announcer ] identity theft is so much more than a fraudulent charge on your credit card. that's why you need the most comprehensive protection that only lifelock offers. call the number on your screen or go online and try 60 days of lifelock's protection risk free. that's 60 days risk free... call the number on your screen or go online to lifelock.com/safeplan, use promo code safeplan, and get 60 days of lifelock's protection risk free. with lifelock's protection, you can enjoy your digital life... because lifelock always has your back. martha: we want to start here with this fox news alert, because we have news on syria. british prime minister david cameron has been addressing parliament, there's a live shot in london right now where it is almost 3:00 in the afternoon. they're debating the situation in syria, laying out the case for possible military action

against the assad regime, but so far david cameron has said that he thinks it would be unthinkable without going through the u.n. process first. germany also stepping up this morning and saying that they will join russia in the belief that attacks are not the answer and that a political avenue is possible here. big developments on this as we welcome you to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer live today from washington d.c. martha, good morning to you as well. is international support now starting to waver? you have britain and france saying they want to wait for the united nations to finish its investigation on the ground inside of syria, that investigation we just found out might be delayed even further. senior correspondent eric shawn streams live now from the united nations and, eric, good morning there. what is important to understand about where we are today? hello. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, bill, hello. basically, it is the u.n.'s fault, according to u.n.

ambassador samantha power, who has said that the united nations security council has not dealt with this issue of syria over the last two years. and that legacy has continued here this morning. yesterday the united nations security council meeting of the five permanent members broke up without any agreement. british back draft proposal not agreed upon that would call on such action. russia and china, as they have backed the assad regime through the years, continue to do so, threatening then to veto that potential resolution, so it is off the table. they all want to wait for those u.n. inspectors on the ground to issue their report. here is ambassador power, her tweet yesterday saying, quote: >> r eporter: as far as that 15-member u.n. chemical team is concerned, they are still on the ground in damascus this morning after conducting some of their

research. it will, though, still take more than a week for the tests to come back. their mandate is not to find out who may have conducted a chemical attack, but if, indeed, there was one conducted. and this morning u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon said that that team now will leave earlier than expected. they are expected to be out of syria by saturday morning. >> it's true that i have spoken with the president obama yesterday. we discussed how u.n. and the world can work together particularly with the united states, how we can expedite the process of investigation, and i have also expressed my sincere wish that this investigation team should be allowed to continue their work. >> reporter: well, if that team is not on the ground in

syria, that could mean, that could potentially be -- [inaudible] bill: if you look at history, and you're there at the united nations, does there need to be u.n. authorization for military action? >> reporter: well, of course, those here say, yes, there needs to be but, of course, history tells us that has not been the case. in 2003 president george w. bush be initiated the iraq war without the security council blessing. you may remember back in 1999 president bill clinton instigated the 78-day bombing of kosovo by nato, also without the approval of the united nations security council, so the basic answer to that is, no. bill, back to you. bill: eric shawn, thank you from the united nations. when there are more headlines, we'll bring you back, there in new york. martha: let's go more in depth now. there is a strong contingency of foreign policy experts, including some who have been guests on this show and others,

who say we should stay out of syria because they believe it is assad against al-qaeda at this point, our enemies against our enemies, so they say, and they believe that's a reason to stay out of this conflict. is this the uncomfortable truth of this situation, or is that really not the whole picture? elizabeth -- [inaudible] is a senior research analyst with the institute for the study of war. she has spent extensive time on the ground in syria, she has met with the opposition forces, she knows what's going on there, and she disagrees with many of these experts. she's just returned from a trip there and good morning, elizabeth. good to have you with us. >> good morning to you. thanks for having me. martha: let's start with this map and your understanding, because there is this idea that it's basically assad versus al-qaeda. there is no good side to be on in this. but you believe based on this map that we're looking at that there is a separate opposition and that they are strong enough if certain circumstances are

possible to, is that right? >> absolutely. there's very much a moderate opposition movement that is spearheading the battle and the fight against the assad regime that is entirely separate from the more extremist groups operating out of the north. martha: so what kind of impact do you think that a strike or several strikes, and i know that at the institute for the study of war you have kind of gamed out a where you believe that you could tip the balance in a fairly productive way that would not take that long. what would you wallet, what would the outcome be if you're able to do that, do you think? >> unfortunately at this point, we have gotten to a complex and disastrous situation in syria which requires a number of complementary actions. we think combined a train and assist program in which you're actually empowering those more moderate forces which has been proven to be effective in the south and combine it with an air strike campaign that would target and degrade assad's military capability, you could

very quickly shift the balance of power on the ground in favor of the moderate opposition and the civilian population. martha: what's the reaction of the people on the ground in syria and those who are with the moderatorses and the op to decision when they -- and the opposition when they sort of hear the noise of what's going on around them in the world? >> you know, right now there's lot of expectation that the red line for the u.s. has finally been crossed and that the u.s. will stand up for what it said and will stop kind of the brutal dictator as they see assad from killing innocent civilians. and to that degree, i fear there's a lot of expectations that might not be met. martha: what do you think about the shot across the bow he talked about when he was interviewed yesterday? >> i think that there needs to be a strong response, and whatever happens needs to be part of a more comprehensive strategy. look, this shouldn't just be a message to the assad government not to use chemical weapons. this should be a message about

protecting civilian lives and actually stemming the crisis to a point where we can reach and negotiate a solution or actually find a way forward in the u.n. martha: when you hear this news from angela merkel and david cameron, there seems to be a real pullback in the wind right now. what do you think about that? >> again, i think it goes to a lot of misperceptions. i think that many believe, as you pointed out, that there's really no good sides at this point, that it's our enhawaiis fighting our ebb enemies, and we should let them fight it out. this is a completely inaccurate understanding of the complex situation unfolding in syria, and, in fact, actually has the inverse effect where we see both sides being empowered through this fight with one another, and it's very much in our interests to try and stem the conflict as much as possible. martha: elizabeth, we hope you'll come back, because it's a very complex situation and really when you consider what we are, what the options are in front of us, we need to have a really good understanding of who

these opposition forces are, and we thank you for being with us today. thanks, elizabeth. >> thank you. martha: we'll see you next time. bill: interesting segment there, martha. new signs, also, the crisis in syria could drive u.s. gas prices through the roof. oil futures reached a two-year high just yesterday, and the national average for a gallon of regular, $3.56. some analysts say it could go much higher than that. with me now is phil flynn, he's an oil trader live in chicago at the mercantile exchange. he's written a book about all this stuff, and he's a contributor for the fox business network. phil, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: some suggesting ten cents higher a gallon. what do you see? >> we're seeing that on the wholesale market. since this crisis began, we have seen in the futures from the high to the low that gasoline prices have gone up 22 cents. and to me, that's comforting because if this had happened five years ago before the u.s. was producing record amounts of oil and had more refining

capacity, that might have been 50 cents or a dollar. so the good news for the u.s. consumer is we're better prepared for this type of disruption. but we're not going to be totally covered if all-out war breaks out in the middle east. bill: phil, i want to show our viewers at home a happen of the area. two strangleholds, one is the strait of hormuz, strait of hormuz, i should say, right near iran. that's a pretty good ways away unless this were to escalate and iran gets involved. the bigger concern is the suez canal just to the left of where you see the name of the country israel. now, there are numbers on wall street and also there in chicago showing that this is the biggest risk we have seen now in about two years on the energy market. is that what you see? >> that's exactly what we're seeing. the option premiums are saying that the risk to supply is at the greatest level it's been since the beginning of the arab spring and the libyan conflict. so this is huge, and it could be one of the biggest impacts on

the global economy. what the market is also telling us quite clearly is if this blows up into a major conflict, the price of oil could rise to a point where it could do damage to the global economic recovery. so we're talking about very serious things with very serious consequences not only for the or human element, but what it can do to the global economy. bill: labor day this weekend, you know, $3.50 a gallon is the national average. do you see things going nationally back over $4 per gallon? >> probably not this weekend. you know, unless there's a surprise spike. right now the futures are already recalibrating, you know, the strike and pushing it back further be down the curve. so we don't expect anything to necessarily happen this weekend. but i'll tell you this, if it does, you know, that could get down to the pump by the end of holiday. the good part about this is that the market in the united states

for gasoline is probably the best supplied it has been going into a labor day holiday than it's been in the last ten years. so from that point of view, we're going to see less of an impact than we would have in other years. bill: okay. all right, phil, thank you. phil flynn on the floor there, mercantile exchange in chicago, illinois. thank you, sir, we'll talk again. martha in missouri. martha: as we've been reporting, the president may have proposed a, quote, shot across the bow in syria, but he's facing a list of more than a hundred lawmakers who are demanding he ask for approval before considering any kind of strike. but does the president really need, under the war powers act, to ask permission at all? that's coming up. bill: also, jamie foxx was one of those celebrities at the march on washington, but notably absent was the only african-american serving in the u.s. senate today. why would that be? no invitation. we'll debate that. plus, there is this, next --

>> heavy rockets -- [inaudible] l65 mission with the national reconnaissance -- [inaudible] martha: wow. take a look at that, an incredible first for the nasa space program as they launch a new rocket that is unlike any that has ever been launched before. we'll show you why. ♪ ♪ measure. ♪ ♪

bill: and we have liftoff. >> 4, 3 -- we have ignition of the rs-68 engines -- 2, 1, 0. we have liftoff of the united launch alliance delta force heavy rocket entering the l65 mission with the national -- bill: look at the size of that thing. [laughter] that's like a building going up in the air. nasa using the biggest rocket in

its entire fleet to launch a top secret spy satellite into orbit. it's unmanned, delta four, heavy blasting off from vandenberg air force base in california. details of the mission are classified. look at that thing soar. america's most powerful rocket, 23 stories tall, three hydrogen-fueled engines. you see there, it's the sides of a pickup it's the size of a pickup truck. good looking sight, though, going into the sky. martha: boy, historic celebration in our nation's capital yesterday marking 50 years since the inspiring march on washington and reverend dr. martin luther king's historic "i have a dream" speech. and president obama, of course, was not the only high profile speaker there, he was joined by some big name celebrities. there's a great shot of oprah winfrey standing there. it was a little rainy, as you can see. also a rousing speech by the oscar winning actor and entertainer jamie foxx. but here's a question that some

people are scratching their heads about today, because notably ab sent was a man by the name of tim scott who happens to be the only african-american who currently serves in the united states senate. but senator scott did not get the chance to share his thoughts there yesterday. he was on "fox & friends," though, in the morning. >> i think i have a responsibility to be as educated and as economically viable as possible so as to say that those folks who sacrifice for the dream, that the sacrifice was worth it. i am living my mother's american dream today. she worked 16 hours a day to keep us off of welfare, and because of her efforts, i was able to succeed. martha: he's an i inspiration as well. richard fowler joining us now and rich lowry, editor of the national review and a fox news contributor. richard, let me start with you. you know, what's your reaction to the fact that tim scott was not invited to this yesterday? >> well, i've got to tell you, martha, i think the reason why tim scott wasn't invited, i think this is an issue that goes beyond race. this is about jobs and justice

which is why they marched 50 years ago and why they marched yesterday, and i think if the fact his voting records both in the house and senate don't speak to jobs or justice is the reason why he didn't get an invite. martha: rich, what do you think about that? [laughter] >> i think that's absurd. if you're going from the premise that this commemorationing should have been a liberal democratic event based on liberal democratic premises like we just heard, that tim scott is somehow opposed to justice or jobs, well, then, yeah, you exclude him. but this was supposed to be a national commemoration of a great national event, and the reason why we remember the march is not because you had a lot of people there talking about more government activism or more jobs programs, it's because you had an effort to return the country to its founding ideals to achieve basic justice when it came to civil rights. so it was, it shouldn't be a political -- >> wait a minute, wait a minute, now -- martha: go ahead can, richard. >> i think if you listen to dr. king's speech very

carefully, he definitely talked about how we need to create jobs and solve the wealth inequity in this country both 50 years ago and today. beyond that point, both john boehner and the entire republican leadership was invited. they all turned down the invitation. if his party leadership turned down the invitation, i don't understand why, you know, why there's an issue here. [laughter] >> well, one, look, no one remembers -- martha: i'm sorry, rich, i just wanted to play this from jamie foxx who was invited. i'm not sure what he's done to create jobs in the country either, but let's listen to what he says. >> what we need to do now is the young folks pick it up now so that that when we're 87 years old talking to the other young folks, we can say it was me, will smith, jay-z, kanye, alicia keyes, kerri washington. the list goes on and on. martha: jay-z and kanye, i guess, are the children of martin luther king and those who will carry forward the dream, richard. what do you think? [laughter] >> oh, i wouldn't go that far. i think what we saw from the

march 50 years ago is there was a lot of star power there, and we know that star power helped push the movement forward. it creates buy-in across the community both, you know, i think across the country because those people are notable individuals, just like oprah winfrey who is somebody who transcends race and speaks to the fact as a nation we need to continue to move our country forward. martha: rich lowry? >> well, look, there's a reason no one memorizes or talks about the passages in martin luther king's speech that richard is talking about, it's because they current central to the historic achievement of basic civil rights in this country. so the effort to take this and make it all into a liberal democratic celebration of liberal democratic activists and liberal democratic celebrities is really wrong. >> that's just not true. >> and you would invite jamie foxx but not invite -- >> john boehner was invited. john boehner was invited. why did john boehner turn down the invitation? martha: i have no idea --

>> they scrambled at the end to invite some -- >> that's not true at all. >> yes, it is. you can't invite a house leader on two weeks' notice and expect him to be there. martha: let me ask richard one more question just in terms of -- was anything missing from yesterday? and martin luther king talked a lot about self-reliance and about, you know, a fair and equal justice system for all people in this country. one last thought from richard fowler, and then we're going to go. running out of time. >> i don't think anything was missing from yesterday. i think we heard the president talk about how we need to get rid of the school-to-prison pipeline, we need to create real justice and more jobs in this country, and that's what this march was about 50 years ago and yesterday. >> about much more than jobs which is why it has such a historic effect. martha: rich and richard, thanks very much to you both. >> thanks, martha. bill: new developments in the violent bus beating caught on tape last month in florida. teenagers accused of leaving their victim with a broken arm and two black eyes heading to

court today. what will be their justice? [bleep] >> come out here quick, quick, quick, quick. please send somebody up quick. they're still doing it. i've done what i can do. leave that boy alone! too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection. female narrator: through labor day at sleep train,

female narrator: through labor day get 36 months interest-free financing plus big savings of up to $400 on beautyrest and posturepedic. even get three years interest-free financing on serta icomfort and tempur-pedic, plus free same-day delivery, set-up, and removal of your old set. when brands compete, you save, but this special financing offer ends labor day at sleep train. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

martha: well, george zimmerman is now back in the news as we learn his wife is pleading guilty to lying during one of his bond hearings. shelley zimmerman was accused of lying about couple's financial situation, but after her husband was acquitted on all charges, it seems his wife is finally coming clean. >> she apologizes, she admits what she does was wrong, she knew what she was lying about and appears genuinely remorseful. martha: zimmerman's wife received a sentence of community service, probation and will have to write an apology letter in

that case as well. ♪ ♪ bill: three teenagers are in a courtroom today facing charges for this vicious beating. it happened about a month ago. the victim's a 13-year-old boy, left on that bus with a broken arm and two black eyes. phil keating live in clearwater, florida. could the defendants be sentenced today, phil? >> reporter: well, it all depends on whether the three 15-year-olds enter a formal plea. two weeks ago, the public defender indicated they wanted to plead no contest, but the judge may require them to plead not guilty or admitting guilt. the three suspects will all be here at 1:00 for their hearing. they are joshua redden, julian mcknight and -- [inaudible] they plan to play the entire beating tape saying that is the only way they can convey exactly what happened. i spoke with the victim's

grandfather last night on the phone, and he tearfully told me, that's my grandson. he didn't do anything to deserve that, no kid does. that's just wrong. he's doing pretty good, he doesn't understand why this happened. as for the possibility of nine months' probation, no jail time for these defendants, the grandfather told me, quote, i think it's disgusting. all three 15-year-olds are charged with aggravated battery. it would be a felony if they were adults. the judge warned them they could be serving some serious state prison time had they been just a little bit older. they will be here at 1:00 or shortly thereof for this discipline hearing, bill. bill: phil, is the victim going to face his attackers today? will that happen in court? >> reporter: he has the opportunity. prosecutors really wanted to give him that, to face husband attackers and explain -- his attackers and explain to the court the impact of that 50 punches and kicks in one minute delivered on that school bus be, but the grandparents telling me last night they think it's

unlikely after much consideration. simply, the 13-year-old, he's still afraid be even on the first day of school this year, he couldn't even get on the school bus. he turned around and walked home, so now he has transferred to a new school, and his grandmother drives him to school and back home every day so he can avoid going on a bus. bill: phil keating watching that trial in clearwater, florida. martha? martha: well, thanks, bill. there is a growing debate as president obama faces some brand new roadblocks this morning from overseas on the issue of taking military action in syria. but should he get the okay back here at home? he's scheduled to meet with members of congress today, but does he need tear permission? >> presidents have done this consistently. president reagan did it in grenada, president eisenhower did it in lebanon. martha: 100 lawmakers demanding that the president be get approval from congress before doing anything. we're going to talk about that, coming up next. bill: also discouraging reports

on a growing west coast wildfire. why it might take months now before this fire is out. >> i have never seen it like this on the lake. we can see all the way to south lake tahoe which is about 18.5 miles away. but as you can see, the visibility's about half a mile.

martha: we are back with this fox news alert from northern california now where crews are making slow progress on the massive wildfires burning in and

around yosemite national park. we're now told that it could be weeks before this is fully contained. some good news for one small community, though, as evacuation orders have been lifted bringing relief to those who are able to return home to their houses. listen. >> packing up and leaving your house and looking back at it -- [laughter] that's what gets you, you know? >> you wonder if you're going to see it again. >> right, exactly. martha: boy, how scary would that be? claudia cowan joins us live from california. so, claudia, that city is under an evacuation advisory for the eighth straight day now, right? >> reporter: that's right, martha. and as you can see, it's another very smoky morning. lighter winds aren't fanning the flames like we saw over the weekend, but they're not clearing away the smoke either, and an inversion layer has kept a lid on the smoke until well past noon. chopper pilots and the pilots of the air tankers can't make their

drops if they can't see where the flames are. ironically, fire officials would like a little wind to blow out the smoke and get those critical resources up in the air earlier. >> it's a catch 22 with the winds. we need them to clear this area so we can get our crews and aircraft in there, but also it can push the fire in a direction we may not want it to go. >> reporter: and to keep that from happening, 82 bulldozers have been working nonstop building containment lines, and crews now report 30% containment. but this fire has burned its way into the record books. in a week and a half, it has scorched more than 192,000 acres, some 301 square miles, martha. that is roughly the size of new york city. martha: boy, so incredible. and we see the trucks just barreling through behind you, and we know that the fire's also prompting some heated words from lawmakers, right? >> reporter: that's right, martha. some republican lawmakers really taking aim at forest management policy. they say the lack of timber

harvest and controlled burns over the past several decades have left the nation's forests far more vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires. >> thirty years of federal regulations have reduced timber harvesting in this region by 80%, and now all of that excess timber is being burned out, incinerating 300 square miles of some of the most precious resources in the nation. >> reporter: mcclintock and other lawmakers are hoping this disaster brings awareness to and speeds passage of pending legislation that addresses wildfire prevention. martha: boy, very interesting point. claudia, thank you so much. ♪ ♪ bill: 25 minutes now before the hour, back here many washington the administration holding a meeting later today on the crisis in syria. the president will talk with leading members of congress. meanwhile, the house speaker, john boehner, saying in a letter quote the following:

bill: fourteen big questions in that . randy forbes, a member of the house armed services committee with me here in our nation's capital. good morning to you. let me get to the letter in a moment. your position is what regarding syria? would you support a strike on assad? >> i would not. but i would give the president the opportunity to make that case both to the mesh people and to congress -- to the american people and to congress. as the speaker pointed out, i don't think they've told us what their strategic objective is, how they're going to carry that out and what kind of exit strategy they're going to get. bill: would you change your mind? could you change your mind? >> you could always change your mind based on additional evidence, but i do not believe we should get involved in a conflict in syria.

bill: why not? >> i think, first of all, this rattling of sabers in syria takes our eye off iran. i think iran is loving the fact that we're focusing on syria. secondly, i think that nobody can guarantee this is going to be just a two-day conflict as the president's talked about. we could be locked in for years in a conflict in syria. i think our military's been stretched too thin by this administration. they've cut $587 billion out of national defense, and then on top of sequestration, i think it's the wrong course of action for us right now. bill: he talked yesterday, the president did, about a shot across the bow. >> the problem -- bill: is that sufficient, or how do you interpret -- >> i think when you're talking about a shot across the bow, i think it's really a smack across the face. if somebody does that, you can't always control that on the international scene, and i think that's what the president is beginning to realize now as he relooks at this thing and wonders if we can really do something for two days and get out. bill: so is it your sense now that there is a back step at least in the public statements

or possibly even in the planning? >> i think it could be in both, bill. if you kind of look at what you're seeing both from the president, the white house and also from the allies across the globe right now, i think they're taking a pause and saying maybe we need to do a better job at making this case to the american people and congress. bill: but secretary kerry was very firm two days ago. is this a suggestion that they're caving? on previous public statements? >> well, i wouldn't say caving, bill, but i hope that what they're doing is reevaluating what a commitment they may be making if they get involved in military action in syria right now, and they need to make sure they have well defined their strategy, what their goals are, what their objective is, how they're going to implement that, but most important, how they're going to exit from that after they've done it. i haven't heard that. if they have done it, they haven't made that case yet to congress or to the american people. bill: one other thing the president said yesterday was about securing the national interests of america. what is the national interest today inside the borders of

syria? >> well, bill, i think that's the big question. i don't think the president has made that national interest to us. obviously, we're very concerned about chemical weapons, but i think at this particular point in time under the war powers act it seems very, very clear to me. you either have to have a declaration of war, you have you have to have authorization by congress or imminent threat or an attack on american interests, and that hasn't taken place yet. and i think the president has to make the case as to why he thinks that's happened. he has failed to do that. bill: now, you signed this letter, more than a hundred lawmakers have, primarily in the house. two-thirds, i think, are republicans who have signed that, about a third are democrats. we talked to peter king yesterday, he says the president does not need the authority of congress. he can get 45 or 60 days after a strike and get it then. is he wrong? >> i think he is, and i'll tell you why. if you had a tomahawk missile launched into new york city tomorrow, i think we would determine that an act of war. the same thing applies when the united states does that to other

countries, and i think the war powers act makes very, very clear what the president has to do. he had to, one, have found that there was a declaration of war -- none has been issued yet. two, he has to have authority from congress, none has been given yet. or, three, american interests have to have been attacked or in imminent danger. bill: so you do not support a strike, and this is a very critical point here now. many have come forward, especially within this administration, by way apparently of israeli intelligence that chemical weapons were used about a week ago. if you do not strike now, in a month from now or six months from now perhaps it's not a couple hundred dead from chemical weapons, maybe it's a couple thousand or even 10,000. are you prepared to live with that? >> well, first of all, bill, i'm prepared to live with the fact that the president needs to make the case, one, as who actually uses chemical weapons. we're open to him doing that. number two, i think you have to be very, very careful and also is ask ask the question what's the result if the united states gets involved in a conflict in syria right now?

we've had some of our military experts say that could last as many as ten years. we don't know the extent of that, and i think that's very, very important, that the american people know that before we begin military action. bill: randy forbes, i appreciate your time, republican from virginia, not too far from our location here this washington. >> thank you, bill. bill: thank you. back to martha now in new york. martha: interesting debate. we're going to continue to watch it. and this question for you this morning as well, how does this happen? the plane that ended up in the drink and then got a ride home. bill: it's a long commute right there. [laughter] martha: sure is. bill: why a judge is apologizing after some comments that have people outraged. >> i'm not sure just what i was attempting to say at that point, but it didn't come out correct.

bill: so a ditched plane getting a lift out of this lake in oregon. check this out now, this makes

for a very, very long day. that's a single-engine cessna, it was ditched in that lake about a week ago, and when the helicopter lifted that helicopter out of a lake, the weight of the water snapped the plane's tail. here's what happened. about a week ago the pilot made an emergency landing in that water, left the plane after experiencing a bit of issue flying, engine failure there. all four people onboard escaped without injuries, the ntsb is still investigating the cause of that crash. long commute for that fella, huh? get on home. martha: all right, bill, back here in new york, a montana judge is coming under fire for his controversial comments about a teenage rape victim who later committed suicide. it's a horrible story, and the remarks that came from judge todd baugh after he sentenced a former teacher to 30 days in prison for raping the 14-year-old student, he said the victim was, quote: older than her chronological age and that

she was as much in control of the situation as the 54-year-old teacher. the judge did offer an apology after widespread criticism. there was a protest online. he said, basically, that what he meant to say didn't come out the way he meant to say it. >> ladies and gentlemen, in the rambo sentencing, i made some references to the victim's age and control. i'm not sure just what i was attempting to say at that point, but it didn't come out correct. what i said was demeaning to all women, not what i believe in and irrelevant to the sentencing. i owe all of our fellow citizens an apology. martha: so there's that to add to the mix in this story, and i'm joined now by jehmu greene, a fox news contributor, and michael graham, talk show host on boss to have herald radio -- boston herald radio.

welcome to both of you. this is an awful and very sad, sad story about a 14-year-old girl who, you know, was in a relationship of sorts with this 54-year-old teacher which is completely illegal and constitutes rape. jehmu, what do you make of this? >> you're right, it is illegal. and young girls, teenagers cannot be give consent to adults, bottom line. it's sickening. but i think, marsha, as my friend -- marsha -- [laughter] as my friend joanne writes in "usa today" that today's sexualized images of young teens and girls is actually warping how judges and others view real-life victims of rape and assault. but what this boils down to me is, this is like an american judicial system-sanctioned honor killing. we talk about sharia law, we talk about victim blaming that goes on in the muslim societies.

this is in montana where a woman killed herself. this judge should not just have apologized, he needs to resign. if he doesn't resign, he needs to be defeated. martha: yeah. it's an awful, awful situation all around, and the columnist that you referred to makes an interesting point in all of this. michael, what do you think? >> well, as the father of a teenage daughter who, unfortunately, at 14 and 15 looked like she was 25 and 26, you know, i'm terrified at the way that men look at young girls. and i'm also terrified of the way young girls are sexualized. having said that, i don't care if this poor 14-year-old girl came to class full on miley cyrus with a foam finger in her hand doing twerking. the responsibility has to be on the adult. it has to be. society won't work any other way. and this judge, what the hell -- i don't even know what i us with trying to say. he wanted to say that she was, essentially, asking for it. he was deliver ago ruling from

the hollywoodty goldberg it's not rape rape school of law, and now he's trying to hide from his own words. martha: yeah, but, you know, the tragedy beyond the obvious tragedy of this child's life which is the worst part of all of this is that he was, he sentenced this guy to 30 days in jail. you know, basically, they suspended all of the sentence, and then another day off of the 31-day sentence that he somehow, unbelievably, ended up with and ended up with 30 days in the jail. and his attorney says, well, you know, it's been very rough on him because now he's labeled a sex offender and all of this, and he was reprimanded again because he had an underage person visit him who was a family member. give me a break. this is a mess, jehmu. >> and, martha -- [laughter] this was not the first time. he was a sexual predator that his school district was aware and had warned him in the past to stay away from these young girls. how was he even teaching still to begin with? if you're going to get a warning

like that, that warning needs to come with your pink slip. and i know the school settled with her parents, gave her a settlement. but, again, we have to understand that how this decision came down, i think, comes from when you're seeing things like "16 and pregnant" on mtv and this judge sees these types of sexualized images of teens, it warped his mind, and that's not -- martha: there's a lot of warping of our minds, no doubt about it. thank you so much, you guys. we're going to look more into this story. thank you, michael graham, and thank you, jehmu greene. >> thanks, martha. >> thanks, martha. [laughter] bill: she got it right, jehmu! martha: marsha, marsha, marsha shah. [laughter] bill: it all works. "happening now"'s cooking what up today, jon? good morning. jon: president obama meets in washington with leading lawmakers today on syria, but does the commander in chief need congressional approval for a military strike? arguments on both sides. plus, we all know texting and

driving can be deadly, but if you text someone who is driving themselves, could you be liable in case of an accident? one state says, yes. we'll explain. and why you should eat your broccoli coming up, nine minutes, "happening now." the great outdoors... ...and a great deal. thanks to dad. nope eeeeh... oh, guys let's leave the deals to hotels.com. nice bear. ooh that one! nice.

got it! oh my gosh this is so cool... awesome! perfect! save up to 30% plus an extra 12% off with coupon... now until labor day. only at hotels.com female announcer: when you see this truck, female announcer: it means another neighbor is going to sleep better tonight because they went to sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic event. choose from a huge selection of tempur-pedic models, including the new tempur-choice with head-to-toe customization. plus, get 36 months interest-free financing, two free pillows, and free same-day delivery. are you next? announcer: but don't wait. sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic is ending soon. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

♪ bill: nicely done. you know, for the faithful, this could matter. a new study finds earthly benefits for those who believe in a higher power. religion correspondent lauren green is live in new york city with this. what did the study find? >> reporter: who'd have thought twitter could be a great source for social scientists? researchers at the university of illinois examined some two million tweets where thousands of followers of five prominent

christians and atheists. the tweets sent by followers of pope benedict vxi, joel osteen and pastor rick warren were analyzed alongside the tweets of followers of richard dawkins and the late christopher hitchens who penned the bestseller, "god is not great," and researchers found christians used more positive emotion words than atheists like love, happy and great rather tan negative emotions like bad, wrong or awful. and that religious people have a more intuitive rather than analytical style of thinking. bill? bill: uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. what are christians and atheists both saying about this, these results? >> reporter: well, it's interesting, because the study points out religion does not necessarily equal happiness, but christians think it helps. >> i think the study results confirm what i've seen in my experience with religious people and interacting with nonreligious people, that those who believe in god and those who

know christ as their savior have a meaning, a purpose, a fulfillment, a joy that those outside of the faith simply don't have. >> reporter: but atheists counter that the study is flawed because not everyone measures happiness the same way. things like, you know, criticism and skepticism and analytical thinking are things that make atheists happy. bill? bill: i choose to believe, and so i guess -- [laughter] i guess we'll keep the faith alive. thank you, lauren. >> reporter: sure. bill: and i'll stay happy doing it. lauren green. >> reporter: it's all in the eyes of the beholder. bill: right on. martha: i never met a person who was made happy by criticism, but anyway, that's interesting. thanks to lauren. and we've got some breaking developments on the white house plans to brief congress on the escalating crisis in syria. and now one of america's strongest allies says that they are willing to strike at the assad regime with or without u.n. approval. that story coming up next.

[gunfire] and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans.

and honestly, it was a little scary to go down to one income. so, i had to get creative. i made some missteps. i switched to some weird bargain detergent instead of tide but no matter how much i poured, our clothes were missing that tide clean we were used to. iean, what would my grandma say if she saw the kids looking dingy? [ smoke alarm beeping ] oh! [ daughter ] mom burned the muffins! i hope you're not watching this, nana. [ female announcer ] one cap of tide gives you more cleaning power than 6 caps of the bargain brand. also available in powder with acti-lift crystals. [ mom ] that's my tide.

bill: this fall make sure you check the 50th year anniversary marking death of john f. kennedy. that's why we're in washington. we'll see you back there tomorrow. martha: we'll see you then. "happening now" starts right now >> brand new stories and breaking news. jon: big questions how the u.s. will handle the growing crisis in syria. u.s. navy destroyer heading toward the eastern mediterranean. that will bring total of the destroyers to five. one of america's closest allies says a military strike is not says a military strike is not . one recalling the obamacare process a train wreck. sometimes you need the burger fast. could a strike get between you and your big mack today? emac has the answer. e its is "happening