crates. they're just lucky rats didn't eat them, right? bill: some big rats down there. you see them all the time. >> look at the cute little guys, you need a kitty, don't you? >> no i don't. that cat looks like a rat. just saying. have a great weekend everybody. >> you too as well. >> right now we have brand knew stories and breaking news. jon: all eyes on washington right now as president obama meets with national security team to weigh his next move in syria, after britain votes against military action to punish the assad regime for the reported use of chemical weapons. will the united states to it alone? fox live team coverage on rapidly unfolding events in syria. plus the bug guns are coming out to sell obamacare as the deadline to set up health care exchanges approaches after some major glitches in the rollout. a husband pleads not guilty to a shocking murder in florida. what he says happened before he posted pictures of his dead wife's body on facebook.

it's all happening now. jon: but force, secretary of state john kerry expected to speak about 90 minutes from now as we await the release of declassified intelligence assessment of the chemical attack in syria that killed hundreds of people, many of them children. good morning i'm jon scott. >> good to be here with you, jon. big news day. i'm alisyn camerota in for jenna lee. president hopes this will make the case of a military strike against the assad regime despite british it law makers voting against a strike and the u.n. security council ending in a dead lock. jon: top administration officials briefed members of congress about evidence that links the syrian government to that attack, something house minority leader nancy pelosi says can knot be ignored. she says quote, assad gassing

his own people is issue of our national security, and global security. we must be clear that the united states rejects the use of chemical weapons by assad or any other regime but some lawmakers warn taking action in syria could have dire consequences. >> the american people are not excited a about a new war. we're horrified by it. people gassing their own citizens. we would like to know who did it, which side did it but we're not excited to get involved in a new war right now. so i will do everything i can to stop the president. we should not engage in a war and certainly shouldn't engage in it in an unconstitutional fashion. >> meanwhile, u.n. inspectors headed out for a final day of investigations around damascus today. they visited a military hospital before heading home to visit with general secretary ban ki-moon. james rosen is live at the state department for us. first chief white house correspondent ed henry. ed, tell us how the white house

is reacting to the u.k.'s parliament voting this plan down. >> reporter: well, alisyn, their response basically is the president will make his own decision with or without the british, other allies. it appears the french might be on board with this. so they will obviously try to hang it on that. this is clearly a big blow for the president with the british parliament voting down any military action on their part and you can feel the intensity, the pressure building on the president as he appears to be alone on the world stage right now. he is at this moment convened a national security council meeting here at the white house. we saw secretary of state john kerry arrive a few moments ago. obviously ahead of his 12:30 statement to the world about what is the next step here for the administration but i can tell you white house spokesman josh earnest yesterday, even before the vote in the british parliamnet yesterday, he said basically the president as commander-in-chief will make his own decision regardless what our allies do. take a listen. >> the president of the united states is elected with the duty

to protect the national security interests of the united states of america and the decision he makes, about the decisions, that he makes about our foreign policy is with our national security interests, front and center. >> reporter: breaking right now. we just got a statement at the last moment or two from the carter senator in atlanta. former democratic president jimmy carter putting out a statement, in part, a punitive military response without a u.n. security council mandate or broad support from nato and the arab legal would be illegal under international law and unlikely to alter the course of the war. it give you a flavor of the intensity the president's feeling not just from republican critics on the hill who want to hear more information about what the mission might be but also some of his fellow democrats. alisyn? >> absolutely. we know last night they had this i guess, 90-minute

teleconference between white house officials and top lawmakers. so what was the response to congress after that? >> reporter: inside the white house they feel like they're trying to go the extra mile to at least consult with congress even though they're not promising a full debate in the house and senate and a vote to get congressional authorization, something barack obama as candidate for this office in 2008 said he would get, congressional authorization before using u.s. military force but they say, look, at the very least they're consulting with congress. they did this conference call because members are scattered around the world on their august recess but republicans like james inhofe got off this call last night and basically said this morning they didn't hear enough. take a listen. >> it was an hour 1/2 of john kerry trying to sell us on the president's program of military intervention in syria. and, he, there's a new term you're going to hear over and over again as we did last night, called, a broad range of options.

secretary kerry said that we're going to offer the president a broad range of options, but you know, we talked for an hour 1/2 and they didn't mention one of the options. >> reporter: so bottom line is you can hear that's the top republican on the senate armed services committee, normally someone in favor of u.s. military force but he has got real questions and so far jim inhofe says until he hears more from the president he will oppose any u.s. mission in syria. the bottom line where we are next couple hours we'll hear from secretary of state john kerry as i mentioned. at the same time we're expected in the next couple hours to get intelligence report, released to the public inside the white house to give the public an idea why they believe assad was behind that awful chemical attack on august 21st. then the most important step of all will be hearing from the commander-in-chief something we heard very little from in recent days. he at some.will have to speak out, alisyn. >> absolutely. we'll debate the president's plan with our pundits during the

course of the program. thanks, ed henry. jon: for more on this let's bring in walid farris, fox news middle east terrorist analyst. the president doesn't seem to have any good options here. is there a way to fire the shot across the bow as he described it, against the syrian government, make it a limited strike and still be successful? >> look the administration case for a limited strike against the syrian regime chemical capacity is based on the fact we can not allow this to continually the long-term view of the administration and the president had made it clear, to force assad once he loses chemical weapons to go through negotiations. i don't think it will work only a strike against the chemical weapons because it would be replaced, those weapons, other weapons would be replaced by the russians. critics of the administration are arguing if we pound the assad regime al qaeda will take over. also not true. if we take out that weapons system there will be a balance

of power between al qaeda, jihaddists and assad regime. either way basically a strike against assad regime will not solve it but it may be necessary to limit his weapons system. jon: the president said more than a year ago assad has to go. isn't that supposed to be the goal ultimately of any strike? >> he is saying morally and politically he has to go. he did not say we will have him leave his palace. that's a big difference. the fact his administration did not act in 12 and 11 when we were in iraq and when al qaeda was not penetrating the opposition. we missed 2011. we had elections in 2012. we're two years 1/2 after. so definitely the price of having assad leave is going to be much higher than before. jon: the president is facing this one almost alone. i mean even our steadfast allies, the british, have said they are not going to get involved in any kind of military campaign against syria. what does that say? >> that is really a problem for

the administration, not having at least the british, maybe the french will be with us. again this is going to be a limited strike. it is not going to change definitely the balance of power inside syria. what is important now is to look at the big design. not just about those chemical weapons. it is about the regime and who are our partners inside syria? once this is clarified we can get to a third party inside syria, not al qaeda, not assad. we have not done our homework on this issue two years 1/2 into the conflict. jon: we haven't done our homework why? what's the holdup? >> the holdup was in 2011 as i said we did not seize the opportunity that the revolution was made by demonstrators, by civil society. they were not yet militarized. we could have worked with them, given them some visibility and pressure assad. once the opposition was penetrated by al qaeda, every time a delegate will go to syria meet the opposition he will be surrounded by islamist militias. we sort of lost that window.

now they are our partners in the syria. i'm thinking the kurds and secular military. we need to do a better job working with a third party in syria, not just looking at islamists or bashar al-assad. jon: we're going to hear as we said from secretary of state kerry within the next couple hours. we hope to get more information about this then. walid, thank you. >> thank thank you,. >> jon, closing arguments underway in the trial of a teenager who prosecutors shot and killed a 13-month-old boy, antonio santiago, and the mother was also shot but she survived. suspect's mother is accused of tampering with evidence and lying to police. john thain scary live out sight the court hours in marietta, georgia, what do we know. >> reporter: alisyn, prosecution began closing arguments and closing arguments began with the rye minder from the defense that demarquis elkins is not the only

defendant in this trial. those attorneys reminding jurors his mother is accused of lying to police and tampering with evidence. she is sitting side by side with him facing trial. her lawyer insist there is is quote, zero proof, unquote, that the gun investigators found in a pond near the crime scene was the murder weapon. sherry west identified then 17-year-old demarquis elkins as the person who shot her baby in the head during an attempted armed robbery after she told him she had no money. the teen is also accused of the earlier non-fatal shooting of a local pastor, wilfredo flores. yesterday the defense grilled the baby's father over why he after his child's death tried to contact this minister who is also known as pastor freddie. listen. >> did you or did you not call wilfredo flores for the purpose of making sure he identified marquis elkins? >> no, sir. no, sir.

>> reporter: lewis santiago said he was merely reaching out to the pastor and other clergy in the community seeking prayers after he had lost his child. alisyn. >> what a tragic story. jonathan serrie, thanks so much for the update. jon? jon: we're awasting that statement from secretary of state john kerry regarding syria. this as the president weighs a response to the assad regime's apparent use of chemical weapons against its own people. we'll have that for you live when it comes. also this man caught on tape attacking a colleague. you will never believe who they are and what they were doing at the time. ♪ ho ho ho [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant.

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jon: right now, some headlines we are watching around the globe. check this out. a violent outburst in the middle

of a mexican courtroom. this time from a judge. a camera catches him jumping out of his seat punching two other judges. now he is facing impeachment. military rescuers called in as floodwaters threaten a city in northeast china. rising waters already weakening some of the city's infrastructure. it is expected to get even worse. a very special delivery at the berlin zoo. you're looking at four newborn lynx cubs. quadruplets are rare for the desert lynx. they will stay with their parents for another month and moved to a zoo in paris. alisyn: back to the stop story and growing questions about the president's next move in syria. top administration officials including defense secretary chuck hagel briefing some lawmakers last night to build political support for military strikes against syrian president bashar al-assad and his government. but not everyone is sold. some say the president must do a

better job of justifying this strike. >> there are consequences to doing very limited or reason -- even more than a little bit limited when it comes to syria. there are also consequences for not doing anything in syria. and so i argue, let's have that debate. i think the facts will be on the president side but he needs buy-in from congress. alisyn: back in 2007 then senator obama made the case that no president could initiate military strikes without congressional approval. then he said quote, the president did not have the power under the constitutional to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not stop involving an actual or imminent threat to the nation. let's debate that. byron york, chief political correspondent for the washington exam upper and fox news contributor. hi, byron. >> good morning. >> before we get to the president's about-face, talk about what happened last night , administration officials had this teleconference for an

hour 1/2 with about 25 congress members. is that president obama's version of seeking congressional approval? >> well, that's what you cale consulting with congress. it is not seeking authorization from congress. we've had one republican senator, senior republican, james inhofe who was on the call say, that, you know, john kerry, secretary of state, discussed a broad range of options for the president to take but he never discussed what any of the options were. it sound to me from the accounts we had of lawmakers who were on the call it didn't answer any of their questions. there are really two big issues, the substance what should we do in syria, there is a question of seeking authorization from congress. you know, i think you're going to have almost unanimous reaction in congress saying that the president should seek authorization before acting. alisyn: even back in 2007, as we just read, that quote from barack obama himself, who said that a president must seek congressional authorization.

so does the president at least owe the american public a explanation for his 180-degree turn? >> well, absolutely. perhaps not from his 180-degree turn. he may want to be quiet about that but he certainly owes an explanation for what he is doing. the president right now is suffering from the fact that he hasn't laid any foundation for taking action in syria. he hasn't been talking about this for months about what a bad guy bashar al-assad is and what terrible things he's done in syria and how it could require international action and that the u.s. would be prepared. remember, president bush made the case for war in iraq over and over and over again and saw it and received congressional authorization to do it. this is much smaller than iraq. nobody's talking about invading syria. nevertheless, it is military action and the president hasn't made any case leading up to today for taking action. alisyn: see, byron, here's what's confusing. president obama seems ambivalent about this he said things on

both sides whether or not we should attack or not? why not seek congressional authorization? wouldn't that give him some cover, if congress said we're not authorizing, he could say to the american public, well, i tried? >> he absolutely need some cover, especially what you saw last night in parliament, apparently during that telephone call, with lawmakers, with secretary kerry they learned parliament had rejected david cameron's call for taking action in syria. the u.n. is not on board. you know, former president carter, we just reported, that former president carter said a unilateral u.s. attack would be illegal. so i mean, the president needs some friend here, and one way to do that would be to bring a lot of members ever congress in, consult with them, then seek an actual authorization for some specific thing to be done in syria. alisyn: we will see what happens this weekend as things are heating up. byron york, thanks for your analysis. >> thank you, alisyn. alisyn: true.

jon: detroit, once a shining example of america's industrial might, now is full of abandoned and run-down derelict buildings. coming up details on a new multimillion-dollar effort to fight the blight in the motor city. plus a new report says the economy might be taking a toll on teens. analysts are raising the possibility of a lost generation? we'll tell you why. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened

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jon: well right now in detroit a call for all hands on deck. city leaders asking residents to help save that bankrupt city and part of that means going street by street, building by dilapidated building, tearing them down to make room to build a better detroit. garrett tenney in detroit now with the latest on that. garrett? >> reporter: jon, there are tens of thousands of abandoned homes

like this one all across the city of detroit. that led to an increase in crime, a decrease in property values, and a precious drain on those city funds. so officials are saying, by tearing it all down, it will clear the path to bring detroit back up. stay away and scrappers will be shot. signs like these are a common sight in neighborhoods all across the motor city where there are more than 78,000 abandoned homes, most of them fallout from the housing crisis. more than 30 of those homes are on robert couch's small street and have become magnets for squatters, scrappers and criminals. >> bring our neighborhood down, our community down. it ain't no community. we try to do what we can as neighbors but neighbors can't do it all by their self. >> reporter: now help is on the way in the form of wrecking balls and dump trucks. in a first-of-its-kind program, michigan is taking on detroit's foreclosure crisis and

attempting to stablize its neighborhood by demolishing more than 4,000 abandoned homes across the city, calling it the largest blight removal effort in state history. >> by eliminating the blight in a neighborhood, we increase property values, give folks incentive to stay in their homes. therefore maybe they won't get into a foreclosure problem. >> reporter: robert couch says he is already seeing a difference. of. >> people look around, see the neighborhood is a lot better than what it was in the past. so it is doing a little bit better. >> reporter: now this is what a little bit better can look like. after those homes are demolished. right now the state only has enough funds to demolish 4,000 homes across the city. there are of course 74,000 other homes they would need to get those funds for. if this pilot program is successful though they should be able to request more fundings to continue the demolition. jon? jon: garrett tenney, in detroit. what a story. garrett, thank you. alisyn: jon, secretary of state john kerry is set to speak out on syria just about one hour

from now. this is one day after america's closest ally, votes against participating in a military strike on syria. we have a live report from the state department ahead for you. president obama teaming up with president clinton in the latest effort to sell obamacare to the american people. paul gigot will weigh in on that next. [ 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. ...and a great deal. . thanks to dad.

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jon: fox news alert. we are waiting for secretary of state john kerry to make a

statement from syria. it is expected to come about an hour from now. as we now know, any military action in syria will not include our closest ally, great britain. the british parliament voting against participating in any kind of a military strike. prime minister david cameron disappointed in the vote but saying he will respect the will of the house of commons. chief washington correspondent james rosen is live from the state department. james? >> reporter: jon, good morning. aides to secretary kerry told me drafted this upcoming speech on his ipad and seeks to build on his comments from monday as the administration seeks further to lay predicate for actions that president obama is still said to be weighing. meantime in istanbul, turkey and amman, jordan, proterse turn out by the hundreds to oppose any western intervention in the two year syrian civil war. one protester in jordan say we have examples of iraq and libya to show us what this kind of strike could cause in the way of destruction. in tehran, friday prayers saw

leading iranian cleric warning in his sermon in america commits the quote, unquote, mistake striking assad regime, victory will belong to syria. prime minister cameron meantime projecting classic british stow system in the set back. he told interview, obviously politics is difficult. cameron made clear by no means london is not withdrawing entirely. >> we'll take to continue to take the case with the united nation and work with all the members, whether eu, or nato, g8 or g20 to condemn what's happened in syria. it is we uphold the international taboo on the use of chemical weapons but one thing, that was proposed, the potential, only after another vote, involvement of british military in any actions. that won't be happening. >> reporter: so some curious turns of event at donald rumsfeld in somewhat similar moment a decade ago called old

europe. british house of commons rejecting any military role for great britain. a german spokesman says berlin has not even been asked to participate and won't. france a former colonial power in syria and harshest critic of the iraq war 10 years ago is holding firm to its intention to join the u.s.-led action. officials from the state department continued to say yesterday that it will be narrowly tailored. >> we're not talking about iraq style invasion. we're not talking about libya-style open-ended no-fly zone operation. i think that is important point the president and we think should be shared with the public as we debate these issues. >> reporter: more on all of this from secretary of state john kerry speaking from the treaty room here at the state department at 12:30 eastern time. jon? jon: we are all going to be watching that, to hear what the secretary of state has to say. james rosen, covering it there for us. james, thank you. >> reporter: sure. alisyn: jon, we turn now to the economy and new concerns that

the slow pace of the recovery is taking its toll onioninger americans. there is a new report that reveals teen employment is near record lows for a fourth straight year, raising fears of a possible lost generation of workers. fox news's carl cameron is live in washington this morning. carl, a lost generation what does that mean? >> reporter: well, alisyn, it is kind of rough news as we head into labor day. a lot of kids going back to school this summer didn't spend their summer with jobs. the job market is toughest for teens, no doubt about it. statistics say it all. in 2000, more than half of kids 16 to 19 years of age had 52%. now it is down to a third, actually a fraction less than a third and teen unemployment is four times the national average. overall unemployment rate is 7.4%. when you break out 16 to 19-year-olds, it is 23.7% unemployment, quadruple the rest of the country. some is because kids don't want to work as much as they used to but also very true that

retailers, fast-food restaurants and other traditional employers that hire young people are now hiring experienced adults for those jobs because overall the employment market is so titan experienced adults are competing for that kind of work. look at another way. when teens went looking for work this summer in june and july, they had record low success. only 39% of the white teens were able to find work when they went looking. only 26.7% of hispanic 16 to 19-year-olds were able to find work. among african-americans, it was worse, only 19% got hired. it's a bleak picture for teens and raises questions about the future preparedness for the workforce. job training and college can help. more graduates end up living at home in the room they grew up in on their parents couches. it is rough for them, alisyn. alisyn: that is terrible numbers. having a job as a teenager is a critical life experience. let's hope the turnarounds -- >> reporter: put as damper on barbecues this labor day. alisyn: it really does. really does. thanks for letting us know about

it. thanks so much, carl. jon: it has been more than three years since obamacare became law and now the white house is preparing what its largest push yet to sell the law to the american people. big names including vice president joe biden, his wife jill and first lady michelle obama will fan out across the country as the insurance exchanges go online in a little more than a month. even former president bill clinton is being tapped to help out. he will speak about the law to a crowd in his home state of arkansas next week. let's talk about all this with paul gigot, the editorial page editor for "the wall street journal." interesting, paul, the website, "politico" wrote about this and here was the opening line. three years after signing obamacare into law, president barack obama finally looks eager to talk about it. why now? >> well, because d-day is arriving on october 1st. the exchanges are supposed to start and january 1st, the subsidy coverage begins.

so it is do-or-die. they have to do it now or this thing could fail. jon: but the president has been selling us all along on what a great program this is going to be? >> well that hasn't persuaded the country. all polls show obamacare is still more unpopular than popular but now they don't have a choice. he need to do something to turn this around and in particular he need to get younger americans, younger healthy americans to join these exchanges in the states. because if you don't get enough young people and by young, i mean under 40, okay, you don't get enough of these people paying into the system, you're not going to be able to make the exchanges work and make them affordable for everybody. jon: so that's why he is getting people like katy perry to help send out tweets. you have got the bully pulpit. you're the most powerful guy in the world but you need a pop star to sell a program! >> most young people are turned off by politics anyway. you get katy per is and bill clinton. you remember he tried to get

basketball stars and nba and nfl to do it and they wisely stayed out of it because it is not their concern. he is desperate to get these young people n the last thing you want to supreme premiums for health insurance really rise. we already know they will be more expensive but they could be even more expensive than people expect, if you don't get enough people in these exchanges. jon: well he said, that health care costs were going to go down as a result of all this no. >> i think that debate is over. "national journal", publication in washington which looks pretty favorably almost everything the president does came out with a report saying that is not going to be nearly as inexpensive as the administration has been claiming. jon: meantime we're talking about the teen unemployment rate in this country. a lot of new jobs coming on line are part-time jobs because employers are finding under obamacare it is an inducement to hire part-time workers instead of full time. >> full-time job under obamacare is defined at 30 hours a week.

there is a 29 club. people only employed for 29 hours, lest they have to be provided health insurance. the other key number, 50 employees. if you're a business with more than 50 you must provide insurance to your employees or pay a fine. you get 49, 48 employee, you don't hire new people. >> we'll see if the president can actually sell this thing. he is getting ready to do starting object 1st. thanks, paul. >> thanks, jon. jon: he hosts the "journal editorial report" saturday two p.m. eastern time right here on fox news channel. alisyn: a man pleads not guilty to murder saying he killed his wife in self-defense. but that does not explain why a picture of her dead body was posted on his facebook page. our legal panel will discuss what the defense will have to do to get past a jury that shocking move. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of craving something that i can't have ♪ ♪ turn around barbara

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alisyn: well it was a shocking murder and a shocking confession. now a new twist as the husband pleads not guilty to shooting his wife even though he posted the crime scene photo. derek medina admits shooting his wife jennifer alfonso but he is changing his story. telling police he shot her because she threatened him with a knife while the cowell was arguing and then later disarmed her before the shooting began. what he did next has more people more outraged. he took this photo of her dead body and posted it on facebook. we of course blurred it out because of its graphic content. a come plenty posted on social media site said, i'm going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife. love you guys. miss you guys. take care, facebook people. you will see me in the news. my wife was punching me and i'm not going to stand anymore with the abuse. i did what i did. i hope you understand me. many are wondering if i can mount a successful defense

despite this behavior. well, let's debate it on our legal panel. ashley merchant a criminal defense attorney and doug burns burns former federal prosecutor. welcome to both of you. >> how are you? >> hi. alisyn: how does a defense attorney tackle this case when the suspect posted a confession online to thousands of followers and posted a crime scene photo? >> it is certainly going to be a challenge for the defense but i think what they do bring in for him some experts. they have him vail ited for mental defect if he had any passion. in florida they can lessen a murder sentence if its was done in the heat of passion. it is possible expert might testify this was heat of passion type murderer or he somehow had to believe he would act in self-defense. this would be quite a challenge. alisyn: doug, you're a prosecutor. do you sigh it as open-and-shut case? this guy confessed publicly. >> i see it as a extremely

strong case, alisyn. the first version he came to the police had some grounding in self-defense. but then later he said, i had disarmed her, we know obviously from the exhaustive analysis of the zimmerman case that self-defense is determined, you know, at the moment of the encounter, are you in reasonable fear of death or imminent bodily harm? it he had disarmed her he basically doesn't have a leg to stand on. i view it as an extremely strong case. alisyn: beyond self-defense, ashley, isn't this case complicated by the whole social media factor? he post ad crime scene photo, a photo of his wife's dead body. what does the jury make of that. >> i think the jury will dislike him for that and view him in a negative light that could be turned around by the twins and they could actually use that he probably has some type of personality disorder based on some things mentioned about him and things that he said. so they could possibly use that if they did want to amount some

kind of an insanity defense i think is more likely than a self-defense claim because of what we learned about florida law, self-defense will be very difficult, if not impossible for the defense in this case. alisyn: doug, anytime a criminal does something clearly repugnant or in this case shocking, does the attorney just say, insanity? >> yeah i want to work back off ashley and separate the apples and oranges as they were. on the substance of self-defense it visiter wally impossible as i said earlier he had disarmed her. it is sort of like case closed. insanity is a separate issue. if he wants to claim a mental disease or defect at the time. offense he has to be evaluated by psychiatrists and they go from there. alisyn: ashley, in self-defense when one person is dead as we saw tragically with the trayvon martin case, then it is one person's story you're going on. how does the jury ever decide if he did really fear for his life? >> normally what happens they bring in the background of the situation. they bring in the history

between these two. if there haste been any prior calls to the police. if either of them have ever alleged abuse in their past. that's very common way to prove self-defense. if she had ever, police had been called on her for being violent toward him. that would be something that would be relevant to whether or not this was a self-defense claim. they will have to look at this couple's past and interview people that know them and know they were violent with each other in the past. alisyn: that is interesting case particularly in this age of social media, ashley merchant, doug burns, thanks so much. >> my pleasure. >> thank you. jon: well the burgeoning industry of face-friendly films grabbing hollywood's attention. what studios are doing to make sure they do not miss out on a trend. that's coming up. college dorm rooms getting a serious makeover. why schools across the country are replacing drab walls and bunk beds with high-end furniture fit for a luxury condo. that does not look like mine. alisyn: nor mine. strange.

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alisyn: we have brand new stories coming up next hour. we have exclusive new video showing convicted fort hood murderer nidal hasan bying a presentation on muslims in the military. this is two years before his rampage at the texas military base. we show you what some say should have raised red flags. slow and steady progress in yosemite where thousands of firefighters are battling the fifth largest wildfire in california state history but there is now a new problem for that year. a mansion once owned by liberace is officially off the market. who bought it and what they plan to do with it coming up. jon: well, "happening now", college dorm rooms like you have never seen them before.

the drab, old walls and bunk beds of the past are being replaced with high-end resort-style housing in schools all across the country, all part of an effort to attract the best students. adam housley was one of those students once upon a time. he is now live from davis, california, adam? >> reporter: once upon a time, jon, we called them prison cells back then, eight by eight or 12 by 12 and bunk beds guys crammed in. no more, jon. no more. stainless steel appliance, quarts countertops, bamboo floors. stacking washer and drier full size, if you want to do clothes in the room you can. walk-in closet. that is inside. we'll walk from inside to outside. inside is amazing to own, have my own place to sit down not worry about my roommate's feet you can go outside to enjoy this this resort style pool. they have tanning beds. outdoor barbecues. sand beach volleyball courts. inside one of the most amazing

gyms you see like a five-star resort this is part of the amenity as the west village in uc-davis. they're all over the country. when you talk to the guy that runs this and students, think say this is kind of what you need to do these days. >> we have shock factor when parents show up, they drop their kid off, they want to move in. whether 15,000 square foot clubhouse, 24-hour gym. units itself something completely not ordinary in the normal college experience. >> it is technically university land and governed by the same rules. but it costs more. it has got facilities and rooms are nicer. >> are you happy? >> yeah, i'm happy. >> reporter: and it is completely energy efficient. there are solar panels everywhere on every roof where you park your car. all the different things they use around here. most of it is recycled material. i got to tell you, jon, that is reason why i would move in here. nothing to do with the pool and ability to sit out like this during the day. i think, i think fox actually

has a plan where we can go back to school, right? jon: yeah, yeah. tuition reimbursement and everything. it doesn't include dorm facilities like those have. >> reporter: aw. jenna probably stayed in a place like this. she comes from -- jon: you know she did. i was hearing about alisyn's dorm, it was better than this one. prison cell. look at adam. wow, that is quite the assignment, buddy, take it easy today. >> reporter: alisyn, where did you go to school? alisyn: i went to american university. it was like a prison cell. like sinnedder block cell. >> reporter: i feel you. same thing. alisyn: have the rest of your day, adam. looks like it is off to a good start. >> reporter: we'll enjoy it. alisyn: those are good dorm rooms. meanwhile, safe and film is not associated with each other. megafest 2013 is turning out big names to tout the potential of

christian themed films. fox's lauren green live in the new york newsroom with more. >> reporter: hey, lauren. 10 years ago, mel gibson's passion of the christ, it awakened slighting giant of faith based movie industry. hollywood came calling on one of the most well-connected pastors in the country and one of president obama's spiritual advisors, t.d. jakeses. >> bishop t.d. jakes! [applause] >> reporter: 15,000 in attendance in dallas came for the taping of oprah's life lessons show. oprah and other celebrities are there because jake invited them to the megafest of faith and family convention and his first international film festival. he has that kind of clout. >> one of the quickest ways to inform and educate and impart ideas to people is through film. there are way more people in the theater on friday night than there are in the pews on sunday

morning. >> reporter: how true. studios are coming to jake to get good guidance how to make movies more appealing to the faith community. one. projects? lee daniels, the butler. it had a separate trailer designed for the christian audience of the weinstein studio release ad spiritual guide for the film. a sign that faith-friendly content is profitable. >> hollywood has caught on this is, that this is important not only from a purely business standpoint. that it makes sense. it makes good dollars and cents. >> reporter: the festival is also premiering some films as well as showing early clips of much anticipated movie, "heaven is for real" based on a best-selling book directed by randall wallace. who brought to the screen, "braveheart" and secretariat. big names coming in the favorite based industry. alisyn: sounds like it. lauren green, thanks. >> reporter: sure. jon: we're waiting for the secretary of state to speak out on syria as the white house plans to release intel on the

assad's regime for using chemical weapons. if you're planning to get away for the weaken, plan on lots of company on the roads. just how busy aaa says our highways will be. [ female announcer ] nice 'n easy. in one step get expert highlights and lowlights. for color they may just think you were born with. [ rob ] i'm a lucky guy. [ female announcer ] with nice 'n easy, get the most natural shade of you.

alisyn: fox news alert, we are waiting to hear from secretary of state john kerry on syria as the u.s. considers military action and possibly going it alone. hello, everyone, i'm al zinn camarota. jon: it is good to have you on this friday. alisyn: nice to be with you. jon: i'm jon scott, welcome to the second hour of "happening now." we are also waiting for the white house to release new intelligence on the syrian chemical attacks that killed hundreds of people, many of them children. now if the u.s. does take action, we might be entirely on our own. the pentagon has moved a fifth warship armed with cruise missiles to the eastern mediterranean giving the u.s. more firepower for a possible attack. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the

pentagon, so what concerns does the pentagon have, jennifer, about this right now? >> reporter: well, i'm told that we should know in the next 12 hours what the president's decision will be about whether to, in essence, go it alone before he leaves for the g20 summit on tuesday. right now he is meeting with his national security team at the white house and, of course, secretary of state kerry who has taken the lead in pushing for action will speak at 12:30 eastern, in just a few minutes' time. in the meantime, the pentagon is watching as assad essentially moves his scud missiles and other military armaments out of his bases. those bases are being emptied out, they've been emptyed out over the last few days meaning targets have to be reset. a senior u.s. official tells fox it would have been better to strike a few days ago before the regime had time to move military hardware from from its bases. those bases were likely targets, assad knew that, he could have

known that by simply watching american television. most military staff have been ordered to stay home in syria for the next few days expecting a strike, jon. jon: and in this age of sequester at the pentagon, what about the cost of all this? >> reporter: well, that's a real issue that no one is really talking about. each tomahawk costs up to $1.5 million apiece to fire. during the libyan conflict, some 211 tomahawks were fired from the sea. at this point it looks like any action would be limited to a naval strike, but it is still going to be billions of dollars to act. the top republican on the senate armed services committee was on the conference call last night and says he opposes a strike. >> but most of them, many of them are not aware of what's happened to our military. right now taking the projected budget of this, of president obama, that would take $487

billion out of the military, and that's not with sequestration. so we just don't have the assets to do it right now. >> reporter: other members of the armed services committees have asked whether the president and the pentagon plan to come to them to ask for a supplemental budget for this kind of action and whether they will do so in the future. so all of this eventually also comes back to budgets and money. jon? jon: and, again, waiting for the secretary of state to tell us more be about all of this about half an hour from now. jennifer griffin at the pentagon, thank you. alisyn: well, at this point the u.s. is prepared to act as the pentagon moves a fifth navy destroyer into the area. each warship can carry up to 90 tomahawk missiles that could be used in a strike, so joining us is captain bob wells, former national security adviser to former vice president dick cheney. captain, thanks for being here. >> good afternoon, thanks for having me. alisyn: it's great to have you was we've heard some -- because

we've heard some conflicting information. is it possible to take out assad's chemical weapons stores with airstrikes? >> well, certainly, i think, the more important issue is with certitude that the certain military has really, i think, to this point put together a pretty good capability package with the strike package that's represented by the, the dgs in the eastern mediterranean. looking at the targeting that was just mentioned with regard to where the possible chemical weapon sites are, now that they're moving things around, now that we just don't have certainty, it's a much more difficult problem. alisyn: i've heard some pundits say that in order to really be effective, the u.s. should be targeting assad's six primary air bases, that if we annihilated their runways and their helicopters and their fueling stations, then we would really make a dent in assad's capabilities. do you think that's what we're planning to do? >> that could be one particular

option. i think the option is particularly narrow at particular point. i do think that the president looking at the other range of national security military options has miles to go before we have the option executed. alisyn: why is that? why do you say that we're far away from being able to execute? >> i think we could execute in terms of a military option, but i also think all elements of national power -- diplomacy, consultations with our allies, making sure that we have an understanding of what is really on the ground there with better intelligence before we actually conduct a military option -- that would be the most important factor with regard to a decision by the president. sending men and women of the u.s. armed forces into harm's way is a very, very serious decision by the president of the united states. alisyn: yeah. of course, of course. i mean, but we do know where his air bases are. are you worried, as i've read

some people are, that in an attempt to destroy some of the nerve agent that we disperse it? >> that would be a planning concern. i think general keane spoke to the particular capabilities that syria depends on with regard to these airfields and air facilities, certainly the tomahawk missiles with a mixed set of munitions in the tom tomk warhead would be able to mitigate the capability of syria to actually demonstrate air capacity and actually disperse chemical weapons if we knew exactly where they were. but i also think that it's more important to get it right. get it right before you even demonstrate this particular option. make sure your intelligence is good, continue to consult with the congress, continue to consult diplomatically with the allies. i think it's very important and a very important signal that secretary of state kerry will talk a little bit more about the diplomatic side, and it's more important, i think, for the

national security council members, the principals as we used to brief in the bush administration to really be supporting the president fully. the armed forces are there to support him fully as well. but we do need to do a little bit more work before we consider the armed option. alisyn: captain, you were on a battleship yourself for six months in 2002 off of iraq, so the five destroyers that are in the mediterranean now, or what are they doing? >> they're steaming in the eastern mediterranean in various areas just like we were in enduring freedom for the operations against afghanistan and also the maritime security operations in the persian gulf. their doing maritime security operations in the eastern mediterranean, they're also preparing for their strike missions and their targets. the navy is very capable. all those ships that they have deployed there are strike capable, have the tomahawk mission packages. the crews onboard commanded with the tremendous enlisted

personnel are preparing for any eventuality, and they're just going about it, waiting for their particular orders that come from the national command authority, and that'll be from president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commander that's responsible for the overall operation. alisyn: so it sounds like what you're saying, captain, is that our navy can pull off any mission that it's tasked with, but your concern is that we don't have good enough intelligence yet. >> i think that's a consideration. i think national be security planning is critically important to do and to do right. i think there's a lot of good people not only in the pentagon, but certainly our interagency, a lot of stakeholder inside the lifelines of the united states thinking about the implications politically, implications in terms of the impact of a military strike, making sure we have the strategy right, making sure that we have things thought through. we've been through, as we're coming up on the anniversary of 9/11, 12 years of enduring

freedom operations, and the american people deserve to understand why a military option would be considered. and the president of the united states has a great staff at the national security council. it's good to see that the consultations have begun with regard to the members of congress. i think intelligence is a critical part of credibility and making sure that we do have the right intelligence before we implement implement any particular option. alisyn: yes, we've learned that lesson. we will hear from secretary kerry hopefully this hour. so captain bob wells, thanks so much for your expertise. >> thank you very much. alisyn: and, of course, keep up on all the latest developments with the power of fox news. sign up for our fox news first daily politics newsletter at foxnews.com/foxnewsfirst. ♪ ♪ jon: "happening now," as the government gears up for the rollout of president obama's health care law, critics are raising serious new concerns

about hidden costs tied to all the promised benefits and giveaways. chief national correspondent jim angle's live in washington with more on that. jim? >> reporter: hello, jon. well, while the health care law promises all sorts of new free benefits, analysts argue nothing is ultimately free. listen. >> p.j. o'rourke famously said if you think health care's expensive now, wait until it's free. once you add on all these additional things, all these extras that insurers must provide, you have to pay for that. >> there's going to be taxes imposed, taxes on insurance, taxes on drugs, taxes on medical devices. all of that is getting passed through to the prices people have to pay either for direct services or for their insurance premiums. >> reporter: now, the taxes also help cover the trillion dollar cost of the law, but these benefits are often touted as free by the president and the secretary of health and human services. >> people now have preventive services as part of their health

plan without co-pays and co-insurance, everything from cancer screenings to children's immunizations have to be covered. >> reporter: and relating children up to 26 stay on their parents' plan at no cost which delta air lines recently said will cost it $18 million just next year. that's why analysts say nothing in health care is really free, someone somewhere has to pay. doctors even note that they get for many government programs, they get less than cost for such things as free colonoscopies and mammograms. listen. >> the actual reimbursement to the physician is below the actual cost of providing the service. so while it's great for patients, it doesn't work for doctors. >> reporter: and, jon, there is one other factor. some research says while preventive care is a good thing, of course, offering it for free could swamp the medical system. >> now, economists at duke university estimated if we all went every year and got all of the free tests we're supposed to

have, this would take seven and a half be hours of every doctor's time every working day. >> reporter: that would leave less time for doctors to deal with people who are actually sick, of course. jon? jon: all right, jim angle in washington, no free lunch, no free medical care either. >> reporter: exactly. jon: thank you. alisyn: well, dozens of wildfires are burning out west, as you know, and they're putting a major crimp in labor day travel plans for millions of americans right now. we have the breaking details in a live report for you. jon: also new video on taped by fox news of the fort hood gunman taken years before his deadlyra. it raises serious concerns about warning signs that might have been missed. plus, as u.n. inspectors wrap up their work in syria, president obama now faced with possibly going it alone on military action. this after britain voted against a strike. it raises growing comparisons with the leadup to the iraq war, so how are the media treating all this? our news watch panel weighs in. >> i haven't spoken to him since

the debate and the vote, but i'd expect to speak to him over the next day or so. i don't think it's a question of having to apologize, i think it's a question of saying to a fellow democrat, a fellow -- >> [inaudible] >> well, but that's, i think that's the point. so then the little tiny chipmunks go all the way up... ♪ [ female announcer ] when your swapportunity comes, take it. ♪ what? what? what? [ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so good. does your dog food have? what? what? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learmore at purinaone.com

♪ ♪ alisyn: slow and be steady progress in the battle against a massive wildfire burning in and around yosemite national park, and now a new problem for that area: tourists forced to make other holiday plans. harris faulkner is live from the new york city newsroom. >> reporter: a disturbance in the cash flow, if you will, for one of the most popular tourist spots in the nation as people are canceling their plans to visit the yosemite area over reports of that stifling smoke coming from the beast that's burning out west. the so-called rim fire is now the size of the city of new york. more than 300 square miles,

200,000 acres. but that progress is undeniable and good news, firefighters now have more than one-third of it contained, and many of the evacuation orders are being lifted, and people are headed back to go to their homes. of course, some of them will be heart broken because of the more than 113 buildings destroyed. and this is costly to fight, too, they've spent some $47 million so far on the 4,900 firefighters who have battled this and all the equipment. how it started, under investigation. but more good news about the smoke in the sierra nevada region, it is dissipating in places. in fact, those tourists who keep their reservations for lodging in the yosemite valley and are upwind will get to enjoy clear air and less traffic since some people are staying away this holiday. now, we're told the fire should be truly contained fully in two to three weeks, but it may smoulder until rain or even snow

begins falling. and let's take a quick look at just how active this wildfire season is as we speak, the latest live look at where fires are burning across several states out west. alisyn: wow, look at that, look at those fires on the map. that's just -- when we say massive, we're not exaggerating. harris, thanks so much. >> reporter: sure. jon: well, the world now reacting if president obama decides to order a military strike on syria, the u.s. apparently will be left to go it alone. this after our closest ally backs out of a possible coalition. britain votes against military action concluding there was not enough evidence that the assad regime carried out the chemical attack in syria. amy kellogg is keeping an eye on that live from london. amy? >> reporter: hi, jon. and, frankly, people here are reeling at the spectacle of prime minister david cameron's defeat in the parliament. last night, jon, just look at these headlines here: humiliated, humbling. this wasn't even the vote that

david cameron had wanted originally which was for decisive and immediate military strikes on syria. this was a watered-down vote for some sort of military action in principle down the road at a later date, and even that didn't pass last night. the last time that britain's parliament denied a proposal or shot down a proposal for military action was in the 18th century, and that effectively paved the way for britain to concede u.s. independence. now, the prime minister as commander in chief of the military here didn't need to seek parliament's approval for airstrikes on syria, but given war weariness in this country, he felt that he needed to get their approval. >> we have to listen to parliament. parliament spoke, and parliament, i think, made a very clear view which it doesn't want british involvement in military action, so we will proceed on that basis. >> reporter: prime minister cameron had been out front calling for military response to what he and much of the international community believes

now was president assad's appalling violation of international norms in the use of chemical weapons. but much of parliament wanted more evidence that assad's regime was behind the attack. others think it's clear enough what went on in syria, and it's simply irresponsible to stand by. >> in more than 50 years of trying to serve my country in one form or another, i don't think i've ever felt more depressed this morning or, indeed, more ashamed. i now am condemned to watch those children burn in that schoolhouse yesterday and be a country which shrugs its shoulders and said nothing to do with me. >> reporter: jon, french president francois hollande has made it clear he is prepared to take some sort of action, but he has not said exactly how he is going to play his hand. and finally, the foreign minister of turkey today said that turkish intelligence has just provided some intelligence, some evidence that definitely,

he believes, bashar assad was behind that chemical attack in syria. jon? jon: ominous times. amy kellogg in london, thank you. alisyn: well, this labor day weekend could be a busy one. what you need to know to save some money and avoid holiday headaches. and, of course, we are awaiting secretary of state john kerry's remarks on the crisis in syria. the secretary's expected to speak in just minutes on a possible u.s. response to the use of chemical weapons in syria, so we will take you live to washington when that happens. this is for you. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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jon: we have a very special fox news program beginning this weekend. join me for an in-depth look at the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and those who experienced them first-hand.

here's a preview. >> all of sudden two secret service agents came in and literally lifted me out of my chair and started running down the corridors of the white house to take me down to a bunker. and that was because, it was report that a plane had entered the airspace near washington. so i'm down in this bunker, and down comes the president, carrying the dog and then, first lady comes down, carrying the cat. it was a long day because the terrorists declared war on america. jon: fox news reporting, timeline of terror, part two, airs commercial-free tomorrow, 9:00 p.m. eastern. right here on "fox news channel." alisyn: that's great, jon, we'll be watching. you can expect company if you're hitting the road this holiday weekend. aaa is predicting heaviest labor day travel in recent years. lower gas prices are boostings american confidence but you can

plan to pay more if you plan to rent a car or fly to your holiday destination. fox business network's robert gray live from santa monica, california with more. hi, robert. >> reporter: hi, alisyn. what standing here, a bit of a destination. tourists milling about on the famous pier behind us when they open up. pacific coast highway to my left getting a busy as well. more than one in 10 americans are traveling this weekend, indeed. expected to be the busiest labor day travel weekend since the recession going back to 2008. 34 million americans. we saw 45 million americans traveling back then. still not quite on the sail level if you will as back then. when we talk about lower gasoline prices let's put it into perspective. you're still paying on average nationally more than 3 1/2 bucks a gallon. it is down from last year when we saw record high labor day prices but still not a bargain compared to where they were three or four years ago to say the least. in southern california, if you're finding it less than four

bucks you're doing yourself pretty well there. as far as the way most people are traveling they are hitting the road, 29 million americans are expected to be out on the highway. i mentioned pacific coast highway already getting busy out there. we talked about gasoline prices being lower, if you are flying you noticed it already, if you booked a ticket, 4% increase for air fares from a year ago. rental cars up more than a third to where they were year ago. it is not your imagination. it is higher. alisyn, if you're booking a hotel room, if you know trying to do something last minute, you should know this, on average daily rates have never been higher. not just on labor day, but ever. hotels have come back all the way to never-before-seen levels for nightly rates. we're reporting all day on the fox business network, we'll talk to the general managers of the one of the properties on the beach called shutters in a few minutes. their prices start 595 a night. back to you. alisyn: that is why i only admired from the outside when i've been there.

that is a great assignment, robert. thanks for telling us all that holiday travel. great to see you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: exclusive new video of convicted mass murderer nidal hasan two years before his rampage at fort hood. many people say this video should have raised serious red flags about this guy. plus we're waiting for secretary of state john kerry to make a statement on syria. his comments live when the steps to the microphone. [ 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™.

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jon: fox news alert. all eyes are on washington and particularly the state department right now as we await secretary of state john kerry who is expected to step up to the bank of microphones there and talk a little bit what we know about the gas attack in syria, whether it came from government forces or not. of course, the syrian situation is consuming washington right now, especially, in the wake of the vote in britain. great britain has decided not to use military force in response to that gas attack. will the u.s. go it alone? we may learn from secretary kerry about that when he takes to the microphones. it was set for 12:30 eastern time a couple minutes ago. when the secretary of state arrives we'll take you there live. alisyn: that's right, jon. as we await secretary kerry let's tell what you is going on in syria. the u.s. is considering action to punish assad's government for

an apparent poison gas attack on its own people. a short time ago, fox news obtained new video of u.n. chemical weapons inspectors on the move again in syria again today. for example's dade lee miller live at the united nations. what are we expecting from the inspectors, david lee? >> reporter: alisyn, the inspectors paid a voice to it hospital in damascus, a pores of the city still much under the control of assad regime. the inspectors were visiting with soldiers allegedly infected by chemical weapons. syrian state media says the soldiers were overcome by fumes after finding what they described as chemical agents in a tunnel used by antigovernment rebels. syria repeatedly rejected it used any type of chemical weapons. it is in fact trying to portray itself here, the assad regime as a victim, claiming if chemical weapons were used they were used by rebel forces. the inspectors are likely to

leave syria tomorrow, and that at point it is expected they will, their leadership will brief the secretary-general ban ki-moon. as for the final analysis what they find, that could take several days. very possibly they will try and speed up that process but it is important to point out here, alisyn, the mandate for the u.n. inspectors here is not to assess blame, not say it was the work of the assad government or the rebels. only to determine if in fact chemical weapons were used. something that the obama administration has already reached a foregone conclusion on. alisyn? alisyn: that is interesting distinct shun. ban ki-moon is back in new york today. what is he and the u.n. in general, trying to do to resolve this conflict? >> we just got word, that a meeting, that ban ki-moon had with the five permanent members of the security council that started at noon, ended a short time ago. so that meeting with ban

ki-moon, and the security council members, lasted less than half an hour. we expect that there will be a briefing held by the spokesperson for ban ki-moon to get underway in a few moments time at which point we will learn more about what if anything took place. to date russia and china have effectively said they will block any resolution that calls for military intervention. in fact the u.s. ambassador to the united nations said that russia even said it was going to block a press statement by the security council which is singsly a watered down condemnation of what is happening in syria. so the stalemate that we have witnessed for some 2 1/2 years, for the security council to take any type of meaningful action in syria appares to not have changed at least at this hour. we expect to learn more in the next few minutes. alisyn? alisyn: we know that you will bring us any update or headlines from that. david lee miller, thank you. jon: meanwhile there are new

questions about growing comparisons between what's going on in syria and the lead-up to the war in iraq a decade ago, specifically the media coverage and how it could all play out in the days to come. let's talk about it with our "news watch" panel. judith miller is a pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter and author. lauren, "daily beast" download. i both are fox news contributors. i want to start with a part of a charles krauthamer column. he said into the column, third year of dithering, two years after declaring assad had to go, one year after drawing and erasing his own red line on chemical weapons, barack obama has been stirred into action or more accurately, shamed into action which is the worst possible reason. lauren, is that coming from the media? shaming into action? >> i'm not sure if it is coming from the media. i think the media coverage is as much as a muddle as the division-making has been from the white house. you had senator, secretary of state now kerry, coming out on

monday. we're now friday awaiting his response. and the coverage has been split, even on the left and on the right. you have rush limbaugh, arguably one of the most powerful conservative commentatetors urging caution. you have glen beck saying this could be world war iii. the economists saying hit him hard. jimmy carter saying i don't think we should do this. there are all of these different opinions that could be pushing on obama's decision whether or not to go. jon: and are, are the media giving adequate coverage to the motivation hyped all of this, judy? >> well, for the media a lot of the media seems to think that we're not in 2013 in syria. we're still looking at 2003 in iraq. we're looking at 2011 in libya. we're looking at two other instances in which an american president used force, in the

case of george bush in iraq, he had a congressional authorization and one u.n. resolution. in syria he has, president obama has neither of those but i think the u.s. congress and many in the need yaw are saying, what about libya? i mean we went to war in libya without a congressional authorization. we spent one billion dollars. we had 220 tomahawk missile strikes, et cetera, et cetera. what do we have at the end of it? we have benghazi with dead american ambassador and three diplomats and a country not really controlled by its own government. are we any better off? so there is so much skepticism as lauren pointed out, within the media but it mostly is based on america's previous experiences using force projecting force, mostly on its own. jon: let me take you to the second part of that charles krauthamer column because he touches on some of those points that you just made, judy.

he also wrote last year, mr. obama told us repeatedly that the tide of war is receding. this year he grandly declared that the entire war on terror must end. if he wants tomahawks to fly, he better have a good reason. tell it to the american people and get the support of representatives in congress the way george w. bush did for both the afghanistan and iraq wars. lauren, you know, this president often called the iraq war, the dumb war. >> well here he is in a very difficult spot. he was elected on the fact that he would slow down those wars, eventually grind them to a halt and now he is in the position of sending a message to assad by these missiles, not ground troops, but sending a message that we will not tolerate chemical warfare. so he is really, having to face becoming a hawk and the problem here i think, the media coverage of this is that the media was burned at the iraq war. they were given false

information and ran with it and i think that there is a reluctance this time for people to say, yes, we need to go forward and we need to go forward very strongly. jon: well, and judy, there are many who argue that the president has yet to make a compelling case for america's national interests other than the fact that we deplore the use of chemical weapons? >> well, exactly. even "the new york times" said just that. where's the strategy? we are not convinced by the intelligence that we've seen or the endgame. you know, what the times and other liberal journals have been asking for is not just the tactic which is cruise missiles flying across, hitting runways or airplanes but, where does this take us? where's the strategy? where do we want to wind up? and do we risk through having a tactical strike, winding up with the situation in which syria and president assad are actually

strengthened internally inside his own country, in which the world is horrified by the use of american power. we could actually wind up, with a counter productive situation and that's why you have this bizarre, kind of, strange bedfellows situation of, a lot of people on the left and lot of people on the right joining hands, expressing skepticism, which a lot of us did not do, at least that's the allegation, during iraq. jon: virtually, virtually no other countries apparently wanting to join in the use of military force. that is the way it seems right now. >> perhaps france. >> did you see the new york tabloids this morning saying the british aren't coming, the british aren't comeing. >> so much for the stiff upper lip. jon: since about the first time since the war of 1812 they haven't sided with us. lauren ashburn, judy miller, thank you both. >> thank you. jon: you can catch more with my

great "fox news watch" panel, we cover the week's top stories, saturday 2:30 eastern here on fox news channel. still waiting for the secretary of state to step to the microphone there at the state department. we don't know precisely what he is going to say. there may be evidence on behalf of the administration of who launched the chemical weapons attack that killed so many hundreds in syria. i'm sorry, the secretary of state, a little bit behind schedule. but when he does step to the microphones we'll have it for you live. now for the main event. in this corner, the big cheese. and in this corner, dawn platinum. [ female announcer ] get the power of an overnight soak in 3 minutes, and 3 times more everyday grease cleaning ingredients. dawn platinum power clean.

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♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. jon: fox news alert. awaiting a major pronouncement from secretary of state john kerry. we do know that he left the white house about half an hour ago with james clapper, the director of national intelligence. they were headed for the state department and they have arrived there. but the secretary of state is a bit late in getting to the microphone to tell us whatever he intends to tell us regarding the situation in syria.

alisyn: so we want to bring in now james rosen at the state department. james, do you have any idea what secretariry kerry will be talking about? >> reporter: this is shaping up as secretary of state's kerry biggest moment on the national stage since he assumed office in fenn. his aides tell me drafts his remarks on his own ipad and seek to build off the remarks he made on monday. to that effect he will try to lay the predicate for the actions that president obama is still said to be weighing. here is what to look for. first and foremost, some kind of a preview of unclassified intelligence dossier that we're told the administration will release to the public by the close of business today. second, some indication of the scope that this campaign will be taking when u.s. missiles or planes are put into motion here in syria. we have herd all along it will are narrowly tailored. expect the secretary to make that point as well. whether he will give us any sign of the legal justification the

administration will rely on this kind of operation absent any approval from the u.n. security council or the united states congress and in the wake of yesterday's setback at the british house of commons. we're expected to hear about some world leaders and other foreign ministers secretary kerry has been talking to the past couple days. alisyn? alisyn: james, it sounds like what congress wants to know is that president assad is the one who used the chemical weapons. obviously chemical weapons were used. there are hundreds of victims who tell the story. do you think secretary kerry has evidence, has concrete evidence that it was actually assad's forces who did it? >> reporter: well already some classified intelligence has been shared with the two heads of the house and senate intelligence committees. the democratic head, chair of the senate intelligence committee, dianne feinstein of california said that the evidence she had seen, quote, pointed to the syrian regime being the one to have launched chemical attack of august 21 that killed hundreds of civilians. points to is not the same as

irrefutably establishes but preponderance of evidence according to the administration is what will convince the world leaders and hopefully the public throughout the arab world and muslim world that the united states is not in a situation where it was a decade ago with iraqi intelligence. jon: we have been told to expect the secretary of state to emerge and speak within the next minute or two. i want to mention this, the other sort of foreign policy expert within the administration obviously is vice president joe biden. he is meeting with the leaders of latvia, legitimate juan yaw and estonia. he was asked when he made a brief appearance with these loaders at naval observatory whether everybody is on boards with syria, other countries. he responded with these words, i know everybody is on board. that flies in the face of the vote in british parliament not to use force. the british will not be using force in any kind of response to this chemical weapons in

response to whether the french will come in we don't know. perhaps we will hear that from the secretary of state. james any word on that? >> reporter: i doubt there will be ex-split is references to iraq. too much time can be spent on historical comparisons. there are very vital and urgent questions present in what is going on today whether u.s. national security interests are essentially at stake in syria, what should be done best to advance them. how it can be done with minimal loss of life and what impact it will have on the syrian civil war which is grinding on two years from now quite apart from this chemical attack taken 100,000 lives, jon. jon: yes. one of the concerns that military planners have expressed is the fact that they have seen evidence that bashar al-assad, the leader of syria, has been moving some of his weaponry, scud missiles and scud missile launchers and so forth, have been moved in recent days. these, basically unnaped military experts are saying if there were to be a strike on syria it would have been good to

have launched such a thing a few days ago before bashar al-assad had time to disperse his weaponry. but that appears to be what he is doing now. >> reporter: any military analyst would tell you the longer the delay between the announcement of some pending action and commencement of that action most likely the harder the targets become. i reported on the basis of my sources yesterday that the campaign is likely to extend beyond damascus itself. it will likely not target bashar al-assad's presidential palace and government ministry buildings from which a lot of key personal and sieves have already been evacuated but will likely focus on the delivery systems for bashar al-assad's chemical weapons arsenal and to that end, we're going to look at command-and-control targets as well as missile launchers and artillery batteries said to be in mountainous regions outside the capital, jon. alisyn: james we know some administration officials had a 90-minute teleconference with some congressional leaders last

night. after words, some of the congress members they didn't feel secretary kerry gave them enough details. he said there are quote, lots of options on the table but felt he didn't spell out what those options are. do you think whatever he will say in a minute from now will include what the options they're considering? >> reporter: well, i don't think he will be explicit about that to insist all options remain on the table while the commander-in-chief makes his decisions here but there were some members of congress that emerged from that briefing among them, representative elliot angle, democrat from new york said senior administration officials who conducted including secretaries kerry and hagel and director of national intelligence james clapper made reference to intercepts that the united states intelligence community had access to which established syrian complicity in these attacks as well indications of movements on the ground prior to the attack that suggested preparation for this kind of event. jon: what about the effort to bring other nations on board? we've been talking a lot about that vote in the british

parliament, clearly secretary of tate kerry would have been working the phones phones rather furiously to get support from other nations if there is to be some kind of military strike on bashar al-assad and his forces. is there anyone aside from the french who expressed an interest or expressed a willingness to help out? >> reporter: there are different ways of helping out. militarily is only one aspect of this and a lot of diplomacy we're hearing about, very little is taking place if you will on the public stage. for example it has been reported to me by sources that the saud i did is have been instrument -- saudis have been instrumental behind the scenes in pressuring russians to remain on the sidelines. we know for some months time have been funding syrian rebels and trying to advance things on that front. there is a lot of play amongst our allies and our adversaries. we saw protests in jordan and turkey and iran today, the day of friday prayers in the muslim world aimed at united states and opposing any military

intervention in the conflict. there are threats to lash out at israel. israelis said they don't take those threats with a whole whole lot of seriousness although they're preparing for them. it is believed neither syria or iran wants to provoke a counter measure from the israel state. heavy lifting that is still ahead of john kerry as secretary of state. alisyn: it's a heavy lift, certainly with other countries as well as members of congress here at home. many of them came out and said they feel somewhat cut out of the loop. pell pell came out and she was one of the 25 who was on the teleconference last night but feels that the president or secretary kerry should make the case to all members of congress that should include everybody and i believe she said, be more transparent. so as part of that, secretary kerry's responsibility here, a pr push to try to explain to even his own party what they're doing? >> reporter: he is is the face

of american diplomacy as we expect him in just a few seconds. keep an ear out for any discussion of the intelligence being relied upon here, the legal justification and also the likely scope of the campaigns to come, alisyn. jon: but again, the question remains, if, if there is to be a military strike at this point, is there any way it can be effective? we are told that a number of the military, much of the military hardware that bashar al-assad relies upon to threaten neighbors and others has been moved and that in central military facilities personnel have been moved out. so if there is to be a military strike and if the secretary of state intend to express the justification for military strike, the question is can there be a strike that succeed, going to be effective in effecting or decimating the force that bashar al-assad has at his disposal? we've been told the secretary of state will be emerging within seconds to make some kind of a

case for perhaps military action against the syrians. what he will be relying upon in making that case is what we're waiting to hear. alisyn: and james, i have a question about one of the criteria you said he will be speaking about. you said the legal justification for any sort of a military act and legal justification, according to, barack obama, then senator obama, in 2007, was that for a president to not seek authorization, from congress, there would have to be an imminent threat to national security on our homeland here. and, it will be interesting to hear secretary kerry, if he's able to make that case if there's an imminent threat. we've been speaking to many pundits over the course of the program this week who said this really doesn't meet that litmus test. >> reporter: right. and you will hear the secretary make the case not only u.s. interests, u.s. interests and

interests of civilized world are at stake. if a chemical weapons attack of this scale is allowed to go unpunished it will encourage other possessors of chemical weapons, north korea or iran can use these weapons on this kind of scale. they want to say void that, alisyn. alisyn: we are alerted that secretary kerry is walking to the podium. obviously there has been a lost deliberations going on behind the scenes. he was supposed to start this press conference half an hour ago. but he has a lot on his plate i think it is fair to say. so he is heading to 9. it will be obviously, compelling and important to hear what the white house officials have decided or what they have, at least the process of decision-making since they had that conference call with congress and if either side swayed either tied in the past 12 hours. jon: remember then secretary of state colin powell made in front of the united nations to justify the use of force against iraq?

talking about the military weaponry and so forth that had been assembled by the iraqi dictator, saddam hussein, haven't alley obviously that war was launched. saddam hussein was dislodged. what will the secretary of state say today? we're about to find out. [. >>ed obama spent many days consulting with congress and talking with leaders around the world about the situation in syria. last night the president asked all of us on his national security team to consult with the leaders of congress as well. including the leadership of congressional national security committees. and he asked us to cult about what we know regarding the horrific chemical weapons attack in the damascus suburbs last week. i will tell you that as someone

who spent nearly three decades in the united states congress, i know that that consultation is the right way for a president to approach a decision of when and how and if to use military force. it is important to ask the tough questions and get the tough answers before taking action. not just afterwards. not just afterwards. i believe as president obama does, that it is also important to discuss this directly with the american people. that's our responsibility, to talk with the citizens that entrusted all of us in the administration and in the congress with responsibility for their security. that's why this morning's release of our government's unclassified estimate of what took place in syria is so important. its findings are as clear as

they are compelling. i am not asking you to take my word for it: read for yourself. those listening, read for yourself the evidence of this happeneds of sources, evidence that is already publicly available and read for yourselves the verdict reached by our intelligence community about the chemical weapons attack the assad regime unloeshed on the neighborhoods of the damascus. our enteleigence community has carefully reviewed and re- reviewed information regarding this attack and i will tell you it is done so more than mindful of the iraq experience. we will not repoet that moment.

accordingly we have taken unpres depted steps to declassify and make facts available to people that can judge for themselves but still in order to protect sours and methods, some of what we know will only be released to members was congress and representatives of the american people. that means that some things we do know, we can't talk about publicly. and so what do we really know that we can talk about? well, we know that the assad regime has the largest chemical weapon's program in the entire middle east. we know the regime has used the weapons, multiple times this year and used them on a mauler scale, but still used them against its own people including not very far from last