jaime, i know this, you ride. >> you know why it is a harley? because it is made this america, folks. have a great day, everybody. see you tomorrow for "america live." jm jaime colby. >> i am eric shawn. take care. i can't contemplate that the congress would turn its back on all of that responsibility and the fact that we would have in fact granted impunity to a ruthless dictator to continue to gas his people. >> i think it is going to be difficult to get the vote through in congress, especially when there is time over the next nine days for opposition to build up to it. the president has not made the case. many members of congress will vote no and i intend to vote yes. >> as the white house weighs a military strike against syria the ball appears to be in congress' court. lawmakers are being to stake out their positions just one day after president obama abruptly changes course saying

he would seek a congressional stamp of approval after all. all of this against the backdrop of secretary of state john kerry's announcement that the u.s. has concrete proof that sarin gas was used in the attacks that killed hundreds of syrians. i'm doug mckelway and we go live to the middle east where assad says he is ready for a fight and captain bob well from the u.s. navy has the military strategy. let's get to it with peter doocy. peter? >> after the assad regime crossed president obama's red line there was some disagreement in the administration about whether or not they should come and ask congress for permission to use military force in syria. >> there was no decision not to do that, and the president has the right to do that, and we argued -- we discussed the options in the context of his right to take that action.

the president then made the decision that he thought we would be stronger and the united states would act with greater moral authority and greater strength if we acted in a united way. >> today's "new york teams" cites a senior white house aide who says president obama wants to include congress now in case he needs to come back again and ask for authorization to attack elsewhere like iran. many members of congress are pleased they now have a say in the way forward including house gop leadership who gave us this statement, quote, we are glad the president is seeking authorization for any military action in syria in response to sub substantive questions being raised. we expect a house to measure the week of september 9th. there are members who think president obama has already waited too long to attack assad. >> if he says this issue is as important as it is and sending mixed signals off the last

year and certainly off the last 10 days, this is a clear failure of leadership. if you feel so strongly about it and if he doesn't want to take the action himself then he should call us back into session tomorrow. we can't be waiting 9, 10 days. >> and in two hours here on the hill, officials from the white house, the state department and the pentagon are going to brief members in a classified closed door meeting. doug? >> peter doocy on the hill. we'll be looking forward to that. president obama says an attack on syria will be effective when ever it is carried out today, tomorrow, next week or next month. the president's top military commander backs that up saying the u.s. military is ready, but that this is not a time sensitive mission. retired navy captain bob wells is here with his thoughts on all of that. good to see you, captain. >> good to see you, doug. >> give us a sense of what the sailors in the mediterranean are thinking right now. we know a sailor or a

soldier's job is to do or die and not to reason why. they have their own thoughts as to their commanders. what are the commanders thinking right now? >> the commanders are thinking about their mission. they have a variety of missions. certainly the tomahawk strike package was the clearest one that has been communicated by the president and through the chain of command. but i also think they are conducting maritime security operations out in the eastern mediterranean. they were prepared for any ven few walt. it is an important mantra he gives. war fighting first, deployed and be ready. >> correct me if i am wrong and not to divulge any security information here, but tomahawk missal can be programed with its destination at anytime and all that is left to do is push a button and launch it, correct? >> that's correct. in fact, it has a wide variety of range options. it can go to different places

in the east mediterranean and essentially be prepared for a mission package. that's an important characteristic with strike planning and making sure you are able to conduct the mission. the naval forces will be ready as this period of recalculation takes hold. >> i want you to listen carefully to something was said on fox news sunday to chris wallace. listen up here. >> i want to read one quote by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general dempsey. he said "our military force is so degraded and unready it would be immoral to use force." >> your reaction to that. strong words. >> strong words and it is an appropriate point to make at this time. we haven't heard it before. my previous captain and one of my lifetime mentors admiral mike mullen mention they had a few years ago. there is a concern that the national economy of the united states was a key national security consideration.

i think the recent sequestration policy has put additional risk and additional challenge within the armed forces to manage operations and maintenance. we have to be ready. those forces are ready now, but it becomes more difficult as the senator just indicated to plan if you are ready for reserves, your fuel, your beans and bullets and black oil isn't ready to go. we need to think about that and listen to the senator consider what general dempsey has said. >> and that brings into the picture russia's involvement to some degree. they have ships in the eastern mediterranean. they have strategic interest because they is a -- they have a port, the only port, and what is their interest? what are their capabilities should a u.s. ship launch an attack? >> they have interest in the high seas as the navy does and the nato navy in the mediterranean. i actually watched the

helicopter carrier steam out based on recent news media. i worked with the russian federation navy and have been in moscow and worked with the russian navy at sea. they are communicating their interests as they see them. you are quite right with regard to that particular port of tartus. and they have had a long-standing relationship with syria since the cold war. many munitions were used with the chemical agents and could have been russian origin. >> retired u.s. navy, thank you for your expertise. >> thank you, sir. it is your turn to weigh in at home now. should congress come back early to vote on syria? we are asking you on twitter. already the answers are pouring in. richard says syria is of no importance to the u.s., so no. but mark disagrees saying congress should get to work now. tweet your answers to at anhqdc. i will read more of your responses later this hour. as washington weighs a military strike, frightened syrians are still abandoning their homes and most of what

they own to flee. hundreds of thousands of refugees have flooded to turkey, lebenon, jordan and iraq. the united nations says aide workers workers are bracing for an increase. one refugee escaping to turkey says what they need are arms shipments and not a u.s. strike. in syria they see president obama's speech as a victory calling it full of hesitation and disappointment. connor powell is following it is reaction now from our middle east bureau. connor? >> well, doug, the syrian military is on high alert even as their leaders are sort of appearing to claim victory. presidential assad is saying in a statement that the american threat against syria will not stop our fight against u.s.-backed terrorists. adding that syria is capable of confronting any exter national aggression. the comments come as secretary of state john kerry told fox news' chris wallace that the

u.s. has proof that the uh sod regime used weapons on august 21st. >> we have now learned that hair and blood samples that have come to us from east damascus from individuals who are engaged as first responders in east damascus, i can report to you today they have tested positive for signatures of sarin. >> but president obama's decision to postpone military action has been blasted here by the israeli media. benjamin netanyahu saying that israel is calm and assured and the country is ready for any possible scenario. it is a test run for iran. the bigger fear in israel is the u.s. less station and it will only em bolden iran's nuclear ambition. and the larger question being asked is is the united states a super power that is trying to bring some type of order to the violence and chaos of the

middle east. that's a big question here and there are a lot of skeptics not only in israel, but across the entire region. >> connor powell in jerusalem, thank you very much. america's allies are keeping a close eye on washington as you would expect on fox news sunday. secretary kerry pressed the administration's case saying an attack is necessary not only to protect the people of syria, but to stand up for u.s. allies. >> to contemplate the congress of the united states would turn its back on israel and on jordan and on turkey and on our allies in the region, turn its back on the innocent syrian people who have been slaughtered by this gas and those who yet may be subject to an attack, if we don't stand up to this. >> for all of chris wallace's interview with john kerry stay tuned for fox news sunday here on the fox newschannel at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. so how will the administration's actions impact our allies overseas?

joining us now for more on this is aaron david miller, a former advisor to six secretary of states. thank you very much for joining us. you wrote recently -- >> pleasure. >> you wrote that the president has basically three options, to do nothing, to do everything or to find a middle ground and muddle through. the president has basically chosen that third option to muddle through. why do you think that is the right choice? >> because i think the alternatives are much worse. if the president does nothing you might as well hang a closed for the season sign on what remains of american and barack obama's credibility in this region. we can't fix it. we can't fix syria. but in the face of the largest single deployment of chemical weaponsddam hussein gassed the kurds, the lack of an american response would not only be weakness, it would shutdown any prospect it seems to me of having much influence and in the eyes of our allies

and adversaries it really leaves the united states to be not a reluctant warrior, but a -- an effect less one. it may be an exaggeration, but a sustained systemic comprehensive effort to em bolden the opposition through arming the opposition with sophisticated weapons and establishing no fly zones and then going after leadership targets, military infrastructure, a la kosovo, or in the case of persian gulf war one, 38,000 flown. and yet saddam hussein was still capable of moving against the kurds and the shiite and the republican guard units were in tact. i think both of those do everything and do nothing and are not real options. the third option which is what i call muddle through. maybe that is unfair, but it is an effort to narrow this

set of objectives and if we can do that against this guy the world would be a little better place. look, it ain't perfect and syria is not perfect. it seems to me that is the middle ground option and that is why the president decided because he knows i think how risky even that option is to deepen his bench and broaden his support and try to get congress to share responsibility and shoulder some of the accountability if in fact or when assuming he gets congressional authorization. >> let me interrupt you. he wrote a piece last week in which he made reference to the guns of august. that was a reference obviously to world war one. it was when tenges teptions flare and the -- when tensions flare and he drew that for obvious reasons that the middle east is indeed a powder keg at this point in time. what are the risks of

escalation beyond syria at this point? >> i frankly and again it is really hard to predict, but it is an incredibly volatile and combustible area. i do not believe that either the iranians, hezbollah or the regime has much of a capacity or the will frankly to respond to a determined jewish strike even if it is to quote anthony zinyy a one and we are done. i don't believe the assad regime wants the u.s. to mill tar rise the role in a serious way. nor do i believe the iranians will compromise much to save assad. hezbollah is deeply pre occupied already in trying to shore up the regime. i don't want to be reckless or irresponsible with respect to risks, but there is going to be risk and there may be some consequence. all i am suggesting is when

you look at the options and it is the option in a perfect world that strikes me as the only one. we have to do something. i think the president acknowledges that, but they just want congress as dysfunctional and as partisan as it is to help share in the responsibility. put up or shut up. >> aaron david miller, thanks for muddling the picture. it is well intentioned, but it is a muddled picture. thanks for your time. >> always a pleasure. take care. >> former south african president nelson man do law -- mandela is home after an extended stay in the hospital. the country's current president says mandela is still in critical condition and will continue treatment at home. mandela has been hospitalized since june 8th for a recuring lung infection. still to come, fast-food workers are going on strike for higher pay, but could a

raise lead to the unemployment line? and continuing coverage of the crisis in syria as a number of rallies break out in the u.s. protesters weigh in on the possibility of a syrian attack. where do americans stand? a live report coming up.

france is the latest u.s. ally to hold off on a you -- on attacking syria saying it will not go it alone. france's interior minister says they will wait for congress, here in the united states, to decide what to do. they want a parliament vote there and at the same time saudi arabia's foreign men sister says they -- foreign minister says they will back it if the syrian people do. we are still days away from finding out if congress will approve president obama's plan to attack syria. people across the country are making their feelings know. brian is live with the reaction now. brian? >> president barack obama may want to wait until congress returns from their recess on september 9th for approval for military strike on syria, but americans are wasting no time letting the president know where they stand on the

issue. anti-war protests are breaking out on saturday in washington, d.c. about 200 anti-war and pro war protesters are outside protesting. one young protestor saying the u.s. needs to help innocent syrians. >> we have to tell assad that chemical weapons is absolutely ridiculously used against civilian population. we have to go and intervene and stop the warplanes from dropping bombs on the neighborhoods. >> in new york city about 200 noisy anti-war protesters gathered in time square chanting "no war on syria" in los angeles at pershing square many of the protesters were supporters of al-assad. 234 boston over 100 syrian-americans and activists gathered in boston commons. >> i want to see the real document. i want to see the evidence. you can't just come out and

tell me that a government used weapons of mass destruction against civilians and then yet deny your own people the evidence. >> smaller protests took place in san francisco. san francisco, chicago and austin, texas. while most are anti-war, 50% of americans favor some kind of military intervention and 44% oppose. kelly? >> thank you very much for that. new leaks from edward snowden to the "washington post" reveal much more of the secret spy program. wait until you hear how much the programs are costing taxpayers. also coming up, is the syrian government getting help from north korea? we will ask our expert, gordon chang, right after the break.

well, a debate is on after president obama abruptly

changed course yesterday and asked lawmakers to authorize a military strike on syria. it is the bottom of the hour and liz -- and elizabeth prann has the top stories. >> while some say they need more information, others are taking a position on the president's request. john boehner says the white house has sent over a draft resolution authorizing the use of force. congress officially returns from its summer break on september 9th. and after nearly three months in the hospital nelson mandela is back at home. a statement from the office of south africa's president says mandela is still in critical condition, but he can now get the intensive care he ?eedz at at -- he needs at home. the 95-year-old is battling a reoccurring lung infection. and some are having a a hard time seeing beautiful views. the smoke from a nearby wildfire has now blown into the most popular section of the park. the 348 square mile fire is now 40% contained. and look at this. in taiwan a driver's dashboard

cam caught a landslide carrying a car a few feet away from him. if that wasn't bad enough the car was then nearly crushed by a boulder stopped just in time remarkably. and the people in the car suffered only minor injuries. doug, those are our top stories, and now back to you in the studio. >> unbelieve -- unbelievable. if i was those people i would go out and buy a lottery ticket. >> and stay off the roadways . what is north korea's role in the syrian conflict? turkish officials apparently stopped a shipment of gas masks and ammunition from authority korea that was on its way to syria. is that further evidence that the syrian government was planning a gas attack? joining us now is author as well as north korea analyst gordon chang. gordon, what do you make of the shipment and why didn't we hear more about that? >> it is not the only shipment. in november and october of

2009 south korean and other authorities stopped ships from north korea going to syria with protective clothing and with gas indicators. this is important because the north koreans have sold chemical factories to the syrians as well as technical services and parts. people argue if we should attack syria or not, but it is clear that we have a direct and immediate interest in stoping the sale and transport of wmd. we are not even talking about that. >> it is my understanding that north korea has built plants for the manufacture of chemical weapons in syria. is that true? >> yes, that's absolutely true. there are at least two of them and there is probably more of them. what is also interesting is that north korea is not just providing plants and technical expertise and parts. it is also providing its military officers who are directing the u.s. of -- the use of chemical weapons. north korean officers were spotted near the city of alepors

important because one of the first chemical attacks this year was near the northwestern city. the north koreans are providing after sale services of the most direct and immediate kind. >> and we know that north korea has a nuclear capability as well. should we be concerned about north korea providing other kinds of weapons of mass destruction? >> well, rete actor that the israeli -- well, the reactor that the israelis destroyed in the syrian desert was of north korean design. and there are reports -- unconfirmed, but there are reports that north korean technicians were killed in that raid as well. we know the north koreans have been selling not only wmd, but they have been selling missiles to syria, the delivery systems for them. so north korea and syria's relationship has really been very, very tight. we also know that the chinese have been involved in north korea's sales to syria. these are important questions we need to start asking. not only at the security council, but publicly. >> speebing of the security

council north korea has been banned since the testing of nuclear weapons from trading in weaponry. what is the affect of the ban? >> that ban really has not been in force. we saw it with the stoping by the panomanians with all sorts of weapons on it. we need to go back to the u.n and the sanctions committee and the security council to toughen the sanctions. we need to put the chinese on record. the chinese may be able to block resolutions against their friends in north korea as they have done in the past. but we need to put them on record. we need to embarrass them. these sales have been going on continually for years and we have not done enough to stop them. >> back to the united states acting unilaterally, do u.s. ships stop north korean ships or at least ships coming out of the north korean ports or should we be doing that? >> we definitely should be doing that. we don't have the authority from the security council to

stop the north korean ships on the high seas, but we have the legal authority to do it in other ways. the north koreans have abrigated the air miss it is a and it gives us the rice to sink ships. we clearly have the right to stop them and look for wmd and missal parts. we haven't been doing that. we tracked the ships, but we let them deliver their cargoes. and that really is our flaw. >> what is china's strategic interest in all of this? >> china has been using both pakistan and north korea to sell both missiles and nuclear weapons around the world. china believes it is in its interest to get friends in the middle east. it is competing with russia. it wants the energy from the middle east. and it also wants middle eastern governments not to support the wiegers in china who are the muslims and have been suppressed. china has a lot of interest in making sure they support syria. we need to stop them because

this contravenes our interest and underminds the american security and the security of our friends in the region, especially the israelis. >> gordon chang, it is a wonderful, interesting perspective on an unexamined component of the crisis. thank you for your time, sir. >> thank you. america spends tens of billions of dollars every year on secret spy programs. news of this so-called black budget came to the "washington post" earlier this week from nsa leak erred ward snowden. chief con -- leaker edward snowden. we look now at what is in these spy documents. >> a $52.6 billion top secret spy budget for fiscal 2013 which the "washington post" says it obtained from former intelligence contractor edward snowden reveals details which insiders say could provide damaging insight for foreign intelligence services. among the revelation, u.s. intelligence agencies have made slow progress trying to address key questions about chemical and biological weapons and intelligence

collection related to them. on syria, the national security agency monitored unen crypted communications at the start of the civil war until president assad's forces discovered it was taking place. one expert says because this disclosure is comprehensive about the entire intelligence community, it is particularly damaging. >> and worse i think it is going to tell bad actors and enemies what we know and what we don't know and how we go about trying to get that sort of information. >> the chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike rogers, says about this leak, quote, disclosures of our capabilities and programs jeprodize the efforts of the american men and women in the intelligence community who have dedicated themselves to protecting american lives and interests. the budget document also reveals new details about the intelligence community's tracking of osama bin laden. the raid was guided by a group of satellites in space which pointed dozens of separate receivers over pakistan to collect a vast amount of data

as the mission took place. the document also notes the united states watches both allies and enemies. pakistan is mentioned as a, quote, intractable target and counterintelligence operations are strategically focused on the priority targets of china, russia, iran, cuba and israel. >> i don't think that would surprise anybody. who we are collecting against and what we think -- what our major concerns are in a world makes sense to have that in a budget. it would be better for it not to be out in the public domain to be sure. >> north korea says may be the most difficult to read with what are described as five critical gaps in intelligence about the nuclear and missal programs and analysts knowing almost nothing about the intentions of new leader kim jong-un. the document revealed that the nsa planned to investigate some 4,000 possible insider threats this year. interesting that it was revealed in a story by former contract employee snowden, one of their own.

in washington, mike emmanuel, fox news. there is a new mayor in town in san diego. disgraced mayor bob filner's resignation is final and city council president todd gloria is acting as interim mayor. todd says there is a lot of work to be done and thanking everyone for sticking it out through the scandal. >> i didn't run for office just to happening out. to the extent we have had a situation where i think very little was being accomplished i have been frustrated, and i think san diegans have been frustrated. >> filner resigned last month after nearly 20 women publicly accused him of sexual harassment. the city is holding a special election in november. fast-food workers are going on strike hoping for a super sized wage increase. but could higher pay end up hurting them more than it helps, and could it cost you more money when you go to eat out?

secretary of state john kerry has just revealed that the u.s. has evidence that sarin nerve gas was used in syria. he told fox news on sunday first responders in damascus have conclusive hair and blood samples. here is a bit of context for you. syria is one of seven countries worldwide that has not joined the 1997 convention banning such chemical weapons. many analysts consider its stockpile the largest in the world, estimated up to 1,000 tons. u.s. assessments show in addition to sarin, damascus has mustard, blister agents and vx nerve agent. sarin gas is 20 times more deadly than cyanide. one drop can kill a single person. fast-food workers are protesting, asking for waynes up to $-- for wages up to $15 an hour, twice the federal minute mumming -- minimum

wage. but it could come with a side of unemployment. senior economic writer steve moore explains how it could have unintended consequences. steven, thank you for joining us. good to see you. >> hi, doug. great to be with you. >> were these protests we saw last week spontaneous or grassroots are brought by big labor? >> that's a good question. we know one of the largest unions in the country has really been behind not all of these, but most of these strikes and protests that have been happening around the country. i think they have hit about 15 major cities including washington, d.c., new york, los angeles, detroit. when you ask what are the implications of this, doug, i think the first thing you can think about is say goodbye to the dollar menu items at wendy's and mcdonalds and burger king. it would certainly lead to higher prices because businesses businesses -- these franchises would have to raise their prices if they had to

double the salaries of the workers. the second big implication is the one you just mentioned, doug, which is the unemployment rate would go up. we know that by the way from past increases in the minimum wage. by the way, this would be a much, much bigger increase in the minimum wage than anything we have ever seen in this country. but the last time we had an increase in the minimum wage a few years ago we saw a big increase in the unemployment rate of the teenagers in america and also unskilled workers. oftentimes people are hurt most by the lowest skilled workers because you destroy their jobs. >> if i was a franchisee or a fast-food restaurant owner the first thing i would look at is technology in a case like this. you have the ought -- the automated menu machines and there is somebody asking you if you want frys with that. a machine could ask you if you want frys with that. >> exactly and that is happening already, doug. it is the natural course of

events as we move more toward an automated nation. if you double the salary requirements of the workers there is no question about it. you would replace people with machines and robots. by the way if you go to the fast casual restaurants now, the appleby's and oftentimes you go to the restaurants and you are ordering off an ipad. you don't order from a real life person. you would accelerate that trend and you would have, i believe, if you doubled the minimum wage you would destroy a huge number of teenage jobs in america. by the way, doug, i have to say, you know what my first job when i started working? i was working at a burger king flipping burgers. there are so many people like that. it is the first job and your entry job into the workforce. if you eliminate those jobs you will eliminate the first running of the -- rung of the economic ladder and i think it has serious consequences for people's wages later in their

job. >> my first job was a brick layer's laborer. >> you probably made more money than i d. >> $70 was my first pay home check. to be serious, inspiration to move up and onward to be perfectly honest. i think we lost him. are you coming back? okay. well, the point was made. steven moore from the "wall street journal," thank you very much. tourists at one popular national treasure are missing out. a massive wildfire is blocking their view. wait until you hear what could be to blame for the yosemite fire. also coming up, tim tebow gets a pink slip. hopefully the fast-food industry is not in his future. we'll tell you what the quarterback is saying about his future in america.

the crisis in syria tops our headlines right now. a top reining official has arrived in damascus for talks with syria's officials. during his two-day trip the head of the national security committee plans a press conference. iran a staunch syrian out lie has condemned military action

against syria. some teens in jersey city are heros. they found a baby in a pile of trash and alerted the building superintendent who then building superintendent, who called the police. the baby boy is in the hospital and breathing on its own. the police are searching for the mom. the superintendent says he usually kicks the teens out of the courtyard but is glad they were there. >> tim tebow's time with the new england patriots are done. he was released last night. tebow, an avid tweeter, tweeted about his dedication to football, quote, i will remain &a#ç6o0g03&q+/f6t continuing my lifelong dream of being an nfl quarterback. those your top stories. >> smoke from a wildfire burning morn 300 square miles near yosemite national park is making things more difficult for firefighters and killing the view four tourists. two weeks after the fire started investigators are still searching for the cause of the

blaze. here's the latest from or west coast bureau. >> well, they think they know now. fire officials from one of the towns threatened by the blaze told fox news that the cause of the fire could be linked to marijuana operations in the national forest. that is where it started on august 17th. the chief said a pot farm is suspected, but stresses the cause is still under investigation, and yet to be determined. says based on the information the authorities already know, pot farming is a possibility. now mcneill brought that suspicion to light on august 23rd, during a community meeting. a video of that appeared on youtube although it wasn't meant to be the official word from calfire, his actual words were, quote, it was highly suspect there might have been in sort of elicit group. the marijuana grow type thing, he says. mcneill told fox news he is standing by what he said but

said he was too busy to actually talk to us formally on camera because he was fighting the rimfire itself. he did add that lightning could be ruled out because there were no thunderstorms around at the time the fire started. he told us the location where the fire began its very remote, you have to make a real effort to get there. we do know huge pot plantations keep being discovered in national fores in california and authorities say they're run by mexican drug cartels. if its cartells, they certainly cost the public a lot of money. $18 million so far is how much the rimfire has cost to fight, 222,000 acres are gone. the firefighters were making steady progress. 40% of it controlled, and edges toward being one of the five largest fires in california. >> thank you very much.

>> they heard this huge screeching, banging news. we looked out the windows and seen our roof -- there was roof in the backyard and then the storm stopped. >> people near lexington, kentucky, can cleaning up after severe weather ripped through the area. residents say the storm caused massive damage to a mobile home park and several other structures. luckily no reports of any injuries there. >> as for the rest of the country, this holiday weekend the northeast and south are bracing for showers and storms that could put a damper on cookout plans. >> does believing in a higher power make you a happier persons? apparently the answer may be found on twitter. also, coming up, what does congress think about taking military action? charlie wrangle says if we're going to fight syria, we need to start the draft. [ woman ] dear chex cereal, you've done the impossible.

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turns out that religion is not only good for your soul, it's good for your well-being. reachers found that christians are more content and happier. where did that it get their data from? social networking sites. >> researchers at the university

of illinois cabbed some two million tweets from followers of christians and athiests. tweets of the pope and an author were all analyzed alongside of the tweets from follower0s of richard dawkins, and the late christopher hitch chens who pended the best seller can "god is not great." christians used more emotion words like love, happy, grace, rather that negative words like bad, wrong, awful and that religious people may have a more intuitive rather than analytical style of thinking. >> i think the study results confirm what i have seen in my experience with religious people and interacting with nonreligious people, that those who believe in god and those who know christas their saviour, have a meaning, a purpose, a fulfillment, a joy that those outside of the faith simply don't have. >> the twitter study confirmed

research at other institutions like the pew forum, harvard and yale university, showing that religious people in general tend to form tightknit supportive communities that contribute to healthier and happier lives. athiests counter that the study is flawed because not everyone measures happiness the same way. >> reality and criticism and scent simple positive things. athiests tend to like different things than religious people. >> those of faith say people are a combination of mind and emotion, thinking and feeling, and dad when the makes them happy. >> as secretary of state john kerry announces the u.s. has concrete proof of a chemical attack in syria, the white house takes its case for a military threat against assad's regime

straight to capitol hill. it's an abrupt about-face from president obama who now says he is seeking congressional approval for any attack. the president0s national security team, the state department and pentagon are hiding to the hill to give a classified briefing to lawmakers. i'm live in washington, all of this throws a lot on to congress' already full plate. joining us now congressman charlie rangel, democrat from new york, and randy ford, republican from virginia. thank you for joining us today. how does adding a syria vote complicate this already busy house scheduled we were anticipating. congressman rangel? >> it's kind of rough because it's an opposition in the house to everything that the president has proposed, in terms of jobs, the budget, health care, and education. so, we have a big agenda, and to

get involved in international problem without international support, i just don't see where that helps us at all move forward. >> and congressman rangel, just to get to another point you advocated for a draft, which is an interesting perspective given the gender integration of the military. you're talking bat draft not only for male members of the military or prospective members, but for women, too. >> i think the defense department made it abundantly clear that men and women have to be treated equally in our services, but there's no question in my mind that the congress would not be so willing to go along with presidents who put our men and women in harm's way if they thought that their families and loved ones, their constituents could be drafted. most of all of our draftees who are paid to fight these wars come from a low-income communities

communities and don't have really a lot of economic opportunities themselves, and so if you're going to go to war, and you're going to declare it, it seems to me you ought to have some skin in the game and sacrifice is part of it. you just can't sit back and say, support the president, let's go to war, and then go back home and try to explain it. >> congressman forbes, i guess the key question from the congressional point of view is, are the votes there? i know it's early, but what are your thoughts about that? >> i don't think anybody is going to know until we do what we divide to do. it's right for the president to come to congress. national security trumps any other issue that we have. i think we owe it to the president. he is our command their chief to listen to what he says to say, to find out if he does have a strategy, an objective, and how we exit. but so far many of us haven't been persuaded he actually does, and so i think it's going to be a huge lift to try to get the votes for military action in syria. >> are you persuaded at this point?

i-i'm not but one of the things i'm committed to do is make sure i'm available to the commander-in-chief. if he wants to come to congress, i'm going to listen to whatever he says on both classified and unclassified, but so far i haven't seen the strategy that he has laid out. one of the things i would be absolutely opposed to is this shooting a strike across the bow or slapping them in the face and thinking we can just get out of there that's not what our military is set up to do. that's not what we should be doing about we're going to listen to the president of the united states. >> one of the curious things, congressman forbes, is no urgency in calling congress back. we're waiting until your original scheduled date, september 9th, which gives leeway to a lot of potential things that could happen. first of all, as we see so frequently in our society, which has a very short attention span, interest in this kind of thing wanes. the outrage tends to wane. there will be polls taken between now and september 9th. things could change. what happens on the ground in syria could change. >> that's certainly the case, and sitting on the averages

services committee we have been wondering why the president has not had a sense of urgency about this for several months, and when you don't have that sense of urgency, it leads to the fact maybe we shouldn't take any military action at all. so far most of the people i talk to don't believe the president made his case to either congress or the american people yet. we're waiting to see if he can do that when we go back in session. >> congressman rangel, representative peter king said that the authorization will not pass in his view, and that obama's vacillating will cost him support of members. do you agree with that? >> i don't see where there should be a sense of urgency to go to war when the congress hasn't approved it. this is an international problem, and so we ought to be looking to the united nations, the security council, the arab league, the european union. i cannot understand how we can assume because the president has

drawn a red line, that we have to commit young men and women in a war, and i never, in fact ever heard of a limited war, whatever that means, but to chastise and to let an evil man know that we're dissatisfied, i don't really think war-like message is the way to go. this is international. bring together international people. those in the community. and let's try to work out something. they're not going to be fighting themselves. no one in their family will be fighting and we have been allowing president after president to put us in these situations, and i i thank president obama for following through on his commitment as a senator, you just don't go to war without congressional consent. >> thank you very much,

congressman charlie rangle and representative randy forbes of virginia. thank you both. >> thank you. >> as the white house waits for word from congress, secretary john kerry presents new evidence the united states says that it now has proof that syria used sarin gas on its people, making the case for a striker stronger by the day. catherine herridge has the latest. >> good afternoon. hour from now we're expecting a classified briefing on capitol hill, given by deputies from the defense department. the intelligent community, the state depth, and the national security council, and this will give house and senate members a chance to review the raw intelligence in person and to ask specific questions. this morning one house member also a former prosecutor, said he has not convinced the intelligence is so definitive. >> when i had to look somebody in the eye and sentence them to death, had to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury had to be sure, and he guess enough to good kill people with high confidence?

and remember, this is the same administration who told us that our intelligence clearly indicates that the attack on 9-11-2012 was about a video. >> this morning the administration made available to secretary of state, john kerry, to virtually all of the sunday talk shows where he says there's more confirmatory evidence of a chemical weapons strike. >> we have now learned that care and blood samples that have come to us from east damascus, from individuals who were engaged as first responders in east damascus, i can report to you today they have tested positive for signatures of sarin. >> and one of the significant and overlooked headlines from that assessment that was released through the white house on friday, is that there is evidence that syrian regime used chemical weapons multiple times in the last 18 months, crossing mr. obama's red line. this point was confirmed by the

republican chair of the house intelligence committee earlier this week. >> the british think 14 times, i think u.s. intelligence services believe a few less times than that, i think nine. so there is a clear pattern here of chemical weapons use on behalf of the regime. >> one authorize key points lawmakers well be looking at in the intelligence briefing is at one point the u.s. government had information that thy the syrian regime was making moves to prepare for a chemical weapons attack. was this in fact intelligence that was available in real-time or intelligence only seen as significant after the fact, doug. >> catherine, thank you very much. >> president obama's decision to wait for a congressional approval is being viewed by syria as a sign of weakness. a top government official there calls the u.s., quote, confused and hesitant. we're live in our jerusalem bureau with more reaction from syria and the international community. leyland? >> certainly around this region,

doug, leaders are scratching their heads saying, wait, what happened and what does it mean now? for so long in the mideast middle east, a u.s. president laying down a red line or line in the sand meant something. after yesterday, folks aren't so sure. here in the israeli capitol in jerusalem, the leaders behind closed doors and off the record are using words like coward, the syrians have declared victory for themselves. one syrian official speaking on state tv last night said that the united states had lost the battle before it even began and the administration has, quote, made a joke out of itself. president assad on state tv said that the words of the united states are just not going to change syria's principles or how they're carrying out this war. remember, for the past week the sirrans have been making preparations for the possibility of a u.s. strike, moving missiles into position,

evacuating headquarters staff, moving chemical weapon store piles around in an attempt to get ready and also to retaliate against israel as they promised to do the israelis are on edge as well. they moved their iron dome missile battery into position, and also started to distribute gas masks, cancelled military leaves, called up soldiers all on what the united states was saying. the israelis are now saying they're going to remain, quote, on high alert going forward. not only in israel but around the entire region. what the united states did on syria was seen as a bit of a test run for what the u.s. might do about iran, because, remember, president obama laid down a similar red line about iran getting a nuclear weapon. now there is a definite feeling here in israel they may have to go it alone when it comes to iran, if there is a necessity for military action. as many here believe that the president and the president0s syria were eye-to-eye and president obama blinked first. doug, back to you.

>> thank you, leyland. >> hurry up and wait. to see what congress will do. it will be days before we learn if congress will back up the president's call for action in syria. heritage foundation senior fellow peter brooks says it's one way nor from take some of the pressure off himself. thank you for joining us. -- saying this was a case of amateur hour. >> this doesn't look good at all. sends a signal of weakness. the longer a policy moves this way without some sort -- it's very amorphous right now wimp don't know the objective and we agree it's horrible what happened in syria, but it's been going on for two years now? 100,000 people dead? so this policy -- there is no policy for syria, then that's a real problem for this administration. >> interesting that we heard secretary kerry say we now have

confirmation this was sarin gas through tissue samples, hair samples. later on, on "meet the press" david gregory asked him if this would was a slam-dunk it was sarin gas, and he said something to the effect we should retire the word "slam-dunk" and today they're increasing level of high confidence. a little wiggle room. >> certainly. they're very concern about what happened during the iraq war and that term was used during the iraq war and they want to separate themselves from the previous administration, and they tried to da this over time. now they have been mugged by reality and they're back again in positions here about having to use military force to protect international and american interests. so they're very concerned. they don't want to be wrong. they're looking for support from others on this issue, and right now the support is falling away. the british failed, the french are going wobbly on this, the arab league is not calling for military action. so the administration may have to go unilaterally, which is

something they heavily criticized the bush administration about in iraq. i can't help but think that mr. putin in russia are sitting back and watching this spectacle and engauging in a little freud. i was speaking to wally fairis in the news room and he said russia is leading from behind here. he didn't mean the it disparagely. they're being very cagey. >> in the other thing on the table is the president is going g-20 next week in st. petersburg. he decided not meet with putin. part of that over syria, and going to sweden instead. the fact of the matter they're in the same room because putin is hosting this. you can't wait for the photo spry sprays that will come out. the tension will be so thick you can cut it with a knife. but the russians are enjoying seal the president fall short and they also have an ally in syria, and they're very concerned because of the libyan example. they were very much against libya. they were not happy about that.

they worry about the united states or others could try to push regime change or changes in russia. china is against it for the same reasons. so the president is in quite a fix here and the meeting next week should be interesting. >> the reality is, russia, if we took out their chemical weapons could simply resupply them, or north korea could resupply them. >> i'm not sure that the chemical weapons are our target. it's the delivery system. and unfortunately because of the delays they can move some of that aircraft, move are till rare pieces. we can still bomb the runways which would make it impossible to take out command and control facilities which they can't be moved as well. but, yeah, there's a lot of things to be considered here in terms of going forward with military action. >> i know your expertise is not congress but you ven tier pre -- venture a prediction whether they will vote for the authorization? >> i don't know. i worked on capitol hill as a staffer but prediction is hard, especially about the future, doug. >> all right. on that note we'll say goodbye. good to see you.

we have been asking if you think congress should come back early. bob says, absolutely, they should come back. should not be gone for more than a week oar weekend like most americans. jerry says because of syria and other issues, congress never should have even left. keep sending us your thoughts. still to come, a little later in the show, how the crisis in syria is affecting what you pay at the pump. could we see four dollar a gallon gas again? first, the irs is once again in the spotlight, this time accused of targeting american vets. you wasn't want to miss this story. stay tuned. how mu protein

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>> british journalist and broadcaster david frost died of a suspected heart attack. he is best nope for his television interviews of richard nix. you david frost, dead at the age of 4. >> nell son mandela has been released from the hospital but it still very sick. he has been suffering from a recurring lung infection and will receive intensive car at

his home. >> it's a really odd way for the government to say, thank you, for your service. one of the nation's largest veteran groups is being required to provide proof of membership eligibility. the american legion posts that cannot or will not comply face heavy fines courtesy of the internal revenue service. mark, first conservative groups and now the american legion. what do you make of this? >> it's hart hard to know whether this is just bureaucracy run wild, or this is actual targeting for political purposes. the reason there's some suspicion about that is this is the same group, the same organization within the irs, that was responsible for the be on the lookout list for tea party looks under the auspices of lois lerner who pled the fifth before congress. at this point it's hard to

imagine a scenario where there would be a reason to politically target a group like the american legion for a variety of reasons. they're not a partisan political organization. they're there to serve veterans, which if there's a nonpartisan issue in this country, it's the veterans. they have two and a half million members, so it's not a group you want to get riled up. and beyond that, what they're asking for is stuff that they've never had to keep before. historically what groups like these have had to keep is, yes, we verified the service of the veteran. here's our list. what the government is now telling them they have to do is maintain things like discharge papers, documents that might include medical information, social security numbers, dates and places of birth. the legion says we don't maintain those records. we don't want to maintain those records records and it would be a legal and procedural nightmare. >> the american legion halls i have been in are places generally where guy goes to have a beer with their buddies.

do any of them keep those records? >> that's the thing. they keep their membership lists and they verify years of service; what the government is now telling them, the irs, we want to see documentation of, for instance, discharge papers. discharge from the military. things like that. thinks that the legion and other veteran service groups have never had to keep. again, the curious oddity is if you're going to politically target a group, whoa go after a group like the american legion. on the other hand, if you're sort of a bureaucrat run wild, why target a veteran service organization. >> could it be evidence of just how slowly the wheels of the bureaucracy turn? we know the scrutiny they have been under in regard to targeting other groups about it takes forever for this to be filtered down through the bureaucracy so that action is taken. could that be it?

could this be the benign slowness of government. >> it may just be sort of the inertia of bureaucracy. if you look at the irs's guidelines for veteran service organizations, they post online, that does not require this level of documentation. the guidance is pretty simple. you got to maintain your membership list and eligible. but apparently sometime in 2011 the manual with the audit for, the irs auditors use was revised to include things like this additional documentation. they didn't tell anybody, and they just have started to enforce it. >> we'll look forward to your piece on tuesday. >> thanks. >> still ahead, is facebook a health hazard? we'll talk to one medical expert who says the surgeon general should actually slap a warning sign on the social networking sight. first, look back in time at

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taking look at our top stories. starting with syria. word from the unites nations the secretary general asked the head of the u.n. chemical weapons inspection to hurry up the analysis of samples from syrian that as secretary of state john kerry announces the u.s. has its open samples from first responder to the chemical attack and those samples prove that sarin gas was used. talk about between a rock and a hard place. video out of taiwan shows a car being slammed by a landslide, and then after being swept to the side the car narrowly escaped being crushed by a massive boulder. all captured in a dashboard camera. the driver and passenger had only minor injuries.

>> ruth bader beginsburg is the first supreme court justice to officiate at a wedding. this won't be the only same-sex ceremony for the justice. she is planning on officiating another one. >> president obama says that if the u.s. attacks syria it won't be with boards on the ground but a limited narrow attack. we have a live report frow on the historical consequences of so-called limited military strikes. >> good afternoon, doug. america will have to wait to see if congress allows the president to carry out a limited attack in syria, until then it's hard not to look at administrations past and what re tallization took place to the early '80s the u.s. bombed are in reagan administration, and then the u.s. marine baracks were struck and 200 marines killed.

years later in the same administration. libya leader gadhafi survived an attack, admitting his involvement in the panam plane explosion over lockerbie, scotland in the clinton administration the administration ordered strikes on camps in afghanistan. the radical group retaliated by attacking the uss cole in yemen, and then the attacks in 2001. so these and other were are all incidents weigh on the obama administration attack strategy which right now has no timeline. >> i think that america is stronger here. that's the president's belief. i think people should be celebrating that the president is in fact not moving unilaterally, that he is honoring the request he heard from many people in congress to consult and to be engaged with them. >> military experts allude to the fact that limited involvement reflects poorly on

the united states. >> this hesitation delay and half measures is a significant pattern and has led to a diminishment of u.s. stature in the reason. >> many lawmakers support a full debate, that doesn't necessarily guarantee they're onboard with any type of attack. so september 9th is around the corner. >> we'll fine -- find out. >> joining us now our fox news terror analyst and middle east expect. thanks for coming in, wally. >> sure. >> what are the potential international consequences of this limited military strike on syria that president is speaking of? >> it all depends on the scope, meaning whatever we're going to be hitting, how long, how far, and remember, in the rules of engagement, if he witness a target and we are hit back by either the syrians or their allies, hezbollah and iranians, rules of engagement would want us to hit back at them. so i don't think the president

is in the business now of widening this confrontation, that's not only in our hand. so the issue is going to be what are we going to target and if we're going to get an answer to strike back from the other side. >> which raises the question of the red line he initially drew. some call it a red line in the sand that was moved from one marker to another to another to the point where he has backed himself into a corner. the leadership of iran obviously watching this very closely. they are on the cusp now of nuclear capability. what does that mean to them as they watch this? >> the difference between libya, as a scenario, and syria, the libyan regime was isolated. we took all the measures we wanted. some with the united nations and the regime crumbled inch syria it's part of a wider coalition so any decision, even if backed by congress, will be about syria. in fact it's about four regime, the iranian regime, the regime in iraq, hezbollah forces in

lebanon and syria. so it's not a simple thing to do strikes in syria and back because retaliation may come from other parts against the region and not just against us. they may retaliate against bases in turkey and the turks will be involved, or the gulf. it's a much bigger issue than libya. >> bigger than what you just described. we heard from gordon cheng that syria in all likelihood got its chemical weapons from north korea, which is probably supplying some nuclear capables as well. russia, as you told me in our newsroom this week, is truly leading from behind here. can you explain that? >> well, absolutely. there is a formal relationship, alliance, between the syrian regime, the syrian state, and russia. we tend to forget that. they have a defense pact. russian units are in the eastern mediterranean. so assad feels he has an international ally or active umbrella that protects him, and our engagement with him will have to take into consideration

the other forces. but if we are smart enough to ally with a party inside syria, that is significant, that we can trust, because many members of congress do not trust the rebels but if you had a better design inside syria, we could crumble the regime or weaken the regime without having to engage with everybody else in the region. >> what are the likelihood of us being able to identify a party but a there are literally left-hand sides of factions in opposition to say sad. >> that's the price of being solate. if it wasn't 2011, it would have been much easier, we were on the ground in iraq. al qaeda was not there in force. now anything we do inside syria -- i think against the opinion of many people in town that we can identify, we have not done so, we stuck out the muslim burglarihood.

>> what hays thisden debacle done to u.s. stature in the world? >> look, what happened, our policy in at the arab spring, not just sirarch is perceived by our foes as we canness and by potential allies, drug egypt, the gulf, as weakness as well. so, we need to do a better job in getting stronger with our allies, and tougher with our foes. >> we're out of time but saudi arabia issues, says it supports president obama's action. your response? >> that they have no other way than supporting the only decision made about syria in the best, and the president did it. now they're waiting for the congress to decide how to support the president, if at all. >> okay, wally, always appreciate your expertise, good to see you, sir. >> thank you, sir. >> we have had such a huge response on twitter weird. going to read a few more of the answers. the question. i.

i do to you county congress should come back early and get to work back on syria. >> phillip says congress should vote on tuesday and hand the ball back to obama. >> katherine says congress needs a congressional app to vote on their phones, from wherever and wherever they are in the world. keep sending your thoughts. there's a new mayor in town in san diego. now the disgraced mayor bob filner's resignation is final, the city council president todd gloria is interim mayor. he is thanking everybody for sticking it out through the scandal. >> i didn't run for office to hang out, and to the extent we had a situation where very little was being accomplished i have been frustrated and san diegoans have been frustrated. >> filner resigned last month after nearly 20 women publicly accused him of sexual harassment. the city is holding a special election in november. >> and still ahead, should

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♪ (vo) purina cat chow. 50 years of feeding great relationship president obama is seeking congressional approval for the use of military force in syria, but that's not his only opening on the table. syria is one of our most clicked stories today. elizabeth has more. >> international support for a describing seems to be waning. saudi arabia says it will support a u.s. strike if that's what the syrian people want. striking syria is not the only path forward. the u.s. could choose to arm the opposition or impose strict sanctions on the syrian government. so the latest breaking news on foxnews.com. >> also reading about the massive wildfire burning at yosemite national park. the dense smoke is making it

hard for tourists to see the beautiful views the park is known for, and is also an obstacle for firefighters. authorities say they know the fire was caused by human error. there was no light lightning in the area, it is the fourth largest fire in california's history. fantasy football players could be prime targets for authorities this season in some states. the popular online gaming leagues could fool under the category of illegal gambling. a federal law that regulates online gambling protects the leagues but some states like florida say they don't want it at all. fantasy football is technically banned there. we asked for your thoughts. linda says, play the old fashioned way with your neighbors, and pens' paper and the government is not your brother. >> to read more of our most-clicked stories log on to foxnews.com, and i will say my

husband is playing fantasy football, as are all the men in my life so maybe they should watch out for authorities. >> thank you. consumer confidence is up slightly. that sounds like positive news. but what does it really mean? here's some context. >> the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. >> when president franklin roosevelt spoke those words in 1933 it was a call to throw off the doubts of the great depression. the release of the consumer confidence report may throw off the doubts of the recession. consumer confidence which was 81 in july, rose to 81.5 in august. >> i think it's relatively positive news. this is the third month in a row we have had a reading above 8 a. >> experts differ over whether the survey heralds a recovery. it lacks real da a like the labor department's unemployment numbers. instead it gauges confidence in

such things as average weekly hours in manufacturing, claims for unemployment insurance, new manufacturing orders, building permits, new private housing corrupts and stock prices. >> definitely a less accurate barometer. the index will take a downward hit that will continue mow month on the upside. >> the conference board says its sauer have i tracks the up employment data. >> a survey of consumers by consumers and they have a relatively great track record in predicting the health of the economy. >> one pessimistic indicator in the survey, consumers who believe that business conditions are good, decreased to 18.4% from 20.8% a month ago. >> and economists say that september will be another pivotal month in the recovery. a good unemployment report may inspire more consumer confidence but gridlock here in washington over the debt ceiling may slow it. a hospital in pennsylvania is opening the country's first

inpatient treatment program for internet addicts. patients well take part in group therapy and undergo a psychological evaluation. the program's founder says it's tailored for people who are not able to function in their daily lives because of excessive internet use. he says a teenage boy two divides his time between his favorite video game and girlfriend doesn't fit the bill. there are more than 500 million people living out their lives on facebook these days but does that kind of interaction make people happy or just the opposite? one study actually links the popular web site to feelings of intense envy, insomnia, depression, isolation, and overall dissatisfaction with life. we'll talk more about this. here's a psychiatrist and member of our fox news team. keith, great to see you. a huge fan of yours. you have great psychological insight so when i saw you

addressing this, my ears really perked up. you take this very seriously, don't you? >> i really do. listen, we have more than one study now. we have many studies showing that facebook has been linked to sadness to feelings of depression, that the more you use facebook, the more your real life friendships suffer, and the more you use facebook, the more you're prone to alcohol abuse. i think what we have here truly is a drug. it is a virtual drug but it behaves exactly like tobacco. people need it, they feel they need it. they suffer for using it. and they need to use it more and more. and now the data is streaming in saying that we're causing depression, it seems, we're causing anxiety, we're causing alcohol abuse. it's a gateway drug, and the surgeon general should act and put on the home page of facebook a warning, not unlike what goes on cigarettes. >> the total an neck dnr an next

total evidence and people who i know in real life are real introverts, seldom speak out, but on facebook they're fountains of information about their personal lives and pictures and, i can imagine a scenario where if they don't get likes to that picture they just posted, or some nice comment, that they feel somehow rejected maybe? >> sure. look, that's part of what is going on. and studies show that if you post pictures and people don't seem to respond you take it perhaps very hard. but listen, your description is exactly what people describe when they drink or use cocaine. what do they say? well, without this, i can't come out of myself. those things, those drugs, prevent you from finding the internal reason why you are withdrawn or why you can't feel less anxious. so, too, does this artificial high, which allows you to interact with people, call on your friends when they're not,

pretend you're happy when your note, and like any other drug, it forestalls the inevitable, the crash. >> i assume prolongs the enjoyment or the high, you're going right back to facebook, even when it rejects you. >> not only will you go right back to facebook, but if you have noticed, and i do business via facebook. i don't look at it for frymy friendships but occasionally we post something i have written. i've noticed if you don't go back and look at it all, they send you a message, where have you been? you haven't checked your messages. what is different about that once you define it as a drug and your neighborhood drug pusher reaching out to you saying, i just wonder, you haven't called me for any cocaine lately. this is virtual cocaine. not only that but we're pushing it to 13-year-old kids and these guys are making billions doing it. >> wow. it's really fascinating, doctor. a lot moore research needs to be done. >> absolutely.

>> if you're feeling anxiety, just turn it off, walk away. >> if you could. it's tough. >> yeah, okay. we're out of time, doctor. i'd love to chat more. good to see you, sir. nearly 34 million americans will hit the road this labor day weekend but we'll take a look at how the holiday and priceness syria are impacting prices at the pump. also addicted to gasoline, as you know. stay tuned. hey linda!

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>> as the u.s. eyes a possible military strike on syria, many are wondering what more tension will mean for gas prices here at home. right now a gallon of regular costs an average of 3.59 a gallon, up from five cents last week. so are we in for more pain at the pump? our senior business correspondent is here with some answers. brenda? >> the possibility of u.s. strikes in syria could hit you here at home. we see consumers at the pump and in the purse but may not be as bad as experts expect. last week traders bet that the chance of military action in syria could fuel a crude shock. now syria is not a huge oil producer. its output not enough to cover what is left of its domestic

needs but the worry is a cries there could inflame an already tense middle east. the middle east made up a third of global oil output in the first three months of this year. plus it's home to important shipping lanes such as the suez canal. the price of oil has been rising since egypt erupted in july. some forecasters fear any disruption in oil could mean oil prices keep going up. and speculation is a gallon of regular gasoline could shoot into 3.60 level in the next week. some estimates are could pass four bucks a barrel. a one and a half percent increase from a day after the chemical attack. but consider this, the end of the summer season could cool gas prices. fewer americans hitting the road, demand down, and we're seeing an increase in domestic production. we're producing two million barrels of crude a day more now in the u.s. than we did at the beginning of the arab spring.

also, if the price of oil goes up, chances are other producers will open their spigot and that could keep a lid on prices. but if syria sparks a huge regional rout, all bets are off and your pain at the pump could be on. back to you. >> always amazes me how many factors go into the cost we pay at the pump. main street getting a bit more confident about the economy. that's the word from a wall street journal survey of small business ceos. optimism jumped. and three-quarters think that revenues will increase and more than half think that profits will improve. if we do go to war in syria, how much will it cost? we'll crunch some numbers when we come right back. ♪ ho ho ho [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better.

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>> if the u.s. strikes syria, how much will it cost? on the july 2013 letter to the senate armed services committee chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey. with the potential no fly-zone costs could be pushed to a billion dollars a month. >> appropriate -- pope francis is calling for people to fast and pray for peace in syria, he

appealed to all sides in the civil war to lay down their arms. if only they would listen. >> that's all for me here in washington. thanks for watching fox news. >> i'm chris wallace. president obama does an about, face, and asks congress to authorize military force in syria. >> our capacity to execute this mission is not time-sensitive. it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now. >> after days of making the case the assad regime killed more than a thousand of its own people with chemical weapons, the president says the deaths should not go unpunished. >> while i believe i have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, i know that the country will be stronger if we take this course and our actions will be even more