network, varney & company 9:20 eastern. hello everyone and welcome to the special labor day edition of "the five." i'm eric bolling along with kimberly. bob just back from the congo, this is "the five." president obama has announced that he's ready to launch a military strike against syria, but he wants congress to sign-off on it. naturally just minutes after telling the country our national security is at risk, the president spent the afternoon golfing. but today he put down the clubs to focus on getting the votes he needs from lawmakers. this afternoon the president met with senators mccain and graham and the white house was dialing

congressional phone numbers looking for support. ed henry has been monitoring all of it from the white house. and he joins us now. ed. >> eric, good to see you. this is basically a race against the clock for the president. he has put this in congress' court, but the president himself is heading to sweden, as you know, on air force one tomorrow night. then onto russia for the g-20 summit. this is a critical 24 to 36 hours where he is desperately trying to change some minds in a very skeptical congress. it was interesting because you can see from this photo he's meeting in the oval office today for about an hour with two very prominent republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham who have been critics of his foreign policy, particularly the syria policy. lindsay graham came out to the driveway afterwards and called the president's policy a debacle. not recently but for two years he said that as the slaughter's been going on, the president hasn't stepped it up. and there was a very loud message from both mccain and graham, while they had positive things to say and they said, look, they're getting closer to supporting this mission and closer to urging their colleagues to support it. they said they're not there yet, and it's time for the president

to really step up. take a listen. >> we urge the president to up his game and inform the american people. what does it mean if assad wins and the opposition loses? what does it mean if assad with the backing of the iranians and russians win after we say assad's got to go? the russians and the iranians are all in. i finally see an effort by this administration to counter. >> it's a very tough sell whenever you commit american forces even to limited military involvement. and, frankly, there is a credibility gap because of the last two years where nothing has happened while people have been massacred by the thousands. >> notice something else from that picture in the oval office. no democratic senators in there. these were two republicans. the democrats are not here at the white house, not defending the president because they're deeply divided over this policy right now. and for the president to

actually win these votes in the house and senate, which could come as early as next week, he's going to have to bring republicans like mccain and graham along pretty amazing turn of events that his campaign opponent from 2008, john mccain, may be the pivotal person to save his foreign policy, basically. it's not an understatement to say in some ways the president has it on the line here. because if this policy unravels, look at what's happening in egypt and iran, this is a critical moment, guys. >> ed, take it around the table. i'm going to start with this one. i'm against this attack. it's not our war. and i don't see why we need to have a presence in a syrian civil war, billions of dollars, countless american lives at risk and other lives at risk. the same question i asked you on friday, why now? after 120,000 dead syrians, two and a half year period, are we any closer to determining why? because i'm very skeptical about the administration and concerned there are other motives behind the attack. >> well, i'm not going to make the case for going into syria. that's not my role. but what i will say is someone

like senator graham made a very passionate case when he came out to the driveway here that this is not really about syria. it's about iran and others in the region who are watching the u.s.'s words. and maybe the president made a mistake when he drew a red line. maybe he didn't. that's for others to debate. but it's certainly by putting that red line comment out there he put american credibility on the line. and now if the u.s. does absolutely nothing, you know the folks in iran are watching the words. and more than the words now, the action, to see if something happens. and if it doesn't, they are going to plow ahead with efforts for nuclear weapons and others into the region are going to get a similar message. >> hi, ed. it's dana. so you couldn't have made this up if you had tried. i have two questions. one was a report earlier today that the white house may be completely misreading the congress. i thought that mccain and graham there were quite persuasive actually there at the white house being critical of the

president. but probably i would imagine that the president realizes that needs to happen in order to move the ball forward at all. do you think that they are misreading congress? and my second question is, the humanitarian crisis that's happening in syria and the region with over a million refugees, how is that weighing into the discussion of how to explain to america why this is in our national interests? is that at all been talked about? i've been away, but i haven't heard a lot about it. >> it's been part of it, but probably not enough of it. i mean, i remember being with the president in jordan in march and the king of jordan was saying back then, mr. president, the fifth largest city in jordan right now is a refugee camp, it's not an actual city in jordan. it's not actually jordanians. i haven't checked, but it might be the fourth or third largest city because it's been swelling. i think that was lindsey graham's point, where was the president sooner on this making the case. now, they would say inside the

white house, the u.s. we should note has been the biggest supplier of aid, not just to the rebels but humanitarian aid, the refugees, et cetera. but the president has not been out there making the case to american people. he's had his plate full of other issues, perhaps. but he hasn't made this case in over two years. back to eric's original point, i don't want to ignore him. it is a fair point, why is about 1,000 or 1,400 people being killed in this one chemical weapons attack on august 21st, why is that the flashpoint when in fact the u.n. and others say over 120,000 syrians have already been slaughtered and yet the u.s. and others didn't step up and say, you know, we've got to step in here. i think the white house believes that as sad and tragic as it was that all those others lost their lives, it was the use of weapons of mass destruction that crosses the line. not just the rhetorical red line, but the line into the u.s. national security interests, guys. >> well, it's fairly obvious that the difference is this is usually chemical weapons, which

had not been done since hussein had done it in iraq. and that's the difference. that's what he talked about. his red line was about using chemical weapons and that's what he was doing. let me ask you this, i understand the resolution they sent to the hill has been changed now by members of the congress. do you have any idea what the change until the resolution is? >> sure. some of the changes as i understand it and talking to democratic sources on the hill is they felt on the democratic side that it was too open-ended. while the president's been saying this will be a limited mission, there was not explicit language in there making clear the u.s. will not send in ground troops, for example. so democrats want to narrow this. but back to my original point, it may not be democrats who decide this. it may be republicans. that's why the president had two prominent republicans here today. and what these republicans are saying don't narrow the scope of this, they're saying what their concern is is that the president just wants to do a symbolic shot across the bow as the president said last week in the pbs interview. and while mccain and graham are not saying ground troops, they

want something in the middle. something that actually decimates assad's military. not just some symbolic movement that's going to make people feel good, maybe, but not going to make a difference. >> hi, ed. it's kimberly. i want to talk about the impact on israel. first of all, number one, the president doesn't have support from his key supporters, we don't have support from our key allies and now the impacts on israel could also have, you know, could be quite tremendous. >> you raise a great question. and i just talked to a senior white house official who said one of the points the president made in the oval office with mccain and graham was the impact on our allies, not just israel, jordan, turkey, there are others in the region who if we don't stop assad, essentially, assad could use chemical weapons against israel. now, that probably would be a grave mistake in his part not only israel would be drawn therein but the u.s. face more intense pressure to get involved and help our ally like israel. but the bottom line is this is a powder keg in the mideast right

now. it's been that way for some time. we're all talking about syria right now. it was only two weeks ago we were talking about the insanity that was going on in egypt. that's not going away either. that's for the commander in chief and congress to figure out. but this is a powder keg right now. >> hey, ed. it's andrea. president obama has done very little during his tenure to foster relationships with not just members of his own party, but republicans. it seems like he's politicized republicans and used every opportunity to beat them up. now he needs their help. as you point out, i think republicans are just as divided on this as democrats. so it's more of a two-parter, ed. where's nancy pelosi and harry reid, his leaders even though the party is divided. and, two, what fw this fails? then what? has the white house expressed any plan b. >> two things. harry reid, you're right to raise that. he put out a written statement saying action needed to be taken and he supported the president. i haven't seen him nationally get in front of a tv camera or

many other democratic leaders and actually back the president strongly on this because they know there are others in their caucus who are not so on board. so i think the bottom line is the president has a lot of work to do there. what happens next? white house officials i talked to in private very frankly say even in congress votes this down, they believe the president has executive power to move forward unilaterally anyway. after the vote in the british parliament and it went down, if this goes down in congress september 9th or some time later next week, even if the president does have that power, reagan, clinton, others used it, it's clear he probably does have that power. if he does have congress votes it down, we're going to be in an even more difficult spot. and that's why mccain today said that american credibility's on the line and it would be a debacle if congress can't push this through because the commander in chief would be in a pretty desperate position. by the way, even if they win he was going to have to use political capital he was going to use somewhere else.

>> ed, we're going to say thank you. thanks for a great body of work reporting this whole weekend. >> thank you very much. >> let's do this. listen to what ed was referring to a couple hours ago, maybe less than two hours ago senator mccain. >> if the congress were to reject a resolution like this after the president of the united states has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic. >> okay. dana, let me go to you first. looking at that picture of the white house, the oval office, we saw president obama flanked by senator mccain and senator graham, what a shocking turn of events, right? >> this is a very bizarre situation. i commend graham and mccain -- the other person in the picture is susan rice, national security advisor. remember mccain and graham are two of the main senators who said they could not support her for secretary of state. so now there's all these weird relationships going on. it is so weird for me to see mccain sitting in that chair, where's joe biden? why wasn't he in the meeting?

maybe he had something more important to do. i would be surprised what are the problems with the resolution when it went to congress was that the republicans said, well, what's the end game? what is the plan? how can you announce a shot across the bow and that's it? what's the additional? but democrats have been saying that the resolution was not narrow enough. >> before you answer that, can we go to president obama and charlie wrangle taking two -- >> we have been very clear to the assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. that would change my equation. >> this whole idea of any president of the united states drawing a line saying that if

any country does something that he considers wrong, that the nation is going to war, it's unheard of drawing a red line. so of course it's embarrassing. i wish it didn't happen. >> robert? >> well, i'm not -- charlie's view is charlie's view, but i think one of the things we haven't mentioned here is israel, both israel and saudi arabia have supported going in and making this strike. secondly, when mccain talks about a plan, what plan? what end game? what does he have in mind? i always like to hear the republicans say, gee, what's the plan and don't have any suggestion of what to do? >> you're agreeing -- >> i'm hoping there's a very specific recommendation which was not just a shot across the bow but to end the capability to be able to do -- to launch anymore attacks. that's not what the original plan was. they're not asking for troops on the ground. >> mccain did go into detail. and he actually went much further than the president went, which is i think an even tougher sell at this point. but, look, this is a situation of president obama's own making.

>> how can you possibly say that? >> he drew this red line -- >> how can you possibly say that? he's responsible for launching chemical weapons that killed -- >> can i finish? . you're very wound up today. it's been 30 months they have been torturing people in syria. this president had a recommendation by hillary clinton and general petraeus years ago, a year and a half ago in fact to get involved and he hasn't. he has dithered, his response is now feeble. and he says we're going to launch this attack to send a message to other nations? is the attack supposed to be so small -- >> hang on. >> how can you influence other nations? >> let me get kimberly in here. president obama drew the red line and then said carry out we have to go, it's go-time. and then he said i need congressional support, we're confused. >> it makes us look even weaker as a country. sorry, bob, it does. he should have gone in before because if you do a body count, there was justification to go in against syria earlier. i get the whole thing drawing the line about chemicals, but he is now a man without supporters.

now he's got to turn to mccain and graham, that is an untenable position. he's going to have the anti-war democrats all over him. he's going to have to have enough votes to ensure those guys that they don't have to vote to support this for him. he's got a big problem on his hands. and if he doesn't go in without congressional support anyway, he's going to look -- >> the good news is, robert, i hate to cut you off and i'm going to be yelled at by your supporters, but we have a whole other segment. we'll ta about this more. when we come back we'll continue the analysis of a possible military strike on syria. and later, the best and worst stories of the summer. we'll run down our favorites. and could the five of us ever live together? some companies are having cohab.

welcome back to "the five." continuing now with our analysis of a possible military strike in syria. there was a lot of commentary over the weekend, as you can imagine, since secretary kerry spoke friday, president obama then spoke saturday and then of course you had sunday with

everybody pining. take a look at this montage. >> we are not going to lose this vote. the president of the united states is committed to securing the unity of purpose he believes strengthens america. >> the secretary saying as he just did the case is building and will continue to build. is that enough for you to now vote to authorize the president to use force? >> no. and i think it's a mistake to get involved in the syrian civil war. >> we're in a bit of a dilemma here because i think senator lindsey graham and i and others will be wanting a strategy, a plan, rather than just are we going to launch some cruise missiles and that's it. >> bob, one of the things i think is getting lost in this is the question of whether america would be getting involved in syria's civil war. how can the president explain that this is a bigger regional problem that america would get involved in.

that there's an iranian issue, et cetera. it's going to be difficult in the next 24 hours before he leaves for sweden. >> except there's a distinct difference. prior to using this sarin gas was not at all idea who was on the opposition and the idea of calling for there were a whole bunch of people in congress saying we don't want to do that. the difference is now they know there was use of chemical weapons. if we don't go in there and do something about this -- and the plan would be to take out all possible capability of delivering chemical weapons. and that seems to be a solid plan. the other thing is when saudi arabia and israel both support the plan, i'm for it. >> can i -- you said that in the first block too. i've read nowhere that israel supports it. they're going to be the prime target -- they're going to be the prime target if there's retaliation by iran or syria. they both said that might happen. also arab league condemns it.

arab league is condemning any sort of american attack on syria. let's defer to the u.n. the u.n. already said no attack because two members of the security council, russia and china, both say don't attack. so to say that israel and saudi arabia are for an attack, i think it's misleading. >> it's not misleading. they both came out and said it. paris said and the prime minister came out yesterday. >> if you look at the "new york times" today and ij "the wall street journal," you have people inside the meetings that are actually then leaking and telling the "new york times" what is happening inside. and some of the comments of their own position -- the president's position are not that flattering. how does the president, you know, get a handle on all of this and lead from ahead rather than behind? >> this is abject failure in terms of communication message. he has kerry out there now trying to sell this left, right and center like a used car salesman. he's going to be left alone, kind of similar to what happened

to susan rice. you have the president unable to communicate with his own party and gather the support he needs. now you have him unable to get the support of key allies. i mean, this is sort of like a man without a country in a way. he's going to be forced into unilateral action, plus he can't rely and count on the most trusted people around him because it's like a leaky sieve. it's unbelievable how much information is coming out. and it must be people that don't support him because the comments and leaks as you say are not flattering. >> one of the things, andrea, people who work in the white house support the president. they understand he has the right to change his mind. if he did change his mind, which is what it sounds like after thinking it through he decided to change, but how did you think the vote will go in congress? there was a report earlier about the misreading of the congress and the mood of the congress in this. do you think that mccain and graham can be persuasive with enough republicans in order to help the president with the problem that he created? >> i don't. i don't see this vote going well at all. the fact that there were no

democrats in that meeting was astounding. the fact john kerry came out on friday night and gave one message and then just 24 hours later the president walked it back and gave a different message was shocking. it's almost as if they're not talking or one didn't see the other one speak, which is very surprising to me. dana, i have looked at every possible outcome to what could happen. let's say congress votes this down and go at it alone like ed inferred. could you imagine if assad stays in power? could you imagine if this turns into a proxy war with iran and russia? i don't think they've thought any of this through. and there is no good outcome. any way you slice it, every one is bad. >> you don't think people have actually thought through the things you're talking about? >> i actually don't, bob. >> they just coordinated in the bathroom. >> a message within 24 hours of each other. >> what kerry said and obama said were no different. they both said they have the right to go in without congressional approval and obama said i would like to get congressional approval. >> he set himself up he has to

go with or without. if he doesn't go, he will be the lamest of lame duck presidents in the history. >> if he doesn't go -- >> a person who stopped 1,400 people -- 1,400 more people from being killed, how about kids? >> okay. say he doesn't get the use of force resolution from congress. is he not going to then go and blame the republicans and say i couldn't because the republicans -- >> that would look even worse. >> he doesn't have to blame the republicans because the media is already doing it for them. i'm just telling you, republicans, don't fall for it. say it is not your responsibility. it's not mccain's responsibility to come up with the plan. it's the planner in chief. you have to either support the plan or vote against the plan. but it's not irresponsibility to have a plan. okay. that was my helpful advice. coming up, i was lucky enough to be on the other side of the world while miley cyrus twerked her way into the news last week. it's one of the many crazy stories from the summer. we're going to look at some of

our favorites or least favorites next. for now back to new york and

"the five." oh, summer's wrapping up and we've had no shortage of great to stories to talk about, nsa scandal, oprah winfrey, miley and more. here's a look at some of the hottest ones. >> rodriguez will reportedly be suspended for the rest of the season and for all of next season. >> i'm fighting for my life. i have to defend myself. if i don't defend myself, no one else will. >> are you a racist? >> no. the day i use that word it was a world ago. >> trayvon martin paralleled emma till. let me just tell you, in my mind, same thing. >> we, the jury, find george

zimmerman not guilty. >> the jury has spoken, but now the people going to speak. >> trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> i've been advised by my council to assert my constitutional right not to testify or answer questions. >> i have said that other text and photos were likely to come out, and today they have. >> i think we got better in store for you guys. >> all right. let's take it around the table. favorite story, most interesting story, something you never want to hear about ever again. bob. >> i want to start and end with this ridiculous baby east, west, whatever it is, from kim kardashian and northeast. >> these kind of name changes. >> yeah. the idea that we give this woman anymore anchor, anymore time to talk about it, she is a waste of time. he is a waste of time. they both are a waste of time. and this baby, frankly, will grow up as a waste of time.

>> oh, that's not nice, bob. >> that could be the next liberal talking head. >> pundit. something tells me we're not done talking about the kardashians. okay. mine is, yes, miley cyrus. we're sick of hearing about her, but she played the hoochie card and it didn't really work. even publications like "us weekly" said she went way too far trying way too hard. it this is what women do, lead with your sexuality. that was the dance performance of it. and it was sad. i mean, it was a sad moment for our country, i think. >> i didn't like it. >> i think robin thicke suit, what is he thinking. >> that was a fashion faux pas. >> what do you think, bob? >> would you wear that? >> said before, it looked like an ad for a hooker cheerleader squad.

>> do you know that in congo no one had heard about that? and it was very refreshing. >> lucky them. >> this just in. >> kimberly? >> yeah, i don't like it at all. i thought her behavior was offensive. i'm so sad, i liked her a lot better when she was hannah montana and under the mickey mouse ear and behaving well and good example and role model for children, women, girls. now, look what happened to her. her dad needs to talk to her. >> we lose our moral fibers, our country sunk and she's part of that. >> okay. your favorite moment, worst moment? >> well, our girl, reese wither spoon, you're a big fan of hers and i got to meet her at the white house press correspondence dinner. this shows you that even a good girl can have a bad day. you just let a little something slip. but i think she was sort of defending her man when this happened with the cops. >> i'm now being arrested and handcuffed? >> yep. >> do you know my name, sir? >> don't need to know.

>> you don't need to know my name? >> not quite yet. >> okay. you're about to find out who i am. >> oh, snap. >> that wasn't a good moment for her. poor thing. and what i don't like especially is she was acting up when she was a brunette. be sassy when you're a blonde, like dana. >> poor thing, she resisted arrest, being a loud mouth and trying to make herself different than everybody else. screw her, she should be in jail. >> drunk. >> bob, have you ever done that? something tells me you've been a little cranky when you've been pulled over. >> when i've been picked up by cops, yes. but i didn't say you know who i am can i get out of this. >> because everyone knows who you are with your suspenders. >> no, they don't. >> i don't want to talk bt it too much because i have the least favorite. my least favorite is the jodi arias trial. i have nothing to say. we talked about it for six weeks. i could not find any reason to care about her. my favorite story was the continued rollout and introduction to the world of pope frances.

i thought that was amazing when he went to brazil this summer and got to meet with i think three million people came to the beach to see him preach there. i thought that was amazing. >> i like your choice. excellent. >> thank you. >> eric. >> he's against the attack in syria by the way. for the record. so my favorite story of the summer was the nsa. >> really? >> because for three reasons. number one, we found out something we didn't know the government was doing. no one saw that coming. it was a great enlightening moment. number two, we found something bob and i finally agreed on. and number three, because i was able to do this. >> don't do it. >> because i can pull it out and shake it around. >> i'm spent after spending a week on the mercy -- >> you will not shake me. >> tomorrow. >> have you ever gotten it in your pocket and it goes through the wash machine. >> no, don't say that. >> up next -- >> those colors won't run, don't worry. >> would you ever want to live with the people you work with? >> no. >> it's happening at some companies. try to imagine what life would be like if we were all together

24/7. what could possibly go wrong? and, later, jennifer griffin will join us from the pentagon with new information on the military preparations for a possible war with syria. stay tuned.

there you go. imagine rolling out of bed in the morning and seeing your boss on the other side of the bed -- out of the shower, excuse me. how about your co-workers having a bowl of cheerios in the kitchen. there are some high-tech companies doing this paying employees to live at home and work. they eat, sleep and work together all in the same house. even ceos pitch in to do dishes and laundry. i'm going to take a take on this what it would be like for the five of us living together and

working to the. it would be like this, i think. first of all, you know how every hotel has a bible, open your drawer next to your bed, there's going to be a constitution. dana's going to follow me around every place looking like this. you're going to be cleaning that up? andrew's going to serve everybody dinner. >> what am i doing? >> kimberly, we're going to have to duck from the shoes on the floor. >> i'm neat, actually. >> and none of us are going to be able to get into the bathroom. that's the problem. >> that's awesome. >> the research there, bob, is you share bedrooms as well. who am i going to get stuck with? >> you're going to bunk with beckel. >> if i get greg then looks like you're going to be -- >> think about it. >> you and three women. >> that's all right. >> now, come on, what do you think? dana, what do you think would be the biggest pluses and minuses? >> i think i wouldn't live there very long because i'd be in jail because i would have killed somebody from close proximity. i think this is a bizarre story.

i think you're given one life, you can spend a certain amount of your time working, pu there are a lot of joys to be had outside of work. >> andrea, what do you think, you look forward to sunlight? >> it would be my dream. i love all of you dearly, i just don't think i could live with you. especially you, bob, it would be you and a train of women. there would be a turnstile on the door. it would be a bunch of other girls. >> most of them are secretaries. keep that in mind. >> that's good. >> exchange students. >> we bunk together in a twin bed. >> you have? >> yes. >> oh, my god, really? >> yes. we actually room quite well. >> we do. >> i hope you were doing reverse side. >> i was planking it out, but andrea was like this. >> that must have been like bumper car derby. next, we'll go live to the pentagon for an update on our military buildup off of syria. stay with us. with the spark miles card from capital one,

bjorn earns unlimited rewas for his small business take theseags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjors small busiss earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve limited reward here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button?

back now to syria. while america's debating whether

or not we should get involved, our military is ready to strike at a moment's notice. fox's jennifer griffin is monitoring the situation from the pentagon and joining us now. good evening, jennifer. first of all, you're getting military intelligence, senior officials that are telling you. what are the ramifications, potential impact of what's happening with the situation at play with the delay that we're seeing right now? >> well, it's really interesting, kimberly, in terms of the delay, the conventional wisdom has been that assad is now hiding many of his armaments, especially his delivery systems for these chemical weapons. but i just spoke to a very senior pentagon source who tells me that the delay actually works in their favor in some ways because if he moves those assets, which he has been, they see that. they have satellite imagery, they have a lot of intelligence, assets up in the sky. and they are seeing him move these things around. that is not going to change their calculation in terms of where the tomahawks are going to fall in the long run. the real problem for the military is if this drags on for

days or weeks it's a morale issue. you've got it's very costly to be steaming around in the mediterranean. these navy ships, they use a lot of fuel. the aircraft carrier group that moved, the ss anem its is very costly. people get tired. you can't be in a constant state of readiness. you make mistakes. remember back in kosovo there were literally targets that the co coordinates were put in wrong. >> jennifer, it's andrea. have you heard anything on possible retaliation from the russians or iranians? we asked this question on friday, but any new details on any possible retaliation if we decide to strike? >> i think it's not really an issue that there would be retaliation from what i'm hearing. but there is concern, the russians have decided to send more ships into the

mediterranean. one in particular is a spy ship coming from sebastopol. one of the reasons you're seeing the u.s.s. is a sign saying, hey, don't try to come to the defense of the assad regime. we're going to carry out a strike, but don't try to do anything. that's why the aircraft carrier group is there. it's unlikely that the strategy has changed and that they're planning on having air strikes using planes over syria. but that aircraft group is basically there to send the message to the russians and the iranians. >> i'll go. jennifer, this is dana. i had a question about last week. again, i was away, but as i understood it there were several leaks from somewhere suggesting times, dates, et cetera, seemingly i would imagine either came from the military or made the military very frustrated. can you tell us a little bit

about the behind-the-scenes tension in that regard? >> it's really interesting, dana. the leaks came from the highest level. they were statements on the record from the white house, from the secretary of state, from the senior defense officials saying this would not involve ground troops, it would not involve entering air space. they were going to be standoff operations involving mostly tomahawks and then mostly u.s. navy. if you look at any military observer, anybody who's watched the last 12 years of war in this country knows what it means when certain forces move into position. having navy destroyers off the coast of syria meant they were going to rely mostly on tomahawks. so these leaks were not per se from individuals, it was based on just reading the forced buildup, reading the military plans were quite obvious from what forces were being built up and then you marry that with the statements being made from the white house. so, yes, there was a degree of frustration that there is no

possibility for a real element of surprise when you watch this kind of messy process of a democracy debating going to war. >> jennifer, last week president obama said his plan was limited in scope, as you pointed out maybe 200 tomahawk missiles. today, mccain said upgrade the opposition. that sounds to me if i'm reading the tea leaves like the plan has changed and this could be a lot more involved than he had originally promised or planned. >> from my sources here at the pentagon, the plan has not changed all that much. perhaps senator mccain was given more details about the plan, but it's still going to be limited in nature. it will be hours, not days. but, again, it is still a limited mission from what i'm hearing. >> jennifer, this is bob. two questions, one, the russian haves a naval base in syria. is there some concern on the russians part, do you think, the reason they're steaming these ships into the mediterranean is

because they're worried about their own naval base? >> well, they're worried -- don't forget, there are russians also who are manning the air defense systems that the syrians have. they have a very sophisticated air defense system. so if you strike those air defense systems, you will likely be killing russians. but we know that the russians have been pulling out a lot of their forces, pulling out a lot of their people, several thousand russians have left syria. but there are still russians on the ground. and they could get caught up in this. >> all right. jennifer griffin life from the pentagon. >> i had another question. >> oh. >> no, that's all right. go. >> we have to go. th

all righty. time for one more thing. dana, you're up. >> i get to go first. okay. amazing story today, america's talking about war, there was actually somebody all on her own doing an amazing thing. this is diana nyad. she's 64 years old. she made her fifth and final attempt to swim the 103-mile route from havana to florida. she made it. she had three things to say in the end. you're never too old, never give up. and while it might look like a solo sport, it's a team sport. >> and she did it without a shark cage. >> and she got stung by a jelly fish in the mouth. >> so i have a cute video, maybe you've seen this but if not you might enjoy it. little girl in atlanta zoo, her name is kyla, and she wants to play with the gorilla.

hello, baby gorilla. and she gives the gorilla a kiss. take a look. >> awe! >> that's so cute. >> don't try this at home. >> bob, you're so cranky. >> for those of you i hope y'all have a nice labor day, for those of you enjoying it. the gallop poll came out saying 65% of people are for unions. for those who have two weeks off paid vacation, you can thank the labor movement for that. for those have labor day off, thank the movement. for those who send kids to a safe workplace. >> did you realize that today also 40,000 long shore workers decided to pull themselves out of the afl cio on labor day. and you're up. >> we can thank barack obama for making us work today, dana.

>> yeah. about syria. >> that's true. >> not short of material. >> okay. over the weekend i went to a wedding in buffalo, new york. while i was there it happened to be the national buffalo wing festival. so i thought when in rome. i love buffalo wings, so i dropped by. and they have the annual wing eating contest. yeah. there's me with some wingheads. they give cheeseheads a run for their money. and there's the winners. a female one, 28 of las vegas took the crown with 178 wings. and then there was a second and third place woman winner. and i would put kimberly up against any of those girls. our resident wing eater. >> yeah. >> here, i got you a beer opener wing. >> that's so nice. thank you. >> i love it. >> i think kimberly would give the runner -- it was a he, right? >> it was a woman. >> what's going on with wings and women? >> i don't have time. i'll forego my one more thing. we'll do it again tomorrow. bob, take a shot at bob, he's

been mad at me. we go? >> no, yeah, we're good. we're great. >> all right. that's it for "the five." thanks for watching on our special labor day show. "special report" coming up next. welcome to "red eye." it is leak that's incredible if by incredible you mean swollen and if you haven't put ointment then you must go to the hospital. due to andy levy's accident there is no pre game report. let's welcome our guests. she is so hot that juvenile delinquents use her to fry's ants on the sidewalk. go do your homework. to i am here with fox business anchor tracy. and filling in for andy levy is clause van heinsdf. he showed me last night and its, is the reason we booked him. >> hello. >> and in tampa he is considered an air mattress.