it really sounds like it. bill: when you hear from the right and you hear from the left you're not quite sure where it goes. check us out this afternoon. we'll watch hearing. martha: i will do america live at 1:00. "happening now" starts right now. we'll see you tomorrow. jon: brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: key leaders from capitol hill meeting with the president right now from the white house. the president is stepping up his game to gather support for a military strike against syria insisting this will not become another iraq or afghanistan. we'll dig a little deeper. some lawmakers praising the president for seeking presidential approval. we'll talk to one member who says the u.s. should strike regardless what congress does. the flu shot this season which is best for your you and your family. we're already talking about the flu. school just got back in. it is haul "happening now." jon: we begin with this fox news

alert. the showdown intensifies over whether the u.s. should launch a military strike on syria. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. >> , everybody, i'm jenna lee. lots of movement on capitol hill and the white house. this morning the president and vice president hosting leaders of key congressional committees, with the goal to convince those influential law makers to support the president's call for a strike on the assad regime. the president says the wheels are already in motion even if congress is still in recess. >> i'm going to be working with congress. we have sent up a draft authorization. we're going to be asking for hearings and a prompt vote and i'm very appreciative that everybody here has already begun to schedule hearings and intends to take a vote as soon as, all of congress comes back early next week. jenna: so that's the president. we're awaiting new reaction from some of the congressional leaders who met with the president today. meantime, 30 minutes from now

house and senate lawmakers will get a joint, members-only classified briefing. later the senate foreign relations committee holds the first public hearing on a proposed military response. secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary chuck hagel and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey are you all expected to make the case for military action. there is an intense bipartisan push to punish the assad regime for a chemical attack that killed hundreds of civilians, many of them children on august 21st but there are also some strong bipartisan objections to any intervention at all in syria's bloody civil war. we have extensive team fox coverage. greg palkot is 40 miles from syria's border in beirut, lebanon. let's get to chief white house correspondent ed henry. we heard a little bit from the president. you had a little while to digest some of what happened in the meeting. what do we know now? >> reporter: we know, jenna, that the white house is trying to project the image this is the

president doing all he can to reach out to congress, get their okay before he moves forward but remember it was just last week he was doing just the opposite. he was saying he would consult with congress but was going ahead without them anyway potentially and on a whole sear riffs other issues we've seen like on health care, other matters where the president completely bypassed congress. now it is different because he needs them. he is at a position where he sort of pulled back on saturday. he said he was going to get congressional okay. it is unclear whether he will really have the votes in the house and senate to do it. this is why we're seeing this aggressive outreach because he is in a tough political position right now. as he makes the pitch as you see in the cabinet room, john kerry, other cabinet secretaries with the congressional leaders he is trying to stress this would be a limited military action. take a listen. >> the military plan that has been developed by our joint chiefs and that i believe is appropriate is proportional, it is limited.

it does not involve boots on the ground. this is not iraq and this is not afghanistan. this is a limited, proportional step that will send a clear message not only to the assad regime but also to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms, that there are consequences. >> reporter: that is an important point because the president has faced criticism since his reversal on saturday as whether he is now sending a signal to iran and others his action does not meet, his actual rhetoric. at the end of his remarks the president got a shouted question from the reporter whether he is confident he will get the votes in favor of authorizing the use of military force. he said, i am, although it is still not clear that is going to be true, jenna. jenna: interesting. a lot of moving parts, ed. the president, you mentioned he saw congressional leaders he was meeting with just now but what about the rank-and-file members, what's their role?

>> reporter: that's important because, look, some of these leaders, senate democratic leader harry reid says a mission in syria is necessary and justified and he will vote in favor of it, some leaders will take tough votes for the president. what about the rank-and-file? democrats, for example who feel burned by the war in iraq and say they're not too keen supporting a democratic president now, even if it is a quote, unquote limited military action. then you got republicans like lindsey graham, came here, met with the president yesterday and likes a lot of what he heard and you is concerned the president saying it will be limited. graham and senator john mccain want to make sure this is a robust attack that decimates the assad military. take a listen to graham. >> 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 with assad with backing of iranians and russians win after we saw assad's got to go? the russians and the iranians are all-in.

i finally see an effort by this administration to counter. >> reporter: why is the president trying to pack all this in yesterday and today? because tonight of course he is leaving for sweden and then russia for the g20 summit. if congress comes back early next week and starts debating and voting on this he has to get as much as he can in now to try to make his case. i see some svs normally waiting out here in the driveway to pick up law i can makers starting to move around. we may see some lawmakers come to the cameras in a moment to tell what happened behind closed doors, jenna. jenna: when it does happen, ed, we'll come back to you at the white house. thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you. jon: with so much turmoil in the middle east israel is reminding its bellicose neighbors that it possess as powerful military force firing a test missile into the mediterranean. the u.s. and israel both saying it was part after preplanned test as the world considers a course of action for syria, refugees are streaming across-the-boarder into turkey,

jordan and lebanon creating a huge humanitarian crisis. the latest u.n. estimate now above two million refugees with the greatest number heading for lebanon. greg palkot is live in beirut. we understand you spent the day with syrian refugees there. what is the situation? >> reporter: absolutely did, jon. the conditions are stagger egg. the numbers are staggering. there are more syrian refugees here in lebanon than in any other country in the region and lebanon is the smallest country in the region. you can imagine, stress that is putting on this country. take a look at what we saw. there are no massive organized syrian refugee camps here in lebanon, just rows and rose of makeshift huts like this. no plumbing, running water, barely electricity. no way to live. the government estimates there are a million refugees here in the population of four million. the country is bursting at the seams. they have left one hello of war

for another. we were with extended families with as many as 30 people living in crude shelters, abandoned vehicles, cardboard boxes. size of town we were in has doubled because of the refugees. they're all living in unhealthy conditions. suage, garbage, open gutters. the government here mostly policy reasons they don't want a rerun of permanent palestinian camps that are here, not providing enough, international aid groups are stepping in. they can't do enough as well. we're seeing numbers soaring because of tensions last week. 13,000 refugees have come into this country and that has contributed to tensions between the refugees and the locals. trouble all around, jon. jon: what do they think about the possibility much some kind of a u.s. attack? >> reporter: we heard a range of opinion about that, jon. we spoke to some who didn't want to say anything at all about the possibility of a u.s. strike against the forces of bashar

assad. we spoke to one person who was flatly opposed to it. he doesn't want to see anymore fighting. he was too shell-shocked. others said they welcomed it. they believe assad commit ad chemical weapon attack along with his forces against the people of syria and want him finished off. one person in fact branded him a killer and a criminal. here's a bit more of what he had to say. >> translator: yes. it is good. the most important thing is that the war ends. enough of this. it has been three years now. jon: that report from our greg palkot in beirut, lebanon, where so many millions fled across-the-boarder to escape the violence in syria. jenna. jenna: a lot of what we're hearing from syria with a lot of people with no direct experience on the ground because of challenges involved. but our next guest spent a lot of time in syria over the last two years. she leads the team for institute of war. she spent two months traveling

around syria. she is heading back later this week. she publish ad article in the "wall street journal" that garnered a lot of attention. elizabeth, thanks for being on the program. >> thanks for having me. jenna: let's talk a little bit about your experience. what do you think every american needs to know what is actually happening on the ground in syria? >> i think the biggest thing americans should know this is not a fight between the syrian government, iran, russia, allies, against al qaeda or extremist forces. there is a very large moderate force both on the armed opposition side as well as civilian protesters who continue to fight for freedom every single day. on the ground you really see kind of their civil grassroots initiatives coming to life in ways that i think are really remarkable given the circumstances. >> let's talk a little bit those moderates because you directly interacted with some of them. are they secular? are they pro-american? could they develop into a functioning government that would be our ally in the region? >> secular is very negative word because it became so closely

associated with assad and syrian government. to that degree not a lot of people will identify as secularist. that being said a very moderate force is looking to implement democratic processes. looks to really instill a sense of pluralism and respect for minority women's rights and create the kind of democratic and really find those kind of principles that the u.s. and its western allies would be aligned with. jenna: you mentioned in some anecdotes you shared in your column these are the groups that, for example, defend ad christian village from being overrun by some of assad forces. any other anecdotes that you think, show a little bit about how this group, and i know there's a lost different parts of the group but how the moderates function on the ground? >> yeah. i think i have really interesting stories witnessing some the town councils. it is remarkable to see some people in the worst situations while being bombed under aerial

bombardment trying to have communal public debates where the entire citizens will come and work on initiatives to help better the situation, to help provide for the people and are really working together to create, again those kind of grassroots governance structures that are really critical for a post-conflict syria. jenna: how do folks react to you as an american? >> you know, in many cases they are very receptive and they're very much want their stories to be told and to that degree they're very receptive to me as researcher to travel around and be there to document some of their remarkable stories. that being said there is some resentment, specifically garnered toward the u.s. government and lack of involvement and support. they feel like americans have abandoned them despite the fact they have stood up for the same kind of principles that america stands for. jenna: in your column there is really a choice ahead for this country. i would like to talk to you a little bit about that while also showing the map you shared with the public that shows where some

these groups r if we could pull up, we have another map that shows where some of the groups inside syria are. if we have that map, do we have that one or no? there it is. the light green what we would call rebel or moderate forces. the darker green are some of these more extreme elements and, elizabeth, talk to us about the extreme elements because for some the mere presence of them there in an area where we might support the other rebels is enough to cause us pause. how strong are they in the region? are they a competitor to some of these moderate forces? >> you know, the extremist problem is very real and there is no kind of denying that. that being said, what they managed to do is take kind of, take the benefit of being better resourced and better equipped to in order to really establish certain key strongholds from which they're governing. there have been less interested in the fight against assad. more interested in creating a

safe haven. what this has meant it allowed some leeway for the more moderate forces to actually gain the required support and build up their own sense of empowerment to the point where they're now competing on if not near equal terms getting closer to parity. that being said again i think that the biggest problem is these groups are focused on governing and they just are simply better resourced. i mean more moderate forces -- exactly. jenna: extreme are more better resourced. >> exactly. jenna: elizabeth, unfortunately we'll have to run. we look forward to having back on the program. valuable insight for all of us and we really appreciate your work. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. jon: so the president has asked congress for its permission on an attack on syria. we'll speak with republican congressman peter king in new york and ask him what he thinks about all of this. that is coming up on "happening now."

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jon: speaker of the house john boehner outside the white house. let's listen. >> stood up for democracy and freedom for people around the world. the use of these weapons has to be responded to and only the united states has the capability and capacity to stop assad and

to warn others around the world that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated. i appreciate the president reaching out to me and my colleagues in the congress over the last couple of weeks. i also appreciate the president asking the congress to support him in this action. this is something that the united states as a country needs to do. i'm going to support the president's call for action. i believe my colleagues should support this call for action. we have enemies around the world that need to understand that we're not going to tolerate this type of behavior. we also have allies around the world and allies in the region who also need to know that america will be there and stand up whether it is necessary. thank you all. >> mr. speaker why are you --

jon: john boehner, speaker of the house of representatives, just emerged from a meeting with president obama and other congressional leaders, both democratic and republican from the house and senate. they have had that meeting. in just a moment we'll be asking congressman peter king of new york what he thinks, how he would vote if that authorization is presented to congress. back in a moment. wit's hard to find contractors with the passion and the skill, and that's why we use angie's list. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time with honest reviews on over 720 local services. i want it done right. i don't want to have to worry about it or have to come back and redo it. with angie's list, i was able to turn my home into the home of my dreams. for over 18 years, we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

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jon: fox news alert now on the obama administration's push to flex american military muscle in the middle east as the violence contends to rage in syria. president obama gathered congressional leaders at the white house this morning. you just heard from speaker of the house john boehner. the president is trying to convince these key lawmakers to back his plan for a strike against the assad regime but our

next guest does not think the commander-in-chief needs congressional approval for a military response. he also says even if lawmakers do not give him the go ahead the president should give the command to hit the assad regime anyway. we're talking about republican congressman peter king. he is a member of the house intelligence committee. that news conference, that the president held or statement, actually, rose garden statement that he made on saturday, was one of the stranger thinks i've seen. hehe said, essentially, we know that assad used gas on his own people. i believe that he deserves a military response. i believe that i have the power to order a military response. but i have decided not to order that military response. i will cult with congress. why? >> to me abdication of leadership. to me the president flinched at the end. if he wanted congress to be involved, he should have said that from the start, on very first day, august 21st he wants congress to stand with him. he ignored congress. congress was not needed. military was ready to go.

the attack had to be commenced. at very last moment he suddenly backed away. when congress is back in 10 days they can debate whether or not not to go forward. terrible abdication of leadership. jon: is that hiding behind congress. >> he led from hyped in libya and hiding from behind right now in syria. jon: perfect example. he ordered military action in libya without getting congressional approval beforehand. >> right. every president from eisenhower through bill clinton carried out military operations without getting congressional approval. actions why the constitution gives the president commander-in-chief. it can't go 535 members of congress when immediate response is needed. the fact he asked for i hope he gets authorization. i commend john boehner, crossing party lines, putting nation first showing leadership. i wish the president showed same leadership as john boehner. jon: john boehner said he wants his group, republicans in congress to support the president on this one.

i read unidentified member congress who said he or she would be surprised if they get '80 republican votes to back this military action. >> it will be difficult to get the votes. john boehner will work on it. president gets out there and argues effectively that will help. it will be tough and very, very difficult. give john boehner credit for getting out there as strongly as he did today. >> what about the time that is passing? general dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs says we can do this and time is not of the essence but only seems to make sense that assad can scatter his military facilities and put them in places where cruise missiles can't hit them. >> the only way time would not matter if the attack would be so small it doesn't matter anyway. if we carry out a significant attack, giving syria now since august 21st, until somewhere in the middle of sent i guess at least to move his weapons, reconfigure his forces, to put chemical weapons in and amongst civilians for that matter. jon: iraq war was criticized, you know, in large part, we went

to iraq because we believed there were weapons of mass destruction there. do you believe this president is trying to avoid a repeat of the weapons of mass destruction debacle? >> should stop living in the past and stop blaming president bush for everything that has gone wrong. in fact i don't know anyone who seriously contests the fact that chemical weapons were used and used by the syrian government. you can't wait forever on these things. if the president is that gun-shy he shouldn't have run for president. you have to make tough decisions. that goes with the job. sometimes they're right. sometimes they're wrong. worst thing of all to dither and hold back. it will cause concern from jordanians and israelis. jon: let me interrupt you, congressman. minority leader nancy pelosi is speaking outside the white house. let's listen. >> not to go into a military action lightly. there are compelling reasons. the evidence by the intelligence is clear that assad perpetrated this attack of using weapons of

mass destruction really. weapons of mass destruction, deterring their use is a pillar of our national security. assad has done that. that is differentiation of what he has done up until now. people say, well, he killed 100,000 people. what's the difference with this 1400? but this 1400, he crossed a line with using a chemical weapon. president obama did not draw the red line. humanity drew it. decades ago, 170 some countries supporting the convention on, not using chemicals, chemical warfare. so it is really something that from a humanitarian standpoint can not be ignored or else we can not say, never again. secondly from a national security standpoint we have to send a very clear message to those who have weapons of mass

destruction of any variety, that, that they should forget about using them. it was a very constructive meeting. the president listened to our colleagues. the speaker was very clear. i'm sure he told you his view, associated myself with his remarks but again, i believe that the american people need to hear more about the intelligence that supports this action, and that is, that the responsibility for this chemical weapons use is clearly at the feet of assad. the, the, now, we go to the next step of having a further debate in the congress of the united states. and, i am hopeful, as the american people are persuaded that this action happened, that assad did it. , that hundreds of, hundreds of children were killed. this is behavior outside the circle of civilized human

behavior. and we must respond. >> leader, are you ready then to in a sense, with your membership, get on board with the president? because we've been hearing obviously from the house especially, all over the place. >> i'm respectful of that. on these kinds of issues it is not a question of whipping. it's a question of discussion. to make sure people have the information they need to make an informed decision, to make sure that they have the full value of the intelligence that says, this is how this happened. and then members have to decide, are they, do they want to ignore the fact that this humanitarian disaster took place or not? and then there's the larger issue of syria behavior if they get away with this. so, again, very respectful of all of the concerns that the members have, that our

constituents have. i do not, in my district, i don't think people are convinced that military action is necessary. but it's important for them to know that the weapons of mass destruction use has taken us to a different place. that the president takes obviously any president, would, but this president does not take this lightly, and that what will happen will be targeted, tailored, of short duration and will send the message that is necessary and then, we go from there. so you're absolutely right. there's work to be done but not a question of whipping. it is a question of discussing with our members, hearing their views, and some won't ever be comfortable with it. i myself from a humanitarian standpoint think that waiting for the u.n. and waiting for putin, the slowest ship in the convoy, of reacting to use of,

the chemical weapons by assad is a luxury that we can not afford. i have to go. thank you all, very much. >> you never said again. do you want to compare this to the holocaust? jon: nancy pelosi from the house of representativessed. >> [inaudible] >> if congress rejects this, can the president proceed if congress rejects? >> i don't think congress will reject, but i do want to remind you, i've been reading what some of you have written and say, president's never gone forward if congress has not approved when it has taken up the issue. i remind you in 1999 president clinton brought us all together, similar to this meeting here but over a period of time to talk about going into the balkans. and the vote was 213-213. 187 republicans voted no. 180 democrats voted yes. about 30 on each side, something

like that, went in a different way than the majority of their party. and that was when the planes were really ready to go into bosnia. he went and you know what happened there. so i don't, i don't think the congressional authorization is necessary. i do think it's a good thing. and i hope that we can achieve it. i feel pretty confident on the evidence, the intelligence, the national interests, that it is at stake we have a good conversation with their members. i myself, i'll tell you this story and i really do have to go. my five-year-old grandson, as i was leaving san francisco, mimi, my name, mimi, war with syria, are you yes war with syria, are now, war with syria. five years old. we're not talking about war. we're talking about action. yes or war with syria, no with

war in syria. i said what do you think? i think no war. i said, well, i generally agree with that but you know, they have killed hundreds of children killed hundreds of children there. they've killed hundreds of children. and he said, five years old, but these children in the united states? no, but they're children wherever they are. so i don't know what news he's listening to or -- but even a 5-year-old child has to -- you know, with the wisdom of our interest has affected our interests or it affects our interests because, again, it was outside of the circle of civilized behavior. humanity drew a line decades ago that i think if we ignore or we do so to the peril of many other people who can suffer. so in any event, i go back to the point in the bullpens,

congress failed for the lack of majority when president clinton went in. [inaudible] >> i think that's a subject of discussion. some people want it broader and some people want it more narrow. i think that's an open discussion. >> what would you like? >> what i want to hear is what my members have to say. thank you. jon: the democratic minority leader of the housepresentative after having met with the president and leading members of congress regarding the syrian situation. the president announced on saturday he's going to ask congress to approve military intervention on syria. we're with peter king who has been critical of the president's decision making process here. if he puts it to a vote, would he have your vote? >> i will vote for it. i'm hoping, though, that the resolution is stronger rather than weaker. if we're going to do it, there has to be a purpose about it.

nancy pelosi spoke about her 5-year-old grandson. i have a 9-year-old who asked if they have table tv in syria so they know what we're going to do. it should be wider rather than narrow. jon: you are on the intelligence committee. how confident are you of the intelligence assessments or how confident should the president be? the french apparently are saying that the gas attack killed maybe in the low hundreds of people, not more than 1,000. she just said 1400. >> 1400 is the official number they're giving out. i'm not sure what the number is but i'm certain from everyone i've spoken to in the intelligence committee and sources they have and people who are active on this, there are no doubts chemical weapons were used and they were used by the asad government. jon: congressman peter king, it's an interesting time on capitol hill. we appreciate you talking to us today. >> thank you, jon. jenna: breaking news, it's not over. a joint classified session is

about to take place. it's going to include members of the house and the senate and we're going to wait new reaction as they walk out of that meeting as well. maybe we'll get some, maybe we won't. that will happen a little later on in the afternoon. in the meantime, while we continue to watch syria, north korea has a bit of a visitor today. it's a name you know, dennis rodman. that will be coming up in just a moment. we'll tell you more about that. in the meantime, secretary of state john kerry is going to be part of that joint hearing. the defense secretary chuck hagel and joint chiefs chairman pemsey are all going to make the case for military action in syria. very interesting to pay attention to what general dempsey has to say. mike, what should we expect from this hearing this afternoon? >> jenna, bob minendez said

inaction in syria would have huge consequences and he believes after a lot of debate and arguing that the senate will authorize the use of military force in syria. the chairman of the foreign relations committee that gets the administration officials later this afternoon offered us a bit of a preview earlier today. >> well, i believe when we hear from secretary kerry, secretary hagel of the defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff that what we'll hear, hopefully, is number one the full case for the use of force and what that campaign will look like in broad terms, especially as it relates to the end result. >> ahead of that, of course, at this hour, we know that lawmakers from both the house and senate who have current ever returned from their districts are going behind closed doors to get the classified information about what the u.s. intelligence community knows about what happened in syria. jenna: what are key republicans saying about syria now? >> it's interesting.

after meeting with the president yesterday at the white house, senator lindsey graham has been pretty tough on twitter saying the choices about what to do regarding syria are bad and worse. on twitter graham wrote president obama has mishandled syria the last two years. the very good options we once had are in the rearview mirror. here is more from his colleague, senator mccain. >> massacre goes on. look. i've been so disappointed and angry because as you know, i've been in syria. i know the free syrian army. they're brave people and they're massacred by arms flown in by air from their sponsor, iran, and russia, in its own fair fight. >> top republican on the senate armed services committee is against military action in syria. he's worried about readiness in terms of after all the budget cuts that have happened to the

military, about the impact on our armed forces and senator says that he continues to oppose military action. he said the president cannot guarantee that military action in syria will be brief and that it will even stop the violence. jenna: and mike, there's still no calls to bring congress back early. we're still waiting until next week before everyone is back in session and anything could actually be done? >> well, it's interesting that you note that because they have not officially called them back early but with these briefings taking place, some hearings already getting underway, we're seeing more and more members come back to get the classified information to better inform their opinion for next week when they're asked to vote on the very tough topic. jenna: and they're not officially back in session until next monday at 6:00 p.m. thank you. >> thank you. jon: there's mixed reaction from the sper national community on the crisis in syria. german chancellor saying an international response is in order, although the german military will not be involved.

israeli president praising president obama's effort but russia, which has been a staunch supporter of the syrian regime, says it wants to send a delegation to the u.s. to discuss the situation before a possible strike. chief washington correspondent james rosen has the latest from the state department. >> good afternoon. and this bulletin just crossing from paris. if the u.s. congress is out, france is out. french president saying just a short time ago in a news conference that if the u.s. congress rejects president obama's planned military strike against syria's chemical weapons delivery systems, the french will not act on their own. this, of course, increases the stakes for this afternoon's senate foreign relations hearing where, as my colleague was just reporting, secretary of state john kerry will be joined by defense secretary hagel and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff as they present the administration's case. a leading republican on that

panel from whom we're hearing a lot, arizona senator john mccain, saying today he wants to hear these witnesses articulate a plan that will leave the battlefield in syria tilted in favor of the free syrian army rebels. >> what i'm trying to do is see if we can't give the resistance whatever they need which is not a lot in order to prevail and remember, this is a regional conflict, guys. don't forget that. don't forget that. >> indeed and at the turkish border, syrian refugees continue to flee their country in large numbers. u.n. officials estimating that the first million refugees left syria over the course of two years while the second million refugees fled syria over just the last six months. in israel it hinges on iran and many in jerusalem now wonder how vigorously the u.s. would back the israelis in potential military action targeting the islamic regime nuclear program. publicly the israeli government

continues to strike a muted support for the american president. >> i expressed to my administration for president obama to check every possible angle how to bring an end to this horrible situation in syria. and i'm sure that none of us can overlook it. >> but a this hour, all eyes in this building are trained on secretary of state kerry as he journeys to capitol hill. once again, to make the administration's case for limited intervention in syria. jon: james rosen at the state department. thank you. so the stakes are very high. the time is very tense. russia and china are saying they are solidly behind asad. president obama has said he has to go and says he will ask

congress for permission to launch a strike. will congress give him that permission? we're still continuing our coverage of our top story today. back in a moment. [ male announcer ] campbell's angus beef & dumplings.

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jon: some international headlines we're keeping an eye on. japan announces new plans to stop radioactive water leaks. contaminated that's coming from the nuclear power plant seriously damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, plans include a frozen wall for the physically blockage of the leakage. and police horses run wild on the streets of mexico city. they were there to help control protestors but were spooked by car engines. one person was injured and nearly a dozen cars damaged. and former nba star dennis rodman makes his second trip to north korea. he said he's hanging out with his pal, the leader of the defiant country. rodman says he's not there as a diplomat. he wants to show that americans can get along with the north

koreans. good luck. jenna: we'll continue to watch what he does. right now the afl/cio says goodbye to 45,000 union members. long shore and warehouse union breaking its ties with the national afl/cio blaming the split on the president's health care law and immigration reform. our chief national correspondent is live with why this is significant. jim? >> hello, jenna. thaerpt. union is so angry over the so-called cadillac tax in obamacare that imposes a 40% tax on generous plans the union gets it's breaking away from the afl/cio sending a letter to their president complaining about many things saying that, quote, president obama ran on a flat form that he would not tax medical plans and at the 2009 afl/cio convention, you stated that labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits. yet the federation later lobbied affiliates to support a bill

that taxed our health care plan. now, the cadillac tax is also pushing employers to change the insurance they offer. >> that is a big, big factor. every employer, as soon as the law was signed, said we're not going to pay the cadillac tax. >> so employers are cutting costs by moving toward less expensive, heidi deductible plans. listen. >> they might be a heidi deductible and higher deductible but they have no other option. >> they have a deductible that could be 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and the consumer is responsible for the expenses. they're often coupled with what's called health savings accounts. >> which let consumers save money, making them more sensitive to costs because they're spending their own money. whole foods, for instance, has consumer driven plans for all

its employees. listen. >> they're all managing part of their own health care dollars. every two years or so the employees can vote if they want to get back to the old way or some other form of insurance, they can do that. >> but they like what we have and others should get used to it, too. 72% of large employers now offer such a plan and more than a fifth offer only high deductible plans. jenna: at the end of that line, it's always us out there at the end of it. thank you very much. we'll continue to watch this story as it develops. thank you. jon: you will be having some new options for the flu vaccine this year. a new version might offer more protection but some doctors are warning parents not to wait for it. they should get their kids

vaccinated as soon as possible. we'll explain that situation. also terror in the sky. what caused this plane to make an emergency landing right after it took off. ouncer ] may your lights always be gen. [ tires screech ] ♪ and your favorite songs always playing. [ beeping ] ♪ may you never be stuck behind a stinky truck. [ beeping ] ♪ may things always go your way. but it's good to be prepared... just in case they don't. let's go places, safely. he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list.

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jenna: this year doctors and patients will have a new option when it comes to choosing a flu vaccine. certain brands will protect against four strains of the virus instead of the usual three. doctors are warning not to wait for the new vaccine to come out. joining us is the senior attending physician of emergency medicine at saint barnabas hospital in new york city. your hospital is starting today. >> started today giving the flu vaccines, yes. jenna: how early is too early?

>> it's not too early. the flu season starts in january through february and can last right through to may. you want to build your body's immunity up. when you get the shot, you're not protected immediately. it takes a good two weeks. jenna: we're hearing about the new shots, defending against four strains, not three. how much better are the new shots? >> they haven't come out with a determination on that yet. if you're stimulating your immune system with more strains of the flu, then obviously that should offer you better protection. every year the flu virus that's more virulent changes. jenna: we said that you shouldn't wait so is there a problem with certain hospitals or certain doctors' offices having access to the new vaccine or is it readily available to everybody? >> there's not enough vaccine with the four strain type. they're not going to produce enough for everybody to get. but the tried and true one that has three strains that we've been getting for 30 years or

more, that's just -- you know, it's a great option and it's one that, you know, if you can get that sooner rather than later, get it. jenna: what happens if you get that one now but later on, the one for four is available, can you double up? >> that's an interesting question. you can have that discussion with your doctor. there's no real recommendation for that. but it's funny you mention that. they have a new vaccine for seniors, 65 and older. i haven't gotten to that group yet but it has a higher dose of flu vaccine to boost your immune system for people who are older. jenna: this is a very important part of the conversation. there's a lot of vaccines available that are not in shots. they can be a nasal mist but also a little prick. both of those options sound better to me. >> i actually brought those. jenna: are they as good, though? >> they every. you can see how small that is. it goes into your skin, not into your muscle. this is the standard flu shot that we give people. jenna: not my favorite.

>> larger needle goes into the muscle. and you also have -- jenna: and different age groups, right? stick prick one they're not recommending necessarily for the over 65 crowd. >> right. i believe it's 18 to 49 for the skin -- the intraderman one. and the nasal one goes to the nose. jenna: everyone is going back to school. good to talk about this early. do your kids have the flu shot? >> they're getting the this week. common sense. wash your hands, cover your cough and sneeze and get the flu vaccine early. jenna: thank you very much. i was trying to negotiate with the doctor if he could come back and give us the live flu shot so we can experience it. jon: i'm all for the easy one. sure. sounds good. we are following the breaking developments on syria. top lawmakers just wrapping up a meeting with the president at the white house. others get a classified briefing on capitol hill. we are on top of all of the breaking news.

we'll have it for you just ahead.

jon: brand new stories this hour. fox news obtains alerts sent by the f.b.i. warning of possible retaliation by the asad regime should the u.s. strike. we'll have a live report. as congress debates that strike, we'll look at the conservative voices against the plan and why we may have seen this before. plus the brand new push to officially call the fort hood massacre a terrorist act instead of workplace violence. and breaking developments on the crisis in syria with a classified briefing just wrapping up on capitol hill, but as president obama works to sell lawmakers on military action, there is new talk of strike in the region.

hello. i'm jon scott. jenna: and i'm jenna lee. there's a lot going on in the mediterranean sea. military moves happening right now. u.s. war ships stand at the ready and one of the navy destroyers heads out as part of a regularly scheduled reunited nations. this is as israel carried out a joint missile test with the u.s. in the same area. it seems to catch some people this side of the world a little off guard. we'll hear more about that from the national security correspondent live at the pentagon. now, jennifer, we'll get to what happened this morning -- this morning the east coast time in a moment but let's talk about what does action look like in the mediterranean right now? >> it's interesting n. this period of waiting you would expect to see some sort of movement, possible buildup if the president were considering a broader strike on syria. it seems as though the strike is going to remain limited. according to pentagon planners we've spoken to, there are no indications that they're going

to broaden the naef assets that are moving into the mediterranean. if anything, we've just learned that the fifth u.s. destroyer that was in the eastern mediterranean has been moved out. that brings us down to four u.s. destroyers off the coast of syria and we're told by navy officials they could even go down to three u.s. navy destroyers at one point. each of those destroyers has about 40 tomahawk missiles on board. they can carry up to 90 but we're told they'll have enough for the limited strike being envisioned. we've seen reaction from capitol hill from senator graham who has been a proponent of the u.s. getting more involved in syria. he said, quote, in a tweet earlier today, president obama has mishandled syria the past two years. the good, very good options we once had are in the rearview mirror. >> i hate to use the word disgraceful but to tell the american people that it doesn't matter when we strike while asad is moving his military into

civilian areas and vice versa and complicating our challenge dramatically is just disgraceful. >> senator james emhoff on the armed securities committee said, quote, the president has known about the grave national security threats for several years. yet our military has experienced an unprecedented deterioration of readiness and capabilities. let us not forget the words the general spoke when he testified before congress about the president's sequestration. he said the military is being put on a at where the force is so degraded and so unready that it would be im moral to use force. he will have a chance to question general dempsey later this week. jenna: it will be interesting to hear what comes out of the hearing in the next few hours. let's go back a bit. earlier this morning east coast time there was a news alert.

russia was reporting some sort of missile fire or a rocket launch, if you will, in the eastern mediterranean. it caught a lot of people off guard. was the pentagon caught off guard? what do we know about the missile launch right now? >> it's bad when the pentagon has to learn about a missile test from the russians. the russians having sent a surveillance ship out to the mediterranean in the last 24 hours. they're watching u.s. warships but what we know now is that the u.s. and israel carried out a pre-planned missile test, a missile test involving the aero defense shield that the u.s. spent a lot of money, billions of dollars trying to help the israelis develop. it was a test missile that was fired in the eastern mediterranean. the pentagon was aware of it but it seemed as though general

dempsey and hagel were caught off guard. this was sent out by george little a while ago. he said the u.s. defense department provided technical assistant and support to an israeli missile test. not connected to syria. it's raised eyebrows here in washington. jenna: and one thing is clear. people are watching. right? watching what we're doing in that area of the word for sure. thank you. >> thank you. jon: for more on the military moves in the mediterranean and the push for a u.s. strike on syria, i'm joined by retired lieutenant colonel, a fox news military analyst. i don't want to put you in the position of second-guessing the joint chiefs of staff but a lot of people were taken aback by what president obama said on saturday, that his joint chiefs chairman has said we can wait.

it's not going to affect our ability to go after asad's arsenal. what do you think? >> i think most people are going to go against that statement because those of us who have served in the military for a long time, particularly in combat, know when the enemy has time to redeploy forces, it keeps us in a constantly moving mode. when you're looking at the kind of mobile targets we're looking at here, the launch distance of chemical weapons that asad can move around, it makes a difference and puts a big burden on the planners, the guys in the pentagon working literally 24/7 to keep track of where potential targets are, find out where they're moved to, find out what the ram -- ramifications are of hitting them. i would say any delays are not in our favor by any means. jon: there's also talk of hitting his air assets, tell couldn't he weres and fighter jets and so forth. those are pretty easy to move

and in fact, you can put them up in the air. >> john, do you know what? not only that. it's important to remember there's a lot of technical assistance people, advisers and what have you who are affiliated with a lot of those aircraft and tell couldn't he weres so if we talk about striking them, we really talk about maybe inflicting russian casualties and also it goes against what the president has basically said in not wanting to degrade the military. he basically said we were going to have a response related to the chemical attack, not one that would really change the outcome of the ongoing civil war. perhaps he's changed that opinion since meeting with the senators yesterday, extra gra ham and mccain but before that he said we're not trying to do a game changer. jon: he had something to say this morning after he met with key leaders in congress who came to the white house to talk about all of this. i want to get your reaction. >> the key point that i want to

emphasize to the american people, the military plan that has been developed by our joint chiefs and that i believe is appropriate is proportional, it is limited, it does not involve boots on the ground. this is not iraq and this is not afghanistan. this is a limited proportional step that will send a clear message not only to the asad regime but also to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms. jon: it's not iraq, it's not afghanistan. it is a clear message to the asad regime. do you think asad is shaking in his boots right now? >> the timing is terrible. you want to at least display some consistency and having the force around there and i can't imagine. i feel bad for those fellows in the navy who have been out there for a long time. it's time for them to come back

but i'm not sure that they all can look at that and say that looks like a lot of american resolve, unfortunately. i think the president sent the message to iran when he said we're not going to stand by and let things like this happen and let other things like nuclear proliferation occur over there so a subtle message to iran but the bigger message is don't worry. if a limited response, you'll be safe, mr. asad. watch out for some guys sitting around the launch sites. jon: thank you. >> thank, jon. gret to be with you. jenna: we're turning to members of congress receiving a classified briefing on capitol hill. obama administration going out of the way to avoid a repeat of 2003 when the decision to go to war against iraq was based on faulty intelligence. that's what some are arguing, that the president is doing right now. others disagree. some lawmakers who have been briefed on syria say they're seeing some same potential problems that plague the united

states intelligence community a decade ago. our chief intelligence correspondent is joining us with more on what we're learning from this gathering of intelligence. and we just received a new intelligence report from the french. what does that add to the discussion? >> thank you. good morning. as a french now releasing nine page, unclassified intelligence report on the august 21 attack and while evidence supports a chemical weapons attack by the asad regime, fresh intelligence reporting 281 deaths on the video which is in contrast to secretary kerry's statement that well over 1,000 were killed. >> the united states government now knows that at least 1,429 syrians were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children. even the first responders, the tried to save them, they became

victims themselves. >> the french reports that the figures could go as high as 1,500 as a result of this attack being consistent with the u.s. intelligence but that was based on what the french said was independent casualty figures. the french, british and u.s. intelligence presented to russia with foreign minister according to the russian news agency, rejecting the findings and calling for all intelligence to be publicly released. jenna: so we'll leave that aside for a moment as we take in some of the discrepancies there but what are we learning about the intensity of briefings taking place right now on capitol hill? >> since sunday two formal classified briefings for members, separate intelligence for the leader of the armed services and intelligence committees, the committees with directover sight, one lawmaker explaining the intensity of the briefings as a direct result of the wmd allegations in 2003. >> i have been impressed that the administration has actually

tried to distinguish itself from the previous administration in the shotty use of evidence and overstatement of evidence by providing caveats to almost everything. >> lawmakers telling fox news away from the cameras after a classified briefing sunday that the substantial intelligence comes from for enforces, not american forces, adding that a key piece of intelligence was received after the fact. >> the evidence that was made available to the united states government was available after the strike on the 21st. not the 24th. >> that's another key indicator that the intelligence was not american intelligence but foreign in its origin. jenna: interesting. thank you. >> you're welcome. jon: her disappearance and subsequent murder sparked an international manhunt. today the big developments in the trial of the man accused of killing an american tourist.

plus unfinished business. when it comes to the fort hood massacre, why victims of the victim say it's so important that the government sees the mass chooting as an act of terror. our legal panel takes up the case. and major scare in the skies when a passenger jet loses an engine forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. what is behind the close call that passengers woipt soon forget? >> people were in tears, babies were crying. i was grabbing the gentleman next to me and his arm. we became close friends very quickly.

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jenna: update on a story we've been following here. trial gibbs for a man accused of murdering an american woman in turkey. sierra was found in february nearly two weeks after she went missing. new york native and mother of two was on a solo trip to istanbul. that murder sparked an international manhunt. homeless drifter admitting in

court he killed her but denies sexually assaulting her and the court wants him to undergo a mental evaluation. prosecutors are demanding a life sentence and an additional 19 years for rape charges. the trial will continue in november. jon: a disturbing story out of florida. investigators are in the process of exhuming dozens of bodies where hundreds of students were reportedly beaten and tortured to death. phil? >> hi, jon. fourth and final day of very meticulous and tedious grave digging is about to wrap up there at what was once the largest reform school for juvenile delinquents. it's known as the dozier school for boys. it has a horrific and long history. more th more than 350 men who did time

there years ago. this weekend university of south florida anthropology researchers successfully exhumed two sets of skeletal remains. at one point carrying them past a grove of white crosses that stands in the area of about 50 unmarked graves. the dig is only happening after urging by senator nelson and the state's attorney general finally convincing governor scott to allow it. a group of survivors called the white house boys and demanded a state investigation five years ago and finally ended three years ago, unable to prove or disprove the abuse allegations. relatives of the missing say many of the shallow graves date way back to the 1950's and 1960's and a few came by the florida panhandle site over the weekend hoping for answers. >> for all these graves of the children and the two employees that died at this school, they're buried here.

they've been quite literally lost in the woods. i think that to ultimately be able to provide families with answers, we can get their remains. >> a wrapped up news conference of this first dig, they will resume digging these graves up in october and november. that happens about 15 minutes. eventually the remains will be taken back to tampa where hopefully they can extract some d.n.a. and make some matches that would give some families some long sought answers all these years later, possibly even determining how some of these boys died. jon: what an incredible and disturbing story. thanks. jenna: a scare in the air just after takeoff when a plane hit a bird and hit an engine. how does this one end? passengers tell us about the harrowing experience. plus the growing conservative trend to just say no to any sort of foreign conflict or

intervention. could this be wrong in the case of syria? that's next. >> i think it's a mistake to get involved in a syrian vifl war and i don't see a clear cut american interest. i don't see either party that is victorious if either part is victorious being an american ally. [ male announcer ] this is claira. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

jon: major scare in the skies after a southwest jet hit the bird taking out an engine forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. it happened 30 minutes after takeoff at an airport in north carolina. passengers say it was a very scary event. >> we're about like a third of the way down on the runway and all of a sudden, i heard a boom. i saw the flash out the window and people were saying, my gosh, it's a fire. >> it was very, very scary.

jon: the plane continued taking off headed to chicago, ended up making a safe return back to north carolina. none of the 124 people on board was hurt. jenna: while making the case for war, maybe. we're waiting for testimony pushing hard for congress to authorize military strikes in syria but not everyone is on board obviously. many of the loudest critics rising conservative stars like senators rand paul and mike lee. we've heard the reasons as to why and here are a few of them summed up neatly for us today by the "wall street journal." it's not america's woor. there isn't a compelling national interest to intervene. we'd be coming in on the side of al qaeda. there's no end game. it would be another iraq. he goes on to argue that those arguments essentially missed the point and the syria debate in his words is exposing the isolationist worm eating its way through the g.o.p. apple.

fred is here with us for more on that. what do you mean by that? >> the republican partied, way back in the day in the 1930's and early 1940's was the party that opposed any intervention in europe, really right until we were hit at pearl harbor and then under robert taft was opposed to our membership in nato. i think most americans would a degree it's a good thing we entered the war, stayed western civilization and defeated communism but that never went away and i see this boiling up again in the syria debate. i think a lot of republicans have sincere concerns and they're agagenuine about the confidence of the commander of chief, the job that needs to be done with asad. but there's a second line that says the president has no right to go to war without congressional authorization or this is a civil war in which we have no interest in who wins and those really are kind of isolationist thoughts. jenna: on that and just for

review, isolationism is a policy of not participating, right? and foreign events. that's one of the general ways to describe it. would it affect the way the american people truly feel now? it's not just a political platform but it's the way that americans themselves are feeling at this time. >> and in fact, i think a lot of -- there's a lot of opinion polling that bears that out. henry kissinger said that america goes between periods of overcommitment and periods of isolationism. if you can say the last 10 years was overcommitment, we're now overreacting to that with the isolationism. nothing that happens in syria matters to us but a piece of chemical weapons doesn't matter to us. if the signal sends the people in places like tehran, it should matter when the united states, when an american president says there will be consequences and there are no consequences. jenna: have our actions, or lack

thereof, democrat or republican or whatever already shown evidence of an isolationist policy that's in the works? >> and i think the biggest isolationist today is barack obama. when he talks about nation building at home, he creates a false psychology between what we do abroad and what we do at home. our invest nment global security is somehow taking things away from us here. jenna: you hear about that all the time when it comes to money. >> right. exactly. if only we weren't spending our trivial amounts of foreign aid, we wouldn't have a deficit. the mean we have huge deb deficits, we have huge entitlement programs. jenna: we should talk about these things as completely linked. when we talk about nation building at home, we are talking about syria and iran and all these other things happening outside the borders. >> we want a word that is conducive to free trade, to

american security and american values. that benefits us at home and the idea is that somehow if we pay more attention to, say, our infrastructure or pay less attention to syria, more attention to infrastructure, that's a false psychology. jenna: and at this time, there's no evidence at this moment where that is being true. we're spending a lot of time going to the congressional session where we're going to talk a lot about the debt and the deficit now being dominated by discussions of syria. i want to ask about this issue of credibility because our viewers are hearing a lot of it from the president, from senator kerry, from our senators that our credibility is completely on the line. is it? >> i totally accept the critics of the president who are looking at this guy who has trashed american incredibility who has let one red line after another being eroded and erased. at the end of the day, as a colleague of mine put it, donald

rumsfeld, you go to the war with the president you have. we're not only interested in what happens in syria. republicans and conservativ should be interested in executive authority. one day we'll have another conservative in the white house and we'll rude the day that obama went to ask permission for stuff like that. jenna: so you think the republicans need to get in line. >> i think the opposition would be detrimental to the united states. jon: syrian president asad's blunt warning for the united states as president obama tries to sell congress on a military strike against his regime. we'll continue to be live from the middle east. plus families of the fort hood victims call it a lingering injustice. the government's refusal to call the massacre an act of terror. what republican lawmakers say they want to do now. >> this administration's pork place violence designation

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jon: as president obama works to get congressional support for taking action in syria, defiant words from bashar assad. the syrian dictator warns that any strike against his country would spark a regional war and spread chaos and extremism. conor powell is live in jerusalem with more. conor? >> reporter: jon, now that this u.s. strike is temporarily

at least on hold, president assad is sort of waging his own public relations war telling a french newspaper that the middle east is a powder keg and that a u.s. strike will ignite it, hinting that either iran or hezbollah may sort of retaliate either against israel or jordan or turkey or any number of possibilities. now, assad also insisted to this newspaper that a u.s. attack would only help al-qaeda who at this point really does make up a significant part of the syrian opposition. assad also echoed the russian position, demanding proof of the use of chemical weapons saying, you know, obama doesn't have any of this proof, he's scared to put it out there. but for all this tough talk, he -- like pretty much the rest of the world -- is sort of waiting to see what congress does and, ultimately, what decision president obama makes. they're sort of all on the sidelines waiting to see what washington does, jon. jon: so what are you hearing, conor, about this missile test

that israel launched in the mediterranean? >> reporter: well, good example of just how tense the situation is here in the middle east. earlier today russia announced they had detected some type of missile launch in the eastern mediterranean. there was a couple hours of confusion, and then israel announced they had tested a part of the arrow ballistic missile defense system jointly with the united states. at first the pentagon denied this saying they didn't know anything about it, but then it came out late they are the pentagon was aware of this test. both israel and the united states say this was just a test of the system, it has nothing to do with the ongoing hostilities and confrontation with syria, that this is something separate, it had been planned for a long time. but certainly, many people here in this region see this as sort of a warning by either the israelis or the americans as sort of the firepower that they bring. the russians certainly interpreted it that way. really good evidence and proof of just how tense this situation here in the middle east is right now. but officially, the line from the united states and from the israelis is that this was a test

unrelated to syria, jon. jon: all right. conor powell reporting live from jerusalem where things are very tense. thank you, conor. jenna: well, right now we're going to turn to the economy. a brand new report finds a positive upswing for our economy and others, but it also says americans who have been unemployed for months could remain out of work even if a strong recovery takes hold. nina easton is a fox news contributor. some mixed messages in this report that comes out on a regular basis telling us a little bit about the world's economies. the organization for economic cooperation and development, fancy title, but here's what it says: that the u.s. economy will grow, but when it comes to the job market, that we can see long-term joblessness even if the recovery really, really takes hold. why that discrepancy? >> well, first of all, jenna, thanks for having me. the report shows -- the good

news in this report -- is that the u.s. is showing some growth, some strength in growth but not a lot, frankly, not the kind of growth that we had in the heyday can. and we're doing, and we are by comparison doing better than the eurozone, but they're at least out of recession, so that's good. the bad news, and this is a concern that i've had for a very long time, is this the continued long-term unemployment. do you know that ten million americans are out of work long term, have just dropped out of the work force since the financial crisis started in 2008. and even before the financial crisis we were seeing a problem particularly among prime-aged men, so among prime-aged men meaning from age 30-49, one out of eight of them budget even working before -- wasn't even working before the financial crisis hit. so this is particularly a problem among men, and i'm sure all of our people around, fox viewers will know in their own situations among friends and family men that have gotten out

of the work force and a lot of women that have gotten out of the work force and are just discouraged and have stopped looking. jenna: that's where we got the term, mancession, either way, it's not good to have any group unemployed. you mentioned we're seeing growth, it's just not a huge amount of growth. so if there is growth, then why are there not being jobs created that will take some of these people and bring them back into the work force? >> because it's not enough growth. i mean, we're sort of looking at the new normal. so 2.5%, 2.7% which are the predictions of growth in the third and fourth quarter of this year. that's just not what we saw in the boom reagan and clinton years, particularly in the boom parts of those decades -- jenna: are those years over? will that never come back? that's manager the report talks about, structural long-term unemployment. it's a scary term. are those days gone for good? >> we hope not, but there's a lot of economists talk about what's called the new normal which is that companies are

running with such slimmed-down work forces even in manufacturing, it takes fewer people to build a car, for example, far fewer than it did 20 years ago. you're seeing companies getting by with a slimmed-down work force. that said, i firmly believe that if we had an administration and a congress that believed in the private sector and that set policies forth, tax reform would be one of them, that would spur the private sector and we would see growth. i mean, this is the most innovative country in the world, great innovations are still coming from america. jenna: let me ask you about this because september's a big month, this is the fist day of trading in september, we have a big debate coming up when it comes to the debt ceiling and deficit and all of that. are there any factors that our viewers should particularly pay attention to that could be game changers when it comes to where our economy is headed? >> a couple things. one, i think if congress and the

white house ever agree to corporate tax reform meaning lower the rates on companies doing business here so that they bring that money that they're keeping overseas largely to avoid these high corporate tax rates here at home which is the highest corporate tax rate in the world, they are keeping that money overseas, if you find a way, for example, reducing the corporate tax level here to bring that money home, we would see more investment. on the downside, if we see more gridlock between congress and the white house over things like raising the debt ceiling and just reforming spending and cutting spending so that we are protecting entitlement programs for the long haul, if we, if we see that kind of gridlock continue, that takes -- that hurts the economy. the economy takes a pounding when that happens. jenna: so some things to watch in the days and weeks ahead. nina, thank you very much. nice to see you.

>> thank you. jon: he was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering 13 people, most of them soldiers, and injuring dozens of others. what some families of the fort hood victims say they need to finally get a real sense of justice. ♪ ♪ [ bottle ] okay, listen up!

i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! 'cause i'm re-workin' the menu, keeping her healthy and you on your toes. [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh! [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. jon: well, now for some fox 411. fans of the best-selling 50 shades of grey trilogy getting big news, the stars of the film version just announced, but not everyone likes the casting for what could be the steamiest mainstream movie in years. julie banderas is not in the cast, but she has the details from new york city. julie? >> reporter: yeah. the author of the fastest-selling paperback of all

time, jon, is having to defend casting its two main stars after sharing the much-anticipated announcement on twitter. e.l. james announcing, quote, i am delighted to let you know that the lovely dakota johnson has agreed to be our anastasia in the film add dabbation adding the gorgeous and talented charlie hunnam will be christian grey. do you know who these actors are? that's the problem. soon after james was inundated by angry fans, one tweeting who the heck are these people who got casted? another 50 shades reader was devastated writing, okay, they kill it, the movie has been totally ruined. as for who they are, well, dakota johnson the daughter of actors melanie griffith and don johnson. charlie humnam is known for his role on sons of anarchy. thank you so much for the passion that you have for this

project, you all rock, all of you. well, the producer of the film also speaking out saying that the two actors had great chemistry when they filmed the scene during the audition. the novel sold, as you probably know, more than 70 million copies worldwide after its release in 2011. it became famous for its controversial depictions of sadomasochistic sex and more. 50 shades of grey marked the rise of mommy porn, if you will, or racy reading intended for mainstream, often middle-aged women. the film is currently scheduled for release in august 2014 and as a middle-aged mommy, i never went to this book for my porn, but i'm not into porn, because i have two kids. [laughter] am i allowed to say that on daytime tv? i don't have time to read books or watch television, g or x-rated. [laughter] jon: yeah, best selling book and nobody's actually read it. that's the interesting thing. julie banderas, thank you. jenna: i'd rather keep listening to julie.

i mean, keep her on. i want to hear more about what it's like. [laughter] well, all right, certainly a lot of strong opinions about that. a lot of strong opinions as well in washington. how about that transition, right? jon: good one. jenna: a lot of strong opinions. top lawmakers are taking part in some very key meetings ahead of a vote on authorizing what would be a military strike on syria. the latest on how they could be le

jon: right now what families of the fort hood victims call a lingering ip justice. a military jury sentenced nidal hasan to death last week for the shooting rampage on a military base. despite him shouting "god is great" in arabic before firing on a group of soldiers headed to afghanistan and telling the jury

he believed he was on the wrong side of the war, the attack was tried as a case of workplace violence, not as an act of terror. well, that's manager that three republican lawmakers want to change. listen. >> we've all been reluctant to do anything up to this point that would possibly benefit major hasan's defense. >> this administration's workplace violence designation clearly favors political correctness over truth and justice. jon: well, those lawmakers, including the very powerful texas senator john cornyn, are pushing a bill that would reclassify the fort hood shootings as an act of terrorism. that opens the door for victims and their families to receive the same benefits and distinctions they would receive if they were injured or killed in combat, say on the fields of afghanistan, for instance. lis wiehl is a fox news legal analyst, doug burns a criminal defense attorney. they are with us to talk about some of the legal ramifications here. lis, it seems like a no-brainer. >> absolutely. i mean, jon, this always should have been classified as an act of terrorism.

you laid out the case right there. it's really an insult to the victims in this case, 13 people that were killed and 32 some odd others that were injured. they should have got compensation. now they will through this bill. it shouldn't have taken this long, it should have been tried as a terrorist crime, it was not. it was cry tried as an act of violence in a workplace? come on, that's when somebody ods from aspirin and hits somebody. this is much more than that. jon: but, doug, you say this is trickier than it first seems to be. >> i do, and i'll tell you why. first of all, it wasn't tried as a workplace violence case, it was tried as a murder case. but the reason it's tricky is because military criminal procedure caused a really bad result, but i agree with lis, and you'll see why in one second. under military procedure juries, there's no terrorism crime you can charge, so the point is they were stuck with a straight murder prosecution. however, lis and i discussed that under what we call the assimilated crimes act, you

could have theoretically added in some type of terrorism charge under the umbrella of the court-martial. >> exactly. just attached it to what they were already charging, that would have been fine. maybe it was political correctness, but that could have been done almost administratively, an administrative court could have class id this -- classified this as an act of terrorism. so to say there's no way to bring them in is just not true. jon: what about, doug, if you charged hasan with or if you called the victims, you know, victims of terror, does that taint the jury? i mean, that's one of the arguments that he would have been considered a terrorist in the eyes of the jury. >> no, that's an extremely important point and one military law expert and law professor was quoted widely saying that exact point. and there's a specific term in military tribunals for that which is that since military officers are presiding, you don't want any labels put on such as terrorism because it

could -- and senator cornyn, to his credit, specifically said, look, nobody wanted to do anything that could have helped his defense. so that was the main reason, back to you pointed, jon, why we held off. and segwaying ahead, if there's some way to correct it now so those heroes are recognized and given benefits, i'm 1000% for it, obviously. >> right. and that's what bill does, it goes back and reassigns compensation for death, life insurance, things that they deserve and should have gotten in the first place. jon: well, and they'll be eligible for things like purple hearts. >> right. jon: does either one of you -- i mean, legal steps aside, does either one of you see any opposition in congress to this kind of thing? >> no, i don't. >> absolutely not, jon. you had a situation where military criminal procedure had to be followed, and it was. it's time to correct it. >> they still could have done it the right way from the beginning, so now let's rectify it with this bill. jon: but what about changing the

law so this doesn't happen again? >> well, it wouldn't have needed to be. the law was already there. i disagree with doug on that point which is they could have attached this terrorism act right to all the other charges, and if the jury didn't want to find him guilty, fine, throw it out, but it could have been done. jon: well, if this does get through, then the victims, you know, there are many survivors of that attack. >> absolutely. jon: the victims and the families of those who passed away are going to get some benefits that they deeply need -- >> thank goodness. jon: in any opinion, truly deserve. >> i agree, jon. 100%. jon: thank you both. jenna: not just americans getting super-sized in the day. take a look at this record-setting gator found in one state. two of them in just one day. we'll tell you the back story coming up.

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>>oc check this out. the play of the game between the

players. it doesn't go to a player, just watch. >> trying to beat the brewers in back to back weeks. oh, what a play. that's how you do it with the shorts o. nice. >> a diving catch on a live do i have by the brewers ball by. shorts on no less. the stadium cheered and he high 5 5ed fans. >> what do they it feed allegators in mississippi? that's our question. a 727 beast stretching over 13 feet was captured on the first weekend of allegator hunting. and mississippi's gator hunting season is not over until next monday and so there is still time to catch a bigger allegator

if that is what you are into. >> that is a lot of shoes and hand bags. >> they are not endangered anymore. let's be clear and welcome back. glad to have you off injured reserve. >> i am glad to be back in the game. america live starts right now. >> thanks, guys, we start out of washington, things are moving quickly this oofrp. we stand on the brink of a new military engagement in syria. welcome to america live. i am martha mccowan in for megyn kelliy. we are waiting a major senate foreign relations committee to debate military force in the country of syria, in response to what the president called the worst chemical weapons attack in the 21st second. secretary of state kerry and secretary