get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. >> making it a great wednesday. thanks for joining us. america live starts right now. >> thanks, guys, we start with a fox news alert from capitol hill where president obama's top advisors on syria are appearing before the foreign relations committee. they are planning to meet to hold a vote on whether to authorize a military strike on syria welcome to america live. i am martha mccowan in for megyn kelliy. the question is, will the obama administration get the votes they are seeking? we are getting amateur video out of syria. this video reportedly from the outskirts of damascus. heavy gun fighting between the

opposition forces and assad regime. there is smoke engulfing neighborhoods and believed to be the aftermath of a shell strike and a war plane flying over northern syria and dropping a shell and back at home, conversations and the debate continues. secretary of state john kerry has taken the lead in arguing that congress should approve america's intervention in what is a bleed civil war in syria and noteworthy is the secretary of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff are not saying, and that is raising a lot of questions about the u.s.'s military take on the proposed action. reporting live from the pentagon, jennifer. >> good afternoon, martha, most of the answers yesterday were fielded by secretary of state kerry. >> if the united states of america doesn't do this,

senator, is it more or less likely that assad will do it again. you want to answer that question. >> i don't think it is known. >> i think it is unknown. >> it is unknown? senator, it is not unknown. if the united states of america doesn't hold him accountable on this, it is a guarantee assad will do it again. >> a few questions were directed at the president's two top military advisers. no one asked what affect a tomahawk strike would have on the regime. the body language of martin general. he is vocal about why the u.s. should not get involved in syria. >> i don't consider that going to war and coming to congress and asking for a deularation of war and putting young americans in harm's way. that's not what the president is

asking for here. >> general, do you want to speak or hold to that. >> not really, secretary, thank you for offering. >> and it is clear that dempsey has revelation. and that will not prevent assad from using military operations again. the scuds are hidden in civilian areas and in a letter to the senate arm's service committee the general described the limited out come. there is a rick that the regime could withstand by dispersing the assets and retalitory attacks are also possible and there is a probability for collateral damage impacting civilian and foreigns inside of the country. >> in the meantime, president obama said that he believes that

congress will approve a u.s. military strike on syria and arguing today, this is not about him, it is the world's credibility. watch this. >> my credibility is not on the line. the international community's credibility is on the line. and america and congress's credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the motion that international norms are important. >> we have chris host of power play on fox news.com. chris, welcome and good to have you here. it was a different version of the redline sort of description and explanation that we heard today. it was very forceful from president obama and comes on the heels of what we know was a big meeting of his top advisors. >> the redline changed in color and origin. the president talked about the redline and he said it and he

was doing. it in sweden today, he said the world set the red line. he announced. it and he heard about the redline and said it existed it is not his credibility tis congress' credibility and not his credibility it is the cred ability of the earth and this demonstrates the complexity and why the president's campaign team huddled up yesterday at the white house. david a xelrod and people architects of the 2012 and 8 presidential victory got together to talk about this and you can see the talking points when he talks about whose fault this is and credible on the line and where it came from. he is dissociating himself from what is an unpopular context of america entering the civil war.

>> he does this as where certain voices are claimering him to take ownership. and sit down in front of the american people and say this is what i believe and this is my argument and an instance in which i believe in committing u.s. assets is the right thing to do for the following reasons. he is distancing himself from the idea. we heard nancy pelosi voicing a similar phraseology of the red line coming out of the white house meeting and robin gibbes. this is not the president's redline. this preparation for the possibility congress may say no. >> congress may very well say no. it looks less likely now as they limit, limit and limit the scope in a bid to keep the democrats together. they remember what they did to george w. bush and the republicans over iraq. it was bush's war and barak

obama and nancy pelosi in the prior roles exscoreated bush. it is not about them. it is about someone else and i am sure that came out of the discussion with axelrod and company. >> it is interesting, we know that chemical weapons were used in iraq. the president said this is not iraq. i don't know why the redline crossed in syria was not also crossed in iraq and did not dictate a similar response. outrage in many ways should be equal. as you point out and we are looking at deeply disturbing image that upset anyone of them. it is a different measure put

forth by president obama and nancy pelosi and so many against iraq. >> for the president and nancy pelosi and others. their assumption that the international community would rally to the side of this 0 humanitarian reasons as they did in nato, it turns out, in nato and libia. syria with no natural resources and not a pressing interest for europeans, they are not getting support and found themselves where george bush did on iraq. >> it looks like the president is standing alone. saudi arabia and qa ta r is the only voices in support of this action on syria. chris, thank you very much. we'll see you later. >> you bet. >> congress has said they will

make a decision on syria and you can get the latest developments and put it right in the in box in the daily fox first note. go to fox news.com/foxnewsfirst. don't miss it. and now an update on convicted fort hood shooter nadil hassan. hewas sentenced to death for the killing of 13 people and the wounding of more than that in the texas military base in 2009. we are learning that his beard which caused so much delay and controversy in the court martial has been forcibly removed from his face. here is the update on that story

hi, trace. >> he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to death. because he is on military death row, he is subject to the army's grooming regulation and so the beard he fought so hard to cope is removed. hassan grew the board after he shot and killed 13 people. the original judge ordered him to shave it off and hassan's lawyers a polled and delayed the trial for throw months. the army grooming regulation are not up to a judge but individual commanders and the initial judge was replaced and ruled that hassan could cope the beard and warned him the all military jury might use it against him. they have not given details was how it was shaved off and it was done by force and hassan requires that his muslim faith

requires that he wear the beard but for now and the future, he will remain clean shaver while he awaits his death in fort leavenworth. >> frightening swagdz for students in texas as a stabbing in a high school north of houston leaves one student dead today. we have the latest on that incredible and awful story out of texas today. growing concern of a double standard and news report on the parent's syria position are different than reports on the bush administration and the lead up on the war to iraq. it is a fair and balanced debate on whether the story on syria might be different in george bush was in office. and incredible conclusion to a kidnapping case. a man convicted in cleveland is now found dead overnight.

>> i spent 11 years. now your hell is just beginning. i will overcome all of this that happen. but you will face hell for eternity.

>> a fox news alert as three students are in police custody with a fight that turned deadly in a high school near houston. in spring, the school is on look down and students are now being released to the parents after a terrifying morning for all of the families. the school is just getting back to starting up. it happen this morning after 7 o'clock a.m. a 17-year-old boy, killed on this campus and three other injured in the standing in the school ca feteria. we'll keep an eye on this

developing story today. and back to our top story now on syria. law makers are debating on whether to approve a strike. some of them questioning if it would really accomplish the goal fearing if we don't hit the regime hard assad could come back and retaliate and potentially be stronger and argue that he had boaten the united states at their own game. yesterday secretary of state kerry dismissed that ideament take a look. >> i think the general will tell you, assad may be able to crawl out of the hole and say i survived. but no reality that he would say he's better off. there is no question that whatever choices by the president he and the military effort will not be better off. and the opposition will know that and people in syria will

know that. >> but just how strong is the syrian military? this is a issue of much debate. how much can the u.s. accomplish with a limited strike that the president is recommending right now. and we'll bring in lieutenant mccow an and general welcomb. what is the answer to the question? >> we defined it as a limited strike and said it was not going to destabilize assad but send him a warning message. there's no way we'll come out vic toruous. we may degrade some military capabilities, but unless we specifically and violently go after him as an individual, he will emerge whether out of a hole or front dorof the palace and look up to the sky and showed americans that we can survive and that's the message

the middle east would so. >> the perimeters of this are discussed in congress. on the senate side john mccain is expressing concern that it is not enough and it would not do the job and the opposition voiced concern about it, too if you are not going to hit hard enough to knock assad back on his feet and seriously degrade his military capability. don't bother. retaliation against us is going to be worse than ever. >> the issue is retaliation and assuming he will look good. retaliation is the issue when we talk about what the iranians and hesbollah and the syrians themselves might do not only against us but more importantly against israel and could draw us in something bigger. margaret a the resistance and we should be supporting are looking to us to degrade assad's air capabilities.

that is the primary weapon he used against the resistance. if we can degrade the air significantly we might tilt the balance in favor of the resistance and not get more involved. if we just slap him around a bit and don't degrade his capabilities. he will wait a couple of weeks and the brits believe he did as many as 14 and testing them to see if we could detect and respond and unfortunately it took catastrophic losses before we decided we needed to do something about it, excuse me. >> you think there is an achievable military goal here? >> we don't know the goal. it is not clearly and precisely stated. i do know this. if we don't go after assad himself we'll continue to deal with this problem for a long time. we can have debates all day along about slapping him around

and making him feel bad and degrading the military. as long as bashar assad is alive and in charge we'll have these problems particularly when he has the backing of iranians and hesbollah and russia on his side. it will not go away in a short term and take more than limited strikes to change the dynamics. i am just like every american to go to war. my son goes next week to the fourth tour in afghanistan. sometimes makes the right decision is hard to do. >> what is assad thinking as he looks at the situation. the administration said assad must go and now that is not the language we are using. if you are assad you are thinking that the pressure is off. >> if i am assad, i am not worried in the least and i know america will not come after me. i don't care if i lose solid

yers it doesn't matter. assad is waiting foritous do the strike and assess his losses and say we took losses and this is really a victory. >> it goes back to the long- term accountives. i don't envy any one in the white house or administration or america having to try to decide what the right thing to do this and nottives are and how we get there. >> i hear what you are saying. our thanks to your family and son for your service. thank you other colonel see you next time. >> thank you. >> you heard of parking problems in big cities, park in front of this building and it might melt your car. we'll show you where that is happening. and a growing debate over the education of american children. there is frustration with the standardized lessons children are learning every day. we'll debate if the parents have

a right to be concerned about the core. >> and a montana judge backing down from his controversial sentence. he ordered a teacher convicted of raping a young girl 30 days in jail. we'll be right back. you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition inharge™. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief!

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>> be aware of the glaeshgs a london skyscraper is making life on the ground miserable. it seems that the building's reflection causes therms was one nen degrees and melts cars. you don't want to park there and sets buildings on fire. it is like something out of a horror movie. trace, what is going on? >> it is a 38 story sky scraper

and it is called a fry scraper and the reason it puts out the death ray is because of the shape of the building. it is a concave building with reflected glass and focuses the sun's rays like a magnifying glass and a super hot pinpoint of light can beam down on you. it causes carpets to burn and all sorts of things. >> it is a serious problem and they shed us that the chair is burning and then the carpet is smelling very bad and what is going on here? how come today it is that hot you know. >> of course, the media came out to do the requizible you can cry a egg on it. and a solar fizzist said it was hotter than he expected and here

he is. >> it focused down here. and i never felt hot like this. and i stupidly left my bag out and it got to up 92.6. >> that is celsius by the way. 200 degrees farren heit. it was designed by a famed architect. kdarra is called a sky scraper. a beam of light can come down and sifrm your hair or put a hole in the blastic cup. >> exactly. i don't know what they are going to do about it. put sprifrpglers to keep cooling off the side. what do you do about that. >> there is a coating that you put on the glass when the sun hits it. and probably not going to work

and avoid the buildings in certain times of the day. trace, thank you very much. we'll see you later. >> and there are growing concerns about a double standard that may be happening in the media. we see different descriptions of president obama's position on syria and humanitarian effort. and compared to president bush in the lead up to the iraq war and we know chemical weapons were used on people. there is a fair and balanced debate. and a monster's last act of defiance. and convicted kidnapper and rapest ariel castro takes his own life in prison. the latest from ohio coming up next. incredible story on that. and how is this for service. a commuter demanding an apology from a bus driver that was

having a bad day and the whole thing was caught on tape. [ female announcer ] you tweeted, posted and cheered

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>> law makers today are considering the possibility of u.s. military strikes in syria new polling finds that more americans oppose them than favor them. 48 percent against u.s. military intervention in syria and 29

percent said we should act and the rest of are not sure at this point. look at the poll. back then americans were asked about u.s. involvement in iraq and 72 percent said it was the right decision and 22 percent said no. and while it appears that the anti- war movement in the public has grown, critics are suggesting that the media is not as hard on president obama about the potential for going into syria as they were in president bush and the war he fought in iraq. is there a double standard. monica and kristin. welcome. great to have you both here. >> it is an interesting question. and i am not sure what the answer to it. going through a bunch of web sites and what is said on both sides of the fence. monica, what do you think? >> when you look at the run up to the iraq war, president bush

and his team spent a year plus building public support for the invasion of iraq and got un approval and congressional authorization to use force and by the time we were ready to enter iraq three- quarters of the american people supported that action. during the time media, not all. but most were skeptical about military intervention in iraq and raised legitimate questions and pounded president bush and his team relentlessly in the run up and even still today over the war. a lot of the criticism was valid and a lot was not. when you look at the difference of that coverage and president obama going to libya without congressional approval and the run up to syria it is like night and day. >> nancy pelosi and john kerry clamoring to get on board with the president in this situation,

it is strange to see kirsten, we remember they had very different takes on the war in iraq. >> i have a completely different memory of the run up to the war in iraq. i remember the media not being skeptical and pretty much banging the drums for war and being supportive of the war. i think they are not skeptical enough with president obama. and we never heard about the drone war for example. and for most of his first administration, and i think they did not show the proper skepticism and i am not sure if they are as supportive of the syria intervention. i don't see the comparison with iraq and syria. i hear the idea like let's look at iraq chemical weapons were used there. they were used in iraq when ronald reagan was president.

that has no bearing on the iraq war. and being, the iraq war was a war with boots on the ground. no one is talking about boots on the ground here. >> when you look at the polls, you are looking at coupleulative affect of being in iraq and afghanistan and you do see the weariness that came from those and the president talked about that as well. and i think it is a president who is not anxious to do what he is now arguing he needs to do because of the chemical weapons. we are monitoring as well. the house foreign services committee is on listen to john kery and chuck hagel and dempsey as well. here is a piece. >> this debate i might add to you is about congress' redline. you agreed to the chemical weapons convention. not all were here to vote for it

but the congress agreed to that. >> this is a restructuring of the redline. it is all of us and our responsibility? >> and remember saddam husseinoused chemical weapons on the iranian and curds. and there has to be consist espy in the argument. we haven't seen a lot of. that the israelis knocked out a syrian nuclear reactor and this administration should be singing the praises of israel by taking out the nuclear reactor. chemicals are bad wait until nuclear weapons in the hands of the regime. martha you are right at this point, obama shifts the blame. it is earlier today martha, i didn't draw a redline, the world drew a redline and this is congress' credibility and not just mine.

it is shifting the blame on other snougz so he is not out there alone. last week he was totally a lobe on syria and he didn't like it and that's why he kicked the can to congress. >> when the president comes back from russia get on tv and sit in the oval office and say i am the united states and this is what we needed to do. he started in sweden this morning and speak to the american people and make his own case directly to the american people? >> yeah, i think he does. and he needs to explain what the plan is and what he hopes to accomplish with this and i think he needs to convince the american people. but at this point, i have to say, it is an incoherent strategy that the president had from beginning to end, i don't know he can salvaging it at this point. and we didn't do anything about chemical weapons when saddam hussein used them against the

armennians because we backed iraq in the war. we don't always do something. we need to remember that. >> that is an excellent point and there is a valid point to remember the hundred thousand people who are killed in the past two and half years and whatever you think of john mccain's stance he is trying to get people's attention for the last two and half years. they were dragged out of the homes and killed and tortured and raped. i don't know what is the moral difference that so incensed the president at this point over chemical weapons as dire and awful as the videos are that didn't peak his humanitarian response. >> or responsibility of protect dock rin. when they went in lirria there was not a slaughter took place. and yet he went in to try to

prevent. it here a hundred thousand people dead over a course of two plus years. their humanitarian slaughters and disasters everywhere. look at rwanda and south sudan and so why now? >> how do we go in? >> there is an argument, i think he waited to long. the argument of the united states is a world leader and play a certain role in the world and certain lines that will not be crossed and he set the redline. there should be redlines, but the problem is he is have acted. >> and i think if the president came out the next morning after august 21st and gotten on television and said good morning to the america people last night at 11:00 we carried out a mission to accomplish these roles and we areective we would have a different conversation. and now it has taken such a long

time. >> and remember martha, we had evidence that chemical evidence was used back in june. we knew it was sarin gas as well as ben rhoeds articulated in his statement as well. thanks to both and thoughtful conversation and good to have you with us. we'll see next time. >> cool is getting started and debate over the education as millions of students are back in class. parents are expressing frustration with the standardized we'll debate over should have a say in the core. and a confrontation on a public bus causes controversy, weeks later after a driver called a passenger nasty names after she complained about the air conditioning on the bus. that story is coming up and a debate over the judge's

decision to change the sentence he handed down after he gave a teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old who later killed herself. this man just got 30 days in jail. >> i made references to the victim's age and control. i am not sure just what i was attempting to say that that point but it did not come out correct. what i said was demeaning to all women and not what i believe in and irrelevant to the sentencing.

one commuter near milwaukee demanding an apology after a rude exchange with a cranky bus drifrment listen to this. >> (inaudible) a h. seriously? the woman described it as

a verbal assault and that is a fair assessment it started when she got on the bus. and she asked if he could turn the air off. and she tried to get off and words were exchanged and words were exchanged. i was completely speechless. and i didn't know what to say. >> soon as i stepped off of the bus and i lost it and tears started flooding. i have been struggling with weight my life and bully. >> the company who employs the driver is planning a course on customer service. that says it all. >> there are now developments in a story that outraged a lot of people. a montana judge, sentenced a teacher to 30 days in jail for raping a student who later

killed herself. now the judge is having second thoughts on. that judgeed to ball scheduled a new hearing saying that the minimum sentence should have been two years. the judge said the victim wases the fran year old girl and he was a 54-year-old man. and said the girl was older than her chronological age and she was in control of the situation as the suspect. 54-year-old stacey rambold admitted to raping his student stacey morales when the case went to court. she was 16 years old and it is a tragic story. so the girl, she had taken her own life by the time it went to court. >> that's one of the reason the sentence is what it is.

there was an agreement, the main witnesses not here any longer. but the judge's remarks sparked the outrage as much as the sentence. by him saying she doesn't appear to be a chronological age. that were only relevant if it was two strangers and she said i am 25 and she was only 14. but the teacher knew her age, so it doesn't matter what she looks like. you know the facts. and i mean, that was disturbing. and saying that the a 14-year-old is in as much of control of a situation. and not only a 54-year-old but a 54 year old like super visor and not some guy she met on the streets. >> and the reason she prompted to say the comments. this was discovered by a counsellor who discovered that the relationship was going on

and three separate instances where they had sexual relations. and the question sthis is a legal term in this case. rape is a legal term in this case, right because of the age difference. it is a statutory rape case. it doesn't matter if she volunteered to have sex with this man, it is rape based on the letter of the law. >> strict liability crime. she could have shown him a passport and she's 20, but if she's 14 it doesn't matter whether he knows or doesn't know, it doesn't matter. it matters what the facts are. >> the judge who was elected six times and up for reelection for 2014. it is increasing the likability in the eyes of the potential voters. i made a mistake. >> i never seen this happen before.

taking to the air wave asks apologize and for his words. i don't know what i was trying to say it didn't come out the right way and he apologized and he's under the understanding that the minimum mandatory sentence of two years and that's what the man needs to be sentenced to. and the teacher's lawyers say, you are done now. and now the appeal's court has to make the decision. bottom line from my analysis of the law he will serve at least two years in jail and the judge learned a lesson. >> he could have said he made a verbal mistake but he backed up with a sentence. his sentence reflected what he was sayingment arthur good to see you. >> thank you. >> welcome. >> i will so you next time. we are waiting the first senate vote expected to get under way in less than ten minutes from now in authorizing a military

strike in syria. and the top national security advisories are making the mistake. they are working hard to convince the members of congress this is what we must do, go to war in syria. we'll be right back. s sleeping on the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how fast i fall asleep. ask me about staying asleep. [announcer] tempur-pedic owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. buy a tempur-pedic mattress set and get a free twin tempur-simplicity mattress. find a store near you at tempurpedic.com. [ all ] who's new in the fridge! i help support bones... [ ding! ] ...the immune system... [ ding! ] ...heart health... [ ding! ] ...and muscles. [ ding! ] that can only be ensure complete! [ female announcer ] the four-in-one nutrition of ensure complete. a simple choice to help u eat right. [ major nutrition ] nutrition in charge.

♪ >> all right. so a self styled pirate family struck it rich 150iards offshore. eric surfaced on a dive with his pockets filled with gold and a lot more waiting to be discovered. here's more from the west coast newsroom. great story, trace. >> it really is. you think about sunken treasure

and you could have snorkeled out this this find. the smith family had been doing it for years and they have spent a lot of times on this specific shipwreck and struck gold thanks to hard work and blind clubbing. >> i can't describe anything other putting my head down in the stand and wanting never to come up. this is the way it came off of the bottom. >> yeah. >> they pulled forth corfoot of the gold chain and ring and all told worth is 300,000. it was from a strip from ship. it carried 400 million and only 175 million was found. they don't get to cope all of it. the state takes 20 percent to

put on display and the man who owns the dive site splits with him 50 and 50 and even when you are out there finding treasure is rare. listen. >> we are taking a look at the ocean. and look at the needle in a haystack. >> you work harder than any subcontractors. >> this is well known the site. this was a basis for a 19sfen movie the deep. that was with nick not lte. and they finally found the treasure. >> and we could learn more today about the likely hod of a u.s. military strike on syria and top military and diplomatic advisors testify before the committee. there is a live shot and the senate panel is about to vote on military action.

the latest from capitol hill. >> and an incredible conclusion to an awful expecting case, the man convicted of the unspeakable crimes turns out he doesn't like prison life very much. he's found dead.

>> we are expecting the first votes on a resolution in syria... to be cast before the end of the day today. brand new hour of america live. i am mothera mccow an in for megyn kelliy. and the senate foreign relations committee and the plan to nail down the language and it is the another day of the hot seat and national security team and defense secretary chuck hagel .... grilled by members of the house who are trying to decide if military intervention is the course that should be taken. listen. >> the evidence proves that the assad regime prepared for the

attack and attacked opposition controlled and contested territory. at some point in the appropriate setting -- you will learn additional evidence that came to us today and further documents the acknowledgment of various friends of the assad regime that they know happen. this poses a direct threat to friends and partners in to u.s. personnel in the region. we cannot afford to hesbollah or any terrorist group determined to strike the united states to have incentives. to use chemical weapons. it ricks eroding the century old international norm against the use of chemical weapons. mike emmanuel.

hello, mike. top national security officials try to make the case for the use of force in syria. you have secretary of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs taking questions from bipartisan law makers and they are hearing a healthy dose of skeptism from democrats and republicans. there is certain about the u.s. being drawn in a conflict and why american law makers are not lining up. they are overdue to fine-tuning opposition force in syria and the top republican explained where things stand. >> i am 99.noin percent sure we'll have a markup and we'll do a portion of it in a closed

setting to finish talk about thin that are sensitive and move to the open debate. >> here are key points of the draft resolution as it is written. require the obama administration to craft a report about u.s. support for the vetted moderate opposition in syria and no u.s. military bots on the ground. arizona senator john mccain said the united states must do more. it is no policy without that. there is intense debate. and further than senator mccain.

to get enough wrestling with it. mart martha. >> wrestling indeed. and comments from dempsey saying he cannot discount the possibility of escalation. that will get a lot of attention as well. thanks very much. see you later. we want to bring you this fox news alert. while capitol hill discusses a potential strike in syria, we're getting credible updates on the syrian border with neighboring lebanon, cnn reports the presence of 2 million frantic to get out of syria as they become be refugees to lebanon. greg hawith this very human situation on the ground, greg. >> reporter: human and a lot of tension. the threat of strike is growing

d tension is growing in beirut, less than 40 miles away from the border with syria, beyond that the damascus center of the bashar al assad region, only 45 miles away. we went to the border and tried to get a sense what the feelings and tensions were. take a look what we saw.k just up the road from where we are, the border crossing between syri deputy foreign minister of syria to get people even more nervous along that border. he told the "wall street journal" today that if israel, turkey, jordan assists in a possible u.s. strike against syria syria would retaliate against these countries, lebanon, too, in the past several weeks and months have seen their share of spillover violence. the deputy foreign minister also denying any involvement by syria in a chemical weapons strike last month. we talked to one individual, a syrian now living in lebanon,

who thinks very certainly assad was involved and he knows what should be done. take a listen. >> translator: there must be a military hit. he killed people with chemical weapons, bashar al assad did. it was on tv. women and children were killed. there must be a military response by the americans or the european union. they have to make a move. >> reporter: we've got interesting confirmation of what could also be a major defection from the inner circle of bashar al assad. a source in the free syrian army rebel forces, who i trust has confirmed to me that a gentleman by the name of general allie habib has defected overnight from syria to turkey. habib was defense minister to al assad for several years and stepped down in 2011 and part of the inner circle to al assad. if this is confirmed and we don't have confirmation of that

it would be another crack in the al assad regime. syrian television saying they deny this report. he remains in syria. we'll see what happens with that. ient thes very high on the border and throughout the region. back to you. >> that's an interesting element to all of this, some questioning whether or not he might potentially join the opposition. we work to continue to take a look at that story of defections from the assad regime. thank you so much. we'll see you later. >> let's get you back to this story for a moment. obamacare could be headed back to america's highest court with the focus on the birth control mandate. critics fighting on the side of religious rights winning an appellate decision earlier this year saying they can't be forced to pay for contraception. it's now up to the justice department to keep it out of the supreme court. shannon bream joins me live on

this story. good afternoon. >> hello. that's not going to be easy for the justice department to do. there are now nearly 70 cases pending across the country. opponents of the mandate say it will make business owners violate their religious convictions by forcing them to provide birth control for employees, all types of birth control. the bucket fund representative says no one is challenging any's access to birth control but a different issue entirely for the government to tell employers they have to foot the bill. >> the only question here is whether our government can force religious business owners to pay for abortion causing drugs and i some cases contraceptives even if that's against their most deeply religious beliefs. >> reporter: because the courts have split on the mandate it is just the kind of case the supreme court could take up perhaps as early as this term that starts in october.

supporters of the hhs mandate say employers can practice their own beliefs but cannot force those beliefs on their own employees by refusing to make sure they have free birth control. john o'brien president of catholics for choice says the far right can't win in the court of public opinion so they're flooding the legal system instead. >> what's really interesting i actually don't think it's actually about contraception. the longer gain for religious extremists and ultra conservatives is to force a situation whereby their consciences can trump the consciences of other americans. >> if a formal appeal of any pending case is launched and the justices hear it, it can be heard this term with a decision from the justices by june. mart martha. >> shannon, thank you very much. coming up, new questions how we deal with heart disease after a new study finds nearly a quarter of deaths related to heart disease could have been prevented.

we will ask a doctor about that new evidence coming up. plus, remarks today from russian president vladimir putin about syria and diplomacy suggesting president obama will not receive a warm welcome during his trip to russia. we will discuss the russia factor in all of this straight ahead. a young woman left to die by the side of the road, as people described as her friend -- five people describe as her friends. now, her family wants answers. >> not everybody that you need that says i care about you actually cares about you. be cautious and be around people that you can trust. ♪ ho ho ho

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we have an update on a story we just talked about a few minutes ago. a montana judge decided to rethink his decision of a teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old and that child later

killed herself and the man she was having this relationship with got just 30 days in jail. trace has an update what has happened now. >> that judge acknowledged he messed up saying it appears it should have been a two year sentence minimum and setting a rehearing for this friday. now, the state attorneys have chimed in saying that's not necessary because they are appealing this to the state supreme court. unclear if they're looking for an even stiffer sentence, that appears likely. that judge you just mentioned is the one who said the girl acted older than her age, not a horrible beat-up type of rape, why he gave stacey, the suspect, one year and all but one month taken away. now it appears they will wait until the appeals court makes a final ruling and that man, 54-year-old could get a lot more

in jail. the victim killed herself before this went to trial and why they had to delay it in the first place and when it went into the judge's court to give her 30 days. appears this is a long way from being settled. goes all the way to the supreme court. >> a wicked call for him. if he looks li-- it looks like get off with 30 days appears not to be the case. a shocking analysts ining t related disease and death shows a quarter are preventable. why is it the biggest killer in the u.s. 8,000 people die from heart disease every year. the cdc addresses big questions how we treat such a prevalent disease and how so many cases appear to be slip through the cracks. joining me now, physician and author of "seven pillars of health." welcome today.

what do we learn here? >> what we learn here 8,000 people die each year of heart disease, 2,000 deaths, one quarter preventable simply because we need to screen certain factors. we need to screen for high blood pressure and treat it. about half the people with high blood pressure is not being controlled with medication. we need to check cholesterol, we need to check obesity. make sure and check if they're smoking, help them stop smoking and drinking alcohol. also, the diet and activity and socioeconomic environment is very important. to determine if they will develop cardiovascular disease and die of that disease. >> a lot of this is something we have known for a long time. you can treat blood pressure with medication, you shouldn't eat a lot of fatty foods, you need to exercise. what is it -- i guess people aren't having check-ups, don't want to take their medication, what's going on? >> what they're finding is african-americans are two times more likely to die of heart

disease than whites and find people in the deep south are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease. this is due to the stroke belt, the paula deen type diet in the south. what we're seeing is we see people again what they're eating, drink iing sweet eating fried chicken, french fries. the vegetables they do eat are generally smothered with grease or bacon grease and usually eat cess cess -- desserts after a meal. the silent killer, blood pressure, checking for diabetes, bmi, cholesterol and putting them on a healthy diet and healthy exercise regimen and monitoring them and making sure these are being controlled. >> that's the hard part. lots of people go to the doctor and the doctor say, look, you've got to lose 20 pounds. you need to get the weight off, you need to exercise. they say, thank you, doctor,

fill out the check and see you again next year. you can't impose upon people behavio behavior. >> absolutely right. that's why we have to educate and encourage and have some form of monitoring, not necessarily the doctors, it can be churches, cvs pharmacy, walmart. >> sorry to interrupt. we hear so much about preventive care and certainly, you know, it makes a lot of common sense. but it is -- you see things all over. you see posters about better diets and everything. has it improved over time? are we starting to make some progress that maybe it is starting to infiltrate that message? >> yes. we are. in fact, in this study, this is a nine year study 2001 to 2010. they found death from cardiovascular disease did decrease 23% over that period of time. we are making progress. they are finding major problems in certain groups like

african-americans as well as people in the deep south in that stroke belt, mississippi, alabama, louisiana, tennessee, arkansas, georgia, south carolina, north korecarolina. the stroke belt has eating patterns that encourage the development of high blood pressure and high cloel and diabetes and many times have obesity and are smokers and drinkers. >> important message. we hope it's getting out there because some of these things are fairly easy to improve your chances on in terms of preventing heart disease. doctor, thank you. good message. good to have you here today. >> thank you. coming up right now, the president's national security team is testifying, as we have been showing you throughout the course of "america live" today speaking in front of the house foreign affairs committee. here's a live shot of that as it continues to be under way, what to do about syria and how will congress vote on this? that is the big big question that faces that room right now. also, outrage after a young

woman dies from a potential treatable medical emergency and her desperate mother who now is spend herring days fighting crime as a police officer trying to figure out why her daughter's so-called friends did not take her to the hospital. >> as a police officer, of course, i'm suspicious, i'm very suspicious because that's not normal behavior. 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.

extreme weather alert. evacuation orders lifted at yosemite national park as firefighters have finally got an break in the massive wildfire. the rim fire sparked 18 days ago grew to nearly 370 square miles making it the fourth largest

fire in california history. nearly a dozen homes were taken down and this week's higher humidity and lower temperatures is now helping the thousands of firefighters trying to tame this blaze. no word yet on who or what started the rim fire. now, this incredible story today. preliminary autopsy results confirm the hanging death of ariel castro was indeed the result of a suicide. he was found hanging in his cell last night at a state prison facility in state central ohio where he was being held in protective custody. he was convicted of kidnapping, raping, torturing three women who he held captive for ten years. one of them, michelle knight you see on the right hand side of your screen, in a memorable dramatic moment, confronted him in court. >> i spent 11 years in hell.

now, your hell is just beginning. i will overcome all this that happened but you will face hell for eternity. >> that was the sentencing last month in cleveland. he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years. mike tobin is live in our midwest bureau with more on this story. so many mixed emotions surrounding this one. it's unbelievable this man is now, in many ways, out of his misery, it would appear. >> the okcuyahoga prosecutor, t mcminty didn't mince any words this should serve as a warning to other kidnappers they won't enjoy the captive side of the bars. the degenerate molesters are cowards and capture vulnerable children. this man couldn't take a month a small portion of what he dished out for a decade. castro had not been on a suicide

watch when officials at the cuyahoga jail determined he was not a suicide risk. his attorneys requested a complete psychological evaluation of castro and never got it. >> clearly, we had a concern because we wanted to make sure there was going to be an independent evaluation done prior to him going to a prison. >> they believe castro fit the profile of a sociopath. studying him could have provided information that stopped other predators in the future. castro was in protective custody, which meant he was che checked on every 30 minutes. he was not on a suicide watch which would have put him under constant observation. the cleveland mayor says his focus remains on the well-being of the survivors. >> thank you. a full year before students around the nation submit to the new common core standardized tests. the federally backed program is already causing a lot of chaos and confusion. parents filing formal complaints

they are not being given a sane their children's education. we will debate this really controversial topic as kids head back to school this september and the chilly relationship between president obama and russian president vladimir putin threatens to overshadow the global summit which is set to take place tomorrow in russia. we will discuss whether the president's efforts to change putin's opposition to a military strike in syria have any chance of succeeding. >> do i hold out hope that mr. putin may change his position on some of these issues? i'm always hopeful. ugh! actually progresso's soup has pretty bold flavor. i love bold flavors! i'd love it if you'd open the chute! [ male announcer ] progresso. surprisingly bold flavor for a heart healthy soup.

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secretary of state john kerry today making the case before the house foreign affairs committee for an american assault in syria. support from foreign leaders is equally important and has been very difficult to come by in this case. chief washington correspondent james rosen is at the state department for us. hello, james. >> reporter: in his second consecutive day in the witness chair on capitol hill, secretary kerry was looking to clear up testimony on tuesday when he suggested in his testimony before the senate that there may be some day when the obama administration might want to send u.s. troops to syria, if only perhaps to coral loose w wmds. accordingly today in his testimony before the house the secretary em phasized president

obama seeks no authority to put boots on the ground in syria and sought to bolster intelligence to confirm a report germany's intelligence agency intercepted a phone call between hezbollah and the iranian embassy in damascus in which the two agreed bashar al assad made a mistake by ordering the chemical attack in damascus. >> at some point in the appropriate setting you will learn additional evidence that came to us even today which further documents the acknowledgement of various friends of the assad regime, that they know that this happened. >> when congressman illiani ross lay tin nen of florida asked if our arab partners are willing to pony up to pay for u.s. operations in syria, kerry said, yes, members of the arab league have offered to bear costs.

then vladimir putin, his foreign ministry released a report that it was the rebels that released chemicals previously and could have on the 21st. and he said they could support the military action and then added this caveat. >> translator: only the u.n. security council can sanction use of force against a sovereign state. any other pretext or method that might be used to justify a use of force against a sovereign state is inadmissible and can only be interpreted as an aggression. >> reporter: the russians have steadfa steadfastly blocked meaningful action. for his part, secretary kerry, yesterday reminded lawmakers in the house there remain as broad range of issues the u.s. and russia still cooperate together from counter terrorism to the starke treaty to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles and north

korea and iran. >> that's true. not seeing eye-to-eye on this issue it appears. president obama will arrive in russia tomorrow for the start of the g-20 summit and on the heels of vladimir putin's remarks that suggest it could be a very tense few days. >> translator: president obama hasn't been elected by the american people with the purpose of being pleasant to russia. and your humble servant hasn't been elected by the people of russia to be pleasant to any. we work, we argue about some issues. we are human. sometimes one of usvixed. i would like to repeat global mutual interests form a basis for joint venture decisions. joining me now deputy assistant secretary, former for president reagan and fox news security analyst. what do you make of that back

and forth dialogue? >> you would think these are a bunch of fifth graders on the playground trying to one-up each other. >> obama saying putin looks like the boy at the back of the classroom who's bored and putin saying obama -- it would be funny if it weren't so serious. and secretary kerry says we agree on iran. no, we don't. they're helping with iran's nuclear weapons program. we asked for their help and asked for gestures for reciprocity and haven't had it returned. at this point, putin dances circles around president obama. i guess in the next few days he will find another opportunity to humiliate president obama. >> from the australian ambassador to the u.n., the president of the security council next month says the stalemate in the council between russia and china and the united states on the issue of syria makes it too great to address the issue of syria right now basically saying there is

nothing that can be done. the geopolitical focus, he said, rather, is now in the g-20 summit and hopes that the world powers can break this impasse. >> well, they won't. putin has made it pretty clear by his statements anything that happens at the u.n., the russians will veto. they're now in st. petersburg to have the g-20 summit. he's again going to make the point, obama if you do anything in syria you're by yourself. british aren't with you, french aren't with you, nobody, you're on your own. if you choose to do something, what the russians will do the threat they would give syria and possibly even iran the state-of-the-art air defense systems which would make any kind of attack on syria or ultimately iran very difficult. one of the big questions that has been discussed at these hearings that we watched over the past couple of days is whether or not this is the situation -- the president talks about a very limited strike. all we want to do is basically deter assad's ability to use

chemical weapons again by knocki out some of his strategic air capabilities. let's listen to an interesting statement just made a little while ago by the chairman of the joint chiefs, general martin dempsey. watch this. >> the purpose is to deter and degrade chemical weapons. it's the purpose that allows us to say with some confidence that our intent is to limit it. that's not to say i discount the risk of escalation i can never discount, i can tell you we mitigated it to as low as possible. >> he's saying we will try as much as we can to not get into a situation we need to escalate or where they escalate but you can never guarantee. >> you never know. he's saying once you let slip the dogs of war you don't know who will get bitten. the comments dempsey has made throughout not just in these hearings but a few weeks ago, months ago he's saying we're not sure there is a good option, not sure if we arm the rebels the

items don't end up in al qaeda's hands. he's saying if we start something we're not necessarily going after chemical weapons supply, not necessarily going after those. what he's also saying we're not sure what the response will be. they made a pretty good case to say weapons were used. they said why we should act. we want to punish assad, deter him from using chemical weapons again and maintain the president's credibility. what they didn't say at all is what they plan to do to do those things. what happens if assad calls the president's bluff? so we have a limited attack. the president's already said it will be limited, no boots on the ground only last a couple days. what happens if we do that and assad says i'm not deterred, will use chemical weapons again, i will escalate this. >> that exists either way. he could -- if we don't do something, he could say, look, nobody's punishing me, i will credibility is on the line and we will punish you and if assad comes back and says i'm not

deterred and not punished i will do it again. then the ball is back in the president's court. thti in vietnam. not a good place to be. >> that is very complicated. thank you very much. good to see you as always. >> so, it is september. the early days of september. that means that the kids have gone back to school this week across the nation. are they really learning what they need to be learning in school? a question all parents have and some are complaining already about the new curriculum. what they're fired up about. that your body needs. this labor day, don't invest in a mattress until you visit a sleep number store. once you experience it, there's no going back. oh, yeah! during the final days of our biggest sale of the year, every bed is on sale. queen mattresses now start at just $599. plus, 24-month financing on all beds. sale ends sunday.

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and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. what are you doing? we're switching car insurance. why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. [ female announcer ] with allstate you get great protection and a great price, plus an agent! drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now. there is a big debate growing in our nation's schools and heading back to classes, parents expressing frustration with the core curriculum saying teachers are spend doing much

time teaching to the test and not learning what they should be learning. at the kato institute center for educational freedom and host of the alan holmes show, fox news contributor. a lot of debate. on the conservative side, jeb bush is in favor of the common core are kric -- curriculum and michelle mall camcolm against interest. >> there's debate whether it is standard or it isn't. it comes from the national governor's association and council of two state school officers. but the federal government was heavily involved in pushing states to adopt, in particular saying if you want money from the top which was part of the stimulus, you have to sign on to these things. if you want waivers from no

child left behind many states and people think was extremely unrealistic and onerous, if you want to get out of that you also had to sign onto the common core. it's only now hitting school districts and people are saying, what is this thing? >> the problem is you look at reading and math proficiency rate rates across this country it's pathetic and embarrassing to have americans 55% not proficient in reading in major cities, new york city, los angeles. as these new standards have gone into place the numbers look even worse in terms of how we're doing in our schools. alan, what do you think? >> they haven't really ruled this out. >> some of the new testing is already in place. we saw numbers in terms of new standards of testing? 45 different states, 95% approved of it. most places we don't have the numbers in yet. we know what we've been doing hasn't been working because the numbers you just mentioned made sense to try it. if it doesn't work, throw it out.

this arose from the states. the governors did support this. they're the ones who started it. it's not from the top down. it is from the state level up. why not give it an opportunity to see if the national numbers can come up and compete better with other countries. >> is it the actual content being taught people are disturbed by? >> two things. a lot of people think these aren't good standards. we're told they're internationally benchmarked but then when you really press people behind common core, we looked at a lot of the best countries but didn't really benchmark it to anybody. that's the content piece. the other clear concerning piece is there is clear federal conversion involved in this. at the best rushed adoption of these things because they wanted to get that race to the top money. it's also something you have to dig a little, quite clear supporters of common core said they think the job of the federal government is

incentivize adoption of these things. you see a report benchmarking for success said that is the federal government. it is clear you have federal government control. we have the beginning of that. it doesn't make sense to say let's stlet a let's say the state police failed and now to federally controlled. >> that's not true. this is not federally controlled, state controlled. and misleading saying the federal government is controlling the curriculum, it's not. the curriculum is enforced by the local school board of the state and not as much a federal program you're suggesting. >> this is one-half of the issue. then we get to the actual teaching side. we all agree we want to see test scores improve and basic math and science and english and grammar fallen pa internetticalinternet ticthettio

the wayside. those things are taught and kids are taught a certain level of achievement. you have the teacher's side and a lot of fights in terms of tenure and teachers not doing a good job locked into their jobs forever and unions bend over backwards to protect them and the question who's really looking out for the kids and making them the top priority. >> the common core really does nothing to address these major problems. these are all rooted in the monopo monopoly. the fact of the matter is your public schools are getting your money your tax dollars whether you like them or not or use them or not. that needs to be broken. we need to attach money to students and give them autonomy and make them compete for students and try different things. this is very much headed towards a federal curriculum because the federal government selected the two consortia to write the test to go with the common core and paid for it. there is a good reason to feel we are headed to federal control.

>> it has to do with reasoning and what you need to and goals are not what source materials the teachers must use. that's up to the local schools and teachers themselves. >> it seems to me to get true reform, get true test forms and the knowledge everyone wants to achieve, alan, you have to be hope to concept neil has just brought up the fact these public schools should be competing. if you're the better school, you should be able to draw the kids who want go to those schools and give every kid the choice people with money have the choice to go to a better school. >> everything you say is correct raising the standard, what this is, should be given an opportunity to work, because the standards we have have not given us what we like. if this doesn't work after enough time is given, dump it. at least give it an opportunity to work. >> thank you very much. a lot of parents will be taking a closer look at this whole core c curriculum issue. thanks for shining light on it

with alan and neil today. we are continuing to watch capitol hill as the debate continues over military action in syria. we want to show you a very feisty exchange john kerry was part of moments ago when we come back. [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

we want to take you back to the ongoing house foreign affairs committee where we witnessed a fiery exchange between secretary of state john kerry and south carolina g.o.p. congressman jeff duncan who said not only should the u.s. not get involved but it's a diversion from questionable issues with benghazi. >> i'm not going to sit here and are told by you i don't have a sense of judgment.

we're talking about people killed by gas and you want to talk about benghazi and fast and furious. >> i want to talk about benghazi, four americans lost their lives. i have sympathy for people in syria and i think there should be a worldwide response but we should act cautiously. >> congress is acting cautiously, so cautiously the president of the united states was not accused of not acting because he wanted sufficient evidence. >> it's been 15 days. >> congressman. >> mr. chairman, point of privilege, this is important. i think this is important. i think it is important whether or not the -- we're going into syria in a way that the congressman describes which i think most people in america don't want us to do. we don't want to do that. that's why the president said no boots on the ground. >> i'm told that it's held up

there by jeff duncan in a hot moment in this campaign. it's a question of american resources and energy and where they belong. we'll have more on the hearings coming up later on fox, stay tuned for the latest. a lot of tension on capitol hill today. now this story we've mentioned, outrage over the death of a young woman in georgia, big questions about what her friends did when she suffered a potentially survivallable medical emergency. an emotional story. trace has the details. >> reporter: it's bad because everybody who knew taylor smith had a pretty good idea she suffered severe asthma. she was with friends and suffered an asthma attack and the friends did nothing. >> i don't know if they knew if she was diseased or not but they put her in a shower and tried to

revive her. when that didn't work, they put her in a car and drove her to this location in jasper and dumped her body in front of a trailer on the side of the road. >> reporter: dumped her body. the mom is a lieutenant with the holly springs georgia police department and said she's suspicious because it's not normal behavior for friends. one friend was arrested, charged with concealing a death. another arrests may be coming. the mom says she's heartbroken and devastated but hoping this will serve is a lesson to other young women, not to go out and hang with people you do not trust. she hopes by taking legal action she'll get more answers to her daughter's death. >> thank you. >> thank you. a quick break and we'll be right back. [ male annouer ] let's go places. but let's be ready. ♪

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weigh the decision whether or not to launch an attack on syria in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons. big, big decisions that are being made. we expect there may be a vote coming this afternoon on the senate side on all this. stay tuned for that. thanks for watching today. "studio b" with shepard smith with shepard starts now. >> shepard: thank you so much. the news begins anew on "studio b," making the case for attack on syria. secretary of state john kerry back on the hill with the secretary of defense chuck hagel to attempt to convince lawmakers and all of us. the man sentence today life in prison for kidnapping three women and raping them for a decade, found dead in prison. ariel castro. what happened behind bars? word of a new iphone could be as early as next week. we'll have the latest on what the device is said to hold. there may be two of them, they may have fancy colors and what a

processor. we'll get to it all unless breaking news changes everything on "studio b." first from fox