bill: okay, more news as we get it obviously. that was, you know, despite the reaction we got from a couple of our guests there, there was a lot said and a lot of work to do. martha: president has a lot to do in the convincing department over the weekend. we'll see you back here on monday. have a good weekend, everybody. jenna: we have brand new stories and breaking news. jon: president obama speaking from the g20 summit just moments ago where he is pushing back against from world leaders to abandon a strike on syria. what is the biggest division from among the group of 20. a woman who has been on death row for more than two decade for killing her young son. she could be boeing home today. why a judge said she deserves a new trial. how a monster tsunami like the one that hit japan could devastate the local economy and the local landscape. it is all "happening now."

jon: and good friday morning to you, president obama makes his case on the world stage, pressing his fellow leaders for military action in syria. i'm jon scott. >> , everybody, i'm jenna lee. happy friday to you. mr. obama just wrapping up a news conference at the g20 summit in st. petersburg, russia, warning failing to act on syria's use of chemical weapons would embolden rogue nations and terror groups to use more weapons of mass destruction. >> syria's escalating use of chemical weapons threatens its neighbors, turkey, jordan, lennon, iraq, israel. it threatens to further destablize the middle east. it increases the risk that these weapons will fall into the hand of terrorist groups. but more broadly it threatens to unravel the international norm against chemical weapons embraced by 189 nations. jenna: those are the stakes that the president lays out. the president is leaving a

divided g20. he says several countries are backing his calls for military action and he plans to address the american people again on tuesday. our chief white house correspondent ed henry is in washington. tuesday seems like a world away, ed, if we take a look at the last week and all that has transpired. tell us a little bit how might a presidential address impact the debate going on right now on capitol hill? >> reporter: jenna, you put your finger right on it. we reached the critical stage in syria all week. briefings behind closed doors, classified information flying around. from the white house, while the president is overseas, desperately trading to convince lawmakers not just republicans, democrats skeptical of supporting this mission. we learned something very important from the president's news conference which he does not believe he is anywhere close to having the votes to get this passed especially in the house of representatives. maybe in the senate but certainly not in the house. hear's why. i've been talking to some of the president's advisors all week. they are telling me was hoping

to have some sort after address to the nation closer to when the folks in the house actually vote, maybe after both chambers of congress act and in their hopes pass this resolution. then he would address the american people an launch military action at that point of the instead the president coming out and saying he will do this tuesday, suggests even before anybody probably votes, in either the senate or the house, suggests he knows he doesn't have the votes and has to get moving. he gave us a preview of that case a few moments ago. take a listen. >> that when there's a breach this brazen, of a norm this important, and the international community is paralyzed and frozen and doesn't act, then, that norm begins to unravel. and if that norm unravels, then other norms and prohibitions start unraveling. and that makes for a more dangerous world and that then requires even more difficult

choices and more difficult responses in the future. >> reporter: you see the president right there struggling with this even as he tries to make the case. let me put a finer point on it. just in the last few moment as spokesman for republican speaker john boehner who said he would support this mission. took a little political risk doing it. spokesman brendan buck saying in last few moments only president can convince the public that military action is required. we're hoping this doesn't come too late to make a difference. what that means, i spoke to senior gop aid, there is fear on the hill there could be 300 public no votes, democrats and republicans in the house by tuesday saying we're just not going to support it. if that is the case, tuesday night may simply be too late for the president to make his case if folks on the hill made up their mind. there are a lost republicans especially on the hill, who feel the president should have given the speech this week, before he left to go overseas, not next week, jenna. jenna: the president will look for allies on capitol hill. meantime any progress on finding

more allies in all this overseas? any progress when it comes to russia, for example, to support any sort of action? >> reporter: certainly not russia. the white house would point to the fact that the president had one-on-one meeting with french president hollande. is pretty supportive, probably the most supportive ally of all. you remember the handshake yesterday with vladmir putin. that is warmer than we've seen them before at some of these summits. to answer your question, bluntly, directly, no, no progress with russia. they have a arms relationship with syria. they're supportive of the regime there. putin made it clear in his own news conference that he will not support any u.s. military action in syria. where there appeared to be tiny bit of agreement, there was meeting on sidelines, not official one-on-one that both putin and mr. obama said today long term where the two nations may come together is in finding a political solution to figure out what is next in syria. they certainly don't agree on military action but a military solution to figure who is after assad in power.

jenna: so much for a quiet friday news day. ed, thank you very much. jon: there's some new information on how a u.s. military strike in syria might look. the list of possible targets said to be expanding as delayed action has given president assad time to move his weapons. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live from the pentagon now. so what are we to make, jennifer, of these reports that the battle plans are expanding? >> reporter: well it certainly stand in stark contrast, jon, to what the president said just moments ago. >> i was elected to end wars, not start them. i've spent the last four 1/2 years doing everything i can to reduce our reliance on military power. >> reporter: he also just denied reports that he is expanding the mission despite those reports that you mentioned that the military plans to now include b-2 bombers and stealth aircraft and that mission creep is already setting in. last week the pentagon presented

the president with plans that could include airstrikes but it is not clear at this point that the president is leaning that way or has made a final decision of the president defended a limited strike today, but admitted that it is understandable, people have concerns about what he called, a slippery slope. jon? jon: and what's the reaction at the pentagon? >> reporter: well i spoke to one pentagon official who said the planners had been asked to revise their target list and strike plans more than 50 times. and then there are questions from senators like susan collins of maine, who often sides with the president. >> what if we execute this strike and then he decides to use chemical weapons again? do we strike again? well, that's the definition of further entanglement. that is the definition of our becoming deeply involved in a war. >> think many people in the military are saying, now, we

haven't thought this thing through. we don't have in state. we don't have strategy and it makes them very nervous. >> reporter: in essence putting this congress the president opened himself up to the advice and potential veto of 535 generals, jon? jon: jennifer griffin at pentagon. jennifer, thank you. jenna: some are speculating that the president is trying to drive the republicans into a no vote on the syria resolution in an effort to disengage our country from this and other global issues. in an op-ed for "the wall street journal", deputy editorial page editor daniel henninger, the gop must support the strike for good of entire country. he says quote, an authorization vote on discrete world crisis will force inconstant mr. obama and focus and think about the world with seriousness it requires for president of the united states. republicans should support an authorization on syria for the same reason they are opposing him on obamacare, to stop america's decline.

daniel henninger joins us live. as we're talking about stakes here, that is a very, very high-stakes as you put it, that this one vote could help stop america's decline. why do you think that? >> well i think that for a couple of reasons, jenna. first of all, we have to understand that this is not 2015. we don't have one year to go in the obama presidency in which case none of this would really matter too much. we have nearly 3 1/2 years left in the obama presidency and that's a long time for the world to react and take his measure. he came into the presidency as i said in that press conference, he wanted to end the war in iraq, end the war in afghanistan, pull us back. he has had an explicit policy of lowering the u.s. presence in the world and working with multilateral institutions and i define that as sending the united states preeminent postwar status into decline. that he wants us to be less of a preeminent nation than we have been for the last 75 years.

jenna: let me ask you this it has been argued that the united states wants to bomb syria to teach assad a lesson. are you arguing or advocating that the gop should vote yes to teach our president a lesson? >> yes, i am. as i said in that, in the column, look at that press conference we just had, this sort of meandering unfocused stream of consciousness of 60 minutes by the president of the united states on a very crucial issue. i think if they authorize him to act he will have to sit down at that desk in the oval office and finally focus on a serious issue because -- jenna: why do you think it would change anything? >> the main thing that clearly has to change is the behavior of barack obama. he is the commander-in-chief. whether he wants to be or not. and with 3 1/2 years left on his presidency, this country needs a commander-in-chief, jenna. we simply can not set that aside for his presidency. jenna: peggy noonan wrote a column in the "wall street journal", same

pages of your paper. she takes completely opposite view. here is what she had to say. there is issue of u.s. credibility. if we bomb syria will the world say oh how credible the u.s. is or will they say we just bomb people because they have to prove they're credible. we don't have to bow to the claim that if we don't attack syria we are over as a great power. sometimes it shows strength to hold your fire. if we in the world don't know we are powerful by now, we and they will never know it. >> well i think one of the problems in that statement, jenna, is that it shares the kind of view a lot of people have about this, which is what is at stake here is nothing more than a country called syria. and that's not the case. it is about much more than syria. even as the president himself said, if in the best part of that press conference, we're talking about the destabilization of the entire middle east. this is centrifugal problem. it is touching turkey already, jordan. the iranians are every day supporting syria, if assad wins, you're going to have an iranian

victory in the middle east and all the countries there are going to have to acknowledge the fact that iran has achieved hogemny in that region. jenna: the american people heard that argument for two years. and for the most part if we look at polls they're against any action. so what does the president do to change their minds? >> he lead. he is the commander-in-chief. and, issues like this, i understand, that jenna, no matter how many arguments the rest of us make, the american people are looking to the president of the united states to make the case. an i agree with what we just heard about the dangers of letting this go until tuesday. i think barack obama may be ought to give up that round of golf on sunday and give that speech sunday evening. jenna: interesting you say that we tried to have ongoing conversation with our viewers during the show on twitter and someone said yesterday on twitter, i'm not war-weary, i'm leery of our leaders. it was a very profound statement. it wasn't partisan one way or the other. it wasn't republican or democrat. it was being leery. >> that is dangerous world. if the world decides that the united states is being

poorly-led, then i think we're putting the united states at risk for the next three years. jenna: we'll tackle the request whether or not it is too late in upcoming conversations. damage, thank you very much. we appreciate it. jon? jon: stunning video to show you out of california where a massive explosion levels a family's home. what neighbors say might have happened there. two teens are hailed as heros after saving a woman from an alleged kidnapper. wait until you hear their amazing story. >> we were checking the girl in the back seat, she is kind of attractive. all of a sudden the guys turn back looking at us. he looked in the back seat and he, blond female in back seat was saying help me, whispering it. i assumed it was a kidnapping. [ male announcer ] it's the adt end of summer sale.

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dawn this morning in riverside. that is about 50 miles east of l.a. aerial footage shows really nothing left but debris. a gas pipe fire still raging there. one neighbor tell as local news station that the home was undergoing remodeling. amazingly no one was hurt. >> my friend sees her going, help me, help me. what we're driving off, she is hitting that back windshield. we could see the hand and she looked frantic. can kind of tell someone was frantic hitting that back windshield. jenna: that was a dramatic 911 call made by two texas teens who helped save allege her from alleged kidnapper a after they saw her mouth, words help me. casey stiegel live from dallas with the extraordinary story, casey. >> reporter: extraordinary may be the understatement. the teen first took notice of the woman because they thought she was good looking. when they pulled up to the stoplight, she mouthed something

to them. that is when they figured out something wasn't quite right. turns out this had been abducted at gunpoint when she was leading a building in downtown dallas earlier, about an hour before. and then those guys noticed her in the back seat about 35 miles southeast of dallas. well those students followed the car for miles, about 30 minutes, while on the line with the 911 dispatcher. listen. >> me and another guys were checking out girls in the back seat, okay, she is kind of attractive. all of sudden guys look back, he looked into the back seat and he, blond female in the back seat was saying help me or something, whispering. i assuming it was a cade napping. hoping the car behind me is a police officer. >> correct. >> hope it is not. thank god. you guys are you asome. oh, my god get him. oh, my god, get him.

>> reporter: charles atkins lewis is behind bars charged with aggravated kidnapping on $50,000 bond. the motive is not clear whether he knew his 25-year-old victim. those teens, by the way, a 19-year-old college student and a 17-year-old high schooler say they do not consider themselves heroes, jenna. but i bet that woman would have something else to say all together. incredible. jenna: i bet she would. good for them. nice to know people actually out there are paying attention on the road for whatever reason that brings them to it. casey, thank you very much. >> reporter: yeah. jon: doing the right thing. good news. then there's this. a young man confesses in online video to driving drunk in a fatal wrong-way crash. look at the fallout for the video posted this week and what it could mean for his case. a football team looks on in horror as their charter bus goes on up in flames. the driver acting quickly to save those on board. the latest on a fire that shut

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jenna: welcome back, everyone. some excitement for a high school football team and it had nothing to do with play on the field. on the way to their game, the team's bus catches on fire. motorists on this very busy highway calling 911 to report smoke coming from the vehicle just before it burst into flames. >> just got on the freeway, it came up right beside me and, it had smoke all over the back end of the bus. jenna: a scary sight indeed. the driver managed to pull the bus over and allowing players and coaches to exit safely.

they had to stand in the rain. if that is the worst that happens that's not too bad. school's principal said some of the team's football gear may have been destroyed in the fire but he is glad nobody was hurt. the cause of the fire is under investigation. jon: wow. a arizona woman convicted of having her four-year-old son killed for insurance money is set to be released from prison today. debra mill key has been on death row in arizona for 20 years. she is going home to await a retrial in her case. a judge set her bond at quarter of a million dollars this week, six months after a federal appeals court overturned her conviction. the court find there is no evidence directly linking her to the boy's death. even a confession from a convicted accomplice is now in doubt. bring in the legal panel. fred tecce, former federal prosecutor. also with us, ashley merchant, criminal defense attorney. fred, this story was big news when it happened two decades

ago. i want to refresh people's memories. she was convicted of having her five-year-old son, the story was, dressed him up in the favorite outfit. said he was going to meet santa claus. handed him over to roommate and another man, who took the boy out into the desert and shot him. the allegation it was all to correct $5,000 in insurance money. how does a conviction, like, that fred, get thrown out? >> well, jon a couple of ways. i was thinking about this morning. i'm hard-pressed to think of a more horrific crime of all the cases we covered over last couple years. this was a terrible, terrible crime. the answer is how it got thrown out was the prosecution ultimately made a mistake. they had information about the credibility of the detective who testified about this woman's confession. and they didn't turn that over to the defense. there is this case, brady, where you have to turn over evidence to show the woman may be innocent. they should have turned the brady material over in the case.

if was prosecution i would find out whatever accomplice on death row and make whatever deal to make sure the woman doesn't get away with this. jon: two men were also convicted. one of them gave a confession to police and led them to the little boy's body. that is how they, how they found him. what do you think about that approach, ashley? >> well, you know, both of those individuals were convicted and neither of them testified at her trial the first time around. so it begs the question, of whether or not she really was involved, because the, like the appeals court said, there was no direct evidence linking her to this crime. really the most powerful evidence they had was this con special this officer found out he had other instances of untruthfulness. that calls into question whether or not she was really involved in this. jon: four other cases which the detective either lied under oath or, had to throw out confessions that he supposedly took and four other cases that were tossed out or confessions were excluded because he violated the

suspect's constitutional rights. >> right. and, a good defense lawyer like ashley will beat this guy about the head and neck on cross-examination but he still gets to testify to the jury as far as i'm concerned. that goes to the weight that they should give it. the question i'm asking, i haven't had answered yet by anybody is, how many of those things took place 25 years ago at the time? this case got overturned because the state did not turn over evidence about this guy's credibility. if it was evidence they didn't have in their possession, that is much a do about nothing. jon: the question everybody asks, ashley, what motivation do these two guys to have take a little boy out in the desert and shoot him to death. >> correct. jon: if they haven't been put up to it? >> and i agree with fred. i would want to know what those two individuals had to say. if i was prosecutor i would want to interview them immediately. i would want to do that as a defense lawyer. i would want to find out what these two individuals have to say. the problem is the state of arizona will have to make a deal with them. they're both on death row. i don't know if they're going to

want to make a deal with two men that killed a four-year-old. >> oh, well. you want to know about murderers, you need to talk to murderers. >> that is true, definitely. jon: the state said they are going to pursue the death penalty in a retrial for debra milke. turn to the other case out of ohio making news. an ohio man goes on youtube and make as shocking confession. his name is matthew cordle. this is the confession. he admits he was driving drunk when he caused a fatal crash earlier this summer. the video is out there for all the world to see. it was posted on a couple of websites this week. the question, what does it do to his case? it is my understanding, ashley, he hasn't been arrested yet. but now he gets on tv and says, i caused this crash, i was driving drunk and this poor man died because of what i did. >> this is every defense lawyer's nightmare. your client confessing without a deal in place. you always want to get a deal in

place before you have your client plead guilty which essentially what he has done on video at this point. jon: i gather, fred, his defense lawyer argued against him doing it. but he basically says, the defense lawyer says, look, he is taking responsibility for it. hire, this is a good man and he just wants to put all of this out there. i guess that is the best you can do if you're the defense lawyer at this point. >> nice spin, buddy, good job. because that is pretty much all you have left for you. this is why i let people like ashley do criminal defense than i do it. the only thing worse than clients is no clients. this guy fits right smack in the bill. guaranty told him by the way, buddy, don't shoot your mouth off on it. v. he did it and obviously didn't. he will pay the consequences, is it going to hurt him in court, ashley? maybe, serious, maybe there's a judge who appreciates the honesty and candor here? >> right. and the prosecution may appreciate that. the victim's family might appreciate that. they may, as a defense lawyer i would certainly be arguing that.

i would be arguing look, he did the right thing without any deal in place. he went and did the right thing and tried to make this right and so you should give him leniency because of that. the problem at this point because there was not a deal in place you're at the mercy of the court. jon: fred? >> those are all sentencing issues, jon. as far as liability it is a torpedo to his mid ship. ashley make as great point. when i was prosecutor people came in and i made a mistake. we're all human beings, human nature being what it is those people get further than people that get in your face. ultimately this may help him. jon: this could be used in evidence? they can introduce this in court? >> definitely can be used in evidence. the police weren't involved at you will. there would be no motion to suppress like we hear about because there was no police action in getting this video. it was completely voluntary. jon: ashley merchant, fred tecce, we'll let our viewers know what happens in the case. >> thank you. jenna: looked like a professionally-shot video. maybe he just like him shooting

himself but it looks beautifully produced. jon: yeah, i don't know about the production but it clearly was sort of professionally done. jenna: yeah. we'll continue to watch that case. very interesting. would you give him a break? i don't know. well the president is spending several days at the g20 trying to convince world leaders to back his call for military action in syria but back here at home we're hearing a lot of different stories. how is the media handling the possibility of this military strike? what are we hearing? we'll break it down in the media buzz coming up next. a tsunami like the one that took countless lives in asia happen here? a new government study raising concerns about a possible disaster on our nation's west coast. the scientist who led that study tells us her concerns, next.

jon: right now, president obama is just wrapping up that news conference at the g20 where he again pressed the world for action in syria. as he makes his case, the media are asking plenty of questions about the possibility of military strikes. pundits across the political spectrum are urging caution. it appears to be a far different tone than we saw in the buildup to the invasion of iraq in 2003. here with the fox media buzz, howard kurtz a fox media analyst and host of media buds which debut this is weekend on "fox news channel." and lauren ashley

a fox news contributor. what about it, howard, prior to iraq, much of the media was saying saddam hussein used gas against his own people, he is a threat to the world's stability, we've got to take him down. this time you're not getting that same kind of media reporting i guess. >> jon, the president is getting pummeled by pundits on the left and the right and what really struck me in the news conference last hour in russia, the skeptical tone of most reporters question and two, when nbc's chuck todd asked president obama a report in the "new york times" quoting top military officials not by name, saying there is expanded target list for an attack on syria being worked on. that story seemed to be a kind after leak to respond to critics these will be pinpricks strikes that will not affect the balance of power. the president said the story was inaccurate, before going on to say he couldn't discuss any operational details. jon: lauren, some are saying the pentagon is leaking stuff out

because they are not happy with what is going on in this syria situation and they're trying to embarass or perhaps shame the white house into taking a different plan. >> reporters have been known to receive these leaks or trial balloons, if you will, ever since i think the beginning of time when it comes to reporting. it is not a surprise. that through anonymous sources that people are asked to influence the debate. what i was really struck by the press conference from president obama, it was his understanding of the fact that the news cycle moves on and that maybe the coverage of syria will not be at the top of the fold or at the top of the newscast, unless i think these leaks push it there. i think that we have an appetite in america that's very much, you know, like a mcdonald's one where you want it quick and you want it fast and then you move on. >> lauren, is that because we're not seeing pictures we saw in the early days of the victims of

chemical or alleged chemical attacks? the media have stopped showing those? >> we haven't seen them. we haven't seen them since a week ago monday when we actually saw them for the first time and i talked to a top media executive who said, look, we're not going to show these pictures over and and over again just as if you wouldn't put them on the top of "the new york times", above the fold. you wouldn't see those same pictures every day. >> the problem of course is that there are not fresh pictures because it is very difficult and very risky for correspondents to get into syria to do first-hand reporting there. jon: the media seem to be reflecting public sentiments on possibility of another war in the middle east this time around. i want to turn your attention to a story getting a lot of news coverage in new york. a man put a video on youtube, similar to the story we had in the legal segment. he is claiming he sped around the entire island of manhattan, that is a little over 25 miles, in just 24 minutes. but the coverage, does that only

encourage copycats? maybe not because the cops went and arrested him about 10 days after this escapade and seized his bmw. but what do you think about that, howard? media buzz is the show, you're going to be incorporating social media and so forth? what about, does youtube encourage this? does posting it, does putting it on local media, does that encourage risky behavior like this? >> lauren will disagree with me on this. we're all guilty. i think some local newscasts in new york ran this four or five times yesterday when the video first surfaced. i would say it is news. there is always danger of encouraging copycats. it is rivetting video of the guy is going so fast. the 24-year-old idiot got arrested. >> howard, you don't run video for the sake of running video. people do that to get ratings but why would we want to see something like this? why would we want to encourage other people to do it? because we know that people will

be drawn to car chases just as they were drawn to the o.j. car chase. just as they're drawn to any other chase. when i was in local news as a reporter, as a live shot reporter who went from the 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 to different crime scenes to different murders or hurricanes, the thing that people really wanted were those dramatic pictures and it wasn't so much the content of a report or the information you could get from an official but, what drove that was the pictures and the what you could see. i would argue in this case. that those pictures, aren't that dramatic. it really just sort of shows fast-paced movement. >> even if all the stations were to swear off this kind of video everybody would go on lyne and watch it there. i found it to be dramatic and cautionary lesson how stupid it is to drive quickly that fast particularly in a place like new york. >> okay. now all copycats will be able to see it and do it.

jon: i hope we see a lot of video of them putting toe truck of his bmw 2006, z4. >> good point. jon: maybe put it in the car crusher, i'm not sure but it has been seized. thanks very much. we'll get media buzz on, sunday morning, 11:00 a.m., live. we'll see you there. jenna: unless of course howard decides to go speeding around mat hand at that time as a copycat. jon: he will not do that. jenna: it will be on 11:00 a.m. live. the president tries to rally support for a strike at syria at the g20 summit. what he faces at home. we'll talk a little bit more about that coming up next. ask me what it's like

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jenna: well a new government study shows millions of people

who live along the coast of california are at risk for a possible tsunami. the search comes after or this research comes after several recent deadly disasters including the tsunami in japan in 2011. you probably remember the other tsunami in 2004 that killed more than 200,000 people in indonesia and surrounding countries. the focus of this study looks at possible magnitude 9.1 earthquake over the coast of alaska which actually happened before and what would happen to the coast of california if we got a tsunami from that earthquake. joining us now the woman who led the study. lucy jones is a seismologist with u.s. geological survey. she is on the phone from california which is the place to be a seismologist. tell us a little bit, just in general, how realistic is this scenario that a tsunami hits the california coast? >> this is absolutely inevitable scenario on geologic time. on humankind it something that

happens every couple hundred years. it is bigger than we've experienced. we have had several tsunamis but this century, 20th century we've been very lucky. most came in at low tide. if they come in at high tide there is several more feet of inundation. jenna: we have animation that shows where the earthquake would take place in this scenario and with would happen as we move down the california coast. can you describe to us as would you would expect to see of the tsunami came from that earthquake. >> okay, so this is about the largest that would be reasonably coming into california. the worst scenario is actually the -- coast of california in this particular earthquake where we will see wave heights of up to 20, 25 feet. what that means is, if you're within 25 feet of sea level the water is going to get you. the difference is, a lot of california coast is cliffs and, if you're on the palisades, by definition your protected some

from these wave heights. but the low-lying areas include very densely populated, we actually note, there are 3/4 of a million people that lie within the zones, the maximum inundation by noaa and the state of california and of those 500,000 would get wet in this scenario. so -- jenna: i'm sorry to interrupt there. the hardest area hit according to what i read would be, as you mentioned the central california coast potentially which would be l.a. and long beach as well. how much of a warning would people get with our technology that we have right now? >> all right. so noaa's warning system would be able to tell us very soon after the earthquake if there was a big earthquake and put us into a watch. it is going to take another hour or two to be sure that it is a really bigger quake and therefore in the l.a. area it is about 3 1/2 hours between issuance of that warning and the arrival of the wave.

now, the other point, at the beginning of tsunami and almost nowhere is the first wave is the largest wave. sometimes it might be seven hours best largest wave comes in. jenna: wow. all i can think about, especially when it comes to california and i'm a native calfornian, san francisco. by the way if you're in northern california you would be totally without damage according to your scenario. bay bridge to plaza in oakland, fisherman's wharf in san francisco, beaches as you move down to malibu and laguna when it comes to california. all i think about california is the traffic in those areas. even if you got hours of a head's up what that could potentially do if people try to evacuate. how does your study help in preparation for these type of scenarios? >> the good news, when people really read this and realize the distance, you can walk out of a tsunami zone in 20 minutes. jenna: that makes me feel better a bike or, that makes me feel better, lucy. >> it is a very, very, small

part of the coast that is at risk because california's seaside is relatively steep. but for those that are at risk, recognizing that you have to evacuate, really is a matter of life and death. jenna: it is a fascinating study and as we mentioned at the beginning, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake actually did hit off the coast of alaska in the 190's. it is not necessarily a scenario as we mentioned off the top, lucy, that is totally unbelievable. a very interesting study and we appreciate the time today. thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: well could electric cars finally be gaining some traction in the u.s.? a look at new sales numbers suggesting that key cofriendly vehicles might be on a roll. a water main break cause as massive sinkhole in the downtown area of a major city. who owns that red car? we'll tell you where this is happening. we hope it is not outside our new york studios. there are barricades going up.

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jon: well this would be a bad start to your weekend. it's a stunning scene in oklahoma. a sinkhole swallows an entire car whole. there were two women inside. they are okay after managing to climb out a window. crews have been called in to remove that vehicle from the sinkhole. no word on exactly how deep the thing might be. wow. jenna: speaking of cars, new information on the auto industry today. nissan, chevy an toyota

reporting record electric car sales in august thanks in part to some price cuts at the end of summer but those numbers only a fraction of total sales from traditional models. manufacturers are hoping to build on last month's progress with creative new promotions. we talk to adam shapiro about this from the fox business network because he is a bit of a car lover himself. adam? >> i would be driving a studebaker if i had my choice. of the carbon creating climate change v8. talk about the electric vehicles especially the nissan leaf. the leaf had trouble gaining traction in the united states but in august leaf sales were close to 2400 which is a lot better. that is because nissan slashed price of this thing, $29,000. you still get $7500 tax credits. so a lot of people are jumping into the leaf. get 100 miles on a charged battery. i drove one of these things three years ago, it was fast as all get out. electric engines have better

torque. this is very interesting. in orlando, the largest rental market in the country for obvious reasons, theme parks, walt disney, universal all that stuff, if you rent from enterprise you have a chance to rent a for 30 bucks a day, a electric vehicle, leaf. there are 30 charging stations not within the theme park but close to them, but different places where you can charge the vehicle overnight. if you drive more than 100 miles and loose the chargings aaa will get you for free through the rental agency agreement and be secure back in your hotel. they are trying to get people to try the electric vehicles. one day to do it. 30 buck as day, rent a leaf and see what it is like to drive them. once you drive, you drove mostly 40 miles a day, most of us drive to and from work. you think running air-conditioning drains the

battererry. heat drains more than ac. jenna: see how many families give it a shot when they're down in orlando. >> and they're fast. jenna: not to go back to that again, reiterate it. adam shapiro says they're speedy. adam, thank you very much. great to see you. >> take care. jon: he could have been on the gridiron. instead he is sitting in a jail cell. from football star to accused killer. former patriots tight end aaron hernandez goes to court today to be formally charged with murder. an update on his case. plus, our coverage of the crisis in syria continues. the latest on president obama's push for action and congress's reaction as a crucial vote on capitol hill draws closer. ♪

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just about two days. with up to 48 hours of battery life, it's the longest lasting 4g lte smartphone. the new droidmaxx by . when endurance matters. droid does. jon: new developments and breaking stories this hour. jenna: right now the senate moving closer to debate on whether or not the u.s. will use armed force against the assad regime. we're going to be live on

capitol hill with the latest on that. and if the united states does strike, a chilling new report says iran plans to retaliate. we have new information about where and how that you're not going to want to miss. also, nasa readies for blastoff, we'll tell you what they're trying to find out about the moon and who may be able to see the spectacular launch. it's all "happening now." and now this fox news alert, an extraordinary moment at high noon on capitol hill. america moves one step closer to launching military action in syria. that's what we expect to see. hello, everybody, great to see you, welcome to an all-new hour of "happening now." i'm jenna lee. jon: and i'm jon scott. the u.s. senate right now convening a special session, the sole purpose to receive a joint resolution from the foreign relations committee authorizing the limited use of armed force against syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack last month. the full senate will begin debate on the measure next week. jenna: doug mckelway's live

from capitol hill with the latest on this. how's the vote count shaping up in the both houses? >> reporter: constantly shifting, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the president is going to have a really tough time getting this resolution through both houses of congress. of "the washington post" did a vote tally on the senate side s and it pretty much conforms with what fox news has determined. we're looking at 23 senators who are favoring the resolution, 24 opposed and a whopping 53 senators now undecided. that does not bode well for the president. the president faces even larger hurdles on the house side where many -- where all members face re-election every two years and have their ears much closer to the political rails than on the senate side. they are returning in cases from town halls, they are reading the polls, hearing the voices of their constituents, and those voices are how old and clear that they do not -- loud and clear that they do not favor u.s. involvement in the syrian civil war. take, for example, republican

congressman michael grimm from staten island, new york, who initially favored a u.s. air attack but has now changed his mind. here's congressman grimm. >> there is no easy answer here. i admit this is a very, very difficult situation. but i think the president has made it more difficult than it needed to be, and i think he's put us in a very difficult situation. and now he's really a passing the buck to the congress. and i don't think the congress or the american people think it's the right time to strike syria. >> reporter: grimm goes on to say that there are many scenarios in which he could foresee a necessity for u.s. boots on the ground in syria. for example, if a u.s. airstrike were to unleash chemical weapons or make them exposed to rebel soldiers, some of the more militant factions who could gain access, he says that would necessitate the presence of u.s. troops on the ground. and, of course, the president has said that there are no plans for such action like that, jenna. jenna: lots of comments from lawmakers, doug, as you just pointed out. senator mccain has been one of

the most vocal on all of this. he had some interesting comments this morning, what can you tell us about that. >> reporter: yeah, he did. he was doing a radio interview in arizona after a very heated town hall meeting. he said there would be an impeachment, i'm quoting here, there would be an impeachment of the president if they did that, and leaving further doubts to a protracted u.s. involvement or an airstrike itself. the deputy white house national security adviser in an interview with npr this morning said in this, and i am quoting: it is not the president's desire or his intention to use that authority absent congress backing him. so it appears that the president is now backing off that authority that he initially said he had even if congress can would vote down this resolution. that's the latest, jenna. jenna: we just saw harry reid there getting things started today. we'll continue to watch the action there. doug, thank you very much. jon: now to a fox news alert.

the state department reducing staff at two embassies bordering syria, telling all nonemergency personnel in lebanon to leave immediately and issuing a warning on travel to american citizens planning to head to that country. u.s. officials citing threats as the white house pushes for military strikes against syria. the state department also says it's reducing its presence at a diplomatic facility in turkey, a travel warning there as well. leland vittert is live in our mideast news bureau with more on all of this. the u.s., as we know, leland, has a bloody history in lebanon. >> reporter: absolutely, jon, very bloody, dating back to the 1980s when you had the bombing of the u.s. embassy and marine barracks. hezbollah is a very serious ally in terms of the syrian civil war fighting on side of president assad and, of course, financed to control by the iranians. as we look at this, it appears

as both the iranians and syrians are looking at way to try and counterattack in the event of a u.s. strike. obviously, that could come in the form of an attack on israel, also it could come in the form of an attack on u.s. interests, and as this intelligence is looking now it is becoming increasingly dangerous inside lebanon that hezbollah could carry out an attack against a u.s. target, conceivably the u.s. embassy there. it shows you, though, just how fragile the system is here and how every day that goes by there's more of a delay in washington in terms of a decision and then a strike, it's one more day for syria, for the iranians, for hezbollah to be able to man themselves. back to you -- plan themselves. back to you. jon: the question that always comes up, you know, is who are these rebels? what cowe know about them? >> reporter: that's the big question in terms of who are the guys in an american airstrike might help? if you're going to degrade assad, it's going to help somebody, that being the rebels. "the new york times" put out a

video that shows a number of syrian soldiers captured by the rebels lined up there on the ground, no shirts on. above them, the syrian rebels who then summarily executed them. just one of a number of videos that we've seen of not only brutal acts by the rebels, but also showing that there's much more of a hard line jihadist element that's really taken over the better-trained, better-equipped, better-armed rebels there inside syria which has a lot of people asking who really are the good guys in terms of the syrian civil war and, for that matter, are there any good guys for the united states to be on the same side of? jenna: thank you very much. lelandleland vittert from our mt bureau, thank you. >> failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations that they can develop and use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence. and that's not the world that we

want to live in. jenna: well, as the united states prepares to strike syria, or so it appears, there is brand new evidence that iran is plotting revenge attacks on america. our u.s. intelligence reportedly intercepting an order from the head of iran's quds force, and "the wall street journal"'s reporting that the message orders iranian-backed militias in iraq to attack the u.s. embassy and other american interests in baghdad after the u.s. strikes syria. that's just one part of the report. mark dubielewicz is executive correcter of the foundation for the defense of democracy, spends a lot of time talking, thinking, studying iran. nice to see you. >> hi, jenna. jenna: if we attack syria, what can we expect from iran? >> well, jenna, we can expect what the iranians have been doing to us for year, they've been killing americans; american soldiers in iraq and afghanistan, diplomats in lebanon. so it is certainly to be expected the iranians will continue doing what they've done

for years which is strike at u.s. interests and u.s. personnel. jenna: we hear that iran is involved in this, what some are calling a proxy war in syria, some would just argue they're involved in this war in syria. what can you tell our viewers about how much they truly are invested in what's happening and what will happen in that country? >> iran has gone all in into syria. they are providing military support, financial support, and the head of iran's quds force, sulemani -- the world's most dangerous man that no one's ever heard of -- has been on the ground with commanders, battalions, working with hezbollah and as gone all in to support assad in keeping syria as part of iran's regional influence and part of iranian regional hegemony. jenna: i'm curious about your opinion on this, mark, because if that is the case and they're all in and the united states has been very clear that we do not want iran to get nuclear weapons and we do not want them to

dominate that part of the world, in your opinion, should we be all in in syria? >> jenna, we should be all in in syria because of the threat of iran. it's absolutely essential that we send a serious warning to the iranian regime that united states does not bluff, and we are going to stop the iranians from developing nuclear weapons capability. the way to do that is to severely degrade assad's military capacity and make it very clear to iran that we are not bluffing. it's the only thing that's going to break iran's supreme leader, khamenei's nuclear will, and his reck fission that we will use -- recognition that we will use military force. jenna: if iran is the goal, mark, then why directly to iran instead of going through syria and trying to send a message through those actions? why not just focus directly on iran completely? >> look, ultimately we're fighting a cold war with iran which may become a hot war as iran advances closer and closer

to nuclear weapons capability. but let's make no mistake about it, when we go after assad and hezbollah and the revolutionary guard and the quds force in syria, we are hitting iran directly. and i think it's a way to not only send a message, but in doing so, seriously degrade iran's military and overseas terrorist activities. if you think of iran as a corporation, as terrorism and destruction incorporated, khamenei is the supreme leader, and this man b, sulemani, is the ceo and chief operations officer. he's on the ground with his men in syria. this is a way to severely degrade his terrorist capabilities. jenna: let me just ask you about iran quickly here because we've talked a lot about the nuclear program, and we're not talking about it now because we're talking about syria. but we have the new leader in iran, people are calling him moderate. now there's an announcement that he's putting a new person in charge of nuclear negotiations, the foreign minister also being called a moderate, also being called pragmatic.

some are saying here's another opportunity for the west for diplomacy in iran. how do you see it? >> if you extend that analogy as terrorism and destruction incorporated, if khamenei and sulemani are the executive chairman and the ceo, rue wanny and his foreign minister are the vice president of marketing and sales. and it's their goal to sell and to market particularly this illusion that the regime is at all moderate. i think that they have very little influence over syria and iran's nuclear program, and their goal is to create the illusion of moderation and of moderate change when the reality is that sulemani and khamenei are in charge, and these are men who are committed to seriously damaging american national security interests and are absolutely committed to building a nuclear weapon. jenna: it'll be interesting to see if the president speaks more directly about iran when he makes the case to the american people coming this tuesday. mark, thank you very much. great to see you. >> thanks, jenna. jon: so as we watch all these

hot spots in the middle east, new turmoil in egypt to tell you about. right now thousands of muslim brotherhood supporters are taking to the streets there calling for an end to the military government. this is the scene in alexandria, the country's second largest city. street battles erupting there with government supporters. right now security forces are said to be trying to separate the two sides. tensions also heightened in cairo today after yesterday's assassination attempt on egypt's interior minister. no one was killed, but 22 people were injured. security forces tightening their grip on cairo, searching cars, still looking for more explosives in the rubble. the violence raising fears that supporters of mohamed morsi, the ousted president, will start a new wave of attacks against the military-led government. the muslim brotherhood has condemned the attempted assassination. jenna: some argue, even on our program, that egypt is even more important than what happens in syria because what happens in egypt, as goes the arab world.

jon: much larger population. jenna: that's a good point. that's happening as well. well, here's something you want to remember the next time you clean your kitchen counter, or maybe you want to forget it. why scientists believe there's a link between good hygiene and alzheimer's. we're going to great into that. plus, the president is now admitting he asked congress for a resolution of force against syria because he could not honestly claim the use of chemical weapons in syria posed an imminent and direct threat to the united states. straight ahead, we're going to talk to a member of the foreign allegations committee, arizona senator jeff flake coming up, big questions for him coming up next. let's play:

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jon: the senate foreign relations committee moments ago delivering to the full senate an authorization for the use of

military force against the government of syria. in order to respond to the use of chemical weapons. the full senate begins debate next week. president obama earlier today in russia saying he understands the widespread skepticism about an attack on syria but refuses to say whether he would act if he fails to win congressional approval. listen. >> i knew this was going to be a heavy lift. i said that on saturday when i said we're going to take it to congress. any hint of further military entanglements in the middle east are going to be viewed with suspicion, and that suspicion will probably be even stronger in my party than in the republican party. jon: joining me now, a member of the foreign relations committee, arizona senator jeff flake. he is a republican, he also voted in the favor of the resolution. so, senator flake, you have said that the president, in your view, should have the authority to strike syria. you have also suggested that you

think the president is playing politics by kicking this ball into the court of the congress. >> well, i do. it was the president, regardless of what he says now, who established the red line. perhaps be he was unwilling to enforce it, he should have come to congress before he established the red line. but he didn't. and now his credibility and, to some extent, the credibility of the united states is on the line if we don't follow through. jon: ari reid has just said, apparently, in the senate that he believes thai -- they're going to get 60 votes in favor of military action. now, that may happen. the jury is still out on that. but what about the house? if the house doesn't approve this thing, what does the president do? does he go ahead and authorize a strike? >> i can tell you the president's making it awfully difficult, and the press conference he had today didn't help matters. he looks far from resolute on just about anything, and i can tell you that when you look at situations like this, we've got to look long term. and what, you know, our standing

in the world is. there are a lot of regional conflicts, other conflicts around the world where a strong u.s. presence or at least threat are important. and if you have a commander in chief who makes threats and then doesn't follow through on them, then it's just not a good situation going forward not just for this president, but future presidents. we shouldn't establish a precedent here where the president has to come to congress before there is any threat or slight use or small use of military force. that's not opinion the case -- that's not been the case, and we shouldn't establish that now. jon: this president bombed libya for six months and never went to congress to ask for authority to do that. what's changed? why this situation? >> well, that's the point i made to secretary kerry in the hearings, why in libya go forward and not even after 60 days, as the war powers act calls the president to notify congress and come back to congress, the president didn't even do that with regard to

libya. but now with syria you establish a red line, then you don't go forward when you have established beyond a reasonable doubt as the president said that they have crossed that red line with the use of chemical weapons. so it just doesn't make sense here. but from the congress' perspective, i think we have to look beyond president t and look at the presidency and think do we want to weaken the presidency further by giving this perception that we have a divided government in terms of the commander in chief's use of power? jon: i know that senators are reluctant to say much that is critical of another senator, but i just wanted to get your take on the newest senator, i believe, ed markey's vote in your committee voting present on this whole issue. what do you think about that? >> well, you'll have to ask ed markey about that. it's not something that i would have done, but he may have had his reasons. jon: all right. spoken like a senator, i guess.

senator jeff flake, republican of arizona, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: another big issue for lawmakers is the big news we just got on the economy. we have our monthly jobs report and some context on what it all means for us, and we're expecting former new england patriot aaron hernandez to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge today. a full update straight ahead. fo? yeah. ♪ dad: you'll be fine, ok? girl: ok. dad: you look so pretty. ♪ dad: i'm overprotective. that's why i got a subaru. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

jenna: let's take a live look at the dow now. it's trending, you know, 36 points you up, that's not bad. the labor department reporting 169,000 jobs added in august, that was fewer than expected. the unemployment rate dropping to 7.3%, but more americans stopped looking for work. the number of americans working or looking for work is actually at its lowest level in 35 years.

jon hilsenrath is our chief economics correspondent for "the wall street journal" and joins us now to talk more about this. jon, every saturday after we get this news on friday morning we're going to see the headline unemployment rate down to 7.3%, but we have that other headline about labor participation, and that's sitting at a 35-year low. so what is the most important be headline coming out of this report? >> jenna, i think the headline you're going to read from us tomorrow is disappointing. this was not really what people in the markets were hoping for, certainly not what people at the federal reserve or the white house were looking for. 169,000 just, it's below the kind of job growth that we expect to see in a healthy economy. the unemployment rate, you know, we really have a schizophrenic economy. the unemployment rate is coming down, but when you look underneath the surface, you see people leaving the labor force, you see pretty anemic job growth. so it's not a hot to get excited

about -- not a lot to get excited about, not an indication the economy's entering a growth phase. jenna: let me ask you a tough question, why isn't it better? especially at this point after the recession? >> you know, there's a lot of reasons for that. i think the big reason is that we had a financial crisis. it seems like a long time ago, but it was a very severe financial crisis, and it disrupted everything in our financial markets and our economy. and we're still getting over it. but there are a lot of other things going on. there's a lot of uncertainty about the rest of the world. we've now got this syria crisis boiling up, there's -- we've got china slowing down, there have been a lot of kind of headwinds. the car starts to pick be up speed, there are a lot of headwinds flying at the windshield that are preventing it from getting to a higher gear. jenna: it's interesting you mentioned syria, because there wasn't a huge reaction to the jobs report, but the stock market definitely reacting to headlines about russia or syria,

that seems to be moving investors. i read this interesting fact that if the economy were to fill the jobs gap within the next four years, we'd have to create 300,000 jobs a month, so that's double what we saw in august. and there's a lot of conversation about stimulus, jon, and about the fed and what they're going to do. what do you expect the fed to do over the next several months, and what does that mean for how our economy looks as we head towards the end of year? >> well, so this has been the trillion dollar question in the financial market, and it's why you see the stock market up and down all the time. so they're really obsessed with what the fed's going to do. the fed's been doing this $85 billion a month bond-buying program that they're trying to hold down long-term interest rates. they've been signaling for months they could start pulling this back, but -- and they have a meeting in a week and a half, september 17th and 18th. it's a cliffhanger. everyone i talk to, and i've been on the phone with fed officials all week and before that, they haven't decided what

they're going to do. a lot of people thought, well, they're going to start pulling back this month. with syria, with a disappointing jobs report, it's not clear they're going to start pulling it back. so you leave this uncertainty in the stock market about what the fed does next. i think we see volatility. having said that, the one piece of good news i see -- jenna: we'll take it. >> -- the stock market is still holding up to this. we're still around 15,000, that's actually not all that bad, so keep your chin up. jenna: we're going to end on a positive note. next week is a big week for a lot of different reasons, as you point out, jon, so all reasons to pay attention, and we look forward to having you back. thank you very much. >> great. thanks a lot, jenna. jon: and "happening now," former new england patriot star receiver aaron hernandez set to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge as his former team prepares for sunday's season opener. a grand jury, as you might know, indicted hernandez in the death of o din lloyd, a semi-pro

football player. prosecutors saying the former nfl star work orchestrated lloyd's killing because he was upset for him talking to people he had problems with. hernandez's defense team saying the evidence is circumstantial, they don't believe the state's case will even hold up. hernandez is being held without bail. jenna: well, the media is in the hot seat as the u.s. debates whether or not to attack syria. is the press taking sides? jon's going to debate it coming up. jon: that's right. jenna: and folks along the east coast will have a great view as nasa heads back to the moon tonight. a live report on what the mission hopes to achieve, that's coming up. ♪ ♪ i can't always keep my kids' socks clean. but at least i can help keep their underwear clean. with charmin ultra strong. i'll take that. go get 'em, buddy!

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jon: "happening now," new questions a objectivity as congress debates whether to authorize the use of force in syria. with our military preparing plans for possible action, americans are looking for unbiased information. some pundits, though, say the media are coming up short. one writes in the atlantic magazine, quote: syria coverage in america's newspapers is the latest example of purportedly neutral, objective press coverage that's bursting with contestable assumptions, often without the reporters and

editors involved quite realizing tear biases. let's talk about it with judith miller, kirsten powers, columnist for the daily beast, both are fox news contributors. so what about it, judy? his contention seems to be that the media are making a case to stay out of syria. he's not necessarily sure that that's the right cause. >> no, i think that it's actually the opposite. i agree with him that the media are biased in this one, but i think the bias that i see is the automatic assumption that a vote no against obama's strike means diminishing american influence and credibility in the middle east. that's the assumption i see because reporters love counting heads. it's so much easier to say will the president win this one than to ask the question is what he wants to do consistent with the advancement of american interests and goals for the middle east? that's what would make a strongest -- but you don't see a lot of debate about that.

you see whether, you know, guesses about whether or not he's going to win this vote or not. jon: he takes issue with something that "the washington post" put in one of its editorials in which hit said that the president does not need congressional approval for a military strike, kirsten. most people seem to think that the president has the authority to strike if he wants to. >> well, i think that's something that there's a lot of disagreement about, actually, and if you look through history, presidents have made missile strikes before. obama actually did it in libya -- jon: for six months. >> right. and there are a lot of people, and i was one of those people, who said that he should have gotten congressional approval, but there are people who do believe that the president has the authority under certain circumstances to launch a missile attack without congressional approval. however, in this case i don't know that he's met the standard. it would have to be, you know, for some sort of imminent threat or self-defense, and neither of those standards are met here. jon: yeah. we mentioned earlier, jenna

mentioned earlier an article in the "wall street journal" today in an op-ed piece in which, you know, the point is made that this is a war-weary nation, that whether we strike syria or not, it doesn't necessarily diminish united states power. it might affect credibility, but, you know, she makes the point that credibility is not necessarily enhanced if you're striking only because you feel like you have to strike. >> exactly. because barack obama has said something stupid which is to create a red line that he either lacked the willingness or ability to honor, should america suddenly be held hostage to that stupidity? when you see the way people are lining up like peggy noonan, jon, in the column you referred to, stephen hayes from the wall street journal, people who would normally favor military action in the middle east are asking is

this in our interests, does it make sense? senator kerry said there are 70-100,000 oppositionists as he calls the rebels in syria, only 15-20% of whom are bad guys. but how does he know that? and have we had the media check those estimates? do people agree with that? jon: kirsten, is it the memory of iraq and the weapons of mass destruction that is covering media coverage or media skepticism? >> well, i think it is coloring the media. i think it's coloring the whole debate, and i find that to be a positive thing. i think that the american people are, seem to be very engaged. they want to have more answers to questions. they're not taking it at face value, and members of congress as well are not taking these claims at face value. even the claim that assad used the weapons. people are saying, okay, that's a claim. we know the weapons were used, but how do we know they were used by him? the fact that people are asking these questions and saying if we

strike, how is that going to help anything and what about blowback? these questions are being asked, actually, i consider to be a very positive thing. jon: sir kirsten powers and judith miller, thank you. jenna: the united states may not be able to send astronauts into space at least for now from our soil, but nasa is still sending probes into space. in fact, there's a new mission back to the moon to investigate a mysterious lunar glow. the spacecraft and the dust environment explorer was completely designed, built and tested at a nasa facility near san francisco. weather permitting, the rocket should be visible along much of the east coast tonight. claudia cowan is live from mountainview, california, with more. claudia? >> reporter: and good afternoon, jenna. you know, scientists here at nasa research center in mountainview are getting very excited about tonight's launch, less than 11 hours away.

and here is a model of the spacecraft. it's, in reality, about the size of a water heater. it's powered by all of these solar cells, but its payload are all these instruments mounted on the outside, perfectly positioned to study the lunar atmosphere. the mission will focus in particular on the sticky dust particles floating around the moon. scientists want to know where it comes from and what's in it. >> and the reason that we'd like to investigate that is that there's a handful of missions going back to the moon over the next decade or so, and we want to understand it before we go and disturb it. >> reporter: along with a baseline reading of the atmosphere, scientists want to solve a lingering lunar mystery, the source of a twilight glow over the moon witnessed and even rendered in sketches by astronauts decades ago. >> some of the astronauts on apollo 17 saw it, reported it, they didn't know what it was. it was kind of a big mystery to them, so it's been hanging out there for about 40 years now, and so we're really excited to go find out what was happening.

>> reporter: once it lifts off tonight, the spacecraft will orbit the moon for a hundred days and for the first time ever in space, will relay data back to controllers on earth using laser beams instead of low frequency radio waves. and scientists say that those laser beams could make these two-way communications between space and earth about a thousand times faster than they are now. and if it works, jenna, that could be another giant step for mankind and for future missions into deep space. back to you. jenna: it's nice to know that there are still missions happening after all, claudia. thank you very much. jon: going to be watching for that tonight. desperate pleas for the safe return of two teenage runaways. the young couple dubbed a modern day romeo and juliet. their parents are begging them to come home now. also, scientists uncover a possible link between good hygiene and a brain disorder. coming up, dr. sue samadi explas

why being squeaky clean could increase your risk of alzheimer's disease. [ bottle ] okay, listen up!

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and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh! [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. jenna: well, there's some growing new evidence that good hygiene may be to blame for the soaring rate of alzheimer's disease. may, that's a big emphasis on may. researchers are linking the so-called hi gene hypothesis -- hygiene hypothesis to the idea that a lack of exposure to germs and viruses is harming the immune system. dr. david samadi is here, we've got to wash our hands because of flu season, on the other hand, if you wash your hands too much maybe you might get alzheimer's? how does that work? >> well, i certainly don't want to dismiss. we have talked about this in kids when it comes to allergies,

the fact that their immune system is really young and they are not exposed to bacteria, so they haven't really built up a lot of immunity. whether it's going to be the same kind of idea for alzheimer's in the elderly, i'm not sure. but we've spoken about the fact that alzheimer's is becoming a real problem. men and women are living longer and longer, and the numbers -- jenna: some of the statistics are startling, different ones being used, one in three people will suffer from some sort of dementia in their life. that's a very high statistic. >> absolutely. and we have over five million americans suffering from this disease as we speak. those numbers are going to be close to 20 million by 2050. so the question is, is it really the wear and tear and the fact that we're living longer? we never used to have all the cardiac stents and statens and cholesterol medications. so now people instead of living 65, 70, they're going to their 80s, and maybe that's just the wear and tear of the fact that we live longer.

jenna: when we see this information, we ask the question what can we do about it. so your saying for your children, maybe don't worry about them being too clean, but for you it's okay tolean? how do you work the hygiene hypothesis into real life? >> well, i think it's a nice theory, but i think even kids, you know, we all grew up playing soccer in the field, a little bit of dirt, it's perfectly fine. i don't think you need to be compulsive about this. but i think when it comes to alzheimer's in my opinion, it's a little bit pushing it. and i think it's a nice theory to lack at, jenna, but there's so many other factors. almost every week on sunday house call we talk about diety issues, fatty acid can cause alzheimer's, maybe too much copper in our water and other things. this is looking at -- jenna: that's what i was looking at, 192 countries done by came bridge university -- cambridge university and seems like quite a study. what would be the turning point where you would say, you know, this is actually a direct tie,

and how do you look at it? because all of us hear the research on a weekly basis from your show and others, and tsa it's hard to know what to do with the information. >> you have to be very skeptical about some of these studies, and, again, i'm not dismissing this. but this is an observational study meaning we don't really have a control group. this is what they observed, you know, for example, between the u.k. and france versus nigeria and cambodia, there's about 10% higher chance of alzheimer's in those countries that keep clean and don't have enough bacterias. that's just an ons sayings. -- observation. who's reporting this, who's diagnosing it? for example, in this country we have all the mris in the world. we can diagnose, and we report alzheimer's. maybe it's not being reported the same way in those countries. so you have to question this. what's the message to a lot of people out there? i would continue to do the hand wash -- [laughter] jenna: please watch your hands. >> absolutely. i would still continue to have good hygiene. but i think alzheimer's is

something we have to deal with later. jenna: we look forward to talking about it. great to have your perspective, doctor, so thank you for that. jon? jon: well, senate majority leader harry reid just said he believes he can get 60 votes to support a military strike on syria. but the question of that support seems to be fading fast in congress. the task ahead for president obama to win over his skeptics as he returns to washington from the g20 summit of world leaders. we are live at the white house. plus, running for our heroes then and now. the inspiration for races around the world to keep alive the memory of 9/11. ♪ ♪ ♪ ho ho ho

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jon: next wednesday, september 11th,e will remember that horrific day 12 years ago when this nation was attacked, and in preparation for that anniversary, tens of thousands of runners across dozens of cities coast to coast and overseas are taking part in races so that we never forget the sacrifices of the heroes who lost their lives that day and have given their lives in the wars since. the races are hosted by the travis manion foundation. he was killed by a sniper in iraq back in 2007 while protecting his battalion. before his final deployment, travis visited rescue 1, the fire company in lower manhattan, that lost nearly all of its brethren when the twin towers came down, a visit that inspired travis and gave him a deeper passion about what he was actually fighting for. well, ryan manoin is president of the foundation, our guest now. you decided to take the

unfortunate death of your brother and turn it into something positive through the travis manion foundation. you are supporting military veterans, widows, children and others who lost their lives on 9/11. >> yes. we're excited to be back here for another year of bringing together communities to get out around 9/11 and remember the sacrifices of not only our military, but our first responders as well. jon: so you got these 5k runs going on this weekend in cities around the country, right? tell us some of the bigger ones. >> yeah. well, you know, actually it's around the world, so it's really exciting. our race series kicks off this weekend. we actually had one last weekend in austin, texas, but the majority of our races are this weekend. some of our biggest races are gown to be virginia beach, houston, texas, san diego, california, annapolis, maryland, and doils town, pennsylvania, right where the races began.

jon: 9/11heroesrun.org is the web site. if people want to get involved, run a 5k race i imagine they can still register? >> absolutely. you can register on race day, from now up until race day. and, you know, it's more than just a run. this is a community event. so even if you're not a runner, you can come out to your local community where a run is being held, get out on the side of the street, cheer for the people that are running and make it a day to teach your family about the sacrifices of 9/11. jon: what would travis think about all this? >> i think he'd be amazed, and, you know, but i also think that he would be right here alongside pushing forward and doing this with us. because, you know, nothing was more important to him than making sure that we honor the men and women that serve our country so proudly. jon: well, i kno you've got more than 30,000 racers expected, 53 races -- as you point out -- around the world. it's really an amazing project.

travis -- i'm sorry, ryan manion, thank you so much for bringing us the information. >> thank you so much. jenna: well, peyton manning plays a game for the ages to kick off the nfl season, but one newspaper may have a gaffe for the ages. this is very close to jon's heart. j. jon: yes. jenna: see the headline naming a depp very quarterback, just the wrong one. that's coming up. ♪ [fuzz pile] we sure ve it great here. [curly fry] i know, right. [fuzz pile] movies,music,space as far as the fry can see. [bubble wand] ha.good one. [jelly animal] a great storm comes. we're all doomed. [bubble wand] that guy isn't all there. [fuzz pile] come on,it's a honda,they're built to last... [announcer] we understand life in a minivan. introducing the first minivan with an available built-in vacuum. start something special in the redesigned

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>> he is throwing in the end zone. that is off side. >> the football time, this is

what can happen every time the denver broncos win. palt balt knocked us out of the playoffs and so this is a cam backment >> john actually likes the denver broncos. but pay ton manning, the then year old peyton manning through accept touch touches to defeat the baltimore ravens and the columbus dispatch might need a update on who is quarterbacking the denver. they credited john elway with the touchdowns, only issue is that eh lway is retired. >> he is vice-president of football operations and not actually taking the fold. >> what does manning have to do to get good press these days? >> i am sure they will put out a retraction.

>> he's very happy with the numbers. i am sure they are crying from indianapolis. >> no where to go but up. >> have yourself a great weekend. i certainly am. >> thanks for joining us. america live starts right now. >> we begin with a fox news alert for you. president obama is about to head home from the g20 summit in russia this hour and facing some of the most crucial days of his president so. welcome to america live everyone. i am allyson cameota in for megyn kelliy. he acknowledged the dope devoid over the call to military intervention in response to the assad regime using chemical weapons against its own people. the president intends to make the case to the american people in a white house address tuesday night. by then many in congress may have made up their minds. as of