we played for $100. jim had 100 bucks and the winner was going to get to keep it. we won. i left it in my pocket. i actually have jim courier's dough. >> party! fox news confirming u.s. spy planes are flieght skies over syria possibly preparing form s. airstrikes against isis in syria. eric: i'm eric in for bill hemmer. syria asking the u.s. ask permission before launching any attacks. >> reporter: if airstrikes in

syria are ever going to happen, the pentagon needs to know what kinkind of fire power isis has. the white house has been careful to say president obama hasn't made a decision to pursue action in syria, but these flights against militants, the president once lumped in with what he called a jv tear vifts, if the president wants to unleash an aerial assault in isis this surveillance is necessary. eric: the pentagon coordinating with the syrian government on these strikes? >> reporter: there is no coordination. the obama administration is

candid about saying they are not look for permission before they launch surveillance strikes or potential airstrikes. president obama has been saying for years that syrian president bashar al-asaad must go. as we know, he's still there. now his foreign minister is warning the white house they better call damascus to ask for permission for any airstrike. he said any airstrike not coordinated "damascus will be considered an address. the state department is saying that in their pursuit, their global pursuit of isis terrorists, borders are noting if to be something they are too worried about. eric: isis wiped out that syrian border as the islamic state.

martha: the chaos is not limited to syria or iraq. two of our allies. united arab emirates and egypt carried out air strikes in libya without notifying the united states which is highly unusual. what does this mean that egypt and the uae carried off these airstrikes without notifying us. >> egypt gets major money from the united states, more thans a billion dollars per year. american diplomats furious about this, the fact that they didn't know about it. this is one of the problems on president obama's desk that he has many enemies and allies are not informing us of what they are doing before they do it. on a number of foreign policy

front the right house has been reactionary as opposed to anticipating something, then acting. we have seen that with russia and ukraine. there have also been a number of intelligence failures and rescue missions. we don't know the next step of what putin was going to do. if there is consultation there can be a plan or the u.s. can say we are about to strike syria, this is not the best time. but they were caught flat footed on this, that's a major challenge. martha: what are you hearing about syria and assad. the president called for his ouster, now we may be pulling off ma knew ofs in syria that might be to his benefit. >> it's a big continues from a year ago when the president said he would go to congress for the strikes in syria. a totally dinlt situation now. we don't have the element of

surprise here, and number two, congress returns in a couple weeks and the president is going to get some major pressure the left. some are saying if you are going to do airstrikes, you have got to come to the united states. republicans are going to say where are you getting the money for these operations. he will have to make major decisions in the coming days and deal with a congress that will give him criticism on both sides. martha: * the biological weapons and assad stepping over the so-called line and the president couldn't get congressional approval to do anything about that. eric: we are learning more about what led to the release of theo curtain. the white house quietly asked

qatar for help. they insist that no ransom was paid to the died-linked militants who held curtain for almost two years. martha: tensions escalating on the border of ukraine and russia. forces retained six paratroopers who crossed the border near donetsk. it comes one way after you a crane accused russia of crossing over their border with tanks. today vladimir putin and the president of the ukraine are sitting down together at a summit. eric: thette was shaken again in california. this is the damage from that powerful quake that happened early sunday morning. the u.s. geological survey

estimates the 6.0 quake cause an estimate $1 billion in damage when it hit at 3:30 in the morning at napa. now two days later the area is trying to get back to normal, though they say a full reconsider are you could take two more months. they are calling for better earthquake prevention orders. >> most buildings are not earthquake proof, they are designed to get people out safely, that's it. eric: claudia cowan has more. how is the recovery going this morning? >> reporter: slow and go. obviously everyone here hoping to get back on their feet as soon as possible. when you see the damage to the napa historical society you know full recovery will take many,

many months, even if these old buildings can be rebuilt at all. this building dates back to 1901. a team of even spectors and out to assess the damage, re tagging buildings. tourism official are the trying to get the word out that most of this wine country is just fine and they want visitors to come and enjoy the tasting rooms, restaurants and resorts. signists say this quake was a wakeup call. had it struck during the day or been on a major faulty like the san andreas it could be been worse. , there was a 10-second watching before the ground shook. they say it could be costly bringing it to the public but it could be worth it with the big

one looming in california's future. >> you could shut off the fast line or manufacturing lines. there is a life safety and economic benefit from having this system in place. >> reporter: it will be a huge economic hit for many of these downtown businesses. the timing couldn't be worse with the labor day holiday weekend just days away. eric: another day of schools that are closed? >> there are 30 schools in the napa unified school district. 20 of those schools have been given the green light but others are needing repair work. so 18,000 kid attending school today. it's a pit after snow day for them. when should find out whether

classes will resume tomorrow. eric: claudia co claude thanks . martha: new reports that those lost emails in the irs scandal may not be lost anymore. lois lerner's blackberry was wiped clean right after the congressional hearings began. very odd. eric rrg efforts to boycott burger king. there are plans to move it overseas. is it un-american. martha: are airstrike to come and how soon? general jack keane, next. >> we have to stop and think what's important here. the strategic instate is to

protecting the american people. u a new catalytic converter when all you got is a loose gas cap. what? it is that simple sometimes. thanks. now let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of the good 'ol midas touch. hey you know what? i'll drive! and i have no feet... i really didn't think this through. trust the midas touch. for brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling)

eric: there was another night of airstrikes by israel in gaza city as israel tries to stop the

barrage of rockets from gaza. israel officials gave residents warning to evacuate so they would not be hurt. israel is stepping up the pressure on the terrorist group ma mass. so far 2,000 palestinians have died. on the israeli side 68 people have been killed. martha: u.s. surveillance flights have begun and are over the skies in syria monitoring the movements of isis terrorists, a step that could be finding intelligence in order to set up airstrikes over syria. a step that retired general bob scales says is necessary. >> that's their headquarters. if you can't strike isis in

their homeland and where they are protected, the idea of taking them down off time is virtually impossible. obviously there is a will the to consider here in terms of where these strikes would take place, where they would be most effective. what do you think the mission is that's underway now? >> we are doing detailed surveillance. we have been taking photos of this area for some time, i think we have been using high-altitude surveillance fixed wing agriculture as well. what we want to do now is get the details of those targets so we can use our precision-guided munitions if the president changes his policy and giving central command headquarters the go ahead to make strikes. martha: what about assad, assad

is saying we need permission to do any of these missions over his territory. this president called information the ouster of assad. there is a lot of political complications between factions in syria that are a factor. >> this is not syria. this is the islamic state. assad is not challenging the territory that isis has taken from him which is interesting in and of itself accept around aleppo. but the rest of it he has give to the islamic state. he has given it up to isis. the fact of the fatter is, the free syrian army are the people on the ground that were vetted by the central intelligence agency two years ago,

clinton-petreas recommended they be arm. and now we are arpg them with tow missiles. they are the on group that has had success against isis. we want to bring isis down so the free syrian army can gain momentum against the bashar al-asaad regime. martha: that's something you have been calling for for some time. to support the free syrian army within they could taple the assad government and that would be debilitating to isis. >> they would contest isis as well. if they take aware isis' support infrastructuply bases, their troop staging,

command and control areas. training areas for the foreign fighters streaming in. this is their major sanctuary. they are he can posed. they will try to protect prime minister. but we have precision guided munitions and we'll be effective. martha: we know we are flying surveillance planes over syria. the president is no doubt trying to bring congress and the american people into the fold here so that they will be part of the decision-making process. is it necessary? is it politically necessary? and is it wise to handle it this way? >> i think yes certainly i agree that is what he is doing, and i think that the bar bar -- the f james foley got the world's

attention and the americans focused on it, some for the first time. we could have used his leadership long before now. a couple years ago in syria and certainly when isis began to grow, the institute fourth study of war has been tracking us for 2 1/2 years. so certainly our intelligence services have been providing this detailed data to the president on a regular basis. but he has not been talking about it, only recently when mosul fell that he began to get involved in what was taking place here. the american people are finally understanding that isis is attacking u.s. vital interests in the region and destabilizing the middle east and is a threat to the security of the american people. martha: general, thank you very much. always good to speak with you. what do you think? should the united states go after these isis targets in

syria that have been mapped out for some time as general keane has point out? sent us a tweet @marthamaccallum or week on eric shown. that's where we are at. eric: we'll talk to john bolton on whether these drone strikes are too little too late. you are on a flight, it turns out the guy behind you bought a $22 gadget that stops you from reclining your seat. that caused a flight that diverted a flight. martha: burger king is in a

merger to move their operations overseas. now there is a call for a boycott but they are just trying to avoid taxes.

eric: some people this morning want to dethrone burger king and say that chain should not have it their way. it's the latest american chain trying to move its company to a foreign country to avoid higher

taxes. apparently a lot of american corporations are doing that. they are trying to buy the canadian chain tim more -- tim m hortons. this is unamerica to move a huge corporation to another country to skip out on taxes. >> reporter: the stries surprise here is not that burger king is jumping ship for lower taxes in canada. the surprise is, one p warn buffet, one of the principle supporters of obama on taxes. warn buffet is helping usher burger king out of the country.

yet president obama calls these companies corporate deserters. he says they are unpatriotic but here is his big supporter warn buffet helping them jump ship. eric: if you are an american company and trying to renounce your citizenship, why doesn't warren buffet whisper in the president's ear, lower corporate taxes and you will still get the income. >> reporter: we have a list of 47 companies that exited the united states because we have a corporate tax rate of 37% that's the largest in the world. eric: gigantic well-known names.

pfizer. >> reporter: they tried to do it then reversed themselves. there are two ways of going around this. the president and department krats want to put a fence around america. make them pay up. the alternative is lower the corporate tax rate and they will stay and they will bring back the $2 trillion they got parked overseas to help america's economy. eric: why don't they do that? >> reporter: the president does not want to lower texass on anybody. he regards taxation as a form of punishment, a kind of fairness. so he won't lower taxes. we'll just try to fence them in. eric: you think all these major corporations will leave, we won't have the tax income because of that. the revenues of the federal government will go down. report rrp that would be my

opinion but it's bad policy. the president is going to try to fence them in and stop them leaving. they are paying high tax rates here, they want out. eric: you think burger king will go canadian? >> reporter: obviously not. it's a fight about breakfast food, by the way. eric: or you can watch stu later on the fox business network. the latest on these inversions and what the authorities can do about it. martha: officials said lois lois lerner's emails were gone. what one government watchdog just discovered. eric: the president comparing the capabilities of isis to a jv

team. they are trying to walk that back. what it means for the growing threat if the u.s. can stop the islamic terrorists.

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fiber one. new fiber one streusel. martha: president obama down playing the comments that isis is a jv team. >> the president was not singling out isil he was talking about a threat posed by a range of extremists around the globe. many of them do not have designs on attacking the west or the united states. martha: allen west saying the obama administration is failing to confront the isis threat. >> it's not so much as a lack of

understanding, it's a dismissal because they don't want to contend with this enemy. any time you deal "an enemy of threat you want to do it in the inand tile stages. when yostages. martha: he says -- he was asked about isis in the question. he says if a jv team puts on lakers uniforms it doesn't make them kobe bryant. i think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin laden and disputes that are mostly sectarian. basically question is, ernest is

saying the president didn't under estimate this group. >> actions speak louder than words. whether it's what he said then or two weeks ago. it's not a coincidence there is air surveillance over syria now. i don't think you make a statement like you did after the death of james foley and not take action. martha: the president said on august 9 -- we have the sound bite. >> there is no doubt their advance, their movement the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and i think the expectations of policy makers both in and out of iraq. martha: is he saying he underestimated this group?

>> more or less. the jv comments was insip i'd. he goes on to justify isis taking fallujah. he says, look, that's a conservative sunni town so these things happen. at the root of all this is he cannot admit to himself what a catastrophe his policy has been in syria and iraq. it created the credit cat for the advance of isis and the -- the status now as the greatest threat we faced since 9/11. >> it's actions that count. i think the question is whether these actions are coming too little too late. if that's the case it means on thered warnings were ignored in the past. we just talked to general jack keane who had been talking about isis or two years. to pretend we didn't know they

existed and they were a threat and they were growing, it seems the white house wasn't paying attention or they chose to interpret it very differently. >> whether it was an intelligence failure or isil take advantage of the sunnis. that's what we confronted with. the president has to take action especially after the assassination of james foley and the other americans interests that are still there and he's going to do that. this is the president who took out bin laden when other presidents could not do it. i would not underestimate this guy. people hay have complaints about his style but the reality is he get the results. >> there is no doubt the rhetoric has been amped up. you had chuck hagel and martin dempsey with their hair on fire in front of reporters but that

seems to have been walked back. there is a subtle question does the administration have a policy of containment toward isis or a policy of defeating it. the president bragged for years that he ended the iraq war. on his own terms he restarted the iraq war and the question is whether he's serious about winning it or not. always a pleasure, thank you. eric: 90 employers are set to take part in the hire our heroes event. this seems to be a big focus this year on hiring vets. >> reporter: especially people who recently left the military because people who served after 9/11 actually face higher unemployment rates. take a look at these labor statistics from last month.

back in july veterans who joined the military after 9/11 faced 9.2% unemployment. more than 50 per higher than the unemployment rate for all veterans who fared slightly better than all veterans. the big factor is the sheer number of veterans who returned from serving in iraq, afghanistan or both. something you see throughout history after armed come applicants. listen. >> you look back into world war i, they came back with ticker tape parades in november and they were unemployed come january. >> reporter: more than a million americans are expected to leave military service over the next five years. the the american leave june hoping to level the playing field. preparations underway for this job fair that begins in less than half-hour. >> reporter: the numbers are

shock. what advice are they giving the young vets. >> reporter: they are telling vets to start early. a lot of people you will see visiting this job fair are going to be active duty military who are still one, maybe even two years away from entering the civilian workforce. experts say they are doing exactly the right thing by starting their research early. it smooths over the transition. listen. >> it's a learning experiencing to see the opportunities in these companies that you wouldn't have recognized. >> it's a challenge. i'm looking forward to this next phase in life. i'm embracing it. >> reporter: the american legion is holding workshops helping veterans on their resume skills or interviewing skills and also helping veterans who want to start their own businesses. >> that's a very important cause

that we should all support. rrpt * just what you don't want to see in the water as we head into labor day weekend. a great white spotted near a popular new england beach. we'll tell what you happened next. >> there is breaking new details in the irs targeting scandal. new reports those thousands of lost emails from lois lerner, some claim they may not have been completely lost. law makers now demanding answers from the irs boss. >> we can go through day by day, how much time you spent getting briefed for the hearings because he either lied under oath or he chose not to know a critical fact.

martha: a search for a missing

american student missing in israel. police say they are investigating all possibilities including an attack by palestinian militants. current conflict between israel and hamas erupted after three israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed by hamas. new jersey politicians calling for more help from the united states and israeli governments to find this young man. eric: there is a potential bombshell in the irs email scandal. a blackberry that belonged to former official lois lerner was destroyed after congress began its investigation. justice tempt attorneys told them thousands of learner's missing emails are likely recoverable. but the house oversight

committee chairman darrell issa. >> what appears to be a false statement from the new irs commissioner who said he moved heaven and earth to get lois lerner's emails. eric: where will all this lead? peter, let's start with lois lerner's back berry. if someone wiped out that blackberry, if they junked the blackberry after the investigation began could it lead to obstruction of congress? >> the problem is the department of justice is responsible for prosecuting such actions. it becomes increasingly clear that the department of justice may well be implicated in a coverup of its own in terms of getting to the truth about these missing emails and this whole irs scandal.

we learn new things every day about the role of justice department attorneys not being forthcoming or knowing more and being fact witnesses rather than attorneys. the house of representatives called for the appointment of a special prosecutor. the house believes and i believe that the house is correct that we are not going to get a true accurate and independent investigation and criminal prosecution that's being conducted by this justice department. last thursday with regard to these missing emails i received information from a former department of homeland security official who had security clearances. he just retired in april. he contacted me and he contacted judicial watch and said there is backup material. all of these emails are backed up regularly for what is called

the continuation of government locations, the cog locations. i heard this before from irs employees. this idea that the emails were eliminated is not true. when judicial watch asked the justice department attorneys friday is it true that these emails exist in a cog location, they said yes but they are not going try to retrieve it because it's too onerous. that's a big difference between what they have been saying and what we are learning now. eric: you are saying the federal government is saying it's too difficult to find this stuff. >> that's what they told judicial watch apparently on friday. we had a motion before judge walton in our case, true the vote versus the irs asking judge walton to appoint an independent forensic investigating team.

the justice department made representations to the court saying that's not necessary and these things are lost. they never mentioned the cogs. eric: the commissioner of the irs said he would move heaven and to find them. >> the actual harold drive after it was determined it was dysfunctional and no emails could be retrieved was recycled and destroyed in the normal process. >> was it physically destroyed? >> that's my understanding. park * they are saying they are treeferght general policy of the backup. do you buy that? >> i really don't. in june i had an irs employee who did not want to be identified come forward and said to me, we are constantly told that all the of our emails are saved in various servers and various states in the country.

everything from the irs. none much it is destroyed. now we have someone who comes forward and says from the department of homeland security's a matter of national security that every communication by federal agencies is retained on what they call a cog serving. a continuation of government location. for them to say these things disappeared is simply not true. so we are hoping to get to the bottom of it eventually. eric: the next step is what happened to lois lerner's blackberry, not just the emails. martha: a flight was diverted after a flight broke out high in the sky. we'll tell you about the damage the designed to enforce leg room on the seat in front of you that may have ended in a brawl. plus the nail polish that could help women protect themselves from date rape. >> the victim may know the

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martha: united airlines flight from newark to denver was forced to land in chicago after a pitched battle that broke out. a physical fight over leg room. william, what is this $22 device that set this whole thing off? >> reporter: it was a fight over about this much space. if the airlines will not protect your knees from being battered and crunched then people need to protect themselves. that's the quote from gadget flying. for $22 it attaches to your tray

table, preventing the seat in front you from reclining. a passenger attached the knee defender so he can work on his laptop. the woman complains because she can't recline her seat. when he refus remove the device she stands up and douses him with water. he says the airlines have people packed in so tight, it's bad for circulation. the knee defender protects that space that is yours so you don't get a blood clot. >> there are so many questions i have about this. let's start with the faa. they say passengers can use this or not? >> reporter: the device is not illegal. it doesn't violate a rule or

regulation. it's up top each airline to decide how to treat the' air defender. they can impose a fine of $25,000. the issues, who owns the space in front of you. the front passenger or the back. the problem is the publicity surrounding this story will likely mean poarp sales, more common applicants and more drama at 30,000 feet. all u.s. airlines say you can't use this but clearly that's not promoted in the sales. martha: i can't believe the two people couldn't work it out and i can't believe they had to land the entire plane to get these to people to calm down. the airlines have to give people more room. that's all there is too it. >> the knee defender?

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martha: just moment ago a.p. reporting a senior hamas official says a ceasefire has been reached, ending a 7-week war. u.s. drones are flying over syria possibly setting up isis. eric: sources say the administration is trying to goo they are as much information as it can in syria before making

decisions how to move forward. but they are waiting for the president's okay. martha: we have team coverage for you. ed henry is standing by at the white house but we begin with national security correspondent jennifer givein. when did the president authorize these new surveillance flights? >> reporter: two officials tell me the president signed off on the intrusive drone surveillance over syria over the weekend. it will include hawks and will be unarmed. >> our job is to be prepared and ready across the spectrum and we'll do that. the focus from an airstrike perspective is have much inside the country of iraq. >> reporter: yesterday pentagon poangs plen he d pentan spokes expend said the absence

of intelligence would hinder the air force's ability to conduct targeted airstrikes if the president approved the strikes. general dempsey said isis could not be defeated or contained simply using airstrikes in iraq. martha: why did the up s. not have surveillance drones flying over syria until now this is the first time the president has authorized drones to be sent over syria except for the failed rescue mission in july. i'm told the military had to pull the drone they were using to look for the missing girls in

nigeria. until now in syria the u.s. military had to rely on satellite surveillance which is not nearly as good. yesterday isis fighters in syria took over the air base gaining access to a variety of air defense weapons. eric: there is no decision from the administration on launching potential military action inside syria saying they need much more reliable information. ed henry continues our fox news coverage. with the decision to go to drones does it appear the administration is edging closer to green lighting those potential airstrikes? >> we'll be watching closely. he just left the white house. he's going down to charlotte, north carolina. he will at least discuss the situation with isis, syria, iraq. we'll be reading those tea leaves but we are also looking at other tea leaves.

before the airstrikes in iraq the president did surveillance missions, authorized them. that was the green light foa potentially for that. look at this photo the white house put on its instagram account. the president and his chief of staff last night walking on the south lawn mulling all of this. why is that significant? it was one year ago this week the president was edging closer to edging u.s. airstrikes in syria, he said i'm going to hold off and go to congress and get their approval first, approval he never got. this may be a reminder he pulled back on those airstrikes a year ago after a walk on the south lawn of the white house with his chief of staff where he rethought this and pulled back. so while there is a lot of signs pointing toward airstrikes i caution the president has been down this road before and not done it. eric: meanwhile the regime of bashar al-asaad, they said any

airstrikes by the u.s. would be consider candidate aggression but they are also saying they would work us to fight isis. this is the same time the president says assad has got to go. reporter: a bizarre situation. in part because the u.s. policy has been all over the map in dealing with isis. the syrian government saying we'll work together to fight isis. the administration laughing that off. but the bottom line is, another complication for potential u.s. airstrikes in syria is yes you can target is very, take them out inside syria. that's a good development. but the bad side of that is you can strengthen the handle of bashar al-asaad. the very person president obama has been saying for three years must go. it's a very complicated situation. in iraq airstrikes have potentially strengthened the

incoming government into try to get the iraqi government to stand on its own two feet. in syria if you battle is * and strengthen assad that might not be so good. eric: the humanitarian catastrophe claimed another 200 lives. martha: i'm joined by steve hayes from the weekly standard and a fox news contributor. the question of congress. the president did walk right up to that red line a year ago. and some say used congress to sort of allow him to back out of action in syria. what do we expect this time around? >> that's a very good question. the president i think used congress a year ago to constrain himself. he didn't want to do what his administration had been talking about.

john kerry gave a very stark speech. the prospect of u.s. strikes in syria. will we see a repeat of that? it's interesting that the white house photographer put out this picture of the president and his chief of staff walking on the south lawn which last year was when he made this decision. i think we'll find out in the next couple days. martha: what about assad. it was presented as almost a choice. obviously assad would like to see isis out of his territory as well. no doubt he would like to achieve that. he's saying i'm willing to help on this. where does that go? >> i don't think the united states has any interest in using assad or working with assad to

get rid of isis. the immediate and direct problem intelligence officials have been warn being is isis. both in terms of expanding the regional war and in terms of a threat to the united states and the homeland. that obviously takes priority. i'm surprised the president took this long to authorize surveillance flights or syria so we would have a better appreciation of what's going on on the ground. but as jennifer griffin made clear. drone images, that doesn't replace on the ground intelligence and by all accounts we lack on the tbrownlt intelligence in such a way that would help us eliminate isis in syria and iraq. march already a lot of people look at what happened to james foley and say that was an acts of war. the president could make an argument that he has the authority to do these strikes on his own as president of the united states to protect the american people, and then go back and ask congress information the funding and approval down the road.

45 days or so. right? >> absolutely he could. it's in his constitutional prerogative to do that. but he has chosen to interpret the aumf in a narrow fashion. you had congressional testimony from the chairman of the joint chiefs martin dempsey choosing to read the aumf in a narrow way. you would have an uncomfortable argument from a president who has chosen to interpret it that way. and then an expensive understanding of what he's allowed to do, he would have to reconcile those two different positions. that's the case with a lot of his positions on syria as ed henry suggested. the "new york times" reports the president is seeking more support from moderate rebels in syria which just a couple weeks ago the president described as a fantasy. you have seen a policy on syria

that can be called a policy. eric: the white house promised immigration reform by the end of the summer. and if not the president himself would grand legal stat to us 5 million illegals. emdemocrats are urging the president to avoid taking executive action on immigration. what's up with that? martha: an image of an isis terrorist minutes before killing jim foley. does the ad go too far? eric: there was an unwelcome visitor spotted off the massachusetts coast. this is real. >> we had an alert saying they saw a shark offshore. en that pretty shocking?

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eric: at least four people are dead, some of them reportedly behead. it started off the weekend when prisoners demanded better conditions. they took a guard and other inmates hostage and began beating them. at least three of the dead are inmates. the violence appears to have been eads after an agreement was

reached on the prisoners' demand. martha: the president is expected to use executive orders with upcoming immigration plans. but he's taking heat from both side, especially red state democrats. kay hang and mark prior have cautioned the white house from taking action. they think it will make it more difficult for them at home. so a lot of interesting issues here. the president said he would particular action on immigration before the end of the summer. a lot of people those would do it before he came back from vacation. >> end of summer or just before the immigration. first i believe he is talking about this is a ploy for the election to excite his base. i also think he is playing with explosive consequences here that

could be devastating to a democratic party that's already running well behind in the polls, facing the possible expect of losing the senate. if he takes executive action as most people now covering this white house think heel, i think the consequences are going to be with the country for quite some time. this is an unpopular president. his pop numbers have been under water for almost a year now. we know what happened in 198 when ronald reagan signed a bill that was brought together through a national consensus. the congress and the senate, it was a bipartisan piece of legislation which he has not been able to persuade congress to do himself. president obama is running the risk of alienating and polarizing this nation to a point that has not even been imagined. we are at a critical juncture in this administration's legacy for

a future. martha: you walk up to that point and then like this case you have got pry and babych and kay hagan saying don't put us in this box. republicans seem to feel pretty confident about the senate situation but there are scenarios where it doesn't go their way. >> reporter: that's one of the reasons, most of the pundits put it in percentage terms whether the likelihood of the republicans taking the senate because there are so many variables. even now less than two months out. the reality is ronald reagan if i can go back to 1986 when he signed that amnesty. his approval rating was 63%. he was one of the most popular presidents in that his 6th year as president. that limited to 47% after

signing the amnesty legislation and that's with a bipartisan congress that came together to pass the law. this is a president who rammed through obamacare and would ram through amnesty with an executive order, that's why i think this president is playing literally with political fire. martha: charles krauthammer on "special report" said he believed an executive order of this sort would be an impeachable offense. he didn't think republicans would go there, what about that. >> i think the impeachable offense is the least of it. this is a president who right now is ineffective. highly ineffective. congress won't go along with immigration legislation. there is almost a presumption that the president built up that the congress should go along with anything he says which is utter nonsense. ronald reagan was a great

communicator. he brought people together. this president powts and sulks and -- this president pouts and sulks and removes himself when he meets resistance to an idea. and he can't imagine it's a bad idea or not shared by enough people to make it law. this president is arrogant and i aand -- and incompetent as a president and as a leader. martha: thank you very much for being with us. the host of "lou dobbs tonight" at 7:00 p.m. eastern on fox business. eric: reports that lois lerner's blackberry may have been wiped clean. did you watch last night? tv's biggest night out.

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martha: shark week for real. this time in boston, a great white shark was spotted. police say the 12 to 14-foot long shark was swimming 100 yards across the coast. look at the beautiful animal working its way, this is duxbury, outside of boston for my friends in the boston. beyond the buoys where it is safe to him. lifeguards ordered everybody out

of pool, folks. >> the water was three feet deep. we saw the helicopter coming from the south end of the beach. >> we saw something, wait a minute, something going on. >> the lifeguard went down to the water and i just asked. there had been a shark sighting. martha: police say that the shark swam into deeper waters. after an hour swimmers were allowed back in at your own risk, folks. they are usually out in chatham. they're moving closer. the seal population also, i saw aerial shot, seems to move in that direction. they're looking for some lunch. eric: hopefully the lunch isn't us. i'm not putting my toe in. now to news in washington. fox news has been reporting that former irs official lois lerner's blackberry was apparently wiped clean, after congressional investigators began looking into her involvement in the tea party targeting scandal. what does this mean? jay sekulow, chief counsel,

american center of law and justice who is suing irs. he represents 21 groups in 42 states, part of the targeting scandal. >> good morning. eric: good morning. do you think irs, one of es most powerful agencies in this country intentionally destroyed evidence to try and hide wrongdoing? >> i do think they have. i think they're complicit in this you had the story about the great white shark. maybe the shark swallowed lois lerner's blackberry. the reality is, everything is removed. cleat at that mitchell who has a companion case with ours, talking about the fact that the irs and the department of justice have come into court, eric and have said under oath, that they made attempts to get this information and they were not successful, they couldn't do it. now we find out through the judicial watch disclosures that in fact the information is available. it just burdensome to get it b you have alleged you have committed a crime you have to produce the evidence when that

evidence is available and whatever format it is but there is another aspect to the intrigue here and that is a department of justice lawyer, who was denning the irs defending irs, previously worked for, guess who, lois lerner in the tax-exempt office. he himself was part of the targeting. when he left the irs, left the department of justice, he went to work in white house counsel's office. eric: now investigating his former boss? he is investigating his former boss? >> that's correct. and defending his former boss, when he himself was involved in the activities which we allege are illegal which the attorney general said might be criminal. eric: all right, allegedly. >> this lawyer was involved in it. eric: you mentioned cleta mitchell. i will ask you the same question. lois lerner's blackberry, suddenly destroyed, wiped clean. could this lead to potential obstruction of justice charges or contempt of congress? >> it should lead to both. the whole idea you're on notice

there is congressional investigation going on. you have the irs chief counsel testifying. you had the attorney general say he is pursuing criminal investigations here and then the information's gone? if you intentionally destroy evidence, that is a crime. if you make a statement in court saying the evidence is not available and it is, that is also a crime. there are multiple levels here. eric: where are the cries and demand for special prosecutors, for full investigations, for bringing people into court? where is all that? we would have heard that years ago. >> if it was anybody else you would have but the department of justice is basically taking the position that they are going to stall this thing through, certainly through the midterms, eric. give you one other one here i think is part and parcel of this entire problem. there has been a call for a special prosecutor, special counsel. we had a hearing on that at the end of the july, one of the last hearings congress had and precisely for this reason. the conflict of interest is here.

so significant, that you've got the department of justice basically investigating itself for activities that they engaged in which may also be criminal. this whole thing is, i call it a faux investigation. these are not real investigations. this is a stall tactic. eric: they would say this is real investigation and trying to get to the bottom of that. even the critics say that is not the case. "new york observer," this quote, beyond outrageous and screams of guilt. certainly this is not the end of it. jay sekulow, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thanks, eric. eric: martha? martha: syria demanding that the united states ask permission before going after violent isis radicals within their border. would that put america on the same team with assad? ambassador john bolton takes on this question for us coming up. eric: a star player at a top football program sidelined by an injury he got while saving a little boy's life. now he is being hailed as a hero. ♪ (knocking)

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martha: well-fed ral authorities are now warning police agencies that airstrikes in iraq could provoke retaliatory attacks here at home by the islamic militant group isis as they spread their reign of terror. as u.s. as they want to establish themselves outside of syria and iraq. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live with the story. >> reporter: good morning, martha. even before the foley execution video was posted online last week u.s. intelligence officials briefed reporters here in washington and what think said, there is evidence once foreign fighters left iraq they have started isis cells outside of that country. they also told reporters it is a mixed picture. according to these officials with some operative taking initiative to start up

operations while others tasked by isis senior leadership. there is evidence of isis cells outside of iraq and syria. you need to bear this in mind as you listen to white house spokesman who seemed to choose his words very carefully at monday's briefing. >> we are concerned about the threat posed by isil. but it is the assessment as stated by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, by the intelligence community there is currently not an active plot underway to attack the u.s. homeland by isil. >> reporter: important to note that there is a very important distinction between what the white house spokesman said about an active plot and americans, who according to the fbi are more than 100 who they believe traveled to syria to fight alongside jihadist like isis, martha. martha: that is a huge issue. what warnings are being given to local authorities about all of this at this point? >> reporter: martha, fox news confirming at end of last week on friday a joint bulletin was sent by the fbi and homeland

security to local law enforcement there could be retaliation by isis here in the u.s. sympathizers. there was no credible evidence after plot, it warns, difficult to predict triggers that contribute to hves, that is acronym for homegrown violent extremists attempts act of violence. lone wolf which freakily involve simple plotting against targets of opportunity. we were expecting a briefing from the nation's top counterterrorism official to mark the 10th anniversary of the national counterterrorism center, set up after 9/11 to specifically be a hub for threat assessment that. was postponed at short notice just within the last hour citing a conflict in the scheduling, martha. martha: interesting. catherine, thank you very much. >> reporter: you're welcome. eric: martha, those warnings taking on new added urgency with u.s. drones and spyplanes flying over syria after president obama authorized the surveillance

missions. the next step could be potentially airstrikes against isis inside syrian borders. syria said it is ready to cooperate with attacks against u.s. militants but asking the u.s. ask permission insisting uncoordinated strikes will be considered aggression. egypt and united arab emirates and strikes on libya last week and guess what, they didn't even tell us. joining us john bolton, former united states ambassador the u.n. and fox news contributor. start with drones oversyria, too little, too late? >> amazing we haven't been doing this before, number one. number two, even more amazing to me that the president announced he was giving authorization. this is intelligence matter. he never should have said anything. why not give isis advanced warning when the drones and planes are coming. but the real problem i think is the president still doesn't have a strategy. does he want to destroy isis? does he want to contain isn't until he decides that, all of

this is just tactics now. eric: islamic radical militants, the terrorists are on the march throughout the whole region. isis has taken a huge swath of iraq and syria, as big as jordan. they are on the march in iraq, syria, libya. when does it stop and is it too late to turn the tide? >> we have been way too late since the fall of mosul. we should have been doing much, much more. really at this point isil's control over the territory it has is not, it is not really fully embodied in military control. i think that means they're vulnerable at this point and we should be striking them already, but we're doing precious little of that too. eric: what should we have done? >> well i think we should have been following this situation much more carefully over much longer period of time. we knew that al qaeda in iraq and former version had begun to reappear inside of iraq. we knew there were extremist forces inside of syria. and the prospect of this coming

across the border is something that's been out there for a long time. the president has not focused on the multiple threats in the region, not just isis, but the aid that iran is giving to other terrorist groups around including hamas. the general disintegration i think is consequence of the administration simply not paying attention. eric: you say not paying attention. three years ago, reports that hillary clinton urged the president to try to arm the syrian rebels, he refused and vetoed that. if the president had taken action three years ago do you think we potentially be in different situation now? >> maybe or maybe not. maybe arming moderate syrians would have allowed isis radicals to take weapons away from them rather than the iraqi army which we supplied. i think president as unwillingness to take on assad three years ago because of his obsession with negotiating a nuclear deal with iran, which is keeping the assad regime in power. he didn't want to confront assad because that meant confronting iran. it shows how difficult the

situation is now. where you have not only islamic state, a terrorist sunni organization as a threat, you still have iran to worry about simultaneously. eric: eric: you talk about that and nuclear negotiations are still pushed off but catherine herridge's report about potential attacks here at home. you have 500 or so brits they say joined isis. about a dozen americans. look, ambassador, these guys have british and american passports. can we track each one of them. >> no, clearly not. i think we have a threat now. the white house press spokesman was parsing his words, currently, not an active plot to attack the homeland, how many phrases like that do you need in there. even granted that maybe the threat isn't urgent right now, the whole point to prevent islamic state consolidating control over territory so it can attack us at a later date which is clearly its objective. they say it over and over again. we have to take them at their word. eric: they capture ad airfield.

they have helicopters and planes. we don't know if they know how to fly them. >> and anti-aircraft equipment they got from mosul. that is why our military is worried about launching airstrikes over syria. there is long way before this president authorizes it. eric: what do you think happens if they don't authorize the airstrikes. >> i had think islamic state will take hold of territory it has now. it is a magnet from terrorists all over the world. it has economic resources from iraq. it's a threat, it will get worse. eric: ambassador john bolton with a very somber prediction. >> thank you, eric. eric: martha? martha: star college football player is hailed as a hero. how he sacrificed his football season to save a little boy's life. controversial political ad getting a lot of attention this morning. >> that i am giving myself to you and the american people

should have no patience for whatever is going through your head because you've got a job to do. eric: turns out a republican senate candidate is in hot water for using that image of james foley's executioner. do you think it crossed the line? we will have a fair and balanced debate about that straight ahead on "america's newsroom." ♪ ♪

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eric: heroic save by a usc football player off the field. his seven-year-old nephew kang not swim was struggling in a pool. shaw jumped from a second floor balcony. he sprained both aping cycles. that didn't stop him. he crawled to the pool and lifted his nephew out and led him to safety. unclear when shaw will be able to play. hats off to him. martha: new controversy today over a campaign ad for republican candidate for the u.s. senate.

the ad uses one image of the islamic militant who beheaded american journalist james foley. this race in new mexico between democratic senator tom udall and gop senator, alan way's web ad where you see the moment. >> i know as far as i feel, this diplomatic path that we're on right now is a good one. >> that i am giving myself to you and, the american people should have no patience for whatever is going through your head because you've got a job to do. >> got a job to do. the president is saying on that audio. lars larsen is syndicated radio host at compass media networks. marjorie clifton former consultant to the obama campaign. >> good morning. >> right off the bat, everybody at home saw that picture. james foley is not in the picture, it is a picture of the terrorist who beheaded him.

appropriate, inappropriate? marjorie, you first? >> well, i think it's a pretty fresh situation and actually one that is surprisingly united americans. death of, execution of tom foley has been really, really hard thing for everyone. what it has done, the presidential actions that have followed have been more favorable toward republicans than anything we've seen in a long time. airstrikes are happening to try to contain them and escalating situation has been one weighed more favorably to republicans than most democrats. while i don't think it is particularly effective but create as really distasteful environment in terms of negative campaigning. i actually doesn't think it does a lot of favors what we're teaching our children and young people about the political process. all in all there is a lot of subject matters they could use to talk about. martha: fair or unfair, what do you think? >> i think it is perfectly fair, james foley, the executioner image is very powerful, just as image of the south vietnamese

national police chief about to blow the brains out of a man in saigon is powerful for americans. reminds of us something important. a lot of democrats don't want to be tied to this president's policies although they are. this president is playing while isis is out killing people or isil if you prefer. the fact his failed policies have led to us this situation where we're now confronting not just a threat to journalists in the middle east, but also a threat to the american homeland. martha: the president's own words play in the audio for this ad. i think, everybody could hear a little bit of it, but the president is making the point that once you take that job, once you become president, the american people should have no patience for your foibles he says. you know, your need for sleep, your vacation, these things become irrelevant when you're president of the united states. and obviously there is an irony in playing those words, marjorie, over the president's recent vacation which coincided with these events.

>> well, i don't think that argument is actually a winning one in terms after president taking a break because if you look at all of the histories of presidencies, golfing is actually the most polarizing thing that ever happens. george h.w. bush, george w. bush, they actually had the same criticism when they took their golf vacations. most of them while doing it have reporters on the field. they're working all the time. martha: it is not about the -- >> bush quit. martha: vacation itself. it is about the event that was going on during the vacation and whether or not continuing that was what was appropriate here. i do want to look at the -- >> well -- martha: go ahead, marjorie. you can respond. >> to make another fair point i would say that, you know, when katrina happened and when we escalated moving out of kuwait into saudi arabia in the iraq war, george w. bush was in maine with his family. he said look, i'm not going to let this -- martha: mistakes were made in the past. i understood. >> maybe those aren't mistakes. i would say it is necessary that

everyone be rested and mindful. there will be a crisis happening in the united states, no matter republican or democrat in office all the time. martha: in terms of using that moment and how politically putterful it may be, pull up the rcp poll, new mexico race, alan weh, is republican candidate, down about 16 points right now. in terms of this as a message, do you think we'll see this in other races, lars? >> sure, i think we will, people will remind folks that this president lives in a different era. marjorie, it is not september 10th anymore, it is past september the 11th, 2001. it is different era. this president back when he wanted this job, said i will give up vacations, i will give up time with my family. he has done anything but. he is the playboy president. going to golf and going to sam cast's bachelor party instead of focusing on the job. i think this country is very much at risk right now and the

america sees president playing. you will see that image played because it says, you, democrats are tied to this president's policies and his policies are demonstrably failing right in front of us. martha: got to leave it there. there are indications that the administration is getting more serious about this issue and may be about to undertake some airstrikes in syria. so we will see. the proof is in the pudding and actions as we say. thank you, marjorie. thank you, lars. good to see you both. >> thanks, martha. >> what is happening next on "happening now," jon scott is here to fill us in. hi, jon. >> hi, eric. it is election day, the voters in four states head to the polls before the midterms. democrats were feeling confident for a time but now they might change their tune. larry sabato with numbers they are seeing. brazen kidnapping. a woman walks out of an elementary school with another women's trial. why the defense said it is all a case of mistaken identity. do you believe that?

radicalizing terrorists, who is behind it, how do we stop them? ho threat to america? we'll get into it "happening now." eric: jon, see you in about levin minutes. >> thank you, eric. eric: what happens when walter white and the vice president shares the same stage? did you see this. one hot makeout session. that kiss from last night's emmy has everybody talking this morning. plus up next, some other must-see moments. >> new adventures of old christine. , i'm walking down th, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this parade honoring america's troops. which is actually quite fitting because geico has been serving the military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this?

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walter white,. >> sy and the rest cleaning up at emmys, sweeping almost all the drama awards, nearly one year after the season finale. laura ending gell live in the new york city newsroom with highlights from last night's big night. >> hi, eric, some are calling "breaking bad's list of wins a long good-bye to the cast and show which ended 11 months. bryan cranston won his fourth best drama emmy after his portrayal of a teacher turned meth dealer. aaron paul and anna gun won for best supporting actor. third for paul and gunn's second straight. julianne that margulies won her second for her role on "the good wife". modern family's star t yes. burial picked hupp -- ty burrell

won his second emmy. the one. most talked about moments when bryan cranston jumped from his seat to plant a kiss on julia louis-dreyfuss and it went on and on. she joked that cranston looked like someone who played her love interest on seinfeld. >> he was on "seinfeld." yes. [laughter]. >> jimmy kimmel had fun with actor matthew mcconaughey of recent run of award show wins. he was nominated for an emmy but didn't win. kimmel told him from the stage you doesn't belong here you. >> just won the oscar like five months ago. know offense, how many of those features of yours are we supposed to sit through? [laughter] [applause] i mean, all right, all right, all right, already. [laughter] >> following the annual mem more rahm segment, billy crystal paid tribute to his friend robin williams. >> as genius as he was on stage,

he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine, supportive, protective, loving. it is very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives. for almost 40 years, he was the brightest star in a comedy galaxy. >> the critics are giving a thumb's up to emmy host seth meyers who kept the show moving along at a good clip. he poked fun that the show usually runs on sunday, if i understand television, it means that the emmys are about to be canceled. eric, back to you. eric: night of celebration and bittersweet sadness. thank you. >> so the big question today in the world, is syria next? will the white house bypass congress on military action? president obama now authorizing surveillance drones now flying over syria ahead of potential airstrikes against the sunni extremists of isis.

not in the. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. that's hilarious. sorry. you shoulda taken it to midas. get some of that midas touch. they tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. next time i'm going to midas. high-five! arg! i did not see that coming. trust the midas touch. for brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling)

martha: just rehashing the emmys. eric, thanks for being here. see you tomorrow. have a great day, everybody. "happening now" starts about right now. >> thank you, martha. jon: u.s. eyes in the skies over syria as president obama approves surveillance flights, tracking isis terrorists where they live. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. heather: i'm heather nauert in for jenna lee. we have a lot of news to cover this hour. jon: we do. heather: this brings us close to a potential airstrike in isis where they continue to operate far beyond our reach. fox news military analyst major general bob scales says confronting isis in syria, absolutely must happen in order to root them out of their safe havens. listen to this. >> is a stepped process of increasing surveillance and reconnaissance over time, gather the information, find the