down the flint river catch us up a little catfish dinner ♪ ♪ gonna sound like a winner when i lay you down and love you right yeah ♪ ♪ that's my kind of night yeah that's my kind of night woo oh oh oh ♪ ♪ my kind or your kind is this kind of night we dance in the dark and your lips land on mine ♪ ♪ oh oh oh oh oh gonna get our love on oh oh oh oh oh time to get our buzz on ♪ ♪ all them other boys wanna wind you up and take you downtown but you look like ♪ ♪ the kind that likes to take it way out out where the corn rows grow row row my boat ♪ catch us up a little cat fish by

gonna sound like a winner when i lay you down and love you right ♪ yeah that's my kind of night ♪ yeah that's my kind of night ♪ right here tonight ♪ yeah that's my kind of night ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: his new album "crash my party." it's out now, got barbecue sauce all over my face. i want to thank josh duhamel, adam perry lang, apologies to matt damon, we ran out of time. tomorrow night oprah winfrey, christopher mintz-plasse and music from the wanted. "nightline" is next. thanks for watching!

tonight on "nightline," with the u.s. on the brink of an attack on syria, we'll have the latest on the white house justifications. >> cannot accept a world where women and children are gassed. >> take a look at the plans and some unintended consequences. with allies so hard to find is president obama really willing to go it alone. >> oh, please. oh, summertime, what is the recipe for bottling up that perfect sunshiny feeling. we'll end our search for the ultimate summer song. and the week for clint eastward and michael douglas,

not a good week for marriages, but you think that is bad? just wait until you hear this

from new york city, this is "nightline," with bill weir. >> thank you for wrapping up your friday with us. here is hoping you have a relaxing long weekend ahead. but it will not be much of a holiday for the sailors on board the five american destroyers, now floating in the mediterranean, or barack obama, one man deciding whether or not to use the ships in syria, nothing but somber faces around the tables in the west wing this morning as the president met with the staff. and this afternoon, as secretary of state john kerry stepped before cameras with the intelligence that the syrian army used poison gas and killed

over 400 children. aside from punishing assad, he said an american strike is needed to send a message to our enemies in iran and north korea. >> we choose to live in a world where a thug and a murderer like bashar al-assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity, even after the united states and our allies said no. and then the world does nothing aboutçó it. there will -- will be no end to the test of our resolve and the danger that flows from others who believe they can do as they will. >> a few hours later, president obama was not nearly as passionate as kerry, saying he has yet to make up his mind on an attack, while most of our allies and even britain wishes he wouldn't. >> and i assure you, nobody ends up being more war-worry than me. but what i also believe is that part of our obligation as a

leader in the world is making sure that when you have a regime that a is -- is willing to use weapons prohibited by national norms on their own people, including women and children, that they are certainly held to account. >> and just how much more weapons are stockpiled in syria, for a deeper look on what that means here is abc's brian ross. >> reporter: experts say there are hundreds of thousands of weapons in syria, capable to kill many people. >> it is known they have many weapons. >> reporter: and friday, they produced a weapons report on a chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds in the suburb of guda earlier this month. >> we can't accept a world where

the innocent civilians, and men, women, and children are gassed. this threatens our national security interest. >> reporter: the expected strike against syria presents a minefield of problems, in the target selection, according to former white house official, richard clark, now an abc consultant, clark says there are two target packages being considered. >> one, which is related to the chemical weapons use and makes them pay a price. another one, which makes them pay a much more significant price so that the united states can say this was not a pin prick attack, and we're serious. >> reporter: under the larger attacks, the targets could include syrian air fields, and even perhaps the ministry of defense in downtown damascus. >> they will have the coordination of that particular building, they can hit that part of the building? >> they can go right into a

ten-foot area, right in a particular office. >> reporter: the attacks under either scenario would come largely from destroyers a 100 miles away in the mediterranean, firing cruise missiles. >> they would like to do it at night, because they could be shot down, they fly low, relatively fast. >> reporter: yet senior officials tell abc news it is unlikely that the chemical weapons themselves at depots across syria will be targeted, if and when there are military attacks. >> if you are going to hit them, blow them up, are you going to create agent plumes which are going to damage civilian areas? >> reporter: he knows all about destroying the chemical weapons, he led the u.n. team that destroyed iraq's massive stores of them. >> it is not a simple process, because the consequences are enormous. >> reporter: instead, officials tell abc news that the proposed

military strike would target the specific military unit that guards and deploys syria's chemical weapons. >> they would be a prime target. but even then, there is a dilemma for those who are doing the targeting. >> reporter: until earlier this year, steve simon with the director of affairs, the white house security council, now an abc news consultant and director of the international institute for strategic studies. >> if you're going to strike in a way that is directly related to chemical weapons use, you would have to hit some part of unit 450. on the other hand, the administration has got to be concerned that chemical weapons stock piles don't leak. because unit 450 has been so seriously damaged it is not capable of preserving and protecting the integrity of the storage facilities where the cw was located. >> reporter: that is because the fear of what would happen if the

regime's chemical weapons ended up in the hands of the rebels, where a dominant group in the opposition forces is an al-qaeda affiliate calledal >> they can't expect them to exercise restraint. >> reporter: the role of the al-qaeda group fighting against assad is one of the great ironies of the united states military strike in syria. >> 12 years after the attack, united states finds itself on the same side as al-qaeda trying to overthrow the assad regime. it is a great irony. >> reporter: they have a variety of military assets. >> it is not just an ally. it is an organization that has sworn loyalty to al-qaeda and pakistan. the u.s. will want to weaken it over time, because the strong al-qaeda affiliate in syria will

at some point turn against the united states. >> reporter: syria is already bracing for the attack, with some residents fleeing the country into neighboring lebanon. the syrian president assad said his country will fight back. and in iran, the military officials have said they will strike against israel and perhaps the u.s., as well. >> i wouldn't be surprised if the iranian-backed tourists, including, not limited to hezbollah, launch attacks throughout the middle east on u.s.-related facilities. now, that may not be an embassy but it could be a facility that seems to be american, perhaps an american airplane. >> reporter: so tonight at the white house, the find preparations are being made for what will be another controversial u.s. military action. >> i think the targets have all been

>> we'll keep you posted on the latest developments on abc news throughout the night and gma tomorrow morning. coming up next, we'll shift gears back to a holiday weekend of sun and fun and music. our search for the best summer song of all time. did you vote for california girl s? [ beeping ] ♪ [ male announcer ] we don't just certify our pre-owned vehicles. we inspect, analyze and recondition each one, until it's nothing short of a genuine certified pre-owned... mercedes-benz for the next new owner. ♪ hurry in to your authorized mercedes-benz dealer

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. all right, time to push some emotional buttons now. you remember the first time you heard "satisfaction" by the stones, or "every breath you take," by police, or when doves cry, or the macarena, or based on your taste, any time you hear one of them brings back the memories of mosquitos and sun. for these are summer songs, and as summer winds down, we set out to see what made the memory maker and learn your favorite of all time. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: ah, summertime, winding down now. but what fits best as a sound track to remember? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it got a little competitive between miley's racy

party hit. and maclemore's roof-raising rhymes. for many, this summer's anthem was a little tune about robin thicke who were not actually over-dressed. but in the past few years, the song of summer has become its own genre, with its chart and category. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: we wanted to find out what makes a summer song stic stick. >> two things that trigger memories are songs and smells. two different things, but the minute you hear the song it takes you back in time, the minute you first heard the song. we headed to new york's z 100. dj jj has been taking requests

for years. >> you want to hear blurred lines? that is cool. >> they call it ear worm, it infects your soul, and you find at random times you sing the song, you may be in a board room. or a meeting. call me maybe ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it is true, these songs of summer stay in your head forever because their catchy tunes capture the feeling of fun and summer. katey perry, she is a california girl. she grew up in santa barbara. she knows bikinis, she knows roller skates. >> reporter: that was the anthem of 2010. >> i wish you were a california girl ♪ >> reporter: this one made us want to roll down the windows and belt it out down the 405,

because life was a highway. >> there are certain bond memories between friends. >> reporter: but of course, you can take it back to the beach boys doing almost anything of their early stuff. but let's go with this one. surfing usa. >> invented for the summer, it is all in the name. so all the songs they wrote were about getting to the beach, getting home from the beach, getting the girl to the beach. >> reporter: there is even a science behind our love for songs. some studies in the uk show us that thinking back for songs can counteract nostalgia. so we asked for your choice, the winner? wait for it. d.j. jazzy jeff and fresh prison

rapping about songs of summer. the barbecues, the crush that you never quite got over. >> i was in seventh grade and the song was playing everywhere. he was talking about going to barbecues and the temperature hits 88. and now, every time in the summer when it is 88 i think of that song. >> reporter: but not all are actual hits, others just happen to break out the summer. they're not always that poetic, just songs about girls. or cisco's song. ♪ ♪ >> there are silly songs, and they're dominant. it is like the guy you would have a summer fling with but probably break up with in the winter. >> reporter: the songs are personal, each one of us is owned by the one song that will always take us back. >> i think for me, probably

miley cyrus, party in the usa, it is a great song, about being free. >> reporter: a lot of you share with us on facebook the songs that own you. >> summer nights. i love that song. and my favorite memory is dancing at the club. it is like i own the music and the floor. >> all i want to do ♪ ♪ is have some fun. >> reporter: all i want to do by cheryl crow, the summer of '94, hawaii, staying in a house with complete strangers. fun times. summer of '69 by brian adams. i graduated from school, had a job, a boyfriend, just the best days of my life. >> brian adams recorded that song in 1984, having nostalgia for his own summer days, and that seems to be a key part of this. >> it is not just the summer now, but the summer when you

were the youngest and free. >> reporter: and the great thing about it is that we'll all get old some day, maybe, but summer songs never do. >> those were the best days of my life. >> reporter: in washington, for "nightline." >> back in the summer of '69. >> i tried to stuff the ballot box for regulate by warren g, could not pull it off. older leading man, beautiful younger woman. classic hollywood, but with this recent move of separations, the formula is undergoing division. ? julie! hey...guess what day it is?? ah come on, i know you can hear me. mike mike mike mike mike... what day is it mike? ha ha ha ha ha ha! leslie, guess what today is? it's hump day. whoot whoot! ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico?

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catherine zeta jo >> breaking up is hard to do in tonight's feed frenzy, a year ago, clint eastwood famously chatted with an empty chair. >> what do you mean, shut-up? >> and sadly, somebody is missing from his home chair, as well. the iconic actor separated from dina eastwood, the television anchor 35 years his junior confirmed the two were living separately for years.

and considering the may-december romances, catherine zeta jones and michael douglas are taking a time out, the two have had their struggles, him fighting throat cancer, her, bipolar disorder. she announced earlier she would never get divorced, never. but at least they are attempting to work it out. which cannot be said for north korean dictator kim jong-un who reportedly sent his ex to the firing squad this week. according to the newspaper, the singer of the hit song "excellent horse like lady" was caught making a sex tape with 11 members of their orchestra, and their punishment? death by machine gun. that came from an