continue the debate in london. this morning congress will be briefed on the possibility of military action, even though the president says he has not made any decisions yet. >> first of all, i have not made a decision. i have gotten options from our military. i had extensive talks with the national security team. we are consulting with our allies, with the international community, and, you know, i have no interest in any kind of open-ended conflict in syria, about you we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable. >> speaker john boehner sending a letter to the president, including 14 different questions about what the united states is trying to accomplish. pointedly asking in that her, quote -- what result is the administration seeking from its response? congressman mike rogers, head of the house intelligence

committee, also sending a her to the president, now 116 congress members, 98 republicans and 18 democrats have signed a her to the president. what they want for them to, quote, consult and receive authorization from congress before ordering the use of u.s. military force in syria, end quote. i want to bring in "the washington post's" karen tumelty. they haven't been consulted or because they don't want to get involved? which is it? terms of why we're seeing the pushback? >> i think that right now everybody is confused, because it really doesn't look like there's any good option at this moment, but the fact is this tussle goes at least as far back as the early 1970s when the congress passed the war powers act which required consultation

with congress. every president since richard nixon has insisted that act is unconstitutional. whenever you see a sit like this in like we've had in iraq, where we are on the verge of involving u.s. military in some kind of conflict, you do have this sort of tussle between the executive and legislative branch. in general it is better politically for a president to go into combat with some kind of if not authorization, at least evidence of consultation with congress, because it gives you the kind of cover that often, you know the president needs later on. >> perry, "new york times" editorial board writing today "more answers needed on syria. it asks in that, where is the proof that this -- that assad did this? u.n. inspectors still on the ground in syria until the weekend, as you know. what proof does a president need to provide that assad did do this? >> yes, there are two questions

you're hearing a lot of, richard. the first question is, are some people asking that are we sure chemical weapons were used? and they're making the iraq analogy to where the u.s. said there were wmd, there were not. the second question is, so, are we sure that assad actually authorized this? because the president has three different communities he has to convince. one the international community. two, particularly arab nations. we don't want to invade another arab country without the proper coalition. and three, congress. they are very reluctant, though it's important to note 110 members are saying they're nervous, which means the broader 300 members so far have not raised concern, so i'm not sure if congress wants a vote. i think they more want to be consulted about this. >> let me build off what perry said just now, but play this from david axelrod, addressing

the very question of proof. >> he'll have to speak to the american people, and i'm sure that he will speak to the american people. this is, though, different from iraq, because there's visual evidence that everyone has seen. there's a broad consensus here, and i don't think you're facing the same kind of skepticism that there was for iraq. >> karen, we think back to 2003, and we're starting to see those and hear those comparisons, and the shadow it cast on proof that the u.s. might provide. are those comparisons fair? >> well, the thing is i might disgrande with david axelrod. i think looking back historically what people would say is there wasn't enough skepticism on iraq. the sect thing is with the british and the french saying they want to see this u.n. report, the u.n. report may answer the question of whether chemical weapons were used, but it is probably not going to

answer the question of who used them. so this -- the evidence from the u.n. inspectors is also probably not likely to definitively give the answer to the really crucial questions that people are asking. >> perry, you know, the president was elected in part to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan. it's clear it's something that he's cognizant of. listen to what he said. >> we can take limited tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of, you know, iraq, which i know a lot of people are worried about. but if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way we send a shot acrow the bow saying, stop doing this, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term. so given what we heard from the president, what we learned

over the last 24 hours, the question still out there is what is the administration trying to accomplish if it does strike syria? perry? >> the iraq comparison is not accurate in one point, and i think the president is getting at that. we had 100,000 troops in iraq and at various points. he's talking about zero. the firm numbero. what he's trying to do, i think it goes back to what he said last august. he said chemical weapons used is a red line to him, and he's trying to enforce that. he used the phrase "international norms" five or six times yesterday. jay carney has used it. they're not trying to change the regime. it's a case of the u.s., the french, the british believe the use of chemical weapons has to be punished in some way. that's why when boehner says, what are we trying to accomplish here? it's not clear we're trying to accomplish anything other than to enforce the idea that the president articulated last

august. as always, perry bacon, karen tumulty, thank you. i want to bring in chris murphy from connecticut. you called on the president to exercise restrained in syria. why is that? >> well, two reasons? fact tucked result in the opposite, if you don't take out assad, the repercussions could come to u.s. interests and allies, but also in further strikes to the syrian people. i think it's difficult for this to be limited in time and duration. i think that there is going to be a retaliatory reaction by assad. i think that will prompt us and our allies to respond in kind. i worry that it's different to keep this limited, and the last thing my stids in connecticut want and the people across the

country is to be dragged into something that costs us billions in the long run, an and enormous stakes in terms of our reputation. i'm just skeptical that we can keep this in a limited fashion. >> what military action would you support? >> right now i don't support military action. as i've said, the president -- he'll probably get it, but i think we should have that debate. frankly the only debate you're going to stop assad from attacking his people is to cut off his main finding source. the russians don't have an interest in this mad man continuing. i think we have to admit we're not wig to engage in the massive military force necessary to remove him. the only way to truly do that is through diplomatic channels. i'm just not sure that military strikes will do that in the long run. it maw make us feel better, but may not actually make the syrian

people safer. >> but senator, when you look at the 100,000-plus people that have been killed in this conflict so far, and we look at some of the pictures as americans have during recent records of the attacks which allegedly are associated with chemical attacks and the syrian government, how can you not support some sort of action. you're saying diplomacy, that has not worked so far, it would appear. >> i don't support it, because i don't actually think it's going to solve the problem. >> i'm talking about diplomacy. it does not appear to have worked so far. >> listen, there are some points at which there are no easy answers. so i know, as americans, we think that we can solve every problem around the globe, sometimes with military action. that's just not true. i saw those videos, i saw those pictures, i think of my two little kids at home but i think the december and if you drop a

bunch of bombs on syria, and it's you potential drag you into a conflict that could last a decade. i want to have a full discussion in congress with the foreign relations committee at the forefront about the short and long-term congressing for the syrian people and for the american people. >> how would you change the diplomatic strategy then? >> ultimately i think it's changing as we speak. as assad starts to turn on his people, the russians will take another look at this. the russians in the end don't have an interest in aligning themselves with someone who has crossed this line. so i think that right now we have an opportunity to change that calculus. >> but let me just say, again, i think you're sort of suggesting that there is some magic bullet. i think that's what people want. you want to be very sober about this. i wish we could change the circumstances on the ground with the dropping of bombs or a new

diplomatic effort. the fact is there may not be an american lever here that will substantially change the circumstances on the ground. i think we need to be honest with the world community, with the american people, about the limitation of american power when it comes to changing the reality. >> senator chris murphy, thank you so much for your help in understanding this topic today. i appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. jack jacobs, medal of honor recipient and msnbc analyst. he said a strike could be consequential. take a listen. >> they can strike at critical assets that -- generation plans, traffic choke points, you can strike at a particular aircraft so it doesn't ultimately have the ability to deliver the missile systems that can deliver the weapons. there's a variety of options. >> what do you think, colonel? >> there is a variety of options. we can strike all of that or some of that or none of that.

anytime you strike something that's not a military target, and even when you do, there will be collateral damage, that may include civilians, any russian advisers, though there are some reports that they have already bugged out. so any strike will have a class real effect. the question is what are you trying to accomplish? if all we're trying to accomplish is to make a statement to launch a punitive attack because the president drew a line in the sand and said do this, then you don't have to do very many attacks, you don't have to -- >> fire one missile, basically. >> in theory, reduced to inminimum, all you have to do is fire wurch missile. we're not going to do that. now cruise missiles are out there just to do more than the single fire across the bow.

>> oh, sure. we have lots of able to control of airspace. 7. >> you talked about the trainers that may have left already. two return warships or going to that area. how do you dodds that? >> you know, putin being putin, that's an empty gesture as well. they have to keep an eye on what's going on. i don't think there's any interest in the russians to get into a tangle with the united states on the seas or any place. >> there are the diplomatic options that are being also ferried out. we understand right now that the inspectors will not be done until saturday. they won't have a report done by

sunday. the british parliament as we showed moments ago, continue to debate. any indication on timing in terms of actual military action here? >> i would have talked that it would show down some. there is some word on background -- and this may be bravado, that the united states government is not going to let anybody -- the u.n. or anybody else slow them down, but i can't see the united states launching any attack by itself. i think we want france, who has already signed on, and great britain who probably will sign on, to do that, so we can put the nato stamp on it. >> speaker boehner in a her, about a one-page her, is asking the president to clearly define national security goals based on potential military action. if there were to be a cruise missile attack, what might be those national security goals? >> well, they're going to be relatively near-term goals. that is, we launch cruise missiles, we destroy these things, who does what next?

what's the fallout? i think a lot of the back channel, the discussions taking place right now are on that. on what happens after we launch the attack. what's the fallout? and what do we or anybody else do in response to that? okay. >> thank you so much colonel jack jacobs, as always. >> thanks for having me on. pricing admissions for george zimmerman's wife. in a tv interview zimmerman was evasive about whether they were still together thinking about -- shelly zimmerman said she did not think george should have visited a gun manufacturer last week and said they've been living scared for the past year and a half. she also apologized to vail ron martin's family. >> i'm so deeply sorry for their loss i can't even begin to understand the grief that a

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katy, what are they dpee manding. >> higher wages. to $15 an hour. they're also demanding the right to unionize without fear of any consequences. hundreds were at a mcdonald's earlier this morning. hundreds more expected at this wendy's behind me. this is just the tip of the

iceberg, richard. these protests are happening in 58 cities across the country. workers says they could survive off minimum wage. new show today that three out of five new jobs created are minimum wage jobs, and the national employment law project says 88% of those earnings less than $10 an hour are over 20 years old. a third of those are over 40 years old, so certainly a lot of people aging into these jobs. meanwhile, companies say they cannot afford these sort of wage hikes, it will break their backs, it will force layoffs and raising of prices, which they say in turn will also hurt poor people. >> katy tur, thank you so much. thank you for being here. >> thank you so much. there have been other strikes starting from november of last year, and no major

change resulted from those particular strikes. how might today's be different? >> i think today's strikes are really a turning point. the first strike back in november was just in new york city. it grew to half a dozen cities and not 58 cities going on strike. not just cities in the northeast or midwest i think what katy was saying is correct. this industry has really changed since the times when people thought it was just teenagers working these jobs. 70% of fast-food workers are adults, a quarter of them are supporting families, trying to make ends meet on -- >> we looked at the national restaurant association providing this data. only 5% of restaurant employees earn the federal minimum wage. a majority of fast-food workers earning sbrir-level wages are under the age of 25. and ed renzy says raising the

minimum wage could kill jobs, because it would put 15% to 20% of small businesses out of business. how do you respond to that? >> well, while the portion of workers who make just the federal minimum wage might be small, in general average wages are less than $9 an hour. that's still a poverty-level wage many of them are supporting families. i think, you know, the key here is that what the workers are striking about, what they're saying is there needs to be something that puts upward pressure on our wages. these are jobs that more and more americans are going to be spending their careers in. if we don't -- >> they're not asking for an increase in the federal minimum wage necessarily, though. >> not necessarily. i think the strike has given tremendous momentum to campaigns to raise the federal minimum wage, because we talked about this before, it's so far below the historic value.

but beyond that, the workers are say we want to organize without fear of retaliation, so we can better or working conditions and raise wages above whatever the minimum wage ends up being. i want to play some sound from "morning joe." listen to this. >> sure. >> one-day strike for a worker earning $9,000 a year and cannot make ends meet and is choosing food over housing is an incredible sacrifice. one in four jobs are these jobs, and we're headed to 48% of our economy being these jobs. >> now, that's the president there of the service employees international union. how might a solution be put together with all of these owners of fast-food restaurants and those xwoiees themployees t include many factors. >> i think what's important is the fast-food companies are enjoying extremely high profits.

if you look at mcdonald's, $5.5 billion in profits last year, compensated the ceo $13.8 million. how do we get the profits to trickle down to the workers. i think it's a mix of raising pay for the workers. these companies can certainly afford to reduce their portion slightly, and then, you know to the franchisees who say they're squeezed, making sure -- >> got to get them to the table first. >> that's what they strikes are doing hopefully. >> thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you so much. a montana judge is apologizing for comments he made. during sentencing, he said the girl had as much control of the situation as the teacher who raped her, and that she was, quote, older than her chronological age. the teenager later committed suicide. >> i'm not sure just what i was

attempting to say at that point, but it didn't come out correct. what i want was demeaning to all women, not what i believe in, and irrelevant to the sentencing. i owe all our fellow citizens an apology. >> the teacher will serve just 30 days for the crime. there's a planned protest today. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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seriously contend that each 12-year-old is entitled to a hear on the validie of his license? the poll for new york city mayor, and anthony weiner slipping down to single digits now. "new york post" is reporting weiner is having such a hard time generating support, he's paying actors $15 an hour to come to his rallies, something weiner's camp denies. ben affleck, jennifer garner, j.j. abrams and michael eisner all backing the new jersey democrat in his race for the senate. he puts the cost of tickets between $1 and $10,000. yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what's the... guest room situation?

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ready in a minute dad. what's the 411? i can meet you in the car. nah, bro! i'm cool. i'm just chillmaxin'. is there something that you wanted? we can't just spend a little qt as a posse? on the download? dad, why are you talking like that? i was just hoping you would give me the last piece of bacon. holler! holla... i don't know. [ male announcer ] when it comes to common language we all speak bacon. the very best cuts naturally hardwood smoked. it's unanimous food. it's oscar mayer. a provocative question the day after president obama gave the keynote speech marking the 50th anniversary of martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech. >> have the conservatives judged this man by the content of his

character? >> absolutely not. most of the political have an union pinning of race. >> president obama downplayed the assertion that race was behind the republican gridlock. >> i was on the stage with president clinton, and i remember him having a pretty hard time with republicans as well. there does seems to be sometimes just democratic presidents generally being -- efforts being made to gee legitimize them. >> let's bring in joe watkins and democratic strategist and former edwards campaign spokesman chris skofinas. what do you think of that? >> it's one of those things where you don't want to believe it. obviously you have a lot of republican -- i don't by any means believe they are racist, so it's something that you don't want to believe, but when you step back and i think this is

where the american public, and in particular i would say the african-american community looks at what the president has faced, looks at the policies opposed. i don't see them clamoring to fix it. even the commend railinmorationt a single republican shows up. it may not be racism, but it ends up being at least a slap in the face to a lot of minorities and a lot of americans who care about this issue. it adds at a minimum a toxic element to what already is a divided dysfunctional congress. >> so, joe, when you look at voting rights, chris was bringing up what happened yesterday. what are your thoughts of those two together, race, gridlock and those who oppose the president? i want i think clearly the president has faced a lot of challenges, of course because he's the first african-american

president, maybe that's highlighted more. i think he's done a job transcending race, he's not just a president for black people or for women or for hispanics, he's the president of everything, and i think he does an excellent job, but at the same time he's had a tough time getting things done. i would agree with his assertion it's not just because of the color of his skin. had has to do with the nature of presidencies. democrat presidents usually gets a hard time from republicans. republican presidents usually get a hard time from democrats. the key is to reach across the aisle and cobble allies. even when they're being called names, as in clinton's case, the republicans might be trying to reach you, and had republicans who worked with him to get things done. >> chris matthews will say this is the first president ever who had to provide proof he was born

in the united states. that's one indication of this theory. >> these things happen, where the opposition party goes after the incumbent, they look for anything that might be a weakness. that's the nature of political parties. they want to win for their side, but one you're eye electriced, then it's a matter of governing, and that's very different. i think the president has done a good job of transcending. >> but joe -- >> but for everybody. in terms of getting everything done he's had a tougher time because he hasn't been effective i able to reach across the aisle to find allies. >> here's the problem with the premise. i love everyone always putting the responsibility of governing on the president and apparently forgetting the other branches of government. when you look at the rhetoric the positions and action that the president has faced, there's a vittry olick.

it's got worse. >> of course, but the thing about bill clinton. he was impeached by republicans. he claimed in the early '90s they're out to get me and by golly if they were, the republicans did get him, but that did not stop him from getting the agenda done. >> things haven't gotten better, that's not a good example. things have gotten worse. >> president obama did not get into the fight over voting rights, but you know, president clinton did. as you say. take a listen. >> we cannot be discouraged by a supreme court decision that said we don't need this critical provision. but a great democracy is not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon. >> did the president miss an opportunity to fight back? >> i don't think so.

>> it's a difficult speech to give on such a special day. to some extent you have to go beyond race and have to talk about how the country has moved forward. you've got to be sensitive about not making it too political. and i think in a fitting way former president clinton, because he is a former president, has in a sense more gravitas to deliver that pointed message. his line about guns versus voting rights, if there's one thing that should enight all of us, whether republicans, democrats, independents, is the idea that everyone should have a right to vote. >> i agree. i agree with you whoa heartedly. >> if that's the case, joe, why are republicans at least not trying to lead the charges to reform them? you know why not? because doing so shirts them at the voting booth. veal have to leave it will joe watkins, chris, you guys have a great thursday. >> thank you so much. checking the newsfeed merrill lynch will reportedly

pay out $160 million to settle one of the largest racial discrimination cases in history. the lawsuit was filed back in 2005 on behalf of 1200 employees. it claimed that merrill lynch would impede the careers of the black employees that it hired. merrill lynch would not comment. a federal judge is expected to approve it. fire fighters are planning to set some backfires to try to stop the rim fire. it's grown to become the sixth largest in california's history. a land landslide in china. it looks more like a waterfall, taking out structures easily. the communications station on the mountainside was one of those. officials say heavy rain is to blame. on another sign of the big three turnaaron 1400 workers are rolling out the first ford fusions to be made in the united

states. mandy drury is here. the good times seem to be rolling well for ford. >> absolutely. you know, it's rolling out of the flat rock assembly plant today. it is, as you say, the first time the ford fusion is being built here in the u.s. and fusion will be 30% more available, up to 350,000 units annually, i believe. that's great. it means there's demand out there. it means it's making cars and people are buying them. the car model is apparently setting sales records. this is what the ceo said on "morning joe" this morning. >> working with the uaw, we made a commitment we would make vehicles right here in the united states. so the fusion now is the first time the fusion is now made in the united states. so this is a really big deal for all of us. >> obviously the more that can be build here and more jobs that can be created the better. >> the detroit region needs it. it's good news for those guys.

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summer record of $4.4 billion. here are the summer's top five films. "fast and furious 6" "monsters university" is fourth. third the superman reboot "man of steel." "despicable me 2" 351 million. the number one movie of the summer is "iron man 3" bringing in $408 million. but, dad, you've got... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands? a man who doesn't stand still.

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but tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans. it is hot and heavy in london, as they die bait in british parliament. what is the decision that the united states is looking at too, and that is what to do about syria. this was just said. take a listen. >> the decision is simple. and they clearly on some of the opposition benches. some people will think we can make a decision now. equally there are those who think we should rule out

military conflict. i think we have to assess the evidence over the coming period. i think that's the right thing to do. >> well, we've been listening for the last hour. the major issues so far having the report coming from the u.n. inspectors, number two. we'll continue to watch it for you. the vice president announcing today the obama administration will implement two new gun control measures ig sark one policy will abandon almost all reimports. the administration is also proposing to close a little known loopholes that lets guns be registered to corporations or trusts without background treks. joining miss is mayor r.t. ryeback. what's your reaction to the steps that the administration has put out this morning? >> thanks, richard. in my mind it's a very good thing that the president and his administration, certainly the vice president, have said when

we bring back military hardware back into the country, it doesn't automatically wind up on the streets. we have to do some tough things around the world with the military, but i don't think the weapons should be used to -- i thought it was very, very powerful that with and you have stuff on the president's place, syria, for instance, and everything else, he had time to listen to 18 of us mayors, sit with us an hour, an hour and a half with the attorney general -- i'm sorry, two days ago. >> did meet with the president sitting down. and yet on the flip side you've been watching these moves as on the local level, they've been taking up the decision-making process on the gun control legislation themselves. is that a trend you think will continue? >> well, i think first we have a

president who is actually before he went into office worked in some of the neighborhoods we worked in. we've been to too many funerals to go back. he was there in the wake of newtown, but when people aren't talking about it, he's there too. that's powerful. missouri is doing something that seems pretty extreme, which is the idea that they say that federal gun laws shouldn't apply in missouri. well, you know, you think there's a lot that people can do for politics, but i just really think we have to appeal to people and say does anyone believe we need any help to escalate violence in this country? >> how about the president help you? what did he say specifically in terms of helping you on the local level? >> what we have asked and what he's delivered is a coordinated approach from the federal

government, recognizing there are some people in the congress who are being incredibly obstinate. they haven't got a damned thing done, so i don't know why they would do anything on this. so many of us in different communities are doing like what we did in minneapolis, deal with a whole plan -- no, it's not just about limiting guns. it's about teenage pregnancy prevention, it's about parenting. it's about putting officers in the schools to build relationships. i could go on and on and on, but it does also include having the president do everything in his power to say we'll try to de-escalate they situation when one kit gets shots, we have a president who gets that. and i'm proud with all the stuff on his place he's staying focused on that. >> a new approach to see how he

can coordinate. mayor rybak, thank you for your time. >> thank you. today's tweet of the day comes from sean diddy combs. wrote happy birthday to the greatest performer of all time. michael jackson, there is only one king. you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™.

mike tyson says he has the fight in his life, full of shocking revelations. he had a lot more to say in an interview with "today" show's mad lauer. >> when i start drinking and relapse, i think of dying. i don't know. i don't want to be around no more. >> reporter: he's known as a brutal competitor, iron mike, but it was his brutal honesty last week that has people talking. >> i won't survive if i don't get help. >> reporter: turning a press

conference into a public confessional. >> i'm on the verge of dying, because i'm a vicious alcoholic. >> reporter: the former heavyweight champion went off script into the deepest recesses of his psyche. >> i'm negative, dark and i want to do bad stuff. >> reporter: one of the moments that struck me, you pointed at your head and said it's dangerous to hang out in this neighborhood, alone. >> yes, alone. >> reporter: it wants to kill everything, it wants to kill me. all i could think of is what a tough way to go through life, kinnell of fearing what's going on in your own head. >> i'm so happy you don't have to go through that. yeah, it is kind of strange and scary. >> reporter: how long has that been going on? >> i was born that way. >> reporter: he questioned his latest sins, falling off the wagon and lying to friends and family about it. >> i've been sober 12 days. it's tough. i'm mean and irritable. >> reporter: yet at the press

conference you said it was six days. i looked at your face when you were saying it and it looked like it was a real challenge for you to get through the six days. >> yes, it's a real challenge. i don't know if i like this sober guy. straight is hard. and you can catch matt lehrer's entire interview. that wraps up this hour. i'm in for chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. stick around. waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? that's just my speed. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena®. at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask.

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i am deeply mindful of the lessons of previous conflicts, in particular the deep concerns of the country caused by what went wrong with the iraq conflict in 2003. that was british prime minister david cameron on the floor of parliament saying syria won't be iraq revisited. he is facing rapid-fire questions as hi country mobilizes along with the u.s. for a possible strike on syria. hi, everybody. i'm thomas robert.

america on the verge of military action in syria. tensions are rising. in just a few hours, the white house will brief congressional leaders on evidence of suspected chemical attacks. >> we have not made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place, and nobody disputes -- or hardly anybody disputes that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in syria against civilian populations. john boehner is calling on the president to, quote, make the case to the american people and congress and 116 bipartisan members tell the president that moving ahead without their approval would be a violation of the separation of powers. >> i'm sure there will be those who clamor now for having a voice, and at the same time they

would be critical of the president if he did not. what is the strategy of this administration? i believe he should go first and foremost to the american public. war ships already in place, but any potential strike would come with massive and far-reaches ramifications. syrian leader assad today saying his forces will defend its country in the event of attack and the leaders of iran and russia are joining forward to condemn any military intervention inside syria's borders. kristin welk is at the white house, our richard engel is in turkey, and we start with our kristin welker we're looking at the question of "time." as you said i said off the top, the uk is urging the parliament to support where the prime minister is on