hello, everyone. the battlefield on this labor day not only in syria but also cl capitol hill. the white house seeks a green light to strike. leading charge the here secretary of state john kerry who was sent to run the gauntlet of weekend political talk shows. secretary kerry, his role here, laying out the administration's case. >> we are saying that the high confidence that the intelligence community has expressed and the case that i laid out the other day is growing stronger by the day. we know where this attack came from. we know exactly where it went.

we know exactly what happened afterwards. >> here's what the time line looks like. the first hearing in the senate is expected to be held tomorrow. the full congress is not scheduled to return until next week. so far, the only consensus in congress is there is no consensus in congress. >> i'm hoping by the time next week comes around and hopefully the president can make his case, that he will be able to get a majority of the house of representatives. >> i think it's at least 50/50 whether the house will vote down involvement in the syrian war. i think the senate will rubber stamp what he wants but i think the house will be a much closer vote. >> with congress in a holding pattern, the administration says proof is building by the day that syria's bashar all ac assa used sarin gas against his own people. nearly a third of that country's population being displaced by the civil war. white house officials reportedly say they're flooding the zone. the president has meetings today

with republican senators graham and mccain. white house correspondent peter alexander has more for us. is he hoping these two will help make his case? >> the obama administration insists the u.s.' very credibility at stake here. the president recognizing he's going to need all the help he can get from allies on capitol hill. one of the reasons for the meetings today with senators graham and mccain. today kicks off the intensifying of this effort to try to convince members of congress of the need for military action. yesterday, the president, his vice president and chief of staff made calls to members of congress. there are more calls scheduled for today. in addition to meetings to take place. the white house trying to step up the pressure right now. the secretary of state john kerry on sunday comparing bashar all assad, the syrian leader, to both adolf hitler and saddam

hussein. the president's decision to seek congressional authorization really marked a dramatic shift at the end of more than a week of deliberations. the white house had been making it very clear they were leaning toward a military strike. that one could be imminent. but it appear was swayed the president in many ways to change his mind was what took place in britain. the no vote by that nation's parliament. the president, after watching that from the west wing, then had a visit with his chief of staff, dennis mcdonough, walking together on the white house's south lawn before calling in his senior advisers, delivering that message to them. many of them stunned, we're told, by senior administration officials. they expressed their disagreement. but by saturday, everybody was on board. many lawmakers have already made it clear the best hope perhaps for congressional approval is to limit the scope of any resoluti resolution. the white house realizes has a lot rising on this. no president has lost a vote for the use of force in modern

times. richard. >> peter, thank you for that. nbc's peter alexander at the white house. denying the regime is using chemical weapons against his own citizens. in an interview, fazel mcdodd says rebel groups were the ones who used chemical agents. he also said there will be serious consequences if america attacks. >> nor weakening of international institutions. terrorists will flourish everywhere. this will undermined the security of americans inside and outside their country. al qaeda is there. any attack against syria is supporting al qaeda and its affiliates. >> i'd like to bring in nbc's foreign correspondent live in beirut covering the story for us it the u.n. is now saying 7 million refugees have been displaced by the crisis. the urgency certainly grows by

the day. also getting reports from the arab league . you've got two groups of voices coming out of the region. what are they? >> well, you have one that is led by the syrian government and its allies including iran and here in lebanon hezbollah. they're portraying this as a victory for the axis of resistance. they say this is an historic defeat for the united states for the reasons we just heard there from the deputy foreign minister. there are those in the arab league who still went tougher action led by the united states and the international community. that has been led within the arab league by saudi arabia. they've come out and said it is up to the international community to live up to the u.n. charter to protect syrian civilians, to take deterrent action. if you read between the lines, that means to use force or whatever is necessary to protect syrian civilians. that is about as strong of a comment that will come out of the arab league. particularly from the foreign

policies. to give the united states and the international community a push from the region. however, as we have heard, there are those that are concerned that any military strike on syria is going to destabilize countries like lebanon, destabilize the region into a broader conflict and worsening humanitarian situation. >> live in beirut on the story. joining me now, rhode island democratic congressman david sis linney. thank you for being with us. you've seen the draft resolution from the white house. do you support it as it is? >> yesterday, i traveled to washington and had the opportunity to participate in a classified meeting. as i said yesterday, we have much more information to learn before i can make a decision. i think everyone recognizes the use of chemical weapons is horrific. we have to decide whether or not a military strike will advance or protect the national security

interests of the united states. do we fully understand what the implications of that strike will be? does it in the end advance the national security interests of our country? i think this is a difficult question. we have the responsibility to listen carefully to all of the evidence. the white house has said its willingness to share information and i look forward to a debate on this. i think we should be back in washington already to begin this discussion. i'll listen carefully to what the president is requesting and to what my colleagues feel on both sides of this issue. listen to my constituents. this will be a very heavy burden to meet, to persuade me it's in the national security interest of the united states to engage in this military strike. if it's do, it's something we have to do as part of a very broad international coalition. it cannot be the united states alone vindicating this important principle about the use of chemical weapons. >> if you were to describe the different groups in congress in terms of their view on what the

white house would like to do, "the washington post" lays it out. they say the five ways congress is split on syria. you've got the do it now already crowd. those would want bigger military action. some say they're happy to debate the issue, reserving judgment. others are just plain skeptical. and still others are anti-military action. those are the five groups the way "the washington post" laid out. which group do you fall into? which group do you think dominates now in the house? >> i consider myself skeptical because i think it's very important that we think very carefully, review the evidence very thoroughly. consider all of the range of options that are available before we engage militarily. and that we understand completely the consequences of military action. i think we should always be skeptical and test that very hard. so i'm in the camp of really wants to listen very carefully to the evidence. listen carefully to the administration. what the president is asking. understanding what's happening in the region. ways the alternative. what are the consequences of

inaction. but, you know, this principle of a ban on the use of chemical weapons which dates back to world war i is something the entire world should be prepared to vindicate and so far it's been only the voice of america. we have urgent needs of americans all across this country that we need to focus on. i think we have to balance it against the things facing our own country as well. >> what will it say to this president, to the world, if no action is undertaken after what has been said to date? >> i mean, i think that's exactly the difficult situation we're in. not only what it will say to the world but particularly in light of the fact the president has said this is a red line, does that as a consequence require us to support some action. and is there some military action we have to take in order to send a message to iran and to russia about our seriousness when we speak. so i think that's part of the mix about deciding what's the right course of action for our

country. what are the national security implications of inaction? does it send the wrong mess being an to the rest of the world? i think this is going to be a difficult decision. study it, listen to experts about the region. and then make a judgment at the end i think is in the best interest of our country. >> rhode island congressman david ciccilini, thank you. president's campaign to sway skeptical lawmakers on options in syria. our panel of experts weighs in next on those steps. and nelson mandela discharged from a south african hospital after nearly three months. the most free research reports, customizable charts, powerful screening tools, and guaranteed 1-second trades. and at the center of it all is a surprisingly low price -- just $7.95. in fact, fidelity gives you lower trade commissions than schwab, td ameritrade, and etrade.

i'm monica santiago of fidelity investments, and low fees and commissions are another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. about the walmart low price guarantee, backed by ad match. look at walmart's price. awesome! if you find a lower advertised price, they'll match it at the register. really? yeah! ready? wow! that's the walmart low price guarantee. bring in your receipt before game time and see for yourself. ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below...

to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. we're gonna stop beating ourselves up about our weight. we're not gonna give up what we love. it's not gonna happen. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" one night we'll even eat a cupcake like it's our job. just not the entire cake. that's part of the weight watchers plan. we're gonna feel happy... healthy... and good. weight watchers. join for free. because we understand. because we've been there. because it works. hurry, join by september 14th and you'll get a free month.

the white house is stepping up the pressure for congress to

approve military action in syria. but there's a tough battle ahead. take a listen. >> yes. >> i'm a no based on the information i have now. feel very skeptical about the president's proposal. >> they've got a lot more explaining to do. >> during a briefing this morning, russian's foreign minister saying the information the u.s. provided on an alleged chemical weapons attack is, quote, absolutely unconvincing. with me now, zeke miller, reporter for "time." ambassador mark ginsburg, former ambassador for morocco. and colonel jack jacobs, medal of honor recipient and msnbc military analyst. zeke, we've been listening to preliminary reactions to what the president would like done here. he's going to be reapi ireachino key members. is he going to get a yes vote? >> congressional leaders say when a president asks for a vote like this, it will pass. there's going to be a bit of strong arming that the white

house and congressional leadership of both parties are going to have to do. if this doesn't pass, it really is a -- will reflect very poorly about the president's political power, police call capital in washington and really, sort of, set the tone for the rest of the second term. if it passes, the white house has a huge upside here. it's probably going to pass but it won't be easy and that process also is going to require the white house to really invest a lot effort and energy in getting these lawmakers across the finish line. that's something they've had trouble with in the past. >> ambassador, when we look at different voices, different groups he needs to be communicating to, as he has different messages, explain to us the cop plmplexity of the gr in terms of who the president needs to be talking to here. >> richard, just listening to the conversation earlier, it's quite clear that there's members of congress who keep calling for a broader coalition. they want united nations support. or they want arab league

participation. and all of these requests which are very reasonable unfortunately the lawmakers who are requesting that broad international coalition are just not going to get it. no matter what the evidence is. and so despite all the efforts by the administration, we're largely left right now with france, which is about to have its own parliamentary debate on wednesday. in congress, as you and i know, several things can happen. rand paul could filibuster a resolution. the rules committee could come out with a different resolution. there's any number of traps. >> the ambassador league saying they would like further action. stronger las veganguage. does that give the president what he needs diplomatically? >> congratulate secretary kerry

for that diplomatic offensivive over the last 24 hours. the arab league needs to be able to provide greater cover. there's divisions within the arab league. egypt has most been opposed to u.s. intervention. the saudis and qataris, let me add, are arming the bad guys while we try to take care of the good guys here. >> the ambassador giving us a hint of what is happening on the ground. the joint chiefs chair saying if we wait a week, military options don't change. agree? >> i do agree. this is not a complicated exercise. there's no multinational forces. it's not even joint. you've got the navy that's going to fly our cruise missiles at predetermined targets, wait till the smoke clears, see if the targets need to be struck again and go after them again.

there's no strategy here. it's purely a punitive strike. the military can wait a long time before it launches one. >> to you here, zeke. as we watched what happened over the weekend. we saw secretary kerry coming to sunday talk shows. does this not look good for secretary kerry, as, some are saying, he had to back pedal? >> that's the arc of this whole story. he has come out essentially as the administration's chief prosecutor of the assad regime. coming out last week on monday with the first evidence sort of explaining what the u.s. believed to be true at that time on monday, then again on friday, with that statement. even an hour after he finished speaking, the president speaking from the roosevelt room from the meeting with so many baltic state presidents. the president back pedalled. that was probably the first indication these strikes were going to be delayed. so kerry was adamant late week

and worked hard over the past 48 hours or so to fall lock step with the president. >> what does the united states -- what does the president need to clearly state to fortify the united states credibility abroad at this moment you believe? >> richard, i think the president needs to do -- not just the fact we have the proof of the actual gas attack but there's unequivocal proof that convinces lawmakers, as well as international parties, that assad himself or his commanders ordered this attack. number three, to convince many reluctant members of congress there's a strategy behind the attacks and what happens if they use gas again. let me add, as i close, what happens if the assad regime orchestrates an attack on its own forces using chemical weapons in order to say it's not just us, it's also the other side? and then it complicates any

justificati justification, given the fact this mess has only gotten messier in syria. >> if the president doesn't get votes, what are the serious consequences? >> he'll do it anyway. he's already said he's going to do it. there's ample precedent for that. where presidents have not received approval in the congress for taking military action. they've taken in anyway. >> colonel jack jacobs, thank you. as well as "time" magazine's zeke miller, ambassador, thank you. nelson mandela home from the hospital. diana nyad's attempt to swim from cuba to florida. despite being stung several times by jellyfish, she is within striking distance of her goal, we are hearing. you work. and you want to get an mba. but going back to school is hard... because you work. now, capella university

offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. it's called flexpath and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know so you can get a degree at your pace. and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university learn more at capella.edu i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away.thing. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge.

[ sneezing ] she may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec®. powerful allergy relief for adults and kids six years and older. zyrtec®. love the air.

and kids six years and older. cashback concierge, here. what is a cashback concierge? well there's lots of ways you can get cash back. i'm here to help you get the most out of your cash rewards. it's personalized, and it's free. i want that. we have a concierge! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with cashback concierge. no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today. ♪ here's a look at some of the storying topping the news for

you. 64-year-old swimmer diana is in an historic stretch of a swim from cuba to florida. after swimming almost two days straight. is just ten days away from reaching key west. this time, she is wearing a protective mask to help keep jellyfish away. she explained her mental game before jumping into the water on saturday. >> make it through the day. then make it through the night. that's my idea. to go day. finish. now get a new goal. get through the night. and hopefully we're going to do it three days, three nights, and make it over. >> she will become the record holder for the longest unassisted open ocean swim. nelson mandela back at home for the first time in three months. he was being treated for a recurrent lung infection. his granddaughter says he is comfortable at home and receiving the best medical care. justice ruth bader ginsburg

has become the first supreme court justice to conduct a same sex marriage ceremony. her longtime friends. ginsburg was part of the majority in the supreme court ruling that declared that same sex couples are eligible for federal benefits. documents obtained by snowden show the agency spy program targeted the communications of brazilian and mexican presidents. this according to guardian journalist greenwald would fiho published the leaks. the mens round of 16. 109th ranked was america's last hope but he lost last night. no american men advanced past the second round of wimbledon for the first time in 101 years. things are going better for the women. serena wins cruised past the

fellow american to reach the semifinals. the boys used double miles from their capital one venture card to fly home for the big family reunion. you must be garth's father? hello. mother. mother! traveling is easy with the venture card because you can fly any airline anytime. two words. double miles! this guy can act. wanna play dodge rock? oh, you guys! and with double miles you can actually use, you never miss the fun. beard growing contest and go! ♪ i win! what's in your wallet? i win! cheryl burke is cha-cha-ing in depend silhouette briefs for charity, to prove that with soft fabric and waistband, the best protection looks, fits, and feels just like underwear.

get a free sample and try for yourself.

i put in the hourswhere i am today by luck. and built a strong reputation in the industry. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i've made my success happen. so when it comes to my investments, i'm supposed to just hand it over to a broker and back away? that's not gonna happen. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want.

talk to us today. the u.s. defense department official is confirming the aircraft carrier "uss nimitz" has arrived in the red sea. the pentagon ordering that carrier and its battle group to stay near the persian gulf pending any possible military action in syria. not to take part in any possible syria operations but in case there is some sort of reaction to any potential strike against syria. "uss nimitz" arriving in the red sea. a day after the decision, president assad appears to be carrying on with his assault on the ground. new amateur video claims to show more shelling by assad's forces. this after syria's president

mocked the white house for what it called america's retreat. correspondent bill neely is on the ground in damascus. >> reporter: the first reaction here to president obama's decision came two minutes after he finished speaking at the white house when syria's army began shelling rebel-held suburbs in damascus after a day of quiet. after that came the mocking. one newspaper headline saying the american retreat started here. the deputy prime minister saying obama's delay was laughable. and today i spoke to syria's deputy foreign policy fazal mechdad who said he isn't surprised and he hopes the white house people in the u.s. congress will do what the mps in britain's house of congress had done and vote against military action. if they vote for, he said, syria's army is absolutely ready.

for the rebels, this feels like a betrayal. one leader of syria's national council said obama was a weak president. and a rebel leader in damascus said only one person was smiling and that was president assad. certainly he will feel emboldened. the british have pulled back. the americans have delayed. he will feel he's weakened his enemies. so president assad is undeterred and defiant. the president's national security team faces a tough sell on capitol hill where some 83 lawmakers returned to washington sunday for a rare labor day weekend meeting. watching all that was nbc's casee hunt. a lot happening. ? a lot happening. the administration is at this point facing a hard sell. like you said, 83 lawmakers were up here yesterday afternoon. some of them in t-shirts and jeans. it was kind of a casual sunday up here on the hill.

but today president obama is going to make his case at the white house to senators john mccain and lindsey graham. and those two are really important because they represent a diminishing hawkish wing. may say that limited strikes wouldn't go far enough. while what happened after the briefing was dozens came out and said the authority the president is asking for is way too broad. and they want it more limited. so if obama can't get people like mccain and graham on his side, it's going to be even tougher. >> we were listening to some of the sound from lawmakers other the weekend. you were standing there as you watch them speak. what's the sense? will congress actually vote against authorizing a strike? is that a real possibility here? >> they're already rewriting the the two-page resolution the president sent up here on saturday. they say it offers him too broad of an authority. one of obama's al allies called

it a partial blank check. that's something that makes law marks really uncomfortable. that's a reference we heard over and over and over again. they are concerned about having to take a vote that would authorize the broad kind of intervention we saw that led to a ten-year plus conflict in iraq. >> all right, kacie hunt on capitol hill. let's bring in our political panel. good monday to both of you. start with you on this one. was it smart for the president to, some are asking, let congress now take over in terms of determining the future of the decision that he, at least earlier, said he was going to make? >> he clearly thought it was in the best interest of the country. there's one way in terms of bolstering his credibility in terms of action, getting congressional authorization is a smart thing. in terms of making this a neat clean process, no, it's a risky

game b gambit. it complicates things. you're trying to convince them. on top of that, the difficult part about public opinion. so there's a lot of moving parts to this that became much more complicated. >> former officials under george w. bush criticizing the president's decision to put this major decision in congress' court. a number of them speoke to politico. he said, obama has undermined the quick strike ability that gives presidents much of their power in dealing with mill carry threats. obama will be acting from the weakest political position. do you agree with that? >> we know the president can move quickly.

the surprise factor is a useful factor for presidents. you remember of course some years ago when those pirates took over a u.s. ship off the coast of africa. the president acted very quickly, decisively, to put that incident to rest. and clearly had he done the same here, we wouldn't be facing the unintended consequences of what looks like weakness on the part of the united states or lack of resolve. i know the president does have strong resolve to get this done. i think it's a -- it ends up being a good thing he ends up going to congress. >> did he set up precedent do you think, joe? >> say it again. >> did he set a precedent, do you think? >> in recent history, he sent a precedent. i worked for the first president bush. the first president bush did set it up, did give plenty of notice to everybody. had lots of allies in place, in time for making the announcement we were going to go to war with

saddam hussein back in 1991. so when he made that announcement we were going to go to war with saddam hussein, he had su port from our allies and certainly american congress. this is a different setting, of course. the delay looks like it emboldened asat. certainly, he's already fired on rebel positions in damascus. not a good thing. >> the nbc poll we had taken last week. and in it shows 8 in 10 americans are saying the president should get approval from congress. chris, if congress says no, does the president still move? >> well, i mean, i think the president still moves. but, boy, does it make it much more complicated. the political blow back will be much more significant. i think the challenge here right now -- i know everyone is fix eight e ated on congress and rightfully so. the bigger unknown is the

american public. the president and the white house have to sell these members of congress. convince them about why this is important strategically. what is the inevitable outcome. the group or the actor that is the most critical is the american public. they have more questions than you can imagine. because they're not very clear about what we're doing and why. i think the administration has got to focus on that. >> that delay really hurt us. it hurts the united states in regards to rapid response. >> with all due respect, we're not talking about an immediate threat here. we're talking about responding to a clear violation. delay does not hurt the president or weaken our ability to respond. we have to be careful about exaggerating what is a few days of a delay. >> how does it hurt us? >> it hurt us in lives. more people will die. with each passing day we don't have a decision, assad is

imboldined. already they've began a campaign saying the united states is weak. that doesn't help us. it emboldens those who are against us. the quicker we move forward on this, the better. i think the president has the right idea, which is you have to respond. but he certainly has put secretary of state kerry in a very awkward position. >> but joe, isn't he doing exactly what he said he wanted to do? he wanted to make sure we're look at the war powers act. and he was looking at previous decision, made by previous presidents and saying i would like to adhere to the war powers act with the notification to congress. >> the thing is the secretary of state last week was using very, very strong terms which gave everybody the sense that this was going to be imminent. the attack would be imminent.

to delay it of course has made us look a lot weaker. >> if you're going to congress and actually doing what a lot of republicans leaders said, which is go to congress and get authorization, that is not necessarily a sign of weakness at all. that is actually a sign of resolve and creditedablbility. it is better for the country, better for the legitimacy of the action. >> if he goes to -- if he has the support of congress, that's a much different story. he has some selling to do. this typime, you'll have republicans working with him. i think he has a great chance of having lindsey graham on his side and working hard to get the votes he needs. >> thank you so much. coming up, the government will run out of money to pay its bim bills next month. will the debate over syria push the budget battle to the side? one candidate opens the lead in the polls as the race to run the

biggest city has just one week to go. acking 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. more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth.

listerine® whitening... i don'without goingcisions to angie's list first. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. building animatronics is all about getting things to work together. the timing, the actions, the reactions. everything has to synch up. my expenses are no different. receipt match from american express synchronizes your business expenses. just shoot your business card receipts and they're automatically matched up with the charges on your online statement. i'm john kaplan and i'm a member of a synchronized world. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

when you do what i do, iyou think about risk.. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash. i want to be prepared for the long haul. ishares minimum volatility etfs. investments designed for a smoother ride. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. we're gonna stop beating ourselves up about our weight. we're not gonna give up what we love. it's not gonna happen. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" one night we'll even eat a cupcake like it's our job. just not the entire cake. that's part of the weight watchers plan. we're gonna feel happy... healthy... and good. weight watchers. join for free. because we understand. because we've been there. because it works. hurry, join by september 14th and you'll get a free month.

congress returns from recess september 9th. p to the priority will now be a vote on syria. there's a looming fiscal crisis that could force the government into default. if both parties cannot reach an agreement on obama care funding. joining us now, nbc could be trb beauter and seeninior fellow je bernstein. we've got the new focus on syria. potential vote coming up when they do return in a week or so. we've also got the issue of a budget conversation. does that get pushed aside here? >> no. basically, we have three events. one is the syrian vote which presumably will happen soon after congress returns, if not before, if the president can get them to come back sooner. then at the end of september, that's the end of the government's fiscal year. at that point, they have to have

a vote as to whether to keep the government open or not. i believe that vote is going to support what's called a continuing resolution. basically, a budget patch that keeps the government moving. leadership wants that and even some of the renegades -- >> what do you see it, three months? >> yes, something like that. just keep the government funded at current levels. then that's when the debt ceiling hits. that's a much tougher debate. >> as leaders of both parties here want to get this done, and now there's even less time to devote to this as we look forward to it, a week from now, something has to give, right? you're saying something will get done though. >> actually not much has to give if you're just going to do another one of these budget patches. that's why, in fact, pretty much everyone of our budget deals has been that. it's really not that big a deal to just say let's continue doing what we're doing. i think the real fight comes in the middle of october when you

have this threat to default which is just an absolutely crazy kind of wound to inflick on the american economy. there you have a real standoff between the administration that is saying we will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. that's different then this kind of keep the lights on business of usual. >> the speaker wanting the president in a letter, saying, i would like to be consulted on any action in syria. that's now going to happen but when you look at the calendar, today is a holiday, as we both know. later this week, also, we've got rosh hashana and the president is going to attend the g-20 also this week. should the speaker say, come on back, let's get this done, so that we can, you know, add more days to get done what needs to be done the budget ahead of us? >> i think it's a great point. these guys have something like nine working days in september. now, you know, obviously, they're doing other stuff when they're not here.

come on, i guess that's nice work if you can get it. so that's one thing. but yeah, the nation's business is incredibly pressing. i guess i have one phootentiall optimistic thought. national defense, these kinds of issues like syria does have a way of focusing the mind of even the most combative members of congress. so it's possible the sort of dysfunction that has been so problematic in these self-inflicted budget wounds gets pushed aside by saying, hey, not that everybody's going to agree with the president, but we really have to be kind of serious here and the last thing we want to do is defund the government, to consider defaulting, when we're talking about war. >> in the debate right now, atypical bedfellows in terms of the groups. before we let you go here, as you've been watching the indicators, we've got oil, the dow, now a delay of one week. is that going to hurt the

economy in the united states? >> i don't think it's going to hurt the economy. i do think there's been some pressure from oil prices. perhaps less than i might have thought given the geopolitics. do we continue to go along at a 2% growth rate or accelerate? many forecasters think we're accelerating. i'm not so sure. >> the dow finishing under 15,000 for the week. a lot of us watching. jerry bernstein, thank you. it's down to the wire in the race for mayor in new york city. where things stand with one week left until voters head to the polls. ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today.

♪ about the walmart low price guarantee, backed by ad match. look at walmart's price. awesome! if you find a lower advertised price, they'll match it at the register. really? yeah! ready? wow! that's the walmart low price guarantee. bring in your receipt before game time and see for yourself.

. "new york times" michael, thank you so much. in the next hour, making the case for syria. we have an expert panel on what lies ahead. and the true story that inspired "the butler." meet the man who first told the world about this amazing man. discover card. i missed a payment. aw, shoot. shoot! this is bad. no! we're good! this is your first time missing a payment. and you've got the it card, so we won't hike up your apr for paying late. that's great! it is great! thank you. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness.

a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective

to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®

and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. developing now from syria, a u.s. aircraft carrier arrives in the red sea. this as president obama faces an uphill battle. can he get congress on board? today, senator john mccain heads to the white house. new revelations. nsa leaker edward snowden reportedly spied on the personal e-mails of two world leaders.

homestretch, swimmer diana nyad is just miles away from completing her record attempt swimming from cuba toful. we begin with new developments in syria. a defense department official is confirming the aircraft carrier "uss naimitznimitz" has moved i red sea. four other ships are also in that area. defense officials say they moved the group to help support a limited strike on syria if needed. meanwhile, in a new interview with the bbc, syria's deputy foreign policy minister is denying the regime used chemical weapons against its citizens. take a listen. >> did you use chemical weapons? >> no, absolutely not. chemical weapons were used by the armed groups who are supported by the united states, by turkey, by saudi arabia, among others. >> here in the united states, members of congress are divided over whether or not to use

military action against syria. last hour, i spoke to rhode island democratic congressman david ciccilini who took part in yesterday's classified briefing. he says he needs more information. >> i consider myself skeptical, because i think it's very important we think very carefully, review the evidence very thoroughly, consider all of the range of options that are available before we engage militarily. >> and we're also learning here on msnbc the nato chief anders fogh rad mussen saying, i april convin am convinced the syrian regime is responsible. we have nbc white house correspondent peter alexander. the president and his cabinet, what are they doing to lobby congress and, really, the world at this moment? >> the phrase we've heard multiple times now from senior administration officials is flood the zone. this is a full-court press as they try to make this effort to

convince congress on the need for the use of military action. one of the events today will happen behind closed doors at the white house. and the west wing. where both senators lindsey graham and john mccain will be meeting privately with the president. they are two key republicans that are significant to this debate because both of them air on the side of more action. they say there should be a more aggressive military action taken by this administration, by the u.s. going forward. the u.s. is hoping they will be able to help sway others on capitol hill over the course of the next several days. the white house, the administration has said very che clearly, it's the u.s. credibility on the line. expect more of that lobbying effort to take place today. there will be phone calls. we know the president, the vice president and the president's chief of staff, dennis mcdonough, spoke to house and senate members. they are inviting more members, key ranking members and chairman

of some of the critical committees, forces, foreign relations intelligence. committees will be here again at the white house tomorrow. all in an effort to try to convince congress to go forward on this. many people closeinsisted that feels strongly the u.s. look stronger when there is broad support at home. the president feels very strongly this needs to take place. >> peter alexen direction thank you develop. we're just getting this in. there will be an unclassified congress call today at 11:30 a.m. eastern. this will be for members of the house democratic caucus who are unable to attend sunday's briefing which we were reporting on earlier today. we'll continue to keep you updated about what's happening on the hill. now we go to nbc's ayman

mohayden. it becomes more and more urgent, this is something you've been reporting on consistently over the past few weeks. what's the reaction from the region right now on the president's decision to go to congress? >> this was an historic retreat. it's certainly something that they say they are willing to defend themselves. there are troubling reports that in anticipation to a possible military strike on syria, the syrian military government has began to move some of its military units into civilian

areas. perhaps in an attempt to try and avoid having those identified military areas being struck by the u.s. military or others that may be part of this operation. according to some opposition sources, they have been moving mill titary units. that's a major concern for human rights organizations. it is a concern across the region that if there is a military strike, you could see the number of refugees still over into neighboring countries. so that is a major concern. against that backdrop, you still have the arab league. saying it calls on the international community to use deterrent action, to punish the syrian government. that is as strong of a language as you're possibly going to get from the arab league. giving the united states some type of diplomatic cover to pursue a military option against syria, should it decide to.

>> our pabl now, colonel jack jacobs. we have the associate editor and senior couldnrrespondent for "t washington post." and also our guest from liberty group. we're getting the information, the uss nimitz moving into the red sea, we have the developments of the nato chief saying he has information. he feels personally there has been an attack using chemical weapons. >> the very fact we're taking our time making the attack, you could argue militarily puts the flotilla of missile guided cruisers in the mediterranean at risk for just about any attack from anybody. so we move in a carrier task force to provide air cover and coordination of air cover over the area where we're currently located. that will protect these ships

from any attack by, let's say, iran or even syria, would may be trying to get their aircraft off the ground. you know, the airfields in syria and aircraft on the ground are going to be the first targets we hit. >> as we look at this developing news on the uss nimitz and the carrier group, we knew was going to be moved into the area, to the red sea, but it is there to handle any sort of overflow, if you will, if there were to be an attack on syria, what might happen in other parts of that region? can you talk about that for us? >> well, sure, richard, it sends a signal to the other actors in if the region. in an area of potential conflict, we're sending multiple signals. one is to reassure israel that the united states is bringing this tremendous military capability there in support of it. also to signal to others in the region if we do escalate, we retain the capability in the region to only defend our own

assets, but to follow up to additional assets. when i was at the pentagon, it was, what are the criteria? think of three. punish, deter and compel. punish the regime for the use of chemical weapons. try and deter future use. and then compel the regime to change its behavior. deter is really debatable. three, compel the regime to change its behavior, that is almost impossible to achieve through military action alone. >> what does the president need to do in terms of clearly communicating to the members of the public, as well as members of congress, so they can justify their decision on this? >> the debate is quickly moving away from did the regime use chemical weapons. i think that's becoming a resolved issue at this point. particularly for many members of congress. the question now is what will

the efficacy of u.s. military action be. that's where the debate is going to turn. that's why we're hearing more talk from the administration about the iran connection here. that sending a forceful message, engaging in military action against syria will send a clear message to iran of course whose nuclear program remains of concern for the united states. the arrival of the carrier group into the red sea starts to really shape the discussion here in washington about what can be done militarily that's narrow in scope that will start to achieve not just the first of roger's objectives but to start address the other two, subjects of debate and discussion on the hill in coming days. >> colonel, narrow in scope, how narrow does this need to be, how specific does it need to be, what is the strategy? >> there really isn't any

strategy. there's not much we can actually do except punish assad. so as a result, the operation's going to be taylored to that. target airfields. mobile missile launchers. command and control facilities. maybe some troop concentrations if we can find exactly where the two brigades who are primarily responsible for launching the gas in the first place are located. but very, very limited in scope. no strategy. just punishment i think is what we're after. >> roger, does this -- did this last week sort of provide a fakeout, if you will? the president and the secretary of state coming out with very strong words. and then being able to watch what happened in syria, what was moved, what wasn't. and, therefore, the united states having a better understanding of what the key assets are, at least the way syrian government views it? >> certainly, richard, we're taking all of the intelligence capability we have to continue

to monitor very cleesely what the syrians are doing. we're working with our allies in the region to assemble that picture. if the president does decide to strike, we've got the most recent information available. what happened forced them to do a bit a reset. some people will say the longer we delay, the more ineffective a potential strike is going to be. frankly this strike has nothing to do with the syrian civil war. because we're too late to this game. it has everything to do with sending a message to others. that if the use of weapons of mass destruction is done, the united states will respond accordingly. >> quickly here, is this basically about turning the tables on congress? they are saying we want to get information from the white house so now -- or consultation from the white house? now the president's giving it to them?

>> yes, you had members of congress saying, all right, you've asked for it, you've got it. now the on in hus is on you. it can argue if congress does not vote in support of this resolution, that, look, it's congress' fault, not ours. they couldn't get the job done. >> thank you, all three. up next, the divide on both side, of the aisle over what to do about syria. what's next in that debate. this just in, long distance swimmer diana nyad now at the five-mile countdown from reaching her goal of swimming from cuba to florida. ♪

[ female announcer ] when they wake up dry in pampers, mornings have more tickles, more kisses... ♪ ...and more cuddles. ♪ unlike other diapers, pampers has 3 absorbent layers, and up to 12 hours of overnight protection, for drier mornings, and so much more. ♪ [ female announcer ] wishing you love, sleep, and play. pampers.

64-year-old diana nyad is closing in on her historic swim. she has been in the water, fighting against crushing exhaustion and the painful stings of jellyfish that doomed her previous attempts. nbc's kerry sanders is in florida for us, tracking her progression. inspirational, isn't it? >> reporter: you said 64 years old, imagine this, who's been able to make this swim without a shark cage, nobody. so she's not only doing this but at 64 years old. as you know, her biggest problem has been the jellyfish stings. the jellyfish stings have been her biggest problem. on the fifth time now. she started this more than 35 years ago. 28 years old when she first tried.

she has never quit. she jumps in the water again in cuba on saturday to begin this. this time, she thinks that she has a protective coat she's been able to put on herself. that will keep her from the stings of those jellyfish. this is what she said just moments before she jumped in and took the swim. >> until i'm finished, i'm not finished. but i think the end of the journey is here now. >> reporter: it certainly looks like this is going to be the time she makes it. of course, she still has about five miles to go. when the crew before sunrise could see the lights from key west, they knew she's within striking distance. she is continuing on. i think it's about 51 strokes or so that she's taking a minute so she's keeping up a really steady pace. the real problem is not the jellyfish but rather when you're swimming like that and exhausted, you do swallow some

saltwater and that adds to dehydration, making fatigue more complicated. her team is confident. they believe on this fifth attempt, after so many years, richard, she's going to make it. >> a lot of people hoping. they've been tweeting as well her location. do we know how close she is? >> i think it's about five miles on the last tweet. yeah, it's a modern day version. she started this some years ago, there were no tweets and it was hard to make a satellite phone call. now she's got completion connection. she is doing what nobody else has done. an australian swimmer was able to make this swim inside a shark tank. there was some controversy because they said that shark tank created sort of a protection and gave her some momentum. here, she's just out there. there's a boat alongside her and it has a pull out with something dangling in the water so she can keep her focus, so she can do a relative straight line.

remember, she's got currents out there so it's not a complete direct line but the boat goes and she follows that so she can make her way almost like the crow flies. probably will be 103 miles as she makes it to shore as she hopes to today. >> 64 years old. as you started with a moment ago. a number of republicans have weighed in and say they are not on board. >> if the vote were today, it will probably be a no vote. if you feel so strongly about it, if he doesn't want to take the action himself, then he should call us back into session tomorrow. >> i think the line in the sand should be america gets involved when american interests are threatened. i don't see american interests involved on either side of this syrian war. >> and oklahoma republican tom cole saying he's leaning no and that, quote, the administration better make a whale of a case. or think they're very much in

danger certainly in the house of losing this. joining me now, texas republican thomas burgess. >> good morning, richard. >> good morning. you said you're leaning no, this, after yesterday's briefing. what's it going to take for you to get a yes? >> look, i felt obligated to go back to washington yesterday and see the information that was made available to the average member of congress. i'm not on a special committee. and i did do that. i will tell you it doesn't make -- it's not a clear case they're making or going to do. it's been called a pinprick or a shot across the bow. you look at the language on the authorization and it's pretty broad, like it's almost unending. so which is it, mr. president? i don't think the president has made the case to the american people. and that is one of the things that is required. for all his faults, his predecessor george bush did come to the american people on a number of occasions and

explained the rationale and explained the conditions. remember, also, that before the activity in iraq started, popular polls supported the president's action. polls right now -- i don't know that i've seen any, but i don't think they would be supportive -- >> the president as commander in chief needs to act directly and sometimes alone on such issues. >> correct. on the libyan issue, which is the other point we have for comparison, he did act unilaterally. never made a case to the american people. never made a case to the congress. as a consequence, the activity seemed open ended and never ending and then we actually ended up losing people a couple years later. so it's not a -- this is not a clear path forward. here you have a brutal dictator with astonishing cruelty would used the worst kind of weapons against his own people. so it's not that he attacked another country. it's not that he attacked an

ally. he did this to his own folks. i don't understand why they don't rise up as one and eliminate him from his position in lird. it seems like that would be the logical thing to happen. sending a couple cruise missiles or tomahawks over there, i don't think it's going to accomplish that. >> congressman, are you worried? if you vote no and the resolution is not passed, the president of the united states, the office of the presidency, therefore, becomes weakened. >> i think everyone should be concerned about that. but who is responsible for that weakening? i did not draw the red line. i think a point for consultation might have been a little bit earlier. certainly the president has had the ability to make a case to the american people. not just to his advisers. not just the people around the cabinet table. but come on television.

present it to the american people. present the facts as they are. yes, i saw the classified documents yesterday. they were pretty thin. the case that can be made that actually assad was the one who pulled the trigger is suspect. >> you know the president's already come on television to reach out to the american people. so has the secretary of state. he did that yesterday across five, six, seven different shows on a sunday. and some are asking, why hasn't congress come back to work? congress wanted to be consulted on this. >> you'll have to ask the speaker that question. i don't know. yes, we should be there. we've got all the budgetary issues to straighten out. we have the whole national intelligence plan needs to be reauthorized before september 30th. we've got an enormous amount of work to do. >> at the end of the day, where will congress stand on this? will he get enough votes to support the resolution? >> well, in that regard, the

president perhaps does benefit from the fact that we're not there and he can work on individual members, individually. i do not know today if we just went back tomorrow morning and cast our votes. i don't think the votes are there. >> why are republicans lock step on this? does this show that republicans are divided as the criticism has been throughout the last four to eight years? >> i think republicans are divided. i think democrats are divided. certainly that's what i heard in the two-hour briefing yesterday from the questions coming from various individuals of both political ideologies. this is not something that strictly falls into a conservative or liberal camp. >> texas congressman michael burgess, thank you. it's the largest wildfire in the u.s. this year. a look at the latest effort to contain the blaze. the secret is out. hydration is in.

[ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. aveeno® naturally beautiful results.

we're gonna stop beating ourselves up about our weight. we're not gonna give up what we love. it's not gonna happen. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" one night we'll even eat a cupcake like it's our job. just not the entire cake. that's part of the weight watchers plan. we're gonna feel happy... healthy... and good. weight watchers. join for free. because we understand. because we've been there. because it works. hurry, join by september 14th and you'll get a free month.

rolling the dice. politico's jonathan allen joins me next on the high stakes president obama faces as he makes his case to congress for taking action in syria. plus, nsa leaker's secret documents. ♪ let busy treats entertain your dog with playful shapes, long lasting layers, savory flavors, and mesmerizing textures. get busy. the world's most entertaining treats.

the obama administration is pulling all stops now to make its case to congress for military action against syria. their strategy, striking syria will protect israel. the country, one of the strongest allies in the region, could be a target of iran and the terrorist group hezbollah if the u.s. does not act against syria. it was echoed by secretary of state john kerry on nbc's "meet the press." >> israel, israel is at risk. jordan is at risk. turkey is at risk. the region is at risk. and we believe that the congress of the united states will do what is responsible. >> joining me now is politico's jonathan allen. he wrote about the strategy for politico. white house to congress, help

protect israel. you also wrote about obama's syria strategy in this article here. first line, you wrote, an unlikely ally, congress. >> that's right, richard. congress has not given the president anything he's wanted over the last few years. since the house flipped into republican hands. he had a brief majority briefly there in his first year. this is a tough sell on capitol hill. you're starting to hear from republicans and democrats that even if they gave him some sort of war resolution, it probably won't be the one he brought to capitol hill. they'll be some effort to limit it. even if they don't that, it will still be the vote. one senior democrat told me yesterday this could be the biggest miscalculation of his presidency. a lot of concern with staking the president's credibility and

the nation's credibility on a vote of congress. frankly, this is a bipartisan concern. whether he's able to get all the democrats in the house or a lot of the democrats in the house and some republicans on his side, he's really creating a lot of concernatisternation even wis own party. clearly not a lot of public appetite for the strikes in syria, but the president has drawn congress into this situation with him. shared responsibility now. of course, if he loses the vote, he's that much more weakened. >> i want to play some sound from "meet the press" yesterday, rand paul reacting to secretary kerry's statements. >> i'll ask him if it's more likely or less likely that we'll have more refugees in jordan or that israel might suffer attack. i think all the bad things you can imagine are more likely if we get involved in the syrian civil war. >> so jonathan talk about israel. you wrote on that, saying it's ready to defend itself against any retaliation.

your article which you underline, this is really about protecting israel and what were to happen. >> it's really prime minister netanyahu's asked his government to remain silent on this question. you don't see the major pro israel groups in washington lobbying on the syria strikes publicly. you can tell from what senior administration officials are saying, including the president and john kerry, that this is a big part of their argument to congress, that this will make israel safer. one of the ways you can hear that is when they talk about emboldening iran, hezbollah. these are enemies of israel. specifically. people the united states don't like but people would don't really threaten the united states directly. they'll throw in some of the other countries in the region, their allies, jordan, turkey, even iraq, as potentially at risk of retaliatory strikes. what you do is read the tea leaves here. look at what the senior jewish

members of congress will do. and certainly if you listen to what the administration officials are saying, it would seem they are acting in israel's interest, in addition to what they say. >> the president now saying, okay, congress, i'm going to give you what you want. you want a con sesulconsultatio giving it to you. >> there's a request for consultation there. the president conflating those things. according to senior officials, never asked for an authorization vote, this was the president's idea, according to them. however, there were a lot of rank and file members of congress asking for authorization. the senior members of congress seemed willing to let obama go forward with the strikes, to not challenge his authorities to do so, to simply get updates, to be able to talk to members. i think the president thought that was a lack of courage and

wanted to force them to join with him. there were almost 200 members of congress that signed letters seeking authorization. so really what you had is the president siding with those rank and file members over their leaders in terms of seeking an authorization vote. believing even if we are to strike syria as a country, that there should be a debate in congress. that the president should not go it alone without the international community and without congress behind him. >> politico's jonathan allen, thanks. >> my pleasure, richard. >> let's bring in our political panel. susan, why aren't the gop together supporting what traditionally would be a republican support for national security issues? >> we've seen this break in the republican party for the last six months or so. a lot of republicans are -- believe we've had too much war fatigue. we shouldn't be spending our money and time in other places in the world.

we should be focused on interests at home. i think if the president would have acted immediately, it wouldn't have given time for this faction to happen. whether it be on the republican side or the democratic side. he should have came out firmly and said, we will not tolerate the use of gassing our own people. no leader of a country has that right. and he did draw the red line and he should have taken immediate action. >> richard, critics are saying when you look at the arc of communication of the subject of syria coming from the white house as well as from the state department, it's been a bumpy road. how might this communications challenge be smoothed out in the next week or so? >> there's no question this has been a bumpy road. it's going to be on the president and his entire national security team to build a case. it's going to have some trouble in the house. i think the big issue here is why did john boehner not call the house back? i think his leadership is also in question. as soon as this issue came down, john pain shore have made the decision to call the house back and start debating.

this is an issue of national security. the fact the republicans care so much about it. sort of, you know, smells funny to me. >> they couldn't have taken a vote while the president was overseas. the president leaves tomorrow to go to sweden. and then he has the g-20. there was no way any authorization for action was going to be taken while he was out of the country. >> i'm sure if boehner came back the president would have moved his schedule around just a little bit. >> i disagree with that statement. i'm sure if the president thought it was important, he would have called for congress to come back. >> congress is under the leadership of john boehner. don't get me wrong. think he said he's waiting on the president to act -- >> -- could have asked congress for it immediately -- no, excuse me, he's the commander in chief. he wanted authorization immediately, he could have asked for it immediately. >> john boehner could have ordered the congress back immediately and chose not to as well. >> he's not the commander in chief. >> democratic congressman david ciccilini told me this last hour. >> this will be be a very heavy

burd be to meet to persuade me it's in the national security interest of the united states to engage in this military strike. it's something we have to do as part a very broad international coalition. it cannot be the united states alone. >> all right, so democrats, we have republicans as well here, susan. this is not falling in typical lines. as some say there are four groups, some say there are five groups that the president now needs to sell to. >> that's true. the bigger problem now is the president's going to have to lay out what happens next. now we'll have a ten-day debate. what happenses if assad uses gas? what is our strategy? he has a lot more to explain not just to congress but to the american people. >> who should be selling this? see vice president biden perhaps out there on the hill? as often the president has gone to in the past in clutch situations. >> i think you'll see vice president biden. i think you'll see the president trying to sell it to individual members.

i think the president has to continue to create an international coalition. there seems to be some urgency on the side of france. hopefully, we'll have more allies going from the arab league. sort of saying this is the right decision. we need to move forward. we need to stop assad from killing his people with chemical weapons. i think there's no question that this decision is sort of mirrored with what happened ten years ago in iraq. which tell, you the impact that george w. bush has. way after he left office. >> the g-20 perhaps an opportunity for the president also to make his case to world leaders. the day after president obama announced he was seeking congressional approval for military action. on sunday, prime minister netanyahu played up israel's self-reliance. saying israel is serene and self-confident as prepared for any possible eventuality. crowds of residents have been lining up for gas masks.

what kind of reaction are you hearing from israelis? when you read the local paper, it's very critical of the decisions being made on capitol hill or rather at the white house. >> absolutely, there are varied reactions in israel. israeli television stations didn't carry president obama's speech live on saturday night here. we've gotten mixed reactions. some are saying this makes president obama weak and it shows israelis president obama and america will not be there for israel if israel ever needs america's help. one analyst said this is very worrying to prime minister netanyahu. would has said if iran crosses the red line when it comes to their nuclear program, that they will attack iran. does this mean that american won't help them? that's one side of the story. other israelis are saying this has no effect at all when it comes to the israeli/american relationship.

including president shimon peres. today he said, i don't think exercising judgment means stammering. i think it's permissible to weigh matters. it's better to weigh before and not after. i have confidence in him when it comes to israel. another thing we should talk about is what does the syrian civil war mean to israelis? why side would be better for them? when you look at the rebels, that's not necessarily a good action because you have al qaeda militants helping the fighters. a regime that has been no friend to israel. backed by hezbollah, a known enemy to israel. also backed by iran. at the same time, it's that syrian border with israel that has been the quietest border for israel in the last 40 years. since the 1973 yom kippur wore. you have to remember lebanon's up north with hezbollah fighters. you have militants in the sinai peninsula in egypt. so what does this mean to israel if the rebels take over?

so that being said, the israelis don't have a right side. 70% of israelis saying they don't want their own government or military to intervene. >> just the complexity of the rebels in syria, at least some nine groups that you're alluding to, would take power theoretically if assad and his regime were taken aside. thank you so much. just ahead, more information surfaces from nsa leaker edward snowden and the amazing true story that inspired "the butler." meet "the washington post" reporter who brought this living history to the world. huh...fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that. well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller? your word is...cow. cow. cow. c...o...w...

...e...i...e...i...o. [buzzer] dangnabbit. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. for my pain, i want my aleve. nascar is ab.out excitement 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. but chantix helped me do it. i told my doctor i think i'm... i'm ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. i knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. i knew that i wasn't putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery.

common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. if i could describe being a nonsmoker, i would say "awesome." [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. vo: the ones getting involvedugh to reand staying engaged.ho are out there owning it. they're not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is "how did i end up here?" i started schwab for those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. here's a look at some of the stories topping the news now. taliban suicide bombers attacked a u.s. base near the pakistan border. shutting down a key road used by key nato supply trucks. no member of the u.s.-led nato

mission was killed in that. officials saying at least three insurgents were killed in that attack. a hearing for academy football players charged with rape resumes today. the three men are accused of sexually assaulting a woman last year at an off campus house in annapolis. defense attorneys completed their examination of the accuser yesterday. two concert goers died and at least four others fell ill due to suspected drug use. authorities believe they had taken molly, a pew epure form o club drug ecstasy. the raging wildfire near yosemite is now the fourth largest in california history. nearly 5,000 people are working to put out that fire which is still only 40% contained. florida a&m's university marching band returning to the field yesterday nearly two years after beating death of a drum

major in a hazing incident that led to its suspension. a moment of silence was held for the victim of the hazing before sunday's game against mississippi valley state. there are new documents this morning leaked by edward snowed be revealing the nsa targeted at lead two world leaders. nbc's chekear simmons is in mos. what is snowden saying this time? >> in fact, snowden's lawyer in misco is saying he hasn't communicated with the media since he arrived here in russia. still, as you say, the revelations continue. that, because glenn greenwald, the journalist who cooperated with snowden in the nsa leak documents, says among those documents is evidence that the nsa spied on the president of mexico and on the president of brazil. he says that it shows that the u.s. agency was able to look at the president of mexico's

personal e-mails a month before he was elected president and even able to see who he was considering to be members of his cabinet and green walt says they also show that the nsa had the capability and was looking at what the brazilian president was searching through on the internet. so it's been met with a very unhappy reaction in brazil at least. the justice minister there saying if these facts prove to be true, it will be unacceptable and could be called an attack on our country's sovereignty. even though edwardhasn't spoken, the fallout continues. >> the question is where is edward snowden. >> we simply don't know. his lawyer wasn't prepared to say. but did say he is learning russian and had an interesting turn of phrase, said he is going through a program of adaptation

here in russia. he's been given leave to stay here for at least a year and that is extended. wherever he is is it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. >> adaptation. thank you so much. "the butler" battles one direction for the top spot at the box office. when we come back, moran the real butler. s mr. baldwin? do you mind grabbing my phone and opening the capital one purchase eraser? i need to redeem some venture miles before my demise. okay. it's easy to erase any recent travel expense i want. just pick that flight right there. mmm hmmm. give it a few taps, and...it's taken care of. this is pretty easy, and i see it works on hotels too. you bet. now if you like that, press the red button on top. ♪ how did he not see that coming? what's in your wallet? how did he not see that coming? it was very painful situation. the rash was on my right hip, going all the way down my leg. i'm very athletic and i swim in the ocean.

shingles forced me out of the water. the doctor asked me "did you have chickenpox when you were a child?" the pain level was so high, it became unbearable.

here we go. >> take it with you. >> yeah, that is the new concert film "one direction." this is us. it's atop the holiday weekend box office. a movie about the boy band one direction. >> in the heat of the night. >> with sidney poit ier.

lee daniels film was based on the book the butler a witness to history about the life of eugene allen would worked at the white house over 30 years. joining me is "the washington post" will heygood. tell us this, will. how did you come to meet eugene allen? >> well, i wanted to find a figure who had worked in the white house during the era of segregation on the eve of what i thought would be an obama victory in 2008 so i just launched a nationwide search using all of my sources, telling people that i wanted to find anybody who worked in the white house during those years, a shoe shine person, somebody who did the laundry, maid, a butler. i made a whole lot of phone calls and found this man living with his wife helen at the end

of a street here in washington, d.c. >> how about that? you've seen the movie. is it true to who he is when you look like eugene allen? >> yes. i think the movie captures his essence and soul very well. he worked for 34 years at the white house starting with president harry truman all the way up to president reagan and never missed a day of work. >> wow. >> loved his country very much and was a genuine patriot and went to work every day at the most powerful address in the world and he could leave that address and go back to his native virginia and he was, all of a sudden, a second class citizen having to use segregated bathrooms and water fountains but he went to work every day. >> what sort of secrets did you learn from him? things that were, wow, i had no idea that was happening in the white house? >> here is something that is very lovely. there was a meeting at the white

house with dr. martin luther king during the eisen hauer administration. he instinctually knew that dr. king was talking about the kitchen where blacks worked. so he is taken to the kitchen and eugene allen is there and he has his back to the door and when he turns around, there is dr. martin luther king jr. and he tells eugene allen, "i like the cut of your suit." i think that is just a beautiful little story. >> well, dr. king was a very dapper dresser, so no doubt he knew a good suit when there was one that was had. wil, great book and really inspiring story that you told. >> thank you so much. will congress okay a strike on syria?

my colleague plwill have the latest. [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine.

[ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems.

xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. bounce keeps my clothes fresh for weeks, even when they've been sitting in the drawer a long time. like those jeans you can't fit into anymore. uh...by that, i mean... [ male announcer ] how do you get your bounce? long-lasting freshness. we're gonna stop beating ourselves up about our weight. we're not gonna give up what we love. it's not gonna happen. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" one night we'll even eat a cupcake like it's our job. just not the entire cake. that's part of the weight watchers plan. we're gonna feel happy... healthy... and good. weight watchers. join for free. because we understand. because we've been there. because it works.

hurry, join by september 14th and you'll get a free month. the white house is readying for a tough selling congress as it seeks a green light to strike syria. step one in the administration strategy? laying out the evidence. secretary of state john kerry pulled out all the stops on sunday appearing on all five morning talk shows. >> this case is building and this case will build and i don't believe that my former colleagues in the united states senate and the house will turn their backs on all of our interests, on the credibility of our country. >> the next step, what the obama white house calls flooding the zone. the president on the phone making direct contact with key players in congress. right now, the only consensus in congress is that there is no consensus in congress. syria is already proving to be

an issue that trumps the usual bipartisan/partisan divide. >> i think at the end of the day, congress will rise to the's occasion. this is a national security iss issue. this isn't about barack obama versus the congress. this isn't about republicans versus democrats. this has a very important worldwide reach in this decision. >> the president has an obligation to make his case to the congress, but he also has an obligation to make this case to the american people. my constituents are war-weary. they don't want to see us get involved in this. >> here is what the time line looks like right now. the first hearing is scheduled for tomorrow in the senate. the full congress, though, isn't expected to reconvene until next week. nbc white house correspondent peter alexandra and jim maceda who is in turkey. peter, let's start with you.

we are aehearing an unclassifie conference. is the white house planning for a tough sell to congress? >> reporter: it recognizes this could be or will be a tough sell with congress and it appears likely the senate will support the president's call for military action in syria but a lot more challenging when you talk about the republican dominated house of representatives. the white house recognizes the challenges it face there. it's one of the reasons that the president is, today, inviting senators lindy graham and john mccain here at the white house for a meeting that will take place later today. those are two individuals who have errored on the side of more action, rather than less. while some people have said they don't support the president, don't believe there is national interests involved. others have said more broadly that enough is being done and that's where mccain and graham fall, and the white house's hope they will be able to convince some of the other members on capitol hill as well. but this is a political gamble. make no mistake about it, mara,

the president would become the first president if congress doesn't give him approval to lose an effort to authorize a military strike. >> peter, what are re learning about how the president came to this decision? >> reporter: this was pretty striking. it was jarring this weekend when the president walked out and said he would seek congressional authorization for any military action. remember, for the ten days proceeding that after those horrifying pictures came out, it appeared that a u.s. strike was n eminent but white senior officials insist that the president was considering whether to involve congress. when the british parliament voted down the effort to go at it in support of what david cameron, the country's prime minister said, that no vote was critical to the white house according to officials here, it was one of the significant elements. the president, last friday, taking a walk on the white house south lawn with his chief of staff where he relayed the message he thought congress

should be involved, then the president delivered that message on friday night to some of the senior advisers. they sat stunned disagreeing. they said after the meeting, everybody was on board with this message. >> peter alexander, thanks. check back in you later at the white house. joining me is charles rangel, democratic congressman. >> good to have you. >> you and your colleagues are against military action. why is that? >> first of all, i'm really surprised that president obama even thought about a military attack on syria without coming to the congress and that is why i'm so pleased that he has done what he said he always would do when he was running for president. having said that, going to war is a serious business and you have to go to congress because we have to be able to explain to our constituents that america's national security is in danger.

i don't see that a civil war in syria, the fact that this evil man is using chemicals to kill his own people, how that affects directly or indirectly our national security, and even though i think we have a moral responsibility to make certain it's a national violations do not occur, there is no way i can imagine that the united states is the only country that is it coming forward to this. there is no united nations, there is no great britain, there's no arab league. there is nobody but us. and people would say that the president has drawn a red line. well, constitutionally i have no clue what that means. going to war is going to war. in this particular case, ever since world war ii, since we have been going to war, we have been going to war with other people's kids. i think it's an easy decision for us to sit back and in the

congress and say, support the president. we don't want to embarrass him. but not embarrass him may save lives. it hasn't been that long ago that going into iraq was to just keep the world peace from gases and weapons of mass destruction. 20,000 americans were either killed or wounded after ten years and they are still in afghanistan. >> but you mentioned a moral responsibility. do you believe that the united states has a responsibility to protect on humanitarian grounds? we have those terrible pictures that came out from that chemical attack a few weeks ago and whether or not we have allies in that effort, do you believe we have that responsibility? >> i guess i'm a little different from most congressmen. i see misery, pain, gunshot, kil killings, starvation and people

jobless. yet i believe the greatest country has the responsibility in the world but i would be darn if i see that going it alone as our responsibility at all. syria is a threat to civilizations, period. and if great britain and european union and the u.n. and especially the arab leagues don't see it, then i'm blinded by not indifference, but wondering what is the president going to say happens if we don't do this? it's not as though assad is going to say, "i learned a lesson." this limited war is language i've never heard of. >> what would you like to see happen? >> i would like -- first of all, i am pleased that the president has taken it to the congress. what i would really like to see happen is we take it to the u.n. they said we can't do that. >> you know is there a veto from russia and china. >> just because america has turned down the civil rights movement doesn't mean we come

back and say, here we are again, right in your face. it's a moral thing to do. we should go to the security council and if china and russia want to explain why they didn't, after all the -- russia said that we ought to have more times to explore diplomatic solution. the president has said that this will not be resolved by a military solution, the civil war. i would like to see the nations get together and say what can we do together? >> in terms of the red line, the president was clear about that a year ago. are you concerned if there is not action once that line has been crossed, that will send a amazech to the world about united states's influence and their faith in the countries openly defying them? >> i love obama and you'll find a truer democrat than me, but this whole idea of any president of the united states drawing lines saying if any country does something, that he considers you -- that the nation is going

to war, it's unheard of, drawing a red line. so, of course, it's embarrassing. i wish it didn't happen. i guess secretary kerry is even more embarrassed than me after making his emotional speech that this was urgent. clearly, as i said earlier, i couldn't see anything urgent about it and i'm glad the president reviewed his thinking and he is going to give us time to discuss it. during those discussions, i hope that other people in the international community would come forward and take this great decision off of the congress because we have to make it. >> right. >> take it off of the congress and provide some solution where we are not putting our kids in harm's way to solve an international problem that we feel bounded, not by law, but because the president has drawn a red line. >> we will be following this very closely. the work of you and your colleagues in the coming days

and weeks. chuck hagel is going to be testify on tuesday before the senate foreign relations committee. another development we will be following closely. congressman rangel, thank you for your time today. >> chuck hagel is different. he is a former enlisted man and understand exactly what i'm talking about. >> we will keep an ear out ho what he has to say. thank you for your time. jim maceda is our nbc news correspondent along the turkey building and jim miklaszewski is reporting the aircraft carrier "uss nimitz" reposed into the red sea and military officials say it was given by commanders as a prudent precaution bus stress there is no current military operational ceremony in which they would take part of any potential syria operation. how are allies like turkey responding to the president's decision to turn this entire matter over to congress? jim? >> reporter: generally speaking, first. the countries have been reacting to this break, if you will, in

the u.s. buildup to hostile its and depending where they find themselves in the conflict. in turkey, remember, a nato member, which already houses about 450,000 syrian refugees, the turkish government has been clear tpts to be a u.s. shock and awe and will participate in that militarily to depose assad and force him to step down. turkey has been very disappointed with first talk of any kind of limited strike and now the possibility that nothing even might happen. saudi arabia is also a known supporter of anti-assad rebels. they came out strongly over the weekend at a arab league meeting in cairo for what its foreign minister called for a foreign intervention to stop the tragedy in syria but stopped short of a

u.s. or western air strike. on the other hand, you have syria's main backer russia today warning if the united states carries out air strikes against syria, it would permanently or could possibly sink those peace talks which are supposed to happen in geneva. back to you. >> jim maceda, thanks for that. the white house is serious strategy. does the last-minute seek to seek congressional approval. there's nothing like that feeling of getting something new. and now, with verizon edge, you can experience that new phone thrill, again, and again, and again. phil can you close your new phone box, we're picking up some feedback. every time you're ready to upgrade. having what you want on the 4glte network you rely on. that's powerful.

upgrade to the droid ultra by motorola with 0 down payment.

members of congress are divided over whether or not to use military actions again syria

and looks like a tough sell for the bill clinton administration. richard lui this morning spoke to two congressman. >> it's not a clear case they are making what they are doing is a pinprick or a shot across the bowel and he look at the information it's pretty broad which is unending which is isn't, mr. president. >> i find myself skeptical because i think it's important we think carefully and review the evidence thoroughly and consider the range of options that are available before we engage militarily. >> during a briefing this morning russia's foreign minister said the information the u.s. provided on an alleged chemical weapons attack is, quote, absolutely unconvincing. with me now is mustafa of the urgency task force and jack jacobs. thank you both for being here.

mouza, a lot of hope along our arab allies the u.s. would eminently launch a strike. what is the reaction on the ground in the middle east to president obama's decision this weekend? >> there is a lot of hope in aur ar our arab and european allies pushing for leadership by the u.s. on a conflict that very much affects the entire region and the world. i think the reaction is for many nations is to wait and see. you saw the arab league come out very recently and ask the international community to take action after the use of chemical weapons. as far as the syrian people they are living under constant shelling by the regime every day. but they respect the decision for the president to go to congress because at the end of the day, that is the very right that they are fighting for. >> i just want to touch, quickly, upon the constantly shelling and violence. the noted this was not time sensitive but some would argue that those who are facing deadly

violence, mothers burying their children would disagree strongly with that. is there a sense from some that this needs to be handled quickly? >> oh, absolutely. you know, after the decision to go to congress, the reaction that was important, i think, for people to watch was the reaction of hezbollah and iran who celebrate the delay of any movement and portrayed it as weakness bit united states after it had made multiple statements, for example. it showed that the u.s. may not have -- is losing credibility on this issue and as a regime itself sort of what emboldened and if you're watching the news and we are constantly in touch with people in damascus and other places in syria, the shelling, the air raids, the migs flying owner neighborhoods and increased substantially and it continues on every day. we definitely there is quite a bit of urgency when it comes to any action taken against assad.

>> colonel jacobs, we know senators mccain and graham are meeting with the president and hearing that meeting is taking place this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. senator mccain has been very outspoken about all of this and said if not enough votes in congress. let's take a quick listen to what he had to say. >> if congress overrules a decision with the president of the united states on an issue of national security, that could set a catastrophic precedent in the future. >> do you agree with him on that? >> oh, i don't think so. the president launch attacks without congressional approval many times before. he is right to the extent -- it wouldn't be a constitutional crisis but it would put the president in a very awkward position. i believe that even if the congress tells him he can't do it, i think he is going to go ahead and do it any way because he has gone on record as heading in that direction. i think in the end, it's probably going to be all right for him. the senate is going to approve it and my guess is the house,

divided, will give petid approval to the president's action. >> you're a military man. from a military perspective, if we are talking about the launch of tomahawk missiles on select sites in syria, is that really going to weaken assad's arsenal and his ability to continue fighting rebels? >> probably not. it might weaken him for a while. remember, that what we are going to target are airfields principally, command and control operations and mobile missile launches and so on. but airfields can be repaired if we knock out the mantle of his ars force on the ground, however, that will have a deleterious affect on his ability to wage war but it may have the congress of driving him to desperation and launching more bitter attacks on the citizenry using chemical weapons which, by the way, we are not attacking for fear of disbursing them and may have the unintended consequence of making things

worse for the syrians on the ground. >> muaz, i want to read you this. this is what they said in part. quote. from how does what is happening now influence u.s./israeli relations? >> look. i think it is in the best interest of all the allies in the united states in the region, specifically israel, jordan and turkey and others for the united states to take a greater role in terms of intervening in this conflict, not solely militarily. i don't think this strike is something that if it happens will be sort of this ongoing war that may lower the chances of the u.s., for example, confronting iran. i think an important thing to remember is the syrian regime is essentially the iranian regime

in iran. they spend millions of dollars in weapons and aid to the syrian regime. i think any strike against -- it is a major blow to iran and devastating to hezbollah. i just wanted to make one more point as far as destroying the airfields and i understand the capability of rebuilding an air field, for example, three to four months. the people on the ground have been good at sort of beseething certain airfields and trying to stop the constant resupply of weaponry and i believe if they are destroyed can hold off the regime from building them. i think this step and any strike that could happen is really a step in the right way of a political solution that will force assad or force his inner circle to pressure assad to ouster for a political solution because at the end of the day, everybody wants a political solution. >> thank you both for being here this morning. nbc news has learned that meeting with senator mccain and the president will be taking

place at 2:00 p.m. at the white house. coming up, swimmer diana nyad is miles away from making her extreme dream come true. the latest on her historic swim from cuba to florida coming up next! plus, on a much lighter note. her infamous vma performance made headlines and now miley cyrus is explaining her bizarre behavior. what is she going to say? that is coming up after the break. usua l please. usua thank you very much. ok guys, i'm back.

i need a template of a template. oh my gosh. i've never even seen this record, i've only read about it in books. yeah we can get some peanut...that is huge. please don't judge the amount of peanut butter we are getting. from prepaid to platinum, cashback and more membership has a card for every character. i'm carrie brownstein and i get to be whoever i want. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. individualization that your body needs.

this labor day, don't invest in a mattress until you visit a sleep number store. when we actually lower the sleep number setting to get the sleep number bed to conform to them, it's amazing the transition that you see with people. oh, that feels really good.it's hugging my body. they just look at you like you cured all the problems they've ever had. we hear it all the time: "i didn't know a bed could feel like this." oh yeah. at our biggest sale of the year, every sleep number bed is on sale. queen mattresses now start at just $599. and for one week only, save an incredible 50% on the sleep number limited edition memory foam mattress sets-but only through labor day! the sleep number bed is more than just a mattress. you sleep on it, you'll understand. don't miss the biggest sale of the year on the bed that can change your life. the sleep number bed. special offer ends labor day. only at a sleep number store. sleep number. comfort individualized.

[ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. aveeno® naturally beautiful results. is close to achieving the feat from eluded her for four years. nyad's website is keeping track of the swim the whole way and diana in the water two days and five miles from the shores of key west but the home stretch is not going to be easy. nyad's doctors say her lips and

tongue are swollen and worry about her breathing. she occasionally switches to the breast stoke but her end is in sight and so is her end to history. >> at 64 years old, diane nyad lives by the motto if you first don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try again! diana nyad has tried and failed before. but quitting is not in her makeup. 64 years old and she is at it again. >> i love you all! thank you, thank you for everything! >> on saturday, she once again, enthusiastically jumped in the water off of coast of cuba and with no fins to propel her, started swimming towards florida. her mental game? >> make it through the make. then make it through the night. my idea is go day, finish. now? get a new goal. get through the night and hopefully we going to do it three days, three nights and make it over.

>> reporter: diana nyad tried this first swim 35 years ago when she was 28 years old. each time, she's had to contend with sharks and currents and weather. but her most daunting nemesis, as she told savannah after her last attempt a year ago, painful jellyfish stings. >> i don't know what to do. i don't know how to conquer them. i really don't. >> reporter: but this time she has a new face mask and offering more color and a cream called sting stopper which her team applied sunday night to help protect against jellyfish. >> the jellyfish protection better than it's ever been i think help me get through those animals. >> reporter: she is confident she can make this time. >> until i'm finished, i'm not finished but i think the end of the journey here now. we make it this time. >> reporter: the biggest challenge right now, according to diane's team, is not the jellyfish but rather exhaustion and she has been swallowing salt

water which adds to dehydration and making her fatigue that much more complicated. mara? >> amazing story. kerry sanders, thanks. nelson mandela back at home for the first time in three months. he was relieved from the hospital why where he was being treated for a recurrent lung infection. his granddaughter says he is still in critical, but stable, condition but he is comfortable at home and receiving the very best medical care. new revelations from nsa leaker edward snowden. according to nsa documents greenwald received from snowden, he spied on brazil and mexico. nearly 5,000 people are working to put out a fire that has burned over 2,000 acres and

60% contained in yosemite national park. miley cyrus is speaking out. she told britain's sunday "people" newspaper, quote, i messed up. i so many expletive issues. i don't have a normal life. that is a sad commentary. "the butler" who worked at the white house for 30 years, is on the life of eugene allen. the movie will make $100,000 by the time it leaves theaters. good job!

still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

two full servings of vegetables a writer and a performer. ther, i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick... and then i got better. several fast moving developments today in washington. ahead of tomorrow's first congressional hearing on syria. just one hour from now, there will be an unclassified conference call with members of the house democratic caucus who were unable to attend sunday's briefing. at 2:00 p.m., senators mccain and graham will attend a meeting at the white house.

we also learned this morning that defense secretary chuck hagel will testify at tomorrow's senate hearing. kasie hunt is on the capitol hill with the latest on all of this. we understand you have new information for us? >> reporter: we have also learned that secretary of state john kerry will appear at the committee hearing tomorrow morning. or tomorrow afternoon at the senate foreign relations commit comoo ee. classified information will be discussed the following morning. as you said, we are awaiting for the house democratic caucus call. there will be a lot of heavyweights on that call. the national security adviser, susan rice, kerry, hagel, the director of national intelligence, clapper, and what that shows is that the white house really understands what a heavy lift they have with house democrats in particular. they are really going to have to work. we heard from a lot of them as they came out of the classified

briefing yesterday, really saying you know what? this authorization is way too broad. a lot of trepidation about getting into a potentially long-term conflict like they did in iraq with that vote many years ago. we have also learned that they are going to be a series of additional classified briefings for members up here on the hill this week. there is one tuesday, thursday, friday, and monday. a pretty full-on press for the administration to tell members up here what is going on. >> do we have any sense what the president may do if congress does not authorize military action? what are his options then? >> reporter: there are really no good options from the president. you has hearing noises from congress if congress rejects that this president needs to abide by that. you're also hearing a lot of concern from people like senator john mccain, congressman peter king, who are saying that the president has set a pretty unusual precedent here by asking for authorization for even doing a limited strike, something that other presidents have felt free

to do without being contrained by a congressional authorization. mccain has started to say is very, very concerned about what this would say about presidential authority in the long term. >> kasie hunt, thanks. let's bring in today's political panel. chris kovinas and joe walken is a republican strategist. the two of you are feisty this morning and i like that. i like a fist yoeisty debate. mccain is one of the most hawkish senators on this and calling for invention that will actually shift momentum on the battlefield and meeting with the president today. what do you think the president hopes will come out of this meeting? >> well, in a strange way, i think he is trying to keep senator mccain, you know, in support of his position. but also to maybe temper his hawkish positions. senator mccain is much more gung ho on this than i would say a good share of republicans and

democrats are, let alone the american people. what is going to happen the resolution will get changed and how it gets changed and most likely watered down or the scope of its action, that puts mccain in some risk and he becomes kind of a key hawk voice for both the house and the senate. that is what i think they are trying to keep here, try to keep him kind of, you know, stead fast ally in all of this. >> in the past, he says a body that has an endless parade of distractions and political posturing. not exactly complimentary. why is he putting this in congress's hands now? >> i think he wants to be sure before he put anybody's child in harm's way he has a support of action. i know the polling i've seen shows 80% of the americans would like the president to seek the approval of congress although he doesn't need that to do this. senator mccain and maybe senator graham and others may tell him

that when they meet with him today at 2:00. this is an opportunity for the president to work with republicans to get this measure done. he's had a very, very difficult time getting anything done of substance in the congress and even what he has gotten done, republicans are working now to undo and that would be the health care act. but this is a chance to work with republicans directly and actually get republicans to help him get the cobble together the majority he needs to get the j authorization from congress. >> he doesn't need congress's authorization and every president going back to reagan has launched some kind of strike without congress's authorization. do you think this is more than just trying to follow the letter of the law? is he look like for political cover here? >> i think the president, you know,, obviously, is a constitutional lawyer and i think he was concerned about the fact of launching military action without congressional authority. now, he clearly has the right and the power to do that under the war powers act and we have

seen countless presidents do that over the last many decades. if you're going to do something i think of significant as go to war or use military force in a case where i think a lot of people have a lot of serious questions, getting congressional authority is not a bad thing. i think it's actually a good thing for the country. i think it strengthens the president's position. >> this is a war, right? we are not talking about going to war. this is a limited strike and other presidents have done this without getting imprevenl approval and president reagan did it and president clinton did it and these were limited strikes as this one that president obama is talking about. >> i guess war is in the eye of the beholder, joe. putting that aside, you're right, you dent need to go to congress for this. you have members of congress saying you need to come to us and ask us for authorization. i think a lot of questions the american people and members of congress have about this. it is not a sign of weakness or a bad position for the president to do this. the question becomes, i think, what the administration does over the next week to ten days

in terms of both convincing members of congress but as i've said before, convincing the american people that this is both strategically and necessary and right to the country for our national security interests. >> in terms of convincing the public at large, in a lot of ways, the end goal, the mission here is still a little bit nebulous. is this protective, punitive and based on military grounds? do you think the president has made it clear enough as to why we would go forward with any kind of military strike? >> this is the challenge when you seek the approval of congress and you have to quantify what you hope to do and what you expect to do and the vul results thereof. he has to do a selling job to congress now. >> not only to congress but to the public. >> and to the american people. >> does he need to make a prime time address or do more in reaching out to the public? >> i don't know that he does. this is all -- this is what hurts us in the world theater. certainly in terms of the eyes of americans, this is a very thoughtful thing for the president to do. >> joe! >> from the standpoint of the

world, chris, you've got to look at how the world looks at this. right now, assad feels emboldened by this delay on the part of our president. >> listen, with all due respect -- >> look at john kerry. if you were him just made perhaps one of the best speeches of his life making the case for this and then to have the rug pulled out from under you -- >> chris, wait! >> we are the most powerful military that has ever existed. >> we are. >> we are truly the only -- >> that is why assad -- >> wait a second. this notion that somehow assad is sitting there laughing. i mean, this is nonsense. at the end of the day, the smartest position the president can take is that he has the support of the american people and the congress behind him. in fact, i guarantee you had he launched this action and there had been some kind of unforeseen consequences, republicans and others would have been pillaring him with the notion of why didn't you come back and ask us? >> the challenge for every president they might make a

mistake and pillared by the opposition party. in the world stage, in the world stage -- >> joe, never a sign of weakness. >> chris, go ahead. last word. >> never a sign of weakness to go to the american people and ask for their support or members of congress and ask for the support, especially when you're going on to go to war or use military force. the question here becomes, i think the key thing for this administration is -- over the next week or so, convincing the american people that this is the right thing to do and i think that is where the administration has a lot more work to be done just i can tell you both personally and people i talk to still more questions than answers. >> thank you both so much for that. we could continue this conversation much longer. thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. capitol hill now focused on syria, what does that mean for the next big financial deadline for uncle sam? another government shutdown looms at the end of september. former economic adviser to vice president joe biden will join me coming up next. [ chuckles ]

wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. what are you doing? we're switching car insurance. why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. [ female announcer ] with allstate you get great protection and a great price, plus an agent! drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent nascar is ab.out excitement 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.

congress returns from recess september 9th and the top priority will now be a vote on syria. but looming on the horizon there is still a fiscal crisis that could force a government shutdown or the nation's first-ever default on its debt that is if both parties can't reach an agreement on obama care funding by september 30th. joining me is msnbc contributor and senior fellow at the center on budget priorities is jared bernstein. a lot has changed with the new focus squarely on syria and only nine working days in september. what happens now to the budget conversation? >> well, in fact, both parties, leadership and even some of the dissenting ranks, do want to see the government stay open. the government shutdown, in some ways, is the least conflicting of these three different votes you just mentioned, the vote on syria, the government extension

of the budget, and the debt ceiling showdown. the lat, the debt ceiling showdown is a point of sharp contention. the administration has been quite firm on this idea of not negotiating whether the nation should pay bills that it's already racked up. now syria is an interesting new entry to the mix here. and it's hard for me to imagine that members of congress, even those who want to create the most gridlock there is, don't want to keep the government open to deal with this criticese cri matters of war and peace. >> if leaders of both parties want to get this done and less time to devote to it now, what is this going to be? is it up to speaker boehner? what are the options that are on the table? interestingly, when it comes to this continuing resolution, that is the budget patch that keeps the government open, maybe just for a few more months, until they get to the next one. that has been the pattern in recent months. there really isn't all that much

that has to give because they can just say, let's continue to fund all of the agencies at the same level we have been doing before. that has been the norm the past few years. what has to give is on the debt ceiling vote. i mean, if republicans are going to stick to this rule that boehner and others have been talking about that say, we are simply not going to endorse an increase in the debt ceiling of the government's borrowing limit unless we get a whole bunch of spending cuts in return for not much, well, then we really do have a serious conflict ahead of us, but that is not until later in october. >> looking at the week ahead, obviously, today is a holiday. later this week you have the president attending the g-20. should all of congress be coming back to work early to start handling the important work that needs to be done or will they be able to get it done in the time they have? >> i think probably anyone who just heard that question will answer it the same way i did which is, of course! not only did they have a lot of

serious work to do before syria, but now, as you very correctly with you it they have another issue to decide. congress with the momentous decisions on their desk have like nine working days in september, they have a right to scratch their head and say exactly what are you guys and gals up? >> jared bernstein, thanks for being here. >> you too. 12 years after september 11th. bring you the story of people honoring of those who died that day by serving their fellow americans. we will be right back. [announcer] there's no hiding the goodness of the latest from beneful baked delights. new heartfuls are made with real bacon... ...and oven-baked to crisp perfection.

new heartfuls from beneful baked delights. . ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing waiting time. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room.

[ static warbles ]

as we mark 12 years since september 11th, victims and family members of victims are encouraging people to mark the day by making it a national day of service. i'm joined now by david payne who first came up with this idea and jay winnik whose brother glenn was killed in the line of duty at the world trade center. thank you both for being here this morning.

>> good morning. >> david, how did you first come up with this idea and what is your vision for it? >> well, my good friend and colleague jay win lost his brother in the 9/11 attacks. i'm also originally from new york. i think i was just stunned by the horror of it all. i want something good to come from the loss of so many lives and i called jay up, you know, shortly after the attacks and said what do you think about honoring glenn and others by spending 9/11 doing simple good deeds as a way to pay tribute. >> jay, what is an xamp of soex some of the good deeds people are doing? >> it's amazing. truly amazing. people do things in a self-directed way. maybe clean up their local park or beach or donate blood or whatever they want or they participate in organized activities with hundreds of other people. you pick a thousand people you'll find a thousand good deeds happening on september 11th. last year we had more than 35 million people participating in this observance.

>> wow. >> it's the largest day of annual day of charitable engagement in the history of this country at this point. >> what do you hear from people who participate in this and what it gives them to commemorate those who were lost on that day? >> i think it gives them hope. they feel they are not powerless and dealing with a very tragic event. i think even -- jay will probably say this -- particularly for a lot of family members i speak with that as much as 9/11 is a very difficult day for them every single year, some sense of solace that something good is coming from it. i think is gives the nation a sense of hope and ability to feel we are not powerless in dealing with these kinds of attacks. >> jay, you lost your brother glenn in the 9/11 attacks. i'm sure that one of the big mofgs f motivations is to honor his legacy in a positive way. >> it's true. glenn, he lived his life and died in service to other people.

he was a part of the law firm a block from what we know is grandda ground zero. he really was somebody who served. >> he wasn't working in the towers? he went there to help? >> he went to evacuate his law firm office and ran into a burning building to help in the towers. people can make a difference for people in community and need and why people really respond to this observance. it's very powerful and they have something constructive and productive to do in a way to honor those who were lost. >> david, do you have any specific events that are planned for this year year's 9/11 anniversary and how can people find out about more how they can participate? >> first of all, everyone should, if they are interested, go to our website which is

911day.org. a wealth of things they can learn from the observance there at the website and they can search for volunteer opportunities. if you're a teacher, we have six different lesson plans are are all age appropriate to teach children about 9/11 and constructive in ways which is so important that new generations coming up more lower than about what is happening and you can sign up for the projects at at the website. >> thank you both for your time. jay, something tells me your brother would be very proud of. >> he was a very special guy. thank you for saying that. in the next hour, first hearings of syria sit to begin on capitol hill tomorrow. can congress find middle ground on an issue that is to bypass the usual bipartisan divide? does the president face uphill climb as he looks for a green light to strike syria? i'll get reaction from congressmen from both sides of the aisle.

with the spark cash card from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet?

a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes.

do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com.

thanks for staying bus. i'm mara schiavocampo. in washington, president obama still making his case. hearings are set to begin on the hill tomorrow on authorizing military strikes in syria. key cabinet members will testify, but can lawmakers get over their hesitations? >> i'm still very skeptical about the president's proposal. it is not clear to me that we know what the results of this attack will be. >> just too broadly drafted and too open-ended. this is a partial blank check the way it's currently drafted. >> they have got a lot more explaining to do. >> in the meantime, today, president obama hosts john mccain at the white house. could the president's former rival become his most valuable saelsm salesman for action in syria? >> if congress overrules the president of the united states

for security. >> another leak from edward snowden saying the nsa spied on two world leaders. a live report from moscow. first to washington. the president this week is pushing congress to make one of the most consequential foreign policy votes since the authorization to launch the iraq war a decadizie ago. president obama has invited republican senators john mccain and lindy graham to the white house today. peter alexander joins us from there. good morning. there has been skepticism about military action on both sides of the aisle. what is the president hoping to accomplish today? >> reporter: start with that meeting taking place behind closed doors here at the oval office. the president and senators, republicans lindsey graham and john mccain, scheduled for 2:00 today. those two men are significant. most specifically because they suggest that the u.s. strategy

should be better defined, but also should be broader in an effort to push bashar al assad, the syrian leader, out of power. the white house is hoping on one end that those two individuals will help with their effort on capitol hill to get congress to authorize the idea for congressional action. you got to recognize the challenges that exist here right now. you have those on the far right and far left of both parties that seem disinclined toward any intervention. you have the hawks like mccain and graham who would like to see greater action. then you see a lot of republicans generally who would not like to do very much that helps this president. today, the president will not be on the call to some of his top advisers will be. a conference at all to take place with house democrats, many of whom were not able to be here in person yesterday, but listen to the heavyweights that will be on that call. national security adviser susan rice, secretary of state john kerry, chuck hagel, as well as

martin dempsey and the head of the department -- director of national intelligence, james clapper. they are putting a big force on that call today. they know they have significant convincing to do with democrats, in addition to republicans in the house. >> the pes departs for sweden tomorrow and thn the g-20 summit in russia. what can he expect when he is traveling abordroad? >> reporter: some were saying that the attack had to happen before the president leaves out of the country. he leaves for sweden tomorrow before heading off for the g-20 in russia days later. on the one hand while the white house administration pursues support at home, you can anticipate the president will also make his case in person with members of the g-20, the focus there is supposed to be the economy, of course, but it's going to be heavily dominated, that conversation, as it is vladimir putin hosting this year's event by the topic of

conversation being syria. >> peter alexander, thanks. check in with you later this afternoon. over on capitol hill, the administration is going to make its case to the senate tomorrow with a special visit from the defense secretary and the secretary of state. nbc's kasie hunt joins us live now from the hill with more. good afternoon. >> reporter: as you say, we are anticipating up here that senate foreign relations committee hearing set for tomorrow afternoon, we have got defense secretary hagel and secretary of state kerry both coming up here it make the case. they say more witnesses are still going to be announced. the full-court press from the administration on congress is very visible. there are four more classified briefings from -- excuse me. from administration briefers set for this week and next week. the armed services committee is also going to meet. what you're seeing here is really a recognition from the administration of just how difficult this lift is looking like it's going to be.

the senate is already starting to rip up the resolution that they sent here saturday night and rewrite it. senator patrick leahy said last night or yesterday afternoon that that was too broad, that is gave the president too much power to take to strike syria or potentially strike in any instance where chemical weapons might be be distributed to terrorists. it's a very broad mandate and members up here aren't comfortable with where it is yet. >> administration officials briefed almost a hundred lawmakers behind closed doors yesterday. you were there. let's quickly play a little bit of what congressmen had to say afterwards and play it for our audience and talk on the other side. >> i have to tell you, it's -- it's, in my mind, it's far from settled. it's -- it's not something that should be undertaken lightly. certainly the mood in the district that i represent is do not do this. >> i can say, generally, that it was helpful. >> with regard to -- >> but there are a lot more

questions that i have to have answered. >> kasie, i'm curious what sense you get to what the lawmakers want to see done before they would agree to pass the president's resolution. >> it does depend on who you ask. there are some republicans here who are just sort of in the more isolationist wing of the republican party who don't want to go along with this at all. there are republican hawks who think that is might not go far enough. there are democrats who would support the president, a handful of them, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz says the image she has taken away from the conflict is photographs of children killed in that attack. then a significant segment of democrats who are concerned about potentially starting another long-term war. they remember that they were asked to vote to authorize the use of force in iraq and that conflict still hasn't ended. that group of people is going to be a particularly heavy lift for this president at this point.

>> kasie hunt live on capitol hill, thank you. we will check in with you later this afternoon as well. for more on this all this right now i'm goined joined by booth and rajan with "the washington post." thank you both for being here. >> good to be on with you. >> you covered the first two years of the iraq war from baghdad and you've written extensively about the effort to rebuild there. what do you think u.s. military strikes would mean for syria in terms of realities on the ground? >> i think, unfortunately, it's not going to change a whole lot. a couple of days worth of air strikes with cruise missiles, maybe bombs launched from u.s. aircraft. you know, as you noted, i spent a lot of time in iraq. i also spent time there before the war and saw how the saddam hussein regime managed to move its weapons and other sensitive

items from military facilities into civilian facilities, how they put, in some cases, weapons in schools. and so the idea that you might be able to strike obvious targets there, government buildings and military installations and a crippling blow to that regime is a fanciful notion. they have had a lot of times, not in the last couple of days or weeks, but they have had a year or more now to plan for a contingency of a u.s. set of air strikes and try to hide what they want to hide and try to distribute their centers of command and control. >> max, louisiaast week, we saw britt's parliament vote against the decision to go to war in syria. how do you think it may have played into president obama's decision here? >> it may well have done and the loss of credibility on the part of the united states.

can i understand the arguments against the action in syria. strong arguments against action but if we are not going act why is the secretary of state out there calling this a moral obscenity and why is the president saying this demands a response? they gave the impression last week we were about to launch cruise missiles and after the vote in the british parliament, president obama seemed to have second thoughts and walked it back and saying he is going to have authorizations from congress even though he says it's not necessary. in this particular sentence, what we are sending is a signal of weakness and alarming our allies who are worried about the signal this sends to iran, to north korea, to other predators around the world when the united states and the president of the united states put our credibility on the line and say that there is a red line and there will be consequences for crossing that red line, there have to be consequences. there have to be. we can't afford to back down at this point. >> you're right about the fact that a lot of people expected strikes to be eminent and a lot

of people were very surprised by the president's announcement that he was putting this in congress's hands. why then do you think he made the decision to do that after what seemed like preparations to announce a strike? >> i don't know. the impression that it certainly gives is that he is getting cold feet. he is having second thoughts and debating within himself the wisdom of launching these air strikes and, of course, there are strong pros and cons on both sides of it but the debate should be happening within the administration. they shouldn't make strong statements in public and saying we are having second thoughts and wait and see what congress will do. they need to deliver the military act, otherwise the united states suffers a loss of credibility and our ability to deal with predators around the world plummets. >> syria's government mocked president obama's decision saying that it was, quote, the start of the historic american retreat. do you think that this makes us look weak on the world stage? >> the syrian regime will try to

get maximum propaganda value out of this. look. i think certainly to some of our allies in that part of the world, there is concern. there's concern in jerusalem today. there is concern in paris. and in other parts of western europe. and to leave this issue to congress. but for president obama, there are compelling domestic issues that lead him to want to do this and that is why today's meeting is going to be so important at the white house, because the president can take steps to try to rally democratic members of congress, but for this to get through the house, he is going to need republican support. he is going to need republican support in the senate. and to get senators john mccain and lindsey graham to convince members of their own caucus and get behind this is critical here if the president wants this to be approve. >> we know how difficult it is to get things done in congress.

the president is one of the biggest critics of that fact. for him to say something is a red line and put it in the hands of the congress and if they don't act and by default he does not act, does that call into question his credibility? >> he can always argue in that that congress failed to act, not him, that he presented the evidence and made it clear to the american people and to our allies that steps needed to be taken and it was the american congress that failed to step up here. but certainly it will open him up to charges that he does look weak and that he was unable to step up and use what some would argue are the powers that are already inherent in the presidency to take a step like this against the syrian government. >> max, france has been one of the most hawkish western nations when it comes to this. kind after reverse of three when we had to call french fries freedom fries and felt abandoned. >> friends with them again.

>> right. they are on a limb by themselves because the u.s. has put this in the hands of congress. how do you think this will impact u.s./french relations going forward and can we count on french support if we decide to go militarily at a later date? >> i think france will be there but make no mistake about this this will hurt american relations with our allies. they don't understand what is going on here. on the one hand, president obama says he doesn't need authorization from congress and then he asks for authorization from congress. the president of france going out on a limb saying let's act and this is obscenity and we need to do something and president obama walks back. >> we will have to leave it there. fascinating conversation. max and rage, thank you for your time. >> good to talk to you. congress prepares to vote on a strike on syria as early as next week, i'll ask one lawmaker how he plans to vote and what his constituents are telling him. that is coming up next.

♪ ♪ i've got something for you too. (announcer) fancy feast delights with cheddar. a meal that is sure to delight your cheese lover. now available in the classic form she loves. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. wit's hard to find contractors with the passion and the skill, and that's why we use angie's list. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time with honest reviews on over 720 local services. i want it done right. i don't want to have to worry about it or have to come back and redo it. with angie's list, i was able to turn my home into the home of my dreams. for over 18 years, we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪

many lawmakers remain skeptical about how to proceed in syria. yesterday's briefing on capitol hill by white house officials left members of congress on the fence. >> accountability has to be certain, swift, and severe. >> i know, because the clarity of where all of this goes, the definition of -- that we have accomplished the mission, that is still unclear to me. >> democratic congressman lloyd doggett is joining me now in his home district. thank for being here. >> thank you very much. >> you called for congressional approval on any military action even before the president's announcement this weekend. why do you think that was the right decision? >> well, i did. almost 200 members of congress

joined in asking the president to come to congress. i don't believe that we should be engaged in military action unless there is a commitment by the people's representatives. >> would you support a limited scope resolution, one that is specific about its intentions and limits? >> i certainly wouldn't support an open-ended one. i think it's until we hear the evidence not to make a final decision. i lean against this. i think the real question is will american families be safer once this is done? will we bear all of the costs, both in terms of our military and in terms of our taxpayers? how is it that we benefit from leaving in power someone who has been involved in a civil war where a hundred thousand people have died? we shoot a few cruise missiles at him and he is still there. how do we come out ahead in that situation. >> would you seek strong measures one that would shift the balance on the battlefield

and overturn assad's regime? >> i think what i would like to see is a plan and some indication of what would be a way of determining if we have been successful. if this is about sending him a message, there are other ways to send a message about the horrors of the criminality of what he appears to have involved. >> we have seen the terrible images coming out, rows of children affected by the violence there. do you think is there a need to act on humanitarian grounds, whether or not it's in our self-interest but just a moral obligation? >> i supported the president in libya where we work with allies and where i felt action was required because of humanitarian disaster was about to occur. here, the horror has already taken place. it's clear the president doesn't have a sense of great urgency or we would already be back in washington debating this matter, as i think we should be.

>> with all due respect, sir, you say that the horrors have already taken place but that does that mean you do not believe more will be coming in the future? >> well, i understand it, we will not be seeking regime change. we will be leaving him in power. we will be saying -- or he will be able to say, as he has mocked us already, that he took a hit from the united states and is still standing. i don't see how that is a plan for success and greater safety for our families and there are reasons not to become overly involved in this civil war. at an earlier time, it may have been that we could have prevented some of this with action and encouraging our allies to arm the rebels before they became so involved with al qaeda and other terrorist organizations. at this point, i don't see how a plan that is sending him a message that is leaving him standing serves the interest of the american people and this is, as the general said, not a one

act play. we may find some response and if americans lose lives, a wider war here. so i want to get a better understanding of what is the plan, what are the what if's and what do we do next? not just the first round of missiles, and certainly after the experience of the 2001 resolution and the resolution on iraq, any resolution must be narrowly tailored and limited in time to justify support. >> congressman, if i may ask you quickly, what is your sense of how your colleagues in the house are going to vote on this in the end? >> it's really difficult to say. we are scattered across the country. very few of our colleagues were able to participate directly in the short notice for hearings in washington. i will say i know in terms of my constituents to this point, they have been overwhelmingly against the idea of another go it alone

involvement in a civil war in the middle east. >> congressman lloyd doggett of texas, thank you for your time. we are keeping our eye on the white house this morning where senators mccain and graham set to meet with the president later this afternoon. if shark week still has us on edge about heading into the water, one website could put you at ease with a few clicks of the mouse. the o-search global shark tracker follows dozens of sharks that were tagged off the east coast thanks to a recent surge in great whites near cape cod. the site offers up individual sizes and locations and friendly sounding names for the shark for example, april, who is a shark off nan tucket. watch out! what's this? uhh, it's my geico insurance id card, sir. it's digital, uh, pretty cool right? maybe. you know why i pulled you over today?

because i'm a pig driving a convertible? tail light's out.. fix it. digital insurance id cards. just a click away with the geico mobile app. ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle.

her busy saturday begins with back pain, when... hey pam, you should take advil. why? you can take four advil for all day relief. so i should give up my two aleve for more pills with advil? you're joking right? for my back pain, i want my aleve. keir simmons has the latest from

moscow about edward snowden has taken asylum there. what are we learning. >> reporter: we are learning from snowden's lawyer over the weekend that according to his lawyer, he hasn't communicated with the media since he arrived here in russia. these revelations came from the journalist based in brazil who worked with edward snowden on those nsa leaked documents and what greenwald is the documents show that the nsa spied on the presidents of brazil and on the president of mexico, that the president of mexico's personal e-mails were accessed and that from that, the nsa was able to see a month before his election what ministers he was considering pointing, and that the nsa was able to use a program to look at what the

president of brazil, what she was looking at on the internet. that has met a tough response from brazil. the justice minister there saying, if it were true, it would be unacceptable and could be called an attack on our country's sovereignty. even though snowden isn't talking in russia the fallout of what he did carries around the world. are you traveling this holiday weekend? we will let you know if weather could dampen your trip home. is the fifth time the charm? diana nyad could finish our swim from cuba to florida shortly. . add a soft apple-flavored center

...and say no more. new heartfuls from beneful baked delights. spark more play in your day. an arm wrestling match that mr. clean realized the way to handle bigger, tougher messes was better leverage. that's why he created his new magic eraser handy grip. it has a handle that firmly attaches to the eraser so you get better leverage and more oomph with less effort. it's the perfect magic eraser for making stuff that's big and tough not so tough, after all. mr. clean's handy grip -- the newest member of the magic eraser family. in all purpose and bath. [ engine revs ]

i'm mara schiavocampo. other stories topping our news now. thunderstorms around the northeast could put a damper on outdoor labor day plans and with aa predicting a major increase

of cars on the road, be prepared for delays in hourliday travel. taliban has called for an attack. militants set off bombs and torched vehicles and reportedly killing three taliban fighters. swimmer diana nyad is becoming closer to become the first person to swim from cuba to florida without a shark cage. with a few miles to go, the 64-year-old could rest tach the coast between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. today. we are certainly rooting for her. nelson man dela is home fro the hospital. the 95-year-old remains in critical, but stable, condition, and is receiving intensive care outside of his home in johannesbu

johannesburg. what would a military strike do to relations in the middle east? today a foreign minister tells the bbc, it would spark hatred and terrorism. >> more hatred for the americans and more than weakening of international institutions. terrorism will flourish everywhere. this will enter the mind of the securities of americans, inside and outside their country. al qaeda is there. and any attack against syria is support of al qaeda. >> jim maceda is near in turkey near the syrian border. how have the allies responded to the information we received from washington over the weekend? >> reporter: i would say overall the reaction has ranged from surprise and disappointment to outright confusion. let's take turkey where we are, a nato member, which has already taken in some 450,000 syrian refugees with thousands more just waiting inside the syrian

border to flee here if there is an air strike. the turkish government wanted to see kind of a u.s. shock and awe and said it would join that effort to force assad to step down. it's been very disappointed with a limited strike by president obama and now the possibility, the perception at least of nothing happening at all. another u.s. ally is saudi arabia. it came out, in fact, quite strongly over the weekend pushing for military action as foreign minister fasal calling for, quote, foreign intervention to end the syria. >> have we heard anything from syria at all? >> reporter: well, syria is putting on a full-court diplomatic press for sure. you quoted assad in your introduction who is quickly becoming assad's diplomatic

hatchet man. he was laying out a case against u.s. air strikes. jafari is the syrian ambassador to the united nations and done the same thing in a letter to the u.n. writing that all chemical weapons claims against his government are based on old stories and fake photos of the internationally internet. mara, an interesting development in iran today. a news agency had to remove an item with eye the former president of iran in which he claimed that the syrian government had used poisonous gas in this ongoing war. the iran government denied that saying the remarks were distorted, unquote, but it suggests at least that syria backers are not all on the same page. >> jim maceda live in turkey, thanks for that that. during his interview with the secretary of state nbc david

gregory pressed john kerry how firm the evidence is that bashar al assad did, in fact, use sarin gas. >> a slam dunk case he did it? >> the word slam dunk should be retired from the american national security issues. we are saying that the -- that the high confidence that the intelligence community has expressed and the case i laid out the other day is growing strong by the day. >> joining us now msnbc military analyst retired general barry mccaffrey and kathleen hicks a senior adviser at the center for strategic and international studies. thank you for being here this morning. general, i want to start with you. we all, of course, remember in the run-up to the iraq war that they had weapons of mass destruction and that turned to you to be false. do you think kerry has made the

case that syria used gas on its people and how solid is that evidence? >> i knew this would be an utter disaster if it turned out six months after the strike if it was not the case. i think no question in my own mind, given the extensive number of strikes, the rocket projectiles they have discovered and the obvious evidence of 1,300 or more killed, the syrian government did it. they have conducted probably as many as 14 chemical attacks. i think the moral and humanitarian case has been made. the bigger argument, without question, and i thought representative doggett from texas was absolutely brilliant, is if you take limited military action, you end up achieving your political purpose. i think the answer is no. >> kathleen, to touch upon that a little bit more, what do you think the most compelling rational for an attack is? is it protecting u.s. allies? is it puff against assad's regime or what is the convincing

case here? >> probably the most -- first, i agree with the general. i think the evidence that the assad regime conducted these attacks is there. and even the syrians and the russians are agreeing a chemical attack occurred which is vastlily different situation we faced with iraq. i think the best case that the united states can make is deter future use of chemical weapons, to hold to the norm and to the red line that the president has set out, that chemical weapon use, at this scale against civilians is unacceptable. and that is a form of a self-defense argument that the united states is going to have to make. it is a tough argument, let me make that clear, without u.n. backing, which we are not going to get, and without strong coalition support, which i think the president and his team will be spending the next week or so trying to build just as they are building a case here with the congress. >> general, i'd like to ask you a military strategy question. the president has said that this issue is not time sensitive but

is that really true? does this delay, and a possible vike, give assad any advantages of preparing for an attack. >> of course. to further psychological and weaken the potential for president obama to put together a coalition, never mind disbursing his military forces, moving helicopters and rocket artillery units into populated areas. but at the end of the day, all of these questions disappear to end up with one. if you want to use military force, will assad believe that we are willing to go the route, yes or no? if you communicate clearly that we are just signaling to you you're not at risk, then military options are really ineffectual and probable worsen the situation. >> kathleen, if we move forward and act do you think a military

response would deter future chemical weapons used on the part of the syrian government? >> i do think so. first, i think the syrians are probably deterred at this point. i think that is a fair statement. but i think the u.s. following through on its commitments, first, will have a huge moral boost to the opposition and the opposition is not as one unit. but there are very positive elements in the moderate opposition that would be buoyed by a u.s. response and i think it sends a very strong signal to iran in particular that when we set a red line, we will follow through on the red line. >> general, kathleen mentions the opposition and the opposition is fractured. is that part of the calculation here? even in the event the assad regime would be removed we don't know who is going to step in to fill that power vacuum? >> we have a pretty good idea. richard engel has been reporting some 60% of the extremists are

jihadist organizations. i supported president obama going to congress. he was so out on a limb he was pathetic. we had no backing from the united nations, nato and arab league for a military strike and egypt and jordan opposed it and saudi arabia isn't claiming they are going to take part in it. going to congress and saying you better step up to the plate here and support me if we are going to take military action is the right thing to do. but representative doggett made the operation that american people don't support this and military strike probably will not achieve our political purpose. >> if i may follow-up on our allies in the middle east and beyond. why do you think it's important to have a broader coalition and not act unilaterally? >> it was a direct threat to u.s. national security interests, there wouldn't be a problem here. the president clearly under the war powers act as a constitution can respond to eminent or

ongoing threat to u.s. and national interests. no hostage here. u.s. medically students here or no al qaeda attack impending on the united states. we would end up, to be honest supporting the objectives of an al qaeda insurgency. so i think, again, if he could have claimed direct u.s. national security interests, he wouldn't have needed to go to congress. but this is reaching way out of the lane for a humanitarian and moral argument that i think he has adequately made, but will it justify ineffectual military power is the question. >> kathleen, a year ago the president made it clear there was a red line and, at this point, he has put this decision into the hands of congress and we don't know what they are ultimately going to decide. is he now obligated to follow up with some action because of those comments he made? >> i think what we are seeing here in the last week is a

really awful factory of sausage being made that if we could redo week and it were made, simply that the united states internally was having these debates and it wasn't publicly displayed, we wouldn't be having this conversation today about the authorization -- >> do you think he wishes he hadn't said the red line comment? do you think he wishes he could take that back? >> i can't go in the president's head but i certainly think it was an unhelpful comment at the time and, as proven out to put us in this position we are in today. look. i think the president is right to go to authorization from congress. i think if the week's rhetoric from this past week had not been so strong, it would have been fine to proceed as we are today. but the fact of the matter is over the last week, we have created a great deal of confusion and now the best that the united states can do is try to bring congress on board, try to bring allies and partners in the region on board, and go forward with a limited strike. >>. >> mara, can i offer one last

comment? >> please. >> it comes to the credibility of the united states, it's based on 2.3 million men and women in the u.s. armed forces. our giant economy, our value system. so i don't see our credibility. we could bring down the assad regime in 60 days unleashing the power of the u.s. air force and navy. the question is do we want to do that and live with the aftermath? >> that is something we will certainly be pondering in the weeks to come. thank you both for your time this morning. on this labor day weekend, is organized labor on the rise? it's a summer of raging wildfires out west. why one scientist says fighting these blazes in the future will be an uphill battle. that is next. [ male announcer ] imagine this cute little orange blob is metamucil...

and this park is the inside of your body. you see the special psyllium fiber in metamucil actually gels to trap and remove some waste. and that gelling also helps to lower some cholesterol. it even traps some carbs to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels as part of your diet. now that's one super hard working fiber. metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber. ♪ constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. a senior defense official says a marine core recruiting

website was hacked and official the official it appears it was targeted by syrian electronic army. we will have more on this later in our show. the march to military action is one many lawmakers have been through before. specifically having had to cast the difficult vote for the iraq war a decade ago. former senator blanche lincoln was one of them. in 2002 he read awe allowed the senate votes on the iraq war resolution. she had voted to aurthorize the use of military force. blanche lincoln joins me live now. thank you for being we are hichlt thank y here. >> tell us what the leaders are going through now returning next week. >> so much was different today than in 2002. i think lawmakers do look back to that time and what they were presented with in terms of evidence and, you know, information.

how it was presented, you know, the push to make something urgent and move it forward quickly. and i think, without a doubt, members right now are back in their home states, most of them, they are, you know, about a year away from the home stretch of their next election, and they are listening to their constituents and it's a difficult time, because they look back at the decisions they may have made back then and also dealing with questions from qae constituents who are war weary and also asking questions that they really can't answer right now. you know, in 2009, august of 2009, which was really kind of the very infancy of the tea party, town hall meetings were a big deal. and, yet, we were being asked questions that there really weren't answers to because we

hadn't come up with a health care plan and the real lightning rods for the next election. the same way here. they are having to answer questions about things that they may not have all of the information they want to be able to give the kind of answer that they might like to give. it's a difficult time for members right now, i think. i think that, you know, i think it was probably right as the general said for the president to look to the congress to back him up. i would hope that we would also look around the region, as well as around the globe, before we take on something else like this that could last for much longer than what some people are saying is a simple strike. so i think that is important for people to know, that their rebs me members are looking for a lot of that information right now. >> in terms of president obama's decision making here and individual lawmakers trying to decide where they are going to stand on this, how heavily do you think the iraq war and

lessons we learned from that are playing into the decisions they are making right now? >> i think it definitely plays into their decision in the sense that, you know, hearing from their constituencies all across their districts and all across their states. i can't imagine that they are not hearing about, again, the weariness that the american people seem to have. not a lack of confidence in their military, but a weariness in terms of what we have been -- what -- you know, what has been spent there. particularly in the form of young americans and their lives. the ultimate sacrifice that has been given. i think that, you know, that has got to be weighing on them. and also the fact that the president has kind of flipped this over to the congress because under the wars power act, he understands, you know, what -- he has got the authority to do it, and, yet, is the evidence there? is it something that, you know, really constitutes taking that

strike? and he wants the back being of congress and i don't blame him for that. >> former arkansas governor blanche lincoln, thaur thank you for your time this morning. >> you bet. thank you. wildfires are becoming bigger and bolder and more dangerous. that is coming up. no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today. ♪

variables. where he also did a very careful study to see what other drivers could control wildfires in the present day, and then also into the future. we found that over the western u.s., temperature, increases in temperature are a big influence. they can increase the size of those fires. >> of course, you know, many things in nature are linked. how would the way these fires are changing impact other things, for example air quality, soil quality, things like that. >> so we at the harvard cool of engineering and applied sciences, we are atmospheric

chemists. we are very interested in air quality, smog and the smoke that comes from wildfires. we were curious if increases in the area burned by fires could also affect the smokyness 245s generated by these fires. we looked at that as well. we found that for some regions, the smoke from fires could increase by as much as double, compared to what we have today. and if you look at what's going on in california, a huge area over the weekend was affected, blank etted by unhealthy air. we expect that to continue. >> very fascinating findings. lo receipta mickley, thank you for bringing that information to us. up next, we'll go live to the white house, where president obama is pending labor day on the phone and in meetings with lawmakers. he's pushing congress to -- andl

we will bring you the latest. abf that meet our higher kosher standards that only a slow-motion bite can capture all that kosher delight. and when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national.

folks have suffered from frequent heartburn. but getting heartburn and then treating day after day is a thing of the past. block the acid with prilosec otc, and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask. hanging out with this guy. he's just the love of my life. [ male announcer ] getting to know you is how we help you choose the humana medicare plan that works best for you. mi familia. ♪ [ male announcer ] we want to help you achieve your best health, so you can keep doing the things that are important to you. keeping up with them. i love it! [ male announcer ] helping you -- now that's what's important to us.

this reversal at the 11th hour of the president's position from saying he was going to act militarily to saying he has to get the endorsement from congress has had a significant effect throughout the region. it's encouraged our enemies and discouraged our allies. good day thanks for staying with us. i'm mara this time snowden says this time the nsa spied on two leaders. on this holiday week went, week take a look at the labor movement's next chapter. the president is spenting this labor day to get congress to approve a military strike on

syria. president obama is meeting with two senators who support a strike this afternoon. peter alexander joins us live from the white house. peter, good afternoon. tell us, what does the president hope to accomplish with these meetings? >> mara, that senator says lindsey graham and john mccain serious players on the topic of syria, because they have been pushing for greatsh dr in fact, what they specifically want is a better sense of the strategy this administration would be carrying out with its policy overseas, so in meeting with those two day, the without, the president specifically hoping to have them serve as a form of ally in trying to pull those who are effectively sitting on the bench right now concerned about the u.s. getting involved in syria in any form. that includes a lot of traditional allies, including house democrats, who were on an unclassified conference call with administration officials

right now, and to give you a sense of just how critical democrats are to this, look at the heavy hitters who are taking a part in this call today. it includes national security adviser susan rice, secretaries john kerry and chuck hagel as well as the director of national intelligence and martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs. >> peter alexander, thank you so much. even though congress is in recess, the senate foreign relations committee is set to hold a hearing tomorrow on syria. casey hunt joins us live. what from capitol hill. what can we expect tomorrow? >> reporter: you're going to be to get the administration laying on the in the public for the first time their most aggressive case for why the u.s. should take act. secretary of state d. both going to be on the witness assistant, actually speaking to a committee that both of them used to sit on

when they were senators. so you'll see them working to convince members we're still working on getting a full list of which members will be tanneding tomorrow, but senator marco rubio, senator rand paul both on that committee. it could get interesting. we're also waiting to hear how house democrats react to the unclassified call they're on right now with top administration officials. that's something that could help us determine what the next questions are going to be. what is it that the administration is saying that's actually resonating or helping to convince members, and what isn't necessarily. after the classified briefing yesterday, members came out saying we don't doubt the intelligence that shows that assad likely used chemical weapons outside of damascus, but we're not sure what the strategy will be and what the long-term goals are kasie, most members are still in their districts.

the latest nbc poll shows that americans are split. 50% say no, 42% say yes. how do you think these opinions will influence a debate on the hill? >> reporter: members are talking a lot about what their constituents are thinking and feeling. what you're seeing is a reflection of overall war wearyness. that's also driving members' decisions up here and some of their concerns. you're hearing them say this potential authorization of force is too broad. the authorization that the white house sent up here cinchally says that the president could use authority to deter the use of chemical weapons or from them falling into the hands of nonstate actors like terrorist groups that was at phrase in earlier -- than many members of congress say they are comfortable with at this point. >> kasie, thank you.

a day after participating in a classified briefing on capitol hillings kansas congressman mike pompeiio says the plan is not enough. he joins me now. >> it's great to be here on labor day. thanks for having me. >> if you say if there's a response, it needs to be robust and well thought out. >> i will tell you the president has made a hash, he's and on the now are they willing to engage, but the president said this is a shot across the bow. that's an intentional miss. that's not how you conduct foreign policy. what we need is we need the president to come to you and say here's how we're going to do it, here's hoe we know we will have achieved them. it's not just syria. this is in the context of a much larger -- for one of hezbollah

fighting alongside assad. this is a much more complicated set of facts that have to be addressed. that's simply not enough. >> so what would you like to see happen? >> i would love to see, just as i said a comprehensive thought out strategy formed actual include a number of things. first thing about the american national interests. there are some in my party who say there are none, but there's deep american national interests. i talked about iran and played, keeping the haunds off al qaeda, those are important tasks, so you can achieve those using lots of tools. there was diplomatic tools, tools of power, but you can't begin by talking about a narrow strike over a couple three days. you have to think about what the ramifications are and help the moderate rebels be successful. that's the goal, that's what america ought to be doing. >> what do you think of the resolution as it stands now and

how do you think it may need to be changed. >> we've got to get votes. the president needs to leave, but so do us who believe wight -- we have to convince or colleagues this is something we should support. i find myself in a place where i want to be supportive, not so much of but what america needs to do, so i think there's some tweaking to the amuf, and i know there are folks editing and drafting. where we make clear that here's why we're doing this, here's what we're hoping to achieve. >> there are a number of factors at play here, the issue of protecting our allies, the issues of keeping very dangerous weapons out hands of other enemies, the issue of punishing assad for a chemical attack on his own people and there's a moral and humanitarian art are argument. which do you think is the most

compelling? >> those are all very real. you can't possibly have witnessed what assad did with the chemical weapons, we're almost certain he did, the killing of 1,000 plus. you can't see that without feeling the moral tug that comes with it. having said that, that alone would not be enough to use american firepower and force. so for my perspective, it's how do we make sure we don't have a breeding ground for al qaeda in syria? how do we protect our soldiers, sailmen and airmen that are abroad. those -- there's always a moral component to it. >> and you're heading out on an intelligence mission to the middle east soon. what are sudden hoping to learn from that trip? >> i am leaving. i'm hoping to learn a number of things. one, it's always great to be on the ground and get a sense of what folks are saying, hearing and seeing, but i hope to come back with a fact set that will

make me make a good decision, and help me convince my colleagues of the right course of action as we move forward. a lot of us have been critical of the president. i think that's fine, but we have a constitutional obligation as well. i hope my colleagues will keep an open mind as we consider what's the right thing for america. and democrats and republicans alike will move above sort of the politics of this. >> and going to that length is really quite admirable when we're facing seven an important decision. >> that's very kind of you. >> thank you for your time, congressman. well, it's not just a matters of members of congress and the american public, but also allies like britain and france is hoping to pull on board. for more let's bring in gayle lemmon, and ernesto londono of "the washington post." welcome to both of you, gayle, i

want to start with you. how much of the slow walk approach, if you will, is reflected in the trouble that david cameron has had convincing his own people in the uk of the case to strike syrian forces? >> well, yeah, i think you certainly could point to part of it. i think that is a key piece. i think the other piece is a thursday call with the hill went a little rougher than was expected, then they saw the poll numbers. i think the mix of all of those led them to think you do want greater public support behind you. when you talk to those working on this, right now they say if the vote was taken today they don't have it. they think they'll get there, and the briefings yesterday were said to have gone fairly well, but there is still a great deal of skepticism. i think the ghost of conflicts past is hovering over this congress and this administration, and in fact the american public.

i think part of that is we've seen us go from 2 1/2 years from a minimalist approach to really 10 or 11 days of we really do need to act, so that escalation of butchery that's been met with rather sustained interest national indifference for years and all of a sudden a rather accelerated push for action i think that is confused a lot of people. >> ernesto, what chance if any is there that britain will revisit if? or is it a done deal? >> to me it seems unlikely. i think they have indicated they don't foreseen holding a new vote, and letting this drag out for a few more weeks has considerable risk in the absence of a clear coherent -- if you can't articulate the end goal, it will give critics times to

come up with new ways in which this could go wrong. >> you wrote about the pros and cons of delays, recently you wrote that shifting the burden potentially gives a way out of the political bind he created last year when he say al assad's use of chemical weapons would be a red line, -- that many cage toss as a hasty response. do you also think there are potential risks in a delay in terms of assad able to prepare and diminish the impact? >> of course. we have already begun hearing from people in the syrian opposition camp that over the past couple days there's been civilians moved into areas that would appear to be attractive military targets, and, you know, it giving him a chance to disperse his equipment, take a hard look at his vulnerabilities, and contemplate how he can best prepare for the kind of strike that we've all

been expecting. so, you know, gives him a few weeks to build an architecture of human shields, if you will, is only going to make this option look less attractive and may give people in congress some pause. >> gayle, leaders of the g-20 nations will be meeting in russia. president obama will be there, and certainly giving him some face time with leaders of other countries, and opportunity to talk with syria. do you expect anything useful will come of that? >> i think if it does, we will not see it, but i think it gets to what ernesto was just saying, all along there's been criticism from current and former diplomats, who said this has been on syria a hopscotch of tactics in search of a strategy. i think that continues. the question is exactly what is the objective, and does the military strike really reinforce

the political aim of a transition to power. you know, right now you talk about credibility, there's also the credibility question with the syrian opposition. i think that question of whether the syrian opposition will take the u.s. seriously when it says, look, we really do want to reinforce the moderates, we're here for you, this is a priority, i think is very much an open-ended question, one that will continue to come up this week and bejon. >> ernesto in terms of credibility, do you think that the way this is being handled will have an effect on the united states' credibility on the galosh stage when it comes to aural allies like france, who went out on a line, and is now out on that limb by themselves, our our arab allies, for example, doing -- >> of course, i think american credibility is a huge factor in this equation and will remain so, as long as -- i do think

however that all stakeholders understands just how thorny an issue this is and understands how the administration got boxed in by declaring this a red line a years ago before they could foresee that hard will have line rebels who had become such a big threat to the west as part of this conflict, and a number of other things that have made u.s. military intervention hugely unattractive option. >> gayle, congress is not necessarily known for its expediency. are you optimistic they'll be able to debate and vote on this in a timely manner? >> i think it's getting a full-court press from the administration. there's a flurry of briefings scheduled in the coming days. there have been sort of no off-limits questions. people have really been encouraged to ask for briefings. they have gotten the briefings they requested, and this is a priority. and the folks working on this do think they'll get to a yes, but

it could be painful, and i think as we've seen, and as a lot of the papers reported today, the house remains a question. right now the votes do not seem to be there. so there's a lot of work that remains to be done. i think the question of what has gone on for the past year in terms of washington discussions, this is really the culmination of a series of conversations that have gone on with the state department on one say saying we are going to empower. extremists and going to have a vacuum, if we don't get more involved. others who have said, look, this is a bloody civil war where there are no good american ops, it's best for the america, the exhausted, to sit this one out. i think it's the culmination of that debate that has really gripped this administration for months. gayle lemon with the council on foreign relations, and ernesto londono thank you both for being here. coming up big hits, tough consequences. in the wake of that settlement

in the nfl's concussion lawsuit, is football doing enough to protect players? and on this holiday weekend, where the label moved is headed, coming up next. okay ladies, whenever you're ready. thank you. thank you. i got this. oh, no, i'll get it! let me get it. uh-uh-uh. i don't want you to pay for this. it's not happening, honey. let her get it. she got her safe driving bonus check from allstate last week. and it's her treat. what about a tip? oh, here's one... get an allstate agent. nice! [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-905-6500 now. here we go! hold on man. is that a leak up there? that's a drip. whoo. okay. aah. now that's a leak. that is a leak! and if you don't have allstate renters insurance... game over. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables from things like water damage for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-905-6500 now.

plus, drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now. your husband left his cell phone on. and you're not necessarily proud of that. but tonight, he made the pizza. ...with johnsonville italian sausage. the premium cuts of pork and perfect blend of herbs and spices gave every bite even more flavor. and everyone loved it. and you're definitely proud of that. johnsonville. served with pride since 1945. ♪ ♪ i've got something for you too. (announcer) fancy feast delights with cheddar.

a meal that is sure to delight your cheese lover. now available in the classic form she loves. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love.

developing now, more details on the hacking of the u.s. marine corps recruiting website. the syrian electronic army is claiming responsibility, and they posted a letter via twitter to the u.s. marines, urging them to refuse orders to attack syria, calling president obama a, quote, traitor, who wanted to, quote, rescue al qaeda insurgents. we'll continue to follow this story. while many americans are off celebrating labor day, the ongoing strike for better wages with the new labor movement on

the horizon. thanks so much for being here. >> thank you. >> you know, just last week we celebrated the anniversary of the march on mrkt, which of course was a -- where does the fight for labor rights stand now? >> you're slight will you right. the parallels between the fast-food strikes and march on washington are compelling. the fast-footworker walked off the job with a simple message -- we can't survive on a meager paycheck, less than $18,000 for a full-timeworker. that was the major complaint for the march on washington, raising pay, raising the minimum wage was a key agenda item. if you update that to inflation, that translates to about $15. and it's not just them, we're seeing truckers on strike,

walmart workers threatening to go on strike. as the economy has shifted to the low-wage jobs, more and more workers are standing up saying these conditions are not sustainable. one in four private sector workers work in these jobs. overwhelmingly adults, 40% have some college. the impact is holding back our economy, which needs a minimum working class which can afford to spend and drive sales and growth, which is why the federal reserve is say we need to tackle this problem. the espn president said the number one threat isn't streaming, it's low-wage jobs. if americans are making $10 an hour, they can't afford a cable bill. >> in this place we're not talking about unemployment, a lot of people have the idea that people who work at fast food restaurants are teenagers, that these are like summer jobs, but

that's not the case, and we have some stats. people of color make up 42% of, women of color who work in the restaurant and fast food industries are paid 60% less. i saw one statistic that the ceo of one of they fast-food chains makes limb 600 times the amount of one of their workers. who are we talking about here? >> americans are having a hard time getting their head around this. this is low-wage jobs have shifted from being entry-level jobs for teens, now places where tens of millions of adults are spending their careers. these fast-growing service jobs can pay better. we've say the way that some industries have started to upgrade the jobs. hotel room cleanser, janitors, security guards, have already made the shift, and there's no reason that fast food, a very

profitable industry can't do the same the solution is what the economists are calling for. unionization following these models is part of the solution. the other one is raising the minimum wage, which is 7.25 an hour, very, very cloud, 10.75 if it kept of with inflation. there's a will in congress calling to raise it to that level. the polls show 80% of americans, including 60% of republican voters support that. >> we're going to have to leave it there, paul, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. we continue to watch diana nyad. her team that is -- she's been swimming for more than 48 hours now, and contending with sharks, rough currents and what issue calls her most daunting nemesis, painful jellyfish stings. she's made it farther on this, her fifth attempt.

she could complete the trek this afternoon and become the first person ever to do it without a shark cage, a dream decades in the making. time for the your business entrepreneur of the wake. dare darren is the co-owner of the off the grid survival supply store. in a post-9/11 world, it caters to people who want to prepare for disasters of all kinds. he says the store supplies the tools to give people a sense of control over the unknown. building animatronics is all about getting things to work together. the timing, the actions, the reactions. everything has to synch up. my expenses are no different. receipt match from american express synchronizes your business expenses. just shoot your business card receipts and they're automatically matched up with the charges on your online statement. i'm john kaplan and i'm a member of a synchronized world.

this is what membership is. this is what membership does. if you have high cholesterol, here's some information that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. getting to goal is important, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. and that's why when diet and exercise alone aren't enough to lower cholesterol i prescribe crestor. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking. call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects. is your cholesterol at goal? ask your doctor about crestor.

[ female announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. "do i really need to add downy every time?" and i say, "yes. you really do." [ sniffs ] just toss downy unstopables in before the wash. then pour downy infusions right in here for scented softness that helps reduce pilling, fading, static, plus fresh scents that last up to 12 weeks. that's as long as bears hibernate. sure, you could go without it, but do you really want to be that person? downy unstopables and downy infusions in every wash. you'll be unstopable. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪

for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. a new leak from edward snowden, this time claiming the nsa spied on two world leaders. we'll have a live report next. about here's a look at what's also happening in russia. have a lad mir putin once again demonstrating his love for animals. he shook hands with a walrus. i don't know why this cracks me up. now, that's what i call glad handi handing. cken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good! the next powerful storm is going to hit... but it will... that's why there's a new duracell battery. introducing duracell quantum.

with its high density core, it's a quantum leap in battery power. the next storm is out there. but so are the heroes. so we're giving a million duracell quantum to first responders everywhere. power. in the hands of the most powerful. duracell. trusted everywhere. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief!

[ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. i had pain in my abdomen... it just wouldn't go away.thing. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. here are some of the other stories topping our news now. if you're heading on the road, about el prepared for rainy standstills. northeast thunderstorms and crowded roads could mean a washout this holiday. a military convoy was

attacked today along the border of afghanistan. a. and former south after kaj president nelson mandela is recovering at his home after being discharged from the hospital yesterday. the 95-year-old is receiving intensive care for recurring lung infection that kept him in the hospital for nearly three months, his daughter says the family is happy that he is home. more fallout this hour following new revelations that the nsa spied on leaders of brazil and mexico, nbc's keir simmons has the latest. what are we hearing? >> we're still not hearing from edward snowden, his lawyer saying over the weekend since he got to russia, he has not communicated with the media in any way whatsoever. so what is emerging is still news from the documents originally leaked by edward

snowden, and they are being talked about by glen greenwald, the journalist based in brazil, who worked with edward snowden on those leaks. what he said over the weekend is among those documents is evidence that the nsa has spied on the president of mexico by looking at his private e-mails, were able to see a month before he was elected president who he was consideration, for example, to be members of his cabinet, and they spied the on the president of brazil, able to see what she was looking at on the internet, so some sizable allegations, unconfirmed clearly, but what they show is even though edward snowden isn't talking, the ramifications of what he did continue. >> nbc keir simmons, thank you so much for that. syria is responding to a potential u.s. strike against the assad regime. in an interview with the bbc,

syria's foreign minister warned of a back lash if the americans decide to attack. >> this will undermine the security of americans inside and outside their country. al qaeda is there, and any attack syria is supported of al qaeda and its affiliates. >> joining muss are the executive director of the syrian emergency task force, and mightal lighter, an msnbc analyst. thank you both for being here. michael, i want to start with you. what do you have to say about this interview we just heard from syria's deputy foreign minister. what's your response? >> i wouldn't make very much of it. assad's regime will obviously do all it can rhetorically to try to undermine u.s. resolve in this case. it's undoubtedly true there are elements of al qaeda associated is groups, and the really tough question i think for the united states going forward is the degree to which we can continue

to undermine or want to undermine the assad regime when we know that some of the opposition is in fact very opposed to us. that is why this is such a multilayered chess match with very unclear way forward for the u.s. >> and moaz, syria's government actually mocked president obama as decision saying it was, quote, the start of the historic american reteeth. how is this decision playing out in the arab world? >> well, definitely the reaction from the assad radio jet stream and from his allies hezbollah and iran are saying that the u.s. -- administration is weak and so on, but as far as the arab world you've seen lately, after the meeting of arab foreign ministers in cairo calling for international intervention in syria. we've seen saudi arabia come out and support any intervention, and we've seen turkey come out as well outside the arab world saying they're more than happy to be involved in any military

action against the assad regime, so i think there is a lot of worry within the arab world over, you know, again sort of inaction or lack of greater leadership by the united states on something they see affects their national security in a great way. >> michael, the white house is opening the arab league will call for touch action and touch, because that would help convince members of congress that's there's strong support. where do our allies stand. >> i think mouaz is generally right, i think the abe rabid league will come on the in support of u.s. military action. i think it is absolutely right that saudi arabia came out much more forcefully out of this last round of meetings, quite supportive of u.s. actions. the jordanians have suffered in the region due to the influx of refugees. they are general slid

supportive, but nervous about repercussions. iran is obviously in support of assad and iraq is in a challenging place as well, and less supportive of forceful action, but fundamentally certainly turkey, not part of the arab league, but a critical ally in the region, are general already spokesive, and having disappointed, i think we haven't been more forceful already. >> mouaz, you spent a lot of time on the ground in syria. when president obama made his comments this weekend, he at one point mentioned this issue was not time sensitive. i'm wondering what your take is on that, as people continue to see horrifying violence day in and day out. >> look, i can tell you that it is very time sensitive in terms of greater engagement militarily and politically by the united states to help resolved this crisis. i think the president was addressing a punitive mesh, you

but i think the people in syria, and we've been talking to them every single day, they have seen an assad regime that's emboldened, sort of making fun of the u.s. administration, in saying that the president is too weak to act, and so they -- they feel that there's a great need of urgency, and they were expecting some sort of military act that would against help push towards a true political solution. at the end of the day -- but greater leadership role by the united states that's been demanded by our european allying and arab allies in the region that that can have his inner circle pressure him. >> and mouaz, when you talk to people who are there living through this reality, what is their sense of what's taking place? are they demoralized or helpful? they are actually living they atrocities. when we're talking about kind of an academic discussion about rationale for strikes, et

cetera, these are real people's lives. what are he feeling right now? >> look, you're absolutely right. i want to mention it's been almost three years of this conflict, 120,000 of these people have been killed. more than 200,000 have been arrested unlawfully, including civilians that have been tortured. so for a long time the syrian people have felt quite abandoned by the national community. they see statements, hearing statements by the western world that are supporting the opposition, but they also see the allies of assad, including iran, that is sending millions of dollars to the assad regime, russia is sending weapons, hezbollah, so they see these few allies that go against all interests, doing much more than the rest of the international media, so definitely very demoralizing, but i think they hold out hope that congress will stand on the right side of history on a crisis that really

does at the end of the day affect our national security. >> michael, you know, we've been talking almost exclusively about military options here, but is there any hope for a political resolution, whether it's organizing our allies, and trying to come up with some way to address this terrible crisis? >> i absolutely believe that a part of the solution will be a political resolution, but i don't expect to see a great breakthrough any time soon. i think fundamentally our interests are not very well aligned with russia. russia continues to support the assad regime. that's going to make it at least efforts through the u.n. very, very difficult to achieve. ultimately this is going to require strong u.s. action, and i think it's going to require continued strong political action by saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and turkey, the major power players in this region, who are already

deeply involved in the conflict. we could certainly spend so much more time, but unfortunately we are out of time. thank you both so much for being here this afternoon. >> thank you, thank you. coming up, field report. as the nfl season is set to kick off, are new safety measures doing enough? more on that from the developing story was a recruiting website for the marine corps hacked? that's all coming up here on msnbc. ok, here's the way the system works. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money. that's not much you think. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch. over time it really adds up. then go to e-trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert: it's low. really? yes, really. e-trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated, professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. that's how our system works. e-trade. less for us. more for you.

and this park is the inside of your body. see, the special psyllium fiber in metamucil actually gels to trap some carbs to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber. new this hour, the organization that claims to have taken down "new york times" and twitter pages may have struck again. the syrian electronic army has claimed responsibility for redirecting a marine recruitment website, marines.com, to a message telling officers to, quote, refuse your orders to attack syria. at this hour, the command is saying no personal information was put at risk. this follows an interview with

the tech site mashable this weekend in which the group said if the u.s. attacks, quote, we will target all of it. for analysis we go to terrorism analyst evan coleman. thanks very much for being here. >> thanks very much. what are the consequences of a successful cyberattack. how can that be used to harm? >> right now the acu attacks they're launching are not disruptive, but not destructive. they're domain-name hijacking. they're stealing those domains and redirecting traffic to another computer, but right now there hasn't been any evidence that these folks are actually breaking into sensitive computer systems and stealing people's personal information. the problem is that these folks are fairly sophisticated. what they are doing is not that easy to do. if they're capable of doing that, the question is if

something bad happening in syria, will they escalate their activities? will they actually go after the actual servers that host this information? that's some of much more serious than simply stealing a domain name. >> for the average person how might they attacks affect them? could they target systems that run municipal systems? inconvenient? or loss of life? >> if you want an idea about what could happen here, look at the al kazzam cyberfighters. they've been launching denial of service attacks on bank sites. they're very simple, crude attacks, yet the denial of service attacks have managed to shut down the web sites for hours and hours. imagine going online and not be able able to log into use you are bank, not transfer money. >> that's bad. >> >> the kazzam fighters are crude not -- but the syrian

electronic army seems quite capable. if they had the motivation and reason, would they try to step that up and go after things like air traffic control systems and other key elements of u.s. infrastructure, things that could result in a loss of life? we don't really know at the moment. >> is the u.s. prepared for these possible serious attacks? illustrates i think the answer is that no, we are not. we have too many targets here for these folks to go after. obviously you think about a group like the syrian electronic army. the first thought is sensitive military or government computer systems, but most likely that will not be their primary target. most likely they will go, if they go after something, they will go after banks web sites, the web sites and servers of private major companies here in the united states and in other western countries. why is that? because they can shut down an entire economy by doing so. those sites tending to much, much less pleased or less poorly

pleased, they tend to be easier to break into, and thus they're soft targets for these folks. >> in any fight there's offense and there's defense. on the one hand up to shore up your cyber-defenses. when it comes to offense, it seems much more complicated. we are talking about people -- and then how do you track them down. is that part of the equation as well? >> not to mention are they state actors or nonstate actors? it's not clear that the syrian electronic army has official state sponsorship. who do we strike at? do we strike at the syrian government? do we strike at the syrian -- do we strike at individual people? and who are those people? because there's been a lot of discussion about the identities of those behind the syrian electronics army, but a lot of that seems to be rumor. in this laters rumor, the group is clear all of our members are in syria. and every single person whose name has been outed so far as

being a leader of our group, we don't even know. so that's another question, who exactly are these folks? >> when it comes to kind of traditional threats, say, you know, the fear of bombs from a terrorist group, you have kind of a handful of very sophisticated bomb makers who go around and train their affiliates on how to replicate those kinds of attacks. how difficult is it to learn how to do this work? >> if you can read and have internet action, the answer is all the answers are on the internet. there are forums out there in every single language, arabic, english, spanish, indonesian that teem people how to do this stuff. frank think there are people from around the world who happen to be very talented at this stuff. so just because you're from syria or from iraq -- i know we tend to think of those at conflict zones, but there's talented hackers from these countries, and they're motivated. some are motivated by looking to

make money. some are motivated to cause mischief, and unfortunately some are motivated by politics. >> the next frond tier in warfare. evan coleman, thanks so much for your time this afternoon. >> thank you. well, it was a big weebend for florida a & m. trayvon martin's father served as honorary captain for the school's football team. and today marked the return of the marching band, first time since the november 2011 hazing death of drum major robert champion. ♪ [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay -- you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement

from liberty mutual insurance. total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

the nfl season kicks off thursday, and college football is well under way. but after last week's settlement

over concussion related lawsuits, the focus is less on the game and more on player saved. thanks so much for being here. >> good to be here. >> you're also a former college football player who suffered multiwall concussions. how damaging can a concussion be for a football player? >> well, obviously it's the immediate factors of cognitive dysfunction, but it can also sometimes lead to severe sequela as we've seen. >> do you think the changes in the procedures are enough to protect players from the dangers of concussions? >> well, certainly it's a multifactorial approach. the rule changes are just a part of it. i think heightened surveillance and retesting, return to play

protocol, i think they also play an important role. >> in the settlement, the nfl didn't actually accept any culpability for any long-term effects. do you think that that's important? should they have to admit this is a problem that's being caused by the game? or is that a secondary issue that's not really relevant? >> well, you know certainly my opinion i would add this humbly to the argument or to the dialogue. one, i would say that we're headed in the right direction. also the direction of research and preventive measures, i think that's way more important than culpability at this point. the fans sometimes really like to see crashes, that's part of the appeal. they don't want anybody to get

hurt, but does add to the excitement. in the case of football, fans like those big hits. is it a matter of the nfl changing some of the dynamics just in how it plays out, the players are kept safer? i think but certainly the safety overall is more the issue here. >> how do you change that? being a former football player yourself, how do you change that? is it a matter of telling your players this is something we're going to reserve only for the most necessary cases? are there rules you would put in place for unnecessary hitting, for example, or the strength, intense legitimate? how do you measure that? there's a lot of controversy,

but i think the biggest thing we can do at this point is what we're doing on the grassroots level with such program as heads-up hitting. i think the next generation will definitely learn to play at a safer level. i think to highlight the attention to concussions and head injure,with respect to the sports medicine staffing, coaches, players, families. i think we have to take a multifactorial approach to attempting to diminish the long-term request ella that we obvious see. >> certainly an important issue, one we'll undoubtedly be talking about more. dr. david crumbie, thanks for your help. well, that's it for us. keefe it here on msnbc for news updates throughout the afternoon. have a great labor day. is really made of cheese?

[ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor. [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean with tide pods. three chambers. three times the stain removal power. pop in. stand out.

♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack

didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. . what do you want to do? what do you want to contribute? >> you have a car, a [ bleep ] apartment, a [ bleep ]. give me a [ bleep ] break. take all your money and i'll move out, but i want you gone. >> debby walks all over peter. >> he treats her bad, and she is always upset. >> i don't have a place. i haven't been looking. i'm not. >> you're living with us. >> i'm sleeping on the floor. >> i can't continue down this path. i don't want to see severen tormented by this constant